Brimstone

Chapter Fourteen

When the meal was over the lights were dimmed. Chairs slid back from the tables and the murmur of voices rose, then stilled. Near one end of the room another set of lights grew brighter. Saul stood, and those up and down the length of the table did likewise. They moved in a ripple of sound and shadow until everyone was standing, and then there was silence.

“What is it?” Sheppard whispered. “What’s happening?”

He glanced up and down the table, but with the lights dimmed he couldn’t be certain he was seeing the others. He saw silhouettes and shadows. He was pretty certain he saw Ronon, towering over everyone near him.

“It’s time for the entertainment,” Mara replied. “This is the moment Saul has been working up to all day. I’ll be right back. I’m going to make certain Saul seats you in a group. I did promise.”

She slipped away down the length of the table. Sheppard watched her go, and then studied the dimly lit group moving slowly toward the lighted exit. He was determined not to let the citizens of Admah make off with any of his team in the confusion. Mara had said to wait, but after only a few moments, he started off toward where Saul and Teyla had been seated. When he reached them he found Mara there ahead of him.

Saul turned, saw him approaching, and smiled, though there was little humor in the expression.

“Mara has volunteered to escort you and your team to your seats,” Saul said. “She will be your guide for the evening. If you have any further questions, she’ll answer them to the best of her ability. The entertainments are self-explanatory, but there may be aspects that will confuse you. I will walk with you as far as I can, but there are details to which I must attend. I have my own part to play in what is to come and there are preparations that must be made. I will rejoin you, if I can, before the finale.”

Teyla folded her arms in a gesture Shepard knew well. “What sort of ‘entertainment’ are we in for?”

“All things in their time, my dear,” Saul said. “Are all the people in Atlantis so impatient? There is no reason to hurry — and all will be answered very soon. I can tell you this…you will not be bored.”

Just then, a commotion arose off to one side and Sheppard turned to see Rodney and the others pushing their way through the crowd. They seemed relieved to see him and he smiled, though he didn’t have much to put behind it.

“Speaking of answers,” Rodney said, stepping up beside Saul, “I want some.”

Sheppard tried to wave him to silence, but Rodney cocked his head, set his jaw, and plowed on. He had something to say and nothing on the planet was going to prevent him. Sheppard sighed.

“I want to know why you’ve prevented communication in and out of this city,” Rodney said. “I want to know what possible reason you could have for sabotaging the DHD and the gate. I want to know why we’re headed straight into the sun, and I want to know what you plan to do about it. All of this,” he waved his arms to encompass the huge hall, “is ridiculous! You all go on eating and drinking and dancing and singing as if nothing has changed, but you know it’s not true — right? You all know?” He turned to stare out into the crowd. “You all know he’s aimed you into the heart of a sun, that death by fire is neither noble nor pleasant?”

Saul stood very still. His expression was grim. A man behind him stepped forward and moved toward Rodney, but Saul held out a hand and prevented him. Ronon stepped up beside Rodney, hand on the butt of his gun.

“You are a very difficult and persistent man, Dr. McKay. I owe you no explanation. The affairs of my city and my people are not yours to question. No one invited you or your team through that gate, but I’m afraid it was the last such trip you are likely to take. Long ago, before you were born, and likely before your parents, or even their parents were born, we made a decision.

“Our ways were not the ways of others of our kind. Those in cities like Atlantis concerned themselves with spiritual growth and ascension. We chose a different path. When it became clear that the differences between our cultures had become irreconcilable, we devised a plan. We sat on that plan for a very long time, working it out and refining it. We waited for the right moment and when the Wraith arose — we acted.

“Our city is protected. The gate is still active, but there have been modifications. It is possible to dial the coordinates to or from this gate one time from any other active gate. Once that has happened, a sequence of signals is initiated. Any further attempts by that particular gate to reach this one pass through a series of phase shifts that change the coordinates presented and prevent connection. There is no way to detect the frequency of this shift; it appears only as a failed address. Eventually, whoever is at the far end of that gate realizes that they are never going to make the connection again, and they give up.”

“And you keep whoever came through here as prisoners?”

“Guests,” Saul said. “They become our long term guests. We are not monsters here, Dr. McKay, but we have our laws and we have our security protocols, much as I suppose your own people do. We do not bend or break those laws — they have kept us safe for many, many years. There are those who would say too many.”

“You have already broken those laws,” Rodney said. “You turned off the shields. You opened up this world to long range scans and invited us here. If you’d left them in place, we would never have detected you, and we wouldn’t be here, plunging to our deaths. There has to be a way to reverse — ”

Sheppard grabbed Rodney by the arm and propelled him toward the lights and the door at the rear of the hall.

“What are you doing?” Rodney spluttered. “You heard him. He’s holding us prisoner here, preventing us from reaching Atlantis, preventing Atlantis from reaching us. We have to — ”

“What, Rodney?” Sheppard said softly. “Yell him into submission? You might have noticed that we’re outnumbered and surrounded. We can keep arguing with the man, and end up locked away in some cell, or we can go along for the moment and find a way to get you logged into their system. Saul created the protocol, Mara told me as much up in the observatory, and he doesn’t strike me as an insurmountable genius. How about you?”

“Of course not, but this can’t be our plan?” Rodney said. “We just go along with them, eat drink and be merry, and hope we find a way to break into their system and escape?”

“You have a better one?”

Rodney glanced down at the floor and closed his eyes.

“John Sheppard,” Mara said, stepping up beside them, “the entertainment is about to begin. I don’t mean to interrupt, but we need to get to our seats. If you’ll follow me?”

Rodney started to speak, thought better of it, and turned away. Sheppard held out his arm and Mara took it, smiling up at him. Ronon stared at the two of them and then fell in behind Cumby. Teyla started after them, but Saul grabbed her arm.

“I would be honored if you would sit with me. I’ll be busy much of the time, but I do have a spectacular view.”

“I would prefer to stay with my team.”

“Of course.” Saul let her go, reluctantly. “I will try to join you before the finale."

Teyla smiled thinly and turned away. She had no illusions about the man’s intentions. He was attracted to her, and he was used to getting what he wanted. There was a confrontation in her future, but for the moment she’d avoided it. She hurried her steps and caught up with the others just as they reached a well lit exit, leading into a passageway beyond. This hall was only dimly lit, lined with more of the colorful posters, but these were newer. They were framed in brilliant moving tubes of multicolored light.

“It’s like walking into a casino,” Sheppard commented.

At the far end of the passageway they entered a large, round room. There were sealed doors all around it with keypad locks. Sheppard stared at them, started to ask what their purpose was, and then thought better of it. On the far side of the chamber, a large set of double doors stood open. Mara led Sheppard ahead of the others, and they walked through into much brighter light and a dull roar of sound.

Sheppard stopped, and the others were forced to wait as he took in the scene before him. They stood on a ledge that led off to the right and to the left, circling around and rising up and back in tiered seating. At intervals around the huge circular chamber there were blocks of more private seating, sealed off from the larger areas by clear walls.

“Come,” Mara said. She tugged on Sheppard’s arm, and he followed her around the circle.

The others followed slowly, taking in the glass-walled chamber. Below them was a large space that resembled a stone bowl. The walls were painted in bright colors, murals circling the room, and thick barred doors were scattered around the perimeter. It was dark on that lower level, and it was difficult to make out what might be down there.

“What is it?” Rodney said uneasily. “Some sort of theater?”

“Not exactly.”

Mara led them around the first group of open seats and into the terrace below. Inside were two rows of more comfortable seats fronted by low-slung acrylic tables. “This is where we will sit,” she said. “The entertainment will start soon.”

“But what is it?” Rodney persisted. “What is this place?”

“Looks like some sort of arena,” Cumby said. “Like a coliseum, maybe?”

Mara stared down into the silent, empty space. “You are closer to the truth than you know. In other times and places that is exactly what this would have been called — a coliseum. We only call it ‘The Entertainment.’”

They took their seats and as the citizens of Admah filled in on either side, whispering under their breath, the lights began to dim.

“Here we go,” Sheppard said.

Mara squeezed his arm and he glanced at her. She was staring into the darkness below, eyes sparkling and lips parted.

He turned back, just as spotlights lit a raised platform that emerged from the darkness near the center of the room.