Word Count:
10,268
Rating:
PG13.
Category:
Angst. Friendship. Crossover
with SG1.
Story Status:
Complete.
Summary:
Set Season 3 Atlantis, after
'Common Ground' but before 'McKay and Mrs Miller', and several years
after the last episode of The
Sentinel. Rodney needs Carter's help, but all is not as it
seems.
Secrets No More
By Leesa Perrie and Jayne
Perry
Artwork by alyjude. See more of her artwork here.
----------------
Oh no I see,
A spider web and
it’s me in the middle,
So I twist and
turn…
Lyrics from
‘Trouble’ by Coldplay
----------------
Chapter
One - Back on Earth
It was late when McKay entered his apartment. He could have
stayed on base, but after Atlantis, the corridors of the SGC seemed
drab and even a little claustrophobic, so he had elected to stay over
at his apartment. He and Sheppard had returned to Earth a
couple
of weeks ago. Sheppard to take some down time, and himself to
help Carter out on a project, that with his extensive knowledge and
expertise was now completed. Apart from the paperwork that
was,
and he felt Carter was more than capable to deal with that on her own.
As good as it had been to work with Sam again, he was looking forward
to returning to Atlantis. Sheppard would be back from his
vacation tomorrow, and he just had a few loose ends to tie up, and then
the day after they would head back on the Daedalus.
There was a package in his letter box, which surprised him, he rarely
got mail at this address. Closer inspection showed that it
had
been hand delivered. Curious, he opened it as soon as he was
through his front door.
It was a CD-ROM, with a typed note that simply read ‘watch
this’ on it. Beginning to get a bad feeling about
this, he
opened his laptop and popped the CD in, running a virus scan before
opening the video message. And his bad feeling suddenly got a
whole lot worse.
----------------
McKay spent the following day at the SGC, pretending to do some
research, and doing his best to avoid people, especially
Sheppard. Fortunately, he was left mostly alone, even
Sheppard
realising he was too caught up in whatever he was doing to be
disturbed. Or at least, that was what he wanted people to
think.
What he was really doing was hacking into the SGC computers and
accessing information about the F302’s, and the security
measures
at the base they were being built at, covering his tracks
well.
Or as well as he could within the time limit he had on this.
That evening found him outside Colonel Carter’s home,
seriously
debating with himself about his next moves. He really
didn’t like the idea of trying to lure Sam into, well, who
knew
what he was about to get them into. He had a story
ready.
He just hoped she didn’t see through his lies.
He’d
never been good at lying, but this was too important to mess
up.
A life was depending on him getting this right. Two lives, in
fact.
He took a deep breath. Sam would never forgive him.
And
when this was all over, the best he could probably hope for would be a
cell in a nice secure military prison. Or maybe
they’d lock
him up in the bowels of Area 51, and let him work on supervised
projects. After all, he was a genius, and it would be a
terrible
thing to waste his intellect, and with the right security measures...
But probably he would be dead before this was over. He could
only
hope that Sam and his friends would get out of this alive, preferably
unharmed.
He headed to her front door, pausing a moment before
knocking. He
needed to do this right. Needed to convince her to come with
him. The door opened to a surprised looking Carter.
“McKay? What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Oh, well, I need to talk to you. I think I may
have found
a security leak. Look, can I come in? I
promise to
behave,” he smiled, trying to hide his nervousness.
“Sure.”
They made their way into her living room.
“You think you’ve found a security leak?
Why are you telling me, not General Landry?”
“Oh, I’d like for you to check my findings,
I’m not
one hundred percent positive. Besides, I think the General
would
take more notice if it came from you than me. I get the
feeling
he doesn’t really like me all that much, can’t
imagine
why.”
Sam shook her head at that.
“Look, if I was certain then I’d go to him, but
I’m
not. A second opinion would be useful. I was
thinking we
could head back now, you could check my findings, and then if you
agreed with me we could take the necessary action.”
“Uh huh,” Sam looked at him carefully.
“No, I
don’t think I’ll be going anywhere with you right
now.”
“What?” He looked confused, but Sam continued
before he could respond further.
“You’re right about there being a security
leak.
Someone hacked into the SGC computer system today, downloading
everything we have about the F302’s.”
As Sam was saying this, Mitchell and Teal’c entered from the
kitchen, both with Zats, and Jackson entered from the hallway, also
with a Zat, though Mitchell and Teal’c were the only ones who
had
them pointed at him.
“You’re good, McKay,” Sam said quietly.
“But not that good.”
“Oh crap,” he looked at them, panic starting to set
in. This wasn’t good, not good at all.
“We know why you’re doing this.” Mitchell
said.
“We checked out your apartment. Just out of
curiosity, why
did you leave the CD in your laptop?”
“I was…I don’t know. I
wasn’t thinking straight.”
“McKay,” Sam started, then changed tactics.
“Rodney, we want to help you.”
“Oh right, help me betray your country, the SGC, oh, and not
to
mention yourself,” he said scornfully.
“Sure you
do.”
“This Blair Sandburg, we checked him and Jim Ellison
out.
Sandburg’s on old friend. We can understand your
actions,
though you should have reported this instead; gone through the proper
channels.”
“Right. They said they had people watching
me. And if
I didn’t do what they said…” he trailed
off, looking
away from them. “They were going to torture Blair.
Kill
him, eventually,” he looked at Sam, willing her to
understand.
“I couldn’t let that happen.
Couldn’t risk
it. Blair… he’s like a… a
brother to
me. I couldn’t…” he wrapped
his arms around
himself, trying to keep himself together. “You
can’t
let them do that to him,” he pleaded.
“And we don’t intend to let them,”
Mitchell said.
“But you need to work with us, not against us,
McKay.
We’ll do everything we can to get your friends out of this
mess.”
“I…” he sighed in defeat. “I
don’t have any choice, do I?”
“Not really,” Daniel agreed.
Rodney was quiet, emotions warring with intellect.
“But you can’t guarantee his safety, or that of
Ellison, can you?”
“No, but can you? How do you know they
won’t just
kill them anyway, once you’ve done what they
want?”
Mitchell asked.
“I don’t. And I know, one or two lives
compared to
who knows how many if these people, whoever they are, get what they
want? I can do the math. I know what the answer
should
be. But…Blair’s the only friend I had
for a long,
long time,” he laughed, hollowly. “The only person
who
could put up with me. The only one I allowed to be my friend,
if
I’m being honest, for a long time. You see,
I’ve
always known the truth about friendship. It makes you
weak.
Makes you do things you wouldn’t normally
consider,” he
looked at Sam. “Like take crazy risks to get a friend out of
the
stargate buffers,” his eyes flicked to Teal’c
briefly.
“Do you really believe that, McKay? That friendship
makes a person weaker?” Sam said in surprise.
“Of course it does. Just look at this
situation. You
think I want to steal information and pass it on to who knows what
organisation? It could be the Trust for all I know, though I
doubt the Goa’uld would be interested in our
F302’s.
You think I want to lead you into an ambush, get you
kidnapped?
That’s the last thing I’d want to do to you,
Sam. But
because of ‘friendship’, I would have.
“I nearly lost one of my friends due to that Genii bastard,
Kolya, and his pet wraith. And I can tell you now, if I had
been
in charge, then Ladon would have been handed over, and to hell with any
alliance with the Genii. That’s what friendship
does, it
makes you want to do things you shouldn’t, to save your
friend’s life. Or lives.”
“I believe you are wrong, Dr McKay,”
Teal’c stated.
“Yeah, maybe,” Rodney snorted.
“It’s not like I have much experience with this
sort of thing.”
“Friendship makes a person stronger,” Jackson said.
“There have been times when the only thing helping me to hold
on
in times of trouble is the thought that my friends would be looking for
me and that they would never give up on me. It made me
stronger,
able to endure until someone found me.”
“Not to mention the support friends give you when
you’re
going through a tough time,” Carter continued.
“I
know that I would probably be a basket case if it wasn’t for
that
support.”
“And friends get their friends into trouble, without even
realising it,” McKay grated out. “Blair,
let alone
Jim, wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for
me. My
friendship hasn’t helped them much, has it? Blair
would be
better off if he had never met me, or at least hadn’t taken
the
time to befriend me. So much for that friendship,
it’s
really worked out good for him, hasn’t it? I should have
pushed
him away, just like everyone else.”
And then he made his move. Jackson had drifted closer to him,
close enough for him to make a grab for the Zat. He
didn’t
make it though. Teal’c zatted him, and he fell into darkness.
“Damn it, why’d you have to go and do
that?” Mitchell
said to the still form on the floor. He sighed.
“Let’s get
him onto the couch. I need to report back to General Landry.”
----------------
Earlier
that morning…
Jim groaned as he came to on a crude bed.
“Hey, Jim, welcome back. How do you feel?”
“I’ll let you know when the rollercoaster has
stopped and the rock band shuts up. How long have I been out?”
“Nearly a full day. You must have had a reaction to
the knock out drugs they shot us with.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember. We were just about to get
into the truck when we were darted. Are you okay?”
“Fine, fine, no problem,” Blair said unconvincingly.
“Sandburg?” Jim asked worriedly.
“I’m not too happy about a recording they made
yesterday. They didn’t hurt me, just put a gun to
my
head,” Blair sighed. “And threatened to cut me up
if McKay
doesn’t do what they want. He’s got two
days to
comply.”
“McKay?” Jim said in surprise. “What has
he got to do with this, and what the hell do they want?”
“They want all the information and the base security details
on
something they referred to as F302’s, and for him to persuade
a
Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter to come with him for some reason,
and rendezvous with them with the information and her. And to
hand himself over at that point as well. If he
doesn’t…”
“Then they’ll torture you?” Jim growled.
“Yeah. He’ll get another video message
with the whole
thing on it for him to watch and then another two days to
comply.
Then they’ll kill me, slowly.”
“Shit.”
“Exactly. And…” Blair paused.
“There’s more?”
“They mentioned your enhanced senses, making it clear that
they
were going to use you to get past the security. Of course, if
he
doesn’t do what they want and they end up killing me,
they’ll cut their losses and kill you as well.”
“This just gets better,” Jim growled.
“Will McKay go along with them?”
“Maybe. Probably. They say
they’ve got him
under surveillance, even when he is at the SGC, which I presume is the
name of the place he’s working at right now. I
don’t
know if he’ll be able to tip off his employers whilst playing
along or not,” Blair looked both worried and pissed
off.
“This totally sucks.”
“Yeah,” Jim said, looking around the room they were
in. “Any idea where we are? Did you see anything
that might
give any clues?”
“Nope. I think all crooks must have their own
private underground complexes,” Blair grimaced.
Jim nodded. The walls were plain, and there were no
windows. In the room were two cots, a couple of rickety
looking
chairs, and a bucket. He sighed.
“Okay, so we have to get out the hard way.”
“The hard way?”
“Yep. Cunning and brute strength.”
“Well, between the two of us, we should be able to figure
something out,” Blair grinned slightly, before looking
serious
again. “Can you hear anything? And can
you tell if
there are hidden bugs or cameras or whatever in here?”
Jim cocked his head very slightly to one side and concentrated, with
Blair putting one hand on his arm to help ground him. After
all
these years, it was second nature to both of them.
“Okay, no electronic equipment in this room, so
we’re not under surveillance.”
“Huh, mistake number one for the bad guys,” Blair
muttered, careful not to interrupt Jim’s concentration.
“And…no white noise generator. I can
hear a couple
of people outside this door. They’re not talking,
but
pacing. Guards, presumably.”
“Doing good, Jim,” Blair encouraged.
“Okay, there’s…four more people about
two hundred
yards away. No conversation at the moment…in fact,
I’d say there were sleeping. And another two about
five
hundred feet or so away, though it sounds like they’re above
us. Just general chat. Talking about a football
game.”
“So, eight people so far.”
“Yes. Wherever we are, we’re out in the
countryside. I can’t hear anything but a few birds
and
animals outside. No sounds that suggest we’re near
a town
or city.”
“So, we need to get past eight people, get out of here and
find help?”
“Basically,” Jim agreed. “Will
you be able to contact McKay when we get out of here?”
Blair grinned to himself at Jim’s ‘when’
not ‘if’ they got out of there.
“I don’t know. My contact details for him
go via the
Air Force. But when he sent that letter to me to let me know
he
was better just after his last visit, he also said that if we ever got
into trouble with government agents, whether rogue or not, due to your
senses or whatever, to contact a General Landry at Cheyenne Mountain,
Colorado Springs,” Blair shook his head. “Of
course, he
didn’t say it blatantly, but couched his words carefully,
knowing
I’d read between the lines.”
“Any idea who this General Landry is?”
“No, but I know NORAD is at Cheyenne Mountain, so presumably
he’s part of that. Either way, if Rodney trusts
this guy to
help us, then I’m willing to do so as well. And
I’m
assuming he will know how to contact Rodney to let him know
we’re
okay.”
“Good.”
“So,” Blair said. “What’s the
plan?”
----------------
The
present…
Back at the SGC, Mitchell stood in General Landry’s office
and gave him a run down of events.
“Sir, I believe it would be a good idea to inform Colonel
Sheppard about what is going on. McKay is a member of his
team,
and he knows the man far better than any of us here.”
“I agree. It sounds like Dr McKay isn’t
handling
things too well and we need him focused if our plan stands a chance of
working,” General Landry activated his intercom and requested
that Colonel Sheppard be asked to see him as soon as possible.
Several minutes later, Sheppard entered the General’s office.
“You asked to see me, sir?”
“Yes, Colonel,” The General brought
Sheppard up to speed on McKay and what they knew so far.
“And I’m only just finding out now, sir?”
Sheppard asked angrily.
“We needed to act to contain the situation. We also
needed
to be certain whether the surveillance referred to on the video message
was actual or not. It would appear that that threat, at
least,
was false, as we have found no evidence of surveillance of any kind.
However, we decided to confront him at Colonel Carter’s just
to
be on the safe side.”
“Okay,” Sheppard still wasn’t happy, but
he let it
go, for now at least. “So what’s the
plan? I’m
assuming you have a plan, and I’m also assuming
it’s not to
put McKay in a cell and throw away the key? As tempting as
that
may be sometimes, he’s only trying to protect his friends. I
know
for a fact that Sandburg is more like family to McKay than his own
family ever have been.”
“We have no intention of locking him up, but we do need his
cooperation.”
“And as you know him better than us…”
Mitchell started.
“…I’m more likely to get through to
him. Okay,
I get that. So, tell me the plan, and then let’s go
see
him.”
----------------
Noon,
earlier that day…
Blair watched Jim, who’d finally recovered from the effects
of
the drug, as he carefully examined the room. He was watching
in
case Jim zoned out, or even better, found something to help them escape.
The mattress was thin and spongy, not a spring in sight, but Jim
checked it anyway. Dropping it, a cloud of dust rose into the
air
and irritated Blair’s nose.
Though their captors had emptied their pockets and also removed their
belts and watches, Blair knew the hole in his pocket often allowed
tissues to escape into the lining of his beige jacket. He was
thankful that that hadn’t been removed as well, as the room
had
no heat and the walls kept the air cold.
Feeling a sneeze threatening to explode, he quickly drove his hand in
the pocket and through the small hole, splitting the material and
making the hole even bigger. Grabbing a wad it took several tries to
pull it through and out. He vaguely heard a clatter as his
sneeze
could no longer be contained.
“Sorry, Jim, dust,” Blair apologised.
But Jim was staring at the floor by his feet.
“You been holding out on me, Sandburg?”
Blair looked down.
“So that’s where you went. I thought I’d
lost
you,” looking up, Blair grinned. “Still
want to chuck
out my tatty old jacket now?”
Almost reverently, Jim picked up Blair’s Swiss army knife.
“I think we’re back in business. What else have you
got in there? A wonder burger by any chance?”
“No,” Blair said with a shake of his
head. “And
even if I did, I wouldn’t give you it. All that
fat,”
he shuddered.
Using the penknife, Jim quickly and quietly took a couple of legs off
one of the chairs. He handed one of the chair legs to Blair
and
kept the other for himself.
Indicating quiet, and giving hand instructions to Blair, Jim went to
their prison door and set to work, using the tools on the penknife
along with his sentinel hearing to pick the lock on the door and ensure
they had no surprise visitors. The click of the door unlocking seemed
very loud to Jim. Carefully placing the penknife in his
pocket,
he picked up the chair leg.
Slowly, Jim turned the handle and opened the door inward, just a
crack. Enough to see that the guards were
positioned facing
away from them. Checking that Sandburg was ready, he swung the door
open, surprising the guards. Giving the guards no time to call for
help, he and Sandburg used the chair legs to render the guards
unconscious, and then dragged them into the room.
“Which way now, Jim?” Blair whispered, looking up
and down the corridor.
“I can feel fresh air coming from this way,” Jim
replied,
handing Blair one of the guards’ guns and keeping the other
for
himself.
Quietly, they walked in the direction Jim had indicated.
The corridor they walked down was a dingy grey, with paint peeling off,
and doors on each side of it. Jim tried a couple, but they
only
led into empty disused rooms, so he didn't bother checking any more of
them.
Half way down the corridor, Jim paused outside a door. Listening
carefully he could hear the four occupants within, sleeping.
He indicated to Blair that it was safe to move on.
At the end of the corridor there was a flight of stairs which they
slowly ascended. Their nerves felt stretched; if either the men above
or below were to hear them, there was nowhere to hide. With
relief they got to the top without incident.
Jim was considering whether it was worth just making a run for it when
he heard, from further along the corridor, two guards approaching,
their voices slightly muted by a closed door. Turning his
hearing
up a fraction he could hear that they were getting ready to relieve the
men below.
Blair knew something was happening by the intense concentration on
Jim’s face and just knew it had to mean trouble. So
as not
to disturb Jim, he quietly tried the door handles. The first
was
locked, but the second opened into an empty room, identical
to
those they had seen below.
Hearing that the two guards were about to leave, Jim looked around, to
see Blair holding the door open for him. Smiling, he quickly
followed his partner in and closed the door behind himself.
Allowing Blair to listen in at the keyhole, Jim stood by the wall so
that he could listen as well, and be in a good attack position if it
became necessary. The guards were chatting as they went past.
“You think this McKay guy can get this alien tech to work for
us?”
“From what I heard the boss saying, him and this Carter woman
are
considered the best. They’ve been working with this
stuff
for years.”
“Hope he’s right.”
“Just think about the fame, the fortune and
the girls we’ll get when we save this planet from the
Goa’uld that infiltrated The Trust,” shuddering the
guard
continued, “The way their eyes glow freaks me out.
Only saw
it once, but that was enough for me. And from what I hear of
the
Wraith, I wouldn’t want to meet one of them on a dark
night.”
“Yeah, real life suckers, them guys.”
“Yeah, a good reason never to step foot through one of those
stargates. Don’t trust travelling by wormhole, it
can’t be good for you."
“But what if...” their voices faded once they reach
the lower level.
“Run. Before they find we’re gone,” Jim
whispered
urgently, now wasn’t the time to think about what they had
overheard.
Blair didn’t need telling twice. They sprinted
along the
corridor to the door at the end which was thankfully unlocked.
“Amateurs,” Jim muttered under his breath.
Opening the door they found themselves in an enclosure that contained
the building they had just left and little else. It was
surrounded by a wire fence, with barbed wire on top, and the gate was
locked with a padlock. However, the barbed wire stopped short
of
the gate.
“Start climbing, Sandburg,” Jim ordered.
Blair paled
slightly. He hated heights, even if the gate was only about
one
and a half that of his own height. He was also worried that
when
the guards came out they would be sitting targets, but he knew it was
their only way out, so he started climbing as fast as he could.
It was just as he was going over the top that the guards ran into the
compound, guns blazing.
With no alternative, he threw himself off the top. Jim tried
to
break his fall and as he caught him, rolled them both into a ditch that
was next to the track that led to the gate. Both were winded, but had
little time to recover. Crawling, they kept to the protection
of
the ditch, until they were near to the trees.
Behind him, Jim could hear one of the guards yelling at the other to
get the keys to the gate. Knowing they would only have a
couple
of minutes grace, Jim grabbed Blair and hauled him off into the
thickest wood he could find.
Blair was surprised to find that they were slowly heading upwards,
instead of downwards. Downhill usually meant a stream. Which
in
turn, meant that they could hide their tracks and not have to worry
about dehydration. He voiced his
concern.
“We need to find a high point, so I can get my bearings and
see
if there is anywhere we can get help,” Jim
answered.
“Now don’t talk, save your energy for
walking.”
Though Jim wondered how long the ‘don’t
talk’ bit
would last.
----------------
Chapter Two - Good Guys, Bad
Guys
The
present…
McKay was still out of it when Sheppard arrived at Carter’s
place with Mitchell.
“Ah, damn it, McKay,” he sighed, taking a good look
at his friend.
“Shouldn’t he have woken up?” Mitchell
asked.
“Yes, he should have,” Sam replied worriedly.
“You say he probably got the video message yesterday
evening?”
“Yes,” Mitchell said.
“Then he probably hasn’t slept since the night
before.”
“That’s probably it,” Carter said,
shaking her head.
“I can’t believe he thought that doing this on his
own was
a good idea. Figured he was smarter than that.”
“Oh, he is, when he’s on the ball,”
Sheppard said.
“But what with nearly losing Ronon not long ago, not to
mention
myself recently, thanks to Kolya, and now someone has targeted Sandburg
too? He’s not thinking straight, if at
all. After
all, with myself or Ronon, or anyone on Atlantis, he knows how high the
risk of losing a friend or friends is. Has lost some, in
fact. But Sandburg? He’s not involved in
any of this,
and so should be safe, right? Only he’s
not. And
it’s not even Sandburg’s work that has gotten him
into
trouble. He’s probably blaming himself for all of
this as
well. One of the things McKay does well is guilt,”
Sheppard
looked at the man sleeping on the couch. “Just gotta get him
using that big ole brain of his again, that’s all.”
“You think he’ll go for the plan?”
Mitchell asked.
“He doesn’t have any other options,
really,” Sheppard
replied. “So yes, he’ll go with it.
He’ll do
what he needs to get Sandburg and Ellison out of this. He may
be
a pain in the ass, but he’s loyal to his friends.
Probably
because he hasn’t had many in his life.”
“Not surprising,” Mitchell muttered.
“Look,” Sheppard turned to him. “I know
McKay can
be…a bit hard to take,” he snorted.
“Crap,
couldn’t stand the guy myself when we first met.
But
he’s got hidden qualities. You just have to get
past the
arrogant, annoying and downright frustrating surface to see
them.
The ‘Great McKay Defence System’, designed to keep
the
universe at bay. If you can’t be bothered to look
beneath,
that’s your problem.”
“I guess I got the wrong idea when we visited
Atlantis. You
even said we could keep him,” Mitchell defended
himself.
“Not to mention the whole thing with the lemon.”
“Winding McKay up is a hobby of mine,” Sheppard
said,
grinning. “And he knows that. In fact,
it’s part of
the team dynamic, winding up McKay. Well, except for Teyla,
she
doesn’t tend to do much of that. And talking of
teams, I
haven’t seen the delightful Vala around. You
keeping her on
base so that she doesn’t terrorise the local
populous?”
Mitchell returned his grin.
“She’s got the flu and is busy driving Dr Lam
crazy, what with telling everyone that she’s dying.”
There was a mumble from the couch, followed by a groan.
Sheppard
shoved Rodney’s legs over slightly and sat down next to him,
prodding him in the shoulder.
“Hey, buddy, time to wake up,” Sheppard gave him
another prod for good measure.
“Stop poking me,” an annoyed voice muttered.
“Got
enough problems with this damn drummer in my head.”
Sheppard prodded him again, provoking an angry glare, that soon
changed, passing through several emotions; horror, fear, guilt, before
settling on shame.
“Easy, McKay. When did you last eat?”
“What?” Rodney asked in confusion, obviously not
expecting that question.
“I said, when did you last eat, or sleep for that matter,
because, honestly, you look like shit.”
McKay pushed himself up slowly, avoiding looking anyone in the eyes.
“Well?” Sheppard pushed.
“Sleep? Well, unless you count being stunned, not
since…the night before last.”
“And food?”
“Not since lunch,” Rodney answered reluctantly.
“Which consisted of?” Sheppard continued to push
him.
“A PowerBar. Satisfied now?” Rodney all
but snarled.
“Oh yeah, you so have that low blood sugar thing going on
right now. Carson would be pissed.”
“Carson can go…”
“Ah, ah, ah, be nice,” Sheppard looked towards Sam.
“Got any food round here? Something more
substantial than a
PowerBar,” he turned to glare at McKay.
Sam sighed, and headed towards the kitchen, returning quickly with a
sandwich wrapped in cellophane, and a plate. She shrugged at
Sheppard’s look.
“I don’t always have time to cook, so I tend to
keep a supply of sandwiches in the fridge.”
“Thanks.”
McKay eyed the sandwich with suspicion. But Sheppard just
unwrapped it and placed it on the plate.
“Eat this, and if you’re a good boy, you can have a
chocolate bar after,” Sheppard smirked at Rodney’s
reply,
which insulted his parentage, amongst other things. But
Rodney
ate the sandwich.
“So that whole hypoglycaemic thing isn’t just
hypochondria, then?” Sam asked.
“Nope,” Sheppard replied. “Though
it’s hard to tell the real from the imaginary with
Rodney.”
“Humph. I am not
a hypochondriac,” Rodney muttered, finishing the
sandwich. “You mention chocolate?”
“Here,” Sheppard passed him a bar from his jacket
pocket. As McKay demolished it quickly, Sheppard quipped.
“You gotta watch your fingers when feeding The McKay
chocolate.” McKay just huffed in annoyance, but
remained
quiet until the chocolate was gone.
“So now you’ve pointed out the height of my
wuss-ness, what next?”
“Now, we figure out how to help your friends,”
Jackson said.
“I take it there’s a plan?”
“Yes,” Carter said. “Not sure if
you’ll like
it. I don’t like it,” she mock glared at
Cam.
“But it’s quite simple. Carter and
yourself go to the
rendezvous and get kidnapped, and we follow you and come to the
rescue,” Mitchell said.
“We’ll both have subcutaneous
transmitters,” Carter
added. “So tracking us won’t be a
problem. Of course,
there are risks involved.”
“Like we can’t be certain they’ll take us
to where
Jim and Blair are. And you don’t know what sort of
security
there will be. Oh, and what if they are able to scan for the
transmitters?”
“Didn’t say it wasn’t risky, just that it
was simple,” Mitchell pointed out.
“There isn’t any other way, McKay,” Sam
said.
“If you don’t meet up with them, and bring me to
them,
Sandburg will get hurt. We know that.”
“And if it goes wrong?”
“I’ve altered the transmitters so that if we push
on them
three times, they will shut off for five seconds. When we
know
that Sandburg and Ellison are there, we’ll use the brief shut
off
as a signal. Until we send that signal, the guys will hang
back.”
“I suppose that evens out the odds a bit more,”
Rodney
said. “And it’s not like there are any other
choices,” he closed his eyes briefly, and then looked up at
Sam.
“You sure you want to do this? It’s my
mess…”
“I’m not going to let innocent civilians get
hurt,”
Sam stated. “Nor you, either, no matter how tempting that
might
be.”
Rodney seemed surprised by the latter part of her statement.
“Oh, okay,” he was quiet for a moment and then,
“What
about the surveillance they said they have me under?”
“Appears to have been an idle threat,” Mitchell
said.
“You were put under surveillance as soon as we knew
you’d
hacked the computers. There’s been no sign of any
other
surveillance. It could be they don’t want to risk
any of
their people being captured if you didn’t
cooperate.”
“Or they don’t have the man power or
resources,” Daniel added.
“And you, being paranoid…” Sheppard
started.
“I am not paranoid,” Rodney stated emphatically,
scowling. “Just cautious.”
“Yeah, you keep thinking that,” Sheppard grinned.
Carter had picked something up from a side table as they were talking,
and now approached McKay with a needle.
“Uh, what’s that?” Rodney asked,
nervously.
“The transmitter.”
“Oh. Okay,” he said, as she held one of
his arms, ready to inject the transmitter under his skin.
“Hey, just like a cat,” Sheppard said with a
grin.
“Now you know how it feels to be micro-chipped. I
wonder if
I could get Zelenka to rig the internal sensors back home so I can
always find you!”
McKay glared at him, but Sam spoke before he could make a scathing
reply.
“Don’t worry, it won’t hurt,”
she smiled, and added, “Much,” just as she injected
him.
“Ow,” he said, and then scowled at her.
“You enjoyed that far too much.”
“Yep,” she said, looking smug.
“Let’s get this show on the road,”
Mitchell said.
----------------
Afternoon,
earlier that day…
It was late afternoon when Blair and Jim finally reached the rocky
outcrop at the top of the big hill. Keeping his senses alert,
Jim
had been pleased when all sound of the search party had
disappeared. Night would soon descend, so the chances of them
being found would lessen considerably.
Gratefully, Blair sat down heavily on a rock. But Jim could
still
hear him muttering about sentinels with legs of steel and too much of a
fondness for the gym.
Smiling to himself, Jim searched the surrounding countryside, looking
for some sign of civilization, or even better, a phone.
Very faintly on the breeze he could smell burning wood.
Focusing
in on that direction he was able to make the outline of a roof and
behind the building was a slow spiral of smoke from a bonfire.
In the valley below him was a track with trails leading off it,
presumably to hunting lodges. He considered briefly about
finding
one to stay in, but finding a phone was more urgent. If they followed
the track it would be easier going, and they would still be able to
take cover in the trees. The building he could see in the
distance was either near the track, or the track led to a highway and
the house was on that. It looked more substantial than a
hunting
lodge from what he had glimpsed, and was therefore more likely to have
the phone that they so urgently required.
Knowing that they were in an exposed position, but that they would make
better time if he allowed Blair a brief rest, he search the tree line
below him and spotted a tree that had fallen over, its roots leaving a
hole in the ground.
“C’mon Chief, time to move.”
Blair groaned.
“We’ll move down to that tree and shelter in the
hollow for a while. It’ll give us some
cover.”
As they moved towards it, Blair slipped, but Jim grabbed him before he
could do himself an injury.
Once there, Jim told him about the house he had seen down the
valley. Blair seemed glad that they were heading towards a
place
hopefully with a phone, but also seemed a little distracted.
“Okay, Sandburg. What is it?”
“What’s what?” Blair asked, puzzled.
“What’s going through that brain of
yours?”
“I keep thinking about what we overheard, you know, the alien
tech and that McKay has been working on it for years. It
sounds
like science fiction. Did they mean what they said, or do you
think they were just kidding around?” Blair asked.
“I hate to say this, Sandburg, but I think it may be for
real.”
“Why do you say that?”
“You remember the first video McKay sent you after visiting
that
time?” Jim said, looking self-conscious. When Blair
nodded,
Jim told him that he had overheard in the background something about
the Daedalus having arrived from Earth with supplies.
“And you’re only just telling me now?”
Blair exclaimed.
“I didn’t think what I had heard could be right,
that it
had to mean something other than what it seemed like,” Jim
defended himself.
“Okay, so what they said about alien enemies, wormholes and
stargates is true?”
“I think so, I don’t believe those guards were
lying, and
with the conversation I overheard on the tape…even I have to
admit it sounds true.”
“And McKay’s been involved in this for
years?”
Blair said, finding it hard to believe of his friend.
“Why
the hell didn’t he tell me? How could he keep this
secret? I mean, aliens…!”
“He must have had to sign some sort of non-disclosure or
confidentiality papers. You know what the military is
like.
They’ve obviously decided to keep this from the general
public,
and I think I can see why, especially if the aliens are as unfriendly
as they sound. Could you imagine the panic and chaos that
would
cause?”
Blair looked thoughtful, though clearly didn’t agree fully
with what Jim had said.
“If we want to warn McKay and this Colonel Carter, then we
need
to get to that phone,” Jim pointed out, knowing that Blair
was
deeply worried for his friend.
Blair nodded in agreement as he stood up, and together they began to
descend the hill.
----------------
The
present…
Night had fallen as Sam and Rodney drove towards the rendezvous with
the kidnappers.
“You know, I’m not good at this
whole…subterfuge
thing,” McKay said, his nerves showing clearly. “I
mean,
I’m getting better at it, but…”
“You’ll be fine, McKay,” Sam reassured
him.
“Besides, my shock and anger at your betrayal should convince
them.”
“Um, yeah,” he gave a short laugh. “I
guess you get
the chance to say all those nasty things you’ve always wanted
to
say about me.”
“Don’t tempt me,” she said, before
adding,
“Actually, I have a feeling a lot of what I’m going
to say
won’t be true, so try not to take it to heart. Of
course,
some of it…”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it.”
“McKay,” Sam started.
“Sorry, just…”
“Feeling a little insecure?”
“Hmm. Look, you know I really, really
didn’t want to
do this. Betray you that is. It’s
just…”
he shrugged.
“You wanted to protect your friend, and you weren’t
thinking straight. I know. It’s okay,
really.”
“Really? You’re not even a little bit mad
at me?”
It was Sam’s turn to shrug.
“No.”
“Oh…good, good.”
She felt him relax somewhat, and shook her head. She
couldn’t believe she was trying to reassure McKay, of all
people. But then, it would seem his bluster and irritating
personality traits hid a whole boatload of insecurities. She
grinned.
“Of course, if I hear about any more
fantasies…” she warned.
“I know, I know. Death by lemon. Or
worse.”
“Well, maybe not that extreme.”
“You stood by and let Mitchell threaten me on the Odyssey not
too long ago,” he pointed out.
“He wouldn’t have hurt you,” Sam said in
surprise. “I thought you would know that.”
“Did I look like I knew that?” Rodney asked
angrily.
“And how the hell was I supposed to know what he would or
would
not do? I don’t know the guy”
“McKay, I…just assumed you had realised
you’d pushed
too far, and so got on with the job. I didn’t
realise…damn it, I wouldn’t have let him hurt
you,”
she was quiet a moment. “You don’t trust me
either?”
“I…I don’t…” he
glanced at her briefly,
before returning his eyes to the road. “It’s hard
for me to
trust, okay? And I’m not much good at reading
between the
lines, not when it comes to people. You probably saw it as a
big
joke, I know that’s how Sheppard saw it. He
apologised
later, you know, when he heard what had happened.
Hadn’t
expected Mitchell to actually use the lemon to threaten me.”
“Okay, maybe I saw it as a joke, of sorts, and I’m
sorry
about that. But you can be so…downright annoying
at times,
getting one up on you is very tempting. Too
tempting.”
“I never know where I stand with you,” he
complained.
“You hate me, then you don’t hate me,
then… damn it,
you seem to enjoy messing with my mind! So I never know quite
what to expect. I wish we could be friends, but I’d
settle
for just being tolerated. Even that would be an improvement
over
the majority of people I’ve ever met.”
“I do tolerate you,” Sam shook her head.
“Believe me, if I didn’t, you’d
know.”
“Well, that’s something at least.”
“You really don’t get people, do you,
McKay?”
“Sometimes I do,” he said defensively, before
admitting
reluctantly. “A lot of the time, no. Science,
Ancient
technology, I can figure that stuff out like that,” he
snapped
his fingers. “But people and friendship? Figuring
that out
isn’t my greatest asset. I am learning,
though. Being
part of a team does that.”
“You trust your team?”
“Most of the time. Certainly when we’re
on missions,
I trust them with my life. Trust them not to leave me behind
or
anything. But I’m still…unsure of where
I stand with
them outside of missions,” he shook his head. “Damn
it,
I’m pretty messed up right now. Must be, to be
telling you
this stuff. I don’t…” he
trailed off.
“You don’t let people in?”
“No. Of course, some people refuse to be left
outside and
barge through the barriers as if they weren’t
there.”
“Sheppard?” she asked, with a grin.
“And Elizabeth, and Carson, and Teyla…even Ronon
seems to
be getting in on it as well,” Rodney huffed in annoyance.
“Or maybe you’re learning to let people in
more? Learning to be human.”
“Learning not to leave someone trapped in a stargate, despite
the
risks involved in getting said person out?” he suggested
sourly.
“You were a real jerk that time, you know.”
“I didn’t understand. Too much Star Trek,
and the
‘needs of the many outweighing the needs on the
one’
crap. Friendship makes you weak. Makes you put one
person’s life before the lives of many,” he sighed
heavily.
“But I also know that you were right. It also makes
you
stronger. It’s just hard to see that right now, in
this
situation,” he gave a dry laugh. “I’ve
become the
person I despised all that time ago. The one who takes crazy
risks for a friend.”
“You’ve changed,” Sam agreed.
“But personally, I think it’s for the
better.”
“Even though I tried to lead you into a trap?”
“Maybe because of that.”
“I don’t get it…” he said,
genuinely confused.
“You will,” Sam interrupted with a smile.
“Eventually.”
Silence settled in the car until they reached the turn off McKay had
been instructed to take.
“Okay,” Sam said. “Here we
go.”
And she started to act confused, and angry, not knowing what type of
surveillance might be used, or how far down the road they would be
intercepted. McKay did his best to respond to her comments
and
threats in an appropriate manner.
----------------
McKay brought the car to a stop when a van pulled out to block the
road. Four people approached with guns, and motioned them to
get
out. Rodney didn’t need any further encouragement,
but
Carter made no move to do so. One of the men pointed the gun
into
the car.
“I suggest you get out,” the man said.
“It
would be a shame to have to kill you, but we will if you
don’t
cooperate.”
Sam scowled, but complied.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
“Your new employers,” the man replied, taking her
by the arm and guiding her towards the van.
She turned her gaze to Rodney, looking angry. “What are you
up to, McKay? Why are you doing this?”
“Let’s just say that Dr McKay came to an agreement
with us,” the man answered before Rodney could.
“An agreement? Are they paying you to betray
me? I
thought we were friends! Guess I was wrong. But then, I
should
have known better than to try and be a friend to someone as pathetic as
you.”
“It’s not like that,” Rodney said,
playing along as
best as he could, and reminding himself that this was just an act, and
not how she really felt.
They were pushed into the van.
“Quiet,” the man who appeared to be in charge
ordered. “I will gag you if I have to.”
They fell silent.
----------------
Still
present…
It was dark when Jim and Blair finally reached the house, which turned
out to be on a main road. Fortunately the home owner, an
friendly
old man, was willing to let them make a collect call. He even
left them to make the call in private, which they were grateful for.
Jim was passed from person to person until eventually General Landry,
recognising Jim’s name from the video clip McKay had
received,
agreed to speak to him, by which time Jim was starting to get annoyed.
After they had related all that had happened to them, General Landry
realised that they knew more than they should about the Stargate
Programme, and told them to stay put whilst he arranged transportation
to Cheyenne Mountain for them.
----------------
Sam may have chosen to keep quiet rather than risk being gagged, but it
didn’t stop her from glaring at him. Rodney hoped
she was
just keeping in character and not that she was really upset at
him. She had said that they were okay, but she was being very
convincing.
The rear windows of the van were opaque, so he had no idea where they
were going. He had looked at his watch once, but a growl from
Thug 1 was enough to persuade him not to do it again.
Thug 1 and Thug 2, as he thought of them privately in his head, looked
as though they should be on the front cover of
‘Mercenary
Today’. Conversation was not their forte; looking
menacing
obviously was.
With nothing to distract him, not even Sam, he was left to his own
thoughts and wondered what life had against him. It had to be
something really bad to deserve everything he’d been through
in
the last couple of years or so. Of course, he
didn’t really
believe in karma, or that life had it in for him, but he was starting
to see why people might believe that sort of thing.
This sucked. This really sucked, big time. Not just
for
himself, but also for Jim and Blair, and Sam. He hoped that
Jim
and Blair were okay and weren’t lying in a ditch dead
somewhere,
or even worse. And just when had he realised that there were
worse things in life than death? Oh yeah, shortly after
arriving
in the Pegasus galaxy.
Not that he regretted leaving Earth. Well, sometimes, but not
really. It might be dangerous, but it was home; with certain
people there like family to him. Okay, a dysfunctional
family,
but that was okay. It wasn’t like he knew any
different
anyway.
Eventually the van came to a stop and the back doors were flung open,
and Thug 1 used his gun to indicate that they should get out.
Sam
refused Rodney’s help as she jumped out the back.
They were led to what could have been a barn, but it was so dark he
couldn’t be entirely sure. There wasn’t a
street
light in sight, or anything to show in which direction civilisation
lay.
A door was opened and a bare bulb cast it’s light out into
the
darkness. He felt his last chance of freedom ebbing
away.
He thought briefly of running into the darkness, away from this; the
baddies and whatever awaited him, but the thought of Blair suffering
further because of him stopped him dead. He looked at Sam,
wondering if the same thought was running through her head, or if she
would take this opportunity to escape. Part of him wanted her
to
escape, to get away, and part of him, to his shame, didn’t
want
to be left here alone.
Entering the barn, he was expecting an open space. Instead,
one
end of the barn had been partitioned into two rooms and the remaining
space contained workbenches and engineering tools, together with a
couple of state of the art computers.
He felt the gun in his back and let himself be guided into one of the
rooms, quickly followed by Sam. He knew he must look as nervous as he
felt, whilst Sam looked in control of herself, letting their captors
know that they were not intimidating her. Hoping that she
knew
what she was doing, he looked across the desk to the man who was
leaning against the wall. He had the same air about him that
Cowan had, one of being in control; that he only had to give an order
for it to be carried out immediately.
“Who are you and what do you want?” demanded Sam.
“Your new boss,” he replied smoothly.
“And I
what I want is for you to work on the alien technology we recently
acquired, as well as help build F302s for our use.”
“Where’s Blair and Jim?” Rodney blurted
out, unable to contain himself any longer.
“Somewhere safe, enjoying our hospitality.”
“I want to speak to them, know that they’re
okay.”
“All in good time, Doctor. Persist with your
demands to see them and you won’t like the
consequences.”
“What’s in it for me?” asked Sam, looking
defiant.
“After all, McKay’s friends are nothing to
me.”
Rodney looked appalled, though he was sure Sam didn’t mean it.
“It’s obvious that you need us, so I hardly think
you’re going to kill us,” she continued.
“But I know how to get to your friends; maybe Jackson would
be a good target. What do you think?”
“Just leave him out of this and I’ll do what you
want,” she agreed with a scowl.
She couldn’t help thinking that a bad situation was getting
worse, but although it was tempting to send the recall signal they
couldn’t pull out until they found Ellison and Sandburg first.
----------------
Sheppard looked through his night vision binoculars at the
barn.
The place looked quiet, but as he knew all too well, looks could be
deceptive.
He hated the not knowing; was Rodney okay, were they torturing him,
killing him, was he dead already? He knew he should have
asked if
the transmitter stopped working if Rodney died.
“C’mon, Rodney,” he thought silently to
himself.
“Send the signal, so we can come in and get you out of
there.”
But he had his orders: Wait. He hated waiting, hated the
inaction; that was when the worse case scenarios would start to play
through his mind. He looked at Mitchell, who was by his side,
similar thoughts no doubt going through his head.
They had followed the signal and parked half a mile down the road when
it stopped moving, going the rest of the way on foot so as to not
attract attention. Since then they had been playing the
waiting
game.
Sheppard noticed Cameron make a sudden movement and reached for his
cell phone, which had been set to vibrate. Mitchell eased
himself
further away, so that any conversation wouldn’t attract
unwanted
attention.
When he returned he face looked grim.
“Change of plans,” Mitchell said.
“We’re
going in now. Ellison and Sandburg escaped on their own
apparently and have only just managed to get through to Landry. Pretty
impressive for a cop and a
civilian.”
“Actually, Ellison was in black ops, and from what
I’ve
heard Sandburg is very resourceful in a bad situation,”
Sheppard
said with a wry grin, thinking of some of the stories he’d
heard
from Rodney about Jim and Blair’s exploits.
“Rodney
must have given Sandburg the phone number for Cheyenne and
Landry’s name in case of emergencies.”
Mitchell nodded and then indicated to Teal’c, Jackson and the
rest of the unit that they were moving in.
----------------
Keeping as much to the shadows as possible, Mitchell reached the
building. He indicated for them to spilt into two groups.
Half,
led by Sheppard, would enter by the door they had located on the other
side, and the remainder would enter by the nearest door.
As quietly as they could they picked the locks, and at the pre-arranged
time, carefully opened the door.
That was when the fireworks started.
----------------
Through the office door, the leader could see his men going down one by
one during the gunfight that had broken out. Realising that Sam would
be his biggest problem, he quickly raised his gun and shot her.
Before Rodney could react, he felt himself grabbed and used as a human
shield. Shocked by the man’s shooting of Carter, he
didn’t fight back. He’d never felt
comfortable having
a gun pointed at him; after all this time he reckoned he should be used
to it, but imminent death could never be good.
Looking up, he met Sheppard’s eyes. He’d
obviously
been drawn to them by the gunshot. It felt like Sheppard was
trying to tell him something, exactly like the time Kolya had held
Elizabeth hostage in the gateroom. Now it was his turn to
trust
Sheppard’s aim. He really, really hoped that the
first time
hadn’t been a fluke; that Sheppard hadn’t been
aiming
somewhere else and missed.
Things seemed to go into slow motion. He could almost see the
bullet leave the gun. He could feel the vibration as it hit
his
captor and jerked him backwards, away from Rodney himself.
The
sudden release sent him sprawling forward and he heard another shot;
ensuring that his captor wouldn’t be able to shoot anyone
else,
or escape.
Unsteadily, and with help from Sheppard, he got to his feet.
Looking to where he’d seen Sam fall, he was surprised to see
that
she was sitting up, leaning against a table and holding a handkerchief
to her bullet-grazed shoulder.
“You’re alive,” he exclaimed, as Mitchell
started tending to her injury.
“Obviously.”
“You’d think with all that flaunted intelligence of
yours,
you’d have given up stating the obvious, McKay,”
Sheppard
drawled.
“Oh, ha, ha. And why the hell have you rescued
us? We
haven’t found out where they’re keeping Blair and
Ellison
yet,” he demanded sharply.
“Settle down, they’re fine,” Sheppard
started before Rodney interrupted him.
“You’ve seen them?”
“No, but Landry contacted us. Ellison and Sandburg
escaped earlier today but had trouble finding a phone.”
“Oh. Wait, you mean we didn’t need to do
this?”
“McKay, yes, we did need to do this, to find the people
behind it
and stop them from trying something again. Or do you want
someone
to kidnap your friends or yourself every time you come to Earth? Just
be glad Ellison and Sandburg got away and were able to make contact
with Landry. I take it you gave them his name?”
“Yes, yes, I thought, you know, if they got into trouble due
to
Ellison’s senses and rogue CIA or NID agents or whatever,
that
Landry would be the best person for them to contact for help.”
“And I’m glad that you did.
C’mon, let’s get you out of here.”
And together they left the building, leaving the clean up to Mitchell
and his people. Luckily, the vehicles had been moved nearer
so
McKay didn’t have far to walk.
Sheppard couldn’t help noticing how tired McKay suddenly
looked. Now that the fight was over and he knew that his
friends
were free, all the adrenaline had deserted him, leaving him looking
drained. Sheppard doubted that McKay had had any real sleep
since
this began, when he had first received the video clip of Blair.
He was glad this was over, for all of them; but especially for McKay.
----------------
“I thought debriefing with Elizabeth was bad, but Landry is
far
worse. He just loves those details, details, details,” John
griped as they left the General’s office and headed towards
the
elevator.
Whilst they had been in the debriefing a phone call had come through to
say that Jim and Blair had finally arrived and were being taken to a
conference room in the NORAD levels of the mountain.
McKay was impatient to see Blair, needing to see for himself that Blair
was really was okay, and the elevator ride was agony. As soon
as
they arrived at the correct room, he rudely pushed past Sheppard, who
shot him an annoyed glare that lacked strength, knowing just how
anxious McKay had been.
They had time for “Are you okay?”
”I’m
okay”, before General Landry strode into the room and asked
them
to take seats at the table.
“Before we start, some of what we will be discussing involves
National Security. Therefore I must request that you sign
these
non-disclosure forms.”
“I will not be gagged and have my right to freedom of speech
curtailed,” said Blair, getting up from the table.
“If you refuse to sign I would have no choice but to take you
out
of circulation, as you have certain knowledge that the President
doesn’t want to be heard in the public domain,”
General
Landry said.
“Blair, listen to me, keeping this secret is
important. I
don’t like it myself, hell, if it wasn’t classified
I’d have more than one Nobel by now, but the public
can’t
handle this. Could you imagine the widespread
panic? And if
you think that a common alien enemy would unite the warring factions of
this world, then you’re more of an idealist than I
realised,” Rodney stated emphatically, adding,
“Besides,
who’s going to believe you anyway, without proof?”
Defeated, Blair sat back down again.
The non-disclosure forms were passed to them, and a sullen silence
ensued as they were perused and duly signed.
“You should know that several people here have seen the video
clip that was sent to Dr McKay and are aware of your enhanced
senses,” General Landry said, looking pointedly at Jim.
“Yeah, I somehow figured you’d have seen
that,” Jim
said, not at all surprised although clearly uncomfortable with it.
“Having spoken to Dr McKay and read about the dissertation
that
Mr Sandburg here claimed to have faked to protect your secret, we feel
that you would both be an asset to us at the SGC.”
Jim and Blair exchanged glances; Blair shrugged.
“So what exactly is the SGC?” Jim asked.
General Landry, with some interruptions from Rodney, some interjections
from Sheppard and a barrage of questions from Blair, explained about
the Goa’uld, Ori, wormholes and stargates, with a brief
detour
into Replicators whilst they were at it. Jim looked on in
amusement, whilst absorbing the information overload as best he could.
“So, if we were to join the SGC, would we be able to work
alongside Rodney and Colonel Sheppard in one of these SG
Teams?”
Blair asked.
“Ah, no, we’re not based here,” Rodney
said awkwardly.
“Where exactly are you based?” Jim asked, knowing
that it had to be off world somewhere.
“Oh, um, well…” Rodney paused, aware
that Landry
didn’t want Atlantis to be mentioned at this stage, but
deciding
Blair deserved the truth. “We’re based in
another
galaxy, on Atlantis.”
“Atlantis!” Blair leapt on the word.
“You mean
like Plato wrote about? The mythical city lost beneath the
waves?
That Atlantis?”
“Yes…” Rodney started, before Landry
interrupted him.
“That can wait,” he threw a look at McKay that,
miracles of
miracles, shut him up for once. “You would be based
here,
in Cheyenne Mountain.”
“And we could protect you from idiots that might want to
kidnap you,” Rodney added, hoping that they would agree.
“I think we need some time to talk about
this.
It’s a lot to take in, not to mention being a total life
change,” Jim said, and Blair nodded.
“I’ve
worked for the military once and I don’t want to go rushing
back
to that life until I have thought through all of the
implications. In the meantime, we’d like to go
home.”
“Very well, I’ll give you the time you
require. As
far as I am concerned, the door will remain open,” the
General
informed them. “I’ll leave you gentlemen
to say your
farewells, as Colonel Sheppard and Dr McKay will be shipping out
tomorrow. I’ll arrange for transport back to
Cascade for
you.” With that he left the room, shutting the door
behind
him and ensuring that they had some privacy.
“Atlantis then?” Blair asked, grinning.
“Yes. It’s not the only myth
that’s based on truth,” John answered.
“Was it submerged, like in the story?”
“Oh yeah, but not anymore.”
“Cool,” Blair said, awed. “Wish
I could see it. What is it like?”
“It is cool, but it’s also dangerous.
Each day is
different but not always in a good way,” Rodney cautioned.
John and Rodney went on to tell them something about the Wraith, the
Asurans and life on Atlantis.
A short while later, the conversation was cut short as the transport
Landry had arranged arrived and Jim and Blair headed home.
As they left the mountain complex, a sudden thought hit Blair.
“So, how are we going to explain all of this to
Simon?”
The End
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A man is known by his friends
– common proverb.
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