The site wouldn't let me log in yesterday, for some reason. Apologies for the belated posting!
NEVER STOP MOVING
By TIPPER
——————————————————————————————
CHAPTER SEVEN: LIGHTING THE FIRE
"Don't," Metra warned Teyla, who was struggling against the hold on her. "Look to your friend, Miss Emmagen. He understands." Teyla frowned, and turned to her left. Someone was pressing a knife to Rodney's throat now, and his jaw was trembling. She hissed out a breath, and turned a furious glare on Metra...but she stopped struggling.
"Your transmission devices," Metra spoke evenly, as if she weren't holding them hostage, "are interfering with our equipment. Would you be so kind as to remove them?"
Before either Teyla or McKay could answer, they felt the radios looped off their ears and the walkie-talkies pulled from their vests. Teyla's jaw hardened in anger, while McKay just looked scared.
"What is the meaning of this?" Teyla demanded. "Let us go."
"Who were you communicating with?" Metra asked in reply, taking McKay's radio from one of her lackey's hands. She studied it a moment before looking at McKay, "Who else is here on our planet? What is your intention?"
Teyla hissed, "We told you why we—"
"I am not asking you, Athosian!" Metra snapped, glaring at the shorter woman. "You are not the one who interests me here."
Teyla's eyes narrowed, but she did not speak again as Metra moved closer to McKay. The scientist, for his part, had been standing still since the knife was lowered away from his throat, though, with the rude words to Teyla, his eyes had lost a little of their deer in headlights look. He pressed his lips together tightly as Metra leaned in, the Kaveer doing a wonderful impression of a Wraith Queen.
"I repeat," Metra said, lowering her voice to a more threatening tone, "who were you communicating with on these devices?"
"They're called radios," McKay answered, his voice just as low and threatening. "And we already answered that question. Ask Cleran."
"You obviously lied before. There is something else here, something that came through the wormhole before you did. We were not quick enough to catch it on our camera, but we know it's here."
"I don't know what you're talking about." Then he frowned as the remainder of what she said clicked in his head. "You have a camera on the Gate?"
She gave a small smile, "You failed to inspect the dialing device, Doctor McKay. There is a camera installed on its base. Unfortunately," he smile fell, "the angle is poor. All we were able to see was a boxlike contraption, before it disappeared."
McKay gave a weak shrug, glaring a little at the two men still holding onto his arms, then looked back at Metra. "I still don't know what—"
"Has anyone ever told you what a terrible liar you are, Doctor? Baret," she looked to the man standing on her right. "Please show Doctor McKay your screen."
Baret nodded, walked back to his station and pressed down on some crystal keys. As he did so, he looked up at the screen on the wall nearest his station.
A very familiar looking sensor screen appeared, shaded in dark blue and with pale green concentric circles. It was identical to every sensor screen on Atlantis. And it showed, plain as day, a red dot hovering over the compound with the following label: "GS-3221X". McKay grimaced.
"You have managed to get Lantean technology to work for you."
"Lantean…as opposed to Ancestral." Metra nodded, eyeing him curiously. "Interesting that you should call them by their given name, and not the name that so many of the ignorant use. But, to answer your question, yes, we have. Though not all of it." She lifted an eyebrow, "To be honest, it was almost by chance. Many of our best scientists could not get the technology to function, then, one day, it just did. I wonder…" she stepped forward, studying McKay's eyes as he purposefully kept his diverted from hers, "would you happen to know why that is?"
McKay glanced at her briefly, then away. Apparently, that was all the confirmation Metra needed. She smiled suddenly, almost gleefully, and nodded.
"There are definitely many things we need to discuss then, Doctor McKay. But first," she stepped closer, and leveled her gun at his chest, "tell us what it is that came through the Ring before you arrived."
Rodney's jaw shut, and he looked past her, towards the screen where the Jumper's call-sign blinked unconcernedly. GS…Gate Ship…it was a good thing they didn't know what those two letters stood for.
"We have answered your questions," Teyla said evenly, reinserting herself into the conversation. "You will not learn anything different from us. You have made a great mistake, threatening us this way. Now, let us go, or, I promise you, you will not like the consequences."
"Or, really?" Metra's lips curved into a sneering smile, regarding Teyla like one would a bug. "I think, perhaps, it is you, Miss Emmagen, who has underestimated us." Her eyes flicked up to whomever was holding her. "Take her to one of the cells. She is of no use in this matter."
"No, I will not leave Doctor McKay! You cannot—" Teyla started to fight again, and got smacked soundly on the side of the head, causing her to lose her sight momentarily. When she came to, she was being dragged away, already far across the large room from Rodney. She looked up, blinking through was felt like liquid on her face, and caught sight of him watching her worriedly. "Rodney!"
"I'm okay!" he shouted back. "It's okay! Just don't forget me! And stop bleeding!" He sounded scared, but more for her than him. She also understood the underlying statement—he expected her to stick with the plan…to get Connam out if she found him. But, he also wanted her not to leave him behind.
That was something that would never happen.
——————————————————————————————
"They've been found out," Ronon said, glaring at the silent communicator. It had gone dead right after the woman, Metra, had requested Teyla and Rodney remove their radios. No way would they have done so without at least an argument. "We shouldn't have let them just—"
"They're still alive!" Sheppard snapped, his own eyes on the HUD, looking at the two blips representing Teyla and McKay. They were being separated—which could mean that Teyla might still be following the plan, and going to try to find Connam on her own. "We need to give them more time."
"No!" Ronon snarled. "It was a bad plan! I say we land this thing and go in there, tear these people to pieces!"
"And hurt potentially innocent people in the process?" Sheppard argued back. "No! We are going to give Teyla and McKay a little more time. We have seen nothing yet to indicate they are in any real danger. For all we know—"
"For all we know, they're torturing McKay and taking Teyla to be shot!"
Sheppard's eyes widened, staring up at Ronon like he had two heads. "Okay, you're seriously pessimistic, you know that? I thought Rodney was bad, but you've no faith in anyone, do you?"
"I don't trust people who hurt my friends," Ronon defended, crossing his arms angrily. "And these people have definitely hurt Connam. I don't know him that well, but he's a friend of yours, and that makes him a friend of mine. So, no, I don't trust these people and I think we need to get Teyla and McKay out of there…now."
John's jaw tensed, but…he couldn't fault that logic. Fact was, he was itching to get in there as well.
"Okay…" his eyes narrowed, studying the terrain and the location of the various vehicles in the back of the compound along with Connam's truck. They all looked like fuel based vehicles, just like back home. He also quickly mapped the locations of all the Kaveer on the ground. "Okay," he said again, "we're going to give them ten more minutes. If we don't hear from them, then we'll go in, get Teyla and McKay out. But, we're going to need a plan." He looked up again at Ronon. "And I'm thinking it's gonna need some explosions."
Ronon's answering grin was a wonderfully terrible thing to behold.
——————————————————————————————
Stripped of his vest, Rodney was shoved into a chair in front of Baret's station, flinching away from the suddenly large looking man. Baret could give Ronon a run for his money—though the Kaveer had a lot less hair. Rodney spotted Cleran on the other side, kneeling down and going through his vest, pulling out the scanner and also pulling off the laptop from the back. He was about to say something about being careful with everything when something blocked his line of sight. Metra had come up close to the chair, standing inches from him, her stance ramrod straight. When he leaned his head back to meet her eyes, she pointed to the Jumper's call sign on the Ancient sensor with Teyla's gun.
"Tell us what that is."
Rodney pursed his lips and made a show of looking intently at the screen. He saw the ship moving, flying towards the rear of the building. Was Sheppard following Teyla?
"Um...a sensor grid?" he answered, leaning back in the chair and looking back up at the older woman. He could feel the sweat on his face, giving away his prevarication as effectively as if he'd come out and told them it was a toaster.
Metra's jaw tensed, pushing the gun closer to his face. "I would not test our patience, Doctor McKay. I repeat, what is it?"
Rodney looked back at the screen, then down at the crystals making up the keyboard of the console. Not all were lit up, and he noticed several were cracked.
"This is damaged," he said, not looking up, trying to stay focused on the technology and not on the threat from the obviously dangerous woman. "Was it like this when you found it?"
"You're stalling," she said.
He bit his lip, his eyes looking anywhere but at her face, "I'm just saying...maybe, because it's damaged, it's showing false—"
Someone clubbed the back of his head, causing stars to flash across his eyes. He didn't think it was Metra, because he didn't see it coming—so it was probably Baret. He breathed heavily through the sharp pain, the air loud in his ears, catching himself with the console.
His hands splayed across the crystals, feeling the power thrumming through them, sensing the knowledge inside their workings just like he did at home. Looking up, his eyes darted around, and he saw more Ancient consoles, and more grids, all of them connected. Like reading a book, he quickly absorbed and catalogued the configurations of the consoles and symbols on the keys—recognizing all of them. My God—they were all Ancient weapons systems and shields. Were they active? How did they get here? Or did the Kaveer find them here and—
"Doctor!" Metra slapped his face, and Rodney's vision grayed, his cheek stinging from where a ring on her finger had cut him. Breathing hard, he raised a hand to his burning face and sharp anger suddenly clouded his judgment—he hated having his thoughts interrupted—and he glared up at her.
"It's your equipment," he snarled without thinking, resting both hands again on the console. "You figure it out."
Metra almost smiled at that, her eyes shining with a strange mania. Her gaze lifted, looking over the top of Rodney's head, the smile turning into a leer. "Bring me the shock stick," she ordered, before returning her gaze to Rodney's. She grabbed his chin roughly in hard, callused fingers, pulling his head up. "You will tell me what I want to know, Doctor McKay. Believe me. I know fear when I see it—beneath all that bluster, you are a weak man."
Rodney swallowed, some of his anger fading in the face of such coldness. His hands remained on the console, and the warmth of the crystals was like a beacon to him. He looked again at the sensor grid when she let his face go, his chin throbbing with the bruises sure to show up where she'd gripped. Metra asked him again what was on the screen, and his focus landed on the dot showing the Jumper, giving his friends away...
To hell with this.
He wasn't even sure he'd actually done it until he heard all the shouting, and felt himself pulled away and thrown to the floor, sliding across the black linoleum material on his back. And then he was being pulled up by his jacket, and Baret was in his face. The black haired man seemed huge now...huge and angry...and the coloring...
Reminded him of Kolya. He was scrambling at the hands holding him down, breathing fast.
"What the hell did you just do?!" Baret roared, his voice echoing in McKay's head like a bullhorn. "How did you turn it off?!" He was shaking him, hard. Behind Baret, Metra was shouting as well, similar questions, similar demands, but he could barely hear it over the man holding him down. What was he going to say? That he simply touched it and thought, off?
"Tell us how to turn it back on!" Baret yelled, shaking him again, McKay couldn't breathe. "Now!"
McKay's eyes closed. He wouldn't give Sheppard away. Not now. "I can't!" he shouted, using the last of the air in his lungs. "I don't—"
Baret hit him hard enough to knock his head back against the black floor with a large crack.
He didn't know anything else after that.
——————————————————————————————
Two guards led Teyla down a narrow hallway, the walls were just as white as everywhere else, the floors just as black. She wiped a hand across his face, trying to get rid of some of the blood she felt drying on her cheek and forehead. By the time they emerged into a long, but narrow room, her vision was no longer blurry and she felt well enough to stand up straight. Which was just as well—because she had found what they had come here to find.
Squinting a little against the bright sunlight streaming through a bunch of small windows, she found herself facing a row of cells. At least a dozen of them. And half of them were filled—and, based on the colorful clothing, not by anyone who was Kaveer.
The long row of cells were separated only by bars, allowing the prisoners to see each other down the corridor. Thus, it was easy to spot Eric Connam not far from where she stood, sitting on a pallet and looking bored out of his mind.
The trader looked just about the same as when Teyla had last seen him, although scruffier. His faded blond hair was dirty and loose, not hidden under the plain brimmed hat he liked to wear, and the long handlebar moustache seemed to weigh heavier than usual on his face. The normally well trimmed beard was unkempt, and shaggy, but not unattractive. The main difference was the lack of animation. While not a young man—he was possibly in his late forties, early fifties—Connam had always seemed to Teyla to be filled with energy, always in motion. Now, though, his eyes were downcast, studying the black linoleum floor with a listlessness she had never seen him own.
Of course, that all changed the moment he saw her.
They walked Teyla right past his cell, and his eyes drifted up in curiosity…and instantly widened. He was on his feet and gripping the bars of his door, mouth opened to say something, most likely to protest. She gave him a look, begging silently for him not to say anything, not yet, and it seemed to work. He closed his mouth, but he didn't take his eyes off her.
They shoved her into the cell next to his, and she had to catch herself before she went down. Turning, she saw the two guards who had brought her here were smiling, one holding the P90 close in his arms like a baby while the other simply raked his eyes over her. She stood up proudly, not ashamed by her looks, and simply gave him her most acid stare back.
It seemed to work. The second guard sneered and backed away after the door was shut, heading back to the corridor leading back to the main room. The first, the one with her weapon, simply hovered, moving to lean against the wall on the far side of her cell, his interest not totally on the P90.
Reaching up, she brushed more of the sticky hair from her face, grimacing a little at the tackiness from the dried blood and the sting of the cut along her hairline. All things considered, it did not feel that bad of a wound. It probably looked worse than it felt, although she was going to have a headache for a while. Her hand then drifted down to her neck and along her shoulder, until she felt the soft lump.
She pressed down, grimacing a little at the subtle pain, then let go. She repeated it a couple of times, then stopped.
——————————————————————————————
"Colonel," One of the marines was manning the controls of the jumper and watching the HUD while Sheppard finished outlining his plan to Major Lorne, Ronon and the other marines. At the sound of his name, John came forward, looking up at the screen. Teyla's life sign blinked on and off three times.
"That's the signal," the marine said.
"Right," Sheppard said, looking to the men behind him. "Here we go."
——————————————————————————————
TBC...