CHAPTER TWENTY: LEAVING DEUCALION
The Decualions looked away, covering their eyes out of deference to the power unleashed by the Weapon for, they prayed, the last time.
When it was over, Ford peered towards the Governor's building...and couldn't hide the smirk.
The tallest building in Deucalion had just gotten a hair cut. Three stories remained, perfectly intact, but the fourth story, where the Governor's office was, had been surgically and expertly shaved off. Black smoke and a handful of sparks rose from the top of the third story—now the roof—and rose into the air to mingle with the dying fires and smoke from the rest of the finally free city.
Next to the lieutenant, he heard Governor Borin heave a sigh.
"Well," she sniffed, "I suppose I deserved that." Then, a little more softly, "A small price to pay, in the end." She looked askance at the tall young man, "It...is the end, right?"
Ford didn't answer her, instead tapping his radio, the smile gone from his face.
"Major? Can you hear me?"
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Sheppard gasped, acutely aware of his racing heart and the spinning world around him. Every muscle seemed to spasm and shake as the light faded to almost nothing around him, and his throat was sore. Christ—McKay had done that five times?! The hologram had been right—the doc was a hell of a lot stronger than he appeared....
The Weapon touched his mind again. Even that hurt.
Thank you, John Sheppard.
"You're..." the major coughed and swallowed, the action barely creating any liquid inside his dry mouth. "You're welcome," he whispered, avoiding using sound altogether until he'd had a chance to recoup. Even the air pushing up through his vocal cords to effect the whisper had hurt.
Remember our deal
"Yeah," he agreed, trying to swallow some more to get his voice back. "I'll remember."
And the white light faded completely. The room went completely dark once more.
"Crap," he hissed at the near blindness that caused. Pushing down on the arms, he tried to push himself up off the chair. It took several rocking motions, but he eventually pitched himself forward off the nasty contraption, landing on the floor on his knees...hard. He stayed that way for a couple of seconds, resting on all fours, letting his eyes adjust again to the low illumination, before turning to McKay. The scientist was still bathed in the sunlight streaming through the hole.
Relief surged through him to see the chest rising and falling still.
He crawled over and slumped next to him on his side, propping himself up on an elbow.
"McKay," he whispered, his free hand weakly prodding the scientist's shoulder. He didn't get a response, which wasn't too surprising. "McKay, I...you can't hear me, but....Do you realize...I nearly...destroyed a city for you? So...seems to me....you owe me. Meaning...don't even think...about leaving me now." He grinned, prodding the shoulder again. "At the very least...you owe me...a good, stiff drink."
McKay didn't make a sound. Sheppard eyed him a little longer, then collapsed onto his back, lying next to the doctor.
"That's okay," he whispered, closing his eyes, "you...can...pay me later...."
The radio suddenly came to life. It was possible it had been working before, but it was the first time he'd actually heard it.
"Major, can you hear me? Major Sheppard, please respond." There was a hint of panic in the normally calm voice of Lieutenant Ford.
Sheppard sighed, and, somewhat reluctantly, tapped the radio. His eyes opened to fix on the hole in the ceiling, watching the occasional patch of smoke drift across the blue sky.
"I'm here...," he replied, feeling oddly serene.
"Sir! Thank...It's good to hear your voice sir. Is everything...I mean, are you...."
"We're still...alive. Is that med team...here yet?" Damn, why couldn't he catch his breath?
"We're here, Major," Beckett's lovely Scottish brogue said over the airways. Sheppard grinned—it was the most wonderful voice in the world right now. "I'm in Jumper 2."
"Jumper 1 has moved to cover the gate, Major. We brought the doc and his team here as soon as they came through the gate," Dunne's voice added. "We're currently just outside the Illusion's walls. We, uh, heard what happened to Jumper 1, sir. Is it safe to come inside now?"
"Yup....Safe as...houses. Come on...in!"
"Check."
"What about inside that so-called hidden room of yours, Major," Beckett asked, a tiny tremble to his voice. "Can we come in there as well?"
"Come...on down, Carson!" Sheppard replied, a little too happily. Punchy? Was he getting punchy now? "In fact...everyone come! We...We'll throw a party!" Yes, he was getting punchy.
"Err...Major? That...I...um...oh dear...."
Oops. Didn't mean to scare the excitable man. Sheppard's strange humor disappeared.
"Beckett, I'm...tired....Just...get here. And Ford...get up here too...and bring....Luphron."
"Right." Beckett said, just as Ford said, "Check."
Sheppard closed his eyes, listening to the sound of orders being spun over the radio between the different parties. He only opened them again when a shadow covered the hole.
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Sheppard watched in a sort of daze as medical personnel ripped open IV bags, quoted vitals and prepped McKay for transport. Beckett started shouting words that only made the Major frown more and more, as flashlights, the sun and the beeping lights of monitors and tiny machines designed to help keep his friend alive all blended into a collage of confusion before his eyes. He tried to follow along with the information being given to him second-hand, but it was like trying to follow the journey of a single drop of water cascading down Niagara Falls.
Eventually, however, he saw McKay lifted out of the room on a stretcher through the hole, presumably up into the waiting puddle jumper. He heard orders from Beckett over the radio for it to fly to Atlantis now, and for Jumper 1 to come fetch the major.
While all this was happening, someone had also stuck an IV in his arm and he realized he could breathe easier. Only once the room seemed quieter, though, did he notice that there were still four people hanging about: Ford, Teyla, Colonel Luphron—the latter looking a little worse for wear—and a medical doctor form Atlantis, a dark-skinned man he didn't really recognize. It was another of Beckett's medical team, but he had never gotten his name. The doctor seemed to be talking to him. Since he had his breath back, he gamely decided replying was possible.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, blinking tiredly, "What did you say?"
"I asked if you felt strong enough to stand," the doctor asked. "Jumper 1 is here to take you home." Standing just behind the young man, Teyla was looking worried.
"Um, sure," the Major replied, staring at his legs. They looked like they would work.
But there was something else he needed to do first, before he could leave. What was it again?
He looked up, and saw Luphron watching him expectantly, his arms crossed. He also looked pissed.
Oh...right.
"Wait," he said, holding up a hand and lifting his eyes again. They focused on the doctor, then at Teyla and Ford, then finally the Deucalion colonel. "Colonel...something important."
The tall blond man squatted down next to him, his shadowed eyes frowning a little.
"What?" the question was gruff.
"Something you need to know," Sheppard pressed a hand to his head, grimacing at the pounding it was making, "about the Weapon." His eyes closed, and it took some effort to reopen them.
"We need to get you out of here, sir," Ford said softly. "You can tell us later. They're waiting for us."
"This is important, lieutenant," Sheppard hissed, before breathing slowly back in again. His eyes had shifted to Ford when he spoke, but now they turned back to Luphron. "Colonel, the Weapon...it's alive."
The Deucalion stared at him for a moment, then frowned.
"Alive? I...have read it has awareness of its purpose, Major. But alive? No. You are mistaken."
"I talked to it."
This time, both Colonel Luphron's and Lieutenant Ford's eyebrows rose.
"I'm sorry sir?" The lieutenant glanced sideways at the doctor, "Um, did you say you talked to it? You mean to the computer controlling the weapon?"
"No...to the Weapon itself," Sheppard grimaced, "And I...I made it a promise. Look...turn it back on."
"Oh no sir," Ford shook his head vigorously, "I don't think that's a good idea. What if it—"
"Wait a minute," Colonel Luphron interrupted, his eyes narrowed. "Turn it back on? Are you saying it is not broken? I thought you had destroyed it!"
"Broken? Destroyed it? Ha!" Sheppard chuckled hoarsely, still feeling extremely lightheaded and wondering if the spinning would subside soon, "No. Just...rejoin the red wire."
"Sir!"
"Yes Ford?" Sheppard blinked up at the lieutenant. Aiden looked pained, and he looked even more pained when Colonel Luphron stood back up and walked towards the damaged console.
"The red wire?" the Deucalion asked as he reached it. "That's all I have to do?"
"That'll power everything back up. I need to talk to the brown man."
"Brown man?" Ford crossed his arms, and looked at the doctor again. "Sir, I don't think you're quite—"
"He must mean the one we call the Truth Speaker," Luphron said, fingering on of the ends of the severed red wire. "It speaks to the volunteers and explains the way of things. I believe it is a projection of some kind, like a motion picture. It is depicted as wearing brown."
"Look, sir," Ford watched Sheppard blink slowly back up at him, "I'm sorry, but I'm not sure you're thinking clearly. If he turns it back on with the Jumper up there and us in here it—"
"I know what I'm saying, lieutenant," the major said clearly, firmly, "and I know what I'm doing. The Weapon will not power back up, just the console, the room and the brown man."
Colonel Luphron needed no further urging. He stuck the two ends of the red wire together, and watched with bright eyes as the room's lighting came back on. The low hum returned, and Sheppard smiled as Luphron sighed in gratitude to find it was just that simple.
"Thank the Light," the Colonel whispered. "I had thought...."
"Nah," Sheppard waved a hand in the air, "And in fact...I think I may have made things better for you guys." He words were slightly slurred. Luphron had returned to watching him, his expression receptive now.
Ford, meanwhile, found his thoughts had strayed. He was truly seeing the hexagonal room for the first time, and was wondering if either Sheppard or the doc realized it looked just like the inside of the fifth doctor's tardis.
He shook his head. Focus lieutenant!
"I hope that is true, Major," Luphron said, still holding the ends together. "Now how do we turn on the Truth Speaker?"
"By calling for him. Oh, brown boy!" Sheppard croaked, looking around. "Wake up!"
Both Ford and Teyla were having a really hard time not thinking that the major had lost his mind.
"Hologram!" Sheppard called more loudly, "Mr. Brown, where are you!"
"Here, Major Sheppard."
A form appeared in the white half of the room. Colonel Luphron almost dropped the two ends of the red wire he was pressing together, and Ford automatically brought his submachine gun to bear. The medical doctor moved down closer to Sheppard on the floor, ready to protect his patient bodily if need be, while Teyla just adopted a fighting stance. The hologram looked at the strangers, then walked through the glass partition towards the Major.
"You were right," Sheppard smiled at it, looking a little drunk, "The Weapon is alive."
The hologram nodded, "I considered the many conscious minds that have connected with it over the years, as well as its own unique properties as the offshoot of a sentient being...and thought that a likely consequence. I assume, then, that it came back to life without the console?"
"Yup, it sure did," Sheppard admitted cheekily, ignoring the open-mouthed stares of the people with him. "And, as you thought, it wanted to level the city." Behind the hologram, the Deucalion's eyes widened at that information. The hologram, though, just nodded again.
"And how did you," it paused, recalling the major's last words, "figure something else out? I assume by the presence of these people that you did, in fact, do so? Did you, perhaps, let it take Doctor Rodney McKay?"
"Nope," Sheppard smirked, "I talked to it."
The hologram blinked. After a second, it looked at the other four people. Its face was as surprised as theirs. When it looked back at Sheppard, it tilted its head.
"Bull."
Teyla's jerked slightly at the Earth phrase, while Ford couldn't resist a tiny grin. Sheppard, though, was shaking his head...stopping quickly when he realized it hurt to do so.
"Not bull, Mr. Brown. It's alive. I talked to it. We came to a meeting of the minds," he smiled, "literally. Pretty nice conversationalist for a sadistic weapon of mass destruction with OCD—a little, uh, repetitive at first, but it got over that."
The hologram blinked some more. "But I do not understand. The Weapon does not speak."
"Oh, outgrow your programming, hologram! If the Weapon can do it, so can you! Make the connections in that pixeled brain and make this part of your repertoire. It's alive and it can talk!" Sheppard took in a deep breath...and started to cough violently. The medical doctor was instantly there, massaging his back and grabbing a bottle of water from his pack.
The hologram waited silently, waiting.
After a few minutes, Sheppard was breathing evenly again, though the world was a little more fogged. He realized innately that he didn't have much time left before the fuzziness would take over and drag him out of the game. Drawing a more careful breath, he focused back on the hologram.
"Listen to me," Sheppard wheezed, his voice sounding a little like a teenager's after screaming all night at a rock concert, "You are going to tell the next person who comes here and sits in that chair to talk to the Weapon. That's all. And maybe...it'll help him destroy the Wraith and not kill him in the process."
The hologram frowned, "But the Weapon can't—"
"The Weapon has more than one purpose, hologram, just like you. It was taught to interact as well as to destroy. It has learned to talk, and, turns out, it likes that more than wiping everyone off the face of this planet. If I were you, I'd tell folks to take advantage of that."
"But this is not logical. It has no voice. How can it—"
"Oh, it doesn't need one. Trust me. And I'm the one speaking the truth, now, hologram. Somewhere inside the part of you that's connected to the same energy powering the Weapon and powering the Illusion and powering everything in this room....you know that."
The other three sets of human eyes looked to the projection after the major's little speech. It stayed focused on Sheppard, and they could almost feel the computer running it absorbing and learning and understanding what it had just been asked to believe.
And then it smiled. Computers really were much faster at this sort of thing.
"Yes, I do. Thank you, Major Sheppard. I understand and I accept the change. The volunteers will be told to talk to the Weapon. This is a great day for Decualion." It bowed, then looked to the others, and bowed to them. "Gentlemen and lady, the console will now shut down until it is triggered again by the golden door." He looked back at the major, a real smile on its face. "Goodbye, Major Sheppard...a true friend and hero."
And without any further ado, the hologram vanished. As it did, all the lights powered down and the hum faded, returning the room to darkness.
"Well," Ford said softly, looking around, "That was abrupt."
"Is it over?" Teyla asked, just as softly.
Luphron, realizing it was no longer to keep the red wires together, gingerly placed them back. They could be repaired properly later.
He smiled, turning back to the four Atlanteans in the room with him, to thank them and the major for everything that had happened.
He frowned to see both Teyla and the medical doctor reacting to the fact that Sheppard had finally succumbed to unconsciousness. He eyes caught Ford's as the medical doctor called for another stretcher. The lieutenant backed away from the group, aware that he really would only get in the way. He stopped when he reached Luphron's side.
"Thank you," the Colonel said softly, honestly, to the young man. "And please tell the Major and Doctor McKay that the Deucalion people will forever be in their debt."
Ford grimaced, then nodded.
They watched in silence as Sheppard was shifted to the new stretcher and strapped down, then lifted gently upwards. The doctor followed next, and then Teyla. Ford walked over to the rope and harness as it fell back into the room, and turned to look back at Luphron. He seemed to be considering something...and, finally, he shrugged.
"You, uh," he gave a small smile, "got any crops you might be willing to...trade for?"
Luphron smiled, "We'd be honored, Lieutenant Ford."
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TBC
A/N – Believe it or not...I know how many chapters are left. Just two! 22 chapters. And to think, I originally thought it would be 10. LOL! Guess I should replace the first part, eh?