A/N: Apologises. Real life has held me hostage for the past month and I have escaped to post this. Without further ado here is the first half of chapter 10…
Chapter 10 – The means to an end
Zelenka and Chuck were working on a control panel not far away from the pacing colonel. He'd been in the control looking over everyone's shoulder while glancing at the gate. Every so often he would look at his watch.
Dr Weir had been watching him from her office and strode over. She placed her hand on Sheppard's shoulder in an effort to calm his nervous energy. It was affecting everyone. Rodney still had some time left, before being picked up by a jumper, but at the rate the colonel was fidgeting he was going to be back sooner than that. She liked the idea of Rodney coming home, but she knew he also needed some space to say goodbye. Carson had spent some times talking to her about Rodney's progress, and Kate had added that for closure Rodney needed to go back and see the Kano. As reluctant as she had been, Sheppard had convinced her that letting Rodney go alone was an acceptable option. The pacing somewhat negated that choice. "John," she removed her hand from his shoulder. "It won't be long before he's back."
Sheppard stood stiffly as if knowing he'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have. "I know, but we should pay him an early visit."
Elizabeth looked at him with raised eyebrows. John knew he was being irrational but he wanted to go. He didn't want to wait another ten minutes, let alone an hour. He had an unsettling, unexplainable feeling that they needed to go see Rodney. A feeling that had been building over the last few minutes.
He relaxed and turned on the charm. "A personal visit is needed." Smiling at Elizabeth he explained his reasoning. "We should visit the Kano and thank them for keeping Rodney safe."
"John, you agreed to let him say his farewells alone. He still has an hour to go."
He smirked. "The worst he can do is yell at me."
Elizabeth stared at him for a moment. Sheppard's face dropped as he realised she wasn't going to be won over easily so he compromised. "Let's just call him and say we're coming early." He didn't want to beg, but she saw the desperation in his face and turned to the technician.
"Dial the planet."
The wormhole engaged and the blue surface sparkled and reflected in the control room. Elizabeth studied the colonel who was eagerly awaiting his invite to the planet. Why had she done that? She shouldn't have folded, but Sheppard was wound tighter than a coil. She wondered whether she'd done it to make him or herself feel better.
"Ma'am, I'm getting Wraith signals."
"What?" Sheppard was stricken. He swallowed his fear as he swung around to look at Elizabeth.
"Are there any other signals?" she asked, her stomach churning. Rodney had been carrying a radio when he left. This couldn't happen now. Elizabeth flashed back to a year ago. Rodney missing, and her military commander closing himself off to everyone. They couldn't lose Rodney so soon after finding him.
"No." The technician looked grim. Zelenka and Chuck walked over to them listening to the unfolding events. Zelenka typed onto a nearby datapad; his frowning face confirmed the worst.
Weir turned to Sheppard. "Get a team together. Take a jumper."
Sheppard touched his ear piece, his trained kicked in to mask the worry he was feeling. "Ronon. Teyla. We're going to get Rodney. The Wraith are on the planet."
"We'll be there shortly."
Sheppard turned around and looked into the concerned faces of his fellow expedition members. He turned to his team mate, "Zelenka. Gear up."
ooooooo
The cloaked jumper slid peacefully from the gate into the chaos. They were here to find Rodney. "You have got to be kidding me. Zelenka, get up here." The jumper dipped as Zelenka stumbled his way up to the front. He peered out the window as Sheppard spoke. "Sorry about that."
A dart weaved around the sky heading towards the tree line. It moved further away from them, and Sheppard was reluctant to follow it until they could assess the situation. Sheppard tightened his grip on the controls. "Crap."
Zelenka plugged in his datapad and took in the scene before them. Five Wraiths surrounded a group of people with their weapons raised. It was a standoff. Ronon and Teyla moved to stand behind Zelenka. "What's that?" Ronon nodded as they watched a Wraith bounce off the barrier and land on the ground a few feet away.
"A shield," Zelenka muttered under his breath.
Sheppard had been watching the sky and tilted the jumper to the left to avoid the returning dart. He refused to believe Rodney was lying on the ground sucked dry but they couldn't get too close to the ground to see what was happening. He firmly believed Rodney was responsible for the shield and was inside it.
"The shield signature is similar to the one used by Rodney with the energy beast." Zelenka stated as he searched through the database.
Teyla frowned. "Didn't that one run out of power?"
"Yes." The scientist replied.
"Why hasn't this one run out of power?" Sheppard asked.
The scientist typed furiously. "I don't know what's powering it. It's fluctuating and oh…the shield's expanding." Zelenka looked up from his datapad.
They watched the blue bubble encircling the people ripple outwards pushing the wraith away. It kept going until it encompassed the gate. The dart circled the bubble and then it whined past the jumper. A beam skimmed the ground leaving five more Wraith who began advancing towards the shield.
They couldn't have anymore wraith down there. Sheppard took control. "Hold on." They followed the dart as it dipped and flitted around the darkening sky.
"Will the shield hold if we try to shoot down the dart with a drone?"
"I don't know. Wait -" Zelenka's fingers flew over the keyboards and his face began to look worried, "The gate's dialling."
"In or out?" Sheppard asked.
"Out." Teyla spied someone using the DHD. She gripped the back of the chair and leaned forward to get a better view.
Sheppard waited until the dart was far enough away from the group of people before he fired. The drone hit its target immediately and a shower of debris scattered all over the ground. One dart down, ground wraith to go. Sheppard fired into the group of recently deposited wraith who were looking to the sky for their invisible foe. The ground lit up and dirt rained down on the shield. They watched the wraith around the shield turned their attention to the sky. Even though the jumper was cloaked, the wraith were firing randomly into the sky and now it was their turn to dodge and weave from the weapon's fire. Sheppard brought up the display. There were no other darts in sensor range only the wraith around the shield. It must have just been a scouting mission. Thank goodness for small favours.
Teyla released her hold on the chair as she watched the unfolding events with bated breath. They were all playing their parts, Sheppard flying, Zelenka looking at the technology, and Ronon and her waiting. Biding their time. She saw the gate engage and the people in the shield run towards their exit until two persons were left. Suddenly the shield began to shrink, until only the DHD and gate were encompassed.
"Can you get closer?" Ronon asked.
Sheppard approached until he was hovering ten metres away. From this vantage point Ronon could clearly see it was Pathee and Rodney. The astrophysicist was pale; his face looked eerie from the glow of the blue shield. There were dark rings under his eyes. He didn't look like the healthy – or as healthy as Rodney could get – man that had left Atlantis a few hours ago. "What's that on him?" A small blue light was emanating from his chest.
"It's the shield." Zelenka tapped a few keys.
They watched Rodney wave, the minute gesture was taking a toll on him. Pathee mouthed something to him and hesitated before walking through the gate. The gate shut down and they all saw the effect this had on Rodney. His body recoiled and he teetered before dropping to his knees. Rodney shut his eyes as he slumped next to the DHD.
Sheppard glanced at Rodney while keeping an eye on the wraith who were searching for them in the sky. They couldn't stay in this position forever. The wraith would find them and they needed to get Rodney. Now.
Zelenka stopped typing furiously, "Colonel, we need to land and get Rodney. The shield. It's failing."
Everything sped up; Zelenka talking rapidly, the shield covering Rodney wavering, the wraith advancing on the unconscious man and the whine of Ronon's weapon charging.
Teyla laid her hand on Sheppard's shoulder. "We will get him."
Sheppard made to stand up, but Ronon stopped him. "We need you to fly. We'll be quick." Ronon and Teyla nodded to the men seated. Sheppard knew the plan was a logical one but that didn't stop him from wanting to go. Stop hogging all the glory, flyboy. Let them do their job and you do yours. He deferred to the little Rodney voice in his head and negotiated the jumper to the ground. He opened the back door and Teyla and Ronon leapt out.
Sheppard's heart was pounding in his chest as he turned to Zelenka, "Are they able to touch him?"
Zelenka paused and lifted his head from the computer screen before looking out the front window. "They will now. Rodney is no longer protected." Both men watched the red blasts and metal projectiles make a deadly path to Rodney. Three wraith stood over an obviously pliant meal. Teyla and Ronon were almost there.
"Colonel, should we not start dialling out?" Radek unplugged his datapad and moved to the back of the jumper as the colonel dialled Atlantis. Radek pulled out a med kit and his handgun and waited. All too soon, Ronon and Teyla were back and they laid their prize gently on the jumper floor.
Sheppard surveyed the carnage around the gate as he pressed the symbols that would lead them home. Wraith bodies littered the ground and huge gaping holes punctured the landscape. The wraith were dead, the Kano were gone, and they had Rodney back. The chaos had ended and now they had to get Rodney back to Atlantis.
Sheppard touched his earpiece, "Elizabeth, we have Rodney. Have a medical team waiting for us." Weir acknowledged his request as they rose into the air. Sheppard stole a quick look at the back of the jumper and saw Teyla placing an emergency blanket over Rodney. Zelenka was holding the depleted device in his hands.
Sheppard muttered under his breath, "We're going home, Rodney."
As they left through the gate, the heavens rained down hard mixing the blood and disturbed earth into a muddy mess.
TBC