SGA 22 Legacy 7 Unascended

by Jo Graham

  “That’s certainly true,” Rodney began.

  “It is possible to esteem a male greatly and consider them a close friend without implying physical intimacy,” Teyla said to Ember. There was a note of amusement in her voice as she glanced at Rodney. “While it is certainly true that Rodney is brilliant and distinguished, that does not imply that I intend for him to be the father of my future children.”

  “What? No, I…”

  Daniel’s glance was going back and forth like a man watching a tennis match. “So you’re saying that…”

  “His genetic material would be highly desirable,” Ember opined.

  “I am certain that it would be,” Teyla said.

  “I wouldn’t… I mean,” Rodney flailed.

  “In order to preserve genetic diversity, and to produce offspring with the most desirable traits, a queen selects carefully among her zenana each time she chooses to bear a child,” Ember said to Daniel, who was trying to ask a question. “I am simply stating that McKay’s offspring would doubtless possess his high intelligence and good looks.”

  “Well, of course they would, but…” Rodney said. He was fortunately interrupted by the buzzing of the jumper’s scanner. “Ah ha! It looks like we found something.”

  “What is it?” Ronon asked.

  Rodney adjusted the controls. “It looks like a building with an artificial power source. That way. Toward that archipelago.” He turned the jumper’s course toward it. “Let’s go check it out.”

  “An active power source might be…” Daniel began.

  The jumper’s alarms shrilled, map replaced by telemetry that identified two streaks of light rising upward.

  “…an Ancient installation launching drones,” Daniel finished.

  “I’m on it!” Rodney said, wrenching the jumper around and heading for space.

  “You are not going to outrun them that way,” Teyla said. “They are faster than a puddle-jumper.”

  “I’m getting some room,” Rodney said. Behind him, Ember was radiating anxiety in a very distracting way. “Then I’ll see if they’ll respond to the jumper identifying itself as an Ancient vehicle.” He mentally urged the jumper to broadcast, all the while keeping an eye on the vector of the two incoming drones now clearing the upper atmosphere. They were gaining, but not quickly. It actually was possible to run their propulsion plants down, but that would take a long time. It might be a better move to dial the gate, bug out, and then come back in an hour…

  “There!” Daniel said, pointing at the heads up display. The drones were indeed powering down and dropping away.

  Teyla breathed a sigh of relief. “It seems the installation responded to your message.”

  “Nice flying, McKay,” Ronon rumbled.

  Rodney twisted around in his seat. “Thank you,” he said.

  Ronon shrugged. It was nice to be getting back on good terms with Ronon. The whole Wraith thing had strained their friendship.

  Ancient letters flashed across the display. “They’re giving you landing coordinates,” Daniel said. He looked pleased. “It looks like this installation is still operative.”

  “Which means it’s dangerous,” Ronon said.

  “Which means it has stuff we want,” Rodney said. He frowned at the coordinates and at the screen. “The only problem here is that the coordinates are under water.”

  Teyla blinked. “The jumper is submersible.”

  “Well, yes.” Rodney didn’t like submerged jumpers. No, no, no.

  “How are we supposed to get out if it’s underwater?” Ember asked.

  Rodney turned back toward the coordinates, scanning as they dipped back into the atmosphere. “It looks like the landing coordinates are on a plateau just below sea level on one of the volcanic islands, and that the actual buildings are inside the caldera of the extinct volcano, and are dry. I think we could probably land at the coordinates, extend the shield of the jumper to have a small dry patch around us, and then run for the entrance of the tunnel that leads into the caldera.”

  “What?” Ronon said.

  “And if the shield collapses before we come back out, we swim?” Daniel asked.

  “I’m sure it won’t,” Rodney said. “I can jury rig the shield generator…”

  “There may be some Ancient technology in the corridor,” Daniel said. “We may be able to hack into that to get more power.”

  “And then we could use that to extend the shield as far as we needed to in order to keep the water back…”

  “Why don’t we just land in the caldera?” Teyla asked wearily. “Would not that be much simpler?”

  Daniel and Rodney looked at each other.

  “Well, yes,” Rodney said. “But it wouldn’t be as much fun.”

  Ronon made a noise that sounded like a strangled laugh.

  “I don’t understand,” Ember said.

  “We will land in the caldera,” Teyla said.

  It was difficult finding a flat enough place not to damage the bottom of the jumper, as the floor of the caldera was a mass of jumbled stones that jutted up like spikes. On the third pass Rodney was about to suggest a water landing again when he finally spotted a place.

  “That’s deliberate construction,” Daniel said, pointing toward a pile of rocks off to their right.

  “I don’t see anything,” Rodney said.

  “Who’s the archaeologist here? Me or you?” Daniel asked.

  Teyla took a deep breath and got up from her seat as the jumper settled onto the ground. “We will go and take a look.”

  Outside, the stone walls of the caldera made a perfect bowl of sky, their black and gray colors livened wherever there was a ledge by long, trailing growths of yellow and pale green plants. The floor of the caldera itself was broken and jumbled, but more of the same plants grew in profusion, some of them waist high, nicely disguising sudden drops and pits.

  Rodney found one by falling into it. “Yaaa!” he yelled as his left foot stepped on something that it turned out wasn’t there. Ember caught him, feeding hand grabbing the front of Rodney’s jacket, and Rodney heard the sudden whine of Ronon’s pistol powering up as he scrabbled for a foothold.

  Ember pulled him back as Teyla put her hand on Ronon’s arm. “It is nothing,” she said. “Rodney lost his footing.”

  “Right.” Ronon’s voice was grim as Ember released the front of Rodney’s jacket. “Be careful.” Whether he spoke to Rodney or Ember wasn’t clear.

  *Thanks,* Rodney said, hoping he didn’t sound shaky.

  *Of course.* Ember looked a little spooked himself, as though he’d caught at Rodney on instinct, not considering how the move looked.

  Daniel had already scrambled ahead and was examining the rocks. They might be a section of low walls. “Oh this is interesting!” he called.

  The others came over. “What is interesting?” Teyla asked.

  “It looks like the structure was made of native materials. That’s unusual for an Ancient installation,” Daniel replied, running his hands over the stones.

  “Where did the drones come from?” Rodney asked.

  “Over here.” Ronon stood on a little rise. “I’ve got a metal door here that’s been opened recently.” The others climbed up. A wide dark metal panel about ten feet by ten feet was set into the stone, scrape marks along it showing where it had slid back into the rock along tracks.

  “That’s the door,” Daniel said. “That’s a very standard configuration for a door that covers a drone launcher.”

  “It’s just like the ones in Atlantis,” Rodney said, kneeling down. “I can get this puppy open in five minutes.”

  “And then we’ll see what’s down there,” Ronon said.

  Rodney was as good as his word, Teyla thought. It was five minutes before there was a grating sound and Rodney stood up. “Ah ha!” he said as the metal panel began to slide open. Beneath it a dark shaft descended further than they could see.

  Ronon looked down. “That’s great,” he said. “But how do w
e get down?”

  “There is rappelling gear in the jumper’s supplies,” Teyla said. “We should have a hundred feet of line. Unless you think it is further than that?” She looked at Rodney.

  “I wouldn’t think so.” He shrugged. “Atlantis’ drone launchers are only about thirty-five feet.”

  “The ones in Antarctica on Earth are a lot deeper than that,” Daniel pointed out. “We had to cut a shaft more than a hundred feet deep to get to the Ancient installation.”

  “Yes but that was because the ice had accumulated,” Rodney said. “It wasn’t that deep originally. It’s not supposed to be that deep.”

  Teyla glanced down the shaft thoughtfully. “I do not see the bottom, but that is because the shaft lies in shadow with the sun beneath the rim of the caldera. It is getting quite late in the day.”

  Daniel glanced up at the sky as if he had just noticed that the sun was sinking. “This planet has rather short days.”

  “All the more reason to do this now,” Teyla said. “Ronon and Daniel, go and get the rappelling gear from the jumper. You can lower me down first and we will see how deep it is.”

  Ember frowned. “Surely you will let one of us precede you. We do not know what is down there and if there are hazards…”

  “I am the lightest,” Teyla said. “And the most accustomed to rappelling.” She gave him a smile, as of course he was not used to queens taking the forward position. “We share the hazards based on our skills. And which do you think is easier

  —

  that Ronon belay me down or that I belay him down?”

  The answer to that was obvious, and Ember inclined his head. For once Daniel hadn’t argued. He and Ronon were halfway back to the jumper.

  Rodney looked up from where he bent over the door with a smile, though he spoke without words. *Teyla likes being in charge. That’s not new, right?*

  *Certainly not,* Ember replied, humor in his mental voice though it did not touch his face.

  Teyla felt a sense of satisfaction spread through her, familiar and strange at the same time, the dual mental touches of Rodney and Ember, her dear friend upon whom she relied, and Ember who she was coming to like. It was right to reach for them thus, to feel the sense of them.

  *And how not?* Ember thought. *This is how it is.*

  Rodney got to his feet, a thoughtful expression on his face, and she heard his thought before he concealed it

  —

  to know what others thought of him, to feel their acceptance and genuine admiration, to have no doubt of friendship or wonder if someone snickered behind his back…

  *You are my dear friend,* Teyla thought to him. *And ever shall be, whether we can speak this way or not.*

  The sun dipped behind an outcropping on the caldera rim, casting them into shadow. Rodney turned toward the figures now at the tailgate of the jumper. “Hey Ronon! Bring some lights too!”

  Ronon nodded to show his understanding, going aboard to get them from the bench seat storage.

  *Do you always carry everything with you?* Ember asked bemusedly.

  *We try to,* Rodney said. *Never know what you’ll need, right?*

  The day was ending as Ronon belayed Teyla down the shaft. She descended carefully despite the smooth walls, the flashlight clipped to her belt illuminating the walls beneath her. Ten feet, twenty… “I see the floor,” she called up. Another twenty or so feet beneath her was a pitted grid, a round aperture in the midst of it through which protruded the nose of an Ancient drone.

  “Great,” Ronon called down.

  “Now when you get to the grid,” Rodney called, “if it’s like the ones in Atlantis there will be a panel that swings downward for maintenance. It has a catch on the underside. You’ll need to find the catch, reach through and release it.”

  “I will do that,” Teyla promised. Her booted feet were almost at the bottom, and she let herself down the last bit of the way, making certain the grid would take her weight before she stood upon it and unclipped the lines. It gave a little, and she moved her feet off the panel that should open outward. “I have found it,” she called out.

  The ropes slithered, Ronon hauling them back up. Teyla reached through and unfastened the latch, then let the panel swing down with a rasping, rusty noise. She shone her flashlight through. It was only five feet or so to the floor, the length of the drone that stood on its carousel lifted into the firing position. Teyla sat down on the edge of the grid, then jumped down to the floor. She put her hand to her radio, as it was probably best to use it at this distance. “I am in the firing chamber,” she said. “All is well.”

  A white light jiggled on the wall of the shaft above, and in a few moments she saw Dr. Jackson’s feet as he was belayed down.

  Teyla touched her radio again. “Rodney? What is next?”

  “If you follow the carousel to the empty side you’ll come out into a storage room,” Rodney replied. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

  And leave Ember and Ronon alone above? That seemed unwise. “No, send Ember down next,” Teyla said.

  Ronon said something which, via Rodney’s radio, sounded like, “It’s your funeral.”

  Teyla shook her head, following the carousel around as Rodney had instructed. She ducked through the opening and was in the storage room. It was empty except for five more drones waiting on the carousel. A very familiar looking door was shut, and though there were intact fixtures there was no light. Well, Rodney would activate them with the ATA gene when he arrived. Teyla tried the door

  —

  yes, the manual release was just where it would be in Atlantis. It moved back jerkily on its track.

  Dr. Jackson was just behind her. “The lettering on the door says, ‘Caution’”, he said. “This must be the service corridor for the launching system. There’s clearly power. If there’s a working ZPM…”

  “That will be very useful indeed,” Teyla said.

  There was a sound behind, and Ember ducked through the opening from the shaft. He did not have a flashlight, but then he did not need one. The dim light suited his vision very well. “Is there a ZPM?” he asked.

  “We do not know,” Teyla said. “Dr. Jackson is hypothesizing that there may be since it seems that there is power to the systems.”

  Ember nodded. “That seems likely. I would guess that the control suite is deeper in the installation, closer to what should be the main entrance. Generally the ZPM is not far from the control room.”

  Teyla flashed her light up and down the corridor. There was some Ancient lettering at eye level to the left. “Dr. Jackson, what does that say?”

  “It says Watch Your Step,” he replied, his eyes roving over the walls. “Nothing that would give me an idea whether left or right leads us to the control room.”

  “And that?” Teyla asked, shining her light over lettering on the floor by the carousel.

  “Disconnect Power Before Servicing,” he said. “The Ancients were pretty prosaic sometimes.” He glanced down the corridor. “Let’s try right.”

  As Teyla could see no difference between them, there was no sense in arguing for the sake of arguing. She followed Jackson down the hall to the right, Ember behind her.

  “I’m starting down,” Rodney said in her earpiece.

  The corridor to the right turned and broadened, with several doors along the left hand side before it ended in a downward stair. Flaking paint clung to the ceiling in a shade that might have once been green. Perhaps that meant they were entering less utilitarian parts of the complex? Teyla was forming the question for Dr. Jackson when Ronon’s voice sounded loud in her ear.

  “We’ve got a problem,” he said.

  At that moment there was a rumble, the carousel coming to life and the drone firing systems coming on line.

  “We’ve got a ship incoming,” Ronon said.

  Rodney heard the faint clicks, the drone in the firing cradle beneath him coming to life, getting ready to launch. Straight up the tube he was dangling in, still
ten feet from the bottom of the shaft. “Oh no no no! This is not happening!”

  “Rodney! Get out of there!” Teyla yelled on the radio, for all the help that was. Didn’t she think he’d get out of there just as fast as he could – if he could?

  Now the drone’s propulsion systems were coming on. He could feel the wave of heat rising. Wonderful. If the launching drone didn’t simply spear through him and carry what was left of him into orbit, it would probably incinerate him.

  “I’ll pull you up!” Ronon yelled. Like he could do that in the approximately one second left.

  This was going to be just like that rogue drone that nearly killed Sheppard and O’Neill in Antarctica…

  And Rodney knew exactly what to do. STOP he thought with all his strength. STOP. Power down and stop.

  The drone’s ignition died. The light that had been building abruptly ceased.

  “What happened?” Jackson demanded from below.

  “What did you do?” Teyla asked.

  Rodney slid down the last ten feet of rope and rested his feet on the grid, hoping his voice was perfectly carefree. “I’ve got the ATA gene. It’s no problem.”

  “What?” Ember said.

  “He told it to turn off,” Teyla said. She sounded breathless, and as he looked down through the grid she ducked back into the firing chamber hurriedly. “Rodney, are you all right?”

  “I’m great,” Rodney said. He unclipped the line and gingerly lowered himself through the hatch.

  “We’re not,” Ronon said grimly. “That ship is still incoming.”

  “That’s not a good sign,” Ember said.

  From above there was the report of Ronon’s energy pistol, and Rodney dodged back away from the shaft, nearly running into Teyla. There was a flash of white light that seared his eyes, and then he knew no more.

  There was a hand at his throat, long nails cool against his skin, opening the top of his jacket. Wraith! Some part of Rodney screamed, and he drew a deep, heaving breath, his eyes opening on darkness.

  *It is I,* Ember said as Rodney shoved him away. *We have been stunned.*