Amy Griswold - The Lost

Ronon kept his eyes on Todd, still not putting his pistol away. “What if we really hadn’t brought the jumper?”

“Then you would be growing too careless to be worth negotiating with.”

“No chance of that,” Ronon said.

“So I see.”

The jumper sank lower as the wormhole opened, and it neatly threaded the eye of the Stargate above their heads. When it disappeared, standing in the middle of the open field suddenly felt pretty lonely.

“What if we have another jumper?” Ronon asked.

Todd gave Jennifer — not Ronon — that little nod of his head again. “I will take my chances.”

“Good,” Jennifer said. They were certainly taking enough of a chance themselves.

“Talk,” Ronon said. He kept his pistol out, ready to level it on Todd if he made a single wrong move. The other Wraith was watching them both, his long braided hair shifting with every slight movement. Ronon wondered if they made him nervous. He hoped so.

Todd met his eyes. If he was nervous at all himself, he wasn’t showing it. “You are the ones who wanted to ask for a favor.”

“We want to trade,” Jennifer said. “We might be able to do you a favor if you’ll share some information.”

“There was a raid on New Athos four days ago,” Ronon said. He was getting tired of pretending this was a friendly conversation. “Three darts came through the ring. One of them took McKay.”

“That is unfortunate,” Todd said. “What do you expect me to do about it?”

“Share some information,” Jennifer repeated.

Todd exchanged glances with the other Wraith. He thought they were communicating, in whatever way they did. The other Wraith bent over the probe and activated it again, his fingers moving across its surface like he was petting it. Ronon leveled his pistol on it, although it looked like the standard ones that only had cameras and transmitters, no weapons.

“It is essential that we move away from the Stargate,” Todd said. “You may follow us.” He turned his back on Ronon and began walking toward the treeline. The other Wraith followed him, but kept glancing behind.

It was awfully tempting to just shoot them both. If he killed the other one, he could probably take Todd down but leave him alive. There was just a little too much chance of Jennifer getting caught in the crossfire.

“We’re not going anywhere,” he said.

Todd turned. Ronon hated the way they always moved, like snakes trying to fascinate their prey into freezing. “We are not the only ones who use this meeting place,” he said. “I cannot afford to be seen treating humans as people to be negotiated with.”

“You mean treating humans as people,” Jennifer said. Todd didn’t bother to respond. “You could tell them we were your prisoners.”

“Will you allow me to restrain you, then?”

“No,” Ronon said flatly.

“Then that will be difficult to believe. If we are to negotiate, we will not do it standing next to the Stargate.”

“Fine,” Ronon said. He nodded to Jennifer. “Dial the gate. We’re leaving.”

“No, we’re not,” she said. “We’re not done here.”

“Yes, we are,” he said. He stepped backwards until he touched the DHD with his left hand, not taking his eyes off Todd. He found the first symbol by feel, the plate warm under his hand.

“No, we’re not,” she said, her voice low and hard the way he’d only heard from her a few times before. He hadn’t liked any of those times. She turned to Todd. “You don’t want to stay by the gate, fine,” she said. “We’ll come with you.”

“He said himself more Wraith could come through the gate,” Ronon said. He wasn’t sure why she wasn’t understanding how bad that would be. “We’d be cut off.”

“Then we’ll find a way to deal with them.”

“No,” he said. “End of discussion. We’re dialing out.” He pressed the first symbol in the address for New Athos.

“Fine,” Jennifer said. “Dial out if you want. But I’m not leaving until we know for sure they can’t help us find Rodney.”

“Follow or not,” Todd said, turning his back on them again. “But I would not remain at the gate if I were you.”

“I thought you said this was neutral ground,” Jennifer said.

“I am willing to treat you as if those rules applied to you,” Todd said. “Others will not be.”

Jennifer looked at Ronon. He could see her wavering. “It’s got to be a trap,” he said. “We aren’t doing this.”

She set her jaw. “I am,” she said.

There was a moment where he could have caught her arm to stop her. He probably would have if she’d been Teyla, but he hadn’t been raised to push women who weren’t soldiers around that way. That was probably going to get them both killed. Jennifer set off through the long grass, and Ronon swore under his breath and went after her.

They should be leaving enough of a trail for someone to follow. At least, he could have followed their trail. Lorne would at least be able to track them by their subcutaneous transmitters. That was something.

Todd and the other Wraith seemed unconcerned with whether they were following or not, keeping to a slow enough pace that they could follow without running, but not making any effort to drop back to join them. Ronon kept his eyes on them, but he could feel every step they were putting between themselves and the Stargate.

“We probably should have told someone that we were moving away from the gate,” Jennifer said under her breath. He wondered if that was supposed to be some kind of peace offering. It didn’t work, if it was.

“Can’t,” he said shortly. “Unless we shoot the probe first. It’ll record the gate address.”

“Right,” she said.

“You should listen to me,” he said. “This is a bad idea.”

“We can’t do this now,” she said, her voice a hiss barely above a whisper. They could probably hear her anyway. “We need to be together on this.”

You mean we need to do what you want , he thought, but he was all too aware that the Wraith were listening. “Fine,” he said.

“Where are we going?” she called to Todd.

“Be patient,” he said without turning.

“We’re not,” Ronon said.

“I know,” Todd said. “Just beyond the trees.”

They walked for a while in silence. The flat plain was beginning to slope down toward the line of trees, and the grass was shorter, brushing against his ankles. That made him frown, but he didn’t want to take his eyes off the Wraith to look closer.

“What?” Jennifer asked.

“This field’s been grazed,” he said. “Maybe just some kind of herd animal that roams wild here. But maybe not.”

She glanced down underfoot. “I think you’re right,” she said. “You don’t think there are people here, do you?”

“No cooking smoke,” he said. “But not everybody keeps fires lit all day when it’s this warm.”

“We are here,” Todd said, and actually stopped and waited for them to catch up. “You will be better received if you stay close to us. Most humans are not welcome here.”

I thought this planet was uninhabited, Jennifer said.

Then you have been badly informed, Todd said. As he spoke, a man stepped out from behind the trees. He was wearing robes and high cloth boots that looked weirdly familiar. After a moment, Ronon realized they were imitations of Wraith clothing, or maybe even the real thing.

Wraith worshiper, he spat.

The man spread his hands. You travel in the company of the gods yourself. His left hand was painted in what Ronon realized to his disgust was an imitation of a Wraith's feeding slit. His hair fell down his back, clearly once dark but beginning to gray.

They aren't gods, Ronon said.