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Part 15/24

-Chapter 15-

A Living Nightmare

-Atlantis – Past-

The Wraith arrived and began their attack.

Every ten seconds another hit slammed against Atlantis's shield, pounding relentlessly through the day and on into the night. Even though they knew differently, those remaining in the city almost expected the walls around them to quiver from the repeated impacts. No one got much sleep; not only were the flashes unsettling in the extreme, everyone knew the ZPM was rapidly being drained with each hit. The more power the ZPM lost, the weaker the shield got.

As the hours dragged past Elizabeth wished passionately for some contact between the city and the Daedalus, concealed behind Atlantis's sun and maintaining radio silence until the time came to put their plan into action. If she wanted to be completely honest, she actually ached to be able to pressure Rodney, Radek, and Hermiod to work faster. That was how they functioned best; at least Rodney did. The threat of imminent danger (or death) always made him lift his efforts to unbelievable levels.

The hours dragged past. She rarely left her office or the area of the control room, feeling that she had to be immediately at hand, that even a second's absence could thwart all their planning. One of the Johns, as she had started thinking of them, or sometimes both together were usually close by: bringing her coffee or something to eat, or urging her to sit down for a minute or two, solid in their silent support.

Daylight brought a deceptive dimming of the impacts on the shields. Elizabeth stood on the control room balcony watching the dawn. Her hands clenched on the railing. Would it be the last one she, and so many others, would ever see? Could history be changed? Or would some cosmic failsafe beyond their control force them inexorably into a predetermined path?

"Elizabeth." John spoke quietly from behind her. "You need to come inside and stay inside – now."

She turned to look at him a little wildly. Somewhere during the night, she had lost the ability to differentiate between the two; each of them now seemed equally marked by the burdens they bore.

"It's not going to be safe out here for much longer." Would her John know that? Had the other one sent him out to retrieve her? Or was he the other, come to draw her from a danger he'd already experienced? She raised a shaking hand to her forehead, her mind reeling and swinging among the possibilities.

"Elizabeth?" He took a step closer to her, hazel eyes concerned and questioning. He halfway extended a hand.

It took all the strength of will she possessed, but somehow she managed to pull herself together. "I'm sorry, John," she said, "I didn't mean to alarm you." She pasted on the best reassuring smile she could muster as she went towards him. "I guess I was just off in my own little world for a bit."

He took her elbow long enough to steer her into the control room, saying, "I gave you as long as I could. Hope I didn't startle you."

"No, no, I'm fine." In the back of her mind, some part of her howled with hysterical laughter. Listen to us! Mouthing amenities back and forth, pretending everything is going to be normal and all right.

Oh, John, John! Why couldn't I admit how much I love you when there was still time?

Elizabeth's headset clicked. As she reached to activate it, she saw John mirroring her gesture. A panic-stricken voice came through. "Doctor Weir? Colonel Sheppard? This is Doctor Thompson. The ZPM is almost depleted!"

Elizabeth locked eyes with John. Footsteps pounded up the stairs from the Gate level. The other John hurried over to join them just as the other channel on all their headsets, tuned to Daedalus, clicked.

Colonel Caldwell's voice came through. "Atlantis, this is Daedalus. We are beginning to move from behind the sun into position to execute our plan."

The three of them exchanged quick glances of relief and hope. Elizabeth responded to Caldwell first. "Good to hear, Colonel. We've only minutes of power left in the ZPM before the shield fails. Please standby while I pass on the word." She clicked over to Doctor Thompson, her voice sounding almost gay. "You can relax, Doctor, the Daedalus is working on it right now." Then she turned her attention back to Caldwell. "What's your exact status, Colonel?"

"McKay, Zelenka, and Hermiod are just finishing up the last modifications to the time device. We'll be in position to beam it to the central Hive in less than four minutes."

Elizabeth let out a breath and closed her eyes. "Thank you. Contact us again when you're almost in position."

"Will do, Doctor. Daedalus out."

Tense silence, so thick as to be nearly palpable, settled over the control room. Elizabeth looked at the two Sheppards, who seemed like identical twins standing side-by-side a few feet away from her.

This is it, she thought. This is the moment we have all been waiting for. All this anticipation, all this concern, all this work -- I hope it's not all for nothing. Motioning for them to come with her, she nervously crossed the control room to stand on the little balcony overlooking the Gateroom. Below, a group of Marines prepared to defend the control tower should the shield fail before the Daedalus could destroy the Hives with the time-travel device.

Her eyes scanned the group, coming to rest at last on the Dexes and Teyla. All three were rigged out in full combat gear. The two men were exchanging edgy looks; Teyla looked like she could punch them both out. A faint, genuine smile curved her lips. She wondered if the Ronons had tried to get Teyla to evacuate to the Alpha site, and if they were still pressuring her to stay in the control room, an area of moderate safety. From Teyla's expression, she was ready to threaten them with bodily harm if they didn't give it up.

Teyla looked up, offering her a grim smile. Elizabeth returned it with equal seriousness. They each had a unique perspective on the situation. It was their deaths that had inspired their two visitors from the future to attempt a radical rewrite of history. Weir nodded at the Athosian, who acknowledged it with a slight tilt of her head. Be very careful. The thought zinged between them on the look.

Elizabeth paced back to the communications console, tension building to an all but unbearable level. What is taking them so long? She glanced at her watch -- only two minutes had passed. Why did it feel like so much longer?

McKay's voice exploding in her ear made her violently jump with its very unexpectedness. On the edge of her vision, she saw the Johns go rigid as they got the transmission as well. For a moment no clear words came through, only an incoherent babble that sounded worried and frantic and most definitely out-of-control. She could hear Zelenka chattering incessantly in Czech in the background. Judging by the few words she could pick out, he was alternately yelling swear words and trying to calm Rodney down.

A sudden rock-hard lump of concern tried to block Elizabeth's throat. She swallowed it back, trying to project calmness as she responded to Rodney. She raised her voice only as much as necessary to be heard as she said: "Rodney, calm down! What is going on? I can't understand you, you're talking too fast!"

Hermiod said something. Rodney yelled: "I know, shut up! I'm trying to tell her now." The sound of a deep breath being sucked in came clearly through the headset. When the scientist spoke again, his voice was clear and low enough to understand, although the panic and fear still came vibrating through. "We can't do this, Elizabeth! The stupid Ancients designed the blasted device with a failsafe that's a dead man's switch!"

To Be Continued. . .