CHOOSING HIS TEAM by Tipper
(You all crack me up, by the way! Thank you so much!)
CHAPTER NINE: HANGING ON
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"Okay," Grodin called over the radio about ten minutes later. "Water's off."
"Are you ready, Major? Doctor?" Elizabeth added, not hiding the worry in her tone.
"No," McKay replied testily.
Sheppard smiled softly, "But we will be. Standby." He glanced over at Halling and Ford. Ford was already hauling himself back up to the ring. In a few moments, he had Halling up there with him. As soon as they were sure they were as secure as they could be, Ford looked over at the Major.
"Ready when you are, sir," he stated. Sheppard nodded back, and turned to McKay.
"We're ready," he said softly, more to the scientist than anyone else.
"Good luck, gentlemen," Elizabeth offered over the radio, her voice equally soft.
McKay shut his eyes, then opened them. Sheppard leaned into the panel, got a solid grip on the inside with his right hand, and gripped the outside edge of the panel with his left. McKay reached in with his left hand and gripped the same shelf as Sheppard on the inside. His right hovered over the crystals in the board, fingers moving slightly without touching anything.
For a long moment, he didn't move.
"McKay?" Sheppard prompted.
"I know," the scientist hissed. "I know." He sighed, and his fingers depressed a crystal that was orange colored. It lit up as McKay forced the connection. "Here we go."
The room hissed and started to move, and McKay quickly pulled out the orange crystal and grabbed a green one, sliding it into the same place. The wall's motion slowed down but didn't stop turning. McKay held onto the green crystal to keep it in place—it didn't quite fit where he had placed it, but it was doing what he wanted it to do. His eyes were narrowed in concentration, his feet shifting along the thin shelf as they slowly moved. Sheppard just watched, his own toes dancing along the flat edge of the floor as the wall continued to slide. When something clicked, McKay pulled out the green crystal and depressed a blue one on a different side of the panel. The room stopped moving.
"We should be flush with the outer door now," McKay provided, letting go of the blue crystal. It started to flash, then steadied...and every crystal not damaged inside the matrix suddenly came to life. McKay grabbed the edge of the panel with his right hand, "Now hang on!"
He'd barely said the word when, with a sudden whoosh, the floor completely dropped out from under them.
"Yah!" Sheppard yelled, gripping his holds tighter, feet trying to press themselves more tightly against the inch of floor still under his feet, now literally a shelf. When did his feet get so big! The floor had opened fully just like a tulip, the thirty foot wide opening revealing both city and ocean hundreds of feet below. From this height, the sparkling water might as well be concrete. He'd known it was coming, but still..."Damn, we're high," he muttered weakly, unable to stop himself from stating the obvious. For the first time in his life, he understood why some people were afraid of heights.
A gentle breeze lifted at his hair.
"Oh light preserve us," Halling whimpered from his hold on the ring, unable to take his eyes off the blue below. Ford was resolutely not looking down, staring up at the ceiling without blinking. McKay had never taken his eyes off the inside of the panel, eyes catching and mapping every lightening fast connection, tying to keep up with the machinery.
Just then, the room started to vibrate. One of McKay's feet slipped, but he quickly got it back on the edge.
"Damnit, damnit, damnit," the scientist muttered, letting go of the edge with his right hand and reaching into the panel to grab a yellow crystal that was flashing at him.
The walls vibrated more, and Sheppard felt his feet slipping, "McKay!"
"Just hold on!" the scientist yelled back, "I think it's..." he wrenched out the yellow crystal, and the walls stopped vibrating, "this one that's making us shake," he finished, smiling over at Sheppard, dead crystal in hand as if holding a prize. "See? Not a pro—"
And that's when the air jets came on. McKay cried out in terror as wind as strong as a hurricane blew straight down on his position, and his feet slipped completely off the floor. His right hand flew out, the yellow crystal dropping from his fingers. It caught the sunlight as it fell, sparkling as it dwindled in size, finally disappearing as it blended with the reflected sun off the waves below.
The only reason he didn't fall with it was because of the grip he had with his left hand on the inside of the panel...and Sheppard's sudden grip on the back of his jacket. The major had grabbed at the beige cotton right at McKay's neck with his left hand, fingers winding into the material, his hold as tight as a mother cat's on the scruff of one of its kitten's necks. Sheppard groan grew into a roar as he used all his strength to pull McKay back up onto the tiny shelf, fighting the wind the entire way, not letting go even as the scientist managed to get his grip back on the edge of the panel with his right hand.
Gasping, McKay reached the shaking right hand into the panel, trusting Sheppard's grip to hold him in place, and grabbed at a blue crystal that was flashing. His entire arm was trembling as he gripped and wrenched it out...then threw it out of the panel, chucking it after the other one he'd dropped.
The air jets stopped blowing.
Still shaking something fierce, McKay grabbed at an orange crystal and shoved it in place of the blue one he'd just pulled out.
The floor started to close, then paused, as if stuck.
McKay swore and reached over and depressed a red crystal, holding it down. It lit up as he forced it to reconnect with the damaged panel.
The floor closed the rest of the way. The red lights inside the panel all came to life, while the rest went dark.
For a moment, none of them moved. None of them even breathed.
"Sergeant Bates," the scientist finally broke the silence, his voice breaking slightly, "the door."
Sheppard turned as, right behind him, the wide door opened, revealing a whole array of marines, medical personnel, and several Athosians, including both Jinto and Teyla.
"It's open!" Bates cheered happily into his mic, looking in at Sheppard and McKay. "Sirs, are you okay?"
"Father!" Jinto called, jumping forward only to be held back by Teyla's firm hands.
"Grodin," McKay sighed, leaning into the panel.
"Already on it," Peter replied over the comm. "There..."
The lights in the panel shut down completely.
"Did that do it?" Peter called. "Up here it says—"
"Yes, yes," McKay replied as he leaned on his arm. "Thank you, Peter."
"Oh thank God," Grodin sighed.
"Are all of you alright?" Elizabeth asked.
McKay looked up, still feeling dazed, and turned to face more of the room. Sheppard still had his grip on the back of his jacket, and was smiling crookedly at him. Turning more, the scientist looked behind him as the marines threw ropes into the room and started sliding down the bowl-like floor to get under the two men still dangling in the middle. Ford was already lowering Halling. Teyla and Jinto both took up positions to help pull the men up on the ropes, the boy calling out questions and reassurances to his father. Teyla's eyes met Halling's across the expanse, and smiled when he offered her a weak one of his own before answering his son. Her eyes then turned to meet Ford's, then Sheppard's and finally, McKay's.
She nodded at each of them, and they each nodded back.
"Yeah," Sheppard said into the radio, finally answering Weir's question, "We're good."
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TBC (just two parts to go!)