Chapter 14 – The Closed Door
Sheppard landed the Jumper in the bay and got up. He went over to McKay who stayed sitting in the co-pilot's chair. He grabbed his shoulders to help him up.
"You did good Rodney," he said encouragingly.
McKay winced as he stretched his battered muscles when he stood. "Live to fight another day, hmm Colonel," he said sadly looking at his feet.
Sheppard did not like the waves of utter defeat radiating from his friend, not only in his actions and expression, but also now in what he said.
"Sorry Rodney. I know you've had a hell of a day, but just hang on for a little while longer."
McKay looked up at Sheppard and plastered a brave and grim smile on his face, "I've been 'hanging on' since 5am. Apart from the systems' frequent attacks and what happened with Perkins; this is like a normal day for me."
Sheppard laughed and patted Rodney's shoulder as they left the Jumper. "Come on, let's get this data to Dr Weir and see what Teyla and Ronon have found out about the team from P3X-778."
Once again, the team found themselves in the darkened Briefing Room. The dull torchlight hardly cast enough of a glow for them to see each other properly.
The gate had stopped activating on its own just before the Puddle Jumpers fled the city.
Teyla spoke first, "There is only one person unaccounted for from the team who visited P3X-778 yesterday."
"Newall," Ronon grunted, looking angry.
Teyla looked at him, "Dr Robert Newall."
Dr Weir pursed her lips, "Let's hope that no one else knows yet. We must not assume that it is Dr Newall doing this until we have conclusive proof."
Rodney was looking off to the side, deep in thought, "Hey! I haven't seen him since this morning. Perkins…" he shuddered and fell silent as he remembered the barrel of the gun pressing into him while he waited for the almost certain and imminent sharp pain of death to go through him.
Sheppard patted Rodney's arm, "Yes?" He asked gently.
Rodney looked up at him. "Perkins would be more likely to know about the whereabouts of Newall over the past day, as I've been in the lab and infirmary most of the time." He gestured his hand in a sweeping motion, "Well in between dashing from one crisis to another."
Dr Weir looked at him, "Will you be able to get to the section indicated in the Daedalus logs? I'd rather you went there first. When the systems are once again under our control, we can piece together today's events."
Rodney muttered, "Don't see why not. Even with the shields. I should be able to get through them eventually."
He was thinking about the best way to deactivate the shields when his radio buzzed, "Beckett to McKay!"
He sighed in annoyance as he tapped his headset, "I'm a little busy Carson."
"Rodney, you have to come down to the infirmary right away."
Carson sounded a little afraid. There was a faint hissing noise in the background. Rodney frowned in puzzlement at the sound and what could possibly have rattled the steadfast Doctor so much.
McKay looked up at the confused faces watching him, "Something's happening in the infirmary. You'll have to ask Zelenka to help you get to the powered up section."
Weir nodded, "Teyla, I would like you to go with Dr McKay. Ronon and Colonel Sheppard, take a squad of marines with stunners and help Dr Zelenka."
They all left the darkened Briefing Room and headed out to complete their assigned tasks.
Rodney left the transporter with Teyla and headed down the corridor towards the infirmary. He had a throbbing headache that pounded against his temples with every footfall. It was making him feel a little nauseous and combined with all his other hurts he was running on pure adrenaline. He rubbed his sore stomach gently, but it was little comfort against the bruises. The touch only made them hurt even more.
He drew in a sharp breath as the muscles across his abdomen contracted painfully. He could almost feel the last ounce of his strength circling the drain as it left him.
Teyla put a hand on his shoulder, "Are you alright Rodney?"
He looked at her in irritation, "Why does everyone keep asking me that?" he snapped, "Do I look alright? Why am I the only one in the whole science department still capable of walking? I bet most of them are fine and using their minor injuries as an excuse not to do any work!"
He stopped in the corridor and swayed slightly when he finished, the anger made his heart pound weakly and he felt dizzy from the exertion.
Teyla gripped his arm more tightly to keep him steady. She could understand his frustration and had to admit that he looked like he should be in the infirmary. His face was pale and had taken on an eerie ghostly and unhealthy hue. The pallor accentuated his bruised black eye sockets.
"You are doing a wonderful job," she assured him, "And do not forget that Dr Zelenka is also helping you."
Rodney grunted in agreement and started to walk forwards again.
As they got closer to the infirmary they could hear a lot of raised and panicked voices in the corridor ahead.
When they reached the source of the noise they both frowned in confusion at the chaos in front of them.
It looked like Dr Beckett had moved every patient who had been in the infirmary out into the corridor. The dishevelled Doctor was standing in the middle of the corridor barking out orders as others wheeled the patients away to a makeshift new infirmary down the corridor.
He smiled grimly when he saw Rodney and Teyla approaching and rushed over to them.
"Oh, thank God!" he said looking at Rodney and trying to ignore how sick the man looked. McKay blinked slowly at him and tried to clear the weariness from his eyes in order to focus on the scene in front of him.
Teyla was looking concerned, "What is going on Dr Beckett?"
Carson started speaking very quickly, "I was using the scanner to check on the surgery we just carried out on Corporal Murphy's leg." He looked off to the side, "Had to make sure we stopped all the bleeding from the arrow."
His eyes snapped back up to them. Teyla and Rodney were taken aback by the look of shock and fear that greeted them, "The scanner went haywire. The laser power increased to such an extent that it started to burn. We only just got the Corporal out from under the machine before he was cut in half. He has some severe burns which we're treating now."
Teyla was looking shocked now, but Rodney was just too tired to feel anything anymore.
Carson continued, "We had to evacuate everyone, because the lasers began moving around the infirmary, like they were tracking something."
Rodney looked up at him and raised his chin, "Why didn't you just unplug it?"
Carson sighed in exasperation, "We couldn't get anywhere near it without it honing in on us and trying to burn holes through anyone who approached."
Rodney folded his arms over his chest. It made him wince and he quickly unfolded them as he shuddered and closed his eyes.
Carson rushed over and grabbed his wrist to check his pulse while Teyla held onto him to make sure he did not fall.
"Too fast," Carson said frowning. He needed to check on Rodney's internal injuries and make sure they were not seriously bleeding. Without the scanner and access to all of the medical equipment in the infirmary, there was nothing he could do for the man at the moment.
Carson peered at Rodney's pale and tired face in concern, "When was the last time you ate anything?"
Rodney shrugged as he pulled his wrist from the Doctor's clutches and gazed at him defiantly, "I don't remember. And what makes you think I can get anywhere near the scanner to shut it down?"
"Oh Rodney, I thought you'd be able to turn it off remotely," Carson said sadly.
McKay huffed in annoyance at the demand. He was almost used to them assuming he could do anything now, but it still made him angry especially when he was in constant, constant pain now and they were still treating him in the usual way.
Teyla handed him the tablet she had been carrying and helped him as he slid down the wall to sit on the floor as he worked.
She then walked over and peered cautiously through the door. She frowned when she noticed there was a thin laser beam emanating from the medical scanner and cutting through at a specific point on one of the walls. There was a loud sound of burning and hissing metal as the laser slowly made its way through the wall.
She turned to Carson, "Why is it pointing at that wall?"
"I don't know. It focused on that point as soon as we were all clear."
"What is on the other side?"
Carson thought about it for a moment and then looked up at Teyla with his eyes wide in shock, "The isolation lab! Dr Perkins is still in there."
Teyla tapped her radio and contacted the marines guarding Perkins. She quickly asked them to move him to a safer location.
Sheppard walked towards the nearest transporter with Dr Zelenka and Ronon. He was looking forward to finally catching the person responsible for the events and getting some sleep. He looked at his watch; 11pm. It was getting late.
They had already filled Zelenka in on what they had found out and their suspicions as to who was behind the incidents.
Zelenka kept his silence after they implicated one of his colleague for the attacks.
When they rounded the corner, there was a squad of four marines waiting for them armed with stunners.
Sheppard nodded at them and the entire group crammed into the transporter. Zelenka reached out and tapped the map of Atlantis in the location closest to their destination.
There was a fairly loud and negative sounding bleep as he pressed the controls and nothing happened. He frowned and tried again.
Sheppard asked, "What's wrong?"
"I do not know…" Zelenka trailed off and began muttering in Czech as he pulled a lead from his computer and interfaced it with the transporter.
He typed on the screen and his face fell as he studied the data.
"Something is very wrong. I cannot tell why from here, but there is no access to the outer transporter locations of the city. The only working transporters are located in the Central Tower."
Sheppard was just about to ask if Zelenka knew why, when a citywide broadcast interrupted him.
"Dr McKay and Dr Zelenka to the Control Room immediately."
Teyla crouched down next to Rodney as he worked. "Dr Perkins has been moved. He is safe."
Rodney flinched as though she had punched him
Teyla felt terribly bad for Rodney, but thought that he would want to know. His hands shook slightly as he typed.
After a few minutes he looked up from his position still seated on the floor, "I've located the power conduit we need to disconnect to shut down the scanner. However, it's on the other side of the infirmary. We could shoot it, but that might damage the scanner and I dread to think what Beckett's reaction would be to that."
Teyla nodded, "Can we get to it any other way?"
Rodney stared at the tablet for a few more seconds, "No."
"Tell me what I need to do," Teyla said.
"No no no no no!" Rodney said with his eyes wide, "The beam is strong enough to kill!"
"It was pointing at the wall towards Dr Perkins a moment ago. I believe I will be able to avoid it for long enough to accomplish the task."
Rodney heaved himself upright and leant against the wall for support. He needed to check on the beam so he walked over to the open doorway with Teyla behind him.
As he looked around the corner of the doorway he saw that the laser was still pointing in the same spot. He turned to Teyla and smiled at her grimly as she had been right.
As he was looking at her, Teyla's eyes opened widely and she grabbed hold of Rodney and shoved him sideways with incredible strength.
Rodney had not been expecting an attack and was been taken off guard. He flew a little way along the corridor and had all the breath torn from his body as he landed heavily on his side. Teyla went down with him and rolled clear of the open doorway.
"What…the hell…was that…for?" Rodney said between gasps, as he lay on his back with both arms across his chest as his breathing hitched in pain.
Teyla knelt down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder, "The beam tracked swiftly across the room a few seconds after we saw it. It was coming right for us."
"Oh…okay," Rodney said quietly with his eyes closed, "Thanks."
"You are most welcome Dr McKay."
Rodney opened his eyes slowly after he got his breathing under control and the pain faded away to its normal level. "What's the beam doing now?"
Teyla narrowed her eyes at him and got up. She walked over to the doorway and chanced a look inside. She then stepped fully into the open space.
"Teyla be careful!" Rodney called from where he was still lying on the floor.
She frowned at what she saw and walked back over to crouch next to him, "It did not move at all this time." She paused for a moment and studied Rodney's face, she considered him for a moment and made her decision, he needed to know. "It is pointing at you Rodney."
He closed his eyes again in fear and then looked at Teyla once more, "Great, just great. Well it's not the first time something or someone's tried to kill me today. I should be used to it by now."
Teyla helped him as he sat up slowly and then got up onto his shaky legs.
"Dr McKay and Dr Zelenka to the Control Room immediately."
"Oh, what now!" Rodney said in anger as he had only just successfully managed to stand upright without the support of Teyla.
She looked back towards the door, "I do not believe it would be safe for us to try and deactivate the laser."
Rodney looked at her and nodded in agreement, "I don't feel like being chopped up very much either. Let's go and see what new calamity has started this time."
She rescued the tablet which had flown from his hands as she had pushed him out of the way of the beam. She kept close to him in case he stumbled as they made their way back to the transporter.
Rodney tried not to think about the laser beam constantly pointing at him as it ate through the wall and got closer and closer to its intention of cutting through him.
Sheppard's team met up with Rodney and Teyla halfway to the Control Room. They exchanged puzzled looks as they kept walking.
They passed by a window and stopped to look out.
"Oh no no no!" Rodney said as he saw the familiar yellow and red of the city shield as it blanketed the Central Tower where they now stood.
They walked faster to get to their destination and Ronon helped Rodney to keep up.
Teyla went over and had a quiet word with Sheppard that none of the others heard. He nodded to her and she went a different way as they entered the Gate Room.
McKay and Zelenka went up the stairs and Dr Weir did not need to say anything to them as they both sat down and started to frantically type on the computers.
The shield had been shrunk so that it only encompassed the Central Tower.
Teyla returned quickly and handed an MRE and a bottle of water to Rodney. He gratefully accepted them and ate as he worked.
Sheppard smiled at Teyla and gave her the thumbs up so that Rodney did not see it.
After a few minutes, Zelenka stopped typing and turned to Dr Weir, his face was down in an expression sadness, "There's only one thing we can do now."
McKay stopped working and looked at the ground, "But we can't…"
"Rodney…" Zelenka said slowly, "It's the only way."
Dr Weir glanced between them in confusion, "Gentlemen, what do you have in mind?"
Zelenka said, "We need to unplug the ZPM."
Rodney looked up and narrowed his eyes, "Which is as good as giving up and abandoning the city."
Zelenka frowned at McKay. "No one said anything about abandoning Atlantis. We unplug the ZPM, find the person responsible and then we can plug it back in."
Rodney looked back at the laptop he was working on, "Hmm, there's just one slight problem with that plan."
Zelenka went over and stood behind him, "Oh," he said in a small voice.
"What is it?" Weir asked in concern.
Rodney looked up at Weir with his eyes wide in panic, "The shield has been collapsed to such an extent that the ZedPM Room is now outside the area. No one can go through the shield and get to the room. We're trapped."
Newall watched in growing anger as he saw McKay trying to break through his control to deactivate the shield in order to get to the ZPM.
Newall now felt deep hatred for the man, possibly even more than he had felt towards Perkins. He had been quickly pushed back after every step forward by the stubborn and irritating Chief Scientist.
All the systems he had once controlled were now inaccessible due to the actions of McKay.
He now wished that he had not stopped the doors from crushing the man earlier. If he had kept going, the doors would have eventually broken all of McKay's ribs and killed him. If that had happened then Newall would not be in this situation now. Perkins would be dead and he could have abandoned The Key and gone back to his normal job. Eventually he would have been able to win over Dr Li. No one would ever have known about what he had done.
Everything that had happened was McKay's fault. Newall would have stopped hours ago had he not intervened. Dr Li would be healthy and not lying at Death's door in the infirmary. He had been blocked at every turn and it infuriated him.
McKay had to be stopped and punished for his actions.
Newall smiled as an evil scheme formed in the back of his mind. He reached out with his control and called a patiently waiting Puddle Jumper down towards him from orbit.
TBC