Thank you all so much! I hope its fun!
DESERT ORKIDS
By TIPPER
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CHAPTER TEN: THICKENING THE PLOT
They left Teyla and Ronon in the room, with orders for one to keep watch while the other got some needed rest. Sheppard didn't want them all exhausted tomorrow when they returned to the council chambers for "round two."
Scowling a little at McKay, he let the scientist lead, trusting both in McKay's control of the life signs detector to help them avoid any of the servants or guards, and the scientist's ability to sniff out another scientist's lab.
Without really thinking about it, McKay seemed to be leading them down...into the basement.
"Why down?" Sheppard asked, as they paused in a hallway, while McKay adjusted his scanner.
Rodney didn't reply, frowning a little at the screen.
"McKay?"
"There are a lot of people milling around, Colonel," McKay said, obviously not in answer. He turned and handed the device to Sheppard.
The colonel took it, and took in the evenly spaced dots moving about on the tiny screen. McKay was right—there were a lot of dots. He watched them for a moment, before figuring it out. They were all pacing too evenly, moving too regularly.
"They're guards, McKay. Perrit promised we'd be safe, remember? She's guaranteeing it by blanketing this place with guards."
McKay just hummed again, taking the scanner back. The noise reminded Sheppard that he had wanted to ask McKay why he had hummed earlier when Perrit had said only people with the amulets could access the water pumps. He opened his mouth to do so, but McKay was already moving, sliding out of their little hidey-hole and bee-lining for some stairs on the opposite side of the hall.
As McKay quietly headed down the stone steps, Sheppard remembered his other question.
"Why are we going down?" he asked again in a whisper.
"Cooler air. Preserves stuff better—like paper and machinery," McKay replied just as quietly. "And since they don't really have to worry about water and mold here as much as most places, but they do have to worry about oppressive heat..." he trailed off as they neared the bottom of the stairs they were climbing down. There was a massive door before them—easily wide enough to fit a car through. And, to cap it off, a black lock hung from a chain across the door handle, flashing a small red light.
"Oh, great," McKay muttered, running the Ancient scanner over it. "Of course, it's locked." With a huff, he put down the pack on his shoulder and rooted around for something. Sheppard just watched, waiting patiently. Fact was, this wasn't the first locked door they had come across, and probably wouldn't be the last. When Rodney pulled out his tablet and connected it to the lock, it made a small beeping noise.
"Can you open it?" Sheppard asked.
Rodney just gave him his patented, 'don't ask idiot questions' look. "It's the same sort of lock he had on the grates in the pump." He tapped away on the tablet for a moment. "It's a simple enough mechanism—piece of cake once you have the right frequency."
"And the tablet can tell you the frequency?"
"No, the tablet transmits the frequency that the Ancient scanner already told me and...voila!"
The lock beeped again, flashed to blue and opened. Rodney gave Sheppard a smug look. A second later, he was lifting the padlock off, and depressing the handle, opening the door slowly. It creaked, but not loudly. Sliding inside, they shut it behind them, and Sheppard looked around for a light-switch. In moments, the long cellar-like room was filled with soft, pale light similar to the electric lights illuminating most of the buildings they had found here.
McKay whistled.
It was Dazy's lab, all right. And the man was a pack-rat.
Books, loose paper, and fat folder files were stuffed into every nook and cranny of the room, blanketing the floor, shelves and even the walls. Pieces of machinery and random bits of equipment and technology filled tables, cabinets and bookshelves, almost to overflowing. Overfilled file cabinets lined the stone walls, while crates and boxes of tapes and more paper created an obstacle course on the flagstone floor. There were "pathways" through them, obviously well used. And, to top it all off, almost everything was coated in a fine layer of sandy looking dust.
"This could take a while," McKay sighed, taking his pack off his shoulder and letting it land atop a dusty pile...and sneezed.
Sheppard just bowed his tired head.
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Ronon slept, curled in on himself, as Teyla paced quietly around the room. Her right hand rested atop of P90 strapped to her vest, while the fingers on her left tapped nervously against her thigh. Doctor McKay and Colonel Sheppard had been gone for about two hours, and though they had checked in fairly regularly every half an hour, it was still making her nervous not to know what they were doing exactly.
Truth was, she had an idea of what Doctor McKay was looking for. The look he had given her suggested they had had the same thought about the sabotage, but without proof...
She sighed, stopping to glance out through the wooden slats of one of the tall thin windows, taking in the courtyard below, making sure not to give her position away to anyone who might be watching.
There was a great deal of movement out there for the "middle of the night." She suspected the shadows she saw pacing around were guards. No one moved like the black-clad warriors that had attacked them earlier. She was clearly watching soldiers, not panthers.
A soft knock at the chamber door startled her, and she looked around.
Despite the lightness of the knock, Ronon had come awake instantly, and was sitting bolt upright on the bed, hand on his gun. Teyla nodded at him as she walked swiftly past, heading for the doorway. He rolled off the bed after her, weapon firmly in hand, and moved to stand on the opposite side of the door from the Athosian. He gave her a nod to show he was ready.
The knock came again.
"Yes?" she answered softly.
"Miss Emmagen?" someone called. It sounded like one of the servants who had greeted them earlier when they arrived. "Um, this is Dawson—I turned down your bed earlier? Uh...I thought this was Colonel Sheppard's room?"
"It is," Teyla replied. "The four of us felt it was wiser to stay in one room, and, as the Colonel's was the largest, we decided to stay here."
"Oh," the servant sounded puzzled. "That is fine. If you like, tomorrow we can set up enough beds in this room for all of you. If we had known..." He trailed off.
Teyla gave a small smile, "That would be nice, thank you, Dawson. Um," she glanced at Ronon, "It is awfully late, is there a reason you have come looking for us?"
"Oh," the voice changed from puzzled to embarrassed, "No, no. Ambassador Perrit noticed that there was still a light on in Doctor McKay's room, and asked me to take him a night cap. When I found he wasn't there, I thought it best to check with Colonel Sheppard."
Teyla eyebrows lifted, but didn't disagree with the logic of that. Ronon rolled his eyes a little at McKay's typical lack of forethought by leaving a light on.
"Doctor McKay is fine—he is here. He is sleeping." Teyla smiled a little as she looked at Ronon. Outright lies were not her strong suit.
"Ah, right, okay. Um...well...," the servant sounded oddly disappointed. "To be honest, I was sort of hoping to speak with him...and you. I brought enough drinks for all four of you, if you wanted." Something that sounded like glasses clinking echoed through the door, and Teyla sighed softly.
"We appreciate the offer, Dawson, but we are very tired and—"
"I understand," the servant said quickly, "I just...there's something you should know. About Ambassador Perrit...and Dazy. Please. I think it's important."
Teyla frowned slightly, and looked at Ronon. The Satedan's brow was furrowed deeply, but he shrugged, nodding.
"All right," Teyla said, "Just hold on a moment. I'll wake one of my other team-members and open the door." She turned to Ronon, dropping her voice to a whisper, "Go make it look like there are two people sleeping over there, and I'll let him in." Ronon nodded and jumped away, quickly stuffing McKay's and Sheppard's packs into their sleeping bags and adjusting them to look like bodies.
After a moment, he looked at Teyla and nodded. The low light would have to do the rest. As he moved back over to join her by the door, she swung it open and let in the servant.
Dawson came in slowly, practically tip-toeing across the threshold. In his arms was a silver tray with four glasses filled with an amber liquid, and a nearly full decanter. He smiled nervously at Teyla as she shut the door behind him, then backed up a little when Ronon suddenly loomed in front of him, towering over the smaller man.
"Uh, hi," Dawson greeted.
"That for us?" Ronon asked, reaching for one of the glasses. Dawson just nodded as Ronon took one, sniffed at the contents, then smiled. In one gulp, he downed the strong liquor, and grinned more.
Dawson frowned a little at Ronon as he offered the tray to Teyla, who took a glass as well, then he peered into the rest of the large room, noting the two sleeping "figures."
"Can you wake them as well?" he asked. "What I have to say should probably be heard by all of you."
"We'll tell them," Ronon promised, handing his empty glass back to Dawson. "They need rest. So, what is it you want?"
The servant swallowed, then after looking around for a moment, put the tray on a side-table. Watching Teyla, he swallowed thickly, grabbed the decanter and unstoppered it. Downing a healthy amount, he set it down, breathed out through his cheeks, and faced them again. Teyla sipped hers, a tiny smile on her face as she watched the servant gather his courage.
"I came to warn you," Dawson said then. "Ambassador Perrit is not whom she seems. She may even have killed her own son." He grimaced at the shocked looks he got, and barreled on. "Listen, you need to leave here. All of you. As soon as possible." He looked again at the lumps on the bed, then frowned. Then his eyes widened.
"Wait, those aren't...where are Doctor McKay and Colonel Sheppard?" he asked, his voice growing almost shrill. "I thought you said they were here? You tricked me!"
Teyla's eyebrows lifted, not sure why he would suddenly sound so worried. "They are exploring." She took another sip, letting the sugary taste tingle on her lips. "I don't..." she blinked, wondering why her nose felt suddenly fuzzy, "...know when they'll be back. Why don't you...you...what were you saying?" She frowned, aware now that her words had slurred. For a moment, she forgot what she was doing and she looked down at the glass in her hand.
"Oh, no," Dawson muttered, shoulders slumping. "This is terrible. What am I going to do?"
"Do?" Teyla repeated, blinking a little slowly. For some reason, the room had begun to feel strangely warm. "About what?" She glanced at Ronon, and noticed the Satedan was swaying. In fact, everything was swaying.
"About Doctor McKay and Colonel Sheppard! I was supposed to wait until you were all together before I drugged you. It acts too quickly, and doesn't last long, and I don't have enough to dose you twice!"
"What?" Teyla's eyes were burning now, and her world was incredible fuzzy. "What did you say?"
Ronon grunted a word that sounded like "Drugged?" but it came out more like a growl as he dropped abruptly like a stone to the floor. Teyla staggered, trying to keep her feet as she stared at Ronon on the ground and then at the now wildly distorted vision that was Dawson. The servant grabbed for her, taking her arms.
"Quick," he said urgently, "where are they? Can you tell me where they are?"
"Wherrzoo?" Teyla muttered out, though that wasn't the word she was intending. And as her world went completely dark, she heard Dawson release a very heavy sigh, followed by a rather unhappy sounding mutter.
"Ah Damn it. He's gonna kill me."
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Sheppard was being shaken awake by a very insistent McKay. The scientist's eyes were blood-shot and red-rimmed, but also very clearly excited. Blinking, vaguely embarrassed because he hadn't actually meant to fall asleep while reading through one of the large paper journals Dazy kept, he looked blearily up at McKay.
"What?" he croaked, rubbing a hand across his dry eyes.
"She was right!"
Okay, Sheppard though, that didn't make any sense. He yawned spectacularly, then asked, "Who was right?"
"Jaquette. And Stella too." McKay was holding another of Dazy's large, leather bound journals to his chest, but the other was holding a schematic, practically shoving it into Sheppard's face.
The colonel growled a little, backing away from the paper, then rubbing his eyes as he tried to focus on it. It took a couple of minutes, but he eventually recognized it.
It was a schematic of the access panel on the outside of the water pump—the one Dazy had pretended to know nothing about. Sheppard's jaw fell open, and he looked up at McKay, finally wide awake.
"Damn, he was a good actor," he admitted. "I honestly thought he had never seen it before. The way he was going on..." Sheppard shook his head.
"Not only that," McKay grinned, obviously proud of himself, "but look at this!" He dumped the journal he was holding down on top of the open one Sheppard had been using as a pillow, and quickly opened it to a certain page. McKay tapped at the page, which was covered in numbers and equations. "What do you think of that?"
Sheppard stared at it a moment, then frowned. Yes, he was good at math, but he wasn't a mind reader. Did Rodney honestly think he could guess what a book filled with mathematical equations was without a frame of reference?
"I don't," he said darkly. "What is it?"
"These equations estimate the amount of damage someone cutting into a very specific crystal in a very specific manner can cause." McKay's grin was smug as hell now, and he stepped back, crossing his arms across his chest. "He did it. Dazy was the saboteur. He was the one damaging the water pump."
Sheppard frowned deeply. "What?"
"Are you deaf? I'm saying Dazy did it! He did the sabotage!" He shook his head, looking down again at the book, and his smile turned to puzzlement. "I just don't know why."
Sheppard stared at him for a long moment, then slumped deeply into his chair.
"Well, great," he said, nodding. "But now where does that put us? We figured the saboteur killed Dazy, but since, as you say, Dazy didn't kill himself, who did, and why?"
McKay frowned, then shrugged, "I don't know. Someone who knew Dazy was sabotaging the water pump, I suppose, and wanted to stop him?"
Sheppard thought about that for a moment, then nodded. "Okay, so how do we find out who knew about it?"
Rodney winced. "Well, that's a hell of a lot easier than asking who knew how to sabotage it. And it means the list of suspects just grew again. I mean," he shook his head, "we know Councilor Stella knew. Or at least strongly suspected."
"As did your Councilor Jaquette," Sheppard added.
McKay waved a hand, clearly not entertaining that notion.
"Baylor might have known as well," the colonel said, thinking out loud now. "He may not have known the details, but I get the feeling he knows a lot about people. I bet he guessed that Dazy and Perrit were—"
"Perrit?" McKay said, interrupting him. "You think Perrit knows?"
"Oh," Sheppard nodded, his eyes narrowed, "I think that's a safe bet. Ten to one that they concocted the idea together, to guarantee Dazy a job."
"And keep Perrit working as well," Rodney said. "Jaquette told me Dazy got her the Ambassador job."
"Really," Sheppard sighed. He just couldn't be surprised by anything new about Dazy or Perrit anymore. They were a true pair of professional cons.
"And someone, Stella, or Baylor, or...someone else, took offense." McKay was frowning. His upper lip curled, "Which is why they killed Dazy."
"And tried to kill us as well," the colonel added. "Because they think we're Perrit's..."
"Pets," McKay said softly, eyes downcast.
Sheppard sighed, looking towards the doorway. "Yeah, well, I guess we—"
Machine gun fire suddenly flared up in the distant, muffled by the door, but still incredibly loud. Sheppard jumped to his feet, already tapping his radio.
"Teyla! Ronon! Come in!"
Nothing but static. McKay looked at Sheppard, who looked back...and both ran full tilt towards the door.
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TBC...