*****

“Rodney, where the hell are we?” said Sheppard

“How should I know?” Mckay replied.

“Where’s the DHD? For that matter, why does this look like a Milky way gate?” asked Dr. Keller.

“Aren’t stargates usually out in the open? Why is this one in a cave?” Ronon asked

“I don’t know just give me a second to figure it out?”

“……..well, Rodney, where the hell are we?”

“That’s definitely a Milky-Way gate. There’s no DHD. Why is there no DHD? This is bad. Really bad.” Rodney replied.

“OK. Atlantis isn’t expecting us back for another 24 hours. You and Keller stay here while Ronon and I look for an exit. Maybe we can find out where we are.”

It only took 20 minutes to find the entrance to the cave. The planet looked bleak. It was a hot desert planet. Ronan and Sheppard took some time to scout the area only to find more rocks. No signs of water, life, or anything else. Climbing to higher ground they spotted what looked like a house, or maybe a ship about a day’s walk away. After three hours of scouting the area, they returned to the cave and to Drs. McKay and Keller and Sheppard asked “Well Rodney, what do you have?”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Rodney said. “This is definitely a Milky Way gate. There’s no apparent DHD. The strange thing is, this symbol here. This is the home symbol for the gate. I don’t recognize it. It’s not in the Ancient database on the computer.”

“You’re right, this doesn’t make sense. I take it no DHD means we can’t dial out?”

“Well obviously”.

“We spotted something about a day’s walk out. It looks like were’ about an hour from dusk, so we hold up here for the night and then try to find civilization in the morning. Maybe we can find something to work with then.”

“You mean we’re not waiting to hear from Atlantis” Dr. Keller asked.

“If this really is a Milky Way gate, it’s unlikely Atlantis will be able to contact us. Sheppard’s right. Our best bet is to determine where we are, and make our way back to Earth.”

*****

“Kayle