AMONG THE STARS - by NotTasha
PART 6: COUNTRY CAPTAIN
The living quarters for the station were in the 'flower pot' bottom of the structure, and it was there that the group gathered. McKay had no desire to take a tour of the crew facilities, and Zeno didn't feel like leading him about any longer. There was little to see in any case – the mess hall, the 'head' with its usual Ancient restroom facilities, and a 'work out' room where makeshift exercise equipment had been set up. Teyla, Sheppard and Rix had ended their tour in the 'barracks' with its messed up beds and tossed-about clothing.
Rix had been a bit embarrassed of the place when he showed it to Teyla and Sheppard, kicking used garments under the bunks. "Should have done laundry a few days back," he muttered. "If we knew you were coming, we'd have cleaned a bit." With a laugh, he explained that they avoided washing the sheets for as long as possible by simply moving to next bunk down in the series of six beds. "It's like a game of huxey-hoddle," he'd explained.
It was a good thing that the environmental controls were in full working order because John was fairly sure the place would have stunk without a good filtration system. Teyla's scrunched up nose had told John that she has suspected the same thing.
The Mess Hall was a fairly large room, obviously meant as a gathering space for the scientists that had worked at the facility. "The Ancients probably made regular visits," McKay surmised. "To check the systems, to ensure that everything was running correctly. Made minor adjustments, stayed a few days, and then went on their way."
It made sense, because Sheppard seriously doubted that he'd be able to spend a lot of time on this space station, and it left him feeling a bit sorry for stranded Zeno and Rix.
The tension in the room relaxed considerably when the MREs were brought out.
"That's food?" Zeno asked suspiciously as he crowded close to get a look at the packets.
"Food?" With a shrug, Sheppard commented, "You can call it that."
"You have a Beef Ravioli in there?" McKay asked hopefully as he leaned toward the colonel to see what was coming out. Sheppard jerked the packs away from the scientist's hopeful gaze.
"Dr. McKay," Teyla calmly remarked, "our hosts should have first choice, don't you agree?" And she made a little scowl as she saw 'Country Captain Chicken' emerge from Sheppard's bag.
"They won't know which one's good. This is all Greek to them," McKay commented, and then paused as he thought of something. "Try the 'Veggie Burger'," he told Rix. "You'll like that one." When he noted the name of the top packet, his expression fell a bit. "Oh, there's a 'Country Captain'! You should gets that one. Be my guest. You'll like it." He glared at Sheppard for a moment, saying in an accusing whisper, "I thought they stopped making that one."
The colonel made a disgruntled sigh. "I figure the folks on the Daedalus bogart the good ones and leave us with these, then no one wants to pack them for missions, so they end up in the jumpers."
Zeno pawed through the packs that Sheppard had tossed to the table, looking at indecipherable writing with the same greedy expression as a child when first glancing a pile of birthday presents. He picked up one pack and squeezed it experimentally.
Rix looked uncertainly at the packaging. With a conciliatory glance to Zeno, he said softly. "We got to take it easy, you know. Zeno, if we eat so much of a new thing, our guts are going to want to revolt."
Zeno snatched up a bag labeled 'Thai Chicken' and mumbled, "I'll take my chances." He sniffed at the metallic packet, longing to find out what was within.
Rix's wisdom won out in the end. He cooked up a pot of tava meal, augmented with half the 'Beef Stew' and part of the 'Pasta with Vegetables'. Ronon grabbed the 'Beefsteak with mushrooms' and Teyla made away with 'Thai Chicken' while Sheppard found 'Beef patty'. McKay, sadly finished up the remains of Rix and Zeno's half-used meals, raiding the Country Captain for its toaster pastry and mashed potatoes. The entrée remained forlornly on the table.
The water bags were also of great interest to the residents of the space station. Rix slurped down the contents of one packet almost immediately, declaring he'd forgotten what good water tasted like. He grabbed another when he thought no one was looking and secreted it under the table.
The food eased the tensions of the room. Rix and Zeno munched at their weird concoction – Zeno looking contented as he shoved the mixture into his mouth, and poked ' potato sticks' and ' wheat bread snack' after it. Rix was more cautious, but soon got into the spirit of the meal when he discovered the wonders of 'chocolate sports bar.'
McKay pecked at his meal as he worked on the crystals he'd collected. He frowned at the vegetables mixed into his pasta, pushing them out of the way to get to the noodles. As the others spoke congenially, he tapped at his data tablet, and then held the crystals up to the light, examining them visually, as if he could conjure their exact use.
Well, Sheppard thought, if anyone could figure out those things – just by looking at them – it'd be McKay.
Sheppard and Ronon, finished with supper, started tossing the football back and forth in the big room, quickly gathering the attention of Rix and Zeno, and gaining the annoyance of McKay, who had to duck more than once to avoid a concussion.
A couple of times, he didn't see the missile in time, and the ball whacked him in the shoulder, or back, or side… to wobble off in a different direction. He'd fume, of course, but the play continued.
Finally, fed up – or finished -- McKay announced that his work was done and that he needed to return to the Ironspot to see if the repair would function properly. Rix quickly volunteered for the job of escort. Sheppard glanced to Teyla, and she went with them.
As they left the room, Zeno picked up the ball and tossed it experimentally to Sheppard, allowing himself a smile.
"What's it called?" Zeno asked as Sheppard caught the wobbly ball with some effort.
"Football," the colonel replied.
"It doesn't look like a foot," Zeno responded as the ball was tossed back to him. He hefted it in his hands and then glanced to the others. "Are we supposed to use our feet to catch it?"
Sheppard made an attempt to answer, but Ronon cut him off. "Don't ask too many questions about it," he told Zeno. "It'll just confuse you and ruin the game."
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Back in the Ironspot, McKay went to work, fussing and poking and experimenting with the equipment. Rix and Teyla made themselves somewhat comfortable sitting in the forward seats as McKay worked.
Rix watched lazily, asking questions, but getting little in response that he could comprehend from McKay. Mills would glance to Teyla, hoping she might provide some insight into what was being said, but her expression told him that she was often just as baffled.
She smiled at Mills, and gave him little encouraging nods when his questioning flagged. It gave him the will to go on.
McKay continued to answer, with a bit more snap with each passing moment, but Rix yawned more often. It was only a matter of time and the man's first good meal made him drowsy. Soon, he was leaned back in the seat and dozed.
A little tired herself, Teyla stood and stretched and moved closer to where McKay was working.
"Teyla, you're just in time," Rodney said brightly at her approach. "I appreciate you staying out of my way until now, by the way," he said in an attempt to make a compliment.
"Yes," Teyla responded softly. "I thought it would be best."
"And you got our ah… host… to finally shut up. Very good of you."
She smiled slightly at that and said, "I did my best."
"Well, good… good," McKay gestured grandly to the crystals. "The work is complete. Have a look." He stepped back, folding his arms over his chest and bouncing slightly as Teyla stepped forward.
She did her best to examine the set of crystals, finding that it looked exactly like every other bank that she'd seen in the past. She turned toward the physicist and smiled warmly at him. "Well done, Dr. McKay," she complimented.
He grinned even more, and spoke excitedly, "It required quite a bit of patching and it's not as clean as it should be." A finger pointed into the works of the display. "See here, I had to make room for my 'patch', so I removed some of the crystals that they've already overridden with their own equipment. But see this, this here? This section that looks like it was completed by baboons?" He pointed emphatically to a section that looked rather like every other section. "Let's just start off by saying, I didn't do that."
"That is obvious," Teyla responded serenely.
"Yes, of course," McKay replied. "If we had unlimited time, I would make the repair a bit cleaner, but apparently it works, so I'll leave it as it is. But do you know what they've done here?"
"No, I am afraid I do not."
"Well, if you look here, you'll see what's been patched in," and he pointed to a strange looking protuberance that was hooked into one wall, "I think you might recognize the technology." And he paused, waiting for Teyla to take a look at the mechanism.
Teyla obligingly stepped closer to the device, feeling that she'd have no chance of recognizing the source of the technology, but as she leaned in, there was no mistaking the 'fleshy' looking bit of business. "Wraith." Teyla stepped back in disgust, as if needing to get away from the thing. "They have had dealings with the Wraith?"
McKay waved away her concern. "They've scavenged bits and pieces of technology from everywhere. I wouldn't be surprised to find bits of a Soyuz and the Cassini-Huygens in here." He paused, cocked his head and amended, "Okay, I would be surprised by that."
Teyla said nothing, knowing that she'd be better off not questioning the reference.
McKay went on, "And the fascinating thing about this piece of technology?" He tapped it with one of the tools he'd been using. "It's a shield device." He nodded and smiled smugly. "They've managed to wire a Wraith shield into what used to be a jumper. More effective than that barrier the Wraith put up for us on that desert planet. Very clever." He glanced to the slumbering Rix and commented softly, "I rather doubt that this brain trust had anything to do with it."
The magnitude of what McKay stated sunk in. "Being able to add a shield to the jumpers would be very beneficial," Teyla responded.
"Yes, well yes, that's obvious, isn't it?" Rodney said with a nod. "I'm going to have to study all of this a bit more to figure out how they did it. Oh, and they have the ability to fire torpedoes, too.
"Torpedoes?" Teyla tried the word.
"They couldn't use those squiddy drones because, well, they don't have the ATA gene to activate them, but they've replaced the drone launching system with a pair of torpedo tubes. I discovered them when I went over this earlier, but I've just been able to access the systems." He leaned down and heaved open a compartment in the floor, revealing a tube that ran under the floor. "Seems pretty simple, actually. They just need to load in an explosive and they're ready to go. They're fired by pushing that button on the control panel, the mauve one."
"Mauve," Teyla tried the word.
"The purplish one, that looks like it was added using duct tape and chewing gum."
"And how is the device aimed?"
McKay paused, considering. "I think it's just point and shoot," he decided.
Teyla looked around the Ironspot apprehensively. "Are there any other weapons present?"
"Nope," McKay responded quickly. "Not that I'd ever want to rely on such a … simplistic weapons system, but the fact that they were able to integrate it into the jumper is… amazing. Just the knowledge that they were able to do this could prove helpful in the future."
"That is good news," Teyla responded, smiling still.
"Yes, of course," McKay replied, angling his head up slightly. "And, naturally I've already committed all of this to memory. I'm a veritable font of knowledge." He smiled. "Now," he added. "I want to go check on the ZPM charge and the data download to ensure that we have them running correctly before we run a test on this …" and he patted one wall of the ship, "…monstrosity. It should fire right up."
Teyla glanced to Rix, finding him sleeping soundly. "That would be wise," she responded.
"Yeah, like I was saying. So… we head up to the control room?" he looked to Rix. "You want to wake him?"
She paused a moment, regarding the sleeping man. "I shall remain," Teyla decided. "It might be best if he does not know that you have completed the repair. It will allow you to perform your inspection without interruption."
"Yeah, true," Rodney conceded.
"They seem to be interested only in the repair of this ship. It would be best if we had what we want, before they received what they want."
"Excellent. Good," McKay responded, bouncing slightly on his heels. "Okay, I'll go check." He turned and made his way off the hybrid jumper. "You sure you'll be okay here with him."
Teyla smiled slightly at the sleeping man. "I will have no problems," she decided.
"Great, okay," Rodney responded, looking apprehensive about leaving Teyla.
"I will be fine, Rodney," Teyla assured.
"Of course," Rodney replied, and he gave her what might have been an encouraging smile. "I'll be right back." He offered nodding toward the door.
Teyla smiled as the door activated and he stepped through the opening. Once the door closed, she sighed and returned her attention to the sleeping man, curled tightly on the seat.
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The doorway to the central core didn't give McKay much trouble. He'd seen both Rix and Zeno activate the door, had witnessed the series of buttons pushed, so he only needed to replicate the movements and he was through.
He grumbled as he was met with the ladders again, not caring for the means of moving from one level to another. "Haven't they ever heard of transporters?" he asked no one as closed the door behind him.
Great! His arm hurt – exactly where Ronon had hit him earlier with the football. "I told them I'd bruise," he said under his breath. "Great thing to have when I'm is trying to climb a ladder – a big BRUISE on my arm. Not helping matters."
Muttering unhappily, he clung with one hand to the ladder when he reached the top. He quickly entered the code to open the door to the upper level, and with a whoosh, it opened.
He smiled when he entered the control center, and approached the laptop. Checking the progress, he discovered that the download was complete. He hummed a little as he examined the data, delighted to see the extent of it. Eyes darted back and forth as lines of information scrolled across the screen. Days could be spent just paging through the download, and for a moment he considered staying put and doing exactly that.
But, remembering his other responsibilities, McKay shrugged and closed down the laptop.
He frowned, realizing he should have taken his pack with him. It would make toting the laptop much easier. Oh! Especially when he went down that ladder! Well, great… just great.
So, the Ironspot was fixed, the data download complete -- two missions complete – one to go. If the power buffer was now sufficiently charged, they'd all be free to go.
He tucked the laptop under his arm and walked from the control room to the power room. He couldn't keep the bounce from his step. This little mission would prove to be one of the most profitable they'd ever completed. They would come away with a ZPM, knowledge of how to install shields on their jumpers and… he patted the laptop lovingly… a wealth of information regarding the death of a star.
Already, he was itching to get back to Atlantis so that he could go check it all out.
He opened the room to the power room and stepped inside, smiling blissfully at the ZPM station. The only disappointment was that the buffer wasn't completely charged. He frowned at the readouts, and then decided it wasn't going to bother him. Another ten minutes or so would do the trick.
He sat back, prepared to open his laptop and make good use of the time by starting his examination of the data he'd compiled. The astrophysicist in him was straining to study the data, but as he looked around the room, the perfectionist in him took over.
There was something wrong with the far wall. The boxes were completely out of place, but it was more than that. This room was the wrong size. He's seen the schematics for the station, had known exactly where to find the ZPM room, and he knew that the room should have been twice this size.
Why was the room shortened? It was as if someone had blocked off the back half of this space and created another room.
Rodney set the laptop down on the ZPM station and wandered toward the boxes. He leaned his head one way, and then the other as he examined the wall. Reaching out one hand, he felt along a seam, and grinned. There was a door. Yes, quite possibly a storage space behind it. Perhaps even another ZPM? Excitedly, he pulled out his scanner and tried to get a reading, but the system was still flummoxed by the station's jamming system.
"Great," he muttered. "I guess I'll just have to check and see. And… move the boxes." He paused, and then looked over his shoulder, wishing he'd brought Teyla and Rix along to help him with this task. "Why did they have to leave these boxes here anyway?" he whined softly. "I mean, really!"
With a grunt, he moved one box, and then another, pushing them clear of the door. "Bet it was Zeno," he muttered as he worked. "Seems like the sort of thing he'd do," Rodney grumbled. "If they were planning to put these boxes into the storeroom, they're total idiots to leave them so that they were BLOCKING the door. Asinine!"
After a couple moments of sweat, Rodney managed to complete the task. Smiling at his accomplishment, Rodney ran his hand around the door, finding a concealed control panel after a moment. The door didn't open, but that was little hindrance to a mind such as Dr. Rodney McKay's.
"Here we go," he said out loud, keying it with the commands. "Let's see what's inside you."
And the door slid open. For a moment, Rodney was startled by a flash of gold – gold, or something like it, glittered from the room. Everything within was gold and silver, like a treasure trove. There were jewels and little Ancient devices, all hastily jammed into boxes and containers and shoved into the space.
His jaw dropped and he was frozen in surprise as he took it in. "What the…" he started, and jumped back as something moved at him from within the hidden room.
"What? Who?" he demanded, his voice getting a bit higher as a woman stepped into the doorway. He stared at her in disbelief – and she stared back with cold dark eyes.
"What are you doing in there?" McKay questioned, and flinched as she lifted a weapon from her side, bringing it to bear on him.
Rodney raised his hands in surprise and submission as he tried to back away. "Sorry!" he squeaked, not knowing what else to say.
The woman said nothing as he moved away, following his progress with her weapon.
"I didn't know… I…"
She was compact, dark-skinned, with long black hair that fell in long braids down her back, and a severe face. Silently, she watched him, until Rodney reached the door.
When she spoke, it was a smoky growl. "Stop," she ordered.
"I didn't see anything in there," Rodney tried to convince. "Nothing, I just…" The exit was just behind him, opening as it felt him draw close. "Let's forget this happened, okay? You can just go back into your little hole and shut the door. I'll even move the boxes back if you want."
Her sharp expression didn't change and the weapon remained pointed at him.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Rodney spotted his laptop – filled with information that would make any astrophysicist cry. He made a grab for it, unwilling to leave it behind. His hands clasped tight and he drew it to him.
He didn't hear the shot. It was like a punch to his side, and he stumbled, spinning into the doorframe and falling even as he grasped the laptop to his chest.
--
TBC - uh-oh... I guess he should have left those boxes alone.