Chapter 14: Half Truths

Mitchell had been sitting next to the bars of their cell trying to get the best view of the corridor when the three men had arrived. Standing up he looked back into the cell to see Ronon and Dave standing near the rear where Dave had taken Ronon to question him more in-depth about what exactly his brother did. Ronon hadn't exactly been very talkative and David was looking more than a little frustrated. The woman, Lily, was sitting near of the centre of the cell watching her son sleep in the opposite cell.

Looking back at the three men he saw one of them consult a handheld tablet. "This is one of them." The man said pointing at Mitchell.

Mitchell sighed; something was up and he suspected it had to do with wherever they had taken Sheppard. The guards waved their weapons indicating that he should step out as they opened the cell. He could see both O'Neil's watching from the opposite cell and he could feel Ronon's eyes boring into his back. They all knew from experience that it was pointless to do anything at this stage without knowing the full extent of the situation. Stepping out of the cell his hands slightly raised Mitchell smiled and said; "There's no reason this can't be amicable guys."

They said nothing but at the same time there was no poking with weapons, or shoving, and Mitchell chalked this up as a win. The guards merely indicated that he should walk in front of them, yet to speak a word.

They walked quickly down the corridor until they reached a door that was summarily opened and they stepped into the room. Mitchell paused just inside the door assimilating the sight in front of him. Sheppard was unconscious and lying face down on a table his torso exposed. "Is he ok?" Mitchell asked trying to figure out what they wanted him for.

"He will be fine," a man stated from across the room "What is wrong with him and what are those things in his back? None of the other people from your planet seem to know."

Mitchell looked at the other people in the various parts of the room before deciding on a suitable story that was part truth but would still protect Sheppard. "This man was injured quite severely in an explosion, that's why he's moving stiffly, and while recovering he volunteered for an experimental bio monitoring project that allowed doctors to monitor his recovery and physical therapy and the stresses they were putting his body under." Pre-empting their main fear he continued; "They don't transmit any data or signal but there were a few complications..." he realised that he should probably ensure they didn't hedge their bets and take the implants out.

The man who had asked him the question primarily looked at him sharply. "What sort of complications?"

"The monitors fused to his spine... it isn't possible to remove them."

The man's eyes narrowed; "Show me how these devices work." He demanded.

Mitchell shrugged, stepping closer to Sheppard, his guards following close behind. "I'm not a scientist, I'm just a friend so I only know the basics." Stepping closer he indicated the bottom implant "This one here shows his heart rate while the others show the levels of physical stress he is under or the amount of pain he is in, that's all I know" while he was talking he discreetly looked at each of the non-earth people in the room, they looked typically human and there was nothing particularly unique about them, they were just like so many other human races seeded throughout the various galaxies. Mitchell also noted that they were all wearing gloves and he inwardly sighed in relief, it was one less thing for Sheppard to worry about, coming into physical contact with them.

Mitchell turned his attention back to the man that appeared to be in charge when he started talking again. "What's wrong with his arm?"

It's nothing serious it's just some damaged connective tissue that had to be repaired" Mitchell told them truthfully, there was no need to lie about that.

"Ok if that's all you know you can go back to your cell." The man stated before turning back to the technician beside him and saying "Verify this and then return all of them to their cells, we will proceed with everything else shortly." The tech nodded and Mitchell found himself being led back to the corridor with all the cells.

When they reached his cell he found Ronon and Dave had now moved to the front of the cell and Mitchell thought he could see a small amount of relief in Sheppard's brother's face that he had been returned in one piece, Ronon as ever remained passive in his facial features.

"What the hell was that all about?" Dave demanded once the guards had moved away again.

"They found Shep's implants" Mitchell told them, directing this information primarily at Ronon who would understand the implications.

"What implants?" Dave asked puzzled, Mitchell had forgotten that Dave didn't know.

"It doesn't matter, he's fine and I fed them a story that was partly true, just enough to make them happy but not enough to make them aware of the extent of our space travel, if anyone asks you two the implants are experimental bio monitoring devices. Do you understand?" this last bit was directed at Dave who nodded despite the fact that he still looked confused.

"What do we do now?" David asked as they moved further back into the cell.

"We watch and wait" Mitchell told him already formulating various plans in his head depending on the various scenarios he could envisage.