The Orchard - Chapter 2
Title: The Orchard
Summary: A bad day, a bad meal, something is rotten down there... set during the 4th season.
Word Count: 1650
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters, nor SGA. Just writing for fun.
Chapter 2
First to step out of the Gate, John walked down from the platform and stopped a few meters from the lake, on a large strip of white sand. The luminosity was one of a late summer afternoon. Pleasantly warm and quiet. He yawned. He was too tired to feel moved by the spectacle of the outpost standing in the middle of glistening emerald waters.
With a sigh, John forced himself to take a deep breath and slightly relaxed his fingers that were clenched tight on his P90. This was a secret Ancient outpost, not the Wraith home world.
He lifted his eyes towards the sky. The Gas Giant filled less than a third of the sky now and come to think of it, the lake seemed a few tones darker than on the video feed. But then, maybe it was due to the video itself, he thought, perplexed.
"Four hours twenty-seven minutes," McKay's anxious voice shouted just behind him.
Carried away in his thoughts, John almost jumped in surprise and cast an annoyed glance over his shoulder. Slightly breathless as if he had run the trip instead of being demolecularized, Rodney was sending nervous looks at the sky and his watch.
Already feeling his headache increasing and his patience decreasing in inverse proportions at the prospect of Rodney's inevitable 'obnoxious' timeframe countdown, John redirected his eyes on the outpost just as Ronon and Teyla walked out of the wormhole. And a few seconds later, he heard the sucking sound of the Gate shutting down.
Discovering the landscape for the first time, Teyla joined him on the beach. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed, heading towards the bridge that seemed to hover above the water.
"Maybe but according to my readings, we should go this way," Rodney announced with a grimace, pointing behind the Gate with his finger.
John turned his head towards him then looked at the direction he was indicating. He winced at the sight of a dark green mass standing out against the horizon, at least one kilometer from their position. Oh crap! Not another forest... he mentally pleaded, staring at the swamp they would have to cross to reach it.
Sharing his mood, Ronon's somber eyes were screwed up, scanning the area for potential hidden enemies. "Are you really sure, Rodney?" John asked, wondering why it had to be the forest instead of the outpost.
"No, I'm not, I just woke up this morning with a terrible urge to explore an unknown forest with flashlights while a Giant planet's magnetic field threatened to splatter my flesh into a pu- "
"Okay okay! Enough Rodney, I got it," John interrupted, mentally berating himself for daring to imply that McKay did not know how to use a Life Sign Detector. And after all, this was not a natural forest but an artificial one, he thought, and the prospect of finding a secret outpost inside the secret outpost was slowly taking shape.
"Let's go. The sooner we find what we came for the better," he said, keeping himself from yawning as he walked back towards the Gate.
"And what exactly are we searching for?" Teyla asked, falling in behind him.
"Hopefully, a new source of power," Rodney replied without raising his eyes from the hand held device.
"The outpost might contain weapons, we should go there first," Ronon grumbled.
"No no no no no," Rodney quickly replied, rolling his eyes, "Going into the outpost would probably set off sensors that would use energy. We don't want that. Beside, the scanner says that there is a strong energy source in this direction and as our miserable life signs would probably not count in the forest it would be safer to check it first."
John frowned, "Even if I really don't like the way you said our lives wouldn't count, I agree with Rodney, for once. And as the Ancients have converted the scientific outpost into a military one, there might be more than meets the eye."
"Food, for instance. In fact, it wasn't a forest ten thousand years ago. It was the outpost's orchard," Rodney added.
A second later, the sound of a powerbar paper being torn and crumpled could be heard.
"What? I'm starving! It's breakfast time in Atlantis you know," Rodney exclaimed in defense, clutching his snack, glaring at Ronon's covetous look.
John sighed. Missing breakfast was another thing he would have wished not to be aware of, he thought as he entered in the swamp.
The further they progressed, the more unstable and muddy the ground became. Trying to find the driest path without making too big a detour, they slowly made their way between the high reeds, listening to Rodney's explanation on the terraforming the Ancients had engineered to transform a lifeless rock into a life sustainable paradise.
"The paradise side escapes me..." Ronon growled, dragging his left leg out of a mud hole and wiping beads of sweat from his forehead.
At the gate, the temperature had been as nice as the MALP had promised, but it was not the case anymore. It was stifling.
"Well, ten thousand years without a proper maintenance system would certainly cause a few glitches. Probably just a parameter or two somewhere to adjust. I'll see what I can do when we've found the source of the energy," Rodney placated, still enthusiastically trudging along.
"Absolutely out of question, Rodney!" John barked, his eyes widening in dread. "Do I have to remind you that last time you played with an Ancient system you blew up a solar system," he barked, squashing the insect that was buzzing near his ear.
"Oh that was completely different!" Rodney burst out, "I'm not talking about turning on a weapon here. Just turn off the heating-"
"Right. And knowing our luck, you'll hit the wrong sequence and turn off the shield instead," John replied just as a reed bounced back and hit his face. Shoving it aside, he picked up the pace. Behind him, Rodney moaned at the blatant lack of trust.
Focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and keeping their balance, the team silently fought its way toward the forest, listening to Rodney call out course corrections each time they shifted a bit from their trajectory.
"Clearance in ten meters," Rodney finally announced one and a half hours later, a deep relief in his voice. John speed up and parted the last few reeds with the barrel of his P90.
"Oh crap... Rodney?" he yelled, at the sight of the Gate standing less than ten meters from him.
Rodney trudged through the reeds, nearly colliding with him, looked up and exclaimed, "What? Oh no..."
"How is this possible?" Teyla asked, aghast. Behind her, Ronon joined them on dry ground and growled.
"Don't look at me like that! We walked in a straight line... almost. The scanner must be faulty or affected by the shield or by the Giant's magnetic field. Maybe I just need to reconfigure it to-" McKay stammered, bashing the Ancient device with one hand.
"Rodney?" Teyla gently interrupted as she saw John turning on his heels to take a deep breath. "Nobody is saying that you don't know how to use the LSD. Let's take a break," she proposed before sitting down on the concrete.
John sighed and mentally thanked Teyla for intervening. In his exhausted state, he knew he would have lost his temper with McKay. He looked at the sky. The light had dimmed further and now the lake harbored a dark green color. Time was flying.
"I'm not going through that again. I'll go and contact Atlantis for a Jumper," he said, his voice weary. Leaving a track of muddy footprints behind him, he then headed toward the DHD.
A few seconds later, the wormhole gushed out and lit their surroundings in blue. Leaning against the console, he took out his radio and transmitted his request. On the other end, Sam asked how things were going. Sighing he made a short report when Rodney's high pitched voice attracted his attention. He frowned. Why was Teyla standing between Ronon and McKay, he wondered.
"Sorry, say again?" he said to Carter, a bit distracted. Why on earth was Rodney glaring like that at Ronon?
"Is the shield still stable John?" Sam repeated.
"We haven't picked up anything wrong," he replied, raising his eyes briefly towards the sky. Now a thin crescent, the Gas Giant was partially hidden behind a veil. Clouds perhaps, John wondered silently. But then, the water had to come from somewhere.
"Take a rest, John. Major Lorne's team will be with you shortly. Atlantis out."
The wormhole disappeared.
John sighed at the order, not daring to obey it. If he sat down right now, no doubt he would snore a microsecond later.
"Enough!" Teyla shouted, stretching her hands to keep Rodney and Ronon apart.
John shook his head in despair. What the hell had Rodney eaten?
The sky overhead lit up like broad day light and a loud crack reverberated a second later.
John looked up and towards the outpost. A dark and ominous cloud engulfed it.
"Oh crap... Rodney?" Sheppard yelled, rushing to join his team.
McKay was jabbing at the LSD, eyes worried, "I didn't touch anything! I was just recalibrating- oh no that's not good. A strong electromagnetic disturbance is heading our way."
"Lorne's on his way with a Jumper, can we wait here for five minutes?" John asked, speaking loudly to be heard over the sound of another thunder bolt.
"If you want to know what it's like to be in a microwave, you can but I'm going to find refuge in the forest," McKay huffed and turned towards the forest.
His heart beating fast with the sudden and strong impulse of adrenalin, John swore and ran towards the swamp. "Let's go back in guys!"
Summary: A bad day, a bad meal, something is rotten down there... set during the 4th season.
Word Count: 1650
Rating: T
Disclaimer: Don't own any of the characters, nor SGA. Just writing for fun.
Chapter 2
First to step out of the Gate, John walked down from the platform and stopped a few meters from the lake, on a large strip of white sand. The luminosity was one of a late summer afternoon. Pleasantly warm and quiet. He yawned. He was too tired to feel moved by the spectacle of the outpost standing in the middle of glistening emerald waters.
With a sigh, John forced himself to take a deep breath and slightly relaxed his fingers that were clenched tight on his P90. This was a secret Ancient outpost, not the Wraith home world.
He lifted his eyes towards the sky. The Gas Giant filled less than a third of the sky now and come to think of it, the lake seemed a few tones darker than on the video feed. But then, maybe it was due to the video itself, he thought, perplexed.
"Four hours twenty-seven minutes," McKay's anxious voice shouted just behind him.
Carried away in his thoughts, John almost jumped in surprise and cast an annoyed glance over his shoulder. Slightly breathless as if he had run the trip instead of being demolecularized, Rodney was sending nervous looks at the sky and his watch.
Already feeling his headache increasing and his patience decreasing in inverse proportions at the prospect of Rodney's inevitable 'obnoxious' timeframe countdown, John redirected his eyes on the outpost just as Ronon and Teyla walked out of the wormhole. And a few seconds later, he heard the sucking sound of the Gate shutting down.
Discovering the landscape for the first time, Teyla joined him on the beach. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed, heading towards the bridge that seemed to hover above the water.
"Maybe but according to my readings, we should go this way," Rodney announced with a grimace, pointing behind the Gate with his finger.
John turned his head towards him then looked at the direction he was indicating. He winced at the sight of a dark green mass standing out against the horizon, at least one kilometer from their position. Oh crap! Not another forest... he mentally pleaded, staring at the swamp they would have to cross to reach it.
Sharing his mood, Ronon's somber eyes were screwed up, scanning the area for potential hidden enemies. "Are you really sure, Rodney?" John asked, wondering why it had to be the forest instead of the outpost.
"No, I'm not, I just woke up this morning with a terrible urge to explore an unknown forest with flashlights while a Giant planet's magnetic field threatened to splatter my flesh into a pu- "
"Okay okay! Enough Rodney, I got it," John interrupted, mentally berating himself for daring to imply that McKay did not know how to use a Life Sign Detector. And after all, this was not a natural forest but an artificial one, he thought, and the prospect of finding a secret outpost inside the secret outpost was slowly taking shape.
"Let's go. The sooner we find what we came for the better," he said, keeping himself from yawning as he walked back towards the Gate.
"And what exactly are we searching for?" Teyla asked, falling in behind him.
"Hopefully, a new source of power," Rodney replied without raising his eyes from the hand held device.
"The outpost might contain weapons, we should go there first," Ronon grumbled.
"No no no no no," Rodney quickly replied, rolling his eyes, "Going into the outpost would probably set off sensors that would use energy. We don't want that. Beside, the scanner says that there is a strong energy source in this direction and as our miserable life signs would probably not count in the forest it would be safer to check it first."
John frowned, "Even if I really don't like the way you said our lives wouldn't count, I agree with Rodney, for once. And as the Ancients have converted the scientific outpost into a military one, there might be more than meets the eye."
"Food, for instance. In fact, it wasn't a forest ten thousand years ago. It was the outpost's orchard," Rodney added.
A second later, the sound of a powerbar paper being torn and crumpled could be heard.
"What? I'm starving! It's breakfast time in Atlantis you know," Rodney exclaimed in defense, clutching his snack, glaring at Ronon's covetous look.
John sighed. Missing breakfast was another thing he would have wished not to be aware of, he thought as he entered in the swamp.
The further they progressed, the more unstable and muddy the ground became. Trying to find the driest path without making too big a detour, they slowly made their way between the high reeds, listening to Rodney's explanation on the terraforming the Ancients had engineered to transform a lifeless rock into a life sustainable paradise.
"The paradise side escapes me..." Ronon growled, dragging his left leg out of a mud hole and wiping beads of sweat from his forehead.
At the gate, the temperature had been as nice as the MALP had promised, but it was not the case anymore. It was stifling.
"Well, ten thousand years without a proper maintenance system would certainly cause a few glitches. Probably just a parameter or two somewhere to adjust. I'll see what I can do when we've found the source of the energy," Rodney placated, still enthusiastically trudging along.
"Absolutely out of question, Rodney!" John barked, his eyes widening in dread. "Do I have to remind you that last time you played with an Ancient system you blew up a solar system," he barked, squashing the insect that was buzzing near his ear.
"Oh that was completely different!" Rodney burst out, "I'm not talking about turning on a weapon here. Just turn off the heating-"
"Right. And knowing our luck, you'll hit the wrong sequence and turn off the shield instead," John replied just as a reed bounced back and hit his face. Shoving it aside, he picked up the pace. Behind him, Rodney moaned at the blatant lack of trust.
Focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and keeping their balance, the team silently fought its way toward the forest, listening to Rodney call out course corrections each time they shifted a bit from their trajectory.
"Clearance in ten meters," Rodney finally announced one and a half hours later, a deep relief in his voice. John speed up and parted the last few reeds with the barrel of his P90.
"Oh crap... Rodney?" he yelled, at the sight of the Gate standing less than ten meters from him.
Rodney trudged through the reeds, nearly colliding with him, looked up and exclaimed, "What? Oh no..."
"How is this possible?" Teyla asked, aghast. Behind her, Ronon joined them on dry ground and growled.
"Don't look at me like that! We walked in a straight line... almost. The scanner must be faulty or affected by the shield or by the Giant's magnetic field. Maybe I just need to reconfigure it to-" McKay stammered, bashing the Ancient device with one hand.
"Rodney?" Teyla gently interrupted as she saw John turning on his heels to take a deep breath. "Nobody is saying that you don't know how to use the LSD. Let's take a break," she proposed before sitting down on the concrete.
John sighed and mentally thanked Teyla for intervening. In his exhausted state, he knew he would have lost his temper with McKay. He looked at the sky. The light had dimmed further and now the lake harbored a dark green color. Time was flying.
"I'm not going through that again. I'll go and contact Atlantis for a Jumper," he said, his voice weary. Leaving a track of muddy footprints behind him, he then headed toward the DHD.
A few seconds later, the wormhole gushed out and lit their surroundings in blue. Leaning against the console, he took out his radio and transmitted his request. On the other end, Sam asked how things were going. Sighing he made a short report when Rodney's high pitched voice attracted his attention. He frowned. Why was Teyla standing between Ronon and McKay, he wondered.
"Sorry, say again?" he said to Carter, a bit distracted. Why on earth was Rodney glaring like that at Ronon?
"Is the shield still stable John?" Sam repeated.
"We haven't picked up anything wrong," he replied, raising his eyes briefly towards the sky. Now a thin crescent, the Gas Giant was partially hidden behind a veil. Clouds perhaps, John wondered silently. But then, the water had to come from somewhere.
"Take a rest, John. Major Lorne's team will be with you shortly. Atlantis out."
The wormhole disappeared.
John sighed at the order, not daring to obey it. If he sat down right now, no doubt he would snore a microsecond later.
"Enough!" Teyla shouted, stretching her hands to keep Rodney and Ronon apart.
John shook his head in despair. What the hell had Rodney eaten?
The sky overhead lit up like broad day light and a loud crack reverberated a second later.
John looked up and towards the outpost. A dark and ominous cloud engulfed it.
"Oh crap... Rodney?" Sheppard yelled, rushing to join his team.
McKay was jabbing at the LSD, eyes worried, "I didn't touch anything! I was just recalibrating- oh no that's not good. A strong electromagnetic disturbance is heading our way."
"Lorne's on his way with a Jumper, can we wait here for five minutes?" John asked, speaking loudly to be heard over the sound of another thunder bolt.
"If you want to know what it's like to be in a microwave, you can but I'm going to find refuge in the forest," McKay huffed and turned towards the forest.
His heart beating fast with the sudden and strong impulse of adrenalin, John swore and ran towards the swamp. "Let's go back in guys!"