MAD MEN OF MUC-MUC - Part 4
By NotTasha...
CHAPTER 15: THE PROBLEM WITH INBREEDING
"What the HELL was that?" Sheppard screamed, rolling over and sitting up. Teyla and Ford were both getting themselves upright as well. Around him, the scattered Bochweys lay in various disturbing poses. Most of then covered their heads on the ground, with their bare asses pointing to the sky, loincloths flapping rather pointlessly downward.
Kevik was flat on his back blinking at the sky. Vimmle and Prouse were on their butts, squinting at each other. Quee was nowhere to be seen. A strange scent of overdone barbeque filled the air.
"What the HELL was that?" Sheppard repeated. The stunned Bochwey didn't stop him as he approached Kevik and yanked him to his feet.
The Clint-like man shook his head violently, and rather uncharacteristically of the man he resembled, he simpered, "It was the Hand of Fire!"
Teyla and Ford were up, ready to protect their leader should any of the Bochwey get bold again, but most of them seemed too shaken up to even move. Vimmle and Prouse inched their way from the edge of the pit, looking at it with respect and awe.
"WHAT is the Hand of Fire?" Sheppard asked intensely, gazing toward to the pit where Quee had disappeared – where McKay had fallen. Goddamn it! If McKay was down there when that thing went off….
"Quee," Vimmle said softly, pointing to the opening. "Quee tried to go in."
"It must have been activated," Prouse added. "Your friend activated the Seat of Power."
"It didn't want him. It didn't want Quee," Vimmle whined.
"Only the chosen are allowed to get near," Prouse declared. "Once the chair is active."
"He wasn't one of the chosen," Vimmle said pensively.
"Obviously," Sheppard stated.
They stood, watching the hole, waiting. The ass-up Bochwey started to stir and gather together for comfort.
"So… that thing… that Hand of Fire," Sheppard started, feeling sick as he turned to Gimmet. "What did you say about how it'll protect McKay only in theory?"
Gimmet was shaking like a wet kitty. "It is…" he started. "It… the seat… I mean… the Seat of Power… It.…didja see that!"
"Spit it out!" Sheppard demanded."
Gulping, Gimmet shook his head and shuddered, still trying to calm himself. "The Seat of Power protects itself. It is meant to be preserved. The continued existence of the Seat of Power is all that matters."
"And it's supposed to protect the one who's controlling it?" Sheppard led on.
Gimmet nodded. "The Seat of Power used to be on the surface, but was removed from its original planet and brought here for protection, because… who'd look for it on Muc-muc world, right? The original power source could not come with it, so a substitute was created. When the Wraith found even this world, it was hidden below ground. It really... really shouldn't have been put underground," Gimmet commented.
Rolling his eyes, Sheppard asked, "And who the hell did that?"
"Well," the gnome started. "You see, a thousand years ago -- the Bochwey thought it would be a good idea."
"Marvelous," Sheppard responded, glancing to Teyla and Ford, and seeing the lack of surprise on their faces. "And then ya'll forgot exactly what the damn thing does and where the hell you hid it?"
"More or less..." Gimmet responded sheepishly.
"And the new power source," Sheppard tried tiredly. "Where did it come from? Who made it?"
Gimmet paused for a moment, and tried to say proudly, "The Bochwey are an superior people, capable of creating many advanced technologies."
"Crap," Sheppard ground out. "It was you guys?"
Nader, who'd been quiet and superfluous up to this moment finally spoke up, "That was a thousand years ago. We were much more advanced back then." The others didn't seem very pleased with his comments. After gazing about at his compatriots, he added weakly, "You see we had this problem with inbreeding…"
And the others quickly shushed him.
With a groan, Sheppard asked, "So what the hell did that thing do to McKay? Is he all right?"
Biting his lip, Gimmet continued, "The Hand of Fire uses a great deal of power. The Hand of Fire would even overtax the generators designed by the Remarkable Bochwey of yesteryear."
"Dammit," Sheppard groaned.
Gimmet continued, "We theorize that the Hand of Fire would overload our great generator, and perhaps… overload the Seat of Power along with it."
Shaking his head in disbelief, Sheppard yelled, "And you thought this was a GOOD idea to set it up like that?"
Looking about him for support, Gimmet found himself alone. "When it was above ground, the power would have been released into the atmosphere. There's nowhere for it to go down there – except through the exhaust – and not all of it can get up there at the same time. We were trying to hide it. Not necessarily set it up to be used. Unfortunately, ah, I think they did…set it up. If your man hadn't turned it on…"
Fed up, Sheppard turned toward the pit, saying snidely, "Your man was the one that set it off. Our guy just turned it on."
Gimmet looked downcast. "We thought Quee was of the Chosen Ones."
"Apparently he wasn't," Ford stated. "Otherwise he wouldn't have been turned to KFC Extra Krispy."
Sheppard strode back toward the pit, leaning carefully over to look within. "McKay!" he shouted, hoping. "McKay, can you hear me? You in there somewhere?"
Gimmet responded, "If he were anywhere near the origin of the Hand, he is mostly likely dead by now. It would have been quick and painless," he added helpfully, then paused and added again, "Nearly painless... relatively… at least... for a while...I guess."
Sheppard turned, striding quickly toward the jumper to pick up the abandoned descender. "I'm going down there," he declared.
"Major!" Ford exclaimed. "I don't think that's a good idea."
Teyla agreed, nodding and saying, "We saw what it did when one of the Bochwey attempted to enter the opening. If the device is still active…."
"Chosen One," Sheppard stated, pointing a thumb at his chest as he returned, "I'm thinking it has something to do with that funky ATA gene. If McKay can be a Chosen One, then sure as hell, I'm one, too. Now, get me down that hole so I can check up on that sorry son-of-a-bitch."
CHAPTER 16: BURGER
That… that… that was not fun. Not... fun... not... nice. Oh God... I...ow...
Furrowing his brow, McKay tried to open his eyes. Everything hurt – everything ached. His skin felt as if it was on fire. His head pounded and he was thirsty as hell. The surface beneath him seemed to scorch him. What happened… what… what…?
Have to get off… off of this thing… must move. Burning…so hot… must move… must get off.
But muscles refused to work, no matter how he tried to force them. Must get up… get out… I have to…burning. Oh God... this is not good.
He tried, but he had no strength. He's been sapped of all energy and could only lay still and slowly fry on the too-warm griddle. His head hurt so badly, he could hardly think. His tongue felt thick and dry in his mouth.
This is stupid. I should be able to... just push myself off of thing. Come on... come on... don't be a pansy. Pansy? Did I just use the world 'pansy'? God, you're pathetic. You're about to be cooked like a burger, and you're using words like 'pansy'.
He tried, but a weariness consumed him – it was if he'd given up every last bit of his strength. And he was left, trying to open his eyes, trying to overcome the horrible headache, and feeling the terrible heat of the Seat of Power.
Crap. This is NOT good.
I'm gonna fry.
CHAPTER 17: BACON
Sheppard gave Teyla the order to keep an eye on the Bochwey as he and Ford set up the descender, then he stepped out over the edge of the pit. The nearly naked researchers gasped and ducked away, expecting a repeat of Quee's attempted decent (and subsequent flash broiling), but the Hand of Fire chose not to repeat itself.
With a nod to Ford, the major started his repel downward. He held his breath, waiting for that big BANG… hoping that he'd figured out that whole "Chosen One" thing correctly… hoping that the generator was done and that it hadn't blown McKay to bits along with it.
So far… so good.
The pit smelled of overdone meat, and Sheppard stepped carefully to get around what was left of Quee when he reached the bottom. Not pretty, Sheppard decided. Nope… not at all. The bottom of the pit looked a little like the floor of the oven in an apartment he'd shared with some other guys while he was in college.
He set his jaw, hoping he wouldn't find McKay in the same state. Please… no. If the doctor wasn't here -- where was he? A quick perusal of the area with his flashlight revealed the low tunnel that branched off.
"Okay then," Sheppard said softly, getting down on hands and knees and crawling into the space. His nose burned with the scent of ozone – the walls were warm – almost to the point of being too hot to touch. He shone the light down the corridor ahead of himself and kept moving.
"McKay!" he shouted again, feeling the hot air drying his throat, his eyes. "McKay!" Dammit! This corridor was too damn hot! He had to get out of here, out of this closed in area, find McKay, get him out of here -- get them both out.
"Major!" Ford's voice sounded in his ear. "What's down there? Have you found him?"
"I'm in a tunnel," Sheppard responded. "Hot as hell. Haven't found him yet. How are things up there?"
Teyla responded this time, "The Bochwey are displeased," she stated. "We are experiencing difficulty."
Sheppard could hear the angry nattering of the undressed Bochwey. Pausing, he asked, "What's going on?"
"They're kinda upset that you were able to get down there," Ford told him. "I think they were expecting fireworks and are a bit disappointed you didn't go 'poof'. They keep taking about that chair and how they…Hey! Knock it off!"
Sheppard continued, wishing he'd thought to bring kneepads. "Ford! Report!"
"We're being forced away from the pit," Ford told him.
He heard Kevik's voice carried over the com, saying, "Who are you talking to? What are you doing? What is this device?"
"It's nothing. It's just…" Ford tried to tell him, but his transmission was cut off.
"Major, we are unhurt, but the situation his escalating," Teyla stated, her voice quiet. Her voice rose as she shouted. "No! We are no danger to you. Do not …" and her communication ended as well.
"Teyla! Ford!" Sheppard shouted, and growled in frustration. God! He could do nothing to help them! He twisted, turning back the way he'd come, wanting to go back, to find out what was happening – but he had to find McKay first.
Where the hell are you, McKay?
So, he shone the light ahead of him, he kept going, crawling down the tunnel until he found himself coming to a dark room. Hopefully, this was the place. "McKay!" he called again.
He could see little of the space from his vantage point using only the flashlight to see. Reaching the end of the tunnel, he slithered out, and stumbled, catching his balance and finally stood in the dark, stifling room. If he'd hoped for any respite from the heat at the end of the tunnel, he'd been mistaken.
The room remained black and he swung the light about, searching, revealing a pair of control panels, a chair – and Rodney. Oh, thank God…I've found him. But….
Under the beam, scientist was stretched out in a chair – not moving. Sheppard paused, holding his breath – don't be dead… don't be dead…he chanted to himself, then exhaled as he saw the Canadian twitch, ever so slightly, his head rocking from one side, then to the other.
Thankful, Sheppard stepped quickly, reaching the chair. "Rodney!" he called, grasping hold of one of the chair's arms and releasing it immediately as he registered the heat the thing was giving off. "Damn it!" he swore. The chair wasn't illuminated, but it hot as a furnace. And McKay was in the damn thing. Oh crap… how long had it been since that thing went off?
"I'm getting you out, right now, Rodney. Ya hear me? Don't worry."
McKay groaned feebly and rocked, as if he was trying to roll over.
Jamming the flashlight under his chin, Sheppard grasped hold of Rodney's wrists, feeling his hot, tacky skin, and yanked him upright. Rodney made a quiet sound as Sheppard leaned him forward, resting McKay's weight against him. The flashlight dropped, landing somewhere in McKay's lap. He tugged again. The seat was uncomfortably hot as John pressed his waist against it, leveraging McKay forward and maneuvering his weight off the chair. Grasping tightly, he lowered the scientist to the ground. The flashlight went with them to roll around on the floor.
Once he'd gotten Rodney prone and clear of the chair, Sheppard leaned over the man and called him softly, "Rodney?" No response. He grabbed the skittering flashlight, and checked over the man as he felt for a pulse in his wrist. The heartbeat was strong, and John let himself relax a little with that knowledge.
Let him be okay, Sheppard demanded. "McKay…" he called softly, patting one side of the doctor's face. "Rodney, wake up. Rodney, are you okay? Come on…"
McKay turned his head slowly, frowning and squeezing his eyes shut.
"McKay!" John put steel into his voice, "Open your eyes!"
Rodney was burned, that much John could tell. His bare skin around his hands was already blistering where it had been in contact with the chair – hopefully his clothing had been able to protect the rest of him. "Wha…?" Rodney tried, his voice rough. He opened his eyes and squinted up at the major.
Smiling, John stated, "Glad to see ya."
"Need…" McKay started, and swallowed thickly. "Need t'get out of…the chair."
"I'm already ahead of you on that one," John responded. "Think you can sit up?"
Rodney didn't look very enthusiastic about the idea. "Rather… thirsty…" he stated. "Hot…." He grimaced.
"Yeah," Sheppard agreed. "Makes me want to get the hell out of here… fast."
"Wasn't hot before…" McKay muttered. "Something happened…."
"You can say that again. That was some bottle rocket."
"Headache. Hell of a… headache."
"Yeah, I bet." In spite of Rodney's complaints, Sheppard grinned, glad to hear him talking and capable of voicing his concerns. "Come on… let's get you sitting. We can get some water once we get out of here." And he tugged the physicist upright.
"Oh…oh…" McKay muttered at the change in position. He lifted his gaze to stare at Sheppard once he was sitting. "You left me… in a pit!"
With a crooked smile, Sheppard nodded and said, "Let's call it a favor. I managed to save you from a lot of irritation that way. You never would have been able to suffer through it."
Looking quizzically at Sheppard, McKay brought one hand to his forehead and winced, drawing back the hand and looking at his reddened skin in amazement.
"You got yourself burned up a bit," Sheppard told him. "That Hand of Fire must have originated from this room," he figured. "Might explain why everything is so hot." He looked at how the chair was situated -- it seemed as if the beam had come from the port at the base of the device. Damn… they meant business, those Ancients.
"Hand of…?" McKay started, looking a question to Shepard. He seemed dulled and stunned, unable to comprehend what was going on around him.
"…Fire," Sheppard completed. He tried to judge the heath of his companion – burned and a bit addled, but he seemed to be otherwise all right. He didn't like seeing Rodney like this, unable to think straight – it just wasn't right.
"Oh yes... I remember... I… read that somewhere." And Rodney scrunched his brow in thought, regarding the dark room and the illumination by flashlight. "What happened to the lights?"
"Don't know," Sheppard responded. "They were out when I got here. Think you can get to your feet? We got to get out of here. Ford and Teyla are in a fix now. The Bochwey were getting a bit antsy after I left."
"Bochwey?" McKay echoed, shaking his head woefully. He stopped his movement, and brought one hand to his neck, feeling around timidly.
Sheppard looked where McKay was fussing at the back of his head. Damn, that burn looked painful. The major carefully grasped the hand by the unburned side and pulled it away. "Leave it alone," he ordered softly. "You got your whole backside pretty badly singed.
"The Seat of Power," McKay declared. "Gets damn hot." He reached his other hand behind him and grimaced as he touched his tender skin. "Did I do this?"
"An idiot Bochwey tried to get in while you were working. Set off the defenses."
"What the hell is a Bochwey?" McKay snapped, suddenly shaking off his stupor. "And this Hand of Fire? You saw it?"
"Long story." Good, John thought. He's getting snippy. Things are looking up. "Let's get you up and we'll get out of here to save Ford and Teyla from a bunch of politicians in their panties."
"You know," McKay stated, groaning as Sheppard helped shove him to his feet. He swayed a moment, leaning on Sheppard as he put weight again on his painful knee. "Ow! You're trying to confuse me on purpose, aren't you? Ow!" He winced as he moved away from the major and stood on his own.
"You know, you kinda smell like bacon," Sheppard joked, grinning and getting a foul look from the scientist.
McKay really appeared done-in. He limped to one of the consoles in the dimness and leaned heavily on it. "You okay?" Sheppard asked, lifting the light to shine on Rodney's face.
"Fine…fine…" McKay said, sighing dramatically and closing his eyes against the light. "Just like a sunburn, right? A real bad sunburn. The kind you'd get if you spent too much time on Mercury."
"Not much of a vacation spot," Sheppard commented dryly, dropping the flashlight's beam from Rodney and swinging it around the room. "I hear the beaches are fine, but the ocean's a long way out."
Breathing deeply, McKay let his head dip. "Speaking of which…you sure you don't have any water?" He swallowed and grimaced again.
"Sorry, not on me," Sheppard apologized. As he flashed around the light, he came upon the chair again.
After a dissatisfied groan, McKay commented, "You said Lt. Ford and Teyla needed our help."
"I'll go back. You'll be okay if I leave you for a bit?" Sheppard nodded toward the tunnel.
"No, I will not be okay. You left me in a PIT!" McKay eyed the low entrance, knowing he was in no shape go crawl through it again. He nodded slowly. "I can follow… eventually…" he tried, already dreading it.
Sheppard sighed, wondering if McKay would even be able to make it back out through that narrow passage. He lifted the flashlight, shining it at the chair and the equipment about them. McKay made a noise in the darkness beside him, shuffling about. "Shine the light over there," the scientist ordered.
"Where?"
"There, right there," McKay insisted, hobbling along the side of the console, looking annoyed when Sheppard put the light on him again. "There!" he repeated, pointing away, scowling.
Shepard snorted at McKay's rather worthless 'in-the-dark' directions and brought the light about; an ugly, dark device was revealed. McKay let out a mournful sound.
"What the hell is that?" Sheppard asked, stepping closer. "Kinda reminds me of this awful lamp my aunt used to have. The base of it would glow pink when you clicked the clicker often enough. I killed it one summer when I tried to complete a forward pass to my cousin using a Tupperware full of Jell-o."
"You did what?" McKay had inched toward the broken thing.
With a shrug, Sheppard commented, "Didn't think Tupperware would bust open. You know… it has 'freshlock'. Remember those ads where the big fruits and veggies had those paddle locks on them?" He flashed the light on McKay again to see his response, but the scientist was too interested in the device to retort. Sheppard went on, "There was Jello-o everywhere. Got on her cat, her couch, curtains, everything. Knocked the lamp right onto the floor. Didn't look broken, but it never worked again."
McKay gingerly held his scanner, his brow knitting as he regarded it. "It's still producing a small amount of power. Nearly negligible, but…" He paused, blinking slowly and shaking his head. "It doesn't appear to be radioactive, but I really don't think we should be messing around here much longer." He looked unhappily toward the tunnel.
"Radioactive?" Sheppard echoed edging back.
"NOT radioactive," McKay snapped. "At least, not much. I guess it's time to start crawling." And he cringed at the idea of even trying.
"Ya know, something bugs me about this?" Sheppard asked. "How do you think they got that chair down here?"
Letting out another sigh, McKay glanced toward the hot seat with half closed eyes. "Put it together here, I would suspect."
"But they said it was on another planet before, and moved below ground here later. Said that the Hand of Fire worked fine on the surface for protection -- figured it wouldn't work so good after they put it underground."
"Now you tell me," McKay said tiredly, closing his eyes as he leaned.
"There has to be another way in and out," Sheppard stated. "Maybe that tunnel was just used for firing that barbeque beam."
McKay tiredly nodded. "Yes… yes.. that makes sense."
Determinedly, Sheppard started searching the room – looking for anything that might be an exit – but the flashlight illuminated only stone walls – and the tunnel.
When he turned the light on McKay again, he noted that the man hadn't moved, letting the console support him, looking hunched and miserable. He kept the light on the man until Rodney snarled, "Would you stop that?"
"Just need to make sure you're still with me," Sheppard returned.
"Where could I go?" Suddenly, McKay's expression changed from miserable and snotty to something resembling a smile.
Sheppard asked, "What? You have an idea?"
"Remembered something that I saw earlier. As I was shutting down the system, I saw something." He lifted one hand to point. "Insignificant at the time, but I had been thinking about where an exit might be, and I think the chair told me."
Sheppard stepped to the wall that Rodney had indicated, and ran his hand carefully along the rocky surface. He pressed here and there. "Nothing," he muttered.
"Not obvious, at least," McKay commented as he came alongside him, scanner in hand. He waved it slowly around the area. He smiled as he pointed to the wall to the right of the major. "Press down there."
The major raised his eyebrows and did what the doctor told him.
TBC - Okay, it's getting better... one more day and we'll be done.
