Chapter 2: Destination…Atlantis?
Dr. Elizabeth Weir was just concluding a long debrief with major Sheppard's team about their recent mission they had just returned from. She was currently listening to Atlantis' resident genius Dr. Rodney McKay ramble on about a festival that was celebrated by the people of P4X-792. The festival was for the success of the trade negotiations which lasted for three days. Then he was interrupted by a familiar claxon and a voice over the intercom announced "Unscheduled offworld activation!" The group bolted to their feet and ran out of the briefing room.
"What's going on Peter?" asked Elizabeth as they entered the command centre.
Peter Grodin looked up at the five newcomers "We have an incoming traveler and we can't get the shield up. They sent an IDC through though and it's the exact same as major Sheppard's"
"Get armed guards down there now" ordered Sheppard and not long after his orders ten guards headed by Sergeant Bates had their guns pointed towards the event horizon.
"Who could have gotten our IDC?" asked Lieutenant Ford.
"I have no idea" replied Rodney.
Several minutes later four young children and a young man looking no older than seventeen fell through the stargate. The young man appeared to be wearing the same uniform as the military personnel on Atlantis and he had his gun pointed towards the guards looking around like this wasn't the destination he expected. The children were disheveled and scared, looking around the gateroom holding onto each other.
The guards went to approach the children when another figure came stumbling through the gate loosing their weapon. The figure was a young woman and she was wearing the same uniform as the young man. She got up and stood in front of the children, protecting them and pulled out a strange looking weapon pointing it at the guards along with the young man.
"Oh my God" whispered Elizabeth covering her mouth in shock "It can't be…"
"What?" asked Sheppard looking at her confused at her reaction.
Rodney looked at Sheppard with the same expression as Elizabeth "The gun that woman is holding is a zat'ni'katel"
"What the hell is a zat'ni'kthingamiggie?" asked Sheppard wondering how they knew the alien weapon the woman is holding.
"It's a weapon the goa'uld use" replied Rodney. Still seeing the blank look on Sheppard's face he rolled his eyes "…in our galaxy"
Sheppard's mouth hung open speechless. He remembered hearing about the goa'uld briefly from Rodney and Ford before, but he never thought he would ever see their weaponry in this galaxy, especially being wielded by children possibly from the Milky Way galaxy.
The group turned back to the scene before them and saw four of the biggest wraith imaginable step through the gate. The smaller children screamed and were ordered to run to safety by the young woman. Unfortunately one of the wraith grabbed a little girl and held her up in the air.
Sheppard saw that little girl screaming and crying "Ford come with me. I'm not going to sit up here and do nothing" They left to the weapons locker arming themselves with wraith stunners and their trusty P90s. They hurried down the stairs to see that the young woman has backed up towards the children, her gaze never leaving the wraith.
"What's the situation?" asked Sheppard as he approached Sgt. Bates and his posse.
"Major, the wraith is using the child as a human shield…we can't get a clear shot and we don't want to fire at the others in fear of what they would do to the little girl in retaliation" replied Bates.
Sheppard took a quick glance towards the children and saw that the young woman and man were talking to each other, by his guess they were formulating a plan. "Have the children done anything?"
"No sir, the younger children have been quiet while the other two have been talking" said Bates.
"I demand to know where we are, puny Earthlings!" roared the wraith, startling everyone.
"How did they know we're from Earth?" asked Ford "I thought that they thought that we were from Atlantis"
Sheppard nodded wondering the same thing "Well, I guess someone is going to have to talk to him" He motioned Ford to follow him towards the wraith, and then he stopped. The sight he saw made him want to shake his head in disbelief. He saw the young woman and man walking casually up to the wraith idly chatting like this was something they did everyday.
Sheppard didn't hear the first part of the conversation but what was said next almost made him laugh out loud "…doesn't he look like a Bob?" said the woman.
"Yeah, I guess. I would have thought Julie, cuz you know he looks kind of like a girl, but Bob's fine with me" the young man smiled.
The woman laughed "You're right McKay, he does look like a Julie"
Sheppard turned to Ford "Did she just say McKay?"
Ford never got a chance to answer the question because the wraith roared and tossed the little girl to the side like she was a doll and ran towards the two young people. They both pulled out their zats and killed the wraith. The young man grabbed the girl shielding her from the three wraith now charging towards them.
Now that the little girl was out of the way, Sheppard lifted up his P90 "Open fire!" he ordered. The soldiers took down two of the three wraith as they lunged towards the children.
Sheppard looked for the other one and he saw that it already had the woman by the throat and it was talking to her. He couldn't make out what the wraith was saying, but all of a sudden he saw the woman scream in pain. He saw that she was slowly losing colour in her face and her struggling was becoming more sluggish. He tried to target the wraith, but it angled itself so it could hide behind the woman. He was trying to think of something to bargain with the wraith to let her go when he heard the wraith roar and he saw that a dagger was sticking in its chest. The wraith fell to the floor dead and the woman staggered towards it and pulled the dagger out. She then proceeded to wipe the blood off it on the wraith's clothing.
Sheppard walked cautiously towards the woman "Put your weapons down" he ordered not knowing what else to expect from this woman.
"Dad?" said the woman turning around looking at Sheppard like she was seeing a ghost.
Sheppard hesitated for a moment "I said, put your weapons down"
She looked passed his shoulder and barely nodded. She then looked back at him "Okay I'm putting my weapons down" As she placed her zat and dagger on the ground she said "Just don't hurt the kids"
Sheppard went to grab the weapons when he heard Bates say "Oh shit!" He turned around and saw a giant white flash, and then he knew no more.
He awoke to someone shining a penlight into his eyes. "Oww…will you quit doing that?" he said raising his hands to his eyes to block the annoying light.
"Thank goodness you're awake major" said Dr. Beckett.
"How long have I been out and what the hell was that?" asked Sheppard noticing that he was still on the floor of the gateroom.
"You were unconscious for jus' a few minutes" replied Beckett, then he looked around for Rodney to answer the rest of the question.
Rodney was also down the stairs helping the medical staff revive the fallen soldiers. "That flash, major, was the goa'uld version of a stun grenade" he said looking up at Sheppard while helping Sgt. Bates sit up.
"Where are the kids?" asked Sheppard.
"Grodin said that they're on their way to the jumper bay" answered Rodney.
Sheppard jumped to his feet, swaying slightly and feeling a little light headed. Beckett was immediately at his side to steady him. "Where's Ford?"
"Right here sir" said Ford slowly standing up from the floor.
"Come with me, we're going to stop those kids" said Sheppard and they left running towards the jumper bay.
SG SG SG SG SG SG
"Kristy I'm tired" panted Sam as they were running down the corridors.
"Just hold on we're almost there" she said.
"Where are we going?" asked a young boy taking a glance behind him to see if they were being followed yet.
"To the jumper bay Alex" Kristy replied.
"We can't go there! Dad said it was off limits to me" he said.
"Dad's not here though and we need one of the puddle jumpers to escape" she said.
When they reached the jumper bay McKay signaled them to stop and glanced around the corner.
"What is it McKay?" asked Kristy.
McKay checked his life signs detector and sighed. "There are two people in the jumper bay and there's no way to get around them without being detected"
"Where are they?" asked Kristy taking a quick glance around the corner also, not seeing what he was seeing.
"They seem to be standing beside each other on the other side of that jumper" said McKay pointing towards the jumper fifty feet away.
"I'll go right and you go left, use your zat" she said.
"Yes sir" he smiled.
Before they could step out a small hand grabbed McKay's vest "Don't go" said Sam.
Kristy bent down to Sam's level "Sam…Brian and I have to go and get us a ship and then we'll be right back. I promise"
"Okay" she sniffled and Alex put a hand on her shoulder, giving her some comfort as Kristy and Brian tiptoed towards the jumper.
A few seconds later they returned dragging the two guards to the side. "Let's go guys" said Kristy and they went to board the jumper.
As they crept towards the jumper, Alex looked up at Kristy and saw that she was very pale and her neck was still bleeding profusely from where the wraith fed upon her. "Are you okay? You're still bleeding" he said extremely concerned.
"It's just a little gash kiddo" she said reassuring him.
When Kristy made sure that everyone was secure in the puddle jumper she went to check to see if the coast was clear for McKay to lift off. She unfortunately came face to face with a wraith stunner. The children started to scream not seeing that it was a human behind the trigger.
"Its okay guys" said Kristy calmly putting her hands up surrendering while trying to calm down the children. She slowly backed up the ramp as a young lieutenant watched her every move.
"Ford?" said Kristy, looking at the young lieutenant in astonishment.
"Have we met?" asked Lt. Ford, but then he was rendered unconscious by a surge of blue electricity.
Kristy turned around to McKay standing up from the pilot's seat with his zat pointed in her direction.
"He wasn't going to let us go" he shrugged apologetically.
Kristy dragged Ford a safe distance away from the jumper. She went to walk back up the ramp when a blue energy enveloped her body and she fell to the floor unconscious. A figure walked to her and kicked the zat gun out of her grasp. He turned to Ford laying on the ground unconscious checking for a pulse. When he was satisfied he turned to the group inside the puddle jumper.
"Dad?" asked Alex.
"That's not your father, Alex" said McKay, hoping that it would deter the boy from asking questions to the man at the opening of the jumper.
Major John Sheppard looked at the group of kids after making sure Ford was alive. "Are you guys going to surrender now?" he asked pointing the wraith stunner towards them.
McKay put his zat gun and P90 on the ground. He slowly walked over to the other children and unbuckled them from the seats. He then raised his hands surrendering to Sheppard, but glaring the entire time.
Sheppard held up his radio "This is Sheppard; I need two med teams in the jumper bay and some guards to escort these lovely children to the infirmary"
SG SG SG SG SG SG
"How's Lt. Ford?" asked Elizabeth entering the infirmary with Rodney and Teyla not too far behind.
"Beckett said that he should be fine when he wakes up" answered Sheppard leaning up against the wall across from Ford's bed.
"And the children?" asked Teyla.
"I guess they're fine, seeing that the teenager won't let Beckett go near them. The woman is still unconscious. Beckett said her system took quite a shock so she won't be waking up for awhile" he said.
They heard Beckett's voice at the other end of the infirmary "Look all I want is to see if you're alrigh'"
"Well you're not going near them!" said the young man's voice.
Sheppard, Elizabeth, Rodney, and Teyla walked over to the curtained off section of the infirmary for the kids and was surprised to see Beckett and a couple of nurses on one side of the bed and the children on the other side being shielded by the young man.
"I demand to see major Sheppard!" commanded the young man then looked at the group of adults that just entered and mentally kicked himself for letting Kristy's last name slip.
"I'm major Sheppard" said John stepping towards the group, confused that the teenager knew who he was.
McKay sighed in frustration at his own carelessness "Not you, the girl I came with"
Teyla raised her eyebrows in surprise and looked at Sheppard who stood there speechless. Elizabeth, Rodney and Carson also looked at Sheppard with shock evident on their faces as well. Before any of them could respond they heard one of the children yell with joy.
"MOMMY DADDY!" yelled a light brown haired girl with green eyes, who looked to be about five years old. She ran to Elizabeth hugging her at the waist and proceeded to do the same with Rodney.
Rodney looked down at the girl clinging to his waist and then at everyone else utterly confused.
"Mom?" whispered Teyla looking at Elizabeth incredulously.
"Dad?" said Sheppard trying not to smile. "Do you two know this girl?"
"No I haven't seen her before in my life" said Rodney as he and Elizabeth blushed furiously.
The young man walked over to the girl and picked her up "That's not our parents, Sam" The young man had dark brown hair and light blue eyes that showed he had a lot of love for the little girl.
"Yes they are!" screamed Sam as she cried and squirmed to get to them.
Another young boy with sandy brown hair and seeming to be the same age as Sam looked up at Beckett "Daddy?"
A twelve year old girl with blonde hair said "No David, he may look a lot like daddy but he's not" she said with a slight Scottish accent.
"But I want daddy, Kira" he cried.
"I know you do and so do I, but he's not here" she said and hugged him.
"Wasn't there another boy?" asked Sheppard counting the children in the room.
"Oh crap, where did he go?" asked Beckett looking around searching for the missing boy. Just when he was about to ask the children he heard a scream coming from the infirmary. He rushed out followed by the nurses and others to the sight of a fully conscious Lt. Ford holding down the young woman.
The woman was still unconscious and was screaming as she arched her back upward. She then started thrashing around, attempting to fight off some invisible enemy. The missing boy was trying to help Ford while his brown eyes were welling up with tears.
"Kristy…Kristy wake up!" yelled the boy shaking her shoulders, trying but failing to wake the young woman.
"What happened?" asked Carson looking at Ford since he was the first one at the woman's side.
"I woke up to a scream and saw her like this" answered Ford.
All of a sudden she ceased moving and the wail of the heart monitor started. "Get a crash cart!" yelled Beckett to one of the nurses as he and the other nurse started artificial resuscitation.
The little boy stepped back and bumped into Teyla. He looked up at her crying and she bent down, picking him up and began gently rocking him and stroking his unruly dark hair in effort to calm him.
"What's going on?" said Brian as entered the room to the commotion.
"I need all of you to get out and give us some room!" ordered Beckett while doing the chest compressions as the nurse was giving the woman oxygen.
Everyone immediately moved out of the area and sat with the children, who heard the commotion, to give them some comfort as Beckett fought to save the life of one of their own.
Alex was still crying on Teyla's shoulder as she sat down on one of the infirmary beds beside Sheppard. Alex looked up and saw Sheppard, so he slipped out one hand and grabbed Sheppard's shirt pulling him into a hug with Teyla. Sheppard looked down at him surprised but he wanted to give him some reassurance, so returned the embrace.
Sam walked over to Elizabeth, who was sitting on another bed, and held up her hands for her to be picked up. Elizabeth looked down to her and smiled lifting her up and placing her on her lap. Sam cuddled up to Elizabeth and waited. As for her brother, Brian was pacing waiting for the news of his CO. He saw Rodney pacing as well, but Rodney soon gave up and slumped down beside Elizabeth.
David sat on Kira's lap playing with a loose string on his pants. Kira watched David hoping that Kristy was going to be okay and wanting to get home soon. David then stopped what he was doing as Ford sat down beside them visibly becoming more tired as the adrenaline started fading away.
Several awkward and quiet minutes later, Beckett walked into the room to greet the ten concerned faces. "She's stable" he said and saw the tension in the room lift a little bit more. "She's sleepin' right now and she'll probably awake tomorrow"
Brian ran his hands through his hair and sighed in relief. He then noticed that all of the adults' eyes were upon him. "What?"
(TBC)
Oh no! What is the Atlantis crew going to do with Brian? Tune in next week same Atlantis time, same Atlantis channel (sorry really corny, but it's late and it seems funny at the moment) Reviews would be awesome thanx