Brimstone

Chapter Eleven

As Sheppard retraced their tracks, the sounds of the inner city floated back to him. The halls of the huge building spun off in all directions, but the heartbeat of the city pulsed in that single chamber. Voices and music echoed down the hall. The sound confused their ears, reverberating off the walls and polished floor. It seemed as if it were a part of the walls, its essence powering the people rather than the people creating the sound. The city had a presence all its own.

Eventually he caught the glitter of lights ahead and stepped out into the huge, pavilion-like chamber they had visited before. Coming into it from the opposite side, they had a view around the corners to the right and left that had not been afforded by the main entrance. The place was a labyrinth of sights and sounds. The young woman still danced on her raised platform and her eyes turned toward them briefly before she spun away and quickened her rhythm. As before, the musician did not look up, paid no notice to anything around him, least of all the dancer. His fingers sped on the strings of his instrument, matching her tempo. The two of them seemed to be joined in some way that went beyond the physical, two parts of one performance.

“Okay, we’ll find a central spot to use as a base of operations, and then spread out and see what you can see, learn, or figure out. Do your best to play along with whatever they have in mind; try to blend,” Sheppard said. “Anything you can find out might make a difference.”

The group wandered over to a long and sinuous bar behind which a small man shuffled bottles, bored and purposeless. He looked like he was killing time. Sheppard stepped up to the bar and leaned on it as he scanned the room. It was a quiet spot, for the moment, and seemed as good as any to take in the layout of the place.

When the bartender turned toward them his face transformed. He beamed as he spread his hands flat on the bar’s surface. “Welcome! Welcome, my friends. My name is Damien, Damien Walz, and I am at your service.”

“Damien…” Sheppard flung a glance at Teyla. It was impossible to tell if the barman was simply happy they’d chosen to speak with him first, or putting on an act for their benefit. In the end, he supposed, it didn’t matter — if they were going to mingle they had to start somewhere. “Good to meet you, Damien Walz.”

Still beaming, he said, “What would be your pleasure tonight? If I don’t have it in a bottle, describe it, and I’ll see what I can do to recreate it for you.”

“That sounds great,” Sheppard said. “I’ll take you up on that in a little bit, but for the moment I’m looking for Saul. Any idea where I might find him?”

“He’ll be here soon enough,” Walz said. “He’s not going to give up the chance to show you all off. So, while you’re waiting, you must have a drink! I insist!”

Sheppard started to frown, caught himself, and smiled. He set his elbows on the bar and leaned forward as casually as he could manage. “Okay, since you insist, what do you recommend?”

“You must try the house wine.” The voice was melodic, provocative, and it came from very close to his left ear. “The grapes are organic, pressed between the soft pale thighs of virgins and lovingly bottled in crystal decanters.”

Sheppard’s eyebrow rose. He turned slowly to find himself face to face with a tall, slender woman in a very sheer evening gown. Her hair was dark with highlights that caught in the flickering glow of the room and trailed lazily back over her shoulders. Her eyes were wide and deep, glinting somewhere between blue and gray. She sipped from a graceful goblet and smiled at him over the rim.

“Are you one of the virgins?” Sheppard said. “Because if you are, I’ll take two bottles.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Oh my, no. I treasure my entertainment far too much to have missed out on that. Damien, let’s have a decanter of your wine for our guests. On me.”

Damien, the bartender, moved to gather the decanter and glasses. He set them out before the team and filled each glass.

“Watch her,” he said, winking at Sheppard. “When she says the wine is going to be on her, you never know just what she might mean…”

Sheppard lifted his glass to the bartender, and then to the woman. “Thank you for the wine. My name is John Sheppard.”

She placed a hand on his wrist and smiled. “Well, then, hello John Sheppard. It is a good thing that it was I, and not Damien, who first suggested the wine.”

“Why is that?”

“Because,” she said, “we have a custom here in Adamah. No traveler should taste our wine for the first time but from a woman’s lips. Failure to comply can… sour the experience.” She leaned in closer.

“But I don’t even know your name,” Sheppard said.

“Mara.”

Her voice had grown husky and deep. She lifted the glass and took a long sip, her chin tilting upward as she offered her lips to Sheppard. Her eyes never left his.

“When in Rome,” Sheppard whispered. Leaning in he brushed his lips across hers, very lightly, and drank. Their lips touched for mere seconds but it was enough to stop his breath. When they parted, Sheppard was grinning from ear to ear.

“Me next!” Ronon offered, pressing forward.

Teyla struck him in the chest hard enough that the sound of the blow echoed through the room. “Sit down!”

Everyone at the bar roared with laughter at this. Ronon frowned, but he was smiling. He did as he was told and dropped onto the nearest seat, lingering over the glass of wine he was served and staring out at the room as if he was searching for a woman to help him with the first sip.

“This place makes me nervous,” he said to Teyla, his voice low but loud enough for Sheppard to catch. “They’re all staring at me.”

“Well, they’ve probably just never seen such a fine physical specimen.”

“You think? Because it’s only the old men who are staring.”

“You know, I believe you may be right.”

Sheppard was about to comment when Mara gripped his arm possessively, her fingers caressing him through the fabric of his uniform with disturbing persistence. Her eyes sparkled and she sipped her wine slowly as he studied her face and tried to work out what the hell was going on. Suddenly, she put down her glass and stood.

“You know, John Sheppard, we really are wasting too much time here. You are visitors, and you’ve seen so little. You and your people are the talk of the city…why not let me introduce you?”

He glanced over at Teyla, and she gave him a subtle nod. “All right,” he said then, “as long as I don’t have to drink from all their lips before they tell me their names.”

Mara laughed. “I like you, John Sheppard,” she said. “I like you very much.”

She linked her arm with his and pulled him away with a smile. “Come with me. You will find that you already have many friends here. They’ve been watching you and talking about you since Saul brought you through the door.”

Teyla watched from her table as Sheppard was led — almost literally by the nose — into the crowd. Soon, he was lost from sight.

“I am not comfortable here,” she murmured to Ronon. “These people are…unnatural.”

“Jealous?”

“No, of course not. But I do not trust her. For all her good will, she was quick to separate us from Colonel Sheppard. He is the ranking officer — if I was planning something, this is exactly how I would proceed. I am going to follow them and watch for trouble.”

“You do that,” Ronon said. “I’ll stay here and keep my eyes open. I’m hoping to meet one of those dragons.”

He saluted her with his glass and turned his warrior’s gaze upon the pulsing room. She knew him too well to be deceived; he was as uneasy as herself.

As always, Sheppard demanded the impossible.

Just get us a link to Atlantis, McKay. Just find a hole in their shield in the next ten minutes. Just figure out how this ten thousand year old computer system works — I’m sure it’s compatible with Vista!

Well, this time it was a no go. There was nothing in their Disney Princess quarters to help, no handy docking station and animated paperclip. His scanner only told him so much, and today the headline news was that the alleged storm was a lie and there was only one thing to do — get out of the city and hike back to the gate, dial up Atlantis and go home.

End of story.

Stuffing the scanner into his jacket, Rodney left their quarters and headed back toward the hive of scum and inequity that was Admah’s meat market. He needed to find Saul and he needed to find out exactly what was going on with Moon Base Alpha.

He could hear the thump of music and smell the alien aromas of food and people before he stepped through the doors, pausing to let his eyes adjust to the dark. He saw Saul right away, standing beside the dancer on the small stage. The woman continued to sway and move as Saul spoke to her, and the musician never hesitated. But Saul’s gaze wasn’t fixed on the dancer — strange — and as he spoke, Rodney realized he was watching Sheppard cross the floor arm in arm with a beautiful woman.

Typical.

Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he made his way across the room.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Saul smiled, stepping down from the platform as Rodney drew closer, careful not to disturb either dancer or musician. “He rarely repeats a song, or a sequence of notes. I’ve been listening to him for a very long time and I can’t remember the last time I noted a repetition.”

“Fascinating, I’m sure,” Rodney said. “There must be literally millions of variances possible, depending on the range of the instrument. But I didn’t come over to ask about the music — I need to ask you some questions. If you have time, that is.”

“There’s nothing but time here,” Saul said, his expression serene.

“Yes, that’s what has me confused. Tell me why it is, with all the time in the world at your fingertips, you launched yourself directly at the heart of the sun?”

“I did not say that we had,” Saul replied. “You jumped to that conclusion from your limited observations.”

“Well, if you didn’t do it,” Rodney said, confused, “then who did?”

“All will be made clear in due time Dr. McKay. Are you always so impatient?”

“No, usually I’m incredibly patient. It’s just when I’m trapped on a moon on a collision course with the sun that I get a little tense.”

Saul’s smile was less friendly. “I would have thought a man of science such as yourself would appreciate coming slowly and carefully to new knowledge.”

“So tell me, slowly and carefully, that you do intend to steer away from the sun,” Rodney said. “I mean, you’re not really going to fry yourselves are you? I say this because I’ve given some thought to the best and worst ways of dying — believe me, I’ve had reason to worry about it — and I have to say that self-immolation is a spectacularly insane way to go.”

“As I said, all will be made clear in time.”

“Really. Could you be any more cryptic?” Rodney sighed and attempted to swallow his irritation. “So, the star drive is under control of a command computer, yes? And the computer is still functional?”

“All systems of the city are functional except those which we have purposely shut down.”

“Then you must have control over the field that’s preventing any signals from reaching the surface. You could shut it down and allow me to contact — ”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that.” He glanced around the room, obviously distracted; he was still watching Sheppard and the woman, barely paying any attention to Rodney’s questions. “I’ve told you the dampeners are physical in nature. They aren’t controlled by an electronic console, or a computer program. It was never our intention to remove them.”

“Then take me to the surface and let me walk back to the gate,” Rodney insisted. “I only need a few moments up there to open a wormhole and…”

“Did you forget about the storm?”

“Ah yes, the ‘storm’. How could I forget?”

Saul turned toward him suddenly, his eyes dark and his back board-straight. “You’re wasting your time, Dr. McKay. No direct communication is allowed out of this city. I believe I explained fairly clearly how we have prevented detection by the Wraith, and I’m not about to break that successful silence now.” He took a breath, forcing a smile. “Why don’t you relax and enjoy yourself? I’m sure even you can find a suitable distraction here. There are so very many.” He swept his hand in an arc across the room and smiled as he turned and walked away.

“If you’re still worried about the Wraith,” Rodney called after his retreating back, “then why lower your shields? Why allow us to detect you?”

Saul either didn’t hear him or ignored him completely and continued walking.

Just at that moment Teyla passed by, focused on something ahead of her. He called out, but just like Saul she didn’t answer.

“Right,” he grumbled, “Rodney McKay being ignored in a nightclub. How novel.”

He pulled the scanner out of his pocket, but it still held no answers.

As Teyla crossed the huge hall, she kept Sheppard and Mara in her sites, their path winding in and out of small alcoves. Here and there, Mara grabbed someone else by the arm, or called out to a friend and introduced them to her guest. Despite the detours, Teyla noted that the woman was working herself steadily toward a particular set of doors along the far wall. Just as she was about to follow and see if she could get close enough to hear what they were talking about, Teyla felt a hand on her shoulder. She spun around and found herself face to face with Saul.

“I trust you’re finding everything to your liking?” The man’s features were a mask of serenity and peace, but something danced just beneath the surface of his eyes that made her nervous. He kept his hand on her shoulder, and she fought the urge to brush it off like a bug.

“Yes, everything is well, thank you. Perhaps we may speak later, but right now I need to have a word with Colonel — ”

“Excellent.” Saul cut her off, but did not release her. “Somehow, I knew you’d enjoy it here. I sensed it about you.”

Teyla forced a smile, aware of the need to maintain good will. “Your hospitality is admirable. But, excuse me, I need to catch up with Colonel Sheppard.” She glanced over her shoulder, but Sheppard and the woman were gone.

“Your Colonel Sheppard seems to be well taken care of at the moment. Why don’t we sit and share some wine?” His smile widened. “You can tell me all about your home world and I can introduce you to a few of our citizens. The more people you know, the easier it will be to fit in here. Perhaps we have some common ground. If Atlantis is inhabited again there should be opportunities for trade.”

Teyla shot a sideways glance at the point where she had lost sight of Sheppard, but the two had not returned. “Very well,” she said. “Perhaps you can tell me more about your people. Specifically the one they call Mara.”

Saul nodded as he pulled her toward the bar and eased her into a seat. She saw Ronon, watching her out of the corner of his eye as he pretended to watch the dancer. She smiled, but it was an uncomfortable attempt and she doubted Saul was convinced.

“Suppose you go first,” he said, sipping his wine. “Tell me about Atlantis. I’ve been there you know, a very long time ago. For you, it would be lifetimes.”

“I’m afraid that the current inhabitants of the city would be very unfamiliar to you,” she said. “Your people — who we call the Ancestors — have been gone for a long time.”

“Fascinating,” Saul said. “And your people rule the city now?”

Teyla shook her head. “No, that is a long story.”