Chapter 21

Several hours after he set to work, Radek emerged triumphantly from the Genii laboratory with a transmitter powerful enough to do what they needed. The little man looked exhausted, his hair wilder than ever, and Teyla quickly settled him back into a chair near the stove in what had been designated their waiting area and made him a strong cup of tea. The scientist accepted it gratefully, as Ladon appeared in the doorway.

'I just received news that the work is complete,' he said, looking eagerly at the device Ronon now held safely tucked under his arm.

'That is correct,' Teyla nodded, resting her hand on Radek's shoulder. 'Dr Zelenka worked harder and faster than he thought possible and now we are ready for the next phase of the operation.'

'Yes...the next phase,' Ladon repeated, checking his timepiece. 'I'm afraid you're going to have to be patient. According to my sources Atrasca is some way behind us in terms of time. Everyone there will be sleeping.'

'So we take them by surprise,' Ronon grunted, obviously seeing no problem with the misaligned time frames.

'But we have no need to take them by surprise, my friend,' Ladon grinned, slapping him on the back. 'The whole idea is that we approach them with confidence and certainty...there's no reason for us to skulk in the shadows.'

Ronon glared at him. The Genii might be looking to drag some begrudging friendship from him, but Ronon was not about to give him it easily, that much was perfectly clear.

'So I'm afraid we all need to be patient for a few hours longer,' Ladon continued, ignoring Ronon's fierce stare. 'You should all get some more rest. Perhaps while you do I could take the device and test it some more to make certain it will do the job required to make our plan successful.'

He reached out toward the transmitter, but Ronon twitched it a few inches further away from him. 'It stays with us,' he growled, eyes still fixed on the wiry Genii officer.

Ladon stepped back and regarded them all, nodding knowingly. 'You don't trust us with it.'

'No...we don't,' Ronon told him, matter-of-fact.

Teyla cringed inside, fearing Ronon might be pushing Ladon too far. 'We are sorry, Ladon, and I am certain your intentions are honourable, but recent events have left us...wary. We would hate to lose what is now our only possible advantage against the race that has stolen our home, and your scientists might inadvertently break it if they work on it unsupervised,' she explained, soothing the mounting tension.

In the flickering lamplight, she could see Ladon was angry, perhaps even offended, but after a moment he seemed to relent, nodding. 'That is understandable. You can keep hold of it if you are sure it will work when we need it to.'

'I am certain it will,' Radek suddenly piped up, taking a sip from his steaming hot drink. 'I have tested it several times already.'

'All right,' Ladon said, glancing at Ronon again now. 'Even if you are not willing to trust me I will trust you. But then, I have far less to lose. Rest now; I'll come for you when we are ready to depart.'

Ronon followed him to the door, closing it behind him. 'You think he will?' he asked, turning to face her.

'If he does it is no thanks to you, Ronon,' Teyla snapped, taking the device from him and setting it down beside Radek's chair. 'He is helping us in the hopes it will gain him some favour with us. Some gratitude would not go amiss since we need his assistance.'

'Gratitude? You said yourself that you thought he would take advantage of the situation if he could,' Ronon reminded her, surprised by her annoyance with him.

'And I still believe that, so it is up to us to ensure we do not present im with a window of opportunity. And we should also try to be civil until that situation arises.' She stopped and took a deep, cleansing breath before continuing. 'I understand your anger with Ladon after what happened to Colonel Sheppard at Kolya's hands, but we need him, Ronon. We need him, and hopefully the sense that he owes us something will mean he does not try to trick us at this vulnerable time. This could be our only chance to recapture the city, and the device from Guedeseo if the Atrascans have it. We must not waste it on petty feuds. '

His green eyes fixed on hers a while, then he backed down, deferring to her as he so often did. 'I'm sorry. I'll keep it in check from now on.'

'Thank you, Ronon. That is all I ask,' she smiled, taking his huge hand in hers. 'Atlantis needs us to be strong and wise in this endeavour. We must stay calm, and then I am certain we will prevail.'

He nodded dropping his forehead to hers in the way he knew Athosians showed their friendship and respect. She took the gesture as it was meant – sincerely and as an offer of apology. Then the big man picked a spot in the corner of the room, sat down on the floor and, folding his arms, closed his eyes. In a matter of minutes he was asleep, despite the chatter around him.

Lorne sidled over to Teyla, tipping his head Ronon's way. 'Gotta envy the way he can do that.'

But Teyla didn't envy it at all. She knew it was a skill born of need during his seven years as a runner – snatching sleep as and when he could, never resting for long. And that was where his anger came from, too, a burning fury that never totally left him. After everything he'd been through Ronon found it hard to trust anyone. It wasn't paranoia. It was more than that – something that was soul deep and instinctive, and rarely ever wrong.

She smiled at Lorne now, trying to hide the pity she knew Ronon would hate her to feel for him. 'It is better that he rests well. Tomorrow we may need to call on his strength and stamina, and a rested Ronon is formidable indeed.'

'I can believe that,' Lorne chuckled, picking a spot himself now to settle for a while. 'Mind you, you're not too shabby yourself.'

That brought an even wider smile to her face, and she sat down on the hearth beside the stove, leaning against the rough stone wall and shifting until she found a position where it didn't dig into her back too much. Sleep would be difficult, but she was tired and knew whatever small amount she could get would benefit her. And so she drifted off to thoughts of reclaiming Atlantis – Elizabeth, John and the others welcoming them back with open arms. With any luck, that dream would soon come true.

oooOOOooo

Sarayah sat with Sheppard a long while after he'd been deposited back in his room. She'd allowed Beckett to examine him there, but wouldn't consider his request, or rather his plea, to allow him to take the colonel back to the infirmary. She'd told him that with Parhaadon in his current mood he would be watching them closely, so it was vital they showed no signs of conspiracy that would give him an excuse to punish them, especially since it was clear Sheppard could not take much more punishment in his current state.

She had found a wash cloth in the bathroom and soaked it in cold water, dabbing Sheppard's feverish brow to cool it down and make him more comfortable while he recovered. Beckett had been concerned about his raised temperature, so she relieved him of his T-shirt and bathed his chest as well, noticing as she did so the silvery scars lacing his skin from the lashing he'd taken in Afghanistan. They were numerous – some wider than others and thick with scar tissue, but each one a considerable mark. She could easily gauge the force behind them and knew they had been delivered with true fury. He deserved it, a voice whispered in the back of her mind. She pretended not to hear it.

She traced the scars with her fingertips, noticing then the fresh skin growing over the feeding mark left behind from the Wraith used to torture him. The creature had been huge, his hand broad and powerful, and no matter how wide she spread her fingers she couldn't fit her own hand to the whole mark. Regardless of that the contact elicited a response. Sheppard shifted in his sleep, groaning, making her snatch her hand back and wait for him to settle again. He did so quite quickly and she was thankful he hadn't actually awoken. It gave her time to explore his body further.

What Sheppard didn't know was that she had been in that warehouse facility, lurking in the shadows, watching from hiding places she'd taken the time to find before Kolya had even set up his base there. At first she'd thought to rescue him before the agony could be inflicted, thinking this might win his favour, but as time had gone on, and the event had neared, she'd found herself compelled to watch him stand up to the torture. And when he'd thrown back his head and screamed it had moved her in ways she could never have imagined, not only because of the pure terror and pain that scream represented, but because she knew he had put himself in Kolya's hands in the full knowledge of what the man would do to him. Sheppard was capable of withstanding tortures far beyond anything she'd ever witnessed, and seeing it firsthand, rather than through the dreams she'd had throughout her life, awakened feelings within her she'd been desperately denying since his whipping at Kaymah's hands. The voices had told her he deserved that, too, but she hadn't wanted to believe them. He'd been protecting someone, and Kolya's choice of torture had been cruel in the extreme. Surely there could be no justification for it.

He humiliated the man, unseated him from a position of power, just as he did to you on Medulsa, a voice hissed.

She gritted her teeth and refused to listen.

She sponged the sweat from Sheppard's torso, and as the cloth moved lower she spotted another scar, this time coming from his back and wrapping around to the front of his hip just above his waistband. It was one of the scars from Medulsa. Her heart leapt at the sight of it, and she touched the raised welt, following its course until she reached the point where his back met the mattress. She recalled pulling tight the chains between his wrists, levering him into place on the beheading block with all her weight and strength and watching him desperately try to contain his fear of the punishment soon to be dealt to him. But his eyes, always so expressive, hadn't been able to hide his true feelings. Each jerk on those chains as the whip had hit home had filled her with...with what? She couldn't describe what it was this man made her feel, all she knew was that it was addictive and she would never be able to satiate her need for his suffering. She would always be hungry for more. She'd felt like a creature possessed. But that was wrong...that was what the other Sarayah had wanted. That would only lead to her downfall.

She ordered the lights to brighten to enable her to see his scars more clearly, feeling a sense of satisfaction when they responded to her instruction. So this was what it was like to be John Sheppard, a descendent of the Ancestors. It was just a small taste of the experience she'd seen in her dreams, the moments when her future self had taken over his body in Afghanistan, but it was a connection of sorts, and it made her feel closer to him somehow. She climbed onto the bed now, laying on top of him and pressing her ear to his chest, listening to his laboured breathing and the drum of his heart. The feel of his skin was overwhelming to her senses. She stroked his arms, his chest, his neck, his face, feeling her ardour rise and her desire for him swell. Slithering higher up his body she examined his relaxed features, composed and devoid of mistrust. He'd been looking at her differently of late, something close to this at times, though marred by worry at the invasion of his home. But she realised now that this didn't please her as much as she'd thought it would. Throughout her childhood she'd imagined making things different between the two of them this time, of making him like her and of forming a friendship that could eventually blossom into something more. But in these past few days of his passive agreement only one moment had excited her – the moment he'd yelled at her for telling Elizabeth about her impending death. Their current lack of conflict left an emptiness inside her that ached incessantly. Only imaginings of his pain and resentment eased it.

He deserves your anger, that little voice rasped. But she didn't feel anger toward him. It wasn't that...

She pressed her lips against his, his mouth soft, warm, unresponsive...and utterly unsatisfying. She needed resistance; she needed him growling at her to stay back, to get her hands off him, to go to hell...no...no...that wasn't it. She wasn't like that!

He stirred again and this time she could tell he was rousing. She thought about staying there, of allowing him to wake and find her on top of him, of taking advantage of his vulnerability no matter how much he pleaded, then stopped herself. What was she thinking? That wasn't the way to win his heart. She clambered off him and arranged herself in the seat beside his bed, retrieving the abandoned cloth and bathing his forehead again as his eyes at last flickered open, only for him to instantly cover them with his hand. The lights dimmed to what had to be a more bearable level for his condition before he moved it away again and blinked himself fully awake.

She dabbed his forehead. 'How are you feeling?'

He startled, and the look he gave her was so reminiscent of past dreamt of encounters that for a moment she wondered if he had somehow lost trust in her again. Then the panic left him and he gave her a feeble smile. 'I see I didn't make it to the infirmary...again.'

'Dr Beckett treated you here before returning to his work.'

He propped himself up on his elbows, swallowing hard as if he was feeling nuseous again. 'What'd he say?'

'That you should rest.'

He huffed out a laugh. 'Yeah, 'cos that's done me so much good so far.'

'How would you know?' she asked, swiping the cloth down the burning skin along his collar bone. 'I doubt you've given yourself time to properly rest at all.'

It seemed her action made him aware of the fact he was only partially clothed, and he self-consciously covered himself, drawing his blanket up higher on his chest. 'How long have I been out?'

'A few hours. I'm sure it will have done you no harm.'

He looked around the room, spotting his shirt hanging on the back of her chair as she leaned forward to cool his forehead.

'Could you pass me that?'

Though she had truly appreciated the view she knew to refuse would make him suspicious. 'Of course. But you're running a temperature, so if you get too hot you should probably take it off again.'

'Yeah, I will.'

He sat up and tried to tug the T-shirt over his head, but was so weak she had to help him into it. He muttered his thanks, but seemed uncomfortable with her touches. Something had shifted between them. Had she pushed him too hard? Maybe she should play it coy for a while rather than always reaching for his kisses.

'Now you're awake I'll give you some time alone,' she told him, dropping the damp cloth onto his nightstand. 'Parhaadon will be glad to hear you're conscious again and I promised I would let him know as soon as you came to.'

'Okay...so...I'll see you next time you need my genes, right?' he asked, sliding down further under his covers and looking like he regretted having said that.

She smiled, backing up to the door. 'I'm sure Parhaadon can be persuaded to give you peace for the rest of the day at least.'

'Well, since the power is failing and he has no ZPM, I guess he doesn't have much use for me right now,' Sheppard replied, lying back against his pillows and looking as if putting that shirt back on had completely drained him.

'A fact which also leaves him more susceptible to my plan now,' she told him. 'Rest easy and regain your strength.'

She slipped out and headed off down the corridor as the door slid shut behind her, ignoring the inquisitive looks from the guards outside his door. She knew they thought it inappropriate for her to be giving him her undivided attention, but Parhaadon was an idiot she could wrap around her little finger with a few well-considered words. He would believe it had been necessary. But now, more than ever, she believed it vital to get the Atrascan to adjust the implant she'd put in Sheppard's arm. He was sick and getting worse, and if Parhaadon didn't fix things she could lose him. It was time to work on the man's priorities. Sheppard trusted them right now; a few clever lies would soon convince him that whatever Parhaadon did to the implant was an Atrascan treatment for his symptoms. They could claim it was an Atrascan illness Sheppard was suffering from...yes, that would explain why Beckett had had no luck in curing it.

And once he was on the mend she could put her plan into action. Not that it was the plan Sheppard believed it to be. No, it was one quite different to the ideas she had shared with him, and one that meant she would soon have him alone and away from his friends and under her influence...just the way she wanted him.

oooOOOooo

When Sarayah found Parhaadon he was in the control room, studying a display alongside one of his men.

'Sheppard is awake,' she told him, but he simply held up a hand to tell her to be quiet.

'How long do we have before the ship gets here?' he asked the man beside him, ignoring her announcement.

'At their current speed they will be with us within two days.'

That didn't sound good. The Atrascans didn't have ships capable of space flight, so someone else was approaching the city. 'Who will? The Wraith?' she asked, taking a closer look at the screen herself now.

'We can't be sure, but it doesn't look like a Wraith ship's energy signature,' Parhaadon murmured, deep in thought. 'It could be a Traveller ship, I suppose. We've been trying to get our hands on one of their vessels for a while. This could be exactly the opportunity we've been waiting for.'

'Are we sure they're heading our way?' she asked.

'We picked them up on the long range scanners several hours ago, but it has become apparent over time that based on their current trajectory they are heading directly for our position.'

Cold rushed through her veins as she watched the symbol on the screen creeping closer. Her instincts told her this was bad, and not in a "Wraith cullings are bad" way. She let that feeling sit a moment, considering it, then announced, 'Sheppard's people may have ships...I'm not sure when, but I think I heard them mention something about having ships once. It could be one of theirs.'

The hope in Parhaadon's expression swiftly slipped from his features. 'They could have ships?'

'Yes. I believe their main form of travel is the Stargate network, but they can also traverse galaxies by ship. It seems one of them could be in this galaxy. Perhaps it is due to dock here.'

He stared at her a moment, then said simply, 'This could be a problem.'

'Yes, it could,' she nodded. 'We haven't prepared for this possibility.'

He looked down at the monitor a while, obviously deciding what to do next. After nervously rubbing his mouth a few times he announced, 'Bring the prisoners to the meeting room. Let's find out what they know about this.'

'Sheppard has only just woken. Do you want him brought there too?' she asked.

'I want him there most of all,' Parhaadon shouted. 'If anyone knew this ship was coming, I'd bet my life it's that one.'

'I'll arrange the meeting for you,' she told him, resting her hand on his arm. 'Perhaps it is just the Travellers, Parhaadon. Try not to worry too much until we're sure.'

He snatched his arm away. 'Do not patronise me, Sarayah. Instead of trying to placate me with your pointless words, perhaps you should consider whether there is anything else you know about these people that you have neglected as yet to tell me. We cannot afford another of your oversights.'

Kill him!

Though it was tempting she ignored the voice and Parhaadon turned away from her as if he could not bear to look at her. It took all her self-control not to plunge her knife into his back where he stood. She glanced at the Atrascans close by, seeing the smirks they were struggling to contain. She knew they didn't like or trust her, but that didn't matter. What did matter was that Parhaadon had humiliated her in front of them, and she vowed right there and then as she instructed others to go collect each of their prisoners and gather them together, that she would get even with him before this invasion was over.

oooOOOooo

Sheppard and the others had been waiting in the conference room for at least ten minutes when Parhaadon eventually entered the room and took up the seat directly opposite him, Sarayah following him in only seconds later. She sat a short distance away from the Atrascan, an unusual choice since these two usually formed a united front. He sensed a problem between them based on Parhaadon's almost puce complexion and Sarayah's tight body language. So there was trouble brewing in paradise, huh? He hoped Sarayah could hold it together until they got this situation sorted.

He watched Parhaadon shift his gaze from one to the other of them in turn before it finally settled on him. Oh great, so he was in trouble...again. 'There is a ship approaching the city. What can you tell me about it?' the Atrascan demanded.

Sheppard licked his dry lips, wiping some of the sweat from his forehead as he watched Parhaadon pour himself a glass of water and drink deeply from it. Of course, he didn't offer any to him. 'Not much since we haven't had access to the control room for a few days now. Is it Wraith?' he asked, trying to ignore his burning thirst.

Parhaadon kept his eyes fixed on him, obviously looking for signs of subterfuge in his expression. 'We don't know yet...Possibly.'

'If it is we're in big trouble!' McKay interjected, drawing the Atrascan's attention away from Sheppard. 'We barely have enough power to keep the lights on right now. We can't possibly power the shield or the cloak. We're sitting ducks.'

'How close is it?' Elizabeth asked, the urgency of her tone adding to the mounting tension in the room. Sheppard had to admire the show these two were putting on; he was almost convinced it might be a Wraith ship himself...although that might have been because of the implant...

'Why do you want to know?' Sarayah instantly responded, her interest clearly piqued in an entirely different way.

Elizabeth tilted her head some. 'I just thought it might be useful to know how much time I have left before the Wraith suck the life out of me, that's all. I prefer to know when I'm going to die.'

Sarayah slipped her gaze to Sheppard, her eyebrows lifting just a little. Clearly that little jibe wasn't wasted on her.

'Are you sure you don't know anything about a ship due to dock here, Sheppard?' Parhaadon asked, slipping his sonic pulse device from his pocket and wielding it menacingly. 'I have information that your home world has ships capable of intergalactic flight. Is that true?'

There could be no doubt who would have put that idea into his head, but Sheppard didn't flinch at the question. 'Ships? I wish! If we had ships I'd sure as hell ask for a handful of them to be posted out here permanently to help guard against a Wraith attack. Sounds like we could use them right about now, don't you think?'

Parhaadon got out of his seat and rounded the table, walking along behind them. He had that device still clutched in his hand, the threat it posed more than apparent to all of them. Sheppard tensed, trying to ignore the way the buzz of the device aggravated the aching in his head. He had to stay focused.

But this time Parhaadon didn't turn the device on Sheppard. He had another target in mind.

Elizabeth cried out, her body convulsing as he pushed the pulse into her side. All three of her friends protested, and Sheppard was about to launch himself at Parhaadon when Sarayah pulled an M9 on him.

'Don't,' was the only word she said.

She looked mad, and he supposed she might be if she really did think that ship was one of theirs. He had to convince her they didn't know anything about it.

'Look, you're wasting your time,' he said, appealing to Parhaadon. 'We've been cooped up in our rooms for days. We don't know anything about that ship.'

'Really?' Parhaadon stuck Elizabeth again, and as she crumpled under the pain of it, Sheppard felt his need to act kick in. He stood, and so did Sarayah, mirroring his actions.

'Sit down,' she ordered him, beginning to move around the table toward him, keeping the gun trained on him the whole time.

'John...sit...please,' Elizabeth croaked.

Not wishing to cause her any more distress than she was already in, he did as she asked. The barrel of Sarayah's gun nestled in just beneath his ear, her free hand coming to rest in his left shoulder.

'Elizabeth isn't gonna tell you anything because she doesn't know anything,' McKay told them, his voice cracking with panic. 'There's no point in continuing this.'

'There is one point to this,' Parhaadon told him. 'I enjoy it.'

And so he jabbed Elizabeth with the pulse again, holding it on her longer this time until her cry became a scream.

Sheppard didn't care that there was a gun to his head, he tried to rise anyway. But his reactions were sluggish, nowhere near as fast as Sarayah's. She wrapped her arm around his throat and pressed the gun in even harder. 'I said don't.'

The hard barrel hurt, but not as much as his feelings of uselessness. He watched Carson inch his hand across the table top to reach Elizabeth's arm and grasp it to reassure her. He wanted to help too, but with Sarayah hanging off him like an albatross he couldn't get out of his seat.

Elizabeth lifted her head and glared at Parhaadon with as much venom as he had ever seen in her eyes. 'Even if I knew what that ship was, which I don't, I wouldn't tell you a damn thing!'

An immense sense of pride filled him as he watched her squirm under another application of the device. This man, and he used that term very loosely, had obviously seen Elizabeth as the weak link in the chain of command in this city. Boy, had he ever been wrong.

Sarayah bent down and whispered in his ear, 'If you know anything at all about the vessel, speak now. It will be better for you all.'

Sheppard held his peace. Elizabeth had set the benchmark. If she wouldn't speak, then he was damn sure he wouldn't. Sarayah would just have to forgive him for leaving her out of the loop when rescue eventually came.

He watched at Parhaadon, an increasingly desperate looking soul. The man was clearly furious, but smart enough to know he wasn't going to get anywhere continuing with this torture.

'All right, if...if you people will not tell me anything useful, I'm going to...to take all precautions,' he stammered, his usual smugness now a million miles away. 'Sarayah, please arrange for the sonic cannon to be moved to the top of this tower. That way, should anyone try to forcibly retake this city, we can dispose of them all in one go.'

Sarayah's grip tightened a fraction, pushing on Sheppard's airway to the point it made breathing just the wrong side of uncomfortable. 'If you fire that thing, we'll all be knocked out,' she pointed out.

'Except for those firing the cannon,' Parhaadon replied. 'They will have a few hours to disarm any intruders before they wake. It should be enough.'

Sheppard took it all in, his throat drying. The Daedalus' crew wouldn't know about the sonic cannon being positioned at the top of the tower. Any rescue bid could be thwarted in seconds. That meant they needed to come up with a back-up plan for their back-up plan.

He exchanged the briefest of glances with McKay, not allowing a single flicker of reaction to colour his expression. McKay didn't have quite the same poker face, but he still hid his feelings pretty well. He knew this was a problem too. Hopefully he already had his formidable brain working on the problem.

'Get them out of my sight!' Parhaadon hissed, striding out of the room and leaving his subordinates to deal with them.

Very slowly, Sarayah loosened her grip and pulled the gun away, also walking for the door. 'You heard the man, get them back to their quarters,' she ordered, leaving them all breathing a sigh of relief in her wake.

All, that was, except for Sheppard. Something had shifted in Sarayah's attitude, he could sense it. He hoped to God that she could find it within herself to understand why they'd had to keep her in the dark once the truth came to light.

A/N: Sorry this chapter took a while to appear, but life is still busy at the moment so updates will be slower for a while. Thanks to all those of you still sticking with the story and sending me your thoughts. :)