Okay -- still using the back way in...Thank you all so much, by the way! As always! You keep me going!

NEVER STOP MOVING
By TIPPER

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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: TURNING INTO THE WIND

For a moment, no one moved, looking towards the radio controls in the front of the Jumper like it had turned into a tentacled alien. Then John pursed his lips and turned in his chair to look at Rodney and Teyla. Teyla stepped forward, as if to answer, but John raised his good hand.

"Let's see what they want first."

"Doctor McKay. Teyla Emmagen," Metra called again, her voice as crisp and cold as ever. "As I said, I assume you can hear this transmission—we are using the radio transmitters that we took from you earlier. We have reached the location of your landing site, which your scout has no doubt already informed you. He saw us descending into the canyon. We should reach your ship shortly. Accordingly, I strongly recommend you respond."

John tensed his jaw, then, slowly, he stood and walked carefully up to the front. He looked down at the console, then placed his hand on it. A HUD came up, showing life signs quickly closing down on their location.

"I'm going to cloak," he said then, pressing down on part of the undamaged console. "Here's hoping it works."

Ronon, Teyla and Rodney all automatically looked up at the ceiling, as if they would be able to see whether it the cloak worked or not from the inside. Obviously, they couldn't.

"Well," John said, reading something on the console, "according to this, we're—"

"Hiding your ship from us is not going to work," Metra said then, unknowingly confirming that, yes, the cloak did still work, despite Rodney's dire predictions. "You are still on our sensors. I have confirmation of your location from our facilities next to the Stargate. In addition, as you may or may not have discerned, our weapon is currently targeting you. Should you try to move or fly away, we will fire and we will not miss. So, again, I suggest you respond."

"Why did you cloak when you knew they could still see us on their sensors?" Rodney asked, pushing himself up off the bench so that he could see Sheppard better. When he wobbled, Ronon grabbed his arm, steadying him.

"Because I don't want them to see inside." John looked back at his teammates. "How close are we to being done?"

Rodney's eyes pinched, then, pulling his arm from Ronon's hold, he tottered forward to his station so he could peer down at the laptop. "Did you finish?"

"No," John replied. "I only got about eight of them in." He gave a wry look, "I'm not totally sure I'm dropping things in the right place. It all sort of looks the same to me."

Rodney gave a nod, and gingerly sat himself down in the chair. "I'll check it." He looked past John to the HUD, the life signs moving much too quickly. "What about the Kaveer?"

As if on cue, the radio came alive again. "You must realize that your position is untenable. We could easily destroy you right now, as we could have done at any time in the last hour. However, you must also realize that, if we can avoid it, we do not wish to destroy your ship, nor, Doctor McKay, do we wish to kill you. You clearly have knowledge we can use. That, as Miss Emmagen can tell you, gives you some leverage. We are willing to deal on the basis of that. Will you respond?"

"We'll deal with them when they're closer," John said. As such, he continued to ignore Metra's demand, walking back to Rodney to peer over his shoulder as the scientist scrolled down the coding he had written and which John had modified. "How's it look?"

Rodney frowned, finding what looked like a mistake on the screen and fixing it. "Getting there."

"How long before it's ready to go?"

"I don't know. Ten minutes maybe? I still have to translate it, then upload the program into the mainframe."

"Make it less."

Rodney scowled, but John was already looking to Teyla.

"Have you finished the repairs?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I believe I have restored power to the drive pod, and balanced out the power output to both engines, but I have not restored control to the left drive pod as of yet."

"How long will it take you?"

Teyla shook her head, "I do not know. I have never…" she paused, then continued. "I would estimate twenty minutes, perhaps? It might be longer."

John grimaced, then pursed his lips. "No disrespect, Teyla..." He looked down at Rodney. "How long would it take you, McKay?"

Rodney closed his eyes, then glanced over at Teyla. She had her lips pressed together tightly, but, at his questioning gaze, she gave him a small nod. She understood. Rodney gave her a nod in return, then turned to look up at Sheppard.

"I…haven't seen the extent but…I could probably get it mostly restored in a few minutes."

Teyla showed no reaction to the news, her eyes returning to John's to meet them evenly. She had a lot to be proud of in what she had done, but there were things where Rodney would always be better.

"Sheppard, they're really not far," Ronon warned, now watching out the back. "You want me to move to a better position? I could flank them."

Sheppard glanced at him, then up at the life signs detector. He frowned, and shook his head.

"Tempting as that is, Ronon, they just need to hit a button to destroy us. We have to play this out, just until McKay's done." He turned his eyes to Teyla, who was watching Rodney as he continued to work on the weapon program he'd created. "We need to stall—which means we need to pretend to negotiate, and there's only one of us who has the skills to do that effectively." Teyla lifted her head, her brow furrowed as John continued. "Metra wants to make a deal, Teyla—you're the only one who can talk her language. She wants this ship and she wants Rodney, and maybe the rest of us too. Well, she's getting nothing, but you need to convince her that we are…open…to the idea. Think you can do it?"

Teyla's eyebrow lifted, and she gave a small smile. "Of course."

"Okay. Ronon," he looked to the Satedan, "You're her backup. I'll help Rodney."

"What do I tell them about why Rodney is not with me?" Teyla asked.

John gave her a small smile, "I'm sure you'll think of something." He stepped back then, nodding his head towards the radio controls. "You ready?"

Teyla closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again, and the leader of the Athosian people once more stood before them. Striding forward, she hit the radio transmitter.

"Metra, this is Teyla Emmagen." Her eyes met John's confidently as she spoke. "We are ready to negotiate."

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Teyla stood several yards from the bottom of the Jumper's ramp, Ronon by her side. Both were fully armed. From all outward appearances, she and Ronon were standing in an empty clearing. As the Kaveer approached, however, it was clear they knew that the Jumper was here somewhere. They moved cautiously, their weapons fanning out away from Teyla and Ronon's positions.

The soldiers were only a couple dozen thick, riding on small, hovering ships that appeared to skim above the sand like a hovercraft over calm seas. They were very quick—clearly far more advanced than the trucks they had blown up at the compound. Upon seeing them, Rodney had made some quiet remark about how George Lucas was going to be pissed over copyright infringement.

Metra and the soldier with whom John had had a staring contest back at the Stargate were in the lead vehicle, and it slowed to a stop about ten feet away from Teyla's position. The tall Kaveeran woman stepped out onto the ground, brushing dust and sand from the sleeves of her cream colored robe, and moved forward to face Teyla. The soldier, obviously a general or commander of some kind, wore more tan colored clothing, and he stood at attention at Metra's back. The rest of the Kaveer flanked them.

"Metra," Teyla greeted, giving her a head nod.

"Teyla," Metra greeted back. She did not look at Ronon. "Where is Doctor McKay?"

"He was injured in your attack on our ship," Teyla replied. "Your weapon impacted the left hand side, where Doctor McKay was sitting. He is resting inside where it is cool, along with our pilot."

"Ah, yes, your pilot," Metra gave a small smile, and glanced at the soldier with her. "Commander Cray said he appeared to be military. As I assume Athos has not yet developed a military, he must be of the Terran people?"

"His name is Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, and, yes, he is Terran."

"He was injured as well?"

"He was, although not badly. Colonel Sheppard is currently covering our position from inside the ship. He will fire if we are attacked—you may recall the strength of the weapons that the Jumper holds." Teyla lifted her eyebrows.

Metra's lips pinched slightly, but her cold eyes suggested a hint of amusement. "I see. I take it you do not trust my word that, while we spoke, you would not be harmed."

"I am more concerned about what would happen if these negotiations were to falter, Metra," Teyla replied just as smoothly. "You said nothing about what would happen then."

"That is true," Metra said, smiling with all the warmth of an iceberg. She looked down, then up again, "Although, you are aware just how vulnerable your position is, yes?"

Teyla gave a nod. "Yes, although," she said, in imitation of Metra's tone, "I should tell you—the ship has a self-destruct sequence. It is on automatic. It is currently counting down from twenty minutes and, if either I or Ronon do not return to turn it off, this clearing, and everything in it, will be destroyed, including you. As such, those of your soldiers attempting to flank us…and yes, I can see them…should stop now. It would only take a nod from me to have the Jumper explode now."

Metra's jaw firmed up slightly, "I see." She met Teyla's stare for a moment longer, then nodded to the solder by her side. "Commander, if you will."

The older general grimaced, but tapped his wrist communicator—Genii design. "Retreat to original positions," he ordered.

For a moment, nothing happened, and then the number of soldiers standing behind Metra and the Commander thickened.

Teyla gave a nod, "Thank you. Now," she inclined her head, "what are your terms?"

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"Sheppard," Rodney whispered, pushing back from the laptop, "I need you to finish this."

John looked back at him from where he'd been leaning out the back hatch, listening to the dealings. At McKay's call, he frowned then gave a headshake, pointing to Teyla and Ronon outside, only a few yards away.

"Just do what you were doing before," McKay whispered. "You were doing it right, mostly. I can get started on the controls."

John frowned, looked once more at Teyla and Ronon's backs, then turned to head into the forward compartment. He took Rodney's seat as McKay stood up very slowly, obviously trying to avoid another "fainting" incident like before. John stared at the screen, then, with a frown, started clicking keys. McKay watched for a moment, then moved slowly over to the control panels.

Rodney felt old. Very, very old. His vision was swimming, and everything ached. The thing that bothered him the most, however, was his right hand. His fingers were numb, and the trembling he now realized was more related to his forcing it to move when it didn't want to.

Breathing through the pain, he lifted his hands to the panel on the left side of the Jumper and started pulling crystals. Unlike Teyla, he knew exactly where everything was and what he needed it to do. Whipping out every dead crystal, he dropped them to the bench then turned carefully around to look at the other panel, trying to keep the worst of the dizziness at bay. Pulling a bunch of new crystals, he pulled down the stylus attached to the panel and, within moments, reset each one. Turning again, he started slotting them into the first panel, smiling as they lit up, one by one.

Until he got to the last.

His smile fell.

Damn.

"Sheppard," he stage whispered, stepping back and rubbing his right hand with his left. "Sheppard, we have another problem."

There was a soft sigh from the front, then John was standing next to him, cradling his left arm and looking very much like the morphine had worn off.

"What now?" he whispered quietly.

"This," Rodney pointed to the still dead crystal. "It's not the crystal that's dead, it's the connection to the mechanism. Teyla must not have noticed it before."

"Mechanism for what?"

"Retracting the left drive pod. She must have assumed it was power related. The connection is dead between here and the pod. The physical mechanism itself must be broken."

"But," Sheppard looked towards the back, where Teyla was still very calmly talking to Metra, "wouldn't she have noticed if there was damage to the physical mechanism when she was outside?"

Rodney frowned at that, then grabbed his tablet. He tapped the screen a few times, then shut his eyes tightly. John waited, then hit his shoulder.

"What?"

Rodney sighed softly. "It's not her fault."

"What's not her fault?"

Rodney looked up at him, his expression pained. "I shouldn't have made her do it alone. When she replaced the conduits, she must have cut the connection from here to the mechanism. I didn't see it when I looked, but since the command is not showing up on here," he tapped the tablet, "that means that the Jumper's interior controls don't even know it exists. The only explanation for that is that she severed it manually somehow. Unless I go outside, I can't see if it's fixable. And the cloak is too close to the skin of the Jumper—they'll see me."

John stared at him, "Are you saying we can't retract the pod? We can't take the Jumper through the Gate?" His eyes narrowed, "I don't want to leave these people a Jumper, McKay."

Rodney pursed his lips. "Well…there is another way to retract it."

"How?"

"There's a release and retract mechanism—a lever—built into the exterior of the hull."

John blinked. "Exterior," he repeated. His eyes narrowed. "As in, on the outside of the Jumper?"

"It's just above and in front of the pod." Rodney looked towards the wall on that side, "A person could conceivably climb down the side while we're in the air and work the mechanism. They would have to jump off before we hit the event horizon, however, or they could get trapped in the small space between the Jumper and the Gate. They could then follow us through on foot…"

"Climb down the side...while we're in the air."

"Yes."

"And while we're being shot at."

"I can try to expand the shield, just like you did underwater when you came to rescue me that one time. There may be enough power, now that Teyla's boosted it."

"What about wind? And air pressure?"

"I can modify the shield to take care of some of that."

"Some...but not all, I take it."

"No—we need to breathe, and we need to feel some pressure change."

John looked down, then back up at Rodney. "Does Teyla know where the lever is?"

Rodney's jaw flexed, then he nodded.

John looked down, then up again. "Okay. You done with the rest?"

"Almost." Rodney turned, and staggered, hitting the bench with his knees as his arm reached out to brace himself on the side of the Jumper. It was fairly loud, and John grimaced, looking out the back. Commander Cray was looking in this direction, his eyes narrowed.

"Sorry," Rodney whispered weakly, sitting down. For a moment, he just breathed, blinking slowly as if to refocus his eyes. Then, finally, he reached for his vest on the floor and pulled it up. Taking out the life signs detector, he hit a few keys, then looked up at John. He held the scanner towards the colonel. "Hook this up to the third and fifth crystals on the bottom row of the panel using the same wires as for the tablet. Once the scanner's screen lights up, just mentally think about downloading the control for the left hand drive pod." John nodded, taking the now 'former' life signs detector.

Rodney watched him for a moment, then stood very, very slowly and headed back into the forward compartment. "I'll finish the program," he whispered, settling back into his chair.

John grimaced, hating how much weaker Rodney sounded every time he spoke. It was like slowly watching a flame gutter and die. Forcing that thought back, he put the scanner in his mouth—he couldn't wait to have two hands back—and reached down for the tablet to unhook it.

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TBC...

If you saw Return II last night, you'll now know why I felt I could use the concept of the shield on the Jumper even though it hasn't really been used that much before now, and where the new "Jumpers" came from that Radek's been working on with Teyla. I initially said, he had been teaching her using Jumpers "from the underwater bay" then realized it was a spoiler. I am so, so glad this episode has finally aired! Phew!