I do not own Stargate Atlantis, the show or the Characters. But this story is one hundred percent original. Out of my freaky brain. Hey there folks. You know, you are the ones who got me to post chapter four. I wasn't going to type any chapters tonight, but I started and just had to finish the chapter. Yay! And whew, am I tired. Sitting here, sweating away (I don't think my Central A/C is working very well), listing to music and typing. Wow, I can do three things at one time... amazing. Anyways, thanks for the reviews. They're awesome. I can't believe you all like it that much. Thanx a bunch. Have fun reading. It's a longer chapter this time. Ta. :)
Chapter Four
They all followed John into the cave and Teyla pulled the flashlight out of her vest and turned it on. Rodney followed suit and turned on his as well.
John seemed to know exactly where he was going because he never once slowed down. He just continued on his path. They seemed to be going in to the depths of the cave and fifteen minutes later they spotted a glowing blue light that seemed to come from everywhere.
"That must be where we're headed." Rodney said.
When they turned the corner they seemed to be in a large chamber. The light was now almost overpowering. John still did not stop. He walked to the middle of the chamber and stopped in front of a crystalline structure that stood almost ten feet tall. He reached his hand out and placed it on the structure. Almost immediately it lit up and began to turn.
Ronan, Teyla and Rodney covered their ears as the noise got louder. It didn't seem to affect Sheppard. He just stood blankly staring at it. The light flared and the noise rose. Then suddenly a beam of light shone out from the top and then out of the cave into the night sky.
John reached out his hands and placed them on the light. He closed his eyes and he twitched almost imperceptibly. The others ran forward and reached out to pull him away from the structure. The moment they touched him they were thrown backwards by an electrical force. They landed with a thud on the ground and slowly sat up to look at Sheppard. He was still standing with his hands on the light.
"Okay. What the hell just happened?" Rodney said as he slowly stood up and rested his hands on his lower back.
"The Ancient Gene." Ronan said as he helped Teyla to her feet.
"Wow. That's some new trick he has." Rodney said as he moved towards the structure. He circled around so that he could see John's face. His eyes were still closed and his lips were moving but he wasn't saying anything. Rodney couldn't read his lips. "I think this thing is downloading information into his brain."
"Why do you say that Rodney?" Teyla asked as she moved over to stand beside him.
"Because his lips are moving. Look at them. We have to get him off this thing now."
Five minutes later John took his hands away and continued to stare into the light. Then before they knew it, John blinked and breathed in heavily. He looked around confusedly and then jerked when he saw Rodney, Teyla and Ronan looking at him.
"Rodney?" he said quietly.
Rodney reached out his hand to take hold of his friend and John collapsed into his arms. "Quick! Help me you guys!" he yelled out as he grabbed his friend before he hit the ground. Ronan and Teyla raced forward to help.
They were able to get him to the ground just as the villagers arrived at the entrance to the chamber. He lay on his stomach, arms sprawled out to the side and all three of his friends were beside him.
"What is going on here?" the leader said as he walked into the chamber.
The Atlanteans looked up and saw the villagers moving towards them. "We don't know." Rodney said. "We followed him here. Then all hell broke loose."
"Take them." The leader said.
"But what about that?" Rodney said pointing to the crystalline structure. It was still turning and flashing light. The beam was still shooting out of it.
"We have never seen it before. We did not know it was here until now."
"Well, that is Ancient." Rodney said. "And that is doing something that maybe we can help you with."
"What about him?" the leader said pointing at the unconscious Sheppard. "How did he know this was here?"
"He has the ATA Gene." Rodney said matter of factly.
"And what is that?" the leader asked.
"The Ancient Technology Activation Gene." Rodney said as if the leader was supposed to know what that was. Rodney sighed when he saw the confused look on the leader's face. "He's part Ancient. At least in the genes. Somehow he was able to start this thing up."
"What does it do?" the leader asked.
"That we don't know." Rodney said as he reached out and placed his hand on John's back. John convulsed after he was touched and then he was awake, breathing heavily.
"Rodney? Rodney! Are you there?" Sheppard said with fear in his voice.
"I'm here John. I'm here. Don't worry my friend. We're all here for you. Teyla, me and Ronan."
"Where am I?" he coughed and tried to sit up.
"Stay down Sheppard." Ronan said, placing his hand on John's back. "You're not well."
"Ronan? Where am I?"
"Just calm down Sheppard. We're on P3J-448." Ronan said.
They rolled him over slowly and saw the fear in his eyes. He had no clue where he was. No clue at all. He was beginning to hyperventilate. "I want up Ronan. I want up."
Ronan nodded and then reached out to help him to his feet. Rodney jumped forward to help too. John swayed momentarily when he reached his feet and then steadied himself. Ronan and Rodney kept hold of him.
"Woah there Sheppard." Rodney said. "We don't want you falling again."
John looked up at the structure and creased his brow. "What is that?"
"Um. We don't know. We were kind of hoping you could tell us." Rodney said following his gaze.
The structure flashed red momentarily and John grabbed his head in pain.
"What's wrong Sheppard?" Rodney asked.
It flashed red again and John screamed, grabbing his head.
"It's that damn thing! Every time it flashes red it hurts him! What's it doing?" Rodney said as he tried to speak over the noise.
"We must get him out of here." Teyla said taking hold of John's hand.
"I don't think that's going to help Teyla." Rodney said.
"Why do you say that?"
"Just trust me on that Teyla. Trust me."
They grabbed hold of him and pulled him towards the entrance. John began to lose control. He began to yell. "NO! Where are you taking me? I want to stay here! I want to stay here!"
"John. What are you talking about? Rodney asked. "It's hurting you."
"NO! It's helping me! It's helping me!" John pulled out of their grasps and began to run back to the crystalline structure.
Ronan grabbed his arm and yanked him back. "Sheppard! You need to leave."
"Let go of me! Let go! It needs me!"
Ronan kept his grip on John's arm and forcibly pulled him to the entrance of the chamber. The villagers were watching all of this with surprise. Unsure of what to do they just let the team leave ahead of them. John was screaming the whole way.
By the time they reached the outside of the cave John's wrist was red from trying to struggle out of Ronan's grasp. The light turned red again and John yelled out in pain. He dropped to the ground and Ronan let go of him. John tried to run away back into the cave and Ronan grabbed hold of him around the chest. "Sheppard! You can't go back in there. It's not safe for you." He kept hold of John when he continued to try to get away. His arms and legs flailed.
"We have to get him back to Atlantis before this gets out of hand." Rodney said as he jumped forward to help Ronan with John. He took John's wrists in his hands and tried to hold them down against Ronan. John was a lot stronger than Rodney gave him credit for.
They dragged him back to the village against his will and were forced to tie him down to one of the beds, hands and feet, so he would not take off back to the structure.
He struggled constantly while the others were forced to watch him. His wrists were beginning to bleed from the force he was using to pull on the restraints. And he wouldn't stop yelling.
"Is there anything we can use to knock him out?" Rodney asked with major concern. Ronan, Teyla and the leader looked confused. "You know. Put him to sleep." Rodney said with some exasperation.
"Ah." The leader said. "Yes. I will get you something." He left the hut in hurry. Five minutes later he returned with a bowl of clear liquid.
"What is it?" Teyla asked.
"It is called Keehal. It, as you put it, knocks people out. It helps people to sleep."
"Great. Let's give it to him. I can't stand hearing him scream like that." Rodney said as he ran forward to take the liquid.
"I will give it to him. You do not know how much to give him."
"Okay. You can try. But I don't think he's going to let you. Ronan should be the one doing it. Ronan knows how to handle John. Trust me."
The leader nodded and handed the bowl to Rodney. Rodney in turn handed the bowl to Ronan. "How much do we give him?" he asked.
"A little over half of the bowl." The leader said, moving closer.
"Got that Ronan?"
Ronan nodded and turned towards Sheppard. The man was struggling so much that Ronan had to take hold of John's hair and force his head back. He took the bowl and placed it on John's lips. He poured what he could down in to his mouth and then held it shut with his hand. He put the bowl down on the floor and then made him swallow the liquid. It may not have looked right to the others, but Ronan knew it was the right thing to do. Minutes later Sheppard was out cold. No longer struggling, no longer yelling. Asleep.
"Wow. That stuff sure works quickly." Rodney said with shock in his voice.
"It is very powerful. That is why we use it. It is made from a plant that grows around here."
Ronan placed his hand on the Colonel's chest and felt that he was breathing calmly.
"How long will he sleep for… um… sorry. I don't even know your name." Rodney said as he walked over to check on John.
"My name is Official Lotal. And he shall sleep for the rest of the night."
"That's good." Rodney said. "But then he'll go all psycho Sheppard on us again when he wakes up."
"Maybe by then we will have found a way to stop the Ancient Device." Teyla said as she knelt down beside John and placed her hand on his cheek.
"Maybe." Rodney said. "But now that I think about it. I'm pretty sure that it was talking to him. Because he wanted to leave. Then that thing started to turn red and he changed his mind. It's telling him what to do. I think it felt him the moment he set foot on this planet. It felt that ATA Gene. That big, pulsing ATA Gene and it drew him in hook, line and sinker. Got him to turn it on. And now it wants to keep him here. Like he's a battery."
The others just listened to Rodney rant, only understanding part of it.
"What's a battery McKay?" Ronan asked curiously.
"Portable power." Rodney pulled his flashlight out and opened it up. "This is a battery." He said as he held up the tiny object. "This makes the flashlight work. See. Without it , no power. With it…"
The others nodded their understanding.
"This is what Sheppard is to that thing. Power. He keeps it going."
"Then we must get him back through the Stargate before it has complete hold of him." Teyla said. "We cannot let this happen."
"I agree Teyla. But how are we supposed to break the connection?" Rodney said trying to come up with something. "Listen." He said turning to Lotan. "Can we have some of our stuff back?"
"What do you require?" the man asked.
"My data pad and some of my other instruments." Lotan looked confused. "I'll show you. It's not weapons. I assure you."
Lotan nodded and then led him to the hut where all their equipment was stored. Rodney grabbed his data pad and life signs detector. Then he took a few of the other instruments and headed back towards the hut where the others were. When he arrived he immediately began to work on how to shut the Ancient Device down. His brain was working on overtime to help the Colonel out. He didn't deserve to be used that way. Not by a person and not by a machine. Definitely not by a machine.
"We should leave McKay to do his work." Ronan said as he watched Rodney type away on his data pad.
"I agree with you Ronan." Teyla said. "Let us leave him alone so that he can think."
Ronan nodded and then turned back to Rodney. "We'll leave you in peace McKay."
"Yes. Yes. Go away." Rodney said without looking up from the screen and flicking his hand in a dismissive gesture at them.
Ronan grunted at him and then turned and walked out the entrance. Teyla and Lotan followed him out. When they were outside Lotan turned to face them. "Is he always that way?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Ronan said. "But he'll keep an eye on Sheppard. He'll let us know if the Device is affecting him in any way."
"Then let us go get something to eat. And we will bring something back for Dr. McKay to eat as well."
"That sounds great Lotan." Teyla said as they walked to the main area of the village.
Back in John's hut he was sleeping peacefully. Rodney was going crazy as he continued to work out a way to help John. Then quite suddenly he looked up at Sheppard and walked over to him.
"How did this happen to you Sheppard? That damn ATA Gene. It screws with you so much. You would be so much better off without it. And this thing. It's going to use you up and then spit you out. We shouldn't have come to this planet. There was something wrong with you when you left and we just made things worse by coming here." He put his hand on the pilot's arm and there was an immediate reaction. John's eyes flew open and he began to speak in Ancient.
"Woah. That's new." Rodney said and grabbed his digital recorder so that he could catch what Sheppard was saying. Almost five minutes later he stopped and stared at the ceiling.
Rodney turned off the recorder and grabbed his radio. "Uh… guys. We have a situation here. Sheppard just woke up and started speaking in Ancient. And as we all know… Sheppard does not speak Ancient."
"We will be there momentarily." Teyla said over the radio.
Rodney took the digital recorder and hooked it up to his data pad. By the time he had it running through the translator, Teyla, Ronan and Lotan were back in the tent.
"Have you figured out what he said McKay?" Ronan asked as he walked over to Sheppard and sat down beside him.
"Well, if you give me a minute I'll let you know if the translation program worked on the recording." Rodney said as he continued to type away. They all watched with baited breath to find out what John had said in Ancient.
The hut was quiet. Then finally, Rodney made a triumphant noise with his mouth. "I've got it. Listen to this." They listened to the artificial voice coming from the pad. "I am Puren. I am Supreme. You will all bow before me. And I will use this vessel to spread my word. This vessel is strong and carries the Gene of the Ancients. He will feed me. He will help me live. Bow before Puren. Bow before the Supreme."
TBC in Chapter Five…
A/N: Ugh. Another cliffhanger. Sorry, but that was just the best place to end the chapter. Let me know if you spot any spelling mistakes please. I've been pretty good, but I don't have anyone to read over this for me... except you guys that is. More chapters to come. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy! TTFN. :)
