CHAPTER 21 – TURNCOAT
Colonel Sheppard left with Gina later that afternoon. Given the advanced state of her pregnancy they thought that putting off the earth visit was not a wise decision and Carson had advised them to see a gynaecologist while they were on earth, just to make sure that the baby and mother were in fact doing as well as Carson thought. This was not his specialty and given the extreme stress that both mother and baby had been under since the conception and also given the fact that the child inside her carried an extremely potent gene, it was best to get a second opinion. Carson had contacted the SGC and arranged for an appointment with a security cleared specialist who worked with the SGC.
Both Evan and Terry went to the gate room to see them off. "We'll only be gone a few days – 2 or 3 at the most. I don't want to be away from Atlantis too long and would prefer no gate travel at all for Gina in this advanced stage of her pregnancy – but she won't let me go without her, so we'll fit in what we can in a short time and be back, hopefully, with a little more clarity."
"Good luck Colonel Sheppard, Gina... do you have specific instructions for Captain Masters and I while you are gone? Is there something we can be doing from this end?"
"Captain... you asked for the opportunity to question Lars again? He's still being held there in Atlantis and I've managed to keep Ronon away from him... for now. He's all yours, but I want your word that you'll have Major Lorne in there with you. No questioning him alone – copy that?"
"Yes sir, and thank you. I won't let you down. I'm sure I can get some information out of him, and even if he knows nothing about who is behind their military group, at least it's not wasted time. What do you intend to do with them, sir?"
"Ah, that's a difficult one Captain. We're got around 30 trained military personnel, that effectively have been working against us. We don't really want to hold them here for any length of time, but we don't want them out there causing havoc either. We may have to look at establishing some sort of prison planet to house criminals like these men. The difficult thing is not really knowing where to send them. If we knew where they came from originally, we could send them back there with instructions for the government or security of that world to prosecute them. But from what we can make out, they are more or less soldiers of fortune – recruited from all over the galaxy over a long period of time... likely the length of time that we have been here in Atlantis. This Janus... or whatever he calls himself now? He's been planning this from the beginning and needed to find the right time to implement it. He also needed me to go back to 1962 to get the ball rolling..."
"Colonel, with all due respect... I'd just as soon not hear that year mentioned again. As far as I'm concerned the only good thing that came out of that year was Gina here... and I'm sure you'd agree with that!"
"I most certainly do Major and on that note... my wife and I will head back to earth and shall attempt to track down my renegade family member who is likely turning out to be an ascended being. Just another day at work... here in Pegasus..." and with that parting remark he held his wife's hand and stepped through the stargate leaving two bemused officers standing in the gate room, shaking their heads slightly.
"So Captain – I'm relegated to back up on this one.. hmmm?"
"I know the man Major... and I think I can get him to open up. Is there any chance that I can convince you to let me see him alone?"
"Absolutely none, Captain."
"Aaah Major Lorne – I was afraid you'd say that. Worth a try... sir."
"That is was Captain. Shall we?" He held a hand in front of him, indicating that she should go ahead of him and he limped behind her, enjoying the delectible view of her firm backside as it swayed enticingly in front of him.
"Enjoying the view... Major?"
"That I am... Captain."
And heard her amused laughter as she left the gate room heading for the cell area, with her wounded Major following along behind.
Major Lorne took charge once they reached the cell area, ordering the marines who were guarding the prisoners to release Lars and take him to a separate holding area where he would be questioned away from the others. Terry had seen the look on Lars' face when she had entered the containment area. There had been an instant spark of awareness that he had immediately attempted to push away, then he had carefully schooled his features to show no emotion at all. She couldn't help but wonder what his story was, how he had come to be a soldier of fortune, caught up in a war that in all likelihood, he didn't understand. But when it came down it it... did she?
She let Major Lorne follow the prisoner and Terry stayed back until the marines had secured him using handcuffs to a small table after being pushed down into one of the chairs. As soon as they left the room with a nod from Major Lorne, she flicked a quick glance at Evan, and he moved back to the doorway, letting her move in and take the seat opposite Lars. Lorne had not yet spoken. She had asked him on the way down if she could run this on her own and he had reluctantly agreed, knowing that the Colonel had wanted it this way.
"We know who he is Lars. We know his name is Janus. Tell us where to find him."
She saw the telltale flicker in his eyes and knew that she had hit the nail on the head. The name of his boss, the puppet master.
"Do you have any idea what he is Lars? I do. I know exactly what he is and he's got an agenda that you could not possibly conceive of." Terry had sat back in the chair, conveying a confident demeanor and her green eyes locked onto his. From his position at the door, Lorne watched Lars and the way he looked at her. Knew that the man wanted her. It showed in every movements of his body and the way he attempted to keep the emotion out of his face.
"I know what he wants Captain. I was for all intents and purposes, his second in command. I know he wants the portal." Lars kept his voice neutral.
"Do you know what the portal is Lars? What it means if he uses it? There's history here you cannot possibly understand. There are people in Atlantis who know this man, know what he stands for. He helped build this city... now he wants to destroy it. Why would he do that?"
"Then you do not know very much Captain... you seem only to know his name... It seems I have the advantage after all."
Terry moved out of the chair and went to stand behind Lars, not touching him but flicking a glance at Evan who had moved slightly away from the door. Gave him a silent signal to stand down and trust her. She saw the coiled energy in the Major's body and knew that the wound in his leg would not slow him down at all if this man attempted anything with her. He would be onto him in microseconds and the man would not get a second chance.
Terry bent a little to say quietly in his ear. "Oh no Lars... the advantage is all mine. We will track him down. You see, we don't really need you... we have another way to track him down... someone who shares his bloodline. I thought perhaps, you would like an opportunity to redeem yourself, have a second chance at being the sort of person that deep down, you really are. The one you have kept carefully hidden all these years, afraid that if you let the real man out, it would show weakness. I saw that man Lars – you let me see glimpses of him and I don't think you were aware of this. This man you keep hidden? There could be a future for that man... here in Atlantis."
She heard Lorne's intake of breath and knew that she had overstepped both her bounds and her authority. She was not authorised to make any deals with this man and hoped that she could convince both Lorne and Colonel Sheppard that she was right.
"You see ghosts Captain... you look inside me and see only the man you wish me to be. A man like your Major over there perhaps? I see the way he looks at you. He has already branded you with his touch, it shows in every movement of your body."
"I look at you Lars and see who you are... and I think you deliberately let me see him, hoping I would save you somehow. Well, I can. If you let me."
She watched him carefully, saw the way the emotions rose unbidden to his eyes and saw the pain that shot through them with startling intensity. A traumatic experience had led him to this point in his life and the compassionate part of her desperately wanted to right whatever wrong had been done to him, and give him back the life he should have had. She knew that some people could never be redeemed, but the man who sat in front of her? He could be saved.
"Captain Masters. A word outside. Now."
She turned quickly and saw the barely concealed fury on Evan's face and had to fight the groan that wanted to rise to her lips. He was pissed and was going to let her know in no uncertain terms that she had most definitely overstepped her bounds. She would give Lars a few minutes to think about what she had said, and getting up she followed Evan out of the room.
She barely cleared the doorway and he was roughly grabbing her and securing her against the wall outside the room. His face was like thunder.
"Just what the hell do you think you are doing in there? That man is a killer. You cannot offer him the sort of deal you have just put on the table. I went along with this charade, let you take the lead on this, but hell Terry! That was wrong. That man cannot be saved. You cannot bring out the woman when you go into a situation like that. In there, you have to be the damn soldier – if you're going to do this, then get back in there and do it properly. Like a soldier."
She pushed at his chest. He stood in front of her, his hands on either side of her pinning her against the wall and she was torn. Wanted to hit him, and another part of her? Wanted to do something else. She dropped her eyes, but not before he saw the fleeting emotion that shot through it, and he was unable to stop the answering pull of need that shot through him.
"Damn it Terry... I'm only looking out for you..."
"No Major, you're trying to intimidate me, control me. Which one are you now? My superior officer? Because if you are, the way you are standing over me like that is not appropriate."
"And neither is the way you just looked at me..." His voice was soft and he removed his hands from the wall, looking down at her. She would not meet his eyes, and he hooked a finger under her chin to bring her eyeline up.
"Can you keep the lines clean Captain? Can you do your job as you have been trained and allow me to do mine? Because if you can't, we're going to have to take up the Colonel's suggestion and assign you to another team."
"I would ask the same thing of you... Major..."
"That crossroads Terry? I think you are forcing me to that point so that you can make the decision to take the road that you want to take... alone." His voice sounded sad and she knew that he was right, forcing him to this point, knew the blame was on her.
"I'm sorry Evan. You know where I stand... we can't do this now. I have to get back in there and finish what I started. Right or wrong in your eyes. I can get him to make the right decision. This isn't about us right now."
She didn't wait to be dismissed. She simply pushed at his chest to move him back and he did so reluctantly and did not follow her immediately into the room. He needed a moment to get his equilibrium back and push down the personal. Bring back the soldier. He was finding that it was getting harder and harder to differentiate between the two – where Terry was concerned anyway.
Lars looked at her sharply when she walked back in and saw immediately what she had just gone through with Lorne. It was still showing clearly in her eyes and she had not bothered to hide it. A part of her wanted him to see it, so that perhaps he would see that it was not weakness to be the person you most wanted to be.
"Are you all right Captain? It seems that your relationship with the Major is conflicted at the moment."
"This isn't about me Lars. My private life needs to remain just that – private. In here, I'm doing my job and you need to respect that. Do you want me to help you Lars?"
He took a breath and let it out again, slowly. Looking toward the door he saw that the Major had re-entered the room and taken back his spot against the doorway. Vigilant.
"Janus wants the location of the portal for a reason. He has a counterpart on your earth..."
"Callandra..." Terry breathed the name, not wanting to break the flow, but needing to say the name aloud.
"Yes, Callandra. Good and evil. He wasn't always that way. All men start out good, essentially. Circumstance breeds the seeds of rot and this is what will make a good man go bad. Janus, as I'm sure you know, is an ancient – and has been cast off by his peers, no longer allowed access to their network. Out in the cold and stuck in this timeline and this galaxy because he was sent back through the portal with Colonel Sheppard."
"This? We already know Lars... why does he need to get back to the portal."
"1962. Earth. To change what Callandra fixed. In 1962 she cast him out and stripped him of all his abilities. He now takes mortal form, human form – completely. He needs to go back to 1962 to retrieve those abilities. To kill her. That is the only way he can get those abilities back."
He paused, looking at the shock that showed on her face. "Aaah Captain. I see that what I have told you is most definitely a surprise."
"Lars... When she took his abilities? What did she do with them, where does she keep them?"
"She must pass them along to another in the lineage – one who already holds the gene... as Janus should have done. He refused to pass this gene on – kept it for himself so that Callandra had to step in and take it from him – pass it on to the rightful person. Janus does not know who this is – without his abilities, he has no idea. Therefore the only way he can get them back is to kill Callandra. Go back to 1962 when they were taken."
Terry turned and caught Evan's eyes and she passed the knowledge across to him in silence.
I know who holds the abilities. I know who she passed it on to... Colonel John Sheppard. In 1962. The Colonel was right. It was always, always about him and Gina – on every level. And he will pass it on to his child. He carries the gene of an ascended being and all the abilities that go with it and has no idea... Janus cannot be allowed to succeed. Callandra's legacy must be upheld, at all costs.