SPOILERS for "Trinity"

SUMMARY: After the events in "Trinity", Sheppard and McKay's relationship is strained at best. But is stranding them in a remote lighthouse with only Zelenka as referee going to help them work things out? And what about the dead scientist who used to own the place?

DISCLAIMER: The following story is a work of fanfiction, and as such is for fan enjoyment only. All recognizable characters/settings are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended, and no profit is made.

Deus Ex Machina

By KerrAvon

15. Shocking Developments

They were just starting lunch when the rain resumed with a vengeance. Glancing at the shuttered kitchen window, Zelenka asked, "Do you think that the Sergeant made it back to Lorton?"

Sheppard swallowed a mouthful of sandwich. "Yeah, he had plenty of time. I'm sure he's cuddled up with a girlfriend in front of a roaring fire."

"Sorry, Radek, no fire, no girls; I've got a headache - it sucks," quipped McKay, clearing the table. "Let's evaluate our data and run the trials we'd planned before we were so rudely interrupted."

"Yes. Why not?" Zelenka shrugged and followed the other scientist. "I would also like to go through the 'prolonged use' equations one more time as well."

"I'm coming with you; I'd like to find that passage. I just know there's a trapdoor down there somewhere." Sheppard tossed his napkin on the table and followed the pair.

Within moments Zelenka and McKay were immersed in their equations scrolling across the computer display, and Sheppard was busily stomping out the remainder of the floor, listening unsuccessfully for hollow tones. As he finished the far corner he shook his head in disgust. 'Damn. It's got to be here… somewhere. Maybe I can find another reference in the Library.'

Turning towards the scientists, he announced, "Hey guys, I'm going back and see if I can find any other useful books upstairs. You all right for a few minutes?"

"Yes, yes. Go. Somehow we'll manage without you." McKay waved him off distractedly. Sheppard shot him a crooked grin before hauling his aching body back to the second floor. His clean shirt rubbed uncomfortably against the bandage on his burn, which was beginning to itch as well. Upon reaching the library, he headed for the dusty shelf where he'd discovered the earlier reference. However, despite examining half the books in the chamber, he found no further mention of the secret chamber in Bellwick Tower.

Meanwhile, after about thirty minutes of analyzing data and refining algorithms, Rodney straightened and put a hand to a sudden cramp in his back. Twisting from side to side, he stretched and asked, "So, Radek? It's time to run the prototype for a longer time period."

Zelenka nodded enthusiastically as he pushed back his chair. "Yes, yes. Looks good." Glancing around the room, he continued, "As the Colonel has not yet returned, shall I run machine or camera?"

McKay shot him a 'Duh' look as he replied, "The camera, of course." He strode over to the prototype, smoothing his hair with his hands and straightening his shirt.

Zelenka shook his head, smiling, as he picked up the recorder. "Of course."

McKay paused, holding up his index finger, then crouched next to the device. "Wait a second, though. Sheppard is convinced that there is a hidden chamber beneath us, right?" He took off the front access panel and began inspecting the interior of the cloak/ image projector. "We were upstairs for some time; I want to make sure no one's messed with my machine while we were gone."

"Our machine," Zelenka corrected, arms crossed.

"Yes, yes. Our machine. Whatever." He waved at Radek just like he had John earlier, then closed up the access panel and stood and brushed off his hands. "Nothing disturbed. Shall we?" He rolled his hand impatiently, gesturing for Zelenka to back up and turn on the camera. Radek fumbled with the controls for a minute, then nodded that he was ready.

"So? Turn it on!" McKay demanded, annoyed.

"Yes, yes." Zelenka hit record. "All right; it's running."

McKay cleared his throat noisily, then addressed the camera. "Rodney McKay again. This trial will run the prototype at half-power for thirty minutes. Ready? Begin." So saying, he flipped the switch and promptly vanished from view.

Zelenka grinned as he carefully filmed the 'empty' room. "Marvelous," he chortled. Like Sheppard had earlier that day, he took his head out from behind the camera to look with his own eyes, then returned to make certain that he had stayed centered.

"Can you hear me?" came Rodney's excited question from thin air.

"Perfectly," replied the Czech, making sure he was getting it all on tape, frankly amazed at their creation, like a child at Christmas.

The professorial tone returned to Rodney's speech as he addressed his invisible listeners. "All right, as this is a cloak and not a shield, anything can pass through it without the least difficulty." He addressed the other scientist, "Radek, demonstrate by walking through the field while filming continuously."

"Are you certain that is necessary?" inquired Radek nervously.

"Come on, it's perfectly safe." Zelenka could hear the impatience and denigration in McKay's tone. Swallowing anxiously, he inched into the region of the cloak. He felt a slight tingling on his skin, and suddenly both Rodney and the device were visible.

McKay adopted his lecture persona and addressed the camera. "This is, of course, the one failing of this device; should the Wraith fly low enough to penetrate the cloak dome, the deception will be discovered." He waved Zelenka to back up as he continued, "As you can see, the it is an 'all-or-nothing' phenomenon."

As Radek slowly backed out of the field, McKay suddenly winked out of view. "Oooh, tickles," he murmured as he passed through.

"Nyaah, nyaah, can't catch me," lilted a young voice behind the Czech. Radek whirled, still filming, to confront the red-headed boy. Slowly lowering the camera, his eyes widened in fear at what the child represented. "Dear God…"

"Hey! You!" McKay's angry shout came from the vicinity of the cloaking device. "Radek, grab him! I can't leave the machine while it's running!"

Radek whirled towards him, tossing the camera on a nearby table. "Shut it down now, Rodney," he ordered as the scamp ran for the stairwell. Zelenka was hot on his heels, yelling back to Rodney, "Disaster follows that boy!" He was only a few steps behind when the boy threw open the ground-floor door. It had just snicked closed as Radek reached it.

Hurtling through, he careened into Sheppard who had run down from the library at the commotion. The two men tumbled to the ground in a tangle of arms and legs and indiscriminate cursing in at least two languages.

Once they had extricated themselves, Radek looked wildly around the room. "Where did he go? Where could he go? Did you see?"

Sheppard grasped his shoulders and turned him face to face in an effort to still the frantic scientist, "Doctor Z, slow down. See who?"

Radek gasped in exasperation, "The boy, of course!"

"The boy," Sheppard stared at the slighter man for a split second before two sets of eyes widened in alarm.

"Rodney!" they chorused, then rushed for the stairs to the basement.

Crashing into the lab, the pair pulled up short at the sight that met their eyes. Instead of an 'empty' room, a crackling hemisphere of energy occupied its center, with McKay barely visible within it, wrestling desperately with the prototype's controls, having already pulled the front panel open. The 'cloak' was visible as a transparent distortion of vision, with streaks of blue lightning dancing haphazardly over its surface.

"Don't come any closer," he ordered without looking up from his work. "This thing's discharging bolts of power at random intervals and in random directions! I can't control it…yet."

Glancing about, Sheppard noted the irregularly linear charred gouges marking the floor, walls, ceiling, and equipment. Rodney continued, "Radek, I can't shut it down from here; I need you at the computer."

"Oh…Right." Zelenka gulped nervously and crept over to the monitor. Typing furiously on the keyboard, his movements soon became as frantic as McKay's. Just then the dazzling electromagnetic fields coalesced, erupting a jagged fountain of intense blue energy into the far upper corner of the chamber. Small chips of stone exploded out of the impact, causing all three men to duck. Rodney needn't have, as the flying debris was reduced to dust by the intensity of the energy field surrounding him.

"Rodney…" began Sheppard, as he straightened.

"Working on it!" snapped McKay

Another bolt strafed across the floor, excavating a jagged crevasse through the open door and onto the landing, throwing up a small shower of rock in the process.

"McKay, have you tried the 'off' switch?" John asked only semi-sarcastically, studying the energy sphere with a stomach-flipping sense of deja vu.

The astrophysicist didn't deign to respond. The power controls were fused. "Radek, try rerouting the power through…" he began.

"The secondary coupling. I know, I know." The Czech blinked the sweat out of his eyes as another jolt of energy seared past his right shoulder. "No good. The readings indicate that the cloak is not the problem; the power is too great entering the prototype."

Both Zelenka and McKay swung around to face the small box situated between the generator door and the prototype, aghast. "Radek, I checked the cloaking device for tampering when we came down from lunch…"

"But not the power regulator, because it is so simplistic." Radek slapped his forehead with the heel of his hand, calling himself 'idiot' in Czech. Rushing towards the other machine to shut it off, he turned his back to the energy field and failed to notice the coalescence of electromagnetic streams that signaled a discharge was imminent.

Sheppard, however, recognized the signs. He also noted that, if this bolt shot out from the center of the convergence, it would strike Radek full in the back. Breaking into a run, he tackled Zelenka low across the knees, effectively bringing the two of them to the ground. Unfortunately he was not quite fast enough, resulting in the discharge glancing across his already burned back and shoulder while in mid-air. With a wordless cry the world went mercifully black as he struck the cold stone.

Zelenka picked himself up and shakily moved to the unmoving man as McKay looked on helplessly. He placed a trembling hand on the pilot's neck, then jerked his head up in shock to meet Rodney's eyes. "The colonel has no pulse. I think his heart has stopped."

TBC….

AN: This has been a really bad season for my cats. Shadow is missing and presumed dead; we had him for fifteen years. Now my dear little 14-year-old Siamese, Katarina, has passed away as well. The poor thing has had chronic renal failure for over two years, and I was giving her SQ fluids three times a day as well as oral antibiotics twice a day by the end, as well as having to coax her to eat anything. She slept with me for most of last night, but got up around five a.m. to go sleep in front of her heater. When I got up at seven, she was gone. At least she died peacefully in her sleep. Interestingly enough, we should have lost her 5 years ago, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She underwent bilateral mastectomies (a big deal for a cat, who has eight breasts) and removal of lymph nodes in all four drainage beds. There was cancer in three breasts and one lymph node, so she went through chemotherapy, too. However, despite the odds, she remained cancer-free for the rest of her life. I've been lucky to have her this long, and I'll miss her terribly.