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01/16/2006: "Still Plugging Away"
music: the fans here in the living roommood: tired, because Roxy insisted I wake up at 11 fricking AM
I finished off chapter seven last night... and got a good start on eight. I guess this nervousness waiting for beta pays off a little. Probably just touch of nervousness waiting for school to start too. Hrm, mental note: look up books today.
I guess I'll post Chapter Eight if I get any more on it. Am starting to wonder how I'm going to fit in the Teyla and Ronon storyline within the breaks I've made, because the moment THEY dial Atlantis it'll be obvious that the problem is on Sheppard and McKay's end, and I have a feeling readers will be a lot quicker on figuring out what's happened to them than they are (in their defense, the happy little villagers of the past... not so helpful.)
On an amusing note, McKay and throwaway character Arash have an interesting hate/hate relationship.
January Word Total: 20,784 (WTF? Why can't I write like this during NanoWriMo?)
Daily: Uh, met the quota of 250
Chapter Seven:
He found McKay near the ransacked pack, dangerously closed to getting himself skewered on Arash’s knife.
Their noses were practically touching as both scientist and hunter screamed off insults at each other. A tiny ring of people had gathered around, watching the two curiously. Sheppard pushed his way through the group so he could get closer. Most of it was unintelligible, but he thought Rodney was ranting about his computer, and Arash was saying something about making a “permanent gag”.
He chuckled nervously and yanked McKay away by the shoulder. “Sorry about that, he gets cranky if he doesn’t have his afternoon nap.”
“I’m not finished with him!” McKay lunged forward.
“Yes you are,” Sheppard muttered into McKay’s ear, pulling him back, and giving the crowd a placating smile. “Because we need to play nice if they’re ever going to let us go.”
Rodney crossed his arms, glaring daggers at Arash, but matched John’s hushed tone. “And why can’t we just sneak out?”
“Because they’d find us within ten minutes, this is their territory. Besides… I don’t know how to get to the gate from here.”
McKay turned and speared him with a flabbergasted look. “You’re joking, right? You made that trip how many times already?”
“That was when I had a trail to follow. If the statue and village is gone, what’s the likelihood of that trail still being there?”
“Oh.”
“So go pick up your toys and try not to annoy the nice man with the knife.”
McKay shrugged the hand from his shoulder. “Fine, I’ll be nice, but you better convince them quick, because you know better than I do that my ‘nice’ period has a time limit.”
Sheppard scrubbed a hand across his face, watching as McKay stiffly began to gather up his equipment. He hoped that Béchard would talk to Carus, so far she was the only person he’d seen who had defied him and been able to convince him of anything. Until then both he and McKay would have to try and not upset the villagers – he eyed someone taking down their semi-permanent dwelling – well, more than they already had.
Now that they were out of danger, he could feel the stirring of hunger in his stomach, and if he was starting to feel hungry, it would explain why McKay had started a screaming match. Eyeing the scurrying villagers, he wondered who he had to see to get a meal around this place.
* * * * *
“Béchard tells me that you wish to visit the Ring of the Ancestors,” Carus spoke behind Sheppard, and for once, he didn’t jump.
He had been keeping an eye on McKay, who had finished fondling his equipment and was now feverishly searching his notes for an answer to their predicament. The food Sheppard had managed to procure, a venison-like meat sandwiched in a flat-bread of some sort, sat half-eaten next to him.
John took another bite from his own sandwich before addressing Carus. “Yeah, we do.”
“Why?”
“I told you before,” Sheppard swallowed his bite and turned to face Carus, “we’re not from around here, and we need to contact the rest of our people to figure out what happened to our other friends.”
“We only found you two in the ruins.”
“I know, but back home we have a team of people like him—” he indicated McKay with a jerk of his head.
“Him? There’s more than one?” The idea seemed to unsettle Carus, and Sheppard had to bite back his laugh.
“Yes, smart people like him, but thankfully not nearly as loud or difficult,” he amended, seeing the villager’s sigh of relief. “They should be able to help us figure out what happened to us.”
Carus raised an eyebrow. “And what did happen?”
“You want the truth?” Sheppard took another bite.
“I do not want a lie.”
“There’s a machine in the ruins, I’ve got no idea what it does, but it got turned on, and that’s when our friends disappeared.”
The villager nodded, looking unsure of the story. “So you want to contact your people, to locate your friends?”
“Yeah,” Sheppard swallowed the bite, so he wouldn’t sigh in exasperation, “and I bet if I ask real nice they might send over a few things and we might be able to help you with your Deimos problem a little.”
“Help?” Carus looked at him as if he *was crazy. “How is that possible?”
Unbidden, a half smile tugged at John’s lips. “Oh trust me, it’s possible.”
“Our preparations to move will take the rest of the day, and we will be ready to move tomorrow… but I am not needed to oversee these. It is unfortunately a very routine practice.”
Sheppard arched an eyebrow. “You’ll take us there?”
“If your people are able to get rid of the Deimos, then I would be doing mine a great service.”
“Great! I’ll let McKay know,” John started to move, but Carus stopped him with a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Any time my people have tried to dial out, the Deimos have been watching. More than half who try to leave our planet fail.”
Sheppard met his worried gaze confidently. “It’s a risk we have to take.”
“Very well, round up your noisy friend and we will start on our way.”
* * * * *
* * * * *
They had followed Carus through the forest, and John couldn’t help but wonder at how similar everything could look, but how different it was. They were the same type of trees they had seen when they had gated in, but the trunks were thinner, and the canopy formed by the branches didn’t seem as high as it had when they’d come in.
McKay had followed silently, looking more troubled than he had before he’d started consulting his notes. Sheppard tried not to think on what that might mean, or the lack of complaint he’d gotten into trying to hurry McKay into action. The scientist was more than concerned, he was worried, and he wasn’t bothering to hide the fact from John. That was probably scarier than any doom and gloom speech.
Finally Carus slowed down and motioned for the Atlantians to catch up. As they joined him, he pointed through the copse of trees, and the DHD and Stargate was visible.
“There it is.”
“Obviously,” McKay muttered, but the sarcasm was forced.
“So, what next?” Sheppard asked, eyeing the area for any sign of patrolling Wraith, ears straining for the tell-tale whine of a dart screaming overhead.
“You try and dial.”
“That’s it?” McKay snapped. “You got us all worked up over that?”
“If you are lucky, the Deimos are not watching, and you will be able to dial out.”
McKay rolled his eyes. “Sure, well then, what are we waiting for?”
Sheppard put a hand to McKay’s chest. “I’ll go.”
“And if they do scoop you up, what am I supposed to do? Just sit here and watch?”
“Dial Weir and let her know, and mount a rescue.” Sheppard shrugged.
“If you can’t dial out what are the chances I can?”
“Look McKay, just stay here and don’t argue, okay?”
“No, I’m not going to just ‘stay here’,” Rodney tugged at Sheppard’s shoulder until he was facing him. “I am not going to be stuck here alone, okay? I might be all knowing, but I still need you to do all the muscle word.”
John grinned. “Nice to know you care.”
“Don’t let it go to your head,” McKay muttered and wrung his hands together, taking in a deep breath. “Okay, ready.”
“Look Rodney…”
“Can we just do this without arguing?”
“Tall order.”
“Please!”
“Okay,” Sheppard sighed, trying to ignore that Carus had been watching their exchange closely, “let’s go.”
With John leading the way, they both cautiously made their way to the DHD, keeping all of their senses alert for any sign of the Wraith. As soon as they were far enough from Carus, Sheppard had also pulled out the life signs detector as an extra precaution.
“Don’t know if this thing can detect darts,” he showed McKay the display of three blinking dots, “but if it can, we’re clear.”
“Yeah,” Rodney eyed the display, and then the DHD. “Why would the Wraith be watching the Stargate?”
“Make sure no one leaves?”
“Yes, but why are they plaguing this planet? The Wraith don’t constantly cull, and keep constant watch on these people? They don’t pose any threat. What are they going to do? Throw a knife at a dart?”
“McKay, can we worry about this after we get reinforcements?”
“Sorry, can’t help but wonder.”
“Let’s focus on getting this done, and solve the mystery of the Wraith of Daphnis later, okay?”
“Fine,” McKay eyed the break in the tree-line around the gate and licked his lips. “Looks open.”
“All right, I’m going to go first—” he held up a hand when McKay started to protest, “and start dialing, if they get me mid-sequence, you need to finish it and contact Elizabeth. It’s not just you and me we have to worry about. That machine did something to Ronon and Teyla, and we owe it to them to figure out what and get them back.”
McKay closed his eyes and reluctantly nodded. “Just go. I’ll keep my panicking to a minimum.”
“Thanks. Wish me luck.” With a confident grin he didn’t believe himself, he sprinted towards the DHD and started punching in the address to Atlantis. Each glyph glowed brightly as he punched it in, and he was able to finish the sequence without any pesky Wraith beams interrupting him. With a deep breath he depressed the center glyph…
…and nothing happened.
“What the hell?” Sheppard looked up at the inactive gate. He knew the address to Atlantis by heart, there was no way he could’ve dialed wrong. Just in case he’d somehow made a typo on the address, he tried again.
Still nothing.
“What are you doing?” McKay asked annoyed, edging away from the tree line. “Just dial already!”
“I have! Twice!”
“Move!” And like that McKay had shoved him aside and started dialing. “Obviously you hit your head at some point during this trip.”
“McKay—”
Rodney finished the sequence with a flourish, and watched the gate expectantly, only for nothing to happen. Frowning, he tried dialing again, achieving the same results of Sheppard.
“No!” It was almost a desperate cry and he started dialing again. “No no no no…”
Sheppard watched the still Gate worriedly. “McKay… it’s not going to work.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” He looked up at Sheppard, and for once there was no panic in his eyes, it was pure unadulterated fear. “It won’t connect.”
“Do I want to know what that means?”
McKay shook his head softly. “I’m going to try the Alpha Site.”
Sheppard watched the gate, waiting for a flicker of blue, but still nothing. McKay gulped heavily and took a step back from the DHD. “We should… we should go…”
“Yeah,” John’s throat was dry, and his stomach felt like there was a lead ball in it instead of a half-eaten sandwich.
They both rejoined Carus, trying not to look nearly as lost as they felt. He regarded them both sympathetically before leading the way back to the village.