02 - Reliquary Read Online Free PDF Page B

helping Kolesnikova shift some twisted pieces of metal to get to
the crystals and circuits underneath, Corrigan was making notes on his PDA, and
Teyla stood across the big chamber, watching the corridors that led off into
unlit areas. She didn’t look like she was having a great time, but it wasn’t like she wouldn’t have
mentioned it if she started sensing Wraith. And— Where the hell is Kavanagh?
    Gritting his teeth, John keyed his radio on and said into the headset, “Dr.
Kavanagh, come in, please.”
    He heard a distant crackle from the headset, then nothing. Crap. “Kavanagh, come in.”
    McKay looked up, frowning. “What? What’s wrong?”
    Frustrated, John took a moment to say, “Rodney, is your name Kavanagh? Then
shut up.” The others had heard him on the radio and were starting to look
around. He called, “Teyla, Ford, did you see where Kavanagh went?”
    Ford started across the chamber. “He was right over there, sir, looking at
the stuff over in that back—There he is.”
    Kavanagh was coming out of the shadowy passage to a side room, his face
distracted. John waved Ford off, crossing over to say pointedly, “Uh, Dr.
Kavanagh, why didn’t you answer your radio?”
    Kavanagh looked up, startled. “Did you call me? I didn’t hear it.” He fumbled
his headset off. “It was working earlier.”
    “Yeah, I know.” John looked past Kavanagh. The passage the man had come out
of led to a room with side areas sectioned off by empty metal panels that had
probably once held colored glass. The only thing interesting about it was a
round swirly design in the floor. John was pretty sure Corrigan had already
filmed anything in here that looked like a decoration or a symbol. “Look, you
need to stay in sight at all times. I know this place seems safe—”
    Kavanagh blinked, his glasses reflecting the dim light. “Sorry. I was only
gone a moment. I thought I heard something, but it must have been my
imagination.”
    John let out his breath. He had cleared that room himself earlier, something
Kavanagh probably knew and was refraining from pointing out. “Right. Just…be
careful about that.”
    John sent Ford back to the jumper to get another headset for Kavanagh. When that was taken care of and everyone had gone back to work,
Ford pulled John aside to say, “Sorry I lost him, sir. I’m used to keeping an
eye on Dr. McKay, and Dr. Kavanagh moves faster than he does.”
    Rodney, who had a preternatural ability to know when people were talking
about him, popped out from under a wrecked console and glared at them.
    “It’s okay,” John told Ford. “Just stay sharp.”
    Everyone kept working and they expanded their explorations, making their way
across much of the ground floor, with cautious forays up into the more stable
upper levels. Corrigan confirmed that some of those levels had unfinished
sections, where construction had stopped at some point before the bombing had
occurred. After a couple of hours they took a break, going back out to the plaza
to let the scientists regroup and to refill water bottles and pass out MREs. The
day was still warm and pleasant, and they sat down on the steps up to the
repository’s outer door. It was a good spot, allowing a view of the beach and
the sea, and the distant Stargate.
    As they ate, the dust from knocking around inside the ruin was making
everybody sniffle, even John, who didn’t normally have allergies. He felt it was
probably because he had gotten too used to Atlantis, with its automatic cleaning
systems and fresh air.
    Poking at her MRE thoughtfully, Kolesnikova said, “Have you boys got any idea
yet what this place was for? It can’t be simply a repository. They had more
equipment in that one room than in the operations tower at Atlantis, systems
that must have supported weapons, communications. Yet the ’gate is well outside
the complex. This looks very much like a support or control center for
something, but for