Teyla, Ford and McKay scouted around the immediate area around the huge hole, they had the job checking for wraith.
Teyla sighed to herself, she still couldn't sense any.
"Still nothing, I do not believe that if the was more that they would have stayed long," She informed Ford and McKay.
"Oh, well isn't that just fantastic!" McKay muttered. He was looking at his life sigh reader, but the hot weather on the planet seemed to put him in a foul mood.
Because of the fact that he just looked plain angry, Teyla knew that he was not picking up any wraith either.
Teyla was worried. McKay hadn't detected any wraith, but when they had first arrived on the planet, they had found no extra human life signs in the immediate area either. And that meant that there was no sign of Major Sheppard.
"Shall we try a different direction?" Ford asked.
"Yes, it is likely that the wraith would have wanted to be on both two sides of their prey," Teyla informed him. She turned to McKay.
"Yeah, okay, whatever," McKay agreed wiping sweat off his brow, it was obviously too hot for his liking on the planet
"So… over there?" Ford wanted to know, pointing in the opposite direction to the Stargate and the opposite direction to where the wraith had attacked them.
"Yes," said Teyla, the direction Ford was pointing to was where the wraith were most likely to be if they had bothered to stay on the planet.
They'd walked about 100 meters before Ford received a radio message.
"Lt Ford, this is Jumper three. Do you read?"
Teyla watched as Ford tapped the button on his radio and replied.
"Yeah, hearing you loud and clear, Jumper three."
"There is a second hole not to far from you're position and we request that you check it out."
"No problem. May I ask how far?" Ford answered.
"About a quarter mile in front of you, lieutenant."
"Okay, got that," Ford replied.
"Jumper three out."
Teyla turned to Ford.
"Another hole?" she questioned.
McKay was the one who answered.
"Obviously, as a result of all the earthquakes there is bound to be more than one whole, I can't see why we have to go and look at this one. It seems like a waste of our time to me," he grumbled, the hot weather was definitely still getting to him.
Teyla decided that it would probably be a waste of her breath to try to convince him other wise.
"Yeah well we gotta go look at it anyway," Ford informed McKay.
McKay just glared at him.
Teyla sighed.
McKay saw the hole only when it was about fifty meters away. It was only around ten by five long, nothing special. As he'd pointed out to Teyla and Ford, not worth looking at.
Lt Ford reached it first.
"Will you look at that!" exclaimed Ford.
"What? It's a small hole it the ground leading to an underwater cave that we already know about, how interesting," muttered McKay sarcastically. What could possibly be at all interesting about a hole in the ground? Particularly such a small one, if it had been hugely massive it might have been interesting be what could be exciting about a small hole in the ground?
He found out when he got there.
As he peered down the hole he saw an island about five meters round, a perfect circle, or would have been, except there was a seven-meter high tower of roof rubble covering half of it.
McKay looked closer at the rubble free side of the island. There was something scratched in to the floor of the island. It was writing.
This is what McKay saw:
IF ANYONE FINDS THIS
I WENT THAT WAY
The arrow was pointing in the opposite direction to the Stargate.
"Hmmm. Interesting," commented McKay.
He saw Ford grin out of the corner of his eye. Teyla was looking relieved.
McKay turned to her.
"What?" he asked.
"Do you think that could have been Major Sheppard?" she wanted to know.
McKay looked at the writing again, then at the arrow.
"If it is, he's gone the wrong way."
Major Sheppard was lost. There was nothing but desert in every direction, he wasn't even sure how to get back to his hole, not that he thought finding that again would do much good, it was the Stargate he needed. It was too damn hot on the planet and he really needed to get back to Atlantis
How dumb had it been to throw that grenade at the water? Pretty stupid. He wouldn't be in this mess if he'd just thought for a second before blasting the wraith. He'd figured out he was in a really bad position. Sheppard knew that Teyla, Ford and McKay would have gone back threw the Stargate, assuming the wraith hadn't got them, or an earthquake. The stupid blue stone obviously caused earthquakes whenever it was hit hard enough, and it had been hit with a ton of water.
Sheppard still had it with him. He'd been tempted to throw it back down the hole after he'd climbed the rubble pile and jumped out, but hadn't wanted to cause an earthquake that would likely send him back down in to the water. He decided to put it gently down on the floor and if he found it again he'd know if he was going round in circles or not.
About ten minutes later he tripped over it.
Yep, he was going round in circles.
The stone hadn't appreciated being tripped over. The ground shook, and Sheppard was thrown off his feet again. He stood up angrily, and picked up the stone. He'd had enough of it. Sheppard hurled the stone behind him as hard as he could and took off in the opposite direction, being careful to go in a straight line.
Ford knew that McKay was irritated. A small earthquake had just occurred, it hadn't been very strong, but still annoying.
Ford was just about to asked McKay if he'd figured out what was causing the earthquakes, when the whole ground shook incredibly violently and he nearly fell into the underwater cave with some collapsing ground.
When the ground finally stopped trembling, Ford shakily got to his feet.
"Teyla! Dr McKay! You guys okay?" Ford called out into a massive dust cloud.
"Yes, I'm fine," came McKay's voice.
"I am also fine," Ford heard Teyla call.
Once the dust had cleared Ford saw them getting up off the ground, he also saw the mine the ground had become.
"Wow, check out all these holes!" he exclaimed.
"Yes, yes, wow holes. How very exciting," McKay was not impressed. "We should go back to the gate it's getting to dangerous out here."
"Do you know what's causing the groundquakes yet Doctor McKay?" Teyla asked.
Ford saw McKay was really cross now.
"No, I don't! They don't even have a particular pattern!"
"Planet of the earthquakes!" said Ford, unable to resist.
"Whatever," grumbled McKay. "Teyla, please say there are no wraith in the area.
Ford was relieved to hear Teyla's reply.
"I sense none," she told McKay. "Although you may wish t use your life sign reader to check."
McKay glanced at the scanner.
"No," he confirmed.
Ford saw a small blue glow a little way off.
"Hey, what's that?" he asked McKay.
McKay looked up from his scanner.
"A little blue glow, what are you, blind?" came the sarcastic reply.
"No, I mean, what's causing it?" Ford tried again.
"I don't know, but we can go take a look if it will make you shut up," McKay was obviously still in a very bad mood.
Ford was already dodging round the holes to see it. Teyla had followed him.
McKay grumpily followed Ford and Teyla.
Great he thought. It's too hot and I've walked too far and now we're going further to check out a little blue glowy thing. Hang on. Blue glowing thing? The stone! The little pebble Sheppard found! It was glowing blue!!
McKay caught up with Teyla and Ford.
"Is it a stone?" ha asked them.
"Yes it is. Is it important." Teyla wanted to know, she was holding it.
"Not really, but remember when we first found the crocodile thing? Sheppard was holding this!" McKay pointed out. Wondering how the stone had found it's way out of the hole.
"You're right!" exclaimed Ford.
"Of course I'm right," McKay told him, and caught Ford rolling his eyes at the comment.
McKay checked his scanner for wraith. No wraith, but there was another life sign being picked up, about half a mile from where they were.
"Ah ha!" he yelled out.
"What?" asked Ford.
"I sense no wraith," commented Teyla.
"No, not a wraith. I'm getting another life sign half a mile from here, it's big enough to be a human in that direction." McKay pointed in the opposite direction to the Stargate.
"Do you think…" Teyla started.
"Yes, I do think its Major Sheppard," interrupted McKay. "I can't see why anyone else but us clueless earthlings, and you, would bother coming here. There are too many earthquakes. Besides do you think that stone got out of the underwater cave all by itself?"
"Lets go find him then!" suggested Ford.
McKay glared at him.
"We are not walking any further unless it's back to the Stargate! We can radio a Jumper to pick us and him up," announced McKay.
McKay watched Ford try his radio.
"We must be out of range," said Ford then glanced behind them. "You can't even see the Stargate anymore!!"
"We're out of radio range!" McKay repeated. "Great, just fantastic."
"Well lets go see if your life sign is Major Sheppard or not!" suggested Ford.
McKay could have predicted that answer.
"Fine," he grumbled.
