Stargate Atlantis: Path of the Storm

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Chapter Twenty-Seven

"I want some answers! Don't just stand there pretending I'm not here, I asked you a question. The least you can do is answer it." John Sheppard had been demanding an answer out of Kolya for the past five minutes and the more he asked, the more Kolya ignored him and the more annoyed Sheppard grew. "I'll ask again…is this why you took me? To have something to trade in for the Jumpers?"

Finally Kolya relented and looked at him. "You're so wrong that it's laughable, do you really think this is all about you?"

"No but I'm just saying that even if you did want to do that, I wouldn't let Doctor Weir do that."

"And are you in charge of her decisions?" Kolya asked.

"Then how do you plan on getting one?" Sheppard asked quickly. "Invade Atlantis and take one by force? Great plan."

Kolya was growing annoyed with Sheppard and his ability to get things wrong, the things he was coming up with were unpredictable and lacked originality. He could have invaded Atlantis like he did during the storm but that would only involve more causalities on both sides. "As we speak my people are in the process of acquiring one of your puddle jumpers. I understand one of your people took one out to the Alii homeworld, a male and a female."

Sheppard narrowed his eyes and wondered how Kolya had gotten all of this information, he remembered that Stackhouse and Doctor Herring had been scheduled to take Jumper Three out to the Alii in order to deliver the people some supplies. How the Hell had Kolya known that? "You bastard," he retorted.

"They won't come to any harm. On that you have my word."

"Your word means nothing," Sheppard spat viciously.

"They won't come to any harm," Kolya repeated.

"Kinda hard to believe with your track record," he answered bitterly then frowned. "Wait a minute, if you didn't need me to bargain with then why the hell am I here?"

"My people cannot work Atlantean technology."

"So you want me to do what?" Sheppard asked although he already knew the answer. "Fly it because I have the gene to do it with, you must know that I'm not the only person who possesses it."

"I know that but I have it on good authority that you are a splendid pilot." Kolya paused as he stared at Sheppard. "Are you not?"

John offered a small grin as if to say he might be and he might not be. Instead of answering the question, he decided to change the subject. "You know…instead of kidnapping me. You could have come to us with your proposition."

"And what would you have done?" Kolya asked. "Turned us down?"

"Probably," John replied then paused to think about it. "Actually, there's no probably about it." Another pause. "We would have turned you down…but it would have been nice to have an actual option."

"You have no option Major," he answered. "You fly it or you face something worse."

"Can't I just take the washing machine combo?" Sheppard retorted sarcastically as Kolya made it sound so much like a game of "The Price Is Right" that he couldn't resist. Sure the reference was completely lost on the man but it made John feel a lot better.

Kolya straightened up and glared at Sheppard, he didn't think he was going to make this easy for him. "Once I have confirmation that we have the jumper, I will come back for you. Perhaps by the time I arrive…you will be in a much more co-operative mood."

Sheppard returned the glare and forced a smile. "I very much doubt that."

"We'll see," Kolya said walking over to the door, giving a nod to Matriya then looked back to Sheppard before repeating. "We'll see."

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Elizabeth Weir was pacing the length of her office while looking back over to the control room every now and again, Rodney was working with Zelenka to find the correct address but all she could see was an argument erupting. She had felt the urge to leave her office and scold them for wasting time but she knew that's how they both worked, McKay and Zelenka would snap at each other and trade barbs until one of them came up with a solution. Weir had seen it in practise once before and it hadn't failed them yet.

"Are you certain this one will work?" Peter Grodin asked while glancing to the two scientists. His hand was hovering over the DHD and he thought that McKay would forcibly remove him from his seat and do it himself.

"Not certain," McKay said exchanging a look with Zelenka.

"Not a hundred percent but our list of addresses is small compared to what it would be…"

"He's not interested in that Zelenka," McKay said, purposely saying it slow and treating the man like a moron. "All he's interested in is getting the right address so we can rescue Major Sheppard."

"We?" Zelenka asked raising his eyebrows. "Since when did we become soldiers?"

"I wasn't speaking literally," McKay retorted.

Grodin didn't know what to do with himself as the two of them argued with one another; at least he thought they were arguing. He looked back to the DHD for a moment then as he turned back to them something caught his attention before the alarms went off. "Unscheduled Offworld Activation," he said, even though they had all been here long enough to know that.

As soon as the alarms started going off, Weir finally left her office and ran into the control room. She wasn't even through the door when she asked. "Who is it?"

"Oh how are we supposed to test our addresses now?" McKay complained quietly.

"Receiving an IDC," Grodin said without taking his eyes from the screen. He looked back up at the gate. "It's Lieutenant Ford." Weir nodded wordlessly for him to lower the iris to allow them entrance. The stargate's iris disappeared and without a matter of moments five men came into sight. "Rodney," Weir said looking to McKay. "I want you to keep working on finding that address."

"Yeah…" McKay said tearing his gaze away from Ford then back to her. "We can do that."

Weir gave him a small smile then carried on down into the main area of the gateroom to speak with Ford and Bates, from the looks on their faces she thought it was good news. Good news was something they were in short supply of at the moment and she would take what she could get.

"Lieutenant," Weir said coming to a halt before them. "Sergeant."

"Ma'am," Ford replied with a discreet nod then glanced to Bates before continuing. "We've got the cure for Teyla." Weir couldn't prevent the smile spreading onto her face, that was fantastic news. "We got it from a woman in the village whose husband was a physician and she gave us her guarantee that this was the right antidote."

"Although we can't know for certain," Bates decided to add. Weir could have chosen to acknowledge the comment or ignore it, she chose to ignore it for the time being and paid her attention back to Ford.

"Did she give you any reason to believe she would lie to you?" Weir asked.

"No ma'am," Ford answered holding out the container with Teyla's cure for her. Weir took it from him and cradled it in her hands, trying to be as careful with it as he had been throughout the entire journey. "Phena was nothing but genuine."

"Phena?" Weir asked puzzled.

"It was the name of the woman who gave us that," Bates said before Ford got a chance to speak.

"I see," Weir said looking back down to the container as she handed it back to Aiden. "Get this down to Doctor Beckett."

Ford gave one more nod then left through the door to head down to the infirmary. The gate started its dialling sequence once more, Weir folded her arms and glanced up to the control room where Zelenka, McKay and Grodin were all crowded around the DHD. She looked back to the gate holding her breath as the last one locked into place then failed. Elizabeth looked down to her feet then back up to the control room as they tried again.

Just hold on a little bit longer John she thought. Now they had what would help Teyla, their next priority was Sheppard and bringing him home safely. Elizabeth let out a sigh then approached the staircase once more.

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