AMONG THE STARS - by NotTasha
PART 2: ASTRONOMICAL
The jumper came to a stop. "Supernova?" Sheppard responded, his voice alarmed. He felt every muscle tense as he turned to look at the astrophysicist. "I don't know a whole lot about those things, but I know they're big and they go BOOM." McKay didn't answer, his gaze still on the colorful blot. "McKay?" Sheppard's voice was sharp.
"What?" McKay returned, annoyed.
"How much time do we have?" he barked out.
"Time?" McKay suddenly realized what Sheppard was getting at. "Eons," he responded. "This is tens of thousands of years old… but wow. I mean… wow! I … I read about this one in the Ancient database and have wanted to see it up close. And it's …" he paused, contemplating. "A long way from here," he decided. "I won't know the exact distance until I've done some research, taken some readings. We are staying here, aren't we? At least long enough for me to get some work done?"
Sheppard sighed, relieved at that news. He'd seen too many sci-fi movies, he decided. "Sure. Why not? Just as long as this doesn't take too long. I'm not hanging out here for days."
"This could take a while."
"We're not hanging out here for days!"
"And the nova wouldn't have gone 'boom', by the way because…"
"There's no sound in space. Yeah, I know … Mr. Astrophysicist. Thanks for reminding me."
"Well, you needed to be corrected on that point."
"I got it, McKay. I think we all understand that. Sheesh."
"It's all because of bad sci-fi shows," McKay muttered. "Why do they insist on adding sound effect explosions in space? I mean, they have to go out of their way to add it. And, if they couldn't help themselves from adding a big 'boom', they should just avoid it altogether. Just take the damn explosions OUT and save us all from bad science."
"Explosions are the best part a movie," Sheppard shot back. "And, what the heck, I like things that go boom."
"It drives me crazy!"
"Some people go to the movies to have fun, not to pick them to pieces."
"What's that?" Ronon asked, pointing toward the nebulous mass, and managing to cut off the latest argument between his teammates.
"That," McKay responded, sounding a bit persnickety, "Is the remnants of a supernova. Weren't you paying attention?"
Furrowing his brow in annoyance, the big Satedan responded, "I know that. I'm asking what THAT is." And he jabbed his finger toward the nova again.
Sheppard squinted, wondering if he saw some black blot in-between their ship and that supernova. Instantly, the HUD came up, displaying an elongated structure of some sort.
"A space station!" Rodney surmised. He immediately started typing on his laptop. "I think I've seen that same structure in the databases somewhere… hang on."
"Let's go have a look-see," Sheppard stated and he guided the jumper closer to the blot. He watched in wonder as the shape grew larger even though the supernova in the background seemed to remain the same size. McKay kept typing, pausing only when a football suddenly thumped into his shoulder.
McKay winced, cringed and whined a little. "Great... Great. That was wonderful," he groused, scrambling to grasp hold of the ball with one hand as it bounced haphazardly on the floor of the jumper. He never had a chance.
Ronon captured it as it wobbled his way, and secured it beneath his seat. He grinned proudly.
"Juvenile," McKay mumbled, rubbing his maligned shoulder. "And I'm sure to get a bruise. And then I won't be able to lift my arm or anything. So when you're complaining to me about why I'm not toting as much gear as the rest of you, you'll know why!"
"McKay, you NEVER carry as much gear as the rest of us when we're on a long mission," Sheppard told him tiredly as he came nearer the station. It looked oddly like a potted flower. A dome 'flower' at the top, a stem leading to a disk shaped section and a 'pot' beneath that. Crazy.
"That's not true. I carry a lot."
"Hell," Sheppard went on. "You're usually getting the rest of us to tote a thing or two of yours. You get the locals involved whenever you can. You turn everyone around you into your own personal sherpa."
"I carry my fair share," McKay mumbled. "The important stuff. The vital equipment that should be handled with a gentle touch, that can't be trusted to those who tend to be a little more… impulsive and erratic with their movements. That stuff weighs a lot!"
"His pack is quite heavy," Teyla added, remembering the times she'd been pressed into service.
Sheppard couldn't deny this fact – but he'd be damned if he let McKay know this. On the everyday missions, McKay probably carried more weight than any of them.
McKay kept typing, then paused, lifting a finger as if to get silence from the others. "I found it!"
"Yeah, what is it?" Sheppard asked as they drew nearer the thing.
"An observation station," McKay told them as he read through the description, still partially in Ancient. "These were set up when the Ancients wanted to witness something on a galactic scale." He grinned then, widely. "It was put here to observe the supernova!"
"Yeah," Sheppard responded. "That'd make sense. The supernova's pretty enough."
"No, no… not because it's pretty. Look, it's obviously been here for over 10,000 years, probably much longer," McKay replied quickly. "It was placed here as soon as the Ancients figured the star was in the last stages of its existence. It probably recorded the entire event – what led up to it, the explosion, the aftermath."
"No 'boom' though."
"No boom! Definitely, no boom!" McKay spoke faster and faster. "The data contained in that station would be… of incredible value. No one has every recorded a supernova happening, let alone from start to finish. Do you understand the magnitude of this discovery?"
Sheppard glanced back at the scientist and noted the almost rabid expression. "Down, McKay," he ordered. "Calm down."
"We should board that station and download the information that has been recorded," McKay proclaimed, clutching at his laptop greedily. "The value of this information would be…" he paused and smiled, "… astronomical."
"Yeah, yeah," Sheppard said tiredly, looking at the station they approached. It loomed just in front of them. The size was still difficult to judge, but it looked as tall as a seven-story building. "We only have the one spacesuit. I'm kinda doubting that it has any life-support so…"
The images on the HUD suddenly changed, illuminating sections of the schematic. "Power!" McKay called, pointing to the lighted bits. "It's got power! And it looks like life-support is already running!"
"That is unusual, is it not?" Teyla asked. "Life-support should not be active."
The thought made McKay's expression drop for a moment, and the screen changed on the HUD again. "No life-signs. It probably turned on the life-support when it sensed our approach. Like a welcome to the neighborhood."
"Yeah…" Sheppard responded, giving Ronon and then Teyla a careful glance.
"Power," McKay went on. "Well, of course it should have power, otherwise it would have been affected by the gravity of Marxworld, wouldn't it. Sure we're a way's from it, but it'd only be a matter of a few thousand years and it'd be pulled into the planet. It must be capable of controlling and correcting its positioning."
Sheppard raised one eyebrow. "You're thinking… maybe a ZPM?"
With a nod, McKay agreed, "To keep this thing powered and recording for over 10,000 years – it's gotta be a ZPM keeping that thing going."
"All right then," Sheppard concluded. "Let's check 'er out!"
888888888888888888
The beauty of the space station became apparent as they drew near it. The upper section was a half sphere, its flat edge attached to the rest of the structure, and the glass-like dome was covered with a web of intricate metal. Beneath it, a series of segments connected it to the wide disk below, all of it overlaid with the same 'Frank Lloyd Wright' style geometry that reminded Sheppard of Atlantis. Beneath the disk, the bulb shaped compartment looked like a flower pot.
As the jumper drew closer, McKay told him, "There should be a jumper bay on the central disk." He glanced up from his computer. "There," he said, pointing. "That would be the bay door. This structure was designed with these ships in mind so we shouldn't have any trouble. There's an atmosphere capable room just waiting for us."
"Our very own garage," Sheppard decided.
"Yeah," McKay answered. "Just got to get the door open."
"Gotcha," Sheppard stated, maneuvering the jumper closer to the indicated square. He thought 'open' and was disappointed to find nothing had happened. 'Open' he thought again. 'OPEN, dammit!' and nothing.
"Are you trying to open it?" McKay asked from behind him.
"Yes!"
"I mean, mentally."
"YES!"
"Oh," McKay responded and tapped at the keyboard.
"Perhaps it requires an IDC," Teyla tried.
"Might have to dial it," Ronon decided looking at the DHD. "Would be too bad if the DHD was broken."
"It's not broken!" Sheppard shot back.
"We hope," McKay said petulantly. "Anyway, it wouldn't require the DHD to open. No, this should open with a mental command. Are you sure you're thinking about the door and not something else?"
"Do you know what I'm thinking right now?" Sheppard growled as he turned to the scientist and fixed him with a glare.
McKay gave him a tight grin and responded, "It might involve me and certain physically impossible contortions."
That got a small chuckle out of Sheppard, and then a sigh. "So, how do we get it to open?"
"I don't know," McKay grumbled. He glared, through the windshield. "It should have just… opened as we drew closer. It should know we're right here."
"Might be blocked," Ronon surmised.
"Maybe if you offered a verbal command," Teyla tried, helpfully.
"Open the pod bay doors, HAL," Sheppard ordered.
Nothing happened, except that McKay made a little chuckle, and then said in a pleasant monotone, "I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."
Ronon leaned toward the Athosian and asked, "You ever get the feeling that you're being left out of a joke?"
"It is most annoying," Teyla responded, wearily. "And it is rather rude. One must learn to ignore them when they act this way." She threw McKay an irritated look.
McKay smiled at her, looking a little tickled to have caused this reaction. But he frowned as he returned his attention to the bay that remained stubbornly shut.
Sheppard frowned, and muttered, "What's the problem?"
McKay grinned, nearly glowing with glee, as he said in the same sweet monotone, "I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do."
"Huh?" Sheppard returned.
"No, no," McKay said animatedly, "You're supposed to say, 'What are you talking about, HAL?' and then I say, 'This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it'."
For that, Sheppard gave McKay a disgusted look, and growled, "Nobody knows the rest of the dialogue, McKay."
"I do! Come on..."
"Don't do that."
"What?"
"We need to know how to get in there, McKay," he stressed the name, as if to ensure that the physicist was quite sure that he was only a super genius and not a super genius computer bent on killing everyone. "How to we get in?!"
The HUD changed again, indicating different section of the station. "Ha!" Sheppard declared, pursing his lips with a grin, "You were wrong, Mr. Smartypants."
"No, I'm right," McKay reiterated. "THAT is the jumper bay. Why are we leaving the jumper bay?"
"Because it doesn't want us there." Sheppard directed the jumper around, lazily circling the station. "It wants us over here." He came around the far side of the station as McKay tapped at his keyboard.
"That's just a docking station," McKay stated, as a shape came into sight on the side of the station. "Oh, a docking station. That'd work."
"Yeah, street parking," Sheppard added.
The dock was shaped roughly like the back end of the jumper and Sheppard quickly figured out what he needed to do to hook up. "Funny that you didn't find this dock yourself," Sheppard chided. "Maybe you should study those schematics a little closer next time."
For that, McKay jabbed at his keyboard, muttering, "I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do."
When that got an odd look from Sheppard, McKay frowned and stated, "What? So you can quote a line from '2001' and I can't?"
"You're pathetic, you know that?" Sheppard said, returning his gaze to the HUD and the station.
"Oh, and let me guess, you can quote nearly every line from 'Caddyshack' and probably 'The Blues Brothers'."
"And 'Young Frankenstein,' because those movies were cool and '2001' was mostly lame."
"Lame?" McKay sputtered. "It's just probably the most realistic movie about space travel that has ever been produced!"
"What, all that squiggly light stuff and the floating fetus at the end were realistic?"
"Okay, that, not so much… but…"
"And the dullest part about that movie was that all the 'space' scenes had no sound." He tsked, hearing McKay make a strangling sound. "And seriously, they needed explosions to liven it up."
"No… wait… come on…"
"Quiet down while I get us docked," Sheppard stated, amazingly silencing the sputtering scientist. "Let me just sidle up here and see if we can't get us into that thar space station."
McKay harrumphed, but offered no further complaints as he pecked at the keyboard. Ronon and Teyla had nothing to say in the matter.
After a bit of finagling, Sheppard brought the ship inline with the dock, backing it into the shape that resembled the rear of the jumper. As he drew close, the station seemed to take over. Something extended from the hatch and latched onto the jumper with a jolt.
For a second or two, the four waited, as if they expected something else to happen, but the ship was still and the jumper automatically shut down. There was a hiss as the jumper equalized its pressure with the station.
"Okay then," Sheppard responded, standing up and making his way to the rear of the ship. He suited up, pulling on his vest and hefting a P90, checking it over quickly. He watched as Teyla and Ronon did the same, and Rodney shut down his laptop and quickly secured it in his pack.
"Ready?" Rodney asked excitedly. "Come on, let's check it out."
"You sure there's oxygen in there?" Sheppard asked, pointing the muzzle of his weapon toward the jumper's hatch.
McKay pulled a scanner from his pocket and nodded as he held it out. "Breathable atmosphere, acceptable temperature. You did hear the system match up, didn't you?" He poked again. "There's gravity even." He smiled. "The station rolled out the red carpet and is ready for us."
"And no life signs?"
"Nothing," McKay stated as he eyed the life sign detector.
"Yeah," Sheppard said with a sigh. He nodded to McKay to hit the control for the hatch. "I just don't want any surprises."
The hatch sighed as it opened and the four stood, watching and waiting. McKay cringed backward, holding his breath as if he wasn't entirely sure about the atmosphere's breathablity, and focused on the life sign detector in his hand.
The empty corridor was revealed beyond the hatch and Rodney let out a surprised gasp, expelling his held air.
"What?" Sheppard asked, realizing already that he was going to regret this.
"There's nothing on the life sign detector," McKay stated.
"You already said that," Ronon told him.
"Nothing! Don't you get it?" McKay stated sharply. "WE are not even showing up!"
And at those words, two men stepped from either side of the hatch, weapons lifted and ready to fire into the jumper.
--
TBC - oops! This can't be good!