Evelyn POV
After a few hours the door to the hut burst open and Torrell forced McKay inside followed by a dweeby looking guy in an old aviator's hat and then a small collection of prisoners. I recognised one as the guy who'd pinned me earlier.
"Choose," Torrell said.
"Choose what?" McKay demanded.
"Which one of them dies first," Torrell said. "Do it."
McKay looked back between everyone tied up on that side of the room, I could only see the back of his head but I'm assuming he was horrified.
"I can't do that," he said.
"Well, then, I'll choose for you. Either way, one of them dies. Unless of course you'd rather I spend some time with your little friend, O'Neill, while you reconsider fixing that ship," Torrell explained and I suddenly started fighting my restraints. I did not like the sound of that. I'd rather McKay pick me to die first.
"Well, I'm sorry, but there are some things beyond my capability," he replied and I fought harder.
"I don't believe you," Torrell said.
"Well, I know it's hard to believe, but.." he said and was cut off.
"No. I think you're lying," Torrell said and he'd better be wrong. Or McKay wasn't going to have to wait for Torrell to kill him, somehow I would.
"I'm not. It's broken. You don't understand 'broken'?" McKay replied. Yes, please McKay, please antagonise the man threatening us all.
"I know your type. You whine, and you complain, and you see to it that your every task is viewed as some impossible achievement so that when you do succeed, your gargantuan efforts are viewed as all the more heroic," Torrell explained and that did seem like McKay. I could see Sheppard glaring at him, thinking the same, no doubt.
"You are asking me to do the impossible," McKay said.
"Your friends' lives are in your hands," he said, pointing to the others. "I'll give you some time to choose," he turned to leave and stopped by my bedside, stroking my face before he left. One of the prisoners forced McKay down to the floor and tied him down.
"Listen to him, McKay. He's killed 11 people. Eight before he was sent here and three since he's been on the island," the dweeby guy said.
"That's 11, huh? You've got some catching up to do, don't you?" McKay said before turning to Sheppard. "He's only killed one."
"Who, him?" Sheppard asked. It was doubtful this guy with a stutter and crossed eyes was much of a threat.
"I told you, I'm here because of a mistake," the guy replied.
"I'm sure everyone here on this island says that," Ronon commented.
"Well as a matter of fact, some of us are innocent. Only a few, like Torrell, are actual murderers," he explained and I soured.
"You mean, they put all their criminals here, regardless of the crimes they commit?" Teylas asked, shocked.
"Once, only the worst of the worst were sent here. But the punishment proved to be such a successful deterrent that crime rates in olesia plummeted, which meant fewer and fewer prisoners," the guy explained and I sighed. I thought something seemed fishy here.
"Less food for the Wraith," Teyla said and Eldon nodded.
"Exactly."
"So they lowered the bar," Sheppard continued and I fought against my own restraint harder.
The guy left then, leaving us with McKay and his impending decision. Was it selfish of me to hope McKay chose someone? I didn't want my friends to die but at the same time, I also didn't want what Eldon was threatening to do to me. Unless that was purely a psychological game to get McKay in line.
"It's really broken, right, McKay?" I asked after a while of staring at the ceiling.
"Yes, it's really broken!" he yelled and I nodded, biting my lip. My fate seemed pretty sealed then. I heard Ronon struggle harder.
"I think they're loosening," Ronon said, pulling on his restraints. I could see his wrists bleeding and I felt bad.
"Take it easy, Chewie. You're going to cut your damn hands off," John warned.
"The more we struggle, the tighter the bindings get," Teyla explained and I sighed. A panel at the back of the shack opened up and the guy from earlier slid in. He looked between us all and held up a knife.
"You need something like this," he said.
"What about the guards?" McKay asked.
"They stepped away. No one's watching," the guy explained.
"Will you help us?" Teyla asked, staring him down. I'd say given the fact he'd snuck in here with a knife was evidence enough that he would. Unless he really was a killer and this was how he did it the first time.
"If you'll help me," he replied.
"How?" John demanded.
"Fix the ship. Let me leave with you," he said and I saw McKay roll his eyes.
"Oh, for God's sake, how many times do I have to tell you.." he started but was cut off by the dweeb. He turned desperately to him and John looked at McKay with worried eyes.
"I know you could do it. I could see it in your eyes when you were working. You were holding something back from us," he said.
"Rodney?" John threatened.
"Nobody could fix it. I don't care who you think I am, or what you think you saw in my eyes, but it is totally, completely impossible," McKay said bluntly.
"Torrell and his men are going to return soon," the guy said.
"He'll fix it," Sheppard confirmed for him.
"I just said I couldn't," McKay argued.
"You really suck at lying, Rodney," Sheppard scolded before turning back at the stuttery aviator. "We have a deal."
"There is one slight possibility," McKay said and I let out a frustrated sob.
"Rodney," I cried out.
"Huh? See?" Sheppard said to the guy, nodding with him.
"I won't actually be able to fix the ship to fly out of here, but I might be able to cobble together enough power from secondary systems to activate the DHD. That way, we can dial the gate and leave on foot. When I say "might," I mean probably not. It's a long shot at best. I'd have to bypass the main power distribution conduit," McKay explained.
"Get us out of here," Sheppard argued. The guy cut Ronon free first and Ronon grabbed the knife off of him and held it to his throat. I let out a groan, I was never getting out of here.
"Ronon, what are you doing?" McKay gasped desperately.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't cut your throat," Ronon demanded.
"For one, it would make a mess. Look, we made a deal. Just let him go," Sheppard ordered and I struggled with my restraints, giving up on any hope of a rescue. To my surprise, Ronon let him go, launching him onto the floor and cutting the collar around his own neck. He stood and quickly got to work on the others.
"Careful, careful," McKay said when Ronon got up to him and I sighed.
"Suck it up!" Ronon said before coming over with John to free me. With my restraints undone, John sat me up and Ronon handed me back my arm and I slipped it on. John helped me over to the hole in the wall and I was pretty sure by now, there was something wrong with my ribs. It burned when I bent over and I held in a cough.
We snuck through the woods, guided by the guy and John before we crouched. It was odd, the most difficult part of our escape was McKay. I clutched my chest in agony as we stopped and Sheppard put a hand on my shoulder.
"Why are we stopping?" Ronon demanded.
"This is way too easy. All right, stay close and," he paused, looking at McKay. "stay quiet."
"What? Why does he say that to me?" Rodney exclaimed loudly.
"Shhh!" Teyla scolded and I smiled to myself, despite the burning pain in my ribs.
We jogged through the forest further and I clutched my torso, I felt like crying it hurt so bad. I had a decent tolerance for pain but this hurt more than last time. Though I suppose last time I cracked a rib I was heavily medicated through most of the recovery, and I was busy fighting off weird fish enzymes in my leg.
We stopped just in sight of the Jumper, no one was guarding it. We paused, why not? Peering through the nearby woods on the other side of the clearing we could see arches concealing themselves. That was why.
"I didn't know anything about this, I swear," the guy defended.
"We will never be able to make it to the Jumper. They have our weapons," Teyla said.
"We don't need weapons," Ronon said confidently.
"How about the fact that they seriously outnumber us?" McKay reasoned.
"At least we've got the element of surprise," Sheppard said.
"I was beginning to think you were afraid to fight," Ronon said approvingly.
"No, I'm just naturally lazy, but I will if I have to. And it's starting to look like I have to," he said and then turned to McKay. "How much time do you need to rework the DHD?"
"Well, in a perfect world, two days," he said and I reached over and smacked him. "Ow!"
"Rodney," Sheppard scolded.
"Right now, uh, ten minutes, give or take," he replied.
"All right, we need to create a diversion. We're going to split up, flank them, get them looking everywhere except the Jumper. Hopefully we can buy enough time to steal back our weapons," John said. Just as we were planning that the gate activated nearby. He paused. "Or we could just dial the gate."
"They fixed the DHD?" Teyla asked.
"That's impossible," McKay replied.
"I don't think they're the ones who dialed it," he said as a Wraith Dart flew overhead. "Get down," he ordered and I felt his hand on my back, pushing me down and leaning over me protectively. I made a noise as the position I was in, trying to stay quiet.
"It didn't see us," the guy siad.
"It saw us, it didn't care," Ronon said.
"Why not?" McKay asked.
"Who cares? They left the Jumper," Sheppard said and helped me up.
We rushed as fast as we could towards it. I winced as we ran, and he helped me up the rant and lowered me into McKay's usual spot in the Jumper as he stood over the two working under the dash. Teyla stood further back in the back compartment of the jumper and Ronon waited outside, keeping watch. Maybe ten minutes went by when he rushed back inside.
"The dart went back through the gate," he told us.
"I do not know why it did not cull anyone," Teyla said.
"Maybe it did. It headed for the mainland when it first came through," Ronon said.
"All right," Sheppard said. "Keep watch," he said and Ronon rushed back outside. "How's it coming, Rodney?"
"Slower than I expected, but faster than humanly possible," he replied and I reached out a leg to kick him. He jerked his shin away and glared at me but I still think it was worth the pain that shot through me.
"Any chance of getting the cloaking generator powered up, too? Could really come in handy right about now," Sheppard asked.
"Okay, and how about a snack? Maybe you'd like me to make you a nice sandwich?" McKay said indignantly.
"Only if it's humanly possible," Sheppard sassed back.
"It would be a miracle if I could get the DHD back on, let alone the cloaking generator. And even if I could manage that, the power would be intermittent aat best," McKay explained. I wished there was something I could do but even if I knew what I was doing I was in too much pain to get under the control board.
"Okay. Well, FYI, the Wraith have all gone, so it's just a matter of time before Torrell and his boys return… with all of our weapons," John explained and McKay flared his nostrils.
"I get it!" he yelled, annoyed.
"Good," Sheppard replied with just as much annoyance. Just then Ronon ducked back in.
"Party's over," he said, ducking out as soon as he'd warned us.
"And we were having such a good time," Sheppard responded, following Ronon outside with Teyla. "All right, let's see if we can hold them off," I heard him say outside. He jogged back in and pointed at McKay. "As soon as you get the DHD back online, dial the gate, grab O'Neill and make a run for it. When you get back to Atlantis, start working on those sandwiches. We'll be right behind you."
"Two minutes! Hold them that long, we're good to go," McKay said and I gripped my torso. McKay hurriedly worked beneath the ship's dash and before long he was cheering in excitement.
"That's it! I did it! We're ready to dial!" He exclaimed and slid out from underneath. I watched his face fall and looked behind me. Torrell and his men were back.
"See that? I knew you could do it," Torrell said.
I was grabbed by one of his men and we were all forced outside. I saw John and Teyla were all already on their knees, hands on their heads. I was forced down beside them and cried out as I was. I spluttered, clutching my torso. Ronon was being led, standing up a little ways away from us and had a gun pointed at his head.
"Kill him," Torrell ordered.
"Oh, no, no. You don't have to do that. If you want me to dial the gate for you, that's fine. There are hundreds of suitable planets out there you can go to," McKay pleaded.
"Yes, and there are hundreds of unsuitable planets you can send me to, aren't there?" Torrell said, leaning in close to McKay. Part of me wished McKay would open up a space gate and send them all to their deaths. I no longer felt the pity I had earlier today about them being trapped here as Wraith food.
"Yeah, but I won't send you to one of those," McKay said, sounding like he was genuinely confused Torrell would accuse him of such a thing.
"I think our best option is to just come with you, to your planet, provided you got more of these laying around there, do you?" Torrell gestured to the Jumper.
"Forget it," Sheppard replied.
"I'm sorry?" Torrell said, turning his attention to Sheppard.
"We'll dial you another address. You can go through but we're not taking you home," Sheppard explained. Torrell leaned in.
"You are aware of the fact that we have all of your weapons pointed at you, right?" Torrell asked.
"Yeah, well, you're going to murder us the minute we step through the gae anyways. What difference does it make?" He asked. Plus, I'd rather die now than what might happen if I didn't.
"That's very distrustful," Torrell said, amused. We heard something coming. A Wraith cruiser was making its way slowly towards us. I'd never seen one outside of the reports before and I prayed someone shot me in the head right now.
"Wait, look!" a prisoner yelled.
"Oh no…" McKay said.
"What is that?" Torrell stepped away from us and walked closer to Ronon, looking up at the sky. "What is that?" he demanded.
"It's a Wraith Cruiser, and trust me, you don't want to be around when it gets here," Sheppard explained.
Ronon used the opportunity of Torrell being beside him to grab his gun back and swing a well aimed punch, knocking him down before he could react. He then pointed it at the armed prisoners. Everyone around us cocked their guns and pointed it at Ronon. Even Torrell had his grubby hands on another gun.
"Come on," Torrell said. He and Ronon exchange confident smirks and shifted from foot to foot, waiting for the other to make the first move.
"Wait, wait," John said, halting the two. He looked at McKay. "Dial the gate." McKay ran up the ramp and back towards the system controls.
"Stop!" McKay yelled as he started trying to dial.
"If all the prisoners get off this island, where do you think that ship will go?" Sheppard said. I saw the cruiser get closer and I held my breath. This wasn't looking good.
"What? Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No! We've got a big problem in here!" McKay yelled from inside. I closed my eyes. The power.
"What's wrong?" Sheppard asked as everyone rushed in. I stayed on my knees. I needed to save what little strength I had for running for my life later.
"I lost power to the DHD," McKay said.
"Why," Sheppard asked.
"I told you the power feed would be intermittent at best. We should've dialed when I patched it instead of standing around talking.." McKay explained and I sighed.
"Can you fix it?" Sheppard asked.
"I don't know," McKay replied.
"They're right on top of us," Ronon said.
"We could shoot them down," Torrell suggested.
"Neither your weapons nor ours will damage it," Teyla, the voice of reason, told him.
"What about the drones? Can you patch enough power to arm them?" Sheppard asked.
"They're not as intricate as the DHD. Maybe one, given the time constraints," McKay answered.
"Then do it," Sheppard told him.
"Can one drone shoot down an entire Wraith cruiser?" Teyla asked.
"Maybe we'll get a lucky shot, McKay?" Shepppard said.
"Almost, just give me one more… and… okay! We're armed! Go, before the power cuts out again!" McKay said. I watched a drone fly out of the side of the ship and soar up towards the Wraith Cruiser and hit it in it's underside, in what looked like something important.
"We scored a hit. That's either going to buy us time or piss 'em off," Sheppard said.
"If they didn't know we were here, they sure as hell do now," McKay said.
"Colonel Sheppard, you damaged the Wraith Cruiser…" I heard Weir say over the radio. I turned my head towards the Jumper to see Torrell standing inside holding out a radio.
"Dr. Weir," McKay said.
"And it's leaving the area. But there are two more cruisers incoming," Weir told us.
"Elizabeth, where are you?" Sheppard asked.
"We're in Jumper 2. We're cloaked, directly above you," she explained. "Are you alright?"
"Our Jumper's disabled. Right now, I need you to dial the gate to one of the back-up planets to the Alpha site. Doesn't matter which one," Sheppard ordered.
"Understood," she radioed back. A moment later the gate could be heard opening and Sheppard came outside.
"Okay, everyone who wanted off of this planet, now's your chance!" he yelled and everyone made a run for the target. "Time to go," he told Torrell.
"Why should we trust you, huh?" Torrell asked.
"If you want to stay, stay. I really don't give a damn, but you are not coming home with us!" Sheppard replied. I heard the guy from earlier start to protest but Sheppard waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can come."
Torrell gave a half hearted salute and broke off in a run. Ronon gave what could only be described as a predatory smile. John followed Torrell out and stood in front of me as I looked up at him from the dirt.
"Eliabeth, I need you to keep the gate open until the last of them go through, then shut it down. Dial Atlantis," John explained and then helped me up off my knees.
"We can land and pick you up," Weir responded.
"Negative, just keep the gate open. We'll take it from there. Stay in stealth more till the Wraith have gone away," Sheppard said and then put an arm around me. "You eat a light lunch?" he asked and I laughed, nodding. "Good."
I heard the sound of the gate shutting down before weir radioed that she was dialing Atlantis. John picked me up and I let out a squeak and he ran carrying me at impressive speed right for the gate. I could hear enemy fire around us and I buried my head in the crook of his neck, choosing not to watch as we got closer to the gate. I felt feet hit a different kind of ground and looked up to see we were back safely in Atlantis. I breathed a sigh of relief and put my head back down.
"Thank god," I said and John chuckled.
"Let's get you to the medbay," he said and carried me out from the gateroom.