Murmurs Chapter Four Rescue and Search
Title: Murmurs
Author: stella_pegasi
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairing: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Evan Lorne, Anne Teldy, Original Characters
Spoilers: Post-Season Five
Warnings: Language
Het/Slash/Gen: Gen
Word count: ~25,000 Five Chapters
Disclaimer: I do not own them, I would have treated them better.
Summary:
Two members of the Atlantis Expedition are exhibiting bizarre behavior. When one of them is gravely injured, Atlantis is the only hope for rescue.
MURMURS
By stella_pegasi
Chapter Four Rescue and Search
He was stirring. She diverted her attention from the others and her attempts to reach them, fully to him. He was barely conscious, but she gently reached into his mind.
“Colonel…colonel, can you hear me?” She felt his struggles, as he felt her within his thoughts and as he tried to form a thought back to her.
“’L-Lantis…h-hurt…”
“I know, colonel: you had an accident, you fell and are badly injured. Please do not try to move.”
“H-ave to, they a-are coming, save t-them.”
“No, you cannot move. John, you must listen to me, I am trying to bring help, you must lie still.”
“T-they…they will….h-hurt… everyone…ha...hav...”
As his thoughts faded, Atlantis feared she was losing him. She observed him for a few seconds, realizing that he had slipped back into unconsciousness. His breathing seemed shallower than before, which concerned her. Reluctantly, she returned to her efforts to reach the others, but part of her remained with him. She would not leave him.
~~ooOoo~~
Beckett was once again pacing; fifteen minutes before two Subarans guards had entered and taken Major Lorne away. Zelenka was sitting on a bench, watching him.
“Carson, pacing will not help. You are only wearing yourself out. Lorne said Major Teldy will be here, we must be patient.”
“Those bastards are probably giving him that damn compound right now. We need to figure out how to get out of here.”
Terdarin was sitting on a bench across from Zelenka. “Dr. Beckett, even if they do give the drug to him, if we can administer the antidote within eighteen hours, he will never develop the symptoms. However, I agree with you; we need to get out of here. We need to help your friends who are not so lucky.”
“Sit down, Carson; give Major Teldy time, she’ll be here,” Zelenka gestured to an empty area on the bench. Beckett drew in a long breath, slowly letting it go, then reluctantly sat down.
~~ooOoo~~
“Mr. Woolsey…Mr. Woolsey.”
A disembodied voice in his ear startled Woolsey from his nap. He had gone to his quarters to get some rest, but instead of going to bed, he had first sat down on the couch in his living area to think. He had promptly fallen asleep.
He jumped up, “Yes, what is it?”
Liang replied, “Sir, we are getting anomalous energy readings from all over Atlantis. We don’t know the cause, but the anomalies are beginning to interfere with all the systems.”
“I’m on my way.”
Woolsey rushed from his quarters and by the time, he arrived in the control room, the power had flickered on and off at least nine times.
“What the hell is going on?” He yelled as he rushed to Liang’s station. Chuck was there as well, reporting as soon as Liang informed him. Chuck looked up at him.
“We don’t know, sir. Things were calm and then about fifteen minutes ago this started. We are getting reports of doors opening and closing at random, transporters malfunctioning, water flowing without being turned on, all kinds of crazy things.”
“The computers and the gate, are they functioning?”
“So far, sir…” Chuck was interrupted by a loud noise coming from above. The gate room bay doors were beginning to open.
“What the …., Chuck who’s doing that?”
“No one, sir.”
Before they fully opened, the bay doors closed once more and it was quiet. Woolsey didn’t say anything for a minute as he pondered what to do next. He turned to Chuck, “Who is the scientist in charge when Dr. McKay and Dr. Zelenka are both off-world?”
“Dr. Kusanagi is next in line, sir.”
Woolsey pursed his lips, “Get her up here.” Chuck nodded, tapping his COM. As Woolsey walked to the balcony door, watching the lights continue to flicker on and off across the city, he heard Chuck informing Kusanagi to report to the control room.
It was ten minutes before the diminutive Japanese scientist appeared, flustered and out of breath. She was carrying her laptop, a dangling power cord trailing behind her. She approached Chuck, who nodded toward Woolsey. Taking a deep breath, she turned toward the Atlantis director.
“Mr. Woolsey, sir; you wanted to see me?”
Yes, Miko; do you have any idea what is happening?”
“No, sir, not as of yet; we are attempting to isolate the source where this began, but it seems to be happening all over the city at once. We cannot determine location of the first malfunction. It will be most difficult to identify the problem, if we do not know where to begin.”
“Any possibility of sabotage, doctor?”
“It is possibility, Mr. Woolsey; but no way of knowing at this point. No critical systems have been damaged, but everything is being affected.”
“I want you monitoring everything from here. Keep me posted, I want regular updates.”
Miko nodded and headed for a vacant console, as Chuck walked up to Woolsey.
“Sir, do you think this is sabotage?”
“I don’t know what to think. What I do know is that we have a colonel out there who is likely delusional, who knows Atlantis better than any of us, and who can communicate with her. Anything is possible, Chuck.”
~~ooOoo~~
Atlantis had begun to execute her plan. First, she began to interrupt as many systems as possible; the best way she knew to gain their attention. She had also begun to reach into the minds of those who possessed the natural gene, broadcasting the colonel’s location over and over. She knew that none of them would be able to hear her, but perhaps, if she placed the thoughts in their consciousness, they would eventually become aware. He was depending on her; she had to make them understand.
~~ooOoo~~
“Isaacs, you’re certain that’s the building.”
“Yes, ma’am; Lieutenant Prior overheard one of the guards, who parked a transport at the guard station, say he had just returned from the ‘lab’ after taking the prisoners there. He left the station a few minutes later, and my team captured him. The guy gave up the location pretty quickly when he had three P-90’s stuck in his face. He swears this is the lab where he took our people.”
“Well, if he’s wrong, then we have just given ourselves away, captain.”
Yes, ma’am; but the guard wasn’t lying. Prior said he was way too scared to lie.”
“OK, so according to the man your team captured, there should be six guards and about eight scientists inside.”
Isaacs nodded, "Yes, major."
“Piece of cake.”
Teldy turned around to look at her teammate, Sergeant Dusty Mehra. “Sergeant; we’ll see if you still feel that way after we get our people out.” She stood up, tapping her COM. “Heads up everyone, we’re going in,” and headed for the back of the jumper as Captain Waters opened the hatch.
Undercover of darkness, Teldy and the SO’s slipped from the cloaked jumpers; quickly rushing to the perimeter of the building. Recon by Isaacs’ team identified two entrances and the Atlantian’s split into two groups, each heading for an entrance. Once in place, Teldy gave the order to enter.
Sergeant Johnston, one of Lorne’s team members, smashed the front door in with a battering ram. Captain Isaacs’ team repeated the action on the rear entry. The startled lone guards at the entrances were quickly subdued, and the SO’s began to deploy throughout the building.
The short front and back entrance halls intersected a wide corridor that ran the length of the building. The teams spread out through the hallway and began opening doors.
Sgt. Mehra and the two corporals with her, edged closer to a door near the intersection. Leaning against the door, the sergeant could hear shouting and laughter. Mehra kicked open the door to find three Subaran guards sitting a table. They were playing some sort of card game. Glass mugs of an amber colored liquid that smelled alcoholic sat in front of them, probably why they didn't hear the noise when the entry doors were breached. Within seconds, the three guards were lying on the floor trussed and gagged. Mehra tapped her COM.
“Major; three more threats eliminated. We’re proceeding down the corridor.”
“Acknowledged, Mehra.”
Sergeant Johnston was scouting a few yards ahead of Teldy. He tried to open the next door, “Major; this door is locked, first locked door we've found.
Teldy slipped up behind him, “Let’s get that door open, sergeant.”
Without hesitation, the six-foot five Marine broke the door down, and Teldy and Johnston entered the room. They had found the hostages, a bit shaken from the abrupt entry, but unharmed.
“Doctors, how are you?”
“We’re fine, major but they’ve taken Lorne to a lab. We have to find him quickly.”
“We’ll find him. Prior, Yasser; take the doctors to the jumper.”
Beckett grabbed Terdarin, “You’re coming, too.”
As the Marines took Beckett, Zelenka, and Terdarin to the safety of the jumpers, Teldy motioned for the teams to move on. A shout from the other end of the hall sent them running.
When Teldy reached the large room at the end, she discovered an unconscious guard lying on the floor. Eight frightened men and women, dressed in grey scrub-like attire, huddled against a wall, an SO holding a P-90 on them. On a Gurney in the center of the room, Major Lorne was lying, apparently sedated.
Mehra, who was in the process of restraining the guard, smiled at Teldy, “Piece of cake, major.”
Teldy grinned, shaking her head, and activated her radio, “Prior, bring Dr. Beckett back in here, now.” She turned to Sergeant Johnston, "Take this guard to the room where the others are being held. Then to the others, “Green, Wang, get the rest of these people to the jumpers. Mehra, take the others, sweep the rest of the building. If you locate any more of these techs, take them, too. Move.”
Beckett rushed into the room, and immediately began examining Lorne. “Bring a stretcher; let’s get him out of here.”
~~ooOoo~~
The crowded jumpers had arrived back on Atlantis twenty minutes before. Woolsey met up with Major Teldy in the infirmary.
“Major; good job; what do we have here?”
“Thank you, sir. Dr. Keller is examining Major Lorne; he apparently was given a dose of the drug that was given to Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay. Dr. Beckett is with Proffer Terdarin, who originally designed the drug; there is an antidote. The proffer is helping Dr. Beckett synthesize it.”
“That’s good news, major; and good thinking to bring the entire team of scientists back to Atlantis. This prevents Chief Larp from continuing the work.”
“Yes, sir; Dr. Beckett identified the vials containing the drug. I decided to bring everything we could, including the computer core. I believe we have shut them down, at least for now.”
“Major, I am going to contact the Pegasus Coalition Council to notify them of this situation. It’s the council’s decision as how to proceed with Chief Larp. I will need you to make a report.”
"No problem, sir; in the meantime, we’d like to rejoin the search for Colonel Sheppard.”
The Atlantis director approved. As Teldy and her team waited to finish their post-mission examinations before they joined in the search, Woolsey radioed Chuck. The communications system was down once again. Cursing he waited a couple of minutes, and then tried again, this time getting through to Chuck. “Contact Chairman Dimas of the Coalition for me, tell him I need to arrange a time to discuss the situation on Subara.”
~~ooOoo~~
She had their attention. She sensed their probes, the diagnostics that ran on her systems, coursing through her. Now she had to begin to direct them where she needed them to come. Where he was waiting, before time ran out for him. She had to hurry.
~~ooOoo~~
Sunlight spilled into the gate room through the stained glass windows, causing patterns of light and shadows to dance across the tiled floor. Richard Woolsey hadn’t noticed, although he was standing at the railing staring at the floor below him. He was concentrating on the jumble of voices behind him. The engineers and technicians were dealing with the malfunctions that continued across Atlantis. It took a second for him to realize that Dr. Zelenka’s voice was reaching out to him through the din.
“Mr. Woolsey,” Zelenka repeated.
“Yes, doctor, sorry, what is it?”
“Sir, there seems to be a shift in the locations of the malfunctions. There are fewer occurrences in the south or southwest sections of the city. Most of the anomalies are occurring on in the other areas now.”
“Do you know why or what that means?” In response, Zelenka simply shrugged his shoulders, indicating no. Woolsey replied, “Keep at it.”
His earwig cackled, “Mr. Woolsey, Dr. Beckett, could you come to the infirmary?”
“I’ll be right there, doctor.”
When Woolsey walked into the infirmary, the first thing he noticed was Major Lorne awake and sitting up. He headed toward the major’s bed.
“Major, how are you?”
“Good sir, bit of a headache, but it’s easing up. Dr. Beckett said they got the antidote for the Subaran compound in me pretty quick. He and Proffer Terdarin assured me that I won’t develop any symptoms.”
“That’s good news, major. Have they administered the antidote to Dr. McKay?”
“I think so, sir. Mr. Woolsey, can you get Beckett to let me out of here? I need to help find Colonel Sheppard.”
“You’re not going anywhere, major.” The answer came from Beckett as he approached them. “There are a lot of people looking for the colonel. You need to rest.” Lorne looked decidedly unhappy.
Beckett gave a sympathetic smile to Lorne, and motioned for Woolsey to follow him, “As you can see from the major’s condition, Terdarin prepared the antidote. Fortunately, it’s a relatively simple formula. We’ve administered the first dose to Rodney, and will be giving him another dose in about fifteen minutes. We’re already beginning to see positive changes in Rodney’s brain chemistry. I believe he’s going to be alright, but we have to wait and see.”
They had arrived at Rodney’s bedside, where Terdarin was standing watch over the monitor displaying Rodney’s neural activity. He looked around as the two men walked up, “He’s doing better.”
Beckett patted Terdarin on the shoulder, “Thanks to you. Proffer Terdarin, this is Richard Woolsey, executive director of Atlantis.”
“Proffer, thank you for your help. Dr. McKay is very valuable to us, both as a friend and as a member of the Atlantis expedition.”
“Director Woolsey, I am sorry for what has happened. We developed the drug to combat the Wraith. When we realized that the Wraith were no longer a threat, we became worried that the drug could be used for other purposes. When the government came to confiscate the drug, we were happy to have it off our hands. My colleague, Viab Orsoneri, and I had no idea that Chief Larp would use it against those who offered to be our ally. I was rude to Dr. McKay for fear that he might discover that we were capable of making such a drug. I must apologize to him.”
Beckett’s pensive expression told Woolsey the doctor was thinking about the Wraith serum that he had developed and how that drug impacted Atlantis and Pegasus. Woolsey spoke quietly, “Terdarin; we all do things for good reasons that sometimes have dire consequences. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have tried.” He noticed the almost imperceptible nod from Beckett.
Woolsey cleared his throat, “You should know that I have spoken with Chairman Dimas of the Pegasus Coalition. He was most disturbed when I informed him about what has been going on. Once we’ve located Colonel Sheppard, you and Orsoneri will accompany me to Latira. The council would like to question you regarding this situation. Understand you and your colleague are not in trouble for developing the drug. The council is more concerned about what Larp wanted to use the drug for. He will at the least be facing charges for attempting to harm Dr. McKay and Colonel Sheppard, who were there acting on behalf of the coalition.”
“Viab; is he in danger?”
“Don’t worry; I sent a team to secure him. Lieutenant Salem radioed that they have located him, and he’s safe. They will be returning to Atlantis shortly.”
“Thank you.”
“No word about John yet?” Beckett asked, as he and Woolsey walked away.
“Nothing, I’m becoming quite concerned, and now with all the malfunctions, I’m worried about his state of mind.”
“You think he’s causing the power outages and all the other things?”
“I can only speculate.”
“You know, something’s nagging at me, like I know something, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Something, what kind of something, something about the colonel?” Woolsey asked.
“I…I…uh…don’t know; just an uneasy feeling like I have forgotten something.”
“If you figure it out, let me know. Right now, I am going to return to the control room, keep me informed about Dr. McKay.”
~~ooOoo~~
Atlantis sensed the return of the ones with the strong gene. She immediately began to project Sheppard’s location into their minds. Aware they would not be able to comprehend her thoughts; she only hoped to nudge them to her goal, finding Colonel Sheppard.
She had begun the process of channeling the ones who searched for him into the northeast section of the city. She was aware she was racing against time. He had not awakened since that brief moment, over an hour before. His breathing was still quite shallow, but she could not determine any critical drop in his condition. His temperature was low, but she couldn’t help him. Atlantis had attempted to raise the ambient temperature in the area, but she was unable to due to the power conduits. She knew that her actions had to be demonstrative, clear, or they would not understand. She had to make them understand.
~~ooOoo~~
“I don’t want to stop searching; go ahead, I’m staying here.”
Ronon had stopped following Teyla and the three Marine’s with her, standing his ground in the corridor. Teyla took a deep breath before she spun around to face him.
“Ronon, we have been searching for nearly twelve hours with only a couple of short breaks. I need to eat and so do you. We also need to check on Dr. McKay; Mr. Woolsey says he could regain consciousness anytime now. We should be there, to assure him we are all looking for the colonel. Now come on, let’s go get something to eat and rest. We will come back to continue to search in a short time.” She turned and began walking away; Ronon knew better than to argue and followed.
The Marines left them at the mess hall, joining a table of other Marines, who were on a break from searching. Teldy and Waters had conferred with Lorne and had decided that they needed to rest the teams. The teams, however, had objected and short of mutiny, Lorne ordered them to at least, break for food and fluids. Most rushed through their break time and returned to the search.
As Ronon piled his tray with food, Teyla spotted Zelenka and wound her way through the tables toward the scientist. Zelenka was absently eating a sandwich and staring at his pad. He didn’t look up as Teyla sat down.
“Radek, any word about Rodney?”
The Czech scientist looked up startled, “Cože...? Oh…uh…Teyla...” He blew out a puff of air, “I was concentrating…we are missing something. I know it. I just do not know what.”
“This is most disturbing. The city is so large. We have been searching for hours, and we have covered only a small portion. How are we going to find him without some sort of clue?”
“I know…but we cannot even use his transponder chip to find him. It is not working. It is either damaged, or he removed it, or…”
“No, the colonel is hiding or he is hurt. I refused to believe anything else.” Teyla sipped her Athosian tea to avoid saying more.
Ronon joined them, “Tell me you have something, a place for us to concentrate the search.”
Zelenka looked at Ronon, “No; we don’t. We thought he might be causing the malfunctions, but the power fluctuations and the other crazy things that were happening stopped abruptly about fifteen minutes ago. We have no idea why.”
Teyla asked, “Dr. McKay; how is he?”
“Oh, yes, yes, you asked; he regained consciousness briefly, then went to sleep. Dr. Keller said it was probably because he was exhausted from what his body was going through. They are letting him sleep.”
“You said you thought we were missing something? What do you think that is, Radek?”
Zelenka leaned back in his chair, “I just have this nagging feeling that there is a piece of information that I should remember. I cannot figure out what. I…” He stopped as a loud claxon began to sound. “Co to kurva? It is the self-distruct alarm; I must go.“ He ran from the mess, with Ronon and Teyla on his heels.
Zelenka headed for the transporter, but the doors were slamming open and shut at an alarming rate. He turned for the stairway, when the transporter doors opened and stayed open. Teyla yelled for Ronon to grab him, while she entered the transporter. Ronon, dragging Zelenka by the arm, rushed on behind her, as she tapped the directory map for the gate room.
Twice on the way, the transporter stopped. The first time the door opened, they were in the building housing the control chair. Teyla tapped the screen again, and they were back at the base of the tower. Another tap and they were in the corridor outside the gate room. Quickly, the three exited the transporter, to find chaos in the gate room and the control tower.
The gate was dialing, then it stopped, then it started dialing again, all in the span of a couple of minutes. The lights were flickering constantly, and the self-distruct alarm was blaring, then would stop, then would start again. They raced up the stairs to the control room, where the console lights were flashing rapidly. Electrical sparks were flying from the interfaces between the Ancient equipment and the expedition computers. Chuck was yelling for everyone to shut down their systems when all the anomalies abruptly stopped. The silence hung over the room as the reverberations from the alarm faded.
Woolsey turned to Zelenka,“Radek, what the hell is going on? Is Sheppard causing this?“
Zelenka rushed to the engineering station, pulling up a power schematic of the city. “I do not know. Let me look.“
The engineering tech on duty, Eva Mason, was viewing the schematic along with Zelenka when a series of power spikes began to appear. They originated from the tower and fanned out to the outer rim of northeast section. The spikes faded out, then appeared again following the same path.“
Woolsey was standing next to Zelenka, “What does that mean?“ Zelenka threw up his hands in reply, he didn’t know.
Eva had a puzzled look on her face, “Dr. Zelenka; that’s the area where we had several faint but random power readings yesterday, but the power conduits are broken. We can’t be registering power in that area; there isn’t any. The sensors must be malfunctioning.”
Zelenka stared at her for a second, then blurted out, “That is what I have been trying to remember, those readings, I was tracking them. They started in the northeast section, there were two near the stardrive engine room, then returned to the northeast. That could mean that….”
He didn’t finish his thought for Dr. Beckett and Major Lorne came running from Woolsey’s office. They had using the rear transporter from the infirmary. They ran straight to the engineering console.
Beckett was breathless. “I don’t know why, but the major and I both have a feeling that Colonel Sheppard is in the….”
“Northeast section…” Zelenka finished their sentence.
Lorne appeared confused, but nodded, “Yeah, I can’t get that out of my head.”
Woolsey tapped his COM, “Major Teldy, converge all searches to the northeast section. We believe the colonel could be there.”
~~ooOoo~~
Corporals Paul Brenner and Ramon Rodriguez had been searching for Colonel Sheppard nearly non-stop since the first teams were deployed. The corporals, members of Captain Stackhouse’s team, had been on several missions with Colonel Sheppard. The two young men had become quite attached to their CO, as he had to them. The corporals made a pact with each other when the search began, they were not going to stop until the colonel was found, safe.
They were already searching in the northeast section, when Captain Stackhouse ordered them, along with several other teams, to descend to the lowest level and work their way up to the surface level. Teams had been distributed throughout the section as evenly as possible, and more teams were being redirected. The area where the corporals were searching was treacherous. A considerable amount of debris was scattered everywhere; the air cold, damp, and musty.
“Hey, broki, what’s that slogan, “Join the Navy and see the world?”
Brenner laughed, “Yeah, Ray; that’s the slogan.”
“Well, it sucks. This certainly ain’t much to see.”
“You got tha…” Brenner stumbled over a large piece that had been broken off a piece of furniture, “Crap, this place sucks. What the hell would the colonel be doing down here?”
“Got me, Paulie, but if he is, we gotta find him.”
“I hear ya.”
Their COM’s burst into static, then Dr. Zelenka’s voice floated into their ears. “Heads up, corporals. The energy bursts are beginning to focus on your area.”
“Understood, doctor,” Brenner answered.
While the corporals made their way cautiously through the debris, the control room was quiet. It was as if everyone was collectively holding their breath, waiting for the next power surge. Lorne and Beckett were sitting next to Zelenka, watching the trail of energy spikes flowing like beacons. The pattern was reducing, narrowing to a small area on the lowest level of Atlantis.
Woolsey was standing behind them, arms crossed, a contemplative look on his face. “Atlantis is doing this, isn’t she?”
“Yes, I believe Atlantis is trying to lead us to the colonel,” Zelenka replied.
Beckett, his voice quiet, added, “If she is, then he’s in trouble.”
“Yes, doctor, I’m afraid you are correct.”
Zelenka gave Woolsey a soft smile, “Atlantis is clever. She first created all of the malfunctions to get us to pay attention, then she began to narrow the focus, pulling us into the area, she wants us to concentrate in. I believe, without a doubt, the colonel has to be on the lower levels of this section.”
The Czech scientist pointed to the screen, “See, she is beginning to shorten the pathway….now only from the mid-point, it is as if she is drawing an arrow to where she wants us to go.”
Before anyone could comment, their COM’s activated. Dr. Keller's excited voice erupted in their ears, “Mr. Woolsey, Rodney just woke up abruptly. He keeps telling me to look in the container storage chamber.”
Woolsey responded, “Container storage; did he say anything else?”
Keller hesitated, “Yes, he keeps repeating, ‘hurry’.”
Lorne immediately contacted Teldy, “Anne, Dr. McKay just told us to look in a container storage chamber. The power spikes are focusing in the lowest level, grid NE743; start concentrating the search in that area.”
Teldy replied, “Understood, major.”
Beckett looked at Woolsey, “We need to get a medical team in there.”
Woolsey nodded looking at Chuck without having to verbalize his order. Chuck was already directing an EMT team to the area.
The Atlantians exchanged glances, but remained silent. They knew there was nothing more they could do.
~~ooOoo~~
“Ray, you OK?”
Rodriguez had just taken a header over a large pipe that was lying across the corridor. He struggled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his hip from striking the pipe when he fell.
“Who put this fucking pile of shit here?” He calmed down, “Yeah; I’m OK.” He pulled his canteen off his belt, taking a drink before he continued.
“Paulie, we gotta think smart here. We’re talking about Colonel Sheppard. He’s smart and cunning; we have to try to think like he would. If he’s delusional like Dr. McKay was, he thinks the bad guys are after him. He’s gonna try to find a place where he can hide and defend himself. We have to look for places like that. So far, the rooms we have searched have been empty or blocked by junk, and we can’t get through the doorway. We need to figure out what he would do.”
The two corporals continued down the corridor for another five minutes before it dead-ended at a longer cross-corridor. The hall stretched far past the capability of their P-90 lights and the powerful flashlights they carried.
“I think we should split up. We can check each direction for a bit before we decide which way to go for certain.” Brenner offered.
“Yeah, but don’t go too far. This place is really dangerous.” Rodriguez patted Brenner on the shoulder, and the two men headed off in opposite directions.
Only a few moments passed before Brenner called out, “Ray, I found fresh blood, get down here.”
Rodriguez rushed to where Brenner was standing. He knelt down to examine the sharp metal pieces that were covered with streaks of blood. He pulled his glove off and touched a smear of dark red. “Yep, still tacky…this is not more than a few hours old; it wouldn’t dry as fast in this damp, cold air.” He tapped his COM.
“Captain Stackhouse, Rodriguez; we just found blood in a corridor in NE743-01B. I'm marking with an emergency light-stick. Blood’s been here for a while, but still tacky. We’re gonna continue down the corridor.”
“Understood, corporal; we’re marking your location.”
After Stackhouse’s reply, Brenner and Rodriguez heard a flurry of traffic on the com as Lorne and Teldy began to direct more resources to their location, along with the EMT team. They continued down the corridor, checking every door and room behind it. Rodriguez came across a partially opened door, with barely enough room to slide through. He pushed on the door; it wouldn’t budge.
“Paulie, if I were the colonel; I’d find a place that would look unlikely to hide in. Places like this where the door is jammed nearly closed; not everyone could get through this space.”
“Not much room there, Ray.”
“Yeah, I know. But we’re talking about a wiry colonel not a monster like Sergeant Johnston. It’s at least worth a look.” He dropped his pack, and slipped his own slender upper frame through the narrow space, shining the big flashlight around.
“Hey, I found something,” his light caught a glint of something shiny. Leaning into the room a bit more, he focused the light on the area, and realized that he was seeing metal connectors on a rucksack.
"There's a rucksack caught on something; I gotta get a closer look."
He started to slip through the space completely, sliding his leg through the opening. As he placed his foot down, he realized there was nothing but air under his foot.
“Mierda…”
“Ray?” Brenner grabbed Rodriguez by the arm as he saw his friend pitch forward, pulling him back into the corridor.
“The floor has broken away; hold on.” He knelt down outside the doorway, peering through. “Madre de Dios, this break is fresh; the metal core is shiny, hasn’t oxidized. Paulie, you think the colonel might have gone through here and fallen?"
"I don't know, but I think you're right. The colonel would have looked for an unlikely hiding place. He could have done just that."
We gotta get down there; you got any rope?”
Brenner smiled, “Are you kidding, former Eagle Scout here…” Pulling his backpack off, he dug in a large side pocket, coming up with a twenty-five foot coil of thin nylon rope. “Here.”
Rodriguez smiled, "Wouldn't know what to do without you, broki."
Brenner tied the rope to a piece of railing that was secured to the corridor wall. Rodriguez looped the rope around his waist in a repelling knot, and carefully slipped through the opening. Brenner kept tension on the rope as Rodriguez lowered himself into the chamber. He had descended about five feet when he twisted, turning the light to shine below him. What he saw caused his blood to run cold.
"Paulie, it's the colonel. He's…he's…oh, Madre de Dios, Paulie, he has a piece of metal through his side."
"Is he alive?"
"I can see his chest move slightly, but he's unconscious. You gotta get help, now."
Rodriguez carefully dropped the remaining few feet to the chamber floor, avoiding the other exposed flooring brackets. He checked the colonel's pulse, and found it weak and thready, but there. Breathing a bit easier himself, he leaned down and whispered, "Its Paulie and me, sir; looks like we keep making a habit of rescuing you. You're gonna be fine, colonel; we'll make sure of it."
Author: stella_pegasi
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairing: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Evan Lorne, Anne Teldy, Original Characters
Spoilers: Post-Season Five
Warnings: Language
Het/Slash/Gen: Gen
Word count: ~25,000 Five Chapters
Disclaimer: I do not own them, I would have treated them better.
Summary:
Two members of the Atlantis Expedition are exhibiting bizarre behavior. When one of them is gravely injured, Atlantis is the only hope for rescue.
MURMURS
By stella_pegasi
Chapter Four Rescue and Search
He was stirring. She diverted her attention from the others and her attempts to reach them, fully to him. He was barely conscious, but she gently reached into his mind.
“Colonel…colonel, can you hear me?” She felt his struggles, as he felt her within his thoughts and as he tried to form a thought back to her.
“’L-Lantis…h-hurt…”
“I know, colonel: you had an accident, you fell and are badly injured. Please do not try to move.”
“H-ave to, they a-are coming, save t-them.”
“No, you cannot move. John, you must listen to me, I am trying to bring help, you must lie still.”
“T-they…they will….h-hurt… everyone…ha...hav...”
As his thoughts faded, Atlantis feared she was losing him. She observed him for a few seconds, realizing that he had slipped back into unconsciousness. His breathing seemed shallower than before, which concerned her. Reluctantly, she returned to her efforts to reach the others, but part of her remained with him. She would not leave him.
~~ooOoo~~
Beckett was once again pacing; fifteen minutes before two Subarans guards had entered and taken Major Lorne away. Zelenka was sitting on a bench, watching him.
“Carson, pacing will not help. You are only wearing yourself out. Lorne said Major Teldy will be here, we must be patient.”
“Those bastards are probably giving him that damn compound right now. We need to figure out how to get out of here.”
Terdarin was sitting on a bench across from Zelenka. “Dr. Beckett, even if they do give the drug to him, if we can administer the antidote within eighteen hours, he will never develop the symptoms. However, I agree with you; we need to get out of here. We need to help your friends who are not so lucky.”
“Sit down, Carson; give Major Teldy time, she’ll be here,” Zelenka gestured to an empty area on the bench. Beckett drew in a long breath, slowly letting it go, then reluctantly sat down.
~~ooOoo~~
“Mr. Woolsey…Mr. Woolsey.”
A disembodied voice in his ear startled Woolsey from his nap. He had gone to his quarters to get some rest, but instead of going to bed, he had first sat down on the couch in his living area to think. He had promptly fallen asleep.
He jumped up, “Yes, what is it?”
Liang replied, “Sir, we are getting anomalous energy readings from all over Atlantis. We don’t know the cause, but the anomalies are beginning to interfere with all the systems.”
“I’m on my way.”
Woolsey rushed from his quarters and by the time, he arrived in the control room, the power had flickered on and off at least nine times.
“What the hell is going on?” He yelled as he rushed to Liang’s station. Chuck was there as well, reporting as soon as Liang informed him. Chuck looked up at him.
“We don’t know, sir. Things were calm and then about fifteen minutes ago this started. We are getting reports of doors opening and closing at random, transporters malfunctioning, water flowing without being turned on, all kinds of crazy things.”
“The computers and the gate, are they functioning?”
“So far, sir…” Chuck was interrupted by a loud noise coming from above. The gate room bay doors were beginning to open.
“What the …., Chuck who’s doing that?”
“No one, sir.”
Before they fully opened, the bay doors closed once more and it was quiet. Woolsey didn’t say anything for a minute as he pondered what to do next. He turned to Chuck, “Who is the scientist in charge when Dr. McKay and Dr. Zelenka are both off-world?”
“Dr. Kusanagi is next in line, sir.”
Woolsey pursed his lips, “Get her up here.” Chuck nodded, tapping his COM. As Woolsey walked to the balcony door, watching the lights continue to flicker on and off across the city, he heard Chuck informing Kusanagi to report to the control room.
It was ten minutes before the diminutive Japanese scientist appeared, flustered and out of breath. She was carrying her laptop, a dangling power cord trailing behind her. She approached Chuck, who nodded toward Woolsey. Taking a deep breath, she turned toward the Atlantis director.
“Mr. Woolsey, sir; you wanted to see me?”
Yes, Miko; do you have any idea what is happening?”
“No, sir, not as of yet; we are attempting to isolate the source where this began, but it seems to be happening all over the city at once. We cannot determine location of the first malfunction. It will be most difficult to identify the problem, if we do not know where to begin.”
“Any possibility of sabotage, doctor?”
“It is possibility, Mr. Woolsey; but no way of knowing at this point. No critical systems have been damaged, but everything is being affected.”
“I want you monitoring everything from here. Keep me posted, I want regular updates.”
Miko nodded and headed for a vacant console, as Chuck walked up to Woolsey.
“Sir, do you think this is sabotage?”
“I don’t know what to think. What I do know is that we have a colonel out there who is likely delusional, who knows Atlantis better than any of us, and who can communicate with her. Anything is possible, Chuck.”
~~ooOoo~~
Atlantis had begun to execute her plan. First, she began to interrupt as many systems as possible; the best way she knew to gain their attention. She had also begun to reach into the minds of those who possessed the natural gene, broadcasting the colonel’s location over and over. She knew that none of them would be able to hear her, but perhaps, if she placed the thoughts in their consciousness, they would eventually become aware. He was depending on her; she had to make them understand.
~~ooOoo~~
“Isaacs, you’re certain that’s the building.”
“Yes, ma’am; Lieutenant Prior overheard one of the guards, who parked a transport at the guard station, say he had just returned from the ‘lab’ after taking the prisoners there. He left the station a few minutes later, and my team captured him. The guy gave up the location pretty quickly when he had three P-90’s stuck in his face. He swears this is the lab where he took our people.”
“Well, if he’s wrong, then we have just given ourselves away, captain.”
Yes, ma’am; but the guard wasn’t lying. Prior said he was way too scared to lie.”
“OK, so according to the man your team captured, there should be six guards and about eight scientists inside.”
Isaacs nodded, "Yes, major."
“Piece of cake.”
Teldy turned around to look at her teammate, Sergeant Dusty Mehra. “Sergeant; we’ll see if you still feel that way after we get our people out.” She stood up, tapping her COM. “Heads up everyone, we’re going in,” and headed for the back of the jumper as Captain Waters opened the hatch.
Undercover of darkness, Teldy and the SO’s slipped from the cloaked jumpers; quickly rushing to the perimeter of the building. Recon by Isaacs’ team identified two entrances and the Atlantian’s split into two groups, each heading for an entrance. Once in place, Teldy gave the order to enter.
Sergeant Johnston, one of Lorne’s team members, smashed the front door in with a battering ram. Captain Isaacs’ team repeated the action on the rear entry. The startled lone guards at the entrances were quickly subdued, and the SO’s began to deploy throughout the building.
The short front and back entrance halls intersected a wide corridor that ran the length of the building. The teams spread out through the hallway and began opening doors.
Sgt. Mehra and the two corporals with her, edged closer to a door near the intersection. Leaning against the door, the sergeant could hear shouting and laughter. Mehra kicked open the door to find three Subaran guards sitting a table. They were playing some sort of card game. Glass mugs of an amber colored liquid that smelled alcoholic sat in front of them, probably why they didn't hear the noise when the entry doors were breached. Within seconds, the three guards were lying on the floor trussed and gagged. Mehra tapped her COM.
“Major; three more threats eliminated. We’re proceeding down the corridor.”
“Acknowledged, Mehra.”
Sergeant Johnston was scouting a few yards ahead of Teldy. He tried to open the next door, “Major; this door is locked, first locked door we've found.
Teldy slipped up behind him, “Let’s get that door open, sergeant.”
Without hesitation, the six-foot five Marine broke the door down, and Teldy and Johnston entered the room. They had found the hostages, a bit shaken from the abrupt entry, but unharmed.
“Doctors, how are you?”
“We’re fine, major but they’ve taken Lorne to a lab. We have to find him quickly.”
“We’ll find him. Prior, Yasser; take the doctors to the jumper.”
Beckett grabbed Terdarin, “You’re coming, too.”
As the Marines took Beckett, Zelenka, and Terdarin to the safety of the jumpers, Teldy motioned for the teams to move on. A shout from the other end of the hall sent them running.
When Teldy reached the large room at the end, she discovered an unconscious guard lying on the floor. Eight frightened men and women, dressed in grey scrub-like attire, huddled against a wall, an SO holding a P-90 on them. On a Gurney in the center of the room, Major Lorne was lying, apparently sedated.
Mehra, who was in the process of restraining the guard, smiled at Teldy, “Piece of cake, major.”
Teldy grinned, shaking her head, and activated her radio, “Prior, bring Dr. Beckett back in here, now.” She turned to Sergeant Johnston, "Take this guard to the room where the others are being held. Then to the others, “Green, Wang, get the rest of these people to the jumpers. Mehra, take the others, sweep the rest of the building. If you locate any more of these techs, take them, too. Move.”
Beckett rushed into the room, and immediately began examining Lorne. “Bring a stretcher; let’s get him out of here.”
~~ooOoo~~
The crowded jumpers had arrived back on Atlantis twenty minutes before. Woolsey met up with Major Teldy in the infirmary.
“Major; good job; what do we have here?”
“Thank you, sir. Dr. Keller is examining Major Lorne; he apparently was given a dose of the drug that was given to Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay. Dr. Beckett is with Proffer Terdarin, who originally designed the drug; there is an antidote. The proffer is helping Dr. Beckett synthesize it.”
“That’s good news, major; and good thinking to bring the entire team of scientists back to Atlantis. This prevents Chief Larp from continuing the work.”
“Yes, sir; Dr. Beckett identified the vials containing the drug. I decided to bring everything we could, including the computer core. I believe we have shut them down, at least for now.”
“Major, I am going to contact the Pegasus Coalition Council to notify them of this situation. It’s the council’s decision as how to proceed with Chief Larp. I will need you to make a report.”
"No problem, sir; in the meantime, we’d like to rejoin the search for Colonel Sheppard.”
The Atlantis director approved. As Teldy and her team waited to finish their post-mission examinations before they joined in the search, Woolsey radioed Chuck. The communications system was down once again. Cursing he waited a couple of minutes, and then tried again, this time getting through to Chuck. “Contact Chairman Dimas of the Coalition for me, tell him I need to arrange a time to discuss the situation on Subara.”
~~ooOoo~~
She had their attention. She sensed their probes, the diagnostics that ran on her systems, coursing through her. Now she had to begin to direct them where she needed them to come. Where he was waiting, before time ran out for him. She had to hurry.
~~ooOoo~~
Sunlight spilled into the gate room through the stained glass windows, causing patterns of light and shadows to dance across the tiled floor. Richard Woolsey hadn’t noticed, although he was standing at the railing staring at the floor below him. He was concentrating on the jumble of voices behind him. The engineers and technicians were dealing with the malfunctions that continued across Atlantis. It took a second for him to realize that Dr. Zelenka’s voice was reaching out to him through the din.
“Mr. Woolsey,” Zelenka repeated.
“Yes, doctor, sorry, what is it?”
“Sir, there seems to be a shift in the locations of the malfunctions. There are fewer occurrences in the south or southwest sections of the city. Most of the anomalies are occurring on in the other areas now.”
“Do you know why or what that means?” In response, Zelenka simply shrugged his shoulders, indicating no. Woolsey replied, “Keep at it.”
His earwig cackled, “Mr. Woolsey, Dr. Beckett, could you come to the infirmary?”
“I’ll be right there, doctor.”
When Woolsey walked into the infirmary, the first thing he noticed was Major Lorne awake and sitting up. He headed toward the major’s bed.
“Major, how are you?”
“Good sir, bit of a headache, but it’s easing up. Dr. Beckett said they got the antidote for the Subaran compound in me pretty quick. He and Proffer Terdarin assured me that I won’t develop any symptoms.”
“That’s good news, major. Have they administered the antidote to Dr. McKay?”
“I think so, sir. Mr. Woolsey, can you get Beckett to let me out of here? I need to help find Colonel Sheppard.”
“You’re not going anywhere, major.” The answer came from Beckett as he approached them. “There are a lot of people looking for the colonel. You need to rest.” Lorne looked decidedly unhappy.
Beckett gave a sympathetic smile to Lorne, and motioned for Woolsey to follow him, “As you can see from the major’s condition, Terdarin prepared the antidote. Fortunately, it’s a relatively simple formula. We’ve administered the first dose to Rodney, and will be giving him another dose in about fifteen minutes. We’re already beginning to see positive changes in Rodney’s brain chemistry. I believe he’s going to be alright, but we have to wait and see.”
They had arrived at Rodney’s bedside, where Terdarin was standing watch over the monitor displaying Rodney’s neural activity. He looked around as the two men walked up, “He’s doing better.”
Beckett patted Terdarin on the shoulder, “Thanks to you. Proffer Terdarin, this is Richard Woolsey, executive director of Atlantis.”
“Proffer, thank you for your help. Dr. McKay is very valuable to us, both as a friend and as a member of the Atlantis expedition.”
“Director Woolsey, I am sorry for what has happened. We developed the drug to combat the Wraith. When we realized that the Wraith were no longer a threat, we became worried that the drug could be used for other purposes. When the government came to confiscate the drug, we were happy to have it off our hands. My colleague, Viab Orsoneri, and I had no idea that Chief Larp would use it against those who offered to be our ally. I was rude to Dr. McKay for fear that he might discover that we were capable of making such a drug. I must apologize to him.”
Beckett’s pensive expression told Woolsey the doctor was thinking about the Wraith serum that he had developed and how that drug impacted Atlantis and Pegasus. Woolsey spoke quietly, “Terdarin; we all do things for good reasons that sometimes have dire consequences. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have tried.” He noticed the almost imperceptible nod from Beckett.
Woolsey cleared his throat, “You should know that I have spoken with Chairman Dimas of the Pegasus Coalition. He was most disturbed when I informed him about what has been going on. Once we’ve located Colonel Sheppard, you and Orsoneri will accompany me to Latira. The council would like to question you regarding this situation. Understand you and your colleague are not in trouble for developing the drug. The council is more concerned about what Larp wanted to use the drug for. He will at the least be facing charges for attempting to harm Dr. McKay and Colonel Sheppard, who were there acting on behalf of the coalition.”
“Viab; is he in danger?”
“Don’t worry; I sent a team to secure him. Lieutenant Salem radioed that they have located him, and he’s safe. They will be returning to Atlantis shortly.”
“Thank you.”
“No word about John yet?” Beckett asked, as he and Woolsey walked away.
“Nothing, I’m becoming quite concerned, and now with all the malfunctions, I’m worried about his state of mind.”
“You think he’s causing the power outages and all the other things?”
“I can only speculate.”
“You know, something’s nagging at me, like I know something, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Something, what kind of something, something about the colonel?” Woolsey asked.
“I…I…uh…don’t know; just an uneasy feeling like I have forgotten something.”
“If you figure it out, let me know. Right now, I am going to return to the control room, keep me informed about Dr. McKay.”
~~ooOoo~~
Atlantis sensed the return of the ones with the strong gene. She immediately began to project Sheppard’s location into their minds. Aware they would not be able to comprehend her thoughts; she only hoped to nudge them to her goal, finding Colonel Sheppard.
She had begun the process of channeling the ones who searched for him into the northeast section of the city. She was aware she was racing against time. He had not awakened since that brief moment, over an hour before. His breathing was still quite shallow, but she could not determine any critical drop in his condition. His temperature was low, but she couldn’t help him. Atlantis had attempted to raise the ambient temperature in the area, but she was unable to due to the power conduits. She knew that her actions had to be demonstrative, clear, or they would not understand. She had to make them understand.
~~ooOoo~~
“I don’t want to stop searching; go ahead, I’m staying here.”
Ronon had stopped following Teyla and the three Marine’s with her, standing his ground in the corridor. Teyla took a deep breath before she spun around to face him.
“Ronon, we have been searching for nearly twelve hours with only a couple of short breaks. I need to eat and so do you. We also need to check on Dr. McKay; Mr. Woolsey says he could regain consciousness anytime now. We should be there, to assure him we are all looking for the colonel. Now come on, let’s go get something to eat and rest. We will come back to continue to search in a short time.” She turned and began walking away; Ronon knew better than to argue and followed.
The Marines left them at the mess hall, joining a table of other Marines, who were on a break from searching. Teldy and Waters had conferred with Lorne and had decided that they needed to rest the teams. The teams, however, had objected and short of mutiny, Lorne ordered them to at least, break for food and fluids. Most rushed through their break time and returned to the search.
As Ronon piled his tray with food, Teyla spotted Zelenka and wound her way through the tables toward the scientist. Zelenka was absently eating a sandwich and staring at his pad. He didn’t look up as Teyla sat down.
“Radek, any word about Rodney?”
The Czech scientist looked up startled, “Cože...? Oh…uh…Teyla...” He blew out a puff of air, “I was concentrating…we are missing something. I know it. I just do not know what.”
“This is most disturbing. The city is so large. We have been searching for hours, and we have covered only a small portion. How are we going to find him without some sort of clue?”
“I know…but we cannot even use his transponder chip to find him. It is not working. It is either damaged, or he removed it, or…”
“No, the colonel is hiding or he is hurt. I refused to believe anything else.” Teyla sipped her Athosian tea to avoid saying more.
Ronon joined them, “Tell me you have something, a place for us to concentrate the search.”
Zelenka looked at Ronon, “No; we don’t. We thought he might be causing the malfunctions, but the power fluctuations and the other crazy things that were happening stopped abruptly about fifteen minutes ago. We have no idea why.”
Teyla asked, “Dr. McKay; how is he?”
“Oh, yes, yes, you asked; he regained consciousness briefly, then went to sleep. Dr. Keller said it was probably because he was exhausted from what his body was going through. They are letting him sleep.”
“You said you thought we were missing something? What do you think that is, Radek?”
Zelenka leaned back in his chair, “I just have this nagging feeling that there is a piece of information that I should remember. I cannot figure out what. I…” He stopped as a loud claxon began to sound. “Co to kurva? It is the self-distruct alarm; I must go.“ He ran from the mess, with Ronon and Teyla on his heels.
Zelenka headed for the transporter, but the doors were slamming open and shut at an alarming rate. He turned for the stairway, when the transporter doors opened and stayed open. Teyla yelled for Ronon to grab him, while she entered the transporter. Ronon, dragging Zelenka by the arm, rushed on behind her, as she tapped the directory map for the gate room.
Twice on the way, the transporter stopped. The first time the door opened, they were in the building housing the control chair. Teyla tapped the screen again, and they were back at the base of the tower. Another tap and they were in the corridor outside the gate room. Quickly, the three exited the transporter, to find chaos in the gate room and the control tower.
The gate was dialing, then it stopped, then it started dialing again, all in the span of a couple of minutes. The lights were flickering constantly, and the self-distruct alarm was blaring, then would stop, then would start again. They raced up the stairs to the control room, where the console lights were flashing rapidly. Electrical sparks were flying from the interfaces between the Ancient equipment and the expedition computers. Chuck was yelling for everyone to shut down their systems when all the anomalies abruptly stopped. The silence hung over the room as the reverberations from the alarm faded.
Woolsey turned to Zelenka,“Radek, what the hell is going on? Is Sheppard causing this?“
Zelenka rushed to the engineering station, pulling up a power schematic of the city. “I do not know. Let me look.“
The engineering tech on duty, Eva Mason, was viewing the schematic along with Zelenka when a series of power spikes began to appear. They originated from the tower and fanned out to the outer rim of northeast section. The spikes faded out, then appeared again following the same path.“
Woolsey was standing next to Zelenka, “What does that mean?“ Zelenka threw up his hands in reply, he didn’t know.
Eva had a puzzled look on her face, “Dr. Zelenka; that’s the area where we had several faint but random power readings yesterday, but the power conduits are broken. We can’t be registering power in that area; there isn’t any. The sensors must be malfunctioning.”
Zelenka stared at her for a second, then blurted out, “That is what I have been trying to remember, those readings, I was tracking them. They started in the northeast section, there were two near the stardrive engine room, then returned to the northeast. That could mean that….”
He didn’t finish his thought for Dr. Beckett and Major Lorne came running from Woolsey’s office. They had using the rear transporter from the infirmary. They ran straight to the engineering console.
Beckett was breathless. “I don’t know why, but the major and I both have a feeling that Colonel Sheppard is in the….”
“Northeast section…” Zelenka finished their sentence.
Lorne appeared confused, but nodded, “Yeah, I can’t get that out of my head.”
Woolsey tapped his COM, “Major Teldy, converge all searches to the northeast section. We believe the colonel could be there.”
~~ooOoo~~
Corporals Paul Brenner and Ramon Rodriguez had been searching for Colonel Sheppard nearly non-stop since the first teams were deployed. The corporals, members of Captain Stackhouse’s team, had been on several missions with Colonel Sheppard. The two young men had become quite attached to their CO, as he had to them. The corporals made a pact with each other when the search began, they were not going to stop until the colonel was found, safe.
They were already searching in the northeast section, when Captain Stackhouse ordered them, along with several other teams, to descend to the lowest level and work their way up to the surface level. Teams had been distributed throughout the section as evenly as possible, and more teams were being redirected. The area where the corporals were searching was treacherous. A considerable amount of debris was scattered everywhere; the air cold, damp, and musty.
“Hey, broki, what’s that slogan, “Join the Navy and see the world?”
Brenner laughed, “Yeah, Ray; that’s the slogan.”
“Well, it sucks. This certainly ain’t much to see.”
“You got tha…” Brenner stumbled over a large piece that had been broken off a piece of furniture, “Crap, this place sucks. What the hell would the colonel be doing down here?”
“Got me, Paulie, but if he is, we gotta find him.”
“I hear ya.”
Their COM’s burst into static, then Dr. Zelenka’s voice floated into their ears. “Heads up, corporals. The energy bursts are beginning to focus on your area.”
“Understood, doctor,” Brenner answered.
While the corporals made their way cautiously through the debris, the control room was quiet. It was as if everyone was collectively holding their breath, waiting for the next power surge. Lorne and Beckett were sitting next to Zelenka, watching the trail of energy spikes flowing like beacons. The pattern was reducing, narrowing to a small area on the lowest level of Atlantis.
Woolsey was standing behind them, arms crossed, a contemplative look on his face. “Atlantis is doing this, isn’t she?”
“Yes, I believe Atlantis is trying to lead us to the colonel,” Zelenka replied.
Beckett, his voice quiet, added, “If she is, then he’s in trouble.”
“Yes, doctor, I’m afraid you are correct.”
Zelenka gave Woolsey a soft smile, “Atlantis is clever. She first created all of the malfunctions to get us to pay attention, then she began to narrow the focus, pulling us into the area, she wants us to concentrate in. I believe, without a doubt, the colonel has to be on the lower levels of this section.”
The Czech scientist pointed to the screen, “See, she is beginning to shorten the pathway….now only from the mid-point, it is as if she is drawing an arrow to where she wants us to go.”
Before anyone could comment, their COM’s activated. Dr. Keller's excited voice erupted in their ears, “Mr. Woolsey, Rodney just woke up abruptly. He keeps telling me to look in the container storage chamber.”
Woolsey responded, “Container storage; did he say anything else?”
Keller hesitated, “Yes, he keeps repeating, ‘hurry’.”
Lorne immediately contacted Teldy, “Anne, Dr. McKay just told us to look in a container storage chamber. The power spikes are focusing in the lowest level, grid NE743; start concentrating the search in that area.”
Teldy replied, “Understood, major.”
Beckett looked at Woolsey, “We need to get a medical team in there.”
Woolsey nodded looking at Chuck without having to verbalize his order. Chuck was already directing an EMT team to the area.
The Atlantians exchanged glances, but remained silent. They knew there was nothing more they could do.
~~ooOoo~~
“Ray, you OK?”
Rodriguez had just taken a header over a large pipe that was lying across the corridor. He struggled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his hip from striking the pipe when he fell.
“Who put this fucking pile of shit here?” He calmed down, “Yeah; I’m OK.” He pulled his canteen off his belt, taking a drink before he continued.
“Paulie, we gotta think smart here. We’re talking about Colonel Sheppard. He’s smart and cunning; we have to try to think like he would. If he’s delusional like Dr. McKay was, he thinks the bad guys are after him. He’s gonna try to find a place where he can hide and defend himself. We have to look for places like that. So far, the rooms we have searched have been empty or blocked by junk, and we can’t get through the doorway. We need to figure out what he would do.”
The two corporals continued down the corridor for another five minutes before it dead-ended at a longer cross-corridor. The hall stretched far past the capability of their P-90 lights and the powerful flashlights they carried.
“I think we should split up. We can check each direction for a bit before we decide which way to go for certain.” Brenner offered.
“Yeah, but don’t go too far. This place is really dangerous.” Rodriguez patted Brenner on the shoulder, and the two men headed off in opposite directions.
Only a few moments passed before Brenner called out, “Ray, I found fresh blood, get down here.”
Rodriguez rushed to where Brenner was standing. He knelt down to examine the sharp metal pieces that were covered with streaks of blood. He pulled his glove off and touched a smear of dark red. “Yep, still tacky…this is not more than a few hours old; it wouldn’t dry as fast in this damp, cold air.” He tapped his COM.
“Captain Stackhouse, Rodriguez; we just found blood in a corridor in NE743-01B. I'm marking with an emergency light-stick. Blood’s been here for a while, but still tacky. We’re gonna continue down the corridor.”
“Understood, corporal; we’re marking your location.”
After Stackhouse’s reply, Brenner and Rodriguez heard a flurry of traffic on the com as Lorne and Teldy began to direct more resources to their location, along with the EMT team. They continued down the corridor, checking every door and room behind it. Rodriguez came across a partially opened door, with barely enough room to slide through. He pushed on the door; it wouldn’t budge.
“Paulie, if I were the colonel; I’d find a place that would look unlikely to hide in. Places like this where the door is jammed nearly closed; not everyone could get through this space.”
“Not much room there, Ray.”
“Yeah, I know. But we’re talking about a wiry colonel not a monster like Sergeant Johnston. It’s at least worth a look.” He dropped his pack, and slipped his own slender upper frame through the narrow space, shining the big flashlight around.
“Hey, I found something,” his light caught a glint of something shiny. Leaning into the room a bit more, he focused the light on the area, and realized that he was seeing metal connectors on a rucksack.
"There's a rucksack caught on something; I gotta get a closer look."
He started to slip through the space completely, sliding his leg through the opening. As he placed his foot down, he realized there was nothing but air under his foot.
“Mierda…”
“Ray?” Brenner grabbed Rodriguez by the arm as he saw his friend pitch forward, pulling him back into the corridor.
“The floor has broken away; hold on.” He knelt down outside the doorway, peering through. “Madre de Dios, this break is fresh; the metal core is shiny, hasn’t oxidized. Paulie, you think the colonel might have gone through here and fallen?"
"I don't know, but I think you're right. The colonel would have looked for an unlikely hiding place. He could have done just that."
We gotta get down there; you got any rope?”
Brenner smiled, “Are you kidding, former Eagle Scout here…” Pulling his backpack off, he dug in a large side pocket, coming up with a twenty-five foot coil of thin nylon rope. “Here.”
Rodriguez smiled, "Wouldn't know what to do without you, broki."
Brenner tied the rope to a piece of railing that was secured to the corridor wall. Rodriguez looped the rope around his waist in a repelling knot, and carefully slipped through the opening. Brenner kept tension on the rope as Rodriguez lowered himself into the chamber. He had descended about five feet when he twisted, turning the light to shine below him. What he saw caused his blood to run cold.
"Paulie, it's the colonel. He's…he's…oh, Madre de Dios, Paulie, he has a piece of metal through his side."
"Is he alive?"
"I can see his chest move slightly, but he's unconscious. You gotta get help, now."
Rodriguez carefully dropped the remaining few feet to the chamber floor, avoiding the other exposed flooring brackets. He checked the colonel's pulse, and found it weak and thready, but there. Breathing a bit easier himself, he leaned down and whispered, "Its Paulie and me, sir; looks like we keep making a habit of rescuing you. You're gonna be fine, colonel; we'll make sure of it."