Read SGA - 14 - Death Game for Free Online

peaceful.
    “See anything?” John asked.
    “There is a garden,” she said. “The moon is very bright.”
    “That could be good or bad.” He was propped up against the pillows, and the dark shadows under his eyes were not all cast by the hanging lamp.
    Teyla climbed down awkwardly. “We should try to rest,” she said. “Tomorrow may be a very long day.”
    The jackals or whatever they were howled louder. Rodney certainly hoped they were afraid of flashlights, because that’s what he had to keep them off. Ok, he supposed a pistol was also useful, but his chances of shooting jackals in the dark with a pistol seemed pretty nonexistent. And he was hungry.
    Rodney jumped when the chevrons lit blue with the incoming wormhole, and got to his feet before it even stabilized.
    “Sheppard, this is Weir.” Elizabeth’s familiar voice crackled over the radio. “Report.”
    Rodney slipped the headset over his ear quickly. “This is McKay,” he said. “I’m at the gate alone.”
    He could almost see Elizabeth’s frown. “Where is the rest of the team?”
    “They dropped me here, oh, thirteen hours ago, and went to investigate a strange energy reading in some Ancient ruins on an island north of here,” Rodney said. “Since then there’s been no contact. And let me tell you, I am starting to be unhappy about that!”
    “Thirteen hours?” Elizabeth’s brows would be rising. “That’s not like Colonel Sheppard.”
    “No. It’s not. It’s bad. And did I mention I’m being stalked by predators?”
    “I’m sending Major Lorne and a backup team through,” Elizabeth said.
    “No, you’re not,” Rodney snapped. “Because I have been investigating the DHD/gate interface. And it’s screwed up. The control crystals that allow the gate to talk to the DHD have been removed and the systems have been rerouted. The gate can’t interface with any DHD. Not its own. Not the DHDs in the jumpers.”
    “What?”
    “I can’t dial out.” Rodney pulled the microphone a little further from his mouth to permit her to hear a particularly loud jackal scream. “If I could, don’t you think I would have hours ago? Right now anybody you send through is going to be trapped here with me, even if they come through with a jumper. We can’t dial back.”
    There was a pause. “Understood,” Elizabeth said. “Rodney, what’s your recommendation?”
    “Well, we could all just stay here on this forsaken planet forever, or I could fix the gate interface.”
    “What do you need to fix the gate interface?” Elizabeth asked reasonably.
    “I need control crystals, ones that can be repatterned. I also need light. All I’ve got is a flashlight and it’s midnight. I need a full toolset and a spare battery for my laptop to interface with the dialing mechanism. Oh, and I need some water! This is a desert. And there’s nothing to eat or drink. Also some jackal repellent would be useful.”
    There was a long pause at the other end. Then Elizabeth spoke again. “Major Lorne says he’s willing to come through with the supplies you need, that he’s sure it’s not a one way trip.”
    “That’s really nice, but it might be. I’ve never done this before.”
    “I’m sure you can handle it, Rodney,” Elizabeth said in that tone he hated, the one that meant that she expected a miracle from him and wouldn’t thank him if he found one. “Lorne will be through within the hour. We need to find the control crystals for you.”
    “Fine,” Rodney snapped. “And he can bring some dinner while he’s at it. I haven’t had anything in hours and I have blood sugar issues, you know.”
    “I know,” Elizabeth said. “Lorne says he’ll bring everything you need. Weir out.”
    The gate dimmed and the event horizon died. Rodney looked up at the endless sea of stars above. He supposed Major Lorne and a semi-automatic counted as jackal repellent.

Chapter Five
     
    John turned over restlessly for the fourteenth time. The hanging lamp guttered,