Stargate Atlantis 3 : Zakmus part 2, Unfinished business

Part 7

The next day.

Sam is in her office. She is talking with Colonel Caldwell and Major Lorne. They are both sitting across from her. Teyla arrives in her office and stands at her doorstep. Sam stops and looks at her. The other two look behind at Teyla.

SAM: Teyla.
TEYLA: Colonel Carter, I need to talk to you.
SAM: I'm in the middle of a meeting, can this wait?
TEYLA: No. (Sam is surprised)
SAM: Teyla, I...
TEYLA: (She walks into the office) Ronon is still alive. (Sam stops and looks at her)
SAM: What?
TEYLA: So are Rodney and Sergeant Marshall and his team.
LORNE: How do you know that?
SAM: Teyla, you saw the ship explode.
TEYLA: I know what I saw. (She takes a deep breath) I had a dream last night. And I saw a wraith.
CALDWELL: (Laughs) You had a dream?
TEYLA: (Ignoring him) I was a queen's body and I was tracking them in the woods. I eventually caught up with them and... and I killed Doctor Swalo.
LORNE: Are you sure?
CALDWELL: Hold on. We're not seriously considering her dream to be true, are we? (He looks at Sam who is hesitating)
LORNE: It's happened before.
SAM: She does have wraith DNA, Colonel.
CALDWELL: Oh come on.
SAM: We can't rule out any possibilities.
CALDWELL: The whole ship exploded! I was there, and so was Teyla. And THAT wasn't a dream, that was reality. (silence in the room)
LORNE: (Looks at Teyla, a bit sad) Colonel Caldwell's right, Teyla. It would have been hard to get out of this one, even for Doctor McKay.
TEYLA: Please listen to me. (She looks at Lorne, then Sam. They stay silent)
MOORE: (Enters the room from the other door without knocking) Colonel Carter! They're alive! (He is holding his computer over his arm. He sees everyone looking at him, surprised) Oh, I didn't know you had company.
SAM: What did you just say?
MOORE: I... (He points at his computer) I found something? (Teyla smiles at him. He doesn't understand and is confused.)

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Somewhere on Zakmus.

Sheppard is in a big cave, behind a waterfall, he is sitting down with Dr Kim and Kapp next to him. Dr Saline is in the back, lying down, surrounded by two Ancients. John looks back at them. Salima comes and offers him some water. He is surprised but takes it and drinks. Palus and Neyla are with them too.

SALIMA: You worry about your friend.
SHEPP: Can you help him?
NEYLA: (Looks at the other 2 and Saline) I'm afraid once an Eratus has found its host, it won't come off until...
SHEPP: Until the host is dead. Yeah, I know. (He looks to the side. Another man arrives)
MAN: Salima, we found another man in the woods. (Zelenka arrives behind him, looking around. Shepp and the others jump on their feet)
SHEPP: Radek! (he goes and takes him in his arms)
ZELENKA: Oh, Colonel Sheppard! I'm so glad to see you.
SHEPP: You too, doc! Are you ok?
ZELENKA: I... I think so.
KAPP: We thought you were dead.
ZELENKA: Me too.
SHEPP: Ronon tried to reach you, back on the ship. (He looks behind Zelenka) Where's Lowen and Briggs? (Zelenka stays quiet, Shepp's face changes)
ZELENKA: We got separated. I was the only one to reach the docking bridge when the lockdown went on... (He pauses) They were still in the jumper.
KIM: The radiations...
ZELENKA: I'm sorry. (Salima arrives to him)
SALIMA: Another one of your group, Colonel?
SHEPP: Yes, Doctor Zelenka. He is one of the brightest scientists of our generation.
ZELENKA: What? Who is this?
SHEPP: Say hi to your idol, doc. Salima Zakmus.
ZELENKA: You're serious? (He looks at Salima. She smiles) Oh my god, you are. (He puts his glasses back and becomes shy and quiet. He is staring at her without saying a word; She gets uncomfortable)
NEYLA: Are you also from Atlantis? (Zelenka nods) Why did the council wait so long to look for us?
SALIMA: Tell us, was it Kerlin's idea?
SHEPP: Who?
ZELENKA: Kerlin. (He thinks) He... he was one of the leaders of Atlantis.
SHEPP: We're talking about twenty thousand years ago though, right? (He smiles and looks at Salima who seems shocked. He stops smiling)
SALIMA: (She sits, still in shock) So, they never looked for us.
PALUS: I told you we shouldn't have trusted him.
SHEPP: Exactly how long do you guys think you've been stuck here for?
PALUS: We knew that time went differently here because of the shield. But not to this extent.
SHEPP: Oh.
SALIMA: What about the wraiths? Is the war over? (John is embarrassed and looks at Kapp)
KAPP: No ma'am. (She looks at him) The Ancients... I mean... your people, they couldn't win the war, so they left Atlantis, ten thousand years ago.
SHEPP: They left for Earth. Where we're from.
ZELENKA: Avalon.
PALUS: So, you're not Lantien.
KIM: No. Although, some of us do carry your genes.
ZELENKA: Yes. Hum... we... we only discovered the 8th chevron and Atlantis a few years ago. At the time, the city was underwater.
SALIMA: So they finally listened to us. (They look at him) Submerging the city and leaving it dormant was one of our ideas, in case of a wraith invasion. Tell us what happened next.
KIM: Well, when we first arrived, most of the wraiths were still asleep, hibernating. Only, we didn't know about them until Colonel Sheppard and his team woke them up. (Salima looks at Shepp)
SHEPP: An honest mistake.
KIM: We've been fighting them ever since.
SALIMA: (Shakes her head) This war has been going on for far too long Doctor Kim. The wraiths are fierce enemies.
NEYLA: We tried to defeat them many times now, even on this planet, but in vain.
SALIMA: We are outnumbered. All we can do now is hide here... the only real safe place on this planet.
KAPP: What do you mean? They don't come here, ever?
SALIMA: They did, once. But wraiths are very sensible to heavy noises like this one. (Points at the waterfall) It makes them weak and unable to communicate with each other.
NEYLA: Plus, they hate water.
SHEPP: Yeah, I figured. That thing sure didn't like it when we put salt and water on it the first time. (Touches his neck)
NEYLA: So you know Eratus well, Colonel.
SHEPP: (Does a disgusted face) In a matter of speaking yes. I still have the scar to prove it.
PALUS: You survived one?
SHEPP: Kind of?
KIM: Colonel Sheppard's team used a machine on him that we have from Avalon to momentarily stop his heart.
KAPP: Long story short, they killed him.
KIM: Momentarily.
NEYLA: Please, tell me more, Doctor Kim. (They both leave the group to go see Doctor Saline; Shepp watches them leave)
SHEPP: I hate those bugs.
PALUS: There was a time when we tried to eradicate all of the Eratus. But unfortunately, the wraiths managed to find an alternative to their breedings.
ZELENKA: The queens.