"Atlantis, this is Sheppard. We're coming in. This one's pretty much a bust, nothing but rocks for miles around. Even McKay's ready to call it."
Elizabeth Weir allowed herself the briefest of smiles before she nodded at Connors to open the channel on their end. "Sheppard, this is Weir. The shield is down. Come on through."
"Acknowledged. See you in a few." And true to his word, not thirty seconds later John Sheppard stepped through the stargate and into the main tower of Atlantis. Teyla, McKay, and his newest recruit Ronon were close behind, and Elizabeth noted without comment the way three of the four, at least, swept the room with their eyes before nodding in her direction while McKay muttered something about rock samples and lunch and started off towards the hallway that would take him to the closest transporter. The stargate shut down and there was the faintest collective sigh of relief in the control room, much as there often had been in recent months as it seemed that the Wraith still didn't know that Atlantis hadn't been destroyed.
Elizabeth turned and walked into her office, sitting behind the desk just as John stepped in through the door and flashed her his customary crooked smile, one hand on the butt of his P-90 as it pointed at the floor. "So, nothing but rocks?"
"That's right. McKay got some samples he's going to run down to the labs, but otherwise it was pretty dusty. Kind of hot, too. If there ever was a civilization there, they're either gone or they're far enough away from the gate that our scans couldn't pick them up. Might want to send a team back with a jumper to scan the rest of the planet, but for now I think we can cross it off the list," John replied, not having a problem with giving a short debrief now, while the mission was still fresh in his mind. Later he'd type up a report, but he knew Elizabeth preferred to have everything up front.
"Well, at least it was a short mission. Maybe now you can take a couple days to relax and help Ronon settle in a little more - " Her words were cut off by the sudden alarm that sounded behind John through the open door to the control room, and she stood abruptly.
"Dr. Weir - we have an unscheduled incoming wormhole," Connors called out, and John gave her a Look.
"You realize this is your fault for mentioning the 'r-word', right?" Even as John gently scolded her, he was shifting the grip on his weapon and turning in the doorway to head back out and down the stairs to aim the gun at the stargate. Seconds later, Elizabeth reached Connors and the DHD.
"Why isn't the shield going up? Do we have an IDC?"
"Negative - and the shield is not responding," he replied calmly even as his eyes lifted to look over the railing to the stargate and the sideways flush of the wormhole erupted into the room.
"Sheppard - we can't get the shield up," Weir called over to him before looking at Connors. "Patch me into the city. Attention please, this is Dr. Weir. All civilians should immediately report to designated areas, we have a possible invasion incoming. Marines, get to your assigned posts immediately," she said just as calmly even as her eyes remained focused on the swirling blue and white of the event horizon. She was only partially aware of Sheppard calling out orders below, and looked over at the woman manning the equipment behind her. "Are we getting any transmissions or anything at all?"
"Negative - no radio waves or text messages. No sign of - wait a minute. Incoming traveler, er - object."
"Brace for impact," Weir called out to the soldiers in the gateroom, even as her own grip tightened on the railing in front of her. Could the Wraith be coming even now?
Her eyes narrowed at a sudden flash of black as a figure suddenly came through the stargate. Whoever it was hit the ground hard as if they'd been thrown or fallen, and rolled several feet before stopping - and didn't move. The stargate then immediately shut down as the wormhole disappeared, and for a moment, everything was quiet as Sheppard stared at the person, then crept forward. By now, Teyla and Ronon were behind him, each with their own weapons out as they, too, approached and Elizabeth spotted McKay peeking around from a corner to one side.
Sheppard prodded the person with his foot and they still didn't move - and after a moment he nodded to Teyla. Lowering her weapon, the Athosian stepped around John and knelt to gently roll the person over, then brushed back red hair from their face. "It is a woman. She appears to be alive, but she has some bruises - and she is unconscious." Looking up at the control area, Teyla met Weir's eyes. "I believe we should call Dr. Beckett," she suggested.
Elizabeth nodded as she pressed her radio. "Dr. Beckett, please bring a team to the control room. We have a...guest who appears to be unconscious." And there was no telling what they might have all been exposed to thanks to the woman's appearance, though she was someone comforted by the fact that the city hadn't gone into lockdown. "Sheppard, stay with her and have Carson let me know the minute she awakes. I want to know how she took our shield down."
McKay had already headed up the stairs the moment it seemed like no shooting was going to happen, and stepped up beside her as he plugged his tablet into the city's console. "I'll run a diagnostic now, but I ican/i tell you that we ran one yesterday and it was ifine/i. It was fine too when we came through, wasn't it?"
"It was, but that doesn't mean something hasn't happened since. Let me know when you have something," Elizabeth replied, but her attention was on the woman who was now being lifted onto a gurney as Carson began to give her a cursory examination. "I'll be in my office."
Forty-five minutes later, Dr. Weir frowned in concern at McKay, who stood before her desk with multiple tablets in his arms. "What do you mean, the stargate wasn't active? We all saw it, Rodney."
"I know, I saw it too, and this doesn't make any sense, but I mean exactly what I said. According to the diagnostics, there was no active wormhole when the woman showed up here. I still can't account for the shield not working since we know that can operate when the stargate isn't in use, but all I can tell you is that by these reports? What we saw isn't what happened." He spoke quickly, which he usually did when he was nervous and just short of panicking, and Elizabeth couldn't blame him for it.
"The idea that someone can just show up and somehow we don't have a record of it in the computer...that's more than a little disturbing." McKay's next response was cut off by a soft chirp in her ear from her radio, and she pressed it. "This is Weir, go ahead."
"Elizabeth, can you come down to the infirmary? I've the initial test results," Beckett's voice came through loud and clear and from what she could tell, decidedly calm.
"Rodney and I are on the way," she replied before pressing it again, then stood as she met the scientist's eyes. "Let's go see what Carson has to tell us about our mysterious guest, shall we?"
"She's human. One hundred percent, according to the tests, though there's evidence of possibly some genetic manipulation in the past, but no sign of who it might be from. And she's healthy," Beckett added as he gestured towards the screens they all stood around in the observation room. Through the glass wall below them, they could see the woman laying on a medical bed still, with various monitors attached to her. Even now, a nurse was manually checking her blood pressure to compare it to the screen and ensure the readings were accurate.
"Are you sure? It wouldn't be the first time that your equipment told us someone was human, and they were actually - oh, I don't know - an Ancient," McKay piped up.
"That's true, but all I can tell you right now is what the tests and scans show, Rodney," the doctor replied.
Implacable as ever, Sheppard noted, and inwardly reminded himself that Beckett was second only to Teyla in patience where McKay was concerned. "At the moment what I'm more interested in is what she had on her." He directed Elizabeth and Rodney's attention to a table to the side, which held various items Beckett's people had removed before beginning their scans. "Most of these look like weapons - and some clearly are." He picked up one of the small guns, with only the slightest glance over at Ronon, whose attention was fixated on the woman below as if staring at her would answer their questions.
Weir frowned and stepped closer. "I'm not that familiar with guns, so correct me if I'm wrong, but that looks like something from Earth."
Sheppard shot her the faintest smile and nodded. "You'd be right about that. So how did a human with at least one weapon from Earth get all the way out here to the Pegasus galaxy? Do we know where she gated in from? Earth doesn't have that kind of power, last I heard."
"She didn't gate in, according to the readings." Rodney's reply was almost absent as he picked up what looked like a wrist bracer and fiddled with it for a moment, then jumped as a small disc appeared. "Whoa - what is this?" Holding it up as he examined it, he inadvertently pressed the center, then jolted as an electrical shock shot through his body, dropping to the floor.
"McKay!" Sheppard set the gun down and stepped over only to be beaten to the scientist by Doctor Beckett and Teyla, who stooped to nudge the disk and bracer away.
"Obviously it administered some sort of electrical shock, but - " After checking McKay's pulse and then his eyes, he let out a sigh of relief. "Not enough to kill. He's knocked out but I think he'll come around quickly. All the same, we should get him into a bed to monitor until he's awake." Looking over at two marines, he motioned for them to come and get Rodney as he stood.
Sheppard meanwhile nudged the disk on the floor with his foot. When nothing happened, he picked it and the bracer up, and carefully set them back on the table. "That's it - no one touches this stuff until we know what it all does."
"I agree," Elizabeth replied before touching her radio. "Dr. Zelenka, this is Weir. I'd like you to come to the infirmary to examine some equipment our guest brought with her." After his acknowledgement, she turned to Carson. "Will you let me know when she's awake?"
"Of course, Elizabeth," Carson replied with an absent smile. "Just as soon as - "
"She's awake now," Ronon who had before now been silent. "Has been, for several minutes. She can hear us." The doctor blinked in surprise, then turned to hurry away and into the room.
Rodney glanced towards the controls, then rolled his eyes at Sheppard and Weir as he flipped a switch. "Beckett left the comm system into the room on, naturally."
Meanwhile, Sheppard had stepped up beside Ronon, frowning at the woman who still lay without moving. "You sure she's awake?" He asked as Beckett entered, then broke off as the woman suddenly moved with speed that reminded him, oddly, of a Wraith. In seconds she was on her feet and standing behind Beckett with one arm around his neck and pressing tight against his windpipe as eyes an odd mix of green and blue gazed up at them through the window. Two marines had already moved into the room, guns raised.
Slapping his hand on the switch McKay had flipped, he spoke quickly. "Stand down, do not shoot. Lady, let the doctor go. He just wants to make sure you're okay." Letting go of the switch, he started to move himself, along with Teyla and Ronon, while Elizabeth watched from the room in concern.
Ever the diplomat, Teyla stepped past the soldiers slowly and gave the woman a smile. "I know you must be very confused and frightened, but we mean you no harm. We just want to talk to you."
"No offense, but I don't know you or where I am." She took a careful step back, her black clad arm still pressed to Beckett's throat, though she'd eased up on the tension just a little when the guns were lowered. "Who are you? What is this place? Are we still on Vormir?"
"My name is Teyla Emmagan. The man you're holding is Carson Beckett, he's a doctor," Teyla said, before motioning the soldiers back so John and Ronon could step in, the latter still holding his gun, though it was currently lowered. She didn't have to ask to ensure it was set to stun. "This is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard and Ronon. You're on our base, on Atlantis. Is Vormir where you are from?"
"Atlantis?" Confusion flashed for a moment, before her eyes shifted to John in consideration, studying his clothing. It was basic black tac gear, from what she could tell, and told her nothing of where he was stationed. "Lieutenant Colonel of what, exactly?"
John stepped forward, his hands held up, though he was careful not to get between Ronon and the woman. "The United States Air Force. Now, you know who we are. Mind returning the favor?"
She hesitated for a long moment as she studied his face, before slowly letting Carson go and lifting her hands, then stepping back. He staggered away a few feet, anxiously rubbing his throat, but when he turned to face her again his face was still full of compassion. "My name is Natasha Romanoff. And to answer your earlier question, no, I'm not from Vormir. But that's where I was, and where I was supposed to have died. How did I get here?"
"There's time enough to figure that out if you'll just let me check your vitals, lass," Beckett told her as he gestured to the bed. Natasha waited until Sheppard signaled Ronon to put his gun away and the soldiers in the doorway relaxed, then slowly sat on the edge of the bed. Once she had, he reached over to take her pulse and check her over. "Amazing - your heart rate is just as steady as it was when you were unconscious. Care to explain that, love?"
Natasha spared him a quick glance and tempered it with a smile, amused at how kind he was being to her when only minutes before she'd been threatening his life. "I don't spook easily." A quiet snort was his response, as John stepped forward to stand beside Teyla, arms crossed over himself.
"Now that we're all friends, we've got a few questions for you," he started, even as her gaze shifted back to him.
"Likewise," she said with a certain dry edge to her voice. "Where is this base? How was I retrieved from Vormir? I need to contact some people."
Before he could open his mouth to reply, he was interrupted by Elizabeth's voice ringing in through the radio in his ear. "Sheppard," she said in warning, and John looked over at her with the faintest hint of annoyance in his eyes, as if to say, Do you really think I'm that stupid?
"Tell you what," he said aloud as he looked back at the woman. Natasha. "After Beckett clears you, you can sit down and talk with us and Dr. Elizabeth Weir, our leader. Hopefully we can both get answers to our questions, but that means you need to cooperate with the good doctor here. Deal?"
Natasha studied him for a moment and he had a feeling she was weighing her response based on how fast she could make it out of the room. Whatever she saw must have convinced her to agree, because she gave a nod. "Deal."