Hello friends! It's been a while since I've updated. I'm so sorry. I participated in NaNoWriMo last month and spent most of my writing time working to get words on the page and not a lot of time editing. I hope you enjoy this update. This is a LONG one, maybe the longest I have put out. I probably should have split it in two but I was too excited to get it out to you now that it's done. Just please be sure to comment! I love hearing from you guys.
While this episode doesn't contribute much in the grand picture of Kai and John's story, it's always been one of my favorites and from the first time I watched it, I was excited to work Kai into the story.
Happy Reading!
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Phantoms
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John trotted down the hallway to catch up with Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, we may have a situation," he told her without preamble.
Elizabeth turned and arched a brow, encouraging the Colonel to continue. Sheppard wasn't prone to exaggeration which meant the situation was likely serious judging by the grim expression on his face. McKay jogged around the corner, breathing heavily as he worked to keep up.
"Major Leonard's team, they're late returning from M1B-129," Sheppard explained.
Elizabeth frowned. "We sent them there to check out..." she dragged off thoughtfully. "An unusual energy reading, correct?" Elizabeth asked with a frown. If she remembered correctly they had not been gone much more than a few hours.
"An anomalous spike the MALP picked up in a gate scout," McKay clarified. "The planet is uninhabited, but I thought it warranted a closer look."
"The point is," Sheppard said, shooting McKay a glare as he drew the conversation back to the topic at hand. "They missed a check-in. They're now six hours overdo."
"We tried to reach them by radio but the signal is intermittent at best. Just a lot of static. Could have something to do with the anomaly, but I'm not sure," McKay explained.
"It could be serious, and I don't want to take a chance. I want to take our team and go investigate," Sheppard told her.
"Of course," Elizabeth agreed without hesitation. "-but I think Teyla is still on the mainland. Take Kai instead, if she is inclined, as well as an additional marine unit...and the good doctor Beckett, just in case," she said turning to face Sheppard.
This would be the first off world mission he and Kai did together since going public with their relationship two weeks ago. Weir watched Sheppard's face closely to see how he would respond to being told to take Kai into a potentially dangerous situation. Not that Weir expected him to put her in danger unnecessarily, but she also needed to know that he would use Kai's strengths when the situation called for it, and not show favoritism or try to shield her.
"You got it," Sheppard responded. He flashed her a cheeky grin as though he knew she had been trying to test him. He and McKay went in opposite directions to notify the teams and get ready.
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An hour later the large group stepped through the gate onto M1B-129. Ronon and Kai took point, securing the area as the marines fanned out around them. John slowed once they were all through. He reached up and touched his comm. "Major Leonard, this is Sheppard come in." All that came through the earpiece was static. Sheppard tried twice more without any change. "These things are useless," Sheppard muttered.
McKay pulled out a scanner. "I'm picking up that puzzling energy reading," McKay told them.
Beckett turned to face McKay. "What is it?" he asked, trying to read over McKay's shoulder. He didn't especially like going in the field, but he wasn't going to shy away from the possibility if one of their men was out here injured.
"Did I not just use the word 'puzzling'?" McKay snarked.
Beckett shot him a withering look. "Charming," he snapped back.
Kai stood over Ronon's shoulder with a gun in one hand and a Blade in the other as he crouched down to study the dirt surrounding the gate. She couldn't see or hear anything in the surrounding woods, but the marines they brought with were hardly quiet enough for her to use her senses to their full capabilities.
"Tracks," Ronon called after a moment. John stepped up beside them. "Boot prints," Ronon clarified.
"Let's go find them," John said brightly and he led them deeper into the woods.
A few minutes into their walk McKay spoke up. "The readings are getting stronger," he told them warily. "Whatever it is, we're getting warmer."
Kai frowned as she studied the forest around them. There was something off here, something she could feel like a presence brushing against her mind, but she couldn't quite place it. She shivered as she looked into the shadows of the trees. She wasn't often uneasy and it was even more rare for her to feel this way when there was no clear threat.
John hesitated for a second, feeling how trepidatious Kai was. He wanted to ask, but he couldn't do it in front of the marines. He had not missed the gleam in Weir's eye as she told him to take Kai with him. It was rare for Kai to feel uneasy and he could feel it like a spike of ice in his chest. He kept glancing towards her as they moved through the forest, but she gave no outward indication something was wrong.
Kai hesitated, pausing mid stride and her nose wrinkled as a noxious scent hit her. "There," she called turning towards the side of the path. The others hurried over and pushed aside the thick underbrush to reveal a body.
Kai wrinkled her nose as the smell of decay burned her nostrils. It was too strong for just the one corpse. She stepped away, and continued to search the underbrush while they investigated the body.
"Genii," John said, studying the uniform.
"Been dead for several months," Beckett reported crouching over the body.
"No really, you don't say," McKay snapped motioning to the highly decomposed corpse as though it were obvious. Beckett didn't bother with a response. He just rolled his eyes at his acerbic friend and continued working.
"Well, our guys didn't do it," John said.
"They weren't fed on by the wraith. Bullet wounds," Beckett reported, shifting the uniform. "Dozens of them."
"Over there!" Ronon called from behind them.
They all turned and moved over to where Ronon was standing over another body of a Genii, in an equally as advanced stage of decay.
"Also shot," Beckett reported.
"This guy was repeatedly stabbed," Sheppard said frowning down at yet another body.
"By this guy, looks like," Ronon said sardonically, lifting the grisly skeletal hand of a third body, still gripping a knife.
"What, so they killed each other?" McKay asked, his voice rising in panic. His eyes flittered over the trees around them, wondering what could have caused it.
"Aye, looks like," Beckett agreed moving from one body to the next. "And quite possibly in a violent fashion."
"Which begs the question," John said, turning his eyes to the forest. "What the hell happened to Major Leonard's team?" he asked grimly. He hated to think what could have happened to his men out here.
They moved away from the bodies and headed further down the path. "I thought you said this planet was uninhabited," Ronon said falling into step beside McKay.
McKay didn't bother looking up from the life signs scanner in his hand. "According to the Ancient database..." McKay dragged off with a helpless shrug.
"A lot can change in 10,000 years," Kai pointed out from the back of the group.
Sheppard scoffed. "Like this planet recently becoming habited."
Beckett glanced towards McKay. "Do you suppose the Genii are responsible for the energy readings we're detecting?" he asked, unable to hide how unsettled the inexplicable deaths made him.
"Probably..." McKay dragged off lowering the scanner as a sudden thought struck him. "It would be just our luck to stumble upon one of their nuclear testing sites."
"Nuclear testing sites?" one of the marines asked fearfully from behind them.
Sheppard glanced over his shoulder flashing a sardonic grin. "Just a small one."
Kai swatted John's shoulder, biting back a smile. She didn't want to encourage him. Sheppard snorted, unable to help himself messing with the young marine. It was just a bonus that he felt a flare of amusement run through Kai, distracting her from whatever had her on edge. They shared a warm look, and Kai felt a reassuring bump in the back of her mind.
Ronon's gun powering up made both of them jerk back around. Kai's smile dropped and she drew one of her Blades in one hand and her handgun in the other. John jerked his P-90 up into his hands and he and Kai turned back to back. Kai's shoulder blades touched John's mid-back, so they would be able to protect each other and know where the other person was at all times.
"What is it?" John called to Ronon. "Do you see anything?" John asked Kai in a low tone only she would be able to hear.
She shook her head. "No."
"I saw something," Ronon called, his voice tight with tension. There was a long pause, but no one saw any additional movement.
"Well, what? Person? Animal?" McKay demanded, his anxiety making his tone biting. "How many syllables?"
"What was it?" Kai hissed. The feeling that had her on edge hadn't gone away. If anything it felt like it was increasing. Instead of the gentle brush, it felt almost like a push against her mind. She blinked it away and forced herself to focus on the potential threat.
"Leonard!" Sheppard bellowed, his voice carrying into the trees.
When there was no further movement for several long moments Ronon relaxed. "It was probably nothing," he allowed, but he was slow to slide his gun away and he didn't sound very convincing.
"Why am I not comforted?" McKay snapped as they resumed moving.
They followed the energy readings through the forest for almost an hour before they came to an outcropping of rocks. The worn path led straight to the dark entrance of a cave.
"Hey," McKay whispered as they approached the cave. He pointed to the cave entrance. "In there," he said gesturing wildly.
John nodded in understanding, rolling his eyes at McKay's over the top behavior, but he raised his gun as they approached. Ronon and Kai followed suit, fanning out on either side of him. Both warriors were tense, as they watched their flanks. As much as he appreciated the gesture of Weir sending the marines, he would take Kai and Ronon at his back over a full squad any day.
When there was no movement from the cave as they crept closer, Sheppard turned to the others. "All right, let's check it out," he told the group. He didn't like the idea of bringing McKay and Beckett into an unknown cave, but he liked leaving them out here and dividing the group up even less.
The cave was dark and humid, the only lights came from their flashlights bouncing off the damp walls. The walls were covered in flesh that looked strangely like the inside of a wraith ship. Kai wrinkled her nose at the rotting smell.
"Doc!" Sheppard called as he came upon the body of yet another Genii.
"Oh for gods sake, enough with the bodies," McKay complained.
Beckett looked up at Sheppard. "Head snapped completely around," Beckett reported.
"By him?" McKay asked motioning to another dead body.
"Quite possibly, and then he shot himself. Lovely," Beckett said wrinkling his nose.
The push in the back of Kai's mind had grown and now felt like a pressure building up in her temples. She shook it off and moved over to the control terminal. Ronon followed her, keeping his gun up to cover her as she slid her weapons away to free up her hands. She moved her hands over the controls and grimaced as her hands were immediately covered in slime. "The technology under all of this is Wraith," Kai reported.
McKay made an impatient noise in his throat as he studied the read outs on his tablet, but John nodded, appreciating the confirmation.
"Wraith bunker but no wraith," Ronon growled looking around them in disgust.
"It appears to have been abandoned for some time," Kai said, frowning in frustration as the controls refused to work for her. The pounding in her temples began burning behind her eyes.
John blinked away the strange feeling that went over him and he stepped up to the back side of the terminal, leaning over it to
watch Kai work. Whatever was bothering her had changed. He could feel it like a low level buzz of tension in his chest.
As hard as she was trying to hide it, Kai was in pain. She couldn't shield herself from him anymore though and he could feel it like an echo in the back of his own mind. It prickled at his protective instincts. He tensed, resisting the urge to move closer to her.
"The Genii probably stumbled onto it just like we did," McKay said distractedly.
"And then promptly killed each other, why?" Beckett asked standing and brushing his hands off. There was no further information he could glean from studying the grisly murders.
"Another Hardy Boy's mystery," McKay said sarcastically, his mind already moving on to the unknown wraith technology.
"This terminal isn't working," Kai told McKay.
McKay looked up at her with a disbelieving frown. "You're probably just not-"
"Not what?" Kai demanded. The pain in her head made her tone sharper than it needed to be, but she was their expert on Wraith technology. McKay was good, but she had decades more experience.
McKay pulled back a little, clearly intimidated by Kai, but he still stepped up next to her. Determined to show her up. He touched the terminal, but also failed to make it activate.
While McKay felt the need to continue to try and prove her wrong, Kai traced the terminal's power source. The control wires ran from the terminal along the ceiling, disappearing deeper into the darkness of the cave.
"That way," Kai said, gesturing into the black. "Whatever is powering this is in there."
McKay looked up and grunted in agreement. John gestured for two of the marines to stay where they were near the entrance to the cave while the rest of them explored further.
Kai frowned as the pain behind her eyes kept increasing. She blinked as tears sprang into her eyes and she pinched the bridge of her nose to try and relieve the pressure. She moved to take a step down from the terminal and staggered, nearly going down.
Ronon caught her arm in his massive hand, steadying her. "Easy little sister," he said quietly.
McKay stepped around Kai neatly, moving towards the energy source already staring at his tablet. He was completely oblivious that something was going on with Kai.
Kai sucked in a breath and tried to shake her head to relieve the pain. "I'm okay," she promised. "Just tripped," she lied easily when Beckett moved like he would help.
John scowled, the echoes of pain had grown in the last couple minutes, but he didn't call her out on it. He wouldn't in front of everyone.
"We'll check it out," John agreed. He turned back to Kai. "You and Ronon should check out the immediate area around the cave. Keep an eye out for our friends. Out there," he said gesturing towards the cave entrance.
Kai nodded gratefully. She didn't know what it was, but the constant pressure in her mind was quickly building into a full migraine now. She wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible.
She and Ronon moved outside together. The forest was quiet and Kai let herself lean against one of the trees as she breathed through the pain.
"You okay?" Ronon asked after a moment.
"Yes, just a headache."
Ronon frowned at her. "It's not like you to have a headache," he pointed out.
Kai grunted in agreement. She already felt better just being outside the cave. Ronon began moving in a slow pattern, circling the cave entrance. Kai followed despite the disgruntled look he shot her.
"You can rest you know," he growled.
"So could you," she snapped back.
Ronon made a noise in the back of his throat but he knew better than to argue with Kai. It would get him nothing but a pissed off Kai.
As they moved away from the cave the pressure began to let up and the fresh air seemed to help. The rank smell of the decaying wraith walls had only made things worse. The further they got away from the caves the better Kai felt. Soon it was just a push in the back of her mind, a pressure that, while annoying, she could certainly ignore.
They moved through the woods and Kai pulled up as they came across a deep depression. There were bodies piled there. She moved halfway down it before she recognized them as their missing team members.
"I'll go back and get the others," Ronon said after a moment.
Kai nodded. She pulled her gun as she stood in the quiet of the forest. She stretched out her senses, but all she could hear was Ronon moving away from her.
A few minutes later the others arrived. Kai looked up as she felt John approached her. He lifted a brow.
"Everyone from the team, but Major Leonard," she told him grimly.
"Okay..." Sheppard dragged off. "So where's Major Leonard?" he asked with a frowned.
Beckett crouched over the bodies. "They were killed by MP-5 fire. All of them shot multiple times."
"I got a camera!" McKay called triumphantly, picking the camera up off the forest floor. He dusted it off and opened it.
They all gathered around and watched Major Leonard's team arrive, find the Genii bodies and locate the Wraith bunker. Then there was gun fire outside the cave. The video was muddled and jerky as they heard the men screaming and saw Major Leonard step across the screen, shooting as he went.
"He was calling for the Prometheus," McKay said, closing the camera. "That ship was destroyed last year."
"Major Leonard killed his own men," Kai said. "Why would he do that?"
"I don't know," Sheppard said seriously. He had known Leonard for years. He was a good soldier and a team leader who cared about the men under his command. Sheppard had even trusted him to watch Kai's back a time or two.
"Maybe whatever caused the Genii to turn on each other did the same thing to our people," Beckett said grimly. "That bloody machine back there is the only clue."
"We need to check it out," Kai said climbing to her feet wearily. She hated the idea of going back inside the cave, but she could push herself past the pain. They needed to figure this out.
"No," John snapped quickly. "We need to head back to Atlantis," he told them.
"What?" McKay asked in shock. It wasn't like Sheppard to leave something like this behind. "No, we can't leave. Look, the generator is still running."
"I know," John said impatiently, his tone uncharacteristically sharp.
"Look, I have to at least figure out it's purpose," McKay argued. "They're probably right. It may somehow be linked to all of this."
John fought the urge to cut his eyes to Kai. He had promised Elizabeth her presence wouldn't affect his decisions and it wasn't all about her, but he didn't want her here a moment longer. He had felt her pain in that cave and noticed immediately it had reduced now that she was away from whatever-the-hell that machine was. He wasn't letting her anywhere near that cave. Even outside of it now the pain was slowly increasing again. He'd be damned if he subjected her to it any longer than necessary.
Kai's pain tolerance was, for better or worse, almost as high as his own and he knew she would grit her teeth and bear it to get through this mission, but he couldn't do that. He could feel her pain pulsing in the back of his mind like a drum. It made him anxious and prickled at every protective instinct he had. He needed to get everyone out of here, regroup, and then come up with a plan that didn't involve Kai setting a foot in that damn cave ever again.
"Well then we'll come back,"
John assured McKay, his voice right with tension. He didn't like the idea that whatever was out here could make a man like Leonard turn on his own people. Looking over their group, he worried what he could do to them if the machine put the whammy on him. His eyes cut to Kai and Ronon, they were the only ones who would stand a chance at stopping him. He scrubbed a hand over his eyes as he fought to banish the memories of when he had lost control to the retrovirus. He couldn't do that again.
"Colonel?" Beckett asked after a moment.
John looked up at them, blinking in confusion for only a second. "First things first, we have to transport our dead back to Atlantis," he told them.
McKay shared a confused look with Kai. Kai shrugged to McKay and turned to follow orders, refusing to let him see the doubt on her face. Kai realized in that moment that John was making this decision because of her. She could only feel him faintly past the growing pounding in her temples, but what she could feel was desperate with the need to protect.
"Then we'll return with more units and search for Major Leonard," Sheppard assured them. The group seemed mollified and they made quick work of loading the dead onto backboards and makeshift sleds.
They worked their way back towards the gate. Sheppard took point and Kai brought up the rear while everyone else carried their fallen. Kai kept her eyes on the trees, but with the pain in her head was distracting. She cracked her neck as she dug deep into her Mortii training to push past it and focus on the mission.
"Can we stop?" McKay complained for the hundredth time.
"No," John snapped impatiently.
"I mean no disrespect, but this guy's heavy, and ever since I was shot in ass by an arrow, I'm prone to sciatica. No?" he pushed.
"Down! Down! Down!" Ronon called, lowering the body he carried and drawing his gun.
Kai frowned. She hadn't seen anything, but Ronon's eyes were locked deeper in the forest.
John jogged down the line, crouching near Ronon. His eyes cut to Kai but she was watching the trees with the same confused look he knew was on his own face.
"What is it?" John asked.
When Ronon didn't respond, Kai glanced back at him. Ronon was staring hard into the forest, but a frown of confusion stretched his face as though he wasn't sure how he got there.
"You okay?" Kai asked gently.
"Yeah," Ronon snapped defensively, and he scowled, cupping his forehead with one hand as he slid his gun away with the other.
John gestured for the group to keep moving. He didn't like that there seemed to also be something wrong with Ronon in addition to Kai. If it was the machine effecting the two of them, they were about to have a much bigger problem than Major Leonard.
Sheppard glanced over the group, but no one looked especially murdery yet. He pushed the pace, hustling the group to the gate. He wanted to get off this planet as quickly as possible.
"Sergeant, dial the gate," Sheppard ordered as they stopped near the gate. He turned a small circle around the clearing, watching for Leonard but also keeping an eye on both Kai and Ronon for any other signs that the machine might be getting to them.
The marine approached the DHD and a soon as he pressed the first button they were rocked by an explosion. They were all thrown to the ground as the DHD blew up, sending metal shards exploding out.
John jerked around to see the marine down. "Carson!" he shouted.
"Right, get my medical bag," Beckett called moving to the downed marine.
In the next moment bullets started raining down on them.
Kai threw herself behind a tree and almost immediately the bark was chewed up by machine gun fire.
"He's dead!" John shouted from where he had drug the man to safety. "Take cover!" he ordered the marines as the gun fire jerked through them. Two more fell to the dirt. John's eyes lifted to where he saw Kai crouched behind suitable cover.
"Wraith!" Ronon screamed, swinging around and shooting in the direction of the shots.
John grabbed one of the injured men and dragged him back behind cover. "It's not Wraith, it's automatic gun fire," John shouted back. John lifted his gun and spotted the Major, shooting at their group.
"Leonard! Stand down! It's Sheppard!" He bellowed.
Instead of complying the Major turned and ran. Ronon shot to his feet and gave chase, firing as he went, but none of his shots hit.
"Leonard!" Sheppard shouted again.
Ronon pulled himself up at the crest of the hill, still in eyesight of the group. "He's gone," Ronon called back, pacing restlessly.
Beckett immediately got to work on the two injured men.
Kai and McKay moved over to the DHD unit. The explosive had been nestled right in the place where the control crystals lived.
"We are unbelievably screwed," McKay muttered in horror at the sight of the ruined DHD.
Kai spun around and snatched up his tablet from where it had fallen. Her knowledge of stargates was less than his and they needed him to get to work. She shoved the tablet into his hands. "McKay," she said firmly.
McKay lifted his eyes to meet hers. She could see the shock and fear in his gaze. John was normally better at shaking McKay out of this, but he was helping Beckett.
"Rodney, we have injured men and are exposed with very little cover. We need to fix this. Tell me what to do."
McKay blinked and closed his hand around his tablet with a nod. He turned back to the DHD and reached inside, connecting his tablet so he could run a full diagnostic. His face fell as he realized the full extent of the damage.
Once Beckett no longer needed him John stepped over to where Kai and McKay worked. He came up behind them. He met their gazes and knew immediately it was bad. He didn't know much about DHD's but it didn't look good. "Is there any other way to dial?" He asked McKay, then he stopped and held up his hand to silence whatever McKay's initial over-the-top, drama Queen answer was about to be. "And don't say no if there is any possibility, because I am not in the mood for your usual impossible heroics game."
"I wouldn't do that," McKay snapped offendedly.
Kai shook her head. "No," she answered her tone grave. "There's no possibility." John's eyes flashed to hers and he knew in that moment they were screwed.
"Even if we could somehow manually dial there is no power," McKay told Sheppard honestly. "Your pal, Major Looney Tunes, knew exactly where to set the charges. He nestled his C-4 right next to the control crystals." McKay reached inside and lifted out what looked like a handful of clear sand. "There's nothing left."
Kai looked up to see Ronon pacing around the small clearing, tension radiating from him as he kept watch over the small group. He seemed more agitated than usual. She frowned and met John's gaze. He also seemed to realize there was something wrong with Ronon.
"We need to go after Leonard," Kai said. "Before he has a chance to strike at us again."
"No," McKay argued. "We need to return to the bunker."
Kai grimaced just thinking about getting near that place again.
"We're overdo, Elizabeth will contact us through the gate," John said.
"And she'll probably only get static, remember?" McKay snapped. "Look, as long as that generator is emitting that pulse, we'll have little if any chance of responding to Atlantis if they radio. No, you wanna get out of here? We need to shut that thing down," McKay said sharply gesturing between himself and Kai.
John scowled. He didn't like either option. "Alright, we'll leave the dead here," John shouted assuming command. "We'll get them when we come back."
Kai shouldered her gear. She stood and swayed slightly as the pounding in her temples increased. She shook it away, gritting her teeth and forcing herself to focus. She couldn't shield John from her pain, so he had to have known. He never said a word about it, but he didn't assign her a task while he organized everyone else either. They set out back towards the cave once again.
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Kai hesitated as they approached the cave, she couldn't bring herself to walk back inside. The pain had grown and now there was a ringing in her ears as the pressure built in her mind. She stopped and leaned against the smooth rock wall as she struggled to control her breathing.
The others filed inside but John waited, letting them pass him. "Why don't you and Ronon keep watch," he suggested as casually as he could muster.
Kai's eyes flashed up to his face, defiance glittering in her grey eyes even as she panted in pain.
John glanced over his shoulder but no one was standing close. He leaned down, letting his lips brush against her ear so he wouldn't be overheard. "I can feel it," he told her. "Don't deny it. It's getting worse and you'll be useless to us if you go back in that place."
Kai hated admitting weakness, even to John, when they were in the field. She jerked her chin once in acknowledgement and let herself slide down to sit on the ground.
John squatted down near Kai. He reached up and let his fingers touch her face, wishing he could soothe the grimace of pain. "Once Ronon helps Beckett get the boys settled, I'll send him back out to help you keep watch, okay?"
Kai nodded, her jaw aching from gritting her teeth against the pain.
John stood and moved into the cave to check with Beckett first. Of the two injured men, only one was in critical condition. The other's shoulder wound was only superficial.
John stepped up beside Ronon. "Kai is watching the entrance, why don't you help her," he suggested.
Ronon grunted and turned for the cave entrance. John reached out and stopped him. "Keep an eye on her. She's not herself."
Ronon frowned but nodded. "I will," he promised Sheppard.
John stepped over to McKay who was muttering to himself. "Got it all worked out?" John asked.
McKay looked up from his tablet. "Definitely not all," McKay said.
"Some?" John asked hopefully.
"Actually, very little. I can only surmise it's some sort of Wraith experiment."
"Do you know what it does?" Sheppard asked.
McKay shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Well, I can now state with certainty that it is some kind of generator."
John shot him an incredulous look. They had already learned hours ago. "We already knew that!"
"Look, the EM it's emitting is very peculiar. Its fluctuating in systematic intervals on ultra-low frequency," McKay sputtered indignantly.
John hesitated. "Could that effect Kai somehow? Like with her hearing? Or her telepathy thing?" John asked in a low tone.
McKay frowned up at him in confusion. "Kai?" he asked. He was still completely oblivious to what had been going on.
John's jaw was tight. He was focused on the mission, not just Kai. He couldn't be afraid of McKay tattling on him to Weir forever. "Something on this planet is effecting her."
"Really?" McKay asked turning his head back towards the entrance. "She didn't say anything, how can you tell?"
John cleared his throat and shifted his weight uncomfortably. He wasn't okay with talking about this in front of the others, but if it helped McKay figure out what was happening then he couldn't risk not telling him. John touched his chest. "I can feel her pain," he told him.
McKay recoiled at that with a scowl. "That's awful."
"Exactly, so-"
"I can't imagine wanting to feel someone else's pain. Whats the benefit of that?" McKay asked in horror.
John's jaw tightened. McKay was the last person he was going to give details about the Bond. It was something precious to him that linked him to Kai in an inexplicable way. He wasn't about to let McKay run his mouth over it. "Let's just focus on fixing this."
"Well, I don't know how."
"Let's start with something simple. Is this the thing that made all those people kill each other?" Sheppard asked, fighting to keep his patience.
"Well I hope so," McKay said.
"You hope so?" John asked incredulously.
"Well yeah, otherwise there are two bizarre things going on and one is more than enough for me, thank you very much."
"Well, whatever it is, I don't think it's doing what it's supposed to be doing," John said. "It doesn't make sense to have their prey kill each other before they can feed on them."
McKay nodded in agreement. "I think you're right. I think these antennae have grown beyond their intended lengths," McKay said ripping one of the tenticles off the terminal. "It's as if whoever turned it on, dialed it up to eleven and just left it there."
"You don't think..." John started.
"The Genii," McKay agreed with an impatient huff. "They must have discovered this place, started messing around with the machine without having the first clue as to what they were doing. Which explains why the place is covered in this," McKay said reaching up and pulling on another slimy tendril. "They couldn't figure out how to turn it off, so they shot the thing, hoping they could somehow kill it. Which only made it regrow more, making it that much more difficult for someone with the actual ability to turn it off, to turn it off," McKay finished in an angry huff.
"So you can't actually turn it off?" John asked cautiously.
"I never said that," McKay snapped impatiently.
"Well what did you say?" John asked desperately. Time was off the essence and he didn't have the time or the patience to listen to another of McKay's science monologues.
"Look, the control console is shot to hell. I'll have to bypass it, isolate the primary actuator conduit and follow it back to the core. Once I cut power to that-"
The sounds of gunshots outside the cave cut McKay off mid-sentence. He and Sheppard shared a look before they tore off towards the entrance of the cave.
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Outside the cave Kai rubbed her temples with her fingers as she kept her eyes glued to the forest. As badly as her head hurt, they needed to keep a sharp eye out for the Major. Beside her Ronon suddenly tensed, shoving away from the rock.
"Ronon?" she said his name cautiously, her instincts telling her it might not be a good time to startle him.
He didn't seem to hear her. His entire body was like a plucked wire, he leaned forward as he stared out into the forest intently. Kai lifted her eyes but she couldn't see whatever it was that had him so distracted.
"Ronon?" She repeated his name again, but he once more didn't seem to hear her, or chose to ignore her. Instead, he suddenly fired twice into the trees and took off running. "Ronon!" she shouted after him.
McKay and John came charging out of the cave but Ronon had already disapppeared. Kai stood at the top of the rise looking down shaking her head. She was fast, but Ronon had moved like lightning through the trees. She had already lost him.
"Did you see where he went?" John called to her.
Kai shook her head. "He went this way," she told him. "But I lost him."
"Okay Rodney, we're going to go after him, you stay here and get this thing shut down. Before things get any worse."
Ronon's gun echoed through the trees. "This way!" Kai called and she took off into the forest with John at her heels.
They slowed as they came across a large, smoking hole in the trunk of one of the trees. Kai grimaced. It meant Ronon's weapon was set to kill, not stun.
"Well we're headed in the right direction," John said grimly. Knowing what the machine had made the Genii do to one another, he wasn't so sure he wanted them to find Ronon before McKay got it shut down.
"Do you think he's already beginning to feel the effects of the machine?" Kai asked.
"Well if he is, let's hope we find him, before he finds us," John said.
Kai nodded. If Ronon was now under the control of the machine, it would take both her and Sheppard to take him down, and she wasn't at one hundred percent.
They slowed as they spotted Ronon ahead of them. He was crouching behind a deadfall of trees, gazing off into the distance.
"What's he looking at?" John asked in a low voice.
Kai craned her neck around but she couldn't see or hear anything. "I see nothing," she told John.
"Ronon!" John called.
Ronon's head snapped in their direction, but he kept his gun pointed away from them. At least he still recognized them as allies. "Stay back!" Ronon snarled urgently.
Machine gun fire erupted around them and Kai let out a shout as pain ripped through her leg like fire. John flinched as he felt her pain flare in his mind and he whirled towards her as she hit the ground.
"Ronon, cover fire!" he shouted. He crouched over Kai and pulled her arm across his shoulders. He half dragged her back away from danger as more automatic gun fire chewed up the forest around them. He set Kai down behind a large tree stump that was thick enough to provide good cover. He pressed her back against it and turned towards the gun fire that continued.
"Leonard, stand down!" John shouted angrily. He needed to get Leonard to stop shooting long enough for him to take care of Kai.
The bark on the other side of tree exploded as the Major shot at Sheppard. John fired back, aiming for the air above the Major to try and shock him out of whatever the machine was doing to him. Ronon continued to fire and the Major fell back retreating. Instead of staying with them, Ronon leapt over the log he had been using as cover and chased after Leonard, disappearing into the woods.
"Ronon! Stop!" Sheppard shouted.
"Sheppard," a weak voice called from behind him.
John turned and froze as he saw the man he had been nearly courtmarshalled for trying to save laying at his feet. "Holland?" he asked, confusion clouding his eyes.
Kai's eyes widened when she realized John didn't see her even though he was looking right at her. Whatever he thought he was seeing, was something the Wraith machine had constructed in his mind.
"John?" She asked, but she had already lost him.
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