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Rodney stared at the guard in front of him, or more precisely the dagger the guard was holding four inches from his body, not quite sure what had turned the situation ugly. One minute he’d been talking about improvements to the low level technology the Hadaaiins were using in their temple and the next he was staring into the tip of the dagger.
He could see John out of the corner of his eye, to anyone else watching the colonel simply looked tense but Rodney could see the concern in his lover’s eyes and he cursed inwardly, this was what he’d been afraid of when they’d got together, he just hoped that John could stay cool and not let his heart overrule his head.
He looked around for Ronon and Teyla and frowned when he didn’t see them, He’d been sure they’d followed him and John into the temple but they were nowhere in sight, he just hoped they hadn’t been taken prisoner.
The guard in front of him didn’t move but the leader, a man who had introduced himself as Myaan, stepped forward towards him.
“Dr McKay. It’s an insult to our people for a stranger to touch the relic.” He informed him. “You must face punishment for this transgression.”
“Oh come on, we’re visitors here, how was McKay supposed to know that. He was trying to help you.” John butted in impatiently.
“Colonel Sheppard.” Myaan replied heatedly. “It matters not what Dr McKay was trying to do, he has insulted our people and he must face the punishment.”
“What punishment.” Rodney asked anxiously. “What do you want me to do; I can work on it and make it more efficient you know. This could easily be configured so that it doesn’t use up so much energy and I could easily fit solar panels to conserve energy, your planet has enough hours of sunshine to make it worthwhile.” He rambled on hopefully.
“I’m sorry, Dr McKay, I can’t allow that. The punishment for touching the relic is death. I cannot change the laws of our people just for one person and the people must know that we treat the laws seriously otherwise we would have anarchy on our hands.”
Rodney looked up horrified as John exploded.
“No, you can’t do that. I get that you have to have laws but how can you punish someone new to the planet that hasn’t been told of your laws. You knew he was interested in the temple and your energy source so why didn’t you warn him that he wasn’t allowed to touch it, that’s not playing fair.” John replied angrily.
Myaan wavered for a moment. “You do have a valid point there Colonel Sheppard.” He hesitated for a moment considering his options. “I will need to convene a meeting of The Council of The People; you will remain here under guard.”
He swept out of the room while John and Rodney were herded into a small alcove in the opposite corner by the six guards.
John glared at Rodney who shrugged in return.
“There’s no point in glaring at me like that.” Rodney huffed as he folded his arms defiantly. “I wasn’t to know their laws, you said so yourself.”
John sighed in defeat. “Yeah, I know. But how often do you get us into trouble by touching things.”
“Huh, I’m not the only one; your gene gets us into just as much trouble.” Rodney retorted, sinking to the floor. “We might as well make ourselves comfortable; we’re likely to be here for some time.”
“Not necessarily.” John returned quietly. “These guards don’t seem overly efficient; they haven’t even taken our things.”
Although they’d had to leave their P90s outside the temple, they still had handguns and their packs. The guards themselves appeared lazy and half asleep, even to Rodney’s untrained eyes, however, he wasn’t sure about taking on all six, that seemed a few too many even for John to subdue.
He wondered again where Ronon and Teyla were, had they been captured or seen what was about to happen and gone for the gate for reinforcements. He sighed heavily and opened his pack, taking out a power bar; after all, there was no need to go hungry unless he had to.
He was shaken awake sometime later by an impatient John. He wasn’t sure how long had passed but there were now only four guards, all of whom were getting restless as if realizing something was amiss.
“Be ready to run when I say so.” John whispered pulling Rodney slowly to his feet and making sure he was fully awake.
Rodney nodded and looked around, suddenly glimpsing sight of Teyla behind a pillar near the entrance to the room.
John raised his hand in the air as if he was going to scratch his head.
“Now.” He cried, reaching out and hitting one guard over the head while quickly twisting and sweeping another off his feet. At the same time Teyla shot across the room quickly flooring the remaining two guards. Between them they quickly had all four guards gagged and bound.
In the meantime Rodney raced across the room and out into the corridor, literally bumping into Ronon who grabbed him and started running out of the temple towards the Stargate, it wasn’t long before they heard footsteps behind them as John and Teyla caught up.
They reached the Stargate without incident, the villagers apparently unaware of their escape. As they collapsed through the event horizon Sam looked down at them with a concerned look on her face.
“Is this another gate address we need to lock out of the mainframe then?” She said with a smug grin seeing that they were unharmed. “Who touched something this time?”