Cleaning Up After The Ancients - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - Waterfront cleanup

The location Evan had convinced Weir to have them to clean up was a ground floor apartment with about four times the square footage of the one John Shepherd had picked out for his own in the city's central tower.

As far as the various living quarters they'd discovered so far went, that put it firmly in the middle of average, with its only real claim to fame being its proximity to one of the retaining pools that John was coming to suspect may have once been an artificial beach.

“Why are we the ones doing this anyways?” Ford complained as he dragged a very oceany smelling couch out the apartment's patio door to join the pile of other far gone furniture.

“Wanted to try and get a better feel for the guy.” John offered as he used the muzzle of his P-90 to nudge open another one of the crates scattered around. “Looks like some kind of boardgame.”

“Step up from crystal figurines.” Lieutenant Hansen muttered as he gingerly picked up the rotted remains of some kind of fish before dropping it into the garbage sack.

“Think he’d mind trading away a few of them?” Ford  inquired as he walked back in. “My grandmother just loves those sorts of things. And I’ve been looking for something I could get her as a gift that would pass as a nick nack.”

“Pretty sure those were made of some sort of ancient super material.” John added in to save Ford the trouble as he moved onto the next crate. “Stepped on one by accident and the fiddly bits didn’t so much as crack.”

Nudging the next box open John stopped as for once he actually recognized the contents. “Got a pair of those Ancient pistols that never work.”

“The one’s the science teams think are biometrically locked to specific users?” Lieutenant Saunders asked in interest as she stuck her head out of the bathroom.

“The very same.” John confirmed as he reached up and tapped his radio’s transmission button. “Weir, we found a pair of those ancient energy pistols down here, want us to misplace them?”

The lack of an immediate response suggested Weir was at least considering it, and he waited patiently for nearly a full minute before his radio crackled back to life.

“No.” She finally answered. “It’s not worth the risk given how little we know about the city.”

“All right, Shepherd out.” He returned before tapping the button again to stop it transmitting.

“What do you think those things do anyways?” Hansen inquired as he looked over John’s shoulder into the crate. “Negley think’s they’re like the Ancient version of Zat’s, but my money’s on them being like the rapid firing weapons Anubis’s super soldiers ran around with.”

“They’re Ancients.” John said as he pushed the lid back on and moved over to one of the closets. “Probably some kind of stunner hybrid.”

Tapping the crystal to open the door, it began to slide open only to stop after making it less than a quarter of the way. Pulling his flashlight off his belt, he flipped it on before angling the light so he could get a look inside.

“Looks like the closet was water tight at least.” He offered upon seeing the lack of any water stains. 

The light glinting off something drew his attention to one of the corners, and he crouched down to get a better look. The source turning out to be a small white dodecahedron with circuit like patterns of gold tracing over it about the size of a racquetball, and he reached in to grab it only to wince at the too late reminder when it lit up the moment his fingers made contact.

“Looks like we have a live something here.” He said as he pulled the object out to take a better look. “Not sure what it is but–

A three dimensional image projected itself from the top of the device before he could finish, quickly resolving itself into a static picture of their new Ancient friend in a pair of what looked like swim trunks standing talking to a group of similar swimwear attired people.

“Huh…” He muttered as he focused on one recognizable face in particular. “Guess he knew her.”

“Something to be worried about Major?” Ford inquired as he stared cautiously at the device John was holding.

“Na.” John said as he attempted to confirm his theory about what the device was by thinking 'next picture’, and it obligingly switched to projecting an image of a still swimwear attired Evan standing next to a comparably shorter woman with straight blond hair and a moderately impressive pair of breasts. “Think it's just the Ancient version of a photo album.”

“Anything interesting?” Saunders asked as she walked over. “Always wondered what the Ancients actually got up to when they weren't…”

“Damn.” She murmured, sounding more than a little impressed as she stared at the image. “Didn't think that baggy outfit was hiding abs like that.”

John had to hold back a sigh, because even in a completely different galaxy marines would never not be marines. “He's four hundred years old Lieutenant.”

“Didnt you hook up with that ancient lady we ran into on Proculus?” Ford offered innocently as he walked past.

“Yes.” John admitted in annoyance as he willed the photo album off and tossed it back into the closet. “But I'm the last person whose example anyone should be following when it comes to that sort of thing.”

And he was still half worried Chaya would show up some day with a bouncing baby energy being since they hadn't exactly used protection.

Saunders smirked as she punched him lightly in the arm. “Don't worry Major. The boys and girls over at the SGC updated the rules a couple years ago. A century or more age difference is fine so long as they're a hot alien.”

“Not that there tend to be a lot of those who are actually friendly.” Hansen grumbled as he continued to work.

“Yea, that’s fair.” Saunders agreed with a nod as she moved over to help Ford maneuver the ‘new’ couch through the doorway. “But have you seen the Free Jaffa? Some of them have arms bigger than my thighs.”

And now John was mentally comparing Saunders and Teyla’s thighs, because of course what Even had said earlier was still rattling around in the back of his brain.

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Author’s Notes: In celebration of breaking a milestone on my Patreon, have a bonus chapter of this on a normally non-chapter day.