Ace In The Hole
Chapter 13
Richard Woolsey and Colonel Sheppard's team sit patiently in the briefing room waiting to the arrival of one Doctor Rodney McKaye who of course is running late, Sheppard sighs as he looks at his watch for the third time in as many minutes.
"If he's not here in…."
"Sorry got held up on the Sun Tzu…. we were…. No matter…. Anyway I'm good" Rodney stammers as he finally takes his seat.
"I believe you have a problem regarding the planet you wish to check out Dr. McKaye" Woolsey asks sounding slightly annoyed.
"We sent a probe to PX8-9YU the planet with the Stonehenge thing a me jig…. Anyway…. turn out the wraith have moved in…. in significant numbers I might adds" Rodney grimaces he knows how important this planet may be to them.
"Could we not go in covertly?" Asks Teyla
"Doubt it…. The MALP lasted 2.3 seconds before it got fried" Rodney offers bluntly.
"Then could we not remove them by force?" Teyla offers once more trying to be helpful.
"Why would we?" Rodney offers dismissively.
"I think what Dr McKaye is saying is that if we used force then the wraith would want to know what is on the planet worth fighting for" Woolsey offers helpfully.
"Either way we need to check this out….And right under the Wraith's noses….Could be fun" Sheppard grins finally joining the conversation "I think I have an idea"
"Colonel Lorne do you have a minute?" Lorne recognises the voice immediately and feels a knot in his stomach tighten as he smiles as naturally as possible trying hard to keep the urge to runaway and hide from his own embarrassment buried deep down inside.
"Colonel Grainger" He notices Grainger's eyes tighten slightly at the formality of his greeting and inwardly chastises himself for putting himself and Grainger through this.
"I thought you and I should have a chat…. Try to clear the air…. I didn't know you were here…" Grainger offers honestly
"And if you had?" Lorne asks feeling anxious and annoyed more at himself than anyone else.
"I would have still come…. But I would have warned you before hand…." Grainger answers with a tender smile.
"Well…. Good to see you again…. but….I'm kinda…"
"Evan…. Don't run…. You did that six years ago…. Talk to me…. For fucks sake just tell me what's going on with you?" Grainger tries to take hold of Evan's arm and lead him out onto the nearest balcony but Evan brushes it off and bolts off down the corridor.
"Colonel Marks lay in a course for PX8-9YU please" Sheppard orders with a smile as he takes his seat on board the Odysseys bridge, Ronon offers him a grin whilst standing off to his side.
"What?"
"You hate sitting in that chair right?"
"Like you wouldn't believe" Sheppard offers with a nod.
"Mark's…. take us out"
"Yes Sir" Mark's replies before the ship quickly jumps to hyperspace seconds later "We should arrive in 3 hours 15 minutes Sir"
"Cool…. Wake me up before we get there" Sheppard leans back in the chair and closes his eyes, Mark's smiles and turns his attention back to his screen for a couple of minutes only to hear Sheppard snoring lightly a couple minutes later.
"Can he always fall asleep like that…. Takes me ages" Marks asks the grinning Satedian.
"It's a gift"
Lorne hears the door chime and chime and chime again and in his heart he knows he has to answer it and face his demons once and for all, lifting himself off the bed wearily he waves his hand over the door crystal and sighs loudly as Alex smiles at him warmly holding out a coffee for him.
"Thought you may wanna chat" Alex smiles letting himself into his room and is soon sitting cross legged on the bed.
"You give therapy now also" Evan smiles weakly
"You don't need therapy Evan…. Just a friend…. Besides it will do you good to let it go" Alex raises an eyebrow knowingly.
"You have been in my head….You know full well its not just Sheppard who's a little screwed up upstairs" Lorne sighs sitting on the bed finally.
"Yes…. But that's not how it works…. So talk"
"I ran" Evan offers weakly
"I know….I saw"
"No…. six years ago…. Things got too heavy and I ran" Evan feels the sting of tears in his eyes "I'm 38 years old and I have only had 2 relationships…. My first I was 17 and it lasted two and a half months and my second I was 32 and it lasted almost a year"
"Grainger?" Alex asks knowing the answer
"Yeh…. I've not been a monk believe me but never anyone serious…. Never anyone that I …." Tears begin falling down his cheeks as he fights to keep his emotions in check "Oh god…. shoot me now…. I'm crying like a girl" Evan tries to joke sadly.
"And Grainger…. How's he feel?... about you I mean?"
"Probably that I'm some sort of closeted muppet I'll guess"
"I doubt that" Alex offers nudging Lorne's shoulder with a smile.
"Colonel Sheppard…. Sir!"
"I'm not asleep Mark's…. just resting my eyes"
"And the snoring… Sir?" Mark's grins at the bleary eyed colonel
"Are we there yet?" Sheppard replies returning his grin.
"We should arrive in two minutes sir"
"Soon as we drop out…. Cloak the ship…. 'This is Colonel Sheppard…. We will be arriving in less than 2 minutes people' lets hope what we need is worth the risk" Sheppard sighs.
Odyssey drops out of hyperspace and cloaks immediately before heading for the small Earth like planet in front of them.
"Sir…. Detecting three hive ships on the ground…. Sensors indicate one of them has taken serious damage to its engines" Marks offers with a nod "There are also a group of cruisers in orbit on the far side of the planet"
"Can you detect the stone circle on the northern continent near the planets stargate?" Sheppard can't help sound excited he knows what is at stake.
"Yes sir…. And we are detecting a cavern almost a mile directly below the circle" Marks grins at first but his grin soon changes to a frown "It has unusual shielding…. The Asgard transporter will not work…. But there is a set of rings down there…. Sir"
"Come on Chewie let's get the others and go check it out"
"Make's sense" Rodney offers as they walk to Odysseys ring room after gearing up.
"What makes sense?"
"The ancients switched to using the booth type transporter in Pegasus so it makes sense why this place uses rings" Rodney offers confusing his team more than ever in the mean time "Atlantis has a ring platform on the South pier" Rodney states looking at his team like they should know what he's talking about.
"And" Sheppard asks slightly glaring in reply to the Rodney's patronising look that he is giving.
"If the Wraith captured a Lantean ship they still couldn't get down to the place they would have had to capture Atlantis and use its ring platform makes it as secure as it could be I guess" Rodney explains with a shrug.
"Well thankfully for us we brought our own set of rings"
Almost a mile below the surface of PX8-9YU a dusty set of rings rise from the floor and in a flash of light Colonel Sheppard and his team appear in almost total darkness.
"Oh god!"
"Calm down McKaye" Sheppard barks as he and Teyla switch on the torches on their P-90's small shafts of light reach out into the surrounding space, the room is completely empty and nothing can be seen except a closed door with a control pad next to it.
"Think you can open it?" Ronon asks voice a little more nervous than anyone had heard before
"I can try" Rodney moves to the door taking his own torch out as he goes.
"S'up?" Sheppard's concern for Ronon evident
"Hate being underground…. Feels like I'm buried alive"
"We'll be out of here as soon as" The hiss of a door causes Sheppard to grin. "That was quick"
"Not really…. Look" McKaye points to the small control panel and realises it's a miniature DHD.
"Earth's address?" Sheppard asks
"Hardly original" Rodney frowns
"Be thankful…. Let's go"
The Door slides open to reveal a long corridor sloping gently downwards which finally leads to a large room which from the design of it is obviously ancient. The room is completely empty except for a small circular pedestal towards the far end of the room which reaches up to waist height and set into the far wall is a ring.
"Is that?... It's a bit small…. And plain looking" Sheppard can't help look a little confused
"The pedestal reminds me of the one Helia touched in Atlantis the one that popped up in front of our gate…. But if that thing is a stargate it's the smallest one I've seen before…." Answers Rodney looking almost as confused as Sheppard
"Why build a gate then shrink it?... and why no markings?"
The miniature gate was less than 7ft in diameter with an aperture of a little over six foot, it was completely smooth and featureless except for a single blue chevron crystal inlayed into the ring at the top the base of the gate was set into the ground slightly but it was clear that most people would have to bow their heads slightly to walk through.
"Could it not be an older gate?" Teyla offers
"Don't think so…. The Milky Way gates are way older than any found in Pegasus so if it was just a prototype why bother bringing it? And more importantly why bother hiding it down here?" Rodney frowns trying to think something as usual is in the back of his head itching to get out…. "Hang on…. The power a gate needs is proportional to size…. By shrinking the gate this much you could dial way out further than normal using the same amount of power as a normal gate"
"So how far we talking?"
"Halfway to the Milky way at a push I'm guessing, I'd have to do the math to be sure of course" Rodney smirks "I'm guessing the pedestal is how it's dialled…. In fact…. Teyla put your hand on it..."
"Are you sure it is safe to do so Rodney?" Teyla asks walking hesitantly towards the plain looking device.
"What?... Of course I'm sure it ok I just don't think it will work" Rodney clammers with the slightest hint of annoyance.
Teyla places her hand on the flat surface of the pedestal hesitantly and finally lets out a sigh when nothing happens.
"Do you believe it is broken?" She asks finally
"No…. least I don't think so…. I just think it is activated by the gene…. It's another security precaution I'm guessing…. Sheppard you try" Rodney orders as he fiddles with his trusty scanning device, Sheppard can't help but roll his eyes as he walks up and places his hand on the pedestal.
There is a slight hum and the gate immediately bursts into life the ripple of the gates event arisen looking brighter than normal because of the gates smaller size.
"We can't just go through we have no idea what's the other side without a MALP…. Plus Odyssey won't know where we are" Rodney gripes nervously
"This has to lead somewhere important Rodney the Ancients wouldn't have gone to this much hassle otherwise…. Tell you what…. Teyla ring back to Odyssey tell them what's we have found so far" Sheppard says whilst rubbing the back of his neck the way he always doe's when he's about to do something rash.
"And you are?" Teyla asks
"I'll go through…. If everything's ok…. I'll radio you the all clear and you guys can follow me through"
"Are you crazy?... It could be a vacuum through there" Rodney shrieks more out of concern for Sheppard than himself. Before anyone has a chance to say anything to talk him out of it Sheppard turns and bolts through the gate bowing his head as he goes.
"He's crazy…. I mean certifiable…. That is…"
[Its all clear guy…. Bit of a weird place…. But looks safe enough…. There's also another pedestal here so I think we will be OK to get back…. Teyla go back tell Odyssey…. give us 2 hours]
"Very Well" Teyla heads off back up to the ring room
"Here goes nothing" Rodney takes a deep breath and steps through followed closely by Ronon.