Author: Rexy48

Title: Keeping a Promise

Spoilers: Season 1 up to 'The Gift', and foreshadowing to Season 2 'The Seige 3' and 'Coup D'etat'.

A/N: Despite being in a starring role Ford was a vastly underused character, now he finally gets a chance to show off his skill. Any comments are highly appreciated. Hope you enjoy it.

Summary: An old weapons lab, a strange ancient device, and the Genii. Kolya returns with a new agenda.

[1]

Major John Sheppard casually hiked up the small trail, at ease in the quiet forest. Although there was evidence of small paths once used by hunters the amount of new growth suggested the planet had been uninhabited for some time. There had been no signs of any wildlife save for the soft cries of birds heard in the distance. The peaceful atmosphere was reminiscent of his time playing in the forests near his house as a kid. It was almost enough to forget that they were in another galaxy with no way to return home and with life-sucking aliens heading their way. Almost.

During a recent trading mission SGA-2 had encountered a merchant who made mention of once finding some ruins on an old hunting ground. When the Atlantis database was queried it turned out that the Ancients had used P23-239 as a weapons testing facility. Once scans verified a safe atmosphere there had been no hesitation in Dr. Elizabeth Weir's approval to send a team. In less than an hour SGA-1 was geared up and heading through the gate.

Sheppard cast a glance behind him. Lt. Aiden Ford looked his usual eager self, alert despite his casual appearance. Close behind him was Dr. Rodney McKay, panting slightly due to the overly large backpack he always seemed to carry. Last was Teyla Emmagan, comfortably holding the P-90 as if she had used one all her life. Sometimes it was hard to remember she wasn't of their world let alone their galaxy. Still, he trusted her just as much as his Earthling teammates.

"Are you sure this is the right path?" McKay asked, breaking the silence as he paused a moment to catch his breath. "We've been walking for over an hour now and…"

"Twenty four."

McKay turned his gaze to Ford. "What?"

"Minutes, McKay," the soldier clarified. "We've been walking for twenty four minutes." Doubt passed over the scientist's face.

"Really? Because it feels like an hour now and …" He glanced down at his watch then to the young lieutenant in disbelief - how did he do that?

"I am sure we will arrive shortly," Teyla assured him as they resumed walking. "The merchant said the ruins were not far from the gate."

"Well obviously his idea of 'not far' is vastly different than that of a normal person. Why couldn't we just take a jumper?"

"Oh, I don't know," Sheppard answered, "maybe it had something to do with the rocky cliffs and dense forests that surround the ruins, remember? Besides, with all the time you spend sitting in your lab the walk will do you good."

"It's not like I'm just sitting around twiddling my thumbs. Do you have any idea how many programs are still not running efficiently? We're just starting to get back to the level we were at before the storm flooded several sections of the city. Add that to the amount of new systems and devices being discovered by the roving teams and…"

"We're here," Sheppard interrupted.

"… incompetent staff and …what did you say?"

"We're here," he repeated. Without another word McKay quickly moved forward only to stop a few feet past the soldier, obvious disappointment in his face. "Well, he did say it was ruins," Sheppard offered.

"I know but …"

"What?" Ford asked as he and Teyla arrived. "Oh," he answered for himself, understanding. The trail had opened up to a small clearing with large slabs of stone circling haphazardly around several smaller but still big rocks. It reminded him of Stonehenge, if the designers had been drunk. In the center were three black pillars about four feet high, while a fourth pillar lay broken on the ground. If this had once housed weapons it had long since been stripped clean of anything valuable.

Pulling out a scanner from his front vest pocket McKay gave a slight frown. "Now that's interesting."

"Besides the lack of vegetation?" Sheppard asked as he looked about. All around the clearing the forest grew tall and thick but everything, even the grass, stopped a few feet before the large slabs.

"According to this there's a faint power source emitting from the ruins."

"And?"

McKay looked back to the rocks. "Since when do rocks emit energy?"

"You think something's hidden under the rocks?"

"Or in the pillars, yes. It might explain the lack of growth in the area." With that he moved forward. The other three carefully entered, looking about for anything that might cause concern. Circling the area they found nothing to suggest anyone had been there recently. They returned to the center where McKay was mumbling to himself as he examined the scanner.

Rapping his knuckles against one of the stone slabs Ford commented, "Seems solid."

"Brilliant observation, Lt. Obvious," McKay responded, making another adjustment on the device before looking up. "Those slabs are actually the remains of a structure that once protected this area, particularly this central region. Their density makes them extremely durable and an ideal building material. "

"Didn't seem to do much good," Sheppard commenting, eyeing the broken pillar on the ground.

"Be glad that's the only one broken. We don't know when, or why, the Ancients stopped using this area. It may have been during the Wraith invasion 10,000 years ago, or it may be much older." The scientist moved about the pillars, lightly touching each as his eyes moved between them and the device in his hand. "Each seems to be emitting a small amount of power."

"So what do they do?"

"I need to take more readings."

"In other words you don't know." Ignoring the glare McKay sent his way, Sheppard addressed the other two members of the team. "Looks like we'll be here a while so might as well get comfortable. Ford, you take first watch."

"Yes, sir."

As Ford began to slowly patrol around the clearing, Teyla and Sheppard took a seat on one of the smaller rocks. They watched McKay working for a few minutes before Sheppard grew bored.

"Seen any good movies lately?" he casually asked.

* * *

"Best comedy?"

"That's easy, the Naked Gun series."

"Really? I thought you'd be more of a Monty Python type of guy." The playful banter between soldiers filtered its way toward McKay, who tried his best to tone out the annoyance. Teyla, slowly circling around the backside of the ruins, was luckily out of earshot of the chatter while he was stuck in the middle of it. He had already figured out the pillars were part of the original device once sheltered in the facility and served a dual purpose of both protecting the device and providing it additional power. The main question now was what did the missing device do? It was a problem he would've solved by now if not for his teammates' meaningless chatter distracting him.

"How about Sci-Fi?"

"You mean besides this one? Star Trek. You?"

"The Outer Limits."

McKay growled, lowering his scanner. "Do you mind? Genius at work here! Your endless babble is not only distracting but wrong. Clearly Doctor Who is the best science fiction show in…" A sharp pain stopped his refute. His hand moved to his neck, eyes going wide as he felt a small, feathered dart. He tried to call out but his face already had gone numb. He saw more than felt the second dart strike his leg moments before he collapsed to the ground.

"Come on, a teleporting phone booth? How stupid is that?" When the expected retort never came both soldiers were instantly alert. Instinctively they moved in opposite directions and in doing so dodged the darts sent their way.

"Teyla, we have hostiles!" Sheppard called out, trying to make his way toward the pillars where Rodney had been. A volley of bullets caused him to veer sharply to the left and into the surrounding forest. Projectile weapons? He keyed his radio again. "Ford, Teyla, what's your status?"

"I have at least four bandits," was Ford's winded response, followed by gunfire. "Make that three."

"Any sign of Teyla?"

"Negative. I think whatever got McKay got her as well."

"Damn it. Try to get to the gate, radio Atlantis that--" He was cut off abruptly as he ran head-on into an enemy soldier and they both stumbled to the ground. The enemy was fast but Sheppard was faster, rolling quickly to one side and kicking hard, striking the man's head. From the loud snapping sound the man was out of the fight, permanently. Sheppard went to key his radio but it wasn't there. He searched around, finding it a few feet away and broken. Cursing to himself he went to examine the body. Although he didn't recognize the plain brown outfit the man wore there was no forgetting the device on his wrist or the weapon he carried - Genii.