"Invincible"

'Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.' Mahatma Gandhi

(Set after Season Five)

Chapter One

"Hmm, smells like we came at the right time," Doctor Rodney McKay said in a singsong voice, anticipation lighting his expression. "I wonder if they are preparing that yummy Shiska stew they made the last time we were here."

Ronon Dex grunted and Teyla Emmagan gave him a sideways glance. Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard turned to Rodney as they followed the trail from the stargate into the outskirts of the area's main trading post and said, "You mean to tell us you didn't plan for us to arrive in time for their midday feast?"

Rodney blinked a few times, exuding feigned innocence. "I don't know what you mean. We left at my earliest opportunity. I do have many projects in play at any certain time."

John rolled his eyes and started to say something more when Merchant Mita came out a building with two other men. Mita smiled and turned to walk toward them. He was a short portly man with big ears, cropped blond hair and a savvy sense of trading.

"Teyla Emmagan, it is good to see you and your friends again."

He greeted Teyla in the traditional Athosian touching of foreheads, then backed away and shook hands with McKay and John. He just nodded to Ronon, who responded in kind. Teyla smiled as she looked at Mita. "We came to negotiate for a portion of next harvest's crop if you have the time."

Mita nodded and patted Teyla on the back. "We always have time for our favored trading partners. And your timing could not have been better. Come, we were just preparing to eat. It is Shiska stew today, Dr. McKay. As I recall, you were quite taken with the dish."

Rodney pumped a fist in the air and said, "Yes!" Then he glanced around at the others and said, "I mean, you're – you're right. It is a favorite of mine."

Teyla bowed her head slightly as she smiled in Rodney's direction, and replied, "We would be pleased to join you."

Mita sighed and glanced up at the sky before looking around at the new arrivals. "I apologize for our worsening weather. It appears we shall have some significant rainfall very soon."

Rodney let out a small sigh and John knew what he was thinking. It had rained on their last three missions and McKay was sure that, sooner or later, he'd die of weather-related pneumonia.

As they started to walk toward Mita's establishment, John glanced around the rustic spread of buildings that eventually led to the central hub of trading activity. He was getting a vague sense of unease, along with a strange ringing in his ears that fed on his nerves like a swarm of bees buzzing around a campground trash can. The ringing was definitely not something he'd noticed on their previous visits.

As Mita chatted with McKay and Ronon, Teyla drifted back to walk at his side. "Is there something wrong?" she asked quietly.

John frowned, then nodded slowly. "There's something... can't figure out exactly what it is just yet."

Teyla's response was a raised eyebrow and she adjusted her grip on her P90 as her gaze began to sweep the area for trouble. A couple of seconds later, there was a horrible scream, then shouts for help. It came from the west, still on the far outskirts of the trading post, in an area that was seldom used. They took off running, along with a few other people in the area.

"Is this what you were sensing?" Teyla asked as they ran.

John shook his head. "I don't know... maybe."

He shared a troubled glance with Teyla, then sped up to join Ronon who was striding ahead of the group. The clouds above began to release occasional raindrops. The screams took them to a secluded area John had already eyed as a prime rock climbing site. Its towering rock cliff reminded John of some of his favorite climbing locations at Yosemite National Park in California. The huge cliff face spread out and down to a point about twenty feet from the ground where the base of its expansive outcroppings withdrew deep into the hill itself, leaving the cliff perched out there above the ground as if it had been abandoned, a stony sentry alone, save for the people now gathered underneath it.

It was in that dark shadowy place below the cliff face where they found a hysterical woman being held back by two men. There were others gathered around a hole in the ground as a woman screamed, "Ashina! Ashina! Can you hear me! Stop! Let me go to her!"

John and Ronon stopped a short distance from the hole. Though he had a good idea, John asked the men nearest him, "What happened?"

A local trader named Straen, whom John remembered meeting on their last visit, stood from his kneeling position and shook his head, glancing first at them and then at Mita who had just arrived with Teyla. "Little Ashina, Methet's daughter, only four years old, fell through a hole in the ground."

John's gaze darted to Methet. He had met her several times, along with Ashina. The mother and daughter had often brought them homemade desserts when the team came to visit. Mita stepped forward, redirecting John's attention. "A hole? But how – " Mita started to ask.

Methet, struggling to be free, interrupted them. "Let me go to her! She's crying for me!"

A tall man dressed in the darker clothes of another province took Methet by the shoulders. "The ground keeps giving way. You cannot go closer without causing more rock to fall in on her. You must stop when we tell you and go no further. You can talk to her, calm her as much as you can while we figure out how to free her, but you must be very careful," he said, glancing at Mita.

"But, Linder, it's Ashina. She may be hurt. We have to get her out!" Methet's upswept blonde hair came loose from its bun as she begged the man.

When Linder didn't respond, the small child's cries for help made her mother even more distraught. She knelt down, putting out a hand in the direction of the hole and called out to her, "Mamma is right here, honey. Be as still as you can and we'll get you out."

John turned to Mita and the other men standing with him and said quickly, "We need equipment and more manpower."

Straen nodded. "I'll get what I can. Jensen and Linder, come with me."

Ronon followed as Straen started to jog away and said, "I'll go with you guys."

A few more people volunteered and the group took off at a brisk run. The earlier sprinkles turned into a light, but steady rainfall. As Methet was comforted by the women arriving from the trading post, John turned to McKay but Rodney already had his scanner out, in the process of getting readings.

John looked back at Mita. "Where does this hole go? A mine shaft or cave system?"

Mita shook his head. "No, we have nothing like that here. I've never seen this before."

John watched McKay for another moment, then asked, "Anything?"

"Working on it," Rodney said as if John was one of his bothersome minion scientists. All that was missing was the dismissive flip of an impatient hand. Before John could respond, the child's terrified screams for her mother gained strength.

"Hurry up, Rodney," John said, taking a step forward. "We need every bit of information you can find and we need it now."

"Not helping... " McKay answered without looking up, his fingers a blur over his scanner.

John sighed and nodded. "Okay, let's see what we can do. Teyla, contact Woolsey and tell them to ready a jumper with rescue equipment."

Teyla nodded and stepped away to contact Atlantis. McKay tore his gaze from his computer and glanced up at John. "The ground in this particular area is very unstable near the surface. It won't take much for it to collapse completely. In fact, it could collapse without any help at all."

Mita looked at him, then at John before he asked, "Then how can we get little Ashina out of the pit? We cannot just leave her there."

"Don't worry, we have no intention of leaving her," John said, patting Mita on the shoulder. He took a deep breath, then turned to McKay. "You don't see any other access points to get to her?"

McKay shrugged. "It's hard to tell. The bedrock is different here. I'm adjusting my scan to compensate."

"How long will that take?" Teyla asked as she glanced at Methet.

Rodney shook his head, not even wasting the time to answer.

Teyla took a deep breath and gestured toward the cliff. "Perhaps, we could rappeldown from the cliff using ropes?" she asked John.

John followed Teyla's gaze, then shook his head. "Already thought of that. With the way that cliff extends over the area, there's no straight angle that would go directly down into the hole. Besides, it would get pretty slippery if this rain continues to fall."

John looked around the area. "No, we need to rig something to lower a man down into the cavern and get the kid out."

Rodney sighed and gestured with the hand holding his computer. "Just – just hurry. Nothing fancy. Bare bones. Get down there, get the girl, and get back up. Fast. I don't trust this ground to hold up long enough to do much more than that."

John waved his fingers impatiently. "Okay, Rodney, I've got that – the place is dangerous and we're running out of time. Can you determine where the girl is?"

Rodney nodded. "Yeah, she's at the base of the cavern, about twenty feet down."

John whistled softly. "Twenty feet? How did she survive the fall?"

McKay's eyes bulged with John's question. "I don't know... maybe kids bounce better than adults?"

John glared at him, then said, "So, all we know right now is that she's alive without a clue to her injuries... damn it, McKay, we've got to do better than that."

"I said I'm working on it," Rodney said a little more emphatically.

Ronon and the others returned with a thunderous rush, having loaded what they could in the back of a wagon. The wagon was drawn by a team of creatures that resembled a cross between a mule and a giraffe, beasts with long necks but stocky bodies making them good pack animals – John had jokingly called them miraffes on previous trips.

The others who had been standing around began to unload rope, several ladders, stacks of various sized wood beams, and other equipment. John looked at Rodney one last time and said quietly, "Just do what you can while we help the others."

McKay nodded as John started to walk away, still working on his computer, then he snapped his fingers to get John's attention. The new information and a dark cloud heavy with rain passing overhead cast shadows over Rodney's face as John turned back toward him. "It looks like things open up just below the surface into a huge cavern of some sort. Not only that, but I'm also getting some faint energy readings."

John turned and took a step back toward him. "Caverns and energy readings? You mean this is man-made?"

McKay nodded. "Looks that way. Maybe even Ancient man-made if these energy readings mean what I think they do."

John frowned at the scanner, then at the hole in the ground, pausing to wipe the rainwater from his face. "First things first. We've got to get that kid out of there." He paused, looking at Methet a short distance away as she held her arms tightly around her chest, then added quietly, "And as soon as possible."

McKay started to nod, then whispered, "Ah, crap."

John was alarmed by the sick look that had come over McKay's expression and he asked, "Rodney? What now?"

Rodney swallowed hard. "My initial scan just finished. It – it gets worse. The land below this cliff is riddled with the same type of instability that caused the hole the kid fell through. We could have more holes opening up on us with very little warning. It simply cannot stand up to any sort of weight. It's amazing something like this hasn't happen a long time ago."

Cursing under his breath, John took in the scene as several people with good intentions unloaded the supplies they'd brought to save the girl, unaware that their lives could also be in grave danger.

McKay continued, "We've got to limit the number of people helping to just a few and that wagon is dangerously close to an area of instability."

John turned to look where McKay was pointing. He took a few steps forward, and shouted, "Move that wagon back at least fifteen feet!"

"Twenty," McKay corrected quietly.

"Make that twenty and move it fast!"

Ronon was by the wagon and jumped up into the driver's seat and moved the wagon back as requested. The others paused and turned towards him as John continued, "People, you have to stop what you're doing and leave. That means everyone," he said, glancing over to Methet and the women with her.

Confusion crossed Methet's already haggard expression. John softened his tone as he looked at her, still speaking loud enough for the others to hear him. "More openings in the ground could happen like this one. We have to limit the number of people involved to minimize the risk."

Methet put a hand over her mouth and looked close to fainting. "No," she said in a hoarse whisper. "Ashina needs us working as fast as we can... "

John moved closer to her. "I swear we'll do everything we can to save your daughter, but we have to minimize the risk to the others."

"No," she said again, her hair starting to lay in wet clumps around her face from the increasing pace of falling rain, "my Ashina needs help – we can't just stop now... "

John took Methet by the shoulders before she could become hysterical again. "Methet, we aren't stopping. We're just taking precautions to make sure other people won't get hurt or worse. I've been around often enough for you to know I'm a man of my word, so when I say I will get your daughter back to you, I will, but you have to do what we say."

Methet's tear-filled eyes searched his expression for a long moment. Apparently, she sensed his commitment because she brought a hand up to rest on his chest. She held it there and whispered, "Colonel Sheppard, you have to save her."

"I will," he said softly, his gaze meeting hers without hesitation.

An older woman beside her said, "Methet, let them do what they have to do. Come, we are only slowing them down. Mita has sent word to Jisef. They will bring him back as fast as they can."

Methet reluctantly nodded and started to step away, her hand dragging across John's tac vest, then she grabbed hold of one of its pockets and lingered for a moment as she whispered, "Save her, please."

He looked deep into her eyes and nodded once, then she moved away, though her tears began anew. As if in response, the rain began to fall harder. John stared up at the sky and sighed. Nothing was going to be easy about this. John studied the dark clouds overhead, suspecting it wouldn't be long before they really let loose. He hoped to have Ashina out before then.

Mita stepped forward. "I do not care of the risk. I am going to help."

Five other men, including Straen, Linder, and Jensen, murmured similar statements and moved behind Mita. John nodded. "Okay, you six stay, along with my team, but no more. The rest of you move back towards the trading post."

That was when John noticed how the gathered crowd had grown in the few minutes his attention had been distracted. John caught Mita's gaze. "Maybe you could talk to them. Have them move back before they endanger a rescue operation and themselves."

Mita raised his arms and waved. "Everyone, please listen. Colonel Sheppard is quite right. Move back to a safe distance and allow us to work unimpeded."

The crowd did as asked, though not quite as quickly as John would have liked. When John glanced back at his team, he saw Rodney had walked over to see what supplies they had brought. He moved back toward him, and said, "I can have them set up some sort of lattice work using the boards and ladders to extend over the area to better distribute our weight and reduce the odds of another hole opening up. I've fallen through a hole in the ground before with Sam and Jennifer and it's not an experience I care to repeat."

John nodded. "Do it."

McKay wiped at the rain on his face and walked away as he started issuing orders to the volunteers. Within a few minutes, the basic work was done. The arrangement gave them a walkway to access the hole itself from a few different directions while providing them additional support and safety.

It had to be enough, John told himself, even as McKay's gaze darted around their work area nervously, fear and uncertainty apparent with his wide-eyed expression. It didn't escape John's attention that Rodney stayed at the outer edges of the lattice work, not even venturing onto them to test their strength, a silent testament to his confidence in the project, or lack thereof.

John took some rope from Ronon and started tying it into a makeshift harness. As he started to put it on, he said, "You guys can lower me down into the cavern, so I can get Ashina. I'll give you the all clear sign when I've got her, then you guys can pull both of us up using the wagon."

McKay returned to their group, shaking his head. "I don't know... I just don't know about this setup. It's not as secure as I would like. We need to wait until – "

John shook his head. "McKay, I'm sure it'll work just fine. It just needs to last long enough to get the kid out."

McKay shook his head. He was preparing to say more when his scanner beeped. He looked it over, and alarm now added a new sense of urgency. "Wait, maybe this explains part of it. There's an ultra high frequency signal of some type being transmitted that is destabilizing the ground here. For what reason, I have no idea – "

Ashina's breathless screams for help stopped all of them for a moment.

John tapped his hand against the thigh. "Come on, we've got to stop fooling around and just do it."

Rodney stepped forward. "No, you don't understand. This could involve a whole lot more than unstable ground. We really need to – "

"Rodney, we've got to try something. We have no idea how seriously that kid has been injured. She could be bleeding out while we sit on our hands doing nothing. And this rain isn't going to help things one bit. We've got to get to her before the ground becomes saturated with rain water. We'll rescue her, then try to figure out how and why this came to be. Besides, you're the resident genius, right? If you made this, then it's going to be good as long as we need it."

Rodney scratched the back of his neck in irritation, then heard Ashina cry and he swallowed down whatever comment he was about to make.

Ronon looked unruffled in the rain, even his dreadlocks seemed to resist the falling moisture, unlike most of the others gathered at the accident site. He glanced at the hole and then at John and said, "It's gonna be tight for you to pass through that opening."

John gazed at the hole, then shrugged. "Yeah, but I think I can squeeze through."

Teyla put her hand on John's forearm. "No, John. You need someone smaller to go through the opening of that hole. I can do it."

John chewed on his lip, knowing Teyla was right. Finally, he nodded. "All right, gear up. It's not going to be a pleasant trip, but we'll try to make it a fast one – "

John stopped suddenly, closing his eyes as he put a hand up to his ear. The high-pitched whine he'd heard ever since they'd first arrived at the trading outpost seemed to have grown in pitch and intensity with their change in location. He'd been trying to ignore it, but it was becoming more difficult.

Teyla touched him on the shoulder. "What is it, John?"

"Can't you hear it?" he asked, then opened his eyes to look at Teyla, then Ronon and finally Rodney.

Teyla exchanged a worried glance with Ronon, then saw John was looking at her and shook her head. "No, John, I do not."

Luckily, Rodney was nodding his head even as Teyla was saying no. "Yeah, yeah, I do, now that you mention it. It's an irritating buzz. I'm not sure what it is, but it's bugging the heck out of me, especially now that I know it's there."

John frowned. "You mean you didn't hear it when we first entered the outpost?"

Rodney shook his head. "No, just after we got here at the cliff."

"It's giving me a headache," John said quietly, then he pushed it out of his thoughts.

Rodney snapped his fingers several times. "Say, maybe it's related to that ultra high frequency I found."

John frowned. "Is it dangerous?"

McKay blinked a few times. "You mean dangerous, as in can it fry our brains?"

John pointed to the hole and said, "Look what it's doing to the ground. Is there a risk to the people here?"

Rodney swallowed hard as he thought, then said, "Maybe."

"Yet, Ronon and I hear nothing. Perhaps, it is related to the ATA gene?"

Rodney frowned, then nodded. "Possibly."

John put his hands on his hips. "All the more reason to get down there, get the kid and get the hell out of this area until it's properly examined."

Teyla looked up at John. "John, I would suggest Ronon and I should do this without you, especially if it might cause harm to the two of you. Mita and his men can back us up."

John shook his head. "No, it's not that bad."

Rodney was slower at agreeing, but once he did, he was committed. "No, we work best as a team, so as our fearless leader said, let's stop fooling around and get to work."

John put on his gloves as he gestured for the rest of his team to do the same. Rodney put his scanner into his backpack and pulled it over his shoulders.

Mita approached them after leaving his men at the lattice work. Mita had found a hat and the rain was dripping steadily off its edges. It was wet and going to get a lot wetter before the day was done.

Mita nodded at Teyla and her team with a hint of relief in his grim expression. "You people sound like you've done this before. That is very reassuring. You have proved yourselves to us in the past. I just wanted to say I also trust your judgment here."

"We will do our best," Teyla said with a reassuring smile.

"I know you will."

McKay fidgeted, his fingers grazing over his chin to fling away the rain dripping off of it, impatience echoing in his voice as he said, "Well, that's all very nice, but I suggest we get moving before the ground gives out completely or our brains really do start to fry."

Mita eyed Rodney and his comment with a strange expression, then seemed to push it aside as he said, "What can we do to help?"

John said, "Just stand ready with the ropes to help pull Teyla up once she gets the girl. It shouldn't take long."

McKay looked at Mita and said, "I've got an idea."

He motioned for the trader to follow him. Mita paused for a moment, then said, "We will be ready, Teyla, do not fear."

Thunder rumbled as Mita followed Rodney back to the wagon while John helped Teyla into the harness. By the time they were done, McKay had Mita's men rigging up some type of improvised pulley system. Teyla and John moved past the wagon, walking out onto the lattice work of ladders and boards to where Ronon was busying himself with some ropes.

When they arrived, Ronon attached the ropes to Teyla's harness. When he was done, he stood and pattered her on the shoulder. "Just be careful down there. We'll be watching your back up here."

McKay came toward Ronon, John and Teyla, carefully moving along the wooden beams and ladders. "This is all very, very thrown together."

Ronon stared up at the sky and said, "That lightning storm heading our way could make things a little more interesting."

"A little more interesting," McKay repeated. "Great. Just what we need to increase our odds of slipping off this lattice work to fall to our deaths below. The risk of electrocution. Nice."

As Rodney spoke, he fidgeted uneasily, as if he would rather be standing beside a hungry Wraith than there on the lattice work. John said, "Rodney, you don't need to be out here. Stay back by the wagon. We'll be fine."

Rodney shook his head and stammered nervously, "No, no, I'm here to support my teammates and that's exactly what I'm going to do. All for one and one for all, at least until we go down with the ship."

John shook his head. "If you are trying to boost morale, you really suck at it. Come on – "

McKay's blue eyes shone thorough the rainy haze around them as he said, "I don't think you realize how tenuous this setup is – "

"McKay, do you stand by your work?"

"Yes, of course, but – "

"That's all I need to hear, "John said as he shook his head. "We don't have time for pretty and perfect. We need to get that girl. It will have to last that long."

Both John and Rodney stopped speaking and glanced down as Ashina wailed from below. In a brave attempt to keep from sobbing, Methet shouted, "Hold on, Ashina, help is on the way!"

Teyla turned on her flashlight as she leaned over the hole, then she smiled as she raised up again. She called to Methet, "Ashina appears to be all right. Call to her again and tell her she will be safe. She needs to hear your voice."

"Hold up a sec," McKay said as he pulled out his handheld radio from his tac vest pocket and tossed it to John. "Give it to Teyla to drop down into the hole. You know, so the mother can talk to the girl, and help keep her calm."

When John gave Rodney a surprised look, McKay shrugged and muttered, "I can be sensitive, you know, to the needs of others around me. Okay, it's rare, but it does happen, Colonel Smart Ass."

Teyla beamed at Rodney, then looked down the hole and shouted to the girl. "Okay, Ashina, make sure you are away from the center of the cavern. Back up against the wall. Can you do that for me?"

There was some hesitation, then Teyla smiled and nodded her head. "Yes, that is a very good girl. Now, stay there for a moment."

John tied the rope around the radio and Teyla slowly lowered it down. Ronon walked over to Methet and handed his radio and headset to the worried mother, helping to place it in her ear. "You can talk to her now."

Still crying, Methet nodded and took a deep breath. "Ashina, can you hear me?"

"Mamma?" came back the instant reply.

Methet closed her eyes, smiling in relief. "It won't be very much longer, honey. Be strong for Mamma. I love you so much," she said, her voice soft and encouraging as Ronon returned to Teyla and John.

John checked the knots on Teyla's harness one more time. Teyla was about the only person John knew who could look composed and commanding in the middle of a downpour. "I am ready," she said.

John helped her move into position, saying, "Go easy."

She nodded again and lowered herself between the ladders with help from John and Ronon as McKay stood apprehensively behind them, then she disappeared down the hole.

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