SGA fic: Gaijin Part 32/40
Dec. 23rd, 2008 10:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sam_gamgeeGaijin, Part 32/40
The complete header can be found in part 1.
Previous parts can be found here.
John sat down next to Rodney with a sigh. “I don’t know how you do it. I’m tired just from last minute training exercises. You’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off translating, putting out fires, giving medical care, and doing God knows what else and you don’t even look winded.”
Rodney looked at him smugly as he ate a bit of stew. “Vast energy reserve,” he finally replied. “All of the energy I used to expend on yelling at subordinates and being stressed out all the time has been stored up in the event of an emergency or crisis.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” John replied between bites. “But I will admit that seeing you in action here makes some things make a lot more sense.”
“How so?” Rodney asked with raised eyebrows.
John shrugged as he finished chewing. “Like the way you talk – both how your emotions are more subtle, but at the same time more present; and how you tend to make sure that the first response you get back is either yes or no. Or how you relate physically to other people – it’s surprising that, with the whole ‘no touching’ rule, there doesn’t seen to be a concept of personal space once you know someone.”
Rodney laughed at that. “No, there really isn’t. But it does do its job of reminding you about the rules while fostering a sense of intimacy. Anything else?” he asked, amused.
“The comfortable silence. It’s weird that it doesn’t feel weird or awkward. I could go on, but I think you get the idea.” He glanced across the tent. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to go talk to Carson.”
“How’s that going?” Rodney asked.
“Slowly,” John replied and they both chuckled. “But it’s good. We’re enjoying ourselves.”
“Good,” Rodney told him. “It looks like my men have the same idea as you,” he said as Chuck and Evan sat down with them. John nodded and left.
“We miss you,” Chuck told him.
“I miss you both too,” Rodney told them. His hands gripped his empty bowl to remind himself not to touch them.
“Can we go somewhere private?” Evan asked quietly. “Even if only for a few minutes?”
Rodney scanned the crowd in the commons. “Yeah, I think so.” He stood and they followed. He found Kirby and Jillian and told them he needed to speak with Chuck and Evan in private and they nodded.
Once inside his quarters, Rodney looked at Chuck and Evan for a moment, fidgeting nervously. “I don’t know if I can do this here,” he told them before glancing past them to the closed curtain. “It feels too weird.”
“It’ll be fine,” Evan replied with an amused smile as he and Chuck closed the distance between the three of them and stood as close as Kelly would have, an arm around each other’s waist. “We just need a few minutes alone with you to let you know how much you’re appreciated and loved.”
“And while you’re busy doing for everyone else, we wanted to do a little something for you,” Chuck added.
Rodney raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what would that be?”
Evan cupped Rodney’s cheek and kissed him slowly and thoroughly. Rodney whimpered softly in the back of his throat and melted into Evan’s touch, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him close, his other hand coming up and clenching Chuck’s shirt. When they pulled away, Rodney instinctively turned and met Chuck in a similar kiss, Chuck’s hand coming up to caress the back of Rodney’s neck. As they kissed, all of the desire, need, affection, love, lust – everything that he felt for them aside from feelings for a bound friend – that Rodney had neatly packaged away before stepping through the Gate pounded back into his chest and flowed through his body, sending tingles down his spine and leaving him pulsing with need and desire. While Evan and Chuck kissed, Rodney felt his breathing get even shallower, and he was certain there was no way he’d be able to back out into the commons any time soon.
“Are you two trying to kill me?” he asked hoarsely when they broke apart.
Chuck and Evan both laughed, and Chuck put his forehead against Rodney’s temple as Evan leaned in to kiss the base of Rodney’s neck. “Not intentionally, no,” Chuck replied. “Do you want us to stop?”
“Well, the prudent answer would be, yes, we need to stop now. But, no, please don’t stop.”
“Good,” Evan murmured into his skin. “Because we would have done our best to dissuade you.”
“You’re doing a really good job with your argument right now,” Rodney replied breathlessly, before sharply inhaling when Evan began suckling on the juncture of his shoulder and neck as Chuck began combing his fingers through Rodney’s hair as he smiled at him affectionately.
“I don’t – I don’t have anything, you know, to um,” Rodney started, his vocabulary quickly diminishing.
“Well, I can think of a number of things we can do where we don’t need ‘anything’,” Chuck told him with a lascivious grin.
Rodney couldn’t help but grin back. “Then what are we waiting for?” he asked. “We only have a small window of opportunity here.”
Chuck quickly fell to his knees and Rodney groaned. The sight of either of his lovers on their knees would never get old.
“We have to be careful,” Rodney belatedly protested, knowing for certain that Evan was going to be leaving a mark and there was a lot of potential with what they were about to do.
“Oh, I can do careful,” Chuck replied. “And quiet, too, even if neither is as much fun as loud and uninhibited.”
“You talk too much,” Evan told him before recapturing Rodney’s mouth.
Chuck rolled his eyes as his fingers deftly undid the lacings on Rodney’s pants before carefully pushing them out of the way and letting them fall around his ankles. Rodney moaned softly into Evan’s mouth as the cooler air caressed his erect cock.
“I’d comment about the lack of underwear, but we knew that already,” Chuck said.
Rodney rolled his eyes. “Will you just get on with it already?”
Chuck smirked up at him. “With pleasure.”
As his mouth descended on Rodney’s cock, Rodney wasn’t sure where to give his attention – Chuck’s talented mouth on his cock, Evan’s talented mouth on his own, or Evan’s hand, which had found its way underneath Rodney’s shirt and was doing wonderful things to his nipples. Rodney groaned as he took it all in, knowing he wouldn’t last very long under the pleasurable onslaught.
Chuck’s left hand came up to still Rodney’s hips from thrusting as he continued taking his slow time with Rodney’s cock, lavishing attention on it as he licked, sucked, and nipped at the rigid member. Rodney groaned in frustration as his right hand found its way under Evan’s shirt and mirrored what he was doing, causing Evan to groan in response. His hand wandered down and into Evan’s pants, where he gently caressed Evan’s erection.
Evan bit back a moan as Rodney withdrew his hand so he could open Evan’s pants and have better access to one of the objects of his desire. When he retook Evan in hand, Evan thrust into his hand and Rodney laughed into his mouth, loving what they were doing to each other. He matched his strokes with what Chuck was doing to his cock, but all too soon he could feel himself rushing towards the edge. As he came, he bit down on the patch of Evan’s skin he had been suckling, causing Evan to still and come as well.
As soon as Chuck finished swallowing the last of Rodney’s come, he took Rodney’s hand from Evan’s cock and began licking Evan’s come off of it. Both men groaned as they watched the arousing scene before them.
“Stand up,” Evan told Chuck huskily and waved him up.
Chuck looked at them uneasily, not sure what was going on, as Evan caught Rodney’s gaze and smirked. Rodney nodded in response and smirked as well before they both fell to their knees in front of Chuck.
He whimpered before plaintively asking, “Are you two trying to kill me?”
They didn’t respond as they worked together to open Chuck’s pants and free his erection. Chuck tangled a hand in both heads of hair as they both steadied him with a hand on his hips. Together, they began to suck him off, easily working together on his cock to bring Chuck as much pleasure as possible. Rodney had to admit, there was also something incredibly arousing about kissing one of his partners around the other’s cock.
Chuck’s soft moans and whimpers egged them on, taunting him like he had Rodney. When Chuck came, Evan swallowed his come, then kissed Rodney deeply.
Afterwards, they all made themselves presentable again, checking to make sure there wasn’t any incriminating evidence. Then Rodney pulled them each into a tight embrace and kissed them both deeply – first Evan, then Chuck.
“Thank you,” he told them quietly. “I really needed that.”
“We know,” Chuck smirked as he fixed Rodney’s hair again.
“We should, you know,” he pointed to the curtain.
“Yeah,” Evan replied regretfully.
When they returned to the common area, there were a few curiously raised eyebrows from their group, but the Laprans seemed unaware of what had just happened.
“Everything okay?” Jillian asked him as Chuck and Evan rejoined their group.
Rodney nodded, smiling fondly at her and refusing to feel guilty about what he, Chuck, and Evan had just done. “Everything’s great.”
“They’re coming! They’re coming!” a voice yelled, waking Rodney and the rest of the camp with a start early the next morning.
“Shit,” Rodney murmured as he heard a muttered “Fuck!” from Chuck’s direction.
There was a flurry of activity as people scrambled to dress and get to their stations, rousing others as they went. As Rodney took his place, he hoped the extreme crash course they had given the other Laprans while the Korsans were gone would be enough.
When they heard the Korsans come down the passageway, Rodney knew that his kinsmen had done their job and the Korsans weren’t expecting anything out of the ordinary and he breathed a sigh of relief. They still had the element of surprise on their side. It took all of Rodney’s willpower to keep himself still and not start fighting the moment the Korsans entered the borough, and he could tell a number of the Laprans were getting restless as well. Whether it was from fear or a desire to put their new knowledge to use, he didn’t know.
He concentrated on his breathing as he slowly counted them and went through the plan again in his mind. They were to go about their business and allow the Korsans to return and get settled, thinking nothing was out of the ordinary. But the moment one of them harassed a Lapran in *any* way, they would start fighting back.
Rodney thanked whatever deity was out there that while the Korsans hadn’t allowed the Laprans to go into the caves to practice with their staffs, they still let them do it in the borough, so it had become common for there to be any number of staffs present in the morning while the Laprans practiced their katas and sparred with each other under the Korsans’ hawk-like gaze.
Rodney gazed around as he finished one of his forms, making eye contact with each of the more experienced Laprans before glancing at the quarters where he knew Chuck and Carson were located and starting the next kata.
It didn’t take long. One of the women stumbled on her way to serve the Korsans breakfast and the man backhanded her.
“Now!” Rodney yelled.
The nearest Lapran slugged the Korsan, sending him reeling, wide-eyed and holding his jaw. As expected, the Korsans retaliated and the fight was on. The Korsans quickly recovered from their surprise and really put the Laprans to the test, but the Laprans didn’t let Rodney down. He could see the determination in their eyes as they fought back – those the most comfortable doing it with their staffs, or a few ganging up on a Korsan and doing their best to land as many punches and kicks as possible. Chuck, Carson, and Rodney circulated among the group, helping out wherever they could, but letting the Laprans do most of the fighting – knowing they needed to be the ones to do it.
As the Korsans were slowly subdued one by one, the Atlanteans helped the Laprans tie up and gag the outraged Korsans before relieving them of all their weapons. When they finished, Rodney looked over their handiwork with a grim satisfaction. The Korsans definitely looked the worse for wear, even though he knew that he and the other Laprans hadn’t fared much better, but he knew the Laprans would accept that.
“What do we do with them now?” someone asked.
“We’ll take them to Charlie’s borough and secure them there, as planned. Then we’ll go from there,” Rodney replied, taking his gaze off of the Korsans and looking around at the gathered Laprans. “We make this decision as a whole.”
The Laprans nodded and murmured their agreement as Rodney and a few others prodded the Korsans to their feet and then frog-marched them to the other borough, where they secured them together and to some tethers that had been attached to one of the poles. The glaring Korsans got the point without anyone saying a word – if they struggled to get free, they risked the chance of the structure coming down on them.
As they finished, John and Ronon showed up with Laprans from their groups and their captured Korsans and their prisoners were secured in a similar fashion. When they finished and a handful of Laprans took up posts as guards, Rodney said, “We need to gather everyone and decide the fate of the Korsans. Do it as quickly as possible and we’ll meet in my borough.”
“Why your borough?” John asked as they all moved out.
“It’s more centrally located,” Rodney replied. “I thought you had figured that out.”
John looked a little sheepish as they headed back. Rodney had to stop a few times to check injuries, but no one had been seriously hurt – the injuries were mostly sore spots that would turn into some fantastic bruises, and a couple of split lips and black eyes. There were a small handful of broken bones, and those people were helped back to Rodney’s borough if necessary so their bones could be set there.
But Rodney could tell the change in the Laprans as they walked back. The mood was lighter and the Laprans chatted among themselves.
“You did good,” Rodney whispered to Chuck as he bumped Chuck’s shoulder with his own.
Chuck smiled and replied, “Thanks. It was kind of scary, though, you know?”
Rodney nodded. “I know. Are you hurt anywhere?”
Chuck shook his head. “Not badly. I took a hard punch on my right side from a Korsan and one of the Laprans accidentally smacked me on the left side with their staff. So I’ll have some nice bruises, but it’s nothing to worry about.”
Rodney instinctively reached into his pouch and produced some leaves. “Here,” he said, grabbing Chuck’s hand and putting them in his palm. “These will help with the pain.”
Chuck’s expression turned inscrutable as he started to hand them back. “Rodney, I –”
“Take them,” Rodney told him in a tone that brooked no argument. “This isn’t favoritism.”
Chuck glared at him as he put the leaves in his mouth and began chewing them. “Happy now?” he asked.
“Ecstatic,” Rodney replied as they entered his borough.
Rodney watched with a small smile as Carson fussed over a cut on John’s eyebrow, to John’s embarrassed amusement, and made him submit to a quick once-over. He smiled to himself, knowing that they were going to work.
Evan quickly joined them. “Are you two all right?” he asked quietly, running a hand down Chuck’s arm. He started to reach out to Rodney, but stopped himself.
Rodney smiled at the action. As much as he knew it hurt them to not touch him while they were here, it made him feel too weird when they did, and he didn’t feel like answering the other Laprans’ questions about it.
“We’re fine,” Chuck replied as he swallowed the last of the leaves. “Though Rodney here doesn’t seem to think I can take a few bruises.”
“Where are they?” Evan asked immediately.
Chuck rolled his eyes in exasperation as Rodney smirked. “One on each side – one from a punch and one from a mistaken staff hit. The punch is against my bottom ribs and the staff was about two inches below that.” He glared at Rodney before telling Evan, “Rodney made me chew some leaves, which he said will help with the pain, but I’m sure they’ll also null any actual bruising, thereby voiding any respect I’d be able to get from fighting.”
“No, you’ll still get the bruises,” Rodney told him. “The leaves really were just for the pain.”
When the rest of the Laprans had arrived, crowding into the borough, Rodney went to address them. “Congratulations,” he told them. “We accomplished our directive and have contained the Korsans.” He paused while a cheer went up from the Laprans. “But now we need to figure out what to do with them. I have a feeling that our make-shift containment will be just that – make-shift – and it won’t hold them for long. This is your fight. What should we do with them?”
“Send them home with a good kick in the ass,” someone said.
“Kill them all,” someone else replied. “Take revenge for what they’ve done to us and our families over the years.”
“We’re better than that,” someone else said. “We should just send them back to Korsa to show them that we won’t stoop to their level of brutality.”
Rodney winced inwardly. “As much as I agree with that option, I don’t think you’re going to want to just let them go. Not only have they suffered physically today, their egos have taken quite a beating. There’s a good chance they’ll take their revenge on us before they leave. Or they’ll come back with reinforcements and completely overwhelm us. Or they might do both. They may also decide that this is the time to take out their punishment on the Morykons and Nagdalis. Do you really want to submit them to that, when you have the chance to stop this once and for all right now?”
There was silence as they all thought about that.
“What *can* we do?” someone asked.
“What do we *need* to do?” Kelly countered and Rodney smiled. Leave it to Kelly to turn the discussion from helpless into ownership. He had never let Rodney get away from anything and he wasn’t going to let his kinsmen do it either.
Rodney gave the other Atlanteans, who had moved off to one side of him, a reassuring smile as the conversation among the Laprans continued as they brainstormed.
“I think we need to take their portable dialers from them,” drew Rodney’s attention.
“But they still have a way off of their planet that won’t deter them from going to Morykos or Nagdalia,” someone else responded. “Just here, since they know they won’t have a way out of here. Could we do something to the Morykon and Nagdali Gates?” the speaker asked Rodney. “Not to cripple them, but to protect them?
Everyone’s attention turned to Rodney. “It’s possible,” he replied. “There is a way we could deal with their Gates so they’d have to rely on their Gate dialers like us.”
“Would they allow us to do that to them, though?” someone else mentioned. “Because that could leave them in the exact same situation we’re in.”
“Let’s go back to getting the Korsans out of here, first,” Kelly said. “We don’t have much time.” He glanced at the Atlanteans and asked Rodney, “Is there a way we could get better weapons?”
Rodney smiled at him, thankful that he was willing to help lead the discussion. Kelly would make a great leader one day. He shrugged and replied, “Maybe?” He asked John, “Do you think we could get more other weapons for the Laprans?”
John shook his head. “I doubt Elizabeth would go for it.”
“It’s better not to,” Ronon added. “It’s too much of a problem afterwards. It’s better to use whatever they’ve got on hand.”
Rodney’s eyes lit up. “Knives. They’ve got knives. Could you teach them?” he asked excitedly.
Ronon, Teyla, and the military men looked among each other and quietly discussed it. “It’s possible,” John finally replied. “Do they all have knives?”
“Most of them do – at least most of the adults do. They’re not all the same type, though.”
“We can work with that,” Ronon told him.
Rodney grinned as he turned back to the Laprans. “We can’t get you better weapons,” he told them. “But we can better teach you how to use what you have.”
“You already have,” someone replied grumpily.
“No, I mean your knives,” Rodney replied and there was a collective gasp from the crowd. He held up his hands to quiet them. “I know, I know – all sorts of bad potential there. I’d rather not do it either, but I think we’ll have to. The Korsans will more than likely get free before we’ll be able to have everything else in place and we’ll have to fight again. Only this time they’ll be madder than anything you’ve ever seen before and you’ll have to put up a real fight. If you’d like to think about it, please do – but we really don’t have much time.”
“I think we should do it,” Kelly replied. “I think we’ve paid long enough for what our ancestors did to theirs and now they need to be taught a lesson because they’re acting like recalcitrant children.”
“But with knives?” someone else argued. “That’s like using a hammer to shape a small piece of glass.”
“Sadly, some people will only learn by violence,” Kelly replied. “We’ve heard this from some of the other groups and we even have a few tales of our own from our distant past that will attest to that as well. Just because we agree to take up arms in this one instance doesn’t mean that we’ve thrown aside everything we believe in. We’re doing it to preserve our lives and our beliefs and protect our children.”
Rodney could hear murmured assent ripple through the group, as well as murmurs of apprehension. As much as he wanted to yell at them and verbally pound them into submission, he knew that this was a decision they’d have to arrive at on their own, for better or worse, since it was something they were going to have to live with for a long, long time.
As Kelly fought with the other Laprans, Rodney couldn’t help but feel immensely proud of his bond friend. He was holding his own easily and fighting eloquently with them, slowly bringing them around so that even the grumblers couldn’t get away from the truth of what they were up against and what they had to do – as much as they still hated it.
When they finally agreed to learn how to use their knives as weapons, Rodney disbanded the group, telling them to return to their boroughs and to get ready to start training immediately. He instructed Charlie’s borough to get their knives and anything they’d need for a few days, then return to the boroughs they had been assigned to protect. He also split his borough up among the other three – knowing it would save a lot of time in the long run and give him more time to do what he needed to do.
Once the Laprans had gone, Rodney got together with the other Atlanteans and told them what the Laprans had agreed to. “They’re not happy about it,” he ended with, shrugging, “but they see that they don’t have much choice. Okay, I’m going to need all of you to go back to the boroughs you were working with before – they trust you and it’ll be easier to teach them now than if we switched things up. Chuck and Carson, we’ve got to get working on a plan for the Morykon and Nagdali Gates.”
“But I don’t know anything about the Gates,” Carson complained as they went their separate ways.
“That’s why you’re just going to be the messenger.”
“The *what*?” Carson squawked indignantly. “I know I may not have had training in Lapran medicine, but you’ll need me here because we both know there will be injuries.”
“Okay, fine,” Rodney agreed. “Go help the others train the Laprans,” he said, waving Carson off. “Make sure they’re teaching them to wound the Korsans, not kill them.”
When they were alone, Chuck asked him, “How are you holding up?”
“Surprisingly well,” Rodney replied as he dug through Chuck’s pack for his tablet. “Okay, we’ve got a lot of work to do and probably not a lot of time.” He found the tablet and sat down cross-legged with it in his lap as he waited for it to turn on.
Chuck sat down next to him so he could see the tablet. “The one who did most of the talking today, that’s Kelly isn’t it?”
“It is,” Rodney replied with a nod as he began opening programs. He glanced up at Chuck and frowned. “I never introduced you properly, did I?”
“No,” Chuck replied with a smile. “But we have been really busy, so it’s understandable. So what are we doing?”
“Okay, here’s what I’m thinking we could do,” Rodney told him as he brought up a few of the programs. “What do you think about doing this?”
They worked together quickly, Rodney’s hands flying over the tablet as they made up plans to temporarily disable the Morykon and Nagdali Gates to protect them from the Korsans and how Chuck could present it to them.
“Okay, I think you’re set,” he finally told Chuck, handing the tablet back to him and began gathering some food and placing it in his pack and making sure he had a portable dialer. “Here’s what I want you to do. I need you to leave as soon as this conversation is finished. When you get to the end of the tunnel, stow this between the ladder and the wall.” He handed Chuck a portable dialer wrapped in cloth that had a program loaded onto it to reactivate the Gates. “When you get above ground, dial Atlantis first and give Elizabeth an update on what’s going on. Tell her we’ll be back as soon as we possibly can and keep the conversation as brief as possible. Then dial the Morykons – their address is the first one there.” He pointed at the address on the top of a word document on Chuck’s tablet. “And when you go through, tell them this,” he pointed to a Lapran phrase that was spelled out phonetically. “It says that you’re an Atlantean and that you’re coming on behalf of the Laprans and that you need to see Natalia. Once you’ve finished with the Morykons, move on to the Nagdalis. Natalia will either go with you or make sure you have an introduction to them.”
“And if they don’t listen to me?” Chuck asked.
“Mention the Korsans. That should get them to listen. Now you need to go.” Rodney helped Chuck put his pack on.
Chuck paused for a minute and then frowned. “You’re just getting me out of the way to keep me safe, aren’t you?” he asked indignantly. “Things are about to get really hairy and you want to get me out of the way since I don’t have as much experience as the rest of you.”
“While that may be true,” Rodney replied as he started propelling Chuck to the entrance of the caves, “that thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. You’ll be saving two civilizations from the Korsans while we do what we can here.”
“What makes you so sure the Korsans aren’t there as well?”
“Natalia would have said so. Besides, they don’t have enough people to deal with all three groups at once – or even two at once. Now go.”
Chuck started the last few steps to the caves, then stopped and turned back. “What should I do when I’m done with the Nagdalis? And what about the guards? The Korsans have been back to the Gate. They would have seen that the guards were dead. They could have gotten more when they went home.”
“You come back here and help us, you doofus,” Rodney replied affectionately. “The Korsans could have set up more guards or they might have figured that it was a weird one-time occurance – you’ve seen how they treat the Laprans. But that’s a chance you’ll have to take.” He smirked. “And you were accusing me of trying to keep you completely safe.”
“Do you think we could suspend the rules this once?” Chuck asked softly.
Rodney nodded. “I think Evan would understand.”
They closed the distance between themselves and hugged each other tightly before kissing each other deeply.
“Kiss Evan for me when you get a chance?” Chuck asked when they pulled apart.
“Will do,” Rodney replied with a smile. “But you’ll be doing it soon enough yourself. Now go.”
Rodney watched Chuck disappear into the caves before turning back to face the commons area and sighing. There was so much that needed to be done that he didn’t know if they’d be done in time. And he was afraid the Laprans wouldn’t be able to defeat the Korsans this time and that they would end up getting massacred.
He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He had to keep thinking positively. The Laprans had done exceedingly well every time they had needed to fight against the Korsans, there was no reason to believe that they wouldn’t now – especially now that they knew how high the stakes were. He just hoped the naysayers wouldn’t bring down the rest of them – that was the last thing they needed right now.
He cleared his head and focused on the task at hand. He made sure the borough was as secure as possible – fires were out and valuables hidden away – before gathering up some food for himself, as well as a change of clothes, and making sure his medicinal pouch was completely stocked before heading out. He needed to see where things stood and help out where he could so they would be ready in time.
That night as they ate dinner, Rodney asked Kelly, “How did this whole thing with the Korsans get started anyway? I’ve only heard bits and pieces and it’s been kind of hard explaining it to my friends.” He pointed to the other Atlanteans, who were watching them with mild curiosity.
Kelly shrugged as he ate. “It started a long time ago – just before the storms started. It was believed that the storms were partly in response to the decision to exclude them from the intermarriage network, but our ancestors remained convinced that that was the right thing to do and we adapted to the storms, thinking that when we had paid for what we had done, the storms would stop.” He shrugged. “I doubt that that’s really the case – considering that this is a steep price to pay for what had been done. Soon after that, the raids started. The Korsans soon proved our ancestors right in their decision with their raids. They always wanted more than we were able to give. The same with the Morykons and Nagdalis.”
“Was it ever determined if the people the Korsans took had any special value in marriage?”
“I don’t know. You would have to ask Kirby about that. But I would suspect not, considering how random the abductions were. What would they do with Jean or,” he stilled for a moment and stared into his food, “my father?”
“Has there ever been an attempt to retrieve the people or property that were taken?”
“I’ve heard that it was attempted a few times back in the beginning, but the Korsans were too formidable and unwilling to listen to reason. And some of the Laprans didn’t want to come back. I think that’s what hurt them the most – that there could be Laprans who had been captured who were happy with the situation they were in.”
“And that’s when the stories of love overcoming such different backgrounds started, wasn’t it?” Rodney asked gently.
Kelly nodded. “It gave our ancestors hope for the future that one day it might be resolved and that the Korsans would at least come to their senses and leave us alone.” He laughed. “Not that that’s exactly worked. And now we’re attempting to clean up their mess and deal with this once and for all. Most of us believe that if the sandstorms have not stopped by now, that either they weren’t started because of what we did to the Korsans or they were, but they’ve continued because now we’re not doing what we should have done a long time ago and nipped the Korsans’ actions in the bud.”
“Forever the optimists,” Rodney replied with a wry smile.
“We have to hope for something. I’m sure your people are the same way.”
“You’re right, we are – always hoping for something just out of our reach, even if we don’t know what to do with it once we’ve got it.”
“We should get back to training,” Kelly said as he finished eating. “What is the plan anyway? Wait until the Korsans free themselves and then go from there?”
“Pretty much,” Rodney replied. “They won’t be held for long and we don’t have the ability at the moment to make sure that once we put them through that they won’t come back with larger forces or go to either the Morykons or Nagdalis.”
“And your kinsman who is missing – he’s doing that now, is he? Working with the Morykons and Nagdalis?”
“I certainly hope so,” Rodney replied.
“Is he your bond friend?” Kelly asked with a perplexed look on his face. “I’ll admit that I don’t know which one of them it is. I could tell which ones it’s not, but that still leaves a few possibilities.”
“It’s complicated,” Rodney replied as he finished eating. “I’ll explain it once this is all over and I’ll make sure that you’re introduced properly.”
Kelly nodded. “We’d better get moving. There’s a lot that needs to be done before that day.”
Rodney circulated among the Laprans as the Atlanteans trained them with their knives, helping translate when gestures simply weren’t enough and correcting when needed. He knew they were racing against the clock and hated not knowing when the zero hour would come.
But, as almost expected, it came too soon. Nothing had happened at the moment Rodney’s sense of impending doom kicked in, but he knew that they were now on borrowed time. But he was thankful that the small handful of days that they had been given had made the Laprans ready enough for the task at hand. The Laprans had their instructions – do not use their knives until they absolutely had to, do not kill unless absolutely necessary, and to drive the Korsans towards the caves. Rodney had already hid the Gate dialers belonging to the Laprans to protect them from the Korsans. And the Atlanteans had strict instructions to not use their guns. Rodney had tried to get them to disarm themselves but was only able to persuade them as far as stowing their P90s and their clips separately in their packs, after many assurances that the Laprans wouldn’t disturb their personal items without express permission.
And Chuck had returned with news that he had been successful with both the Morykons and the Nagdalis and that both groups wished them luck.
“Why don’t they get involved and help the Laprans?” Chuck asked Rodney after he gave him the report.
“Because they’ve got enough to worry about making sure that they’re ready if this doesn’t work,” Rodney replied. “Because if we don’t stop the Korsans, the Morykons and Nagdalis will be next.”
“Okay, what do you need me to do?”
“Go help make sure we’re ready.”
The night before Rodney was sure the Korsans would attack, Kelly and a few of the more radical Laprans met him after dinner. “They think that as your bond friend, I’d have the most influence over you and that I’d be able to help persuade you,” he told Rodney.
“Well, I’d have to hear what they have to say first,” Rodney replied calmly and kept his expression neutral as he leaned back against his borrowed cot.
“We think that once we have defeated the Korsans,” Henry said, “we should go to the Korsans’ home and take back what they have taken from us.”
“And why do you think that’s a good idea?” Rodney asked him neutrally, though he made sure he made eye contact with everyone in the group. “If you do that, would it make you any better than the Korsans? Would it show them that you are above them? No. It would show them that you’re no different than they are and only feed the fire that’s been fueling them.” He leaned forward and spoke to them softly. “I know it hurts to know that people you love are gone forever, but we can’t change that. We have to move forward like we’ve always done and make the most of this situation.”
“Then how will they learn to leave us alone?” Charlie asked.
“Oh, believe me, they’ll learn. I have every faith that you will teach them a valuable lesson in the next few days that they will not soon forget. Now, listen to me. There will be no more talk of retaliation in kind on the Korsans. If I find out that you still conspire to do so in private, I will make sure that you are all exiled. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, Rodney-san,” they murmured, looking dejected.
Rodney’s tone softened. “Now you all better get going and get some sleep. The next few days will be very trying for all of us.”
Continue to Part 33
The complete header can be found in part 1.
Previous parts can be found here.
John sat down next to Rodney with a sigh. “I don’t know how you do it. I’m tired just from last minute training exercises. You’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off translating, putting out fires, giving medical care, and doing God knows what else and you don’t even look winded.”
Rodney looked at him smugly as he ate a bit of stew. “Vast energy reserve,” he finally replied. “All of the energy I used to expend on yelling at subordinates and being stressed out all the time has been stored up in the event of an emergency or crisis.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” John replied between bites. “But I will admit that seeing you in action here makes some things make a lot more sense.”
“How so?” Rodney asked with raised eyebrows.
John shrugged as he finished chewing. “Like the way you talk – both how your emotions are more subtle, but at the same time more present; and how you tend to make sure that the first response you get back is either yes or no. Or how you relate physically to other people – it’s surprising that, with the whole ‘no touching’ rule, there doesn’t seen to be a concept of personal space once you know someone.”
Rodney laughed at that. “No, there really isn’t. But it does do its job of reminding you about the rules while fostering a sense of intimacy. Anything else?” he asked, amused.
“The comfortable silence. It’s weird that it doesn’t feel weird or awkward. I could go on, but I think you get the idea.” He glanced across the tent. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to go talk to Carson.”
“How’s that going?” Rodney asked.
“Slowly,” John replied and they both chuckled. “But it’s good. We’re enjoying ourselves.”
“Good,” Rodney told him. “It looks like my men have the same idea as you,” he said as Chuck and Evan sat down with them. John nodded and left.
“We miss you,” Chuck told him.
“I miss you both too,” Rodney told them. His hands gripped his empty bowl to remind himself not to touch them.
“Can we go somewhere private?” Evan asked quietly. “Even if only for a few minutes?”
Rodney scanned the crowd in the commons. “Yeah, I think so.” He stood and they followed. He found Kirby and Jillian and told them he needed to speak with Chuck and Evan in private and they nodded.
Once inside his quarters, Rodney looked at Chuck and Evan for a moment, fidgeting nervously. “I don’t know if I can do this here,” he told them before glancing past them to the closed curtain. “It feels too weird.”
“It’ll be fine,” Evan replied with an amused smile as he and Chuck closed the distance between the three of them and stood as close as Kelly would have, an arm around each other’s waist. “We just need a few minutes alone with you to let you know how much you’re appreciated and loved.”
“And while you’re busy doing for everyone else, we wanted to do a little something for you,” Chuck added.
Rodney raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what would that be?”
Evan cupped Rodney’s cheek and kissed him slowly and thoroughly. Rodney whimpered softly in the back of his throat and melted into Evan’s touch, wrapping an arm around his waist and pulling him close, his other hand coming up and clenching Chuck’s shirt. When they pulled away, Rodney instinctively turned and met Chuck in a similar kiss, Chuck’s hand coming up to caress the back of Rodney’s neck. As they kissed, all of the desire, need, affection, love, lust – everything that he felt for them aside from feelings for a bound friend – that Rodney had neatly packaged away before stepping through the Gate pounded back into his chest and flowed through his body, sending tingles down his spine and leaving him pulsing with need and desire. While Evan and Chuck kissed, Rodney felt his breathing get even shallower, and he was certain there was no way he’d be able to back out into the commons any time soon.
“Are you two trying to kill me?” he asked hoarsely when they broke apart.
Chuck and Evan both laughed, and Chuck put his forehead against Rodney’s temple as Evan leaned in to kiss the base of Rodney’s neck. “Not intentionally, no,” Chuck replied. “Do you want us to stop?”
“Well, the prudent answer would be, yes, we need to stop now. But, no, please don’t stop.”
“Good,” Evan murmured into his skin. “Because we would have done our best to dissuade you.”
“You’re doing a really good job with your argument right now,” Rodney replied breathlessly, before sharply inhaling when Evan began suckling on the juncture of his shoulder and neck as Chuck began combing his fingers through Rodney’s hair as he smiled at him affectionately.
“I don’t – I don’t have anything, you know, to um,” Rodney started, his vocabulary quickly diminishing.
“Well, I can think of a number of things we can do where we don’t need ‘anything’,” Chuck told him with a lascivious grin.
Rodney couldn’t help but grin back. “Then what are we waiting for?” he asked. “We only have a small window of opportunity here.”
Chuck quickly fell to his knees and Rodney groaned. The sight of either of his lovers on their knees would never get old.
“We have to be careful,” Rodney belatedly protested, knowing for certain that Evan was going to be leaving a mark and there was a lot of potential with what they were about to do.
“Oh, I can do careful,” Chuck replied. “And quiet, too, even if neither is as much fun as loud and uninhibited.”
“You talk too much,” Evan told him before recapturing Rodney’s mouth.
Chuck rolled his eyes as his fingers deftly undid the lacings on Rodney’s pants before carefully pushing them out of the way and letting them fall around his ankles. Rodney moaned softly into Evan’s mouth as the cooler air caressed his erect cock.
“I’d comment about the lack of underwear, but we knew that already,” Chuck said.
Rodney rolled his eyes. “Will you just get on with it already?”
Chuck smirked up at him. “With pleasure.”
As his mouth descended on Rodney’s cock, Rodney wasn’t sure where to give his attention – Chuck’s talented mouth on his cock, Evan’s talented mouth on his own, or Evan’s hand, which had found its way underneath Rodney’s shirt and was doing wonderful things to his nipples. Rodney groaned as he took it all in, knowing he wouldn’t last very long under the pleasurable onslaught.
Chuck’s left hand came up to still Rodney’s hips from thrusting as he continued taking his slow time with Rodney’s cock, lavishing attention on it as he licked, sucked, and nipped at the rigid member. Rodney groaned in frustration as his right hand found its way under Evan’s shirt and mirrored what he was doing, causing Evan to groan in response. His hand wandered down and into Evan’s pants, where he gently caressed Evan’s erection.
Evan bit back a moan as Rodney withdrew his hand so he could open Evan’s pants and have better access to one of the objects of his desire. When he retook Evan in hand, Evan thrust into his hand and Rodney laughed into his mouth, loving what they were doing to each other. He matched his strokes with what Chuck was doing to his cock, but all too soon he could feel himself rushing towards the edge. As he came, he bit down on the patch of Evan’s skin he had been suckling, causing Evan to still and come as well.
As soon as Chuck finished swallowing the last of Rodney’s come, he took Rodney’s hand from Evan’s cock and began licking Evan’s come off of it. Both men groaned as they watched the arousing scene before them.
“Stand up,” Evan told Chuck huskily and waved him up.
Chuck looked at them uneasily, not sure what was going on, as Evan caught Rodney’s gaze and smirked. Rodney nodded in response and smirked as well before they both fell to their knees in front of Chuck.
He whimpered before plaintively asking, “Are you two trying to kill me?”
They didn’t respond as they worked together to open Chuck’s pants and free his erection. Chuck tangled a hand in both heads of hair as they both steadied him with a hand on his hips. Together, they began to suck him off, easily working together on his cock to bring Chuck as much pleasure as possible. Rodney had to admit, there was also something incredibly arousing about kissing one of his partners around the other’s cock.
Chuck’s soft moans and whimpers egged them on, taunting him like he had Rodney. When Chuck came, Evan swallowed his come, then kissed Rodney deeply.
Afterwards, they all made themselves presentable again, checking to make sure there wasn’t any incriminating evidence. Then Rodney pulled them each into a tight embrace and kissed them both deeply – first Evan, then Chuck.
“Thank you,” he told them quietly. “I really needed that.”
“We know,” Chuck smirked as he fixed Rodney’s hair again.
“We should, you know,” he pointed to the curtain.
“Yeah,” Evan replied regretfully.
When they returned to the common area, there were a few curiously raised eyebrows from their group, but the Laprans seemed unaware of what had just happened.
“Everything okay?” Jillian asked him as Chuck and Evan rejoined their group.
Rodney nodded, smiling fondly at her and refusing to feel guilty about what he, Chuck, and Evan had just done. “Everything’s great.”
“They’re coming! They’re coming!” a voice yelled, waking Rodney and the rest of the camp with a start early the next morning.
“Shit,” Rodney murmured as he heard a muttered “Fuck!” from Chuck’s direction.
There was a flurry of activity as people scrambled to dress and get to their stations, rousing others as they went. As Rodney took his place, he hoped the extreme crash course they had given the other Laprans while the Korsans were gone would be enough.
When they heard the Korsans come down the passageway, Rodney knew that his kinsmen had done their job and the Korsans weren’t expecting anything out of the ordinary and he breathed a sigh of relief. They still had the element of surprise on their side. It took all of Rodney’s willpower to keep himself still and not start fighting the moment the Korsans entered the borough, and he could tell a number of the Laprans were getting restless as well. Whether it was from fear or a desire to put their new knowledge to use, he didn’t know.
He concentrated on his breathing as he slowly counted them and went through the plan again in his mind. They were to go about their business and allow the Korsans to return and get settled, thinking nothing was out of the ordinary. But the moment one of them harassed a Lapran in *any* way, they would start fighting back.
Rodney thanked whatever deity was out there that while the Korsans hadn’t allowed the Laprans to go into the caves to practice with their staffs, they still let them do it in the borough, so it had become common for there to be any number of staffs present in the morning while the Laprans practiced their katas and sparred with each other under the Korsans’ hawk-like gaze.
Rodney gazed around as he finished one of his forms, making eye contact with each of the more experienced Laprans before glancing at the quarters where he knew Chuck and Carson were located and starting the next kata.
It didn’t take long. One of the women stumbled on her way to serve the Korsans breakfast and the man backhanded her.
“Now!” Rodney yelled.
The nearest Lapran slugged the Korsan, sending him reeling, wide-eyed and holding his jaw. As expected, the Korsans retaliated and the fight was on. The Korsans quickly recovered from their surprise and really put the Laprans to the test, but the Laprans didn’t let Rodney down. He could see the determination in their eyes as they fought back – those the most comfortable doing it with their staffs, or a few ganging up on a Korsan and doing their best to land as many punches and kicks as possible. Chuck, Carson, and Rodney circulated among the group, helping out wherever they could, but letting the Laprans do most of the fighting – knowing they needed to be the ones to do it.
As the Korsans were slowly subdued one by one, the Atlanteans helped the Laprans tie up and gag the outraged Korsans before relieving them of all their weapons. When they finished, Rodney looked over their handiwork with a grim satisfaction. The Korsans definitely looked the worse for wear, even though he knew that he and the other Laprans hadn’t fared much better, but he knew the Laprans would accept that.
“What do we do with them now?” someone asked.
“We’ll take them to Charlie’s borough and secure them there, as planned. Then we’ll go from there,” Rodney replied, taking his gaze off of the Korsans and looking around at the gathered Laprans. “We make this decision as a whole.”
The Laprans nodded and murmured their agreement as Rodney and a few others prodded the Korsans to their feet and then frog-marched them to the other borough, where they secured them together and to some tethers that had been attached to one of the poles. The glaring Korsans got the point without anyone saying a word – if they struggled to get free, they risked the chance of the structure coming down on them.
As they finished, John and Ronon showed up with Laprans from their groups and their captured Korsans and their prisoners were secured in a similar fashion. When they finished and a handful of Laprans took up posts as guards, Rodney said, “We need to gather everyone and decide the fate of the Korsans. Do it as quickly as possible and we’ll meet in my borough.”
“Why your borough?” John asked as they all moved out.
“It’s more centrally located,” Rodney replied. “I thought you had figured that out.”
John looked a little sheepish as they headed back. Rodney had to stop a few times to check injuries, but no one had been seriously hurt – the injuries were mostly sore spots that would turn into some fantastic bruises, and a couple of split lips and black eyes. There were a small handful of broken bones, and those people were helped back to Rodney’s borough if necessary so their bones could be set there.
But Rodney could tell the change in the Laprans as they walked back. The mood was lighter and the Laprans chatted among themselves.
“You did good,” Rodney whispered to Chuck as he bumped Chuck’s shoulder with his own.
Chuck smiled and replied, “Thanks. It was kind of scary, though, you know?”
Rodney nodded. “I know. Are you hurt anywhere?”
Chuck shook his head. “Not badly. I took a hard punch on my right side from a Korsan and one of the Laprans accidentally smacked me on the left side with their staff. So I’ll have some nice bruises, but it’s nothing to worry about.”
Rodney instinctively reached into his pouch and produced some leaves. “Here,” he said, grabbing Chuck’s hand and putting them in his palm. “These will help with the pain.”
Chuck’s expression turned inscrutable as he started to hand them back. “Rodney, I –”
“Take them,” Rodney told him in a tone that brooked no argument. “This isn’t favoritism.”
Chuck glared at him as he put the leaves in his mouth and began chewing them. “Happy now?” he asked.
“Ecstatic,” Rodney replied as they entered his borough.
Rodney watched with a small smile as Carson fussed over a cut on John’s eyebrow, to John’s embarrassed amusement, and made him submit to a quick once-over. He smiled to himself, knowing that they were going to work.
Evan quickly joined them. “Are you two all right?” he asked quietly, running a hand down Chuck’s arm. He started to reach out to Rodney, but stopped himself.
Rodney smiled at the action. As much as he knew it hurt them to not touch him while they were here, it made him feel too weird when they did, and he didn’t feel like answering the other Laprans’ questions about it.
“We’re fine,” Chuck replied as he swallowed the last of the leaves. “Though Rodney here doesn’t seem to think I can take a few bruises.”
“Where are they?” Evan asked immediately.
Chuck rolled his eyes in exasperation as Rodney smirked. “One on each side – one from a punch and one from a mistaken staff hit. The punch is against my bottom ribs and the staff was about two inches below that.” He glared at Rodney before telling Evan, “Rodney made me chew some leaves, which he said will help with the pain, but I’m sure they’ll also null any actual bruising, thereby voiding any respect I’d be able to get from fighting.”
“No, you’ll still get the bruises,” Rodney told him. “The leaves really were just for the pain.”
When the rest of the Laprans had arrived, crowding into the borough, Rodney went to address them. “Congratulations,” he told them. “We accomplished our directive and have contained the Korsans.” He paused while a cheer went up from the Laprans. “But now we need to figure out what to do with them. I have a feeling that our make-shift containment will be just that – make-shift – and it won’t hold them for long. This is your fight. What should we do with them?”
“Send them home with a good kick in the ass,” someone said.
“Kill them all,” someone else replied. “Take revenge for what they’ve done to us and our families over the years.”
“We’re better than that,” someone else said. “We should just send them back to Korsa to show them that we won’t stoop to their level of brutality.”
Rodney winced inwardly. “As much as I agree with that option, I don’t think you’re going to want to just let them go. Not only have they suffered physically today, their egos have taken quite a beating. There’s a good chance they’ll take their revenge on us before they leave. Or they’ll come back with reinforcements and completely overwhelm us. Or they might do both. They may also decide that this is the time to take out their punishment on the Morykons and Nagdalis. Do you really want to submit them to that, when you have the chance to stop this once and for all right now?”
There was silence as they all thought about that.
“What *can* we do?” someone asked.
“What do we *need* to do?” Kelly countered and Rodney smiled. Leave it to Kelly to turn the discussion from helpless into ownership. He had never let Rodney get away from anything and he wasn’t going to let his kinsmen do it either.
Rodney gave the other Atlanteans, who had moved off to one side of him, a reassuring smile as the conversation among the Laprans continued as they brainstormed.
“I think we need to take their portable dialers from them,” drew Rodney’s attention.
“But they still have a way off of their planet that won’t deter them from going to Morykos or Nagdalia,” someone else responded. “Just here, since they know they won’t have a way out of here. Could we do something to the Morykon and Nagdali Gates?” the speaker asked Rodney. “Not to cripple them, but to protect them?
Everyone’s attention turned to Rodney. “It’s possible,” he replied. “There is a way we could deal with their Gates so they’d have to rely on their Gate dialers like us.”
“Would they allow us to do that to them, though?” someone else mentioned. “Because that could leave them in the exact same situation we’re in.”
“Let’s go back to getting the Korsans out of here, first,” Kelly said. “We don’t have much time.” He glanced at the Atlanteans and asked Rodney, “Is there a way we could get better weapons?”
Rodney smiled at him, thankful that he was willing to help lead the discussion. Kelly would make a great leader one day. He shrugged and replied, “Maybe?” He asked John, “Do you think we could get more other weapons for the Laprans?”
John shook his head. “I doubt Elizabeth would go for it.”
“It’s better not to,” Ronon added. “It’s too much of a problem afterwards. It’s better to use whatever they’ve got on hand.”
Rodney’s eyes lit up. “Knives. They’ve got knives. Could you teach them?” he asked excitedly.
Ronon, Teyla, and the military men looked among each other and quietly discussed it. “It’s possible,” John finally replied. “Do they all have knives?”
“Most of them do – at least most of the adults do. They’re not all the same type, though.”
“We can work with that,” Ronon told him.
Rodney grinned as he turned back to the Laprans. “We can’t get you better weapons,” he told them. “But we can better teach you how to use what you have.”
“You already have,” someone replied grumpily.
“No, I mean your knives,” Rodney replied and there was a collective gasp from the crowd. He held up his hands to quiet them. “I know, I know – all sorts of bad potential there. I’d rather not do it either, but I think we’ll have to. The Korsans will more than likely get free before we’ll be able to have everything else in place and we’ll have to fight again. Only this time they’ll be madder than anything you’ve ever seen before and you’ll have to put up a real fight. If you’d like to think about it, please do – but we really don’t have much time.”
“I think we should do it,” Kelly replied. “I think we’ve paid long enough for what our ancestors did to theirs and now they need to be taught a lesson because they’re acting like recalcitrant children.”
“But with knives?” someone else argued. “That’s like using a hammer to shape a small piece of glass.”
“Sadly, some people will only learn by violence,” Kelly replied. “We’ve heard this from some of the other groups and we even have a few tales of our own from our distant past that will attest to that as well. Just because we agree to take up arms in this one instance doesn’t mean that we’ve thrown aside everything we believe in. We’re doing it to preserve our lives and our beliefs and protect our children.”
Rodney could hear murmured assent ripple through the group, as well as murmurs of apprehension. As much as he wanted to yell at them and verbally pound them into submission, he knew that this was a decision they’d have to arrive at on their own, for better or worse, since it was something they were going to have to live with for a long, long time.
As Kelly fought with the other Laprans, Rodney couldn’t help but feel immensely proud of his bond friend. He was holding his own easily and fighting eloquently with them, slowly bringing them around so that even the grumblers couldn’t get away from the truth of what they were up against and what they had to do – as much as they still hated it.
When they finally agreed to learn how to use their knives as weapons, Rodney disbanded the group, telling them to return to their boroughs and to get ready to start training immediately. He instructed Charlie’s borough to get their knives and anything they’d need for a few days, then return to the boroughs they had been assigned to protect. He also split his borough up among the other three – knowing it would save a lot of time in the long run and give him more time to do what he needed to do.
Once the Laprans had gone, Rodney got together with the other Atlanteans and told them what the Laprans had agreed to. “They’re not happy about it,” he ended with, shrugging, “but they see that they don’t have much choice. Okay, I’m going to need all of you to go back to the boroughs you were working with before – they trust you and it’ll be easier to teach them now than if we switched things up. Chuck and Carson, we’ve got to get working on a plan for the Morykon and Nagdali Gates.”
“But I don’t know anything about the Gates,” Carson complained as they went their separate ways.
“That’s why you’re just going to be the messenger.”
“The *what*?” Carson squawked indignantly. “I know I may not have had training in Lapran medicine, but you’ll need me here because we both know there will be injuries.”
“Okay, fine,” Rodney agreed. “Go help the others train the Laprans,” he said, waving Carson off. “Make sure they’re teaching them to wound the Korsans, not kill them.”
When they were alone, Chuck asked him, “How are you holding up?”
“Surprisingly well,” Rodney replied as he dug through Chuck’s pack for his tablet. “Okay, we’ve got a lot of work to do and probably not a lot of time.” He found the tablet and sat down cross-legged with it in his lap as he waited for it to turn on.
Chuck sat down next to him so he could see the tablet. “The one who did most of the talking today, that’s Kelly isn’t it?”
“It is,” Rodney replied with a nod as he began opening programs. He glanced up at Chuck and frowned. “I never introduced you properly, did I?”
“No,” Chuck replied with a smile. “But we have been really busy, so it’s understandable. So what are we doing?”
“Okay, here’s what I’m thinking we could do,” Rodney told him as he brought up a few of the programs. “What do you think about doing this?”
They worked together quickly, Rodney’s hands flying over the tablet as they made up plans to temporarily disable the Morykon and Nagdali Gates to protect them from the Korsans and how Chuck could present it to them.
“Okay, I think you’re set,” he finally told Chuck, handing the tablet back to him and began gathering some food and placing it in his pack and making sure he had a portable dialer. “Here’s what I want you to do. I need you to leave as soon as this conversation is finished. When you get to the end of the tunnel, stow this between the ladder and the wall.” He handed Chuck a portable dialer wrapped in cloth that had a program loaded onto it to reactivate the Gates. “When you get above ground, dial Atlantis first and give Elizabeth an update on what’s going on. Tell her we’ll be back as soon as we possibly can and keep the conversation as brief as possible. Then dial the Morykons – their address is the first one there.” He pointed at the address on the top of a word document on Chuck’s tablet. “And when you go through, tell them this,” he pointed to a Lapran phrase that was spelled out phonetically. “It says that you’re an Atlantean and that you’re coming on behalf of the Laprans and that you need to see Natalia. Once you’ve finished with the Morykons, move on to the Nagdalis. Natalia will either go with you or make sure you have an introduction to them.”
“And if they don’t listen to me?” Chuck asked.
“Mention the Korsans. That should get them to listen. Now you need to go.” Rodney helped Chuck put his pack on.
Chuck paused for a minute and then frowned. “You’re just getting me out of the way to keep me safe, aren’t you?” he asked indignantly. “Things are about to get really hairy and you want to get me out of the way since I don’t have as much experience as the rest of you.”
“While that may be true,” Rodney replied as he started propelling Chuck to the entrance of the caves, “that thought hadn’t even crossed my mind. You’ll be saving two civilizations from the Korsans while we do what we can here.”
“What makes you so sure the Korsans aren’t there as well?”
“Natalia would have said so. Besides, they don’t have enough people to deal with all three groups at once – or even two at once. Now go.”
Chuck started the last few steps to the caves, then stopped and turned back. “What should I do when I’m done with the Nagdalis? And what about the guards? The Korsans have been back to the Gate. They would have seen that the guards were dead. They could have gotten more when they went home.”
“You come back here and help us, you doofus,” Rodney replied affectionately. “The Korsans could have set up more guards or they might have figured that it was a weird one-time occurance – you’ve seen how they treat the Laprans. But that’s a chance you’ll have to take.” He smirked. “And you were accusing me of trying to keep you completely safe.”
“Do you think we could suspend the rules this once?” Chuck asked softly.
Rodney nodded. “I think Evan would understand.”
They closed the distance between themselves and hugged each other tightly before kissing each other deeply.
“Kiss Evan for me when you get a chance?” Chuck asked when they pulled apart.
“Will do,” Rodney replied with a smile. “But you’ll be doing it soon enough yourself. Now go.”
Rodney watched Chuck disappear into the caves before turning back to face the commons area and sighing. There was so much that needed to be done that he didn’t know if they’d be done in time. And he was afraid the Laprans wouldn’t be able to defeat the Korsans this time and that they would end up getting massacred.
He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He had to keep thinking positively. The Laprans had done exceedingly well every time they had needed to fight against the Korsans, there was no reason to believe that they wouldn’t now – especially now that they knew how high the stakes were. He just hoped the naysayers wouldn’t bring down the rest of them – that was the last thing they needed right now.
He cleared his head and focused on the task at hand. He made sure the borough was as secure as possible – fires were out and valuables hidden away – before gathering up some food for himself, as well as a change of clothes, and making sure his medicinal pouch was completely stocked before heading out. He needed to see where things stood and help out where he could so they would be ready in time.
That night as they ate dinner, Rodney asked Kelly, “How did this whole thing with the Korsans get started anyway? I’ve only heard bits and pieces and it’s been kind of hard explaining it to my friends.” He pointed to the other Atlanteans, who were watching them with mild curiosity.
Kelly shrugged as he ate. “It started a long time ago – just before the storms started. It was believed that the storms were partly in response to the decision to exclude them from the intermarriage network, but our ancestors remained convinced that that was the right thing to do and we adapted to the storms, thinking that when we had paid for what we had done, the storms would stop.” He shrugged. “I doubt that that’s really the case – considering that this is a steep price to pay for what had been done. Soon after that, the raids started. The Korsans soon proved our ancestors right in their decision with their raids. They always wanted more than we were able to give. The same with the Morykons and Nagdalis.”
“Was it ever determined if the people the Korsans took had any special value in marriage?”
“I don’t know. You would have to ask Kirby about that. But I would suspect not, considering how random the abductions were. What would they do with Jean or,” he stilled for a moment and stared into his food, “my father?”
“Has there ever been an attempt to retrieve the people or property that were taken?”
“I’ve heard that it was attempted a few times back in the beginning, but the Korsans were too formidable and unwilling to listen to reason. And some of the Laprans didn’t want to come back. I think that’s what hurt them the most – that there could be Laprans who had been captured who were happy with the situation they were in.”
“And that’s when the stories of love overcoming such different backgrounds started, wasn’t it?” Rodney asked gently.
Kelly nodded. “It gave our ancestors hope for the future that one day it might be resolved and that the Korsans would at least come to their senses and leave us alone.” He laughed. “Not that that’s exactly worked. And now we’re attempting to clean up their mess and deal with this once and for all. Most of us believe that if the sandstorms have not stopped by now, that either they weren’t started because of what we did to the Korsans or they were, but they’ve continued because now we’re not doing what we should have done a long time ago and nipped the Korsans’ actions in the bud.”
“Forever the optimists,” Rodney replied with a wry smile.
“We have to hope for something. I’m sure your people are the same way.”
“You’re right, we are – always hoping for something just out of our reach, even if we don’t know what to do with it once we’ve got it.”
“We should get back to training,” Kelly said as he finished eating. “What is the plan anyway? Wait until the Korsans free themselves and then go from there?”
“Pretty much,” Rodney replied. “They won’t be held for long and we don’t have the ability at the moment to make sure that once we put them through that they won’t come back with larger forces or go to either the Morykons or Nagdalis.”
“And your kinsman who is missing – he’s doing that now, is he? Working with the Morykons and Nagdalis?”
“I certainly hope so,” Rodney replied.
“Is he your bond friend?” Kelly asked with a perplexed look on his face. “I’ll admit that I don’t know which one of them it is. I could tell which ones it’s not, but that still leaves a few possibilities.”
“It’s complicated,” Rodney replied as he finished eating. “I’ll explain it once this is all over and I’ll make sure that you’re introduced properly.”
Kelly nodded. “We’d better get moving. There’s a lot that needs to be done before that day.”
Rodney circulated among the Laprans as the Atlanteans trained them with their knives, helping translate when gestures simply weren’t enough and correcting when needed. He knew they were racing against the clock and hated not knowing when the zero hour would come.
But, as almost expected, it came too soon. Nothing had happened at the moment Rodney’s sense of impending doom kicked in, but he knew that they were now on borrowed time. But he was thankful that the small handful of days that they had been given had made the Laprans ready enough for the task at hand. The Laprans had their instructions – do not use their knives until they absolutely had to, do not kill unless absolutely necessary, and to drive the Korsans towards the caves. Rodney had already hid the Gate dialers belonging to the Laprans to protect them from the Korsans. And the Atlanteans had strict instructions to not use their guns. Rodney had tried to get them to disarm themselves but was only able to persuade them as far as stowing their P90s and their clips separately in their packs, after many assurances that the Laprans wouldn’t disturb their personal items without express permission.
And Chuck had returned with news that he had been successful with both the Morykons and the Nagdalis and that both groups wished them luck.
“Why don’t they get involved and help the Laprans?” Chuck asked Rodney after he gave him the report.
“Because they’ve got enough to worry about making sure that they’re ready if this doesn’t work,” Rodney replied. “Because if we don’t stop the Korsans, the Morykons and Nagdalis will be next.”
“Okay, what do you need me to do?”
“Go help make sure we’re ready.”
The night before Rodney was sure the Korsans would attack, Kelly and a few of the more radical Laprans met him after dinner. “They think that as your bond friend, I’d have the most influence over you and that I’d be able to help persuade you,” he told Rodney.
“Well, I’d have to hear what they have to say first,” Rodney replied calmly and kept his expression neutral as he leaned back against his borrowed cot.
“We think that once we have defeated the Korsans,” Henry said, “we should go to the Korsans’ home and take back what they have taken from us.”
“And why do you think that’s a good idea?” Rodney asked him neutrally, though he made sure he made eye contact with everyone in the group. “If you do that, would it make you any better than the Korsans? Would it show them that you are above them? No. It would show them that you’re no different than they are and only feed the fire that’s been fueling them.” He leaned forward and spoke to them softly. “I know it hurts to know that people you love are gone forever, but we can’t change that. We have to move forward like we’ve always done and make the most of this situation.”
“Then how will they learn to leave us alone?” Charlie asked.
“Oh, believe me, they’ll learn. I have every faith that you will teach them a valuable lesson in the next few days that they will not soon forget. Now, listen to me. There will be no more talk of retaliation in kind on the Korsans. If I find out that you still conspire to do so in private, I will make sure that you are all exiled. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, Rodney-san,” they murmured, looking dejected.
Rodney’s tone softened. “Now you all better get going and get some sleep. The next few days will be very trying for all of us.”
Continue to Part 33
