itle: Desert Orkids
Author: Tipper
Disclaimer: Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate: SG-1 and their characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story was created for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s), not me. Thank you to the amazing writers, producers, actors, crew and directors who bring these shows to life.
Rating: Gen/T – mystery, suspense, action/adventure
Status: WIP
Characters: Sheppard's Team, but it centers on McKay.
A/N: This turned into a novel. It's a murder mystery, meaning I have OCs and red herrings and lots of world building. I was scared of posting it, even of finishing it, for a long time (I started this a year and a half ago). It's not what I typically write (i.e. action), so I'm well outside the old comfort zone. It's also unabashedly McKay-centric, though I still try to remain an equal opportunity pain-bringer. :) I hope you like it. Oh, and one other thing -- this is a not so subtle homage to Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe. The names of the OCs are all Stout's, and the planet's name and that of the cities in the canyon are all due to Wolf's love of orchids.
Description: Sheppard's Team gets caught up in the politics and murder plots of a desert world. Everyone wants something from them—but can they survive what that is?
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CHAPTER ONE: ORKIDIA
The desert stretched from horizon to horizon, a study in reds, oranges and browns. Only a few odd shaped boulders interrupted the smooth waves, rising from the shifting, sandy surface like blood red, solitary ruins. Nothing else was visible, except the Stargate itself—the shimmering metal circle appearing out of place in the monochromatic landscape.
It was an unforgiving place, but beautiful.
To those adjusted and acclimated to its nuances, this planet was also home. They called it Orkidia.
To the Atlantians, it was P4G-174, the planet with some really nifty Ancient doodads on it.
Two people met them as they emerged from the Gate: The gray-haired woman, Dame Perrit, chief ambassador for the Orkidians, and her eldest son, Dazy, a middle-aged man of some girth and an almost overwhelming jolliness. Perrit wore a large, heavy gold medallion around her neck, the blue crystal it framed glowing softly. It was an Ancient device, one not requiring the gene, that formed an invisible wind-barrier around its wearer and anyone Perrit chose to include inside the bubble with her, though it did nothing for the oppressive heat or sun. Stepping from the wind into her presence, therefore, was a bit like stepping into a bubble of serenity.
Both Perrit and Dazy offered wide smiles from beneath their wide brimmed hats, their expressions filled with both welcome and, to no small extent, hopeful anticipation.
Elizabeth smiled brightly, greeting them by clasping her arms in front of her and offering a small bow, which they both returned. It was the motion with had prompted Lieutenant Cadman to name this place the "I Dream of Jeannie" planet when she and the rest of her team had first visited here about six months ago. Since that time, trade had been prosperous and plentiful...at least until recently.
"Doctor Weir," Perrit greeted, stepping forward and offering her hand to be shaken, which Elizabeth did, "It is very good to finally meet you in person."
"And you, Ambassador," Elizabeth replied. She turned and held a hand out to indicate the team with her. "May I present Colonel Sheppard, Doctor McKay, Teyla Emmagen and Ronon Dex."
Perrit's smile grew, her eyes lighting upon Rodney, not hiding her excitement. Dazy stepped right up to the Canadian scientist, holding out two meaty, broad hands and grabbing one of Rodney's tightly.
"You are the Doctor McKay that Lieutenant Cadman has told us about?" he asked. McKay's face creased with an unhappy smile as he let his hand be shaken vigorously, the other man almost smothering Rodney's smaller hand between his two sweaty palms.
"Yeah, unfortunately," Rodney replied tiredly, before tilting his head up a little to look up at the sky through his dark sunglasses, a sneer on his lips as he squinted in the overwhelming brightness. "It is always this hot? It feels like the second circle of hell—"
"Rodney," Elizabeth warned.
"-luva place you've got here," McKay finished, giving her an arch look. Dazy, meanwhile, only smiled more, pumping Rodney's hand a few times more before letting it go.
"It's much cooler down in the canyon," he offered. "Not to worry." Winking at Rodney, which caused the scientist to recoil a little, Dazy turned to grin broadly at the others. Rodney unsubtly wiped his hand on his pants to rid it of the clamminess as Dazy went the rounds and shook the other's hands.
"You are all most, most welcome!" he said cheerfully before returning to McKay again. He grabbed at Rodney's hand once more and held it firmly, ignoring Rodney's grimace. "You have no idea how glad we are to see you!"
Rodney's answering expression was a study in misery, and he pulled his hand free as soon as he could.
"Of course you are," he muttered. Teyla, at his side, nudged him hard, so he put on a fake smile. "And we're just tickled to be here," he added with a sigh.
Oh, yeah...Rodney was not a happy man.
Elizabeth had requested this formal meeting with the Orkidian ambassador and her son, the Orkidian's lead scientist, to discuss future trade, and also to learn why the Orkidians had stopped trading with them about three weeks ago. The Orkidians, not shy about their troubles, had explained over the radio that one of their three massive water pumps (which were the nifty Ancient doodads that had gotten the Atlantians so excited) had failed and, despite all their efforts, they could not fix it. If no solution was found soon, it could force the evacuation of at least a third of their people, and no one wanted to leave.
Elizabeth, of course, immediately offered up Rodney.
To which his immediate response was, "Excuse me? What, suddenly I'm the plumber of the Pegasus Galaxy?"
He called it forced servitude. He spent the three days leading up to the visit dragging one foot behind him every time he saw Elizabeth in the halls, as if he had a ball and chain. He griped about desert environments and his delicate skin. He moaned about the dangers of dehydration with his sensitive constitution. He muttered about getting sand in everything...and everywhere (often pulling at his trousers in uncomfortable anticipation). And he whined most about being dragged away from exploring the city and uncovering the secrets of Pegasus "just to fix some old Ancient leaky pipes."
And, of course...it only made Elizabeth even more determined that he go.
Consequently, he was in an even fouler mood than usual, and was about to let poor Dazy know just how foul when, on his right, Teyla nudged him even harder. Sighing, he rolled his eyes (luckily hidden behind the sunglasses) and turned his head to the side, muttering about the dangers of sand-mites and the possibility of twisting his ankle as they walked the dunes.
Dame Perrit was unfazed, as practiced a diplomat as Weir. The Orkidian ambassador smiled as she turned back to Elizabeth, once more doing the "I Dream of Jeannie" bow.
"We have prepared a welcome feast in your honor," she offered, straightening again, "if you would like to follow—"
"Actually," McKay said, holding up a finger, "if you don't mind, could we go straight to the water pump? I have some projects back home that I—"
"Rodney!" Elizabeth chastised again, sending him a chilling glare. "That's enough." Rodney pressed his lips into a thin-line, but he didn't speak again. Adjusting the straps on his knapsack, he looked off into the distance, eyes tracing the sea of rippled dunes. Worse than a sulking child who had just been told by his mother to stop making a scene in the store.
"Well, actually," Perrit said, offering him an appraising look, "if Doctor McKay wishes to inspect the water pump first, that's all right with us. It's on the way back to the canyon, anyway."
McKay immediately straightened, thinking perhaps he'd won himself a quicker trip home, eyebrows perked up as he looked with hope at Elizabeth. She returned the look with a long-suffering one—one which promised she wasn't happy—but then shrugged. Rodney grinned and turned back to Perrit and Dazy.
"Great, shall we go?"
Perrit inclined her head to her son, and Dazy spoke.
"Follow me," he grinned, sweeping out a hand. McKay stepped right up next to him and the two led the way along the packed-sand road away from the Stargate, followed closely by Teyla, who was on "McKay-duty" at the moment. Perrit and Elizabeth came next, the two women already discussing possible future agreements. Sheppard and Ronon took up the rear. The two men watched the surroundings with trained eyes, looking for trouble.
Fact was, Ronon was acting uneasy. He had some grievance against these people, though Sheppard had not been able to learn what. It was enough, though, to put Sheppard on a higher alert than normal, and the two of them were planning on keeping careful watch for so long as they stayed here.
But all they saw was sand. Lots and lots of shifting, lifting, changing sand.
If anyone was out there, they were well hidden.
Near the front, Teyla watched as well, her sharp eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary—whether it be a flash of color on the horizon, or movement not in keeping with the hot, restless environment, or a sound different from the constant, oscillating whirr of the wind in their ears.
But it was quiet. For now.
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TBC