Gate travel was the same every time, the temporary loss of sensation, a numbness that lingered before the gate spilled you out in a manner befitting your previous velocity. Walking through the gate was best. A foot forwards into the gate meant a foot coming out on the other side.
But if you were running, if you jumped through, you had that split second of disorientation where you forgot exactly why you were face down in the dirt with hands clutching your arms, hauling you up. Rodney had never gotten used to that, but usually it had been falling through or sliding into the safety of the city and not the other way around. The city was behind them, the city and the storm of the century, and in front of him was crisp fall air and trees, and wide, wide blue sky.
Too much sky, all the wrong colors, and shouting around him, so harsh and abrupt he couldn’t clutch at the meaning of the words. He was dragged forwards, and he could hear the Genii commander shouting at them to move move move, away from the gate, away from the men who'd been behind them, carrying everything they could grab of the supplies they’d stolen, the reason why the Atlantis was lost now. It would have worked, Rodney knew it should have worked, they should be sitting pretty and in a few hours, everyone on Manara would be coming home.
But that wasn't what was happening.
Instead, because they had stopped him from finishing with the grounding stations, the lightning had breached the control room. The squad of Genii soldiers, guarding the gate from incoming wormhole traffic, or Bates’ impersonation of Rambo, before he had been caught, had died in one unbelievable electric ozone arc, and it looked like half the consoles in the control room blew up and showered sparks even as he ducked and Elizabeth and Bates with him.
It had triggered some sort of self-destruct. He'd stood and looked at the readings, ignoring the stench of charred flesh and then ran to hotwire the dialing console as their only way out before the city went up.
There was no time to argue about what address was dialed when the Genii were holding the guns and there were literally seconds to get through the gate. They were running and piling through to safety even as Atlantis had to be entering her death throes.
He hadn't wanted to die, even though there had been a feeling of just a few more minutes, just one more, one more thing to try at this console and it could be fixed, except one of Kolya's men grabbed him by the arm and pulled at him, and if it hadn't been his bad arm, the one they'd fucking cut open on him, he would have been fine. He would have stayed, but the pain was crippling, and then Kolya had ordered the fall back, and, and...
It was less like a kidnapping than it was like an escape, except when Rodney got his feet under him again, that Genii was still holding onto his arm. And Kolya had Elizabeth clutched tight, an arm over her chest, her back pressed obscenely close to his front. He'd seen Bates do that to Teyla in the gym, try it, and she always flipped him over her shoulders. Elizabeth wasn’t Teyla.
"Did you get the C4?" Kolya twisted and glanced over. "Idos... how many of your men did you lose?"
They'd been lucky those explosives hadn't gone up with the gateroom. Arcing lightning had been too close to all of them, and... Bates. Bates. Rodney didn't like the man, but he was good at what he did, so he started to look for him, eyes scanning the area, the men standing around the now closed gate.
"We have the C4 and the medicines." There was a lean-looking blond man stepping forwards, but looking over his shoulder. So much was back there in the city. "I lost twenty."
Kolya's expression was grim even as Elizabeth obviously tried to pull herself away. She might as well have been pulling against an arm of stone for all the impact she made. "Understood. That will be taken into consideration in the allocating of reparation. We will return to Vartesk, and report to Chief Cowen. It is a steep price, but perhaps we have some degree of compensation here. Place them under guard."
The hand on his arm tightened, and Rodney knew it had to be shock that was muting his senses, stunning his motions, because they'd just lost the city, but -- compensation? "No, no, no, let me go!"
"Dr McKay, it's not like you have a lot of choice in the matter," Kolya said in that infuriatingly calm tone, that suggested he was being reasonable. "Sora, take custody of Dr Weir for me. We will meet for the Allocation after I've debriefed to Chief Cowen. Considering our losses I don't think he will argue over much."
"Commander Kolya..." Elizabeth tried her best reasoning tone. "Your best option will be to release us all immediately. You have already cost us Atl-"
The Commander looked at Sora who very casually struck her across the face to shock her into silence. So. Definitely prisoners then.
"I don't particularly want any of you dead. It would be hard for me to exact service from you if that were the case, but if you are more bother to the Genii alive than dead, Chief Cowen will have any of you killed. Do you understand me?"
A braver man would have spit at him, or struggled to get free. Rodney knew he wasn't that brave a man. His arm was bleeding, and there was still, there was still the whole rest of the expedition on Manara, safe and capable of rescuing them. There was no way that they'd end up like that for more than a couple of weeks, and, and...
"Fine." He swallowed, and didn't look at the Genii holding him or look for Bates. Elizabeth had spent as much of the past few hours wet and miserable as he had, and he looked towards her for any cues at all to something he was maybe missing. A way of escape, how he should try and behave, but for once, despite her calm expression, he got nothing back from her.
Kolya gestured and that rough grip steered him away to start the trek away from the Stargate. All they needed to do was to wait it out, to wait for Carson and Lorne to come after them, or get back to the Stargate and dial Manara and their alpha site.
In the mean time, they just had to survive this. If only Bates hadn't been caught playing hero. He hadn't even known the man was still in the city after Carson had evacuated the last of the Athosians with Teyla and Major Lorne.
Bates shouldn't have been there, not that way. It was only Rodney and Elizabeth that needed to stay behind, and if one of the military insisted, Rodney personally would have preferred Lorne's presence. He was the commander, and he actually knew what he was doing in strange situations that weren't security-related.
Like what to do when you were taken hostage. Rodney was sure that he wasn't supposed to just walk, one foot in front of the other, tripping through high grass while that rough hand pulled him along. "Ow, ow, that's my hurt arm, you can, you can ease up, do I look like I'm capable of making a run for it?"
Oh great. They were going for manly stoicism and military silence. What the hell was wrong with these Genii? They probably wanted him for his skills. He could understand that. Might even be a little gratified by the fact that he was probably what they wanted, and perhaps Elizabeth and Bates were second string, but he was tired and cold, wet and hungry. Joking all aside he wasn't going to be of much help if he passed out from lack of food, or blood loss.
It reminded him why, in the end of things, he'd always hated the way the American military did things. It was that, that Marine-like, special ops set to everyone’s jaw, the determination to deny that they were human and that everyone else around them was human, too. Because humans needed food and humans couldn't walk forever, marching through the unreliably scenic fields.
Apparently they weren't going to a village first.
Villages were fake anyway. And he knew now that the Genii were one of the more advanced Pegasus races, which was pretty sad. Elizabeth had gone on about the accomplishment of even getting to what he liked to think of as Cold-War sort of levels of weaponry and paranoia under the circumstances but frankly, after he and Lorne had managed their narrow escape, he really didn't care.
And if they had that level of technology, then they really ought to have vehicles. There were no Wraith here to watch them toiling over the rough track. But no. No, they walked, like seemed to be the norm for everyone in Pegasus. Walk from one place to another to another, when faster modes of transportation would make escapes easier, certainly. Logic would’ve told him at least that making an escape vehicle should’ve been a priority.
It was just one foot in front of the other, carrying him forwards, listening to Elizabeth's voice behind him, pitching up and down, and Rodney couldn't listen. It had been her who'd urged him to stall, saying they could buy Bates time, which was bullshit, because there needed to be something for him to do with that time, and all it had cost them was everything.
He should've been able to stop the cascade to self destruct. He should've... if he'd had a few moments more...
He barely noticed when they entered a cave -- a little bit more impressive than a hatch under a barn and at the back suddenly he could've been in a subway back on earth. Rail transport underground. Huh.
It made sense. Cowen had mentioned their Cities that first time, which implied more than one city. That meant there were probably more than a few humans who lived on the surface as decoys, as farmers, to feed the kind of people who could build a crude sort of subway system. It was probably fuelled by nuclear power, with poor shielding, which meant that he could practically feel his testicles mutating in his scrotum.
Rodney hadn't planned on having children, anyway. Jeannie had that one covered.
They kept him and Bates, and Elizabeth back, loading the crates on first.
Their C4, some of their weaponry which they didn't understand and Carson had to be realizing there was something wrong soon. When they didn't get the call through. When there was no answer to the gate address. He had to...Carson wouldn't give up on him. Not after everything.
They were loaded on then, the three of them locked into some sort of empty carriage, left alone for the first time.
"Rodney? How's your arm?" Elizabeth murmured. "Is it still bleeding?"
"Yes." His shirt sleeve was soaked with blood, thinned out from the water, but he was starting to dry out, except for his feet and any nooks and crannies. If he was on Atlantis, Rodney would have stripped off and made friends with his shower head for at least half an hour. "Which seems to have been what they wanted it so do, so..."
"Here, I'll take a look," Bates said. "I've got a field dressing in my uniform that they haven't taken yet." He sounded not overly happy with being a captive as if it was a personal affront that he was in the same situation as the civilians.
"I was just going to suggest that," Elizabeth agreed. "Let’s get a look at it. I'm hoping that they will take you to a medical facility."
"Yes, and then they'll give us lollypops and offer us back to Carson and Lorne in exchange for more C4." Which they probably didn't have with them anyway, even if that scenario had been viable. Rodney shrugged out of his jacket, and grimaced when he had to stop, pulling half-dried bloody fabric away from where the inside of his arm had slowly been sliced.
"We're going to have to assume they don't want to trade," Bates said. "Maybe they will for me, but I think I managed to get on their wrong side by killing some of their men. Dr McKay is too valuable. They might ransom you Dr Weir."
"Well they certainly understand the concept of taking hostages," Elizabeth said managing to sound calm and collected. "Although it is standard procedure to not bargain."
"Great, then our standard procedure and them talking about us serving as compensation for them will work hand in hand." Rodney snapped a little, trying to not stare at her while he held his arm out for Bates. He wasn't going to look. They'd made him look when they'd done it and he'd almost thrown up onto the wound then.
Bates didn't say anything, but pulled out from various pockets on his uniform some powder that he shook over the wound and an alcohol swab that he wiped around the wound with.
"You should have stitches," Elizabeth said looking at him with what he liked to think was concern in her eyes.
If she was looking at him for reassurance, it wasn't going to happen. He wasn't meant to be in situations like that. He was supposed to be in a lab, working -- he was supposed to do everything right that Sam Carter had done wrong, and that included his take on fieldwork. He wasn't supposed to be in danger like that. "I'm sure they were concerned about my blood loss when they were -- oh, that's right. Cutting me up in the first place."
"They wanted you to know they were serious," Bates replied as he wiped the blood off. "That they would carry through on threats."
He pulled out the emergency dressing and shook it out.
"The question is, is what they mean by service," Elizabeth added. "If they need us, we can negotiate."
"How?" That did get him to look at her, really look at her. Elizabeth's hair was finally drying, wild crispy-looking twisted strands framing her face, and she looked exhausted, more exhausted than she usually looked.
"We don't have to cooperate," Elizabeth said. "That is a negotiating point . And Dr Beckett and Major Lorne will be looking for us. I'm pretty sure they'll try and get here."
"Major Lorne will," Bates agreed.
Bates pressed the ragged edges of skin together, and Rodney tried to not jerk his arm away because fuck that hurt. "I tried not cooperating and they cut me. You think that's going to work?"
"If nothing else it can get us better conditions," Elizabeth said patiently. "I'm guessing they are going to want me to do translating of ancient artifacts for them. Rodney, you've got the gene, they don't know about that, but it can be a bargaining point. "
Bates ignored his flinch and pulled the dressing tight. "Yeah, be grateful you have the most skills."
"Because clearly I want to be the most... revered indentured servant or whatever it is." Rodney hunched his shoulders, and he looked ahead, trying to make out how much further they might have to go. It seemed unlikely that the walls were going to collapse. The basic architecture was very sturdy.
"It's better than being dispensable," Elizabeth replied and brushed back her wet hair. "We need to think about...some sort of escape as well. And a means of locating where we are in relation to the Stargate."
"Before they get smart and separate us?" Rodney kept his voice low when he said that, but it was only a matter to time.
"Yes, before then," Elizabeth said patiently in a tone he recognized as humoring him. "Any ideas?"
“No. No, I don’t have a damn idea. I can’t see the control system from here, and whatever is powering this is ahead of us, which is, again, out of sight.” Bates was tying off the field dressing, and Rodney could handle that. The steady pressure was almost a comfort, compared to the feeling of him pressing the edges of the wound together.
"If I see a gap, I'm going for it," Bates replied. "Just be ready."
Elizabeth nodded and sat back, shivering slightly.
“Ready.” Rodney carefully folded his arms over his chest, half-cradling it to his chest. They were doomed. They were just fucking doomed, and they were going to be living in the land of radiation poisoning for the rest of their lives, however short they were.
A silence descend as the train rattled on. They'd lost Atlantis. They'd brought destruction to it and it had been his dream. His holy grail. He'd been happy there. With Carson, despite the pressure, stress and Kavanagh. He'd never had that before, and now it was too much.
They jolted to a halt abruptly, evidently at their destination.
Rodney leaned forwards a little, anxiously waiting for them to unlock the cage that kept them in place. Except that they didn't. Except that they stopped, and started to unload the C4 and medical supplies from the front of the section.
It seemed they really weren't a priority at the moment. Only when everything else had been taken away, did someone come to usher them out at the point of a gun.
"Move," the Genii soldier said curtly.
It was a shame that Bates had gone in first, because that meant Elizabeth was out first, and then Rodney, then Bates would step out last. Up ahead, he could hear voices, sounds – sounds of life, sounds of a city in motion. Atlantis, even with its few hundred inhabitants, sounded like that every day, thick with activity.
They didn't have much opportunity to make a break for it. Even Bates seemed to recognize that fact. They were herded efficiently up to a room and shown inside. It was pretty blank, and there was a sign on the wall that said 'Allocation'. He guessed this had been what they were referring to earlier.
They got rather unceremonious manacled to a free standing bar, before they were left there alone again.
Rodney closed his eyes, and leaned back against the manacles. His arm was throbbing, his legs ached from too much wet and too much standing and too much of trying to stay coherent for too long without resting. He’d been at those calibrations for hours before things had even gone to hell.
Allocation had to mean something other than the dictionary definition of parting out, dividing up, didn’t it?
He didn't want to think about what that meant if it meant a physical, literal way of doing things. Bates was fruitlessly examining the manacles as if that would help. Maybe he thought he could pick the locks with his teeth or something.
Elizabeth just contrived to look somehow disheveled and poised at the same time.
She was always… striking, really. She probably didn’t realize that she maintained a low level of sexual tension with everything that had a penis, but it was that sort of aloofness that did it. In school, everyone wanted to try to have sex with the girl like that, and she said no.
And Rodney really hoped the Genii didn’t think along the same lines as he did. That she didn’t end up that way, because she was really intelligent, fluent in ancient, and she could bargain and barter and…
He was so tired. At worst he'd imagined being with Carson at the alpha site on Manara and listening to him talking softly into his ear. Like he had after that first time when he had come to apologize after the incident with the personal shield and they'd somehow ended up apologizing a little more thoroughly. He missed that, he missed Atlantis with her glowing lights and endless mysteries. He missed the fact they were never getting back to Earth because the Atlantis gate had the special key crystal.
And now it was gone. And they were all going to die out in Pegasus, or they were going to go native, which in Pegasus was shorthand for 'crazy', and Rodney preferred dead to insane.
"Do you think they have us standing up as some kind of torture?" he finally asked.
"I'm hoping it means we're not going to be here too long," Elizabeth said glancing over at Bates. "This is a commonly used room. Must be a part of their society."
He tried to remember if Elizabeth had a doctorate of anthropology somewhere. She probably kept it under that hideous Athosian pot on her desk. Had kept it.
"Looks like the equivalent of a courtroom or holding cell," Bates muttered.
"That might well be the case," Elizabeth said looking around. "Certainly, our position is one of a lack of control and the set up seems to make that deliberate."
"It's probably something they do all the time. I mean, there's a sign." In the common tongue, not one of the more complicated ones that meant that Teyla had to translate the written language for them. "You don't bother to make a sign unless it's used a lot."
"Yes." Elizabeth nodded. "Allocation of people perhaps or resources. Kolya talked of repayment. Perhaps this is where the terms are ....'allocated'? Perhaps it is another word for judgment?"
Because they'd clearly committed a huge crime against the Genii by trying to protect their city. "We didn't ask for them to pick the worst time possible to try to invade us. It's not our fault the gate room shielding failed."
"No, but winners get to rewrite the rules," Bates said cynically. "Fortunes of war."
There was a sound as the door opened again and a group of Genii entered. Including Kolya, Idos, Sora and Chief Cowen - as well as a few who they didn't recognize who appeared to be carrying papers. Chief Cowen sat in the central chair as the others arrayed themselves around expectantly.
"We'll make this Allocation brief and to the point. Eligible are Commander Acastus Kolya and two of his subordinates to be designated. Commander, name those who have earned Allocation."
"Commander Sora, and Commander Idos. I would like to make note for the record that Ladon Radeem comported himself well in this mission, but has not lost a life due to 'Lantean actions." It was curt, short, and Rodney had no idea what to make of it. Eligible? Eligible to... benefit from the allocation?
Chief Cowen looked at them all and then at Kolya. "As the leader of this strike force, you have the right to select your Allocation first. I will however state that I will be invoking the clause of service owed to the Genii as well due to the nature of these captives by conquest. Commander Kolya, select your Allocated."
Kolya looked over the three of them diffidently before his dark eyes locked onto Rodney and his mouth twisted just a little at the side. "Dr McKay."
He could feel his stomach trying to crawl up his throat at the same time as his knees started to go. He wasn't going to fall apart, no, he was going to stand tall and be defiant and fuck, fuck, they were splitting them up, giving them away like dogs at a shelter.
"So noted. Who takes second allocation?" Cowen asked as if he had said the words a hundred times before.
"Commander Idos." Kolya replied and Idos stood forwards.
"Very well. Choose your Allocated."
"I choose the one called Bates."
He could see that Sora at least was surprised and a little disappointed.
"So noted. Commander Sora, do you wish to take the remaining captive or designate her to the Genii state?"
"I will take her." She said it almost defiantly, and looked over at Idos before she fell back into her stern posture. She'd wanted Teyla dead, he remembered, but she'd also pointed out that they were just trying to defend their home when Bates had pulled his stunt. Maybe she'd be the weak link. Maybe Elizabeth could achieve a lot through her.
"So noted. They are allocated to your care and custody. In accordance with the state clause, you may not kill them with impunity or permanently disable them in such a way that will impair their ability to fulfill their service. You will be responsible for their care, health and comfort. Allocated duties will cover up to the personal level at your discretion." Chief Cowen rattled the phrases off so swiftly, they had to be well used. "The state reserves the right to utilize them under the laws of Allocation. Your marks of conquest will be updated. Their allocation will be reviewed every twelve months with a view to rehabilitation to citizenship. This Allocation is completed. Please collect your keys from the clerk and your Allocated."
The clerk had to be the dour looking older soldier who had paperwork and keys that he was removing from his belt loop. Rodney bit the inside of his mouth, trying to just breathe and not think about what the words meant, or how Bates was suddenly pulling at his cuffs and Idos stepped up to him with a fist at the ready. Kolya. He was being entrusted to Kolya's care, and his health was that man's responsibility?
"Oh, god, I'm going to die."
Kolya approached him, his voice different now. "I do hope not Dr McKay. That would be breaching the state service clause after all. You will cooperate however or..."
He was interrupted by a rather predictable struggle between Bates and Idos. He had no idea what Bates was thinking because there was no gap, not even a vague hint of one. The scuffle ended up with Idos using a nasty little device that looked all the world like some hand held taser which effectively had the marine down and out.
"...or something like that will happen."
Rodney still pulled at the manacles with his good arm, just faintly, just straining. No, there was no lee-way at all, and Kolya was too close, standing right in front of him. "I'm not brave enough to try something that stupid."
"Good. I take good care of my Allocated in the time that they are in my service. I'm sure there must be an equivalent concept in your culture." His tone implied that all civilized cultures obviously functioned this way. He unlocked his hands. "We will see about getting you an identity band tomorrow. Initially, let’s see about getting you cleaned up and taken home."
Identity band. Rodney was sure that it would go around his neck, and all of his immunization tags would dangle at the front so everyone would know that if and when he bit, they wouldn't develop creeping insanity and a fear of water. "We don't have a cultural equivalent. Unless you count marriage."
Kolya surprised him by actually laughing at that. "It is not uncommon for a term of allocated service to lead to marriage. But that is the way of things.” He steered him carefully away from the others, firm and focused. "How is it that your military serve? Where is the incentive to climb rank or distinguish themselves if not for the chance of allocation of property or people? Or the incentive not to be defeated or caught if you know that is what will happen to you?"
They were heading out of the allocation room, and all Rodney could do was rub at his wrists, trying to warm up again. Bates, hell, Lorne would have been out of it already. Making a run for it, but Kolya was right beside him and he had to have at least one of those taser devices. "Ego, pride, patriotism, and higher ranks make better money. When countries from, from where we come from fight, people die. Not dying seems to be a good incentive for us."
Kolya nodded and Rodney wasn't at all sure about this genial sort of demeanor he was projecting. "Killing is a last resort. With populations so low it is better to take prisoners.... This way." They were in the corridor, heading further down into the mountain or wherever. "Allocation is simple and effective. Through wrongdoing or through conquest, a person or property can be allocated to someone deserving. The Allocation is time-limited usually and there are conditions and levels of interaction. As a non-genii, your allocation criteria is nearly full, meaning I could theoretically do whatever I wished with you."
"If that's a threat, having my arm cut open already drove the point home." Rodney looked sideways at him, and kept as much distance between them as he dated to.
"Merely a statement of fact Dr McKay," Kolya replied with infuriating calm. "The Genii state will be paying me for your work, and I in turn will act as a protector and provider. Is that clear? The raid on Atlantis was not personal. I was doing what I had to do in a situation I was ordered to be in against my better judgment."
And Kolya said it so genuinely, like he really expected for Rodney to believe him. "Crystal clear."
"Good. I really don't want to have to discipline you McKay, as Idos will undoubtedly be doing with the one you called Bates. But that's the sort of thing he likes so..." Kolya shrugged a little. "But I warn you, I will do so if I believe you will be in danger of further sanctions from the state, or the state might take it out of my hands and deal with you directly. And you really don't want that. They have means of interrogation and torture you would not want to become acquainted with."
And Rodney wasn't ever interested in physical discomfort. Ever, not even if it was for a noble, distant goal, if there was a way to avoid it... "Fine, I get it. You're the lesser of two evils." And he'd just cost them the City of the Ancients.
"Yes I am," Kolya replied firmly. "Though I understand your reluctance to believe me. This is the way it is going to work Dr McKay so there is no point resisting."
They were obviously heading into some medical zone as there were people wearing things that looked suspiciously like surgical scrubs walking around.
It couldn't be any kind of clean-room, which was the other first association Rodney's brain leapt to, because the Genii didn't grasp the conception of radiation poisoning. Rodney couldn't hold much hope that they'd understand stitches or real sterilization. "I'm not resisting. I'm cold, I'm hungry, and you had my arm cut open, the rest of my mission is god knows where, and we just lost our base and our only way to get home."
"All the more reason for you to focus on making the best of your current situation," Kolya replied evidently trying to sound completely fair and reasonable. "You will have your arm tended to here, then we will return to my quarters, and you will bathe and change and food will be brought. I am sorry about the City of the Ancients, I would've taken it for the Genii if I could but...such things were not to be."
Such things might have been if he'd let Rodney work without playing the asinine control freak of a soldier, or if he hadn't shown up at all. He'd be safe there if Kolya hadn't... "How long is this... servitude?"
"Well that depends upon your service," Kolya replied calmly. "If you perform significant services to the state then your time will be reduced commensurately. Your first review is in a year so that will be your minimum time. Recalcitrant behavior adds to your time."
"Huh." Just a year. Just a year, and he was supposed to think he could just... walk away? That he could, that they'd let him just leave and look for the rest of the mission after that? If, if they didn't get to him before then, and that was a hope he wasn't going to let go of. As soon as they realized what had happened, there was every chance that Lorne would lead the mission to get them. Without a base, Rodney was going to be invaluable to trying to keep them functioning, and without him they had... Jesus. They had Kavanagh. He wasn't even an engineer.
"Perhaps we could make an alliance with your people now," Kolya replied. "If they survive long enough for us to make contact and negotiate. You were sheltered on the City of the Ancients from the reality of life here. Out in the galaxy, we have to survive. The Wraith hit wherever they will.
"Look, your people haven't even grasped the concept of radiation poisoning or how to make basic explosives. So just take your 'strength' talk and shove it," Rodney finally snapped. There was a man in scrubs coming up towards them, and he stopped when he heard the tone of Rodney's voice.
"Dr McKay, you will behave with courtesy or you will not have your arm treated," Kolya said in a hard voice. "Perhaps that can be part of your contribution. Doctor, my newly allocated here is in need of your services. Treat his wound."
Rodney clenched his teeth together, watching how the man reacted almost right away, glancing at Kolya before reaching out to take Rodney by the shoulder off to one side. There were no separate rooms, but there were heavy curtains breaking up sections. It was probably more efficient to heat.
He started to regret any of the times he'd called Carson a voodoo witchdoctor because in comparison he was much more advanced and at least seem to have vague idea about medicine. They probably didn't know about allergies, or reactions or hypoglycemia or even that hypertension was dangerous. Oh god, he might as well chew on the nearest lemon right now. It might be less painful than the infection from whatever bacteria infested needle and thread the man was going to use to give him terminal septicemia.
The doctor removed the dressing looking at it with interest at how the porous weave had soak the blood away from the wound keeping it clean and at the powder. "What was this powder?" he asked as he cleaned the area with cool alcohol.
"It's an... ow, fuck that hurts, it's an antiseptic." Rodney gritted his teeth, trying to not whine, but he might as well have been swabbing Rodney's skin with everclear.
"An antiseptic? Something to prevent infection?" That didn't fill him with confidence. He guessed they hadn't a huge amount of experience with it.
"Like the alcohol you're using. Only it's suitable for field use. The bandage was one of our field dressings." He clenched his fingers into a loose fist, watching the doctor step back slightly before turning to his tray of equipment.
The doctor nodded and very carefully put it to one side. He was more interested in that than anything else which was disconcerting. However whatever it was he rubbed around the wound numbed the area very swiftly which was just as well because he didn't want to look at the way he was sewing through skin.
It made Rodney feel stomach sick, made his skin crawl to watch the way the needle tugged through his flesh, and the thread followed after it, over and over again. He was going to have a scar, and he was going to be sick, and since Rodney didn't want to have to deal with both at nearly the same period of time, he closed his eyes and tipped his head back to look at the ceiling.
"It's a clean cut and it doesn't look like it will get infected," the doctor said as if he was extremely lucky to hear that news
"And I really wanted to die of a simple staph infection." He kept his eyes closed, because he could still feel that strange tugging through the numb.
"A what?"
Really it was impossible. He didn’t need to be worried about a life time of slavery, he was going to die in a few days from something ridiculously easy to prevent like a simple infection. As if things couldn't get worse.
What he wouldn't give for Carson to be here right now. Carson was practically a...demi-god of medicine compared to this idiot. Anyone with a bag of magic beans and a rattle was probably at least on par with that man, and probably twice as soothingly self confident.
"Never mind."
"There we go." The man said and re wrapped the arm. "Be good as new in seven days or so. We'll get the stitches out then." He smiled at Kolya hesitantly and the other man nodded. "Dr McKay, time to leave."
The hesitation was the thing that kept telling Rodney that yes, it was an act. They were afraid of Kolya, his own people. Either afraid, or so shaken with respect that they did that when they looked at him, and Rodney had a hard time believing that.
He slipped off the hard examination table, and walked back towards Kolya.
"My quarters are not far. They are substantial as far as they go and I will assume that you will be trustworthy enough to have the run of the place. I have two other Allocated at the moment. Gisera, who is currently fulfilling service as housekeeper and Jadon who assists. Jadon has only a month left so it is possible that you might be fulfilling some of his duties when he leaves."
Three 'allocations' meant that Kolya was a busy man in the field, and he did a lot of prisoner-taking. "And what are his duties? Because I can't cook."
"Believe me, cooking is not one of his talents either." Kolya smiled a little. "Rest assured it would be something well within you capabilities Dr McKay...Rodney."
They entered an elevator that took them up a level.
It reminded Rodney of the elevator that he'd relied on for six years when he'd lived in a rat-trap apartment at Northwestern when he'd gone through his first 'self-sufficient' period. The walls shook, vibrated with the motion, enough that Rodney wondered how they were powering it. "I'm a professionally trained scientist and engineer, not a... domestic worker."
"Indeed, and you will earn me a good deal of money," Kolya replied. "However, I have no doubt you will turn out to be adaptable."
Adaptable. Rodney clenched his jaw again, and looked up at the ceiling, hoping that there was a hint at how the elevator worked.
"Sure. Adaptable."
That seemed to content Kolya, as much as he could read the man's expressions which was hard. He reminded him of Colonel Sumner before he met the Wraith for the first time. Lorne had seen him die and it was obviously something out of nightmares.
The area seemed more... affluent somehow. Well lit, with tasteful decor which was a little surprising. There were openings and some decorated spaces built in, in a way that reminded him of some underground shopping mall complete with faux Zen gardens and water features. Kolya was obviously no slouch in Genii society, military or otherwise.
His apartment turned out to be a relatively non-descript doorway with the most minimal of number sequences on the outside and basic keypad look that Rodney could've rewired in his sleep but was evidently top of the range for the Genii.
Kolya opened the door and gestured for him to enter.
Maybe sometime Rodney would rewire it in his sleep. Just to see what happened.
Inside, there was that touch of faux Amish to things again. The walls were wood paneled, and the lighting was all installed, probably running off of the mastergrid that the rest of the city was on. Rodney would work that out soon enough -- if he was going to be doing work, he could learn their techniques soon enough.
And he was fairly sure that he could learn more from hands on work with their technology than he could from talking with Gisera and Jadon. But for the cultural, for a hint of how bad it was going to be.... Rodney would certainly turn to them for that. As it was, he walked in ahead of Kolya into the narrow entry hallway.
It looked semi dated in a strange way. As the door shut, he heard a movement ahead of him, and a woman with long black hair, tied back, and a simple plain if attractive dress opened the door and looked out. She looked startled at see him, but her expression resolved to smiles as she saw Kolya.
"Welcome home sir!" she said with what appeared to be genuine pleasure. "Jadon will be so pleased. He has been listening to the news transmissions for news of you."
"I am sure he has." Kolya's voice edged towards indulgent, and Rodney twisted a little when Kolya closed the door behind them. "I will need you to set the table for one more. Doctor McKay was allocated to me as a result of the mission."
The girl was genuinely happy to see him, and it made Rodney's stomach twist. Yeah, it was just another day in their life there, and his being turned upside down. "I'm allergic to citrus. If there's any citrus in whatever it is, I'll be a dead allocation."
"I haven't killed anyone with my cooking yet," Gisera replied tartly.
There was the sound of someone running down the stairs and Rodney glanced around to see a young man, probably about the same age as Ford, run down and hang over the rail.
"Acastus! They haven't even announced your return. I was getting worried! You haven't needed the doctors this time?"
"No Jadon, I'm afraid not," Kolya replied seeming amused. "I know that will be a disappointment to you."
"You know how I like it when you play wounded hero for me..." The young man grinned at him and then glanced over at Rodney.
Rodney lifted his good hand and gave a vague wave. He was in hell. Once, he'd thought that hell was Area 51 on the quiet slow days when the odd news reporter had tried to break in, looking for aliens. Or that hell had been Siberia, except the booze had been pretty good and fairly reliable in its existence, but living in the middle of a fanclub for the man who had just, just cost him the City of the Ancients?
That was hell.
"Gisera, Jadon this is Doctor Rodney McKay. We will call him Rodney," Kolya said. "He is my latest allocated and very valuable for state service."
Jadon seemed to relax a little at that, as if he had expected a rival.
"I expect the both of you to make him welcome, and help him adjust to his situation. His people have no... concept of such a thing as Allocation so I will rely on you both to help him understand." Kolya handed his jacket to Jadon who hung it up and then was beckoned forward and treated to a kiss that belonged in some sort of porn movie.
Evidently destroying cities made Kolya horny as all hell.
And Jadon liked it. Clearly the Genii didn't have 'Don't ask, Don't tell' to worry about. Rodney glanced over at Gisera, trying to guess how normal that was, because--
"I want you to fuck me after dinner," Jadon panted, loudly enough to make Rodney flinch. "Please."
"Perhaps..." Kolya said with a half smile.
Gisera made a noise. "I suppose I should be grateful that you are waiting until after dinner. Although I can't help but notice that it is conveniently at the time when you should be helping me clear up."
"Ah well, in payment, Jadon you will take Rodney and show him to his room, and ensure he has opportunity to bathe and have fresh clothing. Then you may come and assist me," Kolya said as if granting a favor.
"Come on Rodney," Jadon said reluctantly stepping away from the older man and this just couldn't be real. It was some massive joke or he was lying with a concussion somewhere.
What he was.... was lying flat out on his back in the infirmary after a huge electrical shock from the gate that actually didn't start a self destruct sequence since it had hit Rodney and not any sensitive equipment, which meant it was a huge huge hallucination.
Or he was dead and it was hell. It was A or B, but not the man who'd had his arm cut open acting relaxed with his prisoners. There were two of them already -- logically, they should have been able to kill Kolya in his sleep and make a run for their freedom, but they hadn't.
"Lead the way."
Jadon headed along assuming Rodney would follow. "Doctor huh? Does that mean you'll be working a medical shift? Acastus had a doctor...a healer once from Vorcasta. Her name was Linarys. She was pretty good but she worked out her service inside of a year. "
Rodney followed, happy to get away from Kolya for at least a few minutes. A hot bath and clean clothes sounded good when he was so close to exhaustion. "I'm a scientist." It wasn't too surprising that any good Doctor had worked themselves free and probably run for it.
"Oh a scientist? That's interesting. I was a rescue from Urstan...have you ever been there? I mean, before the culling?" Jadon asked hopefully.
Rescue. Rescue, well, that was probably why he was so pliable towards Kolya, Rodney decided. "No. I'm, I was on Atlantis." The steps were narrow, and he tried to not walk too closely to Jadon as they mounted the stairs.
"Atlantis? Oh the City of the Ancestors..." Jadon seemed interested. "That must've been exciting. Just up here Rodney. We're lucky, we get a good ration of hot water."
"Great." 'Just up here' proved to be in the narrow hallway that started off the stairwell, the door at the end of it. He hoped that the narrow hallways meant that there was a lot of room in the actual rooms, and watching Jadon swing open the bathroom door was something that gave Rodney an almost sense of relief. It still looked like a bathroom, and the size wasn't bad. "It was exciting. It was home -- everything worked for me. I could open the doors and control the water and the lights, and today, as of today, the city of the Ancestors is gone." Saying it didn't make it feel real yet, but he'd tried to turn off the sequence, and then he'd been dragged towards the gate, and it hadn't been a wormhole closing behind them so much as one collapsing behind them, a distinct difference of sonics.
"Oh..." Jadon did look mildly sympathetic. "I know what it is like to lose your home. I'm sorry for your loss. I hope not too many of your family were culled?"
Well of course he would assume it was the Wraith.
When Jadon stepped into the bathroom, Rodney followed him in, and started to take his jacket off again. "No, it wasn't wraith. We'd evacuated the city because of an incoming weather system, and Kolya lead a group of Genii to attack the city. And I didn't have time to get the shields functioning properly before everything went to hell because your 'dear', your owner or whatever the hell he is decided it was a better idea to interrogate me than to let me do my work!"
"Acastus did not want to lead a raid, but the Chief ordered him to do it!" Jadon defended him. "They want to be ready when the Wraith come here . Because they will. They go everywhere. They would've come to your city of the ancestors and taken that from you too! Do not blame Acastus for doing his job. He is trying to protect his own home."
And of course he was defending him. Kolya had probably rescued the kid from a tree or something. "We had ships and nuclear bombs, and a whole planet with billions of people on it on the other side of our gate! And you people gave it up for Penicillin and C4!"
Jadon was looking at him as if he was talking crazy, and maybe he was. "Look, Rodney...this must be feeling wrong to you, I know that. I cried pretty much every night for a month and didn't get out of bed for a week when I first got here. But it could be worse...you really could do a lot worse than Commander Kolya as your Protector. I've been trained in valuable skills while I've been here, eaten well, been... well, lets just say when my term of service is complete I shall be entering Commander Kolya's regiment. I don't want to leave, and neither will you if you have any sense. This is far more secure than any planet I have ever heard of."
"Maybe in this Galaxy, but I'm not from Pegasus." He started to pull at his shirt, but his arm was killing him and his finger felt thick, fumbling. Between that and the throbbing in his skull, and the fact that Jadon kept looking at him, Rodney was going to hit something.
"Here, let me help you," Jadon said in a softer voice. "It's going to be okay Rodney, really. What's done is done. You'll better after a bath and some food okay?"
"I'd feel better if I was back in Canada." Or Colorado. Anything but there, in Pegasus. The only consolation was that between Carson and Lorne and Ford, the survivors would be okay. They'd manage. Teyla and Halling would help. And they'd find Rodney.
Jadon reached for the zipper, and Rodney jerked back. "Just, don't, I'm fine, I don't need help."
"Fine...fine, okay..." Jadon put his hands up and backed off. "Look I'll go get you some clothes. Just...try not to drown yourself or something."
"Do I look like I'm prone to drowning myself?" He snapped that out, and Jadon finally backed away from him, and stepped outside, closing the door.
Rodney slouched to sit on the edge of the tub, exhaling shakily. Now he just had to work out how to undress. Boots first. Boots fist, one piece at a time, concentrating on staying calm and not doing anything stupid until he’d at least had food and gotten some sleep.
He could preserve his life, he could make the best of this until rescue came. Because Carson wouldn't leave him here, he knew that. Not even if there was a faint chance. Lorne would do something stupidly brave egged on by Ford, and he was pretty sure Teyla would get in on the action too. Teyla would know where to get information on them, and when word got out they had left before Atlantis went down it would be just a matter of time before there was a mission.
He just needed to persevere. One day at a time, one boot at a time. Rodney hunched in on himself, struggling with the laces for a moment, because the water had saturated them and made the knots tighter than he'd tied them that morning.
He wasn't going to be the one to fall apart. He knew Elizabeth and Bates would be thinking that it would be him, but that wasn't going to happen. He was smarter than the entire planet and if there was a way to be found he'd find it. That was what he was good at. Last minute solutions and dire situations. Just because he was in the hands of the enemy that shouldn't be any different.
It wouldn't be any different.
Carson hadn't really been into Star Trek - not in the same way that most of the other scientists seemed to be, but right now he felt a distinct kinship with Dr McCoy because he found himself constantly thinking "How the bloody hell should I know, I'm a doctor not a leader!" Or a theoretical physicist. Or a botanist. Or a soldier.
Occasionally he even said it when he had a line of people 5 deep waiting to ask him what to do. Like he had a clue. Ever since they had tried redialing the Atlantis address and it had refused to lock and they stood there at the gate trying on and off for three days just in case, people had decided he was some sort of interim stand in for Rodney and Elizabeth combined.
As if he could ever stand in for even one of them let alone both to a group of scared Athosians and Earth natives. Manara was treating them warily, especially after the fact he had stormed out when they told him that their contact with the Genii said that everyone who had gone to the City of the Ancestors had not returned.
He didn't believe it. He didn't believe Rodney could be gone, or Elizabeth. Lorne and Ford had been out with Teyla, hunting down leads, trying to get information back on the Genii. If they weren't all practically living out of the Gateships, he would authorize...ha! him authorizing - a Gateship to make some flyovers of the Genii home world. Take some readings, see if they could pick up on Rodney, or Elizabeth or Bates.
If it was even possible to pick up three life signs among however many people the Genii had on their planet. A hundred thousand, maybe, and that was being generous. Maybe 50,000. Most populations ran thin in Pegasus. But they had to try something, except they weren't in any situation to try anything without the intelligence that Teyla assured them she would find.
At least, at least the Athosians seemed comfortable with the idea of helping the earth natives. At least Halling seemed to have answers when people asked him. He'd mentioned to Carson gates they could explore, other places they could settle than with the lying Manarians.
So here he was, looking at endless bits of paper, usually with ridiculous demands from Kavanagh for something utterly impossible because he was head of the scientists by default. He'd managed to make a list of priorities based on close consultation with Halling and Teyla.
They knew this galaxy - Elizabeth might've known more diplomacy but he knew he didn't and he needed someone to tell him how not to screw up. Manara was not a good place to settle. They turned out to be strongly affiliated with the Genii and he pretty much felt like he was waiting for some kind of trap to close on them. They needed somewhere defensible. They needed a decent level of technology to work with. If Teyla was right, the Wraith would not spare them just because they were in a state. No.
He grimaced at the piece of paper and made his now traditional list of priorities.
Every single time number one was "Find Rodney."
They needed Rodney to pull miracles out of his ass for them -- they needed power and water and a way to defend themselves, all basic needs that he could help them overcome with his determined way of doing things. But Carson needed him, needed to know he was safe and sound and at least with them facing against the wraith instead of captured by the Genii. And then perhaps he could function as a leader, because his head would clear out of worries.
He knew enough to know that him stumbling around aimlessly wouldn't help in the slightest. He wasn't trained to do that. He was still the strongest gene-holder in the Pegasus Galaxy barring any stray ancients they ran into and that meant he was apparently their greatest hope of finding and using a weapon against the Wraith. That was a hell of a burden to be walking around with on top of everything else.
He heard voices outside and looked up. Evan must be back, with Teyla. Maybe they would have some news for him. The temptation was enough to send him outside the Gateship and shielding his eyes against the contrast in light, to look around.
Their 'camp' still looked the same as it had every other time he'd stepped outside. The Atlanteans in Gateships, but around, too. There were transient structures put up by the Athosians, campfires from the messhall cooks who were trying to prepare enough food for them all with Athosian help. There was a rack with meat drying on it, and things like that had worried him until Halling had pointed out that it was easy to grab the meat and run into the puddle jumpers and flee if they must. There was truly nothing important in the camp, except for the people.
"Doctor Beckett. We have returned."
"Teyla... Major Lorne," Carson said. "Any luck this time? Any news of Rodney or Elizabeth and Major Bates?"
He really, really hoped so. God, he knew it had to be written all over his face which would be one reason they needed Elizabeth back. He didn't have much of a poker face for negotiations.
"I... am afraid not. However, this Commander Kolya guy was seen with a unit a few days ago, so there were survivors, if he was actually the one who led the Genii against Atlantis." Lorne rattled it off so off the cuff.
"The Manarians seemed very convinced that Commander Kolya would be the one to lead such an operation," Teyla said looking at him even as he nodded.
"Aye, I remember. He's some kind of living military legend to them. Who else to send on a raid to the city of the ancestors?" Carson said with a barely audible sigh. "Still, as my mother says, no news is good news. I think we have to assume that they might be captive of the Genii. Has Ford come back from the planets recommended by Halling? Before we can do much else we need a proper base."
"Not yet, but he did pass a communication that he wanted to do further investigation with his team on two of the planets. Also, that one of them had dinosaurs." Lorne didn't seem concerned, and he even managed a smile.
Dinosaurs. Well, if giant lizards were going to roam any planet, it'd be a planet in Pegasus, Carson decided.
"Well, I'm not likely to suggest we decamp to Jurassic park as a new base. We'll see what he comes up with," Carson replied. "Any other news out there?"
"There is news of a coming culling. The Wraith travel in patterns, and there are survivors running out ahead of those patterns. Manara is in the direct line of this pattern." Teyla’s posture was telling -- her face was blank, composed, but her stance, the tightness of her muscles, told Carson that she was anticipating. Scared, maybe. "There are those among the Athosians who can sense them coming, and we have not sensed them yet."
Carson stared at her blankly. "The Wraith are coming here?". Teyla never got scared. Except about the Wraith. Most other things she took in her stride with a natural grace and competence. "Well that's not good news..."
"We should recall any off world teams," Lorne suggested. "Keep everyone close. From what Teyla says they dial in and lock the Stargate on a culling."
"To prevent prey from escaping," Teyla agreed softly. "There has been talk of the great ships moving through on the cullings. I have never seen such a major culling, but the Wraith have slept through five of my people's generations."
"Hibernating until the food supply repopulated sufficiently," Carson agreed. "We'll call every one to stay close to the jumpers. Teyla, how much warning do you think we can get?"
"Perhaps..." She looked at Lorne, and then back to Carson, and her expression was faintly anxious. "Five, ten minutes. Perhaps. If they come in a great ship, I will sense them sooner. If they come in darts, we will have a minute or two of warning."
Carson swallowed a little. They were going to lose people. With that sort of turn around they were going to lose people. "Evan, how many people do we have who can fly Gateships?"
They'd made it out with 9 of them. Nine crammed with people and gear still packed in carefully.
"Counting you?" Lorne flashed Carson a smile. "Two other natural gene carriers, and maybe fifteen implants. So that's 18, and maybe 11 who I’d trust to not crash us into a tree. Sir."
"I'm thinking we'll need to have people who can pilot Gateships with a ship at all times. Starting now." He shrugged little. "I know I haven't tried but I don't think I can fly all of them remotely. Not sure I'd even want to try. Evan, would you mind organizing that now for me? I want to just talk with Teyla a little."
"Of course, sir." Lorne gave him a tight smile and turned to head towards one of the other Gateships. Carson was probably one of those that he'd counted in the not trusting them to fly him into a tree group, which was true enough to not actually bother Carson.
Teyla stepped closer to him, and gestured to the inside of the equipment packed Gateship. "You are doing well, Carson."
"Thank you for saying so lass, but I think I'm going to disagree with you there," Carson replied trying not to sound as anxious as he was. "I feel like I’m flailing around a little helplessly at the moment. Would you like to sit down a moment? I want to ask you about the Genii."
"I am not sure what to tell you about them," Teyla admitted. She did sit down, though, posture relaxing finally once they were tucked into the shelter of the Gateship. "My people believed they were simple, placid farmers. That is the impression they give to most cultures they are not directly allied with."
"Has anyone mentioned anything since about...about this Commander Kolya? Or what they might do with prisoners?" Carson asked. "I'm not even going to bother trying to hide it Teyla, I'm very worried about our missing people. It's obvious Atlantis is destroyed, but I really don't think the Genii would've left them behind."
"They would not. I have been speaking with the Manarians. The Genii..." Teyla opened her mouth, and Carson could see her rewording things on the inside of her head. "The Genii are known by their allies as a people who take hostages when they can, rather than kill. The hostages serve as personal servants to ranking members, and usually are integrated into the Genii culture. It keeps their bloodline diverse. We do have planets where the people have been unwilling to gate-travel and have... degenerated due to this."
"So....if they took Rodney, Elizabeth and Bates, then the odds are that they are with Chief Cowen or people close to him yes?" Carson asked, feeling a glimmer of hope. "Which makes things tricky."
"As far as I understand their methods, yes." Teyla inclined her head in the vague gesture that Carson had come to take as a nod from the Athosians. "It would be wise to have a solid strategic location to work from if we are to retrieve them. They place a high value on life, even if they are ruthless in their pursuit of a goal so we must work with the assumption that they will not come to harm."
"I suppose that is a blessing," Carson answered. "Truth is... I feel... If we had Rodney he would've found some answer already, and Elizabeth would've negotiated some treaty..." He shrugged a little. "Teyla, I have a newfound respect for you, being a leader so young."
"My father was a wise man, and tried hard to raise me in his footsteps. But I am not without help, Doctor Beckett. Halling is my right hand. Do not be afraid to lean on people for help. Knowing what you do not know is the sign of a strong leader."
"That part is easy," Carson replied with a part smile. "That amounts to pretty much everything. I'll understand if the Athosians decide to break away at any point. I don't want you too, but you have your responsibilities and we are likely to attract more attention."
"We have no planet to call home," Teyla reminded him gently. "And we would like to fight the Wraith. Many of our people have made friends with your people, and see this as a beneficial union for us all. I am inclined to agree.
That was a relief because Carson wasn't ready to go it blind in Pegasus. Elizabeth might have a decade or two of understanding and dealing with different cultures but his people skills were down to individuals.
"Well maybe we can find a home here together because without Rodney or the Atlantis Gate, as I understand it we can't go anywhere. There was some special control crystal in that Gate that other ones just do not have," Carson replied trying very hard to sound upbeat. "We might run across one, and a ZPM but...I'm not sure if our scientists have the same amount of uh...practical skill Rodney has. "
He was never going to slip into past tense. Not unless he saw his body and that wasn't going to happen. It was possible, yes, but it simply… Simply was not going to be. Carson needed it to not be, and he was just going to continue thinking as positively as he could.
"Perhaps they will surprise you." She even said it with a soft smile, and Carson half expected her to lean forwards and pat his arm. Teyla would have made a fine doctor, with a very reassuring bedside manner.
"I am sure that we will be able to retrieve him and Doctor Weir, and Sergeant Bates."
"Aye, well I'm holding on until then. I'm only keeping the seat warm for Elizabeth because Evan doesn't want to make this a military command, and everyone was unanimous that I would be better than Kavanagh." Carson smiled a little. "I'm only used to dealing with a team of doctors and medical researchers. I can understand why Rodney always gets so annoyed with his scientists. They do have a tendency to be a wee bit whiney. Much like myself at the moment actually come to think of it. You're right, we need to be ready for the Wraith and I shouldn't be sitting here wallowing when I should be working."
The edges of her mouth pulled up, and then Teyla was standing, drawing herself up gracefully. "You are mourning the city of the ancestors. I will fetch Halling and we will discuss strategies and how my people can be of aid."
"I'd appreciate that," Carson said sincerely. Maybe he was breaking every rule that Elizabeth had set down about integrating too much with the Athosians and polluting their culture, but he had to think the bonds they had with the Athosians were a good thing. And privately, he thought that maybe that they weren't polluting that culture because there was one fundamental thing that maybe Elizabeth missed. From his opinion, the Athosians central precepts were all about survival and they sought out and embraced anything that would give them that chance, enriching their own culture with what would work. It was an alien thing to them from Earth on the surface, but underneath it they were the same. They had a common ground in trying to survive and if that meant tampering and giving information and working together, they didn't have the luxury any more of pretending things would be better working alone.
There was a lot that Carson knew he could learn from them, and a lot that he hoped he could share with them. And maybe, maybe together they'd all survive a while longer. Long enough for the hope of another ZPM, a gate crystal, and a defensible base to seem realistic.
