Brimstone

Chapter Eighteen

Mara led Sheppard down the hall, but turned off before they reached the main room. “I need to talk to you,” she said. “I thought maybe we could share a drink and find some privacy. There’s a lot that Saul isn’t telling you.”

“But you will,” he said. “Why?”

She looked hurt, but somehow the expression didn’t reach her eyes. “Let’s just say that not everyone here believes Saul is the end of things. He’s made some very serious decisions for the entire city, and he’s making others for you and your people. You’ve been… interesting. The least I can do is even the odds. Without my help, you will not survive long.”

“Saul offered us the same choice he’s given all other travelers to Admah,” he said. “Join your merry band of drunkards and gamblers, or take our chances in the arena. That seems bad enough, but it gets worse?”

Mara bit her lip. “I shouldn’t tell you, but under the circumstances there’s little he can do about it. I mean, what’s he going to do? Kill me? He’s already doing that.”

“What do you mean?”

“He isn’t going to offer you a choice,” she said, lowering her voice and glancing down the empty corridor. “He’s looking for warriors, and he’s short on those with the genes to bring the weapons to life. If you and your team hadn’t come through when you did, he’d have culled his entertainers from the citizens. As far as he’s concerned, nothing in the universe is more important than the upcoming Entertainment.”

“Why?” Sheppard said, feeling a sick kind of inevitability. “Does it have to do with the shift in orbit?”

Mara nodded. “Saul believes we’ve reached our peak — that there’s nothing left in the city amusing enough to be worth our time. A civilization that isn’t moving forward begins to decline, and he’s convinced that is what will happen to us if we continue as we are. I’m one of those who understand that we’ve been declining for a very long time already. If we needed any further proof, all we need to do is step back and take a look at what we’ve become. Saul doesn’t see it. He thinks that we are at the pinnacle of our strength, but that we’ll devolve into some lower form — some less civilized version of ourselves — if we don’t find an end to it now.”

“Your people — before you came to this place — they believed in ascending to a higher plane. I’ve met a few. I have to tell you that I don’t see much similarity between them, their lives, or their philosophies, and what you have here. If the games and the decadence have grown stale, why not reverse your track? Why not embrace your history and follow the path you left behind? Sure, it’ll take longer, but it’s better than just giving up.”

Mara shook her head. “We were a part of all of that once. It was so long ago I can hardly believe it happened, but we made our choice. The road back has been lost, we cannot be what we once were or what, perhaps, we were once destined to become. We are the architects of our own demise, and now we must pay the price.”

“The price?” Sheppard felt a cold beat of horror. “He’s not going to turn the city away from the sun, is he?”

She didn’t answer, for just then they came to a doorway on the right side of the passage. Mara opened it and gestured for him to step inside. Once the door was shut, she said, “I’m not really frightened that he’d try anything with me, but I’ll feel better if we talk in here. Admah is very old, and he’s had a long time to set up his tricks and traps. Saul is fond of knowing everything that happens in the city.”

“Like any tin-pot dictator.”

Mara moved straight to a cabinet across the room and pulled out two glasses. Without asking, she dropped ice cubes in each and poured out something dark and golden. She turned back and carried one to Sheppard. “Sit with me?”

There was a small two-seat sofa, and he sat down beside her, not as close as she obviously would have liked, and took the drink. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“You know the answer already.”

“But it’s insane!” he protested. “He’s going to kill you all.”

“Saul decided that we should go out in our prime. He’s planning something big, an entertainment grander than any the city has ever seen. There will be dancing, drinking, feasts, and battles. We still have quite a few adversaries and he wants them all to see action. Once it all starts, the plan is to keep the grand party going until we hit the sun, and go out in glory. Something like that.”

“You realize he’s crazy? Certifiably crazy.”

Mara shrugged. “We have been here for a very long time, John Sheppard. It may not even be possible for me to convey the depths of boredom a person can reach. Under such conditions, who am I to guess at sanity, or insanity? It has been a very long time since anything truly thrilled me — since anything made me feel truly alive. Although…”

She moved closer to him and laid a hand on his leg.

“I don’t hold what Saul is doing against him,” she continued. “I think, though possibly for different reasons, that it’s probably for the best. The difference between Saul and I is that I would not willingly trap you or your team in our fate. There is nothing to be gained by holding you here, other than the possibility of an entertaining battle.”

She sipped her drink, and then smiled. “I have to say, your friend Ronon is a very impressive man.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Sheppard got to his feet. “You’re telling me that we’re all headed into the center of a sun, and you want to talk about Ronon and what a fine specimen of a man he is? We need to be finding a way off this moon, or a way to break into the Star Drive and turn it around. Don’t you even care that you’re about to die?”

Her smile was bland. “It would at least be a novel experience.”

“This is so twisted…” He backed away a step. “I have to get out of here, I have to — ”

“Wait,” Mara said. “I can help you.”

“How?”

“Saul has convinced most of the citizens that you and your people are great warriors and should be conscripted at once and readied for battle.” She gave a wry smile. “It doesn’t hurt his cause that the other choice is the citizens themselves going into battle — most of them haven’t been more than a few paces from a bed or comfortable seat in years.”

“It wouldn’t be much of a battle,” he growled. “The only two of us who could even use your weapons are me and Rodney, and Rodney wouldn’t even know which way up to hold it.”

“Then Ronon cannot — ”

“He doesn’t have the gene, no.”

Mara was silent.

Scrubbing a hand through his hair, Sheppard said, “Okay, I’m going to tell Saul we’ve decided to drink the Cool Aid — that we’ll stay and enjoy the city. It might at least buy us some time… I think he expects defiance.”

“It won’t work,” Mara said. “It’s already been decided, you have no real choice. I believe that I can keep you out of it — at least at the beginning — but there is nothing I can do for the others. If Saul believes that I want you at my side, he will allow me that. He has allowed me many things over the years, though I never gave him what he truly wanted. I can keep you safe, for a time.”

“We need to buy time for everyone,” Sheppard said. “How long have we got before Saul starts this grand entertainment of his? It isn’t that long before all of Admah starts feeling more like a furnace than a city.”

“The first entertainment is set for tomorrow night,” Mara said. “Your people will be taken to the arena in the morning to be prepared and scheduled. There is no time to run them through the standard training. There are other warriors — your people may not be called first — but Saul will want to make this as interesting and unique as possible, so I fear he won’t wait long.”

“I’ll talk to him.”

“He won’t listen,” Mara said. She moved still closer. “But I can remove you from the group. I can keep you free — help you — and perhaps together we can find a way out for your people.”

“Why? Why are you helping us?”

She gave an elegant shrug. “If you cannot believe that it is out of compassion, then believe this — the purpose of these last days is to eradicate the terrible tedium of our lives, John Sheppard, and I find that the thrill of finally standing up to the status quo is more intriguing than a final night watching monsters of our own creation destroy men and women — or vice versa.”

“And why should I trust you?”

Mara rose to her feet, very close, and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek. “The best reason of all,” she said. “Because you have no other choice.” She put a hand to his chest, eyes speculative. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to spend the night here?”

Sheppard drained his glass and shook his head. “Not a chance. My place is with my people.”

Without another word, Mara turned and opened the door. Sheppard followed her into the hall and back toward his quarters, watching the graceful sway of her walk and wishing their visit was something other than it was.

Back in their quarters, everyone was waiting for his return. Their heads jerked up when they heard the door open. Every head, that is, but Rodney’s. He sat folded over his laptop, frowning. He paid no heed to Sheppard when he entered the room, nor did he notice the sudden agitation of the others. He simply read the screen and plucked at the keys as though nothing else in the world mattered.

“What did you find out?” Teyla said.

Sheppard clicked the door shut behind him and stepped a bit closer, clearing his throat and lowering his voice. “It seems that we’re going to be the grand finale in some bizarre gladiatorial game.”

“We have to fight? Those things?” Teyla thrust an angry finger toward the hallway where the walls were lined with posters featuring all manner of mutant combatants.

“That’s Saul’s plan. But wait, it gets worse.”

Rodney glanced up as if startled by Sheppard’s voice. “Worse?”

With a sigh, Sheppard sank down onto a bed. He was tired — he’d not slept for at least twenty-four hours — and the insanity of the situation was getting harder to process. “Saul believes that every single one of us is genetically capable of operating their weapons. He plans to put all of us into the battle.”

“What?” Rodney was on his feet then, frowning and clutching at his laptop. “Are you kidding?”

“Do I look like I’m kidding?” He gave a bleak smile. “But don’t worry, I set Mara straight. I told her that only you and I carry the gene. We’ll probably be the only ones to fight.”

Rodney stared. “Only ones? But…but…I can’t fight those things.”

“Well, I told her that too but considering the circumstances, you better learn. And fast. The battles begin tomorrow night. They’re coming for us in the morning.”

“But,” Cumby said, “what about the choice? What if we choose to join them, to become citizens and watch the entertainment with the rest?”

“Yeah, turns out that’s not an option” Sheppard said. “They’re not looking for new citizens, they’re looking for a grand finale. And we’re it.”

Rodney sat down hard, staring at some point across the room, his jaw slack. “Even if I can make the weapons work, I can’t fight those things. I can fight computer viruses. I can fight a recalcitrant power system. But I can’t fight monsters. I’ll die.”

“We’re heading into the sun, Rodney. Unless we can get the hell outa here, we’re all going to die.”

“Point taken,” he said. “I’ll get back to work.”

“I wish I had the gene,” Ronon said. “I’d love to fight one of those monsters. I mean, after fighting the Wraith all these years, how bad could it be?”

There was a knock at the door. It was rapid and strong and made Sheppard think of a process server he’d known on Earth. He stepped across the worn carpet and pulled open the door, stepping back so that everyone else could see. Saul stood in the doorway, flanked by two of his guards. He was smiling his usual humorless smile.

“Ah, Colonel Sheppard! You are well, I trust?”

“As well as you could expect from a group of prisoners on a moon plunging into a star.” It was Sheppard’s turn to fold his arms over his chest and scowl. It was a fair impression.

“Well, then,” Saul said and stepped inside. Behind him the two large guards stood very still. Their expressions might have been chiseled from stone. “I know you spent some time with Mara, so I take it that you’ve heard about our final entertainment.”

“Yeah, I heard. It’s a great plan except for one thing — I already told you that only two of us are genetically capable of using your weapons. Those two are myself and Rodney. If you put the others in that arena with those creatures you’ll be sending them to their deaths — and, more importantly for you, it’ll be very, very quick and very, very boring.”

“Why should I believe you? You have no reason to tell either myself or Mara the truth.”

“I see,” Sheppard said, looking at his feet and frowning. Either Mara had shared their conversation with Saul, or he had had a bug planted in her quarters. “On the other hand, I have no reason to tell you a lie. If I was going to send one of my men into the arena, do you think I’d choose Rodney? I thought you were after a fight. If you are, you’ll have to be starting with me.”

Teyla stepped forward, placing herself between Sheppard and Saul. “What you’re doing is barbaric! Forcing people to fight and die for your entertainment? Not to mention the creation of those…creatures. Do you think you are gods? Do you care nothing for the sanctity of life?”

“I care very much, young lady. I also care about honor and dignity. That is why I’ve devised this plan — this final ‘Entertainment.’ My people deserve a proper farewell…a wake to be remembered.”

She tilted her chin in defiance. “Remembered by who?”

There was silence. Sheppard took Teyla’s arm and pulled her away from Saul.

“No, I get it,” he said. “Go out with a bang. I mean, if I have to go out, I guess fighting a dragon, or a Woard, would be the way to do it. A final battle against all the odds. A last chance at victory and glory.”

Saul’s gaze moved to him, calculating and suspicious.

“Take me,” Sheppard said. “There might even be a time to let me practice with those Ancient weapons of yours.”

“I must say, Colonel, you surprise me,” Saul’s cynical expression belied his mild words. “I marked you as a brave man, but this is not what I expected. Maybe you understand us a little better than I believed that you did. Very well, it will be as you wish.”

He turned to Ronon and the others.

“The rest of you can wait here. I’ll send someone for each of you when it is your turn.”

He nodded curtly and marched out of the room. The guards seized Sheppard’s arms and turned him toward the door.

“Colonel Sheppard!” Teyla called, starting toward him.

“Don’t,” he warned, meeting and holding her gaze. “It’s okay. It’s better this way.”

She subsided, casting a worried look at Ronon. The Runner just gave Sheppard a slight nod. He understood — Ronon always understood how the game was played. “Good luck.”

Sheppard winked. “Won’t need it.”

And then he was through the door and he heard it close behind him with finality.

Now it was time to see whose side Mara was really on.