Word Count: 13,806
Rating: PG13
Category: AU. Angst. Action/Adventure
Story Status: Complete
Summary: An Ancient outpost causes excitement…and they learn about the inventors of the nano-virus from ‘Hot Zone’. This becomes AU after the episode Coup D’Etat, second season.

Author's Notes: When this was started it wasn’t an AU.  However, Season 3 has made it one (!).  Also, I’m not a medical person and have only a vague understanding of genetics.  All genetic talk in this story is guess work, and probably should be considered AU to actual reality, as I’m sure any geneticists out there would agree!

Beta: Thank you to Jayne Perry for the beta-reading.


Dalna
By Leesa Perrie

Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three


Chapter One – The Outpost

From the moment the MALP showed the picture of an Ancient outpost, he’d been acting like a little kid, and he knew it, but couldn’t help himself.  Even though there were no energy signals emanating from the outpost, he still couldn’t wait to go and have a look.  There could be all sorts of devices in there, and if necessary, they could use a naquadah generator to power the place up for a while.  Oh, yes, this looked good.  It didn’t even look particularly damaged, just overgrown with various plants.

And once he was there, the feeling of being a kid in a candy store hit him full force.  There was so much to look at, he almost didn’t know where to start.  He’d be looking at one room full of various Ancient devices, and then next door there would be more, and then more…He found himself darting about, not able to concentrate on one thing for long before something else caught his eye…

Colonel Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon had merely shared an amused look at his antics.  Sheppard had then sent Teyla and Ronon to check out some of the rooms, telling them not to touch anything, as he really didn’t want to deal with McKay in a snit, but to keep an eye out for trouble.  In the meantime, he would follow the excited astrophysicist around and try to ensure that he didn’t get himself into any trouble.  A distracted McKay, he decided, could miss a whole hoard of Wraith until they were upon him.  Fortunately, it soon became clear that the place was deserted, but Sheppard still kept close to McKay.

A few hours after arriving, more scientists had arrived, along with a military contingent, just in case, and many of the very full storage rooms that had been found were being emptied.  It looked like they were going to be able to pick up a lot of spare parts and some spare equipment.  Unfortunately, they hadn’t found anything like an armoury as yet, so no drones.  Or jumpers.

Sheppard realised that it was going to take days to sort and pack everything they wanted to take back.  And McKay was now integrating a naquadah generator in the hopes of at least being able to access the database, if it was still intact.  It looked like he and his people would be babysitting scientists for some time yet.  Great, he thought, plenty of time to get bored, then.

----------------

It took almost two weeks to get the database downloaded – fortunately it wasn’t anywhere near as extensive as Atlantis’ database – and to load up every moveable, and some not so easily moveable, objects and take them back home.  It had been decided that the outpost wasn’t defendable without a ZPM, and also, it was extremely close to the Genii home world, making it not the most suitable place for an Alpha site.  Though it looked like the Genii had not been to explore this place, otherwise it would have already been picked clean.  However, they didn’t want to test fate by setting up as neighbours.

During the time checking out the outpost, many people had ended up camping overnight.  There had been a few complaints about food rations disappearing, and some quarrels and accusations thrown around about it.  Nothing too serious, and easily handled.  Though who was taking the extra food, no one had been able to find out.  Sheppard didn’t think too much about it, it was hardly a major problem.  Not now they had regular supplies from Earth.

The last night on the planet, Sheppard, McKay, Teyla and Ronon opted to camp out.  It was clear McKay was going to be busy for most of the night anyway.  Everybody else elected to go back to Atlantis and return in the morning.

Having finally lured McKay away from the Ancient technology, and persuaded him to get some sleep, no easy task, Sheppard took the middle watch.  

It was only a few hours to morning, and he found himself starting to drift off, when a small figure darted out of the woods, grabbed McKay’s pack, and darted back into the woods.

“Hey! Stop!” Sheppard got to his feet, the others rousing at his shout.

“What? What’s going on?” McKay demanded, blearily.

“Thief,” shouted Sheppard as they all took off into the woods, following the trail the person had left behind.  It was soon clear that whoever they were following wasn’t trying to hide his – or her – trail.  

After about thirty minutes, they slowed. Ronon pointed to a clearing just ahead of them.  

“He’s there.”

“Okay, you circle round, and I’ll approach him from this side.  Set your gun to stun.  I’d rather not kill anyone,” he looked pointedly at Ronon.

Ronon nodded, slipping away into the woods as ordered.

“Teyla, McKay, stay here, but be ready to act if you need to.”

Sheppard approached slowly.  The sun was beginning to rise already, and some light was making its way into the clearing.  As he got closer, he could make out a shape hunched over McKay’s pack, searching through it.

“That doesn’t belong to you,” he said.

The kid, he could see now he was a teenager, looked up in shock and terror.  Standing, he backed away from Sheppard.

“Hey, no need for guns.  Just…I’ll just go…leave it for you…no need to get nasty…” the boy said, moving away from Sheppard, and darting his eyes from side to side.  He didn’t look behind him though, and so didn’t see Ronon approaching.

“I’ll…er…I’ll just be on my way, then…” he turned and ran smack into Ronon’s arms.  “Hey, let me go.  Let me go.  Please,” he shouted, trying desperately to slip out of Ronon’s embrace.  Ronon merely looked to Sheppard.

“What do you want me to do with him?”

“Just hold him for now,” Sheppard moved towards the kid. “I’m Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, and this is Specialist Ronon Dex, and these are Teyla Emmagen and Dr Rodney McKay,” he added, as they entered the clearing as well. “We don’t intend you any harm.”

The boy settled, but only because he realised that he couldn’t get free.  He looked at Sheppard with scared eyes, and it was clear he was shivering in fear.

“Just let me go, please.  I won’t…you won’t see me again.  I’ll go away.  Please, just let me go…”

Sheppard realised he as still holding his gun on the kid, and pushed it to down, hoping to look a little less threatening.

“Look, no one’s going to hurt you, okay?” The kid didn’t look very convinced of that. “Why don’t you tell me your name?” Sheppard continued.

“Talyn.  Talyn Cardeya.  I know who you are.  I’ve been watching you.  You’re the ones who live on Atlantis.  The ones who helped kill my people,” the boy paused, and then continued.

“Your people?” Sheppard queried.

“Hoff.  I’m from Hoff.  But I didn’t take the serum.  My parents, they took it, and tried to make me, but I wouldn’t.  I didn’t want to risk dying.  And Neran said it was a bad idea.  That the Wraith would still come, and that they’d wipe us out because of our defiance.”

Sheppard had paled slightly at the mention of Hoff.

“We tried to warn Chancellor Druhin, but he didn’t listen.  Neither did the majority of your people,” he said.

Talyn looked away.

“I know,” he muttered quietly.

Sheppard could tell the kid was holding back tears.  He sighed.

“Come back with us.  Maybe we can help you.”

“No!” Talyn started to struggle wildly. “I don’t trust you!  I don’t trust anyone!  After my parents died from the serum, Neran took me in.  When the Wraith came, he took me to the gate.  Waited for it to close down, and then dialled out.  But he didn’t take anyone else with him, even though he could have.  He lied to me, he wasn’t from Hoff, he was a Genii spy! He took me to their home world and they took me in, said they’d look after me, and then they turned on me!  I barely got away! I’m not letting that happen again.  Please, just let me go!”

“Hey, now, settle down.  We’re not going to hurt you.”

“I don’t…I can’t believe you.”

The light in the clearing was improving rapidly now, and Sheppard noticed something odd about the kid’s eyes.  He moved closer, and Talyn pressed back against Ronon.

“Don’t.  Please,” Talyn could tell Sheppard was looking at his eyes, and he looked downwards. “I’m only half Hoffan.  My father, my true father, was…was…Dalna,” he closed his eyes, trying hard not to panic at the confession.

“Dalna?” Sheppard looked to Teyla. “Ever heard of them?”

“No,” she replied.

“I have,” Ronon stated. “There are stories about a race called Dalna that fought the Ancients before the Wraith.  They were said to have hated all life that was not their own.”

“They hate humans?” Sheppard asked. “That can’t be good.”

“Please…I’m not like that…my father wasn’t like that…he…he died to save my mother, and the few others that were with her.”

“Maybe you should tell us more,” Sheppard asked.

Talyn took a deep breath, and looked Sheppard in the eye, trying hard to push down the fear he was feeling.

“My mother and a few others were taken when the barrier was breached.”

“What barrier?” asked McKay.

“The Ancestors, they placed a barrier around the Dalna home world, trapping them inside.  It was a…a…slow-time envelope.  But there was a breach, and my mother and some others were captured and taken back to Dalnan.  The Dalna were experimenting on them.  Trying to find the most effective way to wipe out everyone in the galaxy.”

“Crap,” Rodney exclaimed. “You don’t think they were behind that nano-virus the Ancients were studying?”

“That’s not a comforting thought,” Sheppard replied. “Go on,” he nodded to Talyn.

“My father, he didn’t agree with what his people were doing.  He didn’t hate like they did.  Didn’t see us as a disease to be eradicated.  And he, he fell in love, with my mother.  He took her, and any others he could get to, and left through the breach.  He knew how to seal the breach, and he did that.  Then brought my mother and the others to an isolated world.

“After a short while, the Wraith passed by the planet.  They must have detected life there, and attacked.  But my father, he had some weapons that he used to buy time for my mother and the others to get to the gate and dial Hoff.  My mother said that my father’s ship was destroyed.  She saw it happen just before stepping through the gate.

“When I was born, I looked normal.  She never told anyone that my father was Dalna, and even my stepfather didn’t know.  But just after my sixteenth year, my eyes changed.  And I started to be able to absorb information really quickly, and see connections in the information that others hadn’t seen before.  My mother was forced to tell the truth about my parentage.

“People were afraid of me, but after a while, they realised I was useful, and that as I had been brought up as a Hoffan, I had no allegiance to the Dalna, nor believed what they did.  So everything settled down, until you came.

“Don’t hurt me, please,” this last was little more than a whimper.

“We won’t,” Sheppard assured him.  “We’ll head back to camp, and then I’ll contact Elizabeth and let her know what is going on.”

----------------

On the way back to their camp, it was clear Talyn was thinking of running if he got half a chance.  Sheppard knew that Ronon and Teyla were watching the boy like hawks, as he was, and so there wouldn’t be much chance for him to run.  He wasn’t sure if keeping Talyn with them was a good idea, but he seemed harmless.  More scared than anything.  And finding out more about these Dalna seemed like a good idea.

“Okay,” he said, as they got back to camp. “You stay here and I’ll contact base to let them know what is happening.”

“Your base is Atlantis,” Talyn said.

“Atlantis was destroyed by the Wraith,” Sheppard said, but was interrupted before he could continue.

“No it wasn’t.  The Genii said that you tricked the Wraith into thinking that, that’s all.”

“Okay…why don’t you tell us more about your time with the Genii?  You seem to know a lot for a boy your age.”

Talyn didn’t look too sure about this, but then sighed, seeming resigned to having to tell them his life story.

“The Genii aren’t what they seem, and I don’t think they wanted me there.  But Neran talked to Cowan and it was okay. Then there was a take over.  Cowen was killed, and a new guy, Ladon, took over.  But everything was okay again, I guess, though I was afraid of them.  They were using my ability to absorb information and make connections that others didn’t see, and I was afraid that if I didn’t help them, they’d turn on me.

“And then, a few weeks later, some guy named Kolya turned up and there was fighting.”

“Kolya?” McKay said with a shudder. “You mean that psychopath isn’t dead?”

“No, he’s not. He killed Ladon and took over.  When he became aware of my presence amongst the Genii, he wasn’t happy at first.  I think he was going to have me killed. Neran had died during the fighting, but one of Neran’s friends persuaded him to keep me alive.  Only now I was a prisoner.  

“A few days later, I was brought in front of Kolya.  He was terrifying.  He made it quite clear that I was to be kept as a prisoner, and that I was to do whatever I was told, or else I’d be punished.  They wanted me to keep doing what I had been, you know, absorbing information and making connections, helping them with their research.  But they also wanted to study me. Took lots of blood and other samples.  Lots of tests.  A couple of times I hesitated when ordered to do something, and I was…whipped…”

Talyn paused.  His breath was hitching, and he slipped down to the ground.  He curled into a ball.  “You won’t do that, will you?  Please?  I’ll do whatever you want, but please, don’t…hurt…me.”

Sheppard knelt next to the boy.

“I told you, we won’t hurt you,” he reassured him.

“To hurt someone like that is not our way,” Teyla put in as well.  Talyn looked at them, calming his breathing, but still looking small and scared.

“How did you get away?”  Sheppard asked.

“I saw a chance, and I took it.  I knew they wouldn’t kill me if I tried to escape, though they would punish me if I failed.  But it was worth the risk, and I got away.  I’d seen their database of gate addresses, and I saw one that had a mark next to it.  I know it meant there was something of the Ancestors there, but I knew it wasn’t Atlantis.  That address wasn’t in that database,” as Talyn talked, he slowly uncoiled into a sitting position, though still wary of the adults around him. “The planet I ended up on was this one.  I was here a few days before you arrived.  The outpost had a shield around it.  That’s why the Genii had left it alone.  But the shield collapsed a couple of days later.  And awhile after that, you arrived.”

“Hmm, the ZedPM must have become depleted, causing the shield to collapse.” Rodney said, shaking his head. “If we had found this place sooner, we might have been able to boost our power for a while, though probably not for long.”

“Well, at least we’ve got our hands on a lot of technology,” Sheppard pointed out.

“Why did you not approach us?” Teyla asked.

“I was too scared, especially when I realised you were from Atlantis. I took food when I could risk it, and when I realised you were all leaving, I decided to try and take some other things.  Maybe things I could use to survive.  I thought you were all asleep when I took that bag, but I was wrong.  And I didn’t run far enough.  I don’t like being alone…but I don’t know who I can trust.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll realise that you can trust us, eventually,” Sheppard said. “Just give us a chance to prove our good intentions to you.”

Talyn looked at him, and then at the others.

“Okay,” he sighed, looking far from convinced that he was doing the right thing.

“Right.  I’ll head to the gate then, and I’m sure Rodney will have some spare food you can have, right, McKay?”

“And you don’t have any spare food, Colonel?” he huffed.

“Not as much as you,” Sheppard replied, smiling at the look on Rodney’s face, and then getting up and heading towards the gate.

Rodney narrowed his eyes, and then turned his attention to the kid.  Talyn looked at him fearfully.  He gave a heavy sigh and grabbed his pack, finding a power bar at the bottom.

“Here,” he said ungraciously, pushing the power bar over to the kid.  Talyn grabbed it, and immediately pulled the wrapper off and started to devour it.

----------------

After a long discussion with Elizabeth, it was decided to bring Talyn back to Atlantis.  He seemed overawed by the place, when he stepped out of the wormhole, until he caught sight of the guards spread around the room.  He stepped back, eyeing them fearfully.

“Welcome to Atlantis,” Dr Weir approached, smiling. “I’m Dr Elizabeth Weir.”

Talyn just looked at her as she approached, and then took another step back.  

“Okay,” Elizabeth said quietly, it was clear Talyn was terrified that they were going to turn on him.  John had mentioned the kid was rather ‘skittish’.  She looked at John. “Maybe you should take Talyn to the infirmary for a check up?”

“No!” Talyn shouted. “No, don’t…”

“Easy, kid,” Sheppard said. “No one’s going to hurt you.  It’s standard procedure to check the health of any visitors.  In fact, Dr Beckett will want to check us over as well.”

He carefully took Talyn by the arm and started to guide him out, gently.  Talyn still looked pretty spooked by the idea, but seemed resigned to it.  

Teyla and Ronon followed, positioning themselves ready to catch Talyn if he made a run for it.  

Rodney started heading towards the control section.

“Rodney?” Sheppard said, looking less than pleased with the physicist’s actions.

“What? Oh please, I’ve got far more important things to do than spend time with Beckett.”

“Go with them,” Elizabeth ordered.  Rodney looked at her, and then sighed in frustration.

“Oh, alright then,” he huffed, and headed after his team mates.

----------------

Talyn took one look at the infirmary, and tried to bolt.  Ronon grabbed him gently, not forcing him into the room, but stopping him from running.

“It’s okay,” Sheppard said, trying to calm the kid. “No one here is going to harm you.”

Talyn looked at him with wide frightened eyes.

“But…but…you’ll want to…study me…like they did.  It hurt…”

“I would never harm you, lad,” Beckett said.

“You harmed my people!”

It was a low blow and hit Beckett hard.  He swallowed.

“Aye, I had a hand in it, I’ll not deny that.  But they proceeded against my wishes.  I never would have helped them if I had known the outcome.”

Talyn looked away, embarrassed by his accusation.

“I know…really…I know...It’s just…” he paused. “You won’t hurt me?” he asked, staring at Beckett warily.  

“I have no intention of causing you any pain, lad.”

“He’s not like the Genii doctors, Talyn,” Sheppard added.

“Okay…” it was clear that the boy was still very scared, and extremely nervous.  

“So, who’s first?” Carson asked.

“I will go first,” Teyla replied.

In the end, the team had their check-ups first, by which time Talyn had calmed somewhat.  He was clearly still nervous, and easily spooked, but not as terrified as when he had first arrived at the infirmary.  With gentle handling, and reassurance from both Sheppard and Teyla, Beckett was able to do an examination of Talyn.  The boy had baulked at the scans, but after Teyla had suggested she be scanned as well, he allowed them to scan him, seeing that they had not hurt her.

Ronon had also remained, but had stayed in the background.  McKay had left as soon as he was cleared to start work on the various devices they had gleaned from the outpost.

“Okay, all done for now,” Carson smiled reassuringly at Talyn. “Nothing much wrong with you that some rest and a few decent meals won’t cure.”

“Teyla, Ronon, could you show Talyn to the mess hall and get him something to eat?” Sheppard asked.

“Of course,” Teyla agreed, and Ronon also nodded his consent.

“Light meals to start with.  I believe they have soup on the menu, and jello,” Carson added, as they exited.  

“So, doc, how is he?”

“Like I said, a few decent meals and some rest will do him wonders,” Carson looked at Sheppard. “And a few sessions with Dr Heightmeyer would probably help as well.  There are scars on his back that confirm he has been whipped sometime in the last year.”

Sheppard heard the anger in Carson’s voice at that, and silently agreed with it.

“I’ll let you know when I have the results back from the blood tests,” Beckett said grimly.

“Okay.  I’ll assign him some quarters.  I think it would be best not to leave him alone right now.  I’ll assign a couple of guards.  Just hope he understands the need.”

“Aye, not a good way to gain his trust, but we can’t be taking any risks.”

“I’ll fill Elizabeth in on the details.”

----------------

Chapter Two – Settling In

It had been four days since Talyn had arrived on Atlantis, and Ronon, Teyla, McKay, Beckett, Sheppard, Elizabeth and Heightmeyer were meeting in Elizabeth’s office to discuss his progress, and whether he was staying.

“He seems to be willing to talk about what has happened to him, but not so willing to talk about how he feels about things,” Kate Heightmeyer started her report.  “It’s clear he still doesn’t trust everyone here, and is still afraid that we will turn on him like the Genii did.  He’s doing as well as can be expected in the short time he’s been here, but there is a long way to go for him to accept us.”

“He seems to be calmer around Teyla and the Colonel,” Beckett added.  “He’s still extremely wary of myself, but considering his past, I’m trying not to take that personally.”

“I don’t think he blames you for the events on Hoff,” Sheppard said. “He’s said several times that he understands what happened there.  It’s just…he wants to blame someone…”

“Aye, and I’m available, whereas the Hoffan government aren’t,” it was clear that Carson was still feeling guilt over the events on Hoff, and for Talyn losing his parents.

“What about long term?” Elizabeth asked. “Do we allow him to stay?  Could he be a security risk?”

“I’m not sure we can let him leave,” this was from Rodney. “He knows that Atlantis is here.”

“I do not believe he would tell anyone,” Teyla said.

“Regardless, he’s just a kid, and could be manipulated into giving our presence away,” Rodney insisted.

“Rodney’s right,” Sheppard said. “We can’t take the risk of Talyn falling into enemy hands.  And I certainly don’t want him to fall back into Genii hands, and we know they have many spies around the galaxy.”

“True.  It looks like it is in both ours and Talyn’s interests that he stays.  However, we can’t just let him run around unsupervised.  At least, not until we can be certain we can trust him,” Elizabeth said.

“Perhaps we could remove the guards when he is with certain people,” Teyla suggested, “to earn his trust.”

“That’s sounds reasonable.  We’ll work out a list of people we feel could handle him if he became a problem,” Elizabeth agreed.

“He needs something to do,” this was from Ronon.

“Yes, he does appear to become bored rather quickly,” Teyla agreed with Ronon.

“Perhaps you could find a safe project for him?” Elizabeth asked Rodney.  “He seems to have a scientific background.”

“Define ‘safe’.  You may not have noticed, but most things in Atlantis have the potential to be extremely unsafe.”

“Perhaps something to do with botany, or engineering?”

Rodney gave a heavy sigh.

“Fine.  I’ll let Zelenka deal with the kid,” he shared an evil grin with Sheppard.

“Good, that’s agreed then.”

----------------

A couple of days later and Talyn had started to settle down even more, and take an interest in anything scientific that he was allowed to work on.  It had also soon become clear just how fast the boy was at absorbing new information.

Zelenka gave Talyn access to a database about engineering, but was called away a short while later, leaving him in the lab with Rodney.  Something Rodney was far from pleased about.

He was absorbed in a complex series of theoretical equations and formulae, when he became aware of being watched intently.  He glared at Talyn, who was now standing next to him.

“What?” he snapped.

“I’ve finished reading the database,” Talyn said, seemingly not fazed by Rodney’s sharp manner.  “What are you doing?”

“Something complex.  Go away.”

Talyn, however, merely watched Rodney work.  Rodney decided to ignore him, in the  hopes he’d get the message and go do something else.

“So, if that equals 12.1, that’s got to be 20.07, hasn’t it?”

Rodney stared at Talyn, surprised that he could have worked that out in the few minutes he had been watching him work.

“Yes, I was perfectly aware of that,” he snapped. “And just how did you figure that out, anyway?”

“It just came to me.  I’m good at math.  And science.”

“Great.  Look, why don’t you go bug someone else?”

“There’s no guard to take me anywhere, so I have to stay with you.”

Rodney rolled his eyes, and sighed in frustration.  

“Fine, I’ll call a couple of guards and ask them to take you to Sheppard.  You can bug him instead.”

“I want to stay here.  I like watching you work.”

“What?”

“I like watching you work.  And I think I can learn more that way than reading any database that Dr Zelenka leaves for me to read.”

“That doesn’t count,” Rodney said, feeling part-flattered and part-annoyed by Talyn’s words. “This hasn’t been approved for you to look at.”

Talyn looked away.

“I know.  But I want to prove you can trust me.  How can I though?  And if you don’t trust me, how can I trust you?” the boy looked frustrated. “I just want to help.  Want to prove myself.”

“I’m not the one you should be talking about this to,” Rodney said.

“Should I be telling this stuff to Kate?  I don’t like her.  She’s always trying to get me to talk about how I feel, and I don’t want to talk about that.  Always asking me about my parents, and my time with the Genii.  I just want to forget it all!”

“Hey, calm down,” Rodney looked alarmed at the boy’s outburst.  “I know Kate can seem a little…driven…about certain things, but she’s just trying to help.”

“I know, I know!  But…” Talyn sighed. “I don’t know.  I feel more comfortable talking to you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah.  You strike me as the sort of person who says what he means.  You know, doesn’t hide stuff behind nice words or diplomacy or whatever.  I know you’d be straight with me, and I know where I stand when I’m around you.  ”

“Oh,” Rodney blinked in surprise.

“And you’re the smartest guy here, so who else would I want to learn from?”

“Well, of course I’m the smartest guy here!  But that’s not the point,” Rodney sighed. “I guess trust has to go both ways.  But you have to understand, there is a lot at stake here.  We can’t trust just anyone.”

“I know,” Talyn looked at Rodney.  “I just…can’t I just hang around with you?  If I promise not to look at what you’re working on, it won’t be a problem, would it?”

Just then, Radek returned.  Rodney looked at him in relief.

“Talyn’s finished reading the database, maybe you could find him something else to read or do?”  It was more an order than a request.

“Yes, okay. Come with me, I have something to show you,” Radek said to Talyn.  

Talyn looked at McKay, clearly disappointed, but followed Radek out.

----------------

Another week had passed since the last meeting to discuss Talyn.  The same people were gathered, with the addition of Radek.

“So, how is Talyn doing, Radek?” Elizabeth asked.

“Talyn has poor taste in people,” Radek replied. “He seems to want to stay with Rodney most the time.”

Rodney narrowed his eyes and glared at the Czech.

“Is this true?” Sheppard asked.

“Yes.  He told me he liked the fact that I don’t hide behind nice words or diplomacy.  Whatever that is supposed to mean,” Rodney snapped.

“It means he is perceptive,” Radek said.

“Whatever.”

“Has he said anything else we should know about?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes,” Rodney sighed. “He wants to learn more.  From me.  I pointed out that he wasn’t cleared for that.  He wants to know how he can prove he can be trusted if we won’t trust him with anything.”

“Do you think we should trust him?” Elizabeth queried.

“Me?  No idea.  But he does appear to be highly intelligent, and could be a bonus to us, if he can be trusted.  His ability to absorb large amounts of information and make connections in the data that might normally be missed is only half of it.”

“It is true.  He seems very bright,” Radek pushed his glasses upwards. “He has picked up things on the engineering side very quickly.  There are some things he worked out for himself, that had not been covered in the database he read.”

“If he is so brilliant and we are wrong about him, the potential to do us damage is great,”  Elizabeth pointed out.

“I do not believe he means us any harm,” Teyla said.

“Same here,” Ronon agreed.

“Colonel?” Elizabeth asked.

“My gut instinct is to trust him.”

“Okay,” Elizabeth sighed. “Rodney, do you think you could show him some of the less dangerous work you are doing?”

Rodney scowled.

“You said yourself he could be a bonus to us, and he seems to like you.”

“Oh, fine.  I’ll see what I can do,” he agreed reluctantly. “Though everything I’m working on has an element of danger to it in the wrong hands.”

“We’re just saying, don’t teach him how to make an A-bomb just yet,” Sheppard drawled.

“I’m sure he already knows that,” Rodney responded. “After all, he was being used by the Genii.  I imagine their nuclear project was amongst the first they used him on.”

John rolled his eyes.

“Yes, but you get the point?”

“Of course I get the point,” Rodney huffed. “Damn kid.”

“Actually, despite looking fourteen or fifteen, he is about nineteen in earth years.  Hardly a kid, Rodney,” Beckett pointed out.

“Whatever,” Rodney replied, glaring at the physician.

“It’s easy to forget he’s older than he looks sometimes,” Elizabeth said, “but we need to try and treat him as the young adult he is.”

“Do we think we can cut back on his security detail any, yet?” Kate asked.  “He seems resigned to the guards when he isn’t with people on the approved list, but I believe it would help immensely if we could allow him more freedom.”

“Colonel?” Elizabeth asked.

“I think we can call off the guards, but I don’t want him wandering around any sensitive areas unsupervised.  Seeing as those areas are guarded anyway, it shouldn’t be a problem.  I’ll make sure the guards know he isn’t to enter those areas without one of us on the approved list with him.”

“I think that would help him,” Kate said.  

“How are the sessions going?” Elizabeth asked.

“Not so well,” Kate sighed. “He really doesn’t seem to want to talk to me.  He’s told Rodney more about his feelings than me, it would seem.”

Rodney groaned.

“Great.  Just don’t ask me to psychoanalyse him.”

“I wasn’t going to,” Kate smiled, “but maybe you could encourage him to talk to me?”

“I have.  He isn’t interested.  He just wants to put his past behind him and get on with life.”

“Repressing his feelings isn’t going to help in the long run,” Kate paused. “But if he won’t talk, there is little I can do about it.”

“Maybe we should stop the sessions for a few weeks and see how things go?” Elizabeth suggested.  “Maybe he will be more amiable to them once he has settled in here more.”

Kate thought about it for a moment.

“Okay,” She turned to Rodney. “It would help if you could keep me informed of anything he says about his feelings.”

“That might not be the best idea,” Carson said. “If Talyn trusts Rodney, and then feels that he is going behind his back to you, that would cause more problems.”

“True,” Kate sighed again. “Okay.  We’ll leave things for a few weeks and reassess it at that point.”

“Great. I get to baby sit an emotional cripple.”

“Takes one to know one,” Sheppard replied, with a wide smile.  Rodney glared at him.

----------------

Another week had passed since Talyn’s arrival, when Elizabeth and Sheppard entered Beckett’s lab.

“Carson, you say you’ve been able to separate the human and Dalna DNA?” Elizabeth queried

“Aye, mostly.”

“Anything interesting?  Maybe something we can use as a weapon should the Dalna break through the time barrier?” Sheppard asked.

“Nothing we could use against them.  I’m still only scratching the surface, so to speak.  But I have found something of interest.”

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense, Carson,” said Elizabeth.

“When I was checking the DNA samples of the people chosen for the ATA therapy, I came across a gene that was unusual.  It’s quite common to find genes that haven’t been mapped before, we are still along way from mapping the human genome, but this was particularly odd.  I wondered if it could be linked to the Ancients.”

“All very interesting, I’m sure, but what had that to do with the Dalna DNA?” Sheppard pressed.

“I’m getting there, Colonel, if you’d just hold you horses,” Carson glared sternly at him, and then continued. “I had theorised that just because a person didn’t have the ATA gene naturally, didn’t necessarily mean they didn’t have any Ancient DNA, just not the one gene that was of particular use.  I assumed this other gene, which appeared to be alien, to be one of the less usual Ancient genes passed on to humans.”

“But it’s not,” Elizabeth said.

“No, it’s not.  It’s Dalna.”

“But that means…” Sheppard started.

“…that there were Dalna on Earth at some time that interbred with humans.”

“How many people have you found with this Dalna gene?” Elizabeth was curious.

“So far, only two.  One from the ATA screening, the other one from screening the people from this galaxy. It would seem to be even more rare than the ATA gene.”

“So, who are they?” Sheppard asked.

“Ronon and me,” Rodney said as he entered the lab.

They turned around.

“You?” Elizabeth looked at him in surprise.

“Yes,” Rodney said. “It would seem somewhere in my past I have alien ancestry.  As does Ronon. Pity it couldn’t have been Ancient rather than some human-killing race,” he looked rather annoyed, and a little upset, by the whole thing.

“Do you think it has anything to do with why Talyn has taken such a liking to Rodney?  I mean, can he sense it in some way?” John looked at Carson

“You mean like Teyla can sense the Wraith?  It would depend on whether they have any sort of telepathic ability.  And even if it is, it could be on an unconscious level.”

“Humph.  Maybe he just appreciates my intellect.”

“And your modesty?” Sheppard teased.

“Modesty is just a form of lying.  I see no point in it,” Rodney huffed. “Besides, if the gene was the reason, why hasn’t he taken ‘such a liking’ to Ronon as well?”

“I doubt it has anything to do with the gene,” Beckett said, “but something else might be down to it...”

“I looked up Dalna in the Ancient database,” Rodney interrupted. “Now that we have a name, it was actually quite easy to find information on them.  Unfortunately, a lot of the information appears to have been wiped by the Ancients before leaving Atlantis.”

“It would seem that some Dalna came through a breach in the time barrier a few years before the Ancients left.  The breach was sealed, but a handful of Dalna remained on Atlantis.  These ones were like Talyn’s father, it would seem, and had no interest in destroying humans,” Carson continued, giving Rodney a glare.  “There was an attack on the ship the Dalna were on before arriving at Atlantis, and it would seem that the Wraith tried to feed from a couple of them…and failed.”

“Failed?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes, like with Ronon, the Wraith were unable to feed on the Dalna.”

”You think this gene could be behind that?” John asked.

“The Ancients certainly believed it, and it would seem they were trying to replicate the gene and pass it onto the humans in this galaxy.  They left before they finished the work, but some Dalna/human children remained in this galaxy.  A few of the Dalna went to Earth with the Ancients, hence the gene turning up in Rodney.”

“So, if your theory is correct, Rodney’s safe from any Wraith that tries to feed on him?”

“Yes, if my theory holds out,” Carson smiled. “Of course, I need to run more tests, and even then there isn’t an easy way to be sure.”

“Could the gene be given to others, like the ATA gene?” asked Elizabeth.

“As the gene is more complex than the ATA gene, it will take longer to replicate, if it is even possible, and even then there is no guarantee that an artificial gene would work the same, or that it would take in everybody who received it.  The retrovirus is a better bet for a solution at the moment.”

“Okay, but it would still be worth putting a team on this,” she suggested.

“Aye, I will.  It’s a pity I can’t test the theory out.”

“Oh, and how would you do that? Send out an invitation to the Wraith to see if they can feed on me?” Rodney said sarcastically.

“Hey, could be worth a try,” Sheppard smiled at Rodney wickedly. “How many do you need, doc?  One or two enough?”

“John,” Elizabeth said, with a look of disproval, before Rodney could reply.

“It would be rather extreme, especially if I’m wrong.  But if we come across any more runners, it would be interesting to see if they also carried this gene.”

----------------

Talyn had been on Atlantis for two months, and in that time had proved himself to be useful in various areas of their research.  He was also settling in quite well now, and had apparently grown quite attached to Rodney, something that Rodney found irritating at times.  

But there was no denying the look of pride on his face, though he did deny it, vehemently, when Talyn solved a problem that had stumped the engineers for several months.  Something that Rodney himself hadn’t had time to look into.  And, of course, he did enjoy rubbing their noses in it; that their unsolvable problem was solved by his protégé, much to the engineers’, and Zelenka’s, disgust.

Sheppard had taken to teaching Talyn hand to hand combat, along with Teyla and Ronon, though it appeared that learning something more physical than intellectual went no quicker than the average human.  However, he was beginning to get the hang of some of the moves, though his stick fighting was particularly poor.

As Teyla pointed out, his body was still that of an uncoordinated teenager, but slowly he was becoming more graceful in his moves.  Slowly.  Very slowly.

But even after two months, Talyn could still be easily spooked by people, and he still had a wariness that could be disturbing at times.  On the whole, he was settling in okay, especially considering his past.  At least he never seemed nervous or wary of Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon, Rodney or Radek, and was beginning to settle down around some of the other scientists there, as well as Elizabeth, and even Carson.  But he still didn’t trust Kate and refused to have anything to do with her.  

----------------

Another month passed, and Sheppard and his team were on yet another mission, tracking down an energy reading.  They were onboard a puddle jumper, as the gate was in space.

Sheppard brought up the HUD, expecting a planet to be close to the gate, but instead finding nothing.  They appeared to be in the space between solar systems, the nearest one being over nineteen hours away by jumper.

“Okay, this is odd,” he said.

Rodney was busy checking for the energy signal, and looked up briefly.

“What?” he looked at the HUD.  

“We seem to be in the middle of nowhere.  I was expecting a planet, or failing that, a space station at the very least.”

“Hmm, odd,” Rodney went back to his readings.  “Of course, whatever is out here could be cloaked.”

“You picking anything interesting up?” Sheppard asked.

“The energy signal is much stronger than is seemed back on Atlantis.  Whatever is here is right in front of us…and big.  Very big.”

“How big?” Ronon asked.

“The size of a solar system big,” Rodney answered distractedly.  

“That’s…big,” Sheppard looked at Rodney. “So, what is it?  A cloak?”

“No,” muttered Rodney. “Not a cloak.  These readings…they’re like the readings of that time dilation field we ran into…you know, where you got stuck for six months for two hours.”

“Yeah, don’t remind me.”

“Is there a portal?” Teyla asked.

“I don’t know.  But if there is, we really don’t want to go through it without more information.”

”Don’t worry, we won’t be making that mistake again,” Sheppard said sourly.

“Hmm…oh crap.”

“That doesn’t sound good, McKay.”

“I think…” Rodney looked at the HUD again. “Yeah, I think I know what is out there.”

“Well?” Sheppard asked. “Don’t keep us in suspense.”

“The Dalna time barrier,” he looked at Sheppard. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.  A time dilation field the size of a solar system?  Unless the Ancients made a habit of trapping solar systems inside barriers, that is.”

“So, we head back then?”

“Yes.  But…” Rodney sighed. “I think we need to contact Daedalus and Hermiod.  The Asgard have used time dilation fields before, and seeing as they are unwilling to allow us that technology, then he would be the best person to check this out.  Maybe work out what causes those breaches, and stop any more from occurring.”

Sheppard raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t tell me there’s technology you don’t know much about, I might just have a heart attack.”

“Oh, ha, ha, very funny.  The only reason I don’t know much about this technology is because I haven’t been able to study it.  If the Asgard were willing to share it, I’m sure it would be easy to figure out,” Rodney defended himself. “And there’s nothing in the database on Atlantis either.”

“Okay, let’s dial the gate.”

They headed back to the gate and started dialling.  They had sent through their IDC and were about to head through when Rodney suddenly shouted.

“Stop!”

“What?” Sheppard aborted the run, coming to rest a short distance from the gate. “McKay?” he growled.

“The readings are changing.”

“So?”

“I think…crap…I think a breach might be opening,” Rodney looked at them in horror. “Okay, what say we head back after all?”

“Should we not monitor the situation?” Teyla asked. “If Dalna leave the barrier, we should know.”

“Bad, bad idea,” Rodney mumbled.

“Maybe, but Teyla is right.  We should monitor the situation.  Contact Atlantis, the Daedalus should still be there unloading supplies.  Send Hermiod the data, and see what he thinks.  If there is a breach opening, maybe he can come up with a way to close it.”

“Okay, okay,” Rodney wasn’t happy, but did as he was told.  “Atlantis, come in.”

“Rodney, is everything okay?”  Elizabeth’s voice responded.

“Is the Daedalus still there?”

“Yes, why?”

“I need to send some data through for Hermiod to look at.  We seem to have found the Dalna time barrier, and it looks like a breach might be forming,” there was a hint of panic edging Rodney’s voice, despite his attempt to sound calm.

“Okay,” she looked at the gate tech, who nodded. “We’re ready to receive the data.  I’ll contact the Daedalus to pass the data onto Hermiod.  Maybe you should return?”

“No,” Sheppard said. “We should keep an eye on things.  If a breach does form, we’ll head back, but if Hermiod comes up with a way to close it, we might be needed here.”

“Okay, Colonel. But if you are in any danger, come back.  No heroics.”

“Okay, got that.  No heroics.”

----------------

They remained near the space gate, feeding data through to the Daedalus and Hermiod until the gate shut down.  They immediately redialled.  After another twenty-three minutes, Hermiod contacted them with a design for a transmitter that could be attached to a drone and fired into the breach, ensuring that the drone was deactivated before it exploded, so that the transmitter could emit the appropriate signals that would cause the breach to close.

It took McKay another half hour to assemble the transmitter and set it up ready to transmit.  Another ten minutes or so, and he had accessed a drone, attached the transmitter to it, and replaced it ready for firing.

“Okay, we’re good to go, Colonel.  Just remember to deactivate the drone before it explodes.”

“I know what I’m doing,” Sheppard said, rolling his eyes, having heard the instruction several times already.

The drone fired and headed into the breach.  Unfortunately, just before the transmitter successfully closed the breach, a ship came through it.

“Oh crap,” Rodney said.

“Is the breach closed?” Sheppard asked.

“What?  Hmm, yes.”

“Well, at least no more ships will be coming through.”

“It’s big,” Ronon stated.

“About the size of the Aurora,” Sheppard confirmed.  “Okay, let’s turn around and head home.  We’re no match for that thing, and hanging around seems like a bad call.”

The jumper headed towards the gate as Rodney dialled home, sending through his IDC.  Just before the jumper entered the gate, the wormhole closed down, causing them to go through an empty gate.

“Damn,” John looked to Rodney. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Rodney started checking readings, and then looked up in panic.  “It looks like the Dalna ship sent some sort of signal to close the gate.  It’s heading this way.”

“Alright, let’s try it again.  Rodney, get a data burst ready to send through to Atlantis to tell them what is happening.  Say that if we don’t make it through this time, we’ll try dialling another gate so that we don’t have to use an IDC.  It might give us a little more time to make it through.”

“Okay, on it.”

They approached the gate again, and this time Teyla dialled as Rodney was busy.  She entered her IDC, and Rodney sent the data burst.  Again, the gate closed before they could enter it.

“Okay, dial somewhere else.  Somewhere friendly.”

Sheppard had positioned the jumper as close as he could to the gate and still have enough momentum to take them through.  As soon as the wormhole opened, he headed in at full speed.

It wasn’t fast enough.

“Oh no,” McKay said, panic edging his voice. “Oh, we are so screwed.”

The jumper gave a sudden lurch, knocking the occupants about.

“What was that?” Ronon asked.

“Some sort of…traction beam…I think,” Sheppard said, pushing the jumper’s engines to maximum in an effort to break free. “I can’t break free of it.  McKay, can you boost the engines?”

McKay quickly stood and accessed a panel, working frantically to push more power into the engines.

“That’s all I can give you without overloading the engines completely, Colonel.”

“It’s not enough.”

And then a burst of white light hit the jumper, and the occupants were knocked unconscious.

The jumper was pulled into the Dalna ship.

----------------

Chapter Three – The Enemy

Back on Atlantis, order was given for the Daedalus to launch and head for the Dalna ship.  Even if the Dalna ship entered hyperspace, there was a chance that they might find some clue as to where it was heading.  At the very least, Hermiod wanted to make sure the time-dilation field would not form any more breaches.

When no further contact was heard from Sheppard and his team, Talyn slipped away from the control room and managed to sneak aboard the Daedalus before it left.  He didn’t know if he would be able to help his friends, but if there was a chance they were on the Dalna ship, and that the ship was still there, or could be followed, then he was determined to be around to help.  

----------------

Sheppard awoke groggily, and looked around the cell they were in.  Ronon was already awake, Telya was just coming round, and…yeah, that was a groan from McKay, so he was coming round as well.

The cell had just enough room for the four of them to lie down, but not much more.  There was no furniture or fittings that he could see, and, great, they had taken everything except the clothes they were wearing.  

“Everyone okay?” he asked.

“Define okay,” came a groggy reply from McKay.

“Everyone alive and unhurt, if groggy?” he clarified.

Ronon and Teyla indicated that they were alright.  

“McKay?” Sheppard pushed for an answer.

“Well, other than being held prisoner on a ship of human-hating aliens, I guess I’m okay,” Rodney snapped, adding. “Do aches caused by a hard floor count?”

“What happened?” Teyla asked. “I remember we were being pulled into the Dalna ship.”

“Some kind of stun beam, I think,” Sheppard answered.

The door opened, and two Dalna entered the room, causing them to move away from the door.

“Oh, hey, guys,” Sheppard started.  One of the Dalna shot him with his gun before he could say anymore.  Ronon caught the Colonel and lowered him down.

“Stun,” he said, to the others’ relief.

“You,” one of the Dalna said, pointing to Rodney.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, you don’t want me,” Rodney said, panic making his voice squeak slightly.

As the Dalna that had spoken moved towards him, Teyla and Ronon stepped in front.  The Dalna merely shot them both, and then grabbed McKay by the arm, pulling him forward and out of the cell.

“No, really, this is a mistake…”

The second Dalna grabbed his other arm, and they marched him away, ignoring his protests.

----------------

“Colonel Caldwell, sir,” the captain turned to his superior.

“Yes, Captain?”

“Corporals Smith and Jennings have reported that they have found a stow away.”

“A what?”

“It appears to be Talyn Cardeya, sir.  They’re asking what they should so with him.”

“Put him in the brig for now,” Caldwell ordered, clearly annoyed. “I’ll deal with him later.  Patch me through to Atlantis.”

“Yes, sir.”

----------------

Déjà vu sprung to mind as Sheppard came to, only this time Ronon and Teyla took a little longer to come round, and McKay was missing.

“Shit,” he said succinctly.  

After Ronon and Teyla had regained consciousness, he asked them if they had any weapons hidden on them.  But it seemed the Dalna had managed to remove all of their weapons, even Ronon’s impressive array of knives.

There was little they could do but sit and wait.  And try not to worry about what was happening to McKay.

----------------

“Colonel Caldwell, is there a problem?” Elizabeth’s voice came over the comm.

“Yes.  We have a stow away onboard.  Talyn.”

“Talyn?”

“Yes, Dr Weir.”

“I’m sorry, Colonel, I have no idea why he would do this.”

There was a voice in the background.

“Colonel, Dr Zelenka has just reminded me that Talyn sees Rodney as his mentor.  He probably wants to help to find him and his team.  He is also quite close to Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon as well.”

“Or he could be returning to his roots, Dr Weir.  He is half-Dalna after all.”

“I would find that highly unlikely.  He has no reason to want to join them, especially as his half-human status will most likely turn him into a target.  I trust him, Colonel.”

“I understand that, but I do not intend to risk the lives of my crew if that trust is misplaced.”

“And I can understand that, too.  But if Sheppard and his team are on the Dalna ship and you are able to locate it, Talyn could be of use to you.  His technical knowledge and skills are extensive.”

“I’ll take that under advisement for the time being.”

“Understood.  Just bring him back in one piece.”

“Will do.  Caldwell out.”

----------------

It was nearly three hours later that the door opened again.  Sheppard had to wonder why the Dalna had taken everything from them except their watches.  Maybe they appreciated the torture of waiting, and knowing exactly how long their team-mate had been missing.  And what could have been done to him during that time.  He didn’t know, or care.

Rodney was thrown into the cell, Ronan and Sheppard managing to grab him and lower him to the ground.  

“McKay?  You in there,” Sheppard asked.

McKay’s eyes were open, and he looked to be in pain, but he didn’t reply.

“Hey, Rodney?  Come on, not like you to keep quiet,” Sheppard tried again to get a response.  McKay’s eyes blinked a few times, and he seemed to become aware of the people around him.

“Colonel?”

“That’s right.  How are you feeling?”

“Head hurts,” Rodney closed his eyes.  And then opened quickly, a look of horror and fear passing over his face.  He tried to sit up, but fell back with a groan.

“What did they do to you, McKay?”

“Some sort of…mind probe, I think.  It was like they could see everything…my memories…my knowledge,” McKay shuddered. “Crap, they saw everything.  And I couldn’t stop them!  I couldn’t…it didn’t hurt, as such, but it was…invasive, and very…disconcerting.”

“So they know about Atlantis?”

“Amongst other things, yes.  Though, even if they absorb information quicker than Talyn, it will still take them some time to…to read everything.  But…they know everything I do.”

McKay’s shuddering was getting stronger, and then, without warning, he started to convulse.

“Crap!  Grab him, hold him down.  Teyla, can you put your jacket under his head?”

Teyla did as she was asked, and the three of them held McKay, trying to make sure he didn’t hurt himself, and hoping that the convulsions would stop.  They did, after about a minute.  Though it seemed much longer to the team.  McKay slipped into unconsciousness, and all attempts to wake him failed.  

----------------

The Daedalus was three hours from reaching the Dalna time barrier, when Colonel Caldwell decided to visit Talyn in the brig.

“Colonel Caldwell,” Talyn stood up, watching him warily. “I have an idea to save the team if they’re on the Dalna ship…”

“Mr Cardeya,” Caldwell interrupted. “You do realise that stowing away on my ship is an offence?”

“Um, I guess so,” Talyn looked worried. “So, what are you going to do to me?”

“I could just keep you in the brig until we return to Atlantis, at which point I will allow Dr Weir to deal with you.”

“But…I know how to get Rodney and the others back if…”

“However,” Caldwell continued, “if you have a valid idea of how to rescue Sheppard and his team if they have been taken aboard the Dalna ship, then I will consider allowing you to work with Hermiod and Dr Novak.”

“Oh,” Talyn looked at him in surprise, clearly expecting to either be ignored or for something bad to happen to him.  “Well, I think it’s a valid idea.  You see, Rodney, Radek and I have been working on a personal cloaking device.  It’s not complete yet, and there are some problems, but I think I can finish it.  Especially with help from Hermiod.  Then I could be beamed onboard the Dalna ship, depending on their shielding, of course, but…”

“Not you,” Caldwell interrupted. “One of my marines will go aboard.”

“But you need someone with technical skills.  We don’t know what their technology is like or what they are capable of.  You need someone like me, who can learn quickly.  And…” he paused slightly. “I want to do this.  I want to help.”

“Corporal, escort Talyn to Hermiod and Dr Novak,” Caldwell turned his attention back to Talyn. “Get this to work, and I’ll think about who to send onboard the ship.”

----------------

It was about thirty minutes after McKay had been returned to them, that two Dalna took Sheppard away.

A few minutes after that, McKay came around.  His head still hurt badly, but not quite as bad as before.  

“Oh crap,” he sat up slowly.  “Where’s Sheppard?”

“They took him a short while ago,” Ronon said.  

“We were unable to stop them.  At least we were not stunned this time,” Teyla added.

“They’ll probably use the mind probe on him as well,” he said unhappily.

“It would seem most likely,” Teyla agreed. “How are you feeling now?”

“Head still hurts.  Still bad, but better than before.”

The door opened again, and another two Dalna entered

“Stand back.”

This order was delivered to Teyla and Ronon, who moved back as ordered, knowing that any attempt to not do so would merely leave them stunned.

“You, stand up.”

“No,” McKay snapped. “You, go away.”

A third Dalna entered the cell, pulling McKay to his feet.

“Hey, let go.”

Instead, he was manhandled from the cell.

“Shit, what now?” he asked them, but was ignored, as he was taken away again.

----------------

In another room on the ship, John was struggling against the mind probe.  As Rodney had said, it wasn’t so much painful as invasive.  Uncomfortable and...disconcerting.

It was like his entire life was being laid out for all to see.  His knowledge, his experiences, his feelings…everything.  And he hated it.  Hated that they could do this to him, that they would know everything about him and his life.

He tried to fight the probe, but it was useless.  Nothing he tried stopped it’s relentless quest for knowledge.  He struggled against the restraints holding him in place, pinning him so that movement was minimal.  He cursed them, loudly, until his voice became hoarse.

And still the probe searched his mind, reading and copying everything it came across.  How had Rodney coped with this?  How could he?  It was like…some kind of mind rape…and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Nothing.

And that was the worst thing of all.

The helplessness.

----------------

Rodney was pushed into a room with shackles hanging from one of the walls.  Not good, not good, not good…the mantra went through his head as he was roughly stripped to the waist and then chained up, with his feet just touching the floor.  

He closed his eyes, desperately trying not to hyperventilate, to try and calm down.  When he opened his eyes, he saw that there was some type of stasis chamber at the end of the room, and two of the Dalna were busy with it.  The chamber opened, and all of the Dalna left the room, closing the door behind them.  

Oh crap, oh crap…

A wraith emerged from the chamber…  

No, no, no, this is not happening, not happening…

It looked around the room, and then started to approach him…

Oh crap, oh no, oh please, no…he was too scared to talk, to plead, his breaths were coming fast, too fast, oh crap, he was going to have a heart attack before it reached him, he twisted against the shackles desperately…

The wraith studied him closely, and then, with no warning, thrust its hand onto his chest…

Fire, his chest was on fire…oh crap, he was going to die…it hurt…oh crap, it burned…but as the wraith tried to feed on him, he felt something strange.   A feeling he couldn’t explain…a feeling that pushed back against the wraith’s feeding attempt…causing the wraith  to pull back, screaming out its frustration…

A white beam shot out, hitting the wraith, and sending it crashing to the ground…

Pain…pain…oh crap…Beckett was right…the gene…ow…ouch….crap…the pain…

He was vaguely aware of the wraith being placed back into the stasis chamber, of being released from the chains, of being taken back to the cell…

And then he was falling, and someone caught him…He struggled, crying out in fear, but then hands took hold of his face, and Teyla was looking at him…

“Dr McKay…please, stop fighting…it is only Ronon and I…”

He stilled, sagging against someone’s chest.  Ronon’s, he realised.

“Wraith…” he managed to say.

“We know.  I sensed it for a short while.”

“Stasis…they had it in stasis…tried to….to feed…from me,” he was aware his voice was panicked, but he felt he’d earned the right to be panicked.

“Easy,” he heard, and felt, Ronon say.  That was a weird sensation, feeling the rumble of Ronon’s chest as he spoke.  Weird, and a little freaky.

“Dr McKay, I need to clean the wounds,” Teyla again.  Okay, this was going to hurt.

“Ow, ouch,” he squirmed slightly, but felt Ronon hold him tight as Teyla continued to treat his injuries.  It hurt, it hurt…oh crap, it hurt…

“I stopped it…like Ronon…just like…” he paused. “Carson was right…the gene… he’ll be pleased to know he was right…”

“I believe Dr Beckett will not be happy about how his theory was proved right,” Teyla commented. “But I am glad he was right.”

He opened his eyes, and saw the sincerity in her eyes.

“I…it…it didn’t feed…I…don’t look…do I?”  he stuttered, afraid to ask the question, but needing to know.  Understanding for the first time why Gaul had been so determined to know…to see.

“You have not aged,” Teyla reassured him.

“Good…that’s good.”

He felt the adrenalin rush fading, leaving him high and dry.  He wanted to stay awake, but his eyes slid shut, and he was only slightly aware of himself being gently lowered to the floor, and a jacket placed under his head.

“Rest,” he heard Ronon say before sleep claimed him.

----------------

They were still an hour from the Dalna ship, when Talyn, with help from Hermiod and Dr Novak, completed the personal cloaking device, but Dr Novak had asked Colonel Caldwell to come down.  There were problems with the personal cloak that she felt he needed to be aware of.

When he arrived, it was explained to him that the cloaking device would work, and that the ATA gene was not needed to operate it, however there was a health risk to the user if it was used for more than an hour, maximum.

“That’s why I should go,” Talyn said, “because I have the technical knowledge and the ability to learn more quickly than anyone else on this ship.  I can get around any problems faster than one of your marines or airmen.”

“How much of a health risk are we talking?” Caldwell asked Hermiod.

“The wearer would suffer from nausea and dizziness, as well as a fever, after just over one Earth hour of usage.  The longer the device is worn after that, the longer the  symptoms would last, and the more severe they would be.  It is unlikely, with proper medical care, that the wearer would die, but the possibility does exist if the device was worn for more than four and a half Earth hours.”

“I need to go.  The quicker someone gets to them after beaming onboard, the quicker the wearer can get rid of the cloak, and the lesser the symptoms will be.  And a fever is a small price to pay to get them back, if it takes longer than an hour to find them.”

“We don’t even know if they are onboard the Dalna ship as yet…”

“If they’d made it through the stargate, they’d have made contact by now.  The Dalna need humans for information and experiments,” Talyn’s voice shook slightly on the last word, “so they would take them alive.  I’m betting they’re prisoners.  I can find them, put radio transmitters on them if they are separated, and then when you’re reading five transmitters, you beam them, and me, back to the Daedalus.”

“And if they pick up the transmissions?  Or are able to block the beaming technology?”

“Then we head for the jumper and get out that way,” Talyn looked Caldwell in the eyes. “I know it’s a risk.  That there are variables we don’t know.  But I have to try,” he looked away. “I have to…they believed in me when others wouldn’t…trusted me…I owe them.”

“I don’t believe they would see it that way,” Caldwell pointed out.

“No.  But I can do this, and the fact still remains, you need someone who can understand new technology quickly.  And with Rodney not here, that’s me.”

Caldwell looked at the earnest young man before him.  There were many who were still unsure of the boy’s loyalty, and normally he would be one of them.  However, he was learning to trust the judgement of Dr Weir, Colonel Sheppard and his team, and they seemed certain of Talyn’s loyalty to them and the people on Atlantis.  

And the boy had a point.  Whoever went onboard the Dalna ship, if it was necessary, and it was looking very much like it would be, they would need more technical knowledge then any of his crew.  Yes, his crew was made up of the best, but their experience with alien technology was not as extensive as even this kid’s.

“Very well, if we need to send someone over, then you will go.  I would prefer to send someone with you…”

“It wouldn’t work.  If the transmitters didn’t work and we had to try to find the jumper, and I had to cloak Rodney, Ronon, Teyla, John and myself, it would push the cloaking device to its limit.  A sixth person would be too much, in fact, there is a chance that five people would be too many, but I think it’ll work for that many.”

“Alright.  When we close in, we will try to contact Colonel Sheppard and his team.  If that fails, we will use the scanners to find the jumper’s energy signature, assuming the signature isn’t blocked by the Dalna, or by the jumper being cloaked.  If we find the jumper onboard the Dalna ship, we’ll beam you over to it.   You have fifty five minutes, before we come in to pick you up, understand?”

“But I might need longer…”

“No.  You may be willing to risk your health, but I’m not.”

“Okay,” Talyn didn’t look too happy, but accepted it.

----------------

The Daedalus arrived close to the Dalna ship, which moved to intercept them.  A scan of the area failed to show up Sheppard’s puddle jumper, but a scan of the Dalna ship showed it to be onboard.

Caldwell ordered an attack run at the Dalna ship, and Talyn was beamed onboard the jumper.  The Daedalus than faked a retreat, entering hyperspace for a few seconds, and then heading back to the Dalna ship until they were within radio contact distance.  Fortunately, the Dalna ship’s sensors were not able to pick them up at that distance.

----------------

Once onboard the jumper on the Dalna ship, Talyn grabbed McKay’s pack, placing his laptop into it, and then grabbed Ronon’s gun and sword, and two P-90’s, stowing all of them in the pack, except Ronon’s gun, which he carried.  He switched on the personal cloak, and found himself looking through a very pale blue barrier, an effect that didn’t occur when a jumper or the city was cloaked, but occurred with the personal cloak.  At least this way, he knew it was working, and fortunately it didn’t hinder his view of things, being so pale and thin.

He started to search the Dalna ship, not knowing how long it would take to locate the team.  He could only hope they were all in one place, otherwise this was going to be even more difficult than he hoped.

As it was, the fifty five time limit had almost passed before he saw Colonel Sheppard being taken somewhere.  He knew Caldwell would be contacting him to let him know they were moving in to collect him, and demand that he switch off the cloak, but there was no way he was going to do that now.  

“Daedalus, this is Talyn,” he said quietly.  “I’m not switching the cloak off.  Sorry,” he switched off the radio headset for the time being, hoping that Caldwell would wait until radio contact was re-established before moving the Daedalus in closer.  

----------------

When the cell door opened, Ronon stood and was ready for Sheppard, who was tossed into the cell.  He carefully laid the Colonel down, with Teyla’s jacket placed under his head.  

McKay had awoken only a few minutes earlier, and seemed too quiet for the liking of his team-mates.

The sound of gunfire outside of the cell caught the attention of three of the cell’s occupants, Sheppard being too disorientated to notice it.

Outside, in the corridor, Talyn grabbed what he assumed was the cell key, as one of the Dalna guards had used it on the cell door; it was, and the door opened.

To the occupants of the cell, there was no one there, but Ronon didn’t waste time in hauling Sheppard over his shoulder just the same.

Talyn uncloaked.

“Hi,” he said. “I thought you might like to get out of here.”

“Talyn,” Teyla said in surprise.

“Damn, you finished the personal cloak,” McKay muttered, and then a look of concern crossed his face, followed quickly by annoyance.  “You didn’t fix the problem with it, though, did you?”

“Er, no.  But it works, and it’s not fatal…”

“Damn stupid kid!”

“Rodney,” Teyla interrupted before the physicist could get started on a rant. “We need to leave before other guards come to investigate.”

“Right, of course, I knew that.”

Talyn was staring at the Wraith hand mark on Rodney’s chest, but shook his head, and turned to lead them out of the cell.

“There’s a room just a few metres down the hall we can hide in.  We’ll need to get quite close together for the cloak to cover all five of us, but it can be done.”  

They followed him to the room, entering it as John started to convulse.  Ronon placed him down, and they held him until the convulsions finished.  They were fortunate that the Dalna did not investigate the room at that point, and that the convulsions only lasted a minute.  Teyla reassured Talyn that Sheppard would be okay, and Rodney seconded that by saying that he had been through this and was reasonably okay.

After the convulsions stopped, Ronon sat with crossed legs, and pulled the now unconscious Colonel up to his chest.  Teyla, Rodney and Talyn sat in a circle, also cross legged, and the Colonel’s legs were drawn up to make room, and held in the drawn up position by Talyn sitting next to them.  It was cosy, but necessary.  

Talyn reactivated the cloak, and Rodney found he needed to move closer in for it to cover him, having held further back than the others initially.   Talyn quickly handed out the transmitters that would help locate them to be beamed out, and then activated his headset.

“Daedalus, this is Talyn.  I have them.”

“We will move into position to collect you.  Once in position, we’ll contact you to de-cloak, and later we will need to discuss you disobeying my orders,” Caldwell didn’t sound too pleased, but Talyn wasn’t worried.  He had found his friends, and that was all that mattered to him.

“The Daedalus will make another attack run, and once they are in beaming distance they’ll let me know so I can deactivate the cloak, and they can beam us onboard.  They’re going to beam a nuke onboard the Dalna ship once we’re clear.”

There was a sound outside the door, and everyone fell silent as it opened.  Two Dalna entered and looked round the room.  Not seeing anyone, they left the room and everyone sighed in relief once they were gone…except for Sheppard, who was still unconscious.  

“It worked,” McKay said.  “Not that I doubted it, after all, I did help design it.”

“It was easy for Hermiod and me to build one and make it work,” Talyn grinned.

“Using my design, of course.”

“Of course.”

“You said there was a problem with it,” Ronon said to McKay.  “Anything we need to worry about?”

“So long as we don’t need to use it for more than fifty minutes to an hour, we’ll be fine.  After that, the health of the user is compromised,” he glared at Talyn.  “How long have you been using it?”

“Over an hour,” Talyn admitted. “But it’ll only make me ill for a while.  It’s not fatal.”

“Damn it, Talyn.  I know it won’t kill you, but…damn it, are you stupid?”

“No, I’m not.  I knew the risks, and I know it will make me feel bad for a while, but I did what I had to, to find you.  All of you.  I wasn’t going to lose another family!” he stopped, realising what he had just said, and looking down at his feet in embarrassment.

“I am honoured you think of me as family,” Teyla said quietly.  “I also think of you that way.”

“You do?  You’re not just saying that?”

“Teyla doesn’t ‘just say’ things,” Rodney pointed out.

“Oh,” Talyn smiled at Teyla.  “Thanks.”

Teyla sent a look at Ronon and Rodney, the message clear.  

“A little brother, sounds good to me,” Ronon stated simply.

Rodney squirmed uncomfortably, aware that Ronon had joined Teyla in giving him that ‘look’.  He cleared his throat nervously.

“Same here,” he mumbled, not looking anyone in the eyes.

Talyn grinned widely.

“This is the Daedalus,” a voice came over the headset.  “Ready to beam you onboard.”

“The Daedalus is ready for us,” he told his new family, before replying to the message. “Okay, deactivating cloak now.  Better send us to the infirmary, John and Rodney aren’t looking too well.”

----------------

As soon as Caldwell was informed that Sheppard’s team and Talyn were safely onboard, he ordered the nuclear bomb to be delivered to the Dalna ship.  A few moments later, the ship exploded, leaving nothing but wreckage.

Hermiod then went to work studying the time barrier, and working out a way to stop any more breaches from occurring.

Once everything was in order, Caldwell headed down to the infirmary to check on his passengers.

Caldwell paused outside of the infirmary, shamelessly listening to the sounds of an annoyed McKay.

“I still say it was reckless of you to use the personal cloak.  You’ve obviously have been spending too much time with Sheppard; his gung-ho heroics are rubbing off on you.  I’m clearly going to have to keep a closer eye on you, teach you some of my healthy self preservation techniques.”

There was a snort from one person, and a laugh from another, Teyla by the sounds of it.

“What?  What’s so funny about that?”

“You, McKay,” came Ronon’s amused voice.

“I think he means that you have been known to take risks to save lives,” Teyla soothed, though there was a hint of humour in her voice still.

“That’s…that’s different,” McKay said sulkily.

“Maybe John’s rubbed off on you as well,” Talyn suggested.

“Oh, now that’s just ridiculous!”

“S’not,” came the slightly slurred voice of Sheppard.

“Colonel, you’re awake!” that was McKay again.

“Uh, I see…your powers….of observation…are intact,” Sheppard replied, still sounding slightly slurred in parts.

“It is good to see you awake, John,” Teyla said, presumably before McKay could respond.

Caldwell entered the infirmary fully.  Sheppard was lying on one bed, with McKay over on the next bed.  Teyla and Dex were sitting on chairs between the two beds, and Talyn was sitting with his knees drawn up on the bottom of McKay’s bed.

“I’m glad to see you are all intact,” Caldwell said.

“Intact?  Yes, yes, I guess you could say that…”  

“Rodney,” Teyla put a hand on his arm to calm him.  He sighed heavily, but fell silent.

“Has the Dalna ship been destroyed?” Talyn asked.

“Yes.  Hermiod is working on a way to stop any more breaches happening in the future.  I’ve also informed Dr Weir that you are all accounted for and alive.  What happened to you onboard the ship?”

“They used a mind probe of some kind on me, and then on Sheppard later,” McKay fell silent again.

“They had a Wraith onboard in a stasis chamber,” Teyla informed him.

“They chained me up and let it out,” McKay’s voice shook slightly.  “It tried to feed, but couldn’t.  Then they put it back into stasis and returned me to the cell.”

“It would seem that Dr Beckett is correct out the Dalna gene, fortunately,” Teyla’s voice was calm, but her eyes showed her worry for her team-mate.

Rodney shuddered, and then gave a wry huff of laughter.

“Yeah, fortunately.  Hell of a way to find out.”

“Docs say they’ll be okay,” Ronon added.

“That’s good to hear,” Caldwell turned his attention to Talyn.  “And you?”

“Starting to get a headache,” Talyn admitted.  “Guess I’m going to get that fever for a little while.”

“I see.  You disobeyed orders.  You were supposed to be ready to be picked up before the cloak could affect your health…”

“Yes, sir, but as I am a civilian, I don’t have to follow you orders.  And I wasn’t prepared to leave them behind.  I had just seen two guards taking John somewhere, so I knew I was close, to at least getting him out,” Talyn was defiant.

“This was a military situation and as such you were expected to follow orders,” Caldwell stated, not happy as the boy’s defiance.

“Colonel,” Sheppard said, trying to sit up, but failing.  “If it would…be okay with you…sir…I will deal with…his disobedience.”

“That depends on what you have in mind, Colonel.”

“Didn’t you say…something about the…sewage lines needing…repair, McKay?”

“Not the lines themselves, but certainly one of the control boxes appears to have developed an error.  It’s not urgent, but it will be smelly and messy work,”  Rodney paused.  “You believe Talyn is the man for the job?  It’s certainly within his skills set.”

“Yeah, I think it…would be good…experience for him…Once he has…recovered, of course.”

“Of course,” Rodney agreed.

“I think that will be fine,” Caldwell smiled.  “Perhaps he’ll think twice about disobeying orders, in a military situation, of course, again.”

“Oh crap,” Talyn moaned, placing his head in his hands, not looking forward to his penance.

“Exactly,” Sheppard said with a laugh.

“I’ll leave you to your recovery, then,” Caldwell said, leaving the infirmary and returning to the bridge.

----------------

It took Hermiod just over five hours to find and fix the problem with the time barrier, and then they returned to Atlantis.  Sheppard and McKay were checked over on their return by Carson, and were released to their quarters for rest.  Talyn, however, was suffering from a fever and nausea, and it was two days before he was well enough to be released to his quarters.  Carson was not too surprised to find the team taking it in turns to stay by Talyn’s side as he recovered.

Five days had passed since the Daedalus had returned, and Talyn was released back to active duty.  Sheppard had been by to reiterate the need to follow orders in a military situation, and then thanked him for disobeying them.  He had hoped this would mean that he wouldn’t have to fix the sewage control box.  It didn’t.

Despite the haz-mat suit, and the shower that he had had afterwards, one still slightly smelly and very pissed off half-Dalna, half-human stomped into Rodney’s lab, to find Teyla, Ronon and John there, dressed in loose gym clothing, as well as Rodney, who was dressed in his usual uniform.  

“Ah, the smell of not-so-sweet success,” Rodney teased, screwing up his nose in disgust.

“It wasn’t even broken!” Talyn all but shouted.  “I tried to find a fault for hours, but I couldn’t, because there wasn’t one!”

“Oh, that,” John said with a smirk.

Talyn eyed him suspiciously.

“And next time, what will you do?” Rodney asked.

“I will follow orders in a military situation,” Talyn gritted out. “Unless I disagree with said orders,” he added, defiantly.

The team shared an amused look.

“Good,” John said with a grin.  “Now that we have that sorted, I think it’s time to let Talyn in on the wonders of playing basketball.”

“Oh no, no, no, Colonel.  I’m far too busy for that nonsense,” Rodney protested, even as Ronon dragged him to his feet and started pushing him out of the lab.  “And anyway, he smells…”

“I have a lotion that my people use to banish bad smells,” Teyla said, taking a bottle out of a pocket.  “Maybe Talyn would like to wash again, using this?”

“Oh, thank goodness,” Talyn said, taking the bottle.  “Thanks, Teyla.”

“Meet us in the gym, we have a basketball court set up in there now,” John said.  “And wear your gym clothes, and those new trainers I found for you.”

“Yes, sir,” Talyn gave a sloppy salute, and grinned as he left.  Sheppard just rolled his eyes at that.

“Really, I have too much work to do…” Rodney whined, as Ronon dragged him in the direction of McKay’s room.  He intended to loom over McKay until he agreed to change into appropriate clothing, and then he would drag the physicist to the gym, not kicking and screaming, but no doubt complaining all the way.

It would be fun.

The End


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