Chapter nine

Michael's face darkened as he took in the condition of the man lying on the low bed in front of him and he swept around to face Stower again.

"You said nothing about this!" he pointed at Sheppard's shivering body, "we had an agreement and that agreement stipulated that the 'package' had to be alive and in good condition, this…" he pointed again towards Sheppard, "is not in 'good' condition as far as my interpretation of the word goes. Why was this allowed to happen! You assured me that he was ready for transportation!"

"He 'is' ready for transportation.." Stower raised his chin in defiance," and as to his condition, the stipulation was 'alive' and he is still 'alive'..as far as I can see!"

"Stower, our arrangement has suited us both so far, but I warn you now…don't cross me, you will regret it.." Michael shifted his attention back to Sheppard, his eyes narrowing as he took in the sweat covered face and the blood stains that were still glistening as they soaked into the filthy covers of the bed. He indicated to Stower to unlock the cell door, then slowly entered the cell. He crouched down at the side of the bed and reached a clawed hand out towards the sticky black shirt that clung to Sheppard's thin frame. He lifted the shirt up, his eyes never leaving Sheppard's face, the fabric catching on Sheppard's skin as the drying blood cracked and pulled, and he took in the blood soaked bandages and dressings that were covering the wounds on Sheppard's chest and back.

"Who did this! You mentioned an incident with Stavin earlier did you not?" he turned and regarded the bounty hunter, his eyes narrowing, "I had assumed that you had control over your employee's Stower, obviously you do not have the level of control that you thought you did!"

Stower drew level with the Wraith as he stood at the bedside, "Stavin disobeyed my orders and he paid for that insubordination with his life, thanks to the Lantean."

"Hmm, well he deserved to die, I needed the Colonel to be stronger than this, he will need all of his strength if he is to survive the process."

"Process, what do you mean?" Stower looked at the Wraith in confusion, "I had assumed from our earlier conversation that this was simply a case of retribution for past sins, or do you need further 'subjects' for your 'research'..?"

"The subjects that you have supplied in the past have served their purpose, but I have something more, shall we say, 'in keeping' planned for this one…" Michael smiled down at Sheppard, and then turned away from the bed, "I will need to relocate him to my transport as soon as possible, I assume that you have arranged to have the route cleared for me as I requested..?"

"Of course, the usual arrangements have been employed, there will be an unfortunate incident that will mean that the streets in that area will have to be cleared within the half hour, it has all been arranged as I said…"

"Good, I will need to be ready to depart when….." he stopped as a sudden noise from the direction of the bed captured his attention.

Sheppard's voice was weakened by the pain, his lips stained by the blood that had invaded his throat, but he was determined and struggled to make himself heard.. "N-nice to see you again t-too, Michael…aaagh.." The pain bit hard and angrily as he struggled to push himself onto his side. He would be damned if he was going to lie still whilst the two of them talked about his demise with him laying quietly beside them, "D-did you come alone, or d-did you …aah.. did you b-bring some of the k-kids along…."

"Ah, ..how nice to see that you haven't lost your sense of humour Colonel." Michael walked over to the side of the low bed and smiled grimly down at Sheppard's suffering. "You seem to have injured yourself, I do hope its nothing too serious, I would hate for our reunion to be delayed due to ill health…."

"J-just a s-scratch..I hope you d-didn't go to too much trouble, you know how m-much I dislike s-surprise p-parties…" He wrapped his arms around his chest and closed his eyes as a wave of burning pain drifted through his shoulders and down his back; talking too much definitely wasn't a good idea at the moment.

"Colonel, we always seem to meet at the most inconvenient times, but then again, life isn't always fair is it, I mean…look at me! I had such a good life before meeting your kind, I had a successful career as a scientist, I had a family……" his eyes turned away as he spoke, unwilling to let Sheppard see the distress that that particular subject brought.. "and then I met you and your 'scientists'!" he spat the words out.. "and all of that was taken away from me. Did you really imagine that I would disappear conveniently after everything that happened, like a good boy. Did you really think that I would forget what I lost because of your inept meddling! I had so much.. and now I have nothing, apart from a body that repulses my own kind and yours both!"

"W-we did what we thought w-was right…" Sheppard hunched his body, trying to find some relief, but the pain was deep and unforgiving.

"Right!, What part of turning me into one of your kind could you ever consider as 'RIGHT', explain to me, …I need to understand!" Michael was incensed and he leant over Sheppard as he spoke, his mouth wet with spittle as he waited for the answer.

"We needed t-to protect ourselves. W-we had l-lost too m-many people…aah..too many.."

"And you think that we had not suffered losses also. You are not the only species in this galaxy Colonel, but you think that you are the only ones who are justified in what you do!" The smile returned to Michael's face and he rose back up onto his feet from his position next to Sheppard's side, "that is why you are going to experience the rest of your life as one of my 'soldiers', so that you can experience the anguish of one whose life has been changed irreparably; one who cannot live amongst either side without being loathed by both."

Sheppard looked up in horror at the Wraith, his brain struggling to comprehend the words that he had just heard, "What d-do you mean…"

"I have been fortunate Colonel. Thanks to my friend here, I have had an unlimited supply of test subjects for my genetic research for some time, but I have come to a point in my experimentation where I need to 'branch out'. I have developed my 'army' to follow my orders without question, and they will; but I need to go further…" again Michael smiled at Sheppard's shocked expression, "I am planning to change the genetic coding in your body to incorporate both my subservient 'soldier' gene as well as your Ancient gene….the perfect hybrid, ..and one that will enable me to activate Ancient technology and ships, but who will remain faithful and loyal to my command."

"I…" Sheppard struggled to speak, his voice weakened not only by the shock that his body was now suffering, but also by the slow realisation of what Michael was actually suggesting.. "I w-won't do it…"

"You won't have a choice," Michael leered at the suffering soldier, " the genetic treatment should actually leave a large proportion of your body unchanged, however there will be the inevitable…additions. Just imagine Colonel, you will be the first 'trial' subject, just as I was. You will get to experience life anew, just as I did…what more could a person ask for….No, you don't agree?" Sarcasm dripped from Michael's voice as he watched the turmoil that Sheppard was suffering and he laughed… "You Colonel Sheppard, will be the first of my 'new' soldiers, soldiers with great strength, but with the ability to operate the Ancient ships and technology, you should be honoured……Stower, I need to ensure that he survives the journey ahead, he seems very…..weak." Michael had turned back to the stocky bounty hunter, his attention now fixed firmly on the travel arrangements; Sheppard played no part in those arrangements and was therefore now ignored, his body seen as too weak to pose any threat.

Sheppard lay on the rough blankets, his mind whirling with the shock of what Michael had just told him. He had already been through one transformation in his life and he didn't relish the idea of another one; he'd rather die trying to escape than end up as a subservient…bug thing. As he watched Stower explaining to Michael the details of the distraction he had planned, Sheppard came to a decision; he needed to find a weapon, anything that he could use to escape. He had seen where Stower kept the black control box, and he knew the code to open the door, he'd watched Stower punch it in several times now, all he needed was an opportunity. He knew that the weakness that pervaded his body was becoming intolerable and he was well aware that he wouldn't be able to move for very much longer as his body pumped more and more of his precious blood into the already saturated blanket. As he watched Michael deeply engrossed in his conversation with Stower, he moved.

Lifting his head off the blanket, he paused as vertigo punched him between the eyes and his head span. Once more the water that he had swallowed earlier threatened to revisit him, but once more he swallowed hard against the threatening bile and his stomach finally settled.

He looked around him, his eyes desperately searching for anything that he could use as a weapon. It was as his eyes roamed the room that he suddenly thought about Stower's battle to drag him across the yard outside and the way he had been deposited on the bed earlier. Stower had left his com unit in place knowing that it was inoperable with the jamming signal that he was using, but he had also left the small throwing knife in place as well, the hidden one strapped to Sheppard's lower leg: Stower had been both lazy and arrogant, he had assumed quite wrongly that Sheppard was unarmed and he hadn't bothered to check otherwise. Now, as Sheppard pulled his knees up to his chest in a gesture of increased agony, his hand drifted down to his booted ankle and he felt the small knife tucked away out of sight, and he breathed a sigh of relief for the first time in the last few hours.

Michael heard the deep sigh and assuming that it was a moan of pain, turned back towards Sheppard, "I will be very disappointed if you die in transit Colonel. There is so much that I need to share with you…. The pain of transformation, the anger that you will feel as you watch your body transform into something abhorrent to you, such 'wonderful' moments for you to look forward to, don't you think?"

"Go t'hell…." Sheppard closed his eyes as another wave of pain washed through his weakening frame. The left side of his chest was now almost totally unresponsive and he hissed as he tried to pull in yet another breath that didn't want to come. Each breath felt like fire travelling through his lungs and upper chest and as he struggled to pull the air down, he clutched at the blanket at his sides, his fingers digging into the dirty material as he gasped. Michael frowned at the sight and walked back to the bed, his eyes fixated on Sheppard's desperate struggle to keep himself alive.

"Stower, how long as he been like this?"

"Hmm…" Stower looked up at the Wraith's question, "He was like that when I found him, so…probably about two hours now..why"

"He's drowning, his lungs are filling with blood and that's no good to me… We need to leave now!"

"But we will be seen if we go now…"

"I saw nobody on my way here Stower, it's a risk that I am willing to take… his other arm, take it." Michael indicated towards the arm that Sheppard had wrapped around his chest, "I should at least be able to prevent him from dying if I can get him back to the research base…if I leave now" Michael pulled Sheppard up onto his feet and hooked his right arm over his shoulder, indicating to Stower to take the other side. As they moved towards the doorway, Sheppard gasped in pain, his eyes glazing as he struggled with the agony that the sudden movement brought on. Stower picked up the black box from the table as they passed and awkwardly pressed the sequence of glyphs that opened the sheilding over the door.

But as they headed towards the now open doorway, Sheppard suddenly collapsed, his legs buckled under his body and his eyes closed.

Their attention now taken by Sheppard's sudden deterioration, neither of the men saw the tall figure that abruptly appeared in the darkened doorway, or the slight figure of the woman behind him; and it wasn't until the knife plunged deeply into his bulbous neck that Stower noticed anything at all.