Elizabeth sat in the co-pilot seat of the jumper. Her mind was telling her this wasn't the wisest decision she had ever made, but her heart told her it was the right thing to do.
"Are you sure you want to do this ma'am?" Lorne asked as he sat down next to her.
Elizabeth looked over at Lorne and nodded convincingly, "Yes, I am, Major."
Her decision to join the rescue mission had not come lightly, and it was not without discord. Of course, Col. Caldwell had strongly objected, but Elizabeth fought him on it. Besides, it was her decision to make, not his. And, she had promised John that they would find him. She couldn't stay in Atlantis waiting, hoping they would save him in time. She wanted to be there when he was found.
Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be as easy as she'd hoped -- the planet was too far away. The Daedalus couldn't arrive before the auction, so the team would have to gate to the planet in the jumper, locate John, and then extract him from the hands of the Senarians.
Rodney interrupted her thoughts, "We need to cloak the jumper as soon as we're through the gate."
"I know that, McKay," replied Lorne.
"It's just that we can't afford for them to know we are coming."
"I know that too, McKay," Lorne said with an increased irritability in his voice.
"What about the other jumpers?"
Lorne sighed and shot a frustrated glance in Elizabeth's direction before responding again to Rodney, "Yes, they have the same instructions, and they will follow my lead. We have your navigational directions based on the information provided by Kaylee. We plan to fly high over the planet until we reach the settlement. Jumpers two and three will land on the outskirts of the city, while the others remain cloaked and provide air cover. You will help us narrow down Sheppard's location by focusing in on the signal from his subcutaneous broadcaster. Once we get the exact location, my teams will attempt to extract Sheppard with minimal resistance – hopefully before the auction begins. So, is there anything else, Rodney?"
"Huh," Rodney mumbled almost inaudibly, somehow surprised that Lorne wasn't missing anything. He recovered quickly, "Yes, well, that sounds good…proceed."
Ronon sat down behind Elizabeth, "I still don't understand why we aren't putting an end to this auction. Innocent people are being sold like animals; it's not right."
"I agree with you, Ronon," Elizabeth stated, "but violence is not always the best course of action in every situation. Our first priority is Col. Sheppard. After he is safe, I will attempt diplomatic discussions with the leaders of Dreydon to try to convince them to stop enslaving people."
"Dr. Weir is right. Unnecessary violence will only cause more strife. Applying force without understanding will do nothing to stop to these practices," Teyla added.
"Ronon, your gun is set to stun, right?" Lorne asked.
Ronon frowned, grabbed his gun, and switched it to stun. The resulting sound confirmed that the setting had been changed. Ronon glanced briefly at Teyla. He would follow their orders, but he wasn't happy about it.
"All right…it seems that we're all here. Is your team ready, Major?" Weir asked.
Lorne made a few last minute adjustments to the controls. He gave out final instructions to the teams in the other jumpers then turned to Elizabeth and nodded.
"Ready," he confirmed.
"Okay, dial it up," she ordered.
Elizabeth was struck by the beauty of the planet as they came through the gate and gained altitude. Picturesque mountains could be seen in the distance, and the sun was just beginning to rise. Lush, green foliage and a lively creek stretched along for miles. Under any other circumstances, she would consider this a lovely planet to visit.
Almost immediately, the HUD appeared, and Lorne began to compare the directions from Kaylee with the information being displayed in front of him.
"Her instructions are perfect," he said glancing quickly at Dr. Weir with a smile.
McKay pointed, "There…you see it?"
"Yes, Rodney, we see it," Elizabeth and Lorne responded at the same time.
"I'm picking up a large number of life signs in the settlement below. Are you getting a signal from Sheppard specifically?" Lorne asked as he looked back at Rodney.
Rodney began to tap the keys on his PC.
"Uh oh," he said.
"Uh oh?" Elizabeth copied.
"This is not good."
"What's not good?" Ronon growled.
Rodney continued to press buttons on his computer. His motions became more frantic as he tried a number of things without success.
"Rodney?" Elizabeth stated with concern edging into her voice.
"It's not possible," Rodney said finally as he looked up from his computer screen.
"And by not possible, you mean?" Lorne asked.
"I mean not possible."
"Well, sometimes you…"
"Yes, I know, but this is not one of those times. Something on this planet is shielding the signal."
"Then why are we still able to view life signs?" Teyla asked.
"I don't know. Maybe it's designed to suppress radio frequencies only. What I do know is that this shield is blocking out all radio frequencies on the entire planet. That means communications between our teams are going to be severely limited. I may – and I stress 'may' – be able to redirect power to boost signals between jumpers enabling you to communicate in short range, but individual radios are not going to work, and there's no way I can tell where Sheppard is being held."
"So, what do we do now?" Lorne asked.
"What am I…answer man?" McKay sniped.
"Rodney, are there any other options for narrowing down Sheppard's location? Maybe there's something you haven't thought of yet?" Elizabeth interjected.
"Well, other than finding the source of the shielding and turning it off…no," he replied pessimistically.
"Okay, change of plans," Lorne said. "Get the radio working so I can communicate with the other jumpers, and then find me the source of that shield. And I shouldn't have to remind you that sooner is better, McKay. The clock is ticking."
"All right, all right…I'm working on it."
John fell to the ground as his hands were released from the chains. The weight of his broken body hitting the floor and pressing against his wounds was excruciatingly painful, but he was so weak that he could no longer cry out. Instead, he closed his eyes and gritted his teeth against the pain, hoping that unconsciousness would soon take hold.
He had been interrogated and beaten overnight. Finally, in the early hours of the morning, they determined that he could not take much more and survive, so they left him alone.
John had just begun to fall asleep when he heard the sound of a door opening behind him. He could hear footsteps approaching and managed to mumble a few words.
"Back so soon…did you forget something?"
He was surprised when he heard the voice. It was Teryle, "No, I've come to get you ready for the auction."
"Teryle," John acknowledged.
"Yes, it is I," he paused and looked down at Sheppard sympathetically. "I am sorry that you did not make it to your home, Colonel."
"Yeah…well, me too," John replied sarcastically and then added a thought. "Kaylee made it."
"I have heard. Thank you for taking care of her. Although, it is unfortunate that she is not here now. You could use her touch to heal your wounds again."
"That would be nice, but I'll be fine," John lied as he tried to move over on his side.
"I'm not so certain."
"Kaylee made it to Atlantis, and that means my people will be coming for me. It will be over soon."
"For your sake, I hope you are right. Now, we need to get you up. They have asked me to get you cleaned up for the auction. Can you stand?"
John laughed bitterly, "Do I look like I can stand?"
"No, you don't. Here, let me help you."
"McKay, stay behind Ronon," instructed Lorne in a quiet whisper. "Ward and McGary, cover our six."
They were preparing to enter the facility where the source of the shielding was located. Teyla and Elizabeth had remained behind to safeguard the jumper. Lorne wasn't going to be stupid enough to leave it alone this time. Besides, he felt that Weir would be safer in a jumper with Teyla than with him, especially since he wasn't sure exactly what they would find inside.
Unfortunately, they were going in blind. In such close proximity to the source of the shielding, they had also lost their ability to identify life signs. The other jumpers were standing by in case of emergency, but Lorne hoped to get in and out of the facility undetected.
As they approached, Lorne motioned for Ronon to take a position across from him on the other side of the door. Ronon crouched and moved cautiously to the other side. Once there, he stood and waited for Lorne's next command. Their eyes locked for a brief moment, and then Lorne nodded. Ronon leaned forward as Lorne raised his P90 to his shoulder. As Ronon pushed the door open, Lorne swiftly entered the facility.
Ronon and the others followed immediately after him. Once inside, they found themselves in an old, rundown hallway. There was one flickering light about halfway down the corridor, but it was mostly dark inside. Lorne felt relieved that the facility appeared to be deserted, but he didn't let his guard down. Past experience taught him not to take everything at face value. If these people were smart enough to shield all radio frequencies during the auction, then they probably wouldn't leave this facility completely unguarded. The rundown, deserted appearance of the building might be a ruse.
When they reached the end of the hallway, he motioned for the group to stop. Lorne poked his head around the corner quickly. There was a single guard standing in front of a door a few feet away from them.
Lorne unsheathed his knife and threw it into the hallway. It fell to the floor with a loud clank.
"What did you do that for?" asked McKay in shock.
"Shh!" both Lorne and Ronon glared at Rodney.
They waited silently. Finally, they heard footsteps approaching slowly. Lorne pointed at Ronon's gun and quietly whispered, "Stun."
Ronon grinned slightly and nodded in understanding. He moved forward, raised his gun and waited for the guard to come around the corner.
Moments later, the footsteps stopped. Ronon grew impatient. He glanced at Lorne and then stepped quickly into the corridor with his weapon raised. Before the guard could react, Ronon stunned him.
"Clear," Ronon whispered.
"All right…let's go see what he was guarding," Lorne said to the rest of the team.
He led the group to the first door on the right. Ronon and Lorne entered first. What they saw surprised them.
"Ah, crap." Lorne uttered.
tbc
A/N: Wow, thanks for all the great reviews. It inspired me to complete this chapter and get it posted faster than normal, especially since I've been depressed about some of the rumors for season four. Anyway, ya'll are great, so please keep those reviews coming, and I'll write faster...deal?