“Okay,” said Sheppard, powering down the jumper and checking its cloaking device. “We head for the village and find out.”
Aiden watched with some amusement as McKay struggled with his overloaded pack. “You did say that our powered equipment isn’t going to work under the shields, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but we won’t always be under the EM fields, will we?” snapped the scientist. “Be prepared, isn’t that the Marine motto?”
“That’s the Boy Scouts.”
“Ah. Close enough.”
Before Aiden could fire off a stinging reply, the Major shot him a warning look. Rank sure had its privileges. McKay’s self-importance was generally more entertaining than annoying, but taking a man’s hard-won, real chocolate brownie was no laughing matter. Neither was disparaging the Corps.
Although the sun was up, they were still in the shadow of the fortress, and the air had that fresh, dewy smell to it — with a tang of salt that Aiden recognized from his time on Atlantis. Crickets or their native equivalent chirped, while a few birds chattered in the branches. In the near distance, he could hear the sound of surf. Everything seemed peaceful enough, except for the periodic, insistent sound of horns. “I think the loudest call is coming from the village,” Aiden said.
“How perceptive of you.” McKay promptly stepped up to his ankle in what presumably were sheep droppings, except that they had the size and consistency of wet cow patties.
Aiden didn’t try to refrain from laughing.
They reached the trail a few minutes later. Too narrow to be a road, the lack of wheel ruts in the sandy soil told Aiden that the path must be a wide foot track. It wound through a few stumpy dune trees and emerged in the outskirts of the village, only a few hundred yards away. From the opposite direction came the sounds of people running through the forest, crying and shouting hysterically. He readied his weapon at precisely the same moment as his commanding officer.
“That doesn’t sound good,” the Major observed, then jerked back as a figure sprinted past them toward the village. He stepped off the path and motioned for them to take cover behind some bushes.
“Oh, that’s fantastic,” McKay groused, floundering around in the branches. “I think I’ve just encountered this world’s version of brambles. With my luck, it’ll probably be industrial-strength poison ivy.”
Dozens of people burst over the top of the rise. Dressed in simple tunics and thick hide boots held in place by leather thongs, they looked like farmers and hunters. Overhead, a flock of startled birds took to wing. The Major turned, and Aiden followed his gaze. Running behind them through the trees, also headed to the village, were still more people. All of them had the same look of dread that Aiden had seen on the Athosians’ faces the night the Wraith had struck. The tension in his stomach ratcheted up several more notches.
“They attack!”
Women clutching terrified children and heavily bearded men carrying axes flooded past on either side of the team. They didn’t look like the sort of people who’d normally run from much of anything.
“Who is attacking?” McKay asked no one in particular. “Not us, right?”
No one replied. Aiden had seen enough frightened mobs in his time to know that this one probably hadn’t even noticed them. Just in front of him, someone stumbled, dropping a burlap bag, while another person appeared to go down. A woman stooped to recover the bag, but the man with her shouted, “Leave it. There is no time. They come!”
The horns continued to blow. People pushed past Aiden, knocking him aside in their desperate flight. Unless they went with the flow, the four team members were in serious danger of being trampled. He looked to the Major, who was shouting something and pointing to a rocky outcrop. The crowds, now screaming unintelligibly, seemed to be skirting around it. Following Teyla, Aiden made his way across the growing surge of humanity.
McKay’s self-preservation skills had kicked in fast. By the time Aiden reached the rocks, the scientist was already clambering up the side, yelling, “Where the hell did all of these people come from?”
“I’m more worried about what’s following them,” Sheppard shouted back.
“Of course,” McKay declared loudly. “It’s these patchy EM fields. The life signs intermittently vanish and reappear once people emerge from the shields’ umbrella.”
Teyla reached the top of the outcrop ahead of Aiden, and looked down at the living tide. “They are searching the sky.”
“Wraith!” Aiden declared, hauling himself up. He looked out across the ocean, half expecting to see a swarm of Darts headed in their direction. Instead, all he noted was a bunch of large wooden boats tied up in the harbor.
Sheppard rounded on the Athosian. “Teyla?”
A slight frown marred her features, but she seemed more puzzled than concerned. “I feel nothing,” she declared.
The crowds had tapered off until only stragglers, mostly the elderly, panting and struggling with their few meager possessions, hurried by. A long, keening cry came from a ditch off to one side of the path. Something was alive down there. Without hesitation Aiden jumped off the rock and went to investigate.
A young woman — a girl, really, probably around sixteen — was desperately trying to bury herself in leaves and twigs. Aiden briefly glanced back to see the rest of his team coming up behind him. Dropping to one knee beside the girl, he said, “Hey, you need help?”
Her pallid features were contorted with pain and abject terror. “My leg.” A flash of confusion crossed her face when her eyes took in his clothes, but it didn’t distract her from her plea. “They are coming, and I cannot run!”
“Someone probably knocked her down,” McKay observed needlessly. “The same thing almost happened to me. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to—”
Ignoring him, Teyla stepped down into the sandy ditch, quickly brushed aside the leaves, and gently ran her hands along the girl’s leg. Unlike the sturdy looking footware of the people who had been running, this child’s hide boots were thin and patchy. Teyla quickly unwound the leather bindings. “I believe one of the bones below the knee may have been broken.”
Aiden pulled off his pack, intending to take a splint from his med kit. The girl clutched at his sleeve. “Please! We have little time before the Wraith come. We must get to the inn!”
“I still sense nothing.” Teyla glanced up at the Major. “If we attempt to move her leg before it is immobilized, the damage will be great.”
Stragglers continued to stumble along the path, breathless but doggedly determined. None stopped to offer help, although one or two cast a sympathetic look in their direction.
“Perhaps they have some kind of early warning system?” McKay theorized, looking around nervously.
Sheppard scanned the area. His eyes settled on the village. “If there is protection there, it’d be closer than heading back to the jumper.”
“Whoa, hold on a minute!” McKay objected. “If by protection you mean the EM field, let’s use some basic common sense here. With or without their energy weapons, I don’t really care to enter into yet one more running battle with God knows how many Wraith attacking from every direction.”
“If they’re even coming,” Sheppard retorted, glancing at Teyla. “Lieutenant? How long before you get that splint in place?”
“Not long, sir.” This, at least, was something he was trained to do. Aiden swallowed hard and went to work, ignoring the girl’s screams and scrabbling hands. A busted leg hurt like hell.
Teyla was trying to reassure the girl with gentle words. “What is your name?”
“Lisera,” she supplied between cries. “Please stop. It hurts so much!”
“Almost done.” Aiden tightened the splint. “It’s not perfect, but it should do ‘till we get back to the jumper.”
“The inn,” Lisera whimpered. “Not far. Please!” Her face was pale with shock and her eyes were imploring. “We must get there in time.”