Parasitism5
Moira woke. Reached. Found empty blankets. "John?" She sat, abruptly awake. "John?" She glanced at the clock, swore. Quickly she jumped out of bed, ran to the bathroom to hastily clean up, to dress. She nearly ran to the Jumper bay, ignoring the pain in her foot. She skidded to a halt seeing John standing with Ronon and Rodney before they started to head into the ship.
She hastened to them. "John! Colonel Sheppard," she corrected with a blush, "may I have a quick word?"
All eyes fell on her. John smiled. "Of course, Doctor O'Meara." He walked towards her, balancing his P90 casually. "What is it, Moira?" He smirked at her messy attire, her messy ponytail. "Oh! Don't you worry, baby...if you run out of panties while I'm gone you can find some in my room." He winked.
She smiled. "Hilarious, John. Just, just be careful!"
"Of course, sweetheart. Anything else." John could feel the gazes on them. Ignored them.
She debated. "It's too bad you have to leave today, colonel. You do know what today is, don't you?" she asked, deciding to lighten the mood.
"No. Why don't you tell me, baby. What is today?"
She sighed, pouted prettily. "Today is suck John's cock so hard he'll beg for mercy day," she teased softly. "Oh well..."
John's eyes lit up with sensual revelry. "Fuck. Is it?" He half-turned. "Mission's scrubbed! Stand down!"
"John!" she objected, laughed as he turned back to her, grinned.
"What? I can't miss this day, baby, I just can't."'
"Oh well, sweetie, those are the burdens of command, I guess. And who knows when this day will come around again."
"Hmm...it better, baby. When I get back I will spank that pert little ass of yours for giving me a hard-on before a mission."
"John!" She hit his arm, blushed.
"Sheppard? Today?" Rodney called, rolling his eyes. Ronon grinned.
John shrugged. "Sorry, baby. Burden of command and all. Which you will alleviate once I return."
"Of course, sir, I am under your purview." She became serious. "Be careful, John." She touched his arm a moment, drew her hand away from him.
"I will, honey. Don't you worry. Take care of your foot." He kissed her. Not a quick, discreet kiss but a long, lingering one that both startled and aroused her. He drew back from her, smiled. Turned and headed for the ship. "Well? Let's go! Rodney, get that scanning equipment working! We need to move ASAP!"
Moira stared, stunned.
John exited the Jumper, boots stomping on the ramp as he rapidly descended. "Well?" he snapped, looking round. He lifted a pair of binoculars. Stared. "Huh."
"We're getting closer, all right?" Rodney snapped in reply. "Give me a sec to track it, all right! Oh, what's wrong, John? Missing your girlfriend already? It's only been two days!"
"Two days. Two planets," Ronon remarked, moving to scan the area. The area past the Stargate was a patchwork of trees and open fields. All tinted gold and green by the rising sunlight.
"It's not my fault!" Rodney grumbled, hunched over his scanner. "It's the equivalent of searching for a needle in a haystack! Which in this scenario the haystack is a galaxy!"
"Why would you look for a needle in a haystack?" Ronon asked, puzzled.
"Never mind! Here! Got something! Sheppard! Sheppard!" Rodney looked up to see John raising a camcorder to his eyes, filming something in the distance. "What is it? What are you doing? Taking pictures? Of what?"
"Wolves," Ronon noted, trying not to smirk. Failing.
"What?" Rodney barked a laugh. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me! You! Sheppard? What are you now, a wildlife documentary expert? Oh, I get it! Aww...you're filming animals for your girlfriend!" He laughed loudly.
John lowered the camcorder, stuffed it into his pocket. "They could be of scientific value," he postulated, abashed at having been caught.
"Bullshit! The only value they could have is to help you score!" Rodney laughed.
"McKay! Focus! Track the device now!" John ordered, glared. Glared at Ronon who was smiling broadly. "You! Why the hell aren't you on point?"
"You didn't say take point," Ronon excused.
"Well, take point!"
"Okay, okay, this way. I think it's here!" Rodney stated, leading the two men. "The signal is stronger...weak, but definitely not distorted like it was on the last planet!"
Moira was trapped in a blur. A fog. She tried to swim out of it, above the heavy lethargy. Trying to remember. She had been walking down the hallway. John had been gone for two days. She remembered walking down the hallway, then falling. A woman screamed, screamed. Except it had been her screaming. Screaming as a terrible, terrible pain laced her foot. Cramping it viciously. Pain like fire ripping muscles, as if something was clawing itself out.
Moira struggled, struggled past the drugs, the morphine. The sedatives and anaesthesia making her memories cloudy, indistinct. Except for the pain. Carson's voice floated into her mind. Telling her he had to operate. Cut it out. Cut it off. Off. She remembered shouting, screaming.
Her eyes flew open and she jerked upright. Fell back into the bed. The infirmary was a blur. "John! John!" she cried, but her voice was hoarse, weak. Hands caught her arms, eased her back onto the bed as she struggled.
"Easy, Moira, easy! It's all right, love," Carson soothed.
She blinked. Stared as Carson's kind face came into view. Concern, sympathy in his blue eyes. She relaxed, but looked down the bed to her feet. "You cut it off? You–"
"No, love. I cut it out. See?"
She moved, grimaced, moaned as pain let her know that her injured foot was indeed still attached to her. It was wrapped tightly in gauze and bandages. "Oh."
"John's still off-world, love. I didn't think it was necessary to send for him. But I can if you wish. Now that you are awake."
"No...no...I'm fine. I...aren't I?"
"Yes, you are."
"Carson, what happened? The pain...God, the pain...like something was ripping my foot apart from the inside!" She shuddered.
"It nearly did, love. But you're fine now."
"What? What do you mean?"
Carson sighed, debated. "Moira...I had to operate. You've sustained a little tissue damage but your blood is clean. Now that it's removed you should heal quickly."
"It?" she asked worriedly, feeling a shiver. Wishing that John was with her. "Carson?"
"I don't know what it is, Moira. It's a...it's a growth, but not a tumor," he hastily assured. "A foreign object that must have been in your foot for months now, and only now has been triggered by...something...to activate...to...to...to gestate."
Moira gulped. "Activate? Like a nanite? No...you said, you said...gestate?"
"Yes. This is a living thing, Moira. And...it's still alive."
John held up his hand, halting them.
"What is it now? Oh, let me guess, some more animals you can film for your–"
"Shut up, Rodney!" John pointed. The three men had emerged into a clearing. A field full of waving green grasses. Short enough to reveal a small, mechanical device blinking on the ground. Emitting a faint pulse that Rodney had been following. "Bingo."
"That's it! Finally!" Rodney shut off his scanner. Waited. "Well? It's right there! Aren't you going to go get it so we can go home? We haven't seen a soul on this planet and it's clearly been deserted for some time! Obviously Ford's not here, nor are his men. Right? Right? I mean, look at it! It's been here for some time, exposed to the elements. No wonder the signal was so difficult to track, it's been compromised by the exposure!"
"Exactly."
"Huh?" Rodney looked around, suddenly nervous.
John nodded to Ronon. The Satedan instantly stalked into the shadows, circling their position. John took a step but Rodney's hand on his arm restrained him.
"Wait! You think this is a trap? Of course it's a trap! You can't just go barging in over there in the open! What are you thinking? You can't just stroll out there!"
"That's the plan. Stay here. And stop talking." John strolled into the field. Crossed the distance to the tracking device with nonchalant ease. P90 cradled in his arms as if he didn't have a care in the world. But his gaze darted everywhere. Every sense alert. Tense. "Ford!" he called. "Ford! I'm here! What are you waiting for?" He knelt, picked up the tracking device. Shut if off with a swipe of his thumb. He examined it. Looked up but didn't feel any hostile eyes on him. He heard a sound. A low murmuring that rose and fell, carried by the breeze that ruffled his hair.
"Sheppard," came Ronon's voice over the radio, "it's clear. But I hear a...a voice...weird..."
"Track it. We're on your six." John gestured. "McKay!"
Rodney jogged to him. "Well? Is it safe? Is it–"
"Listen!" John pocketed the device. "What is that? Does that sound like...like Czech to you?"
Rodney cocked his head, listening. "I don't hear any...wait. Wait. What is that? It does sound like Czech...Zelenka?"
"Has to be. Let's move!" John sprinted towards the trees, following the sound, Rodney on his heels.
"But how? He's not on this planet! He's on another planet!"
"Do you know another person in this galaxy who speaks Czech?" John retorted over his shoulder. Darted through the overgrowth of trees. "Ronon, copy?"
"Here, Sheppard."
John bludgeoned into another clearing, wondered at the obvious hilarity in Ronon's voice.
"What the–" He stopped dead in his tracks.
Moira stared in horror. "Alive? You mean...like a parasite? Living inside me? Feeding...oh my God..." She forced down the bile in her churning stomach.
"Moira, you're fine. There's no trace of it in you now, I promise!" Carson patted her shoulder. "You need to calm down."
"Calm down?"she exclaimed. "Calm down? There was a, a parasite growing in me!"
"Not exactly. It's unlike anything I have ever seen. And it's still alive...and, and growing."
"Growing? Like, like, like what? What?" Moira's eyes widened in horror.
"It has sub-Wraith DNA, Moira," Carson reluctantly told her. "Somehow when you attacked and your foot sliced open...this, this thing was inserted. Inert. Like an egg, I'm guessing...harmless until something triggered it."
"Triggered it to...to...but it's been months, Carson! It was in my foot to...to incubate? Incubate?" She clutched the blankets.
"Yes. Until some catalyst made it erupt from its sac. And, Moira, you're fine," he assured, seeing her panic.
"I think I'm going to be sick! Carson! They tried to drag me off into the woods, the sub-Wraith! If, if John had let go of me...oh my God! They would have inserted into my..."
"Easy, love, easy! John didn't let go, did he? He didn't, and it was only your foot." Carson patted her arm, trying to console, to soothe. He adjusted an IV, increased the dripping medication.
"If, if John had let go...had let of me...oh my God! Carson, that's how they, they breed! Like an insect where the larvae eats into the host from within...oh..." Her rising horror was submerged by a wave of lethargy. She fell back. Eyes closing. "Carson? You...you drugged..."
"You need to relax, Moira. You keep thrashing like that and your foot will pain you terribly and never heal! Calm down, love, it's over. It's over. It's out of you now."
"What triggered...what...let go... John didn't let go, let go...where's John? Where's John?" she asked in a small voice, slurring as the drugs fell like a blanket on her.
Carson sighed. Tapped his earpiece. "Sargent, the second Colonel Sheppard returns have him report to the infirmary. Immediately. And use that exact word." He stared down at Moira as she slipped into dreamless slumber. "And it better be damn soon."
Rodney blinked. Blinked again, as he couldn't believe his own eyes. Glanced at John who was likewise momentarily stunned. "I don't believe this!"
Tied to a large tree were Radek Zelenka and Teyla Emmagan. The ropes were sturdy, secure. So secure that Ronon was sawing at them with his big knife, grunting with the effort as the tough fibers stubbornly resisted the sharp blade.
"What happened? How the hell did you get here?" Rodney asked.
"Ford," John answered grimly, moving towards them as at last the ropes sprang free.
"Look at you!" Rodney laughed. "Look at you, Radek! Tied to a tree! There's nothing more embarrassing than that!"
"How about hanging upside down from one," Ronon noted.
"Not funny!" Rodney snapped, recalling his own unfortunate mishap.
"Are you two okay?" John asked, looking from one to the other.
"We've been tied to a tree for two days, colonel, so no, we are not fine! Not at all!" Radek fumed, rubbing his raw wrists as he was freed. "That pup of yours has run free of his leash! Attacks us without warning, without any provocation and just leaves us here!"
"We are unharmed," Teyla informed, slipping out of her bonds as they fell to the ground. She appeared more embarrassed than injured. "I am sorry. He caught us with our guard down. Stunned us and brought us here."
"Trussed us up like Thanksgiving turkeys and left! Left!" Radek was still fuming.
"He said you would find us. That was all." Teyla shook her head. "I do not understand him."
"It's a message. For me," John dourly noted. "That he can take my people whenever, wherever. It's like a game to him."
"A game? Well that's just great, isn't it?" Rodney fumed. "The only thing worse than a lunatic running free in this galaxy is a lunatic with a sense of humor!"
"He's not here now. Nor are his men," Ronon observed. Sheathing his knife at his side.
"No. And he won't be near here either. Like I said, a message. Let's go."
"Wait! You don't think he'd go after Elizabeth, do you?" Rodney worried.
John considered. "No. She's got a contingent of marines with her, and she is in a heavily populated area. Too many witnesses. All the same we will contact Lorne and give him the heads up. Let's go. I don't suppose you could track where he went."
"Oh, sure, I'll just upload all of the 'Gate addresses from that DHD and sort them one by one. You'll have your answer in a few months!" Rodney snapped, but paused. "Although...this planet is pretty desolate...and that DHD probably hasn't been used much..."
"So you can do it?" John asked, leading the group through the trees. "Seriously? Because I was just kidding. Sort of."
"Seriously? Yes, maybe. Sort of. I'll see what I can do. Of course where he went won't be where he is, right?"
"Right. But it's a start."