"Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so." -Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
"I should do this every day." Elizabeth Weir took a deep breath, gazing out over the ocean. The blue midday sky was clear and bright, and the gentle breeze made her feel more refreshed than she had been in many weeks. Her reverie was interrupted by the sound of her growling stomach. She turned and looked at Rodney McKay. He was rifling through the lunchbox he'd brought with him.
This morning, Rodney had stopped her after the staff meeting and had told her that she looked tired. He'd suggested she take a break, or at least get away from her office for lunch. "I'll even bring it for you," he'd said. "You can take off your radio and have a few minutes of peace. Look, you've been working really hard and it isn't good for anyone here if you aren't running at top efficiency. My motives are entirely selfish, I promise you." She'd been taken aback by his sympathy, and had agreed to meet him here on the East Pier observation deck.
Elizabeth looked down at Rodney speculatively as he dove his hand into the box and pulled out a water bottle. He surprised her on a daily basis. His scientific team all treated him with a measure of respect for his work, but didn't hide their dislike for his narcissistic manner. He was incredibly unfeeling in most social situations, but he had proven his concern for his co-workers in crisis many times, and had been a loyal friend to her. She would never forget that he had stepped between her and Koyla's gun when the Genii had invaded Atlantis during the storm four weeks ago.
Right now Rodney was unwrapping an MRE entre with distaste. He sniffed at it tentatively and then looked up at her. "All the marginally acceptable rations are long gone. I think this is supposed to be some sort of burrito." He reached back into is bag and pulled out a purple fruit. The people that had traded it to them called it heaven fruit. He thought it tasted like motor oil. "I'm always little nervous to eat the new food. Eventually something is going to give me anaphylaxis." He started as his radio crackled.
"Doctor McKay, are you with Doctor Weir on the East Pier?"
"Yes, who is this?"
"It's Margaret Reese. You're at the observation deck, correct?"
"You'll have to wait. Doctor Weir is busy."
He paused. There was no answer.
Elizabeth looked at him quizzically. Rodney shrugged. "Doctor Reese wanted to know where you were."
She looked at him questioningly and he rolled his eyes. "Chemist. American."
Elizabeth smiled. Evidently that was sufficient explanation in his mind. She sat down on the bench next to him and took the MRE from his hand. She decided not to bother warming it; it didn't make much difference, in her opinion.
"This was a good idea, Rodney. Thank you."
He took a bite of the heaven fruit and gave her a painful smile. She knew he hated the things. "You've been under a lot of stress," he said, wiping some juice from his chin.
"Everyone has. Doctor Beckett tells me that he's had a rash of people complaining of headaches and upset stomachs. We all need a break."
Rodney nodded, chewing his fruit unenthusiastically.
She took a fork out of the lunchbox and began prodding at the burrito. "Not just the civilians either. Marines too. Even Major Sheppard says he's been on edge."
Rodney snorted. "The man falls asleep at the drop of a hat. If he were any less 'on edge' he'd be in a coma." He considered for a moment, swallowing with effort. "Although an impending nervous breakdown might explain his lack of restraint with that Ancient woman Chaya."
Elizabeth didn't know how to respond to his comment. She had a standing policy of not talking against any of her charges. On the other hand, John and Rodney's constant bickering since the incident with Chaya was really starting to wear on her. She said so.
Rodney glanced up at her apologetically. "I... didn't realize we were making your life more difficult."
A call sounded behind them and they both stood. Elizabeth turned and squinted toward the sunlight reflected in the glass windows overlooking the observation deck. Doctor Reese was striding towards them with a large backpack slung over one shoulder. She stopped directly in front of Elizabeth. "I have to go."
Elizabeth put her MRE down on the bench and wiped her hands on a napkin. "Doctor Reese, I am in the middle of having lunch."
"I have to go now. It isn't safe here for me and my baby."
Rodney frowned, "Reese, you don't have a baby."
"Shut up, McKay, I'm not talking to you." Reese stared up at Elizabeth, tense.
Rodney blinked. Maggie Reese was a petite, drab mouse of a woman. He'd never heard her raise her voice once. She looked sweaty and rumpled, which wasn't like her either. He glanced down. She was sliding one hand into her backpack, and he could just make out the handle of a service pistol inside the pouch. He looked back up at her and realized she wasn't wearing a headset. He choked suddenly, "Let me just put down this fruit." He bent over to put the fruit inside the lunchbox, hiding his own movement as he switched on his radio earpiece. He hoped someone would be listening in the Control Room. He cleared his throat. "Doctor Reese, there's no need for your pistol here."
Reese looked at him sharply, pulling the gun completely out of her pack. "I'm not here to talk to you. Get over by the railing."
Rodney watched the pistol pointed at Elizabeth's midsection. He could see Reese's hand was shaking. "Reese, you aren't honestly going to shoot me or Doctor Weir."
Elizabeth was staring at Reese warily, "What can I do for you, Doctor Reese?"
"I'm going to have a baby, and I have to get away from here!"
Rodney swallowed convulsively, backing up towards the nearby railing. "Where exactly do you want to go?"
Reese glanced at him and her features hardened. She swung the gun over towards him, digging into her pack with her free hand and pulling out a roll of duct tape. "Doctor Weir, tie him up with this or I'll shoot him right now. Then we're going to the stargate."
Elizabeth reached out to take the roll, and moved towards Rodney, her eyes wide.
She pulled off a strip slowly and wrapped it around Rodney's wrists behind his back. She looked back up at Reese. "You don't have to hurt him, I'll go with you."
Reese grabbed the roll out of her hands and walked behind her, grabbing Elizabeth's arms and securing them with the tape. She grabbed Elizabeth by the elbow and started walking toward the door to the city, turning her head back to Rodney. "Don't move."
"Not moving."
When Reese turned back to look towards the city, she found Major Sheppard standing twenty feet in front of the doors, chest heaving, blocking her way off the deck. He was wearing sweat pants and a tee shirt, and had his feet spread wide in a shooting stance, his own Beretta pistol pointed directly at her.
Elizabeth stiffened as she felt the muzzle of the Reese's handgun dig into her ribs. She could hear the irrational desperation in Reese's voice. "I won't let the Wraith kill my baby!" When Sheppard didn't respond, Reese tightened her grip on her captive's arm. "I'll shoot her, I will!"
John Sheppard swallowed heavily, keeping Reese in the sight of his pistol. He'd been jogging around the East Pier promenade two levels down when Bates called him and opened the channel to Rodney's radio. He'd scooped up his weapon and sprinted up to the deck as fast as he could, shouting orders to his men as he ran. He figured it would take them three or four minutes to get this level of the East Pier.
"Okay, hold on, Doctor Reese. Nobody wants to hurt you or your baby." Reese looked terrible. Her eyes were sunken and her dark hair was hanging in strings around her pale face. He needed to keep her talking until someone could get here with a stunner. "Let's just talk about this. Doctor Weir, are you alright?"
"We're fine, Major, and I think we should..."
"Shut up!" Dr. Reese pushed the barrel painfully against Elizabeth's ribs again without looking away from Major Sheppard. "All I want is to dial out. You don't really need me here. There are plenty of other specialists here."
Elizabeth frowned, "We do need you, Margaret."
"I said shut up!"
Elizabeth bit her lip and twisted her hands against the duct tape. She glanced back at Rodney. He was staring over the railing down at the water below him, muttering something to himself.
She looked at John for guidance, but his gaze was fixed on her captor.
John didn't move a muscle as he heard Rodney's muttered comment over his radio earpiece. He licked his lips. "What do you say we all put down our guns and talk about this. You look like you might be thirsty." Reese's clothes were soaked in sweat and she was visibly trembling. "I can get someone to bring you a drink."
"I don't want a drink. Get out of my way or it will be your fault when I shoot her."
Directly behind the two women, Rodney was looking at him urgently, nodding frantically towards the water behind him. John frowned. "Let's not any of us do anything hasty."
He heard Rodney hiss into his ear, "Let's humor the crazy pregnant lady with the gun shall we? I can do this."
John set his jaw as Reese dragged Elizabeth all the way back to the railing where Rodney stood. Rodney abruptly straightened and looked at her innocently. "Reese, I mean, Maggie, look, you don't need both of us here as hostages, right? Let Doctor Weir go, and I'll stay with you until they can arrange to get you out of Atlantis."
Reese's face flushed with anger, "Don't patronize me!" She pushed Elizabeth back up against the railing and grabbed his arm,spinning him around and up against Elizabeth. Elizabeth wobbled in fright to maintain her balance, leaning into his chest, trying to right herself.
Rodney took a shaky breath as he felt Reese press the gun muzzle into the small of his back and pulled back his head to look down into Elizabeth's eyes. He mouthed "Get ready" at her and she frowned at him in confusion.
Behind him, Reese's voice was shrill. "I'm going to shoot him so you'll know I'm serious. I won't let the Wraith take my baby!"
John grimaced in anger. He had lost control of this situation and he didn't like any of the options open to him. He muttered, "Bates? Where's my stunner?"
Over his radio, Bates said tensely, "ETA one minute from your location. And we checked, McKay is right. We'll have Jumper Three en route immediately."
John looked at Doctor Reese, who was now ghost white and trembling and looked like she was about to pop.
Rodney gulped and spoke rapidly, holding his gaze with Elizabeth as he did so. "Reese, if you shoot me Sheppard won't give you the chance to shoot Doctor Weir. I know him, and he will seriously kill you and your baby. Think about this rationally for a second."
"You want him to shoot me," she sobbed. "You don't care if I die."
John had to make a decision. Reese's weapon was jammed into Rodney's spine, and Rodney was pressed against Elizabeth. Reese could give them both mortal wounds in one shot. And they were teetering dangerously near the edge of the railing. He saw Reese's thumb flip off the safety of the pistol and cursed himself for not having noticed it had been engaged. He muttered into his radio, "I'm taking the shot," and then shouted loudly, "Doctor Reese, my men are in position above us, you have nowhere to go." When her gaze flicked upward to the windows behind him, he pulled the trigger.
Rodney shouted, "No!" as Reese shrieked in response to the gun shot in her arm, swinging her weapon away from him to return fire at Sheppard.
Rodney lowered his head, and used his shoulder to push Elizabeth over the railing. She tumbled backwards with a yelp of terror. He threw himself forward and plummeted down toward the water with her.
* Chapter Two : Taking the Plunge *
"
It's not that I'm afraid to die, I just don't want to be there when it happens." -Woody Allen, Without Feathers
As they cleared the balcony, Rodney shouted, "Land on your back! Do not dive headfirst!"
Elizabeth's mind whirled in confusion and panic as the air was punctuated by gunfire. "What?" She turned her head to see the surface of the water coming towards them, a hundred feet below. She looked back up at him, flailing a few feet above her and to her left.
His words were half-swallowed by the wind rushing past her face. "On your back! The city will catch us!"
She twisted her torso and began a slow turn, her body moving with the memory of a high school career spent on the diving team. But every instinct told her she was about to die and her heart was hammering in her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut and was greeted with the image of the cocker spaniel she had loved as a child. "That can't be good," she thought hysterically.
Then suddenly she was enveloped in a spongy softness, and her descent slowed. She opened her eyes in surprise as her body came to a gentle stop ten feet above the surface of the water. Then the invisible surface she was resting on hardened and tilted, and she rolled and slid down the slope to come to a rest with her back against the outer wall of the city. Before she had a chance to catch her breath, Rodney rolled into her with a soft "Oof".
They began disentangling themselves frantically, both jumping at the sound of continued gunfire above them. Rodney looked up at the balcony hanging far above them. He wanted to be sure they were out of danger.
Elizabeth stared breathless with shock at the ocean surface hanging impossibly only a few meters below them. "What the hell just happened?"
Rodney followed her gaze and grimaced at the water. "Gah! That is very disconcerting." He scrambled to push himself toward the wall with his feet. "Let's get to that ledge and I'll explain. I seriously hate the water."
Elizabeth followed his gaze to see a nearby ledge jutting out of the side of the city. She nodded and they struggled towards it over the invisible surface of the shield. Once they settled onto the comparative security of the shelf Elizabeth took a deep breath. The gunfire above them stopped.
Rodney glanced over at her and wrinkled his brow in concern. "Did I hurt you? Are you alright?"
"Oh, I'm perfectly fine," she said blandly, the realization of what had just happened starting to sink in. "Let's do it again. This time I'll push you off the building." It was moments like this when she doubted her grip on reality and sanity. She'd been having a lot of moments like this lately. She looked back up in disbelief at the balcony above them. "How... how did you know that there was a safety net down here?"
Rodney shook his head dismissively. "Elizabeth, when the Ancients built Atlantis the city wasn't submerged. If you think about it seriously there has to be a mechanism in place to prevent accidental deaths like that. The Ancients were advanced enough to keep the toddlers from falling off the city and drowning." He paused and looked at her. "They probably had toddlers and such things, right?"
Elizabeth held her breath for a moment and then said evenly, "You mean you just guessed there was a net here?"
Rodney craned his head around to examine the wall behind him and said distractedly, "Of course not. Cummings found the safety utility program a month ago. Weren't you at the briefing?"
Elizabeth's mouth dropped open and she closed it again. "I guess I..."
Rodney looked back up toward the balcony. "Look up there." She saw John leaning over the edge and waving to them. Rodney's radio crackled.
"You guys okay?"
Rodney looked at Elizabeth, "Yes, we're fine. What happened to Doctor Reese?"
"I winged her, she'll be okay. Lucky for me she's got terrible aim; she emptied her clip and shot out about five windows up here." Give us a few minutes to get organized here and I'll come down to get you." He gave them the thumbs up and drew back. Rodney's radio went silent.
"Good." Rodney turned to Elizabeth and passed on what John had said. He let out a sigh and leaned back onto the wall behind him, shifting his arms with a grimace. "You know, this is really uncomfortable. My arms are starting to ache."
Elizabeth looked at him sharply, and then worked her hands futilely against the bindings around her own wrists, trying to overcome the adrenaline that had flooded her system when they had plunged towards the sea. She speculated that if she were free she wasn't sure if she would hug Rodney or push him into the ocean.
She sighed in utter, helpless exasperation. "That was incredibly reckless."
Rodney turned back towards her, flushed, "I don't know if you realize it, Elizabeth, but Major Sheppard was about a millisecond away from blowing her head off, and she was ready to kill at least one of us. If we'd stayed up there somebody would have died."
Elizabeth paused to consider his words. "I can't say I agree with your methods, Rodney, but thank you."
Rodney set his jaw, angry. They sat in silence for several more minutes, listening to the water gently lapping against the wall below them. Finally Rodney twisted to glance behind him again at the wall of the city. "I wonder where we are."
Elizabeth gritted her teeth. "I think we're about a hundred feet below the observation deck on the East Pier."
Rodney shifted his weight, turning his body to study the city surface more closely. "No, I am wondering about the purpose of the shafts and doors on this wall. We don't have any data on this area. The initial flooding when we arrived, in addition to that big storm we just experienced, compromised our information about many of these lowest levels of the city."
Elizabeth looked around her. The wall behind her looked like every other wall on the city that she had seen. It was all very beautiful, but nothing seemed unusual about the spot they were in at present. Other than the fact that she was sitting on a ledge ten feet above the open ocean tied up next to her chief scientific advisor on an alien planet. She suppressed a sudden insane urge to giggle. She needed to get back inside the city and into the sanctuary of her quarters.
She saw a jumper approach and land on the balcony above them. A few moments later it whirred slowly into view again, slowly dropping down to a halt in front of them. Elizabeth could see John's worried expression through the windshield of the craft. He made a whirling motion in the air with his finger and she nodded back at him. She saw Ford in the jumper with him and she took a deep breath, knowing she had to put her game face back on.
Beside her Rodney frowned. "I hope the city will let them through the safety shield."
The ship slowly turned and the back hatch opened outward, its door opening out as a gangway leading to the ledge they were perched on. Rodney shrugged, "Right, no problem then. It turned itself off."
Elizabeth smiled, "Score another one for the city of Atlantis." Lieutenant Ford leaned out and leapt out onto the ledge. He helped Elizabeth stand up unsteadily and drew out his knife to cut her bonds.
"Thank you, Lieutenant." Elizabeth jumped daintily onto the hatch of the jumper. Ford looked down at Rodney with amusement.
"Need help getting up?"
"That would be helpful, yes," Rodney grunted as Ford pulled him up.
Ford shook his head. "Jumping off like that was really crazy." He pulled out his knife again and moved to cut Rodney free.
Rodney involuntarily jumped at the sight of the notched blade. It was too much like the knife the Genii soldier had used to torture him. "Look, let's wait until we get aboard the jumper, and you can free me with some scissors."
Ford looked at him skeptically. "I can free you without cutting you."
Rodney flinched back when Ford moved forward. "I'd really rather wait. My hands are invaluable to my work."
Ford stepped towards him again, his lips curving upwards, "I'll be careful."
Rodney scooted back again and heard a warning shout from Elizabeth as he lost his footing and toppled backwards into the water.
Rodney's first thoughts as he plunged into the sea centered mainly on the way he would get revenge upon Ford for dunking him. But as he watched the surface of the water move farther away he began to panic. He wasn't a particularly strong swimmer in the best of cases, and he was useless as a swimmer with his hands fastened behind him.
He sank like a stone past the wall of the city, and he could feel the pangs of air hunger and terror immediately start to crawl through him. He thrashed wildly with his legs, hoping to slow his descent. Surely Ford or someone from the ship would try to save him, wouldn't they? He had no chance of reaching the surface on his own.
At this depth, the city walls slanted inwards and he despaired as the city wall moved farther away. Even if he could reach it, the huge metal iris in the wall next to him had no ledges or outcroppings to slow his progress. His chest was screaming to take in a breath and his heart sank as he unwillingly expelled a bubble of air. He looked up again and was relieved to see Elizabeth diving down towards him. He redoubled his efforts to kick his feet in an attempt to meet her, but his air reserve was all but exhausted and he despaired of getting to the surface while still conscious.
When Rodney had fallen into the water, Elizabeth had wasted a moment by looking in shocked horror at Ford. The moment passed, and Ford immediately started stripping off his gear while she kicked off her shoes and dived in. She spotted Rodney sinking down near the wall of the city. She moved fluidly through the water towards his struggling body, grabbed his collar and flipped around, pulling him up towards the surface. She could see Lieutenant Ford in the water above her, swimming quickly towards her with strong strokes. Together they brought Rodney back up to the air.
John expertly lowered the ship until its hatch was skimming the water's surface. He shouted to the group from his place in the pilot's seat as they grabbed onto the hatch. "Did you get him?"
Aiden and Elizabeth shoved Rodney out of the water and onto his stomach and then pushed themselves up onto the hatch. Rodney coughed and spluttered as they strained to pull him off the hatch and onto the rubberized floor of the jumper. Elizabeth knelt and turned him onto his side, leaning over him with concern.
"Are you alright?" She pushed the water off of his forehead.
Rodney looked up at her, blinking water out of his eyes. "Did I mention I hate the water?" She nodded to him reassuringly. He coughed again. "Thanks."
"Now we're even."
Rodney looked at the city, visible through the open hatch and then back at her urgently. "Elizabeth, there's an iris down there."
Elizabeth looked at him in confusion, "What?" She looked up at Ford, who was kneeling behind Rodney, cutting his restraints off with his knife, and shaking his head with self-reproach.
Rodney pulled his arms free and pushed himself up, scrambling his feet away from the door of the jumper. "An iris."
"You gave us a scare."
"Yes, and by all rights I should be throttling Lieutenant Ford right now but there is a giant iris down there under the water." He looked up at Elizabeth and ran his hand through his hair.
John bellowed from the front of the ship. "What's going on?"
Elizabeth glanced at Rodney and then called forward. "Rodney's fine, Major, we can go."
"I'm going to be pissed if he got my ship wet."
* Chapter Three : Riding the Tides *
"If you're going through hell, keep going." -Winston Churchill
Freshly showered and dressed, Elizabeth pulled a comb through her damp hair and looked at herself critically in the mirror. She needed to inquire about Doctor Reese, and she'd told John and Rodney that she'd meet them in her office. But all she really wanted to do was crawl into a hole and pull it in after herself.
She was supposed to be used to high stress situations. She thrived on them, usually. Craving for excitement and a sure sense of human nature had been what catapulted her to the role of top negotiator back on Earth. But what she was best at was dealing with third parties who were at each other's throats, not her own. And she really had to take umbrage at being held at gunpoint, not once, but twice in the same month.
It had been a grueling month. After the storm and invasion by the Genii there had been the nanovirus epidemic, and then they had discovered the hibernating older version of herself. She shivered. She hadn't been able to shake the sense of unreality she had gotten when she had seen her older self die.
The incident today with Maggie Reese wasn't novel either. This was the second time that a member of the Atlantis staff had suddenly become violently irrational. Last week Rick Adams had started screaming in the middle of a conference and had tried to hijack a jumper. The mission psychologist, Doctor Heightmeyer said it was to be expected, that all the pre-screening that had been done before the mission wouldn't be able to predict how her people would react to the horrors they had experienced. But Doctor Reese's breakdown today couldn't be just a coincidence, could it? Elizabeth didn't want to lose another one of her people, for any reason. There had been too many deaths already.
She thought about Rodney's expression when he'd pushed her over the railing. Despite his bravado on the city wall, she knew that look of determined terror. She'd seen it often enough. She thought again of Rodney's broad back moving in front of her, blocking the Genii gun that had been poised to end her life during the storm. She remembered John's determined voice when he'd ordered Ford to stop his heart after he'd been attacked by the Wraith insect. Her colleagues were so brave.
She mentally quoted Winston Churchill: "Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter."
She had volunteered to come on this strange voyage. She'd be damned if she'd let it beat her.
She frowned at her reflection. "Don't be such a coward, Elizabeth. You can do this." She heaved a sigh and grabbed her jacket, heading for the meeting.
When she reached her office, she found Major Sheppard sleeping in a guest chair, his long legs propped up on edge of her desk. The man really could sleep anywhere. She down behind her desk and folded her hands in front of her on its burnished surface. She studied John's face and smiled when he peeked open one eye to peer back at her.
"Sorry." He swung his legs off the desk and straightened, rubbing at his perpetually tousled hair. He looked up at her in curious worry. "You really okay?"
"I wasn't injured." She smiled at him. "Thank you."
He shook his head slightly. "Don't thank me. That was McKay's hare-brained scheme. I usually don't suggest folks jump off of buildings."
She shuddered. "I wouldn't advise adding it to you roster of stratagems."
"That's also the first pregnant woman I've ever shot," he growled. "I had to wing her. But Beckett says she'll be fine, and the pregnancy is okay." He screwed up his face. "Who told your people they could go get pregnant, anyway?"
Elizabeth shook her head, "It wasn't my idea. All the women are offered birth control."
"That's what I heard," John said. He looked up at her with a wolfish grin and what she felt sure were impure thoughts.
She frowned at him disapprovingly and decided to change the subject. "How did you know?"
"About birth control? I had a health class in high school."
She smiled, "No, I mean, how did you coordinate with Rodney up there? I heard him muttering about the drop into the water, but nothing about jumping off the building."
"Oh that." John grinned widely. "Bates checked it out before I took the shot, but Rodney mentioned Cummings' nets and then I remembered that briefing we had about them last month."
"Was I there that day?"
John looked at her, puzzled, as Rodney bounced into the room wearing fresh clothes, holding his open laptop in front of him.
John's face went sly. "Well, if it isn't our soggy hero."
Rodney didn't look up. "Right, very funny, ha. See me laugh." He tapped furiously at his keyboard.
They both watched Rodney for a few moments. John turned to look back at Elizabeth and shrugged.
Elizabeth's mouth quirked upward. "Rodney?"
He didn't look up, "Yes, I'm here. Just give me a moment."
Elizabeth tapped her radio. "Doctor Beckett, when you get a free moment, could you come to my office?" She glanced over at Rodney. She cleared her throat, "Doctor McKay?"
Rodney held up a hand, "Hang on, I almost have it." He swallowed convulsively as he squinted at the laptop display. "Okay, I knew it. This is incredibly exciting. So, of course Atlantis was submerged when we got here, right?"
He went on before either of them had a chance to reply. "And the Elizabeth Weir from the alternate reality said that the Ancients had submerged the city in a last ditch effort to save their population."
Elizabeth stiffened at the mentioned of her elderly doppelganger, but Rodney continued without noticing. "Now she said that they were waiting on a transport bringing three hundred people right before they left. So how was the transport supposed to get from orbit to the inside of the city if the city was underwater? It's been bothering me ever since."
John gestured out towards the jumper bay. "They could just open the bay doors. The way we get out."
Rodney pointed at him. "No. A transport that holds three hundred people won't fit in the jumper bay hatch"
"Okay, they could land on one of the piers."
"No again." John frowned as Rodney rattled on. "We know that the Ancients could manipulate the contour of the shield around the city if they wanted to let in a ship. The safety net Elizabeth and I used today is a perfect example of that force field technology. But the problem is, they would have to open a hole in the shield to let the ship through."
Elizabeth nodded. "Of course, that would have let water in."
"No, it wouldn't. They could shape the field to envelope the ship. But the ship itself would be a weak point in the shield. A temporary chink in the armor."
John swallowed and looked over at Elizabeth. "So where would they dock?"
"Exactly!" Rodney looked up at them expectantly. When he only got blank stares he sighed and continued. "Look, we know that the Wraith had the technology to build underwater craft, and get to Atlantis, but they didn't. They bombarded the city from the air."
He waved his hand over his laptop. "I think their aversion to salt water has some physiologic basis; remember the effect of salt water on that Wraith insect."
John grunted reproachfully at Rodney. "Hard to forget." The insect had responded to the salt water by inflicting upon him the worst pain he'd ever felt. "Can we all agree not to mention that bug ever again?"
"The point is that there is something about the salt water in the ocean that is enough of an aversive stimulus to the Wraith that it protected Atlantis all this time."
John licked his lips. "That might come in useful."
Rodney rolled his eyes. "Oh, yes, what a fantastic idea. Next time we encounter a Wraith you can throw a water balloon at him. Oh, and I know, I'll get a squirt gun. I'm sure that will be very effective."
He turned back to Elizabeth impatiently. "Look, if the Ancients were going to let a ship in, the only way they could do it would be to let it in from the underside of the city, where the Wraith couldn't bomb them from above while it docked."
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and leaned forward. "This has to do with that iris on the wall today."
Rodney grinned. "I've been sifting through some of the schematics from the lower levels of the city. There are at least six chambers of sufficient size to house large transport ships. When we did our initial survey we just assumed they were warehouses or some such; the first two we came across were flooded or damaged beyond recognition. Anyway, if the symmetry holds, one should be directly under the observation deck on the East Pier. And it should be intact. We pumped that area out first after the storm."
John rubbed his fingers together, his brows knitted in thought. "Could there be some big ships still down there?"
Rodney's eyes glittered. "Exactly." He turned to Elizabeth, who was frowning down at her hands. "We've got to send some teams down into the lower levels. If we find some larger ships, that could be very advantageous. Who knows what else we might find down there?"
Elizabeth looked up at him thoughtfully. "In that case, I guess it's lucky you saw the iris."
Rodney held up a finger, "Dans les champs de l'observation le hasard ne favorise que les esprits prepares." He looked at Elizabeth significantly, "Louis Pasteur."
Elizabeth hesitated and then nodded. "I suppose so."
John grimaced, "What?"
Rodney looked at him in contempt. "It roughly translates as 'Chance favors the prepared mind.'"
"You could've just said that, you show-off."
Elizabeth swallowed heavily, her expression grim. "Let's proceed with some preliminary surveys. Major, Doctor, let me know when your teams are ready to go." She pushed herself away from her desk and stood. "I'd like a full report from both of you on today's incident on my desk in the morning. I'm going to see what's keeping Doctor Beckett." She walked stiffly out of the room.
John looked in bemusement at Rodney. "What just happened?"
"I don't know. Maybe she's still just a little upset. She had a rough lunch hour." Rodney looked thoughtfully at the door that had closed behind Elizabeth.
John frowned. "A little rough, yeah."
Rodney turned back to look at him. "By the way, did you see my lunchbox up there? I had some really good stuff stashed in that box."
"Don't start with me, McKay."
As Elizabeth left her office, she took a deep breath and steeled herself, trying to look calm and professional as she passed through the control room. As if she weren't already tense enough, Rodney's comment about the last days of the Ancients and her alternate self had really unsettled her. And she got nervous whenever the teams had to explore the lower levels of the city. She had nightmares about her people drowning in the underwater portions of Atlantis. Lately the dreams had been getting worse.
She shook her head in annoyance. She was far from her best right now, but appearances were everything. Simon used to tease her, "Never let 'em see you sweat - sweat on your own time." She smiled at the memory. It was days like this that she really missed him. He was always a pillar of strength when her resolve weakened. Some days she felt so alone here on Atlantis.
She shook her head, and strode forward through the doors of the infirmary. Doctor Beckett was fussing over a sleeping Margaret Reese, her shoulder wrapped in bandages. Rick Adams was sleeping on a bed across the room, and she was surprised to see Peter Grodin was sitting on a gurney with a basin on his lap, looking rather green. She had just seen him this morning in the Control Room, and he had looked fine then. He smiled at her weakly as she passed by.
Carson Beckett looked up at her approach and greeted her in his gentle brogue. "Ach, Doctor Weir, I'm glad you came." He nodded to his assistant and motioned Elizabeth over into his office. "I can't explain what happened to Doctor Reese. Not yet, anyway. She had the same symptoms as Adams. She even reported having vivid nightmares as he did."
"What about her pregnancy?" Elizabeth eased into a chair.
He shook his head. "I knew nothing about it before this."
"How did it happen?"
Carson looked at her curiously. "I suppose the usual way."
Elizabeth cocked a brow at him. "I mean, wasn't she on birth control?"
Carson shrugged. "She refused for religious reasons."
"How is she now?"
"She's calmer, but not completely rational. I've given her a light sedative, but I hesitate to give her anything stronger, what with the pregnancy. Like that poor devil Adams, she was just terrified." His face drew in with worry as Elizabeth sighed and rubbed her forehead. "How about you, Elizabeth? You had a scare today, aye?"
She forced a smile, feeling her heart start to pound again. "Being held at gunpoint seems to be part of the job description lately." She sobered at his concerned expression. "I'll be fine, Carson, I just need to get some sleep." He nodded, unconvinced. She looked out the door to his office, "What's wrong with Peter Grodin?"
"I think the new food we've been trying isn't agreeing with him. As I told you, I've had many people coming in the last few days complaining of stomach problems."
She paused. "We'll have to keep trying new provisions until we find something we can all eat." She looked up at him, "You and Doctor Heightmeyer will keep me informed about your patients, please."
Beckett nodded, "Of course."
She pushed herself up and walked out of his office at what she hoped was a calm pace towards the safety of her own quarters. She felt a wave of cold sweat run down her body. "Hold it in, Weir," she thought to herself in rising impatience. She looked around and saw no one else in the hall with her, and broke into a run, throwing herself back into her quarters just before the sobs started shaking her body. "Doctor Weir," she thought angrily, "you are losing control." She slid down the wall and gave in to her emotions, weeping until the tears ran dry.
* Chapter Four : Fastball Special *
"I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." -Groucho Marx
Two days after the incident on the East Pier, Rodney found himself eating alone in the mess hall. He looked down at his dinner plate in distaste, pushing the exotic greens around with his fork. He yearned for a real meal. "Or not even a real meal," he thought, "maybe some Fritos and Mountain Dew." He'd lived on the stuff in graduate school. Fritos were comfort food back then. He speared a vegetable and pushed it into his mouth, chewing miserably.
It was odd what he missed from home. He had thought it would be the internet, or his daily political fix, or his cat. He shrugged to himself. He did miss the cat. The Wumpus used to lie across his legs at night and that had always been oddly comforting. In any event, it had never occurred to him that he would miss junk food this much. He'd watched enough Farscape to know he'd miss chocolate, and had planned accordingly. But not Fritos. He pushed his plate away in disgust and sipped at what passed for coffee.
He considered the way Elizabeth had acted when he had tracked her down this afternoon. He had been eager to show her the scans the team had done down by the first of the six irises. So far they'd been impeded by wreckage on the lower levels, but the layout looked promising. But when he told her of his findings she had been silent.
Then she had looked at him with that piercing gaze of hers and had curtly told him she was busy with other concerns and that he shouldn't bother her until he had more complete information. It wasn't like her to be so abrupt, and it worried him. He'd been avoiding Major Sheppard, but he thought he'd better talk to him about it.
His thoughts were interrupted by a clatter of silverware. "Speak of the devil," he thought as he turned his head. Behind him, John Sheppard was helping a pretty brunette with her dinner tray. Evidently she had dropped her fork. The Major muttered a soft word to her and grinned broadly, patting her on the shoulder. Rodney caught his attention and beckoned him over. John brought his tray to his table and sat facing him, glancing over Rodney's shoulder at the woman.
Rodney glanced back at her. "What?"
"Erica Shelby." John looked over at her again and then down at his plate. "Corporal. I had to take her off duty last week. She took a knock to the head and she's been kinda wonky since then."
"Wonky?"
John nodded and stuffed a large forkful of greens in his mouth. "Yeah, you know, dizzy. I'm worried about her."
Rodney rubbed his right ear. "Of course your concern has nothing to do with the fact that she is a young and reasonably hot female."
John stopped chewing abruptly and his eyes turned cold. He swallowed deeply and hissed, "Corporal Shelby is a member of my command."
Rodney was taken aback by the menace in John's voice. He had forgotten about the military's rules about fraternization.
John leaned forward and growled, "And you'll be sorry if you say anything rude to her face. She's a black belt."
Rodney stammered. "I... apologize, Major. I was out of line."
John looked at him with contempt and shoveled another helping of greens into his mouth, chewing angrily.
Rodney felt like an ass. "Look, this is actually why I called you over here. I need to talk to you about our relationship." He blinked several times at John's incredulous expression. "I mean, the way we interact."
"You want to apologize for being such a pain in the butt?"
"Not really." Rodney looked down at his plate. "Well, maybe." He met John's gaze.
"Go ahead."
"Look, I talked to Elizabeth earlier today, and she's under a lot of stress."
"We all are. It's part of the job." John's eyes drifted past Rodney back towards Shelby. She looked miserable.
"Well, I don't think we are helping." He followed John's gaze and flushed with anger. "Can you pay attention to what I'm saying for one second?"
"I'm paying attention."
"You know, if you would just listen to me occasionally you would stay out of a lot of trouble."
John's gaze flicked back to meet Rodney's. "I listen to you Rodney. But you talk constantly." John narrowed his eyes maliciously. "It's the signal-to-noise ratio that's the problem with you. It's hard to pick out what's important."
Rodney sucked in his breath inannoyance and leaned in towards John. "Everything I say is important. And if you would just think with your head instead of your pants we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now."
John put down his fork, rolling his eyes. "So this is still about Chaya."
"Maybe."
They glared at each other for a long moment. Finally John grunted in irritation, "What did you want to tell me, McKay?"
Rodney held his gaze, "Look, regardless of our feelings about each other right now, I think our bickering is really wearing on Elizabeth's nerves."
"Yeah, well it isn't helping mine much either."
"So, maybe we should try to tone it down when we're around her."
John opened his mouth, and then shut it again. "Okay, now that's the first reasonable thing you've said since I sat down."
Rodney set his jaw.
John looked at him searchingly, and then let out a grim chuckle. "Rodney, one of these days I'm going to wring your damn neck." He laughed again and leaned back in his seat.
Rodney relaxed back in his own chair, letting a tentative smile creep over his own face. He looked back down at his plate. "Do you ever miss Mountain Dew? Or Fritos?"
John snorted, "Nope, just beer." He glanced over Rodney's shoulder again, suddenly sobering. "Jeez, look at Shelby. She looks like she's going to puke."
"Of course she is, did you even taste this horrid food while you were wolfing it down?" Rodney twisted to look back at Corporal Shelby. Her tawny face had turned a shade of sea green and her shirt collar was stained with sweat. It was running down her face in rivulets. John leapt to his feet and Rodney hurried to follow him over to Shelby's side.
John leaned over her. "Corporal Shelby? You don't look so good. Let us take you over to the infirmary." He shook her shoulder gently, "Erica?"
Corporal Shelby stood suddenly, throwing his arm off of her shoulder. "I have to get out of here."
John looked over at Rodney with anxiety. "Call Beckett." He put up his hands and tried to sound soothing. "Corporal, just tell me what's going on." Behind her, Rodney spoke urgently into his radio.
She looked at him, wild eyed. "I can't breathe. What is wrong with you? Can't you feel it? There is something wrong with the air. We've got to get out of here."
She jumped to her feet, upsetting the table in front of her. Rodney put his hand on her shoulder. "Just hang on a second..."
John watched in shocked surprise as Shelby grabbed Rodney's wrist, twisted it behind him, and then heaved him away, flinging Rodney through the air, out of the mess hall, down the short stairway and into a decorative sculpture by the transporter. It crumpled under the impact.
Shelby took off down the stairs and John flung himself after her, grappling her around the chest from behind. She threw her arms up, breaking his hold, and he let out a sharp grunt of pain as she jabbed him in the solar plexus with her elbow. Before he had a chance to recover, she grabbed his right arm and flipped him over her head in front of her. He landed flat on his back on the hard marble, gasping for air. She ran for the transporter without looking back.
John stared up at the ceiling for a moment, struggling to breathe, his eyes watering with the effort. He croaked into his radio, "Atlantis Control. Corporal Shelby just left the main mess hall via the transporter. She is extremely agitated and I would consider her dangerous. You need to take her down before she hurts anyone." He looked past his feet to where Rodney was pulling himself out of the crumpled wall art. "McKay, you alright?"
Rodney staggered over to where John was lying. "I'll live."
"I've never actually seen a fastball special before."
"Yes, yes, yes, a very amusing but predictable insight into your reading preferences. Are you okay?"
John made a face. "I think I'm going to lie here for a second."
Rodney bent over him in concern. "Are you hurt?"
John looked up at him in disbelief.
"I mean, are you seriously hurt?"
"Just my ego, I think." John pulled in a painful breath. "She must be half my size." He mentally chided himself. He'd gotten his ass kicked by petite women a few too many times recently. The fact that Teyla and Erica were both highly skilled hand-to-hand fighters did nothing to help his wounded pride. Maybe he did need to practice more.
Rodney winced and rubbed his shoulder, "Has Shelby always been that strong?"
"I don't think so." John put his hand up to his communicator. "Atlantis Control, report."
Bates answered. "We have located Corporal Shelby by transporter seven. We've got a team converging on her as we speak, sir."
"Be careful, she's not rational and she's super strong."
"Yes, sir."
John looked up. Rodney's faced was pinched with worry. "Major, do you want me to get a medic down here?"
John put up a hand. "Just got the wind knocked out of me." He looked up at Rodney threateningly. "Not a word of this to anyone."
Rodney rolled his eyes and pulled John up to a sitting position on the floor. "Okay, Captain Kirk. I won't tell anyone that the little girl beat you up."
John scowled. "Seriously, Rodney, wring your neck."
*Chapter Five : Safety First *
"That old saw about the early bird just proves the worm should have stayed in bed" -Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
The morning sun shone brightly through the window of the briefing room, its stained glass decorating the large table with brightly colored shadows. The effect was lost on Rodney as he pulled up another survey report on his laptop, squinting at the display and cursing the glare from the light. He didn't look up as people filed in, but he jumped when Sheppard passed behind him, leaning in to whisper something softly in his right ear. Rodney rubbed at it and looked at John in confusion. He hadn't understood a word.
John gave him a satisfied grin and settled into his chair.
Elizabeth cleared her throat. "I realize we originally were going to discuss the exploration of the lower levels this morning, but I think we have a more immediate concern. Corporal Shelby is the third member of this crew to develop erratic behavior. Thanks to the efforts of Sergeant Bates' team, we were able to capture her without injury to herself or others."
Rodney and John exchanged a quick glance. Rodney was sporting some fair bruises under his uniform and he expected John hadn't fared much better.
Rodney looked back down at his laptop and yesterday's survey report of the lower levels of the East Pier. This last hangar looked viable. He had to get down there for a look but the mission schedule was so filled with planetary surveys, trade meetings and hunting for the ZPMs that he despaired of getting the chance any time soon.
He rubbed at his ear again. It was really starting to bother him. After his dunking in the ocean he should have expected some sort of infection. In his mind it was a miracle that he hadn't picked up some naturally occurring and deadly disease on one of the many planets they'd explored. It was just a matter of time before they all got the Pegasus Galaxy's version of the Black Death and died in hideous torment. He suddenly worried if Shelby or Reese had an earache before they succumbed to insanity. He'd have to ask Carson.
He grudgingly turned his attention back to the briefing. Kate Heightmeyer was droning on about post-traumatic stress and some nonsense. Obviously the outbreak of erratic behavior wasn't due to stress. Not three people in two weeks, it was statistically too unlikely. He appreciated the chance to talk to Kate about his worries now and then, but ultimately he doubted the psychologist could really help anyone. Soft sciences, he thought with scorn, are for soft brains.
What Elizabeth said next did catch his attention. "For now I am canceling all movement through the stargate and I don't want any travel back and forth to the mainland." She held up a hand to stave off Sheppard's protest. "There is no way you can tell me that having three crew members go berserk in ten days is a coincidence. Unless you can convince me this isn't a contagion of some sort I think we have no choice but to limit our travels."
John frowned, "Teyla is going to be stuck out on the mainland."
Despite his eagerness to be excused from off-world missions, Rodney felt he had to speak up. "Although likely, it isn't necessarily a disease. It could be some chemical in that terrible food we've been eating, or the water, or the air. We need to analyze everything new we've been in contact with."
Elizabeth looked at him and nodded. "In any case we have to put off our exploration for more ZPMs until we know what is going on. And we can radio Teyla. She'll be safer with her people for now."
Rodney brightened. "So we have time now to go down and look at what is in the bunker underneath the East Pier?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I'd rather have you working on this problem, Rodney."
He frowned in impatience and glanced over at John. "Look, at least have Major Sheppard go explore the area. He isn't any use to this investigation anyway."
John looked at Rodney sourly but nodded. "I could go have a look around."
That afternoon, John looked down at his handheld scanner and back up at the doorway five levels below the East Pier. It had taken several hours to make their way through the rubble of the fourth level. It had been fairly badly damaged in the storm, and the rapid pumping of the level afterwards had left piles of debris pushed up against the stairways leading to this wing. John looked back at his team of marines and pressed a hand against the door. It slid open smoothly. "Bingo."
As John passed through the door the cavernous room slowly illuminated. He could see the iris on the far wall. No wonder Rodney had gotten so excited when he saw it. It was at least 30 feet across. But what sent a thrill through John was that there were not one but three huge ships hanging overhead. They were all too large to go through a stargate and they all looked different. Even the smallest of them had a body that was still a good twelve feet across.
Ford whistled. "Think any of them are armed?"
John bit his lip and waved his hand at the vessels. "I think that one is a transport. Look at all the view ports. And that one on the far side looks like a sub to me. I don't know about the middle one." He grinned over at Ford and tapped his communicator. "Doctor McKay. You were right, it's a hangar."
"Is it damaged?"
"No, everything looks okay."
"I'm coming."
"I figured." John snorted. "One of these looks like a sub. Why don't you bring an engineer or two with you as well? We'll keep looking around."
"Don't touch anything."
John grimaced, "Just get down here." He grinned at Ford and his men. "Let's have a look around. Stay sharp."
It was only a half-hour later that Rodney arrived, breathless, with Radek Zelenka and Janice Simpson in tow. He grinned wildly when he saw the ships hanging over their heads. John waved to him from the terrace above. "Up here! You can get into this ship from here. Come up the lift."
Rodney looked at him suspiciously. "You touched something, didn't you?"
"Just the door, Rodney, come on up."
They worked well into the night scanning the ships and deciphering their consoles. John couldn't wait to pilot the ships and Rodney was fixated on the propulsion systems. They would have taken a spin immediately but Elizabeth refused to authorize it. She didn't want them trying to use anything until she had complete reports on their discovery.
In the meantime, Elizabeth had stopped the commissary from serving the alien vegetables after Beckett had run some more extensive tests and discovered they contained trace amounts of a PCP-like hallucinogenic substance. She had allowed Rodney to continue his work in the hangar, tentatively hoping that the cause of the outbreak had been found, but she wouldn't authorize any off-world missions until she was sure they were all clear of the substance.
After two days of study by the engineering team Rodney and John felt they had a good idea of what they had found. It did look as though there were in fact two transports in the bay. One was spaceflight capable, and the other was submarine. The third and largest ship remained something of a mystery, but John thought it must be military. It carried armament similar to what the jumpers carried, but in greater amounts. The only problem was that they couldn't get the ship to power up, so they couldn't access the onboard computers. John couldn't have been more frustrated, but Rodney assured him that if they could decipher the specs for the ship they might be able to modify it, or at least use its ammunition to restock the jumpers.
In the meantime, the submarine transport seemed the most travel worthy. Weir had finally relented and approved a cruise in the sub.
As John stowed his gear and settled into the pilot's seat he glanced over at Rodney sitting next to him at the navigation console. He was typing into his laptop and muttering to himself. "McKay?" Rodney didn't respond. "McKay!"
Rodney jumped. "What?"
"I said, can we get going? Zelenka and Simpson said the engines are running fine and Ford just closed the hatch."
"Sorry, I didn't hear you. Of course, go ahead."
John found what he thought was the release for the winch. He flicked it and both men flew up from their seats and then heavily down again as the ship plummeted down to stop abruptly a few feet above the floor of the hangar.
John looked over at Rodney in startled surprise. "That wasn't supposed to happen."
Rodney was holding his laptop up and checking it for damage. He looked at John in irritation. "Okay, I seriously have to not take another fall this week. That is the third major fall I've taken; it's a wonder my spine hasn't snapped."
"That wasn't my fault." John squinted at the heads up display, rubbing his elbow where he had banged it. "We've got power, why didn't the inertial dampeners keep us from feeling that?"
Rodney leaned over the co-pilot control panel. "Oh, here, that's my fault. Sorry, it disconnected when I... wait, something's not right." He tapped at his laptop. "According to this we are still accelerating downward."
John looked out the view port in confusion. "We're in dry dock; we're not even hovering." He turned his head and shouted. "Ford, you guys okay back there?"
Ford called back. "We're fine, sir. Just a little startled."
John looked over at Rodney, who was rubbing violently at his ear again. "Rodney, what's with the ear? You've been messing with it for days."
"It's nothing. Just a little blocked up or something." Rodney tapped his communicator. He was getting a headache and didn't feel like shouting into the main cabin. "Zelenka, is the ship moving?"
There was a pause. "Is this a trick question?"
Rodney rolled his eyes. "No, Radek, I'm not talking about that jolt we just had. I am asking if the ship is moving right now. According to the onboard inertial scanners we are still accelerating downwards."
"Let me take a reading. Co?... nerozumm."
Rodney clucked impatiently, "Hello, I don't speak Czech."
"Prominte. This cannot be right."
"Well, obviously it's not right. Can you tell what's causing the reading?"
There was another pause, and then Radek spoke rapidly, his English breaking slightly in his rush to get out the words. "I think calibration for the scanners is not properly zeroed. I am reading slight negative Z acceleration fluctuating on the entire structure. Not just the ship. The city."
John pulled up a new HUD. "Yeah, now I see it too. Weird. Is Atlantis sinking?"
Rodney shook his head, and unzipped his jacket. It was getting warm in the small space. "No, it must be a calibration error on our part. Even a tiny downward acceleration would be significant given enough time. On the other hand, these systems are extremely old. Obviously the atmospherics aren't quite right either."
John frowned at the display. "Let me try putting us in the water and see what happens." He tapped his radio channel open. "Lieutenant, make sure everyone is secured back there. I'm going to take us into the water." He tapped his radio off again and studied the control panel with a grimace. "You know, water isn't really my thing. I do better in the air."
"Oh, spare me, Major. Water is a liquid. A liquid is really just dense air. Just think of really dense air." Rodney swiped at the perspiration on his brow and punched at his console. "I'm opening the iris. A shield should form to keep the water behind the aperture."
John shot Rodney a dubious glance and then concentrated on getting the ship into the water. He would never admit it to Rodney, but he didn't ever actually know exactly what he was doing with the Ancient technology. He had to trust the ship to read his mind and it was very unsettling not being in confident control of the huge craft. Back home he knew every nut and bolt of every 'copter, plane or jet he'd ever flown. But this was just a guessing game. And it made him edgy. He didn't like edgy.
John watched the large iris in front of them slowly dialing open and the ship detached from its support, hovering over the hangar floor.
This time there was no accompanying lurch.
He looked at the wall of water just beyond the iris. "Just like a big event horizon." John eased the craft slowly forward and it pushed through the field covering the iris and into the water. The ship controls responded almost like the jumper did and he smiled with satisfaction. "Right. Very thick air. Thanks, McKay."
Rodney muttered absently, "I live to serve." He punched at the ship intercom, "Zelenka, get Simpson and the Lieutenant up here, you should see this."
John chewed his lip. "So we're pretty sure this thing really is a submarine, right?"
"Yes, Major. It has far more structural rigidity than any air or space craft would require. That would be a tremendous waste of mass if you were going to fly this thing into the atmosphere or space. Besides, it is shielded."
"Okay then. Let's see how deep we can go." John turned on the running and outboard lights and eased the enormous craft downwards as their three teammates entered the cabin. Simpson had a DV recorder in her hand and she switched it on.
Rodney winced. "Are you sure the dampeners are working, Zelenka? I'm feeling a little seasick."
"According to my readout the problem with the calibration has corrected itself ."
They watched the ocean life drift past them as they headed downwards. Rodney was really feeling nauseated. He didn't particularly want to throw up his breakfast in front of his colleagues. He looked forward and screwed up his face. "We're almost at the bottom. Strange, there is still light. How far down are we?"
John looked up at the display and did the conversion in his head. "About twenty-one hundred feet. Four-tenths of a mile."
Rodney made a face. "Standard or nautical miles? Despite what Americans seem to think, the majority of humanity uses metric."
"Six hundred forty meters then." John smirked and looked over at Rodney.
But Rodney didn't react to John's rapid-fire calculation. Instead he swallowed deeply and said, "That is really deep. Not for an ocean obviously but... wait, that makes no sense. Below two hundred meters or so it should become difficult to see."
"Maybe the fact that I turned on the ship's searchlights has something to do with it?"
"Yes, of course. How could I be so obtuse?" Rodney pulled at his collar. "It's really getting warm in here. Can you do something about it?"
"I don't feel warm," Aiden said.
John studied Rodney with concern. His hair was matted with sweat and he was breathing rapidly.
"Are you alright, McKay?"
"Just a little claustrophobic, I think. Nothing unusual." Rodney pointed forward. "Look at that object over there. That isn't a natural formation."
Zelenka peered out at the pink angular mass. "Can you put that on the display?"
With a thought, John pulled up a scan of the ocean floor, revealing a large cubed structure buried the ocean floor. It extended at least fifty feet into the sea bottom.
Ford whistled. "What is that thing?"
John shook his head. "I don't know. Are you getting this, Doctor Simpson?"
She nodded, pushing her straight blond hair behind an ear. She focused her camera on the HUD and then out the view port.
John changed the display and the view of the ocean floor zoomed out. "But there are big chunks of something or other spread out for miles."
Rodney made a disparaging noise.
Simpson put her hand on the back of Rodney's chair and peered at the display over her camera. "Could that be wreckage?"
Rodney flicked her hand away in annoyance. "After ten thousand years, wreckage is all that's likely to be left."
Zelenka bent forward. "Those structures are very large. Ancient metallurgical processes may make it possible that there is something preserved."
Simpson pointed over Rodney's shoulder towards a large blip, about 100 klicks east. "That one is really big. What if there are other Ancient cities under the water? I mean, the entire planet must have had more than one urban center."
Rodney pushed her arm away again, more roughly this time. "It's a possibility."
John leaned over towards Rodney and hissed. "Will you chill out?"
"I don't appreciate being crowded. Look..." He took a deep breath. "I'll be right back."
Rodney stood and pushed his way through his teammates, heading for the main cabin.
John grew tense. The McKay he knew would never leave in the middle of something like this, claustrophobic or not. He glanced at Aiden. "Ford, go check on him. I'm gonna turn us around."
"Yes, sir."
John started to guide the sub back to Atlantis. "Doctor Simpson, make sure you record this. I'm going to do a sweep around the city." Despite his worry for his friend, he couldn't help looking at the HUD with increasing wonder. If there were any more ships, cities or artifacts down here they might be helpful somehow. He didn't know if Weir would like this, though. They all just had too much on their plate at once. So much of the city still needed to be explored and repaired, and they still hadn't found those other ZPMs, much less figured out what to do about the Wraith.
As Atlantis came back into view he sucked in a breath. It was damaged. Badly. A long spire stretched downward from the center of the city's underbelly. But it didn't taper down symmetrically. The end had been snapped off, and the spire was bent near where it attached to the city. Naked girders protruded from the broken area. He looked up at the undersurface of the city itself and saw damage in several areas. They had taken on flooding when they first arrived and during the storm, but they'd thought they had it relatively controlled.
Behind him Zelenka gasped. "The damage is far worse than the city sensors told us. This will be very difficult to repair."
John shook his head in anger. They had enough problems already. "Do we have to fix it right away?"
Zelenka frowned. "We have been working on a contingency plan in case we needed to do underwater repairs. But this is beyond what we are ready for. Maybe we can..."
His words were interrupted by a shriek from the main cabin and a crash. Zelenka and Simpson froze at the sound of Ford's voice calling out, "Sir! McKay's going nuts!"
John tapped his radio as he urged the sub towards the city. "Atlantis Control, we are coming in with a medical emergency." He heard another shriek followed by a call for help from Ford. He cursed, brought the submarine to a halt and warily took his hands off the controls. Leaping to his feet he grabbed Zelenka's arm. "You come with me. Simpson, stay here and stay on the radio with Atlantis."
As John pushed his way into the main cabin he saw Ford and McKay struggling by the back hatch. Ford was on Rodney's back and was pulling at his arms. It wasn't slowing Rodney down at all.
Ford called out, "Sir, he just went crazy. He's trying to open the hatch!"
John sprinted down the main aisle and pulled at Rodney's arm. "McKay, you can't open that down here."
"I have to get out. I can't breathe. There is something wrong with the air in here."
"There's a quarter mile of water above us, you'll just drown us."
"A quarter mile, oh God," Rodney moaned, pulling his arm away from John and renewing his efforts at the hatch.
John grimaced at his own stupidity and grabbed Rodney's arm again, glancing back at Zelenka. "Could you help?"
Radek was holding his hands up in the air in terror. He stammered, "He won't be able to open it anyway, the pressure will keep it sealed."
Rodney turned suddenly with a snarl, throwing Ford off his back to crash into the far bulkhead wall like a ragdoll. "He's right. Major, give me your gun."
"No way, Rodney. Just calm down and think about this. You're having an attack just like Shelby had. Remember Erica? The air in here is perfectly fine..."
Rodney lunged at him, his voice cracking in desperation as he grabbed John's jacket. "We're smothering in here you idiot! Why don't you ever f**king listen to me?"
That got John's attention. Rodney never did any serious cursing; he always said it was beneath him. John looked him up and down. Rodney was a burly guy, and John wasn't sure he and Ford could take him down if he completely Hulked out.
"Okay, Rodney," John said quietly. He put his hand protectively on his service pistol, checking to be sure the safety was on. "I am listening to you now. Why don't you just come sit in front with me and I will bring us to the surface. We can open the hatch and you can have a nice breath of fresh air."
Rodney's eyes were reddening with tears of rage. "That will be too late, you Neanderthal! Now give me your f**king gun so I can save your f**king worthless life!"
Ford staggered up from behind Rodney and wrapped his forearms around Rodney's neck in a choke hold. Rodney reached up to push away Ford's arms but John grabbed him, dropping his own shoulder and pushing into Rodney's chest. Between the two men grappling with him, Rodney lost his balance and fell backwards onto Ford.
John huffed in exertion. "Don't let go of him, Ford. Crap, Zelenka, help us out here. Grab my gun and toss it away."
Radek hurried over to the struggling group to comply. He tossed the gun as hard as he could towards the front of the ship and John heard it clatter across the floor. Zelenka wrung his hands. "Now what do I do?"
Ford panted, tightening his hold on Rodney's neck, "Sit on him!"
After Major Sheppard and Doctor Zelenka had left her, Doctor Simpson turned from her place in the pilot's seat to listen to the random crashes, curses and grunts coming out of the main cabin. She tapped on her communicator again in anxiety. "Atlantis Control?"
"What is your situation now?" Doctor Weir's voice was tense.
"They are trying to subdue Doctor McKay." She winced as she heard something break behind her. "I think he got claustrophobic or something. He went crazy." She stood and tried peeking out of the door into the main cabin. She couldn't see what was happening but she gasped when she heard McKay let out an inhuman growl and Ford went flying across the far end and into the opposite wall.
She gasped and pulled back into the relative safety of the pilot's cabin. "Oh my god, I think he killed the Lieutenant."
"Stay in contact with us, Janice."
Simpson heard another curse from the back room and squeaked in fright when Sheppard's sidearm came skittering into the cabin through the door. She picked it up with shaking fingers and backed up against the control console.
The thumps and curses died away abruptly.
"Doctor Simpson, what's happening?"
"Oh my god, I think he killed them all. What if he comes in here?" She raised the gun shakily into the air towards the main cabin door and pulled the trigger in panic as a dark form came rushing in towards her.
"Whoa!" John threw his hands up in the air. "It's me!"
Simpson stared at him in shock, and then down at the gun, which hadn't gone off. John licked his lips warily. "Thanks, Simpson, I'll just take that back now." He smiled grimly and gently pried it out of her hands. He let out a slow breath and then tapped on his communicator. "This is Major Sheppard. We've got things under control here." He looked at Simpson's whitened face and he shook his head at her, pointing to the manual safety on the pistol, still engaged. "Atlantis, can you have a medical team meet us by the East Pier sublevel four access stairs? We had to rough up your head scientist a little."
Elizabeth's voice was strained. "Are you alright?"
John raked his hand through his hair. "Yeah, we're all okay. For now." He looked back up at Simpson, who was still staring at him with her mouth open.
Simpson finally found her voice. "I almost shot you. I thought you were..."
He put a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay. No harm, no foul." He gave her a tired smile and settled back into his seat. He started the sub's engines back up, heading for home. "And when this is all over, you and I are going to spend a little time reviewing gun safety."
* Chapter Six: Pacing the Cage *
"There is only one difference between a madman and me. The madman thinks he is sane. I know I am mad." -Salvador Dali
Rodney woke up slowly, his head spinning. He opened one eye and saw Doctor Beckett leaning over him, his expression worried.
"Rodney, how are you feeling?"
Rodney felt horrible. His whole body ached and he was reeling with nausea. He felt cold sweat running off his forehead and moved to wipe it away, but found he couldn't. He looked up at Carson in fury. "You put me in restraints?" He struggled to raise his head.
Carson put a firm hand on Rodney's shoulder, pressing him back down. Rodney turned to look at the hand holding his other shoulder and found Major Sheppard looking down at him with anxiety. He was sporting a split and bloodied lip.
Rodney stared at John's bruised jaw in confusion and then the events of the preceding hour came flooding back to him. He closed his eyes in mortification. "Tell me that I didn't just try to shoot my way out of a submarine."
Carson's voice was soothing. "What do you remember?"
Rodney squeezed his eyes shut tighter. "Uh, actually I'm a little hazy about how I got here."
"Well," John snorted, "Ford choked you out..."
"He cut off the circulation to my brain." Rodney seethed. "Oh God, he probably killed off thousands of brain cells."
John ignored him. "We were able to secure you, but when we tried transferring you to a gurney you managed to break free. You beat up two marines and then you puked on Ford." John rubbed his jaw and looked at him ruefully. "You know, for a geek you throw a pretty mean punch."
Rodney closed his eyes again. "This isn't happening."
Carson patted his shoulder. "Rodney, you are running a high fever. You've got a severe ear infection. Have you had any pain or dizziness? Problems hearing?"
Rodney nodded and cursed himself for not having come to Beckett before. "So, what, I just got delirious?"
Beckett frowned. "It is possible, but your symptoms were very much like the other people who have had attacks, and they aren't suffering from an infection. I've already given you antibiotics and something to bring down your temperature. You should be feeling better in a few days."
"A few days? You can't keep me here like this for a few days!" Rodney turned his head to look pleadingly at John. "Tell him you need me."
John smirked. "I'm not touching that one."
"You know what I mean."
Carson shook his head. "Rodney, you need to recover from this infection. Besides, we have everyone who has had an attack like yours here under observation. Reese has had two more episodes since we brought her in. We can't risk it."
Rodney banged the back of his head against his pillow in frustration. He regretted it immediately as a wave of nausea flowed over him. "Look, I feel fine. Just let me talk to Elizabeth."
He saw John and Carson exchange skeptical glances. Doctor Beckett shook his head. "Rodney McKay, never in my entire career have I met a man who complains more loudly about the tiniest bumps and bruises than you do. But you're running a five-degree temperature and have just had a violently delusional episode. You've picked a fine time to become stoic."
John narrowed his eyes. "You look like crap. Do what the doctor says." He held up a hand. "Tell you what, I'll check in with you a couple times a day and keep you posted on what's going on with the sub and everything else, okay?"
Rodney gritted his teeth. "Let me talk to Doctor Weir."
"See you later, Rodney." John patted Rodney's chest and turned to walk away. Rodney looked back at Beckett in fury to see him injecting his i.v. line with a syringe.
Carson nodded towards the syringe. "Something for the nausea. It will help you sleep. Meanwhile, Corporal Moran will keep an eye on you so you don't hurt yourself. Just in case." He motioned at a burly blond marine holding a Wraith stunner, looking at Rodney with disinterest.
Rodney swallowed deeply. "This is unacceptable." He ground his teeth in frustration as Beckett moved away. "I have rights!"
Elizabeth paused before entering the infirmary. The feeling of unreality she'd had in the last five weeks was becoming difficult to dismiss. She had hoped Rodney and his team would find a reason for everyone's unease, but now Rodney was part of the problem. Carson told her that Rodney had calmed down, and she hoped he stayed that way. Right now, she didn't think she could handle seeing him screaming with delirium.
She took a deep breath and opened the door, nodding to the guard as she entered. The infirmary was starting to get crowded. Shelby and Reese were over on the women's side, but the two men were here. Adams seemed to be sleeping again, but she saw Lieutenant Miller sitting where Peter Grodin had been last week. He was also holding a basin, but he was actively using it.
She winced in sympathy and then passed the screen that separated Rodney's area from the other patients. He was lying flat on his back in his bed and staring up at the ceiling.
He looked up. "Elizabeth, you came?" he faltered.
She came to his bedside and looked around, noticing there wasn't a chair. She nodded towards the bed. "Do you mind?"
He grimaced. "I can't stop you."
She started to sit, but jumped up when she sat on his hand by accident. She looked down at the bed, realizing that his arms were in restraints. She mentally cringed. Rodney prided himself on his intellect. He must be in agony having his sanity brought into question. "How are you feeling?" She shifted towards the foot of his bed and sat gingerly by his legs.
He grimaced in frustration. "Yes, well, I realize I was a raving lunatic a few hours ago. But I feel fine now and it was evidently brought on by a treatable cause. You have to get Carson to release me."
Elizabeth smiled at him apologetically, "I have to leave the medical decisions up to Doctor Beckett."
"This is so incredibly humiliating."
Elizabeth shook her head. "This isn't your fault, Rodney. Remember Doctor Beckett found some traces of hallucinogen in the food you've been eating."
"Yes, yes, I got the explanation, thank you. And I don't really believe it, to be honest. Sheppard ate a tonne of the stuff and he's fine. Regardless, Beckett's got me tied up here like an inmate in The Snake Pit. Elizabeth," he looked into her eyes, pleading, "you have to get me out of here. I'm essential to my team."
"Everyone in this city is vital to me, Rodney. You, Reese, Shelby, Adams, all of you. But I can't let any of you have free rein in the city if there is a chance you might hurt yourself or anyone else. You have no idea how strong you were. You really hurt two of the marines. Tucker has a broken nose."
Rodney winced, but he wasn't going to be deterred. "Look, Carson has treated the ear infection. I'll be fine..."
Elizabeth slipped her hand into his. "Rodney," she said gently. "This..." she motioned at the restraints, "...is out of your control. And I know you hate this. As soon as Beckett gives you the all-clear I will be happy to welcome you back. For now you have to focus on getting better."
"Right," Rodney said sourly, "I'll focus on being not insane. I'm sure that will help tremendously."
He turned his head to look steadfastly at the wall. He was absolutely terrified of what had happened, and terrified it would happen again. Despite his boasting to the contrary, and his own resolute self-confidence, he knew that he wasn't very well-liked. He didn't really understand why, but he'd had his shortcomings listed in detail to him by his parents and every woman he had ever dated. He didn't really get people; he only noticed that they always seemed to be in his way. But he always could take comfort in the fact that he was measurably smarter than just about everyone else. If he lost control of his ability to reason, he knew it would destroy him.
He muttered towards the wall, "This is unacceptable. If they would just untie my hands I could at least get some work done. If I can work then I'll be perfectly fine."
Elizabeth looked down at his restraints and winced at the long scar still visible on his forearm, marking where Koyla's men had cut him. She squeezed his hand urgently. "Rodney, listen to me. This isn't your fault, and Doctor Beckett feels sure that this is temporary. I owe you my life several times over now, and I still trust you with it. Completely."
Rodney looked back at her, his eyes moist. She smiled at him. "But I'll admit that I was pretty upset with you for pushing me off of the city. I'm afraid I haven't been very pleasant to you since then."
He squeezed her hand back and took a deep breath. "You've been under a tremendous amount of pressure." He gazed at her more closely. "You still look tired."
She sighed, "I'll admit to you that I've been having the most horrendous nightmares for the last several weeks. Since the storm."
He grimaced. "You're not the only one. I find it is best to avoid sleep as much as possible."
She shook her head. "I've been having these dreams where I am falling. I'm twisting and turning and falling into the water. It's almost funny because I was on the diving team back in high school, and I scuba dive every summer. Or, I did before Atlantis anyway." She looked down at her hand holding his. "Then when you pushed me off that balcony, it was like my nightmares had come true. I was so completely terrified." She looked back up at his face.
Rodney was staring at her wide-eyed, his mouth open. "Elizabeth, that's the answer."
She frowned, "What do you mean?"
"I know why people are becoming deranged. It's not just the food, partly... probably, well possibly... Look, just get Beckett and Zelenka in here." He yanked at his restraints. "I know what's wrong!"
"Rodney..." she started with concern.
"Seriously," Rodney looked at her earnestly, and took a deep breath. "I promise this is the rational version of me talking. At least get Beckett in here so I can explain."
She patted his hand and nodded. "I'll bring him right now."
As she turned to leave Rodney's mind was racing. He felt the familiar glow of satisfaction he always got when he solved a problem no one else could figure out. Better still, he knew he was going to be all right.
* Chapter Seven: Simple Reduction *
"The brain is like a muscle. When it is in use we feel very good. Understanding is joyous." -Carl Sagan
"I still don't see the connection, Carson." Elizabeth looked in confusion at Doctor Beckett and then at the other faces around the conference table.
Carson frowned. "Then I'm not explaining it properly." He pulled out his patient charts. "Let's look at each case. Adams was the first to panic. I've been treating Adams since we got here for classic migraines. Patients with migraines get an accompanying nausea with their symptoms. He is no exception."
"Okay."
"Reese was next, aye? And she had just discovered she was pregnant. She was in the first weeks of morning sickness when she decompensated. The poor thing, there isn't much I can do for her."
"So you are saying these people panicked because they were nauseated," Elizabeth nodded.
"Not quite." He opened another chart, "Now, Shelby took a tumble down the stairs several weeks ago, remember? I had to keep her under observation for several days because she had some mild brain swelling. She was having trouble walking properly afterwards. She kept tilting over to one side."
"Yeah, she was all wonky," John scratched at his neck. "What about what happened to Rodney?"
"Aye, well McKay had an infection in one of his ears that was brought on by his drop in the ocean."
Elizabeth frowned. "I don't..."
Carson leaned forward. "Everyone involved had some disruption or interference with the normal vestibular-motor pathways that control balance and proprioception, either on a structural or chemical basis. In all these cases, the patients had a lower threshold for the symptoms to surface."
"You've lost me."
Carson sighed. "What I am saying is that each person was extra sensitive to abnormal movements in their environments."
"Okay."
"There is an extremely complex pathway between the brain, the inner ears and the eyes which tells our bodies what our positions are in space at any time. If you're looking at me, and you turn your head, your eyes know how to move so that your gaze remains fixed on my face. If you're on the deck of a boat, all of the muscles of your body move in perfect harmony to keep your balance. If you're in an elevator, you can tell if it is moving up or down, even though you can't see the walls of the elevator shaft."
John's eyes lit up, "But not in Atlantis."
"Aye, not in Atlantis. Because Atlantis has inertial dampeners."
Doctor Zelenka cleared his throat. "The city actually has two different arrays of inertial dampeners much like the ones on the jumpers. The first array surrounds the city and prevents it from drifting out of position in the currents of the ocean. But it does not hold the city perfectly still. It still allows the city to sway with the ocean to a minor extent, just as skyscrapers bend slightly in the wind. It allows for more structural stability and less power drain on the shields."
He paused. "There is another array of dampeners that work on the inhabited portion of the city which completely reduce the swaying with the ocean. Even if there were no dampeners, usually you wouldn't feel the motion of the sea that much on Atlantis. It's like big ocean liner."
John nodded. "The bigger the ship, the less you feel the sea moving."
"Yes. But there would be some movement. And if you are prone to seasickness you would eventually notice this. The two arrays work together to make the inside of the city completely stable."
Radek held his hands in front of him, palms together. He slid them against each other and apart. "But, you see, they are misaligned now. They don't hold us still. We realized there was discrepancy between the two dampener arrays when we first got on the submarine. While it was still attached to the structure of the city it displayed the inertial anomalies, but when we went into the water, the submarine reverted to its own dampening system, which was working properly."
Radek laid his hands on the table and sighed wearily. "We think the big storm six weeks ago damaged the interaction between the two arrays. This added to the damage that occurred during the emergency rise to the surface when we first arrived."
Elizabeth frowned. "If there was so much damage, why didn't we know?"
Radek shrugged. "Once we knew what to look for, we found that the main computer did register the problem. But, it was not enough discrepancy to set off a priority alarm."
Carson leaned forward, "But it was enough to trigger the symptoms in the predisposed people."
Elizabeth rubbed her forehead. "Okay, so they got seasick. Why would this cause people to become so irrational?"
Radek put his hands up again and moved them side-to-side. "This movement is what makes people seasick, yes?" He raised his hands far over his head and swirled them down towards the table. "This is what we are all feeling."
Carson looked hard at Elizabeth. "It feels like we are falling."
Radek cleared his throat again. "Actually, to be precise, it feels like we are constantly beginning an acceleration downward. Over and over again. Which is even more bizarre."
John straightened in his chair. "Wait a minute, if we're all just pulling some downward gee we shouldn't get dizzy. We should just feel lighter."
Radek nodded, "But the acceleration is fluctuating slightly, and it is rotating around the vertical axis at different vectors. It's more like tumbling down than falling."
Kate Heightmeyer spoke up. "One of the most primitive fears human beings have is a fear of falling. What has been happening to our people is that their bodies have been thrown into a fight-or-flight response due to this subconscious falling stimulus. The way people some people panic when an airplane suddenly lurches, or when they are on a roller-coaster. Their autonomic systems have kicked into overdrive."
Carson gestured in agreement. "Fight-or-flight is like a panic reaction. The victims hyperventilate, they sweat, their heart rate shoots up, and their adrenaline levels skyrocket. There are a host of biochemical changes in the brain and bloodstream with that kind of panic."
Kate nodded. "Once a panic attack starts it is extremely difficult to stop it. And the falling stimulus our people have been feeling has been cumulative for the last six weeks." She glanced at Carson. "Despite what Rodney might think, the PCP-analog in the food must have had some potentiating effect. I've seen people strung out on PCP who were irrational and panicked just like our people have been."
Carson nodded. "Aye, I have as well. To be honest, Doctor Weir, I am surprised we haven't had more cases on our hands."
Elizabeth frowned again. "Doctor McKay didn't have his attack until he was out of the city. Shouldn't he have been fine without this... stimulus?"
John shook his head. "McKay was getting squirrelly before we ever left dry dock." He turned to Beckett. "He was incredibly strong. Luckily he doesn't have much hand-to-hand experience, or it would have been tougher for us to subdue him. Shelby was strong too."
Beckett nodded. "Extremely high levels of adrenaline can temporarily give people huge boosts in their strength."
John grimaced. "So if we don't fix this array business we're going to have more super-powered maniacs running around."
Elizabeth shuddered. On the one hand she was relieved to find that her heightened level of anxiety in the last weeks might have some physical basis. On the other hand, she was worried she might end up strapped down in the infirmary with Rodney and the other victims. "Can you figure out who might be next?"
Carson motioned towards John. "People like Major Sheppard, who is conditioned to changing accelerations as a pilot, might carry some resistance. I've called everyone who I think might be predisposed to come for an exam. But I can't really predict who will be next."
John chewed his lip. "What if you just tell people what's going on? Can't they just deal with it?"
Kate shook her head. "We will inform the entire staff, but this is a subconscious process. The best way to deal with it is to fix the dampeners."
Radek cleared his throat. "The problem now is how to make repairs so deep underwater."
Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Let's make that our top priority. In the meantime, let's make sure we spread the word throughout the city so that people at least know what to be on the lookout for. Major Sheppard, I'm going to ask you to arrange to ferry some of our people to the mainland while we work on the problem." John nodded. "We've been lucky not to lose any people to this yet. I'd like to keep it that way. Thank you, everyone, this is a real breakthrough."
Beckett raised his hand. "The one you should be thanking is Rodney."
"I already did."
* Chapter Eight : Deep Breathing*
"I have cultivated my hysteria with delight and terror. Now I suffer continually from vertigo, and today I have received a singular warning, I have felt the wind of the wing of madness pass over me." -Charles Baudelaire
Four days later, Elizabeth closed the door to her office and sank into her chair with a sigh. She pressed the heels of her hand against her eyes and slowly counted as she took some deep breaths. Four counts to breathe in, six counts to breathe out. Four in, six out. After a minute she started to feel a bit better. Kate Heightmeyer had given her breathing exercises to help quell the feelings of panic she'd been having.
There was a knock on her door and John stuck in his head. "You okay? I saw you come in here..."
She nodded and motioned him to sit in a chair. "Just a little tired. Have you seen Zelenka's last report?"
"Yeah, I just got it." John closed the door behind him and settled into one of her guest chairs.
John had done several more surveys and the technical team had pinpointed the city dampeners that needed to be repaired. The good news was that the broken spire thankfully turned out to be less of a problem than they had feared. Also, they could do much of the repairs from inside the city substructure, although they had been slowed down considerably by having to pump out those lowest levels and stabilizing the structure as they worked.
The bad news was that there were external sensors that would have to be replaced by hand. Which meant getting people into the water.
There were only six people in Atlantis who admitted to having any reasonable amount of underwater experience, and Elizabeth found herself in the unenviable position of having had the most scuba practice in the population. Major Sheppard had taken some deep water instruction as part of his military training, although he wouldn't say why he'd needed it. Regardless, she had logged more hours in the water. The other four divers were fortunately all marines, and were eager to help.
Elizabeth was aggravated at her own lack of foresight before the mission. In retrospect it was incredibly stupid not to have brought some naval specialists with them. After all, the mythology of Atlantis was centered around the fact that it was a city sunken in the ocean.
What they had brought with them was plenty of survival gear, tents and outdoor supplies. Carson had set up a medical unit on the mainland and his four inpatients all were reportedly stable now; this morning he had finally given Rodney his blessing to return home. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Miller had been flying their most affected people to the mainland in rotations to get relief from the acceleration stimulus.
In her bed at night, if she held very still, she could consciously feel it. It was incredibly disconcerting. It would have been better if it were just the falling and tumbling sensation she had expected. But this sense of constantly beginning a fall was unlike anything in real life. No wonder it had unsettled so many of them.
Zelenka and Cummings had been remarkably resourceful in their conversion of some of the space EVA and medical equipment over the last several months. They had created two diving suits with bell helmets, which they would be able to use to get to the shallow areas that needed repairs. But they didn't have the resources to get any diver much deeper than twenty-five meters, and Radek's calculations indicated they would need a minimum of six sensors placed at locations fifty meters below the surface.
After realizing that the Ancients must have had contingency plans, they had searched the database and had found a small store of underwater construction supplies near the damaged hangar under the North Pier. They included several small, one-man crafts that looked like they would take workers deeper into the ocean. They reminded Elizabeth of Jacques Cousteau's "Sea Fleas" but the articulated, waldo-driven robotic arms on the little ships were more sophisticated.
Unfortunately all of the little one-man ships had been damaged or completely drained of power. And the few that seemed partially viable only responded to the Ancient gene. The team was trying to construct at least one working ship from the ones they had salvaged, but the progress was maddeningly slow. She and John had already spent two sessions with the other experienced divers, reviewing underwater safety and diving protocols. They were hoping to begin the shallow external repairs with the men going down in rotations of two within the next day.
In the meantime, Markham had been practicing with the submarine and Sergeant Bates had taken his team to continue the search for the ZPMs. So far they didn't have any leads on the power sources. It was so frustrating. She told John so.
"Yeah," he pushed his hand through his hair. "It's always something around here. You know, it was lucky to find the submarine in terms of this dampener array problem. But Simpson's been after me about going down to scan that wreckage on the ocean floor."
Elizabeth shook her head. "It will have to wait. We've found so many things that we could investigate. But we have to set our priorities." She leaned forward on her hands, rubbing her temples. "After we find a ZPM we can worry about archeology."
"Yeah, that's what I told her." John frowned and looked at her pensively. "You getting any sleep?"
She glanced up and cocked a brow at him. "Not much. You?"
"Yeah, I'm okay. I just thought you..." He chewed his lip, and thought of what Rodney had told him. "If you don't mind me saying so, you've been a little edgy."
"I appreciate your concern."
"I've been making things tough for you." He drew in a breath. "I don't mean to."
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him. She thought this might be the closest she would ever get to an apology for their power struggle during the nanovirus epidemic. She shook her head and smiled. "I appreciate you saying so, I really do."
"And Rodney and I, you know, he drives me nuts but it isn't serious. We're just blowing off steam."
"I understand that." Elizabeth didn't think she had ever seen John look so contrite. She realized that she must really look awful for John to feel the need to explain himself like this. "Thank you for your concern."
They sat for a moment, staring at each other speculatively. The moment passed and there was a loud knock at the door. Elizabeth leaned back in her chair and called out, "Come in."
She smiled as Rodney appeared in the doorway. He left the door open and she could see the towering figure of Corporal Moran immediately behind him, a stunner weapon slung over his shoulder.
Rodney rubbed his hands together. "Good Morning, Doctor Weir. Major Sheppard. I believe you know my escort?"
Moran nodded curtly to Elizabeth. "I'll be right outside, Ma'am." He glanced at Major Sheppard, "Sir." He left and closed the door behind him.
Rodney sighed dramatically and sat down in the chair next to John's. "Beckett and Bates decided to sic a guard on me now that I'm back. It's insulting." He turned to frown in complaint at John but noticed that the major's jaw still bore the ghost of a bruise from where he had punched him. He cringed slightly and moved his attention back to Elizabeth.
She smiled. "I'm glad to see you Rodney."
John nodded. "Yeah, good to have you back."
"Yes, yes, I got the update on the dampener repairs. They're going too slowly. There is a small but measurable worsening of the inertial mismatch with time. The longer we wait the harder it will be to reset the calibration."
Elizabeth looked at him thoughtfully. "We do need your expertise, but I meant I was glad to see you on a personal basis. It isn't the same around Atlantis without you."
Rodney looked at her sharply, and coughed uncomfortably. "Really? I mean, I would have thought people would be happy to have me out of the picture. You know, the cat's away, the mice play, that sort of thing."
Elizabeth tried to repress a smile. "No, actually Zelenka and Cummings have been working non-stop. I had to order them to go to sleep last night."
John looked at Rodney with a wry grin. "Besides, they aren't nearly as fun to wrestle with as you are, slugger."
"Huh." Rodney looked genuinely surprised and then frowned at John. "That was a joke, right?"
John rolled his eyes.
Elizabeth sighed. "Let's move on. After you review their progress, Rodney, I'd like you to join the repair team. We still have to find a way to get our men down to fifty meters for the placement of the final sensors."
Rodney shook his head slowly. "It's going to be tough getting anyone to withstand six atmospheres of pressure with the equipment we have. If we can't power up those Ancient mini-subs we're going to have a problem. Even so, I don't think those would be safe below two hundred meters or so."
Elizabeth studied her hands. "I've been thinking about something. According to the other Elizabeth..." She swallowed as she thought of the wizened version of herself dying in the infirmary. "She said the Ancients rescued her from the bottom of the ocean after the time traveling device crashed. They must have had some way to get deep to do it."
John nodded at Rodney. "Yeah, we actually looked for something like on that on the sub before we took our first cruise. We didn't find anything."
Rodney shook his head. "It may be they had some modification of the transporter technology that would work like an Asgard beaming device. Or a way to project stable shields outside of their vessels, or some sort of tractor beam." He sighed. "We haven't been able to find anything like that in the data base yet, and Major Sheppard wasn't able to summon anything like that up in the ship."
"Yeah, I tried again since then. Nada."
Rodney waved his hands in annoyance. "Maybe we could slave one of the little subs to the big submarine but that would take some time. We'd have to get the connectors to withstand the...." He broke off, grimacing. "You know, about working in the sublevels... that crew is working in some pretty small spaces." He looked at Elizabeth hesitantly. "What I'm saying is that it's completely possible that I might get claustrophobic again."
Elizabeth leaned forward. "Doctor Beckett feels you are good to go. I trust you Rodney."
John smirked. "And I trust Moran's aim with the stunner."
Rodney turned on him in annoyance. "Oh yes, let's all make fun of the crazy person, shall we?"
John glanced at Elizabeth and his grin faded. "Sorry."
Rodney sighed and turned back to Elizabeth. He looked at her intently. "I appreciate your confidence in me." He stood and straightened his jacket. "Elizabeth."
"Rodney."
"Major."
"Doctor."
"Right, then." Rodney turned and headed out the door, motioning to Corporal Moran. "You. Heel."
* Chapter Nine: Under Pressure *
"If an idea is worth having once, it's worth having twice." -Tom Stoppard
Three days later, John checked his gear as the engineering team made their final checks on the one-man craft moored off of the dock on the East Pier. It was about the size of a little European microcar and it had a tapered back end like a kayak. He appreciated that he could sit upright to pilot it, but what he really liked were the four robotic arms mounted on the front. There were two heavy duty arms shaped like claws mounted below two smaller manipulators used for delicate work. The arms all responded beautifully to the movements of John's hands. Despite this, and the way it glistened in the morning sun, he thought overall the ship looked sort of ridiculous. Lieutenant Ford said it reminded him of a lobster and the name had stuck.
John looked dubiously at Rodney. "You sure they welded this thing right?"
Rodney glanced up from his laptop at Corporal Moran. "Could you move a little to your left? You'll block the glare better there." Moran stared at him dispassionately and Rodney turned to John in annoyance.
John nodded at the corporal. "Just humor him, will ya?"
The corporal grunted and shifted to his left. Rodney smirked in satisfaction and gestured toward the little ship. "Yes, Major, you'll be fine. The basic structure of the ship is completely intact. We just had to replace some of the internal powered systems and relays. The arms in front are completely separate from your ship; they are essentially radio-controlled so you can have your shield on while you work." He smirked. "Neat, isn't it? Anyway, the hull alone should protect you down to at least a hundred meters. Also, the body of the lobster has an energy shield that will get you much deeper than that."
"It still looks pretty fragile to me."
Rodney tilted his head skeptically. "Well, you might want to leave your sidearm on Atlantis this time. You get one tiny hole in that thing at fifty meters and you'll be squashed like a bug."
John grimaced. "Thanks for the advice."
"Any time, Major. The magnetic handholds are loaded above the arm of the right lower claw. Once you place those they'll dig in solidly, so you won't be able to reposition them."
"Got it."
"The external sensor units you need to attach to the city are loaded above the arm of the left lower claw. You can grab those with the fine movement arms as you need them."
"Yeah, I ran through that in testing."
"We gave you two extra units in case you drop some."
John gritted his teeth. "I won't drop anything."
"If you drop them you'll have to come all the way back."
"Jeez, Rodney, will you lay off? I won't drop 'em."
Rodney shrugged and squinted back down at his laptop.
John was grateful to see Radek Zelenka coming towards him with a modified regulator in his hands. He walked up to John and checked the seals on his suit and the air tanks in the ship. "I am sorry we do not have proper diving gear and tanks. I can monitor pressure but not air quality. But the lobster has the standard Atlantis air recycling system, so you should be able to work indefinitely. But, if there is problem, you will have these as back-up air supply."
"That's not reassuring."
"It should all work, but we want you to have these just in case. If you have to use these, be careful of the oxygen level in the trimix. You connect this, here, and attach helmet here. You will need to remove your gloves to operate the ship, but they dial on with these rings and snap into place." He leaned down to attach the regulator to the air lines.
"Yeah, I got it. Thanks."
Rodney tapped at his laptop and muttered, "Of course if you are much below thirty meters in that suit you'll die horribly anyway."
John winced. He had to agree with Rodney on that point. The suits had evidently worked well for the slow and controlled shallow dives that had already been done, but they were so jury-rigged he didn't know how they'd perform in a real emergency.
Radek glanced at John apologetically and then turned towards Rodney. "You should get down to the northwest sublevel site. I will monitor Major Sheppard from here until you are in position."
Rodney grunted. "Of course, back into the bowels of the city. Major, all you have to do is place the last six sensors and then come back. And, seriously, try not to break anything else under the city. I can't even guarantee the lobster will survive more than one mission. Keep your radio on."
"Right."
"And you won't have an inertial dampener onboard."
"I get it." John wondered if the city was starting to get to him, because Rodney didn't usually make him feel this edgy. He took a deep breath. "Besides, I wouldn't mind pulling a little gee again."
"Well, just keep that very little." Rodney looked at John uncertainly. "Good luck."
John glanced up at Rodney in surprise. "Yeah, you too."
Rodney nodded, snapped his laptop shut and stalked off, closely followed by Corporal Moran and his stunner.
John lowered himself into the lobster and tried to get comfortable, but the space was just a little small for his liking. He wondered if the Atlantians ran a little short or if Rodney's team had just put the pilot's seat in the wrong place. He leaned his head back and it knocked into the panel behind him. This wouldn't be fun.
His radio crackled and Elizabeth's alto voice sounded in his ear. "Major Sheppard, Sergeant Markham and I are already in the water on the submarine. We are standing by to support you."
"Thank you, Doctor Weir."
"I'm not happy that you have to do this alone."
John checked his depth, air and pressure gauges on the HUD and tried to adjust his seat. "No choice. There's only one lobster and I'm the only one who can run it. Besides," he grinned, "I'll have you and Markham down there with me. What can go wrong?" He winced as the words left his mouth.
He looked up at Radek. "Crap, I just jinxed myself."
Radek nodded to him in grim agreement. "Good luck. Be sure to monitor your depth carefully."
"You're a good guy, Zelenka."
Radek smiled. "So are you, Major." He pushed the canopy down and locked it into position.
John checked his settings again, powered up the shield and then eased the little ship down into the water. As he headed down under the city toward the central spire, he heard Radek reading off his sensors. "Major Sheppard, the lobster is holding the internal pressure steady. If it holds, you won't have to worry about decompression sickness coming back."
"Good. Let's get started."
It was slow, but John, Rodney and Radek were able to work their way to each of the six worksites without difficulty. Rodney had gotten to the first position and guided John to the proper place below him using his life sign and proximity scanners. Once he was in the right location it had been fairly easy to fix the sensor unit to the city exterior using the robotic attachments of the lobster. Then Radek led him to the next spot while Rodney moved within the city to join them. They'd repeated the process and they had gotten five of the six sensors all placed in a matter of a few hours. It was much faster than John had hoped.
Now Radek had gone to wait for him at the East Pier while he and Rodney finished the job. John glanced out his view port at the larger submarine hanging off to his left. Elizabeth had insisted upon staying underwater to watch his back. Markham must have been bored silly.
John looked at the last unit as he prepared to drive it into the city surface. "How are we doin' there, Rodney?"
Rodney gritted his teeth and bent down again to peer at the fiber optics splayed out in the crawlspace under the floor. "Okay, I have no idea what I am looking at here. Corporal, can you hold a flashlight over here for me?" He glanced back at Moran, who was standing rigidly over the opening two levels above him, caressing his stun weapon. Moran stared back at him blankly. Rodney narrowed his eyes at him. "Oh, so sorry, I forgot that you only get paid to look menacing. Simpson!"
Moran stepped back and Janice Simpson's head appeared. She looked down at him quizzically. "The Major has yet to place the last sensor."
"Yes, I realize. Could you get down here and give me some light? I'll need to calibrate this internal sensor with the external one and I can't see what I'm doing."
She nodded and slowly started her descent through the two floors. They had rigged up some makeshift rope ladders to get through the wreckage, and the welding team had come through here and managed to shore up the area so it would be stable enough to work in. But there were still enough naked girders and broken panels to make the climb down treacherous.
Rodney reached up and supported Simpson's waist as she clambered down. The area was cramped and she slid the last few feet and against him. She turned her head to look up at him, flustered. "I'm sorry, Doctor McKay."
"You should call me Rodney." He paused and peered down at her. "I've never noticed you had such blue eyes, Simpson."
Simpson flushed a bright shade of red, clutching her flashlight to her chest. "Thank you, I guess."
He considered her. She needed a makeover, but she was blonde. And smart. He'd never really looked twice at her. "Really, they're very pretty."
"You know, we can hear all this, Rodney." John's voice warned over his radio.
Rodney's reply was drowned by a thump and a loud clatter above him. A toolkit and its contents came raining down into the pit and he ducked down, covering Simpson's head with his arms, taking the brunt of the damage. He looked up, infuriated, "Cummings? Are you intentionally trying to kill us?"
After a moment Corporal Moran reappeared and gazed down, his stunner pointed towards them. "You have to stop what you're doing."
Rodney licked his lips. Even from this distance, he could tell Moran's usually ruddy face had turned pale, and his shirt collar was stained with sweat. He knew the look pretty well by now. He remembered his open channel and muttered, "Moran's gone nuts. Place the last sensor ASAP and get some people down here to help us."
Moran's face twisted with fury and he bellowed, "No chatter! Now, just put everything back the way it was."
Rodney angrily shouted back at him, his arms still hovering protectively over Janice. "I'm trying to fix this."
Moran tossed aside his stunner and pulled his P90 free from its harness. He waved it around wildly, his eyes wide. "I'm not foolin' around! Put everything back the way it was. You've already screwed something up 'cause the air in here is going foul. You know you're not right in the head, McKay, you need to be put down."
"Wait, wait, wait! A second ago you wanted me to rewire this panel, now you're going to kill me?"
"It's the only way to save everyone." He waved the rifle towards them.
Rodney crouched, pushing Simpson down beneath him. "You idiot! You can't shoot that thing down here! Do you want to kill us all?" Rodney heard Moran's weapon bark and he cried out in pain and fright as he felt a sharp jolt to his head. He realized belatedly that it wasn't a bullet that had hit him, but a heavy metal object. It was Moran's P90. He rose, utterly infuriated, holding the back of his head. "That was my head you stupid..."
He looked up to see Cummings smiling weakly at him, holding the stunner. "Oh, good job, Cummings." Cummings suddenly lurched to one side and Rodney and Janice were thrown against the wall of the pit. Rodney looked down to see that the sensor panel he'd been working on now had a clean bullet hole through its center. "Oh, this is lovely." They were thrown back against the other wall and he heard the city let out a groan. He hunkered down to look at the sensor and snapped his fingers at Simpson. "Quick, give me some light." As she shakily aimed the beam downward Rodney pulled the sensor's power feed free. The tremors stopped.
Janice looked at Rodney. "You're bleeding."
Rodney put a tentative hand to the back of his head and it came away bloody. "Oh, that just makes my day."
Below them, John had just placed the final sensor when he heard the exchange between Rodney and Moran. Elizabeth had quickly informed him that she had ordered security to help them. He chewed his lips in worry. He didn't like being trapped out here, unable to help. He startled as he heard the gun shot over his radio and then suddenly he was thrown to one side as the lobster swung suddenly to the right and slammed against the city. He struggled to hang on to the city wall with his left claw as one of the spare air tanks flew into the console, sending sparks and chips of plastic up towards his face. He pulled his right hand free of the robotic control to shield himself and the ship was abruptly thrown back in the other direction, the wayward tank flying back towards him. He threw up his arm and grunted as the tank clipped his jaw, throwing his head back to slam back into the wall behind him.
Elizabeth shouted in his ear, "What the hell was that?" As he heard Rodney muttering to himself over the radio, John painfully tried to grab the city wall with his second claw, but the lobster had swung so far out from the wall he couldn't get a purchase with it. Thankfully the first one had held. He looked at the shattered console in disgust. He'd still be able to navigate by sight, but he'd lost his readouts.
The shaking stopped and Rodney called out, "We're still here. Cummings took out Moran with the stunner. The corporal managed to destroy the internal sensor, but we should be able to replace it. Everything okay out there?"
"Don't do that again, okay?"
"I disconnected it."
John swallowed heavily. "Okay, I've taken a little damage myself. I think I'd better head back to the surface."
"Oh, and also, I'll live. Thanks for your concern."
John shook his head in annoyance and moved to power up the drive and retract the left claw. The claw didn't respond. John pulled at the controller again. There was no response. "McKay, I have a problem."
"What did you break?"
John gritted his teeth. "I didn't break anything. You threw me around pretty good there and some of my sensors are gone. The left claw won't detach from the handhold. It must have twisted when the city twitched."
He saw the submarine move to his left, Elizabeth peering out the sub's view port at him. "We see it, Rodney. The Major's claw is bent at the place where it connects to the ship... Oh my god. John, look above you."
John looked back up through the canopy view port and saw a section of metal plating the height and width of a boxcar slowly pulling loose from the city underside above him, and it was headed right for him. He redoubled his efforts to pull free from the city with his left hand while he scrambled to pull the bell helmet over his head with his right. "I could use a suggestion."
Elizabeth broke in, "Rodney, there is a big section of the city surface facade coming loose right down on the Major."
Rodney tapped his radio. "Atlantis Control, we need a pumping team in the east sublevel section!"
Peter Grodin's voice came back immediately. "We see it. We have marines and a pumping crew en route."
"Are you monitoring our situation down here?"
"Yes. I've called Doctor Zelenka to come up to the Control Room to assist."
Rodney nodded and switched back to John's channel in time to hear Elizabeth saying, "John, get your gear secure."
In his ship, John let go of the claw control and scrambled to get the tanks and other equipment locked down. "Already on it." He tried putting on the helmet but found the collar piece had actually taken the brunt of the blow to his jaw, and it wouldn't attach. "Okay, the helmet attachment is damaged." He stowed it back under his seat and muttered, "Probably too deep anyway."
Rodney confirmed his suspicion. "It won't do you any good at that depth in any event, Major. Get your shield up to maximum. Better yet, get out of the way."
"Dammit, I knew I jinxed myself." John reached for his ship control and powered the shield as high as he could and then looked up again. The plate was now attached by only one corner and was swinging downwards. He watched helplessly as the raw edge rushed towards him.
This time, the blow to the ship was much worse than before. The ship shook from the impact of the plate and then again as it was slammed for a third time into the city wall. John cursed as he was thrown up and then forward against the shattered panels in front of him. His temple slammed into the console and golden flashes of light danced in front of his eyes. He pushed himself back into his chair as the ship slowly rolled to its side, and he saw the ship headlights and console illumination flicker and go out. He was left in agony, in the darkness. "Son-of-a-..."
Inside the city, Rodney listened to the sound of John's steady cursing. "Elizabeth, what's happening?"
"We can't see him clearly, but the lobster just lost its running lights. He's trapped between the plating and the city." John's cursing abruptly stopped. "Major Sheppard? John, can you hear me?"
There was no answer. Rodney pursed his lips and looked at Simpson. "Get back up there and get a replacement sensor. I don't want the city moving again. Elizabeth, what about the external sensor, did he get it attached?"
"It looks okay. John, please answer if you can."
Rodney sighed in relief as he heard John groan. "Yeah, I'm here. A little dark. Rodney, next time put a goddamn seat belt in these things."
Rodney watched Simpson disappear over the upper lip of the pit. "Major, are you hurt?"
"Uh, yeah. I think maybe a concussion." John put a hand on his forehead and felt sticky wetness. "The ship took a pounding. My console went dark and I'm thinking the shield might be down. I'm still holding pressure." He looked out his canopy and saw nothing but darkness.
He heard the worry in Elizabeth's voice, "Without your shield, if the hull weakens..."
"Yeah, I know, six atmospheres, crushed like a bug." He winced and pressed his hand up to his forehead again to try to stop the bleeding. It was messy.
"We need to get you up to the surface. Rodney, what if we use the sub to knock the plate free?"
"No, no, no. If his power is gone he'll sink like a stone if you knock him loose. Besides, you might rupture his hull."
"We could get under him."
"That won't work. The exterior of the sub is too rounded."
"Hey, guys." John took a deep breath. He didn't feel right and he didn't think it was just the blow to the head. "I hear hissing. I shouldn't hear hissing."
Rodney interrupted him. "Major, if you had even the tiniest leak you'd have suffered a catastrophic implosion already."
"There is definite hissing."
Still in the bottom of the pit, Rodney looked down at the broken sensor in his hand with the bullet still wedged in its armored casing and muttered, "This is not good."
Elizabeth broke in. "Rodney, if the power is out in the lobster, does the air still recycle?"
"It would depend on the damage." Rodney said, looking up impatiently for Simpson to come back. "But the pressure maintenance has a fail-safe, and even if the air recycler stopped working you shouldn't be feeling it this fast, Major."
John's voice was shaky, "I'm feelin' a little of that high-altitude hypoxic thing going here." Rodney heard John make an uncharacteristic squeak. "Hundred-sixty feet below sea level. Go figure."
Rodney frowned with worry and reached up to grab the replacement sensor that Simpson handed down to him, kneeling to reattach the power supply. If Sheppard thought he was hypoxic he was probably right. He knew most pilots ran into it at some point in their training. But it wasn't because of altitude this time. "Didn't Zelenka give you an oxygen tank?"
John's voice pitched up. "Too dark, can't see." John felt a tremor of nausea shoot through him. "Gonna puke."
Rodney stood and listened. "Major, can you repeat that?"
"I said I'm gonna puke." John's voice was definitely too high.
Rodney shook his head. "Major, listen to your own voice. The hissing you are hearing is likely your helium tank." He tried to remember what cockamamie set-up Radek had given John. He wished he'd looked at it more carefully. "Radek?"
He heard Elizabeth grunt in recognition. "If it isn't the tank it could be your trimix regulator."
Radek's voice broke in. "Or maybe the helium-nitrogen valve got knocked open. Can you turn it off?"
Rodney listened closely but was rewarded with only the sound of John retching. He started climbing out of the pit. "Major, you've got to turn that tank off."
In the lobster, John wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He was having trouble figuring out which way was up, much less where the gas was coming from. Rodney's voice was urgent in his ear, "Get your head as low as you can." John started feeling around him and then cursed as he felt the lobster rattle again.
Hovering beside him, Elizabeth and Markham both gasped as the metal plate finally broke free. Markham pulled the sub narrowly out of the way as it sank rapidly past them. Now they could see the shadow of the lobster, still attached to the city wall. Elizabeth swallowed deeply as she saw the little ship swing in the current. "Rodney, the plate just detached, and the lobster is barely hanging on. It's still completely dark."
Rodney pushed himself up and looked down into the pit. He could picture John right below him. "Just give me a second." His mind was racing. He blamed himself for not giving John a back-up power supply. Power was the problem with the salvaged little ship to begin with; he should have foreseen this. "All the power was probably diverted to the shield when it impacted and now the life-support is affected. You'll have get him loose, but we just need a way to catch him when he falls."
Rodney glared down at Moran's limp form on the floor in frustration. "Listen, Markham, get your sub in position under the major, as close as you can, facing straight up if you can manage. Your view port is the flattest part of your submarine. Maybe he won't fall off as fast if he lands there..."
He snapped his fingers. "Wait, I'm having a moment. Radek, are you listening to all this? Can you reconfigure Cummings' safety net protocol to work on the underside of the city?"
"I believe so. I'm already on my way to Atlantis Control."
"Hang in there, Major, we think we can get you home. Just don't move yet." Rodney spun on his heel and took off at a run for the nearest transporter, yelling instructions into his headset as he went.
Markham positioned the craft directly underneath the lobster and shone his lights upwards. Elizabeth felt a vertiginous rush as she realized they were pointed straight up, although the internal system of the submarine made her feel like gravity was still pulling from below her feet. She glanced at Markham. He didn't seem to notice.
She peered up at John's ship. From this angle she could now see that the hull of the ship was intact, but the two small manipulator arms had been snapped off completely. The right claw was bent upwards at an impossible angle and the left claw clutching the city wall handhold was broken at the joint. The ship was rolled on its left side, only attached by a few thick wires that had powered the claw's movement.
She could see John crumpled against the canopy. Its inner surface was streaked with blood and one of John's hands was pressed up flat against the view port. Markham looked over at her grimly, and then tapped his own radio. "Doctor McKay, it looks like the ship's robotic arms have been completely crushed and the Major has suffered a significant injury. Please advise."
Rodney grimaced as he ran out of the transporter and into the Control Center. Radek had beaten him there and was already pounding away furiously at the shield operations console. Rodney skidded into position next to him. "We need Beckett."
Radek didn't stop typing. "I sent medical team to the East Pier five minutes ago."
Rodney nodded and frowned down at Radek's work. "Major Sheppard, you are going to have to try to disconnect from the city when I tell you."
John's words were slurred as they sounded through the Control Room's overhead speakers, "Can't get loose. Power's gone."
"Elizabeth? What can you see?"
Elizabeth shook her head as she looked back at the lobster. "All that's holding him are a few wires and tubes from the claw."
"Is the ship's shield still active?"
The front end of the lobster was flush against the city wall. Markham leaned forward, "Negative. But the hull is intact"
"Okay, we are almost there. Major, are you still with us?"
John's voice was a bare whisper. "I'm here."
Elizabeth squinted up towards the little ship. She saw John's hand twitch against the glass. "He's losing consciousness; he won't be able to do it."
Markham set his jaw. "I can catch him."
Rodney looked over Radek's shoulder as he feverishly rerouted the safety fields. "Major?"
There was no answer. Rodney ground his teeth. "Major Sheppard, if you can hear me, I want you to try one more time to power up."
John wanted to reach towards his console again. He really did. But he was squashed over on his side, and his left arm was trapped. He wasn't sure where his right arm was, but it felt so heavy. He looked up and out at the lights of the submarine below him and could barely make out Elizabeth and Markham looking up at him with concern. He felt a pang of regret as the hissing became a rush of sound in his ears, abruptly followed by black silence.
Elizabeth looked up and saw no movement in the little ship. "Major Sheppard? John!" She clenched her jaw in frustration. "Rodney, I think John's unconscious. But the claw is so damaged, I don't think it will hold much longer. What do we do?"
"Stay where you are."
She fixed her gaze on John's hand as two long minutes passed. It suddenly started to spasm wildly. She looked at Markham in horror. He tapped his radio. "Control, it appears the Major is having a seizure."
"Is his ship moving?"
"It's rolling." Elizabeth watched the ship roll farther on its left side, twisting on the remaining wires attaching it to the city handhold. As it twisted she saw the wires snap in succession. "Rodney, hurry."
"We almost have it. Markham, I need you to back off at least ten meters."
She glanced over at Markham, who was looking up at John in fierce concentration as he slowly lowered the sub. "What if he falls?"
"I doubt you could catch him anyway."
She looked back up, just in time to see the last wire break loose and the ship come rolling down toward them. "Rodney, it's broken free!" Elizabeth cried out as its shadow filled their view port.
Then suddenly it was moving away from her, slowly tumbling end over end in an arc headed up and out towards the edge of the city.
Rodney's voice was triumphant. "We've got him!"
Elizabeth watched the lobster float up and away from them as Markham hastened to follow. "You're surfacing him too fast."
Radek's voice sounded over the radio. "His pressure has been stable."
Rodney cut him off, "Even if it isn't, he is completely out of oxygen, or bleeding to death."
Elizabeth nodded uncertainly, "Get him out of there the second you can."
Rodney's voice was strained. "If we're not already too late."
* Chapter Ten: Last Breaths *
"He accepted, without surprise, the fact that he was not unhappy. There was a sweetness about having no further worries of any sort... he knew that he was dead. But he was not alone." -Robert Heinlein, The Long Watch
Markham guided the sub to follow the lobster and surfaced in time to see it hanging in the air ten feet over the water immediately abreast of the East Pier dock. Beckett's teams were already there, and Elizabeth again felt the now familiar sensation of unreality as she watched several men walk out into the air on the surface of the invisible safety shield. They righted the battered little ship and gently pushed it onto the surface of the pier.
Markham docked against the pier and Elizabeth pushed herself out of her seat, running back to open the hatch. She leapt out onto the dock surface in time to see the team pulling open John's canopy, stopping in shock when she saw his limp figure being lifted onto a gurney. He was covered in blood and what she could see of his face was ashen, his lips blue. She walked hesitantly towards the bustling group as a medic pressed an oxygen mask onto John's face.
Carson worked with grim efficiency over John's head. As a nurse cut off John's suit and lifted the hardware away, another medic moved in immediately to slap heart monitor leads on his chest. Carson's voice was calm efficiency now, his team working as one. "We've got an airway. I want two lines going. Get that pulse ox on." Carson flicked his gaze towards Elizabeth and then back down, pulling open John's eyelids to check his pupils.
Elizabeth wrung her hands together as Sergeant Markham came up from behind her. They watched tensely as Carson's team bustled around the gurney, murmuring in clipped tones. She couldn't see John's face any more because of the commotion, but she could tell he was seizing again.
Elizabeth thought that she had been frightened when Carson had to revive John after the Wraith insect attack, but that was nothing to the terror she felt now. She couldn't bear the thought that he had been alone in the dark when he lost consciousness, and she couldn't bear the thought of dealing with the Wraith without his advice. She had grown to depend on him. They all had.
Beyond the group, she saw Rodney and Radek burst out onto the Pier and stop abruptly at the sight of the medics around John's gurney. She caught Rodney's eye and beckoned them over.
As Rodney neared she saw his shirt and sleeve was splattered with blood. He was holding a towel against his head. "Rodney, what happened to you?"
Rodney grimaced. "My guard dog managed to drop his P90 on my head when Cummings stunned him." He pulled the towel away and looked at it, wincing at the blood staining its fabric. He pressed it back up against his head. "I'll probably need stitches. Seriously, it's a wonder I have any mental capacity left at all after all the abuse my brain takes from the marines in this city." He nodded towards Beckett's group. "How is Major Sheppard?"
"Rodney, he was blue when they took him out. And he's had another seizure."
Rodney nodded grimly. Beside him, Radek shook his head in anguish, muttering, "My god."
Elizabeth looked up as she heard Carson call out to his team, "Let's get him back to the infirmary." As he began wheeling John away, Carson glanced back up at her group. "Rodney McKay, what the hell happened to you?"
Rodney cringed. "It can wait."
"Don't give me that glaikit crap, McKay. Get yourself down to the infirmary right now. Biro can look at you." Carson shook his head in disgust and disappeared through the doors.
Rodney turned to Elizabeth, his face rigid with anxiety. "It's a good sign they're moving him, right?"
Elizabeth shook her head wordlessly, turning as Markham tapped her on the shoulder, asking permission to take the submarine back to its hangar. She nodded, and then she, Rodney and Radek walked to the infirmary in silence.
When they arrived, Carson had already taken John into the emergency suite. Doctor Biro looked at Rodney's wound for all of ten seconds before declaring that he needed stitches. For once in his life, though, Rodney didn't have the nerve to complain. Elizabeth sat by his side on the gurney, holding his hand as Biro worked, knowing that he was as overwhelmed with concern for John as she was.
Radek sat in a chair across from them, his face buried in his hands.
After Doctor Biro finished stitching Rodney and left them, the three sat in silence together watching the medical staff scurry in and out of the emergency suite, and some other medics fussing over the unconscious form of Corporal Moran.
Two agonizing hours later, Doctor Beckett came out and beckoned to the group. "You'll want to come in."
Elizabeth and Rodney looked at each other in sudden fear and moved quickly to follow him, Radek trailing behind them with dread. As they entered the room, Elizabeth saw John lying motionless on a bed in the center of the room, his right arm swathed in bandages, his torso and legs covered with a blanket. Lines trailed from both of his hands and his chest to an array of i.v. bags and monitors. Carson motioned Elizabeth to come closer to the bed.
Elizabeth walked to John's side and carefully took his hand in hers. She trembled as she looked at him. His face was covered with cuts and he had a particularly ugly one across his temple which had already been stitched shut. John's eyes were gently closed, his lips were slightly parted, and he looked incredibly peaceful. It was terrifying. Her chest clenched again at the mental image of John trapped all alone in his ship, hurt and suffocating.
She took a deep breath and tried to control the shaking in her voice, "Is he dying?"
Carson sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It was close. His blood oxygen level was terribly low and he was having a seizure as we pulled him out of his ship. But he pinked up very quickly once we got him on oxygen. We didn't need to keep him on a ventilator." He sighed. "What I was most concerned about was his head. He got a fair concussion and he's had some bleeding in his brain."
Rodney let out a groan. "That's bad, isn't it? Will you operate?"
Carson shook his head. "It's a very small bleed. If it remains stable, he should respond to bedrest and solumedrol." He looked at Elizabeth. "It's a medication for the swelling." She nodded.
Carson sighed. "His face and arms got cut up a fair bit. Plus the trauma didn't help the ribs he cracked last month. Fortunately, he didn't sustain any new fractures. He'll have some impressive bruises but he should make a full recovery."
Elizabeth let out a breath as she felt the pounding of her heart start to subside. "Thank goodness."
"He's very lucky you got him to the surface when you did. He's alive thanks to you, Rodney. And you as well, Radek."
Rodney shook his head, his brow creased with concern. "Let's wait until he's back in fighting form before anyone thanks me." Radek heaved a loud sigh and went to sit down on a chair by the wall, still shaken.
Carson looked at Radek in sympathy, and then turned back to Elizabeth. "He wants to talk to you."
Elizabeth looked down at John's face in disbelief, "He's awake?"
"He's drifting in and out." Carson started suddenly and put a hand up to his radio earpiece. "Right." He glanced at Rodney. "Doctor Biro tells me Corporal Moran has awakened."
"We'll see how he likes being strapped down." Rodney said without enthusiasm, staring down at John from behind Elizabeth. He sighed and turned to Carson. "In any event, you shouldn't have any more outbursts from anyone. The inertial dampeners for the city are back to zero displacement."
"Now that is good news." Carson picked up John's chart and scribbled in it.
Elizabeth felt John give her hand a weak squeeze. She looked down at him curiously, "Major Sheppard?"
John frowned slightly and after a few moments opened one eye to squint at her.
She felt her eyes well up with relief. "John?"
He coughed and then said hoarsely, "Elizabeth?"
"I'm here."
"Last thing I saw was you and Markham."
"You're safe now. Doctor Beckett says you'll be okay."
"Feel wonky."
Carson peered at John over his chart. "You'll be wonky for about a week, Major."
Rodney made a face. "That isn't actually a word, is it?"
John didn't seem to hear him. He was staring steadily at Elizabeth now with both eyes open. "How'd you get me out?"
"McKay and Zelenka used the safety net program to pull you up from under the city."
John closed his eyes again, "Zelenka's a good guy." After a moment he grunted softly. "Tell Rodney I forgive him for punching me in the face."
She glanced back at Rodney, who looked stricken. He nodded and murmured, "Thanks." She looked past him and saw Radek quietly leave the room.
She felt John squeeze her hand again. "Elizabeth, listen..."
She turned back to look at him intently. "I'm listening."
"It was good knowing you were there with me at the end. Thanks for sticking around."
Elizabeth felt emotion rise in her throat. She swallowed deeply. "I'm sorry I couldn't do more."
John's voice fell to a whisper. "It meant a lot to me." His eyes flicked over to Rodney and then back to her. "I wanted to tell you something else down there, but I couldn't think straight."
Elizabeth leaned in. "What is it, John?"
John didn't answer. He had fallen asleep again, but now his lips carried the ghost of a smile. She searched his face for a long moment and then nodded to herself. For the first time in many weeks, she felt that everything was going to be alright. She let go of John's hand, patting it gently before she turned to Rodney.
He shrugged at her and motioned to John skeptically. "At this point I think he's just teasing you with the whole 'last dying words' thing."
She glanced back at John. "You know, I wouldn't put it past him." She turned back to smile broadly at Rodney. "But, you know what else? I prefer not to hear anyone's last words. I want to hear everyone talking for a long time." She looked up at Carson. "Thank you, Doctor Beckett. Let me know if there is any change."
Carson nodded, "Certainly."
She patted Rodney on the shoulder. "Come on, Rodney, you can get cleaned up and I'll buy you lunch."
"No, Elizabeth, if you'll recall, I still owe you lunch. We never got to finish ours, remember?"
"That's right." Elizabeth's grin widened as they left the infirmary. "Then after lunch, I get to push you off a building."
END