CHAPTER 70 - A PORTAL TOO FAR
She coughed a little in the swirling smoke, watching as Lorne used his weapon at close range to quickly free the three from their cells. Then felt cold hands reach for her from behind and there was a sense of darkness and disorientation and something was placed over her nose and mouth and she felt herself lifted. She panicked, fearing suffocation and couldn't cry out, her legs kicking against flesh as a voice growled in her ear. "Stay still or I will hurt you."
Her fear increased, she knew that she had been captured by the very people she had been trying to avoid and in a full panic now, she redoubled her efforts to escape, kicking and clawing, causing her captor to issue low curses directly into her ear. She felt him reach beneath her for something and briefly wondered how he had gotten her out without someone seeing them. The smoke had been in the process of disipating and would not have provided sufficient cover to hide what had just occurred. Her muffled cries could barely be heard and she felt the terrain change beneath the person who was holding her. No longer solid, it had a more cushioned feel, and her last thought before she felt the sharp prick of a needle into her thigh was that they were now on grass, no longer in the city. Then thought left as the darkness spiralled up, the effects of the drug he had given her racing through her system.
He met with others near the portal. It had not been found yet by the Lantiens, however their search grid would locate this area soon and they needed to get her back to their dimension. Where she would be safe.
"Looks like she put up a fight?" One of the men had a wry smile on his face, reaching into his pocket to take out a small communicator and activating it.
"Not much to her, but she's got a lot of fight in her. I'd like a shot at taming this one. She's easy on the eye."
"Hands off Lan, she's here for one purpose only. The child. After that, take your best shot at convincing her that you're not the bastard you really are. If she falls for it, she's not as intelligent as they claim she is."
The one named Lan had taken the cover from her face and he looked down into her face, running a finger down her cheek to move some of her hair aside. "Perhaps I will. More than a little easy on the eye actually, and I like her fiesty nature... makes you think where else she'll show that much fight!"
"One track mind..." murmured one of the other men, and shooting a disgusted look at Lan, he stepped through into what appeared to be thin air, the only outward disturbance being a shimmer that looked like a mirage. One by one they all stepped through and the doorway to their universe disappeared from view, as though it had never existed.
It could have been a mirror image and from where they had just come – with small differences, almost like one of those 'spot the difference' games. The man holding Gina strode beyond the portal on the other side and took her to a building where a room had been especially set up. It was a bedroom of sorts, with a small bathroom type facility as an ensuite. The room however, had no door - it was protected by an electrical barrier that used the same particle accelerator device to power it. If someone tried to pass through while it was activated, they would receive more than just a nasty shock. They would immediately be rendered unconscious. Lan placed her still form on the bed, and with a token gesture of thoughtfulness, opened up one of the blankets folded neatly at the end, and lay it over her.
Two other men and one woman stepped in. The woman looked for all intents and purposes, like Samantha Carter, and was likely her equivalent in this dimension. She wore medical attire and now sat down at the edge of the bed and took Gina's pulse, then pulling out other instruments to check for her other vital signs. Lastly she placed a small hand held device on Gina's stomach, calling up a 3D image into the air in front of her, much like a hologram and the others watched in fascination as the visual from her womb became clear. A tiny, barely formed child. The woman sighed in relief.
"She is perfect. I will remove a fragment for gene testing and we will verify that she does in fact carry the required gene. This is wonderful gentleman. This will be the salvation on our race. With genetic purity we can become what we once were. Many thousands of years ago."
One of the other man, with arrogant features and a cruel mouth spoke. "We should have brought the man here as well. Colonel Sheppard. He holds the ancient gene of a strength that is uncommon in most humans. We could have taken samples of attempted to work with that."
"Our success rate for organic reproduction of the gene has been non existent Gil - you know this. I doubt it would make any difference even if we had samples from a stronger gene. We have yet to perfect the process. This is the easier way. Here we have a live child, one who carries not only the gene of the man, but genes of an ascended ancient. This is pure strength and cannot be copied in any way, synthetic or organic."
The Sam lookalike worked exclusively with microbiotics and the delicate research required to bring their technology levels to a stage where they had been successful in developing a time/dimension portal and the means to create rifts whenever and wherever they were needed. "I will take the samples I need while she is still under the sedative, then we can verify the strength of the gene."
She rose and left the room, leaving the three men looking down at Gina curiously.
"They'll come after her - and soon. We need to be ready. The leader, Colonel Sheppard? He will not take kindly to us removing the woman from their dimension and I can well understand that there will be bloodlust in his eyes about now. He will show no mercy."
Lan was derisive. "They need to find how to get through first. We've disguised the portal well and it won't be an easy task. We'll be ready for them if they do."
The third man who had not yet spoken turned and looked out the window, down into the courtyard outside. "Arrogance Lan - it will be your downfall. Don't underestimate the Lantien's. We have one of their own and they appear to be a formidable group. Best you concern yourself about security and leave the medical side of things to the others. This woman is not for you Lan - out of your league my friend. You'll not lay a hand on her."
His glance was dark and he had both Gil and Lan backing up and out of the room. His role in this dimension was also medical and he found the arrogance of some of the security detail appalling. He stood looking down at Gina and there was a measure of sympathy in his eyes. He had not wanted it to come to this and wished that there had been another way. He had been overruled. Their government had insisted that this was the only way to get the required gene. He closed his eyes and thought briefly of Carlie and wondered if she was safe. They had become somewhat close in the two years that he had been working with her, and if it had been allowed, he would have formalised their relationship and become her father. Their methods of experimentation could be cruel and he did his best to ensure that the children, were not harmed unnneccesarily and given a reasonable quality of life. It was only the orphan children who were used, rather than send them to orphanages their government had decreed that they would be kept in a facility for experimentation. He sat down on the bed now and smoothed a hand across her brow, feeling her cool skin and watched her eyelids flicker slightly, wondering what thoughts were going through her head right now.
He was about to find out. Abruptly he found himself staring into a pair of vivid blue eyes, wide and distrustful. He pulled his hand away quickly and schooled his features into an impassive mask.
"Gina. The sedative wore off earlier than we expected. Do you suffer any ill effects from it - nausea perhaps? I will get you some water and perhaps some food." He rose from the bed and she must have seen something in his eyes. She recognised the same compassion that filled the eyes of their own Doctor Beckett and a small fissure of hope shot through her that perhaps he shared the same traits. She reached out a hand, latching onto his wrist and her own eyes were pleading.
"Please. Let me out of here. I don't belong here, neither does my child. I sense you are a little different than the others.. compassionate."
"I am the medical assistant here. Doctor Beckett – however I suspect you already know this – I see the recognition in your eyes. Perhaps I am not so different from where you come from. It will be my duty to ensure you remain in good health while you are here. We don't wish to hurt you, or the child. We just need the gene - please, you have to understand that."
"They will come for me. You know that ."
"I hope for your sake that they don't. Our security forces are ready for them and it would be best if they stayed on their side of the portal." Doctor Beckett went to rise from the bed again, pulling gently out of her grasp. Samantha walked in then, with a small sample kit and a long needled hypodermic. She looked surprised to see that Gina was awake.
"Carson. Get some more sedative for the woman. We cannot take the sample if she is awake and aware. We cannot risk her doing damage to herself and the child if she resists." The woman glanced assessingly at Gina, before speaking to her. "If you attempt to struggle it will only be at your detriment. I would suggest allowing me to complete this task and no one needs to get hurt. Agreed?"
Gina eyed the needle, fear not for herself but her unborn child. "What do you intend to do with that?"
"Gene sampling from the child. We need to ensure that it is indeed a pure strain. We'll sedate you so you don't feel a thing. It is not intrusive or harmful in any way to the child."
Gina started to struggle now. "Get that thing away from me!" She pushed herself up off the bed and launched herself at the woman, knocking the injection out of her hand and ramming the hard part of her head under the woman's chin, just as Ronan had shown her. The woman grunted in pain, and the injection went flying along with the woman, who landed on her backside rather hard on the floor. Gina pushed past her, barely giving her a glance and went to leave the room. They had not activated the energy field while the medical staff were in and out, and while she had been sedated, and now she slipped through quickly, feeling the lethargic tug from the sedative pull at her limbs seductively.
She made it clear of the building and once outside looked around disorientated and feeling very much alone. It was a foreign place, the city while similar in design to the one she had just been in, more no recognisable markings and she had no idea of direction. The sun was not a good place to pinpoint direction from as she had no idea which way it rose in this particular world, let alone dimension. Intent on simply getting out of the city and towards a sheltered area so that she could rest and get her bearings, she headed down a dark alleyway, now fighting for the life of herself and her child.