Author Note: Ok, ah, yeah it's been over a year since I last updated this story. But I'm trying to make myself go back and finish my old stories and this was the first one to get looked at and done. So you likely need to go back and read the other 5 parts to understand what is happening here in the end.
Part 6 – The Big Quake
Teyla looked up as she saw the Jumper finally approaching. It hovered over the sinkhole and the hatch opened. A rope appeared and Lorne's voice came through her comm. "Teyla, we just lowered you a line. If Dr. McKay is right about how bad this quake could be it would be safer for you to be up here with us."
Sheppard and Ronon were listening while they placed the crystal was in the door. It slowly whined open a crack. They pushed it the rest of the way and both scanned the corridor with their lights for dangers. Satisfied that they had seen all the potential hazards, they started down the corridor. Sheppard was holding his arm close to his chest and was moving a little slower than normal so he waved Ronon ahead.
Sheppard touched his earpiece and spoke. "Teyla, they're right, the tremors are starting and you don't want to fall down here with us. Go to the Jumper."
Teyla took one last look at the hole and sighed. "Very well." She took the line and fitted the supports around her legs then waved for them to bring her up.
A few seconds later Lorne reported. "Sir, Teyla is aboard and safe and Dr. Zelenka has entered the information for pulse that will stabilize the valley once you deactivate the generator."
"Thank you, Major. We're getting close. We can feel the vibrations Rodney was talking about." Sheppard saw Ronon stop at a door a short distance ahead.
The room was lit by the blue glow of the emergency lights so Ronon turned off Sheppard's P90 light. He sized up the room and saw the red and black generator in the center. There was a large amount of debris around it and dust was filtering through the entire room as the supports shook from the strain.
"Zelenka this is Ronon. I'm at the generator room now. It looks pretty bad there are things hanging everywhere and everything is shaking. One whole side of the thing is covered by a big piece of wall; looks like it might be from the one that collapsed on McKay's side." Ronon stepped inside as Sheppard finally joined him also turning off his light.
Sheppard looked in the direction of the hole in the wall and checked the path to see if he could get there. "I see the hole Rodney told us about but it's not a clear way into the Control Room. There is a second support wall still partially standing."
Teyla looked at Zelenka who was doing something on this laptop. "Dr. Zelenka did you not say that you were connected to Rodney's computer. Can you find another way into the Control Room from where Ronon and the Colonel are now?"
Zelenka looked up at her and nodded quickly typing a new command into the laptop. The display changed and he linked his computer to the Jumper to display the image on the HUD. "I have many things to do to talk them through the deactivation, but here is the map."
Teyla nodded and she and Major Lorne looked at the detailed map. As McKay had said, it showed collapsed areas and possible danger zones to avoid as well as the floor plan of the area. Lorne pointed to a section on the screen and Teyla nodded. "Colonel, if you can safely make it to the back of the room on the left there is a large bulkhead door that leads to the Control Room. It appears to have been damaged, but you may be able to push it open and gain access. However it is showing many small fires on the other side."
"OK, Teyla, I'm on it. Zelenka, Ronon is ready for you to talk him through this thing with the Generator. I'm going after McKay." Sheppard started stepping very carefully over and around debris as he kept and eye out for trouble in the room. Ronon went and stood next to the device.
Zelenka touched his radio. "OK, Ronon, you need to find a console with large line of clear crystals that should be glowing blue. There are 5 dials below these. You must slowly turn each dial counter-clockwise one at a time in sequence and tell me what color crystal light appears as you turn them."
Ronon stepped around to another side and found the area described. "OK, I'm turning the first one now."
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In the meantime Sheppard had made it to the other side of the room. Luckily, although the door was damaged a large section of wall had crumbled away from the side of it creating enough space to let him squeeze into the Control Room. He held his arm as he stood up again and flicked on his flashlight. He was about to step forward when he looked at the floor in front of him and quickly threw himself back against the door. "Crap!"
Ronon looked up just as he was turning the third dial; the crystals were still glowing blue. "Sheppard? What's wrong?"
"Ah, there's no floor on the other side of this door. It's an open corridor that has a door to Control Room, but the room isn't on the other side of this door. There is a ledge about half a foot wide on this side but I'd never be able to carry Rodney across it." Sheppard hooked his right foot into an opening in the wall for balance and leaned a little forward as he shone the light down. All he saw was pitch blackness and he guessed that it likely went down to the next level of the city.
Lorne looked at the map and quickly tapped his radio. "Sir, don't try to move across the ledge. According to this map that opening in front of you isn't just down a level it's the inside channel that leads all the way down to the star drive at the base of the city. That's thousands of feet down. We'll try to find another way, Sir."
"DAMN IT! Rodney! Rodney, can you hear me? We're here. We're in the Generator Room; we're going to find a way to get to you. Just hold on." Sheppard didn't get an answer. He just hoped things hadn't gotten any worse in there, but he still had a very bad feeling.
Ronon stopped when the third dial clicked and hit his radio. "Zelenka, is it ok to stop turning these dials before all five are done?"
Zelenka looked at the data Rodney's Tablet was sending and nodded. "Yes, it is as long as the crystals are still blue."
"They are." He moved over to the door and helped Sheppard come back through.
"Thanks. OK, I'll take the dials; you try to find another way into the room." Sheppard ordered and Ronon nodded as he repeated the instructions for turning. When Sheppard nodded his understanding and started turning the fourth one Ronon walked over to the partial wall keeping them from Rodney.
Ronon knelt next to a hole and peered inside. He saw the body of the villager with a shard of metal through his chest and shone his light toward the legs since Rodney had said he could touch his right leg. He saw Rodney lying on the floor very still but could just make out that he was still breathing. "I can see McKay. He's breathing but I can't tell if he's awake. Looks like he's pinned about twelve feet from this wall by a big piece of ceiling and some smaller pieces of the stone."
Beckett touched his radio. "Colonel, do you have a Life Signs Detector with you?"
Sheppard answered, "No, it was taken when we were arrested in the Tower. OK, Zelenka, the dials are all turned and crystals are still blue."
"Just wait they should slowly turn yellow. When they do, pull vertical level on console to your right all the way down towards bottom. Wait then, there is another sequence to complete that should turn off generator and dispel last of its power which should stop room shaking." Just as he finished speaking the warning alarm on both his laptop and Rodney's Tablet began screaming that they were nearly out of time. The whole place starting shaking again as the tectonic pressure built up. "Less than two minutes!
"Radek we don't have time to do it the long, safe way around. Is there a quicker way to shut this thing down so you can shoot that pulse?" Sheppard's anger began to show as he process took too long. He needed to help Rodney.
"No, I'm sorry, just pulling the control crystals at base of device is too dangerous. Like removing safety on ZPM back home, could explode and kill us all." Zelenka paled as he realized that he had just told Sheppard how to do what he didn't want him to do.
Sheppard weighed the odds, if he did this the safe way the Earthquake would probably hit them and the city would collapse killing all three of them but the Jumper flying above would be safe. If Zelenka was right pulling the crystals could destroy the generator and the resulting explosion would kill everyone.
Before he could make a choice Ronon picked up a large piece of rock and hurled it at the partial wall smashing through into the Control Room. Sheppard jumped and looked at him. He knew it was the same kind of thing he'd likely have done and waved Ronon toward Rodney. "Be careful, Ronon."
Sheppard looked back down at the crystals. They had finally turned yellow. He grabbed the vertical bar and pulled it toward the floor. The line of crystals blinked yellow and then turned green and he saw a light come to life on a wall panel not far away. "Zelenka, they blinked yellow then turned green and now a light is on across the room on the wall and this place is falling apart down here. What now?" Sheppard had to yell to be heard above the groaning and shaking as the quake began.
Zelenka jumped and pushed his glasses back up his nose in excitement. "YES! Go to panel, you know the Ancient numbers yes? Type in 589243 and turn the dial clockwise. As soon as panel goes dead, we shoot pulse."
They all waited and watched the map on the HUD as sections of the city began to fall apart all around their friends. Nurse Wright turned away and Carson put a comforting hand on her shoulder but he kept watching the HUD. Teyla tightly grasped the netting next to her. Lorne's finger hovered so close to the firing button that he was almost touching it. Zelenka looked at his laptop as it screamed again that the structural integrity field had completely collapsed.
Beneath the surface, Sheppard followed Zelenka's instructions. Behind him, he heard the sound of Ronon's gun. He looked through the hole in the wall and saw his friend shooting large pieces of ceiling and wall that were now falling all around them. Sheppard waited what seemed like a lifetime as he used his arms to protect himself from the falling debris. Finally the panel blinked and went dead. "Lorne SHOOT!"
Lorne jumped but pressed the button. The occupants all saw a bright white flash shoot out in all directions from the Jumper. In the valley below, the large rift Ronon had seen earlier had opened into something that looked like a smaller version of the Grand Canon and exposed many corridors of the covered city.
Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, waiting, when Zelenka's laptop beeped again. Everyone in the Jumper looked at him with worry as he read what Rodney's Tablet was sending him. Then to their surprise, he grasped the laptop, jumped to his feet and screamed. "YES!"
He looked around at a group of shocked faces. He quickly contained himself and sat down with the computer again. He pointed to the HUD that showed small dots of light coming to life all throughout the valley. Lorne looked at him for an explanation.
Zelenka smiled as he explained. "The Ancients placed seismic regulators in ground where they land their cities. They contain the pressure that makes earthquake caused by their technology and dispense it evenly so it does no damage. Here, devices, like many of city's systems, failed after 10 000 years with no maintenance. Pulse we sent out reactivates devices and they stop quake. Should be safe now."
Teyla was the first to react to this news and she activated her radio. "Colonel? Ronon? Rodney? Are you there?"
Lorne brought up the LSD on the HUD to look for signs of life below. They were all surprised when a new voice entering the discussion.
Dr. Weir spoke as calmly as she could, considering everything Atlantis had just heard. "We've been monitoring the situation over the radio and await your report, Major." Elizabeth looked around her and saw everyone in the Control Room and even the people down in the Gateroom had stopped and were waiting to hear the outcome. Normally it would have filled her with pride that the members of her expedition cared so much about each other, but right now all she wanted to hear was Sheppard or Ronon say they were ok and so was Rodney.
END PART 6
So that is the second to last chapter of my story. The last one is going to be Part 7 and my beta Ashoname has it now and says it should be done in a day or so. Sorry it took so long to get this story back on track but I used some of my free time around Christmas break to get it done.
