PARADISE
By NotTasha
PART 3: BITS AND PIECES
They covered the distance in about 10 minutes, finding further evidence that humans had once spent time on the planet. Primitive beds had been constructed in the caverns, stone ovens, storage areas – people had spent 'time' here. There were more tools – not broken and discarded as the previous items they'd found – but carefully crafted and stored. Blankets, empty metal pots and cooking utensils showed that this was someone's 'home'.
"Cozy," Sheppard mentioned, taking in the stark, dank surroundings.
"Major," Ford's dread-filled voice caught Sheppard's attention. "I think you should see this." Aiden shone a light into a nasty corner in the cave, illuminating a scattering of bones.
John narrowed his gaze, wondering at the shape… the familiar shapes of the bones.
"They are human," Teyla said in a hushed voice. Reverently, she picked up what appeared to be a shattered femur. With a stark look, she handed the long bone to Sheppard.
He took it, trying not to feel disgusted by his actions, and turned it in his hands. All along the length of the bone, were the unmistakable signs that something had gnawed on that bone – had bitten it, had torn at it.
"The others are the same," Teyla said, keeping her voice neutral. In amongst the scattered bones were bits of clothing, tattered vestments, broken weapons, little glints of gold that may have once been jewelry. "There are more here," she stated, walking to the other side of the cave, where someone had been trapped. She squatted by the remains and stated, "They are the same as the others." She continued examining what she found. "Whatever killed these people was not human," she said defiantly, as if she expected the men to accuse one of those people of barbaric deeds.
Sheppard sighed, studying the masticated bone. What could have done this? Something with sharp teeth, certainly. Was something on this island was capable of killing people? Of ripping them to bits and pieces? His head shot up as he realized something. He clicked on his radio and shouted, "McKay! Answer me! Now!"
Nothing.
"McKay!" Already Sheppard was sprinting from the caverns, with Ford and Teyla right behind him. "Goddamn it, McKay! You get your goddamn radio on and answer my goddamn message right now or I'll rip your goddamn head off and cram it up your goddamn…"
"Major…Major… Major…" McKay's voice crackled on the radio. "You should be thankful that your American FCC doesn't monitor our transmissions because…"
Sheppard released a sigh of relief has he heard the snide tone on his headset. "McKay, shut the hell up and…"
"Shut up? But, Major, only moments ago you were threatening me with a rather violent…"
"Turn on your Life Sign Detector! Keep the damn thing on, you hear me? We're coming back."
"What? What did you find?" A tremor had replaced the cock-sure tone.
"Just hang tight, we'll be right there."
Teyla had pulled ahead, and was sprinting down the beach, back toward the StarGate, her eyes darting about at the undergrowth, searching for anything moving. Ford kept pace with Sheppard, matching him stride for stride.
"I hope he's got that DHD fixed," Ford got out as he ran.
Sheppard smiled, recalling McKay's tone when he'd originally answered the radio. "Oh, we'll be home for dinner, my friend," he responded as they continued and finally burst through the undergrowth and into a scene that Sheppard had never hoped to see.
McKay stood in the midst of the DHD. Strewn out around him – the bits, the pieces, the gizmos, the crystals and the glowing thingies – everything that should have made up the dialing device – laid out on the ground. "Oh, hi," McKay responded. "What's all the hub-bub about?"
Sheppard's jaw dropped as he saw the DHD, torn down to a nub. "You've got to be kidding me!" he muttered.
Ford came to a halt as he regarded the destruction. Teyla, a few strides ahead of them, was already standing with her arms crossed at her chest, shaking her head in disbelief.
"What did you do?" Sheppard asked, incredulous.
"I took it apart," Rodney responded, bending down and shuffling some of the pieces about.
"I can see that!" Sheppard exclaimed, still holding his P90 ready. "Why they hell'd you do that?"
"I was trying to deactivate…Listen, do you have to point that thing like that?" McKay griped, indicating the weapon held tightly in Sheppard's grip.
"We found bones in the caverns," Teyla informed the doctor. "Apparently some sort of animal … consumed the humans who lived here."
"Consumed?" Rodney repeated hollowly.
"Chewed them up into little pieces and gnawed on the bones," Ford supplied.
"Mammals, reptiles?"
Sheppard groaned. "How am I supposed to know? It had teeth."
Rodney gulped. "But, they're long gone, right, the animals?"
"Where would the things go?" Ford asked, hefting his P90 to indicate their surroundings. "This is an island."
McKay furrowed his brow, still holding a crystal from the DHD, his eyes darting about disconcertedly. "That's just it. There should be only birds. It's an island. Nothing can just walk here. Ah! Maybe it was seals. Do you think mad seals did it?"
"I bet it came through the Gate," Ford suggested.
"Oh, and the Big Bad Wolf has learned how to dial a Stargate?" McKay rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Do you really believe that, Lt. Ford?"
"Perhaps the creatures were of a higher level of intelligence," Teyla tried.
"Gnawing on bones… no… no…" McKay frowned. "Bone-chewing, people-eating animals usually don't go around dialing Stargates."
"What about the Wraith?" Ford rebutted. "They use the Gate and they seem pretty hot on consuming humans."
"They're entirely different!" McKay declared. "Life-force sucking vampires vs. some sort of animal that rips flesh and uses bones as toothpicks…" McKay weighed the differences in his hands. "You see, not at all alike."
Ford opened his mouth as if he wanted to contest McKay's point, but Sheppard gave the young man a quick shake of the head to silence him.
McKay went on, "The most likely explanation is that the humans brought the animals with them." He thumped one finger against his temple. "Yes, that's a strong possibility. The humans were a hunting party. Perhaps some sort of predatory animal was brought with them, trained to run down their quarry. Hmmm."
"Well, something definitely ATE those people," Sheppard said, annoyed with the whole conversation. "There's no debating that. We're going to be armed from now on. We'll stay together, always in pairs. No one wanders off left alone."
"Who's wandering?" McKay asked, squatting down in the remains of the DHD.
"That's an order, for everyone," Sheppard stated to McKay's back. "You hear me, McKay? Nobody is ever alone from now on."
"I heard you," McKay commented, shuffling his hand through a pile of helter-skelter crystals.
Sheppard groaned. "You had to take it apart?" he asked.
With a gesture to the gate, McKay stated, "I've stopped the humming."
"But it's still partially dialed," Ford noted, pointing to the glowing chevrons on the gate.
"Yes, I did notice that," McKay snapped back. "I was hoping that once I reassemble the unit, I'd be able to finally reset it."
"…were hoping…" Sheppard restated. "Not anymore?"
With a disgusted sigh, McKay admitted, "The complete disassembly didn't remedy the situation, okay? Now I need to reassemble to hopefully initiate the reset." He paused before admitting, "And… ah… while taking it apart, I discovered that a few of the pieces had been broken."
"What?" Sheppard stepped closer.
"Broken?" Ford asked. "Like how bad?"
"Bad," McKay responded holding up one dark component. "This isn't good. See that fracture … there?" he pointed to some indecipherable point. "Broken."
"Any chance you broke it when you were ripping it out?" Sheppard asked.
McKay thrust out his chin in defiance, and stated, "Maybe…"
"McKay!" Sheppard groaned. "Damn it, McKay…"
"Can you fix that?" Teyla asked, her eyes on the unit in Rodney's hands.
"Fix this? Are you kidding?" McKay responded. "With the tools I have here? Without my laptop or scanner?" He snorted. "Highly improbable."
Ford and Sheppard exchanged anxious glances. "If you don't fix the DHD, McKay," Sheppard stated slowly, "We're not going home."
"No one can dial in unless I can get this reset, and I didn't say that I wouldn't fix the DHD," McKay grumbled. "I just can't fix this." He indicated the component in his hands. "It's rather beyond hope." He set the damaged piece to one side. "But I believe I can make some substitutions. Forego some of the DHD utilities; get the primary functions back online." He nodded. "Yes, yes, I can repair it enough to reset it and then be able to dial Atlantis." He cocked his head. "Yes… let's see…" and he was puttering around in the pieces again.
TBC -
A/N: Okay, so things don't look so good right now. It really can't get worse... can it?