WINTER WONDERLAND
By NotTasha
A/N: You guys have been so wonderful with your feedback. I appreciate that more than you know
--

CHAPTER 20: NOTHING and SOMETHING

"How did you know?" Ford called to the jumper as it landed, its the rear hatch opening.

Teyla came down the hatchway, adjusting her hood against the bitter blast. "What was I supposed to know?"

"The avalanche!" Ford returned, gesturing toward the hill of snow. "The Major and Doctor McKay are in there somewhere!"

Teyla regarded the scene with a furrowed brow. "Avalanche," she repeated the word. "I am unfamiliar with the term."

"You didn't know about all this snow coming down?"

Teyla, unaware of what the area looked like previously, could only shake her head.

"So, how did you know to come?" Ford asked, coming to a halt before her.

"I saw the creatures," she said, turning an unhappy eye on the slinking itnas. "And realized that we had best remove Dr. McKay from the situation. He would be… most uncomfortable in their presence." She fixed Aiden with a guilty look and added, "I had been unable to help him when he encountered the creatures previously and…" she paused, searching Ford for reproach. "I didn't want to fail him again."

Ford nodded, accepting the response.

"When he realized that these were the same type of creatures," Teyla went on. "He would want to leave. I wanted to provide him the ability to do so."

"I'm sure glad you did," Ford declared as he strode into the back of the jumper, looking for anything that could help them. "Tried to reach you on radio as you landed," he stated.

Teyla nodded. "The communication system does not work in this area."

Ford understood – his own radio still crackled softly in his ear.

"Lieutenant?" Stackhouse questioned. "They're under that?" He nodded to the mounds of snow as he tugged on his snow gear.

"Yeah, somewhere," Ford responded, then looked eagerly at Markham. "Life signs!"

"I'm on it," the pilot responded, turning to the screen and pulling up the HUD. He frowned. "Not picking up anything outside, sir. Hang on." He turned, and found the hand-held device waiting for him. He held it and frowned. "It's picking up us," he stated, and narrowed his eyes at the Ekukians that had been crowding close to the ship. "But still nothing outside the jumper, sir," he added.

Ford grimaced. "Stackhouse, can you reach them on the jumper's radio? I'm getting nothing." He watched as Stackhouse tried at the communication system, and Markham made his way down the ramp, holding the detector in front of him.

The Ekukians looked on with round mouths, slinking back as the newcomers arrived. Markham kept moving, sweeping the device back and forth. "I'm not picking up anything now -- not even me," he stated. "Something about this place is making it go haywire."

Stackhouse worked at the jumper's radio. Ford rooted through the supplies, listening to Stackhouse's attempt to contact the others. Markham tried to scan, and Teyla remained at the doorway. The cold wind blew into the craft and they all shuddered against it. The Ekukian's huddled like rabbits.

"Nothing, sir," Stackhouse said again, making adjustments. "Nothing."

Markham nodded and echoed Stackhouse. "I'm getting nothing."

Ford pulled out emergency shovels but knew their work would be in vain unless they could pinpoint the location of their men. "Something," Ford whispered. "There's got to be something."

With a sigh, Stackhouse stood, shrugging apologetically, and then hugging his arms to himself. "What do we do?" he asked.

Undaunted, Ford turned and strode out of the ship, clutching one simple shovel. The pile of snow looked insurmountable. Maybe if they had everyone digging at the same time, they could luck out and uncover their people. But there had to be a better way.

He came alongside Markham, and the pilot finally pocketed the Life Sign Detector. "No good," the pilot uttered.

"Do you think you could vaporize the snow with the weapons?" Ford asked in a low voice.

Markham whistled lowly, and crunched in the snow. "Maybe," he replied. "I mean, I could blast it, but if we don't know where Major Sheppard and Doctor McKay are…" his voice drew out as he considered it. "… I might fry them." He furrowed his brow. "I wouldn't want to chance it unless we knew where they were."

Time was wasting, Ford knew it. Somewhere, under this mess, McKay and Sheppard were trapped. What do I do? Aiden thought.

Wishing the answer could come to him, he stood, with arms folded, letting the cold wind blow against him. And the worst part was -- he knew that they were… more than likely… too late. How could anyone have survived this?

Ford felt his chest tighten at this thought. Here he was, free and able to move about and with a puddlejumper and more men at his disposal -- and he was no closer to finding them than he was before. He let out a breath in misery.

"… just back off, okay? You're crowding me. How am I supposed to work with you right on top of me? I can't move my arms. I swear…"

The familiar voice crackled in his ear, strong and clear – and so loud that Ford found himself ripping the earpiece from his head. He spun about, watching as Markham winced and clawed at his hood to get off his own earpiece.

"Doctor McKay!" Aiden shouted gleefully. "Doc!"

Another voice came across the transmission "You were the one complaining about freezing to death. Look, we need to huddle together a bit."

"You're in my way. I can hardly wiggle my elbow… see?"

"Ooof! God, knock that off! You'll give me a black eye."

"Sir!" Aiden piped up. "Sir! I'm hearing you."

"I was just trying to show you that this isn't a comfortable way to work."

"Conserving our body heat, that's all."

"I thought you said you didn't get cold?"

"That was a lie."

"Oh."

"I don't have a coat! So stop whining."

"Fine."

"Move your arm."

"I need my arms to do this work!"

"Just fix the damn thing! Get it fixed and you won't have to be embarrassed about being found in a compromising position."

"Oh, God, what if we die here and they find us like this?"

"Sir! Major Sheppard," Aiden tried again.

"For the love of…"

"Because, I really don't want to be found canoodling with…"

"McKay! Can you just test it to see if you can reach anyone?"

"Hang on. Give me a minute. Oh wait… it's transmitting right now."

"Great… Hand it over."

"Fine… take it."

"Lt. Ford? Do you copy? Teyla?"

"Major, can you hear me? I'm receiving you. We need to know your exact location. We have a puddlejumper and want to try blasting away this snow, but we got to know…"

"Lt. Ford? Do you read me? Teyla? You sure, McKay? I'm not getting anything."

"It's transmitting at increased power level, ten times the norm. Believe me, if their radios are on, they're hearing us. Teyla can receive us back at the compound -- no doubt about that. Their systems just don't have the 'omph' to respond. Plus, our signal is probably drowning them out."

"Well, how much good is this?"

"Well, it's certainly something. A lot better than the nothing we had before. We can send out a message! Let someone know where we are!"

Yes! Ford thought. Yes! He turned to the others. Teyla and Stackhouse stood at the hatch while Markham drew closer to him.

"And how do we do that? How the hell do we tell them where we are?"

There was an exasperated sigh. "Due to the increased power, they would now be able to pick us up on a scanner."

"Like the one you have patched into this thing right now?"

"Exactly… like the one… Okay. Okay, not such a good idea if Lt. Ford and Teyla are the only ones out there. No scanner, I get it."

"But if Teyla can read us, she'll send for help…"

"And someone can fly a puddlejumper here…"

"Then they'll have a scanner."

Ford turned toward Markham. The pilot pulled the device from his pocket, smiling at the dot that appeared.

A/N: The boys are back in town!

TBC