The Best-Laid Plans – Chapter 6

Author's Notes – Refer to Chapter 1

Disclaimer – Refer to Chapter 1

Shortly after they transferred control, doors started opening up all over the ship. The three who were still in the Control Room could hear the sounds of people being rounded up. A couple of squads walked in, and Volker, Missy, and Lisa raised their hands. One of the soldiers said, indicating Missy, "Nothing was said about a woman with child."

The other soldier replied, "They're all to go to the same place." They took the three over to the Mess where the rest of the Destiny crew was. When they got there, Linda Wilson walked up to them and gave Missy a hug. "Are you okay, honey? Is Nicholas okay?"

Melissa shrugged her shoulders. "He was okay the last time I saw him, and I think I am." She clenched her teeth as a contraction washed over her.

Gazing at her worriedly, Linda asked, "Are you having contractions, Melissa?"

"Just Braxton-Hicks, I think. But I can't even ask TJ. The Lucian Alliance has her." She started crying. "And Everett's with them now to send Scott and Greer out in the suits to fix the shield. I am so scared, Linda."

The older woman hugged her again. "It's okay." She motioned to where several of Melissa's friends were sitting. "Come on, you need to sit." They all walked over to the table, and Missy sat down with Airman Jessie Schulz and Sergeant Lindsay Baker. While she was talking with the other two women, Linda took Lisa aside. "You do know we're about to have a big problem, don't you?"

Lisa nodded. "Yep." She held her fingers very close together. "Melissa is about this close to going into labor. I hope this doesn't take long."

"Me either."

Meanwhile, Everett and Camille had gone to the section near the Gate Room where Scott and Greer would have to access the outside of the ship. The two younger officers were wearing the space suits and carrying the helmets. Kiva, Dannic, and a few of her other soldiers arrived with one of them taking Ev's pistol and patting him down for other weapons. Once he had done that, Kiva asked, "Are we ready to do this?"

"Yes," said Ev. The group looked up as the lights blinked again and went out. Scott suppressed a nervous laugh and looked anxiously at Greer who returned the look. A few moments later, the lights flickered and came back on. Kiva activated her radio and ordered one of her men to open the doors. Once they were open, Everett said, "Forty-six minutes, gentlemen."

"Yes, Sir," said Scott. He and Greer went through the doors and walked over to a hole in the ceiling which was covered by a force shield.

Kiva activated her radio and told the man at the other end, "They're in."

The doors closed again. Scott and Greer put their helmets on and checked each other's connections to ensure that they were fitted properly. Over their radios, they heard the Lucian Alliance man in the Gate Room say, "Attenuating the shield strength in that compartment." Greer walked over to the hole in the ceiling, stood underneath it, and watched as the force shield dissipated over the hole. "Dialing back artificial gravity." A moment later, Greer and then Scott rose up into the air. They landed on the surface of the ship and started walking towards the array.

Gazing over at Young and Camille, Kiva said, "Well, I guess we wait now."

"I guess we do," said Everett nonchalantly leaning against a wall. He decided to take a minute to check on Melissa through their empathic link. This was something they had found out when they had first come to the Destiny and discovered their true Alteran background. At first, they had only been able to feel each other's emotions over a distance and send basic communication. Over the last few months, they had refined it so they could actually talk to one another and send mental pictures. When he opened his mind to hers, he could hear weeping, and he touched her mind to get her attention. "What did I tell you about worrying, honey?"

Missy spoke back through their link. "Everett, you're okay."

"Yep, the guys are out working on the array right now. How are you?"

"I'm okay. Linda thinks I might be in the beginning stages of labor though."

"What?"

She reassured him. "It's not too bad yet."

"All right. We've got to make sure you stay calm." He sent her a mental picture. "Do you see it?"

"Yes. It's you holding me." Her mind calmed down as she accepted the comfort from his mind. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'll keep it up as long as I can. I love you, baby."

"I love you too."

Everett observed the corridor once more and noticed that Kiva was no longer there and that Dannic and two of his men were keeping watch on him and Camille. His radio activated, and he could hear Scott's voice. "Colonel Young, this is Scott. How are we doing for time?"

"Fourteen minutes," replied Young.

"Ok, we're almost done."

"Understood."

A few minutes later, Dannic received a communication over his radio. When he was done giving instructions, he turned to Young. "Where are your men?"

"What?"

"Your soldiers. How did they get in the Gate Room?"

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

Dannic reached over and took Young's radio from its sleeve on his jacket and handed it to the other man. He then grabbed him roughly by the arm and started to move him away from the corridor.

Knowing something terrible had happened; Ev sent a quick 'stay strong' message to Missy and turned to Dannic. "I've got people outside this ship."

The other man ignored him and continued to shove him down the corridor with the other Alliance men urging Camille to follow them. As they were led away, Dannic told the other man what had happened. "The enemy has somehow breached our lines. Both Telford and Kiva have been shot. I'm assuming command."

Outside the ship, Scott and Greer had reached the hole that would allow them entry back into the ship and noticed that the force shield was still there. Scott activated his suit's communication device. "Uh, Colonel Young, this is Scott. We're ready to come back in. Lower the shield." They waited for a moment, and when nothing happened, Scott spoke again. "I repeat, this is Scott, over. The shield is still up. We cannot get back inside."

Inside, Young said to Dannic, "He just saved our damned lives. Lower the shield."

"Keep moving," said Dannic.

"Lower the damned shield!"

The Alliance man spun around and backhanded Ev across the face. He sunk to his knees in pain, and the other two men picked him up continuing to walk rapidly down the corridor. A few moments later, they reached the Mess and roughly shoved Young through the doors. With nothing to hold him up, Ev fell to the floor. When he stood back up and looked towards the group that was already in there, the first person he saw was Missy, her eyes wide with terror. She stood up as Dannic said, "Separate the civilians. Take them to another compartment."

His men went inside and started to bundle anyone not in uniform out of the room. When they reached Missy, she fought their hands. "No, no, no! I want to die with him."

Linda and the other women tried to get her to come, but she kept fighting them. One of the Alliance men backhanded her across the face, and she crumpled to the floor. While she was regaining her senses, she heard Everett's voice in her mind. "Missy, stop. Go with them."

She spoke back to him. "No, they're going to kill you. I want to die with you."

"No, you need to survive, Missy. For me and for our babies."

"I don't want to." She wept as he tried to comfort her.

"I know you don't, baby." His voice broke. "I would rather have you in my arms, but it will make this easier if I know the three of you are okay. Promise me."

Melissa let the men pick her up and took one more opportunity to gaze at her husband who had tears pouring down his face. In their link, she said, "I promise."

"Good." He watched the men herd the group of civilians out of the Mess and close the doors. Continuing to talk with her through their link, he transmitted the same mental picture he had shown her before. "Do you see it?"

"Yes."

"I'll keep it up as long as I can. I love you, Missy, with all my heart and soul, and I'm holding you. I'm holding all three of you."

"We love you too, Everett."

He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. It was Mac with a look of sorrow on his face. The younger man quietly spoke into his ear. "Link?"

"Yeah," said Ev. "At least I can comfort her until this is over. You know, the Alterans could show up right now, and I would be happy."

"Yep, me too. What happened to Scott and Greer?"

Everett shook his head in disgust. "They've left them outside the ship to die after they saved all our lives. Listen, if by chance you…"

"If I make it, and you don't, I will look after them, Sir. I promise."

He placed a hand on Mac's shoulder. "Thank you."

At that moment, the doors opened again and a squad of Alliance men walked in with their rifles raised. One of them gestured for the group to kneel, and when they didn't immediately comply, the squad moved among them pushing them to their knees. They came up to Young whose mind was still linked with Melissa's. He ignored them and thought to his wife, "Do you want me to break the link when I see them start to shoot? I really don't want you to feel me die."

Missy spoke once again through their link. "No. Not until the last minute—the last minute. I love you, Ev, always and forever."

"I love you too. All right." The lights began to flicker signaling the return of the pulsar. Ev's tears filled with tears as he prepared to die. Moments later, the lights went out, and the link he had with his wife was inexplicably broken.

When the lights came back on, the Alliance soldiers lifted their weapons and prepared to shoot on Dannic's order. Before they could, Varro, the other Alliance lieutenant, rushed into the room. "Dannic!"

The other man's head snapped back towards him. "The military personnel are a liability."

"Kiva's still alive. The medic was shot. And I had a report from the guards watching the civilians. One of the women, the one with child, was insisting on seeing these people." He pointed to the military personnel. "The guard told her they were dead, and she's gone hysterical."

"The medic was military. It was a mistake to trust her. And we don't have much use for a woman with child. Unless…" He gave the military men a hard stare as he sneered, "Is she one of your mates? How about I bring her in here and kill her first?"

Immediately understanding why he hadn't been able to get Missy back through their link, Everett surged forward and slammed his fingers hard into Dannic's throat. "You bastard!" Choking, Dannic stumbled back while clutching at his throat and Young pushed him to the floor. The other Alliance soldiers leapt forward, some to train their weapons on the Earth crew and keep them on their knees while the others grabbed at Young who was trying to strangle Dannic. Eventually, they hauled him up and drug him back as he continued to struggle. "You son of a ….!"

Dannic scrambled to his feet and stormed towards the struggling colonel. "I want him dead, but first he is going to watch me kill his mate and rip his unborn child from her body."

Spitting out incoherent insults, Young was pulled back to the other Earth soldiers as Varro grabbed Dannic and shoved him backwards. "Listen to me! Listen to me!" He pushed Dannic out into the corridor and spoke more quietly. "We need their cooperation. We can use the communication stones to get a team of doctors on board."

"We can't spare the men."

"We can use some of them." He gestured to the group from Earth. "It doesn't matter what they report back. There's nothing anyone on Earth can do about this."

Dannic glared back into the room at Young who had a murderous expression on his face and who was still struggling against the men holding him. Finally, he nodded to Varro. "All right. But if Kiva dies, they all die." He motioned to Young. "I want him put by himself."

"That's fine." He ordered the men, "Put him in the room near the Gate Room." They nodded and hauled Everett out of the room. Turning back to Dannic, he told him, "I'm going to get some civilians to use the stones. Go check with Simeon and Ginn."

"Okay." They headed in different directions leaving men to guard the outside of the Mess.

Walking to where the civilians were, Varro arrived there and entered the room. Camille Wray stood up and went to him. "What do you want?"

Varro replied, "We need four of you to use the stones so we can get doctors from Earth to work on our men who have been hurt." He pointed to where some people were trying to comfort a weeping Missy. "What's wrong with her?"

Lisa Park, who had come over to them, said, "Why wouldn't she be upset? You just killed her husband. And what exactly are you planning to do with the rest of us?"

"Don't know yet. It depends on what happens with our commander who was shot." Varro gazed over at Melissa for a long moment trying to decide if telling her Young wasn't dead was a good idea. He finally decided he couldn't be that heartless and walked over to the group. Touching Missy's shoulder gently, he said, "Mrs. Young," and waited until she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.

"Yes," said Missy in a quiet voice.

"Your husband is not dead." He raised his voice so the whole group could hear. "None of them are dead—at least not yet." A look of astonished joy came over Missy's face, and she nodded at him in thanks. Varro then pointed at Camille, Lisa, Dale Volker, and another civilian. "Come with me, please." The people he had indicated got up and left with him and the other Alliance soldier.

Once they had left, Linda hugged Missy and said, "I'm so happy for you, Melissa. I hope everyone stays safe."

"Me too," said Melissa whose smile reached from ear to ear. Linda walked off to talk with someone else leaving Melissa alone at the table. She decided to see if she could reach Ev through their empathic link. Opening her mind, she felt his relief almost immediately. "I just found out you were okay, sweetheart. They told me you were dead."

"I know, baby. I know." Everett stood up from the small cot he had been sitting on. "They put me by myself. Dannic doesn't trust me not to go after him now."

Missy softly chuckled in her mind. "And I wonder why that is. Any idea what they're going to do with us?"

"It depends on what happens to their commander who was shot. Listen, honey, I know why you closed your mind before, but keep it open now, okay?"

"I will. I was just afraid before—afraid that if I tried, nothing would be there. I couldn't have handled it."

"I know. I'm gonna do this again until…" He sent her the mental picture of them holding each other. "We're together for real. And then I'm not letting go of you anymore. How are you feeling?"

"The contractions have eased off, but they're still kicking. Maybe when we're together again, you can do your magic."

"I will." They continued to talk with each other through their link.

Meanwhile, Varro had taken the others to the Communications Room. When they were sitting around the table, he told them, "Remember, the lives of your shipmates depend on how well this goes. Tell them that back on Earth too."

"I understand," said Camille who dropped a communication stone onto the activation box. She was back ten minutes later after having told the people on Earth what they needed.

The four Destiny crew members each dropped a communication stone onto the activation box while Varro watched. He waited for the transfer to take place and then addressed the people sitting at the table. "Who are you?"

The woman who had taken over Camille's body was the only one who had been to Destiny before. She looked at Varro. "I'm Dr. Brightman." She indicated the others. "This is Dr. Ziegler, Dr. Finch, and Dr. Tannen."

"All right. Follow me." They stood up, and he took them to the infirmary. Once they got there, the doctors quickly familiarized themselves with what they had available to them and began working on their patients. About thirty minutes later, Varro returned as David Telford's unconscious body was carried out of the operating room where Dr. Brightman had just finished surgery on him. "Is he gonna make it?"

Brightman replied, "Yeah, he'll be fine. The bullet passed clean through."

"Let me know when he wakes up. I want to talk with him."

"All right." She gazed at him hesitantly. "Listen, your commander wasn't so lucky. Dr. Finch is working on her right now, but it isn't looking good. We think the bullet may have lodged in her liver."

"It would be in everyone's best interest if she survived."

"Yeah, I get that."

Varro looked across to where TJ was lying unconscious with an air mask over her face. "What about Lieutenant Johansen?"

"Well, we've managed to stop the bleeding. The wound itself wasn't bad, but she hit her head when she hit the floor. It caused a concussion, and we also discovered that she's pregnant. It will probably take a while for her to wake up."

A look of consternation came across his face. "Pregnant?"

"Yes. It's very early. It's possible she doesn't know."

"Okay, what else?"

"I know you said you wanted your people treated, but I was asked by my superiors to ask about a member of the Destiny crew who is important to several members of my government."

"Oh really, who is it?"

"Her name is Dr. Melissa Young, and she's very close to giving birth. We have an obstetrician, that's a doctor for pregnant women, on standby. I can make arrangements for the doctor to come if you will let us see her."

Shaking his head, Varro replied, "Not yet. Finish with our men and Lieutenant Johansen first. I have seen Dr. Young though, and she seemed fine at the time."

Brightman nodded. "I understand. Excuse me." She moved away to look for her next patient.

Varro watched her for a moment and then left the infirmary intending to go back to the Control Room. When he arrived, there were several Alliance members working at consoles. "Report!"

A woman, whose name was Ginn, turned to him. "The countdown clock has started again. It's probably a result of the adjustments made to the shield.

"How long until we jump?"

"About an hour or so."

They heard a voice come over the radio. "Varro, this is Dr. Brightman."

He picked the radio up and spoke into it. "Go ahead."

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but we did all we could. It just wasn't enough. Your commander is dead."

A set expression came over Varro's face and the others that were in the room. "Understood." Once he shut the radio off, he faced the other Alliance members. "What should we do now?"

"We need to kill them all!" exclaimed Dannic.

"The original plan was to keep some of the scientists and drop the rest on a habitable planet."

Another man, whose name was Simeon, spoke up. "The original plan didn't involve Kiva being killed. "

"I admit, it may have been optimistic to expect any of them to work with us, but going on a bloody rampage now isn't going to solve anything."

"You got another idea?"

Varro looked at Ginn. "Tell them."

Motioning to her console, Ginn replied, "We found one address we can dial from this position. It's currently locked out probably because it's at the extreme range of the gate, but I can get around that."

"We check it out. If it's viable, we send them—everyone except the doctors. They're still working on some of our men. And Lieutenant Johansen." The other men gazed at him knowingly as if they knew why he wanted to keep the last person. He glared back at them defensively. "She could prove to be useful down the road."

"What about Rush and the others that are still missing?" asked Simeon.

"Search parties will find them. Let me know, Ginn, when you have the information, and I'll send guards to have them gather their personal belongings and some supplies."

Ginn replied, "Understood, Sir."

He left to go check-in with the search teams. About fifteen minutes later, he received the information that the planet was viable and went to instruct the guards of the Destiny crew to start gathering everyone together and allowing them to gather some supplies. After he talked to the guards of the civilians, he went over to where Melissa had just been helped out of the chair she had been sitting in. "Dr. Young, will you come with us please? Your friends can get anything you or your baby might need."

Raising her eyebrows, Missy asked, "Why?"

Varro held up his hands. "We will not hurt you or your baby. I promise. We are going to take you to your husband."

"Oh, okay."

She told her friends she would see them in a little while and walked off with the two men. They went towards the Gate Room turning to a smaller corridor before they got there. Varro stopped at a door and said to the other man, "Keep her out here until I call you." He walked in and greeted Everett. "Hello, Colonel."

Ev nodded in greeting. "What's going on?"

"We've found a planet with a breathable atmosphere. We're putting you and your people off the ship."

"There's no way you've had enough time to determine long-term viability."

"There are not a lot of options here."

Thinking of his wife and the babies they were going to have, Everett shook his head. "It's a death sentence."

"Not necessarily." He paced past Young who eyed the pistol hanging from a belt around his waist. Varro noticed his gaze and raised his eyebrows. "Now you're thinking you've got nothing to lose. You could jump me, take my gun and kill the guard outside. But how far do you really think you'd get?" You'd be shot, and your people would still be sent to the planet, only without their leader. For their sake and the sake of two others, I recommend you stay alive." He went to the door and told the other man, "Let her come in."

Missy cautiously stepped inside, but when she saw Ev, her eyes lit up and she smiled with joy and relief. "Everett."

Smiling at his wife with the same joy and relief, he opened his arms, and she walked into them. "Melissa, you're okay." He gently kissed her forehead and touched her belly. "Did you take care of Mama, munchkins?"

"They did. Ev, he says they found a planet. He's already got people gathering their things."

Everett glanced back over at Varro. "Well, I guess you were just coming to tell me what you were going to do."

The other man nodded. "This is your best option. Would you prefer what Dannic wants? He would see you dead and then your wife would be a widow and your…" He motioned to Missy, "Did I understand her correctly? Children would be fatherless."

He stared at Varro for a long moment until Missy touched his arm. "It's a chance, Everett. That's all I want. A chance for the four of us to survive. And we're together. Two hours ago I thought you were dead. You don't know what kind of hole that left in me." She hugged him close to her.

Impressed with her courage, he hugged her back and said, "You're right, of course-about all of it. Let's do this."

"Thank you," said Varro. "An escort will come and get you when your crew is ready." He looked at Melissa. "And you may stay. Listen, I had a question."

"What's that?" asked Missy.

"When the doctors came via the stones, one of them said a member of your government asked about you. Would you like to send a message?"

Responding to Ev's curious gaze, Missy said, "That was probably Jack." Then she turned to Varro. "Please have them tell General O'Neill that I'm okay and tell him to tell my sisters that I miss them and that I love them." A few tears fell down her face as she realized she would never see any of them again. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Varro left to check in with the Control Room.

Once he had left, Everett turned Missy to him and gently caressed her face. "Are you okay baby?"

"Yes." She kissed his lips. "I meant what I said all those months ago. I don't care where we are as long as we're together."

He motioned for her to sit down on the bed. "You have so much faith in me, Missy. Sometimes I don't know if I deserve it."

Softly stroking his cheek, she told him, "I have faith in us." She pointed to her forehead. "Can you feel it in here?"

Everett opened his mind to hers and nodded. "Oh yes."

They continued to talk while they waited for someone to come back. About thirty minutes later, there was a knock at the door. A Lucian Alliance soldier opened it and told them, "Time to go."

Everett nodded and offered a hand to Melissa to help her up. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, I am." She took his hand, and they left the room. When they got to the Gate Room, they saw that it was full of soldiers watching the last of the Destiny crew go through an active stargate. Missy noticed several of the men ogling her and could feel Ev's hand tightening on hers. She whispered to him, "Everett, it's not worth it."

"You're right." He offered her his arm which she took. "Are you ready to walk to our future, honey?"

"I'll go anywhere with you, Ev." They walked up to the event horizon and stopped for a moment. "I am scared about going through the gate right now though."

"I know." He turned back for one last look at the ship meeting Dannic's challenging look with one of his own. Once he had done that, he turned back to his wife and warmly smiled at her, hoping that the optimism he was showing would translate to a positive outcome. "Just hold my arm baby. I've gotcha."