Cleaning Up After The Ancients - Chapter 101

Chapter 101 - Just Another Tuesday

It wasn’t particularly surprising that Pendergast hadn’t wanted to take the Prometheus into the station’s docking bay. After all, such an enclosed location would functionally neuter their vessels offensive capabilities.

By human standards Eventus knew the docking bay would be considered enormous to the point it could likely have fit a pair of their 304 class vessels inside with room to spare. By Lantean standards however it didn’t really hold a candle to even bare bones locations like the Taranis drydocks.

“What kind of ships did you all dock in this place anyways?” Mitchell muttered in amazement as he watched the interior slowly pass by.

Eventus shrugged. “I can't say for sure given how long ago the place was built. But it's too small for most vessel classes I know of. So I'd guess it was probably meant mainly for docking high speed transports.”

A loud thunk filled the cockpit as the facility’s automated control settled their Jumper into the adaptive docking cradle. Followed by a slight shudder that vibrated out from the connection point as the large bay doors began to close behind them 

The moment the doors closed fully Mitchel pulled his radio off his tactical vest and flipped it on. “Check, check.” 

“You’re still coming in loud and clear, SG1” Pendergast’s voice confirmed a moment later.

“That’s not actually a radio, is it?” Eventus muttered as he stared at the deceptively shaped device.

“Have to ask the science guys.” Mitchell admitted with a shrug as he hooked the communications device back onto his vest. “I just use it.”

Looking up from checking his gear Daniel gave a nod. “Sam redesigned them a couple years back with some help from the Tok’ra. We were having a consistent problem with the Goa’uld using our radio signals to triangulate the position of our SG teams in the field.”

“Oh right!” Mitchell exclaimed in realization. “I remember reading about that. Wasn’t that around when Doctor Fraiser died?”

Daniel winced, before giving a slow nod. “Shortly after it.”

“So what are we hoping to find in here anyway?” Vala inquired, artfully moving the subject away from the obviously uncomfortable topic. “Weapons? Naquadah? More sleeping Ancients?”

“Hopefully nothing.” Eventus admitted, taking a moment to check the charge on his weapon before securing it to his belt. “But be ready to run anyways,”

“Be ready to run from what?” Mitchell asked in suspicion as he stopped to check his P90.

“Dimensional horrors, planar predators, mutated biological creatures.” Eventus listed off before shrugging. “You know, the usual sort of thing you run into in abandoned research facilities like this.”

Hence why he had made Rayla stay behind on the Prometheus. Sure, she might have been physically superior to the humans in pretty much every way, but she didn't have anywhere near the experience needed to be running around a place like this.

“Sounds fun.” Vala put forward cheerily as Daniel and Mitchell shot Eventus odd looks. “But there’s gotta be something actually valuable in a place this big?”

Eventus furrowed his brow in thought as he considered the sort of thing the alien treasure hunter might consider valuable. “I mean, I suppose from your standpoint there could be a lot of valuable things inside. Various scientific equipment, a database full of information, whatever might be in the armory, the naquadah alloy control circuits in the walls.”

“As to finding more members of my people in stasis?” He continued with a frown. “Given what might have happened to someone stuck in a place like this for so long, let's hope we don’t.”

Leaving that hang ominously, he walked to the rear hatch and tapped the button to open it, letting out a sigh of relief when the only thing revealed on the other side was a somewhat dim corridor.

“Any chance you can turn up the lights like you did at the moon base?” Mitchell asked as he flipped on the flashlight at the end of his weapon.

“Maybe.” Eventus admitted as he stepped out of the Jumper and looked around at the seamless walls. “But we'll have to make our way to a control room to try, given there probably won't be any facility access terminals elsewhere.”

Mitchell pointed his weapon down the hall, illuminating the long passageway with the light on his weapon. “And the control room would be?”

“Relatively close by.” Eventus said as began to walk, making sure to keep a hand on his weapon just in case.

Making their way deeper into the research facility there thankfully didn't seem to be any obvious signs of uncontrolled breach events like twisted walls or phasic interposition of physical objects. And the few rooms they came across all had the look of someplace that had been emptied out in a non-rushed manner instead of a panicked escape by people who suspected they were about to die horribly.

“So question.” Vala suddenly put forward as the door to the third bathroom they'd discovered closed behind her. “What's keeping this place powered?”

“No clue.” Eventus admitted, tilting his head slightly as he considered the question. “The most likely would probably be some early generation ZPM's given any sort of reactor fuel would have decayed to uselessness long ago.”

Given what the station was researching he supposed there was also the possibility that it utilized a subspace tap. But he really hoped not given that the last thing this location needed was something else thinning the local dimensional membranes.

“Hey guys.” Mitchell interjected as he played his light over one of the nearby walls. “Is it just me or does that kind of look like bloodsplatter?”

Eventus tensed, turning to look over the location the Colonel was focusing on before letting out a sigh of relief when all he saw was the same washed out blue and gold coloring that seemed to have been used for walls throughout the facility.

“Not funny.” He groused, glaring at the man.

“I wasn’t joking.” Mitchell put forward in clear confusion, turning to the others as he pointed at the wall.” You all see it, right? Looks like a bunch of rust colored spots spread out like someone was slashed by something?”

Daniel slowly shook his head while Vala hesitantly raised her hand. “I can.”

Several possibilities raced through Eventus’s mind at the corroboration before he settled on the most likely given the location and circumstances. Grimacing slightly, he focused in the special way needed to lower his mental barriers before groaning at the near instant appearance of aged bloodspatter on the wall.

“Fuck.”

“Well that doesn’t sound good.” Vala muttered, staring at him while biting the corner of her lip slightly. 

“That’s not bloodspatter.” Eventus explained with a grimace as he slammed his mental barriers back up. “Most likely it’s the psychic residue of bloodspatter leftover after someone with advanced abilities died horribly.”

And something like that should absolutely not have still been around for people to see given how long ago the facility had been abandoned. That it was, suggested either the entire area had been so impregnated by those types of energies that they had become self-sustaining. That the dimensional boundaries were so thin here that bleedover from the higher dimensional planes was sustaining it. Or that there was some being faking it to screw with them.

All of those things were varying degrees of bad of course, the first two because that would mean other things that operated on similar principles might also still be around. While the last because things smart enough to do things like that, were always the most dangerous to deal with.

“So.” Mitchell drawled, his eyes flicking from the wall to the rest of them in an considering manner. “Head back to the Prometheus to pick up reinforcements?”

Eventus shook his head. “Not until I bring the station back online and figure out what exactly is going on. Too much risk otherwise of bringing something back to the Prometheus that you really don’t want getting out.”

Mitchell sighed before motioning down the corridor with his weapon. “Then lead on, McDuff.”

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Author’s Notes: Look at me, channeling my inner horror movie writer. Though of course, for Eventus this sort of thing is pretty much just another Tuesday of cleaning up left over bullshit.