Disclaimer – the usual

Set after and spoilers for 'Submersion'

It has been pointed out to me that Jumpers can also go underwater…

The Crushing Depths

The outside world in the windscreen got darker and darker until the visible murk turned into nothing but inky blackness.

Rodney kept his eyes firmly glued to the screen of his tablet and tried to ignore the fact that thousands of tons of water where now resting on the Puddle Jumper's shield.

He still had trouble calming his nerves and claustrophobia whenever he was underwater in a Jumper.

He studied the energy readings from the Jumper's scans of the planet. There was a huge signature coming from the seabed.

Sheppard brought up the HUD, "We're getting close," he said.

The Jumper's lights shone through the darkness. There was nothing for them to land on, so all they could see were millions of pinpricks of light as the brightness reflected off tiny sea creatures in the water.

After a few minutes they reached the bottom of the abyss. Sheppard pointed the lights down onto the ground and illuminated rocks and boulders along the seabed.

He flew the Jumper a few metres off the ground and guided it towards the ever-growing energy reading.

McKay looked up from his tablet out of the window, "We should enter visual range very soon."

As he spoke, a huge and obviously artificial structure materialised into existence through the gloom directly in front of them.

"It can't be…" Sheppard began.

"Yes it is. It's just like the one we found on Lantea. Although according to these readings this platform is active and there are life signs within."

The drilling platform was not as deep underwater as the one they had found tapping into the geothermal energy on Lantea.

"Do you think there could be Ancients on the platform?"

McKay replied in irritation, "I don't think that's very likely, Colonel, after ten thousand years. Why wouldn't they have fled to Earth with all the other Ancients?"

"I don't know, maybe they got trapped on the platform?"

"And what have they been eating for the last few millennia?"

Sheppard sighed and looked annoyed, "Well, why don't we just dock and ask them?"

Sheppard pressed the comm, "This is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard to drilling platform. Please respond."

There was no reply.

"Is there anyone there?"

Still silence.

Sheppard deactivated the comm and turned to Rodney, "Looks like no-one's figured out how to work the radio yet."

McKay's eyes widened in realisation, "Or maybe they don't want to answer."

Sheppard flew the Jumper across the docking ports, the headlights casting eerie shadows out into the unseen void of the ocean around them. Attached to one of the ports was a vessel of some kind. It was large and black and had several round holes at the front.

"Looks a bit like a mini U-Boat," Sheppard said raising his eyebrows.

Rodney frowned as he studied the readings, "It has a very thick hull; the sensors are unable to penetrate it and find out how large the submarine is and what kind of power it uses."

Sheppard turned the Jumper around when they reached the edge of the platform and headed towards the docking port next to the submarine. He expertly reversed it into the port and powered down the engines.

"Ok, let's see who's at home." He got up and clipped a P90 to the front of his tac vest.

Rodney hesitantly rose to his feet too and slid his laptop onto the back of his tac vest. He grabbed a hand scanner and studied the readings. He frowned after a second and swapped it to his left hand so that he could grab the trigger of his P90 loosely with his right hand.

"I'm detecting a welcoming party converging on the Jumper," he said.

"Well that's good. Let's hope they can talk."

Sheppard went to the back hatch and opened the door. He had just opened his mouth to speak when a blast of blue energy flew towards and enveloped him. He crashed onto the deck unconscious.

Rodney's eyes flew wide open in panic and he tried to raise his P90. He saw their assailants for a brief second. They were all very thin and pale and clothed in brown rags. Another stunner blast hit him square in the chest and he grunted and crumpled onto the deck next to Sheppard.

Rodney awoke to someone tugging at his shoulder and speaking.

"Get up McKay. We need to get out of here."

Rodney groaned and squinted his eyes. His blurry vision showed him a black figure with spiky hair pointing every which way, even more than usual.

"What happened John?" He said, sitting up and rubbing his sore head.

"The denizens of this little community decided to shoot first and ask questions later."

"Because that doesn't happen very often," Rodney said sarcastically as Sheppard helped him to his feet. They had both lost their tac vests and weapons.

They were standing in one of the rooms Sheppard recognised as crew quarters. It was nicer than the rooms they had found in the drilling platform on Lantea. The lights were bright and there were colourful drapes hanging from the ceiling. There were also several large paintings stuck on the walls. Some depicted sweeping landscapes and others showed blue skies with small white clouds.

"Windows?" McKay said taking in their surroundings.

"Doesn't look like it works very well," Sheppard said staring at what was once an image of a forest. There was alien writing scrawled across the picture in a dark brown ink. Sheppard did not want to voice his fears at what it said or what kind of ink it looked like had been used.

Rodney followed his gaze and was suddenly afraid, "Oh my! We definitely have to get out of here."

He walked over to the door panel. The people living on the platform probably could not figure out any other way of securing prisoners, so had not reckoned on Rodney's skills at door opening. He rearranged a few crystals and the door swished open.

Sheppard gently pushed Rodney aside as he moved to leave the room first. Sheppard warily stepped out into the corridor and looked both ways. Seeing the way was clear he indicated for Rodney to follow and keep quiet.

They stalked down the corridor, keeping as low as possible and staying against the wall.

They turned a corner, Sheppard still in front.

A voice came down the corridor, "Hey! How did you get out?" Sheppard turned to run back the way they had come, but before he could escape, a stunner blast hit him in the back and he fell down.

Rodney let out a squeak in terror and ran back along the corridor towards the makeshift cell they had come from. He thought he was making good progress until a stunner blast hit him in the legs. Suddenly they went numb and turned into rubber. He flew forwards, hit the ground and slid for a few metres. He was terribly winded and his arms hurt as he had used them to cushion the fall. Still conscious he rolled over and looked at the person who had shot him.

The man stood over him, pointing the stunner at his chest. He had a hard expression and looked very angry. Rodney thought he could see the bones through the man's thin skin, like he had not eaten for weeks. The brown rags hung over his shoulders and left gaps across his chest. McKay could see ribs poking out in the shadows.

Rodney put his hands up by his head in surrender. The man crouched down, his knees popped as they protested through lack of muscle to support him. Despite his apparent frailty he pushed the blaster point hard into Rodney's side as he studied him.

Rodney squirmed a little under the gaze and the closeness of the man. He could make out his skeletal features more clearly as he got closer.

The man spoke in a harsh voice, which seethed hatred, "Who are you? How did you get here?"

He punctuated each question with a sharp jab of the blaster into Rodney's side.

McKay gritted his teeth, "I'm Dr Rodney McKay and my unconscious friend over there is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard. Who are you?"

The man lessened the pressure of the stun gun and squinted into Rodney's face. McKay had to look away after a few seconds, as he could no longer stand the piercing glare. The eyes of the man looked like they were the only flesh on him.

Sensing Rodney's disgust the man spoke again, "I am Isan. You came here uninvited and you could easily betray our position to the Wraith. We cannot let you leave."

Rodney turned back to Isan, "We just came to investigate the power reading. We have no intention of telling the Wraith about you." He looked Isan up and down critically, "They probably wouldn't be interested anyway."

Isan opened his mouth in fury and backhanded Rodney across the face with the stunner. McKay tasted blood from his split lip and grimaced.

Isan stood up and pulled the trigger of the stunner. Rodney's body tensed and then went limp as the blue light rolled over him and he joined Sheppard in blissful oblivion.

Rodney groaned as he woke up, "Not again," he thought as he felt hands pawing at his face.

"Sheppard?" He tried to say through the gag; it just came out as 'he-hu.'

The touch on his face left and he heard someone moving away. He was lying on his side on the floor. His arms and legs bound and immobilised. He opened his eyes and found he could not see anything as he was also blindfolded.

A female spoke softly, she sounded very young, "I am Kiri. My father doesn't know I'm here. He's mean. I watched as he tied you and your friend up. Maybe you can help us? We've been stuck down here ever since the Wraith came."

Rodney tried to speak again but he only produced an unintelligible mumble.

He felt the hands on his face again as they pulled the gag out of his mouth. He coughed a couple of times and inhaled a sharp breath as the motion jarred his numb shoulder pressed on the floor.

"What happened?"

"We used the underwater ship to get here. We found this place years before the Wraith came. Knowing they would eventually return, we moved supplies here to last for months. This is now our second year."

Rodney's brain clicked into gear, "Two years? Can't you get back to the mainland?"

"No, our ship is broken."

She began touching and pressing his face again. The hands felt small and cold.

McKay felt uncomfortable and said hotly, "What's with the touching?"

The hands moved away again, "I'm sorry! Everyone here's so bony. You feel all squishy," the voice was sad and dejected. It sounded even younger.

McKay steeled himself, "How old are you?"

"I'm in my eighth year."

Rodney let out a slow sigh, he would have to use his patience to get out this and it was always in such short supply, "Okay, can you untie me?"

"I don't know. I'd better not, my father would go mad and hurt you again."

"Look, if you free me, I can probably fix your ship and then you can all get out of here and become…'squishy.'" He tried to say it kindly, but as usual it sounded insulting and patronising.

He was lucky though and felt the knot on the back of the blindfold loosening. As it fell away, he saw a mop of blond matted hair with a small girl hiding underneath. She was also dressed in the same rags like her father and looked painfully thin and malnourished. As he looked he smiled grimly in thanks. He saw that he was in another of the crew quarter's rooms. The walls had similar pictures of open-air vistas. There was no sign of Sheppard.

She walked round behind him and undid the ropes around his wrists. He sighed in relief and his arms clicked as he moved them to free his legs.

Kiri stepped away and watched him working his numb and shaking hands trying to untie the knot. He was not having any success.

She saw him struggling and walked over and undid the knot.

"Er, thanks. I don't suppose you've seen another grown up around with messy hair?"

She raised her eyebrows and pouted at his tone, "Yes. We're going to see him next. I hope he's nicer than you."

McKay groaned as he got to his feet and rolled his shoulders a couple of times to get the feeling back.

He felt a clammy hand grip his and pull him towards the door. He let out a bone weary sigh and followed Kiri through the door.

She dragged him along the corridor slowly. She kept stopping and listening and then moving forward again. Rodney was getting more annoyed and was about to say something when they reached another door. Kiri reached up and opened it.

Sheppard was lying on the floor just as McKay had been. Kiri stayed away as Rodney roused Sheppard and untied the ropes.

"Hey Rodney," he said sleepily, "Did I get stunned again?"

"You and me both."

"How did you get free?"

"Had a little help," he emphasized the 'little' as Sheppard saw Kiri and smiled.

McKay filled Sheppard in with the details as he rubbed his ankles and wrists to get the feeling back.

"So if we fix the ship they'll be able to get back to the mainland?"

"Yes, that about sums it up. The only problem we have is with 'shoots a lot' Isan and who knows what the others are like after being stuck in this place for two years." Rodney whispered, "You saw the writing on that painting too, it looked like blood."

Kiri heard him though and came over, she was pale and frightened, "You're right. There were a hundred, until the madness came. My father said that the madness took away sixty. There are now only twenty and we're all hungry."

She patted her stomach and winced.

Sheppard spoke, "If you take us to the ship, we'll fix it. You'll have to help if Isan finds us though. We'll fix it if he let's us go."

Kiri beamed, her face filled with hope, "You got it."

She led them out of the room and they made their cautious way through the corridors to the ship. Kiri told them that no-one bothered going anywhere near the ship anymore, as they knew it was broken. They therefore got there unchallenged.

Rodney studied the interior of the submarine. It was very similar to an Earth one. It looked like about twenty people could fit inside. Without his equipment he could not find out what was wrong with it. It seemed to be run on electricity. It was lit by emergency lighting and the engines were powered off.

He convinced Sheppard and Kiri to take him back to the Jumper to collect some of his gear.

They all walked up to the side of the Jumper. Suddenly Isan walked out of the hatch with his stunner trained on the three of them. Two equally pasty henchmen came out of the Jumper and stood behind him.

Sheppard stepped forward and raised his hands, "Let us fix your ship and you can go back to the mainland."

Isan narrowed his eyes, "Really?"

Rodney leaned over and spoke in Sheppard's ear, "I'm not sure whether I'll be able to fix it yet John."

Sheppard muttered a reply out of the corner of his mouth, "You'll do it McKay, you always do."

Isan watched and then he lowered his gun quickly when he spotted Kiri as she pushed between them.

"Father, let them help us! Then we can go back to the sun." She smiled and ran over to hug him.

Isan's expression softened as much as it could with his face being just skin stretched over bones. Hope seemed to kindle in his eyes.

"Alright. I suppose it won't hurt for them to try. But you," he pointed to Sheppard, "Stay out here." He turned to McKay; "If you try anything…" he waved the stunner around threateningly.

Rodney swallowed and went into the Jumper. He grabbed a few spare power crystals and some leads he thought the Jumper could spare.

They were then all marched back to the stricken submarine.

Rodney worked on the submarine power system, muttering and complaining. He eventually managed to rig up a system to transfer power to the engines from the Jumper power crystals.

"Ha!" He said triumphantly after a couple of hours, "We have power."

Sheppard was sitting on the floor in the corridor outside. Isan and Kiri were with him. The other two guards were lying down, apparently asleep, too weak to continue their watch.

McKay came out of the submarine and went over to Isan, "OK, I fixed it. Can we leave now?"

Isan glared at him, "No you can't leave! You know far too much and you'll lead the Wraith right to us."

Isan turned his back on Sheppard and he spoke to Rodney.

He silently stood up and easily grabbed the stunner from the weak man's hand as he pointed it at McKay when he spoke.

He swept his foot under Isan's legs and used his hands to lower him slowly to the floor as he fell.

"Sorry Kiri. We have to go now."

She looked sad as she watched them running away back to the Jumper. Rodney thought he saw her mouthing, "Thank you," when he turned back to check on Isan.

Isan got up to his feet and prodded the other guards to wake up. He told Kiri to go back to her room.

Sheppard and McKay ran back to the Jumper as fast as they could. There were no more guards anywhere and Sheppard slammed the hatch shut as soon as they got on board.

They sat down in their seats, Sheppard fired the engines and undocked them from the drilling platform.

Rodney let out an exasperated sigh, "Honestly, Colonel, you try to help people…"

He trailed off as the Jumper rocked to the left.

Sheppard frowned and brought up the HUD. Now that the submarine had power back, Isan was using it to hunt and attack them, trying to prevent their escape.

The Jumper rolled to the side again.

McKay was glaring at the HUD, "Really! Looks like some kind of electric depth charge. We should just blast the sub and leave them down here in their misery."

"Rodney! What about Kiri?"

McKay sighed and rubbed a hand on his forehead. Sheppard was right. These people were just scared and probably slightly mad through starvation and from being trapped on the drilling platform without daylight for so long. Rodney had given the submarine enough power for a hundred trips to and from the mainland.

Sheppard was climbing the Jumper through the water as fast as it could safely go. It would still take several minutes before they broke the surface.

The Jumper rocked again and there was a sound of creaking metal.

"Shields?" Sheppard asked.

McKay studied the HUD and his eyes widened, "The depth charges are disrupting it. I don't know where these people got this technology!"

Sheppard shot him a scathing look; "Maybe they stole it from the Ancients, like us. Does it really matter? Just get the shield to work until we're away."

"I'll need to reroute some power from other systems."

He got up and went into the rear compartment. Grabbing the overhead rack as the inertial dampeners strained against another impact.

He pulled down the control panel and started swapping the crystals around. He was nearly finished when the hull of the Jumper gave way under the latest assault. A breach formed and a high pressure jet of water sprayed into the rear compartment through the hole. It hissed loudly as it came through and the Jumper began filling with water.

It hit Rodney and he cried out as it cut a bruising swath across his body, from his leg, up his chest and towards his head. He was forced back into the opposite wall and felt the bench against the backs of his legs. He put his hand up to protect his face. He saved his head, but his fingers splayed out from the pressure and he screamed as he felt some of them bend too far and break.

He breathed quickly and moved out of the path of the jet. Water was lapping around his ankles and ever rising. He cradled his damaged and bleeding hand against his chest.

"Rodney!" Sheppard called from the cockpit.

"Ow ow ow," he replied with his eyes watering and closed tightly in agony. He felt battered and broken.

He shifted his weight forward and painfully stepped back to the control panel, the water was up to his knees now. He gritted his teeth and used his uninjured hand to finished rerouting the power.

The water flooding into the Jumper stopped instantly. He hobbled back into the cockpit and gasped as he sat down in the co-pilot's seat.

Sheppard looked over at him and his expression changed to one of worry when he saw Rodney's mangled hand.

"Hang in there Rodney, just a few more seconds."

McKay closed his eyes and took deep breaths as his bruises and broken fingers throbbed. He was dimly aware through the blanket of pain hanging over him, when the darkness through the window lightened into daylight. It found it's way through his eyelids and he opened them slightly.

"Home we go," he said sadly.

Sheppard gave him a reassuring look, "Don't worry Rodney, Keller'll be able to fix it."

"Have you seen it Colonel! I'll never be able to use my hand again. I'll have to dictate to Zelenka! Can you imagine; all the ideas, but I can't type them out fast enough with one hand. Next time we're attacked by the Wraith and I have the usual impossible deadline to save everyone. We'll all look a bit stupid trying to stop them by one-finger typing!"

"Rodney! It's only a couple of broken fingers. You'll be fine."

"Only broken fingers! I'll be lucky if I don't bleed to death inside before we get back."

Sheppard started to look worried, "What?"

"Well you know, massive bruising, internal bleeding, the like," his face was screwed up in pain.

"We're nearly there now."

Rodney passed out and slumped forward onto the control panel just as they passed through the gate on the planet.

Sheppard half flooded the Jumper Bay when he opened the hatch. The waiting medical team shouted out in alarm and indignation as the salty water washed over their feet.

Sheppard paid no attention and urgently beckoned them over to Rodney.

They loaded him onto a gurney and took him away. Sheppard followed them to the infirmary.

Keller pushed him out of the way while they lay Rodney on the scanner. As the infirmary staff worked, Ronon, Teyla and Carter joined Sheppard.

"What happened?" Carter asked.

"We had a run in with some of the locals. I'll tell you all about it in the debriefing. Let's just say that McKay got a little too close to a high-pressure water jet. He got hurt saving both our asses… as usual."

Teyla frowned, "He should be more careful."

Keller came over to them after she finished setting, splinting and binding Rodney's broken fingers. They wheeled him out of the way to continue working.

"He'll be fine," she said smiling, "He has some severe bruising, but nothing that a few day's rest won't heal. No need for us to open him up. The breaks in his hand were all clean and should heal to be as good as new."

They all breathed out in relief and Keller hounded them out of the infirmary, with the reassurance, "I'll call you when he wakes up."

Sheppard caught up with Rodney in his lab later in the week. He was one finger typing with his left hand, hammering on the keys in frustration. His right hand was thickly bound up in bandages and in a sling.

"This is so annoying," he said without looking up.

Sheppard frowned, "What's wrong?"

"The whole typing thing. Keller says it will be a while before I can use my hand again. I told you it would cause problems."

"Well you did suggest Zelenka… it probably won't be that long and Keller did say they'd heal perfectly."

"I also have a less than amusing black line of bruising across myself as well. Makes it difficult to move… and breathe," he winced as he took a deep breath and sighed to illustrate his point.

Sheppard put a hand on his shoulder, "It was worth it though. I know Isan wasn't particularly grateful, but at least Kiri will be alright. I'm sure the others will come round when they feel the sun on their faces again.

"Maybe we should visit them again in a few months. Give them a chance to cool down. See how they are."

Rodney snorted and lay his left hand on the bruised side of his chest as it hurt, "Yes we can dodge stun blasts and depth charges and shout out of the Puddle Jumper: 'How are you?' 'Do you feel less trigger happy this time?' That should be an exciting reunion. Hope you don't mind if I opt out of that one."

Sheppard laughed and shook his head in exasperation. He grabbed Rodney's free arm and dragged him to the mess hall to meet up with Teyla and Ronon for lunch.

A/N – that one spun out a bit more than I had intended. Whoopsy – hope you liked it! x Varda x