Chapter 7
The wind threw up the sand and every little dust particle. It hurt the already irritated bare skin on his face and hands. His chest felt constricted and it was difficult to breathe. Everywhere he looked where sand.
John stopped closing his eyes trying to get away from the sun; it never seemed to set. A dusty figure to his right turned in his direction.
"Sheppard?" He rasped. The water had been used up a long time ago.
John slowly opened his eyes, once again being tormented by the bright light.
"I am fine Ronon." He said as the Satedan eyed him.
Sheppard turned in the direction of Doctor McKay. "You said it was a gate here!" He shouted loud enough to be heard over the wind.
"In case you have forgotten they didn't leave a map!" Came a snappy reply.
"I thought you had some clue as to where it was." Sheppard said testily.
"I have news for you; this is a wasteland and there are no traces of any civilization anywhere." McKay answered feeling his frustration grow but it was mainly focused at himself.
"I believe that was the point." Teyla said calmly.
Rodney turned to look at her as if the answer was obvious. "Of course it was; it was supposed to be a secret base."
Sheppard stopped. "Okay that's enough."
"Yes John is right there is no point in arguing we will gain nothing from it." Teyla said calmly.
Her skin was reddened by the bright sun and blisters started to form on her arms. Despite her efforts not to show it Sheppard could see how tired she was. The truth was that none of them would be able to walk much longer.
"We should never have come here." Ronon said suddenly. His arms where no better than Teyla's and he struggled to gain his balance.
No one said anything for a while, they continued over the next dune slowly. Nothing seemed different on the other side of it.
"Do you read anything?" Teyla asked tiredly turning to look at McKay.
"No but the life signs detector wasn't designed to find gates and even with the modification it is highly unlikely that the gate will be charged after so long hidden under sand." Rodney answered feeling sick.
Every time he opened his mouth the hot sand burned his throat. He stumbled down the dune as fast as he could to keep up with the rest. Unfortunately his body didn't have that much energy left. He took a tumble dragging Sheppard with him in his fall. Teyla and Ronon could only watch helplessly as their team mates came to a halt entangled in each other down in the valley.
"John! Rodney!" She ran the last few meters with Ronon not far behind.
At the distance of a single meter her feet connected with something hard and she fell to her knees.
"Teyla? Are you okay?" Ronon asked gently as he helped her up.
She nodded.
"I see stars." Rodney mumbled.
"You have sand in your eyes." Came a snappy reply from Sheppard.
"The next time you decide to perform something like that give me a call and I'll move."
John let out a yelp as Ronon helped him into a sitting position. Rodney glared at him.
"For your information the action wasn't planned." McKay replied trying to get sand away from his face.
"Are you guys okay?" Ronon questioned taking in their appearances.
"Oh I am fine I just broke my ankle…DON'T touch it!" Rodney shouted as Teyla carefully examined it.
Ronon patted John on the shoulder. "Sheppard?"
He bit his lip preventing himself from shouting as the firm hand made contact with his swollen shoulder.
"Well I have been better but I seem to be in one piece." He said as his hand unconsciously shielded his left side.
"What is this?" Teyla said to no one in particular. She shifted sand off the plate underneath them.
Rodney started pushing the sand away from where he was sitting. "It's the gate!"
oooooooooo
Major Evan Lorne was going on heavy painkillers. The injuries that he had sustained from the last mission really required bed rest but that wasn't an option. Colonel Sheppard, Ronon, Rodney and Teyla were lost out there somewhere.
The jumper neared the planet and heavy silence filled the cabin. They didn't know what to expect; while it was true that team Sheppard attracted trouble it was also true that they managed to get away from trouble better than anyone. That alone meant something had gone very wrong this time.
The jumper suddenly stopped in mid-air and Evan felt his mental grip slip away. He fought to stay in control of the jumper.
"What's going on?" Zelenka asked nervously.
"I don't know yet Doc, hold on."
Zelenka grabbed the nearest chair and closed his eyes as if trying to keep the jumper in the air by his own force of will. The rest of the team sat in silence waiting for the inevitable to happen.
oooooooooo
To be continued…