“Come on,” Sheppard said. “What’s wrong?”
“My access code,” Mara said. “It’s been locked out.”
“Great,” Sheppard replied. “Just great.”
“Don’t worry,” she laughed. “I know other codes.”
She keyed in a sequence of symbols, and the door slid open. Sheppard slipped quickly inside. Ronon, and Cumby were hunched over the view screen. They glanced up in shock, but even the sudden opening of the door couldn’t drag their attention from Rodney and the dragon for long.
“Come on,” Sheppard barked. “We’re no good to Rodney or anyone else if we all end up locked in here. Let’s move.”
“He’s wounded it twice,” Ronon said. “Never would have guessed.”
Sheppard and Mara slipped up beside them. Just as they did, Rodney and his mount lunged yet again. The lance bit deep, and the dragon reared up. It screamed, but there was more than pain in the sound. It was shrill and final, and even as the creature toppled backward, it was obvious it would never rise again.
“I don’t believe it!” Sheppard breathed.
But even as it died, it whipped its monstrous tail in a vicious arc. The roar of the crowd dropped to stunned silence as Rodney turned and saw it move — too late. The tail caught him dead on. It lifted him and the horse from the arena floor and drove them into the wall. The force of the blow was so great that the wall crumbled. Rodney, the tail, and the horse disappeared through the rubble. Dust rose, and the dragon lay still.
“No!” Cumby choked.
On the screen, Saul’s face appeared. “The dragon is dead,” he said, his voice grave but his eyes dancing with excitement. “Unfortunately, the brave warrior who defeated it has also passed on. When we have finished removing the rubble, the next battle will begin. Colonel Sheppard, wherever you are in the city, you have my condolences. You have lost a brave man.”
With a curse, Ronon slammed his fist into the wall and Sheppard dropped his eyes to the floor, breathing hard. He couldn’t believe it, couldn’t process this twisted reality.
Teyla was gone. Rodney was gone. His team was shattered.
Eyes squeezed shut he dragged in a breath, then another, struggling for self-control. But he couldn’t grieve here, he didn’t have that luxury. Their lives were measured in hours now and he had to get them home. With effort, he looked up into the bleak faces of Ronon and Cumby. This had to end.
“Come on,” he said, and didn’t recognize the dead voice that spoke. “We’re getting outa here. Now.”
“No. We should go back,” Ronon said. “We can’t leave them here.”
Sheppard met his gaze and saw in Ronon’s hooded eyes the same rage he felt, constricting his chest like a steel band. It was hard to draw breath against it, hard to focus on anything beyond it. “We have to go,” he said, grinding out the words. “There’s nothing we can do for them now.”
“We can kill Saul,” Ronon growled.
“He’s going to die anyway. And so will we, if we don’t leave. Now.”
“Does it matter? Some things are more important than survival.”
Sheppard looked away, back at the screen. He could see the creature being dragged away and with a sickening jolt saw the gleam of Rodney’s armor laying twisted in the rubble. “Vengeance?” he said, tasting the word in the bile that rose at the back of his throat. He looked at Ronon. “Do you think that’s what Teyla would have wanted? Or Rodney?”
Ronon didn’t answer, but behind him Cumby scratched a hand across his dirt-streaked face. “Ronon’s right,” he said. “We can’t just leave them here. What if they’re not dead?”
And for a moment he was back in the Afghan desert, Holland bleeding out in the sand and not a damn thing he could do about it. He looked away. “Doesn’t matter,” he said. “We can’t go back for them, there’s no time.”
“But — ”
“There’s no time!” he snapped. “We’re leaving, now. And that’s an order, soldier.”
Cumby stared at him and then Ronon said, “Sheppard’s right. If we go back, we all die.”
“Let’s go,” Sheppard said, heading for the door.
“To the star drive?” Mara said, tentative amid their grief and anger.
“No. To the gate. We’re getting out of here.”
“But you can’t go back to your city,” she said, confused. “Why would you go to the gate? I thought — ”
He spun around. “Look, the only one of us who could have changed the course of this city was Rodney. And he’s dead. So, we have one chance to get out of here — Rodney gave us the coordinates to a world that’s not locked out of the system and with a bit of luck our people will be waiting there for us.” He paused, bitter from his loss but trying not to take it out on Mara. “Come with us.”
“But I thought we were going to try and save Admah first. My home, my friends, they’re all going to die and — ”
“And my friends are already dead!” he barked, and just saying it made it too true, too real. He took a breath, tamped down his rage. Later. There’d be time for that later. With effort, he kept his voice even. “Look, Teyla and Rodney were my friends,” he said. “They died because of this madness and there’s not a damn thing I can do about that. It’s too late for them, and it’s too late for the city. Rodney was Admah’s last hope, and now he’s gone.” He rubbed a hand across his face. “I’m sorry, we can’t help your people. But you? That’s another story. You can come with us. You can help us.”
Mara stared, eyes wide with fear but her face resolved. “I understand,” she said. “I’ll come with you. There’s nothing left for me here.”
“Then let’s go,” Ronon said. His voice was even, but just beneath the surface it trembled with barely controlled rage.
“Mara, show us how to get to the surface,” Sheppard said. “We’ll handle it from there.”
She nodded and together they slipped out into the passage, heading toward the main room and the halls beyond. On the screens all around, Saul began announcing the next battle. The crowd roared and the games continued unabated.
Chapter Twenty-nine
Lorne stepped into a pocket of lush jungle. The gate itself was clear, as was a circle about ten meters around it on all sides. Beyond this, plants and vines encroached, threatening to overrun the clearing and block off the rest of the world they’d entered.
“Move into the brush on the right,” Lorne directed. “Let’s get set up. We don’t know how long we’ll be waiting here, and I don’t want any surprises. As soon as we get the equipment up and going, send a report back to Woolsey. Verdino, Gravel, you’re with me.”
“Where are we going, sir?” Corporal Gravel asked.
She was a short, slender woman with long dark hair. She carried her weapon easily. Lorne had chosen this team himself, and he’d chosen Gravel for her intuition and an almost cat-like grace in battle.
“We’re going to check the perimeter,” Lorne said. “We won’t go far, but I don’t like the idea of not getting a look around. The way this place is overgrown suggests that there hasn’t been anyone around here for some time. Looks can be deceiving.”
“They could have let the jungle grow up just to camouflage the gate,” Verdino said.
“Exactly,” Lorne agreed. “Let’s move. We’ll keep in touch. See you all shortly. Meanwhile, keep your eyes open, get us entrenched, and let’s get ready to welcome Colonel Sheppard and his team back in style.”
The three plunged into the jungle, leaving the rest of the team to establish the base. They moved easily. Lorne took point, Gravel swept her gaze and weapon over the jungle to either side of the trail, and Verdino watched their rear, careful not to let anything or anyone slip around behind and cut them off from the gate.