Chapter Eleven – Ancient Troubles
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Teyla sighed. She was tired and hungry and she could feel her foot beginning to ache. She glanced around the infirmary in search for Jennifer but she was nowhere to be found. However, the Satedan walked in, looking like he was going to break something.
"Ronon," she said. "What's going on?"
"The MALP was able to send a few pictures before it was neutralized. Woolsey decided that it was too dangerous to send any more teams through the gate. Major Lorne and Captain Gaspari are on their own," he replied, his voice carrying an undertone of anger.
Teyla nodded. "I thought I overheard something about that before. John is out in the corridor talking with Captain Longhorn. I don't know what they are discussing," she said.
"Guard detail, gate room security," he filled in.
The Athosian nodded and decided they had talked enough about what was going on. "How are you doing?" she asked.
"A better question would be how you're doing? Are you going to be here for long?" he returned.
"Why?" Teyla asked with a frown.
Ronon shrugged. "I'm bored, Keller refuses to let me go to the planet if there'll be a search and rescue mission. And I'm not allowed to spar yet so I tried to practice some of your meditation techniques…" he trailed off seeing the look of surprise on her face.
"Then you must be very bored," she said diplomatically. "What about continuing with your report?"
"I'm not that bored," he said. "Look, do you need anything?"
"Actually, I was looking for Jennifer, to get something for the pain," she explained.
"I saw her in the mess hall but I'll go and find Marie for you," he said and turned to leave but stopped and turned to her again. "You hungry?" he wondered aloud.
A smile escaped her lips. "When did you become a mind reader?"
"Don't know; must have been meditating too much," he said with a tease.
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Rodney woke up feeling better, although he was still sore after everything he had been through. However, he had no fever and, as Jennifer had told him, he had not broken anything.
He really liked her and all but perhaps she had missed something because he had a very sore spot on his right side.
Doctor Cole had told him he was to be released in a day if he showed no signs of getting the fever back. All of his vitals had stabilized and he was antsy to return to his research about the Ancient underground system and what Janus had left behind. If the Wraith really looked for something that they believed would give them an advantage, they would not stop until they found it, or it was destroyed.
The whole night had passed without a clue about what happened to the two teams that went to the planet. Rodney had returned to the infirmary as the clock had passed midnight and he hadn't found anything in the database that could help them. It was decided that Zelenka would continue to search through the databases in order to try and find something while Rodney recuperated.
He spared a glance at Sheppard who was asleep across the room. Keller had confiscated the radio during the night and, considering the argument that followed, Rodney knew his friend wasn't too happy about it.
Trying to get his mind off of the current problems he accessed his mission report. But then he hesitated and closed it again. He had to try and search for something that would be a giveaway to what they had actually found. Rodney sighed; he'd already thought they had figured it out. However, his mind drifted back to the mission itself so he opened his report again and quickly scanned what he had written and started to type once again.
/ When we didn't find any more dead people, and no more Wraith came barging in after us, we stood in silence. There wasn't much to say, nothing would have brought them back. I believe, Teyla, was worst off since her people had a connection to the Acclosians. She mentioned briefly that the Athosians would perform the burial ceremony and take care of everything.
The Athosian kneeled at the closest corpse, her eyes closed and her head bowed. It looked so surreal and strange.
'Did she really believe that a bunch of rituals would help the already dead?' he thought. To him, there were no proof that the afterlife even existed. Science did not point in that direction and for Rodney science meant everything. However, Pegasus had changed some of his believes; opened up his senses and had made him realize that there were many things that couldn't be explained by science; not yet anyway. Not a single day seemed to be like the other in this galaxy and he briefly wondered if he would ever readapt to earth after all the years in Pegasus.
He was roused of his musings as Teyla slowly rose and nodded at them. Jennifer went to Teyla and gently squeezed her shoulder in a comfortable gesture. John nodded at the door and they silently made their way out of building.
The humid climate made his clothes suck to his body and he felt hot and clammy almost instantly. In order to reach the gate they had to walk at least an hour; besides there was no telling if the Wraith had left or still lurked somewhere. At this point he really hated this planet.
"How can people live here? I mean of all the places they could have chosen," he complained wiping his face clean from perspiration.
"Do you always have to be so negative?" Jennifer asked with forced politeness.
"What are you telling me? That he has a negative side?" John asked sarcastically.
"Give a guy a break, I'm hot, tired and achy," he returned unhappily and slapped a fly on his cheek. "I think I'm coming down with something," he added, feeling the perspiration dripping down his neck. He was really not in the mood for this.
"Being hot is not necessary a bad thing," Sheppard returned with a smirk.
He slowly turned around to glare at the Colonel. However, John's focus lay on Teyla.
"What is it?" Sheppard asked, immediately alert.
He swallowed anxiously, his eyes scanning the surrounding area.
However, Teyla hadn't time to answer. Several stunners cut through the woods.
"Get down!" she commanded.
He felt the panic rise and his body tense. An instant later he felt the familiar sensation of a direct hit from a stunner. And as he fell he thought back on something Carson said in the early days in Pegasus. ´Almost every receptor and nerve stops to function, you are immobilized. If not surrounded by friends you would have been fed upon only minutes later; silently watching long fingers connect with tissue while you are unable to do anything about it.´
What really went on beside him at that point was blurred. He believed someone carried him, Ronon, and that they ran.
Certain words filtered through the P90 fire; words that wasn't at all encouraging.
"…dart…can't…"
"…faster."
"…away from here."
Then Sheppard's voice broke through the haze of his mind. "No! Ronon move!"
He felt his heart hammer in his chest; they were falling and he had almost no control over his body. He closed his eyes hoping something would break his fall.
Then someone grabbed hold of them and they became suspended in the air, but before he could breathe a sigh of relief they began to fall again.
He smashed into the Satedan like a rag doll and he could hear that the others joined them, not far away. The air had been sucked out of his lungs and he struggled to get back the feeling in his limbs.
"W…Wraith?" he asked sluggishly as he became aware of someone beneath him.
"They flew over," a gruff voice answered.
"Oh," he said surprised, feeling a little sheepish as he felt the Satedan shift under him.
"McKay, would you mind?" Ronon asked in annoyance.
"Oh, of course," he said and carefully rolled off. "Thanks for breaking my fall."
"You…are welcome,"Ronon returned as he heaved himself up and began to dust off his clothes.
Still on hands and knees he took a deep breath and blinked, trying to see better in the semi-darkness.
"Jennifer!" he heard Teyla call with urgency in her tone.
Teyla's worried voice made him stand up and slowly drag himself over. Ronon seemed to fly over the rocky ground to the others. The Satedan didn't look affected by the fall he had just taken.
As he and Ronon got nearer they saw Sheppard on the ground, his shirt stained with blood and Keller's small hands smeared by it. Teyla quickly got up from her position and moved to get something.
"John, can you hear me?" Jennifer asked and he didn't like the concerned tone in her voice.
"What's wrong?" Ronon asked.
"Just give me a second," Keller returned, not taking her eyes off of the patient.
"John?" the doctor asked again.
"I'm…here," the Colonel answered, but it wasn't without effort he noted.
He breathed out a sigh of relief he didn't know he had been holding and put his hands on his knees; closing his eyes for a while.
The next minute he saw Teyla sitting at John's side again; his head in her lap while Jennifer untangled the bandages.
"Listen to me; something penetrated your side and it's bleeding quite heavily so I need to put pressure on it," Keller explained.
"Do what…you need to doc." John replied; his face tight with pain.
"Oh…it's bad isn't it?" he asked concerned.
Jennifer was about to answer when a hand suddenly grabbed her own. Hazel-green eyes locked with the doctor's.
He watched as Teyla gentlyloosened John's grip on Jennifer's arm. He didn't like pain and he certainly didn't like blood. The fact that Colonel Sheppard; who never admitted to having pain; seemed so weak made his belly swirl.
Jennifer smiled at John. "I know it hurts but I have to do this," she apologized.
However, John didn't reply; he merely closed his eyes.
The doctor carefully cleaned the wound and bandaged it. When she was done she looked up at him and Ronon. "It's not good but it's not life threatening," she explained but the seriousness in her voice was not lost on him.
She studied the two of them closely. "How are you two holding up?" she asked.
He followed her gaze and paled slightly as he saw the gash on Ronon's arm.
"I'm fine," Ronon returned.
He saw the doctor nod and then turn to look expectantly at him. Something in him snapped as he suddenly realised what could have happened to him. "Well, how do you think I feel; first I get stunned by some lucky Wraith and the next thing I know I'm falling…who knows the depth," he replied.
Teyla and Jennifer shared a smile. "Well, at least you are standing up," Keller offered lightly.
His expression changed from annoyance to concern as he looked at John. "I'm far better off than Sheppard. He is going to be all right isn't he?"
"John needs proper medical attention; he needs to get back to Atlantis," Keller returned in a subdued voice.
He nodded and bit his lower lip. Although he knew her answer would be something like that he had hoped she would have humoured him.
"Hey I'm still…here and I was kinda on my way there, remember?" the Colonel rasped.
He rolled his eyes. "He is not bad enough to let go of the smart ass comments," he remarked dryly but the truth was that he was relieved to hear his friend's voice.
With a faint smile on his lips he moved away to start looking for something that would get them out. The faint light that filtered down in the chamber wasn't enough to actually see all the details in the room so he used his fingers to feel where he was going. About twenty minutes later he had found what he was looking for; an exit.
/ After a while we stepped out in the open and began our trek towards the gate. Unfortunately, we didn't get too far before the Wraith showed up again. We'd let our guard down because we hadn't seen or heard anything for over an hour.
/ Assuming everything is going to be all right is obviously not an option in this galaxy.
/ Since I was targeted and abruptly taken down by a stunner blast I don't recall much of the events going on around me at the time. I do know I was carried by Ronon Dex as the others tried to take out the Wraith. However, I am painfully aware that we fell through a ceiling of an Ancient chamber. I'm going to recommend maintenance of their facilities. Apparently our combined weight became too much for the already strained structure beneath us.
/ I was surprised that this particular chamber, or system of chambers, weren't mentioned in the Ancient database on Atlantis. After this little expedition I've come to realize that the Ancient's didn't mention everything to each other. I believe that when the war neared its end most of the Ancient cities had been destroyed and it was a matter of survival on their own. This because the remaining cities where spread across the galaxy and had no means to contact each other since most of the Stargates were rendered inoperable. Lantia is the only other city that we have found, if you don't count the replicator replica Atlantis and all the other replicated cities connected to her.
Rodney closed his report and took a moment to glance around the room. The infirmary was fairly quiet. He frowned as he saw the empty bed across the room. There was no sign of Sheppard. He noted to his dismay that he had been so engrossed in his writings that he hadn't noticed the Colonel leaving. The scientist reached for his radio and tapped the receiver to be able to hear what was going on, on the open channel, and connected with the database. He had to find out more about Lantia and her underground research facility. If he had known then, when visiting 'the Tower' what he did now…
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To be continued
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