Into the Woods

Chapter Two: The Way is Clear, the Light is Good

The old growth forest was heavy with conifers climbing the sides of deep valleys, enormous boulders thrusting out of the ground, mist rising from the trees in the late morning sunlight. The clearing around the Stargate was choked with weeds and young saplings, the DHD covered in vines. There was no sign that any sentient life had been near the place in years.

Rodney checked his equipment and pointed them in the direction of the power source initially detected by the MALP. As they passed into the twilight world under the trees, Serena began to sing softly.

"Into the woods, it's time to go, I hate to leave, I have to, though. Into the woods, it's time, and so, I must begin my journey…"

To John and Teyla's utter shock, Rodney picked up the song. "Into the woods and down the dell, the path is straight, I know it well. Into the woods, and who can tell what's waiting on the journey…" He had a surprisingly light and tuneful tenor voice.

Seeing Sheppard and Teyla staring at him, Rodney colored and looked away. "You're a bad influence, Serena," he muttered.

"Sorry, Bear," she replied with utter lack of sincerity.

"Tell me, Serena, what was the song you and Doctor McKay were singing?" Teyla asked, and they spent the next hour trying to explain Broadway musicals before the conversation wound down.

The forest was utterly silent, and it put Sheppard's nerves on edge. There was no birdsong, no chirping insects, nothing but the low sigh of the wind through the tree branches. He kept thinking he almost heard something, and after a while realized it was Serena, who was still singing quietly.

This was what Zelenka had complained about. She was singing that same song over and over, and it began to echo in his mind until all he could think about and all he could hear was the song. If there were any other sounds in the heavy forest, he couldn't hear them.

"Could you stop?" he finally said.

Serena looked confused. "Stop what?"

"You need to stop singing. We're in unfamiliar territory, and we all need to keep our eyes AND our ears open. If you're singing, no one can hear anything else."

"I wasn't singing," she replied indignantly.

"Yes, you were," John knew this was her first off-base mission, and felt he was being extremely patient.

"No, I –"

"I'll deal with this, Major," Rodney interjected, taking Serena by the arm and pulling her away.

Sheppard watched as they walked on, heads close together in conversation. Rodney's tone had not been friendly. He had hoped his mistake wouldn't affect their working relationship, but perhaps he should request that McKay be assigned to another team. He was almost afraid that would be construed as a further insult. He knew he had lost Rodney's trust – and probably his respect as well – but had no idea how to go about regaining it. He couldn't quite bring himself to even bring the subject up in order to apologize.

He tried to put it out of his mind for the time being and concentrate on the task at hand. About two hours walk from the Stargate brought them to a huge boulder the approximate size of a football field. It seemed to be a natural outcropping, but had obviously been shaped: the rounded edges of the stone were a little too perfect.

After a short search, they found Ancient runes carved into the rock face. While McKay wandered over the rock taking readings on the power signal, Sheppard and Teyla checked the perimeter and Serena took pictures of the runes.

"Find anything?" she asked McKay as he returned to where she sat in front of the rock.

"Not really. The power reading is pretty steady all over the area. Nothing to indicate a door or a source. Any luck with the runes?"

Serena sighed heavily. "I'm no linguist. This translation program Doctor Jackson wrote can tell me what each symbol means, but making sense out of it is something else entirely." She stared down at her PDA. "Wait a minute. I think…"

She rose to her knees, reached out and pressed one of the carved symbols. Without warning, a bright coruscating light shot out of the rock and enveloped McKay where he stood behind her.

TBC