Stargate Rejects

The conference room seemed to glow with a too-bright light. Nick yawned, exhausted. He and Tyson had been awake for almost thirty-three hours, supervising the Athosian evacuation.

“When can we start?” He asked.

“As soon as Beckett gets here,” Alex replied.

“I’m here!” William cried, rushing into the room.

“How’s Saporta?”

“Fine, fine. He just needs some rest. He’ll be back on his feet in no time.”

“Good. Let’s start the meeting.”

William took a seat next to Nick. Nick looked around the table. On his other side was Tyson, eyes bloodshot, but otherwise showing no signs of tiredness. Mike sat next to Tyson, also yawning. At the far end of the table, Alex cleared his throat.

“Major Ritter, why don’t you start?”

“Yes sir,” Tyson replied. “The evacuation is complete. The Athosians are currently in the mess hall, and we have some people assigning temporary quarters for them. We’ll need to take a team back to the settlement with Jumpers to take some of the things that were too heavy to carry on foot, but perhaps we should wait a while so that we don’t run into the Wraith.”

Alex nodded. “Good. Dr. Beckett?”

“As I said, Saporta will be fine. There are some side effects, including temporary paralysis, but they should wear off soon. It makes sense, really; these creatures feed off human life, so seriously injuring them would only reduce the amount of energy the Wraith could consume.”

“Also good news.” Alex looked wary. “Dr. Wheeler?”

Nick frowned. “My news isn’t quite as good. I looked over the bodies of the Wraith we killed -” he shuddered at the memory – “and I discovered that they were all wearing bracelets with some kind of chip inside them. Blackington and I examined the chips, and discovered that they were broadcasting a distress signal. We destroyed them, but we can’t be sure exactly who received the signal before we stopped it. There may be other Wraith out there who picked it up.”

Alex sighed. “I guess not all of the news could be good.” He turned to Mike. “Mike, is there anything you’d like to add?”

“Yes,” Mike said. “I understand that it is not your priority at this time, but my people will need to be relocated eventually. We are hunters and farmers; we cannot live in this city forever.”

“Of course. We’ll see to it that your people have a new planet to live on in no time.”

“Thank you, Dr. Gaskarth. There is something else…” he trailed off, looking worried.

“What is it?”

“There are stories among my people about the Wraith. They say that if the Wraith that keep watch while the others sleep are killed, the others will awaken. All of them.”

“All of them?” Nick asked uncomfortably. “How many are there?”

Mike looked at Nick, eyes wide. “Tens of thousands.”

“Crap,” Tyson muttered. Nick nodded. For once, he and Tyson were in perfect agreement.

William caught up to Nick as he was leaving the conference room.

“Wanna get some food?” he asked.

Nick had been ready to head back to his quarters and sleep, but at the mention of food, his stomach growled loudly. His last food had been the meal he’d eaten with Mike on Athos… twenty-five hours ago.

“That sounds great,” Nick replied. He turned down the hallway to the mess hall. It was the only room he could find without a map, except for his own quarters.

When they reached the mess hall, they found it packed with Athosians. Every table was occupied, and some were even standing along the walls due to a lack of seats.

“Let’s get our food and eat in my quarters,” Nick suggested. They quickly piled their trays with food and left. Nick felt uncomfortable in the mess hall; families were huddled together, small children crying, adults looking worried. He felt sorry for them, but he had no idea how to act around them – what do you say to people who’ve just lost their homes?

As they were heading back to Nick’s quarters, they passed Tyson. He smiled at Nick – a softer smile instead of his usual smirk – and Nick couldn’t help smiling back.

Thankfully, William didn’t bring it up until they were safely inside Nick’s room.

“So….” he said, playing with his Jello (blue again), “I see that you and Ritter are getting along better.”

“Yeah,” Nick said. “He saved my life.” And that was, as far as he could tell, the reason that things had changed. From that moment on, they’d been… not friends, exactly. Something that was similar to friends, but deeper and stranger and less certain all at the same time. Nick couldn’t find a word for it, no matter how hard he tried.

“He saved your life?”

Nick nodded. “I was almost hit by a Wraith stunner. The Wraith who fired it was only a few feet away. If Tyson hadn’t pushed me out of the way and killed the Wraith…” Nick trailed off, memories flooding his mind: the Wraiths’ sharp teeth, their green skin, the way one of them had sunk its claws into the Athosian’s chest, draining the life out of him…

“Are you okay?” William looked concerned.

“Yeah,” Nick said. “I’m fine. Just tired.” He faked a yawn, which turned into a real yawn halfway through, and suddenly his tiredness caught up with him.

“I’ll let you get some sleep, then.” William picked up his tray and smiled. “Good luck with Ritter.”

“Thanks,” Nick replied. He looked at his clock. The next briefing was at 7 a.m. Thirteen whole hours away…

As soon as William was out of the room, Nick pulled off his boots and his vest, crawled under the covers, and fell into an uneasy sleep, disturbed only by the occasional phantom-image of a clawed hand embedded in Tyson’s chest, draining the beauty from his no-longer perfect face.

By the time Nick entered the conference room for the next briefing, he felt well-rested again.

“I sent a team to Athos to look around this morning,” Alex said once the group – consisting of Nick, Tyson, William, and Mike – was seated. “It seems that the Wraith have left. Major Ritter, your team will head over there in an hours’ time to help retrieve the last of the Athosians’ belongings.”

Tyson looked over at William. “I don’t suppose Saporta’s ready to return to the team yet?”

William shook his head. “He still needs a few more days to fully recover.”

“Alright then. Mike, how about you come with us instead?”

Mike smiled. “I think that would be a wise decision. You need an Athosian to accompany you, and I am one of the few who understands how to operate your weapons.”

“Where did you learn that, anyway?” Nick asked, curious.

“I have traded with other worlds who use technology similar to yours. There have been circumstances where I have had to learn quickly.” Mike smiled a slightly bitter smile.

“Can Beckett come with us?” Nick asked Alex.

William rolled his eyes. “Beckett has work to do on Atlantis, Wheeler.”

“He does have work to do here,” Alex agreed.

“But what if the Wraith are still there? What if Ritter gets hurt and we need someone with the Ancient gene to fly the Jumper?”

“Then you’ll just have abandon one of the Jumpers. Lieutenant Suarez is already on Athos, and both of your teams can fit into one Jumper. Besides, Suarez’s team have been there for two hours, and they haven’t run into any Wraith.”

“We’ll be fine, Wheeler,” Tyson added.

“Hmph,” Nick replied, crossing his arms.

Alex smiled. “Good. Be ready in one hour.”

“Why couldn’t we park the Jumper by the Athosian settlement again?” Nick asked, panting slightly as they trudged through the thick forest.

“Just in case the Wraith show up,” Tyson replied.

“I thought they weren’t here!” Nick protested.

“They aren’t, but they might show up again. You never know.”

Nick groaned.

“Do not worry. If they do return, I will sense them before they are anywhere near us,” Mike assured him.

“Fine,” Nick sighed.

Suddenly, there was a flurry of movement behind them. Nick spun around, raising his gun, but before he could even register what was going on, something hard smashed into the back of his head, and everything went black.

He awoke with his his wrists tightly bound together. His back was pressed up against something warm and soft and… loud? After a few seconds, he recognized Tyson’s voice.

“What the hell are you doing? Let us go!”

It took Nick a few more seconds to take in the rest of his surroundings. He and Tyson were tied together on the floor of what seemed to be a small cave. Mike was lying on the floor a few meters away from them, his wrists bound behind his back. Leaning against the back wall of the cave was a muscular, blonde man – their captor.

“Who are you?” Tyson demanded.

The man stared at him for a moment, arms crossed over his chest.

“Chris Gaylor,” he said finally.

“Nice to meet you.” Tyson’s tone was halfway between polite and sarcastic. “I’m Major Tyson Ritter, and this is Dr. Nick Wheeler and Mike Kennerty. Now, how about you let us go?”

“I don’t think so,” Chris replied.

“The Wraith are coming!” Mike said urgently.

Chris pulled a gun out before anyone could speak and aimed it directly at Mike’s head.

“Is that a threat?” He growled.

“No,” Mike said, his voice shaking slightly. “It is a warning. They are here, on this planet.”

“I know,” Chris replied. “They’re looking for me.”

“So let us go, and we can all get out of here,” Nick suggested.

“They’ll find me anyway.”

“Why’s that?” Tyson asked.

“I’m a Runner.”

“What’s a Runner?”

It was Mike who answered. “A Runner is someone who has been captured by the Wraith, but not fed upon. Instead, the Wraith implant a chip in the person, enabling them to track his or her location. Then they set them free. Eventually, they begin to chase them.”

“Why?” Tyson asked.

“We do not know. Many believe it is simply for sport. The Wraith do not often encounter challenges. Perhaps they feel the need to provide their own challenges for themselves.”

Tyson turned to Chris. “So you have one of these chips in you?”

Chris nodded. “That’s right.”

“We have a doctor who can get it out. He’s brilliant. He’ll be able to do it.”

Chris stared at him for a few seconds. “Why should I trust you?” he asked finally.

Mike spoke up. “My people were driven from our home by the Wraith. One of my friends was fed upon before my eyes. I do not want the same fate to fall upon anyone else, not even a stranger.”

“Please,” Tyson added. “We want to help you.”

Once again, Chris stared at them for a few seconds, thinking. Then he bent forward, pulled out a knife, and cut the ropes around Nick and Tyson’s wrists. Nick hurriedly helped Tyson untie the ropes binding them together (hating himself for blushing every time their hands touched) while Chris untied Mike.

“So what’s your plan?” Chris asked.

“Get to our ship, dial the Stargate, and get to another planet. We’ll have our doctor meet us there, and he can get the chip out,” Tyson replied.

“Alright.”

Tyson turned his radio on. “Suarez, get your team and head back to Atlantis. The Wraith are here.”

“Understood, sir,” Suarez replied.

Tyson turned his radio off again and nodded at Chris. “Let’s go.”

They had almost reached the Jumper when Mike spotted the first Wraith.

“Look out!” he shouted, firing at it.

“Get to the Jumper!” Tyson ordered. They sprinted along the path, occasionally firing over their shoulders at the pursuing Wraith, not doing much damage, but at least slowing it down.

As soon as they were all inside the Jumper, Tyson sealed the doors and lifted off into the air, speeding toward the Gate. He quickly dialed the D.H.D. and sped through the Gate as soon as it opened.

They emerged in another forest.

“Where are we?” Nick asked.

“P3M-736,” Tyson replied. “It’s uninhabited.”

“The Wraith will still be able to track me here,” Chris said.

“Don’t worry. I cloaked the Jumper. They won’t be able to receive the tracking signal.” Tyson began dialing again. As soon as the wormhole was established, he turned on his radio.

“Atlantis, this is Ritter. Send Beckett through with a medical kit. We need to remove a Wraith tracking chip.”

“I told you we should have brought Beckett with us!” Nick added.

“A tracking chip?” Alex’s voice cried. “From who?”

“His name’s Chris Gaylor. We met him on Athos. It’s kind a of a long story.” Tyson sighed.

“Alright, I’m sending Beckett and a security team. Gaskarth out.” The radio shut off.

They waited in silence for a few minutes. Finally, William stepped through the portal, a large medical kit slung over his back. The security team followed him, guns raised. Nick, Tyson, and Mike hurried out of the Jumper to meet them.

“Where is he?” William asked.

“Inside the Jumper.”

William looked uncertain, so Nick grabbed his arm and guided him through the door of the cloaked Jumper. Well, almost.

“Ow,” he said, rubbing his forehead where it had collided with the back of the ship. He wasn’t sure whether Beckett’s smirk or Ritter’s laughter was more annoying. Beckett stepped through the cloak and vanished.

“Can we go back to Atlantis now?” Nick asked Tyson. Tyson shook his head.

“We’re staying here to help the security team.” Nick sighed, and Tyson added, “Look at it this way: we’re conserving power by not establishing unnecessary wormholes.”

Nick couldn’t argue with that. He sat down on a nearby rock and pulled a granola bar from his backpack while he waited for William to finish the surgery.

William emerged from the Jumper half an hour later.

“I removed the tracking chip,” he announced. “What should I do? Destroy it?”

“Nah,” Tyson replied. “Leave it here. It’ll send the Wraith on a wild goose chase.”

“Alright.”

“How’s Gaylor?” Tyson asked.

“Asleep, at the moment. I had to give him some anesthetic. He’ll have some minor scarring on his back, but nothing as bad as what was already there.”

“‘What was already there’?” Nick repeated.

“Yeah.” William grimaced. “It looks like he tried to cut it out himself. Probably with a pocket knife.”

“Oh.” Nick shuddered at the thought.

“So what should we do with him?” Tyson asked Beckett.

“Bring him back to Atlantis, for now. Then when he’s recovered we can drop him off wherever he wants to go.”

“Sounds good. I’ll dial Atlantis.” Tyson disappeared under the Jumper’s cloak. A few seconds later, the Gate came to life once again. The Jumper reappeared and sped through the Gate. The security team followed on foot.

“Let’s go home,” Nick sighed.

William smiled sympathetically. “Long day?”

“You have no idea.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got something back on Atlantis that should cheer you up.”

“Really? What is it?”

Beckett just grinned and stepped through the Gate. Nick sighed again and followed him, looking forward to a hot shower, a hot meal, and (although he would never admit it) finding out what William’s surprise was.