CHAPTER 135
EPISODE…..takes place one month after the Daedalus Variations but before the incident with the failed ascended Replicator episode. This is a dark sort of chapter I came up with out of nowhere, though suspect too many movies and TV programs about evil corrupt people with no morals who do this sort of stuff daily in real life. It is sad how sadistic humans can be…
Shortly after letting Sheppard and his team off in the puddle Jumper and then the two let the ship jump to another universe as it was preprogrammed to. Once back at the universe with the other Sheppard and his team, and fixing that, the two let them leave with their puddle Jumper and some extra info they had to help them out, and then let the ship jump again. Unfortunately, it went to a universe where the Wraith were doing quite a bit of winning and had the planet surrounded. If not for the T.A.R.D.I.S. being there and their shields, they'd already be dead. Since the weapons on the Daedalus were damaged or destroyed, Ford did the only other idea and rammed the ship into the various hives he could before they all left, going into hyperspace to avoid any more losses. Atlantis was pretty much a lost cause unfortunately and they did what they could for a few days and helped them get back home through the Stargate. More Wraith came back and attacked the city, which they landed the damaged ship on earlier. With the T.A.R.D.I.S. shield keeping Atlantis safe for the evacuations, the Wraith continued to bombard them and the planet constantly. Having little choice but to abandon the pretty much destroyed city anyway, the two helped the people get as much of what they could take from the city back to Earth with them. After everyone was gone, they grabbed a bunch of stuff from the city for almost a week that they felt they would need themselves, which included the gate. After getting what they wanted, Ford put a Mark XXV Naquada enhanced nuclear bomb into the gate room, which was that number only because Ford gave it that number and Carter didn't care, but also because it was incredibly powerful. Setting it to go off in ten seconds, the shield was dropped to around the ship and they used the T.A.R.D.I.S. to transport themselves and the ship back to their universe, leaving the bomb to literally blow up the planet and hopefully, the surrounding Wraith ships in the process. While a month had gone by for Atlantis in their universe, for them, it had been almost a year when they finally came back even though they did call shortly after getting back to their universe one hour later after dropping Sheppard and them off to keep them from worrying that they never made it back.
"I'm getting a energy reading. It looks like a ship is dropping out of hyperspace." Radek said from a screen he was watching in the command center.
"Is it a ship or not?" Woolsey asked. "And is it one of ours?"
"It is a ship, but the I.F.F. is unknown. They are just within range of the planet, on the other side currently. Course projection indicates that they are headed for here."
"What's going on?" Sheppard asked as he entered.
"There is an unknown ship on the other side of the planet." Woolsey said. "It isn't one of ours. Lieutenant, raise the cities shields…"
"Wait, I'm getting a reading. They are contacting us." Radek said quickly.
"Have they stated who they are?" Woolsey asked.
"Hey, I know you people are there." Ford said over the speakers in a slightly garbled voice. "Why aren't you responding?"
"Probably because we should have announced ourselves first before exiting so close to the planet." Carter said in the background. "But then, we are in bad shape."
"Next time give us more warning General." Sheppard said as he responded. "Why didn't you just drop in with the T.A.R.D.I.S. like usual?"
"And what do you mean by bad shape?" Woolsey asked.
"We have a good reason for that, I mean the not using the T.A.R.D.I.S. You'll see in a few minutes. Is the pier open for us to land on?" Ford asked with worry and agitation in his voice. "I don't know how much longer I can keep her in the air."
"At the moment it is." Woolsey said.
"Where's the Daedalus?" Carter asked.
"Out on a patrol run." Sheppard said.
"I've got a better reading on the ship now." Radek said as he brought up a 3D scan the sensors were giving him.
It looked just like the Daedalus, except for the large part on top of the main section had less width to it, but still the same length. Where the two hangers were on the bottom, there was also two on top above them on either side. The engines on the hanger sections were still the same, but the main engine consisted of five ports instead of the normal three at the rear. The front end still looked the same, with the exception of having a part under it like the Prometheus had to allow the landed struts to come out better in the front. And Atlantis's sensor readings indicated the ship was badly damaged and barely flying.
"Rather interesting looking ship there General." Sheppard said as it came into view for everyone to see from the city itself. "Where did you get it? And why the hell is it so damaged?"
"After we left you guys and that Daedalus jumped to another universe, we took the ship and brought it back to our own and did some modifications. Took a about a year to get her working and like you see her now." Carter said as they slowly flew around the city to land on the pier without much trouble despite the smoke. "As for the damage, we'll tell you about that in a moment."
"I'm sending our I.F.F. now so we don't have any problems in the future." Ford said.
"The X-wing? That is so unoriginal." Sheppard said as he saw the readout.
"It was Teal'cs idea." Carter said. "We've landed safely, thankfully. You can come check her out and get a full tour if you like while we hopefully get help with repairs."
"Hey, I hear a new ship has arrived." Rodney said as he entered excited. "I only got a small glimpse though and it had to be severely damaged with all the smoke I saw. Who is it?"
"It belongs to the Carter's." Woolsey stated. "They say anyone can go and get a tour. I want you to personally go with a couple other scientist and check the ship out and get some people out there to help with the repairs. I know they resigned, but tell them that I ordered you to look around and to bring back any relevant info that would help us."
"Okay. I doubt they would keep anything from us anyway. They haven't before." Rodney said.
"I don't doubt them on that, but I know the I.O.A. would have my head if I didn't at least give the order." Woolsey said.
"Yeah, those rules with the I.O.A. are a stickler." Sheppard said.
The former jump drive was gone, since it was a failure to begin with and in that area of the ships place, the T.A.R.D.I.S sat with the computer consoles that were now a secondary bridge in case of any problems on the main bridge. Several teams were going over the ship and had been for a few hours and still were with different repair teams. Sheppard and his team, along with Woolsey sat inside the conference room talking to the couple.
"Sally is seven now and Avon is five." Ford said as he sat back in the chair and between the two, they told them what happened after leaving the team in their universe and going with the ship as it continued jumping.
"So, you managed to get the Jaffa to help you to rebuild the ship. Nice job." Sheppard said.
"We gave them quite a few things in return for the help. The Gia'ans helped too during one trip." Carter said. "We couldn't come up with a name and Teal'c told us what he thought it should be called, which is why it is called the X-wing."
"We've already gave the schematics about the ship to the SGC, so I don't see why you still have people looking over the ship instead of helping with repairs. Other than size, it is no different from the Daedalus really." Ford said. "Aside from the T.A.R.D.I.S."
"According to the reports I've been getting from the various teams, they confirm what you just said. I've ordered them to come back and get back to whatever jobs they were on before if they couldn't help with the repairs." Woolsey said.
"Thank you." the two said.
"Were you able to get a ZPM from the other universe?" Rodney asked.
"Unfortunately, no." Carter said. "They had two, but the power between them was about 43% and they needed them a lot more than we did. However, we did get a lot of different parts and other supplies that they didn't take with them to Earth. We would have taken some drones, but they took all of them as well."
"I looked over the manifest you gave me of the supplies you are giving us from the other Atlantis. I must say, this is quite a lot of stuff you are giving us." Woolsey said as he held a tablet in his hand. "It's going to take another couple of hours to get all those crates moved into the city."
"We know." Ford said shrugging. "Going to take even longer to repair the ship."
"Hanging out until then isn't a problem for us." Carter said. "And, if the Wraith show up, we can use the beam weapons on top of the ship to fight back since we can surround the city with the T.A.R.D.I.S. shield."
"I personally hope they don't show up. Don't get me wrong, I want to see them dead and gone like the everyone else, but we're better off not fighting them unless we have no choice." Rodney said.
"I agree." Ford said. "We came to drop off supplies, hang out for a bit and then head off to wherever the wind leads us. Unfortunately, we need serious work done first."
"What the hell did you get into a fight with anyway?" Rodney asked. "According to one the teams, they came across a dead squid."
"I heard it was a octopus." Sheppard said.
"We took the jump drive apart and looked it over." Carter said. "We figured we might be able to make a better and smaller version with some help from all the information inside the T.A.R.D.I.S. databanks. According to the simulations, everything worked."
"Instead…" Ford said as he began the tale and Carter jumped in as well.
(A.N. From here, the story crosses over with the Hellsing story I am writing, General Hellsing. You can read it or not, but what happens here is also wrote in the other story and vise versa.)
"Maybe hooking the jump drive and the T.A.R.D.I.S. together wasn't such a great idea." Carter said as the ship shook, badly.
"It's a smaller and much more manageable version of what was in there before! I don't see what can be going wrong!" Ford said as he tried to stabilize the unstable energy that the core wasn't processing right. "All the simulations turned out well!"
"Yeah, I was there and so was K-9!" Carter yelled as the ship jerked heavily and then exited the hyperspace like jump window. "Holy…."
Ford looked up to see a three large, airships of some sort in front of them for a brief moment and then felt the entire ship shake violently as explosions took place at various points along the ship as they ran into them as Ford tried to avoid them, and failed as he barrel rolled the ship by accident when he lost control and his fingers hit the controls wrong. Alarms went off and pre-programmed security measures took place as lockdown protocols took effect. Both of them were tossed to the back of the secondary bridge near the T.A.R.D.I.S. as the ship slammed into something and then flattened out.
"I think we hit water…" Carter groaned as she rubbed her back and butt like he was along with his head.
"Yeah, kinda feels like we're sinking." Ford muttered as he slowly got off the floor and helped her. "You okay?"
"Bruises only." Carter said as she checked a console. "Damn, we're sinking fast and the hull is starting to buckle from the stress!"
"K-9, raise shields!" Ford yelled.
Inside the T.A.R.D.I.S, K-9 raised the shields quickly around the entire vessel.
"Master, there is an unknown vessel that is lodged into the upper right hanger bay. No life signs are detected, but there is extensive movement." K-9 stated.
"Seal off all decks for now K-9. Sam, how bad is it?" Ford asked.
"We're sinking at 30 feet or more a minute. Sensors are barely functioning and I only have internal scanners. Shields are offline as are the weapons and propulsion. All the external exhaust ports for the engines are filled with water and the secondary sublight engines on the starboard side are offline from damage. The main bridge is flooded along with the entire front of the ship and about six blocks in. There is pockets of damage in various areas of the ship that are filled with water as well. Most of the lockdowns took place without any problems and there is no further leaking that I can see. I shut down life support to all areas but here for the moment and the emergency shutters for the air duct system has closed down all across the ship, except in the damaged areas, mostly near the front." Carter said.
"Do we know where we are?" Ford asked as he was doing something on another console.
"In the ocean." Carter stated.
"Duh. I meant besides in the obvious?" Ford asked.
"Not at the moment." Carter said ignoring his sarcasm as she kept working on the console. "Glad we left mom, dad and the kids back in Colorado so we could test this without worrying about them."
"Same here." Ford said working on a different console. "The jump drive is down currently so we can't use that….hey, K-9? Are we in our universe?"
"No Master. The T.A.R.D.I.S. is currently searching." K-9 stated.
"Great, at least we thought ahead of time to do this idea here instead of on the main bridge." Carter said. "Damn, we've got some power distribution problems. A few circuits couldn't handle the over loads and blew out on various decks. Plus the water damage is causing problems to the various systems that are still functioning even under all this water."
"Can't we just shut them off from here?" Ford asked.
"I'm trying, but a lot of the connections have been damaged or severed. Oh god, we're over four hundred feet under the water and still falling." Carter exclaimed. "I have no idea where we are or how deep we could end up going."
"If we knew an exact location or somewhere close to where we could be…." Ford began.
"Master, Mistress…." K-9 said.
"Yes K-9?" they both exclaimed.
"Suggest that you brace for impact." K-9 stated.
They quickly grabbed the consoles and then barely held on as the ship hit the ocean floor and bounced once to land at a 34 degree angle to the left while sliding several feet across the ocean floor. A screeching and tearing noise outside really caught their attention as they hear something move over the hull and hit the ocean floor near the ship. More alarms came on as water flooded the damaged upper right hanger further that was trapped inside the shield and had fluctuated when the large obstruction in the hanger bay fell out.
"How bad is everything now?" Ford asked.
"There is some buckling on the upper right hanger unit struts and several other connection points, plus the engines in that section are totally fried. Water has flooded a few sections here and there, but we shouldn't have any problems getting to the engine room in hopes of doing a cold restart of the engines in more hope that we can get off the ocean floor and back into the air." Carter said while using the system and opening several windows.
"Anything else?" Ford asked rolling his eyes at their predicament.
"Life support is only functioning on this deck and sporadically in several others areas. I might be able to get us a path to the engine room, given some time, but otherwise, you'd have to go out in a space suit or at least some thick boots to keep from freezing your feet and taking a light for any dark areas. Scratch that, I'd have to use thick boots since the cold doesn't effect you." Carter said.
Ford only sighed as he sat down in a chair nearby.
"Damn, and we haven't even shown Atlantis this yet. I'd have to wear boots because I think eventually it would get to me." Ford muttered.
"We checked the sensors later and find out what we ran into." Carter said. "It shocked us a lot when we found them to be three zeppelins."
"So, you ran into a bunch of zeppelins, as strange as it sounds, that caused all that damage and made you crash into the ocean. With all that damage, no wonder you used the T.A.R.D.I.S. to get home." Rodney said.
"Actually, that is just the beginning of the story….." Carter said as John quickly explained what a zeppelin was to Ronan and Teyla.
Half an hour later, the two managed to do several bypasses in the system and open different doors in the ship to vent out the water that had accumulated before the shields were put up. There was still sections of the ship, mostly at the front where the water was still inside the ship and a few areas in the upper right hanger bay. Carter was sure those engines were for the most part, shot at the moment and needed hands on repair inside and out. As for the main engines, they could get to that room finally and was able to restore life support to most of the ship now. External sensors were still offline and so was communications, but internal sensors were functioning enough for them to get an overall damage assessment.
"Okay, we're in luck. The damage to the main engines isn't as bad as it seems." Carter said.
"Shouldn't take us long to replace a few crystals, do some rerouting on the console down there and replace a few broken parts from the looks of it." Ford said as he looked at the damage report with her.
"It will take a few minutes to get her off the ocean floor and back in the air, but I think we can get her to fly out into space if we need to avoid drawing attention." Carter said.
"Like we haven't already?" Ford said.
"Okay, drawing more attention. We could also just use the T.A.R.D.I.S. to move the entire ship into space and then…" Carter began.
"We don't know what universe we are in. We could end up in the middle of a war up there or into the flight path of some alien ship, or a monster." Ford said.
"All I can tell from the images here is that we ran into some old zeppelins. Three of them apparently. There isn't many books or TV shows that I know of that have those in them. And if we are in Earth's past…." Carter said.
"Nothing would be happening in space. I got that. But because of all the damage and the jump drive causing some interference, I can't get a very good scan of the time period we are in at the moment with the T.A.R.D.I.S. sensors." Ford said.
"That is so strange, for being very advanced technology and all." Carter said with a frown.
"And a hair dryer being capable of disrupting the function of a Sonic Screwdriver isn't?" Ford said with a chuckle.
"I thought that was a joke until I tried it too." Carter muttered while running her hand through her hair with a sigh.
"Master, Mistress…." K-9 said.
"Yes K-9." the two said.
"Internal sensors indicate movement within the ship." K-9 stated.
"Probably some fish that got trapped K-9." Carter said as they grabbed a tool box they got from the T.A.R.D.I.S. earlier and headed for the door.
"Negative Mistress." K-9 said.
"What do you mean negative?" Ford asked.
"There is aquatic life in the ship Master, Mistress. However, the movement from them is not what the movement registered on the sensors." K-9 said.
"Show us." Carter said as a holographic screen of the ship came up.
It turned to show the side of the ship in 3D, as though you looked at the framework and housing. Just lines and corridors and words in small boxes to indicate the location of said areas of the ship.
"Aquatic life is in these areas." K-9 said as the front pointed out a couple dozen small blips near the front and a few others in the upper right hanger area.
"Here we are." Carter said pointing. "So where is the other scans K-9?"
The red blips went away and then changed to grayish ones that were in the hanger and moving in various decks of the hanger section and aft end of the ship, spreading out slowly.
"Why are they grey K-9?" Ford asked.
"They do not register as alive Master." K-9 said as another holo-screen popped up on another console nearby and showed a live feed in one corridor.
"Those look like soldiers." Carter stated. "Can you clear the image K-9?"
"Negative. This is the best image possible currently Mistress." K-9 said.
"Camera is obviously damaged and waterlogged. But how would soldiers end up on our ship, and still be alive after hitting the ocean that hard?" Ford muttered.
"K-9 says they don't register as alive. That guy there is walking around with his rifle pointed, but has no left arm, and it doesn't look bandaged." Carter said.
"I noticed. Must be in shock or something." Ford said.
"The rest of them have various injuries as well and they are moving through the ship like….." Carter was saying when he gasped. "What is it?"
"K-9, replay image back ten seconds and move forward slowly, one frame at a time." Ford said leaning on the console.
Both of them watched carefully for the next minute or so and then saw one of the men walk close by the hidden camera.
"Stop! Freeze that image and enhance!" Ford exclaimed.
"Working Master. I cannot say that…." K-9 said.
"Best guess of what it could be from any and all data you have access to K-9." Ford said quickly.
The picture zoomed in on some fuzzy black and white patch on the man's upper arm sleeve. It was very hard to make out at first until it slowly, line by line, got clearer and clearer.
"How in the hell did Nazi's get on board?" Carter exclaimed. "They attacked Britain and from what you said the T.A.R.D.I.S. says, we're somewhere near South America!"
"I don't understand." Ford said completely confused. "Unless we ended up in a alternate universe were the Nazi's managed to win and we ran into a patrol…."
"K-9, do we have any footage of the hanger before and after it was breached?" Carter asked.
The screen changed to showed three zeppelins in front of them as they exited the jump and rammed into the nose of one while trying to avoid it, which killed the feed instantly. The next couple camera scenes showed the ship scrape the larger one below them as Ford was barrel rolling the ship and they came down on the other one on the other side, which caused massive explosions that ripped across the top of the ship before she plunged down into the ocean. Another feed showed the hanger bay and many troops getting out before water came rushing in moments later and then cutting out as the camera was damaged by the water. K-9 brought up several other cameras that were working, somewhat, and it showed various troops looking around or searching through different crates and other rooms.
"Seal off all essential rooms!" Ford said quickly.
"Doors have already been seals and locked Master. The lockdown procedures have already taken the necessary steps to keep enemy infiltration, hull breach decompression and the event of water landing from getting to vital systems." K-9 said.
"Good work K-9." Carter said and then grabbed Ford as the ship rocked slightly making them drop to their knees. "What was that?"
"Several explosive devices have went off in the ship Mistress. They unknown enemy attempted to enter a restricted area and blew themselves up. Damage report coming up now." K-9 said.
"Ah damn. Blew a few of the power grids in that area, which is going to make it difficult to reroute main power even more than before." Ford said.
"Okay, we got dead Nazi troops trying to take over our ship. We could just leave in the T.A.R.D.I.S. and set the self destruct…" Carter said though it was obvious she didn't want to.
"No. There's too much work put into her and too much important materials to get dropped off. Not to mention the explosives on board that would make things much worse." Ford said.
"I almost forgot about that. So, what do we do? We can't stay here forever." Carter said.
"We fix the engines and get this ship back into the air. From there, we open all vents and doors and let explosive decompression take place. We can beam up anything we don't want flying away into the ocean and get rid of our intruders in the process." Ford said.
"We're going to need weapons then…" Carter said going into the T.A.R.D.I.S with him. "K-9, keep watch and in radio contact with us. And keep watch on our work while making sure the enemy doesn't get to this room."
"Understood Mistress." K-9 said.
She exited with a PC-90 that had silver ammo wearing a vest as though she was going off world. The magnum was still on her hip with a few extra clips, also silver ammo. Being used to fighting in combat boots, she had them on along with fatigue pants that had several pockets on them with small tools and parts she felt would be important for the job ahead, along with the pack on her back. Ford came out with his suit and coat on and the Heavy Arms rifle, also loaded with silver ammo, along with a pack with tools and a laptop as well.
"Here, I modified it to show moving objects instead of life signs." Ford said handing her a scanner. "Only problem is, if the enemy doesn't move, it won't show anything."
"Didn't we have to fight a bunch of undead people once, or something like that?" Carter asked. "But not in our universe."
"Yeah…" Ford said thinking as he checked his gun over once more. "But what it was about eludes me at the moment."
"Same here." Carter said as it didn't come to her either. "Are we sure about silver ammo killing them?"
"The ammo was in the rack labeled for killing undead." Ford said as he put his code in and the door opened. "If it doesn't work, then normal lead ammo wouldn't do any different."
"I should have realized that. Let's hope it does work." Carter said.
Checking both directions, he waved her out and then closed the door quickly as she kept watch. Moving out slowly and quietly, they headed off down the different corridors needed to get to the engine room. There was hanging wires, shorted out lights and other hanging things amongst the damage they saw as they crept through the hallways quietly. Since the elevators were off line, they had to take the stairs. Getting off on the level needed, she held her hand up as they neared a corner.
"There is three or four of them a few meters down the hall to the right." Carter said.
"Looks like a couple of them ahead of us on the left as well." Ford said glancing at the screen.
"If they have radios, they'll be able to call for help as soon as the shooting starts." Carter said.
"There is a better chance of everyone coming because the ship is so silent, the gun fire will be heard instantly." Ford said.
"K-9, you still there?" Carter asked.
"Affirmative Mistress." K-9 said.
"Can you give us an idea or estimate of how many intruders we have on board?" Carter asked.
"Processing Mistress." K-9 stated.
"We need a fall back position or some place where we can't get ambushed." Ford said as he glanced around.
"Good idea." Carter said looking around as well as she thought out loud. "Okay, if we are here. That means that room is…"
"Too dangerous. Even if the room is undamaged, either of us could get fried if the power conduit was hit." Ford said.
"Right. Well, that room over there has storage crates…" Carter said.
"I'd rather not get the supplies damaged if at all possible." Ford said. "Besides some of the stuff in there is volatile."
"There's a small maintenance room a couple corridors up from here." Carter said after a moment.
"That would work. The only trouble is the ladder that goes up and down." Ford said.
"We can lock them manually. If these dead guys are really strong, we'd still know before they were able to get in." Carter said.
"Good plan." Ford said.
"Mistress, scans indicate there is fifty three intruders." K-9 said.
"Great. Hopefully we have more than enough ammo. Thanks K-9." Carter said.
Keeping back to back, they headed forward slowly. They had to stop and stay very quiet against a wall as three men were walking around and looking for anyone just around the corner from them. They knew they were in trouble when the three men stopped.
"Hey, I smell something." one of them said.
"I smell fresh blood too." another said.
Muttering a silent curse, he made a couple hand signals that she nodded at quickly. Pointing at the screen, she made a couple signals as well that he also got quickly.
"I think they are…." a different one said.
Ford came out quickly and opened fire, riddling them with holes, along with the wall as she ran behind him fast to the adjacent corridor and got against the wall. As she suspected, the four men around the corner a few meters from her came running quickly. If it wasn't for the fact she was kneeling when she opened up on them, she was sure she would have been hit as one guy got off several rounds above her head.
"Move!" Ford yelled.
They both heard a lot of running as they ran and fired a few rounds behind them as a few burst came their direction. She rushed around the corner and swiped her card quickly. The door partially opened and she began forcing it the rest of the way as he stayed by the corner firing off burst.
"Sam!" Ford yelled.
"The damn door is damaged! I…got it! I'm in!" Carter yelled.
He whipped around and entered as bullets hit the wall where he was just at. The room was just over ten by ten square feet with a set of rungs on the back wall that lead up to a hatch and one in the floor. The walls had panels on them that could be removed to work on the internal workings with a console built into the wall and large screen above it to the right of the door for doing maintenance work in that area of the ship. The lights in the room were pretty dim like the corridors and the maintenance station was currently offline because of damage and lack of power. She aimed out and fired at three that came around the corner and fired until her clip ran out.
"Changing mag!" Carter said as she tossed her bag off quickly and grabbed a new clip from her vest.
"I've still got quite a lot left. Go ahead and lock those hatches." Ford said firing a few rounds.
One guy took the rounds and fell quickly while the two behind him were grazed and moved out of the way before they took more hits.
"Give up und ve vill make your deaths quick und painless!" one man yelled loudly.
"Screw you! I'm Immortal so your threat is useless! And I have lots of ammo with me!" Ford yelled.
They both heard several curses from what had to be over a dozen men as she finished locking the hatches and then got by the door with her weapon ready.
"Ve are vampires! All the ammo in the volrd isn't going to stop us from killing you! Ve vill take extra care in torturing you for a long time! Charge!"
Hearing many footsteps and seeing what must have been all of them at once, they quickly opened fire as the men opened fire back. Bullets bounced everywhere as both sides exchanged fire at close range. Sam had to back up and just point the barrel out firing in hopes she hit something because her vest took three hits that thankfully didn't penetrate her armor, but still stung anyway. When her gun ran dry, she tossed a grenade out quickly as he pulled back to reload as fast as he could. The explosion shook the ship where they were and caused power blow outs in the hallway and the console near her. He barely managed to get the clip in as she was still getting hers out when a injured man started in. Ford took a hit to the face which he ignored as he slammed the butt of the gun into the mans face quickly, knocking him back into the others that tried to rush in. Before they could try and get through the door, he opened fire and didn't let up on the trigger as the men behind fired through their own troops at him. She stayed kneeling on the ground and fired back without aiming. Ford dropped to his knees as he took a hit on the leg, but didn't stop firing. Her gun ran out and when she went to duck back to reload again, she cried out greatly as her leg suddenly hurt.
"Sam!" Ford said as he kept firing while looking at her.
The PC-90 was damaged from a couple hits and her right upper thigh took a hit that went straight through. On the same leg, at the shin, a bullet had grazed her there as well and was bleeding badly. She gritted her teeth in pain as she pulled the magnum off her hip. His weapon ran out again as he ducked back against the wall and tossed it aside quickly, pulling his personal cannons as well. Being they were both on the floor, it made their job easier as the troops started to rush in with drooling mouths at the smell of their blood. Easier only because they just started firing with no hesitation since their guns were aimed up and they couldn't hit each other. Being the powerful guns they were, heads or chest were blown out quickly. Both were panting hard and keeping a watch on the door after what seemed like an eternity of no one entering and the many bodies before them turned to ash. Both them and the walls and floor were covered in blood and a few body parts.
"K-9…." Ford said slowly while panting.
"There is four more intruders on your level left Master." K-9 said.
"How close?" Ford said not lowering his guns, even though one was empty.
"Twenty meters and closing." K-9 stated.
"Can you bind your leg without me?" Ford asked quickly while ejecting the one clip.
"I think so." Carter said with obvious pain, fright and shock in her voice.
"Stay with me Sam." Ford pleaded as he replaced the clip and looked out the doorway. "It can't…."
"I'm shot, not dying. Even though I can tell I'm going into shock." Carter said as she tied her leg off and couldn't help screaming from the pain it gave her.
They both heard laughing and then running which surprised them both as the four men were suddenly in the room. They didn't even hesitate and opened fire. Her gun stopped after two shots and his after seven or eight. Whatever it was, divine intervention, luck, guardian angel or something else, she had not been hit by the one guy who had fired at her with his assault rifle. There was bullet holes in the wall by her and in the console screen, but no more in or through her.
"K-9, please say that is all of them." Carter said with clenched teeth.
"Affirmative Mistress. You are seriously injured Mistress. Suggest imperative action that you return to the T.A.R.D.I.S. for medical treatment immediately." K-9 stated.
"No kidding." Carter said tossing the gun aside as she looked across at him. "Ah hell."
Ford was dead with a couple hits to his chest, one in his hand and a few to his face.
"K-9, is the transporters working at all?" Carter asked.
"Transporters are offline, sorry Mistress." K-9 said.
"Damn." Carter said as her teeth chattered.
"Body temperature levels decreasing Mistress. Advise haste." K-9 said.
"I can barely move K-9. And Ford is dead at the moment." Carter said slowly getting to her feet and dropping the vest quickly. "Keep a watch on me and keep the line open."
"Affirmative Mistress." K-9 said.
"Thank god they turned to ash. I couldn't walk over that many bodies." Carter said leaning against the wall for support as she walked out as quickly as she could. "I need help staying awake K-9. Um…any guess when he'll heal and wake up?"
"Unknown Mistress. The Master is currently healing as we speak, however, I am unable to tell when he will wake. Data experience suggest that head wounds take longer to recover from Mistress." K-9 said.
"No surprise there." Carter said grunting in pain. "The damage to the engines, tell me about them and what needs to be done. It will help me stay awake."
"Understood Mistress." K-9 said.
K-9 continued, going over the report and repairs in detail as it took her ten minutes to get back to the room. Once inside the Console Room of the T.A.R.D.I.S., K-9 activated the transporter system that took them the infirmary instantly. Jacking the temperature up to a hundred degrees helped alleviate some of the cold she felt as she used the advanced medical equipment to fix her injuries. Thankfully, no arties were hit even thought the blood loss was rather great. Seeing as she couldn't sew up the wound herself and was so dizzy from the blood loss, what she was able to do that used what strength she had left and the morphine, she ended up passing out on the bed before she fully finished the job on her shin. K-9 made the bed drop to his level and then, doing the only thing he could think of, used his nose laser to cauterize both wounds. It was going to leave a scar if not treated soon, but at least she wasn't bleeding from there anymore.
Ten minutes later, Ford came rushing in, slipping on the blood on the floor. Ignoring the banging in his head and broken arm that were healing, he quickly finished her and cried with relief when K-9 reported that she was going to live. Fifteen minutes after fixing her up and then leaving her to rest, he left the channel open in case she woke while he worked on the engines.
Just over an hour later, and in a dirty white shirt and jogging pants while working as he muttered to himself, he was surprised when she came hobbling in with his cane in her blue robe and red slippers.
"Sam, you should be…." Ford said setting aside some crystals.
"I'm fine. K-9 says I need to take it easy on the leg to avoid causing any complications. There is no more intruders, nothing to fight and I'm not carrying anything heavy or plan on it." Carter said sitting in the chair before the main console. "I'm going to sit here and work on the programming parts while you work on the hands on damage."
"Okay. You just say something if you feel the need to rest or eat or whatever…" Ford said grabbing his tools and crystals again. "You're sure?"
"I will be fine. K-9 is keeping me monitored along with everything else." Carter said. "I was able to get some work done on the transporters enough that if I am in trouble, K-9 can get me out of here."
"Why are you in a robe?" Ford asked as he went back to work.
"You cut my pants off and left me there in my undergarments. I woke up to a room at a hundred degrees and still feel a bit hot. I have a slight temperature, which is going down. Two people working on this is better than one." Carter said as he started to speak. "We can take a shower together later to clean up. I don't need to stress my leg anymore than it already is."
"Good idea. I haven't been able to really clean up much either, other than getting out of those clothes." Ford said.
"Do we know where we are yet or how and why they attacked us?" Carter asked as she pushed various buttons and switches while hooking up the laptop she got off the floor Ford had set aside.
"K-9 was able to find out which universe we are in. It's not the same Hellsing universe like before, but another one." Ford said as the panel lit up to his surprise. "Hmm, I got that finished sooner than I thought."
"What did zeppelins have to do with Hellsing?" Carter asked.
"I forget. I was reading the manga series and watching the DVD's, but stopped at the fifth book and three DVDs I think. I've barely had time to read or watch anything much lately." Ford said. "And that is one of the DVD series I don't want Sally or Avon to see just yet till they are older."
"Same here with watching things. If we aren't working on something or in bed together, we're playing or doing something with the kids. Wonder why we ended up here?" Carter asked.
"Don't know." Ford said working on another panel. "But I did find out something very interesting."
"Which is?" Carter asked.
"There is a SGC in this universe. However, I don't know the time line." Ford said.
"That is interesting. I guess the jump drive only jumps to universes where the SGC exist in some form or another." Carter said.
"I'd have to agree. We're probably better off not interfering unless we really need to." Ford said as he smacked the thing he was working on and it lit up.
"Wonder if this SGC is one of the ones that had the one of the teams that showed up in our universe." Carter said.
"Don't know. Didn't do a further scan for much info." Ford said as he used his Sonic Screwdriver.
"Could be the SGC that your clone came to." Carter said.
"Maybe. We can find out later…" Ford said with not a lot of interest.
"It took about an hour to fix the engines, enough to get them running so we'd be out of the ocean, plus getting a few other vital systems online." Ford said.
"Once we realized what was going on, as to the time period and a few scans we were able to do by hacking into the satellites with the T.A.R.D.I.S., we decided to help the Hellsing people out quickly before going home." Carter said.
"Oh how stupid and great that idea was." Ford muttered as he shook his head.
Though being rather damaged, the X-wing flew on and went across the darkened Great Britain as she slowly headed for the a specific spot. The large fires and gun fire plus various explosions made it easy to see from the air where they were headed as well. Most of the fighting stopped as they all looked up seeing some object flying towards them with various fires burning on or in it, lots of smoke coming out along with water pouring from some areas and running lights either on or flickering. The sound of the engines were heard for miles as she began descending slowly, but not in a good way. Smoke came from the back near the engines as they began failing from the damage and the ship began falling towards the ground.
Some of the Nazi's fired at the ship while others ran. Zorrin and the other guy with her ducked and ran for cover like Seras and the General did as the incredibly large unknown vessel came down raking across the top of the burning zeppelin frame before hitting the ground and digging a rather big crater as she fully impacted with the rest of her damaged body and skidded to a stop slowly, leaving her front end almost a hundred feet from the front of the house. The ground shook violently causing a quake that was felt for miles, and while it did damage the foundation of the mansion as well as cause more cracks and breaks in the frame and other places, the house still stood. What mines were left all went up taking some of the enemy with them that were nearby. The tank they had built with duel barrels on the turret had gotten skewered by one of the damaged poles that extended off the front of the ship and was smoking while hanging off the still attached pole.
The gun fire resumed as the Nazi's that survived started rushing forward, only to not only be cut down by gun fire from the house, but also from a couple rail guns that began shooting the ground, tearing whatever it hit up with small explosions. Zorrin rushed forward with her weapon as Seras and the General got back to their feet. Both of them had a tough time for the first few minutes as she continued her assault on the two of them who didn't have time to react more than for defense. Zorrin stopped when a large bullet ripped through her back from behind and exploded before it left her chest, severing her body in half. With all the gunfire going on, they two didn't know where the shot came from and didn't think on it as Seras quickly moved forward and cut her head off just in case. She deflected a few bullets and she backed up with a jump and looked around as the bullets were now being fired at the General, who blocked them as well until he stepped back into the ship and instead of paying attention as he should have, he turned to see what he ran into and took one to the head followed by a few to his chest. Seras screamed as he fell to the ground missing the top of his head, enraging her so greatly that she didn't even feel the few bullets that went through her chest.
Ford had blown one of the upper hatches out of the ship and stood outside with his Heavy Arms rifle on his back and held his special sniper rifle as he looked across the once peaceful area that was Hellsing manor, which was now a mass of fire, death and a battlefield that the limit of couldn't be seen. Sam was still inside trying to do what she could for the ship as she worked in the T.A.R.D.I.S. since, besides being injured and needed to stay away from any more fighting, she needed to get what control she could on the damaged vessel before things got so out of control the ship would explode. While the two knew they could get away from the area and leave the ship, being responsible for a explosion that would take out everything within three hundred miles or more was something they didn't want on their conscious. The few rail guns that did work, he had fire at the downed zeppelin and the few troops left on the field belonging to the enemy until they overheated from damage or blew up themselves. He would have fired a few missiles, but their destructive yield was too great to use.
Seeing Seras towards the front of the ship with some other guy he didn't know and fighting what he knew to be an enemy, he decided to help and put a special bullet meant for killing undead, such as vampires, into her. He was happy to see he hit his mark as she blew in half and Seras cut her head off before her upper body hit the ground. Thinking it was more of the troops now shooting at the two, he looked out finding a man he even felt a bit of fear for because he knew barely anything about the man in the trench coat that was firing a couple long barreled German made guns that Seras easily deflected with her sword. The man turned his aim and fired at someone else and then Seras screamed loudly as Ford knew whoever it was that was hit must have been someone she knew more than a friend. Since the house was extremely damaged and he knew there was still life signs in the manor, he rushed down the ship to get everyone he could out an into the X-wing where they'd be a bit more safer.
"I was still inside the ship working the best I could to contain the overload and damages to ensure the ship didn't explode on us. I ended up having to activate a localized field around the core making time stop there until we shut down the time field to effect better repairs. Doing so drained the vessel of what power she had left which mostly went away quickly because of what Ford did." Carter said.
"I didn't go back in even though I really wanted to, mostly because I wanted to get those people out of the house before it was destroyed and such. If it came down to needing to leave the ship to blow up, then I wanted to save whoever I could." Ford said. "But this is what ended up happening up to the point I ended up dying again and awoke later finding the fight was over."
Ford saw the short battle of ammo shot back and forth between the two along with her throwing her sword that got broke moments later. He could feel fear come up in his body at the aura she gave off, but shrugged it off as best as he could as he kept going and jumped off the edge and hit the ground near a dead body. He tossed his sniper rifle back into the ship before rushing down to where he was now, and brought his Heavy Arms rifle around firing as the man rushed her. As the man was distracted from the rounds, he fired off one of the grenades and was further shocked he even hit the man he knew was some sort of werewolf dead on. When the man got up and turned into a massive wolf, he knew he was in trouble, until he glanced to his left and saw something on the ship he was sure he could use.
"Hey you fucking Nazi bastard! Let's see how you like this! Burn in hell!" Ford yelled as he activated his Sonic Screwdriver.
The emitter for the Asguard beam weapon came alive and fired, hitting the ground first before arching up and taking Ford's hand off along with the Sonic Screwdriver, making him cry out in pain and drop to the ground holding his burning and injured stump until it returned. The blue beam raked across the ground and slammed into and through the large wolf that howled upon impact. The beam continued through him and then turned suddenly as the emitter began to overheat and break from damage as it arched up fast going through part of the damaged house near the middle and then straight up into the air. The emitter blew up shortly after and the ship died as all power suddenly went out.
Seras lost her rage and stared in shock as she felt the link get stronger slowly and saw that the fighting had completely stopped because everyone was surprised at what just happened. Her rage was still there, but ebbing off slowly. The wolf came back together and roared before turning back into the human form and seemed to be visibly injured and breathing hard. She about jumped back when the unknown man got in front of her with his back to her.
"Get everyone out of the house now and into the ship! There is a access hatch underneath and you can't miss it! I'll hold him off!" Ford yelled as he went to fire his Heavy Arms rifle and found it damaged. Tossing it aside quickly, he pulled his personal cannons and fired.
He got over half a clip of each weapon fired, and only a couple bullets actually hit the man before he knew he had taken a hit to the chest and then died as his head was blown off.
"We didn't stay after Alucard showed up and we more or less talked. We mostly had to leave quickly because the military was coming to our location, which would have caused a whole hell of a lot of trouble." Ford said as they looked at him in surprise. "There was other things that happened after the fight was over, but they aren't really important and we weren't there even though we monitored the place. We parked on the dark side of the moon to do what we could for the ship and a few other things….""
"And you think you're all shocked? We were even more shocked to find out the SGC existed and was…" Carter said rolling her hands. "Sort of working with the Hellsing Organization. The group said they'd try to keep from saying anything, but we can't say if they told the SGC in that universe or not. When we found out about the SGC and then the timeline, we really debated for a couple of hours of what to do. They are pretty far behind us in years, considering where we are at now. They barely know Atlantis exist, or was it they just found out?"
"I think it's just barely." Ford said as she stared at him. "Daniel just came back from being ascended rather recently. At least I think that was the case. I didn't read the info we got as much as I should have."
"How much like our universe is the SGC over there?" Rodney asked.
"I was never there." Ford stated. "Rally Vincent is working in Chicago still and the Umbrella incident that happened here, thank god, is a game over there. I bought the game series and the books they had so certain people can see what would have happened. K-9 even said it was creepy after looking at the game series."
"From what little we did go over, everything seemed pretty much the same as it happened here." Carter said. "The SGC continues on without Ford being there, like he said. Makes me wonder how far they will all get."
"We can say that we know that that SG-1 was not part of any of the other SG-1 teams that came to the SGC during that incident with the Stargate years ago." Ford said.
"Oh, that one where a bunch of Sam's got together to find out why teams kept coming through and then you found it was the first SG-1 team after some energy spike that came through that ended up being the case for all the troubles?" Rodney asked.
"That's the one." Carter said. "If I remember right, all those different teams were pretty much at about the same timeline as we were. What was it, like a couple of those Sam's were…two months behind?"
"Month and a half I think." Ford said leaning back.
"Anything else of relevance?" Woolsey asked. "If you all wish to continue having a normal conversation, then you can do so later. There is things that have to be done around here still."
"Sorry Mr. Woolsey. Been awhile since I've had to look at things from a military point of view again." Carter said. "I think that we're done."
"We'll make some report for you Woolsey and get it to you before we leave." Ford said. "If there is anything you need to ask about after getting it, just send an email if we have already left."
"Very well. I shall look forward to seeing that report then. Dismissed." he said getting up and leaving.
Two days later, Woolsey had looked over their report and did ask a few questions before letting them go back to the ship to help with the repairs. Even Sally was helping and learning with Sam while Ford was working on the secondary bridge with Avon. Woolsey had already sent his report to the SGC as well along with some of the items and supplies that the Carter's had dropped off. Sheppard and his team had to go off world on a mission so Rodney wasn't there helping. With Rodney off world, Radek was in the city on watch while most of the repair teams were back in the city as well since the ship was, for the most part, repaired. Everything on the outside of the ship was finally fixed or replaced, so the biggest things left was work needing done on the inside. There was still five teams left on the ship, doing work in the front section while Sam was finishing things on the engines with Sally and Jacob. With having the T.A.R.D.I.S. there to let everyone go to sleep when night came and then come back out seconds later while it was still night, made the work get done quicker since they technically hadn't stopped working from when they started, by Atlantis's point of view.
Amy was watching and holding Avon as Ford was working on getting systems running again as he showed various parts and what they all did to him at the same time. K-9 was doing in between work for them and stated that they ship should be functional enough for them to leave in three days. Woolsey was okay with that since the Daedalus wasn't suppose to be back for five days. Everything was going okay and the family hoped their problems, at least for awhile, were gone since the whole incident with the Hellsing people. However, fate was not that kind.
"Unscheduled off world activation!" Chuck exclaimed.
Sheppard and Rodney were talking to Woolsey when the announcement came. All three left his office quickly and entered the command center as the guy at the controls for the gate spoke.
"The shield is already up sir. We're still waiting for a I.D.C….wait, coming in now. It's Midway Station." Chuck said.
"Drop the shield then." Woolsey said. "Midway Station, this is Atlantis. How can we help you?"
"This is Colonel Wakes Mr. Woolsey. Someone from the I.O.A. will be arriving in a minute with a marine unit." Wakes said.
"Okay." Woolsey said in confusion as he walked out towards the gate. "We'll be waiting."
The shield dropped and a slightly pudgy man with thinning white hair and black business suit came through with four marines, armed with P-90's and zat's on their hips. The fifty plus man in the suit glanced around and then looked at Woolsey as he came down the stairs.
"Mr. Woolsey." the man stated with a partial formal tone. Ignoring the mans hand and giving a small glare to the few people looking at him, other than the marines behind him, he spoke in an authoritatively and condescending tone. "I am Mr. Wiley Basch."
"You must be new then to the I.O.A. Then again, I haven't been back to Earth in awhile so…" Woolsey said.
"Time is of the essence for me Mr. Woolsey." Basch said while looking at his watch. "I have important business to attend to here and I would like to get on with it right away."
"Okay, that shouldn't be a problem. What do you…." Woolsey began.
"Here is a list of the things I will need." Wiley said pulling a paper from his silver briefcase. "If I decide I need anything else, I will contact you right away. At this moment, the first thing I want is both retired Carters inside the conference room, five minutes ago if you would."
"What about these guys?" Sheppard asked. "You guys can relax…"
"They are under orders to follow me Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard, not you or anyone else here." Wiley said sternly as Woolsey was reading the paper with raised eyebrows. "I suggest you and your people give us a very wide berth and avoid messing in I.O.A. affairs that are none of your business, otherwise serious repercussions that extend beyond a court marital will take place, do I make myself clear?"
"Perfectly." Sheppard said with a fake smile.
"What an ass." Rodney muttered as they walked away.
"You can read that later on your time Mr. Woolsey. I suggest that you get on calling those two before I decide to have you removed for refusing to heed my orders." Wiley said.
Extremely confused at the arrogance and bitter tone the man had, plus seeing the four men that had very cold stares, he quickly nodded as they all proceeded up the stairs. Basch and his men entered the conference room as Woolsey got on the communications.
"Atlantis to the X-wing." Woolsey said.
"General here, what's up Mr. Woolsey?" Ford asked.
"There is some I.O.A. man here by the name of Wiley Basch here to see you and Samantha. He says it is urgent that you come to the conference room right away." Woolsey said.
"Both of us?" Ford asked.
"Yes. Five minutes ago were his exact words. I think he meant it literally." Woolsey said.
"We'll be there in a minute. We've got the T.A.R.D.I.S. doing something else at the moment, so we won't be coming that way." Ford said.
"I'll let him know." Woolsey said while signing off.
"Who is that guy anyway?" Sheppard asked after Woolsey spoke to Basch through the com channel.
"I don't know. I've never heard of him either, but as I said, I haven't been back on Earth in some time." Woolsey said.
"And what is with the marine unit?" Rodney asked. "I don't recall you guys ever being able to actually order the military around. At least not in that sort of way."
"Rodney, Woolsey is part of the I.O.A." Sheppard said.
"Besides him Sheppard. It must be something very important or very secret to call those two and not involve any of us." Rodney said.
"I know. I have to admit, I am also curious about this. Something feels wrong." Woolsey said. "The signature on this paper is authentic and I know the person who signed it. This is one of the forms the I.O.A. uses to approve various operations or requisitions, specifically top secret missions with need to know basis's. And the fact that they came from Midway station makes it even more official."
"I think we should call the SGC just in case." Sheppard said as they saw both Carter's walking up the stairs towards the conference room.
"Go ahead. I'm going to see what is going on." Woolsey said as he walked away.
"Hey, did you see how those marines or whatever troops that ass from the I.O.A. had with him seemed to have a very unfriendly attitude towards everyone aside from themselves?" Rodney asked.
"Someone, I get the feeling that even if the Wraith attacked, those men wouldn't help us even if I ordered them." Sheppard said. "Something bad is going to happen…."
The doors opened and let the three in and then closed behind them. Carter was wearing a SGA BDU jump suit that had various stains on it from all the work she had been doing. Ford was wearing stained blue jeans that had a few rips along with a white T-shirt that had stains and smudges as well. All four marines were standing near the wall behind Basch, who was sitting in the middle chair behind the table, with various papers in front of him. He did a double take on the two before him and then looked at Woolsey, who started to sit at the end.
"Mr. Woolsey, this is a private meeting and I am sure you have much better things to do." Wiley said.
"I am the commander of Atlantis.." Woolsey began.
"And I do not care Mr. Woolsey. I do not like repeating myself, so leave before I have you removed." Wiley said with a lot of force and anger.
Woolsey was even more confused than before, especially after being chastised, but got up and left, especially when he was pushed from the room by one of the guards when he didn't move fast enough.
"What happened?" Sheppard asked.
"I was kicked out, saying it was a private meeting." Woolsey said as he fixed his clothes.
"Why do you look like someone just slapped you?" Rodney asked.
"I have came across some very arrogant and very rude people in my dealings with the I.O.A., but nothing like that. If I didn't leave when I had, I'm quite sure those marines would have hauled me out more physically than they did. What did you find out Colonel?" Woolsey asked.
"The man and those marines are totally legit. Plus, General Landry told me that the man wanted to talk to SG-1, but they were currently off world at the moment, so we are suppose to get a call from Earth later when SG-1 gets back." Sheppard said.
"Anything else?" Woolsey asked.
"Landry thought the man was an asshole for being so pushy and demanding to practically everyone on the base. An airman was walking through the halls and accidentally bumped into him as they were coming around the corner. Basch went totally ballistic on the man, coming down so hard on him that he ended up crying and pissing himself." Sheppard said.
"Seriously?" Woolsey asked surprised.
"Oh yeah." Rodney said. "Even General Landry was shocked to hear about it. He sent the man home for the day and told him not to worry about his job since running into someone accidentally wasn't enough reason to get fired."
"Hmm, I see you two are still working on the ship then?" Basch said with a unfriendly tone.
"Yeah, it still needs a lot of work, inside. We should be able to leave in three days if we keep at it." Ford said as he began pulling a chair out.
"I would prefer that you stay standing." Basch more ordered than said.
"What for?" Carter asked as she held her chair. "We've been working for the last several hours."
"Sit down Sam. He can't stop us anyway. We don't work for anyone anymore." Ford said sitting down at the displeasure of the man and the marines. "Geez guys, relax before you have an aneurysm or something."
Sam sat down beside him at the end, noticing the man and marines looked very tense.
"I said five minutes ago Mr. Carter. Why were you not already here when I entered? We know about the time ship you have." Basch growled.
"Crossing timelines is dangerous." Ford stated. "Plus, the T.A.R.D.I.S. is doing something more important than taking us places right now. Get off your high horse."
Basch grunted in a pissed tone as he looked over some papers and wrote something down.
"We're really busy. What is so important?" Carter asked as she put her hands on the table in a relaxed fashion.
"Many things Mrs. Carter. For one thing, both of you have been reinstated to your former ranks, without possibility of retirement until certain orders are followed. As of this moment, you are both once again working for the United States government and are under all the laws therein." Basch said with a small smile that had a meaning tone behind it.
"What for?" they both asked in surprise and confusion.
"We retired and told the President that we'd still come and help the SGC and Atlantis when needed, and have done so on several occasions, but with the intention of not being reinstated." Ford said.
"Even if there was a major emergency, there is no reason that we'd need to have our former ranks." Carter said.
"There is no emergency, as of yet, per say." Basch said while standing and holding a piece of paper. "This paper was signed by several people, including the President himself, reinstating you both into the military for a couple of very important reasons."
Setting the paper down, the man smiled mischievously as he straightened his suit coat.
"Now, there is two ways we can go about this." Basch said while enjoying their look of confusion. "Even though you are both reinstated, I have been given the authority to give you orders that you are expected to follow. Failure will be considered an act of insubordination, and treason."
Ford was really confused and looked past Basch to see the marines move their hands to either their zats or P-90's. Sam noticed as well, but was unsure of what could be so important to cause this much trouble.
"What the hell is it that you want us to do? We aren't hired mercenaries and we certainly ain't going to go out and steal technology from our allies, past or present." Carter said sternly.
"Quite the contrary Mrs. Carter. Now that you have been officially reinstated, your orders are to turn over the X-wing and the T.A.R.D.I.S. to Area 51 immediately." Basch demanded.
Both of them burst out laughing as Basch's face turned into a mean scowl.
"I can assure you that I am being completely serious. Refusing to obey my orders will be dealt with harshly." Basch growled.
"You wasted a trip." Ford said as the two of them got up. "The X-wing has no extra technology on it. The Odyssey and Daedalus have the same things that the X-wing has. We just added extra hanger bays, minus any F-302's, and moved things around a little. We've already gave the specs for her to the people in Area 51 and even let several Atlantis teams help fix her and see the schematics."
"It would have been nice if you did have extra technology on that ship that we didn't have, but it is of no major importance. The fact remains, the vessel is the property of the U.S. military and belongs in the hands of those qualified, namely personal of the U.S. military." Basch stated.
"That ship was trashed when we found it." Carter stated. "Not to mention the fact it was from another alternate universe. If we hadn't did the serious modifications and changes to it, there could have been a serious Entropic Cascade Failure the moment the Daedalus of this universe came near or into contact with it. Atlantis was lucky that our Daedalus was away at the time that one showed up."
"All the same, it is still Earth property and you should not have it." Basch stated forcefully. "However, the X-wing is not the only thing you have in your possession that you shouldn't have. The T.A.R.D.I.S…."
"Can only be operated by a Time Lord, and I am the only one." Ford stated with a growl of impatience. "I have told the I.O.A. and several other idiots and assholes this many times. The ship does not work for anyone but me and I am the only one that can operate it so the passengers inside don't die. Watch the show you jackass and you'll see I am not lying. We've tested it before and it was only because that person was dying from an incurable sickness without any chance of a cure did we even do the test."
"We already know about this, having gone over the Doctor Who episodes to familiarize ourselves with what we could. We also know that your T.A.R.D.I.S. has changed dramatically since the Asguard and this cities knowledge has been entered into its databanks. The point here is that you are in possession of alien technology that is suppose to be in Area 51 for study until it can be reversed engineered for use of the U.S. military." Basch stated.
"You can't recreate another T.A.R.D.I.S.!" Ford shouted. "We don't have the technology to do so nor can even come close! They are grown, literally! It's practically a planet in itself in there!"
"We cannot take your word for this Mr. Carter. Nor do I believe that we don't have the technology to do so either. I and several others firmly believe that you are withholding information…" Basch began.
"I've had enough of this." Ford said while shaking his head. "You are obviously to stubborn to realize the truth even when you see it and hear it."
"I suggest you do not attempt to leave." Basch shouted as the man headed for the door.
"Was that a threat?" Ford asked as he slowly turned around.
"Yes! I have been given the authority to use force if need be to get what I have been ordered here to bring home. Like I said, this can go two ways. Either you both follow orders and hand over both ships, to which you and your families will be able to retire again or continue to work with Area 51 and the SGC and Atlantis, and continue your lives as you wish. Or you can take the other option and be charged for insubordination, theft of government property and treason against not only the U.S.A., but also of Earth and its allies. If you choose the second option, I can't guarantee your safety, much less you families either when we take both ships by force." Basch said with a sneer of sadistic joy.
"You're joking?" Carter exclaimed as she saw Ford's eyes and face turn into a look she feared seeing.
"I choose option thre…" Ford began as he turned fully to the man.
Everyone in the control room was on alert instantly as they heard several gun shots. As Sheppard and Rodney, along with a security detail ran up to the door, they heard Carter yell.
"K-9, raise shields and…" Carter yelled.
As the doors opened and they rushed in, Carter fell to the ground from a zat blast. Beside her on the floor was Ford, dead from several shots to the head and chest.
"What the hell is going on?" Sheppard asked as he aimed his pistol at the marines that were aiming at him and the security detail.
"I suggest you lower your weapons Colonel and have your men do so immediately." Basch said while picking up a few papers.
"You better start talking right now or else…" Sheppard began.
"Do not make me repeat myself Colonel! You will lower your weapons right now or else you will be sent back to Earth under arrest for disobeying a direct order!" Basch shouted loudly. "You will also be charged with treason and be sent to jail for the rest of your life if you are lucky! Do I make myself clear!"
Ronan and Teyla came in seeing the man yell at them. Seeing the four men pointing weapons and the two on the ground, Ronan pulled his gun and pointed it at the nearest man.
"What's going on Sheppard?" Ronan asked.
"I don't know. Why did your men shoot these two? They were completely harmless and not even armed…" Sheppard yelled.
"They are traitors! They refused to obey direct orders and were told to cooperate or face the consequences! When they became difficult, I had my men shoot them! This pathetic man we know can come back from any injury and his wife is only stunned for the moment." Basch stated with extreme anger. Turning, he made a gesture and the men lowered their weapons. "Mr. Woolsey. I was hoping that these two would be more cooperative, but unfortunately, they refused. As of this moment, they are both considered the enemies of Earth. Have him taken to the brig and her taken to one of the observation rooms right away. Make sure she is searched for anything she may be carrying, and him as well. Have her hands and feet secured. Edelson and Tunner will stay in the room and keep a watch on her. The other two will watch him. He tries anything, shoot him."
Woolsey began to open his mouth when papers were forced into his hands.
"As of this moment, I am in command of Atlantis." Basch stated.
Even though Basch was beyond pissed because Woolsey had to go over the papers first to make sure everything was in order even as the SGC was contacted by Basch to talk to someone from the I.O.A. that was there standing by for him to call from Atlantis, the orders Basch gave were done despite the reluctance of the guards ordered to do so. Carter was still unconscious and was tied to a metal chair in one of the observation rooms. Keller wanted to check Sam out, but was told to back off or she'd be the next one sent to Earth for insubordination. Ford was lying on the floor inside the brig while the two marines outside kept watch. People were talking all over the city and trying to figure out what happened. Rodney was able to pull up the surveillance video from the conference room for Woolsey and several other people to see. Woolsey hated to admit it, but the papers were completely legit and signed by the President, and several other high ranking people. Technically, Basch went too far, but he did have the authority to do what he did, even though it pissed many people off. Woolsey was still in charge of Atlantis, for the most part, but Basch had final say in anything and was able to order anyone around.
"Mr. Carter, I have both your daughter and her husband in lock up until they cooperate. They will be spared from being seriously charged for disobeying orders if you will drop the shield around the ship and exit it right away." Basch said as he watched the screen that had Jacob Carter on it.
"Like hell I will! We saw everything that happened in that room from when they entered and to when you had them both shot you son of a bitch! You've already made up your mind! If I drop the shields, you'll storm this ship and take us out forcefully as well. And do you seriously think we are dumb enough to believe that story about letting us go on with our lives if we handed the T.A.R.D.I.S. to you and whoever wants to see it? That's bullshit and we both know it! Those two are the only ones that know how to operate it effectively without killing or blowing someone up. You'd have all of us living in Area 51 till we died of old age, blackmailing Ford with our lives if he refused to help give you everything you wanted. The shield stays!" Jacob said with anger, sadness and venom.
"A family of traitors. I'm not surprised." Basch stated before looking over his shoulder. "Is there anyway to get that ship of the pier?"
"Who are you talking to?" Woolsey asked.
"Anyone! Now answer the question!" Basch yelled.
"No, not currently." Radek said quickly as he was stared at. "The engines are still in a state of repair."
"Dammit! Why am I surrounded by idiots?" Basch yelled before pointing a finger at the screen. "The longer you stall and refuse to give up those ships, the worse it shall be for the two here!"
"Oh please, we've dealt with worse. And if you so much as scratch my daughter, you'll wish it was me that was dishing out the punishment you'll get instead of Ford. Believe me when I say, it's better if you let them both go, take your buddies with you and go hide on Earth before Ford kills you." Jacob said. "No matter what you do, he has a time machine and will go back to fix whatever you do."
"We will talk later!" Basch yelled in rage.
He walked away as Atlantis signed off, per his orders. Jacob and Amy were frightened as was Sally and Avon, who didn't understand what was going on. Seeing as he had little choice of what else to do, Jacob pushed a particular button on the T.A.R.D.I.S. console.
Carter awoke to the splash of ice cold water dumped on her head. Crying out mostly from the extreme chill and shaking her head, she found herself tied to a chair and to find someone had put her in prisoner fatigues, and that was it.
"What the hell?" Carter yelled.
"Mrs. Carter. I'm beginning with you because your stupid husband is still dead at the moment, or asleep." Basch said as he sat across from her and put his briefcase on the table. "We are studying your watches to see what makes them, tick. Fortunately, for me, I was able to get a few people from Earth to show up to do the work since everyone else here is a bit to loyal to you traitors. It would be easier to have a lot of people here replaced, but alas, the really good people are difficult to replace sometimes. Anyway, unfortunately, that dog, which the I.O.A. and Area 51 are waiting to get their hands on, managed to turn the shields on as you ordered. I was careless and should have stunned you at the time I had your husband shot. Your father refuses to lower the shield, which I didn't find surprising. Had he lowered it, I would have been shocked, but happy. Now, let's get started…"
"I am not a traitor." Carter spat as the water from the empty bucket on the floor was now soaking into her lower half.
"And yet, you have refused to give up things that do not belong to you. In fact, it was you personally that made it so we never were able to get along with a alien race…." Bashc began as he opened a folder.
"Those people would have dropped a bomb on this planet which would have wiped out the human race in less than a hundred years. We would have gained longer life spans in exchange for sterility!" Carter yelled.
"Do you actually think that we would not be able to overcome and fix that problem ourselves? I find it surprising that someone so smart can also be so naïve and stupid at the same time." Basch said opening his case. "Now, I need the code or password that will make the shield drop."
"How about you drop dead." Carter spat while shivering slightly.
He smiled lightly and then waved a hand. Jerking as a couple of hands grabbed her shoulders, she cried out in pain as someone stuck a needle into her arm harshly and injected. Pulling it out harshly as well, she kept from crying out again as the syringe was tossed onto the table and then she was let go.
"The truth serum is a interesting thing. Thanks to all the off world medicines we've learned about, in this galaxy and are own, there have been a few advances. Unlike the normal truth serum, this one only takes less than a minute. The only problem is the side effect…" Basch said with a sadistic smile.
Carter jerked and gritted her teeth in pain as it felt like there was a fire burning through her veins. It wasn't extreme, but enough to be very annoying as it finally started going through her entire system and began taking effect. She could still see straight and her mind didn't feel too foggy, but she did feel her muscles twitching along with the burning sensation. When she spoke, it was slightly slurred but understandable.
"Now, what is the code?" Basch ordered.
"There is no code or password if there is still people or K-9 on board. It's a couple of switches that have to be done manually. From there, you push more buttons to expand or contract the size of the field." Carter said without being able to stop herself.
"And yet, your dog was able to activate the shield." Basch said.
"He can link with the T.A.R.D.I.S. and activate various systems. One of which is the shield." Carter said.
"So, how do I make him drop the shield?" Basch asked.
"You don't. He already knows we are in trouble and isn't going to respond to any orders you give him." Carter said. "Only Ford can really get back in…."
"Lies! You will give him the orders!" Basch demanded.
"Like hell I will!" Carter managed to yell out.
"You are being very difficult Mrs. Carter. Despite the fact that you have been completely uncooperative and more than difficult, I would hate to resort to using torture for information or to make you follow my orders." Basch said.
"You're better off just shooting me now. Once Ford gets out, you'll be dead or worse and he'll have saved me from you and your goons in one way or another. You'll never get the T.A.R.D.I.S." Carter stated.
She didn't hear it, but knew something was up when he touched his earpiece and then scowled before it turned into a smile.
"I'll come back when you are feeling more cooperative." Basch said with a smile.
Ford slowly awoke and heard some guy speaking through a radio or com, but couldn't make out the words over some buzz noise. Sitting up, he rubbed his head and then felt funny as he realized he wasn't wearing underwear. Looking down, he found himself in a blue prisoner suit and in the brig. He still had blood on himself from where he got shot, but everything else he had on him was gone. Thankfully, he and Sam didn't have their Sonic Screwdrivers with them and other than their watches, that was basically it. Looking around, he realized he was in the brig and there was a metal chair in the room with him and that the floor had metal plating put down on it in the brig. He heard footsteps as he stood and walked up to the cell wall as Basch came into the room with a smile.
"About time you woke up. Had you taken any longer, I was going to have you shot with darts that would inject painful medications that would make you wake up. Really Mr. Carter, you disappoint me. I expected you to put up more of a fight or see reason enough to give up. I am surprised you two came actually, but that's not important right now. What is, is that you will, in the end, give me what I want to give to my superiors. If this is dragged out to long, I'll just have you and your traitorous wife taken through the gate back to our galaxy and to some other planet where you both will be forced by any means necessary to filling give up. If by some unfortunate reason your wife doesn't make it, oh well. You can't die no matter what we do, so we have plenty of options open to us, even if it means using you as an experiment for whatever we need. Either you will give us both ships or you become a rat for us to experiment on for the rest of time. We have all the cards as the saying goes." Basch said.
"No, you only think you have them." Ford said as he yawned. "I'd ask how Sam is doing, but you're going to lie even if you show me a video feed. Once I get free, all this will change. So you might as well give up and shoot yourself, because I will not have any mercy on you."
"Defiant until the end." Basch said as he snapped his fingers.
Ford wasn't able to keep from crying out as the floor became electrified and he dropped to the floor crying out and twitching as the voltage was moved up and down, but never put high enough to make him pass out or kill him. Even when it finally stopped and he was unable to speak because he wore his throat out, he was unable to tell how long it went on.
"Now, let's try this again." Basch said as he watched the man breathing hard on the floor slowly roll over. "I can't say for certain if that bitch was telling the truth or not. Not being entirely human anymore, I can't say if the special truth serum actually did work on her fully or not. Now, what is the password or code needed to make the shield drop?"
"You are so dead." Ford croaked out as he kept his back to the man. "You'll wish I just killed you outright."
"The password or code." Basch repeated.
"There is people on the ship, including K-9, so they can't and won't activate while someone is on the ship. The T.A.R.D.I.S. is a living machine so even if me or Sam told you, she wouldn't drop them if we walked up and said them. She knows how I feel because we are telepathically connected, and as long as I don't want those shields down, subconsciously or otherwise, she won't drop them." Ford said before rolling over and sitting up. "Here's how it is going to go. No matter what you do, I am not letting you have either of those ships. So listen carefully, not even over Sam's dead body or our children's, friends or anyone else, will I drop those shields. So you might as well kill her and whoever else you want and kill me over and over or just blow me up."
"You still fail to see how things are. Sad. You don't realize you have no power anymore. Blowing you up would only serve your purpose because the way I understand it, you'd rebuild or whatever in your ship. And that is the last thing we want." Basch said as Ford scowled. "As for everything else you said, that may end up being what happens very soon. We plan on having the city start flying soon and once in space just enough, the city will tilt and your ship will fall off, hopefully into the water where it will sink straight to the bottom. If we can't have it, then no one should. Mrs. Carter's parents do not have the technical knowledge to fix the vessel and even with your dog's help guiding them, I doubt they would have it done any time soon. From there, you and her will be taken back to our galaxy as I said and from there, well…..you know."
"He still doesn't get it sir." one of the guards said.
"I'm not surprised. It would have been too easy if he gave up now. I did expect a fight or major argument. Oh well, I'll go back and see what Mrs. Carter can tell me. Make sure he doesn't die or pass out, but make sure he keeps screaming…." Basch said as he walked out and smiled as he heard the screams of pain after he left.
"What the hell do we do?" Rodney yelled at John from in his lab as they saw the video feed they were able to patch into of both rooms. "This is inhumane!"
"More for him than Sam." Sheppard said.
"I say we go shoot them all before this gets worse." Ronan said.
"I wish we could, but those guards are willing to kill us and die for the orders they have been given." Sheppard said. "I suspect brainwashing of some sort. Or those guards are not typical military personal."
"The Wraith have more mercy on their victims." Teyla said with a grimace as she quickly turned off the volume where Ford was still screaming.
"I am stunned beyond words at what is happening. This must be a very sick and twisted dream…" Rodney began.
"I wish it was." Sheppard said as they saw the man enter the room where Sam still was and then Woolsey entered the lab. "What did you learn?"
"As sick and totally inhumane as this situations is, that man and his brutes have been given full authority on levels I am unable to understand. The authorization came from someone that apparently supersedes the President and anyone with rational thought. SG-1 returned back from their mission and were immediately arrest, but refused. Doctor Jackson and Colonel Mitchell are in surgery from gun shot wounds while Teal'c and Vala are currently locked in the brig pending orders for transfer out of the SGC. Landry is refusing to let them be taken away and so far hasn't been forced into making them be taken away. I am sure that is because General O'Neill is there along with Bra'tak and a contingent of Jaffa that are keeping a watch on the infirmary." Woolsey said. "The guards that attack SG-1 are in custody, at least the ones that survived. The man responsible is unfortunately still around trying to take full authority. Right now the entire mountain is in lockdown."
"I can't believe they tried that on Earth as well." Sheppard said in shock.
"Believe me, I am just as surprised. All this seems to be taking place in order to get what those two have." Woolsey said as he pointed at the screens.
"I have heard and seen this sort of thing happening only in your movies." Teyla said with worry and extreme shock. "I truly did not think there was people on your world really capable of this…."
"It's called politics." Rodney said with sarcasm and a sneer that wasn't aimed at the group. "People who have no idea what truly happens tries to control those who really do thinking they know it all and can do whatever they want."
"I have heard and seen those types on quite a few worlds. Even Sateda had those troubles." Ronan said with a grunt.
"I used to be like those men in many ways, until I went off world a few times during missions that went bad. I completely understand and admit I was an idiot that thought otherwise at one time." Woolsey said.
"He said to Ford something about flying the city and making their ship fall off. Is that true?" Sheppard asked. "Because if it is, over my dead body am I going to follow that order."
"Same here." Rodney said, but not as enthusiastically.
"Unfortunately, they have someone they brought with them that has a strong control over Ancient devices like you Colonel. You didn't hear it from me, but I think the chair needs to be looked and taken off line for the time being. I was told there was some inconsistencies with the readings it was giving off. Something to do with energy levels and power disruptions." Woolsey said as he looked away and spoke quietly. "If you catch my drift."
"Oh yeah, Radek or one of the other scientist said something about that. I think there was trouble with the relays and one of the ZPM's." Rodney said as he got up. "I'll get a team right on it."
"You do that. You, keep me informed…" Woolsey said as he shook his head lightly.
Rodney started to want to ask, but figured it out after a moment as he nodded and walked off.
"I am confused." Teyla said.
"He basically said for Rodney to go tamper with things and be so busy he can't report on the progress of the repairs." Sheppard said quietly to her.
"Clever…" Ronan said. "Now we just have to deal with this…"
"Yeah, before that bastard does kill Sam." Sheppard said as he got pissed at what he saw.
Sam was pissed, but wished Ford would hurry up or something soon. She currently had a black eye, busted tooth that hurt like hell, busted lip that bleed for quite awhile and dislocated shoulder that she unfortunately did to herself after one of the dozen injections she think she counted right, that was put into her, each time done to inflict pain purposely. And that was just being stuck with the needle wrong, but also to ensure it didn't kill her by accident. A couple cracked ribs she unfortunately did to herself as well during an intense amount of pain that made her thrash herself against her will ended up being the cause of that currently problem. It hurt like hell to breath, and moving her hands or feet hurt as well since they were raw from rubbing against the ropes that were tearing into her skin every time she jerked to hard from the pain. The burns only got feeling worse when rubbing alcohol was poured on them. She wasn't sure how many times she passed out so far or how many times cold water was tossed on her along with smelling salts. She was tired, hungry and could only figure that the couple of bags of fluids that were in IV bags behind her were keeping her from getting too sick or in worse condition. There was an IV in each arm, put there in a position that made it so she'd have to literally take it out to get it out of her arm.
"I would say I hated to resort to this method, but you leave me no choice. And quite frankly, I have no compassion or mercy upon those who turn traitor. Truthfully, if I had access to your children, they would be the ones suffering until you finally followed orders." Basch said as he wrote on a pad.
Sam really wanted to scream in rage at the mention of her children, but she knew doing so would only give the man satisfaction, and that was the last thing she would give him, even if a few of the threats he gave that did chill her, came into play. Thinking back, she was glad to recall that very hidden surveillance videos were in all the brigs and many other rooms where cameras that were visible had been set up. She was sure that Rodney, unless it was someone else, was and had been watching her ever since everything started, especially after one of the guards had taken out the video camera back when freezing cold water was dumped on her. A personal video camera system had been set up and was recording everything that happened so far and was still going.
"Have nothing to say I see. Well, I'll just have to go back to your pathetic husband and see about getting answers." Basch said as he closed his folder. "As much as I wish this would go faster, I just have to wait. I do have plenty of time to keep going, but eventually my patience will wear thin. I'll take this video for him to see and hope it shows him that I mean business. I really would have more done to you, but having you die from an overdose or too much injuries wouldn't get me anywhere."
Ford awoke again as ice cold water was splashed on him for the umpteenth time. Basch was outside the cell doors and was writing something in his folder while speaking to him.
"I had this monitor brought in for you to watch, of the interrogation of Mrs. Carter. Unfortunately, I can't make you watch it, but the volume will be up enough you can't help but hear it. I hope you are ready for a hour of torture, not only for you, but for what she was put through. If I don't have what I am asking for by tomorrow, I will step things up for her in a serious bad way. One of the guards here is very loyal, but a former rapist put on death row. He won't kill her, but she'll wish she was dead. I'd thought of having the same sort of humiliation done to you, but I doubt that even having you strapped down with cable wire would keep you from getting free." Basch said as he saw it in the mans eyes rage build. "If I don't have what I am here for in three days, the ship goes into the ocean and you'll both be taken back to the Milky Way, where she will eventually die, either by brain shock of not being able to handle it anymore, or just normal death, and you'll be used for our purposes as I stated before."
"You'd have both of us taken away and do all that you said even if we gave you want you wanted." Ford said so calmly that Basch wasn't able to stop the fearful chill that ran through him at the tone.
"That wouldn't be the case and wouldn't do us any good if you gave us what you have been ordered to turn over." Basch said after a moment of composing himself. "If we had them, you and her are the only ones that are fully capable of utilizing it fully, or I should say at all unfortunately. We did try to clone you from a recent blood sample, but all attempts have failed. I assume we would have a much better chance if we had your sons DNA, but alas, we don't. Now, if you both will submit, all this will go away…"
"That's the biggest load of shit I have ever heard in my entire existence!" Ford growled. "You'd have us both living in total submission and do everything you or whoever is in charge say, no matter how immoral. I hope you have family, because I intend to kill them with you."
"I am glad to hear you say that." Basch said with a smile. "We now have it recorded that you are a sadistic murderer and would harm innocent…."
"Innocent? That's the joke of the ages. Any woman that would have your children is obviously insane, demon possessed or a evil sadistic bastard like you." Ford said. "It's no wonder you got to your position. No morals or conscious are really wanted by people just like you who have unfortunately got into high positions in the government. Just like that fucking freak Kinsey."
"Whether fortunate for me or not, I am unable to have children and have no family anymore, which makes me the perfect person for this job. No ties to anyone but my country, so unless you plan on attacking the U.S.A. or Earth, you aren't doing anything to upset me in that regard. And before you start thinking I have friends I would die to protect, the answer is no. I'd rather them suffer extreme torture plus that than betray my country. All these guards here are people who are loyal to their country for the most part. And all without family either, which is why they are here." Basch said as he turned on the tape.
The next day, the SGC was still in lockdown and SG-1 was free and all better, while the man and his men had been locked away in the brig together until they could be dealt with. Considering what Woolsey sent and told Landry and Jack, even though it was rather inhumane, Jack's authority and orders were respected and all the men in the brig were left there they way there were. If they killed each other or starved or whatever, big deal. It bothered Lam until she saw the video feeds of what happened at Atlantis with the two. Despite the fact Ford was actually getting the worst treatment, it wasn't a surprise that more people where upset at what was happening to Carter than him.
At Atlantis, neither of them were allowed to sleep and it was obvious it was beginning to effect them. Sam got a few more punches to the face, but her left eye was left alone so she could still see on purpose. Her right hand was broken and her shoulder had been put back into its socket, but in a painful and slightly wrong way. Currently, she was strapped down to a table, spread eagle and barely conscious or aware.
Ford was and had been for the last several hours, being electrified at a low current, but enough to keep him in pain and awake. Water was tossed on him any time he looked about to pass out, ice cold water, and it made things worse each time. Not having anything to eat or drink for more than 24 hours also didn't help. It took everything he had not to go ballistic or into the raging fit he wanted to.
"Well, good morning. Or not in your case." Basch said as he entered. "Now, how about we start again and just move straight to how it is going to be. Either you start cooperating now, otherwise your wife is used as a plaything while you watch and hear. As much as I wish I could continue to drag this out, the flying and dropping of your vessel won't be happening anytime soon. Due to some malfunction in the cities system, which I believe is tampering to keep the city from flying, though my scientist assures me that is not the case and the malfunctions are true, I have to up my schedule. The people here are too loyal to their friends and family to realize what they should be here for and I am afraid they might try something soon. So, what is it going to be Mr. Carter? Your foolish pride and those vessels, or your wife getting raped?"
"Woolsey is going to be so pissed off at me, but you leave me no choice." Ford said through tears of pain and clenched teeth as the electricity continued to run through the floor. He slowly got to his feet and pushed through the pain even though he had to bite his lip enough blood came out, to make himself stand. "Instigate protocol Omega R."
Basch was confused and completely surprised when Ford snapped his own neck, almost taking his head off in the process. The cities lights dimmed for a few seconds and then everything went back to normal.
"Found out what the hell just happened!" Basch yelled. "And I want to know what he just ordered to have happened, YESTERDAY!"
Sam was more awake and aware of her position, and was thankful her clothes were still on, even though she noticed one of the guards nearby that had to be the man Basch spoke of by the way he was looking her over. She saw the lights dim and heard the power go down some minutes ago, but wasn't sure what that was. Basch came in and walked right up to the table, grabbing her by the front of the outfit holding her in the air slightly, making her cry out from the pain of the rough movement.
"What the hell is protocol Omega R?" Basch yelled.
"Protocol what?" Carter asked in a slurred voice.
"Protocol Omega R." Basch repeated in a loud voice.
"Doubt you'll believe me, but never heard of it. If Ford said it like I assume he did because you're here asking, then it is just one of the many secrets he keeps from me. I do have some I keep from him too." Carter said with a small chuckle that made her grimace in pain that only got worse as he pushed her back onto the table and then wiped his hand off on something he pulled from his pocket.
"I do doubt you. And since I don't think you're going to tell me what I want…" Basch said as he waved a finger at the guard. "Don't make her injuries worse or hit her…"
"Yeah, yeah, just fuck her brains out." the man said with a sneer as he came forward.
That morning, after SGA learned that Basch had found out the city wasn't going to fly and other systems were not working properly, they got several teams together with Woolsey's approval. They had had it with what was going on and after the threat towards Carter the man said he had to do today while making a oral report they listened in on, they had to stop it. The teams were together and ready to move in discretely, when the city had a power drain problem.
"What was that?" Woolsey asked.
"I am not sure." Radek said as he typed franticly. "A lot of power was transferred from somewhere to somewhere else in the city, but the log has been erased. I can't find any trace and everything I try to find out is canceled out."
"What happened? Are we under attack?" Rodney asked in a panicked voice as he rushed into the command center.
"I don't know Rodney. We had a power drain, but we are not sure where." Radek said.
"This started after Ford spoke those words." Sheppard said as he came in with his team. "What the hell is protocol Omega R?"
"I have never heard of it." Woolsey said.
"Neither have I. Nothing close either. It must be something he built into the system or made happen from the city to send a message to his ship." Rodney said as he was typing away on a laptop.
"Um Colonel…." Lorne said over the radio line.
"What is it?" Sheppard asked.
"Did the General free himself already?" Lorne asked.
"No, apparently he is still dead according to the monitor." Woolsey said.
"Why, did you see him?" Sheppard asked.
"I want to say someone like him, but they had blue hair. And no, it wasn't any of the furs in case you ask that next." Lorne said.
"Rodney, find out what happened. We're going on." Sheppard said.
"Be careful Colonel, the infirmary is ready to go, but any deaths avoided on our side is one less problem to deal with." Woolsey said as Sheppard nodded.
Sam didn't cry out and prepared herself the best she could mentally for what she hoped and pray didn't happen after Basch left and the man ripped the front of her outfit open. Just as he started touching her abs and moving upward, there was a commotion outside that made even her look up as the man went for his gun and aimed it at the door. There was gun fire from several guns followed by screams of extreme excruciating pain that continued even after Basch entered the room and slammed the door closed, locking it. He didn't even seem to pay attention that she was half naked as he walked past her and opened some large case she had only noticed once during her entire time of being in that room for however many days.
"What is going on?" the man asked as the screams continued along with heavy gun fire along with some explosions.
"I knew that foolish man was insane, but I didn't think he would go this far. Oh well, it does not matter. In the end, they still loose." Basch said as he picked a item out of the box and stood.
"Is that…" the man began asked when the door was literally ripped off the hinges and tossed aside.
He spun around and fired his heavy assault rifle until the amount ran out. Carter could barely see who it was, but she realized it was a Replicator only because the hits the person took only made a ripple effect. The man beside her turned quickly as he pulled a K-bar knife to stab her, only to die in a very gory way as all the rounds that the man just shot were sent back to him, hitting him all at one time. She ignored the fact she felt sick about having been hit by the bloody mess that just happened and the fact what was left of the man fell on her and slid off.
"Such a fool." Basch said as he held out what he had in his hand. "I am dying anyway, so your efforts to save her were pointless."
The entire city went on high alert and only those near that tower on the west side of the city saw the upper section explode in a massive fireball that ripped apart several levels underneath it and blew out the windows or cracked them of any within a couple block radius of that tower.
"What the hell just happened?" Woolsey yelled as the city shook enough to be felt.
"A massive explosion was detected in one of the towers!" Radek yelled. "A primary power relay in that section had knocked out power for 25% of the west side of the city along with several other key systems in that area!"
"It is a good thing we don't have the shields up, because they would have just went down. The emitters in that area are down or blown, or both." Rodney exclaimed.
"Where did it happen?" Woolsey asked.
"Um…." Chuck said slowly.
"What is it?" Woolsey asked as he saw the look on Chucks face that slowly everyone else seem to also get.
"Oh no. The center of the explosion was the same room Sam was in." Rodney said in horror as Sheppard was yelling over the line seconds later.
Sheppard and his team went for Sam along with a few other teams while the rest went with Lorne to get Ford. As they got to the tower and started towards the room she was in, they were stopped by someone who looked exactly like Ford, but had bright blue hair and had the same outfit they saw the Replicators wear, just black instead. He didn't say anything, but waved them away with the P-90 he pointed at them. Sheppard tried to speak but stopped when the man gave him several hand signals that made it clear to leave and save Ford. Not wanting to deal with someone they sure they would be unable to get past, Sheppard left figuring that Sam was in good hands. It didn't take long to hear guns start firing along with some explosions that had to be grenades being used. Using the teleporter, they got to the other side of the city where Ford was being kept and did it just in time when the city shook and they heard a muffled explosion.
"Rodney? What the hell was that?" Sheppard yelled through his radio as he sent the others ahead where they heard gun fire from Lorne's team and the others.
"There was an explosion in one of the towers on the west side of the city Colonel." Woolsey said.
"Yeah, not surprising. A Replicator version of Ford, but with blue hair stopped us and made us leave to save the real Ford." Sheppard said. "What was the cause of the explosion? Is Sam safe? Is the city okay?"
"No." Woolsey said after a moment. "The center of the explosion was the room Samantha was in."
"That foolish jackass put her in a room of strategic important in the city!" Rodney yelled. "That explosion has crippled the cities ability to raise the shields along with knocking out some vital systems in that area. It is going to take a month at least to fix everything!"
"Are you sure Sam didn't make it out?" Sheppard asked.
"The last video feed we had was of Basch saying it was too late to save her as he activated a detonator in his hand, in that room. The Replicator version of the strange Ford wasn't anywhere near her or him to stop the explosion from happening or getting to her." Radek said slowly. "There was heavy transport inhibitors in that location as it is with Ford, making it impossible to have tried to beam them out."
"I see." Sheppard said after a moment. "Well, Ford is still alive and all we need to do is get him out of there and he'll be able to save her."
"Yeah, but you better hurry!" Rodney said. "Ford isn't in the brig anymore. They shot him and four men have taken him off some direction that leads outside. The rest of the those bastards are keeping Lorne and the other teams from getting anywhere!"
"Contact the X-wing, apprise them of the situation, at least part of it, and see if they can beam Ford away from those guys." Sheppard said as he ran up to meet with the others.
"That would be a great idea, why didn't I think of that? Oh wait, I did!" Rodney said sarcastically. "But those transport inhibitors are keeping them from doing that!"
"Then figure something out Rodney! Vent the atmosphere or air or whatever out of the area they are in! Close the doors and flood the area with water or poison or something!" Sheppard yelled as he got down and covered his ears.
Several flash and frag grenades were tossed around the corner and the explosions were enough to rock the corridor. They moved in quickly taking out the remaining men and pushed on to continue after Ford. Despite all that Rodney tried, he was unable to stop the four guys who got outside and tossed the currently dead man into a metal bar cage out on the pier that had been built recently. Just as Sheppard and the others came rushing out, guns blazing since Ford wouldn't really care if he got hit anyway as long as he was saved, they kicked the heavy cage over into the water and started firing back. It didn't last long and a few of them were injured, but thankfully no one was killed, while the four men were riddled with bullets.
"Rodney! The General was tossed into some metal cage of some sort and tossed into the ocean!" Sheppard yelled.
"He was what?" Rodney yelled.
"You heard me! He should be well outside the field of those inhibitors or whatever, so have the X-wing transport him back!" Sheppard yelled.
"Hang on!" Rodney yelled before coming back a minute later on the line. "Dammit! It's no good! They can't get a signal lock on his position!"
"What the hell does that mean?" Sheppard yelled.
"Whatever the hell that metal cage is made of seems to block any ability to get a good signal lock on him or it!" Rodney said.
"Then what the hell are we suppose to do?" Sheppard yelled.
"I don't know!" Rodney yelled. "We can hardly track it with our sensors….correction, we lost track of it. It is so deep now that they both should have been crushed to nothing."
"I detected a unknown energy reading for a moment…" Radek said.
"Probably his body trying to repair itself or something…" Rodney said.
"Hold on, we got something…." Sheppard began.
A couple of flashes filled the area nearby and sort of sounded like explosions of some sort as well, when suddenly a bright flash appeared and something came out of nowhere, hitting the pier with a metal sounding crunch. They all watched some metal car of sorts flip end over end several times, pieces of it flying different directions as it rolled at least a dozen times before crashing into one of the tall antenna poles on it's left side. They ran up with weapons ready as someone got out of the former Delorean from the passenger side, which surprised them because it was the blue haired Replicator, only three feet shorter and seemed to look like he was melting. He managed to toss the crumpled former metal cage towards them that had a very crushed and deformed body that had to be one person, that was slowly healing, at them before quite literally melting into a puddle that seemed to become one with the car. Ronan quickly blasted the bars apart and they were all pulled and tossed aside, leaving a very ugly looking body there that eventually turned into a buck naked man that they were happy to see, expect for the naked part. The car was left alone because Rodney reported that there was dangerous radiation being detected in that area of the city, so for the moment, it was deemed unsafe until Ford could deal with it, and could also hopefully explain what the deal with the car, the Replicator and all that was.
Ford awoke a few days later in the infirmary and it wasn't a surprise to anyone when he got out of the bed in extreme anger and extremely suspicious of everyone. Only because his children and Sam's parents were there did it help him calm down and remember everything better and get his head straight. A few more hours later, after seeing the footage of what happened, plus Woolsey and several other people including Jack telling him all that happened, did he finally go back in time and save Sam several minutes before the explosion. Despite all that happened to her, she was actually okay mentally even though everyone thought she wasn't. It wasn't the first time she had been threatened with rape, plus she had been unfortunately beat up before too, and was sure it wouldn't be the last time. Vala healed all her injuries and shortly after she went off to spend time with the kids and her parents.
Ford dealt with everything else, and despite talking to many people that were captured and even after time traveling for a least a year in the past, it was found that this plan had been put into action for even longer than that, but the head behind it along with some other people involved, he along with Jack and several others couldn't find them. It frustrated the hell out of Ford and Jack they ended up not finding those truly behind it, but they were happy to learn the President wasn't against them because he ended up signing the order without realizing what it truly was for. A week later after the entire incident, things were more back to normal and Sam was even back to normal enough people believed it. It took three days before she would see or talk to anyone aside from family and Ford was glad to see she never had any nightmares, and wasn't surprised when she didn't want to talk about all that happened either. He didn't want to talk of his experiences either.
A week later, the ship was functioning enough they could leave and do the rest of the repairs themselves.
Ford was walking through the ship a couple weeks later and was glad to see it was nearly finished. It was quiet as usual, with the sounds of the systems in the background as he walked down one of the corridors. Sam was off with Sally and their son Avon inside the T.A.R.D.I.S. Sally was learning how to help take care of Avon with Sam's parents when the two had to work or do something that really required their attention. Thankfully, there was no sibling rivalry between them and the two hoped here wouldn't be ever. He smiled to himself as he walked with his hands in his pockets and passed through a four way junction. A few steps further into the corridor, he stopped and looked up in confusion. He slowly walked backwards, still with his hands in his pants pockets until he was standing in the middle of the junction. Just down the corridor, there was a woman standing near one of the junction boxes that the two had built into the ship to handle the power from the T.A.R.D.I.S. However, it wasn't the fact the lady was doing something to the junction box and that the T.A.R.D.I.S. didn't activate the intruder alert system that really made him confused, it was what she was. And she hadn't even noticed him from the looks of it. He looked down the corridor before him, then behind him, the other direction and then back at her, still seeing her there waving something that was probably akin to a Sonic Screwdriver. If it wasn't for the fact that they were currently traveling dematerialized through time and space, he would have thought they were at Gia'as.
"Melissa?" Ford asked with a very confused frown.
The white fox, that was a lot better looking than Melissa he knew, turned her head to looked at him a moment. She was wearing tight blackish blue shorts and a tight blackish blue sports bra over her white furred five foot something body. Her eyes were a beautiful blue that almost enticed him. There was a black belt around her waist, just above the shorts, with a silver buckle he couldn't identify along with a couple small pouches on either side, sort of like Batman had on his belt. A blackish blue head band around her head kept a large head of white hair out of her face as it curled forward towards her face. White, tieless shoes that had a single blue stripe across the front, leaving a small section of white on the tip. His eyes ventured back and forth a few times as he noticed she had two tails, both very big and exceptionally long for a fox. He was quite sure, she could use them both as pillows if she wanted. His fox counterpart was capable of doing it and wasn't surprised when Fox Sam said she liked holding it in her sleep sometimes.
"Oh, hi!" Melissa said giving him a wave with her free hand. "This power junction box had a malfunction in it that you wouldn't have noticed until the power went through it. Unfortunately, the overload would have blown a massive hole in this deck and caused other serious damages. My husband had me come fix it before it happened. He would have came himself, but he was busy with something on our ship."
"Right." Ford said slowly and then rubbed his eyes. "You're not Melissa..."
"Actually, my name is Melissa. I'm, just not the one you know." Melissa said with a sweet smile. "Well, I'm done and I need to get going. We weren't even suppose to meet."
He only blinked as she put a finger to her lips and tapped it as she twirled the Sonic looking device in her right hand.
"Hmm, I must have arrived too early. I was suppose to show up after you passed by here." Melissa said with a frown. "Oh well, the unexpected happens to us so often anymore, if things go exactly right we are just about shocked. Wait, I was on a phone call for a moment…."
"I came by here a couple hours ago while walking..." Ford said as he pointed and then shook his head. "Wait, how'd you get on my ship without alerting the alarm? Who are you?"
"Sorry, can't say. Even if I did, you'd never believe me and you'd probably forget right after I leave anyway." Melissa said shrugging her shoulders.
"What the hell does that..." Ford began asking when, as he blinked, she was already gone. He blinked a few more times and then shook his head as he glanced around. "That's very strange. I could have sworn I saw someone in white here a moment ago."
He walked up to the junction box and did a check on it as a suspicions feeling ran through him. There was an indication of a serious malfunction that someone had fixed very recently. And he knew it wasn't him. Checking the ships video logs, it did indicate a repair taking place, but could not say who or what did it. And he found that the few people that were on the ship, including in the T.A.R.D.I.S., were no where near this area, other than him. He had K-9 do a systems check and scan of the ship for anyone other than them, any signs at all. Other than the unknown repair, nothing was found at all. After a few hours of double and triple checking, he eventually gave up and figured they were helped by someone from the future or an ascended being.
(A.N. Sorry about the cryptic thing above. I won't be explaining it and for those that might be wondering, it does tie in with some of the other strange people that have appeared in some of the other chapters.) ;)
