Star 69

by Cheryl W

When their ZPM is stolen, John puts his life at risk using his Ancient gene trying to get it back. As a soldier, he long ago accepted that he might have to give his life in the line of duty but this might cost him something harder to lose: his team, his health and his future as a soldier. NO Slash.

10. Hostile Negotiations

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Chapter 10: Hostile Negotiations

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Unable to dial into Atlantis, Major Lorne was contemplating dropping in with one of their allies when the planet's Stargate began to light up. "Possible hostile incoming. Fall back and get ready for company," he ordered his teams as they retreated far enough to form a perimeter around the gate, their guns at the ready. 'And I thought things were pretty crappy as they were, now we might be facing off with Wraiths. Someone tell me again why I chose the Atlantis assignment?' Evan silently bemoaned.

The soldiers held their collective breaths as the Stargate opened, terse moments passed and then there was a form stepping out of the blue waver of the stargate. A form Evan recognized and called out, "Hold your fire! Friendlies!" Lowering his rifle, he approached Ronon Dex with a wide smile. "I'm glad you see you, Dex." Who was his usually talkative self and gave a nod, but his eyes were scanning their numbers. Evan greeted his other welcome visitors, "Telya, Dr. Beckett, I'm glad the Stargate is working because we haven't been able to lock in the address from this side."

Telya opened her mouth to appraise the Major of the problem with Atlantis' main Stargate but Ronon spoke before she could.

"Where's Sheppard? And I don't see McKay either," Ronon snarled, turning accusatory eyes upon the Major. "Where are they?" a lethalness to the demand that Evan didn't miss, no one could.

"I understand your concern, but I need to talk with Dr. Weir." Because as much as Evan knew Ronon wanted answers, would want to go after Sheppard and McKay, he also knew they didn't have a way to do that. So his next priority if he couldn't get back his people, was to appraise Dr. Weir of the situation.

"Tell me where they are!" Ronon roared, towering over the Major.

Though he didn't have to answer to Ronon, the soldier held no true ranking, Evan valued his life enough to know Dex wouldn't let his questions go unanswered. "Sheppard and McKay are with the thieves, trying to negotiate with them."

For the first time, Dr. Beckett spoke up. "But the Lt. Colonel is in no condition to play negotiator, especially with people having malicious intent."

Evan fought back a sigh. "I know that, Doc. But the leader of the thieves took Sheppard and McKay hostage. Then Lt. Colonel Sheppard ordered me to not try and come for him, that he would make contact when a truce was arranged."

"Was a truce eminent?" Teyla perceptively asked the important question.

Evan hedged his answer. "We've seen Sheppard manage to team-up with a Wraith, so it's not out of the realm of possibilities he can broker a peace treaty with these people."

"These people murdered twelve of us! How can we talk of peace with them?!" Becket protested, felt those lost lives deeply because he failed to save them. Just as he knew Sheppard felt the weight of those lives lost, of all their lives in his hands. It was why John had taken the ATA serum, determined to get the ZPM back.

Lorne opened his mouth to defend Sheppard's proposal, but it was Teyla who provided her viewpoint. "John knows the value of allies as well as the desperation acts one does to survive. He will try and do what is best for Atlantis, without the emotions of revenge blinding him."

"Best for Atlantis but not for himself," Becket grumbled, still highly displeased John put his life at risk so carelessly. It made him ask of the Major. "How was Colonel Sheppard? He took an ATA serum and was experiencing complications."

Evan grimaced, knew his report of how badly Sheppard was faring wasn't going to calm Ronon down at all. "I will tell you his symptoms but first I really need to report to Dr. Weir. She needs apprised of the situation and to be prepared to consider the negotiation terms the Colonel might argue for."

Ronon was wholly dissatisfied with Evan's evasive answers. And there was no way he was going back to Atlantis when John needed him. "Tell me the gate address to reach Sheppard."

Evan didn't outwardly react to the request. Knew Dex was more preceptive than most people gave him credit for and would easily read any heightened tension on his part. Since it would do no good to tell Dex they weren't having any luck dialing into the gate where they had left Sheppard and McKay, Evan instead reiterated, "The Colonel ordered me to not attempt a rescue. That means no one is going to the gate address until Sheppard gives us the green light." And yup, as he expected, the next second Dex was grabbing onto his shift front and shouting in his face.

"Tell me the address, right now!" Ronon menacingly demanded, would not let Lorne stop him from getting to his friends.

"I have my orders," Major Lorne stated unequivocally. Then he softened his voice, his tone offering empathy "And you know as well as I do, Sheppard's orders apply to you as well." Saw that truth hit Ronon, hard. Because Ronon Dex might come off as a loose cannon, but he had fierce fealty for John Sheppard. The taller man shoved him away and then stalked back through the stargate wormhole to return to Atlantis.

Teyla was just as displeased at Sheppard's command, but she hid it well. Told the Colonel, "We are utilizing the second stargate, Major, and can only keep it open a limited amount of time. So please, return with us to Atlantis now."

Evan nodded, as if that wasn't the goal all the while. However, he sensed there were things his three rescuers weren't telling him. And since they were compadres of Sheppard, it probably meant they were acting on emotions rather than orders. But they were getting them home and that counted for a lot in Evan's book. Raising his voice, he commanded, "Alright, everyone through the gate back to Atlantis," and he was the last man through the gate.

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When a line of people entered the building wearing the same robe as Olpwen, Sheppard and McKay knew their day in court was about to get underway. The man that sat at the middle chair, clearly the leader, had the strong jawline and good looks that easily singled him out as Kannar's father. He introduced himself as Sakar and called the council session in order when all seven council members had taken a seat and ten community members claimed chairs behind John and Rodney, one of which was Kannar.

"Our mission to return the power source to our people has been achieved this day," Sakar proudly announced, his beaming eyes resting on his son. That declaration caused loud clapping and a rally of hurrahs among the gathered people. Moments later, Sakar raised his hand to quiet the exuberant reaction. "But that mission wasn't without risk, as we knew it would be. Our people were tracked through the stargates by soldiers, led by this man," he pointed to John.

John didn't think it was the right time to try to be charming, so he held onto his give-nothing-away-military bearing. Also, the room was spinning, and he felt sweat wetting the back of his neck. So the less he had to speak, the better. At his side, Rodney muttered, "I'm distinctly not feeling the love."

"Though the Lanteans are our enemy, we did not consider the possibility that they would be able to locate our settlement and bring their military might down around our heads. It was very shortsighted of us to not realize that likelihood." Sakar let those dark ramifications sink in, knew he had to make his people realize the way they treated their "guests" had very far reaching and deadly consequences. "Even with our shield about to be restored, the Lantean technology can be utilized to penetrate it. When they do, they can come at us from their ships and ground troops." Sakar chose not to mention that Kannar had disabled their planet's stargate. He knew it was a stall only; the Atlanteans could stargate to the nearest planet and fly to their settlement.

Rodney leaned over to quietly remark to John, "We're coming off as the big bad wolves…is that helping us or hurting us?"

The same question was raised in John's mind too. Kannar's words to Councilmember Olpwen gave him an idea what the soldier's father was trying to achieve with his scare tactics. Found he liked the Sakar guy…like he had started to like the son. "We can work with this," John undertoned to Rodney.

Sakar was continuing. "So we can prepare for battle against the very technology our forefathers helped conceived and built, knowing how futile that is, or we can made an alliance and keep our children alive to usher in another generation."

It was no surprise that Olpwen was outraged at this suggestion. "Alliance?! With the Lanteans?! We all know that is a falsehood. They do not keep their word, have no honor, will betray us all over again and steal back our power source. Maybe they will force us to be their servants again, while they take away the community we've built and maintained for thousands of years without their technology!"

With some of the other council members nodding their heads in agreement with Olpwen, John figured this was his moment to speak up. "Can I address the council?" he politely directed to Sakar, still going with the military demeanor.

Olpwen started to protest but Sakar spoke over him. "Speak truthfully and we will listen."

"I feel introductions are a good place to start," John opened with, his charming smile as full watt as he could make it, feeling as crappy as he did. "I'm Lt. Colonel John Sheppard and this is Dr. Rodney McKay. We do live on Atlantis but we are not Lanteans. Yes, we have traces of their genes, enough to power up Atlantis's basic systems but the Lanteans came to our planet tens of thousands of years ago but they are no longer a presence there. Maybe they died out, maybe they moved to another galaxy, all that is left of them was a long-buried base that we just recently uncovered. Which gave us coordinates to this galaxy."

This seemed a revelation to all and prompted Olpwen and two other councilmembers to scowling. John pressed forward all the same. "We don't want war between your people and ours. It doesn't do either of us any good."

Another council member, a brown skinned woman, cut to the heart of the matter. "Regardless of whether or not you call yourselves Lanteans, you have been utilizing our power source, leaving us vulnerable to Wraith raids for generation after generation. And don't try and tell me that you didn't follow our teams for the sole purpose of stealing it back. But now that we have caught you two, you expect to offer us a trade. But it's not really a trade, only a threat: We hand the power source back or your people will annihilate us. I see no difference between you and the ones that betrayed our ancestors, no matter your diluted lineage."

"Ok, true, we did pursue your teams to take back the power source you stole," Sheppard conceded. "I'm not going to lie, mostly because I believe you already know this, but we need that power source to operate critical systems in Atlantis. And if I return without it, it will leave Atlantis open to the Wraith."

"You then will know how our people felt, being ravaged by Wraith and having little to no way to protect ourselves. It is destiny that you should live as we have, die and wish for death as our ancestors have," the woman councilor shot back.

"I have seen the Wraith destroy entire civilizations," John grimly countered, a little mad the woman was implying he had been sheltered from the worst the Wraith could do. "I know firsthand how they steal a life without remorse. They will consume us all to survive. In my book, that makes them the greatest enemy for all of us. Whether you like us or not, hold a grudge because some of us have drops of Lantean blood running through our veins, you have to know that the Atlantis station along with our manpower and technology present the best chance this galaxy has to defeat the Wraith."

"Now that sounds like the hubris of the Lantaens, so mighty and brilliant," Olpwen snapped in disdain. "Vow that they can provide the one and only way for us all to survive. Our ancestors believed such lies, I don't!"

"Ok, yeah, I think the Ancients….Lanteans as you call them, were egotistical braggers myself," John allowed, knew Elizabeth thought they walked on water but he'd seen enough to know it was what you did when you were backed against the wall that exposed someone's true character. And the Ancients had betrayed these people, had used them then discarded them. "But worse than braggers, they were cowards. When the Galaxy really needed them to stand in a no hold bar fight against the Wraith, they picked up their city and went scurrying off to another galaxy. So yeah, they were no saints and I'm not going to die or let any of my people die defending them."

Silence fell heavily over the proceedings, his words finally having an impact. John just wasn't sure if it was the right kind. But he knew enough to press his advantage. "So if you want to hate the Lanteans, that's your right. But don't let your hate take us to war with each other."

"Pretty declarations do nothing to protect us," Olpwen retorted, because he was one of those guys who would complain about something he got for free.

John was about to offer a comeback but a coughing fit choked off his breath. Trying to cough discreetly into the crook of his elbow, he took the cup of water Rodney handed him and took a swallow to temper the tickle in his throat. When he felt he had gotten the tickle under control, he looked up, he saw the ashen looks he was getting from the council. Looking down at his shirt, he saw the splash of blood on his sleeve his coughing had left behind.

An elderly councilman who had kept quiet, spoke now, his voice soft but carried effectively through the building, "He says he's not Lantean, claims there is little of their bloodline within his people, yet he tracked our people through numerous stargates, a feat only the strongest Lanteans could do. Or would choose to do, knowing it would most likely cause the deterioration of their health and maybe endanger their deaths. His words deny what his body, his symptoms, his feats declare. He is Lantean."

"Not this again!" Rodney snapped, so tired of this accusation, and totally freaking out at John's physical deterioration and Kannar's dark prediction that it was going to kill John. So no, he wasn't in the best frame of mind to tolerate idiots. Ok, he never was, but this was above and beyond his normal no tolerance level. Turning his anxiety and anger into outrage, he surged to his feet and growled at the accusing councilmember, "He took something to enhance his minimal Ancient genes! Did it because you guys stole a ZPM making us vulnerable to the Wraith. He risked his life for his people! As far as all your hate speech about the Lanteans and all we've read, they weren't big into sacrifices. Picked battles they could win, cut their losses when their odds changed and didn't have much of an honor code. This guy," he pointed to Sheppard, "is the stubborn poster boy for honor, for sacrifices. He's not a damn Lantean! He's a leader who willingly risked his health..his life to safeguard his people. You have a problem with that, fine. Our people will come blazing in here, take back our damn ZPM, with firing and all that prejudice stuff, and let the Wraith pick over your bones."

That incited the council into chaos, them all talking at once. In the cover of the raised voices, John hissed to Rodney, "Damn it, McKay, we're trying to make a peace treaty not provoke a lynching."

Sakar had to call the council to order three times before silence fell again. "Does this doctor speak for you and your people, Lt. Colonel? Will your people attack us?"

John hadn't wanted to lead things this way. 'Thanks Rodney. Guy never misses a chance to piss someone off.' "I don't want it to come to that," he pacifically retorted. "Which is why I was going to propose another solution for both of our power source issues. We have generators that might suit your needs."

It was Sakar who rejected that offer. "If we could simply use another power source, we would have long ago and saved thousands of our people's lives."

"You guys don't even have lightbulbs, so excuse me for doubting you've scoured the universe for better solutions than beeswax," Rodney scathingly quipped. But at John's pointedly pissed and demanding look, he sighed and begrudgingly offered, "We have other things that can produce power, almost as significantly as a ZPM." Looked to John for a pat on the head but John jerked his head toward the council, ordering Rodney to be more than civil. "Ok, yes, I can help you find a workaround for your shield using our naqahdah generators."

John added on something to sweeten the deal. "And if we can't get the generator to power your shields, you can keep the ZPM."

"Hey! Are you delirious?!" Rodney exclaimed, swiveling in this seat to face off with Sheppard.

Though John wanted to give Rodney a chewing out for openly protesting his offer, he knew all eyes were on him. Needing to broadcast transparency instead of manipulative plotting aka lying, John gave his response to McKay loud enough for all could hear. "Rodney, we need more allies. And they helped build Atlantis, they have skillsets we could use."

"We're doing fine without them," Rodney's affrontery at the idea of needing their help very clear.

"Until we defeat the Warith, we are always in need of more help," John said through his teeth, needing McKay to get onboard even as he shot the council a 'we're all friends here' smile.

Rodney hissed lowly, for John's ears only, "But we could end up losing the ZPM to them."

"We already did lose it to them, Rodney," John hissed back.

"They stole it!" His outraged tone caring throughout the enclosed space.

John said his response in his normal voice, "They consider it a return of stolen property."

Course Rodney had to get all nitpicky. "Technically, this isn't their ZPM. None of the ones in Atlantis are. The Lantaens would have used their ZPM to get them to earth."

"Rodney don't split hairs," John growled, nearly on his last nerve with this whole fiasco.

"Fine, but this plan sucks," Rodney petulantly shot back.

"Yeah, well seems to be my day for sucky plans," John gritted back before he faced the council, saw that they were enthralled with the byplay between him and Rodney. "Not that this plan is sucky but…it will be if you turn me down. I have the power to put a truce on the table. I'm hoping we can come to terms before my people decide we've been gone too long and they fear for our safety. Do something neither of us wants."

Sakar looked at his council members but didn't call for a vote yet, sensed that it would still be divided. He asked of the Lt. Colonel, "We've killed some of your people and injured others, it seems more logical for you to seek retribution instead of negotiating a truce." His eyes sliding to Kannar's, he saw the weight of those deaths on his son's soul. Hated the need for his son to be bear that guilt, to be a killer, even if it was for the good of all their people.

For John's part, he respected Sakar for asking the hard questions that most people would gladly push under the rug. "I'm a soldier, I know peace usually doesn't come about without loss of lives. It's not how I want things to be, but our planet's history books are full of wars waged before peaceful alliances could be formed. "

Sakar had to be the logical one. "But it's not all in your power to decide if your people will agree to this alliance, not seek vengeance for the blood we have spilled. You have a leader in Atlantis. It is that leader's final word that solidifies this token offer of a truce."

"That is true. Any alliance between our people will be brokered by Atlantis's leader, Dr. Weir," John conceded, knew Elizabeth just loved when he promised things before he got her ok on them. "Which is the perfect time to bring up the need for us to call Atlantis, tell them myself and Doctor McKay are well. That no rescue operation is needed and for me to confer with Dr. Weir, maybe set up a meeting."

Of course, Olpwen objected to all of this. "And let them come through the stargate, attack us while we naively contemplate an alliance?! The Lanteans are known for their villainy, we can not fall prey to their deceptions ever again."

McKay huffed out a frustrated breath. "Maybe you are hard of hearing. We are NOT Lanteans. If this lack of comprehensive speaks of your entire gene pool, maybe you don't have anything to contribute to us after all."

"McKay, stop talking!" John tersely commanded. Naively, he had really thought McKay had taken his anger from that morning seriously. But no, nothing was above the man's ego and sharp tongue. The councilmembers were again all speaking at once, hurling insults John imagined, but he couldn't quite make out their words. Everything felt removed from him, like a tv with the sound turned down real low, or like he was viewing the world from a few feet under water. But his ears were ringing, and it tasted like burnt toast in his mouth. Like it had before, in Carson's lab and just after he went through that last Stargate.

Rodney was going to entreat John to not force him to continue to make nice to these idiots but one look at John's colorless features and he was reaching for his friend. But he wasn't fast enough. John toppled out of the chair and began seizing violently on the building's dirt floor.

In his haste to get to John, Rodney knocked over the two chairs and fell to his knees by John. Frantically, he pushed the table away from John's jerking limbs and thrashing head. Cursed as he looked around for something to put in John's mouth to ensure he didn't bite his tongue. With nothing to hand, he improvised. Pulling John's shirt up, he stuck the hem in John's mouth.

Rodney wanted to freak out, even vent about John's timing but instead used the soothing tone Carson had instructed him to. "You're going to be ok. Fact is, we needed a break to this circus." But as John's seizing seemed to amp up, he felt fear taking over. "But you can stop now, John. Please God, make this stop."

He wasn't even aware of the panic in the room, that the council members were fleeing as well as the spectators. Didn't know anything but John's writhing body. Until someone grabbed his arms from behind and started to pull him away from his best friend. "What are you doing!? Let me go!" he shouted as he was yanked to his feet and dragged backwards, taken further and further away from John.

The elderly councilmember stood ten feet away from John, giving orders to everyone. "Stay away from him and seal off this building."

"What?! No?! He needs help! Or at the very least, he needs me. You can't …" Rodney protested violently, struggling all the while to be free. He resorted to kicking and elbowing into the bodies holding him from behind. But the hands gripping him didn't lessen their grasp, ruthlessly dragged him backwards, away from John, who was still seizing with no signs it was stopping anytime soon. Then Rodney found himself outside on the street, along with everyone else who had once been in the council meeting. Two soldiers shut the doors and retreated back to join the rest of the gathering crowd.

All Rodney could think was John was in that building and he might be dying. All alone.

That couldn't be true, couldn't happen, Rodney refused to let it happen.

He became a wildcat, kicking out and throwing punches as if he was once again on the Wraith serum. But there were too many of them and a well-placed elbow to his temple left him stunned and falling. He wouldn't remember impacting with the ground mostly because he wasn't conscious at the time.

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TBC

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Sorry people, that's where our story pauses! Poor Sheppard!

Shout out of Love to my wonderful reviewers who always make my day and many thanks to all the readers out there for spending time with this story.

Have a great day!

Cheryl