Stargate Atlantis 03 - The Chosen by Sonny Whitelaw & Elizabeth Christensen

Author:Sonny Whitelaw & Elizabeth Christensen [Whitelaw, Sonny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2006-04-18T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Their arrival in Nemst was met with panic, which wasn’t surprising. Over the past few hours the townspeople had weathered the Wraith ghosts and then the darts’ deadly harvest. The remaining populace was now desperate to be evacuated into the Citadel.

Rodney stepped out of the transport and directly into a throng of people shoving back and forth. A claustrophobic’s nightmare, he instantly classified the situation. Sheppard, an engineer, and a couple of warriors had accompanied him on this bound-to-be-fun expedition, but already he was losing sight of them in the crowd.

“Save us. We beg of you!”

“Everybody calm down!” the Major shouted, rather ineffectually. A sharp whistle through his fingers produced the desired result. Rodney blinked. If Sheppard could do that, why had he instead fired his weapon when they’d showed up on this damned planet in the first place? God, but he hated questions without answers.

“We can take you to the Citadel, but we need a few of your engineers and blackwater collectors to help us mount a defense against the Wraith.”

Voices rose from the crowd. “It is not safe here. We must leave at once.”

“If we don’t get the blackwater flowing, no one’s going to be safe, in the Citadel or anywhere else!” Rodney watched the villagers hesitate. Then one stabbed a finger in the direction of his Shield.

“He is of the Chosen.”

“For the forty-eighth and final time, we’re not Chosen. We’re…” I don’t believe I’m about to say this. “Genes. We can use the Shields to repel the Wraith attacks, and all I need are a few people to show me the fortifications you’ve built against the blackwater leak.”

After a moment, a man made his way to the front, with three more following him. “We will assist.”

“Thank you.” Another couple of people trickled out of the crowd and headed in their direction while everyone else began to push toward the transport again.

“Hey! We’re going, all right?” Sheppard swore. “Just stop shoving before you trample somebody.” His request went unheard as the townspeople piled into the transport. Raising a helpless shrug toward Rodney across the mass of humanity, he called, “See you later.” His determined gaze refused to acknowledge the fact that ‘later’ was an uncertain concept at best.

“Yeah. Later.”

The transport and its terrified occupants soon swallowed the Major up. Rodney followed the warriors outside, his ragtag team of eight volunteers hanging back to listen to him explain the plan.

The sounds of darts screeching toward them punctured the night. Unable to see them, it was by auditory cues that he recognized several peeling away from their pack, presumably trying to avoid the newly established EM field generated by his and Sheppard’s Shields. And not entirely successful in the attempt, as two spiraled uncontrollably toward the ground beyond a nearby hill. A few seconds later, a double explosion sounded in the distance. Probably the pilots activating their self-destruct mechanisms. Good. Two fewer life-sucking goons to worry about.

“What news have you?” one of the Nemst workers asked. “Why does the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.