A/N: Okay so here is Chapter Six. Chapter Seven will be uploaded tomorrow once I've checked through it for errors.
Hope you've enjoyed the story so far.
Chapter Six:
Sheppard and Ronon scanned the room for any signs of their target but came up empty once again. The search for Major Andrews has begun six hours ago and they had still failed to find any clue to his whereabouts. As they radioed to confirm the area clear, Ronon felt compelled to asked Sheppard about Andrews, Kanaan and this whole damn situation.
"How did you know?" asked Ronon
"How did I know what?" replied Sheppard uncertainly.
"How did you know to check the security feed from the power room?"
"Well an explosion is all big and distracting. So I figured that it might actually have been a distraction."
"I don't get it" said Ronon, looking puzzled.
"Look, if an explosion takes place, everyone is focused on that right? What better way to throw someone off your trail than by giving them something else to look at." said Sheppard.
Ronon had to admit, there was definitely a certain logic to Sheppard's argument. He and Major Lorne had led the investigation and both had been so fixated upon the explosion that they failed to consider any other theories. Leave it to Sheppard to make everyone else look like amateurs he thought to himself, recalling the other instances where his friend's instincts had paid off. Before he could admit his failings to Sheppard regarding the investigation, he was interrupted by a call over the comm system.
"Colonel Sheppard, this is Major Lorne. We've found something sir."
"What is it Major?" asked Sheppard
"Its Jenkins sir...he's dead" replied Lorne over the radio.
Sheppard and Ronon both looked at each other, not wanting to believe what they had just heard. Neither has seen nor spoken to the youngest member of their team since they had settled back into life on Atlantis. But given everything that had transpired, they had thought nothing of it. Until now.
"Can you repeat your last message Major?" said Sheppard, the merest hint of a quiver in his voice.
"Yes sir...Jenkins...he's dead sir" stuttered Lorne.
"We're on our way" said Sheppard as he nodded to Ronon.
- - SGA - -
Woolsey stepped out of his office after being summoned to the chair room by Doctor McKay. He was not usually one for taking orders from sub-ordinates but given that McKay and Zelenka has just about saved the city and everyone in it from a fiery death, he was willing to go along with it. The entire city was unusually quiet, given everyone apart from the security teams had been locked down at their current location.
He arrived at the chair room expecting to find McKay and Zelenka consumed by panic about something that had gone horribly wrong. But upon entering the room, everything was serene and peaceful with McKay and Zelenka simply working at their consoles and Doctor Beckett sitting comfortably in the control chair.
"You called, Doctor McKay?" said Woolsey politely, drawing both McKay and Zelenka's attention.
"Oh right yes yes" said McKay looking briefly to Zelenka before continuing "...well according to our calculations, we've now passed the outer boundary of the Pegasus galaxy."
"That's...good news" said Woolsey, somewhat surprised. "And the countdown?"
"Stopped" replied Zelenka happily.
"So we've made it?"
"Well...we've made it back to the Pegasus galaxy." said McKay "...now we need to know where to go from here."
"Ah, I see why you called me down" said Woosley, understanding his role.
It was something he had been waiting for, having been fully briefed by the IOA regarding potential landing zones for Atlantis. With the locations of Lantea and New Lantea known to enemy factions, it had been decreed that Atlantis must find a new home and a host of suitable worlds had been whittled down by an IOA astronomical committee into a single viable candidate.
"Doctor McKay, please access a file named Chione on our database. In it you will find astronomical co-ordinates to our new home. Please instruct Doctor Beckett to take Atlantis to those co-ordinates" said Woolsey.
"Understood" replied Rodney, not questioning the rather formal way Woolsey addressed the issue but simply turning back to his console.
"Excellent" said Woolsey, relieved his orders were not being questioned. "Keep me informed."
- - SGA - -
Sheppard and Ronon arrived at Major Lorne's location as quickly as they could, hoping that this was some kind of horrible mistake. But the sight of a single body covered from head to toe with a single white sheet confirmed their worst fears. The youngest member of their team had been killed and they were in no doubt who was responsible for it. Ronon's hand curled into a fist as the anger inside of him threatened to erupt.
"What happened?" asked Sheppard, pulling back the sheet for final confirmation
"We were conducting our search when one of my team found Jenkins in a maintenance area. He'd been dead for a few hours. Shot, through the chest" said Lorne, repeating the details as much for himself as Sheppard.
"Continue your search Major, we'll take it from here" said Sheppard, nodding as warmly as possible at Lorne.
"Understood sir" said Lorne, refocusing on the task at hand. He instructed his men to follow him as they headed off to inspect the next area.
"They better hope they get to him before I do" said Ronon, carefully checking his pistol was fully loaded.
"Why's that?" asked Sheppard, though he suspected he knew the answer.
"Because if I get to him first, I'll kill him. Without hesitation." replied Ronon.
"I know how you feel big guy." said Sheppard "I know how you feel"
- - SGA - -
Teyla had been frustrated in her desires to join the security teams searching for Major Andrews, a man whom she barely knew but had already inflicted deep and lasting wounds upon her and those she cared about. Instead she was sitting beside her partner, who she had suspected of being a traitor, however reluctant she was at first to believe it. How could she truly love someone and still suspect they were capable of such acts of atrocity? That question and its answer had weighed heavily on her mind ever since Ronon had first made the accusation.
Torren shifted position in her arms; his restlessness a perfect manifestation of her own condition. And yet he was also the embodiment of everything good about the universe and the union between her and Kanaan. They were joined eternally by something truly remarkable, something that Teyla would not give up for anything else in this galaxy or any other. Summoning up her own courage, she began to tell Kanaan what had happened, unsure if he could ever hear her in his current state.
"...So when everyone doubted you, including myself, John was the only one who looked for another answer; the right answer. We both owe him a lot." said Teyla
Teyla paused for a moment, collecting herself for what she now had to say and do. But before she could do that, one of the machines attached to her partner's battered body began to emit an increasingly frequent beeping which woke Torren and caused alarm and panic to rise up within Teyla herself. The sound also brought a rush of activity around her as a flurry of medical staff checked the various machines. Teyla's concern did not manifest fully until Doctor Keller came over and began to check Kanaan's chest with her stethoscope.
"Doctor Keller, what is happening?" asked Teyla, noting the increasingly concerned look etched upon her friend's face.
"Kanaan is suffering from internal bleeding, it seems like we missed something during our initial surgery."
"What can be done?" asked Teyla as calmly as she could.
"We need to get him back into surgery right now and hopefully find and stop the source of bleeding." replied Doctor Keller, instructing the nurses to get ready to move Kanaan to the operating room.
"Will he be okay?"
Doctor Keller did not or could not answer, yet her eyes provided all the information Teyla was needed; she did not know. Teyla sunk back into her seat as Kanaan was wheeled away by the various medical staff in preparation for his surgery. A numbness washed over Teyla, not sure if she could fully comprehend everything that had been and continued to be thrown at her. Her attention was taken by a now fully awake and crying Torren and she gently rocked him to soothe him.
"Everything is going to be fine" she whispered to him, as much to reassure herself as her son. Because Teyla, for one of the few times in her life, was not certain of anything.
- - SGA - -
As Sheppard and Ronon returned to their search for the elusive Andrews, frustration began to build with each area being declared clear. Where the hell could be be hiding and why couldn't they find him and bring him to justice? The team were beginning to lose hope that they would catch this bastard when Sheppard's radio crackled into life, bringing with it the familiar voice of Major Lorne.
"This is Sheppard, report."
"We've spotted him sir, he's heading for the gate room" replied Lorne breathlessly, as if he were running as he spoke.
"Good work major. We're on our way" replied Sheppard, relieved to finally have a lead on his target.
"So the gate room?" asked Ronon, having been listening intently to the radio message.
"No, that's where he wants us, not where he'll go. Follow me" said Sheppard, hoping his instincts would be proven correct once again.
"You sure?" asked Ronon.
"Trust me, I know what I'm doing."