— HIDDEN RESOURCES —
PART NINE: TRYING NOT TO BREAK EGGS
Two Puddle Jumpers glided through the wormhole and landed on the far side of the DHD. As John mentally shut his down, aware the other was doing the same, the open wormhole closed in the background, cutting them off once more from Atlantis.
"Okay," he said, standing up and turning around to look at the troops he'd brought with him. Stackhouse sat next to the controls, while Tanner and Greene watched from the back, the two marines looking deadly even when they were sitting still. He nodded at them before mentally switching on the craft's ship-to-ship receiver. "Jumper 2--Dunne, Saunders, Weathers--you copy?""
"Yes sir," Dunne's young voice replied, "Go ahead."
"I want you to watch the gate for incoming Wraith or anything else that might appear, and be ready to dial the gate at a moment's notice, understand?"
"Yes sir."
"And do not engage any enemies unless forced to or at my command."
"Yes sir."
"And, until something like that happens, radio silence, clear?"
"Yes sir."
"Okay then." Reaching over, Sheppard physically hit the pad this time to turn off the communicator before sitting back down and powering the puddle jumper up again. Next to them, the second puddle jumper lifted and shifted to land just behind the gate, cloaking itself as it did so.
Sheppard lifted his own jumper up into the air, turning on the cloak as he did so. As soon as the ship's course was set, he activated the walkie talkie on his shoulder, his eyes scanning both ground and air for anything that shouldn't be there.
"Teyla, Ford, McKay," he called, "This is Sheppard. Come in."
"Major," Teyla's voice replied, "This is Teyla. It is good you are back. We need your help."
Sheppard grimaced—that didn't sound good. "What's the matter?"
"I am with Lieutenant Ford, Major. Doctor McKay...." There was a pause.
Sheppard frowned, "Doctor McKay what? Isn't he also with you? Ford, I told you to watch him."
"I tried sir," Ford replied now, his voice colored with guilt even over the airways. "But these people lied to us."
Sheppard felt his chest go cold, and he frowned. "Explain."
"McKay lowered that shield, sir, but he was standing just inside the doorway when he did so. According to these people, his presence inside triggered the Weapon...and it took him."
"Took him? What do you mean took him?"
"I mean took him, sir. He's inside the Weapon and the Deucalions insist there is no way to reach him. But here's the thing, sir. McKay didn't have to be inside the doorway to lower the shield. Had he known, he could have stepped outside. They didn't tell us it would happen. They didn't tell us, because they wanted it to happen." There was no mistaking the anger in the young man's tone now, and Sheppard took a deep breath.
"Damn it. Can you get him out?"
"No sir. They insist that only Doctor McKay can get himself out of there."
"Then why hasn't he done so?"
"They think there's something wrong with the Weapon. He'll have to fix it first. Then he will be able to get out."
"Well," Sheppard recognized the field in the distance and headed the ship towards it, "Isn't that convenient for them."
"I believe that was their purpose in lying to us sir."
"Fabulous," the major deadpanned. "All right, I'll be there soon, Lieutenant. Sheppard out."
The Puddle Jumper slowed as the major maneuvered it down, to land softly on the already flattened green grass. Sheppard immediately set about moving to shut it down. Turning, he found the three soldiers watching him, waiting for their orders.
"All right," he said, "At this point, I now trust these people about as far as I can throw them, meaning I'm taking at least two of you with me. But," he lifted a finger, "I don't want them to know you're there. You'll sneak in after me, and follow us at a discreet distance." He frowned, "Of course, this would be easier if we had some sort of tracking de..." he stopped talking as a heretofore invisible drawer opened near his chair. Raising his eyebrows, he reached in and lifted out a small button...and a scanning device.
"Oh," he said, and gave a tiny smile. Pressing the butting to the underside of his jacket, he handed the scanner to Tanner. "Looks like you can track me with that."
"Neat," Tanner smiled, his Texas drawl informing the major, "Should be easy trackin'." Sheppard returned the look with a crooked smile before looking over at Stackhouse.
"You're staying here, in case we need to get picked up, fast, or need some extra fire power. Radio silence goes for you as well. Tanner, Greene," he tilted his head to the door, "Let's go."
Ford kept his focus forward as they walked through the concrete halls of Deucalion, while Teyla continued to glare at the Governor. Borin, for her part, was doing an admirable job of ignoring the unblinking stare of the Athosian as people constantly ran up to ask her or Colonel Luphron questions or to get their opinions on things, trying to prepare for the invasion they knew was coming. The older woman forced them to stop several times on their way to the Great Eye in order to okay plans, agree to weapons positions (Ford perked up when he heard someone mention the word "cannons" but it was too fleeting to latch onto), and generally coordinate the several different sectors of the increasingly obvious small Deucalion military.
At one point, Ford made a comment that it didn't sound like they'd had to coordinate a defense before. The Governor had made a disgusted noise.
"Of course we haven't. We've always had the Weapon before."
"And you think you won't again?" Ford asked cheekily. "Why? Because you don't think McKay will play along?"
The older woman's sharp eyes met his, and she frowned. "Well, let's just say that I've learned relying too much on one thing can be dangerous."
Ford grimaced, and nodded. "There is a saying we have," he said, "don't put all your eggs in one basket."
"Because one fall could break them all," Teyla breathed. She looked across at Ford, "I get that one."
Ford gave her a small smile. The Governor, meanwhile, was rubbing her forehead, shaking her head.
"What a mess," she muttered.
Teyla looked at her again, and some of the glare left her eyes—the Governor's current expression, at least, she knew well. She'd worn it enough times herself. She sighed.
"You are doing your best," she admitted.
The Governor looked up, a little surprised, then nodded. "I know. But it's not enough, is it? I feel like I'm making mistakes...but I can't see them."
"The mistakes you make now, I do not see. But that does not mean," and Teyla's eyes hardened again, "that you have not made at least one, a big one."
The Governor's expression stilled, then frowned. She looked up at the ceiling as if for answers as she spoke again, "Miss Emmagen, I know you think I've—"
"We're here," Colonel Luphron intoned, arriving at a stop in front of yet another steel door along a long, concrete corridor. There really wasn't much to differentiate it from the many identical doors they'd past so far. The older man reached up and knocked.
After a couple of seconds, the sounds of someone sliding bolts to one side echoed through the door. A moment later, the metal was slid to one side and a familiar looking young woman looked back at them. Lieutenant Che nodded at them and slid the door more to the side to reveal a fairly large room on the other side.
"We're still working, Colonel. We have not yet cleared all the rubble, but, as you suspected, the shield no longer prevents access to the Great Eye."
The Colonel nodded and swept a hand forward for Ford and Teyla to pass him and enter the obviously damaged hall on the other side. Sun streamed in through holes in the roof, and stacked mounds of concrete rubble were all over the place.
"I will leave you here, in Colonel Luphron's hands," the Governor said suddenly, causing them to turn mid-stride and look back at her in the dark corridor. "I will also see that Major Sheppard is directed here the moment he arrives." She nodded to them, then turned and looked at the Colonel, who was about to follow them. "Before you follow them, may I have a word, Colonel?"
Teyla and Ford looked at each other, then, with a nod back to the Deucalion leader, they disappeared inside with Lieutenant Che.
As soon as they were out of sight, Colonel Luphron bent his head down, so that he could hear the governor whisper in his ear.
"Was there enough time to have the images concerning the Weapon covered?" she hissed.
"Lieutenant Che would not have opened the door if they didn't, Governor, and our slow progress here guaranteed it, but," he frowned, "they will figure it out. What exactly do you plan to tell them when the Weapon kills their scientist?"
The Governor sighed, "But Colonel," her eyes glittered, "We already told them that we thought the Weapon was damaged. How could we have known it was so damaged that it would kill him?" Her lips gave a crooked smile, and the Colonel grimaced some more. Then she frowned.
"I would be more worried, Colonel, about the fact that the Weapon is damaged. You know that as well as I. And what might happen should the Weapon not convince Doctor McKay to fix it, or if he can not fix it. He does not have that pack of his, after all."
"I am more worried that he will not sit in the chair," the Colonel spat. "I wish only that the Weapon would allow more than one person to enter it at a time. I would have gladly made the sacrifice—"
"Well," she interrupted him, "What choice had we? It needs to be fixed, and no one here can do it. I can only hope that I have read these strangers well enough to know that they will not let innocent people suffer if they can help it."
"They're not stupid either, Governor. They know we're lying to them."
"I haven't lied," she said, blinking up at him, her face completely innocent. "I just haven't told them the whole truth."
The Colonel's jaw flexed. "Yes ma'am."
She stood a little straighter, not missing the derisiveness in his tone, "I am trying to save this City, Colonel."
He nodded, "Of course. But these strangers...if you're wrong about them...."
Her eyes flashed, "You think I don't know that?"
McKay looked around the other half of the hexagonal room, the mirrored wall now behind him. It was identical to the other side, except for three things. First, there was the chair...with vicious looking metal straps for arms and legs. Second, this room was black where the other was white--even the chair was black.
The third difference was more interesting and, for the first time, he felt hope—part of the roof had caved in over the main and right sections of the console, and the console itself was obviously damaged. He couldn't see the extent of the damage beneath the bits of fallen roof, but he was sure he could see numerous cracks in the otherwise smooth surface of the marble under there.
The low hum prevalent in the other room had a tinny quality in here.
The section of the roof that had caved in, probably because it took a direct hit from one of the Wraith's weapons, was blocked up by a now familiar liquid metal shield. He stared up at it for a while, interested that it had remained intact despite his obviously shutting down the rest of the force field blocking this place. Did it have a separate source of power? Or, more likely, he realized, it was just configured differently. The main shield was to protect against further outside threats. This smaller piece was to protect the integrity of the Weapon. Different programs.
And, he realized further, if he could figure out how to shut it down, he might be able to crawl out of the hole and get the hell out of Dodge.
The idea infused him with warmth, and, for the first time since waking up in the neighboring room, he didn't feel totally at a loss. With that in mind, he turned his attention to the broken console. Like the one in the white room, a few lights flickered at him from the unbroken left section, but they were erratic.
Carefully, he moved to lift bits of glass, marble and concrete off of the section, trying to clear the area. As what was beneath the rubble was revealed, his lips spread into a smile.
A massive section of the marble surface was gone and a healthy cross section of the wires inside the console were visible, including a dark board on which some familiar looking colored crystals glowed--or didn't glow, depending on whether the wires were connected to them. Most of the wires were ripped or snapped in half, and part of the board beneath looked busted. Rodney got the feeling this wasn't a good thing for the Weapon...but it could be a great thing for him.
"What do these wires do?" he asked, looking at the hologram. It was still standing in the middle of the room, staring around with a perplexed look on its face. It turned at his question, and Rodney realized for the first time that it was flickering.
"Please repeat the question," it asked formally.
"These wires," Rodney pointed to the broken console, "What does each do?"
The hologram walked closer, staring down at the damage.
"The console is damaged."
"Yes," Rodney agreed slowly, as if to a child, "I need to know...."
"The Weapon can not be effectively controlled without it. Can you fix it?"
"Can I fix it?" Rodney's eyebrow's lifted, "I don't know. Can I fix it?"
The hologram frowned. "I do not understand."
"It's easy. You tell me what these wires do, and I will tell you if I can fix it."
The hologram blinked some more, and stayed silent for a while. Finally, it nodded.
"The blue wire," it pointed to a thicker wire than the others, and the least damaged, "provides power to the console. The black one," he pointed to its right, to a completely severed wire "connects the console to the chair. That must be repaired immediately." The finger drifted further, "The yellow wire connects this room to the Great Eye and to the Entranceway. The brown...provides my power. The white..." he paused, blinked, then continued, "the white wire...." He frowned again. "The white wire...."
"Provides the power to the shields, like the one up above," McKay completed. "Don't worry. Your programming doesn't want to give up everything. But I am beginning to understand the way this whole thing works a little better. And what does the red wire do?"
"The red wire?"
"Yup." He pointed to it. The hologram stared at it for a few moments.
McKay arched an eyebrow, "Does it, perhaps, have something to do with shutting the Weapon on and off?"
The brown eyes of the hologram lifted, meeting McKay's blue ones.
"Interesting," Rodney said, "This is making more sense now; how nice that your creators were so conscious of color coding their efforts." He grinned, leaning down to get a better look inside the console, and found another wire hidden inside the unbroken left side. This one was green—and it looked to be damaged as well, despite not being as exposed. "And this green one...what does it do?"
The hologram seemed to fight with itself, before answering, "It provides power to the communication system."
McKay's eyes widened, and he straightened up instantly, "Communications system?"
"Yes," the hologram nodded, "you can communicate with the people in the Great Eye."
Rodney's face lit up, and he grinned, "Why didn't you tell me I could—"
And suddenly the world exploded.
TBC