Chapter 12- Darkness of the Night
John walked down the hall completely frustrated and in his mission gear. Everyone who saw him stayed well out his way, he looked as if he would punch someone if they talked to him. The fading black eye didn't help much either. He opened the door to his quarters and whipped his vest in the corner. It hit the wall with a deafening thud and dropped on the floor.
He, Ford, and Teyla had spent the whole day going from planet to planet, searching for signs of Rodney McKay. They found nothing. It was about nine o'clock, and Elizabeth suggested they get some rest. John sat on the edge of his bed and scoffed at the idea of sleeping. Like he could sleep with McKay out who-knows-where. He'd rather be working through the night.
He ran his hands through his hair, messing it up more than usual and he didn't care. He kept thinking that he should have done something earlier about Rodney directly, not stay behind the scenes.
To avoid the guilt trip he was starting to venture on, he got up and left his quarters. The halls were now pretty much clear and when he approached his destination, he heard gunshots. Not that it was unusual being as he was five feet from the practice range, it was just that it was strange this time of night.
The door slid open and he saw Lt. Ford firing at some targets. He lowered the 9mm as he looked at where he hit them and John took that moment's opportunity to say something, "Hey Lieutenant. You're here sort of late."
Aiden spun his head around, "I'd thought I would get off a couple of rounds, sir."
"Me too." John went over to the rack and also picked up a 9mm.
"How are you holding up, sir?"
"Let's put it this way, if Garin wasn't in Rodney's head, I'd put a bullet in it." The clip clicked as John loaded the weapon.
"The Ancients didn't have a problem with that either, sir."
John stepped to the spot next to Aiden and fired off three shots, one after the other, all hitting around the center of the target, "He did kill two of their own."
After a moment Aiden said, without smiling, "Hey I got an idea, how about we download Garin into a Wraith's head, and then shoot him." Aiden fired a shot into the target's forehead.
John saw where the shot hit the target, "Ford, sometimes you scare me." Aiden could fire any weapon with deadpan accuracy; you wouldn't want to be in his way when he got serious.
"I'll pretend that was a compliment, sir." He flashed one of his boyish smiles, but John saw the weariness under it. "Permission to speak freely?"
"Go ahead." With those two small words, they settled into more of a two worried men conversation, than a CO and 2IC conversation.
"I know I'm not close to McKay, but I still want him back as much as you do. The man has a knack for saving our military hides as much as we save the scientist contingent. I wouldn't be standing here if it wasn't for him, my brain would have exploded because of that nanovirus." He scratched his head with his left hand, the right clutching the weapon.
"He has saved pretty much everyone a time or two. He's out there somewhere. We will find him and have our old annoying, snarky scientist back in no time."
"As much as his personality can get to someone, it wouldn't be the same around here without him."
John fired another quick shot, "Can you imagine a complaint free mission? It would be…weird."
"Not to mention freaky. I'm so used to it now, sir."
"He is the sort that grows on you."
There was another moment of silence that Aiden broke, "How many planets did we go to today?"
"Well, there was the water planet, the desert planet, the one with the blue sand. Oh and there was one with a purple sky and red grass."
Aiden set down the 9mm, "Wasn't there one that was radioactive, sir?"
"Oh yea, forgot about that one." John fired another shot at the target.
"It is all a blur."
"There was a whole solar system. The Gate that was floating in orbit."
"The system whose sun burnt out a couple thousand years ago?"
"That would be the one. They all changed since Elana last saw them." John also set down his 9mm, he had got some of his frustration out at least. He then decided to go back to his room.
---
Radek looked over at Carson who was standing at the counter in Garin Trelio's lab as he yawned so wide a fist would fit in it. The trio had been in the lab the whole day and was starting to feel as if they lived there, but it was something that they wouldn't complain about. When, not if, the Major and his team found Rodney, they wanted to be ready to extract Garin. Most of the other scientists had been busy all day drooling in the Submarine Bay and the Weapons Research Complex. Unfortunately, the Ancients all but cleared out the complex before they left.
He asked him, "How much longer until you are finished with the counteragent?"
"I just have to quickly combine these two mixtures and let them set together in the cold cabinet."
Peter was sitting at the computer with Radek, "Good thing we got that open so you could test the actual suppressant he used."
"Aye. Finding that beaker with some of that left saved me a step." He poured a clear mixture from one beaker into another beaker with a pale green solution.
Peter continued, "Then it shouldn't take long to test with the suppressant."
Carson opened the small cabinet and put the beaker in, next to the one Garin had left some clear suppressant in, "Correct, once they interact, we should see immediate results."
"And if we do not?" Radek looked up.
"Then I'll keep trying until we do." Carson closed the cabinet and looked at the others, "Have you two figured out exactly how that contraption works?"
Radek nodded and pushed up his glasses, "Yes, you see first of all the program computes the necessary -"
Carson stopped him, "The basics please."
"Of course. When a consciousness is copied, it is tagged with an identifying code which enables the computer to recognize it. We can instruct it to remove a consciousness if it has such a tag. Apparently, Garin wasn't concerned about an original one at all."
Peter added, "It looks as if a copy was to be downloaded into a clone engineered without a mind. But he developed a suppressant when he couldn't clone Elana's body."
"So we don't have to worry about that thing harming Rodney? That is the best news we've had all day."
Peter shrugged slightly, "The only thing it could do now is make a copy of him."
"Lord, don't do that!" Carson immediately responded, "One's all we can handle."
That put small, weary smiles on their lips. They didn't want two of him roaming the city, just the one would do.
---
Elizabeth Weir was standing on her favorite balcony looking at the slow crash of the waves on the city edges below. The cool breeze gently blew her hair back and the stars were brightly shining. It was a beautiful night at the end of a challenging day, and she wanted it to chase away the sadness from her mind. The silence didn't coincide with the hectic past hours. She became suddenly aware of another presence when Teyla walked up beside her. "Dr. Weir."
"Teyla, I thought I told you all to rest."
"I am unable to rest tonight. You should take your own advice though." She knew Elizabeth needed sleep.
"I'm restless too." She paused, "The whole of the city was buzzing about the situation today."
"In the time I was not out with the team searching, I heard a few things myself. There seems to be a general air of concern."
Elizabeth nodded, "Most people have realized he is needed here." She changed the subject, not wanting to dote any longer on the situation that made her come out to get some air, "We haven't had the chance to speak much recently, how are your people doing? Still good I hope?"
Teyla knew Elizabeth purposely steered the conversation in a new direction, but didn't mind, the day had took a quiet toll on her heart as well, "Yes. They have settled back into our usual ways."
"Thought of a name for the mainland yet? We can't keep calling it 'the mainland' for eternity."
"We're still hoping the name the Ancestors had for it will be found."
"I wonder what they called it."
"I'm sure it will be fitting." Teyla looked down at the water, "The ocean most likely has a name as well."
"True. I'm sure the names are beautiful." Elizabeth lightly crossed her arms and sighed.
Teyla rubbed her own because of a sudden chill in the air and noticed how Elizabeth did the same, "The night's cold, let's go inside."
"Give me a moment." She took one last look at the sea before following Teyla in.
---
Kate opened her eyes to where Elana had retreated to in her mind. It had worried her that Elana had been so quiet for the past couple of hours. The space was packed with plants of all shapes and sizes, colors, textures. Some had red stems and green flowers; some were more like tress and were ten feet tall. Tables were laden with the smaller plants where as the larger potted ones sat on the floor.
Elana was sitting on a bench against the wall that led to a backroom, her head against the wall, and her knees up to her chest. She saw Kate standing a few feet from her in the middle of the greenhouse. "I come here when I need time alone."
"It's beautiful. If you want me to go…"
"No, its fine." She sighed, "It has been one very long day, and I let him slip away."
Kate sat down next to her Ancient counterpart, "You did everything you could."
"Not fast enough. I should have been able to stop him."
"You've been through a lot today, you did your best."
"Yes, what an eventful day. I find out my husband killed two of our most respected Council Members, make friends with the woman who I've invaded the mind of, and instructed Major Sheppard, Lt. Ford, and Teyla on an almost hopeless chase."
Kate reassured her, "They will find him."
"But in what state? I feel completely guilty for this whole situation."
"Some of the blame can also be placed on me. I let myself be fooled."
"But a choice I made thousands of years ago has affected your people so much. Rodney is out there somewhere with my mentally unstable husband in his mind, you're stuck with me. I know a traumatic situation can change people, I've seen it, but I never thought Garin would be one of those people. We've been through so much together."
Kate took Elana's hand for a moment, "That is what makes our field so difficult. The inner workings of a mind are extremely complex."
"That is an understatement. I was just thinking that for me, a week ago, everything was fine. Good even. At least as good as it could be in a war. Garin was busy with his research, I had a full roster of clients that needed my help, and we were in love. Then I just had to go to Anfalas to see a patient that was, honestly, not doing so well."
"You were trying to do a good thing. I haven't exactly stayed in my office throughout my career."
"Go anywhere dangerous?" Elana had respected Kate's privacy, not delving into her mind unless it was completely necessary, and when it was, it was nothing personal.
"Excluding here, yes. I volunteered for a few months in my country's medical core overseas. Soldiers take an astounding amount of mental abuse without realizing it. I could never do what they do."
"You got this job due to your experience with the military, that makes sense. Elizabeth wouldn't pick out someone who she didn't know could handle these situations."
"Even with that, most of these situations were never covered when I went to school. For example, consoling someone in your own mind who lived thousands of years ago."
They laughed slightly, "My professors never covered that either."
Kate smiled, "I can imagine my one professor's face if I told him about this. He was one of those men who always thought they were right and better than everyone, though they weren't. He would never believe this. If nothing, I learned how to hold my tongue in that class."
"I have had some incorrigible teachers myself."
Kate had been thinking the past few hours. It was an extraordinary situation for her, but Elana had made it as easy as it could be. She had shown Kate all that had happened since she was downloaded into her mind. "After this is all over, you don't have to… go. We could learn a lot from you."
Elana shook her head, "I couldn't. It wouldn't exactly be fair to you."
"It's been done before. There's a race called the Tok'ra that in one body there's a human host and a symbiote who share the body equally."
"I'm not a symbiote, I am actually in your mind. Who knows what this could do to your brain after a prolonged period of time, even without us fighting for control. I can't do that to you."
"Well, you don't have to decide now."
"Alright. I will think about it.
Kate nodded, "Good."
There were a few moments of silence before Elana spoke again, "One of the times I came here was when our son died."
The admittance startled Kate a little, "That must have been terrible, I'm sorry."
Elana rubbed her head, "Don't worry about it. To me, it was nine years ago. I must have thought about him because I'm missing him, and missing the husband I knew."
"What was his name?"
"Falas. He was only a boy of seven when they took him."
"The Wraith? That is… horrible."
Elana nodded, "Horrible doesn't describe the Wraith, I'm not sure there are words to describe them. How can they take someone that young and innocent, he was just playing with his friends in the village-" She paused, and her eyes lit up, "That's it, I know where he is!"
Kate looked at her, "What, you know where Garin went?'
Elana stood up, "Yes, now come on, we have to find the Major."
Xxx xxx
A small group watched as the Jumper went through the Gate on its way to M8X-468. It was the planet the team had visited the second day Rodney had been acting strangely, where they had brought cases of crystals back from. Peter had left Garin's lab, Carson and Radek were still there busily preparing if Rodney was found. He was working in the Control Room. Elizabeth was leaned over the railing, gripping it with both hands, when a figure came up next to her.
She looked over, "Elana, does this planet hold a special meaning for Garin to go there?"
"We had a vacation home there once. When we built it, the planet had been a safe and uninhabited. After a short time, a small group of people settled a village, wanting to escape the constant threat of attacks in the cities."
"The Wraith discovered them and began culling."
"Yes. At that time our son was playing with his friends. We shut the house up and permanently moved here."
Elizabeth didn't have to ask what had happened to their son, the underlying look on her face spoke volumes about her sadness. "If he did go there, they will find him."
"I hope so. Then this can get settled, and you all can get back to the somewhat normal around here." Elana smiled slightly.
"Well, surprisingly, this is somewhat normal for us."
Elana looked over at the human leader of Atlantis and admired her for pulling her people through the tough times in this galaxy.
---
The Jumper flew out of the Gate and into the complete darkness of the planet. John was flying as usual, Aiden next to him, and Teyla sitting behind right behind Aiden. All three pairs of eyes were searching the blackness until John turned on the headlights and started using the Jumper's scanners.
Ford questioned, "Anything, sir?"
John stated, "Not yet."
They had been through this routine so many times earlier it came automatically now. Scan for power readings, all sorts of other readings, keep an eye out on the ground for any signs of disturbances…
The Jumper kept flying very low over the dry terrain, the light penetrating the black to reach the ground, revealing absolutely nothing. They had been there a few days earlier, McKay included but was really Garin at the time, and everything seemed the same.
But, they weren't done looking yet. The ship approached the ruins of the house, which were still at the top of the hill, but noticing missing something.
Teyla peered out, "Didn't that have a column that was still standing?"
"Yes it did. Let's take a closer look." John flew the Jumper up slightly to reach over the hill, and the area behind the ruins came into view. It looked as if something had torn the ground away.
The trio didn't say anything as they thought about what would be below the hill.
Then it came into view. A rather dirty Jumper resting at the bottom, and didn't look like it was landed.
"Do you think he's still… in there?"
John didn't know how to respond to Aiden, he wanted Rodney to be there, to find him. But if he was, he would have been there for awhile, for most of the day. Unless it wasn't the first planet Garin had gated to… even at that though, that was one hell of a crash.
"I don't know." He had seen some pretty bad car crashes that had consisted of rolling down embankments, and they didn't bode too well for the people in them.
He landed the Jumper parallel to the crashed one in silence and led the team out. It was peculiar, when they seemed to have found him they couldn't find words to say, and during the day they couldn't seem to stop. Time seemed to crawl by.
They aimed flashlights at the Jumper and the drive pods, "Christ, it's upside down." John opened the hatch, and everyone stepped back so as not to be hit by it opening the opposite way than it should be. An all too familiar metallic smell radiated out of the back of the opening Jumper, signifying blood had been spilt inside. It was mixed with the smell of burnt wires.
The lights of their flashlights searched inside and rested on Rodney who was still propped up against the wall. John immediately ran to him and dropped on his knee. Aiden and Teyla looked on anxiously, while also eyeing the seriously messed up Jumper.
John shook him, "McKay, wake up…" He slapped his face a little, "Rodney…" He didn't move as John put two fingers to his neck, "I got a pulse! Let's move." With that, the time that seemed to have passed so slowly, had now sped up. John and Aiden picked up Rodney as gently as they could, and as quickly as they could moved him to their Jumper. As soon as they had laid him carefully down in the back, John ran to the pilot's seat and Teyla closed the hatch.
"He doesn't look good, sir." Ford was crouching next to Rodney, feeling his forehead as the Jumper took off, "He's cold and his breathing labored."
Teyla was also checking him over, "It appears he bandaged himself. A side wound, a leg wound, they haven't clotted very well, and his chest is severely bruised. We need to get him back, soon."
"Ford, get up here and as soon as we're in range, dial Atlantis and tell Beckett to have a med team waiting in the Bay."
"Yes, sir." Aiden sat down next to John and in a few moments started punching the symbols in. They could see the Gate activate and Ford contacted the Control Room. "Medical Emergency, need a team in the Bay. We have him."
Peter's voice came through, "They'll be waiting."
John flew the Jumper through the Gate hoping Beckett could work one of his miracles.
TBC…
