Chapter 10
Thanks for reading this story.
New Chapter, read, enjoy and review.
Aria did not like this. She did not like this at all. Since the moment they had set foot onto the Hive Ship everything had gone wrong. Half of Ford's group had fallen to their deaths. The alarms had alerted the Wraith of their presence on board. And they had been made prisoners. And now, the Wraith had taken Colonel Sheppard out of the cell. And they had not heard of him ever since.
After long minutes of pacing up and down for Aria, the guards brought Sheppard back to their cell, and he was thrown into their cell, falling to the ground.
"Are you unarmed?" Teyla asked him.
"Yeah." Sheppard groaned.
"Where did they take you?" Ronon asked as he pulled the Colonel off the floor.
"A little Q & A with the Queen of the Hive." Sheppard answered as he sat down, Aria sat next to him.
"What did you tell her?" Ford questioned Sheppard.
"It was a short conversation. She walked out." Sheppard explained.
"Why?"
"I don't know maybe she was late for a meeting."
"No." Teyla intervened. "There's something else. I sense she was agitated. Even angry."
"Why?" Sheppard and Aria asked at the same time.
Teyla moved closer to the gate. "Another Hive ship has arrived."
"Are you sure there's another ship?" Sheppard asked her.
"I sense it." Teyla confirmed. "Close by."
"Well, maybe they're planning on culling the planet together."
"Or they're gonna fight for it." Ford said.
"Either way, the planet's only a few days away. We don't have much time if we still plan to stop them." Kanayo reminded them.
Aria rolled her eyes at that. This mission was a failure and there was no stopping those Hive ships. Their only chance of survival was to get out. And that should be their priority, at least it was for Aria.
She got and moved closer to the door. "How about we find a way out first."
"Any luck on that?" Sheppard stood next to her.
"Not yet." Ronon replied.
"Don't worry, I'll figure a way out." Ford reassured him.
"I was afraid you were gonna say that." Sheppard grumbled. After a pause, Sheppard continued. "Last time we were on one of this ship, McKay was able to open the door by cutting right into the wall."
"You mean like with a knife?" Ford stepped forward pulling out a knife.
"You have a knife?" Sheppard turned to him.
"One for them to find and one to keep. Everybody knows that."
"Great. I forgot all about that rule."
Ford stepped next to him, close to the door. "Well, it's a good thing I'm here."
"Right. Now, just take your time—" As soon as those words left Sheppard's mouth, Ford threw the knife at the wall but nothing happened. "I said take your time." Sheppard said frustrated.
"I hit the exact spot you were pointing at." Ford argued back.
"Alright, alright. Anybody else has a knife." Sheppard turned around to the other cellmates.
Aria exhaled deeply and exchanged a look with Teyla. She, too, was getting frustrated with Ford. Ronon stepped forward and pulled a knife out of his wristband. He threw the knife to the wall and the lights in their cell shut down.
"Getting warmer." Sheppard said hopeful. Ronon pulled out another knife from his boots. "How many of those things you got?"
"How many do you need?" Ronon asked back.
Two more tries and the door refused to open still. Ronon pulled another knife from his hair. "You must have a hell of a time going through airports?" Sheppard remarked as Ronon threw his fourth knife.
"Finally!" Aria couldn't help but exclaimed as the door opened.
"Ford, what the hell are you doing?" Sheppard asked the former lieutenant. The latter was injecting himself with enzyme.
"That's the last of it." Ford answered.
"What about the rest of us?" Ronon asked him.
"You don't need it."
"You don't know that."
Sheppard stopped him on his way out. "We're heading to the dart bay. Stay together or stay quiet." His voice held a warning.
Their small group of six left their prison. Hopefully for good. They made their way through the corridors and as before they met no resistance.
"Wait!" Teyla stopped them. "They're coming."
A guard was in fact coming their way. "I got it." Ford rushed the guard and fought him.
"Ford!" Ford disarmed the guard and threw his stunner to Ronon and the latter stunned the guard with his weapon.
"More coming!" Kanayo warned them.
"This way!" Sheppard started in another direction and the rest of the group followed him.
Aria, who had never been on a Hive ship and never wished to be again, was seeing more of it than she ever wanted. They arrived to another section of the Hive ship. It did not look like a prison and yet there were people there. They looked asleep. Seeing those people in such a state, sent a chill down Aria's spine.
"Are they dead?" Aria asked.
"Help us. Please help us." A young woman called weakly.
"She's alive." Sheppard rushed to her aid.
"So is this one." Teyla rushed to help another.
"Let's get them outta here."
"We don't have time to stop." Ford told them. And for once, Aria agreed with him. "This is not the mission."
"There is no mission, Ford!" Sheppard argue back. "There's just your stupid plan."
"If you hadn't screwed up—"
"Look, the sooner you stop arguing with me and help me save those people, the quicker we get outta here."
Ford wasn't wrong. Rescuing those people while the Wraith were on their tail was not the brightest idea Sheppard ever had. Those people would only slow them down and that was, if the Wraith did not catch up with them in the meantime. What was Colonel Sheppard truly thinking? She had followed him so far thinking he knew what he was doing. She trusted him with her life. But somehow this felt wrong.
They wasted minutes of their escape to rescue people and it all was all for nothing. The Wraith did catch up with them. And in no time, they were stunned and thrown back in a cell.
When Aria woke up, she was on the ground next to an unconscious Sheppard. Ford was already awake. And in a corner, there was one of the people they had rescued. Sheppard groaned next to her as he too was waking up.
"Feeling better?" Ford turned to them. Sheppard just looked at the young woman in the corner. "Her name is Neera." Ford told them. "Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard. And Aria Victus."
"Hi!" Sheppard greeted her while Aria waved at her. The Colonel turned to Ford. "Where are the others?"
"They split us up into separate cells. I guess the Wraith figured that keeping us in smaller groups would make it tougher to escape." John nodded. "We shouldn't have stopped."
"What's done is done, Lieutenant." Sheppard said back.
"No!" Ford retorted. Aria turned to him. "First you set off the alarms, and then you stop to rescue people when you know damned well the Wraith are on our tail?!" Aria glanced at Sheppard. "It's like you're purposefully sabotaging this mission. You hate to see me succeed at anything."
"You've got a lot of issues to work out, Ford." Sheppard replied.
Ford turned away quickly and then looked back at Sheppard. "Teyla and Ronon went down too quick when they were shot. Just like Aria." Sheppard turned to Aria. "The enzyme's wearing off."
"You feeling anything yet?" Sheppard asked her. She shook her head no. "You?" He turned to Ford.
"Not yet." Ford stood up. "But I will. It's happened before when I've run out of the enzyme." Sheppard and Aria stood up. "It gets pretty bad. So, we gotta figure a way out of here." He glanced at Neera. "And no more unnecessary stops." Aria couldn't agree more.
The effects of withdrawing from Enzyme appeared quicker than Aria thought. She was now sitting down on the ground. Hugging herself as though she was trying to keep warm. And yet, she was sweating. It was worse for Ford. The latter was laying on the ground, shaking and sweating. He seemed in pain. Neera was tending to him, wiping sweat off of his forehead.
"Thank you." Ford quietly said to Neera.
"How are you holding up Lieutenant?" Sheppard asked him softly.
"Okay." Ford answered. "I just need to get my hands on some more enzyme. Then, I'll be able to get us out of here."
"We'll do it together. With or without the enzyme, we're a team, remember?" Sheppard told him.
"I remember." Sheppard glanced at Aria. She was sitting against the wall. He walked up to her. "How are you feeling?"
"Tired, mostly. Cold, right now." She replied. "He was right, you know? We shouldn't have stopped. It was stupid."
"Well, there's no changing it now." Sheppard countered.
"You're right." Aria agreed. "And there's nothing you can do about this." She said looking over Ford. "We just have to wait for it to pass."
"Yeah." Sheppard glanced back at Ford worriedly.
Aria had now taken off her vest. If she was cold earlier, she was now burning hot. She was eight years old and burning hot, suffering from a fever and a stomachache. But that was before, when she was still on that desolated planet. Now, she was on a Hive ship. Suffering from withdrawal. She must remember this. She could not let herself go back to that planet. To that time. It was painful and lonely.
She wondered if Teyla and Ronon were suffering as she was from withdrawal. She thought they might be. She hoped they were faring better than her. Better than Ford. The latter was writhing in pain.
"Come on, buddy, hang in there! Don't leave us!" Sheppard was saying to a sick Ford.
"Yes, sir." Ford gasped for breath. "I'm sorry, sir."
"No, none of that. The mission's not over, remember?" We've still gotta figure a way to get out of here. You hear me?"
"Yes, sir."
"Aiden. You can make it through this." Ford rolled over onto his side, coughing.
The door to the cell opened at that moment. A male Wraith and three guards stepped into the cell.
"Move away from him." The male Wraith ordered Sheppard.
Two of the guards walked over to Ford and picked him up, while the third moved to Aria and hissed her up onto her feet. "What are you gonna do with them?"
"Move away."
"They're sick!"
"That is why we're taking them."
Aria was dragged out of the cell barely able to stand on her feet. Too weak to fight off the Wraith that was holding her. Her eyes fell on Ford who was being dragged by the two other guards. Aria was disoriented, she didn't know where they were taking them. She barely realized that the Wraith had taken them both to the cocoon. Where they kept the humans, they were going to feed on.
Aria jolted awake. She did not remember falling asleep. The last thing she remembered was she and Ford being taken away from their own cell. And now, she was restrained in a cocoon. Restrained by organic matter.
"Aria?" Ford appeared in front of her.
"Ford? How did you get out?" Was the first thing she asked.
"Does it matter?" He asked back as he was freeing her from the cocoon.
"Not really." She said quickly. "How are you feeling?"
"Better. You?"
"Definitely." Aria stepped out of the last remnant of the organic matter that was restraining her a few seconds earlier. "What's the plan?"
"Get my hands on some enzyme and we get the others."
"Doesn't sound too bad." Aria agreed on getting the others but not too much on the enzyme. "Lead the way, Lieutenant."
Strangely enough, Ford and Aria had met no resistance so far. Even after getting on board and escaping their cell once, the Wraith had not reinforced security. Aria found it strange but was not entirely unhappy with this. Aria just followed Ford around not really knowing where he was leading her to.
"Ford." Aria called him quietly. She had found where the Wraith had stored their weapons.
"What?" Ford walked over to her.
"I think we're gonna need this." She said nodding to the room.
Ford briefly smiled at her before walking in, followed by Aria. Ford and Aria each put on a vest, grabbed a P90. Aria took her life signs detector and got back her handmade collapsible bo-staff. Ford had grabbed Ronon's pistol and an extra vest.
"Come on, let's get you that enzyme." Aria said using her life signs detector.
"How come you didn't use this when we first got in?" Ford asked her.
"I didn't necessarily have a clear mind earlier." Aria answered. "And to be honest, I didn't really think about it until now."
"Fair enough." Ford nodded.
"There's one coming our way." Aria informed him. "Get ready."
They hid quickly behind a wall. Ford pulled out a knife and Aria took her collapsible bo-staff, both waiting for the guard to walk by them. As soon as Ford saw his back as he walked away from their position, he pounced on the guard. Even off of the enzyme, Ford had shown himself quick and brutal. The guard had no time to react really. He had tried to put up a fight but he was neutralized pretty quickly by Ford.
"You should take some." Ford told her as he finished injecting himself with the enzyme.
"No, I think I'll do without." Aria assured him. "And if it comes down to it, I'll just use you as a shield."
Ford chuckled. "You're the one with the detector."
"Nice try." Aria retorted as he stood up. "It won't be enough, though."
"Yeah, we need to figure out where they're holding the others."
"My thoughts exactly." Aria and Ford walked side by side. "If we can get access to some viewing screens, I might be able to find the holding cells faster."
Ford and Aria had to hold onto the wall as the ship juddered violently. The ship's engines sounded as though they were powering down.
"We've dropped out of hyperspace." Ford told her.
"Let's keep going." Aria nodded.
They walked down a few more corridors before Aria stopped Ford once more. In one of the alcoves, there was something that somehow resembled a viewing screen. There were no buttons to turn or push. How were they expecting her to use these? She touched her fingers to the screen. It was slimy and disgusting. It was like touching organic matter.
"Ewww." Aria let out disgusted. Many words were flying on the screen but she could not read any of them at first. But the more she read it, the more she realized the alphabet used was quite familiar to the ancestors' alphabet.
"Do you know where they are?" Ford asked her.
She turned to Ford. "Yes, I know where they are." Ford turned to leave. She didn't move. "Kanayo didn't make it, I'm sorry."
Ford turned back to her. "Tell me where to go?"
"The Queen's chamber." Aria said. "That's where Sheppard is. The holding cells are close by."
"Lead the way."
Ford followed Aria. They took two lefts and a right. Again, they met no resistance. They really needed to do better with their security, Aria thought. When they reached the Queen's chamber, Aria put her detector back in her vest. She pulled the safety off of her P90 and remained behind Ford. The latter used Ronon's gun to kill the Queen and the two guards by the door. He threw the gun to Sheppard as the male Wraith tried to stun Ford. Unsuccessfully. Sheppard killed him.
"How did you get our weapons back?" Sheppard asked Ford as he took the vest handed to him.
"That was the easy part." Ford said. "Getting some more enzyme—that was harder."
As they hurry out the room, Sheppard gunned down an approaching guard. "You're one tough son of a bitch." He started running down the corridor, followed by Aria. Ford remained by the Queen's chamber. "What are you doing?"
"Teyla and Ronon are down that hall. Aria knows the way." Ford told Sheppard.
"What?" Aria walked back to him. "We're not leaving you here."
"She's right. You're coming with us."
"I'll hold the Wraith back, boss. Now go." He glanced down at Aria. "I'll be okay."
"Aiden." Aria breathed out.
"I'm not going without you, Lieutenant." Sheppard insisted.
"John, I'll catch up. Now, GO!" And he ran off, just as the alarm sounded.
"Ford!" Sheppard called after him. "Oh, crap." Sheppard started down the hall and pulled Aria behind him.
"This way." Aria shouted over the alarm. They came to a stop at the end of the hall. "Hey!" She smiled at Ronon and Teyla as she rushed to their cell with Sheppard.
"Hey." Ronon smiled back.
"How 'bout we bust you guys out of here?" Sheppard asked them.
"If you don't mind." Ronon answered.
Sheppard turned around fired at the control panel. The door opened. Sheppard looked at the gun in his hand before handing it back to its rightful owner. "I've gotta get myself one of these. Where's Kanayo?"
"He is dead." Teyla answered as Aria handed her a M9. "Ford?"
"He was alive when we last saw him." Aria informed her.
"And I'm sticking with that." Sheppard added.
The team left the cell area and made their way to the dart bay. They met no resistance at all. It seemed that Ford had made good on his words. He was holding the Wraith back.
"The culling is beginning." Teyla stated as they witnessed many darts take flight.
"We've gotta stop 'em." Sheppard said.
"How?" Ronon asked him.
"Stay here." Sheppard ordered them. "When I give you my signal, get out in the open." And he ran into the bay.
"What signal?" Aria turned to Ronon and Teyla.
The small group of three cautiously make their way to the entrance of the Dart Bay. One of darts flew in the opposite direction than the others. It looped around and headed down towards the walkway.
"Is that his signal?" Teyla turned to Ronon and Aria.
"It'd better be." Ronon said.
The three of them walked out onto the walkway. The dart swooped over them, and everything around them dissolved.
Aria had decided that confusion was a side effect of being rematerialized. Especially after she had swooped in a transporter beam. But once confusion passed, she realized that she wasn't in Atlantis. Ronon and Teyla were next to her. The dart was on the ground and Colonel Sheppard was climbing out of it.
"Alright, guys!" He called as he walked up to them. "Let's go home."
It felt good to walk in the gate room of Atlantis. It felt good to see the face of Dr. Weir and that of the inhabitants of Atlantis. Aria did not know if that was how home was supposed to feel like. But this sure felt like home.
"Sorry, we're late." Sheppard greeted Elizabeth.
They were taken to the infirmary. There, Elizabeth had let them know that McKay was safe and well. And right at this instant, on board of the Daedalus. Beckett was finishing examining them when McKay and Caldwell made their way into the infirmary.
"Why aren't you dead?" McKay asked them as Aria sat next to Ronon on his bed. The two of them were dressed in hospital whites. So was Teyla.
Sheppard turned to him. "Ah, it's good to see you too, Rodney."
"No, no, I mean—well, you know what I mean." Aria glanced up at Ronon, amused. "Why aren't you—dead?"
"Well, I knew when the hives started to shoot at each other, it was just a matter of time before they blew each other up. So, I went to the space gate and dialed an address where I could land safely. I didn't think the dart could fit in our gateroom." Sheppard explained.
"The Colonel was kind enough to make us whole again, and we returned home." Teyla added.
"I'm curious, Sheppard—"Caldwell started. "How did you know the Wraith would fight each other?"
"Uh, a little intel from Ford in the game, plus, uh, well, I kinda goosed things along with the Queen."
"It would appear the Wraith are becoming more territorial than we had thought." Teyla said. "There is definite tension building among them."
"Which is good for us." Ronon said.
"Certainly is." Elizabeth agreed. "It also opens a brand-new strategy in fighting them."
"And where is Ford?" McKay asked them.
"He was aboard the Hive ship when it was destroyed." Teyla answered him.
"He was last seen aboard the hive ship." Sheppard corrected.
"What does that mean?"
"Well, you know Ford." Sheppard said. "I wouldn't be surprised if we run into him again."