Not a Normal Halloween in Atlantis
Chapter 3
The scream echoed through the room. The entire assembly froze in terror, as silence consumed the room. Not a voice was heard - only the sound of running footsteps through the silence.
A young engineer ran up to the stage. She was very much out of breath and her whole body was shaking.
"It's Lt Johnson! He's been killed!" The engineer looked like she was about to faint.
Dr. Weir approached the fright-stricken-women. "What happened?"
"I…I was heading to the bathroom. I opened the door and…and..." she started to sob uncontrollably. "He was just laying there."
"It's alright," Kate said putting an arm around her.
Elizabeth looked over at John. The alarm in his eyes mirrored her own. "Colonel, take your team and Carson and his team to check out the bathroom and the condition of the Lt." She turned back to the women. "Which restroom?" She asked.
"The…bathroom on this wing," she replied still shaken up.
John and Carson's teams immediately left for the bathroom.
Elizabeth sighed before turning to look back at everyone else in the room. "Ladies and Gentlemen," She addressed her staff and guests. "For your own safety, you all need to remain in the gate room." Rumors and whispers ran through the group but to her surprise, no one protested. 'They probably see the seriousness of the situation.' "I suggest you get comfortable. I don't know how long we'll be in here."
Elizabeth tried to reassure everyone that they'd get to the bottom of this, but she didn't know what to think. There were so many pressing questions running through her head and no answers to them. That wasn't the only thing that was bothering her. Who would kill a lieutenant, anyway? Lt Johnson had been one of the nicest military officers she had a chance of meeting. The thought of him strangled, stabbed, or worse sent a shiver running down her spine. 'We will get to the bottom of this,' she thought, as anger took over. 'For Johnson's sake, we will find who did this.'
Meanwhile, the Colonel and his team headed to the arsenal to grab their gear and meet back with Carson and a few of his medical helpers. They started slowly down the hall to the restroom. John and his team had their guns drawn, ready for whatever they happened to encounter on the way there.
Rodney turned around quickly to see what was behind him. "I thought I heard something."
"Watch where you're pointing that," Carson said indicating the gun in Rodney's hand.
"Sorry," Rodney mumbled.
"Your mind is probably playing tricks on you. I didn't hear anything," The Colonel said, as they continued down the hall.
"It's not my mind. I clearly heard something."
"All I can hear is your talking," Ronon said, shaking his head.
"Fine," Rodney said shutting his mouth but moving closer to them. Five minutes later, "There it is again!" Rodney said. "Do you hear it?"
John put his hand up in an indication for everyone to stop and listen.
"Yeah, I do," he agreed. "Teyla, escort Carson and his team to the bathroom."
"What about you?" She asked.
"The three of us are going to check out that sound."
"It's getting louder," Ronon said, as they approached.
"Well obviously," Rodney said.
They walked a little further and turned the corner. The dark, gloomy hallway enveloped them, and the only light was from their P-90s.
"Shouldn't we be heading to the bathroom," McKay asked.
"Becket and Teyla are already down there. We'll head over there after we check this out."
As if on cue Teyla's voice was heard on their radios. "We've reached the bathroom, Colonel."
"Ok, keep me informed," John said. He turned to Rodney and Ronon. "See, they reached the bathroom. There's nothing to worry about."
"I'm not worried about them," Rodney stuttered. "What if what killed the lieutenant is still out there?"
"Relax, Rodney. You're the one that heard the sound in the first place. We need to check this out."
"Want and need are two different things."
"Rodney!" John and Ronon yelled, stopping to look at him.
"Can you please not point your lights at me!" Rodney said, shielding his eyes from the glare.
They continued to argue, as the dark shadow watched them from a safely hidden spot. The figure smiled at the three men's incompetence. 'Hiding isn't going to be a problem. But…how am I going to get the information I need? I'll have to use these humans for my objective. I'll use the girl first. Yes, she'll work nicely with my plan. By the time they've figured out what I've done, I'll be gone.'
John, Ronon, and Rodney reached the sound.
"It's just a door that's jammed," John said appalled at the time they wasted finding out what the sound was. The door whooshed open and closed, clearly stuck.
It took them less then a second to punch in the right code, and the door slid shut, not making another sound.
"Alright," John said a few minutes later. "Let's see if they need us in the bathroom."
"Colonel," Teyla said coming to join them. "The…doctor needs you two," she said to Ronon and McKay. "He needs your assistance." She turned to John. "Doctor Weir requests your appearance in the…gate room."
"That's funny," Sheppard said. "She could have just used her head set to tell me."
"You two better not keep the doctor waiting," she told Ronon and McKay. "Colonel, I'll accompany you to the…gate room." They parted ways, and Ronon and McKay went to the bathroom, and John and Teyla walked to the gate room.
"So…what happened to the lieutenant?" John asked dreading the answer she might give. Lt Johnson had also been a friend of his.
Teyla looked at him confused for a moment. "Lieutenant? Oh…he was...uh, killed."
"He was a good friend of mine," John said regretfully." He was so deep in thought that he didn't know that they had veered from the path to the gate room.
"This is the opposite way from the gate room," John said turning his back towards her. "We're going the wrong-"
With one swift movement the women knocked the unsuspecting Colonel out. The leader sprawled out unconsciously on the floor. The figure of the Athosian women changed back into its original form, and grinned evilly at the unconscious Colonel. 'Things are going according to the plan.' He picked John up by the arms, and dragged him into the darkness. 'Things are going according my plan.'
To be continued
AN: Please review nice reviews.