Disclaimer: The characters of, "Stargate: SG-1" and "Stargate Atlantis", are owned by Robert C. Cooper, Brad Wright, Sci-Fi Channel and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of these two shows. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.
Chapter 9: Secret Lab
Sheppard stood before the doorway where the mutant Wraith had come from and waited until the room had been secured by Colonel Smith and his team. McKay and Teyla waited silently beside him.
Dr. Weir entered the room and stood next to Teyla. Sheppard gave Dr. Weir a nod. He had explained to her what had happened and wasn't surprised that Dr. Weir was weary about the secret room that wasn't on the schematics of the city.
Colonel Smith and his team returned to the room. "It's a lab," Colonel Smith said as he signaled his team to stand down.
"Yes, I know what it is but what I don't know is what it is doing here," Sheppard said, being able to see into the room since the lights had been turned on.
"This was never on the schematics of the city," McKay said.
Sheppard was about to point out the fact that had already been determined but decided he wasn't in the mood to argue with McKay. "Ok, then that would make it a secret lab. Now all we have to do is find out what exactly was done it that lab and why."
"Dr. McKay, I want you and Dr. Zelenka to work on finding out what the lab had been used for. I'll send Dr. Zelenka along and if you need any additional support, just let me know," Dr. Weir ordered before she left to write a report of the Wraith incident.
"Sheppard, I guess all we can do is sit and wait until they are done," Teyla said wondering what was going through Sheppard's mind right now. Before Sky, Teyla could easily read what was on his mind, but lately it had been a mystery. Of course, Teyla knew that it probably had something to do with Sky, but what he was thinking was like trying to break open a rock with a stick.
"Yes, you're right, Teyla. I'll be in the infirmary so when you find some information of value, you'll know where to contact me." Sheppard turned and left
"Not a word, McKay, not a word," Teyla said as she watched Sheppard walking away.
McKay closed his mouth that had opened to spew out a comment or two. He shrugged and decided that he had better get started to solving the secret lab mystery and perhaps a chance to find out more about Sky.
"Would you look at that?" Dr. Zelenka said as an image appeared above the workstation that he was working on.
McKay sighed wondering why it was taking so long to find anything about Sky and her real identity. He wished that Dr. Zelenka would leave him alone and let him do his work.
McKay turned to look at the projection that Dr. Zelenka had in the center of the room. "It's just a 3-D image of a human," McKay said as he turned back to his workstation and began to read through next page of Ancient writing.
Dr. Zelenka refused to be baited by McKay and get tangled into a long, drawn out argument. "Actually, Rodney, this isn't just any human, it's Sky."
McKay spun turned around and rushed over to the workstation where Dr. Zelenka had been working where a minimized image projected before Dr. Zelenka. "Radek, are you sure that it's her?"
"Yes, look at the picture, it is obviously Sky," Dr. Zelenka said as he pushed a few buttons to make the image focus on the face.
McKay nodded once he had studied the image. "Get all of the information that you can about her. I'm going to work on figuring out why that Wraith was in this lab and what had been done to it."
"Hello, Dr. Zelenka," Dr. Taylor said as she stepped into the room carrying a laptop in her hands.
"Dr. Taylor, I'm glad that you are here to assist us with going through all of this information," Dr. Zelenka said with a warm and welcoming smile. He was secretly glad that he wouldn't be alone in a room with McKay.
McKay turned and looked at Dr. Taylor with a look of scorn on his face. "Gee, I can't seem to recall asking Dr. Weir to send anyone to assist us."
"No, you didn't Dr. McKay, but Dr .Weir believed that it would be wise for me to be here since I am the foremost expert on the Ancients in Atlantis."
"Then why weren't you here before? Did you have to beg to be here?"
Dr. Taylor smiled sweetly at Dr. McKay. A certain smile that she reserved when someone pushes her buttons a little too much. "No, of course I didn't have to do such a thing. I just finished another project, so Dr. Weir sent me here."
"Now, Dr. McKay," Dr. Taylor said losing her smile as she set her laptop on the workstation and plugged it in, "I'm ready to get to work, so I suggest that you do the same."
Dr. Zelenka prayed silently that McKay wouldn't continue to argue with Dr. Taylor and when McKay returned to his workstation mumbling to himself, he sent a prayer of thanks to whoever had answered his prayer. Dr. Zelenka wondered how long the peace would last.
Dr. Weir, Teyla, Sheppard, and Ronon were in Dr. Weir's office waiting for Dr. Zelenka and McKay to begin giving their report about what they had found in the lab.
"Where is Dr. Taylor?"
"Well, Dr. Weir, she decided to remain in the lab to continue translating the files," Dr. Zelenka explained.
"Very well, what do you have so far?" Dr. Weir asked.
"We discovered reports about Sky and the Wraith that had escaped from the lab. Apparently, the Ancients who created that lab were studying Sky and the Wraith extensively," McKay said.
"Are you saying that the Ancients were doing experiments on her?" Sheppard asked.
"Yes, but Dr. Taylor and I believe that it was just one Ancient and he was doing secret experiments on her and a Wraith that he had captured. Dr. McKay believes that such a feat would have involved several Ancients, especially since it would have been difficult to bring a Wraith into Atlantis undetected."
"It says the subject, the Wraith, became stronger. The subject's intelligence had also increased as well as its skills," McKay stated, shockingly choosing not engage Dr. Zelenka in a verbal battle.
"So, this Ancient was trying to increase the power of the Wraith?" Teyla asked wondering why anyone would ever give the Wraith more power.
Dr. Zelenka cleared his throat, picturing in his mind how everyone was going to react with what he was going to say next. "No, the Ancient was trying to create a super soldier out of her and to have some sort of protection from the Wraith since when it fed on her, she didn't age."
"She didn't age? How is that possible?" Teyla asked.
"I don't know exactly, but the journal does mention that he had taken a sample from her before he brought her to his lab. He had also gained a sample from one of the other tribes. She was at least five hundred years old and the other subject was twenty-eight. She had something strange in her genetic code, something he had never seen before. She was a different being from the tribe." Dr. Zelenka looked at Dr. Weir and wondered what she was thinking.
"Wait, one thing I don't understand is if she had been giving advice to the leader of her tribe, why is it….uh…she uh…" Sheppard asked stumbling over the words as he thought about what an Ancient had down to Sky.
"Right, why is she not smart now? He placed some type of device in her brain so she would obey him or any Ancient. He had it so she couldn't really think on her own. He brought her to a primal stage. So since Sheppard and others on the base have the Ancient gene she will obey them."
"She has been turned into a mindless, obedient slave," McKay said feeling disgusted at what the Ancient had done to a human being or at least a being with thoughts and feelings.
"I also think she can detect the Wraith," Dr. Zelenka added.
"She has Wraith in her?" Ronon asked.
"No, not at all, but I think that is why she doesn't like Teyla, because she can detect the Wraith gene in Teyla."
"Can we remove the device?" Sheppard asked knowing that something had to be done to free Sky.
"It is located in her brain so removing it won't be easy."
"Hold on. You said she had to obey the commands of the Ancient or the one with the gene without any resistance, right. Then, why is it when Sheppard ordered her to leave him behind, she refused?" Ronon asked.
"That's right," McKay said with a frown as he thought about how Sky could have disobeyed an order.
"It is possible that the Ancient had programmed it so she would risk her life for the Ancient, no matter if he ordered her to go," Teyla said.
Sheppard shook his head. "No, I don't think so. There have been at least a couple of times that I've issued a specific order and she refused."
"Well, what were the circumstances?" Dr. Weir asked thinking about what had occurred just hours ago.
"Someone's life was in danger," Sheppard said.
"If she was here in some secret lab, how did she end up on the jungle planet?" Teyla asked.
"I don't know. The journal just ends," Dr. Zelenka said as he shrugged his shoulders apologetically.
"So, we still don't know how she left this lab and was encased in some sort of crystal that prevented her from aging on another planet," McKay said biting his lip, taking it as a challenge to test his intelligence.
"She was freed from the crystal when I touched it, since I have the Ancient gene."
Sheppard rolled his eyes at McKay. "More like the synthetic Ancient gene." Sheppard set his chin in his hand and shook his head. "No, I don't think you freed her, McKay."
"What now Sheppard? If she can be controlled by an Ancient I bet that an Ancient or someone with the gene, synthetic or not could have released her from that crystal."
"You did touch the crystal, but nothing happened. There was no lock or symbols to show that the crystal was going to open. She came out when we were being attacked by those creatures."
"What are you saying? You think she sensed we were in danger and somehow broke through the crystal?" Teyla asked.
"She is supposed to protect an Ancient no matter what? Right?" Sheppard asked, feeling a little sick at the thought that someone would be forced to risk his or her life without their consent.
"All right, these are all fine theories, but we have to decide what are we going to do with her?" Ronon asked.
"Well, we should remove this control device from her," Dr. Zelenka said.
"After she gets the device removed, how will she react?" Teyla asked.
"That is my concern as well. She may become violent. I believe it would be best to restrain her," Dr. Weir said.
"I don't think that's such a good idea. She doesn't seem to like being in an infirmary and she's not going to like being restrained," Sheppard said with concern.
Dr. Weir looked directly at Sheppard, knowing that she had to make her point or he would try to get her to back down. "It is for the safety of everyone in Atlantis as well as her own safety."
Sheppard sighed. "All right, if it is the only way, then I guess we have to do it." He didn't like the fact that Sky was going to be restrained and he had a feeling that she wasn't going to like it either.
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