Action/Adventure, Week 2: Always Hope (3/3)
Title: Always Hope
Author: stella_pegasi
Genre: Action/Adventure
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairing: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Evan Lorne, OC
Spoilers: None
Warnings: violence, minor language, brief sexual situation, suggestion of non-con
Het/Slash/Gen: Gen
Word count: 28,165
[Part One] [Part Two] [Part Three]
Always Hope
Chapter Seven Pandora’s Box
Rodney and Ronon made their way through the city without difficulty. The majority of the city dwellers were elated to see the ‘rebel’ villagers enter Felan. The rebels met with little resistance except for a few council members and a handful of guards.
One of the city residents offered to take them to the jumper in his small transport. Within forty-five minutes of leaving Sheppard at the medical facility, they were back in Atlantis and in the infirmary.
Dr. Jennifer Keller argued with Ronon about his insisting on returning to Felan, considering his leg wound. Lorne settled the argument by saying he needed Ronon to assist with locating buildings in the city. Keller missed the grins the two men exchanged when she turned away.
Lorne, McKay, and Ronon were waiting impatiently for Keller to get her team together. Normally, putting together an emergency team was an efficient task for the doctor. However, with the knowledge that Teyla made need transfusions, she was taking extra time to bring a supply of blood for her. While waiting for the technicians to bring the blood units, she was packing supplies.
“Doc, come on. We need to leave; Ronon said there were several guard units still outside the city gates, and the Regent and his daughter remained at large when they left. Colonel Sheppard would probably like our help about now.” Lorne was leaning against the infirmary door, an impatient Ronon looking over his shoulder.
”Major, get a grip; I’ll be ready shortly. If Teyla’s blood volume is as drained as Rodney says, she may require a transfusion before I can move her to Atlantis. I’m waiting for an adequate number of units to be prepared.” She continued to fill the container, until she heard her name. Looking up, she saw Rodney pushed his way past Ronon and Lorne.
“Jennifer, I have the readout on the enzyme material that Banar’s been injected with; look.” They studied the data on Rodney’s pad for a moment, and Dr. Keller shook her head.
“These compounds are extremely toxic. If Banar was injected less than twenty-four hours ago, and is in the condition you told me, this is really bad. Rodney, I'm sorry, there may be little I can do for him, even after I examine him.”
“Please, I'm sorry, Jennifer, but…uh…be probably the person dealing with the compound. I mean, he's the expert on Michael's hybrids.
“Rest assured, Dr. McKay; I dispatched Lieutenant Conrad’s team to MX7-993 to locate him, per Dr. Keller’s request. He’s traveling from throughout villages on the planet, holding clinics.” The voice belonged to Richard Woolsey, who had entered the infirmary. In addition, I have sent a preliminary report to the Coalition. We promised to keep them informed of any serious issues we locate in Pegasus.”
Lorne groaned, “Great, more hybrid compound stories for them to use against us.”
“Major, that will be enough.” Woolsey snapped back.
“Sorry, sir; but we both know that the coalition would love to have more ammunition to use against us.”
“Yes, major, I do know that. Dr. McKay, I want you, and Colonel Sheppard to return to Atlantis as soon as you can. I want a full report of what the situation is currently on Rienor, as soon as possible." Woolsey waited for McKay to acknowledge his request, and then left the infirmary.
A technician delivered a cooler to Dr. Keller; she looked at the three men waiting for her. “OK, I’m ready.”
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The veil of darkness surrounding him, lifted slowly; his head was throbbing, he could barely lift his chin off his chest. Struggling to raise his head, he opened his eyes. The light was muted, a golden glow illuminating crimson walls. He had absolutely no idea where he was. He attempted to move but met with resistance, and he became aware of a couple of facts. He was chained to what appeared to be a headboard, and was sitting on a bed. One word escaped Sheppard’s lips, “Crap.”
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Lorne banked the jumper over the medical building and landed on the street. The ramp lowered and Kelly and her team hurried off the jumper, Marines helping carry the supplies. Rodney moved to the front with Keller and led them into the building. Ronon and Lorne went looking for Mór.
Mór was on the ground floor talking to a group of Felan business people. He broke off from them and headed for Ronon and Lorne.
“Ronon, you OK?” Mór smiled.
“Yeah, leg’s OK; this is Major Lorne, Sheppard’s second in command.” Mór shook Lorne’s hand.
“Good to meet you, major. I presume Sheppard came back with you?” Mór looked at them questioningly.
The hairs on the back of Lorne’s neck prickled, “The colonel is not here?”
“I haven’t seen him since, Desman and I went upstairs to see Desman’s son. I thought the colonel was coming up to be with Desman, but he never came. I sent some people looking for him; we can’t find him. I assumed he must have decided to go back to Atlantis.”
Ronon growled, “He didn’t. He stayed here.”
Lorne tapped his COM, “Everyone, heads up; Colonel Sheppard is missing. He was last seen in the medical facility.” Covering his mic, he asked Ronon what Sheppard was wearing, Ronon told him, and Lorne continued. “The colonel is off COM, and he is wearing a Regent Guard uniform. All personnel commence searching. Team leaders report to me every ten minutes.”
The major asked Ronon and Mór, “Alright, where could he possibly be, any idea?”
Ronon eyes narrowed, “There is one person that we haven’t found, who might have an interest in Sheppard, the Regent’s daughter, Lady Elradia.”
“I would not put anything past her. She would be brazen enough to kidnap Colonel Sheppard.”
Loren rubbed his neck and then flexed his neck. “Where do we find this Lady Elradia?”
Mór said, “Maybe we should start with the government house?”
“Ronon, why don’t you stay here? You can direct the search in this building?”
Lorne was not surprised when Ronon glared at him, and walked away, toward the entrance. As he jogged to catch up, he thought nothing ever changed; Ronon played hurt, and the women always wanted Sheppard.
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Sheppard rested against the headboard, seeking to ease the pain in his head. He shut his eyes, hoping the darkness would soothe the shooting pains in the left side of his head. He was attempting slow his breathing, when he heard a creaking noise, the sound of a door opening. Sensing who entered the room, he wished he was wrong. Willing his eyes to open, he managed to peer through narrow slits, enough to see he was correct; it was the Lady Elradia.
“Umm...you look delicious. I think having you shackled is the safest way to keep you around, John. Especially since, you rarely follow directions well." She kneeled on the side of the bed, leaning over toward him. She touched his collarbone lightly with her fingertips, then trailing down his chest; she slid her fingers underneath the buttons and the fabric of his shirt. Pressing her hand against his chest, leaning her face to his, Elradia brushed her lips against his before he jerked his head away.
“You should realize, John that you are better off with me. With Dr. Maxea’s assistance, you will remain as handsome as you are now, for a very long time. As for your former life, Dr. Maxea guarantees me that he has a wonderful formula for a drug that will help you forget who you are. You will be with me, and the memories of Atlantis and your little Teyla will vanish forever from your memory."
“I've always been bored by older women. As long as the drug enables to me forget how old you truly are, Elradia. That would certainly make this a lot more tolerable." Sheppard laughed as Elradia's deceivingly young face turned bright pink. It was a good thing she lacked truth serum to give him; he had lied, he was truly, quite fond of older women.
“You bastard,” she struck him sharply across the cheek. Her eyes blazing, Elradia rose from the bed, and traversed the small space across the boudoir, retrieving an ovoid, jewel-encrusted, wooden box from a dresser.
“Do you know what this is?” Her anger seemed to have abated, and she smiled coyly at him. When he ignored her question, she climbed onto the bed, straddling his legs, facing him.
“This little box holds the formula to the youth elixir that Dr. Maxea created, and a vial of the drug. Wherever we go, we can make this wonderful drug, and live virtually forever. I find that very exciting.”
Elradia reverently opened the lid; the interior was lined with gold satin and additional sparkling jewels. A small purple velvet covered book, and a red velvet pouch holding the vial that contained the youth enzyme, lay nestled in the folds of the shiny material. From the look on her face, she was quite affected by the contents of the box. When she turned her glaze upon him, he could tell the box had a somewhat aphrodisiacal effect on her.
Sheppard was getting quite uncomfortable; Elradia had placed the box on top of the crimson silk bedcover, and was beginning to unbuttoned his shirt. He tried to distract her with a question.
“Where are we? This doesn’t appear to be the government house.”
She glanced up at him, “You are a perceptive man. Since you completely shattered our little happy city, we have retreated into a bunker. It's located underneath the government building. Only a few trusted servants and guards are aware of this place and the tunnel from here to the Portal of the Ancestors. We got here from the tunnel that leads from the medical facility. We will be leaving in a short while, once Maxea's equipment and our things are loaded on the little transports for the trip to the portal. Dr. Maxea has a safe haven where we can hide for a while. He also has an idea where we can start over.” She finished unfastening the last button on his shirt, and tugged the shirt out of his pants.
Gazing at his chest, she licked her lips. “Oh, my…you have the most magnificent chest, John. I am so elated that if anyone was going to shatter our lives, it was you; especially, since I get to keep you.” She ran her hands along the length of his torso, through the soft, curling hair, matting his chest. She leaned toward him, in order to replace her fingers with her mouth. He attempted to pull away, but escape from Elradia's assault was impossible.
“Ummm…you smell good, John.” She was nuzzling his neck as her hands dropped to his waist, and she began to unbuckle his belt.
Sheppard panicked somewhat; he had to stop her. Elradia was in control, he was keenly aware of that fact; however, he preferred to forgo sex with the vile woman. Knowing his best option was to fling her off the bed with his legs, he waited for the opportune moment to attempt to flip her. If he was lucky, he would also knock her unconscious, or worse.
She finished unbuckling his belt, and began to unbutton his pants. Sliding down his legs to give herself a bit more room to maneuver, she was not applying as much pressure to his legs. He decided to risk that this was the moment. However, as he started to move, a soft rap sounded on the chamber door. Elradia twisted her body toward the door, a most dispirited look on her face. Another, louder, more pronounced, thump struck the door; muttering angrily, she sprang from the bed, jerking the door open, to discover a Regent Guard standing before her
“What; why are you disturbing me?”
The guard took a quick glance into the room, quickly averting his eyes when he spotted Colonel Sheppard in a state of undress, and restraint. “Lady Halkan, your father has ordered me to inform you to collect your things. We will be leaving the bunker very shortly.”
She took a deep breath, “Tell my father, I’ll be ready. When you are done, bring another guard. You will need to remove the colonel from his current restraints and secure him.”
“Yes, Lady Halkan.” He was bowing to her as she slammed the door in his face.
“We just seem to keep getting interrupted, John.” She smiled, and began to crawl from the foot of the bed toward him. Reaching him, she took his head in her hands, and kissed him deeply. Pulling away a bit, she slid one hand slowly down his chest, and finished unbuttoning his pants. She kissed him deeply again, as her hand slipped under the waistband of his pants; after a few moments, she released him.
Staring into his green eyes, she laughed at his discomfort. “Oh, you really don’t like me doing that, do you? Yet, I noticed you responded quite swiftly. Umm, just remember, there is more of that delicious feeling to come.” She slipped off the bed, and began to gather a few things.
Sheppard laid his aching head back against the silk covered, padded headboard. Silently, he spoke to himself, “Way to go, John. Your head feels like it’s going to explode, you aren’t attracted to Elradia in any way, yet…great…you have to react to her services.” He wasn’t certain if he was more embarrassed or humiliated.
A knock on the door revealed the previous guard and a second guard who had come to ‘secure’ him. Hearing them argue as to who going to button him up, Sheppard thought, “Crap. You are now officially embarrassed and humiliated; great, John, just great."
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Ronon headed up to the third level to inform McKay that Sheppard had disappeared. When he located the ward that Banar was in, he discovered McKay and Keller there, and Teyla. He rushed to Teyla’s bedside.
“McKay, how is she?” Teyla's bed had been situated next to Banar’s; a bag of blood hung from a metal stand sitting next to her bed, tubing taking life-giving blood into her veins. Rodney turned to Ronon.
“Jennifer says she remains in serious condition, but she thinks the transfusions were started soon enough to do the job. Her prognosis is much improved than it was when we left her. At least, her skin color is definitely improved and is considerably pinker now.” McKay turned to look at Banar. “He’s another story.”
The young scientist remained ashen and still, Desman and Maita were both at his side, as was Jennifer. “That his mother?” Ronon asked.
“Yeah, she came with the others to fight for the city, and to find her son. She’s been asking about Sheppard. She seems really fond of him, and is worried about him. Where is he? I thought he be here by now, as well.”
“He’s missing, McKay.”
“OK, Ronon, you don’t have any reason to try and fool these people like earlier. Man, you scared me when you arrived at the cell, telling us he was dead, so cut the crap. I don’t need that now.”
“Not kidding this time, McKay. He’s missing. No one has seen him since we left him on the stairs, and headed for Atlantis.”
“Oh, god, what happen to him?”
“We don’t know, but we think Elradia may have something to do with it.”
Desman had been listening, “I will come with you.” He turned to his wife, “Maita, if you have no objections.”
She smiled, “You must go; John brought our son back to us. He is part of us now, Desman; a member of our family. John Sheppard risked his life to save the people of Camati. I refuse to lose him, as I refuse to lose Banar. Help them find our friend."
Desman embraced his wife, kissed his son on the forehead, and turned back to Ronon. "I am ready; let’s go find our friend."
“Rodney, stay here with Jennifer; she may need you. I promise we’ll keep you informed.”
Rodney nodded; Ronon and Desman took off down the stairs, running into Dr. Carson Beckett on his way up. The Scotsman was carrying several medical bags with him.
“Ronon, I hear the colonel is missing; you find him.”
“We will, Beckett.” Ronon slapped him on the shoulder.
Desman recognized the name, “You are the doctor, who was coming to help my son; I am Desman Lemér. Thank you, Colonel Sheppard told us that Atlantis has the finest doctors in two galaxies. My wife and I are very grateful.”
“I’ll do my best, I promise.” Carson smiled warmly. They parted, and Desman and Ronon continued on their way to meet Lorne.
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Sheppard had been bound and gagged, then thrown on top of boxes of medical equipment. He was in the last car of the small tram, used to travel through the tunnels. Throughout the years, the Regent had numerous bunkers and tunnels built throughout Camati. Sheppard suspected that guards, loyal to the Regent, had used the tunnels' to kidnap villagers, and take them directly to the medical facility.
Once underway, Sheppard estimated that the trams moved about twenty clicks an hour, maximum speed. It was especially slow when the tram was as heavily loaded as now with people and baggage. The stargate was located at the base of a large mountain, fifty miles from Felan, in an area that was considered a shrine to the ancestors. None of the regions on the planet claimed the land, and all were to use the gate at will.
He had been gone from the medical facility for about three hours. He deduced it would take close to an hour and forty minutes to get to the gate. Not knowing how far the tunnel opening was from the gate, he needed to consider that time, plus the time to get all the stuff they were carrying, to the gate. Sheppard decided that he had, at a minimum, another two and a half hour’s, before he was whisked off the planet. He was hoping Ronon and Lorne were getting close to finding him.
Chapter Eight Always Hope
Ronon was getting frustrated, Lorne was already there. They had searched all the government buildings, the medical facility, and nearly every other major building in Felan. The Regent, the Lady Elradia, Dr. Maxea, three of his staff, and nine Regent Guards and three servants were missing. As for Colonel Sheppard, he had simply vanished; his transmitter signal, silent on the Ancient scanner.
They were standing in the gardens beneath the balcony of the room that Teyla had slept in when Sheppard’s team first arrived. Lorne leaned casually, against the back of a stone bench, his hands resting on his P-90. Ronon watched him as the major stood quietly, thinking about his next move. It could have been Colonel Sheppard standing there. Well, it could have Sheppard, if Lorne was several inches taller, thinner, and had crazy dark hair. However, Lorne had unconsciously been taking on a lot of Sheppard’s mannerisms, and actions. At this point, Ronon could clearly tell that the major was just as pissed off as Sheppard would have been in the same situation. His casual ‘body language’, as Sheppard called it, told the story. Sheppard would have appeared just as casual despite his anxiety.
Desman returned from obtaining an update from Mór, who had organized numerous citizens, from Felan and the villagers, to search for Sheppard. As he walked up to the Atlantians, he wagged his head side to side. He was looking quite frustrated, as well.
“Sheppard couldn’t have simply disappeared. He has to be somewhere.” Ronon began pacing.
Lorne said, his voice even, “We are missing something. A big something and I can’t imagine out what it is.”
Desman agreed, “According to Mór, the villagers, who stood guard by the front and rear gates, said there was no traffic in, or out of either gate, after we came into Felan. We don’t have airships like your jumpers, so they couldn’t have gotten out any other way. They have to be in the city, somewhere.”
Lorne just shook his head in reply.
“Mór did tell me that your friend, Teyla, regained consciousness for a few moments. Dr. Keller believes she will recover fully; she merely requires more transfusions and rest…” Desman’s voice drifted off.
Ronon quietly asked, “Banar?”
“The same; however, Dr. Beckett had some ideas for treatments that he thought might help.”
Lorne walked over to Desman, “Sir, I have seen Dr.’s Beckett and Keller perform miracles. They’re very good, and your son couldn’t be in better hands.”
Desman was about to answer, when Captain Stackhouse rushed up, Corporals’ Brenner and Rodriquez in tow.
“Major, Ronon, we may have something. Brenner, Rodriquez, tell him.
Rodriguez spoke, “I kept looking at this house, and thinking that it’s old like some of those haunted mansions that have those secret passageways. We were searching the laundry facility when we were talking about it. A laundry worker came over to tell us that there is a rumor regarding a secret passage in the government house. That they have seen Regent Guards appear seemingly out of nowhere on the lower levels. They have also seen the Regent and his daughter coming to the lower level, and disappearing.
“She said the people who disappeared, would reappear later. She also said that they were warned about speaking to anyone about anything they observed.”
“Did she show you where they came and went from?” The corporals nodded yes, in unison.
Lorne tapped his COM, “Captain Water’s, Major Lorne. Assemble your team, and take your jumper to join Lieutenant Salem at the stargate. Cloak both jumpers. Keep an eye out for Colonel Sheppard and others. They may have gotten out of the city; if so, you may be able to pick up the colonel’s transmitter signal. Captain Isaacs, bring your jumper; all other teams, join me at the government house; Lorne out.”
Looking to the corporals, Lorne smiled, “Good job, guys. You’ve come through for the colonel again.”
Rodriguez grinned, “He’s our broki, sir. Gotta take care of him; gotta get him back, sir.”
“You'll get no argument there, Rodriguez. Porter, when the others arrive, send them to the laundry facilities on the lower level.” Addressing the others, “Come on; let’s go find Colonel Sheppard.”
It took about ten minutes, with the Ancient scanner’s help to locate the concealed entrance into the tunnels. They initiated a search into the tunnels, finding the bunker, and the tracks from the tram system. The search only confirmed what they were afraid of, John Sheppard was still missing.
Lorne, Desman, and Ronon were making a walk-through of the bunker chambers, when Desman spotted something. In a sleeping chamber with the walls and the large bed covered in crimson silk, Desman noticed a Regent Guard hat that had fallen onto a plush rug lying next to the bed. Picking it up, he checked the inside of the brim. He smiled, tossing the hat to Lorne.
“John was wearing that hat, it belongs to Commander Efrasé. He was the guard who bribed the two kids, we told you about. He was tall and his uniform fit Sheppard, so he wore it. Your colonel was here.”
Ronon was standing next to the headboard, “It’s a safe bet that Elradia was here, as well.” With a sardonic grin on his face, he picked up the shackles that were now lying on the bed. Lorne and Desman shared Ronon’s bitterness. They all doubted that Sheppard was enjoying himself.
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The tram skidded to a halt, and Sheppard nearly tumbled off the top of the boxes. Two of the burley guards came for him, roughly dragging him from the tram. He was forced down a short tunnel that branched off the main tunnel, into in a much smaller bunker. To his surprise, there were twelve other people already in the bunker. He assumed they were all from Felan, judging by their clothes; all women and children. It didn’t take long for Sheppard to realize the regent brought hostages.
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Lorne ordered all teams and jumpers to the stargate. Desman, Mór, and other Camati’s joined them. Lorne dispatched personnel into the woods surrounding the stargate; stationing Cpl. Rodriquez, expert sniper, where he had a clear shot at the gate. Jumpers were cloaked, and they waited.
The HUD in Lorne’s jumper popped on, when the automatic scan Lorne had been running was activated by Colonel Sheppard’s transmitter. He was not alone; there were several other life signs with him. Lorne addressed the teams.
“All teams, we have acquired Colonel Sheppard’s transmitter signal. He’s about a quarter click away and appears to be walking. He is accompanied by eleven other life signs, and what may be a couple of motorized carts. The HUD showed that there was another group of life signs heading for the gate. Lorne reported to the teams, “There are twenty more life signs that just popped up from the same place, and they are right behind the colonel’s group. Jumpers stay cloaked, troops deployed on ground, don’t reveal yourselves until the jumpers uncloak; weapons fire only on my order.”
No one spoke during the several minutes it took for the blips on the HUD, to materialize out of the trees surrounding the gate. There were four Regent Guards, each with holding a hostage in front of them, along with Colonel Sheppard. His hands now bound in front of him, and a small girl of about three, in his arms. They appeared to be bound together.
Two men, who were dressed like the servants in the government house, each pushed a motorized cart that held the luggage and supplies. One of the guards walked directly to the DHD, a hostage with him, covering him from the rear. He began dialing a gate address. The other guards moved the hostages, shoulder to shoulder in front of the gate.
As Lorne was relaying the information, the stargate engaged, and the servants began to move the carts toward the event horizon. Afraid that they would attempt to take Sheppard through the gate, Lorne ordered the jumpers to decloak and land. Just as the jumpers became visible, the remainder of the regent’s minions entered their view.
The shimmering noise created from the jumpers’ uncloaking, startled the guards, who whirled around, guns ready. However, they did not fire for fear of having the regent and his daughter caught in the crossfire.
The carts and their drivers had gone though the event horizon just as the regent and his party arrived at the gate. The SO’s had closed in on the gate dais, and Lorne, Ronon, Mór, and Desman had exited their jumper, taking position directly in front of the DHD.
The guards had pushed the rest of the hostages along the front edge of the dais to prevent anyone getting a clear shot at the regent or his daughter.
Regent Halkan, surrounded by guards walked over to Sheppard. “Colonel, if you do not call your people off; I will have my guards kill my former subjects. I’m not joking with you, Sheppard, I will kill them, and I will kill you. If you do not call them off now, I might just start with that lovely little child in your arms.”
Sheppard’s eyes were cold, his anger brewing, but he turned to Lorne, “Major, don’t shoot. The regent has threatened to kill the hostages. Let them go.” Lorne was looking right at him. and caught the upward movement of Sheppard’s eyes. He knew that Sheppard had spotted Rodriquez; they both knew Rodriquez was the only hope for a clear shot.
“Halkan let these people go, you have me; you don’t need them. My people won’t hurt you as long as you are holding me hostage.” Sheppard had moved a bit closer to Halkan, his body angled away from Halkan and his guards in an attempt to protect the little girl they had tied to him.
“Father, you should listen to him, I think he wants to stay with us, not what we have spent some time together.” Elradia was hiding behind two guards, but Sheppard could see her evil smile.
“Shut up, you foolish woman; you probably caused this by fawning all over the colonel to begin with.” The regent had turned on his daughter, looking angry enough to harm her. “You say one more word and I’ll kill Sheppard where he stands. Then, you won’t have your plaything. We need to get out of here. Maxea, you and your people, go through the gate.” Dr. Maxea, his assistants, the other servants and two guards went through the gate.
The regent then turned to Elradia, “Go.”
“Not without, Sheppard; guards, grab him and bring him.” She bellowed at the guards, who seized Sheppard, dragging him toward the gate.
The mother of the little girl who was tied to the colonel’s chest started screaming for them to let her daughter go. Lorne used the cover of her screaming to give the order to fire. Mór and Desman lunged for the hostages and the ones they didn’t knock down, dropped to the ground on their own.
Two of the Regent guards were hit almost immediately, but the others were running for the gate. The one pulling Sheppard toward the gate jerked the colonel in front of him, and began backing toward the gate. Elradia was waiting for Sheppard just outside the event horizon.
As Sheppard got closer, she was smiling at him that evil smile, and he decided he wasn’t going through the gate. He did notice that she had the jeweled box that contained the formula in her hands. If he could just reach it, he could take away her most prized possession.
Tying to keep the little girl, who was crying hysterically, from getting hurt, Sheppard didn’t have a lot of room to maneuver. He managed to force the guard pulling him backwards to move closer to Elradia. He was finally within range to reach the box, and he kicked toward her with his right leg, knocking the box from her hand. Unfortunately, the box went straight up in the air instead of sideways, and she barely managed to grab her precious box as it fell.
“How dare you attempt to destroy this box? You will pay now, John.” Her ice blue eyes consumed with blazing evil, she shrieked at the guard, “Kill him.” The guard shoved Sheppard away, aiming his weapon at the colonel.
Sheppard turned, again trying to protect the child. The last thing he remembered was the regent slipping through the gate, Elradia’s evil smile, and the bullet hole in the guard’s forehead, courtesy of one Marine sniper, Cpl. Rodriquez. Only one problem, Sheppard thought before the world went black. The guard got off a shot.
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A calliope of sounds drifted into his ears, the tinny beep of an electronic machine, the soft ker-thump of a hydraulic pump, the occasional squeak of a rubber sole on a tiled floor. He had heard those sounds too many times before, he decided. He was tired of hearing them.
He argued with himself for a few moments, debating whether to open his eyes, or lie there a while longer in peace and quiet. The moment he opened his eyes, he knew he would hear Rodney’s voice announcing to the world that he was awake. If he was lucky, Rodney might be doing something else, although that was highly unlikely. He listened closely for the clatter of fingertips on a keypad. He could hear it, a rhythmic tapping adding to the collection of background noise; so much for peace and quiet.
He was deciding what to do when he felt the familiar presence of Atlantis prodding him to wake up. He finally opened his eyes, hoping the city would leave him alone. He only opened narrow slits at first; to make certain Keller hadn’t forgotten and left the lights too bright. They weren’t; so he opened his eyes the rest of the way.
Rodney was on the right side of the bed, sitting in a chair he must have stolen from the waiting room. Ronon was sitting at the foot of the bed next to him, leaning on the bed tray table, sound asleep. He rolled his head toward the right, to confirm what he suspected; that Teyla was in the bed next to him. She was asleep as well; her skin tone back to its normal warm glow. He felt great relief to see her sleeping peacefully.
There was someone else there, someone he didn’t recognize for a moment. Then as the recognition floated into his thick head, he smiled, not realizing he had said her name quietly, “Jenesta.”
“Colonel Sheppard, are you awake?” A youthful, soft voice floated toward him. He felt a slender, cool hand close over his.
“Sheppard, you awake?” Rodney’s voice was neither soft, nor young sounding.
Sheppard looked at Jenesta and smiled, squeezing her hand, “Hey, I didn’t expect to see you here.” His voice was raspy and weak.
Jenesta smiled back, “Dr. Beckett brought Banar here, and Mr. Woolsey allowed us to stay with him.”
“How’s Banar doing?”
Shrugging her shoulders, Jenesta said, “Alright, I guess. Momma looks unhappy, but I believe he is some better.”
Rodney had automatically gotten ice chips for Sheppard; he shoved a couple into Sheppard’s mouth. While the colonel was trying not to choke, Rodney asked Jenesta to find Dr. Keller, and let her know that Sheppard was awake.
Finally able to talk, Sheppard asked, testily, “What the hell did you do that for?”
“I didn’t want you to ask her too many questions about her brother. Carson isn’t convinced he’s going to make it.”
“Oh, I…damn.” He took a deep breath, and motioned for more ice chips. As he rose up to meet Rodney’s hand, he felt a sharp pain in his back on the right. A deep moan escaped his lips.
“Geese, Sheppard, you got shot in the back. Take it easy.”
The last few minutes before he blacked out were starting to come back to him. He remembered Elradia ordering the guard to kill him, then seeing the guard with a bloody hole in his head. He also remembered turning away to keep the little girl safe…the little girl.
“Rodney, how’s that little girl? Is she ok?” Sheppard was becoming agitated.
“Hang on, she’s fine. Somehow, flyboy, you managed to get shot, but spun around so that you fell onto your back. She wasn’t even crying when they got to you.”
“Thank goodness.”
Sheppard pushed further down into the pillow. He disregarded the pain in his back, his ribs, and the headache he just realized he had. All he could remember were the big brown eyes of that beautiful little girl, so full of fear, boring into his.
“Colonel, welcome back. How are you feeling?”
Sheppard looked over at Dr. Jennifer Keller, who was smiling down at him. “I think we have had this conversation before, doc?” She nodded in agreement as he continued, “My head hurts, my ribs hurt, my back hurts, but I am fine.”
“Well, nothing new to see here. Colonel, you are very lucky, you have three broken ribs, a fairly serious concussion, and a gunshot wound to your right lower back. The bullet fortunately missed your liver, as well anything else that would cause me even more sleepless nights because of you. The bullet did nick your transcending colon but was a through and through and pretty small caliber. You had surgery to repair the colon damage, and make certain that there was no other surprises. I have you on IV antibiotics for now; we’ll go on oral drugs tomorrow. As a warning, colonel, you are not getting out of here for at least a week. So don’t start whining on me, or trying to escape.”
Sheppard scoffed, “You take all the fun out a stay in the infirmary, doc.”
Keller smiled a little sarcastically, but with a glitter of humor in her eyes, “Let me check your ribs and wounds. OK?”
He nodded, while she was pulling his gown down from his shoulders, he asked, “How’s Teyla?”
She glanced over at Teyla before answering, “She’s going to be fine, but I got to tell you; it was close. John, the nurse who was taking care of her when I arrived, said that Dr. Maxea was doing the transfusion. She said she thought he was pushing to see how much blood he could take from her without killing her. Sport, if you will.”
“Sociopaths, every one of them; the Lady Elradia was a real piece of work as well. They got away, didn’t they?”
“Yes, according to Major Lorne, they escaped. Lorne sent a couple of teams through the gate immediately, but they must have turned right around and gated off that planet.”
Keller pressed on Sheppard’s ribs and he winced, “Ouch.., sorry, didn’t mean to react that way.”
She laughed softly, “I would probably be screaming if I was hurt this bad, colonel. You are one tough son of a bitch.” She finished her exam, and straightened Sheppard’s bedcovers. “I’ll increase your pain meds just a bit for now.”
“Jennifer, how’s Banar?”
“I wish I knew. Carson is working around the clock to identify what compound he was injected with. There were no records; Maxea must have taken the records and compounds with him when he escaped.
“I think we need an ongoing mission to find these bastards.”
“Colonel, I would volunteer for that mission. It’s very late and it’s only been forty-eight hours since you were shot. If you have any trouble sleeping, let us know. I want you to get as much rest as possible.”
She started to walk away, “John, you don’t know that we found a room where Maxea was keeping four hybrids. They’re not in great shape, but we brought them here. I’ve started them on the same regimen as before with the Athosians. It hasn’t been long since we started treatment, but it appears to be working. Two of the hybrids are Athosian; Halling and Kanaan are helping me work with them, as well as, the other two. These criminals may have gotten away, but a great deal of good came from the efforts to save these people from what was happening to them.”
Ronon had awakened, and he and Rodney, were approaching Sheppard’s bed. Jennifer put up her hand, to hold them up for a minute, “The colonel needs rest; you can talk to him for five minutes. Keep him up longer than that, and I will call the Marine’s to remove you.”
Ronon just laughed, but Rodney looked a bit nervous. He overheard her tell Sheppard he was tough; he knew that the petite doctor was pretty tough herself.
?????????????????????????????
A week had passed, and John Sheppard was still in the infirmary. Despite the antibiotics, he still developed an infection from the gunshot wound. He had a raging fever and all the fun stuff that goes with one for a couple of days. Now Jennifer told him, she might release him the next day.
He was reclining in a lounge chair on the balcony outside of the infirmary. Eyes closed, Sheppard was soaking up the sun's warmth. He had been chilled to the bone for the last two days from the infection.
Hearing the balcony doors swish open, he waited to hear Rodney’s aggravating whiny voice any second. Rodney had been like a mother hen, since he had developed the fever; barely leaving him alone for a moment. However, Rodney was not his intruder. Desman and Maita were his visitors.
“John, how are you? You are certainly looking better this morning.” Maita stooped to hug him.
“Good, fever's gone and I feel much better. Is it true that Banar woke up? I thought I heard one of the nurses telling Woolsey that this morning.”
Maita smiled at him, “Yes, for once, there is good news. Banar regained consciousness a little while ago. He recognized us and squeezed Jenesta hand. He is asleep again, but Dr. Beckett assured us that he is no longer in a coma. I believe that the good doctor feels that we have a chance now to have our son back with us fully.”
“That’s great news. See, I told you that we had the best doctors.” He reached out for Maita’s hand, clasping her small hand tightly.
Desman walked to the railing, looking out at the dark blue water surrounding Atlantis. After a moment, he turned to look at Sheppard. “John, what’s going to happen now regarding the regent and his daughter, and that despicable Maxea? Mór told me when he was here yesterday that much of Camati’s treasury and valuable artifacts are missing. They believe the regent had been moving the tender and valuables off world for a long time. They looted from their own people. The regent and his group are not in need of tender to finance their escapades; they can do what they want.”
“Major Lorne has followed up on every lead that we have gotten this last week, but none have panned out. The one good thing is that with the new Pegasus Coalition, an arrest warrant has been issued for all of them, and distributed throughout the coalition planets. That helps increase the odds that we may find them. At least, perhaps potential victims might be more wary of them. We won’t rest until we can bring them to justice.” Sheppard answered quietly.
“Evil, John, they are simply evil.” Maita whispered.
Sheppard nodded, “You know, when I was with Elradia in the bunker, she showed me a wooden box, covered in jewels, where she kept a vial of the ‘youth’ serum and the formula to make it. She was enraptured by that box, and it made me think of an old myth from Earth, Pandora’s Box.”
He sat up a bit, wincing from the still painful broken ribs, and continued. “Pandora was the daughter of Prometheus, who was in possession of the box. The box was never to be opened, Prometheus was curious, but he had been given the box as a punishment by the Greek god, Zeus. If he opened it, all the evils of the world, would be released, greed, rage, jealousy, sloth, and fear. One of the gods, Athena, argued that if the box was ever opened, that mankind would cease to exist when the evils escaped. To counteract the evil, Athena convinced Zeus to add one other emotion to the box, hope.”
He paused to take a breath, “Pandora, was as curious as her father, but did not know that the box contained all of evil. She opened the box, and evil escaped. Only hope clung to the rim of the box, and Pandora managed to close the box in time to save hope. The only salvation we have.”
Maita repeated, “Hope, the only salvation we have. That is so true, John; without hope, we have nothing.”
Desman, clasped John’s shoulder, “You, Colonel John Sheppard, returned hope to the Camati’s, and to my family. We will always be indebted to you, and those here on Atlantis.”
Sheppard smiled, somewhat embarrassed from Desman’s comment. He dropped his still achy head back against the chair. Considering Maita's statement, he knew his friend was correct. Hope; that was really the only thing they had to cling to.
Desman sensed Sheppard’s embarrassment, and broke the silence. “Colonel, I asked Mór to bring me something a few days ago when he was here to talk to Major Lorne. By the way, Mór has accepted the position of Chief of the Regent Guards, a good thing for Camati.” Sheppard nodded in agreement.
“So when he came yesterday, he brought the item.” Desman held up a deck of colorful marquay cards. “Care to learn a new game, John?”
Sheppard nodded, with an impish grin as Maita rose, shaking her head. As she started for the doors leading to the infirmary, she told Sheppard.
“Hope is one thing, John; but you will find that my wonderful husband is hopeless at marquay.”
The two men, the two friends, burst out laughing, and Desman started shuffling the deck of cards. Grinning widely, he said, “There’s always hoping."
The end.
Author: stella_pegasi
Genre: Action/Adventure
Rating: PG-13
Character/Pairing: John Sheppard, Rodney McKay, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Evan Lorne, OC
Spoilers: None
Warnings: violence, minor language, brief sexual situation, suggestion of non-con
Het/Slash/Gen: Gen
Word count: 28,165
[Part One] [Part Two] [Part Three]
Always Hope
Chapter Seven Pandora’s Box
Rodney and Ronon made their way through the city without difficulty. The majority of the city dwellers were elated to see the ‘rebel’ villagers enter Felan. The rebels met with little resistance except for a few council members and a handful of guards.
One of the city residents offered to take them to the jumper in his small transport. Within forty-five minutes of leaving Sheppard at the medical facility, they were back in Atlantis and in the infirmary.
Dr. Jennifer Keller argued with Ronon about his insisting on returning to Felan, considering his leg wound. Lorne settled the argument by saying he needed Ronon to assist with locating buildings in the city. Keller missed the grins the two men exchanged when she turned away.
Lorne, McKay, and Ronon were waiting impatiently for Keller to get her team together. Normally, putting together an emergency team was an efficient task for the doctor. However, with the knowledge that Teyla made need transfusions, she was taking extra time to bring a supply of blood for her. While waiting for the technicians to bring the blood units, she was packing supplies.
“Doc, come on. We need to leave; Ronon said there were several guard units still outside the city gates, and the Regent and his daughter remained at large when they left. Colonel Sheppard would probably like our help about now.” Lorne was leaning against the infirmary door, an impatient Ronon looking over his shoulder.
”Major, get a grip; I’ll be ready shortly. If Teyla’s blood volume is as drained as Rodney says, she may require a transfusion before I can move her to Atlantis. I’m waiting for an adequate number of units to be prepared.” She continued to fill the container, until she heard her name. Looking up, she saw Rodney pushed his way past Ronon and Lorne.
“Jennifer, I have the readout on the enzyme material that Banar’s been injected with; look.” They studied the data on Rodney’s pad for a moment, and Dr. Keller shook her head.
“These compounds are extremely toxic. If Banar was injected less than twenty-four hours ago, and is in the condition you told me, this is really bad. Rodney, I'm sorry, there may be little I can do for him, even after I examine him.”
“Please, I'm sorry, Jennifer, but…uh…be probably the person dealing with the compound. I mean, he's the expert on Michael's hybrids.
“Rest assured, Dr. McKay; I dispatched Lieutenant Conrad’s team to MX7-993 to locate him, per Dr. Keller’s request. He’s traveling from throughout villages on the planet, holding clinics.” The voice belonged to Richard Woolsey, who had entered the infirmary. In addition, I have sent a preliminary report to the Coalition. We promised to keep them informed of any serious issues we locate in Pegasus.”
Lorne groaned, “Great, more hybrid compound stories for them to use against us.”
“Major, that will be enough.” Woolsey snapped back.
“Sorry, sir; but we both know that the coalition would love to have more ammunition to use against us.”
“Yes, major, I do know that. Dr. McKay, I want you, and Colonel Sheppard to return to Atlantis as soon as you can. I want a full report of what the situation is currently on Rienor, as soon as possible." Woolsey waited for McKay to acknowledge his request, and then left the infirmary.
A technician delivered a cooler to Dr. Keller; she looked at the three men waiting for her. “OK, I’m ready.”
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The veil of darkness surrounding him, lifted slowly; his head was throbbing, he could barely lift his chin off his chest. Struggling to raise his head, he opened his eyes. The light was muted, a golden glow illuminating crimson walls. He had absolutely no idea where he was. He attempted to move but met with resistance, and he became aware of a couple of facts. He was chained to what appeared to be a headboard, and was sitting on a bed. One word escaped Sheppard’s lips, “Crap.”
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Lorne banked the jumper over the medical building and landed on the street. The ramp lowered and Kelly and her team hurried off the jumper, Marines helping carry the supplies. Rodney moved to the front with Keller and led them into the building. Ronon and Lorne went looking for Mór.
Mór was on the ground floor talking to a group of Felan business people. He broke off from them and headed for Ronon and Lorne.
“Ronon, you OK?” Mór smiled.
“Yeah, leg’s OK; this is Major Lorne, Sheppard’s second in command.” Mór shook Lorne’s hand.
“Good to meet you, major. I presume Sheppard came back with you?” Mór looked at them questioningly.
The hairs on the back of Lorne’s neck prickled, “The colonel is not here?”
“I haven’t seen him since, Desman and I went upstairs to see Desman’s son. I thought the colonel was coming up to be with Desman, but he never came. I sent some people looking for him; we can’t find him. I assumed he must have decided to go back to Atlantis.”
Ronon growled, “He didn’t. He stayed here.”
Lorne tapped his COM, “Everyone, heads up; Colonel Sheppard is missing. He was last seen in the medical facility.” Covering his mic, he asked Ronon what Sheppard was wearing, Ronon told him, and Lorne continued. “The colonel is off COM, and he is wearing a Regent Guard uniform. All personnel commence searching. Team leaders report to me every ten minutes.”
The major asked Ronon and Mór, “Alright, where could he possibly be, any idea?”
Ronon eyes narrowed, “There is one person that we haven’t found, who might have an interest in Sheppard, the Regent’s daughter, Lady Elradia.”
“I would not put anything past her. She would be brazen enough to kidnap Colonel Sheppard.”
Loren rubbed his neck and then flexed his neck. “Where do we find this Lady Elradia?”
Mór said, “Maybe we should start with the government house?”
“Ronon, why don’t you stay here? You can direct the search in this building?”
Lorne was not surprised when Ronon glared at him, and walked away, toward the entrance. As he jogged to catch up, he thought nothing ever changed; Ronon played hurt, and the women always wanted Sheppard.
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Sheppard rested against the headboard, seeking to ease the pain in his head. He shut his eyes, hoping the darkness would soothe the shooting pains in the left side of his head. He was attempting slow his breathing, when he heard a creaking noise, the sound of a door opening. Sensing who entered the room, he wished he was wrong. Willing his eyes to open, he managed to peer through narrow slits, enough to see he was correct; it was the Lady Elradia.
“Umm...you look delicious. I think having you shackled is the safest way to keep you around, John. Especially since, you rarely follow directions well." She kneeled on the side of the bed, leaning over toward him. She touched his collarbone lightly with her fingertips, then trailing down his chest; she slid her fingers underneath the buttons and the fabric of his shirt. Pressing her hand against his chest, leaning her face to his, Elradia brushed her lips against his before he jerked his head away.
“You should realize, John that you are better off with me. With Dr. Maxea’s assistance, you will remain as handsome as you are now, for a very long time. As for your former life, Dr. Maxea guarantees me that he has a wonderful formula for a drug that will help you forget who you are. You will be with me, and the memories of Atlantis and your little Teyla will vanish forever from your memory."
“I've always been bored by older women. As long as the drug enables to me forget how old you truly are, Elradia. That would certainly make this a lot more tolerable." Sheppard laughed as Elradia's deceivingly young face turned bright pink. It was a good thing she lacked truth serum to give him; he had lied, he was truly, quite fond of older women.
“You bastard,” she struck him sharply across the cheek. Her eyes blazing, Elradia rose from the bed, and traversed the small space across the boudoir, retrieving an ovoid, jewel-encrusted, wooden box from a dresser.
“Do you know what this is?” Her anger seemed to have abated, and she smiled coyly at him. When he ignored her question, she climbed onto the bed, straddling his legs, facing him.
“This little box holds the formula to the youth elixir that Dr. Maxea created, and a vial of the drug. Wherever we go, we can make this wonderful drug, and live virtually forever. I find that very exciting.”
Elradia reverently opened the lid; the interior was lined with gold satin and additional sparkling jewels. A small purple velvet covered book, and a red velvet pouch holding the vial that contained the youth enzyme, lay nestled in the folds of the shiny material. From the look on her face, she was quite affected by the contents of the box. When she turned her glaze upon him, he could tell the box had a somewhat aphrodisiacal effect on her.
Sheppard was getting quite uncomfortable; Elradia had placed the box on top of the crimson silk bedcover, and was beginning to unbuttoned his shirt. He tried to distract her with a question.
“Where are we? This doesn’t appear to be the government house.”
She glanced up at him, “You are a perceptive man. Since you completely shattered our little happy city, we have retreated into a bunker. It's located underneath the government building. Only a few trusted servants and guards are aware of this place and the tunnel from here to the Portal of the Ancestors. We got here from the tunnel that leads from the medical facility. We will be leaving in a short while, once Maxea's equipment and our things are loaded on the little transports for the trip to the portal. Dr. Maxea has a safe haven where we can hide for a while. He also has an idea where we can start over.” She finished unfastening the last button on his shirt, and tugged the shirt out of his pants.
Gazing at his chest, she licked her lips. “Oh, my…you have the most magnificent chest, John. I am so elated that if anyone was going to shatter our lives, it was you; especially, since I get to keep you.” She ran her hands along the length of his torso, through the soft, curling hair, matting his chest. She leaned toward him, in order to replace her fingers with her mouth. He attempted to pull away, but escape from Elradia's assault was impossible.
“Ummm…you smell good, John.” She was nuzzling his neck as her hands dropped to his waist, and she began to unbuckle his belt.
Sheppard panicked somewhat; he had to stop her. Elradia was in control, he was keenly aware of that fact; however, he preferred to forgo sex with the vile woman. Knowing his best option was to fling her off the bed with his legs, he waited for the opportune moment to attempt to flip her. If he was lucky, he would also knock her unconscious, or worse.
She finished unbuckling his belt, and began to unbutton his pants. Sliding down his legs to give herself a bit more room to maneuver, she was not applying as much pressure to his legs. He decided to risk that this was the moment. However, as he started to move, a soft rap sounded on the chamber door. Elradia twisted her body toward the door, a most dispirited look on her face. Another, louder, more pronounced, thump struck the door; muttering angrily, she sprang from the bed, jerking the door open, to discover a Regent Guard standing before her
“What; why are you disturbing me?”
The guard took a quick glance into the room, quickly averting his eyes when he spotted Colonel Sheppard in a state of undress, and restraint. “Lady Halkan, your father has ordered me to inform you to collect your things. We will be leaving the bunker very shortly.”
She took a deep breath, “Tell my father, I’ll be ready. When you are done, bring another guard. You will need to remove the colonel from his current restraints and secure him.”
“Yes, Lady Halkan.” He was bowing to her as she slammed the door in his face.
“We just seem to keep getting interrupted, John.” She smiled, and began to crawl from the foot of the bed toward him. Reaching him, she took his head in her hands, and kissed him deeply. Pulling away a bit, she slid one hand slowly down his chest, and finished unbuttoning his pants. She kissed him deeply again, as her hand slipped under the waistband of his pants; after a few moments, she released him.
Staring into his green eyes, she laughed at his discomfort. “Oh, you really don’t like me doing that, do you? Yet, I noticed you responded quite swiftly. Umm, just remember, there is more of that delicious feeling to come.” She slipped off the bed, and began to gather a few things.
Sheppard laid his aching head back against the silk covered, padded headboard. Silently, he spoke to himself, “Way to go, John. Your head feels like it’s going to explode, you aren’t attracted to Elradia in any way, yet…great…you have to react to her services.” He wasn’t certain if he was more embarrassed or humiliated.
A knock on the door revealed the previous guard and a second guard who had come to ‘secure’ him. Hearing them argue as to who going to button him up, Sheppard thought, “Crap. You are now officially embarrassed and humiliated; great, John, just great."
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Ronon headed up to the third level to inform McKay that Sheppard had disappeared. When he located the ward that Banar was in, he discovered McKay and Keller there, and Teyla. He rushed to Teyla’s bedside.
“McKay, how is she?” Teyla's bed had been situated next to Banar’s; a bag of blood hung from a metal stand sitting next to her bed, tubing taking life-giving blood into her veins. Rodney turned to Ronon.
“Jennifer says she remains in serious condition, but she thinks the transfusions were started soon enough to do the job. Her prognosis is much improved than it was when we left her. At least, her skin color is definitely improved and is considerably pinker now.” McKay turned to look at Banar. “He’s another story.”
The young scientist remained ashen and still, Desman and Maita were both at his side, as was Jennifer. “That his mother?” Ronon asked.
“Yeah, she came with the others to fight for the city, and to find her son. She’s been asking about Sheppard. She seems really fond of him, and is worried about him. Where is he? I thought he be here by now, as well.”
“He’s missing, McKay.”
“OK, Ronon, you don’t have any reason to try and fool these people like earlier. Man, you scared me when you arrived at the cell, telling us he was dead, so cut the crap. I don’t need that now.”
“Not kidding this time, McKay. He’s missing. No one has seen him since we left him on the stairs, and headed for Atlantis.”
“Oh, god, what happen to him?”
“We don’t know, but we think Elradia may have something to do with it.”
Desman had been listening, “I will come with you.” He turned to his wife, “Maita, if you have no objections.”
She smiled, “You must go; John brought our son back to us. He is part of us now, Desman; a member of our family. John Sheppard risked his life to save the people of Camati. I refuse to lose him, as I refuse to lose Banar. Help them find our friend."
Desman embraced his wife, kissed his son on the forehead, and turned back to Ronon. "I am ready; let’s go find our friend."
“Rodney, stay here with Jennifer; she may need you. I promise we’ll keep you informed.”
Rodney nodded; Ronon and Desman took off down the stairs, running into Dr. Carson Beckett on his way up. The Scotsman was carrying several medical bags with him.
“Ronon, I hear the colonel is missing; you find him.”
“We will, Beckett.” Ronon slapped him on the shoulder.
Desman recognized the name, “You are the doctor, who was coming to help my son; I am Desman Lemér. Thank you, Colonel Sheppard told us that Atlantis has the finest doctors in two galaxies. My wife and I are very grateful.”
“I’ll do my best, I promise.” Carson smiled warmly. They parted, and Desman and Ronon continued on their way to meet Lorne.
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Sheppard had been bound and gagged, then thrown on top of boxes of medical equipment. He was in the last car of the small tram, used to travel through the tunnels. Throughout the years, the Regent had numerous bunkers and tunnels built throughout Camati. Sheppard suspected that guards, loyal to the Regent, had used the tunnels' to kidnap villagers, and take them directly to the medical facility.
Once underway, Sheppard estimated that the trams moved about twenty clicks an hour, maximum speed. It was especially slow when the tram was as heavily loaded as now with people and baggage. The stargate was located at the base of a large mountain, fifty miles from Felan, in an area that was considered a shrine to the ancestors. None of the regions on the planet claimed the land, and all were to use the gate at will.
He had been gone from the medical facility for about three hours. He deduced it would take close to an hour and forty minutes to get to the gate. Not knowing how far the tunnel opening was from the gate, he needed to consider that time, plus the time to get all the stuff they were carrying, to the gate. Sheppard decided that he had, at a minimum, another two and a half hour’s, before he was whisked off the planet. He was hoping Ronon and Lorne were getting close to finding him.
Chapter Eight Always Hope
Ronon was getting frustrated, Lorne was already there. They had searched all the government buildings, the medical facility, and nearly every other major building in Felan. The Regent, the Lady Elradia, Dr. Maxea, three of his staff, and nine Regent Guards and three servants were missing. As for Colonel Sheppard, he had simply vanished; his transmitter signal, silent on the Ancient scanner.
They were standing in the gardens beneath the balcony of the room that Teyla had slept in when Sheppard’s team first arrived. Lorne leaned casually, against the back of a stone bench, his hands resting on his P-90. Ronon watched him as the major stood quietly, thinking about his next move. It could have been Colonel Sheppard standing there. Well, it could have Sheppard, if Lorne was several inches taller, thinner, and had crazy dark hair. However, Lorne had unconsciously been taking on a lot of Sheppard’s mannerisms, and actions. At this point, Ronon could clearly tell that the major was just as pissed off as Sheppard would have been in the same situation. His casual ‘body language’, as Sheppard called it, told the story. Sheppard would have appeared just as casual despite his anxiety.
Desman returned from obtaining an update from Mór, who had organized numerous citizens, from Felan and the villagers, to search for Sheppard. As he walked up to the Atlantians, he wagged his head side to side. He was looking quite frustrated, as well.
“Sheppard couldn’t have simply disappeared. He has to be somewhere.” Ronon began pacing.
Lorne said, his voice even, “We are missing something. A big something and I can’t imagine out what it is.”
Desman agreed, “According to Mór, the villagers, who stood guard by the front and rear gates, said there was no traffic in, or out of either gate, after we came into Felan. We don’t have airships like your jumpers, so they couldn’t have gotten out any other way. They have to be in the city, somewhere.”
Lorne just shook his head in reply.
“Mór did tell me that your friend, Teyla, regained consciousness for a few moments. Dr. Keller believes she will recover fully; she merely requires more transfusions and rest…” Desman’s voice drifted off.
Ronon quietly asked, “Banar?”
“The same; however, Dr. Beckett had some ideas for treatments that he thought might help.”
Lorne walked over to Desman, “Sir, I have seen Dr.’s Beckett and Keller perform miracles. They’re very good, and your son couldn’t be in better hands.”
Desman was about to answer, when Captain Stackhouse rushed up, Corporals’ Brenner and Rodriquez in tow.
“Major, Ronon, we may have something. Brenner, Rodriquez, tell him.
Rodriguez spoke, “I kept looking at this house, and thinking that it’s old like some of those haunted mansions that have those secret passageways. We were searching the laundry facility when we were talking about it. A laundry worker came over to tell us that there is a rumor regarding a secret passage in the government house. That they have seen Regent Guards appear seemingly out of nowhere on the lower levels. They have also seen the Regent and his daughter coming to the lower level, and disappearing.
“She said the people who disappeared, would reappear later. She also said that they were warned about speaking to anyone about anything they observed.”
“Did she show you where they came and went from?” The corporals nodded yes, in unison.
Lorne tapped his COM, “Captain Water’s, Major Lorne. Assemble your team, and take your jumper to join Lieutenant Salem at the stargate. Cloak both jumpers. Keep an eye out for Colonel Sheppard and others. They may have gotten out of the city; if so, you may be able to pick up the colonel’s transmitter signal. Captain Isaacs, bring your jumper; all other teams, join me at the government house; Lorne out.”
Looking to the corporals, Lorne smiled, “Good job, guys. You’ve come through for the colonel again.”
Rodriguez grinned, “He’s our broki, sir. Gotta take care of him; gotta get him back, sir.”
“You'll get no argument there, Rodriguez. Porter, when the others arrive, send them to the laundry facilities on the lower level.” Addressing the others, “Come on; let’s go find Colonel Sheppard.”
It took about ten minutes, with the Ancient scanner’s help to locate the concealed entrance into the tunnels. They initiated a search into the tunnels, finding the bunker, and the tracks from the tram system. The search only confirmed what they were afraid of, John Sheppard was still missing.
Lorne, Desman, and Ronon were making a walk-through of the bunker chambers, when Desman spotted something. In a sleeping chamber with the walls and the large bed covered in crimson silk, Desman noticed a Regent Guard hat that had fallen onto a plush rug lying next to the bed. Picking it up, he checked the inside of the brim. He smiled, tossing the hat to Lorne.
“John was wearing that hat, it belongs to Commander Efrasé. He was the guard who bribed the two kids, we told you about. He was tall and his uniform fit Sheppard, so he wore it. Your colonel was here.”
Ronon was standing next to the headboard, “It’s a safe bet that Elradia was here, as well.” With a sardonic grin on his face, he picked up the shackles that were now lying on the bed. Lorne and Desman shared Ronon’s bitterness. They all doubted that Sheppard was enjoying himself.
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The tram skidded to a halt, and Sheppard nearly tumbled off the top of the boxes. Two of the burley guards came for him, roughly dragging him from the tram. He was forced down a short tunnel that branched off the main tunnel, into in a much smaller bunker. To his surprise, there were twelve other people already in the bunker. He assumed they were all from Felan, judging by their clothes; all women and children. It didn’t take long for Sheppard to realize the regent brought hostages.
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Lorne ordered all teams and jumpers to the stargate. Desman, Mór, and other Camati’s joined them. Lorne dispatched personnel into the woods surrounding the stargate; stationing Cpl. Rodriquez, expert sniper, where he had a clear shot at the gate. Jumpers were cloaked, and they waited.
The HUD in Lorne’s jumper popped on, when the automatic scan Lorne had been running was activated by Colonel Sheppard’s transmitter. He was not alone; there were several other life signs with him. Lorne addressed the teams.
“All teams, we have acquired Colonel Sheppard’s transmitter signal. He’s about a quarter click away and appears to be walking. He is accompanied by eleven other life signs, and what may be a couple of motorized carts. The HUD showed that there was another group of life signs heading for the gate. Lorne reported to the teams, “There are twenty more life signs that just popped up from the same place, and they are right behind the colonel’s group. Jumpers stay cloaked, troops deployed on ground, don’t reveal yourselves until the jumpers uncloak; weapons fire only on my order.”
No one spoke during the several minutes it took for the blips on the HUD, to materialize out of the trees surrounding the gate. There were four Regent Guards, each with holding a hostage in front of them, along with Colonel Sheppard. His hands now bound in front of him, and a small girl of about three, in his arms. They appeared to be bound together.
Two men, who were dressed like the servants in the government house, each pushed a motorized cart that held the luggage and supplies. One of the guards walked directly to the DHD, a hostage with him, covering him from the rear. He began dialing a gate address. The other guards moved the hostages, shoulder to shoulder in front of the gate.
As Lorne was relaying the information, the stargate engaged, and the servants began to move the carts toward the event horizon. Afraid that they would attempt to take Sheppard through the gate, Lorne ordered the jumpers to decloak and land. Just as the jumpers became visible, the remainder of the regent’s minions entered their view.
The shimmering noise created from the jumpers’ uncloaking, startled the guards, who whirled around, guns ready. However, they did not fire for fear of having the regent and his daughter caught in the crossfire.
The carts and their drivers had gone though the event horizon just as the regent and his party arrived at the gate. The SO’s had closed in on the gate dais, and Lorne, Ronon, Mór, and Desman had exited their jumper, taking position directly in front of the DHD.
The guards had pushed the rest of the hostages along the front edge of the dais to prevent anyone getting a clear shot at the regent or his daughter.
Regent Halkan, surrounded by guards walked over to Sheppard. “Colonel, if you do not call your people off; I will have my guards kill my former subjects. I’m not joking with you, Sheppard, I will kill them, and I will kill you. If you do not call them off now, I might just start with that lovely little child in your arms.”
Sheppard’s eyes were cold, his anger brewing, but he turned to Lorne, “Major, don’t shoot. The regent has threatened to kill the hostages. Let them go.” Lorne was looking right at him. and caught the upward movement of Sheppard’s eyes. He knew that Sheppard had spotted Rodriquez; they both knew Rodriquez was the only hope for a clear shot.
“Halkan let these people go, you have me; you don’t need them. My people won’t hurt you as long as you are holding me hostage.” Sheppard had moved a bit closer to Halkan, his body angled away from Halkan and his guards in an attempt to protect the little girl they had tied to him.
“Father, you should listen to him, I think he wants to stay with us, not what we have spent some time together.” Elradia was hiding behind two guards, but Sheppard could see her evil smile.
“Shut up, you foolish woman; you probably caused this by fawning all over the colonel to begin with.” The regent had turned on his daughter, looking angry enough to harm her. “You say one more word and I’ll kill Sheppard where he stands. Then, you won’t have your plaything. We need to get out of here. Maxea, you and your people, go through the gate.” Dr. Maxea, his assistants, the other servants and two guards went through the gate.
The regent then turned to Elradia, “Go.”
“Not without, Sheppard; guards, grab him and bring him.” She bellowed at the guards, who seized Sheppard, dragging him toward the gate.
The mother of the little girl who was tied to the colonel’s chest started screaming for them to let her daughter go. Lorne used the cover of her screaming to give the order to fire. Mór and Desman lunged for the hostages and the ones they didn’t knock down, dropped to the ground on their own.
Two of the Regent guards were hit almost immediately, but the others were running for the gate. The one pulling Sheppard toward the gate jerked the colonel in front of him, and began backing toward the gate. Elradia was waiting for Sheppard just outside the event horizon.
As Sheppard got closer, she was smiling at him that evil smile, and he decided he wasn’t going through the gate. He did notice that she had the jeweled box that contained the formula in her hands. If he could just reach it, he could take away her most prized possession.
Tying to keep the little girl, who was crying hysterically, from getting hurt, Sheppard didn’t have a lot of room to maneuver. He managed to force the guard pulling him backwards to move closer to Elradia. He was finally within range to reach the box, and he kicked toward her with his right leg, knocking the box from her hand. Unfortunately, the box went straight up in the air instead of sideways, and she barely managed to grab her precious box as it fell.
“How dare you attempt to destroy this box? You will pay now, John.” Her ice blue eyes consumed with blazing evil, she shrieked at the guard, “Kill him.” The guard shoved Sheppard away, aiming his weapon at the colonel.
Sheppard turned, again trying to protect the child. The last thing he remembered was the regent slipping through the gate, Elradia’s evil smile, and the bullet hole in the guard’s forehead, courtesy of one Marine sniper, Cpl. Rodriquez. Only one problem, Sheppard thought before the world went black. The guard got off a shot.
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A calliope of sounds drifted into his ears, the tinny beep of an electronic machine, the soft ker-thump of a hydraulic pump, the occasional squeak of a rubber sole on a tiled floor. He had heard those sounds too many times before, he decided. He was tired of hearing them.
He argued with himself for a few moments, debating whether to open his eyes, or lie there a while longer in peace and quiet. The moment he opened his eyes, he knew he would hear Rodney’s voice announcing to the world that he was awake. If he was lucky, Rodney might be doing something else, although that was highly unlikely. He listened closely for the clatter of fingertips on a keypad. He could hear it, a rhythmic tapping adding to the collection of background noise; so much for peace and quiet.
He was deciding what to do when he felt the familiar presence of Atlantis prodding him to wake up. He finally opened his eyes, hoping the city would leave him alone. He only opened narrow slits at first; to make certain Keller hadn’t forgotten and left the lights too bright. They weren’t; so he opened his eyes the rest of the way.
Rodney was on the right side of the bed, sitting in a chair he must have stolen from the waiting room. Ronon was sitting at the foot of the bed next to him, leaning on the bed tray table, sound asleep. He rolled his head toward the right, to confirm what he suspected; that Teyla was in the bed next to him. She was asleep as well; her skin tone back to its normal warm glow. He felt great relief to see her sleeping peacefully.
There was someone else there, someone he didn’t recognize for a moment. Then as the recognition floated into his thick head, he smiled, not realizing he had said her name quietly, “Jenesta.”
“Colonel Sheppard, are you awake?” A youthful, soft voice floated toward him. He felt a slender, cool hand close over his.
“Sheppard, you awake?” Rodney’s voice was neither soft, nor young sounding.
Sheppard looked at Jenesta and smiled, squeezing her hand, “Hey, I didn’t expect to see you here.” His voice was raspy and weak.
Jenesta smiled back, “Dr. Beckett brought Banar here, and Mr. Woolsey allowed us to stay with him.”
“How’s Banar doing?”
Shrugging her shoulders, Jenesta said, “Alright, I guess. Momma looks unhappy, but I believe he is some better.”
Rodney had automatically gotten ice chips for Sheppard; he shoved a couple into Sheppard’s mouth. While the colonel was trying not to choke, Rodney asked Jenesta to find Dr. Keller, and let her know that Sheppard was awake.
Finally able to talk, Sheppard asked, testily, “What the hell did you do that for?”
“I didn’t want you to ask her too many questions about her brother. Carson isn’t convinced he’s going to make it.”
“Oh, I…damn.” He took a deep breath, and motioned for more ice chips. As he rose up to meet Rodney’s hand, he felt a sharp pain in his back on the right. A deep moan escaped his lips.
“Geese, Sheppard, you got shot in the back. Take it easy.”
The last few minutes before he blacked out were starting to come back to him. He remembered Elradia ordering the guard to kill him, then seeing the guard with a bloody hole in his head. He also remembered turning away to keep the little girl safe…the little girl.
“Rodney, how’s that little girl? Is she ok?” Sheppard was becoming agitated.
“Hang on, she’s fine. Somehow, flyboy, you managed to get shot, but spun around so that you fell onto your back. She wasn’t even crying when they got to you.”
“Thank goodness.”
Sheppard pushed further down into the pillow. He disregarded the pain in his back, his ribs, and the headache he just realized he had. All he could remember were the big brown eyes of that beautiful little girl, so full of fear, boring into his.
“Colonel, welcome back. How are you feeling?”
Sheppard looked over at Dr. Jennifer Keller, who was smiling down at him. “I think we have had this conversation before, doc?” She nodded in agreement as he continued, “My head hurts, my ribs hurt, my back hurts, but I am fine.”
“Well, nothing new to see here. Colonel, you are very lucky, you have three broken ribs, a fairly serious concussion, and a gunshot wound to your right lower back. The bullet fortunately missed your liver, as well anything else that would cause me even more sleepless nights because of you. The bullet did nick your transcending colon but was a through and through and pretty small caliber. You had surgery to repair the colon damage, and make certain that there was no other surprises. I have you on IV antibiotics for now; we’ll go on oral drugs tomorrow. As a warning, colonel, you are not getting out of here for at least a week. So don’t start whining on me, or trying to escape.”
Sheppard scoffed, “You take all the fun out a stay in the infirmary, doc.”
Keller smiled a little sarcastically, but with a glitter of humor in her eyes, “Let me check your ribs and wounds. OK?”
He nodded, while she was pulling his gown down from his shoulders, he asked, “How’s Teyla?”
She glanced over at Teyla before answering, “She’s going to be fine, but I got to tell you; it was close. John, the nurse who was taking care of her when I arrived, said that Dr. Maxea was doing the transfusion. She said she thought he was pushing to see how much blood he could take from her without killing her. Sport, if you will.”
“Sociopaths, every one of them; the Lady Elradia was a real piece of work as well. They got away, didn’t they?”
“Yes, according to Major Lorne, they escaped. Lorne sent a couple of teams through the gate immediately, but they must have turned right around and gated off that planet.”
Keller pressed on Sheppard’s ribs and he winced, “Ouch.., sorry, didn’t mean to react that way.”
She laughed softly, “I would probably be screaming if I was hurt this bad, colonel. You are one tough son of a bitch.” She finished her exam, and straightened Sheppard’s bedcovers. “I’ll increase your pain meds just a bit for now.”
“Jennifer, how’s Banar?”
“I wish I knew. Carson is working around the clock to identify what compound he was injected with. There were no records; Maxea must have taken the records and compounds with him when he escaped.
“I think we need an ongoing mission to find these bastards.”
“Colonel, I would volunteer for that mission. It’s very late and it’s only been forty-eight hours since you were shot. If you have any trouble sleeping, let us know. I want you to get as much rest as possible.”
She started to walk away, “John, you don’t know that we found a room where Maxea was keeping four hybrids. They’re not in great shape, but we brought them here. I’ve started them on the same regimen as before with the Athosians. It hasn’t been long since we started treatment, but it appears to be working. Two of the hybrids are Athosian; Halling and Kanaan are helping me work with them, as well as, the other two. These criminals may have gotten away, but a great deal of good came from the efforts to save these people from what was happening to them.”
Ronon had awakened, and he and Rodney, were approaching Sheppard’s bed. Jennifer put up her hand, to hold them up for a minute, “The colonel needs rest; you can talk to him for five minutes. Keep him up longer than that, and I will call the Marine’s to remove you.”
Ronon just laughed, but Rodney looked a bit nervous. He overheard her tell Sheppard he was tough; he knew that the petite doctor was pretty tough herself.
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A week had passed, and John Sheppard was still in the infirmary. Despite the antibiotics, he still developed an infection from the gunshot wound. He had a raging fever and all the fun stuff that goes with one for a couple of days. Now Jennifer told him, she might release him the next day.
He was reclining in a lounge chair on the balcony outside of the infirmary. Eyes closed, Sheppard was soaking up the sun's warmth. He had been chilled to the bone for the last two days from the infection.
Hearing the balcony doors swish open, he waited to hear Rodney’s aggravating whiny voice any second. Rodney had been like a mother hen, since he had developed the fever; barely leaving him alone for a moment. However, Rodney was not his intruder. Desman and Maita were his visitors.
“John, how are you? You are certainly looking better this morning.” Maita stooped to hug him.
“Good, fever's gone and I feel much better. Is it true that Banar woke up? I thought I heard one of the nurses telling Woolsey that this morning.”
Maita smiled at him, “Yes, for once, there is good news. Banar regained consciousness a little while ago. He recognized us and squeezed Jenesta hand. He is asleep again, but Dr. Beckett assured us that he is no longer in a coma. I believe that the good doctor feels that we have a chance now to have our son back with us fully.”
“That’s great news. See, I told you that we had the best doctors.” He reached out for Maita’s hand, clasping her small hand tightly.
Desman walked to the railing, looking out at the dark blue water surrounding Atlantis. After a moment, he turned to look at Sheppard. “John, what’s going to happen now regarding the regent and his daughter, and that despicable Maxea? Mór told me when he was here yesterday that much of Camati’s treasury and valuable artifacts are missing. They believe the regent had been moving the tender and valuables off world for a long time. They looted from their own people. The regent and his group are not in need of tender to finance their escapades; they can do what they want.”
“Major Lorne has followed up on every lead that we have gotten this last week, but none have panned out. The one good thing is that with the new Pegasus Coalition, an arrest warrant has been issued for all of them, and distributed throughout the coalition planets. That helps increase the odds that we may find them. At least, perhaps potential victims might be more wary of them. We won’t rest until we can bring them to justice.” Sheppard answered quietly.
“Evil, John, they are simply evil.” Maita whispered.
Sheppard nodded, “You know, when I was with Elradia in the bunker, she showed me a wooden box, covered in jewels, where she kept a vial of the ‘youth’ serum and the formula to make it. She was enraptured by that box, and it made me think of an old myth from Earth, Pandora’s Box.”
He sat up a bit, wincing from the still painful broken ribs, and continued. “Pandora was the daughter of Prometheus, who was in possession of the box. The box was never to be opened, Prometheus was curious, but he had been given the box as a punishment by the Greek god, Zeus. If he opened it, all the evils of the world, would be released, greed, rage, jealousy, sloth, and fear. One of the gods, Athena, argued that if the box was ever opened, that mankind would cease to exist when the evils escaped. To counteract the evil, Athena convinced Zeus to add one other emotion to the box, hope.”
He paused to take a breath, “Pandora, was as curious as her father, but did not know that the box contained all of evil. She opened the box, and evil escaped. Only hope clung to the rim of the box, and Pandora managed to close the box in time to save hope. The only salvation we have.”
Maita repeated, “Hope, the only salvation we have. That is so true, John; without hope, we have nothing.”
Desman, clasped John’s shoulder, “You, Colonel John Sheppard, returned hope to the Camati’s, and to my family. We will always be indebted to you, and those here on Atlantis.”
Sheppard smiled, somewhat embarrassed from Desman’s comment. He dropped his still achy head back against the chair. Considering Maita's statement, he knew his friend was correct. Hope; that was really the only thing they had to cling to.
Desman sensed Sheppard’s embarrassment, and broke the silence. “Colonel, I asked Mór to bring me something a few days ago when he was here to talk to Major Lorne. By the way, Mór has accepted the position of Chief of the Regent Guards, a good thing for Camati.” Sheppard nodded in agreement.
“So when he came yesterday, he brought the item.” Desman held up a deck of colorful marquay cards. “Care to learn a new game, John?”
Sheppard nodded, with an impish grin as Maita rose, shaking her head. As she started for the doors leading to the infirmary, she told Sheppard.
“Hope is one thing, John; but you will find that my wonderful husband is hopeless at marquay.”
The two men, the two friends, burst out laughing, and Desman started shuffling the deck of cards. Grinning widely, he said, “There’s always hoping."
The end.