Cleaning Up After The Ancients - Chapter 88

Chapter 88 - The Icy Outpost - Part 1

The location of the outpost was marked on the surface by a geodesic dome covering the hole Jack O’Neill had drilled into the ice and a number of prefabricated buildings that looked to have been hastily rushed out, probably from the nearby McMurdo Station.

He had set the puddlejumper down at one of the two makeshift helicopter pads, and from there they had been directed by a heavily bundled man to the dome, where they were currently waiting for someone to open the airlock like door and allow them entry.

“Cold cold cold.” Rayla muttered, hugging the parka tightly around herself while shooting furtive glances back at the puddlejumper.

“Seriously.” Vala agreed, shivering slightly herself before glancing over to Eventus. “And how are you not cold in that!?”

“Personal shield.” Eventus offered as he lightly tapped the slightly glowing broach on the vest of his standard outfit. “Keeps the wind out and my body temperature in.”

Not exactly a recommended use for the device given it was a constant drain on the power crystal, but it wasn’t like there was anyone left who actually cared about that.

A series of clicks finally issued forth from the door before it pulled inward to reveal a man in similar attire to what the SGC had provided.

“Doctor Jackson.” He offered, looking over at Vala with a smile. “Sorry about the wait, the elevator can be a bit–”

The actual Daniel rushed past him to the interior of the airlock with a mumbled apology, and Eventus chuckled at the way the Archeologist had clearly overestimated his current body's resistance to the elements.

“Well, all right then.” The man continued with a bemused shake of his head as Vala and Rayla followed suit.

He looked over at Eventus with a raised eyebrow before focusing on the large generator behind him. “You need some help with that?”

Eventus shook his head and lifted the thing up single handedly. “Anti-gravity carrying system, the whole thing weighs like ten pounds.”

“Alrighty then.” He said, stepping up against the wall as Eventus carried the emergency generator past. “I'm Doctor Baker.”

“Eventus.” He returned with a grin. “Sorry about the others. I don't think they were expecting it to be this cold.”

“Few do.” Baker offered, chuckling lightly as he pushed the heavy metal door closed. “Though I figured at least Doctor Jackson would be used to it after last time.”

Waiting a moment so Baker could lead the way deeper into the dome, Eventus shot the man an amused grin. “Temporary body swapping incident. Doctor Jackson's still getting used to being a five foot eight woman instead of a six foot tall man.”

Baker paused in his step and glanced over his shoulder at Eventus. “Then that young woman who rushed in?”

“Doctor Jackson.” Eventus confirmed with a nod.

“Huh.” Baker muttered, seeming to consider that for a moment before shaking his head. “Would think General O’Neill would have briefed us on that.”

“Really?” Eventus said skeptically as they began walking again. “Because I’ve only known him for a couple days, but leaving it as a surprise for Daniel to explain to you himself seems like exactly the sort of thing O’Neill would find funny.”

Daniel, Vala, and Rayla were already waiting on the elevator platform when they arrived, all three looking a good deal warmer now that they were indoors where it was only slightly below the temperature at which water naturally tended to freeze.

“So was there a reason your people decided on the elevator instead of installing a ring platform up here?” Eventus inquired curiously as he and Doctor Baker joined the group on the platform, the scientist pushing the button to start their descent the moment the safety cage closed.

“Security.” Daniel offered, the Archeologist still shivering even though it was warm enough now that he could see trickles of meltwater on the ice walls. “We deactivated the outpost’s rings entirely so the Goa'uld wouldn't be able to use them as an access point in the case of another orbital attack.”

Given the early Avalon ring designs didn't possess the various security features of their later Pegasus designs, Eventus supposed that was at least somewhat fair. 

“You could have just stuck a shield over that dome you set up.” Vala interjected in slight annoyance. “Even a cargo ship’s would have been enough to stop a set of rings from transmitting a matter stream.”

Daniel crossed his arms and glared at her. “Yes, well, we don’t exactly have a spare cargo ship just lying around.”

“I could buy you one.” Vala offered teasingly. “I’d just need a couple hundred pounds of naquadah for the payment.”

“No.” Daniel immediately deadpanned.

“The outpost has its own shield.” Eventus added in, patting the largish generator he was carrying for emphasis. “And while one of these might not be enough for Atlantis, it should be enough to power an outposts shield to a little under twenty percent.”

The elevator finally came to a stop, and Eventus got his first real look at the still partially iced over remains of the Atrokiri outpost.

It shared a number of basic design similarities with Atlantis, though the metal’s coloring was more of a bluish grey compared to the burnt gold he was used to, while the walls had an artsy open space look to them that suggested back to the outposts original existence having been somewhere that possessed a much warmer climate.

“So.” Baker said, sweeping a hand dramatically towards the mostly ice free interior. “What do you think?”

“Still cold.” Rayla muttered before turning a reasonable facsimile of puppy dog eyes on Eventus. “Can we please turn up the heat to something above freezing?”

Baker shook his head. “The outpost’s structural integrity is still too questionable to risk anything but the slow work we’re doing now.”

“I should be able to check that once the chair’s plugged into the generator.” Eventus told him. “And I brought a couple of repair drones along that should be able to interface with the outpost’s control system to shore up any damaged areas.”

At least, assuming the lower levels of the outpost were at least marginally intact.

Taking a step towards the chair, he paused as a thought hit before turning back to Daniel with an accusatory stare. “Make sure to keep those two.” He pointed at Vala and Rayla. “Off the chair if I step away.”

“Hey!” Vala protested while Rayla just pouted at him.

“I have no idea what buried or hidden bullshit you might dredge up in the thing.” Eventus shot back as he glared at the bodyswapped woman. “And Rayla doesn’t have the mental discipline necessary with these older chair designs not to accidentally launch a drone because she wanted to see what a flock of penguins looked like.”

“I would not.” Rayla groused. “And polar bears sounded a lot more interesting to watch than penguins anyways.”

“Polar bears are only found around the arctic circle.” Baker offered apologetically to the elf as he led them towards the inactive control chair. “And we’re too far from the coast for penguins.”

Taking a moment to look over the chair as Rayla began peppering the man with questions about various types of polar fauna. Eventus frowned slightly as he followed the main power conduit with his eyes to where the secondary hookup should be and found only a wall of ice.

He carefully maneuvered the large generator down onto the ground next to the chair before turning to the others. “I’m going to need to head back up to the jumper and grab an adapter and a few other things so I can connect the generator directly to the ZPM slot.”

“All right.” Baker returned with a nod. “You going to need help carrying that equipment down?”

Eventus considered that for a moment. “For that, no, but it might save me a few trips to bring everything down all in one go so if you can lend me a few extra hands who don’t mind the cold it would be appreciated.”

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Author’s Notes: And the newest entry on my list of odd things I’ve researched for this story, the habitat of polarbears and penguins. Somehow though it's not even close to the top.