Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

PART 1: FOOTBALL

The jumper lowered from the bay just as the football sailed through the interior, whisking over the top of one physicist’s head, and descending perfectly into the awaiting hands of the former runner in the back of the ship.

“Hey!” McKay shouted, irritated as he ducked his head and scrubbed at his hair. “Cut it out! This isn’t the place for that!”

Ronon grinned, leaned back, and shot the ball back the way it had come. The football arched perfectly, and seemed to hover for a moment over McKay’s tucked-in head before it continued forward. Sheppard captured it from the pilot’s seat, hardly moving from his position. He grinned, realizing that any team in the NFL would be glad to have the Satedan.

“Enough!” McKay shouted. “You can’t be throwing that thing around in here! No monkeyshines in the jumper!”

“Monkeys shine?” Ronon tried, remembering a primate they’d spotted on one of their adventures. Sheppard had used that word to describe the creature. “Shine? Do they… glow?”

“No… no!” McKay shot back. “They do not. Unless… unless of course they’ve been painted with some substance or genetically altered to…” He shook his head sharply, stopping himself. “Just… you shouldn’t be throwing things around in the jumper!”

Ronon shrugged. “Why not?” he asked as the ball came back to him, falling perfectly in the cradle of his arms.

“This!” McKay started, his face turning a bit red as he pointed to his laptop, “Is a crucial piece of equipment programmed with very important information, essential to our mission. If your actions caused any harm to my laptop...”

“It’s shockproof, McKay,” Sheppard responded glibly.

“Which doesn’t give you the right to test that theory!” McKay shot back.

Sheppard shrugged. “Nothing’s going to happen to your laptop.”

Rodney pointed in the direction of the control system. “And this is a highly advanced space vehicle! Created by the Ancients. This is not a place for… fooling around. Do you have any idea of the type of damage you could do if… Ronon!”

But the Satedan had released the ball, but it went awry as Ronon tried to avoid the fuming physicist. Sheppard reached, but the oblong ball bounced off the colonel’s fingers, went a little wonky, and collided with a WANG on the DHD.

“See! See!” McKay struggled out of his seat.

“It’s fine.” Sheppard grabbed the ball as it skittered. He shoved it protectively under his seat.

“You could have damaged the equipment beyond repair,” the scientist squawked as he moved forward to run his hands over the buttons, searching for any sign of injury. “That’s it! Jumper 5 is going back!”

“Nope,” Sheppard returned. “Too late. We’re all set to go.” A voice was buzzing in his ear over the radio as they hung in the gateroom, before the engaged stargate. “We’re not going back.”

“The DHD could be damaged irreparably!” McKay insisted, intently looking for any sign that something had actually been hurt.

“Irreparably?” Sheppard repeated. “Thought you could fix anything?” And he gave McKay a grin.

“Well, yes, I can fix it,” Rodney admitted, “With the proper tools and replacement parts, and sufficient TIME – something I am rarely given. But crystals may have been cracked or knocked out of alignment. Who knows what damage the two of you have caused! If we’re trying to get back through the Gate with some more annoyed aliens on our tail…”

“We’re just going to check out a gate for the bridge project,” Sheppard grumbled. “And we didn't hit it that hard. You whack the buttons harder when you’re dialing a Gate, especially when you’re in a mood.”

The Canadian’s jaw dropped, his attention finally drifting from the DHD. “I do not!” he shot back and his eyes narrowed as he added, “and what do you mean by ‘mood’?”

“What, you don’t know what ‘mood’ means?” Sheppard asked, his smug smile increasing.

McKay jutted out his jaw in contempt.

Teyla had been doing her best to keep out of the ‘discussion’, but she finally spoke, “Dr. McKay, I believe the DHD is undamaged.”

“Yeah, McKay,” Sheppard agreed, getting settled for the flight. “It just got a little bump. Sit down. We got to get going.”

A voice came over the comm., and Weir asked, “Is there a problem, colonel?”

“Nope,” Sheppard responded, touching the radio with one hand as he easily tossed the football to Ronon with the other.

McKay scowled at the Satedan as Ronon came past him to take a seat up front, and then he went back to jabbing away at his laptop.

“Everything is A-okay,” Sheppard continued over the radio. “We’re ready to go.” He smiled at Weir through the ‘windshield’ of the jumper as she leaned at the balcony railing.

“Come home safely,” Weir said with a warm smile.

With a groan, Sheppard asked his crew, “Why does she have to jinx us like that all the time?”

“Ah, you see!” McKay pointed out. “You’ve already possibly damaged our means of getting back safely. Thank you very much! There’s reason enough to believe this journey is ill-advised.”

Unconsciously, Sheppard ran a hand over the DHD. “It’s fine, McKay.”

“We’ll see.”

“There’s nothing wrong with it!” Sheppard sniped. “I thought you wanted to find a couple more Gates before Lorne or the others completed the quota.”

McKay’s taut face changed a bit at that fact. He looked contemplative and then nodded. “I see your point,” he stated.

“Great. Everyone ready to go? No more fits?”

“Fits? All I was saying is that it isn’t a good idea to horse around on the ship,” McKay explained. He paused as if he meant to leave it at that – but couldn’t help himself. “Because we all know what happens when there’s too much horseplay, don’t we?”

Ronon and Teyla both frowned at the terminology. And, before either could ask, Sheppard groaned and eased the ship forward -- and they disappeared into the blue.

And then… they were in space.

McKay leaned forward, eager to press his point, and instead uttered an astounded, “Oh,” as the jumper cleared the Gate. For a long moment, his quiet exclamation was the only sound heard within the ship.

There was something special about traveling through the Gate, Sheppard realized. Well, to enter an environment that he’d had never seen before was always a surprise. A few years ago he would have laughed at the prospect – but now he was stomping around on foreign worlds on a daily basis.

New worlds, new places were always worthy of a moment of awe. Okay, that wasn’t necessarily true, Sheppard realized. As much as gatetravel should have always inspired him, the planets had begun to have a sameness to them – one desolate city was pretty much the same as the next one – one dirty shack was rather like the other dirty shack – and Ancient ruin looked pretty much like any pile of rocks -- one ferny forest didn’t hold that much significance after he’d been through five or six that looked just like it.

But there was something different about a space gate. Space was pretty cool to begin with, but this particular view was … spectacular. Sheppard held his breath as he gazed out, letting his eyes widen at the sight.

A ringed gas giant loomed before them, filling their windscreen, looking like one of those surreal posters that the science geeks always had tacked up on their walls in college. It was too vivid, too astounding, too goddamn gorgeous to be real.

The planet was all dressed up in swirls of oranges and pale yellows. From their angle, the surrounding ring was delicate and tilted. A series of Earth-sized moons hung around it like remarkable ornaments.

They’d come looking for a Gate to harvest. They'd been through the Ancient's database and this particular Gate seemed like a perfect candidate. There weren’t any human civilizations nearby -- not even a livable world. There’d been conjecture about why the Ancients had bothered to place a Gate here – in the middle of nowhere – but now Sheppard had an idea. Maybe the Ancients had just come here – from time to time – to stare in perfect wonder at the beauty before them.

It reminded Sheppard of a long drive he had taken to the Grand Canyon – all the way wondering when the hell they’d reach the place – and then never wanting to leave once they’d made it there.

And for that reason, it seemed almost a sin to remove this Gate in the middle of nowhere.

It was McKay who again broke the silence, rattling off the possible composition of the big beautiful world, speaking in an almost dreamlike manner. He talked about the possibility of metallic hydrogen at its core and molecular hydrogen above, probably talked about some other gasses too. He went on about ice particles, silica rock, iron oxide that probably made up the ring. He started speaking about the Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism when his voice just sort of faded and the four passengers of the jumper just continued to stare at the remarkable sight.

“Sure looks cool,” Sheppard finally voiced.

“Yeah,” Ronon added.

“It is… lovely,” Teyla confirmed.

“That’s what I was saying,” McKay insisted.

“Let’s check it out,” Sheppard said, not expecting anyone to disagree with him. He brought the jumper around, swinging it closer to one of the planet’s moons. The satellite was cratered, looking rather like Earth’s moon. It’d provide an unparalleled view of the gas planet. Nice place to set up a vacation cottage -- a domed city, Sheppard thought as he cruised past. Long as you have enough oxygen, and food… and water.

“What did the Ancestors call this place?” Teyla asked, her eyes large as she watched the remarkable scenes unfolding before her.

McKay frowned and consulted his laptop. “Muskingum,” he responded, flipping one hand and making a face at the sound of the name.

Sheppard shook his head. “Let’s call it Saturn II.” He smiled. “Yeah, I like that better. Or maybe Sheppardonia.”

McKay scowled at that suggestion. “The names for the moons are no better,” McKay went on. “We got Toboso, Moxahala, Rehobo and Philo.” He sighed. “For such an advanced race, you’d think they’d try a little harder.

“We change them. Hmmm. Got it. Groucho, Chico, Harpo and …” Sheppard started and frowned. “Who’s the other one?”

“What, Zeppo?” McKay responded as they cruised closer to the glorious rings. His gaze left the laptop to take in the close-up view of the fragile looking rings. “Or Gummo?”

“There was a Gummo Marx?” Sheppard questioned.

McKay took a moment to answer, his attention on the planet, and not really paying attention to what Sheppard was asking. He swallowed and answered with a dry, “Yeah. He didn’t made it into ‘Animal Crackers’ or ‘Horse Feathers’ or any of the movies. Was in their Vaudeville act but didn’t like performing. Became an agent or something. His nickname came from his rubber soles on his shoes. I guess it was a thing.”

Ronon looked curiously toward Teyla, and the Athosian just shrugged. She was more used to their incomprehensible conversations than the Satedan was. She had learned when it was best to just 'let it go'.

“Okay, well, we’re not naming anything Gummo,” Sheppard decided, as he guided the jumper around the planet, taking in another moon that seemed all ice. “Unless we find a tiny little moon that doesn’t matter anyway. Maybe we should call the planet Marx World or something. Think that’d fly?”

“Honestly?” McKay stated, “No.”

“It’s not like we’re going to name any of the moons ‘Karl’ or anything.”

“Still, not such a good idea.”

“People have no sense of humor. I mean, all they have to do is…”

And again there was silence as the puddlejumper came around the big creamsicle planet, and the four gazed out at a sight even more incredible than the big ringed world. The ethereal thing had been hidden by the bulk of the gas giant. A cottony shape blossomed in space -- a cloudy apparition, all in reds and pinks and shot through with an intense purple-blue. It looked almost looked alive, unnatural in the vacuum of space.

“Dr. McKay,” Teyla said softly. She glanced toward the astrophysicist and saw a look of rapture on his face. “What is that?” she asked.

“Supernova,” McKay whispered, his voice reverent.

PART 2: ASTRONOMICAL

“Supernova?” Sheppard echoed, his voice alarmed. He felt every muscle tense as he turned to look at the astrophysicist. “I don’t know a whole lot about those things, but I know they’re big and they go BOOM.” McKay didn’t answer, his gaze still on the colorful blot. “McKay?” Sheppard’s voice was sharp.

“What?” McKay returned, annoyed.

“How much time do we have?” he barked out.

“Time?” McKay suddenly realized what Sheppard was getting at. “Eons,” he responded. “This is tens of thousands of years old… but wow. I mean… wow! I … I read about this one in the Ancient database and have wanted to see it up close. And it’s …” he paused, contemplating. “A long way from here,” he decided. “I won’t know the exact distance until I’ve done some research, taken some readings. We are staying here, aren’t we? At least long enough for me to get some work done?”

Sheppard sighed, relieved at that news. He'd seen too many sci-fi movies, he decided. “Sure. Why not? Just as long as this doesn’t take too long. I’m not hanging out here for days.”

“This could take a while.”

“We’re not hanging out here for days!”

“And the nova wouldn’t have gone ‘boom’, by the way, because…”

“There’s no sound in space. Yeah, I know … Mr. Astrophysicist. Thanks for reminding me.”

“Well, you needed to be corrected on that point.”

“I got it, McKay. I think we all understand that. Sheesh.”

“It’s all because of bad sci-fi shows,” McKay muttered. “Why do they insist on adding sound effect explosions in space? I mean, they have go out of their way to add it. And, if they couldn’t help themselves from adding a big ‘boom’, they should just avoid it altogether. Just take the damn explosions OUT and save us all from bad science.”

“Explosions are the best part a movie,” Sheppard shot back. “And, what the heck, I like things that go boom.”

“It drives me crazy!”

“Some people go to the movies to have fun, not to pick them to pieces.”

“What’s that?” Ronon asked, pointing at the nebulous mass, and managing to cut off the latest argument between his teammates.

“That,” McKay responded, sounding a bit persnickety, “Is the remnants of a supernova. Weren’t you paying attention?”

Furrowing his brow in annoyance, the big Satedan responded, “I know that. I’m asking what THAT is.” And he jabbed his finger toward the nova again.

Sheppard squinted, wondering if he saw some black blot in-between their ship and that supernova. Instantly, the HUD came up, displaying an elongated structure of some sort.

“A space station!” Rodney surmised. He immediately started typing on his laptop. “I think I’ve seen that same structure in the databases somewhere… hang on.”

“Let’s go have a look-see,” Sheppard stated and he guided the jumper closer to the blot. He watched in wonder as the shape grew larger even though the supernova in the background seemed to remain the same size. McKay kept typing, pausing only when a football suddenly thumped into his shoulder.

McKay winced, cringed and whined a little. “Great... Great. That was wonderful,” he groused, scrambling to grasp hold of the ball with one hand as it bounced haphazardly on the floor of the jumper. He never had a chance.

Ronon captured it as it wobbled his way and secured it beneath his seat. He grinned proudly.

“Juvenile,” McKay mumbled, rubbing his maligned shoulder. “And I’m sure to get a bruise. And then I won’t be able to lift my arm or anything. So, when you’re complaining to me about why I’m not toting as much gear as the rest of you, you’ll know why!”

“McKay, you NEVER carry as much gear as the rest of us when we’re on a long mission,” Sheppard told him tiredly as he came nearer the station. It looked oddly like a potted flower. A dome ‘flower’ at the top, a stem leading to a disk-shaped section and a ‘pot’ beneath that. Crazy.

“That’s not true. I carry a lot.”

“Hell,” Sheppard went on. “You’re usually getting the rest of us to tote a thing or two of yours. You get the locals involved whenever you can. You turn everyone around you into your own personal sherpa.”

“I carry my fair share,” McKay mumbled. “The important stuff. The vital equipment that should be handled with a gentle touch, that can’t be trusted to those who tend to be a little more… impulsive and erratic with their movements. That stuff weighs a lot!”

“His pack is quite heavy,” Teyla added, remembering the times she’d been pressed into service.

Sheppard couldn’t deny this fact – but he’d be damned if he let McKay know this. On the everyday missions, McKay probably carried more weight than any of them.

McKay kept typing, then paused, lifting a finger as if to get silence from the others. “I found it!”

“Yeah, what is it?” Sheppard asked as they drew nearer the thing.

“An observation station,” McKay told them as he read through the description, still partially in Ancient. “These were set up when the Ancients wanted to witness something on a galactic scale.” He grinned then, widely. “It was put here to observe the supernova!”

“Yeah,” Sheppard responded. “That’d make sense. The supernova’s pretty enough.”

“No, no… not because it’s pretty. Look, it’s obviously been here for over 10,000 years, probably much longer,” McKay replied quickly. “It was placed here as soon as the Ancients figured the star was in the last stages of its existence. It probably recorded the entire event – what led up to it, the explosion, the aftermath.”

"No 'boom' though."

"No boom! Definitely, no boom!" McKay spoke faster and faster. “The data contained in that station would be… of incredible value. No one has ever recorded a supernova happening, let alone from start to finish. Do you understand the magnitude of this discovery?”

Sheppard glanced back at the scientist and noted the almost rabid expression. “Down, McKay,” he ordered. “Calm down.”

“We should board that station and download the information that has been recorded,” McKay proclaimed, clutching at his laptop greedily. “The value of this information would be…” he paused and smiled, “… astronomical.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Sheppard said tiredly, looking at the station they approached. It loomed just in front of them. The size was still difficult to judge, but it looked as tall as a seven-story building. “We only have the one spacesuit. I’m kinda doubting that it has any life-support so…”

The images on the HUD suddenly changed, illuminating sections of the schematic. “Power!” McKay called, pointing to the lighted bits. “It’s got power! And it looks like life-support is already running!”

“That is unusual, is it not?” Teyla asked. “Life-support should not be active.”

The thought made McKay’s expression drop for a moment, and the screen changed on the HUD again. “No life-signs. It probably turned on the life-support when it sensed our approach. Like a welcome to the neighborhood.”

“Yeah…” Sheppard responded, giving Ronon and then Teyla a careful glance.

“Power,” McKay went on. “Well, of course it should have power, otherwise it would have been affected by the gravity of Marxworld, wouldn’t it. Sure, we’re a way’s from it, but it’d only be a matter of a few thousand years and it’d be pulled into the planet. It must be capable of controlling and correcting its positioning.”

Sheppard raised one eyebrow. “You’re thinking… maybe a ZPM?”

With a nod, McKay agreed, “To keep this thing powered and recording for over 10,000 years – it’s gotta be a ZPM keeping that thing going.”

“All right then,” Sheppard concluded. “Let’s check ‘er out!”

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

The beauty of the space station became apparent as they drew near it. The upper section was a half sphere, its flat edge attached to the rest of the structure, and the glass-like dome was covered with a web of intricate metal. Beneath it, a series of segments connected it to the wide disk below, all of it overlaid with the same ‘Frank Lloyd Wright’ style geometry that reminded Sheppard of Atlantis. Beneath the disk, the bulb shaped compartment looked like a flowerpot.

As the jumper drew closer, McKay told him, “There should be a jumper bay on the central disk.” He glanced up from his computer. “There,” he said, pointing. “That would be the bay door. This structure was designed with these ships in mind so we shouldn’t have any trouble. There’s an atmosphere capable room just waiting for us.”

“Our very own garage,” Sheppard decided.

“Yeah,” McKay answered. “Just got to get the door open.”

“Gotcha,” Sheppard stated, maneuvering the jumper closer to the indicated square. He thought ‘open’ and was disappointed to find nothing had happened. ‘Open’ he thought again. ‘OPEN, dammit!’ and nothing.

“Are you trying to open it?” McKay asked from behind him.

“Yes!”

“I mean, mentally.”

“YES!”

“Oh,” McKay responded and tapped at the keyboard.

“Perhaps it requires an IDC,” Teyla tried.

“Might have to dial it,” Ronon decided looking at the DHD. “Would be too bad if the DHD was broken.”

“It’s not broken!” Sheppard shot back.

“We hope,” McKay said petulantly. “Anyway, it wouldn't require the DHD to open. No, this should open with a mental command. Are you sure you’re thinking about the door and not something else?”

“Do you know what I’m thinking right now?” Sheppard growled as he turned to the scientist and fixed him with a glare.

McKay gave him a tight grin and responded, “It might involve me and certain physically impossible contortions.”

That got a small chuckle out of Sheppard, and then a sigh. “So, how do we get it to open?”

“I don’t know,” McKay grumbled. He glared, through the windshield. “It should have just… opened as we drew closer. It should know we’re right here.”

“Might be blocked,” Ronon surmised.

“Maybe if you offered a verbal command,” Teyla tried, helpfully.

“Open the pod bay doors, HAL,” Sheppard ordered.

Nothing happened, except that McKay made a little chuckle, and then said in a pleasant monotone, “I'm sorry, Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that.”

Ronon leaned toward the Athosian and asked, “You ever get the feeling that you’re being left out of a joke?”

“It is most annoying,” Teyla responded, wearily. “And it is rather rude. One must learn to ignore them when they act this way.” She threw McKay an irritated look.

McKay smiled at her, looking a little tickled to have caused this reaction. But he frowned as he returned his attention to the bay that remained stubbornly shut.

Sheppard frowned, and muttered, “What's the problem?”

McKay grinned, nearly glowing with glee, as he said in the same sweet monotone, “I think you know what the problem is just as well as I do.”

“Huh?” Sheppard returned.

“No, no,” McKay said animatedly, “You’re supposed to say, ‘What are you talking about, HAL?’ and then I say, ‘This mission is too important for me to allow you to jeopardize it’.”

For that, Sheppard gave McKay a disgusted look, and growled, “Nobody knows the rest of the dialogue, McKay."

"I do! Come on..."

"Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“We need to know how to get in there, McKay,” he stressed the name, as if to ensure that the physicist was quite sure that he was only a super genius and not a super genius computer bent on killing everyone. “How do we get in?!”

The HUD changed again, indicating different section of the station. “Ha!” Sheppard declared, pursing his lips with a grin, “You were wrong, Mr. Smartypants.”

“No, I’m right,” McKay reiterated. “THAT is the jumper bay. Why are we leaving the jumper bay?”

“Because it doesn’t want us there.” Sheppard directed the jumper around, lazily circling the station. “It wants us over here.” He came around the far side of the station as McKay tapped at his keyboard.

“That’s just a docking station,” McKay stated, as a shape came into sight on the side of the station. “Oh, a docking station. That’d work.”

“Yeah, street parking,” Sheppard added.

The dock was shaped roughly like the back end of the jumper and Sheppard quickly figured out what he needed to do to hook up. “Funny that you didn’t find this dock yourself,” Sheppard chided. “Maybe you should study those schematics a little closer next time.”

For that, McKay jabbed at his keyboard, muttering, “I am putting myself to the fullest possible use, which is all I think that any conscious entity can ever hope to do.”

When that got an odd look from Sheppard, McKay frowned and stated, “What? So you can quote a line from ‘2001’ and I can’t?”

“You’re pathetic, you know that?” Sheppard said, returning his gaze to the HUD and the station.

“Oh, and let me guess, you can quote nearly every line from ‘Caddyshack’ and probably ‘The Blues Brothers’.”

“And ‘Young Frankenstein,’ because those movies were cool and ‘2001’ was mostly lame.”

“Lame?” McKay sputtered. “It’s just probably the most realistic movie about space travel that has ever been produced!”

“What, all that squiggly light stuff and the floating fetus at the end were realistic?”

“Okay, that, not so much… but…”

“And the dullest part about that movie was that all the ‘space’ scenes had no sound.” He tsked, hearing McKay make a strangling sound. “And seriously, they needed explosions to liven it up.”

“No… wait… come on…”

“Quiet down while I get us docked,” Sheppard stated, amazingly silencing the sputtering scientist. “Let me just sidle up here and see if we can’t get us into that thar space station.”

McKay harrumphed, but offered no further complaints as he pecked at the keyboard. Ronon and Teyla had nothing to say.

After a bit of finagling, Sheppard brought the ship inline with the dock, backing it into the shape that resembled the rear of the jumper. As he drew close, the station seemed to take over. Something extended from the hatch and latched onto the jumper with a jolt.

For a second or two, the four waited, as if they expected something else to happen, but the ship was still and the jumper automatically shut down. There was a hiss as the jumper equalized its pressure with the station.

“Okay then,” Sheppard responded, standing up and making his way to the rear of the ship. He suited up, pulling on his vest and hefting a P90, checking it over quickly. He watched as Teyla and Ronon did the same, and Rodney shut down his laptop and quickly secured it in his pack.

“Ready?” Rodney asked excitedly. “Come on, let’s check it out.”

“You sure there’s oxygen in there?” Sheppard asked, pointing the muzzle of his weapon toward the jumper’s hatch.

McKay pulled a scanner from his pocket and nodded as he held it out. “Breathable atmosphere, acceptable temperature. You did hear the system match up, didn’t you?” He poked again. “There’s gravity even.” He smiled. “The station rolled out the red carpet and is ready for us.”

“And no life signs?”

“Nothing,” McKay stated as he eyed the life sign detector.

“Yeah,” Sheppard said with a sigh. He nodded to McKay to hit the control for the hatch. “I just don’t want any surprises.”

The hatch sighed as it opened and the four stood, watching and waiting. McKay cringed backward, holding his breath as if he wasn’t entirely sure about the atmosphere’s breathability, and focused on the life sign detector in his hand.

The empty corridor was revealed beyond the hatch and Rodney let out a surprised gasp, expelling his held air.

“What?” Sheppard asked, realizing already that he was going to regret this.

“There’s nothing on the life sign detector,” McKay stated.

“You already said that,” Ronon told him.

“Nothing! Don’t you get it?” McKay stated sharply. “WE are not even showing up!”

And at those words, two men stepped from either side of the hatch, weapons lifted and ready to fire into the jumper.

PART 3: IRONSPOT

“Drop your weapons!” the larger of the two men ordered as he came into view.

“Hold it!” Sheppard shouted almost at the same time, aware that Ronon would have mowed the two down in an instant if he hadn’t been commanded otherwise. Behind him, the Satedan growled unhappily and McKay made a sound that was rather like an “eeep!” Teyla remained silent.

“Put ‘em down!” the big man ordered again – he was built rather like Ronon, a little bit shorter, and a little bit broader. He had fine, stringy black hair tied in ponytail, and a rough beard. The other man was skinny and short, all sharp angles, with red curly hair that fuzzed like a halo around his head.

The big one scowled and repeated, “Drop ‘em.”

“You drop ‘em, and we’ll think about it,” Sheppard returned, holding his weapon on the bigger of the pair. John didn’t have to look at the others – he knew they held the same pose, that they had divided the targets.

“This is our vessel,” the smaller man said in a reedy voice. “This is our place and we’re not letting you in without a fight!”

“You’re not taking what’s ours,” said the big one.

The two men hadn’t fired, and really didn’t seem to be planning on doing so. Sheppard regarded them. No, they were just protecting their home, the same as he’d do if someone dropped into Atlantis unexpectedly. Sheppard realized that they were the invaders in this situation.

John lowed his aim, saying, “We’re just travelers. We saw the station and wanted to check it out. We didn’t think anyone was here.” He resisted the urge to throw McKay a disgusted look. No, his attention stayed on the larger man. The muzzle of the P90, although lowered, could quickly be raised again.

“We just want to download some files,” McKay said helpfully from behind him. “And to check out your power source because, if it’s a ZPM, we could be put to use elsewhere, that’s for sure. Because, honestly, we need a backup ready and available, and I’m kind of thinking that the one you have is almost empty anyway, so maybe…”

Ronon hissed out a “McKay!” to warn the scientist to silence. McKay, dutifully, quieted.

The two men looked confused.

“We mean you no harm and our mission is peaceful,” Teyla said sweetly, lowering her weapon as well, “We would like to trade.”

“Trade?” the smaller one said, trying to gaze around the four to see into the jumper. “What d'ya got?”

“We have little of trading value with us at this time,” Teyla continued in her calm and understanding voice. “But we would be willing to return with what is agreed to as an acceptable exchange.”

“You have food?” the redhead asked.

“Some,” Sheppard responded. “Not a whole lot. We can get more if that’s what you’re after.”

Still, the smaller man didn’t react to that news. He seemed intent on looking into the jumper. Sheppard shifted uncomfortably, as if to obscure his view.

“It’s of the Ancestors, isn’t it?” the redhead asked.

“The jumper?” McKay returned, jerking his head back toward the rest of the ship. “Oh yeah, the Ancients knew what they’re doing. I know it looks like a flying Winnebago, but it’s fast as anything. I’ve been through every inch of this ship and…”

“McKay!” Sheppard stopped him.

“Yes, yes, shutting up.”

Ronon’s aim never wavered from the bigger of the two men. He locked his gaze on the other, and they regarded each other across the narrow space.

Beside him, Teyla kept her weapon pointed at the smaller man, while McKay did the same.

“You know about Ancient technology?” the smaller man asked, his gun falling to his side.

“Rix!” the other man called sharply.

“Listen, Zeno,” he said, nodding toward McKay. “Maybe he could fix the Ironspot. If all they’re looking for is the database, they can have it, right?” He paused, watching Zeno as Zeno kept his gaze on Ronon. “That’d be worth it.”

“And the ZPM!” McKay added. A growl came from Ronon, but Rodney went on, muttering, “We’d at least like to look at the power source for this station.” He glanced at Sheppard, unable to catch his eye. “It would be a good thing to know about, wouldn’t it?”

“We should let them look,” Rix placated Zeno. “If they can fix the ship, we could get out of here.”

This news seemed to sit well with Zeno. “How long would it take?”

With a disgusted huff, McKay explained. “I have no idea. I’ll have to look at this ship before I can give an ETA.”

Zeno crinkled his brow at the unknown acronym, as Rix said quietly, “We could leave this place if he fixes it. We could… go.”

Zeno blinked at that, and then said gruffly to the others, “We’re in charge. You do as we say.”

“As long as you let us get at the database and the power source…” McKay haggled.

“How ‘bout we call it a ‘partnership’?” Sheppard countered. “You have something we want, and apparently we have something you want.” And he nodded toward McKay. “We work out a bargain.”

Rix seemed excited about this prospect, but Zeno regarded them with a narrowed gaze. “You don’t go anywhere in the station without one of us,” Zeno told them. “You play by our rules while you’re here.”

Sheppard flashed them a ‘trust me’ smile, and said, “No problem.”

Rix and Zeno stepped back, letting Sheppard and Teyla through, followed by McKay, who tripped on the entrance to the station, barely catching his balance before stumbling forward. He looked toward Ronon as if expecting a helping hand. None was forthcoming.

Ronon was the last to leave the jumper, keeping careful watch on the two men. McKay shut the hatch remotely.

They were in a hallway, curved to match the disc shaped section of the station. The passage was wide enough that two could walk abreast, but the group moved in single file. Rix led the way, with Sheppard just behind him, then Teyla followed by Rodney. Ronon would have preferred to take the last position in the group, but Zeno had other ideas, so the Satedan kept close his team. Zeno hung back, then took up the rear, caging them in.

“I’m Rix, by the way, Rix Mills. The big guy is just ‘Zeno’.”

“Kind of like, Cher?” McKay asked, getting only puzzled looks from everyone except Sheppard.

“I’m Colonel John Sheppard. That’s Teyla Emmagan, Dr. Rodney McKay and Ronon,” Sheppard quickly introduced.

“Ronon Dex,” the Satedan clarified, as if he wanted to ensure that Zeno knew he had more than one name.

“Excellent!” Rix responded. “Just glad to have some new faces around here. Come on, I’ll show you our ship,” Mills stated, as he moved down the hallway. “Then you can see the rest of this place. I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you.” He glanced over his shoulder and gave Sheppard a grin.

“I bet.”

“We’ve been stuck here forever. We didn’t have much of a chance of getting that ship flying on our own and could only hope that someone would come by. How’d you get here?”

“I was about to ask the same thing,” Sheppard returned.

“Escaping from the Wraith,” Zeno responded from behind.

“Yeah,” Rix quickly added, “We were evacuating a little crappy planet. I mean, who’d expect the Wraith to show up on that dirt puck, but here they came. People were grabbing up whatever transportation they could get. Me and Zeno ended up with the Ironspot, but it was too late.” They moved through the hallway as Rix spoke, his voice animated. He ran one hand along the wall as he moved, following the curved space.

“Probably was for the best actually, ‘cause the Wraith took out everyone still headed toward the Circle of the Ancestors. We got out after the Wraith left.”

“How’d you manage that,” Ronon asked, his voice low.

Rix smiled. “The Ironspot has a couple of good things going for it. It can hide.”

“Cloaking device?” McKay asked hopefully.

Mills nodded. “Wraith were sitting right on top of us and they never knew it. They can’t see through it, you know. Well, when they finally left, we got out of there and went to one place where we knew the Wraith wouldn’t find us.”

“This station?” McKay asked. “Because they wouldn’t be able to see your lifesigns.” He snapped his fingers. “Makes perfect sense.”

“Would’ve been great if the ship didn’t, you know, breakdown,” Rix went on. “We barely made it here and the thing just tubbered out.”

“Tubbered out?” McKay tried.

“It means that the craft would no longer function,” Teyla translated.

“Oh,” McKay responded. “Well, that was obvious.”

“Left us stuck,” Zeno grumbled.

“Well,” Rix responded, sounding rather blasé about the matter. “Better in a box than under a tree.”

The Athosian and Satedan nodded to the wisdom of these words, while Sheppard shot McKay a look. The Canadian could only shrug in response.

They followed the turned hallway. Ronon kept his hand near his weapon, uncomfortable with Zeno behind him. He walked, with his head half turned, watching the man who watched him with the same intensity.

“And how long have you been here?” Teyla asked.

Rix shrugged. “Longer than an Acruvio night,” he said with a sigh. “Honestly, you kind of lose track of time in here. No day. No night. It all melds together.”

“So, what have you been eating?” McKay asked from his position between Teyla and Ronon. “I mean, you gotta eat.” He walked at a halting pace, pausing to examine the details on the walls. He brought a hand forward, almost touching an ornamentation, but stepping forward as Ronon pressed behind him.

“We had rations, but those ran out after a while. The Ironspot was stocked with plenty of tava meal,” Rix explained. “It was part of a shipment being sent to one of the colonies. We lucked out when we grabbed it.” He raised a humorous expression to his partner, and added, “‘Though I’m pretty sure Zeno would say otherwise.”

“It’s fine, Rix,” the man returned, looking annoyed.

“Gives him gas,” Rix explained to Sheppard in a stage whisper. “He blows up like a Matoo!”

“Enough of that, Rix,” the tone had become darker.

“‘Course, that means I suffer, too, but…” and Rix gave a little shrug.

“What about water?” Sheppard asked, to change the line of conversation.

“Oh!” McKay stepped quicker to input what he knew. “The station is equipped with a waste recirculation system. All water is recycled.” He flipped one hand as if to demonstrate some step in the process. “What goes in, must come out, right? So the ‘out’ liquids are simply recycled. It’s a remarkable procedure that utilizes wastewater from throughout the facility, sends it through a filtration and sterilization system which…”

“That’s more that I want to know,” Sheppard cut him off quickly.

“We have the same system… back home… for when …you know, our home isn’t in its usual… ah, aquatic environment and…”

“McKay!” Sheppard shot back.

“Really, didn’t need to know that,” Ronon grumbled.

"Remind me not to drink any tap water here," Sheppard whispered over his shoulder to Teyla.

Rix blinked at them, not really sure what to make of the exchange, and then touched a door. It slid open, to reveal a room. “Here it is!” he announced, gesturing into the space.

He stepped forward, letting the others in. The room was large and open, with a ‘garage door’ at the far wall. In the middle of the room was a strange looking craft, and the colonel furrowed his brow, trying to figure out exactly what it was. It was ugly as hell, with something that looked like a crane tucked up on top, and weird engines on the sides that didn’t quite fit with the rest of it. But despite the unpleasant looking bits, there was something familiar about it.

“Hey!” McKay called as he followed. “That’s… that’s…”

Rix smiled, saying, “I know, more haffette than bloxel, huh?”

“What?” McKay shot back.

“He meant…” Teyla paused, searching for the best translation. “…it is a mixture of several things.”

“That’s an understatement,” McKay muttered as he strode toward the thing. “But it’s a jumper, isn’t it?”

“Jumper?” Rix repeated.

“Our ship…” Rodney gestured in the direction of their ship. "We call them 'jumpers'." And he winced a little at that term. “Puddlejumpers,” he added.

“Ah yes, well it was… once,” Rix responded brightly. “I guess…”

The ship, painted a rusty orange, seemed to be pieced together, a hodgepodge of several technologies. The basic shape was a jumper, but here and there other bits were globbed on in a rather haphazard fashion.

It looked as if it had been cut down and reformed at some point. The graceful and practical engines had been sheared off the bottom of the craft and replaced with something that bulged obscenely. There were other strange and bulky protuberances that had been welded to it, resembling tumors.

Sheppard had never considered that the puddlejumper was a ‘beautiful’ ship, but after gazing at the monstrosity before him, he had to admit, the jumper was a sweetheart of a craft.

McKay made his way to the open rear gate of the ship and poked his nose into it, frowning at the mess inside. The original seats had been torn out, and replaced with thick, padded chairs and couches – the rest of the space was open cargo area. There were strange boxes adhered to the ceiling and wires ran along the interior.

"What did you do to it?” Rodney gasped, looking at Rix as if the man had just gutted a living being.

Rix held up his hands. “Oh, it wasn’t me! We found it this way.”

McKay looked scalded as he stomped around the area. “What is this here? Genii tech? And this bit over here probably came from Hoff. Why would anyone replace Ancient technology these substandard devices? Wraith? Is this section from a Wraith ship? Why would anyone want to do something like that?”

“So people could fly it,” Zeno answered from near the back of the ship, where he stood, watching Ronon. The Satedan remained outside the ship as well as Teyla and Sheppard had moved forward.

“Oh,” McKay said with a nod as he squatted down to look under the ‘dash’. “No ATA gene.” He made a disgusted sound as he saw only more bastardizations of the graceful technology.

Rix squatted down beside him. “But you can fly the ship of the Ancestors?” He glanced first at McKay and then to the others. “You are capable of operating their technology?”

“Well,” McKay returned. “That’s rather obvious. I mean, we did manage to get here, didn’t we?”

“That’s enough, McKay,” Sheppard ordered him.

“That must be something,” Rix said wistfully. “To be able to fly one of these crafts as they were meant to be.” He opened his mouth in a wide smile. “I bet you could activate EVERYTHING on this station!”

“Yes,” McKay said, not even trying to sound humble.

“That must be something… something special.” Rix said, shaking his head in wonderment. “We’ve heard stories of people who are capable of doing this. I thought that maybe it was just flabbet and babbet.”

McKay was too interested in poking about in the Ironspot to pay Rix much attention. “Hmmm,” he said in return.

Not sure what to think of that retort, Rix asked, “Can you fix it?”

“It’s a mess,” McKay told him unhappily. His voice raised in irritation as he stated, “I don’t know how someone managed to get all of this stuff patched together, and I don’t YET understand how it all interacts. I need more time.”

“But you can fix it?” Rix asked excitedly.

“I said, I didn’t know how…”

“He’ll fix it,” Sheppard assured. “Now, what about that database and the power source. Think you can show us those?”

Rix nodded happily and stood, slapping his knees. McKay continued to poke at the underside of the control panel.

“He stays here and gets to work,” Zeno told Sheppard, nodding to McKay’s hunched form.

McKay smiled smugly at them from his position at the control panel. “I’ll work a bit here. You go check out the rest of the station. Let me know what you find.”

“Yeah, fine,” Sheppard replied.

Rix made his way from the cockpit of the cockamamie ship. “Come on. I’ll show you,” he said, indicating Sheppard.

The colonel turned to Ronon, giving him only a look. The Satedan nodded.

McKay went on as he puttered, “Just find the control room. I should be able to tap into the database pretty easily – as long as it’s not in the same shape as this…” and his expression became a dour as he regarded what he was faced with in the ship. “Oh, and the ZPM…”

“Yeah, we’ll check it out,” Sheppard promised.

“We will inform you concerning what we find,” Teyla assured and she stepped from the Ironspot with the colonel, following Rix from the ship.

Ronon remained in place, aware of Sheppard and Teyla following Rix from the room, but his attention was on Zeno – who, in turn, kept close watch on his two charges.

PART 4: FLOWER POT

“It’s amazing that you found us,” Rix remarked as he left the jumper bay and stopped at a door immediately across from the room. “I mean, it’s not as if we’re near a major planet or something. Why’d you come this way, anyway?” he asked, turning to face them.

“Exploring,” Sheppard responded. “We like exploring.”

“Sounds like we got something in common,” Rix replied, proudly. “My people are explorers.”

“Who are your people?” Teyla asked leadingly as they stood in the hallway. “What is your home planet?”

With a shrug, Rix told her, “I haven’t had a home planet in many years. We stay on the move and keep the bait on the bunting.”

Sheppard didn’t bother to try to understand the idiom, saying, “Yeah, I bet.”

Rix went on, “We’re always one step ahead of the Wraith. They couldn’t catch us.”

“Until this last time,” Teyla clarified.

“Huh?”

“You said that you and Zeno escaped the Wraith while the others of your group were culled.”

Rix paused before he stated, “Well, I wasn’t with my people at the time. Me and Zeno were trading. It’s so unfortunate what happened to those people.”

“Lucky they had the ship,” Sheppard stated, “And that you were able to fly it.”

He grinned at Sheppard when he said those words. “Yeah. I’m good at that.”

“I see,” Sheppard responded, giving Teyla a look as Rix tapped at a control pad. A door opened, exposing a small room.

“So, you’re exploring,” Rix continued. “Looking for anything in particular?” he asked leadingly as he lingered in the doorway.

Teyla smiled sweetly, stated, “We are looking for neighbors with whom we might trade.”

“Yeah,” Rix responded. “We’re the same. Looking for stuff. We do a lot of that.” And he stepped into a cylindrical room, about seven feet in diameter. “We got to go up the central core,” Mills explained as he grasped onto a ladder and took the first step.

“Up,” Sheppard repeated to Teyla as he entered the small room after Rix. He tilted his head back, finding that the ladder went up about one story to the 'ceiling', and Rix was quickly covering the distance. His thin arms and legs jerked, looking like strange shears snipping away.

When the man reached the top of the ladder, he nodded down to them. “Come on in, John,” he called. “Teyla, you guys got to step all the way in.”

Sheppard glanced at Teyla, who offered a slight shrug, and they stepped fully into the little round room. The door came down behind them with a heavy sigh. Almost instantly Sheppard felt pressure in his ears and glanced about in surprise.

“Sorry,” Rix called down as he pressed a panel. “Should have warned you.”

A door opened beside the ladder where Mills clung, and the pressure was relieved. “Air locks. The central core is full of them. Can’t open the next door unless the others in that section are shut.” He stepped through the opening and peered down at them, waiting. “I think this space station was made in pieces, brought here, and then hooked together with these air locks. You coming?”

Sheppard slung his P90 over his shoulder and responded, “Airlocks? You don’t say?” and started up the ladder. As he clambered up, he was reminded of the water tower near his uncle’s farm. He’d climbed the thing with his cousins one summer and had attempted to find a way in. They’d never made it into the structure, but as his feet clomped on the rungs, Sheppard had a feeling that the inside might have been something like this.

Teyla watched from below, waiting until Sheppard reached the top before she followed him through the open doorway above. The door snicked down behind her.

They found themselves in another rounded hallway, identical to the one that they’d just left. Rix moved across the hall and activated a door, opening the room directly above the jumper bay. “This is the control center,” he explained as he stepped into the room.

John paused at the entrance, seeing a room filled with control panels, display screens and other whatnot.

Rodney would be thrilled, Sheppard decided. The overhead lights had come on with Rix’s advance into the room, but there was a stale feeling to the space, a stillness, as if no one had been in there for quite some time.

“Figure this is where the database is,” Rix said helpfully. He ran a hand over one control panel as he walked by it. “We don’t do much on this floor, and haven’t been able to activate anything, but maybe…”

And as Sheppard came near the device, the controls illuminated. Sheppard raised an eyebrow at the change and Rix stepped back in surprise.

“It’s working?” Rix asked, surprised. He came to stand near Sheppard and gazed in wonder at the lit panel. “Look at that! John! You’re amazing! So. it’s true? You ARE of the Ancestors!” He looked at Sheppard with new appreciation.

Sheppard considered what to say but figured that McKay had already spilled the beans. “Yeah,” he drawled. “Makes a good parlor trick.”

If Rix was confused by the reference, he didn’t show it. “It really kicks the bale, don’t it?” was his response.

Sheppard shrugged, getting used to Rix’s way of speaking. “I’m surprised you guys haven’t cobbled together an interface for this like the one in the ship. You might have been able to send off a distress call, or something.”

Rix laughed. “Aw crackers! Distress call? And let the Wraith know we’re here? No. We had enough food and water to keep us, so we figured we’d wait until some of our people showed up.”

“Oh,” Teyla responded. “You are expecting them?”

With a shrug, Rix told her, “Eventually… but it’s been quite a while.” He paused, as if troubled, then went on with, “There’s no reason to mess with this stuff and I wouldn’t want to. No telling what we might accidentally shut off.” He walked about the room, his hands behind his back as he stared in wonder at the activated panels.

“Yeah, you wouldn’t want to shut off life support, would you,” Sheppard decided.

“Exactly,” Rix told him. “It’s all too complicated for me. That’s why it’s so good that you all came by here!” He smiled widely and then turned to Teyla. “What about you then? Do you have these powers, too?” His smile was rather sweet.

The Athosian shook her head. “No, my people are not blessed with this ability.”

Sheppard added, offhand, “It’s a gift.”

Rix continued, “So, your ship hasn’t been altered? It is as the Ancestors made it?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Sheppard replied, not sure of what to make of the inquiries.

“So, only those with this gift can fly it?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Sheppard replied. “ ‘Fraid so.”

“Great,” Rix responded, looking away to examine the lit keys. “Do you think Rodney’ll be able to fix ours?”

“He is very good at repairing equipment,” Teyla told them.

“Yeah, he can fix just about anything -- if he wants to,” Sheppard added. “And, if he doesn’t manage it somehow, we can give you a ride somewhere.”

“Oh,” Rix responded, smiling. “Well, let’s wait and see if Rodney fixes the Ironspot. That would be best for everyone.” He moved quickly through the room, seeming distracted by the illuminations. He paused suddenly and asked, “Why do you want to download the database?”

“We are interested in the information regarding the supernova,” Teyla explained.

“Oh?” Mills responded. He puzzled a moment and then asked, “Why? What are you planning to do about it?”

Sheppard shrugged. “Supernovas are pretty cool. McKay wants to study it. He gets excited about stuff like that.”

“Dr. McKay is quite interested in such phenomenon,” Teyla told him.

“Oh, okay,” Rix nodded, thoughtfully stroking his chin. “So… how much do you think it recorded? Do you think it has information only about the supernova? It wouldn’t be interested in anything else, would it?”

Sheppard blinked slowly. “I’m sure that’s what the sensors were concerned with,” he placated.

“Okay, good!” Rix nodded and rocked back on his heels. “I guess I can show you the next room, okay?”

“Sure,” Sheppard responded.
“Great! Come on, John, Teyla.” And Rix ducked past them and into the hallway.

Teyla and Sheppard exchanged a look as they paused before leaving the room. His glance carried the warning – watch out for this guy – watch out for this place.

Something just didn’t feel right.

[0]{O}[0]

Ronon watched from his location just outside the Ironspot, watching as Rodney examined the handiwork inside the ship.

The scientist squeezed into various cubbyholes, having removed his pack and vest to fit. He moved from one panel to the next, his frown deepening with every stop. It was obvious, even to the former runner, that someone had done some seriously ugly alterations to a jumper.

As McKay muttered, fussing, poking and prodding, Ronon’s attention stayed on Zeno.

He didn’t like the man. He didn’t care for the sneaky-looking little guy either. But, at least, he could understand Zeno. Ronon had seen plenty of people like him – big and mean. The type of guy who preferred to bust heads instead negotiating, who preferred a good weapon in his hand over a brain full of technical knowledge. Blowing things up fixed a lot of problems. Sometimes the easiest way to move from one point to another was to carve a hole straight through the middle. Ronon knew this sort of man well – he was this sort of man.

He watched Zeno, who divided his attention between the Satedan and the Canadian. The two big men said nothing. They just listened to the annoyed sighs and garbled murmurings of the disgusted physicist.

“So…” McKay started, breaking the uneasy quiet. “Anyone try to fix this at all?” He pulled up a panel on the floor to reveal another alteration. he groaned as if in pain, then tugged at a latch, revealing some type of dark tube-shaped area beneath their feet. With a grimace, he shut the hatch and replaced the panel.

Zeno watched his movements without saying a word.

“Hello?” McKay cried. “I asked if anyone has tried to fix this thing?”

“Wouldn’t know how,” Zeno responded darkly.

“Well,” Rodney returned, “I wasn’t really talking about you. The other guy -- did he try to fix this? Did he alter anything?”

Zeno made a grunt, and then commented, “Rix hasn’t changed anything.”

“But you guys managed to fly it here?” McKay was incredulous. “How can you operate a piece of sophisticated equipment without having a clue about how it functions?”

“Rix flew it,” Zeno informed him. “I don’t know how.”

McKay tsked and stated, “Well, big surprise, huh?” He sighed discontentedly, poking still. With a wince, he amended, “Okay, okay, I guess I can understand that. I mean, Sheppard can fly just about anything, but fixing a problem? Not so much. I mean, God forbid if something were to break!”

Neither Ronon nor Zeno responded, glaring at each other over the short space.

Frustrated, McKay continued, “But, come on, someone must have tried to fix this.” He looked up at Zeno, perplexed. “Maybe your little buddy sneaked in here and fiddled a bit while you were doing something else, huh?”

With a shrug, Zeno informed, “Rix isn’t like that.”

“Looks sneaky to me,” McKay uttered.

“He doesn’t do anything unless I tell him. It’s broken. It’s been broken. That’s all I know.”

McKay sat back on his haunches and frowned as he continued his inspection. Ronon watched him, easily seeing the discontent in the scientist’s posture – and finding it strange that McKay hadn’t voiced exactly what was bothering him.

Something was up. There was no doubt about it. The Satedan kept his gaze on Zeno, hoping that Sheppard and Teyla returned soon so that they could get the hell out of here.

PART 5: BABOON HEART

They followed Rix through the hallway, to find another doorway and another room. Both Teyla and Sheppard recognized the device in the center of the room, and they smiled. Oh, Sheppard thought, this is going to make a certain scientist very happy.

“Our power comes from here,” Rix said, standing near the doorway. “Don’t know how it works exactly, but this is the place.” He gestured to the ZPM unit.

“Yeah, looks like you may be right,” Sheppard returned. He cocked his head as he smelled the air that came from the room. It seemed fresher than the last room. Of course, that meant nothing – this room must be kept ventilated due to the power unit. Or maybe, Rix or Zeno had been in this room sometime in the near past. Still, it was a difference from the last place they’d visited.

“You don’t come here often?” Sheppard asked, just to see what the answer would be.

“Nah,” Rix responded, tossing his curly hair. “Why would we? We got nothing to do here.” He turned, almost pressing them from the room. “You want to see something pretty impressive?” he asked.

John looked to Teyla, and stated, “Who wouldn’t?”

“Come on!” and Rix stepped clear of the room, waiting for the door to slide shut before he headed back toward the ladder.

John lingered with Teyla a moment, wishing he understood exactly what was going on with these people. He had the distinct impression that they’d best get the hell out of this place as soon as possible. Something was rotten in Denmark.

And for a moment, Sheppard pondered if Rix knew a similar phrase that was popular in the Pegasus Galaxy.

“Where are you?” Rix queried from somewhere ahead of them. “Teyla? John?” He came back toward them, smiling broadly when he caught sight of them in the curved hallway. He gestured, calling, “Let’s go!”

So, they went.

Soon, Rix had them back into the airlock. Teyla and Sheppard needed to descend the ladder, as Rix stayed at the top. Once they were all within the central core, he punched another control. The door to the hallway closed, and the ceiling opened. There were two layers of hatches that opened as one unit, revealing another segment of the central core with the ladder continuing.

“Up!” Rix declared and they climbed up. “You guys are going to love this.”

They traveled through the airlock, closing the double-door behind them before the next set could be opened. And then went through another. When they completed the third segment above the control level Rix paused and looked down on them, grinning. “You ready?” he asked, and without waiting for a response, he opened the panel above, revealing a great black speckled slate instead of yet another white tube.

He chuckled as he climbed up and out -- and waited for them. Sheppard stopped and looked around in amazement once his head was clear of the airlocks. “Wow,” was all he could get out as he quickly scrambled out.

He offered a hand as Teyla made it to the top of the ladder and they were soon standing on a platform, under a great dome, surrounded by stars.

Neither said anything at first, staring in quiet wonder at the velvety blackness that surrounded them. On one side, the cloudlike supernova highlighted the ‘sky’. In the other direction, the ringed planet ornamented the black. The planet and its moons looked different from this angle, dimmer, more mysterious. The sun was behind them, making the edges of its black moons glow in eclipse.

And all around them, so many stars it seemed impossible to count them.

Sheppard had been among the stars before. They’d seen several space-gates in their travels. He’d been in space. It was always cool… but as he stood, with stars all around, with the strange beauty of the supernova on one side, and the simple elegance of the gas giant on the other, a sense of awe filled him.

Teyla stood beside him. They didn’t look at each other – their attention reserved for the spectacle. This stage to the stars took his breath away. He wanted to stand and stare, he wanted to turn slowly, to see everything, to be silent, to be filled with the incredible sight.

“This is the observation deck,” Rix’s voice cut through the quiet, and he moved about quickly in the domed space. “But I bet you’ve seen stuff like this all the time.” He came to stand beside the control panel in the center of the room, watching them and smiling as if he thought their reactions were rather amusing.

“No, haven’t seen anything like this,” Sheppard admitted. “Not quite.”

“No? Wow… really?” Rix was perplexed. “I kinda thought you’d seen everything.”

“No,” Teyla said softly. “This is very new.”

“Yeah?” Rix continued. “I’ve been here a few times, but it gets a bit boring after a while. I mean, how many times can you see big squishy thing? It never changes.” He gestured to the supernova, shrugging. “I thought you’d like to see it though.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Sheppard said, craning his head to look straight up. He felt giddy and a little lightheaded, understanding how McKay could find such interest in the stars.

John figured he could stay here and stare for hours, for days.

“Okay,” Rix said and he went back to the ladder and began descending.

John and Teyla lingered for a moment longer, their eyes scanning the great dome over their heads, the stars that filled every inch of the ‘sky’.

“Come on!” Rix called. “I want to show you the rest of the place.”

“We’re going to want to check on the others before we see anything else,” Sheppard stated, his tone leaving no room for argument. He touched his radio and frowned at the static. He glanced at Rix.

“Oh, I know!” he explained. “Only the most basic transmissions work. I mean, we can set off an alarm if necessary, but that's all. I think it has something to do with the whole life-sign blocker thing.”

“We need to check in… now,” Sheppard said, his voice low.

“That’s fine,” Rix responded from below, his voice sounding hollow in tube. “We’ll go back to the others, and then I’ll show you the living quarters and the rest.”

“Fine,” Sheppard returned and started down the ladder with Teyla following.

[0]{O}[0]

“So?” McKay asked from his crouched position beside one of the Ironspot’s tumor-like additions. “Find out anything?”

“Radios don’t work.”

“Yeah, we figured that out already,” McKay replied.

“Nice.”

“Ronon tried to call to make a report on our progress. Couldn’t reach you.”

“That’s good to know.”

“What did you find that was useful?”

“Looks like they got a ZPM,” Sheppard said calmly, coming to stand just outside the ship, alongside Ronon.

McKay’s reaction was as Sheppard expected – Rodney jumped to his feet, looking ready to burst his buttons. “Excellent!” He wiped his hands on his shirt, surprised to find grease. He frowned at the stain but was too excited by the prospect. “Working? A working ZPM?”

“It does appear to be working,” Teyla told him. “And we have been shown the control room, and the observation deck as well.”

McKay waved a hand, as if to dismiss the last detail. “A control room -- perfect!” he asked, bouncing a little and grabbing his laptop as he made his way to the exit of the jumper-hybrid. "Does it look like I can access the database from the control room?

“How should I know, McKay?” Sheppard responded.

Rodney closed his eyes for a moment, his features seeming to say, ‘I work with imbeciles.’ “Fine!” Rodney bit back. “Can you at least tell me what happened when you entered the room? I mean, did anything light up or beep when you got close to it?”

“The place lit up like a Christmas tree,” Sheppard explained. “Should be ready and waiting for you.”

McKay smiled and started to make his way off the Ironspot.

“Wait,” Zeno ordered, as he straightened, holding up a hand as if he meant to restrain the scientist from leaving the vehicle. He stopped short of actually touching the man – not letting on whether it was his own design, or a reaction to the protective stance of the Satedan. “Ship’s not fixed yet. You’re supposed to fix it.”

Letting out a disgusted sound, McKay told him, “And I won’t be able to with the materials on hand. I need a new control crystal, and I’m betting that my best chance of finding a replacement for it will be in the control room. So, if you’d excuse me…?” He picked up his pack and gave Zeno a scathing look.

Zeno stepped back far enough to let Rodney pass, but his expressions remained dark and unpleasant, and McKay had to brush past him to get out of the ship. Before Zeno could follow, Ronon pressed in behind McKay, narrowing his gaze at the man and allowing Rodney enough room to get down the ramp and join the others.

Zeno made a sound like a mountain gorilla and let them pass.

Sheppard watched the exchange carefully, and then voiced a congenial “Hey!” He smiled. “I’m going to need a minute to discuss things with my team, if you don’t mind,” he looked to Zeno and Rix, letting them know that this really wasn’t a request.

“Yeah, we’ll…” Rix paused, contemplating. He turned toward the exit and said, “We’ll just get out of your way for a minute and…”

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll head to the jumper. You can cool your jets here,” Sheppard told Mills with a grin.

“Great!” Mills returned. “Hey, we can have supper when you return. We’ll get the dining hall set up if you’d…You said you had food?”

“Yeah, sure…” Sheppard told him. “We’ll provide the feast. It’s the least we can do, all things considered.”

And for the first time Zeno seemed to smile – if only a little.

With a nod, Sheppard added, “Be back in a minute.” And he turned, quickly stepping through the doorway and into the hall. He was a little surprised that his teammates followed without a complaint.

Nobody spoke as they made their way back into the jumper. They filed in through the dock and met in the forward compartment of their jumper – leaving the rear hatch open, not just as a sign of trust, but also as a means of keeping tabs on the men within the facility.

McKay grumbled as he looked down on his Life Sign Detector, still picking up nothing. “There’s something going with them,” he muttered.

“Yeah,” Ronon agreed.

“And I don’t just mean that they’re getting ready for dinner,” McKay continued.

“They are not to be trusted,” Teyla informed.

“They’re hiding something,” Sheppard added. “Why the hell are they here? I’m getting the distinct impression that they’re not here by accident.”

“They’re lying about the ship,” Rodney told them.

“What? It’s not broken?” Sheppard asked.

“Well, yes, it’s broken. But their explanation for what happened is completely wrong. That ship, in that state, could never function.”

“Hardly looks like it could get off the ground,” Sheppard told him.

“Yeah, it’s a deathtrap,” McKay continued. “But it’s a dead deathtrap. It has no control crystal.”

“Yeah? And?”

“No control crystal means that it’s not going anywhere.”

“The crystal broke,” Sheppard concluded.

“It’s gone,” McKay said, folding his hands over his chest. “There’s an empty space where it should be.”

“Perhaps they removed it in an attempt to repair it,” Teyla tried.

“Zeno says they never touched it,” Ronon put in.

“And I rather doubt that the squirrelly guy knows anything about how the ship works,” McKay told them. “Without the control crystal, the thing just won’t go.”

“It’s a hybrid,” Sheppard mentioned. “They probably figured a way to get around it.”

With an exasperated sigh, McKay stated, “It’s like the heart of the ship, Colonel. Can a human being survive without a heart?”

“Well, yeah,” Sheppard answered. “Don’t people get mechanical devices … and baboon hearts?”

McKay closed his eyes and pinched the top of his nose for a moment. “Okay, right, people can live with replacement hearts -- transplants, Jarvik-7 and baboon hearts. Yeah, I get what you're saying. They're still hearts of some kind! So, let’s say that the control crystal is the brain of the ship, because I’m pretty sure that humans can’t survive without a brain, although I have questioned this at times.” And he gave Sheppard a narrow look. “But the control crystal is not really like a brain, it’s really more like a heart, but you ruined that analogy.”

“So sorry,” Sheppard said without remorse.

“Well, just believe me when I say a jumper or jumper-hybrid won’t fly without the control crystal – and the Ironspot doesn’t have one,” McKay tried to summarize. “What that means is, someone removed it from the ship after it arrived here.”

“They purposefully disabled the ship?” Ronon asked.

“Someone did,” McKay said with a sigh. “I kinda doubt it was Rix or Zeno.”

“Someone else?” Sheppard responded.

“Why would they want to trap themselves on this station with nothing but tava meal and recycled pee for water?” McKay inquired rhetorically and was rather glad that Ronon didn’t try to answer the question. “I’m betting someone took the crystal and left them here with a ship that won’t work.”

“Do you believe that they are prisoners?” Teyla asked.

“Yeah… kinda…” and McKay paused, trying to rationalize the facts. “But this place wasn’t set up to be a prison. They’re not supposed to be here. I think someone stranded them here.”

“So,” Sheppard said and nodded. “That’d explain why they were so interested in who could fly the jumper. They can’t, so they won’t be able to steal our ship.”

“Unless they kidnap one of us!” McKay responded sharply. He touched his chest, saying, “And I’d be the most likely candidate for that! Because they’d want me around to fix things. Do you think they’re going to try to kidnap me?” He looked frantically from one of his friends to the next. “I really don’t want to be jumperjacked.”

“It’s not going to happen, McKay,” Sheppard assured in a low voice, then he frowned as he looked about in the jumper. “Does Jumper 5 have a control crystal?”

“Of course it does,” McKay responded. “Didn’t you hear my ‘heart’ analogy?”

“Would it be in the same place as the one on their ship?” Sheppard went on.

“Yes, yes, yes,” McKay sounded exasperated. “Their ship is built on a jumper’s base. They just added stuff. The basic operating system is the same.”

“So, if they were able to gain entrance to this ship, would they be able to remove our control crystal and use it for their ship?” Sheppard pressed.

McKay gave him a smug expression. “I doubt they could manage it,” he returned. “Frankly, Zeno seemed more concerned about butting heads with Ronon here. I doubt he paid any attention to what I was doing.”

“He’s right,” Ronon confirmed, trying not to pay attention to the pleased look McKay displayed at this news.

“And Mr. Obvious didn’t give away where the missing crystal was?” Sheppard asked the Satedan.

McKay grumbled unhappily, and Ronon responded, “Nope. He was complaining the whole time he was in that ship. Doubt anyone could figure out where the worst problem was.”

“Good,” Sheppard responded quietly. “At least we got that on our side. They’re not going to take our ship.”

“Why are they not content with the idea of being relocated?” Teyla asked quietly. When Ronon and McKay looked at her curiously, she restated, “We asked if they might want a ride to a planet where they could continue with their lives.”

“And Rix refused…” Sheppard finished. “Seems that all they’re interested in is getting the Ironspot fixed. He seemed pretty concerned about the database, too, and what might have been recorded there.”

“The database!” McKay exclaimed, pulling his laptop from his pack. “I got to get this set up and start the download.” He tapped excitedly at the sides of the laptop, his eyes gleaming.

Ronon didn’t look happy. “We should leave this place,” he proclaimed.

Sheppard let out a breath, looking discontent. “What about the ZPM?” he asked.

Ronon shrugged. “Do we really want to deal with these people?” he asked. “We’re just asking for trouble.”

“Yes,” Teyla responded. “But gaining a ZPM is well worth the effort.”

When Ronon looked unsure, McKay replied with, “The ZPM could mean the difference between life and death for us the next time the Wraith show up. Let me get the download started. The information that they’ve gathered is … well it has to be incredible. Then, we grab the ZPM and all of us go.” He looked at the others, seeing their reluctant expressions. “I mean, whatever these guys are up to, all they seem to want is to have their ship fixed, right? With the ship fixed, they’ll just go, too. They won’t need the ZPM.”

Sheppard contemplated it a moment, not liking anything about this situation, but McKay was right about the ZPM. Even a partially depleted power source might be the nudge they needed to keep the shields active in a bombardment. “We’re not leaving the ZPM behind,” Sheppard declared.

“And the database,” McKay added quickly. “We’re not leaving without all the data they’ve collected on the supernova.”

“If push comes to shove, McKay…”

Rodney made a face, looking like a child about to throw a tantrum. “You have no idea of the value of this information! Consider the importance of the find! If I were able to download even a fraction of the…” He paused, trying to draw his thoughts together into something the ‘common person’ could understand. “It’s important data because when a star in our part of the galaxy starts acting wonky, it sure would be nice to know if it’s about to blow us to pieces. If we have this sort of knowledge, it’d go a long way in predicting this sort of thing.”

“Fine! Do the download,” Sheppard grumbled.

McKay smiled, and probably would have bounced around a bit in his glee if he wasn't in the confines of the jumper.

Sheppard asked, “You can fix their ship?”

“Sure, sure, sure,” McKay answered. “I can borrow a couple crystals from the control room and cobble something together. Find something that’ll work as a replacement – a ‘baboon heart’ sort of thing.”

“How long will the download take?”

“An hour – two tops.”

“And the repair?”

“About the same.”

“Then how long to get the ZPM?”

McKay blew out an annoyed breath. “Well, the ZPM unit should have a power buffer. I just have to make sure that the buffer is charged. It would give the station a few hours of juice, more than enough to get back to the jumper and launch it with full life support.”

“And if there is no buffer?”

“We have spacesuit,” McKay responded, jamming a thumb toward the suit's cabinet. “Someone will just have to go in with the environmental suit, and then maybe have to deal with the loss of gravity and… the airlocks might not function… and that sort of nonsense, because whoever does it…”

“And that would be you,” Sheppard told him.

“Yeah, me… big surprise there! Fine, I’ll be the one who shuts down the station and grabs the ZPM after the Ironspot has launched. You know, it’s a good thing we docked here because it’ll be easier to detach from the dock than it would be to leave the pod, considering the possibility of having no power.”

“Thank goodness for small favors.”

“So, before we go too far down that road… if I could check the ZPM,” McKay stated, sounding a little condescending. He jammed the laptop under his arm and popped one hand against his fist.

“Right, go,” Sheppard said with a nod. “Ronon, stay with him. I’m sure one of our hosts will be more than pleased to escort you.”

Ronon made a grumbling sound but nodded.

“Fine, glad we got that settled. Now, supper.” Sheppard opened a panel to check through their supplies. He thumbed through the MREs, pulling out six packets and then grabbing a few bags of water. These collected, he jammed them into a pouch. He slung the supplies over his shoulder.

As he started to shut the storage cabinet, he caught sight of the football, still under one of the forward seats. He stepped toward the cockpit, grabbed the ball, and shoved it into the bag with the rest, thinking he could use it to harass McKay during dinner.

Rodney groaned, “Is that really necessary.”

“Hey, it might come in handy,” Sheppard said with a wink. He stood, nodded to the others, and they left the jumper again – this time, locking the hatch behind them.

[0]{O}[0]

Ronon watched McKay, wishing he’d hurry as he messed about with wiring his laptop into the space station’s main control panel. McKay would tap a few keys, pause, get a contemplative look, tap a little more, and watch the images that played across the screen. He’d frown, tap again, look annoyed, tap and then slowly smile. He seemed to be satisfied with the outcome – in fact he turned to the Satedan and grinned smugly.

“Download has started,” McKay proclaimed. “I should be able to process the entire database.”

“Good,” Ronon responded. “Sooner you get that done, the better.”

McKay informed him, “I know you don’t care about this sort of thing, but the knowledge contained in this database must be incredible. We’ve only been able to conjecture about what happens in a supernova. This is our first chance to find out everything – minute by minute – year by year – millennia by millennia.”

“Fine,” Ronon replied. “You got it hooked up, so let’s get moving.”

“Wait, wait,” McKay responded as Ronon turned toward the door. “I have to see if I can find the crystals I need to fix the Inkspot.”

“Ironspot,” Zeno corrected from his position near the doorway, then asked “Crystals?” His voice was suspicious as he watched the proceedings.

“Yes, crystals,” McKay said, a little pissily. “You’re missing a necessary organ on your ship and I’m about to make a transplant.”

Zeno looked a little lost as he asked, “And you think we’ve had the right part here all along?”

“Well, not exactly. I mean, you’re missing a specialized crystal, but I should be able to find something here that’d work in a pinch,” Rodney told him, squatting down and ran his fingers along a panel for a few seconds. He dug in his fingernails and managed to find some sort of release that Ronon hadn’t spotted. After a second, he pulled the piece loose.

Ronon smiled as he watched for Zeno’s reaction. Zeno was surprised as McKay revealed the hidden components of the control panel.

The scientist set the panel aside and started to look about inside the space, half crawling into it to get at what he wanted. McKay started making happy little sounds as he worked, plugging his tablet computer into the crystals – pulling one piece out from time to time – putting some back and shoving others into his pack.

The Satedan kept himself positioned between McKay and Zeno, who’d insisted on showing them the room, while Sheppard and Teyla descended to the living quarters on the station with Rix.

He didn’t like this – he didn’t like that they were still at the space station. This was a bad idea. He saw no reason to help these people. They should grab the ZPM and go.

There was no reason to help Rix and Zeno.

In another lifetime, back when he was a runner, he would have shot these two men on sight, and then he would have been free to do whatever he wished, alone, in this complex. It would have been easier. Another lifetime… alone.

“Okay, got it!” McKay announced, standing and jamming another crystal into his pack. “I think I got what we need to fix the Ironspot.”

“Get back to the ship then,” Zeno told him, “and fix it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” McKay responded. “But first we should check the ZPM.”

“No,” Zeno proclaimed. “You fix the ship.”

“I don’t think so,” Ronon put in before McKay could open his mouth. He rested his hand near his weapon as he said, “We check the ZPM, like the man says.”

McKay looked between the two and scoffed, “Come on. You’re like a couple of gorillas fighting for who gets to be the silverback. Look, I got to check the ZPM’s buffer. If it needs charging, then I set it up. That way, while the download continues and I fix the problem with the Ironspot, the ZPM can also be charging the power buffer that’ll allow us all to leave safely. See?”

He glanced at the other two, discovering that neither was really listening to him. With a sigh, he added, “I think we’re planning on eating some dinner before we got too far, so let’s do this check and take a break.” He settled a hand on his stomach. “I could eat,” he declared.

Zeno stood stiffly, oozing discontent.

Tired of it, McKay snapped his fingers and ordered, “Let’s get moving! The ZPM room!”

Ronon held a smile as Zeno left the room and shuffled forward, leading them around the curved passageway to the room that held the ZPM. The Satedan kept a careful watch, even as Rodney nearly skipped on the journey.

When the door opened, McKay’s eyes lit up and he stood for a moment in the doorway – just staring within. Zeno, on the other hand, held back. Ronon regarded him with sloe eyes, curious at the man’s reaction. Zeno didn’t want them in this room, he decided. That fact made Ronon all the more willing to enter it.

Rodney nearly pounced on the ZPM. “It is!” he exclaimed. “It’s a working ZPM!” Ronon wasn’t sure, but McKay might have giggled. “Amazing! If only a lagniappe such as this would drop into my lap at every one of our missions.”

Ronon smiled slightly at Zeno’s annoyed and confused expression.

As McKay frittered around the controls, muttering and mumbling, spouting off stuff that Ronon was probably supposed to retain. The Satedan surveyed the room, wondering at Zeno’s reluctance.

The big man’s gaze glanced toward one wall, and Ronon regarded it surreptitiously. Several boxes had been piled in front of the panels, but the parcels had a staged quality to them – as if they’d been purposefully settled there.

He diverted his gaze before Zeno might catch on, and he waited as McKay finished his work.

PART 6: COUNTRY CAPTAIN

The living quarters for the station were in the ‘flowerpot’ bottom of the structure, and it was there that the group gathered. McKay had no desire to take a tour of the crew facilities, and Zeno didn’t feel like leading him about any longer. There was little to see in any case – the mess hall, the ‘head’ with its usual Ancient restroom facilities, and a ‘work out’ room where makeshift exercise equipment had been set up. Teyla, Sheppard and Rix had ended their tour in the ‘barracks’ with its messed up beds and tossed-about clothing.

Rix had been a bit embarrassed of the place when he showed it to Teyla and Sheppard, kicking used garments under the bunks. “Should have done laundry a few days back,” he muttered. “If we knew you were coming, we’d have cleaned a bit.” With a laugh, he explained that they avoided washing the sheets for as long as possible by simply moving to next bunk down in the series of six beds. “It’s like a game of huxey-hoddle,” he’d explained.

It was a good thing that the environmental controls were in full working order because John was fairly sure the place would have stunk without a good filtration system. Teyla’s scrunched up nose had told John that she had suspected the same thing.

The Mess Hall was a large room, obviously meant as a gathering space for the scientists that had worked at the facility. The tension in the room relaxed considerably when the MREs were brought out.

“That’s food?” Zeno asked suspiciously as he crowded close to get a look at the packets.

“Food?” With a shrug, Sheppard commented, “You can call it that.”

“Do you have a Beef Ravioli in there?” McKay asked hopefully as he leaned toward the colonel to see what was coming out. Sheppard jerked the packs away from the scientist’s hopeful gaze.

“Dr. McKay,” Teyla calmly remarked, “our hosts should have first choice, don’t you agree?” And she made a little scowl as she saw ‘Country Captain Chicken’ emerge from Sheppard’s bag.

“They won’t know which one’s good. This is all Greek to them,” McKay commented, and then paused as he thought of something. “Try the ‘Veggie Burger’,” he told Rix. “You’ll like that one.” When he noted the name of the top packet, his expression fell a bit. “Oh, there’s a ‘Country Captain’! You should get that one. Be my guest. You’ll like it.” He glared at Sheppard for a moment, saying in an accusing whisper, “I thought they stopped making that one.”

The colonel made a disgruntled sigh. “I figure the folks on the Daedalus bogart the good ones and leave us with these, then no one wants to pack them for missions, so they end up in the jumpers.”

Zeno pawed through the packs that Sheppard had tossed to the table, looking at indecipherable writing with the same greedy expression as a child when first glancing a pile of birthday presents. He picked up one pack and squeezed it experimentally.

Rix looked uncertainly at the packaging. With a conciliatory glance to Zeno, he said softly. “We got to take it easy, you know. Zeno, if we eat too much of a new thing, our guts are going to want to revolt.”

Zeno snatched up a bag labeled ‘Thai Chicken’ and mumbled, “I’ll take my chances.” He sniffed at the metallic packet, longing to find out what was within.

Rix’s wisdom won out in the end. He cooked up a pot of tava meal, augmented with half the ‘Beef Stew’ and part of the ‘Pasta with Vegetables’. Ronon grabbed the ‘Beefsteak with mushrooms’ and Teyla made away with ‘Thai Chicken’ while Sheppard found ‘Beef patty’. McKay, sadly finished up the remains of Rix and Zeno’s half-used meals, raiding the Country Captain for its toaster pastry and mashed potatoes. The entrée remained forlornly on the table.

The water bags were also of great interest to the residents of the space station. Rix slurped down the contents of one packet almost immediately, declaring he’d forgotten what good water tasted like. He grabbed another when he thought no one was looking and secreted it under the table.

The food eased the tensions of the room. Rix and Zeno munched at their weird concoction – Zeno looking contented as he shoved the mixture into his mouth, and poked ' potato sticks' and ' wheat bread snack' after it. Rix was more cautious, but soon got into the spirit of the meal when he discovered the wonders of ‘chocolate sports bar.’

McKay pecked at his meal as he worked on the crystals he’d collected. He frowned at the vegetables mixed into his pasta, pushing them out of the way to get to the noodles. As the others spoke congenially, he tapped at his data tablet, and then held the crystals up to the light, examining them visually, as if he could conjure their exact use.

Well, Sheppard thought, if anyone could figure out those things – just by looking at them – it’d be McKay.

Sheppard and Ronon, finished with supper, started tossing the football back and forth in the big room, quickly gathering the attention of Rix and Zeno, and gaining the annoyance of McKay, who had to duck more than once to avoid a concussion.

A couple of times, he didn’t see the missile in time, and the ball whacked him in the shoulder, or back, or side… to wobble off in a different direction. He’d fume, of course, but the play continued.

Finally, fed up – or finished -- McKay announced that his work was done and that he needed to return to the Ironspot to see if the repair would function properly. Rix quickly volunteered for the job of escort. Sheppard glanced at Teyla, and she went with them.

As they left the room, Zeno picked up the ball and tossed it experimentally to Sheppard, allowing himself a smile.

“What’s it called?” Zeno asked as Sheppard caught the wobbly ball with some effort.

“Football,” the colonel replied.

“It doesn’t look like a foot,” Zeno responded as the ball was tossed back to him. He hefted it in his hands and then glanced at the others. “Are we supposed to use our feet to catch it?”

Sheppard made an attempt to answer, but Ronon cut him off. “Don’t ask too many questions about it,” he told Zeno. “It’ll just confuse you and ruin the game.”

[0]{O}[0]

Back in the Ironspot, McKay went to work, fussing and poking and experimenting with the equipment. Rix and Teyla made themselves somewhat comfortable sitting in the forward seats as McKay worked.

Rix watched lazily, asking questions, but getting little in response that he could comprehend from McKay. Mills would glance at Teyla, hoping she might provide some insight into what was being said, but her expression told him that she was often just as baffled.

She smiled at Mills and gave him little encouraging nods when his questioning flagged. It gave him the will to go on.

McKay continued to answer, with a bit more snap with each passing moment, but Rix yawned more often. It was only a matter of time and the man’s first good meal made him drowsy. Soon, he leaned back in the seat and dozed.

A little tired herself, Teyla stood and stretched and moved closer to where McKay was working.

“Teyla, you’re just in time,” Rodney said brightly at her approach. “I appreciate you staying out of my way until now, by the way,” he said in an attempt to make a compliment.

“Yes,” Teyla responded softly. “I thought it would be best.”

“And you got our ah… host… to finally shut up. Very good of you.”

She smiled slightly at that and said, “I did my best.”

“Well, good… good,” McKay gestured grandly to the crystals. “The work is complete. Have a look.” He stepped back, folding his arms over his chest and bouncing slightly as Teyla stepped forward.

She did her best to examine the set of crystals, finding that it looked exactly like every other bank that she’d seen in the past. She turned toward the physicist and smiled warmly at him. “Well done, Dr. McKay,” she complimented.

He grinned even more, and spoke excitedly, “It required quite a bit of patching and it’s not as clean as it should be.” A finger pointed into the works of the display. “See here, I had to make room for my ‘patch’, so I removed some of the crystals that they’ve already overridden with their own equipment. But see this, this here? This section that looks like it was completed by baboons?” He pointed emphatically to a section that looked rather like every other section. “Let’s just start off by saying, I didn’t do that.”

“That is obvious,” Teyla responded serenely.

“Yes, of course,” McKay replied. “If we had unlimited time, I would make the repair a bit cleaner, but apparently it works, so I’ll leave it as it is. But do you know what they’ve done here?”

“No, I am afraid I do not.”

“Well, if you look here, you’ll see what’s been patched in,” and he pointed to a strange looking protuberance that was hooked into the ship’s wall, “I think you might recognize the technology.” And he paused, waiting for Teyla to look at the mechanism.

Teyla obligingly stepped closer to the device, feeling that she’d have no chance of recognizing the source of the technology, but as she leaned in, there was no mistaking the ‘fleshy’ looking bit of business. “Wraith.” Teyla stepped back in disgust, as if needing to get away from the thing. “They have had dealings with the Wraith?”

McKay waved away her concern. “They’ve scavenged bits and pieces of technology from everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised to find bits of a Soyuz and the Cassini-Huygens in here.” He paused, cocked his head and amended, “Okay, I would be surprised by that.”

Teyla said nothing, knowing that she’d be better off not questioning the reference.

McKay went on, “And the fascinating thing about this piece of technology?” He tapped it with one of the tools he’d been using. “It’s a shield device.” He nodded and smiled smugly. “They’ve managed to wire a Wraith shield into what used to be a jumper. More effective than that barrier the Wraith put up for us on that desert planet. Very clever.” He glanced to the slumbering Rix and commented softly, “I rather doubt that this brain trust had anything to do with it.”

The magnitude of what McKay stated sunk in. “Being able to add a shield to the jumpers would be very beneficial,” Teyla responded.

“Yes, well yes, that’s obvious, isn’t it?” Rodney said with a nod. “I’m going to have to study all of this a bit more to figure out how they did it. Oh, and they have the ability to fire torpedoes, too.

“Torpedoes?” Teyla tried the word.

“They couldn’t use those squiddy drones because, well, they don’t have the ATA gene to activate them, but they’ve replaced the drone launching system with a pair of torpedo tubes. I discovered them when I went over this earlier, but I’ve just been able to access the systems.” He leaned down and heaved open a compartment in the floor, revealing a tube that ran under the floor. “Seems pretty simple, actually. They just need to load in an explosive and they’re ready to go. They’re fired by pushing that button on the control panel, the mauve one.”

“Mauve,” Teyla tried the word.

“The purplish one, that looks like it was added using duct tape and chewing gum.”

“And how is the device aimed?”

McKay paused, considering. “I think it’s just point and shoot,” he decided.

Teyla looked around the Ironspot apprehensively. “Are there any other weapons present?”

“Nope,” McKay responded quickly. “Not that I’d ever want to rely on such a … simplistic weapons system, but the fact that they were able to integrate it into the jumper is… amazing. Just the knowledge that they were able to do this could prove helpful in the future.”

“That is good news,” Teyla responded, smiling still.

“Yes, of course,” McKay replied, angling his head up slightly. “And, naturally I’ve already committed all of this to memory. I’m a veritable font of knowledge.” He smiled. “Now,” he added. “I want to go check on the ZPM charge and the data download to ensure that we have them running correctly before we run a test on this …” and he patted one wall of the ship, “…monstrosity. It should fire right up.”

Teyla glanced at Rix, finding him sleeping soundly. “That would be wise,” she responded.

“Yeah, like I was saying. So… we head up to the control room?” he looked at Rix. “You want to wake him?”

She paused a moment, regarding the sleeping man. “I shall remain,” Teyla decided. “It might be best if he does not know that you have completed the repair. It will allow you to perform your inspection without interruption.”

“Yeah, true,” Rodney conceded.

“They seem to be interested only in the repair of this ship. It would be best if we had what we want, before they received what they want.”

“Excellent. Good,” McKay responded, bouncing slightly on his heels. “Okay, I’ll go check.” He turned and made his way off the hybrid jumper. “You sure you’ll be okay here with him.”

Teyla smiled slightly at the sleeping man. “I will have no problems,” she decided.

“Great, okay,” Rodney responded, looking apprehensive about leaving Teyla.

“I will be fine, Rodney,” Teyla assured.

“Of course,” Rodney replied, and he gave her what might have been an encouraging smile. “I’ll be right back.” He offered, nodding toward the door.

Teyla smiled as the door activated and he stepped through the opening. Once the door closed, she sighed and returned her attention to the sleeping man, curled tightly on the seat.

[0]{O}[0]

The doorway to the central core didn't give McKay much trouble. He’d seen both Rix and Zeno activate the door, had witnessed the series of buttons pushed, so he only needed to replicate the movements and he was through.

He grumbled as he was met with the ladders again, not caring for the means of moving from one level to another. “Haven’t they ever heard of transporters?” he asked no one as closed the door behind him.

Great! His arm hurt – exactly where Ronon had hit him earlier with the football. “I told them I’d bruise,” he said under his breath. “Great thing to have when I’m trying to climb a ladder – a big BRUISE on my arm. Not helping matters.”

Muttering unhappily, he clung with one hand to the ladder when he reached the top. He quickly entered the code to open the door to the upper level, and with a whoosh, it opened.

He smiled when he entered the control center and approached the laptop. Checking the progress, he discovered that the download was complete. He hummed a little as he examined the data, delighted to see the extent of it. Eyes darted back and forth as lines of information scrolled across the screen. Days could be spent just parsing through the download, and for a moment he considered staying put and doing exactly that.

But, remembering his other responsibilities, McKay shrugged and closed down the laptop.

He frowned, realizing he should have taken his pack with him. It would have made toting the laptop much easier. Oh! Especially when he went down that ladder! Well, great… just great.

So, the Ironspot was fixed, the data download complete -- two missions complete – one to go. If the power buffer was now sufficiently charged, they’d all be free to go.

He tucked the laptop under his arm and walked from the control room to the power room. He couldn’t keep the bounce from his step. This little mission would prove to be one of the most profitable they’d ever completed. They would come away with a ZPM, knowledge of how to install shields on their jumpers and… he patted the laptop lovingly… a wealth of information regarding the death of a star.

Already, he was itching to get back to Atlantis so that he could go check it all out.

He opened the room to the power room and stepped inside, smiling blissfully at the ZPM station. The only disappointment was that the buffer wasn’t completely charged. He frowned at the readouts, and then decided it wasn’t going to bother him. Another ten minutes or so would do the trick.

He sat back, prepared to open his laptop and make good use of the time by starting his examination of the data he’d compiled. The astrophysicist in him was straining to study the data, but as he looked around the room, the perfectionist in him took over.

There was something wrong with the far wall. The boxes were completely out of place, but it was more than that. This room was the wrong size. He’s seen the schematics for the station, had known exactly where to find the ZPM room, and he knew that the room should have been twice this size.

Why was the room shortened? It was as if someone had blocked off the back half of this space and created another room.

Rodney set the laptop down on the ZPM station and wandered toward the boxes. He leaned his head one way, and then the other as he examined the wall. Reaching out one hand, he felt along a seam, and grinned. There was a door. Yes, quite possibly a storage space behind it. Perhaps even another ZPM? Excitedly, he pulled out his scanner and tried to get a reading, but the system was still flummoxed by the station’s jamming system.

“Great,” he muttered. “I guess I’ll just have to check and see. And… move the boxes.” He paused, and then looked over his shoulder, wishing he’d brought Teyla and Rix along to help him with this task. “Why did they have to leave these boxes here anyway?” he whined softly. “I mean, really!”

With a grunt, he moved one box, and then another, pushing them clear of the door. “Bet it was Zeno,” he muttered as he worked. “Seems like the sort of thing he’d do,” Rodney grumbled. “If they were planning to put these boxes into the storeroom, they’re total idiots to leave them so that they were BLOCKING the door. Asinine!”

After a couple moments of sweat, Rodney managed to complete the task. Smiling at his accomplishment, Rodney ran his hand around the door, finding a concealed control panel after a moment. The door didn’t open, but that was little hindrance to a mind such as Dr. Rodney McKay’s.

“Here we go,” he said out loud, keying it with the commands. “Let’s see what’s inside you.”

And the door slid open. For a moment, Rodney was startled by a flash of gold – gold, or something like it, glittered from the room. Everything within was gold and silver, like a treasure trove. There were jewels and little Ancient devices, all hastily jammed into boxes and containers.

His jaw dropped and he was frozen in surprise as he took it in. “What the…” he started and jumped back as something moved at him from within the hidden room.

“What? Who?” he demanded, his voice getting a bit higher as a woman stepped into the doorway. He stared at her in disbelief – and she stared back with cold dark eyes.

“What are you doing in there?” McKay questioned, and flinched as she lifted a weapon from her side, bringing it to bear on him.

Rodney raised his hands in surprise and submission as he tried to back away. “Sorry!” he squeaked, not knowing what else to say.

The woman said nothing as he moved away, following his progress with her weapon.

“I didn’t know… I…”

She was compact, dark-skinned, with long black hair that fell in long braids down her back, and a severe face.

When she spoke, it was a smoky growl. “Stop,” she ordered.

“I didn’t see anything in there,” Rodney tried to convince. “Nothing, I just…” The exit was just behind him, opening as it felt him draw close. “Let’s forget this happened, okay? You can just go back into your little hole and shut the door. I’ll even move the boxes back if you want.”

Her sharp expression didn’t change, and the weapon remained pointed at him.

Out of the corner of his eyes, Rodney spotted his laptop – filled with information that would make any astrophysicist cry. He made a grab for it, unwilling to leave it behind. His hands clasped tight, and he drew it to him.

He didn’t hear the shot. It was like a punch to his side, and he stumbled, spinning into the doorframe and falling even as he grasped the laptop to his chest.