Finally, some action! Hope you guys enjoy. :)


Attack

Nick awoke to find sunlight coming through the windows. She had fallen asleep with a book still in her lap. For a moment she was confused, trying to figure out what had awakened her.

Wraith!

Immediately she leaped to her feet, dropping the book in the process. They were somewhere in the complex. Nick raced to the end of the hall and down the stairs. At the bottom she froze, trying to get a better grasp on their location. She couldn't tell exactly where they were. The complex was too large. She almost dashed off to find them, but common sense made her stop. There was only one; that much she could now tell. She could handle one. But only if she was prepared.

She made herself run back up the stairs and into the supply closet. Floor to ceiling shelves covered every wall. At the back, Nick found the box she was looking for. She opened it to reveal several thick, clear tubes full of a blue liquid. Grabbing one, she smacked it on the edge of the shelf. There came a crack, and then white light began to radiate from the tube. Nick grinned.

She grabbed a handful of the tubes and stuck them in her belt opposite her black-handled knife. Then she went back to the main room and knelt by her bag. From inside it she pulled out a life-sign detector. Rodney had explained to her how they worked. She could sense the wraith with ease, but it couldn't hurt to have one. She also picked up the radio from Atlantis. Just in case they called. If she didn't answer they would come looking for her. She couldn't have that. She didn't need them interfering. This was her home, and her fight.

Lastly she picked up the gun from its place by the door. It would be much more effective than her staff would ever be. It was a small gun, but very powerful. John had told her at least half a dozen times what it was called, but she couldn't remember. Honestly, it didn't matter. Deciding she had everything, she quickly went back down the stairs and started into the complex.

It was time for a wraith hunt.

- - -

The lights overhead were dim, and Nick couldn't see clearly for more than a few feet around her. Her left hand was wrapped tightly around the gun with one finger on the trigger. In her right hand she held the light stick. Both her arms were outstretched, and her left wrist was balanced on her right, making sure there was always light in the direction she was aiming. She could still sense the wraith, but she was still too far off to pinpoint his exact location. But she knew she was gaining on him. If she was careful, he would never know she was there until it was too late.

There came a slight scraping noise on her right and she whirled around, her trigger finger at the ready. There was nothing there. But she knew she had heard something. The wraith was too far off, and there weren't any humans, obviously. Was it possible that there was something else in the tunnels?

Nick looked around, straining her eyes against the darkness. The tunnels suddenly felt much darker.

There it was again, this time on her left. She spun around, but once more there was nothing. Now her heart was beginning to beat a little faster. Her eyes darted, searching the shadows for something, anything that moved. Nothing.

She quietly backed against the wall so she could watch all three tunnels at once. Keeping her eyes on the tunnel, she slid the gun into her belt so she could grab it up at a moment's notice. Then, still alert, she reached over and pulled out the radio. She flicked it on and raised it to her face.

"Atlantis? This is Nick. I'm in the tunnels. I think there's something down here." She waited a moment for a response, but there was none. "Atlantis, come in. This is Nick. I could use some help." Again, silence. "John? Are you there?"

That was when she remembered. The stargate had to be open for the signal to get through. Unless they opened it to call her, she was out of luck.

At that moment her light stick began to flicker, as if taunting her. Sticking the radio into her belt until, hopefully, Atlantis called, Nick set the dying light stick on the ground beside her foot and pulled another one out of her belt. That was the first one to burn out. So she had been looking for an hour. Once again she was reminded of the vastness of the tunnels. The Ancestors had known what they were doing, building the vast underground maze.

She was about to crack the fresh light stick when she heard another noise on her right, this one much closer than the others. Nick whirled. In the process she tripped over the dead light stick, accidentally sending it flying down the corridor. It hit the ground a few feet away with a sound that echoed up and down the adjoining tunnels and all through the complex. Nick instantly fell silent. She had just broadcast her position to anyone, or anything, that was anywhere in the complex. The light stick rolled a few inches and flickered again, this time staying out for a full second. When it came back on, it kept flickering. It was dangerously close to going out completely.

She smacked the fresh light stick against the wall, but there was nothing. She had to hit it on an edge. The old one flickered warningly once more. Nick raised her gun and drew the stick back to smack it against the small barrel. At that exact moment the white light went out, leaving her in utter darkness. The sudden lack of light startled Nick, and she froze. In that instant she heard it again. That strange sound, like claws scraping metal...

She smashed the light stick down on the gun barrel, and the familiar white light flooded the small space around her. Lifting the gun and resting her left wrist once more on her right beside the light stick, Nick turned and shone the light first left and then right. Nothing. Instinct began to slowly replace her sudden fear, and she started forward down a side corridor, the direction the sound had originally come from. Better to face the creature head-on than to have it come up behind her and catch her unawares.

She began to make her way noiselessly down the corridor. She made a point of stepping over the dead light stick. The wraith was still too far off to be a threat, but she knew the other creature, whatever it was, was close by. Too close. She wasn't going to make this any easier for it than she had to.

Suddenly there came a noise. The dead light stick, rolling slightly on the floor behind her. Nick whirled, her gun at the ready, but there was no one. She waited a moment, listening hard, and was about to turn back when her sense of the wraith suddenly sharpened. He was moving closer, coming close enough that she could almost tell exactly how far off her was. She squinted against the shadows, waiting silently for her mental map of the tunnels to pinpoint his exact location. Almost...

Something moved behind her and she whirled again. She caught a quick glimpse of a horrible, alien face illuminated in the white light, and then something lunged at her. The gun and light stick went flying, landing several feet away. Nick could feel razor-sharp claws slashing at her, and then something grabbed at her neck. She could barely breathe. There came an intense pain as something jabbed into her neck so hard she screamed. Somehow amid the pain she found her knife and jammed it into where she thought the creature's throat was. The creature roared in pain and Nick went flying, flung across the corridor. She landed beside the gun. There came a terrifying roar from somewhere in the blackness as the creature came for her. Nick scrambled for the gun and fired into the darkness in the direction the creature was. It roared, this time in anger, and Nick kept on firing, letting the orange sparks from the gun fill the air. The creature kept roaring, so loud Nick couldn't even think, and then finally something heavy hit the ground so close she could feel the vibration. Nick fired a few more shots before finally letting up. When the sounds of the shots faded, there was only silence. Nick stayed where she was on the ground, breathing hard and fast. When she began to recover from her shock a moment later, she realized the wraith was moving away, alerted by the gun shots. She swore and hit the ground with her fist.

After a moment, she pushed herself off the floor and got to her feet. She could hear nothing, and the wraith was still too far to be a danger. It seemed she was safe, at least for the moment. She did a quick inventory. The side of her neck was bleeding, and she had several scratches on her arms, some deep and some not. There was also a nasty one on her right cheek, and her shoulder was sore from landing on it. But otherwise she was fine. Finding the still-glowing light stick, she went over and picked it up. Curiosity was beginning to replace her original fear. She wanted to know what sort of creature had attacked her so that she would be better prepared if it happened again. She turned around, letting the white light fall across her dead adversary.

She was completely unprepared for what she saw.

She dropped the gun and took an involuntary step back, ending up against the tunnel wall. Her eyes, locked on the creature before her, were wide, and she had gone pale. Her hand was shaking, causing the edges of the shadows to dance back and forth. She had never seen, or even heard of, anything like what now lay before her. There was something vaguely human about it, and yet at the same time it was so... twisted. It had to be some sort of experiment. A hybrid. Just like she was.

That made it even worse.

There came a faint scratching noise on the left, an echo coming from farther down the tunnel. Nick's head swung in that direction, her breath coming fast. Immediately there was another on the right. Nick could almost feel her instincts taking hold, pushing down her fear. She had to keep a clear head. Her hand strayed to her belt, seeking the handle of the gun, now her only weapon, and instead brushed against the forgotten life-sign detector. Immediately she pulled it out. There was a dot in the center of the small screen where she was, and then two more advancing rapidly from opposite sides of the top and bottom.

The wraith was coming back too. Once again she felt a faint fear rising within her. She was usually able to keep a level-head in most situations, but this was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She made herself push back the fear and try to think. They had every escape blocked. She couldn't fight them all, so she would just have to break for it and hope to either out-run or out-think them. And that would only happen if she kept a clear head. Unless...

She grabbed the radio and raised it to her face. Atlantis might be out of reach, but maybe there would be someone close enough to hear.

"This is Nick. If you can hear me, I need assistance!" That would be the easiest way to get someone's attention. The ensuing silence coming from the radio was enough to bring her fear to the surface. The flashing dots were growing closer by the second, and another had just appeared at the top of the screen. Nick could feel her heart beginning to pound inside her chest.

"Can anybody hear me? I'm under attack! I need immediate assistance!"

Nothing.

Nick put the radio back and took a deep breath. There were now four dots on the life-sign detector besides herself. They were coming for her. There wasn't time to create an elaborate plan, and she wasn't going to be getting any help. She only had one chance now.

Run.


How was that? Unfortunately, you'll have to wait until the next update to find out what happens. Mwa-ha-ha. :D I know, I'm evil. Get over it. Oh, and the next chapter also holds a very familiar face...
While you're sitting there trying to figure out how you're going to endure the torture, how about writing a review to waste some time?