SGA fic: Gaijin pt 2/40
Dec. 8th, 2008 11:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sam_gamgeeGaijin, Part 2/40
The complete header can be found in part 1.
Previous parts can be found here.
Rodney came to slowly, feeling groggy. He carefully opened his eyes, thankful there was no bright light shining in them. He groaned as he rolled over onto his side and looked around. The medium-sized tent he was in was warm and comfortable, appointed with a few personal belongings – though not crowded by them. He could hear the wind whipping about outside. So, definitely not the afterlife, he concluded.
A young woman came into view and knelt down next to Rodney’s cot. “How are you feeling?” she asked, placing the back of her hand against Rodney’s forehead.
Rodney gaped at her, not having understood a word of what she said. No, he revised, this was definitely hell. “Where am I?” he asked.
She looked at him surprised, and then confused. “Do you not speak Lapran?” she asked.
“I can’t understand you,” Rodney replied. “It sounds like you’re talking gibberish. And maybe you are, just to mess with me, though I doubt I’ve met you before in my life, so I have no idea why.”
She sighed and sat back on her heels, looking confused.
“How many days,” Rodney held out a hand and pointed to each of his fingers, “was I out?” He made a gesture like he was sleeping.
She smiled and touched three fingers, then made a gesture that looked like he was asleep, then awake then asleep again.
“Just great,” Rodney muttered as he flopped onto his back. “This is *just* *great*. Where are my friends?”
She disappeared from his view without answering and came back with a small glass – Rodney was surprised that it was actual glass – of water. As Rodney carefully sniffed it, she said, “You need to drink,” and gestured bringing the cup to her lips. “Don’t worry, it’s just water.”
Rodney tentatively took a sip, and while it tasted slightly off, it did still taste like water. He took a larger sip, his thirst coming back in full force. He handed her back the empty glass and she smiled.
Rodney watched her as she stood and walked to the other side of the tent. She couldn’t be more than 21 by his best guess. She was thin and her long red hair was pulled back in a neat French braid. The dress she wore, while plain, looked like silk. She refilled the cup and filled a plate, but he couldn’t see with what until she returned.
Setting down the food and water, she helped Rodney sit up slowly and arranged the pillows behind him. Pulling up a stool and sitting down, she said, “You need to eat. What you were able to keep down since we found you wasn’t nearly enough.”
“You do realize I can’t understand you?” Rodney asked with a shake of his head and a shake of his pointer finger between them.
She nodded and held out the plate. Rodney took it, looking at it dubiously. “This doesn’t have citrus in it, does it?” he asked automatically. At her confused look, he muttered, “Like you would know anyway.” He sniffed it and gently poked what looked like meat and folded green leaves. He stomach rumbled in response. Rodney carefully ate the meat – which was juicier than he expected and sweeter, like it had been dipped in honey and roasted, but it didn’t quite taste like any meat he knew of. No tingling on his lips or tongue was a good sign and he moved on to the leaves, which were filled with crushed nuts and pieces of fruit. As he finished the leaves and picked up the roll, he realized the girl had been patiently watching him the whole time, a small smile on her lips. He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, and she merely laughed.
When Rodney had completely finished, she took his dishes and, while putting them away, said, “I know you can’t understand me, but I’m glad you’re here. You’re obviously not with any of the groups we normally trade with and I’m sure you have fascinating stories.” Turning to him, she said, “Let me get my father so he can check you out.”
She ducked out through a flap across the room, and Rodney saw that the tent they were in was much larger than he had realized. Through the opening he also caught a glimpse of more people, but see much before the flap fell shut.
A moment later, the girl returned with a man who looked to be about fifty. He also wore the silk-like material and had red hair, though his was cropped short and he was clean-shaven. “I see you’re finally up for good,” he said with a smile as he crossed the room and sat down on the vacant stool, the girl coming to stand behind him. “Jillian also says you’ve had something to eat as well. That’s good. Your color looks much better too.” He gently poked Rodney in a few different spots, including the back of his head – which was still tender and Rodney sucked in a small breath.
He pushed up Rodney’s shirt and placed an ear on one side of Rodney’s chest and gestured for him to breathe deeply, which Rodney did, and they repeated this for the other side of Rodney’s chest, as well as the corresponding spots on his back. He gave Rodney a warm smile when he was finished and let him pull his shirt back down. He stood and clasped Rodney on the shoulder and said, “You’ll be fine.” He turned and said something to the girl, which she smiled at, and then he was gone.
She sat back down on the stool. “Jillian,” she said, pointing at herself.
“Jillian,” Rodney replied.
She nodded with a smile. Pointing behind her to where the other man had disappeared through the flap, she said, “Kirby.”
“Kirby,” Rodney repeated. Pointing at himself, he said, “Rodney McKay.”
“Rodney McKay,” she repeated, drawing out the syllables carefully.
He nodded and she smiled. “But, please, call me Rodney.” He paused for a minute, not sure how to ask, but finally looked at her sheepishly and said, “I need to use the bathroom,” as he gestured to his groin. Jillian nodded and helped Rodney stand.
Once he was fully upright, Rodney stretched fully, enjoying the tension ease out of his stiff muscles. Pulling his shirt down, he made a circle in the air with his pointer finger and asked, “Where’s my gear?” and gestured as if he had backpack straps.
Jillian smiled and pointed to where his things had been neatly stacked in a corner. She guided him to the chamber pot in another corner behind a curtain.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Rodney muttered under his breath. He went quickly, wondering if it would be too much to ask if he could take a bath or shower – or something. After three days, he felt dirty and didn’t doubt that he smelled like it too. Both Jillian and Kirby had smelled clean enough, so there had to be some way he could manage it.
He stopped himself. The first thing he had to do was see about getting to the ‘Gate and getting home. He was sure that the rest of the team had to have made it home by now in the Jumper. A shower could wait at least that long.
Coming out from behind the curtain, Rodney said, “Jillian, I,” he pointed at himself, “need to get to,” he made hand gestures like he was walking, “to the Stargate,” he made a big circle in the air, “or Ring of the Ancestors, or whatever your people call it.”
Jillian shook her head and pointed to the tent wall, then cupped her ear, before making raining movement with her fingers.
“I know the sandstorm’s still going on!” Rodney replied with a vigorous nod of his head. “But I’ve,” he pointed to himself and then to the wall, “got to get home!”
Jillian sighed and shook her head again. She pointed to the floor, then held up a finger, made a gesture like she was sleeping, and then pointed to the wall and made a circle for the ‘Gate. Then she made a made an all-encompassing sort of gesture and did the rain/sandstorm gesture again.
It sunk in for Rodney and he said, “Oh,” his face falling. It was going to take about a day to just to get to the ‘Gate and the sandstorm was going to be happening the whole time. He’d have to figure this out. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the floor as he tried to figure out how to ask when the sandstorm would let up, when Jillian snapped her fingers. He looked up and she held up a finger in a “wait a minute” gesture and disappeared out of the room.
Rodney tip-toed over to the curtain that separated the room he was in from the rest of the tent and peeked out. He saw Kirby nearby, treating a young woman for a sprained ankle. A number of other people were scattered about the large room in various-sized groups – the men chatting quietly and the women silent as they tended to various chores. Rodney did notice that most of the people in the room had red hair, though a small few had either blond or brown hair and they were all more-or-less beanpole thin. He ducked back into the room when he saw Jillian speaking with a man approximately Rodney’s own age and gesturing with her head towards the room.
Coming in with the man, Jillian said, “This is Kelly.” Pointing at Kelly, then her temple, before making what seemed to be the agreed-on sign for the ‘Gate, she added, “He knows the most about the Ring.”
Rodney gestured between the three of them and then to the wall and making the ‘Gate sign, asked, “When can we go to the ‘Gate?”
Kelly held up a hand as if to wait, then held up a finger, and then made a sleeping gesture.
“Okay, I can wait a night,” Rodney replied with a nod.
A girl poked her head through the makeshift doorway and said something to Kelly and Jillian. Kelly replied to the girl and she disappeared. Kelly and Jillian exchanged a few words and he bowed slightly to her and then to Rodney before leaving.
“Do you want to take a walk?” Jillian asked, pointing to Rodney, then out the doorway, and making a walking gesture with her hands.
Rodney nodded. Doing *anything* other than staying in that room seemed like a good idea at the moment. Then he remembered how much he wanted to take a shower and clean himself up and that he really didn’t want to meet anyone else before then. “Wait,” he said, holding out a hand. “I’d like to get a shower.” He pretended like he was soaping up his body.
Jillian nodded and gathered a few things into a small hide satchel and led him out of the room and through a large common room that branched off into other rooms and a corridor on three sides and a cave on the fourth side. He followed her inside and was amazed at the small cocoons that covered the walls and the evenly spaced lights that provided illumination. A strong, pungent smell assaulted Rodney’s nose as they came into a large chamber and they sharply veered off to the right towards the sound of water before he got a good look at the place.
Jillian led Rodney down a gently sloping path worn smooth in the stone by countless pairs of feet. Rodney tried not to stare at the lights too much as they passed one after another, wondering what they were made out of and what sort of power source they used. Making a mental note to ask Jillian if he could look at one more closely, he followed her into the lower chamber proper.
Looking around, Rodney was amazed. The ceiling was approximately eight feet high and the stone of the roomy chamber looked like it had been naturally eroded – most likely by the river that was cascading down in a small waterfall from the chamber they had just come from. Jillian’s people, many generations ago from what Rodney figured, had used dams to focus the water into two streams – each of which had then been dammed to form a pool – before allowing them to reconnect before they flowed out the other side of the chamber.
The room was comfortably warm and Rodney touched the wall out of curiosity as he gazed around, taking in the warm glow of the discreetly mounted lamps. The stone was warm and dry to the touch, which surprised him, considering the amount of water flowing through. Going over to one of the pools, Rodney crouched down to test the temperature of the water. Jillian roughly pulled him away and shook her head vigorously at his questioning look and pointed at the other pool.
They crossed using the stones in the first pool’s stream and Jillian set the satchel down on the tiny man-made island as she knelt next to it and began pulling out items. Rodney watched her, unsure of what to do, as she set out a large piece of cloth next to the water, a set of clothes – including moccasins – and three different vials of colored liquid. She gestured for him to kneel down and Rodney complied as she uncapped the vials. While he waited, Rodney tentatively tested the water temperature with his fingers and found it to be pleasantly warm. That was something else he wanted to ask about – along with the cocoons and the lights. The first vial smelled faintly of flowers when she held it up to his nose and made a gesture with the other hand to use it in his hair. The second vial smelled earthier and she mimed washing her body. The third one had a slightly minty smell and she pointed to her mouth. Rodney nodded. After gesturing that she’d wait for him at the top of the passage and to whistle when he was done, Jillian left.
Once she had gone, Rodney shed his dirty clothes, setting them aside in a heap before sinking down into the water with a soft sigh. After soaking for a few minutes, Rodney cleaned himself up, the soaps tingling pleasurably on his skin and in his scalp, but didn’t bubble as he had expected. The towel was made of a soft fiber that Rodney couldn’t quite identify, yet was both quite absorbent and extremely soft. The simply cut clothes fit well, even if they were a bit snug in the shoulders and made with something that felt like it was both cotton and silk at the same time and the moccasins were supple and extremely soft, the insides lined with fur. All in all, Rodney felt one hundred percent better.
Rodney debated putting the items back in the bag, but decided against it – not sure how the gesture would be taken – and whistled for Jillian. She smiled when she saw him and handed him a bone comb. Rodney looked at it skeptically and then laughed when Jillian made a gesture to use it on his hair. He quickly did so, taming the tufts that were sticking out in all directions, as Jillian packed up the satchel – Rodney’s clothes going in it as well – and she smiled again when he was done.
At the top of the slope, Rodney glanced around the first chamber. It was larger than the one below and most of it was fenced off. Inside the space was a small herd of what looked like yaks happily chewing their cud in a make-shift pen, bits of plants and oats strewn along the ground. The walls in this chamber were also completely lined with the cocoons. Jillian looked back questioningly at Rodney, who had stopped to gape. Things were starting to get a little too much for him.
Rodney kept his head down as they reentered the tent, suddenly unsure of himself and not knowing how to act in this new situation. Not that he had ever really known how to act around other people, he reminded himself. He hoped he could find a way home – and quickly – before he went crazy here, insane from boredom and not knowing anything about this place. He decided that when they got back to Jillian’s place, he’d collect his things and see about getting out of Jillian’s way. On the way, he noticed that people were noticing him and taking him in, but no one made a move to talk to either him or Jillian.
As Jillian set down the satchel and began taking care of the items inside, Rodney said, “I’m going to get my things and go. Thank you for your hospitality.” When she looked up, Rodney made a gesture of getting his things and then leaving.
Jillian shook her head vigorously and made a placating gesture with her hands.
Rodney shrugged, as if to say, “What am I supposed to do?” and Jillian pointed to the cot that Rodney had been sleeping on. He turned and looked at it, perplexed. At first, he only saw the messy bed he had been staying in the past few days, then he realized that there were quite a few cubbies and bags underneath and around the bed to hold personal belongings. With a sigh, Rodney grabbed his things from across the room and began putting them away by his bed.
The next morning, Jillian woke Rodney early. She placed a finger over her lips and pointed with her chin to where Kirby was still sleeping. Rodney nodded and quietly slipped out of bed. After dressing in his normal clothes – which Jillian had cleaned the day before – and taking care of his morning ablutions, which consisted of more mouthwash and a trip to the chamber pot, Rodney and Jillian quietly ate a breakfast comprised of more of the meat, plus bread and some fruit and milk. Rodney sniffed the milk suspiciously, but it smelled very close to cow’s milk, so he drank it. If he didn’t think about the taste too much, he was able to convince himself it didn’t taste any different. Before they left, Jillian donned a long, hooded robe over her normal clothes
They met Kelly at the entrance to the cave. His pack matched the one Jillian had packed with food, water, and a few small objects Rodney wasn’t able to identify and he also wore a robe. He smiled at both of them and gave them a small bow and Jillian returned it. Rodney quickly did so as well, not wanting to offend either of them. Kelly smiled at him and said something to Jillian, who looked at Rodney and smiled before replying in what sounded like a positive remark. Kelly nodded and headed into the cave.
This time they went left instead of right and down a sloping corridor naturally made from the cave wall and the fence. A couple of the animals came over and eagerly nuzzled Kelly and Jillian’s hands for attention. One approached Rodney, but he flattened himself against the cave wall – to Kelly and Jillian’s obvious amusement. He didn’t care if they laughed; he had stayed away from beasts of burden as much as possible ever since an overly-friendly calf at a petting zoo had cornered him and proceeded to nuzzle his pockets for treats (which he hadn’t had) and then had licked him anyway.
In the corner of the cave, there was a wood door – which surprised and Rodney. Kelly pulled it open and gestured for Rodney and Jillian to go through, following behind them and shutting the door behind himself as Jillian touched a wall lamp nearby. The lights along the tunnel slowly warmed up, revealing a corridor that disappeared off into the distance.
Rodney tensed as memories of the labyrinth assaulted him, but forced them back with the knowledge that this time he had people with him that were willing to help him get through this and get home – or so he thought, not that he had a whole lot to go on, aside from a few hand gestures and the fact that he’d been here for four days and they hadn’t tried to kill him yet. Plus, they *had* rescued him, so that had to count for something, even if he didn’t know why. He felt himself relax and the trio began walking forward.
As they walked along, Rodney studied the corridor as Kelly and Jillian silently led the way. He figured they had to be underneath a layer of sand now, given the sloping grade of the cave. The stones that made up the walls, floor, and ceiling were the nondescript gray color that seemed to be the preferred color for building stones regardless of the galaxy. Running a hand over the stones, Rodney marveled at how smooth they were and how he couldn’t even feel the seams between the stones.
He caught Kelly looking at him and quickly dropped his hand. Kelly smiled and said, “The stones are made so nothing can get through – not even sand,” and gestured with one hand out, fingers together and tried to push a finger of his other hand through without result and shook his head. Rodney nodded in understanding, impressed. He wondered if their people had done this, or if they had had another people do it for them because, aside from the lights, they didn’t seem to have the capability to do it.
After a few hours, Rodney was starting to get bored. The corridor didn’t change at all; it was a simple straight line going on forever. And Kelly and Jillian didn’t talk at all – not that he would have been able to understand them anyway, but having *something* to listen to would have been better than the silence that was weighing down on him. He went through a few of the equations for some of the projects he had been working on in his head, but gave up after a while because he didn’t have anywhere to write anything down. Then he started playing Prime, Not Prime but that got old quickly without someone else to play. He picked a random number and started going through the Fibonacci sequence, but he grew tired of it by the time he reached the 37th place.
He looked at his watch and sighed, they had been walking for four hours and he was starting to get tired and hungry and wished he knew how much farther they had to go. He was about to ask when they came upon a fair-sized alcove that had a picnic-sized table and benches. Rodney followed Kelly and Jillian into it and he sat down gratefully. Kelly and Jillian set their packs down on the table and began pulling out food – bread, cheese, dried meat, dried fruit, and water skins – before sitting down as well. Rodney watched them, curious and unsure of what to do as they started to eat. Jillian and Kelly smiled kindly as Jillian paused and broke off portions of the bread, meat, and cheese and placed them in front of Rodney, along with a portion of the fruit and placed the water skin between them.
Rodney watched them as he ate, forcing himself to match their slower speed. They were still quiet, but Rodney realized that it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence – like it would be among most of the people he knew. He thought back to the day before when Jillian had shown him around a bit. The tent complex had been bigger than he had expected, and it wasn’t odd that the women had only talked when it was necessary. He had gotten the feeling that it wasn’t because these people looked down on their women – the men seemed to value them just as much as they valued themselves – but something else was going on that he couldn’t understand. So, he figured that the silence today was due to whatever the women were up to and the fact that he and Kelly had the language barrier between them.
When they finished eating and the excess food had been returned to the bags, they continued on their way. Rodney couldn’t help it and asked, “Kelly, how much further is it to the ‘Gate?” adding a pointing gesture to the floor, then gesturing down the corridor, and then making a circle in the air for the ‘Gate.
Kelly pointed at the floor and then back the way they had came, then held out his hands about shoulder-width apart and marked off one space before moving his hands to indicate the same space next to it and repeated Rodney’s gesture. Rodney sighed as he translated the gestures to mean they were halfway to the ‘Gate.
Rodney sulked for most of the second half of the journey. He was pissed that he had been stuck on this planet for four days, even if he had been unconscious for three-quarters of the time. He was pissed that John, Teyla, and Ronon hadn’t come back for him. He couldn’t think of a good reason for them not to. While the sandstorm had raged for the whole day before and was still going when they entered the cave this morning, it had to have stopped at least once between the time he and the rest of the team had arrived and now. His mind then jumped to the conclusion that something must be going on in Atlantis to keep them from coming back and searching for him and he began to panic. Zelenka was great, but he wasn’t Rodney. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, forcing himself to calm down. They had all been in enough close-call situations that if they were in one now, they would get through it and then come and get him.
He hated being stuck on this backwater planet where the highest level of technology he had seen was their lamps – and those they probably traded for with another planet, who had to have a way on and off the world. He hated that he wasn’t home in Atlantis working on any of the myriad of projects they had going. He hated that he wasn’t home with John. Whatever it was they had going was the best thing he’d had in a *very* long time – quite possibly ever – and he wanted to get back to John and see where this… thing went. Hell, he missed practically everyone in Atlantis, if he was honest. Regardless of what most of them thought of him, he did appreciate and respect them, most of the time, and didn’t really wish any of them ill-will.
They arrived at the end of the corridor where there was a grate in the floor and a ladder on one side of the corridor. A small alcove on the other side held a broom, shovel, some buckets, a pole with a hook on one end, and a pulley system. Jillian held Rodney back as Kelly unbolted the trap door above the ladder. After carefully listening for a few seconds, he picked up the pole, pulled up his hood, and, standing to one side, hooked it in the handle on the ladder and pulled down. The door came down easily, bringing a load of sand with it.
Kelly coughed a few times as he pushed his hood back and put the pole back, gesturing for Jillian and Rodney to go up the ladder. Rodney followed Jillian up and into the sunshine. The ladder continued up the side of the ‘Gate’s base on one side, putting them right in front of the ‘Gate, which Rodney supposed was why they hadn’t seen it before. Three short walls on the other sides help kept most of the sand out. Rodney breathed in the fresh air deeply as he closed his eyes and tipped his head back, soaking up the sun.
He noticed that the MALP was gone, and that bit of information gave him hope that the others had been back to look for him and hadn’t been able to find him. Eight hours on foot was a long way to go – even if a Jumper was being used. And it was possible that whatever had messed with the Life Signs Detector would mess with the Jumper as well.
Jillian sat down on the steps to the ‘Gate and began rummaging in her bag as Kelly and Rodney went down to the DHD. Kelly said something to Jillian, and she moved to the edge of the dais without looking up or stopping her search. Rodney smiled when he realized Kelly had asked her to move out of the splash zone. To make sure they were both on the same page, Rodney dialed the ‘Gate, fervently hoping this time it would actually work. When it didn’t, Rodney sighed as he and Kelly knelt down and Rodney removed the replaced crystal panel.
More sand had built up inside the panel and Kelly shook his head as they carefully cleared it away. Rodney took one of the crystals out and gestured that they were supposed to be more hexagonal in shape than smoothly round. Kelly sat back on one heel as he placed his elbow on his other knee and cushioned his chin on his hand as he thought. Meanwhile, Rodney slid the crystal back in place with a little more force than necessary.
Kelly tapped Rodney with the back of his hand as he rummaged through his bag with the other one and pulled out one of the knives they had used during lunch. He pulled out a crystal and pretended to cut it into shape before looking up at Rodney with a questioning look.
“It’s an interesting idea, but I don’t think that’ll work,” Rodney replied with a shake of his head. “The Ancients made them to be a certain size,” he put his thumb and pointer finger on the top and bottom of the crystal in Kelly’s hand and then transferred that size to its hole. “The reason the DHD isn’t working is probably because the sand,” Rodney picked up a handful of sand and let it slip through his fingers, “has already worn away too much of the crystals,” he made the space between his fingers smaller, “so they don’t connect and activate when someone tries to dial the ‘Gate.” He pretended to dial the ‘Gate and shook his head. “If we take off more,” he pretended to cut the crystal, “we’ll probably render them completely useless.” He made his fingers even smaller and shook his head.
Kelly thought about it for a moment and nodded, replacing the crystal with a sigh and resumed his thinking pose.
They went back and forth for a while – trading ideas, checking the power source (which was fine) but nothing worked. It was slow going, with having to rely on using hand gestures to simply communicate and also having a completely different way of looking at and explaining things, but Rodney found Kelly to be easy to work with and it seemed like he actually knew what he was talking about.
After they had been at it for a few hours, Rodney forcibly threw a crystal in disgust at their lack of progress and it shattered against the base of the ‘Gate. Kelly stared at him for a moment and began laughing.
“What?” Rodney asked in confusion. “What’s so funny?” Kelly just shook his head and continued laughing. Rodney wasn’t sure why it had been so funny, but felt some of his tension ease and couldn’t help but smile himself, even if they were still no closer to finding a solution and now short one crystal.
A light breezed picked up and Jillian called something to Kelly. He nodded and replaced the panel on the DHD as Rodney, sensing it was time to leave, gathered up their gear – putting his things back in his vest and his pack and Kelly’s in his bag before following him back to the ‘Gate. Jillian led the way down the ladder with Kelly bringing up the rear again, closing up trap door behind him, the wind and sand picking up as he did so.
He bolted the door shut as Jillian began sweeping the sand into the grate. Rodney quickly grabbed another broom and helped, for which she smiled at him in thanks. After they had finished, Jillian gestured that there was a bin beneath the grate that when it got full, it would be pulled up to the surface and dumped.
Once Jillian and Rodney had cleaned all the sand up and put the brooms away, the threesome started the walk back to the camp. Rodney’s mind whirled the first half of the way back, still trying to figure out what they could use to trick the DHD into using what was left of the crystals and what he could use in place of the shattered crystal.
When they reached the picnic alcove, Rodney still wasn’t any closer to figuring out an answer, but felt rejuvenated at having a practical problem to work on. He enjoyed the theoretical work, but practical, hands-on things had always been more interesting to him. But as he started eating, he couldn’t get away from the physical reality of how tired he was. He considered attempting to ask if they could rest there for a while, but as they were finishing up the meal, Jillian pushed something that looked like a few chocolate squares towards Rodney and made a motion for him to eat it, a wide awake gesture, and then made a walking motion and pointed in the direction they were going. Rodney nodded and ate them, finding that they did have the texture of chocolate squares and were sweet, but tasted like nothing he could easily identify. The rest of the walk back went by easily, Rodney feeling like he had drunk a cup of coffee as the candy entered his system.
When Jillian and Rodney got back to Jillian and Kirby’s quarters, Rodney shifted uneasily and said, “I should go,” pointing out into the common area.
“Where?” Jillian asked, looking around and holding her hands out and palms up, before looking at him in confusion.
Rodney shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t want to burden you any more. I’ll just find somewhere out there,” and pointed back into the main part of the tent again.
Jillian shook her head and pointed to Rodney and then to the cot he had been using before pointing to the floor. Kirby came in at that moment and asked Jillian a question. She responded and he nodded. As he turned to go, tent flap in hand, he turned and asked her something else, chin jutting out to Rodney. She rolled her eyes and replied, Rodney figured she was telling Kirby their topic of discussion. Kirby looked at Rodney over his other shoulder with a chuckle and pointed at him and then the bed.
Rodney held up his hands in surrender as he started walking towards the bed. “Okay, I guess I’ll stay.” Kirby and Jillian laughed and Kirby left while Jillian set about doing some chores. Rodney neatly stowed his vest and his pack at the end of the bed and slipped off his boots and set them neatly at the end of the bed as well. He still marveled at how neat he had become off-world, knowing that it was only due to John continually forcing him to do it and one instance of finding Ford had stuck all his things up in a tree (“just for safe keeping from any bears, Doc”).
Physically tired, yet still mentally wide awake, Rodney wandered out into one of the common areas. A few people were still awake, though not many and no one seemed to take notice of him. He watched Kirby for a while as he worked on organizing various plants and making a few things with some of them between helping a few people with minor, routine medical problems.
But even that got boring and even more voodoo than Carson’s craft and Rodney’s mind started to wander before trying to figure out the chances of Atlantis rescuing him. He had figured out that this planet had the same 27 hour rotation that Lantea did. He knew that the break in the sandstorm hadn’t come the day before, but had lasted for three hours today. Sighing, he realized he’d have to wait until the next break before he could even begin to have an idea of their odds.
Rodney began pacing sullenly. He knew that they wouldn’t just let him leave the next time the ‘Gate opened – which he completely understood. But, if he was stuck here, how long would it take for them to trust him enough to let him either leave or get a message back to Atlantis? He sighed. Probably too long.
Rodney tried to stay positive as he continued pacing, but he began worrying about all the possible scenarios that could happen while he was waiting to leave this godforsaken planet. They could accidentally kill him with citrus products. Or he’d starve to death. Or they’re really cannibals and they’ll kill him and eat him – they are pretty thin. Or they’d sell him to slave traders. Or –
Rodney felt himself start sweating, his heartbeat speed up and his breathing become shallower. He tried to calm himself down, but the knowledge that his body was starting to go into hypoglycemic shock just made things worse. He felt his knees go out and as he sank to the floor, he felt the darkness close in.
Continue to Part 3
The complete header can be found in part 1.
Previous parts can be found here.
Rodney came to slowly, feeling groggy. He carefully opened his eyes, thankful there was no bright light shining in them. He groaned as he rolled over onto his side and looked around. The medium-sized tent he was in was warm and comfortable, appointed with a few personal belongings – though not crowded by them. He could hear the wind whipping about outside. So, definitely not the afterlife, he concluded.
A young woman came into view and knelt down next to Rodney’s cot. “How are you feeling?” she asked, placing the back of her hand against Rodney’s forehead.
Rodney gaped at her, not having understood a word of what she said. No, he revised, this was definitely hell. “Where am I?” he asked.
She looked at him surprised, and then confused. “Do you not speak Lapran?” she asked.
“I can’t understand you,” Rodney replied. “It sounds like you’re talking gibberish. And maybe you are, just to mess with me, though I doubt I’ve met you before in my life, so I have no idea why.”
She sighed and sat back on her heels, looking confused.
“How many days,” Rodney held out a hand and pointed to each of his fingers, “was I out?” He made a gesture like he was sleeping.
She smiled and touched three fingers, then made a gesture that looked like he was asleep, then awake then asleep again.
“Just great,” Rodney muttered as he flopped onto his back. “This is *just* *great*. Where are my friends?”
She disappeared from his view without answering and came back with a small glass – Rodney was surprised that it was actual glass – of water. As Rodney carefully sniffed it, she said, “You need to drink,” and gestured bringing the cup to her lips. “Don’t worry, it’s just water.”
Rodney tentatively took a sip, and while it tasted slightly off, it did still taste like water. He took a larger sip, his thirst coming back in full force. He handed her back the empty glass and she smiled.
Rodney watched her as she stood and walked to the other side of the tent. She couldn’t be more than 21 by his best guess. She was thin and her long red hair was pulled back in a neat French braid. The dress she wore, while plain, looked like silk. She refilled the cup and filled a plate, but he couldn’t see with what until she returned.
Setting down the food and water, she helped Rodney sit up slowly and arranged the pillows behind him. Pulling up a stool and sitting down, she said, “You need to eat. What you were able to keep down since we found you wasn’t nearly enough.”
“You do realize I can’t understand you?” Rodney asked with a shake of his head and a shake of his pointer finger between them.
She nodded and held out the plate. Rodney took it, looking at it dubiously. “This doesn’t have citrus in it, does it?” he asked automatically. At her confused look, he muttered, “Like you would know anyway.” He sniffed it and gently poked what looked like meat and folded green leaves. He stomach rumbled in response. Rodney carefully ate the meat – which was juicier than he expected and sweeter, like it had been dipped in honey and roasted, but it didn’t quite taste like any meat he knew of. No tingling on his lips or tongue was a good sign and he moved on to the leaves, which were filled with crushed nuts and pieces of fruit. As he finished the leaves and picked up the roll, he realized the girl had been patiently watching him the whole time, a small smile on her lips. He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, and she merely laughed.
When Rodney had completely finished, she took his dishes and, while putting them away, said, “I know you can’t understand me, but I’m glad you’re here. You’re obviously not with any of the groups we normally trade with and I’m sure you have fascinating stories.” Turning to him, she said, “Let me get my father so he can check you out.”
She ducked out through a flap across the room, and Rodney saw that the tent they were in was much larger than he had realized. Through the opening he also caught a glimpse of more people, but see much before the flap fell shut.
A moment later, the girl returned with a man who looked to be about fifty. He also wore the silk-like material and had red hair, though his was cropped short and he was clean-shaven. “I see you’re finally up for good,” he said with a smile as he crossed the room and sat down on the vacant stool, the girl coming to stand behind him. “Jillian also says you’ve had something to eat as well. That’s good. Your color looks much better too.” He gently poked Rodney in a few different spots, including the back of his head – which was still tender and Rodney sucked in a small breath.
He pushed up Rodney’s shirt and placed an ear on one side of Rodney’s chest and gestured for him to breathe deeply, which Rodney did, and they repeated this for the other side of Rodney’s chest, as well as the corresponding spots on his back. He gave Rodney a warm smile when he was finished and let him pull his shirt back down. He stood and clasped Rodney on the shoulder and said, “You’ll be fine.” He turned and said something to the girl, which she smiled at, and then he was gone.
She sat back down on the stool. “Jillian,” she said, pointing at herself.
“Jillian,” Rodney replied.
She nodded with a smile. Pointing behind her to where the other man had disappeared through the flap, she said, “Kirby.”
“Kirby,” Rodney repeated. Pointing at himself, he said, “Rodney McKay.”
“Rodney McKay,” she repeated, drawing out the syllables carefully.
He nodded and she smiled. “But, please, call me Rodney.” He paused for a minute, not sure how to ask, but finally looked at her sheepishly and said, “I need to use the bathroom,” as he gestured to his groin. Jillian nodded and helped Rodney stand.
Once he was fully upright, Rodney stretched fully, enjoying the tension ease out of his stiff muscles. Pulling his shirt down, he made a circle in the air with his pointer finger and asked, “Where’s my gear?” and gestured as if he had backpack straps.
Jillian smiled and pointed to where his things had been neatly stacked in a corner. She guided him to the chamber pot in another corner behind a curtain.
“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Rodney muttered under his breath. He went quickly, wondering if it would be too much to ask if he could take a bath or shower – or something. After three days, he felt dirty and didn’t doubt that he smelled like it too. Both Jillian and Kirby had smelled clean enough, so there had to be some way he could manage it.
He stopped himself. The first thing he had to do was see about getting to the ‘Gate and getting home. He was sure that the rest of the team had to have made it home by now in the Jumper. A shower could wait at least that long.
Coming out from behind the curtain, Rodney said, “Jillian, I,” he pointed at himself, “need to get to,” he made hand gestures like he was walking, “to the Stargate,” he made a big circle in the air, “or Ring of the Ancestors, or whatever your people call it.”
Jillian shook her head and pointed to the tent wall, then cupped her ear, before making raining movement with her fingers.
“I know the sandstorm’s still going on!” Rodney replied with a vigorous nod of his head. “But I’ve,” he pointed to himself and then to the wall, “got to get home!”
Jillian sighed and shook her head again. She pointed to the floor, then held up a finger, made a gesture like she was sleeping, and then pointed to the wall and made a circle for the ‘Gate. Then she made a made an all-encompassing sort of gesture and did the rain/sandstorm gesture again.
It sunk in for Rodney and he said, “Oh,” his face falling. It was going to take about a day to just to get to the ‘Gate and the sandstorm was going to be happening the whole time. He’d have to figure this out. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at the floor as he tried to figure out how to ask when the sandstorm would let up, when Jillian snapped her fingers. He looked up and she held up a finger in a “wait a minute” gesture and disappeared out of the room.
Rodney tip-toed over to the curtain that separated the room he was in from the rest of the tent and peeked out. He saw Kirby nearby, treating a young woman for a sprained ankle. A number of other people were scattered about the large room in various-sized groups – the men chatting quietly and the women silent as they tended to various chores. Rodney did notice that most of the people in the room had red hair, though a small few had either blond or brown hair and they were all more-or-less beanpole thin. He ducked back into the room when he saw Jillian speaking with a man approximately Rodney’s own age and gesturing with her head towards the room.
Coming in with the man, Jillian said, “This is Kelly.” Pointing at Kelly, then her temple, before making what seemed to be the agreed-on sign for the ‘Gate, she added, “He knows the most about the Ring.”
Rodney gestured between the three of them and then to the wall and making the ‘Gate sign, asked, “When can we go to the ‘Gate?”
Kelly held up a hand as if to wait, then held up a finger, and then made a sleeping gesture.
“Okay, I can wait a night,” Rodney replied with a nod.
A girl poked her head through the makeshift doorway and said something to Kelly and Jillian. Kelly replied to the girl and she disappeared. Kelly and Jillian exchanged a few words and he bowed slightly to her and then to Rodney before leaving.
“Do you want to take a walk?” Jillian asked, pointing to Rodney, then out the doorway, and making a walking gesture with her hands.
Rodney nodded. Doing *anything* other than staying in that room seemed like a good idea at the moment. Then he remembered how much he wanted to take a shower and clean himself up and that he really didn’t want to meet anyone else before then. “Wait,” he said, holding out a hand. “I’d like to get a shower.” He pretended like he was soaping up his body.
Jillian nodded and gathered a few things into a small hide satchel and led him out of the room and through a large common room that branched off into other rooms and a corridor on three sides and a cave on the fourth side. He followed her inside and was amazed at the small cocoons that covered the walls and the evenly spaced lights that provided illumination. A strong, pungent smell assaulted Rodney’s nose as they came into a large chamber and they sharply veered off to the right towards the sound of water before he got a good look at the place.
Jillian led Rodney down a gently sloping path worn smooth in the stone by countless pairs of feet. Rodney tried not to stare at the lights too much as they passed one after another, wondering what they were made out of and what sort of power source they used. Making a mental note to ask Jillian if he could look at one more closely, he followed her into the lower chamber proper.
Looking around, Rodney was amazed. The ceiling was approximately eight feet high and the stone of the roomy chamber looked like it had been naturally eroded – most likely by the river that was cascading down in a small waterfall from the chamber they had just come from. Jillian’s people, many generations ago from what Rodney figured, had used dams to focus the water into two streams – each of which had then been dammed to form a pool – before allowing them to reconnect before they flowed out the other side of the chamber.
The room was comfortably warm and Rodney touched the wall out of curiosity as he gazed around, taking in the warm glow of the discreetly mounted lamps. The stone was warm and dry to the touch, which surprised him, considering the amount of water flowing through. Going over to one of the pools, Rodney crouched down to test the temperature of the water. Jillian roughly pulled him away and shook her head vigorously at his questioning look and pointed at the other pool.
They crossed using the stones in the first pool’s stream and Jillian set the satchel down on the tiny man-made island as she knelt next to it and began pulling out items. Rodney watched her, unsure of what to do, as she set out a large piece of cloth next to the water, a set of clothes – including moccasins – and three different vials of colored liquid. She gestured for him to kneel down and Rodney complied as she uncapped the vials. While he waited, Rodney tentatively tested the water temperature with his fingers and found it to be pleasantly warm. That was something else he wanted to ask about – along with the cocoons and the lights. The first vial smelled faintly of flowers when she held it up to his nose and made a gesture with the other hand to use it in his hair. The second vial smelled earthier and she mimed washing her body. The third one had a slightly minty smell and she pointed to her mouth. Rodney nodded. After gesturing that she’d wait for him at the top of the passage and to whistle when he was done, Jillian left.
Once she had gone, Rodney shed his dirty clothes, setting them aside in a heap before sinking down into the water with a soft sigh. After soaking for a few minutes, Rodney cleaned himself up, the soaps tingling pleasurably on his skin and in his scalp, but didn’t bubble as he had expected. The towel was made of a soft fiber that Rodney couldn’t quite identify, yet was both quite absorbent and extremely soft. The simply cut clothes fit well, even if they were a bit snug in the shoulders and made with something that felt like it was both cotton and silk at the same time and the moccasins were supple and extremely soft, the insides lined with fur. All in all, Rodney felt one hundred percent better.
Rodney debated putting the items back in the bag, but decided against it – not sure how the gesture would be taken – and whistled for Jillian. She smiled when she saw him and handed him a bone comb. Rodney looked at it skeptically and then laughed when Jillian made a gesture to use it on his hair. He quickly did so, taming the tufts that were sticking out in all directions, as Jillian packed up the satchel – Rodney’s clothes going in it as well – and she smiled again when he was done.
At the top of the slope, Rodney glanced around the first chamber. It was larger than the one below and most of it was fenced off. Inside the space was a small herd of what looked like yaks happily chewing their cud in a make-shift pen, bits of plants and oats strewn along the ground. The walls in this chamber were also completely lined with the cocoons. Jillian looked back questioningly at Rodney, who had stopped to gape. Things were starting to get a little too much for him.
Rodney kept his head down as they reentered the tent, suddenly unsure of himself and not knowing how to act in this new situation. Not that he had ever really known how to act around other people, he reminded himself. He hoped he could find a way home – and quickly – before he went crazy here, insane from boredom and not knowing anything about this place. He decided that when they got back to Jillian’s place, he’d collect his things and see about getting out of Jillian’s way. On the way, he noticed that people were noticing him and taking him in, but no one made a move to talk to either him or Jillian.
As Jillian set down the satchel and began taking care of the items inside, Rodney said, “I’m going to get my things and go. Thank you for your hospitality.” When she looked up, Rodney made a gesture of getting his things and then leaving.
Jillian shook her head vigorously and made a placating gesture with her hands.
Rodney shrugged, as if to say, “What am I supposed to do?” and Jillian pointed to the cot that Rodney had been sleeping on. He turned and looked at it, perplexed. At first, he only saw the messy bed he had been staying in the past few days, then he realized that there were quite a few cubbies and bags underneath and around the bed to hold personal belongings. With a sigh, Rodney grabbed his things from across the room and began putting them away by his bed.
The next morning, Jillian woke Rodney early. She placed a finger over her lips and pointed with her chin to where Kirby was still sleeping. Rodney nodded and quietly slipped out of bed. After dressing in his normal clothes – which Jillian had cleaned the day before – and taking care of his morning ablutions, which consisted of more mouthwash and a trip to the chamber pot, Rodney and Jillian quietly ate a breakfast comprised of more of the meat, plus bread and some fruit and milk. Rodney sniffed the milk suspiciously, but it smelled very close to cow’s milk, so he drank it. If he didn’t think about the taste too much, he was able to convince himself it didn’t taste any different. Before they left, Jillian donned a long, hooded robe over her normal clothes
They met Kelly at the entrance to the cave. His pack matched the one Jillian had packed with food, water, and a few small objects Rodney wasn’t able to identify and he also wore a robe. He smiled at both of them and gave them a small bow and Jillian returned it. Rodney quickly did so as well, not wanting to offend either of them. Kelly smiled at him and said something to Jillian, who looked at Rodney and smiled before replying in what sounded like a positive remark. Kelly nodded and headed into the cave.
This time they went left instead of right and down a sloping corridor naturally made from the cave wall and the fence. A couple of the animals came over and eagerly nuzzled Kelly and Jillian’s hands for attention. One approached Rodney, but he flattened himself against the cave wall – to Kelly and Jillian’s obvious amusement. He didn’t care if they laughed; he had stayed away from beasts of burden as much as possible ever since an overly-friendly calf at a petting zoo had cornered him and proceeded to nuzzle his pockets for treats (which he hadn’t had) and then had licked him anyway.
In the corner of the cave, there was a wood door – which surprised and Rodney. Kelly pulled it open and gestured for Rodney and Jillian to go through, following behind them and shutting the door behind himself as Jillian touched a wall lamp nearby. The lights along the tunnel slowly warmed up, revealing a corridor that disappeared off into the distance.
Rodney tensed as memories of the labyrinth assaulted him, but forced them back with the knowledge that this time he had people with him that were willing to help him get through this and get home – or so he thought, not that he had a whole lot to go on, aside from a few hand gestures and the fact that he’d been here for four days and they hadn’t tried to kill him yet. Plus, they *had* rescued him, so that had to count for something, even if he didn’t know why. He felt himself relax and the trio began walking forward.
As they walked along, Rodney studied the corridor as Kelly and Jillian silently led the way. He figured they had to be underneath a layer of sand now, given the sloping grade of the cave. The stones that made up the walls, floor, and ceiling were the nondescript gray color that seemed to be the preferred color for building stones regardless of the galaxy. Running a hand over the stones, Rodney marveled at how smooth they were and how he couldn’t even feel the seams between the stones.
He caught Kelly looking at him and quickly dropped his hand. Kelly smiled and said, “The stones are made so nothing can get through – not even sand,” and gestured with one hand out, fingers together and tried to push a finger of his other hand through without result and shook his head. Rodney nodded in understanding, impressed. He wondered if their people had done this, or if they had had another people do it for them because, aside from the lights, they didn’t seem to have the capability to do it.
After a few hours, Rodney was starting to get bored. The corridor didn’t change at all; it was a simple straight line going on forever. And Kelly and Jillian didn’t talk at all – not that he would have been able to understand them anyway, but having *something* to listen to would have been better than the silence that was weighing down on him. He went through a few of the equations for some of the projects he had been working on in his head, but gave up after a while because he didn’t have anywhere to write anything down. Then he started playing Prime, Not Prime but that got old quickly without someone else to play. He picked a random number and started going through the Fibonacci sequence, but he grew tired of it by the time he reached the 37th place.
He looked at his watch and sighed, they had been walking for four hours and he was starting to get tired and hungry and wished he knew how much farther they had to go. He was about to ask when they came upon a fair-sized alcove that had a picnic-sized table and benches. Rodney followed Kelly and Jillian into it and he sat down gratefully. Kelly and Jillian set their packs down on the table and began pulling out food – bread, cheese, dried meat, dried fruit, and water skins – before sitting down as well. Rodney watched them, curious and unsure of what to do as they started to eat. Jillian and Kelly smiled kindly as Jillian paused and broke off portions of the bread, meat, and cheese and placed them in front of Rodney, along with a portion of the fruit and placed the water skin between them.
Rodney watched them as he ate, forcing himself to match their slower speed. They were still quiet, but Rodney realized that it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence – like it would be among most of the people he knew. He thought back to the day before when Jillian had shown him around a bit. The tent complex had been bigger than he had expected, and it wasn’t odd that the women had only talked when it was necessary. He had gotten the feeling that it wasn’t because these people looked down on their women – the men seemed to value them just as much as they valued themselves – but something else was going on that he couldn’t understand. So, he figured that the silence today was due to whatever the women were up to and the fact that he and Kelly had the language barrier between them.
When they finished eating and the excess food had been returned to the bags, they continued on their way. Rodney couldn’t help it and asked, “Kelly, how much further is it to the ‘Gate?” adding a pointing gesture to the floor, then gesturing down the corridor, and then making a circle in the air for the ‘Gate.
Kelly pointed at the floor and then back the way they had came, then held out his hands about shoulder-width apart and marked off one space before moving his hands to indicate the same space next to it and repeated Rodney’s gesture. Rodney sighed as he translated the gestures to mean they were halfway to the ‘Gate.
Rodney sulked for most of the second half of the journey. He was pissed that he had been stuck on this planet for four days, even if he had been unconscious for three-quarters of the time. He was pissed that John, Teyla, and Ronon hadn’t come back for him. He couldn’t think of a good reason for them not to. While the sandstorm had raged for the whole day before and was still going when they entered the cave this morning, it had to have stopped at least once between the time he and the rest of the team had arrived and now. His mind then jumped to the conclusion that something must be going on in Atlantis to keep them from coming back and searching for him and he began to panic. Zelenka was great, but he wasn’t Rodney. He took a deep breath and slowly let it out, forcing himself to calm down. They had all been in enough close-call situations that if they were in one now, they would get through it and then come and get him.
He hated being stuck on this backwater planet where the highest level of technology he had seen was their lamps – and those they probably traded for with another planet, who had to have a way on and off the world. He hated that he wasn’t home in Atlantis working on any of the myriad of projects they had going. He hated that he wasn’t home with John. Whatever it was they had going was the best thing he’d had in a *very* long time – quite possibly ever – and he wanted to get back to John and see where this… thing went. Hell, he missed practically everyone in Atlantis, if he was honest. Regardless of what most of them thought of him, he did appreciate and respect them, most of the time, and didn’t really wish any of them ill-will.
They arrived at the end of the corridor where there was a grate in the floor and a ladder on one side of the corridor. A small alcove on the other side held a broom, shovel, some buckets, a pole with a hook on one end, and a pulley system. Jillian held Rodney back as Kelly unbolted the trap door above the ladder. After carefully listening for a few seconds, he picked up the pole, pulled up his hood, and, standing to one side, hooked it in the handle on the ladder and pulled down. The door came down easily, bringing a load of sand with it.
Kelly coughed a few times as he pushed his hood back and put the pole back, gesturing for Jillian and Rodney to go up the ladder. Rodney followed Jillian up and into the sunshine. The ladder continued up the side of the ‘Gate’s base on one side, putting them right in front of the ‘Gate, which Rodney supposed was why they hadn’t seen it before. Three short walls on the other sides help kept most of the sand out. Rodney breathed in the fresh air deeply as he closed his eyes and tipped his head back, soaking up the sun.
He noticed that the MALP was gone, and that bit of information gave him hope that the others had been back to look for him and hadn’t been able to find him. Eight hours on foot was a long way to go – even if a Jumper was being used. And it was possible that whatever had messed with the Life Signs Detector would mess with the Jumper as well.
Jillian sat down on the steps to the ‘Gate and began rummaging in her bag as Kelly and Rodney went down to the DHD. Kelly said something to Jillian, and she moved to the edge of the dais without looking up or stopping her search. Rodney smiled when he realized Kelly had asked her to move out of the splash zone. To make sure they were both on the same page, Rodney dialed the ‘Gate, fervently hoping this time it would actually work. When it didn’t, Rodney sighed as he and Kelly knelt down and Rodney removed the replaced crystal panel.
More sand had built up inside the panel and Kelly shook his head as they carefully cleared it away. Rodney took one of the crystals out and gestured that they were supposed to be more hexagonal in shape than smoothly round. Kelly sat back on one heel as he placed his elbow on his other knee and cushioned his chin on his hand as he thought. Meanwhile, Rodney slid the crystal back in place with a little more force than necessary.
Kelly tapped Rodney with the back of his hand as he rummaged through his bag with the other one and pulled out one of the knives they had used during lunch. He pulled out a crystal and pretended to cut it into shape before looking up at Rodney with a questioning look.
“It’s an interesting idea, but I don’t think that’ll work,” Rodney replied with a shake of his head. “The Ancients made them to be a certain size,” he put his thumb and pointer finger on the top and bottom of the crystal in Kelly’s hand and then transferred that size to its hole. “The reason the DHD isn’t working is probably because the sand,” Rodney picked up a handful of sand and let it slip through his fingers, “has already worn away too much of the crystals,” he made the space between his fingers smaller, “so they don’t connect and activate when someone tries to dial the ‘Gate.” He pretended to dial the ‘Gate and shook his head. “If we take off more,” he pretended to cut the crystal, “we’ll probably render them completely useless.” He made his fingers even smaller and shook his head.
Kelly thought about it for a moment and nodded, replacing the crystal with a sigh and resumed his thinking pose.
They went back and forth for a while – trading ideas, checking the power source (which was fine) but nothing worked. It was slow going, with having to rely on using hand gestures to simply communicate and also having a completely different way of looking at and explaining things, but Rodney found Kelly to be easy to work with and it seemed like he actually knew what he was talking about.
After they had been at it for a few hours, Rodney forcibly threw a crystal in disgust at their lack of progress and it shattered against the base of the ‘Gate. Kelly stared at him for a moment and began laughing.
“What?” Rodney asked in confusion. “What’s so funny?” Kelly just shook his head and continued laughing. Rodney wasn’t sure why it had been so funny, but felt some of his tension ease and couldn’t help but smile himself, even if they were still no closer to finding a solution and now short one crystal.
A light breezed picked up and Jillian called something to Kelly. He nodded and replaced the panel on the DHD as Rodney, sensing it was time to leave, gathered up their gear – putting his things back in his vest and his pack and Kelly’s in his bag before following him back to the ‘Gate. Jillian led the way down the ladder with Kelly bringing up the rear again, closing up trap door behind him, the wind and sand picking up as he did so.
He bolted the door shut as Jillian began sweeping the sand into the grate. Rodney quickly grabbed another broom and helped, for which she smiled at him in thanks. After they had finished, Jillian gestured that there was a bin beneath the grate that when it got full, it would be pulled up to the surface and dumped.
Once Jillian and Rodney had cleaned all the sand up and put the brooms away, the threesome started the walk back to the camp. Rodney’s mind whirled the first half of the way back, still trying to figure out what they could use to trick the DHD into using what was left of the crystals and what he could use in place of the shattered crystal.
When they reached the picnic alcove, Rodney still wasn’t any closer to figuring out an answer, but felt rejuvenated at having a practical problem to work on. He enjoyed the theoretical work, but practical, hands-on things had always been more interesting to him. But as he started eating, he couldn’t get away from the physical reality of how tired he was. He considered attempting to ask if they could rest there for a while, but as they were finishing up the meal, Jillian pushed something that looked like a few chocolate squares towards Rodney and made a motion for him to eat it, a wide awake gesture, and then made a walking motion and pointed in the direction they were going. Rodney nodded and ate them, finding that they did have the texture of chocolate squares and were sweet, but tasted like nothing he could easily identify. The rest of the walk back went by easily, Rodney feeling like he had drunk a cup of coffee as the candy entered his system.
When Jillian and Rodney got back to Jillian and Kirby’s quarters, Rodney shifted uneasily and said, “I should go,” pointing out into the common area.
“Where?” Jillian asked, looking around and holding her hands out and palms up, before looking at him in confusion.
Rodney shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t want to burden you any more. I’ll just find somewhere out there,” and pointed back into the main part of the tent again.
Jillian shook her head and pointed to Rodney and then to the cot he had been using before pointing to the floor. Kirby came in at that moment and asked Jillian a question. She responded and he nodded. As he turned to go, tent flap in hand, he turned and asked her something else, chin jutting out to Rodney. She rolled her eyes and replied, Rodney figured she was telling Kirby their topic of discussion. Kirby looked at Rodney over his other shoulder with a chuckle and pointed at him and then the bed.
Rodney held up his hands in surrender as he started walking towards the bed. “Okay, I guess I’ll stay.” Kirby and Jillian laughed and Kirby left while Jillian set about doing some chores. Rodney neatly stowed his vest and his pack at the end of the bed and slipped off his boots and set them neatly at the end of the bed as well. He still marveled at how neat he had become off-world, knowing that it was only due to John continually forcing him to do it and one instance of finding Ford had stuck all his things up in a tree (“just for safe keeping from any bears, Doc”).
Physically tired, yet still mentally wide awake, Rodney wandered out into one of the common areas. A few people were still awake, though not many and no one seemed to take notice of him. He watched Kirby for a while as he worked on organizing various plants and making a few things with some of them between helping a few people with minor, routine medical problems.
But even that got boring and even more voodoo than Carson’s craft and Rodney’s mind started to wander before trying to figure out the chances of Atlantis rescuing him. He had figured out that this planet had the same 27 hour rotation that Lantea did. He knew that the break in the sandstorm hadn’t come the day before, but had lasted for three hours today. Sighing, he realized he’d have to wait until the next break before he could even begin to have an idea of their odds.
Rodney began pacing sullenly. He knew that they wouldn’t just let him leave the next time the ‘Gate opened – which he completely understood. But, if he was stuck here, how long would it take for them to trust him enough to let him either leave or get a message back to Atlantis? He sighed. Probably too long.
Rodney tried to stay positive as he continued pacing, but he began worrying about all the possible scenarios that could happen while he was waiting to leave this godforsaken planet. They could accidentally kill him with citrus products. Or he’d starve to death. Or they’re really cannibals and they’ll kill him and eat him – they are pretty thin. Or they’d sell him to slave traders. Or –
Rodney felt himself start sweating, his heartbeat speed up and his breathing become shallower. He tried to calm himself down, but the knowledge that his body was starting to go into hypoglycemic shock just made things worse. He felt his knees go out and as he sank to the floor, he felt the darkness close in.
Continue to Part 3
