THIEVES IN ATLANTIS

BY TIPPER

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CHAPTER TWELVE: END GAME

Ren swallowed hard, looking down at the unconscious man at his feet. Biting his lip, he looked up at Garron.

The teenager was furious.

"What the hell was that about!" Garron yelled. "You were supposed to bring McKay straight to the jumper! Now we're going to have to drag him over there!"

"I was..." Ren sniffed, "I was getting to it."

"Like hell you were!" Garron reached out, grabbing his brother's thin arm in a harsh grip. "He almost had time to use his radio! And now we have to drag him over there!"

"But, I..."

"Don't even try, Ren. You were showing off. Admit it. You had to show McKay how clever you were, just one last time!"

"But..."

"Just shut up and help me!" Garron put the stunner down and walked around to McKay's torso, tipping the scientist onto his back and getting his arms under McKay's.

"Watch his back!" Ren said, without thinking. Garron's eyes lifted to glare at his brother. Ren looked down and moved around to help drag McKay by his arms.

Slowly, steadily, they got McKay over to the cloaked jumper, and Garron roughly dropped the scientist on the base of the ramp. Ren grimaced as he noted some red seeping into the bandage on McKay's neck—they must have torn some of the still healing skin.

"Help me put him in the trunk," Garron said, getting a better grip under McKay in order to pull him up the ramp. Ren stopped, eyes wide.

"What?"

"In the trunk. Neera's idea. She doesn't want to listen to him whine all the way back to Genii once he wakes up."

The trunk had held their weapons, poison, and various other items intended to bring down the Atlantians. It was about five feet long, two feet wide and two feet deep. Ren saw that Garron had emptied all the junk out and shoved the contents to the side.

"But it's...it's almost air tight. And it's metal. He'll..."

"He'll be fine," Garron sneered. "He won't suffocate—as you said, it's only almost air tight. Plus, Neera and Freya have to be on their way soon. With our luck, he won't even wake from the stun before we're through to the other side." Garron grunted as McKay's booted foot got stuck on a bit of the ramp. "Now help me!"

"But he's claustrophobic!" Ren argued again. "If he wakes up..."

"What is wrong with you! Help me!" Garron stared at Ren like he had sprouted another head. "Don't do this, Ren! Not now!"

Ren shook his head, and a tear ran down his face. "Garron...please..."

The older boy just gritted his teeth, then, with a dark expression, wrenched McKay the rest of the way up the ramp on his own. Once inside the jumper, he practically dumped McKay into the trunk, mindful only of the man's head. Ren jogged the rest of the way inside, helping only to stop Garron hurting McKay anymore.

In moments, Garron had the lid of the trunk closed, sealed and bolted.

Ren backed away, then looked at his older brother. "Garron, I—"

"Don't talk to me," the older boy snarled, turning away and heading up to the pilot's seat. Sitting down in the chair, he leaned forward and touched the console.

The whole thing lit up under his hands.

It was why the two Lorrell boys had been chosen for this mission.

They both had the gene.

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The world was losing cohesion for the Satedan.

Ronon was trailing well behind the two marines now, feet dragging along the hall. Fact was, all three of them were moving slowly, slower than any of them should. But Ronon was barely hanging on to his control, making the other two look spry. Only his enormous stubbornness was keeping him moving.

The rooms were growing progressively darker in his vision, and his hearing seemed to grow more dulled with each plodding footstep. His stomach was turning and heaving, like a washing machine, and he could taste bile on his tongue. Every muscle felt like it was growing numb, atrophying even as he tried to force his body to keep moving.

He was lagging behind the two marines now, and one of them finally stopped to glance back at him. Something in Ronon's appearance must have made him stop, because he was calling to the other marine.

Ronon barely heard the shout.

He wasn't sure when he fell exactly, just that, suddenly, he was on the ground, staring at the booted feet of one of the marines now standing by his head.

And suddenly, he was throwing up violently, painfully, choking on it. He felt the marine's hands on him, tilting him on his side. He heard them calling for help, and he tried to hold on to consciousness…

But the world just swirled away.

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Beckett had managed to change the music to a mix he had made. He'd downloaded some of his own music onto Laura's iPod, and, as Mouth Music's "He Mandu" started to beat, he put the volume on high and let it wash over him.

Where the hell were Sheppard, McKay and the others?

It occurred to him he had to survive this. He had to warn them…

He had to tell them that Neera and the children…were dangerous.

Worse, they might even be…working for the Wraith….

He stared up at the Wraith device…and prayed to God it wasn't transmitting something.

Damn it…he had to do something!

And then the shadows around him grew suddenly deeper and darker, as a huge, long object blocked the sunlight over his head.

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Elizabeth rubbed at her beating head, fighting to stay upright. The world was growing increasingly difficult to keep in focus. She caught worried stares from the people around her, pausing to check on her every so often.

"You heard McKay," she said tiredly. "Keep looking." Still using the pillar as leverage, she shifted around it a little to glance over at Radek in the far corner.

Her eyes widened. The Czech was slumped over his console—asleep.

Suddenly, her tiredness no longer felt natural.

The radio exploded then with news of Ronon's collapse and calls for a medical team, and Elizabeth's eyes widened.

"Oh my God," she whispered. Pushing herself off the pillar, she landed hard on the console in front of the Canadian sergeant, who jumped back a little at her sudden move. "We've been poisoned. Call the infirmary—something in the food!"

And then her eyes widened even more as she realized that Neera probably hadn't acted alone, and she hit her radio, "Rodney! Rodney, come in!"

The silence was like a censure, and Elizabeth looked upwards, hitting her radio again. "Colonel Shep—"

"We found him!" Laura Cadman's excited voice burst over the comm.. "We found Carson!"

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Neera's head snapped up at the news that Beckett had been found came in clearly over the radio they'd stolen from Beckett. Damn it! Too soon! They weren't supposed to find him until after they had shut off the Wraith device remotely.

"Freya!" The Genii commander turned to look at the little girl, who was still fiddling with the laptops. "Time to go!" she snapped. "Unplug those damn things, get them in the bags, and let's get the hell out of here!" As Freya rushed to comply, Neera pushed back her right sleeve to reveal the bracelet radio. "Garron, how's it going?"

"We've got McKay. Jumper's ready to go."

"Okay. We're on our way! If we're not there in fifteen minutes...go without us."

There was a pause, then, "Yes, Commander."

Neera turned her gaze back to Freya, who was still trying to unplug things. "Freya! NOW!"

The death glare the little girl sent her even surprised Neera with its intensity.

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Sergeant Greene lowered himself slowly down from Cadman's jumper, landing just above Beckett's still form. He could see the physician watching him through half lidded eyes. There was blood on his forehead, some of which had run down into Beckett's mouth. His body was at an ugly angle, and even from here, Greene could see the bruising along the Scot's side, where the fleece had hitched up to reveal skin. The iPod was still playing away on his stomach, emitting some strange techno like music the American medic had never heard before.

He stopped when he saw the Wraith device, his heart catching in his throat.

"Greene," Beckett whispered, obviously seeing him clearly. He reached up his right hand, and Greene moved close enough to snag it in his own.

"Sir! How...how are you feeling?" Greene's nervousness wasn't assuaged by the fear on Beckett's face.

"Warn...you..." Beckett gasped out. "It was...Neera and Freya...pushed me...think they're...Wraith sympathizers..."

Greene's eyes fairly popped out of his head, and he looked up at the two jumpers hovering over them, and caught sight of Lorne's dark expression in the window of the other jumper.

"Did you hear that, sir?" the medic asked the major over his radio.

"Relaying that information now," Lorne replied darkly, then obviously changed to a wider frequency with a tap of his comm. "Colonel Sheppard, this is Major Lorne. We have been compromised."

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TBC...

And now...you're all going to hate me. I'm going away to a conference for four days. It's all written except for the very last chapter! But...it's not revised. So, I can't post it. Wish I could! That being said, you're all going to be watching the premiere anyway, so...I don't feel that bad!