A/N: Yeah still no good with updates… sorry looks sheepish
On the other hand, thanks so much for everyone who has reviewed so far! It's great to hear from everyone. I'm glad some people seem to be enjoying the story so far. All the comments are really helpful so thanks again.
Anyway, moving on. We finally get a taste of a story line now, so here we go…
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"Okay, steady, steady… Hey, I said steady!"
After a quick search for ropes, and a slightly longer argument, as to which was the most effective way to secure it to the cave wall, McKay found himself being slowly lowered down by Ronon. He squirmed uncomfortably within the harness, trying to keep the circulation flowing around his legs, bitting down on his lips with each jerk. "Geeze, Ronon! Do you understand the word steady? Sheppard a little help here!"
Looking around, the now slightly lighted area, Rodney noticed that once again, the colonel had disappeared from the main clearing, no doubt off messing around with the strange device again. "Where are you anyway? Do I need to remind you not to touch anything!"
Hitting the ground with a no so gentle thump, McKay untangled himself from the rope and stared up at Ronon.
"Thankyou" He said sarcastically, before rushing off to join Sheppard. Moving off to the side, he could make out a narrow passage way leading into another room. Entering the room, he started to give the colonel a piece of his mind about being left to dangle at the mercy of a wookie, when he came to an abrupt stop.
"Wow!" That earned him a big grin, as the Colonel turned to face him.
"Told you it was cool".
The device sat a couple of feet off the ground and consisted of a wide cylinder shaped body, which was attached somehow to the side of the rock wall. Though silent, it was emitting a faint blue light, which swirled and hovered a couple of inches above the ground like virtual water. McKay froze in awe at the device, transfixed in the soft rippling movement, the light played across the floor. After several minutes, he was pulled out of trance by the other two members of his team as they finally joined them. Taking the opportunity, McKay pulled out his equipment to take different energy readings.
"Well this is definitely what we're looking for alright. Unfortunately it looks like the power supply is nearly depleted."
"Do we know what it is?" Asked Sheppard
"No idea, but from these readings and the fact that it's pretty much located underground, I'm guessing it's not a weapon. Some kind of shield maybe? Of course if that were true, then it wouldn't be much use now. In fact I'm not sure it's doing much at all."
"Okay" said Sheppard stepping in for a closer look. "So what do we do with it?"
"Well from the look of it, it's not attached to anything, which would indicate that the power source is located within the device itself, I recommend we get it back to Atlantis for some further testing."
"Is that such a good idea?" Asked Teyla
"Why not?"
"Well you just said, you didn't know what it was." Replied Sheppard.
"Look I can say with almost certainty that's it not a weapon. The structure alone would indicate that. Not to mention the fact that it's pretty much dead. It's not like its going to be missed either. According to the Ancient database, this planet has been uninhabited for thousands of years."
"Yeah ok, point taken." Sheppard took a moment to look at the device again, as though if he stared long enough, all the answers would become clear. Rodney was right, it didn't seem to be dangerous, and certainly nobody would miss it, but he couldn't help the strange feeling he felt whenever he got close to the machine, it was almost like he was drawn to it somehow. The blue, dancing light was hypnotic and enticing, and just plain out cool. Looking over at the others, he couldn't help smile at the eager face of the science leader, if was obvious he was itching to go play with his new toy.
"Alright." Sheppard briefly wondered to himself, if McKay realised just how powerful that pleading look of his was, as he watched the scientists blue eyes light up.
"I guess the next question, is how are we going to get it out?"
"We'll that's quite simple actually. It seems that there's a release leaver at the bottom here." He said pointing to an area on the rock face, just above the puddle of light. "The real question is how we're going to get it out of the hole up there, its pretty big."
"Lets just focus on one thing at a time ok? Go ahead and release it."
With a nod, McKay made his way towards the device and the hidden leaver. Taking his time to carefully look over the device once more, he moved around to the side, as to not disturb the pool of light before bracing himself against the wall with his right hand, and reaching forward with his left. As he got closer, the light below suddenly flashed without warning and changed to a bright orange. "Woooaah" Yelped McKay as he backed away.
"What was that?" Sheppard was a little more than slightly concerned
"I don't know" McKay said, looking back to check the energy readings, all the while trying to regain control over his increased heartbeat. "It looks like it just had a power spike."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure. This thing is pretty old, probably just a random malfunction or something." Just who he was really trying to convince, he wasn't quite sure
"You sure about that?" Sheppard remained sceptical, remembering their last encounter with unknown Ancient technology.
"No" Whispered McKay to himself. "Look I'm sure its fine" He said a little louder trying to sound confident as he checked his readings a third time.
"Alright then." Sheppard was still not very convinced
"Ok" Rodney sighed to himself, as he moved toward the leaver again. "Here we go." He paused slightly to check for any other strange malfunctions before reaching in and pulling the leaver, releasing it from the wall where it fell with a crash, knocking Rodney off his feet. Sheppard rushed forward with the sound of Rodney's cry and watched as the scientist grasped his left hand painfully
"You ok?" Asked Sheppard
"Ahh, I think it just broke my wrist, it just… oh no…"
"What is it?
"The light. It stopped working! It must have been damaged when it fell." All concern for his arm, now gone as he moved in to investigate
"That seems unusual." Said Teyla, moving in for a closer look.
"What do you mean?"
"Well if it truly is an Ancient device that has been here for thousands of years, It seems strange that it would break so easily." She replied
"Most Ancient stuff seems to be pretty indestructible." Said Sheppard.
"I don't know what to say. It may just be because I unplugged it, kind of like pulling out a power cord, before the backup battery kicks in. Which that in itself doesn't make much sense, because it didn't appear to be connected with anything." Rodney was clearly disheartened, speaking in a very sombre tone, like one of his friends had just died. "Look, I need to get it back to Atlantis before I can tell you anything."
"Ok" said Sheppard stepping forward. "Pack it up then, and lets get going."
"What? Are you going to at least give me a hand?"
"Well it is your toy McKay"
"I cant carry that thing! Have you seen my wrist!" Holding up his left hand, Sheppard could see even in the dimly lit room, that it didn't appear to look right. Coming up to Rodney, for closer inspection, he could see the joint already partially swelling.
"Oh stop being a baby, suck it up"
"What! It's probably broken! At the very least sprained. Knowing my luck I've probably done permanent nerve damage!"
"Oh come on Rodney, it's nothing. If you promise to stop whining I'll bandage it for you."
Pulling out the little med kit from his vest, Sheppard forced Rodney to the ground and began to treat the offending limb. By now the shock had started to wear off, and each movement to his hand sent a sharp burning pain shooting up into shoulders and head.
"Okay, well that's all I can do for now, we'll back home soonand Beckett can take a look at it."
Rodney didn't reply to that, just continued to wince against the pain, as Sheppard offered a hand to help him up, before moving off to secure the device, ready to transport.
"You wanna give me a hand with this Ronon?"
"Be careful with it ok?" Rodney warned as the two of them took hold of the device.
"I thought you said you broke it" Replied Ronon
"No, I…I… Just be careful ok" He said as the two struggled with the device.
"Man this thing is heavy!" Exclaimed Sheppard.
"Yeah, I bet you wish you hadn't parked so far away now huh?" Rodney replied with a smug look, to which Sheppard simply ignored, as he continued to help Ronon hoist the strange device up to the surface.---------------------------------
A/N: What does everyone think? With any luck the net update shouldn't be far away. Thanks for everyone who is still reading.
