Silent Sacrifice – Chapter 29

John sat in the darkness, listening to the cautious movements and verbal exchanges going on in the control room just outside the office door. He stood up and moved carefully toward the door. Stepping outside the office, he made his way to the closest technician, listening to the man clicking the controls and talking to himself.

"Do we have any idea what's going on yet?"

"No, sir . . . but we're working on it."

John nodded in the dark, never thinking about the uselessness of the action. Emergency lighting finally flickered on, dim and scattered, but better than nothing. John clicked his radio. "Rodney, where are you?"

"On my way to you," came the immediate response. "Just stay put, I'll be there shortly."

"Okay, but hurry."

"Colonel, you may not have noticed, but it's a little dark right now," came the sarcastic reply. "Hurrying is a little . . . 0w. . . shoot . . . dangerous right now. Shoot, that hurt."

John winced for Rodney. "Oops. Sorry."

Sheppard's radio came on again. "Colonel Sheppard, this is Marcy. Dr. Beckett wants to know what's happened. He's still in surgery with Lt. Cadman and he has no light."

"Uh . . . we have no idea what's going on or how to fix it yet. Tell him Rodney's on it and just do the best he can for now."

"Colonel Sheppard?"

John turned toward the tech sitting a few feet away and sighed. "Yeah?"

"Sir, we're getting multiple reports of people trapped in their quarters and other rooms around Atlantis. Doors that were closed when the power went down apparently won't open now."

John sighed and rubbed the side of his face, the headache that had begun earlier now blooming under the stress. "Just tell them to remain calm. They are in no immediate danger and we'll get the power restored as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir," the man replied, turning back to his station. John could hear him sharing the information with others around him and was thankful for the good staff on duty. They were all working calmly to try to fix the situation and handle the incoming reports.

"I'm here," said Rodney, breathless as he hurried into the room and made his way to one of the control panels. John noticed he had procured a flashlight somewhere along the way.

John walked up behind Rodney and watched him work a few minutes. "Don't guess you know how long this will take?"

Rodney hesitated and then looked menacingly over his shoulder. "I haven't even figured out what the problem is yet, much less a solution. I know you think I can save the day at the drop of a hat . . . okay, so usually I can, but sometimes I need a few minutes. A few uninterrupted minutes with no one looking over my shoulder." Rodney proceeded to clear his throat rather loudly.

John took a few steps back. "How's that?"

Rodney rolled his eyes and went back to work. "Marginally better. Be advised, I'm complaining to Elizabeth about the adverse working conditions around here when she's away."

"You're welcome to say anything you like, once we get her and Teyla back."

John paced the area as people worked, feeling frustrated and useless. He nearly jumped out of his skin when his radio chirped.

"Colonel Sheppard, it's Dr. Beckett."

John stopped pacing and stood stiff and upright. "Doc?"

"In spite of the lack of proper lighting, Lt. Cadman is out of surgery and doing well."

John sagged a bit as a little of the tension eased. "Thanks, Doc, that's good to hear. I could use a little good news right now."

"How are you holding up, lad?"

"Pacing around like a caged animal making it almost impossible to work," interjected Rodney.

John glared at the scientist, but it was lost on the man's back. "I'm fine, Carson, just a little worried. Take care of Cadman for me. She's one of my better officers."

"Oh, I will laddie, trust me on that."

John couldn't help but grin. "Will do."

"And Rodney, I'll trust you to let me in on anything I need to know about the colonel."

Rodney took a second to grin at Sheppard over his shoulder. "Will do, Carson."

"Rat fink," muttered John.

Rodney gave him a mock salute and went back to work. A few minutes later they almost collided as Rodney suddenly straightened and began walking away from the console about the same time Sheppard had turned to walk back towards him. John stepped to his right, only to find Rodney shifted the same way. They both then took a step in the other direction.

Rodney sighed loudly. "As much as I'd like to continue this dance, I have a city to get power to, so if you could just get out of the way for a minute, I'd appreciate it."

John stepped to one side and Rodney rushed past him and toward the door. "Where are you going?"

"Power station. I have to do the next part there." Rodney paused and turned around. "Hey, you aren't exactly doing anything useful. Come with me and hold the flashlight."

John hesitated a second and then decided Rodney was right. He just kept getting in the way here. He hopped up the last couple of steps and fell in beside Rodney.

oOo

"You know, if you actually held the light still and where I was working, I could get done faster," scolded Rodney.

"Sorry," mumbled John, trying to pay more attention to where he was shining the flashlight. His mind kept wandering to Teyla and Elizabeth, hoping they were all right and that Lorne's team would find them. He jerked the light as the radio started him.

"Colonel Sheppard, this is Dr. Zelenka."

Sheppard touched his radio. "Hey, Dr. Z, are you okay?"

"Fine, Colonel, thank you. I know you are busy with power problem, but we are trapped and some are beginning to worry."

John looked at Rodney, who returned his concerned expression. "Where are you and who's with you?"

"I am in lab in new section we were trying to open. There are four other scientists with me. We were working to bring equipment on line and poof, no lights. Door was shut and now it will not open." His voice grew soft, as if he was whispering. "Dr. Conner close to panicking, I fear."

McKay tapped his radio. "Radek, it's Rodney. We're at power station one trying to get the auxiliary power on line. I should have it in just a minute and then you can open the door."

"Good news, Rodney. I will try to keep others calm for few more minutes."

Rodney went back to work. Ten minutes later, he stopped and rubbed his hands together. "That should do it." Rodney walked across the room and threw a switch. They heard a low humming noise and Rodney grinned.

"I'm assuming it's supposed to that and we're not about to blow up," said Sheppard.

"Colonel, do you honestly think I'd be standing here if it was about to blow up?"

John relaxed a little. "No, probably not." He startled when his radio clicked, deciding he was really going to have to do something about his jittery nerves before he gave himself a heart attack. "Sheppard here."

"Sir, we have auxiliary power in the control room. People are calling in reporting they are able to get the doors open again."

"Thanks," said Sheppard, the relief showing on his face. "Any new problems turning up?"

"Not at the moment, sir,"

"Okay, we'll be back shortly. Sheppard out." John turned to Rodney. "Good job, Rodney. Can we operate the gate?"

"The gate will work, yes, but the shield won't."

John's face fell. "Great. Let's hope the Wraith or Genii don't pick now to attack. Did that get Zelenka and the others out?"

"One way to find out," said Rodney. "Radek, it's Rodney. You're door should work now."

A few seconds later, Zelenka was back on the radio. "Door still does not open."

Both men sighed and shook their heads. "Okay," said Rodney. "We're on our way to open it manually. Where are you exactly?"

"New lab that you tried to claim as your second lab."

"I still say I have the best chance of figuring out how to make that equipment work at its full potential. As the chief scientist on this expedition, I should have the right to – "

"McKay!" said John, exasperation edging the volume up. "You can put names on the doors later. Let's get them out and fix the city."

"Oh . . . right . . . Radek, we're on our way."

John fell in step beside Rodney, letting him lead the way since he was the only one who actually knew where they were going. They didn't need the flashlight since the auxiliary power had provided some dim lighting in the hallway. It wasn't enough to read by, but it kept them from running into the wall or each other.

"Where is this new lab?" asked John as they walked.

"It's more than just one lab," Rodney explained, a tinge of excitement creeping into his voice. "There's a whole section of labs that seem to specialize in different areas. One looks like a zoology lab, one a botany lab, several kinds of chem labs and physics labs. It's amazing. They are all in that section you rescued us from a few weeks ago. That's the area we've been trying get online so we can start using the equipment, or at least figuring out how to use the equipment."

"Is that area safe after the drone incident?"

"Yeah, we got the engineers to check it out. That one corridor is probably messed up for good, but the labs in the surrounding area are structurally sound. It's just too important to abandon."

John frowned. "Did anyone ever figure out what happened with that drone? Why did it fire?"

Rodney threw up his hands in ignorance. "Not a clue. There were a couple of people doing a standard diagnostic on the chair when Radek and I were trying to bring one of the computers in the lab online. I've checked their procedures and they were SOP. That drone should not have fired."

John chewed his lip as he thought about the recent events in that section. "Was anyone in the chair at the time?"

"Yeah, we had one of Lorne's men that has the gene there. He's not you, but you were . . . unavailable at the time."

John snorted. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. I was almost long range permanently unavailable." John shuddered as he remembered how close he'd been to never seeing Atlantis or any of his friends again. "Could he have fired it accidentally, you know, not realizing what he was doing?"

"Not a chance. We take the drones off-line to prevent just such a thing from happening. He shouldn't have been able to fire a drone on purpose, much less accidentally. No, something else is going on. I think you and I should be the ones to check it out when this mess is over. We're here."

Rodney stopped in front of a door and stood looking at it. Touching his radio, he called Zelenka. "Radek, we're here, right outside the door. Just give me a minute to figure this thing out."

"Glad you are here Rodney. Wow, never thought I would say that."

"I can hear you," whined Rodney.

"Sorry," said Radek. "Didn't realize was still talking out loud."

Rodney turned to a grinning Sheppard. "What are you laughing at? The proper way to get the genius to solve all your problems is not to insult him. And to think, I left a perfectly nice, Wraith-free galaxy for this. Get your flashlight over here so I can see."

John held the light as Rodney began taking the door control panel apart. "You know, it makes you wonder if this area is jinxed or something. First the drone incident, and now this. None of the other areas are having these kinds of problems."

"Well, we're just opening it up and bringing it online. Maybe this area has more damage and decay than the others and we're just having a harder time getting it working. It is farther from the central area of the city."

John nodded. "I suppose you could be right. Just seems a little too coincidental for me."

"That's because you're military and you're trained to be paranoid."

John chuckled. "You know sometimes a little paranoia can be a good thing."

"Okay, that should be it." Rodney made the last connection and stood back a step. They both watched as nothing happened. "That should have been it. Shine the light back in here."

John moved closer to shine the light directly in the opening. Rodney had moved a few crystals around and now checked them all to make sure they were tightly in place. "I don't understand, this should work."

"I don't guess it needs the gene to activate, does it?" offered John.

McKay rested his chin on his fist, his index finger tapping his mouth as he stared at the open panel. "Well . . . I suppose it's possible. Some of the controls need to be initiated by the gene and will then work for anyone. Maybe the power outage reset everything in this section. Give it a try; it can't hurt."

John stepped over to the panel and moved his hand across it. The crystals briefly flickered and then went out.

McKay's eyes widened. He hadn't actually expected any kind of reaction. "That is so weird. Maybe if you touch the crystals, or even one of them."

John nodded and reached out to lay his hand across the two crystals closest to the opening. There was a bright flash of light as hot pain traveled up his arm and exploded simultaneously into his head and down his spine. He felt like he was body slammed at that point and then nothing.

Rodney watched in shock as a bright light flashed over Sheppard, throwing him across the corridor to slam into the wall and then crumple to the floor in a heap.

"Sheppard!" He ran to his friend and kneeled beside him, shaking hand searching the pilot's neck for a pulse. He almost panicked when he couldn't find it until he realized he was in the wrong place. He moved his fingers over an inch and was rewarded with a strong, but racing pulse.

Rodney sat back on the floor, suddenly feeling lightheaded with relief. "Thank God, I thought for a minute I'd killed you."

"Who have you killed now, Rodney?"

Rodney jumped at the familiarly accented voice, turning to find the door to the lab open and Radek leading a group out into the corridor. "No one, yet. Are you volunteering?"

"Rodney, what have you done to the colonel?"

"I don't know, but I'd better call Carson and confess while he's still alive. How about giving me a hand?"

oOo

Elizabeth groaned, rubbing her head against the dull throbbing that was vibrating through her skull. She moaned a little as she tried to roll over onto her back.

"Don't move too fast at first. If you go slowly, it is not too bad."

She recognized Teyla's voice. Opening her eyes and blinking several times, she allowed her head to roll slowly to the side so she could see Teyla. Taking in her surroundings, she saw what appeared to be a lavish bedroom, with silk-like cloth hanging from the walls and windows. She was lying on a soft, comfortable bed made of layers of thick, comforter-like fabric. She slowly sat up, allowing the dizziness to pass before making any further attempts to get up. "Where are we?"

Teyla turned from the window and walked back to the bed, facing her with an expression much too serious to be good. "I do not know. I awakened just a few minutes before you."

Two large doors at the opposite side of the room opened and five women came in. They all wore long, simple dresses of the same design, but different colors. One woman with long, dark hair braided into two sections that hung to her waist stepped forward. She made a motion that was similar to a curtsey. "I am Allana. We are here to assist you with your cleansing so that you may be presented to the king."

Elizabeth slowly stood, standing still for a few moments as she steadied herself. When her legs were strong enough to support her, she moved forward to stand side-by-side with Teyla in front of Allana. "Where are we? Why have we been brought here?"

Allana smiled shyly. "You have been brought to the king. He tires of his current wives and seeks new ones. His men have brought you as potential mates for him, to satisfy him and honor him and bear him children."

Elizabeth's eyebrows furrowed. "You're kidding, right?"

Allana looked slightly alarmed. "What is this . . . kidding?"

"You aren't serious . . . you're telling me a lie . . . you don't really mean it . . ." Elizabeth explained.

"Oh, no, I would never do that. You will be cleansed and purified and then the king will view you. If he approves, you will be married tomorrow."

Elizabeth arched one eyebrow. "You said if he approves of us. What if he doesn't like us?" She was already searching for a semi-diplomatic way out of this mess.

"Those the king refuses to marry become household servants, like us."

Elizabeth and Teyla exchanged a troubled look and then Teyla's brow furrowed. "And what if he chooses us, but we do not wish to become his wife and bear his children and . . . satisfy him?" She said the last part as if she were spitting something distasteful from her mouth.

"If you refuse, you will be put to death."

Elizabeth looked at Teyla and sighed. "Some vacation."

TBC