“Fall back, into the transport chamber.” The stunned Marine was staggering to his feet, the other Marine helping him up. John reached for his radio as he moved. “Lorne, come in,” he said. “We’ve got a problem.”
“You mean another one?” Lorne said. He sounded harried, which from Lorne suggested they still had a hell of a fight on their hands up there.
“Rodney just got past us with the ZPM,” he said. “I’m guessing he’s on his way back up to the Stargate.”
“We’ve just taken back the control room,” Lorne said. “We’re trying to get someone up here who can get back into the computer — ”
“Zelenka’s not responding to his radio,” John said. “Just don’t let Rodney get to the gate. I’m on my way back up.”
“Copy that,” Lorne said, tightly, and John hit the button and let everything dissolve in the transporter’s light.
“Everybody down there in the gateroom, we have incoming Wraith in the transport chamber,” Lorne said over the intercom down to the gateroom. “They’ve got the ZPM and Dr. McKay. You are authorized to use whatever force is necessary to — ”
There was a rattle of gunfire and then Colonel Sheppard’s voice yelling “Jesus, hold your fire!”
That meant Rodney hadn’t transported to the chamber on the gateroom level. All right, if he’d heard that they’d taken back the gateroom, that made sense, but going anywhere else wouldn’t get him out of the city —
“The jumper bay,” Lorne said. “We need a security team up to the jumper bay!” He was already moving for the stairs, activating his radio as he ran. “If anybody can get find a way to get back into the computer and keep them from dialing out, now would be a really good time.”
He was the first one up to the jumper bay, although he could hear the sound of pounding feet behind him. He saw them across the bay coming out of the transport chamber, and ducked behind one of the jumpers that was partly disassembled for repair. He didn’t have a good shot, and he didn’t want to draw their fire for no purpose. If he could get close enough to shoot at the ZPM case that he could see Rodney carrying, that ought to at least provide a distraction.
“Lorne, this is Sheppard,” Sheppard said over the radio. “I’ve got teams on their way up to you now — ”
“That would be nice,” Lorne said.
“I’m right behind them. See if you can get one of the jumpers in the air, try and cut them off.”
He started moving toward one of the jumpers, but that didn’t mean he liked the idea. “Sir, if we start fighting it out right above the gateroom — ”
“I know,” Sheppard said. “But we can’t let them take the ZPM.”
There were Marines coming up behind him, now, and two of the male Wraith turned at the sound, firing stunner bolts toward them. A couple of drones started running toward the Marine team, taking heavy fire but being effectively distracting. Lorne kept his eyes on Rodney.
He aimed for the ZPM case, and fired a tight burst. The case jerked in Rodney’s hands, sparks flying, but whatever they’d done to Rodney must have given him Wraith strength; he held onto the case, clutching it to his chest with one arm as he punched at the door controls of the jumper.
One of the male Wraith was behind Rodney now, in the way, and Lorne shot him. He hissed, staggering back, but the jumper door was opening, and Rodney and the male Wraith piled inside. One of the Wraith drones was down, the other one staggering to one knee.
None of them were looking at him. He made a dash out from cover toward the nearest jumper, diving in as the door opened. He reached for the controls and started powering up. All he needed was a couple of seconds for the shields and inertial dampeners to kick in and they just might be in business.
He didn’t get them. He caught the movement out of the corner of his eye at the same time that the jumper sounded a warning, both audible and seemingly shrieking directly into his brain: collision alert.
He saw the other jumper bearing down on him, felt the impact, and then the second impact as the jumper smashed back into the one behind it. There was no pain, just a metallic crashing noise that seemed to go on for a very long time as the world around him went black.
John was on his way up from the control room to the gateroom, taking the stairs two at a time, when someone called from behind him, “The incoming wormhole’s cutting off!”
He had a moment’s hope that meant they’d gotten the computers back before he heard the heavy grind of the gate dialing. It was followed by an echoing crash from above their heads.
He took the rest of the stairs at a dead run, skidding out into the jumper bay to see one of the jumpers hovering above the door down into the gateroom, which was already sliding open. Another jumper had clearly skidded halfway across the gateroom floor; it was on its side, and looked like it had taken some pretty heavy damage.
John made a dash for one of the other jumpers, but he knew there was no time. He powered it up anyway, urging it under its breath to power up faster — come on, baby, hurry — and was still working on getting weapons initialized as the guidance system kicked in, sweeping it out toward the jumper bay door and down into the gateroom.
The other jumper was already sliding through the event horizon, and as the weapons finally came online, it disappeared through, the wormhole shimmering for another few heartbeats before it vanished.
John let the jumper lower to the gateroom floor and climbed out. The gateroom suddenly seemed very quiet. “Major Lorne, what’s your status?”
It took a moment for anyone to respond. “Lorne’s down,” someone said over the radio. “We’re trying to get a medical team up here.”
“Copy that,” he said. He waved the Marines in the gateroom who were still on their feet into position to guard the gate. He could see too many people down, stunned or worse, and they must have more casualties in the rest of the city.
Up in the control room, Salawi was just sliding back behind her console. She looked up when he came up the stairs. “They said this level was clear, so I thought I should — ”
“You thought right,” John said. “Can we dial out?”
She glanced at her screen. “I think so,” she said. “The main gate controls were never locked out.”
“Dial the alpha site, now,” he said. “And when the wormhole goes down in thirty-eight minutes, dial it again unless you hear otherwise. I don’t want anyone dialing in while we don’t have control of the security system.” He reached for his radio. “Dr. Zelenka, this is Colonel Sheppard. Please respond.”
He wasn’t really hoping for a response from Zelenka, and was caught short in surprise when he got one.
“I am here,” Radek said shakily. “They have taken the ZPM, I am sorry — ”
“Don’t be,” John said. “Just see if you can get us full computer access back.”
“I am already working on it,” Radek said. “I have been able to patch into the computer systems here, and I think I may have something.”
“We need those security doors down,” John said. “I’ve got a lot of men down, and Dr. Keller says she’s stuck on the level her quarters are on, along with most of her staff.”
“I am working as fast as I can,” Radek said. “You do not have to inspire me to action by explaining how dire is the emergency. It will not really help me work.”
“Right,” John said. “Security teams, report in. We may still have some Wraith in the city, and internal sensors are still down. I’m going to see if I can get Teyla to give us some idea whether we still have company, but until then, watch yourselves.” He leaned against the wall, adrenaline-fueled energy beginning to ebb. “Teyla, what’s your status?”
“I am still on a residential level,” she said, the frustration in her voice nearly crackling over the radio. “We are safe, but cut off here. John, what is happening?”