CHAPTER 1
"Good morning, Doctor Weir," the young technician said as Elizabeth Weir walked into the control room above the gate.
"Good morning, Mr….Jennings," Elizabeth answered, stumbling over the young man's name. He had arrived with the new group of personnel off the Daedalus only the week before and been assigned to the early morning shift.
"Ma'am, the Daedalus reports their repairs are progressing as planned and they are on schedule to depart back to Earth in two weeks."
Elizabeth nodded in response and walked to the railing overlooking the gate room. At this time in the morning, only the usual contingent of marine guards stood in the gate room.
"Any word yet on Colonel Sheppard's team?" She asked without looking back at the technician.
The technician glanced at the others on shift. "No, ma'am. I'm sorry. There's been no word yet from Colonel Sheppard or his team."
"They're seven hours overdue now," Elizabeth said to no one in particular, noting the worried expressions on the faces of the gate room staff. She looked down at some sudden movement in the gate room as two engineers walked in, flanking the slow progress of the MALP.
"Ma'am, the MALP is just about ready."
Elizabeth turned back to the technician. "Thank you, Jennings." She waved at Carson Beckett as the doctor walked into the control room. He gave her a small smile and joined her side by the railing.
"Good morning, Carson."
"Good morning, Elizabeth. You're up early."
"I could say the same about you."
"Aye," Carson smiled, rubbing at his eyes. "The Daedalus finally got around to unloading my medical supplies. I was trying to get that all sorted before Doctor Amadine woke up."
"Doctor Amadine? He's the neurosurgeon that just arrived on the Daedalus, right?"
"Aye. Right arrogant bastard, that one. Been here two days for his glory tour of Atlantis, and he's already telling me how to rearrange my entire infirmary."
"Sounds like you've got a long six months ahead of you," Weir said, smiling. Carson groaned and took a sip of his coffee. They looked down at the engineers fiddling with the MALP. One of them looked up and waved.
"We're all set here, Doctor Weir," she called in a heavy accent.
Weir turned to Jennings. "Go ahead and dial, Jennings."
"Yes, Doctor Weir."
"What's going on?" Carson asked, seeming to notice the sudden tenseness in Elizabeth's posture.
Elizabeth took a deep breath, trying to still her sudden sense of anxiety. "Sheppard's team is seven hours overdue."
Her voice was so quiet that Carson had to lean forward to hear her. At that moment, the stargate burst to life and the MALP slowly moved toward it. Carson and Elizabeth walked into the control room to the large monitor.
"We should be getting video feed just about…now."
"Oh my…" Elizabeth's voice caught in her throat, and she swallowed against the sudden dryness.
"What the bloody hell happened there?"
"You did dial the right planet, didn't you?" Elizabeth glanced back at the technician, who nodded once, his face revealing the shock everyone felt at the images on the screen. Where only two days before had stood a beautiful and thriving city, there was now complete devastation. Buildings that had once stood majestic were knocked down and crumbling. Fires burned sporadically as the video camera on the MALP panned across the war-torn horizon.
A high pitch whine grew loader on the video. Carson and Elizabeth jumped back simultaneously as a bright flash of light exploded on the screen. The video quickly cut out and was replaced with nothing but static.
"Jennings?" Weir asked.
"The MALP appears to have been hit by some kind of rocket."
"Are we getting anything?"
"No, ma'am. The MALP seems to have been completely destroyed."
"Try to raise them on the radio."
The technician tried in vain to raise Sheppard or a member of his team. Elizabeth eventually told him to shut it down and had him call for Major Lorne to meet her in the conference room as soon as possible. Jennings quickly followed Weir's orders.
"Do you think it was the Wraith?" Carson asked.
"I don't know. Possibly. They certainly have the capability of inflicting that level of damage," Elizabeth answered, wringing her hands and no longer trying to hide her apprehension.
"Ma'am, Major Lorne says he'll be here in a few minutes."
"Thank y—" Weir was interrupted by the sudden activation of the stargate. She spun in shock as the alarms in the gate room began to sound.
"Are we receiving an IDC?"
The technician studied his monitor. It only took a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity to Elizabeth.
"Yes, ma'am," Jennings breathed a sigh of relief. "It's Colonel Sheppard!"
"Oh, thank God!" Elizabeth breathed. "Lower the shield." She stood next to the railing waiting for Sheppard and his team to come through the event horizon. Carson stepped up beside her.
Suddenly, rocks and debris flew through the event horizon and scattered across the gate room. The marines standing on guard ducked their heads in protection. No sound traveled through the wormhole, but a second later, more debris flew into Atlantis as if propelled by an explosion. Elizabeth barely had a moment to blink before John Sheppard's body flew out of the stargate. He landed on his chest and slid across the smooth floor. The gate shut down behind him as quickly as it had activated.
John lay among the debris, unmoving. Carson was already running down the stairs toward him, calling for a medical team. Elizabeth felt her stomach clench in panic and fear as she noticed the dark pool of blood spreading beneath his head.
She glanced up at the quiet gate overlooking them all and giving no sign of Rodney, Ronon, or Teyla. She moved quickly down the stairs to where Carson knelt next to the unconscious man.
"Carson?" She asked in a wavering voice, unable to hide her fear and trying to ignore the blood all over the doctor's hands.
"He's got a massive head injury," Carson replied. He looked up as the medical team rushed into the room and waved them over. As he spoke to them, his voice was calm and reassuring, but there was no hiding the note of urgency.
"Quickly now. We need to get this bleeding stopped. Mike, hand me some bandages," Carson held out a bloodied hand to a nearby nurse.
Elizabeth stepped back to let the medical team work. She bit her lip, trying to keep her emotions in check as she caught glimpses of John's bloodied and pale face. Carson continued to shout out clipped orders, and the team gently flipped John's body over and onto the gurney.
At that moment, she noticed John's hand begin to move, reaching out but grasping only air. She stepped forward, but medical personnel swarmed around the gurney, preventing her from getting any closer.
"Carson!" She yelled over the chaos. The doctor glanced up at her and she pointed to his hand.
"He's awake!"
Carson looked down at his patient and noticed the uncoordinated, jerky movements of the hand. He bent over John's face, speaking softly.
"Colonel? Can you hear me, lad?"
John's eyes stayed stubbornly shut, but his arms and legs began moving around slightly. Carson reached out and grabbed the nearest errant hand.
"John, it's Carson. Can you open your eyes for me?"
John's only response was a slight groan, but Carson felt the colonel's hand squeeze his weakly. He signaled the others to prepare to move him to the infirmary.
"Gently, now. We don't want to do any more damage than what's already been done. And someone wake Amadine."
The group around the gurney moved smoothly but quickly down the hall toward the infirmary. Elizabeth managed to squeeze in between two of the nurses and grab John's other hand. She felt her heart beating frantically in her chest as John gripped her fingers. The pressure was barely noticeable, but it was there.
"John, just hang on. You're going to be all right. You're home in Atlantis," she said. At the sound of her voice, his eyelids began to flutter. Carson slowed down the gurney and tried to catch John's attention once again.
"John, can you open your eyes?" He asked. John groaned, his grip on Elizabeth's hand tightening.
"Come on, son. I need to know what happened to you."
They reached the infirmary and more people swarmed around the bed to help, but Elizabeth refused to move.
"John, listen to Carson. You're safe, but we need to know what happened to you and the rest of your team," she prodded.
John finally opened his eyes, but his gaze was unfocused. Carson gripped the side of his face, trying to get the injured man to focus on him for a few seconds.
"John?" He asked.
"Mmm' tt…mm…" John mumbled so quietly that it was barely audible.
"Your team didn't come through with you, John. Do you remember what happened?" Elizabeth leaned forward.
"T..t'..mm..." John's eyes slid shut again.
"What was that, son? John?" Carson asked, tapping the other man's cheek, but to no avail. Elizabeth reached out, hoping to wake him again, but Carson shook his head.
"It's no use. He's out again," he said.
Elizabeth nodded, finally stepping back as one of the nurses gently pushed her toward the waiting room area, promising to keep her updated on his condition. She caught one last glimpse of Carson and his medical team working in a chaotic dance around Colonel Sheppard, before she forced herself to turn away and walk out of the infirmary and back toward the conference room. She wanted nothing more than to wait for news of her friend, but she had three other people in trouble that needed her at the moment. She took a deep breath as she stepped into the conference room where Major Lorne's team and Radek Zalenka's group anxiously awaited her.
TBC