Breaking The Siege
Part Three: The Consultant
The voyage to Atlantis had been a tense one. Concern about what they might find on the other end of the trip had preyed on the minds of all the personnel on board the Daedelus, including Sam.
Of course, she'd distracted herself by thinking up ways to cut time off the journey in order to minimise the length of time that Colonel Everett and his forces would have to hold the city.
Thank God for Daniel. He wasn't as good as the General at keeping her sane through the weapons of distraction, teasing, and good-humour, but their interaction had provided inspiration - for them both, she suspected. And it was a relief to have someone around who knew how her mind worked. He probably thought the same.
Sam still couldn't quite believe they were finally in Atlantis. It was unlike anything she'd ever imagined or seen. She hoped she wasn't walking around looking quite as dazed as she felt. Daniel had promised to nudge her ungently if she started getting starry-eyed; she'd promised to do the same for him.
Watching Sheppard get his silver leaves brought a smile to her face. It reminded her of her own promotion 'ceremony' - the General smirking at her as he pinned the oak leaves to her shoulders. Had it really been a year ago?
So much had happened since then.
Not the least of which was that she and Daniel were standing here in Atlantis, about to go up against the Wraith. Well, she was about to go up against the Wraith. Daniel could do as he pleased. He usually did anyway.
"...best entry point would be in wing A."
"You don't even know if the city computer will let you into the Wraith-infected sections," McKay was arguing.
"If it doesn't, we'll find a way past it." Sheppard turned. "Or our new consultants can."
Three pairs of eyes looked at her and Daniel, and Sam glanced at her team-mate and decided that now was probably the time to speak up. "Actually, if Colonel Sheppard had no objections, I was going to join Colonel Sheppard and the marines."
Joining them would give her first-hand experience against the Wraith as well as first-hand experience of how the military command-chain worked in Atlantis beneath Sheppard.
Technically, Sam didn't need to ask for his permission. Like the marines, her chain of command ran through Colonel Caldwell, however it would be polite to make sure that the senior personnel of the city were on-side before joining the task force.
The reactions were interesting, to say the least.
McKay opened his mouth, probably to protest that she shouldn't be putting herself into danger. Dr. Weir caught his eye, sent him a quelling glance, and he subsided. Sam made a mental note to ask Dr. Weir how she did it.
Dr. Weir glanced at Colonel Sheppard, indicating that she considered it his decision. Coming from a background where the most senior person on a project was inevitably military, Sam was intrigued: was this the usual way Dr. Weir ran the base? And if so, how did she deal with an intransigent military?
Sheppard, on the other hand, was studying her. Sam fought back the instinctive urge to 'straighten up' as though she had something to prove. She proven herself in command and in battle to the people, as her rank would attest. On the other hand, she didn't exactly look like a commando. He'd have his doubts.
Considering it was his people captured, he was almost entitled to his doubts.
General O'Neill had taken a liking to him from the first, though, and Sheppard had done extraordinarily well out here, bereft of any of the usual lines of command that he'd have been used to. In the same set of circumstances, Sam couldn't say she'd have done half as well as him. And she had a feeling that this man wouldn't dismiss her lightly.
Even if he had initially labelled her 'McKay's Carter'.
"Will you accept my command?" He met her gaze squarely.
A reasonable request. "Yes." He had the experience of the Wraith, she was the newcomer in this. She'd accept his command for the time being.
He nodded once. "Then you're welcome to join us."
"Sam..."
She'd expected Daniel's protest. "Daniel."
"Isn't it a bit early to go rushing into the fray?"
"I'm sure that they can do with all the help they can get."
"And I'm pretty sure that...certain people would have things to say about your going in. We are consultants."
The 'certain people' hint could only have been less subtle if he'd emblazoned it on a billboard. Yes, Jack would probably have words to say to her about putting herself on the line; but that was Sam's job as a member of SG-1, and she'd been doing it for eight years now. She wasn't about to stop just because she was in another galaxy.
Still, Sam had an answer for him. "And if we're going to properly give advice, then it might be a good thing to have all the information about the problem?"
The set of his mouth indicated that he was far from happy about the situation, but he indicated the plans that the Atlantis leaders had pulled up while she and Daniel were arguing. He might disapprove, but she wasn't under his command.
On the other hand, he might very well take it to Colonel Caldwell who did have the authority over her.
She hoped he wouldn't. The last thing she needed or wanted was a conflict between what Daniel felt she should be doing and what she felt needed to be done.
"You know," Sheppard was saying as he paused in the middle of pointing at one of the screens, "Why don't our arguments ever end like that, McKay? You just give in?"
Sam hid a grin and caught Dr. Weir doing the same thing.
"Well, I don't know," McKay retorted. "It might have something to do with the fact that they've been doing that for seven years."
"Eight," Daniel supplied. The glance he shot at Sam was dry. "Are we certain that there's no chance the Wraith can be picked up from outside the city? Is the shield still in place?"
"Oh, please. The shield held back the sea water for ten thousand years - powered by three ZPMs. If, as you say, this ZPM is fully charged, then we could hold the shields in place indefinitely." McKay spoke scornfully and Daniel's eyebrows lifted in skeptical query - and possibly a little professional pique.
Sam knew how that felt. The old irritation with McKay rose, undinted by the months in between their last meeting and this.
"And if it isn't fully charged?"
"If it isn't fully charged," came a new voice from just outside the door, "then you have nothing to worry about anyway." Colonel Caldwell walked in, leading a group of heavily armed marines into the room.
"The Daedelus?" Sam asked.
"The Daedelus has done a sweep of the space around the planet, checking for Wraith ships. Nothing."
"Nothing yet," Dr. Weir said. Her qualifier was a reminder of the circumstances and situation that had faced the expedition since they'd arrived here: uncertainty at every turn, hoped-for-alliances turning into enemies, and the Wraith always upon them.
"We'll review what we have on the files to see if any of them managed to jump out of the system before being destroyed, but otherwise, there aren't any of their ships in space, and Icarus One is reporting that the Wraith ships that were going around Atlantis are down." The austere face smiled slightly. "I think that you're in the clear."
McKay muttered, "For the moment at least." He glanced at Sheppard, "Those two corridors leading up to that wing have broken sections of wall from storm damage. Get in there, and you'll have access to the sections of the city and you won't have to break any doors to get into the wing."
"But we'll have to break doors to get to those corridors."
"Not necessarily," McKay said smugly. "The transporter near that section of the city links with Wing A."
Sheppard frowned. "But then we need to get to Wing A."
"Sheppard, think with your brain for a moment, okay? Wing A has the upper balcony on it. Get one of the pilots to fly you in to that balcony, drop you off, you transport over to Wing D and go in up against the Wraith. Easy."
Sam hid a grin as Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard exchanged long-suffering glances over McKay's head. It was a relief to know she wasn't the only one who found McKay's manner irritating.
Sheppard straightened up and regarded the marines who'd flowed into the room behind Colonel Caldwell and were taking up space around the perimeter of the table. "Who's your leader?"
"I am, sir," the man stepped forward and saluted crisply. "Captain Hank Abrahams."
"Captain." Sheppard glanced around the room, including Sam in his gaze as he met the eyes of the people he was supposed to take in against the Wraith. "You all know what the Wraith are? What they can do?"
Captain Abrahams spoke. "We've read the mission reports you sent back to the SGC, sir. They were standard reading material for all personnel making the trip out here."
"They were?"
"I can see that they'd want personnel to be aware of what they were getting into," Dr. Weir said.
"Actually, it was more of a...training manual," Daniel explained. "Quite a few of the personnel who came along on the Daedelus knew nothing of the Stargate program or the Antarctica base." He shifted, slightly uncomfortably. "We kind of used it as a 'Guide to the Universe 101' course."
McKay snorted. "Of all the things you could have said about the universe to these people, you had to begin with the Wraith? Why not the Asgard, or the Tok'ra? Even a crash course in Douglas Adams would've been preferable..."
"I believe that 'The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy' is one of the movies we brought along on the Daedelus, McKay," Colonel Caldwell rumbled pointedly. "Let's get your people out of the hands of the Wraith first and then we can debate induction procedures for the Daedelus."
"Thank you, Colonel," Sheppard said, looking up from the map he'd been studying and fixing first Sam and then the marines with a very direct gaze. She met the hazel eyes evenly, knowing that he was measuring them all up, uncertain of their skills, unsure if he'd be able to trust them to watch his back.
She couldn't really blame him. In the same circumstances, she'd be as uncertain of the newcomers, too.
But she and the marines were all that he had until his own people - weary from the days long siege - returned from their tasks about the city. If they all returned.
He was commander enough to recognise that.
"Well, if you're ready to go, let's get you armed and out."
-oOo-
Their first port of call was not to the 'jumper bay, but to the armory, where they were each issued with a Wraith stunner.
Sam hefted the weapon in her arms, trying to get a feel for it. Around her, the marines were doing the same, murmuring comments to each other as they did so. She listened with half an ear, and absently turned in a circle, the better to get the feel of how it might impede her movements.
Colonel Sheppard leaped back, just in time to avoid being smacked in the hip by her weapon, and Sam stepped back, grimacing. "Sorry."
He winced. "It's okay," he said. "Though you might like to be careful where you wave that thing." The hint of humour in his voice alleviated his words.
She gave a little smile. "I'll be sure to wave it at the Wraith, then."
His nod was terse. "Are you sure you want to join us?"
Seven years of experience as the 2IC of SG-1, and one year as the CO gave her the necessary self-control to keep her temper and avoid snapping at him - that and the knowledge that he'd been through a tense couple of weeks.
"General O'Neill requested my personal report when I return from Atlantis, Colonel," she said, keeping her voice even.
In return, Colonel Sheppard's expression darkened slightly and his words were flat. "We sent the reports."
"You did," she returned. "But one of the reasons that Daniel - Dr. Jackson and myself were sent was because we've had experience with a variety of alien incursions and can give him an evaluation of the kind of threat we're facing in relation to previous threats with which he has experience."
Sheppard didn't look entirely convinced.
Sam sighed as she put the stunner down, resting the tip on the ground. "The General trusts your leadership, Colonel," she pointed out. "He wouldn't have authorised your promotion otherwise. But he feels that he can gain a better grip on the situation through the views of two people who are familiar with him and his experiences."
She met his gaze, the hazel eyes studying her intently until he took a deep breath, and nodded. "All right, then." He glanced down at the stunner, resting on the ground. "You going to be okay using that?"
Sam hauled it back up into her arms. "I'll get used to it," she said.
It wasn't as though she'd have a choice.
Then again, as she took the seat behind the driver and peered through the windscreen of the 'puddlejumper', she considered that she could always go back to the central city and do as Daniel was doing - poring over the city mainframes.
One glance back at the marines rapidly filling in the rear compartment of the 'jumper negated that thought. Besides, she supposed wryly, she'd faced worse than this before.
Combat situations never ceased to send a niggle of fear down her spine, though. She and the rest of her team had cheated death so often that there was a point at which she began to wonder when their luck would run out.
Then they lifted off, and the fear vanished like morning mist.
In her more thoughtful moments, Sam admitted she was something of an 'adrenaline junkie'. She preferred to think of it as 'explorer of worlds untold'. As Daniel said, it sounded so much better. There was so much universe out there, and even in their travels through the Stargate, they hadn't plumbed more than a fraction of its possibilities.
She'd ridden in one of these ships before, but there was something amazing about the walls of the 'jumper bay moving smoothly past the windscreen, without so much as a jerk or a pulse of energy to mark the propulsion - only the faintest of mechanical whines.
It honestly blew her mind.
And then there was the sight of the city as they emerged out of the bay...
Sam had occasionally allowed herself to get sidetracked over something interesting while off-world. Compared with Daniel, she wasn't as prone to moments where her scientific side went, 'Ooh, look! I wonder how they did that!' Part of it was her military training, and part of it was simply that she usually liked to give something her full attention when it came to study.
Before today, she'd only seen the city through one of the files sent back to the SGC from Atlantis - an aerial shot taken with a hand-held videocamera by some brave passenger who held onto the side of the ship as a pilot circled the city. Even on the film, it had been awe-inspiring.
In real-time, it was beyond words.
Although the city was broken and damaged and would need a lot of work to give it even a fraction of its former splendour, the architecture and engineering of it blew her away.
"Impressive, isn't it?"
Dragging her eyes from the screen, she caught Colonel Sheppard's faint smile at her interest and grinned in response before she turned back to the sight of the city. "It's amazing," she admitted.
"Well, we've got a few repairs to do," he said, "but...yeah. Amazing about covers it."
She could hear the pride in his voice and smiled at it. Then the sound of the marines in the back of the ship reminded her that this was a rescue mission, not a recon. She'd have time to look at the city later; right now, there was an enemy to face and people who needed help.
She checked her pockets and gripped her weapon a little harder.
"Colonel, are you sure you want to come along on this mission?" Sheppard interrupted her, and she realised that he'd seen her shiver and interpreted it as dread of facing the Wraith.
Sam met his gaze. "I'm certain."
His expression showed his doubts, but neither he, nor the marines Captain had authority to make her stay behind - and Colonel Caldwell wasn't here to order her to remain behind. Sam was going.
Besides, the General would be wanting that report.
As the pilot manoeuvred the 'jumper into position just off the balcony and lowered the ramp, she stood up and felt the weight of her dogtags slip into the cleft between her breasts, beneath flak jacket, shirt, and her sports bra. The slight weight of them reminded her that she also had a promise to keep, and she briefly touched her fingers to the metal bits on the chain around her neck.
The wind buffeted them as they alighted on the balcony and moved swiftly into the city.
Inside, the whistling of the wind died away as the doors slid shut behind them, and Sam had a moment to appreciate the design before they were moving. Her initial arrival in Atlantis had been hurried as she was transported down with Daniel and the ZPM. She'd had barely enough time to glance around at the city as McKay hustled them through to the city core with their precious burden.
She had no time to look around her now, either.
Sheppard was leading the group briskly through the halls. He stopped at a set of doors and did something to the control panels so the doors slid back. "This is a transporter," he said, and pointed at the display. "You touch where you want to, and it'll take you to the nearest transporter in that area." He indicated a section on the screen. "This is where we're headed, so if the first group will shuffle in..."
Sam slipped in with the first group and watched as the doors shut, then opened - on a completely different corridor.
"Wow," one of the marines muttered and was swiftly shushed by a glance from one of his fellows.
'Wow' about described it.
Sam wondered if McKay had managed to work out just how the transporters worked yet, or if he'd been busy with more immediate technological details - like the city shields.
As the second group arrived, she focused herself. Time for those questions later; rescue now.
They moved through the wing with brisk, quiet steps, pausing at each intersection to check for enemies.
The wall damage from the storm was considerable, leaving a gap large enough for even the most bulky of the marines to clamber through. The glimpses of the siege's damage to the city through the windows was worse.
She was given no time to consider the damage.
As they made their way down a long corridor, a group of four Wraith rounded the distant corner.
The rescue team had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. It was attack or nothing. Colonel Sheppard was the first to fire upon them, aiming his stunner with deadly accuracy. The foremost among the Wraith keeled over like it had been hit by a brick wall.
The world around Sam condensed into a melee of shouts, the 'whomp' of the stunners and the cries of those hit. The marines at the front of the group had kneeled down to clear the way for their team-mates to fire over their heads, and she took advantage of the tactic to aim her stunner at one of the distant, pale figures.
They were taking mild losses; two men were down and a third beside Sam was hit, even as she got off a shot at the last of the Wraith. A moment later, Abrahams was checking out his people.
"Are they breathing?" Sheppard's enquiry of Abrahams was terse.
"Breathing," the captain reported, kneeling down beside one of the injured men. "How long will they be out?"
Sheppard's answer was grim. "Too long." He lifted his stunner and pumped another shot into the fallen creature. Sam grimaced at the sound. It sounded painful. "This'll give them some time to recover - but I don't know if it'll be enough. They recover pretty fast."
Sam walked out past the marines, following the other Colonel over to the Wraith. She'd seen the video of 'Steve' the Wraith, and these looked little different. Some had what looked like masks down over their faces - although they looked no nicer than the ones whose faces she could see.
They really were the stuff of nightmares.
"Why not shoot them?" The question came from another marine as he stood beside Sam.
"Gunshots would carry," she answered, without looking at Sheppard.
"And you need at least one clip per Wraith," he added.
The marine shrugged and pulled something out of his vest. "I got a silencer, sir." He intercepted Sam's astonished stare - silencers weren't standard issue for marines - and looked sheepish. "Boy scout, ma'am."
Sam grinned, then glanced at Sheppard. Sheppard looked a little put out. "Didn't have any of them handy in Atlantis."
While the marine sergeant disposed of the Wraith with a few bullets to brain and throat, Sheppard divested them of their stunners and laid it down by one of the unconscious men. Several of the marines had already moved into wary positions, ready to keep going.
As she glanced back at the prone bodies of their people, an idea came to Sam. "Would an adrenaline shot wake our guys up?"
"Might," Sheppard admitted. "Beckett never mentioned it."
Probably Dr. Beckett had found his hands full with a lot more things than whether or not adrenaline shots would revive personnel who might otherwise wake up normally. Atlantis had limited supplies, after all.
Something to look into, anyway.
"We're ready to move out, Colonel," Captain Abrahams reported a moment later.
Sheppard glanced at her, and she shifted the stunner in her arms.
She was ready.
- TBC -