Stargate Atlantis: Path of the Storm

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Chapter Seven

How long had passed since he had been forced to leave his people behind on Bre'tar? It was amazing how time flew when you were having fun. Sheppard looked down to his hand, the pain in it had completely subsided and Kolya had disappeared out of sight leaving him with three of his men. If he were being honest, he was disappointed that Kolya had pulled the little candle stunt then left him. He would have expected him to remain behind and gloat. Then again, the son of a bitch was probably off plotting more horrendous punishments or just biding his time.

Hell, he had enough of it. Sheppard knew there was no way his team would be able to find him, he was no gate expert but he was pretty certain that they wouldn't be able to track his location because he didn't even know where he was. Considering his options, Sheppard looked at the table and the candle that had been extinguished then to the other items on the table. Food and drink were not exactly threatening to the guards around him. The candle was no good to him without a flame and he had no way to light it. There were giant tapestries but they looked very heavy so that was a no go.

Finally deciding that there was nothing on the table that would help him, he turned carefully in his seat and searched the rest of the room. There was a huge fireplace in one corner, unlit of course. Windows, a moth eaten antique chair that obviously had seen better days, a rug that needed a serious dust buster on it and there was a door, smaller that the ones he had entered through. It had also been the one Kolya used.

Oh and there of course were the chairs around the table, Sheppard thought about standing up and grabbing the one he had and whacking the guards with it. Then again, there were three of them and the odds were that if he did pull a stunt such as that, they would shoot him before he could take out anymore. Just brilliant.

"Anyone got a Gameboy?" he asked finally speaking up, looking to each guard in turn. Two of them refused to look at him, keeping their gazes locked straight ahead and tight grips on the weapons in their hands. The third was over by the front doors; he walked over to Sheppard and looked down at him. "Oh come on," he carried on quickly, holding up his hands. "You keep me prisoner here with nothing to entertain myself with. Okay so you're not familiar with electronic games." He paused a moment, the guards expression was turning to impatience, what exactly was Sheppard trying to accomplish with his foolish attitude?

"Be quiet," he snapped. Sheppard glanced down to the weapon in his hands, just a few more inches and he'd be able to snatch it, he looked back up to the guard.

"How about a pack of cards?" he asked raising his eyebrows. The guard took another step forward, the idiot was completely taking the bate, oh this would be a sweet moment. "Or dominoes?" he continued, Sheppard glanced down to weapon once more and saw it was within the right distance.

"I told you to be quiet," he said once more, raising the weapon to hit Sheppard with it. The guard was quick; Sheppard was quicker as he promptly seized it and headbutted him causing the man to go down. He wondered if Kolya even had any idea how stupid his men were.

The other two guards had both heard the disruption behind them, one turned with his weapon but Sheppard fired at him before he had completed the rotation. The other had been given more time while Sheppard was distracted with his comrade, he trained the weapon on him but Sheppard quickly turned to him and fired once more. With all three down, he was free to make his escape. He knew that all the equipment that he been taken from him upon arrival was with Kolya and since Sheppard didn't know what he was dealing with, he would just have to run and get to the gate as quick as possible. As Sheppard walked over to the doors and pulled with his good arm. "Word of advice," he muttered to the semi-conscious men on the floor. "When you have a prisoner, taking your eyes off them. Not a great idea."

It wasn't exactly a victory but he was free, Sheppard slipped through the narrow gap and out into the sunlight, shielding his eyes with his injured hand. The gate was standing before him, unguarded and welcoming. Eagerly, he started running and as soon as he approached the DHD, he dialled the gate address for Atlantis.

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Peter Grodin was sitting in the control room of Atlantis, processing all the relevant information and schematics for the next team to explore the undiscovered parts of the city. Even though they had now been living here for months now, it still seemed that Atlantis had a few surprises to offer. A strange sound started ringing throughout the gate room and he peered over his laptop and to the gate, he hit a button. "Unscheduled offworld activation," he said clearly and calmly.

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Kolya re-entered the room and saw all three of his men, incapacitated and the door slightly ajar at the other end of the room. He strolled past them, not even giving them a second look, they didn't deserve it and pulled back the doors. Shielding his eyes from the bright sun, he walked down the steps and out into the open where he found Sheppard trying to access the DHD. "Major Sheppard," he shouted.

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Doctor Elizabeth Weir retreated out her office as soon as she heard Grodin's voice; she ran into the control room and stopped looking over his shoulder. "Who is it?" she asked narrowing her eyes. "Are we receiving an IDC?"

"Not at the moment," he answered looking from one screen to the other then to the large metal eye situated before them. Weir folded her arms and parted her lips slightly. Grodin looked at the screen and nodded slowly. "It's Lieutenant Ford."

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Immediately, John froze at the sound of Kolya's voice but didn't turn around. He still had two symbols to go until he could finish dialling Atlantis. Cautiously, Sheppard spun round quickly and aimed his newly acquired weapon at him but Kolya seemed unfazed.

"Please," he said walking forward placing a hand in his shirt pocket. "Continue dialling the gate." Kolya pulled something out and Sheppard recognised it as his, if he didn't have that he wouldn't be able to send his code. "I'm sure that without this and your radio," Kolya continued. "You won't be going to Atlantis anytime soon, isn't that right?"

Seething, Sheppard gritted his teeth looking at Kolya with pure hatred in his eyes. He raised the weapon once more, squeezed the trigger and heard the dry click of an empty chamber.

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