"Yes, it's on the far side of the structure. I found it when I was looking for anything I could scavenge for my repairs. It's a large doorway, perhaps meant to accommodate ground vehicles. There's a fairly direct passage through it to the Mirror platform, though that section of the installation seems more damaged, and isn't holding pressure." She hesitated, then offered, "If you would like to follow me in your ship, I can go back in that direction and show it to you."
"That would be fine," John told her.
He cut the comm channel, and Teyla frowned worriedly, saying, "I think she has realized we are somewhat distrustful."
Rodney leaned forward, watching as the conch shellshaped shuttle lifted off in a cloud of swirling dust. "Yes, well, she should have picked up on that when our first reaction to seeing an alien spacecraft was to fling ourselves down a twenty-foot drop."
"You notice she didn't offer to give us a ride over there." John took the jumper out of standby, lifting it up to a low hover. "Not that we would have accepted, but we're both being careful here. That's not a bad thing." The HUD didn't read any signs of weapons powering up, but since it couldn't read life signs inside the other ship either, he had no idea how accurate it was. Trishen's shuttle moved slowly away, following the curve of the installation, and John guided the jumper after it.
"You think if she had.. designs on us she would try harder to appear more trusting?" Radek asked, craning his neck to watch. The purple-shaded stem of the shuttle was centered in the viewport, the indigo wall of the installation looming over them both. "Haven't we said we would go to her ship anyway?"
"We're not all going," John told him. "Teyla, Rodney, and I will check it out first." The others were all looking at him, and he shrugged one shoulder. "I'd just rather not put all our eggs in one basket."
"Yes, that's a very comforting analogy, Colonel," Rodney said, preoccupied. "There's the door. She's right, it's probably a cargo entrance."
The shuttle slowed to a hover in front of a big square hatch, set deeper into the side of the building and at least three or four times the size of the other entrance. The sand drifts were higher on this side, washing up to the door's threshold, so it was impossible to tell if there was a road or ramp leading up to it. John clicked on the comm channel again to say, "We've got it. We'll see you on the other side."
There was a brief acknowledgement from Trishen, then the shuttle lifted up, vanishing over the top of the building.
While Rodney was busy downloading diagnostic programs and data he thought he might need from the jumper's systems, and Zelenka and Teyla were recharging the air tanks, John took Miko aside. Or as aside as he could get in a rear cabin only slightly larger than a Winnebago. He said, "Look, I don't want to scare you, but…" It was hard to say this when she was looking up at him with big worried eyes, magnified even more by her glasses. "If worse comes to worst, not that I think it will, but-"
Miko blinked. "You want to know if I can fly the jumper back to the base moon if I had to."
"Uh, yeah."
She pushed her glasses up, considering the question with a grave expression. "I think so. The navigation is relatively simple, and the guidance system assists with re-entry. With Dr. Zelenka's extensive knowledge of all the systems, I don't think I would have any trouble." She winced. "As long as nothing is shooting at me."
"Right." John folded his arms, chewing his lower lip. Her training had included the basics of how to avoid an incoming hiveship. Which wouldn't do her much good against an alien ship of unknown capabilities that had demonstrated an ability to see through the cloak. "Just fly really fast."
Miko went to help with the air tanks, and Ronon took her place, looking down at John with a stony expression. He said, "Why aren't you taking me?"
"Because Teyla is good at first contact. Your idea of first contact is stunning people unconscious and tying them up," John told him. He was long over any pique caused by their initial encounter with Ronon, but he wanted to make his point. "And I need you here to protect Radek and Miko. And no matter what happens, you stay with them, and you do what they say." He added with emphasis, "That's an order."
Ronon flicked a look toward the front of the jumper. Rodney was in the cockpit, disconnecting his laptop from the jumper's systems, practically bouncing with nervous excitement. Miko and Teyla crouched on the floor, getting the tanks reattached to the field packs, and Zelenka was earnestly explaining something to Teyla about the interfaces. Ronon turned back to John, and actually looked sheepish for an instant, as if he had forgotten there were other considerations besides whether John trusted him to go fight aliens or not. "I won't leave them."
John held his gaze, and believed him. "Good."
As they were ready to leave, the jumper received a reply from base camp, which had relayed their transmission through the `gate to Atlantis. It was just an acknowledgement that the report had been received and a brief formal message from Elizabeth which translated to "Be careful and don't get killed."
The others went into the cockpit and sealed the cabin door, and John, Rodney, and Teyla got their breathing sets attached and switched on. John opened the ramp to a view of the empty plain stretching out to the mountains, the gas giant hanging heavily above them. The light was a little dimmer since the moon had entered its night phase, though like the night on the base moon, it would never get much darker than this. This moon's eclipse was still a couple of hours off. John's ears popped as the rear cabin's air flowed out, and he said, "There's got to be an easier way to do this."
"Ask Zelenka," Rodney grumbled, adjusting his pack and squinting against the dust as they started down the ramp. "I've been telling him to work on converting the cloak to a shield, to make a temporary barrier to hold in the air while the rear cabin hatch is open, but he's baffled by the elementary principles of-"
"I can hear you, Rodney," Zelenka said in their headsets.
"I know you can hear me, otherwise why bother?" Rodney demanded.
John interrupted with, "We're clear. Lock it up tight and don't open the door to strangers. And I want radio silence until I tell you otherwise."
"Yes, Colonel," Zelenka replied. "Take care."
John waited until the ramp sealed and the jumper vanished under its cloak, then led the way to the installation.
The heavy metal door was set into a deep recess, the sill covered with drifts of the red sand, the whole more than big enough to fly something the size of the jumper through. With his pocket flashlight, Rodney found the wall console buried in the side of the recess. He said, "Ready? Here we go," hit the console, and backed hurriedly out of the way.
John and Teyla covered the door as it groaned and the metal split diagonally into two triangles, one section sliding down and the other up. It revealed a cavernous passage, poorly lit, leading deep into the structure. It looked damaged, with broken lights and shattered stone and metal debris scattered on the dusty floor. If there had been any kind of airlock arrangement, it was long gone. "Okay." John lowered the P-90 a little and stepped inside. "I say we leave this door open."