This is one long chapter...I couldn't see a way to break it up neatly, so, you get it all!
THE THERMOPYLAE
By TIPPER
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CHAPTER TWO: SNAKES ON A PLANET
McKay screamed and Sheppard acted on instinct, throwing himself forward into the other man and sending them into the large thorn bush at McKay's back. The whine of Ronon's gun discharging, the explosive rattling of Teyla's P90 and the Custarkian's pistols firing burst over their heads.
Sheppard kept himself pressed down on top of McKay, holding him down inside the bush as the fight waged over their heads. Twisting a little, ignoring the pained hiss from McKay at the movement, he managed to look up over his right shoulder and through the branches, watching as the snake absorbed the fire, hissing and snapping its jaws at its attackers.
The hide on it had to be incredibly thick to take all that abuse, but it wasn't impenetrable. Trickles of red oozed from tiny holes that appeared in the yellowish-green skin on its neck and belly. Slowly, it was being forced back, away from the two men...until, with a sudden, lightning quick movement, it twisted around and dove back into the long, wheat colored grass...and disappeared. The only sign of it's passage was the rippling of the wheat as it quickly slid away in the direction of the distant mountains.
It was long gone in just seconds.
Sheppard exhaled a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. Beneath him, his head on the other man's chest, he could feel McKay breathing quickly and shaking a little. Slowly, he levered himself up so he could look up at McKay's face. The scientist's expression was pinched and pale, his eyes tightly shut.
"You okay?" Sheppard asked, not liking the man's color.
"Sir!" Lorne's panicked voice echoed abruptly over the radio. "Sir, we heard gunfire! Are you all right? Sir!"
Pushing himself up a little Sheppard grabbed his radio, "Hang tight, Major. We ran into some trouble, but it may be handled. Give us a few minutes." He clicked off and looked back at McKay, who had hissed again in pain when Sheppard had moved. "Rodney?"
"Get...," McKay drew in another shallow breath, "Get off me." It was whispered, half plea, half demand.
Sheppard frowned a little, but put his hands down on either side of McKay to push off...and cried out in pain as they were cut on the thorns of the bush they landed in. Sudden, horrible realization had him practically leaping up off of McKay and then reaching in to pull the scientist out after him. The scientist ended up bringing half the now broken bramble bush with him, the thorns gripping at the fabric of his clothes like burrs.
McKay whimpered a little as he got upright, and Sheppard turned him around, pulling some of the larger branches off of him. His trousers were mostly fine, most of his lower body not being inside the bush, but the sleeves and shoulders of his jacket were in tatters, revealing tiny cuts and welts all up and down his arms. The thick black vest, including the pack McKay always bore and the laptop, saved most of his back from the same abuse, but not completely—there were some tears on his hips, which were going to smart. There were even cuts on his neck and, probably, though they weren't visible, on his head, if the few visible scratches on his face were any indication.
"Aw, shit, McKay," Sheppard hissed, knowing all the paper-thin cuts had to sting like hell. "I'm sorry." McKay just gave a sort of pained, angry grunt in reply, his eyes still not fully open yet. They remained squinted, like someone fighting back a terrible headache.
"Are you two all right?" Teyla asked, suddenly by their side with Fallen and Innis, her eyes going back and forth between them and the grassy plain—still alert for danger. McKay opened his eyes wide enough to give her a bleak look, but Sheppard nodded.
"Yeah. McKay's got a few cuts--"
"A few cuts?" McKay snarked. "If someone hadn't shifted around while pressing me down into—"
"But other than that, we're fine," Sheppard finished, cutting him off. "Thanks," he added to Teyla, his tone softening, "Saved our lives."
"Fallen saw it first," Teyla said, indicating the Cutsarkian with her head and wincing a little as she watched McKay shakily pull some of the smaller branches off of him, taking fabric with it. "You have him to thank. If he had not been as alert..."
"I don't understand it," the young blond man said, almost dazedly, still watching the grass around them with too wide eyes. "The kalakala are nocturnal—they rarely come out during the day. I don't know what brought it out now. I'm so, so sorry. Perhaps, bringing your jumper ship might have been a good idea after all. I just never thought..."
He trailed off at the same time Ronon finally reached them, the Satedan walking backwards with his gun in both hands, also keeping his eyes on the long grass.
Ronon glanced at McKay, who looked less pained and more annoyed now as he plucked the last of the thorns from his pants (Sheppard wasn't going to go there), then at the colonel himself, making sure they were both okay, before returning his gaze to the fields.
"Are there likely to be any more of those things?" he asked, his tone gruff.
"No," Fallen said, still sounding ashamed. "Really, they're rarely seen creatures, almost extinct. Plus, they almost never attack humans—mainly because they know we fight back. I can only think we must be near that one's nest or something. And since we wounded it...I don't think it'll try again. We're probably safe. Though," he shrugged a little, looking back towards the trail, "we should get back to the trail now."
"Colonel Sheppard?" This time it was Beckett on the radio, sounding worried and a little fatalistic at the same time. "Colonel, are you sure you're all right? Should I get help? Or do you need me to come down there?"
Sheppard sighed, grabbing his radio, "It's all right, Carson. We're good."
"You sure, son? What were you shooting at? And don't say Rodney."
Sheppard smiled, and McKay snorted, but didn't say anything as he was still picking at his outfit.
"Just some...," Sheppard licked his lips, looking in the direction the snake had disappeared, "Just some local wildlife. But I think we're okay."
"Perhaps we should return to the village," Teyla offered, looking at McKay worriedly. He was currently looking at the cuts on his left arm, having shoved up the torn sleeve, grimacing at the tiny pinpricks of blood drying on it, his limbs still trembling slightly. "Major Lorne could probably get a jumper—"
"But we're so close now!" Innis said quickly, a hint of whine in her soft voice. "It's not even a mile from here! I..." She paused, looking at McKay, then seemed to deflate in the face of his humorless gaze, her head lowering. "No, of course, we should turn around. The crinkle bush is not something I'd like to be pushed into myself." She gave him a soft smile, turning to look back in the direction they had come from, the direction of their village in the mountains, "We shall head back up to the Gate, and get you home. Perhaps you could return someday when—"
"Oh, hey, wait, now...hang on a minute," Sheppard held a hand up, smiling brightly. "We can go on. McKay's tougher than he looks," he glanced at the man next to him, smile broadening, "aren't you?"
"What?" McKay frowned in confusion.
"Manly, that's McKay," Sheppard said, grinning mercilessly as he met the scientist's gaze. "He can tough out anything. It's part of the reason he's on our team."
McKay's eyebrows lifted high on his face, "Are you kidding?"
"Come on, Ronon," Sheppard said, glancing at the Satedan, "Back me up." Ronon frowned for a second, searching Sheppard's eyes, then suddenly nodded.
"Oh, right, yeah," Ronon added, "McKay's tough, all right. He's been through tons worse. Seen him carrying Sheppard through a swamp, an arrow through his leg. Really resilient guy."
McKay's deer in headlights expression was wide open on his face, turning to look at Ronon like he had two heads.
"He can be a real hero, our McKay," Sheppard agreed, smiling at Innis and, by her side, Fallen. "A few thorns won't stop him. He'll persevere, because that's who he is. A persevere-er." He frowned a little at the awful word, but covered it up with another blinding smile.
"What are you two talking about?" McKay asked, frowning. "Are you on something? Did that snake spray some sort of hallucinogenic substance or something?" His eyes went suddenly wide, "Oh my God, are you sick? Am I sick?" He looked down at his arm again, this time with panic, "What if it's in my bloodstream already because of these cuts and I'm—"
"Now, now," Sheppard had pulled out a bandage from his vest and slapped it hard against McKay's chest, shutting him up, "stop being so modest. Pretending you don't know what we're talking about, and pretending to be afraid of a few scratches. Innis isn't falling for it," he turned hazel eyes on the blonde Custarkian woman, who had lifted her head at hearing her name, "are you, Innis?"
The woman's eyes opened up, "Oh, uh...well..."
"No one I'd rather have at my back," Ronon affirmed.
"Makes the rest of us look like wimps when push comes to shove, I can tell you," Sheppard said.
McKay was about to say something else, when Innis spoke behind him.
"Really?" Innis said quietly, "Is that true, Doctor McKay?"
Rodney turned around to look at her, and found her actually looking at him with something other than pity or bewilderment (which had been her two primary expressions since they had met)...she was actually looking at him appraisingly.
And McKay's voice caught in his throat.
She really was very, very pretty. The sun was catching the blond hair on her head, making it shine, and her blue eyes crinkled slightly as she offered him a slightly bewildered smile, eyelashes fluttering a little as she blushed prettily under his scrutiny.
"Uh..." McKay's mouth moved, but no words came out.
"Come on, tough guy," Sheppard said, clapping McKay hard on the back, "tell her you can go on!"
"I, uh," McKay blinked a few times, swallowed convulsively, then looked over at Sheppard, who just smiled back, then back to Innis. She looked hopeful...and, yeah, really pretty. Slowly, he nodded, "Yeah. Okay. Sure. I can go on."
She practically bounced, smiling brightly. "Wonderful!" Her eyes sparkled as she took a couple steps backwards, sweeping her arm out towards the trail. "You'll see," she promised. "We're really very close. And there is water next to the ship – you'll be able to clean some of those cuts, Doctor McKay. And when you see the ship, you'll know it was worth it. I promise you!" With a final nod, she pivoted and started walking, "It really isn't far!"
"Great," McKay mumbled, shoulders slumping as he realized he'd just given up the chance to turn around. Teyla had kept her head down during the whole exchange between Sheppard, Ronon and McKay, and, when she sidled past, she refused to meet his eye, obviously fighting to keep the smile off her face. Fallen went next, catching up to his sister and Teyla, to resume their lead positions. Sheppard clapped McKay on an unripped portion of his shoulder and pushed him forward.
"Onwards, eh, McKay?" he said, throwing a grin back at Ronon, who was back to watching their six, and the Satedan gave a conspiratorial nod in return.
"That was really, really low," the scientist muttered at his friend, "even for you. Using my ego against me like that."
"Yeah, but," Sheppard shrugged, "it's just so easy to do. Hard to resist really."
"I hate you," McKay said then, giving Sheppard the dirtiest look he had. "You know that right?"
"Yup. I think you tell me that once a mission. Sometimes twice." Sheppard was still watching the grass intently, but the easy-going smirk on his face was genuine.
"But this time," McKay added, "I hate the Laurel to your Hardy just as much." He glanced back at Ronon, throwing a glare worthy of a Wraith. The smirk Ronon gave in return was disturbingly Sheppard like. McKay rolled his eyes, facing forward again and resuming his work of plucking at his sleeves as he walked.
"Hey," Sheppard said after a moment, "think you might want to start using the life signs detector again?"
McKay huffed, "Oh, so now you think we need it, eh?" A touch clumsily, he whipped the scanner out. A few beeps, and his shoulders grew relaxed. "Just us," he confirmed.
"Just keep an eye out for fast moving snakes," Sheppard suggested.
The scientist snorted, not looking up from the scanner. "I swear, if I die on this mission, Sheppard, I'm so blaming you."
The colonel's smirk grew.
"And Ronon," McKay added, glaring over his shoulder. "I'm going to haunt you both."
A chuckle came from behind them, Ronon having obviously heard that, and Sheppard just nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."
"I'd make a really obnoxious ghost too," McKay said, "You think I'm bad alive? Oh...!" He wagged a finger at Sheppard, ready to describe exactly how, then frowned at the knowing smirk on the other man's face. Growling in frustration at his inability to get the upper hand, he turned and jogged a few steps forward so that he got away from Sheppard and closer to Teyla. The colonel let him, his smirk fading a little as he caught the scientist scratching at his hurt arm.
They were still moving steadily downhill now, deeper into the shallow valley.
Sheppard's smile fell fully as he returned his full attention to their surroundings. Glancing back, he saw Ronon was similarly focused on scrutinizing everything around them, his eyes as sharp as ever. He'd had fun helping him egg on McKay, but whereas before the snake had attacked, he had been alert for trouble, now he looked as if he were expecting it.
Joke as they might, they all knew the dangers of a mission like this. Giant snakes were the least of their worries. Sheppard trusted Teyla, yes. But he didn't trust the rest of the Pegasus galaxy. He'd never let McKay know, but part of him too...was extremely worried this was a trap.
But, as Elizabeth had said, the possibility of getting another space ship was worth the risk.
And he did trust Teyla. It was that, more than anything, that kept him moving forward.
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"Stop scratching," Sheppard hissed, shoving at McKay from behind. "It's driving me crazy!"
"It's driving you crazy!" McKay snarled in reply, pushing down the rough tatters of his right sleeve over his bright red, rash covered arm and glaring back at Sheppard. "I'm the one with the grievous wounds here!"
"Grievous?" the colonel's eyebrows lifted up. "They're like paper cuts, McKay! I think you'll survive."
"Yes! Paper cuts! Exactly! Paper cuts are evil—the worst kind of wound! They sting and throb and burn for days! And you can't do anything with your hands because—"
"I know what paper cuts are, McKay," Sheppard snapped. "I'm just saying, that, unless you want some of those scratches to get infected, you need to stop itch—"
"And unless you have some cortisone in that vest of yours," McKay snapped back, railroading over the other man's words, "I think you'd best keep your opinions to yourself!"
"How can I? You haven't stopped griping about your arms and neck since we started walking again. If I don't talk, you start to repeat yourself. It's worse than a broken record. Oh, poor McKay, suffering from a handful of tiny little scratches..."
"A handful? Did you not see my arms?" McKay threw back the torn sleeve again. "Look!"
Sheppard grimaced at the sight. Okay, so he had a point. Lots of scratches.
"Well," his upper lip curling a little in disgust at the red arm, white tracks from McKay's nails still visible on the obviously irritated skin, "it wouldn't look so bad if you hadn't been scratching at it non-stop..."
"Again, not helpful," McKay criticized. "Cortisone, helpful. Useless words of advice? Not so helpful."
"At least try to stop scratching! I don't even think you're—"
"Colonel Sheppard?" Fallen waved at them from where he was standing a hundred yards away on the top of what looked like a low rise, his voice raised to cover the distance, "We've reached the site where the ship is." Next to him, Innis was looking forward down the hill, as was Teyla. There was uncertainty in Teyla's stance, and, when McKay, Sheppard and Ronon finally reached her, they understood why.
Before them...there was nothing to see. Just more landscape. Yes, they knew the ship was supposed to be cloaked but...still...
"This way," Innis said, stepping off the rise to head down the low hillock into what appeared to be the central basin of this low valley.
The sun was high in the sky as SGA-1 moved to follow her, the long wheat-colored grass finally giving way as they stopped on the edge of a football field sized meadow. Behind them, the pine tree-covered granite mountains housing the Stargate and the Cutsarkian village were hidden inside the shadow of some wispy clouds, but down here the sun was in full regalia, and even McKay couldn't ignore the prettiness of it all.
The meadow itself was lush and wet, covered in hundreds of tiny pink, blue and yellow wildflowers and thick, carpet like green grass. Here and there they could see the sparkling silver lines of dozens of tiny streams coursing through it, feeding the damp loving flora. A few low bushes were scattered about, and one or two stunted trees, but, generally, it was open...and muddy as hell. The middle of it, in particular, looked to be one big mud trap. McKay grimaced as he sank nearly up to his ankle in a really boggy area and pulled his booted foot out with a sickly squelch.
"We're here," Innis said, smiling back at them. She pointed across the marsh, "It's over there."
Four surprised faces looked back at her. There was nothing but open space on the other side, and more wheat grass. A cloaked jumper, despite being invisible, still left a depression, but nothing pressed the grasses down on the other side. If there was a cloaked ship there, there should at least be an indication.
"I know," she admitted, grinning prettily, "you don't see anything. Believe me, we were just as surprised as you." She turned and moved forward, her own booted feet squishing and sinking as she proceeded to walk straight through the middle of the wet meadow. She got stuck a few times, sinking up to her calves at points, her focus on the ground as she obviously sought the best way through.
"Wouldn't it make sense to go around this marsh thing?" McKay called after her, once more scratching at his arms. "I mean...some of those bogs might be...dangerous. Might get stuck, you know? Or, I don't know, sink? I had a friend who sank up to his chest jumping into what he thought was just a puddle once when I was a kid."
"You had friends when you were a kid?" Sheppard asked, unable to help himself. McKay rolled his eyes.
"Yes, I had friends when I was a kid," he replied snippily. "But what I'm saying is," he was almost yelling now, as Innis had gotten quite far away from her brother and the four members of SGA-1 still standing on the edge of the marsh, "you shouldn't be going that way!"
"Oh yes, she should," Fallen said, also smiling and moving to follow his sister, his feet sinking more with each step.
"Wait," Teyla frowned, "Doctor McKay is right, it does not make sense to cross through the middle of that marsh. Going around is easier and far less hazardous."
"We know." Fallen just grinned. "And that's the point, though, isn't it?"
"Huh?"
"Your normal person would indeed go around," Fallen explained, "circling the drier edges or sticking to the handful of rocks like stepping stones," He gestured to the sun bleached rocks that, indeed, popped up in certain locations from out of the muck. "But not us."
"Clearly not," McKay said, not holding back his trademark sarcasm.
"We were out here, just taking a relaxing walk, when my sister made the absurd claim that she could walk through the center of the marsh without getting stuck. So I dared her to try," Fallen continued, either oblivious to McKay's tone or uncaring, "She took that dare. And that's how we found it."
"Found...it?" McKay looked again towards Innis, and saw she was now standing almost right in the middle of the swamp, her hands on her hips and her smile huge on her face. "Found what?"
"This!" she yelled. She raised an arm and slammed a fist into the air behind her...
And a resounding clang of metal echoed across the valley.
With a laugh, Innis turned around and beat at what looked like thin air, and the invisible metal rang under her fists like someone hitting the side of a metal boat.
"Oh my God," McKay said, mouth falling open, "there really is something there."
"She literally just walked right into it," Fallen said, his eyes glittering with excitement.
"Hunh," Sheppard grunted, looking askance at McKay, "did she now."
"Well," the scientist admitted, "I did say it would probably be the only way. So, I was right." He shrugged, smiling smugly.
"How big is it?" Teyla asked.
"As wide as four huts pushed together," Fallen said, "but we're not sure how tall it is. We haven't found any good handholds to try climbing it yet. The hull is curved, rounded...every time we try to climb it...we just slide off." He gave a weak, embarrassed shrug.
"Then," Sheppard frowned, "how did you know it's a ship?"
"Because," Fallen gestured at them to follow him now as he stepped into the muck, "We found a way in."
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Innis was waiting for them impatiently as the four member of SGA-1 and her brother finally reached her, bouncing a little. She bent down a little when they got to her, and extended an arm inside the cloak—making it look like it was being cut off.
"It took us almost a month of searching the outer hull before finding this hatch," she explained, "but we did. I don't think it's the main door—which we still haven't located, partly because we haven't been able to get past some of the other doors inside—and...well, it may not even be a door, but it gets us inside." Nodding up at them, she bent the rest of the way over and then, using her hands to guide her, pushed herself into something that didn't look very large..
She squirmed a little, obviously having some difficulty, and it was sort of odd watching as more and more of her disappeared, until just her legs were visible. For some reason, Sheppard was reminded of the magician's trick of cutting a person in half—but still seeing their feet moving.
Then, curiously, she must have pulled herself the rest of the way inside, because she was suddenly gone.
"I'm in!" her voice echoed from the nothingness. "The next person can slide in!"
"Hmm," McKay knelt down, reaching out to touch the edges of whatever it was Innis had just crawled through.
"Hang on," Sheppard said, getting next to McKay and waving him back. The scientist accepted this without a word, backing off to let the colonel go first...just in case there was something waiting for them on the other side. He absently scratched at a torn bit of fabric on his hip as he waited.
Getting down on one knee, Sheppard felt the edges of what felt like a square window, noting absently that the metal was quite rough under his fingertips – rusty? Pulling out his 9MM, he then ducked his head and arm into the "space," leading with the weapon.
He found himself looking up a short, rectangular metal chute, the smell of old metal filling his nostrils. There was indeed a layer of rust on the edges of the hatch—as if it had been open and exposed to the elements for a very, very long time. It was just wide enough for a couple of bodies to squeeze through at the same time—McKay would probably be able to get up it without pulling his pack off.
It was lit by artificial light shed from the room on the far side, where Innis was waiting for him. She was peering back at him down the chute, smiling brightly. She waved at his face, then gestured for him to come in.
"Are you coming?" she asked.
Sheppard didn't move for a moment, squinting a little and using his ears. He could hear her breathing softly, but nothing else. Lifting his eyebrows, he nodded and reached forward with his left arm. His reach was just long enough for his hand to catch the end of the chute, and he used it to pull himself forward, sliding in sideways so that he could keep the gun in his right hand and raised.
As he squirmed up the chute — escape hatch? — he found himself noticing that, curiously, the metal was dark and unadorned, making it unlike the other Ancient ships they'd come across. It was also, thankfully, free of any organic materials, which belied the idea that it could be Wraith.
McKay was going to love puzzling this one out.
Soon enough, he was through to the room with Innis, and, as he pulled himself the rest of the way through, he put his gun back in its holster and just marveled at the oddly shaped room
He felt like he had just climbed into a tube that had been cut in half. The wall behind him, containing the open chute, was curved, while not more than five feet in front of him was a perfectly flat wall. The curved wall met the flat one above and below, such that there was no ceiling or floor per se—making the footing a little treacherous. He slipped a little on the metal floor, his mud covered boots not helping the situation, until he caught himself with a hand and a foot to the flat wall. Looking to the left and right, he found the "tube" extended for a few dozen yards in each direction, ending at more flat walls containing more square hatches. The one to his left was open, but the room beyond was dark.
The whole thing was lit up at intervals by circular lights a bit like halogen lights, and under each were more hatches along both the curved wall—obviously leading outside—and along the flat wall—obviously leading deeper inside. All those hatches were shut.
"Sheppard?" McKay called, and Sheppard turned around to see McKay's head framed by the metal at the bottom of the chute.
"Yeah, come on in," Sheppard said in reply, crouching so that he could see more of the scientist. "But it's pretty tight in here. Might want to suggest Ronon stays outside."
"I think he's already planning on it," McKay said. "To watch for more snakes and...stuff."
Sheppard just smiled, then made a come in gesture. "I think you'll fit with your pack," he added.
McKay frowned, inspecting the inside of the chute with a skeptical look, then shucked off his pack and slid it up to Sheppard. The colonel took it, then reached inside to help McKay slide in.
Fairly quickly, both men were inside with Innis. Teyla opted to remain outside with Ronon and Fallen, to keep watch.
McKay grimaced a little as he looked up and down the oddly shaped room, eyes surveying every aspect of it, before focusing on the largest of the hatches along the long flat wall. His eyes drifted to the left of it, and narrowed. Stepping carefully down to it, he studied what to Sheppard looked like a blank piece of wall, then lifted up a hand and pressed it against something...and the lights in the room turned off.
Innis gasped, then clapped gleefully when McKay turned them back on again.
"How did you know the lights were there?" she asked, almost bouncing in excitement. "We only found it because we were running over the walls with our hands, trying to find the lever or release mechanism for some of the other hatches...and to see if we could get any light in here. But you...you just found it!"
"Not really," McKay replied, looking thoughtful as he studied the still plain looking wall where the "switch" was. "It just happens to be in the same place as the control panel embedded in the walls of one of the engine rooms of..." he trailed off, his lips pressing into a thin line. "That is, we have something like it back home," he finished lamely.
"Home?" Sheppard asked, stressing the word.
"Home," McKay affirmed with a single, pregnant nod.
He meant, of course, the engines that flew Atlantis. Sheppard's eyes widened a little. Maybe the ship was Ancient, despite the lack of adornment.
"Interesting," he said.
"Yes, but..." McKay grimaced a little, looking around one more time. His finger swirled in the air, vaguely gesturing to the whole room, "It's not the same...just very similar. Like someone was copying them."
"Them?" Innis asked.
"The Ancestors," McKay answered, looking now to the one open hatch at the end, leading into darkness.
"You have some of the Ancestor's ships where you're from?" Innis asked, eyes wide.
"They made our Jumpers," Sheppard affirmed.
"Oh," Innis said, her eyes still wide. "Wow."
"You opened that?" McKay asked suddenly, pointing towards the open hatch he'd been studying.
"Um, no," she replied. "It was already open. But what we found through there is how we learned this was a ship. Follow me." And she proceeded to step carefully along the curved floor, one hand using the flat wall for balance, heading towards it. Sheppard and McKay followed, both moving awkwardly.
"This isn't a very good design," Sheppard muttered, stepping over a ridge in the metal.
"I don't think we're right way up," McKay answered. "Just a guess, but I think the ship's on its side. This wall," he tapped the long wall they were using for leverage, "is probably the ceiling...or the floor."
Innis glanced back at him, then at the wall, then forward again.
Eventually, they reached the end, and Innis was ducking through square hatch. Once on the other side, she stood and waited for the two men to climb through after her, her hands on her hips. Unlike where they came from, there was no panel to hit for lights, so she stood in shadowed darkness, lit only by the artificial light through the hatch. McKay and Sheppard immediately pulled their flashlights as they stood and ran the beams across the new room—which was huge.
"You're right," Innis said to McKay as he finally noticed the control panels under his feet, "the ship is on its side," she gestured around her, "although we didn't figure that out until we came in here and realized that all the control consoles were above and below us, and the floor...wasn't really a floor."
Sheppard's jaw dropped as he took it all in, marveling at the sheer size of the room after the cramped space they had just left. Mostly, though, he just stared in wonderment at the five huge engine turbines that made up the bulk of the room, sticking out of the wall to his left. They were huge—he could only imagine what they looked like on the outside.
Looking above his head, he shone his flashlight up at another series of panels at least three stories above his head, along with what looked like mushrooms erupting out of the wall (floor?) facing them—consoles? He couldn't make out the words on anything from here, or even the language...
"This is incredible," McKay called gleefully, kneeling on the floor and running his fingers over the panel under his feet, "absolutely incredible! This is obviously the engine room, and it makes up the entire end of the ship." He shifted around, trying not to cover too much of it with his feet while studying it at the same time, adjusting so that he could look at it the right way up. "That half tunnel thing we just came from must be a storage space, like the baggage area on an airplane."
"Can you read the writing?" Sheppard asked, looking at Innis. She opened her mouth to answer, but McKay was faster, thinking that the question was for him.
"It's not Ancient," he said, tilting his head as he studied it, "But there is something familiar about it." His brow furrowed.
"It's not Cutsarkian either," Innis added, shaking her head. "Fallen and I even took some of the writings with us to the village elders, but they didn't recognize it either."
Sheppard hummed, looking down at McKay. "Well, perhaps Elizabeth could—"
"Oh my God," McKay breathed, his eyes widening and his whole body straightening from its crouch over the panel below him.
"What?" Sheppard asked, though the question wasn't so much worried as curious. McKay didn't sound panicked...more amazed. "You recognize it?"
Rodney looked up at him, his eyes bright. "We have to get Teyla in here."
"Why?"
"Because this language," Rodney gave a short, stunned laugh, "it's Athosian."
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TBC...