Jo Graham - Death Game

“This is a way of killing your friends,” Teyla observed.

“It’s kind of a rite of passage,” John said. “I never wound up in the reservoir. But I did bend the gas gauge all to pieces once.” His hands felt light and fine as fire, like he could move at the speed of sound.

“Lovely,” Carson said.

“My mom wasn’t happy,” John said. “She ran out of gas when the tank looked full. Man, you could put a lot of weight in the back of that car! You could actually get it airborne if you took a hill at about seventy.”

“And this is how people die on your world,” Teyla observed.

Carson nodded. “I hope someday you have a boy to keep you up nights doing crazy things like that. Your poor mother!”

He was coming down now. Each breath seemed to take a normal amount of time. John put the jumper over carefully, looking at the screen to reorient himself to the heads up display of the mainland coast that the jumper helpfully provided at a thought.

“Ok, folks,” John said. “Next stop, taking our guests home. Suua, can you get up here? I need you to show me where to go.”

Behind, the slow rain of smaller particles descended to the waves and were swallowed up.

Evening was falling over the sea, and the first stars were showing, the sparks from the campfire flying like fireflies before the wind. John stood behind the beach dunes, the wind tugging at his hair, taking a sip of the local beer that Suua offered him.

“Is it good?” Suua asked hopefully. He was taking playing host to the visitors very seriously indeed.

“It’s good.” John said. “It’s really great beer.” It wasn’t his taste so much, malty and dark, but at least it was beer here, not tea. On a good day that was how it turned out, drinking tea in a place you’d never been before with some would-be enemies turned friends. Behind Suua, a vast number of his relatives and friends were spit-roasting fish over a fire, turning them quickly so that they wouldn’t burn. It smelled wonderful.

“I never thought it would work,” Suua said, glancing back as well to the figures limned by firelight. “I’m home. My wife, my daughter… I never thought I’d see them again. Thank you. Thank you.”

“You’re a good guy in a fight,” John said. “I’m not sure we would have made it without you.”

Jitrine came and joined them, her white robes much the worse for wear over the last few days. “You should not be drinking alcohol with a head injury,” she said disapprovingly.

“It’s just a few sips of beer,” John said, but he handed the jar back to Suua. He looked at the doctor. “What are you going to do next?”

“I’m going back to Pelagia with Ailan and Nevin,” Jitrine said. “The children are orphans, which is why they were sent as competitors for the Games in the first place. No one wanted them. So they may as well stay with me as anything else. There is much to do in Pelagia.” Jitrine looked west, toward the distant port city far out of sight along the coast. “With the High King killed aboard his airship, King Anados of Pelagia will have need of me. Perhaps it is our turn to rule the waters, without some High King in the islands who stands above us all. Perhaps it is time for the rule of men, and for us to shape this world as we will.”

“A Pelagian empire,” John said.

“It may be.” Jitrine’s eyes were serene. “And who is to say if that is good or ill?”

“Not me,” John shrugged. “It’s one of those things. One of those things about being human. Somebody’s going to step into the power vacuum, and it might as well be your King Anados. It’s got to be better. I figure he’s not going to feed on people anyhow.”

“You can be sure of that,” Jitrine said.

Teyla and Rodney came to join them, leaving Ronon and Radek tucking in to the first fish off the fire. Ronon was getting a whole fish to himself, and Radek was laughing as Suua’s wife tried to cut a piece off for him, catching it with his fingers.

“I don’t want to hear about how much I eat ever again,” Rodney declared. “Ronon and Zelenka are going to eat these people out of house and home.”

“There are many more fish where these came from,” Suua said. “Even your big friend cannot eat all the fish in the ocean.”

“Probably not,” John agreed. “But he might try.” Ronon was actually smiling. He wasn’t sure he’d ever seen that before.

“Have you decided what we’re going to do about the DHD?” Rodney asked.

“What about the DHD?”

“I fixed it,” Rodney said. “That means anybody can use the gate to go in or out. Which is a problem, because it means the Wraith will be back. We can dial in and out, but so can anybody else who wants to.”

John felt Teyla stiffen beside him. “Ok, so what’s the alternative?” he asked.

“There’s the energy shield,” Rodney said. “It protects the planet like it has for thousands of years, just like the other ones we’ve encountered. The Wraith can’t come in from space. If I take the control crystal out and bring it with us, any Wraith who come through the gate will be trapped and never be able to return to their hive ships. They won’t be able to dial out, and they probably don’t have a supply of spare control crystals, so they’ll be stuck here.” He looked at Jitrine. “Your people can probably take care of a few scouts, right?”

Jitrine nodded gravely. “King Anados will put a guard on the gate day and night. You may be sure of that.” She looked at Rodney, one eyebrow rising. “But if I understand correctly, if you do this we will not be able to use the gate either.”

“Well, you haven’t been using it now,” Rodney said. “I mean, the Wraith have controlled it for centuries. So you wouldn’t be losing anything.”

“Except the opportunity to be part of the rest of the galaxy,” Teyla said quietly.

“Part of the galaxy that has Wraith all over it!” Rodney said. “The Ancients set these shields up to protect worlds that weren’t advanced enough to protect themselves, a kind of a time capsule to nurture cultures and make sure humanity survived. These people can’t take on the Wraith! If it weren’t for the energy shield, this world would have been Culled a long time ago.”

“And if you take these control crystals,” Jitrine said keenly, “The Wraith will not be able to Cull us, but we will not be able to use the Stargate either.”

“Yes,” Rodney said, putting his hands in his pockets. “Your world will be free to develop at your own pace without outside interference. Like the Prime Directive.”

“Without any knowledge of the battles fought outside on our doorstep. Without your medicines and your technology. Without your people and your things changing us,” Jitrine said. “We will remain as we have remained, in a time capsule, kept in willful ignorance.” She shook her head, and her eyes came to rest on Teyla. “Is this what you would choose for your people?”

Teyla took a deep breath. “In exchange for no more Cullings, at least for a long, long time until the energy shield eventually fails? That might be centuries, you know. You might have five hundred years of peace. It is a very great opportunity.” She took another deep breath, and her eyes avoided John’s. “I would not make that choice. Many Athosians would, and would call me traitor or criminal for speaking as I do. But I am Teyla Who Walks Through Gates. To be bound to one world, ignorant of the struggles of all humanity outside, waiting for the day when the choices of others at last determine my fate? I could not choose that.” She raised her face, the sea wind pushing her hair back from her brow. “Better to face the world with courage. Better to risk all, knowing that you will be changed, knowing that the struggle is in itself worthy.”