Gene Warfare, by Rowana Farrin
Chapter Two
"Colonel!" A soldier's voice broke John from his stupor.
He reached for his radio. "Go ahead."
"Ronon Dex is not in his room, sir," came the concerned report.
"Understood," Sheppard replied. He glanced down at the knife in his hand. "Everyone, report to the south west hall. I've found something." He spoke on autopilot, barely comprehending his own words.
"What is it?" Weir asked.
John couldn't bring himself to say it. "You'd better see for yourself."
In a matter of moments, Teyla, Weir, McKay, Cadman and several more security personal had gathered in the hallway. Curious heads also poked out from nearby doors. Sheppard still stood in front of the doorway, but was recovering from his shock quickly.
"Well?" Weir asked. "What have you found?"
John decided to get straight to the point. "Ronon and Dr. Beckett are missing."
The others were taken aback.
"Are you sure they aren't just somewhere else in the city?" McKay asked hopefully. "Carson hardly ever sleeps, you know."
"I'm pretty sure." He stepped sideways to reveal the chaos of the physician's room. McKay's mouth fell open in horror and Cadman eyes widened in shock.
"Oh my God," Elizabeth gasped.
"I found this outside," Sheppard added, showing them the knife.
Dr. Weir took a deep breath to calm herself and immediately started assessing the situation. "Teyla, are you sure the Wraith have gone?"
"Yes. I have not felt their presence for some time."
Weir nodded in understanding. "Major Lorne, is anyone else missing?"
"No, ma'am. All other personnel are accounted for."
She frowned. "So, this was all they came for?"
"What would they want with him?" McKay asked in frustration. He was desperately trying to grasp anything that would help him accept what was happening. It wasn't easy. Of all the people who might have been captured, Carson seemed to be the least probable. He was a doctor, after all not a soldier, and the Wraith certainly had no need for medical knowledge. At least, so they thought.
"I don't know," Sheppard replied, keeping his voice level. "But he was certainly what they came for. They didn't touch anything else. Not even the generators. Ronon must have caught them and was knocked out before he could radio for help." He didn't add that Ronon could have been killed. He wasn't going to go there, yet.
"But what use could he possibly be to them," Weir asked in frustration. "If they just wanted a prisoner, they could have taken anyone. And why take only him? Why not steal some of the Ancient technology? That would probably be more valuable to them."
John stared at her as a sudden thought occurred to him. "That's it!"
"What's it?" McKay asked eagerly.
"The Ancient technology!"
"You're not making any sense," McKay sighed impatiently.
"What's the biggest contribution that Beckett's made to this program?"
"Well, his research on the ATA gene and the retrovirus has been invaluable," Weir stated.
Sheppard snapped his fingers. "Exactly!"
McKay stared at him, aghast. "The gene therapy," he said softly. "If they get that, there'll be no stopping them!"
"Relax," Weir told him. "Carson isn't fool enough to just hand it over."
"And if he doesn't?" McKay trailed off. He didn't have to finish. They all knew what happened to people the Wraith no longer had a use for. "We have got to find him! Now!" he snapped with renewed determination.
"That's not going to be easy," Weir told him unhappily. "As yet, we still don't know how they got here and away without us knowing about it."
"And standing here talking is just wasting time!" McKay barked emphatically.
"Fine," Weir gave in. "Take Zelenka and anyone else you need and find out how they got in and how to track them. Sheppard, you and your team need to find out where the Wraith got into the city and see if you can figure out anything useful from that." Sheppard seemed about to protest, but Elizabeth cut him off. "This is all we can do right now. Hopefully, we'll find something that will lead us in the right direction."
Everyone took off in various directions, eager to get started. Even though it was the middle of the night, no one would get any sleep until their friends were back safe in Atlantis. Sheppard and his team headed down the hall to look for the Wraith's point of entry while Dr. Weir went back to command to contact Colonel Caldwell on the Daedalus. As much as she wanted to keep this under her jurisdiction, they might need the vessel to mount a rescue mission. McKay went to wake Dr. Zelenka. He was impatient to get started and banged loudly on the Czech's door. He needn't have bothered. The smaller man was already waiting to hear what had been the cause of the alarm. He was surprised, but not unprepared, to see a breathless Rodney at his door. He opened his mouth to ask, but McKay beat him to it. "Research lab. Now. We've got work to do." Without waiting for an answer, he turned and started off.
Zelenka ran to catch up. "What is going on? Why the hurry?"
McKay didn't even slow down. "Beckett and Ronon have been taken by the Wraith. We have to find out where they went; sooner rather than later."
Radek was still a little confused, but he understood the urgency of the situation. He quickened his pace. They really did have work to do and the faster they got started the better. "I'll check the deep space sensors," he said.
"They would have shown up sooner than this!" McKay said in exasperation. He was frustrated and in no mood to waste time on useless efforts.
"Or there could be something wrong with the circuitry," Zelenka explained calmly. "We'll never know until we check."
McKay sighed. "Alright, alright. Let me know the moment you have anything. I'll be in the main lab."
Zelenka nodded and ran for the control tower. Dr. Weir was already there, updating Colonel Caldwell on their situation. Zelenka went straight for the tech on duty. "Has anyone checked deep space sensors?" he asked breathlessly.
"No," the baffled tech replied. "Why?"
Zelenka let off a stream of curses in his native language before pushing the man aside impatiently. He typed madly on the keys, not even glancing up as Weir moved to look over his shoulder. He frowned. The screen was blank, as he had expected, but something was off. He fiddled with the settings, trying to fine-tune the sensors. Then, it appeared: a tiny dot, just behind the planet.
"What is that?" Weir asked.
"A hyperspace anomaly. A small one."
"Wraith?" she asked urgently.
"According to the scanners, it is Ancient, but I am not so sure. The readings are abnormal." Zelenka paused to push his glasses back in place. "It is possible that the Wraith are using an Ancient energy signature to hide their approach."
"Can they do that?"
"I can not be sure, but it is the only way they could have approached without the sensors giving a warning."
"How big is it?"
"Small. Larger than a dart, but not as big as a cruiser."
"Alright. Find out where they're going and report back to me," she clicked her radio. "Colonel Sheppard?"
"Sheppard, here," came the reply.
"Dr. Zelenka thinks he's found how the Wraith were able to approach the city. Found anything on your end?"
"We found the doors to one of the balconies open. They must have been scooped up by a ship. Did Zelenka find out where they went?"
"He's working on it. In the meantime, why don't you check on McKay and see if he's found anything."
"Will do. Sheppard out," Sheppard turned of his radio and gestured to his team. "Head back to command and get ready to mount a rescue," he ordered. "Teyla and I will go see if the good doctor has any answers for us."
They found the scientist in his lab, typing frantically on one of the many laptops strewn around the crowded space. Sheppard came up behind him. "Find anything?"
McKay jumped, then gave a relieved sigh when he saw it was only his friends. "I wish you wouldn't do that," he said irritably, turning back to his work.
"Sorry," Sheppard said tersely. "So, have you found anything?"
Without looking up, McKay answered: "I've been going over what we know of Wraith hyperspace technology and based on the data Zelenka's been able to find, I think I may be able to determine where they are."
"That's good!" Sheppard was thrilled to finally hear some good news. "Let's go."
"It's not that simple," McKay said in frustration.
"Well then, make it 'that simple,'" Sheppard snapped. "We don't have a lot of time!"
"I'm working on it!" McKay snapped back.
"Enough!" Teyla interrupted. "This is not helping us find our friends."
The two men paused in their argument. Sheppard took a deep breath to get his temper under control. McKay mumbled an apology and turned back to his computer. The lab was quiet for several minutes except for the incessant taping of the keys. Suddenly McKay stood up and practically ran to other side of the room.
"What is it?" Sheppard asked eagerly.
"I think I have something," he tapped his radio. "Elizabeth."
The radio crackled into life. "I hope you have good news, Rodney."
"Thanks to the sensor data provided by Zelenka, I've been able to determine the direction that the Wraith ship was going when it left this system. Now, we know that Wraith hyper drive technology isn't that great, so if I'm right, they should make a stop near M3X209 within the next hour."
"That doesn't give us a lot of time," Weir pointed out. "Sheppard."
"I'm on it." Sheppard was already heading out the door with Teyla and McKay on his heels. "Lorne!" he called into his radio. "I want two teams of marines and three jumpers ready for an off-world rescue mission in five minutes!"
"Yes, sir!" Lorne called back happily.
By the time the three had reached the puddle jumper bay, Lorne, Cadman and a dozen heavily armed marines were ready and waiting for them. Sheppard nodded to his second-in-command before following McKay and Teyla into the last jumper.
As the ship descended into the gate room, Colonel Caldwell's voice came in on the radio: "Sheppard."
"Colonel," he replied tensely. He tried not to let his dislike for the man reach his voice.
"We can't afford to let that ship get through. Use any force to bring it down."
"I'll use any force I think is necessary to rescue our people!" he replied angrily.
"You can't let your personal feelings interfere with this," Caldwell insisted. "If the Wraith get their hands on Ancient technology, we could lose this war."
"I know," Sheppard said shortly.
"Be safe," Elizabeth called. "And bring them back."
"I will," he said firmly as the jumper disappeared through the Stargate.
TBC…
AN: Many thanks to all the wonderful people who reviewed! I've never gotten such a turn out for a story before and it makes me very happy! Next chapter will be more exciting and you'll see Carson and Ronon at last. I'm very busy this weekend so don't expect an update until late next week. Thank you again!