Disclaimer: Stargate Atlantis is in no way, shape, or form mine, nor do I make any profit from the following story. It is a work of fan fiction necessitated by the three-plus month hiatus between the first 10 episodes and the remainder of the first season! (whine)

Ghosts of Prague

By Kerr Avon

2. The Discovery

The two men met as arranged, each prepared in his own way for the mini-expedition. Zelenka carried a small knapsack, a flashlight, canteen, measuring tape, and various other sundries secreted about his person. Sheppard had his LBE (load bearing equipment - a belt and suspenders harness to which numerous pieces of equipment can be attached) with many of the same items, as well as others stashed in his BDU pants and jacket.

"Well, where are we off to?" asked the Major, more for the sake of form than actual interest. While 'base exploration duty' was not high on his list of favorite activities, it beat 'filling out OERs' hands down.

The slight man whipped out a PDA from a heretofore-unseen pocket and pointed with the stylus. "This section right here, from R-54 to S-3."

Sheppard nodded, then gave a theatrical bow and gestured forward with a flourish of his hand. "Lead on, McDuff."

Zelenka shrugged, flashed a weak smile, and headed off.

The pair was soon walking quiet corridors which had been devoid of life for ten thousand years. A small red mark could be seen at intervals on the wall, made by prior exploratory parties from the base to mark the extent of their investigation. Vestiges of long-dead plants still adorned the hallways. Zelenka, consulting his handheld intermittently, finally stopped in front of one which had 'R-54' scrawled above it.

"Here. This is where Stackhouse and Markham left off three days ago."

"All right. There's a door right here. Guess it's as good a place to start as any." Sheppard put his hand to the door control, resulting in the door sliding open with a swish for the first time in ten millennia. What would be revealed? Gold? Diamonds? Super-anti-Goa'uld-weapons?

As usual, the reality was anticlimactic. It appeared to be your basic Atlantis room, complete with soaring, angled architecture and built-in automatic lighting. Most people believed them to be sleeping or living quarters for the Ancients. The pair took measurements of the chamber that Zelenka recorded on the laptop he extracted from his pack, then exited back into the hallway. The scientist turned and put a small red mark on the door, followed by his initials.

"One down, fourteen or so to go." There was certainly more exciting duties, but there were also more odious ones. Sheppard palmed open the next door, which revealed a similar compartment, as did the following three. Laser-sight dimensions were taken and plotted on Zelenka's laptop, corresponding to the map already in place. However, the sixth room was finally different, causing Sheppard to blink in surprise.

This chamber was much larger than the previous five and was vaguely rectangular in shape. Rows of tables ran the length of the chamber, with a space at the far end next to the wall. The tables were angled to lead the observer toward that space, for no readily-apparent reason. A number of partially assembled devices were scattered about the counter surfaces, in various states of disrepair.

"Oh, McKay is going to be upset that he missed this," chortled Zelenka, rubbing his hands together. His prior nervousness disappeared in his excitement.

Sheppard was confused. "Why? I'll admit that it's a change from what we've seen so far today, but what's so special?" He picked up a nearby fragment of machinery that remained inert in his hands. "It looks like a lot of scrap parts to me."

The slight Czech scientist shook his head and held up a hand without taking his eyes off the technology laid bare in front of him. "No, no, Major. Think about it. How many rooms have been found on Atlantis that were anything but pristine?"

Sheppard's brows drew together in concentration, then raised in realization. "You're right. Despite being abandoned for ten thousand years, we haven't even had to dust the place!"

Zelenka smiled as he peered about through coke-bottle glasses. "And yet..."

John was not stupid. "Here's a room with...parts...of machinery strewn all over."

The scientist nodded happily as he examined a nearby gadget. "Exactly. Best case scenario: this was a design lab where they were developing new prototypes. More likely, however, it is a repair shop for broken devices."

"That means a potential source for spare parts." Sheppard was quick to pick up on the practical aspects of their find.

"It also means that we don't have to risk disassembling working instruments to examine their component parts if we can find something similar in here." Zelenka rubbed his hands together again. "And since you and I discovered it..."

"And our report isn't due for two days..." The pilot was beginning to understand the source of the scientist's delight.

"I can work undisturbed with my team for a while before Rodney comes to take it over." Zelenka's eyes absolutely sparkled.

Sheppard was slightly confused. "I thought you liked working with him?"

The smaller man dissembled rapidly, waving both hands before him in denial. "I do, I do. It is just that he can be a little...oh, how can I say this?"

"Overbearing?" supplied Sheppard helpfully.

Zelenka pointed a finger at John's chest. "Exactly!" He flashed a conspiratorial grin, wide and bright.

John smirked; this was going to be good. "I understand completely. Let's get our assigned mapping finished so you come back and play."

"Yes, yes, of course."

-----------------

"No, no, no..." muttered Zelenka to both himself and John an hour later. He slapped the screen of his data pad with the back of his hand. "We are still off by a full meter in this direction." He gestured towards the far end of the 'lab'. The pair had first noticed the anomaly with the dimensions on their first pass, but had attributed it to another room jutting into this one, usurping space. However, upon carefully examining the surrounding regions, they discovered nothing that could account for the discrepancy. All the other chambers on their survey had proven to be more 'living quarters' of standard measurements.

"Then there has to be something here. These 'Ancients' never did anything without a reason." Sheppard started feeling along the wall for any subtle differences that might indicate a hidden panel. Zelenka, nodding thoughtfully, did a similar maneuver with the floor.

"Aha!" Sheppard pried open the small hatch he had discovered, to reveal several crystals.

"Let me see." The engineer shouldered his way next to the Major. "Hmmm...it appears to be a door control. I think I can open it..." Zelenka reached for the central crystal.

"Wait a minute, doc." Sheppard laid a hand on the man's arm, halting it. "Is there any way of doing this from a little farther back? I mean, if they hid the controls, it stands to reason that they didn't want them easily found. There might be booby-traps, too."

Zelenka nodded and, slinging off his pack and dropping it to the floor, wordlessly withdrew two wires with alligator clips on both ends. Deftly connecting them first to the door and then to his handheld, he gestured at the hook-up. "There. That provides approximately four feet between us and the panel."

Sheppard still wasn't completely satisfied. "That's a good start, but why don't we stand over here, off to the side. That way, if something explodes straight out of the wall, we won't be in the line of fire."

Zelenka bobbed his head once in agreement, making his glasses slide down his nose. "Yes, of course. You are right."

The pair inched far to the left as the wires would allow. Zelenka looked at the Major in askance. "Ready?"

"Sure." Sheppard kept a firm grip on his weapon, just in case it was needed. Who knew what the Ancients might have felt needed to be kept hidden from casual observers?

"Here goes." The scientist typed in a quick command to his keyboard. A moment later, the floor beneath their feet was gone and the two men plunged into blackness.

TBC....

AN: OK, MurdocsAngel, T'Karish, Shroomy, WriterJC, Merlin71, Mirokusan, annie, SKRoberts, I'm gonna whump them both! (Merlin71, you're reading my mind!)