SGA (Colony AU) fic; Omega World 2/?
CHAPTER TWO
"HANG ON!" John bellowed. He could have wrestled with the controls, pretending this strange connection did not exist. He could have - but he didn't.
John lay his palms flat on the console. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes.
Seeing that, Rodney - whose artificial gene was cloned directly from John's - did the same in the co-pilot's seat.
Straighten out, both thought hard, though John added an affectionate, honey. Come on, get your balance.
The tumbling slowed, and John reacted swiftly. He nudged the Jumper upward, out of the tumble and out of danger
"What the hell was that?" Rodney yelped, opening his eyes.
"Some sort of explosion," Teyla replied.
"Let's find out," John said, angling the Jumper around to face the smoking Gate.
"Is it intact?" Ronon asked, the thought of being forever stranded on one world chilling him to the core.
"It's intact," Rodney reported. "But what we flew through looks like it was set to destroy the Gate."
"What?" Teyla all but yelped, genuine horror fitting her voice. "....Why would someone deliberately--"
"At the risk of repeating myself," John said, gliding the Jumper smoothly toward the ground. "Let's find out." He nodded toward the forward window.
Rodney frowned, squinting against the glass. "Are those... people?"
"Put on the sunglasses I packed for you," John ordered as he landed the Jumper. "They'll help. Yeah, they're people," he finished. "Question is, are they friendly?"
"Yes," Teyla answered at the same time Ronon replied, "No."
John took a deep breath. "Okay, then. Defensive Diplomatic Mode." He triggered the ramp and stood. "Let's do this."
With John taking point, the team descended the ramp into the cold air to find a small contingent of natives standing in a loose semicircle facing them. Each held a pike or a spear, but it gave the team a measure of hope that the weapons were uniformly pointed at the sky and not at them.
"Teyla," John began, but she interrupted him in a low voice.
"No, John. Ronon's people were the most recent contact. He should speak for us."
John nodded, and Ronon stepped forward. He held his hand out, palm up, before he cupped it over his own heart. "We greet you in peace, Adalians. We come from the City of the Ancestors. I am Specialist Ronon Dex of Sateda. This is Teyla Emmagen of Athos, Colonel John Sheppard and Doctor Rodney McKay, both from Atlantis."
The oldest native nodded, and a young man stepped forward. "I am Polan," he said. "Tell us why you are here - at the end of all things?"
Continue to part three