Stargate Atlantis: Pandora's Box
"John? John, is this…"
Rodney McKay's voice faded into the absolute silence and stillness. Behind the team the wormhole winked out of existence. The air was stale and there was a pervasive cold that wrapped around them. The Gate room was bathed in hues of greens and blues and smothered by shadows, but a groan of weak power flitted and sporadically illuminated the room and the rooms beyond that could be dimly seen.
"Turnog," John Sheppard answered quietly, shining his P90 light across the walls.
"Tir na nOg," Moira O'Meara corrected, casting a glance at the military commander. He met her gaze, scowling but humor glinted in his green eyes.
"Whatever it is called can we activate the systems?" Teyla Emmagan asked. She stared round, feeling a sense of unease that she couldn't explain. The city felt like a cave which could be concealing a slumbering monster.
"We're underwater?" Ronon Dex asked, as the team progressed out of the 'Gate room. The quiet was eerie and getting under his skin.
"Yes, just like Atlantis was," Rodney explained, eyes on his scanner as they climbed the stairs to the control room. "I'm reading minimal power and before you ask yes I can boost it a little but I won't know how much until I activate the controls. Here."
The team crowded round the consoles. John touched one and it flared briefly, responding. Rodney's fingers played over the keyboards. Screens rose to flicker and provide information. The reactions were sluggish. The city had been asleep for a long, long time.
"How long has it been underwater?" Teyla asked, shining her P90 light into the shadows and across the distances. Nothing moved. Her light created shadows along the walls, ghostly images that came and went as the illumination scoured the darkness.
"Thousands of years," John answered. "Bring up a schematic of the city. We know that one section is missing and one is damaged. Locate any power sources and ZPMs and bring up the environmental controls. And see if there is any mention of Gorias 'cause that's the section we need. And locate the Ancient Chair, although I think I remember where that is." He rubbed his temple briefly, although no headache was bothering him.
"Anything else? Lunch, perhaps?" Rodney snapped.
"Yeah, lunch would be nice too," John quipped. He smiled at the glaring physicist and glanced round to see Teyla and Ronon searching the perimeter and the rooms beyond. "Don't go too far, people. We need to stick together." He watched Moira as she stood near a console, staring round at a loss. He smiled. "O'Meara."
Moira turned and stepped to him. "There's no Irish writing that I can see."
"Just stay close in case there is." John touched her arm briefly, a furtive caress that made her briefly smile at him. He looked back at the screens. "Ah." He studied the schematic of the city. "So of these three…which one is Gorias?"
"I don't know. They didn't label them," Rodney replied. "I can get power levels up a little, but the city is still locked in slumber. It will take a real jolt to reactivate it if we want to do that. Wait, do we want to do that?"
"Possibly. Do you think we can fly her?"
"What? No! Not with a whole section gone and another severely damaged! Wait, make that two sections damaged."
"Two? Wonderful," John muttered, frowning at the schematics.
"Besides, I thought our mission was to locate this thing, whatever it is that they stole," Rodney resumed.
"Yes, because it is important to the fuglies."
"The Homo erectus, and you realize this thing could be anything," Moira warned.
John met her gaze. "I know. But it still gives us leverage." He looked back at the screen. He touched the console, concentrating. The connection was sluggish but it was there and he felt the city responding to his ATA gene. "There." He touched the screen and one section became illuminated. "This is Gorias. Let's move out!"
"How did you…fine. You know that every second we are here we are draining what remaining power and life support there is," Rodney warned.
"I know. But she's got more power. We just gotta find it. This way." John led the team out of the control room.
"The Shield's been holding back the water and the pressure for years, John, and just like Atlantis it will give way as we drain more power, even a minimal amount. But unlike Atlantis this city is not intact and is damaged so when the Shield does give way the results could be—"
"Catastrophic, I know, but we can juice her up before then, don't worry. I have a few ideas but first let's locate this thingy, all right?"
"Thingy?" Teyla asked with a smile. Ronon shook his head.
The team descended to the lower levels. The air was staler here and the temperature was dropping. The weight of the ocean and the pressure could almost be felt against the walls. The lights were dull flickers and waves of illumination turned everything a ghostly green as they passed windows.
"Hold up." John raised his hand, halting the team. "It's wet here." He shone his light onto the floor. A thin sheen of water reflected back at him. Part of the floor was buckling and it was uneven. "Is it safe?"
"For now," Rodney said, checking his scanner. "But I wouldn't want to spend all day here."
"All right. Let's get this thingy and go." He led the team along the uneven floor. Water swished under their feet. There were scorch marks on the walls and the damage had never been repaired. "This part must have sustained damage during the descent," he mused.
"Hold up!" Rodney exclaimed and the team stopped again. "I'm reading some environmental fluctuations. The water hasn't breeched yet but power is at a bare minimum here."
"Is the air breathable?" John asked.
"Yes…but there is less oxygen."
"Great. Okay, let's make this quick." John gestured and they proceeded down a hallway. "Here." John led them into a room and paused.
It was utter chaos. Heavily damaged it bore blackened scorch marks and one wall was shattered, giving way to the next room that was plunged into darkness. There were brown stains on the floor which John took to be blood, aged for centuries to this creepy patina, a last testament to those who had died here. There were no bodies. The floor was dry but water was weeping along one wall, a bleeding eruption of tiny drops falling to the floor.
"Easy now." John stepped to one of the consoles and touched it. He grimaced as the power fluctuated, gasping like a living being taking its last breath. John could feel the pain of the city, the injuries as vivid now as they had been during the attack. He concentrated but the console was too damaged to give him much of anything.
"ZPM is nearly depleted," Rodney remarked, squatting to view the dilapidated device as it flickered. "They must have pulled it out to save what they could of this section."
"Or to protect whatever is here," Ronon replied. He was staring round at the damage, shaking his head. "I don't see any treasure."
"Perhaps it was destroyed," Teyla suggested. She eyed the wall where the water was collecting in tiny, tiny drops and felt a shiver.
"John, er, Colonel Sheppard." Moira was standing at the threshold to another room and was shining a flashlight into it.
John stepped to her, stood behind her. "What is it?"
"Look." Her flashlight danced across a jumble of machines and equipment and one large container in the center. "I can't be certain but that marking…"
John squinted, shining his P90 light across it. "I'll be damned…that's it." Moira began to step through but John halted her. "Whoa there, Moira. I'll take point. Stay behind me." John stepped over the crumbled threshold and into the other room. "Looks like a damaged Podium," he remarked, stepping carefully round the piles of debris.
"Did you find it?" Rodney asked. He quickly followed after Moira.
"Stop!"
At John's order all froze.
"John?" Moira asked, standing near the wreckage of a console.
"Water. And it's leaking badly. Stay there! This area is highly unstable. I'll get the thingy and we can go." The floor lurched under his feet. "Crap."
"Make it fast, John! The city's trying to power up and it's only weakening what little stability is down here!" Rodney warned.
John swore and made his way round the debris to the container. One side was smashed and he squatted. "It's empty. What the hell? The…oh." He shone his light and stared. There was a smaller container within the larger one, tipped onto its side. Something within it caught the light and reflected it back to John like a prism.
"John? John, what is it?" Rodney demanded, poised to aid his friend if needed.
"Is it a weapon?" Ronon asked, trying to see into the murky darkness of the room.
"Do you need aid, colonel?" Teyla asked.
"John?" Moira ignored his order and made her way to him. Water was seeping around her shoes and she felt a shiver as the cold was sharper here. "John?" She touched his shoulder, peering into the container as well.
John nearly jumped at her touch but the warmth of her fingers made him relax. "Well, it's certainly no Holy Grail," he quipped.
"It's certainly no Gae Assail either," she noted softly, leaning over him to peer into the darkness of the containers.
"What is it?" Rodney swore and made his way to them, impatient. "What is it?"
"Have a look," John invited, moving slightly to make room for his friend.
Rodney squatted and stared as the flashlights played across a small item. He stared. He shook his head. He opened his mouth but no words came, a rare occurrence for the normally voluble physicist. Finally he looked at John who met his gaze. "We're risking our lives for this? We came all this way for a paperweight?"