-28th November-
"What the hell happened?" Lorne growled as he stormed into the brig. "Where were the guards?"
"Outside where they were meant to be. They swear no one got past." Teldy said looking down at the two bodies lying on the floor of the cells. Glancing up at Lorne she was surprised with how haggard he looked. His unshaven face and the dark rings under his eyes made him look years older.
"You saying they killed themselves?" Lorne asked, his voice cold and detached.
"I'm saying we shouldn't jump to conclusions until we have seen the security footage, which Dr Zelenka is getting now." Teldy said as Lorne had a closer look at the bodies.
"Wait a minute, they were the ones with the doc before she…What were they in for?" Lorne asked.
"They confessed to killing Dr Keller." Teldy said before starting a silent count as she waited for Lorne to explode.
"They what? Why wasn't I told?" Lorne asked as he went from anger, to shock, to confusion, back to anger in under a second.
"Try to stay calm." Teldy said wondering where Woolsey was. "Listen to everything before you explode."
Feeling every muscle tense Lorne slowly nodded his head and tried to focus on breathing as Teldy explained what had happened over the last few hours.
"Why wasn't I told?" Lorne ground out when Teldy had finished.
"Ah Major Lorne you are here, good." Woolsey said approaching the pair, deliberately ignoring the wrath that was emanating from Lorne. "Dr Zelenka will be here any second. I am assuming the guards have been no help."
"None Sir, they say they checked on the hour, went back to guarding outside and came back in an hour later and they were dead. They didn't see anyone come or go and swear they never left their posts."
"Any reason to doubt their stories?" Woolsey asked as Lorne smouldered to his side.
"Not based on track record." Teldy said as Zelenka entered the brig.
"I have got the footage if you want to see it." He said trying to avoid looking at the bodies. "And trust me you want to see it. But before you do this has not been tampered with. I am one hundred percent sure it is accurate."
"So it shows something?" Teldy guessed.
"You better see for yourselves." Zelenka said adjusting his glasses. "The first video is from outside. I have sped it up of course. The guards go in and check, then come back out and from then on are always there and no one else enters."
"So they were telling the truth." Teldy said as they watched a sped up version of the footage.
"The next video is where it gets interesting." Zelenka said tapping the screen.
They watched simultaneously on split screens footage from each cell showing the two prisoners stand and move towards the force field and out of view of the camera. Moments later Miller fell back into the shot, his body crumpling lifelessly to the floor before the scene repeated with Burke.
"We already know they died. The footage doesn't show anything useful." Lorne said.
"Yes and no. It does prove that whoever did this knew where the cameras were." Zelenka said. "The next video shows he didn't know about the new cameras." He added bringing up a new video.
They all watched the screen showing Miller and Burke silently sitting in their cells, when suddenly they stood. Moments later a man approached the cell of Miller and deactivated the force field moments before shooting him, before repeating the scene with Burke.
"Who the hell is he and where did he come from and go?" Lorne asked looking round the brig for any ventilation shafts.
"I ran his picture through the staff database and found nothing, he is also not a member of Stargate Command."
"So who is he?" Woolsey asked.
"When we find him we can ask, in the mean time we should concentrate on finding him." Teldy said.
"Yes, well there may be a problem with that." Zelenka said tapping his screen again. This time the screen showed lifesigns. They watched as Miller's disappeared, followed by Burke's. When the mystery man's lifesign also disappeared Teldy said.
"Seeing there is no body, where'd he go?"
"Well, apart from death there are two other possibilities. One he transported out, two he is cloaked." Zelenka said, before looking at Woolsey. "After our discussion earlier I have been looking into both possibilities. I have found no trace of a ship nearby, of course it could be cloaked. However, when someone gets transported using beaming technology there is an associated energy spike. I did not see that here or with Dr Keller."
"Wait you think the doc is alive and cloaked?" Lorne asked.
"It's a possibility." Woolsey said.
"You didn't feel like sharing this earlier?"
"No. I had no proof. All the evidence pointed to Dr Keller being dead and then Miller and Burke confessed to her murder. It seems highly unlikely they would confess to her murder if they didn't actually kill her."
"But she could be alive and cloaked." Teldy said.
"It is a small possibility. And I stress small." Zelenka agreed.
"How long to know for sure?" Lorne asked.
"Technically unless we find Dr Keller's body we could never conclusively rule out cloaking." Zelenka explained nervously adjusting his glasses. "But for now I will see what I can do."
"Prioritise finding our mystery man." Teldy said. "Find him, find the truth."
-00-
"It's funny." The soldier said as he walked up to Jennifer. "We were all worried that Sheppard's team would see right through the fake suicide and that McKay might even find a way to uncover what had happened. When they all gave up on you so easily we relaxed. None of us thought that someone like Woolsey would actually have faith in you and think outside the box. Yet here we are. Thanks to his persistence Miller and Burke have met an untimely end, no matter, more money for me I guess." He said. Noticing Jennifer watching him with hope in her eyes he added. "Don't look so hopeful, there is no way they will find you. The only way they will find you is to come here. To do that they need one of these." He said pointing to the device round his wrist, "and we are wearing the only two in the city. All this intervention really means is that I can now use more aggressive methods to gain your cooperation." He paused and walked away from Jennifer out of the brig.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jennifer asked following him
"You see, plan A was to give no indication that I was involved, so that there would be nothing to point towards cloaking. However, now that I have had to reveal myself to deal with Burke and Miller there is nothing to be lost from revealing myself again and moving onto stage two, months ahead of schedule."
"Stage two?" Jennifer asked.
"Yes. You see my employers believe in Michael's work. Although primarily they want to make a hybrid army of mindless soldiers to do their biding, that is just the beginning. After that they want to be able to use Wraith DNA to enhance themselves. The problem as you are undoubtedly aware is combining the DNA in a stable way. But Michael, who would have been a great asset, had a plan. We will continue his work." He explained as he continued to walk through the corridors of Atlantis.
"They want Torren?" Jennifer guessed feeling a chill run up her spine.
"Yes they do. His DNA is unique and offers such potential. Not to mention the fact he may share his mother's strange connection to the Wraith. Originally I wasn't going to take him at this stage so there was no connection to your demise so that no suspicions would be raised. However, that ship has sailed so instead of waiting until you have made progress, if I take him now there will be more motivation for you to work. You see he will be experimented on regardless of if you help. And the other doctors are much less experienced and much less ethical than you." The soldier sneered.
"You can't. He's a baby?"
"A very valuable baby." The man said. "I will see you later Dr Keller, when I hope my new guest will encourage you to work without hesitation."
"No." Jennifer said.
"No? You would rather watch the baby suffer?"
"No, I won't let you take him."
"And how do you plan on stopping me?" He asked amused.
"You may be able to walk through walls, but you can't walk through me." Jennifer said moving to stand in front of him.
"Debatable." The man said throwing a punch into Jennifer's stomach.
Jennifer felt the punch as the air was expelled from her lungs. Falling to the ground she clutched her mid drift.
"As fun as this has been I suggest you do things you are actually good at." The man said. He then stepped over the doctor and started to walk away oblivious to Jennifer climbing to her feet before launching herself at him.
As they both hit the deck he directed his elbow at Jennifer making contact with her cheek. The force causing her to roll off him.
Angry by Jennifer's latest attack the man got onto his knees and moved over to Jennifer who was lying in the floor. He then grabbed her throat and began to squeeze.
"You will learn respect." He said. "My employers are not as for-" He added only to suddenly fall silent and release Jennifer with his hand instead reaching for the knife embedded in his chest. Falling back he looked down at the knife then to Jennifer and said. "You've just signed your death warrant." With that he fell to the ground.
Jennifer scrambled over to him planning on saving him if she could. But when she tried to roll him over her hands passed right through him and she realised he was no longer in her concealed world. She was completely alone, with no food, no water and no hope of rescue.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Next chapter up tomorrow.