SGA-06 Entanglement by Martha Wells

Author:Martha Wells
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: atlantis, stargate, sga, pegasus galaxy, teyla, rodney mckay, john sheppard
Publisher: Martha Wells

Chapter Eight

The sky was a deep purple when Ronon made it up to the roof, the big planet that filled the sky almost blocking all but the last light of the sun. He paused in the doorway of the little dome that sheltered the lift platform; it was too dark to see more than the outlines of the various lumps and projections on the roof, but he couldn’t hear any movement.

“Ronon, they are still heading away from you,” Zelenka whispered in his headset. “Five hundred yards, a little further. They are moving fairly slowly, crossing back and forth in a search pattern. I think they are looking for the puddlejumper.”

He heard Kusanagi add, “Perhaps they think the others landed on the roof, that the ship is still there, cloaked. They must suspect we are from Atlantis.”

“Suspecting is fine,” Zelenka told her. “As long as they don’t know for certain. And even the possibility of a jumper doesn’t tell them the city is still there. It would be unreasonable for them to believe that none of us escaped through the Stargate before the destruction.”

Using the low platforms as cover, Ronon headed for the roof’s edge. There was still just enough light for him to see the darker shadow of the trench. He took out the little battery lightstick and crouched low, cupping his hand over it to shield the beam, and flashed it over the floor of the trench. He moved along the edge until the light found disturbed dust, the marks of tracks and scuffling. Then the light caught the glint of the metal shells cast off by the Atlantean weapons. It happened here, he thought.

He jumped down into the trench, landing lightly, and paced down it. After a few moments’ search, he frowned. This was the right place, but something important was missing. He touched his headset. “They aren’t here.”

“The Wraith?” Zelenka asked, a little startled. “The detector shows they are still searching — ”

“No. The others.” Ronon had thought he would find their bodies. The Wraith discarded human corpses like trash, leaving them where they fell; they would never have bothered to move the bodies after a feeding. Something else caught the light and he crouched, running his fingers through a scatter of plastic and metal debris. The remains of one of McKay’s computers. He allowed himself a grim smile; the destruction was thorough, nothing left to give the Wraith any information, any hint that Atlantis still lived.

“Oh, you mean...no bodies?” Zelenka hesitated. “But then perhaps they are alive? If the Wraith beamed them up, their life signs would disappear from screen — ”

“Maybe. That doesn’t mean they’re alive now.” Ronon stood, moving to the metal housing that shielded the device they needed to destroy. He felt along it, looking for an access panel. If the others were alive... They would be aboard that Wraith scout ship.

The jumper couldn’t take on a Wraith ship that size. Ronon would have to figure out a way to get onboard. And then get off again, if he found them alive.

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