Chapter 2 – The Not-So-Calm Before The Storm
When the forcefield for the holding cell was activated, their guest's eyes lit up with curiosity, chasing away for a few brief moments the worry and fear that had been there before. John noted the lack of surprise, suggesting the man wasn't unfamiliar with this level of technology, and filed the information away for future use.
"I wouldn't…" he said, just as the man touched one of the bars of light and pulled back with a loud 'ow', shaking his hand, "…touch them," he finished lamely, receiving a glare from the prisoner. He merely shrugged and offered a wry, "Sorry." Perhaps the man wasn't as familiar with this technology after all.
Still glaring, the man looked around the cell, his shoulders slumping in defeat as, presumably, he noticed the lack of escape routes.
"So," Sheppard said airily, "What's your name? I'm Major John Sheppard, in case you hadn't picked up on that, Head of Military on Atlantis."
"Maredith NcKay," came the subdued answer.
"Well, NcKay, I'd like to know more about your people." When there was no reply, he tried again. "You say they found a Wraith lab, and clearly they were able to both read and understand what the Wraith was doing, so at a guess I'd say your people are at least as advanced as the Hoffans."
"They'd be highly insulted if you told them that," NcKay answered with a sneer, which turned to a speculative look as he added wryly, "I'd pay to see that, actually."
"So, more advanced then? Well, we're interested in making allies of people in this galaxy, and your people certainly sound like they're worth investigating…"
"My people would take Atlantis from you. They don't share with others and they'd want the city for themselves. They'd think it was their right to rule here. You'd be better staying away from them and hoping that none of the few planets they deign to trade for food with tell them about Atlantis, or they will try to infiltrate and take this place from you."
"Infiltrate? Like you, maybe?"
"No!" NcKay hotly denied. "I left my people years ago and have had nothing to do with them since! But I know that if they hear that the city of the Ancestors has been found, they will do anything to take control of it. Anything."
"Well, then, even more reason to know about them, so we can try and avoid that situation occurring."
"No. I'm not helping people who lock me up and… and who knows what else you'll do to me!" NcKay said, the panic tight in this voice. "Let me leave, and once I'm safe, I'll give the information to one of your allies."
"We're not going to hurt you," Sheppard reiterated.
"Why not? They did," NcKay stopped suddenly, looking fraught.
"Your people hurt you?"
"I'm not answering any more of your questions. Not until you let me go," he said, trying to sound defiant but sounding desperate instead as he turned away from them, shoulders heaving as he tried to slow his panicked breathing.
"Okay, okay, calm down. Just… take it easy."
"Perhaps we should talk to Dr Weir," Teyla suggested calmly.
"Yeah," Sheppard agreed and ordered Sergeants Stackhouse and Markham to keep watch before heading for the control room with Teyla and Ford.
Sitting in the corner of the cell, well, box really, Maredith hunched his shoulders and tried not to shiver. He was trapped and he was scared and angry and… uncertain. The things he had heard about these people on Hoff, the way they had tried to stop the Hoffans from committing mass suicide, the way that doctor blamed himself, it had made him think that maybe these people were okay. And maybe they were, but how could he be sure of that?
Life had been difficult since he'd left his homeworld; never daring to show his true self to those around him, always hiding behind the images he could project. On some worlds, with close-knit villages or towns, fading into the background wasn't really possible and he had to move on quickly; passing himself off as a stranger passing through, using an image from another world and trying to avoid using a local's image unless he really felt he had too, because that was just too risky.
Other worlds, like Hoff, with large towns or cities and thousands of people were easier to hide on. He could take a face from another world, claim he'd moved from one area of the city to another and no one would ever know differently, and so on those worlds he stayed on for months, even years sometimes, before moving on.
But he always moved on, always looking for somewhere better, somewhere more advanced, somewhere he could use his skills and maybe, just maybe, be respected and liked. No, not liked, that was stupid and unnecessary, being respected would be enough.
This could have been the place, maybe, but he'd miscalculated. He'd thought it would be like Hoff, with thousands of people to get lost in, not the hundred or so he had found. And yes, he knew they would figure out that something odd had happened, but they wouldn't know about him or his ability and in the thousands he could disappear and, hopefully in time, the strange events would be forgotten.
Oh trantan, how he had miscalculated!
And now… Now they didn't trust him, and he couldn't be sure of their intentions, and even those with the best intentions might hurt him; study him as an interesting specimen at the very least, and if their intentions weren't good, then, well, who knew? Maybe they would torture him into obedience. Like Cowen had.
Unconsciously, his hand traced the scar on his face. He could almost feel the knife again, slowly sliding through his skin. Pain, hot, so hot, and fear. He'd been beaten badly and half-choked and then… Cowen had come and the knife…
Breath hitching, he tried to stop remembering, but the memories would not leave him be.
The pain, the fear, the threat from Cowen to cut out his tongue, then one of his eyes…
He'd broken, agreed to Cowen's plans. Used his ability, his so-called 'gift' to implicate Cowen's enemies, those that stood between him and the throne, with crimes they hadn't committed.
It had almost been a relief when Kolya, one of Cowen's supposedly most loyal men, had exposed the plot to the royal guards, gaining power in doing so, and Cowen had been executed for his crimes. Almost a relief, except he was also slated for execution, and if not for his father's bribing of the guards to let him escape, he would have been. It was perhaps the only good thing his father had ever done for his illegitimate son, but he was grateful.
The memories released their grip on him, but the fear remained.
What would these people do to him?
"Carson, you said you'd finished the DNA test?" Elizabeth asked, as John, Teyla and Ford joined them and Bates in the conference room.
"Aye, I have."
"What have you found?" Teyla asked, uncertainty lacing her voice.
"I'm sorry, love, I know this isn't what you want to hear but he was right; you have a small amount of Wraith DNA. I'm sorry I didn't pick up on this earlier, but it was very easy to miss. I couldn't make the kind of comparison necessary to isolate the specific strand before we got hold of some Wraith cells, and even then we needed a full mapping of the genetic code contained within those cells…"
"But I am part Wraith?" Teyla interrupted, obviously upset.
"Aye, but no more than Sheppard or myself are part Ancient."
"And it does allow you to sense the Wraith, which has saved countless lives," John tried to reassure her.
"That does not make it less hard to accept."
"I'm not sure how I'd respond to something like this myself, however, I do know that this does not change who you are," Elizabeth added.
Teyla didn't look entirely convinced.
"According to NcKay, that's his name by the way, people with the Gift might be able to tap into the Wraith neural network, whatever that means," Sheppard said.
"My people have long believed that the Wraith can communicate via thoughts."
"A form of telepathy, aye, I remember you mentioning that once," Carson said, nodding thoughtfully. "If you could tap into it then maybe you could gather information from it."
"Or they could gather information from her," Bates added darkly.
"I have never tried and do not believe I would ever wish to," Teyla assured them.
"And we're not about to ask you to," Elizabeth said, turning to Sheppard. "Did you find out anything else from NcKay?"
"Yes, according to what he told us he left his homeworld some years ago. Apparently his people are more advanced than the Hoffans, possibly quite a bit more at that."
"Could they prove to be allies?"
"If he's to be believed, then no. He said that if they find out about us they will do anything to wrest the city from us."
"Do you believe him?"
"Well," Sheppard looked to Teyla, who nodded. "My instincts are that he's telling the truth, but we can't be certain."
"I also believe he is not lying. Certainly, he seems very afraid that we will torture or experiment on him."
"Like his people did," Ford added. "Or at least, that's what I got from what he said."
"You mean his own people did that to him?" Carson looked appalled. "Bloody hell, and it's perfectly possible too. If they're advanced enough, they could use the information they gained from the Wraith's experiment to try some of their own, but that's…" Carson shook his head, unable to express his disgust.
"We only have his word for this," Bates pointed out suspiciously. "He could have been sent to infiltrate the city and bring his people here, and even if that isn't the case, if we let him go he could return to them, offer his knowledge of us to help them launch an attack."
"We need to know more about his people, for a start," Elizabeth decided.
"He says he won't tell us anything unless we let him go," Ford informed her.
"And we can't do that, not until we're sure we can trust him." Elizabeth sighed. "Okay, for now, he stays in the cell. I want you, Carson, to get a blood sample and see if he has Wraith DNA."
"That won't help to garner his trust," Sheppard warned.
"I know, but we need to know. If that bit is true, then maybe the rest is as well. Once you find a suitable room that can be secured, then we can move him out of the holding cell. I don't want to leave him in there too long unless we have to."
"Okay."
The conference room doors opened as Grodin rushed in.
"Sorry to interrupt, but Sergeant Miller was returning from the Mainland when he spotted a hurricane heading towards both the Mainland and Atlantis."
"A storm?" Elizabeth asked, clearly not understanding the urgency she could see in Peter's eyes.
"Not just a storm, but a massive one. He says it covers about twenty percent of the planet's surface."
"And it's headed straight for us? Can Atlantis survive a storm that big?"
"Not without the shields, no."
"How long before it hits?"
"Ten hours before it hits the Athosian encampment, and then about an hour and a half before it hits Atlantis itself."
"Contact Zelenka, we need to know our options."
"He's already on his way."
"Good. Carson, can you ready the infirmary in case we need to evacuate?"
"Aye."
"John, we need to organise a place to evacuate to, and Teyla, you need to contact your people and ask them to get ready too. I hope Zelenka will be able to come up with a solution, but we need to be prepared for the worst."
Over the next two hours, Sheppard managed to negotiate with the Manarians to allow the Atlantis personnel and the Athosians to take temporary refuge on their world, but Zelenka was unable to come up with a solution to save Atlantis. The storm would cause major structural damage, and there was a strong possibility of a tsunami sinking the city.
Beckett was busy acting as a reluctant pilot to help ferry the Athosians back to Atlantis, leaving his staff to pack up as much of the infirmary as was feasible to take with them, and the evacuation was in full swing within another hour of that.
With only half an hour before the hurricane hit the Mainland, John headed down to the holding cells. NcKay was sitting hunched up in a corner, looking bored out of his mind and John felt a slight pang of guilt at not finding something to occupy him. After all, they were trying to gain the man's trust and leaving him to brood was probably not a good way to do that.
At his approach, NcKay stood up, shifting nervously in place though he seemed calmer than earlier.
"What's happening?" NcKay asked. "I heard your guards talking about having to abandon the city."
John sighed, sending a look to the two sergeants that suggested he'd be talking to them about not letting prisoners know too much. They at least had the grace to look sheepish. Deciding that keeping NcKay in the dark wasn't much of an option anyway, he explained about the storm that was heading their way.
"So why is that a problem? A city like this must be protected by a shield," NcKay said after the brief explanation.
"We can't raise the shields," John admitted.
"Why? Are they damaged?"
"No."
"Hmm, well then…" NcKay looked thoughtful and then suddenly clicked his fingers a few times and started talking rapidly. "Power, that must be the problem. According to the legends, Atlantis was submerged beneath the ocean, which means the shields must have been active for the last however many thousands of years it's been since the Ancestors abandoned this galaxy to its fate. And keeping a shield active that long must take enormous energy."
"Ten thousand years is a long time," John managed to interject before NcKay carried on, hands waving and sketching out images in the air.
"Right. Now we know they used some type of power crystal but the only one of those we ever found had run out of energy, so we know they don't last forever. But if the power crystals…"
"We call them ZPMs."
"Okay, if the ZPMs are depleted, then what are you using to power the city?"
"Not sure I want to answer that."
"Oh. Well, I guess it doesn't matter. The fact is, you don't have enough of them to power the shield, so… Hmm, yes, that isa problem."
"Dr Zelenka is trying to find a solution, I'm still confident he'll come up with something."
"Who's he?"
"Our Chief Scientist."
"Oh, right. I'm guessing he's considered solar, wind and wave power? Not that I know if the city is capable of using them anyway, it might not be set up for it, and from the experiments my people have been doing with them, they don't provide much energy…" A frown covered his face, as he paced agitatedly back and forth. Then his face cleared as he snapped his fingers rapidly again. "Lightning! There was a discussion about using lightning. The Hoffans had been looking into it, but really, lightning storms aren't that common or predictable, so I think they gave up on it. Is the storm passing over any land before coming here? If so, that will increase any electrical activity. There'll be plenty of lightning, so it's just a case of seeing if the city's capable of collecting it."
"I'll… mention it to Zelenka," John said, sounding sceptical that it would be of any use.
"You will? You're not just saying that to appease the crazy scientist guy?"
"I will, I promise."
"Good. I mean, it's a long shot and might not be possible, but…" NcKay shrugged. "It might be something."
"Yeah."
"Are you… if it doesn't work out and this Zelinda…"
"Zelenka."
"Yeah, if he can't save the city, what then? You're evacuating?"
"Be stupid to do otherwise," John said dryly.
"Yes, of course it would." NcKay nodded, looking anxious. "You, ah, you wouldn't leave me here, would you? To die, I mean."
"Of course not," John said, frowning at the idea.
"Oh, good, good. It's just that, well, some might think evacuating prisoners is a waste of effort…"
"Not us," John assured him. "I actually came here to tell you we're going to be moving you in the next hour."
"Oh, right. You know, I might be able to help. I have a good grasp of Ancestor technology…"
"I'm sorry…"
"I just, I don't do sitting around and doing nothing well, you know?"
"I'll get you something to occupy your mind, after you've been evacuated. Now, I need to find Zelenka. Tell him about your crazy idea."
"Hey, it might work and then who'll be crazy?"
John merely smirked before leaving. This NcKay guy was certainly a character, he thought with a shake of his head, feeling somewhat bemused by what he'd just witnessed.
And yet strangely, quite likeable too.
When they came to move him offworld, Sheppard had the decency to tell him that Zalenda, or however it was pronounced, had come up with a plan to save the city using his lightning idea. He couldn't help but smile smugly at that. Maybe they'd realise he was a genius and not just some freakish curiosity, and that being nice to him was in their interests.
Of course, they could just decide to torture him into submission, but… he was beginning to consider that possibly, maybe they weren't like that.
Not that he was going to stick around and find out.
Sure, the city of Atlantis was everything, and more, than he could have dreamed of, and yes, he'd love to have the chance to learn about its systems, delve into its database, but although he was beginning to think these people were not bad and that maybe they wouldn't hurt him or use him in experiments, he couldn't be sure. So if he got a chance, he'd escape his guards and go to another planet. Perhaps Sateda? He'd heard it was in ruins, had been for many years, but there might be something there worth scavenging. Something he could use in trade wherever he chose to go next.
It was not long after he had been moved to their offworld refugee camp that his opportunity came when his guards were temporarily distracted by a loud argument between two of their people. He quietly slipped away from them, taking the face of an Athosian and heading for the gate, hoping he would be fast enough to escape before any of the Atlantis people caught up with him and stopped people from leaving this planet until they could ascertain their identity.
At first, he thought luck was on his side, but as he came to the edge of the forest clearing the gate sat in, his heart sank at the sight of Athosians in front of the gate.
Only no, that wasn't right. He looked closely at the people gathered there and spotted one person who was dialling the gate under duress. The man who held the Athosian was dressed as one of them but…
Oh trantan, it was Kolya!
The prisoner took out a device, pressing some buttons on it, and Maredith recognised it as one of the devices that allowed entry to Atlantis.
His people were about to attack the city, and he couldn't…
Using an image of a man from Hoff, but clothing him in Athosian attire, he used the distraction of Kolya killing the unfortunate prisoner to join the back of the raiding party. It was reckless, dangerous and stupid; if Kolya counted his troops, he'd realise there was an extra person; if he looked too closely, or one of the others did, they'd see a stranger amongst them.
But he couldn't let them take Atlantis. He just couldn't. Not them, not his people, they didn't deserve it.
Steeling himself, he followed them through, hanging at the back of the group and watching in horror as the two Atlantis soldiers were gunned down by Kolya in cold blood. He took the opportunity to slip away shortly after under the pretence of securing the area.
He couldn't believe he'd done it, that he'd slipped past Kolya and his Genii cohorts. But what now?
Now, he had to find whoever had been left to execute the plan to save the city and warn them. And, oh trantan, hope that they didn't think he was part of the attack, that he had brought his people here; or even worse, that he got trapped on a sinking city if the plan to save it didn't work.