The Wishing Well
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis or any of the characters associated with it.
May contain spoilers for Season One and Two.
Chapter Ten
"Atlantis, this is Lorne. I need to speak to Dr. Beckett and Dr. Weir."
"This is Atlantis, copy that Major. We are patching you through now."
"Major Lorne, this is Weir. Is everything all right?" The concern in her voice was palpable.
"Ma'am, is Dr. Beckett with you?" Lorne waited for the reply.
"I'm here too, lad. What do you need?" was the tired response from Beckett.
"Dr. Weir, Ronon and Teyla have been feeling a little jittery, said they felt like they were being watched. We conducted a recon of the area and didn't find any evidence to support their feelings. They think whatever is watching is only doing so while we're in camp. They think it might be tied to Colonel Sheppard's situation, so we're keeping a close watch over him."
"Thank you, Major. Is the Colonel any better?" Weir's casual question sounded anything but.
"Ma'am, I'll let Dr. Seace fill you and Dr. Beckett in on that." Lorne handed the radio to the doctor.
"Hi Elizabeth; Carson, it's Marie."
"Marie, how is he?" Weir asked.
"Yes, how's he doing?" echoed Beckett.
"Well now, that's an interesting question. His blood pressure and heart rate are increasing. He has a slightly elevated temperature and his lungs sound a bit off normal. His body is beginning to react to the stress of this situation." Marie ruffled a hand through her blonde curls and sighed. "I'm treating his symptoms, but I don't know how much longer I can keep him going without moving him back to Atlantis."
"Marie, we're close to a solution. Can you keep him stable for a little longer?" Carson asked worriedly.
"Yes. The Colonel isn't in danger yet, just slowly heading that direction." She replied.
"Fine lass, just do what you can. I'll be back soon." Beckett tried to reassure both Marie and Weir.
"Thank you, Marie. If there is any change in the Colonel's condition, let me know immediately."
"Of course, Elizabeth." Dr. Seace assured the worried expedition leader.
Several hours later, Ronon awoke with an imperceptible twitch from his position leaning against a tree. He'd meant to keep watch over Sheppard all night, but he must have dozed. He wasn't sure what pulled him from sleep, but he felt a prickling sensation skim across his skin. He held perfectly still, using only his eyes to scan the camp.
He saw the flash of the soldiers' lights bobbing through the trees as they guarded the perimeter. In the residual glow of the campfire, he could just make out the sleeping forms of Lorne and Dr. Seace, both tucked inside their sleeping bags. His eyes traveled to Sheppard's cot. Teyla sat in a chair next to Sheppard, but was asleep with her head and arms resting on the edge of the cot. A faint incandescent light illuminated both she and Sheppard, reflecting softly off their hair. Ronon followed the light upward and forgot to breathe.
A glowing white mist, filled with millions of small shimmering lights, hovered above Teyla and Sheppard. It ebbed and flowed, turning in on itself then flattening out into an oblong shape. Before he could react, the mist drifted down toward the sleeping pair. It appeared to reach out with long transparent ghost-like fingers and sweep across Sheppard's face in an otherworldly caress. It shifted directions and repeated the process with Teyla. His teammates never stirred.
Ronon sucked in a gulp of air as the apparition spun and zipped across the clearing, stopping within an inch of his nose. It lingered there, watching him without eyes. The mist eased forward slightly and he felt the brush of cool silken strands against his cheek. A soothing feminine whisper echoed in his mind. Do not worry. He is safe for now, but his friends must hurry. When the time of choice arrives, his friends must remind him of his worth. This is something he needs to learn. Ronon felt no fear of the entity and no malice from it. Sleep now but remember this when daylight next graces your face. The glowing mist flowed around him, encircled him and absorbed him in a serene and graceful dance. Ronon languished in a sea of warmth and shining stars. He drifted for a while before the mist eased him down into slumber and, with one final feathering caress, dissipated.
"My journey is set to begin? You make it sound so dramatic!" Sheppard hesitated, watching Anna. At her grim look, he shrugged and made his way to the podium.
"John, you stand to my left, Anna to my right." Chaya pressed a few more buttons on the podium. Two horizontal panels slid out, one on each side. Sheppard noticed a recessed hand print on the surface of each panel.
"Please place your hand into the handprint." Chaya directed.
Sheppard glanced up at Anna. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
"I don't think we have a choice. It's do or die, John." With that, she placed her smaller hand in the appropriate spot.
After a moment's hesitation, Sheppard did the same. The podium began to glow. Twin white metal bands snaked out of the panels and encircled the hands resting upon them.
Sheppard and Anna jumped and tried to pull their hands back. "What the Hell is this, Chaya!" Sheppard struggled to extract his hand.
Chaya placed her hands over the hands of the two people at her sides. "Remain calm. The device requires a small sample of your DNA in order to call up the appropriate reality for both of you."
The podium began to vibrate and hum. Sheppard felt a sharp prick as a small needle penetrated his index finger. He heard Anna's sharp intake of breath even as he spoke out. "Ow! You didn't say there'd be needles! I hate needles!"
Chaya remained solemn and silent, watching her two charges. After a moment, the bands released and set their hands free. Sheppard yanked his hand back and popped his injured finger into his mouth. Anna hid an amused smile while Chaya looked on in bewilderment.
"Wha..? Tha's an ol' h'm rem'dy." Sheppard pulled his finger out of his mouth and shook it. "Guaranteed to cure all paper cuts and little needle pricks from ancient devices."
Anna inhaled sharply and lightly touched his arm. "What?" He turned towards her. She indicated the walls of the room. Sheppard looked as the images reflected in the diamonds began to shift and change. Two different diamonds began to glow. All other images faded away as the two glowing diamonds began to expand. Two walls returned to their original high white surface. The images on the remaining two walls expanded until they covered both completely.
"Finally! Big screen T.V." Sheppard quipped.
"Each wall represents a reality. John, that one is yours. Anna, yours is reflected there. Chaya indicated the two walls respectively.
The trio watched as two sets of Atlantis teams scurried around doing different things in two different places at once. It was like watching a silent movie. They could see the action but there was no sound.
Sheppard stepped closer to his wall. He could see himself lying on a cot near the old well, medical personnel checking his vitals. Teyla and Ronon were huddled together nearby, talking. Lorne and his men were walking perimeter and guarding the rest of the personnel.
Turning, he saw Anna studying her wall, where a similar scene played out. She was on the cot and Rod was by her side.
"This is unreal!" He breathed out, staggered by what he couldn't believe. "How is it that I am here in this place, but still back there lying on that cot?"
"Your physical body remained in your world while your conscious self traveled to this place. Time in this place passes at the speed of thought, so we are slightly ahead of events as they occur in your reality. Your physical body will deteriorate if you remain here overlong. You experience neither hunger nor any other needs of the flesh while you are here." At Sheppard's disbelieving stare, she continued. "Your conscious self will require rest, however, to be refreshed for your journey."
"If that's the case, why did I feel pain?" Sheppard asked, still nursing his sore finger. "The needle definitely hurt."
"Because your conscious self expected pain." Chaya stated matter-of-factly.
"Uh huh, and how is it that I can hold Anna's hand if we're not really here?"
"Our three minds are connected and generate the appropriate sensations to match what our minds expect to experience." Chaya explained patiently. "There is much about this technology that is beyond the realm of your known corporeal laws."
"Right! If you say so. What now?" he asked Chaya.
"You must share with each other what has transpired in your lives since you last met." Chaya looked from one to the other.
"How do we do that?" Anna asked, a worried frown etched her brow.
"I will assist you. Who wishes to go first?" Chaya smiled when they hesitated. "Do not worry. It does not involve any more needles."
"No needle equals me going first." Sheppard stepped forward. "Show me."
Lorne stood looking down at the sleeping form of Ronon Dex. So much for watching over Sheppard all night! He nudged Ronon with the edge of his khaki green and black boot. The world tilted unexpectedly and knocked the breath from his lungs. Lorne found himself face-up on the ground, knife to his throat, looking at the blue sky that framed Ronon's fierce face as it peered down at him.
"Whoa! Whoa Ronon! Wait…" Lorne shouted at the warrior.
"Lorne!" Ronon eased back, removing the knife and helping Lorne to a sitting position. Breathing hard, he said, "Sorry. I thought you were something else."
"So I gathered!" Lorne's heartbeat was beginning to settle back to its normal rhythm. "Who'd you think I was?"
"The ghost that visited us last night." Ronon swiped a big paw over his face to remove the remnants of his heavy sleep.
"Ghost?" Lorne studied the other man with quizzical eyes, trying to decide if he needed to take the big guy to see Dr. Seace.
"Or something resembling a ghost." Ronon continued, "We were visited by a glowing apparition. It observed Sheppard and Teyla as they slept and then caught me watching it."
"Why didn't you sound the alarm? Call for help?" Irritation and anger were strong in Lorne's voice.
"Everything happened so quickly. When I woke up, the ghost was near Sheppard, and then it was right in my face, talking to me, but not out loud; it was in my head." Ronon said defensively as he shook his braids out of his face. "I need to eat." He stood and looked surprised when he wobbled on his feet.
Lorne arose and reached out a hand to steady the bigger man. "Maybe you should sit. I'll bring you some food."
"I'm fine." Ronon all but growled as he slowly made his way to the stash of food and picked up a power bar, Lorne lingering by his side.
"So, this thing that spoke to you, what did it say?" Lorne grabbed a power bar for himself as he and Ronon sat down in camp chairs near the banked fire pit. "Could you understand it?"
"Yeah" Ronon said around a mouthful of power bar. "It said that Sheppard is okay but that McKay better hurry with the cure. It said we need to be ready for something, some moment of choice; we need to be there to remind Sheppard of his worth, whatever that means."
"What did it look like? Did it threaten you?" Lorne's agile mind was in full gear plotting strategies to defend against a creature that could come and go, unseen.
Ronon chewed thoughtfully, "It was… beautiful. It looked like a white mist, lit from within by the stars themselves. It didn't threaten. It appeared to offer comfort to Sheppard and tried to reassure me that he was fine."
"I'd better brief Dr. Weir on what you experienced and see if they're close to a solution yet." Lorne polished off the last bite of his power bar, shoved up from the ground and strode away to contact Atlantis.
Ronon stood and moved to stand next to Sheppard's cot. Still parked in the seat next to Sheppard, Teyla offered a tired smile at Ronon's arrival. "Good morning. Did you rest well?"
"No, I did not." Ronon filled her in on what he'd seen the night before, how the entity had touched both she and Sheppard. Teyla was aghast at the thought of something touching her while she slept.
Both turned at a slight sound from Sheppard and found his body in spasm, his muscles taunt, hands fisted around the blanket as his head thrashed from side to side.
Dr. Seace was beside him in an instant, checking his vitals and placing reassuring hands on his chest to hold him in place. She glanced at the monitor that showed an elevated heartbeat and blood pressure. After a moment, he seemed to calm a bit, then he settled and returned to his previous unresponsive state.
Dr. Seace checked his temperature and was distressed to see it had gone up a few tenths. "This isn't good. Something is making his body react as if it were fighting or running from a threat." She glanced up at Ronon and Teyla. "We're into the unknown and are going to have to play this by ear. I need to speak to Carson." She turned and headed toward Lorne who was already on the radio with Atlantis.
"…and that's what Ronon saw last night…" Lorne trailed off as he saw Dr. Seace rapidly approaching. "Ah, Atlantis? I think Dr. Seace may have a medical update…" At her quick nod, Lorne handed over the radio. "Carson?"
"Yes, lass, I'm here and so are Elizabeth and Rodney. What's the problem?" Beckett's soothing Scottish brogue did wonders to calm her fears.
"Colonel Sheppard had an incident a few moments ago…" she began.
"Is Sheppard awake?" McKay interrupted. "Is he able to talk? That would be good, right?"
"No, Rodney, he didn't wake up, but his body did appear to be responding to a perceived threat. His heart rate and blood pressure were off the charts, as they would be if he were releasing adrenalin." She sighed deeply. "Repeated episodes might do some damage to his heart. How are you coming on that cure, Carson?"
"We're pretty close, Marie. Just some slight adjustments and a few more simulations to run and then we'll be ready to give it a try." Beckett tried to sound optimistic to keep hope alive, but he wasn't very confident their homemade fairy water would do the trick.
Weir lent her support. "Just hang in there, Marie, and do what you can to keep John comfortable and stable. We'll find him a cure!"
TBC