Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate: Atlantis, Stargate: SG-1 or any of the associated characters...
The Story has a Rather, "What if...?" Flavour to it...
~*Hear Me Screaming in Darkness...*~
Chapter 1: Siren Song
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He paused in the midst of a, seemingly never-ending, verbal tirade about anything and everything; but mostly a detailed account of the incompetence of the Science Teams assigned to repair Atlantis –by the SGC- now that the City was on Earth. Eyes growing alarmingly wide and distant as the perpetually moving mouth fell slack…the datapad he'd been cradling protectively against his chest like a newborn, slid from nerveless hands to strike the firm concrete ground with an ominous clatter. Echoed by the sound of a P90 bouncing off the cement and a half-full coffee mug shattering in unison…
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Samantha Carter turned, surveying the frozen stances, wondering at the utterly heart-wrenching looks of loss and hopelessness that adorned them. Below, in the Gate Room, several had paused also; Military and Scientist alike in their silent, confused longing. Blank eyes staring adoringly up at some fixated point…but when she looked, she saw that truly…they stared at nothing…
Moving around the display of Ancient Technology, splayed about the Meeting Room in anticipation of –yet another- IOA visit [the third that month, all still bickering over jurisdiction of the City and as entertaining as having a tooth pulled…with a powerdrill], she reached out first for John; the Colonel wore a matching expression to both those of Drs McKay and Beckett, also in the room. Her fingers stopped short of his body by a hair's breadth, as he and the others began to move…
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Soft gasps escaping in a sudden –instinctual, base, primal- rush of fear and adrenaline…there began a sudden fevered bout of movement; almost as if…as if someone had pressed 'Play' on a paused movie, actors springing back to life from the void of inactivity.
Her own eyes widened as a gleaming fervour lit once dim gazes all about her; Sam took an involuntary step back as John raced past, skirting about the bulk of Teal'c in the process…Dr Carson Beckett, however, merely seemed to gaze determinedly at the Stargate and stride out of the room. Or at least, that was the plan, until Sam grabbed his shirt and threw the Doctor into a nearby chair, as gently as she could…the large, muscular Jaffa moving over to stand by his side and ensure the Scotsman wouldn't be going anywhere…
Dr Daniel Jackson was abruptly shoved into her side, Sam nearly overturned as his entire weight careened into her own…she was going to have to insist he lay off those extra servings at dinner… Dr McKay effectively barged through the Archaeologist roadblock in his incessant need to get past. Even Teal'c didn't pose much of an obstacle, apparently; as the physicist just rammed straight into the imposing wall of glaring Jaffa…and kept going, desperate to keep moving. There was a crackling hiss as John's voice came over the earwig radio, something about Major Lorne and a Jumper…
Sam's eyes flared wide as she slammed a hand down on the control panel's intercom, "Attention all personnel! Attention all personnel! Full base lock-down has been initiated," she nodded to the Gate Tech to her left as he tapped in the appropriate codes for such a thing, then continued, "Seal the Jumper Bays, do not let any Atlantis personnel out of this complex. Detain them if necessary, there's some unknown force or entity affecting their judgement…"
Red lights began to flare as warning klaxons rang throughout the mountain base; thick steel doors slid shut in the chaos, with the pounding tread of synchronised army boots echoing off every wall and floor in the mountain. Magazine cartridges clicked into place with efficient precision, soldiers double-checked their weaponry before herding the present Lanteans to some form of temporary accommodation.
Most came peacefully, expressions reading between utter bewilderment at the situation, confusion and concern for their seemingly stricken companions…said stricken companions, though few in number, were creating what could only be referred to as Chaos. Showing no true regard for their lives, or those of the others who were attempting to prevent them from bringing harm to themselves…but strangely, there seemed an aversion, an unconscious avoidance –if that it could be called- in the minds of the few affected. For none attacked or attempted to bring any form of injury to those once of Atlantis…an interesting development that Sam noted down for later.
That was…until Cason Beckett decided to try his luck by throwing himself at the two nearby Marines guarding the door and run for it… She whirled around, catching hold of the grey uniform of the other scientist present –this one having been caught previously by…what could only be described as…a rather amused Teal'c- and kicked out his knees; McKay hit the ground in a disgruntled heap. What frightened Colonel Carter most was...he didn't once protest, merely stood back up when her back was turned and moved to stare out the window that overlooked the gate room.
Which should have closed by now, Sam thought, testily; as if there weren't enough things on this base that already required her technological attention…but her focus was drawn to the strangely motionless physicist, who seemed to be – for lack of a better word- waiting. Daniel had pinned Carson to the nearest console…with a certain amount of assistance from Teal'c…it seemed they had the upper hand…
And then the world went to Hell…
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Even as the metallic shards of the hastily-constructed 'Jumper Bay' emergency doors rained down upon those in the Gate Room, Colonel Sheppard's voice came crackling over his headset; audible, only just barely, over the incessant whine and call from within his…well, soul might be too strong a word, considering it was really a simple question of the metaphorical meeting the metaphysical with a liberal amount of theoretical evangelistic propaganda thrown in there-
Not helpful right now. Somewhere deep inside, his mind pointed out such thought was irrelevant and strove to make the Call that much stronger…but John's voice broke through, "Here we come, be ready! McKay…they locked down all the exits, got any ideas?" There was an edge to his voice that bespoke of tension, and desperation…McKay's mind began to whirr, even as the Puddlejumper came into view. From behind him, though he dare not tear his gaze away from their chance to-…ah, but that was not a thought for now… Colonel Carter was screaming out something about 'Sealing all the Exits!'
A perfectly logical military tactic, even he could appreciate that, but… Major Lorne swung into view, the co-pilot of the jumper, right beside a grim-faced John Sheppard who nodded at him in mutual understanding. He saw the others' eyes flicker to the pinned Dr Beckett, then back to his own; he felt something twitch in his face and turned without any real emotion at all, as Sam ordered the Marines and Air Force Personnel to start shooting the Jumper that hovered over them. Despite the horrified protests from the Lanteans who were still able to see the proceedings…
Bullets bounced off the Jumper's shield, he could hear them ricocheting dangerously around the Gate Room like someone on a sugar-rush playing a set of drums; his feet drew him towards the table, eyes sweeping over the technology displayed, mentally cataloguing the items and skipping over the unimportant ones… Moving closer to the table, his hand stretched out uncertainly and halted, as another hand wrapped about it in a firm gesture of, 'Look, don't touch…'
Loud Scottish curses shot across the room, Dr Jackson let go of the Atlantean Doctor with wide eyes behind his glasses; the restraining hand fell slack in surprise as the owner, one Colonel Samantha Carter, turned with gaping mouth to face the commotion. Even the Former Prime of Apophis could not retain the patented blank expression as the doctor continued to thrash and curse, forcing Sam to abandon McKay to his fate in order to save Daniel from a severe concussion…as Carson slammed the Archaeologist's head into a nearby console.
His mouth twitched upwards at the corner, outstretched hand flexing the grasping fingers before moving forwards once again; with a sharp bang, Dr Beckett slammed back hard into the glass of the observation window, leaving Sam free to whirl about and aim her sidearm at his heart. McKay ignored her for an instant, eyes meeting with those of Carson, and the clearly visible ones of one John Sheppard as the Jumper pilot window swung into view…he nodded.
"Rodney, step away from the Ancient Technology…Now…" she called, drawing his focus again; the self-satisfied smirk lit up his features in a somewhat detached manner, questing hand slamming down on the smooth surface of the Drone. It vibrated, beginning to glow and hum under his fingers; reacting to his artificially-activated ATA Gene… thrumming into deadly life.
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"Now would be a good time to run…" he informed the others with a dangerous gleam to his eye. She felt the blood drain from her face, and backed away as a glowing yellow Drone buzzed with new awakening, oh why the hell did Woolsey and his precious IOA insist upon live demonstrations of Ancient Tech? McKay's hand hovered over the item and bade it rise to hover just over the table, unconsciously her arm faltered and slid back to her side.
Holstering her weapon, Sam motioned for the others in the room to step back…all the while, backing away slowly so as not to antagonise the man into anything rash. McKay strode purposefully across the room to see if Carson had been damaged in any way during the attack. Strange, but not unusual…the one thing that threw the whole picture of a friend comforting another right off, was the Ancient hovering bomb, trailing after him like a puppy… McKay finished his assessment and whirled about.
Staring directly at SG-1, with the flicker of shifting eyes gazing out the window, a smile curled his lips…
"Boo."
And the windows shattered.
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"That's the signal, whirl this bird around!" John Sheppard yelled to his co-pilot, and Major Lorne hurried to obey; performing a mid-air one-eighty that would have been impressive to all who beheld it. Stray bullets still pinged off the shield from time to time but, for the most part, the fire had stopped shortly after it began as the ricochet effect provided a significant hazard to the shooter's health.
Glass shattered and fell like shards of deadly rain on those below in the Gate Room, the blast window fair exploded under the impact of the drone as it shot straight up and burst through the roof of the installation. Debris crumbled down upon many heads. There was a deep-seated groaning shudder from the complex's structure, and the drone reappeared; shooting back up a second time and detonating. Forcing a huge, gaping maw of a tunnel clear through to the top of the mountain…
Hastily grasping at the earwig he yelled into his headset as the Call threatened to overwhelm him, "We're lowering the rear hatch right now, get ready… Dropping Shield in five… four… three… two… Now!"
With a hydraulic sounding whine, the back end of the Jumper dropped to reveal a ramp-like arrangement which easily fell through the decimated window pane, allowing McKay, Beckett and several other members of Atlantis who had run into the room during the shocked stillness of the drone 'attack', to dash inside. A Secondary Jumper filled to the brim with others was swiftly sliding past and rising through the hole they had made…
Snapping from their stupor, Teal'c was first to react; his staff instantly to hand and firing at the engines of the second PuddleJumper in hopes of bringing it down, whereas Colonel Carter and Dr Jackson whipped out a pair of Zats and began firing away. A lovely female Botanist from the Herbology department went down with a cry and a pained expression; two marines from SGA-3 also hit the floor of the compartment, skin pulsing blue long after they had passed into unconsciousness.
"We need to get out of here," Sheppard growled as he slid into the Pilot's seat, just in time to have a front row seat for when a glowing ball of blue light crackled a path straight through the rear compartment and struck Major Lorne square between the shoulder blades. The man slumped over the console… With swift efficiency the rear hatch snapped shut and many things began to happen in sequential order, as the fractured ceiling approached the front view-screen rather alarmingly fast… Carson pushed his way through the half-aware crowd of gene-bearers to attend Lorne, McKay seconds behind; Scottish Physician pulling the Major away, in the instant that Rodney slipped into the seat and took over with cold, crisp efficiency.
"Cloaking in three… two… We're cloaked." The Physicist stated and went silent, unusual in itself. Sheppard merely nodded grimly and turned his full attention on piloting the ship to where they were being called…
You could almost say…summoned Home.
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TBC...
I really DID mean to finish it...but I'm in rather a hurry and that's all I could type out in the time I had...
Stay Tuned for the next Installment...things get interesting...at least, they do in my head...
PLEASE REVIEW!^^
~*SailorSilvanesti*~