Chapter 3 – Viewing Gallery
Teyla had contacted Colonel Carter who had said she would immediately send a team down to blast, drill or otherwise penetrate the security doors. Sam also said Zelenka was on the case, trying to access the pier's security system from the central city systems, so far with no luck.
Teyla and Ronon had set off to search the perimeter of the testing facility in an attempt to locate any hidden entrances, access hatches or ventilation shafts. Failing that, they would assess areas of potential structural weakness which might respond to C4.
Dr Keller had been struggling to interpret the Ancients' data displays with limited success.
"I don't think I can help, Rodney, I don't understand this. I don't even see how it could work!"
"Think of it like the Ancient scanner, only not so intense. It scans the area where it detects life signs constantly, in order to monitor things like," Rodney pointed to the display, "here, this one must be pulse, this one... judging by the format of the data, I think this is blood pressure."
Keller still looked baffled.
"I can take this data, run it through a program on my laptop and send it to your data pad in a format you'll recognise," said Rodney.
"Will it take long?"
"No," he replied, "give me ten minutes!"
"Good, because I'm starting to feel pretty useless here!" she said worriedly.
All too soon the next door opened. Sheppard and Williams stayed in the connecting corridor as long as they could, until the familiar humming started up and they knew they had to move or risk electric shocks.
They moved cautiously into the room, this time it was slightly different in that the other door was in the left wall in the far corner.
As soon as the door slid shut behind them they noticed the heat. The walls and floor were hot to the touch and getting hotter and steam began filling the room.
Sheppard felt sweat break out all over his body. He could feel it running down his face, running down his neck and collecting in his collar. The air was so hot it hurt to breathe; it felt like it was scorching the inside of his nose and mouth and down into his lungs. He looked at Private Williams, her face red and shining, gasping painfully for air.
Rodney's voice came through the comms: "Sheppard, what's happening? Keller says your heart rates and respiration are up."
"Heat," Sheppard choked, saving his breath.
Sheppard gestured to the far door, indicating they should get as close as possible so they could dive through as soon as it opened.
They both took off their tac vests and shirts; Sheppard tried to hold on to his weapon but the metal was already hot and burned his hands. He had to put it down. In just T-shirts the skin of their arms felt like it was about to blister. Williams took her canteen, and went to pour some water over her face but Sheppard gestured 'no' to her.
"No, need it all to drink," he gasped.
The steam was making it increasingly difficult to breathe and Sheppard felt his head begin to swim. Private Williams reached out to him, her eyes unfocussed, her breath coming in rapid pants. He grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes.
"Just ... ten ... minutes," he ground out.
Dr Keller was studying her data pad anxiously. "This is bad, Rodney, their core temperatures are beginning to rise - they're heading for heatstroke!"
"Sheppard!" Rodney called urgently, but there was no response. "Sheppard, can you hear me?"
Sheppard and Williams stood, leaning against each other for support, simply enduring the oven-like temperature, desperately hoping they wouldn't pass out and fall to the searing heat of the floor, which was beginning to melt the soles of their boots.
When the door finally opened Williams all but fell through onto the floor of the connecting passageway, Sheppard forcing himself to kick their discarded kit through the door before he sagged to the ground. He felt drained and just lay, enjoying the cool smoothness of the floor against his cheek.
He became aware of Rodney's voice calling to him and managed to croak a reply: "We're OK."
Sheppard knew they had limited time to recover and fortify themselves against the next ordeal, so he reluctantly pushed himself up to sitting and nudged Williams until she did too.
"Drink," he said. "Small sips - we don't know when we'll get more."
They sat, sipping from their canteens.
"Feel sick," said Williams, her face paling beneath her scorched skin.
"Me too," Sheppard replied. "Just keep breathing, slowly. Can't afford to lose the fluids."
Shanice tried to breathe slowly through her nausea and gradually her stomach settled. Her clothes and hair were damp with sweat and she knew she must look a mess. She looked across at the Colonel who looked just as dishevelled, his hair drooping down, some plastered to his forehead.
"Still having fun?" he asked with his quirky smile.
"Oh, yes," she pretended enthusiasm, "lots of fun!"
Soon, they knew they would have to move. They got up, shakily donned shirts, vests and fastened their P90s back on securely. They made their way to the far door with trepidation.
Sheppard sighed. "This is getting old."
Shanice looked at him.
"Ten minutes," she said. "We can do this."
Sheppard nodded, grimly as the door slid open and they stepped through.
Rodney was extremely frustrated. Not only was he without both coffee and access to the facilities of his lab, not least of which was the normal stimulation of his sniping at Zelenka, which often knocked some ideas loose in his genius brain, but above all, he could see no way of helping his friend.
"Ronon, Teyla, sitrep!" he barked into the radio, secretly pleased and a little surprised at the way the military jargon slipped out so easily.
"We have found no apparent weakness in the walls of the facility, Rodney," came Teyla's voice. "There are only some very narrow ventilation shafts."
"We could stick some C4 in them!" Ronon interrupted.
"Try it," said Rodney. "Things are getting bad in there."
"We will try," said Teyla, doubtfully.
Rodney looked again at the displays in front of him.
"These don't make sense," he declared, jabbing a finger at the monitors. "What's the point in collecting all this data if you can't actually see what's going on? Why isn't there a visual display?"
"Well, maybe there is and you just haven't found how to get it on screen," suggested Jennifer.
"I've been playing with this thing for ages - there's nothing there!" he said dismissively. "How are they looking?" he asked, nodding at Jennifer's data pad.
"Better now," she pointed at the screen, "heart rates are nearly normal, temperatures back down. I'm just concerned about what's coming next."
"Right, I'm going to try and do a Sheppard," Rodney decided. "My gene maybe artificial, but it's worth a shot."
He closed his eyes and rested his hands lightly on the Ancient display, trying to relax and empty his mind, which was difficult because Rodney's mind was a very busy place. Then he ran through all the synonyms for seeing he could think of: look, observe, survey, view, inspect, witness, regard, notice and in desperation, behold!
He heard two clicks and a hiss as of escaping pressure.
"Look!" Jennifer exclaimed.
Rodney opened his eyes and looked where Jennifer was pointing.
Either side of the landing at the top of the stairs were two openings. Rodney rushed over and was about to rush through, but then remembered Sheppard's SOP. "Phipps, Philpott, whatever your name is, get up here!"
Private Phillips came clattering up the stairs.
"I need you to do the soldier thing, come on, hurry up" ordered Rodney, waving his hands.
Phillips, weapon at the ready, moved forward through the door on the right. Rodney, waited, hopping impatiently from foot to foot.
"All clear!" came Phillips voice from behind him, making Rodney jump.
"It goes all the way round," Phillips explained. "You can see into the level below, but I couldn't see the Colonel or Private Williams."
Rodney went in, immediately noticing that the area was a kind of viewing gallery, looking down over the rooms Sheppard and Williams had described. Rodney guessed the windows were one-directional. There was no view into the connecting passageways.
He rushed past the rooms, muttering as he went: "Darts... gas... heat..." He turned the corner at the end of the gallery, and looked down into a room where the walls were covered in frost. At the far end, clinging together, heads down, eyes closed and shuddering with cold, were Sheppard and Williams.