Chapter 9: Meeting
"I don't understand why the last time he healed someone he landed in the hospital for another couple of weeks but this time he just seems really tired and a little weak" this was the most Ronon had said in front of Mitchell and the other man was understandably stumped.
"According to the Tok'ra it's easier to heal a disease than a physical injury" stated a voice from behind the small group. As a whole they turned to see General O'Neil walking towards them, a teenage boy beside him "something to do with it being easier to destroy existing cells than it is to create new ones, you'd have to ask Carter if you wanted specifics."
"I would say it's good to see you General but under the circumstances..." Mitchell quipped
"Same goes for you Colonel, Sheppard it's good to see you in one piece, relatively"
"Apparently there's still some contention in the most frequent visitor to the infirmary field sir." John retaliated smiling "Who's this?" he directed at the teenage boy.
"I'm him... mark II" the boy stated grinning "you can call me Jack."
"I'm sorry but what the hell is going on?" Dave chose this point to interrupt.
"You must be David" O'Neil said and, seeing John nod very slightly he continued; "I'm General Jack O'Neil, I'm in charge of Stargate Command and off hand I would say we have been beamed aboard an alien spaceship, although I could be mistaken."
Before Dave could snap out of his shock and formulate any sort of reply angry, raised voices could be heard from nearby; "I told you just to get the ones with the gene! I highly doubt that all of these people have the gene!"
"I'm sorry Pietor I just need to recalibrate the sensors, it looks like instead of bringing everyone in the room it's just the ones that were physically touching the targets, it won't happen again."
"It had better not" the one called Pietor threatened "get this lot separated and cleaned up and remember; this time only one military member per cell, they get ideas otherwise."
"That explains a lot" Commented Mitchell as they began to be herded towards the doors by some very tough looking men.
"How does this explain anything and what's this rubbish about spaceships?" Asked a decidedly nervous looking Dave.
John sighed, he had already figured out what gene they were talking about. "Don't worry about that right now Dave just listen very carefully." John dropped his voice and spoke faster as they approached the doors. From where he was currently standing he could see men holding scanners and splitting people into two groups. "Stick close to me but if we get separated make sure you stay with Ronon and Mitchell, do not let yourself get separated from them. Do you understand?" John gave his brother his most intense look, he could see that he had scared his older brother but he had to be sure he had gotten his point across before they reached the door. The Ancient gene generally ran in families but it was still incredibly rare and the chances that Dave had it were fairly low. He was relieved when his brother swallowed and nodded.
Jack and O'Neil were the first ones to reach the doors and they were quickly scanned before being shoved roughly to the right. Sheppard quickly moved to the right knowing that that was the way he was going to be sent and not wanting to be shoved around and risk losing his already precarious balance.
As expected he was shoved to the right and Ronon, Cam and Dave were sent left. O'Neil reached out to steady John as he stumbled and a lady behind them cried out as her baby, not much more than a year old, was ripped out of her arms and unceremoniously dumped into a very surprised Jack's arms.
Before much of a fuss could be made they were herded around a corner and out of sight although the woman's cries could still be heard. It was quite obvious that these people knew what they were doing and this wasn't the first or even second time they had done it.
As they moved further down the corridor the baby began to sniff and Jack quickly set about calming it before it could begin to cry, as John watched him bounce the boy and pat him gently on the back he asked; "What exactly did you mean by mark II?"
"Exactly that," O'Neil explained "He's my clone. He has all my memories up to the date of the cloning, he's me just younger, it's a LONG story."
"Of course" John said, he should have realised that Jack was being literal, nothing surprised him anymore.
The sound of running water greeted them as they went through another set of doors. Another bruiser stood just inside the door; "Strip off and get washed. If you don't we will do it for you. Don't worry about your clothes, more will be provided." The man sounded bored but his eyes were still watchful.
John was worried about his brother but he knew that Ronon would make sure nothing happened to him. He knew better than to try and resist such a simple request when it was more than likely he was going to need all his strength at a later date. He began stripping, very aware of all the scared eyes watching each other; he undid his trousers and pulled them down stalling in taking off his top as long as possible. Suddenly thinking he turned to O'Neil and said "Could you possibly stand in a way that will block my back from view as much as possible?" Jack was still juggling the squirming tot, trying to get himself undressed as well as the child and John was fairly sure that O'Neil would have been apprised of his condition.
"I'll see what I can do, no guarantees though." O'Neil smiled as he spoke; he knew that there could be disastrous consequences for John if their captors found out, too early, about his abilities. His coping mechanism was to crack a joke; he suspected that the same method worked well for John.
John nodded his thanks as he removed his sling and then turned, putting his back towards his companions, and tenderly pulled his jumper over his head once again revealing the implants and pink scar tissue. With his back to the pair he missed the look that passed between the two as they both had the same thought; neither of them had realised quite how extensive the damage, only briefly mentioned, had actually been.
They all moved swiftly into the next room where showers were spraying hot, strangely scented, water onto the captives. "Don't ya just love the smell of antiseptic in the morning?" Jack quipped, shifting the child onto his other hip.
John smiled appreciating the humour; "You two really do sound alike."
They both grinned cheekily at his words and John just shook his head and moved under the water letting it wash over him before stepping out again. Jack and O'Neil both did the same and surprisingly the toddler didn't make a sound, almost as if he sensed their desire not to be noticed. They were all acutely aware of the fact that this particular task was a matter of timing, too fast or slow and they would be noticed.
Making it to the next door without drawing more than a sideways glance or two the three silently made the decision to join another group of people who had just emerged from the shower room. "You're about my size right?" O'Neil asked sizing him up.
"Yeah I should think so." John agreed.
"Ok stay here with Jack, I'll go get us something to wear." O'Neil nipped off and returned just minutes later carrying a stack of what looked suspiciously like hospital scrubs. "These people, whoever they are, have definitely done this before. They know exactly what to do to keep people under control and keep things moving smoothly." He handed Jack and John light blue scrubs before donning his own.
"I have spent far too much of my life in scrubs" John sighed pulling his top on first and immediately feeling more secure.
"Amen to that." His two companions said in unison.
Having donned the clothes the three of them proceeded to dress the tot who had started to doze in Jack's arms. Jack and O'Neil deftly slipped the clothes on, barely stirring the child. It was done with a practiced ease that told john that they had done this more than once in the past, John knew better than to ask though.
The group they had joined began to move towards yet another set of grey doors and John began to wonder if this was what it would have been like to navigate a rabbit warren. It was a fairly familiar feeling walking down a grey metal corridor, he could have been in an earth built ship the decor was so similarly sparse. However, walking through yet another set of doors the similarity abruptly ended; the people in front of him stopped and it wasn't until the guards urged them forwards that the three got a good look at the corridor. It was brightly lit and all the way down, as far as they could see, there were cells faced with bars on one side and on the opposite side the cells were faced with some sort of plexiglass. The cells closest to them were already full and it wasn't until they were halfway down the corridor that the guards began to usher people into cells. The group thinned out pretty quickly as four or five people at a time were directed to enter the cells with the plexiglass fronts.
"Lucas" a voice called from across the corridor as they were directed to enter a cell. Turning to look at where the voice was coming from Sheppard saw the boy's mother in a cell and behind her Mitchell, Ronon and Dave. John was relieved to see they were ok but knew better than to give any indication that he knew them, he could see Mitchell saying something to Dave and assumed he was probably indicating something similar to his brother. He stepped backwards into the cell and looked down as his foot sunk.
The cell had white padding on the floor and looking around the rest of the small room he saw that the walls were similarly padded, it instantly made him think of the padded cells he had seen in the movies at home. "Well at least we have somewhere comfy to sleep rather than the normal cold stone floors." John looked back up from the floor just in time to watch a clear, thick, plastic like screen descend from the ceiling and enclose them within the cell.
Jack gently laid Lucas on the floor, careful not to wake him. "That's true... You notice that all the people on the other side of the corridor are still in the clothes they arrived in? I'm willing to bet that they are the ones without the gene."
"I think it's safe to agree with you." O'Neil stated.
John laughed, "you do realise you've essentially just agreed with yourself right?"
"That may be the case," O'Neil admitted good naturedly "but I happen to think I'm right on this occasion"
John just laughed again and shook his head, admitting defeat.
"So... what now?" Jack asked
"For now we sit tight. You and John are going to rest; I'll keep watch for now." Seeing that the pair were about to argue he quickly added; "John you're injured and besides I could make that an order and then what would you do?" it was a rhetorical question so he turned to Jack, "You have better knees than I do and if we are going into technicalities I outrank you as well..." They both smiled as he added this last part.
"I accept your argument" Jack conceded, putting on a slightly posh voice, he also turned to John, "you should too you know, he's not going to back down, I'll tell you that for free."
John's answer was to gingerly lower himself to the floor and roll over onto his relatively good side.
A/N: Sorry its been so long life has caught up with me... more to come soon
