Author's Note: OK, I know what's going on now - let's see how fast I can get it on paper!

Disclaimer: Stargate Atlantis is not mine, and no profit is made from this story. It's for fan reading pleasure only. Enjoy!

THE CRASH

By KerrAvon

4. The Cavalry

Teyla estimated that they had gone almost five stories down before the stairwell ended, opening up into a narrow, up-sloping tunnel. The lighting got much worse at this point, causing both explorers to squint as they peered into the dimness.

"Try your flashlight," instructed Teyla, unclipping her own from its harness. The two lights made little dent in the dimness of the tunnel, which extended far beyond their illumination.

Looking back up the shaft, Teyla was again impressed by the sheer quantity of rock they had descended through. A thought suddenly occurred to her, and she turned questioning eyes to her companion. "I wonder if our radios will penetrate this much stone."

Keying the mike on her headset, she spoke quickly, "Colonel Sheppard, can you hear me?" A pause, then she tried again, "Colonel Sheppard, are you there?"

Silence greeted her. Dex activated his own radio, "Doctor McKay, Colonel Sheppard, do you read?"

Silence again. Shrugging, he stared back down the tunnel. "Guess the signal won't go through this much rock; makes sense - escapees wouldn't want to be detectable to attackers above."

"Then we are on our own," concluded Teyla, heading down the passageway.

Ronon was grateful that they'd brought their flashlights. The floor was much rougher here, and groundwater had started seeping through the stone walls. Footing was treacherous at best, with rocks littering the ground where they had fallen over time. The additional light kept them from tripping innumerable times. Additionally, it got treacherously slippery in areas where moss had grown over the granite pathway. The pair spent the next hour tediously picking their way through the rubble, finally reaching a particularly large rockfall spanning the corridor.

Staring up at the mound of unsteady stone, Ronon commented, "I'm glad Sheppard isn't here right now."

Teyla nodded in agreement. "If my estimation is correct, a rescue team should have found the Jumper by now and is currently trying to discover our location. If we can bring them back with us, I am certain that we'll be able to extricate the colonel."

Still staring at the debris, Dex continued, "You wanna go first, or shall I?"

"I am lighter. I should go first."

Ronon flicked her a smile and inclined his head, "After you then."

Searching for a handhold on the slippery rock, Teyla carefully set her feet in niches between stones. Then, moving only one limb at a time, she gingerly tested each hand- and foot-hold before placing her weight on it. Ronon watched her every move with an eagle eye, then carefully mimicked the safe holds, placing his hands and feet at precisely the same angles. Twenty minutes later they had reached the top.

Taking a moment to catch his breath, Ronon inspected an abrasion he'd gotten on his forearm when the rock he'd been braced on had suddenly given way. Satisfies that it was relatively superficial, he grunted and looked ahead.

"Seems pretty localized."

Teyla agreed, "A few strong arms could clear enough to get a stretcher safely across."

Dex looked at her. "If this is a way out, and not just a dead end."

The corner of the Athosian's mouth quirked up. "There is only one way to determine that."

Ronon gestured forward, "After you."

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"No, that can't be right." Rodney muttered to himself. He sat cross-legged on the floor in front of a deployed panel on the outer aspect of the control console. Within were three parallel rows of crystals nestled in a bird's nest of wire. McKay was systematically cross-circuiting the crystals and gauging the result on his hand-held, which he had spliced into the circuit. Outside the wind howled a cacophony that was audible through even the unyielding metal that barred their exit. A terrific Boom! of another nearby lightning strike startled him, causing him to almost drop his probe. Wide-eyed he stared about the chamber, only to shake his head in disbelief at the still-slumbering Sheppard. The man's head was tilted awkwardly to the side, and his mouth hung open in soft snoring. 'That looks unpleasant,' McKay thought as he stood to stretch stiff muscles.

'I'd bet even millennia-old blankets and pillows would be more comfortable than that.' Not one to usually be solicitous towards the well-being of others, he figured he could use the break anyway and headed for the door.

"Going somewhere, Rodney?"

The scientist nearly jumped out of his skin. Whirling, he threw a hand to his chest and cried, "Don't do that!"

Sheppard, now wide-awake, sat staring back at him bemused. "Do what?" he asked pleasantly.

Rodney was indignant. "Not thirty seconds ago you were dead to the world, despite Mother Nature doing her best to tear this place down around our ears. I stand up and head for the door, and you're instantly alert! How is that possible?"

The soldier shrugged, "I dunno. I've always had some sort of subconscious filter; I can sleep through WWIII if it doesn't concern me, but if you whisper my name at a hundred yards, I'm awake and good to go."

Rodney grunted. "Must come in handy in the military."

Sheppard grinned. "You have no idea. And you haven't answered my question yet." He started to struggle to his feet using the crutches as support, only to find the physicist's proffered hand in front of his face. Taking it, he hauled himself upright with a modicum of effort.

"Actually, I was going to go drag in a pillow and blanket for you so you could get some rest."

Sheppard waved the idea away. "Nah, I just had a power nap. I'll be fine for hours." He looked curiously at the partially dismembered console. "Have you figured out what it does yet?"

McKay looked back at his work in frustration. "It seems to be managing the building defenses, but I haven't found the correct circuit pathway to open the shields yet."

Sheppard tilted his head to listen to the perpetual hurricane outside and said slowly, "Well, now, maybe that's a good thing."

The scientist bobbed his head from side to side as he nodded. "I think the structure survived all these years without the blast shields being deployed; no reason for that to stop now."

Sheppard, crutching over to the exposed wiring, was suddenly struck by a thought. "Say, why hasn't it activated before? This appears to be the never-ending storm we're in here."

"I have a theory on that. Notice how the lights came on when we entered? I suspect our arrival activated the software to click into 'inhabited' mode. If no one is inside the building, the there is no reason to waste energy defending it; now that we're here, we must be kept safe."

The LTC nodded consideringly. "Yeah, that would make sense. Means also that there ought to be a simple way to raise the shields, once the threat was over."

Rodney's temper flared as he gestured angrily to the panel. "Then be my guest; I guess I just missed the big red button that says 'raise shields'"

"Don't get your panties in a twist; I was just thinking out loud," replied Sheppard placatingly. "Still…" he trailed off as he studied the complex machine, studiously ignoring the glare that was burning into his shoulderblades.

Running his hands over the polished surface, he encountered a small defect. Prying at it, he unfolded a hidden switch. Eyebrows raising in surprise, he wondered aloud, "Hello, what have we here?"

McKay, anger forgotten, was instantly at his side peering over his shoulder. "What? Where?"

Sheppard shifted aside to allow Rodney access. "This switch here - it was hidden in the panel housing."

"Huh." Rodney scrambled into the open compartment beneath and tried to trace it out, but gave up after a few fruitless minutes. Standing again, he pursed his lips and said, "I guess there's only one way to figure out what it does. Do you want to press it, or shall I?"

Sheppard smiled. "Be my guest," he waved magnanimously at the board.

McKay reached out and hit the button, then stood back anxiously.

The pilot glanced around the room, then hobbled to the door to check out the shielding. Coming back, he stated, "Well, that was a bust. The exit's still blocked." Coming over to stare at the panel, he asked, "Are you sure you hit it hard enough?"

Rodney stared at him in disbelief. "Yes, I'm sure. Try it yourself if you don't believe me!"

John raised his hands in surrender, "OK, OK, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to malign your button pressing capability."

McKay snorted. "Good. Now let me get back to work." So saying, he plopped back down and resumed work on the panel with the crystals.

Figuring that discretion was the better part of valor, Sheppard cleared his throat and addressed the scientist's back. "I'll just check out the other room again, shall I?"

"Sure, whatever," muttered McKay distractedly.

Sheppard turned to go, then slid his eyes sideways at Rodney as a thought occurred to him. After assuring himself that McKay was oblivious to his surroundings again, he quietly reached forward and pressed the button himself, hard. Glancing around again, he shrugged when nothing happened, then limped out to the other room with his crutches.

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"The signal's definitely coming from the Northern Hemisphere." Sgt. Dunne, piloting the rescue Jumper, called over his shoulder.

"Can you get a better fix on it?" asked Major Lorne intently.

"Sure, but I'll have to get lower."

"Fine, but try to stay as far above that mess as possible." He gestured to the maelstrom filling their front viewscreen.

When the survey team had failed to make their scheduled check-in, Weir had ordered the address dialed up from the Atlantis side. Once the wormhole established, they had tried unsuccessfully to make radio contact. However, a wide sweep of available bandwidth had yielded the automatic distress beacon, and a rescue team was dispatched. Taking one scan of the planet upon arrival yielded a probable cause for the beacon; the weather had gotten them.

"Major, the storm is clearing in the region of the beacon!" exclaimed the pilot excitedly.

"Well, drop her down; no telling how long this will last." The Major ordered, then called to the rest of his team, "Hope everyone took their Dramamine; we're going down fast!"

They made it through the majority of the atmosphere and had even sighted the downed ship when all hell broke loose. The storm, like a sentient thing, suddenly came back to life, buffeting the small craft in the unexpected gale. To give Sgt. Dunne credit, he was a natural at flying the Jumpers; he wrestled the ship the last 200 yds to the relative safety of the ground, managing to land only a few yards from the wreck. Maj. Lorne whistled appreciatively and slapped the soldier on the back.

"Nice job!" Turning to the group behind him, he ordered, "Gear up, and let's go find our people!"

TBC…..

All right, the Cavalry has arrived! Thanks again for the reviews - they sure are inspiring!