MGM owns all characters
A/N: I know this is a short chapter, but I want to update everyone on the adventures our favorite tap-dancing Marine.
Thanks to dwparsnip and scr1tno for their help.
Lieutenant Laura Cadman could not sleep because she had too much adrenaline pumping through her system. She disassembled her P90 and cleaned it at least three times and then moved on to her sidearm. After that was cleaned several times, she checked her Tac vest for supplies, ate a power bar and tried to stretch out on the hard matt she was given. The Marine kept replaying the village layout in her mind. If only I paid closer attention instead of moping around because Jennifer was mad at me.
A smile crossed her face as she thought of Rodney and Jennifer finally becoming a couple. The young doctor confided in Laura that she had been crazy about Rodney since she met him. How on Earth did that happen? Well, we're not on Earth. Laura had to admit that McKay was cute and obviously crazy about Jennifer. She also knew something about the workings of his mind and was certain that he would now act on his feelings. If they live that long. Groaning, the young woman rolled on her side and tried to sleep.
At first light the lieutenant went to the hut housing Watts and Huston. She was irritable from not sleeping and anxious to get on with the mission. Over a breakfast of power bars and water, they gathered intel from Brenner and his people regarding the layout of the Ancient city; the catacombs under the city were near the woods at the bottom of the mountain. Unfortunately, the jumper was on the other side of the village.
"We need to hustle down the mountain and get to the jumper before mid-morning. It took about four hours to get here, but we need to chop that in half. Our team has been prisoners for almost a day." Laura looked at each of the young Marines in front of her. They remembered her story of Sanchez and Meeks' murders and realized they might already be too late. "Any questions?"
"No, ma'am," they said in unison.
"Let's move out," she said with finality looking at Brenner. "Thank you for your help, Brenner. Marines, move out! No noise. Double time. Huston on point. I've got our six."
"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison.
The Marines moved rapidly and quietly down the mountain. They ran into a few sentries around the village, but easily avoided them. Once they got near the lake they had the first real problem with their plan. As Laura looked at the Jumper in the field about a quarter mile away from their hiding spot on a small ridge, she saw a guard walking around it.
"Damn," she whispered.
The two young Marines looked at her with raised eyebrows. She passed the binoculars first to Watts who then handed them down to Huston. Both pairs of brown eyes focused on the young lieutenant waiting for her orders.
This is why you're an officer in the Marine Corps. You come up with solutions to impossible problems. Laura tried to appear confident to the young men before her. Okay, think. The jumper is in the open field. No cover on the approach. Her hazel eyes were quickly darting around the scene before her. The lake stretched out to the left of her and the meadow leading to some trees around the village was on her right. The path from the village that they followed yesterday cut across the field, past the jumper and down a slight incline to the shore of the lake. The incline. She slid to her left and along the ridge keeping behind bushes until she could get a better look at the lake shore and path. It would appear from her angle that they could make their way to the jumper without being seen unless the guard looked down.
Edging back to the other Marines, she told them the plan. One of them needed to move down along the shore getting close to the jumper so they could take out the guard. Laura looked at the two large men in front of her. Stealth was not going to be a strength for these guys.
"I don't suppose either of you are snipers?" The lieutenant asked hopefully.
Both men shook their heads and mumbled, "No ma'am."
Of course not, why would my luck suddenly change? Cadman, who won several marksmanship awards during basic training, realized she would have to do it. A P90 was not her weapon of choice if she had to be a sniper but it would get the job done.
"I'm going to follow along the edge of the hill leading to the shoreline. I'll come up behind the jumper. You should be ready to follow my route to the jumper once I take out the guard. If he gets the drop on me, haul ass to get to the jumper and take him out. Once you're inside, close the hatch and don't go anywhere. Atlantis will send a team in once we don't report in. Any questions?"
"Excuse me ma'am, but I don't know how to close the hatch on the jumper. Do you, Huston?" Tommy Watts asked his friend and looked sheepishly at his superior officer.
"What the hell do you mean you don't know? Didn't you pay any attention when Lorne and Zelenka went over this stuff? Even though you don't have the gene, you still need to be able to do basic stuff!" Cadman lost her temper fighting to keep her voice low. First these idiots insult Jennifer and then threaten the second highest-ranking civilian on the expedition when he defends her. The fact they did not pay attention to the presentation on the jumpers was the final straw. I'm having Lorne bust these morons back to private and send them packing. Taking deep breathes and counting backwards from a hundred to keep from slugging them, she regained control.
"There is a switch on the upper left hand side of the rear hatch. Go in, push it and sit tight for reinforcements. The jumper should withstand any of the firepower these folks have." They are our weapons. Laura was angry these people managed to manipulate her leaders into giving them weapons and supplies. Don't think about revenge. Think about saving your friends and superior officers.
"Yes, ma'am," both men said in unison again. They had a hard time keeping eye contact with her.
"Once I get to the jumper and take out the guard, haul ass over so we can get supplies out of the jumper. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Good. I'm heading out." She was steamed over the fact morons like this made it to Atlantis, which usually takes only the best of the best. Gotta have a chat with Lorne after this mission is over about that.
Pulling a cap out of her Tac vest, she pulled it over her red hair in an effort to keep the sun from reflecting off of it. No reason to get my head blown off. Adjusting her P90 and glancing one last time at the two younger men, she nodded and set off. Trying to walk through the bushes and keep the noise down was proving difficult. She wanted to run, not move slowly and quietly. Laura had to keep reminding herself that everyone was relying on her. Once her boots hit the gravel near the lakeside, she let out the breath she was holding since she headed down the hill. Moving on gravel silently was worse than going through the brush.
After what felt like hours of crawling on her belly through the grass, Laura finally got to the top of the incline and saw the jumper. Luckily, the guard was staring off toward the village, leaning against the jumper holding a P90 with his back toward Laura.
Oh shit, now what? Lieutenant Laura Cadman was a good soldier and she thought a good person too. The thought of shooting a man in the back did not really appeal to her. The anger she felt over their murder of the others and abduction of the rest of her team screamed for her to pull the trigger. As she aimed, the lazy guard seemed to remember he was supposed to look around and turned toward her.
The dark uniform of Atlantis did not hide the young Marine. The guard saw her and lifted the P90 so he could get a shot off. Acting on instinct, Laura pulled the trigger. The shot hit him in the upper left arm. Damn! I missed! Because he was unfamiliar with the weapon and just got shot in the arm, his aim was not good. His shot went wide right. She jumped up, hitting him with her next shot to take him down. Terror flooded through her. Someone must have heard those shots. She ran to the jumper, kicking his P90 away in case he was not dead and opened the hatch to rush inside.
Never in her life had she lost it so fully on a mission. She was operating on pure adrenaline and it was causing her to violently shake. A wave of nausea passed over her and she collapsed onto her knees. Sounds could be heard outside the jumper. Shit! They're coming. Jumping to her feet and swinging her gun around she saw Watts and Huston running up the ramp. Since the shots should have given them away, the two Marines decided to run to the jumper and not worry about stealth.
Great. My first solo mission and I screw it up. I'll be busted back to private with these two.
"Ma'am, are you okay?" Watts' voice stopped her from continuing to mentally berate herself.
"Just need a sec," she said swallowing the bile in her throat. They need you. Get a grip.
Sergeant Huston pulled the body up the ramp of the jumper.
Laura knew what to do. "Watts take his cloak and put it on. Go back out front and try to act like you accidentally shot your weapon. Go!"
Watts pulled on the cloak and walked around the outside of the jumper lifting and inspecting his gun. Huston and Cadman closed the hatch and waited for Watts to tell them it was clear. They made use of the time by gathering C4, grenades and extra ammunition. Laura grabbed an attachment to turn the P90 into a sniper weapon. She continued to scold herself mentally for missing the previous shot.
"No sign of anyone, ma'am." Watts' Texas drawl sounded in her ear.
"Thanks Watts." The lieutenant looked at Huston. "It looks like you and me. Do you know anything about laying explosives?"
"Yes, ma'am. I was the explosives expert in my previous unit, ma'am." Shawn's voice held a certain amount of pride.
Laura realized she was being really hard on these guys their first time out in Pegasus. I ended up in McKay's head after my first mission in this messed up galaxy. "Good. I'll tell you where to put them when we get in the tunnels. It's a long hike around to the other side to enter them, so we need to go."
Huston looked at his superior officer and nodded. "We'll get them out, ma'am."
Laura wished she had his confidence because her's was shaken right now. "Let's move out."
A short time later, the first entrance to the tunnels stood in front of Cadman and Huston. It seemed large enough to fit a small car. Okay, we got here without getting caught and we can get inside, but how the hell will we get out again? Hopefully, I'll find the others and we'll make it up on the way.
"Let's put a couple charges around the entrance. When we come out, we'll want to seal it." Laura tried to project that she knew exactly what the plan was to the sergeant.
The Marines planted charges near the entrance, wiped their boot tracks from the ground with some branches and headed into the darkness. Pulling on night vision goggles so they did not have to use their P90 lamps they moved cautiously down the corridor with Cadman on point.
After what felt like hours but was really fifteen minutes according to her watch the corridor got brighter. Pulling off their goggles so they were not blinded, they moved slower listening for any sound that might mean there was someone around. Laura looked closely at the mechanisms on the doors. They look Ancient. All of them were dark except for one in front of them.
Turning to look at Huston and motioning for him to take up position to the left of the door, Laura stood to the right with her gun aimed at whatever would be behind the door. Probably not a good idea to open it, but I need to find where everyone is being held. She waved her hand over the mechanism opening the door.
"Cadman!" The voice that came out of the room was weak and sounded a lot like her CO. It was pitch black inside with only the light from the door spilling in. She could see legs and boots stretching into the light. Turning on the lamp on her P90, she shined it on Major Evan Lorne. He was sitting on the floor with his arms tied around a column behind him. One of his legs had a bloody white cloth wrapped around it at mid-thigh.
"Major?" Laura stepped into the room shining the light around to make sure no one was hiding.
"It's clear. Only me," Lorne said with a bit more strength in his voice.
"Huston, come in and close the door," Laura said. The young Marine stepped in and nodded to their CO.
"Where are the others?" Lorne asked as Laura kneeled next to him pulling a small bottle of water out of her Tac vest.
"Drink this," she said holding the bottle up to his lips. "Let me get these cuffs off. What happened to your leg, sir?"
"Flesh wound. Where are the others, Lieutenant?" Lorne was glad to see two of his Marines. He had known Laura for many years at the SGC and on Atlantis. She was evading his question. "Lieutenant, I order you to answer me!"
"You already know Sanchez and Meeks are dead, sir." Laura felt terrible that she did not have much useful information. "Watts is at the jumper. If we don't get back, he'll be able to tell the others what happened when they come this evening, sir."
Lorne felt the cuffs loosen behind his back. His arms and wrists ached but he gladly moved them around to get circulation back. Laura moved to look at his leg.
"I need to re-bandage this. Here are some pain killers and a power bar, sir" Laura said pulling medication and food from her Tac vest.
"Thanks. Did you see anyone else?"
"No, sir. You?"
"Sheppard, Ronon and one of the techs. We were all held in some room but it didn't look like the rest of this place. It was strange. There was an Ancient chair weapons platform in it, but it seemed to be cobbled together with other technology. I know why they are in a hurry to get their hands on McKay. Do they have him?" Lorne looked Laura in the eyes and she looked away. "Cadman?"
"I think so. McKay and Jennifer must have been taken together. We know they have Jennifer. I know he wouldn't have leave her, sir." Laura could not hide the guilt on her face.
"You were responsible for Jennifer. Why did you leave her with McKay?" Evan was beyond pissed at the lieutenant right now. He knew he should have stayed with Jennifer himself, but thought Laura could be trusted.
"I was close by, sir. Sheppard thought they should have some time to…themselves."
"What the hell for!" Don't say it. Please don't say it.
"Well… they… he…" Laura stammered. "You know you are not really her big brother, right? Sir?"
"Cadman!" Lorne grabbed her Tac vest and pulled her closer. Speaking each work slowly, Lorne repeated himself. "What the hell for?"
"They were kinda… you know… kissing, sir." Laura felt ridiculous; like a teenager covering for her best friend's late night liaisons.
"So someone grabbed them while they were making out!" The major said louder than he should have. Huston looked concerned.
"It would seem so, sir." Laura finished with the bandage. "I hoped they wandered off for some privacy but I was wrong. I was hiding in the bushes when I saw you get captured in the square and Jennifer... Then I got captured by the real villagers."
"What?" Evan used Laura to help get him on his feet. He felt slightly light headed and swayed. The lieutenant slid his left arm around her shoulders since that was the side with the bad leg.
"These people are not the actual villagers. Brenner, the leader of the people who used to live here were driven out when their space ship crashed about two years ago."
"Space ship! That's it. We must have been in their space ship. It's gotta be close to here because we exited a door into these hallways."
"It must have crashed or they landed it near the ruins, sir." Laura helped the major get close to the wall so he could lean back. "Sergeant Huston, you will need to bring Major Lorne back to the jumper."
"Belay that order, Sergeant. We don't have time. We need to find the others and get out of here," Evan said looking at the two Marines.
"No offense, sir, but you are in no condition to help us rescue anyone," Laura said.
"I can shoot, therefore, I'm helpful. Don't forget they have our weapons and know how to use them. If they have their hands on McKay, they are going to make him fix their ship. If they leave, we'll never find them."
"McKay will not help them, sir. He'll stall and whine and…" Laura stopped. "Oh no!"
"Lieutenant?" Lorne asked.
"They have Jennifer." Cadman looked at her CO with a look of fear on her face. "He'll do anything to protect her."
"I don't know about that. His sense of self-preservation is pretty strong."
Laura knew Major Lorne did not like McKay. She was not a big fan of the cranky scientist either, but she saw what McKay did this morning to defend Jennifer. "Oh, he'll do it, sir. This morning he single-handedly took on three Marines because they insulted Jennifer. If Dusty and I hadn't come along he was going to deck one of them."
Sergeant Huston suddenly had a coughing fit. Laura glanced at him. Yes, I'm covering your sorry ass.
"I have never been more impressed. I guarantee you he would fix whatever if they threaten her." The young woman felt a pang of jealousy for a moment. The look in Rodney's eyes when he came into that alley after Jennifer said she loved him would stay with Laura forever. Maybe some day someone will look at me that way.
"He picked a helluva time to become chivalrous don't you think?" Lorne shook his head. After two years he picks this mission to show his feelings for Jennifer. Rotten timing, McKay. "Okay, enough about the love birds. What do we have for weapons?"
Laura ran through their inventory of weapons, ammunition and explosives. Lorne took a handgun and a few grenades to put in his jacket. Huston was going to have to support the Major, which put the explosive's expert on point again. According to Lorne, the corridor leading to the left went deeper into the complex and eventually led to the room with the chair or spaceship as he called it.
"Sir," Laura began. She felt a need to apologize for not following his orders and leaving Jennifer with Rodney. "I'm sorry I…"
"Stuff it, Lieutenant. We can discuss it at your disciplinary hearing once we get back." Evan did not want to talk about it now. "Focus on the mission. That's an order."
"Yes, sir!" Laura tried to block out 'disciplinary hearing' from her mind. She really screwed up. Her responsibility was to protect Jennifer. Any sense of friendship she felt should have been pushed aside for the sake of the mission. Wandering off from the others to fight with the physician and then leaving her with McKay were the wrong choices. She was going to have to pay for the lapse of judgment.
They had not been walking more than ten minutes when a shudder knocked them off their feet. The ceiling was starting to crack further up the corridor.
"Get back," Laura screamed as she and Huston grabbed Lorne pulling him back the way they came. A loud sound echoed down the corridor followed by the sound of the ceiling collapsing. "Run!"
TBC