Action/Adventure, Week 2: Her Lottery
Title: Her Lottery
Author: chimeradragon
Genre: Action/Adventure
Prompt: Lottery
Word Count: 4210
Rating: T
Warnings: N/A
Summary: Evan Lorne was called Lucky from a young age, he never felt lucky until he arrived at his new home in Atlantis.
Art by clwilson2006
Lucky.
It was a name he had gathered in grade school and it seemed to stick with him his whole life.
Lucky. More like unlucky.
Bad things always seemed to happen around him. Granted, they rarely happened TO him, but they had a bad habit of happening around him.
Now they called him more than just Lucky.
Now it was Major Lucky.
“Number 1313,” the announcement came over the comm system of Atlantis. There was mingled sighs of relief and disappointment. Everyone in the mess turned to the person they knew had number 1313.
He winced as he looked at the ticket in his hands. It wouldn't be so bad. Would it?
A hand landed on his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his skin. “Oh my God,” he breathed and looked up into the eyes of his commanding officer.
“Hey Major, your number's up isn't it?”
“Yes, sir. I was just going to finish my lunch.”
“Don't worry about it. Someone will take care of it. You're with me.”
“Yes sir.”
“Don't make it sound like you've just been sentenced to your own death at the hands of a Wraith.”
“Well, I've heard storied, Sir.”
“Call me John. Or Shepp works,” John replied with a winning smile.
“I've heard he's awful and insufferable. That he hates all military types.”
“What's your name Major? I know your last name is Lorne. So that would be … Evan, right?” John asked as they made their way down one of the many corridors of Atlantis.
“Yes, sir. Evan Lorne,” Evan replied looking a little shocked that Sheppard remembered his name. “So, I've heard this sucks and that it's the most horrible thing anyone has endured here in a long time.”
John stopped and broke down in to peals of laughter just outside one of the laboratory doors. He was still wheezing when the door swung open and standing before them was a man that looked like he wanted to murder someone.
“And just was is so damn funny, Colonel?” the man demanded, his blue eyes flashed with irritation at having been interrupted.
Evan looked to John who didn't seem fazed by the rude tone.
“He... he thinks he's here to be tortured!” John managed to gasp out.
“Oh, for the love of...” the man sighed and pulled them both into the lab, his expression softened as the door shut and he looked at Sheppard. “Are they serious? No one's done this besides you!”
“I know, and all I said was that it was interesting,” John replied. He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Actually you've done it too...”
“I know, but that's beside the point.”
“Um, Sirs?” Evan asked quietly.
“Oh, right, sorry,” John turned back to Evan. “This is Doctor Rodney McKay. Rodney, this is Major Evan Lorne. He's been pulled from the lottery.”
“Good, I'm sure she'll be happy to roll over for another one of you natural carriers,” Rodney said. He picked up a tablet and turned away from the two men in the room with him and walked over to what looked like a cross between a recliner and the Ancient Chair used to control Atlantis.
“Who?” Evan asked.
“You'll see,” John replied. “She's kinda picky so we're trying to get as many people as we can to be able to interact with her if something should happen to me. Or Rodney. He's not a natural gene carrier but, she likes him. Says she likes the way he handles the Lantean tech. All you have to do is take off your jacket, sit down and relax. You'll be fine. If she doesn't like you, you'll know and you can have the rest of the day off. Okay?”
Rodney rolled his eyes a little at the coaxing but said nothing else.
Evan nodded and quickly stripped off his jacket and dropped it on an empty table top. “So, I just have to sit down and relax?”
“Well, I'd recommend thinking welcoming thoughts,” Rodney said suddenly as he looked up from his tablet again. “She likes that.”
“Who is she?” Lorne asked again, not expecting an answer as he sat down in the chair. He was mildly surprised at how comfortable it was and allowed himself to sink further into the comfort.
“You'll see. She always tells them who she is, before she either says yes or no. Now just relax Major. You'll be fine,” John replied, giving the other man a thumbs-up.
Rodney merely rolled his eyes at the other man's antics and tapped a few commands on his PC. “You might feel a little disoriented, but breathe deep and it will pass.”
“Why am I...?” Evan started, but didn't get to finish his sentence as he felt almost as though there was a pull on his mind. He closed his eyes as the room seemed to be stretched out and blurred around the edges. He felt a warmth he'd never known before envelope his whole body and he sighed, allowing the sensations to wash over him. He heard and felt McKay and Sheppard moving around him as another scene started to develop before his eyes and he lost touch with the room around him.
“He's good. It looks like she's not refusing him out-right. Though she could still say no,” Rodney murmured quietly, but his voice sounded so distant that Evan was having a hard time tracking him.
“We'll just have to see how it goes then,” John replied, but he sounded pleased with how things seemed to be going.
Lorne was too busy looking at the city of Atlantis.
Clean.
Shiny.
New.
He was seeing the city as she had been when the Ancients had built her so long ago. He felt his feet lead him through hallways he'd never seen in such good shape. He took turns and moved through corridors until he finally wound up in the Gate Room. He looked around, startled by his location and the severe lack of people.
“Hello, Evan,” a soothing female voice said from just behind him. He whirled around and spotted a young woman at the top of the stairs that led to the Control Room. He held his breath as he took in her look. She was wearing the traditional white and gold clothing the Ancients seemed to favor. Her eyes sparkled blue, and her long light brown hair flowed down to her shoulders. She smiled at him benevolently.
“Hi,” Lorne replied dumbly. He held his hand out and smiled. “I”m Evan Lorne, but I think you already knew that. Who might you be?”
The woman before him giggled slightly, but quickly regained her composure.
“Um, did I say something funny?”
“No. But all of you ask me the same question. I think it's a little funny at this point,” the woman replied, she stood before Evan, just a little bit shorter than him. “You may call me Lanta. But my true name, or the one you know me by is Lantea. Or Atlantis.” She smiled at him, teeth perfect and white and her voice held a slight ring of a multitude of voices speaking with her all at once. “Did you know that only Rodney and John guessed who I was?” She smiled again as she began to walk around Evan.
“Am I dreaming? Did that chair fry my brain some how?”
“No. Well, you are in a state that mimics dreaming, but you are not sleeping. I am communicating with you as I did with those that came long ago. I asked John and Rodney if they would find others I can talk with. Those that can handle such things. There are many among you that can not stand to speak to me in such a way. And others that make me with to throw them from my walls, but I was built to protect and teach and learn. So, I will not communicate with them like this, I will protect them. Some of your people are sweet, but I find it strange you all can not feel me.”
“You're... the city?” Lorne asked, dumbfounded. He took a deep, unsteady breath. “You're really the city? That's amazing!”
“I am not just the city. I am a representation of the systems of the city along with an interface program designed off one of those that Ascended long ago. She wished for there to be away to communicate with the systems of the city better. They created me. I can not tell you everything. I do not know all the information stored within my memory, but I like you and I will help you in whatever ways I can. Your mind is compatible with my systems. But you can not stay connected to me in this way for too long. At least not at first. That is what Rodney has told me.” She smiled again. “I look forward to seeing you again...” she stopped, eyes wide in shock that quickly turned to anger.
“What's wrong?” Evan asked, startled by the sudden shift.
“You have to tell Rodney and John the Wraith are here!” Lanta told him fiercely. “You may come back to help, but you have to go now. I am sounding the alert.” And he could hear the alert distantly. “Come back to me, sweet Evan. When this is over.”
“I will,” he replied, but almost felt like he was shouting down a tunnel. A tunnel he was being pulled out of backwards.
“She likes you,” Rodney greeted with a smile on his face.
“Yes, but we have bigger problems,” Evan replied. He grimaced as the alarms in Atlantis started sounding. “We have two Wraith hive ships that just dropped into our orbit. They're on the far side of the planet, but we don't have much time. She...” he looked confused for a moment as the looked between John and Rodney. “She told me all that while I was leaving her?”
“Your brain can process the information very quickly when you're connected to her. In fact... well, it's not important right now. We have to take care of the Hives. Have they spotted us yet?” Rodney asked.
“No that she could tell,” Evan replied.
“Okay, I'm going to go cloak the city. Lorne, I want you to head to Elizabeth and tell her what's going on. Assemble teams in case they sent out scouts. Rodney you're in this chair until someone else can take over. Lorne, I want you to tell Weir that we also have Rodney and myself in the chairs and Rodney will need a replacement so he can help deal with damage in the city. Got it?”
“Yes, Sir,” Lorne replied with a sharp salute as he took off down the hall. He chanced a glance behind him and saw Sheppard and McKay share a quick; but meaningful, glance between them before Rodney sat down and John took off in the other direction.
Evan wasted no time heading to the Command Tower. “Doctor Weir, we have a serious situation. The city reports two Hive ships have just dropped out of hyperspace,” Evan reported over his radio as he continued to run. He tapped it again to get the military channel. “I need all security teams geared and ready to go in five. I want sweeps of all floors and radio contact ever five minutes.”
He skidded to a halt in the transporter that would lead him to the tower and tapped the screen. A faint buzzing started up in the back of his head and he shook it to clear the feeling. He was certain it was just an after effect of being linked with the city, but he never got the opportunity to ask Sheppard or McKay about it.
Evan, you must hurry. I feel darts...
Lorne looked around as he stepped out of the transporter.
Evan, hurry. John and Rodney need your help.
He shook himself, he must still be connected to the city some how. Maybe that's why he had to 'be agreeable to her'. He looked up and felt a little crazy as he spoke to an empty corridor. “I'm hurrying, I'll be there in a few seconds. Lanta, we won't let you down.”
Rodney is gathering the data for you. John is getting ready to cloak the city. I fear... enough... the voice seemed to be fading quickly.
Evan shook himself and walked into the Control Room where the only word to describe what was going on was 'organized chaos'. He walked right up to Elizabeth. “Ma'am, we have a situation. Colonel Sheppard is in the Control Chair and Doctor McKay is... in the... other one. I have security teams assembling and we'll be ready to start sweeping the city as soon as you give the word. It will only take me a few minutes to gear up myself.”
“Don't worry, Major. I have every confidence in your abilities. This isn't the first time they've dropped in on an oceanic world to see if we were there. Lucky for us, we can shield the entire city. They won't be able to see us,” Elizabeth soothed. “But go to your teams and make sure the Wraith haven't managed to infiltrate.” She gave him a tight but warm smile and turned to look at the display behind her. It was flashing.
“Um, I think the display is trying to tell us something,” Evan said as he gestured to the still flashing screen.
“Go ahead Rodney,” Elizabeth said to the room at large.
TWO DARTS INSIDE THE SHIELD. COMMUNICATIONS HAVE BEEN JAMMED. J- the typing stopped and backed up the tying before starting over. SHEPPARD IS TRYING TO TAKE THEM DOWN. HIVE SHIPS ARE STILL IN ORBIT. NO SIGNS THEY'VE NOTICED ANYTHING.
“Why does he write in all caps?” Evan wondered aloud.
“It's the way the city writes for him,” Chuck; the gate technician said as he glanced up. “We're starting to get used to it.”
“And what's McKay doing?” Evan asked.
“He's gathering all the sensor data and compiling it together and sending it in packets to the computers that need it most. See, I've got the ship data and life sign detection. Over there we've got the darts, and over there,” Chuck pointed at several different technicians in the room, “is the city's surveillance. We're looking for any new life-signs that come into the city.”
“That sounds really complicated,” Evan admitted.
“It would be, if McKay wasn't linked up to the city and able to process it all faster than... well, anything else, really. But don't tell him that. It might inflate his ego too much.”
I HEARD THAT. GET BACK TO WORK, CHUCK.
Chuck winced with a little laugh. “See? He can hear everything that's going on in the city. But he usually just concentrates on the tower. Sheppard will work on the defenses outside.”
“Cool. I wanna know more about his later. Thanks. I've got to get out and head up the teams,” Evan nodded to Weir and took off the locker room where he was certain people were getting ready. He walked in and saw that everyone there was nearly finished getting ready. He opened his own locker and got to work. TAC vest, gun holster, P90, 9mil, combat knife. He nodded and looked around.
“Major, how bad is it?” one of the Marines asked.
“Yeah, why isn’t Sheppard here?” another asked.
“Sheppard,” Lorne said loudly. “Colonel Shepard is in the Chair room keeping us out of sight and he's going to shoot down any darts that come inside the shield of the city. We are going in three man teams to sweep every level of the city. We are to make sure none of those ugly green bastards get anywhere in this city if they make it in. Got it!?”
“Yes sir!” came the chorus of replies. Men and women gathered into their usual security teams.
“Let's move out,” Lorne said sharply as he nodded to his own team. The teams moved out and they heard the speaker system come to life.
“We have reports of a destroyed Dart, we believe there was a life-sign that beamed aboard. We're not entirely sure because the signs have disappeared,” Weir's voice came over the speakers. She sounded tense but still sure of herself. “Everyone who is not on a security team is to lock up where ever they are and wait until you hear from either the command staff or from a security team. Sweep your areas. Good luck security teams.”
“You heard her, move out!” Lorne shouted to a reply of 'hoorahs'.
The teams moved out in well organized teams. They were becoming almost used to this kind of security sweep. Lorne gave his men a proud smile as they showed no fear, only determination.
Each team moved with military precision, sweeping the area in front and around them with their P90s. Each team had a person with a Life-Signs Detector or LSD which usually got snickers from the newest members of the expedition. Lorne was no exception to the moment of snickering at the name. They had quickly learned from the mission reports the things were invaluable at helping to find a variety of things. From people to energy signatures.
Evan held the one for his party, having the strongest expression of the ATA gene made it off-handed for him to be able to use it. The whisper in the back of his mind was still there, but it wasn't actually distracting unless he concentrated on it.
Evil ones is here... Evan … Rodney... found ...im... you must... move... here...
Lorne shook his head, stopping to try and figure out what Lanta's disembodied voice was trying to tell him. “I think … there's a Wraith in the city. Maybe more...” His team turned to look at him with confused looks on their faces.
“Sir? Did you get a radio message we didn't?” one of the Marines asked, he looked concerned for his commanding officer.
“Must have been too faint for you to hear it come through,” Lorne replied quickly; almost too quickly. “It was a little garbled and pretty quiet. I'm not sure how many are here. We have to keep up the sweeps.”
“Sure thing,” Johnson; Evan took the time to read the man's name patch this time, replied.
They continued down the corridor, checking constantly. The two men with him on constant alert for any signs of the enemy.
A sign that showed itself in the form of Johnson getting stunned.
He went down like a sack of potatoes. Evan and the remaining Marine on his team; he looked and noted his name tag said Smith, grabbed Johnson by the legs and dragged him back behind the wall.
“Looks like we found him,” Smith said with a wry smile. He readjusted the grip on his P90 and got ready to aim high. “You going low, sir?”
“Yes,” Lorne replied as he steadied himself. “On three. One. Two. Three!”
The two of them came around the corner firing at the pale, black clad creature before them. Lorne aimed for the head while Smith went from the knees up to the chest. The Wraith went down quickly and stayed down, his weapon knocked from his hands by bullets.
“Medical team, I have a man down,” Lorne called over his radio. “My team has also neutralized a Wraith, do you see any other unusual life-signs?”
“Negative. We're doing a sweep of the city again,” came the reply from one of the female staff in the control tower. “Medical team should be with you in less than five. Please hold your position. And keep an eye on the Wraith. If it gets back up that means its recently fed.”
“Roger that,” Lorne replied. He swallowed hard at the thought of one of his men being fed on. He'd seen pictures and read the reports. It had to be one of the most horrible things to ever experience in your life.
“You gonna be okay, sir?” Smith asked as he looked around.
“Yeah, I just... I never thought they'd be in the city. I know they can, I just...” Lorne replied.
“First Wraith is always the hardest. I puked the first time. You hold your lunch after the pictures?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you're doing better than most.”
“It was only by a slim margin.”
“Yeah? I barfed after my first dead Wraith too. Bastards smell worse than they look. And they're usually damn hard to kill.”
“I've read about that. But he just took two full clips to the chest.”
“Yeah, that doesn't always stop them,” Smith said as he ducked a peek around the corner. He nodded to himself and looked back at Lorne. “But the good news is... this one is staying dead.”
...van... well... come...
Lorne shook his head at the ghostly voice that seemed to drift in and out of the corners of his mind. He knew Lanta was trying to tell him something but he couldn't quite catch it.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, I just... it's nothing.”
“It might not be nothing. Wraith can make you see things that aren't there,” Smith replied as he double checked the new clip in his gun.
“No, just a bit of a headache,” Lorne replied. He gave a weak smile. “Lot more stress than what I'm used to. Back at the SGC I had to worry about being shot or taken over by a Goa'uld, here I have to worry about the life getting sucked out of me. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it.”
“I understand that. I was at the SGC too. Doesn't really prepare you for this kind of thing though. I used to get bad migranes. But then, one day they just stopped. It's like my brain finally said, okay, this is where I live, now I'm dealing with it. After that, weird stuff just doesn't seem to faze you as badly. Don't get me wrong, there's still a ton of weird stuff, but it's a little less harsh,” Smith gave him a smile.
“Final sweep of the city shows clean,” the technician from earlier called out over the radio. “Both Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay report the city is clean. It looks like the Hives are breaking orbit and leaving.”
Lorne breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, at least that's one thing we don't have to...” he shook his head as his vision got blurry. “To...”
“Sir, are you alright?”
“I'm...”
The world was spinning out of control and Lanta's voice was calling to him.
“Sir?”
The world whited out and Evan found himself in the Infirmary with a throbbing headache.
“Hey, Lucky! How's it going?” John's voice seemed to cut through the air like a knife and made Evan's head throb.
“Oh, man, my head...” Evan whined.
“You're telling me,” Rodney groused from the other side of John. His voice was a little softer, but still seemed to beat on Evan's brain.
“What happened?”
“You collapsed in the hallway,” John replied calmly as though it was something that happened everyday. “Seems like Lanta was trying to talk to you and accidentally overloaded you while you were overextending yourself.”
“I thought I heard her...” Evan replied, his eyes grew distant for a moment before he heard snapping. “What?”
“Don't do that,” Rodney said sharply. “Trying to listen for her after you've collapsed is a bad idea. You're just going to have to let it go. She doesn't usually talk to us unless we're in the Chair anyways. It's too much of a strain.”
“She did mention that over time we can develop the ability to hear her better, but it's gonna take time in the Chair to do it. We have to train our brains. Good work today with that Wraith. That was your first encounter with one, right?” John chimed in.
“Yeah.”
“Did you barf?”
“No,” Evan replied warily.
“Welcome to Atlantis!” John grinned happily and turned back to Rodney.
Take care of yourselves... Lanta's voice echoed through the Infirmary. Both John and Rodney's heads snapped up as they looked towards the ceiling. They smiled slightly and went back to their discussion. Evan laid his head back on the pillow feeling accepted like he hadn't been anywhere else. He really was lucky to have found such a cool home. He smiled as he drifted off to sleep.
The End
Author: chimeradragon
Genre: Action/Adventure
Prompt: Lottery
Word Count: 4210
Rating: T
Warnings: N/A
Summary: Evan Lorne was called Lucky from a young age, he never felt lucky until he arrived at his new home in Atlantis.
Art by clwilson2006
Lucky.
It was a name he had gathered in grade school and it seemed to stick with him his whole life.
Lucky. More like unlucky.
Bad things always seemed to happen around him. Granted, they rarely happened TO him, but they had a bad habit of happening around him.
Now they called him more than just Lucky.
Now it was Major Lucky.
“Number 1313,” the announcement came over the comm system of Atlantis. There was mingled sighs of relief and disappointment. Everyone in the mess turned to the person they knew had number 1313.
He winced as he looked at the ticket in his hands. It wouldn't be so bad. Would it?
A hand landed on his shoulder and he nearly jumped out of his skin. “Oh my God,” he breathed and looked up into the eyes of his commanding officer.
“Hey Major, your number's up isn't it?”
“Yes, sir. I was just going to finish my lunch.”
“Don't worry about it. Someone will take care of it. You're with me.”
“Yes sir.”
“Don't make it sound like you've just been sentenced to your own death at the hands of a Wraith.”
“Well, I've heard storied, Sir.”
“Call me John. Or Shepp works,” John replied with a winning smile.
“I've heard he's awful and insufferable. That he hates all military types.”
“What's your name Major? I know your last name is Lorne. So that would be … Evan, right?” John asked as they made their way down one of the many corridors of Atlantis.
“Yes, sir. Evan Lorne,” Evan replied looking a little shocked that Sheppard remembered his name. “So, I've heard this sucks and that it's the most horrible thing anyone has endured here in a long time.”
John stopped and broke down in to peals of laughter just outside one of the laboratory doors. He was still wheezing when the door swung open and standing before them was a man that looked like he wanted to murder someone.
“And just was is so damn funny, Colonel?” the man demanded, his blue eyes flashed with irritation at having been interrupted.
Evan looked to John who didn't seem fazed by the rude tone.
“He... he thinks he's here to be tortured!” John managed to gasp out.
“Oh, for the love of...” the man sighed and pulled them both into the lab, his expression softened as the door shut and he looked at Sheppard. “Are they serious? No one's done this besides you!”
“I know, and all I said was that it was interesting,” John replied. He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Actually you've done it too...”
“I know, but that's beside the point.”
“Um, Sirs?” Evan asked quietly.
“Oh, right, sorry,” John turned back to Evan. “This is Doctor Rodney McKay. Rodney, this is Major Evan Lorne. He's been pulled from the lottery.”
“Good, I'm sure she'll be happy to roll over for another one of you natural carriers,” Rodney said. He picked up a tablet and turned away from the two men in the room with him and walked over to what looked like a cross between a recliner and the Ancient Chair used to control Atlantis.
“Who?” Evan asked.
“You'll see,” John replied. “She's kinda picky so we're trying to get as many people as we can to be able to interact with her if something should happen to me. Or Rodney. He's not a natural gene carrier but, she likes him. Says she likes the way he handles the Lantean tech. All you have to do is take off your jacket, sit down and relax. You'll be fine. If she doesn't like you, you'll know and you can have the rest of the day off. Okay?”
Rodney rolled his eyes a little at the coaxing but said nothing else.
Evan nodded and quickly stripped off his jacket and dropped it on an empty table top. “So, I just have to sit down and relax?”
“Well, I'd recommend thinking welcoming thoughts,” Rodney said suddenly as he looked up from his tablet again. “She likes that.”
“Who is she?” Lorne asked again, not expecting an answer as he sat down in the chair. He was mildly surprised at how comfortable it was and allowed himself to sink further into the comfort.
“You'll see. She always tells them who she is, before she either says yes or no. Now just relax Major. You'll be fine,” John replied, giving the other man a thumbs-up.
Rodney merely rolled his eyes at the other man's antics and tapped a few commands on his PC. “You might feel a little disoriented, but breathe deep and it will pass.”
“Why am I...?” Evan started, but didn't get to finish his sentence as he felt almost as though there was a pull on his mind. He closed his eyes as the room seemed to be stretched out and blurred around the edges. He felt a warmth he'd never known before envelope his whole body and he sighed, allowing the sensations to wash over him. He heard and felt McKay and Sheppard moving around him as another scene started to develop before his eyes and he lost touch with the room around him.
“He's good. It looks like she's not refusing him out-right. Though she could still say no,” Rodney murmured quietly, but his voice sounded so distant that Evan was having a hard time tracking him.
“We'll just have to see how it goes then,” John replied, but he sounded pleased with how things seemed to be going.
Lorne was too busy looking at the city of Atlantis.
Clean.
Shiny.
New.
He was seeing the city as she had been when the Ancients had built her so long ago. He felt his feet lead him through hallways he'd never seen in such good shape. He took turns and moved through corridors until he finally wound up in the Gate Room. He looked around, startled by his location and the severe lack of people.
“Hello, Evan,” a soothing female voice said from just behind him. He whirled around and spotted a young woman at the top of the stairs that led to the Control Room. He held his breath as he took in her look. She was wearing the traditional white and gold clothing the Ancients seemed to favor. Her eyes sparkled blue, and her long light brown hair flowed down to her shoulders. She smiled at him benevolently.
“Hi,” Lorne replied dumbly. He held his hand out and smiled. “I”m Evan Lorne, but I think you already knew that. Who might you be?”
The woman before him giggled slightly, but quickly regained her composure.
“Um, did I say something funny?”
“No. But all of you ask me the same question. I think it's a little funny at this point,” the woman replied, she stood before Evan, just a little bit shorter than him. “You may call me Lanta. But my true name, or the one you know me by is Lantea. Or Atlantis.” She smiled at him, teeth perfect and white and her voice held a slight ring of a multitude of voices speaking with her all at once. “Did you know that only Rodney and John guessed who I was?” She smiled again as she began to walk around Evan.
“Am I dreaming? Did that chair fry my brain some how?”
“No. Well, you are in a state that mimics dreaming, but you are not sleeping. I am communicating with you as I did with those that came long ago. I asked John and Rodney if they would find others I can talk with. Those that can handle such things. There are many among you that can not stand to speak to me in such a way. And others that make me with to throw them from my walls, but I was built to protect and teach and learn. So, I will not communicate with them like this, I will protect them. Some of your people are sweet, but I find it strange you all can not feel me.”
“You're... the city?” Lorne asked, dumbfounded. He took a deep, unsteady breath. “You're really the city? That's amazing!”
“I am not just the city. I am a representation of the systems of the city along with an interface program designed off one of those that Ascended long ago. She wished for there to be away to communicate with the systems of the city better. They created me. I can not tell you everything. I do not know all the information stored within my memory, but I like you and I will help you in whatever ways I can. Your mind is compatible with my systems. But you can not stay connected to me in this way for too long. At least not at first. That is what Rodney has told me.” She smiled again. “I look forward to seeing you again...” she stopped, eyes wide in shock that quickly turned to anger.
“What's wrong?” Evan asked, startled by the sudden shift.
“You have to tell Rodney and John the Wraith are here!” Lanta told him fiercely. “You may come back to help, but you have to go now. I am sounding the alert.” And he could hear the alert distantly. “Come back to me, sweet Evan. When this is over.”
“I will,” he replied, but almost felt like he was shouting down a tunnel. A tunnel he was being pulled out of backwards.
“She likes you,” Rodney greeted with a smile on his face.
“Yes, but we have bigger problems,” Evan replied. He grimaced as the alarms in Atlantis started sounding. “We have two Wraith hive ships that just dropped into our orbit. They're on the far side of the planet, but we don't have much time. She...” he looked confused for a moment as the looked between John and Rodney. “She told me all that while I was leaving her?”
“Your brain can process the information very quickly when you're connected to her. In fact... well, it's not important right now. We have to take care of the Hives. Have they spotted us yet?” Rodney asked.
“No that she could tell,” Evan replied.
“Okay, I'm going to go cloak the city. Lorne, I want you to head to Elizabeth and tell her what's going on. Assemble teams in case they sent out scouts. Rodney you're in this chair until someone else can take over. Lorne, I want you to tell Weir that we also have Rodney and myself in the chairs and Rodney will need a replacement so he can help deal with damage in the city. Got it?”
“Yes, Sir,” Lorne replied with a sharp salute as he took off down the hall. He chanced a glance behind him and saw Sheppard and McKay share a quick; but meaningful, glance between them before Rodney sat down and John took off in the other direction.
Evan wasted no time heading to the Command Tower. “Doctor Weir, we have a serious situation. The city reports two Hive ships have just dropped out of hyperspace,” Evan reported over his radio as he continued to run. He tapped it again to get the military channel. “I need all security teams geared and ready to go in five. I want sweeps of all floors and radio contact ever five minutes.”
He skidded to a halt in the transporter that would lead him to the tower and tapped the screen. A faint buzzing started up in the back of his head and he shook it to clear the feeling. He was certain it was just an after effect of being linked with the city, but he never got the opportunity to ask Sheppard or McKay about it.
Evan, you must hurry. I feel darts...
Lorne looked around as he stepped out of the transporter.
Evan, hurry. John and Rodney need your help.
He shook himself, he must still be connected to the city some how. Maybe that's why he had to 'be agreeable to her'. He looked up and felt a little crazy as he spoke to an empty corridor. “I'm hurrying, I'll be there in a few seconds. Lanta, we won't let you down.”
Rodney is gathering the data for you. John is getting ready to cloak the city. I fear... enough... the voice seemed to be fading quickly.
Evan shook himself and walked into the Control Room where the only word to describe what was going on was 'organized chaos'. He walked right up to Elizabeth. “Ma'am, we have a situation. Colonel Sheppard is in the Control Chair and Doctor McKay is... in the... other one. I have security teams assembling and we'll be ready to start sweeping the city as soon as you give the word. It will only take me a few minutes to gear up myself.”
“Don't worry, Major. I have every confidence in your abilities. This isn't the first time they've dropped in on an oceanic world to see if we were there. Lucky for us, we can shield the entire city. They won't be able to see us,” Elizabeth soothed. “But go to your teams and make sure the Wraith haven't managed to infiltrate.” She gave him a tight but warm smile and turned to look at the display behind her. It was flashing.
“Um, I think the display is trying to tell us something,” Evan said as he gestured to the still flashing screen.
“Go ahead Rodney,” Elizabeth said to the room at large.
TWO DARTS INSIDE THE SHIELD. COMMUNICATIONS HAVE BEEN JAMMED. J- the typing stopped and backed up the tying before starting over. SHEPPARD IS TRYING TO TAKE THEM DOWN. HIVE SHIPS ARE STILL IN ORBIT. NO SIGNS THEY'VE NOTICED ANYTHING.
“Why does he write in all caps?” Evan wondered aloud.
“It's the way the city writes for him,” Chuck; the gate technician said as he glanced up. “We're starting to get used to it.”
“And what's McKay doing?” Evan asked.
“He's gathering all the sensor data and compiling it together and sending it in packets to the computers that need it most. See, I've got the ship data and life sign detection. Over there we've got the darts, and over there,” Chuck pointed at several different technicians in the room, “is the city's surveillance. We're looking for any new life-signs that come into the city.”
“That sounds really complicated,” Evan admitted.
“It would be, if McKay wasn't linked up to the city and able to process it all faster than... well, anything else, really. But don't tell him that. It might inflate his ego too much.”
I HEARD THAT. GET BACK TO WORK, CHUCK.
Chuck winced with a little laugh. “See? He can hear everything that's going on in the city. But he usually just concentrates on the tower. Sheppard will work on the defenses outside.”
“Cool. I wanna know more about his later. Thanks. I've got to get out and head up the teams,” Evan nodded to Weir and took off the locker room where he was certain people were getting ready. He walked in and saw that everyone there was nearly finished getting ready. He opened his own locker and got to work. TAC vest, gun holster, P90, 9mil, combat knife. He nodded and looked around.
“Major, how bad is it?” one of the Marines asked.
“Yeah, why isn’t Sheppard here?” another asked.
“Sheppard,” Lorne said loudly. “Colonel Shepard is in the Chair room keeping us out of sight and he's going to shoot down any darts that come inside the shield of the city. We are going in three man teams to sweep every level of the city. We are to make sure none of those ugly green bastards get anywhere in this city if they make it in. Got it!?”
“Yes sir!” came the chorus of replies. Men and women gathered into their usual security teams.
“Let's move out,” Lorne said sharply as he nodded to his own team. The teams moved out and they heard the speaker system come to life.
“We have reports of a destroyed Dart, we believe there was a life-sign that beamed aboard. We're not entirely sure because the signs have disappeared,” Weir's voice came over the speakers. She sounded tense but still sure of herself. “Everyone who is not on a security team is to lock up where ever they are and wait until you hear from either the command staff or from a security team. Sweep your areas. Good luck security teams.”
“You heard her, move out!” Lorne shouted to a reply of 'hoorahs'.
The teams moved out in well organized teams. They were becoming almost used to this kind of security sweep. Lorne gave his men a proud smile as they showed no fear, only determination.
Each team moved with military precision, sweeping the area in front and around them with their P90s. Each team had a person with a Life-Signs Detector or LSD which usually got snickers from the newest members of the expedition. Lorne was no exception to the moment of snickering at the name. They had quickly learned from the mission reports the things were invaluable at helping to find a variety of things. From people to energy signatures.
Evan held the one for his party, having the strongest expression of the ATA gene made it off-handed for him to be able to use it. The whisper in the back of his mind was still there, but it wasn't actually distracting unless he concentrated on it.
Evil ones is here... Evan … Rodney... found ...im... you must... move... here...
Lorne shook his head, stopping to try and figure out what Lanta's disembodied voice was trying to tell him. “I think … there's a Wraith in the city. Maybe more...” His team turned to look at him with confused looks on their faces.
“Sir? Did you get a radio message we didn't?” one of the Marines asked, he looked concerned for his commanding officer.
“Must have been too faint for you to hear it come through,” Lorne replied quickly; almost too quickly. “It was a little garbled and pretty quiet. I'm not sure how many are here. We have to keep up the sweeps.”
“Sure thing,” Johnson; Evan took the time to read the man's name patch this time, replied.
They continued down the corridor, checking constantly. The two men with him on constant alert for any signs of the enemy.
A sign that showed itself in the form of Johnson getting stunned.
He went down like a sack of potatoes. Evan and the remaining Marine on his team; he looked and noted his name tag said Smith, grabbed Johnson by the legs and dragged him back behind the wall.
“Looks like we found him,” Smith said with a wry smile. He readjusted the grip on his P90 and got ready to aim high. “You going low, sir?”
“Yes,” Lorne replied as he steadied himself. “On three. One. Two. Three!”
The two of them came around the corner firing at the pale, black clad creature before them. Lorne aimed for the head while Smith went from the knees up to the chest. The Wraith went down quickly and stayed down, his weapon knocked from his hands by bullets.
“Medical team, I have a man down,” Lorne called over his radio. “My team has also neutralized a Wraith, do you see any other unusual life-signs?”
“Negative. We're doing a sweep of the city again,” came the reply from one of the female staff in the control tower. “Medical team should be with you in less than five. Please hold your position. And keep an eye on the Wraith. If it gets back up that means its recently fed.”
“Roger that,” Lorne replied. He swallowed hard at the thought of one of his men being fed on. He'd seen pictures and read the reports. It had to be one of the most horrible things to ever experience in your life.
“You gonna be okay, sir?” Smith asked as he looked around.
“Yeah, I just... I never thought they'd be in the city. I know they can, I just...” Lorne replied.
“First Wraith is always the hardest. I puked the first time. You hold your lunch after the pictures?”
“Yeah.”
“Then you're doing better than most.”
“It was only by a slim margin.”
“Yeah? I barfed after my first dead Wraith too. Bastards smell worse than they look. And they're usually damn hard to kill.”
“I've read about that. But he just took two full clips to the chest.”
“Yeah, that doesn't always stop them,” Smith said as he ducked a peek around the corner. He nodded to himself and looked back at Lorne. “But the good news is... this one is staying dead.”
...van... well... come...
Lorne shook his head at the ghostly voice that seemed to drift in and out of the corners of his mind. He knew Lanta was trying to tell him something but he couldn't quite catch it.
“You alright?”
“Yeah, I just... it's nothing.”
“It might not be nothing. Wraith can make you see things that aren't there,” Smith replied as he double checked the new clip in his gun.
“No, just a bit of a headache,” Lorne replied. He gave a weak smile. “Lot more stress than what I'm used to. Back at the SGC I had to worry about being shot or taken over by a Goa'uld, here I have to worry about the life getting sucked out of me. I'm still trying to wrap my brain around it.”
“I understand that. I was at the SGC too. Doesn't really prepare you for this kind of thing though. I used to get bad migranes. But then, one day they just stopped. It's like my brain finally said, okay, this is where I live, now I'm dealing with it. After that, weird stuff just doesn't seem to faze you as badly. Don't get me wrong, there's still a ton of weird stuff, but it's a little less harsh,” Smith gave him a smile.
“Final sweep of the city shows clean,” the technician from earlier called out over the radio. “Both Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay report the city is clean. It looks like the Hives are breaking orbit and leaving.”
Lorne breathed a sigh of relief. “Well, at least that's one thing we don't have to...” he shook his head as his vision got blurry. “To...”
“Sir, are you alright?”
“I'm...”
The world was spinning out of control and Lanta's voice was calling to him.
“Sir?”
The world whited out and Evan found himself in the Infirmary with a throbbing headache.
“Hey, Lucky! How's it going?” John's voice seemed to cut through the air like a knife and made Evan's head throb.
“Oh, man, my head...” Evan whined.
“You're telling me,” Rodney groused from the other side of John. His voice was a little softer, but still seemed to beat on Evan's brain.
“What happened?”
“You collapsed in the hallway,” John replied calmly as though it was something that happened everyday. “Seems like Lanta was trying to talk to you and accidentally overloaded you while you were overextending yourself.”
“I thought I heard her...” Evan replied, his eyes grew distant for a moment before he heard snapping. “What?”
“Don't do that,” Rodney said sharply. “Trying to listen for her after you've collapsed is a bad idea. You're just going to have to let it go. She doesn't usually talk to us unless we're in the Chair anyways. It's too much of a strain.”
“She did mention that over time we can develop the ability to hear her better, but it's gonna take time in the Chair to do it. We have to train our brains. Good work today with that Wraith. That was your first encounter with one, right?” John chimed in.
“Yeah.”
“Did you barf?”
“No,” Evan replied warily.
“Welcome to Atlantis!” John grinned happily and turned back to Rodney.
Take care of yourselves... Lanta's voice echoed through the Infirmary. Both John and Rodney's heads snapped up as they looked towards the ceiling. They smiled slightly and went back to their discussion. Evan laid his head back on the pillow feeling accepted like he hadn't been anywhere else. He really was lucky to have found such a cool home. He smiled as he drifted off to sleep.
The End