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Chapter 8 – Faith, and Faith Alone
Kessler and Sora wrapped up the convoluted path they had taken through the city in hopes of avoiding as many people as they could for the time being. Their trip had been largely unhindered, they had run into a pair of scientists roaming in the city, but raising their guns as they approached had signaled to the researchers that they weren't in the mood for delays. The pair had quickly flattened themselves against the wall as they passed. Now in the more occupied sections of the city, the pair had moved at an even more rapid speed, understanding that their whereabouts could be reported at any moment. Kessler could have blended in well enough with his Marine uniform, but Sora's bright orange jumpsuit was a glaring identifier of her status as a now-escaped prisoner.
The two skidded to a stop right outside of the infirmary, leaning up against the wall, both breathing heavily from their sprint. Kessler poked his head around the corner to recon the area and look for any obstacles that might prevent their success. Not seeing any military personnel, he nodded to Sora and the pair entered the infirmary with guns raised.
The infirmary was relatively empty; one nurse sitting at a desk toward the front, with two men in infirmary beds. One was eating, immediately stopping to warily watch the armed pair that had entered. The other was snoozing, a light snore piercing the now-otherwise silent infirmary.
Kessler moved to the nurse, gun still pointed at her. Her eyes opened widely, "Wha…What do you guys want here?"
"Just picking up a friend and we'll be on our way."
"What friend? The only people here are injured…"
"Enough small talk. Sora, which one do we want?"
Sora moved away from Kessler's side, strolling toward the other two occupants. "He's the sleeping one."
"Ok, let's get him and leave. Wake him up." He swung his attention back the nurse, "What's wrong with him?"
"That's confidential-"
"Normally, sure. But wouldn't you call these circumstances a little extraordinary," he asked, raising his gun again for emphasis.
"Dr. Beckett was keeping him for observation. He's a little exhausted, worked himself a little too hard."
"Ok, no major issues then?"
"I suppose not…but really, he needs to stay here."
"Actually he needs to come with us, Sora, you waking him up or not?"
The nurse tried to rebut one more time, "What need could you possibly have for a sick scientist? He's only going to slow you down."
"Shut up! No more talking. Sora?"
Sora was shaking the scientist.
His eyes fluttered open slowly and he opened his mouth into a large yawn. Before he was totally focused he let out an angry retort, "I thought you guys wanted me to sleep. How is that supposed to happen if you keep waking me up?"
"Slight change of plans Dr. McKay. You'll be coming with us."
McKay's eyes shot open at this, he recognized that voice. It was distinctly Genii. His hand unconsciously moved to protectively cover his injured appendage.
"No way, there's no way this is happening." He realized that was showing how nervous he was, and immediately tried to compose himself, "We already did this once, remember? It ended badly for you guys."
Kessler took the time to cut in, "Apparently not as badly as you thought, we are here, aren't we? We're leaving. Now! Get your ass out of bed before I decide a little violent persuasion might get you to go faster."
Sora pulled on McKay's arm, "Do it, McKay."
"Stop it! There's a needle in that arm in case you didn't notice!"
Sora examined the tubing attached to the arm and loosened her grip a bit. "Get rid of it."
He realized he didn't have much say in what was going on, peeling the tape off the back of his hand before slowly withdrawing the needle and putting a finger over the spot to stop the slight bleeding that accompanied it.
"Ok, that's everything. Let's go."
"What about my clothes? I can't very well go running around in scrubs."
"We're not exactly the most fashionable bunch right now, in case you haven't noticed."
Sora pushed McKay forward as he rolled off the bed and wobbly found his balance. He'd had a few hours of sleep but definitely wasn't in peak form.
Kessler stood by the nurse until Sora and McKay had passed before withdrawing his gun and jogging out of the room after them.
As McKay was hurried along he took the time to question his captors, "Where are we going?"
"We're getting a jumper and leaving. You're going to help us."
As they hustled along the hallway at a brisk walk, McKay cut in, "I don't even have shoes, in case you haven't noticed! I need my gear, a uniform at the very least."
Kessler raised his hand to strike the man, "You're just trying to stall, hoping your precious Sheppard will rescue you. Don't try that shit with me."
He didn't have a witty response to that. They were planning on kidnapping him, fuck; he really thought his suffering at the hands of the Genii was over.
"How many guards in the jumper room?"
McKay realized this could work in his favor, "None…There aren't any. We're still operating on a skeleton crew right now."
Kessler grabbed Rodney's shoulder and leaned in close as they continued through the hallway, "I just want you to know I hate being taken by surprise. If we run into any unexpected Marines, I may just accidently shoot someone. Are you sure there aren't any soldiers in there?"
McKay flinched as the man grabbed him, remembering his less-than-friendly treatment the last time this had happened. As much as he didn't want this to happen, he couldn't let other people to get hurt in his attempt to escape, "Fine, two Marines are stationed there around the clock."
"See? We make so much more progress when we cooperate and work together. It's good to start now, we'll be a team from here on out. Where are they stationed?"
"To the left and right of the door as we approach."
Kessler was playing the schematics of Atlantis through his head, he had also scouted this area, they were close. "Ok, Sora, we're almost there. You keep your gun trained on our soldier friends; mine will be pointed at McKay's head."
"You won't make it past them! They'll see you the moment we get close."
"That's where you come in McKay. You're our golden goose here. You seem to have a good sense of self-preservation, just don't try anything."
They trio rounded the last corner, and as anticipated, the marines, in seeing Sora's prisoner clothes and the weapons, pulled their own guns out. One shouted out, "Stop where you are and lay down your weapons."
Before Kessler could jump in, Sora took over, perfectly prepared to show the men who had held her prisoner that they meant business. "I'm sure you two are bright. You'll recognize that we have Dr. Rodney McKay as our hostage. As I understand it, he's an extremely valuable asset to your people; I couldn't imagine how you would explain his death to your superiors. Lay down your weapons."
The two gripped onto their weapons even tighter, considering their options. Kessler whipped his head around as he heard boots pounding on the metal floors further on.
"Shit, one of them must have tipped them off somehow." He pulled his last flash bang from his belt, pulling the pin, and rolling it down the hall in the direction of the approaching of the soldiers. He then turned and opened fire on the pair of guards in front of the doors, bullets ricocheting off the door with metallic pings. Once the two guards were on the ground, bleeding from various wounds, he motioned the other two through the doors.
He turned to McKay. "Time to put that brain of yours to work. Deactivate the door; you probably have about thirty seconds before they recover from that grenade. Know we'll kill you before giving you back if we don't get out of here"
McKay looked at the gun and quickly opened the panel next to the door and pulled out all of the crystals, having no time to conduct the procedure with finesse. He narrowed his eyes and turned to his captors.
"That's it?"
"That'll hold them for a few minutes. Can't promise much past that."
Sora was already moving into the bay toward a jumper with its back hatch open, coming back a moment later with another individual in tow.
He came out, arms in the air. "What is this about?"
McKay turned to see what was going on, "Zelenka?"
"Rodney? I thought you were resting?"
"I was until these two decided to crash the party," he said, motioning to Kessler standing behind him.
There was pounding on the door. "May I reiterate the need to hurry? Sora, can you secure him?" He threw his own pair of handcuffs to Sora before turning his attention back to Rodney.
"McKay, you were complaining about your wardrobe, I take it you can find a spare outfit somewhere in here?"
"Yes, but that will require you to stop chasing me around with your gun for a minute. Could you do that maybe?"
Kessler lowered his gun slightly, "Go fast, don't try anything, and grab a second outfit for Sora. Orange just isn't a flattering color."
A few minutes later Zelenka was handcuffed to a handle on one of the neighboring jumpers, muttering under his breath in Czech and worriedly watching Rodney. He came out from behind the jumper wearing a full tactical suit instead of the scrubs. His complexion had taken on a white quality, and Zelenka didn't miss the way he periodically steadied himself against the hull of a jumper or a stack of transport bins.
"Look, it's Sora, right? Look at Rodney. He's not healthy; he'll only slow you down. Take me. I can do anything he is capable of doing, we work together."
Finishing buckling her own tactile vest, she decided the inquiry couldn't hurt. McKay did look a little unbalanced. "You are an engineer?"
"Yes."
"Can you fly a jumper?"
"Uh…yes."
Rodney glared over at the man. As if one of them being in trouble wasn't enough. Zelenka was going to get himself killed. "Shut up Zelenka. He doesn't have the gene and can't fly a jumper. Problem solved."
"Rodney! You are not trained to fly a jumper either!"
"I've gone out with Sheppard plenty of times; he's let me take the controls over the mainland a few times."
"That doesn't equate with being proficient-"
The pounding that they had become accustomed to over the past few minutes had halted and a loud whine began piercing the air, "They're cutting their way in. Time to go." He grabbed McKay, pulling him onto the Jumper as Sora hit the button to close the rear hatch.
McKay headed up to the front of the Jumper.
"Ok McKay, you can do this," the scientist said, as if to reassure himself that this was actually possible. He clenched and unclenched his hands into fists a few times before gently settling them onto the controls.
"I suppose there's a way out of here? A hatch?"
"Oh yeah, roof panel. Let's do that." God, he felt sluggish. Operating a jumper in his condition was probably not the best idea. He had a sneaking suspicion that Beckett's painkiller cocktail had a bit of a sedative in it, judging by the drowsiness he was still experiencing.
The jumper turned on, humming with energy as it detected his gene. Hitting a few buttons led to the roof hatch opening. He carefully raised the jumper to hover right off the ground before directing it upward, scraping the right side of the hull on the hatch on the way out, the impact jolting the two Genii, Sora falling into Kessler as he braced himself by grabbing the netting supporting the jumper's cargo.
"You know how to fly this thing?"
"I can fly just fine! Just…be quiet and let me focus!" He watched the city shrink below him as they travelled further from it, and any chance of a rescue he might have.
"Where exactly are we flying, seeing as the only gate was back in the city?"
"We can fly to another planet and utilize their gate."
Rodney felt a moment of panic. He would never be rescued if he went off planet. "No, we actually can't. The closest planet with a gate is more than thirty-six hours of flight from here. Our air supply is limited, good for fifteen hours max." Ok, so their air scrubbers would mean the air would actually last as long as their power did, but no need to tell that little bit.
Kessler grumbled, "Then we will have to eventually return. You'll have to figure it out."
Sora had a sudden realization and broke in, "Did you activate your invisibility shield? I know you can do it, you've used it when you deceived my people and stole the Wraith data device."
McKay started to breathe more rapidly. He had gotten by on the lie about the air scrubbers, only to be caught in another deception.
Kessler bounced his gaze between Sora and McKay before clutching his gun more tightly, "Have you?"
"I…I was trying to get us clear of the city without crashing. Forgive me if I was worried about that first!"
"I thought we had gone over the need for cooperation. Sora tells me you respond well to threats. Well here's a real one." He walked over and jabbed the barrel of his gun up against the back of McKay's head. McKay went to shake his head and turn around to face the Genii, only to have Kessler jab him again.
"Head forward. We need you paying attention to where we're going. Believe me when I say I won't hesitate to kill you if I think you're more trouble than your worth. Now activate the shield."
McKay swallowed and complied, pressing a few buttons and cutting the last thread of hope to allowing Sheppard and the others to track and rescue him.
"It's done."
"Good."
McKay didn't dare turn his head, but he felt the man withdraw the barrel of his gun from the back of his head.
"Care to tell me where I should fly this thing?"
"To the nearest landmass. I know this ugly world can't be all ocean."
Rodney didn't respond, but he pulled up the schematic of the planet, and changing course toward the mainland. The two Genii lowered themselves onto the benches behind him and began catching each other up on their happenings. Kessler frowned as Sora wracked off the list of failures and casualties, also reporting her suspicion that Kolya was dead. Kessler filled her in on how they had managed to infiltrate Atlantis and plan her rescue. After approximately one hour of flight, Kessler looked out through the windshield to see thick foliage below.
"McKay, I told you to put down as soon as we came to land."
"No, you said to fly toward land; you never said anything about landing."
"I'll ask for your opinion when I want it."
"Not to mention, apparently you haven't taken notice, there's foliage down there. The Ancients may have been advanced, but they didn't quite figure out how to land a jumper in a tree."
Kessler stood up, using the netting to steady himself as he moved forward. "I've had it with your snarky comments. You obviously have no discipline, and don't know when to hold your tongue. That ends now."
He pulled a knife off his belt. "Sora tells me this worked quite well for Kolya." He sat down in the chair next to Rodney and sliced the bandage off McKay's arm. Rodney went to pull it back in defense, but Kessler put his hand on it, "Both hands on the controls if you would be so kind."
"Gotta admire a master's handiwork when you see it," he said, looking back at Sora, "If Kolya is dead the Genii will sorely miss his leadership. Always knew how to get people to follow orders. Even managed to rein me in, if you can believe it."
McKay was sweating bullets. Not again, not fucking again. He flinched as Kessler ran the flat of his blade along his already injured arm. He took a second to glance at the man, and saw the same sadistic gleam of enjoyment he had seen in Kolya's eyes when he had ordered this treatment. As Kessler looked up he immediately looked forward again, not wanting to provoke the man with the knife in any way.
"Kessler, he's cooperating. You don't need to do this."
McKay was a bit puzzled at why Sora would suddenly come to his defense, although he supposed that she had shown a bit of mercy while he was Kolya's prisoner. Maybe she didn't have such a taste for blood as her superiors.
"I think I do, actually. Dr. McKay has attempted subterfuge several times, he's tried stalling, enabling the Lateans to trace us, who knows what else he's lied about." Rodney closed his eyes as he felt the tip of the blade against his skin, felt the first stitch pop. He silently cursed and decided that the universe must really hate him for this much to happen to him in such a short window of time. This was ridiculous even by Atlantis standards of what quantified average risks for danger. No way did this happen to him twice without someone out there cursing him.
And as the Genii soldier popped the second suture, suddenly the world seemed to pause and McKay was totally calm for the first time since the Genii had step foot into his city. He'd been captured, tortured, threatened with death, not once, but twice. And he'd survived this far by depending on others to save him. Who knew if help would come this time, that card had already fallen in his favor once, asking for a second miracle was asking a bit much. He was done with this, done with being bossed around and having his life and safety held over his head. God knows the Genii wouldn't let him go, they'd either kill him in the end or take them back to their world to use him as a bargaining chip.
The third suture split under pressure from the blade, and for the first time in as long as he could remember, Rodney McKay took his life in his own hands and hoped for the best. Reaching down with his quivering good hand, he buckled his seat belt as he jerked his other arm away from the blade, severely jerking the steering control to the side. The jumper skewed sideways, Kessler losing his grip on the blade as he flailed outwards to grab onto anything that would stop his body as it was violently flung out of its seat. McKay didn't dare look away from his steering to see where Sora was at. There were no calculated odds this time, only his faith and determination to bring this risky maneuver off correctly. Taking a deep breath and steeling himself, he put the jumper into a barrel roll and aimed it downwards, causing it to plummet towards the ground below.
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