The Journey

Chapter 10

"We have to get out of here. If we don't get this ship up and running in the next thirteen minutes tons of stones are going to come right down on our heads. We are going to be crushed like a bunch of insects. I never should have agreed to come along on this ridiculous mission. If only I had been listening to my brain, any rational person would have this prophecy as utter lunacy…" McKay rambled in panic.

"Shut up and help me find a way to get this hatch open. We can do, there is enough time to get this ship working. The Ancients built stuff to last." John interrupted him harshly while examine the surface of the metal bulkhead for any other panels.

Rodney seized his tirade, but made no move to help John in his search. John grabbed him by the arm and pushed him towards the panel displaying the countdown. "Check out what all the buttons on it do, you're the expert. I'm going to go up to the control room to inform the other and see if there is a remote way of accessing the ship. We are getting out of this." John patted Rodney on the shoulder and jogged out of the room. Upstairs, everything was pretty much as he had left it. Beckett was still working on the computer, but had found nothing helpful so far. Teyla was finally back on her feet and was busy gathering their scattered weapons.

Both looked up from their tasks when John entered.

"We have a problem. We found the ship, but when I tried to open the hatch to take a look at it, I accidentally triggered some sort of self-distract sequence. Bottom line is that the entire temple is going to come down on us in a bit over ten minutes."

"Another Wraith booby trap?" Teyla asked.

"I don't think so. They would have rather taken the ship for themselves. The ship was probably the last route of escape for the Ancients. The self-destruct might have been put in place to make sure that the Wraith wouldn't find anything of use should the city fall into their hands. We need to get everyone down to the lowest level. Rodney is working on getting the ship working. If we make it, it's going to be a close one."

"What about you, Major?" Beckett asked when John didn't show any intention of moving himself. Instead, he went to work at the computer console.

"I'm trying to give McKay a hand from up here. He's going to need all the help he can get. You two get going, I'll meet you down at the ship. Hurry up, you only have six minutes left."

"So have you John." Teyla reminded him sternly. "We won't allow you to sacrifice yourself for us. It's not your time."

"Just give me a few more minutes. I promise I will join you at the ship." John said while rapidly working on the computer.

"Now!" Teyla and Beckett shouted, grabbing John by the arms, pulling him away from the console. He resisted for a moment, then gave in and joined them in a frantic dash to the lower level. They arrived there, panting, just in time, to see the hatch open with two minutes left on the countdown. As soon as John and Beckett entered the dormant ship woke up and came to life for them. As soon as John thought about taking off, the ship responded with an intense vibration that nearly knocked everyone to the ground. The hatched closed. The vibration increased and there was a loud, discordant grinding noise coming from outside. Suddenly, John could feel the ship lifting from the ground. The internal dampening made it impossible to tell how fast they were ascending, but it couldn't have lasted more than a few seconds before the ship crashed into something solid and the jolt rocked the ship.

"The force field!" Rodney cried. "It's still up. We've flown straight into the force field."

John sighed. He hadn't thought of that. They were going to die after all.

"But it's not that bad," Rodney went on. When the temple explodes, the force field generators will fail and the force field will drop."

"Which will get us nowhere because we'll be caught in the blast and blow up as well." John wasn't in the mind for mind games.

"Not if we time it right. We have to pick the right moment and fly fast enough to avoid being in the blast radius. It should work theoretically, if this thing goes fast enough…"

That was as far as Rodney got before a massive shockwave from the explosion of the temple below approached the ship at alarming speed. John had just time to spot on the scanner. He set the ship to full speed the second the shock wave was about the hit the ship.

TBC

A/N: Short chapter, I know, but it was the last of the action heavy chapters. The story is nearing its end, the next chapter starts putting the pieces together. The big plotline will be continued in the next two stories.