Fighting Passions - Ronon Dex - Stargate Atlantis

Aurora PT.4

Caldwell agrees with Ronon.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop. Let's not get all trigger happy. We have no idea how much of the system this Wraith is manipulating." McKay starts.

I continue. "What Rodney is trying to say is before we start shooting anything, we need to figure out what is happening. If we pull one wrong move we could kill Sheppard." 

"What's he still doing in there?" The Colonel asks. 

"He can come out any time he wants. There must be a good reason."

"Knowing Sheppard, he wouldn't leave without getting the information from the communique," Ronon adds.

"I still don't like it."

"The Wraith cannot physically harm him in there, can it?" Teyla questions.

"No, I don't think so. I don't know, but I should get back in there and learn what this Wraith is doing." Rodney answers.

"You've got fifteen minutes to figure it out, you two." 

"Fifteen? Where do you people come up with these arbitrary numbers!?" 

"That's the time you've got to learn what you need to, Doctor."

"Why?" I ask, not sure of what Colonel Caldwell's intentions. 

"Because I intend to destroy the Aurora before those Wraith ships get here." 

McKay nods meekly and pulls me so we can get started. 

_______________________________________

I stare at Sheppards life-sign readings and I can tell I made a face because Teyla asks me what's wrong.

"Delta waves." 

"Let me see." Rodney checks. 

"What are they?" Ronon asks as the two of us look at the readings again.

Before we can answer the question Caldwell speaks over the radio. "Dr. McKay, are you ready to be beamed aboard?" 

"It hasn't even been five minutes!" McKay yells.

"Dr. McKay and I have discovered a problem." 

"What kind of problem?" 

I have the most medical experience so I decide to explain, also Rod makes everyone feel stupid when he explains things. "Colonel Sheppard's EEG frequencies are decreasing. I'm reading delta waves, which indicates that he's unconscious within the virtual environment. We're not sure how it happened, but that means something is wrong there." 

"Even more reason to pull him out."

McKay speaks up this time. "That would be a mistake. Look, additional data I've been able to decipher from the Wraith's biometrics receiver shows significant manipulation of the feedback loop. Something we were not aware of when Sheppard went in." 

"We were also clearly not aware of the two Wraith cruisers approaching." Caldwell retorts.

"Colonel, this Wraith is controlling the program. Which means it probably booby-trapped it too. This is John Sheppard's life we're talking about here." I try and reason.

"And I'm talking about the lives of not only every person aboard this ship but every person in Atlantis when the Wraith find out it wasn't destroyed. I'm well aware of what's at stake here. Get him out of the pod or my men will. Caldwell out." 

After the call is over Rodney grabs a connector. "I'm going in." Then he lays inside an empty pod. "Ali, I need you to stall Caldwell. Buy me some time, just a few minutes at most."

"What if you are unable to disconnect?" Teyla asks. 

"Caldwell's going to blow that ship whether you're in there or not." Ronon states. 

"You see, the thing is, Colonel Sheppard and I have sort of gotten into this habit of saving each other's lives, and it's my turn. Next time it will be yours. Look, Alison, if you have to manually disconnect me and I don't regain consciousness."

"I know. Open Sheppard's pod and have you two immediately beamed aboard the Daedalus and make sure there is a medical team waiting." I interrupt. "Are you sure you want to do this?' 

"I'm sure I don't." He answers nervously.

"Good luck, Rod." 

With that, I seal the pod and watch the two's vitals and keep track of the Wraith as well.

"Ten thousand years in one of these things, kept alive only by life support. I couldn't live that way." Ronon observes.

"Me neither."

"Neither could I."

All of a sudden Caldwell is over the radio. "Dr. McKay, what's your status?" 

"Um, Dr. McKay isn't here right now." 

"What?" Caldwell asks confused.

"He had too..." I try and come up with an answer but it's stalling.

"He had to check something on the Wraith pod." Ronon speaks up.

"Yeah, the Wraith pod. He had to check the biometrics receiver. He needed to reconfirm the frequencies of the neuro-feedback loop."

"You know, we have been having some trouble reaching him ourselves. It might have to do with the uh magnetic shielding of the pods." I spit out nonsense. 

"Yeah, it is the shielding." Teyla reaffirms. 

"Actually, Teyla was about to go and check on him, see what is taking him so damn long." 

"All right, go get him. Light a fire under him." 

"Yes, sir."

"I want a status report as soon as his radio is working. Caldwell out." 

I let out a breath of relief. 

"Nice stalling." 

_____________________________________

Not to long after our talk with the Colonel, McKay wakes up. 

"What's happening?" I ask.

He doesn't take time to answer my question, but demands the tablet and asks us to keep stalling and then enters the virtual environment once again. 

"I hate it when he does that." This statement of mine makes Ronon chuckle a bit and Teyla along with him. 

A few minutes pass and all of a sudden we are beamed aboard the Daedalus. The three of us are running down the hallway to the bridge.

"Where are Dr. McKay, and Colonel Sheppard?" 

"Why'd you beam us back?" Ronon asks in reply.

"Because I was about to fire a missile into the side of that ship."

For a moment I don't answer, but realize that Caldwell will answer to nothing but the truth.