Chapter 3
It has been almost four days since John has had a decent night's sleep and only a little while ago he had thought he would finally be able to go to bed. Of course, after that stunt on the Wraith ship he had also needed a shower. Unfortunately he had been halfway through it when the water had suddenly run out – the desalination tank. The thing had been one of the systems that had gone offline during the power outings this week.
Tired, itchy (wiping soap off was not nearly as effective as rinsing) and irritated John decided he needed to relieve some pent-up frustration. Besides, he needed to kill some time until the desalination tanks are back online and the water heated. There was no way he would be able to go to bed with this itchy body of his.
As luck, fortune or fate would have it, when he entered the gym he found Major Evan Lorne there. John had no idea why the younger man was in the gym, but minutes later he had bullied the Major into a hand-to-hand fight. Usually it would be called a sparring match – John wasn't in the mood for niceties, though.
The first round went to Lorne: the young man has had some sleep while John and SGA-1 had been on the Wraith hive ship and easily beat John at a fair fight. This, of course, did not sit well with someone as irritated as John. That was why in the next round John took the fight to the next level. Snikt! The claws on both hands slid out. They were actually three super-sharp adamantium blades about 12 inches (30cm) on each hand that retracted onto his arms at will. Using them meant having them cut through flesh and skin, but once they're out the pain subsided to a dull ache. Training with them had always been a problem, as one swipe of the blades usually disembowelled, beheaded and destroyed anyone or anything he was using it on. But not Evan Lorne. Lorne was one of the few people that could withstand a direct attack from John.
Quite a number of Atlanteans (not all, though) had mutant abilities. Lorne's was the ability to turn into any kind of substance he touched. That was why he wore a necklace of different kinds of beads around his neck – every bead was of a different substance and he only had to touch one to turn into that substance. When he saw John unsheathe his claws, the young man smiled and immediately reached for his trinium/naquadah alloy bead. Half a heartbeat later he had turned into living metal.
By now both were grinning, but they weren't nice grins. They were the type of grins usually associated with the grim reaper.
For thirty minutes they sparred, striking numerous sparks as John's blades scraped along Lorne's body. A number of times John was sent flying across the gym as living metal connected with flesh. Normally such blows would kill a person, but John recovered in seconds. It was after one of these blows that John returned to the fight like a raging maniac and punched Lorne with his right fist – claws first.
Moments later the two of them realised this might have been a mistake. While powered up, the blades stuck in Lorne was just an annoyance. Should he power down the blades would kill him. But because he can't power down, John could not get the claws out of him. At one stage John had both feet planted squarely on Lorne's chest for leverage, but the blades wouldn't budge.
"Oh, damn it!" John growled. He gave another light tug, but it was more in annoyance than anything else.
"I think we're going to need some help," Lorne said in a gravelly voice.
Ten minutes later – after quite an amount of manoeuvring – John and Lorne were seated on a bed in the infirmary. Carson was frowning at them while poking at the place on Lorne's chest where the blades had gone in.
"And what were you thinking?" the doctor asked them. Behind Carson Jennifer Keller stood grinning.
"Thought wasn't what we had in mind," John replied.
"Yes, I can see that," Carson said. "I can't even amputate the claws as this will still leave at least five inches of steel inside Lorne," he explained the quandary. "Again, what were you thinking?" Carson repeated. He seemed to be getting truly irritated at them. The first sign of this was that Carson was getting bigger.
"Look, can't you just remove it?" Lorne asked.
"No, I can't just bloody well remove it!" Carson exclaimed. By now the doctor was at least twice his normal size and getting hairy. "I'm a doctor, not a blacksmith!" he growled. With the changes his voice always got deeper and rougher as well.
But at least he had to try and moments later John and Carson were both pulling in one direction while Lorne pulled in another. By now Carson was completely powered up and looked quite a bit like a blue Carebear: a blue Carebear on steroids, that is. With claws.
The next moment John's claws slid losse with the sound of grating steel. Underneath that sound was that of ripping cloth as Carson burst out the seams of his pants. There was also the sound of flesh connecting with flesh. The recoil of John's blades ripping free from Lorne had caused John to hit Carson hard enough to send the Doctor sprawling. As the more primitive beast-brain of Carson took over, the man growled at John and with a mighty leap landed in the upper corner of the wall next to the ceiling. John and Lorne looked up.
"Oh, crap," Lorne exclaimed.
#####
Elizabeth had just fallen asleep when the call came from Jennifer. Apparently John and Lorne had been admitted to the infirmary under suspicious circumstances and they needed Elizabeth's presence.
"I'll be right there," Elizabeth sighed. With eyes that didn't want to stay open she peered at herself in the mirror. Her hair wasn't in too bad shape and se was able to straighten it by pulling her fingers through it. Then she grabbed her night gown and slid her feet into her shoes. What was wrong with John? She just knew he had been the one to instigate this situation.
Sleepily she padded down the corridor and down the stairs. It was only as she passed one of those water features and saw her own reflection that she realised she might have been a bit hasty in her choice of clothes. The sight of her almost-naked legs and pink bunny slippers brought her fully awake. She looked down at herself. She had been wearing her comfortable boxers and tank-top when she had crawled into bed. The gown she had grabbed wasn't the one she had planned on taking, though, but the one Simon Wallis had given her years ago – the sexy black one that had been a Valentine's present. The shoes she had thought she had put on were actually the pink bunny slippers her mom had given her on her birthday a few months ago. It had floppy pink ears.
Oh, and another thing about the gown: it was mostly lace.
She considered turning back and getting another gown, but then she heard a growl she recognized as belonging to the powered-up Carson. Adrenaline boosted her as she ran towards the infirmary. She skidded to a halt just as Lorne exclaimed: "Oh, crap!"
Elizabeth looked around at the rather peculiar group assembled in the infirmary. On the bed nearest the door sat John and Lorne. The bed's legs were bent and both men looked kind of sheepish. Behind them stood Jennifer Keller, blushed deep red and looking at her feet. Now that Elizabeth thought about it, John and Evan were both turned away from something as well. By one wall was a row of beaten-up marines on beds. Most of them were holding an icepack to certain parts of their anatomy and those still able to see had their heads very specifically turned away from one corner of the infirmary.
Dreading what she would find, she looked up at the corner everyone was avoiding.
Elizabeth was completely aware that this was one of those moments that would define her leadership abilities. She also knew she was going to fail miserably. Fortunately she was too tired to care. She blushed slightly and looked away; catching Jennifer's eye. Together they blushed even more.
"Doctor Beckett," she said in her most formal tone, "I think you're hanging out." Jennifer giggled slightly.
Moments later an embarrassed Carson had gotten down from the ceiling and was standing in the corner. His hands were covering the bits that had become exposed after he had torn his pants. Well, that was one question answered: when Carson turned blue (a nice light blue) everything turned blue. Oh, well...
"Sorry, lass," he growled. He disappeared through a door and the tension level in the room dropped noticeably. Elizabeth looked around at the people still in the infirmary. The marines in the far corner looked away and Jennifer seemed to disappear. Elizabeth glared at John and Lorne.
"I know we're all a little edgy, but was this really necessary?" she demanded.
"No, ma'am," Lorne said, but his heart wasn't in it. Obviously he thought a trip to the infirmary had just been a slight diversion. She sometimes hated mutants.
She rubbed her eyes and then looked at John. "You are the military leader; you should be more responsible than this."
She glared at John, but she quickly realised he wasn't paying attention. Following his gaze she realised why not: he was staring. And this time he was not staring away from Carson, but instead he was staring at her legs. She needn't glance down to know just how much leg she was showing. A conversation she had overheard a while ago (and really, it had been by accident) suddenly popped into her thoughts. It had been John and Rodney, discussing what types of man they were, as in: John was a legs-man and Rodney a blondes-and-ass-man.
"John!" she snapped.
"Yes?" he said, looking back up at her face. But his eyes had taken a slow journey to get there.
She sighed. "Next time, keep the claws sheathed, okay?"
#####
97minutes earlier...
Ronon charged his weapons, his grin widening. He could see the fear in the queen's eyes. His wings glistened in the light.
They actually heard the sound rushing at them. It sounded like an explosion in reverse, with a slurping sound mixed in. Half a moment later the wall behind the queen and her minions – and in front of Ronon – exploded. Greenish goo engulfed Ronon and a single voice called out from a long way away: "Hey, John, which way is the control room?"
#####
Rodney finally had to admit he was lost. He knew direction wasn't his strong suit, but he had never been this lost before.
He turned another corner that definitely did not lead to the control room. Damn. He glanced down at his life-sign detector, but it wasn't helping. Finally his temper snapped. Okay, if this was the way the Wraith wanted it to be, so be it!
He stashed the LSD in his pocket, took a deep breath and powered up. Blue lightning started in his neck and crackled down his arms. He brought his hands together and waited a second for the charge to build. Soon the buzzing turned into a roar and he discharged the lightning at a wall. The blue lightning exploded through the wall and continued blowing holes in a neat row of man-sized gaps. Finally it stopped with a last loud pop.
Slowly Rodney stepped forward. At the far end of the series of holes stood Ronon. He seemed to be covered in something. From behind him peered John. "Hey, John," Rodney called, highly irritated. "Which way is the control room?"
It was only then that Rodney noticed the Wraith queen and her minions sprawled on the floor. She was getting up slowly and turning around. A new whine joined the sounds already emanating from the engines of the ship. Meanwhile Ronon was dripping goo. For some reason he still had his weapons ready in front of him, even though the Wraith queen was no longer in his line of fire.
"What's wrong with Ronon?" Rodney yelled. He was kind of impressed at how many walls he had been able to destroy in one go.
"I. Will. Kill. You!" Ronon roared and Rodney suddenly realised the Satedan wasn't talking to the Wraith queen. He also suddenly realised the big man was looking at him.
"What did I do?" Rodney yelled back. But it was the queen that answered. Idly she wiped a lock of goo-covered hair out of her face. It wasn't really an improvement.
"You destroyed the thruster drive. The hive is losing orbit," she coldly told him.
"Oh," Rodney said. And then suddenly everything snapped into place. He suddenly realised what the power signature was he had been chasing for hours, as well as what had gooed everyone in the queen's chambers as well as why Ronon was angry at him. He also realised what losing orbit implied. Ignoring Ronon he tapped his earpiece.
"Teyla!" he yelled.
What did you do? She asked over the com line. Really, why did everyone assume it was always his fault? This time it had been, but seriously!
"Teyla, we have to get out of here!" he yelled again. He looked at John and Ronon as he spoke into his earpiece. "Where are you?" Before she could answer, he took out his LSD and looked at the signals. One of them was much bigger than the rest. He would bet it was Teyla and it appeared she was just behind him.
In the dart bay, she answered. Rodney turned around and after a moment he fired another – much smaller – burst at the wall behind him. The hole opened into the dart bay.
"There you are!" he exclaimed.
A roar behind him drew his attention and he just had time to see an enraged Ronon hurtling towards him. Instantly he put up his electro-magnetic force-field. The big man bounced off the shield. Right behind him John came running.
"We have to get out of here!" their leader yelled.
"No, really!" Rodney snidely remarked. But the force-field had given him an idea. "Okay, get behind me!" he yelled as he turned to face down the corridor. Behind him Teyla, John and Ronon gathered. He knew no matter how angry the big Satedan was, he would curb his anger until they were safely off the ship.
When he was sure everyone was behind him, he charged his energy pulse. As he discharged the pulse he put up the force-field around them. "Teyla, we need more inertia!" he yelled at her. For a moment he dropped the back side of the force-field even as the gap in the outside of the ship dragged at them. Teyla increased this pull and moments later the four them went hurtling into space; the only thing between them and certain death the invisible shield he was generating.
It took surprisingly longer than expected to reach the beginning of the atmosphere. Rodney just hoped they had enough speed to penetrate it and not bounce off.
About twenty minutes later they had passed through the upper atmosphere and they had entered the breathable lower air. Rodney's mind was working fast. Ronon was not the forgiving type – at least not immediately. The big warrior would probably still try and hurt him the moment they touched ground. Besides, Rodney was nearing the end of his strength after the blasts on the ship and maintaining the shield through the atmosphere while expanding it enough to encompass four people.
So instead of dropping them all off near the gate, Rodney left his passengers a good mile away. Without stopping he sped off on a strong burst of power, pushing against his teammates' metal gear. Seconds later he was at the gate and frantically dialling. Behind him he heard the roar as Ronon picked himself off the ground. The sound of immense wings beating at the air had his blood turning cold. Ronon would not be able to fly with his gooey wings, but the sound was still disturbing.
Then the gate opened and he punched in his IDC even as he ran at the event horison. Time got suspended as the wormhole closed around him. Then he popped out the other side at a dead run.
"Rodney, what's wrong?" Elizabeth was asking as she came running down the flight of stairs. But Rodney had no time to explain: he needed to hide until Ronon had calmed down. As he ran for cover he shouted over his shoulder: "Can't talk now!"
Perhaps he could hide in one of those creepy labs for a while.
