THE TRENCH

PART THREE: FIELDS OF SNARK

Sheppard walked across the bridge with Teyla, leaving Ford and McKay behind. Two identical boxes were on the other side, but they wanted to make sure they worked first. Sure enough, as soon as the two people passed through the two boxes, the bridge immediately retracted back into the gate side of the trench.

"Hunh." Sheppard looked over at McKay, and the scientist indicted the right one. With a nod, the major rested his hand on top of the box on this side and, sure enough, the bridge emerged again, the speed of the machinery impressive. "Well that seems to work," Sheppard noted curiously.

McKay grinned, and both he and Ford crossed over the bridge. And, again, as soon as they reached the far side, the bridge retracted.

"Does it work for everyone?" Sheppard asked, looking at McKay. The scientist shrugged, and so Teyla moved forward and pressed her hand to the top of the right box.

Nothing happened. When she moved away, McKay stepped up and put his hand down.

The bridge formed again.

"Interesting," he muttered. "Apparently, it requires the gene."

"Why?" Teyla asked.

"Perhaps they were protecting something in here?" McKay suggested, turning around to look at the unassuming woods on this side of the Trench.

Suddenly, the bridge that McKay had called retracted again, on its own. All four people jumped a little at the noise, and Sheppard frowned.

"It must retract if not used within a certain amount of time," McKay suggested when the major looked at him for answers, moving to study the boxes again. "Also, and though this doesn't mean much, I think if you press your hand on the box on the left, it retracts the bridge manually."

"Hm," Sheppard grunted. He turned to look again into the woods, no longer interested in the bridge now that he understood how it worked.

"So, you think that the Ancients were trying to protect something in here?" Teyla repeated. "Why not use a shield device as they did with Atlantis? Surely, a Wraith hive ship could bring darts here, and then the trench would be pointless."

"That," Ford nodded, "and what's to stop people building a bridge to put over it. Cut down a tree, put it across…." He ended with a shrug.

"I don't know," McKay replied. "But it's here for a reason."

"What's say we find out," Sheppard said. "McKay?"

The scientist nodded, and pulled out his scanner. He played with it for a few moments, then frowned.

"Uh oh," he mused. "That's not good."

"I hate when you say that," Sheppard sighed. "What's not good?"

McKay didn't answer, furiously pressing down on buttons. With a growl, he reached around and pulled the pack off his back.

"McKay?"

"Wait," the scientist commanded rudely, dropping the pack down and kneeling next to it. Quickly, he pulled out his PDA, fiddled, and frowned. Then he pulled out another piece of Atlantian equipment, fiddled with it for a moment, then sighed, shaking his head.

"McKay!"

"Dead. They're dead."

"What? Everything?"

"No, just the more advanced equipment."

"You mean the Atlantian equipment," Sheppard clarified.

"Anything running on more than just simple batteries, so, yes, Atlantian technology. Unfortunately, I've outfitted a number of pieces of my equipment with power cells borrowed from unused Atantis apparatus, and they're all dead, along with the scanner and most of the more complicated items in here." He grimaced, frowning into the pack.

Ford hit his radio, and smiled to hear the answering chirrup. "My radio works."

"Yes," McKay looked up at him, annoyed, "Of course it does. Why wouldn't it?"

Ford blinked, "But I thought you just said—"

"Batteries, lieutenant. It runs on batteries." McKay gave an exasperated sigh, looking back down at his pack. "Am I speaking in tongues?" he muttered to himself, easily loud enough to be heard.

Ford sneered at the top of his head.

McKay grimaced, and then looked back at the boxes that worked the bridge. Leaving the pack on the path, he grabbed the scanner and walked back, reactivating the bridge almost without thought. Once on the other side, he kept his eyes on the scanner, watching it carefully as he reached the two entry pillars and walked between them. The bridge retracted.

He turned in a complete circle once on the other side, then nodded.

"There's some kind of shield here, probably runs along the length of the trench, right along this vertical edge," he called from the other side. "It's working as a dampening field."

"Like the one on M7G-677?" Ford asked.

"No, Ford, the radios work, remember?" They couldn't see it, but they knew McKay had just rolled his eyes. "The interference this field creates isn't electro magnetic. As I already said, it is more specifically designed…." McKay stared at the screen a moment longer, mentally mapped out the locations of the energy signatures in his head that were on the far side, then put it away when he reactivated the bridge. Walking quickly back across, he raised his eyebrows at the major.

"That shield also appears to do something else, but I can't tell what yet from the readings. It's not a barrier, since I just walked back and forth through it easily enough. Still, it obviously has more than one purpose."

"Like what?" Sheppard asked.

McKay stared at him a moment, then shook his head. " Again, did what I just say come out in some foreign language, Major?" His tone was that of an adult to a small child, chastising them for speaking out of turn. "If I know what it did, I would probably say, 'hey, I know what it does.' I would not, however, say, 'I can't tell what it does from these readings.'" He shook his head again, looking at Ford and Teyla, "Seriously, people, I am speaking English here, you know."

"English?" Teyla frowned, "No you're not. You're speaking Athosian."

McKay stared at her, then closed his mouth. He wasn't going to go there. Some thing are just better left unexplained. Instead, he looked back at the Major.

Sheppard's eyes were slitted in barely controlled patience. "Are you purposefully trying to be an ass today?" he asked.

"Incredibly, incredibly annoying," Ford amended quietly.

McKay just sighed and crossed his arms. "Look, all I know is, there is clearly more here than meets the eye. Plus, something fairly powerful must be generating that shield."

Sheppard arched an eyebrow, easily switching mental gears at that suddenly good thought, "Like a ZPM?"

"Maybe. Quite likely, since it seems to be of Ancient design."

Sheppard nodded, smiling now, "So we should check it out."

McKay nodded, "I'd say so."

"All right," Sheppard turned around, looking up the path. "So which way do we go?"

McKay had turned with him, looking up the path. "Well, most of the people are straight ahead, maybe two miles distant, along with one of the lesser of the three energy signatures. There is also a stronger energy signature from the right, about two miles in that direction," he pointed to the right. "And there is another, weaker one about five miles in that direction." His finger now pointed to the left.

"So what do you suggest?"

"Avoiding the people?" McKay's eyebrows were raised. "Plus, stronger energy readings to the right."

"But the people may be able to tell us something about this world, and the purpose of this bridge," Teyla noted.

Sheppard sighed, but nodded. "She's got a point McKay. If whatever is off to our right is just an electricity generating plant of some kind, then the people here might be able to point us in a better direction."

"Yeah, but," Ford grimaced, "we don't know anything about these people, sir. They might turn us around and force us home before we've had a chance to look at anything."

Sheppard turned to Ford, surprised at the cynical statement. He had obviously been spending too much time with McKay.

He considered a moment, then shrugged. "All right, we'll split up. Teyla, you and Ford head up the path and find the locals. McKay and I will—"

"Um," McKay held up a finger, "No offense, major, but can I take Teyla with me?"

That caused three very surprised faces to focus on the scientist. McKay almost looked embarrassed by their scrutiny.

"Why?" Sheppard asked, drawing the word slowly.

"Well, we're going off the path in a direction which," he squinted a little, "is not, um, all that, er, obvious, shall we say? And we'll have to come back that way. And…she'll…she's…." He swallowed, and, incredibly, it was clear he was embarrassed.

"And you think I'll get lost," Sheppard finished darkly. His brow furrowed angrily, "McKay, look, I don't know where you got this idea that I—"

"I do not mind, Major," Teyla interjected quickly, sidling up next to the scientist. "Plus, as our leader, it really should be you who greets the people of this planet. To indicate that you are showing them the proper respect."

"And," Ford moved to McKay's other side, "Dr. Weir will be expecting you to provide your own personal impression of the people here, because she trusts your instincts more than the rest of us." The lieutenant smiled boyishly, throwing as much of his natural charm into the statement as possible.

Sheppard eyed the two of them, thoughts of mutiny crossing his mind. Were they seriously agreeing with McKay? He closed his lips, pursed them, and shrugged.

"Fine. McKay, you and Teyla find that power source. Ford and I will perform the meet and greet."

"Thank you, major," McKay said, actually sounding grateful. Teyla just smiled beautifully, while Ford pretended to fumble with his radio to avoid making any further eye contact with the major.

"Stay in radio contact at all times," Sheppard commanded them, "and be careful. Without the scanner, we're more vulnerable. Stay alert."

Teyla and McKay both agreed with a nod, then Rodney pointed the direction out anew to the Athosian. She absorbed the information, took one more look around at her surroundings to get her bearings, then started to lead the way. McKay barely had time to grab up his pack, zip it closed and toss it on his back again before she was almost all the way to the trees. He jogged after her, turning only once to wave back at Ford and Sheppard.

Ford looked up at his superior officer, and smiled a little at the still peeved look on his face. To be honest, Ford did not actually agree with McKay that Sheppard had a poor sense of direction. Well, okay, the major did not have a "great" sense of direction, but he didn't get lost as easily as the scientist seemed to think. However, he and Teyla both had come to the realization that, whenever both Sheppard and McKay were off together on their own…that bad things tended to happen.

Sheppard caught the smile, arched an eyebrow, then huffed and started walking up the path. Ford grinned wider, and moved to catch up with him.

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TBC – I'm just going to pick on everybody in this one, I think…well…everybody male.