“I wish I could say I was that guy,” John said, toggling between sensor displays for the hundredth time.
“At least you think you ought to be,” she said. “That is worth something.”
“Hang on.” His voice sharpened. “Look at that.”
On the heads up display the marker for the hive ship accelerated, numbers flashing beneath it too fast to read. And then it vanished.
The hive ship gone, John said loudly enough to carry to the back where Carson and Dahlia were talking. It opened a hyperspace window.
Teyla felt as though a weight she did not know she carried had lifted. I think they are really gone, she whispered. I do not sense the Wraith anymore.
Carson stuck his head around the doors to the back. They are gone?
Yes, John said. He almost jumped out of his chair. So let's pack up the survival gear and get going.
I did that three hours ago, Teyla said. The packs are waiting by the tailgate.
John grinned at her. Ok then! Let's move.
Chapter Nine: Desert Trek
Even in the shade of the rocks it was about a hundred and five degrees. John winced. Death Valley.
That sounds encouraging, Teyla said in a tone that he wasn't sure if it was supposed to be ironic or not.
It's a place on Earth, John said. He looked up at the sides of the canyon, the lambent deep blue sky above. I lot like this, unfortunately.
We will have to get down there, Teyla said.
Twenty five or thirty feet below where the jumper had come to rest was the bottom of the canyon, a nearly dry stream bed marked by some spiny grayish plants. It would be possible to walk along the stream bed. He thought. John glanced up and winced again. Eighty feet or so to the top, broken rock all the way. Rock climbing was not his favorite thing, and he knew for sure it wasn't Carson's. Dahlia Radim aside, the idea of trying to get Carson up that cliff was daunting. He was a doctor, not special forces. Yeah, down. Not up, he said.
We came along the top of the cliffs before, Dahlia said, shouldering her pack. We followed the line of this canyon but we didn't come down here. It was much easier walking along the plateau above. She looked up at the bright sky. Though there is much more shade here.
Well, let's get down then, John said. Teyla, you go left and I'll go right. Let's see if we can find a place that is easier to get down. Carson, hang out here with Radim until we find a place.
The ledge thinned out about a hundred feet along, but it did slope downward gently, until it was only about fifteen feet from the bottom of the canyon. A rough fifteen feet, but if they put down guide ropes it was probably doable. Teyla?
Yes? she replied, his headset crackling.
You got anything? I've got a fairly easy fifteen foot drop.
I have nothing, Colonel, she said. The canyon deepens and the drop is steeper here than beside the jumper.
Ok, everybody down here then, he said. Carson, you got that?
We are coming, Carson said.
A few moments later he and Dahlia Radim walked up, followed momentarily by Teyla. She looked at the drop. I will get the rope from the jumper, she said.
I'm not sure, Carson began.
It's easy, John said. Teyla will climb down while I hold the rope, and then she'll belay the rest of us down. We're got a harness and everything.
Teyla's going to hold me? Carson looked dubious. The tiny little thing.
It's on belay, Carson, John said soothingly. It's all pulleys. Teyla could hold Ronon that way.
Letting Teyla down was fairly easy. John didn't actually need Carson and Dahlia to help, but they wanted to so they held the end of the rope behind him while he let Teyla down hand over hand. Teyla with all her gear and weapons probably didn't top out over 150. She was, as Carson said, a tiny little thing a good ten inches shorter than he was, and fairly slightly built. It was just that Teyla always seemed to take up so much space in a room.
Once down she went about setting up the belay in a methodical fashion, and it didn't take long to let Dahlia down beside her, going cautiously as the scientist was no more of an experienced climber than the doctor was.
Carson looked doubtful as John clipped off the harness around him. You're sure I'm not too heavy?
Lot a bit, John said. Just relax and lean back. You can put your feet on the canyon wall if it's more comfortable and just walk them down. Lots of people found that helpful, even if they weren't actually doing any of the climbing.
How are you going to get down? Carson asked as his head dipped down to the edge of the ledge.
I'll tie the rope off through the pin up here and Teyla will let me down too.
Carson looked skeptical.
It's ok. Just relax.
I've a bit of a problem with heights, you know, Carson said.
Then just look at me and keep talking, John said. Beyond Carson he could see Teyla belaying him down slowly, hand over hand. Carson's head was two feet below the ledge, so already his feet were only seven or eight feet from the ground. If Teyla dropped him that second he's probably do no worse than break an ankle.How are the new medical personnel working out?
Well, that's really Jennifer's department more than mine,Carson replied, not looking down. The Chief of Medicine now. I'm not sure what I am, except along for the ride.
How the optometrist working out? Two more feet. Three.
We haven't got an optometrist, Carson said. I wish we did. We are got a PA who knows a bit, which is better than we had. Carson looked surprised when his feet touched the ground.
Where you are, Teyla said. Let me unclip you, Carson. She smiled at him. You see? Just as you say, easy peasy.
Right.
His own descent was easy and fast, unclipping himself at the bottom while Teyla looked up at the dangling ropes. We are going to have to leave them, she said.
John nodded. Yeah. But it's just as well if we wind up having to get back up to the jumper this way for some reason. All right, people. Let's walk.
He took the point, Teyla on six with Carson and Dahlia between them without a word spoken. The late afternoon shadows had deepened. Even on a planet with forty hour days, sunset would eventually come. Maybe that’s why he was so tired. The movement of the sun told him that it had only been a few hours since they landed, but… John checked his watch. Four in the morning, Atlantis time. They’d been twenty hours on this mission already, and he’d been up for twenty two. No wonder he was tired. They should have napped in the jumper while they were waiting for the Wraith to leave, but it had seemed impossible to sleep then, cornered like a mouse.
John looked up at the sun again, or rather at the sky above the canyon walls. The sun was already behind the walls, out of sight from its meridian. He hated to call a halt when they’d just gotten started. Better to put a few miles behind them first. He wasn’t sure how long the daylight would last, but they might even make the Ancient ship before it got completely dark. Eighteen miles as the crow flies, or as the jumper flies. No. They wouldn’t make that in one march. But they’d feel better stopping if they were a bit closer. Three six mile treks would probably do it with Carson and Dahlia, with some breaks between each one.
Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw something move and whipped around, raising the P90 as he did. Behind him he heard Teyla flicking off her safety.
The jumbled rocks were full of deepening shadows. There was no sound. His eyes searched the rocks, glancing over tumbled stones. Nothing moved.
“Did you see it?” he asked Teyla.
“I saw nothing,” she said. “I moved because you did.” She took a few steps forward, coming up even with him. “What was it?”
John shook his head, squinting. “I don’t know. I saw movement. That’s all.”