Long Strange Trip
Chapter 10
Regular SGA-1 team on Alternate Atlantis
Rodney and John entered the room slowly, their expressions revealing their shock. On their Atlantis, the room had been brightly lit, and completely intact.
Here, however, the room was in disarray, the control panel in pieces, and portions of the ceiling sagging or completely missing. Scorch marks scarred the walls, and the floor buckled in places. It looked like a war had been fought in here, with the room emerging as the loser.
"Oh no," Rodney whispered softly. He quickly moved to the destroyed control panel, his hands shaking as he eyed the destruction.
"What the hell happened, Rodney?" John asked, slinging his weapon across his shoulders. Above, the lights dimmed and flickered, creating shadows on the walls.
Rodney remained silent, his mouth drawing into a frown as his eyes scanned the controls. He dropped to his knees, peering at the shattered crystals and melted cables.
"We are so screwed," Rodney whispered. He remained on his knees, his mind trying to accept the fact that the damage was too extensive, the controls were beyond repair. They were stuck here.
John stared hard at the physicist, his stomach clenching as he overhead Rodney's comment. Never before had he heard such defeat in McKay's voice.
"You can't fix it?" John asked, already knowing the answer as McKay stood. Anger and fear shimmered in the scientist's eyes as he glared at Sheppard.
"Fix it? FIX IT? Have you taken a good look, Colonel? The best thing I could do is haul all this crap to the junkyard. No, I can't fix it!" Rodney ran a hand across his brow, and started pacing. "Maybe when we activated the device on our Atlantis, we overloaded their system here. There must be some kind of dampener or something to prevent that….." He paused, searching the control panel once more, than shook his head in disgust.
"McKay, bottom line this for me, okay?" John ordered.
The scientist stopped, then lifted his blue gaze to John's. "We're not going anywhere. Ever. This is going to be our home now." For a moment, John thought Rodney was going to fall over as the reality of the situation hit him, and he reached out a hand, grabbing at McKay's shoulder.
"Rodney, look at me." John's tone was harsh, and reluctantly, McKay found himself staring into the Colonel's set face. "We need to get back home. In order to do that, I need you to fix this thing. So, " John let go of Rodney's shoulders, and waved towards the control panel, "tell me what to do."
Rodney stood still a moment. He drew in a deep breath, then said, "You're not getting this, John. I can't fix it, and even if I could, it will take time. Longer than the day or two you have until Caldwell ships you back to Earth."
Sheppard stared hard at McKay, then slowly nodded. He walked the room, his mind churning. He wanted to go home, where things were normal, where he was respected, where Elizabeth was alive, and Teyla and Ronon were safe. Rodney was telling him it couldn't be done, at least not with this machine.
He stopped as a thought occurred to him. "Rodney, you said you can't get this device working." McKay nodded, his eyes troubled. "Do we really need it to work?"
"Well, of course we need it to …. "McKay snapped, then stopped, his eyes suddenly bright. He snapped his fingers as he grasped John's meaning. "You think that the others are trying to get back here, don't you? That they're going to activate the device on our Atlantis, and switch us back?"
"Yes. They would try, wouldn't they?" John asked, and was immediately reassured by Rodney's rapid nod.
"I would – I mean the other me would. He wouldn't leave his wife and daughter behind. Of that, I'm positive." Rodney resumed his pacing, his brow furrowed in thought. "Okay, so we let them do all the hard work. The question is, do we need to do anything on our end?" He peered at the control panel once more, then leaned in and started tracing circuits.
John remained silent as McKay mumbled to himself, occasionally dropping to the floor to search the crystals and cables. Finally, after about five minutes, Rodney stood, and planted his hands on his hips.
"Alright, I'm guessing about a lot of this, but try to follow me, okay?" John frowned at Rodney's condescending tone, but refrained from antagonizing the scientist. McKay resumed his pacing as he started to speak.
"This morning, we located an unusual energy surge which diverted all the power from our systems and focused it in that room where we found the device. We" – at the look on John's face, Rodney frowned and amended his words, "okay, I turned it on, and all of a sudden, we were here. I'm guessing that this unit was not activated when we were switched, so that means that only one device is needed to transfer us between realities."
Rodney paused, a faint glimmer of hope surfacing in his eyes. John remained still, his thoughts following McKay's reasoning.
"It may be that this room was destroyed by something else, something that has nothing to do with the device or our selves being switched to another reality. A Wraith attack, or a storm, or something." Once more he paused, drawing in a breath.
"We have to assume that when I turned on the device, back on our Atlantis, we were sent to the last universe the Ancient's had visited. Meaning this one." He waved a hand at the empty room, and John nodded.
"Physics requires balance, so when we were sent here, our alternates selves were sent back to our Atlantis. Are you with me so far?"
"Yes, Rodney, I'm with you. What's your point?" John said irritably.
Rodney crossed his arms, his stance stubborn. "Well, Colonel, I think that as long as the device on our Atlantis still works, and as long as the coordinates to this reality are still logged in, then all we have to do is wait."
"Wait?"
Rodney nodded shortly. "Yes, wait. Wait for our other selves to make any repairs necessary on the device. Wait for them to reallocate the power to the room, activate the device and return things back to normal."
John shook his head at the physicist. "Rodney, I can't just sit around and hope that our alter-egos are on top of things, you know? What if something went wrong, and they can't get the device working? What if they couldn't sneak around like we did, and right now, we're both sitting in a cell, or worse, in the infirmary? And it's not like I have a lot of time, here, you know?"
Rodney shook his head in agreement. "I get it, Colonel. I'm not happy about our situation either, but there's nothing I can really do about it." He waved his arm at the destroyed control panel, his hand shaking slightly. "I suppose I could try and repair this mess……" His voice trailed off, and he shrugged his shoulders.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try," Rodney said, almost to himself, and John felt a surge of relief. He knew Rodney would do everything he could to repair the mangled device. He propped his weapon against the wall, then turned back to McKay.
"Okay – what do you want me to do?"
oOo
The roar of the stargate coming to life caused Ronon Dex to jump to his feet. He had been sitting at the mouth of the cave, staring off into the distance, his mind on his friends. Not knowing where they were or if they needed help was driving Ronon crazy, and sitting here, waiting for something to happen was only exacerbating his anxiety. Now, as he watched the gate shimmer in the distance, he felt a shiver crawl up his spine.
It was the Wraith. Two of them. He didn't need to see them to know that he was right; he could feel their anticipation of a hunt. He crouched down, then grabbed at the weapons Owen had left him.
Quickly, he made his way down the face of the hillside, keeping low and out of sight. A sudden explosion to his right made him grin; one of the Wraith had blundered into one of his traps he had set once Owen had departed. The creature's shrieks of pain suddenly ceased. Now there was just one Wraith to deal with.
A motion in front of him caused Ronon to drop down on his stomach. He clenched his jaw, straining his ears to listen. Moments slipped by, and Ronon peered through the tall grass, his eyes searching for his enemy. Finally, after a few, long minutes, he rose slowly to his feet, then moved forward.
BAM! Ronon lurched back as an explosion knocked him off his feet. Both his weapons fell from his hands, disappearing in the brush. Momentarily dazed, he lay on his back, waiting for the ringing in his ears to stop. The blue of the sky was blotted out by the grinning face of the Wraith.
"Runner, you are mine now," it growled, and Ronon rolled to his left. The Wraith kicked at him, connecting with Ronon's chest, and the runner let out a grunt of pain. He continued to roll away from the Wraith, sliding the hunting knife out of its sheath. He twisted, rising gracefully to his feet, and turned towards the Wraith. He found himself tackled to the ground, the Wraith clutching at his wrist, preventing him from attacking with the knife.
Ronon brought his knee up, and shoved the Wraith away. He backpedaled, switching the knife to his other hand. They circled each other, Ronon gasping for breath, the Wraith silent and leering.
Once more the Wraith lunged at Ronon, who caught him around the waist. The runner brought the knife around, stabbing the Wraith in the back of the neck. The Wraith let out an agonized scream, then slowly dropped to the ground, the hate in it's eyes fading with death.
Ronon dropped to the ground, clutching at his ribcage. Pain exploded through his chest, and he knew that was seriously hurt. He closed his eyes, willing the agony to abate, then slowly got to his feet. He needed to get help, which meant that he needed to leave this world. The Wraith had made the decision for him: he would dial the Atlantis Alpha site, and hope that he could get help there. Praying desperately that he was making the right choice, Ronon staggered towards the stargate.
oOo
Teyla and Halling stared in dismay as the Athosians circled themselves around the stargate. Torches flickered in the dark, creating surreal shadows on the ground.
"I don't think we can get through the gate, Teyla," Halling said solemnly, and she nodded her head in agreement. She had stirred the hornet's nest with her request to parley with the humans on Atlantis, and now her people were beyond reason. If they caught her, she would probably be killed.
Teyla bowed her head, trying to keep from trembling. Never had she imagined that her life would end this way, at the hands of her people, her friends. She clenched her fists together, anger and frustration welling within her. How could things have gone so wrong?
The whoosh of the stargate activating brought Teyla out of her reverie, and she gasped in horror. Three Wraith darts emerged from the gate, racing off in the dark towards her village. The Athosians guarding the gate let out shrieks of terror, dropping torches in their terror and scurrying into the woods. In the distance, Teyla could hear the frightened yells of the remaining villagers.
"Come, Teyla, we can go now," Halling said as he tugged at her arm. Teyla stood, and started running towards the DHD, Halling on her heels. Suddenly, she stopped, then turned towards Halling.
"No. I need to help my people," Teyla said to the bewildered man. He shook his head.
"You cannot help them, Teyla."
She stood a moment longer, then grabbed at Halling's arm. "Here are the coordinates to the Atlantis Alpha site," she said, reciting off the symbols. "Ask to speak with Dr. Weir – she will listen, I promise. Tell her what has happened here. There is still a chance she will help us."
Halling stared a moment longer, then heaved a sigh. He placed both hands on her shoulders, then nodded his head. "I will bring back help, Teyla. I promise."
With a last look, he turned and ran for the gate.
Teyla watched him for a moment, then turned and sped back towards the village. She needed to help her people.
TBC