The Mind of Atlantis - Chapter 11

For the next several hours, John Sheppard walked the halls of Atlantis as Marchaeus. He spent time with Illiana and Raefkin as a loving husband and father. He attended meetings with other military personnel and the council. He sat in the weapons chair, firing drones at wraith darts flying above the city. He helped his best friend celebrate the birth of his daughter. He flew puddle jumpers on expeditions and in fights against the wraith. He felt the same absolute sense of joy and freedom in Marchaeus that he always felt when he flew. He lived and learned about the life of Marchaeus.

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Elizabeth walked into the infirmary and immediately began looking around for Dr. Beckett. Although she didn't see the doctor, she did see Sheppard lying in one of the beds. Since that was who she was here to check on, she walked over to stand beside him. He stirred restlessly, mumbling in Ancient as he tossed. She noticed a basin of water with a cloth in it sitting on the bedside table. She squeezed the excess water from the cloth and wiped it across Sheppard's sweat-covered brow, feeling the heat radiate from his flushed face. He opened his eyes and looked at her, but they were glassy and unseeing.

"John? It's okay...you're going to be fine." She smoothed his hair back off his damp forehead. He brought his hand up and caressed the side of her face as he spoke to her in Ancient.

"Illiana...don't leave...I love you." He slid his hand around behind her head and brought her face down to his, rising up to meet her lips with his. She didn't know if it was the heat radiating from his fevered body or the passion with which he took her mouth in his, but she didn't ever remember being kissed like that in her life. When he finally released her and drifted back into sleep, she stumbled back a step, her legs suddenly feeling a lot like jello. She brought her hand up to her mouth and touched her lips, unsure of what to do or how to react. She had spoken to Rodney, so she knew without doubt that what had just occurred was between Marchaeus and Illiana, not John and Elizabeth...and yet she couldn't stop thinking about how it felt...about how he felt. She quickly turned and almost ran from the infirmary, suddenly not wanting to have to talk to Carson or anyone else.

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He went through the gate with a team to repair a shield the Ancients had placed on a planet to protect the villages there. His team was at the edge of the city protecting the scientists working on the shield when the wraith attacked. They fought hard and eventually got the shield up in time to protect the villages, but Marchaeus lost two men in the process. He had been the military leader of the expedition and, as such, accepted full responsibility for the loss of the men. Upon their return to the city, he visited the families to tell them of their loss. He sat with them and grieved with them, while telling them that their son, father, husband... had died so that hundreds of others could be safe from the wraith. He then made his way to his quarters and allowed Illiana to hold him while he cried. She kissed away the last of his tears as he took her in his arms, needing her close to wipe the horrors of the day from his mind. He lost himself in her touch as she comforted him in a way no one else could.

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Sheppard looked up at the ceiling of the infirmary. The room was dark and quiet, so he knew it was late. He lay for several minutes, adjusting to his surroundings, letting the wave of emotions he had been riding subside somewhat. He began to shift positions,rustling the covers and causing him to feel the familiar tug of the IV in his hand. He glanced over to see McKay sitting in the chair beside his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes while balancing a laptop on his legs.

"Hey," said Sheppard softly.

"Are you...you?" asked McKay carefully.

"Yeah...I'm me...for a few minutes anyway. What time is it?"

McKay started to get up. "About 2:30. I'll go get Carson. He'll want to..."

"No...Don't go McKay. It's not finished yet, so I won't be here long. I think this is...intermission."

McKay relaxed back into the seat, not sure of how to react to the fact that Sheppard was going away again and knew it. "You're running a fever."

Sheppard nodded. "I know. It'll pass...just part of it. Tell everyone I'll be okay...I just have to do this."

McKay nodded back. "Hey, I found Marchaeus in the database. He lived here just before they abandoned the city and sank it. According to the records his wife was Illiana and he had a son named Raefkin...just like you said. He was one of the top military guys from what I can gather. His father was retired military and sat on the high council."

Sheppard smiled. "Sounds like someone's been doing his homework. Have you figured out his connection to me yet?"

"I'm guessing you're a decendant?"

"Yes, the good Dr. McKay wins again. According to Atlantis, I'm a direct descendant...although how direct it can be after 10.000 years is the question of the hour."

McKay grinned his famous 'I know something you don't' grin. "Well, I'd say pretty direct. I have a surprise." Sheppard's eyebrows shot up, just the reaction McKay had been hoping for. "I found a depository of images. Would you like to see a picture of Marchaeus and his family?"

Sheppard almost came off the bed. McKay hit a couple of buttons on the computer keyboard and then turned it so that Sheppard could see the screen. There was a photo of Illiana in a long dress, her long dark hair cascading over her shoulders as she held a baby with a tuft of dark hair. Beside her was a man in a military uniform, his hat in his hand, dark hair with a slight flip over the top of his forehead. Neither man missed the strong resemblence to Sheppard. The hair lay a little flatter, the jaw a little more square, but the bright, mischievous eyes and the slighly lopsided grin were there. If they had stood side by side, anyone would have assumed the two men were brothers. Sheppard couldn't stop staring at the picture, images of Illiana and the baby flashing through his mind. McKay finally turned the computer back around.

"Well, what do you think?"

Sheppard just leaned his head back into the pillow as the room began to spin. "Oh crap," me said softly as he closed his eyes and slipped back into darkness.

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And then he was Marchaeus again. He attended the meetings where it was decided that they could not win against the wraith. For every ship they destroyed, there seemed to be two more to take it's place. There were simply too many of them and they were getting stronger. The decision was made to abandon the city for a planet in a far away galaxy...one that hopefully the wraith would not be able to find. It broke his heart to think of leaving the city, but he knew there was no other way. It was their only hope of saving her for future generations.

He stood in the crowded gateroom with Illiana and Raefkin. The city was being evacuated in sectors and it was their sector that was to leave next. But he would not be leaving with his wife and child. He would stay behind as part of the small crew responsible for securing the city and sinking it. It was time to say goodbye and he was having a hard time doing it.

He kissed Raefkin on the top of the head. "You be good and take care of your mother. I will join you both shortly...as soon as we are sure the city will be safe." He turned to Illiana and wiped the tears from her face. "Do not cry...Cerante will watch over you until I am able to join you."

"Please Marchaeus...promise me that you will come. Promise me." She looked desperately into his eyes and he could feel her fear. He knew he shouldn't make promises he wasn't sure he could keep, but he needed her to go and be safe.

"I promise, Illiana. I will come back to you. I love you...always remember that." He put his arm around her waist and pulled her up to him, kissing her for perhaps the last time. "Now go and be safe." He walked with her to the edge of the gate and then watched as she and Raefkin went through the event horizon, unable to shake the feeling that that would be the last time he saw them.

Next Marchaeus was in a control room. He had what appeared to be headphones on. Slipping them off, he pushed some of the panels on the console and then sat there, lost in thought. He finally stood. "That is for my son...or my son's son...or for any of my descendants that shall return to Atlantis. This is how you will know me...and how you will know Atlantis. This is so that you may see her greatness and love her as I love her...and restore her once again."

Atlantis, in the familiar form of a woman, appeared beside Marchaeus. "When he comes, I will be sure that he sees this...and that he knows of you and your family. He will know of his proud heritage so that he can stand tall and do honor to your name."

Marchaeus smiled. "Thank you. You have served the city and it's people well. My family and many others are forever in your debt. I must put you to sleep now and we must go. The wraith are coming and we will not let them have you. But you will be awakened again one day."

Atlantis smiled and bowed her head. "Good will to you and your family, Marchaeus." Her form dissolved into nothing and Marchaeus pushed one final panel on the console, causing the lights to go dim.

"Goodbye, Atlantis," he whispered sadly as he left the room. He tapped into his radio. "Atlantis is shut down. I'm on my way to the gateroom."

"Marchaeus, we have problem. Before the city was sufficiently under water, two wraith beamed in. We will have to get rid of them before we can leave. One of them is in your sector."

"I'm on it," replied Marchaeus. He drew his weapon and peered around the corner. Seeing nothing, he began to inch forward. As he slid down the hall, he heard screams from the next corridor. Running to the source of the cries, he rounded the corner to see a wraith feeding on one of his men. From his vantage point, he couldn't tell how much damage the wraith had inflicted and he couldn't shoot it without shooting his man, so he tackled the two figures. As he recovered and scrambled to his feet, he glanced over at the soldier he had tried to save, only to find him already dead. The impact had knocked his gun out of his hand, so his next order of business was to retrieve his weapon. Just as he reached for it, the wraith hit him, sending him flying across the corridor and into the wall. He slid to the floor, the breath knocked out of him. He got to his feet and tried to make a run for the gun, but the wraith picked him up by the front of his shirt and slammed him against the wall.

"I will feed on you and then I will hunt down the people of Atlantis so that we may feed on all of them." The wraith shoved him to the floor with one hand and then rammed the other one into Marchaeus's chest. Blinding pain. somehow both burning hot and freezing cold at the same time shot through him like lightning. He screamed with an agony that was much worse than anything he could have imagined. Every nerve in his body fired mercilessly in protest against the life that was being sucked out of him. Even through the pain, he knew he had to protect Illiana and Raefkin and his hand searched for a way to end the threat. Just before the last of his life force was taken, his hand closed around the gun of the fallen soldier he had tried to save and he emptied the weapon into the face of the wraith, His last thought was that Illiana and Raefkin would now be safe.

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It was mid-morning and McKay was packing up his computer to head to the lab and work. He had just stood up and stretched when he noticed Sheppard seemed to be getting more restless. Movement coming up behind him caught his attention and he turned toward it, expecting it to be Beckett. Elizabeth, Ford, and Teyla walked up to stand beside him.

"How is he?" asked Elizabeth.

"I don't know...he's starting to get pretty restless. I was just thinking about getting Carson."

Sheppard suddenly let out a blood-curling scream and began gasping for air. He grabbed at his chest with one hand and gripped the bedrail with the other as he rose off the bed in an effort to get oxygen into his lungs. Beckett arrived with other medical personnel and surrounded Sheppard's bed. A nurse slapped an oxygen mask on Sheppard while Beckett went to work with the stethoscope. Sheppard began fighting them, pushing their hands away as he struggled. More people showed up to help hold him down so they could keep the oxygen mask held firm on his face and keep him from pulling his IV. After a few moments, Sheppard shook convulsively and arched his back up off the bed, moaning loudly. When he relaxed, limp against the bed, Beckett yelled, "Respiratory arrest...bag him."

The next thing the Major's team knew, a nurse had a mask with a balloon like apparatus on the side over Sheppard's face. The nurse was squeezing the bag, pushing air into Sheppard's lungs, just as they had done in the jumper when trying to revive him after the bug attack. McKay felt the icy cold grip of fear as he watched them work over the Major, trying to get him to breathe. What seemed like a long time later, Beckett straightened and seemed to relax some. "Okay...good breath sounds. Let's go ahead and put him on oxygen though." The nurse replaced the oxygen mask of a few minutes before and pulled the strap around Sheppard's head, securing it.

Sheppard's hand still gripped the hospital gown where he had grabbed at his chest. Beckett began to uncurl his fingers in an attempt to release his grip. As he moved Sheppard's hand, they all saw a spreading spot of blood on the gown.

"Carson...what is that?" asked Elizabeth.

"I don't know," he replied as he loosened the ties on the bloody gown and pulled it forward and off the Major's shoulders. Everyone there gasped in unison at the sight of what appeared to be a red wraith handprint almost burned into Sheppard's chest. In the middle was a small abrasion, slowly oozing blood. The room was completely silent as the medical personnel, as well as the members of Sheppard's team, tried in vain to figure out what had happened.

TBC