Fic: Loss (PG)
Title: Loss
Author: SGAtlantisLight
Characters: McKay, Sheppard, Beckett, Zelenka, Ronon, Teyla
Relationships: McKay/Sheppard, Zelenka/Beckett
Rating: PG for this part, but the series as a whole is NC-17
Warnings: Cliffhanger
Spoilers: None
Summary: Part 25 of the Broken Series
Disclaimer: The characters, the setting, etc. are NOT mine, even if I wish they were.
It was an hour and 18 minutes later when the gate opened and Lorne radioed ahead. "We've had darts firing on the ruins and scooping people up, both ours and natives. Stackhouse took out one of them and we're bringing the transporter section back with us, but the other got away. We need to get the data we've gathered back to you and mount a rescue mission. Miller's coming back in Jumper two. Reed, Sherman and I are staying a moment longer to make sure we haven't left anyone behind."
"Understood, Major," John replied, motioning to Stoltenberg, who was running the gate, to drop the shield. "Get a medical team to the jumper bay," he ordered, then turned back to his conversation with Lorne. "How many have we lost?"
"We're not sure who was scooped up in which dart. They were working in tandem, but right now we've got fourteen of the twenty-six still with us and ten of the twelve missing known to have been taken."
God, this was bad.
Miller's puddle jumper came through and John ran to meet the off-boarding members, Zelenka right behind him, scanning faces filled with a mixture of fear, horror, and relief. Eight people climbed out-- Parker, Korte, Grignon, Stackhouse (looking battered and limping), Yamato, Ronon Dex (also sporting minor wounds), Teyla, and Kusanagi. Cadman and Miller emerged helping Simpson, who was bleeding from a head wound. Nguyen grabbed her immediately and got her on a gurney while Biro headed to check out Dex and Stackhouse.
As Miller released Dr. Simpson to the medical team, he met John's eyes.
"Dr. McKay?" John asked hopefully.
"He was taken in a dart, sir. We've got the transporter section of it or maybe the other one here. Do you think Dr. Zelenka...?"
Radek rushed forward. "Show it to me."
John registered other absences, including... "Beckett?"
"He's one of the two unaccounted for, sir. This way, Dr. Zelenka."
Lorne and his two teammates arrived a few minutes later. Beckett and Juarez remained unaccounted for, presumed captured.
Miko reported that Lenoir and McKay had managed to access the Ancient computers and Lenoir had download perhaps a third of the data before the darts arrived. To be safe, Rodney had arranged for the data to be broadcast via ethernet to four different laptops. Two of them had made it back to Atlantis. Rodney had also managed to wipe most of the DHD crystals. It was nearly impossible for the wraith to follow the escaping natives to their allied worlds. Unfortunately, few of the natives had left, despite Teyla's encouragement. Most had chosen to hide out till the culling was past.
John looked at the list of missing: Achebe, Andrepont, Beckett, Billick, Corrigan, Delisa, Juarez, Lenoir, McKay-Sheppard, Northrup, O'Neill, and Zacharias. He began planning a rescue as Zelenka tinkered with the wraith transporter.
***
There were nineteen blips showing on Zelenka's screen when he accessed the transporter. Perhaps, he hoped, they would get lucky and all their people would be here.
"Can you get them all out?" John asked.
"I can do two at a time," he answered.
John looked at the assembled medical team and security forces. "Do it."
Radek hit a key and there was the flash of the beam and Delisa-- one of the marines-- and a woman from the planet appeared, toppling over immediately. They were quickly pulled aside. O'Neill and a small child followed. A teenaged boy and girl followed these and John felt himself tensing in frustration. The fifth flash brought Billick and Beckett. He could see Radek sag in relief, fighting the urge to run to his lover.
Radek's computer beeped and a box popped up. Wraith transporter system message received: Unauthorized access detected. Enter password within 32 seconds or all data will be erased. The 32 began counting down.
"Oh, no!" he gasped, hands flying over the keyboard. Another box popped up. Passbreaker 3.4 working. Wraith dictionary accessed.
They stood holding their breath as the seconds ticked by. "Please," Radek begged, "let it say password accepted. Please..."
The number in the first box dwindled more rapidly than seemed proper. Radek let out a cry of despair, still typing furiously, as the number went to 0.
Wraith transporter system message received: All data erased. Self-destruct initiated. Enter password in 32 seconds to abort.
"Everyone clear area!" he yelled, remaining at the computer, typing desperately.
No one argued with him. John remained behind, though he dropped behind a desk.
When the number dropped to 10, Radek dove under the desk. The computer beeped again. Password accepted. There were 4 seconds left on the timer.
Radek rose then and began typing some more, swearing in Czech the whole time.
"Doc?" John asked, tense.
"It's gone. Data for the other nine people is gone. They're gone."
Achebe, Andrepont, Corrigan, Juarez, Lenoir, McKay-Sheppard, Northrup, Zacharias-- how many of them had been among those nine blips? Gone. Erased. Those that weren't were aboard a hive ship by now and John couldn't decide which was worse. He shoved down the horrifying possibility that Rodney was dead. He wouldn't believe it, couldn't believe it. He hit his radio. "Lorne? Are you set to go?"
"Yes, sir. Rescue force is assembled and ready."
"You have a go, then." He clicked off and turned back to Zelenka, who was still typing, muttering, anguished. "Do what you can to recover the data, doc."
Zelenka nodded. "I promise," he answered, not taking his eyes off the screen. "I promise."
Author: SGAtlantisLight
Characters: McKay, Sheppard, Beckett, Zelenka, Ronon, Teyla
Relationships: McKay/Sheppard, Zelenka/Beckett
Rating: PG for this part, but the series as a whole is NC-17
Warnings: Cliffhanger
Spoilers: None
Summary: Part 25 of the Broken Series
Disclaimer: The characters, the setting, etc. are NOT mine, even if I wish they were.
It was an hour and 18 minutes later when the gate opened and Lorne radioed ahead. "We've had darts firing on the ruins and scooping people up, both ours and natives. Stackhouse took out one of them and we're bringing the transporter section back with us, but the other got away. We need to get the data we've gathered back to you and mount a rescue mission. Miller's coming back in Jumper two. Reed, Sherman and I are staying a moment longer to make sure we haven't left anyone behind."
"Understood, Major," John replied, motioning to Stoltenberg, who was running the gate, to drop the shield. "Get a medical team to the jumper bay," he ordered, then turned back to his conversation with Lorne. "How many have we lost?"
"We're not sure who was scooped up in which dart. They were working in tandem, but right now we've got fourteen of the twenty-six still with us and ten of the twelve missing known to have been taken."
God, this was bad.
Miller's puddle jumper came through and John ran to meet the off-boarding members, Zelenka right behind him, scanning faces filled with a mixture of fear, horror, and relief. Eight people climbed out-- Parker, Korte, Grignon, Stackhouse (looking battered and limping), Yamato, Ronon Dex (also sporting minor wounds), Teyla, and Kusanagi. Cadman and Miller emerged helping Simpson, who was bleeding from a head wound. Nguyen grabbed her immediately and got her on a gurney while Biro headed to check out Dex and Stackhouse.
As Miller released Dr. Simpson to the medical team, he met John's eyes.
"Dr. McKay?" John asked hopefully.
"He was taken in a dart, sir. We've got the transporter section of it or maybe the other one here. Do you think Dr. Zelenka...?"
Radek rushed forward. "Show it to me."
John registered other absences, including... "Beckett?"
"He's one of the two unaccounted for, sir. This way, Dr. Zelenka."
Lorne and his two teammates arrived a few minutes later. Beckett and Juarez remained unaccounted for, presumed captured.
Miko reported that Lenoir and McKay had managed to access the Ancient computers and Lenoir had download perhaps a third of the data before the darts arrived. To be safe, Rodney had arranged for the data to be broadcast via ethernet to four different laptops. Two of them had made it back to Atlantis. Rodney had also managed to wipe most of the DHD crystals. It was nearly impossible for the wraith to follow the escaping natives to their allied worlds. Unfortunately, few of the natives had left, despite Teyla's encouragement. Most had chosen to hide out till the culling was past.
John looked at the list of missing: Achebe, Andrepont, Beckett, Billick, Corrigan, Delisa, Juarez, Lenoir, McKay-Sheppard, Northrup, O'Neill, and Zacharias. He began planning a rescue as Zelenka tinkered with the wraith transporter.
***
There were nineteen blips showing on Zelenka's screen when he accessed the transporter. Perhaps, he hoped, they would get lucky and all their people would be here.
"Can you get them all out?" John asked.
"I can do two at a time," he answered.
John looked at the assembled medical team and security forces. "Do it."
Radek hit a key and there was the flash of the beam and Delisa-- one of the marines-- and a woman from the planet appeared, toppling over immediately. They were quickly pulled aside. O'Neill and a small child followed. A teenaged boy and girl followed these and John felt himself tensing in frustration. The fifth flash brought Billick and Beckett. He could see Radek sag in relief, fighting the urge to run to his lover.
Radek's computer beeped and a box popped up. Wraith transporter system message received: Unauthorized access detected. Enter password within 32 seconds or all data will be erased. The 32 began counting down.
"Oh, no!" he gasped, hands flying over the keyboard. Another box popped up. Passbreaker 3.4 working. Wraith dictionary accessed.
They stood holding their breath as the seconds ticked by. "Please," Radek begged, "let it say password accepted. Please..."
The number in the first box dwindled more rapidly than seemed proper. Radek let out a cry of despair, still typing furiously, as the number went to 0.
Wraith transporter system message received: All data erased. Self-destruct initiated. Enter password in 32 seconds to abort.
"Everyone clear area!" he yelled, remaining at the computer, typing desperately.
No one argued with him. John remained behind, though he dropped behind a desk.
When the number dropped to 10, Radek dove under the desk. The computer beeped again. Password accepted. There were 4 seconds left on the timer.
Radek rose then and began typing some more, swearing in Czech the whole time.
"Doc?" John asked, tense.
"It's gone. Data for the other nine people is gone. They're gone."
Achebe, Andrepont, Corrigan, Juarez, Lenoir, McKay-Sheppard, Northrup, Zacharias-- how many of them had been among those nine blips? Gone. Erased. Those that weren't were aboard a hive ship by now and John couldn't decide which was worse. He shoved down the horrifying possibility that Rodney was dead. He wouldn't believe it, couldn't believe it. He hit his radio. "Lorne? Are you set to go?"
"Yes, sir. Rescue force is assembled and ready."
"You have a go, then." He clicked off and turned back to Zelenka, who was still typing, muttering, anguished. "Do what you can to recover the data, doc."
Zelenka nodded. "I promise," he answered, not taking his eyes off the screen. "I promise."