Memories or Nightmares - Chapter 4

"Colonel Sheppard, this is Simpson. What is your status, Sir?"

Sheppard reached up and clicked his radio on. "Simpson, we're just now reaching the ruins. We're currently looking for a way in. No sign of Wraith yet. How about your end?"

"No, Sir. Everything is quiet here. I was about to contact Atlantis and give them an update."

Sheppard watched the others pulling vines and plants away from the stone ruins of a building. "Okay, tell them everything's okay for now. I'll contact you after we get inside and have an idea if there's anything useful or not. I should be able to give you an ETA by then."

"I'll pass that on, Sir. Simpson out."

As Sheppard approached the others, he heard McKay's excited voice break through the sound of panting and rustling plants.

"I've got it. Here's the door." McKay pushed on the large wooden door, barely producing a sliver of an opening. His second push produced a wide opening, mainly because Ronon joined in the efforts.

McKay turned to the big man. "I could have done it."

"I know, but I wanted us to get in today." He turned and walked off, leaving McKay standing there with his mouth open and no one to hear his sarcastic retort.

"Fine. Insult me and leave. That's fine." He started to take a step in when Sheppard grabbed his arm and pulled him back out of the doorway. "What'd you do that for?"

"Out of the way, McKay. Let me check it out first." Sheppard grinned. "That is what us goons are here for, you know." Sheppard stepped in, sweeping the room with the light on his P90.

"Oh, very funny. Everyone's a comedian today." McKay sighed as he waited for Sheppard to clear the room.

A few minutes later, Sheppard poked his head out the door. "McKay, all clear. And I mean that literally."

McKay frowned as he entered the building and was surprised to find it lit up. "There's lights?"

"Seems to be. They came on when I walked in." Sheppard continued to walk around the perimeter of the room as the others filed in.

Kramer looked around at the large room with stone walls. The room seemed very old and dusty, but also very empty. McKay was studying the display on the Ancient scanner.

"This is it. This is the source of the energy."

Sheppard looked back at McKay. "Are you sure? I'm not seeing anything, McKay."

McKay rolled his eyes. "No, Colonel, I've been using this thing for over a year and I still have no idea how to read it. I'm just making up the energy source to cover my ignorance. Of course I'm sure it's here. Start looking for hidden panels or something."

Sheppard just grinned as he began to run his hands along the wall. A few moments later, a panel slid to one side, revealing a hand-shaped impression. "McKay?"

McKay was at his side in two seconds. "That's it. Activate it."

Sheppard hesitated. "This thing isn't going to poison me or anything is it?"

"No, no, no. It's not a puzzle like the ones on Dagan. This should be safe."

"Should be?"

Kramer, Teyla, and Ronon had joined Sheppard and McKay at the panel, and now stood a few feet behind the pair. Kramer looked at Teyla, eyebrows raised in question.

"Dagan was a planet where we found a ZPM," explained Teyla. "In order to get it, one had to solve a puzzle and then place their hands into depressions like the one in the wall. If the puzzle was solved incorrectly, it injected a poison that killed almost immediately. Colonel Sheppard was forced at gunpoint to solve the puzzle and retrieve the ZPM."

Kramer swallowed hard. "I'm assuming he solved it correctly."

"Yes," said Teyla. "The man who tried before him was not so fortunate."

McKay sighed loudly. "So are you going to activate it or not?"

"I'm going, McKay. Keep your pants on." Sheppard put his hand up to the impression, hesitated a few seconds, and then pressed it into the wall. Part of the wall to their right slid away, revealing a control panel six feet long. It looked similar to some of the ones found in Atlantis.

"Yes!" exclaimed McKay. McKay touched the panel, but nothing happened. He sighed and bowed his head. "Colonel?"

Sheppard stepped over to the control panel and touched it. It immediately lit up, prompting McKay to sigh again. "Stupid fake gene," he muttered.

Kramer's eyebrows shot up in amazement. He'd heard stories about the ATA gene and Sheppard's ability to activate Ancient technology, but he'd never actually seen it in action. Very cool.

Sheppard grinned and clapped McKay on the back. "Guess this is one goon who can do more than shoot and blow stuff up. I must have good genes too."

"Yes, yes. I know. And you passed the Mensa test, too. I remember. Now go away and let me work, unless you've suddenly developed an ability to analyze Ancient technology."

Kramer's head shot up. Sheppard passed the Mensa test? He threw a plastic bug on someone who could have been in Mensa? He was feeling dumber by the minute. There was a lot more to his CO than met the eye. He quietly filed away more questions for later.

Sheppard was still grinning at McKay. "No, I'd better leave something for you to do. I'll go check the perimeter." He turned to Kramer. "You're with Ronon and me outside. Teyla, stay in here with McKay. Call us if you need us."

Sheppard led the way outside. "Ronon, circle around to the right and I'll take the left. Kramer, you stay here by the door. Radio me if you see anything."

"Yes, sir. Sir . . . that was cool." Kramer looked nervously at Sheppard, not sure of how his CO would react, given past events.

Sheppard looked at him a moment and then smiled. "Yeah, sometimes it's very cool." He turned and began checking out the area around the ruins.

Kramer just breathed a sigh of relief and began his watch. He'd finally made a step in the right direction and he didn't intend to screw anything else up.

oOo

It was almost dark two hours later when Sheppard ambled up to the door leading into the ruins. "Have you heard anything out of McKay?" he asked Kramer.

"No, sir. Well, unless you count the occasional ranting and raving."

Sheppard grinned. 'No, that doesn't count. If he had anything worth mentioning, you'd know it. I'll go check on him." Sheppard walked into the empty room, noticing Teyla looking bored beyond words as she walked the perimeter. He could swear she was glaring at him, but he just nodded as if he didn't notice. Better for her to be stuck in here with Rambling Rodney than him. It occurred to him that it was a good thing she couldn't read minds, or he'd be history the next time they sparred. Actually, the way she was looking at him, he was probably already in deep trouble.

"So, McKay, what's the story? Do you know anything yet?"

McKay straightened from his position bent over his laptop and turned to Sheppard, crossing his arms. "Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I was just about to call you. I'm afraid our little hike across the boondocks was a monumental waste of time."

"No ZPM?"

"Oh, there's a ZPM. But it has even less power left than the one we found at Atlantis when we first arrived. It apparently used to power some sort of shield across a big section of the planet, but it's been too weak to do that for a while. There's barely enough juice to keep the lights going. As a matter of fact, when we leave and the lights go back out, I'd bet that's their final farewell."

Sheppard sighed and rubbed his forehead. If only he'd just headed back to Atlantis for that shower and the Tylenol, he could be curled up in bed, clean and asleep right now. But then life didn't revolve around "if onlys".

"Colonel?"

"Okay, let's wrap this up and make camp for the night. We'll head back first thing in the morning." Sheppard walked back out the door into the sunlight, blinking hard against the sudden change in brightness. "Ronon," he called over the radio. 'Come on back in. We're done here."

oOo

"You know, you really should have told me that we were walking all the way back to the gate in the dark. I could have at least gotten prepared." McKay stumbled and grunted, emphasizing his point.

Sheppard just sighed loudly. "I told you McKay, we aren't walking all the way to the gate. I just don't want to set up camp right by the ruins. We'll be sitting ducks if there are any Wraith around." Sheppard stopped and surveyed the area where they stood. "Okay, this looks good. See McKay, we're here already. Welcome to the Hotel California. You have first choice of rooms."

McKay rolled his eyes and gave Sheppard a sideways glance. "Ha, ha, Colonel. Oh, look, you're still not funny." He paused and looked deep in thought for a few seconds and then looked up at Sheppard, shaking his index finger.. "Wasn't Hotel California the one you could never check out of?"

Sheppard just grinned. "Let's get settled and get some rest. We've got a long hike at first light. Kramer, you take first watch. One of us will relieve you in two hours."

"Yes, sir." Kramer smiled and went to set up a perimeter around their camp. Little by little he was beginning to get a sense of belonging – and he liked it. He'd been terrified to go out on Sheppard's team after the his not-so-brilliant prank, but he was starting to feel more at ease.

Two hours later, Ronon approached Kramer, stopping right in front of him. "My turn."

Kramer nodded and took a step back, intending to head in toward the others. Ronon made him nervous, still, and he really didn't want the big guy mad at him. After a couple of steps, though, he had second thoughts. Turning back toward Ronon, he noticed he was being watched.

"Ronon, I heard . . . I heard you were a runner. What does that mean . . . exactly?" Kramer shifted his weight nervously from foot to foot, half expecting the towering man to flatten him like a bug. Several seconds of uncomfortable silence followed.

"I was captured by the Wraith. They implanted a tracking device and hunted me for sport for seven years."

Kramer's jaw dropped. Seven years of running for your life. He couldn't even imagine how bad that must have been. "How did you come to Atlantis?"

"Sheppard. When he found out, he got Dr. Beckett to remove it. My home world was destroyed by the Wraith, so I had no where to go. Sheppard put me on his team."

Kramer nodded. "I guess you guys are pretty close?"

"I would give my life for him, or any other member of this team. We take care of each other."

Kramer nodded again. "I hope to be part of a team like that some day." He turned and headed toward the rest of the group.

As he approached the camp, he noticed they had started a small fire. The flickering light revealed McKay sitting on a fallen log, hunched over his laptop. As he neared the fire, he saw Sheppard come out of the shadows, moving toward him and the fire.

"So, Kramer , how was your first night of guard duty on an alien planet?"

"Very quiet, sir, I'm glad to say. I wasn't sure what . . . Sir, don't move." Kramer could hardly believe his eyes. What appeared to be a very large, very black, very hairy spider sat on Sheppard's left shoulder. Did they have spiders in the Pegasus Galaxy?

Sheppard froze for a split second before breaking out in a grin. "Yeah, right. You know, I thought you'd learned your lesson about pranking me, Airman Kramer."

Oh crap. Did that make him the boy who cried wolf? Or in his case, bug. "Sir, I'm not kidding. There's a big spider on your shoulder. I think you should be still."

Teyla and McKay looked at Sheppard just about the time he inadvertently shifted his shoulder. Yelping, he brought his right hand up and swept the thing off, sending it flying several feet. As soon as it hit the ground, Kramer had his gun out, shooting it several times until what was left of it was literally belly up. By the time it was quiet again, Ronon had run up to join them, gun drawn.

"What?" he yelled.

They all stood in stunned silence for several moments before their eyes went back to Sheppard and Teyla rushed to his side.

"John, did the creature hurt you?"

Sheppard rolled his upper lip under a second and then moved his gaze from the dead spider to Teyla. "I . . . I think it bit me."

"You should sit down," she said firmly, taking his right arm.

He started to move forward and then grimaced, moving his right hand over to his left arm. Intense pain stabbed into his shoulder and began to radiate down his arm, up his neck, and across his chest. He swayed at the sudden burst of intense torment and Teyla strengthened her grip.

"John?"

His team had instinctively moved in closer and noticed the color drain from his face as he broke out in a sweat and tightened his jaw. McKay moved to his other side and tried to help Teyla sit him down without hurting him further.

"Tell us what's happening," said McKay, his face grim.

Sheppard sat with his eyes closed and his head bowed for several seconds. "Not a simple . . . bite. Hurts bad. What is it . . . with the bugs . . . in this galaxy? Oh, crap!"

"The spider must have injected some sort of venom," observed Kramer.

"McKay rolled his eyes. "Oh, good. Yet another Captain Obvious. I think we figured that out, thank you. What are we going to do? We're several miles from the gate and if he's already in that much pain, he'll never make it." McKay suddenly stepped back and began looking around, his eyes darting around in panic. "Oh my gosh, there's bound to be more of these things in the forest. What if we all get bitten?"

"Settle down, Dr. McKay," Teyla snapped. "Right now we must attend to Colonel Sheppard."

McKay looked at her for a second and then took a deep breath. "Right. I knew that. Beckett. We need to contact Atlantis and have them send Beckett." He activated his radio. "Simpson, are you there? This is Dr. McKay. We need you to dial up Atlantis."

"I'm here, sir. I'm dialing Atlantis now."

"Let them know that a big spider just bit Colonel Sheppard and he's in a great deal of pain, leading us to believe it's poisonous. We need Dr. Beckett and a medical team to meet us."

"Yes, sir."

McKay put his hand on Sheppard's right shoulder. "Hang in there, Colonel. Help's on the way."

Teyla suddenly stiffened and began looking around.

Ronon noticed immediately. "Teyla, what's wrong?"

Teyla peered into the darkness around them. "Wraith."

TBC