Title: The Tower Continued

Author: Laheara

Timeframe: Season 2

Spoilers: The Tower obviously but mentions of Critical Mass also and anything season 1 or 2 is game.

Summary: This is what I think happened to Rodney in the underground section of the city?

Author notes: Ok so the Baldric reference was supposed to be a joke but, hey, I have to call him something so I used it in here.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own any of them, just my ideas.

"Rodney, come in." Sheppard paced the small cell nervously waiting for a reply. He thought as he impatiently waited, 'Please answer. Come on, McKay, I really need to talk to you now so come in.'

Rodney was on his way back from checking the transporter in this area to see if it still worked, but it appeared to have collapsed years ago. When he heard Sheppard's voice he stopped dead. "Sheppard, are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

Rodney breathed a sigh of relief for his friend.

Sheppard released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Listen, I need you to pull the ZPM and cut the power right away or Ronan and Teyla are dead."

Rodney continued into the auxiliary control room heading for the power read-outs. "I already know all that. Look, unfortunately, I am cut off from the ZedPM."

Sheppard didn't like the sound of that, but Rodney was brilliant. Not that he'd ever admit it to the man, his ego was already the size of half the city. "There's gotta be something you can do."

Rodney sighed, "I'm working on it."

Sheppard whirled back around, when he heard the sigh, and shouted into the radio, "Well work faster."

"Work faster." Rodney mocked under his breath as he picked up the tablet. He started scanning and muttered to himself, "What does he think I'm doing? Vacationing on a beach down here?"

Rodney walked over and looked at each console in turn, looking for an answer that would help his friends in the village. His guide came in from looking at the cave in and suddenly it hit him. He already knew the power levels were low because he couldn't bring the internal communication systems back online. He whirled around and grabbed the data tablet again, checking on the ZedPM. It was at only 12 power.

Then Rodney remembered the recent trouble with the ZedPM overloading on Atlantis. It had been creating too much power and, with nowhere to send it, had been about to explode. In this case, it didn't have enough power and lots of places to send it.

Rodney keyed his radio and called Sheppard, "Alright I think I've got something. According to my readings, the ZedPM is nearly depleted. If we can activate enough systems simultaneously, it might drain power completely thus rendering the drones inert."

Sheppard waved his hand in circle waiting for the long technical explanation to end so he could talk. Finally Rodney finished and he said, "So do it."

Rodney frowned at the tone of Sheppard's voice. "No, I can't. I don't have access to enough systems to draw that kind of power. I need something really big."

Sheppard wracked his brain for an option. He looked over at Beckett who also seemed to be trying to think of something. Then he also remembered the problem from a few weeks ago. The city nearly blew up when the inertial dampeners came online to start the power up of… "How about the star drive? This city is just like Atlantis, right? A city that was designed to fly?"

"You want me to fly the city right up out of the ground?" Rodney was shocked at the idea. The place was falling apart, and with no shield it would never survive that.

"No, you don't have to go anywhere, just charge the engines. That should be the single greatest drain of power you can create."

"You're right that could work." Rodney ran the numbers in his head. That would definitely take more than 12 power. Then he remembered. "But there's only one problem."

Sheppard looked at Carson who was nervously hovering at the door. They were running out of time and Rodney still wasn't working. "What?"

"This place is pretty unstable. If we fire up the engines, the vibrations alone could cause the whole thing to come down on us."

Sheppard looked at Carson who looked like he was doing a quick prayer for Rodney's safety. Sheppard hoped that would count for him too. But Rodney was a scientist, the numbers don't lie. There were dozens of people along with Ronan and Teyla in the village and there were only two people underground.

"That's a risk we're gonna have to take." Sheppard really hoped that wouldn't be the last thing he ever said to Rodney.

Rodney took a deep breath and starting working on the Ancient controls, "Powering up main engines."

His nervous companion walked toward one of the pillars, "Is there another, more positive option I could imagine instead of the ceiling caving in on us?"

Rodney cringed and looked up as dust and dirt started to rain down on them as the power started running to the engines far below them in the true bowels of the ship/city. "I thought you were lying before when you said you believed in that stuff."

Rodney turned to see a piece of ceiling break away, "Baldric!"

The guide jumped to the side and the piece just missed him. "Thanks."

Rodney just waved and turned back to the controls, "Just be careful, ok?"

The shaking got worse and more dirt and pieces of the ceiling came down around them. Rodney looked over his shoulder to see Baldric holding onto the pillar for dear life and he did the same with the console. He knew from Atlantis that these things were integrated parts of the room, not just moved in and put in place, so they were solid.

One final large jolt, a massive cloud of dirt and debris and the shaking stopped. The room went dark with the reserve systems providing only minimal visibility.

"Well, this is better, I guess." Rodney reached out and picked up his flashlight and shined it on the console. Then he carefully stepped around the mess on the floor to get to his tablet and checked the ZedPM. It was totally out of power now, the drones and the chair should be dead as well.

Rodney breathed, "It worked the ZedPM is dead."

"Then my people are safe?" Baldric asked with a smile.

Rodney nodded and smiled, "Yes, they should be. Even at this distance we would have felt the shockwaves of an explosion."

Baldric leaned again the pillar and smiled. "Thank you, Dr. McKay."

"Well, as much as I'd love to accept the credit, it was Colonel Sheppard's idea." Then Rodney remembered he should probably check in. He keyed his radio, but before he had a chance to say anything the whole room began to shake again.

"I don't think this is good," Rodney said as he looked at the tablet. With the ZedPM offline, his tablet was the only thing still working. The city was now on emergency power so he was still getting readings.

"What is it? What's happening?" Baldric walked over and leaned over Rodney's shoulder.

"The quake that brought down the corridor appears to be only a precursor to a larger one. The added vibrations from trying to power up the engines only help to speed it up. It's a good thing the Ancients built seismic detectors into their technology. There's a huge earthquake that will hit in less then thirty minutes. It will likely be centered right here, but the village will feel it too." He reached for his radio again and keyed it on. "Colonel?"

Rodney didn't hear anything but static so he walked over to the shaft that had been made in the ceiling and tried again. "Colonel Sheppard? Teyla? Ronan? Can anyone hear me?"

"Dr. McKay? This is Teyla."

Rodney jumped at her voice. "Teyla! Good, you need to evacuate the villagers through the Gate to a planet that's safe. There's a big earthquake coming in about 30 minutes that will be localized in this valley, but the shockwaves will still reach the village. You have plenty of time to save everyone. I can't seem to raise Colonel Sheppard, can you try relay this to him. And get the people out of the Tower too. The city's few remaining systems are running on emergency power. If the structural integrity field fails, the Tower may collapse."

Teyla was shocked when she heard this. They had just survived an attack and now the village might be destroyed anyway. It didn't seem fair, but McKay was usually right about these things.

"Ronan! We must gather everyone and take them all through the Stargate to another world. Once they are safe warn and tell them we will be later then expected. I will relay the message to Colonel Sheppard."

Ronan nodded and then shouted to get the attention of the villagers. "I need everyone to gather around."

Once Teyla saw that Ronan was getting the attention of the villagers, she tried to call the Tower. "Colonel Sheppard, it is Teyla. Dr. McKay has just informed me that there is a massive earthquake about to arrive. He told us to take everyone through the Stargate until it is over."

At the Tower things were a becoming chaotic. The Lord Protector was dead, his son was in prison and now Otho was dead too. Mara stepped forward to take control. "Remove the body at once," she pointed to the former advisor. "This man murdered my father. And release my brother."

She walked up to Sheppard who was carefully putting the knife down and smiled when he turned back around. "You have saved my people, both here and in the village. How can I repay you?"

Sheppard realized she wasn't the same girl who'd come to his room. She seemed to have matured during the past few hours. "Well, you can repay me by making sure your society improves. Otho was able to use the chair because of a drug we gave him. You can give it to the rest of your people and make this a better world."

She looked up at him and smiled, "And will you stay and rule it with me?"

Sheppard smiled back and shook his head, "I can't, my place is with my people."

"I understand. Thank you for all of your help, we will always remember you." She nodded to him and then moved over to talk to the guards who were carrying Otho's body out.

"Colonel Sheppard, it is Teyla. Dr. McKay has just told me there is a massive earthquake about to arrive. He told us to take everyone through the Stargate until it is over."

Sheppard wasn't sure he'd heard that right. "Why didn't Rodney tell me himself?"

"He said he couldn't reach you and wanted me to relay. I am still in the village, but Ronan is handling things here. Do you wish me to come to the Tower to help you?"

"No, I can do it. You stay there. Mara can help me round up everyone here. Sheppard out."

"Mara!" She walked back over to him. "I need your help. There's a big earthquake coming. We are evacuating the village through the Stargate to another world until the danger has passed. I need you to make the announcement and get your people ready to leave immediately."

"Are you sure? We have always been safe here in the Tower."

"Before you had a functioning power source for your chair. Now you don't. You're just as vulnerable as everyone else in the galaxy." Sheppard didn't want to sound cruel but he needed to get the urgency across to her."

"I understand. I will handle it."

Sheppard stepped over just behind the chair and keyed his radio, "Rodney? Rodney can you hear me?" Sheppard had a bad feeling about this. He'd been able to talk to Rodney until a few minutes ago. What had changed? Rodney, come in!"

Nothing, just silence. Sheppard changed channels and called Teyla again. "Teyla, has Rodney gotten back to the village yet?"

"No he has not." Teyla had been so busy helping in the village that she had forgotten that Rodney has said he'd been trapped underground in the earlier earthquake. Suddenly she was very worried. "By the Ancestors," she said to herself and then responded. "He told me he was trapped underground in the earthquake. He did not mention if he had found a way out."

Sheppard knew his gut was right. DAMN IT! "Call him again; see if he's found a way out yet or if we have to go get him. If we do I'll send the people from the Tower to the village and Ronan can take them off world then we can help Rodney."

"Understood." Teyla tried to call Rodney but didn't get a response. "I am unable to reach Dr, McKay."

"Great! Ok people, we really need to get going. I want you to follow Mara to the village and then to the Stargate. I have a friend who needs rescuing, so let's go. Only take what you can carry and remember this will be a long trip so nothing heavy, because no one is carrying it for you when you get tired."

Sheppard was in a hurry to get Mara's people on the move. Normally Rodney would whine and complain about anything slightly bad happening to him. For him to just contacted Teyla and gave instructions, something was very wrong. Sheppard had that feeling in his gut again. Something bad was about to happen to his friend and I didn't like it.

End of Part 1

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