Chapter 3: An altered reality.
Rodney left the infirmary and headed straight for his lab; something didn't seem quite right. If Atlantis had a virus in her systems, why hadn't there been any malfunctions within the city? Of course, there was always the possibility that Sheppard was wrong, but he didn't dare tell his friend that – especially when he was injured. There was one final thought that came to his mind, and he definitely didn't want to tell his friend about it – what if something was wrong Sheppard?
A few days after they had arrived back in the Pegasus galaxy there had been a few problems with the power flow, but it had been an easy fix for even Zelenka. The city had been running at about 98 per cent efficiency since then, so if Atlantis had a virus, he had absolutely no idea how it got there.
He arrived in his lab to find that Radek Zelenka was there eating sandwiches and drinking coffee. They had bought a state of the art coffee machine, grinder, and plenty of coffee beans before they'd left earth since the scientists needed coffee to stay awake at all hours of the day and night.
"hey Radek, where's my coffee?"
"I'm sorry Dr McKay, I did not expect to see you tonight. I thought that you would be with Colonel Sheppard. How is he by the way?"
"Carson says that he'll be fine eventually, but there may be a virus in Atlantis' operating system. It may be a long night while I try to work out what is going on, so I'll need plenty of coffee and food so that my hypoglycaemia doesn't act up."
"Really Rodney! How did you conclude that Atlantis has a virus?" Radek asked with a look of disbelief.
"Sheppard tried to sit in the chair, hoping that Atlantis would heal him, and she told him that there was a virus in her system."
"Why would he think that? I have never heard of Atlantis healing anyone before."
Rodney sighed if he had to keep explaining things to Radek there was no way that he was going to get any work done, "You do know about Arastica, don't you?"
"Yes, you made sure that you told me all about it, on more than one occasion, so please don't tell me again?"
"Arastica healed Sheppard and he thought that Atlantis may be able to do the same. Now I'm going to make myself a cup of coffee and then I'm going to get back to work!" He said in a matter of fact tone.
Radek glared at him and started to speak in his native language and as always, Rodney suspected that he was swearing at him, "no need to be rude Radek."
"Sorry, how about I make you a cup of coffee and then you can get to work."
"Thanks, Radek and can I have one of your sandwiches too?"
Radek sighed and he knew that his friend was going to cave – even though it was obvious that he didn't want to give up his sandwiches.
"Please take one Rodney, I do not want anymore."
"Thanks, Radek."
A few minutes later when he was staring at the computer screen Radek put a cup of steaming hot coffee in front of him. He grunted at his friend and just kept on staring at the screen while scrolling through lines of information from the database.
Once Sheppard was out of the infirmary, he had every intention of getting him in the chair and connecting with Atlantis again, to see if he could work anything out. After that he was determined to find Arastica in this period and hopefully if she hadn't been infected by the wraith virus as yet, they could ask her for some answers.
The Torren from the future had given John the co-ordinates of Sheppard's planet before he left the future and from what Rodney could ascertain all he needed to do was install a ZPM in the jumper so that they could travel the distance – they also needed the ZPM to land and take off from the planet. Although Sheppard was already under the impression that he'd done it before and left instructions in one of the jumpers on how to integrate the technology with the jumper's systems. When he had told Sheppard that the information wasn't true, John had mumbled, "stupid Sheppard, he lied to me yet again." When he went to ask him about it, Sheppard had just walked off.
His thoughts were interrupted when his com activated, "McKay here," he answered tapping his earpiece.
"Dr McKay, it is Teyla here, can you please come to the infirmary straight away as there is something that John wants to tell you?"
"Really? I thought Colonel flyboy was sleeping."
"No, he is now awake, and he insists that it is urgent that he speaks with you straight away."
He heard someone grumbling in the background and straightaway, he knew who it was, "It sounds like Jennifer, isn't too happy about it."
"Jennifer is not happy because she feels that Colonel Sheppard needs to rest, but he will not rest until he has spoken with you, so can you please come to the infirmary right away?"
"Tell Sheppard to not get his boxers in a twist and that I will be there in a minute, McKay out,"
"I will see you in a few minutes, "Teyla out.
What was Sheppard's problem? He had too much work to do to talk with an over the top, messy-haired flyby, but Sheppard was smarter than the average flyboy, so if he said that it was important then perhaps, he should listen to him.
oOo
Sheppard felt extremely agitated as he watched Teyla speak to Rodney via the coms and he had no idea why. What he did know was that he had gone from relaxing with Teyla and his friends to ending up in the infirmary in the space of twenty minutes. Then when he woke up five minutes ago, he felt irritated for no reason whatsoever.
Once Teyla had broken the transmission, he turned to her and tried to remain as calm as possible, "so Teyla is McKay on the way or not?"
"Yes John, Dr McKay is on his way," she soothed, and it sounded like she was talking to him a kindergarten kid.
"I'm not a kid Teyla!" He shouted and again he had no idea why he was shouting at her.
"I am sorry John; I did not mean to upset you."
Sighing he tried to smile at her, "I'm sorry Teyla, but I just feel agitated for some reason. You don't think I'm still going through withdrawal from where I was fed on by the wraith?"
"I do not know John, maybe you should ask Jennifer, she should be back in a moment to check your leg."
"Did I hear my name?" Jennifer asked walking into the room.
He tried to hold it together while he talked to her as the last thing, he needed was to give her an excuse to make him talk to Dr Robinson, "yeah doc, I'm wondering if I'm still having withdrawal symptoms from where I was fed on by the wraith?"
"I checked your blood for enzyme when you first arrived back from your trip to the future and there wasn't any in your system, but I can check your bloodwork again if you like?"
Suddenly he lost control again, "you do that and can you check my leg out while you're at it because I'm positive that it's much better!?"
"I think I'll get on with that bloodwork since you have no reason to be so aggressive."
Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself again, "Sorry doc, I just can't help it, but can you please take a look at my leg first?"
"Teyla can you please leave the room while I talk to John and look at his leg, you can bring Rodney in to talk to John when he gets here then?" Jennifer instructed.
Teyla smiled at him before she left the room and instantly, he felt better, "I will see you soon John."
"Okay John now that we're alone, I'll take a look at that leg and the feeding scar on your chest, I'll then take another blood sample to see if we can work out if there is something else wrong with you. Maybe I'll do a brain scan later on as well."
Nodding his head, he lay back on his pillow, closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He still had the headache from hell, and he wondered if there was something wrong with his head and if that was messing with his moods.
He felt Jennifer unwrapping the bandages and he was surprised that there was extraordinarily little pain. Opening his eyes, he noticed that the doctor had a shocked look on her face.
"Is everything okay doc?" He asked feeling worried.
"Your leg is pretty much healed, other than a few scars." She began to poke and prod his leg before continuing, "are you feeling any pain?"
Suddenly he became irritated with her again and his headache began to notch up, "will you stop poking my leg and no there isn't any pain?!"
"Do you have a headache Colonel?"
He was about to answer when a white light flashed before his eyes and without warning a thousand tiny needles started drilling into his brain, he tried to answer her, but the pain in his head intensified and it wasn't long before he felt himself falling into the darkness once again and just before he gave in to its sweet embrace, he heard an ear-splitting scream.
oOo
The first thing Rodney heard when he walked into the infirmary was an ear-splitting scream coming from Sheppard. His first reaction was to run into John's room, and he soon realised that Teyla wasn't far behind him.
When he arrived in John's room Jennifer was checking his vitals and she looked confused by what was going on.
"What's wrong Jen?"
"I'm not sure Rodney, his leg is healed, but there is something going on with his head, so the first thing I need to do is to get him under the scanner."
"What do you think the problem may be?" Teyla asked and Rodney could see the worry on her face.
"I don't know, so how about you and Rodney go to the waiting room, and I will let you know when I've had him under the scanner.
He thought about arguing with her until he saw the look on Teyla's face. Maybe it would be a good idea to keep her company while they waited for news because he knew that if it were Jennifer lying in that bed, he would need all the support that he could get.
"Come on Teyla, I'll come with you to the waiting room and then perhaps you can let me know why Sheppard wanted to see me."
He gently took her arm and led her out of John's room and back to the waiting room – again.
Once they had arrived, he led Teyla to a chair and sat down beside her, he thought about putting his arm around her, but in the end, decided that it would be weird, "Teyla do you know what John wanted to talk to me about?"
"All I know is that Atlantis thinks that Arastica has given John some kind of virus. John feels that the only way to find out what is happening is to get to Arastica as soon as possible."
Rodney furrowed his brow, of course, they needed to get back to Arastica and as soon as possible by the sounds of it, "well I guess I'd better get back to it then."
He was about to leave the room when Woolsey walked in. It was late at night, so he wondered why Woolsey was still up and to make matters worse the man was still wearing a suit. The thought of the Atlantis leader sleeping in his suit popped into his head and all he could do was bow his head to try and hide the smile that spread across his face.
"Dr McKay, Teyla, Dr Keller just contacted me to say that there is a problem with Colonel Sheppard, do you have any idea what is happening."
"I spoke to John right before he lost consciousness," Teyla provided, "and at the time he told me that Atlantis thinks that Arastica may have infected him with some kind of virus, so he feels that the sooner we get back to Sheppard's planet the better."
A frown crossed Woolsey's face, "It is my understanding that it has been a week since Colonel Sheppard connected with Arastica and if that is true how come he is only being affected now?"
"I do not know what is going on Mr Woolsey, but can we please get to Arastica as soon as possible and try and find out?" Teyla asked and to Rodney, it looked like she was pleading with Woolsey.
Woolsey nodded and Rodney could see the relief on Teyla's face, "Dr McKay as soon as you can fit a jumper with a ZPM arrange a team to head back to Arastica and make sure you take Dr Beckett with you to keep an eye on Colonel Sheppard. I need things to get back to normal around here as soon as possible." Woolsey started to yawn before continuing, and for a moment Rodney thought that his head was going to split in two, "It's after eleven so I'm going to head to bed and as soon as you know what's happening with Colonel Sheppard, I suggest that you do the same. Major Lorne is on duty tonight, so if there are any emergencies contact him and he will decide whether to contact me or not."
"Goodnight, Mr Woolsey," Teyla said as the man stood up and walked out of the room.
Rodney just mumbled at him since he was still suspicious of the man even after he had been on Atlantis for over a year. From what he understood Woolsey still spent much of his time talking to the IOA and although Sheppard had told him to lighten up and trust their leader, Rodney had ignored him.
He was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice when Carson came into the room, "hey Carson, I thought you went to bed."
"I did, but then Jennifer called me to come and help out with some scans on Colonel Sheppard."
"And what did you find Dr Beckett?" Teyla asked in a surprisingly calm tone.
"It's strange, it's almost like there's another brain pattern overlaying his, sometimes it appears to be more dominant than others though. At the moment all we can do is monitor his brain activity and hope that things improve. Something may have happened to him when he connected with Arastica while the wraith virus was in her systems, but we can't really say for sure."
"So, in other words, you don't know – typical," Rodney muttered behind Carson's back.
"Dr McKay has permission from Mr Woolsey to plan a mission to Arastica and Mr Woolsey suggested that you come along with us," Teyla said in her usual serene tone.
At that moment Ronon walked into the room and Rodney was afraid that he would have to explain everything again, "hey Doc what's up with Sheppard?"
"I'll let Teyla explain and before you ask you can come and sit with him for a while since he's stable for now and there is nothing, we can do but monitor him at the moment."
"Well, I'm off to the jumper bay," Rodney announced, "the sooner I can get a ZPM in the jumper the quicker we can solve this mess."
He waved at them and left the room heading to his lab to collect a ZPM and his computer so that he could get to work in the jumper bay.
"So what's wrong with Sheppard?" Ronon asked on their way to John's room.
"Dr Beckett believed that there is another brain pattern overlaying his and this may have happened when he connected with Arastica?" Teyla explained.
Ronon nodded, "Can you let me know how he is? I need to get some sleep since I have an early start in the morning."
She nodded her head, "goodnight Ronon."
"Goodnight Teyla."
Once Ronon had left her she entered John's room wondering what she would find this time.
oOo
John stood in the middle of a large field and there was nothing but dry grass as far as the eye could see. The sky was dark and foreboding and the light from the small moon cast an eerie light on the desolate landscape. He saw a tall spire in the distance, and it looked like Arastica – or maybe this was another city. The city was uncloaked, and it seemed like it was reaching out to him, so he started to walk towards it.
The night was cold, so he pulled his jacket around him as he walked through the field, there were broken puddle jumper pieces all around him and he wondered how they had crashed on this dark forbidding planet. Were there people around and if so, was anyone injured. For a moment he thought about having a look to see if anyone needed his help, but before he had a chance to move a voice whispered to him. He looked around apprehensively almost expecting someone to be standing behind him, when he heard the voice again, this time, he listened to what it said, "John Sheppard, you have to help me?"
That sounded like Arastica's voice, so he replied hoping that she could hear him, "I'm on my way Arastica."
Her voice was urgent in reply, "Please hurry."
"I'll be there as soon as I can."
As he approached the spire, he could sense the city's pain and he immediately picked up his pace. He knew where the entrance was, so he immediately walked to it and swiped his hand over the panel to open the doors.
Once inside the lights came on and he proceeded down the corridor towards the chair room, all the while Arastica was whispering in his ear. When he finally arrived in the chair room, he took a look around the room before sitting in the control chair, he then connected with the ancient city. Suddenly a shooting pain shot through his head, and he wanted nothing more than to disconnect with Arastica, but he knew that he needed to help her. The pressure and pain in his head became more intense to the point that he thought that it was going to explode, and as much as he tried not to all he could do was scream….
He awoke with a start and the first thing he noticed was that Teyla was beside him holding his hand and speaking soothing words to him. His heart was beating fast and he was sweating as if he'd run a marathon, but he knew what he had to do.
"Teyla, Arastica is in trouble, I need to get to her straight away."
"Shh…." Teyla soothed, "Rodney is fitting Jumper one with a ZPM as we speak."
Again, he felt agitated with her, "Will you stop talking to me as if I'm a kid?!"
"I am sorry John, but you need to settle down. Mr Woolsey has already authorised a mission. When Rodney has finished with the jumper we will all go. Carson will be coming to keep an eye on you as well."
Suddenly he became suspicious, what was she keeping from him, "Why…. what's wrong with me?"
Teyla got up and started to leave, "I will get Carson to explain things to you."
He thought about shouting at her so that she would come back but thought better of it since they probably already thought he was crazy.
Closing his eyes, he lay his head back on the pillow and tried to ease the pounding in his head, and for a moment it seemed to help. That was until he heard a crackling sound coming from his bedside table. He immediately knew what it was - it was a com unit - so he picked it up hoping for some good news.
"Sheppard here."
Colonel Sheppard, I was hoping to get a hold of Teyla, is she there?"
"Sorry, Major Lorne you'll have to speak to me?"
"I have someone here that insists on speaking to her."
He was beginning to feel irritated with the man. Why would no one talk to him and tell him what was going on? "Well, how about you send them down to the infirmary and they can talk to me too!"
"Okay, I send them to the infirmary in a few minutes, Lorne out."
Once he had taken the headset off he closed his eyes and rubbed his head. The headache seemed to be notching up again and he hoped that Carson would have some pain meds to offer him when he came to examine him.
Before he'd had a chance to relax Carson entered the room, "oaky Laddie how are you feeling?"
"Other than a sore head I feel fine."
"Did Teyla tell you what is going on?"
"Nope, she just left the room and went to get you."
"Well, we have detected another brain pattern over yours. Sometimes it becomes dominant and other times it seems to disappear into the background."
Great so he was going crazy – although he suspected that the whole mess had something to do with him connecting with Arastica.
"That is why I have to get back to Arastica doc, something happened to me on Sheppard's planet and the only way to fix it is to go back there."
"Aye I'd have to agree with you lad and that is why as soon as the jumper is ready we'll be heading back there."
Before he had a chance to comment further, a loud hissing voice pervaded the room, "Ahh… John Sheppard, what have you done to my hive ship?"
John just turned and glared at Todd, "Excuse me?"
"My Ship appears to have crashed on a planet with a strange anomaly."
It was then that he realised that Teyla had re-entered the room and luckily Carson had left. He had a bad feeling as to why Todd's hive had ended up on that planet.
"Go on…."
"The problem is I left my Hive and queen a day before I discovered it on this planet, but that wasn't the strangest thing about finding my hive. The problem was that the Hive seemed to be at least ten thousand years old."
John closed his eyes again, trying to come to terms with the ramifications of what he'd just heard. Had Arastica been infected with the virus before the Ancients went back to earth? And if it had, did sending the hive ship through the anomaly in the future change past events? Could the war with the wraith have turned out differently if he'd never sent that hive ship through the rift? All of these questions were not helping his head and he knew that he needed to get a grip.
A strong hand on his shoulder brought him out of his contemplations, "John Sheppard, do you know what is going on? Why is my queen hibernating along with many of her drones and it seems as if she's been hibernating for thousands of years? I only saw her two days ago."
Suddenly it dawned on him that Todd had somehow managed to land on that planet, "how did you land on Sheppard's planet?"
"Ah, yesss… someone told me that it was called Sheppard's planet.
"Todd, who told you that?" Teyla asked joining the conversation for the first time.
"I met him on a small dusty planet a few lightyears from Sheppard's planet. Apparently, he'd been expecting me. He gave me the calculations so that I was able to land my dart on the planet. I detected my hive from orbit, so I knew that I needed to land."
John had a fair idea who Todd was talking about but he needed to ask anyway, "Todd who gave you the coordinates for the planet?"
Another voice joined the conversation and he knew in an instant who it was, "hey Dad."
"Torren," he whispered, right before the screeching in his brain intensified again. He tried to keep an eye on his grownup son, but black spots were dancing in front of his vision and it wasn't long before he lost consciousness again….
TBC…