AN: Hey again! New Chapter here...hope you enjoy...I tried to capture the feeling of being in a tight space, like a tiny cave tunnel - the claustrophobia and all, as I am deathly afraid of them. Hope it worked out well. Not much else to explain, so read on, faithful followers...and *please* read and review!

Chapter 7

Teyla slid on her belly through the tight crevice the cave had narrowed into, her hands dirty and scraped by the sharp pebbles under her. The air here was thin, causing her to catch her breaths in small, short gasps. She managed to control the panic that rose in her chest with every inch she moved, as it only slowed her down, trying to convince her to go back to where John and the rest of the men waited. The small flashlight John had ordered her to take bobbed with every motion of her hand, but she was grateful to have it. The darkness in the tunnel pressed itself upon her, almost tangible, and she feared that if she lost what little light she now possessed, she would go insane.

Behind her, the men's voices were little more than a low murmur, and fading fast. She silently wondered now if John had been right to try and stop her, if this had been a big mistake on her part. Certainly, he'd been convinced that it was. But when she thought of Rodney and Ronon, her resolve hardened again. No, she thought, they need me to do this. I must keep going.

Finally, the claustrophobic pressure of the cave eased slightly, and her flashlight's beam showed that the tunnel ahead of her was wider. Breathing a sigh of relief, Teyla cleared her mind and pushed herself forward, until she was able to raise herself back up onto her hands and knees. Though she wanted desperately to tell John that she was all right, she remained silent, knowing that any loud noise could bring the walls of the tunnel between them tumbling down. Instead, she kept crawling toward the place Cornell and Foster had told her the device should be, her eyes never moving from the black space in front of her. Soon, the darkness was replaced by a faint purple glow, and she could see that she had reached the end of the tunnel. She sat down at the edge, her legs dangling only inches from the floor of the next cave. Then, she leaned forward and dropped down, landing lightly on her feet.

The cavern that held the device was half the size of the one they had entered from the cliff face, though there were clearly more rock formations here. Rather than definite shapes pointing in both directions, the deposits formed huge columns that shimmered even more brightly than the ones in the main cave had. Teyla swung her light around, picking out the best path for her to reach the device. When she'd found it, she tread carefully, trying to avoid the sharp points of rock that jutted up from the floor, until she stood only a dozen feet away from the machine that had taken her friends.

Mouthing a silent prayer to the Ancestors that it would not capture her as well, she edged forward and then knelt down before it. Now that she could clearly see the machine's components, surprise dawned on her and then slowly turned to fear. The device was not of Ancient design; in fact, there was nothing familiar to her about this technology at all. The only thing that stood out to her was a panel near the bottom, which contained strange symbols that seemed to run up and down, rather than lengthwise.

Slowly standing up, Teyla pondered what she should do. They had come so far; did she really want to just turn back now? But this device was so different from the ones Rodney had allowed her to watch him work on, and if she touched one wrong button, made one wrong move…

Sighing in frustration, Teyla allowed herself to gaze bitterly at the crevice she'd crawled through only moments before, and then hoisted her body back in the way she came.

John's surprise was only matched by his relief as he caught sight of Teyla's head emerging from the fissure, her honey-colored hair now coated with grayish-brown dust. He sprang forward and knelt down in front of the narrow opening, waiting until she was halfway out before grabbing her hand and hoisting her to her feet.

"You okay?" He asked her. As she was too busy catching her breath to speak, she nodded at him. John turned to Lorne and held out his hand. "Hand me some water."

Evan tossed a canteen to John, who caught it and twisted the top off, then handed it to Teyla. She gratefully took it and tipped the contents into her mouth, feeling the cool liquid wash away the grit on her tongue as she swallowed.

When her thirst was satisfactorily quenched, she gazed anxiously at John and said, "The device is not Ancient."

"What?" He asked, although he'd heard her just fine. "What do you mean?"

"It is not anything I have ever seen before." She sank hopelessly to the floor, her heart suddenly feeling too heavy for her to stand any longer. "There is no ZPM, no Ancient symbols."

John crouched beside her, his elbows resting on his thighs. "Well, can you describe it? Maybe we can figure out what it is," He offered, unwilling to give up yet.

She nodded. "It is about as tall as you, John, and just about your width. It is made of a strange crystalline material, and shaped like a…" she searched her mind for the right word, but nothing came. Instead, she leaned forward and drew the shape in the dirt. John leaned forward and glanced at it, nodding.

"A cylinder."

"Yes," she replied, "and its entire surface radiates a purple glow." As he moved to stand, she remembered something else and tugged at his sleeve, causing him to stop and look at her again. "There was writing on it, and though I am not certain, I think I may have seen similar symbols before."

"Where?"

"On the Daedalus."

John's confused expression would have been comical any other time. Now, however, it only stirred the uneasiness in her stomach. Before he could speak, she explained what she meant. "I believe it is Asgard."

A murmur rippled through the men as they realized the implications of what she just said. John blinked at her a few times. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yes. Although some of the symbols were not quite the same."

"I'll go take a look at it, Colonel," Foster said from behind him. "Maybe I can figure it out."

John turned to look at him. "You sure, Foster? It's a pretty tight squeeze."

"Yes," Teyla agreed. "I only barely fit into the space myself."

Despite the nervous blinking of his eyes, Tim nodded. "I'd really like to go. There's no telling how long a body can safely be contained in the device, let alone two."

John glanced at Lorne, who slowly nodded once. Then, he stood up, brushing the dirt from his hands, and reached down for Teyla's hand. She slipped her fingers into his palm, and he gripped them, using his weight to pull her to her feet. When she was standing beside him, he held out the canteen to her again. Smiling at his concern, she shook her head, and he tossed it to Gibson, who slipped it into his pack.

"Okay," he said. "Though it goes against my better judgment. Get in, have a look, and get back out."

"Understood, sir." Foster slipped the pack off his back and dropped it at his feet, then unbuckled his tac vest and let it fall beside the pack. John handed him the flashlight Teyla had used, and watched as he slipped headfirst into the narrow crawlspace. When his feet had disappeared from sight, John turned back to the others, a frown wrinkling his forehead.

"I think I know what he's thinking," Cornell offered then. He perched on a rather large rock nearby, his boots scraping loudly across the dirt floor, and scratched at the two-day's worth of stubble at his jaw. "The device might be Vanir."

John narrowed his eyes in thought. "You mean the rogue Asgard?"

Cornell nodded. "From your and Teyla's description, the beam that took Dr. McKay and Ronon sounds like Asgard tech. Then there's the symbols…"

"Sounds a little too much to be a coincidence," John agreed. Sighing, he leaned back against the wall and glanced at the ceiling. The stalactites above him pointed menacingly down at him, as if they were just waiting for a noise loud enough to send them down like jagged, rock daggers into his skull. "Well, we'll know more when Foster gets his ass back out here."

Cornell's suspicions were confirmed when Foster finally emerged from the crevice ten minutes later. Ted's green eyes sparked with both excitement and concern as he explained some of the symbols Teyla had seen earlier.

"It was originally meant to trap any Wraith that came to this planet, thousands of years ago. Then, they would either be transported to a holding facility to be…dealt with…" he grimaced, and everyone copied the look as they understood what he meant, "…or they could be contained within the device for a set amount of time, their life signs slowly weakening until they disappeared altogether."

"Like a Wraith 'roach motel'," John murmured.

Foster nodded. "The only problem is, the crystals powering the device have been continuously running the entire time, and are just now slowly dying out. That is probably why it only transported the Wraith soldiers you came across a couple dozen kilometers away, instead of halfway across the planet like it was designed to."

"And why it sucked up Rodney and Ronon."

He nodded again. "In short, the device is malfunctioning. I don't think I need to tell you that if those crystals die out completely…"

"Then we will lose Dr. McKay and Ronon forever," Teyla said softly. John caught the shine of tears in her eyes, and his heart squeezed in his chest.

Glancing once more at the black hole that led to the cursed device, he raised his voice only slightly and said, "All right, everyone. Let's pack up and get back to the Jumpers. From the looks of things here, we're gonna need some help."

John, Evan, and Teyla met Carter outside her office, which stood in a corner of the balcony above the Gate Room. She gave the gate technician a few quick instructions, and then led the way into the office. When everyone was inside, Evan shut the door and then stood beside it, his hands clasped in front of him.

"What's happening, John? Where's Rodney?"

"It doesn't look good, Sam," John said, his eyes dark with worry.

She sighed and leaned against her desk, her long, blond hair curved over one shoulder in a thick braid. "Okay. Tell me."

"The device isn't Ancient, it's Asgard. Well, Vanir, to be more precise."

"Vanir?" She asked, her blue eyes widening.

"Yeah. Those sneaky bastards were everywhere, it seems, and they are absolutely horrible at making Wraith traps."

There was a small chuckle behind him, and he knew without looking that it had come from Major Lorne. Then, Lorne cleared his throat and muttered, "Sorry." John glanced at Teyla, who was also trying to stifle a grin, and his jaw tightened. He hadn't really meant to be funny, but his wording made it sound like he was trying to crack a joke. Suppressing the urge to strangle someone, he took a step forward, locking his hands behind his back.

"We believe that the device was meant to capture Wraith, and…dispose of them. Only, it seems to have malfunctioned, and the beam took Rodney and Ronon, by mistake."

"But there should have been some kind of fail-safe to keep that from happening. After all, it was on a planet inhabited by humans," Sam said, her eyes shifting back to John's face. He was beginning to look tired again, his forehead creasing deeper with every second, and it worried her. She knew he would push himself as far as he had to in order to rescue his friends, even if that meant that he dropped dead of exhaustion. By the look of him, she guessed that he was about halfway there already.

"Yeah, well…problem is," John replied, "the device has been running full power for the past six or eight thousand years or so, with no one around to fix a broken fail-safe, much less a blown fuse. Anyway, we're in somewhat of a hurry here. If Foster's right, we may not have much longer to get Rodney and Ronon out."

"What do you mean? Why not?"

John sighed and rubbed a hand through his messy hair. "After all this time, the crystals are on their last legs, so to speak. And if the batteries die in the remote…"

She nodded in understanding, biting at the inside of her cheek. "Any information stored inside will die with it. Okay, so what do you need?"

"Not what," he replied with a shake of his head. "More like, who." When she merely stared at him in confusion, he added, "Zelenka would be a great help."

Teyla nodded. "And we believe we could also use Hermiod, as the device is mostly of Asgard design."

"You're lucky the Daedalus is still here, then," she said with a small, hopeful grin. "You go on ahead to Hermiod, and I'll grab Zelenka and meet you on board."

Not wanting to spare another moment, John spun on his heel and started for the door. Lorne reached over and pulled the door open, nodding in respect as his commander stepped onto the balcony, and again as Teyla followed after John. Lorne glanced over at Sam and gave her a tight smile, and then he, too, was gone.

Carter pushed herself off from the desk, feeling insanely guilty for sending them back to the planet at all. Of course, she could not have known that something like this would happen, but she should have figured out by now that the Pegasus was never finished dealing the Atlantis expedition surprise after horrible surprise. Though she had been glad to fill Dr. Weir's shoes at first, now she was beginning to understand just how much Elizabeth had had to deal with, and Sam wasn't sure she was up to the task. She should have listened to John when he'd said it was a bad idea, but her scientific curiosity had gotten the better of her once again, and because of it, she'd might've just killed off two of John's team. And for what – a ZPM that didn't exist, and a faulty piece of technology that they could never hope to use?

Then, she shook her head to clear it. It would do no good to sit here feeling sorry for herself, or for John and his team. Right now, she had to find Zelenka, and figure out how to get Rodney and Ronon out of this mess.

"Colonel."

John stopped in the hallway of the Daedalus and turned around, to see Colonel Caldwell striding toward him. "Colonel," he greeted in return. Though his feet itched to get moving again, he forced himself to stand still as Caldwell reached where he and Teyla stood.

"Carter filled me in on what's happening. For what it's worth, I really hope you can pull this off."

John nodded. "Thank you, Colonel. I hope so, too."

"Well, I was just on my way up to the bridge. Hermiod's waiting for you in the engine room."

"Thanks." As Caldwell walked away, John turned and muttered something under his breath. Teyla merely eyed him, then walked silently beside him through the cramped corridors.

When they reached the engine room, Doctor Lindsay Novak looked up and smiled nervously at them. "Hello, Colonel. Teyla."

"Hello," John and Teyla both replied, and Novak's smile grew less anxious. John walked over to the small, gray alien seated behind a console and said, "Hey, Hermiod."

"Hello, Colonel Sheppard. How may I assist you?"

Right to business, John thought as he grinned at the Asgard. "You remember the planet we were just on? The one with the disappearing Wraith?"

Hermiod's large head bobbed once. "I recall."

"Well, there's a device down there, buried deep underground, and we think the Vanir made it." He almost leaned his elbows on the console, but a single blink of Hermiod's black eyes discouraged him. Instead, he tipped his shoulder against the wall and continued. "Dr. McKay and Ronon have both been trapped inside this device, and we need to get them out before the crystals shut down for good."

For a moment, Hermiod continued to work on whatever he had been doing before they had arrived, and John wondered if the alien had heard him at all. Then, Hermiod looked up and blinked slowly. "I may be able to beam the device aboard the Daedalus, but I fear I will not be of much use in extracting anyone from within it."

"Why not?" John asked, his hopes slowly sinking.

"The Vanir have not been a part of our civilization for many thousands of years. Much of their technology is very different from ours, as is their language."

"We understand that," John said. "But Rodney and Ronon are in danger, and right now, you're pretty much our best hope of getting them back."

"We think our Lieutenant Foster may be able to help decipher the writing on the device," Teyla offered then. "And Dr. Zelenka is very capable with all kinds of technology."

Again, Hermiod seemed to ponder something before answering her. "Very well," he said, bowing his bald head. "Perhaps together, we will be able to solve this problem."

"Great!" John replied, smiling. He tapped his earpiece. "Colonel Carter?"

"I'm right here," Sam's voice said from across the room. Startled, John's head snapped to the side, and saw her walking side-by-side with Radek Zelenka.

"Oh," he simply said, and clicked off the comm.

"So, what's the verdict?" Sam asked, her eyes darting between Hermiod and John.

"Well, as soon as I get the okay from Caldwell, we're gonna head back to the planet on the Daedalus. Hermiod's agreed to beam the device up here, so we can try and fix whatever made it pull a Copperfield on Rodney and Ronon."

"Actually, you already have the okay." Her eyes sparkled mischievously. "I already talked to Caldwell, just in case."

John's eyebrows lifted, impressed. "Okay then."

"Wait, we're leaving now?" His blue eyes shifted around nervously, and he unconsciously pushed his glasses further up on his nose. "I do not think I have everything…there are things in my lab…"

"Relax, Radek," John said, clapping his hand onto the scientist's shoulder. "We can have everything you need beamed onto the ship." He looked over at Hermiod. "Right?"

"That is correct, Colonel," Hermiod responded evenly. A moment later, there was a bright flash, and when it faded away, a pile of tools and miscellaneous objects was left in the middle of the room.

"See?" John asked Radek, who merely nodded. John turned to Carter. "So, since everything seems to be in order…"

"I'm leaving." She was about to turn away when the comm. clicked in her ear. "Sorry. Hang on." She tapped the radio and said, "Carter, here."

Whoever it was spoke for only a brief moment, and Sam nodded even though they couldn't see her. Then, she said, "Okay, Major. See you in a minute."

After she had ended the conversation, she explained, "Major Lorne's team are on their way up."

"You sure that's necessary?" John asked her. "We should be able to handle it on our own."

Teyla placed her hand on his arm. "They may be needed, if there are still Wraith trapped inside the device along with Ronon and Rodney."

He considered it for a minute, then nodded. "You got a point, there."

"Okay, then," Carter said, sure that everything was ironed out as well as it could be. "Now, I'm leaving. Keep me in the loop."

"We will."

Once she had exited the ship and made it back inside the city, the Daedalus' engines roared to life, and they lifted away from the East Pier.

TBC...