--I don't own anything to do with Stargate Atlantis--
--
In the briefing room, Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon, McKay and Weir sit around the enormous table.
"Our intel suggests that they're in possession of an unused ZedPM", Rodney announces.
"Why wouldn't they be using it?", asks Teyla.
"The natives of the planet don't seem like the kinda people that would understand how it works", replies John as he leans back on his chair, legs resting on the table.
"Why's that?", Ronon makes himself heard.
Elizabeth reads through the file on M9X-337.
Rodney, always the first one to break the silence, gladly answers. "The natives of this lovely planet are interrogators. In exchange for supplies and weaponry, they provide a service to, eh, shall I say 'obtain information' from the given person."
Teyla looks slightly confused. "So people are handed over to them to be questioned?"
"Yes, I beleive so."
Weir looks on. "So, you want to go to a planet where their speciallity deals with..", she glances through the file and reads from it, "...'the most brutal form of torture known throughout the Pegasus Galaxy', to get a ZPM?"
"Yes". Everyone stares at Rodney. He looks around for a moment at all of them with a very unconvincing look on his face. "Look, they got a ZedPM. Now that's enough for me. And the fact that it's unused is even better! Besides, they hold nothing personal against the people they interrogate. They get paid, they get the information. We go there, nothing will happen to us..." They wait. "...I think."
"If what you're saying is true, how are we to locate the ZPM?", Teyla asks.
"Word on the street is they keep it in a seperate room behind the main complex", John reassures her.
The team looks at Weir waiting for the go-ahead. She thinks for a moment.
"You will have to be extremely careful, knowing the way these people operate. I want you in and out as quickly as possible."
John sits up straight, "Wouldn't have it any other way."
She smiles, "You have a go."
--
We go whirling through the wormhole, along for the ride with the team. All we can do is watch, because what happens next is up to them.
FLASH. Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon and McKay stand on M9X-337 looking at their surroundings. Not much, other than a huge rock cliff sticking out over a very violent ocean. The sky is an angry dark grey.
"Um, looks... inviting", McKay comments.
Sheppard steps into leader-mode. "Which way to the ZPM?"
Rodney looks at his life-signs detector. "Uh...too far away to detect any life-signs, but there's a large energy reading coming from up there", pointing to the rock face. "Everywhere else looks empty."
"Alright, let's move. This may take a while."
McKay looks in dread as he notices how far away the cliff really is. "Oh god. It's gonna take forever to get there."
"I would say it is at least a days walk", Teyla just adds fuel to the fire.
"Wonderful", he says in classic McKay sarcasm.
The team set off up the path to the rock face.
--
Back at Atlantis.
Weir is sitting in her office typing at her computer. Major Lorne knocks, then walks in.
"Ma'am, we have a situation"
"What is it, major?"
Lorne takes a sheet of paper from his pocket and hands it to Weir.
It reads: "WANTED ALIVE: Dr. Rodney McKay. If found bring to M9X-337. Reward is very large." Underneath is a picture of McKay.
Elizabeth stares at the picture then looks up at Lorne.
"Colonel Sheppard's team set off for that planet about two hours ago. They went to get a ZPM."
Lorne frowns at her. "What if the ZPM is a set-up?"
Weir answers; "I don't think so. McKay said he found evidence that suggests there's one there. What bothers me is the fact that they want him brought to that planet, which makes me think that whoever made this poster obviously wants some information from him."
"There's not just one poster. We found that one on M9X-459 during our trade negotiations with the Sharjans. We asked around and found out that they've been seen in over a dozen other planets. He must have some very valuable information to somebody."
Weir starts to think. "Sheppard's team are due to check back in a while. They may be successful in obtaining the ZPM and never be spotted. However, I want you to have a team ready incase."
"Yes, ma'am."
With that Lorne leaves. Weir looks at the poster, clearly very concerned.
--
"I am not built for this."
Ronon turns to McKay. "For what?"
"Walking long distances. I mean, it's not exactly on a scientists to-do list."
Ronon smiles at Teyla. "Come on, McKay. You got this." Sheppard laughs. "We all gotta do things we don't like McKay. Whether it be listen to an hour-long speech about The Big Bang theory or... walk."
"Yeah that's easy for you to say Mr. -"
"Look!" Teyla points behind them. The gate opens and out walk four men carrying somebody.
"Who's that?" asks McKay.
Teyla doesn't turn away from the men. "It must be somebody being brought in for questioning."
Sheppard pulls at McKays arm. "Come on."
The team hide behind a large rock. It takes quite a while for the men to reach them. They stop just after the rock that the team are hiding behind. The team notice that they're all wearing black clothing. One of the men looks at the rock for a little while as if he has seen something. He begins to walk towards it.
"Hey!" One of the other men shouts. "We don't have time. We need to bring him, now." The man slowly turns back and says something inaudible to the 'leader'. They both nod. He takes out his radio and says something into it. With that they continue on their way to the complex.
"What was that about?" asks Ronon.
Sheppard continues to watch as the men get smaller. "No idea." They then emerge from behind the rock and walk to the path. Sheppard turns to Teyla.
"This is taking alot longer then we thought. I need you to head back to the gate and let Atlantis know how we're doing. We'll keep going towards the top."
"Understood. I will return when I have informed them of our current status. Good luck."
Sheppard nods. "You too."
Teyla turns away and runs back downhill. The journey will no doubt be cut much shorter for her return to the gate.
The team watches as she leaves. Sheppard then turns to face uphill.
"Alright, let's go."
Ronon lightly shoves McKay and smiles as they continue to walk up the steep hill towards the complex.
--
Back in Atlantis, Major Lorne's team are standing infront of the gate. Weir looks at her watch worriedly. She looks at Zelenka.
"Nothing", he says as he frowns.
She looks down at Lorne. He nodds.
"Dial the gate", she orders.
"Dialing."
The gate begins to dial. The chevrons start to lock and then – nothing.
Weir looks on, puzzled. "What happened?"
"We can't establish a wormhole", Radek tries again, but fails.
Weir looks at him. "Can you fix it?"
Radek looks completely puzzled. "No, I... it won't work. We can't connect."
Weir looks down at Lorne. "They know he's there."
--
Sheppard, Ronon and McKay eventually reach the top of the mountain and the base of the complex. It is much bigger than it looked from below.
"Oh God, finally", McKay pants. He rests against the wall.
Sheppard lets a heavy breath out and wipes his brow.
Ronon looks at the complex. "It's pretty big."
"You don't say", replies McKay.
Sheppard walks towards the cliff edge and looks over. "It's a long way down."
He then hears his radio.
Teyla finally reaches the gate. She begins to dial. Nothing happens. She tries again, nothing. She activates her radio.
"Colonel Sheppard, come in"
"Teyla, what's your status?"
"Colonel, the gate won't dial."
"...what?"
"I cannot dial the gate. Nothing is happening."
Silence.
Ronon sees something on the ground. He picks it up to find a piece of paper identical to the one Lorne showed Weir. He looks at it with shock. Rodney looks at him puzzled.
"What is that?"
"Sheppard!" Ronon hands him the poster.
John stares at it.
Teyla stands waiting for a reply.
"Colonel Sheppard?"
"Oh, this is not good."
"What is it?"
"Teyla, stay where you are. Keep working on the gate."
She hears gun shots. Then...
-static-
Teyla, despite being given orders, knows that the gate won't work and she runs back towards the complex.
--
Ronon opens his eyes to see the angry grey sky. He jolts to an upright position to find himself beside John a few miles down from the complex. He shakes Sheppard to wake him up.
"Sheppard!"
"Huh, what? What happened?" He sits up, rubbing the back of his head.
"We were stunned." John looks at him.
"And they got McKay."
They both stand up.
"Dammit. They knew we were here. That's why they shut down the gate."
Ronon starts to pace back and forth, raging. "Why did they leave us?"
Sheppard looks at the paper.
"These people only do what they are paid to. McKay is the only one on the poster."
"Now what? The gate is shut down. We can't go back for help."
They both go silent for a moment. Suddenly Teyla comes running up the hill.
"Colonel!" She stops. She has obviously been running without stopping to break.
"What happened? Where is Rodney?"
Sheppard hands her the poster.
"They took 'em." Ronon fills her in.
She looks at the poster and frowns.
"Who would have done this?"
John looks at the poster too. " I don't know, but we gotta get 'em back."
--
Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla are still discussing what to do.
"Hold on a minute John. How are the three of us going to be able to infiltrate a building of such size?"
Ronon jumps in. "Easy. Go in, start blastin'."
"Look, it's not as easy as that", John says. "Now, they didn't take our guns, but that still only makes three against, I'd say about a hundred."
Teyla frowns. "Not very good odds."
Ronon begins to get angry. "Well, we can't just leave him in there with them!"
John thinks. Teyla and Ronon wait for an answer.
"Alright, Atlantis are gonna know something's up when we don't check back and then they'll eventually try to dial here."
"I doubt that they will be able to establish a connection either", informs Teyla.
Sheppard is frustrated now. "Ok then. Our only options are to blast our way in there and hope for the best, or to wait for Atlantis."
Ronon looks at Sheppard. "To what? Fly over?"
"John, that could take days", Teyla says regretfully.
Sheppard sighs and looks up at the enormous building. This was one of the times they could really use McKay.
--
McKay slowly opens his eyes. He wakes up to find himself lying on the concrete ground.
He sits up. He notices his tact vest has been removed and he is in his t-shirt. "Ugh." He groans and rubs the back of his head. He looks around the concrete room. There is a door on the right wall close to the corner, which is beside a concrete table. He looks above him. The ceiling is higher above where he is sitting then where the door is. There is one window, which is just a rectangular hole, to his left high up on the wall. The moonlight shines through and projects onto the right wall. The wall behind him sticks out at the bottom to act like some sort of bed.
No sheets. No pillow. Just more concrete.
"Great", he says to himself as he begins to stand.
Suddenly the door opens. He stays silent as a man in black walks in, holding a clipboard in one hand and carrying a chair in the other. He puts the chair down and sits. Rodney sits on the 'bed.'
Silence for a moment.
The man reads from the clipboard. "Dr. Rodney McKay. The smartest man in The Pegasus Galaxy." He looks at McKay for a moment. Rodney, secretly quite proud, just looks back.
"Dr. McKay, do you know why you're here?"
Rodney finally opens his mouth. "Um, uh... I would presume it has something to do with the Wanted posters."
The man smiles. "You are correct." He puts down the clipboard. "Our service has been requested by a certain group of individuals to extract some information from you. You are very important to them."
McKay frowns. "Who? I, um. What kind of information?"
"Our clients wish to stay anonymous. And as for your second question, you will find out soon enough." He stands up, holding the clipboard. "It says here that you can be extremely stubborn and very creative in life-threatening situations. I am also to expect resilience." He steps closer to McKay.
"So we have been instructed to use the maximum level of interrogation in our power."
McKay stares at him, speechless.
The man starts to walk towards the door before turning around.
"Enjoy your stay."
--
Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon are still thinking about their next move. Sheppard suddenly thinks of something.
"Wait a minute. Let's try the radio."
Sheppard switches it on.
"Rodney are you there? McKay can you here me?"
Silence for a few moments. Finally a reply.
"Who is this?" This voice is not Rodney's.
Sheppard looks slightly angry. He answers with a question of his own.
"Who is this?"
"I work in the facility that you're probably looking at right now."
"Where's McKay?"
"Dr. McKay is with us." Sheppard needs to know more.
"What do you want with him?"
"We have been paid to extract some information from him."
Sheppards blood begins to boil. Ronon shares his rage.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing yet. We are just about to begin the questioning. I must go now."
-static-
Sheppard looks at the radio ready to smash it.
Teyla looks to the ground and frowns, then begins to think.
"Who would have wanted this information so much as to go to this extent to obtain it?"
"We can worry about that once we get him back."
TBC