Stargate Atlantis: Emerald Isle

Chapter 11 - Planning

Breesha looked up from her work and seeing them, spoke to Coll, gesturing in their direction. Coll uttered some kind of summary judgement on the matter in front of him and the two men involved left, looking more or less satisfied.

Coll waved John and Rodney forward, smiling and Breesha got up and gestured insistently to John to take her stool. Rodney thought he'd refuse, but John sat down rather heavily, looking like he wouldn't have been able to stay on his feet much longer.

Breesha looked at him with a sharp, assessing eye; Rodney wondered if she'd send him home to bed, but she merely spoke to Vorra and the two women moved away. Rodney lowered himself onto Vorra's vacated animal skin.

"Can I have your slate, Rodney?" asked John, taking his arm out of its sling.

Rodney took the slate and pouch out of his belt and handed them to John He watched as John scratched out a rough picture of the islet with what fortifications he guessed it might have, and a couple of raiders' ships next to it. He attempted to add in the coast and put in a couple of stick figures and stick animals. He passed the slate to Coll and pointed to the ships then to the fort then to the farmland, saying, "How do they attack? The fort? The farms?"

Coll looked doubtful, as if he wasn't sure what John was asking, but he took the slate and pointed to the farmland. He wiped out the stick figures and drew them in on one of the ships, then he sketched in a couple of huts on the farm area then scribbled over them.

"So, they mainly raid the outlying farms," said John, "carry off anyone and anything they can and, I'm guessing, burn the rest."

John took the slate again and pointed to the island fort. He drew in some tiny figures holding spears and pointed to the ships. "Do they attack the fort?"

Coll held up one finger, then another.

"I guess that means they have, a couple of times, but they usually target the mainland," interpreted John.

He tapped the stone against the slate a couple of times, thoughtfully. Then he drew a circle above the fort in his picture, pointed to the ships, then to the circle and then to the sky. Coll merely looked confused. Rodney was confused too. John wiped away half the circle and drew it back in, making the circle narrower and pointing to the sky again. He repeated this until his circle had become a crescent, whereupon both Coll and Rodney made noises of comprehension. Coll took the slate from John and drew in the circle of the full moon again. Then he drew another, next to it and another and another and pointed to each of them with a look that said, "perhaps."

"Not very helpful," said Rodney.

"Well, I guess he means they'll come back sometime in the next few months at the full moon," said John. "They probably don't sail in the winter."

John took the slate once more. He pointed to himself and Rodney and scrubbed out the ships, hard, the writing stone squeaking painfully against the slate.

Coll looked at him, puzzled. John took Rodney's piece of cloth and wiped out all their drawings. He then sketched in his P90 and drew a small block next to it. He pointed to his drawings, but before he could say anything Coll tapped the slate and said "Peeneyentee," and John smiled and nodded. Then he grinned and pointed to the little block. "C4," he said. Coll repeated the sounds, questioningly: "Seefor?"

John nodded mischievously. Then he tapped the sketch of the P90 and gestured toward the door of the hut saying, "Let me show you what it does," and began to get up.

Breesha intervened at that point, putting her hand on John's good shoulder, preventing him from rising, speaking to her husband and gesturing towards Vorra, who was approaching with a tray of refreshments. Beer, bread and cheese, observed Rodney, as Vorra set the tray down in front of him.

Breesha took the slate from John and passed it to Rodney. She carefully held the sling for John to put his arm back into. Coll shot John a look which clearly said: "You're in trouble now." John smiled back, ruefully.

Rodney was making serious in-roads on the bread and cheese. "I think this might be goats' cheese," he said with his mouth full. "Haven't seen any goats, though. Do you think there's any honey left?"

"Slow down, McKay, leave some for the rest of us." John set his cup down and Vorra passed him a piece of bread with a slice of cheese on top.

Coll and Breesha were having a rather heated discussion in which, on Coll's side, the word ,"Peeneyentee," was featuring rather prominently. Rodney thought it was rather like watching John trying to persuade Woolsey to let him go on some wild goose chase mission after a potential new weapon. Only Breesha was a more formidable opponent than Woolsey. She wasn't giving in, gesturing at John and shaking her head. Rodney looked at John, slumped on the stool, face pale, nibbling his bread unenthusiastically. She was right. This was the first day John had walked any distance at all. They wouldn't be allowed out to play with their toys today!