Chapter 4 – Regaining Atlantis
NcKay had been busy sabotaging the data-collecters while hoping he could find some way to slip out unnoticed or find some excuse to leave, when the woman beside him drew in a sharp breath and pulled her gun on him.
"Who are you?" she asked sternly.
"What? I'm Idos!"
"Sora, what do you see?" Kolya asked, gun also pointing at NcKay.
"One moment it was Idos, and then the next, a stranger," Sora said, eyes narrowing. "He has a scar down one side of his face, dark hair, blue eyes…"
"Maredith NcKay," Kolya said with surprise, before smiling in a predatory manner. "Well, now, this is an unexpected but pleasant surprise. As you can tell, Sora here has the ability to sense Wraith, which is why she has been accepted into the Genii society. She can also see through all of your projections."
Oh trantan, this was bad, this was really, really bad. His eyes darted around the room, looking for a way out, or maybe for Sheppard to come to the rescue, but no, they wouldn't have made it back from the outlying room yet, and oh trantan, he was so, so dead.
"Clearly you are working with the so-called Lanteans. But tell me, why are they so determined to stop us? Would it not be better to let us take what we want? After all, they have evacuated to Manara, surely they have taken all that they can with them?"
"I don't know. Maybe they just don't like sharing."
"Perhaps, but I have been wondering why there are still people here. Tell me, NcKay, what is their plan to save the city?"
"What? What plan? What makes you think they have a plan?" he babbled, wishing he could just shut up, but Kolya was so very close and he'd heard what this man was capable of.
"The plan they must have, or else why would they still be here?"
"To… To make sure everyone got out okay and collect a few last things…"
"You're not much of a liar when under pressure, are you, NcKay?" Kolya said with a sneer, leaning so that he was in NcKay's face. "What is their plan?"
"I… There isn't one…"
Kolya moved back.
"Hold him," he ordered two of his men, who grabbed NcKay's arms tightly. "Sora, seeing as you can see him, why don't you do the honours?" Kolya asked, handing her a knife. "I think the right arm is a good place to start."
"No, no, please…" he cried as he struggled in vain to escape.
The soldiers pushed him against a console, one of them holding his right arm out as Sora cut his sleeve open.
"What is their plan, NcKay?" Kolya asked again.
"I… No…" he said, and then the knife was cutting into him and he screamed as it sliced into his arm.
"What is the plan?" Kolya repeated, as Sora twisted the knife and he screamed again, sagging to his knees as his legs gave out.
"No," he whimpered.
"I tire of this. Sora, take one of his eyes."
No, no, no, not that. He felt a soldier grab his head, and then the knife was there, so close, oh so close… and he told them, to his eternal shame, he told them everything about the plan, about the one grounding station that was left, the program that needed to be activated, the radio he had and that the others were listening, but he didn't tell them about the jumper that had arrived, so Kolya wouldn't know there were more than four of them here. At least he'd managed to keep something back, but Sheppard would never trust him, never. And why should he, when he was so weak, so pathetic, so easy to break?
The soldiers released him and he slumped to the floor, holding his arm and trying to stop the bleeding. He was vaguely aware of Kolya removing the radio from him, using it to demand that the grounding station be disengaged and for the others to surrender themselves and activate the program to power the shields. If they didn't, Kolya would leave timed bombs in all of the consoles in the control room when he left, leaving them trapped in a city they'd no longer be able to save.
He'd killed them. Even if they did as Kolya asked, even if Kolya took them to Genia, they were dead, sooner or later and most likely sooner. Trying to gather his courage and his wits, he tried to think of a way to end this, without the city falling to the Genii or the others being captured, but his thoughts were scattered and his arm hurt and he was probably bleeding to death, and he was useless and had failed them.
There had to be something he could do, something to make things better.
But nothing came to mind.
The bastard had tortured NcKay and threatened to blind him. Damn it, he shouldn't have sent him in there. He couldn't blame NcKay for breaking, not after hearing what he had. Hell, NcKay had told them he was a scientist, and that made him a civilian. He shouldn't have let a civilian go into danger alone and unprotected, that was his job.
But recriminations would have to wait, he needed to take back the control room and rescue NcKay at the same time.
A quick discussion between himself, Teyla and Zelenka gave them a plan, not a good plan, not by a long shot as it put yet another civilian at risk, much to his annoyance, but one that might work. He answered Kolya's demands.
"Kolya. Damn, but that's a hard name to pronounce," he said flippantly. "This is Major John Sheppard. Do I have your word that if we do as you say we will be allowed to leave, unharmed, and that our people on Manara will also be unharmed and allowed to find a new planet?"
"I give you my word."
"Okay, well, Teyla and I are already on our way to the grounding station…"
"I hardly think it needs two of you to do that."
"Well you'd be wrong. The grounding stations were clearly considered security threats if disengaged by an enemy and therefore require two separate codes to be entered into two separate consoles at the same time."
"Very well. And your third person?"
"Dr Zelenka, are you listening to this?"
"Yes, Major."
"Go to the control room."
"Understood."
"I will be expecting him, and yourselves, to come unarmed," Kolya added.
"I'm sure we can manage that. Sheppard out." Cutting off the comm, he changed to another channel, as he and Teyla followed Zelenka to the control room. "Ford, you there?"
"Yes, sir."
"Good, tell Elizabeth to disengage the grounding station, then she needs to get to the jumper bay and join Carson. If it all goes wrong, at least the jumper will be able to dial out and escape. I need you to join Teyla and myself outside the control room, stat."
"Understood, sir."
"And keep to this channel, I don't want to risk Kolya realising there are extra people here."
"John," Elizabeth's voice came over Ford's radio. "We heard what happened. I take it you don't expect this Kolya to keep his word then?"
"Do you?" he challenged.
"No. I hope you have a plan, I don't like the idea of Radek going in on his own."
"Don't worry, we have a plan."
"Good. The station's disengaged."
"That's good." He signed off, and turned to Teyla and Zelenka. "Ready?"
"Not really," Zelenka said nervously, "But, what choice is there?"
"Okay, just remember, Teyla and I will be outside ready to attack if need be. As soon as Ford joins us, we'll come in. Keep your head down."
"I will be sure too."
Radek entered the control room, allowing the Genii to lead him into the control area. He could see NcKay huddled on the floor in front of the DHD console.
"May I wrap his injury with pressure bandage so he does not bleed out?" he asked. "It will be a few minutes before the grounding station is disengaged and the program will only take seconds to activate."
The man who was clearly in charge, and therefore was presumably Kolya, scowled but nodded. "Fine."
He crouched in front of NcKay.
"Let me see," he said gently, carefully prising NcKay's arm from his grasp and pulling a sterile wipe and pressure bandage from his pocket.
"I'm sorry," NcKay said.
"It is okay."
"But I told them…"
"Yes, no more than I would in your position," Radek reassured him. "Now, let me tend to wound. You are bleeding all over Atlantis," he chided gently.
NcKay moaned and weakly tried to pull his arm away as Radek cleaned the wound as best he could before placing the pressure bandage into place.
"There, that is best I can do for now."
"Don't trust Kolya," NcKay said very quietly. "He won't keep his word."
"Let us worry about that," he replied equally as quiet, getting up. "I need to check program is ready," he told Kolya, moving to one of the back consoles, very much aware of the guns pointing at him. He checked everything was ready, but also made a few alterations on the sly. Once finished, he nodded. "Yes, all is ready."
"Good," Kolya said.
As soon as Elizabeth was safely ensconced in the jumper with an increasingly anxious Beckett, Ford joined them outside of the control room.
"Okay, Teyla, Ford, you take the right entrance, I'll take the left. Wait for my signal before going in."
"Are you sure you would not rather one of us stayed with you?" Teyla asked.
"I'll be fine."
"Very well."
John waited until they were in position before setting his radio Kolya's channel.
"Kolya, we have disengaged the grounding station and are heading back to the control room," he said, as he moved swiftly into position, close enough to hear what was going on in the control room.
"Understood," came Kolya's reply, turning to Zelenka. "Dr Zelenka, the hurricane is already hitting the west side of the city, I suggest you activate the program now."
"But Sheppard and Teyla..."
"Will not make it here in time. They have sacrificed themselves to save this city."
"Commander, there is a massive wave approaching from the west, we need those shields up within the next ten minutes," one of the soldiers exclaimed, checking the external sensors.
"I will activate program," he replied sadly. "We are getting hits in the western pier. I am routing power to the corridors... Now!" There was a loud ping and nothing more, Radek looked at the console in alarm. "Okay, I try again... Now." Another ping, but no shields. "This is not good. The program is not working." Radek looked at Kolya, close to panic. "I cannot get it to work, not before the wave hits."
"Make it work," Kolya ordered.
"I cannot, not in time that we have. The conduits cannot handle the raw power, to find another way... I do not know if it is possible!"
"Commander, the wave is getting closer..."
"Dial Genia, it's time to leave." Kolya watched as his soldiers gathered the data-collectors and the few devices they had already boxed up. As the gate activated, he turned back to Radek. "You and NcKay are coming with us. I believe our scientists have some new experiments they would like to try out on NcKay, and you... you will be sent to the surface during the next culling."
Soldiers grabbed both Radek and NcKay and started to hustle them down to the gate, but the sound of gunfire scattered them. Radek hit the floor as soon as the soldiers who had been holding him ran for the gate, and kept his head down. In the ensuing chaos, all the Genii but one went through the gate.
Raising his head, Radek could see Kolya dragging a reluctant NcKay towards the gate, using him as a shield.
"Oh no you don't," Sheppard said, raising his P90 and aiming it at the Genii commander. "Let NcKay go. You're not going anywhere. "
Kolya merely continued dragging NcKay towards the event horizon.
"I will shoot you."
"And risk hitting him? Although, I could understand if you considered him unworthy of saving..."
"I'm not aiming at him," Sheppard assured him, shooting Kolya in the shoulder, causing him to let go of NcKay and fall through the gate.
Sheppard ran over to NcKay and helped him up.
"You okay?"
"No," NcKay replied shakily.
"You will be."
Radek had been distracted by the hostage situation briefly, but now he ran to the control console and started typing furiously onto the laptop.
"Doc," Ford said, nervously watching the external sensors, "The wave is about to hit..."
"I am aware of that," Zelenka snapped and then punched in a last command, smiling as the lightning was channelled into the shield generators and the shield activated just in time to save them from the wave.
"That was close," Ford said.
"Yes," Radek agreed, hands shaking. "Too close."
Once the shields were active and Zelenka confirmed that the city would be able to survive the hurricane, Elizabeth asked John to recall the expedition members and Athosians from Manara, in fear of Genii retribution. Fortunately, everyone was able to return without incident, though they had to remain inside stargate operations until the storm was over.
A very anxious Carson had tended to NcKay's injury, and as soon as the storm abated, moved him to the infirmary as shock was beginning to set in.
It was close to a day later before Carson would allow Elizabeth and John to visit his patient for a debrief, and even then he remained with them to ensure that NcKay didn't overdo things. NcKay was still weak from blood loss, the injury having been deep and long.
"How are you feeling?" Elizabeth asked.
NcKay shrugged, looking away before answering. "I'm sorry. That I gave away your plan."
"We heard what happened," Elizabeth said, watching him shudder slightly. "No one blames you for that. No one."
"Yeah, NcKay. You did good. I mean, you didn't tell them that we'd been joined by Ford and Teyla, or tell them about Beckett and the Athosians in the jumper, or even that Elizabeth was already at the grounding station. You told them just enough to stop them from maiming you and enough for us to still get the better of them."
"I..." NcKay furrowed his brow in confusion. "You're not angry with me?"
"No, of course not," Elizabeth said reassuringly.
"Oh. So, what now? Back to the cell?"
"No," Sheppard said with a smile. "We don't think there's need for that anymore. Once Beckett here says you can leave, we'll assign you some quarters. Zelenka wants to talk to you about how advanced the Genii are, check your own level of knowledge and find you some suitable work. If you want to stay, that is."
"Yes, I'd like to stay," NcKay said, seeming surprised at their change in attitude.
"Then that's settled. We would like to know more about what happened to you, but only if you're up to it," Elizabeth stated.
NcKay looked thoughtful. "The basics, perhaps? The Genii, my people, live underground in an old Ancestor built facility, but much of the technology doesn't work. The gate is underground as well and the Wraith don't seem to know about the facility and have never searched our world. But then, why should they, when there are people on the surface they can cull? People who have no contact with the Genii and don't know that there is a city beneath them. Who the Genii consider to be barbarians, whose only job is to be culled, satisfying the Wraith so that they don't look any further."
"That sounds harsh," Sheppard said.
"I didn't use to think so, not before... I mean, when you grow up with it, you just accept things are how they seem."
"Before what?" Elizabeth coaxed gently.
"Before they experimented on me," NcKay admittedly uncomfortably.
"Ach, your people are the barbarians if you ask me," Carson interjected in disgust.
"Why did they choose you?" Sheppard asked, curious as to why the Genii would sacrifice one of their own.
"I was of the elite blood, which means I carry the Ancestral gene and can operate Ancestral technology, but I wasn't high up in the blood line and not much liked. I was a scientist, one of their best, but I had a lot of enemies too. When one of my experiments went wrong," Maredith paused, a pained look on his face, "A handful of people died and my enemies took the opportunity to get me imprisoned for murder. I made a mistake, a big one, and people died. I deserved to be punished for their deaths, but not this! I didn't deserve this!"
"I'm assuming this has to do with the Wraith experiments they found? I've confirmed that you have Wraith DNA," Carson asked.
"Yes, they captured a handful of the above-dwellers and used them in experiments. They couldn't do what I do though, only what the Wraith can with their ghostly projections. The medical scientists wanted to see what would happen with someone who had the Ancestral gene and as I was a prisoner facing possible execution, I was handed over to them."
"And the experiment worked," Sheppard said.
"Yes, too well though. They became afraid of me, of what I could do, what I might do. I was supposed to be terminated, but Cowen rescued me." He gave a bitter laugh at that. "Of course, he had me tortured." NcKay waved a hand over the scar. "Made me impersonate his enemies and incriminate them in crimes they hadn't committed. Kolya exposed the plot to our leader, Lady Dahlia of Radim, and was rewarded with a promotion. Cowen was executed and I was awaiting execution when my father finally decided he couldn't bear to see his illegitimate son killed, so he bribed the guards to let me go. I left Genia and hoped never to see any of my people again."
"Well, you're safe for now. I can assure you that no one here is going to hurt you," Elizabeth reassured him.
"Are you sure you want to trust me? I could cause trouble..."
"But you're not going to, are you?" Sheppard said sternly, with a lift of his eyebrow.
"No, I won't. I won't use this ability against you or your people, not even for pranks. I give you my word."
"Well, now that that's settled, my patient needs his rest."
Nodding and wishing him well, Elizabeth and Sheppard left.