SGU: Message In A Bottle
Title: Stargate Universe: - Message In A Bottle
Author: Celtic Lady
Genre: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi
Pairing(s): None
Characters: Stargate Universe general cast plus an other character named Kinta
Rating: M (age 16+) adult, sexual situations.
Summary: Kinta is forced into the Ancient chair while Colonel Young and his team are imprisoned by a evil King requiring Chloe to negotiate their release.
Author's Note: I sometimes will make a music recommendation that can be played while you read a particular section. Just Google the song I recommend and you should be able to find it online to listen to.
Since the first season is only half finished as I write this story, I'll be making some assumptions that I'm sure will be totally different from what the show will have later so this is kind of an alternate universe version. I'm writing these in a particular order so you need to read "SGU: The Adventure Begins" first.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters so please don't sue. If the real owners want to use anything from my story (yeah, wishful thinking), go ahead, you can have it for free. :-)
Chapter 1: The Chair
Everyone awoke to a huge explosion from one of Destiny's engines as it rocked the huge ship. A half-dressed Dr. Rush ran to the control room to find the cause as did Colonel Young.
"What just happened?" Young demanded.
Rush was busy looking at the screen for the cause when the realization hit him, "We've lost the engines. They're gone."
Rush and Young just stared at each other with the revelation that they were now hurling through space with no way to control the ship. They could survive for awhile until the power failed or until the ship entered the atmosphere of a planet and disintegrated into small pieces falling to the planet's surface as fireballs, but that time was limited.
"Can we fix them?" Young asked urgently.
Rush lost it as he screamed back, "There's nothing to fix – they exploded into bits and pieces."
Suddenly, Dr. Rush sat up in bed breathing heavily as he realized he was having another nightmare. This was just one of many that he'd been having since they arrived on Destiny. Knowing that he'd never get back to sleep, Rush got dressed and walked down to the Control Center to do more work on breaking the lock-out code for the system.
Later that morning, Colonel Young called all the ships personnel together in the gate room for a meeting to introduce Kinta. As he stood on the stairway, he began to address the crowd.
"As you all know by now, we have a new member of the crew. Her name is Kinta," Young began as he pointed down to Kinta. "And she is an Ancient but not as advanced as the one's that built this ship, so she won't be doing any miracles or anything."
Everyone was surprised by this new bit of news which seemed to offer a glimmer of hope.
"Since she is more mechanically inclined, Kinta is going to be doing repairs on the ship, and will also start working on a way to gate us home. But that will take time." Young then addressed Dr. Rush, "I need you to put together a prioritized list of which systems you'd like her to start with."
Young nodded over to Johansen, "We are also going to be utilizing the Ancient medical scanning device and get a base scan of every one of us. So everyone needs to start setting up a time with Lt. Johansen to get your scan done."
"Any questions?"
Camile Wray spoke up, "Are you sure we can trust her?"
"I checked with Home World Command and they know her there. They believe she can be a big help to us." Young answered confidently.
Wray followed up her question with another one, "Why can't Home World Command follow in her footsteps and send help?"
Young didn't like the prying of Wray's questions as he tried to answer them diplomatically. "That was a one time, one way trip. But Kinta has been working on building a ZPM to supply the power to gate us home so if she needs any help with that, I'll expect everyone to give her your full cooperation."
Wray questioned his decision, "Why not have her work full time on the ZPM instead of repairing the ship at all?"
Several people agreed with Wray that getting them home should be the top priority.
Kinta spoke up in her defense. "Because the ships systems will fail before I can figure out how to build a ZPM. I need to buy us some time."
Wray knew there was more and had visited Earth via the stones, prior to the meeting to find out what it was. She then directed her questions directly to Kinta.
"Why not just build another portable power unit like you used to get here? Or let Home World Command know how you made it so they can build one?"
Everyone looked at Kinta not realizing until then that it was she who built the device that got her there. This angered several people who couldn't understand why she didn't just build another unit so they could all gate safely home.
Kinta's anger began to rise in return as she watched Wray sway the crowd to her way of thinking. It was time to tell the truth.
"Because if I do it your way, everyone will die!" That caught everyone's attention as they quieted down. "I guess Colonel Young forgot to mention that I have visions – I can see the future."
Kinta stood to address everyone as she took several steps up the staircase to stand beside Young. "If I tell Home World Command how to make the device, they send Telford who gets everyone killed and the ship destroyed. And I can't build another one here because, well gee, I guess I just don't have the parts." Her sarcasm was directed at Wray as she continued, "But wait . . ." She paused like an idea was coming into her head. "Wait . . . I know, what if we start fixing up the ship so we can go look for parts here?" She tapped her head with her hand like she had just had a startling revelation. "Of course, certainly the Ancients must have some kind of spare parts laying around here that I can use." Her sarcasm ended as her voice took a more serious tone, "I just have to be able to reach them wherever they are."
Annoyed, Wray turned her attention back to Telford and the HWC. "Home World Command could make two units to gate here and take us home."
"But they won't!" Kinta fired back. "Once Telford gets here, he's not going to relinquish his command just to go back home. No, once he gets here, he's here to stay and all of you will have to suffer the consequences. The last thing on his mind will be getting anyone home."
Kinta wanted to make it very clear what happens if Telford arrives. "Listen. I know it is hard to believe, but my visions have always come true. I can see different paths and know how they wind up. If we take the path with Telford, he gets us involved in a war and the enemy destroys the ship and everyone on board. Telford gets us killed! The other path where we take our time and do things right, gets everyone home safe and sound. That is the path I'm choosing and I won't change my mind so it's not up for discussion."
Young felt the discussion was at a good stopping point as he spoke up to quiet things down. "We're not going anywhere until Kinta locates the parts she needs for a power unit be it a ZPM or a portable unit. And those parts are in the sections of the ship that we can't currently reach." He lowered his voice as he added, "And I do know that she's right about Home World Command. If they build the unit, Telford will come here to assume command. The question is, do you believe her vision?"
Young looked around the group and seeing that there were no further questions, ended the meeting. "The meeting is over. Let's get back to work." Young walked down the steps to speak with any individuals on a more personal level who still had questions.
Dr. Rush was elated when Kinta gave him the Ancient language but disappointed when she refused to give him the Caelurian language as well. He didn't like that only Kinta and her people could talk in a language that no one else knew allowing them to hold secret conversations. Kinta had her own little army at her beckon call and Rush was sure they'd follow her direction. But he questioned what her direction was.
Because Colonel Young didn't have a whole lot of faith in Dr. Rush, he had decided Kinta should report directly to him. That way, he could develop a connection with her and hopefully gain her trust so she'd reveal more about her own mission and how it involved them. The more he knew, the better. Although he couldn't put his finger on it, something about her intrigued him. He only wished she could give them a time frame of when they'd be going home. One thing he did like though was that with her there, Rush wasn't as important anymore and he had one more scientist on his side now. Her warrior race fit in well with the military and he had already made plans to integrate Calum and his men with the soldiers under his command.
Almost immediately Dr. Rush and Kinta clashed.
"I'm telling you, we need to be able to talk to other ships if we come across any."
Rush was less than happy with her decision. "But we need to crack the control code first so we can control the ship. It does us no good to talk to anyone if we can't stop the ship long enough to have a conversation."
"So crack it, I'm not stopping you." Kinta angrily replied to Rush's outburst. She finally just threw up her hands and left having decided it wasn't worth arguing with him. Instead, she decided to do some more exploring on her own. There should be other consoles she could work from to run diagnostics on the ship's functions and find out what needed to be done first. She stopped by Young's office to give him a progress report.
"Colonel, I got with Rush on his list of priorities and we're definitely not agreeing. He has one item only that he wants me to work on – cracking the lock-out code." Kinta explained calmly. "But I really want to look at the communications system. Communications was my specialty on Aedin and I think it would be easy to fix and would be a nice project to get my feet wet with. Then I want to take a look at the water system."
"I know Rush can be difficult—." Young started before Kinta interrupted him.
"Is that why you left him behind?"
Young was surprised that Kinta knew. "Been reading my mind have you?"
"No, actually not. Rush mentioned it on the planet and I read his mind instead." Kinta smiled satisfactorily. "When I healed him, I couldn't resist taking a look around."
"See anything interesting?" Young inquired curiously – he knew Rush was a real piece of work but had no clue what had made him that way.
Kinta wasn't going to be Young's spy like he asked Eli to be. "I keep what I see private." Kinta coldly replied as she remembered back to when the Queen had her do that very thing – reveal what she saw. It cost two men their lives when Queen Penarddun deemed them too dangerous to remain living. Kinta wasn't going to put herself in that position again.
Young seemed to understand as he steered the conversation back to the issue at hand. "On the lock-out code, unless you can figure it out pretty quickly, I'd say leave it for Rush. The water system is more important – do you see a problem with it?"
"No." Kinta shook her head. "But I heard you transported water on board by hand and I'm pretty sure the Ancients didn't do it that way. More than likely they beamed it up directly plus I want to look over the filtration system – I heard it failed already." Kinta explained further.
Young agreed. They had almost died from an illness caused by the unfiltered water so it definitely ranked high on his list. "Sounds good to me."
Kinta thought their conversation went well as she left his office. Colonel Young seemed to be more logical on what was important for their survival. It was time to find a second console to work from.
Camile Wray used the stones to return to Earth and check in with her superiors. She wanted to update them on Kinta and Rush's return.
As she walked down the sidewalk to an outdoor pavilion, Wray expressed her concerns to IOA Representative Dale Strom. "I've had no luck in determining how Kinta got there. She says she can build a portable power device to get us home but we have to reclaim part of the ship to find the parts." Wray explained. "But I don't trust her. She said she has visions and that if Telford succeeds in getting there, we all die and the ship is destroyed."
This alarmed Strom. "Then maybe we need to make sure Telford doesn't get there . . . for the time being at least."
Wray didn't like the sound of that – she still believed Telford was their salvation to a quick return home even though their last attempt was anything but successful. "Young says she's an Ancient," Wray asked frustrated, "Have you found out any additional information on her and what makes her tick?"
Camile Wray had personal information on everyone else except Kinta which disturbed her greatly. This information enabled her to know exactly which buttons to push, for Young and Rush, to achieve her goals but Kinta was a wild card thrown into the deck that made everything potentially unknown. She could change everything.
"Not much. She's an Ancient alright but not much of one." Strom tossed Wray the folder for her to read for herself as they sat down at a picnic table.
As Wray read the notation, she commented, "Maybe her learning was restricted by the limitations of the race she was living with – she could be smarter than we think." Her eyes widened as she read one particular bit of information, "She can read minds?" This would make it impossible to keep her agenda hidden.
"We don't know to what degree she can read minds. All we know for sure is that some personnel at Stargate Command thought she was seducing them in their dreams." Strom replied confidently, "It could be nothing more than their own paranoia but I'm sure you can use it against her in the same way if necessary."
Wray smiled. He was right, no one would want Kinta invading their thoughts and dreams. This could be turned around and used as a tool if necessary should she need to turn them against Kinta.
"She also has several men with her that are from her home planet. They look like they have a leader named Calum." As an afterthought, Wray chided, "They look like extras from that Brave heart movie." She looked up at Strom, "Young is integrating them with his soldiers so they seem to be aligning with him."
This troubled Strom. The military had control over everything. Wray had almost gained control until they discovered Rush's deception in Sgt. Spencer's suicide, whereupon, the leadership fell back on Young. IOA, and especially Dale Strom, wanted Wray in charge.
Suddenly, Wray saw something, "Has anyone found her lab?" She pointed to the notation indicating that Kinta had a laboratory where she made her inventions. "This could be where she made the power unit."
"No." Strom shook his head. "She kept that location very secret – no one seems to know where it is."
Although discouraged, Wray wasn't going to give up trying to discover the lab's location. "Keep trying on your end and I'll work on it from my end as well. She's bound to tell someone."
Kinta had found some metal ribbing, which she used as a ladder to reach the ceiling of the hallways, in order to reach the broadcast speakers that were located there. She had started inspecting each and every one to make sure they were working properly. Once finished, she started repairing the wall consoles as well so people could easily communicate throughout the ship. Because they occupied such a small section of the ship, this didn't take long and she proceeded on to the water system.
Just like she had done on Earth, Kinta began taking the unit apart to see how it worked. What she discovered was amazing. The filter was actually a force field that was configured to allow only water to pass through it. As the impurities accumulated on one side of this force field, it was necessary to periodically flush the filter compartment washing the impurities away so the filter would not become clogged thus forcing the water to seek another route to the storage containers. Unfortunately, the cleaning process had not been done in quite some time and the force field filters looked like they had their own little iris covering them as the dirt and debris had become compressed under pressure and formed a tight cover. Kinta had no choice but to shut the filter down and clean the compartment by hand.
It was tedious work as she scraped the hardened material out of the compartment and into a makeshift bucket. Lt. Johansen walked by and noticed someone was in the water room, so she decided to investigate. She watched as Kinta sawed her way through the big chunks and then scraped the sides for the remainder.
"What are you doing?"
Kinta stopped for a moment to take a break. "I found out why the water isn't getting filtered properly." She pointed to the grayish-black goo which resembled dried paint. "It needs to be cleaned. Right now, I don't think the filter is working at all."
Johansen couldn't believe they were drinking unprocessed water. "No wonder so many people are having intestinal problems. I'm glad someone is taking care of it." She smiled at Kinta – grateful that they would have clean water soon to drink. "I'll leave you to finish."
Kinta resumed her scraping until she had the unit clean. She then set her sights on the UV light which was the system's second line of defense. After cleaning the water and placing it into the storage compartment, the UV light kept the water sterilized until it was used. It looked like a bulb change was in order as she looked around the room for replacements.
Finally finding one, she plugged it in and re-assembled the unit. With a few strokes from the console, she ran the current contents of the storage container through the force field filter and radiated it with the light. Now the water was truly clean.
Not satisfied however, what puzzled Kinta was why the cleaning process wasn't automated. It made sense that the Ancients wouldn't want to be bothered with monthly maintenance of the systems so she began scanning the unit's software for a solution. She marveled at the planning that had gone into creating just this one system for the ship. Finally, she came upon the solution – it had been set to manual and all she had to do was choose automatic. Simple!
Now for the second unit. By the end of the day, Kinta had managed to clean all the units and get them functioning to their full capacity. Now she just had to figure out how the Ancients filled them with water.
"Okay, thank you for coming. Colonel Young has asked Msgt. Greer and myself to begin training you so you can be integrated in with our military structure of command." Scott announced to Calum and his men.
"Now we have ranks that determine who leads and who follows. I am 1st Lt. Matthew Scott and I report directly to Colonel Young." He then pointed over to Greer, "Msgt. Ronald Greer has a lower rank and therefore follows both mine and Colonel Young's orders."
Greer nodded to the group.
"Because you already have a leader in Calum, we are going to have you follow his orders and he will receive orders from Colonel Young and myself. Any questions?" Scott looked at their blank stares and assumed there were none.
"Okay, well one of the things we do to keep in shape and stay ready should an emergency arise, is to practice fighting techniques. That is what we will be doing today." Msgt. Greer stepped forward to the center of the room while Scott continued. "We are going to begin with hand to hand combat but remember . . . we are only practicing so no real fighting."
Scott gave an example move of grabbing Greer around the neck and throwing him to the floor. "Just like this."
Again the men watched silently.
"So who would like to give it a try?" Scott asked the group.
Aengus smiled as he held up his hand indicating he was willing to give it a try. His friends rooted him on as many slapped him on the back and cheered.
Greer again took his position in the center of the room as Aengus approached him. No sooner than Greer had grabbed him around the neck, however, Aengus picked him up off the ground and slammed him down, stepping back in the process.
Lt. Scott quickly realized it was going to be more difficult than they had originally imagined as he went over to offer Greer a hand up. "Looks like they're already familiar with this move." Greer agreed. "Let's up the ante a little shall we." Scott gave Greer a little wink as Greer smiled back knowing he was just given the green light to do whatever it took to take Aengus down.
"Okay, let's try that again." Scott stepped to the side so Greer and Aengus could engage each other.
This time, Greer was ready and used a different maneuver to avoid the outcome only to find himself again laying on his back on the floor.
Scott looked on astonished. Not being afraid to admit defeat, he had no choice but to ask Aengus to show them the move again so they could learn it themselves. It looked like Scott and Greer would be the students for awhile.
Calum smiled as he looked on, "Let me show you something." He might as well show these two young men what his men could really do. Calum and Gobhan walked to the center while everyone else watched from the sidelines. As they engaged each other in a mock fight, Scott and Greer quickly realized they were quite adept at hand to hand combat, in fact, they seemed to relish it.
Wray returned from Earth with new determination. She had to convince Kinta to stay focused on the power device. Once they got home then Telford could return with his team and she no longer cared if he blew up the ship or not so long as she wasn't there to see it. Still convinced that Earth could build a device faster, she needed to find Kinta's lab where she was sure the plans could be found. Just one gate address stood between her and Earth.
Spotting Dr. Rush sitting in the Control Center, known to most as the Apple Core, she decided to make good use of the information she had discovered.
"Dr. Rush, I see you're working alone again." Wray shook her head. "You're the only one willing to do what it takes to get us home. I want to thank you for that."
Rush just mumbled as he kept his stare on the screen studying the code that scrolled before him.
"Can't Kinta figure that out faster?"
Just the mention of Kinta's name irritated him, "Apparently not."
Wray noted the resentment in his voice and knew the time was right to enact her little plan. "You know, even though she's an Ancient, she was raised on a medieval planet where I doubt they had any kind of advanced schooling. Most likely, she's just hiding the fact that she was never taught about the technology that her race is capable of."
She paused for a moment to let that bit of information soak in before she gave a puzzled look and questioned, "Isn't the Ancient chair designed just for her type of situation?"
Rush stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. She had his full attention now.
"I mean since she's an Ancient, isn't that what the chair was used for – to give them the knowledge?" Wray quizzed him while already knowing the answer. "I just wonder if they put specific information in there regarding this ship as well." She looked around at all the technology that was built into the ship as she ran her hand along the edge of the console.
Dr. Rush immediately knew what she was thinking about. "Like the lock-out code."
Wray nodded, "Exactly." Having planted that seed of thought, she knew she had to keep control. She needed him ready but to not act on it until the time was right.
"Too bad Young has turned her away from trying the chair though."
"What do you mean?" Rush wasn't sure what she was talking about.
"Didn't you hear?" She glanced down at him. "When she healed Franklin this morning, I heard Young made a comment about the chair being off limits."
Shaking her head in disgust, she explained, "There's no way Kinta is going to try that thing now."
Colonel Young was another thorn in Dr. Rush's side and he could just imagine him doing something like that. "That's stupid! She's an Ancient, the chair won't hurt her at all. Like you said, it's made for her."
Rush ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
"Are we really sure the chair is working correctly?" Wray asked cautiously. "I mean, did you check it over thoroughly to make sure?"
Rush looked at her, he knew she was up to something. "I could check it again if you like."
"Why don't you." Almost as an afterthought, she added, "And why don't you see if we can use the machine to read the data through her mind? I mean just in case she isn't willing to share what she learned." Wray spoke her thoughts verbally, "I'm just not sure that I trust her to tell us the code even after she learns it."
"Her and Young have quite a few secrets between themselves and I don't know their agenda yet." She walked to the door to leave. "By the way, did Young tell you that Kinta can read minds?"
Rush raised an eyebrow as he shook his head no.
"Well she can so be careful."
Wray continued down the hallway to her quarters with a satisfied smile on her face. Once she was sure the chair was working properly, they'd find a way to force Kinta into it. If nothing else, she'd use the fear of the chair to gain the address of Kinta's lab where the power units were built.
As the evening drew to a close, Kinta decided to play with the main console. Rush was gone was her primary reason and she had free access to browse and see what she could find. After pulling up the Holographic screen, she began looking through what Dr. Rush had been working on. He was certainly diligent in trying to unlock the systems from the auto pilot they had been set on. Curiosity got the best of her when she found his list of necessities and opened it. Kinta quickly realized it was the list Destiny was using to determine which planets to stop at. She immediately added a few additional items that she felt was needed then closed the file.
Kinta would open a system utility, browse around it's functions and then close it to move on to the next. Once she opened a database on all the planets that had been seeded with Ancient stargates, her intrigue was heightened as she tried to determine where Destiny was in comparison.
Kinta typed the name Nestorius into the search feature and started a search. Within seconds the information was returned.
"Wow." Kinta was impressed at the amount of information available on the planet and the race that lived there. As she read, it was apparent that the database was out of date. Nestorius was listed as the home of a nomadic tribe with no technological advances whereas, she clearly knew they had technology now. Kinta typed in newer data indicating the ruler's name and they type of weapons they currently possessed.
After doing a search of Earth and being unsuccessful, Kinta decided to focus on Caelur instead. She was in luck – Caelur was listed. With the list of Stargates between Nestorius and Caelur, Kinta had another way home. She saved the results for her use later.
Days later, Kinta had no idea of the danger she was in when she joined many of the other civilians for the evening meal. As she ate hungrily, Quinn spoke fondly of Caelur.
"I can't wait to get back home. Is there nothing you can do Kinta to get us home faster?"
Kinta couldn't help but think of the list she had procured or wonder if the crew had put him up to the questioning since they too had been prodding her to give up the gate address and take them home. "It will happen when it is time Quinn, no sooner," Kinta calmly replied.
"I can't wait to get back and see my wife," Aengus chimed in. The others equally agreed that they missed their loved ones.
Kinta looked up and paused in mid-bite as she realized they were unaware of the fate of Caelur. Slowly dropping her fork back onto her plate, a sadness came over her which was quickly noticed by the group.
"What's wrong Kinta?" Calum asked curiously.
She swallowed hard before answering him. "You don't know what happened on Caelur?"
Calum became more alarmed at her question as did the others when he asked her back, "What happened on Caelur?"
Kinta knew she had to tell them but was also aware she'd be destroying their hopes and dreams of the future in the process. Never had she experienced such a difficult task. Unsure how to proceed, she reluctantly answered Calum. "They're all dead." In a low voice, she explained further. "The Goa'uld killed them all." Kinta watched as the life seemed to drain out of each man.
Suddenly Gobhan stood in a rage of anger. "It's your fault! You had to seek out the Tau'ri and make us part of their war!"
"No . . . No. They would have come anyways. That's what the Goa'uld do – they conquer." Kinta desperately tried to explain, "I was making us weapons to use against the Goa'uld should they come."
Calum interrupted the argument, "Did no one survive Kinta?"
Kinta slowly shook her head no.
"Are you sure? Maybe some escaped and hid in the caves?" Aengus greatly wanted this to be true.
Hesitantly, Kinta placed the image in each of their minds of the field of impaled bodies atop of rows and rows of poles. The rows seemed to go on forever as each man witnessed the horror that Kinta had returned to. Quinn was no longer able to hold back the tears as the others just starred with blank expressions on their faces.
Gobhan lunged at Kinta, "No! You've taken everything from me!"
Calum quickly grabbed Gobhan and pushed him back, "It's not her fault. We have already seen many races stronger than us. We were unaware just how weak we were and it cost us dearly."
The food was no longer appetizing as each man left to deal with his grief. Calum forced Gobhan to walk away as well leaving Kinta alone at the table. She tried to take another bite of food but was overwhelmed as well and tears ran down her cheeks. She remembered that dreadful day as though it were just yesterday.
Kinta finally left as well and retired to her quarters to sleep since she suddenly felt immensely tired. So tired that she could barely undress herself as she sat on the side of the bed. She managed to get her boots off and her pants but the rest had to wait as she fell backwards unaware of anything past that point. She slept heavily and was totally unaware of the strangers who had entered her quarters and now stood before her.
Two men lifted her up and carried her down the hallway to the room where the Ancient chair of knowledge was located.
"Sit her down in the chair." Wray instructed the men who did as they were told.
Brody and Volker immediately began preparing the machine for operation as a low hum could be heard from the electronics. Finally Brody gave the word, "Okay, ready when you are."
Dr. Rush began placing Kinta's head in alignment with the contact heads as the restraints closed around her wrists and ankles.
Kinta awoke to discover she had been restrained in the Ancient chair and was well aware of the damage it had done to Jeremy Franklin – now they planned to use it on her. She screamed in fear as she tried desperately to get free hoping that someone would hear her and come to her aid. Dr. Rush was trying to hold her against the back of the chair so the nodules would align with her head when he saw the fear in her eyes as she thrashed back and forth.
"Rush, don't do this!" She begged. "It won't work on me!"
"Fine, tell me the address of your lab Kinta and we'll stop." Wray demanded.
But Kinta knew she'd be condemning all of them if she gave that bit of information to Camile Wray. She just couldn't do it. "I can't."
Just then, Colonel Young entered the room and was immediately restrained by two civilians while a third held a gun on him. He could see what they were trying to do. "She's retarded – It won't work on her!" He shouted helplessly.
Camile Wray gave the order for the scientists to begin, "Turn it on."
After seeing Kinta's reaction, Rush couldn't go through with it, "No, Wait!" But it was too late as the machine lit up.
Everyone was taken aback as they listened to her gasping for air in between her screams of pain and watched her body tense as though she was being electrocuted. Dr. Rush started for the console to try and stop it when Wray grabbed the gun from the civilian and pointed it at Rush instead.
"I will use this Dr. Rush," she threatened forcefully.
But he ignored her threat and tried frantically to end the session. The frustration clearly showed on his face as he tried in vain only to have the machine eventually stop on it's own. The deed was done.
Kinta's body trembled as the restraints slid away. She seemed totally unresponsive.
Young tore away from the startled civilians and forcefully disarmed Camile Wray who was staring at Kinta fully expecting to see her sit up and recover until the realization hit her that it didn't work.
Wray mumbled to herself, "It should have worked, she's an Ancient."
Young was furious, "Biologically she's an Ancient, not mentally! You just fried her brains!"
He radioed for Lt. Johansen to come to Kinta's aid as Lt. Scott and Msgt. Greer arrived to offer their help as well.
"Put Wray and these civilians in lock down until I can figure out what to do with them," Young ordered Greer who was more than willing to comply. Ronald Greer recalled when Wray had questioned his being released from confinement when the station was under attack. He truly believed that Wray would have preferred he'd been left behind to die. Now it was her turn as he led them away.
Johansen arrived to discover Kinta's body in the chair and knew what had happened by the comatose expression on her face. "Let's get her to the Infirmary."
Rush ran his fingers through his hair and held his head as he looked on and realized the dreadful thing he had just participated in. He kept seeing Kinta's fear ridden eyes pleading with him for help. He fully expected Colonel Young to have him locked away as well but Young's cold stare was punishment enough.
Instead, Young addressed the other two scientists, "Why? You knew what this thing could do."
Dale Volker hesitated to answer as both he and Adam Brody looked away. "Wray said the chair was designed specifically for her since she's an Ancient. She said it was our only way to get back home."
Brody added timidly, "We just wanted to go home."
Kinta's screams still resonated in Colonel Young's head as he stopped by the Infirmary to see how she was doing. Tamara Johansen was doing what she could but it didn't look good.
"It's pretty much the same as when Dr. Franklin was in the chair - catatonic with slight tremors." Only this time, they didn't have Kinta around to heal the victim – she was the victim.
"Keep me posted."
Young hadn't realized until then just how desperate many of the crew were getting to get back to Earth. So much that they'd try anything including sacrificing a life if it would achieve their goal.
Many days had passed since Kinta was forced into the chair against her will. Calum and his men visited her often to check on her progress which never changed. As they ate their mid-day meal, many talked about their visions they experienced while unconscious and of Kinta.
"I wonder where she travels this time," inquired Aengus to no one in particular.
Quinn answered him. "Remember when she want on her last trip? She came here – perhaps she is seeing her next adventure."
Jeremy Franklin and several others were listening quietly from the next table.
Calum felt his anger rising as he thought of the injustice done to Kinta who he knew only wanted to help these people. She asked for nothing in return. "Perhaps her destiny has changed and we will go somewhere else far away from here." He couldn't help but feel that they should abandon the Tau'ri and leave them to destroy themselves.
A smile came over Logan's face, "Remember when she fought you Calum? I won two knives and a bow. That was some fight." He shook his head at the fond memories.
Calum suddenly addressed the next table where Franklin sat. "What was the chair like?"
Everyone fell quiet. Franklin had refused to talk about the incident and spoke very little afterwards. Each word seemed to be a struggle to emit so he had stopped talking all together. Everyone knew to just leave him be. Franklin sat silent as he stared down at his food ignoring Calum.
But Calum refused to back down – he had to know. "Speak man! What was it like?"
Lt. Scott spoke up in Franklin's defense. "Leave him alone."
"No." Calum's nostrils flared as his anger intensified. "I want to know what she went through."
Franklin's body began to tremble and he could no longer eat as he raised his eyes to meet Calum's gaze. Barely audible, he whispered, "It was horrible." Then the tears began to run down his face. He could no longer hold the emotion back as he sobbed, "It was torture. It felt like my whole body was on fire and it never ended. The pain was so unbearable I just wanted to die but it wouldn't stop . . . the pain wouldn't stop." Sobs overtook him for several minutes before he could continue. "It's a torture device – it has nothing to do with knowledge. It's for torture."
Dr. Rush quickly stood up, he didn't want to hear anymore and planned to make a quick escape back to his quarters to avoid hearing what his actions had done. But Calum blocked his way. If nothing else, he would make sure Rush knew what he had done. "Kinta is a high priestess. The markings on her body indicate she is a skilled warrior – no other woman has ever worn such markings. That is to be respected." He then looked at everyone else in the room as he continued, "She tried to warn us that great danger was coming but we failed to listen and now our people are gone except for us nine. She has warned you of the same thing and I see you ignoring her warnings as well. Mark my word – they will come true. She only wishes to save you. But I fear it is already too late – your fates are sealed."
Disgusted, Calum left the cafeteria and returned to Kinta's side. He feared the Tau'ri had sealed the Caelurian's fate as well.
Many people in the cafeteria were moved by Calum's words and his obvious respect for Kinta. Several inconspicuously wiped tears from their eyes while the soldiers stared at their food. Everyone seemed to lose their appetite as they picked at what was left on their plate.
Suddenly, the ship dropped out of hyper-drive and the soldiers sprang into action as they made their way to the gate room. It was another stop for items on their list. Eli was ready with a Kino to send it through and see what was on the other side. With Young's approval, he sent the Kino on it's way as everyone crowded around him to see what was on the other side.
It looked like a tropical jungle with strange, eerie vines hanging from the trees. With the denseness of the forest, they couldn't determine if there was life there as Eli sent the Kino out as far as he could from the gate to try and see what was there.
Calum stopped him, "Can you get closer to that plant?"
"The one with the weird flower? Sure." He moved the Kino in closer so they could clearly see the striped markings on the leaves.
"That plant exist on Caelur and is used to treat infection." He exclaimed.
Young doubted it was the same plant. "Are you sure? How can a plant from your planet wind up way out here?"
Calum didn't know but he was convinced it was the same plant. "We need to go there and collect samples to bring back. This plant could be very useful."
Galvyn, another one of Calum's men, added, "There may be other plants there which we can use as well." He pointed to himself and the other Caelurians, "All of us are familiar with such plants and can easily find them."
Colonel Young knew such plants could be useful in supplementing their rationed medical supplies and couldn't be ignored. "Okay, let's put together a team and go see what's there."
The team was larger than usual since the forest was dense and difficult to maneuver through. Calum's men would find a plant then direct Young's men to search for others like it and dig them up. Even Young was amazed as he watched Calum rub a leaf between his flattened hands then cup them to smell the scent. If the scent was familiar, the plant was kept, otherwise, they would move on to another one. By the time they left the planet, many plants and various fungi had been collected and returned to the ship to be studied and used. They had even managed to locate a poisonous plant similar to what Kinta used on her poisonous darts.
The plants which Calum was familiar with were used immediately by his men. After picking several leaves and letting them dry, Lt. Johansen observed them crumbling them up and sprinkling the crumbs on their food. "Is that a spice?" She asked curiously, thinking anything would be an improvement on the food.
Trevor smiled sheepishly, "No. It is so we won't become fathers yet."
The look on Johansen's face prompted further explanation which Calum offered. "It makes men infertile for many months so there are no unplanned pregnancies." He showed her his wrist, "When you see a darkened circle on the inside of the wrist, you know it's working."
"A male birth control." We don't have that on Earth – we have female birth control instead." She explained.
Calum smiled. "On our planet, if a man gets a girl pregnant, he must marry her or at least support her with food and firewood. But since girls want to get married, they will try to get pregnant in order to snare the man they want. So it is up to the man to make sure it doesn't happen."
Through the next several days, Calum explained each plant to the Medic and Jeremy Franklin on how to process it for use. For some plants, the leaves were dried and either brewed into a tea or crumbled onto food. With other plants, the medicinal properties lay in the bulb like roots or the milky substance in the stem. In some cases, the leaves were ground up and applied directly to the wound to prevent infection. Johansen and Franklin took notes on each plant and what kind of care they needed. Slowly everyone was learning how to live off the land as Franklin resumed his care of the greenhouse and watched over the plants.
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