Chapter Two: Shooting the Breeze

Teyla Emmegan stood quietly smiling a little as she watched Major John Sheppard watching Dr. Rodney McKay. The scientist was bounding around like a child through a clearing where what appeared to be an Ancient ruin once stood. He exclaimed excitedly as he moved from one mound of rubble to the next. Major Sheppard stood glaring at the man, holding his weapon at the ready as if waiting for something to drop from the sky and smash the other man.

She walked up to Sheppard. "Is there something we should be on guard for, Major?" she asked.

Sheppard jerked in surprised and quickly raised his gun which was currently pointed at the distracted McKay.

"Teyla ! Uh, huh, what?" he tried his best to look cool, but failed badly.

Teyla tried to hide her smile and replied. "I merely inquired if there was some unknown danger for which we should be on guard."

Sheppard gave her a sheepish smile. "Not really." He chuckled. "Sorry, I guess I let a little story Ford told me, get the better of me."

Teyla cocked her head. "A story of your people?"

The Major laughed a little self consciously. "I guess you could call it that."

"Perhaps you would share it with me. Doctor McKay seems quite taken with this place even if there is not much left of the settlement the Ancients once held here." She gestured to two large boulders just right for sitting on and keeping an eye on the wandering scientist.

Sheppard shrugged and shouldered his weapon and sat down beside her, pausing a moment to glance in the direction Ford had gone to set up a perimeter.

"So what is this story?" she asked.

"Actually, it's more of a rumor than a story," he said a bit guiltily. "You know this Colonel Carter woman that McKay keeps talking about."

She nodded. "Doctor McKay seems very fond of her. He appears to miss her a great deal. Was she his betrothed?"

Sheppard almost choked on his question. "Betrothed, I don't think so." He laughed and then told her of the supposed 'Carter Curse'.

Teyla listened with growing alarm. "I have heard of such things among the peoples we have traded with," she said once he had finished. "Is Doctor McKay aware of his danger?"

Sheppard snorted. "Are you kidding?" He shook his head and looked at her. "And it's just a rumor."

A startled shout jerked them both around and they looked over to where McKay had been working his way through the ruins, but the physicist was gone.

"Oh, just great," Sheppard groaned under his breath.