Ninety seconds earlier
Lorne ducked behind a console as the approaching Wraith fired at him. Knowing he was almost out of options he glanced at his watch and saw the count down decrease to under ninety seconds. Trying to stay focused on an escape plan he looked for an exit, any exit, when he heard Sheppard's defeated voice over his radio. He knew why the Colonel was calling, there was nothing anyone could do from outside the base to save him. He was on his own. That meant he needed his attention focused on the job at hand. He wanted to try to help ease the guilt Sheppard was obviously feeling, but if there was any chance of escape he had to think about him, not the Colonel. Pressing on his radio he cut the Colonel off, assuring him it was okay as he stood and fired a few more rounds at the Wraith. Only, as he fired the gun clicked in the stomach churning way guns do when the magazine is empty. He looked from the gun to the Wraith who seemed to have realised his problem. Three of them took aim at him causing him to start to exclaim an expletive.
He was only half way through the word when the Wraith opened fire. He stared, frozen in place, waiting for the blasts to hit is body. When the pain hit though it wasn't the searing agony he was expecting. Instead it was more of a jolt. Regardless the impact sent him flying to the ground, his body feeling unbelievably heavy. As he went down his head thudded on the ground causing him to lose his focus before blacking out.
To his surprise he came to. Not expecting to still be alive he guessed he could only have been out for a few seconds, else the explosions from the charges would have finished the job the Wraith started. Shaking his head he tried to focus and figure out what was happening. A task that proved difficult when the world seemed to move round him and when Colonel Sheppard seemed to be constantly calling his name.
Despite his lack of clarity he did know one thing, whereas moments before his body had felt heavy, so heavy it was as if something was on top of him, now he felt light and when he braved opening his eyes he seemed to be floating. The strange sensation making him question his earlier assumption that he was still alive.
Opening his eyes again he realised that it wasn't the world that was moving, it was him. He didn't know how, but some how he seemed to be floating down a Wraith corridor. Shutting his eyes to combat the nausea and dizziness, his mind tried to process the information when his nose smelt air, fresh, Wraith free, air. Forcing his eyes open again he saw that he was outside the Wraith base. Lifting his neck slightly he saw the base in the distance, although not as much of a distance as he would have liked. He was just about to let his head flop back down when he saw the first explosion and the fireball that raced towards him. Moments later, just as he felt the heat on his face he seemed to fly forward before hitting the dirt.
-00-
"Major Lorne?" A voice asked as the major felt his body being shaken.
Forcing his eyes open he saw a large figure hovering over him. The position of the sun and his inability to focus on anything made it impossible to identify the figure so he shut his eyes and groaned.
"Major Lorne?" The figure repeated. "We must move." Lorne wanted to ask questions but was too tired and in too much pain. Instead he managed a grunt as he attempted to place the voice, which was almost familiar, but too hoarse to place.
Whoever the figure was, seemed to grow impatient and instead hoisted Lorne over his shoulder. The movement causing another wave of nausea to hit the Major before he blacked out again.
-00-
"We should go." Teyla said, voicing the words no one else dare say. "Any Wraith not in the base will descend on the wreckage. It is not safe for us here."
John though did not respond. Instead he stood silently staring at the flaming wreckage in the distance. Finally the Colonel said.
"We don't leave people behind."
"John, Major Lorne was trapped, how could he have escaped?" Teyla asked gently.
"I don't know." John conceded. "But we're not going until we've found Lorne and Kiryk. We're bringing them home." Turning to Rodney he asked. "See if you can get a reading on them?"
Not voicing his doubts Rodney lifted up his handheld console and started tapping. After a few minutes he said. "It's no use. The explosion has unleashed a huge amount of em radiation that's affecting the sensors. I can't see anything on it. Not even us."
"Give me that." John said snatching it from Rodney, desperate to see the impossible.
"I've told you it won't work." Rodney repeated as Ronon said.
"Sheppard."
"We're not leaving and that's final." John said, guessing the reason for Ronon speaking. Turning his focus back to Rodney he said. "There must be something you can do to fix this."
"It's not broken." Rodney tried to explain as Ronon once again said.
"Sheppard."
"What?" John snapped as he turned to face Ronon. Having captured John's attention the Satedan pointed into the distance where Kiryk was carrying Lorne over his shoulder.
-00-
"Kiryk, please come in and take a seat." Woolsey said as the former runner appeared in the doorway of the briefing room. "How are you feeling?" He asked, noticing the various cuts and scrapes on Kiryk's exposed skin.
"I'm fine. How is Lorne?" The former runner replied as he nodded at Ronon before sitting opposite Sheppard.
"He'll be fine. Fortunately he has a thick skull." John answered. "So we were hoping you could fill in some missing pieces for us. Tell us what happened after I gave the order to start the timer."
"Lorne set the timer and we started to leave. Except we ran into some Wraith, we were forced back. They had some sort of device that caused an explosion. The roof fell and I got separated from Lorne."
"Why didn't you use your transporter?" Rodney asked.
"It takes time to charge. I wasn't sure if Lorne was injured, if he was I'd need it to transport him out." Kiryk explained, he waited to see if his answer was accepted before going on. "I made my way through the ventilation system and came out in Lorne's section. He was out of bullets and the Wraith were firing on him. I managed to get to him and transport him out. He got knocked out so I –"
"How exactly did he get knocked out?" John asked.
"I had to tackle him to the ground to stop him getting hit. He must have hit his head." Kiryk said, starting to feel like he was on trial. "I carried him from the base and then the explosion happened." He paused before confessing. "He may have hit his head again in the explosion. When he wouldn't get up I carried him to the rendezvous."
"And you never thought about leaving Lorne and escaping?" John asked.
"No."
"What if he'd ordered you to leave him?"
"That would have gone against his earlier order of not leaving his side and stopping him getting shot by the Wraith." Kiryk said, earning a grin from Ronon.
"So?" Woolsey asked looking to John.
"It's less colourful and makes more sense, but it ties in to what Lorne said. I'm happy he earned his stripes."
"So I can stay?" Kiryk asked. "Permanently?"
"It's not quite that easy." Woolsey replied. "The IOA will insist on interviewing you first. Teyla and I can give you guidance on how to pass though."
"It's easy." Ronon said. "Just save their lives."
"Hopefully there won't be an invasion attempt on the day of the interview." Woolsey replied. "If you pass that interview your position here will be permanent. If there are no further questions I'll-"
"What did you find out about what they did to Jennifer?" Kiryk interrupted looking from John to Rodney.
"So far nothing." John replied. "The files we grabbed are encrypted. McKay's working on getting the information from them, but for now we'll have to wait."
"What about the Wraith Commander who took her? His Hive is still out there."
"I'm working on finding it." John assured him.
"How?"
"As soon as McKay has extracted his name from the files I'm going to contact a Wraith."
"You work with the Wraith?" Kiryk asked in disbelief.
"No. But there is a Wraith we have a kind of truce with, he may be able to point us in the right direction, if he's still alive. But I should warn you he's been ignoring all my recent requests for a meeting. It's possible we may never find the Commander who took her."
A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. Next chapter up tomorrow.