Chapter 16 – Tricks and Traps
Sheppard brought up the HUD the moment the Puddle Jumper flew through the space gate high in orbit above P3X-778. He quickly honed it in on their target.
The rogue Jumper was already in the lower atmosphere and very close to the Ancient lab the other team had visited the day before.
Ronon leaned forwards in his seat to get closer to Rodney, "Maybe we can head the thief off. Can you make this thing fly any faster?"
Rodney looked up, but did not turn to Ronon, "With what! We're lucky it's flying at all on one engine. Unless you want to overload and make the single remaining engine explode."
Ronon tilted his head to the side and sat back heavily in his seat.
Sheppard pushed as much power as he dared from the Jumper as they descended towards the planet's surface.
It was light on the side where they were heading. The daylight was a strange shock to the occupants of the craft; it was near to midnight and still in the dead of night back on Atlantis.
It made Rodney feel like he had just pulled yet another all-nighter in the lab. He frequently lost track of the time due to his excitement over a new piece of Ancient Tech. He remembered greeting the morning with tired and bleary eyes after every occasion. He always had trouble focusing his mind after staying up all night.
Sheppard frowned at the HUD, "I'm reading one life sign on the other Jumper."
Teyla asked, "Is it Dr Newall?"
Sheppard shrugged. Rodney worked on the tablet he was leaning over, "Yes. I'm picking up his subcutaneous transmitter. Hmm, there's a massive power reading from the Jumper. I hope he's not draining the ZedPM by plugging it into the ship."
Sheppard tapped the comm, "Jumper Three to Jumper Seven."
There was no reply. "Colonel Sheppard to Dr Newall. Respond." There was still nothing, not even static.
Sheppard flew the Jumper further down towards the planet. From this high up they could all see a huge jungle covering most of the continent they were fast approaching. At the edges of the land in the distance they could see the sea until it was broken by the horizon.
They were still a few miles up when Sheppard spoke again, "He's landed and continuing on foot."
Rodney analysed the data in more detail, "He's still got the ZedPM. It's showing up on the sensors like a beacon. Hmm…" He frowned as he stopped speaking and looked across at Sheppard, "This is all very easy. He's had the power to control Atlantis and lock us out of everything. He's been able to manipulate the sensors to show us things that weren't there and hide other things from us."
Teyla said, "Do you think he is leading us into a trap?"
Ronon fingered the handle of his blaster as he spoke, "Unless he's just getting sloppy. Even if he is leading us into a trap, we need that ZPM back. It's only one man, we can take him."
Rodney spun around in his chair to face the Satedan, "One man yes, but he's had us running around in circles all day. He's also had the power to kill and left us completely helpless to stop him."
"Until now…" Sheppard said as he chose a clearing as close to the Ancient lab as possible in the midst of the thick and extremely tall trees.
Rodney looked at the sensor data once more as the Jumper landed and crushed a few small bushes in the clearing. "He's in the Ancient lab now. There are no additional power readings. We need to get over there as fast as possible, in case there's anything left for him to activate."
Sheppard nodded and they all grabbed their gear and stepped out of the rear hatch.
As they walked through the tangled undergrowth, Rodney was holding a scanner in his left hand and had somehow managed to heave a rucksack on his back. He was huffing and gasping and resting his right forearm against his stomach as they walked.
Sheppard went over to him, "What the hell have you got in that rucksack McKay?"
He scowled at Sheppard and spoke through gritted teeth, "Essential supplies and enough room and padding to protect a ZedPM."
Ronon was at the front of the group and was hacking through the low branches to clear a path for them. He was quite a good distance ahead before he turned back, "I thought you said we needed to be fast?"
Rodney was panting in pain now and his face had a sheen of sweat covering it. "I'm moving as fast as I can," He muttered, "It's not easy to walk when you can't breathe. Why is it we always end up in the jungle and why does is it have to be so damn hot here?"
Sheppard rolled his eyes and went over to him. He held out a hand and Rodney reluctantly handed over the rucksack.
A strong gust of wind high in the treetops made the branches sway and the rustling sound as leaves fell through the canopy made speech impossible for a few seconds.
Teyla looked up and watched the leaves as they slowly floated down.
As they continued onwards, Rodney was still breathing quickly, but only gasped when he missed his footing in the thick leaf mulch and sticks on the ground. Teyla kept close to him to catch him if he tripped and Sheppard shook his head every now and then in exasperation as he carried the rucksack at the rear of the group.
After a few more minutes Rodney held up his hand, but kept looking at the scanner, "It's just over there behind that tree." He pointed to an enormous tree to the right of the team. It was so tall they could not see the top.
Ronon took point and lead them out into another clearing, which was dominated by a reasonably well hidden Ancient Lab. The structure was completely above ground and fairly large. Tree branches hung down over the clearing and cast dark shadows over the lab as they blocked the sunlight quite effectively.
Rodney was still examining the scanner, oblivious to the lab and the movements of his team around him. Sheppard and Teyla stood in front of him to make sure he was well protected.
"He's right in the middle of the structure now. I'm still only reading the power source which must be emanating from our stolen ZedPM."
Sheppard kept his P90 trained on the building, "Can we get inside?"
"Yes," Rodney said distractedly, "Oh…no no no!"
"What now?" Ronon grumbled.
Rodney looked up at them with wide unblinking eyes, "He's activated a shield around the centre of the lab. It extends almost to the outer wall, but not quite."
Teyla asked, "Can you find a way to deactivate it from a panel in the outer wall?"
Rodney blinked at her, "Possibly."
They continued to cover him as they made their way over to the only visible door in the structure. It was open and inside they could see a short corridor with another door at the end.
Sheppard stepped up to the door first and looked warily inside.
Rodney breezed past him and pulled a panel off the wall just inside the corridor. He snapped his fingers at Sheppard, "Bag."
Sheppard sighed and handed it over to Rodney, who absently held his hand out as he continued to study the exposed wiring in the wall.
They could see the faint red outline of the shield's edge in front of the sealed door in the corridor. Ronon moved inside and went past McKay to make sure he was between the distracted scientist and the shield.
Rodney had just finished prying free some loose wiring to cut, when the shield shimmered for a moment.
Sheppard had been watching from outside, "Get out now!" He shouted.
Rodney looked up at Sheppard in alarm, the wire cutters poised to snip the lead he had singled out.
Ronon rushed past him and grabbed the handle on the back of his tac vest.
Sheppard and Teyla watched in horror as the shield suddenly grew and passed right through Rodney. Ronon was not so lucky though and the shield did not pass through him. It forced him forwards roughly and he yanked Rodney as his grip on the man's tac vest was torn away.
They both fell over and the shield continued to shove Ronon along the ground for a few more seconds, ploughing up the leaves into a pile in front of him. The shield was now completely covering the whole structure.
Rodney landed heavily and lost the wire cutters he had been holding. He grimaced and closed his eyes as he lay on the ground in the soft leafy carpet, hugging his arms around his upper torso.
"Rodney!" Teyla called out to him.
Sheppard offered a hand to Ronon and pulled him to his feet. He then went over as close as possible to McKay and lifted his hand out slowly to test the shield. It did not shock him, but even as he pushed with all his might, he could not break through.
"What the hell was that?" Rodney muttered miserably as he moved one of his hands up and held his head. He slowly rolled onto all fours and stood up with a small whimper.
Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon stood helplessly on the other side of the shield as he turned to look at them. Sheppard spoke first, "The shield passed right through you. You need to find a way to turn it off so that we can help you."
Rodney nodded and grimaced. He walked back towards the panel he had been working on. He crouched down and dug around in the rucksack looking for a spare scanner and some more wire cutters as he had lost both somewhere in the deep leaf cover on the ground when he was pulled away by Ronon.
He grabbed a scanner from the rucksack triumphantly and tapped the screen a few times. His eyes widened and he turned his frightened face to the rest of his team waiting expectantly just beyond the edge of the shield trapping him.
He did not have time to convey what he had found, because the door behind him into the lab opened and the shield rapidly shrunk and approached him at an alarming speed.
He looped a hand around one of the shoulder straps of the rucksack, gripped the scanner tightly to his chest and closed his eyes. He cried out as the edge of the shield hit him and knocked him over pushing him through the door.
The door slammed behind him and cut him off from the others as he was forced against his will to enter the complex.
Dr Zelenka came back to the Gate Room fairly quickly after Dr Weir had sent him down to check on Carson in the make shift infirmary they had set up. He sat down at a laptop and nodded at Dr Weir.
"They are fine," he said to her, "The generator was set up quickly and all of Dr Beckett's patients are now safe."
She sighed in relief and went over and stood next to him as he worked on the laptop next to the DHD. "Colonel Sheppard's team left for P3X-778 a few minutes ago. I advised them we would dial the gate every hour to check on their progress." Not that there was anything they could do for them without access to any more Puddle Jumpers.
Zelenka stopped typing, "This is very strange." He pressed a few more keys and then looked up at her. "We now have access to the long range communicator and should be able to call the Daedalus."
"Really?" She frowned, "Any idea why?"
Zelenka shook his head and pushed his glasses up on his nose, "Perhaps because the ZPM has been taken and we are running the base on generators."
Weir said, "Patch me through."
He typed a few more keys and nodded at her. She reached up and tapped her radio, "Atlantis to the Daedalus."
"This is Colonel Caldwell of the Daedalus. Are we glad to hear from you."
Dr Weir smiled, "I'm sorry Colonel, we've had a few problems."
"Would you like us to come back and help?"
"The last thing we knew the Puddle Jumpers were still in orbit above Atlantis. There's too much of a risk they could attack again. If we beam people to them they may be uncontrollable or booby-trapped. I think it would be best if you headed to P3X-778 at full speed. Our ZPM has been taken and Sheppard and his team are trying to retrieve it. We would be grateful if you could offer them your assistance."
"P3X-778 is a few hours away, but we'll go there straight away and keep in touch. Daedalus out."
Dr Weir smiled in relief. They were no longer cut off from Sheppard's team. Hopefully they would soon have the ZPM back and be able to retrieve and help the person responsible. If they are still in a position to be receptive to any help we can offer, she thought sadly.
Zelenka typed away for a few more minutes and Weir asked, "Do we have access to anything else yet?"
"Yes, a few things. I am just going through the systems to check. Ah, the sensors."
The colour rapidly drained from his face and he looked up at Weir in shock, "There is a drone on a collision course with this section of the Central Tower."
She rushed over to him and looked at the screen of the computer. "Can you stop it," she asked in an even tone.
"No. We do not have enough power to launch another drone to intercept it or to raise the shield."
"How long do we have?"
Zelenka did a quick mental calculation, "Less than sixty seconds."
Dr Weir's eyes widened and she called out to everyone in the Control and Gate Rooms. "Everyone out now! Assemble in the Mess Hall."
They quickly obeyed. Zelenka passed the laptop to Dr Weir and grabbed a couple of technicians to help him unplug the Naquadah generator and carry it out of the Control Room.
They were once again plunged into total darkness as the power source was removed. They all scrambled down the stairs and across the floor of the Gate Room.
They were thankfully all clear and halfway down the stairs leading away from the Gate Room when the drone hit.
There was a loud explosion and a slight tremor ran through the floor and walls of the city.
Rodney lay gasping for breath on the floor where he had stopped. He had his eyes closed tightly as he tried to control his breathing and pounding heart. His bruises were throbbing angrily at the recent assault and made it difficult for him to consider ever moving again.
He could still feel the reassuring weight of the rucksack strap around his hand, but he had lost the scanner.
After a moment he cracked his eyes open to find out what predicament he was in this time.
He was met by a sideways view of a wide curved corridor, as he was lying curled up on the ground. He allowed himself a tight smile as he saw the scanner lying a little way from him on the floor.
He reached up and tapped his radio and spoke quietly, "McKay to Sheppard."
There was only static in reply. He sighed.
"McKay to Ronon? Teyla?" All he could hear was more static.
He forced himself over and crawled to retrieve the scanner. He activated it and sat down on the ground to study the screen.
He could only see the objects within the shield and saw a massive energy reading surrounding a single life sign on the other side of the curved corridor he was in.
He thought for a few minutes as he examined the power readings from the lab. He noticed in resignation that the shield generator was also in the centre of the room. Newall must have plugged the ZPM directly into it and the only way to shut it down would be to cut off the power supply at the source.
He left the rucksack behind and unholstered his sidearm as he got up onto his unsteady feet. He almost wished he had a P90, but as Ronon had said, it was only one man.
He approached the only door leading into the central chamber and raised his gun ready. The scanner showed that the life sign was not moving and Rodney did not really want to shoot his colleague if he could avoid it. He felt adrenaline coursing through him as he approached the door and his hands shook slightly in apprehensive expectation of what was to come.
He knew all the previous events of the day had been leading to this moment. He could not help the growing feelings of dread and dismay gripping his heart as he got closer to the open door. His fear was palpable in his throat as the gap in the wall leered at him and invited him to enter.
Newall had so much control over everything that Rodney was almost certain that whatever was about to happen would hurt him a lot or possibly even kill him. That was unless he could incapacitate Newall first, but it did not bear thinking about.
He raised the gun even higher as he stepped through the door.
For the second time that day, he found himself facing the barrel of a gun and for an instant all the events of the day since his rude awakening came crashing down on him. He felt exhausted even as a fresh wave of adrenaline surged through his veins.
What happened next was so fast that he did not have a chance.
Three shots rang out in rapid succession in the small room.
Rodney felt the hot breeze from the first bullet as it whipped past him close to his head. The second bullet grazed his upper leg and he cried out as he fell sideways.
A sharp pain went through him as the third bullet penetrated his body. It was so shocking and unexpected that he was unable to localise the source of the agony and his vision greyed as he carried on falling down.
When he finally hit the ground Rodney's world went blissfully black.
TBC
A/N – Poor, poor McKay…