RATING: PG-13 for Language
SEASON: 2 - some time before Michael probably - no definite time period though.
MAJOR CHARACTERS: McKay, Sheppard, Ronon and Teyla
DISCLAIMERS: The characters, setting, etc, all belong to Sony, MGM, Gecko, the Sci-Fi Channel... I'm just a poor writer having a little fun. Pay no attention
NOTE: I'm still trying to get a handle on this whole sci-fi thing, so forgive issues with science and medicine.   Writing in the Old West is so much simpler!
SUMMARY:  The team has been directed to an Ancient Outpost to explore an interesting new transporter system -- too bad it's a trap
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:  Tipper may be mostly to blame, but sablecain is an instigator!
FEEDBACK: Yes please! comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
SPOILERS: small ones for "Childhood's End" and "The Hive"
AWARDS:  2007 Skiffy Awards - 2nd Place Rodney McKay Angst
DATE: COMPLETE February 16, 2006, housekeeping May 20, 2007

Under Glass
By NotTasha... Always under scrutiny

CHAPTER 1: PANCAKES AND SYRUP

John Sheppard made his way into the conference room, offering a contrite smile as he realized he was the last to arrive.  Even McKay was already there, making use of the ‘down time’ by attacking his laptop.

“Sorry I’m late,” John uttered as he slid into the last available seat.  “I could give you an excuse but…”

McKay, still clicking away at his keyboard finished the sentence for him, “…but all the apology would amount to is recognition that you have a lack of time management and perhaps a somewhat Freudian attempt at avoidance.”   He never raised his gaze from the screen as he worked.

“There was a line at the mess hall,” John completed.  “And they were out of pancakes.”

“Pancakes?” Ronon returned, looking confused.  “There were plenty when I went.”  He smiled contentedly, looking rather like a lion that had just had his fill of antelope.  “Pretty good.  I had about a dozen.”

Raising his eyebrows, Sheppard sighed. “Which explains why they were out by the time I got there.”

“I think I like syrup,” Ronon added.  "Hashbrowns were good, too."

Sheppard decided not to mention that the ends of Ronon’s dreds looked a little – stickier than usual.  It was best not to point out such – not because the colonel feared any retribution for mentioning that the former runner had gotten his hair in the syrup – rather he figured Dex would simply stick the natty ends in his mouth and suck of the remainder.  John didn’t want to be a party to that.  Instead he watched McKay, finding himself getting irritated at his constant typing.

“Wish they had waffles,” McKay muttered, working still, making Sheppard wonder how he could talk and type at the same time.   “But that would mean they’d need a waffle iron, wouldn’t it.”

“Could get Eggos,” Sheppard decided, reaching for the laptop to snap down the lid.

McKay was ahead of him though, muttering, "Let go!" as he moved the computer out of reach.

Weir, looking rather like a beleaguered mother, interrupted the important discussion with, “Shall we get on with this?”

Everyone sat back, looking ready, with the exception of one.  Rodney still stooped over his computer, madly typing, paying them no mind.  They waited for him to complete his thought.

He didn’t stop.

“Rodney,” Weir called.

“Hmmm,” Rodney voiced, still clattering away.

“Shall we begin?”

“Sure,” Rodney muttered, not slowing.  “Now that the Colonel has managed to sashay into our meeting and we’ve confirmed the fact that the mess hall is bereft of either pancakes or waffles…”

“McKay,” Sheppard growled.

When Rodney finally raised his eyes, he caught Sheppard’s expression and let out an, “Oh,” and then, “Very well.”  And with a put-upon sigh, he closed down the program, and shut his laptop.

Now that everyone was ready, Weir nodded to Teyla, and the Athosian began.  “I have received information from Supai,” she began.  “As you know, I have found excellent trading partners on this planet, and a rich source of information gathered from throughout the worlds.” .

“Yeah,” Sheppard put in.  “We’ve dealt with them before.”

“Haven’t turned up much of interest,” Rodney commented, looking bored.  “I think the last tidbit we received from them resulted in us finding a planet with… trees.  Oh!  What a surprise.”

Sheppard suppressed a smile.

Teyla dipped her head toward the colonel and continued, “They have gained knowledge of something on Tusayan.”

“Tusayan?”   Sheppard tried the name.

“P5H-997,” McKay rattled off.  “Captain Ozette’s team explored there a few months ago.  Found nothing.”   He fretted at the corner of his laptop, as if itching to open it again.

“The discovery is recent,” Teyla went on.  “A hunting party from Tuweep uncovered a doorway.  They believe it was designed by the Ancestors.”

“To weep?” Sheppard tried this name as well.

“P8L-745,” McKay informed.

“They are traders and hunters,” Teyla told him.

Ronon grunted.  “Tuweep was heavily culled by the Wraith.  The few who escaped now survive by harvesting what they can from the uninhabited worlds – game, fruit, information.  Sell it elsewhere.”

“The Tuweepans are good people, poorly used by the Wraith,” Teyla explained.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!  You said something about a doorway,” McKay stated, raising a hand.  “The Twerpers found an Ancient doorway on P5H-997?”

“Tuweepans,” Teyla gently corrected.  “And yes, that is the information we received.”

Looking a bit aggrieved, McKay went on, “That’s all they could say?  A doorway?”

Teyla stiffened a bit.  “They copied the three symbols that were found near it.”  She opened the folder, displaying the rough papers within.  The first was a map.  She pushed that aside to reveal pages with symbols scribed on them.

“Ooo!” McKay exclaimed.

Ronon made a “Harrumph” sound.

Sheppard leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest and tried not to look bored.

Weir leaned closer.  She touched the closest paper.  “This one says ‘power’.”  She pushed it aside to find the next.  “And this is a symbol for ‘solar system’.”

McKay leaned over his laptop to grasp one of the papers that was half-hidden under the others.  “This…” he said, stubbing a finger at the written symbol.  “…is the same symbol used to designate a transporter!”

Sheppard furrowed his brow and settled all his chair feet on the floor.  “A solar-system wide transporter?”

McKay, still leaning toward the symbol, turned toward the colonel.  “Oh,” he started, a smile quirking his lips.  “We gotta go there.”  Beaming, he glanced from Weir to Sheppard, then from Teyla to Dex.

Teyla, looking eager, added,  “Finding a transporter that could send a passenger anywhere in a solar system would be a helpful asset.”

Ronon frowned.  “Why would they need it if they could just use a Stargate to reach other planets?”

Rodney shrugged.  “There are several livable planets in that solar system, some more so than others.  P5H-997 is the only planet with a Gate.”  He pointed to one of the papers in front of Weir. “This symbol says ‘power’.  This transporter probably needed a lot of power to work.  I mean, it’s gotta if you’re transporting people from planet to planet.”  And a grin lit the doctor’s face.

“And if the device needed a lot of power…” Sheppard stated, seeing where McKay was going.

“There is possibly a ZPM at the location,” Weir completed.

“But didn’t Ozette’s team check out the planet?” Ronon asked.

“Yes,” McKay responded with a snap.  “But if the ZPM had been powered down and insulated in some way to escape detection, and if the team searching the planet didn’t do a thorough job of it…” and he drew out that thought looking toward Sheppard. “…it may have been missed.”

Sheppard pursed his lips.  “Well,” he drawled, “Seems to me that we should pay a visit to this place.   I’m pretty sure that we could make use of a transporter like that.”  He tried to ignore Ronon who had suddenly stared at the ends of his dreadlocks.

McKay smiled even wider and glanced to the expedition leader.  “So… Elizabeth?” he tried.

Weir gave a curt nod.  “Agreed,” she conceded.  “Go check it out.”

“You never know,” McKay returned. “We may leave through the gate, but come back an entirely different way.”

Weir sighed, letting her eyes fall upon Ronon, who had suddenly decided to suck on his hair.  She tore her attention away from the sight as she commented, “Just as long as you all come back, that’s all I ask.”

--------------------

The planet of Tusayan was rather like many they’d seen in their travels – offering a passing resemblance to the forests of southwestern British Columbia --- filled with ferns and firs.  There were no current residents on the planet – Wraith cullings, over several generations, had devastated the population and, just recently, had completely emptied the hamlets of all souls – and no one cared to fill the vacancy.

A strange series of poles greeted them as they stepped through the wormhole.  The structures had been erected near the gate – in an attempt to keep the Wraith from entering in their darts.  Apparently they had served their purpose, for the structures remained standing and had thwarted any plan of entering with a jumper.  McKay had pointed out, when the situation had been described to him, that someone could easily take down the poles and make their own lives easier.

Teyla had refused this idea – saying that the poles were placed as a reminder to lives lost.  The team would walk.  

Why hadn’t the Wraith removed the poles themselves?  Why bother?  They’d made short work of the residents on foot.  The poles proved rather useless and perhaps the Wraith had left them as a testament to folly.  In any case, the planet was empty now and they had no reason to harvest it any longer.

Sheppard and the others stood at the foot of the Stargate’s platform, staring up at the poles with their garish decorations.  The tall wooden structures were adorned with bits of hanging metal—twisting and clattering in the breeze.  Broken branches were strung from cords, clawing at the air.  Glass bottles – broken and jagged -- glinted as they spun about on chains, and strange shapes hung, clothed in the remnants of Wraith clothing.

“Seems that they managed to kill a couple of them,” Sheppard commented, cocking his head as he watched the macabre scarecrows sway in the breeze.  The bits of metal rattled above them, chains squeaked -- sounding out of place in the otherwise quiet world.

Teyla nodded, staring up at the adornments.  “It is noted that the Tusayans, many years ago, managed to kill two of the Wraith.”

“How’d they do it?” Sheppard asked, knowing how difficult it was to kill one of those creatures, and by the looks of the surrounding architecture, this civilization looked as if it was caught somewhere in the USA's 19^th century.

Teyla explained, “They sent a hillside of rock down onto the wraith.”

“Anyone can get lucky,” Ronon put in. “The Wraith allowed themselves to be in that position.  They are overconfident.”  He shrugged and walked under the hanging construction, as if the cacophonous ghoulish things were an everyday sight.

Edging back toward the gate, Rodney pointed, asking, “Those are bodies?  They dug the Wraith out, strung them up and left them to… hang there?”

Teyla nodded, remembering the ‘shrine’ that the children had erected on M7G-677.  “It is likely.”  She ducked as she walked under the display, not looking up as she went through.  Rodney and John followed – moving quickly as the whole thing squeaked and rattled above them.

They made their way past vacant buildings.  It was one long street, lined with two-story buildings with a wooden walkway in front – all weather-beaten and about to fall to pieces.  A balcony ran along the length of the second level on both sides of the street.  Paint peeled to reveal pale wood beneath.  Signs that had once adored the storefronts hung helter-skelter, or lay broken on the walkway.

Curiously enough, the windows remained intact.  “Why do you think that’d be?” Sheppard asked when McKay pointed it out.

“No punk kids to smash them,” McKay decided, as he stepped onto the creaking walkway.  He peered through the glass into the empty and overturned interior.

“Looks like a ghost town to me,” Sheppard commented as he stood beside McKay, looking out into the surrounding area.

“Ghosts?” Ronon asked.  “You are suspecting ghosts?”

“No,” McKay answered abruptly.  “It’s a name for abandoned towns like these.”  He cupped his hands around his eyes as he looked into the next window.  “Seems that they sold mining equipment here,” he stated.  “This planet does have certain interesting ores that might have been valuable at some time.”

Ronon simply kicked open a rotting door to look within.  McKay threw him an annoyed look, but Dex didn’t seem to care, poking around in the strewn stuff that had been left behind.  He toed at the debris, finding nothing of note.

Rapping on the window, Sheppard pointed to Ronon in the room, and gestured for him to come out.  And so, they continued down the ‘main street’ of empty buildings.

“So,” McKay started when they reached the end of the row of buildings and faced the forest.  “How far is it?”  He hoisted his pack into a more comfortable position.  “I mean, I’m all for a little exercise every now again.  Well, the less the better really, but it’s okay as long as we keep it short.”  He stopped talking and fiddled with his scanner to avoid any further clarifying.

“According to the map,” Teyla informed, as she held it before her.  “It is approximately three miles in this direction.”

McKay groaned.  Ronon looked unenthusiastic.  Sheppard nodded, stating, “I hope the route is fairly level.  I’m not in the mood for mountain climbing.”

Ten minutes later, McKay was sniping as they struggled up over the rugged hillside – ever upward.  “I hope the route is fairly level,” he mocked as he climbed over another boulder, grasping onto the supple branches of a convenient fir.  Heather-like vegetation coated the stones and refused to be scraped away in spite of his abuse.

“Could be worse…” Ronon started, but was cut off instantly by both Sheppard and McKay.

“Don’t!” they shouted in unison.

“I was just going to say…” Ronon tried to explain.

“I know what you were trying to say,” Sheppard explained.  “But you should know that the quickest way to make things worse is to say outright that things could be worse.”

Ronon paused, glancing from Sheppard (who glared) to McKay (who was still struggling at the rock) to Teyla (who offered him a smile).  “I didn’t realize they were so superstitious,” Ronon commented to the Athosian.

“They have their…” Teyla paused, watching McKay struggle.  He had managed to get one foot up at the top, and one hand firmly onto a branch, the other clutching a handful of the weedy, heather-like groundcover that seemed to be everywhere.  His hind-end waggled in the effort to draw himself over.  “…their quirks,” she completed.

Ronon snorted, and offered a helping hand to the doctor, shoving his rump forward.  McKay let out an “Eeep!” but made it to the top of the latest obstacle faster than he would have on his own.  He turned to Ronon, not sure if he should be furious or thankful.

“Let’s keep moving, little man,” Ronon said, his voice a low rumble as he easily scrambled up the rocks that had given McKay so much trouble.

McKay sputtered for a moment, but finally came back with, “Yes, let’s.” He watched Ronon moving onward.  “It’s a lot easier when you have long legs and arms,” he stated, brushing the irritating heather from his hands.  “A lot easier.  I’m just sayin’.”

In response, Ronon squatted down and offered McKay a hand.  With a sigh, Rodney accepted the help and was hoisted up over the next rock.  Ronon gave him a grin, thumped him on the chest and continued on their quest.

“He’s not even winded,” McKay complained under his breath as he looked up, seeing the route yet ahead of them. “Hey, it looks like there's easier climbing there,” he stated, pointing to a bare patch that scarred one side of the hill.

Ronon stepped back, and checked out the indicated area.  “The hill’s unstable.  Gravel would be hard to walk across -- no traction.”  He pointed.  “The rocks above keep slipping down.”   He indicated a top-heavy looking ledge that overlooked the bald spot.  “Don’t want to get caught up in that if it gives way.”

“God forbid,” McKay responded, trying not to sound annoyed at being corrected.

If Ronon noticed, he gave no sign.  He slapped McKay’s shoulder (nearly toppling him) and continued on his way.

Looking irritated, McKay turned to Sheppard and muttered, “Why does he have to keep mauling me?”

Ronon, just ahead, chuckled.  And the group continued onward.

Once they had made it to the bare top of the hill, they continued across the crest – until they came to a downward slope, and they’d still not reached their destination.

“Oh, give me a break,” McKay grumbled, snatching the map from Teyla.  “Haven’t these people ever heard of topographical markings?  Really, if we had known about this we could have skirted the whole issue and gone around this mound.  Look!” He pointed.  “There’s a valley down there. We could have avoided all this climbing.  We could have come through there.”

“They may have had their reasons,” Teyla commented.  “The path around the hill would be longer.”

“But easier!” McKay added.  “If we had an easier trail, we’d make better time.”

Ronon corrected him, “Easier is usually the worse possible choice.  Harder the trail, the less likely you’ll be followed.”  He glanced down at the valley that surrounded them.  “There could be something there that we are unaware of.”

Groaning, McKay sat down, massaging his foot through his boot.  “I bet they just sent us this way to make it harder on us,” he grumbled petulantly.  “Or maybe there’s something they didn’t want us to find.  When we go home, we take the valley.”

Sheppard sighed, glancing down the opposite side of the hill, finding it just as steep as the side they’d just surmounted.  “We stick to the map,” he finally decided.

“Fine,” McKay grumbled, getting to his feet.  “But if I fall on my face…”

“We’ll pick you up,” Ronon conceded halfheartedly.

“Might drag you a bit,” Sheppard added, slapping his friend on the shoulder, and striding forward, ready to begin their downward path.

McKay remained a moment longer, shaking his head in disbelief. “They keep hitting me,” he complained to Teyla, who waited for him.  “I bruise easy.  Don’t know why they have to do that.”

Teyla smiled in return, understanding the friendly actions and realizing that McKay, in his own way, did too.  She gestured for him to get on his way, and with a sigh, Dr. McKay complied.

The team made better time on the downward slope, sliding and scrambling on the rocky hillside.  They were nearly at the bottom when Teyla called them to a stop, announcing that they were nearly there.  McKay, who had struggled at the back of the pack, forced his way forward to examine the map, then took the lead as they closed on their quarry.

“It must be around here somewhere,” Rodney muttered, as he glanced around the area, holding his scanner out in front of him.  “I mean as much as we can trust this map – it should be right about here.”

“The map has been accurate to this point,” Teyla reminded.

“Yes,” McKay agreed, “Except for the fact that it failed to mark out the hill.”

“All right then,” Sheppard declared.  “Fan out and see what you can find.”

They kept close as they searched.  Rodney, John and Teyla moved about in patterns, pressing back the scraggly trees that grew in the harsh soil, searching the hillside for the hidden door.

Ronon didn’t participate in the search.  Instead, he stepped back, moving further down the hill and providing cover.  It wasn’t as if they’d seen any sign of trouble, but the former runner was rarely comfortable when his team was on an unfamiliar planet.  He moved further away, scuffling at the steep terrain until he found something strange.  A little further examination, and he realized he’d found the remainder of an ancient trail.

He stopped moving for a moment, staring his feet.  “Hey,” he said softly.

“Hey, what?” McKay snapped back.

“A path,” the Satedan stated.  He looked up, following the trail with his gaze until he spotted it.  “And a door.”

CHAPTER 2: THE ESSENCE OF JENFRUIT

Instantly, the group converged.  Teyla and Sheppard came alongside the Satedan –McKay pressed forward, any trepidation overcome by the joy of discovery.  He approached the door with his scanner held out before him like a talisman.  “Yes…” he muttered, running the device around the perimeter of the doorway.  “Oh… yes!”

“You getting any power readings?” Sheppard asked, trying to catch a glimpse of the scanner’s display, and not being able to interpret the blips anyway.

In response, McKay smiled.

“ZPM?” Sheppard asked.

The smile dropped to a frown.  “Possible,” the physicist replied a little glumly.  “Perhaps one that is nearly depleted or… powered down.”  The last realization perked him up a bit.

The site had been cleared, hanging vines and roots removed, and dirt had been scraped away.  The decorative archway was impressive – and obviously of Ancient design.

Sheppard stepped closer to examine the symbols at the lintel – the symbols that the Tuweepan hunters had discovered and copied down.  There were other hieroglyphs running down either side of the door.

“Why you think they went through all that trouble?” Sheppard asked as McKay fussed about.

“Trouble?”

“Yeah,” Sheppard responded.  “Those hunters who found it, they cleaned out all the crap around this thing.  And, they took the time to record the three most important symbols.  What are the chances?”

“The three most PROMINENT symbols,” McKay interjected.  “Anyone would have chosen them,” he said, pointing to the largest symbols above the door.

“Then,” Sheppard continued, “They brought the information to one of our trading partners.  Why?”

“Probably because they expected some sort of reward for their troubles,” McKay responded sharply.  He glanced to Teyla.  “Don’t they get some sort of colored glass or a string of beads for providing information?”

The Athosian pursed her lips.  “The information was reported in Supai and delivered to us through an intermediary.  No tokens were exchanged.”

“Hmm,” McKay responded, not listening.  “Well, I’m sure they expected something for their trouble.”  He waved a hand, dismissing any argument as he poked around the doorway.  “I mean, why bother putting oneself out if one isn’t expecting some sort tangible reward in return.”  McKay’s gaze was on his scanner, and he smiled as he worked.

“For the love of it?” Sheppard tried, grinning at his friend’s back.

“I doubt these hunter can live off of that,” McKay continued.  “We should probably think up something. Tell people, ‘bring us an Ancient Artifact, get a prize’.  We could even have posters printed up.”

“Free pancakes when information submitted leads us to Ancient Technology,” Sheppard tried.

“Throw in a bottle of syrup if a ZPM is involved,” McKay added.

Teyla and Ronon exchanged a glance.  The former runner shrugged, telling her in a low voice, “I’d go for it.”

“You find anything yet?” Sheppard asked, letting himself sound annoyed at the wait – knowing only seconds had passed since McKay started his search.

“Give me a minute,” Rodney snapped.  He paused, and grinned widely as he spotted something unseen by any of the others.  He pressed a hand and a panel opened.  He looked to Sheppard, a self-satisfied expression burnishing his face.

Sheppard returned the look with a smug smile, and hoisted his P90, preparing for what might be within.

McKay touched the revealed panel and the door instantly pulled upward.  A room gaped beyond – dark and dense.  Sheppard flicked on the P90’s light and checked out what was revealed -- one room  – the architecture familiar, mimicking Atlantis.  There was a console, and several dark alcoves  – everything looked pristine and untouched.

“Well?” McKay groused, obviously annoyed that Sheppard had managed to block him from entering. “Can we get on with it?”

“Ronon,” Sheppard said as he stepped forward.  “Can you keep watch out there?”

Dex relaxed. “Sure,” he responded.

The other three moved forward. As Sheppard walked in, lights came on – nearly blinding after the previous darkness.  With one hand, he clicked off the flashlight and narrowed his eyes at the room, moving forward judiciously.

McKay breezed right past him, and paused at the console.  “This obviously is the control panel for the room,” he stated.

“Obviously,” Sheppard echoed.

Flashing his gaze over the controls, McKay nodded and uttered a quiet, “Uh-huh, uh-huh.  Okay.”  He looked up, scanning the walls of the room.  It was a relatively small space – hexagonal – about twenty feet across.  At each wall was a doorway –the exit behind them – the other five openings led to small alcoves.

“The transporters,” McKay declared, approaching one.  “Smaller than on Atlantis.”  He glanced about the area.  “About as big as a…” and he paused to come up with a proper comparison.

“Coffin?” Sheppard supplied.

“I was going to say ‘shower stall’,” McKay told him.

“In a camper maybe,” Sheppard went on.  “So, why are they smaller?” he asked, sidling up next to the control panel.  “Thought this would be a more sophisticated system.”

“Probably the power requirements dictated that only small  ‘packets’ could be transmitted,” McKay conjectured, bringing his hands together in an attempt to illustrate ‘small’.  “They were sending people over an enormous distance – planet to planet.  Makes perfect sense.”

“Speaking of power,” John prodded.  “Any sign of that ZPM?”

“Looking,” McKay continued, flashing the scanner about with an annoyed expression.  “Power source is very weak here.”  He tapped at his favorite Ancient device.  “It doesn’t appear to be a ZPM.  Hmmm.  Possibly the power is stored in a buffer.”

“Buffer?”

“There’s always a buffer, colonel,” McKay said tiredly.

“Power had to come from somewhere,” the colonel decided as he moved past Teyla.  The Athosian smiled at him, seeming to enjoy the banter between the two.

“My, what an interesting theory you’ve fashioned, Colonel,” McKay sniped.  “Yes, I fully realize that power must come from ‘somewhere’.  Once I’ve done a scan of this room, I’ll discover exactly how this room is powered and how we will get our hands on the source.”

John leaned over the counter, examining the controls – similar and yet different from what he was used to on Atlantis.  He reached out to finger a lever that was just begging to be toggled.

McKay chose that instant to lift his gaze. “Don’t!” he exclaimed, shooting one hand out toward Sheppard.  “Don’t touch anything!”

“I wasn’t!” Sheppard complained in return.

“You were, and you would have,” McKay replied.

Sheppard turned to Teyla who moved in beside him.  He gave her a questioning glance.

She returned the expression with a knowing smile and nodded, putting on an expression that said she knew him better than he knew himself.

For that, she got a dirty look.

McKay went on, oblivious. “Let’s not touch anything until we – meaning Dr. Rodney McKay – know exactly how this place functions.”  He maneuvered to Sheppard and stood beside him to glance down at the controls.  His hands moved over them, not touching anything, but seeming to trace everything.

Sheppard watched his face, noting the way McKay’s eyes took on a hawk sharp expression.  It was as if someone had turned on a data recorder and McKay was absorbing everything.

Teyla wandered about the room, silently examining it.  Ronon remained outside, keeping an eye on the surrounding area.

“The buttons in this circle correspond with the alcoves around the room,” McKay stated, one hand hovering over the circle of controls.  The other hand moved to another series of buttons, but this time the buttons were set up in series growing ellipses.  “This control would correspond to the planets within the solar system.”  He lifted his gaze to grin at Sheppard. “Controlling the transporter is straightforward.  Just touch the button corresponding to the appropriate alcove and configure it to the chosen planet. There must be a receiving station on the other end.”  He changed his gaze to Teyla.  “Quite easy, really.”

“What’s that button in the center for?” Sheppard asked, indicating the control that was set in the midst the ‘transporter bay’ buttons.

McKay cocked his head a moment, then strode away from the panel.  In the center of the room, the tiles on the floor formed a large circle. He looked up at the corresponding circle on the ceiling.   “Large matter transporter,” he decided, rubbing his chin.

Teyla finally spoke up, asking, “And what is a ‘large matter transporter’?”

“Oh, it may be similar to a ring platform, but I'm thinkin'," and he paused to point to his head.  "I'm thinkin' this is something much bigger.  For instance," He spread his arms.  "It's bigger."

"Ring platform?" Teyla repeated, sounding perplexed.

McKay waved a hand to rid himself of any further questions.  "We believe that the Ancients mined the planets surrounding this world.   To do that they’d have to transport people and supplies – and transport the mined product back to this base, correct?”  When he received nods in return, McKay went on, “People were transported in the alcoves.  Supplies…” and he pointed to the circle on the floor.

Sheppard didn’t look convinced. “Doesn’t look like their sort of design.  Looks a little… sloppy.”

“Doesn’t matter,” McKay countered.  “It didn’t need to be neat. They didn’t care if things got rearranged a bit in transit.  You send raw supplies and it doesn’t really matter if one bit of it ends up on the opposite side of its original position.”

“Could be trouble if your transporting munitions,” Sheppard told him.  “Or tools of some sort.”

“Yes, but they weren’t transporting pick axes and flash bangs, were they?”  McKay muttered.  “When I said raw supplies, I mean the basics.  And the transporter wouldn’t tear apart elements or molecules.  It might just put them back together a bit… wrong… on one side. Hardly matters when you’re sending rocks or a pile of potatoes.”

“Okay, McKay,” Sheppard responded.  “If you say so.”

McKay harrumphed and continued looking about, as Teyla and Sheppard kept watch within.  The scientist kept scanning, when he suddenly frowned and turned toward them.  With a grimace, he declared, “Something feels off.”

“Off?” Teyla questioned.  “But the power has turned on?”

Ronon, just outside the door tried, “Maybe he means it smells ‘off’, like something died in there.”  He took an experimental whiff at the doorway.  “Smells clean,” he offered.

With a put-upon sigh, McKay explained, “But that’s just it.  Something isn’t right.  It feels… hinky.”

“Hinky,” Teyla repeated, glancing first to Ronon, who shrugged as he turned his back on the room to keep watch.

“It’s a scientific term,” Sheppard supplied helpfully. “It means ‘weird, odd, bizarre’.”

“Unsettling,” McKay added with vehemence.  “Disturbing, disconcerting, troubling…”

“And you believe that something is ‘hinky’ because…” Teyla trailed off, watching the doctor scuttle about like a beetle.

“I don’t know,” McKay answered truthfully.  “It’s almost too clean.”

Sheppard ran a finger along a counter, gaining a gasp from McKay.

“What did I say about touching things!” he cried.

Sheppard raised his digit, showing a clean fingertip.  “Tidy,” he declared.

Teyla nodded.  “The Ancients are known to be …” she struggled a moment to find the right word.  “…clean,” she finally decided.

“Cleanliness, after all, is next to godliness,” Sheppard added.  “So it’s probably got a lot to do with getting yourself ascended.”

“But that’s just it,” McKay went on.  “It’s clean.  It’s very clean.”  He snapped his fingers.  “Lemons!  Or something like them.  Smell it?”

Sheppard and Teyla both stood quietly for a moment, sniffing the air.  Ronon, at the doorway, turned again and took a deeper sniff.  “Jenfruit,” he declared, nodded, and turned away once more.

Teyla nodded.  “The room does smell slightly of the fruit,” she conceded.  “The jenfruit tree grows on many worlds, usually near brooks.  The fruit is a pleasure to all who encounter it.”

“Tasty,” Ronon declared, as if everything edible didn’t already fall into this category.  “I wouldn’t mind sinking my teeth into a jen right now.”

Sheppard frowned, not smelling anything peculiar.

“Citrus?” Rodney pursued.

Teyla nodded again.  “Most people find the jenfruit very enjoyable.”

McKay scowled.  “Well, don’t count me among them.”

Teyla went on, “It is often used in cleaning.”  She offered a smile.  “It is a delightful food, prized by many and treasured for its pleasing flavor. The fragrance is refreshing.”

To that, McKay scowled.  “Why does everyone think lemons make things smell better?  They’re always scenting cleaning products with it.  It’s the odor of death if you ask me.”

Sheppard chuckled.  “The scent isn’t going to hurt you.”

“Very little of the actual fruit essence would have been used in cleaning,” Teyla said helpfully.

“One drop could kill me!” McKay reminded.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sheppard ordered, watching as McKay moved about the room as if he was terrified to touch anything.  “Let’s get this place checked out and then you can go detox.”

“You’re a funny man,” McKay grumbled.  “You don’t get it.  Someone cleaned up in here, recently.  Why would it still stink of this stuff it they hadn’t?”

Teyla cocked her head in thought, gazing at the once-pristine floor where they had tramped some of the forest’s dirt.  “Perhaps a fruit had been left behind by the Ancestors in this room and…”

“After 10,000 years, I’d think the juicy jen would have rotted to dust,” McKay snapped.

“An air freshener?” John tried.   “You know, they got those deals in restrooms that shoot out scent every few minutes.  Maybe they got one here that’s motion sensitive?  We activated it when we came in.  Yeah, I’m betting they had someone working here that had some severe body odor issues.  They installed something to freshen up the place while he was here.”  When McKay scowled at him, John returned with.  “It’s a possibility.”

“An Ancient with BO?” McKay snarked.

“They’re only human… or super-human, I guess,” Sheppard continued.

“You want to know what I think?” McKay returned.

“Got a feeling you’ll tell us,” Sheppard responded.

“I think someone has been in here before us.”

Teyla spoke up, “The Tuweepans that found the doorway may have entered.  Perhaps they managed to open the door?”

“But why clean up?”  McKay asked.  “I rather doubt that a couple of squirrel hunters would have figured out how to open the door, but let’s suppose they did.  Then, why not let us know about the room?  Why not give us a glowing report about everything they found instead of just ‘a door’?”

“Perhaps they thought it wrong to enter the room of the Ancestors,” Teyla said helpfully.  “They thought we might not be happy with what they had done.”

“And they wouldn’t get any pancakes if they annoyed us,” Ronon added from outside.

McKay groaned.  “Why clean up?”

Sheppard scuffed at the floor, marked with his footprints.  “Made a mess?” he surmised.  “Wanted it to look like they didn’t take a peek before they gave it up to us.”

“Possibly they were looking for artifacts,” Ronon stated, snapping a branch off a nearby tree.  “Might have raided the place first.  Took anything that wasn’t nailed down.  Then figured they’d sell off the empty room to us.  Had to cover their trail.”

“Makes sense,” Sheppard agreed.

“No, it doesn’t,” McKay snapped.  “It’s weird.” He looked from one of his friends to another. “You got to admit… it’s weird.”

“Hinky,” Teyla added.

“Figure we should get out of here?” Sheppard asked.

McKay grimaced.  “Let me get a recording of the symbols in here.  Maybe we can just video tape everything without causing any trouble.” And he tugged his video camera from his cache of equipment in his pack.

Sheppard drew his weapon close as he examined the room with new interest.  The citrus scent had been undetectable to him – and now that the three of them were in the room – stinking it up after their hike – he would probably never be able to detect it.  He turned slowly, watching as his friend filmed the room, running the camera over the control panel, then around the walls, trying to encompass everything.

It was clean.  Did that mean anything?  No – they’d found rooms that were ‘tidy’ before.  Why should that mean anything?  But, as much as he hated to admit it, John was getting a little creeped out.

“Maybe we should get moving,” Sheppard said.

“I’m almost done,” McKay shot back.

The colonel moved about stealthily, trying to discover evidence that could lead them to why the place might have the faint (now gone) clean scent of a lemon-like fruit.  He’d blame it all on McKay’s imagination, except that Teyla and Ronon had sensed it, too.

He glanced to Teyla, finding her glancing about the room as if she expected something to jump out at them.  Ronon seemed content, swishing his stick about at the weeds and keeping his gaze on the surrounding area.

It was probably nothing.

No need to worry.

Damn it, McKay!  You take a perfectly normal room and get us all worked up over nothing.

But McKay was right, the longer he stayed here, the more hinky the place felt.

“Let’s go,” Sheppard declared.

“Hang on,” McKay responded.  “I’m almost done.  I have to be sure to record an alcove.”

“Time to go,” John declared, forcefully.

“It’s important!” McKay returned, “We need to understand how this all works.  I need shots of the underside of the control panel after this, and then I’ll be done.”

Teyla let out a breath of relief and headed toward the door.

“We’ll download the data and check it out in Atlantis.  Come back when we know more,” McKay said with a smile as he examined the opening to the alcove.  He chuckled softly, trying to sound casual, but unable to keep the tension from his voice. “It was probably nothing,” he said, directing the camera into the little space.  “Just me being… you know.  I’m sure everything is fine.”

But as he stepped fully into the alcove, the trap was sprung.

CHAPTER 3: SNAP

Fine-honed survival instincts kicked in as Teyla tucked and rolled through the exit, just as the doorway sliced down with a snap. She felt the force of it trying to clip at her heels as it clapped shut.  She came up in a crouch, her hair still in motion – even as the Satedan lunged forward in a fruitless attempt to stop the door’s descent.

With a shout, he jabbed down his stick to wedge it open, but the door was unstoppable and he managed only to deflect the staff on the hard surface.

Teyla stared at the shut door in disbelief.  “Colonel,” she whispered.  “Doctor McKay!”  But she was faced with the cold hard surface.  She changed her gaze to look at Ronon.

The Satedan scowled, looking as annoyed as hell as he battered the doorway with the staff.

--------------------

Within the room, transparent doors on the alcoves slammed down with equal efficiency.  McKay, his senses less adapted to such dangers, slammed himself backward to avoid being sliced in two, effectively trapping himself within.

Sheppard, in the main room, had time to do nothing beside snap his weapon up and search for a target.

For a moment, no one spoke.  Sheppard looked about frantically, searching out some sign of attack.  McKay gasped, clutching at his pack and the video recorder, his eyes wide.  Nothing moved.  Within the room, the only sound was whisk of Sheppard’s uniform as he searched for a target and the muffled panting of the scientist under glass.

“Hey!” McKay squeaked.  He cleared his throat, and tried again, his voice stronger, “What?  What…  Hey!”  He cringed in the back of the alcove, hands gripping at the pack as if it was a shield.  “Colonel!”

On the alert, Sheppard shifted about.  “Hang on, Rodney.”

“Yeah, easy for you to say.  You’re not the one stuck in a…”  The scientist paused and let out a quiet little, “oh no…”

“Quiet down, McKay,” Sheppard growled.

Rodney released the video camera into his pack and reached forward, splaying out the hand so that it hovered centimeters from the transparent door.  Open, he thought.  Come on, open!

Slowly, he let his hand land on the substance.  He swallowed and glanced at the close walls on all sides.  “Colonel,” he cried, as his hand spidered along the hard surface.

But Sheppard snapped on his radio.  “Teyla!  Ronon!”

“We are here, Colonel,” Teyla answered immediately.  “We are fine,” she added, to forestall the question she knew was coming.  “Are you and Doctor McKay all right?”

“Fine,” Sheppard shot back.

Clicking on his own mic, Rodney added, “Fine is a relative term!  We’re trapped in here.  I’m trapped in a painfully small alcove.  Seriously, get us out!”  To himself, after he shut down the connection, he uttered a quiet, “Wide open fields… wide open fields.”

Within the room, Sheppard heard a ‘tick’, against the outer door and commented, “Hitting it won’t help, Ronon.”

Over the com, Dex growled, “It won’t open!”

“We have to get out,” McKay whined as he pressed his hand harder against the door, as if it might find a secret way through if he just pushed hard enough.  “We have to get out.  Now!”

Sheppard glanced to McKay.  “Bet it just takes a little mental nudge."

"I've tried that!  You think I didn't try that?"

"Maybe there's some bug in the system.  Might need someone to try opening it from here.”

“Well, do it then!” McKay ordered.  “Quit messing around.”

Sheppard considered offering a snappy comeback, but instead, did as McKay had so graciously requested, mentally sending a nudge to the doors.

Nothing happened.

“Get on with it!” McKay hollered.  “Come on.  Chop-chop!  I don’t have all day here.”

“Didn’t work,” Sheppard admitted, and seeing Rodney’s crestfallen look, he stated, “Why don’t you try again?”

“Right.  Yes.” McKay responded.  He paused, and dropped the pack to his feet.  Then, folding his arms over his chest, he closed his eyes and furrowed his brow. After a moment, he peeped open one eye, seeing nothing had changed.  “I’m a dead man,” he piped.  “We’re doomed.”

“Colonel?” Teyla’s voice came over the radio again, sounding worried.

“We’re fine,” Sheppard repeated.  “But we haven’t been able to get anything open.”

Teyla continued,  “I am looking for the control panel, Dr. McKay.  It is no longer open.” There was a pause.  “Can you tell me how to find it?”

Within the glassed-off alcove, McKay grimaced.  “Just press on the same area where it was before.  It’s not as if the panel moved.  A little pressure and it should open.”

“I am trying to find the location,” Teyla’s voice returned.

“You don’t remember where it is?” McKay asked incredulously.  “I just had it open. Didn’t you pay any attention?”

Teyla responded, her voice remarkably level, “I am not certain of its exact location.”

“It’s right next to the symbol for ‘patience’, for Christ’s sake!”

“I am unfamiliar…”

“Chest high!”  Rodney snipped, and reached out, demonstrating for no purpose.  “My chest… not yours.  And not Ronon’s either.  My God, if you were aiming for HIS chest-high, they’d be putting those things on the rooftops.”

Ronon snorted over the radio, and then pointed out,  “It’s not there.  She’s trying in many places.”  

“Of course it’s there!” Rodney snapped.  “I had just activated it.”

Sheppard came across the room to stand near McKay as Teyla responded, “It will not open.”

“Might be cued to the gene,” John stated.

“Great,” McKay muttered, rubbing a hand over his face.  He pressed his eyes tightly shut, trying to blot out his tight surroundings, remembering one of the reasons he’d become an astrophysicist – the vastness of the universe.  “Just great… Okay.”  His head shot up and he gave Sheppard a sharp look.  “Why aren’t you looking for a panel on the inside of the door?  Go!  There must be one on the inside as well!”

“Gotcha,” Sheppard replied, and bounded across the room to the door.  Over the radio, he stated, “I’m going to try it from in here.”

McKay, looking unusually forlorn, pressed his forehead against the barrier, only to pull it back when he realized it might be coming up in an instant.  Sheppard cocked his head at the walls surrounding the doorway.  

“What the hell are you waiting for?” McKay demanded to know.  “To the right.  Try to the right.”

With a confident motion, Sheppard slapped the wall at chest height.  A panel fell back.  He grinned over his shoulder at McKay.

“Colonel!” Teyla’s voice came over the radio.  “Stop what you are doing! You have activated…”  There was a searing sound of weapons fire, followed by, “Ronon!  No!” 

--------------------

The Satedan dove, coming up firing.  Above him, the sphere ducked and bobbed, shifting about in the air unnaturally.   He fired again, missing as the thing zagged when he thought it would zig.

In his ear, he heard Sheppard, “Ronon!  Teyla!  Report!”

Followed by McKay, “What happened?  What’s going on?  You’re getting us out, right?”

But neither he nor Teyla had the time to respond.  The metallic device hovered menacingly above.

“It is a Wraith probe!” Teyla shouted to Dex.

“I know,” Ronon growled through his teeth. 

“We cannot let it escape.”

Ronon threw the Athosian a glance as if she was the one suddenly stating things far too obvious.

The sphere chose that moment to speed away.  It snapped upward, then careened down the slope, into the valley.  Ronon, without hesitation, galumphed after it, like a mastiff after a tennis ball.  Teyla, in contrast, paused.  She lifted a hand to her ear and breathlessly stated, “Colonel, a Wraith Probe was released from somewhere near the entrance to the facility.”

“What?” McKay’s voice responded.  “Wraith?  Are you sure?”

“I am certain,” Teyla replied, watching the forest where Ronon had disappeared.  She could hear him crashing through the undergrowth – the discharge of his weapon. “It was identical to the one we saw on M7G-677, the planet with the children.”

“Disable it!” Sheppard’s voice snapped.

“Ronon is pursuing it,” Teyla told him.  She glanced uneasily to the still shut door.  “Do you want me to follow, or should I attempt to release you from the room?”

“Open the door!” she heard McKay shout an answer.

But, even as Rodney spoke, Sheppard replied with, “Don’t let that probe reach the gate!  Go after him, Teyla.  One of you has to stop it!”

“Yes, Colonel,” she responded, nodding resolutely and taking off into the undergrowth after Ronon.

--------------------

Sheppard stepped closer to the main door, his hand still against his ear as if it would help him hear what his people were up against, but the transmission had ended.  In frustration, he slammed a fist against the sealed opening, accomplishing nothing beyond bruising his hand.

“They’re gone?  But…but!” McKay sputtered.  “But… we’re trapped here!  Oh, we’re in serious trouble.”  He made a move as if to pace, but there was no room, and all he managed to do was to turn around in a tight circle.  A big open ocean -- he tried to picture the sea that surrounded Atlantis. Big wide open ocean.  Aw hell, that wouldn’t help!   “A trap,” he cried.  “This was specifically set to capture us!  Do you realize that?”

“We don’t know that McKay.”

“Door slamming down that won’t open. A Wraith probe appearing out of nowhere and taking off like a bat out of hell?  What was that all about?  Do you think the probe just came by to take a gander at the local hairstyles?  Because if it were using Ronon and Teyla as models…”  And McKay stopped abruptly, rubbing one hand over his face.  “Let’s just thank God they didn’t get a gander at you.”

“McKay,” Sheppard called, trying to get the man on track.

“I’ll bet you anything the probe is headed right to the Gate, and that it has some sort of internal GDO that’ll let it dial whatever address leads it to the closest Wraith armada and then it’ll transmit the fact that we are trapped here,” McKay spoke faster and faster.  “ The Wraith will be stomping down here any minute now, looking all bad ass and Marilyn Manson in their too-cool-for-school leather coats and…”

“Hang on a minute, McKay.”

“Get me out!  Now!” McKay demanded, slamming an open palm on the clear door.  “Really… seriously… now!  Teyla should have stayed! You should have made her stay to get us out!”

“We have to head off the probe.”  Sheppard glanced to McKay, but returned his attention to the door, itching to follow the others.  “If the probe doesn’t reach the gate, there’s a good chance the Wraith won’t know we’re here.”

“This is SO wrong,” McKay muttered.  He turned about again, examining the walls of his little room, cringing, and having to turn away before they edged too close to him.  “A trap,” he murmured.

“Yeah,” Sheppard stated.  “Could be.”

“They set this up to draw us in!”

“Could be it was set to capture the Ancients 10,000 years ago and only caught us by accident.”

“Oh no,” McKay conjectured.  “This was just for us.”  McKay’s voice was high with anxiety.  “Those Tuweep hunters -- want to bet they’re some of those Wraith Groupies?  They want us.  You… me…”  He waved a hand about.  “Me especially, but any of us from Atlantis.  They want to find out more about Earth and this is their way of capturing us.”

Sheppard blew out a breath, but didn’t deny the comment.

“Those hunters from Tuweep dangled the right carrot in front of us and…” McKay stopped, berating himself silently for going for the bait.   “The Wraith are just waiting for that probe.  We’re going to get our lives sucked right out of us, along with the knowledge of how to find Earth.”

“Okay, I get it,” Sheppard cut him off before he went on too long.

But McKay had already taken off on another tangent.  “How did they get the Ancient technology to do this?  It makes no sense!”  And McKay paused, his brow furrowing as if a thought hurt him.   His voice was almost calm as he asked, “The panel…what do you see?”

Sheppard, still annoyed that he was unable to follow Ronon and Teyla, frowned as he peered within.  “No crystals,” he commented, surprised by this fact.  Shouldn’t there always be crystals?  He reached to get a better idea of what he was looking at.   “Looks strange.”

“Strange?” McKay voiced.

“You know, ‘hinky’.”

McKay watched as Sheppard extended a finger to poke the interior of the panel.  Quick as a shot, Rodney snapped, “Stop!”  His voice reflected back at him, sounding even louder.

Sheppard froze, and turned toward McKay, lifting an eyebrow in question.

“Does it look like…? does it remind you of…?”

Sheppard turned his head toward the strange substance within the control panel, it looked almost like sinews, like some sort of fleshy material.  Sheppard drew back and groaned out, “Wraith technology!”

CHAPTER 4: CRACKLE

Teyla tore through the woods, following the path blazed by Ronon. From time to time she could hear him firing at the probe, but she couldn’t catch sight of him.  She strove onward, downward, into the valley.  Branches cut across her arms, crackling as she pushed past them.

They had to stop it – they had to down the probe before it made its way to the Ring of the Ancients, for certainly that’s where it was heading.  They were coursing through the valley, following the curve of the hill, angling their way back toward the Gate.

She couldn’t understand it.  Why would the Wraith leave a probe on this empty planet?  Had the creatures set up the device specifically to be released when the room was opened?

But it hadn’t activated when the room was opened – only after it had closed down – like a trap.

She furrowed her brow, leaping in an almost gazelle-like fashion over a downed log.   She landed, crunching on the forest floor and ran again.

It came to her.  The doorway, cleared from debris -- the room, recently cleaned.  Someone had been in that room before them, someone who’d tracked in dirt just as they had.  Someone had altered the room and then hid that fact.

It was a trap.  They’d been tricked into coming here, enticed by the possibility of getting their hands on Ancient technology.

She slid to a stop, the layer of leaves under her feet making her almost take a tumble.  She grasped hold of the nearest tree and spun about.  Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay – they were still in that room.  The door would not open.

Her hand rose to activate her radio as she panted for breath, to contact Sheppard and let him know.  But they would already have figured that out, wouldn’t they?  So she should contact Ronon and let him know that the probe needed to be deactivated before it reached the Gate – but he was already doing that.

So she pushed off the tree and continued running – to catch up to Ronon – to help him with the task.  Her time was better spent in motion, because if they failed to stop the probe, then their friends were as good as dead.

--------------------

“Colonel,” Rodney anxiously called, his voice muffled slightly by the door.  He closed his eyes for a second as he tried to imagine a huge empty space.

Sheppard stepped away from the panel, gripping his weapon as he glared at the technology that didn’t seem to ‘fit’ in the Ancient ruin.

“Get me out of here!” McKay shouted, his voice a little more frantic than it should have been.  He swallowed, realizing his timbre.  He made a concerted effort to lower his voice, and smooth out his expression without much luck.  “Get me out so that I can get a look at it.”

Sheppard made his way over to the glassed-off alcove and stared at McKay a moment.  The scientist was obviously distressed, his eyes a little too wide – his hands unable to rest.

Aw crap, John thought.  Damn damn damn!  How could he have forgotten?  He kept his voice calm as he stated,  “Don’t freak out, McKay.”

A haughty look came over the astrophysicist.  “I am not freaking out,” he said tightly.  “The sooner you get me out of here, the sooner you’ll see me not freak out.”

“You’ll be okay,” Sheppard assured.  “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Afraid?  Well,” McKay ticked off on his fingers.  “There’s the Wraith for one.  There’s that wretched jenfruit for another.”

Sheppard nodded, displaying a calm exterior.  “McKay, you can get through this.”

“Of course I can,” Rodney shot back, crossing his arms over his chest.  “This is nothing.  Anyone can handle standing in a tiny little box, right?  This is… nothing.  No reason to get upset.  I’m not upset.”  And he winced, knowing his voice was rising.

“You’ll make it.”

“Oh, don’t patronize me,” McKay grumbled. “I know exactly how ridiculous I seem.  Go ahead, get your laughing out of the way now.”

“I’m not laughing.”

McKay glanced at Sheppard as if to verify this was true.  He was met only with a firm and friendly look.   “I…” McKay started, finding he had to lick his lips before continuing, “I’d open it up myself.  It’s just that there are no controls in this alcove, so you’re the one who’s going to have to do it.”

“You sure there’s nothing in there?”

“Yes, I am sure.”

“Because, maybe there’s a secret panel or something you missed.”

“No,” McKay bit off.  “Unlike some, I know exactly what I am looking for and there is NOTHING here!”

“Wouldn’t hurt to look again,” Sheppard suggested, keeping his voice even.

Rolling his eyes expansively McKay grumbled, “Oh yes, sure.  They’re going to rig this place up to trap someone in this incredibly small box, but… oh… hey!  Why don’t we leave the key right in plain sight?  No!  There is nothing here.  I have looked!”

Sheppard watched the expressions that flitted over McKay’s face.  The man was obviously worked up – the red face was a giveaway.  What the hell was he doing poking around in that alcove if he was so frightened to be in tight places?

“So you’d better get me out of here RIGHT NOW!” McKay’s voice had a crackle to it, even through the transparent door.  “You get me out of here,” he gestured with both hands towards his feet.  “And I’ll get us both out of there!” and he pointed toward the main entrance.

“Sounds like a deal.”

“So get moving!”

“I’ll get you out in a sec,” Sheppard promised, knowing that there would be far more than a second or two involved.  “Let me check on the others.”

“Right, yes, let’s check on the others… sure,” McKay grumbled, turning about again.  Miserable, he pressed one hand to his forehead as Sheppard called over the radio to the others.

Teyla’s voice came over the com, huffing as she ran, “Colonel.  This is a trap!”  

McKay threw his hands into the air.  “Great!  Great!  Now she tells us.”

“We figured that,” Sheppard told her.

“Have you been able… to free yourselves… from the room?”

“Not as yet.”

“NO!” McKay interrupted. “No, we are still in here!  Still inside this trap and…”

“Have you caught up to the probe yet,” Sheppard called in, signaling to McKay to quiet down.  The doctor sneered, but clamped his mouth shut.

“Not yet,” Teyla responded, panting.  They could hear the crackle of foliage as she tore through the trees.  “I have not yet caught up to … Ronon.  But… he is not far ahead of me.”

“Will you get it before it reaches the Gate?”

There was a pause, and the two men waited – McKay pressed both hands against the glass as he stared at the colonel.

“We will do … everything we can,” Teyla finally responded.

“You understand what will happen if you don’t?”

“I understand, Colonel.”

“Good.  Sheppard out,” John stated, ending the transmission and looking again to McKay.

The man looked absolutely wretched, his hands scrunched up on the door, his forehead pressed to it, his breath fogging. “Are you going to get me out now?” he asked, harshly.

“Yup,” Sheppard replied, giving the doorway a good once over.  “Got to be a way to release it somewhere.”

“It’s just that…” McKay started.  “I have a little bit of claustrophobia is all.  You know… small spaces…” He lifted one hand from the door to let it land on the wall to his left and put the other to the wall on his right.  His elbows remained bent.  “So, if you could… get on with it… you know…”  He swallowed thickly.  “Because,” he continued, “Sooner you do… the sooner we can get out… and help the others with deactivating that probe.”

“Yeah,” Sheppard responded.  His gaze tracked along the surface surrounding the door, and then he smacked the wall in the same general area where he’d found the last panel.  He frowned as nothing opened to him.   He tried the other side to no avail.

McKay watched, trying not to look upset.

Frowning, Sheppard slapped the wall again, without luck.

McKay groaned miserably, “Of course they weren’t going to make this easy.”

John shrugged.  “I’m still looking.  Give me a chance, okay?”

“They must have overridden the release mechanisms.”  McKay threw back his head.  “I am so screwed!” he whined.

“Hang on.  I’m still working,” Sheppard returned, searching for any sign of a panel, finding nothing.  He moved over a few feet to the next door and tried the same maneuvers, without result.

McKay watched him, his head pressed to the glass.  “Wish you were in here.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t it be a bit tight?”

“No, Mr. Smartypants,” McKay shot back.  “I mean, if you were in here and I was out there, I’d have the doors open in an instant and we’d be out of here.”

Sheppard grimaced and stepped back, unable to find anything that might trigger the release.  “Well, you just have to figure out how to do it from in there.  That massive brain of yours should be up to the challenge.”

A snap of the fingers and McKay pointed to the main panel in the room.  “It must be controlled from the main panel.”  He pointed.  “Up there.”

“Roger,” Sheppard responded and turned, taking the quick steps to get behind the panel.

“The buttons in a circle, do you see them?” McKay said, illustrating the general idea of a circle by drawing one with his finger.

“Yup,” Sheppard said, finding the buttons that McKay had indicated earlier.  “They’re illuminated now,” he stated.

McKay looked a little worried.  “They are?”

“So are all the planet buttons.”

“Okay, okay,” McKay nodded processing this new information.

“Now, I just press the button the corresponds to the room you are in?”

McKay responded, “No!  No, do NOT do that!”  He let out an anxious breath.

Sheppard held out his hands, showing that they were nowhere near the panel.

“You don’t want to accidentally transport me to one of those planets, do you?”

“Well…” Sheppard let the word draw out as if he had some other ideas.  “Then again, it might be better than being trapped in there.”

“Oh, and ending up on an unknown planet is better?”  Rodney paused and nodded and added, “Okay, so maybe that’s not a bad idea.  I mean, if worse comes to worst, but we try something else first, okay?  I mean, I don’t want to end up on a planet with a toxic atmosphere or Waterworld or something.”  He laughed, trying to sound humorous.  “I mean, no big deal if I’m stuck in here for a little bit, right?”

“I’m working on it, McKay,” Sheppard insisted.

“And anyway, you shouldn’t just go pushing buttons.  The Wraith have altered the technology in the door mechanism, so we can only begin to imagine what they’ve done to the rest of the systems.”  McKay rubbed a hand at his brow.  “Who knows what it’d do to me.  Okay, Colonel, let’s just take that idea off the table.”

“So, what do I do?” John asked.

McKay stood still a moment, opening his eyes slowly to squint at the walls around him.  “It isn’t getting smaller in here, is it?” he asked quietly.  “Because I wouldn’t put it beyond them to put ‘masher’ doors in here.”

Standing behind the control panel, Sheppard watched his friend.  “It isn’t any smaller, McKay,” he uttered evenly.  “You know that,” he spoke the words concisely, clearly, almost kindly -- hoping that Rodney listened.

“I know…I know… irrational… I know…” McKay replied, his voice low and almost swallowed up behind the wall.  “I just… you know.”

“I know,” Sheppard responded.  “Now, tell me what I need to do.”

McKay nodded, took a deep breath, and got to business.

--------------------

Ronon ran, keeping an eye on the probe that bobbled just ahead of him.  It seemed to have no difficulties with the trees, easily finding its way, following the creek.  Ronon rushed after it, splashing through the water as he crossed over the steam and then ran up the steep bank and down again.

The device was maddening.  As soon as he felt he could get a clear shot of it, it turned again sharply. He hated probes.  He hated the Wraith, but he could understand them.  He knew how they thought, how they moved, how they plotted.  Probes were a different story altogether.  They didn’t move the way natural things should – they float in the air!  And they were damn fast – never tiring.

As Ronon forced himself onward.  Water soaked his boots.  His damp pant-legs clung to his legs, making movement less fluid. But the discomforts only made him more determined to catch the damn thing.  He would not let it reach its destination.

He raised his arm, firing as he ran.  The silver sphere shot upward, dove toward the left and spun, evading him. Little lights illuminated along its surface, meaning nothing to the Satedan.

Snarling, he burst forward, not about to let it best him.  It went up, and up, then suddenly down and to the right to pivot and come back up again -- he examined the complicated dance.  He watched it, his concentration more on the floating sphere than on the ground before him.  His legs ran on, almost without a thought from him.  His body leaned as he turned. He leapt when he had to.  He ducked.  He adjusted, keeping his gaze upward, studying the thing that he hated.

Machines – damn machines.  He scowled, watching it dive and spin to the left, swoop down and up.

He was aware of pursuit. He could hear the footfalls, the splashing, the fluttering of foliage behind him.  Teyla was apparently catching up on him. He knew this only in the vaguest sense – as something he should be aware of, but a fact that wasn’t necessary to him at the moment.  Only the probe mattered – the probe and its destruction.

It bobbed upward, dipped toward the left and spun.  He raised his weapon as he burst suddenly through the trees, and the abandoned town came into view.  In the distance, at the end of the street, half-hidden in the totem poles, the Gate awaited.  Ronon knew this without even looking.  He raised his weapon again as it went up, and up, then suddenly down.  He aimed just to the right and fired.

He grinned toothily as the thing played right into him.  It exploded in a crackle of burned circuitry.  The particles came down, littering the area in specks of metal.  Coming to a stop, he let out a whoop, just as Teyla came out of the tree line, tearing toward him.

“Got it!” he announced triumphantly.  “Got it!”

He expected Teyla to smile and congratulate him, but instead, her troubled gaze was on the Gate that stood at the end of the street.  He turned, and swore in frustration as the complete dialing sequence took hold and the wormhole engaged with a whoosh.

John crouched below the panel, gazing up in distrust and growing alarm.  “Ah,” he started.  “You’re not going to like this.”

“What?  What?” McKay called.

Sheppard glanced around the panel, sighting McKay within his little glass booth.  The scientist wrung his hands, and changed his balance from one foot to another.  With an unhappy expression, John commented, “All I’m seeing is Wraith bits.”

“Wraith bits?” McKay returned.  “Is that your official terminology for a certain type of Wraith Technology, because if it is, ‘bits’…” He held out his hands as if to encompass the word, “…is not the sort of precision I was hoping for.  I need a little more than that if we’re ever going to get out of here!”

“I saw an exhibit in Germany,” Sheppard stated once he had an opening.

“Germany?  Yeah, okay.”

“This guy thought it was crazy cool to take cadavers and plasticize them.  He’d take these bodies – already dead.”

“One would hope…”

“Well yeah, naturally.”

“Naturally?  Naturally dead?”

“What?  I don’t know. Look, he’d take these bodies and peel off their skin, and cut them down to display just their tendons or their blood vessels or organs, and then he’d set them up like gutless mannequins.  They’d be playing chess, basketball, or riding a horse, or …”

“Gunther von Hagens,” McKay spouted off, cutting him off.  “He developed a method of replacing the liquids from the bodies with a polymer, creating a cadaver that he could pose in garish scenarios.  Had a traveling show called ‘Body Worlds’.  He called it ‘art’.  I called it ‘morbid’ – quite literally in fact.”

“Why would you know that?” Sheppard asked incredulously.

“I have been known to read!” McKay snapped back. “Plus there’s the Discovery Channel.  And why would you even want to go to the exhibit?”

“Killing time.  Plus, I wanted to see what they had in the gift shop.  You know, desiccated body key-chains, posters, T-shirts, bobble-heads…”

McKay paused, looking intrigued.  “Did they?  You know…” he waggled a hand, “…have those sorts of things?”

Sheppard smiled.  “I bought a magnet – half a head.  It was pretty cool, but someone swiped it before I shipped out.”

 McKay shook his head abruptly.  “What does this have to do with anything?” he asked, irritated.

Sheppard’s attention returned to the underside of the panel. “This stuff kinda looks like his stuff.”

“What? It looks like flesh?”

“Well,” Sheppard drawled.  “It looks like that same stuff that’s all over their Hive ships.”

“Wraith,” McKay muttered.  He gazed through the door at the footprints that ran all over the floor now.  “They must have been in here and would have left footprints or something. That’s why they had to clean up.”  He grimaced, damning himself for not figuring that out sooner.

“Somehow, I can’t imagine them on their hands and knees with a bucket and a scrub brush,” Sheppard decided.

The idea made McKay smile a little.  “Wearing a little apron,” he continued the image.  “With their hair all tied up in a handkerchief like a babushka.”

“I kinda figure they got those Tuweepers to do it for them,” Sheppard said with a frown, not able to understand how people could ever be in league with those horrid creatures.

Teyla’s voice suddenly popped over the radio with, “Colonel!”

“Teyla?”  Sheppard responded as he stood.  “What happened? Is Dex with you?”

“They’re okay, right?” McKay asked, somewhat sheepishly.  “They’re coming back now, right?”

“Good goin’, Dex!” Sheppard responded happily.  “For that you get to go to the front of the line next time we’re in the mess hall.”

“Good for him,” McKay groused.  “Now they need to head back HERE and get us OUT!”

“We were unable to stop the probe before the Gate engaged,” Teyla went on, her voice betraying a reluctance to impart this information.

Closing his eyes, Sheppard tipped back his head.  “This just keeps getting better and better,” he mumbled, before keying the radio again.  “An outgoing wormhole?”

“Correct, Colonel,” Teyla replied.

Ronon’s voice came on next.  “I destroyed the probe before the connection was complete.”

“So… there was no time for the probe to download any data…” McKay surmised.

“Yeah, that’s kinda good,” Sheppard decided.

“Yeah,” McKay stated.  “Except, what would you do if your favorite probe called home – and left the line open without saying anything?”

“Are you still trapped?” Teyla asked.

“Yes!” McKay shouted.  “Yes!  I am still stuck in this tiny little alcove and …”

“We’re working on it,” Sheppard returned, he lifted his gaze toward McKay.  “We’ll deal with it.”

Inside the glassed off section, the scientist folded his arms over his chest and gave him the skunk eye.

“Do we shut down the connection?” Ronon asked.

“No!” Sheppard quickly returned.

“I agree,” Teyla’s voice came on the com.  “The opening of the wormhole will have alerted the Wraith.  They will be waiting on the other side.  If we end the connection, they will attempt to dial in.  Leaving it open will afford you some time to escape from your situation.”

“Great,” Sheppard sighed.  “Just great.” He glanced to McKay.  “We got 38 minutes.”

--------------------

Teyla and Ronon watched the gate, eyeing the pool of blue.  “Do we wait here?”  Ronon asked over the radio.  “We could try to do something with the time we have.”

“You should get back here immediately,” McKay started to say.  “And when I say ‘immediately’, I mean…”

Sheppard cut him off.  “Remain there,” he ordered.  “We have no idea if that probe programmed some sort of timing system when it dialed.  If the gate closes early, I need to know.”

Nodding, Teyla responded.  “I agree, Colonel.”

“The second the connection is broken, try to dial out before they dial in.”

“We will do so,” Teyla assured.

“And if things start to happen,” Sheppard continued, sounding tired.  “Let us know.  Get the hell out of sight.  Do what you can to buy us some time.  Don’t get hurt.”

“We will, Colonel,” Teyla replied.  “Let us know if there is anything further we can do to help your situation.”

There was a pause, and Teyla and Ronon exchanged a look, knowing that a small argument must have been exchanged on the other side of the connection.

“We can handle it,” Sheppard finally said.

Staunchly, Teyla declared, “I know that Doctor McKay will find a way.”

There was a pause again – undoubtedly more conversation going on.

“You’re giving him a swelled head,” Sheppard declared.  “Not that it isn’t big enough already.  We got it. Brain Boy will figure it out.  From you, I want no heroics, okay? If things start going south, you two better start heading…away.  You got it?”

“I understand,” Teyla told him.

“Ronon?”

The Satedan, scowled.  “We will stop them,” he concurred.

“Ronon!”

“We’ll do as you ask,” Dex agreed.

“Great.  We’ll let you know how it goes on our end,” John finally responded.  “Keep us appraised of how you’re doing.  Sheppard out.”

Ensuring that his mic had been turned off, Ronon commented, “If the connection is broken and the Wraith dial in before we can dial out, there won’t be much time to get away.”  Ronon scowled at the buildings that surrounded them.   At least they had some cover that they could use, but the wooden structures couldn’t hold up to any assault.

Teyla nodded.  “We wouldn’t be able to get far,” she agreed.

Ronon hefted his weapon.  “We’re not letting the Wraith get further than this point,” he declared, pointing with the gun’s muzzle to the ground at his feet.  “We’re not letting them reach the others.”

Teyla nodded.  There had been no doubt in her mind.

--------------------

“Okay,” Sheppard said, getting down on his haunches again to stare up at the underside of the panel.  “What do we do?”

“How can we do anything?” McKay popped off, his voice quieted by the interposing surface.  “This location has been utterly compromised!  How the hell am I going to figure out what you’re supposed to do, especially since I can’t see it myself?  The Wraith have screwed up all the workings of this site and they know we’re here.  It’s only a matter of minutes before they come charging through that doorway, ready turn us into the latest creation by Von Hagens!”

“McKay…”

“Because there’s really NOTHING we can do, is there?  Ronon and Teyla weren’t able to stop the probe in time and YOU can’t do anything about the panel,” McKay shouted, his hands moving frantically.  “So I’m just going to be stuck here until Bruce the Wraith shows up with his pals to find me here waiting for them – Genius Under Glass.  It’s the new craze all over Wraithland.”

“McKay,” Sheppard repeated, his voice like steel.  “You’re going to calm down right now,” he ordered.  “And tell me what needs to be done.  Neither of us is going to get out of here until you do that!”

“Right!  Right!” McKay declared, seeming to calm at this order. “Get us out.  Good thought.”

Sheppard gestured to the panel.  “Any ideas?”

McKay crossed one arm over his chest.  He propped an elbow against the arm, and rested a chin on his fist.  “Can you see any Ancient Technology under the Wraith bits?”

Sheppard turned his head as he gazed about.  “Yeah,” he responded.  “I guess.  It looks like there are crystals beneath this stuff.  Yeah, there are!  The Wraith just added their tech right on top of what was already here.”

“Good, good,” McKay replied.  “That means we can still figure this out.”  He furrowed his brow in concentration.  “To the far left, on the edge nearest you, you should see a crystal that is roughly the shape of British Columbia, without the islands.”  He flapped one hand in the general direction he’d indicated.

“British Columbia?” Sheppard grumbled. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

Frustrated, McKay muttered,  “Why can’t you handle even the SIMPLEST geographic lesson?  I swear, you show most of the people in the States a map of the world and they couldn’t even pick out their own country.”

“It looks like California, doesn’t it?”

“No!  It does not look like California… it’s… okay, it kinda looks like California, but only in the most basic, insignificant way, and only if you moved a major portion…”

“Found it,” Sheppard interrupted.  “What now?”

“Can you remove it?  Without interfering with the overlaying tech?”

Sheppard cocked his head, looking at the device with one eye.  “I can try.  There are strands of the stuff over it.  I may be able to maneuver it out without upsetting anything.”

“No upsetting,” McKay murmured, holding his arm close to his body.  “Wouldn’t want to do that.”

Sheppard pinched the California-shaped crystal between his forefinger and thumb, and tilted it slowly, trying to get it around the overlaying strands as he eased it from its housing.  The problem was, he couldn’t quite manage it – and the consequence of brushing against the Wraith tech was instantaneous.

POP!

The electrical snap sounded from all around him. He shot his head up in time to see McKay jerk and jump, letting out a pain-filled shout.  Sheppard yanked his hand away from the crystal, letting it fall back in place.

The trapped scientist crashed violently against one of the walls, looking surprised and… shocked.

“Stop!” Rodney shouted, his voice breaking.  “Stop!”  He took a second to steady himself and then hopped back, pressing himself against the wall.

Sheppard shot to his feet and crossed the distance that separated them, calling, “McKay!”

Rodney’s eyes were wild. He stood on tiptoe, pressing his arms against the walls as if he might be able to lift himself from the floor.  He glanced about, frantic.  “Stop!  Stop!” he continued to moan.

“I’ve stopped!” Sheppard shouted back.  “I’m not even near that thing anymore.  What happened?”

McKay didn’t answer, his eyes still searched, as if he hoped to find some sort of exit from his small prison.

“McKay?”

“Shock,” Rodney cried.  “Hell of a shock.”  His gaze kept moving. “Came from the floor and the walls—mostly the floors, but the walls, too.  Made my fillings ring.  Don’t do that again.  Just, don’t!”

“I won’t,” John assured.

“Seriously!” McKay shouted.  “Don’t do that again!  The tech must be interfering with the crystals.  Don’t touch any of them!”

“I won’t, Rodney!” John reiterated.  “I won’t.”

“Could have KILLED me.  Oh, God, that was one hell of a shock.  One hell of a…”  He kept pressing himself into the corner as if he might disappear into it.  “Almost got hit by lightning once.  Don’t want to have that happen.  I don’t … I don’t think I could handle that.  Don’t do it again, okay?  Okay?”

“Rodney!” Sheppard shouted, pressing his hands against the glass.  “Listen to me!  Listen to me, would ya?  I’m not going to touch that crystal again!”

McKay’s vivid gaze finally met his, and Rodney crumbled a little.  “Get me out of here,” he whispered.

“I’m tryin’, buddy,” Sheppard replied, his voice softening. “I’m tryin’.”

--------------------

“We should shut it down,” Ronon declared, leaning over Teyla’s shoulder as she stood over the DHD.

The blue puddle yawned beyond them as Teyla shook her head.  “We shall not,” she responded as she stood with one hand over the first two symbols of the necessary address.

Ronon replied, “If we’re the ones that shut it down, we’ll be ready for it.  We’ll catch them by surprise.”

Teyla turned her head to look at him.  “And if they are faster?”

“They’re waiting for the 38 minutes to pass,” Ronon tried to reason.

“The Wraith are fast,” Teyla concluded.  “And they will not be surprised.”

“We got a good chance,” Ronon went on.  “You’re fast.”  And he smiled at her, hoping she took it as a compliment.

She returned her gaze to the Gate.  “I do not trust myself to be faster in dialing than the Wraith.  Certainly, there is a technician on the other end of this connection.  Certainly, he is standing ready, as I am, for the connection to be severed.”

“We can do it now,” Ronon argued.  “Got a 50/50 chance either way.”

“Colonel Sheppard and Dr. McKay have not freed themselves from the outpost.  We shall not gamble with their lives.”  She lifted her head to fix Ronon with a narrowed gaze.  “We will give them as much time as possible.  When the connection disengages…” She glanced to her watch, checking the time set on the bezel. “… we shall dial Atlantis and see who will be faster.”

Ronon frowned, and paced away from the DHD, not liking the stillness of their situation.  He much preferred the pursuit of the probe to the agonizing wait at the Gate.  Would it disengage before the threshold time period?  Would it wait the full 38 minutes?  The second the wormhole shut, it would be a matter of who could dial faster.

“I don’t like just standing around,” the former runner admitted.

“I agree,” Teyla responded.  “You do not like to just stand around.”

Giving a scowl, he gazed up at the poles that stood at the entrance to the Gate.  Why had the Wraith left them in place? Certainly it would have been easy to remove the structures.  They seemed fairly substantial and would interfere with any flying craft that came through here.

He reached out for one of the poles and shook it.  Above, bones rattled.  There was something strange – just above eye level.  He frowned as he tried to see it.

Teyla glanced at him, but said nothing as she turned back to the Gate.

He grappled with the pole, hugging onto it and pulling himself up an inch or two – and then a foot.  Teyla watched him, curious, but holding her tongue.  He climbed, relatively quickly, reaching the point he sought.  He sucked his teeth a moment and hiked himself up another foot or so. The pole waggled under his weight.

“Ronon,” Teyla spoke softly, watching the pole bow as pressed his feet against the pole, arching like a feline on one side.   The pole bent further.  The Wraith who’d decorated the top of the structure danced like a puppet.

Ronon pulled down at the bowed pole, releasing his feet to hold on with just his hands and letting his feet dangle.  “Watch out.”  As he shifted his weight, further stressing the wood.

POP

The wood shattered, sending slivers of wood flying.  The top of the pole fell loose, and Ronon dropped a foot or so to the ground.  He jumped back as the upper section hit the ground.  The bottom of the pole sprung back up, wobbling before it stilled.

Enraged, Teyla shouted, “Why have you done this?  They will be able to enter with darts if you remove the poles.  These structures were the only things barring their way."

Ronon stepped to the corpse of the Wraith.  He kicked it over, looking annoyed.  “Wouldn’t have even slowed them down,” Ronon declared.  He pointed to where the broken pole now ended.  “The pole was fractured, designed to break right there.”  He nodded to the others.  “They are all purposefully damaged.”  Scowling, Ronon declared.  “The darts will slice right through.”

At this news, Teyla sighed.  They shouldn’t be expecting an attack on the ground, she realized.  It would come by air. Unconsciously, she raised her gaze as she stared at the Gate.

CHAPTER 6: CRISPY BACON

Sheppard had moved back toward the console when Teyla contacted them, giving them news that darts could come through the Gate. “Great,” he’d muttered, as he paced about.  “Stay with the original plan.  Our best bet is if you can dial out before they can get in.  If you fail that, get out of there.”

“We will attempt to bring down the darts,” Teyla declared.

“You will hightail it out of the way.”

Teyla added, “The fewer darts there are to contend with, the better chance you and Dr. McKay will stand.  We know how they are coming, and they believe we do not have this knowledge.  We can use this against them.”

McKay, who had crouched down over his pack, looked up.  “Makes sense to me!” he declared.

With a tired groan, Sheppard came back with, “Don’t do anything stupid.”  He paused, realizing he hadn’t heard from someone.  “Ronon?”

It was Teyla who responded with, “He is busy.  He has an idea.”

“What’s he doing?” John probed.

“I am uncertain.  I will have him report in when he is available.”

“Great.  Have him do that.  Sheppard out.”  The transmission over, Sheppard paced back toward McKay who was pawing through is pack, searching.  “How ‘bout you?  You got an idea?” John asked hopefully.

“Yes,” McKay responded, and sighed as he pulled forth what he was looking for – a sandwich.

“We don’t have time. McKay, come on.  We need a plan.”

“I get shaky when I’m hungry!” McKay shot back, sitting his rump down as clutched the wrapped parcel.  “Been getting rather woozy.  I’m hypoglycemic and I don’t think well on an empty stomach.”

Sheppard tsked as he walked about.

“And you got me all worked up at the briefing,” McKay went on.

“About what?”

“Waffles,” McKay returned.  “With real maple syrup -- from Quebec, of course.”  And his eyes took on a far away quality as he recalled the treat.  “Syrup, daintily filling the waffle boxes, with a big blob of butter in the center, all melty and warm.”  And he sighed, looking at his sandwich with a little less enthusiasm.  “I haven’t had waffles in so long.  They’re the best.  Especially with a big cup of coffee and crispy-crisp bacon on the side.”

Sheppard smiled, “Yeah, and some sausage, toast with jam, and a big cup of orange juice.”  He paused, remembering.  “Oh yeah, no orange juice.”

At that thought, before McKay could pull the sandwich clear of the wrapper, he dropped it into his pack as if it had bit him.

“What?”  Sheppard asked.

“You think that… citrus stuff is still around?  If the Wraiths or their groupies cleaned up this whole place with that ooky jenfruit crap, it must be over everything.  I’ve been … touching… the walls.”  He rooted through pockets of his pack until he found his packet of wet-wipes.  He pulled one loose and proceeded to wipe down his hands, and then pulled another to quickly pat down his face.   He used one more for good measure.  He glared at Sheppard as he worked.  “I can’t be too careful,” he declared.  “Jen could kill me even if I just touched one!  Bet if I even looked it, my throat would swell up instantly.”

“Hurry it up, Rodney.  I can’t do anything until you give me a clue.”

McKay had made his way to his neck, wiping furiously, turning his head to get in at a good angle.  “I could die, just like…”

“… That?”  Sheppard completed.

But McKay had paused.  “That…” he finally stated,  “That, looks like a panel.” His demeanor completely changed.  He dropped the packet of wipes after the forgotten sandwich and pulled out a new tool and reached toward a section of the wall inside his cubicle.

Oh, yes.  John smiled, seeing their release at hand. The colonel realized he never would have seen the panel, right at floor level in the alcove.  It had blended seamlessly with the walls, but McKay had somehow differentiated it from the rest of the panels and popped it off in an instant.  “That’s a surprise,” Sheppard drawled.

“Well,” McKay responded, trying to sound philosophical.  “The panel isn’t where it’s supposed to be.”

“Wait a minute.  You said that there wasn’t one in there,” John taunted.  “You’d said that there was ‘nothing’ in that alcove.”

“When I said ‘nothing’,” McKay told him, “I meant that they had put nothing where I expected it to be.”

“So, you were wrong.”

“No, not wrong.  Just momentarily mistaken, and hello…” He grinned up at Sheppard, opening a hand to point out the exposed panel.  “I’m not the only one who missed it.  From the looks of it, the Wraith missed it, too.”

“Well, get with it,” Sheppard responded, relieved as hell that he wasn’t the one left responsible for pulling off the trick.  He didn’t relish the idea of going back to the control panel and the Wraith tech.  The fact that touching the stuff put an electric shock through McKay didn’t sit very well with him either.  “Get us out of here.”

“Hmmm, well, yes, I will,” McKay replied, poking about in the lit crystals – so much prettier than the creepy looking stuff under the panel.

As he walked around the room, Sheppard listened to McKay’s self-congratulatory sounds as he puttered about.  Was Rodney actually humming as he worked?  “We’re running out of time, McKay,” John commented, glancing to his watch.

“That isn’t helping!” McKay shot back.

“I don’t want to be just sitting around waiting while the Wraith are amassing on the other end of that wormhole.”

“I’m going as fast as I can!”

“Doesn’t sound like it.”

“Humph!”  And the humming stopped as the scientist seemed to be paying more attention to getting the work done than to telling himself how smart he was.  After a minute, he had his data-tablet out, and then wired into the wall.

“You done yet?”

“Working on it!  It’s a miracle the computer survived that electric shock.  It could have been fried like bacon.  I’m just sayin’.”

A nervous glance at this watch, and Sheppard ordered, “Work faster.  You have five minutes.”

“Five minutes?”  McKay looked up from his data-tablet.  “No way has 32 minutes passed already!  I’m thinking 15, tops!”

“You have five minutes before I shoot through that door, reach in and strangle you!”

“Great… great… threaten me with violence. It’s the military way.”

“Get it done or we’re both going to die.”  Sheppard kept his pacing, watching as McKay connected another line.

“There… this should do it.  Hang on.”  He poking away at the screen.  “Yes, that should do it.  I am accessing the command codes for the room and -- got it!”  He smiled grandly, pressing a finger to a key as he confidently pointed to his door with his other hand and said, “Ta dah!”

With a whoosh… the door opened.  But not the one they’d expected.  Sheppard turned, looking over his shoulder to the exit – daylight streamed in.  The glass doors on the compartments remained firmly down.

McKay stared through his door to the other.  His mouth dropped open to match.  For an instant, he said nothing, until finally, he cleared his throat.  “Okay, well, that’s good.  We needed to open that.”  He smiled toward Sheppard.  “See, I got that one open.”

“Great,” Sheppard answered, making his way to gaze out into the open.  “Can you shut it again?”

“Shut it? But I just opened it!”  McKay shot back, running a hand against his forehead.  “I’m having trouble working here and I managed that.  It’s a pretty impressive accomplishment.”

“Can you shut it and keep it locked down?”

“Yes, but…” McKay sputtered.  “What’s the point of that?  We need it open so that we can get out, so that we can go home!”

“If the Wraith come, I’d like a little extra barrier between us.  Can you lock them out?”

McKay considered this for a moment, and nodded.  He yawned as he typed.  “It must be on its own circuit, separate from the control panel.”  He nodded.  “Give me a minute.”

“We don’t have many,” Sheppard told him.

“Yes, let’s remind me of that!”  A few more taps and the door came back down.  “Locked,” McKay declared triumphantly, blinking at him.  “From the inside this time.”

“You can get it back up again when we need it, right?” Sheppard asked caustically.

“Of course.”

“Okay, then get your door open and we’ll be good to go.”

“Swell,” McKay replied and yawned.  Resting his head against the narrow wall, he went back to work at the computer.

Sheppard continued making a slow circle in the room, watching the scientist’s movements as he worked.  McKay seemed to be moving slower, almost lethargically.  “McKay?” he prompted.  “This is a bad time to fall asleep.”

“Working – working here,” Rodney responded.  “I think I need to drink more water because my eyesight is getting a bit blurry.”

“We don’t have time for you to root around in your pack, McKay.”

“I got one hell of a headache coming on.  My eyes feel all sticky.  Those are signs of dehydration, aren’t they?”  Suddenly his gaze shifted, he seemed to be focusing out into nowhere.  “Oh God!” he croaked.

“Rodney?”

“I think… I think…Oh…” He fumbled to find his scanner.  He poked at the controls for a moment, and his face crumbled in absolute misery.  “I knew it!  I knew it!”

“What?!”  John strode back toward the little cell.

“Everyone makes fun of the claustrophobic man!  Everyone laugh at the guy who’s afraid to get stuck in small spaces!  Everyone thinks I’m crazy because I don’t like being in little tiny impossibly small…”

Frustrated, John leaned closer to the glassed in box.  “Rodney, now is not the time.  Listen, just get that door open and we’ll…”

McKay gaped, looking rather like a fish on a riverbank, as he looked about anxiously.  “The oxygen... I... I'm running out.”

--------------------

“Teyla!” Ronon barked as he rolled a big spool from the doorway of one of the buildings.

Teyla glanced to the sign above the door – mining supplies.  “What is that?” she asked as she stood with her hands still over the DHD.

“Cable,” Ronon responded.  He leaned to unhook the end of the thick wire from the spool to leave it dangle at the doorway to the office.  He kicked the reel and it unspooled as it rolled into the street.  Even before it left the walkway and thumped into the street, he’d ducked back through the doorway to emerge with another spool.  “Help me with this,” he demanded.

“I cannot leave the DHD,” Teyla told him, watching curiously as he let loose the cable from the second spool and kicked it into the street as well.  It rolled further than the first, leaving a line of cable behind.  “What are you doing?”

“They trap us.  We trap them,” Ronon shouted as he ducked into the office again, and retrieving a third spool in the same way.  “Come here,” he called as the cable unwrapped under the force of his boot.

“I cannot.”

“You got a 50/50 chance of dialing faster.”

“Yes,” Teyla agreed.

“Odds might be less though,” Ronon went on, jogging into the street to send the spools further along their course.  “Probably less.”

Not wanting to admit it, Teyla told him, “It is worth the try.”

“When I don’t like the odds, I change ‘em,” Dex stated as he moved quickly at his task.  “You gonna help me?”

Teyla stood a moment longer at her post, watching Ronon as he brought the spools to the far side of the street, and she left the DHD to join him.

--------------------

“I’m going to suffocate!” Rodney cried.

“Calm down, Rodney!” Sheppard shouted.

“Calm down, he says,” Rodney whimpered.  “I’m going to die from oxygen deprivation and he says calm down.  Oh, I’m going to die! It’s not as if I don’t have enough means of getting killed here.”  His voice rose as he went on.  “First there was that death march.  Next, they try to kill me by anaphylactic shock from that horrible, wretched jenfruit.  But that’s not enough.  No!  You almost fried me up like bacon with that good old-fashioned electric shock.  Can’t have too many different types of shock, can we?  Oh, but then there’s the Wraith.  Oh joy, the chance of getting my life forced sucked right out of me.” He demonstrated, clamping a hand to his own chest.  “The fact that they’re coming is enough to give any man a heart attack! But no!  It won’t be any of those because they’re going to kill me by suffocating me!  It’s SO NOT FAIR!”

Sheppard slammed an open palm against the plate.  “RODNEY! Focus!  You doing nothing but using up air!  Find a way to open the door!”

“Find a way?  You find it for a change!”

“Rodney!  Fix it!  Now!  Or we’re both going to get killed here.”

“Working on it,” McKay snapped back, and dropped the scanner as he went back to the data-tablet.

Sheppard activated his radio to follow up with the others.  “Teyla!  What’s going on there?”

He waited, watching McKay work inside the little booth.  The scientist was leaned against one wall, hunched, tapping away on the screen.

“Teyla!  Ronon!”

Another pause, and finally, Ronon’s brusque voice came over the radio.  “We’re busy.”

Closing his eyes in misery, Sheppard went on, “Tell me, someone is at the DHD.”

“We are dealing with it,” Ronon returned.

“Where’s Teyla?”

“Her hands are full at the moment.  We’ll get back to you.  Gotta go.”

“Ronon!”

And the transmission ended.

“Great!  I have a mutiny!”  He scrutinized McKay, realizing that he really wasn’t looking good.  Leave it to Rodney to get stuck inside an airless box when they needed to get moving.  Leave it to him to get himself killed in this horrible pointless way.

They had maybe five minutes before the wormhole collapsed – and he had no idea what Ronon and Teyla were up to now.  They had five minutes before Wraith darts came screaming at them, and he doubted that main door would hold them back.

And even if it did, McKay had only so much time before …

Pulling his sidearm, Sheppard took a step back.  McKay, seeing the movement, lifted his head.  His eyes became alert as he saw the gun.  “Colonel?” he called urgently.  “What?  What’re you doing?”

“Gonna get you out.”

McKay’s eyes grew wider as he watched Sheppard’s stance.  “You’re going to shoot the glass?  You do realize I am behind it, don’t you?  Think of all the flying glass and – the bullet!  I mean, I scar very easily!  A paper-cut puts me in agony.  This is a bad idea!  A very bad idea!  Test it out somewhere else before you start using me as your guinea pig!”

With a disgusted look, Sheppard aimed the gun at the empty alcove door next to McKay’s, and fired.  Instantly, Sheppard jumped, stumbled and swore as the ricochet came back at him and the transparent door glowed a brilliant blue.

“Colonel!” McKay shouted, shuffling to his knees and then his feet, letting the computer drop.  He pressed his face against the glass to get a better view.  “Sheppard?”

“I’m okay!” Sheppard shot back, irritated as hell as he got to his feet.

“You sure?”

“Yes!  Yes, I’m sure, dammit!”

McKay watched him, wide-eyed.  “And the door.  Any sign that the door was…”

Leaning in, the colonel examined his damage – or rather lack of such.  He groaned, and then muttered, “Not a scratch.”  There wasn’t even a discoloration where the bullet struck the surface. “It glowed  pretty bright for a second when I shot it.”

He looked to McKay, expecting a dejected expression.  Instead, McKay looked intrigued.

“The doors are obviously made of an extremely resilient material,” Rodney commented as he ran one hand along the panel.  “We need to find out more about it.”  He squinted at the stuff. “Smooth, transparent, relatively thin, and stands up to abuse.”

“Yeah, good for us,” Sheppard returned.

But McKay was interested, and when that happened, there was little one could do to stop him as he investigated.   He took the scanner and ran it along the length of the door.  He smiled a little cockeyed.  “Bet it would stand up to just about anything,” he said.  “You could probably open up the P90 at this thing and it’d take it.  The Wraith stunners would have no effect.  Bet you could even fire a… bazooka at it and nothing would happen.”

“Bazooka?”

“Well,” McKay paused, lifting his gaze from the scanner to look at Sheppard.  “You know what I mean.”   He went back to poking at the scanner.  He paused again and snapped his fingers.  “I bet this is the material that they’ve were manufacturing on this planet -- mining materials from the various worlds, and taking them here to finish the job.  Be a good thing to figure out how they did it.  It’d be a useful material to have,” he stated.

Sheppard stood, his gun held at his side as he watched McKay who was lost in his own world.  “Okay then, how do I get through it?”

Lifting and dropping one hand, McKay told him, “I have no idea.  I don’t think you can.”  And after taking one more reading, he added, “It’s nigh on impregnable.  Well, I’m sure there's a way to break through it, but it’d certainly kill me, so I don’t see a reason to…” and with those words, his expression dropped, along with the hand that held the scanner.  He looked that absolute picture of disconsolation.

This sucked, Sheppard realized, this sucked more than any sucky suck he'd encountered.  To sit around doing nothing – to be unable to help.  This stillness would kill him as surely as the lack of oxygen would eventually asphyxiate McKay in that little closet.

At that thought, Sheppard turned sharply.  “I’m going to try another crystal,” he decided, heading back to the panel.

“No!”

“Listen, McKay, I’m just going to touch one.”

“But…”

“We gotta try it,” Sheppard insisted.  "I’m just going to… wiggle it.”

“Did you forget the SHOCK, because I sure as hell didn’t.”

“We have to try it.  Using that control panel is our best bet at getting you out.”

“But it’s been rigged!  And you don’t know what it was like…” he whimpered.

Sheppard held out his hands in a placating gesture.  “I’ll be careful, real slow.  I’ll let go if there’s any trouble.”  They needed more options, and standing around wasn’t fixing anything.

“Not a good idea!  Remember?  Crispy Bacon!”

“Canadian bacon?”

“Oh, thank you for that!” McKay snapped.

But Sheppard was already at the panel, gazing up under it at the gooey, fleshy, ruined underside.  “I see one in here that I can get out, I think.  Not a whole lot of stuff around it.  It’s kinda shaped like Nevada -- if Las Vegas was in the north.”

“That’s…”  McKay shook his head miserably.  “That one is probably part of the lighting array.  It’s a redundant part and won’t affect anything if you take it out.”

“Perfect for a test.”

“Really, this is NOT a good idea!”  McKay pressed his hands against the door, as if he could shove his way through.  “Are you even listening to me?  Not good!”

“I’m just going to ease it forward a bit.  I’m going to let go as soon as…”

“This is my LIFE you’re messing around with!” McKay shouted.

Frustrated, Sheppard scowled.  “I know!  And if we don’t figure something out, you’re going to suffocate, and then what am I going to do?”  He waited, his hand above the crystal, waiting for McKay.

With a pained look, Rodney gave a little nod, and John put his hand on the crystal.  Slowly, he pulled it back, sure that he could free it of the network of crap.  It was almost clear to begin with.  I can do this, I can do this, he chanted to himself -- He was wrong.

ZAP!

And another high-pitched shout, and McKay was trying to cram himself into the back corner of the cubicle again.  “I told you!” he cried.  “I told you!”

John felt the blood leave his face.  Shit!

“You did that on purpose!” McKay accused.

“I’m trying to get you out!”

“Well, that didn’t work, did it?” McKay’s voice quivered with panic, as he shook from the latest assault.  “Let’s put that in the Listen to McKay when he says, 'don’t do it again’ file and LEAVE IT ALONE!”

John paced away, unable to look at McKay, feeling guilty as hell for only increasing his misery.  He had to get his friend out of there.  Only one person could do that job, and he was currently trapped in a little glassed-in box.  Sheppard swallowed, and steeled himself, taking a breath before he turned to face the man.

McKay crumbled back into one corner of the box and picked up his computer.  “If you quit shocking me, I’ll keep working on this, thank you very much!”  McKay regarded Sheppard for a moment before he continued his work. Then, the only sounds in the room was the muffled tapping on the data-tablet and Rodney’s panting breaths.

Damn it, Rodney, I’m sorry, Sheppard thought, roughly running a hand through his hair as he paced, wishing there was anything he could do.

continue to the second half

Hope you enjoy the story. comments and suggestions