Don't Drink the Water…Part six
They had been skateboarding in one of the corridors in an unexplored, as of yet, section of Atlantis, and now John pushed Rodney towards the nearest door. "In!" he hissed.
Rodney waved his hand over the panel even as he dove forward. Only the door didn't open and his nose connected with it, hard. "OW!" Rodney howled, only to find a hand clamped over his mouth.
"Shhh!" John hissed in Rodney's ear. He had seen the collision and was sympathetic, but they couldn't risk getting caught. Only, the voices were getting louder, the footsteps closer. So he waved his hand over the panel, making a little wish as he did so and, thankfully it whooshed open. John shoved Rodney inside and thought the door closed. It snapped closed, startling him a bit, and soon after they heard voices right outside the door.
"Nothing in section 3 - 8," Ford stated, as he glanced around the empty corridor.
A voice came over his earpiece. "Move to the next section."
Ford sighed. "Copy that." Then he moved off, shaking his head and muttering, "Where the hell are you hiding, major?"
Meanwhile, inside the room, Rodney was huddled in a corner, holding his nose and whimpering.
John had been listening at the door, and he had heard Ford moving off. So now he joined McKay. "How's your nose?"
"Id hurbs." Rodney's reply was muffled by his hands over his face.
"Let me see." Gently, John pried Rodney's hands down and away and he winced. "Ouch. Does it feel broken?"
Rodney glared at him. "I don't know!" he snapped, then whimpered because it hurt.
John sighed. "We need ice." He got up and looked around, wishing he could see better. It was dark in the room . And even as he had the thought, the lights came on. "Cool." This was the part of having the magic gene that he liked.
"Wow!" Rodney was on his feet, his nose forgotten as he gazed around in delight. "Do you know what this is?"
"No...do you?" John didn't have a clue. But it looked like there were lots of neat toys to play with. In fact, there were rows and rows of gizmos and gadgets lined up on tables and hooked on the walls. And at the very center of it all was a podium with hand prints. John stared for a moment then looked at McKay. "Okay...I give. What is this?"
Rodney shrugged. "I have no clue, but I bet it's important."
John nodded in agreement. "Think it's Ancient weapons? That would be cool for fighting the Wraith." He spotted something on the end of one table and dashed over to pick it up. "Way cool! This looks like a power blaster!"
"A what?" Rodney asked, then he was running over and waving a hand at Sheppard. "Put that down before you hurt someone. Like me." He gingerly touched his nose as he spoke.
"You are so not fun!" John replied, pouting. But he put it down. "Come on, Rodney. Don't you want to play with these things?"
Rodney sighed. "We don't know what they do."
John grinned. "Only way to find out is to try them out."
"True. Scientifically it's all about testing and experimentation." Rodney was almost smiling as he spoke.
"What shall we try first?" John prompted, knowing that Rodney really did want to play.
Rodney walked over to the podium. "Well...I imagine this will either tell us how things work or fire things up," he stated. He studied the hand prints for a moment then pressed his palms to them.
John watched then looked around, waiting for something to happen. After a moment he sighed. "Nothing."
"You try," Rodney countered. He was disappointed that nothing had happened, but he was hopeful that Sheppard could trigger a reaction. He usually could.
"Okay." John was more than willing to try. He stepped over to the podium and was about to touch the hand prints when Rodney shouted at him to stop. John glared at him. "Why?"
Rodney was backing away to the farthest corner of the room he could find. "I don't want anything to go off and hit me, or something," he called out. "Okay...now try it!" He waved at Sheppard.
John sighed then he pressed his hands into the prints and waited.
"WELL?" Rodney shouted.
"I got nothing!" John shouted back. But even as he spoke the podium lit up and he felt a tingly heat in his palms. "Wait...now I got something."
Rodney was about to get up and join him when the room was lit by a flash of white light. He shielded his eyes, but it faded fast. Rodney looked over to Sheppard, who was just standing there. "You okay?" Rodney asked, as he moved closer, cautiously.
John turned to look at him, blinked, then whispered, "Uh oh."
Rodney watched in horror as Sheppard crumpled to the floor.