Warning: O.G Character death.
Chapter 9: A new base of operations.
Michael's ship had been in the Pegasus galaxy for three days and he knew that he really needed to find a base of operations on a deserted planet. It wouldn't take to long and someone would find him and that is something he didn't want right now. For now, he needed to remain in the shadows and perform his experiments in private. The time will then come for him to rise to greatness and take over the galaxy again.
A voice interrupted his contemplations, "Michael, the planet where we left the crew of the Phoenix, has an intricate network of caves that you could use for your research. I believe that there will probably be a place where you can hide your ship as well."
"Thank you, Carson, I think that I may need those humans in my research after all. I'm reluctant to harm the two I have on the ship, since I believe they may lead us to Sheppard, Atlantis and the unborn child that I seek. Can you prepare to land my ship and once we are on the surface, I will need you and the current batch of hybrid clones to round up the humans that I left on the planet?"
"Right away Michael," Carson said, before he left the room.
Michael watched him leave, feeling perplexed, he didn't know what to think. Carson seemed to be following his orders without question, but he knew that he couldn't trust him, surely, he would betray him and help the humans escape. Even if that happened at some point, for now Carson was serving him, but he knew that he would have to keep a very close eye on him and at the first sign of subterfuge he would have to kill him.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
When John awoke again, he felt much more refreshed than he had been the last time he awoke. It didn't take him long to realise that he was laying in his sleeping bag and he was barely clothed. An IV was inserted into his left hand and heart monitor leads were attached to his chest. Looking in his sleeping bag he realised that he only had his boxer shorts on and there was a catheter attached, which made him think that he had been asleep for quite a while.
The gate room was bathed in sunlight, but he wasn't sure what time of the day it was. At least it's better that that horrible red glow, he thought continuing to look at his surroundings.
Settling down he decided that it was probably a good time to go back to sleep again, he had no idea where the others were and he had no desire to find out, obviously they had moved Atlantis and managed to set it down successfully, so he really felt as if he had nothing to worry about right now.
He had just closed his eyes when he heard someone shuffling around in the gate-room, so any ideas he'd had of going back to sleep went by the wayside, opening his eyes again he looked around and wasn't surprised to find that Joe and Shalite were heading his way.
Shalite came up and sat down beside him, "John how are you feeling?" She asked him with exuberance.
"I'm good." He replied.
"Let me be the judge of that." Joe said, and John almost laughed at how much he reminded him of Carson.
John rubbed his eyes, while Joe did his doctor thing, "how long have I been asleep?"
"Around three days," Joe answered with a smile.
"And who got me out of my clothes?" He asked feeling a little embarrassed.
"That would have been me," Shalite told him, "I hope you don't mind, but Rodney and Joe were busy at the time?"
"I guess that's alright," he answered still feeling a little embarrassed. "So, what's been happening while I've been asleep?"
"Well Rodney's found the original McKay's lab and much to his delight it seems to be in good condition, so he has spent every waking hour in there trying to fix the power fluctuations in the star-drive. Not that we have any intention of ever moving it again." Shalite explained.
"Do you know if he knows where the ZPM lab is?" John asked stifling a yawn, because despite the fact that he'd just woken up he was really feeling exhausted again.
"He certainly has and he's told me to tell you that as soon as you're up to it, he is ready to explore." Joe informed him with a smile.
John's eyes lit up, "so can I get up and have something to eat now, I'm absolutely starving and then after I've eaten, I might be ready to go for a little off-world exploring."
"Well you may have to wait until the morning now, since the sun is about to go down." Shalite smirked.
John looked at Shalite with a twinkle in his eyes and he smiled his crooked grin at her, "in that case, can you give me some privacy, so that I can get dressed and then maybe you may like to enjoy the sunset with me?"
"Let me get that IV and catheter out and then I must get back to Rodney's lab, I have been helping him fix the power systems." Joe announced.
Twenty minutes later when Joe had taken out all of the uncomfortable tubes from his body, he had managed to dress himself and Joe had made sure that he could stand, John let Shalite lead him to the balcony nearest the gate room, so that they could watch the sunset together.
John stood on the balcony overlooking the ocean and it was the end of another day in Pegasus, even if it was 50,000 years in the future for him. The Sun was just sinking below the horizon and the sky was the most amazing shade of crimson he'd ever seen; it was a much nicer shade of red than the eerie red glow of the Red Giant from the last planet they were on. The last rays of sunlight were glinting of the ocean and there was a gentle breeze in the air.
Up above the stars were beginning to shine. They were beautiful, but the constellations were very different to the one's he remembered from the past. He could see the mainland in the distance; it was a dark shadow in the fading light. There wasn't a sound to be heard except for the gentle whispering of the breeze and the gentle lapping of the ocean.
He sighed, as moments go this one was as close to perfect as any could get. He was still stuck in the future and with each passing day he wondered if he would ever find a way home, but if he had to be stuck in the future at least he had made some good friends.
Turning to look at Shalite, he was surprised to find that she had tears in her eyes. Great, he thought, she's all emotional again and she probably expects me to listen to her, or worse, try and comfort her in some way.
Sighing, he took her hand and asked, "are you alright Shalite?"
"I don't know John, I'm happy and I'm sad all at the same time."
He looked at her with confusion, before he remembered what Teyla was like before she was taken. She never made any sense either when she was pregnant. All he could do was stare at her and hope that she would explain what she meant.
Finally, she opened her mouth and tried to explain, "I'm happy to be on Atlantis, but I am fearful that when I contact the archaeological academy they may not want me to live aboard Atlantis and what would be even worse would be if they threw me off of the council. I can't help think of Tuart either and wonder if I've made a mistake in leaving him. It's probably stupid, but that's the way I feel."
John reluctantly put his arm around her hoping to offer her some comfort, "it's not stupid to feel the way you do. Everything in your life has changed in a very short period of time and you probably wonder if things will ever be the same again." He took deep breath when he'd finished, proud of the fact that he'd actually sounded quite compassionate and helpful.
He was shocked when she turned and glared at him, "how could you possibly know what I am feeling John?" Her expression changed, before she continued, "John I am so sorry for what I just said, I sometimes forget that you are 50,000 years out of your time and you may be stuck here forever."
"That's alright Shalite, how about we go inside and find something for dinner, we can think about contacting the archaeological council on another occasion."
"Thankyou John," she said and he was relieved when she allowed her to lead him inside.
When they arrived inside John was thankful that Joe and Rodney had already started to cook dinner, "what's for dinner?" He asked feeling famished.
It was Joe who answered him and John could see by the look on Joe's face that he wasn't going to be happy, "I'm sorry John, but we only have soup left at the moment, but I thought that perhaps we could go and search the mainland for some edible food after a good night's sleep."
"Oh well at least it's something." John said scratching his head, wondering whether Joe had ever been hunting before, "have you ever been hunting before Joe?"
"When I was a teenager, I often went hunting with my father, but I haven't been for many years, so I'm not sure how I'll go now that I'm getting older."
"Well perhaps you can stay with Shalite and Rodney can come with me, before we go and explore the ZPM lab." John suggested.
"Really, you want me to go hunting with you? Remember how I used to hate going off-world, well nothing has changed."
John smirked at him, "Rodney, will you stop thinking like the original McKay, who knows you may actually like hunting?"
"It's very difficult to not think like the original McKay, he did program me in his image after all." Rodney stuttered and John could see his frustration rising.
John new that he had to think quickly if he was going to placate Rodney, "calm down McKay, Joe and I will go in the morning and then we can go and look for the ZPM lab in the afternoon."
John was relieved when he calmed down, but it wasn't long before Rodney started to panic again, "but what happens if Shalite goes into labour while you're gone, I've never delivered a baby before?"
"Relax Rodney, I'm not due for another five to seven weeks," Shalite informed him, while she was trying to stifle a laugh.
John looked at Rodney and saw the worry in his eyes, and he could completely understand where he was coming from. He remembered back to a time when he was stuck in Rodney's lab during a quarantine situation, with a very pregnant Teyla and his first thought had been, what happens if she goes into labour while we're stuck in here. "Don't worry McKay we won't be gone for long?"
"Rodney smiled, "thanks for understanding John and I know that I'm different from the original McKay, but I'm still a lot more like him than you think."
"I know and believe it or not, you along with Shalite and Joe have become my best friends." John told him feeling a little embarrassed.
Rodney, looked at his feet, obviously feeling embarrassed as well. "Okay enough of this emotional crap," John stated and offered up his trademark crooked grin.
"You'll get no arguments from me," Rodney replied.
"Well gentlemen, if everyone has finished their dinner, I think that it's time for me to get ready for bed," Shalite informed them trying to stand to her feet.
John stood up and helped her to her feet, "I'll be right behind you Shalite, I'll just help Rodney and Joe do the dishes and then we'll all be coming to bed."
John watched her head to bed and he couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to see Teyla in her last few weeks of pregnancy, or what it would have been like to see her son. He knew that Teyla would have made and excellent mother and he would have loved her child like he was his own son. That thought alone made him even more determined to get back to his own time and save Teyla.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Tuart felt the ship come to a stop, he had been held prisoner for about three days and in that time, he had seen no-one else, except Carson. The Doctor seemed legitimate in his desire to help him escape, but at the moment he had no idea how that was going to happen.
Carson had come and taken Roget two days ago and he hadn't been told anything about what had happened to his friend. He had asked Carson the next time he'd come in and Carson had no answers for him, claiming that all he had done was moved him to another cell at Michaels request. Tuart had a bad feeling that something had happened to him and it wasn't good.
The details of the great-war were sketchy, although they had a broad overview of what happened during the war, some of the finer details had been lost throughout the ages. One of the things that no-one knew for sure was whether the humans that were used in Michaels experiments were clones or not.
Rubbing his eyes, he looked at the cell door, waiting for Carson to come and tell him why the ship had stopped.
He didn't have to wait long, as five minutes later Carson walked through the door, "hey Tuart time to get off of the ship."
"Why Carson, where are we going and what's happening?"
Carson looked at him and he could see the sheer terror in his eyes, "Michael has decided that he needs a base of operations on the ground. We have found some caves on the planet where we left your crew."
"Do you know if they're still alive and what about Roget, have you seen him?" The questions tumbled out of his mouth, which they usually did when he was anxious.
"I don't know, at this stage whether they are alive and I haven't seen Roget, but one thing I do know is that there is ancient technology in those caves and if there's ancient technology, it means that John and his friends may be aware of it."
"And how do you know that?" Tuart asked looking at him with suspicion.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but what I'm telling you is a good thing."
"I understand that, but I want to know is how you know and don't tell me that I wouldn't believe you if you told me. I have seen some pretty freaky things over the last few days and before that I found a man in stasis who had travelled 50,000 years through time, so believe me when I say nothing you say will surprise me!" Tuart ranted.
"Alright I'll tell you, I am a descendant of an ancient and I can hear anything that is ancient humming to me. The humming is weak at the moment, but it is definitely there."
Tuart stared at him with total bewilderment, "surely, whatever DNA you have inherited from the ancients must be so watered down by now that it would barely be there."
The next words out of Carson's mouth took him by surprise, "I am a clone and I have been cloned many times, I have no idea how many, but 50,000 years ago Michael cloned me from the original Dr Carson Beckett, who was part of the Atlantis expedition that came from earth. John Sheppard was also on that expedition and the reason he came along was because of his ancient gene." Tuart had heard of clones before and he knew that in parts of this galaxy cloning still went on today, so the fact that he was talking to a clone shouldn't have come as a surprise to him.
"So what kind of technology do you think is down there and how do you know that John will find it."
"I believe that it is a ZPM lab and a ZPM is a power source for Atlantis, so if they have managed to get Atlantis flying again, pretty soon they will be looking for more power."
Tuart was stunned, "Wow, so if John is down there, maybe he can help us out?"
Carson smiled and his blue eye's twinkled and Tuart was surprised by how much he remined him of his own Doctor, Joe Jarvis, "Well Tuart, I'm sure he'll try."
"You know what Carson, I think that I've misjudged your friend, I was suspicious of him and I hated the fact that he wants to change the timeline. But now I understand that if he does change the past, just maybe none of what is happening now will happen."
"Aye lad, I hope your right, but right now we shouldn't talk any longer, as Michael is expecting us to leave the ship."
Tuart nodded and allowed Carson to lead him out of his cell and for the first time since he'd met Carson he felt a sense of hope that he may actually find a way out of this mess.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
John flew the jumper out of the jumper bay and into the bright blue sky and it was something that he thought that he would never do again when he'd woken up from stasis. Although he wanted to go home, he was becoming more used to the fact that he may be stuck here for the rest of his life. Looking over at his passenger, he was happy to see that Joe was relishing the experience of flying around the city.
"How are you enjoying the ride Joe?"
"This is magnificent, it is something I thought that I would never get a chance to see and I can't believe that you have the ability to pilot these things."
John had been amazed at the fact that Jumper one, his favourite jumper was still one hundred percent operational and of course, as soon as he'd known that he and Joe were going on a hunting trip, he knew that he had to fly it.
"Yeah, I was a pilot back on earth and then they needed someone to activate ancient technology, so I came to Atlantis and I had been there four years when I was involved in a freak accident and I wound up 50,000 years in the future." John said with bitterness in his voice.
"I'm sorry that you got stuck here with us, I know how horrible that must be for you, but I for one and glad that you came, because you have helped us save Atlantis." Joe smiled at him before he continued on. "I should let you know that Shalite contacted the archaeological society this morning and they are sending a team in a weeks' time to help us repair the city and what's even better is that Shalite and I are going to be able to stay."
"That's fantastic, but do you know what's happening to me am I going to jail for conspiracy to change the timeline?"
Joe looked down at his feet and John could tell that he was hiding something, he was acting exactly like Carson used to when he was nervous, "Spit it out Joe!"
"Your fate hasn't been decided yet, apparently Tuart didn't show up for the hearing at the Louisan council, where he was supposed to give evidence against you. So, they're waiting until he shows up, or they can speak to you in person. A representative will be coming along with the archaeological society in a weeks' time."
"Great," he muttered, "a last-minute reprieve."
"What was that John?"
"Never mind Joe, we should be landing in about five minutes. Are you ready for some hunting and gathering?"
Five minutes later John stepped out onto the mainland and took a deep breath. The view was astonishing; in the distance they saw snow-capped mountains with a river running through them. To their left there were woodlands and to their right there were grasslands with cow like animals grazing, past the grasslands there was rolling hills with brightly coloured wild flowers. The sky was a bright blue and the sun was shining. It really was a beautiful day.
What amazed John the most was how much it reminded him of New Athos, right down to the animals grazing in the grass lands, "hey Joe, have you ever hunted anything like those cow-like creatures."
"Umm…you're not suggesting that we hunt those are you?"
"Sure, are Joe, Ronon and I used to do it all of the time back home?"
"Ronon must be very important to you John and you must really miss him." Joe said and John could hear the compassion in his voice.
"Yeah, he was more like a brother to me than my own brother and he was part of my team, along with Teyla and Rodney."
"I promise I will help you get home at the first available opportunity John," Joe told him and he was beginning to look rather uncomfortable.
"Thanks Joe, so now we've had our little emotional chat, perhaps we can go hunting," John told him with a smirk.
Knowing that he didn't want talk anymore, he turned around and cloaked the jumper, before setting off for a morning of hunting with one of his new team.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Carson headed down a deep dark tunnel, he had helped move all of Michaels things off of his ship, along with the survivors of Tuarts crew and then he had helped Michael hide his ship. He really needed to know whether there was a ZPM lab in these caves, so once he was sure that the humans; including Tuart were safe, he took off to do a little exploring. Perhaps John would be here already, or maybe he'd already been here. He really hoped that he hadn't been there as yet, because if he had there would be no chance of them being saved.
Walking along in silence, he got the distinct impression that someone was following him, so he carefully looked around and he saw nothing. Continuing on he kept his ears and eyes open expecting something to jump out on him at any moment. Stopping in the middle of the path, he spoke to the thin air, "whoever you are come out, I know you're there?"
He stood in the dark with consternation, wondering if there was someone there, he got his answer a minute later when a strange looking creature stepped out of the shadows.
"Please help me?" The pitiful creature said and Carson could see the anguish in his eyes.
Carson quickly ran to the creature's side and caught him before he fell, "Who are you?"
"My name is Roget and Michael has injected me with something strange. I think that I am changing into something else, but I had to get away to try and tell someone what is happening." Roget, said and Carson could tell that he was becoming weaker with every breath.
"How many others are there like you?"
"I don't know, I think I was one of the first."
Roget clung to Carson as if his life depended on it and from what Carson suspected, he probably didn't have much longer. He sat down on the floor and cradled Roget in his arms; no-one deserved to die alone and Carson decided that he was going to be here for him.
Carson held his hand and spoke soothing words to him, as his breathing became slower and shallower and eventually it stopped all together. Carson just sat and cried, Roget's death was one to many as far as he was concerned and at that moment he knew that he would do whatever he could to make sure that this didn't happen to anyone else.
TBC…