Into the Whirlwind - Ch 2
Title: Into the Whirlwind - Chapter 2 / 11
Words: 4,388 this chapter (~63k total)
Previous parts / Summary: Master Post, Chapter One
=== Chapter 2 -- Boldly Going and So Forth ===
--- 2.1 ---
(June 28, 2009)
Team Sheppard exited the gate onto P9X-771 and John surveyed the area. There was a wide stone surface around them and a few broken columns, but the area had been overgrown, and the canopy from the surrounding trees stretched out high above them blocking most of the sky. Seeing no signs of trouble, he experimentally hopped a couple times before grinning broadly and making a longer jump that sent him gracefully arcing half-dozen yards towards the trees.
"Hey, this is pretty cool."
Rodney rolled his eyes and started walking purposefully ahead. "Yes, yes, a half gravity. We were all at the briefing. Now, supposedly the control center for this facility is a few miles south of here, so -" He stopped and sighed as Ronon did a somersault past him to land next to John. "Are you two done?"
"Come on, Rodney," John said, jumping straight up and easily clearing Ronon's head. "It's not every day you visit somewhere where the gravity's so different than what we're used to."
"I agree," Teyla said. "I have been to many worlds, but on most your weight varies only a little. This is quite refreshing."
Rodney's face lit up at that, and he bounced just a little. "You know, I think you're right. This will probably do wonders for my back. Still, less play, more science, if you don't mind?"
John chuckled and led the way, politely ignoring the way Rodney would occasionally skip a little. It was a remarkably pleasant day, with sunlight streaming down from the openings in the canopy to light the forest floor. There was a pleasant breeze running through the trees, birds were chirping, and there were no signs of either people or large animals, carnivorous or otherwise. When about fifteen minutes later they came to the edge of a small clearing, John looked up and stopped so suddenly that Rodney ran into him.
"What? What's wrong? Is there a ship or - oh."
Dominating the sky was a waxing crescent that appeared far larger than the Earth's moon, crossed with thousands of bands that were shaded yellows and oranges and browns. Here and there swirls of storms were visible, and on the night side flashes of lightning could be seen in a few spots. Several much smaller globes could be seen in the sky, including one that was silhouetted against the great disc, and just barely visible was a ring of material that circled its equator.
"This isn't a planet," John murmured, entranced by the sight. "It's a moon. You'd think the database would mention that."
For a moment, the others were silent as they looked at the sight, then suddenly Rodney fumbled out his scanner and started to poke at it frantically. "Oh no. Do you have any idea how much radiation that thing is probably putting out?"
"Rodney, calm down. If it was dangerous, the MALP would have picked it up." John shook his head and headed back into the woods, hoping there would be a better view at the Ancient outpost. After a moment the others began to follow him. Walking along, he said over his shoulder, "You don't need to be so paranoid. Honestly, is it really so hard to believe that we could have a normal mission for once?"
That was the point when the drop bear dropped out of a tree onto John's head, as drop bears are wont to do.
"Oh, god, get it off, get it off!" John yelled, stumbling around and flailing his hands as he tried to pull the extremely fluffy koala-like animal off. It chittered angrily and its stubby legs clamped down to keep it firmly in place no matter how hard he pushed or pulled, and he could barely even get a grip through its thick, silky fur. He heard the distinctive whine of Ronon's blaster, and shouted, "No, don't shoot it!"
"Hold still, John," Teyla said, and he stopped. She grabbed his arms to hold him steady as she eyed the furry beast. It hissed at her and showed no sign of letting go until she suddenly hit it square between the eyes. It squealed and John yelped as it squeezed even tighter before suddenly jumping to the forest floor and scampering up a tree. John fumbled for his sidearm, but he couldn't even undo the clasp before the creature had disappeared into the thick branches. The forest was still and silent again, broken only by the occasional bird call and the increasingly loud laughter of the other two men.
"Let me check you for injuries," Teyla said, guiding John to sit on a log while he glared at Ronon and Rodney, who showed no sign of quieting down.
"Thanks for the help, guys," he growled. Ronon tried to look contrite and failed miserably; Rodney didn't even bother to try.
"I believe you are only bruised," Teyla said, running her fingers along his scalp. She suddenly stopped, and stepped back. It took a moment for John to realize, but she was definitely fighting a smile of her own. John quickly felt his hair, and after a moment felt a warm, wet, and sticky spot at the top of his head
"What the fuck?" he spat. "That thing did not just - damn it!"
"Only you, Sheppard," Rodney gasped out, his face beet-red as he leaned on Ronon for support. "Only you could get, get molested by an alien koala bear."
"I believe it must have mistaken your hair for a mate," Teyla said, having regained her composure. John narrowed his eyes, but her faced remained serene. He stood up and started to stomp off towards the gate
"We're going home!"
"What? Oh, come on, Colonel," Rodney called out. "What about the Ancient facility? We may as well go on, it's not like you have any dignity left to lose."
"Fuck you, McKay!" John shouted back, flipping him off. He didn't even look back to check if the others were following him. "The only thing Ancient I'm interested in is my shower. Lorne can search for your mythical facility. Its not like the database is ever right about them anyways. It's probably an ice cream factory or something."
--- 2.2 ---
When the gate activation alarm sounded, Evan Lorne checked his watch and rolled his eyes. Only Team Sheppard was off-world, and they'd been gone barely more than half an hour. It didn't quite qualify as their shortest mission, but it was still unusually short. He figured that they'd been run off the planet by angry natives again or they'd actually found something useful, and either event meant he should to head for the gate room in case he was needed.
Stepping into the control room, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary at first glance, although the techs seemed to be a little too occupied with their work and Chuck was looking a little flushed. Evan stepped out onto the balcony and saw that three-quarters of the team was there. Rodney and Ronon were sitting on the stairs up, giggling at random intervals, while Teyla was speaking with Woolsey. Whatever was up didn't seem to have harmed anyone, which left Evan with a question.
"Where's the colonel?" he asked, turning around and walking over to lean on Chuck's console.
The Canadian flushed more, and said, "He's, uh. I think he said something about his quarters and a shower."
"I take it he's all right, then?" Evan frowned as Chuck's blush spread to his ears and neck, even worse than it had after That Trip. Somewhat concerned, he asked, "Are you all right?"
"Major!" Evan turned before he got an answer, and saw a flustered Woolsey waving at him. "Major, I'd like you to meet us in the conference room in perhaps thirty minutes? As soon as you can retrieve Colonel Sheppard, although that maybe be... difficult"
Evan could have sworn Chuck nearly broke out laughing at John's name, and even Woolsey had an uncharacteristic smile on his face.
Shaking his head, Evan made his way down to John's quarters. He slipped inside and heard the shower running inside the bathroom, so he walked over to the door and said, "John, you ok?" After getting no reply for a minute, he called out louder, "John?"
Evan had almost decided to go in and make sure John hadn't lost consciousness or something when he heard the shower turn off and footsteps approaching. A moment later John stood in the open doorway, his entire body red and radiating heat and his hair looking especially silky and shiny, like it had been washed repeatedly with the shampoos he saved for special occasions.
"What?" John growled
Evan raised an eyebrow at the obvious annoyance, but frowned when he spotted a paw-shaped bruise on John's forehead near his hairline. Reaching out to touch it, he asked with concern, "What happened to you, John?"
John batted his hand away with a clenched fist, which he waved in Evan's face. "That's Colonel Furry to you, Major," he gritted out, before turning around and heading for the shower again.
Evan looked after him, eyes wide. "Excuse me?"
"I am not in the mood," John shouted from inside the shower as water started to run once more and steam billowed from the entrance.
"Oh, Christ." Evan lowered the lid on the toilet and sat down. He listened to the sounds of vigorous scrubbing for a while, and when it was clear John would say nothing more, he said, "Seriously, what's going on?"
"Major, if you're still there in ten seconds, I'm having you shot for mutiny!"
Evan rolled his eyes. "You can't do that."
"Watch me!"
"I'm not paid nearly enough for this," Evan muttered as he started to strip off his clothes. He'd just have to get John out the hard way.
It took some effort, but eventually he managed to pry John out of the shower and shoved into some clothes before leading the grumbling man up to the conference room. Woolsey and the rest of John's team were already there. Also sitting at the table was Radek Zelenka, who was talking with Rodney about something technical that Evan couldn't quite understand. Everyone looked up when they entered and the room filled with silence as John stalked to one of the empty chairs with Evan following him. Everyone looked at them, and they both glared back, Evan mostly out of sympathy but also because he had a well-tuned sense of self-preservation.
Eventually, Woolsey politely cleared his throat. "Colonel, Major, I'm glad you could join us. We've already gone over the, ah, specifics of the aborted mission. Obviously, the planet's outpost still needs to be investigated, but I have the feeling that it might be appropriate for someone else to do so."
"Damn straight," John muttered under his breath.
Woolsey ignored him and looked at Evan. "Major, your team was scheduled for a mission this afternoon already, so I was thinking that you could go, along with Doctor Zelenka."
"I can do that, sir," Evan quickly replied. He had been planning to take a few new marines along for a literal milk run, but it wouldn't hurt for them to stretch their legs elsewhere.
"Meanwhile, Colonel, your team can take their mission," he continued. "It's just a routine checkup on the Ephebans, and I'm sure they would be delighted to see you again."
"What?" Rodney said, sitting up straight. "Mr. Woolsey, surely the rest of us, and by that I mean me, don't need to miss exploring the outpost just to talk with some goat herders?"
"We'd love to," John said firmly, his voice making it clear that even if he didn't like the smell of goats, he knew that Rodney liked it even less, and he'd clearly not forgiven Rodney for his earlier actions. For a minute the two of them stared across the table at each other, and every time Rodney would open his mouth John's eyes would narrow just a little more as he growled deep in his throat.
"Fine. It's not like they'll find anything useful," Rodney eventually said, slumping back into his seat. "Zelenka will still be searching aimlessly by the time I'm back in my lab doing real science."
When the team went to the moon that afternoon, they found an Ancient bunker mostly by accident when Evan literally stumbled across the entrance. Evan had gotten so distracted watching Radek constantly glance skyward and tug his helmet tighter that he'd misstepped and ended up rolling down the moss-covered entry ramp to thud against a large blast door at the bottom.
"Uh, sir, you ok?" asked Lieutenant Palmer, peering down at him from the top.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Evan pushed himself back up and brushed off a few damp leaves, hoping that he didn't look too stupid.
He turned around to face the door and after a series of clicks and thuds it started to slide open. Evan stepped cautiously inside, with marines fanning out on either side and Radek close behind, and the room beyond lit up. It was nothing more than an empty space with controls on one wall and another large door, most likely an airlock, but beyond it they found a hangar with three jumpers lined up along the side.
"My day's getting better already," Evan remarked. Spare jumpers were always useful, and if nothing else the bunker might make a better alpha site than the current one.
From further along, Palmer called out, "Sir, we've got a transporter and a stairwell over here."
Sure enough there was a transporter exactly like those in Atlantis. "Right. Waller, De Felice, you guys stay topside. The rest of us will head down."
They all squeezed into the transporter and Evan studied the screen for a moment. It looked like there were several levels buried a few hundred feet under the surface, and after a moment he picked a spot on the diagram that was near the center. They emerged into an atrium with several corridors leading off it.
"Split up, take a look around, and radio in if you find anything."
It only took a few minutes before Radek called him over to a door directly across the room. Beyond it Evan saw a hexagonal room with screens and consoles lining the walls. Zelenka had already sat down at the largest console, hooking his computer up to it and tapping at the controls.
"I believe this is the control room, Major."
"Cool." Evan leaned against the back of Zelenka's chair and looked over his shoulder. "Any idea what this place is for?"
"Some sort of remote command center, although I'm not sure for what," he explained. "My first guess is for some sort of deep-space telescope, given how far off the galactic plane we are, but it could be anything. The computer is even less cooperative that the database back home."
"I could give it a try."
"Couldn't hurt, I suppose," Radek said. Evan slid into the chair next to him and placed his hands on the controls. A moment later, he felt something probing at the corner of his mind and he felt something turn on.
/ unrecognized user / authenticating / imperator secundus atlanti recognized / access granted / system startup / running remote system check /
Compared to Atlantis, the interface seemed cold and lifeless, but it apparently had no problems with him. Evan shook his head and looked up at the main screen, which had activated and seemed to be running through a start up routine. A moment later a three-dimensional diagram of the planetary system appeared. Circling the planet were several moons, including the one they were on, plus a small ring system. One object in particular was highlighted and a window popped up, which showed a structure stretched across a potato-shaped moon like a metallic spider.
"What's that, some sort of moon base?" Radek didn't reply, too caught up in whatever he was reading. Evan grinned and sat back, waiting for him to find something worth mentioning.
Sure enough, a few minutes later Radek pushed his glasses up and peered at the screen. "Oh, now that is interesting."
Evan looked over. "What's up?"
Radek pressed a few buttons and the screen switched to a schematic of the station. "See there, in the center? Is some sort of storage and deployment system for a wire or tether, very large. I think much of the rest of insides are capacitors, transformers, and the like."
"A tether?" Evan said, frowning. "What kind of tether?"
"Some sort of nanotube, probably," Radek said with a shrug. "And I'd guess perhaps several thousand kilometers in length."
"Like a space elevator?" Evan couldn't quite think of what use that would be, given that the station was an such a small rock, and even then the Ancients had anti-gravity technology that made putting jumpers and ships in orbit child's' play. "Maybe they spool it into the planet's atmosphere to lift things out?"
"Hmm." Radek tapped controls and the screen zoomed in more, and he pointed at several labels. "Naquadah-laced, too, so it'd be an extraordinarily good superconductor."
"Oh. Oh, I get it," Evan breathed. Even though he 'only' had a masters in civil engineering, he'd taken more than enough electrical engineering and physics courses to start thinking of implications. "It's a generator, isn't it? You trawl a big conductive tether through the planet's magnetosphere, and you get a hell of a current."
"Trading momentum in exchange, precisely," Radek replied, grinning broadly and clearly glad that Evan understood. "This station has engines, too. I think it latches onto a moon, deploys the tether, and once it starts to fall from orbit it moves on to the next. Very elegant."
It was essentially the same principal as every electric generator on Earth, just a million times larger, but Evan was puzzled. "Why go to the trouble, though, when they have naquadah generators or ZPMs?"
"Well, it's renewable, for one. We've seen Ancient facilities that use geothermal power." Radek pushed his glasses up a bit, looking a bit bemused himself. "It's not in a terribly useful location, I must admit, but the Ancients weren't always practical."
That was certainly true. Evan wouldn't put it past them to build the thing just because they could. "Is it even functional?"
"Possibly. We'll need to study it in more detail, but from what I can see here it should be repairable." Radek shrugged, and a bit disgruntled, he added, "Assuming we can find the resources and time, of course. We're still behind on repairs."
Evan nodded sympathetically. "Well, if we can find out what it's for, maybe you can justify the -" He stopped as something scrolled across the screen, a phrase that the linguists had drilled into the heads of every off-world team. He pointed at it and asked, "Does that say what I think it says?"
"Potentia module," Radek said, his voice catching slightly. "And I believe that part there says something about production. Or possibly energy conversion."
Evan practically bounced as he looked at Radek, who was grinning like mad. "If you tell me this thing's some sort of giant battery charger, I might have to hug you."
"Please don't, major" Radek replied, holding up his hands as if to ward him off. "But yes, very good possibility."
As the implications began to sink in, Evan looked around to check that they were still alone, and in a carefully casual tone said, "You know..."
"Yes?"
"It might be best if we underplay just how operational this place is." Radek shot him a look, and he explained, "Just so we don't get hopes up back on Earth. We'd never hear the end of it if this doesn't really do what we think."
Radek seemed to get the point, and smiled slyly. "Yes, yes. Very much the case. We can compare notes before submitting reports." The scientist chuckled. "Although, you are assuming we live through McKay and Sheppard finding out we beat them to this."
"Come on, doc," Evan said with a laugh of his own. "What's Sheppard going to do, throw me off the control tower?"
--- 2.3 ---
"You!" Rodney shouted as he marched into John's room. "This is all your fault!" He stopped, realized John wasn't in the room, and stomped to the bathroom. Sure enough, John was there, naked, wet, and staring intently at his hair in the mirror. Rodney grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. "What were you thinking!"
"Jesus Christ, McKay!" John pushed him away and snatched a towel from a nearby rack. "What the hell is wrong with you? And what is this, 'interrupt John in the shower day?'"
"Please, it's nothing I haven't seen before." John growled, shoved him out of the door, and swiped it closed. Rodney crossed his arms and generously waited for a few seconds before opening it again. "You're an idiot. This is probably the biggest breakthrough we've made since we got here and because of you Zelenka found it."
John eyed him again as he stomped out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around his waist. "You've got about ten seconds to explain before I kick your ass, McKay."
"The mission? The one we were just on that you called off and then handed to Lorne and Zelenka? Well guess what - they found something important!" Rodney jabbed John in the chest with a finger to emphasize how very incredibly important this discovery was, and how very incredibly annoyed he was that he wasn't the one who found it.
"I got molested by a fucking space koala!" John shot back, batting Rodney's hand away. "Excuse me for feeling a bit violated!"
"Oh, please," Rodney scoffed. "You're just mad your hair got sticky. It doesn't mean you need to call off the astoundingly important science mission, or spend the rest of the day showering. Also, I dare you to try that violated line on any of the women."
John opened his mouth, looked thoughtful for a second, then nodded in a concession to Rodney's superior intellect. "Okay, violated might be a bit strong. I'd like to point out that you were perfectly happy to stop tramping around that forest moon as I was."
"Whatever." Rodney couldn't be blamed for that. It had been just a stupid forest with a stupid outpost somewhere on in it, as far as he'd known. It wasn't his fault the Ancients couldn't be bothered to actually put useful information in the planetary database. "Zelenka will be gloating for weeks. The only way this could have been worse if Lorne had had his stupid botanist along instead of him. Then I'd never hear the end of it."
Sheppard pulled on boxers - and seriously, what kind of self-respecting military officer had pink boxers? - along with a t-shirt. "McKay, are you planning on telling me what the hell you're talking about anytime soon?"
"What? Oh. Right. That installation's actually the control center for a ZPM charging facility." Rodney smirked at Sheppard's dumbstruck face. "More or less intact, although the diagnostics say there's a lot of broken equipment to fix. Still - ZPM charger!"
"A ZPM charge,." John repeated. He slowly sat down on his bed, steading himself with a hand so that he didn't fall over. "Do you know what this means?"
"It means I'm guaranteed to get a Nobel when this gets declassified." Rodney rubbed his hands in anticipation. "Even just looking at it should give us clues on how the ZPMs work. Of course, I might have to share with Zelenka, but that's a small price to pay."
"You're assuming you get a science prize and not a peace prize," Sheppard said. His heart didn't seem into the ridiculous statement, though, as if he was thinking of something other than the astoundingly great news.
Still, Rodney couldn't let it pass without remark. "What do you mean peace prize? That doesn't count as a real Nobel."
"Limitless energy and all that," John said. "Listen, you haven't said anything about this to anyway else yet, have you?"
"No, why? I mean, obviously I'll want to make sure that I get a fair share of the credit for figuring out how it works, but it's not like anyone else but Carter and Jeannie are smart enough to do it anyways."
"Rodney. You haven't thought this through. This could be the big breakthrough we've been needing. A guaranteed power supply would mean we wouldn't be dependent on Earth anymore."
"Oh." Understanding hit Rodney like a ton of bricks, complete with incredible pain. "And if we tell anyone, the SGC might try to pack the entire place up and haul it off to Earth."
"Exactly. If nothing else, they'll drop one of their own research teams there." Sheppard shrugged. "We'll probably just have to tell them it was interesting, but ultimately useless. At least for now."
"Well," Rodney said after a few quiet moments. "I guess that's the price you pay, isn't it?"
"Don't worry; we'll all know what you did for us." John smiled at him and clapped him on the shoulder. "And hey, if things go well, you could always share what you find and claim another source."
It irked Rodney, but he knew John was probably right. It wasn't like he cared what people on Earth thought... that much. Just a little. Okay, he cared, but he cared about other things more, and there were other routes he could get famous by. It wasn't like he hadn't done roughly four hundred and twenty-three other Nobel-worthy things recently, after all. Also, if the ZPM station was in bad shape, it wouldn't hurt Zelenka to take care of the repairs while Rodney stuck to the interesting theoretical work. That was what all his engineers were for, after all.
"I'm feeling bit peckish," he said. "You want to go grab some dinner, or is your hair still in hiding?"
John started to glare at him again, even as he pulled on his pants. Honestly, the man was far too overprotective of the stupid fluffy mass on his head.
=====
(Next Chapter)
Words: 4,388 this chapter (~63k total)
Previous parts / Summary: Master Post, Chapter One
=== Chapter 2 -- Boldly Going and So Forth ===
--- 2.1 ---
(June 28, 2009)
Team Sheppard exited the gate onto P9X-771 and John surveyed the area. There was a wide stone surface around them and a few broken columns, but the area had been overgrown, and the canopy from the surrounding trees stretched out high above them blocking most of the sky. Seeing no signs of trouble, he experimentally hopped a couple times before grinning broadly and making a longer jump that sent him gracefully arcing half-dozen yards towards the trees.
"Hey, this is pretty cool."
Rodney rolled his eyes and started walking purposefully ahead. "Yes, yes, a half gravity. We were all at the briefing. Now, supposedly the control center for this facility is a few miles south of here, so -" He stopped and sighed as Ronon did a somersault past him to land next to John. "Are you two done?"
"Come on, Rodney," John said, jumping straight up and easily clearing Ronon's head. "It's not every day you visit somewhere where the gravity's so different than what we're used to."
"I agree," Teyla said. "I have been to many worlds, but on most your weight varies only a little. This is quite refreshing."
Rodney's face lit up at that, and he bounced just a little. "You know, I think you're right. This will probably do wonders for my back. Still, less play, more science, if you don't mind?"
John chuckled and led the way, politely ignoring the way Rodney would occasionally skip a little. It was a remarkably pleasant day, with sunlight streaming down from the openings in the canopy to light the forest floor. There was a pleasant breeze running through the trees, birds were chirping, and there were no signs of either people or large animals, carnivorous or otherwise. When about fifteen minutes later they came to the edge of a small clearing, John looked up and stopped so suddenly that Rodney ran into him.
"What? What's wrong? Is there a ship or - oh."
Dominating the sky was a waxing crescent that appeared far larger than the Earth's moon, crossed with thousands of bands that were shaded yellows and oranges and browns. Here and there swirls of storms were visible, and on the night side flashes of lightning could be seen in a few spots. Several much smaller globes could be seen in the sky, including one that was silhouetted against the great disc, and just barely visible was a ring of material that circled its equator.
"This isn't a planet," John murmured, entranced by the sight. "It's a moon. You'd think the database would mention that."
For a moment, the others were silent as they looked at the sight, then suddenly Rodney fumbled out his scanner and started to poke at it frantically. "Oh no. Do you have any idea how much radiation that thing is probably putting out?"
"Rodney, calm down. If it was dangerous, the MALP would have picked it up." John shook his head and headed back into the woods, hoping there would be a better view at the Ancient outpost. After a moment the others began to follow him. Walking along, he said over his shoulder, "You don't need to be so paranoid. Honestly, is it really so hard to believe that we could have a normal mission for once?"
That was the point when the drop bear dropped out of a tree onto John's head, as drop bears are wont to do.
"Oh, god, get it off, get it off!" John yelled, stumbling around and flailing his hands as he tried to pull the extremely fluffy koala-like animal off. It chittered angrily and its stubby legs clamped down to keep it firmly in place no matter how hard he pushed or pulled, and he could barely even get a grip through its thick, silky fur. He heard the distinctive whine of Ronon's blaster, and shouted, "No, don't shoot it!"
"Hold still, John," Teyla said, and he stopped. She grabbed his arms to hold him steady as she eyed the furry beast. It hissed at her and showed no sign of letting go until she suddenly hit it square between the eyes. It squealed and John yelped as it squeezed even tighter before suddenly jumping to the forest floor and scampering up a tree. John fumbled for his sidearm, but he couldn't even undo the clasp before the creature had disappeared into the thick branches. The forest was still and silent again, broken only by the occasional bird call and the increasingly loud laughter of the other two men.
"Let me check you for injuries," Teyla said, guiding John to sit on a log while he glared at Ronon and Rodney, who showed no sign of quieting down.
"Thanks for the help, guys," he growled. Ronon tried to look contrite and failed miserably; Rodney didn't even bother to try.
"I believe you are only bruised," Teyla said, running her fingers along his scalp. She suddenly stopped, and stepped back. It took a moment for John to realize, but she was definitely fighting a smile of her own. John quickly felt his hair, and after a moment felt a warm, wet, and sticky spot at the top of his head
"What the fuck?" he spat. "That thing did not just - damn it!"
"Only you, Sheppard," Rodney gasped out, his face beet-red as he leaned on Ronon for support. "Only you could get, get molested by an alien koala bear."
"I believe it must have mistaken your hair for a mate," Teyla said, having regained her composure. John narrowed his eyes, but her faced remained serene. He stood up and started to stomp off towards the gate
"We're going home!"
"What? Oh, come on, Colonel," Rodney called out. "What about the Ancient facility? We may as well go on, it's not like you have any dignity left to lose."
"Fuck you, McKay!" John shouted back, flipping him off. He didn't even look back to check if the others were following him. "The only thing Ancient I'm interested in is my shower. Lorne can search for your mythical facility. Its not like the database is ever right about them anyways. It's probably an ice cream factory or something."
--- 2.2 ---
When the gate activation alarm sounded, Evan Lorne checked his watch and rolled his eyes. Only Team Sheppard was off-world, and they'd been gone barely more than half an hour. It didn't quite qualify as their shortest mission, but it was still unusually short. He figured that they'd been run off the planet by angry natives again or they'd actually found something useful, and either event meant he should to head for the gate room in case he was needed.
Stepping into the control room, nothing seemed too out of the ordinary at first glance, although the techs seemed to be a little too occupied with their work and Chuck was looking a little flushed. Evan stepped out onto the balcony and saw that three-quarters of the team was there. Rodney and Ronon were sitting on the stairs up, giggling at random intervals, while Teyla was speaking with Woolsey. Whatever was up didn't seem to have harmed anyone, which left Evan with a question.
"Where's the colonel?" he asked, turning around and walking over to lean on Chuck's console.
The Canadian flushed more, and said, "He's, uh. I think he said something about his quarters and a shower."
"I take it he's all right, then?" Evan frowned as Chuck's blush spread to his ears and neck, even worse than it had after That Trip. Somewhat concerned, he asked, "Are you all right?"
"Major!" Evan turned before he got an answer, and saw a flustered Woolsey waving at him. "Major, I'd like you to meet us in the conference room in perhaps thirty minutes? As soon as you can retrieve Colonel Sheppard, although that maybe be... difficult"
Evan could have sworn Chuck nearly broke out laughing at John's name, and even Woolsey had an uncharacteristic smile on his face.
Shaking his head, Evan made his way down to John's quarters. He slipped inside and heard the shower running inside the bathroom, so he walked over to the door and said, "John, you ok?" After getting no reply for a minute, he called out louder, "John?"
Evan had almost decided to go in and make sure John hadn't lost consciousness or something when he heard the shower turn off and footsteps approaching. A moment later John stood in the open doorway, his entire body red and radiating heat and his hair looking especially silky and shiny, like it had been washed repeatedly with the shampoos he saved for special occasions.
"What?" John growled
Evan raised an eyebrow at the obvious annoyance, but frowned when he spotted a paw-shaped bruise on John's forehead near his hairline. Reaching out to touch it, he asked with concern, "What happened to you, John?"
John batted his hand away with a clenched fist, which he waved in Evan's face. "That's Colonel Furry to you, Major," he gritted out, before turning around and heading for the shower again.
Evan looked after him, eyes wide. "Excuse me?"
"I am not in the mood," John shouted from inside the shower as water started to run once more and steam billowed from the entrance.
"Oh, Christ." Evan lowered the lid on the toilet and sat down. He listened to the sounds of vigorous scrubbing for a while, and when it was clear John would say nothing more, he said, "Seriously, what's going on?"
"Major, if you're still there in ten seconds, I'm having you shot for mutiny!"
Evan rolled his eyes. "You can't do that."
"Watch me!"
"I'm not paid nearly enough for this," Evan muttered as he started to strip off his clothes. He'd just have to get John out the hard way.
It took some effort, but eventually he managed to pry John out of the shower and shoved into some clothes before leading the grumbling man up to the conference room. Woolsey and the rest of John's team were already there. Also sitting at the table was Radek Zelenka, who was talking with Rodney about something technical that Evan couldn't quite understand. Everyone looked up when they entered and the room filled with silence as John stalked to one of the empty chairs with Evan following him. Everyone looked at them, and they both glared back, Evan mostly out of sympathy but also because he had a well-tuned sense of self-preservation.
Eventually, Woolsey politely cleared his throat. "Colonel, Major, I'm glad you could join us. We've already gone over the, ah, specifics of the aborted mission. Obviously, the planet's outpost still needs to be investigated, but I have the feeling that it might be appropriate for someone else to do so."
"Damn straight," John muttered under his breath.
Woolsey ignored him and looked at Evan. "Major, your team was scheduled for a mission this afternoon already, so I was thinking that you could go, along with Doctor Zelenka."
"I can do that, sir," Evan quickly replied. He had been planning to take a few new marines along for a literal milk run, but it wouldn't hurt for them to stretch their legs elsewhere.
"Meanwhile, Colonel, your team can take their mission," he continued. "It's just a routine checkup on the Ephebans, and I'm sure they would be delighted to see you again."
"What?" Rodney said, sitting up straight. "Mr. Woolsey, surely the rest of us, and by that I mean me, don't need to miss exploring the outpost just to talk with some goat herders?"
"We'd love to," John said firmly, his voice making it clear that even if he didn't like the smell of goats, he knew that Rodney liked it even less, and he'd clearly not forgiven Rodney for his earlier actions. For a minute the two of them stared across the table at each other, and every time Rodney would open his mouth John's eyes would narrow just a little more as he growled deep in his throat.
"Fine. It's not like they'll find anything useful," Rodney eventually said, slumping back into his seat. "Zelenka will still be searching aimlessly by the time I'm back in my lab doing real science."
When the team went to the moon that afternoon, they found an Ancient bunker mostly by accident when Evan literally stumbled across the entrance. Evan had gotten so distracted watching Radek constantly glance skyward and tug his helmet tighter that he'd misstepped and ended up rolling down the moss-covered entry ramp to thud against a large blast door at the bottom.
"Uh, sir, you ok?" asked Lieutenant Palmer, peering down at him from the top.
"Yeah. I'm fine." Evan pushed himself back up and brushed off a few damp leaves, hoping that he didn't look too stupid.
He turned around to face the door and after a series of clicks and thuds it started to slide open. Evan stepped cautiously inside, with marines fanning out on either side and Radek close behind, and the room beyond lit up. It was nothing more than an empty space with controls on one wall and another large door, most likely an airlock, but beyond it they found a hangar with three jumpers lined up along the side.
"My day's getting better already," Evan remarked. Spare jumpers were always useful, and if nothing else the bunker might make a better alpha site than the current one.
From further along, Palmer called out, "Sir, we've got a transporter and a stairwell over here."
Sure enough there was a transporter exactly like those in Atlantis. "Right. Waller, De Felice, you guys stay topside. The rest of us will head down."
They all squeezed into the transporter and Evan studied the screen for a moment. It looked like there were several levels buried a few hundred feet under the surface, and after a moment he picked a spot on the diagram that was near the center. They emerged into an atrium with several corridors leading off it.
"Split up, take a look around, and radio in if you find anything."
It only took a few minutes before Radek called him over to a door directly across the room. Beyond it Evan saw a hexagonal room with screens and consoles lining the walls. Zelenka had already sat down at the largest console, hooking his computer up to it and tapping at the controls.
"I believe this is the control room, Major."
"Cool." Evan leaned against the back of Zelenka's chair and looked over his shoulder. "Any idea what this place is for?"
"Some sort of remote command center, although I'm not sure for what," he explained. "My first guess is for some sort of deep-space telescope, given how far off the galactic plane we are, but it could be anything. The computer is even less cooperative that the database back home."
"I could give it a try."
"Couldn't hurt, I suppose," Radek said. Evan slid into the chair next to him and placed his hands on the controls. A moment later, he felt something probing at the corner of his mind and he felt something turn on.
/ unrecognized user / authenticating / imperator secundus atlanti recognized / access granted / system startup / running remote system check /
Compared to Atlantis, the interface seemed cold and lifeless, but it apparently had no problems with him. Evan shook his head and looked up at the main screen, which had activated and seemed to be running through a start up routine. A moment later a three-dimensional diagram of the planetary system appeared. Circling the planet were several moons, including the one they were on, plus a small ring system. One object in particular was highlighted and a window popped up, which showed a structure stretched across a potato-shaped moon like a metallic spider.
"What's that, some sort of moon base?" Radek didn't reply, too caught up in whatever he was reading. Evan grinned and sat back, waiting for him to find something worth mentioning.
Sure enough, a few minutes later Radek pushed his glasses up and peered at the screen. "Oh, now that is interesting."
Evan looked over. "What's up?"
Radek pressed a few buttons and the screen switched to a schematic of the station. "See there, in the center? Is some sort of storage and deployment system for a wire or tether, very large. I think much of the rest of insides are capacitors, transformers, and the like."
"A tether?" Evan said, frowning. "What kind of tether?"
"Some sort of nanotube, probably," Radek said with a shrug. "And I'd guess perhaps several thousand kilometers in length."
"Like a space elevator?" Evan couldn't quite think of what use that would be, given that the station was an such a small rock, and even then the Ancients had anti-gravity technology that made putting jumpers and ships in orbit child's' play. "Maybe they spool it into the planet's atmosphere to lift things out?"
"Hmm." Radek tapped controls and the screen zoomed in more, and he pointed at several labels. "Naquadah-laced, too, so it'd be an extraordinarily good superconductor."
"Oh. Oh, I get it," Evan breathed. Even though he 'only' had a masters in civil engineering, he'd taken more than enough electrical engineering and physics courses to start thinking of implications. "It's a generator, isn't it? You trawl a big conductive tether through the planet's magnetosphere, and you get a hell of a current."
"Trading momentum in exchange, precisely," Radek replied, grinning broadly and clearly glad that Evan understood. "This station has engines, too. I think it latches onto a moon, deploys the tether, and once it starts to fall from orbit it moves on to the next. Very elegant."
It was essentially the same principal as every electric generator on Earth, just a million times larger, but Evan was puzzled. "Why go to the trouble, though, when they have naquadah generators or ZPMs?"
"Well, it's renewable, for one. We've seen Ancient facilities that use geothermal power." Radek pushed his glasses up a bit, looking a bit bemused himself. "It's not in a terribly useful location, I must admit, but the Ancients weren't always practical."
That was certainly true. Evan wouldn't put it past them to build the thing just because they could. "Is it even functional?"
"Possibly. We'll need to study it in more detail, but from what I can see here it should be repairable." Radek shrugged, and a bit disgruntled, he added, "Assuming we can find the resources and time, of course. We're still behind on repairs."
Evan nodded sympathetically. "Well, if we can find out what it's for, maybe you can justify the -" He stopped as something scrolled across the screen, a phrase that the linguists had drilled into the heads of every off-world team. He pointed at it and asked, "Does that say what I think it says?"
"Potentia module," Radek said, his voice catching slightly. "And I believe that part there says something about production. Or possibly energy conversion."
Evan practically bounced as he looked at Radek, who was grinning like mad. "If you tell me this thing's some sort of giant battery charger, I might have to hug you."
"Please don't, major" Radek replied, holding up his hands as if to ward him off. "But yes, very good possibility."
As the implications began to sink in, Evan looked around to check that they were still alone, and in a carefully casual tone said, "You know..."
"Yes?"
"It might be best if we underplay just how operational this place is." Radek shot him a look, and he explained, "Just so we don't get hopes up back on Earth. We'd never hear the end of it if this doesn't really do what we think."
Radek seemed to get the point, and smiled slyly. "Yes, yes. Very much the case. We can compare notes before submitting reports." The scientist chuckled. "Although, you are assuming we live through McKay and Sheppard finding out we beat them to this."
"Come on, doc," Evan said with a laugh of his own. "What's Sheppard going to do, throw me off the control tower?"
--- 2.3 ---
"You!" Rodney shouted as he marched into John's room. "This is all your fault!" He stopped, realized John wasn't in the room, and stomped to the bathroom. Sure enough, John was there, naked, wet, and staring intently at his hair in the mirror. Rodney grabbed his shoulder and spun him around. "What were you thinking!"
"Jesus Christ, McKay!" John pushed him away and snatched a towel from a nearby rack. "What the hell is wrong with you? And what is this, 'interrupt John in the shower day?'"
"Please, it's nothing I haven't seen before." John growled, shoved him out of the door, and swiped it closed. Rodney crossed his arms and generously waited for a few seconds before opening it again. "You're an idiot. This is probably the biggest breakthrough we've made since we got here and because of you Zelenka found it."
John eyed him again as he stomped out of the bathroom with the towel wrapped around his waist. "You've got about ten seconds to explain before I kick your ass, McKay."
"The mission? The one we were just on that you called off and then handed to Lorne and Zelenka? Well guess what - they found something important!" Rodney jabbed John in the chest with a finger to emphasize how very incredibly important this discovery was, and how very incredibly annoyed he was that he wasn't the one who found it.
"I got molested by a fucking space koala!" John shot back, batting Rodney's hand away. "Excuse me for feeling a bit violated!"
"Oh, please," Rodney scoffed. "You're just mad your hair got sticky. It doesn't mean you need to call off the astoundingly important science mission, or spend the rest of the day showering. Also, I dare you to try that violated line on any of the women."
John opened his mouth, looked thoughtful for a second, then nodded in a concession to Rodney's superior intellect. "Okay, violated might be a bit strong. I'd like to point out that you were perfectly happy to stop tramping around that forest moon as I was."
"Whatever." Rodney couldn't be blamed for that. It had been just a stupid forest with a stupid outpost somewhere on in it, as far as he'd known. It wasn't his fault the Ancients couldn't be bothered to actually put useful information in the planetary database. "Zelenka will be gloating for weeks. The only way this could have been worse if Lorne had had his stupid botanist along instead of him. Then I'd never hear the end of it."
Sheppard pulled on boxers - and seriously, what kind of self-respecting military officer had pink boxers? - along with a t-shirt. "McKay, are you planning on telling me what the hell you're talking about anytime soon?"
"What? Oh. Right. That installation's actually the control center for a ZPM charging facility." Rodney smirked at Sheppard's dumbstruck face. "More or less intact, although the diagnostics say there's a lot of broken equipment to fix. Still - ZPM charger!"
"A ZPM charge,." John repeated. He slowly sat down on his bed, steading himself with a hand so that he didn't fall over. "Do you know what this means?"
"It means I'm guaranteed to get a Nobel when this gets declassified." Rodney rubbed his hands in anticipation. "Even just looking at it should give us clues on how the ZPMs work. Of course, I might have to share with Zelenka, but that's a small price to pay."
"You're assuming you get a science prize and not a peace prize," Sheppard said. His heart didn't seem into the ridiculous statement, though, as if he was thinking of something other than the astoundingly great news.
Still, Rodney couldn't let it pass without remark. "What do you mean peace prize? That doesn't count as a real Nobel."
"Limitless energy and all that," John said. "Listen, you haven't said anything about this to anyway else yet, have you?"
"No, why? I mean, obviously I'll want to make sure that I get a fair share of the credit for figuring out how it works, but it's not like anyone else but Carter and Jeannie are smart enough to do it anyways."
"Rodney. You haven't thought this through. This could be the big breakthrough we've been needing. A guaranteed power supply would mean we wouldn't be dependent on Earth anymore."
"Oh." Understanding hit Rodney like a ton of bricks, complete with incredible pain. "And if we tell anyone, the SGC might try to pack the entire place up and haul it off to Earth."
"Exactly. If nothing else, they'll drop one of their own research teams there." Sheppard shrugged. "We'll probably just have to tell them it was interesting, but ultimately useless. At least for now."
"Well," Rodney said after a few quiet moments. "I guess that's the price you pay, isn't it?"
"Don't worry; we'll all know what you did for us." John smiled at him and clapped him on the shoulder. "And hey, if things go well, you could always share what you find and claim another source."
It irked Rodney, but he knew John was probably right. It wasn't like he cared what people on Earth thought... that much. Just a little. Okay, he cared, but he cared about other things more, and there were other routes he could get famous by. It wasn't like he hadn't done roughly four hundred and twenty-three other Nobel-worthy things recently, after all. Also, if the ZPM station was in bad shape, it wouldn't hurt Zelenka to take care of the repairs while Rodney stuck to the interesting theoretical work. That was what all his engineers were for, after all.
"I'm feeling bit peckish," he said. "You want to go grab some dinner, or is your hair still in hiding?"
John started to glare at him again, even as he pulled on his pants. Honestly, the man was far too overprotective of the stupid fluffy mass on his head.
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(Next Chapter)