Peering at his screen, Rodney was still coming down of the adrenaline rush from having the shields collapse and the city rise to the surface. Of all the possible outcomes he’d come up with, that had not been one of them, but he was more than happy to be wrong just this once. Elizabeth had wanted another day in the city and now they had however long they wanted as far as he could determine.
All around him people were starting to organize. Now that the imminent danger was over, they could begin settling in for the long haul. He paid no mind to all the goings on, though. He was too busy trying to figure out their status.
With a sigh, he straightened when Elizabeth approached him. “The last zero point module is depleted, but limited power has returned now that our generators aren’t going to hold back an ocean. Life support systems are working but the planet’s atmosphere is breathable. Notwithstanding the inevitable allergens,” he added with a slight grimace.
“So… now can our naquadah generators supply enough power to the shield for defensive purposes?” Elizabeth asked hopefully.
“Not even close,” Rodney said dryly.
“On the surface without a shield? We’re target practice,” Sheppard supplied, frowning in displeasure.
“I’m acutely aware of that, Major, but thank you for reinforcing it.” Rodney couldn’t keep the sarcasm from his voice even if he’d been willing to try. What was it about these military men and always stating the obvious? He’d thought the major might be cut from better cloth than he was used to dealing with, after their time in Antarctica, but maybe he was wrong.
Taking a steadying breath, the major stepped up to Rodney. “When can you tell me where the Wraith took Colonel Sumner and the others?” The calmness with which he spoke had a hint of danger to it.
Rodney gave the major a patronizing look as he explained, “Even with the six symbols Lieutenant Ford provided, there are still hundreds of permutations.”
With a level look, Sheppard cut him off. “Seven hundred and twenty.”
Rodney blinked, momentarily stunned into silence. “Yes,” he finally managed. At Sheppard’s head tilt that clearly said, Well there you go then, Rodney continued. “I knew that of course.” Clearing his throat lightly, he added, “I’m just surprised you did.” He really hoped he wasn’t blushing because the fact that Sheppard had so readily supplied that number was more of a turn on for Rodney than he’d ever readily admit to.
Sheppard didn’t seem to notice, though. “Take away the coordinates you can’t get a lock on and that’s your one. And when you find it, send a M.A.L.P.”
Rodney’s mouth worked silently but, unable to think of a worthy response, he walked away to do as ordered. And since when did he follow orders so easily? He was vaguely aware of Elizabeth taking Sheppard aside, but Rodney was already too focused on his task to pay them any heed.
It took him a lot longer than he would have liked to hit the right address. By the time he had the M.A.L.P. ready to go, both Elizabeth and Sheppard were in the control room. “Go ahead, Rodney,” Elizabeth said.
Sending the M.A.L.P. through the event horizon, Rodney held his breath. He knew that whatever findings it came back with, people’s lives would depend on it. The disappointment that washed over him when the readings came back with no atmosphere was visceral. The confirmation that the machine had been sent through a space gate – and since when did those exist? – hit home when first the planet and then the gate itself spiraled into view.
“Well there goes that M.A.L.P.,” Rodney muttered.
“It’s in space,” Sheppard said, nonplussed.
“You sure this is the right address?” Elizabeth hedged, hopeful there was still a chance.
Rodney nodded. “It’s the only one we could get a lock on,” he replied bitterly.
Elizabeth sighed. “Very well. Shut it down.” Passing by the major, she paused. “Sorry.”
Sheppard grimaced, giving her a curt nod.
Annoyed as Rodney was about the loss of a perfectly good piece of equipment, he was more put out by not being able to give Sheppard the one thing he would need for Elizabeth to greenlight a rescue. And then it hit him. Snapping his fingers a couple of times, he straightened from his console and turned to the man. “Come with me, Major.”
He didn’t wait to see if the man followed, Rodney simply walked off. Neither of them spoke until they hit the small aircraft hangar. “I remembered someone reporting finding these before the whole shield thing happened.”
They stood at the entrance, taking a moment to take in the scope of what they were seeing. There were several spaceships parked in the area, and the bay itself lit up as Sheppard moved forward. When they got to the nearest ship, Rodney indicated where to open it and they stepped inside. Rodney firmly squashed the irritation at the tech coming to life for the major. Now was so not the time to be focused on that.
Sheppard moved to the front of the ship, looking intrigued.
“Think you can fly it?” Rodney asked.
Glancing over his shoulder, Sheppard gave him a half-grin. “Why don’t we find out?”
Which is how Rodney found himself sitting in the co-pilot’s seat as the major attempted to get the ship airborne. It took him a couple of attempts before he was satisfied he wouldn’t crash it into anything, and the entire time Rodney was equal parts thrilled and horrified as they made a tight circle in the bay.
“You did good, McKay. This ought to bring Dr. Weir around,” Sheppard said firmly.
Clearing his throat, Rodney nodded. “I’ll go get her, shall I?” he ventured. At the man’s nod, Rodney hurried back to Elizabeth’s office. When he finally got there, out of breath from both running and excitement, he wanted to smack himself. Why hadn’t he simply thought to page her on the coms and have her meet them in the bay? Ah well, too late now, so he might as well get on with it.
As they walked, he explained what they’d discovered. Elizabeth still seemed uncertain about the prospect of mounting a rescue, and it didn’t help matters when they entered the bay with no major or ship in sight – or rather, the vessel they had taken for a spin. It was just gone. There was an odd humming that hadn’t been there before, however.
“What is that noise?” Elizabeth asked, looking around for the source.
“I don’t get it, he was right here,” Rodney exclaimed, confused. “Major?!” When the ship decloaked behind him, Rodney turned in shock and before he could think better on it, waved stupidly, feeling ridiculous.
“You wanted a technical advantage,” came Sheppard’s voice over the coms.
Elizabeth seemed impressed, as well as reluctant. “Alright. So you can fly this thing. That doesn’t mean you can pull off a rescue.”
“Doctor,” Sheppard said firmly. “This is why you brought me here.”
Was it getting warm in here, Rodney wondered as he took in the absolute confidence of the man in the cockpit. He couldn’t put a finger on exactly why, but in that moment he fully believed Major Sheppard to be capable of just about anything he set his mind to.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
John tried to familiarize himself with the console while he waited for the rescue team to settle in behind him. Ford took a seat next to him, looking more like a kid being allowed on his first carnival ride than a Marine about to head out to cause trouble.
“Alright, gateship-1, ready to go,” Ford said with a huge grin.
Shooting him an incredulous look, John wondered who had thought up that ridiculous name. “Gateship-1? A little puddlejumper like this?” he scoffed.
“It’s a ship that goes through the gate,” Ford defended. “Gateship-1,” he said, as if that settled the matter.
“Oh no, no, no. That’s all wrong,” John said, smirking and shaking his head. Did these people know nothing about naming a ship? It was obvious to John that the lieutenant had never piloted a ship before.
“Dr. McKay thought it was cool,” Ford said with a hint of petulance in his voice.
“Oh,” John muttered. That certainly explained some of it. Suppressing a grin, he added, “Okay, well it’s official.” Ford nodded as if he’d gotten his way, but his smirk vanished when John continued, “You don’t get to name anything. Ever.”
Switching on the coms to the control room, John said smoothly, “Flight, this is puddlejumper,” shooting an amused look at the man next to him he added, “We’re go for launch.”
John bit his lip as Rodney’s voice came over the com. “Err, this is flight. I thought we were going with gateship?”
“Negative, flight.” He definitely enjoyed messing with the man a little too much for his own good.
“Standby.”
John could well imagine Rodney’s reaction just from how he’d sounded, but he still wished he could have seen his face. When Rodney came back, John could hear the annoyed capitulation in his voice. “Fine. Puddlejumper you are clear for launch.”
John nodded. “Dial it up, Lieutenant.” It was go-time.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
If John were completely honest with himself, he would admit that the longer he and Ford walked around the Hive ship, the more unsettled he became. Things had been eerily quiet from the moment he had landed the puddlejumper on the planet, and that just didn’t bode well. To put it in terms his brother used to say: his spidey sense was tingling.
A single Wraith passing near them was all the life they’d come across so far and apparently, Ford was of like mind. “I thought getting in was going to be the hard part, but that’s the first one we’ve seen,” he said, planting C-4.
John wasn’t naïve enough to believe that things could ever be this easy, however, so he remained vigilant as they moved ever inward in search of their quarry. Pulling out the handheld device the jumper had spit out, he looked at the screen. “Moving dot should be him,” he mused. Just to make sure, he ordered Ford to walk a few paces in the opposite direction. “Yeah, that’s you.”
“So,” Ford said with a smirk, “we got ourselves a lifesigns detector.”
Suppressing a sigh, as well as an eyeroll, John murmured, “We can name it later.” Taking another look at the screen, he chose a path and headed out, hoping to find the right dots.
After a few minutes, a cluster of them appeared and before he could see them, he heard Teyla whisper, “Major?”
“Shh!” Creeping up to the enclosure, John did a quick headcount. “Are you alright?”
“How did you find us?” Teyla asked, seeming uncertain he was truly there.
Halling was right on her heels with, “Is my son alive?” He looked both hopeful and fearful of John’s answer.
Giving him a quick reassuring smile, John said, “He’s well and waiting for you.” Halling heaved a sigh of relief. Scanning the cell once more, John frowned and turned to Bates. “Where’s Colonel Sumner?”
Grimacing, the man replied, “He was taken by the Wraith.”
Teyla added, “We do not know where.”
“Well, how about when?” John’s sense of foreboding had increased in leaps and bounds at the news.
A tiny spark of hope returned at Teyla’s, “Not long.”
Contacting Stackhouse, he ordered them to create a diversion. He wasn’t sure what he might be able to do, but John knew he had to at least try to get Sumner out. He hadn’t come all this way just to leave the man behind. Turning to Ford, he ordered, “I want you to plant more C-4, and in about twenty I want you to blow a hole in these cells and get these people out. I should be able to find the colonel with this,” he added, holding up the handheld device. He refused on principle to think of it as a lifesign detector just yet. “There aren’t that many Wraith around.”
Ford’s jaw clenched. “You’re the only one that can fly us out of here, Major.”
“I know. And I’ll fly us all out of here, including the colonel,” John assured with more confidence than he actually felt.
“I’m saying I should be the one to go, sir.”
John had to hand it to the lieutenant, he had a point. But like the man said, John was the only one who could fly them out and therefore also the only one that could operate the device, which left him few options. “Twenty minutes, I’ll find him,” he repeated before starting off, trusting Ford to follow his orders.
This place was a freaking maze. So many twists and turns it was all John could do to keep track of them so he would be able to find his way back. Still, he had yet to come across another lifesign, which was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it meant no other Wraith. A curse because he had yet to locate Sumner.
Suddenly, the silence was shattered by a piercing scream that John instinctively knew was Sumner’s. Keeping one eye on the screen, he followed the sound until he could go no farther. The sound was ahead and below him, so he went to all fours and crawled to a small space to peer down. What he saw made his breath catch. Some tall woman was doing something to the colonel’s chest and Sumner appeared to be aging right in front of his eyes!
He had no idea how it was happening, but he had to do something to stop her killing the colonel. He put three bullets through her back, and immediately followed by killing one of the other Wraith in the room with them. The female let out a shriek. John had to duck for cover as a third Wraith fired an energy weapon of some sort at him.
When he turned back and shot again, he paused, unable to believe his eyes. The female was standing, not a wound in sight, and Colonel Sumner was all but a living husk. Sumner stared John right in the eye with a look that said quite plainly: Shoot me. End this already. Please. John knew that look. Had seen it on several occasions in the field, but had up until now never had to act on it. He’d always persevered and managed to get the other person to safety – or they had been killed by someone else before he could think twice about the matter.
Not this time, however. This time, John knew it was up to him to end Sumner’s suffering. He knew it, he understood it, and it filled his gut with dread. Still, there was no other choice to make. Sumner was as good as dead already and not taking the shot just meant prolonging his pain. Steeling himself, John took his time to get the shot right, and with a nod, fired, aiming at the hand on Sumner’s chest. “I’m sorry,” John muttered under his breath as he watched the man collapse in a heap.
John stared in disbelief as the female Wraith glared up at him, acting for all the world like the wound on her hand was of no matter. He had a split-second to wonder about the look of triumph that crossed her face before his world went black.
When he came to, he was propped up against a table, being held in place by one of the Wraith guards. Out of the corner of his eye, John saw the female approach. “How’s the hand feeling?”
She turned her hand as if to inspect it, then grinned at him. “Much. Better,” she gloated.
Well, damn. “Sorry to hear that.” And he truly was. He had put four bullets in her and none of them seemed to have done her any lasting damage. He couldn’t help but wonder what it would take for her to die.
As he lay there trying to think of a way out of this mess, the female paused and began rummaging through his tac vest. Taking out the handheld device she examined it carefully with a look of disbelief, then demanded, “How did this come to you?”
“I don’t remember,” he tried, not wanting to give her the satisfaction of an answer. The guard thumped his head against the table in retaliation. Yeah, that was definitely unpleasant, and that thing was much stronger than it looked. John was sure he was in some serious trouble here.
Just when the female raised her hand to attack him, John heard gunfire and one of the guards went down, soon followed by the one that was pinning him down. As soon as he was free, he clicked his radio, rolling off the table as he shouted, “Light it up!”
He grinned in satisfaction at the sound of multiple explosions. The female began to shriek at top volume, sounding the alarm. John scrambled to his feet, grabbing the weapon of the fallen guard. It looked spear-like, and he figured if bullets didn’t damage her, maybe that might. Rushing her, he jammed it right through her chest where a human’s heart would be. “That has to kill you,” he grunted as she gurgled in shock.
She slid to the floor when he pulled the weapon from her. Keeping his eyes on her, he asked Ford, “How’d you find me?”
“Treadmarks, standard issue. Sir, let’s go!” Ford looked around uneasily.
John glanced at him, impressed. He was about to compliment the lieutenant on his tracking skills when the female rasped, “You don’t know what you have done. We are merely the caretakers for those that sleep.When I die, the others will awaken. All of them.” A smile formed on her lips as she passed away.
Swallowing hard, John turned to the table and grabbed the device. “What’s she talking about?” Ford asked as John glanced at the screen. “How many are left?”
The screen started to fill with dots so quickly, it was hard to tell them apart. It felt as if a stone had landed in his gut as John looked up at the ceiling which began to light up. What he saw there, filled him with trepidation. Writhing forms, all waking up, and they would be after them all. Ford handed him a gun. “Sir, we need to leave.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Checking Kate’s chart, Mac smiled at her. “You’ll be right as rain in a couple of days,” he assured. “Though unfortunately you’re going to have to miss the party.”
Chuckling, Kate winced, holding a hand to her head. “So are you, doctor. The first one on Atlantis.”
Mac shrugged, eyes roaming the rest of his patients – a few of his expedition members as well as a couple of Athosians that had been injured either during the attack on Athos or the surfacing of the city. Turning back to Kate, he grinned. “I’m sure there’ll be plenty of others. And Carson promised he’d have some food and drink sent up for everyone here in a few, so we won’t lose out completely.”
“Small comfort,” Kate murmured, “but one I’ll happily take, all things considered.” She adjusted her position in the bed, wincing once more.
“You lie back now,” Mac admonished. “You have a minor concussion as well as severe bruising. You’re lucky you didn’t get hurt worse than you did, so don’t go aggravating things.”
“Yes, sir.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Teyla watched her people with fondness as they mingled with the Lanteans. She had believed she would never see them again after she had been captured by the Wraith. To be with them now, to see Halling reunited with his son, it filled Teyla with hope. Hope was a new emotion for her. Determination. Loyalty. Love. Fear. Those she was well familiar with, but hope she had never before dared express. Thanks to Major Sheppard and his people, she felt she finally could.
She saw a chance to stand up to the Wraith. To maybe do more than that, even. These people around her, who had welcomed them with open arms even though they didn’t know one another, had weapons and knowledge no one she knew possessed. Surely that had to mean things were about to change, and for the better. She needed to believe that. For her own sake as well as that of her people. They had lost their home, but perhaps they would no longer lose any of their friends and families.
Even as she thought about all of this, she observed the Lanteans, too. Noting several instances where people kept circling back to a specific person. A look that lingered just a little longer than normal. A casual touch. It made her smile, as well as wonder what their relationships were. How much they differed from her own society.
Behind her, she could hear Dr. Weir and Major Sheppard speak. Her heart ached for him when he said, “I still have to live with it,” when Dr. Weir reminded him he could not have saved his colonel. She agreed wholeheartedly with her assessment. She knew all too well the treatment a human received at the hands of a Wraith, and she was all too aware there was no cure for being fed on by them.
“I’m beginning to think you were right,” Major Sheppard continued, sounding morose. “I have made things much worse. And I haven’t exactly made us many more friends out here.”
Turning, Teyla watched as Dr. Weir took in the people gathered there. “No? Look around you,” she said, smiling warmly.
Teyla walked over to them. “I agree, Major Sheppard.” Placing her hands on his shoulders, she leaned forward. After a moment’s hesitation, the major met her halfway and completed the Athosian greeting of friendship. Smiling up at him, she said sincerely, “You have earned both my friendship, and that of my people. With our help you will make many more friends.”
She meant that, too. She would do whatever she could to help these new friends. Not just because she felt she owed them, but because it was the right thing to do.
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