Fic: Seek and You Will Find, part 1
Dec. 23rd, 2005 06:52 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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sga_santaTitle: Seek and You Will Find
Author: na paisti
Pairing: John/Rodney pre-slash
Rating: PG-13 for some language and themes
Recipient:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
eleanorjane
Spoilers: none specific, but takes place during/after Season 2 (Ronon is part of Sheppard’s team)
Summary: The team is separated while exploring a planet. John and Rodney discover what they are searching for… with a little help from their friends.
A/N: Merry Christmas, eleanorjane. Hope you enjoy the story.
Thanks to crazycatlady for the beta. All remaining mistakes are my own.
Seek and You Will Find
The familiar sound of a stargate shutting down barely registered as the team members made their way across the faintly purple sand. Teyla moved off toward the left, scanning the water and beach for signs of people native to the planet, alert for any dangers that might affect the team and mission. Ronon mirrored her actions as he moved to the right, watching the mountains in the distance and the flatlands in between for anything that could be a threat. There were signs of a village, some tilled land, and a few buildings at the foot of one of the more distant mountainsides, but nothing else of interest. Lt. Col. John Sheppard hung back, keeping a watchful eye on the remaining team member. Dr. Rodney McKay was already so engrossed in the readings he was taking that his world seemed to have shrunk, reduced to what the scans picked up with nothing else being of importance.
Swiveling in place with his focus entirely on the handheld scanner, Rodney nodded briefly and veered off in the direction of the nearest mountain.
“McKay?” Sheppard was used to the scientist’s habit of being three steps ahead of everyone else, but preferred it when Rodney at least tried to tell them what he was thinking, especially when in unfamiliar territory. “Rodney?!”
“Wha-? Oh… the energy readings are strongest in this direction,” he indicated with a jerk of his head, although it was hardly necessary as he was already walking the same path. “We should check it out. Who knows… maybe we’ll find another ZedPM.”
“All right. To the mountain it is. Let’s go.” Sheppard didn’t bother with more specific orders. He and his team had been going off-world together long enough; everyone had their usual roles and duties, and they fell into the familiar routine with hardly a thought.
The beach gave way to flat grasslands; the short grass and occasional low-lying scrub brush giving them an unobstructed view of the area around them. It would be hard for anyone to sneak up on them in this, and they all relaxed a little as they walked. They talked about this and that, nothing really important, just catching up on the gossip of Atlantis, how things were going for the Athosians on the mainland, that sort of thing.
They had been walking for about half an hour, when Rodney turned to Sheppard. “You know… we could go back and get a jumper. We could be there in no time if we flew. As it is, we’ll be lucky to get there before dark. Not to mention, we’ll have to walk all the way back to the gate to check in later.”
“Give it up, McKay. The walk will do you good. Give you a chance to burn off all those energy bars you keep swiping from stores.”
“I believe Dr. Weir said we could not take a jumper this mission,” Teyla added, the barest hint of humor in her inflection, “Something about your inability to keep a puddle jumper in one piece and working for more than one visit off-world.”
Ronon laughed as he joined in the friendly teasing. “I heard her say you’ve crashed, broken, or lost more ships than the rest of Atlantis put together.”
“I have not! Ok, so maybe I haven’t had the best luck with jumpers lately, but we go off-world more than any other team… and we take the most dangerous missions. It makes sense we’d run into more trouble than anyone else. I don’t see how Weir could hold that against me. It’s not like I try to crash or anything. I can fly circles around anybody on Atlantis!” John ran his hand through his hair, making it stand even more on end, before he joined the others’ laughter.
The joking served its purpose though, and the rest of the journey sped by as they each felt the gentle barbs that only close companions can hurl. From the gate to the base of the mountain took little over an hour, and they had been going at a leisurely pace, allowing Rodney to stop from time to time to collect data or confirm his scans.
“Ok, McKay, what now?”
The face of the mountain was almost vertical, and covered in dense brush. Rodney paced along the wall of rock, checking and double-checking his scanner, before returning to the place he had led them to initially. He pointed at the rock in front of him. “This is where the readings are the strongest. They get weaker up above and to either side.” He accompanied his words with gestures to indicate the areas in question. “So either the mountain landed on top of the power source – without destroying it – or whatever it is, it’s inside the mountain somewhere.”
“So how do we get in?” The words had hardly left Sheppard’s mouth before the answer was obvious. What had appeared to be solid rock faded from view, and smooth cream-colored walls lined both sides of the opening leading deep into the mountain.
Rodney consulted his scanner again, and stepped forward, only to be pulled back by the colonel.
“You know the drill, McKay. You’re a civilian. Civilians don’t take point in… ever. In your lab, you can be in charge, but in the field we do things my way, and I go first in possibly unfriendly areas… and in case you’re wondering, that means anywhere that isn’t home. Plus, the door opened for me, not you, so I should get to see what’s inside first.” Sticking out his tongue, he turned, P-90 at the ready, and entered the man-made cavern.
Rodney followed with Teyla at his heels, and Ronon held back long enough for all of them to get inside. When he did enter the mountain, he turned to check – the doorway was still open.
“Sheppard.” The name, spoken calmly, was enough to get the leader’s attention.
“Yeah?”
“Think you could think that thing closed or something?”
Sheppard considered. The only signs of habitation had been some distance away, but he didn’t like the idea exposing what was obviously an Ancient outpost of some sort to just anyone who came by, especially with his team inside. He turned his attention to the doorway and it soon appeared as solid from the inside as it had from the other. Just to be sure, he thought it open again, and as usual the Ancient technology responded easily to his desires. Closing it again, he moved further down the passageway, light from the walls responding to his presence and guiding their way.
Soon they reached a door which opened at their approach onto a room, with nine walls of varying dimensions, which resembled the laboratories they had found on Atlantis. Sheppard entered first as McKay called out, “Don’t touch anything unless I tell you to. And try not to think too much, Colonel. I’d like to find out what this place is before you start turning on everything in here.” Like me, he thought, No, too late for that.
Rodney darted from one piece of equipment to another, checking readings, activating consoles, and muttering to himself the whole time. There wasn’t much of a perimeter to check, the lab was not that big, and the space was open except the few Ancient devices absorbing McKay’s attention. As Sheppard circled the room, he tried to will any hidden doors to show themselves or to open. It appeared there were none. With only the one entrance, and no hiding spaces, there seemed little chance of a surprise attack.
Sheppard settled in to watch Rodney work. He never failed to be amazed watching the scientist as he explored new technologies, or tried – and usually succeeded – in solving some impossible problem. Ronon kept an eye on the hallway; the Runner’s need for constant vigilance was deeply engrained, something Sheppard was thankful for in the field. Teyla stood calmly to one side, waiting with her customary patience for whatever happened next. Several minutes passed without a word from any of them beyond Rodney’s running self-commentary.
“So… what do we know?” Sheppard leaned over Rodney’s shoulder to look at the datapad, knowing the invasion of space would be more likely to get the scientist’s attention than words alone.
Rodney scuttled away, then turned in exasperation. “I have no idea what you know, Colonel. I know a great deal… so much in fact that I couldn’t begin to list it all. Now, is there something specific I can help you with, or are you just trying to interrupt my work?”
“Okaaaaay. What do you know about the stuff in here? What is it? What does it do? What were the Ancients working on? Is there a ZPM? And where is it, if there is? How much juice does it have left? And perhaps most importantly, how long before something goes horribly wrong and we all die? All the usual questions.”
“Why did you have to go and mention that? Just so you know, when things do go horribly wrong and we all die, it will be all your fault for bringing it up in the first place. As to your other questions, the Ancients were working on a variety of experiments here. So much that it will take some time to look through it all to know what is what in the database. In fact, it looks as though some of the data might be corrupted; I’m not really sure yet. Now if you don’t mind, I would like to get back to it.”
“So there’s no ZPM, then?”
“What are you talking about? Of course there’s a ZedPM. I said that already… didn’t I? Maybe you just weren’t listening. I’m sure that was one of the first things I mentioned after we got here.”
John knew better than to argue something like that; it would only lead to more griping and lecturing from McKay. “So where is it?”
“Where is what?”
“The ZPM. You said there’s one here, but I would have thought that would be the first thing you would have gone to, and I’m not seeing a ZPM around here anywhere.” He turned to their companions. “Do you see a ZPM around here?”
“I do not, Colonel Sheppard.”
Ronon did not even bother to turn around as he answered, “No.”
“So… where is it?”
Rodney hunched over his datapad as he mumbled, “Idon’tknowyet.”
“Sorry McKay, I didn’t quite catch that. Could you run it by me again?”
“I said, ‘I don’t know yet!’ It’s taking some time to get the information from the database. I already told you that. And if somebody wouldn’t keep interrupting me, I might actually get around to finding it!”
Sheppard smirked; he knew better than to take McKay’s bile seriously. With exaggerated care he checked his watch before turning to the others. “You know… now might be a good time to contact Atlantis, and let Dr. Weir know what we’ve found so far.”
“Yes. Why don’t you do that, Colonel. It’ll get you out of my way for a little while, and I might just get the chance to do some work!”
“Ronon, you stay here with Rodney. Keep an eye on things. Teyla, you’re with me. We’ll head back to the ‘gate to radio Atlantis, then maybe take a look around, say hello to the locals or something on the way back. We’ll stay in radio contact though; if you find anything, let us know.”
*****
Col. Sheppard and Teyla made it back to the ‘gate with no trouble. It took less time that before, largely because they weren’t having to slow down every so often for the scientist to take more measurements or pick up samples to take back to Atlantis. When they arrived, Sheppard tapped his radio.
“Rodney, this is Sheppard.”
“Well I hardly thought it was Teyla, Colonel. What did you want?” The physicist’s irritation came through clearly, even over the radio.
“We’re at the gate. I just wanted to see if there was any new information you want me to pass on to Dr. Weir.”
“I haven’t found the ZedPM yet, if that’s what you mean. I told you it would take some time, and it will take even longer if I keep having to stop and tell you there’s nothing new to tell.”
“Well, fine.” Sheppard’s drawl held just a hint of mockery, before clearing as he addressed the fourth member of his team. “Ronon, any trouble?”
“Other than me wanting to gag McKay, you mean? Nothing so far.”
“Ok. Well, let me know if anything happens… and try not to kill Rodney before we get back if you can help it. Sheppard out.”
The swoosh of the opening wormhole punctuated his good-bye, and he turned to face the Stargate. He keyed his radio again. “Atlantis, this is Sheppard.”
“Yes, John, we’re here.” Dr. Weir sounded cautious.
Col. Sheppard hurried to allay her fears, knowing she would be worried to be hearing from them so soon. “No problems yet. Just wanted to check in, let you know that we found an Ancient research outpost of some kind. Dr. McKay is looking over the database now. He believes there is a ZPM somewhere in the vicinity, but we haven’t found it yet. He thinks there might be something wrong with the database, said it might take a while to decipher.”
“Any sign of the Wraith?”
“None so far. There’s a village about… oh, about ten miles or so from the gate. Looks to be inhabited, but we haven’t checked it out yet. Rodney wanted to follow the energy signature first, as always.”
“I’d like you to try to make contact with the local people if possible, John. Do Teyla or Ronon know anything about the planet or its inhabitants?”
It was Teyla who responded. “I have never been to this world before, Dr. Weir, and Ronon said it was unfamiliar to him as well.”
“Well, see what you can find out. I’ll expect you to check in again in… shall we say, twelve hours. If Rodney hasn’t found the ZPM or something equally exciting before then, of course.”
“Twelve hours it is. Talk to you then.”
“Good luck, John. Atlantis out.”
The event horizon blinked out, and Sheppard turned to Teyla. “Contact Ronon; let him know we’re headed for the village, and that we’ll keep in touch.”
She nodded, activating her comm as she did so. “Ronon.” When that got no reply, she tried again. “Ronon? It’s Teyla. Please answer if you can hear me.”
Noticing the lack of response, Sheppard tried his own radio. “Ronon? Rodney? Somebody come in.”
Still there was no word from Ronon or Rodney.
“Something’s wrong. You stay here in case we need to contact Atlantis again. I’ll head back to the lab, see what’s going on.” Sheppard was already on the move as he spoke, headed in the direction of the mountain.
“Colonel, do you not believe it would be better for both of us to return to the mountain? The others may be in need of our assistance when we arrive.”
He paused for only a moment to consider what she said. “Yeah. You’re right. Let’s go. Find out what’s going on with those two…. It’s probably just a communication problem anyway. McKay probably activated some field that’s jamming radio signals, and he hasn’t realized it yet.”
Neither of them truly believed that reassuring thought however. The Pegasus Galaxy had a way of teaching people to expect the worse even as they hoped for the best. So the pace they set running back to the hidden lab was much faster than either of the previous trips. As they ran, they tried repeatedly to raised either of the two men on the radio, but with no luck.
The entrance to the mountain was hidden when they arrived, just as they had left it. Sheppard thought it open as they approached, and entered without stopping, his weapon at the ready. They entered the lab itself only to find it empty.
*****
“Other than me wanting to gag McKay, you mean? Nothing so far.”
“Ok. Well, let me know if anything happens… and try not to kill Rodney before we get back if you can help it. Sheppard out.”
Ronon grinned. He was becoming used to the colonel’s method of leadership. While it was nothing like what he had known back on Sateda, he found it worked well, particularly when dealing with someone like McKay. Or when helping others deal with McKay. He continued to watch the corridor for movement, only a fraction of his attention on the scientist’s activities.
“Aha! Knew it was around here somewhere.”
Ronon turned in time to see Rodney press a series of buttons on the control console before him. Then a soft white light flashed through the room, only to be followed by darkness. There was a faint sense of something else, but neither man could identify, or even describe, it.
Lights... lights, thought Rodney as he groped for the console in front of him.
The Ancient technology responded to his thoughts, and the room filled with light. It was only then that they could notice the room had changed. While before the lab had held a handful of Ancient devices, now it was empty. Of even more concern was the sudden absence of a doorway.
“What happened?” Ronon looked to McKay, his voice as neutral as his expression.
“I don’t know yet. But whatever it was, wasn’t supposed to happen.” He circled the room slowly, searching for devices that were no longer there, willing non-existent doors to open.
“How do you know?”
“How do I know what?” The tension showed in Rodney’s voice, his timbre and speed increasing.
“You said it wasn’t supposed to happen. If you don’t know what happened, how do you know it wasn’t supposed to?”
“Because I know what was supposed to happen… and this isn’t it.” When he saw Ronon standing expectantly, waiting for more information, he continued, “I activated an advanced search function; that’s all. I should be standing at the controls in front of the display, with the search engine pulling up a schematic that will show me where the zero point module is. I don’t see a control console or a display, let alone schematics or a ZedPM! In fact, I don’t see anything but you, so obviously this wasn’t supposed to happen!”
“So figure it out.” A hint of a smirk tugged at Ronon’s mouth, but McKay didn’t notice in his annoyance.
“What?!”
“Figure it out. That’s what you do. Why you’re on Sheppard’s team. Something goes wrong, you figure it out, and you fix it.”
“Well, of course I do! Atlantis would have been blown to bits if not for me. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve gone without sleep for days in another brilliantly successful attempt to keep us all alive a little bit longer. I remember-“
Ronon’s patience, never in great supply, was running out by this point. “McKay! We’re in a room with no way in or out. What now?”
“Now you shut up and let me think, that’s ‘what now’! And while you’re at it, see if you can’t find the door. It should be on that wall.” He flailed his hand vaguely towards one of the nine walls.
Ronon walked over to another wall, two to the right of the one McKay had indicated. “It should be here… but it’s not. Not that I can tell anyway.”
“Well, keep looking! We need that door. We’re closed in.” Panic started to creep into McKay’s voice and his breathing quickened. “Air. We’re going to run out of air. Does the room feel smaller to you? I’m not sure I’ve mentioned it, but I’m claustrophobic, you know. We… uhm… we…”
“McKay, breathe. There’s air getting in. Looks like from up there.” He pointed to the ceiling about twenty feet up and to the narrow openings that could be seen there.
“There is no way you could know that’s for ventilation… for all you know it’s decorative. I’m telling you, we’re going to run out of air!”
“No. The air’s still fresh. I can smell it. But it does seem different than before. I don’t know… cooler, maybe… just different.”
“Great! Different… that’s helpful. Wait. You don’t think it’s some kind of drug, do you? Pump something into the atmosphere, next thing you know we’re all seeing pink elephants?”
“Pink what?”
“Elephants. Big, gray animals with… oh never mind!” Rodney pulled his scanner from his vest, and began analyzing the air. “Oh good. It doesn’t look like there’s anything in the air that should be there. The scans look almost identical to what we found when we first sent the MALP through the gate. So we should be all right to breathe, at least for now.”
*****
“Rodney?... Rodney!” Col. Sheppard quickly covered the small room, searching for any sign of his missing teammates. There was none.
“Head back to the gate. Contact Atlantis, and tell ‘em Rodney’s missing. We’ll need a ‘jumper, two teams for search and rescue, and Zelenka – if Rodney did something, he’s our best chance of figuring out what, and how to fix it – and Teyla, I want them here ASAP.”
Teyla held out her hands as though to placate the colonel. “Perhaps Dr. McKay and Ronon found the location of the ZPM, and have merely gone to retrieve it. Is it not premature to be assuming they are missing?”
“No, it’s not premature. I left them here, and they’re not here now, and I don’t know where they are. That means they’re missing. Besides, if they were going after the ZPM, they’d have contacted us first. Well… maybe not Rodney -- you know how he gets when he finds a power source – but Ronon would have called.” Sheppard sounded very much like the missing Dr. McKay as he babbled on, as much to himself as to Teyla. He even looked a little like McKay as he paced back and forth, his gesticulating more vehemently with each pass.
“That is true. However, earlier you mentioned the possibility of something ‘jamming’ the radio signals. It is possible that they attempted to contact us by radio, but were unable to do so.”
“Then they shouldn’t have gone anywhere!”
“Nonetheless, they may have gone anyway. As you said, ‘you know how Dr. McKay gets when he finds a power source’. He may have continued on even after he realized we could not be reached on the radio.”
“Yes! It’s possible. But I don’t think that’s what happened. Now get to the gate, and radio Atlantis. The longer we wait, the longer before we find Rodney and Ronon.”
With her usual subtle nod and raised eyebrow, Teyla left the lab and walked down the corridor to the exterior door. She called back to the colonel, and a moment later she was able to exit the mountain. Once in the open air, she tapped her radio. “Colonel? Can you hear me?”
“Yeah. Wh-? Oh. So I guess we know the radios are working. So much for that theory then. Let me know when you talk to Dr. Weir. In the meantime, I’m going to look around here some more. Sheppard out.”
*****
Rodney flopped onto the floor in frustration, and ripped open a power bar. He bit into it savagely, and then spoke around it. “There’s nothing here. I don’t know how I’m supposed to get us out of here when there’s nothing to work with. It’s ridiculous!” Finishing the first in three bites, he tore open another bar.
“We should probably start rationing our food now.”
“What? Ration our food? Why?!”
“We have no way out; no idea how long we’ll be here, and a limited supply of food. Rationing is a good idea. Plus, you’re our best bet for getting out of here, and if you don’t eat, you won’t be good for much.”
“I’m hypoglycemic. I have to eat regularly, or I could fall into a coma and die.”
“Yeah. I know. You’ve mentioned it a few hundred times. That’s what I meant. If you eat all of our supplies now, what happens in a few days when there’s nothing left to eat, and you pass out or something?”
“Right.” Rodney was more subdued, but didn’t remain silent for long. “’A few days’? You think we’re going to be here for days? Plural?”
“Unless you get off your ass and find us a way out. Yeah. It could happen.”
“Right. A way out. I can do that. I just need to find the way out. Well, we know power is routed through the walls and floors, just like on Atlantis, so that’s something I suppose. But how did this happen in the first place?”
Obviously Rodney was mainly thinking out loud, but Ronon still decided to answer. “You said something about a ‘search function’.”
The scientist continued as though it was merely part of his own train of thought. “Right… right, right, right. Blah, blah, blah… ‘your search will begin.’”
“Huh?”
“That’s what it said. I couldn’t quite make out the beginning of the sentence, but it said, ‘your search will begin.’ So I keyed in the command indicated, there was a light, then darkness, then we were stuck here with no way out.”
As McKay spoke, the room grew brighter as Ancient letters began to glow along the floor.
“What’s it say?”
“Ummm… ‘It is only when you move beyond personal desires that… that your search will begin.’ What is this, some kind of Ancient fortune cookie room?”
“So… not a search engine, huh?”
“No. Not a search engine. I still don’t see how this helps though. I mean, right now I have a personal desire to find the ZedPM and the way out. I don’t see how I’m supposed to move beyond that while we’re still here. And if we have those, what the hell else am I supposed to be searching for?”
*****
“Colonel Sheppard?”
“Yeah, Teyla, go ahead.”
“The jumper is on its way. We should be at the base of the mountain very soon.”
Sheppard went out to meet the small ship, more than ready to get the search underway.
“Alright, here’s the deal. We’ve had no contact from McKay or Ronon in…” he checked his watch, “over an hour and a half, and they aren’t answering their radios. There is no sign of a struggle either inside the lab or near the entrance, here alongside the mountain. I’ve thought about it, and I don’t believe anyone could have made their way from here to the village or the gate without being seen by Teyla or myself as we returned from the gate after we failed to establish comms. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, just that it’s unlikely.
“Teyla, I want you and Sgt. Tisdale to go to the village, talk to the locals, see if anybody knows anything.”
He then pointed, indicating a group of the Marines. “You four will search from the ground. Standard grid pattern. Coordinate with both me and the jumper.
“Lt. Hannon, you’re the pilot?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You and the rest of the team will start with an aerial search. Teyla and Tisdale can ride out with you. Just drop them off near the outskirts of the settlement. I’ll expect reports every thirty minutes. If you find something, let me know immediately, and then have your team begin a ground search while you continue to monitor from the air. You know what to do. Any questions?”
“Uhh… yes.” It was the first time Dr. Radek Zelenka had spoken since the jumper’s arrival. “What am I to be doing? Not with the jumper surely?”
“No, Doc. You’re with me. We’ll be in the lab, trying to figure out what, if anything, McKay might have found in the Ancient computer system, or that he could have activated – on purpose or accidentally – that could account for their disappearance.”
The Czech scientist headed down the corridor toward the lab. Col. Sheppard heard him mutter something that sounded a bit like, “Once again it is up to me to get the oh-so-brilliant Dr. Rodney McKay out of trouble. Fumbles McStupid! Hah! I’ll show him McStupid!”
Looking up, Sheppard noticed the jumper still on the ground, Lt. Hannon waiting with affected patience for his superior officer to recognize him. “You had a question, Lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir. It sounds as though you don’t think McKay and Dex left the vicinity. I was just wondering, sir, if you had been able to find them on the life-signs detector. It could save us all a lot of time searching if we knew where to look.”
“Don’t you think I…,” He paused, pulling the detector from his vest pocket. Dots appeared, showing the locations of the search team, Teyla, Hannon, and Sheppard. Widening the area did not help.
“Sir?”
“I don’t know. There’s a lot of vegetation on the mountain, maybe that’s interfering with the scan. Or maybe there’s some electrical interference, Zelenka could probably tell us…. Wait a minute! Zelenka doesn’t show up either.” Both men peered down the corridor to where they could see the Czech about halfway down.
“Hey, Doctor Z! Come back here for a minute.” Sheppard kept his attention on the life-signs detector, and sure enough, as Zelenka emerged from the entrance another signal appeared on the device, right where he expected it.
“Yes?” Radek removed his glasses and polished them absently.
“There’s something interfering with the scanner. When you go in, you don’t show up on the life-signs detector any more. Makes it kind of hard to look for Rodney and Ronon, if we can’t trust our equipment. Think you can find a way around it?”
The scientist considered it for a moment. “Perhaps. Let us see what is in the lab first, yes?”
The colonel turned to face the pilot again. “Anything else, lieutenant? If not, I suggest you get that jumper in the air, so we can find my missing people.”
*****
Rodney was way past ready to get out of this room. He had tried every scan he could think of: looking for points of greater energy consumption, tracking fluctuations in power levels, measuring heat signatures. Not so surprisingly, that last followed the movements of the two men through the room. Finally, in frustration, he mentally commanded, “On!” hoping for some kind of response that might help him to find a way out. Nothing happened.
Suddenly his eyes lit up as he had an idea; followed by a glimmer of self-disgust that it had taken so long to come to him. He tapped his radio. “Colonel Shep-“
“Don’t bother. I tried that already. It didn’t work.”
“When? I didn’t see you use the radio.”
“You weren’t paying attention. Too busy talking to yourself about the air running out, starving to death, something.”
“I… I didn’t… you can’t…” For once words failed Rodney, and he dropped his hands in defeat.
As he slumped to the floor, he turned to Ronon. “Whatever happened must be jamming radio frequencies or something…. How long have we been stuck in here anyway?”
Ronon shrugged. “Couple of hours maybe.”
“A couple of hours! So they have to be looking for us by now, right? That is, they had to know something was wrong when they couldn’t get back into the lab, didn’t they? Even Kavanaugh would know something was wrong in this case, and Colonel Sheppard is a lot smarter than Kavanaugh.
“There’s got to be something. Some way to get out again. I’m missing something. What am I missing?” Rodney jumped back to his feet, and began pacing again as he spoke.
“What we need.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Basic survival strategy. Know what you have and what you need. Find a way to use what you have to get what you need. That’s what you’re missing, what we need.”
“We need a way out! That’s what we need. And that helps me not at all.”
“We know we have food and water to last several days, if we’re careful. We have weapons: guns, a few knives, my sword. What else do we have?”
“I’ve got a life-signs detector, my datapad, another scanner… basically all the equipment I’ve been using to no avail, a few tools, that sort of thing. I fail to see how this is going to help us any.”
“So we know what we have. What do we need?”
“The door would be nice! But it doesn’t seem to be here anymore! So unless you’re planning to use that sword to cut a hole in the mountain…”
“We need to let Colonel Sheppard and Teyla know we are trapped, but alive.”
“Yes! And we have the non-functioning radios to do it with. Again… so helpful!” He stopped as he considered another idea. “The radios. They’re not broken. I still hear that little clicky-poppy sound when I turn on the mike. Let me…” His voice trailed off as he picked up his scanner once again. “Yeah, there it is. There’s some kind of broad spectrum signal here. That could be what’s jamming the radios. If I can come up with a way to cancel out the signal, we should be able to get message out. Give me a minute.”
After taking a few more readings, Rodney removed the radio from his vest pocket and removed the casing. For several minutes his hands moved quickly and confidently, disconnecting and reconnecting the various wires in new and different circuits. Occasionally he would refer to the scanning device as he activated the radio to compare the readings with what he had seen earlier. Finally he seemed satisfied. He extended his hand, palm up and open, toward Ronon.
The larger man looked at the waiting hand for a long moment, his confusion evident.
“What?”
“Your radio. Give me your radio. I can’t exactly use mine; it’s what’s canceling out the jamming signal. Come on.” Rodney waggled his fingers impatiently as Ronon slowly removed the headset and base. The fingers tightened greedily around the two pieces, and Rodney fit the headset to his ear. Pressing the call button on his jury-rigged unit first, he then keyed the second radio as he walked into the center of the oddly shaped room.
“Colonel Sheppard, are you there? We are unable to find a way out of the room we are currently in. The door and all the Ancient devices have somehow disappeared. We may need some assistance from your end while I find us a way out from inside. There is a signal which is interfering with communications, although I have found a way to counteract it for the moment. This may make it difficult or impossible for me to receive signals from your radios. I will attempt to remedy this situation if I do not hear from you soon. You may want to have Zelenka come through the gate. He has the necessary intelligence to solve the problem given the proper resources. If you can hear me, I need you to respond now so I can determine whether or not two-way communication is possible.”
The silence became weightier with each passing second. Perhaps a minute elapsed before Rodney spoke again. “Colonel? Come in, Sheppard.”
*****
On to part 2
Author: na paisti
Pairing: John/Rodney pre-slash
Rating: PG-13 for some language and themes
Recipient:
eleanorjaneSpoilers: none specific, but takes place during/after Season 2 (Ronon is part of Sheppard’s team)
Summary: The team is separated while exploring a planet. John and Rodney discover what they are searching for… with a little help from their friends.
A/N: Merry Christmas, eleanorjane. Hope you enjoy the story.
Thanks to crazycatlady for the beta. All remaining mistakes are my own.
Seek and You Will Find
The familiar sound of a stargate shutting down barely registered as the team members made their way across the faintly purple sand. Teyla moved off toward the left, scanning the water and beach for signs of people native to the planet, alert for any dangers that might affect the team and mission. Ronon mirrored her actions as he moved to the right, watching the mountains in the distance and the flatlands in between for anything that could be a threat. There were signs of a village, some tilled land, and a few buildings at the foot of one of the more distant mountainsides, but nothing else of interest. Lt. Col. John Sheppard hung back, keeping a watchful eye on the remaining team member. Dr. Rodney McKay was already so engrossed in the readings he was taking that his world seemed to have shrunk, reduced to what the scans picked up with nothing else being of importance.
Swiveling in place with his focus entirely on the handheld scanner, Rodney nodded briefly and veered off in the direction of the nearest mountain.
“McKay?” Sheppard was used to the scientist’s habit of being three steps ahead of everyone else, but preferred it when Rodney at least tried to tell them what he was thinking, especially when in unfamiliar territory. “Rodney?!”
“Wha-? Oh… the energy readings are strongest in this direction,” he indicated with a jerk of his head, although it was hardly necessary as he was already walking the same path. “We should check it out. Who knows… maybe we’ll find another ZedPM.”
“All right. To the mountain it is. Let’s go.” Sheppard didn’t bother with more specific orders. He and his team had been going off-world together long enough; everyone had their usual roles and duties, and they fell into the familiar routine with hardly a thought.
The beach gave way to flat grasslands; the short grass and occasional low-lying scrub brush giving them an unobstructed view of the area around them. It would be hard for anyone to sneak up on them in this, and they all relaxed a little as they walked. They talked about this and that, nothing really important, just catching up on the gossip of Atlantis, how things were going for the Athosians on the mainland, that sort of thing.
They had been walking for about half an hour, when Rodney turned to Sheppard. “You know… we could go back and get a jumper. We could be there in no time if we flew. As it is, we’ll be lucky to get there before dark. Not to mention, we’ll have to walk all the way back to the gate to check in later.”
“Give it up, McKay. The walk will do you good. Give you a chance to burn off all those energy bars you keep swiping from stores.”
“I believe Dr. Weir said we could not take a jumper this mission,” Teyla added, the barest hint of humor in her inflection, “Something about your inability to keep a puddle jumper in one piece and working for more than one visit off-world.”
Ronon laughed as he joined in the friendly teasing. “I heard her say you’ve crashed, broken, or lost more ships than the rest of Atlantis put together.”
“I have not! Ok, so maybe I haven’t had the best luck with jumpers lately, but we go off-world more than any other team… and we take the most dangerous missions. It makes sense we’d run into more trouble than anyone else. I don’t see how Weir could hold that against me. It’s not like I try to crash or anything. I can fly circles around anybody on Atlantis!” John ran his hand through his hair, making it stand even more on end, before he joined the others’ laughter.
The joking served its purpose though, and the rest of the journey sped by as they each felt the gentle barbs that only close companions can hurl. From the gate to the base of the mountain took little over an hour, and they had been going at a leisurely pace, allowing Rodney to stop from time to time to collect data or confirm his scans.
“Ok, McKay, what now?”
The face of the mountain was almost vertical, and covered in dense brush. Rodney paced along the wall of rock, checking and double-checking his scanner, before returning to the place he had led them to initially. He pointed at the rock in front of him. “This is where the readings are the strongest. They get weaker up above and to either side.” He accompanied his words with gestures to indicate the areas in question. “So either the mountain landed on top of the power source – without destroying it – or whatever it is, it’s inside the mountain somewhere.”
“So how do we get in?” The words had hardly left Sheppard’s mouth before the answer was obvious. What had appeared to be solid rock faded from view, and smooth cream-colored walls lined both sides of the opening leading deep into the mountain.
Rodney consulted his scanner again, and stepped forward, only to be pulled back by the colonel.
“You know the drill, McKay. You’re a civilian. Civilians don’t take point in… ever. In your lab, you can be in charge, but in the field we do things my way, and I go first in possibly unfriendly areas… and in case you’re wondering, that means anywhere that isn’t home. Plus, the door opened for me, not you, so I should get to see what’s inside first.” Sticking out his tongue, he turned, P-90 at the ready, and entered the man-made cavern.
Rodney followed with Teyla at his heels, and Ronon held back long enough for all of them to get inside. When he did enter the mountain, he turned to check – the doorway was still open.
“Sheppard.” The name, spoken calmly, was enough to get the leader’s attention.
“Yeah?”
“Think you could think that thing closed or something?”
Sheppard considered. The only signs of habitation had been some distance away, but he didn’t like the idea exposing what was obviously an Ancient outpost of some sort to just anyone who came by, especially with his team inside. He turned his attention to the doorway and it soon appeared as solid from the inside as it had from the other. Just to be sure, he thought it open again, and as usual the Ancient technology responded easily to his desires. Closing it again, he moved further down the passageway, light from the walls responding to his presence and guiding their way.
Soon they reached a door which opened at their approach onto a room, with nine walls of varying dimensions, which resembled the laboratories they had found on Atlantis. Sheppard entered first as McKay called out, “Don’t touch anything unless I tell you to. And try not to think too much, Colonel. I’d like to find out what this place is before you start turning on everything in here.” Like me, he thought, No, too late for that.
Rodney darted from one piece of equipment to another, checking readings, activating consoles, and muttering to himself the whole time. There wasn’t much of a perimeter to check, the lab was not that big, and the space was open except the few Ancient devices absorbing McKay’s attention. As Sheppard circled the room, he tried to will any hidden doors to show themselves or to open. It appeared there were none. With only the one entrance, and no hiding spaces, there seemed little chance of a surprise attack.
Sheppard settled in to watch Rodney work. He never failed to be amazed watching the scientist as he explored new technologies, or tried – and usually succeeded – in solving some impossible problem. Ronon kept an eye on the hallway; the Runner’s need for constant vigilance was deeply engrained, something Sheppard was thankful for in the field. Teyla stood calmly to one side, waiting with her customary patience for whatever happened next. Several minutes passed without a word from any of them beyond Rodney’s running self-commentary.
“So… what do we know?” Sheppard leaned over Rodney’s shoulder to look at the datapad, knowing the invasion of space would be more likely to get the scientist’s attention than words alone.
Rodney scuttled away, then turned in exasperation. “I have no idea what you know, Colonel. I know a great deal… so much in fact that I couldn’t begin to list it all. Now, is there something specific I can help you with, or are you just trying to interrupt my work?”
“Okaaaaay. What do you know about the stuff in here? What is it? What does it do? What were the Ancients working on? Is there a ZPM? And where is it, if there is? How much juice does it have left? And perhaps most importantly, how long before something goes horribly wrong and we all die? All the usual questions.”
“Why did you have to go and mention that? Just so you know, when things do go horribly wrong and we all die, it will be all your fault for bringing it up in the first place. As to your other questions, the Ancients were working on a variety of experiments here. So much that it will take some time to look through it all to know what is what in the database. In fact, it looks as though some of the data might be corrupted; I’m not really sure yet. Now if you don’t mind, I would like to get back to it.”
“So there’s no ZPM, then?”
“What are you talking about? Of course there’s a ZedPM. I said that already… didn’t I? Maybe you just weren’t listening. I’m sure that was one of the first things I mentioned after we got here.”
John knew better than to argue something like that; it would only lead to more griping and lecturing from McKay. “So where is it?”
“Where is what?”
“The ZPM. You said there’s one here, but I would have thought that would be the first thing you would have gone to, and I’m not seeing a ZPM around here anywhere.” He turned to their companions. “Do you see a ZPM around here?”
“I do not, Colonel Sheppard.”
Ronon did not even bother to turn around as he answered, “No.”
“So… where is it?”
Rodney hunched over his datapad as he mumbled, “Idon’tknowyet.”
“Sorry McKay, I didn’t quite catch that. Could you run it by me again?”
“I said, ‘I don’t know yet!’ It’s taking some time to get the information from the database. I already told you that. And if somebody wouldn’t keep interrupting me, I might actually get around to finding it!”
Sheppard smirked; he knew better than to take McKay’s bile seriously. With exaggerated care he checked his watch before turning to the others. “You know… now might be a good time to contact Atlantis, and let Dr. Weir know what we’ve found so far.”
“Yes. Why don’t you do that, Colonel. It’ll get you out of my way for a little while, and I might just get the chance to do some work!”
“Ronon, you stay here with Rodney. Keep an eye on things. Teyla, you’re with me. We’ll head back to the ‘gate to radio Atlantis, then maybe take a look around, say hello to the locals or something on the way back. We’ll stay in radio contact though; if you find anything, let us know.”
*****
Col. Sheppard and Teyla made it back to the ‘gate with no trouble. It took less time that before, largely because they weren’t having to slow down every so often for the scientist to take more measurements or pick up samples to take back to Atlantis. When they arrived, Sheppard tapped his radio.
“Rodney, this is Sheppard.”
“Well I hardly thought it was Teyla, Colonel. What did you want?” The physicist’s irritation came through clearly, even over the radio.
“We’re at the gate. I just wanted to see if there was any new information you want me to pass on to Dr. Weir.”
“I haven’t found the ZedPM yet, if that’s what you mean. I told you it would take some time, and it will take even longer if I keep having to stop and tell you there’s nothing new to tell.”
“Well, fine.” Sheppard’s drawl held just a hint of mockery, before clearing as he addressed the fourth member of his team. “Ronon, any trouble?”
“Other than me wanting to gag McKay, you mean? Nothing so far.”
“Ok. Well, let me know if anything happens… and try not to kill Rodney before we get back if you can help it. Sheppard out.”
The swoosh of the opening wormhole punctuated his good-bye, and he turned to face the Stargate. He keyed his radio again. “Atlantis, this is Sheppard.”
“Yes, John, we’re here.” Dr. Weir sounded cautious.
Col. Sheppard hurried to allay her fears, knowing she would be worried to be hearing from them so soon. “No problems yet. Just wanted to check in, let you know that we found an Ancient research outpost of some kind. Dr. McKay is looking over the database now. He believes there is a ZPM somewhere in the vicinity, but we haven’t found it yet. He thinks there might be something wrong with the database, said it might take a while to decipher.”
“Any sign of the Wraith?”
“None so far. There’s a village about… oh, about ten miles or so from the gate. Looks to be inhabited, but we haven’t checked it out yet. Rodney wanted to follow the energy signature first, as always.”
“I’d like you to try to make contact with the local people if possible, John. Do Teyla or Ronon know anything about the planet or its inhabitants?”
It was Teyla who responded. “I have never been to this world before, Dr. Weir, and Ronon said it was unfamiliar to him as well.”
“Well, see what you can find out. I’ll expect you to check in again in… shall we say, twelve hours. If Rodney hasn’t found the ZPM or something equally exciting before then, of course.”
“Twelve hours it is. Talk to you then.”
“Good luck, John. Atlantis out.”
The event horizon blinked out, and Sheppard turned to Teyla. “Contact Ronon; let him know we’re headed for the village, and that we’ll keep in touch.”
She nodded, activating her comm as she did so. “Ronon.” When that got no reply, she tried again. “Ronon? It’s Teyla. Please answer if you can hear me.”
Noticing the lack of response, Sheppard tried his own radio. “Ronon? Rodney? Somebody come in.”
Still there was no word from Ronon or Rodney.
“Something’s wrong. You stay here in case we need to contact Atlantis again. I’ll head back to the lab, see what’s going on.” Sheppard was already on the move as he spoke, headed in the direction of the mountain.
“Colonel, do you not believe it would be better for both of us to return to the mountain? The others may be in need of our assistance when we arrive.”
He paused for only a moment to consider what she said. “Yeah. You’re right. Let’s go. Find out what’s going on with those two…. It’s probably just a communication problem anyway. McKay probably activated some field that’s jamming radio signals, and he hasn’t realized it yet.”
Neither of them truly believed that reassuring thought however. The Pegasus Galaxy had a way of teaching people to expect the worse even as they hoped for the best. So the pace they set running back to the hidden lab was much faster than either of the previous trips. As they ran, they tried repeatedly to raised either of the two men on the radio, but with no luck.
The entrance to the mountain was hidden when they arrived, just as they had left it. Sheppard thought it open as they approached, and entered without stopping, his weapon at the ready. They entered the lab itself only to find it empty.
*****
“Other than me wanting to gag McKay, you mean? Nothing so far.”
“Ok. Well, let me know if anything happens… and try not to kill Rodney before we get back if you can help it. Sheppard out.”
Ronon grinned. He was becoming used to the colonel’s method of leadership. While it was nothing like what he had known back on Sateda, he found it worked well, particularly when dealing with someone like McKay. Or when helping others deal with McKay. He continued to watch the corridor for movement, only a fraction of his attention on the scientist’s activities.
“Aha! Knew it was around here somewhere.”
Ronon turned in time to see Rodney press a series of buttons on the control console before him. Then a soft white light flashed through the room, only to be followed by darkness. There was a faint sense of something else, but neither man could identify, or even describe, it.
Lights... lights, thought Rodney as he groped for the console in front of him.
The Ancient technology responded to his thoughts, and the room filled with light. It was only then that they could notice the room had changed. While before the lab had held a handful of Ancient devices, now it was empty. Of even more concern was the sudden absence of a doorway.
“What happened?” Ronon looked to McKay, his voice as neutral as his expression.
“I don’t know yet. But whatever it was, wasn’t supposed to happen.” He circled the room slowly, searching for devices that were no longer there, willing non-existent doors to open.
“How do you know?”
“How do I know what?” The tension showed in Rodney’s voice, his timbre and speed increasing.
“You said it wasn’t supposed to happen. If you don’t know what happened, how do you know it wasn’t supposed to?”
“Because I know what was supposed to happen… and this isn’t it.” When he saw Ronon standing expectantly, waiting for more information, he continued, “I activated an advanced search function; that’s all. I should be standing at the controls in front of the display, with the search engine pulling up a schematic that will show me where the zero point module is. I don’t see a control console or a display, let alone schematics or a ZedPM! In fact, I don’t see anything but you, so obviously this wasn’t supposed to happen!”
“So figure it out.” A hint of a smirk tugged at Ronon’s mouth, but McKay didn’t notice in his annoyance.
“What?!”
“Figure it out. That’s what you do. Why you’re on Sheppard’s team. Something goes wrong, you figure it out, and you fix it.”
“Well, of course I do! Atlantis would have been blown to bits if not for me. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve gone without sleep for days in another brilliantly successful attempt to keep us all alive a little bit longer. I remember-“
Ronon’s patience, never in great supply, was running out by this point. “McKay! We’re in a room with no way in or out. What now?”
“Now you shut up and let me think, that’s ‘what now’! And while you’re at it, see if you can’t find the door. It should be on that wall.” He flailed his hand vaguely towards one of the nine walls.
Ronon walked over to another wall, two to the right of the one McKay had indicated. “It should be here… but it’s not. Not that I can tell anyway.”
“Well, keep looking! We need that door. We’re closed in.” Panic started to creep into McKay’s voice and his breathing quickened. “Air. We’re going to run out of air. Does the room feel smaller to you? I’m not sure I’ve mentioned it, but I’m claustrophobic, you know. We… uhm… we…”
“McKay, breathe. There’s air getting in. Looks like from up there.” He pointed to the ceiling about twenty feet up and to the narrow openings that could be seen there.
“There is no way you could know that’s for ventilation… for all you know it’s decorative. I’m telling you, we’re going to run out of air!”
“No. The air’s still fresh. I can smell it. But it does seem different than before. I don’t know… cooler, maybe… just different.”
“Great! Different… that’s helpful. Wait. You don’t think it’s some kind of drug, do you? Pump something into the atmosphere, next thing you know we’re all seeing pink elephants?”
“Pink what?”
“Elephants. Big, gray animals with… oh never mind!” Rodney pulled his scanner from his vest, and began analyzing the air. “Oh good. It doesn’t look like there’s anything in the air that should be there. The scans look almost identical to what we found when we first sent the MALP through the gate. So we should be all right to breathe, at least for now.”
*****
“Rodney?... Rodney!” Col. Sheppard quickly covered the small room, searching for any sign of his missing teammates. There was none.
“Head back to the gate. Contact Atlantis, and tell ‘em Rodney’s missing. We’ll need a ‘jumper, two teams for search and rescue, and Zelenka – if Rodney did something, he’s our best chance of figuring out what, and how to fix it – and Teyla, I want them here ASAP.”
Teyla held out her hands as though to placate the colonel. “Perhaps Dr. McKay and Ronon found the location of the ZPM, and have merely gone to retrieve it. Is it not premature to be assuming they are missing?”
“No, it’s not premature. I left them here, and they’re not here now, and I don’t know where they are. That means they’re missing. Besides, if they were going after the ZPM, they’d have contacted us first. Well… maybe not Rodney -- you know how he gets when he finds a power source – but Ronon would have called.” Sheppard sounded very much like the missing Dr. McKay as he babbled on, as much to himself as to Teyla. He even looked a little like McKay as he paced back and forth, his gesticulating more vehemently with each pass.
“That is true. However, earlier you mentioned the possibility of something ‘jamming’ the radio signals. It is possible that they attempted to contact us by radio, but were unable to do so.”
“Then they shouldn’t have gone anywhere!”
“Nonetheless, they may have gone anyway. As you said, ‘you know how Dr. McKay gets when he finds a power source’. He may have continued on even after he realized we could not be reached on the radio.”
“Yes! It’s possible. But I don’t think that’s what happened. Now get to the gate, and radio Atlantis. The longer we wait, the longer before we find Rodney and Ronon.”
With her usual subtle nod and raised eyebrow, Teyla left the lab and walked down the corridor to the exterior door. She called back to the colonel, and a moment later she was able to exit the mountain. Once in the open air, she tapped her radio. “Colonel? Can you hear me?”
“Yeah. Wh-? Oh. So I guess we know the radios are working. So much for that theory then. Let me know when you talk to Dr. Weir. In the meantime, I’m going to look around here some more. Sheppard out.”
*****
Rodney flopped onto the floor in frustration, and ripped open a power bar. He bit into it savagely, and then spoke around it. “There’s nothing here. I don’t know how I’m supposed to get us out of here when there’s nothing to work with. It’s ridiculous!” Finishing the first in three bites, he tore open another bar.
“We should probably start rationing our food now.”
“What? Ration our food? Why?!”
“We have no way out; no idea how long we’ll be here, and a limited supply of food. Rationing is a good idea. Plus, you’re our best bet for getting out of here, and if you don’t eat, you won’t be good for much.”
“I’m hypoglycemic. I have to eat regularly, or I could fall into a coma and die.”
“Yeah. I know. You’ve mentioned it a few hundred times. That’s what I meant. If you eat all of our supplies now, what happens in a few days when there’s nothing left to eat, and you pass out or something?”
“Right.” Rodney was more subdued, but didn’t remain silent for long. “’A few days’? You think we’re going to be here for days? Plural?”
“Unless you get off your ass and find us a way out. Yeah. It could happen.”
“Right. A way out. I can do that. I just need to find the way out. Well, we know power is routed through the walls and floors, just like on Atlantis, so that’s something I suppose. But how did this happen in the first place?”
Obviously Rodney was mainly thinking out loud, but Ronon still decided to answer. “You said something about a ‘search function’.”
The scientist continued as though it was merely part of his own train of thought. “Right… right, right, right. Blah, blah, blah… ‘your search will begin.’”
“Huh?”
“That’s what it said. I couldn’t quite make out the beginning of the sentence, but it said, ‘your search will begin.’ So I keyed in the command indicated, there was a light, then darkness, then we were stuck here with no way out.”
As McKay spoke, the room grew brighter as Ancient letters began to glow along the floor.
“What’s it say?”
“Ummm… ‘It is only when you move beyond personal desires that… that your search will begin.’ What is this, some kind of Ancient fortune cookie room?”
“So… not a search engine, huh?”
“No. Not a search engine. I still don’t see how this helps though. I mean, right now I have a personal desire to find the ZedPM and the way out. I don’t see how I’m supposed to move beyond that while we’re still here. And if we have those, what the hell else am I supposed to be searching for?”
*****
“Colonel Sheppard?”
“Yeah, Teyla, go ahead.”
“The jumper is on its way. We should be at the base of the mountain very soon.”
Sheppard went out to meet the small ship, more than ready to get the search underway.
“Alright, here’s the deal. We’ve had no contact from McKay or Ronon in…” he checked his watch, “over an hour and a half, and they aren’t answering their radios. There is no sign of a struggle either inside the lab or near the entrance, here alongside the mountain. I’ve thought about it, and I don’t believe anyone could have made their way from here to the village or the gate without being seen by Teyla or myself as we returned from the gate after we failed to establish comms. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, just that it’s unlikely.
“Teyla, I want you and Sgt. Tisdale to go to the village, talk to the locals, see if anybody knows anything.”
He then pointed, indicating a group of the Marines. “You four will search from the ground. Standard grid pattern. Coordinate with both me and the jumper.
“Lt. Hannon, you’re the pilot?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You and the rest of the team will start with an aerial search. Teyla and Tisdale can ride out with you. Just drop them off near the outskirts of the settlement. I’ll expect reports every thirty minutes. If you find something, let me know immediately, and then have your team begin a ground search while you continue to monitor from the air. You know what to do. Any questions?”
“Uhh… yes.” It was the first time Dr. Radek Zelenka had spoken since the jumper’s arrival. “What am I to be doing? Not with the jumper surely?”
“No, Doc. You’re with me. We’ll be in the lab, trying to figure out what, if anything, McKay might have found in the Ancient computer system, or that he could have activated – on purpose or accidentally – that could account for their disappearance.”
The Czech scientist headed down the corridor toward the lab. Col. Sheppard heard him mutter something that sounded a bit like, “Once again it is up to me to get the oh-so-brilliant Dr. Rodney McKay out of trouble. Fumbles McStupid! Hah! I’ll show him McStupid!”
Looking up, Sheppard noticed the jumper still on the ground, Lt. Hannon waiting with affected patience for his superior officer to recognize him. “You had a question, Lieutenant?”
“Yes, sir. It sounds as though you don’t think McKay and Dex left the vicinity. I was just wondering, sir, if you had been able to find them on the life-signs detector. It could save us all a lot of time searching if we knew where to look.”
“Don’t you think I…,” He paused, pulling the detector from his vest pocket. Dots appeared, showing the locations of the search team, Teyla, Hannon, and Sheppard. Widening the area did not help.
“Sir?”
“I don’t know. There’s a lot of vegetation on the mountain, maybe that’s interfering with the scan. Or maybe there’s some electrical interference, Zelenka could probably tell us…. Wait a minute! Zelenka doesn’t show up either.” Both men peered down the corridor to where they could see the Czech about halfway down.
“Hey, Doctor Z! Come back here for a minute.” Sheppard kept his attention on the life-signs detector, and sure enough, as Zelenka emerged from the entrance another signal appeared on the device, right where he expected it.
“Yes?” Radek removed his glasses and polished them absently.
“There’s something interfering with the scanner. When you go in, you don’t show up on the life-signs detector any more. Makes it kind of hard to look for Rodney and Ronon, if we can’t trust our equipment. Think you can find a way around it?”
The scientist considered it for a moment. “Perhaps. Let us see what is in the lab first, yes?”
The colonel turned to face the pilot again. “Anything else, lieutenant? If not, I suggest you get that jumper in the air, so we can find my missing people.”
*****
Rodney was way past ready to get out of this room. He had tried every scan he could think of: looking for points of greater energy consumption, tracking fluctuations in power levels, measuring heat signatures. Not so surprisingly, that last followed the movements of the two men through the room. Finally, in frustration, he mentally commanded, “On!” hoping for some kind of response that might help him to find a way out. Nothing happened.
Suddenly his eyes lit up as he had an idea; followed by a glimmer of self-disgust that it had taken so long to come to him. He tapped his radio. “Colonel Shep-“
“Don’t bother. I tried that already. It didn’t work.”
“When? I didn’t see you use the radio.”
“You weren’t paying attention. Too busy talking to yourself about the air running out, starving to death, something.”
“I… I didn’t… you can’t…” For once words failed Rodney, and he dropped his hands in defeat.
As he slumped to the floor, he turned to Ronon. “Whatever happened must be jamming radio frequencies or something…. How long have we been stuck in here anyway?”
Ronon shrugged. “Couple of hours maybe.”
“A couple of hours! So they have to be looking for us by now, right? That is, they had to know something was wrong when they couldn’t get back into the lab, didn’t they? Even Kavanaugh would know something was wrong in this case, and Colonel Sheppard is a lot smarter than Kavanaugh.
“There’s got to be something. Some way to get out again. I’m missing something. What am I missing?” Rodney jumped back to his feet, and began pacing again as he spoke.
“What we need.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Basic survival strategy. Know what you have and what you need. Find a way to use what you have to get what you need. That’s what you’re missing, what we need.”
“We need a way out! That’s what we need. And that helps me not at all.”
“We know we have food and water to last several days, if we’re careful. We have weapons: guns, a few knives, my sword. What else do we have?”
“I’ve got a life-signs detector, my datapad, another scanner… basically all the equipment I’ve been using to no avail, a few tools, that sort of thing. I fail to see how this is going to help us any.”
“So we know what we have. What do we need?”
“The door would be nice! But it doesn’t seem to be here anymore! So unless you’re planning to use that sword to cut a hole in the mountain…”
“We need to let Colonel Sheppard and Teyla know we are trapped, but alive.”
“Yes! And we have the non-functioning radios to do it with. Again… so helpful!” He stopped as he considered another idea. “The radios. They’re not broken. I still hear that little clicky-poppy sound when I turn on the mike. Let me…” His voice trailed off as he picked up his scanner once again. “Yeah, there it is. There’s some kind of broad spectrum signal here. That could be what’s jamming the radios. If I can come up with a way to cancel out the signal, we should be able to get message out. Give me a minute.”
After taking a few more readings, Rodney removed the radio from his vest pocket and removed the casing. For several minutes his hands moved quickly and confidently, disconnecting and reconnecting the various wires in new and different circuits. Occasionally he would refer to the scanning device as he activated the radio to compare the readings with what he had seen earlier. Finally he seemed satisfied. He extended his hand, palm up and open, toward Ronon.
The larger man looked at the waiting hand for a long moment, his confusion evident.
“What?”
“Your radio. Give me your radio. I can’t exactly use mine; it’s what’s canceling out the jamming signal. Come on.” Rodney waggled his fingers impatiently as Ronon slowly removed the headset and base. The fingers tightened greedily around the two pieces, and Rodney fit the headset to his ear. Pressing the call button on his jury-rigged unit first, he then keyed the second radio as he walked into the center of the oddly shaped room.
“Colonel Sheppard, are you there? We are unable to find a way out of the room we are currently in. The door and all the Ancient devices have somehow disappeared. We may need some assistance from your end while I find us a way out from inside. There is a signal which is interfering with communications, although I have found a way to counteract it for the moment. This may make it difficult or impossible for me to receive signals from your radios. I will attempt to remedy this situation if I do not hear from you soon. You may want to have Zelenka come through the gate. He has the necessary intelligence to solve the problem given the proper resources. If you can hear me, I need you to respond now so I can determine whether or not two-way communication is possible.”
The silence became weightier with each passing second. Perhaps a minute elapsed before Rodney spoke again. “Colonel? Come in, Sheppard.”
*****
On to part 2
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