It's Not Easy being an Intergalactic Space Explorer
Chapter 8
Can it Get Any Worse?
Sheppard awoke with a start in the night, but to nothing more than the black stillness of his room. He missed Lydia. His lover was on Earth, lending her expertise to astrobiologists studying life in the Milky Way. She had left a few weeks ago, and wouldn't be home for at least two months. With a sigh and a grunt he got up, pulled on some clothes, and jogged out into the soothing quiet of a darkened Atlantis to escape the loneliness of his bed.
The last time he'd been this restless had been after his rescue on Earth from Nash. He had started a relationship with Lydia a short time later, a relationship that had been his salvation as John struggled to come to grips with what had happened. In the months since then, Lydia had become more than his lover. She was someone to talk to, to lean on, and to keep him focused as he navigated the unique complexities of life in Pegasus.
John had not told Lydia about his recent abduction. He couldn't; Woolsey and SGC wouldn't allow it. But he was sorely tempted to. He could talk to Lydia in ways he couldn't with his friends. The entire experience had left John more than a little shaken up. The Wraith Worshippers seemed to have re-invented themselves. And the Azeron…, shit, the Azeron were unlike any challenge he had faced before. Despite the odds, John did believe he could get through it all, but how?
John stopped for a brief rest and checked his watch: nearly midnight. He had to be up by 7:00 AM. Plenty of time left for another run. Who needed sleep anyways?
And with that, Sheppard took off running as hard and fast as he could. He knew it was a form of self-delusion, but right now, he'd allow nothing and no one to catch him.
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On Atlantis, soon after returning from Lytara…
McKay, Zelenka and a few other scientists were in the Jumper Bay poring over the Wraith dart that had crashed on Lytara. At the moment, McKay was examining the ship's exterior. The Wraith pilot had said that a brilliant light and then an explosion had caused him to crash. That puzzled Rodney. What had happened, exactly? He knew the Lytarans had no technology remotely capable of damaging a Wraith vessel. There was scorching from energy beam fire on the outside of the ship, so that probably ruled out a malfunction inside. McKay hadn't found any damage that might have been from by a micro-meteor or other space debris. He was now considering the possibility that 'friendly fire' had brought down the ship. There were certainly enough darts around during a Culling to cause an accident. It seemed plausible to Rodney until he took a closer look…
"Hmm…? What the heck is that…That doesn't look like…!?" muttered the scientist, talking to himself. "Radek...?" McKay spun around, searching out his colleague. He saw him across the room at a large table covered with bits and pieces of the ship. "Oh, there you are. Come here and check this out. There's something really weird going on with this dart."
"What is it you need, Rodney?" complained Zelenka, in a rare display of irritation. "The cloaking technology on this dart is quite fascinating, I really am eager to…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Radek, take a look at this." Zelenka reluctantly pushed his glasses up and moved in closer to see what McKay was pointing at.
"Uh, Rodney, I have seen that already, it is residue from weapons fire; how is that 'weird'?"
"Oh, oops, here, use these." McKay handed him a pair of goggles that were, in effect, like a portable microscope. He then placed his hand on the charred area. "See where my hand is? Focus in on the section about three inches below."
Radek was amazed at what he saw. Concentrated in an area only a few inches square were dozens of tiny holes which had pierced the hull. They were all spaced equally apart, and were so tiny as to be completely invisible to the naked eye. Radek had never seen anything like it.
He pulled the goggles off slowly. "Rodney, what are those? Wraith weapons do not leave such markings."
"I know they don't! And, did you notice that the holes were targeted with pinpoint accuracy over the most vulnerable part of the dart's propulsion system. This is bizarre. Ok, as far as what's going on with this ship, let's go back to square one."
"So, what do we have?" McKay began ticking off the facts. "We've got a big flash of light before the explosion. We've got a dart that's been hit by a type of weapon we've never seen before. I can't even start to describe the problems we have now that the Wraith have cloaking capabilities. And, finally, we have the beacon…"
"Oh, yes, the beacon. It also presents a problem." Radek commented. "I am glad you talked Colonel Sheppard into letting you examine it before he destroyed it on Lytara. From the digital images that you took, and from what you told me, it looked intact and resembled other beacons we have seen before. Now, the Wraith believed it was fully functional. However, none of our Jumpers detected it, from in orbit or on the ground. You scanned it repeatedly; it was not generating a signal, not even a faint one."
"Aaannnddd? What have you found out? You're not telling me anything I don't already know!"
Radek resisted the urge to swear under his breath in Czech, and continued with his report.
"From what remains of it, I theorize that not only should the beacon have worked, but also it looks like, what is the phrase, 'a new and improved model.' Please come and look at it." McKay walked over to the table on which the fragments were displayed. "See this?" Radek pointed at a melted-together blob of crystal and other parts. "My preliminary analyses indicate that this beacon is made of more durable materials than the few examples we have seen in the past. Additionally, it was installed in a section of the dart that was relatively undamaged by the weapons fire or the crash, so how could it be damaged? Rodney, I can find no reason why the beacon failed to function. What do you think?"
McKay was about to (grudgingly) admit that he didn't have a clue about what was going on when suddenly inspiration struck.
"Uh, I have an idea." McKay tapped his earpiece. "Sheppard!" There was a moment's delay. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize what time it was...yes, 2300 hours islate," McKay grimaced at Radek. "But I've got something, and I need you to go wake up that Wraith and let me talk to him."
A few minutes later, Sheppard met them in the hall outside of the holding cell area. He was wearing his usual black pants, a rumpled t-shirt, and a foul mood.
"This better be worth it, McKay. You interrupted the first decent night's sleep I've had in days."
"It is, I promise. And, if it makes you feel less cranky, I think it might have something to do with the Azeron."
"Really?" exclaimed John. "Well, if it does, I'll get you a six month's supply of blue Jell-O! Otherwise, you're really going to pay for waking me up."
They entered the secure room. Sheppard dismissed the guards on duty and then stepped back to see what the hell McKay and Zelenka were up to.
As he heard them enter, 'Fred' looked up from where he was sitting on the floor, only mildly curious about what his captors wanted at this hour.
"Hey, Fred, how ya doing?" greeted Sheppard with his best smarmy grin. "Sorry to disturb your beauty sleep, but Dr. McKay here had an urgent need to see you – in the middle of the night—…" John glared at Rodney.
Ignoring him, McKay went up to the cell carrying a metal box. From it he removed what was left of the beacon, along with a digital image of the microscopic holes found in the dart's outer 'skin.' The Wraith suddenly stood up and slowly approached the force-field 'wall' of his cell; clearly, McKay had gotten the creature's attention.
Sheppard looked from the Wraith, to the box, and then to McKay, extremely puzzled but smart enough to keep his mouth shut.
"Uh, hey there," began McKay awkwardly. "Uh, I want to ask you a few questions."
"I have nothing to say to you or any other human," growled the Wraith.
"Well, you might after I tell you a few things," teased McKay. "Now, you swore that your beacon was working on the planet, right? RIGHT?" 'Fred' nodded, intrigued. What was this human up to? "Well, my colleagues and I agree with you. As far we can tell, there was nothing wrong with it."
"Why is this important, human? Are you merely mocking me with the fact that my people apparently ignored the distress call and chose to abandon me on that pathetic world?!"
"No, I'm not mocking you. Take a look at this," McKay raised the digital photo up to the force field. "This is an enlargement of about 40 microscopic holes that were bored into the hull of your dart, all the way through into your propulsion system. I don't know of any weapon that can do that. Do you?"
Sheppard was watching Fred intently. He saw the creature's eyes flicker, if only for a second, with…defensiveness? Uncertainty? Hmm, McKay was on to something.
McKay detected the creature's slip-up, too, and smiled to himself. He started to ask another question when Sheppard decided to step in.
"You're sure you've never seen anything like this before?" Nothing. The Wraith had become stone-faced. "Oh, c'mon, Fred," wheedled Sheppard. "If this is some sort of top-secret weapon that the Wraith have come up with, and somehow one of your own guys shot you down, well, I can understand if you're embarrassed and don't want to talk about it."
"Our pilots do not make such blundering errors!" snapped the Wraith.
"So it's not a Wraith weapon?" retorted Sheppard.
The Wraith opened his mouth to speak and then closed it an instant later. Ah, another tiny slip-up.
McKay spoke again. "Just a few more questions, Ok? Did your scanner detect any incoming fire?" Rodney, expecting no answer, was surprised when the Wraith said, "I detected nothing."
Sheppard suddenly realized where McKay was going with all of this. He interrupted him and asked, "You also said that there was a brilliant flash of light just before you were hit. Do you think that came from the weapon?"
"No, I do not."
"Well, I think it was a wormhole and that someone fired a weapon through it. What do you think, Fred?"
The Wraith surprised them one last time. "I think, Sheppard, that even though you are a mere human…you may be correct."
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Sheppard, McKay and Zelenka left the Wraith and returned to the hallway.
"You're right Rodney, it's the Azeron again. I think they shot our friend down so that we could find him and learn that the Wraith have cloaking technology."
"Yeah, Sheppard, but why?"
"I don't know, McKay, but the Azeron appeared right when things were heating up with the Wraith Worshippers. And, remember, they said that the 'new race' would replace the humans or the Wraith. Maybe they're taking our side after all, and wanted us to know that the Wraith can cloak."
Zelenka then spoke up. He had been quiet during the entire interrogation. "Colonel Sheppard, Rodney, uh…I hate to say this, but…"
"Spit it out, Radek!" urged McKay.
He did. "…there would have been no Wraith ship for us to find, if there had been no Culling…"
Three weeks after the tragedy on Lytara…
"Unauthorized off-world activation!" alerted Chuck, the Gate technician on duty.
Richard Woolsey walked quickly from his office to the Control Room. "Any IDC, Chuck?"
"Yes, it's Dr. Reinhold."
"Reinhold, Reinhold…ah, she's one of the scientists on M5M-811. Lower the shield, please, Chuck."
The shield lowered and Dr. Amy Reinhold came through…running, bleeding, and crying out "It's the Wraith Worshippers, they attacked us, you have to…!" before collapsing on the floor of the Gate room. She was dead before a medical team could reach her.
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M5M-811…
Sheppard's team and two other Jumpers came streaking through the Gate on M5M-811. A MALP sent through earlier had not drawn any Wraith fire or detected their presence. In fact, there had been no signs of life at all.
M5M-811 was the site of an Ancient spacecraft research facility that Sheppard's team had discovered several months ago. Since then, a small group of scientists had been stationed there, analyzing a bonanza of information and technology. The Lanteans cautiously approached the building, minus Teyla. She had stayed behind in the City. On their earlier visit, she had been injured when her Wraith DNA triggered an automated defense system designed to attack Wraith intruders.
Taking inspiration from this innovative defense mechanism, Atlantis had designed a very specialized security process for the M5M-811 site and other sensitive facilities. Only those individuals whose identity was confirmed through a scan of their unique electromagnetic field were allowed access to the building, its equipment and files. In addition to the scientists and security staff, only a handful of other people could enter the facility…among them, Colonel John Sheppard.
Sheppard was painfully aware of this fact as they wandered through the site, trying to figure out what had happened. All of the Atlantis personnel had been slaughtered. It was a miracle that Dr. Reinhold had escaped. Equipment, computers, pieces of Ancient technology, anything that could be taken away through the Gate was gone.
"How in God's name did this happen, McKay?" Sheppard knew that there was always the possibility that if Atlantis knew the location – either through its Gate address or space coordinates – of an important scientific or military outpost left behind by the Ancients, then the Wraith might, too. They'd had 10,000 years to find out! But then, his people were always taking that gamble when they set up teams on other worlds, weren't they? In each case, they prayed that they would never lose the bet. This time, though, they did.
"Uh, just give me a second, Sheppard. We may have got a lucky break here." McKay gave a grunt as he yanked something out of a damaged console. "It's the digital video security system. Let me see if I can pull up any images."
Soon, Sheppard and the others were gathered around McKay, peering at grainy video images which were nonetheless clear enough to show Wraith Worshippers breaking in and killing their colleagues one by one.
"Jesus…" said Sheppard in despair. "Uh, McKay, what about video from outside? The exterior of this place is damaged, but not that much. How did they get in? Why didn't security personnel stop them? How did they even get past the Gate?!"
McKay coaxed the weapons-scorched equipment into giving up some additional images. "Here we go…uh, oh. Oh, my god."
The surviving video showed scene after scene of horror. Two or three Wraith darts were firing on the grounds of the facility, killing anyone who happened to be outside. Then, a small group of Wraith cultists could be seen walking towards the building, fiddling with something on their wrists.
"What are they doing, McKay?" asked Sheppard. "Can you zoom in?"
He could. "Uh, this is an educated guess, Sheppard, but I think they're over-riding the security system. Remember, you have to have your electromagnetic signature on file in order to gain entry. I don't see that the darts blew any huge holes in the building – they'd risk damaging the contents doing that – so this must be how the Wraith Worshippers got in – disarming the biometrics."
When McKay said that, all of a sudden Sheppard wanted to throw up. "Oh shit, oh shit. McKay, remember all of the medical equipment we confiscated from the Compound? That big, cylindrical object…?"
"The thing that was smashed? Yeah. Jennifer and I think it's similar to the Ancient scanners we have on Atlantis, kind of like MRIs on Earth. Considering that the doctor took specimens from you, we're thinking that the machine is some sort of cloning technology. We've no way of knowing for sure, though. We can't make it work, we never found the equivalent of an instruction manual, the doctor is dead, and your biological samples have disappeared."
"Rodney, what if it could scan something besides the physical body? What if it could copy my electromagnetic field? What if what they're wearing on their wrists is somehow…uh…emitting some kind of field, with my electromagnetic signature built into it?"
McKay went pale. "If it could do that, Sheppard, then there are 3 other top-secret facilities out there that are vulnerable to attack. We have to alert them right away – and delete all traces of you from their security systems!"
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A few days later…
Sheppard was sitting outside of Woolsey's office, waiting to see him. He felt like he'd been called to the principal's office. Certainly, enough had been going wrong lately to make John think he was in trouble.
"Ah, Colonel, there you are," Woolsey said, opening the door. "Please come in and sit down."
"Uh, what have I done this time, huh?" joked Sheppard tentatively.
Woolsey wasn't smiling. "I've been asked to revisit your debriefing after your recent abduction. With everything that's been happening…well, Colonel Caldwell and SGC are becoming…concerned."
"Richard, I'll say it again. What they did to me, what they took from me…I did my damned best to stop them, but I can't be sure how much they learned."
"It may have been quite a lot."
"What? Are you blaming me for what's been going on?!"
"No, no, of course not, Colonel. I'm not, but…" Woolsey was looking uncomfortable.
"But SGC, the IOA, they are."
"Not blame, Colonel; it's just… whenever someone is taken by the enemy, the possibility of them being compromised always exists, no matter who the person is. And there is always the likelihood that they give information to the enemy freely, rather than have it coerced from them."
"You are not suggesting…."
"No, Colonel, no, I'm not. It's just that, in my position, I have to consider and investigate everything quite thoroughly."
"Well, let's jump to the point where you've considered it and crossed 'treason' off your list, OK!? Now, yeah, the Wraith can cloak their darts, but think about it: I don't know exactly how cloaking works, I don't know how to install it on a ship, so they must already have had the technology before their followers grabbed me."
"The location of the facility on M5M-811…?"
Sheppard gave Woolsey a black, seething look. "How could you possibly think that I would ever...! You know very well that the Wraith could have found out about that site on their own…!"
"Colonel…" Woolsey warned. "Please do not take this out on me personally. I'm not the enemy here, remember?"
Sheppard managed to rein in his anger a little. "What do you want from me, Richard? Because, frankly, I'm doing the best I can, you know?"
"I know you are. But, if you can remember anything in addition to what you've already told us, that would be even better. Go back and re-read the transcripts from your debriefing. We could even try relaxation therapy techniques, hypnosis, a Vulcan mind-meld…"
Sheppard's eyebrows went up at that last one. "Vulcan mind-meld…?"
"I'm an administrator, Sheppard; my attempts at humor are necessarily quite limited."
John grinned at Woolsey's effort to relieve the tension. "I'll see what I can do, Richard, but I'm not guaranteeing anything."
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A few days later, 2 AM, in Woolsey's office…
"How can that be possible, Richard? Tell me!" Sheppard was livid.
"Colonel, I know how bizarre this all sounds. Chief Judge Salos says that the murderer was attacked and killed by guards while fleeing the scene after he assassinated Prefect Trelesk. That's how they came to identify him as 'you.' Now, I've already told Salos that not only aren't you a murderer, but also that you haven't been on his planet in more than 5 months. Because relations are quite strong between Atlantis and his world, he says he is inclined to believe me, but has, quite understandably, requested this face-to-face meeting. Please be assured that we will get to the bottom of this."
"What's there to talk about? He didn't kill anybody!" Ronon was nearly as angry as John.
"Of course not, no one believes that he did," said Teyla, ever the peacemaker. "Please, can everyone sit down so we can sort this out?"
Sheppard kept moving anyways, shaking his head in disbelief. "It never ends, does it? Since my kidnapping, everything seems to be going to hell!"
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Sheppard, Woolsey and the others were on Zariel a few hours later. Although it was before dawn on Atlantis, it was already late in the day for that planet, so there was little time for Sheppard to calm down. Chief Judge Salos met them at the Gate as soon as they arrived.
"Salos, what is going on here?!" Sheppard demanded, stepping right up to the man's face.
"Colonel!" said Woolsey sharply. "Please leave the discussion to me for now. 'Let calmer heads prevail', shall we?"
Ronon reached out a hand to gently but firmly pull John back. Sheppard, wisely, let him.
Salos then addressed Richard. "Mr. Woolsey, you and your colleagues, please come this way. So that we may resolve this matter quickly, I wish to show you the body of the murderer. I believe this is the only way that my government, and all of my people, will accept that an imposter, not Colonel Sheppard, killed our beloved leader."
Salos started to escort the Atlantis visitors to where the body was being kept under guard. Suddenly, a cry rang out from a group of passers-by. "There he is, there is the killer!" shouted a man. "How can he be alive?!" A barrage of rocks came soaring through the air at Sheppard. One hit him on the top of the head, the other on his right cheek, narrowly missing his eye. As he stumbled in pain and surprise, and as his friends surrounded him protectively, Ronon drew his gun. "If you strike him again, you will answer to me." Needless to say, the attack ceased at once.
"Are you alright, Colonel?" asked a frantic Salos. "I'm ok, I'm ok," said Sheppard, pressing a cloth to his bloody face. "Just show us the damn body!"
Salos opened the door to the morgue and…in front of them on a table lay, not a body, but a hideous, slimy, gelatinous remnant of one. In size, shape and color, it was tenuously human, and creepily resembled Sheppard. But no corpse ever rotted this quickly or this horribly. Jutting from the flesh were bones. Tissue and blood formed a disgusting ooze that drip-drip-dripped onto the floor. The stench was overpowering…
"What has happened here!?" exclaimed Salos in shock. "The body…it was not like this…it…it has only been here for less than a day, how could it have decomposed so quickly….?"
"Uh, because, uh, I don't think it's your typical human body." Sheppard replied. Covering his mouth and nose, he dared to approach the table where 'he' lay. "McKay, get over here."
"Uh, no thanks, Sheppard."
"McKay!"
Rodney forced his lunch back down into his stomach and went to stand next to Sheppard.
"He, uh, he does kinda look like me, don't ya think?"
"I'll take your word for it, Sheppard," said McKay, fixing his eyes on the floor.
"Is it a clone?"
"I don't know. If it is, it's a very unstable one." McKay suddenly jumped as a sickening liquid blob came sliding off the corpse and landed with a 'splat' next to his boots. "Uh, Sheppard? I won't be needing that six month supply of blue Jell-O anytime soon, ok?"
"Salos, did anyone interact with this man, speak with him?" asked Woolsey.
"We…we are still investigating that. I, uh, I must get out of here." They could hear Salos throwing up as he ran from the room.
"McKay, if this is a clone, then why did it, he, kill someone?" asked John. "I mean, I wouldn't have killed Prefect Trelesk, so why would my clone do that? Carson's clone, he's perfectly normal, right?"
"I don't know, Sheppard. Maybe you, er, he was brainwashed? Maybe the Wraith Worshippers created this clone, somehow turned him into a killer, and then sent him here. You're a friend of this government, so why would anyone suspect that 'you' were actually an assassin?"
Oh, f…k. "Rodney, how many more Sheppards do you think are out there? Since this clone is obviously pretty badly made, then maybe this was the only one."
"Or," countered McKay ominously, "the clones are made this way on purpose, to exist only for a short time, long enough to serve a particular function – like to murder someone. If that's the case, then…uh…"
"I am going to be very, very busy," moaned Woolsey, burying his face in his hands.
"And I," said Sheppard, touching his still-bleeding face, "am gonna be hit by a lot of rocks – or worse."
TBC….Please read my stories Evil Intent; Aftermath-Finding his Way Again; and Unseen Enemy to understand the references to Lydia (OFC) and Teyla.
The 25 inches of snow are melting, so I'm in a better mood. I'll complete this story soon! In the meantime, please read and review. Thank you.