Stargate Atlantis: Pandora's Box4

Moira jolted as John cried out, voice strangling in pain and agony. His body writhed so wildly on the Chair that he knocked Moira aside. She spun and fell heavily onto the floor, smacking her jaw on the way down. She cried out in pain but scrambled to her feet, scrambled back to him.

"John! John, John, let go! John!" She grabbed the Chair again but the connection was gone, was being blocked by something cold and wet and Moira shivered. She glanced out the window where the darkness of space loomed. The Shield was holding but it was a pinkish stain that glittered ominously. There was a low whining sound and the lights grew dimmer, dimmer. Even the lights on the Chair were fading and flickering. "John!"

Moira shook him again, hard but he was unresponsive, locked in some battle of his own. Blood was dripping from his nose again and sweat was a wash on his face, his body. She wiped the blood away, cooling his brow and his neck. His pulse was racing, racing wildly. "No! John! John, come back to me! John!" She pondered how to penetrate the connection.

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John wished he had remembered that old adage about a woman scorned. He was flung from the console and landed hard on the floor, sliding and slamming into the wall. He felt blood spurting from his nose and wiped it away, scrambling for his gun but it was gone. He stared as the hideous apparition advanced, leaving a trail of rotting flesh and water behind it.

"I'm sorry! You were dying anyway! I couldn't save you but you can help me save Atlantis!"

He held up his arms but was slashed across the face anyway, violently flung into another wall by unseen forces. He groaned as pain erupted and his heart was pounding so fast he was certain it would pop out of his chest. He scrambled to his knees, sloshing in water and the city was spinning under him. Alarms were screaming and when he chanced a glance out of the window the darkness of space glowered through a Shield that was winking wildly.

"Crap," he muttered, looking back at the advancing horror and braced himself for what could very well be the last thing he would feel.

"Pink."

John shook his head at the voice near his ear, concentrating on evading the apparition as it raised one bony arm towards him. A cough took him and he doubled over with it, as light and noise infiltrated his brain in an unbearable wave.

"Pale, pale pink, very sheer, plunging, with tiny blue roses along the lace." The voice was breathy, warm, so close to his ear it tickled. Then wetness as a tongue licked along his ear. Then a gentle pressure as his earlobe and neck were nibbled. At the same time a hand was groping him most intimately, sending a cascade of pleasure to wash over him.

John groaned, not with pain but with arousal as he suddenly was torn out of one scenario and thrust into reality; back to the Chair where he was reclining and linked to the wounded and ailing AI of Tir na nOg which was crippled but flying in space.

"John? John, can you hear me?"

He opened his eyes, body going slack as Moira came into view. He flinched, but this was his Moira, the real woman who had a bruise on her jaw and tears in her brown eyes. She touched his face, gently ran her fingers along his jaw as she leaned close, so close her breasts brushed along his arm. "Moy?" he croaked. He felt dizzy for a moment and sweat made his clothing stick to every line of his body. "Where…pink? Pale pink and sheer?" He glanced along her body.

Moira smiled as relief was a welcome emotion. "John. Are you okay?" She freed him suddenly, but he caught her hand in his lap. "Sorry. I was…"

"You were what, exactly? Copping a feel? I am so going to return the favor, baby." He touched her jaw. "What happened? Did I…" He appeared shocked at the thought that he had hit her.

"No, I'm fine. I fell. Are you okay? You did it, John! We're flying but we are oh!" She gasped as the city lurched and the lights of space were a stream.

"Hyperspace." John settled, closing his eyes. "We're going to Atlantis, but this ship is highly unstable. I just hope that we make it one piece."

"Wonderful," she noted, looking round before gazing upon him again. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Yeah…just keep your hands on the Chair and me. This part is easy. The hard part will be re-entry. Moira…this city…it was…I mean…she tried to kill me!"

"Never piss off an Irishwoman, John," Moira warned.

John chuckled and relaxed into the flight.

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"He did it!" Rodney was staring at a monitor. There was a blip in the orbit of the planet where Atlantis resided that hadn't been there a moment ago. "He did it! Son of a bitch he did it!"

Teyla and Ronon crowded round the excited physicist as the blip was blinking, marking its location.

"Are you sure that is John?" Richard asked, joining them.

"Of course it's John! I'm reading the energy signatures of that city! It's in orbit around us and quickly descending to our atmosphere too…too quickly." Suddenly Rodney's joy evaporated. "I'm reading massive disruptions, a massive energy output…he's coming in too fast with too much power! I've got to get up there with Reynolds!"

"What do I do with this?" Ronon asked. He was still holding the small container.

Rodney paused in mid-run to whirl and face the Satedan. "Get it to physics! Get it to Radek but on no account open it! Teyla, get Carson ready for a medical rescue!"

"Rodney!" Richard called. The leader of Atlantis was standing on the balcony, staring up at the sky. "My God…"

"What? What is it? I don't have time to…oh my God!"

What was left of Tir na nOg was descending through the planet's atmosphere. It looked like a shrunken version of the Atlantis, with only the central core and spire remaining, encased in a pinkish glow that was the Shield. But the Shield was flickering, fading fast and the city was spinning wildly, tilting like a carnival ride.

"Get up there now! I'll prep for a water rescue! All teams, this is Woolsey! Get Jumpers in the air and on the water ASAP! Sheppard, can you read me? Sheppard, please respond!" Richard was tapping his earpiece, issuing commands.

"He's coming in too fast!" Teyla exclaimed, knowing she should be gathering the medical team but unable to look away from the descending ship. It was like a pink, glowing gem in the blue sky, heading inexorably for the blue ocean.

"He'll slow it down, he'll slow it down," Ronon muttered, clutching the small container tightly as he stared as well.

Rodney seemed frozen in place, a look of horror on his face. "My God…at that trajectory…I'm reading a massive energy overload! The—"

Two things happened at once.

Atlantis automatically raised its Shield, protecting itself.

Tir na nOg screamed and exploded in mid-air.

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"John! John!"

John opened his eyes, exhausted, sore, but he stared at the graphics above his head that the Chair was projecting. There were lines and warnings in a language he couldn't read. "What does that say, Moira?"

She stared up at the projections. "Power levels are growing! The city can't compensate for the additional rush of power all in one place! The ZPMs are overloading, John!"

There was a horrible whining sound that was getting louder and louder and higher and higher.

"Crap! Time to go! Damn it!"

"Wait!" She shoved him back into the Chair as he tried to leave it. "If you stop flying the ship what will happen?"

"It will free fall and crash. It's gonna blow, Moira! It can't compensate for the loss of its sections and the ZPMs are already taxed. We gotta go now before it's too late!" He leapt out of the Chair and grabbed her hand, pulling her into a run.

The ship lurched wildly. Without a pilot the Star Drives sputtered and gravity took over with a vengeance. The ZPMs tried to operate but they were flooded with so much power they couldn't contain it.

John and Moira ran through the city as it began to collapse upon itself.

They ran along the dark and wet hallways.

They ran up the swaying, snapping stairs.

They ran as with a tremendous scream Tir na nOg exploded in mid-air.