Sheppard and Teyla leaned over the MALP monitor as the gateroom flickered and danced with the ambient light of an activated Stargate. The grainy black and white image still managed to convey the beauty of the planet they were planning to explore as waving grasses, bright morning sunshine and cloudless sky were caught by the MALP's turning camera. Teyla sighed and smiled at Sheppard, "It does look beautiful," she said. "Perhaps it won't be so unpleasant to perform such a simple survey after all."
John grinned back, thinking that Teyla's innate curiosity and sense of adventure were two of the reasons he liked having her on his team so much. They were good at what they did, and he usually reserved more difficult or uncertain missions for himself and Atlantis' premiere team. But the truth was they were all tired. And despite his full intention to milk for all it was worth McKay's belief that they were doing this just for him, John had leapt at the chance for some light work in a pretty place.
Thinking again about this morning's conversation with Elizabeth, it surprised him how hard the realization that they were nearing their 2nd anniversary on Atlantis had hit him. It had gone so fast, and when he tried to think back over those two years, the memories most clear in his mind were of fear and violence, desperate acts of survival and uncertainty. Of course there were as many triumphs as terrors, but as he looked at the waving flowers, he decided he was glad they were going for a walk in a park. He thought he maybe needed to create some peaceful, happy memories so that next year, when he looked back he could feel… something… he struggled for the right word: Balanced perhaps.
Mentally shaking himself and bringing his focus back to the matter at hand, he thought through the mission out loud. "That field is huge. Rodney called it a meadow, but it looks like acres of open ground. I'm thinking teams of two, we'll cover more territory. The botany expedition shouldn't need more than a square mile off the gate for their work. You take Rodney, I'll jolly Ronon." Sticking his neck out to catch a glimpse of the large Satedan member of his team who was glaring daggers at Rodney as they stood in the center of the gateroom below, he added, "I don't think he's as interested in flowers as we sensitive types…"
Nodding her approval, Teyla followed John as he lightly jogged down the steps to join McKay and Ronon at the foot of the Stargate. Ronon was still staring at McKay who seemed to be deliberately ignoring the cold attention. As Sheppard pulled up next to them, he glanced once down their line to see if everyone was ready…and then with the purest of pure double-takes, he fixed McKay with an incredulous stare. "What the hell is that?"
The quirky and often neurotic astrophysicist had some kind of mask-like thing wrapped around his neck. After the shock wore off, John recognized it as a surgical mask, one of those paper things Doctors wore so as not to sneeze on their patients when digging inside their insides.
"It's a dust mask." Rodney was trying valiantly and failing just as spectacularly to sound nonchalant.
"We're surveying a planet, McKay. Not performing appendectomies!"
"I have allergies."
"Then take a damn antihistamine."
"Did you see that field! The whole place is swimming in pollen, the wind kicks up giant swirls of the stuff which I think I already mentioned because that's what the botany team wants to study. I'd be dead from constricted airways before I got 10 feet from the gate, which reminds me…" McKay rummaged in his top vest pocket to pull out an epi-pen. "Should I get stung by any bee-like pollinators, I'm putting this in my top pocket. It's important to administer within the first minute of exposure to reduce the reaction."
John just stared, so torn between amusement and disgust all he could say was, "We're splitting up. You're with Teyla," and he shot her an "I'm so sorry" look as she arranged her face into exasperated neutrality. Rodney turned to her and with deliberate exaggeration, put the epi-pen back in his pocket, making sure she watched as he did.
Sheppard realized he was still staring as Rodney next carefully situated the mask over his mouth and nose, adjusted the elastic and then haughtily clapped his hands. "Well, aren't we going?"
"Move out," John said automatically, watching Rodney bounce on his toes and happily follow Ronon into the shimmering event horizon. Teyla actually chuckled before gracefully stepping into the gate after him, which left John. Automatically he turned back for one last look up at the control room and realized he expected Elizabeth to be there to wave him off. Idly wondering when that unconscious habit had started, he wasn't disappointed to see her leaning over the communications console, deep in conversation with Chuck and tapping in her PDA. She grinned when she noticed him turn back and threw a very small wave in his direction before returning her full attention back to her conversation.
Squaring his shoulders and gripping his weapon in readiness, he dove into the wormhole.
A fresh spring breeze tickled his face the moment he stepped out of the gate on the other side. Teyla and Ronon were deployed just off the edge of the small stone platform the Stargate sat on, carefully scanning the wide field all around them. But John thought even Ronon looked like he just might be enjoying the air and the view. His and Teyla's stances were relaxed, their faces tilted up to catch the gentle wind. Grinning himself, John stepped next to Rodney as the gate shut down and left them in a comfortable, natural silence.
"Any life signs?" As pleasant as this place felt, John was not going to abandon caution, and it was Rodney's job to immediately scan the area of their arrival for life signs and energy readings.
"Too many life signs!" Rodney replied, his voice sounding muffled through the mask. He raised the small hand-held scanner for John to see. The screen that usually showed a black grid with white dots to indicate people and animals was solid white, the dots so overlapping they merged into a bright, completely useless mass. Glancing up at the field around them, he went on, "The flowers give off life signs, which is one reason why Dr. Brown is so interested in them. They may be thermogenic like the philodendron and other species in the Arum family on Earth. Thermogenic, by the way, means they have a metabolism that generates heat using mitochondria and fats, neither of which is involved in normal plant respiration. To the scanner it must look rather more like animal metabolism than normal plant metabolism."
"I know what thermogenic means, Rodney… just as long…" He was interrupted by McKay's skeptical scoff.
"You know what thermogenic means? I mean, knew. Before I explained it to you?"
"Yes," Sheppard drew the word out into insolent superiority. "Did you? Before Katie explained it to you?" Thoroughly enjoying Rodney's reaction that all too clearly indicated Sheppard had hit his mark, he went on before the scientist's discomfiture exploded into a verbal fit, "As I was saying… we can leave the biology to the biologists. Just as long as none of these guys start screaming 'Feed me Rodney' and singing showtunes,"
"Ha, ha. Very funny." Rodney turned away, still annoyed by Sheppard's jab. But John smirked as he saw the paranoid man suddenly look warily over the edge of the stone into the grass below and wave his sensor again over the plants.
Hopping off the stone, John situated his sunglasses and joined Teyla and Ronon to gaze out over the field. The sun was to their backs and their shadows stretched out into the flowers in front of them. "Teyla, you and McKay work Southeast to North, we'll go Northwest to South. Two mile perimeter. Radio contact every hour. You both got your flares?" Checking for their confirming nods he went on, "The LSD is useless here, so if you get in trouble, send up a flare…" his voice trailed off as a whirling dust-devil materialized about a mile out in the field directly in front of them. The breeze blowing in their faces wasn't strong, but the particles spinning madly in the dust-devil grew dense, darkening the funnel, and rose ever higher into the air. Finally growing thinner and thinner, the funnel bent into snakey S shapes and with a last puff of dust or pollen, dissipated completely.
"Coooool," John said.
"If you like swirling hay-fever on a stick…" Rodney muttered, now fumbling with the camcorder. Obviously his dislike of the phenomenon didn't preclude his getting as much data as possible about it.
This time John chose to ignore McKay and feeling a sudden surge of contented excitement, he bounced once on his heels and took a deep refreshing breath. "Let's go people! See you in a few, Teyla. Rodney…" And he stepped out briskly in the direction of another fascinating pollen-tornado-swirl, Ronon close on his heels.
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Rodney watched Sheppard and Ronon stride away, looking for all the world like hiking in an alien vat of pollen and miniature "Audrey II"s was the most fun they'd had all week. Sometimes he wished he weren't so indispensable and could stay holed up on Atlantis in his lab writing Nobel prize-winning papers. But the Colonel would probably be long dead from some idiotic act of useless heroism if Rodney hadn't been there to propose alternative (and actually constructive) solutions to the messes their team seemed to get themselves in. Since Rodney essentially liked the guy, he continued to tag along offworld.
And, he admitted charitably, he had asked Sheppard to arrange a survey of this planet as a favor to Dr. Brown. He just hadn't expected Sheppard to assign their team to do it.
"Are you ready, Dr. McKay?" Teyla smiled warmly at him and with a sigh and only a little regret, he stepped carefully off the stone platform and followed her in the opposite direction Sheppard had taken. They walked for a little while in silence as Rodney continued to keep an eye on his palm sensor and the flowers they were walking through. They looked like perfectly normal plants, the leaves were a little spikier than earth leaves and the blooms resembled tiny white peace lilies…or as McKay actually thought to himself, they resembled oval-shaped satellite dishes.
"Are there plants such as this on your world, Rodney?" Teyla asked conversationally.
"Um, yes and no. There are a few that actually resemble these blooms, the ones I know are larger. But there are very few on Earth that are warm-blooded, colloquially speaking, like these are. According to Dr. Brown, there's sure to be some evolutionary or environmental reason behind the unusual biology." Usually, Rodney had little in common with the Pegasus native who came from such a different and…unsophisticated background. But Teyla was very nice, and very bright and Rodney was growing more comfortable with the concept of small talk as he spent more time with his teammates.
"Dr. Brown seems very nice. I understand she has completed the training to do fieldwork. She will be able to join the expedition to this planet that follows our survey."
"Mmmm, yes. I think that's why she was so eager to get the planet cleared. She was really pleased when I told her the survey had been scheduled." Rodney suddenly felt himself blush deeply, and afraid he'd given away too much, he hastily babbled on for a while longer about sensors and plant metabolisms, really hating the way Teyla's grin grew more amused with each sentence.
Finally desperate to distract her from the knowing looks she kept shooting him, he looked around at the horizon and suddenly pointed, "There's something on the ground over there." Desperate as he was, he wasn't about to head towards it alone, and allowed Teyla to pull ahead. He noticed she adjusted her weapon to a more ready position as they approached the shaggy brown lump.
"It appears to be dead," she said finally, after studying it carefully from several paces away.
"Are you sure?" Rodney hoped he sounded cautious rather than scared.
Drawing her knife she moved closer and nudged it a bit with her toe before squatting next to the creature. Rodney edged up closer himself and despite looking stiff and bloated with decay, he could see it was obviously some sort of canine. The lips around the teeth were drawn back with rigormortis to reveal sharp fangs and jagged incisors. Clearly a carnivorous canine, at that. Rodney grimaced and looked away as Teyla began to poke at it with her knife. "Oh is that really necessary? We're not going to skin it to make rugs."
"I want to know what killed it," she answered, "If there is a predator nearby larger than this animal, we should know about it."
Rodney suddenly became very interested in their surroundings, spinning on the spot as if he expected a saber-tooth tiger to jump out at him that instant.
"No flies…" she muttered, and McKay did take note that in fact they hadn't seen any insects at all, flying or otherwise, since they had arrived. The observation was surprisingly comforting. His 9 mil could keep away any four-legged predators, but bees were another thing…
Teyla went on, "But there's a very odd odor, definitely the scent of death, but something else too. Something almost pleasant, like leaves or fresh cut wood…"
"Have you figured out what killed it yet? Maybe we should call Sheppard to warn him we've found evidence of carnivorous animals. He'll want to know if there are more around…"
He trailed off because Teyla suddenly stood abruptly then staggered a step before leaning heavily against his shoulder and he instinctively grabbed for her. Too surprised to do more than keep her standing, he waited until she shook her head blearily. "I feel a bit dizzy…" she said, then sagged even more into Rodney's grip.
Grunting with the effort of trying to keep her upright, he finally heaved her into a position where he could grab her waist and practically beat his chest as he activated his radio. "Sheppard! Teyla's ill! She just collapsed!"
The surprised fear was rapidly transforming into full blown panic as long moments passed with no reply, just the soft hiss of an open receiver. "Sheppard. Come in, do you read?" Still only silence.
"Here we go again…" Rodney muttered, and began to drag Teyla back the way they'd come.
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For the first half-hour, John Sheppard and Ronon Dex walked with easy speed due North, both of them comfortable using their own strides to mark the distance and their own internal clocks to monitor the passage of time. At regular intervals, with almost instinctive coordination, they would pause, circle, listen…then move on again. He'd almost forgotten what it felt like to simply do what he did without interruption from chattering scientists and stupid questions from inexperienced civilians. Despite training under different suns in different galaxies, Ronon and Sheppard were both military men, they were more alike than some of his own people from Earth.
Granted, Ronon had some anger issues, but hell so did he. He just tended to mouth off and get himself in trouble with his superiors instead of shoot them. But it was why he'd worked so hard to earn Ronon's trust and convince him to join his team; people along the way had given him a second chance when he needed it. He wanted to do the same.
With a sudden vivid flashback, John saw again the forest where they had found Ronon while looking for the renegade Lt. Ford. He could smell the ozone from the steamy jungle forest, he could hear the mosquito-like whine of the Wraith darts as they buzzed the canopy over his head and he ran through the nighttime gloom after his delusional friend…
"Sheppard," Ronon's deep quiet voice yanked him back to the present. His heart was racing and he'd been within a nerve impulse of bolting. Confused by the strange impulse, he stopped walking to gather his composure, hoping Ronon hadn't noticed anything amiss.
"What?" John managed to answer steadily.
"Another pollen funnel, 300 paces. I saw some kind of creature near it."
"Scary dangerous creature or cute furry creature?" Spotting the dust-devil Ronon had indicated, Sheppard really hoped it was the latter. He hated parks with monsters…
"I couldn't tell if it was mammalian or reptilian, but it didn't seem to be hunting. Just running away from the dust…" John smiled at the Satedan's literal-mindedness, but could sense that Ronon wasn't worried, so he decided not to worry either. But he did thumb the safety off on his P-90. OK, he would worry that much.
"Let's try to get closer to one of those pollen funnels. Make sure they're not forceful enough to bother the science teams."
Seeing that the funnel that Ronon had pointed out was dissipating, they stood for a few minutes watching the horizon. Only a minute or two later, another burst of pollen-dust rose from the flowers only 100 yards away and feeling like a kid chasing rainbows, John dashed off towards it.
"There, another one." Ronon was pointing towards a dark shape loping away from the funnel they were chasing. It was mostly obscured by the tall grasses and flowers, but John thought it looked like a shaggy brown wolf, or maybe a small long-legged bear. "Maybe they kick up the dust when they run?" Ronon added, slowing. The funnel had already blown away.
"Then why don't we have a trail of dust-devils following us?" John wondered out loud. "Let's see if Teyla has seen any of the creatures, and warn them to watch out if they haven't…"
As Sheppard reached for his radio and unconsciously turned back towards the way they'd come, he spun smack into a warm whirling cloud of pollen, dust and…something else that smelled like perfume and rotting flesh. Coughing and gagging, he threw his arm over his mouth and nose. His eyes were tightly closed against the stinging grains of airborne debris. He could hear Ronon swear and call his name, and then the Satedan was also coughing.
Just as suddenly the dust was gone and regretting the fact that he didn't have enough breath for the really creative expletives he wanted to use, John rubbed his face in his hands, sucking in clearer air. "Ronon, you OK?" he gasped out, still blinking. He was feeling odd, buzzed, as if he'd been drinking but also exhilarated as if he were in combat or competition. "I feel funky…" he added.
Finally getting his vision to clear he looked up just in time to see Ronon bearing down on him. The smashing blow to the side of his head threw him to the ground. His training and the odd rush he was feeling guided him to roll through the fall and he was up on his feet again grimacing at the sharp ache in his temple. "What the hell's wrong with you!" he shouted as Ronon attacked again. Sheppard blocked the strikes, one, two, three…then went down again onto his stomach. When he pushed up to try to stand, he felt Ronon's doubled fists smash into his back between the shoulder blades.
Face pressed into the grass, Sheppard gasped for breath as his lungs recovered from having the wind knocked out of them. He lay still, hoping to play dead long enough to get his strength back and be able to fight off another attack. But while his breathing became easier, the dizziness grew, along with the pounding in his ears. He eventually realized it was his heart racing as if he'd been running a marathon.
Risking the motion, he raised his head to see what Ronon was doing. Only waving grass and crushed flowers were in sight. Moving cautiously, as much to favor his aching head as to avoid attention, he pushed up onto his knees. Ronon was far in the distance, almost out of eyesight, running with all the might and speed he was capable of. John watched him run, feeling disoriented, becoming mesmerized by the running figure growing smaller in the distance…
John was running through the forest, chasing the sound of gunfire in the distance. The air around him was dark and steamy and his feet squished with every step into damp leaves and wet dirt. His radio crackled to life with Major Lorne's voice.
"Colonel Sheppard? We've got 'gate activity…Three wraith darts just came through."
"Great!" John replied, still running.
"Colonel, Ronon is gone. There was another way out of the cave." This time it's Teyla's voice he hears.
"Get back to the jumper!" John heard more gunfire and paused briefly to change direction, terrified he was going to be too late to save McKay from Ford. To save Ford from himself… At last he burst into the small clearing where Rodney was hanging upside down, and Ronon and Ford were dueling fiercely. "Lieutenant! Don't!" John yelled as Ford reached for a Wraith stunner…
"Colonel! Do you read? What's going on? We didn't bring any jumpers! Teyla's ill. I'm trying to get her to the gate. Sheppard do you read?"
Rodney's frantic chant over the radio receiver buried in his ear seemed to fade in from a great distance as John finally became aware of it. Just as gradually he realized he was panting and he leaned on his knees to catch his breath. He'd been running. Sweat soaked his hair and shirt. Looking around to get his bearings, he spotted the Stargate only a few hundred yards away to the east, although he had no idea how he had gotten where he was. His hands were shaking when he reached for his radio to click in a reply. "Rodney?" was as far as he got before the excited McKay interrupted.
"Oh, thank God. Sheppard! Teyla collapsed. I'm trying to get her back to the gate. We're almost there now, but I've been calling you for ages. Hey, are you OK by the way?"
If Sheppard hadn't been so disoriented, he'd have been pissed as hell. "No. I'm… Ronon attacked me. I ran and…" He was at a loss to explain to himself what had happened during the vivid flashback, much less explain it to anyone else. "Get to the gate," he finished. The Stargate meant home, and even as the dizziness and odd euphoria consumed him again, his one thought was to get back to that place of safety.
"Ronon did what? Why? Do you need help getting to the Stargate? Here, I'll set off my flare so you can find us. Set off yours if you need me to come get you." The voice that anchored John to reality was fading again and moments later a bright white spark trailing thick lingering smoke rose out of the field…
A single drone launched itself out of the crashed jumper and with a satisfying fireball impacted the underside of the descending Wraith Cruiser.
"We scored a hit!" McKay yelled happily.
"Great. That's gonna either buy us time or piss them off."
"Colonel Sheppard, you've damaged the Wraith cruiser and it's leaving the area, but there are two more incoming." With incredible relief, John recognized Elizabeth's voice coming from the radio that Torrell still held in his hand. McKay's shout echoed his own joy...
"Elizabeth I need you to keep the gate open until the last of them go through, then shut it down and dial Atlantis."
"We can land and pick you up." Elizabeth's voice was anxious, concerned. John waited nervously as the Olesian prisoners ran and stumbled through the gate just within view of the Jumper's cracked window. Glancing up, he almost shuddered at the shadow of another Wraith Cruiser approaching them.
"Negative," John finally answered, "just keep the 'gate open. We'll take it from there. Stay in stealth mode until the Wraith have gone away."
"We're dialing Atlantis. Head for the Gate."
Dashing out the back of the jumper, John urged his team ahead of him to race for the gate. He felt a moment of relief as the puddle swooshed into life, just before the heat and roar of a thundering explosion knocked into him from behind and he stumbled, scrambling even harder for the safety of Atlantis, of home.
"Sheppard, wait!" Rodney's voice was panicky and John couldn't tell whether he was hearing the man from nearby, through the radio, or only in his confused mind… "I need to send the IDC! Dammit not yet!"
But John couldn't stop. The vision overwhelmed him with the stench of burnt ground and vegetation. The rumble of a descending Wraith Cruiser pounded in his ears. He planted his foot on the edge of the stone platform and flung himself into the event horizon.
