Stargate Atlantis: Pandora's Box2
The floor bucked. There was a hissing sound and a spray of cold water misted the air.
"Time to go! I'll grab the whatever and—"
"Stop!" Rodney's warning halted John in mid-reach. "I'm detecting a sizeable energy reading!"
"From that?" John pointed at the object, disbelief on his handsome face. He glanced up to see Moira staring at it, worry in her brown eyes.
"Rodney! More water is seeping through!" Teyla called. She glanced down to where it was sloshing coldly over her feet. The air was thicker and it was getting harder to breathe normally.
"I know! The Shield is failing here! John, wait! I'm reading serious energy levels, possibly radioactive!"
"What?" John stumbled backwards, knocking into Moira.
Rodney moved to his knees in front of the container, ignoring the water. "It's…no, that's not possible!"
"What's not possible?" John asked. "Rodney!"
"It's a…it's a Penning trap!" Rodney exclaimed, stunned amazement on his face. He stared at the object and eyed his scanner again.
"A what?" John asked, mystified.
"I'll explain later! Shut that thing up in the smaller container! It's heavily shielded and the magnetic field will stabilize the atoms!"
"The what?" Nevertheless John scooted forward and touched the sides of a smaller container that was surrounding the object. He slammed the pieces into place then removed the smaller container with both hands. It was oddly warm. "Let's go! Go!" He shoved Moira ahead of him as a groaning wail filled the air and the walls bent inwards, giving way to the enormous pressure as the Shield flickered and failed.
Rodney ran through the opening, jumping over the debris in the threshold. Moira followed, nearly tripping in her haste. John was on her heels.
"Go, go, go!" he shouted, and the team ran up the hallway.
A tremendous screech followed them as the wall gave way and water poured into the section of the city. The wave was huge, smashing everything in its path. A flood of water poured out and chased the hapless team down the hallway, cresting higher and higher as if it was a giant hand about to crush them.
The city spun and careened, tilting so badly that the team were flung to the right side and hit the wall, trying to keep their balance. The lights blinked and were gone. The water was a roaring monster at their backs and it was difficult to take a deep breath.
Soon it would be impossible to take any breaths.
"Go, go, go, climb, climb!" John shouted, pushing Moira ahead of him with one hand, as he clutched the container under his other arm. He tried to hold it above his waist, recalling Rodney's warning of radiation.
"Here, here! The stairs!" Ronon called, whirling and pulling Teyla up them. He pulled Rodney up, then Moira, then finally John. "Down!" he shouted and the team crouched on the stairs.
The water roared towards them, a towering wave that sprayed them with sea water before falling backwards as the city tilted once more. The water receded, rushing back the way it had come but it would soon be back. Doors sluggishly closed, locking off the doomed section of the city.
John brushed water off his face, wishing he had brought his surfboard. He turned. "Let's move! To the control room. We haven't much time!"
"Really, you think?" Rodney snapped, but quickly followed his teammates up the stairs and across the hallways. The city was listing, moaning. An alarm bleeped weakly. "It's still trying to activate power and that's what's causing the Shield to fail!"
"Can't you stop it?" Ronon asked.
"No! I don't have any of the command codes and besides, it's activating because we are here! Because you are here!" He pointed an accusatory finger at John.
"Why isn't it rising like Atlantis?" Teyla asked.
"It's too damaged! We have to get to the Gate now!" Rodney ordered.
"You'll get no argument from me!" Ronon agreed.
"We still need to salvage the city! I can fly it outta here, well, what's left of it!"
"What? Are you crazy?" Rodney demanded. All stopped and turned to look at John as if he had lost his mind.
"Listen to me. Take this," he thrust the box into Ronon's arms, "and get back to Atlantis. If I jettison the extraneous parts of the city she'll fly. Trust me!"
"No! It won't fly! We have to get out now, John, before we drown here!" Rodney argued.
"We have what we came for so we can leave now!" Teyla agreed, shaking her head.
"Dial the Gate! Do it! If this doesn't work you can come back for me!" John insisted, gesturing towards the consoles. He strode to one and began to dial Atlantis. "Fine! Get down there and take that thing back to Atlantis! If I can't get her airborne I will be right behind you! GO!" he bellowed as the KAWOOSH exploded from the Stargate.
"John, this is crazy! You can't possibly fly the city, even if all you have left is the core section! The odds of success are astronomically low and you won't be able to—"
"Never tell me the odds!" John snapped, but he flashed a grin at Moira as she caught the Star Wars reference and smiled. "I can do this! Trust me! Get back to Atlantis! That's a direct order! Moira, I need you to stay here with me."
"Of course, John." She stepped to him, curious, worried, but confident in his abilities.
"What? John, you can't possibly—"
"If I can't get it up we'll be right behind you." He glanced at Moira and quietly added, "And so far, baby, that hasn't been an issue, right?"
"So far," she said softly, trying not to laugh.
He winked at her and stepped round the console. "Go before we all drown! Rodney, once you get to Atlantis I need you and Reynolds to get a Jumper in the air and keep an eye out for us."
"You truly believe that you can do this?" Teyla asked. She wasn't sure if she should believe John or not. He seemed to be behaving irrationally but more like himself.
"Yes. I wouldn't risk it otherwise now would I? We'll keep the 'Gate active in case I can't get her airborne. Now go! We're wasting time talking!"
"We're going." Ronon headed for the Stargate, carrying the box under one arm. "Let's go! You heard Sheppard! If he says he can do it he can do it!"
"John, if you are absolutely certain…" Teyla still hesitated. She looked at Rodney. The physicist was standing at a console, bringing up a schematic and his fingers flew on the keys.
"It is possible, in theory and it would conserve the Shield energy plus the power needed for the Star Drives…but it's risky, John, and with a damaged ship you might have a hell of a re-entry when you break atmosphere over Atlantis, provided you make it that far. Here. I'll input the preliminary sequences but you will have to talk the city through it."
The city tilted and another alarm bleeped weakly.
"Then we better make it now or never. Get going, Rodney. If it doesn't work we'll be right behind you, I promise." John waited, waited, until at last the physicist nodded and hastened with Teyla to the Stargate where Ronon was standing. John watched his team go into the wormhole. He took Moira's hand. "Let's go, Moira. I'm gonna have to go real deep into the city so I might need you to pull me out."
"All right, John. I've got your back."
He smiled. "I know that you do. This way." He led her quickly down to the Ancient Chair. This room was still mostly intact and no water had penetrated. John drew her to the Chair and slid onto it. Immediately it reclined and power surged with a violent rush of lights and noises. "Just stand right here, Moira, okay? Um…I might say some weird things but I won't be talking to you. I'll be talking to the city."
"All right, John. Relax."
He nodded, closed his eyes and let the interface of man and machine commence. It was a smooth transition, stronger somehow and he flexed his fingers on the controls. "Okay, baby, let's get you outta here. First we need to get rid of all extraneous and damaged sections. We only need that sweet center, baby. The heart of the operation."
Moira smirked. "Gee, John…are you sure you are just talking to the city?"
"Hush! Here we go. Hold onto the Chair, Moira. It's gonna get bumpy."
The city rocked. There was a violent crash and Moira clung to the Chair. Power roared and she almost released it but John's hand clamped onto her arm, keeping her in place. Alarms were chiming and the floor seemed to tip sideways under them.
"Come on, baby, you can do it! I'm going to save you." Beads of sweat were lining John's brow as he concentrated, forcing his will over the AI's and unlocking each section of the city to leave the central core alone. The Shield retracted, retracted and the ZPMs were blinding flashes of orange light. He tensed as the power seemed to weigh him down, to press upon him and trap him like it had the last time, but this time he was in control and he fought it, forcing it to bend and wrap the city's core in a protective cocoon.
"John?" Moira leaned close, trying to free her arm. "John, can you hear me?"
John was wincing as pain flared but he ignored it, fighting it as he disengaged the city core. Power was a rush, like liquid fire and he groaned, grunted, body twisting in the Chair. "Here we go now. You can do this, baby! Let's get out of the water and into the sky! Activating Star Drives and the alternate hyper…"
"John!" Moira yanked her arm free and grabbed his shoulder, shaking him. A thin spurt of blood was seeping from his nose. "John, let go! John, you have to let it go!"
"No! I can do this! We need this city to save ours! To save Atlantis! I can save this one!"
"No, John, you can't! It's too late! But you can save yourself. You can save me. You can save Atlantis without this one! John, please!" He didn't seem to hear her as he shifted on the Chair, seemingly lost in the matrix of the AI and the city. His muscles were flexing, straining and a little more blood was leaking from his nose. "John? John, can you hear me?" Moira ducked as the floor spun under her and the city was screaming, whining as if caught in a tornado. She leaned over John as the ceiling began to shake and pieces were falling around them.
"John! John, wake up! John! John, let it go!"
Her voice was lost in the cacophony of the dying city.