Post-mission exams were over, and Gabriel was casually propping up the wall, watching Beckett. Carson worked slides and enzyme samples, a silent, concentrated focus. Very different from what Gabriel had noticed McKay's usual style to be, muttering to himself and snapping at everyone else. He was daily reminded of how like – and unlike – his great-grandfather Rodney McKay was.
Carson looked up from the scope, spotted him leaning against the wall, surveying the infirmary. "Come take a look at this."
Gabe raised a brow, but walked over to the table nonetheless. "What is it, Doc?"
"I thought you might be interested in seeing this." Beckett pulled a vial from the nearby refrigerator, and Gabriel looked over the apparatus in front of him. A petrie dish with a small amount of enzyme, a pipette, and the vial in Carson's hand.
"This is your blood."
Gabriel put an interested look on his face, though he already had an idea of what the doctor was going to try. He was curious to see if it worked – and he thought it might.
Beckett carefully withdrew a small amount of blood from the sample, sealing it immediately. Leaning carefully over the petrie dish, he measured out exactly three drops of blood.
The red liquid fell into the viciously yellow enzyme, and was swallowed up without a trace.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then, the mix of liquids began to glow, softly at first, and then the light flared brightly. It died out almost immediately, but Gabriel could see Beckett blinking away afterimages from that one contained burst of light.
"Bioluminescence," Beckett breathed, awed. "An oxidation reaction of some sort – but releasing more energy than I thought possible."
Gabriel wasn't surprised. The flesh imbued with his spirit was different for carrying such power; it altered every particle of his physical body, and the change was permanent. Even detached from his spirit, his blood would hold a small measure of that power. It was why he had risked all the retrieve the sample in the first place.
"It would probably not be a good idea to do that again," he ventured quietly.
Beckett was still blinking. "Definitely not," the doctor agreed. "The results were . ."
Gabriel nodded. "Exactly."
Beckett flashed him a wry smile, and was surprised by the understanding he received. "See you at the briefing."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Telepathy?"
Beckett nodded.
Sheppard stared.
Weir looked between the two, and leant forward. "Dr. Beckett, would you care to explain?"
Beckett nodded, and Gabriel watched in interest as the doctor stood, sliding the copy of his report to the center of the table. Sheppard made a grab for it, but backed off as Weir reached out.
"From what I can tell, the decomposition of the wraith enzyme in Lt. Ford's body is a three step chemical process. It's not unlike the elimination of alcohol from the bloodstream; it just occurs on a much slower scale.
"The main point is that during the final step, a completely different chemical is formed, one that interacts with specific, targeted brain neurons."
"And this allows Ford to tap into the wraith's minds?" McKay was simultaneously skeptical and fascinated.
Beckett shrugged. "It's altering his brain chemistry, for sure, and the only thing I can hypothesize without examining Ford is that his brain chemistry would become much closer to Teyla's."
All eyes turned to the Athosian, who stared blankly back.
"It is possible that Teyla may be subconsciously aware of Ford," Beckett suggested gently.
The Athosian shook her head, a look of polite confusion on her face. "I am not." She was clearly baffled. "I have not opened that part of my mind."
She wouldn't off-world, on planets infested with wraith. It was the surest way to die. The risk was not significantly decreased on Atlantis, either. Teyla's talent, which they might otherwise have used, had proved itself too dangerous to risk.
The briefing proceeded quickly, yet the information was thorough and to Gabriel, the signs of caution and preparation were apparent. This was the beginning of the end for their opportunities to rescue Aiden Ford – they would get only one more.
They geared up, and waited for the Stargate to open. As he checked his weapons, Gabriel saw Razz's team posted around the 'gate. He ignored the somewhat dirty looks he got from the head of the team, though the man's professionalism was not in question.
The chillness of the event horizon shivered over his skin, and he stepped out into a new planet.
This place was steamy green, a humid jungle of tepid air and tangled vines. The noises of insects and wildlife had been blown into silence by the opening wormhole, and they entered into an unnatural calm that had Gabriel reflexively checking his weapon.
"Venner?"
Gabe frowned, and shook his head. "Nothing."
"Nothing?" McKay stared at him. Over the past few missions, the awkward distance between them had lost its hostility, but Gabriel did not dare breach the gap. Even so, the scientist had come to believe his inexplicable assessments on the number of wraith nearby, and Gabriel trusted the man's quick mind implicitly. "What about Ford?"
Gabriel tilted his head, searching within.
McKay watched in silence as the man's hazel eyes grew distant, seeing through the world around them.
Gabe's head snapped to the side, eyes focusing with startling abruptness. He was with them once again. "That way," he jerked his chin to right.
"Alright," Sheppard muttered lowly. "Stay alert, weapons at the ready."
Gabe took point, with Sheppard at the rear. Moving through the jungle was a test of patience and endurance. Within minutes they were all soaked with sweat, and McKay grunted in frustration before giving in and tying a bandanna over his eyes. The noise of wildlife and insects began to return, bringing with them stinging irritation of the planet's mosquito equivalent.
The jungle they were in traversed a mountainous area, steep and even more dangerous at times. In addition, the ground was soft and loamy underfoot, rough with rocks and roots. It was rough going, and not helped any when Venner came to an abrupt halt. McKay careened into the man's back, and bounced off to hit the ground with a bang and a curse. "Venner!" snapped Sheppard.
In response, the man held up a fist, then crouched to the ground. McKay peered into the clearer path in front of them. "What's wrong?" he hissed, a little miffed. He couldn't wait to get clear of these damn tree roots and the boulders underfoot.
In answer, Venner sifted through the ground at his side. Coming up with a good-size rock, he hurled it into the clearing. It hit the ground with a hollow thump – and immediately, the forest floor gave way in a rush of falling dirt, leaves and the shushing noise of grass.
Venner took a step forward, and peered over the edge of the pit. As he had thought. Sharp stakes speared up from the bottom of the hole, which was at least seven feet deep. The rest of the team cautiously came forward to look.
"Ford?" McKay asked.
Sheppard shook his head. "He hasn't been here long enough to construct something like this."
"Do we go around?" Teyla inquired, hard eyes narrowed, studying the pit and the vicious spikes thirsting for the blood of the unwary.
Sheppard shook his head. "Odds are, the woods all around here are filled with traps, for anyone who didn't get caught in this." Calculations ran through his brain, quick eyes surveying the surrounding forest.
Gabriel hefted another rock, and threw it across the pit to the ground on the other side. It thunked into dirt, but he wasn't satisfied. The pit itself was massive, eight feet wide and twelve feet long – much too far for any of them to jump. Going around was not an option. It was easy to see why Sheppard was so certain that Ford couldn't have done this.
"But then how did Ford get past?" he murmured to himself.
McKay began to look around the clearing, and the light of discovery shone in his eyes. "Look! In the trees!"
It was hard to see – McKay's finger pointing it out was the only indication to the others that something was there. But it was – a pathway through the upper branches, at times made clearer by the use of deadwood many feet up. "You've got to be kidding," Sheppard groaned lowly.
Teyla said nothing, only moving forward to grasp a vine and tug. She looped her weapon over her shoulders; as the lightest, there was no argument that she would go first. The rest of the team waited on the ground, on guard. McKay watched her progress, stifling a shout when she slipped.
Teyla dangled over empty air for only a moment, before swinging a leg over the branch and slithering gamely on. The aerial escapade was arduous and treacherous, and they traversed it slowly, with care, one at a time. It took time, but less than backtracking would have, and for the first time wraith weren't crawling all over the vicinity.
Gabriel was the last to reach the ground on the other side, and after a few careful moments, he took point once more. Surprisingly, the clearing contained no other traps, but Gabriel led them over several tripwires once they were back in the thick of the jungle.
Two hours from the gate, thirsty and hot, they came across a rest stop.
It had once been a massive building, roughly hewn into the side of a sheer cliff. Doors and windows, carved much larger than the humans needed, gaped at them from dark rock. "What lived here?" Sheppard asked, eyes wary.
"I don't think it was human," McKay muttered, eyes wide as he took in the overlarge entrances carved into the rock. "This stuff is hard – would you really hack out more than you needed?"
Gabriel moved to the first door, peering into the darkness beyond. The entrance soared a good five feet over his head, and the door was at least four feet wide. Damp, rancid air moldered just beyond.
Signaling to Sheppard, he clicked on the light over his weapon, and shone the beam inside. There was no movement, yet he could sense that Ford was nearby; most likely in the complex, somewhere. The place was bound to be a warren of tunnels stretching further into the mountain; there was no way they were going in that far. If he was following true to pattern, Ford would go to them, and the Stargate, once he realized that they had arrived.
Gabriel moved through the first, empty room. The ground was covered with dirt, though he could feel the solid stone, unbroken underneath. The leavings of some rodent or other animal were scattered across the floor. The darkness was absolute, broken only by the illumination from his flashlight, and the silence was just as eerie.
The team followed him in, slowly, scanning every corner of the rooms they walked through. Once past the main two entrance rooms, they entered into a large hallway that resembled nothing so much as a rounded tunnel in a burrow. The ceiling curved high overhead, and doors were hewn at regular intervals as far as they could see. The tunnel itself turned and twisted like the body of a snake.
And, far ahead . . .
Gabriel turned off the light from his weapon, after carefully scanning the hallway.
"Gabriel," Teyla whispered, a question in her voice.
"Turn off your lights," he returned just as quietly. "Just for a moment."
Having learned to trust the rare words they received from their taciturn teammate, the rest flicked their flashlights off. Minutes passed, in solid blackness.
"What is that?" Sheppard hissed.
Far ahead, the glow of daylight wound its way into the tunnel, alleviating the all-consuming night that encompassed the tunnels. "Probably just a vent," Gabriel murmured.
"Take McKay and check it out. Keep in radio contact. Teyla and I will head in the opposite direction," the Major ordered.
"Sir," Gabriel nodded, and squinted. "Watch out," he warned the others, before clicking his light back on. As the flashlights turned on once more, the faint glow disappeared, overpowered by artificial illumination.
"C'mon," McKay called over his shoulder to Venner, already halfway down the tunnel. Gabriel jogged to keep up, but didn't bother telling McKay that running off probably wasn't a good idea. It wasn't as if the scientist would listen. The soft footfalls of their teammates were soon swallowed up by the oppressive silence permeating the tunnel system.
It wasn't a ventilation shaft.
They had passed a bend in the tunnel, and the light was both much brighter and farther than he had thought. They no longer needed their flashlights to see, and Venner snapped his off, giving his eyes a moment more to adjust before continuing forward. They reached the source after yet another bend in the tunnel, and the scientist started forward eagerly. Gabriel held McKay back with a hand on his arm and a stern look, before walking into the doorway from which the light was coming.
He checked it out carefully before calling quietly back, "Secure."
McKay entered, and stopped dead at the sight before him.
The doorway opened up into a magnificent cavern, formed naturally within the mountain. Stalagmites reared up proudly from the floor, some of which were connected to stalactites that dripped down to meet them. In the solid blankness of functional rock comprising the outer rooms and tunnels, this place was a sea of color. Browns and reds, glittering flashes of mica, minerals in hues of yellow and blue, were a feast for the eyes, draping the entire room in brilliant, joyful hues. "Wow," McKay breathed.
Gabriel was moving through and around the naturally formed columns of rock, careful to touch nothing. He was taken aback by the beauty before him, and a sense of peace filled him, despite his wariness. He moved deeper into the room, drawn farther into the depths of the cavern. Something was pulling at him.
At the side of his consciousness was McKay, gazing around in awe as he conversed with Sheppard, convincing the Major that he had to find their position, and see this. It was unbelievable.
But when he found what he hadn't even known he was searching for, all thought of the team slipped from his mind.