Saving Milky Way
"What is it," Sam asked, hovering over McKay's shoulder and looking down at the image displayed on the screen.
"That," Rodney indicated the said image. "…is our poisonous snake."
Sam furrowed her eyebrows. She was no biologist, but whatever that thing was it sure didn't look like a poisonous snake to her. It had the head and body of an eel but at its midsection, it split into several long, spaghetti-like tentacles. She continued to study the revolving graphic as Rodney continued.
"…Apparently, it's common on several planets in this region."
"'Look's more like some kind of octopus…" Sam observed, having ignored the scientist's last few comments. McKay frowned and put on his familiar, "wow, that was one of the dumbest things I've ever heard," faces.
"Yes, well my Ancient's a little rusty, but I'm pretty sure the name translated to big poisonous snake; not big poisonous octopus," he said with an arrogant smirk.
Sam rolled her eyes, deciding it wasn't worth a bickering match.
"Ma'am…"
Sam turned around and looked towards the technician who had just summoned her.
"Our sensors are picking up a ship that just dropped out of hyperspace."
She frowned and strode over to the consul the man was stationed at. On it, there was a tiny blinking representation of a ship that jumped closer to the city every time it blinked.
"What is that?" Ronon asked, having just appeared over her shoulder. She didn't know whether it was the fascination with what was on the screen, or that she had just gotten used to it, but she didn't even jump this time.
"It's a tel'tak…" she told them, though still in disbelief herself.
"A what?"
"Ma'am, we're receiving a radio message."
"Patch them in," she ordered, and headed over to the computer where another technician was typing in the commands.
At first they heard only static, but eventually words started filtering through the noise.
"…Atlantis...? Hello…? Is there anyone down there? If anyone can hear me, please respond…"
It sounded as though whoever was speaking was annunciating each word, as if they were trying to communicate with someone of a foreign language. Ronon exchanged looks with Sheppard and Rodney squinted in interest.
Sam let her mouth drop open a few inches, and she stood frozen in utter disbelief for a few moments before she finally did respond.
"Vala?" she asked, hoping she was wrong but knowing she wasn't.
"Sam?" the other woman said, seemingly much more excited then Sam was. "Is that you?"
Sam hesitated. "…Yes…"
"Oh, thank god! You don't know how good it is to hear your voice!" Vala exclaimed, sounding exasperated and relieved at the same time.
Sam paused again, unsure quite how to proceed. "…What are you doing here?"
"I came to warn you," she said in a more serious tone.
"Warn us of what?" Ronon butted in.
"Vala, what are you talking about?" Sam added.
There was a short pause. "Samantha... I need you to listen to me very carefully," she began, and Sam raised an eyebrow. "Earth has been compromised."
At this, people in the room exchanged horrified glances.
Sam struggled to find a response. "…how?" she asked.
"That's a very long story, and I have little time before my ship loses power. I need you to grant me permission to board, and then I can give you more details."
Sam hesitated. For all she knew, this could be a trick, and that wasn't really Vala on the other line. But then again, it was only a small vessel that posed little threat with or without weapons, and right now it had hardly enough power to move, let alone fire on them. She sighed.
"I'll have a team meet you in the jumper bay," she agreed.
"Thank you," Vala chirped, and the transmission ended.
Sheppard's team, along with Sam, strode into the jumper bay just as the small Gua'ould vessel grounded with a loud thump. A small team of marines positioned themselves behind them, aiming their guns.
The ship's door creaked open and slowly lowered itself to the floor, landing with a crash. A few sparks followed the ex-thief as she strolled down the ramp, and it was clear that Vala had not been lying about the ship's condition. She nearly lost her balance when larger sparks suddenly shot from inside the ship and she spun around to avoid them. Rodney also threw his hands up to protect his face.
Sam, who throughout this display stood calmly with her hands clasped behind her, now smiled in a mixture of amusement and impatience. As Vala turned back to face them, she chuckled humorlessly.
"I may be needing some repairs before I set off again," she said with mock cheeriness.
"Yeah, just maybe…" Rodney added, his tone implying she had just almost killed him.
After a quick medical by Dr. Keller the group was gathered around the table in the Atlantis briefing room.
"I don't know what they are," Vala explained. "I've never come in contact with them before."
John, who had been leaning back in his chair drumming his fingers on the table, now straightened up and folded his hands together in interest. "Why don't you start from the beginning," he suggested.
Vala looked to Sam, as if to see if there was any opposition to that idea, but Sam only nodded. She sighed, for she wasn't quite sure where to begin.
"Alright…" she instigated. "So I was in my quarters talking to Daniel…"
"Is this relevant?" Sam interrupted, closing her eyes in frustration.
Vala narrowed her eyes at her and repositioned herself in her chair. "…And there was an incoming wormhole," she continued, her tone bitter. "It wasn't anyone we knew of, and so we sealed the iris, but…" she sighed. "I'm not really sure what it was… radiation of some sort, maybe? But it seemed to hypnotize everyone—everyone's in a trance."
Foreheads creased in interest and Sam leaned in closer. "A trance?" she asked.
"Yeah, you know, like coo-coo," Vala explained, rotating her finger next to her head. "…brain-dead… lost their marbles."
Sam nodded to show her understanding.
"But the 'gate can only stay active for 38 minutes," Rodney interrupted.
"Usually…" Sam added, beginning to understand where this was going.
"Right. It didn't shut down," Vala explained. "I tried snapping them out of it—waving my hand in their faces, yelling in their ears… but they were completely unresponsive."
There was a short pause. "Why were you not also affected by this… radiation?" Teyla questioned.
"You know, I'm not quite sure about that," Vala admitted. "But I got out of there while I could. I came here hoping I could reach you before the same thing started happening in this galaxy."
Sam nodded, still trying to comprehend it all.
"You see…" she continued. "I tried stopping on other planets so I could 'gate out using their Stargate, but it turns out this is happening on a lot more worlds than we think."
"And it's affecting everyone?"
"The whole planet, as far as I know."
"Well… well then what do you want us to do?" Rodney asked.
Vala smiled and withdrew a small piece of paper from her vest pocket. She slid it into the center of the table and they all leaned in closer to look at it. "That," she explained. "Is the 'gate address to said alien's home planet."
Rodney frowned, looking terrified at the prospect of going on such a mission. John raised an eyebrow, and Sam returned Vala's smile as she studied the symbols on the paper.
"It's in the Pegasus Galaxy," she said.
Vala smiled more widely. "Yes it is."
Sam stood up then, signaling for everyone else at the table to do the same. "Well then it's settled," she said. "Gear up everyone. We head out in 0100 hours."
She turned and began to stack folders but no one had moved yet.
"We?" Rodney asked.
Sam frowned. "Yes, we Rodney," she clarified, and Vala gave a curt nod of agreement. "We need Vala on this mission and someone has to keep her in line."
Vala frowned at the insult, and all but Rodney grinned in amusement as Sam swept by them and out of the room.
"So you're sure this is the right 'gate address?" Rodney asked for the seventh time as the 'gate was dialing. Sam rolled her eyes.
"Rodney, I'm sure the answer hasn't changed since the last time you asked," John said coolly, pushing the last symbol in the address on the jumper's consul and watching the 'gate engage.
Teyla fingered the tiny piece of equipment within her ear doubtingly. "Are you sure this device will protect us from these… radio waves?" she asked.
It was the same technology SG-1 had used to drown out Seth's brain control.
"That's assuming they are radio waves," Rodney said smugly. "I mean, let's face it; this whole mission is based on assumption. We have no way of knowing what we're getting ourselves into…"
"Simply put…" Sam cut him off. "Yes. They should work."
Rodney looked offended. John stared up at the wormhole and inhaled in preparation.
"Good luck, ma'am," Chuck called from above.
"Thank you, Chuck," Sam yelled back, and then nodded to Sheppard.
He sighed and laid his hand on the control consul, driving the jumper forwards. "…here we go…"
They emerged on the other side and soared upwards, cloaking instantly. They looked down on the planet and their mouths dropped open in amazement.
"That's a lot of Stargates…" Ronon commented.
It was indeed a lot of Stargates. The rings were arranged in a large circle around a big, silver dome. Tiny men… or creatures, (it was hard to tell from this height) were wandering around performing different tasks. Some were moving and dialing Stargates. Others were carrying things working around the central dome.
"This must be how they were able to affect so many planets simultaneously," Vala said. "It's like what you guys did to defeat the replicators."
"Where did they get them all?" John asked, peering out the window in disbelief. No one knew the answer, so no one replied.
The ring of 'gates seemed to go on forever, and they all simply gazed out at the scene for several minutes as the jumper flew overhead, scanning the area for a safe position to land.
"So what's the plan?" Ronon finally asked.
It took a few moments before Sam finally realized they were all staring at her expectantly. She had almost forgotten she was in charge of the mission.
"Right…" she said. "We need to find and eliminate the source of the radio waves."
"Piece of cake," Ronon said.
Sam smiled. "We can land the jumper over there," she said, nodding towards a small cluster of trees on the outskirts of the development.
John nodded and turned the jumper in the right direction.
"Well this isn't right," Rodney said, peering down at the screen on his handheld doohinkey.
"What!?!" John, Sam, and Ronon demanded at the same time.
"The radio waves must be interfering with my power readings. They're all over the place," he explained.
Sam sighed. She expected as much.
"So what does that mean?" Vala asked.
McKay glared at her. "It means I won't be able to track the source of the interference."
"We already have a pretty good idea where the interference is coming from," Sam said, scanning the area with her P-90.
McKay groaned and stuck his power reading device back into one of his pockets. "I knew this was a bad idea…" he grumbled.
"Would you rather we abandon Earth and the rest of the galaxy?" Sam asked distastefully.
"We don't even know that Earth is really in danger," he retorted.
Vala shot him a look. "You think I'd make this up!?!"
Rodney turned to look at her. "No," he said. "I just think you might not be who you say you are."
"That's enough!" Sam shouted, cutting Vala off. "We don't know too much of anything right now so we're going to take our chances."
John nodded in approval and she took a deep breath.
"Ok. We split up, and head for the dome," she ordered.
Rodney looked at her in disbelief and shuffled his feet. "S-split up? Do you really think that's the best idea?"
"We'll keep in radio close contact," she assured. "But from what we've seen, there's a whole bunch of them and only six of us. We won't stand a chance if we get caught so splitting up and entering from different angles will give us the best chance of not getting caught."
Rodney frowned, knowing he had lost this battle. Sam gave him a sympathetic smile before continuing.
"Alright," she began. "Ronon, I want you with Sheppard..."
Ronon nodded and twirled his gun in his hand.
"I'll go with muscles!" Vala volunteered, beginning to skip over towards him but Sam caught her by the collar and held her back.
"Vala, you're with me," she said, and Vala pouted. "And…" she continued, looking over the two remaining team members. "Uh, Sheppard, why don't you take McKay," she suggested. Teyla grinned and went to stand beside the other two women.
"We'll go through the hills," Sam said, waving her hand out towards the rocky valley they had flown over just before landing. "You can take the woods."
Sheppard nodded. "Good luck," he said, leading his team down his assigned route.
Sam groaned at the scene before her. The hike here had been uneventful and long, especially with Rodney's constant interruptions over the radio. Vala was her normal self, chatting away about a wide range of topics, all completely unrelated to the task at hand, while Sam stayed extra sharp—even more than she usually was.
It wasn't just the fact that fate of the galaxy was in their hands AGAIN or that they were on a hostile planet inhabited by unknown aliens that was making her anxious, but the fact that this was the first galaxy-threatening mission she was leading since arriving on Atlantis. She was unfamiliar with the terrain and the team, and the success of this mission was weighing heavily on her.
They had met little—make that no resistance on their way up here, and now she knew why. All of the aliens that had once been scattered about were now all gathering near the dome—the one place they needed to be. They knew they were here.
Sam lowered the binoculars and stared out at the scene for several more moments, hoping that in some miraculous coincidence, the aliens might start dispersing themselves again.
"That doesn't look too promising," Vala commented from where she lay flat on her stomach beside Sam on the large embankment.
Sam frowned and clicked her radio. "Sheppard, what's your position?" she asked, then bit her lip as she waited for him to reply.
They waited several long moments and all they received was static. Sam tried again.
"Ronon, McKay, this is Carter, please respond."
Nothing.
Shit…
"Colonel!"
Sam looked over at where Teyla was standing at the base of the hill. She stood up and skidded down it, P-90 clutched tightly to her, and Vala hurried after her. When they reached the bottom, she stumbled and held onto Sam to sturdy herself. Sam ignored this and lightly shucked her off as she went to stand beside the Athosian woman.
She was about to ask what was wrong but her question was answered as a rustling sound could be heard coming from the thicket several yards away. She immediately raised her gun towards the noise. Teyla had already done so and was focusing with intent upon whatever lie behind the bushes.
Suddenly, something emerged. At first glance it looked like a human… then a bear… Sam soon realized that it was neither.
The alien had the body of a man, but was much taller and stockier. It wore what appeared to be a shiny silver suit. Its head was sand-colored and massive, and had an almost a scaly texture with tiny black beads for eyes and a rather fish-like face. It had no hair, but instead a bumpy, deformed crown at the back which much resembled the brain creatures in Star Trek. Its hands looked like five-fingered crab claws and its enormous feet only had one toe. What she found interesting about them though, which she noticed immediately, was that they carried no weapons.
Only moments after the first one emerged, others began appearing from all around them, closing in on them with an eerily slow pace as they cracked their claws together.
Teyla swung around and began firing at them the same time the other two did, but they were rewarded only with the clicking sounds of an empty clip. Sam frowned and tried a few more times as the creatures drew ever closer.
"My clip's full! What's going on?" Vala shouted, her voice panicky. She had removed the clip from her P-90 and was brandishing it in frustration.
Sam glanced at it and frowned in bewilderment. Teyla threw her P-90 to the side and pulled out her hand gun. She fired several times and it had the same effect. She frowned and held it uselessly in her hand.
"This is not working either," she said, now more worried than before.
Sam dropped her weapon to her vest as the creatures drew nearer. She was the smart one… she was supposed to have the answers… but she didn't. Some of the aliens had raised their arms in front of them like zombies and it was almost as though their eyes were swirling. If she had a theory it would be that these creatures were some kind of telepaths, and that's how they were able to detect their approach and disable their weapons, and it would also explain the hypnotizing effect their radio waves were having back on Earth.
The three women were standing in a triangle back to back as the aliens closed in. Sam weighed her options. They couldn't surrender—then they would be either killed or captured, which would destroy all chances of success. She frowned and extracted her army knife from her belt. She jerked off its sheath and held it threateningly in front of her. "Guess it's time for plan B," she advised.
Teyla quickly got the idea and unstrapped a larger knife from her side. Vala struggled for a moment to locate hers but clumsily pulled it out as well.
The aliens were merely feet away from them when Teyla moved.
She rushed at one of them and sliced its throat, then spun around and stabbed another one in the stomach. Sam was satisfied to see the creatures drop to their knees and collapse into an unmoving heap. Somehow she had expected them to be invincible or something.
While Teyla engaged 3 other aliens, Sam and Vala attacked at will.
Allowing Vala to take on one of the aliens approaching from the woods, Sam swung around towards the hills where she knew several more were coming towards them. However, she did not expect to find them this close, and she had to lean backwards when one that stood directly in front of her took a swing at her face.
She almost lost her balance but Vala, who was still standing beside her facing the opposite direction, grabbed the front of her vest and heaved her upwards into a standing position, where she quickly thrust her knife deep into the alien's forehead.
After that, she wasn't given a chance to look back as she was then swarmed by the creatures. She jerked her knife out and let her victim drop to the ground, then ducked as another took a swing at her. From where she stood half-crouching she lashed out at it's stomach and sliced a long, deep gash in it. The alien let out an ear splitting scream as black blood poured from its wound and it stumbled backwards.
Meanwhile, an alien had caught Vala as she attempted to drive her knife into its chest and had its claw clamped tightly around her wrist. She clenched her teeth, struggling to overpower the larger creature. It drew back its arm and catapulted it into her. The force sent her flying into a tree, her knife clinging as it dropped onto the hard ground.
The alien trampled over it and approached her while she struggled to push herself off the ground. It clamped down on her throat with its claw and dragged her back so the back of her head slammed into the base of the tree. She choked and clawed at it, trying to pry it off, but the alien only cocked its head in curiosity and watched her.
Teyla was being overrun. There were simply too many of them and she couldn't take them all on by herself. Somehow, this was not as easy for her as it should have been. However many of them there may be, these creatures were slow and unarmed. They should have been no problem. But she was feeling abnormally heavy and slow herself, and was quickly growing tired. Not to mention she had the most mind-splitting headache… and it was getting worse.
She cried out in ferocity as she lashed out, beheading one of the creatures as it approached. She spun around and struck another across the chest. She was becoming dizzy… everything seemed to be moving in slow motion and the world was spinning around her. Only two left now. She moved out of the way just as one of the creatures attempted to seize her by the wrist. She gripped her dagger with two hands and thrust it in a forceful downwards motion, severing the creature's outstretched arm.
She could hear voices in her head now. They were speaking a strange language and she couldn't understand. The voices grew louder and her ear piece started to glitch and a shrill, ear-piercing ring emitted from it.
She screamed and keeled over, holding her head in pain. Her knife clattered to the ground and was kicked far out of reach as the remaining creature approached. She dropped to her knees, crying out as the pain became unbearable.
Sam jerked the knife from the creature's chest forcefully and paused to catch her breath as it dropped to the ground. She had taken out most of the creatures in her area. Now there would be only one left… just where was it…?
She was about to turn around when something seized her wrist where she had been wielding her knife. She gasped and tried to pull out of its grasp as her weapon was taken forcefully from her, twisting her wrist as it did so.
She finally was able to pull away, (or it let go; she couldn't tell) and stumbled several steps forward. She spun around to face it, huffing furiously as she rubbed at her sore wrist. 'Crap,' she thought. Now she was unarmed.
She rushed at the creature and swung her leg in a high ark towards its side, but it caught her by the thigh and she felt a sharp, pinching pain sear through her where it had clamped down. She ground her teeth together, willing herself not to cry out as the pain spread through her leg.
The alien clamped down and pulled hard, causing her to lose her footing and it swung her around by the leg. When it let go, she was tossed quite a distance before she hit the ground and rolled another several feet.
On her back, Sam made a pained expression and squeezed her eyes shut, writhing uncomfortably and holding her arm, for her whole body was sore from her rough landing. When she blinked her eyes open, she could feel the wetness in them and she stared up at the blaring sun.
As the creature slowly approached her, her head rolled to the side and she caught a glint of the sun's reflection off of a piece metal. It was Vala's knife.
Her eyes quickly darted back to her attacker as it was now looming over her, and they grew wide with fear.
It began reaching for her neck and she fumbled blindly for the knife. Cursing, she finally found it and sliced it across the creature's chest. It screamed and fell over backwards as clood reched its muth a poured freely from it.
She sighed in relief and sat up. Just then, she heard screaming and her head turned towards the source of it.
Teyla was hunched over on her knees at the base of a tree with an alien hovering over her. Sam quickly struggled to her feet and limped towards her.
She was stopped in her tracks when she heard another horrible scream.
"AAaHhh! Sam!" The voice was raspy and cracked when she tried to scream.
Sam spun around and saw another of the aliens pinning Vala against a tree. Its claw was clenched around her throat and her face was beginning to change color.
She looked back and forth desperately between the two women, trying to figure out what to do. Suddenly, she noticed another gleaming piece of silver on the ground in front of her and hurriedly limped the short distance to it.
She picked up Teyla's knife and quickly calculated the distance and angle between both herself and Teyla and herself and Vala. 'Damn, this is a bad idea,' she thought, but her friends screams were enough to convince her. She drew both knives back and hurtled them towards their targets.
Lucky shot. Very lucky.
The two aliens screeched loudly as the blades pierced their skulls and they dropped to the ground.
Teyla stopped screaming as the pain slowly flooded from her and she lowered her shaking hands from her head, taking fast, hollow breaths.
Vala gasped and brought her hand to her throat as the color slowly returned to her face's normal tint. She coughed loudly as she slid down the tree trunk.
Sam sighed in relief that her friends were alive and waited as they made their way over to her.
"You two alright?" she asked through heavy breaths.
"I am fine," Teyla said with a weak smile as she slowly made her way towards Sam. "Thank you."
Sam smiled in return. Vala walked over and met them, still rubbing her neck, and frowned as she looked over her friend.
"Sam," she began, and Sam turned towards her. "Don't be alarmed, but you've got a knife in your leg."
Sam frowned and looked down at her leg. 'So that's where my knife went,' she thought. There was indeed a knife protruding from her thigh, and dark blood seeped through her pant leg. Teyla gasped slightly.
Sam sighed. "So I do…" she said, and grasped the knife by its handle, tugging it out in one fast motion. Immediately she regretted it as the pain seared through her leg. She could feel herself weakening before her knees gave way and she groaned in pain, cursing loudly as she dropped the knife.
Teyla caught her around the waist and Sam hung her arm over her shoulder. Vala grabbed her other arm for support and they guided her the short distance over to a tree.
Her face contorted in pain as she leaned back against it. She lifted her uninjured leg so she could wrap a hand around it and let the other one stretch out in front of her. Teyla kneeled down beside her and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I'll go get some bandages," Vala offered and hurried off to dig through their pack.
Sam sighed, then opened her eyes and looked at Teyla. She was staring blankly at the ground with a pained expression in her eyes.
"You sure you're ok?" she asked.
Teyla looked up. "You did not feel it?" she asked, concerned.
Sam furrowed her eyebrows. She was in massive pain and agony but she didn't think that was what she meant. "Feel what?" she asked.
Teyla gave an impatient sigh. "When I was fighting them, it felt as though they were attacking my mind. I had a horrible headache and then… the pain became unbearable."
Sam looked even more confused. "You think the creatures themselves were doing it?"
She shook her head. "I can not think of any other explanation."
"So why didn't it affect us?" she wondered.
"It's in our blood," Vala explained, walking up with the pack.
Teyla gave her a puzzled look.
"The naquadah…" Sam thought out loud, as Vala kneeled down on her other side and began rummaging through the bag.
"Yeah," Vala said. "It just came to me as fish face was about to suck my brains out." She picked up the knife Sam had dropped and swiftly ripped a strip out of Sam's pants where she had been stabbed. The wound was deep and was bleeding profusely.
"Well that makes sense," Sam continued, than clenched her teeth in pain as Vala poured water over the wound.
"What is naquadah?" Teyla asked curiously.
"It's a metal…" Sam explained through clenched teeth until Vala finally capped the canteen and put it away. She let out a breath in relief and continued. "…in Gua'ould symbiotes. Vala and I were once host to Gua'ould, and that would explain why we're the only ones who are seemingly immune to the affects these aliens are having on you."
Teyla nodded slowly in understanding as Vala withdrew another item from the pack and slid her hand through it.
"Hey! Are we even allowed to have those things off world!?!" Sam accused, recognizing the object as a Gua'ould healing device.
Vala frowned and halted her actions. "Do you want me to heal you or not?"
Sam sighed and was silent. Teyla looked back and forth between the two women, now thoroughly confused.
"I do not understand…" she said.
Vala smiled. "Just watch."
She covered the device with her other hand and positioned it directly over Sam's wound. Closing her eyes, she went into a deep state of concentration and suddenly, the device lit up. Teyla gasped as the wound slowly sealed itself and then disappeared completely. When the device shut off, the only thing left was dried blood.
Teyla struggled to find words as she stared down at Sam's leg in disbelief. "That is impossible…" she said.
Sam put her hand firmly on the other woman's shoulder, forcing her to meet her gaze.
"I'll explain later," she promised. Teyla nodded, and clasped her forearm with her own to help her up. Surprisingly, she hardly needed the help. She sprung back up as Vala repacked the bag and handed it over to her. Sam effortlessly took the pack and slung it over her back, causing Teyla to gape at her in disbelief. She was surprised she was able to support the weight.
"We should keep moving," she suggested. "They'll be after us soon."
Teyla nodded and followed after her as she sprinted up the hill.
"You're welcome!" Vala called after her before sprinting after them.
Author's Note: Just a story I've been meaning to write. It'll probably only be 2 parts when I'm finished.