Thanks reviewers! You've no idea what a relief it is that you liked that last chapter! I've fretted so much over plausibility. Continuity is a worry too. Especially now I have a few plates up and spinning. I've already had to nip back and change something... do you think anyone will notice?... And I haven't even got to the Wraith and the Reps. and the... no... forget that... you didn't read that, ok?...

Anyway, back to the beach... you boy guys might want to skim read a bit here and us girl guys will catch up later... but don't go away! Things get moving again...


Chapter Seven

The world became almost silent.

The rhythmic whisper sigh of the surf. Missed you, Eliosus. Missed you, Eliosus.

A vacuum blankness of white. Coloured only by Ha'ashme's long robes of pale blue floating noiselessly around her.

'John.' Her voice were his thoughts.

'You call me John now?' He bit his lip. He'd responded in thought also. He'd wanted this meeting to be on his own terms. But he'd allowed a link that was hers.

'I am sorry. We can speak normally…'

'Little point, when you know what I'm thinking…'

'You are... harsh.'

'I'm…' But his thoughts were so mixed up then. He doubted very much she could read or understand him

'Yes. I called you John. For Eliosus is not there.' Got that right. And he bit his lip, coz yeah, he was being harsh.

'For years, I have hoped to find Eliosus but…' and she was searching his face, searching his eyes, 'now that I think I have, he is not there.' She paused. 'Please do not continue to deny Eliosus. Please do not continue to deny me.'

She reached to touch him. Hope and fondness in her face.

He backed away, holding up his hands.

'If you shut us out, you will never discover who you truly are and what you can become. On the behalf of Eliosus, I implore you, do not refuse him the opportunity to be once more. What are you afraid of?'

'Stepping aside for another guy for starters. I'm kinda attached to this life.'

'It need not be that way.'

'There she goes. All enigmatic like they do. And damn, she'd hear that too.'

'You have little respect for Ascendeds or Ascension. It need not be that way either… Merely to recognise the energy…' Ha'ashme stopped, still sensing his continued resistance. She turned away and gazed at the sea that was once again in their world. Soft, blue and shimmering.

Gentle water still hushing. I have so missed you, Eliosus. I have so missed you, Eliosus.

Tears glistened on her cheeks.

'Hey!' He was surprised that an Ascended could cry. He drew near in sympathy, and then thought the better of it. There you go, John, always a sucker for a beautiful woman. She smiled weakly at the slight gesture, nevertheless.

'I am technically not an Ascended. Menos brought me here when Eliosus… I have wept ever since that day. I am weak and do not deserve your consideration. Menos says my powers are derived from the energy of my nation. But, as I have said, I… am weak. The tears are not to win your compassion. I truly, truly, grieve so. Especially as… as I see so much of Eliosus in you. The restlessness. The need for adventure. Valour. Resilience. Integrity. Loyalty…'

'Look! I like praise as much as the next guy, but let's not go over the top!' And he managed a smile that cheered her.

'And modesty,' and Ha'ashme returned the smile.

But the sea changed. And the smile disappeared instantly. The sea heaved, brown and swollen. Do not listen to her, John Sheppard. Do not listen to her.

Her hurt returned. 'You truly cannot remember anything? Nothing of our love for one another? I wish I could help you to remember. Why are you so stubborn? Why won't you remember? Why won't you remember?'

She turned on him, continuing with her torrent of questions.

'Why do you deny me? You know how desolate I am? Why did you return here? Was it only because of your army's orders? Why do you torture me with your presence? I thought Menos had explained everything?'

'He did.' He had no defence. She knew all the answers.

'He did not convince you?' Her eyes intently searching his again. And found nothing. She seemed to harden. 'You must return to your friends now. Go. You do not belong on Epiquaaya. Go. We have achieved nothing here. It was futile.'

He turned to leave. Brushing for the briefest of moments against her flowing restless robes.

'I wish... I could help… but… I'm not Eliosus… I'm not that guy... never can be… I'm sorry.'

It was enough.

Empathy. Sympathy. Pity.

Her robes, the sea, swelled and swirled around them and all was lost in the white light. That rose now at his feet.

He'd connected with her. Again, never his intention. His eyes met hers to protest. Afraid for a moment. But she held his gaze. Captivated. He opened his lips slightly to speak but only allowed in the kiss of her breath, before the white light totally swept over him. She'd taken him. The white light inside him. Her breath inside him. The white light breathing through every pore of his skin. The white light taking her breath through every atom, every molecule of every part of him. His last thought. The heavy pounding of his heart. Slowed to almost nothingness. Beating a slow rhythm that was hers. Till not even thought existed. A world of prethought that all thought emanated from. A world that was white and pure. A sense that he need only enjoy this. An awareness of her womanhood. But it no longer mattered. Her breath outside him. Inside him. No differentiation. He had dissolved into the white light. Stripped naked of physical being, vulnerable to the rapturous touch of her breath. Aware of the ecstasy of her caressing breath. Aware of the sensuous white light that breathed through him. Rousing something deep inside that he never knew existed. Omnipotent. A world that was white and pure. And he shared it with Ha'ashme.

As he had always done…

And the white light shattered like glass.

His own breath and heartbeat again. With shard-cut effort.

And sorrow swept over him. Ha'ashme's overwhelming sorrow of millennia that could not be shut out.

He saw Eliosus. Carefree. Bidding her farewell. Saw the danger and betrayal of the journey. Felt Eliosus' fatal blow. Felt the last sickening gasp as he fell to his knees. Saw, in horror, the spear that penetrated the heart deep. Felt the life blood that flowed and took away the soul. Saw Ha'ashme kneel by his side and stroke his hair one last time. Saw the flames and blackness of the funeral pyre. Felt the struggle to be free of an invisible bond. The struggle to touch her. Felt the utter, utter anguish of Eliosus. And saw the beginning of Ha'ashme's many mourning days.

But he could never again comfort her.

For all eternity.

Why did I leave you? Cried a voice that had not spoken for those thousands of years. Why did I leave you? Sobbed the voice, pitifully, from the man who knelt before her, hiding his face in the folds of her robes. And she knelt also. Touching his lips. Stroking his face. Combing a hand through his hair.

As she had always done…

But the white turned black. And the black turned to fuming clouds of red and brown, cut with lightning. The silence ended, sucking in what seemed every noise of the Universe. A howling hurricane shuddering with thunder. The twisting torment of a black stormy sea. And rain that fell like stones.

'John! John! You must help! Menos says you must help!'

Sheppard struggled to come to his senses.

This was real.

With effort against the wind, he stood. Straining to see with the downpour hard on his face. He looked round vainly for Ha'ashme. She'd gone. But where? The whisked up sea spray stung his eyes. Without her protection, rising water had already reached his knees. Breaths turned to gasps with the ice cold blasts of rain. Violently shivering already from heavy drenched clothing. He flinched and held up an arm, as a lightning bolt struck, crashing down a nearby tree, briefly illuminating the brown darkness that had descended over the island.

'Ha'ashme! Where are you?! What do you mean, I can help?!' Even in his head, he was screaming to be heard above the storm.

'Your friends are in danger! Hurry!' If Menos or Ha'ashme felt he needed an incentive, it worked. Though he also needed to be moving right now, even if only to save himself. He tried heading back towards the stream. But the tidal surge had met the turbulent outpourings of that once peaceful waterway, transforming the beach into a churning cauldron of water, sand, mud and tree debris. More than once, he stumbled and lost his footing, dragged over by the sucking current, to fall on his hands and knees, blindly scrambling to keep his head above water. The dirty salt water choking in his throat. He was gonna drown out here. He was gonna drown. His friends were in danger and he was gonna drown.

'Go to the Great Obelisk! Your Obelisk!' Sounded like good advice. Though a weird way to put it.

Progress was slow as Sheppard laboured along the tree line, on to the other path. The wind and rain were full in his face and only by turning his head could he gulp in air. And only by seizing hold of tree trunks for support could he hope to remain upright. The branches above him, loud with tossing and twisting. The encroaching sea smashed over the rocks. The noise of the storm was much like a dozen jet fighters firing up at once. Mixed in with an indescribable… wailing was the word that came to mind.

He by-passed the fallen tree and prayed that lightning didn't strike twice. He felt like there was a good chance it would. The electric slashing and ripping of the sky came every couple of seconds. If Sam, Rodney and Radek were in danger then their situation must be pretty dire if this was anything to go by. He was still shaking uncontrollably. Great. Make it through this and die of hypothermia. Perhaps he couldn't though. He'd heal. Wouldn't he?... But Eliosus was lost…

He found the path and headed inland. 'Go to the Obelisk!' came Ha'ashme's urgent voice again. And from there he'd find the others and the Jumper easily.

'No, no! You can help! At the Obelisk!'

'How? That's where they are?'

'You will know.'

"You think so?!" he yelled out loud.

Much as he liked Ha'ashme. He was tiring of the voices in the head stuff. He was also tiring of stumbling through the undergrowth. His head was hurting. His ears full of the unrelenting howl of the storm. The path was all but gone. Trees and bushes thrashed, frenzied by the wind. Leaves flew through the air with the driven rain, like demented confetti. He held up a bare arm, now red and raw to protect his face. Branches cracked and crashed to the ground. He was twisting, dodging every obstacle thrown his way.

He'd gone from bored outside the Temple, strolling with an Ancient, sharing with Ha'ashme to… was he really fighting for his life? It was sure starting to feel like it.

He tripped and fell.

Sprawling face down on the sodden earth.

But it was good here. Soft. Quiet even. The screeching storm high above him. One side of his face pressed against the mud. But he didn't care. He didn't have to struggle any longer. His panting breaths slowing. Relaxing. He could rest a little. He could even begin to imagine he wasn't so cold. It was soft. And quiet.

The ground then, just had to go and have a different idea.

It groaned and shuddered and heaved. He madly scrambled to his feet.

But knew by the ominous creaking overhead that he wasn't going to make it...


"You know, if such a rich seam of Naquadah exists right beneath the Temple, we would seriously have to consider digging up the whole building," said Rodney.

"Not if this planet flips up storms like this, we won't. It'd be far too dangerous." Annoyingly, Alora was looking like yet another to be ruled off the list. Sam peered through the Jumper windscreen, looking anxiously upwards at the angry sky. She flinched back as debris thrown by the wind smacked hard on the glass.

"That was close." She turned round. Unease in the eyes of Radek and Rodney mirrored her own.

"This Jumper is designed to withstand everything space can throw at it. I'm sure it can hold off a bit of bad weather." Despite his assurances, Rodney and Radek still considered it prudent to sit in the rear section of the Jumper, well away from the window.

Radek carried on the conversation, anything to avoid thinking too much about the constant flickering of lightning and the cracking of thunder.

"I still believe it was a containment unit."

Rodney leaned back and folded his arms. "No. Merely a means to channel power to the surface." He had that smiling 'I am right' look on his face.

"Oh and for what purpose?" challenged Radek. "The Temple had lighting? The Temple had air-conditioning? The Temple had computer systems? There are no traces now." He knew that in virtually all the places the Pegasus expedition had visited, that sort of Ancient Tech. just did not decompose to nothingness.

"What I can't figure out," said Sam joining them, sitting beside Radek, "is how the metal conduits were installed inside the solid rock? I mean that just has to be impossible, you would think."

"Hmm…that's a conundrum…I'm sure given enough time and more conducive surroundings-" stalled Rodney.

"-No. I have it," said Sam simply.

"You do? Already?" enquired a deflated Rodney.

"Yes. It's easy. The Temple was originally constructed in unit blocks, thus enabling the assembly of the metal framework between the blocks. Subsequent high levels of electromagnetic forces generated by the rock chemistry led to the fusion of the blocks, and this amalgamation-"

Sam stopped talking and all three looked up, fearful, as the wind outside intensified to a high pitched scream.

"It is like the howling of hell," murmured Radek in an awed voice.

"Oh, that is so Transylvanian of you! And which Czech university did you attend that ran a course in vampires, ghouls and werewolves!"

"Transylvania is nowhere near Prague!" his national pride truly affronted judging from the expression on his face. "If you think-"

"-Boys!" interrupted Sam, cutting dead the character assassination that threatened to ensue becoming louder than the storm. Radek looked suitably admonished. "Look, I've had enough!" finished Sam.

Rodney began a protest.

"-No. It's not you…" she shook her head. "I've had enough of sitting around waiting." Rodney knew what she meant then. His expression changed as his own fears re-surfaced. Which he counter-argued out loud.

"But we haven't given him the half an hour yet. We agreed. He's a regular boy scout. He'll be safe as long as there's no marauding butterflies. He'll find shelter."

"Yes. And like where?" muttered Radek, still feeling fractionally belligerent.

"Honestly, look at it," she approached the front of the Jumper again. "Anyone out there alone and in the open…" She trailed off. She felt a twinge of guilt as well as concern. She had, after all, insisted that Sheppard came along.

"All the more reason for us not to go out there looking for him, admirable as the maternal instinct is-" Sam cut him dead with a withering look. She turned to Radek.

"You say Colonel Sheppard followed the stream?" Radek nodded.

"You're going then?" Though Rodney had already resigned himself to the fact.

"Yes. We are. It's not safe alone. We've just said that." She spoke to Radek, again. "Obviously, he couldn't have returned that way." She sincerely hoped he hadn't. In the flashes of the red lightning, they could make out the stream, or rather torrent, swollen four times its former size and darkly carrying everything it had destroyed in its wake. "Ok. We'll take the Obelisk path then."

"Wouldn't it be a good idea if one of us were to remain, you know, in case, he comes back a different way and we're not here?" Radek gave Rodney a disparaging look. Sam also knew what he was hinting at.

"And that would be you?"

"My ankle." He pointed feebly to his feet.

"Fine. Lower the hatch." Though her face said anything but fine. Sam retrieved her P90 from the metal storage in the Jumper's racks and clipped it to her vest.

"This is truly a bad idea," whined Rodney preparing to open the rear door, as Sam and Radek made their way to the back of the Jumper again.

Rodney sighed heavily. Sam had obviously been on Atlantis too long. She was acting just like Sheppard. We don't leave our men behind. Sam might as well have said that.

"Are you doubting my abilities to look after us? I did spend ten years in SG1, you know."

"Yeah, I know that you're more than a pretty face…" And caught another withering look thrown his way. "Hey, wait! You might want to see this!" Sam and Radek looked back surprised. "No. It's probably nothing." He held up the life signs detector which had been stashed in its holder by the pilot's seat. It's flashing tell tale lights had caught his eye whilst reaching for the hatch button. "I mean, it's probably yet another malfunction. Due to the storm. But… this is just way too regular to be a simple anomaly. A life sign appearing at seven of the eight Obelisks and a eighth approaching our Obelisk?"

Sam and Radek came back to his side to look more closely at the scanner.

"The eighth one might be Sheppard?" She knew she was grasping at straws. But her instinct had played out right in the past.

"Or not. If I were you, I'd seriously reconsider going out there. Apart from the storm issue. We've already decided that the Obelisks are control points for the Temple. And that begs the question, well, two actually. Who's doing the controlling? And what are they controlling?"


Sheppard threw himself forward hard.

Hands over his head. The tree smashing down around him. He rolled fast to escape the fracturing branches. That scratched and clawed at him. His eyes shut tight. His ears full of the splintering, crashing explosion. A tug at his ankle. That flicked him over again. The storm. A fighting animal that wanted to grind and beat him down. He cried out-

-But he was clear.

Disorientated, he simply lay there on his back panting for breath. As broken twigs whipped against him and shot into the air like arrows.

So, that was a lucky break, huh?

And then glanced sideways at the fallen tree... and yeah, it had been a close thing.

His head hurt more than ever. The noise of the storm just wouldn't let up. And now his ankle throbbed painfully. Thankfully he was so cold now he couldn't feel the cuts that covered his arms and face.

Time to move again.

Wearily, he dragged himself from the ground, wincing, bracing himself against the wind. Limping now. Every muscle ached and every limb a leaden weight. Dammit. Why was he feeling so weak? He kept himself fit. Jogging on Atlantis. Must be a higher gravity force. Rodney hadn't mentioned it. He remembered that twenty mile cross country hike carrying full kit in a thunderstorm on basic training. Following three hours of field drill. The full squad took punishment, covering up for Howard who'd played yet another of his practical jokes after a drinking spree. Hell, the uniform wasn't called fatigues for nothing.

He looked up from time to time, screwing up his face against the rain.

To check the falling tree situation. He didn't intend to get caught out a second time.

It dawned on him that this was no ordinary storm. Not even for an alien planet. The closer to the Temple he had come, assuming he wasn't lost, the redder and browner were the clouds. A dark red eerie glow filled the forest. Even the lightning and the downpour possessed the same red-brown colour. No wonder Menos had been worried. And where was he now? Weren't Ascendeds supposed to be able to control the weather?

He shouted for Ha'ashme again. Over and over. But the wailing in the wind intensified. Other voices seemed to scream in the air. Cutting through the boiling, billowing clouds. Flying through the writhing tree tops. Murdering his cries before they were even airbourne.

"Ha'ashme! Ha'ashme!"

But he was alone again in the darkness of millennia...

He stumbled. Falling on all fours.

Before he could rise, a piece of falling timber thumped hard onto his back. Once more he was face down in the mud, groaning.

With effort, he forced himself onto his hand and knees again. And then upright again. He was no sooner standing than a flying branch thwacked him on the shoulder and side of the head, throwing him hard against a nearby tree.

Dazed, he merely clung there. Gasping. Blinking hard against blurring vision. A lightning flash revealed blood washing away in rivulets down his arm and hand. He saw little point getting out a field dressing. He passed the other hand over his face to clear his eyes of water and wet hair plastered there. To focus ahead. And saw nothing of the path. Only the horizontal rain and debris, outlined like red nails against the obscurity and spat by the wind.

He sank down to sit at the base of the tree. This was hopeless. And dumb. Instead of getting beat up like this, rest and wait this storm out. But the others…They could take care of themselves, couldn't they?... But it wasn't safe here. He needed shelter. He needed to reach the Obelisk. Though why, he couldn't understand. He was driven and desperate. But much more of this… He shook his head. Dammit, he was losing it... Keep positive, John. Yeah. Positive. Piece of cake. And he hauled himself up and resolutely carried on.


At last, there was the Obelisk. And… Sam and Radek. Their faces pale and anxious, coloured by the constant red lightning. The water streaming down their faces and uniforms. Supporting one another against the wind's onslaught. Radek was shouting, his voice all but carried away.

"This is madness! We really have to go back!"

Sam was reluctant."Wait! Look!"

They peered through the downpour hardly able to believe their eyes as Sheppard staggered into the clearing.

"John! Thank God you're safe!" cried a relieved Sam. "You look awful!" she yelled. "We were looking for you! Get to the Jumper! Quick!" They made to leave, expecting Sheppard to follow. Sheppard, however, lurched over to the Obelisk, clutching the stone sides as if for support.

"John!" Sam yelled in alarm. There was something wrong. She left Radek's side, falling to one knee once, struggling to make it over to Sheppard.

In a lightning flash, she saw him grasp one of the hands on the Obelisk.

And both he and the Obelisk disappeared from sight.


Of course, there wouldn't be a stone Obelisk. This was Ancient technology. A white room. Clinical. Stark contrast to his own wet and dirty physical state. White light. That hurt his eyes and head. After the gloom outside.

But grateful for the quiet at last.

The Obelisk. Now replaced by a white metallic column, floor to ceiling inset with a console.

There was… a start up key? How did he know that? But he hit it, all the same.

Two pads on either side of a keyboard on which to place hands. Just like the chair then. He would have to concentrate. Easier said than done, with every thought suggesting collapsing on the floor would be a good thing.

He closed his eyes. Seconds passed. The screen before him beeped a warning. So he opened them again.

'Invalid Code. Denied Access.'

"Wha the ?" He was too exhausted even to curse.

A second attempt.

Then.

Something like a loudspeaker system activated.

"Colonel John Sheppard. Please desist. You do not have authorised security clearance."

What now? He opened his eyes again. He leaned hard on his hands as nausea came over him. The flashing red of the Console message seemed to spin before him and did little to relieve his headache. And now this infernal noise had started.

"Colonel John Sheppard. Stand down. Repeat. Stand down. You are contravening security protocols."

Sheppard remained in place. Partly because he felt incapable of moving anywhere else.

"Colonel John Sheppard. Stand down. Stand down. Stand down." The voice constant. An echo that would not cease.

"Colonel John Sheppard. Stand down. Stand down."

"I am not…" But he did not dare finish.

"Colonel John Sheppard. If you persist, preventive measures will be taken. Stand down."

"I am not…" he gritted his teeth, breathing hard.

"Stand down. Stand down."

"I am not… John Sheppard... I'm… I'm Eliosus."

The console message turned blue.

'Code Validated. Request Accepted.'

And the storm stopped.