Thank you for you patience, reads, and reviews, and now, with out further stalling for time, I give you CHAPTER 3!!!!
Stargate Atlantis - Weekend in Bermuda
Chapter 3 - Search and . . . well, that's all I have.
The walk to the jumper was an odd change. Sheppard was having a hard time keeping up with McKay, who was running as fast as he could.
Once in the jumper McKay stopped, turned back and saw Sheppard just arriving, slightly winded.
"Come on, come on!" McKay begged.
"Why didn't you go without me? You have the gene." Sheppard prodded.
"I need you." McKay mumbled.
"What?" Sheppard asked.
McKay turned back to Sheppard.
"You're a better pilot, Jennifer may be in danger, and I need you! Now can we not dawdle?"
Sheppard took his seat and lifted the cloaked jumper into the air, deployed the drive pods and the jumper was on the way.
After just a few minutes the jumper was over the ocean well away from the Bermuda coast.
As the sun began to vanish behind the horizon, a terrible storm began to swell.
"That's odd." McKay remarked.
"What's 'odd' McKay?" Sheppard asked.
"That storm built a lot of power in a short amount of time." McKay replied.
"That's not odd." Sheppard said.
"That's not?" McKay asked.
"That's how it started last time."
"Last time? What happened last time?" McKay asked.
"You're about to find out." Sheppard said.
By this time the storm was in full force, and surrounding the jumper which shook as if something grabbed it.
Then the back hatch of the jumper opened.
"What's happening?" Sheppard asked.
"The rear hatch just opened." Rodney said getting up.
"Close it." Sheppard said.
Rodney reached the rear compartment door, and hit the button to close, but nothing happened. He pressed it again, and again nothing happened. Rodney turned back to Sheppard,
"It's not closing." Rodney shouted, the looked back at the open hatch and saw the storm, but it was from the bottom of a deep canyon.
Rodney turned around.
"Sheppard, you've should see . . ." Rodney stopped, something was wrong.
Sheppard sat at the controls, but all the lights were dead.
"This could be a problem." Sheppard said.
"What?" McKay asked.
"Well first: everything is dead. And second: Before everything went dead, I saw lights on the horizon, about half a mile out." Sheppard announced.
"What, you think there's a town in here?" McKay suggested.
"There's only one way to find out." Sheppard said, getting up, and grabbing a P-90, and other gear he might need. Then walked out, slapping a Beretta in Rodney's hand.
The terrain was barren, and bland despite the sheer cliffs on either side of Sheppard and McKay.
"Is this what happened last time?" McKay inquired.
"This is a first for me." Sheppard said staring down the canyon.
Sheppard and McKay walk towards the lights in the distance, and soon are able to make out shapes of buildings.
"If there's a town, there are people." Sheppard concluded.
"I suppose." Rodney agreed, albeit, trying to focus on anything else.
Entering the town Sheppard immediately noted how quiet the village was, much to McKay's dismay.
"Huh, the lights are on, but no one's home." Sheppard observed.
"Thank you." McKay exclaimed sarcastically.
A sound caught Sheppard's attention, small rocks being disturbed. Sheppard pointed his P-90 in the direction of the sound. There was a person making a run for it.
"After him!" Sheppard ordered, knowing that whoever they were chasing wasn't going to cooperate, pursuit was their only choice.
Rodney took off at a brisk walk, pointing his Beretta straight ahead, while Sheppard took an alternate route down an alley.
Meanwhile Rodney managed to keep the target in sight until they ran into a dead end.
Realizing his situation the person that McKay and Sheppard was chasing activated a device on his wrist, and phased through the wall ending up in an alley on the other side of the wall, the he looked down at the device, and groaned.
"I hope that means you can't do that again." Sheppard said pointing his weapon at the target of his pursuit. "At least, not until we've had a little chat."
The man pulled down his hood to reveal he was actually a woman. An easy mistake to make when they were unable to get a clear look at her from the distance.
She wore a black cloak that flowed down to the ground, and flared as it descended. But her most striking feature was her fire red hair, winding in natural curls.
"Who ever they sent you for, I won't help you find." The woman spat.
"Who are 'they'?" Sheppard asked.
The woman noticed Sheppard's weapon, Rodney finally arrived, and first noticed the woman.. Under normal circumstances he would be attracted in the woman that Sheppard was talking with, but he was far more interested in finding Jennifer Keller, and these were anything but 'normal' circumstances.
"You are not from here?" she asked.
"No, we lost some friends, we're really just passing through." Sheppard promised.
"Come with me." the woman said, then lead them down Sheppard and McKay down the alley and across the ghost town to a house.
Upon entering the woman lead them to a bookshelf. But instead of opening a secret door, as was expected. She simply phased through the book shelf.
Tentatively McKay and Sheppard followed the woman through the book case.
Inside was a set of long, winding stairs that just went down for a few hundred feet.
At the bottom of the stairs sat a tunnel.
Sheppard and McKay followed the woman for another few hundred feet, then the tunnel opened up, and stretched over a deep chasm before entering the wall on the other side of the chasm.
"How much further?" Rodney asked, as it was open for any to answer.
"Not much further." The woman promised.
It was another minute before they arrived at another open cavern, and the woman directed Sheppard and McKay to sit down.
"How is it you have come here?" the woman asked, still suspicious of the two men that had shown up.
"We came in a . . ." McKay looked for the right word.
"Ship." Sheppard finished.
"A ship built by the Ancestors?" the woman asked.
Sheppard and McKay looked at each other. After a long moment Sheppard replied.
"Yeah. It was."
"Then you might be able to help us." the woman said, then extended her hand to McKay. "I am Yunalesca."
"McKay, Rodney McKay." Rodney said.
"Dr. McKay?" Yunalesca asked.
"That's me." Rodney replied nervously.
"I've heard some many good things about you." Yunalesca explained excitedly.
"Someone must have lied." Sheppard interjected.
McKay glared at Sheppard, then turned his gaze back to Yunalesca.
"Sorry, but right now we can't help you. We're looking for some friends." Sheppard said.
"Colonel Carter, Jennifer Keller?" Yunalesca asked. "There was also someone, who kept saying things I could not understand."
"Radek! They were here?" McKay asked excitedly.
"They were taken from here seven days ago." Yunalesca informed.
"A week? We only lost them yesterday." Sheppard countered.
For a brief moment Yunalesca looked confused, then enlightenment overcame her.
"The village Elder said that time within the vortex moves more quickly." Yunalesca explained.
"Vortex? You mean . . . " Rodney stopped himself.
"Rodney?" Sheppard shouted.
McKay looked at Sheppard.
"A time dilation field. We're in a time dilation field." Rodney explained.
Rodney didn't have the information he needed
"Where are our friends?" Rodney asked.
"They went to the temple of Janus." Yunalesca replied. "But all who venture there . . . never return."
I know, and apologize for the FFX reference, but I just decided to use the name. The game, too, was good (Except for the Bevelle Temple ugh!) Any way, thanks and stick around for Ch 4