Chapter 11- Point of origin part 2
Evan Lorne, had only just been released from infirmary and had been told firmly from Doctor Beckett to 'take it easy'. That meant light duties for a few days and no trips through the stargate. He had intended to do everything Beckett had asked of him, he was not like Sheppard, who would undertake a mission half alive. That intention had now faded into shadow and he was running fast down the corridors of Atlantis toward Elizabeth's office. Something had gone wrong with Colonel Sheppard's mission as the Daedulus was now back in orbit . Colonel Caldwell had looked grave as he requested an emergency meeting.
Puffing as he ran into Elizabeth office Evan immediately stood to attention as Caldwell entered. "What has happened Colonel", Elizabeth demanded. "The hyperdrive on the Cruiser suddenly became active and the ship shot off. As you know our ships are not capable of the same sorts of speed, so it was not possible to follow the Victory. Nor can we track her location as she travels through hyperspace. Unless she returns, or the others contact us somehow, we have no idea where that ship is going." Caldwell, broke off aware that his voice was angry.
"So Mckay was actually wrong", Evan said the word with awe,"wrong' was something that was rarely said about the theories Rodney proposed. "The drive was capable of being activated". "Yes ,it seems like he was wrong", Elizabeth swallowed, "maybe the drive activation, was the 'thing' that was supposed to happen at those coordinates, it was one theory we did not factor into our thoughts .
"So where is it going and why", Evan demanded. Caldwell just shrugged, "as I said we have no way of knowing the answer to that. But we should prepare for any possibility and that includes the location of this base being compromsied". He studied Evan seriously, "we have just lost two people who possessed the most powerful Ancient genes. So it may be Major ,that we now have to rely on your own abilities. You are also in temporary command of Atlantis. So let's start making a plan,of what needs to be done in the event an attack of some sort does occur". Caldwell knew that had to plan for a worst case scenerio. Evan had to swallow down a burst of sorrow. He was going to have to talk to Judy West and explain that her husband had just gone missing. She was not likely to take that information well. He thought about what, Caldwell had said about powerful abilities, "so perhaps the mission was a type of trap then. Cellin would have guessed that we'd sent Major West, and that we'd also need to send others with the Ancient gene. They have at least divided our forces ."
Elizabeth, thumped her table hard, they had been caught off guard again, "it is probable you are right, Major Lorne, divide and conquer, is a familiar tactic and one we should have considered more seriously. But whoever planned this is clever, even more so than Mckay and that seems to point clearly to a particular race".We have never considered them to be an enemy before and perhaps that is why were were caught out by these actions. "The Ancients", Caldwell muttered. He looked over at Evan, "it becomes increasingly more likely that Major West is not who he seems"."The Ancients have no reason to play games like this with us."
Evan felt himself colour and actually snapped out, "I don't think Don is a liar". Caldwell's mouth actually dropped open a little, he was not used to back chat from Lorne. "Watch your attitude Major", he warned. "I am not proposing a new theory here. There have been questions about Major West since we discovered what he could do". Surely there must be some doubt in your mind". Is he the real friend I remember from training or are those just stolen memories. You know it could be possible, we have certainly encountered stranger things in this galaxy".
"Shut up", Evan, blurted out the comment before he could stop himself. He saw Caldwell colour. The Colonel had hit a nerve, he knew. That doubt had crept into his mind. There were some subtle differences between Don as he was now and how he remembered him, before he went missing on the Jupiter 2. Had something more happened, on that ship, did the original Donald West somehow get replaced. It was the darkest thought of his mind, something he would not let himself accept. Yet now Caldwell was saying the same thing.
Elizabeth was staring as well. It was highly unusual for Evan to speak to a commanding officer that way. She recognised the emotion boiling under the surface. It would not be there if he did not have some doubt. She felt for Lorne, he was about to get a tongue lashing from a very annoyed superior officer.
"Major that is totally uncalled for, I will be taking disciplinary action for your subordinate attitude", Caldwell snapped out. Elizabeth did not try to dissuade Colonel Caldwell because she knew he thought that emotions had no place in military thinking. That Evan was upset, would not be an excuse. Sheppard would have been annoyed if the same thing had been said to him, but he would have understood the pain behind the words, and would have let it slide.
"For now can we just concentrate on what needs to be done", Elizabeth requested. That brought Caldwells attention back to her, "very well Doctor Weir, lets start our plan. Major Lorne's punishment can wait, but it will come",Caldwell added sourly in case there was any doubt.
Evan just threw him a salute and tried to pull his mind back to the duty that lay ahead of him. He could feel himself shaking, as held onto the emotion that threatened to spill out and make him scream loudly. Caldwell had not laid the blame for the disappearance of the Victory upon Don, but he knew that it was highly likely that he was in some way responsible. It seemed that Don had just proved that he actually was an Ancient. How could he be friends with an Ancient. The answer to that was that he could not be. Ancients did not want to be friends with humble humans. Their purpose in the galaxy was beyond friendship. Evan felt this shaking increase, he was going to have to tell Judy Robinson what they thought. She would not want to believe it either. They both would have to accept it though.
xxxxxxx
Ancient Cruiser Victory- 5 minutes since jump drive engaged.
"Do something", Sheppard asked Rodney McKay. Mckay swore at the door which was blocking his exit from the bridge, it stubbornly was staying shut. "That's not going to help", Sheppard complained. Ronan kicked the door. "That won't help either",Sheppard told him. "Major West", Teyla yelled through the intercom, 'get up here now mister", she tried language she was sure Sheppard would use. There was still no response. "Did he do this ", Teyla asked Mckay, as she swept her arms across the bridge, indicating the now activate consoles. "Possibly ", McKay remarked.
"I thought it was not possible, to power all of this", Sheppard remarked. The ship had been barely capable of making it to the coordinates with the amount of power it had left. To activate the hyper drive required something extraordinary. It must have been something that Rodney had not expected, or else he would have warned them. That he was fallible like this was sometimes a cold splash of water in the face. He may have not anticipated this, but he better be able to get them out of this hole ,Sheppard thought to himself.
Rodney was carefully scanning all the consoles, hoping desperately that he would find the answers . He had so far been, what was that word again, the one that started with w, and ended in g. It was not one he ever said to himself. Thankfully he would not have to say it out loud . He could at least tell them where the power had come from. He studied his readouts, how was this even possible. What was happening here was incredible, another thing to put in the book of " I would never believe that could be possible. Colonel Sheppard was now tapping his foot with impatience so Rodney began his explanation ."Alright, it seems like all of the consoles are somehow slaved to the hyperdrive, therefore it is using all their stored power to activate itself".They are kind of like a battery". It's incredible that all these consoles have the type of power needed to operate the Hyperdrive."
"Okay so if we turn these off then the ship will stop", Sheppard thought it sounded very simple. Maybe too simple."We had better do that now, before we end up at the far end of the galaxy with no way of getting home again".
Mckay thought that was a good plan. But he also knew that they had to be cautious, the cruiser was not in a good state and messing with too many things might provoke an unexpected reaction. He was primarily thinking of the all the dead people that had littered this ship, when it came to Atlantis. There had to be a reason they all died. He did not want to find out what that reason was.
"I will try one of these non essential consoles first, just to see what happens to the hyperdrive", Rodney explained. He chose a small console, for no other reason than it looked boring. He did not want to admit that he had no idea what half the consoles on this bridge were for. He pulled all the wiring out of the console and watched as it went dark. Then he took scans again. "Uh oh", was his very unscientific comment. Things were not as easy as they seemed, typically.
"What do you mean uh oh", Sheppard demanded. "I mean that all the consoles are actually slaved to one other system, before their power is routed to the Hyperdrive. Turning them all off will cause that system to shut down completely, Rodney explained. "I am guessing it is an essential system", Sheppard remarked . "Yeah if we want to keep living, they are slaved to the life support. "
"We could use the statis pods that Cellin mentioned, Sheppard suggested. "Yeah well all of them are offline. It looks like it is not that simple Colonel. Whoever thought this up is brilliant ", Mckay stated.
"Well that points to one main candidate and that is the Ancients", Teyla observed. "Yeah, well if this can kill us ,then that is not very friendly", Ronan grumbled. "Why would they do that".
"Because they want Braxia to come home", the voice was kind of strangled.
Sheppard and the others pivoted around abruptly toward Major Donald West. Rodney lunged for the door ,which was now open. In less than the time it took to move one step, it was firmly closed again. Rodney swore loudly.
Donald West looked rather pale with disheveled hair and clothing. Sheppard did not yell at him for being absent when they needed him. It was obvious something was wrong. So he asked in a steady tone , "report".
Don thought through the easiest way to explain what he had experienced. "As soon as I lay on the bed and shut my eyes, I found myself on this beautiful beach". Rodney raised one eyebrow, "just like before. He looked over at the 'dream console'. It ,just like the others were active.
"At first it was like the before, then the beach began to fill with life, like aggressive birds. I tried to pull my mind away, but found I could not. One of the birds attacked me, then drunk my blood. Even the pain did not pull me away from that nightmare. Then 4 people appeared and they wore all white, I think they were Ancients. They called me Braxia and told me I was coming home. After that I felt this ship come alive. I tried everything to stop what was happening but it was ineffective. Those other Ancients must have a way of being in control of the Cruiser, "Don wound off, satisfied that he had covered all the essential points.
"Dreams cannot control anything", Rodney said bluntly. "Therefore there must be a way of stopping what was happening".
Don gave him a look that could only be described as 'pissed off". "I am not making things up Doctor McKay."The first time, it definitely did seem like a dream. This time though it felt real. I could feel the coldness of the water and ", Don simply opened his hand to push his next point home, "feel pain. "As I said a bird attacked me". His palm was now dripping blood over the floor of the cruiser.
Rodney was staring at that blood in mute shock. "So you really have nothing to say now Doctor", Don challenged.
Sheppard moved forward and took Major West's hand in his own. There was a jagged bleeding cut of several inches in depth upon his palm. It looked angry and painful. "We'll put a dressing upon this Major", he said gently.
Don looked out at the streaks of light surrounding them. "I am guessing this ship is taking us to a world with a purple sky and a rather nice beach". However that is all I know. I was not told the name of the planet or of the people".
"They called you Braxia", Rodney observed. "Yes", Don admitted it reluctantly. "Was that before or after the bird drunk your blood", Rodney asked. "After", Don told him. "Then it is probable they were testing your blood Major". He kept staring at him.
"Say it McKay", Don demanded grumpily, "say I am an Ancient. He let his eyes linger on McKay's face. "They said I had forgotten ".
Mckay wisely chose to say nothing. He could tell West was upset and he really did not want the Major to decide to hit him.
"At the moment that is not the most important question, Sheppard said calmly. "It is are actually going to make it to this world. If those consoles are acting like batteries then they must have a life expectancy. Sooner or later ,they will be drained dry and both the hyperdrive and Life support will fail." He took a breath and said the next bit, "maybe that has happened before".
"It is a death ship", Ronan grumbled. He did not know how to fight a ship. People were easy, you just hit them hard and watch them go down.
"Yeah, well we should have thought of the possibility that this ship was the actual trap we were expecting. Sending rather impressive gifts with significant catches has been done throughout history", Sheppard reminded them. "The Trojan horse", Don muttered.
Teyla frowned at that, she had no idea why they were referring to a horse, but she knew a trap when she encountered one.
"So what do we do",she asked. Her eyes settled upon McKay. "Yet another certain death moment to get us out of in one piece, McKay muttered. "I am becoming a specialist at those".
He tapped his fingers lightly on the nearest console. "No matter what you say Major West, I doubt Ancients from a distant planet can control this vessel. Most likely this is just a triggered response. That makes it easier to deal with'. His eyes swept past all the active consoles before settling upon a specific one. "You may have given us a significant clue. If the 'dream machine was the trigger, then turning it off, may actually get us out of this mess".
He moved toward the dream console only to find Colonel Sheppard standing in his way. "Rodney if you are wrong then turning off that machine may injure or even kill Major West." Typically Sheppard was throwing emotion into the mix. Caldwell would have just told him to do it and stuff the consequences."I don't think they'd kill they person they want to meet", Rodney stated firmly. "But I will be careful. He moved forward to the console and opened a panel on the side. He could see very complex fibres through out this machine. Rodney ran his scanner over those words searching for the ones ,he could cut. He swallowed at the readout, this console now had an immense power signature. It was kind of like a fuse, if he turned it off the other systems would all overload immediately and most likely blow a hole in the side of the bridge.
He backed away, "turning that console off would trigger an overload', he stated. "We'd be dead in minutes". Teyla sighed heavily, "it seems like each plan ends up in death McKay". There has to be one that does not". Ronon took a step toward McKay and folded his arms. He looked rather intimidating, "find a way McKay", he grumbled.
McKay could feel the pressure. He knew exactly how to get rid of some of what lay upon his shoulders. "If the ship wants West, then he is the key to stopping what is happening."
Don hated the fact that he was most likely correct about that. He could feel the ship in his mind, like a living person. "As I said I have tried to stop what is happening. I will try again. He gestured toward the Captains chair, "can I take command now Colonel", he asked.
Sheppard, put his own hand outward toward the central chair, "command is yours Major". Do what you can".
Don sat in the central chair. He leaned forward and touched the button on one of the consoles in front of him. McKay gave a slightly strangled gasp, "don't fiddle with it Major unless you know what you are doing". Don threw him a scowl ,"it is still a ship McKay and I actually do know quite a few things about ships."I am just seeing how much manual control we have." Don't forget I can read Ancient . Unfortunately we cannot gain manual control as it is locked out. That was on purpose. So it must be time for the direct approach . I will try and contact these Ancients again".
He closed his eyes and pictured the beach in his mind. Nothing happened, not willing to admit defeat, he sent a subconscious message, "the ship is failing, we may die before we reach you". Still nothing . He finally opened his eyes.
The others were all looking at him so he just shrugged. McKay began to pace and start talking scientific gibberish.
"He does that a lot, Sheppard remarked, ""soon he will come out with a wild theory . So they had to wait. That was the easy part. He settled into the chair. A few minutes later, he felt a brief sharp pain shoot through his head, he winced and rubbed his hand over his face. Something had changed. "Did you feel that", he asked Sheppard.
John knew what he meant. He too could feel life in the Victory. It was definitely creepy. Now part of that life was gone. He looked over at the consoles and noticed one had gone dark. 'I think the consoles are failing one by one".
McKay stopped his gibberish , "yes but that dream console is not going to be one of them for a long time." That means something. Before you were probably tired Major and entered a REM state quickly. Now you are trying to force yourself into that state without effect. It is not that easy just to fall asleep if you are not tired. I don't think we can afford to wait until you become tired again. We need to force your mind into a REM state. Unfortunately we are going to have to resort to drugs for that". McKay walked over to kick the bridge door. "We cannot access sick bay so will have to rely on what we can find in the first aid boxes on this bridge".
He opened the nearest one and searched through what was available. Since Doctor McKay was not a medical specialist Don began to feel very nervous. Beckett was not available to help him out this time. "How about just a sedative "McKay suggested. Those had been used on Major West before.
"Yes, I think we could try that", Sheppard agreed.
Teyla took a syringe out of the first aid box to draw up the sedation with.
Don looked around his chair. "For an intelligent race, the Ancients were rather uninventive with command chairs. It does not even have the ability to recline".
McKay found himself laughing at that. Major West was loosening up a little and that was a good thing. He had not challenged them over the use of the sedative either. Though if McKay looked closely at his face, he could see the worry lines.
"I'll inject you now Major", Teyla remarked. She'd seen Beckett do this often enough to know what spot she needed to hit.
Don felt the sedation his his system not long after the jab. All his limbs felt very heavy.
John watched as his eyes slid shut and his body slumped in the chair. "So do we just wait around now", he asked.
"No, I think we need a contingency plan, just in case West fails to gain control", McKay stated. "It will probably be one of those plans that gives us a very short period of time before something dire happens", he warned.
"Yeah, I think we are getting used to those", John replied.
Don found himself back on the sandy beach. He looked up at the sky, just to reassure himself he was on the right world. Check, purple sky. Everything else was as it was the very first time, he'd been here, there were no signs of life.
He looked across the beach, it did seem to end. So perhaps he could just take a walk and find someone. He set off across the sand.
It was a pleasant walk, and not a long one either. Soon he reached the edge of the beach. Now he could see trees and beyond something was glistening in the sun. He stepped off the sand and into the vegetation.
Within a few minutes he had found where the glistening was coming from. He just stared in awe. It was an alien city and almost identical to Atlantis . Except it would dwarf their own city.
As he got closer he could see another major difference, the city was filled with people, a brief count numbered in the high hundreds, and that was just the people he could see from this distance. Don kept moving until he was just a few hundred metres from the boundary to the City. The people had not noticed him yet, just moving rapidly through the city.
There was chance that the people were hostile and would react violently to him just walking into their city. So he raised his hands high above his head as he stepped onto one of the major pathways.
Suddenly all those who had been moving stopped. He found himself the centre of attention and it was very unnerving. "Umm hello, I am...he began. " Before he could finish his introduction a man grabbed him. "This is not possible", that man muttered as he stared at him. Don could feel the fingers digging into his skin. "Let go of me now", he demanded firmly.
He was surprised that the man did exactly that. The other people were still staring at him. It was a stared that spoke of shock . "Move out of the way", a loud voice insisted. The crowd began to part and Don could just make out a tall figure coming toward him. As that figure got closer he could feel himself go pale. 'The man looked almost identical to him.
"Well, well, you are more inventive than I thought. Welcome Major Donald West", the man greeted. Don gaped, how did this man know who he was. He felt himself shiver as he examined every inch of the man and compared similarities. This man could easily pass as his double. "Who are you", Don asked breathlessly. "Isn't that obvious Major, I am Braxia. Thank you for walking so easily into my trap.'This city may look beautiful, but it is a prison'. You have just provided me with the key".
Suddenly Don knew he had been right before, this man was the real Braxia and he was looking for someone to take his place . Don tried to force himself awake but found he could not. "It's not that easy to escape this type of prison Major West. But I found a way. You will be imprisoned here and my life will go on. I will rewrite history. The war with the wraith is not over yet. "