Blood Ties

Chapter eight

"Three teams of four each," directed Lome, fastening his tac vest. "Leads are me, Ronon, and Teyla. One gene carrier per team to operate the life sign detectors. All teams should be equipped with stunners and P-90s. Use either or both as required."

A chorus of "aye, sir" issued from the squad of Marines scattered around the armory. Ronon gave his pistol a cursory inspection and checked the locations of his blades. Chasing a pack of two-legged wild animals through the halls of Atlantis wasn't how he'd planned to satisfy his itch to hunt, but it would suffice.

"That's not necessary." Geisler hovered in a comer, visibly out of his element among the racks of weaponry. "Microceratops are herbivores-they won't hurt anyone."

"Maybe not intentionally, Doc, but you saw what they did to the gate room." The Major clipped his P-90 automatic to his vest. "They could do a lot more damage in the city than we're prepared to fix, and I for one don't want to have to explain that to Dr. Weir. Besides, you said the Earth species was only the size of a rabbit. These guys are five feet tall. How do we really know what they like to eat?"

"Because everything about them, right down to the shape of their jaws, tells me these are microceratops. Their size is purely a function of the lighter gravity on 316, I'm certain. And they're not likely to be the least bit aggressive. Just very frightened." He took a step forward, his hands imploring. "In fact, I suspect those bright red crests are an indication of terror, not anger. You also have Atlantis's higher gravity and slightly lower atmospheric oxygen content working in your favor. They're likely to tire quite quickly."

When Lome didn't back down, Geisler fell unhappily silent, his hands going slack at his sides and his shoulders slumping in defeat.

"We will stun them if at all possible," Teyla reassured him with a quick smile.

Ronon doubted a stun bolt would penetrate the creatures' thick-looking hide. Since he knew the Marines would be thinking along the same lines, he didn't bother to mention it.

Lome tapped his earpiece. "Control room, you got the Operations tower locked down?"

"Done, Major," replied a technician. "All access points have been closed off, and the transporter system has been taken offline."

As soon as the animals had fled the gate room, everyone in the Operations tower had been told to remain in their offices or labs and lock the doors. The hunt, then, ought to be confined to the corridors and open spaces-although their quarry was obviously experienced in avoiding predators and might have a few tricks to play, including the ability to conceal themselves through what Geisler had earlier described as chameleon skin. Apparently the name came from another lizard thing on Earth that could change the color of its hide, an attribute Ronon had witnessed in life forms on other worlds. Despite their size, there were plenty of places in which, individually, the 'ceratops could hole up.

"All right," ordered Lome, his eyes conveying his readiness. "Let's move out."

Leading his team down the hall, his weapon a reassuring weight in his hand, Ronon rolled his head in an attempt to shake loose the lingering stiffness in his neck. He'd struck the jumper's bulkhead a couple of times during their return from M1M-316. First time had been on the planet, when the larger animal-a T. rex, he'd been told-had knocked the craft aside. The next had been when the jumper had careened-or more probably been shoved by a second T. rex-through the gate at an odd angle, scraping against the rim of the Stargate as it went.

The control room technician, shocked into immobility by the sight of the arriving monster, had failed to respond to Lome's command to raise the iris. For once, panic had worked in their favor, because the jumper hadn't been disintegrated when they'd reached the Atlantis end of the wormhole. Fortunately, the technician had closed the iris directly after the jumper had arrived; otherwise Ronon suspected they'd have been contending with another of the beasts in the already overcrowded room.

While the smaller 'ceratops had been running around so fast that the security team couldn't safely get a bead on them, the confused T. rex had proved fairly simple to overcome, more or less. Startled by the jumper slamming into its butt, the creature had been distracted long enough for the Marines to fire a storm of bullets. That had not proven very effective until the furious animal had swung around and attacked the jumper with an impressive set of teeth. Frustrated by its inability to find purchase on the craft with jaws that were just slightly too small to swallow it whole, the creature had reared back, promptly exposing its underbelly to a volley of concentrated fire. When the T. rex had finally crashed to the floor, the vibration had briefly fooled a monitor in the control room into emitting a quake warning.

Tossed around in the jumper's cabin, Ronon had only seen bits and pieces of the takedown, but those technicians in the control room who hadn't needed to find a change of pants had given his team a rapid if disjointed account, laced with a bunch of unnecessary descriptive words. Ronon could only conclude they'd been taking vocabulary lessons from McKay.

The enclosed space had taken some of the sport out of it, but after seeing the things up close, Ronon now relished the idea of hunting one of the T. rexes in its natural environment. Aside from a fish his team had once encountered in the Lantean ocean, he'd never before seen so many jagged fangs in one mouth.

Now, though, the problem wasn't the T. rex, but the smaller two-legged 'ceratops the meat eater had been chasing. In the short time the sandy colored animals had spent tearing around the gate room, they'd proven to be more of a threat to equipment than to people, gravity differences notwithstanding. As Geisler had said, they were obviously terrified. Scampering back and forth on powerful hind legs in search of an exit, equally powerful tails whipping around, smashing into whatever was nearby, they'd made a mess of the place before finding their way out. If they got into any of the labs-or, worse, the infirmary-the results would be ugly, especially if they started using their beaked jaws to chew on things.

"Biometric sensors have accounted for all expedition personnel in lockdown locations. It's showing a total of eight dinosaurs roaming the halls," reported the control room tech through Ronon's radio. "They've split into two groups, both on Level Seven. Looks like they've calmed down some and are just exploring."

Sergeant Hawthorne held up his life sign detector to show Ronon the positions of the teams and the dinosaurs. One team, probably Teyla's, had moved fastest and was nearing the east group of three animals from an area Ronon knew to be a skywalk one level above. The other teams were closer to the west group of five, approaching the animals from opposite sides.

"We've got five poking around the open storage area in the center of this level," said Lome. "Teyla, can you handle the group below you?"

"We do not yet have a good line of sight." From the low timbre ofTeyla's voice, Ronon knew she must be near enough to fear spooking the creatures. "They may have heard us coming, for they have hidden in the alcoves along this corridor. We will take the stairs to their level."

Rounding a comer, Ronon and his team got a better view of their playing field. The storage area was easily three stories tall with an entrance on either side. The floor was stacked with large, variously shaped containers of both Earth and Lantean origin. Mostly it held the empty packing cases for the computers and equipment used by the science division, so little would be damaged if the animals made a mess of the area. Even so, the piles of boxes and low light created a lot of hiding places. The animals' chameleon skin would work just as well here as on their planet. This would be a close quarters fight.

Through a gap between rows of metal-ribbed containers, Ronon could see Lorne arrive from the other corridor and hold up a fist to halt the team behind him. Catching Ronon's eye, the Major pointed to himself, then down one aisle, silently announcing his intentions. Ronon nodded once and signaled his plan to cover the opposite side. Also without words, he directed one of his Marines to guard the entrance. They'd try to stun the creatures if possible, but nothing could be allowed to escape back into the halls.

"I can see one of the animals' heads," Teyla said quietly, still three corridors over. "It appears to be watching its companions. The color of its crest has faded considerably. They seem more fearful, and perhaps somewhat curious, rather than aggressive."

A dull sound, like a limb or tail hitting heavy plastic, brought Ronon's gun up. P-90 in one hand, life sign detector in the other, Hawthorne silently took off toward the back corner.

A stun blast and a curse came from somewhere on the other side of the room. Ronon heard scrabbling noises off to the left and pivoted in time to catch a glimpse of hide, now the color of packing cases, disappear behind another container. Giving chase, he soon had the dinosaur trapped between two large cylindrical boxes and a wall. As he aimed his pistol, the animal raised its sloped head. The crest abruptly changed from a bland nothing color to a deep purple, and the animal looked directly at him-

— and Ronon was suddenly struck by a powerful wave of something he almost didn't recognize: compassion. Leaning slightly forward to balance itself, the dinosaur was the size of a teenaged child, with eyes set wide but forward looking, like a human's, and short front limbs like arms held close to its body. A sense of fear and loss, and a terror Ronon hadn't felt since his first days on the run from the Wraith, now hit him with a force that was almost palpable.

"Don't shoot them!" he called out on impulse, lowering his gun. As if understanding his action, the animal visibly calmed. Amoment later he realized that, despite the chaos that had previously gripped the room, only one weapon had been discharged. Were the others sensing the same strange connection that he had?

Lome's voice, heard from behind a row of boxes a few yards away, gave him his answer. "Anybody else getting a strong `please don't hurt me' vibe from these guys?"

"This is just plain weird," muttered Hawthorne.

Ronon wasn't so certain; he'd had plenty of experience with the sorts of illusionary tricks the Wraith could project. While this was different, perhaps even a trick to lull them into complacency, he still had the option of shooting them. Although the compulsion he felt was strong, it wasn't strong enough to stop him from acting if he thought it necessary. As much as it went against everything he knew, this was one time when pausing to ask questions seemed like a good idea.

"All teams stand down." Teyla's urgent instruction rang in Ronon's earpiece. "These animals are docile. They have come out of hiding and are not threatening us."

Ronon stepped back, allowing the dinosaur freedom to move. Slowly, it crept toward the center of the room, where its friends were gathering. That first stun bolt must have either missed or had no effect, because all five animals now clustered together, unharmed.

"Same here," reported Lome. "Is it possible we might be able to herd 'em back to the gate room?"

"I believe so," Teyla said. "They seem aware of our intent and our reluctance to harm them. As long as we do not frighten them further, I sense they will follow where we lead."

Ronon wouldn't have believed it, but she was right. The Marines covertly blocked all corridors except the desired path, and the five animals from the storage area willingly joined Teyla's group of three down the hall. A surreal silence reigned as the Athosian guided the small pack through the Operations tower, finally reaching the gate room.

Waiting in the control room, Geisler sprang to his feet and hurried down the steps, relief written openly on his worn features. "I knew they'd come peacefully. They're not built for attack."

"Damnedest thing I ever saw, Doc. Teyla the Pied Piper." With that strange comment, Lome gestured to the gate tech. "Dial it up."

"But-"

The Major put out a hand to stop the paleontologist from approaching one of the animals. "Not here. You'll get your chance. Let's send these critters home."

Teyla stepped back to join Ronon as the activation lights began to circle the Stargate. "You look troubled," she said, making the statement sound like a question.

"I thought they might taste good," he admitted. "I was about to shoot one. I still don't know why I stopped."

Teyla nodded in a way that told him she had no answers for him. "Right now there is much we do not know."

The little dinosaurs didn't appear in the least bit startled by the vortex, and without even a glance back, they scampered through.