When Colonel Sheppard stepped through the gate he noticed that the only personal he recognised were military. None of the normal civilian gate technicians were on duty. He double-checked his watch to make sure they had not come through at a strange time. They hadn't. Before he could voice his concern Dyson was marching down the steps.
"Woolsey. What the hell type of operation do you run here?" He demanded.
"Excuse me?" Woolsey asked.
"In your absence the city has lost all power, your people were not motivated enough to fix it and now all the damn civilians are striking."
"Striking?" Woolsey said in a disbelieving tone.
"I have had to remove two civilians from post and one military personal. My God Woolsey I have never seen such a badly run organisation." Dyson continued to rant leaving all of Sheppard's team and Woolsey speechless and confused. "In fact the only positive thing I can say is that the military contingent is top notch. Colonel Sheppard you run a tight ship." Dyson then turned to Lieutenant Young and bellowed. "Take them to see the prisoners." Then he turned back to Woolsey. "I expect a full explanation on how the rot ran so deep in ten hours."
Before Sheppard or Woolsey could respond Young approached and said, in a tone that Sheppard immediately recognised as 'trust me'. "This way."
As soon as they were out of the gate room and away from all of Dyson's men Sheppard asked. "What the hell is going on?"
"That Sir is a bloody long story, one that Major Lorne would be better explaining. The summary is Dyson has lost his sodding mind."
"In which case why are you following his orders?" Woolsey asked.
"Major Lorne ordered me to Sir."
"Why would Lorne tell you to do that?" Sheppard asked.
"Because Sir, he thought it was best to have someone on the inside." Young answered as they stepped out of the transporter.
"This isn't the way to the holding cells." Woolsey said.
"They are being kept in quarters rather than the cells." Young answered.
"Why?"
"I convinced Dyson that with the power problems the cells were less secure than quarters."
"Nice going Lieutenant." Sheppard commented as they continued down the corridor. When Ronon saw the armed guards outside Jennifer's quarters he growled.
"Why are they there?"
"Guarding the prisoners."
"In the doc's quarters?" Sheppard asked.
Young quickly switched sides so McKay and Teyla were between him and Ronon. "Well Sir she is one of the prisoners."
Ronon's growl was so loud the troops guarding the door all turned towards him.
Young sped up so he was quickly at the door and typing at the panel. When the doors opened they revealed Lorne lying on Jennifer's bed, bare chested.
"Lorne?" Sheppard asked, more than surprised by the sight.
"Sir. Ronon this is so not what it looks like." Lorne quickly said.
"His clothes were drenched and he needed to keep warm." Carson calmly explained from a chair on the other side of the bed.
"Why are you in the doc's bed?" Sheppard asked.
"No one else was using it." Lorne replied.
"Where is Jennifer?" Ronon asked.
"Down here." A muffled voice sounded from somewhere behind the bed.
"Why?" Sheppard asked as Ronon barged past him, heading to the source of the voice.
"Bed was too high." Lorne said leaving the others even more confused.
"Has she shrunk?" Woolsey blurted out in his confused state.
"No Sir, vertigo." Lorne explained just as Ronon caught sight of Jennifer.
"What happened?" The Satedan asked as he dropped to his knees.
"Well there is an interesting story." Carson said.
"Perhaps you can start by explaining why you have all been removed from duty." Woolsey suggested.
"Because I am a freak." Carson said.
"I am a woman or because I am dating Ronon or both." Jennifer said from the floor causing Sheppard to stretch his neck, hoping to look over the bed and see the body associated with the voice.
"Disobeying orders." Lorne shrugged.
"And trying to hit Dyson." Young said before adding a, "Sir."
"Why did you try to hit Dyson?" Woolsey asked, feeling as if he was the butt of a cruel joke.
"Because he hit the doc." Lorne said, his voice betraying the anger he still felt.
Ronon's question of, "He hit you?" was the loudest of the resulting questions.
Jennifer said something to Ronon that the others could not here, whilst Lorne nodded a confirmation.
"Could someone please explain exactly what has happened?" Woolsey asked as Sheppard and McKay stood on the tips of their toes and tried peering over the bed.
As Lorne recounted events Sheppard's team became more and more angry. When the Major had finally finished Sheppard exclaimed.
"I am going to kill him."
"Hang on a wee minute, before there is any killing can we establish if we are still prisoners?" Carson asked.
"No. Of course not. None of you have done anything wrong." Woolsey immediately answered.
"In which case we need to get Jennifer to the infirmary to get checked out."
"Could be a slight problem with that." Sheppard said.
"What now?" Carson questioned.
"All the infirmary staff are on strike." Woolsey answered as Sheppard moved his way round the bed.
"On strike?" Carson questioned.
"What if there is an emergency?" Jennifer asked starting to sit up, the sudden movement caused a wave of nausea forcing her to lie down again.
"Easy there lass." Carson said as he dropped off the chair to her side.
"Its ok doc, I am radioed into the key medical staff via a secure channel. Any emergency and they would be ready." Young replied.
"Any part of this city you are not involved in running?" Sheppard questioned the young Lieutenant before turning his attention to Carson.
"How urgent is the trip to the infirmary?"
"I wouldn't have suggested it for fun Colonel." Carson replied whilst Sheppard rolled his eyes. "But I guess a bit longer won't hurt, unless you have any objections Jennifer."
"Not moving sounds good to me." Jennifer mumbled, just as Sheppard reached Ronon's side. Looking down at Jennifer his face flashed with anger.
"Did he do that you to?" He asked.
"No. Most of this is courtesy of the wall." Jennifer explained.
Sheppard then dropped down to the floor and said something to Jennifer that Woolsey, McKay and Teyla were unable to hear. McKay immediately started edging towards the bed.
When Sheppard re-emerged Woolsey asked. "Why do you wish to delay the trip to the infirmary?"
"Well I have a plan, but it will take two hours and McKay's help. But it will stop any possibility of a fire-fight." He answered somewhat cryptically.
"Um Sir. If you want me to follow Dyson's orders Ronon and Teyla need to stay here." Young said rather awkwardly.
"Why?" Sheppard questioned.
"Well Sir, Dyson believes that the lack of discipline and insubordination stems from contact with non-Earth people."
"I assume he did not put it so delicately?" Woolsey interrupted.
"No Sir." Young replied. "As Ronon and Teyla are not from Earth he holds them responsible and wants them locked away."
"Why did he not detain us straight away?" Teyla questioned.
"Well he was persuaded that you might make a scene if we tried to detain you and it was best to trap you in here, where collateral damage would be kept to a minimum." Young explained.
"That was very diplomatically put." Woolsey commented.
"Thank you Sir."
"Well Ronon won't be going anywhere anyway." Sheppard said before looking at Teyla who nodded.
"Looks like you can follow your orders."
