Disclaimer - I do not own Stargate Atlantis, any of the characters or the events depicted in this story. I only own my character Rayne, her background and family, also anything not privy to the show.
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While eating inside of the mess hall, Ronon carefully watches two science crewman playing chess at the table across from him. The two men are sitting silently: one is staring intently at the other, while the second man is gazing at the board, equally lost in concentration. Weir enters with a tray of food and sees him. "May I join you?"
He gestures yes, and she sits beside him, so they both have a view of the chess match. She knows that Ronon probably has no idea what the game is as he is so transfixed by what is going on. "It's called chess. It's a game."
"They've been sitting there like that since I sat down." He says taking a bite of his sandwich.
"Those two, they play every single day."
"Neither one of them has even blinked yet."
"Well, it's not really a game of…action."
"I can see that."
"It's all about strategy." She says nodding to the one on their right. "He's planning his next move… and the move after that… and the move after that."
"You guys do a lot of that around here."
"Yes, we do. I take it that's not how you prefer to do things." She ventures to guess.
"No. I'm leaving." He stands up and picks up his tray.
"Hey, Ronon, wait. Look, just because we do things differently doesn't mean we can't learn from each other. And Colonel Sheppard has already invested an incredible amount of time and energy trying to make you an integral part of his team."
"I meant I'm leaving the table."
Elizabeth's cheeks turn slightly pink with embarrassment, "Oh."
"Is that okay?"
"Yes, of course. I'm sorry. I thought that—" She interrupted as McKay comes over the radio. "Dr. Weir?"
"Rodney, what is it?"
"Something you should see here."
"I'm on my way." She stands up and gives Ronon a smile. "I'm leaving too."
"Okay." He states.
"Okay."
Standing beside a large Atlantis display inside the control room, McKay briefs Sheppard and Weir on what he has discovered.
"What is it?"
"That is the signature of an Ancient ship called the Aurora. With the Zed PM now powering the city, we've been reactivating dormant systems. That one tracked the location of Ancient ships during the war."
John's head suddenly perked up, "A warship?"
"Oh, see, look at his eyes, all lighting up again." Rodney says mocking John's love for weapons. "It's Pavlovian. I crosschecked the logs. They were on a reconnaissance mission." He steps up to another display. "When we activated the Zed PM, the city must have sent out some kind of an automated subspace beacon, recalling ships back to Atlantis."
"How long before it gets here?"
"Well, given that it's at the edge of the Pegasus galaxy… Let me see, carry the four… 42 million years. Should we go wait on the porch?"
"So we take a jumper through the nearest Stargate and check it out." Sheppard suggests.
"Clever, but wrong."
"There are no nearby Stargate's." John surmises from Rodney's sarcastic response.
"Not within jumper distance, no."
"Which leaves us only one way to get there." Elizabeth says with a grimace, knowing she now had to speak to the one person she detested to be around.
Inside of the Daedalus, Weir walks through the corridors alongside Caldwell, explaining the importance of this mission to him as they make their way to the bridge. "Please don't force me to remind you that I do have discretionary power to utilize the Daedalus—"
"I'm well aware of the extent of your powers, Dr. Weir, and they end at the hatch of this ship."
"Colonel, do we have to—"
"Relax, Doctor. I happen to agree. The value of an Ancient warship in our hands instead of the Wraith's is more than enough incentive for me."
"Good. Colonel Sheppard's team is ready to go."
"My crew can handle this."
"My team is far more experienced with Ancient technology."
Caldwell is insistent in his position on this. "My people will only get that kind of experience by going on this kind of a mission."
"Not this mission. We discovered it, we check it out. Your crew can cut their teeth on something else." Weir states, her voice commanding.
"Fine. Have Colonel Sheppard's team ready to go in an hour."
Elizabeth looks ahead to the bridge and smiles, "They're ready now." They arrive at the bridge to find the Atlantis team waiting, Sheppard eating a power bar, Ronon and Rayne sitting on the console while Teyla and McKay stand before them. Caldwell looks with annoyance at Weir, who smiles smugly.
The Daedalus drops out of hyperspace, McKay stands on the bridge with Caldwell and Sheppard looking at a display. "We should have visual soon." He joins the others at the forward view-screen.
An Airman manning the starboard station reports in. "Sir, I'm detecting a second ship."
McKay walks back to a display, currently manned. "Move." The crewman steps away as Rodney sits down and takes over the console. "Oh. Looks like a small Wraith vessel."
"A dart?" Sheppard questions.
"No, bigger. Some sort of a scout ship, probably after the same thing we are."
The pilot manning the port station calls out a moment later. "It's altering course coming straight at us."
"Must've seen us drop out of hyperspace." Sheppard realizes.
"Weapons range?" Caldwell questions.
"Five seconds…" The display shows the ship come into range. "Target is locked."
"Fire."
The Daedalus fires missiles as the crew watches the display which shows the missiles impact the ship. "Target is destroyed." The Airman reports.
"All these years, and just now the Wraith find this ship?" Caldwell questions perplexed.
"Well, all these years, the Aurora lay dormant. The signal from Atlantis woke it up, making it visible to the Wraith as well as us." McKay explains.
Teyla enters the bridge the closest view-screen showing the massive ship in the distance. "Is that it?"
The Aurora is very large but has massive damage all along its hull.
"Looks like it was in a hell of a fight." Sheppard perceives.
"And lost." Ronon adds.
"Life support?"
"Negative, sir."
"Looks like you're gonna have to suit up, Colonel."
McKay looks startled at the prospect as Sheppard takes off towards the cargo bay. "On our way."
Sheppard's team is beamed into the ship. They are wearing their orange space suits. "We should be just outside the bridge."
Ronon and Sheppard ease open the steel doors and enter guns at the ready, they shine their flashlights around the room checking for anything living or dead. They find a door and activate the control to open it. Behind is the bridge, its view-screen broken and the whole room exposed to space.
"You mean what used to be the bridge." Ronon says.
"Colonel Sheppard…"
The entire team moves to a large room to the left of the bridge to see what Teyla has found— a large room with stacks of stasis pods. There are human-looking beings inside them.
McKay is enthralled in the discovery, "Stasis pods. They're still powered up."
"Stasis?" Ronon questions never having heard of something like that before.
"We found a similar pod on Atlantis." Teyla explains. "It keeps a person alive for many years in a type of frozen hibernation."
"Yeah, if you call that living." Ronon says earning a nod of agreement from Rayne who investigates the ones on the other side of the room.
McKay examines a pod with an elderly man inside. "This one's uniform is different from the others. Maybe the Captain?"
"Or the maître d'." Sheppard quips.
"Life-sign indicators are active. These capsules must have some kind of a shielding. That's why the Daedalus' sensors were unable to pick them up."
"Look at all of them." Teyla says as she looks up at level after level of pods above them.
"That's just on this deck. Who knows how many more there are on the rest of this ship." Sheppard says before turning to McKay who stands beside him. "Look, our time in these suits is limited. Can you get life support up and running?"
"I'm on it." McKay steps away.
Sheppard rubs the frost off the pod of the old man, before he radios to Caldwell and explains what they had found inside the ship.
Caldwell is shocked, "They're all alive? The entire crew?"
Life support is on, and Sheppard's team has taken off their space suits. McKay is studying the pod system with his laptop.
"Well, they're in a kind of suspended animation." Sheppard says as he removes the last piece of his suit.
"Not entirely suspended, however." McKay states. "The pod has slowed their aging considerably, but the bodies are virtually moribund."
"Teyla, Rayne and Ronon are searching the rest of the ship. My guess is there's hundreds."
"Is there anything we can do for them?"
"Well, reviving them's out of the question. The pod's the only thing keeping them alive." McKay says as he looks down at his tablet that he has hooked up to the elder man's pod console.
"What are we going to do with them, then?" John asks.
"Wait."
"What?"
"There's something going on. This pod is magnetically shielded. I'm reading cortical signals."
"Which means…"
McKay is giddy as he explains it to Sheppard. "The pod's equipped with a neural interface that's indicating definite brain activity, as though he were perfectly conscious. If all of these pods are interconnected, it's highly possible that these people are, in fact, communicating with each other."
"This has been going on for ten thousand years?
"Possibly. It's their way of keeping their minds occupied until they were rescued."
"That is one long conversation."
"Yeah, well, more likely, the interface was reactivated when the recall beacon from Atlantis was received." He gushes looking at his tablet. "Either way, the neuro-feedback loop is incredibly active."
"Any way to figure out what they're saying?"
McKay replies sarcastically, holding up his tablet, "Yes, of course. It says right here. "Why is the smart one having to stop and answer so many questions?"
"It's a fair question, Doctor."
"Of course it is. Being able to communicate with a living Ancient is the opportunity of a lifetime, but this system is a highly complex system, which I will have— Wait a minute."
"What?"
"Answering your question." He says as an idea comes to him and he activates his radio. "Teyla, found any more of the pods?"
"Yes. Many. And there are many more decks we have yet to search."
"Are any of the pods empty?"
"A few."
McKay looks at a dubious Sheppard, "Perfect."
The Aurora floats in space as the team has gathered around an empty pod which Rodney is readying.
"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Sheppard questions.
McKay opens a pod; the platform slides out from the wall. "What's the matter, Colonel? Don't trust me?"
"Do you really want us to answer that?" Rayne says at the same moment that Sheppard says, "No."
"Fine." Rodney says snarkily, apparently they still hadn't totally forgiven him for nearly getting them blown up on Doranda.
"You're proposing actually freezing yourself in one of those things?" Caldwell requests.
"I should be able to tap into the neural network without actually initializing stasis."
Listening, Caldwell appears pained at the prospect.
"Look, it won't take long. I'll be in and out."
Sheppard looks at McKay with a dubious expression.
"Look, the quickest way to figure out what is going on in there is to tap into the system and communicate directly with the Captain. Need I remind you of the obvious value in this?"
"But is it safe?" Teyla asks.
"Would I be volunteering to go if it wasn't?"
"No." Ronon and Rayne reply in tandem before smirking at one another.
"Which is exactly what makes it safe enough for me to go." Sheppard states earning him an incredulous look from Rodney.
"What?"
"Better to have you on the outside in case something goes wrong."
"It won't."
"But if it does." Sheppard starts to take off his vest.
"It won't! How many times do I have to say this!?"
"Rodney, between the two of you, if something were to go wrong, which would be the greater loss?" Teyla asks.
"Well, I've never thought of it that way, but…" McKay suddenly realizes that his life is far more valuable than John's. "Hey, she's right. You should go."
Sheppard looks at Teyla, who smiles mildly at her admission. Rayne however seems to be the only one that would rather Rodney be the acceptable loss if there had to be one.
"Why must you always play the hero?" She questions John with a smirk as he removes his tactical gear.
"Cause Teyla's right, I'm expendable. Atlantis needs McKay more than me."
"I don't." She states.
John smiles leaning his forehead against hers as the Athosian's do. "Thanks little mermaid."
Rayne rolls her eyes and shakes her head with a giggle. "I do not have a tail."
"I know, but you'd be cute if you did, Aqua-woman." He says shooting her a wink.
"Are you just trying to see how many nicknames you can come up with for me?"
"Pretty much." He chuckles as he climbs into the pod.
Later, Sheppard is lying on the platform as the team looks on, McKay with his laptop connected to the pod. "Now, remember, the system creates a direct feedback loop between the processor and your brainwaves. So when you want to disconnect, you'll need to, well, really concentrate."
"You mean think it?"
"Well, I think it'll probably take a little more than that, otherwise you'd be popping in and out of the thing every time it crossed your mind."
"So… there's no place like home?"
"If that works for you. Now, I should be able to monitor your EEG pattern, so in the highly unlikely event that something anomalous should present itself, I should be able to uh, disconnect you manually."
"Good."
"Without permanent brain damage." Rodney added under his breath, but it was clear by John's startled reaction that he'd heard him.
"Rodney?"
"Well, the opportunity to speak to a living Ancient is worth the risk, hmm? Now, when I close the lid, the pod's systems should activate. Ready?"
"I was." John said sarcastically giving a wide-eyed look to Rayne, who just smiled and gave him a thumb's up.
"Good." McKay activates the pod on his laptop. It slides into the wall, and the upper covering lowers over Sheppard.
Sheppard becomes aware inside a representation of a brightly lit, undamaged Aurora. He is wearing a white Ancient uniform. He looks down at himself, then starts to walk. He looks at the ship around him. "This is weird." There are what look like computer panels around the wall, and a ladder is set into one wall to enable people to climb from one deck to another. Still looking around, he pats his uniform to see if there's anything in the pockets.
A door slides open, and a young man comes through. "Who are you?"
"Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard. I'm part of an expedition—"
The crewman points a weapon at Sheppard. "This deck is restricted. How did you get in here?"
"My team discovered your ship. Your crew was in a stasis pod. We decided to tap into the—"
"Stay where you are." He activates a communications device on his collar. "Security to engineering deck."
"No, you don't need to call security—" John says taking a few steps forward, but the crewman points his weapon at John.
"Stay where you are."
Two members of security have arrived and they and the crewman are escorting John to the Bridge. The doors open and they walk onto the Bridge. Undamaged, it is full of people, all wearing similar off-white suits to John. A woman, Trebal, is reporting to the Captain. Trebal is in her early thirties, has long blonde curly hair and is very attractive. The Captain is male, perhaps mid-fifties and does indeed have a slightly different uniform to the others.
The woman, Trebal, approaches the male in the Captain's chair. She is also the First Officer. "The hyperdrive construct modifications are commencing, sir."
The Captain nods in understanding, "Make certain the equations are entered in the correct sequence. We don't want to overload the control conduit."
Sheppard watches the interchange with interest, smiling at the woman.
"Yes, sir."
The Captain turns around in his chair and sees John standing behind him, smiling at him. "Is this him?"
"Yes, sir."
"You wear the uniform of my crew, but I don't know you."
"My name's Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard. We discovered your ship. We found you and your crew in the stasis pods. We decided to tap into the system in order to communicate with you." He smiles as if confident that this will explain everything. The Captain and Trebal, however, look at each other, bewildered.
"System?"
"This. This uh… virtual reality."
Everyone exchanges skeptical glances, clearly not understanding what Sheppard is talking about.
"You do know this is kind of simulated…"
The First Officer looks confused. Sheppard notes the guards standing behind him. "Is there someplace more private we can talk?"
AURORA BRIG
The jail door closes, locking Sheppard in. The Captain and First Officer stand outside. "It's not exactly what I meant by "private." John comments annoyed as he unbuttons the jacket he is wearing.
"I want to know who you are and how you got aboard this ship."
"I told you, my name's Colonel John Sheppard, part of an expedition—"
"What expedition?"
"Let me bottom-line this for you. We came from Atlantis except it's not quite the Atlantis you remember. Ten thousand years have gone by since you left. I know all of this sounds strange, but I'm telling you the truth. Right now, you're all in your uh, stasis pods aboard Aurora. The ship's been derelict for centuries. None of this is real. I expected you to know that."
"You don't have time to bother with this nonsense. The hyperdrive modifications are much more pressing, sir." The First Officer comments to the Captain.
"What kind of hyperdrive modifications?" Sheppard questions.
"We're attempting to modify our propulsion in order to return to Atlantis as quickly as possible. Then we'll see if you're speaking the truth."
"Oh, look. The Atlantis you know doesn't exist anymore. During the war with the Wraith, the city was evacuated back to Earth—"
"Evacuate? Why would we do that?"
"Sir… the war was lost."
The Captain is growing angry, "Nothing is lost. Not yet. I have vital information concerning a weakness in Wraith technology, and when I deliver the communiqué in my possession, the tide will most certainly turn in our favor."
"That's right— the Atlantis mission logs said you were on a recon mission. What kind of weakness are we talking about?"
"That information is reserved for the Council."
"There is no Council anymore."
"Sir, we must return to the bridge." The First Officer insists.
They turn to leave but Sheppard speaks more loudly to get their attention. "Wait. According to the logs the Aurora left Lantian space during the siege. That means the city had already been sunk to the bottom of the ocean. You're wondering, how could I know that?"
"Yes."
"Because that's where it was when we found it."
"We're wasting time, sir. You need to attend to the hyperdrive." They turn and leave.
"Wait! The information in that communiqué could still be incredibly valuable to us." Left alone, Sheppard closes his eyes and starts to concentrate on breaking the link. After a few seconds, he cracks one eye open and peers around but he's still in the cell. He opens his eyes, looks around in an annoyed way then closes his eyes and concentrates harder.
Sheppard's pod slides out, the canopy opening, McKay stands up and looks at him expectantly. "So?"
"It worked."
"Well, of course it worked."
Sheppard sits up swinging his legs out over the side. "For a minute, I thought I was gonna get stuck there. Where's Teyla, Rayne and Ronon?"
"Well, Caldwell sent them to search the ship's armory."
"Yeah?"
"No. Unfortunately, it was depleted of drones. Look, so, what happened? Were you able to communicate with the Captain?"
"Face to face. Pretty impressive in there. They have a whole virtual reality thing going on."
"Actually, the correct term is "virtual environment."
"Yeah, whatever."
"So what did you find out?"
"For starters, I have to go back." Sheppard puts his radio in.
The Aurora and Daedalus hover beside each other while Caldwell and Sheppard converse by radio.
"What do you mean, you have to go back?"
"The Aurora was on a recon mission. The Captain was carrying a communiqué back to Atlantis. In it is vital information about a weakness in Wraith technology."
"What kind of weakness?"
"Well, that's why I have to go back. He didn't tell me. He's trying to modify the hyperdrives in order to get back to Atlantis faster to deliver it."
"Well, did you mention that that's impossible, given that they're living in a virtual environment?"
"No, Rodney. That slipped my mind."
"Well, I would have thought that would be the first thing—"
"Of course I mentioned it! They don't remember putting themselves in stasis. Consequently, they had no idea who I was or how I got there."
"Why would the pods do that?"
"That's a good question and another reason I should go back. What do you think, Colonel?"
"Go."
Sheppard opens his eyes and arrives back in the brig. "Hello? Anybody there?" A guard enters from the main door. "Hi. I really need to talk to the Captain."
"Why?"
"Tell him I'm ready to make a full confession."
The guard nods and leaves.
Caldwell is looking at a radar display showing two red targets. Caldwell and McKay converse by radio.
"Dr. McKay."
"Go ahead."
"Long-range sensors have just detected two Wraith cruisers heading this way, no doubt coming to investigate why their scout ship was destroyed earlier."
"What's their E.T.A.?"
"A little over an hour, and I plan on being long gone by then. What's the status there?"
Rodney is engrossed in a screen that he is looking at. "I've been able to decipher some more of the program. I'm actually reading neural tracking signatures of the entire crew as they make their way through the—"
"I meant Colonel Sheppard's status?"
"Oh. Him. Uh, yeah, well, he's uh… he's still in the pod." McKay looks startled, then checks Sheppard's status as if he had forgotten for a moment.
"Understood. Just be aware of the time constraints with the Wraith ships approaching. We can't risk being discovered."
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Ticking clock. Anything else?"
"If he's not out of there in thirty minutes, disconnect him manually."
McKay looks increasingly worried, "Right."
Back inside of the "virtual environment" the first officer arrives in the brig alone, the guard stands in the doorway observing.
"Where's the Captain?" Sheppard demands.
"He has more pressing concerns at the moment. He sent me in his stead. I was told you were ready to make a full confession?"
"Yeah. Well, no. Actually, I just wanted to talk to him to try to convince him that uh, we're on the same side."
"Perhaps you would have more success if your story were not so preposterous."
"It's not preposterous."
"You say you're from Atlantis."
"Yes."
"And yet you also say that Atlantis has been evacuated."
"Yes. Well, it was, ten thousand years ago. Look, we just discovered it last year."
"You discovered it?"
"We came from Earth. We found the city deserted. We set up a base, been living there ever since. That's how we found you. We saw the Aurora on one of the city's long-range sensors. But even after all these years, the Wraith are still causing a lot of problems. We've managed to hold them off for now, but uh, we could sure use that information about the weakness in their technology."
"Only the Captain has access to the communiqué."
"Well, then, let me talk to him. I can uh, deliver the message myself. The quicker it gets back to Atlantis, the better for all of us."
"You seem sincere."
"Yes. I am. Very sincere." He approaches the bars turning on the full force of the Sheppard charm, trying to be convincing. "I would be very, very grateful." Sheppard says smoothly trying to appeal to the woman, but as he touches the bars he gets shocked by a force field. "Ow."
"I'll speak to him for you." She leaves.
He waits until they leave before he shakes out his hands, "Ow."
Teyla, Rayne and Ronon search another room full of pods. Teyla keeps her machine gun raised as she walks down the rows of pods.
"More of the same." Ronon announces as he walks into yet another room filled with pods.
"Shh. I am counting. I do not want to lose my place."
"I counted 376. No, wait. 398. I forgot about the infirmary. There was 22 in there… or was it 23?"
Teyla glares at Ronon.
"Sorry." He looks over at Rayne who is giggling and gives her a mock scowl.
They enter the next chamber and find the body of an old woman on the deck. Ronon raises his weapon as well as Rayne as the three converge on the body.
"Where did she come from?" Teyla questions.
They turn the body over, the hide is shriveled around the bones, like a skeleton that has been mummified. Rayne takes a look into the pod nearest the body, her eyes widen before she turns to the others. "I think I have our answer."
Teyla sees something on the pod wall. "Oh, no."
McKay is working beside Sheppard's pod when Teyla radios from their position. "Dr. McKay?"
"Still here."
"There's something you need to see. We are two decks directly below you."
"Can't it wait?"
"No." Teyla states emphatically.
McKay looks once more at Sheppard's pod hoping that he'll be alright without for a moment, then rushes out to meet up with the others.
Sheppard sits on the bench in the cell. "Guard!" A guard enters. "I need to talk to the First Officer."
"She gave orders not to be disturbed."
"It's okay. She said she was going to talk to the Captain for me. It's been a while. I just—"
"She also gave orders to ignore everything you say."
Sheppard approaches the guard. "Then why are you talking to me right now?"
He smiles sarcastically at the guard, who smirks and turns to walk away.
"I need to see the Captain!" Sheppard concentrates and leaves the virtual environment. The guard is startled.
Sheppard's pod opens. He looks around and sees McKay is not there. "All right. That should be enough time." He reactivates his pod.
The guard enters the empty cell, his weapon raised. Sheppard re-appears and takes the weapon from him, also grabbing the guard's remote control device off of his collar. "Give me this thing." Sheppard steps outside the cell and locks the guard inside. "I really don't like being ignored." He leaves.
McKay descends a ladder to meet Ronon, Rayne and Teyla. Ronon is carrying the woman's body which funny enough doesn't shock Rodney. "What is it?"
"Have a look." Teyla takes him to a spot on the wall near the woman's pod. She shows him some black devices attached to the system.
"This is Wraith gear. And it's recently installed." McKay turns to see there is a Wraith in one of the pods.
"There's a reason for that." Ronon says nodding towards the pod that Rayne is standing guard beside.
McKay radios into Caldwell about their discovery which then causes them to be immediately beamed back on board the Daedalus. Of course this does not go over well with Rayne as she knows that John is defenseless inside of the pod. She demands to be sent back, but Caldwell refuses, causing him to flinch as her eyes flash bright showcasing her anger towards him.
"Are there anymore?" He asks as they walk towards the bridge.
"Well, it's hard say, since you plucked us out of there the second you heard." McKay states.
"I told you not to radio him." Rayne stated, brushing off the glare that Caldwell sent her way, he in no way intimidated her.
"Ronon, Rayne and I have searched the ship. I am certain there is only one."
"The Wraith's tied in to the same neuro-feedback loop as the crew and Colonel Sheppard. But by the looks of it, they must have found Aurora a long time ago, certainly long enough to figure out how to access and reconfigure the system."
They arrive at the bridge.
"Given their apparent psychic abilities, is it possible the Wraith ships on the way are in communication with the Wraith aboard the Aurora?" Caldwell questions.
"No. They need to be closer." Teyla answers.
"She's right. We've already determined that the range of Wraith psychic ability is limited."
"So we can't risk those ships getting within that range."
"I say we go back and kill it right now." Ronon states.
"I agree."
"Finally, an order of yours that I can agree with." Rayne comments trading glares with Caldwell.
Rodney waves his hands emphatically. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop. Let's not get all trigger happy. We have no idea how much of the system this Wraith is manipulating. We need to figure out what is going on before we start shooting things. For all we know, that could kill Sheppard."
"What's he still doing there?"
"He can come out any time he wants. There must be a good reason."
"Knowing Sheppard, he wouldn't leave without getting the information from the communiqué." Ronon says knowing how Sheppard thinks previously being military himself.
"I still don't like it."
"The Wraith cannot physically harm him in there, can it?" Teyla asks McKay trying to calm Caldwell and buy John more time.
"No… I don't think so. I don't know, but I should get back in there and learn what this Wraith is doing."
"You've got fifteen minutes to figure it out, Doctor." Caldwell states.
"Fifteen? Where do you people come up with these arbitrary numbers!?"
"That's the time you've got to learn what you need to, Doctor."
"Why?"
"Because I intend to destroy the Aurora before those Wraith ships get here."
"Okay." McKay replies meekly before they are all beamed back on board.
Sheppard arrives at the Captain's office to find the Captain setting a box, likely the communiqué, on a desk. "Hi. Me again." The Captain reaches for his remote control device. "Wait. Wait, please. Just listen. Uh…" He lowers his weapon trying to diffuse the situation. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. I want to help you; help all of us. I know all of this sounds strange, but just give me a chance to prove that what I'm saying—"
A short zapping sound later and Sheppard convulses before he falls to the floor. Behind him the First Officer stands holding a stun gun.
"Are you all right, sir?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
"Take him back to the brig."
Two guards lift Sheppard up and drag him out of the room.
"He escaped only moments ago. I'll see to it he doesn't disturb you again."
"What if he is telling the truth? Do you not sense it, too, that something is wrong?"
"You're exhausted, sir."
"True. I am in need of rest. Even more so, my crew."
"Rest is a luxury we cannot afford, sir. The Aurora is a fine ship, but she was never built for speed. Without the drive modifications it'll take months to return to Atlantis. If we are to use this new intelligence to our advantage, we need to reach the city within days."
"Then there'll be time for rest."
"Yes, sir."
The Captain walks out, while the First Officer nods and smiles to herself.
McKay, Teyla, and Ronon stand beside Sheppard's pod. McKay looks at his life-signs readings.
"What is wrong?" Teyla asks seeing his concerned face.
"Delta waves."
"What are they?" Ronon enquires.
"Dr. McKay, are you ready to be beamed aboard?"
"It hasn't even been five minutes!"
"Dr. McKay has discovered a problem." Teyla states trying to buy them time once more.
"What kind of a problem?"
"Colonel Sheppard's EEG frequencies are decreasing. I'm reading delta waves, which indicates that he's unconscious within the virtual environment. I'm not sure how it happened, but something is definitely wrong in there."
"Even more reason to pull him out."
"That would be a mistake. Look, additional data I've been able to decipher from the Wraith's biometrics receiver shows significant manipulation of the feedback loop. Something we were clearly not aware of when Sheppard went in."
"We were also clearly not aware of the two Wraith cruisers approaching."
"Colonel, this Wraith is controlling the program, which means it might have booby-trapped it as well. We're talking about Sheppard's life here."
"And I'm talking about the lives of not only every person aboard this ship, but every person in Atlantis when the Wraith find out it wasn't destroyed. I'm well aware of what's at stake here, Doctor. Get him out of that pod or my men will. Caldwell out." He signs off the radio.
McKay grabs a connector from above Sheppard's pod. "I'm going in." He moves to another empty pod. "Look, stall Caldwell. Buy me some time — just a few minutes at the most."
"What if you are unable to disconnect?" Teyla questions.
"Caldwell's going to blow that ship whether you're in there or not." Ronon reminds him.
"You see, the thing is, Colonel Sheppard and I have sort of gotten into this habit of saving each other's lives, and it's my turn." He opens the pod and sits on it. "It can be your turn next. Look…" He gives a device to Teyla. "Hit this to manually disconnect me. If I do not regain consciousness, go ahead and open Colonel Sheppard's pod. Have us beamed directly to Daedalus and make sure they have a medical team waiting." He gets into the pod.
"Rodney, are you sure you want to do this?" Rayne asks him.
"I'm sure I don't." He says nervously as he lies down in the pod. "Okay… All right. Looks like there's more than enough air in here. Right. Of course there is. Crew's been sealed inside these things for thousands of years…"
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah. It's just my claustrophobia. I'll be fine… I hope. Now, the system should engage once you send me in."
"All right."
"All right…" He closes his eyes. Teyla looks at him. He opens his eyes again. "So, send me in?"
Teyla realizes she has the device in her hand, "Oh, yes. Good luck."
"Right." With his hands lying on his chest, he gives a double thumbs up as the pod seals.
Sheppard is sleeping in the brig cell when McKay's voice wakes him. "Where are you taking me? I told you, I'm with Colonel Sheppard. I'm a member of his team. Colonel John Sheppard, he's about— he's about so high, brown hair, a bit mussed. The term is "rakish." Oh, for—" McKay arrives with guards, and he and Sheppard see each other.
"McKay." Sheppard says annoyed as the door is open and McKay is shoved inside of the cell.
"What are you doing in there?!"
"I was about to ask you the same thing." Sheppard stands. The guards lock McKay inside with Sheppard. "I came to help you."
"I feel better already." They look around pointlessly.
Ronon, Rayne and Teyla stand watch. "Ten thousand years in one of these things, kept alive only by life support… I couldn't live that way." The Satedan says shaking his head.
"Neither could I." Teyla agrees. "Rayne?"
The Siren stands stoically by Colonel Sheppard's pod, ready to bring him out at a moment's notice. "I could not. But… maybe something like this could have saved my people." She replies sadly.
"Dr. McKay, what's your status?"
"Dr. McKay is… not here." Teyla responds over the radio to Caldwell.
"What?"
"He had to…"
"He had to check something on the Wraith pod." Ronon says quickly covering for her.
"Yes. The Wraith pod." Teyla agrees with a nod. "He had to check the…biometrics receiver. He needed to reconfirm the frequencies of the neuro-feedback loop."
"Why isn't he on his radio?"
"Well, actually, we have been having trouble reaching him ourselves. I think it might have something to do with interference from the, um, magnetic shielding of the pods."
"Yeah. Shielding."
"Ronon was just about to go and check on him, see what is taking him so long."
"All right, go get him. Light a fire under him."
"Right away." Teyla confirms.
"I want a status report as soon as his radio is working. Caldwell out."
"Nice stalling." Ronon tells her and she responds with a quaint smile.
"Have you been unable to disconnect yourself from the system?" McKay questions Sheppard as they stand inside of the cell.
"No. I'm still trying to get the information in that communiqué."
"Oh, good. We thought maybe it was preventing you from exiting the program."
"It?"
"We found a Wraith in one of the stasis pods. It's manipulating the neurofeedback program. Your EEG patterns were irregular—"
"You're kidding. I got stunned."
"I didn't want to risk pulling you out until I knew more."
"The First Officer."
"What about him?"
"Her. She's a Wraith. She has to be. There's something very odd about her, and she keeps preventing me from talking to the Captain."
"The Wraith we found was male. The First Officer must have been female. It took her place."
"She knows I want that information, and the Captain is the only one with access to it."
"Well, we don't need the Captain. I've been able to decipher enough of the program to overwrite the protocols. All I have to do is get to a terminal within the virtual environment, and I should be able to access any file stored within the database."
"So we just need to break out of here."
"Hold that thought." McKay folds his arms and closes his eyes, concentrates and disappears.
McKay wakes up as the pod slides out catching the others attention.
"What's happening?" Ronon asks as he re-holsters his weapon.
"Give me the tablet. The data device, right here, right here. Thank you. That's it." He plugs his tablet into the system. "Just keep stalling, keep stalling." He makes inputs on the tablet.
The cell door opens, Sheppard stands and walks out curiously wondering how it opened by itself. Two guards enter and point their weapons, but before they can fire they fall to the deck, unconscious. McKay appears.
"Hi." John says looking at him impressed.
"Hi."
"Nice."
They grab weapons and control devices from the guards, then leave. They move down a corridor. "It should be the next hallway." McKay says as they see a group in the next corridor. The First Officer is there.
"That's her."
Rodney peers around the corner at her, then turns to John. "That's the Wraith?"
"Yeah."
"Wow. She's hot! I mean, seriously hot!"
"Rodney, you're drooling over a Wraith."
"I know. I disgust myself sometimes."
The group leaves, and they follow. McKay finds a terminal while Sheppard closes a door and keeps watch.
Teyla and Ronon rush down the corridor to the bridge back on the Daedalus, Rayne is not with them as she had climbed into one of the pods to hide her signature; she was not leaving Sheppard and McKay alone again.
"Where are Rayne, Dr. McKay and Colonel Sheppard?" Caldwell questions as they walk in.
"Why'd you beam us back?" Ronon demands.
"Because I was about to fire a missile into the side of that ship."
"They are in the pods." Teyla responds and Ronon looks disappointedly at her.
"They're both in pods now?"
"Yes. Dr. McKay went in to see if the Wraith was preventing Colonel Sheppard from disengaging from the system."
Caldwell turns to a crewman. "I want a team assembled, ready to beam aboard the Aurora to disconnect Dr. McKay and Colonel Sheppard."
"No, wait. Please, just a few more minutes."
"ETA on the Wraith ships?"
"Eleven minutes out."
"I am certain he'll be out by then, and if he is successful, he will know if it is safe to disconnect Colonel Sheppard."
"And if he's not out by then?"
"Then we'll disconnect them both." Ronon states.
Teyla nods before adding, "It would be wise to have a medical team standing by for both of them."
Caldwell looks as if he could cheerfully strangle the entire Atlantis team. With a look of resignation on his face, he turns to another member of the Bridge crew. "Alert the infirmary. I want a medical team standing by."
"The communiqué has been erased." McKay announces as he looks through the information on the terminal he has accessed.
"Why would the Wraith do that?"
"Well, it says right here. "I, the Wraith, delete this important information to keep you from seeing it." McKay responds sarcastically.
"Obviously he did it to keep us from seeing it, but why didn't it end the damn program? What's the point of continuing?"
"Oh, no."
"What?"
"You said they were trying to modify the hyperdrive."
"So they can get back to Atlantis faster."
"Well, according to the Atlantis database, there are two different types of Ancient hyperdrives. There's the more basic, interstellar kind, like the one the Aurora has, and then there's the more powerful, intergalactic kind similar to the one the Asgard provided us for the Daedalus."
"Why would the Wraith want to soup up the Aurora's hyperdrive?"
"Because the Wraith hyperdrives are nowhere near as advanced as the Ancient hyperdrives. With all of the technology the Captain is feeding her right now—"
"She'll learn how to modify the Wraith's hyperdrives from interstellar to intergalactic."
"That means they'll make it as far as Earth."
"That's what this whole thing is about. Their new feeding ground, and this is just step one."
"Even if she doesn't have all the information she needs, we need to stop her from sending what she's learned so far to the Wraith ships that are on the way."
Sheppard turns to McKay, tilting his head as this new information processes through his mind. "There are Wraith ships on the way?"
Rodney gulps, "I'm- I'm sure I mentioned that."
"No, you didn't."
"Well, it-it threw me when she was so hot."
"How many ships?"
"Two cruisers."
"Can you disconnect her?"
"Him. Not from the inside, no. But I should be able to disable the pod interface from the outside."
"Then why didn't you?"
"Because I didn't know what that would do to you."
"Well, that's very thoughtful of you, but now she knows all about Atlantis."
"You told her?" McKay crosses his arms suspiciously, as if accusing Sheppard of falling for the First Officer. "Why?"
"Because I was trying to convince them that— just go and unplug the Wraith while I talk to the Captain."
"The communiqué is blank."
"Yeah, but he might still have some Intel about the Wraith weakness. Now, Rodney, is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"
Rodney glances around the room sheepishly, "Only that Caldwell is probably going to destroy this ship at any moment."
John stares at him for a moment. "Go!"
"Going." McKay leaves the environment. Sheppard runs off.
McKay's pod opens. "Teyla? Ronon? Rayne!? Oh, I can't believe it. Two minutes in the pod, I'm abandoned. Come on." He says struggling to get up out of the pod. "Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. Oh… Right. Okay." He grabs his tablet and runs, limping from an apparent cramp in his leg.
Sheppard climbs a ladder to the corridor just outside the bridge and hides around the corner. "Come on, McKay…"
"Hyperdrive modification commands have been successfully entered. Auxiliary power is now online."
"Very good. Prepare to engage drive." The Captain announces.
Sheppard rushes in, weapon drawn. "Stop! Your First Officer is a Wraith. She's using you."
"Security to the bridge." The First Officer radios to the crew.
"She gained access to the virtual environment by killing your First Officer and taking her place. She's getting you to modify your hyperdrive so she can upgrade the Wraith hyperdrives."
"Don't listen to him."
"They need to modify their hyperdrives to make it to my planet, Earth, and I prefer she not do that."
"This is nonsense."
"I'm telling you she's a Wraith."
"Officer Trebal has served with me for many years. I can't possibly believe—"
"Sir, with your permission, I'd like to—" She stops and convulses, her body starts to fade out, the entire reality showing static.
McKay walks into the room containing the Wraith and sighs in relief as he sees Rayne standing by the pod with her gun trained on the glass. "Oh, thank God you're here. Where's Teyla and Ronon?"
"Colonel Caldwell beamed them back on board the Daedalus, he means to destroy this ship immediately. We need to get Sheppard and get out of here."
"I'm working on it." He says as he sets out disconnecting the Wraith's pod. "Come on… Disable. Why are you in here anyway?"
"I was going to shoot it." She responds plainly.
McKay shakes his head as he works, mumbling something about being surrounded by "trigger-happy nut-jobs."
The First Officer's face begins to alternate between Wraith and Auroran before finally disappearing altogether. The Captain is in shock as he gets out of his chair and walks towards John, still staring at the space where Trebal had been standing.
"I hope that was proof enough." Sheppard states.
"Ha!" The Wraith's pod opens. "Oh, no." McKay pulls his pistol and approaches the Wraith, who wakes up and startles him.
"Rodney go!" Rayne shouts to him before she is caught off guard by the Wraith, who grabs her and flings her across the room.
McKay starts firing badly as he retreats, hitting everything but the Wraith. McKay makes his way to Sheppard's pod and re-loads his pistol. "Come on, come on…" He rushes to his laptop just as he hears Rayne's scream echo through the corridors.
"All this time, I thought we had evaded the enemy. Instead, I've been unwittingly assisting them."
"No, sir, she didn't succeed. And if you tell me the information in the communiqué, we may be able to defeat the Wraith once and for all." Sheppard explains to the Captain.
"The information is in the ship's computer. I can give you my access codes."
"We checked. It's all been erased. Can't you tell me yourself?"
"I'm afraid I was never made aware of its contents, Colonel Sheppard. The Council feared the possibility of our capture was too great. The information in that communiqué is gone."
Sheppard shakes his head in disappointment.
"Ten thousand years… Even in stasis, our physical bodies must be…"
"Very old. Too old."
The Captain looks around the bridge at his crew. "My crew deserves to know."
"Yes, they do, and I'd love to give you all the time in the world for that, but right now, there are two Wraith ships on the way."
"We've longed for nothing more than returning to Atlantis…to raise a toast to home and victory. We may not return home but we will do whatever we can to ensure that victory. For that, I will need your help."
They rush off.
Sheppard's pod opens just as Rayne runs in, Rodney looks up in relief at seeing her okay. "It's coming we have to hurry. I only had time enough to stun it." She says as John climbs out of the pod.
"It's about damn time. What'd you do, play a round of golf? We've got serious problems." McKay yells at him.
"What happened? Get down!" Sheppard has seen the Wraith approaching from behind McKay. Sheppard grabs his pistol and fires at the Wraith, hitting it repeatedly. He gets up and approaches the Wraith, weapon drawn, as does McKay.
"That happened." McKay says as they all point their weapons at the Wraith. "Not so hot now."
"Our ships are coming. They will retrieve what I have learned. Earth will soon be ours."
"Not if I can help it." Sheppard fires on the Wraith, killing it.
"Colonel Sheppard, we're reading three life-signs. I hope that means what I think it means."
"Give me one more minute."
"We're out of time, Sheppard. The Wraith ships are almost here."
"One damn minute, and I can take care of that problem."
The two Wraith ships drop out of hyperspace near the Daedalus and Aurora.
"Wraith cruisers just dropped out of hyperspace, sir. They're aware of us."
"Battle stations. Looks like we're gonna have fight these guys. Bring main rail guns online."
"Daedalus, this is Sheppard. We're ready."
"Beam them directly onto the bridge."
McKay, Rayne and Sheppard arrive on the bridge as the crew continues to feed information to Caldwell.
"Targets are in range."
"Sir, we need to get out of here." Sheppard orders him.
"No, we need to eliminate those cruisers. The information—"
"No, no, no. We need to get far away." McKay agrees.
"What?"
"The Captain gave me the Aurora's self-destruct code. He assures me it'll take care of the Wraith ships too, but we have to get clear."
"Bring sub-light engines to military thrust."
"Military thrust." The Daedalus starts to move away.
On board the Aurora the Captain addresses his crew. "I have never been more proud than I am this moment. It has been an honor serving with you. And although we may not return to Atlantis, rest assured that the Aurora will be remembered."
The Aurora explodes in a huge fireball enveloping the Wraith cruisers with it. Caldwell, McKay and Sheppard watch the explosion somberly, touched by the crew's sacrifice.
Once back in Atlantis, Sheppard's team and Caldwell brief Weir inside of her office. "We monitored all transmissions from the Wraith cruisers prior to the explosion. They never got a chance to board the Aurora or upload any of the Ancient information." McKay reports to her.
"Both cruisers were destroyed in the explosion." Caldwell states.
Ronon leans forward rubbing his hands on his pants. "It's too bad you weren't able to figure out the Wraith weakness."
"At least we found out they had one." Sheppard says optimistically.
"Good work. Thank you, everyone." Weir says.
Everyone starts to leave, but Sheppard stops them. "Uh, before we break up the party, there's something I'd like to do. It might seem a little strange, but I promised to do something when we got home." He picks up a bottle of champagne, and Weir steps around her desk with a tray of glasses. Everyone takes a glass.
Sheppard opens the bottle and pours for everyone. He raises his glass in a toast, as they all do. "To the crew of the Aurora."
They all clink their glasses together and drink.