Chapter 8: Home Sweet Atlantis?
By morning, John felt about eighty percent better, though a bout of dizziness when he got up warned him against any more running battles with the Wraith for a while. In the Pegasus Galaxy? Yeah, right, he had a great chance of that! At the moment, though, all was quiet as he sat with Cam, Jack, Teyla, and Jonas, enjoying a porridge the Athosian had created with local berries and some dried oat meal mix she'd found in the remains of the camp. In John's opinion, it beat a power bar or MRE hands down, though McKay was highly unlikely to agree. Not that the scientist was around to debate the issue anyway. He was still holed up on the far side of their makeshift camp, pouring over the newly dubbed 'mini-MALP' with Major Carter.
No gun shots or screaming had been heard lately, so Jack and John had come to the mutual conclusion that it was best to leave the two be. They'd promised their creation would be ready to display its abilities after everyone finished breakfast. Which actually meant when John himself was done, since he was the last one up. He'd noted his quiet exclusion from the watch schedule as well. Both had the young colonel short tempered and snappish. His team was feeling the need to treat him with kid gloves, like an antique. It looked weathered and strong on the outside, but if handled roughly, it might shatter. It was an idea he was sure would never have crossed their minds prior to recent events and didn't like it one bit. Weak wasn't even supposed to be in a military man's vocabulary, especially not in front of his team.
"Hey! Colonel Target!" McKay's rather unique hail had all three officers grinning before turning as one to the prickly astrophysicist.
"Yes?" "What?" "What'd ya want, McKay?"
All three answered, a wicked grin lighting up Cam's face. It hadn't taken long for the current SG-1 leader to pick up on what the other two were doing, waiting to see what weird nickname the genius tried next. It was pretty funny, seeing the slack, shocked look on McKay's face when more than one of them answered. He resembled someone just slammed on the back of the head with a two by four. 'Colonel Target' really could apply to any of them, anyway, since alien nasties seemed almost clairvoyant in their ability to pick out the leader and go after them. Hell, even alien artifacts zeroed in on them! Rodney rolled his eyes at the military men, but focused in on his own leader.
"If you're finally done playing lazy, we're ready to send our probe through. No camera, but I was able to rig something to read atmosphere and life signs in the immediate area." A clearing of the throat behind him, very deliberate, had Rodney's face tinging ever so slightly red. "Yes, well, Major Carter helped as well."
"It just about killed you to say that, didn't it?"
The blond Air Force officer crossed her arms, shaking her head in mock disbelief at the man. Rodney, for his part, just grinned, telling John this was a familiar game to both of them. He didn't bother to correct the woman, then, though he now knew McKay well enough to know it wasn't always arrogance behind such tactless comments. It was a burning need for approval instead, reinforcement that yes, someone really did pay attention to and appreciate his work. He was trying to convince himself he was as good as he claimed, then the true arrogance came out. Rodney had been a lot less sure of himself lately than he let on, especially after the whole Ancient super weapon fiasco. At the moment, the scientist's face was flushed at Carter's needling, albeit good-natured, question.
"I..no...its just- Look, it doesn't matter right now. We need to get home so I can search the database for some answers and get those parts. The sooner we do that, the sooner all of this can be undone!"
John instantly nodded, carefully standing up, but pain and his buddy vertigo seemed to be snoozing for the time being.
"Good job, McKay, Major. Let's go see if any body's home or if we need to break out the swim trunks."
Cam, however, was shaking his head doubtfully, making John pause. His friend may not be that familiar with the Pegasus Galaxy, but his instincts were usually good.
"Listen, folks, I know I'm kinda the junior partner in all this, but isn't returning to your base a big risk with the time line? Isn't there anywhere else you can get your spares for that souped up teleporter?"
McKay's head began shaking back and forth immediately after Cam first opened his mouth, picking up speed and force as the former F-302 pilot voiced his concerns. Trading an amused glance with Teyla, John tried to decide if the scientist could possibly break his own neck even as he once again got ready to intervene between the two. Even Carter seemed to have less of a problem getting along with McKay than Cam had lately.
"NO, no, no, no! What is it with the military and their inane questions? Do you think I want to spend the next ten years in the frozen backwardness of Siberia? This is a necessary risk because we need to know what time we're in, too, or we may be completely screwed!"
'Screwed' appeared to be McKay's favorite panic word. John closed his eyes, pinching his nose against the building headache labeled 'Rodney'. Duct tape really needed to be added as a standard supply for all off world teams. He just wasn't exactly sure whose mouth he wanted to use it on right now, Rodney's or Cam's. Maybe both. John didn't bother keeping the irritated growl out of his tone.
"Rodney. Go dial the damned gate! Cam. A little trust here, please. The members of my team know what they're doing, the same as yours, but you're on my playing field at the moment, so back off! Too many coaches and your game starts to suck, just ask the Golden Gophers!"
The other lieutenant colonel rolled his eyes, but had the humility to look embarrassed at needing to have the facts so blatantly shoved in his face. He waved the small group toward the gate, conceding his friend's point with a silent apology. Cam had just heard too many horror stories about McKay from SGC personnel to feel comfortable trusting the man. Too bad his Sam Carter wasn't here, up to speed, and able to tell him just how far out of bounds her counterpart was running them. Instead, he settled for a slightly sour purse-lipped stare at John.
"Remind me again why I bust my butt taping all those college football games for you?"
"Because I saved your worthless hide after you went down in Bosnia?"
"Hey! Both your hides are going to be in jeopardy if you don't lay off the Minnesota Golden Gophers!"
Cam and John both turned in surprise to stare at Jack O'Neill as the man pointedly emphasized the word 'Minnesota'.
"Didn't know you followed college football, sir."
One eyebrow went up as the current leader of SG-1 regarded the past leader curiously.
"He doesn't. Jack just takes any jokes about his home state personally unless he's the one making them. Oh, and don't let him talk you into going fishing in his lake. There's a slight problem with no inhabitants."
Daniel grinned wickedly at his old friend, daring him to contradict the statement. Before they could get any further, however, they finally reached their destination.
"Are the lot of you quite finished?"
Arms crossed, McKay stood next to the DHD, tapping a foot impatiently. If looks could kill, the Atlantis scientist would have been flayed and stuffed for cooking on the spot by Sam.
"No EM fields or other potentially deadly hazards, sir. I designed most of the MALP systems, so it should work."
Rodney turned to the major at her words to her team leader, eyes narrowing, then a slight smile flitted across his lips.
"Shouldn't the MALP be pointed at the gate, then?"
Stunned silence from the major for a long minute, then a laugh.
"You're good, McKay and I probably deserved that." A blond head ducked, slightly embarrassed, though the smile stayed on her face. Reaching down, she carefully turned what looked like a large metallic bread box toward the Stargate. "Better?"
"Much, thank you, major."
A quick punching of the DHD buttons and the wormhole lept to life, then McKay placed his ever-present lap top on the dialing device, Carter hovering at his shoulder. Several clicks had the box-on-wheels rolling forward and through the event horizon. Ten people held their collective breaths as the computer screen showed the object in transit, then-
"Its still transmitting. Your base doesn't have its iris closed, McKay. Breathable atmosphere, but no life signs in the immediate vicinity." Carter shook her head in puzzlement.
"That'd explain why no one was answering. Well, let's go get what McKay needs. Ronon, Teyla, on point with me. Rodney, you, Daniel, and Quinn stay in the middle where we can easily cover you, then the extended SG-1 brings up the rear. If there's Wraith or an immediate threat, shoot to kill, otherwise nonlethal force only."
With that, P-90 at the ready, he stepped through the puddle, almost afraid of what he might find.
John almost tripped over the first body, only a few feet from the gate. It confirmed his worst fears, shrunken, dried, a wisps of white hair still attached to the skull. A low rumble from his side and the Satedan was off, stalking to the perimeter of the Gaterium. A quick glance at Teyla with a silent question, receiving a shake of the head in answer. She wasn't sensing any live Wraith here, just the dead scattered across the floor.
"Uh oh. What the hell- OH! EEW! I think I'm gonna puke!"
Rodney's voice behind him, sounding appalled and disgusted. With a pained sigh, fighting renewed dizziness, John turned to find out what the scientist had done this time. The sight that greeted him had the colonel biting back a laugh. Rodney stood there, frantically attempting to shake something from his foot while the others dodged the flailing body. The members of the older SG-1 were staring around in shock, either at the city itself or the dead Wraith near the gate... With a shoe print in the middle of it?! Okay, so maybe this time his high-strung team mate had a reason for wanting to throw up! Unfortunately, there were other things that needed to be attended to. He bent to the nearest human body, garbed in standard Atlantis military gear, and began to search for dog tags. To distract himself from his grim duty, he kept most of his attention focused on his still hopping team mate.
"How many times have I told you to watch where you're walking, McKay?"
"Not funny, Sheppard! I just stepped in Wraith guts! What the hell happened here?!"
Cam snorted, answering before John could. "You put your foot in it, McKay, that's what."
Fortunately for John's sanity, Ronon reappeared before Rodney could recover from his outrage enough to react.
"Looks obvious, McKay. Wraith. Two months ago maybe."
Alarm bells were already ringing in John's head as he reached to pull the tags, then blanched as he truly looked at the fallen soldier for the first time. Dizziness and a sudden pounding throb in his head even as he firmly told himself it wasn't possible. But the body... he'd woken stifling a scream too many times, an almost identical image in his head, just not here, on Atlantis.
"John? What is wrong?"
Teyla's gentle shake brought him around, though the Athosian woman was less distinct to him than the Wraith Queen and her victim. Dog tags fell from suddenly nerveless fingers, only to be caught be Cam Mitchell. He squinted at them, struggling to read the name on the blood caked metal.
"Marshall Sumner. Wasn't he the original expedition CO?"
"He died over a year and a half ago on another planet! This is way beyond not good, Sheppard!"
Rodney's sputtering cut off as he noted just how pale the Atlantis colonel had gone. The man was beginning to sway alarmingly, too, despite Teyla and Cam both steadying him. The life-signs detector was hurriedly stuffed into a pocket, forgotten, as he moved to help them with the obviously still ill man.
"So much for the infamous Sheppard 'I'm fine.' You faint for the third time in two days and I'm telling Carson where to stick his thermometers!" The Canadian paused to note everyone staring at him, aghast. "In you, I mean, Colonel! Jeez! Would it kill you to just once admit how badly you're really hurt?"
Ignoring Rodney, Cam and Teyla helped John slowly sink down to sit with his back against the side of the gate, carefully avoiding bodies. Dizziness, nausea, headache, spots spinning through his vision even as the edges attempted to gray out. It was all back, worse than before and John didn't have a clue as to why. With a weary humph, he locked eyes with the astrophysicist, hazel to blue.
"No, McKay, but it just might kill you. Especially when people start disobeying my orders to 'protect' me!"
A dark look at the Satedan, who simply shrugged it off, not about to apologize for keeping alive the man who'd given him a new chance at life.
"McKay! You might wanna come look at this!"
The call brought everyone's attention to Major Carter, who'd already made her way up to the control consoles. Currently, she was standing behind the DHD, frowning at something on the floor. At John's nod, he relinquished his place by Sheppard to Teyla and joined Colonel O'Neill and Daniel in moving to the woman's side. Teyla and John both saw him blanch again, then his lips thinned in a look that never boded well for the team. Blinking against the pain, John closed his eyes, muttering.
"Come on, Rodney, what's going on now?"
A reassuring hand on his shoulder and a canteen held to his lips. Even though the water was warm and slightly metallic, it tasted wonderful. He immediately began to fight to stand himself up, find out what was wrong this time.
"Dr. McKay? Colonel Sheppard would know what Major Carter has found!"
Teyla's tone was laced with the frustration of trying to keep her team leader sitting down. It was a battle the Athosian was definitely going to lose if they didn't get an answer from Rodney soon.
"Someone destroyed the control crystal allowing intergalactic dialing! And...hold on!"
The young colonel ground his teeth in frustration, waiting through the sudden silence for the other proverbial shoe to drop. Why would Atlantis have been left intact if they were forced to flee from the Wraith? The plan had always been to trigger the self-destruct while taking the gate control crystal with them. And why leave Sumner's dog tags on a body that looked way too much like his former CO? A message of some kind to John telling him where they'd gone? That really didn't bear thinking about since the colonel had died on one of two planets known to be infested with iratus bugs! There were dozens of other worlds they could have picked! McKay finally appeared on the balcony just as the pilot felt solid enough to reopen his eyes.
"The self-destruct is called up ready to be armed and the Ancient database is partially corrupted! Looks like Radek's virus, except it didn't complete the job, and... Its not quite right, somehow. Almost as if someone other than Radek worked on it at some point. Sheppard, don't you dare try standing up because you resemble death warmed over!"
Sheppard winced, suspecting that for once his friend was understating the case. He certainly felt like it, teetering on the edge of blacking out yet again. What was with this? He'd been fine this morning!
"You look like you could use some help, son."
The familiar Scottish brogue had never been so welcome to John's ears. He was so happy he could have hugged the man, gratefully submitting to anything the doctor wanted, even the inevitable lecture about getting hurt again so soon. Besides, Carson Beckett meant a source for answers as to what was going on around here. The physician walked slowly into the open toward the sick man, wearing full off-world gear, his normal medical pack on his back. As he got closer, though, John noted that the gear seemed a bit worn and Carson cradled a Wraith stunner instead of a nine millimeter.
"Doc! Am I glad to see you! What the hell happened around here?"
John didn't bother reprimanding the doctor for not noting the others in the room, both on the balcony and near him. It really wouldn't do any good since Carson had tunnel vision when presented with a potential patient. He'd even tried treating a Wraith once! The genial Scot's next words, though, sent cold racing down John's spine.
"I'm sorry, son, have we met before?"
Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait between chapters RL has been a real pain lately. I hope you enjoyed the latest installment and as always please review. Pyro