Vital Lies
Chapter 8
John shifted in his seat, trying to find a comfortable position. It seemed impossible to sit in a way that didn't put a strain on his back. The pain was spreading with every minute that passed since they'd left the medical centre. At Teyla's and Ford's insistence, he and Beckett had gotten dressed and left as quickly as the two injured men could manage. Walking down the corridor alone had been a challenge for John which he had only mastered with Aiden supporting a large portion of his weight. He knew that he was in no shape to be moving around. His back stung and ached, sending spikes of pain down into his legs. His head didn't feel much better. Maybe it was the movement of the Ymanhin version of a subway or the soft hum that accompanied him, but he was positively dizzy and had one hell of a headache building.
For what seemed at least the fifth time in the past half hour, the train stopped at a station with a lurch, jarring his injuries and catapulting him out of the daze he'd been floating in. His eyes flew open and he gazed at his team mates; Carson was slumped over, elbows resting on his knees, opposite him. Aiden sat next to Carson looking around, observing the other passengers nervously. Not even Teyla seemed her usual serene self. Something was wrong and he didn't know what.
It made sense that Aiden assumed control since he was in no shape to take the lead, still it made him nervous not to know what was going on. Sheppard remembered too little and what he remembered was too vague to explain what was going on now. As a soldier he was used to following orders, though on Atlantis he had been the one giving them. The sudden reversal of positions and everyone's refusal to answer his questions left him confused and suspicious.
The car resumed its motion once more. John drew in a painful breath, hoping that the torturous journey would end soon. The pain was starting to get a firm grip on his rib cage. No one had actually bothered to tell him what was wrong with him. There was something going on with his back that much he had figured. The train slowed and stopped again. This time Teyla and Ford got up from their seats.
"We are at the station near the Stargate." Teyla announced and put a hand under his elbow to help him up.
Meanwhile Aiden was helping Carson to his feet. With their combined efforts, they managed to get of the subway train just in time. Standing on his feet was far worse than sitting; John noticed having walked only a few steps out onto the platform. He tried his best to support his own weight, but was aware how much he was clinging on to his lieutenant. Across the square was the Interstellar Travel Station that housed the Stargate on Yamin. Hundreds of people milled over the open ground. Nobody was paying particular attention to the Atlantians, but Ford and Teyla were still nervous. It seemed too easy that they were just going to walk off the planet after all the trouble everyone on the planet had brought them.
"Are you two all right?" Aiden directed his question at Carson and John.
"I will be." Carson replied weakly, not sounding too convinced.
"I have been better; just let's get this over quickly. The sooner I get to sit down the better." John ground out; painfully aware of every second he was spending on his feet.
"It's just over there. We'll be back in Atlantis in no time, sir." Aiden said apologetically.
The group dragged themselves across the square. It was a slow, painful crawl. John had to bit his lip not to cry out in pain as every step sent fire through his back. One step. Another step. The building in the distance tilted.
Rodney would have been pacing a rut into the floor if he could. But at the moment, his wrists and ankles were bound by handcuff like restraints. All, he could do was rock his heels in frustration and nervousness. After he and the mysterious woman had been stopped in the underground corridor by an armed guard, they, along with a group of about ten other people had been herded into a shuttle. Rodney had protested his innocence but in return, one of the guards had put restraints around his ankles and wrists.
Now, he was cowering on the metal floor of the back of a shuttle, with twelve people in the small back compartment it was crammed. Most were silent, but there were a few hushed conversations going on. He couldn't see the woman from before, but needed to know what was going on. Rodney had his suspicions what had happened, but wanted to know for sure.
"What's going on?" He whispered to the woman sitting next to him.
She merely looked at him with an empty expression. "You don't know?" She sounded incredulous.
"I haven't been here for long." Rodney said, hoping that would do as explanation.
"It's over. They are going to send us to Shukur." She whispered tonelessly.
"I didn't do anything. I'm innocent." Rodney protested.
For the first time, the woman seemed to really look at him. "It won't matter whether you are innocent or not. They won't believe you. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
The flight to the KAIA facility had only taken half an hour, but to Elizabeth it seemed like entire morning had passed. To her surprise, Wam Vter had contacted her again, less than twenty minutes after his first call, informing her that he had secured an opportunity to talk with Rodney. Still somewhat outraged at the arrest without clear information as to what the actual charges were, it had taken all her diplomatic skills to thank him appropriately for his efforts.
The holding cells were housed in a dull grey building. Elizabeth had never been to a prison on earth, but imagined them to look similar: concrete buildings, high walls topped off with barbed wire, security cameras and guards surveying the grounds. At the entrance to the main building, they passed a scanner and were searched for weapons. Elizabeth was getting nervous, but she worked hard to hide it behind a calm facade. Her control over the situation her people were in had been taken away from her step by step since their arrival on the planet and she didn't like it one bit. Should the situation escalate and their diplomatic relations deteriorate, and at this point, Elizabeth could definitely see the possibility; the prison facility would be impossible to break into with the weapons they had. They had to find a diplomatic solution to all this. Hopefully, Teyla and Aiden were getting back to Atlantis safely.
"You may pass." A guard, his name tag identifying him as Rusan, told them impassively.
They stepped past the barrier and waited for Rusan to lead the way, not having to go far before they reached Rodney's cell. Rusan stopped.
"We are here. You wish to talk to the prisoner?"
"Yes. I want to talk to Dr. McKay." Elizabeth affirmed. Rusan got a key card out from his pocket.
"I must warn you. He may be violent. He had to be restrained when he was arrested. It is not customary for prisoner to be questioned by untrained personnel."
Elizabeth's heart sank when she heard what Rusan had to say. Rodney didn't deserve to be restrained and manhandled. "I know Dr. McKay, it won't be a problem." She reassured the guard.
"All right." Rusan unlocked the door to Rodney's cell and let her proceeded inside. Wam Vter was about to follow her when Elizabeth turned around.
"I want to talk to him alone." Elizabeth knew that she couldn't stop the Yamin from listening to their conversation if they wanted to, but she didn't want company in the form of Wam Vter.
"I'm afraid I can't allow that, Dr. Weir. For your own safety, I must insist that I accompany you." Wam Vter smiled.
Elizabeth fought hard for composure, but thought better of arguing. She was not in the position to bargain and she needed to talk to Rodney urgently, so she nodded and walked into the cell. Wam Vter followed her.
Rodney sat on what passed for a bed in the sparsely furnished holding cell. Aside from the bed, there was a table and a chair, both fused to the ground. Rodney looked up as soon as he heard them enter. His face visibly lit up when he recognized Elizabeth.
"Finally, I thought nobody was going to show up!" he greeted her.
"Rodney, are you all right?"
"Yeah, these are a bit of a bother." He indicated the cuffs that restricted the movements of his legs and arms, "but I'm all right." Rodney looked from Elizabeth to Wam Vter and back to Elizabeth. Weir nodded slightly.
"What's happened?"
"I don't know." Rodney thought it best to mention as few details as possible. He didn't trust Wam Vter and if he had read Elizabeth expression right, she didn't either.
"You were in the company of Denebria sympathists." Wam Vter accused. "How long have you been working with them?"
"I haven't been working with them. I don't know any of them." Rodney shot back.
"Rodney! Calm down. This isn't an interrogation, Wam Vter. I want to talk to one of my people and I want to hear his side of the story." Elizabeth insisted.
"He must answer the accusations laid against him. Otherwise he has already acknowledged his guilt." Wam Vter said coldly.
"What am I even charged with? Nobody in this banana state has even bothered to tell me what's going on!" Rodney yelled. It was all going a little to fast; his initial fear was fast converting to anger and exasperation.
"Rodney, let me explain. Apparently you got caught up in a raid with a group of Denebria sympathisists. It's probably just a misunderstanding."
"There was nothing to misunderstand. The evidence is quite clear. Dr. McKay was caught together with Yraj, a KAIA agent guilty of treason. She has already admitted to working with Dr. McKay." Wam Vter positively sneered.
"Oh, this is classic. Telling me that she confessed? I don't believe it." Rodney replied. He would have felt like laughing had the situation not been that serious. He felt like he was stuck in a bad prison movie.
Elizabeth tried to be the voice of reason in a conversation that was slipping from her fast. "Wam Vter, in what crimes has Yraj implicated Dr. McKay exactly? It would be helpful to us if we knew that." She asked, realizing that Wam Vter knew far more about the entire affair than he had let on initially.
Her suspicions that the arrest had been staged, or at least manipulated were growing fast. But until she had more concrete evidence, she had to at least to try to find a diplomatic solution. Wam Vter sat down on the only chair in the cell.
"Yraj made a full confession, Dr. Weir. I believe you have met Yraj before." Wam Vter paused, waiting for her to answer.
"Yes, she was working at the palace." Elizabeth answered impatiently, not seeing the point of the question.
"I think it should concern you greatly that Yraj has chosen to come clean with us." Wam Vter smiled. "We should continue this discussion elsewhere, Dr. Weir." He got up and walked towards the door.
"I'm not finished yet. I want to talk to Dr. McKay without any of your interruptions." Elizabeth insisted more firmly.
"I'm afraid this is not possible. At least not until you have answered some questions for us, Dr. Weir."
As long as he was moving, he was doing something and as long as he was doing something, he had a goal, something to fixate his thoughts and prevent them from spiralling away into the emptiness that was his mind. He was scared of the black chasm in his mind, empty with no memories, and no hint of who he was and where he'd come from. He had to keep moving, had to keep focussed, it was what kept him from being swept away in another wave of panic.
But it was hard work, every step was painful and even though it hadn't felt particularly hot in the room before, he could feel the sweat beading on his forehead now as he felt his way along the wall. Finally he reached the doorway to his left. Panting, he leaned against the wall. The room to his side was a small bathroom or used to be one. Many tiles were cracked, some shattered on the floor. A ray of what looked like sunlight was cast on the dusty floor. A window? Curiously, he pushed himself off the wall and staggered across the room, barely making it to the sink on the other wall. His hands were trembling when he clung onto the cool porcelain for support. Once he had caught his breath, he tumbled towards the window.At first the dust coloured landscape was blurred, but became cleared as he came closer. The glass was stained, but he could see the endlessly stretching plains of grey stone with few trees and bush littered in between. The land looked rough and foreign to him. Had he been there before? Could he have grown up in these lands and not remember anything about it? It seemed
impossible that he could know a landscape that seemed so alien to him; somehow he thought that it should be greener.
Frustrated, he turned away from the window and set out back to the sink. He was thirsty and hot. The thought of a little cool water was promising. As he turned, a flicker of an image caught his eye and he turned back. It was a mirror, or rather what remained of one. Like the window it was badly stained, and cracked, but it was enough to find himself staring into the face of a stranger.
TBC