Just Another Routine Mission (5/?) by Jade
“What?” John asked. “Are you sure?”
Rodney huffed loudly and rolled his eyes. As if he would be telling John anything if he wasn’t sure. Although, to be fair, there had been that time on MX7-498 when he had mistaken a musical instrument for a weapon, but this wasn’t the same thing at all. How was he supposed to have known the natives were playing a joke on him?
He knelt on the floor as he continued to speak and crawled under the console. “Of course I’m sure, Colonel. It’s a complete mess in here. There’s Wraith all through the coding and… And I have no idea what someone was thinking pulling the calibration crystal out of this control panel!” Rodney ranted as he poked at the underside of the console. “Of all the irresponsible things to do! This could have caused the secondary re…”
“Rodney,” John snapped.
“What?”
“None of this makes any sense. If this is a prison, why were the Ancients working on a defense system here? You don’t usually conduct research in the same facility where you’re keeping prisoners. And we were herded to the control room when we arrived. There had to have been a reason for that. So let’s just calm down and take a minute to think here.”
“The Wraith,” Rodney insisted.
“Ronon, do you agree with Rodney’s opinion that the Wraith have recently visited?” John asked pointedly.
“No. This facility has not been disturbed in a very long time,” Ronon said flatly.
Rodney snorted and mumbled to himself as he continued to pull access panels off the bottom of the console that had activated the weapon.
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. McKay, I need you to find out as much as you can about that weapon in the control room. I’m going to send Teyla back to you. She’s been studying Ancient with Dr. Weir and some of the linguistics team. I want her to look at the database and make sure you’re translating it properly. Ronon, once Teyla arrives there I want you to come back here and we’re going to see what we can find out about our creepy friends around here.”
“I assure you, Colonel, I’m perfectly capable of transl…” Rodney protested loudly.
John clicked off his radio.
***_***
John was placing two extra clips of ammo in the right pocket of his vest when Ronon stepped into the back of the Jumper.
“You’re feeling better.” Ronon said.
“Peachy,” John quipped. He opened a storage cabinet and grabbed one of the energy weapons they used when they wanted to incapacitate rather than kill their enemies. He wasn’t sure how effective projectiles would be against whatever it was out there in the corridors. “Still feel creepy out there?”
“Yes.”
“Any ideas what it is?”
“No.”
“Well, let’s go see what we can find out, then.”
John and Ronon stepped out of the back of the Jumper. John gestured towards the corridor leading away from the control room and Ronon nodded in agreement. Maybe they could circle around and find out what was lurking near the control room.
They had been walking for about five minutes when Ronon suddenly stopped and spun around to study the corridor behind them. His weapon was up and trained on something that neither of the men could see.
“You feel something?” John asked in a low voice.
“It is following us,” Ronon assured him.
“I don’t feel anything.”
“It is there,” Ronon insisted. His eyes narrowed. “And coming closer.”
John turned and pointed his weapon in the same direction. He couldn’t feel the mysterious presence as he had before, but Ronon could and that was enough. Something was there.
A moment later a form emerged from the shadows of the lowly lit corridor. The figure was pale and translucent, but definitely there. It raised a hand towards John and stepped forward. John moved slightly in response and Ronon repositioned himself so his aim matched John’s line of sight.
“Do you see it?” John asked.
“No.”
The figure continued to move towards John. As it approached he began to be able to make out features. The figure was a human female and looked to be about fifty years old. She was wearing dark clothing that appeared to be crudely made and her long grey hair was pulled back behind her head. Her lips were moving and her hands gesturing in an obvious attempt to communicate with them.
“She’s trying to speak to us,” John explained.
“I don’t see anything,” Ronon growled. The tone of his voice left no question as to how he felt about that particular development.
“I can’t explain it, but she’s definitely there,” John insisted.
***_***
“You are wrong, Dr. McKay,” Teyla insisted. “This word does not mean ‘prison’. It is better translated as ‘refuge’. See this accent on the third vowel? It changes the meaning of the suffix.”
“What?” Rodney demanded. He stood up from his position at the weapon console and moved so that he could glare over Teyla’s shoulder.
“It is an easy mistake to make,” she said in a soothing tone. “This section of the database was written by an Ancient scientist in the final days of the war against the Wraith. They knew the city of Atlantis was being abandoned, but were somehow cut off from returning. They instead retreated to this facility where they planned to hide from the Wraith using a technology that ‘hid them from reality’. I am unsure what that phrase means.”
“Wait,” Rodney shouted and snapped his fingers. “Just wait a minute.”
He rushed back over to the console he had been working on and madly started typing in commands. Teyla watched him with a bemused look on her face.
“It’s not a weapon,” he said after several minutes of intense activity. “Well, there are weapons here, but this,” he gestured towards the ‘weapons platform’ that was mounted on the far wall, “is not one of them. It’s supposed to place matter out-of-phase with this universe, but obviously it isn’t working properly because Colonel Sheppard… Wait, that’s it.”
Rodney tapped his radio. “Colonel, I need you to come to the control room. I think I know why we can’t use the Ancient technology.”
Rodney huffed loudly and rolled his eyes. As if he would be telling John anything if he wasn’t sure. Although, to be fair, there had been that time on MX7-498 when he had mistaken a musical instrument for a weapon, but this wasn’t the same thing at all. How was he supposed to have known the natives were playing a joke on him?
He knelt on the floor as he continued to speak and crawled under the console. “Of course I’m sure, Colonel. It’s a complete mess in here. There’s Wraith all through the coding and… And I have no idea what someone was thinking pulling the calibration crystal out of this control panel!” Rodney ranted as he poked at the underside of the console. “Of all the irresponsible things to do! This could have caused the secondary re…”
“Rodney,” John snapped.
“What?”
“None of this makes any sense. If this is a prison, why were the Ancients working on a defense system here? You don’t usually conduct research in the same facility where you’re keeping prisoners. And we were herded to the control room when we arrived. There had to have been a reason for that. So let’s just calm down and take a minute to think here.”
“The Wraith,” Rodney insisted.
“Ronon, do you agree with Rodney’s opinion that the Wraith have recently visited?” John asked pointedly.
“No. This facility has not been disturbed in a very long time,” Ronon said flatly.
Rodney snorted and mumbled to himself as he continued to pull access panels off the bottom of the console that had activated the weapon.
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. McKay, I need you to find out as much as you can about that weapon in the control room. I’m going to send Teyla back to you. She’s been studying Ancient with Dr. Weir and some of the linguistics team. I want her to look at the database and make sure you’re translating it properly. Ronon, once Teyla arrives there I want you to come back here and we’re going to see what we can find out about our creepy friends around here.”
“I assure you, Colonel, I’m perfectly capable of transl…” Rodney protested loudly.
John clicked off his radio.
***_***
John was placing two extra clips of ammo in the right pocket of his vest when Ronon stepped into the back of the Jumper.
“You’re feeling better.” Ronon said.
“Peachy,” John quipped. He opened a storage cabinet and grabbed one of the energy weapons they used when they wanted to incapacitate rather than kill their enemies. He wasn’t sure how effective projectiles would be against whatever it was out there in the corridors. “Still feel creepy out there?”
“Yes.”
“Any ideas what it is?”
“No.”
“Well, let’s go see what we can find out, then.”
John and Ronon stepped out of the back of the Jumper. John gestured towards the corridor leading away from the control room and Ronon nodded in agreement. Maybe they could circle around and find out what was lurking near the control room.
They had been walking for about five minutes when Ronon suddenly stopped and spun around to study the corridor behind them. His weapon was up and trained on something that neither of the men could see.
“You feel something?” John asked in a low voice.
“It is following us,” Ronon assured him.
“I don’t feel anything.”
“It is there,” Ronon insisted. His eyes narrowed. “And coming closer.”
John turned and pointed his weapon in the same direction. He couldn’t feel the mysterious presence as he had before, but Ronon could and that was enough. Something was there.
A moment later a form emerged from the shadows of the lowly lit corridor. The figure was pale and translucent, but definitely there. It raised a hand towards John and stepped forward. John moved slightly in response and Ronon repositioned himself so his aim matched John’s line of sight.
“Do you see it?” John asked.
“No.”
The figure continued to move towards John. As it approached he began to be able to make out features. The figure was a human female and looked to be about fifty years old. She was wearing dark clothing that appeared to be crudely made and her long grey hair was pulled back behind her head. Her lips were moving and her hands gesturing in an obvious attempt to communicate with them.
“She’s trying to speak to us,” John explained.
“I don’t see anything,” Ronon growled. The tone of his voice left no question as to how he felt about that particular development.
“I can’t explain it, but she’s definitely there,” John insisted.
***_***
“You are wrong, Dr. McKay,” Teyla insisted. “This word does not mean ‘prison’. It is better translated as ‘refuge’. See this accent on the third vowel? It changes the meaning of the suffix.”
“What?” Rodney demanded. He stood up from his position at the weapon console and moved so that he could glare over Teyla’s shoulder.
“It is an easy mistake to make,” she said in a soothing tone. “This section of the database was written by an Ancient scientist in the final days of the war against the Wraith. They knew the city of Atlantis was being abandoned, but were somehow cut off from returning. They instead retreated to this facility where they planned to hide from the Wraith using a technology that ‘hid them from reality’. I am unsure what that phrase means.”
“Wait,” Rodney shouted and snapped his fingers. “Just wait a minute.”
He rushed back over to the console he had been working on and madly started typing in commands. Teyla watched him with a bemused look on her face.
“It’s not a weapon,” he said after several minutes of intense activity. “Well, there are weapons here, but this,” he gestured towards the ‘weapons platform’ that was mounted on the far wall, “is not one of them. It’s supposed to place matter out-of-phase with this universe, but obviously it isn’t working properly because Colonel Sheppard… Wait, that’s it.”
Rodney tapped his radio. “Colonel, I need you to come to the control room. I think I know why we can’t use the Ancient technology.”