John stub his foot on another rock sending a stinging pain up his leg, he swore lightly under his breath. His frustration was growing with every time he tripped or hit something. John just wanted to see with his own eyes. Yes, seeing through Molly's eyes was working somewhat and was the only choice he had but it wasn't easy. Only feeding his frustration was the pulsing headache he was getting from the telepathic sightseeing trick. Add in everything was off color wise, the angles and placement of everything was off due to her height and his body position was making this as tedious as hell. They had been moving slowly but they had yet to reach the staircase she mention earlier.
John sidearm was put away, he had taken one of the fallen soldier's guns as it didn't rely on him reloading ammo and to be honest he thought it would have more kick then his sidearm. Of course, it didn't mean much as his accuracy was going to be subpar at best due to the sight thing. John suspected that Molly using her mental ability increase the risk of discovery by the wraith but thankfully in the tunnel there weren't too many places to hide. Of course, that was also a downside for them too.
"So, Todd's your father," John finally asked sick of the endless silence and needing anything to distract him from his headache.
"Yes, Colonel does it surprise you?"
"No, well it just I didn't picture him as the father type,"
"Maybe you don't like to think about the wraith having families because it makes it easier to see us as nothing but monsters and kill us." John open his mouth but stop. John couldn't argue the point, in combat you didn't tend to think about the other person having a family even if that enemy was human. John hadn't put a lot of thought into the social or family dynamic of the wraith.
"Todd has a remarkable cunningness that has helped him do well among the wraith. Most often intruding male or female wraith are killed for entering another clan's territory but Todd not only managed to avoid death but became my mother's companion. The relationship benefited them both greatly,"
"Until she decided to kill you both,"
"Yes, a mistake she will pay for soon enough. Father was smart to stay loyal to me," John once again felt Molly was dangerous.
"Ahead, I'm picking up some wraith. I'll have to limit my mental presents or I'll give away our position but we should proceed with caution," Molly comment ended the conversation and John focused on moving as quietly as he could.
After a few minutes, he got his first look at the stairs but they weren't made of the same metal as the bridge they crossed. The soft glowing light that emanated from them was all too familiar, they had to be built by the Ancients. They showed no sign of rust or decay like the other metals use by the former inhabitants. Which was a nice thing, Shepard had been dreading the idea of going up the stairs for fear they collapse on them like the bridge had. Molly let go of his sight, the stairwell was dimly lit but it was enough John could see. The sound of voices made Molly and John slow, both crept forward, alert for any enemies.
Reaching the steps John was careful as he peaked up, no wraith but he could hear their voices somewhere above. The stair spiraled up for at least three or four levels, he wasn't completely sure. They had no choice, up it was, John took the lead as he moved slowly up the stair sticking to the back wall to avoid being seen if someone looked down. The stairs left nowhere to hide but neither had the tunnel, if a wraith did come down they would be in for a fight.
Reaching the second level he saw a door and move toward it. He could tell it was locked, a small smile crept on to his face. The wraith were unable to use the Ancient technology so they were simply using the open passageway but John didn't have that problem. He put his ear to the door listening for any wraith behind it but made out nothing. Waving his hand over the sensor pad the door opened and John peaked inside checking up and down the hallway.
"Clear" he whispered as they both slipped inside. John shut the door and locked it so the wraith wouldn't be any the wiser.
"If I could get you to the command center could you lock this place down?" Molly asked.
"Shouldn't be a problem but we have no idea where it is?"
"I think the map may have shown it, but we must move with extreme caution there is more wraith then even I expected," John followed after Molly.
Teyla forced her heavy eye lids open, she didn't recall falling asleep and was unsure what had awoken her, if anything. Her breathing was still heavy which only added to her body sheer exhaustion but on the positive side she was still breathing. Looking about she found she was still in the tiny metal structure. She heard the scratching of the creatures outside. It took great will and energy to move her head an inch but it was a good sign. Lifting a hand on the other hand was still not possible but a tingling sensation was starting to fill her body, hopefully it too was a strong indicator that her ability to move would return, as Teyla hated being so helpless.
"Good you are up. You gave me quite the scare," Todd moved into her view and lean down so she could see him. He still held the P-90 that light was extremely dim. "It would seem you're through the worse of it," The distant sound of a P-90 caught Teyla's attention. Lorne, he must have made it into the cave but the sound of a grenade going off made her heart jump. They were in danger she hadn't warned them about the insects.
"Do not fear, your friends made contact with me while you were unconscious. I took the liberty of explaining the situation and warned them of our troublesome friends. They just got in but it shouldn't take them too long to reach our location if all goes well,"
"What of the wraith?" Teyla mentally questioned.
"I have yet to sense any nearby but the noise could draw them. I hope your friends move quickly but those on the surface are being distracted or so the Major informed me."
"Did you tell them about Sheppard?" she mentally asked.
"Yes, I told them we become separated and of our plan to rendezvous with them in the mining facility. As you will be unable to make the trip I will offer to take part of the team to retrieve Colonel Sheppard and the Keeper. If they will honor our deal and ensure our safe passage off this world," Teyla wished she could go but knew it would be impossible. Who knew how long the team had been engaging the wraith and the longer the rescue took the greater the risk that someone would die. Teyla try to mentally track the progress of Lorne's team as each sound of combat got closer. She silently prayed that no member of the team would be hurt.
Finally, a voice broke the radio, "Teyla and Todd were in the hallway across from you, due to the number of insects around your location we are going to set off concussion grenades to drive them off. Stay inside till we give an all clear,"
"We understand," Todd said. There was a burst of gun fire before the powerful force of the concussion grenade could not only be heard but felt through the building.
"Clear," Lorne said after a moment. "Keep your eyes open in case they come back or the wraith decide to drop in," Teyla heard the sound of boots on stone as the team made their way to the structure. Todd moved the box out of the way and open the door. Before stepping outside.
"Major," Todd said, she guessed it was directed to Lorne. It wasn't Lorne who stepped inside it was McKay who didn't hide his worry. Teyla felt relief flow through her on seeing her friend unhurt.
"Teyla," he said in worried voice as he leaned down giving her a quick check over.
"She is completely paralyzed and unable of vocal speech," Todd said. Teyla barely caught sight of Ronon outside the door over McKay shoulder but he remained outside as the room was too small.
"Thank god your alive, we are going to get you home." McKay said.
"McKay, is she good to move," Lorne called from outside. Teyla gave a very tiny nod of her head to McKay.
"Yeah, Lorne can your team get Teyla to safety,"
"Ronon and me can go with Todd to get John."
"Sure you don't want me to tag along; Miller, Taroni and Adams can get Teyla back to the puddle jumper.
"You might need the extra man power," Ronon said, Teyla suspected the comment was directed at Major Lorne.
"Make up your minds quickly," Todd order as he vanished from Teyla sight.
"Ronon and I will go with Todd to find Sheppard; you guys get Teyla to safety." McKay said stepping out of the room as Lorne and Lt. Miller entered.
"Hey Teyla," Lorne slipped his arm under Teyla as did Lt. Miller with two men supporting her weigh they could move faster while using the last two to guard the front and rear. As they step outside she spotted many dead insects scattered around the area, killed by the grenade.
"It's nice to see you Doctor," Todd said to McKay.
"Can't say the same," Ronon glared at the wraith, he'd never like working with Todd in the past and it wasn't likely to change today.
"This way," Todd said taking the lead and Teyla lost sight as Major Lorne and his men headed back the way they came.
Ok John had played cat and mouse with the wraith before but this was just getting ridiculous. Molly hadn't been lying when she said there were a lot of wraith on the ground. It seemed like they had spent more time hiding in rooms to avoid detection than anything else. John was keeping his eye out for any clue to where the command center might be but the facility was larger than he had expected. They had made their way up another set of stairs and currently were hiding in a small room off a hallway on the sixth floor. Finally, confident the wraith patrol was gone they headed up the hallway once again. Weaving down another hallway Molly came to a halt.
"I think this is the command center?" Molly mentally said. Moving carefully around her, he stole a quick look inside. He spotted two drones and what he guessed might be a wraith scientist or something similar as he was poking around the consuls. From what John, had seen it might be the command center, he couldn't be sure. At worst if it wasn't, he could use the consuls inside to pull up where the main command center was. Not to mention it might give him access to other information that would make getting out of here easier.
"I'm going to throw my smoke bomb in there, when there distracted you use your weapon to take them out." John put his gun on the floor to get the smoke bomb off his vest. He handed it over to Molly and picked up the side arm. He explained how to use it and let Molly go about throwing it in the room. They waited a few seconds as the smoke drew the wraith attention before Molly stepped inside and open fire. John move to the main control counsel which came to life with his touch. He pulled up the data screen, skimming over the information. He might not be able to read it but he'd learn to read the information and symbols well enough from his time in Atlantis.
"Well it's not the command center but it is rooted right into it so I shouldn't have too much trouble." John said glancing at Molly who he realized had finished feeding off one of her wraith brothers.
"Really," John didn't hide the disgust on his face.
"I know I'm a cannibal so what, beside if you have a word for it then some humans must do the same,"
"Nobody likes them," John answered turning his attention to the command station. First, he sealed the door to the section they were in, but as he tried to lock down more of the facility he got flashing red signs likely indicating a failure. He was unsure if it was physical damage from an ancient fight or if the systems were messed up.
"Where's McKay when you need him," John muttered.
"Problem," Molly asked.
"Some of the doors won't lock down,"
"I see, what about this area. Were you able to seal it down," Molly asked.
"I got this section lock down and I think we can use this teleporter pad we can get to an exit up here," John pointed.
"Yes of course, in good time," the odd statement made John turn to look at Molly, finding a gun trained on him he wanted to kick himself for trusting her.
"You got to be kidding," John said just as an energy blast hit him square in the chest and his world turned black.
As midterm are coming up I am going to be very busy. I will try to find time to post something but it may be small. After the next two weeks I will get back to my normal posting. Thank you so much for reading, please leave a review!