Aberrant: StarGate Atlantis - S1:E1 Subplot: Descending

[Dawn OOC]

It had been an hour since the military had left. The city felt emptier without most of the soldiers. No one was talking about it, but they felt less secure now that the military was gone. People remained close to the populated areas, and though the desire to explore was strong, everyone ignored it. Medical was seeing a lot of people – not the injured, but just people with nothing else to do offering to help unpack.

“Dr. Goro.” Dr. Weir’s voice cut into his thoughts. “We’re putting together a team to go find the machine that Dr. Jenings-Izumi came through. Dr. McKay has several scientists ready, but he’s taking her, too. I’d like you to accompany her, as a doctor. I know Dr. McKay. He’ll push her. Make sure he doesn’t push her too hard. We don’t need any more injuries here.”

The doctor paused and looked at her. “She really shouldn’t be doing any stair in her condition.”

“I know,” Weir said softly. “But we need to plug the hole she got here though. We can’t leave that open. So she has to show us where that is, and I’m asking you to make sure she gets back in one piece. Can you do that doctor?”

[Goro Kondo]

Goro grimaced, "Dr. Weir, she is currently in one piece and recovering as well as can be expected given the circumstances." He held up a hand to forestall whatever she was about to say, "However, if you insist that she go gallivanting around this place, climbing and descending countless stairs," he paused and shrugged his shoulders, "at best she'll be in immense pain again, at worst it may aggravate her previous injuries which would lead to further long term damage."

Dr. Weir paused. Goro found her voice calm; infuriatingly so. "I know. I've asked her if she can verbally guide us to the damaged machine, but she's not sure she can find it in person. I wouldn't ask this, but so long as anyone can find their way into Atlantis, we are in danger."

The doctor pinched the bridge of his nose, "OK, fine, I get it, but did you ask her if she felt up to this? If she was willing to risk her long term mobility against the off chance that some peice of Ancient technology might activate again?"

Weir's chin lifted; there was a touch of evasion in her voice as she said, "She is willing to cooperate with us. She understands the danger. And I know that she hopes it's a two-way door, so that she can get home. I'd be willing to let her try, if we can find the device and if we can make it work."

Goro sighed, "I intend to discuss this with Ms. Izumi, to make sure she's aware of what this could mean for her health. And I will not hesitate to call an immediate halt if I feel there is any possibility of detrimental impact to her health. I don't give a damn about a maybe security breach if it means the health of a patient under my care."

Weir blinked and narrowed her eyes. For a second, he thought she was going to flat-out contradict him, but she merely said, "Balance that concern for a patient with the safety of this expetition. That is a part of your duty as well." Her piece said, she relaxed a little. "Have you been able to establish a medical baseline for her yet? If she's with us for a while, we may need it."

"No, I haven't, we were prohibited from unpacking the medical equipment or investigating the Atlantean diagnostics as well. I would feel much more comfortable allowing this excursion if I had." Goro scrubbed a hand through his hair, "Dr. Weir, this is an unusual situation and people are already being pushed to their limits. I suggest that you allocate somebody to study the city's computers, if she really did somehow teleport from Earth to here the city's internal sensors, if it has them, must have picked up something. Any way that we can shorten this excursion the better for Ms. Izumi's leg."

"That is something that is coming," Dr. Weir said, her voice tense. "But we have a lot of ground to cover right now. Fortunately, Dr. Izumi marked which floor it's on, though she's not sure which one that is. So you won't have to wander multiple floors, once you find the right one. But this needs to be done sooner rather than later. You'll be well guarded, and I'll make sure that the soldiers are aware they'll have to carry her if it comes to that." She tilted her head slightly. "Is that acceptable?"

"I'd rather take an elevator," he grumbled even as he nodded. "Must have been nice to live in a society where everybody was healthy enough to be able to walk these towers the hard way and had the free time to do so." He turned to go but paused and then turned back, "You should get some rest yourself you know. You look like you haven't slept. I'd hate to have to take this up with Dr. Beckett." Goro's voice was tinged with a mixture of defiance and genuine concern, she could tell that he would push back just as hard as he was pushed, more so in fact, if the situation warranted.

Weir looked down and then back up. "Point taken," she said quietly. "I will attempt to sleep. Please establish a baseline for Dr. Izumi before you go on this trip. Are you ready to do so if I send her to you now?"

"I should be, the team has hopefully gotten the equipment setup." He shifted gears once more, "Have you sent a team ahead to locate which floor she came in on? Do we at least know what we're up against?"

"No, I haven't done that," Weir said. "I didn't want to send people up and down those steps more times than necessary. And I hope this place has an elevator. I hope we find it soon - these stairs are getting difficult." She paused. "I know you have basic military training," she added. "Would you like to be armed when you go?"

Goro laughed, "I have two arms right now, anything more is just a greater chance of something untoward happening. Unless you think there's reason I don't see the need or the point. Besides, I'm really not very good. I only know enough to not look down the round thingy." His joking tone was like a wash of lightness that difused the tension between them. Dr. Kondo could be stubborn as a mule about his patients but the impression that he was an amiable person was one nobody could miss.

Weir smiled in understanding. "I feel the same way about firearms, but don't tell the soldiers," she said lightly. "You know how they are about them. I will send Dr. Izumi to you, and I will get some rest." With a final smile, she turned and left.

Goro nodded to himself and headed back to sickbay. He was already sick of walking the floors up and down between Medical and the Control Room. That was only a handful of floors, not the dozens that lay between there and wherever it was that Oliva had emerged from whatever piece of Ancient tech had deposited her in the city. With a sighing grumble he started down the stairs, "Highly evolved my ass, what kind of skyscraper doesn't have elevators."

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia limped along the alien hallways, her head down. She knew where the infirmary was; it was one of only two places she did know. The four soldiers following her were ignored as much as possible; they were a symbol of her entrapment, in more ways than one. Someone had provided her with an extra set of clothes, so now she looked like she belonged, even if she knew the truth. This wasn't where she belonged.

Despite her unquiet thoughts, she smiled when she saw Dr. Goro. The doctor was the only person to treat her with true kindness since she'd gotten here. "Doctor," she greeted him, "I understand you have to tolerate me some more. And then you're getting dragged along on a hike."

Goro looked up from an instrument panel. He sighed, putting on airs of a harried doctor, "Yes, it appears that we found another half dozen very cold instruments that we need warmed up, and you did say you wanted to help out." He pointed to a small examination room off the main room and looked at the soldiers, "Don't even think of trying to come in, doctor patient privledge and all that." He followed Olvia into the room and keyed the door closed. "OK, Weir wanted a baseline. That means, lucky you, lots of pokes and prods and a full round of things like x-rays and blood sampling. Also I may need some brain tissue ..." He waited, his poker face impenetrable, to see her reaction.

"Well, I knew doctors were vampires," Olivia said drily, "but I think you're the first zombie doctor I've met." Her poker face cracked suddenly and she gave him a brilliant smile. "Permission is granted for the blood sample. Other samples by negiotation only."

Goro frowned, "My associate Dr. Frankenstein will be most disappointed."

An hour and much medical prodding later, Goro applied a band aid over the needle wound. "Unless you've changed your mind about that brain tissue donation I suppose we're done here. If you're sure you are up to it we can begin what I can only assume will be an exciting trip down any number of exciting stairwells." He paused, "You can say no, you know. They don't have the right to ask you to hurt yourself, and if you push yourself too far for too long you may damage you leg even more."

Olivia looked down. "Right now, this holds out the best hope of getting home. I know that this may hurt my knee. I remember what the doctors told me after they removed the pins." Looking back up at Goro, she added, "I am choosing to do this. I'll be as careful as I can, but this is my best chance of seeing my son for dinner tonight."

Goro frowned, "I don't like it. There's plenty of healthy goons who can look around just fine, but I can't make you listen to me. So instead I'll just follow you around and make you take regular breaks and advise you when to quit while you are still ahead." He shrugged, "But then what do I know."

"You know enough that I'll be listening to you," Olivia promised sincerely. "If this wasn't about Dom, I'd let it go. But..." She shrugged. "I will listen to you. I don't want to hurt myself further. I'm just willing to risk it."

"OK, alright. Let me gather a few things and we can get going. I'm sure the geeks are all but chomping at the bit to see what this thing is." Goro moved about the room taking various bits and shoving them into an old school leather doctor's bag, complete with a white circle and a red cross. When he was done he helped Olivia up and said to the nearest goon, "Lead on."

"We need to wait for Dr. McKay," one of the 'goons' said.

"Oh, I have a bad feeling about that name," Olivia whispered.

Moments later, she winced as the bitchy man from earlier came into the room. "Right then," he said briskly. "Let's get going."

Olivia nodded and limped toward the stairs. The sooner they got this started, the sooner she could get home. She didn't let herself consider that she might not make it home today. She'd deal with that when it happened.

[Dawn OOC]

Whatever else Atlantis might have been, it wasn't for the physically unfit. Going down the stairs was easy at first; gravity was a great help to the descending group. For all that they were in an alien city, the stairs looked rather like the stairs anywhere else.

Goro also learned that he didn't have to worry about Olivia. She was used to dealing with her handicap, and she leaned heavily on the stair's railing, using it like a stationary cane as she walked. And he didn't have to call many breaks for her; McKay stopped them often because he needed a breather.

But even the soldiers were starting to have issues after a few hours. Everyone was sweating, and soon, people weren't complaining when McKay called for a halt. Even Goro found his knees starting to hurt.

Suddenly, the leading guard said, "Hey, found a post-it!"

Olivia stepped forward and peered at it, then nodded. "That's it," she said, pulling it off the railing. "This is the floor."

"Oh, thank god," McKay breathed, leaning over and pressing his hands into his knees. "Just... just let me catch my breath..."

"Do you remember which room it's in?" one of the guards asked Olivia.

The woman shook her head. "No," she admitted, wiping sweat from her forehead. "No, I don't." She pointed down the hall. "I came from that direction though."

"Then let's go," the sargent in charge said. "Everyone fan out, let's check every room in this direction."

"Be careful, and don't touch anything," McKay said. "God only knows what the Ancients left running."

Click to reveal..

Perception + Awareness rolls, please

[Goro Kondo]

Goro felt like crap, though he was gratified to see that even the soldiers were feeling the burn. He spent most of his spare effort keeping and eye on Olivia and the others from a medical point of view. If any of them showed signs of being worse for wear than just labored breathing and burning muscles he needed to know and stop this insanity from continuing.

Click to reveal..

Perception 4 + Awareness 3

7d10=37 = 1 sux

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia leaned against the stair railing and lifted her injured leg, taking all the weight off her knee. Goro watched her closely, but she gave him a smile to show she was alright. After a moment, she pushed off the rest and started up the hallway, following the soldiers.

Click to reveal..

Olivia's Perc + Aware: 3 sux

1d10=1, 1d10=6, 1d10=6, 1d10=10, 1d10=1, 1d10=6, 1d10=3, 1d10=7

[Dawn OOC]

The group split into two. McKay and one of the soldiers went through rooms on the right, while Olivia and another soldier went to the left. Goro remained close to Olivia, since she was the one he was most concerned about.

They quickly fell into a pattern: open a door, sweep the room and then back out. Then it was on to the next room. After an hour of hunting, McKay called for another break. "This place is massive," he said, panting softly. "How far down are we?"

"I'd guess on the bottom floor," an airman named Houser guessed. "If we find the door out, I'm going swimming."

"We have no idea what's in that water," Parson, the other airman replied. "An ancient shark gnawing on your as-, er." He faltered as he looked at Olivia. "Gnawing on your backside, would suck," he finished awkwardly.

"Yeah, yeah, enough brave banter," McKay grumbled. "Let's go."

They came to a short hallway that went left and right. There were seven doors visible in each short jaunt, three on each side and one at the end of the hallway. "You didn't come down a hallway did you?" McKay asked.

"No," Olivia replied.

"Let's check them anyway," Parson said. "I don't like leaving rooms behind us."

"We've left an entire building unchecked behind us," McKay snapped irritably. "What are fourteen more rooms?"

"They're between us and the stairs. Look, it'll take five minutes, right? You three left, McKay and I right, and it'll be done fast."

"Fine, what's one more delay. Just so long as we don't run out of food," McKay mumbled. "I need to keep my blood sugar up."

Goro, Olivia and Houser headed to the hallway on the left. They checked back and forth, the sound of McKay and Parson's conversation clear behind them. All was well until they came to the last room. It appeared, unlike many on this floor, to be a store room. "I wonder if they have any useful supplies," Houser mused, stepping into the room. "Food, water-"

"Clean underwear," Olivia muttered, unfortunately timing it with his pause. She flushed as Houser did.

"Yeah, I guess that'd be true for you, ma'am," he said softly. "Let' pop open one-"

"We probably shouldn't," Olivia said quickly. "Let's just check the corners and make sure its clear. We can do a better search on our way back."

"Sure thing," Houser said. He moved across the room, checking the corners. "Ma'am, can I ask you something?"

"Uh, sure," Olivia said, using her flashlight to try to find some indication of what kind of storage this was.

"What you said to McKay, in the Control Room... was that true?"

Olivia glanced sharply at him. What she would have said was lost as she said, "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Goro asked. Listening, he thought he could hear something creak, like a chain on a hinge - or like thawing ice.

Olivia said quickly, "I think we need to-" The rest of her comment was cut short as the floor gave way beneath them, dropping them into darkness.

Click to reveal..

Dexterity + Athletics roll to determine if you can mitigate damage.

[Goro Kondo]

"What?" Goro said, distracted by everything else his attention to the conversation had lapsed. There was an odd sound and then as Olivia was replying the floor fell out from beneath them. "Wha-!"

Click to reveal..

Dex 3+ Athletics 1

1d10=9, 1d10=7, 1d10=10, 1d10=8

Result = 5 sux (Ninja mode active)

Goro hit the ground and flex his knees pitching himself forward into a roll that absorbed a healthy amount of the kinetic impact and popped him back on his feet in the darkness. He fumbled in his pockets for the small LED MagLite he always carried and flipped it on. "Everyone OK?" he asked as he shone the light around looking for the others and his dropped bag.

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia screamed as they fell, a full-throated girly shriek of terror. She hit sharply and hard, her scream cut short.

Click to reveal..

Olivia's Dex+Athletics, 1 die penalty for her knee: 0 sux

1d10=5

[Dawn OOC]

Goro heard, distantly, a rather loud thump and a splash. He waved his light in the direction of the thump, finding Olivia laying on the same metallic surface on which he'd managed to land so gracefully.

Beyond her, Houser broke the surface of the water, coughing and spitting water. "Salt! God-" He coughed again. "I hope this isn't full of bacteria or toxic crap." He paddled over to the platform that Goro and Olivia had landed on and started to pull himself up.

A soft whirling noise above them brought their attention up. Goro frowned as he saw the floor above them closing on its hinge. With a click, it shut, leaving them in the darkness.

Click to reveal..

Houser's roll: 3 sux

1d10=4, 1d10=8, 1d10=6, 1d10=9, 1d10=3, 1d10=7

Goro: no damage

Olivia 3 Lethal

Houser: no damage

Houser's swim check: 3 sux

1d10=9, 1d10=7, 1d10=2, 1d10=2, 1d10=7, 1d10=1

Figures I'd hurt my own character the most.

[Goro Kondo]

"Fantastic. I guess we found the basement. Are you two OK? Can you stand Olivia?" Goro swung the light back onto Olivia and Houser and then located his bag and moved over to them. He gave them both a quick once over. Houser was fine if soaked with water. "You have your canteen?" Houser nodded. "Rinse your mouth, don't swallow, then rise your eyes, outside in toward your nose. I can help if you need it. That should minimize any potential risks."

Goro check Olivia second, "Anything broken, or more broken than it was? I don't see any blood, which is good but after a fall like that I'm concerned about maybe internal injuries. Did you land on your feet? Front? Back?"

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"Side," Olivia rasped. She was curled on that side; it hurt, but it hurt less than trying to move. "I... really hate this place."

She allowed Goro to move her to her back; when he touched her torso, she hissed sharply. "That... hurt!"

"Sorry," he said, "this is going to hurt some more." His fingers put more pressure on her ribs and she cried out loud. "Bruised ribs, perhaps even cracked or broken."

"Fantastic," Olivia groaned. She focused on breathing until she could speak normally. "Can you wrap me up and get us out of here? I think I'm done."

[Goro Kondo]

"Yes, of course, and I've no idea." Goro set his bag down and knelt next to Olivia as he extracted some wound up rolls of Ace bandages and got to work. "Airman, if you're alright it might be good to start looking for the exit, it's none to warm down here and your soaked, at least keeping you moving will forestall any more serious issues and you might be able to locate the door while I get Ms. Izumi here taken care of." Goro got to work quickly and despite the moments of pain Olivia quickly felt better as her chest was immobilized.

Click to reveal..

Int+Med 10 dice

1d10=5, 1d10=6, 1d10=7, 1d10=8, 1d10=9, 1d10=1, 1d10=2, 1d10=1, 1d10=7, 1d10=3 = 4 sux

[Dawn OOC]

Goro's hands worked with delicate finesse, and soon Olivia was able to breathe without hurting. "Thank you," she murmured.

"Hey." Parson's voice was welcome. "Where are you guys?"

"Thank goodness," Houser murmured then toggled the radio. "Watch out, in the last room, the floor drops down. Dr. Izumi's cracked some ribs or something."

"Of course she did," McKay snipped. "Let us take a look and see what we can determine. Hold tight. Also, you might want to stand to the side. You know. Just in case."

Five minutes later, the roof eased open again, but this time, it was from McKay and Parsons forcing it open. As Parsons secured a line for them, the cranky engineer laid on the edge and peered at the latch that secured the floor. "Just as I thought. The Lanteans didn't build things that break. This latch has been sheered off. Someone broke this." He looked at Olivia, his expression sardonic. "Was this your fault too?" Before Olivia could reply, he said, "Before you guys come up, you should be useful and look around down there. See if you find any clues."

[Goro Kondo]

Goro rolled his eyes, "Dr. McKay, you'll have to forgive me but I can't imagine that anything down here could be so important as to delay proper medical attention further. It's cold and wet down here and I'm sure that whatever happens to be hiding here in the dark it will wait patiently until we can come back with proper gear to explore." Between the three of them they had a couple of small flashlights a soaking wet soldier, an injured civilian and a doctor who was more interested in seeing to people's well being than in finding out what lay in the dark corners of the room.

[Dawn OOC]

"I already scouted around down here and didn't see anything," Houser said quickly. "There's nothing important."

"Right. Because the military is so good at determining what is of scientific value and what isn't," McKay said vemonously. Houser started to sweep the room again anyway, rolling his eyes.

"We can lower you down for you to look," Parsons added. His tone was flat, almost bland, but there was a look in his eyes that said he'd love to get the annoying scientist in a percarious position involving the ropes and grappling set he was already laying out.

"Oh, no, I'm not going down there," McKay said. "It might be dangerous, and it looks wet. Chills go right to my lungs and then I'm sick for weeks."

"Alright," Parsons said, attaching the rope. "Let's get the lady up first. Ma'am, I'm going to toss down his harness. I'll direct you on how to put it-"

"Hey, Dr. McKay?" Houser interrupted. "I don't suppose that a boat is of scientific interest, is it?" He had stepped to the far end of the platform and was pointing the light across the room. His beam had fallen on the bow of a small boat, just visible in the illumination.

"What? I'm coming down," McKay said, grabbing at the harness. "Show me how to put his on."

[Goro Kondo]

Goro shook his head and sighed. "It's like babysitting," he muttered to himself. He shrugged though and helped Olivia to move out of the way so that McKay could descend. "Let's see this boat, and maybe we can find some stairs while we do."

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"Yeah, I'd love to see some stairs," Olivia muttered as she watched McKay awkwardly try to lower himself down. She was not looking forward to climbing up the rope. She was off to the side, leaning against a wall. She watched Goro for a moment, her dark eyes studying. "Do you speak Japanese?" she asked suddenly, wincing a little as she shifted slightly. Pain, my old friend - how I've not missed you.

As Goro blinked at her, she added, "I'm looking for a distraction from the discomfort, Doctor. If you don't want to talk, then we don't have to. But I'd like something else to think about besides how much my ribs hurt. Also, it'd be nice to know something about the man who has my life in his hands - pretty much literally, at this point." She gave him a little smile. "Unless you'd rather stand here and watch McKay swing in the wind?"

[Goro Kondo]

"Oh, I dunno, I was thinking maybe pinata?"

He smirked as McKay yelled down, "Hey! I heard that!"

"As for Japanese," he paused as if considering but actually he was studying this woman, he gauged her to be some mixture of Black and Asian, Japanese presumably. "Well I assume you mean more than 'Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto', in which case the answer is yes. Actually I'm fluent in ..." Goro cocked his head and started ticking off on his fingers quickly moving from one hand to the next before waggling the pinky finger of his left hand. "Nine languages if you count reading cuneiform and hieroglyphics. I sound like I'm bragging right now don't I? I'm sorry, it's not something that usually comes up but I have a certain gift for language."

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"I know a number myself," Olivia said, smiling. "And Japanese is one of them. But Doctor, there's nothing wrong with acknowledging your abilities." She shifted slightly, turning her face up to watch McKay being lowered. The scientist was grabbing at the walls, the rope - anything and everything as he swung back and forth. When he started to complain of motion sickness, Olivia shuddered and shuffled a few painful steps away from him.

"So you know how I got here," she continued, though this time she spoke in Japanese. "Why are you here? What made you leave everything behind to come to another galaxy?" She sounded like a journalist, but she didn't stop herself. This was all about distraction - she needed to get away from the pain.

[Goro Kondo]

Goro shrugged, "How could I say no? I mean really?" He slid backwards a step as well as McKay's flailing limbs inched lower. "Dr. McKay, I'd recommend that you don't move around so much, it'll only make the nausea worse."

Olivia studied the doctor in profile before asking, "Didn't you have anybody back home? Loved ones? Parents?"

Standing as he was between her and McKay Olivia couldn't see his expression falter as he turned more away from her. His expression turned bitter at the memory of his last words with Jessica. "Parents, sure, but they understand, sometimes you have to take the opportunities life gives you." He did his best to cover the sadness that remained in his voice but he was unconvincing. "There was nobody else. Just work."

[Dawn OOC]

Rodney McKay hit the ground, stumbled and caught himself. "That wasn't so bad," he huffed as he wrestled his way out of his rigging. Straightening and trying to recover his dignity, the scientist turned and headed for the boat.

Goro and Olivia could hear him talking; he quickly became confused by the boat. "This isn't motorized or anything," he grumped. "Why would the Ancients have such a primative boat?" As Houser, playing babysitter, shrugged, Parsons said, "Dr. Kendo, would you like to help me get the lady up?"

[Goro Kondo]

"Sure," the doctor replied as he started working to untangle the harness from the mess Rodney had made of it. After a few minutes he looked to Liv, "OK, I've finally got this damn thing untangled, let get you out of his pit, then we get to start the stairs back up!" He did his best to sound cheerful but the fact that they had a good fifty floors worth of stairs to get back to medbay and ops was something that just elicited groans from all around.

"Hey, don't whine, you all wanted to come down here." He helped Liv get the harness fitted and secured and then gave the thumbs up to the soldier above to started to pull Liv up slowly. "Dr MacKay, Houser, have you found anything of note?" he asked as he left Olivia to Parson's care and joined the other two.

[Dawn OOC]

They were looking at a long boat. It looked like an Earth vessel in a few ways; while the rigging was more sophisicated and the construction materials alien, it resembled any number of sailing boats that they had seen on television or real life. McKay was scowling at it as if he were personally offended by its presence, and perhaps he was. It wasn't living up to his notions of what kind of sea-faring vessel the Ancients should have.

"Looks like a good boat," Houser said softly, peering up at it.

"This doesn't make sense," McKay bitched again, looking frustrated. "I need Beckett or someone with that gene down here to try to turn it on."

[Goro Kondo]

Goro looked at McKay, "What exactly do you expect the sail boat to do? Fly? Talk? It's a sail boat McKay, it doesn't need the gene to work, it needs wind." Goro stopped short of adding that he felt McKay might be able to power it without the ATA gene.

McKay, already having moved on board gave an irritated look back at the doctor. "There's instrumentation here, and maybe it has engines, we should try and get it working."

Goro moved down and waved a hand over the consoles. A barely perceptible vibration started from below deck and the panels sprung to life. "There. Now if you'll excuse me I have a patient to tend to. In sick bay. Fifty floors up. So unless this boat can fly I'm done here." He looked at the third man, "Houser, you should probably get upstairs and out of those wet things A-S-A-P, but its not required." Goro moved up the gangplank and back to the hole in the roof where the harness hung waiting for him. He buckled himself in and called up, "All set."

[Dawn OOC]

Parsons nodded and started to pull on Goro's line, aiding Goro in the climb. In no time, he was up on the next level. "Hey Houser, Doctor... you guys coming or not?"

It took some cajoling, but McKay was compelled to leave the boat behind with only a ten minutes worth of research. After he was pulled up, Houser followed. Parsons reached down and pulled out the block holding the door shut.

Olivia had been standing stiffly; now she lead the way back to the main hallway, eager to get out of here. In the hallway she stopped suddenly, looking back the way they came. "Actually, this is familiar. I think we're really close." She sighed. "I'd hate to come back if we're only a few doors away. We could-"

"And we should," McKay pushed. "Best idea I've heard yet. Let's keep going."

Wet Houser looked unamused while Parsons looked to Goro. "What do you think, Doctor?"

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"I could go on," Olivia said, trying to avoid the stairs for just a little longer. "I'm sure we're almost there. It'd be a shame to turn back only to learn we were just a couple of doors from the room."

"You're sure it's close," Houser asked.

Olivia took a couple of steps away from them and looked around. "Yeah," she said after a moment, pointing to a cracked light source up above. "I remember that broken light-thing... is that a lightbulb? Anyway, I remember that being broken not long after I left the room, so I think we're close." She smiled at Goro. "The ribs hurt, but I'm fine for walking around more."

[Goro Kondo]

Goro closed his eyes and shook his head, "Fine, maybe we'll find an elevator too." He held up a hand forestalling any comment, "However, after an hour we're heading back, I don't care if we can see the room and are only ten feet away. One hour. That's it, then we head back, before anybody else is further injured." He wasn't sure it was a good idea but Olivia's ribs weren't fractured, just cracked, so pain aside there was little to worry about.

He opened his bag and pulled out a syringe. He checked the dosage as he walked over to Liv, "You're not allergic to oxycodone are you?"

"No why?" she replied not seeing the syringe in his hand. "I'm fine it- ow."

"That'll help, whether you like it or not." He capped the needle, "OK, let's get this over with."

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Frowning and rubbing the stinging injection site, Olivia turned and looked at the hallway. "Okay," she said softly, pressing her lips together. "This way."

She was right; within forty yards of their spot, Olivia's face brightened. "Oh, here it is!" she cried, grinning widely. She stepped into the room before security could sweep it, giving the two men visible twitches. "See, there's the door, and that's what I landed against."

Houser pulled her back out of the room gently, and he and Parsons checked it. "It's safe," he called and the group headed into the room.

McKay immediately got to work on the broken machine, looking over it. "Hmm, whatever this is, it's inoperative anyway," he said, his irritated expression no changing with the good news. "We were lucky."

He moved to the door next and began to poke at it, taking readings and muttering to himself. The guards quickly grew bored and began to wander around the room, looking at other stuff. There was a bit of equipment in the room and all of it alien.

[Dawn OOC]

McKay would have remained there forever, had not Goro finally called it quits. He was aware of his patient and the long hike back. He had a feeling that it was going to take longer than they suspected. While he could understand Dr. McKay's fascination, he was far more concerned about the health of his patient and less concerned about the machinery. So after an hour, Goro ordered them back. He'd made sure that Olivia had rested for that hour, and done what he could for her, but he still had a bad feeling.

His feeling was fulfilled not by Olivia but by McKay. The scientist hadn't gotten the rest that the stowaway had, and he was worn out before they'd gotten far. Goro called for a two-hour rest rather than make one of the men carry McKay, a proposition that would be dismissed on both sides. Besides, he was getting tired, too.

Slowly but surely and with frequent rests, they made their way to the top. He was bone-tired, but like the others, he waited to make his report with Weir. He had little to add, but McKay had more. "The door is somehow connected to the Gate," he said, looking tired. "But I can't know how until I learn more from the readings that I got off the device. At some point, I'll have to go back down there again."

"Not now," Weir said immediately, "or anytime soon. We're having a celebration tomorrow for our arrival. Welcoming our new friends and so on. Go get some well-deserved rest and be ready to have a bit of fun tomorrow, before the real work starts."

[Dawn OOC]

Click to reveal..

2 xp