Stargate Atlantis: Shepherd's Hook4

Moira's scream broke through John's torpidity. Suddenly he was able to move. Suddenly he was in the Chair in Atlantis. He leapt out of it, whirling to see a monstrosity pinning her to the floor. He lunged towards it and knocked it aside, off of Moira. He fell with it onto the floor. An elbow hit his midsection and he groaned, freed the thing and rolled to his knees. He drew his gun in one fluid motion and fired, fired, fired.

The door was opening and a flood of marines entered, guns raised.

"Shoot it! Shoot it now!" John ordered harshly, blinking against the flare of light illuminating the room.

"Shoot at what, sir?" Jason Reynolds asked.

John stared, lowering his gun. There was nothing there. He looked round. There was no intruder, no huge fugly anywhere. He holstered his weapon and moved to Moira who was cowering on the floor, brown eyes wide with shock. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. "Moira? Moira, it's all right. Moira, look at me. It's all right." He neared slowly, squatted and held out an empty hand.

Moira was shaking her head. "It can't…it can't…you, you saw it too, you saw it?" Her voice was rising to hysterics. "It wasn't a hallucination, John! It wasn't it wasn't!"

"Yes, sweetheart, I saw it and felt it," John assured. His voice was low, gentle. "But now it's gone. It's all right, Moy. Take my hand."

She hesitated then did so. "John!" She melted into him as he stood, pulling her with him.

"It's all right, Moy, I promise," he said into her hair, kissing her brow. He turned to the men who were awaiting orders, looking around in puzzlement and trying not to stare at the intimate moment. "Status, Reynolds?"

"Not good, sir. The city is locking out Doctor McKay and the Daedalus is under heavy fire."

"Colonel Sheppard! I need you here now!" Richard's strident voice pinged over John's earpiece.

"On my way! Let's move!" As the marines exited John looked round the room, then to Moira. "What the hell is going on here, Moira?"

"I, I don't know, John…" She squirmed out of his embrace but he caught her hand, keeping her next to him. "Are you, are you okay?"

"Yeah…thanks to you. Let's go, Moy."

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Alison checked the monitors. She checked the IV drip. Finally she touched Carson's forehead. "He's stable. He should be fine." She almost sagged with relief and leaned on the bed where the doctor was recovering, still unconscious but out of danger.

"You did good, doc," Ronon said with a smile.

"I hope so," she sighed, checking Carson's pulse. She sighed again. "He should be somewhat responsive now." She checked his eyes. "Carson? Carson?" She checked the monitors. His vitals were stable and strong, yet he seemed to be vacant.

It was like he wasn't there.

It was like he was somewhere else.

"Carson, can you hear me?"

Suddenly Carson's body jerked and he gasped, limbs flailing. Alison caught his arms as Ronon caught his legs. "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know! Carson, Carson, you're safe! Carson!"

Carson blinked, calming. He eyed the Satedan holding him down, then Alison. "What the bloody hell is this?" he rasped.

Alison smiled, nodding. Ronon released him. She helped the doctor sip some water. "You had a subdural hematoma and I had to operate but you are fine now. I will tell you one thing. You are never getting back into that Chair!"

"I just might agree with that, love." He gingerly touched his head. "I've got a headache."

"Of course you do. I will adjust your meds." Alison leaned close, lightly kissed him and turned away to check the IV.

Ronon smiled and patted the doctor's shoulder. "Glad to have you back, doc."

"Glad to be back, son. Go on, now. I'm fine. I just need a bit of a kip."

Ronon nodded and exited the infirmary.

No one saw the brief flare of ice blue in Carson's eyes.

No one saw the brief breath of frost that lined his lips.

No one saw the brief, brief smile.

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Rodney was ready to pull out his hair, except he really couldn't afford to lose any. Instead he rapped his fingers on the keyboards, hammering commands that the city ignored. "Damn it! Why is she being such a bi…oh John! Can you possibly override the never mind!"

Suddenly the city was responding. The alarms ceased and doors were opening again. The lights no long flickered.

"What happened?" Richard asked, gesturing for John to join them.

"I don't know! But it's working now. Everything is back under our control." Rodney breathed a sigh of relief. "I can't lower the Shield yet, however."

John moved forward but stopped as Moira wasn't moving. She was trying to pull her hand out of his, gazing round with a panicked look on her face. He met her gaze. "They're not there, Moy," he said quietly, but he glanced round just to be sure. His fingers tightened on hers and he led her to the center of the control room.

Something crunched under his boots and he looked down to see what was remained of the neural transmitter. He wanted to ask but instead he glanced at the screens. "Status?"

"Not good. We've lost contact with the Daedalus and it is badly damaged. We can no longer jam the enemy's frequencies and they are powering up for a massive attack. Any ideas?"

John frowned. His fingers tightened around Moira's as she was trying to get away from him again, and he wasn't about to let that happen. He eyed the screens, the blips that were still moving towards Atlantis. One blip was gaining on the other. Meanwhile there was yet another blip heading for the city from the opposite direction. "What the hell is that?"

"That is Fugly Two," Rodney said, shaking his head. "It's definitely not Wraith and yes, before you ask their course will take them straight to us and no, I can't get any more specifics from the long-range scanners because I have had to reboot them! And why did you use over half of our Drone supply?"

"I didn't. It was Carson. How is he, by the way?"

"Recovering," Ronon answered as he joined them. "You okay?"

"Yeah." He glanced at Moira. She was looking at the floor, frowning, still trying to get free. His fingers entwined with hers tightly and he scowled then looked at the screens. His eyes narrowed in thought. "We won't reach them by Jumper in time, will we?"

"Not a chance," Rodney said. "And don't even think of trying the star drives."

"I wasn't. Wait, was I?"

"No! We haven't the power and even if we did we hardly have the resources to fight that thing or to rescue the…"

"Rodney?"

The physicist had suddenly gone very pale, very still as he stared at a screen. His fingers were frozen over the keyboard.

"Doctor McKay?" Richard asked, equally baffled.

Rodney lifted his gaze to his friends. He swallowed, forcing the words past a dry throat. "It's gone. The, the Daedalus…is gone."