Author's Note: I am thrilled that it seems so many of you have already read "Hope Is A Waking Dream" and you are fans of Nika and Helo! I'm happy to bring them back here to give Kolya a little extra hell alongside Sheppard (and of course, Ronon). Enjoy!
They gave Ronon a few more minutes to regain the feeling in his limbs, then moved silently down the corridors.
Ronon felt a great thrill in working with elite soldiers again. Sheppard was the closest he got to working with his old unit, and Teyla was an amazing warrior, but throwing McKay into the mix changed things. The man always seemed to be getting into trouble.
Now, he wasn't sure if he was going to put his life on the line for two supposed spies within Kolya's ranks, but if Sheppard was ok with it then he would just have to be. It didn't keep him from taking the six so he could keep an eye on the pair.
There were two men stationed outside the engine room door. Following Sheppard's hand signals, Nika and Helo slipped up behind the men, taking them both out with a swift snap of the neck. Ronon was impressed with their skills and wondered if all of Jenar's men had been trained this way. If so, it impressed him even more that Sheppard managed to escape the madman's grasp.
Sheppard made sure everyone was set up before waving the door open and they poured into the room, guns blazing. The two guys inside never stood a chance.
Nika and Helo held point inside as Sheppard paused in the doorway.
"What is it?" Helo asked.
Swallowing hard, Sheppard's face whitened visibly beneath the cuts and bruises. Ronon subtly placed a hand at his back as he sensed the exhausted Colonel was about to collapse. Sheppard took a deep breath and steadied himself, his eyes never leaving the sight in front of him.
In the center of the room, the engine glowed faintly, but Ronon didn't see anything else out of the ordinary for an Ancient ship.
"I need to go outside," Sheppard said faintly.
Ronon put a hand under his uninjured shoulder and supported the man as he staggered back into the corridor. Helo and Nika followed curiously, poking at the dead guards on their way out.
Sheppard leaned over, hands on his knees, eyes squeezed shut as he took a few deep breaths.
"Sheppard?" Ronon felt growing concern as the man didn't respond for a few moments.
"I'm ok," he replied faintly, then pushed himself up, leaning heavily against the bulkhead next to the door. "I can't go in there."
"What do you mean?" Nika asked.
"I have a gene that's compatible with the ship," Sheppard explained slowly. "I felt connected to it as soon as I saw it, but the pull is a lot stronger in there. The chair must be right above the engine which is why it feels so strong here."
"A gene? What does that mean?" Helo demanded.
"I can control the ship with my mind," Sheppard said.
The two Genii looked at each other skeptically.
"You want less lighting?" Sheppard asked. The lights suddenly dimmed. "Maybe some more air?" A cool breeze suddenly wafted through the corridor.
Nika and Helo shifted uneasily.
"Genii scientists have been working on adding this gene artificially to the population," Sheppard explained. "There's a reason. Guys like me can control Ancient technology. That's probably why Kolya wanted McKay. He gets someone who can control the ship and who understands how it works." He glanced back at the engine room. "But this is good to know. The bridge doesn't control everything. Maybe Kolya doesn't know that or maybe McKay misled him and locked him out. Whatever is going on we can use this to our advantage. I just don't want Kolya to know I'm down here yet." He kneaded the bridge of his nose wearily. "Just give me a minute and we can see what we can sabotage."
Sheppard pushed off the wall after a few deep breaths, looking a bit stronger, so Ronon let go of his arm and let him walk carefully back into the engine room.
"Ok, what are we going to do with this?" Nika asked, looking at the Ancient engine. "Doesn't look like anything we have."
"I don't want to destroy it," Sheppard said. "Just disable it. Kolya took the crystals out of the DHD and we don't have a way off this planet if he doesn't give them up."
Nika and Helo looked grave.
"We didn't know he did that," Helo said. "We just knew there were some guys at the 'gate and the rest are posted here."
"There's an easy way to do this." Sheppard pressed a panel in the wall and a drawer slid out. Inside were glowing sheets of crystals. Sheppard took three out, rearranged the others, then closed the panel. The lights around the engine room went from a soft green to amber.
Sheppard handed one crystal to Ronon, one to Nika, and pocketed the third. "We need to hide these."
Ronon nodded, taking the crystal carefully. Nika slipped his into his pack on his back.
"And then I need you all to go underground," Sheppard said.
Ronon bristled. "I'm not leaving you."
Sheppard's voice hardened. "You're our backup, Ronon. Kolya hopefully doesn't know I broke you out, yet. If he thinks I'm working alone we have an advantage. We need to get on the bridge and take out Kolya."
Reluctantly, Ronon realized Sheppard was right.
The Colonel turned to Nika and Helo. "Is there anyone else here working with you guys?"
Helo shook his head. "It's just us."
Sheppard grimaced. "Fine. We'll do the old prisoner trick. Kolya won't be able to resist letting me on the bridge then."
"I don't like this," Ronon growled.
"I don't either," Sheppard retorted. "My last visit with Kolya was less than pleasant. But we have to get McKay and Teyla out of harm's way before we go in guns blazing. Got it?"
Ronon glowered. Sheppard glared back.
"Fine."
Reluctantly, Ronon watched as Nika, Helo, and Sheppard headed back up to the bridge. Once he hid the crystal he would be right behind them.
They knew it would be a gamble to get Sheppard on the bridge, but they had no idea how easy it would be. The only problem was that once Nika knocked on the door, Kolya didn't let the pair escort Sheppard in.
"Stay outside and guard the door," Kolya ordered.
Sheppard felt his blood run cold and wished he hadn't told Ronon to hang back. It was all too soon since his last encounter with Kolya. He stumbled as Helo and Nika shoved him into the room and stepped back into the corridor. The door hissed shut behind him. He had to make himself look worse off than he already was, but it wasn't difficult to do so when he felt bone weary and his headache was rapidly turning into a migraine.
"Bring him," Kolya ordered.
Sheppard felt two soldiers grab him by the arms, dragging him forward then pushing him to his knees in front of the Genii commander. The rope Helo had bound around his wrists was loose, and so far no one had noticed with his hands behind his back. He carefully felt the handle of the knife in his sleeve, double checking it was still there.
McKay and Teyla had been shoved into a corner, eyes wide in surprise. Two soldiers held them at gunpoint and Sheppard wished Teyla wasn't tied up so they could do some major damage together.
"I'm amazed you survived that fall, Colonel," Kolya said, standing over him.
"It turns out I'm pretty hard to kill," Sheppard grinned.
"Apparently," Kolya said dryly. "But you were still caught and I'm going to enjoy killing you in front of your friends."
He pulled his gun from his holster and Sheppard tilted his head. "You probably don't want to do that — especially as I sabotaged the engine room."
Kolya froze, his eyes hardening as he looked at McKay.
"What did he do?" Kolya demanded.
McKay stammered wordlessly as one of the soldiers bodily lifted him up and pushed him face-first into a nearby console. Tremulously, McKay looked at Sheppard who winked at him, hoping it would be enough to put the physicist at ease. McKay glared back at him then focused on the console.
"Something's missing," he finally said. "The entire engine room is dark."
Kolya took out his gun, shoving it against Sheppard's head. "What did you do?" he hissed.
"Oh you know. Scrambled some panels. Took some crystals out. Hid them around the ship. I kept one in my pocket here in case you didn't believe me."
Kolya backhanded Sheppard with the gun, leaving him reeling and his vision greying. Blood thundered and roared in his ears and he couldn't hear anything that Kolya was shouting at him. Strong arms grabbed him before he hit the floor, bringing him back up to face another blow from Kolya. This time he blacked out for a moment before coming around to Kolya inches from his face, hot breath in his nostrils. He could feel the crystal he had slipped into his front pocket on his tac vest being roughly pulled out.
"No passing out on me, Colonel," Kolya said through the fog in Sheppard's ears, shaking the crystal in his face. "Tell me what you did in the engine room."
"Told you," Sheppard slurred. "You're not taking off. Not even McKay's genius is going to replace the rest of those crystals."
Kolya whirled from Sheppard, taking the few steps across the room to grab Teyla, shoving her to her knees in front of Sheppard and then holding the gun to her head.
"Tell me or she dies." Ripping the gag from her mouth, Kolya bent down, growling into her ear, "Beg for your life."
Sheppard coughed, feigning disorientation, then used the distraction as he slipped his hands from the ropes, the knife sliding into his palm as he surged up, slashing at Kolya's arm and causing the Genii to drop the gun. The crystal in his hand went skittering off into a corner.
Sheppard pushed the knife into Teyla's bound hands and kept moving. The soldiers in the room were also in motion, and he knew he had very little time to act.
It was too little time.
A body crashed into him from the side before he could reach Kolya and he cried out from the pain ripping through his shoulder at the movement. Then there were hands on him, pressing him to the floor. He kicked and struggled, fighting tooth and nail, but a fist in his jaw stunned him senseless and he knew no more.