Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me. No money made, just having a bit of fun with some great characters.
Author's Note: This is my first Stargate: Atlantis fic ever, so please go easy on me. And of course, wouldn't you know it, I'd pick an AU continuation of "The Storm" . . . . I've only been with these characters for about a month, now, so please forgive any inaccuracies. As for pairings . . . I don't know yet, let's see how it unfolds . . . .
Storm Surge
By WriterJC
"Colya!!" John yelled the words into the radio, fear and fury raging through him equal in power to the storm that was bearing down on the city. He had watched Sumner die; another commander would not be lost on his watch. Especially not this commander, not Dr. Weir.
The quiet across the radio link stretched for impossibly long moments as lightning flashed, and the rain started, beating down a punishing assault. Then a booming eruption of thunder sounded, vibrating the very air around him. For one terrifying heartbeat, he'd thought he'd caught the sound of Colya's weapon firing, tearing through the flesh and bone of the woman that he had come to respect as the true leader of Atlantis. But then, he heard something else.
"I want you, unarmed and in front of me in five minutes." It was Colya's voice, the cold tone leaving no margin for error. "If you're not here in the allotted time, I'll kill her and the deal is off."
John closed his eyes, nearly sagging against the railing in relief. Then, pulling himself together, he depressed the button to speak. "I'll be there." Moving in from the cool spray of the rain, he started back toward the inner corridor at a run. Colya was not to be trusted, and he had less than five minutes to come up with a plan.
Elizabeth steeled herself to show no emotion as Colya lowered the gun that had been pointed at her heart. A tiny smirk lit the corner of his mouth as he turned away from her and spoke in a low tone to one of his men. She recognized the gleam she'd caught in his cool gaze; it was the thrill of the hunt. With a flash of insight, she realized that he was enjoying this game of cat of mouse with John. As a military leader, and one who had already bested Genii's own leader, Colya saw Major Sheppard as a worthy opponent. She wondered how she might use this new information to her advantage.
"Dr. McKay," Colya turned back toward the two non-Genii. "You mentioned something about reactivating the shield. Surely you're up to the challenge."
"I couldn't possibly come up with something in the time remaining. Don't you realize what -" Elizabeth could see the signs of oncoming panic in Rodney's eyes. She could also see the lack of patience in Colya's. She didn't want to give the man any excuse to think that the scientist wasn't of any use to him alive.
"Rodney, focus," she spoke calmly, but firmly, looking pointedly at him. "That fourth grounding station can't help us, now. There has to be a way to work around it."
Rodney looked as if he was preparing for round two of arguments as to why there was nothing that could be done when suddenly he paused. "That's it!" And suddenly his expression cleared as he began the rapid-fire speech which spoke of his excitement.
"I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier," he said, then continued thoughtfully, "Must have been the pain and an impending hypoglycemic reaction – speaking of which I'm going to need something soon if this is to continue . . . ."
The Genii soldier who had delivered painful reminders earlier moved forward to grab at Rodney's damaged arm. But the scientist, seeing the intent, drew away, shooting a sharp glare the man's way. "Don't you understand that isn't helpful? Do you want to die here?"
At a gesture from Colya, the man backed off.
Rodney turned on Colya. "You understand I need food? It is very difficult for me to work under these conditions. I -"
"You're running out of time, Dr. McKay," Colya interrupted. "If I am satisfied with your performance, we will discuss refreshments."
Rodney was brought up short, clearly not used to being denied food. "Fine," he stated, then with a small sniff he continued with his explanation. "We need to remove the fourth grounding station from the circuit pathways of the rest of the station."
"And how do we accomplish that?" Colya asked.
"I was getting there. The city wasn't built as a single structure, but is composed of several different sections that were then pieced together, something like a gargantuan jigsaw puzzle. The channeling rods that run through the corridors have break-away sections that can be retracted. We'll need to go to each section and manually retract them."
"What'll that do to the city?" Elizabeth asked. "Will the section connected to the fourth grounding rod then be independent?"
"No, not in the true sense of the word. It'll be electrically isolated, though. If my theory is correct, the first bolt of lightning will overwhelm the fourth grounding station and blow it apart, effectively separating it. We reconnect the channeling rods and the original plan is back on track."
"How many channeling rods?" Colya asked.
Rodney turned away and moved toward one of the consoles and brought up a data display. After several moments he looked back toward the group. "Five. All in this section." He gestured toward the portion of the city in question.
"Sounds like a helluva plan." A familiar voice sounded from a corridor leading up from near the gate room. All eyes turned toward John Sheppard who stood, hands held high in surrender, a look of uncaring insolence plastered across his features.
"You're right on schedule, Major," Colya said.
"Wouldn't do to make a bad first impression," John shot back as he was urged in a less than gentle manner up the stairs.
"Dr. McKay," Colya spoke, not looking away from John, "You will direct Dr. Weir in the retraction of the channeling rods. Major Sheppard and I have some business to attend to."
(tbc)