Chapter 44: You're mad aren't you?
"It didn't work on her," a voice somewhere off to my right partially roused me from unconsciousness. Frowning in puzzlement at why I'd be hearing Major Lorne's voice, I shifted slightly and tried to open my eyes and sit up only to find to my great concern that I couldn't - in fact when I tried instead to call out I realised that I didn't have any motor control whatsoever. Being Wraith stunned twice in such a short time frame was clearly not a good thing. "Don't panic," I thought. "They'll search the room – they'll find you."
"Oh. Beckett wondered if the females would be immune," Rodney mused.
"Yeah," Major Lorne replied. "Something you might have mentioned before she almost killed me, Rodney." That sounded like something Major Lorne would say, reassuring me that I wasn't dreaming.
"I only thought of it now," Rodney's voice took on his classic complaining tone.
"Colonel Sheppard," a disembodied voice called. "So far we haven't run into a single Wraith, sir."
"Understood," John was close by! "Please look over here" I yelled in my head. "Sheppard to Daedalus."
"Go ahead," Colonel Caldwell replied.
"You can start sending people over, sir," John reported. "They're all human and the air is good. I think we're out of the woods."
I suspected the Daedalus had followed through on the original plan and beamed over the retrovirus canister. It was the only thing that could have explained the pain filled cries I'd heard and the fury on the Queens face before she'd left her chamber. Lucky for me that Doctor Beckett had perfected the retrovirus so that it had no effect on humans!
Hearing footsteps nearby I strained to move something, finally managing to scrape my boot against the floor. After a short pause rustling sounds issued nearby and I felt someone standing beside me.
"Ah ... Sir?" Major Lorne called out in a dazed voice.
"What is it Major?" John's footsteps echoed through the floor to my ear.
"There's something over here that you need to see." Major Lorne reported reluctantly.
There was a short pause and then the sound of confident boot steps striding towards me. I cringed internally, not really looking forward to John's reaction when he realised I was on the Wraith Hive ship instead of being back on Atlantis.
"Sabina?" John whispered, dropping down near my head. I felt his hand at my throat and heard his sigh of relief on feeling my heart beating strongly. "She's alive," he said in relief. More steps issued from around me.
"She's been stunned," Ronan said.
Straining with everything I had I slowly opened my eyes to the sight of John Sheppard kneeling near my side. Ronan, Major Lorne and Rodney all stood behind him wearing expressions of concern mixed with surprise. Shifting my head from side to side I realised that I was lying on the floor, squeezed against the wall behind a large shape I could only assume was the Queen's throne.
"Hi guys," I slurred, relieved to finally feel sensation returning throughout my body. "What're you all doing here?"
"What are we doing here," John asked incredulously. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"You mean no one noticed I wasn't on the Daedalus?" I pretended to look hurt, which wasn't hard because with the return to full wakefulness the pain from all the hits I'd taken from the Wraith Queen was starting to register.
"Of course I noticed," John growled. "The Wraith Dart was gone too and I assumed that you were back on Atlantis."
"I guess Colonel Caldwell didn't have time to tell you I'd disappeared," I let him off. "Can someone help me up?"
Ronan reached down and pulled me easily to my feet. I staggered a bit before finding my balance. Spotting the Wraith Queen starring up at me with dead eyes immediately, I glanced at Ronan with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah I shot her," Ronan admitted easily.
"Thank you," I hugged him quickly, stepping back before I got all teary. "I really hated that bitch."
"Are you injured?" John pulled me back towards him. He touched a hand lightly to my face, tracing the bruises the Queen had left on me.
"Minor injuries," I dismissed. "You?"
"No," John's voice was still bordering on anger at finding me where I shouldn't have been. "Can you give us a run down on what happened?"
"Okay," I said reluctantly, telling them everything that had happened as succinctly as possible. I was careful not to look at any of them because I really didn't want to see their reactions until I'd finished.
"Is that it?" John asked in a neutral voice. I shot a look up at him and spotted the clenched jaw and grinding teeth – he was seriously pissed off at me.
"You're mad aren't you?" I whispered.
"Let's see," John's voice moved from neutral to heated in a heartbeat. "You disobeyed my order to stay where you were, flew the Wraith Dart without permission – giving them the TED device in the process, and provoked the Wraith Queen into a fight. And then when you had the chance to escape you decided to play the hero and go looking for us instead of getting out of here like you should have," John paused. "So yes I am mad!"
"That's a little harsh, Sir" Major Lorne tried to defend me.
"Shut up Major," John growled before turning back to me. "Don't you have anything to say?"
"I didn't disobey you," I offered lightly. "You told me to stay in contact so technically I had to go with the Hive ships to do what you said."
John turned away with a frustrated look ... it was the maddest he'd ever been towards me and I could feel my more girly emotions starting to rise to the surface.
"Aren't you the least bit glad to see me?" I asked miserably.
"Since I'd prefer to be seeing you safely ensconced on Atlantis I have to say no!" John replied irritably.
"Okay," I said meekly, really struggling to hold in my emotions. "I think I'll just ... ah ... I should check on TED." Before anyone could protest I turned and strode through the Queens chamber towards the corridor.
"I'll go with you," Major Lorne announced in his 'team leader do what I say' voice.
I just kept walking, knowing he would catch up with me before I'd gone very far. Major Lorne said nothing as I led him silently through the ship to the Dart Bay.
"It's this one," I finally spoke, stopping beside my Dart. 'My Dart' – how strange did that sound!
"You okay?" Lorne asked me, watching as I laboriously dragged myself up and into the Dart cockpit. I went through the motions of checking my laptop and the TED readouts.
"Everything looks fine," I reported, ignoring his last question. "The ship got jostled pretty good in the battle but the Dart seems to be unharmed." I sat motionless, making no attempt to get out of the Dart.
"Need a hand getting out of there?" Major Lorne correctly guessed that I was hurting a little bit more than I'd let on with John.
"I'm just tired," I excused my exhaustion as nothing more than a long day. I did let him help me out of the Dart though, looking around the Dart Bay as I tried to work out what I should do next.
"You gonna cry now?" he asked curiously, like it wouldn't matter to him one way or the other.
"What would be the point?" I looked up at him with an almost harsh look. "I wouldn't take back anything I did and neither would Colonel Sheppard."
"That doesn't mean you're not upset about it," Evan pointed out.
"True," I smiled ruefully. "He was really angry ... I've never seen him like that."
"You can't have strong feelings and expect to limit them only to the good ones," Evan glanced at me when I shook my head.
"Strong feelings about keeping me 'safe'," I said bitterly. "That's not a true partnership."
My head was throbbing and the pain in my stomach from where the Queen had kicked me had notched up a level since I'd manoeuvred myself into the Dart. Realising I would need to sit down soon before I collapsed I turned and walked quickly out of the Dart Bay. Stopping in the corridor with a hand to my aching head I realised there really wasn't anywhere on a Hive ship to sit – what did these guys do when they weren't hibernating or culling innocent humans for food?
"You okay?" Major Lorne frowned when I slid down the wall where I stood and sat on the floor.
"Exhausted," I mumbled, putting my head back against the wall and closing my eyes. Major Lorne sat down next to me, close enough to feel me trembling slightly. He said nothing though, letting me rest in silence.
"Major Lorne, what's your situation?" John's voice jerked me from the sleepy state I'd been drifting in.
"I'm just outside the Dart Bay, Sir," Lorne's voice rumbled close to my ear and I realised I was leaning against his shoulder. Sitting up straight I looked at Evan to find him watching me carefully.
"Where's Sabina?" John demanded harshly.
"Here, Sir" Major Lorne said shortly.
"Put her on," John ordered. Lorne unhooked his earpiece and handed it to me, ignoring my frantic head shaking.
"John?" my voice shook as I steeled myself to find out if he was still angry.
"The Daedalus medical staff have set up a makeshift infirmary in the Queens chamber," John's voice was all military professionalism – I could feel my anger resurfacing as I realised he was still angry.
"Thanks for the update Colonel," I said harshly. "If I run into anyone requiring a Doctor I'll point them your way."
"Report in with Doctor Anders to get checked out," John ordered, ignoring my smart arse remark.
Yes Sir," I would have saluted if we'd been in the same room.
"Just in case you were thinking about taking your time, Major Lorne's gonna hang around to make sure you get there," John informed me grimly.
"Whatever," I said, suddenly weary of maintaining my composure. Without another word I threw the earpiece back to Lorne and slowly got myself back on my feet. I started walking, knowing he'd catch up with me eventually.
"You're pushing her too hard Sir!" I heard Major Lorne almost growl into the radio. John's reply was indistinct but I was sure he was telling Lorne to shut up and follow orders.
Major Lorne escorted me all the way back to the Queens chamber and hung around in the background while the doctors checked me out. A fractured cheekbone, two cracked ribs, and some internal bruising coupled with the lingering effects of two stun blasts certainly explained why I had been feeling so ordinary. I submitted without protest to being treated, and then curled up miserably in one of the beds they'd beamed over from the Daedalus. It was a relief when I finally fell asleep a short time later.