As the gate deactivated and the gateroom returned to an eerie silence, both Aiden and Bates shot back up into a standing position.
"Doctor Mckay, I need you to get us out of lockdown and I need that self destruct stopped," shouted Bates across the control room.
"Are they gone?" asked Rodney as he ran over to the main console and started to work at the keyboard.
Bates fixed him with a look which told him for a smart guy, that was a stupid question. Rodney got the picture and let his shaky hands go to work.
"Ah," said Rodney all of a sudden. His temple was throbbing as a gentle reminder that they were running out of time.
"What?" asked Aiden walking over to him and peering over his shoulder.
Rodney shot him an irritated look and then shook his head, "Getting us out of lockdown is easy," he said, "Stopping the self destruct, not so easy."
"What do you mean?" asked Carson shoving his hands into his pockets and shuffling from one foot to another. "Can't you just enter you're code and cancel it out."
"Well usually you need either one of the commanding officers to initiate the sequence. This time we have both commanding officers inputting codes. We cant stop it without them."
Carson raised his eyebrows and looked over to Bates, "So what do we do?"
"Shouldn't you be asking me that?" asked Rodney raising a finger and cocking his head to the side, "Aren't I in charge again?"
Bates shook his head, "That's not really the matter at the moment is it. Reverse the lockdown, "he said walking over to the pile of weapons that John had taken off them.
"What are you going to do?" asked Rodney.
"We're going to assemble a team and we're going to go after them," said Bates, "They couldn't have gone far."
"And you think they'll come back voluntarily?" snorted Rodney, "You need to find out what's wrong with them."
"What's this?" said Aiden pointing to a pad of paper beside the console.
All three men peered around the pad of paper and looked at the scrawl upon it.
"What does that say?" asked Rodney snatching it off the table and putting it close to his face.
"Wasn't Major Sheppard sat here before?" asked Aiden excitedly.
"What are you getting at?" asked Bates.
"Doesn't that look like a word?" he said pointing to one section of the paper.
"It looks like a child wrote it," said Bates dismissively.
"Definitely Sheppard's writing then," said Rodney, finding time to smirk.
"It says head," said Carson snatching the page off Rodney.
In the centre of a number of circular scrawls and geometric doodles was the shakily written word.
Rodney grabbed it back off him, "It does."
"Why would he write that?" asked Aiden.
"Sheppard was trying to point us in the right direction," said Carson suddenly.
"Oh please, "said Bates "we don't have time for this?"
"Get us out of lockdown," said Carson suddenly, "I need to get to the infirmary."
"What are you going to do?" asked Aiden rubbing his hands together as Rodney keyed in the code for the doors to open.
"Did you see the way Sheppard kept rubbing at the back of his neck. I've seen Elizabeth do it too and they've both been having headaches since they got back."
"So you're saying you think they have something in their head?" asked Aiden.
"I'm going to have a look at their latest blood and MRI scans," he said passing Teyla as she entered the room with a team behind her. In her wake, other personnel began to enter the room, all whispering and scanning the room for a potential threat still lingering.
"Well don't be long," shouted Rodney.
Teyla approached them at the console and gave Bates a nod, "Should I be concerned?" she asked.
"Long story," said Rodney cutting in before Bates could give her to even longer version. "Elizabeth and John have been taken over by something and they went through the gate…..oh and now we are in self destruct."
"Can you not stop it?" she asked.
"No we've been through this," said Rodney sitting down at the console.
"Can we not evacuate everyone to an alpha site?" asked Teyla leaning against the console.
Bates shook his head, "What alpha site? So far every one we have considered has been compromised. That last one was our best hope and now it seems the Genii have taken it." He paused momentarily.
"Would the mainland not be sufficient?" asked Teyla. "I'm sure my people would accommodate-"
Rodney shook his head, "There's not enough time. We have fifty….no hang on… forty nine minutes and counting until we're dead. Bates is right, we need to get Elizabeth and John back." Rodney gave an involuntary shiver. Agreeing with Bates felt wrong somehow.
"What happens if we don't find them?" said Aiden.
"They were going back to Kolya," said Rodney. He was feeling more and more frustrated with his growing inability to rectify the situation. There was no way he could stop the self destruct. That was the beauty of that particular system, it couldn't be hacked into.
"I still think we should consider evacuation," said Aiden. He turned to Bates, "Right?"
Bates shook his head, "They only have a ten minute start." He shot Teyla a look, "I guess we could start sending some personnel to the mainland,"he said, trying to assert some authority. As head of Atlantis' security detail he felt it was his responsibility now, despite Lt Ford's higher rank, to minimise damage and maintain order.
"You guess," said Rodney throwing his hands up in the air.
"Rodney?"
"Beckett, uh that was quick."
"Aye. Well as I recall we're pushed for time," he said speaking quickly, "I looked at their MRI's and there's a small foreign object at the base of their skulls. I can't believe I missed it before."
"Well you did, "said Rodney, offering no assurance, "So what did you find?"
"I am a competent Doctor you know Rodney?" said Carson, his voice conveying the anger at Rodney's remark.
"Oh I know its not all voodoo," said Rodney, "You have your uses, now what did you find?"
"Nothing," he said.
"Pardon?"
"Their blood is clean, no toxins present in the blood, which indicates the foreign object isn't organic but-"
"Manmade," said Rodney.
The line went silent for a moment.
"The …..object is located in an area which could effect the behavioural pathways and alter their emotional responses. It would definitely explain the strange behaviour that John had been exhibiting and his bout of depression. Not to mention their reoccurring headaches."
"So you're sure it's manmade?" asked Rodney.
"It makes the most sense when everything else turns up clean. Why?"
"Well because then we can get rid of it easily."
"Easily?"
"EM pulse," said Rodney smugly.
"That's your answer for everything." Said Carson
"Hey if it works don't fix it, or something like that" he said, "Look do you have any better ideas?"
"I have to admit I'm stumped. Removing it could be tricky." Carson was silent again. "I'm coming back up to you."
Bates was stood over him and raised an eyebrow, "Could that work?"
"I'm not the genius for nothing," said Rodney, "If its manmade it will be firing some kind of electric pulse, urgo we can disable it,"
"Okay" said Bates, "I need you to set this up quickly, we'll take through a team in a jumper and try to locate them."
"I'll organise a team," said Aiden.
Bates gave a curt nod.
Aiden smiled and gestured to Teyla, "I'll need you, Markham and Stackhouse to take a second jumper."
Teyla smiled weakly and nodded.
"We'll need someone to drive," said Rodney.
Bates nodded, "Who do you have in mind?"
Rodney tapped his earpiece, "Uh Beckett. Hope you're up for a bit of flying today?"
There was a groan from the other end and Rodney nodded, "He'll do it"
"If this doesn't work you realise Atlantis is screwed," said Bates.
Rodney nodded and swallowed hard, "This will work. It makes sense."
---------------------------------------
When John and Elizabeth stepped through the gate on the other side they hadn't expected the welcoming party.
Kolya was flanked by two other men. One was the scientist who John recognised as the man who had delivered the injection to Elizabeth's and his neck. The other was a heavy who had beaten on him more than one occasion.
Kolya was looking at his watch and he raised his head, "Right on schedule," he said stepping forward, "Doctor Weir, Major Sheppard."
Elizabeth and John took a step forward but John continued forward and his fist flew out at Kolya's face. Before he could hit him though he seemed to take control and slid to his knees breathing in and out heavily.
Kolya smiled down at him and then gestured to his scientist friend, "Seems the effects are variable Hollin," he looked up at Elizabeth, "How are you feeling?"
Elizabeth didn't answer.
Hollin knelt down in front of John and took out a small penlight, similar to what Carson used and started to shine it into John's eyes. John flinched away from him but made no attempt to get back up to his feet.
"The chip's not taking hold of this one like it should," he watched as John gritted his jaw together.
Kolya narrowed his eyes, "He's fighting it."
Hollin stood up, "He may be fighting it but he's still here. Conclusive evidence that this technique works."
Kolya clapped the man on the back, "Congratulations Doctor," he said reaching into his pocket and pulling out a syringe, "I want you to make more. I'll see that you are rewarded for your efforts."
Hollin smiled, "Well thank you Sir."
Kolya inspected the syringe momentarily before shoving it back into his pocket. "I've sent my men through to another site," he said walking around John, "Now you've reached the final stage, the Genii need to relocate."
"Final stage?" asked John looking up from the floor.
"You remember being injected?" he asked crouching down in front of John.
John nodded.
"You remember that we gave you instructions?"
John nodded again.
"Instructions?" asked Elizabeth suddenly.
Kolya gave her a fleeting look before returning his gaze back to John, "You're..mission," he said suppressing a smile, "Was to secure information on Earth and to destroy Atlantis." He stood up quickly, "And on completion of handing that information over to me," he paused and smiled, "kill each other."
John's breathing quickened and he managed to push himself up.
"I need you to hand me the data on earth," said Kolya walking forward, palm open.
Elizabeth looked down at the data pad in her hand and considered the situation. She knew why she was here now, knew everything about this state was wrong, but still she found herself stretching her arm out and dropping the data pad into Kolya's hand before she could stop herself.
John's hand flew up to grab at the device but instead his eyes fixed with Elizabeth's. She thought she could see him for a moment and their gaze held a conversation of apology.
Neither of them could stop themselves and that look of comprehension was interrupted.
Simultaneously, Elizabeth reached down and grabbed the Beretta from John's calf holster as he unclipped and cocked his P90. Their weapons were not a match and John knew if he let himself slip, Elizabeth would be far off worse than him.
They stood, guns aimed at each other, panting hard with the exertion of not pulling their respective triggers.
"Don't let me stop you," said Kolya.
John licked his lips and tried to concentrate. This wasn't going to happen. He wasn't going to pull that trigger.
The pain in his neck was making everything seem blurry and the more he tried to focus, the more he felt like he was losing control.
Elizabeth too was beginning to perspire as she looked across at the man she knew she couldn't, wouldn't kill.
"You shouldn't have shown me how to use a gun," she said, straining to keep her voice calm.
John clenched his jaw and nodded, "I told you, you'd need it." A wry smile graced his mouth.
Kolya watched the spectacle and then nodded to Hollins, "Activate the DHD," he said and then to Elizabeth, "How long before Atlantis is destroyed?"
Elizabeth was panting hard and trying not to answer but the words shot out before she could stop them, "forty minutes, maybe less……."
Kolya nodded, "Good," he rubbed his hands together.
"Sir," said Hollins all of a sudden.
Kolya irritated, turned to him, "What is it?"
Kolya realised what he was saying as he heard the familiar whine as the stargate began to initiate a dialling sequence , though not from their end.
"Incoming wormhole," he said taking a step backwards.
"Retreat to cover," Kolya said pulling out his handgun, "It could be wraith."
"It could be their people?" said Hollins.
Kolya shook his head, "Would they be so stupid?"
Hollins nodded, "What about them?"
"Leave them," said Kolya, "They wont hold on much longer, whether or not it is their men." and they ran for cover.
TBC
Hope this doesn't feel rushed. I wanted to get a sense of urgency going. Keep reading and reviewing. Not too many chapters left now.
