Approaching Doom
Really, you would think that these scientist would search the database and learn the basic schematics of the devices they are likely to encounter before they left Atlantis. I am having to explain for a third time why it is not a good idea to put that wire into that junction on this station and even my immense patience is wearing thin.
"Hey, Mairghread?"
I turn my head to see Dad waving me over to him. I hurry over, wondering what he needs me for.
"Me and Teyla're doin' some recon. Why don't you come? Be good for you," he rumbles and hands me a 9 millimeter handgun in its holster.
"Of course." I slide the holster's loop onto my belt and then strap it to my thigh. My slitted skirt, which I copied from the one Mum wears to train in, allows it. I check the weapon, making sure the clip is full and the safety is on. Before we left, John made sure I was certified to handle all the basic handguns they use.
We wander through the corridors, watching for anything that could be either dangerous or of interest to the scientists. Dad seems relaxed—freed from the confinement and inaction of the jumper, with an entire base to explore and no enemies that would show up on the life-signs detector present and McKay back in the control room…I think this is the closest thing to him having fun I've seen since I was a child and we played chase. There's even a ghost of a smile on his face.
Mum, however, seems uneasy and distracted. She looks around, somewhat bewildered. Her grace and cat-like tension are gone. Her eyes are darting over carvings, her feet, the floor, but not the corridors, not into dark doorways, and she continually glances back at me, a strange gleam in her eye that makes my skin crawl.
Dad seems to notice it too. After a while of walking in this eerie silence, he begins trying to make light conversation.
"This place is big, huh?" he asks lightly, but Mum doesn't answer. I too stay quiet. The knot in my stomach is clenching, and something is terribly wrong here, though I don't know what. Something is wrong with Mum…it's as though she weren't there…
Dad looks over his shoulder, concern furrowing his brow. "What's wrong?"
She seems startled. "Nothing. Why?"
"You just haven't said a word."
The fact that he is noticing this as something potentially wrong only increases the sensation of fear for me. Dad has never been one for needless conversation.
"Have I not?" Mum stops in her tracks.
"No."
"Has my silence made you uncomfortable?" she asks, and the certainty I feel that it is not my mother inhabiting the body in from of me explodes in my chest. What is going on?
"No," Dad stops and looks at her. He can sense it too…
Mum walks up to him, ignoring me. "Your friendship is very important to me. I would hate to do anything that made you ...," she puts her hand on his shoulder, "uncomfortable."
No. No. This is not my mother. This sudden, unbalanced act? No. Something nags at the back of my mind; I try to remember, but the scrap remains elusive…
"Okay, well," he says calmly, levelly, though glancing uneasily at her hand, "we're good."
Oh no…
"Dad!" I scream my warning too late—Teyla slams her knee into his groin even as the word tears from my throat. I step forward, and she has already hit him, and he is falling, his head cracking against the wall, and he is down, groaning, semi-conscious. I reach up to tap my comm, call for help, and suddenly there is a boot in my stomach and I cannot breathe…as I fight for air, she hits me in the face, again and again and again, and I am falling backwards…my head connects with the stone floor with a sharp crack, and I am lost in a world of exploding stars, swirling of darkness and miring pain.
As I lose my hold on consciousness, my mental barrier's fall, and my mind brushes the one who controls my mother's body. A searing pain and revulsion that have nothing to do with my injuries consume me. The wraith whom I sensed is controlling my mum. I try to call out, try to warn someone, but my voice will not work. I reach out with my mind, hoping to connect with Sheppard or Weir or Rodney, but it is like trying to hold sand.
I fight to see through the darkness and the pain, to see my dad, but more agony comes as she kicks me over and over...
Dad?! Dad?...Dad?...Dad……..Da……………
TBC
Next: Sleeping Serpent