By the end of this chapter you're all going to realise something; I'm not a nice person.
Elizabeth sat at the back of her cell, Shann next to her. Her mind was reeling from what Dr. Marshal had told her. Everything she thought she knew about the Ancient's had always told her that they valued non-interference in other races, not that they freely abducted and experimented on them.
She looked across at Dr. Marshall again, seeing him watching her. "Are you sure your translation was right?" she asked again, a hint of desperation in her voice, despite the fact he'd already answered the same question before.
"I'm sure," he replied not without a note of frustration.
"Did you get the chance to tell Colonel Sheppard?" If John knew then at least he had an idea of what he was up against.
Opposite her, Marshall shook his head, "no." Leaning her head back against the wall, Elizabeth closed her eyes in an attempt to get some distance from the situation, to take her mind away from the chilly cell, from the fact that John most likely had no idea what he was facing and from the fact the lieutenant next to her was going to die. The last one hurt more than she had anticipated; Yes, she'd always felt a certain amount of loss at every death in the expedition and had definitely felt guilt, but Shann's sudden downward spiral had hit her harder than she'd expected, the young woman's bright and lively spirit getting under the shell she'd built around herself.
Again Elizabeth placed her palm on Jen's forehead, her skin impossibly hot despite the damp air around them, quickly pulling her hand back when Shann weakly reached up to swat her away grumbling, "I'm fine." Elizabeth wished it was true. The entire left side of her shirt was now sticky with blood, the wound in her shoulder still bleeding. She was certain the puncture itself was infected, the last time she'd looked it had been bright red, the veins around it standing out against her pale skin. Her fever was climbing too, and with it her energy was sinking. The strength to hold her head up seeming to be more than she could manage, the sudden and violent shivers that racked her body her only movements. In her heart she knew Shann would be lucky to survive another day in the cell, even luckier if she survived a second trip with the creatures.
Looking across to Marshall she saw him watching them again, his eyes focused on the woman next her, his face questioning. Subtly shaking her head at him, she watched as he slumped down and looked away, his back pressed against the bars. Death was never easy to watch.
It was hours later when Elizabeth heard the whispers start again, heard the quiet clicking on nails on the floor. Slowly getting to her feet, Elizabeth looked down the corridor, her cheeks pressed against the bars. For a moment she saw nothing before they swept into view. Instantly she stepped back, fear propelling her as far away from the bars as possible. When a hand touched her back she jumped, almost screamed, her head spinning round to see Jen stood beside her, her face flushed and eyes glassy, but holding a determination that she was surprised she could muster. Elizabeth watched as she took a few wobbly steps forward, placing herself between Elizabeth and the creatures, before once again lifting her arms into a defensive stance. The scene was eerily reminiscent of the first time this had happened; Only now, Jen looked far less threatening and Elizabeth was sure she'd be hauled out of the cell along with her.
Again the bars dissolved. At the same moment her muscles froze, holding her in place. The creatures' appearance didn't startle her as much as they had previously, her mind immune to the terror they tried to inflict. She could do nothing but watch as two of them grabbed Shann by the arms. Her struggles were lessened compared to the first time but still she pulled against their grip, fighting to get free, screaming in pain and fear. When two creatures side stepped Shann and approached Elizabeth her heart stuttered, the terror she'd thought she'd suppressed launching itself to the forefront of her mind. As the clawed hands gripped her arms she began to shiver, her instinct to fight building. The moment her muscles were released; Elizabeth began to pull back against the tight grip around her arms. With a sudden jerking motion, they dragged her forward, her body propelled ahead of them for a moment. Stunned by the sudden motion Elizabeth stopped her struggling, willing just to follow along; fighting was getting her nowhere.
Seemingly surprised at her willingness the creatures slowed their steps, their grip on her arms loosening fractionally. The whispering in her ears lessened too, the noises not as sharp, almost soft. Ahead of her Shann was still fighting, though her struggles were weakening, the exertion, pain and fever catching up on her. A thought struck her, "Lieutenant stop fighting," Elizabeth called out, watching as she turned her head to look at her, confusion and fear etched on her features along with the exhaustion. "Trust me," she added, seeing the doubt in Shann's eyes. For a moment Elizabeth thought she was going to ignore her before she nodded, her muscles relaxing in the creature's grip.
Pulling her eyes away from Shann Elizabeth realised they'd stopped moving, the creature's white eyes focused entirely on her. Trying to quell the panic she felt building Elizabeth kept her voice as level and calm as she could. "Why are you doing this to us?" In response the whisperings volume increased, getting so loud she tried to raise her hands to cover her ears. The grip around her shoulders tightened and she was pulled forward again. In front of her Elizabeth watched as Shann was pulled through door, disappearing from view. A second later she was by her side again.
The room they walked her into sent a chill down her spine. It was brighter than the cell she'd been in, so bright she could see every corner of the room. Lined up along the centre were several beds, not unlike the beds in the infirmary back on Atlantis, only less soft. There were more of the creatures here too, gathered in the far corner, whispering among themselves. The two creatures holding her began moving again, dragging her along with them, guiding her to one of the beds. Beside her the same thing was happening to Shann and from where she was Elizabeth could see the lieutenant shivering, her eyes wide and flooded with fear. The grip on her arms tightened again, lifting her off the ground and placing her on the table, forcing her to lie on her back. Again she asked, "why?" Not expecting an answer, the fear building in her chest making her question sound more like a plea.
"You did this to us." The noise was painful, the words stretched and sharp, but still whispered. Twisting her head to try and see who had spoken, Elizabeth watched as one of the creatures approached, a long tube in its hand.
The creature was watching her closely, waiting for her to reply. "No. The Ancients did this to you. Not us."
"We are all that is left after what you did to us," it growled, more menace in its voice than she'd heard before.
"How is that possible? The Ancients have been gone for millennia."
"We are infinite. Your kind wanted to know how."
"No, we've only been in this galaxy a year. Until a week ago we'd never even seen your species," Elizabeth shouted, her voice rising in frustration. It watched her for a moment more before it turned to Shann. She'd been strapped down, her shirt pulled up to her ribs, her skins stained with blood, the incision they'd made previously exposed to cool air. The creature pressed the tube to the soft skin of Jen's forearm. Her reaction was immediate. The scream she let out made Elizabeth flinch, the raw pain in it making her shiver all the more. She watched as the lieutenant stopped moving, her gaze fixed on a point above her, the only movement her chest rising and falling with each breath.
With its back still turned to her it carried on. "See what you did to us." Signalling to the others stood in the room, two came and lifted her back to the ground and moved her to stand by Shann's feet, their grip on her arms painful. Elizabeth could do nothing but watch as it picked up one of the curved knives from the tray next to the lieutenant. With practiced ease the knife was pressed into Shann's arm, smoothly sliding through the layers of skin and muscle from elbow to wrist. Instantly the lieutenant's breathing picked up, her chest rapidly rising and failing, and from where she was stood, Elizabeth could see tears begin to leak from the corners of Shann's eyes.
"Stop!" Elizabeth's voice was louder than she'd expected, rising into a scream as she lunged forward, the hands wrapped around her arms squeezing so tightly she knew there'd be bruises. For a moment it did stop, carefully lifting the knife from Jen's blood streaked skin. The white eyes watched her, waiting for her to say something more. Its gaze paralyzed her mind, the stare breaking into her mind and breaking down every defence she had. After a moment it grinned, a hiss escaping from between its teeth before it returned to its work hissing again in satisfaction when Elizabeth pleaded with it to stop. Her voice was quieter when she spoke next, her begging "please" coming out in nothing more than whisper, the word blurring together as she pleaded over and over again. The creature ignored her, resolute in giving its lesson.
"First you opened our limbs," it hissed, now pulling thread through the cut tissue, delicately knotting it and pulling the incision open, exposing the bloodied bones below. "Then you examined our bones," it went on, pressing metal instruments to Shann's bones. She was unable to do anything but watch and plead as it continued slowly inflicting the damage she'd seen done to the members of the expedition, all the while it narrated its actions, the harsh words biting at her ears. Elizabeth felt tears build in her eyes, felt them streaking down her cheeks and drip from her chin, her only hope with John back on Atlantis.
So, that happened. This is why Shann is here. I didn't have the heart to put a main character through this. Feel free to leave whatever review you wish; I'm not expecting anything friendly.
Also thinking of writing another chapter to tie things up a little more and I'd love to do one from Shann's POV but can't work out where to start it from. Let me know.
