Full Summary:
Connor is taken and injured by a predator that didn't come through an anomaly. As the team races to find him, will they accept help from a foreign military? And what happens when they do find Connor? Will he still be alive? And how does the ARC team react to the Stargate team? Will a common enemy have the two agencies working together?
A Battle Not Yet Over:
Atlantis Base, San Diego Bay:
Makela was in the gym with Ronon, sparring as usual, when a call came over the radio asking the two to get to the conference room immediately. They grabbed their belongings and headed out, trying to figure out why they were needed. Normally, if they weren't going off world via the SGC, they were stuck on Atlantis, which was still floating cloaked in the San Diego Bay. They never really had anything to do so they mostly just stayed as active as they could by sparring with each other, which normally landed one or the other or both in the infirmary with Jennifer fussing over them. As they got into the gate room, they could see that they weren't the only ones that had been called to the conference room. Confused looks were on everyone's faces.
Makela walked in behind Ronon as they entered the conference room. Jennifer, Rodney, Teyla and Sheppard were all there as well. Mr. Woolsey was sitting, waiting for the rest of the members that had been called to come in. In all, Zylenka, Major Lorne and Ford had all been called into the conference room. The kids that Makela and Ford had brought to Atlantis all those months ago were entertaining themselves with a movie that Ford had put on for them shortly before being called to the conference room. As soon as they were seated, the doors to the conference room closed and Colonel Caldwell and Colonel Ellis beamed down from the Daedalus and Apollo. They sat next to Mr. Woolsey and then the explaining began.
A Mission of Great Importance:
"Why are we here Mr. Woolsey?" Makela asked.
"As you are aware, we have been getting conflicting reports from different local officials about a murderer going about taking people and killing them. Well we were just told what the murdered victims looked like when they were found."
"And what does this have to do with us?" Rodney asked.
"Apparently, not all the wraith were killed in the battle a few weeks ago. A few darts managed to land all over the globe and we have been trying to locate where they landed exactly. We do know that a few are on North America. We know for certain that there is one somewhere in the England and we know that there is one somewhere in Afghanistan but where the rest are we are not certain. We are coordinating with local military personnel and have managed to get them to allow a few of our team members to go to those places. Ronon, Makela and Jennifer will go to England to look for the wraith there. Sheppard, Teyla and Rodney will go to Afghanistan to help the military there. And Lorne, Zylenka and Ford will continue looking here. You will all get a Jumper to keep in contact with. Now from what I am to understand, in England there is a Top-Secret Government Agency already working on some kind of research. You will help them in any way you can and if the wraith there has killed or injured someone, you are to bring it back alive and have the wraith give the life back. Do your normal thing you do Makela and you should be okay. And yes, your friend Akisa can go along with. She might come in handy when you go after the wraith that is hiding out there."
"Anything else we should know about the wraith?"
"Only that thus far, they have shown aggression to anyone and everyone that they come in contact. In Afghanistan, they have killed women, men, children, insurgents and soldiers alike. It has gotten so bad that, even though it is illegal to have civilians or insurgents on the military posts over there, they've had to open their doors and allow them access just to keep them safe. Enemies over there have become common targets and are working together to stay as safe as possible."
"Good to know. Let's get going then; we need to catch them before they can kill any more people."
"I agree, let's get going."
The teams all headed first to their quarters to grab whatever they would need. They grabbed a few bags of clothes so that they could change and then any weapons they would need to take down the wraith. Then they all headed to the Jumper Bay and once the Jumper Bay doors were open, left one after the other, cloaking as they left the city. They didn't want to be found out when all they were doing was trying to keep an enemy far greater in numbers than any human from finding a way to contact the rest of their kind and bring them to Earth. If the wraith were able to get to Earth once again, they would be in for the fight of their lives once again. The three Jumpers zoomed off in separate directions, heading to where they were told a wraith was hiding out killing people. With any luck, they would get to their designated cities before someone else was grabbed, hopefully.
London, England:
Connor, who had just left the ARC and was headed to his and Abby's flat for a little rest, couldn't get the feeling that he was being followed out of his mind. He pulled his phone from his pocket and called Abby who answered almost immediately. They talked for a while as he drove to the flat. When he got out, he stopped talking and looked around, still getting the weird sensation that he was being followed. Abby was trying to get him to talk to her. He told her that he had a weird feeling that he was being followed, but that he was already at the flat so there was no need to turn around and head back to the ARC. She told him, that she would get Matt and Becker and head over to the flat just to be on the safe side. No sooner had she uttered those words than a scream came over the phone alerting her to the fact that Connor was right.
Abby ran through the ARC and headed for the Armory. Matt and Becker ran after her, closely followed by Jess, Emily and Lester. They all asked what was going on and Abby told them that she had been talking to Connor when someone attacked him. She couldn't raise him on his phone and something told her that he was in danger. Matt, Becker and Emily said that they were going with her. And Lester finally had to stop them and tell them all that they were getting help from a military group from the states and that they had better find Connor before the group got there so they could meet in person. They looked at him and then the group left with their weapons (lethal and non-lethal) in hand. They needed to get to Abby and Connor's flat as soon as possible.
Jess contact them in the car saying that Connor still had his black box on him and that she would help track him that way. When they got to the flat, they found the Connor's keys and phone lying on the ground. There was also a pool of blood next to the phone indicating that Connor was injured in some way. Abby grabbed his phone and keys and they got back in the trucks and headed to where Jess was telling them Connor had been taken.
Searching For Connor:
"What do we know so far?" Becker asked.
"He was coming home to get some sleep and had called me to stay awake during the drive. When he got out of the car, he told me that he felt like someone was watching him but since he was already home, there was no need to turn around and go back to the ARC. Then I heard a scream and the line went dead." Abby said.
"Well, we know he was just taken, so whoever took him couldn't have gotten far. I say we head back to the ARC, wait for the special military personnel that supposed to show up and then head out with better equipment. There's no telling who took him and we might get a better idea what we are dealing with. And as far as we know there haven't been any anomalies reported so it couldn't have been a creature that took him. Jess, we're on our way back. Let us know when those military people arrive." Matt finished.
"They actually just showed up. And to tell you the truth, none of them look military. There in with Lester now."
"We're on our way; just keep an eye on Connor's black box. I have a feeling that that's the only way we're going to find him."
"You got it Matt.
"And Abby, you know he's going to be fine, he always is." Emily stated.
"I know, I'm just worried."
Matt, Abby, Becker and Emily all showed back up at the ARC ten minutes later. They parked in the garage and were surprised to see some kind of shuttle sitting next to the rest of the vehicles. They grabbed the guns that they'd had with them and went up the elevator to meet their new temporary team mates. What they saw stopped them in their tracks.
Two Secrets Become One:
Makela was standing outside of Lester's office with Akisa next to her. Ronon and Keller were inside of Lester's office talking to Lester. Emily, Matt, Becker and Abby weren't looking at the people; they were looking at the creature that seemed to be right at home next to humans. They walked past the creature and over to where Jess was sitting.
"Hey, so what in the hell is that creature doing here?" Abby asked.
"Yeah, and can we kill it?" Becker asked.
"Sorry, but that creature isn't from the future. According to the girl standing next to it, it's from a whole different planet in a whole different galaxy. The other two of our temporary new team mates are in with Lester, trying to convince him that we need their help." Jess said.
"We deal with these kinds of things on a daily bases. What can they give that could possibly help us?" Matt asked.
"How about we start with a shuttle that has its own shield and can go invisible? And don't worry, Akisa won't hurt you unless you threaten her, me or any of my colleagues." Makela said walking over.
"You named it?" Emily asked.
"She saved my life once upon a time, she's like family."
"And your name would be what?" Abby asked.
"Oh, sorry, I am Makela Ketating. Those two are Dr. Jennifer Keller of the US and Spc. Ronon Dex of Sateda. And as for me, well I'm like Ronon, not born on this planet."
"You know Mak; you really shouldn't start blurting facts about our lives out." Keller said walking up with Ronon and Lester.
"Guys, these are our new team mates for however long it takes to find Connor and whatever they are looking for. Apparently some kind of being that resembles a man is loose in England and they need to find it pronto." Lester finished.
"Sorry, they asked. So, do we have a go ahead with our plan? We find the wraith and we kill it?"
"That's the plan, unless it's started eating this Connor guy, then we bring it back here with Mr. Temple and force the wraith to give back what he took, get the information we need from him and put a bullet in his head." Keller said.
"Sounds good to me; just as long as I can shoot and kill something."
"You and yer shooting along with Ronon and his shooting, it's amazing that any of the military personnel we work with get any shots off."
"No offense, but are you guys insane? And once we find Connor, we're bringing him back here." Abby said.
"We're not saying you can't bring him back here; just don't expect him to look like the Connor you all know and love." Ronon said.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Becker asked.
"The wraith is an enemy of ours. One of its ships managed to get to this galaxy and we blew it up a few weeks ago but apparently some wraith were able to get into their darts and make it to the surface of the planet."
"So what exactly are the wraith? I mean is it not possible to try and talk to them and reason with them?" Matt asked.
"The wraith are an alien that look like a human. You can't reason with them. Take mine and Ronon's people. We fought back against them and they destroyed our home worlds. Ronon is the last of his race and I am the last of my race. They destroy worlds by eating the humans that populate them. They suck the life out of you with a little slit in their hands and the last thing you think about isn't your family, but what does go through your mind is how many more hours this is going to continue. Like Ronon and I, we weren't eaten right away, they stopped eating us and made us their Runners, which basically meant that we became the mice and they were the cats. If we were caught, they ate us on the spot. If the rest of their race makes it to this planet, they will kill everyone on the planet within a matter of hours. Six billion people will be dead in a matter of hours. They cannot be allowed to get to this planet. We do not want them to destroy this planet like they did our own home worlds!" Makela emphasized.
"So, no reasoning with them then." Jess said.
"What did Mak just say?" Keller asked.
"You just called her Mak, her name is Makela." Emily said.
"That's because it's her nickname. We've known her since she was sixteen years old, when we helped her get rid of her tracking device that the wraith surgically implanted inside of her when they first made her a Runner. If it hadn't been for her, we wouldn't have found a way to turn the wraith human again, stop them in their tracks and then we went after their cloning facilities." Ronon said.
"Look, that's not the point at the moment. We need to find your friend and get him back before this wraith has a chance to feed off of him. Once that starts, it's only a matter of time before he dies from his wounds. We know that after a few hours, if the victim is not fed on after a few hours, they eventually die from the wounds and the drug that they inject into their victims to make them strong enough for the feeding. If we can get to Connor before he is injured at all or any more than he already has, then we can hopefully stop the drug in its path." Keller said.
"Okay, then let's get to it. I want Connor back even more than I did before now that I know all these facts. Connor is my husband, I need him back." Abby said.
To be continued in the next chapter…
