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The Brotherhood
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Kai slid out from under the console she and Zelenka were working on as the gate activated. "Off world activation!"
Doctor Weir trotted in from her office. "Is the shield up?" She called.
"Yes ma'am."
There was a paused and then static crackled over the radio. "Atlantis, this is Sheppard."
Elizabeth frowned, AR-1 had been off world for the last two days searching for a ZPM at one of the addresses her past self had provided them. She moved over to the main console activating her radio. "John? This is Weir. You weren't due for a check in for another five hours, what's going on?"
The static distorted the Major's voice but not so badly they couldn't understand him. "We think we're on to something here. It looks like the Ancient priests left some kind of scavenger hunt to find the ZPM. We need all the digging and excavating equipment as well as all the man power we can spare."
"We've got a situation here Major. Nothing too serious, but with Bates off world with a team of marines and the discovery of a new scanning system I don't have a lot of bodies to spare. You can have Kavanagh's team and maybe Kai if Zelenka can spare her."
Weir cut her eyes to where the two were working. Zelenka leaned in to speak quietly with Kai and they both turned to Weir and nodded.
There was a long pause. "I'll take Kai and some shovels. You can keep Kavanagh."
Weir chuckled. "Understood Major. We'll gather the necessary supplies and send her through."
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Kai stepped through the gate less than an hour later pushing a cart of excavation equipment ahead of her. When the wormhole closed behind her Major Sheppard and Teyla were waiting. They were both wearing short sleeves and still looked overly warm in their tactical gear. The Major's eyes were covered in his aviator sunglasses.
"Welcome to sunny Sudaria," he said with a smile.
Kai glanced around, there was no evidence of civilization in sight. she had received only the shortest of briefings over what AR-1 was doing on the planet, but she had been eager to spend some time off world. There was only so much she could do when it came to the computer systems of the city and she felt like she was in the way. Here she could at least help.
"I hope you enjoy digging," the Major said wryly.
Kai hoisted the shovels over a shoulder. "Do we need anything else?" She asked.
John shook his head. "Not yet."
"Lead the way Major."
Sheppard flashed a smile and the three of them headed off into the woods.
"So you haven't had any luck locating the ZPM?" Kai asked, glancing over at Teyla.
Teyla shook her head. "The Sudarians call it the treasure of the Quindosim. The Brotherhood of priests left clues behind as to it's location. There are nine stone markers that have been buried in a grid a pattern. McKay and Ford are with the local historian at one of the grid sites now."
The three of them reached the location and the Major roped off the area in their part of the grid. The three of them each took a shovel.
Kai frowned. "So is there a plan...or do we?"
Sheppard snorted. "You now know exactly as much as the two of us. Pick a spot where you feel lucky."
They dug most of the day. Hours later the Major's shovel clanked against something. "Hey check this out," he called. Both Teyla and Kai moved over to see him lifting a small stone box from the dirt. He dusted it off and opened it to reveal a small three inch by three inch flat stone.
"It is one of the sacred stones," Teyla said with a pleased smile.
Sheppard snorted. "More like sacred coaster," he said tucking it away. "All right," he said pulling out a map from one of his vest pockets. "Let's pack it up and move to the next site."
They moved to the next area of the grid. As they walked together Kai sipped from her canteen. It wasn't as hot here as back on her home planet, but it was warmer than she was accustomed to.
"So what is all the excitement Weir was talking about back home?" John asked as he fell into step beside Kai.
Kai held out her canteen to him. He took it gratefully, his fingers brushed against hers as he took it. She tried not to notice and cleared her throat before she spoke. "Zelenka discovered additional scanners we didn't realize we had."
"Exciting," Sheppard snapped sarcastically. "Sorry to pull you away from it." he said handing the canteen back.
Kai chuckled. "Well, there isn't much I can do to help with those systems...plus, I couldn't in good conscience allow Doctor Weir to send you Kavanagh," she teased.
The Major chuckled. "I appreciate the thought."
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They worked until dark and Kai, Sheppard and Teyla returned to the ancient monastery. Sheppard led the way into the dimly lit main hall. McKay's team had already returned and Ford was sitting at a long table that was covered in books and papers.
Sheppard stepped up to another small table where McKay and the historian Allina were working. He laid the two stones they had recovered on the table.
"Is this it?" McKay asked, looking up at him.
"Well how many did you get McKay?" Sheppard snapped.
"Never mind," McKay muttered and moved away towards the large tapestry where Allina was standing.
Sheppard turned to join the others at the large table in the center of the room. The Sudarians came in with food. It wasn't anything fancy, but after a day of working in the sun the bread, dried meat, fruit, and wine were some of the best they had tasted. Kai began sifting through the papers in interest. These people had spent time with Ancients and although the pages might not reveal the location of the ZPM there was more that could be learned.
The group ate quietly together, all but Kai watching McKay's oblivious reactions to the beautiful historian's flirting.
"It's like watching Animal Planet," Sheppard said popping a grape in his mouth.
Kai lifted her eyes from the page she had been translating. "What's Animal Planet?" Kai asked in confusion.
Ford started chuckling. They were all exhausted and Sheppard's comment seemed much funnier to the young lieutenant than it actually was. He let out another peel of laughter.
"Never mind," Sheppard said in a low tone.
Kai sighed and went back to her translating.
McKay walked past them a few minutes later. "I'm heading to bed," he said briskly.
Sheppard took a bite of his bread. "Which bed might that be?" he asked with feigned innocence.
McKay hesitated for a minute and turned back to them. "What?" he asked in confusion.
Teyla chuckled behind her hand.
Ford leaned forward. "I think Allina might have a little crush on you Doc," Ford said holding his fingers up close together.
"She does?" McKay asked uncomfortably.
Teyla nodded. "It is very clear to all of us."
"It is?" he asked turning towards Kai.
Kai peered over the top of the page. "Even me," Kai agreed.
Sheppard snorted. "Well, everyone but you apparently."
McKay began fidgeting nervously. "Should I, um...are you sure about this?" he asked turning towards John.
"Yeah," John agreed, he leaned forward and lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I'm very sure."
McKay's eyes were wide. "What should I do?" he asked desperately.
Sheppard hesitated and glanced back over his shoulder at McKay. "You don't know what to do?" he asked uncomfortably.
Rodney made a noise of disgust in the back of his throat, at once feeling embarrassed even having this conversation with the four people in front of him. Every one of them was attractive and no doubt had never had problems like this in their lives.
"I know what to do eventually," he said. "I mean, what should I do now? Should I say something tonight?"
John stared at the scientist in disbelief. He had never seen McKay so flustered. Nor had he ever been so sure he was going to see someone blow what was clearly a sure thing. He didn't understand why the hot historian was into McKay, but it was painfully obvious she was.
Teyla grimaced and looked away.
"Tell you what Casanova," he said turning back to McKay. "Wait until tomorrow. You'll be more on your game after you get some rest."
"Oh," McKay said looking a little disappointed. "Right, right. Good answer. Good night," he called a little too loudly and the historian glanced over towards him, a small smile on her face. McKay turned around to go to his cot and bumped into the door frame.
Kai took another sip of her wine to hide her smile. She couldn't imagine a woman being interested in the arrogant scientist. Teyla chuckled as Sheppard shook his head in disbelief.
Ford stretched his arms over his head. "I'm going to head to bed too."
"Myself as well," Teyla agreed following Ford.
John sat up a while and finished his wine. Kai was still reading and he found he was hesitant to go to bed himself. He watched as she poured over the ancient texts with a concentration he had only seen when she was working on Jumpers. The flickering candlelight reflected in her storm-grey eyes as she frowned down at the pages. John drained the last of his cup and stood.
"You good?" John asked clearing his throat. The wine made his limbs loose and heavy. He swallowed.
Kai looked up to see the Major pushing his chair back and rising to his feet. He was staring at her intently. They were both exhausted and she let herself hold his gaze a second longer than she should have. His hazel eyes were tired but there was a softness to his face she didn't often see. He confused her.
Kai nodded and quickly looked back down at the pages in her hands. "Yes, I was just reading their account of their encounters with the Ancients," she said looking down at the crumbling pages. She snorted and shook her head. "I don't know why."
John thought he understood. "Well, your people came from them, sort of makes sense," John said with a casual shrug. It was perfectly normal human behavior. He was about to say as much when he caught himself. Kai wasn't entirely human, and he had inadvertantly thrown that in her face before. He didn't want to hurt her feelings again, but it was a good reminder for himself.
She pulled her scarf off of her head and scrubbed at her hair with her fingers. He had never seen it loose like this before, it fell in soft dark waves all around her. The reflecting candlelight made it look incredibly soft. He quickly clasped his hands behind his back. "Well, get some sleep Zian," he said briskly.
"Of course Major," she agreed getting to her feet and stretching.
It felt intimate following the Major back towards their sleeping area, but it would have been more awkward if she stopped now and drew attention to it. The strange tension between them was already uncomfortable enough.
When they reached the area she saw McKay, For, and Teyla were all fast asleep. There were three cots along the back wall with two palates in the small spaces between them. Given the Sundarian peoples level of technology and wealth it was a generous set up for them to offer strangers.
McKay has taken the cot on the far left and Ford was sprawled on the one in the middle. Teyla was on the floor between the two.
"You take the cot," John said keeping his voice low so they wouldn't wake the others. He pulled down the zipper on his vest. "I've got the floor," he said shrugging it off.
"No Major, please," Kai started to argue. "You're-" she started to whisper but stopped herself.
"What?" He asked. The teasing gleam in his eyes made her chest tighten. She blinked and looked away uncomfortably. She wasn't sure what was wrong with her. She was just thankful the dim light made it impossible for him to see the flush climbing her neck.
"Well your body is more physically advanced..." she pointed out, fighting to keep the laughter from her voice. "Perhaps sleeping on the floor wouldn't-"
"Hey," Sheppard snapped indignantly in a whisper yell. "Are you calling me old?" he challenged crossing his arms over his toned chest.
"I-" she started to explain feeling the heat flush in her face again. .
"You're ninety," John said, then stabbed his finger into his chest. "Thirty-five. You take the cot old lady." John could barely contain his laughter. It had been a long time since he felt like he could joke around so freely with someone. She was so private when everyone else was around, but when they were alone Kai let him see her sense of humor. He liked it more than he should.
Kai chuckled and seeing the defiant set to his chin nodded. She knew better than to argue when the Major had his mind set.
The Major set his P-90 down beside his palate and laid down. He stretched his arms above him, using them to pillow his head. Kai swallowed as his shirt pulled up, leaving an exposed line of skin above his belt.
She turned away from him and shrugged out of her own vest. She laid down and climbed onto the cot self-consciously. Her people never slept this close to one another unless they were mated or family. The Zian certainly never did. Their heightened senses made it nearly impossible to tune out the others noises and get to sleep. As she lay down and stared up at the stone ceiling her own heart was thudding rapidly for some reason. It took a while for her to relax.
"Sleep well Zian," the Majors husky voice came through the darkness as though he could sense her discomfort.
She swallowed. "You too Major."
Eventually she found herself focusing on the sounds of her companions sleeping. Instead of being a distraction she found it strangely comforting to know she wasn't alone in the dark. She could hear the others breathing but only the Major was close enough for her to hear his heartbeat. It was a strong, steady rhythm that began to lull her peacefully to sleep. Just as she was about to drift off, she felt the comforting nudge in her mind and it was enough to push her over the edge into a dreamless sleep.
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The next day they were all at the last dig site together. John's team found the eighth stone early in the day and met up with McKay's team. They had been digging all day, but they hadn't found anything. McKay was so flustered he could barely manage to string a sentence together in Allina's presence.
"Major!" Ford called from the other side of the site where he and Kai had been working together all day. After the intensity he had felt between them last night John had been careful to keep his distance from the Mortii.
Sheppard swiped a hand over his forehead smearing sweat and dirt across his skin. "Tell me you found the stone."
Ford looked down, his brow wrinkling in confusion. "Not quite sir, but I think McKay should take a look at this."
It looked like the boxes that held the other stones, but it was much larger; two feet square with a symbol on top. They all worked to brush away the loose dirt so all the etchings were visible.
"It carries the mark of the brotherhood," Allina said excitedly.
"The writings in Ancient," Sheppard said standing. He glanced towards Kai. "Can you read it?"
Kai brushed away some of the remaining dirt. "It's a warning, it says only the Brotherhood of the Fifteen should enter the forbidden chamber of the...Quin-Quindosim?" she stumbled over the word. "I'm not confident about that translation..."
"That's correct," Allina agreed. "But...what chamber?"
Sheppard cocked his head as he stared down at the large stone slab. "You know," he said thoughtfully. "It sort of looks like manhole cover."
"A manhole cover?" McKay asked in disgust.
"Yeah, but you know, more Ancienty," he said with a wry grin.
McKay made a noise of disgust and was about to berate the Major when Kai got down on her knees. "There's a seam here. I think we could move it."
Teyla, Ford and Kai returned to the gate to bring more of the excavation equipment Kai had brought. An hour later they had a hoist tripod set up and were able to move the heavy stone slab. It was nothing but pitch black straight down into a long shaft. Ford pulled two glow sticks out of his vest. He cracked them and threw them down the shaft. They landed about thirty feet below bouncing on what looked like sand covered ground.
McKay looked back and and forth across the group of them. "So, who wants to go first?" When no one spoke up. "Sort of seems like a Sheppard thing, huh?"
The Major grunted but agreed.
Kai was the last to be lowered down. They decided since she was the lightest she would the easiest for Ford to lower alone. Kai stuck her foot in the loop and Ford began lowering her.
"Alright," Sheppard's called from below her. "You've got about another ten feet Ford."
"Roger that," Ford called back and he continued to lower her. Another few feet and the line went slack at the same moment Ford yelled.
Kai braced but two strong hands closed around the outside of her thighs, catching her before she fell more than a foot.
Sheppard grunted as he supported her weight. "Gotcha," he said. Her hands grasped at his to steady herself. "You good?" He asked.
"Yeah," she said a little breathlessly as she tightened her grip on his hands. She was completely dependent on the Major to keep her from falling.
John pulled her tightly against him, and slid her down the front of his body as he lowered her safely to the ground. Her fingers were warm against his where she held onto him. He grit his teeth. This was literally the opposite of keeping his distance. He helped Kai disentangle herself from the rope and looked down at her. "Are you sure you're alright?" he asked forcing himself to let her go. She was being strangely quiet, even for Kai.
She nodded. "Fine," she promised.
He looked her over as though reassuring himself she hadn't been injured. "Good," he said nodding. He tilted his chin up. "Ford what the hell?"
The shadow of Lieutenant Ford's head appeared. "Shit, I'm sorry Zian!" he called down.
"I'm okay Ford," she promised. "The Major broke my fall." Kai wiped her sweaty hands on her thighs. She wasn't afraid of heights, but she wasn't a huge fan of falling. She hadn't expected the Major to catch her and she felt uncomfortable over having to be saved by the Major yet again. Although no one else seemed to find the situation odd she couldn't shake the feeling. She needed to put some space between them.
"All right, I'm sorry again. The rope slipped. I'll stay up here and keep an eye on the descender," Ford offered.
Sheppard nodded and took a step away from Kai when he noticed how tense she was. "Stay sharp up there. I'll let you know if anything interesting happens down here."
Kai dusted off her hands and moved into the ancient chamber. There was a large engraving on the main wall in front of a console. McKay and Allina started assembling the stones on the console and were conferring quietly together.
Kai paced around the room with Teyla looking over the walls and engravings for any clues.
"You know," John said stepping towards the two women. "This sort of makes me feel like Indiana Jones."
Kai frowned at yet another reference she didn't understand. "Who is he?"
McKay replied without looking up from the puzzle. "He was a fictional character who studied ancient cultures, usually destroying anything he discovered, and was all in all terrible at his job." McKay shifted the stones once more, frowning.
"Hey," Sheppard said indignantly. "He was not terrible at his job. He fought the Nazi's and always got the girl in the end."
Kai watched as McKay and Allina worked together, their foreheads only inches apart. She smirked and leaned towards the Major and spoke in a low tone. "It would appear Doctor McKay would be this Indiana Jones."
Sheppard turned to follow her gaze and nodded chuckling. "I guess you're right."
"I don't believe it," McKay said suddenly.
John moved over towards him. "What don't you believe?" he asked.
"It's a gate address. A six symbol gate address."
Allina cocked her head. "Yes I see it now," she agreed.
"Do you recognize the address?" Teyla asked.
Both McKay and Allina shook their head.
Sheppard sighed. "So the ninth stone is on another planet."
Kai went very still. She couldn't be sure with the others talking so loudly near her, but she thought she heard voices above them. She strode quickly towards the shaft and cocked her head as she strained her senses.
"Zian?" John asked. He picked up on Kai's discomfort immediately and he took a step towards her, his brow furrowed. All humor was gone as The Major took over. Zian's senses were better than any of theirs and he respected her abilities and instincts.
"I-" she started to say and two gun shots sounded above them. Sheppard jerked his gun up and ran to stand beside Kai below the shaft. He nudged her back a step so she wouldn't be first in the line of fire.
Kai moved willingly, for the sake of not wanting to fight the Major in a combat situation. She could hear their voices clearly now.
"Put the weapon down Lieutenant Ford," a strangely familiar voice called.
"Someone who knows him ," Kai reported tightly as she drew her handgun. "Ordering him to disarm."
"Ford?" Sheppard called loudly.
Kai heard the crack of a blow against flesh and she shook her head. "They hit him I think."
The same voice she had heard called out to them. "Major Sheppard, I'm afraid the Lieutenant has had to step away from a moment."
"Who is that?" McKay asked, his eyes wide with fear.
"It can't be," Sheppard muttered through gritted teeth. His eyes narrowed as he seethed.
"It's-" Kai started to say but Sheppard interrupted her.
"KOLYA!" he bellowed.
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I hope you enjoyed the update!
I'm changing the structure a little and including the name of the episode at the start of each chapter to make it easier to follow any time jumps. I hope you're enjoying the story!