Chapter 38: Containment

Mitchell and O'Neill had recognised the uniforms of the Atlantis soldiers immediately and had called for their own group to stop firing. The two forces met in the middle; the men from Atlantis briefly saluting O'Neill before they moved to secure the control room. "Well I have to say, your timing is fantastic." O'Neill quipped as one of the men indicated that the control room was secure and they moved into the room, sealing the door behind them. "I see you have managed to take a rather useful captive as well." O'Neill smiled at Harvey the smile wasn't hostile but it was far from friendly.

Marquez put his hand to his ear briefly before saying "copy that, control room secure." Turning to O'Neill he said "Major Lorne reports they have found the other prisoners and are now beginning to secure the lower levels." O'Neill just nodded; these men knew what they were doing they didn't need his input. He looked around the room at all of the displays that covered every wall; half of one wall was covered in screen showing the inside of the now empty cells, the screens cycled through different cells, even as he watched the rest of the screens in the room showed different parts of the ship. It was huge and there were people everywhere but the ancient architecture was evident.

Turning towards Harvey he said "Is there any way to contain the population of the ship? We don't want to hurt more people than we have to."

Harvey looked resigned although O'Neill wasn't sure if he had seen a glimpse of relief cross his face. "You can initiate a Bio-containment protocol; all citizens will report to designated areas that can then be sealed."

O'Neill just nodded again and said "Do it"

Within a minute an alarm was sounding interspersed with the announcement that citizens should follow bio-containment protocols. As they watched the screens the corridors began to empty as people sealed themselves away. Eventually the only people they could see moving in the corridor were Mitchell and his team and the captives who had stayed in the corridor of the cell block.

Ronon stepped up next to O'Neill and O'Neill smiled at him; "Very efficient rescue if I do say so myself, I was expecting it to take you slightly longer to mount the rescue."

Ronon smiled his feral smile and answered "It helps that the ship bought you right to Atlantis' front door." The smile faded "Where's Sheppard?"

O'Neill's jovial mood also faded slightly with the question "He's back in the power chamber but that Pietor guy did a number on him beforehand; if we are sure that the ship is secure I would suggest we get in contact with Atlantis and get a medical team up here before we try to move him, and maybe a naquada generator so we aren't in the dark afterwards and we can keep these people locked up until we figure out what to with them."

Whilst O'Neill had mostly been talking to Ronon, Marquez had been listening and before anyone said anything else he took the initiative and radioed down to Atlantis to report their status and make the requests for the personnel and equipment. O'Neill looked back at Harvey and asked "There isn't any way someone could override the bio-containment right?"

Harvey just shrugged, he had relaxed slightly now that he had realised these people weren't interested in hurting his people or exacting revenge. "As far as I know there isn't but I'm not a technician, its possible Pietor had a method created for himself; he doesn't like not being in control."

"We can deal with one person, as long as all the others are contained. How many people do you have on board, not including prisoners?"

Harvey thought for a minute; "We have approximately eleven thousand adults on board with a further three thousand children."

The enormity of the population hit them at this point, until now they had not realised just how lucky they had been to take the ship with such a small force. Marquez came back over at this point "Atlantis has dispatched the requested equipment and personnel by jumper, they estimate they will arrive in the next ten minutes. Major Lorne has also reported that he has joined up with..." at this point he paused looking at O'Neill "I might have misheard but I thought he said he met up with you sir."

O'Neill just nodded "he probably did, keep going." Marquez looked confused but finished his report "They say they have secured the power chamber but haven't entered yet and they haven't encountered any resistance."

"Ok good tell him to hold his position; we'll wait for doctors Keller and McKay before we tackle that hurdle."

For the next ten minutes they continued to ensure the ship was secure and the population contained. O'Neill had made Harvey take them through a normal bio-containment protocol before enacting it, trying to ensure the population did not get suspicious; he knew from experience how inventive people could get when their families and homes were threatened.

After about ten minutes a communication came over the radio that the jumper was approaching the ship. O'Neill, Ronon and Teyla excused themselves from the team now in control of the ship and Ronon led the way to the jumper bay. The jumper entered when Ronon activated the doors to the external hull of the ship and once the compartment had repressurised Rodney, Zelenka, Keller and a team of medics exited.

Ronon didn't know the way to the power chamber so he led them back to the cells. They found the other captives, including Lily and Lucas, still waiting there unsure of what was going on. Ronon and O'Neill spent a couple of minutes reassuring them before O'Neill took the lead, taking them towards the power chamber.

They saw Major Lorne and Jack before they reached the chamber and the pair joined their group. Lorne started a brief report; "My men confirm all lower decks are clear, we haven't encountered anyone since the containment but Jack says we haven't seen the guy in charge, Pietor, yet either so we are keeping an eye out for him." They reached the door to the power chamber just as Lorne finished. The four soldiers guarding the door stood to one side and O'Neill stepped forwards swiping one hand over the door panel not worried about the lockdown as he had ensured this door would remain unlocked while he was in the control room.

The door opened and he could hear the intakes of breath from everyone behind him barring Jack, who had seen the room before. The eerie blue glow from the tank and the lights from the monitors along the far wall were all that illuminated the room but the form of Sheppard floating in the tank drew everyone's gaze.

"He'll drown!" gasped Rodney, rushing towards the tank. Ronon grabbed him before he could actually touch the lid to the tank though.

"He won't drown McKay." O'Neill told him. He frowned as he looked at the tank though; he had never seen the normally clear blue liquid tinged with a reddy/brown colouring as it was now. "We need you and Zelenka to find a way to attach the naquada generator; once we take Sheppard out the ship won't have any other power source."

Rodney shook his head and O'Neill heard Zelenka mutter something under his breath but they both set to work immediately. It took them about five minutes to isolate the pathways that they needed to connect the generator to and O'Neill couldn't help but to be impressed, although he would never admit that out loud. He moved over to where Keller was visually examining Sheppard though the glass of the container.

He frowned as he saw the source of the red tinge as a series of cuts coving Sheppard's already scarred torso and arms. It wasn't clear how deep the cuts were but it was a worrying development.

"I don't know whether to stabilise that leg before or after we take him out of this tank." O'Neill wasn't sure if she was speaking to him or herself but he followed her gaze and saw the lump in Sheppard's leg halfway between his knee and ankle. "It looks like a compound fracture of both bones; it's a miracle they haven't broken through the skin already."

"Is it possible to do it while he's still in the tank?" O'Neill asked her.

She nodded "It'll be slightly awkward but it is possible."

"I don't know whether this will help with the decision but he will start coughing up the liquid as soon as he is out of the tank."

Keller nodded again making up her mind "Ok we will do it before we take him out then, I'd rather it remains a closed fracture than become an open one. How long Rodney?" O'Neil realised that Rodney was distressed as he didn't bother to try and big himself up instead he just said "Another five minutes and I should be done." Zelenka nodded in agreement and they both went straight back to what they had been doing.

They worked in synchronicity; each preformed certain tasks without consulting the other and yet neither got in the way of the other either. As the promised five minutes came around Rodney looked up and said; "Ok I think that should do it, we can disconnect that tank now."

Keller and the medics moved forwards but before they took the lid off the tank Keller stopped them; "everyone make sure you have gloves on and that your arms are covered, we can't risk harming Colonel Sheppard further." When she was sure that everyone was covered she got Ronon and O'Neill to remove the lid of the tank, O'Neill had seen it done a couple of times now and it took a matter of seconds.

Keller's team moved forwards immediately, one of them had produced a brace from somewhere and whilst a couple of the medics set about stabilising the damaged leg Keller began running her hand along Sheppard's spine, checking for any obvious damage.

Once this was done and she was fairly sure that there was no problems she started to check the wounds on his torso and arms. She frowned and checked how the others were progressing with the leg. She saw they were almost done and so while she waited she gave the concerned onlookers an update. "I can't be sure until I am able to get him under a scanner but I'm pretty sure that while these wounds are deep they haven't damaged any internal organs, it's hard to be sure particularly with the amount of scar tissue Colonel Sheppard already has."

No one said anything; it wasn't really a statement that required an answer. She looked back at the medics who indicated they were now ready. O'Neill had just pulled on a pair of gloves as well "You need more hands and I know from experience the best position to be in to help get the fluid out." He said as an explanation when Keller looked inquiringly at him.

The five of them moved forwards as a group and grasped hold of Sheppard "He will start coughing violently within a minute of us removing him." O'Neill informed them "So we might want to do this quickly because he's going to be hard to hold on to."

"Ok on the count of three we lift him straight out and down" Keller agreed "One, two, three" They moved quickly but ensured that Sheppard's head, neck, back and leg were securely supported.

Within about twenty seconds they had him down on the floor and no sooner had they done so he began to cough deep, wracking coughs. O'Neill and Keller quickly moved him onto his side allowing him to expel more liquid.

After several minutes the coughing subsided and Sheppard groaned. "Ok let's roll him onto his back, I want to make sure he's stabilised before we move him." Keller said. They rolled him back over and the blood welling from the numerous stab wounds started to steadily drip down his sides. Keller went to work immediately, stemming the flow from the site of each wound before bandaging for transport.

Putting pressure on the last wound on his torso Sheppard again groaned but didn't wake up "How long is he usually unconscious for after he has been in the tank?" Keller directed the question at O'Neill

O'Neill shrugged "It depends on how long he was in the tank for and how worn out he was when they put him in, sometimes he was out for twelve hours. It's one of the reasons he's lost so much weight, it was hard work keeping him awake long enough to eat a lot of the time."

While he spoke Keller continued treating Sheppard, he was still coughing intermittently but that was all the movement he made. When she had finished with the last wound Keller said "Let's get him out of here, we can get him on oxygen in the jumper, I want to get him back to Atlantis as soon as possible and make sure there's nothing else going on." They moved him onto the stretcher one of the medics had set up and moved off at a brisk walk.