Thickened
When Brother Mede walked into the bright sunshine, he shielded his eyes and surveyed the Facilitators waiting for him. They stood in a courtyard of the monastery with each Facilitator holding their counterpart's vessel. All of the Facilitators and Protectors were practicing today.
As everyone was let out of their little cubes, Teyla, Ronon and Sheppard were startled to see the spectral faces of their attackers in line with them.
Mede recognized the problem immediately. He quickly walked up to the trio and whispered hoping to keep them calm.
"They are the Protectors that were used right? It was not their fault. Their Facilitators were not there; Refra's men borrowed them."
A murmur went through the line as Mede continued to talk with the three. He stepped back to address the group.
"They are new and needed a little explanation. I apologize for the delay. Today you let loose your earthly bonds and ascend into the heavens." He smiled benevolently. "Let's get started and for those who know how to do this please help the others."
The lesson progressed and the newest recruits picked up the concept of floating above the ground quite easily, even Dex. Col. Sheppard seemed to have a special affinity for it. The man may have even smiled as he projected himself above the others. It was a nice quiet exercise.
That had been earlier and more training was definitely needed. His duty clear to both his order and to the three he was helping. He walked down the hall of the abbey on his way to the second highest abbot in his order, the Venerable.
After the session, Ganede, Marcin and Trece alerted him to a disturbing piece of information. Their vessels were draining power at a quicker pace than the others. They had to be immediately returned to the Vestibule and recharged. He hoped the Venerable could shed some light on the situation.
Something tickled him in the back of his mind. The three did not willingly participate in the ceremony. The texts were very specific about that fact. All the other Protectors were old soldiers who saw this as an opportunity to provide one last service to Mina. They were at the end of their lives and this was a great and final honor. These three were not. He even noticed a slight change in each of the them. Sheppard appeared to be trying to maintain a controlled demeanor. Ronon was becoming more and more brooding. Even Teyla had a skittish quality. Their behavior was changing.
More questions to ask the great man.
He knocked on the door to the abbot's chambers.
"Enter!" A robust voice beckoned from the other side of the closed door.
Mede entered timidly. "Venerable? I need to talk with you."
"I've been expecting you Brother Mede." The older abbot motioned him to a comfortable chair. He was thin and dressed in dark blue everyday robes similar in style to a Franciscan monk. He had graying hair and peppered bushy eyebrows. "I have a confession to make to you." The man's eyes held a sadness that Mede found disturbing for such a pious member of the order.
"I have committed an egregious wrong against innocents. I have broken my vows and allowed a crime to stain our sacred duties."
"Venerable, please tell me what happened." Mede put his most compassionate face on.
"Refra and the witch that has his ear convinced me to procure four more Protectors by less than honorable means."
"This I have already figured out. Please Venerable, what happened to the fourth?"
"He was a scientist not a warrior, so he was rejected."
"Do you know what became of him and the bodies of the other three?" Mede was trying to remain calm.
"Their people retrieved them and I hope they did not dispose of the bodies. The leader of their group may have saved them from remaining Protectors forever." The Venerable leaned forward towards the younger man.
Mede's interest peaked. "How?"
The abbot's intensity increased as he stared at the brother. "He declined." The intensity left and a far away look took its place. "You remember your textual readings? The Sacrificed must give of themselves freely."
"Yes sir and that has been bothering me. Their vessels are not even acting right."
The Venerable leaned back in his chair once again. "My theory may be correct then. But first Brother Mede, let me confess to you the depths of my corruption."
"Sir, nothing you say will leave this room if you ask." Brother Mede gave the man his undivided attention.
"You may change your mind once I am through. Listen to my confession and then make up your mind. Refra came to me. His new right arm informed him of warriors that could fight the Wraith. He said they would make excellent Protectors. Of course I was intrigued, but hesitant. I asked him if they were volunteers. He just smiled at me and said yes."
The oil lamps flickered in the frugal room. The shadows cast across the walls added to the darkness within his tale.
"The first trial apparently was two fold. To make sure they could withstand the ceremony and to scare them from the walls of Mina. With my help, he borrowed the six Protectors and had his own personal guard facilitate their actions. Two of the Protectors and two of his men bonded briefly to confirm the life force present in each of the candidates. They were able to assess only two of them. They missed the two other members. No matter, they wanted them to escape so they figured they could assess the other two in the forest. Special assistant Gezble set the ambush in the clearing so as not to have their reaction to the procedure heard by the town. By the time I arrived, I knew they were not willing participants. I saw what she had done to their leader. Sad what one ignores when presented such a test to faith."
"Col. Sheppard," interrupted Mede, "His name is Col. John Sheppard."
The Venerable moved his head in acknowledgment. "When I saw the state of Col. Sheppard, I knew there was more to this than obtaining more Protectors. She knew them and instructed the guard to use the override. The Protector was released from self-preservation and morality and nearly killed him." He sunk into his chair.
"You see oh my dear brother, she is evil personified and her evil infected me. I let it. We need the Protectors and I forgot myself. My senses came too late. I understood the depths I had sunk when he declined. I had to continue because I was sure that Refra's men would do the ceremony anyway. I certainly knew that Gezble would try."
The Venerable stood up and walked over to a table. He poured himself a drink of mead.
"She intruded upon the ceremony. She watched as they were assaulted. She even enjoyed the viciousness."
Brother Mede just nodded and kept his eyes trained on the other man as he returned to his chair.
"You have seen what happens when the Sacrifice is not completed correctly?"
"Yes. The poor woman was driven insane and had to be euthanized." Mede remembered it clearly. It was a horrible sight.
"She changed her mind and the Venerable before me withdrew the Caen too quickly. I could not let that happen. And as I have already established, Col. Sheppard declined. The original Venerable proclaimed that only those willing would be allowed. He gave us the Caen and the Aeble. As you know, the Caen takes the life and soul of the Sacrificed. We always believed the Aeble to be broken; the texts about it lost for all time. I have found these texts hidden on unused shelves. It was used once and I believe the Caen's twin scepter can return life my dear brother. I believe it can return them to their bodies."
"This is wonderful! You possess the Caen. Who has the Aeble?" Mede asked leaning in towards the Venerable.
"That is where our problem lays my dear brother. It is the seven pronged scepter of Mina. Refra has it."
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"What we have so far on their conditions is…" started Beckett, "That their bodies are maintaining their own. No added measures have been put in place or are even needed. Their blood work is bizarre to say the least." He paused looking around the table. He was the only one of Weir's senior command staff sitting at the table. It was lonely.
"An unknown chemical compound has coagulated the blood making it the consistency of frozen syrup. This same compound has petrified their organs and skeletal structure. We can neither fix any injuries nor take samples except for blood. However, their epidermis and musculature are a different matter. They are pliable but still showing neither decay nor any healing properties what so ever. The compound is in there as well." Beckett looked down at his hands.
"It is similar to stasis but with stasis there is still aging. It is like they are frozen at a moment in time." Beckett was not sure if this was better or worse than actual death. "It is as if their bodies are waiting for something. Rodney mentioned to Zelenka no light in the house. I think we are in a realm of metaphysical philosophy along with actual medical or scientific solutions."
"How is Rodney?" asked Weir acknowledging Carson's explanation with a nod.
Beckett looked to Dr. Heightmeyer to answer.
"We sedated him and have him restrained for right now. He was delirious and argumentative. When he regains consciousness we will re-evaluate. He simply overloaded at seeing the team." She looked around the table. "He has suffered a backslide. It might take awhile to dig out and rejoin the rest of us."
"Should we send him back to Earth?" Weir was praying that this was only temporary. That he would heal once the team was either cured- if that was even possible- or released from this state of petrifaction.
"No not yet. I think he will come around once the rest of the team's situation is settled. The attack itself revisited all his self doubts about his ability to help. It exposed his desire to fight back or hurt another being. The situation they were placed in was a catalyst for the reoccurrence of the nightmares and they have been constant since his return from the planet."
"Is he a danger to himself or anyone else?" Weir was already worried that not only had she lost her second in command, but her third most important advisor was going down as well.
"I don't know. I will have to do a reeval and let you know."
"Please tell me that we have heard from the team." Carson added.
"We had a check in early this morning. They have jobs as field hands. They also have heard of a group of people called Protectors. Apparently they defend the planet against the Wraith. What caught their attention was the use of the term warrior. These Protectors are sequestered at a monastery outside of town and that is exactly where our team will be working." To Weir the news was encouraging. "They have requested the Daedalus. The Stargate is heavily guarded so leaving the planet will be hampered. The team believes that they were the reason for the added soldiers. The locals were looking for us to return. That also seems to be a positive."
Caldwell sat at the table keeping his face carefully neutral. The Daedalus had been back only a couple of hours when the message from the team had come in.
"The Daedalus will be ready to go in under an hour. The trip should take about 18 hours."
"Thank you Colonel." Weir looked around the table one last time. "Keep me updated and we will make adjustments as the situation warrants."
Weir let her gaze linger on Caldwell for a moment longer. His eagerness to assume command of Atlantis irked her. She needed pliable and adaptable people. People, who could see both sides of the issues, be it military or civilian. Sheppard had that ability. It got them into trouble sometimes and other times it opened up the problem solving.
She wanted to bitch slap the Colonel when he immediately ordered lethal force against John during his transformation. She negated those orders and the men listened. Now whether it was out of respect for Sheppard or her, it really did not matter. Thank goodness Ronon brought him down saving the teams from making that decision.
Then his less than tactful intimation of her's and Sheppard's relationship. If he took permanent command of Atlantis, she was not going to make it easy on him. That would be her mission.
She needed her two people back now.
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A/N: Thanks to all those still reading. We are getting everyone in to place and will get to the action soon. Stay with me now.