The A-ware by Fandomatic
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Tactics
When integrated Sheppard arrived on G1K-384, the phase crystal's resonance from the journey reached top capacity. But as Sheppard's lunge carried him out of the event horizon, his new circumstances overwhelmed his senses as he tried to adjust to the weakness permeating his legs.
He thought he'd been prepared for it. Nothing could have prepared him for what he was experiencing. The phase crystal had expanded his existence into a dimension composed of Jell-O. It reminded him of seeing Ronon through the temple wall when the phase crystal had first touched him as a drone.
Everywhere he looked his world was composed of colorless gelatin. The layered view was extraordinarily beautiful and full of light. He could see right through every surface since everything glowed with its own back light. People moving around the square looked like jellyfish outlines that emerged from the light as they drifted near. The layers of faint bones and metal buckles, slightly denser in material and less bright, sharpened with proximity. The luminous world of insubstantial occupants stretched into every direction and merged together in a white pulsing mass with distance.
It reminded him of a backlit jellyfish in an aquarium.
He stumbled between the gate and another large obelisk in the middle of a town square, still clinging to his moribund existence. Ringed around the gate, the curious observers drifted toward the engaged stargate in expectation. When a man on a collision course walked right through his seemingly solid body toward another couple, he jerked out of his stupor and dragged himself toward the tower, the only other solid object around.
Frank. I see it.
The AI's control flagged as the revved up crystal drained his energy. He could feel his solid state slipping further toward the insubstantial as he limped to the tower base.
Putting aside his concern with his weakening incorporeal state, he examined the power emanating from the obelisk that stood before the gate. The obelisk represented a massive storehouse of energy which formed a colorful moving barrier around an opaque core. The core and he occupied the same solid dimension. In his current state, he passed through the outer wall of the obelisk, with its building energy, and into the interior. Inside, he could touch the narrow, inner core of the tower. He sensed the controls that could power it down as he breathed in the energy to recharge the implant.
It only took moments to absorb enough power, and Sheppard stepped out of the tower casing with more strength coursing through his stabilized body.
He regretted leaving the obelisk functioning, but it would reveal his control of the phase crystal. Control of the crystal could only mean he controlled the A-ware. To save Integratia, he had to hide the A-ware and risk the universe.
His illogic went unnoticed.
His regret lingered with him as he limped back to the staging ground before the event horizon. There's only a minute left on the puddle, Frank, so let's get this feint over with.
The AI shifted the crystal into phase as the gate shut down with a rasp. As Sheppard appeared to the crowd surrounding the gate, they hardly blinked at his sudden appearance. People tended to see what they expected.
"Hail, friend," a man called from the ring of people who started to scatter. "Do you bring more trade for our city?"
"Not today," Sheppard limped over to the DHD and dialed Puchek. The man followed him with curious eyes as the stargate engaged. John limped back to the event horizon and phased back out of dimension short of it. If his exit was remarkably odd for a gate traveler, the villagers didn't notice.
Once again invisible to the traders, he returned to the tower and watched the gate shut down while the villagers resumed their lives. They hadn't noticed his ruse and he was counting on it to mislead the catalyst. John stepped back through the tower casing and leaned back against the core to wait for the jumper to follow him.
THIRTY-EIGHT MINUTES, the AI started to warn.
Between power blooms, I know, John finished. I'll take my chances that you can handle it.
He didn't have long to wait. The jumper was preceded by gate activation a few short minutes after he settled into his roost. The puddle jumper halted in the center of the town square between the gate and the tower. As the back hatch lowered, the curious townsmen gathered around the ramp to see who had arrived.
Catalyst 24, dressed in his black overcoat covering a dirty tunic that reminded Sheppard of hospital scrubs, raised his hands to the people of the trader's world. His shinny bald plate sprouted the silver neutronium hair of the implant and all activity around him ceased as the catalyst conducted a mental search for him.
Integrated John knew Catalyst 24 couldn't sense him next to the core, but he found himself holding his breath. The millions dead on Integratia weighed heavily on his conscious. How much more would the death of an entire civilization weigh on him if the catalyst killed him and recovered the phase crystal without the viral program? Eighty-three was a paltry sum. Catalyst 24 had kinetic abilities. He didn't need to touch him.
From the murderous look on the catalyst's face he wanted to touch him, but in a really bad way. His mouth had twisted into an angry snarl and his upraised hands started quaking as the silver hair retreated back into the bald head. He roared his frustration and whipped around to retreat back into the jumper.
Sheppard noticed movement in the rear compartment and saw a pair of standard issue combat boots shift sideways to make way for the catalyst. Too many layers were between him and the two men sitting quietly on the benches to see who they were, but there was no mistaking those broad rounded shoulders or the uniform profile.
He's got Rodney! Sheppard took a step toward the jumper before he caught himself. The rage that filled his heart turned his hands into fists.
CAN WE HUNT CATALYST 24 NOW? A faint echo of the dormant viral program stirred eagerly inside the buffer.
Oh, yes. Sheppard watched the hatch close on his friend and the jumper lifted off smoothly as the gate engaged. The craft departed on its way to Puchek. The feint had worked.
As peace returned to the plaza outside the obelisk, fear gripped Sheppard's soul. The catalyst wasn't exactly known for his level-headed behavior or humility. Neither was Rodney. Putting the two together had to be the universe's worst recipe for disaster.
What does he want with Rodney? But he already knew. He had fingered them when he'd leapt to their defense. The catalyst would use them to get to him.
Sheppard's grim smile didn't reach his eyes. And we're gonna let him.
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The abandoned scar with the two bodies of Isenberg and Norman spoke volumes to Teyla. She glanced at Ronon and recognized his unease as her own. Their pain had frozen their faces in grimaces that unsettled on a personal level. To die in such a way without battle or honor and in agony was abhorrent to them. There had been no sign of Major Lorne's jumper and she feared he and Rodney faced the same fate as these unfortunate marines before her.
"What happened here?" Ronon closed Norman's red eyes.
Reed shook his head. "We missed the all the action. A rogue jumper—Sheppard's. Now hostages. Nothin' makes sense." He looked away from Isenberg.
"Perhaps, but we have facts," Teyla spoke firmly. "We know two marines are dead and that someone killed them and took Major Lorne and Dr. McKay hostage in Jumper Two."
Coughlin nodded. "He went after Colonel Sheppard."
"He sounded crazy," Reed grunted.
Teyla's brow arched. "He believes we are working together."
"Doesn't matter." Ronon rose, drew his gun and checked the power capsule. "We go after 'em."
Teyla frowned. She could see that Ronon's suggestion resonated with Reed and Coughlin. "We also know that Sheppard went to the trader's planet." She paused as Ronon holstered his weapon. "If Colonel Sheppard knows Rodney and Major Lorne were taken hostage, he will help us fight this adversary."
Ronon shrugged. "We're loosing time debating this."
"We need more information before we mount a rescue, Ronon. Once we locate the colonel, I think we will have our answers. He is somehow central to this skirmish."
Reed knelt by Isenberg's body. "We also need to return our men to Atlantis."
Teyla touched his shoulder in sympathy. The seasoned officer had seen many of their reinforcements die in the battle over Atlantis. "And Atlantis needs an update. There is time to do both if we part ways at the gate."
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Lorne watched the catalyst stop at the bottom of the jumper ramp and raise his hands to address the trader's plaza. As his silver hair appeared, the major quietly turned to McKay and hissed quietly. "He's nuts. Keep your head down and don't talk if you want to stay alive."
"You think!" McKay tried to stifle a cough.
"I mean it, Doc. No talking."
"Not like I can." McKay carefully felt his throat and darted a fearful look toward the hatch. "He's wearing a shield. That green thing under the coat, looks like a beetle, it's an ancient personal shield. I had one once. Almost killed me."
"What's he doing with a shield?"
"Who knows? The point is, our weapons won't work against him and whatever he's using to levitate things must be hidden on him too. I think it must be an implant. That hair looks too much like the implant filaments." McKay swallowed convulsively. "Our only chance—well, your only chance—is when he turns it off to eat or drink. That is, the shield."
Evan glanced warily out at the back of the hijacker who was shaking with anger. "Well, he doesn't look like he's ordering pizza." Lorne pulled McKay back into the seat and remained as still as possible while the bald, enraged man stormed past into the jumper cockpit. They watched him bring up the controls, raise the back ramp and dial Puchek.
The Puchek reception was more violent, hot and dark.
Lorne heard the thuds of spears and arrows hit the sides briefly as the craft flew out of the stargate staging area and into the night sky. The barrage suddenly stopped and the jumper landed near the DHD.
Once again, the two hostages witnessed their captor power down the puddle jumper with an unusual abruptness. The jumper interior lights winked out with a final whine and the hijacker left them in the dark as he stood outside the ramp with his silver hair and his arms wide. As the oppressive heat boiled into the back of the jumper, it brought the stench of fiery death to Evan's nostrils. The oily smoke brought bile to his throat and he swallowed back a retch. McKay covered his nose and concentrated on keeping his lunch down as Lorne's eyes adjusted slowly to the dim moonlight and he zeroed in on the dead natives fallen around the DHD console. He pointed them out quietly to McKay.
That didn't help McKay, who turned white as a sheet and swallowed compulsively. "H-he killed them!"
Lorne elbowed McKay hard. The crazy man turned and stomped up the ramp with his silver hair flowing around his sweating face. "No talking. Keep your head down," he murmured before he reached them and made sure Rodney ducked his head.
The hijacker halted in front of Lorne with a distant, unfocused look on his face. Gradually the interior lights of the jumper lit his furious silver eyes and disturbing hair. Lorne continued to stare at him warily and checked that McKay examined his boots.
"Where is he?" he finally snarled. "Where is the gifted one, the one called…Sheppard?"
Lorne shook his head. "I don't know."
The catalyst prodded McKay. "Where is he?"
"I-I don't know. I mean, we've been looking for him." McKay raised his head and caught Lorne's tight-lipped expression. He gulped and clamped his mouth shut. Before he could remember to duck his head, the catalyst was choking him again.
"Where is he?" he asked Lorne.
Lorne looked between the man's murderous expression and McKay's bulging eyes and quickly spoke up. "He's telling the truth. All we know is that he went to the trader's planet after he attacked…" A few things were starting to add up about Sheppard's wild drone acrobatics and this silver psycho with a shield.
McKay gasped for breath as the madman released him and lost focus on them again. His maniac smile revealed a new purpose and the luminous eyes focused on Lorne once again. "Sheppard risked his life to save you. Could he really be so foolish…or so independent?"
Evan guessed he really didn't want him to answer that and he warily kept his council. But when the jumper DHD started dialing by itself, Lorne inched forward to see the address. The blow to his head came out of nowhere and knocked him across the floor and into the bulkhead jam. He stayed down where he fell and held his cheek with the bruise developing under the welt. The ringing in his head was nothing to the knot in his stomach. The beginnings of the address had looked too familiar.
He risked a glance at McKay and met two worried blue eyes. With the catalyst's back to him in the forward compartment, he mouthed 'Teyla,' which made McKay's eyes widen.
"You have defied me again," the catalyst's voice echoed over their headsets. "Judgment comes to conspirators and thieves."
Teyla's voice broke in, "We offered no interference."
"You hide the offender." The catalyst's hair shimmered in the low lights. "How else could he disappear so completely?"
"Who is the offender?"
"John Sheppard! Where is he?!"
"If I knew, I would not tell you," Teyla spoke reasonably.
"You would risk my wrath on your teammates?" The hijacker returned just as reasonably.
"They still live? Let me talk to them."
"You may speak," the hijacker indicated McKay.
McKay cleared his throat and rasped. "Teyla, he's got a personal shield!"
"Rodney! Are you all right? Is Major Lorne all right?"
"Yeah, we're okay—" McKay's body slammed back against the jumper wall and his voice failed.
"Their health will be forfeit," the catalyst interrupted. "They are nothing but a pair of insects that I will trade for your…John Sheppard." He released Rodney and continued his gloating as he paced. "He betrayed his love for these insects when he defied me. But I will accept his repentance. He must bring his offering to the Puchek temple in seventeen hours or I will rend their carcasses in two as they breathe."
The catalyst turned his back to cut the connection and McKay tapped his watch, mouthing something Lorne interpreted as 'Amen.' McKay rolled his eyes and tried again. His fingers uncurled in a starburst and he mouthed, 'boom.' Then he pointed outside the closing hatch at the stargate.
Evan Lorne glanced at their crazy captor who sat in the pilot's seat and powered up the jumper. He nodded to McKay and shifted into a sitting position on the floor. He tapped his watch and flashed seventeen fingers at Rodney.
McKay shook his head and flashed back eighteen fingers.
Major Lorne grimaced and carefully moved up onto the bench across from McKay and wiped the blood seeping from his bruised cheek. The doctor had been right all along. The temple was central to events. Sheppard was going to be at the Puchek temple when the power array spiked in eighteen hours. Lorne expected to see an I-told-you-so accusation in McKay's face, but his blue eyes just looked extremely worried.
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Next chapter, The Search...