FADE TO BLACK - Part 10
"We're dead," said Rodney quietly from the dark.
"We're not dead, McKay," insisted John. He reached out for Kalara. He could feel her, but she was distant and he couldn't connect. A hand gripping his arm brought his attention back to the room.
"Colonel, sit down before you fall." Rodney practically drug him over to sit on the bed, tripping once in the dark and almost taking them both to the ground. He pushed John down and almost fell into his lap.
"McKay, what in the . . . what are you doing?"
"Trying to keep you from killing yourself before Kolya gets the chance. You were swaying like a willow in a wind storm."
"Oh . . . sorry. Just give me a minute so I can try to find out what's going on." He closed his eyes and concentrated on connecting with Kalara. It was like inching forward toward a finish line, but he finally felt her beginning to run through his thoughts and the tingle of her energy uniting with his. What's going on? What's wrong?
Kalara told him that her main power had been disconnected and that she would try to show him. A blurry image that kept fading in and out like faulty TV reception played through his head. Kolya.
John opened his eyes. He was more acclimated to the darkness now and could make out three figures before him. Casnar had joined them. "Kolya pulled the ZPM."
"How do you know this?" asked Casnar skeptically.
"Kalara," replied Rodney. "He's . . . connected to her. If she's still able to communicate with you, the core system must have its own separate power supply."
John nodded, even though it was almost lost in the darkness. "She does, but it's minimal. I really have to concentrate to make the connection strong enough to talk to her. I don't think Kolya knows about that, so she should be safe."
"Maybe, but we aren't," said Rodney. "Did you get anything on what kind of help he has?"
"Yeah, he's with two men in uniforms like Casnar's. One of them is really, really tall and bald. The other guy is about Kolya's height and has brown hair and a beard and a scar across his right cheek."
Casnar grunted and nodded. "I should have expected such treachery from Alwyn and Gleis. They are greedy and self-serving sons of mottowans. They were assigned to guard Kolya and he probably offered them rewards if they helped him."
"That would be his style," agreed John.
"What the heck is a motto . . . mottowing?" asked Rodney.
"Mottowan," corrected Telyn. "It is a four-legged, vile animal that feeds on garbage and rotting flesh and sometimes its own family members. They have no honor."
"So, an insult," said Rodney.
"The worst kind," replied Casnar. "I have been charged with keeping your safety as the Lady Adala fears the commander will either come after you or her. She has tripled her own guard."
Rodney gulped audibly. "And she gave us one kid for a guard? Is she nuts?"
"I am not a kid," said Casnar sharply, his scowl almost visible in the low light. "I am a capable warrior. Lady Adala has many forces out searching for Commander Kolya. They will find him and the danger will be over."
John and Rodney exchanged a frown in the darkness, each knowing the other realized the fallacy of that assumption. "We have to go after him," said John firmly. "I'm not sitting here waiting on him to come to us."
"Okay, you're the one who's nuts," exclaimed Rodney, waving his hands so that John had to dodge to keep from being slapped. "You're barely able to stand up for more than ten seconds and you want to go after the top human maniac in the galaxy. I knew you had the whole hero-complex thing going, but I didn't know you'd totally lost all sense of reality. He'll kill you, Colonel, pure and simple. And this time he won't hesitate."
"Neither will I," said John coldly, sending a shiver down Rodney's spine. "You're right, I am weak right now. But Kolya won't expect me to be coming after him. He thinks he's the predator in this game and that just might give me the edge I need."
"Fine," Rodney growled. "Let's go before I change my mind."
"No, not you, Rodney, me. You stay here with Casnar."
"You'll need more than just an edge, Colonel, especially in your condition. I'm going and that's not up for debate."
"As am I," said Casnar. When they looked at him, he shrugged his shoulders. "You have forgotten that I am your guard. You will not go anywhere without me."
Rodney looked at John and bobbed his head once to the side. "He's got a point."
John sighed. "Yeah, and he's also got a weapon. Okay, you're both in, but you do what I say."
Casnar bristled, standing up taller. "Colonel Sheppard, I wish to remind you that you are still a slave and I am still your guard. As you pointed out, I have the weapon."
John felt anger begin to flush his veins. They were wasting valuable time. "I haven't forgotten. But I'm the one who's gone up against Kolya before. I know how he thinks. Besides, I thought you wanted to work with me to eventually free the slaves. You're sounding more like a royal guard than a slave sympathizer right now. And if we fail and Kolya kills us, his next target is Adala."
Casnar stiffened even more, hissing slightly at the admonishment. Telyn stepped up to put her arm around his. "Casnar, please."
His stance relaxed at Telyn's touch and he sighed. "All right. We do as you say." Casnar reached inside his jacket and pulled out a knife, hesitating only a moment before pushing the handle toward John.
John took the knife with a small nod. "Thanks. Sounds like we're all on the same page. All right, we know where Kolya was a few minutes ago and I figure he's headed here next. He wanted to kill me pretty badly. So we'll have to intercept him between the two locations."
Casnar let out a long, slow breath. "I think I know of a place that might work to our advantage."
John let a small smile turn the corner of one side of his mouth up. "Now we're getting somewhere. Lead on."
Casnar led the way out the door and down the corridor. Several minutes later, they came face to face with three guards going the opposite direction.
"Casnar, are you not guarding the new slaves from the great city? The prisoner Kolya has escaped."
John had to give the boy credit, he didn't even flinch. "I am aware of the escape. The prisoners have knowledge that may help to find him. They have had dealings with him before."
The man in front looked skeptical, looking over Casnar's shoulder to the two pale and swaying men behind him. "I do not believe they will be much help. They can barely stand. Perhaps we could use them as bait." He chuckled at his own joke, with the two men beside and slightly behind him joining in.
Casnar laughed with the men. "Yes, perhaps you are right. I will consider it."
"Good luck," the man said, continuing to laugh as they passed the group.
"Wait . . . you weren't serious, were you? You wouldn't really use us as bait, because I think Lady Adala would –"
"Rod-ney," interrupted John with a long, drawn out drawl.
Rodney stopped with his mouth slightly open before closing it and giving a short nod. "Oh . . . right . . . just making sure."
Casnar glanced at Telyn and rolled his eyes before turning back to continue down the dark hall. He stopped a few moments later and looked around. "Here," he said.
John looked around him, glad his eyes had had time to adjust to the low light. They had stopped at slightly wider place in the corridor with two huge columns standing at the edge of each side of the passageway. "We can hide behind these columns," offered Casnar.
John sighed and looked at Casnar. "That's just what Kolya will expect." Then he grinned as he looked at the columns again. "Right . . . that's just what Kolya will expect."
oOo
Kolya paused as he and the two with him came to four large columns situated at the edge of the corridor. He raised his hand to signal the men, when a sound came from behind one of the pillars to his right. Immediately he and one of the soldiers came around the front of the structure, while the other man flanked the back side. A soldier and a young girl were locked in an embrace between the column and the wall. They both startled and turned immediately, with the soldier putting himself between the Kolya and the girl.
John allowed himself to peek around the column, watching Kolya confront Casnar and Telyn. He could barely see Casnar's face over Kolya's shoulder, but he could hear them fine.
"Well, well, what do we have here? A soldier and a slave girl?" said Kolya.
"Casnar, what are you doing with her?" snapped one of the men with Kolya,
"Hah, I told you that he'd been watching her. I'm not the least bit surprised," said the other.
"Gleis, please . . . this is the first time. Do not tell Lady Adala," pleaded Casnar, successfully focusing their attention on him and Telyn. John nodded to Rodney, who looked a little like he might faint, as the signal for them to move in.
When they were close enough, John gave a small nod to Casnar, who had been watching him over Kolya's shoulder. John lunged for Kolya as Casnar went for the taller Gleis and Rodney attacked Alwyn. John had felt confident right up until Kolya whirled around to face him, as if he he'd known all along John had been there.
No words were spoken as John lunged at Kolya, bringing the knife up as he moved. Kolya brought his arm up, easily deflecting John's attack a split second before hammering his other fist into John's mid-section. John doubled over, only to have Kolya bring his elbow down between his shoulder blades, sending him crashing to the ground. He rolled in an effort to get away long enough to get to his feet, but Kolya anticipated the move and kicked him viciously in the side and lower back as he moved. Spots began to dance across his vision and he realized he'd lost the knife somewhere along the way.
The sound of Rodney crying out snapped him back into awareness just as Kolya aimed a gun at him. He rolled again, but this time toward Kolya, throwing off the man's aim and crashing into his legs. Kolya came down hard across John's hips, pinning him to the ground. They scrabbled for a moment, trying to untangle their limbs as they grappled for control of the situation. When they finally separated, John's hand landed on the knife he'd lost earlier and he swept it up as he got to his feet.
He stood facing Kolya, each of them breathing deeply, although he seemed more winded than his opponent. He was relieved to see that Kolya had lost his gun during the scuffle, giving John a fighting chance. He wasn't quite as happy to see Kolya had managed to produce his own knife. They faced one another, hatred filling both sets of eyes as they faced off.
"I'm going to kill you this time," said Kolya firmly.
John smiled and wiped a trickle of blood from his chin. "Not if I kill you first."
Kolya smiled back at John. "So we agree on something, Colonel. This is our final battle. This one is to the death."
John licked his lips and let out a slow breath. "And no coming back from the dead this time."
Kolya chuckled and gave a short nod. "Agreed."
John was aware the scuffling around them had stopped, but he didn't dare take his eyes from Kolya long enough to see how Rodney and Casnar had fared. What little energy he'd had seemed to be fading fast, in spite of the adrenalin rush that had kept him going this far.
Kolya came at him so fast that he almost didn't get his arm up in time. Either because of his delayed response or his weakness, the knife was deflected, but still managed to slice across his upper arm. John felt the burn of the blade cutting deeply into skin and muscle. The pain sparked another burst of adrenalin, enabling John to fight back. He kicked his enemy in the shin and then buried his fist in Kolya's stomach. As he went for a blow to his face, Kolya brought his own fist up hit just under John's ribcage, lifting him off the ground while slamming him back into the wall.
John's vision grayed as the air whooshed out of his lungs. He kicked and struck out wildly in an attempt to defend himself as he gasped for air. He could tell one blow caught Kolya by surprise when the man grunted and released his grip on John, allowing him to sink to the floor. Kolya staggered back, giving John a little room to maneuver.
The memories of all the horrors Kolya was responsible for came rushing through John's head, firing his determination that his enemy would not escape to hurt Atlantis or his friends again. He launched himself up and forward, catching Kolya off guard. His stumbling forward steps backed Kolya forcefully against the wall behind him and John's knife buried itself to the hilt just below Kolya's sternum, the blade tilted slightly upward.
Kolya's eyes widened a moment in surprise, but he seemed unable to say anything. John leaned against the knife, making sure it did the most damage. "This time . . . you stay dead." He stared into the glassy eyes of the man who had tried to kill him so many times, who had made a Wraith feed on him, who had tried to take over his city. He heard a slight gasp as Kolya's body went limp, his eyes losing focus as his body lost life. John brought his shaking hand up to Kolya's neck, but there was nothing.
"Is . . . is he dead?"
John let out a deep breath at the sound of Rodney's voice. He stepped back, allowing Kolya to slide down the wall and slump over on the floor. The front of his shirt glistened with blood, Kolya's blood. He staggered back and turned to see Rodney, Casnar, and Telyn looking at him, their eyes wide. "Yeah . . . he's dead. You guys okay?"
"We're okay," said Casnar. John noticed that both men looked rumpled and dirty, with bruises and a little blood smeared across their faces. But they seemed basically intact. The two guards who had joined up with Kolya were unconscious on the floor.
"Good job," said John, swaying on his feet.
"You are bleeding," said Telyn, rushing to his side to look at his arm. The sleeve was slashed open and a blood had soaked into the fabric almost all the way to his wrist.
"So'kay," he slurred. The room was beginning to fade in and out of focus. "ZPM?"
Rodney held it up. "Got it."
"Good. Tired now." That was the last thing John remembered before the room finished fading to complete darkness.
TBC