Author's Note: Sorry about the delay in posting. I was pretty darn sick. I hope you like this next chapter. I'm hoping to finish the story this weekend. Thanks so much for reading!
Kono glanced at the large clock … again. Where were they? She sighed loudly and resumed pacing.
Her cousin, Chin, smiled but kept his eyes on the paperwork he was trying to get caught up. "Relax, Cuz. They'll get here when they get here."
"But where are they?" She asked.
"They probably just took Team Confidential to their hotel."
"No, they're probably running down a lead or something. Damn it. Danny gets to do all the fun stuff with Steve."
Chin smiled again, "I'm sure he'd love to trade places with you."
Kono frowned briefly. "I didn't mean that I don't… I mean, I like being partnered with you. I'm not saying I don't."
"Even though I've never even been tempted to blow up a convenience store cage with a live grenade?"
Kono smiled. "Yeah, I guess."
"Don't worry, Cuz. You're not hurting my feelings. You and Steve have a lot in common. You're both so intense."
Kono frowned. She'd never thought of herself as being anything like Steve. He was so confident, so sure of everything he did. She still hesitated when she had to turn the siren on. She hated double checking everything but she hated the idea of screwing something up even more.
"And that," Chin said, interrupting her train of thought, "is why it's a good thing he's teamed up with Danny and you're teamed up with me. I really don't wanna see what kind of damage you two would do together."
"Yeah?" Kono said, smirking. "At least we'd get something done, old man. If we teamed you and Danny up all you'd do is paperwork." She playfully smacked the folder he was holding.
"If you and Steve were teamed up, we'd need two people doing nothing but paperwork because there'd be a pile of it every time you walked out the door." He snapped back, swatting her with the abused folder.
She grinned, her eyes narrowing and she had started scanning the room for projectiles when the main doors burst open.
"Exactly who are you talking to?" Danny was asking loudly. "Because I'm guessing it isn't someone local which is what we need. Local PD. As in, HPD! As in, what I've been saying since we left… wherever the hell we were. Hello? Are you listening to me?"
The woman, Teyla Emmagen was talking on a phone and, apparently, ignoring Danny. What really caught Kono's attention was who was with them. She glanced at the picture on the wall mounted screen to be make sure but, yep, it was Jeanie Miller.
"Look, what was your name again?" Jeanie was saying to Danny.
"DETECTIVE Danny Williams."
"Okay, detective. I know this is hard for you to understand since you've done a lot of talking and not much listening on the way over here but Teyla has access to resources you cannot imagine. So, please, SHUT UP…" The woman took a deep calming breath and Kono noted that Danny's eyebrows were raised. "Just shut up for a minute and let her do her job."
"Okay." Danny said quietly, then after a moment's hesitation. "You know, you sound a lot like your brother sometimes."
"I'll take that as a compliment." Jeanie said shortly.
"It wasn't meant as one." Danny muttered.
"Excuse me?" Kono finally decided to jump in. "What the hell is going on?"
Danny smiled but it was the big showy smile he used when he was particularly annoyed at something. "We found her. But, unfortunately, we lost her brother. Steve and the rest of the Scooby Gang went to rescue him from a large compound guarded by many heavily armed men all by themselves and Princess Shera here won't let me call HPD for back up."
Kono looked back to Teyla who was still speaking quietly on the phone and ignoring everyone in the room.
Kono shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. "Wait, what hap- I mean, how did we find Mrs. Miller?"
"Mer found me. The other guy, Steve, he followed Mer and they both got caught but Steve figured a way out but Mer couldn't make it through and he..Mer said..we left him. He said he'd catch up and someone needed to get out to get help in case..and then we ran into John and Ronon and Teyla and … this guy. Steve, John and Ronon went back to get Mer and we came here. Teyla's talking to … someone in charge about making sure there isn't any trouble with Steve and him" She jerked her head in Danny's direction "… knowing what they know and to see if there's anything they can do to help." Jeanie said, tripping over her words.
It suddenly occurred to Kono that this woman had been held against her will for weeks, had just made a harrowing escape and had just lost her brother.
"Mrs. Miller?" She said, approaching her. "Why don't you sit down? I'm sure you want to call your family and let them know you're alright."
The woman's head snapped up. "Oh." She said, stunned. "Yes, please. Oh, thank you!"
Kono glared at Danny who suddenly looked shame faced. "Oh, yeah. Um, sorry. Right. Right. Do you like coffee?"
"Yes, I agree. Thank you so much, General, for your understanding and please tell Colonel Carter I look forward to visiting with her." Teyla's conversation was audible in the sudden silence. "Thank you again, sir. Have a pleasant day."
She disconnected the call. "I am very happy to inform you that I have been authorized to tell you whatever information I deem necessary in order to support Colonel Sheppard's attempt to secure the release of Rodney."
"Okay, what the hell is going on?" Danny asked.
"I am not from your world." Teyla said abruptly. "I am not, in fact, from your galaxy. Dr. Mckay and Colonel Sheppard are part of a group of Earthlings that have taken up residence in Atlantis, a city built by an Ancient alien race in my galaxy, Pegasus. For this reason, people of Earth are known as Lantians throughout Pegasus. The Lantians are there defending my people, and the people of many other worlds from a race called The Wraith. The Wraith are a highly aggressive predatory alien race and the humans of Pegasus have been their prey for millennia. You Lantians have generously decided to help us defend ourselves from the Wraith but not all of you who are aware of their existence think this wise. The Trust, as it is called, operates outside the official organizations of Earth and often does unpleasant things in their efforts to protect Earth. In this case, their plans involved kidnapping Dr. Mckay and forcing him to assist them though we are unsure why. Your friend, Ronon and John Sheppard are involved in a mission to rescue Dr. Mckay and take into custody the members of the Trust operating on this island. Have I explained everything clearly? Do you have any questions?"
Kono wondered if something had gone wrong in her brain. She'd heard all the words. They were definitely English. They just didn't make any sense. She was still trying to work through the speech in her mind when a blinding flash of light filled the room.
Kono closed her eyes and raised her hands against the glare. When she brought them down five people in air force uniforms were standing in the middle of the main room.
One of them, a blond woman, smiled and greeted Teyla while Kono's mind attempted to unspool.
"Hello, Colonel Carter. It is very good to see you again." Teyla said and inclined her head.
"Hi, Sam." Jeanie said from her seat and Kono saw she now had Danny's cell phone.
"Hello, Teyla." Carter strode across the room and grasped Jeanie's shoulder. "Jeanie!" She knelt and gave the woman a hug. "I was so worried. I'm so glad you're okay. You are okay, right?"
Jeanie nodded briskly but her brow was wrinkled.
"Don't worry, we'll get him."
Jeanie nodded again, her lips clamped together.
"Excuse me." Chin's voice was that incredible combination of soft and strong Kono admired so much. It was that deep tone that seemed so unassuming yet impossible to ignore. Kono's flash of admiration was followed by an equally brief flash of irritation. Her voice would never command such basic and simple respect.
"I've just been told something, well something that's a little hard to swallow. No offense intended." He nodded at Teyla who smiled and nodded back.
"No offense is taken, Chin Ho Kelly. I understand this must be very difficult for you to understand."
Chin frowned a bit. "It is. But my chief concern is for Steve..and, of course, for your friends. You said McKay had been captured and Steve was part of a rescue mission. Where is this?"
"Yeah," Kono spoke up. "And more importantly, what can we do to help?"
Carter looked at Kono for the first time and smiled. Kono recognized that smile. It told her that Carter knew she was a rookie. Somehow they always knew. Chin had warned her when she was in the Academy. "When you graduate, remember, you're still going to be a rookie for a while. Everyone else will remember, and they can always tell. There's just something about rookies, it's like new car smell. Nobody knows what it is exactly but everybody recognizes it."
"Do you have their coordinates?" Teyla asked. "Can we beam a team to assist them?"
Carter sighed. "We know roughly where they are but its dense vegetation. The nearest space open enough to set down a team is miles away from the field and the field is a good two miles from the compound. Without someone with the ATA gene shutting off the shield, we can't beam anyone down into the compound. We could bring down the shield pretty easily with the firepower on my ship but I'd never get that authorized. Too much exposure. I wouldn't do it even if I could. We could hurt or kill our people when the shield comes down. That compound isn't exactly a hive ship. It's a pretty small target."
Kono frowned. "If Steve and those other guys are in the compound, doesn't that mean the shield is down?"
Carter seemed a bit surprised that Kono was participating but nodded, "No, our scanners once again show nothing in the area."
"Why would your people bring the shield back up? Wasn't all hope of secrecy pretty much lost?"
Carter smiled. "I imagine it was but the people in the compound have control of the shield."
Kono could feel herself blushing. Of course the men in control of the compound would bring the shield back online.
Carter was smiling sympathetically. "It takes a minute to get used to all this sci fi stuff." She said. "That is, though, why we need someone on the ground. They need to not only bring the shield down but keep it down long enough for our support teams to beam in."
"So, the problem is getting someone with this ATA thing to the shield fast, right?" Kono asked.
Carter nodded, "Yes. The quicker the better. This is probably going to be over one way or another very quickly and the odds of it ending in a way we'd like go up much higher if we can get our people some support quickly."
Chin smiled at Kono. She was following one of his rules. If something is overwhelming you, break it down. Most scenarios boil down to a pretty simple problem when you break them down.
"Do you have one of these ATA people here?" Kono asked.
A short woman in a uniform that seemed slightly different from those around her raised her hand.
"Datta be me, Cher." She said with a smile. "Lt. Hébert."
Kono nodded at her. "Do you need to be on the ground to…uh…to do whatever it is you're going to do?"
The woman smiled. "Nah, donneeda be. Whachu tinkin der, Cher?"
Kono smiled back. "I'm thinking I'm glad Steve's been giving me flying lessons."