Author's Note: Thank you so much to everyone for your reviews and your patience. It's concert season and as a musician I'm juggling writing and performances! I appreciate all of your kind words and excitement for what lies ahead in this little story!

Ronon followed closely in Sheppard's wake. The corridors stayed dark and they moved as silently as they could. Knowing Sheppard had a blind side, Ronon drifted to his right to cover for him in case they were ambushed.

"The control room should be up there," Sheppard whispered at one junction. He stepped over the two bodies lying in the hallway. "If Kolya knows about it then it will be guarded. Just not sure if anyone is outside."

From that point, they only communicated with hand signals, moving swiftly before Sheppard stopped Ronon with a fist in the air, pressing himself to the bulkhead corner. A hand swept up from his hip then pointed to the junction told Ronon they had arrived.

Setting himself up on the opposite bulkhead, Ronon checked his gun one last time then nodded at Sheppard who had been moving with his P90's safety off.

Sheppard counted with his fingers. One. Two. Three.

They swung around the corner, fingers tight on the triggers of their weapons, and found no one in front of the large, closed door.

There was, however, a small window at head height, so Sheppard moved quickly, pressing himself against the door before peering in and then ducking down. "Huh," he whispered. "It's empty."

Waving a hand at the control panel, he opened the door, using the muzzle of his P90 to check the frame for any surprises and then stepped into the room, Ronon close at his back.

The room lit up in a soft green glow, revealing a chair just like the one on Atlantis. Sheppard stepped up onto the platform, tentatively lying a hand on one of the armrests before gingerly sitting down and leaning back in the chair.

"Can you take over the ship from here?" Ronon asked.

Sheppard hummed, lights appearing in the air above his head. "Not sure yet." The lights flew around, rearranging themselves delicately, and Sheppard sat up, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "We definitely have an advantage now. We just need to get our people off the bridge."

As he pushed himself off the chair, Sheppard staggered, and Ronon barely caught him as the man fell to his knees, his eyes glassy and disoriented.

"Sheppard?"

Ronon didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but Sheppard didn't reply for a moment, still conscious but his body was limp in the Satedan's arms. He blinked rapidly, then shifted, pulling away from Ronon.

"I'm alright," he slurred.

"Like hell."

Sheppard slowly shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. "The ship wants to fly. It's … kind of hard to focus in here."

Alarmed, Ronon knew that Sheppard normally had a natural handle on Ancient tech. Why this one seemed to be affecting him so negatively was completely out of the ordinary, and he and Sheppard knew it. He dragged Sheppard back out into the corridor, leaving Sheppard propped on the doorframe while he scouted the corridors and made sure no one was around. When he came back, Sheppard had managed to gain his feet and clarity was coming back to his eyes.

"I think there's something wrong with this ship," Sheppard said in a low voice. He massaged the bridge of his nose again, squeezing his eyes shut.

Ronon eyed the man warily. Sheppard looked dead on his feet. If it wasn't that something was wrong with the ship, it could be that Sheppard wasn't strong enough to work the Ancient tech with his usual magic.

"Ship wants to fly," Sheppard repeated. "But there's something wrong with it and I couldn't see what it was. Maybe McKay did something. Maybe Kolya. Or it might be something from the crash. Whatever it is, we don't need the ship right now, but I sent a signal to McKay. He should know we're coming." He brushed past Ronon. "We don't have a lot of time. They're sealing the ship for takeoff."

McKay froze when he saw the blip on the console in front of him. Trying not to give anything away, he kept stabbing at the keyboard in front of him with one hand and used the other to press a few buttons to confirm what he saw.

Someone was in the control room.

A message flashed across his screen, so brief he almost didn't catch it.

Allergy season's a bitch.

He grinned. Sheppard was coming for them.

Sheppard ducked down underneath the small window to the bridge.

"McKay and Teyla are there," he whispered to Ronon. "With Kolya and at least six other soldiers. Could be more but I couldn't see the entire room."

"They ok?"

Sheppard nodded. "For now. Teyla's tied up. McKay is working on something. My guess is Kolya wants the ship operational and needs McKay to get it airborne."

"What do you want to do?"

"Plan B. Sabotage the engine room. Slow them down so we can figure out how to get on the bridge."

"What was Plan A?"

Sheppard hesitated. "Use the chair to take over the ship. Can't use it if it's stabbing daggers in my brain."

Ronon nodded. "Lead the way."

Sheppard went around the corner and tapped a panel Ronon hadn't noticed. It lit up, showing a map of the ship very much like the maps that Ronon had seen around Atlantis. After studying it for a moment, Sheppard turned.

"It isn't too far. Down two levels and almost directly below the bridge."

They set out, moving as fast as they dared but slowly enough that they stayed silent. Ronon kept a wary eye on Sheppard who didn't seem to be able to walk in a straight line. He was carefully feeling his way along the edge of a corridor, using the wall as support. Even so, he stayed silent, P90 at the ready, so Ronon was sure his mental faculties were still there. His lack of balance might have had something to do with the head injury or the partial blindness. Ronon wasn't sure what other injuries Sheppard had sustained, but he wasn't limping, so the Satedan hoped it was only his head and shoulder they had to worry about.

Working their way back down into the bowels of the ship, they didn't come across any more Genii until the final corridor before entering the engine room. Ronon still wasn't quite sure how they were ambushed.

A blast from a Wraith stunner winged the Satedan before he had time to react, and he slumped to the floor, unable to move but still conscious. His entire body tingling from the blast, he cursed silently, willing the stun to wear off and glad it had only glanced off his side.

A dark figure grappled with Sheppard, slamming him against the wall. They grunted and struggled for long moments over the P90 in Sheppard's hands before he managed to withdraw his Beretta with his bad hand and cock it, pressing it against his attacker's head.

"Wait, wait, wait!" the attacking Genii protested. "Sheppard? Is that you?"

"Who wants to know?" Sheppard snarled.

"It's Nika."

Ronon saw Sheppard pause, then let the Beretta drop.

"Nika?"

"Yeah. Fancy meeting you here."

"Are you working for Kolya?"

"Of course not! I mean — yes. But undercover."

"For who? The so-called resistance?"

"Yes."

Ronon was starting to regain the feeling in his jaw and felt his vocal chords beginning to work as he looked between Sheppard and the Genii. Coughing slightly to test his voice, he saw Sheppard look at him sharply, then push Nika away to kneel at Ronon's side.

"Hey, you ok?"

Ronon managed to nod.

"I just clipped him," Nika said.

"Yeah, thanks," Sheppard shot back sarcastically.

"Sorry — I know you guys are dangerous. You remember the last time …" The man trailed off as Sheppard glared at him.

"Last time?" Ronon managed to croak.

Sheppard sighed. "Remember Jenar? Kolya's counterpart who hunted me for months on P43-981?"

Ronon said nothing, glowering at Nika. It was a time that was hard to forget. Sheppard had been missing for months and presumed dead, then turning up covered in blood after having been hunted by elite Genii soldiers for months in the wilderness.(*)

"These are the guys who — kinda — helped me."

"Hey!" Nika protested. "Without us you would have died."

Sheppard shrugged. "Doesn't explain what you're doing here now. The Genii are under better leadership, so why do you still need a resistance?"

"It isn't really a resistance anymore," Nika responded. "It's more of an … intel gathering group. We work for Ladin Radim. We're trying to bring Kolya down."

"Always a good thing in my books," Sheppard said.

"Took us months to find him and infiltrate the group. Can't have you blowing our cover now."

"I don't care what cover you have to be blown," Sheppard snapped. "Kolya tried to kill me, has my people, and won't hesitate to kill them if it means he gets what he wants. By the way — what does he want with this ship?"

"He wants to use it to take out Radim," a new voice said from the darkness.

Sheppard whirled, Beretta up, then relaxed when the man stepped into the light, hands raised.

"Helo," Nika nodded.

"Nika's sidekick," Sheppard said to Ronon.

"I'd say Nika is my sidekick," Helo retorted.

Ronon was tired of not knowing what was going on but was happy he was finally starting to get some feeling back in his limbs. He flexed his hands, stretching his arms and wiggling his toes. Sheppard noticed the motion and moved back to give Ronon space to try and stand.

"You're Satedan?" Helo asked.

Ronon nodded but kept up his suspicious glare.

"Good. We'll need you. Looks like Sheppard here isn't in great shape."

Ronon caught Sheppard wavering, but the man instantly straightened on the remark, hiding whatever it was he was feeling at the moment.

"I'll be fine," Sheppard snapped. "We need to get to the engine room. I want to keep this ship from lifting off and we don't know how much time we have."

"It's guarded," Helo said. "Nika and I are first line of defense. After this corridor there are four guys posted on the entrance. These are elite troops. Don't waste your breath trying to keep them alive as hostages because they'll just keep coming after you."

"Looks like the odds are even, then," Sheppard replied. "You with us?"

Helo looked at Nika, exchanging a silent communication, then both nodded.

"Let's do this."

(*) Reference to "Hope Is A Waking Dream" - the first of my Genii series.