Disclaimer: The characters of, "Stargate: SG-1" and "Stargate Atlantis", are owned by Robert C. Cooper, Brad Wright, Sci-Fi Channel and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fan fiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off it.
Chapter 25: Flash
As Sheppard ran with his team following right behind him, he radioed the two men that he had guarding the Ancient and discovered the Ancient was in his quarters that had been assigned to him. Now, all he had to do was figure out what he wanted to ask Sinell first.
He slowed down once he reached the room. He signaled to his team that he wanted to confront the Ancient alone. He nodded his head to the two guards before he entered.
Sinell was standing next to the window the sun shining on his hair making it look like freshly polished silver. With his robes, it made him look like a wizard, except he was missing a beard.
Sheppard cleared his throat to announce his presence. "I have a few questions for you, Sinell."
"Of course, Colonel," Sinell said, as he turned around his eyes locked onto Sheppard's own.
The way that Sinell's eyes drilled into his own, he wondered if the Ancient could read minds. The Ancient was unlike anyone he had met before because he was unable to get a read off his face or anything from his body language.
He decided to focus on the questions and figured that the best way to get the information he wanted was to hit the Ancient hard. "If Ereshkigal had control over you, how were you able to put a control chip in her brain?"
Sinell's right eyebrow rose but he didn't flinch or fidget at the question. "That is quite a question, Colonel."
"It's a question that I want a clear and concise answer to."
"It's been a long time since I've been here but it feels as though I were here yesterday," he clasped his hands together and shook his head. "My memory isn't clear."
Sheppard kept his eyes firmly locked onto the being standing calmly before him.
"Ok. Then what about the Wraith you had in your laboratory? The one you experimented on by making it stronger and faster. Why would you do such a thing?"
"I was trying to figure out how to stop the Wraith by having them live without needing to feed on people," Sinell said with a sigh and a shake of his head. "That experiment was a failure."
"You're memory wasn't fuzzy on that."
"As I told the others, only some of my memories have been affected but it will all return soon."
"It seems that the holes in your memory are connected to Ereshkigal. I don't believe that's a coincidence." Sheppard couldn't keep the anger from his voice as he began to yell. "What do you know that you're not telling us? No more lies, Sinell."
Sinell unclasped his fingers and spread out his hands. "You are clever. Far cleverer than I would believe from ones not truly evolved." His right hand moved quickly to his robe and pulled something out of a pocket.
Sheppard's hand went to his weapon but before he could draw it, all he saw was a blinding flash and then darkness.
"It looks like he's coming around," a familiar voice said.
Sheppard blinked a few times before he could see the face clearly above him. Dr. Beckett was standing next to him looking at him with a reassuring smile. He realized that he was in a bed in the infirmary. He turned his head slightly to see Ronon, Teyla and McKay were standing on the other side the bed.
"How are you feeling, Colonel?" Dr. Beckett asked.
"Where's Sinell?" He asked in response as he propped himself up on his elbows and ignored the protest of the good doctor.
"He escaped," Ronon replied darkly.
Sheppard's eyes narrowed and his hand gripped the side of the bed, turning his knuckles a stark white. "How did he escape?"
"He had a ship," McKay answered. "He had a damn ship hidden in Atlantis."
Sheppard frustratingly shook his head, knowing that they were in serious trouble. "We have to get better security on that gate."
"We need it on the entire planet," McKay corrected.
Teyla looked from McKay to Sheppard. "Where would he go?"
"I think we already know the answer to that, don't we?" McKay said.
"He's gone to Ereshkigal," Sheppard said as he swung his feet off the bed and stood up. He waved Dr. Beckett's helpful hand away. "We need to have a meeting and we need to have it in fifteen."
Sheppard looked at the group sitting at the table with him. Ronon and McKay were clearly angry about what had happened. Ronon was tapping a finger on his gun that he had clipped at his side. McKay's face was red and he was mumbling to himself. Teyla and Dr. Beckett were giving him concerned glances without bothering being discreet. Lucy and Radek had notes and laptops on the table before them.
"I may have a theory," McKay started.
Sheppard nodded his head for him to continue. "What kind of theory?"
"What if Sinell has been working with Ereshkigal since the beginning? I mean, it just seems like we were meant to find out about the chip, the journal and then Sinell's appearance. Now, he's escaped once we started asking hard questions."
"You're right, McKay. We need to find out more between Ereshkigal and Sinell."
"I may have something." Radek said and cleared his throat once Sheppard indicated for him to continue. "Remember how I said that her chip had been programmed to stop working after a certain amount of time?"
He looked around at everyone who agreed with nods of his or her head. He adjusted his glasses before continuing. "I wondered why Sinell would do that to Ereshkigal since she had control over the Ancients. One possibility was to have the chance to experiment on Ereshkigal. We know the Ancients were looking for eternal life and they may have believed that Ereshkigal was the key to that. I think Sinell was and probably still is in love with her so he wanted to make sure that she would be able to be break free."
"That sounds pretty far fetched to me," Lucy replied.
"Yeah, well, it honestly wouldn't surprise me," McKay said.
Lucy turned to him and placed her hands on her hips. "Do you always say the opposite of whatever I say?"
"No. What are you getting so upset about anyway?"
"Will you two knock it off?" Ronon said menacingly.
Lucy shot him a look and then crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine," she said and then looked back at McKay. "We'll discuss this later."
"What about you, Dr. Beckett?" Sheppard asked changing the subject. He turned toward the doctor who was sitting on his left.
Dr. Beckett cleared his throat. "I am still analyzing her blood. I haven't found anything that implies some type of pheromone that could work to attract Ancients."
"Maybe Sinell made it up. He's already deceived us," McKay commented.
Dr. Beckett frowned as he turned his attention to Sheppard. I need to have a sample of your blood, Colonel Sheppard."
"What would that do?" McKay asked.
"I have an idea of an experiment that would examine if there is any affect of her blood on yours."
"That's not a bad idea but we also need to send a team to go back to that planet and get several of those flowers. Maybe that's Ereshkigal's pheromone," Lucy pointed out.
Ronon stood up. "I'll go. I've been there and I know the dangers."
Sheppard nodded his head. "You can take Colonel Harper's team with you."
"I shall go with Ronon," Teyla said as she stood up.
Sheppard waved his hand in agreement. Ronon and Teyla left the room. He turned toward the remaining members of the meeting.
"Dr. Beckett, I will let you begin on your experiment. I need the rest of you to work together and dig deep into Sinell and Ereshkigal. I want to know the truth and not that tall tale that the Ancient told us. Go back over everything." He looked at each of them, emphasizing with his hardened face and steely eyes at the importance of this assignment. He signaled for them to leave.
Once they get up and left he placed his head in his hands. He felt as though everything was rapidly deteriorating. He wished Elizabeth were there, leading them. He slapped his hands on the table and ignored the stinging in his hands. Time was running out and he wasn't one-step closer to saving Elizabeth or figuring out if Sky ever really existed.