Trust Once Broken | SGA John Sheppard

0.122.0

McKay shook his head. "Look this is probably the only chance we have to study the not-whales close up. If you're going to sulk-"

"I don't sulk! And I'm not upset!" John growled and then caught himself.

McKay made a noise in the back of his throat but kept his focus on his data. Sometimes it was better to let Sheppard fight himself rather than present oneself as a target.

John took a deep breath. He wasn't saying that McKay was right, but he and McKay only had a couple hours before they were back on duty. He needed to focus on finding the whale creature. He could worry about what was happening with Kai and how to help her without her noticing when they got back.

John set the jumper down gently on the surface of the water. He reached out and adjusted the inertial dampeners up to several atmospheres worth of gravity to ensure they would sink, but not too fast. They slowly began to descend into the dark depths.

John glanced towards McKay as the water rose up over the windshield and totally engulfed them. "You all right?" He asked when McKay looked a little green.

"I'm fine," McKay said unconvincingly. He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. "I just never feel safe in these things underwater," he admitted.

"But in space you're okay?" John asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" McKay asked as though the answer were obvious.

John snorted and shook his head. Sometimes Rodney baffled even him. He made a few adjustments to the controls and activated the external lights. "Zelenka you there?" He asked, activating the communications.

"Hi hello, I'm here," Zelenka's voice was clear despite the garble of white noise in the background. "The whales are deeper now, less than a kilometer from you in your two o'clock position."

Rodney leaned forward and activated the HUD screen. He seemed better now that he had something to focus on. "Well there they are," he said and he closed it. "We should have a visual on them at any moment."

A large whale emerged from the blackness moments later swimming gracefully through the dark waters. It called and they could somehow hear and feel the echo of the whale song even inside the jumper.

John grimaced as the beginnings of a headache began to pound in his temples.

"There's Sam," McKay said excitedly. "And there's mama," he pointed to an even larger whale creature further away.

"We need to get a closer look." John said, ignoring the pounding in his head as he nosed the jumper through the water towards the creatures.

"Not too close now," McKay warned. "We still don't know what these things eat."

The whales called again and John suddenly grimaced and rubbed his eyes as pain lanced through his head.

"What? What is it?" McKay asked in concern.

"Nothing," John brushed him off as he tightened his hands on the controls. "Just a headache all of a sudden," John told him.

"Oh," McKay said in surprise. He had never seen Sheppard react to a headache. He had a higher pain tolerance than just about anyone he had ever met.

McKay turned back to the window and frowned when there was nothing but blackness. "Where'd they go?" McKay asked craning his neck to get a better view.

"I don't know," John said suspiciously. He didn't like feeling vulnerable down here. The jumper reacted slower in the water than it did in space and it wouldn't take much for even the baby whale to make them lunch.