The hatch closed behind them, the emergency suits in a discarded pile in the airlock. Sheppard hadn’t waited for Rodney to run a toxicity test on the air; the colonel had just ripped off his helmet and taken a lungful. Once it was clear he wasn’t going to turn blue and die, McKay had done the same. He had to admit, being able to breath freely again was a huge relief — even if the air in here did smell of ozone and burnt metal.
“No alarms,” said Sheppard quietly. “Guess they don’t know we’re here.”
McKay peered at the walls, poking at a carbon-scored swath of burn damage. “By the looks of this, there could be good reason for that. Looks like there was a fire, or something, maybe it knocked out some of the internal sensors.”
“Let’s be thankful for small mercies, then.” Sheppard edged forward. “So. What now?”
“You’re asking me?” Rodney blinked. “This was your plan. If I had my way, we’d still be on Heruun.”
“I mean, which way?” He pointed up and down the corridor.
Rodney hesitated for a moment, consulting the scanner. “Readings on this are a bit wacky,” he confessed. “Might be something in the construction affecting the device…” He peered at the display. “Okay. I’m reading life signs in that direction,” He nodded to the right, where the corridor began a gentle rise. “One human and two that are, uh, not. I think.” He amended hastily.
“That’s very reassuring,” Sheppard said dryly. “Stick close and keep your eyes open. We’re deep in Indian Country here. There’s no telling what’s waiting for us around the next corner,”
“Just for once, it might be nice to find an alien stronghold that was well signposted,” McKay noted as they walked. “I’m just saying. All these corridors look pretty much the same…”
“Yeah…” The colonel’s voice trailed off and he halted. “You know something? I’ve seen this before.”
“What, the lone heroes creeping into the bowels of the scary alien base? I saw that movie too.” He shuddered. “Didn’t the scientist guy get eaten by something?”
“The walls, McKay,” Sheppard replied. “The design. C’mon, take a look around. It looks familiar.”
Rodney hesitated and took a moment to study the structure of the corridor; and Sheppard’s observation clicked in his head. “Whoa. Yes. If you look past the burn damage, all the missing panels…”
“Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me this place isn’t what I think it is.”
McKay’s stomach knotted. “There’s only one way to be sure.”
“You must understand,” said the sickly Risar, “everything I have done has been for a greater good. I regret any impairment that results from my intervention, and I have attempted to minimize it.”
Teyla’s lip curled. “I do not accept that. What you have done here is wrong. Nothing can excuse it!”
“I have protected the Heruuni in return for their assistance —” said the other alien.
She glared at the creature. “But did you ever ask their permission? You treat intelligent beings like animals!”
“There was no other option open to me,” said the first Risar. “When my starship crash-landed here, I had no choice. The humans were the only tools I could use to repair the damage.”
“Starship?”
The other alien touched it’s chest. “These Risar have such short life spans, and they perform poorly in adverse conditions.” It pointed at the other one. “That unit will soon perish. The cellular degradation cannot be stemmed, despite my attempts at hybridization.”
“I cannot continue to create new Risar.” The sickly one’s head bobbed. “Stocks of genetic material are low. You must understand. Without the humans, I am stranded.”
Teyla’s mind raced. Every Risar she had encountered spoke as if it were alone; each one said ‘I’ instead of ‘We’. Their voices were all a uniform pitch — and now, with all this talk of ‘genetic material’ and ‘creation of units’, she found herself wondering what kind of beings they really were. “You… You are all of a single mind,” she breathed, the understanding stark in her thoughts. “You share the same consciousness.”
“The Risar are tools,” came the answer. “A basic, primitive vessel for my intention. A mechanism, Teyla Emmagan, nothing more.”
She understood that what she was looking at was no more than a proxy, a mask for the real intelligence behind everything that was happening on Heruun. “Then what is the Aegis?” she demanded.
“It is only a name, it is not who I am.” The other Risar was about to speak again, but an abrupt, strident bell sounded through the chamber. Teyla recognized an alarm signal when she heard one.
“What is happening?” she asked.
The sickly Risar glanced at her with its rheumy eyes. “There are intruders aboard my vessel.”
The corridor walls passed him by in a blur. Ronon pulled against his captors, but he had no energy to resist them. His legs felt like they were made of water, and it was all he could do to keep himself on his feet. Reaching deep within, he drew on reservoirs of strength, forcing every final iota of will to the surface. “Get…off… me!”
On any other day, the strike would have been flawless; instead it was clumsy. But he was Ronon Dex, and that meant it still worked. The Satedan’s balled fist collided with the side of the skull of the Risar holding his right arm, and staggered the alien. It released him, letting him use his momentum to swing around and pull the second creature grasping him off-balance.
His head was swimming and he over-extended. Instead of laying out the other Risar, he dragged it down to the deck, and the two of them collapsed in an untidy heap. Ronon kicked out hard and struck meat and bone; the other alien grunted and stumbled, clawing at him.
Everything was an effort now, the damnable weakness in his limbs turning each move he made into a laborious task. He felt as if he weighed ten times as much as normal. He was lead-heavy, sluggish and slow. It made him furious.
Where were they taking him? It hardly mattered. All that was important was to find Teyla, rescue her. It had been his mistake before, his rash choice that had got them recaptured. But not again. This time he would do it right. This time.
If only he could just stand up.
The downed Risar had stopped moving but the other one was returning, and he had the paralysis device in his grip. A shard of fear cut through Dex; in his weakened state, exposure to the shock of the ray from the weapon might be too much for him to take — it could mean the end of him.
He made it to one knee, reaching up to defend himself.
Then there was a screech of sound, a blaze of white fire, and suddenly the Risar was on the ground, twitching.
Dex blinked owlishly as two figures in blue-black fatigues came closer, his blurry vision clearing a little.
“Hey, Ronon… Are you all right? You look awful.”
“McKay.” A grin split his face and he allowed Rodney to pull him to his feet, with a grunt of exertion. “I am actually pleased to see you.”
“The feeling is, ah, mutual,” came the reply.
Sheppard hove into view. “Thought you could use an assist.”
“I had it covered,” Dex lied. “About time you got here. How’d you find us?”
“More by luck than judgment,” noted McKay.
“Isn’t that always the way?” Sheppard gestured with the stunner in his hand. “Long story short, we’re on the moon and we don’t have a ride home.”
“First things first,” Dex said, fighting down a wave of nausea. “We find Teyla.” He extended his hand toward Rodney. “Give me your gun.”
“What? Why?”
“Because even in this state, I’m a better shot than you’ll ever be. Give.”
McKay shrugged and conceded the weapon. “I guess you have a point there.”
“Got any grenades?” he demanded.
Sheppard held up a single flash bang. “Just this.”
“It’ll do.” Ronon pointed back the way he had come. “Down there. I saw the Risars taking her.”