Part 3 – Morning Has Broken
John gathered up the others with a look. However, before he'd even taken a step, the woman quietly stated. "It's not safe to leave now, Colonel."
"What do you mean not safe?"
"Its night outside and I'm afraid no one ventures out after dark, it just isn't safe even with using a flier. Besides my pilots are all off duty by now and at home with their families. You wouldn't want to disturb them would you?" asked Tyrell, giving him a predatory smile.
Sheppard wanted to scream, shout, and get the hell out of this sterile dome and away from the damn crazy woman. Nevertheless, logic told him they stood no change of negotiating the deserted city at night, not with gangs and other unknown nastiest. He tried to calm his inner turmoil as he answered. "I guess we don't have much choice then, do we, but as soon as it's light we're out of here."
"Of course, Colonel, I wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable about staying with us. Although, I can't see what your problem is?" she declared. For a second or two, she muttered, "Oh, well, well," as if deciding which cause of action to take before continuing. "In a minute, I'll have someone take you to our guestrooms and when you're settled in, a meal will be bought to you. Then first thing tomorrow, I'll arrange for a flier to take you back to the gate and a transport to bring your machine."
Everyone thanked her except John. He knew he was being rude but he really didn't care. With a sigh of relief, he watched the woman leave the room.
Teyla went over to rest her hand on Sheppard's arm and said. "You certainly do not like her do you, Colonel?"
Smiling down at the lovely Athosian, he answered. "Not one bit, that woman has more screws lose then…"
"Yes, yes, I know what you're going say," Rodney interrupted, "but I'm intrigued about the whole set-up here. I mean a working anti Wraith devise, a human copy machine, her brainpower living on and on, a perfect biosphere environment and…"
"Don't forget the wars." John put in.
"Okay, I was just coming to that, and the wars. No, no, that's not what I wanted to say, but you're right, she's nuttier than my sister's fruit cake."
For the first time since arriving in Sanjava, John laughed and clapped Rodney on the shoulder. "All very interesting, but like I said before, we're out of here as soon as it's light."
Everyone hastily agreed with him.
-SGA-
Three hours later, John waited patiently for the morning to arrive in the solitude of his own room. Determined not to sleep, he lay fully clothed propped up by several pillows on top of a huge and opulent bed. His P90 rested across his stomach, not exactly comfortable but that was the idea. The other members of his team each had their own rooms and like him, they had all agreed not to sleep.
The guest rooms were located somewhere deep within the dome, meaning none of them had a window to the outside so there was no telling when it would be light. The servant who was assigned to them had promised to let them know the minute the sun was up.
Earlier they'd had a truly magnificent buffet but both Ronon and John had refrained from eating any of it. Teyla had eaten a little but only the fruit she deemed safe. Rodney as usual let his eyes dictate his stomach and had tucked in heartily as the others had eaten their MREs. Rodney seemed to be fine afterwards and told them they'd missed a treat. Ronon had given him a sour look and had commented that he wouldn't be the one to carry him back if he got sick.
With these thoughts and others things whirling in his mind, Sheppard tried to keep his eyes from drooping but it was becoming more and more of a problem as a lethargic fog seemed to penetrate his brain. He didn't realize that the lights had dimmed somewhat as he eventually lost the battle and drifted off to sleep.
-SGA-
He woke with a start hours later not knowing who he was or where he was for a minute or two. Then the fog cleared as he slowly sat up to survey his surrounding. Everything seemed the same as he recalled, opulent bed, huge guestroom, fully clothed, weapons ready and team in near-by rooms or so he hoped. Now John was definitely ready to go, so jumping off the bed, he went to the bathroom to take care of things and then went in search of his teammates.
The timing must have been just right because as he left his room the servant approached. "Ah…Colonel Sheppard, I was just coming to wake you. It is morning and your transport is ready. Would you like some breakfast before leaving?"
John tried to rake his brain as to whether that was a good idea or not. The answer came slowly. I must still be half-asleep, he thought. "Err…a drink and maybe some fruit will do," he answered.
"Yes, of course. If you would like to wait in the dining area, I'll serve it as soon as possible after I've woken up your companions."
"There's no need for that." Ronon's deep voice growled as he emerged from his room.
A few minutes later, Teyla came out of her room looking surprisingly refreshed. Last of all, Rodney emerged from his room looking sleepy and bedraggled.
"I thought we agreed not to sleep, Dr. McKay?" Teyla accused him.
Rodney yawned guiltily. "Sorry, but that bed was so comfortable even though it wasn't anything like my prescription mattress back in Atl…"
"Dr. McKay!" Teyla warned.
"Oops…sorry too early in the morning," Rodney replied sheepishly. "Anyway, I'm betting I'm not the only one who went to sleep?"
"Well, I didn't," Ronon, rumbled.
"Neither did I." Teyla announced as they all turned to the unusually quiet Colonel.
Sheppard lied. "I didn't either."
Rodney replied with a rude sound as he headed for the dining room.
-SGA-
Two hours later, they finally arrived back at the stargate courtesy of the security forces, and as promised, the MALP was returned to them safe and sound.
McKay wasted no time in dialing Atlantis making sure that the address remained hidden from prying eyes. Sending through his IDC, the team prepared to go. Sheppard immediately stepped through without so much as a goodbye, which left McKay having to do it for him.
"I apologize for Colonel Sheppard's behavior," McKay began, "He's just anxious to get back home. Please thank Dr. Tyrell for us and thank you for helping us out yesterday and returning our machine."
"Do not concern yourself, Dr. McKay, we understand and you are most welcome." The chief officer replied.
Without further a do, Rodney started up the MALP and watched it go through before following the others into the wormhole. They didn't see the arrogant smirk on the chief's face.
-SGA-
As everyone reemerged into the gate room, they found that Sheppard had gone already. Elizabeth was waiting for them near the returned MALP. "I see everything turned out fine in the end?" she smiled.
"Apart from Sheppard," Ronon muttered, "He's in such a bad mood this morning and yesterday wasn't much better."
"He had rudeness down to a fine art and even rejected the attentions of an attractive woman." Rodney collaborated. "Where's Mr. Sunshine gone to anyway?"
"Caldwell confronted him the moment he came through. We have a crisis with Major Lorne's team on PX4-300. A group of angry natives is preventing them from getting back to the gate. At the moment, it's a stand off." Elizabeth told them. "John never gets a break does he, maybe that would explain his moody depressed behavior lately?"
The three SGA-1 members looked at each other and Teyla spoke up for them. "We did have a trying time on Capella and on the Colonel's advice we did not sleep last night. Now we have another crisis to deal with, but what about our compulsory medical and debriefing?"
"The debriefing can wait until later but the medical can't. So why don't you to go along to the infirmary and afterwards see if they need your help with the rescue mission. Hopefully, it won't be necessary as you do look a little tried, Teyla." Weir answered. "Oh, and I'll make sure that Sheppard joins you in the infirmary."
-SGA-
Dr. Beckett had just finished with the other team members when Sheppard finally walked in.
"Ah…there ya are, Colonel, I was just about to send out a search party." The Scottish doctor announced, rather loudly.
"I'm here aren't I, Dr. Beckett, so why don't we get this over and done with!" replied Sheppard, abruptly.
"Aye, okay. Why don't ya hop-up on the couch so you can get this over and done with?" Carson requested with an air of sarcasm, which was very unusual for him. As he started his examination by placing his stethoscope against the Colonel's chest, he asked. "I take it ya didn't get any sleep either last night?"
Sheppard lied again. "Not a wink."
"Aye, but ya seem to be doing just fine without it. How's the rescue mission going?" asked Carson, making conversion and with genuine concern for Lorne and his men.
"It shouldn't be a problem. In fact, while I'm sitting here having this useless medical others could have rescued Lorne's team by now."
"I don't think this examination is a useless exercise, Colonel. You of all people should know how important it is to be checked out after an off-world mission."
Carson shivered slightly as Sheppard stared at him with a cold aloofness that he'd never really noticed before. "Can I go now, doctor?" Sheppard requested.
"In a minute, I just want to take some blood."
Pulling away, Sheppard jumped down from the couch. "I really don't have time for that, doctor. You can take your sample when I've done my job." Saying no more, he marched out of the room leaving a very pissed off Beckett behind.
-SGA-
As he entered the briefing room, Sheppard's prediction that others may have already rescued Lorne and his team proved unfounded, as Caldwell, Elizabeth and his team members were still busy discussing the problem.
"Anything new?" asked Sheppard, as he sat himself down.
Caldwell answered for them. "No. It's still a stand off. We have to find a way to get past those people or our team will starve to death. As it is, they've probably got enough supplies to last a couple of days."
"How did it all start?" Teyla wanted to know. "I think…"
"That's not important!" John interrupted loudly. "We need to rescue them now!"
Teyla looked a little taken back by his abrupt and uncharacteristic attitude. Remaining calm, she said. "I only asked because it may help us understand their motives and help broker a diplomatic solution."
Sheppard looked at her sternly. "The only solution is to go in there with guns blazing and get them out! I just don't…"
"That's enough, John." Elizabeth stopped him. "Unfortunately, we have no idea how it all began but you're right, Teyla, there may very well be a simple solution if only we knew what their problem is.
Sheppard half stood up and leaning over the table, he glared. "I beg to differ, Dr. Weir. In my experience, the only language these primitives will understand is death at the business end of a P90."
All heads turned towards Sheppard in disbelief and Rodney spoke up first, angrily. "We're not dealing with Wraith here, Sheppard! Those are humans out there, and they may have a good reason for their behavior, which is more than can be said about you at the moment."
Holding up his hands, Sheppard conceded. "All right, we'll try the diplomatic way first but..."
Caldwell didn't let him finish. "So we're all agreed then, we'll send in a team to try and negotiate their release?"
"Okay, that's our job." John spoke up for the rest.
Elizabeth looked at him. "I don't think so, Colonel. The way you are at the moment, you'll probably start a war and get everyone killed."
Sheppard looked annoyed. "You don't trust me anymore, Dr. Weir?"
Elizabeth felt her eyes water. All the time she'd known John, he had never seemed so formal, so aloof. "I trust you but at the moment you seem…" She didn't know how to explain what she really felt.
Teyla interrupted. "We are wasting valuable time here. I will go and see if I can obtain their release."
"You're not going alone?" Ronon put in.
Caldwell answered for her. "We'll send a small contingent with Miss Emmagan. You can go with her, Mr. Dex, but only resort to violence if attacked."
"Oh, you let him go," John muttered, "Mr. shoot-first-ask-questions-later. Look, I promise to be on my best behavior and let Teyla do all the talking. They need me there if things go bad."
Elizabeth and Caldwell exchanged a look. They didn't like it but Sheppard was head of military operations. "All right, Lieutenant Colonel, but if you make one bad move, I'll throw the book at you." The senior officer promised.
"Oh, you'd love to do that wouldn't you…Sir? You've been on my back ever since I got promoted." John nearly shouted. "We're wasting time here! Let's get this mission over and done with." Saying no more, Sheppard got up and left, leaving a room full of astonishment.
"Okay, let's get the rest of the team together." Caldwell stated all business like. "If his behavior doesn't improve when he gets back I recommend…"
"A vacation," Elizabeth quickly suggested before turning to McKay. "Rodney, will you go and keep an eye on him."
"If I really have to," Rodney muttered.
"Do not worry, Dr. Weir, we will all keep an eye on him." Teyla assured. "I believe the stress of the last few months is beginning to show and he is very much in need of that vacation you mentioned."
Elizabeth nodded in agreement but Caldwell didn't seem convinced.
TBC
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