SGA-13 Hunt and Run (29 page)

He could just barely see the Satedan’s slow nod. “They’re called the V’rdai,” he said. “They’re Runners who’ve banded together to hunt the Wraith instead of the other way around.” He sighed. “I used to be one of them.”

As Ronon explained about his past, and his association with these people, Sheppard marveled. Ronon was one of his best friends, someone he trusted with his life without a second thought. They’d fought together countless times, saved each other more times than he could count, and hung out together both at Atlantis and at some of the towns and cities they’d visited. Yet for all that, he’d never heard any of this before. He’d known about Ronon’s upbringing on Sateda, and had heard a bunch of stories about Ronon’s grandfather, who’d also been a military man. He knew about the Wraith’s attack, and about Ronon’s dead wife, Melena. And he knew far more than he’d ever wanted to about the Wraith and how they’d captured Ronon and turned him into a Runner.

But all this? A group of Runners? Ronon learning to hunt? This was all completely new to him.

Finally Ronon stopped talking and leaned back. He hadn’t rushed, but Sheppard knew the big man was only telling them the crucial details. There were probably lots of stories there as well.

“Why didn’t you ever mention any of this?” he asked finally. “You were with them for two years! You never thought it might be important to tell us there were other Runners out there? And that they liked hunting innocent bystanders just as much as Wraith?”

“I didn’t know if I could trust you,” Ronon answered sharply. “Not at first. And they were still my friends, and my comrades. I wasn’t about to betray them.” He shook his head. “By the time I knew you better, it didn’t seem like the right time to say anything. They were hidden away, and I figured we’d never run into them.” He sighed. “To be honest, I thought they’d all be dead by now.”

“Why?” Teyla asked. “You are not.”

“But I would be,” Ronon told her. “If you hadn’t found me first.”

Sheppard thought about that one. His friend was probably right. Surviving on his own with the Wraith pursuing him for five long years was unbelievable. Eventually, Ronon’s luck would have run out.

“Okay, so how do we keep them from killing us now?” he asked. “I mean, going up against six of you? I don’t like those odds.”

“Not exactly like me,” Ronon replied. “None of them can take me in a fight — at least, none of the old V’rdai could. I don’t know these new ones.”

“Which ones are old and which ones are new?” Teyla asked. “We saw their leader, who the others referred to as Nekai. Then there was the tall man, Adarr.”

“An angry woman, narrow build,” Sheppard added to the list. “The short guy you landed on when you rescued us — thanks, by the way. And two more — I’m not sure if they were men or women.”

“One was a woman,” Rodney told him. “Dark skin, darker hair, strong jaw. Striking, if you like that type.”

“The other was a man,” Ronon finished. “Average height, reddish hair, green eyes, full beard. I don’t know him, or the short one, or the dark-skinned woman. The angry woman, though — that’s Lanara.” Sheppard could hear the sneer in his voice. “She’s probably Nekai’s second in command now.”

Sheppard noticed the last word. “She wasn’t back then?”

“No, Banje was,” Ronon said. “He was good, too. I’m glad we don’t have to face him.” He did sound relieved, but he also sounded sad, and Sheppard understood why. Other than Ronon himself, it was clear that being a V’rdai had only one possible end. If this Banje wasn’t there, it must mean he was dead. “Lanara was Nekai’s lover,” Ronon continued. “She’s dangerous, too. Angry, bitter, and a trained hunter. She’s also got amazing aim with guns, knives, pretty much anything.”

“You said Adarr was a mechanic,” Rodney commented. “Before, when we were about to blow up their shuttle.”

“He is — a really good one, too,” Ronon agreed. “He was never much of a fighter, or a hunter. He used to be really friendly, actually, and talked all the time.” He shook his head. “I guess he’s changed.”

“And Nekai?” Sheppard asked.

“He’s an amazing hunter,” Ronon admitted. “Decent in a fight but not great. Good tactician, but too controlling — he doesn’t tell people what they’re doing or why, just where to go.”

Sheppard nodded. “Okay, so we’ve got three known quantities and three unknown,” he summed up. “Did you kill the ones at the shuttle or just stun them?”

“Stunned them,” Ronon answered. “Bound and gagged them, too.” That made sense — Ronon had known some of these people, once been part of their unit, so killing them would be tough. Besides, killing the first two could have sent the others over the edge, making them crazed and completely unpredictable. Leaving them alive meant the others had to waste time untying them, but it also meant they were still angry but rational. And rational people could be outwitted.

“We need to know where they are,” Sheppard said finally. “And then we can figure out what to do about them.”

“Not a problem,” Rodney announced. “I should have thought of this earlier.” He fumbled with his jacket, pulling something from one of its pockets, then leaned back against the rock wall again. He had both hands cupped in front of him, and after a second a faint glow appeared between them. As his eyes adjusted Sheppard saw the light was coming from a small, flat device Rodney was holding. A life signs detector
!

But his excitement at realizing the scientist had brought such a tool quickly faded as Rodney frowned and shook his head. “That’s weird,” he said, tapping the screen several times in rapid succession — Sheppard guessed he was entering codes and commands. “I’m not getting any life signs except for us,” Rodney reported finally, glancing up and around at the others. He scowled. “But that doesn’t make any sense. We know they’re out there.”

“We are in a cave,” Teyla pointed out. “Perhaps the rock all around us is interfering with the signal.”

“It shouldn’t,” Rodney replied. “I adapted this thing myself, and it’s got more than enough range. I’d explain how it worked but none of you would understand. Trust me, though — unless these cave walls are literally miles thick, they shouldn’t pose a problem.” He tapped in another command but continued to frown at the tiny screen.

“Maybe these rocks are special,” Sheppard offered. “Maybe something about them makes them more resistant to whatever energy you’re using for your scans.”

Rodney started to shake his head, then stopped. “That could be it,” he admitted. His fingers flitted across the monitor again, and then he raised it and turned slowly, scanning their surroundings. “Yes! The rocks here emit a low-level magnetic charge,” he explained. “It’s not enough to damage any electronics outright, but spread out over an area the charge creates a backdrop that swallows the scanning signal. Then the monitor filters all that out, leaving it with nothing.” As was often the case, he sounded excited even though this put them in considerable danger. Sheppard fought not to roll his eyes. What was it about scientists that they could happily die if they got to discover a new weapon or principle in the process?

“That’s why Nekai picked this place,” Ronon said. “He knows all the tricks for hiding and ambushing, and he must know about these rocks’ unusual properties. It’s the perfect place to set a trap. He knows we can’t find him here.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Rodney told him. “I can’t use the standard scanning frequencies, no. But that doesn’t mean I’m out of options.”

“You can scan for life signs with different energy?” Teyla asked.

“Not life signs, no,” Rodney admitted. “But other things, yes.” He glanced over at Ronon. “They’re all Runners, right?” The big Satedan nodded. “But they all still have their tracking devices?” Another nod. “Then I can reconfigure the scans and set them to the same frequency as the device we pulled out of you.” He retrieved a small tool from a breast pocket and used it to open the back of the monitor. Then he turned his back on the others and began fiddling with it, crouching and holding it close to the nearest wall so he could see by the reflected glow of the screen.

“You still remember that frequency?” Teyla asked. The surprise and even disbelief was clear in her voice.

Rodney didn’t even bother to face her, but Sheppard knew the scientist would be wearing his usual smug expression. “Of course. I had to program it in when the Wraith recaptured Ronon and inserted a second tracking device in him, remember? When I used it then, it showed seven different dots. I had to guess which was Ronon.” This time he did glance back over his shoulder before returning to his task. Yep, definitely smug. “Lucky for you I’m always right.” Sheppard stifled a groan, but only because in this enclosed space it would have been deafening. “But now it’ll only show them,” Rodney concluded. He closed the device back up and turned back around, then started typing in new commands. “And it’s a subspace frequency,” he explained, “so the rocks won’t interfere with the signals.” He finished his adjustments. “There!”

He held out the monitor, and Sheppard glanced over at it. Sure enough, the tiny screen now showed six dots, all clumped together. But even as he watched, they wavered and became two dots, then one dot, then four, then back to two. “Why is it doing that?”

Ronon leaned over to peer at the screen as well. “It’s the feedback,” he explained. “That’s why we all worked together in the first place — when we’re that close, our signals overlap. The Wraith can’t find us anymore.”

“Ah, but the Wraith aren’t me,” Rodney said proudly. “This little baby has better filters than any of their hardware.” He entered another command, then slid his finger along the edge of the screen, adjusting the scans’ sensitivity. “All I have to do,” he muttered, “is figure out the feedback level, and factor in that distortion. The scans will automatically compensate for it, adjusting their gain to bypass the effect, and — Voila!”

The shifting lights on the screen resolved into six clear dots — and stayed that way.

“Nice work, Rodney,” Sheppard admitted. Much as the scientist annoyed him sometimes — well, okay, almost all the time — he really was handy to have around. “Okay, so now we know where they are, and we can track them.” He studied the image, trying to mentally overlay a map of the area atop it. “That’s not the ledge we were on, so they must have found a new hiding place.”

“Standard procedure,” Ronon agreed. “We knew that location, so it was compromised.”

“Well, the good news is, they’re nowhere near the Jumper,” Rodney pointed out. “We can get back there and fix it and get the hell out of here. Good luck following us then!”

“We need to get the communications up and running first,” Sheppard told the others. “Calling Atlantis and telling them what’s going on has to be our first priority.”

But Ronon was shaking his head. “No calls,” he said. “That’ll only make matters worse.”

“Worse? How?” Rodney demanded. “You think having Woolsey send a squad to back us up and to stand guard while I repair the Jumper so we can get off this rock is a bad thing?”

“No, I think blowing up anyone coming through the gate — and maybe us with them — is a bad thing,” the big Satedan snapped in reply.

That statement got Sheppard’s full attention. “Wait, blow them up? What’re you talking about?”

“Nekai will have rigged the gate,” Ronon explained. “It was something he’d been thinking about before I left, and I’m sure he’s long since figured out the details. Dial any place without disabling the charge — even if it’s just to send a message through — and it’ll activate. Probably has a motion-sensor trigger, so it won’t go off until something moves within range. Then —
Boom!
Won’t hurt the gate itself, but it’ll probably vaporize anyone near it — and ‘near it’ could mean anywhere from a few meters away to half a light-year.”

Sheppard frowned. It made sense, given everything the V’rdai had already done to them. But that only added another worry to the list. “They’ll try to dial us,” he reminded his friends. “When it’s been thirty-six hours and we haven’t checked in, especially since this was supposed to be a quick rescue mission. And when they can’t reach us, they’ll send a team through.” That put a time limit on all this, and a tight one at that.

Ronon didn’t seem too fazed, however. “Don’t worry about that,” he said. “They won’t be able to dial the gate open from Atlantis. Nekai has it locked down — until we dismantle his lock or he removes it, no one can access the gate from the other side.”

Now Rodney was impressed. “So you think he perfected whatever he was using to do that? How?”

“I don’t know,” Ronon admitted. “Nekai never showed the rest of us that trick. He kept most of what he’d learned about the gates entirely to himself.” In the faint light of the small monitor Sheppard saw the big man’s mouth twist. “Just another way for him to keep us under his control.”

Rodney looked disappointed, and Sheppard couldn’t blame him. There was still so much they didn’t know about the Stargates and how they worked! “Maybe it’s something on his DHD,” Rodney mused, already caught up in the problem. He noticed the surprise on Sheppard’s face, though. “They scavenged one from a Wraith Dart — ask Ronon for the details. So maybe, when this mechanic of theirs jury-rigged it to his ship, he added a few features, and . . .”

“This world has no gate of its own
,”
 
Teyla pointed out, bringing all of them back to the problems at hand. “Which means we will have to get the Jumper repaired, return to the gate we came through and disarm whatever trap Nekai has set there before we can return to Atlantis.”