Chapter 25: Did ah ... did any of the Ancients survive?
We remained alone in the cell for some time with a Replicator guard stationed outside. General O'Neill and I conducted a whispered conversation where I updated him on how I'd ended up in the brig and he filled me in on John's actions so far as well as the reason why he'd turned up in the cell soaking wet. He then urged us to try and get some rest – Woolsey and I took positions in opposite corners while the General stretched out on the one bench in the middle of the room.
Of course there was no way I could relax while John and the others were somewhere in the city and still in danger of being caught. The General's explanation made me think the plan had something to do with Niam which filled me with nervous dread. I'd long gotten over my anger at the lack of personal contact by the time a noise at the door alerted me to a change in our circumstances. My spirits lifted when John ran in and fired a weapon at the Replicator guard, disintegrating him into a pile of silver slivers. Another guard ran in and met a similar fate before John and Rodney approached our cell.
"Well, it's about time!" O'Neill said sarcastically.
"Oh, thank God!" Woolsey said in relief.
"Hey guys – nice of you to drop by," was my smart arse contribution.
"You all right?" John looked in turn at the General and Woolsey before resting his gaze on me.
"Apart from the fact that we're stuck in here you mean?" I smiled to let him know things were as good as they could be.
"Alright," John turned to Rodney, "get 'em out of here. I'll stand guard."
John headed back to the doorway and Rodney came over to the access panel for the cell, taking out a small data pad and tapping away with a frown.
I watched in disbelief as Rodney fumbled his way through the hacking job that should have only taken seconds. My confusion grew as I listened to him talking about the failure of the Niam plan and how they now intended to destroy the shield capabilities of the city by planting C4 at all the emitters. When the shield was raised the C4 would detonate and the Daedalus would be able to complete it's mission to drop a nuke on the city. O'Neill and Woolsey reacted less than favourably to that plan, prompting Rodney to get all defensive as he continued to struggle with the door controls.
"The Daedalus is gonna blow up the city and you're happy about it?" I looked at Rodney pointedly.
"Not happy, no," Rodney stuttered. "But we can't let the Replicators keep the city can we?" He looked up suddenly, something in his eyes urging me to drop it right there.
Before I could say anything else John rushed back into the room with the hurried announcement that the Replicators were coming and they'd have to come back for us. Rodney spluttered in protest that we all knew too much about their plan ... John glared at him in annoyance before delivering an exasperated smack to the back on his head. I almost smiled at that one, so typical of their interactions no matter what dire circumstance they found themselves in.
"You're just leaving?" I looked from Rodney to John somewhat nervously.
"We'll be back," John promised intently. He paused for a few seconds, the expression in his eyes begging me to trust him.
I nodded wordlessly ... convinced now that they were setting something up - even though I didn't know what it was. Hopefully my part in it, if I had one, would come naturally to me!
We didn't have to wait long for something to happen ... the same two Replicators I'd watched probe the General and Woolsey hurried into the room minutes after John and Rodney had exited. This time they didn't even bother asking any questions – pushing the two men to their knees and doing the hand in the forehead thing without warning. Only moments later the Replicators pulled their hands free and left O'Neill and Woolsey groaning and clutching their heads in pain.
"We need to get to the shield emitter stations. Remove the C4 explosive you find there," Replicator Two said emotionlessly.
"Way to resist" O'Neill told Woolsey sarcastically.
"I said I wasn't good at this," Woolsey replied angrily.
"How come they didn't probe me?" I asked once they'd left us alone again.
"What – you volunteering?" the General looked at me in disbelief.
"No," I replied firmly. "I just find it ... strange that they didn't even try."
x
Replicator One came back for us an hour or so later. This time he and his two companions urged us from the cell and herded us towards a different section within the Brig. When we'd walked through the main door I had another 'Oh Great!' moment when we discovered our entire rescue party was already there.
The Replicators lowered the force field and opened the door, marching General O'Neill, Woolsey and me through to join everyone else. John stood in a kind of lead position within the group, eyes trained intently on the Replictors. I chose a spot off to the side next to where Ronon was sitting - out of the way but still within view of the five Replicators now confronting us. Replicator One, backed up by his two buddies stood framed in front of John, looking as triumphant as a Replicator could look.
"Did you really think you'd be able to stop us?" he asked calmly.
"Well, of course we did. Why else would we be here?" John replied sarcastically.
"Colonel? Am I gonna have to fire you?" General O'Neill quipped.
"No, sir. I think you'll have that to look forward to when we get back," John kept his eyes firmly on Replicator One.
"I'm afraid your plan has been discovered, Colonel Sheppard. It is over," Replicator One informed us.
"He put his hand in my forehead," Woolsey protested as everyone turned to look accusingly at him. "How can you resist that?"
"Well, I like to close my eyes and think of England," O'Neill continued with the smart arse comments.
"Mr Woolsey informed us of everything we need to know," Replicator One confirmed. "All of your C4 has been removed from the emitters." He opened the bag he carried and pulled out a block of C4 so that John could see his claim was not a bluff. "I'm afraid they won't be destroyed when the Daedalus arrives - which should be in any moment. Your plan has failed."
"Talus," the voice of Replicator Two came from the Control Room. "The Daedalus is approaching the planet."
"As expected," Replicator One replied, glancing at John to see how he was taking that news. "Activate the shield."
There was a pause of a few seconds before a visible energy wave came from the ceiling and swept to the floor. As it passed through the Replicators they disintegrated into piles of tiny silver pieces.
"Ha! It worked! I can't believe it worked!" Rodney said with satisfaction.
"Rodney – amazing," Doctor Weir complimented.
"Well, it was a group effort," Rodney excused the brilliance of his plan, not his usual practice so he really must have thought the plan had little chance of success.
"Good old Plan D - works every time," John agreed with Elizabeth's assessment, tossing the C4 to Rodney. He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, smiling when I grinned in relief. "Ronan and I'll make sure we got them all - you guys stay here a sec."
"Excuse me, but what just happened?" Woolsey asked in confusion, looking from Rodney to Teyla and Carson for some kind of explanation.
"We turned the shield into a giant Replicator weapon," Rodney told Woolsey proudly.
"I knew that!" O'Neill exclaimed.
"You knew?" Woolsey asked in surprise.
"Well, I've seen Carter crack enough codes to know that McKay was faking the door thing," O'Neill explained the reason for his suspicion.
"He was?" Woolsey frowned. He turned to me and asked "what about you – did you know too?"
"Rodney's much better at overriding the Ancient systems than he was making out," I revealed simply. "I was pretty sure something was going on, although I didn't work out exactly what it was."
"I bought it completely," Woolsey looked put out at the thought.
"I believe that was the point," Teyla said graciously.
"Wait a minute - you ... you used me?" Woolsey's tone was insulted now that he knew he'd been deliberately chosen to feed misinformation to the Replicators.
"You're alive," Carson said firmly, "and you're welcome."
"Hey, we're clear," Ronon came back in to report.
"OK, we've gotta get to the Control Room and contact the Daedalus," Doctor Weir urged everyone to get moving.
I walked at a slower pace that the others, quickly being overtaken by the General and Woolsey as they made their way up to the Control Room. Now that the danger had passed (and I was confident it had because Colonel Caldwell was independent enough to check before blindly following a standing order of that magnitude) I felt a bit numb. To John and the others the Ancient survivors from the Tria were mostly faceless people who'd kicked us out of the city. I'd believed that too until I'd come back and worked with them. I'd never warmed to Captain Helia but I had liked Caritas, and even Ricus. And suddenly I felt sad – for those I'd formed some attachment to and for the very idea that the Ancients really had now passed from our plain of existence. There were probably hundreds of things I could have asked them while I'd been there but I'd thought we'd have plenty of time ... and now there was none.
There only seemed one place to go – the East Pier. I was still standing there waiting for the sunset when John found me an hour or so later.
"Hey," John's voice startled me from introspection. "You disappeared before I could even say hello."
"Sorry," I replied, keeping my gaze fixed on the ocean as John silently approached.
"You okay?" John asked hesitantly, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Did ah ... did any of the Ancients survive?" I asked softly.
"No," John said simply, squeezing my shoulder in comfort. I put my hand over his and nodded wordlessly, feeling the tears brimming over and doing nothing to stop them from falling. John stood silently behind me, waiting as tears tracked down my face, both of us looking out at the sun slowly setting. When the light finally faded, I turned and pressed myself into John's arms, hugging him tightly.
"Do you remember that one Ancient I mentioned?" I mumbled into his chest. "Caritas - she liked to watch the sunset. She was a ... friend."
"I'm sorry," John murmured, rubbing a comforting hand down my back.
"Me too," I whispered, resting my head against him and taking strength from him being there. "Thanks for the rescue."
"Never in doubt." John hugged me reassuringly.
"So what happens now?" I pulled away slightly to look up at him. "General O'Neill wasn't serious about firing you was he?"
"To be honest I'm not really sure," John admitted. "We're hoping the fact that we saved his life, not to mention Woolsey's, will carry some weight with him and the IOA."
"So we just stay until we hear something?" I persisted.
"Doctor Weir's talking to General O'Neill now so we won't have to wait long," John turned me away from the balcony. "You ready to say hello to everyone else?"
Putting my arms around his neck I pulled him down and kissed him fervently up to the point where it started to get out of hand. Pulling away I grabbed his hand and started walking.
"I am now," I said, smiling at the dazed look on his face. There were other things to tell him - other things to ask him – but now wasn't the time.
x
"You wanted to see me General?" I poked my head in the doorway of what was soon to be again Doctor Weir's office.
"Sabina," O'Neill greeted me almost fondly. "Woolsey and I are heading out in a few minutes – you all set here?"
"Does it bother you?" I asked softly, stepping fully into the room. "The Ancients being gone I mean?"
"Sure it does," the General agreed in an easy tone, "but you have to put it away so you can do your job."
"I'm trying," I looked at him curiously. "Got any tips for that?"
"Ah ..." he paused, looking at me thoughtfully, "somehow I don't think the 'bury and forget' strategy will work as well for you as it does for me."
"Probably not," I agreed. "Well General, it's been a pleasure working with you," I smiled impishly. "Can I escort you to the gate?"
"Sure," O'Neill grabbed a bag and gestured for me to precede him from the room. We walked down the steps to the Gateroom in silence. Doctor Weir was already there, talking with John and a fully suited and polished Richard Woolsey.
"Dial it up," Doctor Weir called up to Rodney in the Control Room. Turning back to Woolsey she added "Richard - thank you for agreeing to put in a good word for us with the IOA."
"It's the least I can do since you all risked your careers to come and save us," Woolsey said in an actually friendly tone. I raised an eyebrow at General O'Neill, and smiled when he shrugged in reply.
"General O'Neill," Doctor Weir greeted our arrival. "Are you ready for that hot toddy?"
"Indeed," O'Neill said with a smirk. The wormhole kawhooshed behind us, settling into the familiar sparkling puddle.
"Thanks for not firing me Sir," John said irreverently.
"You came back to rescue me so ...," General O'Neill trailed off without finishing that sentence.
"I hope your next visit to Atlantis is more restful than this one Jack," I said companionably, catching the startled choking look on Woolsey's face at my apparent 'first name basis' relationship with General O'Neill.
"You and me both Sabina," O'Neill said with a smile that told me he knew exactly what I was up to. He had previously invited me to call him Jack so I didn't think he'd mind if I took him up on the offer, however belatedly.
Gesturing for Woolsey to go first, General O'Neill flipped us a half wave before stepping youthfully through the Stargate.
"Jack?" John looked at me questioningly.
"He invited me to call him that," I said innocently. "And watching Woolsey almost swallow his tongue at the lack of respect implied had nothing to do with my taking him up on it."
"No wonder Woolsey doesn't like you," John muttered under his breath.
"He doesn't like me?" I manufactured a surprised expression. John laughed, swinging a casual arm around my shoulder and steering me away from the gate.
Authors Note for all chapters pertaining to "The Return":
Caritas in written Latin is Charity in spoken English – it took my fancy to call one of the Ancients that, given they were less than charitable in their dealings with the team. I liked the idea that at least one of the Ancients would have become friends with someone, if given the chance. I also wanted to include some aspect of grief because it seemed a shame all the Ancients perished with barely any acknowledgement. Ricus is Rhys which means 'enthusiasm' – another tongue in cheek name because the Ancients are portrayed in this episode as completely lacking in anything remotely like excitement etc. The source for the latin names was freereg dot rootsweb dot com fslash howto fslash latinnames.htm; the source for the meaning of Rhys was behindthename dot com.
Perficio vinculum means 'perfect bonding' – I did my usual 'let's pretend these Latin words have been altered to be Ancient' trick from transxp dot com so as usual no promises on the ultimate accuracy of the translation.
Quantum Electrodynamics (Greiner, Walter) is a real book – I picked it because if does come in hardcover and it's pretty big, almost 500 pages (according to Amazon dot com). Should be big enough to hide at least a few power bars which I think Rodney would totally do!
I ignored the "jumper ride back to the SGC" reference made by Jack at the end of the episode because we find out in the next episode that they have three ZPMs – definitely no need for Jack to take a Jumper!
Sorry this chapter got posted later than usual ... I did a bit of a re-write and I'm still not completely happy with it - there's one more chapter tidying up some things before the story moves on to Echoes ... hope you're still enjoying this!