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!

Ghosts of Prague

By Kerr Avon

6. Good Night, Sleep Tight

Zelenka was pretty much where Sheppard had left him, slumped against the wall, sound asleep. In his slumbers he had tilted to one side so that his head hung at an awkward angle. It made the Major wince in sympathy; his neck and back were going to hurt. The scientist's glasses had managed to slide down to the end of his nose and perch there. His mouth hung open slightly, allowing the sound of soft snoring to emerge.

Kneeling beside the exhausted engineer, the Major gently shook his shoulder. "Hey, Zelenka." He kept his voice soft, so as not to startle him. "Come on; I've found us a better place to crash for the night." Eventually the Czech moaned, his eyes fluttering open, and stared at him uncomprehendingly.

"What?" He was less than completely with the program. "Where?"

Sheppard flashed him a grin. "Come on; I've found a room with actual beds in it for a change. You'll rest better there."

Zelenka nodded sleepily, then, with the Major's help, managed to clamber to his feet. Sheppard on one side, crutch on the other, they set off towards the laboratory, pausing only for John to draw more of his ubiquitous arrows from time to time along the way.

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"What do you see down there?" hollered Ford at Markham, who had repelled partway down the main shaft. It had taken a couple of hours to get the men and gear together to stage a rescue operation, but with Weir's help they had finally accomplished it. After wedging the trapdoor open, they began investigating the chute their two friends had fallen down. They rapidly discovered that radiowaves didn't penetrate the material that made up the walls, presumably to keep 'thrown away' devices from accidentally activating on the way down to wherever they were headed, so the search team had to resort to shouting its reports. However, that discovery was definitely a relief; otherwise, the lack of radio contact from their two 'lost lambs' took on a more ominous interpretation.

"The first few yards slope down to a larger shaft about four feet in diameter that drops straight down. The sides of the tunnels are cool and smooth - too slick to get any purchase on. They had no choice but to just keep falling." Markham pulled his hand away from the Teflon-textured wall nearest him and shown his flashlight down the shaft. "I can't see the bottom yet; give me some more rope!"

Obligingly, the rope team began letting out some slack, until they barely heard him call up, "OK, it's sloping out again. Better send Stackhouse halfway to relay messages!"

Sgt. Stackhouse, already harnessed up and ready to go, went over the edge at Ford's signal. Moments later he shouted, "OK, I'm in position!"

Cupping a hand to the side of his mouth, Ford replied, "Tell Markham to head on down!"

A few minutes more and Markham's rope went slack. "He's at the bottom!" came the call from Stackhouse. "He says it's safe to lower down the rescue team!"

"All right, we'll get you down the rest of the way, then Teyla and I will be right behind." Ford nodded to the rope handlers, who gradually let out Stackhouse's line the same distance as Markham's. Teyla followed suit moments later. Once her line went slack as well, Ford prepared to go over. He fixed a steel gaze on the head of the rope team, "If these lines jerk once, that means 'pull us up'; twice means send down stretchers; three times and you send Beckett and the medical team. Got it?" After receiving nods of understanding all around, he went over the edge.

Beckett and Weir, standing on the sidelines of the activity, settled on the floor to wait. McKay paced for a few minutes, fiddling absently with his bandage, until he finally gave up and sat next to them.

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By the time Sheppard and Zelenka reached the sleeping cubicle, the Major was almost carrying the smaller man. Zelenka managed the last several yards with a grim single-minded determination that Sheppard had to admire; he was so intent on putting one foot in front of the other that he didn't even notice the nature of the larger room they passed through to reach the cots. The pilot smiled to himself - wait until Zelenka saw the robot! Still, it would wait until morning.

A tremor of fatigue passed through his injured comrade as he settled him on the nearest bunk. "Thank you for helping me Major." The Czech was perpetually polite.

Sheppard grinned at him as he covered him with a blanket. "Hey, no problem. You just get a good night's sleep. I'll bet a rescue party is on it's way now."

"I am hoping you are right." The engineer's eyes closed as he fell again to snoring.

Sheppard straightened and looked suspiciously at the entrance to the larger lab. He had only been peripherally aware of the chamber as they passed through it, but something seemed...off. Now that his charge was safely tucked in, he meant to find out what.

Slipping silently out of the smaller room, he closed the door behind him to minimize his chances of disturbing the weary scientist and began prowling the lab trying to pinpoint what was different. He scrubbed a hand across tired eyes; it must be after 3 AM. Glancing around the room, he shook his head. Everything seemed in order. Maybe he'd better get some sleep as well.

He took a look down at the end of the room containing the android's chamber and frowned. 'Wait a second...' He found himself suddenly quite alert. 'Where's the robot got to?' Instantly on guard, he drew his weapon and stealthily moved toward the receptacle he had examined earlier. He noted the lighted consoles that had previously been dark, then moved to the container itself. Its casing was completely detached from the front, and lay on the ground to the side. He reached inside, touching the pad upon which the machine had laid, then turned in a full circle inspecting the room. 'Nothing.' He lowered his weapon and walked up to one of the control consoles, investigating possible scenarios. He was so engrossed in the panel before him that he didn't notice the movement from behind the container until it was almost too late. As the massive arm came down, he caught the movement from the corner of his eye and dodged to his left, trying to bring his weapon to bear.

Looming over him was one huge, angry android.

TBC....

AN: Yes! Another Cliffie! (Insert commercial here - LOL)

Boy, you Sheppard-whumpers are gonna like the next chapter!!!!