AMONG THE STARS - by NotTasha

PART 4: FLOWER POT

"It's amazing that you found us," Rix remarked as he left the jumper bay and stopped at a door immediately across from the room. "I mean, it's not as if we're near a major planet or something. Why'd you come this way, anyway?" he asked, turning to face them.

"Exploring," Sheppard responded. "We like exploring."

"Sounds like we got something in common," Rix replied, proudly. "My people are explorers."

"Who are your people?" Teyla asked leadingly as they stood in the hallway. "What is your home planet?"

With a shrug, Rix told her, "We haven't had a home planet in many generations. We stay on the move and keep the bait on the bunting."

Sheppard didn't bother to try to understand the idiom, saying, "Yeah, I bet."

Rix went on, "We're always one step ahead of the Wraith. They couldn't catch us."

"Until this last time," Teyla clarified.

"Huh?"

"You said that you and Zeno escaped the Wraith while the others of your group were culled."

Rix paused before he stated, "Well, I wasn't with my people at the time. Me and Zeno were trading. It's so unfortunate what happened to those people."

"Lucky they had the ship," Sheppard stated, "And that you were able to fly it."

He grinned at Sheppard when he said those words. "Yeah. I'm good at that."

"I see," Sheppard responded, giving Teyla a look as Rix tapped at a control pad. A door opened, exposing a small room.

"So, you're exploring," Rix continued. "Looking for anything in particular?" he asked leadingly as he lingered in the doorway.

Teyla smiled sweetly, stated, "We are looking for neighbors with whom we might trade."

"Yeah," Rix responded. "We're the same. Looking for stuff. We do a lot of that." And he stepped into a cylindrical room, about seven feet in diameter. "We got to go up the central core," Mills explained as he grasped onto a ladder and took the first step.

"Up," Sheppard repeated to Teyla as he entered the small room after Rix. He tilted his head back, finding that the ladder went up about one story to the 'ceiling', and Rix was quickly covering the distance. His thin arms and legs jerked, looking like strange shears snipping away.

When the man reached the top of the ladder, he nodded down to them. "Come on in, John," he called. "Teyla, you guys got to step all the way in."

Sheppard glanced to Teyla, who offered a slight shrug, and they stepped fully into the little round room. The door came down behind them with a heavy sigh. Almost instantly Sheppard felt pressure in his ears and glanced about in surprise.

"Sorry," Rix called down as he pressed a panel. "Should have warned you."

A door opened beside the ladder where Mills clung, and the pressure was relieved. "Air locks. The central core is full of them. Can't open the next door unless the others in that section are shut." He stepped through the opening and peered down at them, waiting. "I think this space station was made in pieces, brought here, and then hooked together with these air locks. You coming?"

Sheppard slung his P90 over his shoulder and responded, "Airlocks? You don't say?" and started up the ladder. As he clambered up, he was reminded of the water tower near his uncle's farm. He'd climbed the thing with his cousins one summer and had attempted to find a way in. They'd never made it into the structure, but as his feet clomped on the rungs, Sheppard had a feeling that the inside might have been something like this space.

Teyla watched from below, waiting until Sheppard reached the top before she followed him through the open doorway above. The door snicked down behind her.

They found themselves in another rounded hallway, identical to the one that they'd just left. Rix moved across the hall and activated a door, opening the room directly above the jumper bay. "This is the control center," he explained as he stepped into the room.

John paused at the entrance, seeing a room filled with control panels, display screens and other whatnot.

Rodney would be thrilled, Sheppard decided. The overhead lights had come on with Rix's advance into the room, but there was a stale feeling to the space, a stillness, as if no one had been in there for a quite some time.

"Figure this is where the database is," Rix said helpfully. He ran a hand over one control panel as he walked by it. "We don't do much on this floor, and haven't been able to activate anything, but maybe…"

And as Sheppard came near the device, the controls illuminated. Sheppard raised an eyebrow at the change and Rix stepped back in surprise.

"It's working?" Rix asked, surprised. He came to stand near Sheppard and gaze in wonder at the lit panel. "Look at that! John! You're amazing! And so it's true? You ARE of the Ancestors!" He looked at Sheppard with new appreciation.

Sheppard considered what to say, but figured that McKay had already spilled the beans. "Yeah," he drawled. "Makes a good parlor trick."

If Rix was confused by the reference, he didn't show it. "It really kicks the bale, don't it?" was his response.

Sheppard shrugged, getting used to Rix's way of speaking. "I'm surprised you guys haven't cobbled together an interface for this like the one in the ship. You might have been able to send off a distress call, or something."

Rix laughed. "Aw crackers! Distress call? And let the Wraith know we're here? No. We had enough food and water to keep us, so we figured we'd wait until some of our people showed up."

"Oh," Teyla responded. "You are expecting them?"

With a shrug, Rix told her, "Eventually… I mean, our people know about this place so it's only a matter of time before someone cruises by, but it's been quite a while." He paused, as if troubled, then went on with, "There's no reason to mess with this stuff and I wouldn't want to. No telling what we might accidentally shut off." He walked about the room, his hands behind his back as he stared in wonder at the activated panels.

"Yeah, you wouldn't want to shut off life support by accident, would you," Sheppard decided.

"Exactly," Rix told him. "It's all too complicated for me. That's why it's so damn good that you all came by here!" He smiled widely and then turned to Teyla. "What about you then? Do you have these powers, too?" His smile was rather sweet.

The Athosian shook her head. "No, my people are not blessed with this ability."

Sheppard added, offhand, "It's a gift."

Rix continued, "So, your ship hasn't been altered? It is as the Ancestors made it?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Sheppard replied, not sure of what to make of the inquiries.

"So only those with this gift can fly it?" he asked.

"Yeah," Sheppard replied. " 'Fraid so."

"Great," Rix responded, looking away to examine the lit keys. "Do you think Rodney'll be able to fix ours?"

"He is very good at repairing equipment," Teyla told them.

"Yeah, he can fix just about anything -- if he wants to," Sheppard added. "And, if he doesn't manage it somehow, we can give you a ride somewhere."

"Oh," Rix responded, smiling tightly. "Well, let's wait and see if Rodney fixes the Ironspot. That would be best for everyone." He moved quickly through the room, seeming distracted by the illuminations. He paused suddenly and asked, "Why do you want to download the database?"

"We are interested in the information regarding the supernova," Teyla explained.

"Oh?" Mills responded. He puzzled a moment and then asked, "Why? What are you planning to do about it?"

Sheppard shrugged. "Supernovas are pretty cool. McKay wants to study it. He gets excited about stuff like that."

"Dr. McKay is quite interested in such phenomenon," Teyla told him.

"Oh, okay," Rix nodded, thoughtfully stroking his chin. "So… how much do you think it recorded? Do you think it has information only about the supernova? It wouldn't be interested in anything else, would it?"

Sheppard blinked slowly. "I'm sure that's what the sensors were concerned with," he placated.

"Okay, good!" Rix nodded, and rocked back on his heels. "I guess I can show you the next room, okay?"

"Sure," Sheppard responded. "What the heck?"

"Great! Come on, John, Teyla." And Rix ducked past them and into the hallway.

Teyla and Sheppard exchanged a look as they paused before leaving the room. His glance carried the warning – watch out for this guy – watch out for this place.

Something just didn't feel right.

888888888888888888

Ronon watched from his location just outside the Ironspot, watching as Rodney examined the handiwork inside the Ironspot.

The scientist squeezed into various cubbyholes on the ship, having removed his pack and vest to fit. He moved from one panel to the next, his frown deepening with every stop. It was obvious, even to the former runner, that someone had some done some seriously ugly alterations to a jumper.

As McKay muttered, fussing, poking and prodding, Ronon's attention stayed on Zeno.

He didn't like the man. He didn't care for the sneaky-looking little guy either. But, at least, he could understand Zeno. Ronon had seen plenty of people like him – big and mean, the Satedan decided. The type of guy who preferred to bust heads instead negotiating, who preferred a good weapon in his hand over a brain full of technical knowledge. Blowing things up fixed a lot of problems. Sometimes the easiest way to move from one point to another was to carve a hole straight through the middle. Ronon knew this sort of man well – he was this sort of man.

He watched Zeno, who divided his attention between the Satedan and the Canadian. The two big men said nothing. They just listened to the annoyed sighs and garbled murmurings of the disgusted physicist.

"So…" McKay started, breaking the uneasy quiet. "Anyone try to fix this at all?" He pulled up a panel on the floor to reveal another alteration. he groaned as if in pain, then tugged at a latch, revealing some type of dark tube-shaped area beneath their feet. With a grimace, he shut the hatch and replaced the panel.

Zeno watched his movements without saying a word.

"Hello?" McKay cried. "I asked if anyone has tried to fix this thing?"

"Wouldn't know how," Zeno responded darkly.

"Well," Rodney returned, "I wasn't really talking about you. The other guy -- did he try to fix this? Did he alter anything?"

Zeno made a grunt, and then commented, "Rix hasn't changed anything."

"But you guys managed to fly it here?" McKay was incredulous. "How can you operate a piece of sophisticated equipment without having a clue about how it functions?"

"Rix flew it," Zeno informed him. "I don't know how."

McKay tsked and stated, "Well, big surprise, huh?" He sighed discontentedly, poking still. With a wince, he amended, "Okay, okay, I guess I can understand that. I mean, Sheppard can fly just about anything, but fixing a problem? Not so much. I mean, god forbid if something were to break!"

Neither Ronon nor Zeno responded, glaring at each other over the short space.

Frustrated, McKay continued, "But, come on, someone must have tried to fix this." He looked up at Zeno, perplexed. "Maybe your little buddy sneaked in here and fiddled a bit while you were doing something else, huh?"

With a shrug, Zeno informed, "Rix isn't like that."

"Looks sneaky to me," McKay uttered.

"He doesn't do anything unless I tell him. It's broken. It's been broken. That's all I know."

McKay sat back on his haunches and frowned as he continued his inspection. Ronon watched him, easily seeing the discontent in the scientist's posture – and finding it strange that McKay hadn't voiced exactly what was bothering him.

Something was up. There was no doubt about it. The Satedan kept his gaze on Zeno, hoping that Sheppard and Teyla returned soon so that they could get the hell out of here.

--
TBC -..what could possibly be wrong?