Chapter 10: Just Another Bad Guy
Isabel writhed in pain as her life was stolen from her body and brutally crushed back in, the worst part was that the wraith all had one mind, the same thoughts and echo multiplied in volume as they clawed at her brain. She wasn't going to crack, safe in the knowledge that her comforter was nearby. It was slowly changing her as every ounce of energy was taken and given just as freely. Small amounts of blood were dripping from her wound, spreading across her chest and drying, like a thick sticky paste. If she didn't find a way out soon, she would beg them to kill her for the last time. She would hover on the edge of death, slowly slipping into an unending sleep, only to be dragged back to the land of the living. She was tired, she wanted consciousness to slip her grasp and let her fall away from the torture around her but pain only tightened her grip, clenching her fists around awareness. Finally, numb to the pain, her thoughts slowly sank back into the furthest corners of her mind as her dreams filled her mind with darkness, only to lose sight of small glimmers of hope.
"She will be awake when I return!" The wraith hisses at Ryan, his voice dripping with pleasure. He left the cell and sauntered down the dark corridors leaving them alone once more.
"He can't keep doing this, she might die from the pressure it will put on her body. We need to get someone else to go." Colonel Shepard informed them. "I haven't had that happen to me before but I've seen a close friend die from it. I just didn't think that they would give her life back."
"They obviously need her for something; maybe they think she has all of the iris codes." Lieutenant Ford thought aloud. "It could want her for something else, something only she has. Or something she knows but the rest of us don't."
"Her ability!" Ryan exclaimed. Lieutenant Ford looked at him questioningly, as did Teyla. Rodney just looked at him like he usually did. "She has the ability to hear someone's thoughts. If she focuses her mind enough se can search through their minds." As he spoke Isabel sat up. Immediately he went to her side and helped her stand.
"I know what you've been talking about. When I'm asleep, thoughts are much louder. None of you can go. They want me to join their side, become a wraith worshiper." Isabel spoke with all the effort she could. "By taking my life and giving it back, they hope to crack me. They think that by having me at their mercy that they can change me."
"We know that it must be painful. A few minutes after they take you , we only hear screams. At first we thought that he wraith were feeding on some of the people they've culled but a few minutes after the screams stop, one of them walks in carrying you. We kind of got the pattern by then." Daniel informed her. He looked too calm for this situation.
"It must be a little unsettling for you, me coming back, more blood soaked through my clothes. I'm just glad they didn't do a full search before they sent me back." Isabel reached behind her back and drew out a knife and what appeared to be a gun. "I took them from one of the wraith that got me first. I can't tell the difference between them. But none of them noticed." Isabel threw the gun to Teal'c and gave Teyla the knife. "What? Teal'c has the best aim and Teyla is the best in hand to hand combat." She informed them innocently.
"I'm assuming this is part of a plan." Teyla spoke as she slipped the knife up her sleeve. Teal'c silently inclined his head in agreement as he also placed the weapon out of sight.
"Yes it does. I have another one of those gun things that I will use to take out the wraith as they take me to be… I've got a better idea." Isabel ran over to the cell door and slid through the gaps with ease. "I don't know why nobody has tried that before." Isabel released the cell door and led them along dark passageways, stopping them when more wraith were approaching. She led them to the room where they stored their weapons and gear, until a wraith queen blocked their exit.
"You may not leave; you have stolen what belongs to us." The queen screeched. She raised her hand and the word 'kneel' ran through their minds. Isabel and Teal'c stood unaffected as their companions fell to the ground. The wraith queen made her way over to them only to be struck down by two MP-5s in the hands of two outsiders. The group ran from the queen's dead body with their gear and found themselves at what seemed to be a power core. They set charges that would detonate as soon as they left hyperspace. They then stalked the many corridors in search of a way out.
"We need to go to the dart bay; we can then board one and fly to safety." Isabel spoke, they all looked at her and she instantly knew what was wrong. "Colonel, do you know how to fly a wraith dart?" She asked slyly.
"Maybe, depends on whether we can actually get out of the bay. The doors might seal shut when the core blows." He informed her. "But we could always blast them open." Everyone was a little more confident in the plan once he had explained it to them. They ran to the dart bay and Colonel Shepard climbed into the nearest aircraft, beamed them into the storage unit and managed to do so just before the C4 went off. They flew from the hive ship and were shocked to find that they were over the old Athosian home world. As the ship was destroyed the colonel landed the dart and emptied the men and women out of the buffer.
Isabel ran to the DHD and entered the symbol that would send them home, after it was done she collapsed and Colonel Shepard entered the iris code. Ryan lifted Isabel into his arms and carried her to the safety of Atlantis.