Easter 2010 Fic Exchange: Into the Rain by stella_pegasi
Title: Into the Rain
Author: stella_pegasi
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairing: John Sheppard, Richard Woolsey, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Evan Lorne
Spoilers: The Return I & II, Inquisition,
Warnings: Whump
Het/Slash/Gen: Gen
Genre: Action/Adventure
Word count: 19,474
Disclaimer: I do not own them, I would have treated them better.
Summary: Written for x_erikah_x for the Easter 2010 Fic Exchange. Prompt at the end of Chapter 5.
INTO THE RAIN
INTO THE RAIN
By stella_pegasi
CHAPTER ONE INTO THE RAIN
“I’m telling you this is a bad idea.”
“Colonel, you have repeatedly made that comment since we left Atlantis. I understand that you think that not bringing half the military contingent with us is a mistake. However, we are an affiliate member of the Pegasus Coalition council and to bring a large military presence is not going to win us any friends. Bringing you with me is probably not going to make them pleased to start with.”
“I’m just saying it’s a bad idea.”
Richard Woolsey took a deep breath, trying to compose himself so that he didn’t snap at his second-in-command although he sorely wanted to do so. Colonel John Sheppard, frankly, was getting on his nerves. He was about to make another comment to Sheppard when a familiar face entered the lobby to meet the Atlantians.
“Mr. Woolsey, it is good to see you again.” Myrus was the coalition official who first met with Woolsey when the Coalition arrested Sheppard’s team and placed them on trial. He extended his hand for the traditional Earther greeting; Woolsey shook his hand, and then turned to introduce Sheppard.
Myrus interrupted him, “No need for introductions, Mr. Woolsey; I assume this is Colonel Sheppard.” Sheppard nodded, but did not extend his hand and neither did Myrus. Woolsey realized that he should have brought a large military contingent, and left Colonel Sheppard on Atlantis.
Myrus extended an arm toward the doorway. “Please follow me, I will escort you to the chamber; the council is waiting for you.”
The door led to a long, wide corridor lined with windows on one side. They were in Latira City, capital of the planet Latira, and while new construction was underway, the devastation created by the last Wraith attack was still visible. At the end of the corridor, there were large double-doors guarded by two Coalition sentries. As they approached, the sentries opened the doors, and Myrus stepped aside to allow the Atlantians to enter.
Woolsey immediately began to scan the room, an old habit from his days with the IOA. He had never been comfortable not knowing what was surrounding him. The nine-members of the Coalition Council, which included the three members he and SGA-1 had encountered before, were seated on an elevated dais, at a bench of highly polished burgundy-brown wood. Behind them, numerous aides and sentries scurried back and forth between the offices located through the doors behind them, and the council members. Woolsey laughed to himself; bureaucrats were bureaucrats no matter what planet they were on.
As he continued around the room, Woolsey stopped as he spotted someone he was not entirely expecting to see. He looked quickly at Colonel Sheppard and realized that the colonel’s radar must have picked the Genii up as soon they entered the room. Sheppard was staring at the Genii leader, Ladon Radim, who was smiling broadly at the colonel. Radim’s retinue consisted of two aides, sitting next to him, and ten Genii soldiers, who were standing along the far wall.
Leaning closer to Sheppard, Woolsey whispered, “Next time, we bring Marines.”
Before Sheppard could answer, the gavel sounded and the Council Chair, Dimas of the Free People of Rimas spoke. “Mr. Woolsey and Colonel Sheppard of Atlantis, welcome to the Pegasus Coalition Council. Our friends from Atlantis are always welcome.”
Woolsey replied, “On behalf of the colonel and myself, thank you, Mr. Chairman.”
As he and Sheppard started to take their seats, a familiar voice spoke, “It is nice that you finally decided to arrive, we have been waiting for you.” The voice belonged to is Shiana of the Tribes of Santhal. From the bitterness in her voice, she had apparently not changed her opinion of the Atlantians since she declared them guilty of crimes against the worlds of Pegasus. Her venomous glare was reserved for Colonel Sheppard.
Sheppard leaned close to Woolsey, “Yeah…I might have been right about the Marines, but you were right that I probably should have stayed on Atlantis.”
Woolsey glanced at Sheppard, “No, colonel, with the Genii here there is nowhere I would rather see you at the moment than right here.”
Opening statements by the nine council members consumed the first hour and a half of the session. Next the council spent an hour to discuss matters carried over from the last council meeting. Finally, the council addressed new business, and it was not business that Woolsey or Sheppard had been expecting.
Shiana stood before the podium, “Coalition members, we have very important business in front of us today. As you know, an agreement has been in place with the current residents of Atlantis to provide military assistance to coalition member planets. However, we know that the ancestral city is in the hands of non-Pegasus natives. I and many of my colleagues feel that we should rely on each other more than we rely on the agenda of peoples from other galaxies. We are placing a proposal before the council today that the largest and most organized military in the galaxy, the Genii, begin the task of keeping the Pegasus galaxy safe from its enemies.” Neither Sheppard nor Woolsey, nor most others in the council chamber, missed the direct look that Shiana gave to Colonel Sheppard as she concluded her comment and returned to her seat.
Richard Woolsey rose, “The Coalition is well within its rights to determine the agent that oversees security for the Pegasus galaxy and its citizens. We fully acknowledge that fact. In all fairness, Chairman Dimas, Atlantis should be given adequate time to review Shiana's proposal, and any supporting documents that accompany the proposal."
Shiana rose to speak, but Dimas struck his gavel and motioned for her to sit. “Mr. Woolsey, I concur; I believe that your request is more than fair. Shiana, please have your staff turn over all documents pertaining to your proposal to the Atlantians. We will adjourn and reconvene after the mid-day meal.” The gavel dropped, and Sheppard watched as Shiana stormed out of the chamber, none too pleased about the turn of events. Glancing over at Radim, he could see that the Genii leader was none too pleased, as well.
As they turned to file out of the hall, Myrus appeared, “Gentlemen, Kelore of Latira would like to see you; if you will follow me.” He motioned toward a side door, and Woolsey and Sheppard followed him.
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Kelore met them in his office in the Latiran administration building, adjacent to the coalition assembly hall. As Myrus escorted his guests into the chamber, Kelore looked up from a file that he had been reviewing. He rose to greet the two men from Atlantis.
“Mr. Woolsey, Colonel Sheppard, welcome again to Latira; please have a seat. Thank you, Myrus.”
Myrus nodded to the Atlantians and left as an aide entered carrying a tray with a tea pot and cups. The aide served the men and then exited the room.
“My aide will return shortly with the mid-day meal for us; I wanted to be certain that we have adequate time together this afternoon. I would imagine that you have a few questions for me.”
Woolsey took a sip of the tea, nodding to Kelore his approval, “Very nice tea; to answer your question, yes, I believe we do have some questions.”
Sheppard interjected, “What are the Genii doing here?”
“Colonel, the Genii are members of the coalition, they have every right to be here.” When Sheppard started to protest, Kelore continue, “No need to say it, colonel, while they have a right, I share your obvious concern about their motives.”
Woolsey spoke, “Kelore, you had dealings with the Genii long before the coalition had my people kidnapped and put on trial. However, you are a prudent man and realized that Atlantis could help you more than Genii. You became our ally. I have the feeling that you may have not been as sincere as we thought. At least, until something happened; something that disturbed you about the Genii.”
“You are perceptive Mr. Woolsey; yes, the Genii have done something that disturbs me. I believe that they have entered a secret agreement with Shiana’s people and others that have settled with them on a new planet. I am not convinced that the Genii are anything more than opportunists.”
Sheppard leaned back in his chair, sipped his tea, and Woolsey saw him tap his fingers on the wooden chair arm. He was thinking. “Kelore, Shiana must have formed alliances with some of the council members, do you know who?”
‘I have some suspicions, colonel, but nothing concrete. I think that Parca from Afadia and Domine Leis from Marcen are the closest council members to her. She seems to be ‘quite friendly’ with Woner Yesa from Bladenor. Let’s just say, according to my staff, he never brings his wife to the council sessions. However, are any of these council members involved in collusion with her, I have no proof.”
Lunch arrived, and they moved to a table in the corner of the office to eat. Myrus delivered Shiana’s proposal and they examined the large packet of documents while they ate. They had finished their meal when an aide called Kelore away to attend to an internal matter. Sheppard and Woolsey continued to review the documents after Kelore left.
Sheppard’s elbows were leaning on the table; his plate pushed away from him. He was moving some of the documents around with one long finger. “Something doesn’t make sense; there's nothing here regarding Atlantis that we haven’t already answered. There has to be something else they think they have, but haven’t included it with these documents.” He thought a second, fingers drumming.
“I am going back to Atlantis and see if we have any intel on these friends of Shiana. If we don’t, I’ll have Lorne send teams out to these three planets to snoop around.”
“Colonel, let them know we are going to stay here tonight. But don’t bring any Marine’s back with you; I don’t want the Genii thinking we're concerned they're here.”
Sheppard laughed somewhat sarcastically but nodded, “I agree, Richard; I don’t like it, but I agree.”
The afternoon session of the council adjourned shortly after reconvening. Chairman Dimas granted Woolsey’s request for additional time to review of the documents over Shiana’s objections. Kelore arranged accommodations for Sheppard and Woolsey at a guest house near the hall. As the Atlantians left for the guest house, neither man noticed a particularly large man standing in the shadows follow them from the hall.
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Woolsey and Sheppard spent the waning hours of the afternoon and early evening going over the documents trying to uncover the true motive of Shiana and Radim. Woolsey was convinced that Kelore was correct about the Genii. They were opportunists looking for an easy way to weasel into a powerful position. He knew that Sheppard didn’t trust the Genii regardless of the fact that they had ‘assisted’ them on a couple of occasions. That assistance did not make up for the other things that the Genii had done.
They had a late dinner, and Sheppard decided to take a run back to the gate to contact Lorne for an update. When he returned to Atlantis in the early afternoon and spoke with his XO, he discovered that there was virtually no intel on Shiana’s circle of friends. Lorne dispatched teams to those planets on bogus survey missions, and the colonel was anxious to find out if they had gleaned any useful information.
Woolsey decided not to accompany Sheppard to speak to Atlantis. He intended to re-read some of the documents and prepare rebuttals to the concerns listed in Shiana’s proposal. In his mind, the 'contrived' concerns against Atlantis that Shiana had included.
Engrossed in the reports, Woolsey had totally lost track of time; reaching for his tea cup, he glanced at his watch, and realized nearly two hours had passed since Sheppard left for the gate. He had expected the colonel would stop by his room before retiring to let him know what, if any, new information Atlantis had given him; for Sheppard not to do so was out of character. Woolsey felt uneasiness seep into his body; he needed to check on Sheppard.
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Sheppard’s room was directly across the hall from his. He pounded on the door, but there was no answer. Pondering what he should do, Woolsey returned to his room. He picked up one of the rucksacks Sheppard brought back from Atlantis after he returned from his afternoon visit. Rummaging through the pack, he laughed softly, thinking Sheppard must have been a boy scout at one time; the pack contained MRE’s, Powerbars, a med kit, a toiletry kit, water bottle, and a 9-mil, holster and extra ammo, even a couple of extra pairs of socks. Yes, a good thing Sheppard was such a boy scout.
The colonel also brought a heavier jacket and a TAC vest for him. Woolsey remembered the grin on the colonel’s face when he handed the vest to him. Sheppard said, ‘with our track record, you most likely will need this.’ There were times when he wished the colonel wasn’t quite so prophetic.
Woolsey put the jacket and TAC vest on, slipped the rucksack on, and headed downstairs. He stopped in lobby, checking if anyone had seen Sheppard during the evening. No one had. Woolsey decided to head for the gate and contact Atlantis. There was a chance that Sheppard was still on the base. If not, he would have Lorne send a team to help search. As he left the guesthouse, he wished just once they could go on a mission that went according to plan.
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The trek to the gate was uneventful. It was nearing 2200 hours, and most of the Latiran citizens were in their homes. When he reached the stargate, which sat on the end of a long lane that originated in the center of the capital, there was no sign of Colonel Sheppard. Woolsey was beginning to have an extremely uneasy feeling about what was going on. If Sheppard wasn't on Atlantis, he would bet the Genii knew something about his disappearance. He wanted Marines with him, and he wanted to talk to the Genii.
Woolsey began entering Atlantis’ address in the DHD, but half-way through the dialing sequence, the metallic sound of weapon’s safely being disengaged caused him to freeze. A ring of cold steel pressed against his temple; a deep, gruff voice spoke quietly, close enough that he could feel his assailant’s hot breath on his neck.
“I knew if I waited long enough that you would show up here looking for Sheppard. Now I have you both.” The man grabbed Woolsey’s arms and wrapped a rope around the director’s elbows pinning them to the rucksack, then tied the rope around his chest. The kidnapper gagged Woolsey with a strip of cloth and slipped a cloth hood over his head.
“Now we go join Colonel Sheppard. You’ll have a nice little reunion.” Grabbing the rope he had tied around Woolsey’s chest, the kidnapper roughly pulled the director along behind him. Stumbling on the uneven ground, Woolsey assumed that they were off the paved gate path.
After nearly ten minutes of hiking, Woolsey heard a low-humming noise becoming increasingly louder. The man yanked him to a stop. Woolsey heard an electronic beep and then a swooshing sound, and his kidnapper him pushed up a couple of narrow steps.
“Now be a good boy and don’t move around.” The kidnapper pushed Woolsey to the metal floor and tied him to something. Woolsey heard the man’s footsteps reverberate on the metal as he moved a short distance away from him. The low humming became a sharp whine and then the constant drone of engines; Woolsey realized that he was in a ship. He felt panic rise in his chest as the ship rose from the field and headed away from the city.
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They had flown for over an hour before the ship landed roughly, jostling Woolsey. His kidnapper dragged him out of the ship and pulled him up a rocky pathway before they stopped. Woolsey stumbled when his kidnapper pulled him across a raised wooden threshold. Falling to the plank floor when the man let go of him, he could do nothing but lay there trying to catch his breath.
He heard the scraping of a chair across the floor and then felt a slight bump against his arm. His kidnapper untied his arms, pulled his rucksack off. Woolsey heard a thud as the pack hit the floor a few feet away from him. The man then pulled the director off the floor, shoving him into the chair. Woolsey tried to stretch out his arms, which were cramping from the ropes that bound him. The kidnapper slapped him and nearly tipped over the chair. The kidnapper pulled his arms back, tied his upper arms to the back of the chair, then tied his hands to the base of the chair back.
“There, you will be nice and secure after I leave you for a while. Now, I don’t want you to suffocate so I am gonna take off your hood, and remove the gag. Go ahead, you can yell all you want but no one’s gonna hear you.” He pulled the hood off and then tugged the gag downward so that the cloth scrap was hanging around Woolsey neck.
Woolsey looked around the small cabin. An oil lamp, sitting on a rough wooden table, provided dim illumination. He wasn’t alone; in a chair across the room from him, similarly trussed, was Colonel John Sheppard. The colonel was unconscious and sporting a bloody nose, cut lip, and a large, dark bruise was developing on the colonel’s left cheek.
Their kidnapper was standing in the doorway and was wearing a full-face hood as well as a cloak with an additional hood pulled up. He was very large; tall, extremely broad shouldered and looked quite formidable to Richard Woolsey.
“Who are you? Why did you kidnap us?” Instinctively, as he spoke, he pulled against his bonds.
The man laughed. “Now don’t go getting any ideas. You can’t get loose; nobody ties knots as good as me. I have to return to the city now. I will enjoy watching the spectacle of the Coalition and Atlantis looking frantically for you. They’ll be so concerned about what has happened to the great Colonel Sheppard and Mr. Woolsey. I’m sure that Atlantis will send all kinds of soldiers to find you but they never will. Don’t worry; I’ll be back. We still need to discuss the reason I brought you here,” he opened the door and walked outside. As the door closed, Woolsey heard him say, “I’m gonna kill you.”
Woolsey response seemed to channel Sheppard; he simply uttered “Crap.” Looking at the unconscious Sheppard, he shook his head, “Seems as you have rubbed off on me a bit.”
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Woolsey attempted to stay awake but kept drifting off to sleep, only to jerk awake when his head would slump over. He perceived at least two hours had passed since the kidnapper left and during that time Sheppard had not stirred despite his efforts to rouse him.
Thunder was beginning to rumble in the distance, and the air inside the cabin was getting colder. The wind was picking up; he could feel currents of chilly air, seeping though the cracks in the wood plank walls.
He racked his brain for any clues as to the identity of their kidnapper. The presence of the Genii troubled him; they were advanced and capable of developing air travel. However, he didn’t think that they had created ships capable of air or space travel. Woolsey also knew that while the Genii were adversaries of Atlantis, there were others.
The storm was getting closer; the wind was howling, and bolts of lightening brightened the interior of the cabin. Woolsey realized sound of rocks hitting the cabin walls was actually hail hitting the wood siding. With the hail, Woolsey panicked for a moment; the thought of a tornado entered his mind. Great, he thought; they weren’t in enough peril already. Then he realized how ridiculous he was being. Their kidnapper told him they were going to die; worrying about a storm seemed just a bit trite. He would have kicked himself if he could have.
As the roaring thunder of the storm’s fury became louder, Woolsey barely heard a low moan, coming from across the room. He called to Sheppard, “Colonel, are you awake? John, wake up.”
“Woolsey?” Sheppard spoke; his speech slurred as he struggled to gain consciousness.
“Yes, John, it’s me. A silly question, I know, but how do you feel?”
“Like crap, you?”
“Sore but not injured.”
Sheppard grunted, “Damn, these ropes are tight, I can’t move. Can you?”
“No, he said we couldn’t get loose, that no one tied knots as ‘good’ as him.”
“You saw the guy?” Sheppard grunted again, still trying to loosen his bonds.
“Only that he is very large and intimidating, colonel. He was wearing a mask and hood; I didn’t see his face.
“I never saw him either; he got the drop on me. I tried to fight back, but he was way too strong for me.” Realizing what he said, Sheppard added, “Woolsey, you tell Ronon that and I’ll deny it.”
Woosley laughed to himself; military types amazed him. They could joke in the direst circumstances. “Your secret is safe with me, colonel.”
Sheppard continued to struggle with the ropes that bound him. He was becoming quite frustrated, “Damn it, I can’t get loose. Any ideas who this guy could be?”
“Well, colonel, considering how well loved we are, I couldn’t imagine.”
Sheppard laughed hoarsely, “And they say you don’t have a sense of humor.”
Woolsey frowned; he started to ask Sheppard who ‘they’ were, but decided it wasn’t important. “All I can tell you is as he left the last thing he told me was that he had to return to the city for a bit, and then he would be back to kill us.”
“Oh, well, if that’s all. That’s nothing new,” Sheppard replied as a massive lighting bolt lit up the sky. The cabin walls rattled from the immediate rumble of thunder.
“That’s it; we gotta get out of here.” Sheppard’s voice rose over the din of the thunder.
As he was about to ask Sheppard how he planned on doing that, Woolsey saw Sheppard bend forward and struggle to stand up. He couldn’t imagine what the colonel was planning.
When he managed to maintain his balance, Sheppard asked, “How far am I from the wall? I don’t want to turn around and lose my balance.”
“About five feet but why?” Then he got his answer.
Sheppard took a deep breath and moving backward as fast as he could, he slammed into the wall behind him, shattering the wooden chair. The colonel fell forward onto the floor, struggling to pull the splintered wooden legs and spindles entangled in the ropes loose. Within minutes, Sheppard had freed his hands from the bindings. He tugged his BDU shirt and black t-shirt up to reveal a knife sheath strapped to his upper left side. He pulled a small knife out and sliced through the rest of the ropes.
Sheppard rushed over to Woolsey, cutting the ropes binding him, “Come on; let’s get out of here.”
“You have a knife?”
In the dim light, he could see Sheppard smile, “Been around Ronon too long.”
“There is a very bad storm out there; don’t you think we should wait, colonel?”
“Stay in here and die or get away from here in the rain?”
“If you put it that way, colonel.” He followed Sheppard, who had just opened the door, then remembered the rucksack.
“Hold on,” Woolsey looked around until he found the pack and grabbed it.
Sheppard smiled, “Good job, Richard; now into the rain.”
Author: stella_pegasi
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairing: John Sheppard, Richard Woolsey, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Evan Lorne
Spoilers: The Return I & II, Inquisition,
Warnings: Whump
Het/Slash/Gen: Gen
Genre: Action/Adventure
Word count: 19,474
Disclaimer: I do not own them, I would have treated them better.
Summary: Written for x_erikah_x for the Easter 2010 Fic Exchange. Prompt at the end of Chapter 5.
INTO THE RAIN
INTO THE RAIN
By stella_pegasi
CHAPTER ONE INTO THE RAIN
“I’m telling you this is a bad idea.”
“Colonel, you have repeatedly made that comment since we left Atlantis. I understand that you think that not bringing half the military contingent with us is a mistake. However, we are an affiliate member of the Pegasus Coalition council and to bring a large military presence is not going to win us any friends. Bringing you with me is probably not going to make them pleased to start with.”
“I’m just saying it’s a bad idea.”
Richard Woolsey took a deep breath, trying to compose himself so that he didn’t snap at his second-in-command although he sorely wanted to do so. Colonel John Sheppard, frankly, was getting on his nerves. He was about to make another comment to Sheppard when a familiar face entered the lobby to meet the Atlantians.
“Mr. Woolsey, it is good to see you again.” Myrus was the coalition official who first met with Woolsey when the Coalition arrested Sheppard’s team and placed them on trial. He extended his hand for the traditional Earther greeting; Woolsey shook his hand, and then turned to introduce Sheppard.
Myrus interrupted him, “No need for introductions, Mr. Woolsey; I assume this is Colonel Sheppard.” Sheppard nodded, but did not extend his hand and neither did Myrus. Woolsey realized that he should have brought a large military contingent, and left Colonel Sheppard on Atlantis.
Myrus extended an arm toward the doorway. “Please follow me, I will escort you to the chamber; the council is waiting for you.”
The door led to a long, wide corridor lined with windows on one side. They were in Latira City, capital of the planet Latira, and while new construction was underway, the devastation created by the last Wraith attack was still visible. At the end of the corridor, there were large double-doors guarded by two Coalition sentries. As they approached, the sentries opened the doors, and Myrus stepped aside to allow the Atlantians to enter.
Woolsey immediately began to scan the room, an old habit from his days with the IOA. He had never been comfortable not knowing what was surrounding him. The nine-members of the Coalition Council, which included the three members he and SGA-1 had encountered before, were seated on an elevated dais, at a bench of highly polished burgundy-brown wood. Behind them, numerous aides and sentries scurried back and forth between the offices located through the doors behind them, and the council members. Woolsey laughed to himself; bureaucrats were bureaucrats no matter what planet they were on.
As he continued around the room, Woolsey stopped as he spotted someone he was not entirely expecting to see. He looked quickly at Colonel Sheppard and realized that the colonel’s radar must have picked the Genii up as soon they entered the room. Sheppard was staring at the Genii leader, Ladon Radim, who was smiling broadly at the colonel. Radim’s retinue consisted of two aides, sitting next to him, and ten Genii soldiers, who were standing along the far wall.
Leaning closer to Sheppard, Woolsey whispered, “Next time, we bring Marines.”
Before Sheppard could answer, the gavel sounded and the Council Chair, Dimas of the Free People of Rimas spoke. “Mr. Woolsey and Colonel Sheppard of Atlantis, welcome to the Pegasus Coalition Council. Our friends from Atlantis are always welcome.”
Woolsey replied, “On behalf of the colonel and myself, thank you, Mr. Chairman.”
As he and Sheppard started to take their seats, a familiar voice spoke, “It is nice that you finally decided to arrive, we have been waiting for you.” The voice belonged to is Shiana of the Tribes of Santhal. From the bitterness in her voice, she had apparently not changed her opinion of the Atlantians since she declared them guilty of crimes against the worlds of Pegasus. Her venomous glare was reserved for Colonel Sheppard.
Sheppard leaned close to Woolsey, “Yeah…I might have been right about the Marines, but you were right that I probably should have stayed on Atlantis.”
Woolsey glanced at Sheppard, “No, colonel, with the Genii here there is nowhere I would rather see you at the moment than right here.”
Opening statements by the nine council members consumed the first hour and a half of the session. Next the council spent an hour to discuss matters carried over from the last council meeting. Finally, the council addressed new business, and it was not business that Woolsey or Sheppard had been expecting.
Shiana stood before the podium, “Coalition members, we have very important business in front of us today. As you know, an agreement has been in place with the current residents of Atlantis to provide military assistance to coalition member planets. However, we know that the ancestral city is in the hands of non-Pegasus natives. I and many of my colleagues feel that we should rely on each other more than we rely on the agenda of peoples from other galaxies. We are placing a proposal before the council today that the largest and most organized military in the galaxy, the Genii, begin the task of keeping the Pegasus galaxy safe from its enemies.” Neither Sheppard nor Woolsey, nor most others in the council chamber, missed the direct look that Shiana gave to Colonel Sheppard as she concluded her comment and returned to her seat.
Richard Woolsey rose, “The Coalition is well within its rights to determine the agent that oversees security for the Pegasus galaxy and its citizens. We fully acknowledge that fact. In all fairness, Chairman Dimas, Atlantis should be given adequate time to review Shiana's proposal, and any supporting documents that accompany the proposal."
Shiana rose to speak, but Dimas struck his gavel and motioned for her to sit. “Mr. Woolsey, I concur; I believe that your request is more than fair. Shiana, please have your staff turn over all documents pertaining to your proposal to the Atlantians. We will adjourn and reconvene after the mid-day meal.” The gavel dropped, and Sheppard watched as Shiana stormed out of the chamber, none too pleased about the turn of events. Glancing over at Radim, he could see that the Genii leader was none too pleased, as well.
As they turned to file out of the hall, Myrus appeared, “Gentlemen, Kelore of Latira would like to see you; if you will follow me.” He motioned toward a side door, and Woolsey and Sheppard followed him.
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Kelore met them in his office in the Latiran administration building, adjacent to the coalition assembly hall. As Myrus escorted his guests into the chamber, Kelore looked up from a file that he had been reviewing. He rose to greet the two men from Atlantis.
“Mr. Woolsey, Colonel Sheppard, welcome again to Latira; please have a seat. Thank you, Myrus.”
Myrus nodded to the Atlantians and left as an aide entered carrying a tray with a tea pot and cups. The aide served the men and then exited the room.
“My aide will return shortly with the mid-day meal for us; I wanted to be certain that we have adequate time together this afternoon. I would imagine that you have a few questions for me.”
Woolsey took a sip of the tea, nodding to Kelore his approval, “Very nice tea; to answer your question, yes, I believe we do have some questions.”
Sheppard interjected, “What are the Genii doing here?”
“Colonel, the Genii are members of the coalition, they have every right to be here.” When Sheppard started to protest, Kelore continue, “No need to say it, colonel, while they have a right, I share your obvious concern about their motives.”
Woolsey spoke, “Kelore, you had dealings with the Genii long before the coalition had my people kidnapped and put on trial. However, you are a prudent man and realized that Atlantis could help you more than Genii. You became our ally. I have the feeling that you may have not been as sincere as we thought. At least, until something happened; something that disturbed you about the Genii.”
“You are perceptive Mr. Woolsey; yes, the Genii have done something that disturbs me. I believe that they have entered a secret agreement with Shiana’s people and others that have settled with them on a new planet. I am not convinced that the Genii are anything more than opportunists.”
Sheppard leaned back in his chair, sipped his tea, and Woolsey saw him tap his fingers on the wooden chair arm. He was thinking. “Kelore, Shiana must have formed alliances with some of the council members, do you know who?”
‘I have some suspicions, colonel, but nothing concrete. I think that Parca from Afadia and Domine Leis from Marcen are the closest council members to her. She seems to be ‘quite friendly’ with Woner Yesa from Bladenor. Let’s just say, according to my staff, he never brings his wife to the council sessions. However, are any of these council members involved in collusion with her, I have no proof.”
Lunch arrived, and they moved to a table in the corner of the office to eat. Myrus delivered Shiana’s proposal and they examined the large packet of documents while they ate. They had finished their meal when an aide called Kelore away to attend to an internal matter. Sheppard and Woolsey continued to review the documents after Kelore left.
Sheppard’s elbows were leaning on the table; his plate pushed away from him. He was moving some of the documents around with one long finger. “Something doesn’t make sense; there's nothing here regarding Atlantis that we haven’t already answered. There has to be something else they think they have, but haven’t included it with these documents.” He thought a second, fingers drumming.
“I am going back to Atlantis and see if we have any intel on these friends of Shiana. If we don’t, I’ll have Lorne send teams out to these three planets to snoop around.”
“Colonel, let them know we are going to stay here tonight. But don’t bring any Marine’s back with you; I don’t want the Genii thinking we're concerned they're here.”
Sheppard laughed somewhat sarcastically but nodded, “I agree, Richard; I don’t like it, but I agree.”
The afternoon session of the council adjourned shortly after reconvening. Chairman Dimas granted Woolsey’s request for additional time to review of the documents over Shiana’s objections. Kelore arranged accommodations for Sheppard and Woolsey at a guest house near the hall. As the Atlantians left for the guest house, neither man noticed a particularly large man standing in the shadows follow them from the hall.
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Woolsey and Sheppard spent the waning hours of the afternoon and early evening going over the documents trying to uncover the true motive of Shiana and Radim. Woolsey was convinced that Kelore was correct about the Genii. They were opportunists looking for an easy way to weasel into a powerful position. He knew that Sheppard didn’t trust the Genii regardless of the fact that they had ‘assisted’ them on a couple of occasions. That assistance did not make up for the other things that the Genii had done.
They had a late dinner, and Sheppard decided to take a run back to the gate to contact Lorne for an update. When he returned to Atlantis in the early afternoon and spoke with his XO, he discovered that there was virtually no intel on Shiana’s circle of friends. Lorne dispatched teams to those planets on bogus survey missions, and the colonel was anxious to find out if they had gleaned any useful information.
Woolsey decided not to accompany Sheppard to speak to Atlantis. He intended to re-read some of the documents and prepare rebuttals to the concerns listed in Shiana’s proposal. In his mind, the 'contrived' concerns against Atlantis that Shiana had included.
Engrossed in the reports, Woolsey had totally lost track of time; reaching for his tea cup, he glanced at his watch, and realized nearly two hours had passed since Sheppard left for the gate. He had expected the colonel would stop by his room before retiring to let him know what, if any, new information Atlantis had given him; for Sheppard not to do so was out of character. Woolsey felt uneasiness seep into his body; he needed to check on Sheppard.
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Sheppard’s room was directly across the hall from his. He pounded on the door, but there was no answer. Pondering what he should do, Woolsey returned to his room. He picked up one of the rucksacks Sheppard brought back from Atlantis after he returned from his afternoon visit. Rummaging through the pack, he laughed softly, thinking Sheppard must have been a boy scout at one time; the pack contained MRE’s, Powerbars, a med kit, a toiletry kit, water bottle, and a 9-mil, holster and extra ammo, even a couple of extra pairs of socks. Yes, a good thing Sheppard was such a boy scout.
The colonel also brought a heavier jacket and a TAC vest for him. Woolsey remembered the grin on the colonel’s face when he handed the vest to him. Sheppard said, ‘with our track record, you most likely will need this.’ There were times when he wished the colonel wasn’t quite so prophetic.
Woolsey put the jacket and TAC vest on, slipped the rucksack on, and headed downstairs. He stopped in lobby, checking if anyone had seen Sheppard during the evening. No one had. Woolsey decided to head for the gate and contact Atlantis. There was a chance that Sheppard was still on the base. If not, he would have Lorne send a team to help search. As he left the guesthouse, he wished just once they could go on a mission that went according to plan.
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The trek to the gate was uneventful. It was nearing 2200 hours, and most of the Latiran citizens were in their homes. When he reached the stargate, which sat on the end of a long lane that originated in the center of the capital, there was no sign of Colonel Sheppard. Woolsey was beginning to have an extremely uneasy feeling about what was going on. If Sheppard wasn't on Atlantis, he would bet the Genii knew something about his disappearance. He wanted Marines with him, and he wanted to talk to the Genii.
Woolsey began entering Atlantis’ address in the DHD, but half-way through the dialing sequence, the metallic sound of weapon’s safely being disengaged caused him to freeze. A ring of cold steel pressed against his temple; a deep, gruff voice spoke quietly, close enough that he could feel his assailant’s hot breath on his neck.
“I knew if I waited long enough that you would show up here looking for Sheppard. Now I have you both.” The man grabbed Woolsey’s arms and wrapped a rope around the director’s elbows pinning them to the rucksack, then tied the rope around his chest. The kidnapper gagged Woolsey with a strip of cloth and slipped a cloth hood over his head.
“Now we go join Colonel Sheppard. You’ll have a nice little reunion.” Grabbing the rope he had tied around Woolsey’s chest, the kidnapper roughly pulled the director along behind him. Stumbling on the uneven ground, Woolsey assumed that they were off the paved gate path.
After nearly ten minutes of hiking, Woolsey heard a low-humming noise becoming increasingly louder. The man yanked him to a stop. Woolsey heard an electronic beep and then a swooshing sound, and his kidnapper him pushed up a couple of narrow steps.
“Now be a good boy and don’t move around.” The kidnapper pushed Woolsey to the metal floor and tied him to something. Woolsey heard the man’s footsteps reverberate on the metal as he moved a short distance away from him. The low humming became a sharp whine and then the constant drone of engines; Woolsey realized that he was in a ship. He felt panic rise in his chest as the ship rose from the field and headed away from the city.
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They had flown for over an hour before the ship landed roughly, jostling Woolsey. His kidnapper dragged him out of the ship and pulled him up a rocky pathway before they stopped. Woolsey stumbled when his kidnapper pulled him across a raised wooden threshold. Falling to the plank floor when the man let go of him, he could do nothing but lay there trying to catch his breath.
He heard the scraping of a chair across the floor and then felt a slight bump against his arm. His kidnapper untied his arms, pulled his rucksack off. Woolsey heard a thud as the pack hit the floor a few feet away from him. The man then pulled the director off the floor, shoving him into the chair. Woolsey tried to stretch out his arms, which were cramping from the ropes that bound him. The kidnapper slapped him and nearly tipped over the chair. The kidnapper pulled his arms back, tied his upper arms to the back of the chair, then tied his hands to the base of the chair back.
“There, you will be nice and secure after I leave you for a while. Now, I don’t want you to suffocate so I am gonna take off your hood, and remove the gag. Go ahead, you can yell all you want but no one’s gonna hear you.” He pulled the hood off and then tugged the gag downward so that the cloth scrap was hanging around Woolsey neck.
Woolsey looked around the small cabin. An oil lamp, sitting on a rough wooden table, provided dim illumination. He wasn’t alone; in a chair across the room from him, similarly trussed, was Colonel John Sheppard. The colonel was unconscious and sporting a bloody nose, cut lip, and a large, dark bruise was developing on the colonel’s left cheek.
Their kidnapper was standing in the doorway and was wearing a full-face hood as well as a cloak with an additional hood pulled up. He was very large; tall, extremely broad shouldered and looked quite formidable to Richard Woolsey.
“Who are you? Why did you kidnap us?” Instinctively, as he spoke, he pulled against his bonds.
The man laughed. “Now don’t go getting any ideas. You can’t get loose; nobody ties knots as good as me. I have to return to the city now. I will enjoy watching the spectacle of the Coalition and Atlantis looking frantically for you. They’ll be so concerned about what has happened to the great Colonel Sheppard and Mr. Woolsey. I’m sure that Atlantis will send all kinds of soldiers to find you but they never will. Don’t worry; I’ll be back. We still need to discuss the reason I brought you here,” he opened the door and walked outside. As the door closed, Woolsey heard him say, “I’m gonna kill you.”
Woolsey response seemed to channel Sheppard; he simply uttered “Crap.” Looking at the unconscious Sheppard, he shook his head, “Seems as you have rubbed off on me a bit.”
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Woolsey attempted to stay awake but kept drifting off to sleep, only to jerk awake when his head would slump over. He perceived at least two hours had passed since the kidnapper left and during that time Sheppard had not stirred despite his efforts to rouse him.
Thunder was beginning to rumble in the distance, and the air inside the cabin was getting colder. The wind was picking up; he could feel currents of chilly air, seeping though the cracks in the wood plank walls.
He racked his brain for any clues as to the identity of their kidnapper. The presence of the Genii troubled him; they were advanced and capable of developing air travel. However, he didn’t think that they had created ships capable of air or space travel. Woolsey also knew that while the Genii were adversaries of Atlantis, there were others.
The storm was getting closer; the wind was howling, and bolts of lightening brightened the interior of the cabin. Woolsey realized sound of rocks hitting the cabin walls was actually hail hitting the wood siding. With the hail, Woolsey panicked for a moment; the thought of a tornado entered his mind. Great, he thought; they weren’t in enough peril already. Then he realized how ridiculous he was being. Their kidnapper told him they were going to die; worrying about a storm seemed just a bit trite. He would have kicked himself if he could have.
As the roaring thunder of the storm’s fury became louder, Woolsey barely heard a low moan, coming from across the room. He called to Sheppard, “Colonel, are you awake? John, wake up.”
“Woolsey?” Sheppard spoke; his speech slurred as he struggled to gain consciousness.
“Yes, John, it’s me. A silly question, I know, but how do you feel?”
“Like crap, you?”
“Sore but not injured.”
Sheppard grunted, “Damn, these ropes are tight, I can’t move. Can you?”
“No, he said we couldn’t get loose, that no one tied knots as ‘good’ as him.”
“You saw the guy?” Sheppard grunted again, still trying to loosen his bonds.
“Only that he is very large and intimidating, colonel. He was wearing a mask and hood; I didn’t see his face.
“I never saw him either; he got the drop on me. I tried to fight back, but he was way too strong for me.” Realizing what he said, Sheppard added, “Woolsey, you tell Ronon that and I’ll deny it.”
Woosley laughed to himself; military types amazed him. They could joke in the direst circumstances. “Your secret is safe with me, colonel.”
Sheppard continued to struggle with the ropes that bound him. He was becoming quite frustrated, “Damn it, I can’t get loose. Any ideas who this guy could be?”
“Well, colonel, considering how well loved we are, I couldn’t imagine.”
Sheppard laughed hoarsely, “And they say you don’t have a sense of humor.”
Woolsey frowned; he started to ask Sheppard who ‘they’ were, but decided it wasn’t important. “All I can tell you is as he left the last thing he told me was that he had to return to the city for a bit, and then he would be back to kill us.”
“Oh, well, if that’s all. That’s nothing new,” Sheppard replied as a massive lighting bolt lit up the sky. The cabin walls rattled from the immediate rumble of thunder.
“That’s it; we gotta get out of here.” Sheppard’s voice rose over the din of the thunder.
As he was about to ask Sheppard how he planned on doing that, Woolsey saw Sheppard bend forward and struggle to stand up. He couldn’t imagine what the colonel was planning.
When he managed to maintain his balance, Sheppard asked, “How far am I from the wall? I don’t want to turn around and lose my balance.”
“About five feet but why?” Then he got his answer.
Sheppard took a deep breath and moving backward as fast as he could, he slammed into the wall behind him, shattering the wooden chair. The colonel fell forward onto the floor, struggling to pull the splintered wooden legs and spindles entangled in the ropes loose. Within minutes, Sheppard had freed his hands from the bindings. He tugged his BDU shirt and black t-shirt up to reveal a knife sheath strapped to his upper left side. He pulled a small knife out and sliced through the rest of the ropes.
Sheppard rushed over to Woolsey, cutting the ropes binding him, “Come on; let’s get out of here.”
“You have a knife?”
In the dim light, he could see Sheppard smile, “Been around Ronon too long.”
“There is a very bad storm out there; don’t you think we should wait, colonel?”
“Stay in here and die or get away from here in the rain?”
“If you put it that way, colonel.” He followed Sheppard, who had just opened the door, then remembered the rucksack.
“Hold on,” Woolsey looked around until he found the pack and grabbed it.
Sheppard smiled, “Good job, Richard; now into the rain.”