Angelus Page 8

  “Your concerns?”

  She rounded on him. “Angelus, I’m sorry. But it’s my opinion that you represent a clear and present danger to Atlantis. The Replicators obviously consider you public enemy number one, and they’ve already shown they will stop at nothing to destroy you — not genocide, not suicide, nothing. Right now they don’t know where you are, but if they find out they will destroy Atlantis and everyone in it to get to you.”

  “That’s a logical assumption. But your superiors do not share your concerns?”

  “Oh, my superiors?” She spat the word. “They consider you an acceptable risk. I’ve been ordered to give you full access to any facilities you need here. They’re even going to send an observer to make sure I do.”

  There was a long silence. Then Angelus said: “I don’t understand.”

  “Sure you do.” That was Sheppard. Carter looked around to see him standing by the door. He had a towel draped over his left shoulder and a long bruise purpling the side of his face. He looked sour.

  “You know damn well what’s she’s talking about, Angelus,” he went on. “And don’t try to tell us it’s not what you wanted.”

  “Not against your wishes,” Angelus replied. “And believe me, Colonel Carter, I share your concerns. I watched the Replicators destroy everything I loved, and I will share the blame for that until the day I die. But trust me, I have no intention of hastening that day.”

  “Trust you?” she began, but he moved towards her, very quickly and very silently. Before she could step back, he had her hands in his.

  They were cool, like before, and gentle against her skin. “Trust me in this, Colonel Samantha Carter. Whether I am here or not, one day they will come for you. They hate you too much not to do so. But if you let me complete my work, you need not fear them. Not them, nor the Wraith, nor any threat that might arise against you or your homeworld. I promise you this.

  “Let me finish my weapon, and I will rid you of the Asurans forever.”

  Carter knew that McKay would react badly to the news, but she had misjudged just how fast that news would travel. It must have reached him in less time than it took for her to shower and track him down to the mess hall — when she found him there, she only had to look at him to realize he already knew the IOA’s decision.

  He was sitting slumped at one of the tables, near the one of the big panoramic windows but not looking out of it. His head was forwards, resting on his arms, and she could hear him muttering to himself.

  Despite her feelings, the sight raised a smile in her. He looked like a cartoon, drawn to define dejection.

  She walked across the mess hall, returning the greetings of several people scattered around the place, and sat down opposite McKay. “Hey Rodney,” she said brightly.

  “Spare me the false jollity, okay?” He spoke without raising his head, giving his words a muffled quality. “I know about Eraavis, I know about the IOA, and I know what’s going to happen.”

  “Really?”

  He lifted his head and fixed her with a slightly manic stare. “Yeah, really. Isn’t it obvious?”

  She forced brightness into her voice. “Something tells me you’re looking at the worse possible case here.”

  “It’s kinda what I do.” He straightened up and sat back. “Seriously, I’ve seen what the Asurans are capable of. You weren’t here when they hit us on Lantea —” He put his hands up as she started to speak. “Yes, I know you’ve read all the reports, seen the videos on YouTube, whatever. It’s not the same, okay?”

  Carter had to concede that. “I guess it’s not.”

  “All they needed to drive us right off Lantea was one beam weapon. One. That was, what, a few hours after we’d nuked half their cities and all their shipyards? I was in the tower when a shaved edge of that beam hit us. God, the sound. Have you any idea how loud that kind of thing is? Just what kind of damage it can do? And the way it hit…” His voice faltered. She saw him swallow. “Threw her right back across…”

  He fell silent again. He looked down at the table, eyes suddenly unfocussed, then out through the long windows and over the city. “One beam,” he breathed. “How many do you think they’ve got now?”

  “Rodney, listen to me.” Carter leaned closer to him, and dropped her voice a little. “Look, I understand what you’re saying. If the Replicators find out we’ve got Angelus they’ll come after us with all guns blazing, I get it. And if he starts doing whatever he did on Eraavis they might find out all the sooner. But that doesn’t mean things are going to pan out like that.”

  “At the moment, I don’t really see a way out of it.”

  “You’re not looking hard enough.”

  McKay frowned, but he looked back at her, and Carter could see she’d lit a spark of hope in him. “Tell me you’ve got a plan,” he said. “Anything. Please.”

  “Stargate Command,” she replied.

  He gave her a blank look. “What, send him there? To Earth?”

  “God, no… Angelus has made it plain he needs to be in Atlantis for this, and whenever he says ‘jump’ the IOA are begging him to tell them how high. Besides, if this weapon of his brought the Asurans running, it might send out the same call to someone unfriendly in the Milky Way.”

  McKay, held her gaze for a second, then looked away. “You’re right. Bad idea.”

  “No, what I mean is, we get SGC to step in on our behalf and call a halt to the whole project.”

  “Not their call. Okay, I know you’ve not been here all that long, but the way it works is, IOA call the shots. They cut SGC out a long time ago.”

  “IOA has political control over the mission, but what if things stop being political?”

  “I don’t —?”

  “Rodney, what Angelus is talking about is weapons research, pure and simple. This isn’t about contacting new alien races or making alliances, this is about a guy building a gun. And I’m willing to bet that a weapons project taking place in the city would get SGC involved.” She lowered her voice even more, putting a conspiratorial tone into her words. “If I could convince General Landry that the expedition is being put in danger, he could override the IOA on military grounds.”

  “That’s brilliant!” McKay’s face lit up. “Of course! Okay, what, you just need to call them? You can do that now?”

  “Calm down, okay? So far, I’ve got nothing to go to Landry with.”

  “What? Show him the surface of Eraavis, that should do the trick!”

  Carter shook her head. “Cause and effect, Rodney. Sure, we all saw what happened to Eraavis, but we’ve only got Angelus’ word that the planet was destroyed because of the weapon he was building. What if he was wrong? What if there was another reason? If I go to SCG with what we’ve got right now, they’re more than likely to tell us the same thing the IOA did.”

  He sagged. “Crap.”

  “But that’s where you come in. At the moment, we don’t even know what this weapon is.”

  “You haven’t asked him?” McKay’s eyes went wide. “Ah, come on!”

  “Rodney, just asking him isn’t the issue. I’m going to need a detailed report on this thing, whatever it is. Full specs. You’re going to have to work with him, analyze any research he has, and then come back to me with a file I can send to Landry.”

  “I could do that.” He nodded vigorously, then paused. “Hold on. How am I supposed to make a report without him building the weapon and bringing the Replicators here?”

  “He’s not going to be able to do it that quickly, is he?”

  McKay shrugged nervously. “He’s an Ancient, and he’s on home turf. Anything’s possible.”

  “Well, just get it done as quickly as you can.”

  “That’s it? That’s your plan?” He let out a nervous laugh. “What am I supposed to do while he’s putting together the Death Star in our basement, keep knocking stuff over to try and hold him up?”

  “No. But think about it, he’s going to need a lab, right? So the first thing
you’ll need from him is enough information about what he’s doing to be able to choose a suitable facility.”

  McKay tilted his head, obviously weighing that one up. “Right…”

  “And then find him somewhere, well, like you said. In the basement. Maybe if he’s lower down in the city, it might block a signal that might otherwise alert the Replicators.”

  “Um, correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the Eraavi build all their facilities under mountains? What have we got that that several million tons of solid rock hasn’t?”

  “That’s easy. We’ve got you.” She got up. “Come on, let’s go find him. The sooner we get this ball rolling the sooner we can kick it right out of our park.”

  The security detail Carter had assigned to Angelus had never been entirely for the Ancient’s benefit.

  It was in part. She certainly believed that the man needed protecting — whatever he may or may not have done in the past, Angelus was an extremely valuable asset. There was every possibility that he was the last of his kind; the Ancients as a species were either long-dead or had transcended flesh and given themselves over to the ageless, bodiless existence they called Ascension. His knowledge and insight could, if he was willing, advance the cause of the Pegasus expedition by untold amounts.

  So the marines guarding him were partly to make sure he came to no harm. Carter would not have been popular with the Advisory had Angelus, still recovering from his injuries, taken a tumble down some steps and broken his elegant neck.

  But of course, there were other concerns. As Angelus himself had pointed out, there really was no way his origins could be completely verified, and Carter had learned enough during her time in SG-1 to be deeply, reflexively mistrustful. There were simply too many threats in the universe to take anyone or anything at face value. The Ancient had arrived on her doorstep, and was now offering gifts. Despite the awful danger he represented, he still seemed too good to be true.

  In response to these concerns, Carter had assigned a small detail of guards to Angelus, just enough to provide him 24-hour supervision. And, of course, to make sure he didn’t get up to any mischief while she wasn’t around.

  That arrangement might have to be revised now, though, given the new turn events had taken. And for that, Carter would need to go to John Sheppard.

  When called, Sheppard revealed that he was in the infirmary. He didn’t sound all that happy about it, and when Carter and McKay arrived the man looked anything but glad to be there. He was sitting sideways on a gurney, his legs dangling, while Jennifer Keller dabbed at the side of his face with a gauze pad.

  Ronon Dex was there too, watching Sheppard’s treatment and looking faintly amused. He often did, Carter had noticed.

  “I should strap this up,” Keller was saying. Sheppard glared at her sideways, without turning his head.

  “Strap it up? My face? How could you strap up my face?”

  “You broke your cheekbone!”

  “No, Ronon broke it. And you haven’t answered my question.”

  Keller dabbed quite hard, making him wince. “I could put a giant pressure bandage around your entire head,” she snapped.

  “Wouldn’t that stop me talking?”

  “It would stop you doing a lot of things.”

  “Plaster,” suggested Ronon, not at all helpfully. “We could leave little air holes —”

  “Not funny, okay? Jeeze…” Sheppard gave Carter a plaintive look. “Colonel? A little help?”

  “Looks like you’re getting all the help you can handle,” she replied. “John, are you going to be off active duty for this?”

  “What? No!”

  Keller sighed. “Broken cheekbone, chipped tooth, possible concussion,” she reported, putting the gauze down. “And a lousy attitude.”

  “Well,” McKay muttered. “At least that’s intact.”

  “Fractured,” Sheppard replied, shrugging his way out from Keller’s ministrations and standing up. “Just a hairline, okay? And no, I’m not concussed either.”

  “Great. This is all I need.” Carter ran a hand back through her hair, wishing she’d spent more time hitting the punch bag. “Doctor Keller, in your honest medial opinion, does he need to be off duty?”

  Keller made a face. “Honestly? No. Not for the injuries, anyway.”

  “Thank you,” growled Sheppard.

  “Oh, don’t start thanking anyone yet, Lieutenant Colonel,” Carter told him. “Believe me, you and I are going to have a very serious chat about how to play nice in future, understood? In the meantime, follow me. You too, Ronon.”

  She spun on her heel and stalked out of the infirmary, McKay on her heels. By the time she got out into the corridor, Sheppard and Dex had joined her.

  “Sorry,” Sheppard said quietly, as he drew close. “Wasn’t thinking.”

  Carter shook her head disbelievingly. “How did he manage to break your face?”

  He threw Dex a glance. “Lucky shot.”

  She heard the Satedan chuckle in response, but put her hand up before the exchange could continue. “Okay, fine. Like I said in there, we’ll continue this later. In the meantime, we’ve got more important things to deal with.” She walked off, down the corridor towards stairs. “Angelus is going to need some extra protection.”

  “What kind of protection?”

  “The kind that’s more about protecting us from him.”

  “Ah.”

  “We’re going to get a lab set up for him, and once we do I’m going to need a full surveillance kit installed. Audiovisual, motion-sensing, data-taps, the works. Plus we’ll need to at least double the number of marines on duty, and to make sure they report back to us at the end of every shift. Can you do that?”

  Sheppard nodded. “No problem. Where’s the lab going to be?”

  “We don’t know yet. Rodney and I are going to have a chat with Angelus now, and try to work out a gameplan from what he tells us. Once we know more about the weapon, we’ll have a better idea of where we need to put him.”

  “Understood.” They had reached the top of a stairway, one that led down to the accommodation units where Angelus was staying. Sheppard stopped there. “Does this mean we’re actually going to let him build this thing?”

  “No, it means we’re going to play along with the IOA for now.”

  He smiled. “That sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day. Okay, you go talk to Angelus, I’ll get started. Come on, Ronon. We can cut back down here to the transporter.”

  The two of them turned, and began to walk away. As they did, Carter called out after them. “Ronon?”

  The Satedan paused, and looked back over his shoulder. “Yeah?”

  “Next time, pull your punches.”

  He snorted. “Where’s the fun in that?”

  Angelus was back in his room. Carter could tell because there were two marines guarding the door. She recognized them as Clarke and Bowden — Kaplan and DeSalle must have been off-watch. They came at attention and saluted as she stopped at the door.

  “At ease,” she told them. “How’s it going?”

  “Just as always, Colonel,” Bowden said. “Quiet as a mouse.”

  “Keep me posted,” she replied, and opened the door.

  Angelus was on the bed, his long frame stretched out perfectly straight, perfectly still. In addition to his robes he was wearing the heavy gold mask Ellis had told her about. She guessed it must have been brought to Atlantis with the rest of his meager possessions, but she hadn’t seen it before.

  The profile of the mask was unearthly, eerie. It was beautiful, that golden face, but its beauty was that of a corpse. That, coupled with the blackness of the empty eye-holes and the silent stillness of the room, sent a shiver down Carter’s back.

  Not for the first time, the Ancient looked as if he had been laid out for burial.

  He must have heard her and McKay come in. One moment he was as motionless as a statue, and the next he was sitting up on the bed, the golden mask transfixing
her with its hollow gaze. “Colonel Carter,” he said.

  “Angelus,” she replied. “I’m sorry to disturb you. Were you sleeping?”

  “Not at all. Please, come in.” He stood, then reached up and removed the mask from his face. It seemed to come away with some small resistance, as though it fitted snugly. “And your companion?”

  “This is Doctor Rodney McKay,” said Carter. “Rodney is one of our civilian specialists. I think he’s the person best suited to help with your project.”

  McKay raised a hand, rather nervously. “Hello again.”

  “Of course, you were in the starhopper.” A small smile of recognition crossed the Ancient’s face. “I let two people in, I remember now. You were one of them.”

  “You let us in?”

  “Yes.” He put the mask down, carefully. “I very much doubt you would have gotten inside if I hadn’t.”

  “Well, that explains a lot,” McKay said sourly.

  Carter stepped in before he could say any more. “Angelus, we’ve been asked by the IOA to provide you with laboratory facilities for you to research your weapon, but at the moment we don’t know what you might need. Can you help us?”

  “Of course. If you like, I can provide you with a complete list of my requirements. Can you furnish me with a means of recording data?”

  “Sure. I’ll have a tablet sent down for you.”

  “That would be kind.”

  McKay was wandering around the room. He seemed to find keeping still more difficult the more nervous he got, and something about Angelus was making him very edgy indeed. Carter started to wonder if even bringing him along had been a good idea. “Rodney? Anything you’d like to ask?”

  “Hm? Oh yes, sure. Ah, Angelus?”

  “Yes?” The word was enunciated carefully, hesitantly, as though the Ancient was unsure of where his question might lead.

  “I was just wondering if you could give us a quick run-down of the weapon’s principles. You know, just a preview?” He put his hands in his pockets, a nervous gesture that made him look rather boyish. “It would, ah, be a really big help in ascertaining what kind of lab we need to set you up in.”