A/N: We're getting there. This is just a little chapter, but things have been put in motion now...
Again, thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews. They are just incredibly cool. I've started haunting the computer, clicking refresh just to see if any new ones have arrived since last time. Everyone does that, don't they?
Once again, this whole enterprise would have been a disaster without Ellex and GA Unicorn. Thank you both so much for turning this into something sensible.
Once again, I still don't own Atlantis. Or the X-Files (but at least I know what the show's called. Seems that Sheppard doesn't...)
Chapter 6
John brought the cloaked Jumper down at the co-ordinates the message had instructed. The land was flat in all directions, except directly in front of their landing point. They were faced with a single grassy hill standing proud in the flat plain. Its east and west sides were steep, but there was a gentle slope running from north to south, and a cliff at its far end
Rodney chattered away. He seemed to have recovered from the shock of the pyre in the village. "I've got energy readings tracking on a structure underground. I'd guess most of that hill is made up of tunnels. I can't get exact dimensions, or an idea of the layout, but it's big. The energy distribution indicates it's at least the same diameter as the boundaries of Reliquary.
"How much energy? ZPM energy?"
"Not quite as much as that, but at least a couple of generators."
John looked slightly disappointed.
"I don't know why everything has to be a ZedPM for you to be interested. Size isn't everything," Rodney said defensively. "Energy readings of this magnitude aren't to be sniffed at. And, at any rate, it indicates a technologically advanced population. We could do with trading partners a little bit more sophisticated than Iron Age rustics."
John scanned through the sensor data. "There's no sign of anything on the surface at all. No sign of agriculture or habitation." The same green grass continued as far as the eye could see.
"I'd guess that would be a defensive measure. Our sensors aren't giving us any information on anything inside that hill, except that something's powering it. At the moment all I can say is it looks like an ore in the rock causing the interference, but I can't be more specific. Could even be a shield," he said excitedly. "Either way, it could be a defense against the Wraith."
John nodded. It was an almost perfect hiding place for an advanced population. "As soon as the Wraith arrive, you turn off the lights, and let them cull the villages on the continent. There's enough feeding material there to keep them going, so they wouldn't even bother to look on this island."
"There would have to be tight population control. There's no room for expansion within a fixed system," Rodney mused. "That would be worse with no space foragriculture. And it would explain why they call themselves traders. They'd have to get their essentials from elsewhere."
Sheppard stood. They could discuss this for days. If they were going to do this, they should get going. "We've got everything we're going to from out here. Let's go do the meet and greet."
Rodney got to his feet and tucked a life signs detector into his pocket. One of the energy readers went into his bag with the Jumper's med-kit. Two power bars were slipped into the breast pockets of his vest. He hung a torch on his belt loops. "Ok, ready," he said.
John grinned and handed him his 9-mil.
"Oh, wouldn't want to forget that."
John clipped his P-90 to his vest as Rodney adjusted the straps of his rucksack.
"Ready?"
Rodney grinned. "Ready."
The first thing to hit John as he stepped through the hatch was the warm sunshine. Compared to the air conditioned Jumper, the heat was tropical. The sun was at his back as he looked towards the hill. Their visibility was good, but anyone standing at the hill would have sunlight glaring in their eyes.
The hill rose in front of them from the flat plain. Grass and flowers bloomed and a rapid survey of the surroundings had a brush of trees at two o'clock and nothing else. It was sparse and would provide poor cover.
If this was an ambush, it was a very poor location to chose.
He waved to Rodney inside the Jumper, and slowly lowered his P-90.
Rodney made it two steps down the ramp before he sneezed. "Great. Pollens," he muttered thickly.
John grinned, but continued to visually scan the hill in front of them.
"Well, aside from the obvious florid plant life," Rodney said, "I'm not getting any animal or human life signs in…" he paused, then added, "except that one."
Sheppard had been studying the far end of the hill. He tracked back around to where Rodney indicated. Thirty feet away stood a human-looking male where before there had been only grass. "Did he just appear?" he demanded.
"Right out of the hill," Rodney agreed. He sounded far less freaked out than John felt. He sounded excited.
"How?"
"Cloaking!" McKay was grinning like an idiot. "What do you suppose we look like when we come out of the Jumper's cloak?" He waved the detector around in a random manner and continued to chatter excitedly. "Their cloak seems to be the same design as the Ancient version. I'm picking up the same sub-harmonics from a sonar pulse, but otherwise it's hidden." He looked like a kid in a sweet shop.
"So, it's safe to assume that they're a bit beyond just radio sophistication," John asked.
"Even if it's an Ancient cloak and all they do is turn it on every time the Wraith appear, it's a good bet."
The man hadn't moved from his spot beside what John now assumed was an entrance to some underground complex. He was tall – certainly taller than the Padanarams, and dressed in finely embroidered robes. Unlike the villagers they had met, his hair was dark. At this distance it was impossible to see specifics of his features.
At John's side, Rodney was shifting from foot to foot impatiently.
"Alright, then," Sheppard said at last. "Let's go do this."
"About time."
John led the way across the grass. Rodney bounced along a step behind. It was a formation that only worked when the scientist was distracted by some reading or other on the scanner. Normally he would throw all precaution to the wind and either edge in front or trail twenty feet behind.
Ten paces away, the figure bowed in greeting.
John was always aware of feeling out of his depth in these situations. Teyla told him he did very well, but he couldn't help but wonder if the number of people who took a dislike to them was somehow due to his lack of diplomatic skills.
The man rose slowly from the bow. He had an aquiline nose and a high forehead. His long dark hair was tied out of his face.
Rule Number Two in Sheppard's 'How to Survive Alien Meetings Guide' was Do what they do.
He bowed. The man smiled and held out its hands in what Sheppard thought was a peaceful gesture. Of course that couldn't be taken as read. Rule Number One was Don't trust anyone.
Rule Number Three was Don't leave McKay where you can't see him, but that hadn't presented itself yet.
John didn't put his out arms in the same expansive gesture, but walked at what he hoped was the right pace towards the man: not too fast, in case that was interpreted as aggressiveness, but not too slow either. He didn't want to appear disinterested.
He always felt better once the talking started.
"Welcome," said the man.
"Hi," he said. Teyla despaired of what he actually said in these situations, but he had tried to explain that he just went with his gut feelings.
He wished she were here now.
"Welcome to the Traders. It is many years since we have had interested buyers come to us. There is opportunity for mutual benefit."
Rodney clicked his tongue at something, but John ignored him.
"We're pleased to meet you. You mentioned in your message something about trading opportunities." Might as well get straight to the point.
The man nodded. "We are traders and gatherers. Our livelihood is made by the goods which we barter, but there are now fewer people who trade with us. The Wraith have been more active these past months and we have not heard from many of our customers." He sighed, and then continued in a brighter tone, "Your arrival has caused much excitement. And it is at a fortunate moment, for we have new items under development which we hope will interest you. We are glad you could answer our message."
"We were glad to hear it," Rodney said, unable to contain himself any longer.
John glared at him, even though, in the grand scheme of Rodney-inappropriate-comments, this was mild. He'd managed to keep quiet for almost a minute.
"I'm Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, and this is Doctor Rodney McKay."
"I am a Trader," the man said. He looked abashed. "You must excuse us, for our names are private."
John nodded.
He couldn't help it. He tried not to. He tired to think about something else – anything else, but his brain did it anyway. Frank. The guy looked like a Frank.
"We are pleased that you feel we are trustworthy enough to share your names." 'Frank' said.
"Ok," John said.
Rodney didn't say anything; he was studying the scanner.
'Frank' continued, "Come with me. We have many things to discuss."
This was their chance to back out. They could make their excuses and dodge back into the Jumper, with no shame. 'Funny business', Elizabeth had said, and he wasn't sure if blatant self-advertising counted. John glanced at Rodney, who was barely containing his excitement. He was back to bouncing from foot to foot. Of course, John knew that if he had relied on Rodney's sense of caution he would have been lost a long time ago.
Remember Rule Number One, Trust no one. It worked for that FBI guy who looked for aliens on TV.
"Colonel," Rodney said impatiently. "Are we going to do this? Because I've got a couple of experiments running back on At…"
John jumped onto the word. They were trying to keep Atlantis a secret! "Yes, yes, ok, let's go."
Rodney glared at John, and John glared back.
"Yes, Rodney. Experiments running at home," he emphasized. "Where we live."
McKay had the decency to look embarrassed. "Of course, obviously," he blundered.
John turned to 'Frank'. "Lead the way."
The man nodded his head and started towards the grass wall. His robes swished on the grass then he disappeared. Rodney followed him into the vertical grass wall without pause. John found himself alone on the empty plain staring at the grass. He could hear the clicking of insects.
He had to admit it, at least to himself; he didn't like the thought of walking through a grass wall. Jumpers were ok, and he'd recovered from the initial distrust of the stargate, but cloaked doors in hillsides were a bit too much like fairy mounds in a Gaelic fairytale.
Rodney poked his head back through, so he appeared as a disembodied head in the grass. "Are you coming, Sheppard?"
He disappeared back through the cloaked doorway.
Rule Number Three, John said to himself. Never leave Rodney where you can't see what he's doing.
John swallowed once. He closed his eyes and took a step over the invisible threshold.
With his eyes closed, he was hit by the cool breeze of air conditioning again.
He opened his eyes. 'Frank' was watching him sympathetically. Rodney was grinning widely.
"Glad you could join us, Colonel Sheppard," he said.
"I'd hate for you to go exploring without me.
Rodney's expression bordered on the obscene side of pleasure.