Chapter Text
It was unusually busy today. Most days, the Stargate wasn’t activated at all, only once a month’s someone went through and that someone was Patricia. But today wasn’t that day. Today was just a normal day, a day like any other.
At least, it had started that way. As always, Patricia rose with the sun to do her daily labour. Before the sun had even risen above the forest, on which edge her little farm lay, she had fed all the animals. Not that she had many. Just what she needed, two cows for the milk, a hand full of chicken and about dozen sheep. When that was done, she began making breakfast for herself out of fresh eggs. Now that she had eaten, she prepared a few sandwiches for lunch and left her little cottage to walk an hour to work.
But today she didn’t get that far. Her path led her close to the Stargate, which she knew very well, and other than the villagers, was not afraid of. Usually, it didn’t give the tiniest reason to be afraid of, anyways. Most of the time, it was abandoned and the only people that would go near it were young boys trying to prove they weren’t scared, which they usually were. So, Patricia never encountered anyone on her way to work. Not that she minded that, the villagers didn’t particularly like her. However, when she walked past the Gate today, she could hear unfamiliar voices.
Curiously, she left her path and walked closer. At the clearing, in front of the Stargate, she saw two people, strangely dresses. A man and a woman, both dressed in black pants and jackets, and they were armed. Armed with weapons far beyond anything this planet had seen in a long time. The man however wasn’t holding his gun, but some device, with which he seemed to scan the surrounding area. He was saying something to the woman about odd readings, but Patricia wasn’t close enough to fully understand him. Carefully, she tried to sneak closer.
“Hi.”
A man… no, two men, had appeared on each side of her, both pointing weapons at her.
“Eavesdropping isn’t really polite, is it?”
“Neither is pointing guns at someone.”
Sure, she should be afraid of them, but she wasn’t someone to easily frighten.
“How about you put that down and tell me what you’re doing here?”
“Shouldn’t we be the ones giving orders? Seeing as we’re the ones holding the guns.”
Patricia just shrugged her shoulders and, in a smooth move she reached for her own weapons and held one to each chest, before either of them could react.
“Now we’re all holding guns.”
“Not what I meant.”
“Neither did I. Will you take your guns down now?”
The man who so far had done the talking, a slim, brunette soldier like man, turned toward the taller, more dangerous one. Both nodded and then lowered their guns. To which Patricia answered with putting her own guns away, too.
“I’m Major John Sheppard, by the way, and the gloomy fellow there is Ronon and the two over there are Dr Rodney McKay and Teyla Emmagan.”
“My name is Patricia Hadleigh. What are your people looking for?”
“Good question.”
He turned and shouted to the others to come. So, they did.
“Teyla, Rodney, this is Patricia Hadleigh.”
Patricia reacted only with a slight head bow, then turned back to Major Sheppard, who obviously was the leader of this group.
“Where do you come from, Major John Sheppard?”
“Just John’s enough. And we come from another planet.”
“I figured that, it is the purpose and function of the Astria Porta, after all. I was wondering, which planet specifically.”
The group glanced at each other nervously.
“I’m afraid we can’t tell you that.”
That was not good, not at all. Was it possibly that… no, there was no way they had found her here. Was it?
“I must go now.”
Whether or not it was them, she wouldn’t wait to find that out. With quick steppes she walked away from them, trying to reach the cover of the trees before they shot her in the back. But instead of shooting her, Sheppard jogged after her and quickly was next to her again.
“No need to leave yet. We won’t hurt you.”
“Why should I believe anything you say?”
“Because I’m a very nice person?”
He was still jogging to keep up with her and now grabbed her arm to get her to stop.
“I don’t know who you’re running from, but I promise you, it’s not us. We just travel to other planets to find resources, weapons and allies against the Wraith.”
“Then you won’t have any success here. This planet has little resources besides passable farmland and extensive woods, and the people here at too simple-minded to have developed any serious weapons, neither have they ever encountered the Wraith. All they need weapons for is hunting and for that, a bow and arrow are sufficient.”
“Never encountered the Wraith? That must be the first planet that hasn’t been raided.”
The others had caught up to them by now and all looked surprised, except for that Ronon, who still looked gloomy.
“If the Wraith never been here, how do you know about them?”
“And where did you get your guns from if the people here only have bow and arrow?”
Great, now she had to start at the beginning. And as long as they were around, she couldn’t risk going to work either, not without endangering everything they worked to achieve.
“Please, if you will hold me up longer, let us return to my home. It will be a lot more comfortable there and we won’t get wet when it will start raining soon.”
Five faces turned toward the sky, which was clear as it could be. But Patricia knew this climate better than the four strangers. She could feel the shift in the atmosphere. It was about to rain, probably sooner than later.
“We would be honoured.”
With a deep sigh, Patricia lead the way back to her farm. Not that she wanted them there, but that way, they were less likely to find her workplace. She definitely preferred endangering only herself and not her work.
They had just sat down at the small table in the kitchen when sky clouded rapidly, and heavy drops of rain began to fall.
“Before I answer your question, I have one for you. Have you ever been to, or heard of the Genii?”
All the while they had walked back and even now, Patricia’s hand had been resting on her gun, ready to defend herself at any given moment.
“Yes, we have both.”
Damn it. Again, she pulled out the guns before anyone could see it coming, this time pressing one on the temple of Dr McKay, who shrieked in surprise. The other three had reached for their own weapons when she had moved, but froze the moment they saw the gun on their friend’s head.
“Looking for allies, my ass. What’s your actual mission on this planet, Genii?”
All of them, except the terrified Doctor, looked at her bewildered.
“We’re not here on a mission and we’re not Genii. We’re looking for allies, resources, and technologies to fight the Wraith. I told you that before.”
“Sounds very Genii to me.”
“But we are not.”
“No, you don’t look like them, either. Doesn’t mean you’re not allied with them.”
Before Sheppard could answer, the woman, Teyla, spoke up, softly and reassuring.
“You are Genii, aren’t you? That’s a Genii gun. You’re one of them.”
“I am most certainly not one of them!”
The sole thought of being one of them disgusted her.
“Neither are we. This people are not allies of the Genii. They considered Sheppard’s people their enemies.”
“They actually went to great length to take our home from us. We barely made it out.”
“I have no reason to believe anything you say.”
“My people, the Athosians, used to trade with the Genii. You may have heard of us.”
“How’s that gonna make her trust us?”
In general, Patricia would agree with McKay, but she had heard of the Athosians.
“What did you say was your name?”
“Teyla. Teyla Emmagan.”
“You’re the daughter of Torren! I remember you.”
Frowning, Patricia lowered her weapons and put them on the table. She had trusted Torren and she trusted his daughter.
“You met her and her father?”
Patricia nodded, she wasn’t in the mood to elaborate on any of that. If they weren’t allies of the Genii, they didn’t need to know any more about her than they already did.
“Let’s just say, I used to be a Genii and they didn’t take it very well that I left. That’s all you need to know about me. As to your earlier questions, this people never met the Wraith because they have no value for the Wraith. The are only a handful of villages, scattered all over the land, only a couple of hundred villagers in total, for all I know. They live in terrible conditions and are ridden by illnesses even the most haunted planets have erased. I guess the Wraith know that they’ll never get a proper harvest here. Most of the villagers barely make it to their thirties, the oldest I’ve met was 27, their medical knowledge is pathetic. The Wraith keep their distance, as does any other sane society.”
“Why don’t you help them? If their medical knowledge is as limited as you say, why don’t you teach them?”
“Because they tried to burn me as a witch for it. And personally, I would prefer not to burn any day soon. Any other questions?”
“Yeah, if it’s such a terrible planet, why would you come here?”
“Because, like I said, no sane society would voluntarily go here. Neither would the Genii. Which makes it the perfect exile for me. I can live out here on this farm in peace.”
“But you can’t possibly have made all these on your own.”
Teyla looked around the room. She came from a simple people too, she knew how much one woman could do on her own. And she knew very well that some things she saw here couldn’t be made under those circumstances.
“You’re right, I didn’t. Once every circle, I travel through the portal to trade with villages on other planets, I sell them wool or cheese or medicine a make with herbs, and they sell me everything I cannot make myself. But that won’t be of any advantage for you.”
They nodded slightly, Rodney still eyeing Patricia suspiciously. Apparently, he didn’t take it very be threatened.
“Could you lead us to the nearest village? Perhaps we can trade with them.”
“I cannot. And I wouldn’t even if I could. Going there is foolish. If they won’t burn you as witches, they will infect you. I will not go near this place. If you must go, go alone.”
Under no circumstances would she go there. Even if they wouldn’t try to burn her as a witch, which they most certainly would, Patricia planned on living a long, if simple, live. Which she couldn’t do if she got infected by heaven knew what sickness.
A glance through the window told her that the sky had begun clearing already.
“It stopped raining. You better go now.”
With a collective sigh the group got up. They knew they weren’t welcome anymore and had decided a woman that talented with weapons should not be irritated. Silently, they left, only Sheppard turned back to her.
“Thanks for your time. It was… interesting.”
The way he said that almost make Patricia crack a smile, but her face remained stoic.
“If you are clever, you will not go to a village.”
“We don’t even know where those villages are.”
“The better. Go home, John Sheppard. Unless you want to hide or die, this planet offers nothing for you.”
As an answer, he raised an eyebrow, but left quietly in the direction of the gate. Good, Patricia thought, then she might just get to work today.
Half an hour later, hoping it had been enough time for them to discover that this planet really had nothing to offer, she, once more, made her way to work. This time, the clearing with the Stargate lay quiet and abandoned as it should be. Good. With a relieved sigh, Particia turned her back on the Portal and walked on to where she was going.
The sun had already reached its highest point when Particia reached ruins of an old building. Same as the Stargate, the villager were afraid of the ruins too. Patricia wasn’t. On the contrary, she liked the moss and weed covered stones. But today, she had no time to appreciate the beauty. Surely, she was already awaited. She was about to enter her workplace, when suddenly everything disappeared.