Thank you all so much for your feedback! Oh, and, yes, Jumper Two has been moved, so the floor is clear for them to exit...well, except for Sheppard and his men, of course. :)
THIEVES IN ATLANTIS
BY TIPPER
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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE
"How?" Sheppard muttered, mouth agape as he stared up at the Jumper. How were they flying it?
Neera laughed, her arms down now. "Doctor Weir's information about the Ancestor's Gene was very enlightening, Colonel," she sneered. "Every Genii was tested...and the two Lorrell boys tested positive. Combine that with your reputations as soft-hearted fools...and a plan was hatched to steal both a jumper and your top scientist, right from under your nose." She looked up at the Jumper. "This is really very poetic, isn't it?" she asked, "Isn't this exactly how you stole our first Wraith device from us? By threatening us with your Jumpers' weapons?"
Sheppard turned to glare at her, but, for the moment, he had no idea how to get them out of this.
"We have the upper hand now, Colonel," Neera said, grinning. "So how about tossing me that gun of yours, eh?"
The colonel stared her for a moment, then did as he was told—he tossed her his 9MM. She thanked him with a nod, turning the gun around in her hand so that it was now pointing at him.
"Now...I assume you have Freya, or are still chasing her. I want her up here. Now."
Sheppard lifted an eyebrow, but shook his head. "I can't. We just heard from the Infirmary...she's dead."
Neera visibly flinched at the news, her breath catching. Then her jaw steeled and she frowned.
"You will regret that," she promised coldly, backing up now towards the Jumper.
"Colonel Sheppard," Garron called over the Jumper comm., "we're opening the back hatch and tossing down a rope. Commander Neera is to be allowed to climb up inside, and then we're dialing the gate and leaving. If you try to stop us...we will destroy this place."
Sheppard gritted his teeth, looking around him at his men. They could try to shoot at the two boys inside the jumper, but the glass was pressure treated. It would take a few shots to break through it, and by that time...
One thought from either boy and the Bay was toast, not to mention the top of the Control Tower.
"And put down your guns! Now!" Garron ordered.
Sheppard swallowed, but nodded, backing up and motioning his men to lower their weapons. With grim expressions, the marines did as ordered.
"We'll come after you!" Sheppard shouted at them. "Tell Cowen that we'll get McKay back!"
"I'm sure you'll try," Neera sneered, tucking the 9MM away in her belt and walking over to the rope that was now hanging out the back of the flying Jumper. In moments, she was up the rope and inside the Jumper.
"Goodbye, Colonel Sheppard," Garron said as soon as the back hatch closed again. "Ren...dial it up."
"Wait," Neera said, appearing in the Jumper window. "Perhaps we should kill them after all."
"Oh, shit," Sheppard whispered, stepping back. This wasn't good.
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"Wait," Neera said, coming forward to stand between Ren and Garron in the chairs, "Perhaps we should kill them after all."
She saw Sheppard flinch back, and she grinned, happy that he had heard that.
Garron hit the comm. link, shutting it down, and turned to look at her with wide eyes. "What?"
"Kill them. And destroy the bay, all their precious ships," she looked around at the jumpers. "They can't come after the Genii as effectively if they don't have them. Put us and them on even footing."
"No," Ren protested, standing up. "You can't!"
"Don't question me, boy!" Neera snapped. "Dial the Gate, then, when this floor opens...destroy this bay. We'll be through the wormhole before the explosion gets to us...and we'll have destroyed Atlantis's greatest weapons as well! They'll be crippled!"
"But...," Garron looked around, obviously no happier with the thought than his brother.
"They need the jumpers," Ren argued, standing in front of Neera, forcing her back. "To fight the Wraith! They need them!"
"You think I care?" Neera spat. "We've fought the Wraith for centuries, without ships! So can they! And Freya was right, they killed almost sixty of our men—they deserve to pay!" She shoved Ren away from her and reached forward to the DHD, "As soon as that floor opens, kill Sheppard and everyone else in this damn place!"
The shove sent Ren falling backwards towards the rear compartment, eyes wide. Garron watched him from the pilot's seat, his hands still locked on the controls as if afraid to let go, then looked up at Neera. The woman was already dialing, clearly expecting them both to do as ordered.
"Garron?" Ren stayed where he was, now looking to his brother. The older boy met his gaze, then shook his head, frowning.
"She's in charge, Ren," Garron said, though, for the first time, Ren thought he heard doubt in his older brother's voice. But it wasn't enough. The younger boy's eyes filled with tears, and he turned to look at the trunk in the back. If only he'd had more time, he might've...
"There!" Neera grinned as she hit the final chevron to activate the DHD, and looked down at the floor. "Now as soon as it opens, fire..."
She paused then, the smile falling from her face.
The floor wasn't opening.
"Why isn't it opening?" she asked, staring at the static floor. "Why isn't it OPENING!"
She was right—the floor wasn't moving. The marines had all moved back to fan the walls, also expecting the ground to open. Sheppard was frowning, looking from it up to the Jumper and back again.
The fact startled Ren enough to come forward again, as surprised as Garron and Neera, his pale blue eyes fixed on the floor.
"It should be opening," he said quietly, obviously bewildered. Neera, standing next to him, suddenly narrowed her eyes at the younger boy and viciously grabbed his shoulder, pinching it painfully. He squealed as she bore down.
"What did you do!" she yelled. "What the hell did you do?"
"I didn't do anything!" Ren cried out, bending at the pain as she folded him down into the co-pilot's seat, "I don't know what's happening! I didn't do it!"
"That floor should be opening! You said it would open! It's automatic!" Neera bore down harder. "You did something! I knew I shouldn't have left you with that damn scientist as much as I did! Especially after he saved your worthless life!"
"Hey!" Garron yelled, watching them, his hands shaking on the jumper controls. "Stop! Leave him alone!"
"You fix it!" Neera shouted, shoving Ren down, so that he was just inches from the console. "Now!"
"I can't!" the younger boy begged, tears rolling down his reddened face, "I didn't do it! I don't know how!"
Neera screamed in frustration, and threw Ren into the chair the rest of the way. His head hit the side of the jumper with a crack and he cried out, covering his forehead with his right hand, blood appearing from between his fingers.
Uncaring, Neera spun to face Garron, "Fix it!"
Garron's eyes widened, "I don't know how to fix it either!"
"You've been hanging out in this Bay for two weeks! You've seen them go in and out of that floor a half dozen times! You must know!"
"I don't! It just opens!" he insisted, staring at her with wide eyes, as if afraid she would attack him next. Neera stared at him, then out the window. Her eyes widened as she saw that Sheppard was still watching them, his eyes narrowed.
Did he do this? Could he?
"Then blow a hole in it," Neera said, meeting the Colonel's eyes squarely. "Use a drone!"
"No!" Ren screamed, leaping off the chair and into Neera, sending her sideways into Garron. It sent the entire Jumper sideways, and it crashed into the edge of the platforms holding up the jumpers. On the ground, Sheppard yelled at the marines to scatter...but not before he grabbed a P90 from one of them. Backing up, he stood in a doorway and aimed the machine gun up at the now swaying jumper.
Neera threw Ren backwards, harder this time, and the boy crashed into the side of the jumper with a sickening crunch. He didn't move again after that. Garron settled the jumper back into the center of the bay and set it to "hover" with a thought. Finally releasing the controls, he watched in almost slow motion as Neera put her back to him, pulled the 9MM from her belt and pointed it at his now unconscious younger brother.
"No!" he yelled, shoving at her from behind. Neera staggered, and turned, the 9MM now pointed at the teenager. Garron leapt back in his seat, pressing his back to the metal wall.
"Never trust a Lorrell, eh?" she hissed, her tongue thick with acid as she stared at the older boy. "Traitors, just like your bitch of a mother." Her eyes narrowed, "Fire the drone and blow that floor, Garron...or I'll kill your brother...then you."
Garron just stared at her, frozen.
"Okay then, boy. Your choice," Neera sneered, her eyes ice cold. Her arm swung around, the 9MM once more pointed at Ren. "The Genii are better off without the stain of the Lorrell anyway. I'd rather we all die than either of you two cowards live."
Garron screamed as a shot rang out, then fell backwards as more immediately followed in rapid succession, sliding into the wedge between the seat and Jumper wall with his hands over his face. He continued to scream at the overwhelming noise, the gunfire growing louder and louder in his ears, as glass splinters started to impact his hands and arms.
He thought he was dying.
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Sheppard fired the P90 over and over again, aiming directly for the woman standing in the middle of the two boys, never changing his aim or lifting his finger from the trigger. At first the shots had not pierced the highly tempered Jumper window, but the constant barrage finally broke through with a satisfying explosion of glass...especially when Neera tried to fire back as soon as she realized what was happening. Their combined firepower, from both sides, was too much for the thick glass...
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The blistering, cacophonous noise woke Ren from his stupor, and his eyes opened in time to see Neera thrown backwards as the Jumper window shattered inwards. It was strange, almost unreal. Through her, he also saw Garron screaming, cowering behind his seat.
Closing his eyes again, he reached a hand up and touched the console over his head, one last thought crossing his mind...
Off.
And the Jumper responded—landing automatically on the floor of the Jumper Bay as gently as a leaf settling on the ground.
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TBC...