Author: Pajus
Disclaimer: The caracters and Stargate universe are not mine. I just love to write about them
Present day:
"Increase the power output to 45 percent, doctor!" Rodney heard the shouting voice of colonel Watson in his earpiece, but he was too busy to obey at the moment. The device was overloading and despite his best efforts he saw no way to prevent an explosion. The device he worked on for the better part of the last three months was past the point of no return now and only a miracle could prevent it from killing him and anyone else in a one light year radius. He drew a little comfort from the fact that their mission will ultimately be a success. Nothing could withstand the full brunt of this event, but he didn't want to die. Not now. He wanted to live so he could see his child grow. This was the moment of clarity for him. He wanted to be with Katie and to be a good father. But the screens in the engine room and the expression in Radek's face were clearly telling him he won't survive the next minute...
Three months earlier:
Not many people get a chance to fix what they did wrong, but Rodney McKay just got one. A team led by major Lorne just dialed in from M1G-573. They found a second Arcturus device. Rodney went into dr Weir's office and asked permission to work on the device, but her answer was negative. She could't afford another disaster like before. Rodney was mad about it. If he didn't screw up so badly in the first attempt, he would be assebling a team right now.
"Do you have a little time, Rodney?" The accented voice of his Czech colleague disconnected Rodney from his feelings.
"Obviously I do, Radek." Rodney never tried to hide his anger from anyone and Radek was always the first victim of his mood swings.
Radek approached him and explained his idea: "It came to my mind right after the whole Arcturus thing eighteen months ago. The device spiked and overloaded. Ever since then I tried to come up with a way to absorb the power spikes created by the exotic particles in the containment field. I think this might work." Radek took the little piece of paper with a blueprint on it from his pocket showing it to Rodney and continued his explaination: "We'll use a nearly depleted ZPM as a capacitor to absorb the power spikes. The power for the supplied system and the containment field will be drawn from the ZPM and the ZPM will be continously charged up by the Arcturus device. This should give us a stable power output and compensate for any changes in the containment field caused by the exotic particles at the same time. A stable containment field should also be able to keep these particles at bay. Of course we'll be able to use only ten to fifteen percent of the nominal power output, but even this means three to five ZPMs."
Rodney's mind was kicking him and screaming "Why didn't you think of that before!!!". The only thing he could say out loud was "Let's get to work."
It took a week of hard work, calculations and simulations before they were confident with the results. But now came the hard part - someone had to convince dr Weir. "I think it would be best if you go there alone, Radek. I don't think she'll listen to me about this." Radek nodded in agreement and went out of the lab. Rodney never said 'I screwed up last time', but his face clearly did. Two hours later Radek returned with the needed permission. "But she wants me to lead the project, Rodney." Radek looked concerned about the answer of his boss, but Rodney would never pass such an opportunity. He had to fix his mistake.
The simulations showed everything was in order. But in this case a simulation and the real thing are two different things. Radek tried not to remind Rodney too much, but sometimes he had to remind him, who the boss is. Or at least who the boss in this project is. Both scientists agreed it was time to take this project to the next level. They used the full ZPM to charge up the dead ZPM to five percent of its nominal capacity. According to their calculations it was enough to initiate the device and its containment field for the time needed to fire up Arcturus into a relatively 'stable' state. When this was done, they assembled their teams and headed for M1G-573.
"OK, Rodney. Fire it up." It was the first time Radek was in charge of something this important. He wasn't happy about it either. If they succeeded he would be the one to get most of the credit. If they failed, all the blame would fall on his head.
Rodney did as requested and followed the indicators on his screen. The containment field was initialized and OK for the time being. "All indications are well in the green, Radek."
"Activate Arcturus power output to match the power of one ZPM." Nervousness was clearly shining from Radek's voice. The moment of truth was here. The first test of the device was aimed at finding out if the device is managable while replacing a single ZPM.
"Power output level is at point five percent. All indications are in the green. Slowly increasing to 3.4 percent to match a single ZPM." The status indicator slowly progressed to the desired value. Since the containment field didn't require this much power, the ZPM was slowly charging up. "3.4 percent achieved. Arcturus device is spiking, but the ZPM has no trouble in compensating. I think we're in the clear." Rodney was amazed by how smoothly things went. And Radek was as well. He checked the indicators again and found nothing to be concerned about. The first test was successfull. If for nothing else, they could still use Arcturus to charge up depleted ZPMs.
"To success!" Dr Weir's office was a little crowded during this toast, but no one cared. Radek and Rodney were celebrated as heroes when they returned to Atlantis. "What's the next stage of your work, dr Zelenka." Colonel Caldwell wasn't patient. This device would turn the tide in the war against the Wraith and maybe even the Ori.
"We'll try to increase the power output to five percent tomorrow and try to charge the ZPM to 95 percent of its capacity. It should take about ten minutes to achieve this." Radek tried to hide it, but he was proud of his work.
"Why won't you charge it up completely?"
"I would, but if the device decides to spike on us, the ZPM won't have enough free capacity to absorb it. This might cause an overload and destroy the whole planet." Radek expected such a question from the military. They wanted the weapon Arcturus was powering. "But I can assure you that a ZPM can power the weapon for about one minute - more than enough to destroy twenty hive ships. The device isn't ready for battle. It might never be. But we can already use it to make depleted ZPMs useful again." The answer silenced Caldwell for the time being, but anyone knew it was just the first round.
Rodney went to the botanics lab right after the toast. He had a little surprise for Katie. "Hi, Katie!" He greeted her and gave her a hug. "I wondered if you'd like to have dinner with me in my quaters tonight." Katie was a little overwhelmed. He was never so straight forward when he asked her out. Her conclusion was that the thing he was working on went well and she was happy for him. Yet still it felt a little strange. But this was still Rodney and it wouldn't be him if there wasn't something strange. She accepted the invitation already looking forward to the evening.
"Thanks for the dinner, Rodney." Katie was amazed. She never expected the dinner to be this good. She didn't know Rodney traded a weekend leave to the mainland with the head chef for it. Rodney cleaned the plates and went back to the table asking Katie for a dance. He picked a slow song where he didn't have to concentrate on the movement. "What happened, Rodney. Yu've never been so... You know." Katie was a little concerned about Rodney. He was never like this. she never admitted it, but she had a big crush on him. Rodney drew a deep breath and explained the sudden change: "Two weeks ago I realized I'm not all knowing. That if I screw up big enough they might take my job from me. That would be the end of me. And I never thought I'd be forced to admit it, but this is mainly Zelenka's success. And I also realized that I feel something for you." Katie never thought he would say something like this. This wasn't the Rodney McKay she met almost two years ago. This man was... better. She didn't hear the music anymore. All her attention sunk in the depth of his blue eyes. Right now he looked like anything she ever wanted a man to be. Katie took Rodney's head into her hands and closed her lips to his. She felt his body trembling when their lips first touched, but it was soon over. A moment later he began to kiss her back. The night ahead was the best in her lifetime.
Present day:
And that's when it happened. The deck shook under their legs knocking them both to the ground. When Radek stood up again, he noticed something drew a massive amount of power from the device and the ZPMs were now capable of absorbing a few more seconds of power spikes. But still he didn't wait any longer. He pressed the big red button and shut Arcturus down. Whatever is left in the ZPMs will have to do for now.
One month earlier:
Rodney never felt so good about his life before. Katie filled his days with love and comforted him when he needed it. And he did the same for her. His work on the Arctirus device was also successful. Rodney and Radek found a way to attach multiple ZPMs to the Arcturus device to increase the total power output to 25 percent - eight ZPMs. Katie invited him for dinner tonight, but he'll have to cancel. They just received a message from Earth. The Ori are building another beachhead. General Landry managed to convince the Jaffa not to attack it right away, but that will only buy time. The Odyssea was sent to the Pegasus galaxy a few hours ago. Once in the Pegasus galaxy they will load Arcturus and return to the Milky way to engage the Ori. Rodney and Radek will have four days to make Arcturus ready for transport.
Katie knew what Rodney wil be going into this time. She knew it made the Wraith look like a minor annoyance. "Please come back to me, Rodney. I wanted to tell you over dinner, but this'll have to do. I'm... I'm pregnant." Rodney felt like he was hit by a lightning. The very thought of being a father didn't creep him out as much as it used to before he saw his sister's family, but still. He had really mixed feelings, but he couldn't afford to lose his concentration on the task at hand. He kissed Katie goodbye and promised to talk to her once he returns.
Present day:
"Dr Zelenka reports he had to shut down Arcturus to avoid catastrophic overload, colonel. We have three almost full ZPMs. Once we deplete them to 20 percent of their capacity, Zelenka will reactivate the device."
"Understood. What's our status?"
"Shields are still holding at full strength and the weapon continues to fire without any changes. Estimate two minutes to ZPM depletion and Arcturus restart, sir."
Almost one month ago:
The Odyssea had orders to return to Earth as soon as Arcturus was on board. Atlantis still had the three ZPMs that were depleted when the expedition arrived almost three years ago. They were partially charged up and transported to the Odyssea along with Arcturus. Plugging the power sorces to the ship's power distribution systems took the whole trip back to Earth. When they finally arrived, both scientists enjoyed their first good sleep in over a week. But there was also the issue of plugging the weapon to the ship's systems.
It took three more weeks before the whole thing was operational - or at least as much operational as they coul hope for. But the news was bad. The Ori sent one of their ships to watch the supergate. Adria obviously learned from her mistake. Still there was nothing else they could do. The Odyssea will have to fight its way through the Ori ship and destroy the supergate.
Present day, five minutes ago:
"Give me as much power as you can, doctor" The colonel's voice sounded calmly. Even one ZPM could protect them from a single Ori battleship for the time they estimated to be enough.
"OK, colonel. You've got twenty percent. It should be enough for the weapon as well as for our shields" Radek wasn't calm. They were about to engage the most powerful vessel known to mankind.
"Target the Ori's main gun, fire when ready." The colonel watched the blue bursts of the weapon hitting the Ori vessel and the approaching yellow beam from the Ori main gun. He felt the deck shaking a little upon impact, but that was all.
"Our shields are holding. The enemy weapon had no effect. Their shields are definitively getting weaker. Reading... Sir the supergate is activating." Major Marks watched the unstable vortex exploding from the ring of the supergate forming the steady blue puddle. "More Ori ships are arriving through the gate, sir."
"Target the supergate, open up with everything we've got!" The colonel quickly shouted his orders and tapped his earpiece. "Dr Zelenka, I need more power right now! Increase power output to 30 percent, transfer all new power to the shields!"
"The first Ori vessel was damaged, sir. It looks like we've disabled their main weapon." Marks tapped a few commands into his console and the weapos started firing on the supergate. 20 seconds later a few blocks separated from the main structure and the gate shut itself down. The last Ori battleship was literally cut in half by the vanishing wormhole and exploded.
"How many vessels made it through?"
"Ten, sir. They are moving to intercept us."
Colonel tapped his earpiece again shouting "Increase the power output to 45 percent, doctor!"
Radek did as requested wondering if the colonel wants to commit suicide or not, but he knew the Ori ships had to be stopped here and now. The device started spiking like never before. The ZPMs were almost full now - there was no way the ship could use this much power.
Colonel Watson watched the yellow beams approaching. All Ori vessels decided to fire a simultaneous barrage of death. Odyssea's shield was stronger than ever, but he still had his doubts. Even two of them could destroy his ship if it wasn't for the improved power source.
Anyone on the ship could feel the wild earthquake when the Ori weapons impacted their shield, but it still wasn't as bad as they expexted.
Major Marks checked his panel when the first barrage was over. "Dr Zelenka reports he had to shut down Arcturus to avoid catastrophic overload, colonel. We have three almost full ZPMs. Once we deplete them to 20 percent of their capacity, Zelenka will reactivate the device."
"Understood. What's our status?"
"Shields are still holding at full strength and the weapon continues to fire without any changes. Estimate two minutes to ZPM depletion and Arcturus restart, sir."
The priors on the Ori battleships were desperate. Never before have they seen a ship powerful enough to withstand such a beating.
The one small vessel unleashed its full firepower again destroying the Ori vessels one by one. It took thirty minutes, but the Odyssea prevailed. The Ori advance into our galaxy was stopped once and for all.
One month later:
Rodney was nervously standing in front of the gate with Radek by his side. The whole thing was organized in a haste and too many things could go wrong at this point. But all his worries faded away when he saw her. She looked like a smiling angel without wings in the white dress hand in hand with her father. He watched her the whole time. To him she was the most beautiful person in the universe.
Katie's father put her hand in Rodney's when they reached the gate and Elizabeth began her mandatory speech. It was easily the most pleasant duty she had to perform as governor of Atlantis.
"Rodney, do you take Katie to be your lawful wedded wife through sickness and health until the day death parts you?"
"I do." Rodney tried to sound as calm as possible, but his voice betrayed him. Fortunately nobody noticed and Elizabeth moved on.
"Katie, do you take Rodney to be your lawful wedded husband through sickness and health until the day death parts you?"
"I do." Katie's answer was the sweetest thing Rodney heard in his entire life.
"You may now exchange the rings."
Rodney was afraid that at least one ring was lost, but when both Radek and lt Cadman gave the rings to the couple, he was calm again.
"By the power bestowed in me by the IOA, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride, Rodney."
Rodney felt her body trembling a little when he hugged Katie and brushed his lips softly against hers. He was a husband now. And seven months from now, he will be a father.
The celebration lasted four hours and anyone wondered why won't the bride drink anything at all. But they eventually got the idea and congratulated the happy couple once more. When the celebration was ended (because anyone was destroyed by the spiked drinks - courtesy of dr Radek Zelenka), Rodney dialed the gate to Earth and took his wife's hand. Together they stepped through th event horizon into what they both knew will be a happy life together.