Action/Adventure, Week 1: Hope and a Hole in the Ground (2/2)
Title: Hope and a Hole in the Ground
Author: nottasha
Genre: Action Adventure
Prompt Catacombs
Word Count: 18,500
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: The team is trapped on an alien world, and the only escape is through the catacombs.
Part 1
Sheppard watched Ronon, not sure of what to make of his activity, then he too saw the line on the wall. “Really?” he asked. “That’s a door?” And then he realized a fact. “If that’s the top of the door. Then there’s a hell of a lot of bones in here.”
“Yeah,” Ronon said, shoving the bones away. “Looks that way.” He pushed them into piles along the walls.
Sheppard moved to assist, but Teyla was already in his way. “You remain. Ronon and I will do the work.”
“It’s not that hard to do,” Sheppard grumbled, making a limited gesture. “I can move a bunch of bones.”
Her gaze took in his collar, and then met his eyes. “You can keep the bones from falling back into the area near the door.”
“That’s right,” he responded. “Give me the hard job.”
She smiled slightly at that response and moved to the other side of the door, settling her P90 nearby so that they could use the light. And then, she started shoving bones out of the way.
And she was right. Every time they dug out an armload, another armload of bones would fall back into its place. John did what he could to stop it, inserting his body in-between the newly created hill and the deepening hole.
The mound increased as Ronon and Teyla dug. Teyla worked with a grim expression. Ronon moved with surprising speed. They tossed the bones beyond Sheppard, and John tried to keep it all from falling back at them. It became harder to hold back the excess from a sitting position, so Sheppard stretched out, creating a wall. Ronon and Teyla tossed the displaced bones over him.
He felt a little like Grand Coulee.
“Sorry, Rodney,” Sheppard muttered as he pushed at the growing mound of dry bones, shoving them toward his insensible friend. “Not much we can do about it.”
Rodney would be safe at the far side of the room, but the mound was going to get high, and the room was small.
Bones clicked and clanked as they were hefted to the top of the pile. They ‘thunked’ as they hit something soft - Rodney.
“Hang in there, Rodney,” Sheppard said quietly. “Just keep still. We’re going to be out of here in a minute.” And yet with each toss of bone, he knew that Rodney was getting buried.
Sheppard glanced toward the dark chute opening and for a moment he saw tiny movement. He wished he could reach one of the P90s for light.
Ronon and Teyla kept digging. Now that more of the lines were revealed, there was no doubt that this was indeed a door. They only needed to get deep enough to reveal the opening mechanism. Sheppard hoped that the damn door wasn’t locked - and that it opened like all Ancient doors and didn’t swing inward.
There was something on the wall, moving like water, trailing down the walls.
It wasn’t water.
“Ronon, can you hurry it up?” Sheppard asked, watching the moving forms. They were spreading out.
Teyla had abandoned digging and was also playing the part of a wall. She stood near the door, holding back the bones to clear a space for Ronon to work. She glanced to the wall as well and then looked to Sheppard.
Her gaze held the answer to his question. Yeah, she saw them, too.
Crap! They were trapped in here. McKay was helpless and those flesh-eating ants were in with them. If those damn things got to Rodney before Ronon was done with this archeological expedition…
“Rodney, you okay back there?” John asked quietly. He fought to keep in place as the pitch of the slope and the weight of the accumulating bones tried to drag him down.
“Just a little more,” Ronon stated.
“Teyla, can you see him?” Sheppard asked anxiously, because he sure as hell couldn’t move.
She strained to stand up enough. “I cannot,” she stated. “There are too many bones now.”
“Those ants?” Sheppard asked.
“They are on the wall,” Teyla said confidently. “They are not near him.”
John remembered seeing a TV show where a man wore a beard of bees. He hoped jiats didn’t form into beards. And he closed his eyes tightly, trying to rid his mind of that image.
Ronon moved faster, sweeping his hand again through the bits of vertebrae and fractured tibias. The bones becoming more busted up the deeper he went. Something appeared - the shape of a control box. Dex grinned and shoved at the debris with all his might, using his body to block anything from falling back into place, fully exposing the device.
The ants were still on the wall, but they were getting closer. Lots of ants.
From behind him, Sheppard heard soft moan, and then a quiet, “Oh God…”
“Rodney?”
“Oh God… I’m… Oh…” There was the crinkle and clatter of bones being dislodged.
“Keep still!” Sheppard ordered, afraid to move a muscle, lest he allow the mountain to fall.
“Rodney!” Teyla called. “Do not move, Rodney.”
“Help! The bones are… they’re everywhere. I…” Panic edged his voice and suddenly, bones were flying about as Rodney fought to get clear of them. “Sheppard?”
“I’m right here, Rodney!” Sheppard tried to assure. “Keep still!” And to Ronon, he shouted, “Open it!”
Ronon tried to activate the door.
Nothing.
Freakin’ great!
“I’m buried!” Rodney cried pitifully. “Got to get out. Oh, God!”
“McKay! Stop it! Stop moving!” Sheppard commanded, but the mountain was slipping. John could feel the weight that Rodney had dislodged, piling up behind him. He tried to make himself bigger, to hold it all back, but - God it hurt! And Rodney was determined to get himself out from under everything. It was all coming down.
Teyla kept calling to Rodney, trying to quiet him, but Rodney wasn’t listening.
“Bridge!” Sheppard shouted at Ronon, who continued to furiously wave his hand at the control. “Try the bridge!”
Ronon was reaching for his blaster with one hand. Instead, he punched the control panel, dislodging the cover as he was pelted with falling bones. Cupping his arm around the exposed control panel to keep it clear, he pulled out the middle crystal in the group, moved the top one into its position, and then bridged them both with the first.
Light. The display lit up, and Ronon hurriedly activated the control. The half-uncovered door opened.
And then came the avalanche.
OooOoOooooOoOoOo
They rolled, falling with the wall of bones, turning and tumbling and clattering into the darkness. The light from the P90s was swallowed up in the avalanche.
Sheppard shouted in pain as his broken collarbone was cruelly yanked. Someone kicked him in the head - McKay, no doubt - and his ears rung.
And after a few seconds of falling and spinning and pain, everything came to a halt in the blackness as John landed on his back. He groaned.
Freakin’ great! Darkness again! Can’t we catch a break and get some light?
Then light - it came up slowly until the whole room was gloriously aglow. He blinked against it, and smiled to see familiar Ancient architecture surrounding them.
Thank God!
Sheppard looked about, quickly finding Ronon and Teyla. They were already on their feet in the mess of spilled bones. Teyla was moving, heading to McKay who was on his hands and knees, looking confused and panicky.
She touched the scientist softly on the shoulder as she crouched beside him. “Rodney, you are all right,” she insisted softly. “We are free of the room.”
“Bones…” Rodney said, his voice haunted. “There were bones everywhere. I… they were on me. I was buried. I…” His gaze strayed along the bones that covered the floor, and he jerked one hand away from them.
“You are free of it now,” Teyla insisted. She moved in front of him, trying to look him in the eyes. “You are no longer in there.”
His gaze finally met hers, his eyes still wide. And then he blinked and seemed to come to himself. “Yeah,” he said softly, and he winced as he reached to touch the loose and bloodied bandage. “Ow! My head!”
Teyla kicked a clear space on the floor, and helped to get McKay seated and somewhat comfortable.
Sheppard struggled to stand, clutching his arm to keep his collarbone still. Ronon was helping him before he was even aware that the Satedan had moved.
“Where are we?” Ronon asked.
And Sheppard, letting Teyla look after McKay, finally took the time to really examine the room. It was obviously Ancient design - with consoles and panels, buttons that lit up and screens that displayed letters and figures and colors.
To him, it was just pretty nonsense - but so much better than anything else they’d encountered so far. He moved closer to a console to examine it. Hopefully, it would help them get out of this hole in the ground. He stared at all of it blankly.
Nope, nothing. No idea.
So, he gave up on the panel and looked toward the one person who could make real sense of it.
Teyla was fussing with the scientist, nodding to his whining as she worked to replace the bandage at his head.
“And it really hurts,” Rodney complained. “Like someone’s driving a screwdriver right into my head. And I ache all over. I don’t think there’s one inch on my body that isn’t bruised or scraped or broken in some way. I swear to God, I have some dead guy’s teeth imbedded in my thigh right now because it hurts like…”
“Rodney,” Sheppard called.
“What were all those bones doing on me?” Rodney asked, his voice pathetic and small.
“Rodney…” Sheppard tried.
Rodney glared at him, “I’m hurt and could barely move and you buried me in bones! How the hell is that a fair thing to do to a man? You guys seriously suck!” He touched his head and grimaced.
He was right. They had buried him. It sucked. But it had to be done.
The man looked awful, even after Teyla had replaced the first bandage. Drying blood filled in the lines on his pale face, making him look haggard and old.
“Rodney, we need your help with something,” Sheppard continued, trying to get him onto a different track. “If you can figure out the purpose of this room, we’ll probably be able to find a way out.”
Rodney blinked and then said, “Oh.” And then, “How did we get here? Last thing I remember was… well besides the horrible internment under ten feet of bones…”
“There wasn’t ten feet of bones on you, Rodney,” Sheppard grumbled. “I don’t think the whole room had ten feet of them. Well, maybe…”
“And we opened the door,” Teyla filled in.
“I opened it,” Ronon added, shoving a thumb at his chest.
Rodney turned to the doorway that was still blocked with far too many human bones. “Right,” he said.
“And we ended up here,” Sheppard added, looking about in the area. The new room was several times larger than the previous room. It had one door that opened back to the bone room - that was it. “So, Rodney, do your magic. Conjure us a way out.”
Rodney looked up at him, gave a measured nod, and slowly tried to stand.
Ronon gave Sheppard a pat and came alongside Rodney. He helped Teyla get the physicist to his feet. They did it with little trouble. McKay was shaky, but apparently capable of standing.
Ronon stayed at his side as the Canadian hobbled and finally reached one of the workspaces. “Huh,” McKay muttered and punched a button. The display came to life, flashing symbols and colors in kaleidoscope.
“What is it?” Sheppard asked.
“Hang on. Hang on,” McKay mumbled. “I may have seen something like this before in the database.” The speed of the scrolling symbols increased as he touched controls, and Rodney’s eyes narrowed, watching them go.
Ronon and Teyla exchanged glances with Sheppard, and waited as Rodney examined the information.
“Anything?” Sheppard asked.
“This might take a while,” Rodney growled.
“How long?”
“Give me a minute, would you? My head feels like it’s going to explode and I really don’t need the extra pressure right now.”
“60 seconds,” Sheppard said, checking his watch. “You got it.”
Rodney jutted out his chin, but said nothing as he kept working.
With nothing else to do, Sheppard wandered around the room and toward the bone room. It was still partially full, and now darkened. They’d lost the P90s and the lights that went with them. The room, apparently, had no light of its own.
He wondered if the ants were still marching down the wall. Of course they are. He glanced about the dark space, looking for movement, wondering how long it would take for the insidious insects to figure out where the humans had gone.
It was only a matter of time and the tiny sons of bitches would be in here. His skin crawled at the thought of it.
“Huh,” Rodney said again.
Sheppard checked his watch. “63 seconds. You’re slipping.”
“Bite me,” Rodney growled.
“Did you figure it out?” Sheppard asked.
To that, Rodney smiled, looking smug as hell.
“Well, what is it?” Ronon growled.
Rodney pointed to the display. “This system is concerned with a mining operation,” he responded. “I already surmised that the tunnels were dug for this purpose, but now I think I know why.”
“Well?” Sheppard said tiredly, not up to Rodney’s usual slow reveal.
Rodney pointed to the display. “The symbol for ‘crystal’ is all through this system.”
“What kind of crystal?” Teyla asked as she drew near the scientist.
“Not certain yet, but they certainly mined a lot of it.” He shook his head a little in frustration and immediately stopped as a hand shot up to cradle his wounded forehead. “Oh…” he said quietly, and he pressed his weight against the console.
“Rodney?” Sheppard called, concerned.
“It’s… important stuff,” Rodney said. “I just haven’t discovered why they wanted it so badly.”
“But you will,” Sheppard went on. He checked his watch. “Another 63 seconds?”
Rodney frowned. “I already have an idea. I just need to see what else is here. It’s not easy to get through all of this without a laptop interface.” And he pushed himself from the console and shambled to the far side of the room to a little raised podium. Ronon stayed with him.
Sheppard watched with raised eyebrows. “Well?” he asked when Rodney arrived. “What’s that one for?”
“If you’d just let me look, I might have a chance of answering.” And Rodney bowed his head as he examined the device. Then, with another, “Huh,” he glanced toward the bone room. “I think that’s a transporter control.”
Sheppard looked to the other room. “For that?” he asked. “Bones?”
“The mining operation must have used the chute to move rock from the quarry. They dumped it all down here, and then it was transported up and out of the shaft,” Rodney said.
“The Ellikans came later and used the emptied mines as a catacomb, and took the stones to build the city,” Teyla completed.
“And used the transporter for a trash heap,” Sheppard added. “The Ancestors kept the crystals.”
“Exactly!” Rodney replied. “And, it’s a good thing that they took it with them. From what it said in the database, that crystal was highly unstable.”
“How unstable?” Sheppard asked.
“Like big BOOM unstable,” Rodney said, and seemed to regret the exclamation instantly as he gasped, grimaced and rubbed at his head again.
Teyla watched him sympathetically as she said, “That might also explain the heavy doors at the entrance to the mine. The blast doors were meant to contain any explosions during the mining process. The mine would have been completely sealed during operations. The transporter, on another level, would have been the only way out.”
Sheppard frowned. “Okay, so they were dealing with extremely volatile stuff. What’s your idea on the use of the crystals?”
“Maybe, just maybe, they were mining a crystal needed for constructing ZPMs,” Rodney responded, swallowing and closing his eyes. He hardly seemed to notice that Ronon was directly beside him, making certain that he didn’t fall.
Teyla made her way around the room to stand near Rodney. “Do you believe that a ZPM still exists on this planet?” she asked. “It wasn’t just a ruse?”
Rodney lifted his head just enough to look at her. “There’s a good chance. The natives know what one looks like, and there has to be a power source just to run this room and the transporter. It’s probably even active. Above ground, I’d think, because, well, they’ve seen it. The minerals in these rocks would certainly hide it if it’s in any of those buildings.”
“Right,” Sheppard gazed at the bone room and said, “And because this system has power, maybe we can use the transporter to get out of here.”
“Probably,” McKay responded. “We’ll clean out the transporter room a little. We need to be able to close that door to use it.”
“Yeah, gotcha.” Sheppard said. “Clean out the bone room.” Or, at least clear out the doorway so that it could fully close - it was currently awash in the discarded bones. He wasn’t looking forward to that task. Bending over would be murder on his clavicle.
Of course, Ronon could probably get it done in two minutes - so no worries.
John pulled a glowstick from his vest pocket, and broke it. Instantly, it let off a sickly greenish light. He tossed the rod into the room to let it do its job and illuminate the space.
The bones seemed to vibrate, to twitch, to move. They seemed to be covered in tiny hairs that fluttered. He hissed as he back-stepped, stumbling a little to get out of the way as the ants came in at him.
OooOoOooooOoOoOo
“Shut the door!” Sheppard shouted. “Shut the door, Rodney!” He stomped on the little things, feeling the painful vibration through his chest, but the army kept approaching. A little gut churning agony wasn’t going to stop him from murdering them. “Shut it!”
“It won’t!’ Rodney insisted. “The door’s blocked! Look at all the bones in the way!”
“Rodney! Now!” Sheppard yelled.
“Do it!” Ronon insisted.
“There’s too much debris!” McKay continued, “I’ll probably break the mechanism and then we’d never be able to get out.” But then he got a good look at all the ants waiting just beyond the doorway. “Oh God, there must be thousands of them in there!” he moaned.
“Close the damn door, Rodney!” Sheppard shouted, trying not to shriek, trying not to see what Rodney had just witnessed. He couldn’t help himself. He looked up. Thousands! Good God! “Now!”
Rodney slammed a hand on the control, and the door whisked down, smashing into the layer of bones and they went flying. With a hiss of pain, Sheppard twisted away from the shrapnel and flying carrion-eating ants. Everyone ducked.
Balls!
Bits and pieces clattered to the floor, impacting the control panels, smashing against the walls and bombarding the inhabitants.
The force of the closing door was enough to seal it shut, and the bone room was closed off, but they were locked in with a couple regiments of the horrible ant-like jiats.
“Good ol’ Ancient technology,” McKay said with a sigh as he stared proudly at the shut door. “It takes a lickin’.”
Sheppard held his arm, trying to keep the ache from consuming him as he smashed at the ants. Teyla joined him, smooshing whole platoons. Ronon brushed some stray jiats off of the scientist. Then, he joined Sheppard to dispatch as many of the insects as possible.
Rodney was staring at the transporter console - either studying it intently, or drifting. He looked about ready to drop.
“Rodney?” Sheppard called as he continued with the massacre. When the scientist didn’t immediately answer, Sheppard tried again, “Rodney?”
“What?” Rodney answered, his voice dripping with annoyance.
“Just checking,” Sheppard replied, smashing as many of the bastards as possible while trying not to pass out from pain each stomp caused.
Then, after a moment, John stated, “I take it that our only way out of here is through that room.”
“Looks that way,” Rodney said with a sigh.
“That ant-filled room,” Sheppard went on.
“Yes,” Rodney snapped.
“And you’re working on a way of transporting them out of there so that we can have a crack at it?” Shepard continued. His collar ached as he continued to slaughter the ants. Some of them had crawled onto his pant leg, and his stomach rolled as he bent to slap them off. Teyla leaned in to help him.
One got in under his pant leg and the rat bastard bit him. Sheppard almost went insane, trying to get at it without killing himself. It was Ronon who steadied him while Teyla did lifted the pant leg and swiped the biting jiat away.
Sheppard hated ants. He really really hated ants. All those years of burning them with a magnifying glass, drowning their hills with a garden hose and exposing them to sweet-horrible, amber-like death in the recreation of the Boston Molasses Flood were coming back to haunt him.
He hated ants.
Sheppard didn’t immediately notice that Rodney hadn’t answered. Once he was fairly sure that he didn’t have any more ants in his pants, Sheppard looked toward the scientist. The bandage at his head was red with blood again. He had new wounds visible on his face from the barrage of flying bones, and he swayed as if barely able to stay on his feet.
“McKay?” John prompted.
“There’s a problem,” Rodney responded. “We can’t just transport all of these ants to the surface. They belong underground, and the transporter would send them to the middle of that town. They looked pretty ravenous. I mean, if they followed us down here, they’re desperate. If we unleash these creatures on the surface, they’ll go after the townspeople.”
“The townspeople are the ones that locked us down here with them,” Ronon reminded. “I got no problems.”
Rodney looked miffed. “And we’re going to have to get out using the same escape route. Did you see how many ants were in that room? Even if we transport them and then wait a while, there’s no telling if those horrifying things will have dispersed. The other end of the transporter is probably a room similar to this one. Looks like it’s a bit bigger, but it’s an enclosed room. We’ll end up inside a giant ball of angry, flesh-eating ants. If you’re okay with that idea, I certainly am not!”
“He’s got a point,” Ronon admitted.
“Yeah,” Sheppard grumbled as he continued to smash the ants, grinding them into paste.
“There’s probably millions of them in there now, and still pouring in through that chute. I bet we’re the first good meal they’ve seen in a long time!” McKay went on.
“Well, can you shut down the chute at least?” Sheppard asked, because certainly, if that room was a transporter, it had to be sealed at some point.
“Oh yeah,” Rodney replied and pushed a button on the podium. There was a quiet sound in the room beyond them, and apparently the room was sealed off. “No more ants getting in. But, of course, none of them can get out of there now,” Rodney pointed out.
Yeah, whatever, thought John. Just as long as no more can come in here.
The worst of the intrusion into the control room seemed to be over. The remaining ants had high-tailed it to whatever crack or crease was available. John was left swatting at his clothing, trying to rid himself of the unpleasant sensation that hundreds of the creatures were crawling all over him.
Seriously, he did not want to end up transported into a room full of those sons of bitches.
But would that even happen? “Hang on,” Sheppard stated. “It can’t transport us into the same place as the ants, can it? If the ants and the bones are still in place in the room at the other side, it won’t initiate.”
Rodney gave him a disgusted look. “I’ve run extensive tests on our system, and as long as the new arrivals can fit in room at the other end, multiple transportations can occur. A person who remains in the other transporter room sees pretty much what happens when we use the Daedalus transporters, just in close quarters.”
“That can’t be good for a person…” Sheppard muttered, “…to be right in the middle of a little transporter room when someone new transports in.”
“Well, it’s not as if I tested it on myself.” Rodney sighed. “But, it works. There’s a failsafe that kicks in when the room becomes too full.”
Sheppard admitted, “Good thing that hasn’t happened when I use the transporters, because I know I wouldn’t want to be jammed up with someone in there.
McKay lifted a hand and let it drop quickly, as if he was afraid to let loose his hold on the podium. “Why do we think I sent out all those emails? ‘Remove your gear and immediately step clear of the transporter once you have arrived at your destination’. Don’t you ever read my messages?”
Sheppard shrugged a little, and gasped at the pain. Okay, this seriously sucks!
“Can you open the doors on the other end after you transport the jiats and the bones?” Ronon asked. “The bugs will leave.”
“Yes, I can open doors,” Rodney said tiredly. “But who’s to say how many of those things will actually leave? And I’ll have to seal those doors again on both ends for our transporting, trapping the remainder of the ants to wait for our arrival - angry, hungry ants.”
“And do we really want to send these insects into the town?” Teyla reminded quietly.
Sheppard sighed, remembering the children, remembering the poverty. Clarifor, Gaispare and the other officials had been the ones who led them to the trap. But the rest of the townspeople… did they deserve that?
“Can you just transport the air out of the room?” John asked. “You know, suffocate those things? Then we’d be transporting only dead ants. Not a problem, right?”
Rodney shook his head slightly. “I don’t think I can do that. It’s all or nothing.” His forehead puckered and he rubbed at it again, fretfully.
“Great.” Sheppard hugged his arm to his chest to keep the weight off his clavicle. He muttered, “There has to be another way, Rodney.”
McKay said nothing, just staring at the transporter’s controls. “Yeah,” he said and looked disconsolate as he stared, “I just can’t think of anything.”
“We cannot give up hope,” Teyla said.
“Yeah, you’ll think of something,” Ronon said.
“There’s always another way.” McKay remained still for a moment before a smile crept across his face as he said, “Just like there’s always a buffer.”
That got Teyla’s attention. “We can dematerialize the bones and ants, but not allow them to rematerialize on the other end?” she asked.
Rodney didn’t really nod, he just tipped his head a little. “The buffer is huge. It’s designed for transporting a room full of rock to the surface. If I can partition the buffer, we can use part of it to hold the stuff that’s in the room right now. Then, I use the other part of the buffer for transporting us.”
“Sounds tricky,” Sheppard said.
“Well yes, if done incorrectly, we could all be turned into horrible, multi-limbed ant hybrids with some sort of weird dried-up bone protrusions,” McKay commented, his hands already working the controls. “That would really ruin your day.”
“You’re kidding,” Sheppard tried.
“I’ve got the mother of all headaches already,” Rodney complained. “I really don’t want to find out what adding another creature’s DNA would to for it.”
“Great,” Sheppard grumbled. “Maybe it would be better to just send the ants into town.”
“Don’t worry. It’ll be easy,” Rodney said. “Well, relatively easy.” He hunched his shoulders as he worked, as if it was an effort to keep his head up. He took a deep breath before stating, “Without the interface, it’s a hell of a lot harder. For anyone else, it would be nearly impossible.”
“Good to know,” Sheppard responded, watching him carefully. “You think you’ll be done soon?”
Rodney pressed his lips together and then said, “I’ll get it.” He continued to press keys. Various screens lit up, characters scrolled, but his movements were slowing, and McKay blinked languidly as he stared at the displays.
Ronon was beside him again, keeping one arm ready as the scientist slumped. Rodney kept pausing, closing his eyes tightly for a moment, and them forcing them open. It was obviously an effort for him as he resumed keying in information.
Dex exchanged a worried glance with Sheppard, but let Rodney do his work. McKay kept accessing the various systems, making a change here or there. Sheppard glanced at his watch. It was taking longer than 63 seconds this time.
After a few more minutes, McKay spoke, “There, there we go. I think I got it. I truly am amazing.”
“You truly are something, McKay,” Sheppard responded, not wanting Rodney’s head to swell any further.
“Well, yes. No time like the present to try it, right?” And he gave the others a little grin. He threw the control. There was a hum. A light over the door illuminated for a moment and then went dim. Rodney continued, “They’re in the buffer now - bones and bugs together. Not that ants are bugs exactly, but you get my drift -- not ‘true bugs’ at least. They’re most closely related to wasps. Of course, these aren’t really ants so I can’t say for certain what they’re related to.”
“I got it, Rodney,” Sheppard responded. “So we can transport now?”
“I’m just saying that I don’t know the classifications of all the flora and fauna in this galaxy,” McKay kept talking, his voice now, with hardly any strength behind it.
“Rodney!” Sheppard barked. “Can we go?”
Rodney tapped a button and the door opened. Sheppard cringed a little, but was pleased to find the ‘bone room’ empty. Not even the dust remained.
“Great!” Sheppard exclaimed. “Now, get us the hell out of here.”
Rodney hadn’t even lifted his head to check the room. He kept working, typing with one hand, the other was locked to the podium to keep himself upright. His eyes were barely open. “In less able hands than mine… this would not have been feasible. I… am incredible.”
“If you say so,” Sheppard replied.
He kept keying commands, but the movements were even slower now. His usually expressive face was a tight mask, as if he was putting every ounce of strength into continuing his work.
Ronon stayed near and Teyla hovered over his shoulder, watching. Sheppard kept out of the way, holding his arm to keep the weight off his collarbone.
“You done yet?” Sheppard asked.
“Just about,” Rodney answered, his voice airy.
Sheppard tried not to look concerned when the scientist paused, drawing his hand back from the keyboard and looking suddenly lost. “Rodney?” Sheppard called.
Rodney raised his head slowly and looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time. When he saw Sheppard, his expression crumbled a little. “I just…” he started to say, but his voice trailed off and he started to slide.
“Rodney?” Sheppard called again, bolting toward Rodney and gasping in pain.
“Gotcha,” Ronon proclaimed, easily catching Rodney’s weight.
McKay lifted his head a moment and he seemed to focus on Ronon for a moment, but his eyes rolled back and he went limp.
OooOoOooooOoOoOo
Dex lowered Rodney carefully.
“How is he?” Sheppard asked urgently as Teyla swept clear a space.
Ronon kept a hand around the back of Rodney’s head as he settled him on the floor. “He looks bad.”
That was an understatement. Rodney’s face had lost all color, his skin was clammy and, when Sheppard felt for a pulse, he found it was racing.
They had to get out of here. They had to get out of here now!
And Rodney had just messed with the buffers. Was the work done? Could they even use the transporter? Would they be turned into horrible Man-ants if they tried to use the thing? Skeletants? Mants?
“Teyla?” Sheppard looked to the Athosian who immediately stepped to the podium and started checking what Rodney had already completed.
Her expression was grave, as she said, “I am unsure if the work was complete. I don’t know if it is safe.”
But Rodney was breathing raggedly now, and they sure as hell didn’t have much time left.
“We’re going for it,” Sheppard declared. “Ronon, do you think you can …” He didn’t need to complete the request; Ronon was already hefting Rodney up.
The Satedan quickly carried Rodney into the other room in his arms-carrying him like a child. Once within the room, Ronon settled him on the ground again, but ready to lift him again if necessary.
“Teyla,” Sheppard asked. “Can you activate it on a time delay so you can get into the room?”
“I don’t know,” she said, biting her lip as she examined the controls. Then, with a resolved tone, said, “I will remain here while you bring Rodney to Atlantis. You can retrieve me when…”
“It looks like there might be controls in here,” Ronon said from the next room. He pointed.
Sheppard and Teyla immediately joined him, and John smiled a little, seeing a cover on the wall. It had been too low to see when the room was filled with bones. He touched it and the protective top opened to display a new set of controls.
It looked easy enough to operate. “Let’s just hope that Rodney’s little scheme with the partitioned buffer works.” Sheppard glanced to Rodney. Ronon held him partially upright, ready to move at a moment’s notice.
“I believe that it will work,” Teyla stated resolutely.
“We better not end up with feelers on my head when we reach the other end,” Sheppard muttered. “I kinda like my hair the way it is right now. Let’s go.” And he activated the control.
OooOoOooooOoOoOo
Sheppard waited in the infirmary, running one hand through his hair, glad to know that there would be no antennas growing there. He’d seen “The Fly” once too often.
He was a little alarmed at how many ants he’d already pulled from his hair (and promptly smashed). A dozen or so of the little bastards had taken the trip with him through the transporter - a journey that started at ‘the bone room’ and ended up in the fanciest restaurant in town.
It was a surprise to dematerialize in a simple room, and rematerialize in a larger, elegant one, on top of a table filled with plates and glasses and serving dishes. Food went flying. People yelped and jumped to their feet. Chairs were overturned. A wall hanging was torn. Some patrons screamed in shock. A waiter fainted.
Sheppard stumbled over a tureen of some sort, planted one foot on top of a pile of pastries and then tipped a table. Teyla knocked over a potted plant, dumping it into what looked like a plate of ravioli. Ronon, looking completely unfazed, dutifully picked up Rodney and headed toward an exit.
Sheppard and Teyla were right at his heels.
The upper transporter room must have been declared the ‘nicest building in town’ at some point, and an entrepreneur had moved in to take advantage of its beauty and excellent location, converting it into a gilded dining room, all decorated with velvets and rich decorations.
The town suffered great poverty, but there was always a well-heeled contingent that needed a special place to eat.
Sheppard was almost sorry he hadn’t sent in the ants first.
They ran from the place and into the street, finding townspeople staring at them in amazement - big-eyed with strangely wide smiles. The people surged forward, trying to get near them, trying to touch them.
But Sheppard had no time for that. He commandeered a rag-filled ‘ox’ cart, and Ronon carefully settled Rodney into the back.
Rodney was failing, and their only hope was to get back to Atlantis as soon as possible.
Teyla took the reins and they charged through town - sending people hopping. They knocked over a few vendor stands, and one lady in a fine gown swore like a sailor as she jumped out of the way.
Sheppard ground his teeth the whole way as he desperately tried to keep his collarbone from jarring, hoping that he didn’t end up puking on anyone.
Much of the town followed them - more joining all the time, running to keep up. Sheppard could have sworn they were having a great time. The people waved, and seemed to dance and sing - but it could have been the pain clouding his reason.
“Hang in there, Rodney,” Sheppard said, because he needed to say something to keep from passing out. “We’ll be home soon.”
Teyla expertly guided them, and the vehicle reached the Gate within minutes. They activated the wormhole. And, as the crowd roared, they stepped through the event horizon and were home.
That was hours ago.
One of Keller’s people had taken John aside when they reached the infirmary. His scrapes and cuts were treated. X-rays were taken. He was given a pair of pills for the pain and a sling to keep one arm in place to allow his abused clavicle some rest.
Rodney had been nearby during the beginning of Sheppard’s treatment. John had listened as hushed voices had spoken of ‘swelling’ inside his head, and Sheppard recalled the skulls lined up with the crypts.
And then there was talk of surgery, and Rodney was whisked away.
And John waited. It still felt like ants crawled on him, even after a fairly thorough examination for them. It felt as if their little legs kept ticking him, taunting him, but that could have been the drugs.
He waited. Keller returned and told him that the surgery went well, and that it was only a matter of time before they knew whether or not Rodney would awaken.
“He might not?” Sheppard had asked, alarmed.
And Keller had tried to look sure, pasting on a pleasant expression as she said, “There’s always a danger in these sorts of injuries. We’ll just have to wait and hope.”
They brought McKay back to the room, and set him up in one of the beds.
And Keller invited Sheppard to spend the night in the infirmary. “You’ll probably be more comfortable,” she’d said amicably. “You can keep your bed tilted up. It will help with the ol’ clavicle. I can put you in the bed next to Rodney if you want.”
So he stayed, and Keller ordered dinner. They ate together. She was unusually quiet and he didn’t feel like talking. And eventually she stood, saying that she research to complete.
God, what a day. What a horrible, crappy day!
Woolsey arrived for a debriefing, but didn’t seem too interested in all details. “We’ll deal with that later,” he declared, and then asked, “Did you really materialize in the middle of a fancy dinner party?” He seemed delighted with the details of their landing and the reactions of the people.
Teyla and Ronon showed up after dinner, but were eventually sent to their rooms for rest. They needed it. They deserved it. And yet, they were reluctant to go.
Zelenka came through, asking questions about the mining facility and wanting particulars about the crystal that had been quarried at that site. Sheppard had little information to offer, but he gave Radek some of the pebbles that had ended up in his boots.
Radek stayed longer than he needed, watching his boss throughout the discussion. He eventually left as Rodney continued to sleep.
It was boring to watch McKay sleep, but Sheppard kept waiting. Rodney’s head was bandaged, and his face was dotted with cuts, and some nasty looking bruises showed on his arms.
Sheppard figured he didn’t look pretty himself at the moment. He wasn’t going to ask for a mirror any time soon.
All evening long, Keller came by to check on her patient, often holding Rodney’s hand and speaking quietly to him. Sheppard would try to look interested in reading reports on his laptop when she was there.
Reports were dull. And when he got bored, John felt ants on his legs again and he swatted at them violently, getting a look from Keller.
She tried to be upbeat. She tried to look hopeful. But there was a sorrow that clung to her, a regret that filled her movements.
“He’s going to be okay,” Sheppard told her, and she smiled at that.
“That’s what I’m supposed to say,” she told him.
“He’s got the best doctor he can have.”
And there was gratitude in her eyes.
He had to just keep hoping for the best.
He was tired of that - tired of things being out of his control. It sucked.
It was a long night.
Keller came by with a couple more pills as the night dragged on. He tried to watch a movie on his laptop, but without really meaning to, he fell asleep in the middle of a big car chase.
First time ever.
“Did he wake up?”
Huh? Sheppard winced as he opened his eyes. Daylight shone in through the windows - bright daylight. He’d slept through the night and part of the day.
“Hey,” Sheppard replied groggily, turning toward the Satedan.
“He wake up at all?” Ronon repeated the question as he sat down on the other bed.
“Don’t think so,” Sheppard responded, turning toward McKay and seeing that his position hadn’t changed.
Ronon looked unhappy. “Zelenka’s been waiting to talk to him. Keeps coming in whenever I’m here.”
“Crystals,” Sheppard muttered, rubbing his face and wanting a shower desperately. “He wanted to know more about the crystals. I didn’t have anything to tell him.”
“He got those rock samples,” Ronon said. “Checked them out. They were radioactive.”
Sheppard sighed. “Figures.”
“Not enough to kill us,” Ronon added.
“Good to know.” And John asked, “Was Radek able to figure out if any of that material was used to make ZPMs?”
“Yeah, he thinks so -- and he seemed pretty excited.”
Sheppard laughed a little. “And itching to geek-out with McKay about it,” he surmised, glancing to McKay again, who was entirely too still. After a moment he added, “The Ancients probably mined it all already. That’s too bad.”
Ronon shrugged. “Just having some crystals wouldn’t have done us much good anyway. There’s more to the ZPMs than just that.”
“I guess we can still go back and look for the power source -- that is, if the Ellikans will let us. What was their problem anyway?” Sheppard asked, frowning in memory. “What kind of a person locks prisoners in a vault just to let them die?”
It was Teyla that responded as she approached the beds. “They had found copies of the ‘wanted posters’ that the Genii had produced.” She settled a lunch tray in front of John.
Lunch?, Sheppard thought, I slept in past noon? Ronon grabbed the chocolate chip cookie before Sheppard could move.
John scowled at the Satedan. And then, Teyla’s words sunk in. “You’re kidding me? Those Genii wanted posters are still out there? It’s been years!”
“Apparently they are still circulating,” Teyla said with a sympathetic expression. “I have heard from my sources that the Ellikans had been making inquiries about whether the prize is still available. It is rather unfortunate that we didn’t know about this earlier.”
“That’s a good word for it,” Sheppard grumbled. He poked angrily at his fruit cup. It had too many maraschino cherries in it. He hated it when all of the other fruits got coated with the red dye. Ronon resolved the problem for him by taking the cup off his hands. “So, they locked us up just so that they could get a reward?”
Teyla told him, “The upper caste of Ellik believed they could gain some favor by detaining us.”
Ronon downed the contents of the fruit cup on one gulp, then said, “Guess they were planning on opening the doors to that temple eventually to let us out.”
“If the Genii ever showed up for the hand off,” Sheppard responded, wondering if their alliance would have held.
Teyla went on, “We appeared in a flash of light at the House of Special Favors. It was taken as a sign by the lower caste. They now believe that we were one with the Ancestors.”
“The House of Special Favors?” Sheppard echoed.
“It was the name of the restaurant,” Ronon told him.
“It sounds like a Chinese Restaurant,” Sheppard remarked. “Or a whore house, for that matter.”
“They’re changing the name to the House of Good Signs because of us.” Ronon said, settling the empty cup on Sheppard’s tray. “Still a crappy name, but better than the first one.”
“We were a good sign?” Sheppard asked. “There’s a first time for everything, I guess.”
Teyla moved slowly around the room to stand near Rodney’s bed. “The townspeople of Ellik were quite amazed with us. They have legends of people who appeared mysteriously at that site.”
“Huh,” Sheppard responded, picking up the sandwich that Teyla had procured for him. “Probably some hold-over from when the Ancients used it.”
Teyla continued, saying, “Our appearance brought them great joy. They believe that prosperity will return to their land.”
“That’s nice for a change,” Sheppard replied, taking a bite. He chewed a moment, then said, “Usually, by the time we leave, we’re getting the pitchfork and torches treatment.”
“They believe that we are deities,” Teyla told him, and then with a wistful expression, added, “I suppose it is because they desperately needed something to believe in.”
“When you live in that sort of place, people hope for anything,” Ronon said and chuckled a little. “The animal we borrowed was paraded round the town as a sacred beast. Never going to have to pull a cart again - unless we show up.”
Sheppard raised his head from his turkey and swiss and asked, “So… do you think they’d be amenable to our return? I mean, we can bring them supplies, food, things that they can really use. Maybe this time they’d be willing to show us the ZPM if they actually have it?”
“It is possible,” Teyla replied. “I believe the lower caste will be more than willing to help us. The upper caste hold some of the same beliefs.” She turned to Sheppard and stated, “But we cannot allow the Ellikans to believe that we are gods. That would be wrong.” She spoke with finality.
“Okay,” Sheppard said. “But if they want to show us a little respect and NOT throw us down a hole, I’m not going to argue.”
For a moment, they said nothing as Sheppard enjoyed his sandwich, Ronon took his fries, and Teyla stood beside Rodney’s bed, watching him.
“He’s doing better?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Sheppard responded. “I don’t think there’s been any change.”
She continued to watch Rodney.
“Give him a little time. He’ll be back to annoying us all in no time,” Sheppard said.
“It is what he does best,” Teyla said, with affection.
“Yeah,” Ronon said, scarfing down the last of John’s French fries. “We kinda like it that way.”
“We just have to hope he gets better soon. It won’t be long and we’ll be going back to take a ride on an ox cart,” Sheppard said. “We’ll bring toys for the kids this time. Maybe help the parents find a way of making a living.”
“It will be nice to make a difference for these people,” Teyla added.
The free food gone, Ronon stood and stated, “I’m heading to the mess. You want anything?”
Sheppard sighed, regarding his empty plate and thinking about the thing that he really wanted at that moment. “No. I’m going to my room in a bit. I need a shower.” He ran his free hand over his sling. “It’s not going to be fun, but it will have to be done. Of course, it would be easier if I had a room with a big tub in it.” He glared at Rodney, but the tight expression fell as he watched his friend.
“You should get some more sleep, John,” Teyla told him. “You look tired.”
“It’s been a crappy couple of days,” Sheppard responded.
They all agreed.
“Ronon, I will go with you,” Teyla said as she came alongside the Satedan. “They are serving ice cream sandwiches.”
Ronon smiled widely at that statement, and Sheppard complained, “Hey, why didn’t you bring me one?”
Teyla paused, then said, “It would have melted.”
“It would have been fine,” Sheppard didn’t mean to whine, but there was a petulant tone to his comment. “And they’re best when they are a little on the melted side.”
“Ronon would have taken it from you and eaten it,” Teyla told him.
“I could have taken him,” Sheppard insisted.
“No,” Ronon said with a laugh, and turned toward the door.
Teyla remained a moment longer, saying, “I will return with one for you,” and then she added, looking toward Rodney. “I’ll bring two.” And, with that, they left.
And Sheppard remained. It didn’t feel right to leave while no one was with Rodney. Keller would be back soon, so he pulled out his laptop and decided to work on those damn reports again.
They had to get done.
Reports were boring.
“Sheppard?”
Okay, so he started to fall asleep again.
“Colonel?”
He’d been through a couple of hellish days, and Keller had put him on some pain meds. It wasn’t surprising that he had trouble staying awake.
“John?”
And he blinked, turning his head slightly to see the other bed and found blue eyes peering sleepily at him from the next bed.
“Hey,” Sheppard said softly.
“What happened?” Rodney asked quietly. He looked barely awake.
Sheppard smiled, relieved. “Where do you want me to start? The planet of filth? The ZPM temple with the fake ZPM? The catacombs? The skulls? The mine? The ants? The slide from hell? The bone room? The crystals? The transporter? The buffer? The restaurant mayhem? The ox cart? The scene out of some Bollywood musical? Ice cream sandwiches?”
Rodney looked as if he wanted to frown, but his face just wasn’t up to the task. “Bollywood…?” his voice trailed.
“Yeah,” Sheppard said. “Not my idea of a fun vacation.”
“Have you even seen a Bollywood movie?”
“No,” Sheppard admitted.
“Then you don’t know what you’re talking about,” McKay went on, his voice never rising above a whisper.
“True, but it sounded good, didn’t it? And those natives were pretty darn happy with us when we left. I swear, they were dancing in the street.”
“You’re making this up.”
“I’m not.”
“I don’t remember it,” Rodney said, discontentedly.
“You were out of it. You hit your head pretty hard.”
“It hurts.” Rodney raised a hand to touch his head.
“Leave it alone. Keller had to drill into your head again.”
“Oh,” McKay mumbled, and he let his hand drop. “No more… power tools. Never again. Can’t use me as your next… summer home improvement project.” And he smiled a little before saying, “I don’t need improvement.”
“So you say,” Sheppard responded, trying to sound annoyed, but unable to keep from grinning a little. “Anyway, it’s too late. Drilling’s already been done,” he explained. “You have to stop doing that, Rodney. Your brains should be kept on the inside.”
“It’s where they do their best work.”
“Yeah, oh, and not wanting to inflate your ego too far, but your idea about the buffer worked.”
McKay seemed to think for a moment before remembering, and then he looked satisfied. “I knew it would.”
“Well, it worked with Teyla’s help.”
That earned a frown before Rodney asked, “We got out? Everyone got out okay?”
“We’re all home,” Sheppard told him. “And we didn’t turn into Mants or unleash the hoards upon the town.”
“Ants? Are they still in the buffer?”
“Yeah, and that’s where they’re going to stay. Oh, we’re heroes in Ellik.”
“Heroes?” Rodney repeated the word quietly, contentedly.
“They’ll probably throw a parade for us next time we’re there. Can you imagine Ronon on a float, waving to the crowds? Maybe we’ll get him to throw beads.”
“Where is he?” Rodney asked, his words starting to slur together again.
“Teyla and Ronon went to get some lunch.”
“Ice cream sandwiches?”
“Teyla said she’d bring some back for us.”
Rodney smiled at that. He continued to watch Sheppard, but his gaze was getting unfocused.
John told him, “I’m sure Keller can put yours away somewhere here. She’s got to have cold storage, right? I mean, she has to, what with this being the infirmary and all.”
“Not with the corpses. ‘m tired of all the… dead people.”
“I think she has a regular refrigerator in here, Rodney.”
“Yeah… she does.” His voice was getting softer. “She likes frozen grapes.”
“Go to sleep, Rodney.”
And Rodney’s eyes shut as he drifted off again.
Sheppard smiled that McKay obeyed him without any guff. First time ever.
And suddenly, a horrible couple of days, began looking a hell of a lot better.
END
Author: nottasha
Genre: Action Adventure
Prompt Catacombs
Word Count: 18,500
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: The team is trapped on an alien world, and the only escape is through the catacombs.
Part 1
Sheppard watched Ronon, not sure of what to make of his activity, then he too saw the line on the wall. “Really?” he asked. “That’s a door?” And then he realized a fact. “If that’s the top of the door. Then there’s a hell of a lot of bones in here.”
“Yeah,” Ronon said, shoving the bones away. “Looks that way.” He pushed them into piles along the walls.
Sheppard moved to assist, but Teyla was already in his way. “You remain. Ronon and I will do the work.”
“It’s not that hard to do,” Sheppard grumbled, making a limited gesture. “I can move a bunch of bones.”
Her gaze took in his collar, and then met his eyes. “You can keep the bones from falling back into the area near the door.”
“That’s right,” he responded. “Give me the hard job.”
She smiled slightly at that response and moved to the other side of the door, settling her P90 nearby so that they could use the light. And then, she started shoving bones out of the way.
And she was right. Every time they dug out an armload, another armload of bones would fall back into its place. John did what he could to stop it, inserting his body in-between the newly created hill and the deepening hole.
The mound increased as Ronon and Teyla dug. Teyla worked with a grim expression. Ronon moved with surprising speed. They tossed the bones beyond Sheppard, and John tried to keep it all from falling back at them. It became harder to hold back the excess from a sitting position, so Sheppard stretched out, creating a wall. Ronon and Teyla tossed the displaced bones over him.
He felt a little like Grand Coulee.
“Sorry, Rodney,” Sheppard muttered as he pushed at the growing mound of dry bones, shoving them toward his insensible friend. “Not much we can do about it.”
Rodney would be safe at the far side of the room, but the mound was going to get high, and the room was small.
Bones clicked and clanked as they were hefted to the top of the pile. They ‘thunked’ as they hit something soft - Rodney.
“Hang in there, Rodney,” Sheppard said quietly. “Just keep still. We’re going to be out of here in a minute.” And yet with each toss of bone, he knew that Rodney was getting buried.
Sheppard glanced toward the dark chute opening and for a moment he saw tiny movement. He wished he could reach one of the P90s for light.
Ronon and Teyla kept digging. Now that more of the lines were revealed, there was no doubt that this was indeed a door. They only needed to get deep enough to reveal the opening mechanism. Sheppard hoped that the damn door wasn’t locked - and that it opened like all Ancient doors and didn’t swing inward.
There was something on the wall, moving like water, trailing down the walls.
It wasn’t water.
“Ronon, can you hurry it up?” Sheppard asked, watching the moving forms. They were spreading out.
Teyla had abandoned digging and was also playing the part of a wall. She stood near the door, holding back the bones to clear a space for Ronon to work. She glanced to the wall as well and then looked to Sheppard.
Her gaze held the answer to his question. Yeah, she saw them, too.
Crap! They were trapped in here. McKay was helpless and those flesh-eating ants were in with them. If those damn things got to Rodney before Ronon was done with this archeological expedition…
“Rodney, you okay back there?” John asked quietly. He fought to keep in place as the pitch of the slope and the weight of the accumulating bones tried to drag him down.
“Just a little more,” Ronon stated.
“Teyla, can you see him?” Sheppard asked anxiously, because he sure as hell couldn’t move.
She strained to stand up enough. “I cannot,” she stated. “There are too many bones now.”
“Those ants?” Sheppard asked.
“They are on the wall,” Teyla said confidently. “They are not near him.”
John remembered seeing a TV show where a man wore a beard of bees. He hoped jiats didn’t form into beards. And he closed his eyes tightly, trying to rid his mind of that image.
Ronon moved faster, sweeping his hand again through the bits of vertebrae and fractured tibias. The bones becoming more busted up the deeper he went. Something appeared - the shape of a control box. Dex grinned and shoved at the debris with all his might, using his body to block anything from falling back into place, fully exposing the device.
The ants were still on the wall, but they were getting closer. Lots of ants.
From behind him, Sheppard heard soft moan, and then a quiet, “Oh God…”
“Rodney?”
“Oh God… I’m… Oh…” There was the crinkle and clatter of bones being dislodged.
“Keep still!” Sheppard ordered, afraid to move a muscle, lest he allow the mountain to fall.
“Rodney!” Teyla called. “Do not move, Rodney.”
“Help! The bones are… they’re everywhere. I…” Panic edged his voice and suddenly, bones were flying about as Rodney fought to get clear of them. “Sheppard?”
“I’m right here, Rodney!” Sheppard tried to assure. “Keep still!” And to Ronon, he shouted, “Open it!”
Ronon tried to activate the door.
Nothing.
Freakin’ great!
“I’m buried!” Rodney cried pitifully. “Got to get out. Oh, God!”
“McKay! Stop it! Stop moving!” Sheppard commanded, but the mountain was slipping. John could feel the weight that Rodney had dislodged, piling up behind him. He tried to make himself bigger, to hold it all back, but - God it hurt! And Rodney was determined to get himself out from under everything. It was all coming down.
Teyla kept calling to Rodney, trying to quiet him, but Rodney wasn’t listening.
“Bridge!” Sheppard shouted at Ronon, who continued to furiously wave his hand at the control. “Try the bridge!”
Ronon was reaching for his blaster with one hand. Instead, he punched the control panel, dislodging the cover as he was pelted with falling bones. Cupping his arm around the exposed control panel to keep it clear, he pulled out the middle crystal in the group, moved the top one into its position, and then bridged them both with the first.
Light. The display lit up, and Ronon hurriedly activated the control. The half-uncovered door opened.
And then came the avalanche.
OooOoOooooOoOoOo
They rolled, falling with the wall of bones, turning and tumbling and clattering into the darkness. The light from the P90s was swallowed up in the avalanche.
Sheppard shouted in pain as his broken collarbone was cruelly yanked. Someone kicked him in the head - McKay, no doubt - and his ears rung.
And after a few seconds of falling and spinning and pain, everything came to a halt in the blackness as John landed on his back. He groaned.
Freakin’ great! Darkness again! Can’t we catch a break and get some light?
Then light - it came up slowly until the whole room was gloriously aglow. He blinked against it, and smiled to see familiar Ancient architecture surrounding them.
Thank God!
Sheppard looked about, quickly finding Ronon and Teyla. They were already on their feet in the mess of spilled bones. Teyla was moving, heading to McKay who was on his hands and knees, looking confused and panicky.
She touched the scientist softly on the shoulder as she crouched beside him. “Rodney, you are all right,” she insisted softly. “We are free of the room.”
“Bones…” Rodney said, his voice haunted. “There were bones everywhere. I… they were on me. I was buried. I…” His gaze strayed along the bones that covered the floor, and he jerked one hand away from them.
“You are free of it now,” Teyla insisted. She moved in front of him, trying to look him in the eyes. “You are no longer in there.”
His gaze finally met hers, his eyes still wide. And then he blinked and seemed to come to himself. “Yeah,” he said softly, and he winced as he reached to touch the loose and bloodied bandage. “Ow! My head!”
Teyla kicked a clear space on the floor, and helped to get McKay seated and somewhat comfortable.
Sheppard struggled to stand, clutching his arm to keep his collarbone still. Ronon was helping him before he was even aware that the Satedan had moved.
“Where are we?” Ronon asked.
And Sheppard, letting Teyla look after McKay, finally took the time to really examine the room. It was obviously Ancient design - with consoles and panels, buttons that lit up and screens that displayed letters and figures and colors.
To him, it was just pretty nonsense - but so much better than anything else they’d encountered so far. He moved closer to a console to examine it. Hopefully, it would help them get out of this hole in the ground. He stared at all of it blankly.
Nope, nothing. No idea.
So, he gave up on the panel and looked toward the one person who could make real sense of it.
Teyla was fussing with the scientist, nodding to his whining as she worked to replace the bandage at his head.
“And it really hurts,” Rodney complained. “Like someone’s driving a screwdriver right into my head. And I ache all over. I don’t think there’s one inch on my body that isn’t bruised or scraped or broken in some way. I swear to God, I have some dead guy’s teeth imbedded in my thigh right now because it hurts like…”
“Rodney,” Sheppard called.
“What were all those bones doing on me?” Rodney asked, his voice pathetic and small.
“Rodney…” Sheppard tried.
Rodney glared at him, “I’m hurt and could barely move and you buried me in bones! How the hell is that a fair thing to do to a man? You guys seriously suck!” He touched his head and grimaced.
He was right. They had buried him. It sucked. But it had to be done.
The man looked awful, even after Teyla had replaced the first bandage. Drying blood filled in the lines on his pale face, making him look haggard and old.
“Rodney, we need your help with something,” Sheppard continued, trying to get him onto a different track. “If you can figure out the purpose of this room, we’ll probably be able to find a way out.”
Rodney blinked and then said, “Oh.” And then, “How did we get here? Last thing I remember was… well besides the horrible internment under ten feet of bones…”
“There wasn’t ten feet of bones on you, Rodney,” Sheppard grumbled. “I don’t think the whole room had ten feet of them. Well, maybe…”
“And we opened the door,” Teyla filled in.
“I opened it,” Ronon added, shoving a thumb at his chest.
Rodney turned to the doorway that was still blocked with far too many human bones. “Right,” he said.
“And we ended up here,” Sheppard added, looking about in the area. The new room was several times larger than the previous room. It had one door that opened back to the bone room - that was it. “So, Rodney, do your magic. Conjure us a way out.”
Rodney looked up at him, gave a measured nod, and slowly tried to stand.
Ronon gave Sheppard a pat and came alongside Rodney. He helped Teyla get the physicist to his feet. They did it with little trouble. McKay was shaky, but apparently capable of standing.
Ronon stayed at his side as the Canadian hobbled and finally reached one of the workspaces. “Huh,” McKay muttered and punched a button. The display came to life, flashing symbols and colors in kaleidoscope.
“What is it?” Sheppard asked.
“Hang on. Hang on,” McKay mumbled. “I may have seen something like this before in the database.” The speed of the scrolling symbols increased as he touched controls, and Rodney’s eyes narrowed, watching them go.
Ronon and Teyla exchanged glances with Sheppard, and waited as Rodney examined the information.
“Anything?” Sheppard asked.
“This might take a while,” Rodney growled.
“How long?”
“Give me a minute, would you? My head feels like it’s going to explode and I really don’t need the extra pressure right now.”
“60 seconds,” Sheppard said, checking his watch. “You got it.”
Rodney jutted out his chin, but said nothing as he kept working.
With nothing else to do, Sheppard wandered around the room and toward the bone room. It was still partially full, and now darkened. They’d lost the P90s and the lights that went with them. The room, apparently, had no light of its own.
He wondered if the ants were still marching down the wall. Of course they are. He glanced about the dark space, looking for movement, wondering how long it would take for the insidious insects to figure out where the humans had gone.
It was only a matter of time and the tiny sons of bitches would be in here. His skin crawled at the thought of it.
“Huh,” Rodney said again.
Sheppard checked his watch. “63 seconds. You’re slipping.”
“Bite me,” Rodney growled.
“Did you figure it out?” Sheppard asked.
To that, Rodney smiled, looking smug as hell.
“Well, what is it?” Ronon growled.
Rodney pointed to the display. “This system is concerned with a mining operation,” he responded. “I already surmised that the tunnels were dug for this purpose, but now I think I know why.”
“Well?” Sheppard said tiredly, not up to Rodney’s usual slow reveal.
Rodney pointed to the display. “The symbol for ‘crystal’ is all through this system.”
“What kind of crystal?” Teyla asked as she drew near the scientist.
“Not certain yet, but they certainly mined a lot of it.” He shook his head a little in frustration and immediately stopped as a hand shot up to cradle his wounded forehead. “Oh…” he said quietly, and he pressed his weight against the console.
“Rodney?” Sheppard called, concerned.
“It’s… important stuff,” Rodney said. “I just haven’t discovered why they wanted it so badly.”
“But you will,” Sheppard went on. He checked his watch. “Another 63 seconds?”
Rodney frowned. “I already have an idea. I just need to see what else is here. It’s not easy to get through all of this without a laptop interface.” And he pushed himself from the console and shambled to the far side of the room to a little raised podium. Ronon stayed with him.
Sheppard watched with raised eyebrows. “Well?” he asked when Rodney arrived. “What’s that one for?”
“If you’d just let me look, I might have a chance of answering.” And Rodney bowed his head as he examined the device. Then, with another, “Huh,” he glanced toward the bone room. “I think that’s a transporter control.”
Sheppard looked to the other room. “For that?” he asked. “Bones?”
“The mining operation must have used the chute to move rock from the quarry. They dumped it all down here, and then it was transported up and out of the shaft,” Rodney said.
“The Ellikans came later and used the emptied mines as a catacomb, and took the stones to build the city,” Teyla completed.
“And used the transporter for a trash heap,” Sheppard added. “The Ancestors kept the crystals.”
“Exactly!” Rodney replied. “And, it’s a good thing that they took it with them. From what it said in the database, that crystal was highly unstable.”
“How unstable?” Sheppard asked.
“Like big BOOM unstable,” Rodney said, and seemed to regret the exclamation instantly as he gasped, grimaced and rubbed at his head again.
Teyla watched him sympathetically as she said, “That might also explain the heavy doors at the entrance to the mine. The blast doors were meant to contain any explosions during the mining process. The mine would have been completely sealed during operations. The transporter, on another level, would have been the only way out.”
Sheppard frowned. “Okay, so they were dealing with extremely volatile stuff. What’s your idea on the use of the crystals?”
“Maybe, just maybe, they were mining a crystal needed for constructing ZPMs,” Rodney responded, swallowing and closing his eyes. He hardly seemed to notice that Ronon was directly beside him, making certain that he didn’t fall.
Teyla made her way around the room to stand near Rodney. “Do you believe that a ZPM still exists on this planet?” she asked. “It wasn’t just a ruse?”
Rodney lifted his head just enough to look at her. “There’s a good chance. The natives know what one looks like, and there has to be a power source just to run this room and the transporter. It’s probably even active. Above ground, I’d think, because, well, they’ve seen it. The minerals in these rocks would certainly hide it if it’s in any of those buildings.”
“Right,” Sheppard gazed at the bone room and said, “And because this system has power, maybe we can use the transporter to get out of here.”
“Probably,” McKay responded. “We’ll clean out the transporter room a little. We need to be able to close that door to use it.”
“Yeah, gotcha.” Sheppard said. “Clean out the bone room.” Or, at least clear out the doorway so that it could fully close - it was currently awash in the discarded bones. He wasn’t looking forward to that task. Bending over would be murder on his clavicle.
Of course, Ronon could probably get it done in two minutes - so no worries.
John pulled a glowstick from his vest pocket, and broke it. Instantly, it let off a sickly greenish light. He tossed the rod into the room to let it do its job and illuminate the space.
The bones seemed to vibrate, to twitch, to move. They seemed to be covered in tiny hairs that fluttered. He hissed as he back-stepped, stumbling a little to get out of the way as the ants came in at him.
OooOoOooooOoOoOo
“Shut the door!” Sheppard shouted. “Shut the door, Rodney!” He stomped on the little things, feeling the painful vibration through his chest, but the army kept approaching. A little gut churning agony wasn’t going to stop him from murdering them. “Shut it!”
“It won’t!’ Rodney insisted. “The door’s blocked! Look at all the bones in the way!”
“Rodney! Now!” Sheppard yelled.
“Do it!” Ronon insisted.
“There’s too much debris!” McKay continued, “I’ll probably break the mechanism and then we’d never be able to get out.” But then he got a good look at all the ants waiting just beyond the doorway. “Oh God, there must be thousands of them in there!” he moaned.
“Close the damn door, Rodney!” Sheppard shouted, trying not to shriek, trying not to see what Rodney had just witnessed. He couldn’t help himself. He looked up. Thousands! Good God! “Now!”
Rodney slammed a hand on the control, and the door whisked down, smashing into the layer of bones and they went flying. With a hiss of pain, Sheppard twisted away from the shrapnel and flying carrion-eating ants. Everyone ducked.
Balls!
Bits and pieces clattered to the floor, impacting the control panels, smashing against the walls and bombarding the inhabitants.
The force of the closing door was enough to seal it shut, and the bone room was closed off, but they were locked in with a couple regiments of the horrible ant-like jiats.
“Good ol’ Ancient technology,” McKay said with a sigh as he stared proudly at the shut door. “It takes a lickin’.”
Sheppard held his arm, trying to keep the ache from consuming him as he smashed at the ants. Teyla joined him, smooshing whole platoons. Ronon brushed some stray jiats off of the scientist. Then, he joined Sheppard to dispatch as many of the insects as possible.
Rodney was staring at the transporter console - either studying it intently, or drifting. He looked about ready to drop.
“Rodney?” Sheppard called as he continued with the massacre. When the scientist didn’t immediately answer, Sheppard tried again, “Rodney?”
“What?” Rodney answered, his voice dripping with annoyance.
“Just checking,” Sheppard replied, smashing as many of the bastards as possible while trying not to pass out from pain each stomp caused.
Then, after a moment, John stated, “I take it that our only way out of here is through that room.”
“Looks that way,” Rodney said with a sigh.
“That ant-filled room,” Sheppard went on.
“Yes,” Rodney snapped.
“And you’re working on a way of transporting them out of there so that we can have a crack at it?” Shepard continued. His collar ached as he continued to slaughter the ants. Some of them had crawled onto his pant leg, and his stomach rolled as he bent to slap them off. Teyla leaned in to help him.
One got in under his pant leg and the rat bastard bit him. Sheppard almost went insane, trying to get at it without killing himself. It was Ronon who steadied him while Teyla did lifted the pant leg and swiped the biting jiat away.
Sheppard hated ants. He really really hated ants. All those years of burning them with a magnifying glass, drowning their hills with a garden hose and exposing them to sweet-horrible, amber-like death in the recreation of the Boston Molasses Flood were coming back to haunt him.
He hated ants.
Sheppard didn’t immediately notice that Rodney hadn’t answered. Once he was fairly sure that he didn’t have any more ants in his pants, Sheppard looked toward the scientist. The bandage at his head was red with blood again. He had new wounds visible on his face from the barrage of flying bones, and he swayed as if barely able to stay on his feet.
“McKay?” John prompted.
“There’s a problem,” Rodney responded. “We can’t just transport all of these ants to the surface. They belong underground, and the transporter would send them to the middle of that town. They looked pretty ravenous. I mean, if they followed us down here, they’re desperate. If we unleash these creatures on the surface, they’ll go after the townspeople.”
“The townspeople are the ones that locked us down here with them,” Ronon reminded. “I got no problems.”
Rodney looked miffed. “And we’re going to have to get out using the same escape route. Did you see how many ants were in that room? Even if we transport them and then wait a while, there’s no telling if those horrifying things will have dispersed. The other end of the transporter is probably a room similar to this one. Looks like it’s a bit bigger, but it’s an enclosed room. We’ll end up inside a giant ball of angry, flesh-eating ants. If you’re okay with that idea, I certainly am not!”
“He’s got a point,” Ronon admitted.
“Yeah,” Sheppard grumbled as he continued to smash the ants, grinding them into paste.
“There’s probably millions of them in there now, and still pouring in through that chute. I bet we’re the first good meal they’ve seen in a long time!” McKay went on.
“Well, can you shut down the chute at least?” Sheppard asked, because certainly, if that room was a transporter, it had to be sealed at some point.
“Oh yeah,” Rodney replied and pushed a button on the podium. There was a quiet sound in the room beyond them, and apparently the room was sealed off. “No more ants getting in. But, of course, none of them can get out of there now,” Rodney pointed out.
Yeah, whatever, thought John. Just as long as no more can come in here.
The worst of the intrusion into the control room seemed to be over. The remaining ants had high-tailed it to whatever crack or crease was available. John was left swatting at his clothing, trying to rid himself of the unpleasant sensation that hundreds of the creatures were crawling all over him.
Seriously, he did not want to end up transported into a room full of those sons of bitches.
But would that even happen? “Hang on,” Sheppard stated. “It can’t transport us into the same place as the ants, can it? If the ants and the bones are still in place in the room at the other side, it won’t initiate.”
Rodney gave him a disgusted look. “I’ve run extensive tests on our system, and as long as the new arrivals can fit in room at the other end, multiple transportations can occur. A person who remains in the other transporter room sees pretty much what happens when we use the Daedalus transporters, just in close quarters.”
“That can’t be good for a person…” Sheppard muttered, “…to be right in the middle of a little transporter room when someone new transports in.”
“Well, it’s not as if I tested it on myself.” Rodney sighed. “But, it works. There’s a failsafe that kicks in when the room becomes too full.”
Sheppard admitted, “Good thing that hasn’t happened when I use the transporters, because I know I wouldn’t want to be jammed up with someone in there.
McKay lifted a hand and let it drop quickly, as if he was afraid to let loose his hold on the podium. “Why do we think I sent out all those emails? ‘Remove your gear and immediately step clear of the transporter once you have arrived at your destination’. Don’t you ever read my messages?”
Sheppard shrugged a little, and gasped at the pain. Okay, this seriously sucks!
“Can you open the doors on the other end after you transport the jiats and the bones?” Ronon asked. “The bugs will leave.”
“Yes, I can open doors,” Rodney said tiredly. “But who’s to say how many of those things will actually leave? And I’ll have to seal those doors again on both ends for our transporting, trapping the remainder of the ants to wait for our arrival - angry, hungry ants.”
“And do we really want to send these insects into the town?” Teyla reminded quietly.
Sheppard sighed, remembering the children, remembering the poverty. Clarifor, Gaispare and the other officials had been the ones who led them to the trap. But the rest of the townspeople… did they deserve that?
“Can you just transport the air out of the room?” John asked. “You know, suffocate those things? Then we’d be transporting only dead ants. Not a problem, right?”
Rodney shook his head slightly. “I don’t think I can do that. It’s all or nothing.” His forehead puckered and he rubbed at it again, fretfully.
“Great.” Sheppard hugged his arm to his chest to keep the weight off his clavicle. He muttered, “There has to be another way, Rodney.”
McKay said nothing, just staring at the transporter’s controls. “Yeah,” he said and looked disconsolate as he stared, “I just can’t think of anything.”
“We cannot give up hope,” Teyla said.
“Yeah, you’ll think of something,” Ronon said.
“There’s always another way.” McKay remained still for a moment before a smile crept across his face as he said, “Just like there’s always a buffer.”
That got Teyla’s attention. “We can dematerialize the bones and ants, but not allow them to rematerialize on the other end?” she asked.
Rodney didn’t really nod, he just tipped his head a little. “The buffer is huge. It’s designed for transporting a room full of rock to the surface. If I can partition the buffer, we can use part of it to hold the stuff that’s in the room right now. Then, I use the other part of the buffer for transporting us.”
“Sounds tricky,” Sheppard said.
“Well yes, if done incorrectly, we could all be turned into horrible, multi-limbed ant hybrids with some sort of weird dried-up bone protrusions,” McKay commented, his hands already working the controls. “That would really ruin your day.”
“You’re kidding,” Sheppard tried.
“I’ve got the mother of all headaches already,” Rodney complained. “I really don’t want to find out what adding another creature’s DNA would to for it.”
“Great,” Sheppard grumbled. “Maybe it would be better to just send the ants into town.”
“Don’t worry. It’ll be easy,” Rodney said. “Well, relatively easy.” He hunched his shoulders as he worked, as if it was an effort to keep his head up. He took a deep breath before stating, “Without the interface, it’s a hell of a lot harder. For anyone else, it would be nearly impossible.”
“Good to know,” Sheppard responded, watching him carefully. “You think you’ll be done soon?”
Rodney pressed his lips together and then said, “I’ll get it.” He continued to press keys. Various screens lit up, characters scrolled, but his movements were slowing, and McKay blinked languidly as he stared at the displays.
Ronon was beside him again, keeping one arm ready as the scientist slumped. Rodney kept pausing, closing his eyes tightly for a moment, and them forcing them open. It was obviously an effort for him as he resumed keying in information.
Dex exchanged a worried glance with Sheppard, but let Rodney do his work. McKay kept accessing the various systems, making a change here or there. Sheppard glanced at his watch. It was taking longer than 63 seconds this time.
After a few more minutes, McKay spoke, “There, there we go. I think I got it. I truly am amazing.”
“You truly are something, McKay,” Sheppard responded, not wanting Rodney’s head to swell any further.
“Well, yes. No time like the present to try it, right?” And he gave the others a little grin. He threw the control. There was a hum. A light over the door illuminated for a moment and then went dim. Rodney continued, “They’re in the buffer now - bones and bugs together. Not that ants are bugs exactly, but you get my drift -- not ‘true bugs’ at least. They’re most closely related to wasps. Of course, these aren’t really ants so I can’t say for certain what they’re related to.”
“I got it, Rodney,” Sheppard responded. “So we can transport now?”
“I’m just saying that I don’t know the classifications of all the flora and fauna in this galaxy,” McKay kept talking, his voice now, with hardly any strength behind it.
“Rodney!” Sheppard barked. “Can we go?”
Rodney tapped a button and the door opened. Sheppard cringed a little, but was pleased to find the ‘bone room’ empty. Not even the dust remained.
“Great!” Sheppard exclaimed. “Now, get us the hell out of here.”
Rodney hadn’t even lifted his head to check the room. He kept working, typing with one hand, the other was locked to the podium to keep himself upright. His eyes were barely open. “In less able hands than mine… this would not have been feasible. I… am incredible.”
“If you say so,” Sheppard replied.
He kept keying commands, but the movements were even slower now. His usually expressive face was a tight mask, as if he was putting every ounce of strength into continuing his work.
Ronon stayed near and Teyla hovered over his shoulder, watching. Sheppard kept out of the way, holding his arm to keep the weight off his collarbone.
“You done yet?” Sheppard asked.
“Just about,” Rodney answered, his voice airy.
Sheppard tried not to look concerned when the scientist paused, drawing his hand back from the keyboard and looking suddenly lost. “Rodney?” Sheppard called.
Rodney raised his head slowly and looked around the room as if seeing it for the first time. When he saw Sheppard, his expression crumbled a little. “I just…” he started to say, but his voice trailed off and he started to slide.
“Rodney?” Sheppard called again, bolting toward Rodney and gasping in pain.
“Gotcha,” Ronon proclaimed, easily catching Rodney’s weight.
McKay lifted his head a moment and he seemed to focus on Ronon for a moment, but his eyes rolled back and he went limp.
OooOoOooooOoOoOo
Dex lowered Rodney carefully.
“How is he?” Sheppard asked urgently as Teyla swept clear a space.
Ronon kept a hand around the back of Rodney’s head as he settled him on the floor. “He looks bad.”
That was an understatement. Rodney’s face had lost all color, his skin was clammy and, when Sheppard felt for a pulse, he found it was racing.
They had to get out of here. They had to get out of here now!
And Rodney had just messed with the buffers. Was the work done? Could they even use the transporter? Would they be turned into horrible Man-ants if they tried to use the thing? Skeletants? Mants?
“Teyla?” Sheppard looked to the Athosian who immediately stepped to the podium and started checking what Rodney had already completed.
Her expression was grave, as she said, “I am unsure if the work was complete. I don’t know if it is safe.”
But Rodney was breathing raggedly now, and they sure as hell didn’t have much time left.
“We’re going for it,” Sheppard declared. “Ronon, do you think you can …” He didn’t need to complete the request; Ronon was already hefting Rodney up.
The Satedan quickly carried Rodney into the other room in his arms-carrying him like a child. Once within the room, Ronon settled him on the ground again, but ready to lift him again if necessary.
“Teyla,” Sheppard asked. “Can you activate it on a time delay so you can get into the room?”
“I don’t know,” she said, biting her lip as she examined the controls. Then, with a resolved tone, said, “I will remain here while you bring Rodney to Atlantis. You can retrieve me when…”
“It looks like there might be controls in here,” Ronon said from the next room. He pointed.
Sheppard and Teyla immediately joined him, and John smiled a little, seeing a cover on the wall. It had been too low to see when the room was filled with bones. He touched it and the protective top opened to display a new set of controls.
It looked easy enough to operate. “Let’s just hope that Rodney’s little scheme with the partitioned buffer works.” Sheppard glanced to Rodney. Ronon held him partially upright, ready to move at a moment’s notice.
“I believe that it will work,” Teyla stated resolutely.
“We better not end up with feelers on my head when we reach the other end,” Sheppard muttered. “I kinda like my hair the way it is right now. Let’s go.” And he activated the control.
OooOoOooooOoOoOo
Sheppard waited in the infirmary, running one hand through his hair, glad to know that there would be no antennas growing there. He’d seen “The Fly” once too often.
He was a little alarmed at how many ants he’d already pulled from his hair (and promptly smashed). A dozen or so of the little bastards had taken the trip with him through the transporter - a journey that started at ‘the bone room’ and ended up in the fanciest restaurant in town.
It was a surprise to dematerialize in a simple room, and rematerialize in a larger, elegant one, on top of a table filled with plates and glasses and serving dishes. Food went flying. People yelped and jumped to their feet. Chairs were overturned. A wall hanging was torn. Some patrons screamed in shock. A waiter fainted.
Sheppard stumbled over a tureen of some sort, planted one foot on top of a pile of pastries and then tipped a table. Teyla knocked over a potted plant, dumping it into what looked like a plate of ravioli. Ronon, looking completely unfazed, dutifully picked up Rodney and headed toward an exit.
Sheppard and Teyla were right at his heels.
The upper transporter room must have been declared the ‘nicest building in town’ at some point, and an entrepreneur had moved in to take advantage of its beauty and excellent location, converting it into a gilded dining room, all decorated with velvets and rich decorations.
The town suffered great poverty, but there was always a well-heeled contingent that needed a special place to eat.
Sheppard was almost sorry he hadn’t sent in the ants first.
They ran from the place and into the street, finding townspeople staring at them in amazement - big-eyed with strangely wide smiles. The people surged forward, trying to get near them, trying to touch them.
But Sheppard had no time for that. He commandeered a rag-filled ‘ox’ cart, and Ronon carefully settled Rodney into the back.
Rodney was failing, and their only hope was to get back to Atlantis as soon as possible.
Teyla took the reins and they charged through town - sending people hopping. They knocked over a few vendor stands, and one lady in a fine gown swore like a sailor as she jumped out of the way.
Sheppard ground his teeth the whole way as he desperately tried to keep his collarbone from jarring, hoping that he didn’t end up puking on anyone.
Much of the town followed them - more joining all the time, running to keep up. Sheppard could have sworn they were having a great time. The people waved, and seemed to dance and sing - but it could have been the pain clouding his reason.
“Hang in there, Rodney,” Sheppard said, because he needed to say something to keep from passing out. “We’ll be home soon.”
Teyla expertly guided them, and the vehicle reached the Gate within minutes. They activated the wormhole. And, as the crowd roared, they stepped through the event horizon and were home.
That was hours ago.
One of Keller’s people had taken John aside when they reached the infirmary. His scrapes and cuts were treated. X-rays were taken. He was given a pair of pills for the pain and a sling to keep one arm in place to allow his abused clavicle some rest.
Rodney had been nearby during the beginning of Sheppard’s treatment. John had listened as hushed voices had spoken of ‘swelling’ inside his head, and Sheppard recalled the skulls lined up with the crypts.
And then there was talk of surgery, and Rodney was whisked away.
And John waited. It still felt like ants crawled on him, even after a fairly thorough examination for them. It felt as if their little legs kept ticking him, taunting him, but that could have been the drugs.
He waited. Keller returned and told him that the surgery went well, and that it was only a matter of time before they knew whether or not Rodney would awaken.
“He might not?” Sheppard had asked, alarmed.
And Keller had tried to look sure, pasting on a pleasant expression as she said, “There’s always a danger in these sorts of injuries. We’ll just have to wait and hope.”
They brought McKay back to the room, and set him up in one of the beds.
And Keller invited Sheppard to spend the night in the infirmary. “You’ll probably be more comfortable,” she’d said amicably. “You can keep your bed tilted up. It will help with the ol’ clavicle. I can put you in the bed next to Rodney if you want.”
So he stayed, and Keller ordered dinner. They ate together. She was unusually quiet and he didn’t feel like talking. And eventually she stood, saying that she research to complete.
God, what a day. What a horrible, crappy day!
Woolsey arrived for a debriefing, but didn’t seem too interested in all details. “We’ll deal with that later,” he declared, and then asked, “Did you really materialize in the middle of a fancy dinner party?” He seemed delighted with the details of their landing and the reactions of the people.
Teyla and Ronon showed up after dinner, but were eventually sent to their rooms for rest. They needed it. They deserved it. And yet, they were reluctant to go.
Zelenka came through, asking questions about the mining facility and wanting particulars about the crystal that had been quarried at that site. Sheppard had little information to offer, but he gave Radek some of the pebbles that had ended up in his boots.
Radek stayed longer than he needed, watching his boss throughout the discussion. He eventually left as Rodney continued to sleep.
It was boring to watch McKay sleep, but Sheppard kept waiting. Rodney’s head was bandaged, and his face was dotted with cuts, and some nasty looking bruises showed on his arms.
Sheppard figured he didn’t look pretty himself at the moment. He wasn’t going to ask for a mirror any time soon.
All evening long, Keller came by to check on her patient, often holding Rodney’s hand and speaking quietly to him. Sheppard would try to look interested in reading reports on his laptop when she was there.
Reports were dull. And when he got bored, John felt ants on his legs again and he swatted at them violently, getting a look from Keller.
She tried to be upbeat. She tried to look hopeful. But there was a sorrow that clung to her, a regret that filled her movements.
“He’s going to be okay,” Sheppard told her, and she smiled at that.
“That’s what I’m supposed to say,” she told him.
“He’s got the best doctor he can have.”
And there was gratitude in her eyes.
He had to just keep hoping for the best.
He was tired of that - tired of things being out of his control. It sucked.
It was a long night.
Keller came by with a couple more pills as the night dragged on. He tried to watch a movie on his laptop, but without really meaning to, he fell asleep in the middle of a big car chase.
First time ever.
“Did he wake up?”
Huh? Sheppard winced as he opened his eyes. Daylight shone in through the windows - bright daylight. He’d slept through the night and part of the day.
“Hey,” Sheppard replied groggily, turning toward the Satedan.
“He wake up at all?” Ronon repeated the question as he sat down on the other bed.
“Don’t think so,” Sheppard responded, turning toward McKay and seeing that his position hadn’t changed.
Ronon looked unhappy. “Zelenka’s been waiting to talk to him. Keeps coming in whenever I’m here.”
“Crystals,” Sheppard muttered, rubbing his face and wanting a shower desperately. “He wanted to know more about the crystals. I didn’t have anything to tell him.”
“He got those rock samples,” Ronon said. “Checked them out. They were radioactive.”
Sheppard sighed. “Figures.”
“Not enough to kill us,” Ronon added.
“Good to know.” And John asked, “Was Radek able to figure out if any of that material was used to make ZPMs?”
“Yeah, he thinks so -- and he seemed pretty excited.”
Sheppard laughed a little. “And itching to geek-out with McKay about it,” he surmised, glancing to McKay again, who was entirely too still. After a moment he added, “The Ancients probably mined it all already. That’s too bad.”
Ronon shrugged. “Just having some crystals wouldn’t have done us much good anyway. There’s more to the ZPMs than just that.”
“I guess we can still go back and look for the power source -- that is, if the Ellikans will let us. What was their problem anyway?” Sheppard asked, frowning in memory. “What kind of a person locks prisoners in a vault just to let them die?”
It was Teyla that responded as she approached the beds. “They had found copies of the ‘wanted posters’ that the Genii had produced.” She settled a lunch tray in front of John.
Lunch?, Sheppard thought, I slept in past noon? Ronon grabbed the chocolate chip cookie before Sheppard could move.
John scowled at the Satedan. And then, Teyla’s words sunk in. “You’re kidding me? Those Genii wanted posters are still out there? It’s been years!”
“Apparently they are still circulating,” Teyla said with a sympathetic expression. “I have heard from my sources that the Ellikans had been making inquiries about whether the prize is still available. It is rather unfortunate that we didn’t know about this earlier.”
“That’s a good word for it,” Sheppard grumbled. He poked angrily at his fruit cup. It had too many maraschino cherries in it. He hated it when all of the other fruits got coated with the red dye. Ronon resolved the problem for him by taking the cup off his hands. “So, they locked us up just so that they could get a reward?”
Teyla told him, “The upper caste of Ellik believed they could gain some favor by detaining us.”
Ronon downed the contents of the fruit cup on one gulp, then said, “Guess they were planning on opening the doors to that temple eventually to let us out.”
“If the Genii ever showed up for the hand off,” Sheppard responded, wondering if their alliance would have held.
Teyla went on, “We appeared in a flash of light at the House of Special Favors. It was taken as a sign by the lower caste. They now believe that we were one with the Ancestors.”
“The House of Special Favors?” Sheppard echoed.
“It was the name of the restaurant,” Ronon told him.
“It sounds like a Chinese Restaurant,” Sheppard remarked. “Or a whore house, for that matter.”
“They’re changing the name to the House of Good Signs because of us.” Ronon said, settling the empty cup on Sheppard’s tray. “Still a crappy name, but better than the first one.”
“We were a good sign?” Sheppard asked. “There’s a first time for everything, I guess.”
Teyla moved slowly around the room to stand near Rodney’s bed. “The townspeople of Ellik were quite amazed with us. They have legends of people who appeared mysteriously at that site.”
“Huh,” Sheppard responded, picking up the sandwich that Teyla had procured for him. “Probably some hold-over from when the Ancients used it.”
Teyla continued, saying, “Our appearance brought them great joy. They believe that prosperity will return to their land.”
“That’s nice for a change,” Sheppard replied, taking a bite. He chewed a moment, then said, “Usually, by the time we leave, we’re getting the pitchfork and torches treatment.”
“They believe that we are deities,” Teyla told him, and then with a wistful expression, added, “I suppose it is because they desperately needed something to believe in.”
“When you live in that sort of place, people hope for anything,” Ronon said and chuckled a little. “The animal we borrowed was paraded round the town as a sacred beast. Never going to have to pull a cart again - unless we show up.”
Sheppard raised his head from his turkey and swiss and asked, “So… do you think they’d be amenable to our return? I mean, we can bring them supplies, food, things that they can really use. Maybe this time they’d be willing to show us the ZPM if they actually have it?”
“It is possible,” Teyla replied. “I believe the lower caste will be more than willing to help us. The upper caste hold some of the same beliefs.” She turned to Sheppard and stated, “But we cannot allow the Ellikans to believe that we are gods. That would be wrong.” She spoke with finality.
“Okay,” Sheppard said. “But if they want to show us a little respect and NOT throw us down a hole, I’m not going to argue.”
For a moment, they said nothing as Sheppard enjoyed his sandwich, Ronon took his fries, and Teyla stood beside Rodney’s bed, watching him.
“He’s doing better?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Sheppard responded. “I don’t think there’s been any change.”
She continued to watch Rodney.
“Give him a little time. He’ll be back to annoying us all in no time,” Sheppard said.
“It is what he does best,” Teyla said, with affection.
“Yeah,” Ronon said, scarfing down the last of John’s French fries. “We kinda like it that way.”
“We just have to hope he gets better soon. It won’t be long and we’ll be going back to take a ride on an ox cart,” Sheppard said. “We’ll bring toys for the kids this time. Maybe help the parents find a way of making a living.”
“It will be nice to make a difference for these people,” Teyla added.
The free food gone, Ronon stood and stated, “I’m heading to the mess. You want anything?”
Sheppard sighed, regarding his empty plate and thinking about the thing that he really wanted at that moment. “No. I’m going to my room in a bit. I need a shower.” He ran his free hand over his sling. “It’s not going to be fun, but it will have to be done. Of course, it would be easier if I had a room with a big tub in it.” He glared at Rodney, but the tight expression fell as he watched his friend.
“You should get some more sleep, John,” Teyla told him. “You look tired.”
“It’s been a crappy couple of days,” Sheppard responded.
They all agreed.
“Ronon, I will go with you,” Teyla said as she came alongside the Satedan. “They are serving ice cream sandwiches.”
Ronon smiled widely at that statement, and Sheppard complained, “Hey, why didn’t you bring me one?”
Teyla paused, then said, “It would have melted.”
“It would have been fine,” Sheppard didn’t mean to whine, but there was a petulant tone to his comment. “And they’re best when they are a little on the melted side.”
“Ronon would have taken it from you and eaten it,” Teyla told him.
“I could have taken him,” Sheppard insisted.
“No,” Ronon said with a laugh, and turned toward the door.
Teyla remained a moment longer, saying, “I will return with one for you,” and then she added, looking toward Rodney. “I’ll bring two.” And, with that, they left.
And Sheppard remained. It didn’t feel right to leave while no one was with Rodney. Keller would be back soon, so he pulled out his laptop and decided to work on those damn reports again.
They had to get done.
Reports were boring.
“Sheppard?”
Okay, so he started to fall asleep again.
“Colonel?”
He’d been through a couple of hellish days, and Keller had put him on some pain meds. It wasn’t surprising that he had trouble staying awake.
“John?”
And he blinked, turning his head slightly to see the other bed and found blue eyes peering sleepily at him from the next bed.
“Hey,” Sheppard said softly.
“What happened?” Rodney asked quietly. He looked barely awake.
Sheppard smiled, relieved. “Where do you want me to start? The planet of filth? The ZPM temple with the fake ZPM? The catacombs? The skulls? The mine? The ants? The slide from hell? The bone room? The crystals? The transporter? The buffer? The restaurant mayhem? The ox cart? The scene out of some Bollywood musical? Ice cream sandwiches?”
Rodney looked as if he wanted to frown, but his face just wasn’t up to the task. “Bollywood…?” his voice trailed.
“Yeah,” Sheppard said. “Not my idea of a fun vacation.”
“Have you even seen a Bollywood movie?”
“No,” Sheppard admitted.
“Then you don’t know what you’re talking about,” McKay went on, his voice never rising above a whisper.
“True, but it sounded good, didn’t it? And those natives were pretty darn happy with us when we left. I swear, they were dancing in the street.”
“You’re making this up.”
“I’m not.”
“I don’t remember it,” Rodney said, discontentedly.
“You were out of it. You hit your head pretty hard.”
“It hurts.” Rodney raised a hand to touch his head.
“Leave it alone. Keller had to drill into your head again.”
“Oh,” McKay mumbled, and he let his hand drop. “No more… power tools. Never again. Can’t use me as your next… summer home improvement project.” And he smiled a little before saying, “I don’t need improvement.”
“So you say,” Sheppard responded, trying to sound annoyed, but unable to keep from grinning a little. “Anyway, it’s too late. Drilling’s already been done,” he explained. “You have to stop doing that, Rodney. Your brains should be kept on the inside.”
“It’s where they do their best work.”
“Yeah, oh, and not wanting to inflate your ego too far, but your idea about the buffer worked.”
McKay seemed to think for a moment before remembering, and then he looked satisfied. “I knew it would.”
“Well, it worked with Teyla’s help.”
That earned a frown before Rodney asked, “We got out? Everyone got out okay?”
“We’re all home,” Sheppard told him. “And we didn’t turn into Mants or unleash the hoards upon the town.”
“Ants? Are they still in the buffer?”
“Yeah, and that’s where they’re going to stay. Oh, we’re heroes in Ellik.”
“Heroes?” Rodney repeated the word quietly, contentedly.
“They’ll probably throw a parade for us next time we’re there. Can you imagine Ronon on a float, waving to the crowds? Maybe we’ll get him to throw beads.”
“Where is he?” Rodney asked, his words starting to slur together again.
“Teyla and Ronon went to get some lunch.”
“Ice cream sandwiches?”
“Teyla said she’d bring some back for us.”
Rodney smiled at that. He continued to watch Sheppard, but his gaze was getting unfocused.
John told him, “I’m sure Keller can put yours away somewhere here. She’s got to have cold storage, right? I mean, she has to, what with this being the infirmary and all.”
“Not with the corpses. ‘m tired of all the… dead people.”
“I think she has a regular refrigerator in here, Rodney.”
“Yeah… she does.” His voice was getting softer. “She likes frozen grapes.”
“Go to sleep, Rodney.”
And Rodney’s eyes shut as he drifted off again.
Sheppard smiled that McKay obeyed him without any guff. First time ever.
And suddenly, a horrible couple of days, began looking a hell of a lot better.
END