Story title: Atlantis Rising
Chapter Title: The Terror
Author: Your friendly, neighborhood Elf Princess
Disclaimer: The plot and original character(s), Amorina in particular, are mine. Everything else is MGM's and whoever else owns the StarGate universe.
Author's notes: Okay, well I did get two reviews and they made me very happy, but if you're reading please take the twenty seconds it takes to review. Even if it's just to say my story sucks and I should stop. Reviews give me fuel to write and I am dangerously low on that right now. Too much work and too little sleep makes me a rather grumpy person- but writing is, hopefully, going to help change that . . . maybe.
Laura (you know who you are!): Thanks Hun. I so appreciate what you're doing for me. :) Keeps me going when I feel like stopping.
Quezacolt: Glad to know you're hooked . . . I have great plans for these poor, poor people- and not all of them good. If you happen to come up with a better story title that would be awesome. I really had no idea and wanted to get it posted. Anything works! Please, please, please help.
And on with the story . . .
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Elizabeth, Sheppard and Amorina all descended upon the command center at once. As soon as they had left the lab, Weir had broken out into a sprint. Sheppard was not far behind, his weapon hanging limply at his side. Amorina had followed, although somewhat slower until Sheppard had glared and then she matched her speed to his, entering at the same time.
As they burst through the door, Grodin was the first to notice them. "Dr. Weir, Major Sheppard." His face went blank as he saw Amorina. "Um . . ."
"Her name is Amy," Sheppard curtly responded, not volunteering any other information.
Grodin's face betrayed his confusion. "Um, okay. But what is she . . ."
"Grodin," Weir snapped, "What is going on here?"
The entire command center stopped their conversations and looked toward Dr. Weir. She only snapped when tired or stressed and her crew knew that they were in for a difficult day.
Grodin responded immediately to the command and, after taking one last glance toward Amorina, turned toward his computer screen.
"The gate was activated a few minutes ago. Two, I think." The look on Weir's face clearly told him that she did not care about specifics right then. "And since the wormhole was established there's been a constant . . . I don't know... signal being fed through. We're not quite sure what it is."
"Can you give me any information that might be in the least bit useful?" Weir demanded. Now even Sheppard looked alarmed. It wasn't often that Elizabeth was snappy and sarcastic. Although this time he couldn't figure out why. Yeah Amorina had been an unexpected discovery, but not a bad one. At least not that he could tell. Maybe Elizabeth knew something he didn't. But that didn't make sense either. He had been with Weir almost the entire time that Amorina had been awake, and Beckett had been there before Weir and he hadn't been acting any differently than usual. It was slightly discomforting, but Sheppard really didn't have time to contemplate the behavior of people. There were more important things going on.
Quickly shifting his attention back to the situation, Sheppard watched the transmission carefully. It looked suspiciously familiar, but he couldn't place his finger on where exactly he had seen it before, until memories flashed back of underground bunkers, sand that choked the life from you, enemy fire, blood, attack, bombs going off and the encoded message that killed everyone. The message that he did not obey.
"It looks like a radio code." Sheppard's voice broke the silence. When the others looked at him, he explained, "When serving under . . .well, when I was serving in Iraq we used visualized radio transmissions. Different heights of different wavelengths meant different things. Any straight area was a word or idea change. This has the same look."
"Could you verbalize it?" Weir asked.
Sheppard shook his head. "No, we just memorized the frequencies." He shrugged. "It was the easiest way of communicating."
"But that doesn't mean we couldn't." McKay stepped into the circle that had formed around the computer. "It would be simple. You just have to align the . . ."
"Just do it, Doctor, and save us the lecture." Weir waved her hand, bringing him to silence. "How soon do you think you could . . ."
McKay had already begun typing by the time Elizabeth had started her sentence, he was finsihed when she trailed off. "Now." And with one last push of a button the once-silent transmission became spoken for everyone to hear.
"Unknown traveler. We humbly welcome you to Atlantis. Never had we expected that some would enter Ancient grounds, but we are pleased that you are here. Joyfully we request a meeting. We are sure that you would benefit from an exchange of culture and the forging of trade alliances, which are rare in this part of the galaxy. We ask that you respond."
This message repeated itself three times before anyone spoke.
"So . . . our answer is . . ." McKay started.
Weir didn't answer, even though she knew the question had been directed at her. She was too busy watching Amorina, who had paled visibly, all the blood drained from her face. Fear was evident upon her face and her large, wide eyes screamed in silent terror, unshed tears dangerously close to falling. She had backed as far away from the computer as she could; her back was pressed tightly against the wall. Elizabeth could see that her tightened fists and taunt posture were her only means of controlling the shaking that seemed to be threatening to overtake her entire body. Her calm had been replaced by horror and her cockiness by panic. Never had Elizabeth seen anyone so visibly distraught by a simple message, especially one that proclaimed open friendliness. And although Weir deeply wanted to reply with equaled faith, Amorina's reaction had made her wary – very wary.
She turned toward Amorina, "Amy," she said, but Amorina did not answer. Instead she gasped, as if short of breath. "Amy, what is going on?" But Amorina again did not or could not answer. Weir, however concerned with Amorina's condition, needed answers, and needed them quickly. "Amorina."
Amorina slowly turned in Weir's direction. The command tamed the spell that had been cast upon her. As her concentration shifted, Weir could see that the preliminary horror had been replaced with a sadness, a deeper sadness than she had expected to see in someone so young.
"Amorina," she said a bit softer, hoping that gentler tones would help get answers out of Amorina, "Amorina, we must know if you have any information to on this species."
Silence descended upon the room once again. Everyone was attempting not to look at the quivering girl and their commander who stood before her.
"Amorina, we need to know," Weir called tenderly.
"I know, I know . . . it's just..." Her broken speech was muffled by the cries she was suppressing. She tried to speak again but fell silent.
"It's just what?" Weir asked, moving closer to Amorina.
"God, they're everywhere. Oh god, oh god. Make them stop. If they don't... Oh please. Please. Don't. No, stop. Stop, please, stop." Tears were falling freely down Amorina's cheeks. She had slid down the wall, hugging her knees close to her chest, rocking back and forth. Visibly beginning to shake, she lowered her head to her arms, hiding her breakdown.
"Well, I guess that answers our question," Sheppard remarked, his face etched with pain and sympathy.
"Yes, but do we actually know that it is this particular species she's talking about?" Weir replied.
"Well, given the choice I'd rather not risk it." Sheppard answered.
"Me neither."
"Traitors," Amorina whispered from her place on the floor. "They are traitors. Do not listen to them. Even if you reply they will rain destruction upon you." Unfolding her hands, she wiped her face clear of tears, leaving a trail of wetness. All semblance to the scared child was gone, replaced by a confident adult. This time, however, Weir knew it was an act. That child was still there somewhere and that primitive fear still fed Amorina and still threatened to control her.
"What did they do?" Sheppard asked.
"It does not matter. But..." She paused, searching for an acceptable answer. "They are horrid, wicked creatures. Do not trust them."
That was enough for Weir, who turned toward Grodin. "Grodin shut down the gate."
"I can't," he answered in confusion. "Something must be in it."
But before anyone could question, a large blast erupted behind the gate.