Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any profit!
Set in Season One, after "Underground" but before "The Storm".
Please review- I know that I have a lot to learn and I would like to improve. There are two more chapters to come, and I will be updating in a couple of days.
-SGA-
"Prime," guessed Lieutenant Ford over the radio.
"Wrong again!" crowed McKay gleefully. "Seriously Ford, it's not that hard, even if you are guessing. Still, you're military I suppose- allowances must be made."
"Well we can't all be good at everything, Doctor," answered Ford in a somewhat strained voice. Sheppard could hear the young lieutenant's frustration increasing, even over the radio.
"Try again. 94183?"
Pausing for a moment, Major John Sheppard considered whether or not to intervene. He was standing in the shade of a tall fir tree, nicely cool behind his aviator shades. Although the grass was of a golden brown colour rather than green, it was the motley collection of suns and moons gracing the sky that made it clear to all that this was an alien planet. It was one of the first he'd been to so far, actually, that was so clearly – well - alien. Even this one wasn't completely outlandish, what with the rather Earth-like evergreen forest swathing the hillside.
Deciding that McKay's ego shouldn't be allowed to run completely unchecked, he tapped his radio, opening a private channel to Ford.
"Not prime, Lieutenant," he informed casually, flicking his eyes back to his scientist to check up on his progress. Dr Probst was evidently nothing if not thorough, carefully recording and detailing each individual section of the crumbled ruins on both notepad and camcorder. Sheppard however was beginning to get a little bored, and thus had begun to follow McKay's game with Ford.
"Lucky guess," scoffed McKay over the radio, still using his 'I am superior to the lowly military grunt' voice.
"Two factors, Ford, 59 and 1607."
"Not a guess, Dr McKay. It has two factors, 59 and 1607. Right?" Ford's voice was still on the public channel. Chuckling to himself, Sheppard grinned. McKay would have no idea.
Silence reigned across the airwaves. Clearly it was taking McKay a little while to come up with a suitable retort.
"Thanks, Sir," came Ford's voice a little quietly, this time on a private channel of his own.
"No problem, Lieutenant. Can't let those pesky scientists have all the fun."
Glancing at his watch, Major Sheppard decided that it was probably time to start heading back to the others. Sheppard's team, with the addition of two scientists and an extra marine – Captain Janssen, a steady, reliable chap – had been exploring the ruins on M18-234 for the past several hours. Ringing the stargate and DHD with crumbled, gold-coloured stone once ornately carved and decorated, the ruins had reminded Sheppard of a trip to Stonehenge, years ago now. It had that same air of intrigue, and secrets long forgotten. Someone had clearly built this place for a purpose, although now all that remained were the unstable archways and worn away carvings. Closer to the DHD they were better preserved with shoulder height walls and some piles of what must have once been ceiling, implying that there may have been a structure around the stargate, in addition to the stone patterns further away up the hillside.
McKay et al. had been thrilled to bits, chattering on about Ancient influences in the architecture and speculating over the teasing hints of a 'treasure' mentioned briefly in the garbled and only semi-translated texts remaining on the walls. Sheppard, however, remained dubious. They had yet to find anything useful, and McKay had grudgingly admitted that they would have been able to detect a ZPM upon arrival using their sensors, whether it was full or partially depleted.
He and Captain Janssen had escorted Dr Probst to the brow of the hill as he traced and documented the swirling tendrils of crumbled stone. It had been tentatively dated at 5,000 years old, thus explaining the large amount of weathering that seemed to have taken place since its construction. It was curious that the relatively dense evergreen forest spreading away from the edges of the stones had not grown over them to a larger degree, but that was a question for the scientists, Sheppard decided. Gazing onto the tan meadow and knee high grass growing in and around the site below his vantage point, Sheppard didn't really see how this place could be of huge importance, but the German scientist had clearly found something that was proving to be at least somewhat interesting. Teyla was stuck with McKay who was evidently in full force today, and Ford was playing escort to Dr Paver, a nice young woman from archaeology. Could probably benefit from a little time in the gym, though, mused Sheppard. Not that we even have any gym equipment.
Before McKay could come up with another number for Ford, Sheppard switched back to the public channel to make an announcement.
"Time to head home, folks. Teyla, Ford, escort your scientists back to the gate. Myself, Captain Janssen and Doctor Probst will meet you there shortly. Sheppard out."
A chorus of acknowledgements crackled through the radio, along with a complaint from McKay that he was not a possession to be carted around, which the major chose to ignore.
Leaning forwards with a stretch, Sheppard motioned to Captain Janssen, who had been patrolling on the other side of Dr Probst.
"Time to go, Doctor," called Sheppard. The wiry, blond haired German glanced up quickly, looking like a child at school who had just had their favourite toy taken away.
"But, Major, these ruins, they are so fascinating, and can you not see this pattern, like this, see-" his hands flew in the air, sketching shapes. "It could mean-"
Sheppard's suspicions had been correct, Dr Probst had removed his radio. Still, the prime/not prime game and McKay's constant harping could have been interpreted as rather distracting, he supposed, so he decided to forgo the security lecture and let it slide. After all, Probst, despite being the furthest from the gate, was being escorted by both himself and Janssen.
"Don't worry, Doc. We can come back soon, but it's time to check in at Atlantis. Besides, I don't know about you, but I'm thinking it's just about time for dinner. Wouldn't you agree, Captain?"
"Yes, sir!" answered the marine, thoroughly grounded in protocol and a little thrown by his CO's casual demeanour. It made Sheppard a little uneasy, but he figured that his men – God, it was still kind of scary to think of it that way – that they would get used to his rather… individual command style.
Of course, having never been in command of an entire base before, he was still working that out himself. But still. First things first.
"Come on," said Sheppard, moving out of the shade into the hot sunshine to help Dr Probst make the descent. Captain Janssen picked up the remaining pieces of science equipment, and all three began to negotiate their way down the hillside around the gnarled mess of tree roots and broken blocks of stone, interspersed with razor sharp brown coloured grass. Wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead, Major John Sheppard decided that he was more than ready for a nice cold shower back on Atlantis. There was plenty for the scientists to investigate back at the city, anyway.
-SGA-
Breathing a barely audible sigh of relief, Teyla greeted Lieutenant Ford as she arrived at the gate. It had become clear to her that Doctor McKay did not like walking very far at all - especially on such a hot day - even if the reward was a look at some "highly interesting" ruins. Teyla admired the physicist greatly and in part viewed him as a friend, but even she had her limits. Such verbosity and egocentricity were rare personality traits among her people, where survival meant banding together against the wraith, sacrificing perhaps the desire of the individual to rest and be idle to the greater need of the community for shelter and sustenance, indeed survival itself. Still, she was becoming increasingly aware of the fact that there was more to this man than met the eye on the first, second or even third glance.
"I believe the Major will be joining us shortly, Aiden," said Teyla, smiling. "Dr Probst wished only to go a short distance further than Dr McKay did, so we should not have long to wait."
"Good," replied Ford. "I don't like this place." He glanced around a little uneasily. The gate was surrounded by broken walls and archways, obstructing his view. Still, they had not found anything on the planet to cause them undue alarm, and the MALP probe had not shown any lifesigns. It was probably nothing. "Plus, I'm boiling. I used to think the summers back home were hot, but two suns? Jeez."
Teyla smiled. She had travelled to this planet before to visit these ruins and knew just how hot it could get, especially during the summer season of this world. The ruins had been a sacred site to a group of people she had once traded with. They had lived on another world and had travelled here biannually on a pilgrimage. Until they had been wiped out by the wraith, that is. She had been correct in her assumption that the newcomers from Earth would wish to see this place.
"I can't believe how rubbish you are at math, Lieutenant," grumbled a panting McKay, who had arrived just after Teyla. Apparently he had decided to try to catch his breath before speaking. Now, however, anyone was fair game. "I mean, one correct answer after an hour and a half? Seriously, what do they teach you at military marine man school?"
Dr Paver jumped in just before Ford could himself.
"Well, how many gym lessons did you have to take during your physics degree, Doctor?" Her brunette hair bounced a little as she flicked her head towards Rodney. Ford had arguably had the 'easiest' scientist to escort. Dr Paver had worked quietly and conscientiously, admiring and examining the ancient site with interest, and occasionally joining in over the radio to take Rodney down a peg or two. Or to try to, anyway.
"I'll have you know that I do not simply hold a mere degree in physics, Doctor. I have three PhD's in the real sciences, which ultimately makes me much more qualified than an archaeologist, for goodness' sakes," sneered Rodney.
Teyla rested on a section of broken wall as she listened to the two colleagues debate with each other, one defending the merits of her specialty and the other attacking. Sometimes these people still confused her. She had asked Rodney what a PhD was, but had found herself lost in a diatribe involving his thesis on theoretical quantum physics. Or some such mouthful, anyway. Perhaps Major Sheppard would have been the better person to ask, she decided.
A rustle of leaves and a snapping twig somewhere behind their position drew her attention instantly. However, expecting to see Major Sheppard appear, she did not reach for her weapon, instead merely turning in anticipation.
That was a mistake.