Chapter Three: Tip toe, through the...
"What are they?" McKay asked, staring at the green dots.
Sheppard shrugged. "Let's find out, shall we?" He started to move toward the door.
"Do you really think that's a good idea, Major?" McKay asked, as he and Beckett followed Sheppard across the room.
"No," John returned frankly. He gave his handgun to McKay. "You got a better idea?"
Rodney swallowed nervously, and took the weapon.
"Can't we just leave them?" Beckett asked.
"Do you see any other way out of here?" Sheppard countered irritably. He wished Ford was there. Working with civilians was harder when it was two on one.
Sheppard crouched on one side of the door and directed McKay to do the same on the other side. Beckett moved behind Sheppard, who passed him the life sighs detector. "If anything moves on that screen," Sheppard whispered, "get back as far as you can."
Sheppard readied his P-90 and nodded to McKay. McKay reached up and activated the control to open the door. Braced for anything, from Wraith to some new horror, they were surprised to find...lizards. Hundreds of sleeping lizards. Each was about a foot and a half long with another foot of tail. They resembled tiny, blue-green versions of Chinese dragons, with four clawed feet and long, pointed snouts.
McKay lowered his gun. "Is that all?" he sighed with relief.
"Shhh!" Sheppard whispered playfully. "You'll wake them up!"
"How do ya suppose they got in here?" Beckett asked.
"They must have found a hole or something," McKay answered, "which means we must be in the lower levels of the city."
"Okay," Sheppard said resolutely. "All we need are some stairs."
"And how do you plan on getting past those things?"
"Very quietly." Without waiting for a reply, he got up and began tiptoeing across the crowded room.
"Major!" McKay hissed. Sheppard turned and put a finger to his lips for silence before continuing his trek.
"What does he think he's doing?" Beckett asked in a whisper.
"Knowing him, he's probably not thinking at all," McKay replied, glancing nervously at the Major's slow progress.
Sheppard had made it almost halfway across the room. He could see that the space was larger than the one he had just left, and aside from the lizards, it seems to be a fairly ordinary sitting room, or as ordinary as things could be in Atlantis. Several chairs and tables were scattered around; some on their sides, some were upside down, and nearly all covered with sprawling lizards. A three-foot gap in one corner of the floor revealed their secret entrance. The edges of the hole were charred, indicating it had been caused by an explosion of some kind. Beyond it was nothing but inky black water.
McKay was right again, Sheppard sighed. Not that he was surprised. McKay always seemed to be right. It was one of the things that made him so annoying.
A few of the lizards stirred and watched the Major with bright, golden eyes, but they made no move to impede his progress. Deciding it was safe, Sheppard turned and gestured for the other two to follow. McKay started gingerly across with Beckett close behind. Despite all efforts, the two made considerable noise by stepping considerably harder than then was needed. Sheppard glared at them and gestured for them to be more quiet. By now, over half the lizards were awake and watching the humans. Though the creatures still did not move, the sight of hundreds of intelligent, staring eyes was unnerving to the three friends.
As McKay and Beckett approached Sheppard, the doctor risked a whispered question: "Why aren't they doing anything?"
"They're probably deciding if we're a threat," Sheppard answered, glancing warily at their silent audience.
"Or maybe they're deciding if we taste good!" McKay hissed with a note of fear.
"Calm down," Sheppard ordered. "Let's just get out of here."
They continued to walk to the door at the far side of the room. The density of lizards had increased to the point where it was an effort to walk without stepping on one. Even so, the creatures seemed to think immobility was the best defense because they still refused to move, even when the humans stepped within mere centimeters of them.
Sheppard was just beginning to think they would make it without a hitch when disaster struck. Beckett, bringing up the rear, lost his balance. He stepped wildly to avoid falling and slammed his foot heavily onto one of the inert lizards' tails. The creature let out a piercing shriek, jerked at its tail, and snapped at the doctor's leg. Beckett panicked, over balanced, and crashed into a clutch of chicken-like eggs.
Sheppard and McKay turned back to help, but the lizards were much faster. Enraged, they moved at startling speeds to surround and attack the fallen man, preventing him from rising by entangling his legs. Beckett cried out and swatted uselessly at the tide of lizards, succeeding only in further damaging the nearly destroyed nest.
Sheppard reacted quickly. Grabbing McKay, he pushed him towards the door: "Move!" Then, Sheppard started wading through the growling sea of lizards. Some of the lizards turned their attack on him. By the time he reached Beckett, he was covered in clawing, biting reptiles. He grabbed the doctor, pulled him to his feet and turned to make his way back towards the exit.
By this time, McKay who has been largely ignored by the angry lizards, had reached the far door. He turned and saw only an unbroken wall of scales and claws. "Major!" he shouted. For a sickening second, he realized they could both be dead.
"McKay! Get out of here!" Sheppard yelled from the within the hoard.
Torn by indecision, Rodney didn't move. "I can't just leave you here!" he screamed back, his voice betraying rising panic.
Scientists, Sheppard sighed mentally, why are they always so stubborn? They didn't have time for this! He opened his mouth to shout again, but at that moment, he slipped. He and Beckett plunged under the writhing mass of lizards.
"Major! Carson!" McKay cried, but this time, he got no answer. Mind racing, he did the first that came into his head. He fired a shot over the melee.
The effect was miraculous. The lizards shrieked in a deafening cacophony of noise, louder than the gun itself had been. Then, they scattered to all corners of the room, many diving into the watery hole. In a matter of seconds, the center of the room was completely devoid of the creatures.
Knowing this might not last, Sheppard acted fast. Getting up, he dragged Beckett to his feet and shouted at McKay: "Get the door!" Half carrying the semiconscious doctor, he ran for the exit. Rodney hurriedly opened the door and rushed into the next room. As the shock wore off their tiny assailants, Sheppard and Beckett collapsed into the far room. McKay slammed the door shut just as several lizards rushed towards it.