The tingle shot up through his heel to his brain. This time, there was not a soft murmuring but a full blown shouting match.
"They are tainted! They reek of the enemy!"
A calmer but no less loud voice answered. "Sister, they are not a threat, just look. You reacted too quickly; you are supposed to allow information. It is not your function to delete anything; that is for the creators."
"These beings are not the creators." The words dripped venom.
"No, but maybe if you continued the download, you will learn of the creators."
The team eavesdropped, but dare not interrupt. Sheppard hoped his trump card would help.
"So be it." The reply was cold.
It felt like a hard jerk on his brain, no care being taken. The remainder of the memories flooded past him. As the last one went by, he released it. Chaya and their clandestine moment of sharing. The warmth, the heat, the infinite knowledge just out of grasp…
"LIAR!"
"He is not Sister; it is a creator."
"Deceptive creatures." The spike coalesced in his brain again.
A moment of inspiration struck Aiden.
"Save."
This could not get any worse. It was worth a try. "SAVE!" Sheppard shrieked in his mind.
Teyla, Aiden and Rodney dropped once again to their knees. They immediately looked at John who was still attached to the floor plate.
The spike started to pierce his mind. 'Another tactical error,' he thought as his brain felt cleaved in two.
Then, he was released.
Not hearing his voice in three days, the yell startled everyone. John tripped backwards and collapsed. This time, he was caught by the waiting arms of Dr. Beckett. Sheppard was quickly laid out on the floor. No physical signs of injury were evident. He was breathing and his heart was pumping. However, he remained unconscious.
"OK let's get him to the Health Pavilion," directed Carson.
The techs transferred him to the litter and walked him carefully down the stairs.
"Dr. Kusinagi says we might want to get out of here," Dr. Simpson urgently relayed.
The structure rumbled. Energy currents buzzed behind walls.
"It's overloading! Get out! Get out!" Rodney yelled.
Arcs of energy streamed out of the altar igniting decorative tapestries. The group ran; wheels clattered; and hard surface ground against hard surface. A large door was lowering to separate the narthex from the outside world.
It stopped suddenly; just long enough for everyone to scramble out. A loud slam echoed across the city as the Pavilion of Acquirement, the Temple of the Protector or the psycho, harpy machine from hell crashed.
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"Save! 'Save' worked!" McKay called out as they made their way to the Health Pavilion.
"Why not? I was going to try 'close window' next," jabbed Ford as they trotted along.
"Stop!" Beckett examined Sheppard. "Bag him! Get him in there now!
The group was literally steps from the Pavilion. "Inside, inside…put him on the first bed."
Carson went over to the podium and Rodney followed.
"Everyone clear the bed."
The Archive had already instructed him on what to do. Now it was time to put practice into action. Carson placed his hand on the monitor within the podium. The hood over the bed descended from the ceiling. A beam of fluorescent light covered Sheppard head to toe assessing his condition. With a few more strokes of the monitor, a thin beam bore into Sheppard's forehead. His back arched slightly as the fluorescent light held him in place. Flashing red monitors around the room and on the podium kept track of the progress.
They finally turned blue. The beam stopped and the fluorescent light disengaged. Beckett ran to Sheppard's bed.
Sheppard's eyes flew open and he roared. It was a terror induced, stress relieving, holy-fucking-shit, knee jerk response. Then he fell limp onto the bed, conscious but disoriented.
Unsettled, Beckett read the monitors. "He's fine. Everything is showing normal. Of course, this machine could be telling me I'm overdrawn, but the flashing blue is a good sign."
Sheppard's eyes rolled around in his head. Teyla gently held it to focus his attention. "You will be fine John. Now it is time to sleep."
Sheppard gave an almost imperceptible smile and did just that.
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A/N: One last chapter to go. Please tell me what you think.