Thank you so much, everyone! You are so wonderful! (reposted because, darn it, typos!)

NEVER STOP MOVING
By TIPPER

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN: WINDS OF CHANGE

Rodney felt the feather light touch of Sheppard's hand on his shoulder, and his quiet, "I know." The hand stayed there only for a moment, warming his skin through his jacket, and then it was gone. It was all he needed, though, to pick up his head and set his jaw. He squinted into the too bright light of the desert, ignoring the flashes of pain behind his eyes, and started thinking about what he needed to do.

Two hours. He needed a shortcut around the code he needed to write, to think of alternatives to what needed to be done, to get them home.

Pushing up off the bottom of the ramp, he staggered heavily when his balance suddenly fled—the world had turned sideways, bending almost on its axis, and it was only by sheer luck that his sense of equilibrium came back before he fell over.

Panting a little, he held onto his knees, bent over like an old man, and breathed through the dizziness. His world had grayed there—it was amazing he didn't faint. Pass out. Whatever.

Oh yeah…this really sucked.

"You okay?" John asked, the question almost too soft to hear. It meant he was honestly concerned, and Rodney grimaced. Of course, he wasn't okay! But, though he never said it, he knew Sheppard's injuries were a lot worse than his. Knew that when he'd been rattling on about snakes and scorpions, he was thinking more about just how long they would be here if they were forced to hide. All he'd done was knock his head a couple of times—with Ronon and Teyla to protect him, he'd likely survive…but, with that arm, Sheppard wouldn't.

And Rodney wasn't about to let that happen.

Come on, McKay. Get it in gear.

Straightening, he turned and looked down to where his friend was still sitting on the bottom of the ramp. Sheppard was pale, whiter than the sand beneath their feet, making his eyes vividly dark where they peered up at him. His left arm was bandaged from shoulder to hand, hidden inside a sling, but flecks of blood were visible even through the sling's thick material. Damn, that had to hurt. He might have to revise his answer to "least likely to admit to pain."

"Fine," Rodney said, finally answering the question he'd been asked. He reached out a hand, offering to help Sheppard up, hating the visible tremor and the numbness he felt creeping down his right arm. He'd have to eat something…provided he could keep that something down.

Sheppard looked at the hand, them, with a twist of his lips, took it and let Rodney pull him up. He teetered as well, once he was on his feet, and Rodney grabbed Sheppard's good arm to stop the other man from falling over.

"Okay?" he asked.

Sheppard gave a nod, then took in a breath and straightened up fully. He smiled at Rodney. "Fine," he echoed. It was about as believable as when Rodney had said it.

"Good," Rodney said, not wanting to dwell on his friend's lie. "You'll need to be, because I'm going to need your help."

Sheppard's head tilted, the smile turning wry. "Whatever you need."

Rodney didn't smile back, because he hadn't expected Sheppard to say or do anything else. Instead, he just walked up the ramp and back into the cool darkness of the Jumper, unconsciously rubbing his right hand with his left.

And then he stopped.

Teyla stood before the left hand control panel, Rodney's tablet on her arm. She was reading something on the display. Rodney frowned, what was she…?

Oh. Right. Nice of her. She had set it up for him—he wondered who had taught her to do that? Sheppard?

"Thanks, Teyla," he said, stepping forward and reaching for the tablet. "I can take it now."

"Oh," she looked up at him, her eyes a little startled. "I…uh…"

"She's running the diagnostics for you, McKay," Sheppard supplied smoothly, stepping up next to Rodney. He had said that as if it were normal. "Should probably let her finish."

Rodney blinked once. Teyla was running what? Maybe it was a joke? One he didn't get…. He frowned—he hated jokes he didn't get. "What are you talking about? She can't run diagnostics, Sheppard. She doesn't know—"

"Power levels are down to only 4.7 percent," Teyla said suddenly, interrupting him. "That should give us approximately three hours and ten minutes of flying time, provided we do not use either the shield or climb too high in the atmosphere. However, if we do not fly too fast, we can cut down on the amount of stress absorbed by the inertial dampeners—and perhaps eke out a little more power from the cells."

Rodney froze, eyebrows high on his forehead. Had he just walked into an alternative universe? Where the hell did she learn…?

"Like going 65 instead of 80 on the highway," Sheppard mused by his side, "to save on gas."

Teyla just looked at the colonel blankly.

"If you say so," she said.

Rodney blinked, mentally unfreezing in order to give Sheppard a sideways glare. Why did he always have to analogize everything? It was like a sickness with the man.

"Also," Teyla looked down again at the tablet, "the control crystals interfacing with the left hand drive pod have become either burnt out or fused, rendering the bulk of them useless. I do not believe they are repairable, but they can probably be bypassed temporarily, or perhaps replaced. I have also determined why we felt some drag on the left side when flying here—something has obviously interrupted the power flow to the pod and perhaps damaged the engine coils themselves, causing the short in the crystals. I am not sure what yet. I need to go outside to see."

Rodney had returned his gaze to hers, and was now studying her without blinking. Part of his mind had taken the information she had reported, already storing it and suggesting changes, solutions. The other part was still stuck on the fact that it was Teyla telling him this. What the hell?

"Give me that," he said, reaching again for the tablet. Teyla's jaw hardened at the order, but she did as she was instructed. He pulled it from her grip with perhaps a little more force than necessary.

"McKay…" Sheppard warned, but Rodney cut him off with a raised hand.

"Wait," he snapped.

Sheppard waited—Rodney didn't have to see his face to know that the Colonel was pissed at him right now.

Tablet warming his arm, Rodney hit a few keys and brought up the power consumption screen. A glance up showed him that the tablet was connected in the right place to the panel. Looking down again, he noted the tablet said exactly what Teyla had just told him, though she had obviously extrapolated the parts about not flying too high and the bits about the inertial dampeners—both of which statements were correct.

Her time estimates were correct as well.

He tapped over to another screen, glancing at the information on the left hand controls on the display. From what he saw…she was right about the left hand drive pod. He could double check, pull the crystals, which is what he would do if it were him…but he guessed she already had, which is why she had made those statements. Nothing on the tablet contradicted her.

His eyes lifted, finding her standing quietly before him, arms clasped behind her back and her chin lifted proudly. She was a study of calm, patiently waiting for him to say something. He almost bought the veneer, so used to seeing it on her face, but then she blinked and, for a brief second, he saw her jaw muscle flex.

It was a flinch.

It was a flinch!

My God…she was nervous! He snorted. He couldn't believe it! She was waiting for his approval! Because she had actually learned how to….Hang on a minute…how…?

"How did you learn how to do this?" he asked.

Teyla nodded, as if having expected the question. "Doctor Zelenka has been teaching me, when he can. He has been doing maintenance on some of the newer Jumpers. I have been helping. He also gave me the links to parts of the database which discuss and describe the Jumpers and their systems," she shrugged, "to read in my spare time."

Rodney frowned a little at that. Zelenka? She had asked Zelenka to teach her?

Why hadn't she asked him?

Not that he cared of course. Not at all. Not even a little. After all, he'd have probably said no. It's not like he'd have the time to…

Oh, for Christ's sake, McKay! Focus!

He looked down again at the tablet.

"I see," he said, fingers wrapping a little more tightly around the leather grip.

Another second went past, and he felt Sheppard shift next to him. Before the colonel could say something, though, either to yell at Rodney or commend Teyla or, heaven forbid, come up with another unnecessary analogy, McKay was shoving the tablet back at Teyla.

"Go on, then," he said. "Finish what you started. I have to get going on taking down that Gate Shield and that weapon."

"And taking us off their sensors," Sheppard added.

"And taking us off their sensors," McKay agreed, not looking at him. He shoved the tablet at her again, and she hastily grabbed for it when he abruptly let go, nearly dropping it in the process. Without looking at her again, he pushed past, aiming for the front. He didn't look back to see her face, or Sheppard's. He didn't want to. He just settled into his chair and checked to see that the laptop was still there. It was. And it was still on—the power surge caused by the energy beam hadn't killed it. Will wonders never cease.

His fingers started rattling the keys, calling up everything that the Jumper had automatically recorded about the Ancient machines on this planet—shield, weapons, facilities...everything.

He had just started reading the data downloaded on the shield when something rather obvious occurred to him. Why would he need to write a back door program for this Gate, to take down that shield…when they weren't coming in the back door? They were already on this side...

With that almost hopeful thought in the back of his mind, he turned his attention to the weapon.

And his lips pursed into a dark frown as he read the details of what exactly had taken them down.

Crap.

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Teyla swallowed, her eyes looking towards the bowed back of Rodney sitting in his chair up front. She couldn't see all of him, just the back of his head, his back and his chair. He was already working, typing away on the laptop with a speed she knew she would never master.

She looked down at the tablet, and frowned.

She couldn't tell…Was Rodney mad at her? For once, she had absolutely no idea what had gone through his head. His expression had shifted from puzzlement, to anger, to something indefinable. For a moment, she thought he had looked hurt, but she had no idea why. Hurt because she could do something only he could do before? It's not as if she could ever take his place…

She shook her head sharply. Now was not the time. Turning once more to face the panels, she suddenly realized that John was still standing there, not more than a foot away. He was smiling softly.

"Nice job," he commended, his voice not over a whisper.

She just gave him a nod in acknowledgement, thanking him. "I—"

"Sheppard," McKay snapped from up front. "Get up here. I need you in the co-pilot chair."

"Duty calls," John sighed. Arching an eyebrow, he winced when it impacted the bruise on his head. He snorted. "Gotta stop doing that." With another nod to Teyla, he moved past her to the front, and gently set himself down in the co-pilot's chair. He adjusted the sling on his arm, and for a second, Teyla saw the lines of pain in his face before he slammed his mask of nonchalance back down on it. She pulled the tablet closer to her body—maybe she should check his dressings. They could probably…

Rodney suddenly swiveled in his chair to look at her, and Teyla almost jumped at the intensity on the scientist's face.

"You need to get outside," he said. "If there is something wrong with the power getting to the pod, as you say, it's likely because something had interfered with the power conduits. Probably when we landed—it's possible the pod didn't close all the way and earth damaged the underside, where the conduits are. If the pod got striped by the beam, then that would definitely impact its ability to open and close. The pod getting striped by the beam might also have shorted out some of the engine coils, which might overloaded the conduits—another potential source of damage. Check it now. You might also see if the drone bay on the left side was damaged. My guess is, if the pod got striped, then so did the bay, which could be a problem since we don't have a blow torch. Check the connections on the doors—and make sure the metal hasn't fused. I also need to know if the pod will be able to retract on its own, because we don't want to get stuck again, yes?"

Teyla blinked at the overload of information thrust at her. "I…yes, right." She nodded and backed up a step. "I…I'll just…"

"What are you waiting for? Go!" McKay ordered, turning back around with a frown. Teyla jumped. Hastily, she put down the tablet and almost ran outside.

It wasn't until she was out there, watching Ronon jogging back from wherever he had fetched more water, that she realized she had just been ordered around by Rodney…like she was one of his, as he called them, lab rats.

And she had reacted just like one too.

She gave a short laugh, covering her mouth to hide her smile.

The confused look on Ronon's face when he got closer, obviously spotting the extremely pleased expression on her face, was priceless.

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TBC...

Yes, I know, these are talky chapters. Please stick with me! It'll all work, I promise!

Oh, one other little thing, I hate doing this, but I have to slow down the posting. I've reached the end of the already written and revised chapters, and am into the semi-written and definitely not revised chapters -- basically, we're heading into the last quarter of the story now, and I'm still wrangling it down. So...every other day or so. But, heck, it's Easter and you'll all be busy egg hunting anyway, right?