If I Die
Chapter Seven - The Weapon
It turned out that the Silani, just like the Genii, had a secret underground facility, although in keeping with the rest of the city, it was significantly less impressive. Built beneath the council halls, it consisted of little more than an oversized warehouse, a row of high windows bringing light from the street onto the dusty floor. Marikar had opened the door onto a narrow wooden walkway that stretched the length of one wall, before dropping to the floor in a series of steep steps.
Below them lay the Silani's 'relics.' Laid out like a ramshackle mechanics workshop, tables and shelves took up two thirds of the floor space, their surfaces laden with various pieces of alien technology - from large sheets several meters wide to the nuts and bolts that once held them together. At the end furthest away from the door a strange, funnel shaped tower rose up from the ground, five meters wide at its base, and connected to various blinking boxes via an assortment of pipes and cables. Sporadically a thin amber light emerged from its narrow top and pulsated weakly down its surface, before sputtering into extinction.
Around and between all of this milled Silani; slender figures in brown colored tunics stood in clusters at tables, or poring over papers, or searching through shelf upon shelf of unidentifiable objects. En masse, they twitched nervously when the door opened, two dozen faces turning to stare briefly at Sheppard and his team before resuming their work. There was an air of uncomfortable tension.
Tension that McKay seemed oblivious to.
The scientist trotted along the wooden walkway beside Marikar, leaning over the edge to peer at particular objects, and then to fire a question at the councilor. His scanner dangled from one hand, and was snatched up at various intervals to be studied intently, before dropping back to his side. Marikar's smile had widened even further at McKay's obvious excitement, although his answers, whilst pleasant, were short and vague, repeated promises of "later, later."
"Like a kid in a candy store," Ford whispered, keeping pace beside his C.O.
"Now we know what to get Rodney for Christmas. His own secret laboratory."
Teyla raised an eyebrow. "You believe he does not already have one?"
Marikar had stopped at the top of the stairs, forcing McKay to come to a reluctant halt. Indicating that his visitors should remain where they were, the Silani minister descended the stairs, and was greeted at the bottom by a younger man in a long brown tunic. Brown eyes darted quickly away from Marikar up to the walkway, then back again. Slender fingers twisted into each other, agitated, then up, ruffling wisps of dark hair.
Stick a pair of glasses on him and you've got a very familiar Czech.
Sheppard strained to hear the conversation, without much success, Marikar keeping his voice to a soft hush. After several moments the councilor turned, a welcoming smile fixed on his face, beckoning them down.
"Come. Doctor McKay, Major Sheppard, please." One hand gestured to the man beside him. "This is our chief scientist, Rahul. He is more suited to answer your questions than I."
Rahul gave a twitchy half-bow, his head bobbing. "Welcome." He glanced at the room around him, rushed over his words to apologize: "Our work is nothing compared to yours, I imagine. Basic, at best. Marikar tells me you came from the Great Circle, I imagine you have rooms far more suited to their task than this one."
"Well…" Sheppard considered the lab for a moment, "It's not too dissimilar, actually. McKay here likes to work in the same mess."
"It's organized chaos," McKay snapped, raising his chin. "And the room doesn't matter. I once reassembled a Commodore in my tree house."
"A Commodore?" Rahul queried, stuttering a little.
"A computer."
"A –"
"Oh." McKay seemed to remember where he was. "Never mind. Maybe you should show me around? If we're going to be allies, I need to know a little more about what it is we can help you with."
Another quick bob. "Yes. Of course. Perhaps –"
A sudden crash from far wall stopped Rahul mid-sentence. A cloud of smoke rose above the shelves, coming from the pulsating tower that stood in the far corner. Forgetting the strangers, Rahul turned and started to run towards the alarmed shouts, McKay close on his heels.
"Aw crap," Sheppard muttered, under his breath, then louder, and futilely: "Rodney!"
No response. He gave a sigh and followed the scientist, Ford and Teyla beside him. Drawing closer, the cause of the commotion became apparent. One of the boxes hooked up to the glowing tower had shorted, smoke and sparks rising from its innards. McKay waded through the crowd of confused scientists, Rahul barely keeping up, snapping orders over his shoulder.
"You must have overloaded its circuits. Whatever material you've got as your conductor obviously isn't doing the job. This is a microwave generator, right? Then stop staring at me and start doing your jobs! Somebody check the inner chamber for cracks, we don't want –"
McKay's voice was lost amidst the sudden hubbub it provoked. Even on an alien planet it seemed people were willing to do whatever was asked of them if the brain behind the orders was big and loud enough.
"I'm not sure whether to be scared or impressed," Sheppard murmured to Ford, stood beside him.
"Glad I'm not Doctor Zelenka," Ford agreed, watching McKay snap his fingers at the now petrified Rahul.
"Don't let that exterior fool you – I've seen the doc strip chunks off McKay when he goes too far."
"Your Doctor McKay enjoys this?" Marikar queried, stepping into the space beside Sheppard.
"Any time there are experiments for him to play with," Sheppard responded, suddenly cautious, unwilling to trust the councilor or his plastic smile.
"What is the purpose of all these machines?" Teyla asked, examining the contents of a work bench.
"The tower before you is a power generator. We believe there were once five such machines providing energy to the city, but this is now the only one that remains." Marikar considered the throng of milling scientists distastefully. "When it works, it serves to power the other devices in this room. Unfortunately their success in this is intermittent, at best."
"And the rest?" Sheppard asked, not believing that Marikar would be so ingratiating if there wasn't more at stake. He suddenly found himself the object of a hard, considerate stare.
It broke off just as quickly, Marikar turning to call out over the crowd: "Rahul! Doctor McKay!"
The two scientists turned and after a second, pulled themselves away from the generator, McKay moving with great reluctance.
"I could help you fix that –" he began.
"Your help is appreciated, but I believe Rahul's team can handle it. Come," the councilor said, clapping his hands, "We should be fair to our visitors, Rahul. We should show Doctor McKay why his skills are so needed."
Turning his back on the power generator and the men struggling to fix it, Marikar led the group across the floor of the laboratory, several bodyguards following. Set into the far wall was a heavy looking metal door, flagged by either side by an armed man. They stepped aside smartly when Marikar approached, although Sheppard found himself the subject of several hard stares.
Rahul trotted several paces behind Marikar, his gaze flitting from the room he was now departing, and then at McKay. When the look was returned the Silani scientist ducked his head, his expression a mix of shame and apology.
Sheppard walked close to McKay, wary of the bodyguards. His hand rested on his sidearm casually, and he noticed that Ford was doing the same. Even Rodney seemed aware of the extra security, staying unusually quiet, his shoulders tensed beneath his jacket.
The corridor, a dull, concrete affair, stretched out for another few meters, closed doors breaking the monotony at regular intervals. Marikar drew to a halt at the far end beside another pair of security guards. After a few brief words in their ear, the men moved apart, the doors opened, and Marikar led his guests inside.
It was another room similar to the last, but although smaller in scale the number of scientists was greater. Unlike their compatriots, this group worked in a hushed silence, stood at several rows of wooden benches, their heads down, eyes focused on their task. In the centre of the room rose wooden scaffolding, enclosing something dark and metallic. Several scientists stood on the scaffolding, their arms laden with clipboards.
"What is it?" Rodney asked, stepping up next to Marikar.
"A great weapon left to us by our ancestors." The councilor continued walking, moving down an aisle between the lab benches. "We believe this was the reason behind the Wraith's venom."
The device was large and ugly. A squat box, five meters wide, sat at the bottom, its side open and its innards spread across the floor. Atop it arched a thin metal rod, and from this spilled a number of multicolored wires, some rejoining the metal base, others ripped free, loose ends trailing towards the floor. A second box sat a short distance away, and the pipe which had once connected the two now rested on the ground.
"A weapon," Sheppard repeated, skeptically.
"I realize it looks a little, ah, untidy," Rahul admitted, stepping between the group and the machine. "But our historians have found papers linked to its purpose. It was designed to fight the Wraith."
"No offence," McKay said, moving past Rahul to get a closer look, "But how? We've seen weapons before and none of them have looked quite like this."
"We…" Rahul hesitated, admitted reluctantly: "We are not sure. There are theories, ideas put forth by several generations of researchers before us. We believe it was designed to generate an energy wave that would," he meshed his fingers together, "take apart an object molecule by molecule, in an instant. Remove the bonds between each component."
"Really?" McKay reached out to touch the surface of the machine. "I'd love to see the plans."
"So would I," Rahul said, giving a strange, humorless laugh. At the questioning look he explained: "There are no plans. No original diagrams, not even a list of its parts. All we have are what you see here, and on the tables around you. This weapon was one of its kind, a prototype. The scientists who designed it died in the Wraith onslaught and their ideas were lost with them."
"Now you see why your skills are so precious to us, Doctor McKay." Marikar raised his head to look at the weapon, pride warming his features. "Our ancestors were an able people. They possessed knowledge that we can only grasp at. But you, with your experience of worlds unknown to us, you can give us the help we need to finally reclaim our forefather's dreams."
"A weapon against the Wraith," Teyla said, following the minister's gaze up the length of the machine. "It could protect all planets against Wraith attacks. Turn the tide against them."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Sheppard warned. "You understand, Marikar, that we can't promise anything until Doctor McKay knows more. Right, McKay?"
"Hmm? Oh, well, obviously." He turned to Rahul. "You'll have to show me your work, explain how you're progressing."
Rahul gave another acquiescing head bob.
"And perhaps you and I, Major Sheppard, can discuss the arrival of more of your scientists."
Alarm bells rang. "Woah. I think it'd be better to let McKay figure things out first. We don't even know if we can help you."
"Major –"
Deliberately: "McKay."
"I understand." Marikar tilted his chin into the air. "Let me show you more of our past, Major, and perhaps you can exchange yours with me. We must know more about each other if we are to build on our friendship."
Sheppard glanced at McKay, who was bouncing on his feet, eager to bury himself in the mechanics of the alien device. "Fine," he said, reluctantly. "Lieutenant, stay with McKay whilst Teyla and I go back with Marikar."
Ford grimaced, but nodded. Obedient, if not happy about the idea of babysitting their resident genius. McKay grinned, and turned to Rahul, full of questions that the Silani scientist seemed only too happy to answer.
Marikar stepped into Sheppard's vision. "Shall we return upstairs?" he said, pleasantly. "I admit, Rahul and his team speak in a language unfamiliar to me. But we can talk of other matters."
"Sure," Sheppard said, replying in the same appeasing tone as the minister. He lingered long enough to see McKay and Rahul disappear beneath the scaffolding, then turned his attention to Marikar, and put on his best diplomat face. "Let's go build a friendship."
