Lorne couldn't believe his eyes. The room he'd entered wasn't a room. It was a hallway. It was the hallway he'd first walked down this morning – it seemed like such a long time ago now. More importantly, it was the hallway that led to the transporter.
He glanced back at the door, and wondered how he'd missed it when he'd first walked down there. It seemed so obvious now – the doorframe stood out so much from the rest of the design. At the opposite end of the hall he could see the stairs he first went down. He looked around, aware that Gordon the Wraith might be lurking nearby, but there was no sound or sign of his presence.
Lorne limped in the direction of the transporter, putting the twinges from his leg to the back of his mind. It took him longer than he hoped, but he finally reached the transporter. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath, and to make sure there was still no sign of his captor. Satisfied, he opened the door and stepped inside. He reached up and touched the navigation panel, which flickered. He frowned as nothing happened, and touched the panel again. Nothing happened again. It wasn't moving. The Major realised with dismay that he would have to walk to the opposite side of the city in order to raise the alarm. With a sigh, he summoned up what strength he had left, and walked away.
oOo
"Dr. McKay, someone is trying to access a transporter in the north-west wing!" Shouted a technician.
"What!" McKay yelled. "Who?"
"I'm not sure." The young woman replied.
"Well switch on the life-signs detector!" The irate scientist snapped.
"The power outage is disrupting the sensors."
"Radek, make yourself useful!" Rodney barked at his colleague, who after fixing the Puddle Jumpers, had nothing to do except watch as Rodney blew yet another fuse. Zelenka sighed and moved to a terminal.
"Give me a moment." He muttered.
They were interrupted at that moment by the arrival of Colonel Sheppard and the rest of the team from the mainland. Everyone stared in amazement as John made his way up the stairs, or rather, at the bundle he was carrying. John was smiling, and holding baby Kai close. Eryn, Carson and Ronon weren't with them, but Teyla followed close behind, chuckling at the Colonel's unusual behaviour.
Rodney raised his eyebrows at Sheppard as Elizabeth emerged from her office.
"It's good to see you in one piece, you two." She said, smiling broadly at the pair.
"Three. Meet baby Kai." He said, nodding at the baby in his arms.
"I thought he was supposed to be in the infirmary?" Rodney said.
"He was, but Eryn wasn't feeling all that great and Ronon fainted in the Jumper again. Carson wanted him checked out right away. He said that Kai was fine for now but would need to be taken to the infirmary later." John replied.
Elizabeth nodded, and then frowned at Teyla, who had stopped half way up the stairs. Her expression had changed dramatically.
"Colonel!" She shouted. He gave her a puzzled look. She looked panicked.
"Teyla, what is it?" He said, concerned.
"I am sensing something. I think there may be a Wraith in the city." She said desperately.
"Sensors are up!" Radek yelled from the control room.
"Focus them on the north-west pier!" Rodney shouted.
"Elizabeth, take Kai." John said, handing her the baby. She seemed like the type that could handle it.
"Picking up two life-signs from that area." Zelenka said.
"I sense only one Wraith presence." said Teyla, who was now at the top of the stairs.
"You mean there's someone alone down there with that thing?" Sheppard said, sounding anxious.
"Looks like it. I can't tell which one's the Wraith and which one's human." Rodney replied.
"Well, the good thing is that they're not too close together. John, I trust you've already got a team ready?" Elizabeth asked, still holding the baby, who was fast asleep, completely oblivious to the frantic activity around him. John nodded and tapped his radio.
"Major Lorne?"
There was no reply.
"Lorne? Come in, this is Sheppard."
"Maybe he doesn't have his radio with him." Rodney piped up.
"He had it with him in the Jumper bay, that's how he called me." John replied.
"No he didn't." Radek remarked. "He used the Jumper communications. He wasn't wearing a radio."
"Try a city-wide announcement." Rodney suggested.
"It will not help." Teyla said. Everyone looked at her.
"Why not?" The Canadian asked.
"It is Major Lorne who is with the Wraith. I can sense it's thoughts. It has injured him."
"Get a med team on standby." Weir ordered. Someone in the control room complied.
"Why isn't Lorne using the transporter?" John asked.
"It's not working. The power fluctuations have disabled it. He's stranded down there." Rodney answered.
"Then what the hell are we waiting for? Teyla, you're with me. Ronon…dammit. What a time to faint. Okay, get Stackhouse, Cadman and Hansen down there, full gear. Teyla and I will go now." Rodney turned and spoke into his radio.
"I want you two kitted out first." Elizabeth said.
"There's no time! Lorne's stranded down there! He could be badly injured. Look, backup'll be there soon, but Teyla and I can handle ourselves." John was almost pleading with her.
She gave in. "Pick up a P-90 each on the way." She wanted Lorne safe – they'd lost too many good people on this expedition, she wasn't about to lose another.
"Let's go. Look after Kai until I get back." He replied. She smiled at his concern for the child. He didn't seem the fatherly type. Rodney appeared next to her.
"Backup's on the way. The transporter should take you there but it won't bring you back until we can reroute power back to that section." He said. "Good luck, Colonel."
John nodded and he and Teyla ran down the stairs, stopping to speak to the two gate guards. They nodded and unclipped their P-90 machine guns, handing one each to their CO and Teyla. The guards pulled out their hand guns as the pair jogged off to the nearest transporter.