"Incoming wormhole."
"Thank you, Chuck." Dr. Elizabeth Weir turned back to the stargate, watching the chevrons light up, as the gate appeared to spin. She could see the lights of the great city Atlantis in her peripheral vision, and she took a deep breath of what she knew was filtered ocean air. Letting the breath out slowly, she watched the gigantic KAWOOSH and clasped her hands in front of her in an unconscious action of nervousness.
"Reading Dr. McKay's IDC." Chuck informed her after a moment of staring at the screen.
"Lower the shield." Elizabeth told him, unclasping her hands and walking toward the stairs. It was ironic how she always said lower the shield, when the shield would just disintegrate like a giant puddle of water vaporising in less than a second. Elizabeth shook it off and waited at the top of the stairs as Teyla, McKay, Ronan, and finally Colonel Sheppard walked through the event horizon. McKay turned to Colonel Sheppard.
"I did not aggravate the civilians on purpose, Sheppard, I just thought it would be best to return to Atlantis to a long-deserved decent meal rather than stay for their solemn dancing." Rodney McKay took a breath, "they had humor worse than the Genii." He muttered.
"I thought they were fine." Ronan told him in his most growl-y voice.
"Oh, of course you would." Rodney said in his most sarcastic voice.
"I take it negotiations didn't go so well?" Dr. Weir asked Sheppard with the hint of a smile.
"What makes you say that?" Sheppard asked, glancing in Rodney's direction with a frown.
"Negotiations were very...bumpy." Teyla gave her input. As always, searching for the most diplomatic word. Elizabeth couldn't resist a nod and a smile.
"You aren't exactly carting back loads of food." Dr. Weir pointed out. Sheppard nodded over to McKay.
"Well, McKay here apparently thought that cutting rations even more was a good idea this time." He told her with his ticked-off-at-McKay voice. Everyone looked at the scientist, and it took Rodney a moment to process that their glances were not of the friendly sort.
"Well, pardon me if I was just a tad bit excited at several ancient devices they offered!" He complained, "really...cool-looking ones too." The last part was muttered.
"Well, let's see them." Dr. Weir said crossing her arms. Rodney dug in his tactical vest and pulled out three identical-looking black devices. They looked kind of like hand held radios, but didn't have any speakers.
"You chose this...over food?" Elizabeth asked in amazement. Rodney put the devices back.
"They wouldn't let me study them in their labs, and we can always go back when we do another knowledge trade-off." He looked sufficiently offended.
"What did we give them in return?" Elizabeth asked Sheppard.
"Some knowledge about the wraith, but mostly gate addresses to compromised areas." He told her, "apparently, they were getting into all sorts of trouble when gating off-world." He paused and bit his lip, "oh, and they want us to come back tomorrow to suggest some more trading deals." Sheppard rushed. Elizabeth winced,
"You know why were sending you off-world, John." She lectured him, "because we need food." She glanced Rodney's way, "I know these people look like they have legitimate technology to offer..." she looked Sheppard straight in the eye "...but I can't risk my commanding military officer going off-world for less important matters than what's at stake." She took a breath, "now, Major Lorne's team has found a race of people desperately in need of reinforcements. I'll brief you in my office in half an hour, I know you've had a long day, but I need Beckett to clear you for your next mission."
Sheppard, Ronan, Teyla, and Rodney all walked toward the hallway under the control room panel. Rodney's stomach growled.
"Didn't she mean, 'eat lunch first', because I'm starving." Rodney asked. Sheppard sighed. It was going to be a long day.