So, meet my OC in this chapter, tell me if you like or hate her, either way she's going to stick around for a while. (sorry in advance for that) Also, I think this is one of my favourite chapters, I loved writing this one. Please enjoy and maybe review.
It felt like she'd only been asleep for ten minutes when Elizabeth woke up. There was a whispering coming from the door and bolt of fear ran down her spine as she remembered Quill's words. Tapping her earpiece, Elizabeth tried to reach John, waiting a moment when she got no answer before trying again, "John, can you hear me?" When he didn't reply Elizabeth began to feel panic creeping in at the corners of her mind. Standing up and sliding into her shoes, Elizabeth made her way to the door, waving her hand over the sensor to open it. Instantly she felt a chill on her bare arms, without her jacket her shirt was doing little to combat the coolness of the corridors. Elizabeth tapped her comms again, "This is Dr. Weir, can anyone hear me?" she asked, listening to the static a moment before a voice crackled into her ear.
"Dr. Weir?" The voice was quiet, speaking almost in a whisper.
"Hello? Who is this?"
"Lt. Shann," the voice answered and in her mind, Elizabeth conjured up an image of the young woman on Major Lorne's team. "Where are you, ma'am? I'll come and meet you."
"I'm at my quarters." Quickly Elizabeth told her where her quarters were listening as the lieutenant repeated them back to herself under her breath.
"Alright I'll be there in a few minutes Dr. Weir." Hearing the connection click off in her ear, Elizabeth headed a little way down the corridor, looking around for the source of the noise that seemed to be everywhere at once. In the dark the familiar corridors turned menacing. Turning round to head back to her quarters, Elizabeth was surprised to see the lieutenant stood behind her, having not heard her approach. Again she looked so very young to her eyes, wearing leggings and an oversized t-shirt, her hair falling out of its tight braid around her face and her feet bare except for a pair of mismatched socks.
Nodding to the woman stood in front of her, she asked, "Have you been able to reach anyone on the comms."
Shann shook her head, "No and there's something bloody strange going on. To get here I had to pass a few other rooms. I opened the doors, looking for someone else. There were people inside but they were," she paused a moment, searching for the right word, "still, like they were frozen in the middle of whatever it was they were doing. It doesn't make sense."
"Show me," Elizabeth said, following Shann as she headed across the corridor to the room opposite. The door opened after a second, slower than normal, Shann pushing against it in effort to speed it up. The Lieutenant waved her inside a moment later. Inside sat Kate Heightmeyer, her legs tucked under her and a book in hand, the page halfway turned. Elizabeth moved to stand in front of her, reaching out to take her hand, finding it solid and unmovable. Trying to move the paper was the same. "Do you have any idea what's causing this?"
"Sorry, ma'am but I have no idea."
"It's alright. Did you see anyone else awake on your way here?" Elizabeth watched as she shook her head.
"One thing I did notice was change in the volume of that whispering. Maybe if we find the source of it we can work out what the hell is going on," she said, her voice hopeful.
Again Quill's words ran through her mind, "I'm not so sure about that," she said, briefly explaining what the sergeant had said, watching as the Shann's face paled slightly and her eyes widened.
"Okay, what about heading to the control room?"
"That might work, Rodney may be there along with the rest of the night shift, perhaps we can attract their attention but it is the location that everyone else has disappeared from."
Exhaling slowly, lieutenant Shann nodded before heading back out into the corridor with Elizabeth following. Quietly following Shann along the halls, Elizabeth tried to puzzle out what was happening. Kate had been like a statue, frozen in movement, not even blinking in all the time they'd been stood in front of her despite the fact that they both seemed to be moving normally. Around them Atlantis was eerily still, the only sound the ever present whispering. Suddenly Shann stopped in front of her, her head canted slightly to the side.
"Ma'am, is it me or is that noise getting louder?"
"Now that you mention it," Elizabeth muttered nodding in agreement.
"Maybe we try a different route then," Shann said, turning down a different corridor and stepping onto the metal walkway and down the stairs to the floor below, rounding a corner. Following her lead, Elizabeth came round the corner to see Shann standing still again, her eyes fixed on the shadows. Looking through the gloom, Elizabeth saw what had caused the Lieutenant to stop. Someone was stood in the shadows, the figure tall and thin. They both watched as it turned, the whispering around them suddenly climbing in volume until it was almost deafening. Watching as it began to approach, Elizabeth felt the hairs on her arms begin to stand on end and out of the corner of her eye saw Lieutenant Shann shiver even as she pulled a gun from under the back of her shirt. As the figure got closer, Elizabeth began to make out some of the details of its face causing her heart to thump harder in her chest. Feeling a tapping on her arm Elizabeth looked at Shann by her side, watching as she mouthed "run." Nodding in agreement, Elizabeth watched as the Lieutenant raised one hand slightly from the grip on her gun, just enough for her to notice and begin counting down from three with her fingers. The moment she made a fist, Elizabeth turned and ran, he boots thudding on the floor.
Turning down corridor after corridor, Elizabeth kept having to look back to see if Shann was still behind her, the young woman's footsteps almost silent a she skidded around the corners. When the whispering quieted they both slowed to a stop, looking around themselves to see which part of the city they were in.
"We can make it to the control room from here pretty quick," murmured Shann. Again Elizabeth nodded, following her around the corners, eyes alert for anything hiding in the shadows. A small part of her wished it was John who was with her. John, who she could communicate with without a word, who she could sense when he was near, who was an older and more seasoned officer and had seen more of the galaxy than the lieutenant she was with. Still, Elizabeth trusted her, had no choice but to.
When they stepped into the control room both women stopped and stared, the scene before them unlike anything they could have expected. The ops centre was full of people, the terminals lit, the light casting shadows on the faces of those sat by them, except the people and the screens were still. The data that normally ran across the terminals was frozen and so were the people. There was no sound, no idle chatter, no orders being given, no alarms bleeping or blaring, just silence. Taking the lead this time, Elizabeth headed up the stairs towards everyone, carefully stepping around a technician who was frozen mid step. When she reached John, she stood in front of him, trying to shout his name and getting no response. Stand up on her toes, she placed her hands on his cheeks, gently kissed him, hoping that he would feel her, even if it was only for a moment. Out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth could see Shann reaching around Rodney, trying to get a look at the read out on the tablet he was holding, but the lieutenants' eyes were on Elizabeth.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't mention that to anyone," Elizabeth said as she stepped back. She didn't need the gossip and theories about them to spin completely out of control.
Shann shrugged her shoulders, "not my business," she said as she hopped up and pulled herself up onto Rodney's arm, balancing most of her weight on him, her toes only just touching the floor and bent her head to read the tablet. For a second she was quiet, her eyes flicking from side to side as she read the screen. "It's saying there's the beginning of an energy spike building up in the Stargate." Suddenly she flinched back, thumping her head on Rodney's nose.
"What's wrong?" Elizabeth asked concerned.
"The data on the screen just changed. With everything being so still it took me by surprise." Again she leant on Rodney's arm, his skin as solid as rock. "A second just passed," her tone was unbelieving as she looked up, her eyes meeting Elizabeth's.
"Rodney did say that only two and half seconds passed in which the disappearances happen."
Dropping down from Rodney's arm, Shann turned back to the Stargate, her gaze focused ahead. "We're next, aren't we?" she asked, voicing the fear that Elizabeth had felt building since she woke up. Elizabeth was about to answer when the whispering started again, the noise echoing of the walls of the control room. Again the hairs on her arms stood on end and she began to shiver, beside her she felt Shann have the same reaction. "We should leave, ma'am."
"I don't think that's an option anymore." From the hallways either side of the control room shadows had begun to emerge and from them the creatures they had seen in the hallways. From behind them, a shadow slid through the wall, the whispering suddenly in both their ears, so close they could feel the vibrations in their skulls. The sudden appearance propelled Elizabeth down the stairs, Shann close on her heels. When they were stood in front of the 'gate Elizabeth looked around again, seeing the creatures all around them, closing in, their mouths cast in a hideous mockery of a smile. Backing up slightly, Elizabeth watched as Shann again pulled the gun from the back of her shirt and levelled it at the closest creature. Elizabeth could see the lieutenants' lips move, but couldn't hear what she said over the deafening whispers, couldn't hear as she fired a shot, only seeing the gun recoil in her hands. The figure she fired at looked down at its shoulder before looking back at her and reached out to her, revealing grotesquely long fingers and sharpened nails that scraped the skin on Shann's fingers. Elizabeth watched as the gun dropped out of the lieutenants' hands and clattered to the floor, her face a mask of horror. With nothing behind them but the Stargate, Elizabeth knew they were trapped, slowly being forced backwards until her heels bumped the cool metal. Around her the creatures had formed a tight circle with nowhere to go but backwards still, into the space behind the gate. Lifting her foot, Elizabeth took another step back, the ring of the 'gate directly above her head. As she went to put her foot down again Elizabeth never found the floor, the ground dropping away into nothing. With the unexpected loss of balance, she tipped backwards and fell.
