Vital Lies

Chapter 5

Rodney was tired, so very tired. It couldn't be morning yet, but someone was shaking him, trying to get him to wake up.

"Just five more minutes." he mumbled, trying to turn away from the hands that had a firm grip on his shoulder.

When he couldn't move as much as an inch, something stirred in him. This was not right. This was not his bed. He wasn't lying on the reasonably soft mattress of his bed, he was on something hard and unyielding. His eyes flew open.

Nothing, he was seeing nothing. Panicking for real now, he tried to grope around with his hands, only to find them secured to a hard surface. Metal probably, his fingertips told him. He tried wriggling free only to discover that his entire body was tied to the solid metal object which judging by his position was probably a chair.

Rodney forced himself to calm his breathing. Panic wasn't going to help him now. It was easier said than done as his body threatened to tremble with fear when he suddenly heard a noise. He tried to focus on the sound, assessing from which direction it was coming. He couldn't tell for certain, but he had the impression that the sound was coming nearer to him. It sounded like muted footsteps. Like the ground was covered with something soft. The noise stopped without warning. Rodney waited for something. Pain, a voice, anything.

After what seemed like an eternity, a woman spoke.

"Dr. McKay. I apologize for the rude methods we had to employ in bringing you here. It is unfortunate but necessary." Her voice sounded familiar. Rodney was sure he had heard it before but he could not place it. She was definitely a Ymanhin. She spoke with the singsong quality in her voice that was typical of the people.

"What do you want with me?" Rodney asked, slightly reassured that he was not going to me an untimely end in the next five minutes.

"We have been watching you ever since you came back here. You have been searching around, asking questions. You don't believe what you are told."

"I never said that." Rodney defended himself. "I simply want to know what really happened to my friends."

"You are interested in the truth and so are we."

"Who are you?" Rodney asked, not really expecting to get an answer from the faceless voice.

"I trust you Dr. McKay." She didn't answer his question. What she said puzzled Rodney. Maybe he was right and they had met and she trusted him not to betray her. Right now however he couldn't think of a good reason not to. He was blindfolded and tied to a metal chair.

"You went to see Wam Vter earlier today. I assume he gave you 'Sjel's' report to read."

"Yes, how did you know?"

"The report is part of the story they made up to tell you."

"Why would they lie to us? What reason is there, why should I believe you?"

"Why did you get suspicious in the first place, why did you start asking questions?" she answered him with a question.

"Sjel really exists; he is working for KAIA and has been working inside Denebria for years. But everything else what Wam Vter has probably told you about him isn't true. I have seen the fake report. Sjel wasn't a guard working for Denebria. He started out as a simple guard, but over the last decade he has risen to a powerful cell leader inside the organization. He was major involved in planning the attack on the ministerial building."

"How do you know this and why are you telling me all this?" Rodney's internal alarm bells were ringing loudly. Assuming what the woman was telling him was true, by revealing her knowledge she was putting herself, him and potentially many others in danger. She had no reason to trust him, except if she was sure that he wasn't going to tell anyone afterwards. The thought sent a chill down Rodney's spine.

"How I know is not important. As I said, I trust you." The voice sounded reassured. "Shall we continue?"

Rodney nodded. He was slowly getting the feeling that he was on the choice less end in the situation and that it had nothing to do with being tied to a chair.

"After the attack, Sjel finally had proof to tie leading members of Denebria to a serious crime. Once they had gone back into hiding, he managed to contact KAIA send them a data packet containing a detailed report containing proof that Denebria was responsible for the attack and that leading members had planned and enabled it by purchasing weapons and explosives. He gave locations of hide-outs and weapons stashes. In a big raid, aided by the military the leaders of the four main cells, Sjel, Olyg, Uhiw and Turan were caught along with over a hundred associates. The mountains in North Kintarin are still being searched for members that fled and are hiding out there. They'll have to come down to the cities when the winter comes. We'll catch them then." The voice said not without pride.

"We. You are one of them. KAIA. Whatever that is. Probably like the CIA or the FBI." Rodney said, not caring that the woman had no idea what he was going on about. "But by telling me about all of this, you're committing treason." he said triumphantly.

There was silence in the room. Obviously she had not counted on making a mistake and Rodney picking up on it. Then there were footsteps again. At first they were coming closer, then they were moving further away. Suddenly, Rodney felt something touch the back of his head and the blindfold fell into his lap.

It was dim in the room. He couldn't see much at all. There was a small lamp at the ceiling, now windows. He could recognize the outline of a grey door on the wall in front of him, there were a few boxed stacked up high on the wall, he could see a bucket and several chairs in the corner to his right and a battered table in front of him. There was a thick manila envelope on the table, but with his hands bound he could not reach it. He turned his head to look for the woman whom he had been talking to all the time.

She was leaning on the wall behind him. Now Rodney knew where he had seen her before. In the royal palace. She had been the royal aide. Apparently there were traitors in high places. Rodney tried to think of her name, but it wouldn't come to mind. All these alien names. Since he had come to the planet, he must have met at least twenty new people. He had finally managed to get the names of all of his scientists straight; he didn't need an entire planet of blue faced aliens to memorize as well. Instead, he resorted to pointedly looking at his bound wrists.

The woman got the hint and moved over to him. From somewhere within her rather tight clothing she managed to produce a knife during the split second that Rodney was not looking. For a moment, Rodney considered his chances. He would probably be able to wield the knife from her, she was short and thin. He would probably get cut in the process, maybe even badly, but he was sure he'd get the knife before she had a chance to stab him.

As if reading his thoughts, she said:

"Don't Dr. McKay. We are not alone. There are others. I'm not a lone lunatic, despite what you may think."

She freed his wrists and Rodney let her without making a move for the knife. She handed him the envelope.

"I trust you will find this interesting reading material." she took the knife and headed for the door. Rodney was still looking at the envelope in his hands when he heard the heavy door close.

Elizabeth was pacing in the largest entrance hall she had ever seen. Her steps in the two story high, almost cavernous hall. Their accommodations were in a spacious villa in a suburb of Fiatyn. As Wam Vter had explained, the government frequently housed its guests there.

They were free to move around and leave the villa at any time, so technically Rodney was not breaking any rules by being out on his own. But Elizabeth was concerned. She had started out as angry, when Rodney had absconded from the hospital, but part of her had been understanding. He was closer friend to John than any of the others and being back on the planet must be triggering unpleasant memories for him. Elizabeth had assumed that he had returned to the villa earlier. When they had arrived and he had not been there, she had just been a little more concerned. Now that it was three in the morning, she was very concerned. It was not like Rodney to leave without a word and besides, he had nowhere to go in Fiatyn, and aside from the liaison officer they knew no one in the city.

For the at least twentieth time, Elizabeth walked over to the data terminal and punched in the equivalent to the liaison officer's phone number. So far she had been unable to reach him. This time, her luck changed and the screen came to life.

Connection established.

A moment later, a young man appeared on the screen. It was obvious that he had been sleeping until a moment ago. He was blinking owlishly and his rose-tinted hair stood off wildly.

Elizabeth was slightly confused.

"My apologies for having woken you up. I wanted to speak to Wam Vter."

"Ah, you must be Dr. Weir?" The man straightened.

"Yes. And you are?"

"I'm Wam Vter's assistant, Xelig. How can I help you?"

"I would like to speak to Wam Vter." Elizabeth said firmly. She was not going to deal with underlings now.

"I can take a message." Xelig smiled.

Elizabeth suppressed a growl.

"Tell him that one of my team members is missing on your planet, and that I want a search, right now!"

Xelig paled visibly.

"Of course, I'll get Wam Vter right away."

Indeed, hardly two minutes later, Wam Vter appeared on the video screen, looking perfectly refreshed.

"Dr. Weir, my assistant just told me. That's horrible news. Who is missing?"

"Dr. McKay is missing since this afternoon. We haven't seen him since we left the medical centre." Elizabeth came to the point quickly.

"Oh. He came to me later that day. He had questions about what happened. From what he said, I assumed that you had sent him there in an official capacity."

"He was acting in our interests." Elizabeth quickly said. The last thing she needed now was Wam Vter questioning her leadership abilities. Mentally however she cursed Rodney for going off on his own.

"Did you know where he was going when he left?" Elizabeth asked, trying the approach the matter rationally.

"No, he didn't tell me." Wam Vter looked upset.

"What did you two talk about?" Elizabeth asked. She was curious what Rodney had believed that Wam Vter could tell him. She personally didn't trust Wam Vter to be truthful. He probably wouldn't lie, just omit a few details in the interest of his people. He was a politician and Elizabeth had dealt with a lot of politicians.

"I'll transmit you a copy of the documents that I gave Dr. McKay to read. They are reports regarding the captivity of your team mates. I'm afraid there isn't much information there. That's also what I told Dr. McKay. He still seemed upset." Wam Vter replied with a pinched face, as if he'd rather not have revealed the entire incident.

A light flashed next to the video screen informing Elizabeth that she had received a text message. She opted to print it, and then turned back to Wam Vter.

"I want a search for Dr. McKay. He wouldn't just disappear over night."

"Of course, I understand. I'll personally inform the police and provide them with all the necessary details. Rest assured Dr. Weir, they'll find him. I'll contact you as soon as I hear anything new. At the latest tomorrow morning. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate the contact me." Wam Vter bowed briefly, and then the screen blanked.

Elizabeth blinked. The attitude changed in Wam Vter surprised her. He hadn't been exactly a man of action before, but suddenly, he was moving everything to get Rodney found as soon as possible. And something about his reaction to the news had been off as well. It didn't fit with how he had behaved previously towards them. Maybe she had misjudged him, Elizabeth thought.

"Dr. Weir?" She heard Ford's voice from behind her. She turned around.

"How long have you been here?"

"Sorry. Long enough. At least they are doing something. What are we going to do now?"

Elizabeth thought for a moment. It was time that she made her move; she had waited long enough for everyone else to make theirs. This was a game. She didn't know the rules yet, but she was going to find out.

"Teyla, Dr. Alley and you are going to go to the medical centre. You're going to take Major Sheppard and Dr. Beckett back to Atlantis. Dr. Alley says they are over the worst and we can't trust the healers here."

Waking was like rising to the surface from the bottom of a deep pond. Slowly, he rose towards awareness and light. When he opened his eyes, it was to him as if he had slept for an eternity.

A circular cast of yellow light was on the low grey ceiling. The colour was peaceful, not too bright, just right. He didn't know where he was or how he had gotten there, but he felt safe, the light made him feel safe.

Suddenly, there was a face. How could he not have seen it come from the side? A blue face with two milky grey eyes looking down at him. The lips moved, but no sound came from them.

He frowned, this wasn't right.

"Chan eil mi gad chluinntinn!" he shouted the first thing that came to his mind. The lips moved faster and he felt a hand on his shoulder. He tried to get up, but his arms and legs were tied down to the bed frame.

"Leig mi air falbh!"

He struggled against his bounds, while the person whom he assumed to be his captor, stroked his arm soothingly.

""Leig mi air falbh, agus thig an latha a nì mi fabhar dhut airson do chairdeas."

tbc