Part Ten
"Dr. Weir! Major Sheppard!" Carson couldn't hold back the exclamation at seeing his city-mates. Acting as guard and escort to prisoners wasn't really his strong suit. And holding the gun on them, with the intention of possibly pulling the trigger, just felt wrong.
Elizabeth greeted them all with a bit of a smile and a nod of her head.
John's greeting was much more hurried as he took command of the situation. "Let's get our guests to detention," he ordered, then turned to lead the way.
Carson frowned as the major moved. In the dim corridor lighting, he caught what he suspected was the remnants of blood on the major's temple. The pale complexion and the exhausted demeanor were a little harder to miss. Then there was the stiff way he moved, and even, he realized, a slight limp!
"Hold on, Major! Not so fast!" He moved around the rest of the group to catch up to the lead man. Sheppard's back stiffened slightly, but he did stop.
Carson moved around to face him, and took in his expression. "Hoping I wasn't going to notice, were you?"
"Maybe," John admitted, "But either way it doesn't matter. We don't have time for this. We've got . . . ."
Carson tuned out the words as he caught sight of the cloth darkened with blood which was tied around one of the major's thighs. And then there was the dry blood on one raggedly torn sleeve. Truly, the things humans did to one another were truly appalling.
With a sigh and a shake of his head, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a small flash light. "Just one little examination," he said in his best conciliatory tone. He shone it into the major's eyes.
"Didn't you hear me?" John winced at the light and swatted at his hand. "We don't have time for this!"
"Yeah, I did hear you," Carson lied. "But this should only take a moment more." He hadn't exactly needed to listen to the words to know what he'd said. This was Major Sheppard, after all. And there were bad guys out on the lam. Even injured, the man would only stay down if he was unconscious.
"Your pupils look okay." He dropped the flash light into his pocket and tried for a careful look at the arm wound. "You've lost a bit of blood and are suffering from exhaustion. I've a suspicion that there's further damage that you're not letting on about. It's my educated opinion that you need to be in the infirmary having those wounds looked after."
"As long as there are invaders in the city, we don't have an infirmary, doc. No place is safe and we're just wasting time here. As soon as the city is clear, I'll surrender myself to you."
Carson knew that was the best offer he was likely to get, but still he felt inclined to argue. A touch on his arm drew his attention to Elizabeth.
"I don't like it any more than you do, but he's right, Carson."
"Aye." He acquiesced then fell in line as they led the rest of the prisoners to the brig.
--
Accessing all of the systems wasn't as easy on the lap top as it was in the control room. It took longer to work his way through all of the screens and sub-menus. Finally he found the city's life signs detecting function.
Lifting the lap top a little he spoke into the small microphone. "McKay here. I'm in the system now."
"Good." Sheppard's voice came back through the computer's speakers. "Where are they?"
Rodney tapped a few keys to get the view he needed. "First I need a baseline. How many are in your area?"
"Eight, plus one in the brig."
"Right." McKay went to work. The blips displayed beautifully on the screen. "I've got your eight, but . . . . nothing in the brig, and . . . ." he hit a control key and switched to another view. "Everyone else is either in the control room or seems to be moving toward it."
"Did you say nothing in the brig?" Sheppard demanded.
Rodney rolled his eyes. Why was he having to repeat himself? He double checked the monitor anyway, though. "Like I said, nothing in the brig."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course, I'm sure," Rodney snapped. "Who is supposed to be there, anyway? Perhaps they've committed . . . ." His voice trailed away as he realized who was most likely locked away and what had no doubt happened. "Oh no. . . ."
"Oh no? What oh no? There's no oh no! What did you do McKay?" The major's voice came across labored as if they were moving more quickly. The blips showing on the screen revealed that to be the case. And they were closing in fast on the now empty brig.
Rodney gulped then began to explain. "The command I used after the shut down was an open doors command. It may have caused the brig doors to release."
"What?!" Sheppard had worked himself up into a righteous fury. "What did you do that for?! What if there were prisoners there?!"
Guilt washed over Rodney, but still he fought. This wasn't entirely his fault, after all. Not really. "I didn't exactly have time to refine the door code," he said, feeling more justified in his actions. "I was trying to prevent our not-so-invited guests from bringing more friends and family. Besides, how was I supposed to know there was anyone there? I'm not psychic! I had no way of knowing that you were running around playing hero and that I was ruining your game!"
Sheppard was quiet for a few moments and Rodney wondered if he'd gone too far. But then John spoke, his voice calmer. "Well, we're working together now. We're leaving three prisoners in the brig. Can we make sure they stay here?"
"Do-able," McKay responded in an equally subdued voice.
"Good. Now we need a plan."
--
John pressed on, trying to keep up a good front for the other four people who were with him. This thing had to end soon because he wasn't sure he had much left. In the relative calm of making their way back toward the control room, via a small detour to the weapons locker, there wasn't much of an adrenaline boost to keep him going. And he worried that if he stopped that would be all she wrote. But with the odds running just over two Genii to each Atlantean, they'd need every advantage that they could get.
"They're moving." Rodney's voice sounded in his ear.
"What? Where?" John asked, suddenly more alert.
"It looks like it's towards . . . . the jumper bay." Rodney's voice rose. John felt the same dread trickling through his system.
"Will they be able to activate the gate with the jumpers?"
Rodney hesitated. "Yes. If they can activate them."
John cursed. "See what you can do to stop that!" He turned toward the rest of them. "Time for plan B."
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A/N: Okay, folks. One more chapter.