THE ELEDGIAS
Chapter Two: Safe as Houses
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"Jumper images of the location suggest it was once a very large temple," Rodney said, pointing up at the large hanging screen in the conference room. It showed the rough blueprint of a structure superimposed over a picture of a portion of the Mainland, nearly twenty miles inland from the nearest Athosian settlement. From above, it looked unremarkable—just another densely forested area, like everything around it. "Obviously, the Wraith did a fantastic job of trying to wipe it from the face of the planet, but, as Teyla discovered, there are still aspects of it there."
He nodded at Radek, and the engineer moved the screen to another image, and the other people in the conference room—Weir, Sheppard, Teyla, Ronon, Beckett and Lorne—all sat a little straighter in their chairs. This one was a computer representation of a grand looking temple in the location of the ruins, appearing a little like a Roman villa, complete with large open courtyards and fountains, but with the more jagged metal style of the Ancients. Weir's eyebrows lifted, glancing across the table at Sheppard, who gave her an eyebrow arch in return. McKay caught the look, and cleared his throat to draw their attention back.
"Thank you," he sneered as they both smiled at him. "Now, using the information stored in the database and what we can see using the jumper scanners," he pointed vaguely at the screen, "we know that it was called Eledgias and that it covered approximately three square miles, which, obviously, is huge for a single structure. Sadly, as noted, a lot of it has been destroyed. However," and here Rodney pointed to another section of the image near the south side of the structure, where it looked like steps leading downward had been drawn, "we also know that not all of it was above ground. In fact," his grin grew, "we hypothesize that a healthy part of it was actually underground, which suggests—"
"Meaning," Radek told the group, interrupting Rodney, "that there may still be something there."
Rodney rolled his eyes, "Yes, obviously, that means there might be something there. But what I was going to say is," and his eyes brightened again, "that something may still be functioning."
Elizabeth frowned, "Functioning? As in a computer?"
"Yes," Rodney pointed at her, not hiding his excitement. "One that's not connected to Atlantis."
"Not connected?" Sheppard asked, crossing his arms. "Why?"
"We don't know," Radek answered, shrugging dismissively. "What we do know, is that there are residual power readings there. At first, we did not pick them up—there is a lot of natural radiation emitted by this planet, which helps mask such things, but, if you are looking for it—"
"You find it," Rodney finished. "There's definitely something there. Not of ZPM caliber, obviously, but still power. Once we locate the source, we can supplement it with a generator and Bob's your uncle."
"But there's nothing in the database about it," Elizabeth said, her tone growing cautious.
"Well, yes and no," Zelenka said.
"Once we knew what we were looking for, we found blueprints for its design," Rodney twirled a finger at Zelenka, and the screen behind him changed back to a schematic drawing, but this time without the superimposed picture. It grew into a three dimensional image, showing several levels below ground. "For the structure itself. But no explanations as to its purpose or what might have been kept there."
"That's odd," Sheppard said. Rodney gave him an arch look, and Sheppard straightened, adding defensively, "Well, it is."
"Anyway," Rodney continued, stressing the word and purposefully ignoring Sheppard, "this temple may go a long way in helping us understand why the Ancients chose this planet to settle on, out of all the possible planets in the Pegasus Galaxy."
"At first," Zelenka said, leaning forward and holding up a finger, "we thought it might have to do with the this planet's orbit around the sun here being like that of earth's around its sun—"
"Giving this planet almost the same temporal rotation as Earth—almost the same length of days, months, years etc. It would make traveling back and forth easier."
"Not as much jet lag?" Sheppard said.
"Exactly," Rodney said, as if awarding a point to a student.
"But," Zelenka said, "there are many planets that fit those parameters..."
"A number of which are, shall we say, a lot less wet than this one?" Rodney shrugged.
"So, that suggests, perhaps there is another reason for the Ancients choosing this particular planet," Zelenka finished.
"Other than they ran out of gas?" Sheppard said, smiling a little. Rodney gave him a dark look. Zelenka ignored him.
"And you think this temple might hold the answers," Weir completed the thought for the two scientists.
"Yes," Zelenka said.
"Possibly," McKay added.
"We think," Zelenka looked at McKay.
"Yes," McKay finished with an affirmative nod.
Weir shook her head, a wry smile on her lips.
"The point is," Rodney said, pushing ahead, "there's clearly something worth checking out over there. I'd suggest we send me, Zelenka, Simpson, Sappho, maybe some of the botanists—I'm sure Doctor Brown would like to get out of the city—Travis, that new guy with all the hair..." he looked at Radek.
"Carver."
"Yeah, him, and—"
"Doctor Weir," Teyla called softly. All heads turned in her direction, to see the Athosian sitting up very straight in her chair. She was staring unblinkingly at the expedition leader, clearly waiting for acknowledgement.
Elizabeth looked away from Rodney, who had stopped speaking instantly when he heard Teyla's tone, recognizing its weight. He looked slightly puzzled, and a little disgruntled, as if he knew he wouldn't like what was coming next. Zelenka's brow furrowed—he did not understand Rodney's sudden quiet, which was almost respectful. Usually the man hated to be interrupted.
Weir sighed, nodded once, and looked at Rodney.
"Teyla has asked that we avoid, as much as possible, any undue stress on the ruins. The Athosians were hesitant to even tell us this place existed for fear we would..." she paused, "how do I put this..."
"Trample all over it?" Sheppard suggested. Weir gave him a dry look, then shrugged. Rodney's face transformed instantly from puzzled to annoyed. His lower jaw snapped shut and his arms crossed over his chest. Elizabeth ignored the obvious body language.
"In a manner of speaking, yes," she said. "So, I promised Teyla that only a small team would go..." She raised her eyebrows.
"Ah," Sheppard settled back in his seat, trading a glance with the simmering scientist, "you mean us."
"Yes," Elizabeth said.
"Wait," Rodney said, "Us? You mean, Sheppard, me, Ronon and Teyla?" He did a quick circular motion with his finger to encompass the four people mentioned.
"That's what she means," Sheppard said, and Elizabeth confirmed that with a nod. Rodney's face grew even darker.
"Now, hold on," he said, stepping up to the table and tapping his fingers on it. "I don't see a need for a military contingent, Elizabeth. If the idea is to keep it small, I'm sure we could narrow it down to just four or five scientists."
"You're not going anywhere without a security detail of some kind," Major Lorne interrupted, shaking his head. "Someone military will be with you."
"Oh come on," McKay huffed, opening his arms, "Is that really necessary? We're talking about the Mainland here, not some far away place. It's as safe as houses."
"That has not been fully determined," Lorne said. "Not all of it has been explored, and—"
"Oh, please," McKay shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that if there were man eating reptiles, bog monsters or crazy insane devil dogs out there, the Ancients wouldn't have picked this planet. Plus, you forget that the Athosians and the other refugees we've picked up over the last few months seem pretty happy there. Haven't run across anything dangerous yet, right, Teyla?"
Teyla flinched a little, looking up as if startled. "What?"
Sheppard looked at her curiously, surprised. He'd never seen her not paying attention before.
"The Mainland," Rodney repeated, his tone moving from annoyed to fully irritated. "Your people haven't found anything dangerous on it."
"Oh, um," she looked at him, her eyes narrowing slightly, "No."
"There, see?" McKay smiled smugly at Lorne.
"It's not up for discussion, McKay," Lorne stated quietly.
Rodney rolled his eyes, and opened his arms, hands spreading wide, "Lorne, if we're being limited in terms of personnel, then we should make sure they're all scientists. It's pointless to have military there. Colonel, would you please tell him—"
"He's right, Rodney," Sheppard said. McKay stared at him for a moment, then threw his hands in the air.
"Fine! But it shouldn't be us four," McKay said, again gesturing to Sheppard, Teyla, Ronan and himself. "At least let—"
"Actually, Doctor McKay," Teyla interrupted, her tone oddly deferential. It stopped Rodney in his tracks, turning his gaze to her. She never used that tone with him. She smile serenely at him, "I would appreciate it if you agreed to this. To it being just us four."
His eyes narrowed, confused, but instead of arguing, he crossed his arms again and demanded, "Why?"
She glanced at Weir once before returning her gaze to Rodney's, "Because this place means a great deal to my people, and I promised them that it would be my team that viewed the ruins for Atlantis. I told them that I trusted you three above all others, and that you would not abuse that trust by being anything less than reverential when studying the ruins."
Rodney sneered, "Reverential? Are you kidding?"
"Rodney, please," Teyla stared at him unflinchingly. "I have never asked you for anything before. I ask now only that you let me honor my promise to my people."
He stared at her a moment longer, then sighed, looking defeated. Turning his head, he looked hard at Elizabeth.
"I wouldn't do this for anyone else, you know," he warned. "Don't think this starts a precedent."
Elizabeth smiled wryly at him, then nodded at Teyla, who positively beamed. Radek's eyes widened as he understood that McKay had just given his okay.
"Wait, but," Zelenka looked disappointed, "What about—"
McKay cut him off with a wave. "But I have a condition," he said to Teyla, "that if we do find something of note, something that requires more study which can't be done from here, then more of the scientists should be allowed to go back and study the ruins more carefully." When she opened her mouth to protest, he held up a hand, "In small, discrete groups, of course. No more than, oh, two or three at a time? With a," he curled a lip at Lorne, "very small military escort, I suppose."
Teyla closed her mouth, then, slowly, she smiled at him. It lit up her face, and Rodney had to work hard not to smile back.
"I believe we can agree to that," she told him.
"Good," he said curtly.
"Yes," Elizabeth said, standing, "good. Okay then, sounds like we have a plan." She looked to Rodney, "how long will you need to get ready?"
He shrugged, "An hour?"
Elizabeth looked at Sheppard, "Colonel?"
He shrugged as well, "Works for me." He stood up, "Ronan, Teyla, McKay, be ready and in the jumper bay in one hour."
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TBC...