Part XV

"It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence that could support this." – Bertrand Russell

"So, tell me again why two of my people are missing?" Sheppard said testily, glaring down at Rodney and his computers.

"They aren't missing; they just aren't exactly...here. I know exactly where they are. I think."

"You think?"

"Look, it wasn't anything I did, so whatever took your girlfriend had a reason. I just need to figure out why they were taken, and how to get them back. Simple."

"She's not my girlfriend, Rodney."

"Right, right," Rodney said absently.

"And Major Lorne got taken with her?"

Rodney finally looked up from the computer screen long enough to actually notice him. "No, as soon as she disappeared, he volunteered to rush head long after her." His eyes strayed back to the computer as he muttered, "Sounds like someone else I know."

"I heard that," Sheppard replied.

Freya looked around the empty cavern and back to Lorne. "I can hear them," she repeated, confused. "It's just like listening to someone on the other end of a telephone, or in another room. No visual image to go with the sounds. Well, there's some impressions, I suppose. It all sounds crazy."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, starting to move towards one of the exits.

:Tell the one to --: "--Stay here," Freya said, finishing the thought aloud. She shook her head, it was almost like she was speaking in someone else's voice.

"Ma'am?" Lorne said, questioningly. He paused, but he still looked like he was ready to go scouting at a moment's notice.

"They say it isn't safe to leave the chamber," she said, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Lorne's cautious paranoia was almost a relief to hear, over the sursurrance of voices. The whole sensation bothered her, because she hated disembodied thoughts, and that was when all she needed to do was figure out where the person was. "Something about..." she trailed off, startled.

"What is it?" the Major asked, more a command than a question.

"The planet's been stripped. There isn't anything capable of sustaining life outside the teleportation device. It has some kind of permeable shield," she responded, glad that the beings weren't trying to speak through her at the moment.

:Those that built the city did not fear us: one of the tones said. :You are like but not like the ones that came before.:

"We're descended from them, they came to our galaxy thousands of years ago, fleeing the Wraith. But if you were here then, why didn't you help the original Atlanteans?"

Lorne frowned, but said nothing. She heard him clearly wishing he could hear both sides of the conversation.

:We cannot speak to him, except through you: they said, regretfully. :The ability to be one has always been rare. We cannot act in your world without the help of one like you. And when we are one, they can feed.:

The stress on the final word made goosebumps rise on Freya's arms as she rubbed them. She turned to Lorne. "We need to go back, report in. This is beyond important. Weir needs to hear about this. And...a decision needs to be made," she said, the last hesitantly. :I'm not sure I can do what you ask: the telepath asked. :Be...one with you. My people do not always recognize this talent as a good thing, and to speak with other voices...:

Calm acceptance resonated through the chamber, and she wondered if Lorne could feel it, too. There was a lot to think about. It would be difficult to explain, and she wasn't entirely sure she could. How did you discuss a race of beings that weren't precisely even separate entities. They had different voices, thoughts, but they could as easily be the different thoughts in one mind as many. She wondered what Dr. McKay would think, although she suspected his hardened skepticism would cause him to be dismissive rather than accepting.

The light flared, and Sheppard turned to Rodney, his temper starting to rise. Rodney responded before he could ask, however.

"I didn't do it!" he protested, and as the device powered down, the two missing team members were there, apparently unharmed.

As Freya moved towards him, he noticed the slight tension at the edges of her expression, and shifted his P90 so he could give her a one-armed embrace, the closest to comforting he could offer at the moment. It was a brief thing, it had to be. Even showing this much weakness could be deadly, and they both knew it. Even though the Dream Eaters had told her the entry was safe from the Wraith, she didn't trust there not to be some other threat. And the stares Lorne and McKay were giving them were more than enough.

"I need to go back and report," Freya said, firmly. "The device is just a transporter between this and several former safe havens. I can show you the entries in the ancient database when we get back."

"How did you make it work?" McKay asked, incredulous.

Freya couldn't help smiling, remembering her earlier comment about Major Lorne. "I asked nicely."