John sat back in his seat as the jumper cleared the central tower the next morning, and he pointed the little craft toward the mainland. Rodney sat in the co-pilot seat next to him, fiddling with a computer while Teyla and Ford sat in the seats behind them.
"Didn't I say we were taking a vacation?" John asked as he glanced from the computer to Rodney.
Rodney stared at him. "Is that why my computer conveniently had to be upgraded by Zelenka?" he asked suspiciously. "He refused to give it back, so I took his instead." He held up the computer balanced in his lap. John glanced at the computer again and realised it wasn't the combo-computer McKay usually used.
"Does that mean all of the programs are in Czech?" Ford asked with an innocent grin.
Rodney turned around and gave Ford a dirty look. "Not all of them," he mumbled as he faced forward again, and Ford laughed.
"You didn't need to bring it at all," John said as he glanced over the HUD and adjusted their course.
"What exactly am I supposed to do on this so-called vacation, then?" Rodney asked.
John looked over at Rodney and saw the beginnings of frustration in McKay's expression. "Camping, hiking, fishing, swimming. Take your pick," John said calmly. "This is supposed to be a chance to have some fun, relax. We've certainly earned it."
"This is what I find relaxing," Rodney rebutted and poked at the computer again.
John sighed. "This can be fun, too, you know. Didn't you ever go to summer camp when you were a kid?"
Rodney looked out the windscreen. "Once," he finally admitted but didn't elaborate.
"I went to the same camp every summer," Ford chimed in after a few moments of silence. "It was great! Me and a bunch of my friends would get together, have swim competitions, played football. One year, they even had horses."
John smiled. "Sounds like the camp I went to." He glanced over at Rodney, who was still silently staring out the window. "The horses were there every year," he said, glancing back at Ford and Teyla, "the last couple of summers we went, they had started an archery club, too. David and I loved it."
"David?" Teyla asked.
"My brother," John replied. "I've told you about him."
"Oh, yes, you went camping with your father as children." She nodded.
"Yep. We used to go to this summer camp in Oregon, too. We had a blast. Two weeks away from home, just us and a bunch of other kids. The camp was on a lake, and we spent one year learning to sail with this little dinghy."
"Doctor McKay?" Teyla asked gently. "Was your camp experience similar?"
John glanced over at Rodney as he twitched in his chair. "There was swimming and the like, yes," Rodney replied, never looking up from the computer.
John noticed he hadn't answered the question and changed the subject before the others pushed him for more information. "Halling is expecting us?" he asked Teyla, and Rodney visibly relaxed in his seat.
Teyla looked from him to Rodney for a moment, then said. "Yes. He has several of the boys waiting to help unload the seed. He also found a suitable spot for our campsite. Jinto and some of the other boys cleared away the underbrush and set up a tent for us."
"Great!" John said with a smile. "And it's on the beach?"
"Yes, Major, just as you asked."
"Perfect. Once we get the seed unloaded, we'll get settled and see about catching some fish for lunch."
John landed the jumper in an open field behind the Athosian village ten minutes later. He opened the rear hatch and saw Halling and a group of boys led by Jinto waiting for them.
"Teyla," Halling greeted as she stepped out of the jumper, and they touched foreheads. "It is good to see you."
"And you, Halling. How is everyone?"
"We are well," he replied and gestured for the boys to start unloading the jumper. "The seed is safe?" he asked. "You were concerned when we talked last."
"Yes," she said with a nod. "Doctor Beckett has tested it and found no evidence of the bacteria that affected Laren's people."
John watched as Halling glanced at each of them in turn. "And you are all recovered from your illness?"
John gave him an easy smile. "All better," he assured. "Teyla says you found a good camping spot for us?" he asked as they followed the boys carrying the barrels of seed toward the village.
"Yes, Jinto will show you the way," Halling replied. "You are all welcome to stay in the village, Major. After the hospitality your people showed us in Atlantis, it is the least we can offer."
"Thanks." John declined. "Maybe next time."
Halling shrugged. "As you wish." He turned to Teyla. "Charin knew you were coming today. She is hoping you will stop to see her." He gave Teyla a knowing smile. "I hear she has made tuttle-root soup."
"Tuttle-root soup?" John asked.
"I believe it is what Doctor Weir refers to as comfort food," Teyla said, and John noticed she seemed content for the first time in days.
John nodded and smiled. "In that case, we'll leave you to the soup and head over to the beach."
"Jinto!" Halling called, and his son came running. "Show Major Sheppard to the camp along the beach," Halling said.
"Yes, Father," Jinto replied with a smile and a wave of his hand. "It is this way, Major."
"Take your time," John whispered to Teyla as he walked past her. "We'll wait to have the s'mores once you get to camp."
Teyla smiled. "Thank you, Major. I will see you all later."
Jinto led them through the woods for a couple of miles, pointing out anything he thought might be interesting and talking a mile a minute. John looked around, making sure he knew the way back to the village and glanced back at Ford and Rodney following a few steps behind him.
Ford had a smile on his face as he listened to Jinto pointing out various plants or landmarks. Every now and then, he'd close his eyes and let the sun warm his face. Rodney, for his part, clumped along in the rear, pushing aside errant branches and looking resigned to his fate.
John had hoped the trip would be a fun experience for all of them, something to strengthen their growing personal ties. Ford had been excited about the trip. Teyla had been willing to go along with the idea. He should have known nothing would be simple where McKay was concerned. John was curious about Rodney's obviously terrible experience at summer camp but knew better than to come out and ask.
Maybe he could get him to talk about it later, John decided as Jinto pushed through the last of the underbrush and ran out onto a sandy beach.
John followed a few steps behind Jinto, and his face broke into a wide grin when he saw the gentle waves lapping against the shore. He loved the water, always had. Swimming, surfing, sailing, it didn't matter. The only thing he loved more than a beach and an ocean was flying.
"The tent is over here," Jinto said, pointing to his left. He ran around an outcrop of trees and held the tent flap open.
John ducked as he walked inside the tent and looked around. He nodded when he saw Halling had outdone himself with the preparations.
There were four beds, cots really, two on each side of the round tent with a small woven chest at the foot of each bed. A short, stove-like apparatus sat in the middle of the room. A small screen partitioned off part of the back of the tent, John assumed was meant to be a changing area. A large barrel near the door held drinking water and several baskets of fruit, dried meat, and loaves of bread sat on a table on the other side of the door.
"One of us boys will bring fresh water in the mornings," Jinto said as he followed the others into the tent. "Father was not sure what food you had with you, so we can bring more fruit and meat, too."
Rodney gave the basket of fruit a suspicious glance and stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets. Jinto frowned and picked up what looked like a pear and held it out to Rodney.
"We made sure there was no ... citrus?" Jinto glanced at John for a moment, and when John nodded, he finished, "There is no citrus, Doctor McKay. The fruit is safe for you to eat."
"I think I'll pass," Rodney replied. He walked around John and set his pack and the 'borrowed' computer on one of the beds.
John shook his head. "Thanks, Jinto," he said. He took the pear and clapped the boy on the shoulder. "It all looks good. Tell your father we appreciate everything he did to set this up for us."
"Sure thing, Major!" Jinto said, and with a last wave, ducked under the flap of the tent and was gone.
John set his pack on the bed next to Rodney's and sat down. "Well, gentlemen," he said, "I say we unpack, get changed into something more beach-like, and see how the water is."
"Yes, sir!" Ford said with an enthusiastic grin. He dumped the contents of his pack on one of the other cots, pulled out a pair of swim trunks, and went behind the screen.
"You actually brought swim trunks to the Pegasus galaxy?" Rodney asked once Ford returned wearing a pair of long, black and orange board shorts.
"Part of the Marine motto, Doc. Be prepared for anything."
"I thought that was the Boy Scouts."
"Them, too," Ford agreed easily. He ducked under the tent flap, and John heard splashing a few minutes later.
"Come on, Rodney," John cajoled as he pulled out a pair of swim trunks and a t-shirt from his pack. He placed the rest of the items in the chest at the foot of his bed. "Time to relax."
"Right, relax," Rodney muttered as John went behind the screen to change. "How am I supposed to relax on a beach? Has no one ever noticed my skin tone? I'll burn inside five minutes."
John smiled at the constant stream of complaint. He could tell Rodney meant none of it. Sure enough, he came out from behind the screen a few minutes later and found Rodney wearing his 'I'm with Genius' t-shirt and a pair of khaki trousers. His feet were bare, and he was digging through his pack for something.
"What are you looking for now?" John asked as he dropped the uniform he'd been wearing on the bed and stuck his boots underneath the low cot.
"Sunscreen ... aha!" Rodney replied as he pulled out a small jar and started smearing the white concoction on his nose.
John grabbed the towels he'd packed and nudged Rodney toward the tent flap.
Rodney glared back but picked up a thick book and followed.
They walked out of the tent and found Ford floating in the water a little way offshore. "About time!" he called and dove under the water.
John grinned and headed for the water. He glanced back when he realised Rodney wasn't following, then remembered Carson's admonishment not to get his cast wet. He watched as Rodney spread one of the towels under what little shade he could find, sat down, and started to read.
John spent a good part of the afternoon lazily swimming in the ocean with occasional glances on shore to make sure Rodney was still all right. As the afternoon progressed, the easy laps back and forth changed to a speed and endurance competition with Ford as they raced to various points and back. An hour later, they were both grinning and exhausted as they flopped on the sand near a sleeping Rodney and let the sun dry them.
"I wonder if any of Rodney's scientists brought a way for us to track the wave heights," John said as he watched the water. "This might be a good surf spot."
"You brought a surfboard, sir?" Ford asked.
John snapped his fingers. "Must have forgot to pack it," he replied with an easy smile. "Maybe there's a way to convince one of McKay's scientists to make one."
Ford laughed and laid back on the sand.
Once he was dry, John glanced over at McKay and frowned. The sun had moved enough that Rodney's bare arms and face were no longer under the shade.
"We're going to need to either wake him up or figure out some way to block the sun," John said softly. He closed the book lying against Rodney's chest and set it aside. "I'd really rather not wake him if we don't have to."
Ford sat up and glanced at the nearby trees. "We could probably rig something up with the towels and a couple of sticks, sir," he suggested and stood. Ford wandered to the edge of the woods and came back with several long, thin branches and started tying the corner of one of the towels to one.
"Good idea," John agreed and stood to help. "By the way, this is a vacation, Aiden, lose the 'sir', okay."
"Yes, s -"
John held up a finger with a mock frown.
"Sure thing," Ford said. They positioned the branch-and-towel contraption where it would give Rodney some protection and sat down again.
"Kalani was right," Ford said with a glance at Rodney. "You really do always know where Doctor McKay is, don't you."
John shrugged and watched the water ebb and flow along the beach. "Part of my job."
Ford snorted. "Right," he said with a drawl and a grin. "Is that your job as team leader or big brother?"
John gave Ford a stern look. "Problem?" he asked, his tone stony.
Ford stopped smiling and quickly shook his head. "No, sir," he replied and held up his hands. "Teyla and I were talking a while back, is all. She mentioned something about family not being just about blood."
"Ahh," John said noncommittally as he turned back to the water. He felt Ford watching him and waited for the inevitable questions.
"Anyway," Ford said, and John could almost hear him tip-toeing around his point. "I think it's good, sir. He's changed these last couple of months. He seems, I don't know, happier than when we first got here."
John smiled.
"So do you, sir," Ford finished.
John glanced over at him. "When did you get so perceptive? And I thought I told you to drop the 'sir'?"
It was Ford's turn to shrug. He started to reply, but John held up his hand when he heard something in the woods behind them. He swung around and rose into a crouch, his eyes focused on where he'd heard the noise.
"What is it?" Ford whispered.
John shook his head and waited.
"It's just over here, Teyla," John heard Jinto say just before the boy shot out of the woods and hurtled to a stop next to Rodney.
John relaxed, and a few seconds later, Teyla came out of the woods, a covered bowl balanced carefully in her hands.
"Major. Lieutenant," Teyla greeted and held out the bowl. "Charin wanted me to bring this for you. It is her tuttle-root soup. I think you will all like it."
"Hey, trying to sleep here," Rodney groused in a sleepy voice. "Why am I surrounded by towels?" he asked, and John saw his head poke above the makeshift sun barrier as he sat up.
"The sun moved," John explained. "Didn't want to listen to you complain for the rest of our time off about being sunburned."
"Oh," Rodney said as he got to his feet and stepped around the branches and towels. "Umm, thanks."
"You're welcome," John replied and turned to Ford. "Let's see about setting up something for food. I could eat."
John and Ford hauled the table out of the tent, set out the fruit and bread and the bowl of soup. Jinto showed them where plates and other dishes were stored, then headed back to the village with a last wave.
The soup went well with the bread, and they saved the fruit for dessert. As the sun started to set, Ford gathered up some wood and made a fire on the beach. John brought out the stash of marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate he'd been hoarding for such an occasion, and they taught Teyla the finer points of roasting marshmallows and making s'mores.
"These are very good," she said as she finished her second sandwich and looked at her hands. "And very messy."
"That's what makes them good," Ford said as he speared another marshmallow on a thin stick and set it over the fire.
"This is something you did at summer camp, Major?" Teyla asked as she scrubbed sand on her hands to get the sticky bits of marshmallow off of her fingers.
"I've already had this discussion with Ford. We're on vacation, Teyla. No need to be so formal. You can call me John. And yes, s'mores are a kind of summer camp rite-of-passage."
"At the camp I went to, the s'mores were saved for the last night," Ford said, and he pulled the now blackened marshmallow off his stick and squashed it between two crackers and a piece of chocolate. "So do your people have anything like summer camp, Teyla? Maybe we should introduce s'mores to Jinto and the other kids."
Teyla shook her head. "Not as you describe it, no. Once a year, a few of the elders take the children, boys and girls, into the woods for several weeks and teach them how to hunt, snare game, and show them what the edible plants looked like. It is a much more practical sort of endeavor."
"Maybe you could do that for us while we're out here," Ford suggested with a bright smile. "It could be useful knowing about the plants and stuff."
"I would be happy to teach you," Teyla replied with a smile. "Many plants are common to several different planets. Maj -" John glanced at her, and Teyla paused. "John," she corrected. "Would such a lesson be welcome?"
"I think it's a great idea," John said. "Tomorrow work?"
"That would be fine," Teyla agreed.
~*~*~*~ SGA ~*~*~*~
The next morning, after a breakfast of dried meat and fruit, Rodney sat on the beach with the Ancient scanner in his hands. "Camping on the beach will be fun," Rodney mimicked. "Just like summer camp."
Unlike Sheppard and Ford, his camp experience had not been one of carefree fun. He hadn't wanted to go, but his parents had shipped him off to the wilds of northern Ontario to get him out of their way for two weeks. He'd had little in common with the other boys his age. He didn't swim, his attempts at sports like archery had gone poorly, to say the least, and it wasn't long before he was left alone. Unless there was a prank in need of a victim, then he was the center of attention.
Rodney shuddered at the bad memories and focused on the scanner. The device was set to look for energy readings, and Rodney was about to re-calibrate the device to check for life signs when he saw a blip on the map just as it switched to another screen.
"What the …" he muttered and switched back to the screen that tracked energy readings. "Where would a spike like that come from out here?" he wondered and glanced at the trees behind him. He stared at the screen, waiting for the blip to happen again.
"Hey, Rodney, let's go," John called from the woods behind the tent. "Teyla's going to teach you how to find poison ivy."
Rodney grumbled under his breath and pushed himself to his feet. He looked up, saw Sheppard waiting for him, and wandered over to the rest of the team, still focused on the scanner. "I thought I just saw an energy spike," he said, looking at Sheppard.
"You thought?"
Rodney stared back down at the small screen. "It's intermittent, I think. It's not there now."
"Maybe it was just a bit of leftover data or something," Ford suggested as he walked past and stood next to Teyla.
"You're kidding, right?" Rodney asked acerbically. "Have you learnt nothing from being around me? The scanner doesn't work like that."
Ford shrugged and looked off into the woods.
"Is it there now?" Sheppard asked patiently.
"No. There's nothing there now."
"Well then, worry about it later," John suggested. "Put that away, and let's get on with the nature lesson."
Rodney scowled but stuffed the scanner in his vest pocket and followed as Teyla led them into the forest.
They were all wearing their tac-vests and short-sleeved shirts, though none had any weapons other than knives. The mainland around the Athosian village was considered safe, so Sheppard had told them sidearms weren't necessary. John also carried a backpack clipped to his vest, packed with water bottles and the food they planned to have for lunch.
They spent most of the morning traipsing through the woods, and while Rodney would never admit it out loud, he did enjoy himself. He was a perpetual student, and any chance to learn something new was always appreciated. It didn't hurt that Teyla was a good teacher. She showed them the plants that were safe to eat and the mimickers, which looked similar but would make them sick.
They stopped for lunch in a small clearing, and after they finished eating, Rodney pulled the scanner out of his vest pocket. He refined the setting on the device and waited for another energy spike. If he could find the source, maybe the trip to the mainland wouldn't be a complete waste of time.
"You guys up for a friendly competition?" Ford asked, glancing from Sheppard to Teyla and then Rodney.
"What did you have in mind?" John asked as he packed the remains of their lunch in the backpack.
"Two teams. Whoever brings back the most that's edible doesn't have to clean camp tonight," Ford challenged with a smile. "I call dibs on having Teyla on my team."
"That's hardly fair considering you've got the resident expert on your team," Rodney pointed out.
"Scared, Doc?" Ford replied, and Rodney shook his head.
"You're on," Sheppard said. "Three hours to find what you can. We'll meet back at camp and compare the results."
Ford grinned as he led Teyla out of the clearing with a wave.
Rodney glared after them, then went back to studying the scanner. He stood and slowly turned in a circle. "Yes!" he hissed and stuffed the scanner back in his pocket.
"Where to?" John asked, looking around the clearing.
"That way," Rodney replied instantly and pointed to the woods in front of him. "I think that energy reading I told you about is coming from somewhere in that direction."
"You do know we're supposed to be looking for edible plants," John teased but followed as Rodney led the way through the underbrush.
Rodney gave the greenery surrounding them an impatient wave. "Lots of plants, and an energy reading. Two birds and all that."
John laughed. "All right, let's go. Just know we need to bring back something, or we'll never hear the end of it from Ford."
The forest closed in around them the farther they walked. The trees were older than the ones closer to the village, and the undergrowth was thick. There were no paths other than the occasional animal track, and their progress was slowed as they fought their way through the tangled brush. They found a few things that looked like the plants Teyla had shown them and carefully picked the berries or stripped leaves off bushes and stored them in John's pack.
"Are you sure we're going the right way?" John asked after an hour. "I'm not seeing anything that would produce an energy reading out here."
Rodney stopped and rechecked the scanner as he slowly moved it back and forth. "Come on. I know you're out here," he muttered when the scanner refused to show him anything.
"What's the problem?" John asked, stopping beside him.
Rodney shook his head. "It doesn't make sense. I start to get a reading, and then it stops, only to start the same cycle again a few minutes later." He looked up and glared in the direction they'd been walking. "It's almost as if some kid is playing with a light switch," he added, mimicking someone flipping a switch on and off.
"And you're sure it's not some glitch with the scanner?"
"Yes, I'm sure," Rodney replied with an impatient glare. "When the readings are there, they are consistent. Whatever is out there is stationary, and the power source is significant." He looked at John. "Zed-PM significant."
Sheppard looked at the screen in Rodney's hand just as the scanner recorded another spike. "Wow. You weren't kidding." He glanced at the nearby trees. "And it looks like we aren't that far away from it." He tapped his earpiece and said, "Teyla, Ford, come in."
"Yes, John?" Teyla replied. "We are both here."
"Rodney's found something out here. Looks like a pretty strong energy reading of some kind." He looked up at the sky then behind them. "We're about five miles from camp to the southeast. We'll let you know if we find anything."
"Do you want us to come meet you?" Ford asked.
"No need. This hopefully won't take long. We're almost on top of it now."
"We will see you soon," Teyla said, and they signed off.
Rodney and Sheppard hiked for another fifteen minutes until they broke through the brush into another clearing. The clearing was smaller than where they'd had lunch, but there was what looked like a totem pole standing in the center of the open area.
"Okay, that's not what I was expecting," Sheppard said as they stumbled into the clearing. "How did this get out here in the middle of nowhere?"
Rodney lowered the scanner as he walked over and stared up at the pole.
Unlike the totem poles Rodney had seen at Brockton Point, which were relatively short and squat, the pole in the clearing was tall, rising at least a couple of meters over his head, and Rodney thought he could easily wrap his hands around the circumference. It appeared to be made from some kind of dark wood, and geometric shapes, similar to the patterns found in Atlantis, were carved into the wood. Several large, colorful stones were inlaid into one of the carved patterns on one section of the pole.
Rodney changed the scanner input and read the results on the tiny screen. "This is Ancient," he said with a tinge of awe in his voice. He glanced at Sheppard prowling the edge of the clearing behind him and added, "It might look like wood, but it's made of the same sort of material as the walls in the city."
"You're sure?" John asked as he walked over to Rodney.
"Of course, I'm sure," Rodney retorted and studied the scanner. "That tower on Kalani's planet was made of the same kind of material."
"So why would the Ancients stick a totem pole out here?" Sheppard asked, glancing around the clearing. "Are there any other structures nearby?"
Rodney switched the scanner back to search for energy readings, but before he could start the scan, a stone midway up the pole lit up, and a soft yellow light played over both of them.
Rodney held up a hand, shielding his eyes and glanced down at the scanner. "This is bad," he muttered and looked over at John. "The energy readings just spiked again." He tried to step out of the light, but it merely followed him as he moved.
"Time to get out of here," John ordered. He grabbed Rodney's arm and pulled him away from the pole.
"Yeah, I think you're right," Rodney agreed and backed up another step.
The yellow light shut off, and even as Rodney breathed a sigh of relief, a white light replaced it.
Rodney yelped and tried to duck away from the blinding light, and he felt John tighten his hold on his arm. Rodney had the briefest impression of white walls instead of the green of the forest, but then his mind shut down, and he forgot all about forests, and strange totem poles, and blinding white lights.