DOOM!
A/N: I proceed with plans on the spa. The hot rocks have become a problem. I haven't been able to get any of the yaks to stand still for the entire treatment. They burst free of the 'spa' area and escaped into the steppes. I will encourage their return with tasty yak chow, and then try out the Hot Steamy Mud Bath (tm) on them. Hopefully the burns will have healed by then. Also, seaweed wrap? Where do you expect me to get that? Instead, I have a vat of slime eels making slime. That should be equivalent. You want fragrant oils? I have that spare case of 10W/40 and, during the 'hot rock incident', I managed to obtain some odiferous yak essence. How's that, Julie? Tell me it is sufficient? Why the silence, my dearest? I am confused by the false cows and want only MY Julie! Where have they all come from? Only you, treasured Julie, can explain it all to me. I will continue my work, but have squeezed out a few moments to complete the following chapter. Read it and tell me of your love for me!!
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: BAIT
Sheppard led a team of marines down the corridors. McKay kept up. His pace had markedly improved from when they had first landed in the city so many years ago. Running for your life did that to a person.
McKay spoke to someone on the other end of the radio — Dutch, from the sounds of it. He was shouting about a failed force field. The safety protocols had failed, all of them. The room was flooding. They had people trapped.
They all heard the water rushing into the room over their radios, heard Beckett, Hardaway and Lewis crying for help and groaning when they obviously got spun into debris or scraped along walls. Everyone heard them choke and gasp when sucked under the surface.
Then calls of help from all three abruptly cut off.
Sheppard grabbed the corner of a wall and whipped himself around the bend. He jumped down stairs, skipping three and four at a time. The measured tread of following marines were interrupted by the ungainly footfalls of McKay. Teyla and Ronon both brought up the rear. Water rescue personnel were converging on the flooding section from the West Pier. Miller was already in a jumper and on his way out with a team of divers and medics.
Sheppard kicked off the last step and continued down yet another hallway. The fetid stench of stagnant water became more and more powerful.
Lives were on the line.
No one wanted to dredge for bodies.
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Carson broke the surface, wild eyed, fighting the violent churn of water. He dragged in huge desperate gasps of breath, choking on salt water and air combined. Battling currents pulled on his clothing. His sneakers and socks were gone. He gripped tightly to an anchored piece of stairway, hoping to keep himself from being sucked under again with the turbulent currents or banged against walls. His head rung from the last impact.
He spotted Dr. Hardaway across the room, latched desperately to the dangling railing of the third balcony. Her dark hair was a sharp contrast to the greenish, foamy water that swirled around her. The sound of rushing water dimmed as the ocean quickly filled in the open dead space.
Beckett searched the area around him and found Eugene Lewis clinging desperately to piece of twisted staircase. The scientist lay on his belly, hands gripping tightly to the outer edge of the stairs. His chest collapsed and rose with each heaving breath.
Both were alive. Thank God.
Carson felt the water still rising around him. He wasn't up high enough. It inched steadily past his shoulders, then mid neck, his chin. He was forced to let go of his handhold.
Currents buffeted him, threatening to suck him down as a mini vortex was created and ebbed away. He panicked, clawing and struggling within the current, trying to beat it, but realizing how futile it truly was.
Something large bumped his leg. A dark fin slid away from him.
Carson froze. His breaths became truncated and short. Water lapped up over his face, submerging him for a moment. His hands lost their hold on the railing, and he broke free, spitting water and coughing. Shite!
Currents pushed him closer to the sheer walls, scraped him along them with just enough speed to keep him from gaining purchase. Crap, crap, crap! He was going to go under again!
Over his head, he heard Hardaway shouting for Eugene to grab hold of him as currents swung him near. Bless her heart!
Carson brushed past Lewis. The scientist reached out, trying desperately to grab a hold of the physician, but the turbulent currents sucked Beckett under just as Eugene's hand would have closed over his shoulder. He struggled to the surface, smashing his head against the underside of a railing. He fumbled for it, grabbing it and holding on for dear life. Thank God.
Relentless swirls of water tore at him, jerked him about, and threatened to suck him under. He hooked an arm up over the railing and latched onto his wrist with his other hand. With that leverage, he struggled and lifted his legs, draping one bare foot over the banister and then locked it securely with his left foot.
Something scraped along his back. He whipped his head to the side and watched as the large triangular black fin slid effortlessly against the current and headed toward Kelly.
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Sheppard slid to a stop outside the closed door to flooded section. A data port sat next to the door controls, another reminder of the multiple redundant safety protocols the Ancients utilized to keep the city safe. They had computer access to the room from out here. No fresh seawater dampened the floor. The door remained watertight.
"McKay?" Sheppard directed.
"Working on it," Rodney snapped back. He tapped furiously at his tablet while barking at his minions over the radio. Without looking up, he pulled down the cover to the data portal and effortlessly connected his tablet to wall.
"McKay!" the colonel urged.
"Working!" Rodney bit back just as aggressively. Without looking up, he furiously typed one handed on his keyboard, while he supported the tablet on his other forearm. "Come on, come on, come on…." he whispered. His fingers flashed across the keys. His eyes darted remarkably fast, left and right as he read lines of codes. "Almost, almost…." Even one-handed, he never hit the backspace key. His eyes remained focused solely on the screen.
"Got it!" Rodney shouted, snapping his head up and staring triumphantly at Sheppard.
"You sure?" the colonel asked. He directed his teams to either side of the door. Just in case the water had reached this height and, if it came rushing out, at least it wouldn't take them down in its immediate flush.
"Yes, yes! The force field is up. No more water coming in or going out." McKay beamed with pride and impatience. "I've got firewalls up. He's not going to get it down again!"
Sheppard hesitated.
"Do it!" McKay demanded. Those were his people in that flooded room, his minions, and a good friend. He stared at the life sign's detector. It flashed multitudes of life. Impossible. There was sea life in there. "Go! Go! Go!" Rodney shouted impatiently.
The colonel and the rest of his teams flattened themselves against the walls. The door slid open. The floor remained dry. As a group they rushed onto the upper balcony of the giant room….and froze.
Hardaway was screaming. It was a frightful high-pitched scream that sounded inhuman at the same time as being woefully human. Sheppard recognized the type of scream and snapped his P-90 up and ready.
Her cries gargled out and dimmed, revealing Lewis's desperate shouting and pounding the water.
The colonel began firing his P-90 at the large black finned creature as it snapped itself left and right tearing Hardaway from her hold of the banister. Her ponytail swung wildly side-to-side. Her face had frozen in a silent scream. She disappeared beneath the suddenly darkening, red discolored water.
Lewis's horrified screams softened and stuttered to halt.
Small waves lapped against the walls and broke against the third floor balcony. Grotesque water spilled up onto the dry floor, staining it deep crimson.
McKay stood beside Sheppard and gaped.
Two feet below them, ocean water rippled. The bright light of a setting sun skipped across the surface. Pieces of furniture floated about, bobbing on the surface. The once cavernous room was filled with ocean water. One giant glass wall was missing. Debris floated in the water buffeted about by now gentle and diminishing currents.
The re-established force field kept the ocean at bay, but trapped their people within easy reach of a large predator.
Lewis clung to a floating staircase, his legs and feet curled up out of the water. He laid belly down, head and neck cranked up as he searched the water with wide wild eyes.
Sheppard noted him, saw that he was alive and out of the water, almost. The colonel swept the damaged room and found Beckett clinging to another railing his back curving down into the water. Beckett had remained ominously silent and completely still. Shock?
Suddenly, the railing gave, pulling from its anchor in the wall and dropping closer to the water's surface. The physician's grip tightened on the railing, trying furtively to raise himself up out of the water.
"Shit." Sheppard whispered. "Hold on, Carson!" he ordered.
"Fantastic advice, Colonel." McKay bit, his fear finding a familiar outlet in anger.
Sheppard ignored McKay and radioed Miller, "Where are you, Sergeant?"
"Just coming around the west pier."
"Well, hurry up," McKay interrupted.
Just as he spoke, the railing gave completely and Beckett splashed into the water, with the banister still locked within his grip. He bobbed up. Panic seared his features as he floated silently, nudged about by the small waves. The black fin broke the surface and cut smoothly in the direction of the doctor.
Lewis screamed for Beckett.
Ronon fired his blaster. Red energy surged and snapped over the water's surface, dissipating its energy before reaching either Beckett or Lewis. The fin diverted on its course and disappeared.
"Carson, help's coming," Teyla promised.
"Can you take the force field down?" A marine asked.
"Yes, but it won't help," McKay snapped.
"Why?" Sheppard asked without taking his eyes off the two men in the water.
"Would you leave?" McKay asked incredulously. Guilt flooded him. "That thing isn't leaving even if we put up an Exit sign! It's like bobbing for apples in there!"
Beckett merely floated belly down in the water, keeping still.
The fin re-emerged. This time it sliced the surface heading for the detached floating staircase where Lewis clung. The stricken scientist saw it coming and pushed backwards, and he fell into the water on the far side. Bobbing back up, the scientist started paddling desperately for the balcony just a few yards beyond his reach. The current pulled the other way.
"Stop! Stop, Lewis!" Rodney shouted. "Play dead! Like Carson!"
Sheppard and his marines began firing at the water.
Too terrified to listen, Eugene continued to paddle, gaining little headway against the current. His hand grabbed at the staircase again. Suddenly, the fin disappeared and a few tense seconds later the floating stairs exploded upward. Eugene was flung from his purchase and landed with an ominous splash even further from the raised balcony.
Lewis broke the surface, shaking his head. Without hesitation, he began swimming desperately in the direction of McKay.
"No! Eugene, stop!" Teyla shouted with the others.
Lewis however, saw his goal. He swam past Beckett, who floated in amongst debris and flotsam.
"Eugene, stop. Just float man," Carson whispered.
The fin never re-appeared.
Eugene simply disappeared. A great air bubble, followed by thousands of pink colored tiny bubbles took his place. A great desperate, muffled scream surged just under the water.
The water calmed. The dis-colorization diluted itself and the sound of water lapping at Colonel Sheppard's feet filled the area.
Beckett floated on his stomach, chin in the water, staring straight ahead at McKay and then Sheppard, afraid to move...and become the shark's third meal of the day.
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McKay rubbed his face. This was his fault. He'd trapped them. He just witnessed the violent demise of two of his scientists. Two more associates. Not friends. He didn't make friends with his minions, but those two weren't so bad.
They were tolerable on a good day and even not so good days. He had never threatened to send them back to Earth. He even knew their names—Hardaway, who had come through with them all three years ago, and Lewis, who had been here since the Daedalus first showed up. They had been capable and now they were gone.
But Carson was a friend — in trouble — alive.
Rodney stared at the flooded room before him and returned Beckett's stare. The man hadn't even blinked. He floated in the water just meters from them, which might as well have been miles. The black fin abruptly appeared to Beckett's left. Rodney watched as Carson's eyes swiveled and fixed on the sudden movement.
"Don't move, Carson!" Sheppard ordered.
Beckett remained still his eyes fixed on McKay.
The fin was nearly upon Beckett. The dark silhouette just below the surface dwarfed the doctor. It curved and bent its body effortlessly traveling though the room. Just as it reached Beckett it slapped its head to the side and then darted away.
Beckett was jerked roughly to the left. He yelped, squeezing his eyes closed, but remained still even as P-90 fire whistled through the water all around him.
"Hold your fire!" Sheppard held up his fist, commanding the others to stop. The room fell deathly silent. The smell of gun smoke mingled with the heavy stench of seawater.
Sunlight gleamed through the broken window at a shallow angle, casting shadows over the water. Beckett bobbed silently in the small swells surrounded by debris.
"Carson?" Sheppard called.
Beckett simply floated, unmoving with his eyes squeezed closed. From the balcony edge, nervous eyes examined the water. There was no telltale darkening of water. No blood.
"Doc?" Ronon shouted. Carson remained unmoving and unresponsive. Water gently buffeted him left and right while crests and swells lifted and lowered him. "Beckett!" Dex commanded sharply.
Carson opened his eyes. They glistened with moisture.
"We can throw him a line," A marine offered.
"We move him, that thing will find him," Rodney stated.
"We've got to try," Sheppard responded.
"It has surfaced again," Teyla stated with quiet alarm.
The giant fin slid into view to the right of Beckett and easily closed the distance. It veered sharply to the left circling to the front of the physician before disappearing under the water. It left no mark of its passing on the surface.
Carson carefully moved his arms and pulled himself through the water toward the balcony's edge. He kicked his legs for a little extra propulsion.
"No, Carson! Stop!" McKay ordered.
The fin reappeared to the doctor's left only to disappear immediately.
"Sir, the rope?"
"Do it." Sheppard nodded in agreement to the marine's idea and in rebuttal to Rodney's previous protest.
Ronon took the rope from the marine, hefted it, gauging its weight as he took a step back. The Satedan stepped forward, tossing the rope out over the water. The white and blue rope sailed just beneath the ceiling, slowly uncoiling itself and landed with a splash beside Carson.
Beckett flinched, but slowly reached for the sinking rope.
"Carson! Here's the deal. We're going to tug you in, so just hold on," Sheppard ordered.
The physician simply gathered the rope into his left hand and waited.
"McKay, what's the life signs detector say?" Sheppard asked. He gathered a length of rope just behind Ronon. Two marines grabbed the end of the rope.
"Nothing, I can't tell a thing. Everything reads the same."
"We have it, sir. It just swam in front of us," Miller stated from the submersed puddle jumper they couldn't see.
"Okay steady, people. This is a 'no wake zone'." Sheppard turned his attention to Beckett. "Doc! Hold tight. We're going to get you out of this."
With steady hand-over-hand, the group began towing Beckett toward their balcony. They were cautious at first, steady and slow.
"It's moving, sir," Miller warned.
The others slackened the tension on the rope, allowing Beckett to simply drift. His body submerged a little deeper under the surface, leaving just his head and shoulders visible.
The fin broke the surface to Beckett's right. The dark silhouette lazily made its way toward the Scot.
Carson squeezed his eyes closed.
People held their breath. The silhouette curved away toward the far broken glass wall and disappeared. The brittle silence that reigned was broken by radio communication. "It's back down with us, sir," Miller intoned.
The tension on the rope resumed. The steady, easy pull became quicker with each moment Beckett drew closer.
He was merely feet from the edge of the balcony when Sergeant Miller's voice rang through their radios. "Sir, it's heading toward you! Fast! It's coming at you fast!"
Eyes snapped up from the line. Hand over frantic hand, people heaved on the rope, leaning forward and throwing themselves backward, putting all their strength into hauling Beckett closer. Beckett cut through the water, his arms outstretched. As he drew closer to the edge, his wake became wider, created bigger waves.
"Sir!" Miller shouted a warning.
Carson's eyes widened. He desperately began kicking with his legs as the ledge came within reach. Ronon and Sheppard let go of the rope and together they dove forward reaching down into the water and latching onto Carson's shoulders, back and shorts. They hauled him upward, throwing themselves back against the flooring, scattering marines and Teyla. Beckett curled his legs up, twisting onto his side as he rolled onto Dex and Sheppard's outstretched legs.
The shark shot up out of the water running parallel to the balcony flooring, mouth open and teeth grating along the lip of the balcony. It slid its teeth along Beckett's lower leg, slicing skin. He screamed, pulling his legs up and away from the razor sharp teeth, blood streaming in their wake.
People shouted and swore, scrambling back from the ledge, dragging Carson further from the water. The group froze, chests heaving in a tangled mass on the puddled balcony floor. Heavy breaths, bordering on panic mingled with relief, filled the air.
"Sir? You get him, sir?" Miller asked. "Sir? Did you get Dr. Beckett, sir?"
"Yeah, Yeah, we got him. We got him." Sheppard rolled onto his stomach, pushing himself free. He climbed wearily to his feet. His clothes clung to him in a spotty manner, splotched with ocean water and blood. He stared at the blood on his jacket and down at Beckett, who was still partially hidden under bodies.
Ronon reached down in amongst the group, grabbed Beckett by the front of his soaked t-shirt and hefted him upright, and seated him against the wall.
"Doc, you want to tell me just what the hell happened down here?" Sheppard squatted next to the physician's outstretched leg, eying the neat fresh gash that ran from just above his ankle to his knee. Blood glistened on the freshened edges of torn skin. Miraculously, it was only a flesh wound, but it had to hurt like a son of a bitch.
Sheppard shucked out of his jacket and pressed it over the wound. Carson didn't react as he slipped to the side only to be grabbed by Rodney and pushed upright.
"Eugene and Kelly figured out who the hacker is," Beckett whispered. He rubbed shaking hands over his face. His white ear buds dangled from his iPod and strung down into the puddle forming on the floor around him.
McKay and Sheppard stared at one another and then Beckett, who still sat with his face buried in his pruned hands.
McKay nudged Beckett's shoulder impatiently. "Who?"
Carson looked up at the two men. "I don't know. They said something about the surveillance footage of the jumper wash, and the jumper bay. He…the hacker is a man…he was there in both places." He blinked slowly.
Both Sheppard and McKay hissed at the unequal pupils. Not good. Not good at all.
Something just over their shoulders caught Carson's eye. It seemed so out of place in such an old abandoned part of the city. He stared over their shoulders at the ceiling. It was the shiny newness of it that caught his attention. He gently cocked his head to the side and continued to stare at the tiny black surveillance camera tucked up in a dry corner of the room.
Sheppard, McKay and the others followed Beckett's uneven stare. The camera moved on its tiny bearings and settled in on the group. The lens telescoped out just a little, the tiny gears humming just above a whisper.
Beckett finally whispered, "Why would he do such a thing?" With that, Carson melted to the side into a puddle of unconsciousness.
TBC
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A/N: Ha! I love this chapter. You do too. Let me know.