Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to the Stargate franchise or its storylines. My intention is not infringe upon those rights, so please don't sue me.
Author's Note: Whoever actually follows my stories, I'm really sorry about the major delay in posting new chapters. Maybe next time it won't be a six-month hiatus…
The Young Weapon
Chapter 5: Last Defiance
Beyond the glass walls enclosing the lead administrator's office, Woolsey sat at the desk with his hands clutched together. He and John Sheppard were casually running through base procedures when Dr. Peter Kavanagh marched in from the adjoining bridge from the control room. He paused in the doorway until Woolsey abruptly looked up from his files and waved him in. Sheppard rolled his eyes when he recognized the stubborn doctor.
"Can we help you, doctor?" Woolsey inquired.
"Three guesses at what this is about…" Sheppard muttered.
Kavanagh glanced back to reply to the colonel behind him: "And you would guess right Colonel Sheppard." He turned to Woolsey and forcefully flattened his hands against his desk. "As a former member of the IOA, you, of all people, should know that keeping the Satedan prisoner into custody without supplying proper hospitalities such as food and water is in direct violation of the Geneva Convention."
John's disdain was visibly apparent. "What do you expect us to do? Put her in the presidential suite?"
Woolsey calmly responded, "If it weren't for the fact that she possesses such powers that we may or may not have complete knowledge of, we would accommodate her needs. However, that is not the case. Seeing as slightly opening the isolation chamber could put this base and the people residing here at risk, I cannot allow those needs to be met."
"She hasn't exactly demanded a breakfast platter" Sheppard remarked.
Yes - because you haven't offered any medical treatment to the prisoner!" Kavanagh snapped at Sheppard. "If that prisoner ends up dying, I'm reporting both of you to Stargate Command…"
"Let's be real Kavanagh," John realized, "what's with you and her well-being?"
Woolsey's furrowed forehead relaxed as he caught Sheppard's drift. "You wish to test on her, don't you?"
"Well aren't you a hypocrite?" Sheppard added.
The doctor's jaw clenched. "While she does exhibit extraordinary abilities, it has been proven that human cells and nanites coexist in her system. Studies on these could go a long way in our defense against the Replicators. I'm not suggesting we cut her open or inject her with anything. All we need is a tissue sample and daily body scans." The double whine of the Stargate immediately ceased the discussion.
Sheppard's shoulder radio buzzed, indicating that SGA-5 was prepared for the next off-world visit to M7G-677. Sheppard stood up from his chair and before he walked out of the office, he glanced back to the doctor, "Drop it Kavanagh," he sternly concluded, "it's not gonna happen." Woolsey nodded in agreement, and both men left the agitated doctor in the vacant room.
*****
Back in the isolation chamber, the neon green numbers of the digital clock clicked over to 3:00am. Naima laid on the stone floor in a crouched fetal position as the four armed soldiers sat at each corner of the chamber.
At just the time when one of the soldiers was about to drift off, he was awoken by the sudden surprise of static from his shoulder radio. "Commence change of the guard number seven at 0300." All four soldiers rose sluggishly and exited the chamber while Naima laid motionless with her eyes glazed over.
A second went by before four considerably younger soldiers exchanged positions with the previous armed men. The four men stepped into the room and simultaneously noticed the alarming emptiness. In a sudden bout of panic, the junior soldiers whipped their heads back and forth and squinted into the chamber to discover that the Satedan prisoner was nowhere to be found. The team leader left the three armed men and ran into the observation room in the next hallway. After he rushed through the slowly sliding doors, he found the Lantean control panel integrated with the multiple LCD screens lighting the images of seven men in the isolation chamber - the four previous guard members, the two new guards still clearing out every corner of the chamber room and one putting out an APB to all other security personnel.
The lieutenant clicked on the familiar double-triangle key to rewind the last few seconds of the footage. The figures of the three armed men blurred as the screen depicted the backwards motion of the soldier exchange. Then, he clicked on the triangle play button and the motion recalled the image before they had arrived. The lieutenant watched intently as the previous four soldiers sluggishly left the chamber. It seemed as though the last soldier to leave walked out in front of the caged Satedan and swiped her image from the screen - one section she was in the chamber, the next she was gone. After they left, the chamber remained empty until the lieutenant saw himself entering the screen with his panicked expression.
In the confusion of all the Lantean keys of the control panel, the team leader clicked the button of his shoulder radio. "This is Lieutenant Fields contacting any SGA team leader - requesting permission to scan the isolation chamber!" When only met with static, he repeated his transmission. After another agonizing moment of radio silence, the lieutenant scanned the various keys marked with Lantean symbols. He located a large key with three bright zigzag lines and hesitantly pressed it.
He twitched his head up to see the result of his haphazard action. The center LCD screen showed the armed men in the isolation chamber. One second, they were surveying the corners of room - and the next, all seven soldiers pointed their Anti-Replicator Weapons in the direction of the whooshing sounds of the deactivating electronic cage.
Fields spurted out an explicative and started running back into the isolation chamber with his ARW, but found that he was too late. Naima instantly reappeared in the chamber. The chamber's door had only slightly slid open when the stone had shifted under the armed guards' feet. Their bodies fell through the floor as Naima rose and exited the shielded chamber. Fields ran into the room and was met by Naima's flying fists.
After forcing Fields' weapon away from him with lightning speed, she kicked his feet from under him and flipped him onto his stomach. Keeping him down with her knee on his back, Naima pulled Fields by his sandy hair with one hand and phased her hand through his back with the other.
"You have one chance to be honest with me, Lieutenant Fields," she hissed into his ear. "Where are my weapons?"
"Kiss my ass, Sheila!" he yelled back. To this response, Naima slammed his head against the stone ground, leaving the team leader unconscious with a broken nose. She stood up and phased through the isolation room's closed doors. She looked down either end of the hallway and ran down the corridor…
*****
In the infirmary, Dr. Keller squinted at multiple computer monitors. They displayed the blood platelets of the two soldiers lying in the quarantined section of the infirmary. Keller scanned the streaming data trying to ascertain a medical correlation between Lt. Gibbs and Lt. Simon that could lead to the same illness. Growing frustrated, she pulled out Simon's medical history and searched for the treatments he received while stationed on Atlantis.
While recalling the past two years of working on Atlantis herself, Keller had a sudden moment of clarity. She pulled out Gibbs' folder and realized the connection - but still couldn't figure out which course of treatment to start the lieutenants on. She gently placed the folders next to the computer and held her head in her hands.
"You're not giving up, are you?" Keller whipped up to see McKay standing in the doorway.
"No…" Keller sighed. "I just…don't know what to do. I wish Beckett was here - he had a way of dealing with quarantines ten times worse than what I've got here."
"Well," McKay wrapped his arms around her, "Beckett knew where his limits were. You need rest, Jennifer."
Keller sighed and rose to replace the medical files in the cabinet. She turned back to see that McKay was met by the business-end of a Wraith stunner.
"Don't…move," whispered the curly-haired Satedan. "Don't say anything. Just start walking." McKay and Keller glanced at each other. "Both of you. Let's go." She motioned to the entrance with her weapon.
"Where are we going?" McKay asked as they walked down the hallway.
"Show me where the jumper bay is…" Naima calmly responded, "…and you'll find out." The three stopped at the end of the corridor where the path forked into two hallways. "Which way?"
"It's to the right, but it's two levels up," he pointed out. Before they could take the indicated path, Sheppard and twelve armed soldiers appeared at each end of the hallway. They were about to discharge their ARWs when they saw who Naima was standing with.
"Hold your fire!" Sheppard ordered the security officers. "Put the stunner down, now!"
Naima quickly grasped the doctors' arms and pulled them towards the wall to their right. The brightly lit hallway disappeared as Keller, McKay, and Naima phased up thru the levels of the central tower…
…They finally fell out of the wall into the dark chamber which housed all of the base's puddle jumpers. Naima landed in her feet while McKay and Keller laid disoriented on their stomachs.
"I think I'm gonna be sick…" Keller blurted.
"I know I'm gonna be sick!" McKay began hyperventilating.
Naima grabbed them by their jackets and pulled them towards the nearest jumper. After they phased through the shuttle door, Naima forcefully sat McKay down in the pilot's seat and Keller in the passenger position.
"Get this ship online," Naima ordered.
"What makes you think I'll do that?" McKay asked defiantly. "Ronon's threatened that he'll shoot me a thousand times, but ultimately, he's harmless. So you know what? I'm not worried!"
"You saw your Captain Murphy, right?" Naima asked.
"Yeah? So what?!" McKay snapped.
"That soldier interrupted me. Do you realize how many walls there are in that facility?" Naima paused while she waited for McKay to put the facts together.
McKay realized her implication and slowly activated the ship's manual controls. "Where to?"
"The mainland," Naima responded.
"Are you nuts?" McKay retorted. "Do you know how many contaminants-'' Naima glared at the doctor with Satedan intensity.
"For God's sake, Rodney, just get us there…" Keller goaded.
Rodney turned back to the ship's controls. "You know what? Fine! But if I catch some alien virus…mark my words - heads will roll!"
Naima's aggravation boiled to the surface. She twitched as she rose the stunner to McKay's temple. "Your head is gonna roll unless you shut up!" Naima retorted. "I'm surprised you mouth hasn't gotten you killed."
McKay clenched his jaw as he elevated the jumper through the hexagonal-shaped door in the bay's ceiling. They flew up and out of the base's flight tower, towards the uncharted forests of the mainland…
*****
Within a few minutes of Naima's jumper escape, the control tower came to life with scurrying technicians and security officers darting across the Gate room. Mr. Woolsey rushed out of his office and onto the South bridge, where he was joined by Sheppard, Teyla, and SGA-3, all walking while strapping on their weapons and radios.
"What's their head start on us?" Sheppard panted as they sped down the hallway.
"They've only just left," Woolsey rushed, "but at the speed they were traveling, the control room estimates their arrival at the mainland in half and hour."
Dr. Owusu, member of SGA-3, nudged her way to the front of the convoy. "I should warn you, Colonel: the science team has been analyzing the weather patterns on the mainland for the past few months," she raised her data table and poked at the screen, "and if we're going there to rescue Dr. McKay and Keller, we need to do so before 0700." She held the screen in front of Sheppard for him to glance, "we've discovered that a periodic cold front that occurs every 18 weeks collides with the constant humidity of the island to form dry storms."
"A little bit of rain isn't gonna be a problem, doc," Sheppard scoffed.
"Maybe not," Owusu urged, "but the thunder will. While precipitation will be minimal at best, the thunderstorm will ignite the forests to perpetuate its naturally-occurring nutrient cycle. The mainland will be a complete inferno in approximately four hours."
"Then let's not waste any time. Suayan - take the passenger seat controls while Summers opens the shuttle bay doors," Sheppard ordered as the group turned the corner into the jumper bay. "Teyla and I will take the lead."
"Sheppard! Hold on!" a robust voice resounded from the hallway. Teyla and Sheppard spun to see Ronon jogging into the jumper bay: "I'm going with you."
"I don't believe that's the best course of action," Teyla replied.
"She's right," Sheppard affirmed, "the girl's unstable. Just seeing you might set her off."
"Don't treat me like a liability, Sheppard," Ronon snapped. "You guys refused to call me on this and it's only gotten worse. She's Satedan - I'm Satedan - I'm pretty sure I could level with her."
After a moment of hesitation, Sheppard gave in. "Fine, let's go." All three marched up the ramp to join SGA-3 in the puddle jumper. Sheppard sat in the pilot seat and the ship came to life with lights illuminating the dashboard.
As Lt. Suayan lifted the controls to elevate the small ship, Sheppard swiveled around to speak to Ronon seated behind him: "Is Naima right? Is she your daughter?"
"No…" Ronon paused, "Yes…I don't know…"
The colonel glanced at his troubled friend, aware of his painful past. "I know you're not a liability, Ronon, but this girl is. Doesn't matter who she thinks you are. When it comes down to it, you're the one who has to choose the setting on your gun."
Sheppard rotated back forward to see the schematics screen blink in front of them, displaying the atmospheric activity around the land beyond the dashboard. As the distance shortened between the jumper and the mainland, the alien storm grew murkier - much like the storm brewing in Ronon's heart…