Stargate Atlantis Fan Fic: Trust But Verify Part 2/5
Trust But Verify
Part 2
A bit of a hike turned out to be a typical McKay understatement. The uninhabited areas of Atlantis were usually pretty difficult to access, and this one was no exception. After nearly two hours of walking, and sometimes climbing over piles of debris, the team and the engineer finally arrived at what Dr. McKay assured them was their destination.
“Hah,” exclaimed the Chief Scientist. “I knew it. According to the maps of the city, this corridor doesn’t exist. This wall isn’t here. And, yet, here we are. Just like the mapping program predicted. I’m sure our missing space is behind this...” He pointed to a rather ordinary looking wall.
They were all hot and tired from the exertion, and wet from splashing through puddles of sea water that seeped through the lower levels. The team had endured McKay’s constant stream of complaints. He had complained about the distance, that his feet were wet, that his feet were sore, that the Colonel provided him with his least favorite power bars, and that moldy smell of the unused section of the city was wreaking havoc with his delicate sinuses. He repeatedly asked the Colonel why they couldn’t take a jumper, and had been repeatedly reminded that jumpers were only used in Atlantis in dire emergencies.
Teyla was nursing a bruised arm that she has fallen on after getting caught in submerged rubble as they walked. She was feeling a little bit irritated that after all their effort it appeared that they were in a corridor exactly like the dozens that they had just struggled through.
“I don’t see anything different about this space, Rodney. How can you be certain that this is what you seek?” asked the usually patient Teyla.
McKay ignored her question as he furiously typed on his tablet. He inspected the wall in front of him and pointed to a spot about chest height for the Colonel.
“There, gene-boy. Put your hand there.”
“That’s Lieutenant Colonel Gene-Boy to you, McKay, and answer Teyla’s question. I think we’d all like to know.” Sheppard responded. He would never admit it, but listening to Rodney grumble the entire trip had set him on edge. Something felt off.
With an exasperated huff McKay turned to the engineer.
“Peterson, you explain it.”
Pleased to be included in the discussion, Janet Peterson began. “With our new mapping program we have calculated the displacement of Atlantis to the last cubic centimeter, but couldn’t account for 18.7498 cubic meters. We were able to narrow down the missing space with the help of Dr. McKay, who integrated a three-dimensional hologram of Atlantis with our…”
McKay interrupted. “Enough engineering babble, Peterson. Sheppard, just put your hand on the damn wall and find the way in.”
With an apologetic glance to the engineer, Sheppard stepped to the wall and ran his hand over the space that McKay indicated.
“Hmmph.” The team could see the effort on Sheppard’s face as he searched for some opening in the wall. “Come on, open up,” he thought, searching for some indication that there was a way in, as Rodney insisted. He felt the hum of the city in the back of his mind, but nothing more. For some reason, Atlantis didn't seem to want to help him with this one.
“You sure about this, McKay?”
The irritated scientist didn’t raise his head from his tablet.
“Trust me, Sheppard. This has to be it. I’m certain that there’s something here. A hidden space is the only thing that would account for the anomaly in Atlantis’ volume. Just think harder.”
The Colonel pushed mentally at the wall, using his link to the city to ask Atlantis for help. He felt her hesitate, then she acknowledged his request with a gentle tickle behind his eyes. Slowly a crack appeared in the wall. It spread until the outline of a door took shape. He silently thanked the city for her help.
Sheppard sometimes wondered what his life would have been like if his gene had never been discovered, but he never regretted that it had. Well, almost never.
“I knew it,” crowed the excited scientist as he pushed forward towards the new opening. He was abruptly pushed back.
“Scientists last,” Sheppard declared. “You know the drill, McKay. I’ll take point. Teyla, you’re with me. Ronon, you wait with the others until we give you the all clear.”
Sheppard put his hand on the newly formed door and thought ‘open’. Nothing happened. He concentrated harder and still nothing happened. He had a moment to wonder why the city was being reluctant to let him in, when he heard the whine of Ronon’s blaster charging up. Before he could protest, he saw the flash of red burn a hole through the recalcitrant door. The squawks of protest coming from the two scientists behind him stilled the pilot’s impulse to yell at Ronon, too.
He really needed to have ‘the talk’ about not shooting first with the Satedan. Again.
Sheppard wrapped his hand in a piece of his sleeve and pushed on the smoldering metal. The hole that had resulted was just big enough for him to climb through. He waited on the other side of the door as Teyla, favoring her sore arm, cautiously slipped through to join him. Lights slowly brightened the gloom as the two teammates carefully made their way across the room. Sheppard was struck by how clean the windowless space seemed, particularly as he compared it to area of the city they had just trekked through. It looked like no one had entered for a very long time.
The room was empty except for a large rectangular box on the floor against the far wall.
He and Teyla continued their survey, but the space was not large, and it seemed as featureless he had initially thought.
He did feel the familiar prickle that told him that Ancient tech was near. Sheppard was pretty sure it was coming from the box. It wasn’t ‘on’, just present, so he wasn’t concerned about accidentally activating something. Although he was really curious, he resisted the urge to think ‘open’ to the box. McKay would probably kill him if he did.
“All clear. You can come through.” Sheppard called. “There’s an Ancient thingy in the room, but it doesn’t feel active. And, yes, Rodney, I am staying away.”
“You better, Sheppard. Remember the three meter rule.”
Sheppard couldn’t resist tweaking his friend yet again.
“Is that the same as three feet, Rodney?”
Sheppard could hear McKay’s exasperated squawk as he and Peterson clambered through the still smoking hole, followed by Ronon, who did not look the least bit sheepish at having destroyed the door.
The two scientists quickly moved to the box, scanning as they went. Without touching it, they noted that it seemed to be made of the same silvery metallic material as was much of Atlantis. There were no obvious opening, but McKay noticed that nearly hidden against the wall was an inscription in Ancient.
McKay looked at the Colonel. He knew very well that Sheppard’s command of that language was much better than his, although the colonel did his best to hide his proficiency at this, as in so many things.
“Well?” he inquired. “What does it say, Colonel?”
“What does what say?” Teyla asked. She peered at the featureless box in confusion.
“Don’t you see the inscription?” McKay growled, impatient to continue his study of the object.
“Ronon, Dr. Peterson, do you see anything written on the box?” Teyla asked. The two shook their heads. Dr. Peterson ran her flashlight up and down the rectangular object but saw nothing at all.
“Hmmm,” McKay pondered. “It must be gene related. The two of us with the gene see something, the rest of you don’t. Obviously, whoever built this didn’t want anyone but Ancients to see those markings. Sheppard, tell me what you see.”
“I can’t tell you what I see if I can’t see it, and I can’t see it if I don’t get closer. Three METER rule, you know.” Sheppard just couldn’t resist winding up his friend, although he was itching to get closer to the mysterious box.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Sheppard. Get your ass over there and tell me if it says what I think it says.”
Sheppard cautiously approached the Ancient artifact. He mentally leaned into his connection to Atlantis to help him translate.
“I think it says this is a portal, or maybe... a gate to power. Or, maybe to ...energy.”
“That’s what I thought, too,” whispered the scientist, almost talking to himself. “Power... or energy….” His head snapped up. “Oh my god, people. Do you know what this could be? I bet it’s a gate to ZPM production.” McKay began to pace. “I always suspected that the Ancients didn’t produce them on Atlantis. Too dangerous. An industrial accident could destroy the entire city. This could be how they got to wherever they did build them. Do you have any idea what this could mean to us? To Atlantis? To everything?”
“It says something else, but that’s mostly hidden by the wall. Do you want me to try to move the box?” asked Sheppard.
“NO.” Three of the people in the room shouted as one.
“Maybe,” replied McKay. “We have to know what this is. It could be the solution to all our problems, not to mention the key to my Nobel Prize!”
“Calm down, Einstein.” Sheppard tried to reign in his excited friend. “Why would the Ancients put a gateway to ZPM production in an unmarked room that no one could find?”
McKay thought for a moment. “Think about it for a minute. That’s exactly what they would do. If Atlantis was taken over by hostiles, they wouldn’t have access to information about where this room is, and no-one without the gene would have any idea what this thing is.”
Sheppard reached for his radio. “We should report in and bring in a team to study…”
“A team!” McKay exclaimed. “Later. We can bring in a team later. Right now we need to see if we can open the box. We won’t go any further until we’ve studied it, but we should at least see if we can get it open. Sheppard, touch it over here.” He motioned to the box.
“Rodney.”
“McKay!”
“Sir?”
Three voices shouted, while the Colonel looked at his friend uncertainly. Sheppard felt as though he was being drawn to the box. The tickle from the Ancient technology was rapidly expanding to a full blown itch. He was beginning to feel almost uncomfortable. He wanted to touch it, but at the same time, he felt strangely hesitant. The city seemed to be trying to say something, but he didn’t understand what.
Sheppard inched closer as he looked at McKay.
“Are you sure about this, Rodney? Something doesn’t feel right. Maybe we should wait until we know more…”
“Oh, for God’s sake. Trust me, Sheppard,” snapped the irritated scientist. He grabbed hold of his reluctant teammate and pushed him towards the object.
Those words seemed to hang in the air as the pilot reluctantly put his hands on the box, and thought, “Open”.
Part 2
A bit of a hike turned out to be a typical McKay understatement. The uninhabited areas of Atlantis were usually pretty difficult to access, and this one was no exception. After nearly two hours of walking, and sometimes climbing over piles of debris, the team and the engineer finally arrived at what Dr. McKay assured them was their destination.
“Hah,” exclaimed the Chief Scientist. “I knew it. According to the maps of the city, this corridor doesn’t exist. This wall isn’t here. And, yet, here we are. Just like the mapping program predicted. I’m sure our missing space is behind this...” He pointed to a rather ordinary looking wall.
They were all hot and tired from the exertion, and wet from splashing through puddles of sea water that seeped through the lower levels. The team had endured McKay’s constant stream of complaints. He had complained about the distance, that his feet were wet, that his feet were sore, that the Colonel provided him with his least favorite power bars, and that moldy smell of the unused section of the city was wreaking havoc with his delicate sinuses. He repeatedly asked the Colonel why they couldn’t take a jumper, and had been repeatedly reminded that jumpers were only used in Atlantis in dire emergencies.
Teyla was nursing a bruised arm that she has fallen on after getting caught in submerged rubble as they walked. She was feeling a little bit irritated that after all their effort it appeared that they were in a corridor exactly like the dozens that they had just struggled through.
“I don’t see anything different about this space, Rodney. How can you be certain that this is what you seek?” asked the usually patient Teyla.
McKay ignored her question as he furiously typed on his tablet. He inspected the wall in front of him and pointed to a spot about chest height for the Colonel.
“There, gene-boy. Put your hand there.”
“That’s Lieutenant Colonel Gene-Boy to you, McKay, and answer Teyla’s question. I think we’d all like to know.” Sheppard responded. He would never admit it, but listening to Rodney grumble the entire trip had set him on edge. Something felt off.
With an exasperated huff McKay turned to the engineer.
“Peterson, you explain it.”
Pleased to be included in the discussion, Janet Peterson began. “With our new mapping program we have calculated the displacement of Atlantis to the last cubic centimeter, but couldn’t account for 18.7498 cubic meters. We were able to narrow down the missing space with the help of Dr. McKay, who integrated a three-dimensional hologram of Atlantis with our…”
McKay interrupted. “Enough engineering babble, Peterson. Sheppard, just put your hand on the damn wall and find the way in.”
With an apologetic glance to the engineer, Sheppard stepped to the wall and ran his hand over the space that McKay indicated.
“Hmmph.” The team could see the effort on Sheppard’s face as he searched for some opening in the wall. “Come on, open up,” he thought, searching for some indication that there was a way in, as Rodney insisted. He felt the hum of the city in the back of his mind, but nothing more. For some reason, Atlantis didn't seem to want to help him with this one.
“You sure about this, McKay?”
The irritated scientist didn’t raise his head from his tablet.
“Trust me, Sheppard. This has to be it. I’m certain that there’s something here. A hidden space is the only thing that would account for the anomaly in Atlantis’ volume. Just think harder.”
The Colonel pushed mentally at the wall, using his link to the city to ask Atlantis for help. He felt her hesitate, then she acknowledged his request with a gentle tickle behind his eyes. Slowly a crack appeared in the wall. It spread until the outline of a door took shape. He silently thanked the city for her help.
Sheppard sometimes wondered what his life would have been like if his gene had never been discovered, but he never regretted that it had. Well, almost never.
“I knew it,” crowed the excited scientist as he pushed forward towards the new opening. He was abruptly pushed back.
“Scientists last,” Sheppard declared. “You know the drill, McKay. I’ll take point. Teyla, you’re with me. Ronon, you wait with the others until we give you the all clear.”
Sheppard put his hand on the newly formed door and thought ‘open’. Nothing happened. He concentrated harder and still nothing happened. He had a moment to wonder why the city was being reluctant to let him in, when he heard the whine of Ronon’s blaster charging up. Before he could protest, he saw the flash of red burn a hole through the recalcitrant door. The squawks of protest coming from the two scientists behind him stilled the pilot’s impulse to yell at Ronon, too.
He really needed to have ‘the talk’ about not shooting first with the Satedan. Again.
Sheppard wrapped his hand in a piece of his sleeve and pushed on the smoldering metal. The hole that had resulted was just big enough for him to climb through. He waited on the other side of the door as Teyla, favoring her sore arm, cautiously slipped through to join him. Lights slowly brightened the gloom as the two teammates carefully made their way across the room. Sheppard was struck by how clean the windowless space seemed, particularly as he compared it to area of the city they had just trekked through. It looked like no one had entered for a very long time.
The room was empty except for a large rectangular box on the floor against the far wall.
He and Teyla continued their survey, but the space was not large, and it seemed as featureless he had initially thought.
He did feel the familiar prickle that told him that Ancient tech was near. Sheppard was pretty sure it was coming from the box. It wasn’t ‘on’, just present, so he wasn’t concerned about accidentally activating something. Although he was really curious, he resisted the urge to think ‘open’ to the box. McKay would probably kill him if he did.
“All clear. You can come through.” Sheppard called. “There’s an Ancient thingy in the room, but it doesn’t feel active. And, yes, Rodney, I am staying away.”
“You better, Sheppard. Remember the three meter rule.”
Sheppard couldn’t resist tweaking his friend yet again.
“Is that the same as three feet, Rodney?”
Sheppard could hear McKay’s exasperated squawk as he and Peterson clambered through the still smoking hole, followed by Ronon, who did not look the least bit sheepish at having destroyed the door.
The two scientists quickly moved to the box, scanning as they went. Without touching it, they noted that it seemed to be made of the same silvery metallic material as was much of Atlantis. There were no obvious opening, but McKay noticed that nearly hidden against the wall was an inscription in Ancient.
McKay looked at the Colonel. He knew very well that Sheppard’s command of that language was much better than his, although the colonel did his best to hide his proficiency at this, as in so many things.
“Well?” he inquired. “What does it say, Colonel?”
“What does what say?” Teyla asked. She peered at the featureless box in confusion.
“Don’t you see the inscription?” McKay growled, impatient to continue his study of the object.
“Ronon, Dr. Peterson, do you see anything written on the box?” Teyla asked. The two shook their heads. Dr. Peterson ran her flashlight up and down the rectangular object but saw nothing at all.
“Hmmm,” McKay pondered. “It must be gene related. The two of us with the gene see something, the rest of you don’t. Obviously, whoever built this didn’t want anyone but Ancients to see those markings. Sheppard, tell me what you see.”
“I can’t tell you what I see if I can’t see it, and I can’t see it if I don’t get closer. Three METER rule, you know.” Sheppard just couldn’t resist winding up his friend, although he was itching to get closer to the mysterious box.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Sheppard. Get your ass over there and tell me if it says what I think it says.”
Sheppard cautiously approached the Ancient artifact. He mentally leaned into his connection to Atlantis to help him translate.
“I think it says this is a portal, or maybe... a gate to power. Or, maybe to ...energy.”
“That’s what I thought, too,” whispered the scientist, almost talking to himself. “Power... or energy….” His head snapped up. “Oh my god, people. Do you know what this could be? I bet it’s a gate to ZPM production.” McKay began to pace. “I always suspected that the Ancients didn’t produce them on Atlantis. Too dangerous. An industrial accident could destroy the entire city. This could be how they got to wherever they did build them. Do you have any idea what this could mean to us? To Atlantis? To everything?”
“It says something else, but that’s mostly hidden by the wall. Do you want me to try to move the box?” asked Sheppard.
“NO.” Three of the people in the room shouted as one.
“Maybe,” replied McKay. “We have to know what this is. It could be the solution to all our problems, not to mention the key to my Nobel Prize!”
“Calm down, Einstein.” Sheppard tried to reign in his excited friend. “Why would the Ancients put a gateway to ZPM production in an unmarked room that no one could find?”
McKay thought for a moment. “Think about it for a minute. That’s exactly what they would do. If Atlantis was taken over by hostiles, they wouldn’t have access to information about where this room is, and no-one without the gene would have any idea what this thing is.”
Sheppard reached for his radio. “We should report in and bring in a team to study…”
“A team!” McKay exclaimed. “Later. We can bring in a team later. Right now we need to see if we can open the box. We won’t go any further until we’ve studied it, but we should at least see if we can get it open. Sheppard, touch it over here.” He motioned to the box.
“Rodney.”
“McKay!”
“Sir?”
Three voices shouted, while the Colonel looked at his friend uncertainly. Sheppard felt as though he was being drawn to the box. The tickle from the Ancient technology was rapidly expanding to a full blown itch. He was beginning to feel almost uncomfortable. He wanted to touch it, but at the same time, he felt strangely hesitant. The city seemed to be trying to say something, but he didn’t understand what.
Sheppard inched closer as he looked at McKay.
“Are you sure about this, Rodney? Something doesn’t feel right. Maybe we should wait until we know more…”
“Oh, for God’s sake. Trust me, Sheppard,” snapped the irritated scientist. He grabbed hold of his reluctant teammate and pushed him towards the object.
Those words seemed to hang in the air as the pilot reluctantly put his hands on the box, and thought, “Open”.