FIC: Forever Pt 10:4 (Stargate/Atlantis Sam/Elizabeth Weir)
Final Part. And for the record I hate LJ size limits
Elizabeth winced and shielded her eyes as a vivid blue white bolt of lightning zigzagged across the sky striking the North Pier. Sam was hunched over the console putting the last pieces of their plan together.
“No more time!” she shouted above the noise of the thunder. “Routing power… now!” She activated the console. Nothing appeared to happen. A second bolt of lightning and then a third struck the North Pier. It sounded like the end of the world.
“Okay, this is a problem,” Sam gasped.
“What?” Kolya strode towards them.
“I warned you from the beginning that this was a long shot,” Sam straightened up.
Cavanaugh emerged followed by two Jenai guards. “We already have serious flooding on the north and west piers,” he told Kolya.
“It’s no use, the city conduits just can’t handle this kind of raw power,” Sam said.
“Is any power getting to the shield generator?” Elizabeth asked.
Sam shrugged. “Nominal amounts. Nowhere near enough.”
“You said this would work,” Kolya growled.
“I warned you not to trust her,” Cavanaugh’s voice was shrill. “She’ll destroy us all. They all believe she’s some kind of miracle worker and you fell for it too. She…” He staggered and fell to the floor as Kolya lashed out at him. Sensibly, he stayed down.
“Hey, this was a long shot at best,” Elizabeth shouted, feeling the need to defend all of her people, even a worthless piece of shit like Cavanaugh. “Why else would we evacuate the city? It was always our intention to dial out in case this didn’t work… within minutes Atlantis will fail. You can leave and survive or you can go down with the city. You choose.”
“We’re just not getting enough power to the shield generators,” Sam shook her head. “Elizabeth, I’m really sorry.”
“You did your best, Sam.” Elizabeth stared down Kolya. “Are you really going to sacrifice the lives of all your men on the off chance that this city won’t be completely destroyed?”
Kolya snarled impotently and gestured to his men. “Open the Stargate, start evacuating the remaining men.”
“What about him?” Ladon gestured towards Cavanaugh.
“Leave him. Let the storm take him. Bring the two women though. You’ll both serve the Jenai as payment for what you’ve done. Let’s get out of here.” Two men grabbed Elizabeth, another tried to pull Sam away from the console as she entered another command. She kicked out at him and drove her elbow into his face. Kolya swiftly brought the butt of his rifle down on her injured arm again. Sam felt the bone snap for certain this time before the world turned grey and all the fight went out of her. This had not been part of the plan. She could only hope that Sheppard and the others were keeping tabs on the situation.
The Gate was open, the surviving Jenai leaving with their looted supplies. Elizabeth was pushed forward. Sam was not quite feigning semi-consciousness, biding her time. She let Kolya take most of her weight hoping to slow the man down sufficiently for Sheppard to make his move.
She did not have long to wait. Sheppard opened fire, killing the two guards that were escorting Elizabeth who hit the floor, covered by Ford as she edged her way to safety. Sam headbutted Kolya, the roundhouse kick that followed sending him tumbling off balance away from her and towards the open gate. He turned and raised his weapon, intending to fire on Sam but a shot from Sheppard took him in the shoulder and sent him crashing to the floor at the base of the Gate.
“Your last chance, Kolya,” Sam said through gritted teeth against the pain. “Leave or die.”
“Let the storm take you all,” Kolya staggered to his feet and fled through the Gate.
Sam slumped against the console as Elizabeth reached her side. “Are you okay? Can you still do it - there isn’t much time.”
“Do what?” Sheppard asked.
“Activate the shield… save us all…”
“You can’t… Teyla and Beckett - they’re still out there somewhere in the city,” Sheppard said. He turned to Ford. “Find them… and make sure that Kolya was the last of them.”
“The tracking system’s still down,” Sam said. “I can’t… in two and a half minutes the tsunami will hit us and we’ll all be dead.”
“Then give them two minutes,” Sheppard said.
Sam nodded, her head lowered. Elizabeth let her hand rest on the small of Sam’s back, moving in small comforting circles. She could almost feel the stress and tension thrumming through Sam’s body. She kept an eye on the countdown. This was her call to make after all. She was still the leader of this expedition.
“There’s no more time,” she said as the clock showed a minute to go. “Either we lose them or we lose the city.” She heard Sheppard’s relieved sigh and looked over to see Teyla enter, supporting a groggy looking Beckett followed by a young redheaded woman - Sora.
“Sam..”
“On it,” Sam activated the circuit. It would not take the shield more than a couple of seconds to power up but it was still going to be a close run thing.
“What’s happening?” Elizabeth asked.
“It’s working,” Sam assured her. “It just needs to build up enough power for the shield generator to activate.” They could feel the approach of the wave in their bones, subsonics rattling through their bodies. The air seemed to ring as the wave struck the shield, passing over it without harming the city beneath.
“Saved the world again, Sam,” Elizabeth smiled gently.
“Nice work, Doc,” Sheppard congratulated her.
Sam silently acknowledged their congratulations not having the energy to do anything else.
“I see you’ve made a new friend,” Sheppard said, bringing his gun up to cover Sora who glared at him - a look matched by Teyla. Ford moved to take the young Jenai woman into custody.
Ten hours later the storm had passed and their people began to come home. Repair teams were checking the systems and repairing Sheppard’s sabotage. Carson Beckett had taken a leaf out of Janet Fraiser’s book and after failing to persuade Sam Carter to rest or get immediate treatment for her injuries, had deftly sedated her when she wasn’t looking. Her forearm was fractured in two places and the cut on her arm required twenty five stitches. She was still sleeping when Elizabeth, Sheppard, Teyla and Ford met to discuss the Jenai problem - particularly their red-headed prisoner.
“What do you want to do with her?” Sheppard asked.
“Oh, I don’t know yet. We’ll keep her locked up for the time being. Maybe releasing her to the Jenai will help ease tensions.”
“You’re extremely optimistic you know that?” he glanced up as the door opened and Sam Carter walked in, her arm in a lightweight cast and sling across her chest.
“Is everything okay?” she asked. “I know I’d got the power grid sorted before I…”
“Took an unscheduled nap?” Sheppard grinned. “We’re getting along, we’ve teams pumping out the lower levels of the east pier which was flooded. There is structural damage but nothing too serious. The two docs and Teyla were the only medical casualties,” he told Weir.
Elizabeth nodded. Beckett had suffered a minor concussion but had classed himself walking wounded. Teyla had a shallow but messy knife wound on her thigh and some bruising to her back and ribs. The only fatalities from the expedition were the two security people Kolya had murdered in the control room when the raid began. Everyone from Atlantis who had gone through the Gate to escape the storm had returned intact. They had been lucky. Very lucky.
“You say these things happen every twenty years, right?” Sheppard asked Sam.
“That’s our belief, yes,” Sam said. Sheppard nodded sagely, turned to Elizabeth and gave her his most winning smile.
“How far in advance can we book days off?”
END.
Elizabeth winced and shielded her eyes as a vivid blue white bolt of lightning zigzagged across the sky striking the North Pier. Sam was hunched over the console putting the last pieces of their plan together.
“No more time!” she shouted above the noise of the thunder. “Routing power… now!” She activated the console. Nothing appeared to happen. A second bolt of lightning and then a third struck the North Pier. It sounded like the end of the world.
“Okay, this is a problem,” Sam gasped.
“What?” Kolya strode towards them.
“I warned you from the beginning that this was a long shot,” Sam straightened up.
Cavanaugh emerged followed by two Jenai guards. “We already have serious flooding on the north and west piers,” he told Kolya.
“It’s no use, the city conduits just can’t handle this kind of raw power,” Sam said.
“Is any power getting to the shield generator?” Elizabeth asked.
Sam shrugged. “Nominal amounts. Nowhere near enough.”
“You said this would work,” Kolya growled.
“I warned you not to trust her,” Cavanaugh’s voice was shrill. “She’ll destroy us all. They all believe she’s some kind of miracle worker and you fell for it too. She…” He staggered and fell to the floor as Kolya lashed out at him. Sensibly, he stayed down.
“Hey, this was a long shot at best,” Elizabeth shouted, feeling the need to defend all of her people, even a worthless piece of shit like Cavanaugh. “Why else would we evacuate the city? It was always our intention to dial out in case this didn’t work… within minutes Atlantis will fail. You can leave and survive or you can go down with the city. You choose.”
“We’re just not getting enough power to the shield generators,” Sam shook her head. “Elizabeth, I’m really sorry.”
“You did your best, Sam.” Elizabeth stared down Kolya. “Are you really going to sacrifice the lives of all your men on the off chance that this city won’t be completely destroyed?”
Kolya snarled impotently and gestured to his men. “Open the Stargate, start evacuating the remaining men.”
“What about him?” Ladon gestured towards Cavanaugh.
“Leave him. Let the storm take him. Bring the two women though. You’ll both serve the Jenai as payment for what you’ve done. Let’s get out of here.” Two men grabbed Elizabeth, another tried to pull Sam away from the console as she entered another command. She kicked out at him and drove her elbow into his face. Kolya swiftly brought the butt of his rifle down on her injured arm again. Sam felt the bone snap for certain this time before the world turned grey and all the fight went out of her. This had not been part of the plan. She could only hope that Sheppard and the others were keeping tabs on the situation.
The Gate was open, the surviving Jenai leaving with their looted supplies. Elizabeth was pushed forward. Sam was not quite feigning semi-consciousness, biding her time. She let Kolya take most of her weight hoping to slow the man down sufficiently for Sheppard to make his move.
She did not have long to wait. Sheppard opened fire, killing the two guards that were escorting Elizabeth who hit the floor, covered by Ford as she edged her way to safety. Sam headbutted Kolya, the roundhouse kick that followed sending him tumbling off balance away from her and towards the open gate. He turned and raised his weapon, intending to fire on Sam but a shot from Sheppard took him in the shoulder and sent him crashing to the floor at the base of the Gate.
“Your last chance, Kolya,” Sam said through gritted teeth against the pain. “Leave or die.”
“Let the storm take you all,” Kolya staggered to his feet and fled through the Gate.
Sam slumped against the console as Elizabeth reached her side. “Are you okay? Can you still do it - there isn’t much time.”
“Do what?” Sheppard asked.
“Activate the shield… save us all…”
“You can’t… Teyla and Beckett - they’re still out there somewhere in the city,” Sheppard said. He turned to Ford. “Find them… and make sure that Kolya was the last of them.”
“The tracking system’s still down,” Sam said. “I can’t… in two and a half minutes the tsunami will hit us and we’ll all be dead.”
“Then give them two minutes,” Sheppard said.
Sam nodded, her head lowered. Elizabeth let her hand rest on the small of Sam’s back, moving in small comforting circles. She could almost feel the stress and tension thrumming through Sam’s body. She kept an eye on the countdown. This was her call to make after all. She was still the leader of this expedition.
“There’s no more time,” she said as the clock showed a minute to go. “Either we lose them or we lose the city.” She heard Sheppard’s relieved sigh and looked over to see Teyla enter, supporting a groggy looking Beckett followed by a young redheaded woman - Sora.
“Sam..”
“On it,” Sam activated the circuit. It would not take the shield more than a couple of seconds to power up but it was still going to be a close run thing.
“What’s happening?” Elizabeth asked.
“It’s working,” Sam assured her. “It just needs to build up enough power for the shield generator to activate.” They could feel the approach of the wave in their bones, subsonics rattling through their bodies. The air seemed to ring as the wave struck the shield, passing over it without harming the city beneath.
“Saved the world again, Sam,” Elizabeth smiled gently.
“Nice work, Doc,” Sheppard congratulated her.
Sam silently acknowledged their congratulations not having the energy to do anything else.
“I see you’ve made a new friend,” Sheppard said, bringing his gun up to cover Sora who glared at him - a look matched by Teyla. Ford moved to take the young Jenai woman into custody.
Ten hours later the storm had passed and their people began to come home. Repair teams were checking the systems and repairing Sheppard’s sabotage. Carson Beckett had taken a leaf out of Janet Fraiser’s book and after failing to persuade Sam Carter to rest or get immediate treatment for her injuries, had deftly sedated her when she wasn’t looking. Her forearm was fractured in two places and the cut on her arm required twenty five stitches. She was still sleeping when Elizabeth, Sheppard, Teyla and Ford met to discuss the Jenai problem - particularly their red-headed prisoner.
“What do you want to do with her?” Sheppard asked.
“Oh, I don’t know yet. We’ll keep her locked up for the time being. Maybe releasing her to the Jenai will help ease tensions.”
“You’re extremely optimistic you know that?” he glanced up as the door opened and Sam Carter walked in, her arm in a lightweight cast and sling across her chest.
“Is everything okay?” she asked. “I know I’d got the power grid sorted before I…”
“Took an unscheduled nap?” Sheppard grinned. “We’re getting along, we’ve teams pumping out the lower levels of the east pier which was flooded. There is structural damage but nothing too serious. The two docs and Teyla were the only medical casualties,” he told Weir.
Elizabeth nodded. Beckett had suffered a minor concussion but had classed himself walking wounded. Teyla had a shallow but messy knife wound on her thigh and some bruising to her back and ribs. The only fatalities from the expedition were the two security people Kolya had murdered in the control room when the raid began. Everyone from Atlantis who had gone through the Gate to escape the storm had returned intact. They had been lucky. Very lucky.
“You say these things happen every twenty years, right?” Sheppard asked Sam.
“That’s our belief, yes,” Sam said. Sheppard nodded sagely, turned to Elizabeth and gave her his most winning smile.
“How far in advance can we book days off?”
END.