Jodz92 - Yeah, I know. That's John for you.

Puddle-Jumper38 - I liked that episode, too. Especially how they pit Ronon against John, and how the doc had the one marine helping him, only to realize later that the same marine had been dead for a while.

AtlantisJoeFan - Thank you :)

Ok, sorry about the later update. I've been uber busy. I read over this one, I hope it's alright. Thank you all for sticking with me. Enjoy.

Legend

Telepathic communication

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(Atlantis, Normal POV)

John was wandering around the control room in boredom. Lately, Atlantis had been quiet, too quiet. There was no word about Wraith attacks, anything to do with the Genii stirring up trouble… Hell, there were no alien viruses to worry about, or toxic plants, even! "Chuck, anything on the long range sensors?" He asked, aware his boredom was seeping into his voice.

Chuck sighed and checked his system. "No, sir. Nothing that I can see." He frowned for a moment. "Wait… No." He shook his head, staring at the screen. "There's nothing."

"You didn't sound so sure a moment ago." John stated with a raised eyebrow, his interest piqued. "What's up?"

"Just a minor glitch, I'm running a scan now to make sure it's not serious." Chuck looked at the screen. "I thought I saw a ship out there, but it's gone again."

Frowning for a moment, Sheppard hesitated before nodding.

"John…? What're you doing?"

Turning his head, John sighed and leaned over the back of the console, waving half heartedly to Elizabeth as she walked up to him. "Hey."

"Hi."

"I'm just bored. I finished training with Ronon over an hour ago, and there's nothing to do."

She raised an eyebrow and folded her arms over her chest. "You sure? I'm sure I saw a ton of inventory that Zelenka could use help with."

Standing up straight, John shook his head and tried not to grin. "We both know if Rodney found out I was helping with inventory, he'd have a fit! He doesn't want me near any of that stuff, mutant gene and all." He winked and shrugged.

Nodding, Elizabeth grinned, her grin positively evil. "Yes, but if I explained I ordered it, he'd have no choice but to listen to me, whether he liked it or not."

Seeing where she was going, John raised his hands in defeat and sighed. "Ok, you got me."

Laughing a little, she walked over and looked at Chuck. "Any activity?"

Chuck sat staring at the screen, a deep frown on his face. He turned to the keyboard and began typing, and the screen beeped at him, causing him to look at it again and frown deeper. "Uh...yes, ma'am. I thought it was just a malfunction of the sensors, but... I think there's a ship out there." His eyes narrowed at the screen. "It's not reading as Wraith, Replicator or Lantean, though."

"Is it's not the Wraith, the Replicators or Ancients, who could it be?" Frowning for a moment, John snapped his fingers. "Is it the Travelers?" He saw Elizabeth's look and shrugged. "What? Larrin said she was planning to come back for a visit."

"It's not the Travelers, either." Chuck frowned. "At least, I don't think so. I don't recognize the ship's design." He turned the screen to John who looked at it and frowned before shaking his head.

"What?"

Looking up at the two leaders of Atlantis, Chuck opened his mouth but before he could say a word, the gate lit up and began dialing. "We've got an unscheduled off world activation!" He called unnecessarily as he quickly looked back at the screen. "Unknown address and no IDC, or visual confirmation."

"We don't have anyone off world at the moment." Elizabeth looked at the gate grimly. "Raise the shield!"

"Ri-What...?" Chuck tapped on the keyboard and there was a beep. Frowning, he tapped the same button and got another beep. "We have a problem, ma'am! The shield's not raising!"

"What? How's that possible?!" Spinning to the gate, Elizabeth walked to the railing that looked down at the gate room. "What's going on??"

Tapping his radio, John grabbed his hand gun and raised it, rushing over to Elizabeth's side to give her cover. "Security to the gate room immediately! I repeat, security to the gate room immediately!" Looking to the scientists scrambling around, he tapped his ear piece again. "Everyone outta there, now!" He ordered loudly, grabbing Elizabeth's arm and hauling her back.

"John!"

"Stay here!" He growled, racing to the railing and holding his handgun towards the gate, even as a security team, including Teyla and Ronon, began rushing into the room. Waiting about as patiently as he could, considering the situation, he narrowed his eyes as the gate seemed to shimmer the way it usually did. Then, a single figure came through. Before he knew what he was doing, he was sighting the area between her eyes. Wait… 'Her'? Frowning, he watched as a girl in flowing white robes walked through the gate, looking around in confusion.

She looked to be in her thirties, or so, with shoulder length black hair and deeply tanned skin. She had a small golden band wrapped around her forehead and she looked around at the security team with uncertainty shining in her black eyes.

"John, what's….?" Elizabeth came up beside John, having seen the confusion in his face. Seeing their newcomer, and her look of worry, Elizabeth sighed a little, and stared at her a moment. She looks… "Uh, hello…?"

The young woman turned to Elizabeth and her eyes seemed to narrow a bit, her confusion written clearly on her face. "I'm not a threat." She said in accented English, her face showing how uncertain she was about being there. "Please, I only came for help."

Raising her hand, Elizabeth gave a silent gesture for her people to lower their weapons and she stared at the newcomer, trying to decipher if she was being honest or not. "I'm sorry, we're not accustomed to people coming through our gate like you did."

"Or somehow blocking our shields, either." John put in, his eyes visibly holding a glimmer of recognition.

Elizabeth wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but noted he was still wary. She, herself wasn't sure if this woman was an Ancient, a Replicator, or some other race all together. "It's our custom to be on guard around strangers." She stated calmly, moving away from the railing to make her way down the stairs.

John turned and followed her, not certain if he trusted this woman. She reminded him of the Replicators, in all honesty. He kept his gun lowered, but ready in his hand, just in case she was a threat, and he stayed near Elizabeth in case she needed him. He didn't know what it was she needed, but if she had the technology to block their shields, he didn't want to know what else they were capable of.

(On the Alien Ship, John's POV)

"Rodney, would you hurry up with that diagnostic." Frowning, I looked around the ship and shuddered. Ok, so yeah, I loved space ships, and flying things, but this ship was just plain creepy. "Then we can get the hell outta here." Instead of being made of metal, this ship was alive. In a strange sense, it was like a Wraith ship. It was made purely from living material, and it was damn weird!

"I'm hurrying! I can only do two things at once, you know!" Rodney snapped with a glare.

"And what's the other thing you're doing?!" I shot back. "You're only supposed to be running a diagnostic."

"I'm scanning the memory banks to see where this ship's been, that it suffered…" He gestured to the fleshy power core that seemed to be melting away right in front of them. "The flesh eating disease." He made a face and typed carefully on the 'thank god they're metal' keys on a board.

Making a similar face, I watched as the purplish skin-like stuff clung to a glowing orb of some kind. The more the skin seemed to decay, the more of the orb was visible and the higher the radiation levels it gave off. Apparently, under normal circumstances, the skin-stuff protected those in the ship from the radiation, and it was able to stand up to it. In this case…not doing so well. The radiation levels weren't supposed to be toxic yet, but they would be soon, if the problem wasn't fixed.

Aleera, the young Ascerian traveler, was apparently on a long journey to travel to all kinds of worlds. She'd been passing this sector when her sensors detected Atlantis, as we weren't shielded or cloaked at the time. By the time she got here, our shields were up again, but she already knew we were here, so she came via the Stargate.

I still don't understand how she didn't know her ship was somehow affecting our Stargate, or what caused it. Actually, I don't trust that.

"What species is she, that her ship's….this?!" Rodney continued with a grimace, hesitantly walking over to scoop a small amount of the infected flesh into a container. "Oh, gross!" Gagging a little, he turned and grabbed my hand, plopping the sealed container into it.

Thankfully, we'd both chosen to wear gloves

Grimacing, I looked at him and wanted to drop the container, open, down his shirt. "Thanks, buddy." Rolling my eyes, I turned and made my way to the hatch of the ship. On the way, I thought I'd heard something. Turning carefully, I noticed the door on the other side of the hallway seemed to shake before slowly opening. The hallway was dark, beyond it, but I thought I'd heard a woman's voice. "Uh, Hello…?"

"Sheppard?"

Waving my hand at Rodney absently, I took a few steps into the dark hallway, remembering that Aleera told us not to go any place else in the ship, but the engine room. Aleera, the strange exotic, alien woman who was not an Ancient, and after running some tests, apparently not a Replicator, either. Hesitating a moment, I took another step and winced as my foot slid into a thick, slimy patch. Grabbing my flashlight from my tac vest, yes we were wearing our vests, I turned it on and shone it down at my foot.

"Oh, nice." I groaned sarcastically, seeing the purple ooze around my ankle. I tried to pull my foot out, but found I was stuck fast. Not only that, but I seemed to be sinking. "Crap! Rodney!" I pulled my foot, but the harder I pulled, the more I seemed to sink. "Damn it! McKay, get your ass over here!" I was now up to my knee in that stuff, and my other foot had also started to sink. I noticed some brownish edges to the slime and realized it was infected with whatever had infected the engine. Wincing, I prayed it wouldn't do anything to me, and fought all the harder to get out of it.

"What the hell's going on? I thought you were gonna-oh my god!" Rodney appeared from around the corner and his eyes widened to see me up to my waist in the ooze, and rapidly sinking. "Hang on!" He hesitated, reaching for his ear, only to stop halfway and mutter about radiation interference. Looking around, he groaned and reached out, grabbing my arm.

I accidentally dropped the vial, and it was swallowed by the ooze that kept pulling me down. Ignoring it, I clasped Rodney's hand and hung on for dear life, still trying to get my legs free. "Damn it, pull Rodney!"

"I am pulling!" He shouted, visibly doing so with a show of how much strain it was putting on him.

"Dr. McKay…?" Radek's voice seemed to echo through the ship.

"Zelenka!" Rodney seemed torn between being relieved and being annoyed. "Oh, god! Get your backside over here!" He pulled on my arm and I swear I was waiting for it to pop out of it's socket. "I need you to call a security team, we've got a problem!" He was looking down the hall. "No, no! Don't come here! Go and call for help! Go now!"

The ooze was up to my chest, and funnily enough, I'd swear I heard a woman's voice talking to me. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, trying not to gag at an overly sweet smell in the air.

Don't trust her…

Frowning, I took another deep breath and held it, trying to relax my body. If you can't fight it… I remembered that there was a thing you could try with quicksand. If you were sinking, don't fight it, but relax and you should be able to get out.

She's lying… Don't trust her…

The voice was a whisper and between Rodney's calling me and demanding to know why I'd stopped fighting, and trying to hear the voice, I seriously couldn't relax. Don't trust who…? I thought, frowning to myself. I kept trying to relax, but the further I sank, the more I began to worry and panic.

Don't trust her… She'll kill your people… She's lying…

The ooze was up to my chin, and I opened my eyes with that realization. "Damn it!" Rodney was on his knees, still pulling for dear life and his eyes filled with fear. Images flashed through my mind, and for a moment I thought it was the whole 'life flashing before your eyes' thing, but it wasn't my life I was seeing. It was flashes of different people, some of very different species. Sometimes they were laughing, sometimes fighting, and I even watched though someone else's eyes as someone they cared for got swallowed up much the same was as me.

The ooze felt like it was constricting my chest. More images flashed through my mind, and it was overwhelming.

That was us… She did this to us… She's lying and she'll kill your people…

Somehow I knew who the female voice was talking about. Tilting my head back, I gasped for air as Rodney kept a firm hold on my hand. Aleera! She did this! I gasped, managing to get a quick breath before my head was sucked under.

The only part of me that was not submerged was my arm that Rodney was holding on to. The ooze was hot and sticky, and almost seemed to burn my skin. I felt like I was suffocating, even as I held my breath. It was just too hot. I couldn't move at all, despite how much I struggled. I don't know how long I was under, but my lungs began to hurt. How do I get out of this?!

She'll kill your people.

The voice was a thundering boom now, echoing in my ears and through my mind.

She'll kill you! Don't let her win! Fight her!

How the hell can I fight her when I can't even breathe?! A little air slipped out of my mouth, and my lungs felt like they kept swelling in my chest. My chest felt bloated and my heart was pounding in my throat. I felt tugging on my hand, but nothing happened.

Fight her!

Frowning, more air escaped my lips, and I was so desperate to get a breath. My lungs were on fire. No, my whole body was on fire! Help me! The longer I stayed under, the more I began to wonder if the others would get to me in time. The more I wondered if I'd become part of this ship.

That's what she wants… She wants you to feed her ship, become part of it…

Oh, now there's a thought I didn't need. Gritting my teeth, I struggled to fight the overwhelming urge to take a breath, even as I felt powerful tugging on my free arm. There were more than two hands on me. I felt them, and as they tugged, I think I felt my body slip upwards a little. My heart soared briefly at the thought and I tried to kick my legs, to push myself up further. It worked with the pulling.

Don't let her get away…

The voices were quieter now as I was pulled further out of the ooze. Just as my mind began to go fuzzy, I felt my head be pulled out. It was like a wet plopping and I could feel the ooze sliding down the side of my face. I kept my eyes closed, but opened my mouth and gasped powerfully. My head swam from the force, and my other arm was pulled free, taken into multiple hands and pulled on as well. Slowly, my body began rising out of the ooze.

Stop her…

Gasping powerfully, I waited a moment for everything to refocus and opened my eyes a little as I was lowered onto a solid, warm surface.

"Colonel! Can you hear me?!" Carson loomed over me, shining a light in my eyes, even as Lorne stood on one side of me and wiped off my face, and Rodney on the other, working on my arms and chest. "Hurry and get this stuff off him, lads!

Everything was fuzzy and distant, but slowly becoming clearer. I still felt weak, and gasped for air, but my head swam with the knowledge that I was alive. That I could breathe.

"We're hurrying! We're hurrying!" Rodney groaned, his face slightly green as he used his bare hands to wipe more of the gunk off me. "Only you..." He grimaced and made a face as he lobbed a soggy chunk of the gunk off somewhere.

I had my breathing somewhat under control and looked around wildly. Seeing Aleera in a corner with Elizabeth, staring at me with her dark eyes, I frowned deeply and glared at her before grabbing Lorne's hand and turning to look at him. "Her!" I winced as my throat rasped. My entire body felt overly sensitive and raw, and I felt like I'd just been put through the ringer. "She's behind this!"

"Are you insane?!" Rodney glared at me. "She wasn't even here!"

"Her ship…" Swallowing heavily, I closed my eyes a moment. "Her ship told me. It feeds…" I opened my eyes and stared right into Rodney's eyes, trying to communicate how serious I was. "It feeds on live people!"

Evan wasted no time. Even with me in bad shape, I was still his CO, and he grabbed his P90 from his chest, raising it at Aleera and walking over, even as another marine guided a hesitant Elizabeth away from her.

I was exhausted, but thankful that Lorne had seen the sincerity in my words. He knew not to question me, besides how utterly absurd the warning had to have seemed. I made a note to explain everything later.

Seeing the glare on Aleera's face, I relaxed as Carson wheeled the gurney out of the ship, closing my eyes and giving in to the urge to sleep.

(Infirmary)

"So, you were right." Rodney walked into the infirmary and stared at me with a white, shaken look. "Looking through her ship's database, I found that she's been to other planets and taken people from each one. That decay? It was the power core being too powerful for the substance that was holding it. It was burning it out quickly, and she had to keep finding new material to renew it. That's where the feeding bit came in."

Nodding, I stared down at my sheet covered body. "How many people?"

"Countless. I never came across any reports of anyone else ever hearing the voices you did, though." Rodney hesitated looking honestly intrigued. "Did you really hear the ship speaking to you?"

"I don't know if it was the ship or the people the ship fed on. But, yeah, I really did hear it. What happened to Aleera?"

"Huh. Well, she's in the brig, waiting for someone to decide what to do with her. You're lucky Lorne's team arrived when it did. That was way too close." He scowled at me. "What made you go down that corridor anyways?"

"I thought I heard a woman calling for help." I told him honestly. The thought 'Ghost in the Machine' came to mind. Frowning for a moment, I looked up. "What happened to the ship?"

Shaking his head, Rodney held up his computer. "This data's all that's left. Without the food it needed, it decayed into noting but a radioactive core in the jumper bay. Luckily the Daedalus just got here and were able to transport it into far space, before blasting it and destroying it." He frowned and glared at his computer. "The blast was bigger than they thought, though, so now I have to fix their shields, too, as if I didn't have enough to do already." With a sigh, he turned and walked off muttering to himself with an absent wave at me.

Laying back, I relaxed and closed my eyes. Frowning for a split second, I sat up sharply as I heard what I could have sworn was a voice on the wind.

Thank you…

With a small smile, I laid back again, and let myself drift off. Rest in peace.

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Hope you like it.

Written November 5, 2008

R+R please

Thank you

Tenshi