Chapter Three
1 Hour Earlier – 2009 C.E. – Ancient Outpost - Pegasus Galaxy
Rodney McKay stared at his laptop screen and yawned. He'd been staring at it for hours and was beginning to feel that the text had permanently been burned into his eyes. They'd been at the Ancient outpost for nearly a day and had little to show for it. They'd uncovered its location in the archives of a recently discovered secret research lab on Atlantis. The lab had belonged to Janus, one of the Ancients' greatest scientists. Of course, his archives failed to note the facility's layout, size, or even purpose for being, but that hadn't mattered to McKay. If the outpost was related to Janus that meant anything could be there, and he had been more than a little eager to see it. As the hours dragged on his excitement had decidedly decreased. The outpost itself, besides the difficulty of accessing its secrets, did nothing to improve his mood. Unlike Atlantis, which was a sprawling city, the outpost was cramped and dark with stale air. The room McKay had made home, with its rows of monitors and consoles, was the closest thing they'd found so far to a control room or central database and was little bigger than a large closet. After hours of work McKay had had little luck in unlocking its secrets. He turned his head towards the door at the sound of footsteps.
"Morning, Sunshine," John Sheppard said with a bright smile, tossing him an apple.
McKay tried to catch it, but it bounced off his hand and landed on the floor. He let it roll away and turned back to his laptop. "It's not morning." He then glanced at Sheppard, an uncertain look on his face. "Is it?"
Sheppard nodded and leaned against the wall. "You better get a nap. Carter and Jackson will be here in a few hours to help out, and they'll be ready to get to work. You know how hard you are to work with when you're tired... or hungry… or thirsty… or stuck."
McKay scoffed. "I'm not stuck, and I don't need help." He started typing again on his laptop. "I just need… time. I'm close to a breakthrough."
"Really? Because when I left here…," Sheppard glanced at his watch, "…six hours ago you said some help would be nice."
McKay frowned. "Did I? Doesn't sound like me."
"You did," Sheppard assured him wryly.
McKay shrugged. "Huh, well no time for sleep then. You know, I do have to hand it to Janus."
"What's that?"
McKay clenched his fists. "He has a talent for making the most infuriating encryption system in the known universe," he said but then looked at Sheppard with a confident grin. "Fortunately, he didn't count on someone like Rodney McKay. McKay is at the top of his game."
"Uh huh. Let's not have this discussion again, Rodney."
"What are you babbling about?"
"The talk we had about referring to yourself in the third person. It's just… not healthy. Don't make us do another intervention."
"Geniuses often have quirks, and that wasn't an intervention! Ronan threatening to shoot me is not how you do an intervention," McKay countered.
"Right. So, Mr. Genius, is it safe to say that you still haven't the slightest idea what we're dealing with here?"
"It would be Dr. Genius, and I didn't say that," McKay said and gestured to his laptop. "It's obviously important, otherwise why go to all this trouble locking it away. Just finding the reference to this place in his database was a chore. And that stargate with the odd symbols obviously was meant for something."
Sheppard rolled his eyes and sighed. "Obviously. And what would that 'something' be?"
McKay waved him away. "Go away. I'm trying to work here."
"Well, whatever this place is, it's huge. Teams have been mapping it out, and it would seem that it's underground."
"Makes sense," McKay remarked. "The little planetary data we found in the database indicates the surface is barren and uninhabitable."
"So, we avoid the surface. Check. It looks like the lower levels in east wing, where that funny looking stargate is, were constructed much later than the rest of the facility."
"'Funny looking?' Is that the technical term?" McKay mocked.
Sheppard pointed at him and wagged his finger. "No jokes. Not until you can tell me what it does."
"I told you I'm working on it."
Sheppard pulled a datapad from his jacket and began glancing through reports. "North and south wing seem to go on for a ways, piled high to the ceiling with some sort of generators that are giving off a signal, and those two wings have major conduits that lead directly to the gateroom. That would be the normal gate, not the funny one. Zelenka and his team are trying to figure out what the signal is. They also found at least a couple of geo-thermal power rooms that are operating. Zelenka says most of the power seems to be going to those signal generators."
"Yes, yes, I get the hint. I'll add your mystery signal to the enormous pile of mysteries that I need to solve. We don't want Zelenka getting in over his head."
"He's figured out more about this place than you have," Sheppard teased.
McKay grunted. "Oh yes, figuring out what's keeping the lights on, that is a groudbreaking discovery. I'll recommend him for the Nobel Prize. Meanwhile I… I'm just working on an extremely complex ten thousand year old database that may contain research that will change the face of modern science."
"You are in rare form today. You really need to get some sleep, Rodney."
"Oh, if only I had time for something so pedestrian."
"Would it help if I told you we found three ZPMs?"
McKay perked up in his chair. "Really?"
"No, but you felt better for a second right? See, it's all about attitude, but unfortunately, we've found no room full of ZPMs yet," Sheppard lamented.
"A ZPM storage room would be nice for once," McKay admitted.
"How's it going guys?" Daniel asked as he entered the room.
McKay pushed his chair back from the table and turned to glare at Sheppard. "You said 'hours.'"
Sheppard grinned innocently and shrugged. "Did I? Sorry, my timing must be off. Well, Dr. Jackson, I know that Rodney is just dying to put your expertise to work. So, I'll go meet up with Carter. She's eager to see our new gate down on the lower level."
"Actually, if Rodney has things under control, I wouldn't mind taking a look at the gate first," Daniel said.
Rodney waved them on. "Yes, yes, go look at the gate. Go off and be fascinated by the shiny object. It'll give me some time to think to myself."
"Right, like you've been doing all night?" Sheppard asked.
McKay grabbed a datapad off the table and tossed it to Daniel. "There, if you really want to make yourself useful, you can have a look at that."
Daniel adjusted his glasses and scanned the datapad. "Another Janus encryption key?"
"Yeah, it's a specific section of the database. That encryption will unlock the files to tell us what those floors of generators are for and hopefully what signal they're putting off. At least I'm pretty confident that's what it is. You work on that, and I'll get to work unlocking the stargate."
"You sure you should be messing with a gate we don't know anything about?" Shepard asked skeptically.
"I'm not 'messing' with it," McKay countered, making air quotes with his fingers. "If I can unlock its functions then we can understand what it was designed to do."
"Don't blow up any star systems this time, McKay," Sheppard ordered.
"Not entirely my fault!" McKay shouted after them as they left the room.
Daniel followed Sheppard to an elevator where Samantha Carter met up with them.
"Colonel Carter," Sheppard saluted.
"Colonel Sheppard, good to see you again," Carter replied. She looked to Daniel. "Not helping out, McKay?"
Daniel held up the datapad. "He's a little grouchy, so I'm tele-commuting."
Carter chuckled. "Gotcha."
"You know McKay. He's grouchy under the best circumstances; add in now that he hasn't slept in nearly a day. He'll be a little better after he gets some sleep," Sheppard explained. "Come on, you two are going to love this."
They entered the elevator and Sheppard took them down. Daniel was thoroughly engrossed in the datapad.
"So, I hear you've been given a command," Sheppard said to Carter.
Carter beamed with pride and nodded. "Yeah, the George Hammond. Newest Daedalus class off the line. She is a fine ship. Does her name proud."
"I never really knew General Hammond, but it certainly seems none of us would probably be here now without him."
"You're not wrong. He was a damn fine leader," she said.
Sheppard sighed. "Yeah, we've both lost some damn fine leaders."
"John, you still can't be beating yourself up about Elizabeth."
"I'm not. Scout's honor," he protested.
She patted him on the shoulder. "It wasn't your fault. She knew the threat the replicators posed. She made her choice to help try and stop them."
"Yeah, I won't deny it's a good argument, Carter," he said. "But good arguments sometimes don't make much difference do they?"
She couldn't disagree with that.
The elevator finally stopped after going down five levels. The doors slid open and led directly into a large room with the stargate at the other end. Carter and Sheppard stepped out. They both turned when they realized Daniel was still in the elevator, tapping away on the datapad.
"Daniel?" Carter said.
Daniel looked up. "Sorry, I think I've got something. Rodney was close to cracking this. He just gave up a little too quickly."
"Yeah, better if you just tell him you solved it on your own. Now maybe you can solve this," Sheppard said, jerking this thumb in the direction of the gate.
The three of them walked down the room towards the gate. The walls and ceiling were cluttered with power conduits that all converged at a generator behind the gate.
"That looks like an awful lot of power they were pumping into that gate," Carter said.
"Yeah, so far the only power source we've found is some geo-thermal generators. We've also found halls full of things that look like generators, but Zelenka says they don't seem to be producing energy just an unknown signal."
"Do you recognize the symbols, Daniel?"
Daniel glanced at the gate and shook his head. "No, never seen them before anywhere."
"Daniel…"
He held up a hand. "Sorry, Sam. Please, give me just a minute."
Sheppard motioned to Carter. "Come on, there's some sort of control panel back on this wall."
Daniel continued reading and typing, then, suddenly, the encryption broke. He was in. He quickly began trying to sort through what he was seeing. Schematics of multiple ships he had never seen before appeared on the screen, diagrams of wavelengths, and designs for the generators he'd seen in other parts of the outpost."
"Sam?" Daniel called.
There was loud hum as the power conduits in the room suddenly came to life. Other displays around the one Carter was studying came on as the gate began to spin.
"What's going on?" Sheppard asked Carter as she began frantically going over the consoles and displays.
"I have no idea. We didn't do anything," Carter replied.
Sheppard tapped his earpiece. "Rodney, this is Sheppard. The gate down here is active."
"I know! I'm working on it."
Sheppard frowned and the frown was evident in his voice. "Did you do this, Rodney?"
"Just give me a minute, Sheppard."
Daniel glanced at the ceiling as a loud clang reverberated throughout the room.
Carter was rushing from display to display, more than a little concerned at the red warning messages that began to appear on them. "There's too much power in the conduits. They can't handle the strain," Carter said as she slid an earpiece on.
"Can you shut it down?" Sheppard asked.
"Trying but my Ancient isn't so good," she replied. "Daniel, I need you!"
"Rodney!" Sheppard shouted into his mic.
"I'm trying to shut down the power, but it's not working. You guys need to get out of there."
"If all of these conduits blow, it won't matter where we are, Rodney!" Carter shouted through her mic.
One of the conduits in the ceiling suddenly ruptured and a large section came crashing down to the floor in a hail of sparks and fire. The crash sent pieces of hot shrapnel flying out which caught Daniel in the chest and threw him to his back.
"Jackson!" Sheppard shouted as other conduits began to rupture, causing a fire and a acrid black smoke to spread throughout the room.
Daniel groaned and climbed to his feet, clutching his chest and beginning to cough from the smoke. The loud whoosh of the gate caught his attention. The fire was gaining on him. He glanced hurriedly around for the datapad, but it was either in the fire or smashed under debris.
"He's trapped!" Sheppard said as he scanned the room for some way to get around the fire.
"I'm close. Just get out of there!" McKay said.
"We can't get Daniel out," Carter replied. "Contact the Hammond. Have them beam Daniel out and tell them we need a fire crew beamed down here now!"
"They won't be able to beam him out of there. That area is too deep and shielded," McKay informed her. "I'm working on it."
The fire was fiercely hot, and Daniel knew it wasn't going to get better. Faced with the option of being burned alive, he rushed towards the gate. Another conduit exploded, the force of it propelling him through the event horizon.
"Jackson's gone through the gate!" Sheppard shouted.
"I've got the power under control!" McKay said. "You have to get out of there so I can activate the fire suppressant."
"But Daniel's gone through the gate," Carter replied.
"Sam, we'll get him back," McKay assured her, "but I need you guys out of there right now!"
The power conduits in the room went silent and the gate shut down.
Sheppard grabbed Carter by the arm and pulled her towards the elevator. "We've got to go, Sam."
Carter nodded and headed with him towards the elevator. As the elevator doors slid open, the unmistakable sound of the gate powering up as the chevrons began to lock stopped them dead in their tracks.