A/N – it's very hot in Massachusetts. I go away for one weekend, and someone turns on a blast furnace in the state. So wrong! Anyway, minor warning – there's some bad words in this section. It's the heat talking, I swear!
THIEVES IN ATLANTIS
BY TIPPER
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN: BEST LAID PLANS
Sheppard rocketed back towards the jumper bay, looking worriedly over at Teyla. The Athosian was slumped in her seat, eyes barely open and shivering. A glance behind him, his first, really, to check on the young archaeologist with them, showed Standish had at some point fallen asleep on the small desk.
Elizabeth's warning, demanding they all return and Rodney's sudden disappearance, came on the heels of Cadman's exclamation about finding Beckett and, a second later, Lorne's information about Neera and the children.
And Sheppard was furious.
He, and the other jumpers not involved in Beckett's rescue descended into the bay and docked swiftly. Medical teams swarmed into the room as Sheppard learned that Teyla and Standish were not the only two who had succumbed during the search. Lucky for them, none of the pilots had eaten much or at all at breakfast.
But most of Atlantis had.
And Ronon, Sheppard knew, had eaten more than anyone.
"How the hell could this have happened!" he yelled up at the massive room.
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Garron smirked as he watched Sheppard yell at the room around him through the cloaked jumper's window. Served the bastard right.
Brought down by one Genii commander and three kids. Suckered and beaten, just as Cowen had predicted the Atlantians would be.
It had been a brilliant plan, one they had executed perfectly. The Lorrell name would be lauded for generations because of this. He just wished his father could be there to see this. Their mother's betrayal would be forgotten, and they'd be heroes!
Looking to the right, he saw Ren sitting very quietly in the co-pilot's chair, still looking like the world was going to end.
"Come on, Rennie," the older boy said, "We did it! Look at them! Scurrying around like insects! We've won!"
Ren didn't answer, just continued to stare out the window.
Garron sighed and looked forward again. Sheppard had already left. Looking up, he saw another jumper descend into the bay. Major Lorne's. All that was left now were the two returning from the Mainland and Cadman's, with Beckett.
He looked down at his watch. Neera should be coming soon.
"Not long now," he said quietly.
The grin left his face when he saw a whole new set of people rush into the Jumper Bay in white coats, with a gurney. They filled the floor.
"Uh oh," he muttered, "that could be a problem."
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Sheppard barged into Weir's office with a rebel yell, startling the woman struggling to stay awake behind her desk.
"What the HELL!" he shouted, walking right up to her desk and slamming his hands down, causing everything on it to move. She gazed up at him through red eyes, the grit of her jaw showing just how hard she was fighting the drug in her system.
"John," she greeted.
"What are we?" he demanded, throwing his arms up. "The chumps of the Pegasus Galaxy? Is everyone in this goddamned galaxy out to SCREW US OVER?"
Elizabeth sighed softly, rubbing at her forehead with her hand. "It would appear so," she said, her voice strained. For the first time, he seemed to notice that she was hurting.
"Oh hell," he said, his voice softening, "you too?"
She just gave a half shrug and a nod, and Sheppard slumped, leaning heavily against her desk. For a moment he said nothing, just lowered his head, until a soft sigh passed his lips.
"McKay's missing," he noted quietly.
"Yes. Ren took him somewhere. I can only assume it was an ambush. Again, the life signs detector is no help."
Sheppard winced a little. "Do you think they've—"
"I think we should just assume that they've kidnapped him, for now." Elizabeth's voice was very quiet. "And hidden him as they did Beckett. We're surmising that the Wraith device was somehow hiding Carson from our sensors, transmitting some sort of blocker. We do know it's not transmitting into subspace, however...which is a good thing."
Sheppard took in a sharp breath through his nose, saying nothing for a moment. He just sat, staring out the glass windows through to the Gate Room.
Oddly, the thing that came to his mind then...was post it notes. And paperclips. And pens. And his discussion with McKay about what would happen if a real thief hit Atlantis.
What was it McKay had said? You can't get off Atlantis without someone knowing.
They were still here. McKay was still here. They just had to find him.
"What I don't understand," Elizabeth said after a moment, almost as if to break the silence, "is what they are trying to accomplish. Hurting Beckett and Ronon, poisoning us, now possibly hurting Rodney—"
"Beckett said they were Wraith sympathizers." He shrugged.
"Yes, but..." Elizabeth frowned, resting her head in both her hands now, "To what end?"
"Disruption? Distraction?" He shook his head. "Deflection?"
"From what? Long range sensors are working fine. There is nothing out there. And we've run several diagnostics on the Gate and the Iris. It's all fine."
"Decimation?" he asked then, looking out at the skeleton crew working the main consoles. Normally, there were a good ten people in that room at any one time. Now there were two. Hell of a lot of good they would be if someone decided to attack now. And Beckett and McKay combined were probably the Wraith's two greatest human threats...
But Elizabeth was right. There was nothing out there. And no one was coming in that Gate with the Iris working.
"Let's stick with distraction," Elizabeth said, the words barely over a whisper. "Decimation...is not a possibility I wish to entertain right now."
Sheppard snorted. She wasn't the only one. Finally, he shrugged.
"I don't know what they want," he said. He sighed again, and turned to look at her. She was cradling her head on her arms now. He grimaced. "Look, why don't I take you down to—"
"No," she said, sitting up again. "Not until this crisis is over."
He arched an eyebrow, and was about to speak again when the radio chirruped in his ear. He tapped. "Sheppard."
"Sir," Cadman's voice was brittle, "We have Carson in the Jumper. We're...we're bringing him in now." She sounded terrible, as if it hurt to speak.
"Roger that," he replied, "I'll see you up in the Bay." He stood up and glanced at Elizabeth. "At least agree to go to the infirmary to see Beckett after they get him down there."
She stared at him, then gave a nod. "Okay. But I won't stay there. Not until—"
"I know," he said, smiling slightly. Giving her another nod, he turned and jogged out of the office, already tapping his radio to check on the search teams now scouring the City for Neera and McKay.
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Neera grabbed a fistful of Freya's sleeve and pulled her into an alcove, holding her tight as a contingent of marines swarmed past, on their way to the infirmary. They were only a few levels below the Control Room and, of course, the Jumper Bay, but the way the Atlantian military was combing the floors, it might as well have been a few miles.
As the hallway quieted, she sighed and patted her pocket, where the second Wraith device was, hiding them from the sensors, as its twin had hidden Beckett. Not that it would do much good if someone actually saw them.
Swearing, Neera tapped her wrist bracelet, "Garron!"
"Yeah?"
"We've got problems."
"So have we. They're bringing Beckett in soon. There are people swarming all over the place now in here, and more to come from the sounds of it."
"Damn it," Neera swore, looking down at Freya's blonde head, then again out of the alcove. "Can you get out?"
"No. The floor of the Bay has a bunch of medical personnel standing right on top of the exit, waiting for the jumper to arrive. I don't think we're going anywhere until Beckett's taken care of."
"Hell!" Neera spat, leaning her head back against the wall behind her. "How the hell did they find him so fast?"
Garron didn't answer. Neera sighed heavily, then pursed her lips.
"Okay. The moment that Bay empties, you get out of there, whether we're there or not."
"Yes, Commander."
"Do you have any idea how soon that might be?"
"Um...," Garron paused, then sighed. "Half an hour? We're trying to keep up with the chatter about Beckett's status, but...we can't really tell how it's going."
Neera sighed again, then shrugged. "Well, on the bright side, that helps me and Freya. We can barely go ten feet without almost getting run over by these Atlantian maggots and having to duck and hide." She shook her head, "Just...go as soon as you can."
"Yes, Commander."
Neera cut the communication on her bracelet, and peeked out of the alcove again.
"Okay," she said softly to the girl with her, "let's keep pushing."
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Sheppard took the stairs two steps at a time, and tapped his radio again. "Lorne."
"Yes, sir?"
"What's the status?"
"We're going through Neera's rooms, sir, but they've been stripped clean. They planned this well, sir."
Sheppard growled. He had hoped for something, some clue as to Neera and her brood's whereabouts and what they might have used to poison the food.
"Damn," he muttered, stopping on the stairs and grabbing the rail as, for a moment, a short dizzy spell hit him. It soon passed—replaced by anger. Like the heat of the sun burning off a fog. It boiled through him in waves, shifting between simmering hot to full blown broil with each shifting thought.
What the hell! What the FUCK! WHAT WAS WRONG WITH HIM? How the hell did they get duped...again! And by Wraith sympathizers? What the hell? Were they all named Neera? Note to self, Sheppard, never trust anyone named Neera! Next time you meet someone named Neera, shoot first and run far, far away.
Hell, hell, hell, hell...
Part of him was aware that he was usually in more control than this—suggesting the drug was still affecting him.
Most of him decided he didn't care. The anger felt good, in an odd way. No wonder McKay liked it so much.
The radio chirruped in his ear again, and he tapped it, "What? Tell me you found McKay?"
"Uh," Lorne's voice already sounded apologetic, "No sir. No sign. Actually, sir, I'm calling to ask you for permission to take another jumper into the sky."
"What? Why?"
"If they have another of those Wraith device, sir, they could be—"
"Oh, good point," Sheppard said, cutting him off. He tapped his radio again, "Elizabeth."
"Yes?" she replied, still much too quiet.
"Is someone scanning for Wraith technology in Atlantis? If they are using another one to mask their and McKay's life signs or their own, we can locate them that way."
"Of course. I'll get someone right on it."
He nodded. Man—they were all thinking slow, weren't they? Elizabeth...or McKay... would normally have already been running with that idea.
"Sir?" Lorne called again, interrupting Sheppard's cascading thoughts. "What about...?"
"Oh. No. Not just yet, Major, wait until Elizabeth's scans tell us something," Sheppard said, shaking his head. "They're here, probably in the Control Tower, and, with our manpower depleted, we need everyone covering the halls to find him."
"Him? You mean, them?"
Sheppard grimaced, not deigning to answer that. "Just tell me where you have your men stationed now."
"Covering all the entrances and exits to the Gate Room, and searching up and down the halls near the transporters, sir. I've also seen to it that all non-essential personnel are secure in their quarters, and we've got men watching the water..."
"The water? You think they've fashioned a boat, Major?"
"Anything's possible, sir."
Sheppard grunted, then frowned, as Lorne's statement gave him another thought, "What about the entrances to the Jumper Bay?"
"Sir?"
"They may not be able to initiate the Jumpers, Major, but if one is on, all they'd have to do is dial out. Just like Ford, remember?"
"I thought Doctor McKay said he had set up some sort of program to stop that from happening again," Lorne noted.
"Yes, well, last I looked, McKay wasn't here to implement it, Major, and pretty much all of his team is unconscious in the infirmary or in their quarters, so...watch the entrances to the Bay."
There was a pause, then, tightly, "Yes, sir. Any other orders?"
The colonel bit back the smart reply on his tongue by gnashing his teeth. Taking in a sharp breath, he nodded sharply at nothing. "Just keep looking. They can't get out of this City without our seeing them, so...keep looking."
"Yes, sir."
Sheppard sighed, turned and returned to climbing the stairs. As he jumped from step to step, he tried to figure out just how many men he was down...and what their chances really were of finding Neera and her Children of the Corn before she did any more damage...or actually succeeded in killing someone.
She'd already almost killed Beckett—and from Cadman's less than stoic description of his condition over the radio, she might still have done. Then to find Ronon was in a coma, according to the haggard sounding Doctor Biro—one of the few doctors still upright—and seeing Elizabeth barely hanging on...
And now they had McKay. Did they push him off a balcony too? Or something worse...
No. Don't think that way. Elizabeth was right—for now, they just had to assume Rodney had been kidnapped.
Reaching the Jumper Bay's main entrance, he nodded to the two marines arriving at Lorne's orders to be stationed there and hit the control to open the doors with a little more force than necessary.
Neera was not taking McKay from them. He'd kill her first.
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TBC...
Thanks for your patience! Back to daily updates, I promise!