“We probably ought to,” Rodney said. “Future generations may not think much of us, either.”
“And that will really suck. But they weren’t here,” John said. He looked at Jitrine. “We’ll leave your Stargate intact. But you might want to tell your King Anados to get some guards over there pronto. Not everybody who comes through the gate is going to be friendly.”
“We understand that, Sheppard,” Jitrine said. “And we are not soft as you might think.”
“I didn’t think that,” John said gravely. “You’re one tough old bird.”
Jitrine broke into a wide smile, then leaned up and put her cheek to John’s. “Take care of yourself,” she said. “And tell your wife to rest that arm.”
“She’s not my wife,” John said.
Jitrine released him and went back to the fire, sliding onto the bench beside Carson, who was putting a fiberglass cast on Nevin’s wrist. He greeted her cheerfully, and she leaned in to see what he did, pointing at something about Nevin’s hand.
“She is a fine doctor,” Teyla said, watching Jitrine examining Carson’s work.
“She pretty much is,” John agreed. “Carson said she did a good job on my head, and that he’s not even going to keep me in the infirmary. That if I were going to die I would have by now.”
“That is Carson indeed,” Teyla said. Stars were glittering and the sea breeze was freshening. She pulled her jacket on one arm and he held the other side for her to slide her injured arm into the sleeve, gently working the binding over her wrist so that he didn’t jostle her shoulder too much.
“He looks like he is having a good conversation with Jitrine,” Teyla said.
“I imagine he’ll want to come back,” John said. “You know Carson. He’d be lecturing in Pelagia next week if Elizabeth would let him.”
“She might,” Teyla said.
“She might at that,” John said thoughtfully.
Rodney hunched his shoulders against the wind which ruffled his hair. He looked uncomfortable, as though he’d rather not say anything, but was doing it anyhow. “I’m glad you guys are, you know…not dead. I thought…when we saw the wrecked jumper… There were all those jackals and I had to hunt for you all over the planet and you’d gotten yourselves captured by the Wraith and…”
“We love you too, Rodney,” Teyla said. “Thank you.”
Rodney opened his mouth and shut it again. “You’re welcome,” he said quietly. He looked about, as if suddenly surprised by something. “I’m going to go see if there is any food left.” Hands in his pockets, Rodney hurried away.
Teyla looked after him. “Sometimes Rodney is very strange,” she said. “Why would he not want us to know that he was worried about us?”
“That’s just Rodney,” John said. “He’s a good guy.”
“I know,” Teyla said with a smile.
John zipped up his jacket. The nights could get cold, here on the edge of the desert. But they wouldn’t be staying the night, thanks to his team. Maybe they were all getting better at this. “We’re all in one piece, anyhow.”
“More or less,” Teyla agreed with a quick glance at his forehead. “I am afraid my book is ruined.”
“Your… Oh, Watership Down.” It took him a moment. “Well, if it is I can probably find you another copy or get it sent out on the Daedalus’ next run.”
“It is not right to ask for another gift because you have ruined the first one,” she said.
“It is if you ruined it saving the ass of the guy who gave it to you,” John said. He stopped, hesitating. “I’m glad you like it.”
“The stories of your people,” she said, tilting her chin up as though she could see his world among the distant stars. Of course she couldn’t. They were too far away. “It is through one’s stories that you come to know them, through the stories they love and the stories they tell, the ones they embrace close to their hearts. Stories are powerful things.”
John looked up at the alien stars, so close in the velvety darkness, moving in their unfamiliar courses. He’d dared to imagine this once, long before life intervened, a different story, an impossible one. He cleared his throat. “There was this kid who loved Star Wars,” he said. “And he wanted to be Han Solo. The stars over his back yard might be the stars of Hoth or the Tion Hegemony or Corellia. Gotta find you a copy of Han Solo and the Lost Legacy next time I’m on Earth.”
“I will look forward to it,” Teyla said formally. Then something in her face changed, stilled. “This Han Solo. Did he die young?”
John shook his head. “Nah. He had some close calls and some really bad ones, but no, he didn’t die. He had the fastest ship in the fleet and he married the Princess and she became President of the New Republic and he was her consort. And they stuck together through thick and thin, a whole lot of work healing the galaxy after the Empire.”
“That sounds like a very good ending,” she said thoughtfully. “I suppose if he had wanted to die he would have.”
John shrugged. “There are always plenty of ways to die if you want to.” The sea wind lifted her hair, pulling it back from her face as though baring a question. “What story… What story did you want to be in?”
Teyla looked at him sideways, a warm smile spreading across her face. “Once there was a queen, and she walked out of darkness, and Death made a cloak around her to guard her passage, and thus they came to the City of Emege where every tower was alight for joy. I will tell you the whole story one day.”
“It’s a deal,” John said. He glanced back toward the cooking fires. “As soon as Carson’s done, let’s pack up,” John said. “If we can pry Ronon and Radek away from the food, that is. Let’s go home.”