Instead of actually heading toward the exit like McKay expected him to, Ian limped over to one of the far walls and pulled down the plastic-like cover.
"What are you doing?" McKay asked him as several panels lit up and the New Yorker started pressing buttons.
"I need to get us some extra power," Ian told him, not looking up from what he was doing.
"What? What for?"
"For the Gateship…"
McKay walked over and watched over Ian's shoulder as he pressed a few more buttons, and then flinched when a piece of the wall actually slid forward, opening somewhat like a drawer would. Inside, resting in protective cases, were three zero point modules.
"Three?"
Ian nodded, reaching in and disconnecting one of them, and then pulling it out of the case it had been in.
"The city runs on three when it's at full power. Right now it doesn't need them all – which is good, since one is completely dead and the other two are running low…"
"So you're going to take it?" McKay asked. "What about the city? It'll-"
"It's not going anywhere. On standby like it is, it doesn't need much power – just for the shields that are holding back the water and for minimal functions like life support and system maintenance."
"What are we going to do with it?"
"We're going to hook it up to the gateship."
"For more power…"
"Partly, yeah."
Ian pressed a panel and the drawer slid back into the wall, vanishing as if it had never been there before. Then he handed the ZPM to McKay.
"Carry this."
McKay scowled.
"Why do I have to carry it? I-"
"Jesus, McKay, just carry it, okay?"
He was going to have enough on his mind with trying to hobble up all the stairs and down several corridors without having to try and carry the power source as well. Obviously Rodney figured it out, too, because he took the ZPM gingerly.
"There's no radiation, right?"
"No."
"No thermo-"
"It's not going to hurt you," Ian interrupted, putting the cover back over the panels he'd exposed. All the lights went dead as if it understood that its job was finished, and so did those on the other workstations that Ian and Rodney had been checking out. When they left the room, it would almost be as if no one had ever been there since the Ancients had abandoned it. Except that there were several bloodstains on many surfaces, and a few Powerbar wrappers littering the floor.
OOOOOOOOOOO
Walking hurt. By the time they'd reached the bottom of the first staircase, Ian was already limping so badly he was hobbling. Worse, it was slowing them down when he was now in more of a hurry than ever. They had everything they needed, now, and he needed to get back to help.
Even McKay noticed.
"Do you need help?"
Ian scowled.
"No."
To prove it, he started up the stairs, going painfully slow and followed by McKay, who was taking the opportunity to look around.
"This place really is incredible, isn't it?"
"You haven't seen anything, yet…"
"What do you mean?"
"Just wait…"
McKay started to ask again, impatient and annoyed, but Ian wasn't listening to him. By the time they reached the top of the stairs, he was using the wall for support, and breathing as heavily as if he'd been running for the last hour.
"Oh, my…"
Now they were in a corridor that held one of the large shields Ian had seen before. A shield that was more like a huge bay window than anything else, and one that afforded a remarkable view of the ocean they were submerged in.
"That's incredible…" McKay said, moving toward it and placing his hand against the shielding, which made Ian wonder if he was referring to the technology or the view.
"We need to keep moving," Ian told him – although he understood the attraction. "They're waiting for us."
"We're actually underwater!" McKay said, looking up towards the surface of the water, which was so far above them that it was only noticeable because of the brighter lights that direction. "Do you have any idea how much force must be pressing down on these shields at this depth? Or any idea just how-"
"Yes," Ian interrupted, purposely turning his back on the scene, because he was starting to get tempted to take another look himself – and they just couldn't afford the time. "We need to get going."
McKay frowned.
"There's not that much of a hurry, you know? It's not like we're going to be able to make all that much difference. Not with just a single ship. If you had a way to get a whole fleet of them on the other hand, that would be worth looking into doing."
"We're going to do a lot more damage than you think," Ian told him, limping towards the gateship bay. It was still an imposing distance away, after all. "I am, anyways."
"What's that supposed to mean?" McKay asked, curiously, catching up to Ian easily.
"I'll tell you later."
OOOOOOOOOOO
"Are you kidding? That's the ship?"
Ian nodded, wiping his brow on his sleeve. He was sweaty and clammy and felt just a little sick – things that were almost definitely due to the exertions he'd put on his wounded leg.
"That's the one."
They were standing in the middle of the gate ship bay, with several of the little craft docked around them, waiting silently. Ian had stopped in front of the first one.
"It doesn't even have wings!"
"It has drive pods," Ian replied. "Come on, we need to-"
"Why didn't you bring more people?" McKay asked, looking at all the others space ships. "With a bunch of these we'd have a better chance of taking out-"
"Because you have to possess the Ancient gene to make the ships fly, and I don't know anyone else with it."
Aside from Jack and Shawn, that was.
"Besides, we don't have enough power to get them all back to Earth."
"We have the Zed PM."
"We have one. There would need to be at least a dozen – one for each ship, and I don't have time to go looking for more."
"But what is one going to do?" Now McKay's voice had lost its arrogance and he was truly baffled.
"I'll explain it on the way," Ian said. "Let's go."