Chapter 9
Teyla Ronon and Keller were taken the same route they had come on the journey to the hall. Ronon was constantly turning to look at the guards and what weaponry they had while, in deference to Sheppard's orders, he took no action that may further antagonise their captors. Within minutes they were stopped in front of an indistinguishable door, just like all the others in the hallway.
One guard opened the door while the second roughly shoved Ronon in and then gestured to Teyla and Keller to follow. They obeyed without resistance.
As soon as the door swung closed Ronon threw himself at it in frustration. As a result loud echoing bang could be heard resounding down the corridor.
"I do not think that will help Ronon." Teyla remarked from where she sat on the floor.
"Yeah? Well it makes me feel better." Ronon retorted.
"Is it just me or does this room look slightly different to the one we were in?" Keller asked, breaking the silence she had maintained until that moment.
"Yes, I believe you are right." Teyla agreed as she looked carefully around the room, "the walls are not as damp and the room appears to be slightly smaller."
"So what?" Ronon asked, "How does that help us, or Sheppard?"
"We know that we are in a different part of the complex, surely there is a reason for this, I believe we are in the opposite end from where we were before."
"How do you know that?" Keller inquired, despite everything she was fascinated.
"Well, I cannot be sure as many of the passages look very much the same, but I believe we turned down a corridor that went off at an angle from the elevator, and it began to slope downwards. If I remember correctly, the first time we approached the elevator we were also on a downwards slope, thus this time it would be an upwards slope if we were heading back to our original cell. Hopefully this means that we are not too far away from where they took colonel Sheppard."
"That is amazing," Keller commented, "I never even thought to notice the gradient of the hallway."
"Neither did I, and I didn't notice the difference in the cells, it just shows us that this place is a maze and we are going to have a hard time getting out of here." Ronon said pessimistically as he flopped down on the floor next to Teyla.
At that moment they heard an agonised yell from farther down the hallway…
10 minutes earlier
The door through which Sheppard was taken led to yet another elevator. This one was much smaller with only just enough room for Sheppard and his two guards to fit in. As the door slid shut Sheppard shifted slightly, looking for any cameras. He saw none and, knowing he had a very limited window, he immediately turned and grabbed the weapon of the guard his right, feeling slightly hypocritical given the orders he had relayed to Ronon and the others not minutes before.
"Sorry guys, no hard feelings, but I don't really want to become part of some weird collection." As he said this he hit the guard, who still had his weapon, over the head before turning on the now weapon-less guard.
Dispatching this second guard just as quickly, Sheppard turned as he heard the elevator doors open.
Standing on the other side of the door were four angry looking guards.
"Oh, this really isn't my day" Sheppard groaned as they pulled him from the elevator and swiftly moved off down the hallway, leaving the two unconscious guards on the floor of the elevator.
The room they entered immediately had Sheppard worried but, not wanting to show this he instead pulled out his sarcasm. "Love what you've done with the place, interesting use of stainless steel, perhaps too much for me but never the less each to their own. You will have to give me the number of your designer though."
From the confused looks on the faces of the people in the room Sheppard knew he had achieved his aim of bewildering his captors.
This didn't last for long however. The guards, with Sheppard between them, had paused at the doorway but with a signal from one of the men in the room they began to move towards the centre of the room and the shiny metal table that was there.
The four of them lifted Sheppard completely off the floor and slammed him down onto the table.
Grunting as he hit the table, hard, Sheppard told them; "that REALY wasn't necessary you know, you could have just asked"
He looked around him, desperately trying to see something that he could use as a weapon as the guards began to strap him tightly to the table using leather straps that encircled his wrists, ankles and upper shoulders, essentially forcing him to lie face down on the table.
"This is really uncomfortable, do you think you could loosen these straps, I promise I wont go anywhere." He quipped once more.
This attempt at sarcasm also passed the people in the room by as one of them approached, saying as he did so; "I would have to disagree with that, the pain always makes people want to move and that does so much more damage"
A blinding light was switched on and Sheppard squinted through the glare, taking in the room that was now illuminated. It was only slightly larger than the cell they had been kept in before but instead of plain grey walls, all Sheppard could see were cupboards full of phials of liquid and many unpleasant-looking surgical instruments. The only wall that looked vaguely different was the one directly in front of Sheppard, this one had bars that looked out into a small holding cell, or so Sheppard assumed.
From the corner of his eye he saw the man, who had spoken before, approach. This time the man carried an enormous syringe containing a viscous blue substance. He placed this syringe on a tray that was next to the table which Sheppard was strapped to and picked up a slightly smaller syringe, saying as he did so; "his royal highness insists that we obtain blood and spinal fluid before we begin preparation, please refrain from moving, it makes everything so much more complicated and in the long run this process does no damage."
"That's easy for you to say, you're not the one who's losing the fluids." Sheppard said. He felt the tiny prick of a needle and glanced down to his side to see the man with the syringe pull back on the plunger of the syringe, withdrawing blood as he did so.
"You see that really wasn't so bad was it... I do wish these morons would think when they are told to do something…hand me the scissors please" he comment to someone else.
This about turn had Sheppard slightly confused for a second but then he felt the man lift his t-shirt from his back and begin to cut it off.
"You know… I usually like to at least get a persons name before I get undressed for them." Sheppard said to no one in particular. "Never mind, I'll call you… Dracula." He continued, noticing the pasty colour of the man's hands and assuming the rest of him would look much the same. He got no reply to this but this was not an uncommon occurrence. Flexing slightly, Sheppard tested his bonds. They were good; there was no way he was going to get out of them without some sort of knife.
It was at this point that he felt a strong pressure just below his shoulders, in the middle of his back. This feeling was swiftly replaced with a burning sensation that rapidly spread down his spinal column.
"Jesus, what the hell is that?" he gasped as the pain intensified; it was almost unbearable by this point.
"This is just a small procedure that every new person has to undergo before they are added to his highness' collection." He was told in a very manner of fact tone by Dracula.
"Well, whatever it is would you mind stopping?" he asked not holding out much hope.
"No. I am to perform this procedure before giving you the cocktail mixed by his highness himself. Do not worry, I am becoming very adept at this, it will not take me more than half an hour."
"Oh, great, well thanks anyway." Sheppard groaned. The pain had reached its peak, or so he thought. However, the next minute he felt a knife-like sensation in his back and was unable to withhold the scream of agony that overwhelmed him.
