Stargate Atlantis: S7 The Fossil Key
Part Two: Competitive Exclusion Principle
John Sheppard sat in the Ancient Chair.
The Chair automatically responded to him, reclining and powering up with a hum and a display of lights. John adjusted his earpiece and settled the palms of his hands onto each pad at the ends of the armrests. He could feel the city's power beckoning to him, but as he shut his eyes the connection between man and machine felt sluggish, slow to react.
It was as if only half of the city was there.
He opened his eyes and licked his lips. Moira O'Meara was standing next to him, her hands resting on his arm. From time to time her grasp would tighten as her gaze would dart nervously around the room, then at the Chair. John realized what was happening; that she was seeing more hallucinations of fuglies yet she stubbornly remained next to him, to support him and help him in case he became trapped in the interface again.
To her the hallucinations appeared very real, very threatening despite the fact that she knew they weren't really there at all. Still, the fact that she elected to remain with him there spoke volumes of her love for him, her devotion and her stubbornness. "Moira."
She met his gaze. "I'm fine, John," she asserted too quickly, but she stared. Warmth in his beautiful green eyes revealed more tender emotions and she lost herself in the revelation of his feelings. He was awkward with words but the expression in his eyes said everything.
He smiled at her then looked over to where the second Chair was. It was dormant now, but Rodney McKay was kneeling next to it, data pad open as he programed more power to this section of the city. The physicist had a serious expression on his face. Feeling Moira's grasp tighten he looked back at her. She was staring at the distance, distress on her face. "They're not there, Moira. We are the only ones here," he said gently.
"I…I know."
John looked over at the shadows, recalling how he had nearly been lost in the strange interface of man and machine. Atlantis had tried to trap him in a virtual reality and only Moira's scream had broken him free of the AI's icy grasp. He recalled leaping out of the Chair to save Moira from the fugly that had been attacking her as she was trying to free him.
He recalled seeing the fugly; not only seeing it but feeling it as well when he had shoved it off of Moira. He had fired several bullets into it and then it was gone. He wondered if two people could have had the same hallucination. A disturbing thought was forming as he frowned.
"John? Are you all right?"
John shook off the suspicion, tabling it for later. The mission was more important right now. He met her anxious gaze. "I'm fine, sweetheart. Thanks for staying with me here."
"Of, of course, John." She gentled her hold on his arm.
"I'm here too, you know!" Rodney called from the floor.
John winked at Moira as she smiled. "Oh yeah…that's right. Are we ready?"
"Just waiting on you, John, as usual. Now access it slowly."
"Sure." John closed his eyes, relaxing into the strange interface of man and machine. Normally with his strong ATA the power would zoom at his thoughts, but not this time. He found himself needing to concentrate more. "It's weird."
"Weird? Isn't it always weird?"
"Yeah, but no…not like this. It's like…" He paused as the thought resurfaced again. It was like half of the city wasn't there. In a way that made it easier to manipulate the systems and he could get it to do what he wanted, but it was more time-consuming and he had to concentrate on every step. He tried to shrug off the nagging suspicions in his mind. He tapped his headset. "Major Reynolds, copy? I'm going to take over the controls myself and fly the Jumper out of the shield. Once you are out of the city you can resume control. Understood?"
"Yes, sir," came the voice of Jason Reynolds over the headset.
"Maintain radio silence unless absolutely necessary. Sheppard out."
"John? Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes, Moy. Just stay right here with me, okay?"
"Of course, John."
"Preparing for full penetration, give me a sec."
John's lips quirked. "Full penetration…" he said quietly, his tone lowering. Thoughts of Moira filled his mind and he recalled their wild sexual congress in the conference room witnessed by Jason Reynolds, by accident. John felt his thoughts darken when he considered exactly what the hapless marine had seen: the blue light falling along Moira's naked back down to her shapely rear; her very shapely rear as it bounced and gyrated on his lap, lifting up as he had thrust deeply into her.
"John?" Moira saw his humor turning to anger. His body was tensing. She gently shook his arm. "John, what is it?"
Her sounds had been intoxicating; soft whimpers and orgasmic cries as she rode him hard, as the pleasure had been wild and frenzied. Those sounds were for John's ears only, just as every inch of her body was his to savor, to ogle and to enjoy. His and his alone.
Maybe it would be better if Jason failed to return from the mission, although John did enjoy lording it over the other man; what John Sheppard had and could have any damn time he wanted it, wanted her and wanted that sweet, sweet center and those curves and that tight little…
"John!"
John opened his eyes, startled by his thoughts. He wondered briefly if had chosen Jason for the mission because of that, but then realized he had selected the other man before the observed sex. He looked at Moira, saw her concern and worry. His gaze raked along her form as more salacious ideas flitted in his mind.
"Damn it, John! You were overpowering the system! Are you able to control it or not?" Rodney scolded, glaring at his friend.
"I…oh. Sorry." He licked his lips again, calming himself. He looked at Moira a moment. "So…where we, baby? Penetration?"
Moira smiled and leaned close. "Keep it in your pants, Sheppard. Naughty colonel."
He smiled, relaxing as she straightened, caressing his arm. "For now. Okay, here we go. Rodney, are you ready?"
"I've been ready! Ha ha! Just take it easy, all right? You don't want to overtax the system! It's not going as fast as it normally does."
"Sometimes I like it sweet and slow, huh, Moy?"
"Not often enough, colonel."
"Is that a complaint?"
"Will you get on with it!" Rodney flared, impatient. He couldn't believe that John was wasting time flirting with his girlfriend. Even if it wasn't the end of the world it was still annoying to have to listen to the banter, much less witness it. He suddenly missed Katie Brown.
"I am trying to but Moira's being all coy."
"John!" Moira scolded. "I will start complaining if you don't focus."
"I am, baby, believe me…completely focused on your all right, all right. But you will tell me exactly how you want it, right?" he asked, pouting.
Moira smiled and leaned close again. "I'll tell you afterwards, sweetie." She waited until John had closed his eyes. "Assuming that I do want it that is. I'm not sure now." Rodney snorted as John's eyes flew open and he mock glared at her.
"Hilarious, Moy! You want it, baby, believe me you will be begging me to—"
"John! Hush!" She brushed her lips across his, then straightened and glanced round the room. Her grip tightened for a moment as there were a few of the aliens in the room. She closed her eyes, opened them and looked at John, determined to ignore the hallucinations.
John reached over and touched her cheek a moment. He closed his eyes. "Okay. Here we go. Should be like taking candy from a baby."
"It should be. What concerns me is that it is not. Focus now, John. I'll keep monitoring the systems, the ship and the power levels."
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Jason Reynolds sat in the Jumper, hands off the controls although the ship was moving. Slowly it rose off the floor as power hummed along it. It cantered slightly, then settled and began the descent to the underwater bay. It was ironic as now the whole city was an underwater bay. Jason turned to his companion to make the joke but changed his mind.
Ronon Dex was seated next to him. His big gun was resting on his lap. The Satedan appeared tense as he glared straight ahead of him out of the viewport. The ship's lights glinted on the bands in his dreadlocks, on his gold wedding ring.
Jason swallowed. Although glad to not be traveling alone he did wonder at the colonel's choice of Ronon being the one to venture to the mainland. "Here we go," he said, as the ship was submerged now and floated in front of the underwater hangar door.
Both men watched as the doors opened slowly. The shield flickered, casting pink beams along the vessel as if in warning. The ship sluggishly moved forward, churning in the water as the drive pods slowly extended. The ship's shield merged with the city's and suddenly the vessel was cocooned in pink like some mechanical embryo waiting to be born.
"There."
Ronon's terse word made Jason glance at him. The Satedan was still staring straight ahead out of the viewport. Jason directed his gaze there and watched in fascination as the shield extended. The ship went with it, trapped in a bubble until with a sudden shove out of inertia it popped out and into the waters, free of the city.
Jason quickly grabbed the controls and guided the ship away from Atlantis. He activated the HUD. "Shields holding…power at maximum…he did it! Colonel Sheppard did it! I'm readying the scans. Once we are clear of the city we can begin."
Ronon said nothing. He watched as the waters cleared and the Jumper was steadily gaining speed as it headed away from Atlantis. His grip tightened on his gun and he tried to relax. He glanced at the readings. So far nothing out of the ordinary had been detected. He checked the proximity sensors but so far the lights were dark. Nothing was near them.
"Approaching the coordinates Colonel Sheppard indicated. We'll take a scan while we are still under water, relay it to Atlantis and then breech the surface."
"Will they detect us?"
"No, they shouldn't." Jason eyed the readings. "The only tricky moment will be when we leave the water and drop our shield. We'll be vulnerable for a few seconds until I can activate the cloak, but then we will be fine, just fine."
Ronon's grunt was not reassuring.
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"John? John, can you hear me?"
Moira's voice was full of concern. Her touch was warm as her fingers ran along his bare arm, and John followed the sound of her love out of the interface. It was sluggish but easier to get free and he concentrated on making sure that the shield was intact around the city once more.
"They're clear. They made it! The really difficult part will be getting them back in," Rodney muttered, moving to his feet. He consulted his data pad.
"Now you tell me?" John complained. He opened his eyes, blinking at the flare of light that faded as the power was diverted. "Hey, Moira."
"Hey, John. Are you okay?" She freed his arm.
He nodded. The power dropped and the Chair straightened as he disengaged himself fully from the machine. "Scans?"
"Not yet. We will be receiving telemetry in the control room on a delayed encryption. John?"
"Yeah, okay." John shook off his lethargy and moved to his feet. Absently he rubbed his temple although only a slight headache was nagging him.
"In that case I will be in biology," Moira said, turning to leave but John's hand on her arm detained her. "I'm fine, John. We need that intel on the Homo erectus plus I am still running that translation program. If Jason picks up any radio chatter we need to be able to understand it, or at least transcribe it."
"Jason?" he asked quietly, his hold tightening a moment but he shook off the flare of jealousy. "Are you sure? I mean…if you, um…"
"I'm used to them, John. They, they aren't as bad in the, in the lab," she said softly, a nervous flutter in her voice betraying her emotion. She slipped free and quickly exited the room.
"Is she okay?"
John glanced at his friend. "I sure hope so. Let's go. We need to keep an eye on things out there. I've only given them an hour."