Disclaimer - I do not own Stargate Atlantis, any of the characters or the events depicted in this story. I only own my character Rayne, her background and family, also anything not privy to the show.
Thank you to those that have favorited or followed this story.
As always reviews are appreciated!
Enjoy!
Sheppard, McKay, Teyla, Ronon and Rayne arrive at a mountain range which, although they can't see all of it, suggests that it might be circular, surrounding a large crater. The team has walked through a forest and has reached a cliff wall.
Rayne had only been cleared for field work by Dr. Beckett the day prior, following her near-death at the hands of the Wraith just one week before. This was supposed to be a nice quiet mission to look for possibly another ZPM, and that was the only reason why Carson and Weir allowed her to go with her team.
Rodney is leading the way holding his laptop out in front of him, complaining as he always does when they're off-world. It's as if he has nothing better to do than annoy his teammates. "Why do you have to park so far away?"
"This ridge was a little further away than it looked. You can't just land a Jumper anywhere, Rodney." Sheppard tells him.
"Ah, it doesn't matter now, I think we're almost there." He continues walking, looking down at the Ancient computer as he walks along.
"Rodney, do you even know what it is we are looking for?" Teyla questions.
"Yeah, well, whatever it is, it's around here somewhere."
"What's around here?" Ronon questions.
"Whatever it was that was causing the energy spike we detected from the Puddle Jumper."
"D'you have any idea what that looks like?" Sheppard asks him.
"I'll know it when I see it..." He pauses looking to his left through some long hanging vines and points. "...and I see it."
The team walks in the direction he is pointing, as Rodney pulls back some of the trailing vines hanging down from the cliff. There's a small cave inside and at the far end is a square archway carved through the wall.
"Looks like a door." Ronon says.
This causes McKay to look back at him and snark, "Yes, it is remarkably door-like." He rolls his eyes and turns towards the cave again.
John pulls down some of the vines and the team walks into the cave, John and Teyla aiming their guns cautiously as they approach the doorway. There seems to be another cave on the other side. "Well, looks like the only way through the ridge anyway. It runs for miles. Alright, let's check it out." He starts to walk forward.
McKay consulting his device quickly stops him. "Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, wait. There's something there."
Sheppard stops short of the doorway, "What?"
"Some kind of an energy barrier around the threshold."
John looks at the doorway for a moment, then turns and finds a large pebble on the ground. He picks it up and tosses it towards the doorway. As the pebble reaches the doorway, a blue light glows around it as it goes through the energy field and then the pebble vanishes in mid-air.
"It disappeared." Teyla says.
"Or it went right through a cloak." John suggests.
Studying his device McKay glances from it to the doorway. "It has many of the same properties as a cloaking field."
"Yeah, and the Ancients did tend to hide all the really cool stuff."
"Yeah - I would just like to be able to explain these readings better before we step through." He snaps his fingers several times and turns to Teyla, Rayne and Ronon. "Get me a branch." As they walk away, he turns to John. "You got tape?"
John squats down and starts to rummage in his backpack.
"Because..." McKay reaches into his jacket. "...I got a camera!" He pulls the camera out, then looks up in despair as Ronon presents him with the branch he found. "I didn't ask for a log!" He glares at Ronon, who turns and walks away with his log as Teyla comes in with a much thinner branch. "Thank you."
Rayne gently takes Ronon's hand and tugs him closer to her, giving him a cute little pout as she leans up and kisses his lips. "So mean to my man." She laughs as Ronon rolls his eyes at her baby-voice.
"OK, so..." He holds the camera against the end of the branch that Teyla is holding. "...tape it to the stick..." John unwraps the end of the duct tape he has taken out of his pack and starts to wrap it around the camera and the branch. "...we extend the camera through, record for a few minutes, pull it back, play the recorder."
"Yeah! M.A.L.P. on a stick!" John says grinning.
Rodney looks at him in exasperation. "Yes, M.A.L.P. on a stick. Very clever. Are we done?"
John finishes taping the camera to the branch. "Yep!"
Rodney takes the branch from Teyla and carefully feeds the camera end into the field. The part of the field surrounding the branch glows blue as he feeds it through. As it passes through the field, it disappears from view.
Teyla walks over to the cave wall near the doorway and looks at writing carved on the wall. "I am not fluent in Ancient but I do recognize a few words: "welcome" and "ascension."
"Ascension?" Ronon and Rayne question, they'd heard the term before from some people in Atlantis.
McKay still holding the branch with the camera end through the doorway explains. "To a higher plane of existence. The race of people who built the Stargate's - they eventually evolved to a point where they ascended to a state of pure energy."
"That'd be great!" Ronon says.
"Yeah, well, sadly it's a matter of, uh, evolution." He looks up at Ronon, who stares back at him. Rodney looks away again as Rayne tries to muffle her laughter with her hand. "Anyway... I'm sure we've got more than enough now." He pulls the camera back through the doorway. "There we go. And... have a look, shall we?"
Everyone gathers around him as he activates the camera. The screen shows the other side of the doorway. It looks exactly the same as they can see through the doorway anyway.
Rodney looks up, "OK, then! Any volunteers?"
"I'll go." John offers first as always walking towards the doorway, yet again causing Rayne to growl at him, he knows that she hates it when he offers to be the Guinea pig.
"Just, um, back out if you encounter anything problematic."
John stops and looks back at McKay after the warning. "Problematic?"
"Yeah, like poisonous atmosphere, acid atmosphere, no atmosphere. Hey…" He points to the camera in his hand. "…it's M.A.L.P. on a stick; only shows you so much."
John grimaces at him nervously, "OK." He takes a deep breath. "Here goes." He slowly pushes his P90 into the field. The field glows blue around the gun. He pushes his hands forward and they disappear into the field. "Weird!"
"What's wrong?" Rayne questions, knowing her instincts were right when she thought this was a bad idea.
He pushes his arms into the field and grimaces, "Yeah, it's kinda hurting my hands a little."
"OK, so get outta there."
Sheppard struggles to pull himself out of the field, "I'm trying to, but it's pulling me in."
Ronon grabs the webbing on the back of John's vest with both hands and braces himself. "I got you."
Despite Ronon's strength pulling back, John continues to be pulled into the field, he looks fearfully round at the others. "OK, come on, guys, get me outta here."
Teyla and Rayne both run forward and grab hold of more webbing, pulling with all of their combined weight.
"I'm tryin'." Ronon grunts.
"Well, try harder."
"No-no-no, we proved this - it shouldn't be happening." McKay panics.
"Well, it is! It's pulling me in!" He shouts as Ronon, Rayne and Teyla continue trying to pull him out to no avail.
"It's too strong!" Teyla shouts.
"I'm losing my grip!" Rayne then exclaims.
John's face reaches the field. He turns his head to the side, trying to force his head back, but it is pulled into the field.
Rodney calls out a warning to Teyla, Rayne and Ronon. "Don't touch the barrier!"
As their hands near the barrier, the three of them have no choice but to let John go as the portal inexorably sucks him through. The rest of the team stare at each other in shock.
Inside the cave John is lying face-down on the ground on the other side of the barrier, he picks up his radio to call the others. "I don't know if you can hear me over the radio, but I am finally on the other side." He looks up. "Looks just like the pictures." He strains to stand up but can't move. "Hurts pretty bad to move. I don't know if I can..." He tries again to move but can't. He groans. "Alright, you guys, stay put." He deactivates his radio.
Outside the barrier Ronon turns his fury on Rodney. "Why did you tell us to let him go?"
"Because you weren't gonna stop and the last thing we need is all of you to get pulled in with him."
"Why would the Ancestors create something that would do this?" Teyla questions.
"I don't know."
"Figure it out or you're going in after him!" Ronon threatens.
"Ok, that is not helping! Obviously the portal reacts differently to living matter than it does to inanimate objects. It might even be specific to humans."
John is on his feet finally and activates his radio. "This is Sheppard - can you hear me now?" He deactivates the radio and listens but there's no reply. He activates it again. "I've taken a good look around the area. Cave opens up to the other side of the ridge. There's not much there, so, uh, (he squats down) I'm just gonna wait here and give you guys a chance to figure this one out."
Teyla activates her radio, "Colonel Sheppard, this is Teyla. Please respond."
McKay again consults his Ancient device, "You're wasting your time, it's not gonna work."
Teyla ignores him as she tries again, "Colonel, if you can hear me, please respond."
Rodney puts the device down and goes over the camera on the branch, looking at the playback again. "There's absolutely nothing on this tape that could possibly indicate any kind of..." He trails off, staring at the screen in shock. "Oh, no!"
"What?" Ronon snaps.
"The memory's full. It's recorded almost two hours and..." He stares down as the camera beeps. "…and the battery just died! Dammit!"
"Why are you wasting time?" Ronon growls.
"That is the one thing I am not doing." He puts the camera down and looks around. "OK, look, I need something living, like a, like a flower, or a blossom." He spots a bush nearby which has branches covered in yellow blossom. "OK." He goes over and starts to tug at the branches.
John is standing very near the barrier talking into his radio praying that someone on the other side can hear him. "Now would not be a good time to throw that rock I asked you to throw a few hours ago. I'd never see it coming - this side is as black as oil." He looks at the barrier, then punches it hard. It ripples blue but all John gets is a sore fist. Grunting in frustration, he steps back a little from the barrier, then activates his radio again. "There's one thing I haven't tried, so if you can hear me, uh, stand back. And if you can't... well, then I guess you can't hear me."
He draws his pistol and points it at the barrier, then, realizing that anyone could be standing right on the other side, he aims at the bottom of the barrier and fires. The bullet bounces off the field and ricochets back, hitting him in the foot. John cries out in pain, hopping on one foot.
"Good one, John! Shoot yourself!" He yells into the radio. "This is downright problematic, Rodney!"
Outside Rodney pulls a couple of branches off the bush and turns to look at the other two. "To test a theory. Work with me here, people. Look, if I'm right, we need to hurry." He walks into the cave.
"What are you doin', McKay?" Ronon asks looking at the scientist as if he'd lost his mind.
Rodney stops and turns to him in irritation. "I am trying to determine how much faster time is passing on the other side of the portal than it is here."
"What does that mean for John, Rodney?" Rayne insists.
"Why would time progress faster?" Teyla asks.
"It doesn't make any sense." Ronon says shaking his head.
"That is what I am trying to prove. Now, just wait." He shouts glaring at the three of them, then feeds the end of the branches into the doorway. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten..."
"McKay..." Ronon growls.
"…bear with me, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty." He pulls the branches out of the field. The blossoms that were inside the field are brown, dried out and almost dead. Rodney stares at them, "A whole lot faster!"
Teyla takes the branches and stares at them, while Rayne lets out a deep troubled breath. "So much for my quiet easy mission."
John sits down on a rock, then activates his radio. "Can you hear me now?" He listens, but there's no reply. He activates it again. "The cave opens up to the other side of the ridge but there's nothing in the immediate area I can survive on."
He deactivates the radio and tosses his pistol across to an area where he has set up camp. After a moment, he stands up and wanders back to the doorway, talking into the radio. "OK, that's day two and I'm out of water. We don't leave our people behind - right?"
He stares at the doorway, then activates the radio again. "How about sending me a signal to show me that you're still there? Doesn't have to be a rock - you can write a damned note!"
He deactivates the radio briefly, then activates it again. "I'm gonna turn off my radio for another six hours to conserve the battery…" He sits down on the ground, "…and try to get some sleep. Sheppard out."
Teyla is still staring at the branches, "The blossoms have aged several hours at least."
McKay starts to walk out of the cave, "We might be able to pick him up in the Jumper but I need to get back to Atlantis."
Ronon follows him growling loudly, "You're not goin' anywhere."
McKay whips around in anger, "It is a time dilation field, which means that time is passing much faster on the other side of the portal than it is here for us. I'm not sure of the exact ratio, but I need to go now."
"Why?"
"I don't have time to explain temporal compression theory to you when every moment we stand here debating this, literally hours could be going by for Colonel Sheppard relative to us. Look, hours equate to days, and days for us could mean years for him. Do you get it now? Teyla - I need you to follow me back as far as the Puddle Jumper and I'll explain what I need you to do on the way."
He and Teyla start to leave, then Rodney turns and points at Ronon and Rayne. "And you, stay here."
"And do what?" Ronon says throwing up his arms.
"Don't go through, if that's what you're thinking." He suddenly realizes something. "Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa." He points to Teyla's back. "Give me the knapsack."
John is on his feet by the doorway, talking into the radio. He has a couple of day's growth of beard already. "Rodney, Teyla, Rayne, Ronon? Come in?" There's no reply. "You guys are starting to worry me a little bit here."
"Empty your pockets - everything you think he might need to survive." McKay tells them quickly.
Ronon takes various items out of his pockets, while Rayne and Teyla are taking energy bars out of their own pockets and they put everything into the knapsack.
"We might just buy him a little more time there." He puts some items into the knapsack himself. "Come on. Good." He pulls the drawstrings shut, takes the knapsack to the doorway and tosses it through.
John has built himself a small fire and is sitting by it, licking the inside of the wrapper of his last energy bar. He scrunches it up and then looks down at his right hand, flexing his fingers painfully, so it's either very cold in the cave or he is weak from hunger. He tosses the wrapper down onto the floor. At that moment, the cave shakes as if a small earthquake is going off. He ducks, covering his head as small rocks fall from the ceiling. The earthquake subsides. As John looks around cautiously, there's a sound from the doorway and the energy field starts to glow blue. John stands up and runs over to the doorway as a knapsack flies through. John bends down to the knapsack, then stares at the doorway.
"What the hell took you guys so long?!" He unties the drawstrings of the knapsack, pulls out a canteen of water and takes a long drink.
Rodney and Teyla are just arriving at the Puddle Jumper and run inside. As they talk, they rummage around the Jumper collecting all the equipment that Teyla will take back with her.
"Alright - emergency rations, medical kit. Anything else?"
"Extra batteries for the camcorder." Teyla reminds him.
"Right. You know what to do?"
"Press Record, extend and hold for three seconds."
"No more, no less."
"And then pull it out again."
"Right. If he's still there, that should give him plenty of time to record a detailed message. Dammit! Why didn't I send through a note?"
"What do you mean if he is still there?" She asks tentatively.
"Look, depending on the compression ratio inside the field, there's a very good chance he may have used up the supplies we've sent through by the time you get back. I know it's hard to get your head around but what it means is we have to..."
"It means we must hurry."
"Right. Go-go-go-go-go-go-go."
Teyla, laden down with two large bags over her shoulders and carrying a suitcase-sized container of water, heads back for the cave.
Rodney closes the door of the Jumper. "Good!" He runs to the cockpit. "Alright!" Sitting down in the pilot's seat he activates the controls, concentrating on doing everything correctly. "Right!"
Rodney has arrived in Atlantis a short time later, Carson and Elizabeth join him in a room as Rodney and various personnel are preparing the equipment needed to take back to the planet.
"What, you have no idea whether he's injured?" Carson questions.
"The excruciating pain he was experiencing was a result of the temporal differential."
"And what is that, exactly?"
"OK, the-the-the portal must somehow dampen the extreme tidal forces that would normally occur in the event horizon of a time dilation field, and we were keeping him from passing through it."
"So part of his body is experiencing time at a different pace than the other? Who knows what that could do to him?"
"I have no idea, but I suspect he could use a doctor." McKay responds sarcastically.
"So you don't know if he's even alive?" Weir adds.
"The most time-efficient approach was to assume that he was alive but stranded."
"And why not assume that he'll make his own way back through the portal?"
"Because Colonel Sheppard would have already had hours to try to make it back through the portal in the time I wasted explaining the situation to Conan, Xena and the Little Mermaid!"
"Now, Rodney, that's not very…" Beckett admonishes him.
"No. No, I suppose it isn't." He sighs knowing that any of them would seriously injure him if they ever found out what he said. He activates his headset radio, "This is McKay. Supplies been loaded aboard yet?"
"Almost there, sir. Just a few more cases."
"Alright. When you're done with that, make sure you assist Zelenka in securing the descent probe into the launch compartment." He picks up a large bag and tosses it to Carson. "Let's move." He leaves the room. Carson, Elizabeth and the others follow him.
Indeed, inside the portal, days have passed. Trapped in a cave without food, water, or word from his team, Sheppard is discouraged. He is sitting by a small fire, he now has a full beard. He activates his radio once more to try and contact the team. "This is Sheppard. I'm pretty sure you can't hear me, but I don't have a volleyball to talk to, so what the hell. I've rationed what little I have for as long as I could but I have enough left for maybe one more day." The arrival of the supplies helped, but when more days pass with no further contact, he's forced to seek food elsewhere.
He sighs, "I've gotta get myself something to live on while I find my own source of food and water. Not that I didn't appreciate the three canteens of water and the whole handful of power bars. He says sarcastically before sighing again.
"There's nothing in the immediate area. I'm gonna have to go further out. Um, I'm giving you an indication of where I go, as I go." He looks frustrated. "Sheppard out." Angrily, he throws the radio across the cave, then picks up his P90 and starts to kick the fire out. Once it's out, he cocks his gun, switches on the light on top of it and, aiming it cautiously, heads out.
Teyla arrives back at the cave carrying all of the supplies. "That was quick." Ronon says surprised.
"Not fast enough, I fear." She tosses one of the bags and the water container through the portal, then turns to Ronon. "Get the camera."
She tosses the second bag through the portal, then takes the battery out of her pocket as Ronon brings the camera over, still taped to the branch. "Doctor McKay would like us to try this again." She puts the new battery into the camera.
"To see if Sheppard's still alive?" Ronon queries, but his choice of words earn him a snarl and glare form his girlfriend.
"And to determine the true passage of time on the other side." Teyla finishes inserting the battery. "Alright." She switches on the camera. "Alright." She then feeds the camera through the field and counts off the seconds. "One, two, three." As she says "three", she pans the camera across the cave, then pulls it out.
"That wasn't long enough to see anything." Ronon comments.
"It was enough to see John." Rayne replies as Teyla plays back the footage she has recorded.
"And yet it seems to have recorded several minutes." She continues watching the footage. She can see the water container and one of the bags she tossed through lying on the ground, together with various other bits of kit that John has left behind, but there is no sign of him. She looks round at Ronon and Rayne. "He is not there."
John has left the cave and is walking through a sunlit forest. He discovered that on the other side of the immense mountain range above him, the cave opened into a verdant valley. He suddenly stops as he hears the sound of a ferocious roar. It sounds like he's being stalked by a dinosaur. He raises his P90. The roar comes again, this time from another direction. John spins around as the roaring continues.
"Well, you're either gonna eat me, or I'm gonna eat you."
Licking his lips nervously and summoning his courage, he walks in the direction the sound last came from.
Rodney, Elizabeth and Carson are heading for the Jumper Bay. "We've loaded weeks of supplies and everything I could think of." McKay says.
"What're we not thinking of?" Carson questions.
"Now take a minute, and be certain. If your theory is correct, you won't be able to make many of these trips."
"I am painfully aware of that." Rodney replies to Elizabeth impatiently.
Elizabeth stops and turns to face him. "I remind you only because from what you've told me, rushing is what got Sheppard into trouble in the first place."
"This was not his fault - it was mine. I should have looked more closely at the video. The clues were there before he even stepped through. Look, all I can hope to do now is fix this within his lifetime."
"His lifetime?" Carson asks confused.
"If it takes us a week to ten days to fix this, then it won't matter, because he will probably have died of old age."
"Oh my God." Weir gasps.
"Yeah, hence the rushing. Now, you ready?" As they start to walk again, he looks at Carson. "You don't look ready."
"I'm ready."
"I need to pick up a few of my books to help with the translation."
"Well, we'll pick 'em up on the way, and I hope you've got us a real Jumper pilot because I don't trust him…" He says pointing at Carson. "…and I can't fly the damned thing in a straight line."
John has left the forest and is now walking across a grassy field. Unexpectedly, out of the woods nearby a man races up to him, shouting frantically about a beast.
"Help! Help! Help me, please!"
Somewhere in the woods, the whatever-it-is roars as the man runs towards John.
"Where is it?"
"It's there." He points in the direction he has just come from. "In the trees."
The whatever-it-is roars again.
"What is it?" John asks.
"The Beast!"
"Alright, is there a safe place for us to go?"
"No, no, the Cloister is too far." He stares into the woods. "It's upon us!"
As the Beast roars again, John and the man crouch down in the grass, John aiming his P90 towards the woods. "Stay down, and stay behind me."
"You can't fight it!"
"Maybe we can scare it away."
He fires a hail of bullets into the trees. As the smoke clears, he stands up cautiously. For a moment, there's silence, then the roar comes from his left. He spins to face the sound. The field stretches for some distance in that direction but the sound seemed to come from much closer. He stares, confused. Suddenly a distortion appears just above the ground, flickering into view for a moment, then fading. John lowers his rifle, puzzled, then the distortion appears again, this time forming the shape of a monster.
It's hard to see its exact form because it keeps flickering in and out of view but it appears to be about seven feet tall; it is human-shaped and is covered in scales or a tough skin. It has long clawed hands and a horn or ridge on its head.
John fires a short blast from his rifle but the creature disappears momentarily, then reappears much closer to John and knocks him flying. He crashes to the ground. As the man cowers, the creature, still phasing in and out of existence, turns and heads towards John. John rolls out of its way and then surges up onto his knees, grabbing his pistol out of its holder and firing several bullets at the Beast as it passes. The Beast growls, turns and heads back towards him, again knocking him across the field.
He lands on his front and the Beast runs across and slashes its clawed hand across John's back, ripping his vest and shirt to shreds and leaving claw marks across his back. The Beast phases out briefly, then turns and heads towards the other man. It stands over him as he cowers. John rolls over and grabs a knife out of his jacket before getting up, running to the Beast and jumping onto its back. The Beast screams in anger, John, hanging on for dear life, looks at the man on the ground.
"Get outta here!"
As the man gets up and runs, the Beast tosses John off its back. Lying on the ground on his back, John looks up as the Beast stands over him, phasing in and out for a few seconds, then it disappears. John passes out.
The Puddle Jumper flies towards the planet and aims towards the circular mountain range surrounding the crater. Elizabeth is sitting beside the pilot, while Rodney sits behind him, with Carson behind Elizabeth.
Elizabeth looks down at the crater. "There it is."
Rodney is consulting a hand-held device. "Well, according to these readings, it's not there."
"Rodney, I can see it with my own eyes - its right inside that crater." Carson says pointing out the windshield.
"It's hard to say whether the Ancients actually built it inside the crater or whether the rim formed as a result of the time dilation field."
"The Jumper sensors aren't picking up anything?" Elizabeth asks the pilot who shakes his head. "Nothing, ma'am."
"Alright. Position us directly above it and stand by." McKay orders the pilot. "Prepare to launch the probe on my mark."
"What is this probe of yours supposed to do?" Elizabeth asks.
"Well, it's supposed to descend slowly into the atmosphere of a gas giant. The 'chute opens, the probe separates into two components joined by a tether hundreds of meters long."
"So we should be able to receive telemetry from inside the time dilation field while the other half of the probe is still outside."
"Right. And depending on the variance, we might be able to fly right into the field and rescue Sheppard."
"Very clever, Rodney!" Carson exclaims.
"Uh, yes, it is." He looks uncomfortable. "It was actually Zelenka's idea."
A pair of hands wrings out a cloth in a bowl of water and the owner of the hands starts to mop John's brow. He is either asleep or unconscious in a bed in what appears to be a wooden house. A blanket covers him from the chest down but he's been changed into a white shirt. Various voices can be heard outside the dwelling. It sounds like whoever they belong to are getting on with their everyday lives. John wakes up and sees that the hand mopping his brow belongs to a girl of about twelve years old.
"Hi."
The girl smiles at him, then turns and calls out loudly. "He's awake again!"
John flinches at the noise. "I am now!"
As the girl starts to mop his brow again, a woman outside the dwelling breaks off from the conversation she was having with the man that had been in the field with John and comes inside. She is in her early thirties and is wearing an ankle-length sleeveless shift dress. She walks over to the bed, smiling, and introduces herself as Teer, the young girl is Hedda and the man he had saved is their brother Avrid.
Teer then explains that the Ancients created this valley as a place for people to meditate on spiritual truths and, eventually, Ascend to a higher plane of existence. To Sheppard's horror, they add that, except by Ascending, no one can leave the valley. Ever.
The Jumper is flying down over the crater as Rodney types away on the device in his hands. "Alright. Launch the probe on my mark. Three, two, one, mark."
The pilot deploys the probe, which drops out from underneath the Jumper and falls ground-wards, its parachute trailing out above it.
"The probe's about to pass through the field. Stand by." He looks at his hand-held device before exclaiming, "Dammit!"
"What happened?" Carson questions.
"Exactly what I was afraid would happen. The probe was ripped apart by tidal forces at the event horizon almost instantly."
"So we can't fly through it and rescue Colonel Sheppard?"
"Not unless we wanna be ripped apart too!"
"Did you receive any telemetry before the probe failed?" Elizabeth asks him hopefully.
Rodney looks at his device again, "Hmm. Actually quite a lot. Looks like mostly gibberish, though. This is gonna take me the better part of an hour to go through."
Weeks turn into months as, with Teer's help, Sheppard struggles to adapt to his new life. Then, one day, the mysterious beast attacks the village. To Sheppard's disgust, the villagers hide, leaving him to face the creature alone. He barely survives. Feeling abandoned by his teammates and now by the passive villagers, the deeply frustrated Sheppard tries to make his new friends understand that Ascension won't mean much if they're mauled to death before they can achieve it. Teer confidently responds that her lifetime of spiritual practice has given her precognitive abilities. She has foreseen that Sheppard will defeat the beast and lead her people to Ascend.
Sheppard has serious doubts. He can't defeat the supernatural monster alone, and Ascension isn't really his thing. Luckily, though he doesn't know it, his teammates are on their way — with just one small catch: They could be years too late.
Rodney has his back to the others, studying a panel inside of the Jumper. He raises a finger, "Ha!" He turns to face the others. "The telemetry was not entirely gibberish." He points to the pilot, "Bring up the H.U.D."
The pilot brings up the heads-up display on the windshield. The display shows the planet.
Rodney points, "I've been able to determine the location of the power source inside the field, here."
"What good is that?" Carson asks not fully understanding Rodney's rambling.
"Once we know where the generator is, one way or another…" He points to himself. "I should be able to turn it off." He smiles smugly, then turns to the panel again.
Teyla is watching the latest video she took through the barrier. This time she is watching the footage it took as the camera panned across the cave during the last second. It shows the campfire with John's abandoned equipment, but to the left of the fire is a number of stones laid out on the floor in the shape of an arrow.
"Ronon! Rayne!" She calls out to the two warriors, who leave the cave and join her outside. "He left a sign for us to see." She shows them the footage of the arrow.
"He must have gone to look for another way out." Ronon says.
Rayne sighs in despair, "He probably thinks we have abandoned him."
Teyla lays her hand on the young woman's shoulder and gives it a reassuring squeeze. "At least we know he may still be alive."
"Teyla, Ronon, Rayne. We're coming down in the Jumper and should touch down in a few minutes. Meet us at the landing site."
"Understood." Teyla radios back to McKay as she shuts down the camera, then the three of them head back to meet the others.
John is lying unconscious in bed again after another altercation with The Beast. He has a long slash across the left side of his neck and a smaller scratch on his left cheek. Hedda is sitting on Teer's lap beside his bed. She reaches out, her eyes closed in concentration, and passes her right hand across the wound on his neck. As she withdraws her hand, the wound heals completely.
After the Jumper had landed, everyone grabbed a piece of equipment or a bag and trekked back up to the cave.
"You sure it was three seconds?" McKay asked interrogating Teyla for the fourth time as they arrived.
"Yes."
"And there's twelve minutes of video."
"Yes."
"Alright, so it's a ratio of about, uh..." He quiets trying to do the math in his head.
"Two hundred and fifty to one." She answers before he can and Rodney stares at her. She picks up a branch and hands it to him. "I sent my watch through." Rodney looks at the branch, which has a watch taped to it. "Along with a letter to Colonel Sheppard telling him we are doing our best to rescue him."
Rodney is still staring at the branch, staggered that "Xena" came up with such a bright idea.
"If you would like to check again, then..." She offers.
"No, that's good, that's good, that's good, uh, good thinking."
"Just out of curiosity, what does that mean for Colonel Sheppard in terms of, uh, days?" Carson asks.
"We're already talking months." McKay answers.
"OK, I think I've got it." Weir says as she turns away from the inscribed wall that she has been studying. "I am interpreting a bit, but it seems the field was designed as a sanctuary from the Wraith, but a place the last of the Ancients could travel to and hopefully ascend without fear of attack."
"Oh, of course. They could potentially spend entire lifetimes inside the field before the Wraith even discovered the place." McKay surmises.
"And if they ever attacked, their ships would get torn apart just as the probe did." Carson says.
"And so it has remained for ten thousand years." Teyla adds.
Weir turns back to the wall, "This writing here - this serves as a sort of welcome, as well as a warning for any of the humans under their protection looking for sanctuary; but I think it was left there for anyone who wanted to seek the path to ascension on their own."
"And what's the warning?" Ronon questions as he and Rayne stand just behind them.
"That once you cross the threshold, there's no return."
McKay grins smugly, "That is, unless you have the exact location of the power source and the expertise to turn it off."
Everyone turns and starts to gather what they'll be taking through with them. Rodney looks at Ronon, "Hey, we may even get a Zed P.M. out of this." He points a finger at him and clicks his tongue a couple of times.
"Now you're talkin'." Ronon smirks.
"Most importantly we get John back." Rayne says with a smile and a small admonishing glare at the two men who nod their heads embarrassedly.
"Lieutenant, this is Weir. If you haven't heard from us in... Rodney?"
"Well, an hour would give us months in there, but, Elizabeth, of all the people who should stay, it would be you."
Carson raises his hand volunteering as Elizabeth looks to Rodney. "There may be writing by the power source that needs translating."
"OK, there is a slight chance that when we go through..."
Elizabeth cuts him off, "Rodney, I'm going." She activates her radio again. "Lieutenant, one hour, then head back to Atlantis and see if Zelenka can think of anything."
"Understood."
Carson is still sitting on a rock with his hand raised, nervously he lowers it. "Well, he may need medical treatment and I'm the only doctor here, so I should probably just..."
"Carson, it probably won't hurt so much if you just go through quickly." McKay assures him.
"Alright - let's do this." Weir orders.
Rayne goes through the barrier first insisting that they needed someone adapt at combat to be in the cave as the others come through, just in case trouble should arise. Thanks to her heritage her body is not nearly as weak as John's was as she comes out on the other side. Knowing it takes a while to get through the barrier she stands guard by the edge of the cave opening while she waits for the rest of the team.
Rodney comes through the barrier after her, giving her a thumbs up that he is fine, he sits down on the floor of the cave a few yards away from the doorway, studying his Ancient doohickey. A small earthquake starts but neither Rodney nor Rayne take any notice. The energy field glows blue once more and Elizabeth walks through.
Both Rodney and Rayne look to her and give a nod, she looks uneasy as she looks back at them. "That wasn't so bad!"
"Hmm." Rodney says as he continues with the device on his lap.
Elizabeth looks to Rayne standing at the far edge of the cave, then at Rodney sitting on the floor, bewildered by the fact that he only walked through the barrier a couple of seconds ago but has had time to get into that position. "You were just..."
"Mmm. That's weird, huh? Well, we may as well relax. The others are gonna be at least five minutes." He looks at his doohickey. "Judging by the location of the power source, we've got a long walk ahead of us, so, uh..." He pats the ground beside him and gets back to looking at his device again.
Instead of accepting his invitation to sit beside him, Elizabeth sits down on a case some distance away.
Rodney looks round at her, "Oh!"
Everyone is sitting at the long table in the village square having a meal. John mentions that he doesn't know how any of them expect him to feel like he belongs here, but every time that thing comes around, he's out there alone. The villagers are silent for a while, then Teer speaks, her gaze distant. "You're not alone."
"I know - you were out there too." He says in agreement.
"No - I mean your friends have come." John stares at her. "They number six." She looks at him. "They've come for you."
"They have? Are-are you sure?" He jumps to his feet. "That's the best news I've..."
She interrupts him shaking her head, "No, John - I sense something more." She gazes into space. "The Beast is nearly upon them."
John doesn't need to hear anymore as he races off to help his friends.
Elizabeth and the others are walking across the field where John first encountered the Beast. As usual McKay is rambling as they walk. "You know, I was just thinking: this entire field - I mean, not the field, I mean the field field - must generate its own day and night cycle, not to mention its own artificial climate. I mean, it's incredible! When you think..."
"You wanna pick up the pace, McKay?" Ronon grumbles interrupting him.
"Hey, he's waited for months. Another half hour isn't gonna kill him."
"We don't know how long it's gonna take to find him." Weir reminds him.
"Aye, and besides that, I have a date planned with Lieutenant Cadman for tomorrow night." Carson tells them all.
"Oh, no, so we've only got twelve years in here!" Rodney snarks.
Teyla, who was leading the group, drops the case she's carrying and raises her fist above her head. The others stop.
"What? What is it?" McKay calls out.
The Beast roars in the distance. As Teyla aims her P90 into the woods where the sound is coming from, Rodney checks his Ancient device. "I'm not detecting anything."
"Doesn't mean it isn't there." Ronon says looking to Teyla and Rayne who has stopped beside her. "Can you see anything?"
"No. But I sense something is close." Teyla says.
"I can feel its energy, whatever it is, is very strong." Rayne tells them.
"Maybe we should try another way." Weir suggests.
The Beast roars again. The sound is much closer. Rodney gets his pistol out of its holder.
Ronon activates his blaster, "Won't make any difference. It's stalking us."
The roar comes from a different direction this time.
"Sounds like it's more than one." Carson panics.
"Yeah, more than one what?" McKay says as he aims his pistol towards the woods.
Teyla gazes skywards, trying to sense what's out there. "I do not know."
Suddenly The Beast half-materializes right in front of Ronon, he fires his blaster at it but it has no effect and the Beast knocks him flying. Teyla backs away, firing a hail of bullets into the Beast as it roars. Rodney and Carson fire their pistols at it, while Teyla looks round at Ronon as Rayne helps him to his feet.
The couple nods at one another before drawing their swords from the scabbards on their backs. The Beast roars at them loudly as they approach and the others stop firing. Ronon and Rayne trade off slashing at the Beast several times but each time it phases out of existence and their swords have no effect. It phases back in and swipes at them both sending both warriors flying across the field, its claws ripping into the flesh of Rayne's arm.
Teyla pulls out a knife and runs at it, crying out ferociously, but it strikes out and knocks her across the field. It roars and turns towards the other three. Rodney and Carson step in front of Elizabeth, aiming their pistols at it. Just then, John comes racing out of the woods and hurls himself onto the Beast's back. The Beast phases out and John crashes to the ground.
Elizabeth runs to him as Carson runs to check out Ronon and Rayne, while Rodney checks Teyla. Carson picks up Ronon's sword and stabs it point down into the ground then helps Ronon to his feet.
John grimaces as he gets to his feet, "What the hell took you so long?!"
"Believe it or not, you were only gone a couple of hours." Weir informs him.
"Try six months!" John snaps.
"You don't understand - you've been trapped in a time dilation field." McKay tells him.
"What?!"
"What was that bloody thing?" Carson asks.
"I don't know." He says answering the doctor's question before he turns to Rodney. "What's a time dilation field?"
Rodney lifts his hands to start explaining but Elizabeth interrupts. "Can we talk about this somewhere else?"
Teyla gazes skywards, "No - it is still close."
To prove her point, the Beast roars. Everyone looks around the field nervously. For a moment there's nothing, then the Beast phases into existence - but now it's about 70 feet tall. The team turns and stares up at it. John walks cautiously forward, holding his knife out in front of him. Ronon pulls his sword out of the ground and joins him alongside Rayne who steps up on John's other side.
"You've fought this thing before?" Ronon asks.
"Twice."
"How did you beat it?"
"Still haven't figured that out."
"Now would be a good time." Ronon states.
"Yeah, well, what'd you say we just fight it and see what happens?"
"How John? That thing is taller than a building." Rayne reminds him as she grips the handle of her sword.
"John?" Elizabeth calls as all the villagers have arrived out of the woods. "Friends of yours?"
The villagers walk forward, their faces determined. Avrid glares up at the Beast as it growls ferociously, "We've come to stand with you, whatever happens."
"No - we've come to fight." Teer states as she looks up at the Beast. "And we are not afraid of you." The Beast roars in response. "The Beast is of our own creation, and it is long past time we sent it away."
She glances across at her brother again, then all the villagers walk forward and encircle the Beast. It continues to growl and roar. As they complete the circle and stare up at it, the Beast raises its hands above its head, then screams and disappears. Teer turns to face John as he walks towards her. Avrid and Hedda join her, standing on either side of her.
"That's it?! That's all it took?!" John bellows in shock.
"You were right, John. We were afraid. The Beast was the final burden we had to shed, manifest from our own fears. You gave us the courage to face it." Teer holds out her hand towards him. "Come with us." Behind her, a white glow begins to envelop each of the other villagers. Avrid and Hedda also start to glow.
"I'm not ready for that yet. I'm not sure I'll ever be."
Behind Teer, the villagers are slowly fading into the light. "One day, perhaps?"
"Yeah, one day." John says unconvincingly.
"I'll look forward to it. There'll be no need to destroy the Sanctuary, Doctor McKay." Teers says as she turns her head to look at Rodney.
"What? No-no-no-no-no, I wasn't thinking that, I was..."
Behind Teer, the villagers have all but disappeared and only glowing light remains which begins slowly to ascend into the sky. "We will keep the portal open for you until you are gone."
"At which point the Zed P.M. which undoubtedly powers this beautiful place will be..."
Teer respond sternly, "Sanctuary was left by those who came before us, for those who may seek it out and follow the path. And it will continue to remain after you are gone."
"Yeah, but..." He turns to Elizabeth, appealing to her for help, but she nods at him, then turns to look at Teer again. Rodney turns away, frustrated. "Absolutely."
Teer turns to John as her ascended friends continue to rise skywards. Either side of her, Avrid and Hedda begin to ascend. Teer herself is glowing, although for the moment she retains her human form. Moments later, she and the last of the villagers leave the ground and ascend into the sky. Ronon stares skywards, his eyes looking quite teary.
Once the ascended have gone, Rodney walks over to John and points at the place where the villagers were. "What is it with you and ascended women?!"
John shrugs as the others come over to join him. Elizabeth looks at him, "Well - the beard is interesting!"
"First thing to go when we get home." Elizabeth smiles and nods as he looks around at his friends. "Never thought I'd see any of you again. Kind of even... missed you a little."
"Yeah, well, it was only a couple of hours for us, so..." Ronon says shrugging his shoulders.
"Ronon." Teyla says sternly as Rayne elbows him in the stomach. Teyla then turns to John. "We were all quite worried about you."
"Of course we were." Carson echoes.
"We're just sorry we didn't get here sooner." Elizabeth tells him honestly.
John looks round at all of them before he smiles. "Let's get outta here!"
As they walk back towards the cave Rayne sidles up next to John. "For the record, I like the beard." She gives a wink and he laughs, slinging an arm around her shoulders as they walk.
"Oh yeah…" She says looking to her left at McKay. "So Rodney, I heard that you have special nicknames for myself, Ronon and Teyla… Care to share?" She grins evilly.
Rodney stops in his tracks as his face goes ashen and he starts stuttering incoherently. The others all laugh as they continue walking.