Part 2 of 10
Awareness returned to Rodney in a flash of memories. Starting the star drive engine, draining the city's power, the tremors and the walls falling in on him, it all washed over him like a tidal wave of pain and panic.
"Oh no," he rasped, choking on dust and stiffening as pain tore through him with each agonizing cough. Oh God. He was trapped. Really trapped. Not trapped in a jumper, able to move around to either get the thing moving or keep water at bay, no. He was stuck, squashed, squished and buried alive! Buried alive!
Struggling against the pain and fear, Rodney tried to move. Could he move? Maybe it wasn't so bad and he could at least get off the floor and try to dig his way out or…instantly he knew thiswas false hope. Everything hurt and trying to move only heightened his pain. He was stuck. Damn. Debris had covered him, pinning him like a bug to a freaking mounting board.
Images of his sister's fifth grade butterfly collection flashed through his mind. Wings spread wide, straight pins holding the creatures to the board. Beady little eyes that stared accusingly up at him. Oh. Oh. Oh. His breath quickened, he was going to die. Buried alive, suffocating beneath a city so like his Atlantis.
Wait. He had to think. Breathe. Focus.
"Think it through, McKay," he ordered himself to calm down and take stock of his situation.
He was sprawled on his stomach and though his legs were buried, he calmed slightly when he realized he could feel them and wiggle his toes. At least, he was wiggling his toes. Thatwas a good sign wasn't it? "Yes. Yes, a very good sign," he assured himself. Something pressed into his left side, and his left arm was trapped beneath his upper body, and though his shoulder throbbed,he could just barely move his right arm. Something large and uncomfortably heavy lay across his back, running from his left shoulder to his right hip. Whatever it was prevented him from lifting his head more than an inch offof the gritty floor and kept him from turning it at all. God, he couldn't do more than squirm and doing that hurt. He was just…stuck.
Rodney felt his panic growing again and tried to take a deep breath, only to wheeze instead. He strained to see anything in the darkness, any light or flicker or shadow at all,but there was nothing. Nothing but thick, smothering blackness. He felt his breathing quicken and closed his eyes. "Wide open spaces," he repeated the mantra to himself wondering what fate had against him. First a jumper filling with water and now this…this was... He mentally shook his head. "Don't think about it. Focus on big," he whispered. "Think about how pissed Sheppard is going to be to have to come find you and…" Oh Crap.
"Ergo?" He tried to call out, but his throat was too dry. He swallowed, grimacing with thirst and tried again anyway. "Ergo?" He peered into nothingness.
There was no answer. No shuffling. No creaking or heavy breathing. No whimpering. Nothing. "No. No. No." This couldn't be happening.
"Ergo!" He screamed the guide's name, choking on the pain. Still, only silence answered him.
Reaching, Rodney struggled to grope around with his right hand. Maybe Ergo had gotten ahead of the cave in, maybe he'd reached safety already and had gone for help. Then McKay's fingertipsbrushed the course, ridged outline of leather, shaped around a foot. Ergo's shoe. His foot.
"No. no. no." Rodney closed his eyes again, his head dropping back an inch to the grimy floor. Ergo's warnings about the tremors resounded in his mind. He never should have asked Ergo to come down here. He should have insisted the kid go back to the village as soon as they'd felt that first tremor, but even by then, it'd been too late, hadn't it? They'd been trapped. He'd killed Ergo
What about everyone else? Doubt suddenly flooded through him, stirring new fear. Had he managed to drain the city's power in time? Had it been enough? Had Teyla and Ronon died in the village? Had John and Carson been executed in the Tower, just stories above him?
He knew with certainty that,if John was able, he was searching for him. Sheppard had proven that when he'd used a jumper as a submersible and forced Zelenka along to search the bottom of Atlantis' ocean for him, but what if John wasn't able?
McKay exhaled slowly, trying not to hyperventilate. What if he had risked all this…?
He tried not to think the worst, but he couldn't help it. His radio was gone; he couldn't feel it on his ear anymore. He had no way of knowing if anyof his team was still living and if they weren't…
Swallowing painfully, Rodney tried to ignore the aches that wracked his body or the thirst that nagged at him. He tired not to think about how very very trapped he was or what would happen if no one ever came for him. Instead he kept his eyes closed and pictured the wide open ocean off the main balcony of Atlantis. He tried to conjure the smell of the water and a constant breeze against his face and focused on the hope that John and the others were still out there- looking for him.
John and Carson followed Mara down a long, tapestry-draped hallway. Candlelight flickered from sconces along the way and the torch Mara now carried cast strange, eerie shadows, making it harder to figure out where they were in relation to the layout of Atlantis. Knowing this city was almost exactly likeAtlantis should have reassured him, but it was the 'almost' that had him worried. John knew he couldn't afford to waste time getting lost.
Biting back the urge to ask "How much further?" Sheppard was relieved when Mara finally paused. She looked around a moment, a puzzled expression raising new worry within him, but before he could question her she nodded and turned to him.
"This is it." She motioned to a tapestry on her right and handed him the burning torch.
John took it, ignoring Carson's inquiring look. He knew they had small flashlights in their vests and was thankful all their possessions had been returned to them before the big tremor had hit, but for now he'd use the torch and save their batteries for as long as possible.
Mara pulled at the heavy layers of tapestry, gathering together large folds of the material to reveal a stairway leading down into the darkened depths of the city. Carson stepped forward to help her when the city began to shudder again.
"Oh crap!" Carson glanced anxiously at Sheppard as Mara grabbed onto his arm.
"Just a small one," John brushed it off and peered down into the gaping black hole.
Slowly, Beckett nodded and peeled Mara's grasp from his forearm. "Okay then."
"You can not go down there," Mara let go of Carson but stepped between them, grabbing John with both hands and forcing Beckett to grab the tapestries before they slipped against the torch Sheppard held. "Please, John. It isn't safe," she pleaded.
Gently, John pushed her back behind Beckett, out into the light of the hallway, carefully checking the flame above him wasn't too close to the material. "We're going."
"But…"
"Rodney is down there. I'm going." He glanced at Beckett.
Carson nodded and smiled in Mara's direction. "We have to go, lass. We need to help our friend."
Mara didn't look either convinced or reassured, but took the tapestries from Carson's grasp again and nodded. "Please be careful."
Static suddenly crackled over their radios.
"Colonel? Dr. Beckett?" Teyla sounded unusually breathless.
"Yeah? You okay?" John answered, exchanging a worried look with Beckett.
"We are fine. We have found where Dr. McKay and his guide entered the tunnels," She paused to catch her breath.
"Must have run the whole way," Carson murmured.
"It's blocked," Ronon helped, finishing Teyla's statement. "Must have caved in after they got down there."
"Completely?" John questioned.
"Yes," Teyla answered. "There appears to be no way for us to get down into the tunnels from here."
John thought a moment. "Come up to the Tower." He glanced at Mara, meeting her gaze. "Mara will meet you and lead you to this entrance."
"We'll catch up," Ronon assured.
"Just watch yourselves," John ordered. "You'll bring them here?" He was still looking at Mara.
"I will," she promised.
"Thanks. Ready?" He turned to Carson who half shrugged in response and adjusted the strap of his medical bag further up onto his shoulder. "Let'sget going."
Mara stepped back as they entered the stairwell and, after a moment of hesitation, let the tapestries fall into place, leaving them with just the torch to light the darkness. John could feel the heat on his face as he held it higher, hoping to produce more light. The stairs were covered in a thick layer of dust and the place smelled of stale, musty air.
"Think they're safe?" Carson eyed the stairs doubtfully.
"It'smade like Atlantis and everything there is solid," John reminded.
"Aye, but everything there isn't underground or prone to earthquakes."
John cautiously took a step down. Though filthy, the floor beneath him felt sturdy. He glanced back at Carson. "Only one way to find out." He could see the apprehension in Carson's entire posture, but then a look came over the doctor that assured him, though nervous as hell, Beckett would do this for Rodney's sake.
Beckett nodded "Lead on then," he whispered.
Once certain that despite the dust and rust, the steps were definitely safe, John and Carson picked up their pace. Twice the steps leveled out to small platforms before twisting and descending another direction into the cool dank darkness.
Musty, thick air greeted them as they finally reached the bottom. They paused a moment, each staring at the gaping black hole that awaited them. The floor here was carpeted with a thick layer of dirt and they kicked up small clouds of dust with each determined step.
On either side of the hallway towers of handmade wooden crates, rusted candelabras and old furniture were stacked as if someone had decided the catacombs were a perfect place to store junk they were not yet ready to discard...and then had proceeded to forget the important junk ever existed.
Huge cobwebs glittered in the flickering light of the torch, creating curtains of silky string that clung to their faces, hands, hair and uniforms. John suppressed a shiver and tried not to think about what kinds of bugs lived down amongst the clutter. He paused, fumbling a minute and causing Carson to bump into him. He stumbled forward a step.
"Sorry," Beckett apologized in a whisper. "What's wrong?"
John pulled the life signs detector from his vest and held it up for Carson to see. "Just thought..." he started to whisper then caught himself and spoke normally. "We need this."
"You don't know where Rodney is?" Carson continued to whisper.
John shook his head. "Not really. I know he didn't have access to the ZPM but did to the stardrive engines. Least—if he was on Atlantis I'd know. Here?" He shrugged and watched the LSD light up. "I'd rather use this."
They stared quietly at the two dots glowing on the small screen. Carson stepped back out of John's way as the Colonel extended the LSD and rotated in a wide circle. His arm slowly swept up and down as he stared at the screen.
"Anything?" Beckett asked as Sheppard lowered the device and pondered what to do next. "No, must be out of range." He refused to consider any other option. He nodded down the cluttered hallway. "Lets start this way."
Together the two maneuvered through the tunnel, at times forced to turn sidewaysto squeeze through the stacks of abandoned furniture and crates. John held the torch high to avoid a crumpled pile of smelly old tapestries as he carefully stepped over the remnants of a broken chair.
"This is ridiculous," he muttered in frustration. He glanced again at the LSD and scowled. Only two lights blinked at him. They needed to move faster but the way was so damn cluttered.
"What is that?" Carson waved over John's shoulder at a dark shadow in front of them.
John squinted and lifted the torch higher. "It'smore God damned furniture."
"Looks like we're gonna have to move it." Beckett wiped a cobweb from his brow.
John glanced again at the LSD and sighed wearily. "Here, hold these." He shoved the detector and torch at Carson. "I'll move it."