Chapter 6: A Glimmer of hope

Carson was pacing from one end of the tiny, boxed room to the other – it didn't take him very long. Rodney was still asleep on the cold, hard floor and given how restless he'd seemed the night before it was probably for the best.

The sun was streaming through the tiny window spreading warmth around the room, helping the bone-deep cold of the night disappear.

He had no idea what his captors had planned for today, but he hoped that it was a tour of the medical and science labs. Then perhaps they might find some answers as to where General Sheppard was being held. They still had no idea where or when they were either – hopefully they could try and find that out in the labs as well.

Voices outside the structure caught his attention and they definitely weren't talking quietly. He put his ear to the door and tried to make out what was being said. It didn't take him long to realise that it was the guard they'd named Tom and he appeared to be arguing with Voth about something.

"I told you to look after these men, so why have you put them in here? Surely you know that the chances of them freezing to death overnight are high?"

"I am sorry Voth, but they were making trouble and I feared that they would try and escape, so I thought that I would teach them a lesson."

Interesting, he thought, Voth must need us for something and I'm positive that it won't be good.

"If they are sick or worse – dead, when I go in there, I will personally kill you myself. You know how important the ancestor gene carriers are to our city."

"I am sorry Voth; I promise that it won't happen again."

"It had better not," Voth snarled from behind the door.

He heard the key in the lock so it wouldn't be too long till the two men entered the room. The last thing he wanted was for them to know that he had listened to their conversation, so he lay down on the floor next to Rodney and feigned sleep.

Cool air swept through the room signifying that Voth and his friend had opened the door. Laying perfectly still he waited to see what happened next and he was shocked to receive a kick to his lower back – although it was probably more of a nudge.

A loud voice filled the small room and it was clear the Voth wasn't happy, "Come on wake up sleepy heads."

Carson immediately sat up and turned around to find Voth staring at him with a smirk on his face, "Oh, and what have you got planned for us today, some more of your wonderful hospitality?" He replied, his voice dripping with Sarcasm.

Suddenly a shooting pain went through his arm, and he doubled over in pain – Zapped again.

Voth's following words were emotionless and cold, "you will show me some respect, or I will leave you in here today, and believe me when I tell you that it gets hot in here during the middle of the day."

Okay, so a megalomaniac and a hypocrite.

Before he had a chance to say anything else a sleepy voice spoke from behind, "hey Carson what's happening."

He quickly spun around and soon realised that Rodney's eyes were still closed, which had him worried. Had Rodney not heard anything that had happened in the last few minutes?

Kneeling beside his friend he gently shook him, hoping to rouse him enough to let him know what was happening, "Rodney, it's time to wake up, I'm hoping that Voth and his friends will give us a tour of the labs today."

"Come on wake him up or I may have to persuade him a little!?" Voth said in a tone that Carson could only describe as annoyed and impatient.

He turned to glare at the man, "give him a little time to wake up and perhaps you can get us some food as well. Rodney has a condition where he needs to eat regularly, or his blood sugar levels get too low and if that happens, he won't be of any use to anybody!"

He was relieved when Voth backed off, "my guards will show you to the dining room when your friend has had enough time to wake up and after that, I will give you a tour of the labs. When you are ready let the guards outside the door know."

Once Voth and Tom had left the room he looked down at his friend and realised that he still had his eyes closed, he looked extremely pale and minute tremors were racking his body. So, he gently shook him again, "Rodney you really need to wake up now. I've got Voth arranging some breakfast for us, but in the meantime, I have a power bar in my pocket for you to eat. It's probably a bit squashed, but you need to eat."

Finally, Rodney opened his eyes, "what time is it, is it time to get up?"

"Yes Rodney, did you not hear Voth and Tom in here a few minutes ago?"

"No, my head's kind of fuzzy."

Carson sighed he needed to get some food into his friend soon, or Rodney would be of no use to him today. And he really needed the scientist's brain to help get them out of this.

He handed his friend the power bar that he'd pulled out of his pocket, "here eat this and see if it helps?"

"Thanks, Carson I'm starving and a little shaky."

"So, what happened while I was asleep?"

Carson sighed, it was going to be a long day and he was sure that at some point he'd get the opportunity to discuss things with his friend, but now wasn't the time.

"How about we head to breakfast and if I get the chance, I'll tell you along the way."

"That sounds great, but can you help me up because I'm convinced that lying on this cold hard floor all night has put my back out."

Carson resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his friend and held out his hand, "come on Rodney let's go. The sooner we get out of here the sooner we can find some answers."

oOo

Ronon stepped out of the cabin into the early morning light. The sun was beginning to rise in the east, but there was still a chill in the air from the night before. It had clearly been a cold one as the world was covered in a white layer of frost – he was positive that there would have been ice on the surface of the river as well. Lorne, Jonan and Hannan were still asleep, but he needed to go for a run to get rid of some of his anger and frustration. He'd spent most of the night watching over the others – although it was more of a case that he was so worried about Sheppard, Beckett, and McKay that he couldn't sleep.

He started running in the opposite direction of the city because the last thing he wanted was to get captured. Who knows what they would do to him because it was clear that they were only after the ancient gene carriers. That meant that he would do everything in his power to protect Lorne.

He'd only been running for a few minutes when a sound from the bushes brought him to an abrupt halt and in an instant, he pulled his gun out and was on high alert. The shuffling in the bushes continued and he could see movement, so he carefully approached the area. A wailing sound filled his ears, and he instantly recognised it as a child crying. Slowly he put down his weapon and called out softly, "hello is anyone there."

The sobbing continued, so he moved closer to the bushes and spoke gently, "I won't hurt you if you want to come out."

Slowly the bushes parted to reveal a child of about nine or ten earth years, her long black hair was dirty and matted and there were tears in her bright blue eyes. By the looks of her tear-stained face she'd been crying for a while. She wore a long grey dress and although it was dirty it appeared to be in good condition. There appeared to be nothing on her feet though.

He smiled at the child, hoping to offer her some reassurance, "hello my name is Ronon, what's yours?"

"My name is Sharnie," the girl said through her tears.

"Where did you come from Sharnie?"

Ronon's heart filled with compassion when she started to sob uncontrollably, so he immediately knelt beside her and put his arm around her to try and offer her some comfort.

"It's okay Sharnie," he began in a soft voice, "how about I take you back to a place where you can get something to eat?"

She pulled back from him and a look of terror crossed her face, "please don't make me go into the city?"

The kid was terrified and Ronon knew that it was about time they got some answers, so the best thing to do was to get her back to the cabin, give her some food and then maybe she'd calm down enough to talk to him.

"I promise I won't make you go back to the city, but I can take you to a place where you'll be safe."

Sharnie put her arms around his neck and started sobbing louder, "I think…they…killed…my…mother."

Rather than respond to her statement, he picked her up and started walking towards the cabin all the while trying to reassure her that she would be safe. A promise that he would try to keep even if it meant he died trying.

By the time they neared the cabin, Sharnie had stopped crying and she was beginning to look at her surroundings – even though she still had her arms around his neck.

As they approached, he spied Lorne standing on the tiny porch and even from a distance Ronon could tell that he was worried.

"What's going on and who is this?" Lorne asked running down to greet them.

"This is Sharnie, and she has escaped from the city, and I think that she had quite a story to tell us."

"Why don't you bring her inside," Lorne suggested, "Jonan and Hannan have made some breakfast, perhaps she can tell us her story while we eat."

"I'm hungry," Sharnie said wiping her eyes, "I haven't eaten since I left the city, and it was dark when I did. I stayed in a cave and lit a fire overnight, but I couldn't find anything to eat."

Ronon thought that she was incredibly brave, but rather than continuing the conversation, he decided that it was time to act, "Right let's get you inside and give you something to eat."

"Thank you Ronon," Sharnie said hugging him tighter and kissing him on his cheek.

As they walked inside, he wondered whether Amelia was having a girl or a boy. Given his interactions with Sharnie, he found himself hoping for a daughter and he wondered if she would be anything like Sharnie.

Ten minutes later when they were all seated around the small table with food in front of them, Ronon decided it was time to try and get some answers from Sharnie.

"Sharnie, can you tell me what happened to you Mom?"

Ronon almost regretted the question when the child looked as if she was going to burst into tears at any moment.

Instead, Sharnie took a deep breath and began to tell her story, "My mom and I have the gene of the ancestors and we are told from a young age that we will one day have the privilege of helping power our city. I was always proud to have the special gene and considered it an honour that one day I would get to serve my city in an important way. I believed that every day of my life until a week ago when they came and took my mother away."

There were tears in her eyes, but Ronon gently prodded her to continue, "what happened next?"

"I never saw her again. A few days later a doctor came to tell me that she had died. She took me to a lab and allowed me to see my mother's body, "Sharnie took a deep shuddering breath and Ronon was afraid that she was going to cry again, but she didn't and continued her story. "It was obvious they'd done horrible things to her as there were scars all over her head and body. The thing that upset me most was that her eyes were still open and they were completely white, her eyeball had completely disappeared. I know she wasn't breathing, but she still shouldn't have looked that pale and someone should have closed her eyes."

Ronon couldn't understand how this child seemed so articulate and grown up, but one thing was clear she had clearly been traumatized by what had happened to her mother.

She was sobbing again by this point, so Ronon put his arm around her and pulled her in tight. He'd heard enough and desperately needed to get into the city to rescue Sheppard – he only hoped the same thing that happened to Sharnie's Mom didn't happen to Sheppard.

"How did you escape?" Lorne asked gently.

"All of the people with the ancestor gene are kept in a separate part of the city and there are tunnels running underneath, Logo helped me escape through one of those. He said that people were living outside of the city that could probably help."

Her tears had settled down again, so Ronon asked the obvious question, "does Logo know what's going on?"

She nodded her head and her dirty brown hair fell in her face, "yes he suspects something, and he has tried to tell others and he's even tried to get others to try and escape, but most of them are reasonably happy where they are, so they won't believe him."

Ronon was astounded by what he'd just heard, but then it wasn't unusual, people would do anything for a roof over their heads and food on their table.

Brushing the hair back from Sharnie's face, he smiled at her, "Col Lorne, myself, Jonan and Hannan have to go back into the city. Some of my friends are being held there and all of them have the ancestor gene. Jonan's wife and daughter are also being held there. But you will need to stay here and if you want someone to stay with you, I'm sure that Hannan will."

Ronon looked up at the boy and he was relieved when he nodded his consent.

Sharnie sat up tall and announced, "I am coming with you. I can get you into the city and I know where the labs are. Do not worry Logo will look after me once I've told you where the labs are."

Before he had a chance to say anything Jonan spoke up, "I know the way into the city through the underground tunnels, so you'd be safer here."

Sharnie clung to Ronon even tighter," no I want to help!" She told them rather forcefully.

Although he didn't like the idea Ronon had to admit that the child's help would be useful, so he turned to Lorne to see if he could work out what the Colonel was thinking. Lorne merely nodded his head.

"I think that we may need Sharnie's help, so you can come with us, but you must do everything that Col Lorne or I ask you to do."

She nodded her head and threw her arms around him, "thank you Ronon."

"Now how about a quick wash up before we leave, "Jonan suggested with a smile, "I may even be able to find you some clothes."

Sharnie grabbed the proffered hand and walked out of the room with Johan.

Once they had gone and Hannan was in the kitchen tidying up, he turned to Lorne with an angry look on his face and repeated his statement from the night before, "if these people have harmed my friends in any way, I'll kill them!"

Lorne just smiled at him and agreed, "you and me both."

oOo

Loud voices jolted John out of his stupor and his immediate reaction was to try and sit up, but it didn't take him long to realise that someone was rearranging his skull with a sledgehammer, and he couldn't see – the fact that he could barely move didn't help matters either. He felt a little too hot and it disturbed him how his uniform was sticking to his skin – at least he assumed he still had his uniform on.

He considered, trying to go back to sleep until he realised that they were talking and shouting about him.

"If his gene is so strong, not to mention the fact that he's young and good-looking, why don't you use him in the breading program?!" That was definitely Sofia shouting.

Wait… did they say breeding program? What am I, some kind of dog?

The other voice he'd never heard before and although he wasn't shouting there was an urgency to his voice, "the amount of work we've been able to achieve over the last twenty-four hours is incredible. Just give us a little longer and we may be able to work out a way to enhance the gene in other carriers. No, he needs to power the chamber for a little longer."

There was venom in Sofia's tone when she spoke again, "his wound sites are infected and he has a fever, so you know that could kill him, Toth. And if it does, I'm sure that his people will come looking for you and kill you!"

The man laughed manically and John shivered because this man sounded like he was pure evil.

Toth's voice seemed cold and detached as he spoke, "Put him back in the chamber Sofia and if it kills him, I still have his friends to use in the breeding program. They're both attractive enough, so I'm sure some of the females will want to mate with them."

A door slammed and it was clear that someone had stormed out of the room, he assumed it was Toth because he could still smell Sofia's perfume.

By this time, he felt lousy, his headache was bordering on a migraine and there was sweat dripping off his brow – although he was beginning to shiver.

"What's going on?" He whispered as he heard Sofia coming closer.

"You have an infection around the wound sites in your forehead and temple. I have been trying to keep you cool and fight the infection, but there's not much I can do. Unfortunately, I can't keep making excuses and I will have to put you back in the chamber eventually."

Sighing, he turned her head in her direction and looked at where he thought she was standing, "I'm a total stranger to you and you're torturing me. Why?"

"I have no choice, General Sheppard."

His voice was soft, and he answered with one word, "why?"

"Because they have my daughter and I have no idea where they're keeping her," she sobbed.

He wanted to say something to try and comfort her, but he couldn't since although she was being coerced, she was still using him for her own selfish gain. He liked to think he'd do anything for his children, but torturing another human being, a good decent person, he knew he couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry about your daughter Sofia, but this is wrong."

In an instant, the sobbing stopped, and her voice became cold and detached. In fact, this was the most emotionless he'd ever heard her.

"I'm going to help you get changed out of your sweaty clothes and then I'm due in the labs, hopefully, I will be able to give your friends a message then. I will not put you in the chamber until I return, but that's all I can do for you."

He heard her footsteps fade away, for the moment he was alone, and he was beginning to feel worse by the minute. Didn't these people believe in pain medication? All that he could focus on at the moment was the all-encompassing pain that he was in, and he hoped that he would lose consciousness again soon.

Sofia entered the room again a few minutes later – at least he assumed it was her, because of the smell of the perfume.

"I've come to give you a wash and help you change."

Suddenly he felt embarrassed, he knew that he was in pain and blind, but he was fairly sure that he was able to bathe and dress himself.

He gritted his teeth as a wave of pain shot through his head, "Ummm…I'm…sure…I…can…manage."

He tried to sit up, but he very quickly realised that he was in so much pain that his body felt like a led balloon and there was no way he was going to be able to manage himself. If he couldn't even manage to wash and dress, he knew that there was no way he was going to be able to escape.

In the end, he lay still and was subjected to a sponge bath – he was thankful that she was gentle. By the time she'd finished bathing and dressing him, he was shaking all over and he longed for something to end his suffering.

He soon realised that he was dressed in some kind of rough gown with buttons down the front and it was far from comfortable on his hot oversensitive skin. He heard her get up and he was sure that she was about to leave, so he took a deep breath and with as much strength as he could muster, grabbed her hand.

Looking in her direction, he practically begged her to help him, "my…friends will…come…" he panted as his pain reached epic proportions, "they'll…find…your…daughter."

With his strength fading fast, he let go of her hand and closed his eyes, hoping that he'd gotten through to her.

He felt her breath close to his ear as she whispered to him, "I will give you something for the pain and fever now, but Toth and Voth must not find out."

He was shocked when he felt a needle prick in his neck, but then a cool soothing liquid began to flow through his veins, and he felt immediate relief from the pain and fever. It wasn't long before he heard Sofia's footsteps moving away from him and then he heard the door open and close, leaving him alone with his thoughts. All he could do at that moment was pray that his friends would find him because right now he was too sick and tired to move. He knew that if he ended up in the chamber again it would probably kill him, but Sofia was giving him time to recover – at least for now.

A single tear rolled down his cheek as his brain began to feel foggy and he had no idea whether it was for him or his wife and children. What would happen to Teyla if she awoke from her stasis to find that he was gone? Or what of his children would they have to grow up without a mother or father?

Shaking himself he tried ridding himself of all negative thoughts, Rodney and Carson were still out there and he was sure that Ronon and Lorne would have received his message. He was positive that his friends were out there doing everything that they could to try and find him. Perhaps Sofia would get a message to Carson and Rodney and perhaps there were others in the city who knew what was happening and would be prepared to help Sofia.

Suddenly his mood lifted and there was a glimmer of hope. His brain was feeling fuzzy and for now, his pain was muted, he was sure that he was going to drift off to sleep soon, but at least now he had hope.

He was on the verge of sleep when he remembered what he had seen the last time he was in the chamber, and it occurred to him that these people were the descendants of the ship that had been chasing them across the Pegasus galaxy. Right now, he had no idea what to do with that piece of information, so he was quite happy to fall into drug-filled oblivion.

TBC…