(This takes place just after Whispers. I found the whole killing of Vega in that episode to be completely confusing. One of the creatures just grabbed her, snapped her neck, and ran. I don't think so. Then as I thought about it, I came up with this story. I finished it months ago but after enough edits, I feel like sharing it. Please let me know what you think. Also I do not own Stargate Atlantis or the characters in it, I just own the characters I came up with. Now that the pointless disclaimer is done and over with, on with the story.)
The first thing she noticed was the pain. She had a splitting headache. Slowly, she began to regain her senses. A distant humming became more clear. She opened her eyes to nothing but blur. Some lights were shining into her eyes but that was all she could tell.
Where am I? What happened to me? All these questions buzzed through Alicia Vega's mind. The last thing she remembered was being on a patrol with Colonel Sheppard and Major Anne Teldy. They had bumped into some guy from the village who was ranting on about his local tall tales.
The next thing Vega knew, she was yanked back then stabbed by a syringe in the neck. Within seconds, everything went black. Maybe she was back in Atlantis in the infirmary. She tried to touch her head but her arms wouldn't move. Something was wrapped around her wrists. Restraints?! She tried to move her legs but found they were restrained as well.
"Don't bother trying. You won't escape." said a male voice beside her.
She turned her head to see a figure standing next to her. She couldn't make out who it was, her vision was still blurry. But there was something in his voice, some effect in it that didn't sound human.
"Who are you?" asked Vega. "I can't say I'm surprised you don't recognize me. You're probably experiencing blurry vision. A temporary side effect of the drugs." responded the figure.
The figure moved off, heading towards something in the back of the room. Was a desk, console, Vega couldn't make it out.
"I'm sure you're a bit confused as to what is happening to you. I injected you with a special paralysis drug. It's so efficient that it lowers the heart rate and breathing to the point where you can't even feel a pulse. I also put a tranquilizer in as well. I didn't want the paralysis to wear off and have you resist when I brought you here." said the figure.
"I have friends and they won't stop until they find me." said Vega. The figure laughed, obviously finding her defiance amusing.
"I'm afraid you're friends won't be coming for you. In fact, they won't be searching for you either. They believe you are dead, just as I want them to." said the figure.
"Why are you doing this?" demanded Vega. Her mind was racing, frightened but she was also focused as her training taught her to be under pressure. The figure didn't answer as he turned and approached her.
That's when her vision began to clear and she saw his face. A pale human face with yellow eyes and marks around his nose. There was only one being who it could belong to. A mistake the Atlantis expedition made two years ago and continues to pay for dearly. Michael.
The former Wraith that was turned into a human then back into a Wraith then turned into something else. The Atlantis team ran into him several times during their expedition and each time he was conducting genetic experiments to create Wraith-Human Hybrids.
"Whatever you want me for, I won't help you. You might as well kill me now." said Vega.
"You would be surprised how many have told me that. But in the end, they always obeyed. And I have great plans for you." said Michael before stabbing a syringe in her neck. Her neck stung from whatever he injected into her.
"I thought you ditched that planet with your freaks." said Vega.
"I did. Though they were efficient killers, they proved to be unsuitable for my needs. But when one of my spies reported that your team arrived on the planet, I decided that perhaps I could use them to my advantage. I released them and had my spy watch your team. But he wasn't supposed to make contact with any of you, the coward was probably trying to save his own pathetic life. When he approached your team, I was left with no choice but to take you. The drugs I injected into you were a precaution so that the good Colonel would leave you, believing you were dead. If there is one thing I know about humans, it's that they hunt for their comrades relentlessly." said Michael.
Vega quickly realized that this guy was almost like those villains from old spies movies, always gloating about their plan in front of the hero. It was a humorous analogy to say the least.
"I had hoped that Colonel Sheppard and the others would have been killed but it seems that the only person that was killed was my own spy. In the end, it does not matter. I have what I want." explained Michael.
"Why did you choose me and why are you telling me all this?" demanded Vega.
"What is that human saying? You were in the right place at the right time. It didn't matter to me who I took, you just presented the first opportunity. And as for telling you all this, I really don't care what you know and don't know." said Michael.
Two hybrids entered the room. Michael turned to the two of them.
"Take her to the holding cell." said Michael. The guards bowed their heads then moved to unstrap her.
Alicia didn't know how long she had been kept here but it had to have been several weeks at least. She was down on her hands and feet, doing her daily pushups. Doing them allowed her to help deal with the stress of being locked up in a holding cell nearly twenty four hours a day.
The only times she's ever taken out is when Michael does experiments on her. He would inject her with something almost daily then have her returned to her cell. Vega had been studying this routine for some time and always saw a Wraith transporter on her way to Michael's lab.
She knew she was inside a Wraith outpost, one that Michael probably took over some time ago. What she didn't know was what level she was on. If she was on the ground level, the exit would be in a nearby corridor but if she was on a higher level then she had to get down first.
It was a risk to go for it but Vega decided that she didn't have a choice. She was always escorted by two guards to the lab routinely. Though armed, they always kept their weapons holstered. If Vega could surprise them and take their weapons, she could possibly escape. She would only get one shot at this. If she failed, the guards would be ready for any other attempts.
Right on schedule, the two guards walked up to her cell. "It's time." said one of them. Vega got to her feet, warmed up. Her exercises also served another motive. They were warm-ups for when she escapes. The bars came apart and disappeared into the walls. The guards waited for her to exit.
As she usually did, Vega walked out and the guards escorted her down the corridor towards the lab. She had to time this right. When they got near the transporter, she made her move.
Vega smashed her elbow into the first guard's chest then swung her left foot around and kicked the second guard in the abdomen. Both moves stunned them and allowed Vega to hit the first guard with a chop to the neck while at the same time grabbing his stunner.
The second guard had drawned his stunner but Vega spun out of the way and it hit the first guard. Vega then shot the second guard, breathing easier as he slumped to the ground. And that was the easy part. Now she had to get out of here. She ran to the transporter and waited before a beam of light took her away.
Vega couldn't believe her luck, the stargate was in sight. Located just a few miles away from the outpost. What surprised Alicia was the fact that she ran into no more guards on her way out. It did seem to be too easy but after how long she's been stuck in that cell, she didn't care.
Of course, Michael could be monitoring her. Waiting to see her dial Atlantis and determine it's coordinates. If that was the case, she had to gate to another world first then dial Atlantis. When she reached the DHD, she entered in the symbols for M47-P9G. It was a quiet world with a few trading settlements but she wasn't planning on visiting them. The event horizon formed in the circle and Vega stepped through.
She never felt so relived in her life when she emerged out of the gate. It deactivated right behind her. The captain quickly moved to the DHD and dialed home sweet home.
Lieutenant Ryan Venner leaned against the railings on the balcony inside the Control Room. His fellow guard, Sergeant Sam Wilkins stood next to him. It was night on Atlantis, everyone was asleep or in their quarters. The control room was very quiet with only two technicians in the room. Night shift was usually pretty boring so Venner decided to have some usual conversations.
"Let me ask you this. We have all this technology, Asgard tech and everything. Why don't we use some of this stuff in Iraq?" asked Venner.
"Because we're not supposed to be using this technology against other countries. It's the International Oversight Committee's decision." said Wilkins.
"Oh come on. All we have to do is show the Odyssey blowing the crap out of an Al-Qaeda base with her Asgard beams and the Taliban will send us Osama Bin-Laden with a bow on his head and an apology letter." said Venner.
"Yeah, that would be something wouldn't it?" asked Wilkins, amused.
"Of course it would." laughed Venner.
An alarm went to their surprise, coming from the gate. The symbols began to light up in a circle, it was an incoming wormhole.
"Quiet that alarm, you'll wake the houseguests." said Venner to the technician. Actually, he just wanted that alarm turned off because it was so annoying. Venner leaned his mouth into the loudspeaker.
"Unscheduled off-world activation." he said, his voice booming over the speakers throughout the room. That was sure to wake the houseguests. He then tapped the shield button.
A force field formed in front of the stargate as the event horizon formed. Venner and Wilkins waited for something to happen but nothing did. They weren't picking up any transmission coming through the gate and nothing has tried to come through.
Then something impacted the shield. Venner couldn't tell what it was but it wasn't very big. Then another impact and then another. In fact, they seemed to be happening in a series of intervals like a pattern.
"Report Lieutenant." said a voice behind him. Venner turned to see Richard Woolsey entering the room. He was already dressed in uniform and since he got here so fast, it probably meant that he was still wide awake before all this happened.
"Well, something is hitting the gate." Venner said, matter of factly.
"I can see that thank you." said Woolsey, not amused. "What I want to know is what is doing that." continued Woolsey.
"Unless you want to lower the shield, I can't help you with that boss." said Venner.
Woolsey turned to the technician. "Is there any way we can figure out what's hitting the gate?" asked Woolsey.
The technician and Woolsey continued their conversation as Venner turned his attention to the sounds hitting the gate. He concentrated on the pattern, trying to figure out what they mean. They seemed to quick beats and long beats. What a minute, that's it!
"It's Morse code." said Venner.
Woolsey and everyone else turned their attention to him. Now Colonel Sheppard had entered the control room. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Some things keep hitting the gate in a pattern, it's Morse code. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know many people in the Pegasus galaxy who use it." said Venner.
That got Sheppard's attention as he walked over to the balcony. After a few seconds, he nodded his head.
"You're right. It is." he said. He leaned forward, listening.
"What's it say?" asked Woolsey.
Now Major Teldy entered. Venner hoped he didn't have to keep explaining this every time someone else comes in. This was turning into quite a circus.
"What's all the ruckus about?" asked Teldy.
"S...O...S." said Sheppard, still listening. Venner decided to let Sheppard explain the situation, let the boss handle this. Then he decided to listen in again. Yes it did sound like SOS. Then the beats changed.
"Whoa, wait a sec. It's changing. 9...7...2...4...2. That supposed to mean anything?" asked Venner.
Now it was Teldy who responded, with confusion. "That was my team's IDC number. We changed it about a week ago." she said.
Well, that clears things up Venner thought to himself. Now it was changing again. "Okay folks, as if this wasn't weird enough. It changed again." said Venner.
"Now it's M...4...7...P...9...G...ending transmission." said Venner. And with that, the gate deactived. That makes it official, this was the weirdest night shift he's ever had.
It didn't take long for everyone to figure out that the set of letters and numbers was a planet. Now Rodney McKay was summoned to the control room. As usual, he was moaning and complaining about something. This time it was his lack of sleep.
"Sleep deprivation can greatly affect a person's brain and my brain is too valuable to let anything happen to it." said McKay as he prepared a MALP to go through the gate. Venner didn't really care about this whole situation. He just stood in the control room, being bored as usual.
"Okay. MALP is ready." said McKay as he walked back into the control room. Woolsey gave the gate technician a nod who then started dialing for the planet. The gate locked in and an event horizon formed. Everyone was silent as the MALP went through.
"Receiving MALP telemetry." said McKay A second later the static on the view screen began to clear. The camera showed the DHD and a woman standing next to it. Sheppard's, Woolsey's, and Teldy's jaws all dropped from the sight of her. McKay didn't get it.
"Who's she?" asked McKay.
"What took you people so long?" said the woman on the screen.
"That's impossible." said Sheppard, shocked.
"It can't be." said Teldy, stunned.
"Hello. Can someone please fill me in?" asked McKay, confused.
(The inspiration from this story actually came from a Battlestar Galactica novel Unity. It was a pretty good story. Check it out if you're bored one day. Well that's all for now and don't worry. things are about more interesting.)