McKay, breathing heavily and drenched in sweat, collapsed onto the ground with a groan. Beside him, exhausted, Dr. Zelenka and Kavanagh slumped down. The forced march through the dense forest had been a true ordeal for them. Nothing could have made the scientists run so fast as the squad of hungry Wraiths pursuing them relentlessly. They had managed to escape the Wraiths, but found themselves cut off from the jumper.
John sighed wearily and inserted a new magazine into his P90. Glancing at the detector, he confirmed that there were no signs of Wraith life nearby, and they had a few minutes to catch their breath.
It was supposed to be a simple research walk, but the lifeless planet with the ruins of an ancient city turned out to be not so lifeless after all. Having stumbled upon a Wraith patrol, they had been forced to take cover in the forest, and now John was considering a plan to return to the camouflaged jumper, which remained near the ruins, but between them and the jumper stood several Wraith squads and darts patrolling the open space.
"We can't stay here," Ronon said grimly. "They'll be looking for us."
"They will," John nodded and glanced at the detector screen again. All clear for now. "But we can't carry all three of them, we need to give them a little rest."
"What's the plan?" Dex asked, reloading a crystal into his weapon.
"We'll wait until things quiet down. Maybe they'll clear out of here."
"We're going to hide?" Ronon grumbled discontentedly, and John rolled his eyes wearily. The big man always reacted badly to anything that, in his opinion, seemed like cowardice.
"Let's call it a tactical retreat," Sheppard replied. "There are too many of them, we can't handle them."
"You think they'll leave?"
"I don't know," John glanced at the scanner. "Can't say for sure. But they clearly have some interest in this planet, otherwise why would they be here? There are no settlements or Stargates here. Maybe they decided to set up an outpost here."
"The ruins," McKay responded weakly. "They're looking for something there. Damn it, I said we should have explored this planet earlier. Now, whatever they find there, it could reflect very badly on us."
"Calm down, Rodney, whatever they find, they're unlikely to be able to use it."
"Then why would they be looking for it? They never do anything without a reason."
John was about to answer, but seeing the dots appear on the scanner, he made the scientists get to their feet and move forward.
They raced through the forest again, trying to move as quietly as possible. However, with three scientists puffing with exhaustion, it wasn't so easy. Their every step was accompanied by the loud crackling of branches and the rustling of bushes, scaring away birds and leaving a clear trail that even a green rookie could follow. The Wraiths didn't need to put in much effort to understand which direction they had gone.
Ronon walked ahead, showing the way and growling at the scientists to move faster and more carefully.
"One of your demands contradicts the other," McKay muttered under his breath.
With each step, the exhausted scientists became increasingly slow. John sent Ronon ahead, while he himself focused on the dots on the detector screen. The Wraiths were pursuing them, stretched out in a chain. Although they had managed to gain a significant distance, sooner or later they would catch up. They couldn't hide in the forest forever, avoiding pursuit. It was necessary to find a safe place and take cover. At the very least, the scientists needed to be hidden so that he and Ronon could set up an ambush without endangering the civilians.
Hearing a rustling sound, John raised his weapon and immediately lowered it, seeing Ronon.
"There's a cave there," Dex reported. "It hides the entrance to a bunker."
"Come on, guys, push it," John encouraged the scientists, urging them forward. "Just a little further."
The bunker in the cave offered hope, especially after John confirmed that it had once belonged to the Ancients. He managed to activate and open the doors, and Ronon immediately rushed inside. After a while, he returned with a satisfied smile on his face.
"There's a Stargate inside," he said.
"That's strange," McKay muttered. "Why install a gate in a bunker? I have to see this. Let's go!" Rodney, who had been gasping for breath just a moment ago, grabbed the vest of the panting Zelenka and pulled him along. Kavanagh reluctantly trailed behind them.
John securely locked the door. This certainly wouldn't stop the Wraiths when they found the entrance, but it would at least delay them for a while. If Rodney, Zelenka, and Kavanagh could activate the gate, they would have time to get away before the Wraiths noticed them. Later, he could return here with reinforcements and retrieve the jumper. He didn't want to lose the only advantage they had. The ship would have to be recovered, even if it meant arguing with Elizabeth.
Ronon stayed by the doors, and Sheppard followed inside. When he entered the large hall of the bunker, the scientists were already fiddling around the gate and the dialing device, which looked a bit strange. Rodney was full of enthusiasm, despite having been on the verge of collapse from exhaustion just moments before. Zelenka and Kavanagh did not share his joy, and a dispute soon broke out between the scientists.
Leaving them alone, John went around the bunker looking for a back exit, but the only corridor that could lead out of the gate room was blocked. If the Wraiths arrived, they would have nowhere to run. They had trapped themselves. All that remained was to hope that they could activate the gate.
The heated argument between the scientists gradually escalated into a loud quarrel. What were they arguing about this time? John sighed wearily and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Three geeks on his head were too much. McKay wasn't exactly a gift on his own, but in the company of Zelenka and Kavanagh, he became completely unbearable. Kavanagh himself simply irritated him more than the others. It was a pity that Teyla wasn't with them. He usually pawned such problems off on her. She was better at negotiating and mediating where he usually got angry and barked orders.
"What's going on?" he asked, approaching them.
"Everything's fine," McKay waved his hand dismissively, continuing to tinker with the dialing device. "We just need to figure out the power source, and everything will be ready."
"No, it's not fine!" Kavanagh interjected. "We can't ignore this!"
"We don't have time for this!" McKay snapped. "You can, of course, stay here and continue your calculations in the company of Wraiths!"
"Ignore what?" John asked.
"This dialing device is different, it's not the same," Kavanagh stated.
John stared at the dialing device. In his opinion, it looked the same as everything he had seen before.
"How exactly?" he asked puzzled, examining the address symbols on the panel.
"Actually, the differences aren't in the appearance, but inside," McKay clarified. "Apparently, this panel was broken at some point, but it was taken apart and reassembled manually. It seems someone tried to improve it and really messed around in here. There's a control crystal added that allows dialing an intergalactic address, which wasn't originally there. There's also another crystal, the purpose of which I can't say for sure yet. And the most surprising thing is, it's all already connected to the power source, also manually, by the way. Someone really wanted to get out of here quickly. Actually, a lot of work has been done here, although, of course, it was done quite roughly and without much professionalism, but... Kavanagh is afraid we'll explode."
"Is that possible?" John looked from one scientist to the other. McKay snorted disdainfully.
"There's a risk, but it's minimal," Zelenka shook his head. "The process of dialing an intergalactic address doesn't require a large amount of energy, so the probability of overload is low."
"I'm just calculating the possible risks! The device could be damaged!" Kavanagh snapped. "We can't rule out that possibility!"
"The Wraiths are hot on our heels, that's our probability!" McKay exclaimed.
"Can we use this thing to get out of here?" Sheppard asked, staring intently at Rodney.
McKay nodded confidently.
"I would conduct additional calculations and research before saying for sure," Kavanagh insisted. "The panel was faulty and it was repaired. It's unknown what dialing an address might lead to."
"If the panel is faulty," McKay rolled his eyes, "the wormhole won't open. And that's the worst that can happen."
John thoughtfully bit his lip, not wanting to admit to himself that he couldn't make up his mind. He had never worked with Kavanagh in field conditions close to combat and wasn't sure he could trust this specialist. Moreover, in John's opinion, Kavanagh was prone to panic, and this clearly prevented him from thinking rationally. McKay, on the other hand, had proven himself to be a person whose ability to think was unaffected by whatever was happening around him, and he was capable of coming up with brilliant ideas that had saved their lives more than once. John was used to trusting him, but the events on Doranda had shown that Rodney could also be wrong. Zelenka, for his part, had taken a neutral position, but still leaned more towards the opinion that nothing terrible could happen.
"Sheppard!" Ronon's loud shout distracted him from his thoughts. "We have guests!"
Glancing at the detector, John cursed. The Wraiths had found them sooner than he had hoped. And judging by the number of dots, they were clearly determined to drive the Atlantians out of the bunker at any cost. It seemed they had no choice. Either a faulty DHD or a hungry pack of Wraiths. And it looked like they had a better chance with the dialing device.
"Dial the address of a safe planet, we'll contact Atlantis from there," he ordered McKay.
Rodney nodded and began dialing the address. John felt everyone around him tense up, and he tensed up slightly himself. McKay also hesitated a bit before pressing the central button on the panel.
The gate opened with a rumbling sound. McKay, glancing triumphantly at the embarrassed Kavanagh, slung his backpack over his shoulder and prepared to step through the event horizon.
"Ronon, let's go!" John commanded.
Dex appeared in the hall just as a deafening explosion echoed from the door. The Wraiths were impatient to break through. John jumped into the gate last, and finding himself on the other side of the wormhole, stared in surprise at the completely unfamiliar landscape.
"McKay?" he asked, surveying the surroundings. "Where are we?"
They were in the center of a ruined city. Everywhere he looked, abandoned, flame-scorched high-rise buildings loomed, entangled in strange, slimy plants of a gray-brown color. Rusty cars covered in dirt and dust, some burned and charred from exploded shells, completed this grim picture. This was not at all the place they were supposed to be.
"I don't know," McKay said, bewildered. "I dialed the address of that planet where the biologists found that strange-looking cactus. Katie Brown told me about it. I remember the address exactly."
"I'm afraid we won't find any cacti here,"
"I told you!" Kavanagh stated angrily, crossing his arms over his chest. "The DHD is faulty! I warned you, but no one would listen to me!"
"You said we'd explode!" Rodney flared up. "Who would even listen to that nonsense!"
"Someone responsible for our safety!" Kavanagh exclaimed, glancing briefly at John.
Sheppard grimaced, he couldn't help but notice the stone thrown into his garden. Apparently, Kavanagh was still angry with him for John siccing Ronon on him when he was suspected of Goa'uld possession.
"Enough!" John interjected, fed up with the arguments. "All we need to do is dial the Atlantis address and go home, and you can tear each other's throats out there. Agreed?"
Giving Kavanagh a withering look, Rodney turned to the dialing device and dialed the address, but nothing happened. Cursing, McKay grabbed his tablet and tools, carefully pried open the panel, and, looking inside, turned pale.
"We're done for," he muttered. "We're screwed. We're stuck here."