Chapter III – Way Down

Rodney checked again and again, but there was just no way he could ever bring the Jumper back to life again. At least not without an external power source. Everything in here was fried. Everything.

On top of that they kept being pushed down onto the floor whenever the Jumper shook, and that really didn't help Rodney's progress much.

"I got everything you told me to pack. Except for the Teranol, a bunch of other painkillers and a couple of patches I didn't find anything other medical you asked for, I assume it's scattered outside somewhere, but good luck looking for it", John was standing beside him now, one backpack shouldered, P90 to his side and holding up the other backpack for him. Rodney raised his eyebrows.

"You don't seriously think I'm in any shape to go out there. Now or anytime soon. We should stay here and wait for rescue. I can probably modify our radios and boost their signal so that it can penetrate the storm-"

"Yeah, yeah you mentioned that, which is why I packed them. I don't trust this thing. It seems unstable", as if to prove his point, the material around them creaked loudly and the ground beneath their feet vibrated heavily, forcing them to sit down.

The Canadian didn't think he'd have ever seen the day coming that Lt. Colonel John Sheppard didn't trust in one of his holy flying machines. From a distance they heard a loud rumbling sound through the deafening winds.

"It's not just the Jumper that's become unstable. We're nowhere near any of the volcanoes, but I think the restlessness of the earth around us must be causing avalanches and rock-slides... out there however, we're practically target practice for mother nature."

John sighed loudly, pushing the backpack into his friend's stomach.

"Don't be such a pessimist all the time, Rodney. Try and see the glass half full for a change."

The American fell silent for a moment, thinking.

"This is nice", he finally said, his voice dripping with irony.

Rodney looked up, waiting, but no further explanation came.

"What is?"

"Well this. On top of everything I somehow know I should be able to handle the situation without a problem, but here I am, clueless as to whether I'll even remember how to shoot my P90 if the time comes. And I make these remarks about you, that come so naturally – but once they're out I sit here trying to remember, remember things that are just out of reach."

"I know what you mean", he said quietly. He wasn't sure if John had heard him. Pulling up the hood of his jacket, he stared out into the darkness. "Right", he raised his voice and stood up, balancing more on his right leg as he did so. "Let's try and find our Cave then. And you carry me if I pass out, which I probably will since you didn't even let me finish my meal earlier and I'm starting to feel weaker by the minute. These injuries would probably put any other man down for weeks, I'm not saying I-"

"Just… shut up and get ready", John said, trusting a flashlight at Rodney. "I promise I'll carry you if you pass out – or I'll just dig you a dying hole… did I ever tell you that you remind me of Melman?"

"Oh ha ha, very funny, I see what you're getting at! And you are Alex of course", the scientist strapped his backpack tightly around his shoulders and tucked in the gun John had picked out for him earlier, then switched on his flashlight and pointed it at his friend's face. John was biting his lower lip. Rodney understood. "Madagascar", he explained, "it's a movie they showed not too long ago back on Atlantis. You and Ronon had a lot of fun, laughing loudly and eating all the popcorn, blocking our – my sight and of course ruining my evening because I was stuck behind two morons all the way through-"

"Sorry."

"Oh well… that really doesn't matter anymore now", Rodney shrugged, now pointing his flashlight outside. "But thanks."

As soon as they'd left the safety of their Jumper, Rodney wished he'd never given in. Even if the fog didn't prevent them from seeing further than a few steps ahead, the darkness would have. Their flashlights were practically useless. Snow mixed with dusty particles was whirling through the air, making their eyes sting, and the air was freezing, almost as cold as back in McMurdo. At least the painkillers worked their wonders and he was feeling close to no pain anymore. The only thing reminding him of his injuries were the stiffness of his left leg, where John had wrapped his knee just in case, and the slight thumping in his hand. Come to think of it, his whole left side was somewhat handicapped. He reached up to touch his head automatically. The blood had made the injury look worse than it actually was. John had told him it was just a little cut, compared to the pilot's injury nothing at all.

"How high do you suspect we are!?", John shouted, the big patch on his forehead already of a crimson colour. He could have really used a skin welding laser.

Last thing Rodney had read they were at about 2'000 metres, which wasn't too bad, but high enough to be lethal if something were to happen to them. Up here there was no chance they could ever get any help, he doubted highly that if there was still life on this planet, that the people would build their villages this high up, when they could build them anywhere else they wanted. Plus he also doubted that rock-slides and avalanches were only happening because of the storm, which probably didn't really invite people to build their homes here, either. Oh, he shouldn't have let his mind wander off like that. The thought of being stuck underneath several feet of snow, was terrifying him. Neither did he feel comfortable at the thought of being smacked to death by a giant rock.

"High enough to become the next Ötzi – you know, the Similaun Mummy they found a few years back, well preserved by the ice up in the Mountains… come to think of it, didn't he die of a blow to the head?", the scientist shuddered.

"Well I don't know, you tell me."

"I'm pretty sure he did", Rodney continued, somehow glad they'd at least found something to talk about. Walking in silence only made him think about how doomed they were. "As a matter of fact Carson once told me that Ötzi was supposedly cursed since four of the seven main people connected to the discovery died since. Of course, sounds a lot like Voodoo to me, probably derived from all those stories surrounding the cursed Pharao mummies, though Daniel Jackson said-"

"McKay! why don't you tell me something cheerful for a change", John looked gloomily out from under his hood.

But it was impossible for them to get back to the talking for the next little while, since the way in front of them was cut off by a steep stone wall and John was forced to walk in front of Rodney. There was no way around it, so they had to double back and try and figure out whether the Mountain had any other hidden ways for them to descend.

Rodney didn't know how long they'd walked when the night finally turned to day. Having pulled up some data earlier, he knew that the planet's days lasted 36 hours, and that night time lasted for about fifteen, so they were in for a very long day – 21 hours to be precise.

When the fog finally cleared up and it stopped to snow, they could make out that they, indeed, were halfway up a mountain. The fastest way down would be to walk a few hundred metres to their right and then go down in a slight slope. There was no cave in sight and best would be just to get off the mountain and find shelter in the valley below. They weren't due to check back for at least another six hours, and once Atlantis would send a team to investigate and that team would return with a scan of the planet's surface that was no doubtedly covered with this massive storm front by now, Woolsey would send for Ronon and Teyla and have them, together with Lorne's men and maybe another unit, standing by.

"At least we know how to get down there, the way looks safe enough", John said. He unwrapped a power bar and bit into it hungrily, immediately pulling a face. "What is this?"

"Banana, that's pretty much the only flavour you hate", Rodney took his own powerbar and held it up in front of the Colonel, who wrinkled his nose and eyed it suspiciously. "Go on, it's your favourite. Vanilla Crisp."

With a thankful gesture he accepted the power bar and took a bite. Indeed, this was much better. He took pity on Rodney, who was now stuck with a horrible Banana flavoured one, but the scientist didn't seem to mind and devoured it with big chomps.

"Anyway, we'll have to see if it's really gonna be as easy as it looks", he said eventually, after licking the crumbs off his lips. "I've watched enough Discovery Channel to know that there could be anything hidden underneath what looks like a perfectly stable snow cover. Thin layers of ice for example that, when you step on them, they give in and you'll fall a few hundred metres to your death."

"Again with the pessimism!", the other man growled.

"You'll thank me for the warnings if you hear the ground beneath you creak!", and with that he started to walk again, his injured leg preventing him from taking up a pace that would have let him make a more impressive departure. He hoped John understood the general meaning anyway.

TBC