Stargate Atlantis: Emerald Isle

Chapter 17 - Communicating

The following morning Breesha entered the hut early, bringing  Coll and Orrin and a cooking pot of the usual barley porridge.  John, half asleep still, heard her sending Nollan, Jed and Mal out, presumably to breakfast elsewhere.

Unusually, it was Rodney who was up and dressed ready for the day, while John still lay in his pile of furs just wearing his 'Granny nightgown', as Rodney called it.  He was reluctant to move; his ribs ached and his arm throbbed.  He sat up when they entered, though and tried to smooth his hair down a bit, which made it worse because he hadn't washed out the sea salt from the day before. He sat uncomfortably, hunched over his ribs and holding his arm, so Breesha pulled over another pile of bed furs and used them to prop him up and then arranged a sling which she had brought with her round John's arm.

"Thank you," he said, feeling much better.

"You're welcome," she replied, and John looked at her in surprise.

"I taught her that!" said Rodney.

Coll and Orrin arranged themselves on the floor and Breesha put on the barley porridge to heat.  She had also brought with her a little pot, which she set down next to the hearth.  John saw Rodney eyeing the pot, obviously hoping for honey.

Breesha looked at Rodney and made a writing gesture.

"Looks like they're ready to listen to our plan, now," said John.

"Yes, all it took was a bit of mindless violence," said Rodney, bitterly, "so that's nice!"

He took out his slate and with John's guidance outlined their plan.  When the beacon lit, a party of warriors, led by Coll and John would make for the mainland and lie in wait for the attackers. John hadn't yet scoped out the land, so didn't know how the men would be best deployed, but that was a detail that could be settled later.  The farmers who lived on the mainland would, as usual split into two groups; those who would herd the animals as far inland as they could and those who would make for the safety of the fort. Orrin would stay in the fort to lead a defence against any possible incursion. Here Rodney drew a sketch of a portcullis that he thought might make a useful addition to the defences.

Rodney would have the job of supervising the four swimmers who would take the C4 out to the raiders' ships and plant it on their hulls.  There would probably be more than four ships, but they only had four blocks of C4 and the idea was that at least some of the raiders would make it home to tell the tale of a settlement that was best avoided in future. When all his swimmers had returned Rodney, hidden among the sand dunes, would detonate the C4.

Orrin seemed unsure of the benefits of the C4, holding a block in his hand in disbelief.  John shrugged, and Rodney tried his best to draw an exploding ship; his art skills had improved considerably since he'd been communicating by slate.

It only remained to decide who would defend the farmland and who would be Rodney's swimmers, and they would leave that to Orrin and Coll to decide.

Rodney finished off the last of the porridge (with honey), while Orrin and Coll talked amongst themselves.  They seemed to reach an agreement and smiled and nodded at John and Rodney, getting ready to leave.  Rodney put up his hand to stop them and drew a few quick sketches on the slate, resulting in his being taken off to meet the smith and carpenters to see about improving the fort's defences.  John thought about 'Eddie' the smith back at the hillfort and hoped Rodney would win these people round without receiving too many threats of violence, of which he'd probably remain oblivious anyway.

John started to get up and gather his clothes, but Breesha pushed him gently back onto the bed with a look that said, "Not today!"

"Come on," said John, "I'm fine!" but the glare Breesha gave him had him subsiding, grumbling, onto the bed.

Breesha checked his arm and changed the dressing and then made him some more herbal tea, insisting he drank the full amount of the bitter brew.  John had no idea what was in the tea, but soon found himself feeling drowsy.  He hadn't had a good night's sleep due to his aching ribs and arm so was glad just to drift off with Breesha calmly moving about the room, setting things in order.

When John woke Breesha was in a businesslike mood and seemed determined to teach John her language.  She pointed to various objects in the room and had John repeat their names several times, then she disappeared briefly and came back with a slate like Rodney's and proceeded to teach him words such as man, woman, boy, girl, he, she etc.  Abstract concepts were the hardest and John and Breesha just had to assume they were getting at the same thing sometimes.

In the afternoon Rodney returned with news of his work with the smith and carpenters.  Reading between the lines, John thought that Rodney had gone with his usual approach of explaining his ideas too fast and too emphatically and had managed to rub everyone up the wrong way.  It seemed like nothing might have been achieved if the smith hadn't spotted Rodney's shoulder brooch, and recognising the work of his counterpart, and Rodney as somebody who had somehow earned such a special item, he began to be more receptive to Rodney's ideas and encouraged the carpenters to behave likewise.  The work progressed.

Over the next couple of days Rodney carried on working on the defences and Breesha continued to give John language lessons.  They usually sat in the central clearing of the fort, or sometimes on the rocks outside the gate, if the sea was calm.  Different scenes gave scope for learning different words and soon John was able to have short simple conversations.  He taught Rodney what he had learned each evening and Rodney tried to put it into practice the following day, with, he said, variable results and much hilarity among his workers.

One day, sitting on the rocks outside the gate, listening to the calm lap of the water, John was in a thoughtful mood.  He missed Atlantis and the rest of his team.  Spending time on this planet had given John back his friendship with Rodney and he had made new friends.  It had also given him a certain measure of peace with some of the harder experiences he'd had to go through over the years.  But he missed Atlantis.

Breesha was trying to teach him words about the weather, with limited success.  She was drawing something on the slate that may have been meant to be rain; or wind; or possibly snow.

"Please, can I have it?" he said, speaking to Breesha in her language.

She passed him the slate.  He drew a tall man with lots of hair and a knife in one hand and a gun in the other.  Then he drew a woman holding the hand of a wriggling toddler.  He put two rods in her other hand and smiled.  "Ronon and Teyla," he said, pointing.

"Your friends," Breesha said.

"Yes," he said.  He drew in himself and Rodney too, not knowing the word for team.

Suddenly John was startled out of his melancholy by the sound of quick steps on the wood of the landing stage, someone leaping over the rocks and a splash as the person dived into the sea.

Whoever it was didn't come up.  John leapt to his feet, making his ribs twinge.

"Sit," said Breesha calmly.

"But, who was that?" he scanned the surface of the water.

His question was answered when Vorra's head burst from the surface and she flicked her wet hair out of her eyes and smiled.

"Hello!" she said, and dived beneath the surface.

"What's she doing?" asked John.

"Fishing," replied Breesha.  "Shellfish." She drew a picture of a curly shell on the slate, to confirm her words.

Vorra came back up to the surface several times before hauling herself out onto the rocks and sitting beside them, showing John her catch which she kept in a rough cloth bag at her waist.  She was wearing a short underdress and John was surprised she was allowed to wear something so revealing.  Knowing Vorra, she probably wasn't allowed but did it anyway.

"You swim well," he said to her.

"I will be one of Rodney's swimmers!" she said with a challenging look at her mother.

"Will she?" said John.

Breesha looked as if there was a lot she'd like to say on the subject but didn't think John's language skills were up to it yet.  He guessed Coll and Kerran would be against the idea, but was less sure about Breesha, who seemed to think her daughter should have the same opportunities as a man, when she wanted them.

She said, simply: "Probably."