Chapter 5

Here we go again, he thought. Major Lorne sighed as he piloted the jumper through the wormhole and into the darkness of a tropical night. It wasn’t as dark as he’d have thought - three moons were high in the sky, all three of them large and close to full. They gilded the stargate in silver and cast interesting shadows down the mountainside. The water below glinted here and there as the light caught the waves coming in to shore.

“Always, we’re always fetching ‘em back.” Lt. Eric Evans sat in the co-pilots seat, slouched down and loosely holding his P-90 at his side.

“Hey, not always. Most of the time they manage to get themselves out in the nick of time.” The other marine, Sgt. McKinley, sat forward to peer out the front. “I heard it was mostly Dr. McKay that gets them into these scrapes.”

Lorne rolled his eyes. “Look, to be fair, Colonel Sheppard is usually just in the wrong place at the wrong time.” He glanced behind to McKinley and caught Dr. Keller’s eye. “As for Dr. McKay, well…” He let his voice trail off and winked at Keller. She grinned back. “The colonel, or rather colonels, put up with him, and he does do his job, even if it is with a long monologue attached.”

The others in the cabin chuckled in agreement. Lorne pulled up the HUD to see where the team was. “Hmm, that’s interesting.”

“Oh, yeah? Define ‘interesting.’” Keller sat forward to peer at the display.

“They’re spread all over. See there’s one not too far from our present position, one farther north, and two to the west.”

“Any way to see who is who?”

Lorne shook his head. “No, nor does it tell us what state they are in.” He grimaced. “As long as the beacon isn’t shut down, we can’t even tell if they’re dead or alive.”

“Well, let’s hope that they’re still…alive, then.” Keller tried to infuse some positive energy into the suddenly morbid atmosphere.

“I’m sure they are, doc. If anything, Sheppard does know how to keep his team in one piece.” He reached out to the dialing pad in the middle of the console and began dialing. “I’ll let Colonel Carter know and then we’ll go get them.” The gate whooshed to life below them, sending a wash of blue light down the mountain. He sent his IDC through so Chuck would know it was them dialing back. “Well, there’s no physical sign of them, but I am picking up four locator beacons. They must have been separated as the signals are scattered all over the…” A flash of light followed by a reverberating boom caught his attention. The light, both moon and powder flash, revealed a ship now sitting in the previously empty bay, its white sails practically glowing. “Oh, shit! Incoming!”

He swung the jumper sharply to the right. An explosion just below them rocked the small craft. Another loud thump from the ship below signaled another shot. In the confusing light it was impossible to tell where the shot was headed. He pulled the jumper back to the left, hoping to avoid it while aiming for the still active stargate.

“Let’s get out of here before they blow us into fish food.”

“But what about Colonel Sheppard and his team?” Dr. Keller had an anxious look on her face.

“We’ll come back in a few hours when it’s light. I can’t see anything in this.” He tried to circle the gate, hoping to get out of immediate range while coming back into line with the wormhole. Another shot was followed closely by two more. The resulting explosion rocked the craft more violently than before and the engines sputtered. The jumper sagged to one side. “We’re hit.”

“And the gate just shut down.” Evans pointed.

“Well, dial it up again.”

“Yes, sir,” Evans replied smartly as he thumped out the address.

Lorne pulled the jumper reluctantly into another pass. “Evans, what about that gate?”

“Sorry, sir. It won’t open.” He looked out the front to see below. “Either the DHD or the gate itself must’ve been hit and taken damage. Though I don’t know why that would prevent us from dialing.”

Lorne set his teeth and pulled on the yoke, cursing the dead drive pod and hoping the other would have enough juice to get them out of the way fast enough to avoid the next lucky shot. The tall volcano peak crested in the view screen as two more shots missed them. He was breathing a sigh of relief when another explosion buckled the rear hatch and took out the other drive pod.

Keller let out a small scream as the jumper nose-dived. Lorne’s stomach leaped in the sudden free-fall. He had a little bit of maneuverability left, and he tried to get all he could as the little craft spiraled down to the mountainside below.

“Hang on,” he gritted out. “We’re going down.” Like it wasn’t obvious, he told himself.

The jumper shuddered and shivered its way down. Lorne tried to get its nose up as much as possible, hoping to avoid as much damage as possible – both to the occupants as well as the ship itself. An acrid burning smell filled the cabin and he breathed as little as possible.

Tree fronds and vines hit the screen and canopy, slowing the forward momentum slightly. Suddenly the nose dipped down, digging a wide furrow in the ground cover. He lurched forward in his seat, the breath forced out of him as his ribs met the console edge in front of him. Tree trunks whipped past them and Lorne prayed to God that they wouldn’t hit one. God must’ve listened as the jumper slowed to a shuddering halt, nearly buried in torn foliage, tree fronds, rocks, and sand.

It was silent in the jumper save for a hissing sound from a broken seal. After a moment to get his breath back and shake out tight muscles, Lorne turned and surveyed the rest of the occupants. Lt. Evans was groaning and trying to focus his eyes. Blood dripped from a gash in his forehead. A matching smear glinted on the edge of the console in front of him. Dr. Keller was laid out on the floor between the rear seats on her back with Sgt. McKinley laying half over her legs, wedged between his chair and the pilot’s seat. Both stirred and groaned even as he watched.

Before anyone could speak, the jumper tilted to the side. A crunch of rock and slither of sand was heard through the cracked windscreen. It settled, but Lorne stood, not wanting to be caught in the craft if it decided to go for a ride down the steep mountainside.

“Okay, everybody out. We’re not stable, and I for one don’t want to ride this thing down a precipice.” Lorne pulled Evans to his feet, ignoring the dull ache high on his own side. McKinley was already up and back near the hatch. Dr. Keller was sitting up but leaning as a precarious angle. “Hey, you okay, doc?” He bent over to look into her eyes.

They blinked a couple of times, and she shook her head slightly to clear it. “Uh, yeah, I…I think so.”

“Good, we need to get out of here.” He bit back a grunt at the sudden blossoming of pain in his side as he stood straight. “I’ll open the hatch.” He leaned over the console, searching for the release in the dim light. He hit it, and hit it again when he didn’t hear the door open. “Crap.” He turned and addressed McKinley. “It’s not working, we’re going to have to use the manual release.” The jumper settled again, the deck tilting at a sharper angle. “Quickly!”

“Yes, sir.” McKinley threw open the covering on the manual release and grasped the clear handle. With a reluctant squeak it came down and the hatch opened, letting in light and fresh air. Unfortunately, it stopped halfway down, blocked by buckled metal as well as something outside. Sand trickled down from the canopy.

Lorne eyed the opening, judging it to be wide enough for all of them to get out one by one. He pushed a still dazed Evans in front of him, and guided him up to the back. Dr. Keller was moving under her own steam but cradling an arm.

“Go,” he told McKinley. “You can help Dr. Keller and Evans out.”

The marine nodded and slipped through the opening, his vest catching momentarily. Keller went next, her slender frame moving easily through as McKinley’s hand helped her step down to the shifting sand under them. Lorne made sure Evans was being helped out before he rummaged through the supplies in the back.

“McKinley, here, get these.” Lorne threw a few packs of MRE’s at the sergeant as he stuck his head back in. He sucked in a breath and tightened his elbow into his side as the movement aggravated the injury.

McKinley stuck his head back in after handing the meals off to one of the others. “Sir, the jumper’s about to go down the mountainside. You should hurry.”

“I’m coming.” Lorne grabbed all the extra ammo he cold find and made a beeline for the exit. The deck shifted again, making footing tricky. The extra effort for balance pulled at his ribs again, causing black spots to dance at the corners of his vision. He felt the jumper start to slide again and grabbed the door, hauling himself up and out.

McKinley and Keller grabbed his hands and helped him out of the craft just as it broke free of whatever was holding it up. Evan took as deep a breath as he could, a hand holding his side, and watched the jumper slide down the spree of lava rock and sand angled down and away from them. The moonlight gleamed on the outer hull for a moment before it was lost beneath the shadow of trees. They could still hear it descending until a loud crash and sudden silence told them it’d reached the bottom.

“Well, there goes another jumper.” Lorne turned and surveyed the area and his team.

They were on a small outcrop of volcanic residue overlooking the far side of the island. The moonlight slanting through the trees overhead gave all three of them ghostly pale faces and everything appeared slightly distorted due to the triple moons. Humidity and warmth made for an uncomfortable combination, but fortunately a cooling breeze blew up from the bay, moving the fronds of the trees to create even more distorted shadows.

Evans was sitting on a relatively flat rock, hands holding up his head, eyes still somewhat unfocused. McKinley appeared all right – he was vertical and moving freely. Keller was using one hand to look through her backpack. Her other wrist was already wrapped up, stiff but useable.

She looked up at him suddenly, professional eyes going immediately to where he held his side. “You need to sit down and take off your shirt so I can bind that.” She pulled out a large roll of surgical tape.

“I’m fine. See to Evans first.” He turned to McKinley. “We need to get back to the stargate, see if we can fix it. If we can’t fix it then a place to lay low until Carter dials in.” Lorne turned in a half circle surveying the hillside, trying to decide which descent would be the least likely to kill them. He was startled when someone started undoing his vest. “Whoa there, doc.” He pushed her hands away. “I said see to Evans first.”

Jennifer put her hands on her hips and glared at him. “I will in a moment. I can tell by your face you’re in a lot of pain and favoring your side. It’s most likely a broken rib.” She held up the tape again. “It’s not much, but at least it’ll make it more comfortable. That way you can get about getting us out of here.”

He glared back at her for a moment then relented. But he rolled his eyes as she helped him off with his vest and uniform shirt. He glanced at McKinley. “While she’s doing this, why don’t you scout around, see if you can find us a safe…er, less dangerous, way down.” The marine nodded and turned away, soon lost in the shifting shadows.

Keller lifted his t-shirt out of the way and he held it up for her, wincing as she probed gently. “Yep, like I thought. Broken.” She looked up at him. “You seem to be breathing ok?”

He nodded, trying to breathe as shallowly as possible as she started strapping him up. The muscles in his jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth. In less time than he though possible she was done and he lowered his arms, bringing the slightly sweaty t-shirt with them. He shifted experimentally, smiling his thanks at the doctor when less pain accompanied his movements.

She turned back to her kit. “Just don’t do anymore stuff than you need to, Major. Until I can get you under a scanner, I don’t know the full extent of the injury.” She handed back a couple of pills. “Here, take these. This should help.”

“Thanks.”

Keller walked over to Evans with a bandage and a flashlight in her hands. Lorne swallowed the pills dry and followed her, careful not to put a foot wrong in the weird light.

“How is he?”

She looked back at him, a worried look on her oval face. “He has lacerations to his temple and forehead. I’ve already taken care of those,” and she indicated the bandage already in place, “but it’s the concussion I’m worried about.” She sighed and shook her head. “Him, I definitely need to get under the scanner.”

“We’re doing the best we can doc.”

“I know, I…”

She was interrupted by McKinley coming back, slightly out of breath. “Sir, we’ve got company.”

Lorne was instantly on guard, grabbing the flashlight out of Keller’s hand and flicking it off. After stashing it in his vest his hands went to his P-90, clicking the safety off. He followed the direction of the other man’s pointing arm and spotted movement through the trees below. “How many?”

The other man shook his head. “Hard to tell. The shadows make it difficult.” He paused, head tilted to catch the sounds made by the men below. “At a guess…maybe six, no more than ten.”

Lorne nodded and turned back to Keller and Evans. “Doc, I need him on his feet and somewhat lucid.”

“What? He’s barely conscious as it is.”

“Just make it happen. We have to go up, the quicker the better.”

“Up?” She looked up to the steep slope before them.

“Up.” He knelt by her pack, closing it up for her. “And the sooner the better.”

She knelt by him and placed a couple more items into the pack. He shifted and pulled out his sidearm, putting it into a resisting hand.

“Here, you’d better have this, just in case.”

She looked at him, eyes wide, the gun hanging limply from her hand.

“You do know how to use it?” He knew she did, Colonel Sheppard had made it imperative that everyone on the base be checked out on the 9mm Beretta, at the very least.

“Yeah, but…”

He didn’t let her finish, standing and moving over to Evans. “McKinley, give me a hand. We need to get him moving.”

Together they manhandled the other marine to his feet. Lorne tapped his cheek a couple of times, until the slightly taller man’s eyes finally focused on his team leader.

“Here, this might help.” Keller handed Lorne a couple of pills. They got the medicine down Evans’ throat and got him moving.

OOOooooOOO

Half an hour later, Jennifer’s lungs felt like they would burst and her thighs felt like jello. Major Lorne had forced them to climb a steep, rocky hillside that required every once of concentration and will. Her hands were sore and scratched from the sharp lava rock. Her wrist throbbed painfully from having to pull herself up, and her ankles were sore from getting stuck in the sand filled pockets between rocks.

She drew in a sobbing breath as she heard the curses of the men behind them. Slowly they had been gaining until now they were barely a stones throw away. Jennifer imagined she could even smell their foul breath on the wind that cooled her heated face.

“Come on, Dr. Keller, you’re almost there.”

The cute marine, Sgt. McKinley was right behind her, urging her to greater efforts. She looked up, spotting the Major and Lt. Evans not far above her. She took a deep breath and reached out to the next rock up.

Come on, Jennifer, you can do this, she told herself. Remember the planet with Teyla, you didn’t think you could do what you did then, but you did. Come on, you can do this.

It became a mantra that she repeated to herself, even out loud at the hardest parts over the next ten minutes. They reached a shoulder of the mountain and were finally going down. The ocean glinted up at them through a clear patch in the trees. Off to the right was a sharp drop off, ending in tumbled rocks far below. The moonlight was still bright as day, casting weird shadows that distorted their path. Major Lorne led the way. He paused when they were just over the ridge, glancing about, looking for the safest way down, she assumed.

Suddenly she was thrown off balance as McKinley fell into her, knocking her backward. She landed on her butt, bruising one side on a sharp stone. McKinley must have stepped wrong for he had rolled into her legs, and now tried to grab at her boot to keep from slipping further down the slope. He kept sliding off to the steepest part of the downgrade toward the drop off, going faster every moment. She had to dig her heels in and wrenched her good wrist trying to keep from sliding after him.

“McKinley!” Lorne shouted hoarsely. He clambered back up to where she was clinging to the rocky slope. He stretched out a hand trying to reach his man and gasped in pain as his ribs protested. McKinley flailed, his eyes desperate, trying to reach the life line, but was already too far down. Sand, dust and rocks rolled down after him, following the rapidly falling body.

Jennifer closed her eyes and hunched her shoulders as he reached the drop off and screamed, the sound echoing eerily in the still night air. The scream was silenced suddenly, horribly, brutally. She bit her lip to keep from screaming herself. That could just as easily been her, was the only thought going around in her head.

“No!”

She opened her eyes to see Major Lorne hit the ground beneath him in agony at losing one of his men. He bowed his head briefly, closing his eyes and clenching his teeth to keep back the grief. Now was not the time. She knew that as well as he did. She got shakily to her feet and carefully moved down to him.

She touched his shoulder gently. “Major, we must go. They’re not far behind.”

He didn’t acknowledge her but got to his feet and slowly made his way down to where Evans was waiting. Jennifer followed, keeping an eye on the unstable ground. Lt. Evans was much more lucid than he’d been, able to move on his own and he now took point, P-90 at the ready. Lorne motioned for her to get in between the two men as he took up the rear position.

They moved down the far side of the slope, moving much faster. They kept to the trees, keeping in shadows as much as possible, especially since their followers had crested the ridge not long after they had. Lorne moved to point position and led them onto a shelf of rock jutting out from a short wall, hoping to minimize tracks. They came across a narrow defile in the face of the cliff, deep in shadow.

“Evans, you and Keller stay here.”

“What? What do you mean stay here?” Jennifer was frankly incredulous. “They’re right behind us!” She heard her voice rising in panic, but couldn’t stop it. Evans slapped a hand over her mouth.

“Wedge yourself as far in as you can.” He poked his head into the narrow opening. “It looks like it goes a ways in.” He turned back to her. “I’m going to backtrack and see if I can’t stop them or delay them. Evans, you keep watch. With this narrow an entry, you shouldn’t have a problem.”

Evans nodded and removed his hand from her mouth. “Yes, sir. Be careful, sir.” He guided Jennifer into the claustrophobic space.

“Radio silence unless you hear three clicks. I’ll be back.” Then he was gone, disappearing into the shadows.

“Get back as far as you can,” Evans instructed quietly.

Jennifer sighed, feeling her way slowly with hands outstretched. She hissed as her bruised left hand hit the back wall with enough force to bend it back. She turned, grateful to see the outline of the opening illuminated by the dim light outside. A shadow passed in front of it and took up position just inside. She leaned against the wall behind her, sighing as all her aches and pains started throbbing in time to her pumping blood.

She lost track of time in the silent dark. Evans kept quiet and she followed suit. After a few minutes of standing her legs began shaking and she slid down the wall to her haunches. Her eyes slid closed and she began to drift.

Loud voices followed by a thunderous volley of shots roused her to full awareness. Evans defended the opening, the sound of the shots resounding and re-echoing through the small space. His fire was returned and he moved quickly to the side. Jennifer screamed as a bullet shattered a rock right by her head. She slid as far to the side as possible, hands over her ears, head down almost between her knees. She squeezed her eyes closed, fear quaking through her.

After a time, it was silent. Something nudged her shoulder. She opened her eyes slowly wondering why it was light enough to see now. A couple of pairs of boots filled her vision and her head came up, hands falling away from her ears. She looked up slowly, taking in the beige pants and white shirts.

A triple-barrel shotgun and a Wraith stunner were aimed right at her by two men she’d never seen before.