Title: The Control Room
Author: stella_pegasi
Rating: K
Spoilers: Brief references to Rising, 38 minutes, Conversion, The Siege Part III
Summary: Twenty-four hours on Atlantis seen through the eyes of the control room staff focusing on Chuck, Amelia, an original character; John S./Rodney M./Richard Woolsey/others. Almost all of the action takes place in the control room. Implied
whump, not graphic.
Disclaimer: I do not own them, I would have treated them better.
Notes: I was first inspired to begin writing again by the dailyfics community on LiveJournal. I
thought what a great way to get back in the writing mood by writing shorts stories,
quickly. OK…that didn't happen. I started several stories following the Stargate
Atlantis story prompt table but wrote too much to get anything in quickly. My
thanks to x-erikah-x for inspiring me. I am enjoying writing again and writing about my
favorite sci-fi show. Hope you enjoy.
The Control Room0650 hrs:
The sun was just peeking over the horizon as Sgt. Chuck Campbell, Canadian Air Force, walked into the control room for his shift. A soft golden-orange glow filtered through the stained glass windows and doors that surrounded the gate and control rooms; he loved the eerie way the area looked early in the morning. Coffee in hand, he went straight to his station to relieve Liang Wu, the night gate technician.
Just as Chuck started to say good morning to Liang, he heard Dr. McKay's loud, agitated voice coming from the conference room. The doors were ajar and Dr. McKay and the newest addition to the science staff, Dr. Klaus Deidermeyer, were arguing about something and apparently, neither was giving in. Dr. Radek Zelenka was attempting to calm things down but he wasn't having any success. Chuck was surprised that the daily science briefing was still going on; Dr. McKay held his morning briefing at 0600 hrs and made quick work of getting updates from his science team. As more voices joined in and the argument escalated, Chuck looked at Liang and smiled.
"Mornin' Liang," nodding toward the conference room, "sounds like you've been entertained this morning. I usually never get to see, or in this case hear, our crack science team in their meeting. They sound like first graders who don't get recess today."
Shaking his head, Liang replied, "They've been going at each other since they walked in there. That new chemist, Dr. Deidermeyer, I think he's as bad as Kavanaugh; pompous, arrogant, and thinks he's as smart as McKay. I don't think this is a good mix; he started off complaining about his assignment, letting Dr. McKay know that he questioned his organization skills. Definitely shades of Kavanaugh. Then again, we had a lot of fun at Kavanaugh's expense. Maybe some pranks in our future?"
Chuck laughed, "Let the planning begin; if McKay doesn't strangle him or sic Ronon on him before we have a chance. So, anything go on last night I should know about?"
0800 hrs:
Chuck had just finished the daily gate diagnostics and was beginning to review the mission schedule for the day. Mr. Woolsey had arrived in his office about 0730 hrs and was now heading toward the conference room for the command staff and mission briefing. Dr. Keller, Teyla, and Ronon had already arrived. Chuck stifled a laugh as he heard Dr. McKay coming up the stairs from the gate room, talking loudly and a mile a minute. Lt. Colonel John Sheppard was with him and Chuck saw the colonel give McKay a slap on the back as he told Rodney if he could handle the bad guys, he could handle Deidermeyer. Chuck thought he heard McKay say something about a P-90 but he wasn't sure.
Colonel Sheppard parted from McKay who was heading for the conference room and walked over to Chuck's station as he did every morning he was on base. Chuck automatically handed him the daily mission log to review. Like pretty much everyone on Atlantis, Chuck was a bit in awe of the colonel. He had arrived on Atlantis as part of the original expedition and he had seen first hand Sheppard's courage and to what lengths he would go to protect Atlantis and its personnel.
The first months were difficult for all of them but most of all for John Sheppard. When they arrived they had found Atlantis underwater. The first mission that the military undertook was trying to find a safe haven as it appeared the shields were going to fail and Atlantis was going to flood. They gated to a planet called Athos where they met Teyla and her people and first learned of the Wraith. While they were on the planet, the Wraith attacked and the original military commander of Atlantis, Colonel Marshall Sumner, along with Atlantis personnel, Teyla and a few of her people were captured. Sheppard led the rescue mission and successfully freed the people captured during the culling on Athos with the exception of one. He was not as successful in bringing back Colonel Sumner. He had found the colonel with the Wraith Queen, who had fed upon him; he was near death. Sheppard wanted to rescue him but a nod from Colonel Sumner told him that the colonel wanted Sheppard to finish what the Wraith Queen had started. Sheppard did what the colonel wanted but Chuck knew that at the time the Marines didn't buy his story.
It took Sheppard a bit of time but eventually his courage and ingenuity, which had saved them over and over again, made converts of all the doubters. As they got to know him, they realized he would never have ended Sumner's life if he hadn't believed it was what the colonel wanted him to do. Sheppard was a natural leader and never asked the men and women of his command to do anything he wasn't willing to do. It wasn't long before his exploits became legend and he had earned the respect and the loyalty of those in his command and on the science team.
"Sergeant, anything I need to know about?" Sheppard asked as he handed the log back to Chuck.
"No, sir; last night was pretty quiet. SGA-9 returned early; Sergeant Peterson suffered a pretty bad bug bite and developed an allergic reaction. Lieutenant Isaacs felt it better to get him back to the infirmary. Other than that, Liang reported it was quiet." Chuck saw Sheppard wince at the word bug; he needed to remember not to use that word in front of the colonel. He had gone through the first Iratus bug incident when the colonel was bitten and the jumper had gotten lodged in the stargate and later when the colonel turned into one of those nasty things. He hadn't forgotten how horrible that was; he would be more careful.
Sheppard looked toward the conference room and shook his head, "I guess I'd better get in there before Woolsey starts yelling for me." He started to walk away but looked back at Chuck. "Hey, when the databurst from the SGC comes in today, let me know. I think we may have a college football game night coming up if General Landry allowed the game I requested to be uploaded with the data. And if we get it, do not give it to McKay! He'll cheat in the betting pool, if he can find out the score. Counting on you, Sarge!"
Sheppard gave him a lopsided grin and took off for the conference room just as Mr. Woolsey called out his name.
1015 hrs:
Seven teams had embarked on their scheduled missions; everything from a medical supply run, a trade mission to a planet with an abundance of food who had indicated they would be happy to exchange goods, and a scouting mission to a planet that the Daedalus had flown over and reported a strong energy reading. Major Lorne had taken his team to check out the energy source.
It had been an uneventful morning so far with the exception of SGA-3, they had been caught in a monsoon and the ground around the planet's gate became deep, thick, sticky mud. Four very miserable Marines and one very unhappy botanist made a muddy mess when they walked into the gate room. The cleaning detail had been working for over an hour to scrape the mud off the floor.
1055 hrs:
One of the Ancient consoles shorted out at the junction where the Earth computers were interfaced to it and Dana, the computer tech on duty, had called Dr. Zelenka to come take a look at it. They all liked Dr. Z, as Colonel Sheppard called him, and everyone knew that he was very smart, almost as smart as Dr. McKay. A fact that Dr. McKay reminded him of constantly, that he was almost as smart. Dr. Z had been working on the console for less than five minutes when McKay stormed into the control room and pushed Zelenka out of way.
"Radek, how many times have I told you; inform me when there is a problem with the consoles here. We have to keep them running! Move… you're in the way! Computer person…what did you do to my console?" Snapping his fingers at Dana, McKay disappeared underneath the console continuing to rant about how careless everyone was when it came to Ancient tech.
Dr. Zelenka, looking exasperated, stared at McKay's backside for a minute and then walked away muttering in Czech. Chuck turned back to his station wondering what Dr. Z had called McKay. He was pretty sure it wasn't flattering.
1100 hrs:
The weekly databurst from SGC was transmitted and Mr. Woolsey had a brief conversation with General Landry regarding the new transits schedules for the Apollo and the Daedalus. As Chuck unzipped the transmitted file, he found the football game that the colonel had asked him to look for; in fact, there were two games. Colonel Sheppard will be happy, he thought.
1115 hrs:
SGA-7 returned from P5X-871 with about a dozen new ancient devices. As they emerged from the gate, Corporal Rodriquez heard McKay's voice, issuing orders to the computer tech as he worked on the console. Rodriquez was glad that McKay was in the control room, which meant he wouldn't have to lug the pack of devices down to McKay's lab. He would just hand them off here and go the infirmary and then take a shower. Besides, the science labs made him nervous, he didn't like going down there; science had never been his thing. He headed straight up the stairs to show Dr. McKay what they had found.
McKay, who still had his head under the console looking for the interface problem, raised straight up when the corporal said, "Dr. McKay, I brought you some Ancient devices we found on P5X-871." McKay banged his head against the underside of the console and spent the next few minutes alternately yelling that he had a horrible head injury and then yelling at Rodriquez about protocols and how many times had the off world teams been told to contact Atlantis when they found Ancient artifacts, and not to touch them until he or Radek could get there.
Grabbing the pack that held the artifacts, McKay continued to yell. "Did you touch these? Did any of them activate?"
Rodriquez was already backing away trying to gain a bit of distance from the mad scientist, "No, sir. I don't have the gene, sir. That's why I was handling them."
McKay was peering into the bag and with a wave of his hand, dismissed the corporal, who made a quick exit.
Absently, McKay glanced at Dana. "You…call Radek to fix this. Why did you call me anyway? I don't have time for these simple problems, that's Radek's job." With that, he headed toward his lab.
1230 hrs:
Chuck, Mario Ganelli who was the environmental controls tech, and two Marines on gate detail handed off their duties and headed to the mess hall for lunch. Chuck had been hungry since he read in the overnight report that it was harvest time on Condia, one of their trading partners. The night before, two of the Condian farmers had delivered agos and pandes, vegetables that were similar to corn and green beans. Chuck loved the agos and was hoping the cooks had fixed the tasty vegetable for lunch.
When they got to the mess hall, Chuck scouted ahead and happily found the agos steamed in butter. The mess was crowded and while waiting in line, he and his buddies were talking about an upcoming Geeks vs. Goons (the name was the colonel's idea) basketball game they were playing in when Colonel Sheppard and his team walked in. Looking around, he noticed that almost everyone in the mess had stopped for a second just to watch them. Chuck figured that SGA-1 was sort of the rock stars of Atlantis. Their exploits were legendary and they were due that kind of respect, especially since they had saved the lives of everyone in that mess hall at one time or another.
Chuck was always amused when new team members arrived for duty on Atlantis, science and military alike, because instead of wanting to know about the city, the first questions were always about Colonel Sheppard and his team. They especially wanted to hear the story about the Wraith siege when Sheppard, then a major, had taken a jumper loaded with a nuclear bomb and flown it toward a Wraith Hive ship, a suicide run. The newbies were always impressed and rightly so, Chuck thought; the man was a true hero. He wondered if they would still be on Atlantis if Sheppard had died that day. He was thankful the Daedalus arrived in time to beam the colonel out of the jumper before it exploded and he figured everyone else was as well.
As SGA-1 got closer, Chuck could hear Dr. McKay whining again and this time Sheppard was his target. Following close on Sheppard's heels, McKay was pleading with the colonel.
"Sheppard, look, I need you to come to my lab. One of your goons brought back a bunch of Ancient devices this morning and I need you to turn them on."
Slowly turning to face the Chief Science Officer of Atlantis, Sheppard very quietly said, "No, Rodney. I will not come to your lab and make your little toys light up. You've got the gene, you do it."
McKay sputtered, "You are being obstinate just to get back at me, aren't you? Just because I asked you last week to put your hand on the palm control of that new machine we found. That's it, isn't it? You are still pissed at me because the machine sent a jolt of electricity through you and singed your precious hair! I knew it, vanity before science! I'll be sure to let our enemies know not to attack until you finish fixing your hair!"
"McKay, I am not trying to get back at you. If I was, this is not the way I would do it. I'm not coming to your lab this afternoon because I have too much paperwork to do. If you remember, that's why we didn't take the mission that Lorne's team is on right now. Woolsey wants his reports today and we are all trying to catch up and I have to give him the military reports, too. By the way, are your mission reports up to date?"
McKay looked at Sheppard, ignoring his question, and started again, "Colonel, what is more important, your paperwork or finding an important Ancient device?" Not giving Sheppard time to answer, he continued. "I think you know the answer so I need you to come to the lab."
Chuck watched the colonel as he appeared to count to 10 and then spoke, "Rodney, I am very aware of the importance of discovering new Ancient tech but I am going to do this paperwork today and get it over with. Besides, if you just got these new devices this morning, have you done all the things we discussed you would do before I tried to activate them? After some of the things that have happened to us when we have messed with these Ancient devices, I am not convinced my hair is the only thing that is in danger of being damaged." McKay started to make a comment but Sheppard continued. "So, do the research in the database and once you can tell me what you think they are for, I'll consider touching them. End of discussion."
"OK, stop the progress of science, see if I care!" With that, McKay walked ahead of Sheppard and broke in the mess line in front of a group of Marines. When the Marines started to protest, Sheppard got their attention and shook his head no, just leave him alone. Behind Sheppard, Teyla and Ronon exchanged a look of so what else is new.
Chuck tried not to laugh as he saw the corner of Sheppard's mouth tilt up slightly. He had the feeling that Sheppard would show up in McKay's lab sometime that afternoon.
1440 hrs:
The teamdelivering medical supplies had returned and headed to the infirmary for their post mission physicals. Lieutenant Branson reported through the gate that the governing council on Darane was indeed interested in trading with Atlantis. The council wanted their healers to learn more about the medical supplies that Atlantis could offer and they were also interested in acquiring tools. Darane was just beginning rudimentary manufacturing and their tools were somewhat primitive. The team had requested that Dr. Zelenka send a couple of engineers to evaluate what they might need and they had just gated to the planet. One of the cooks and a botanist went to see what types of foods were available. Dr. Jackson and one of the EMT's also joined them in order to meet with the healers. The other two teams had also checked in and would be returning in a couple of hours.
Chuck was nervously watching the clock; he was getting concerned about Major Lorne's team. They were scheduled to call in at 1400 hrs and now were overdue by 40 minutes. Protocol dictated that they wait for an hour before trying to contact a team off world that had not checked in on time. Too often the teams might be too far away from the gate to get back in time to call in. But after seeing too many missions go south, Chuck felt he needed to let Mr. Woolsey and Colonel Sheppard know that Lorne hadn't made contact on time. He reached for the button on his COM to inform them.
1445 hrs:
Chuck looked up from his laptop as he heard boots hitting the gate room steps at a quick pace. Colonel Sheppard turned into the control room and trotted over to Chuck's station.
"Any word yet?" The colonel looked as concerned as Chuck felt.
"No, sir; nothing yet; all the other teams are back or have called in on time."
"Colonel?" Chuck and Sheppard turned to see Woolsey entering the control room.
"Mr. Woolsey, still no word from Lorne. All other teams are accounted for, either returned to Atlantis or have made their check-ins on time."
"Is this the planet that the Daedalus found during maneuvers with the Apollo? The one they detected a high energy reading on but couldn't find a source?" Woolsey was looking at Sheppard.
"Yes. We sent a MALP to check it out and everything was nominal around the gate. The energy reading was located about five clicks away. We couldn't send a jumper, there are really tall, closely planted trees surrounding the gate; we suspect planted there to keep any ship, like a Wraith Dart, from coming through. We set the check-in when we did to give them enough time to get there, check it out, and for someone to get back to the gate to report."
"Is the MALP still there?" Woolsey was still looking at Sheppard but Chuck answered.
"No, sir; Major Lorne sent it back after they gated in."
Woolsey turned back to Sheppard. "Colonel, what do you recommend? Should we wait or do you want to attempt to contact them now?"
"Normally, I'd give them some time but Lorne's by the book; if he could get to the gate for check-in, he would. My gut tells me, we need to go see why they're late." Sheppard's voice was calm but his green eyes betrayed his concern.
"You have a go, Colonel."
Sheppard tapped his COM and contacted Teyla, Rodney, and Ronon telling them to meet him in the gear-up room; then he called Captain Waters and Lieutenant Stackhouse to assemble their teams for an immediate off world mission. Turning to Chuck, he ordered him to ready a MALP so they could get a visual on the area around the planet's gate before they went through. Chuck was already talking to the MALP tech as Sheppard left to meet up with his team.
1515 hrs:
When SGA-1 arrived in the gate room, Waters, Stackhouse, and their teams were already waiting, as was the MALP. Sheppard and McKay headed for the control room to view the MALP video feed along with Woolsey. Sheppard gave Chuck a nod to dial the gate; the familiar swoosh of the event horizon filled the room and the MALP began to move forward. Within seconds, the MALP was through the gate and they were receiving data. The trees surrounding the gate were planted extremely close together; sending a jumper through, even with the shield activated in the hope of knocking the trees down was too risky, no reason to put a jumper and its passengers in danger. There were no life signs in the immediate area; Sheppard asked McKay to expand the scan.
"Nothing, there is nothing there; just trees and grass." McKay remarked as the MALP's camera rotated. "Not picking up anything, animal or otherwise."
Sheppard was clearly uneasy as he leaned over Rodney's shoulder and looked at the screen, "Which direction leads to the energy signal?"
McKay checked the sensors and the intel transmitted by the Daedalus. "The gate faces north, so that means the energy source is to the northwest."
"Pan over there and zoom in." McKay did what the colonel asked and for a brief second, they both thought they saw something in a grove of trees several hundred feet from the gate but couldn't tell what it was.
Sheppard stood up and looked over at Woolsey. "Couldn't tell but it sure looked like something or someone was in that grove of trees about 600 feet from the gate. Guess we aren't going to get much this way. Come on, Rodney, let's get going."
"Colonel, you need to check in at 1730 hrs. If we do not hear from you, I am sending more teams in." Looking back at Woolsey, Sheppard nodded.
Sheppard and McKay headed down the stairs and Sheppard gave instructions to the teams before they disappeared through the gate. The gate shut down and the control room was very quiet.
Woolsey broke the silence with orders for Chuck. "Sergeant, contact the other teams that are still off world and get them back here; we might need them to assist the colonel or protect Atlantis if we have to send more teams. Inform the Officer of the Day of the situation; she needs to know. And, alert the combat engineers; if we have to go in to help those teams, I want to send jumpers. Tell them to get their chain saws ready in case they need to cut down some trees.
The personnel in the control room looked at each other as if to say, here we go again. It wasn't like they had never waited to learn the fate of an off-world team before. They just felt a bit more anxious when SGA-1 was the team in possible danger; they always seemed to find danger no matter what the mission. It was going to be a long afternoon.
1700 hrs:
Chuck had given up his station to his mid-shift teammate, Amelia Banks, an hour before but couldn't bring himself to leave the control room. It was too close to Colonel Sheppard's check-in time and he wanted to know what was happening. Amelia, like Chuck, appeared very calm but inside she was nervous. Ronon was on this mission and while she never feared that he couldn't take care of himself, she was still worried, for the teams and for Ronon.
Chuck noticed that she kept looking at the gate. He rolled his chair over from the other end of the gate console, stopping next to Amelia. "Don't worry; somehow, Colonel Sheppard's team always seems to make it. Bruised and battered sometimes but they make it."
Amelia smiled, "I know. It's just that…"
"It's ok. You're allowed." Chuck gave her a quick pat on the shoulder and got up. "I'm going for coffee; I'll bring you a cup. Be right back."
As Chuck left, the doors to the conference room opened and Woolsey, Major Teldy, who was in command of the rescue mission, along with Captain Brown, Lieutenant Parker, and Lieutenant Jeffers who would pilot the jumpers, walked pasted the staircase toward the control room. Lieutenant Isaacs and Lieutenant Borne, whose teams would accompany the engineers and Lieutenant Morgan, team leader of the combat engineers unit, went down the steps toward the transporter to return to the engineers' assembly area. Dr. Keller, Dr. Davos, and two emergency medical response nurses walked out behind them and returned to the infirmary.
Major Teldy instructed the pilots to proceed to the jumper bay, brief the Marines units who were standing by in the bay, and make certain the jumpers were stocked with armament, medical supplies, and provisions. If they had to go, she wanted the jumpers ready as soon as the trees were down.
Woolsey walked over to the gate console and sat down in the chair next to Amelia. Teldy stood behind them and quickly recapped the mission plan so that Amelia and Lieutenant Anders in flight control would be prepared.
"If we do not hear from Colonel Sheppard's team at 1730 hrs, we will send the engineers through the gate with two teams of Marines. They estimate that it will take about 15 to 20 minutes to cut the trees down; they're tall but not very thick. Once they get enough trees down to get the jumpers through, we will send three jumpers to locate Colonel Sheppard and the others, leaving the first two Marine teams at the gate. Those Marines are instructed to call Atlantis every 30 minutes. Once the jumpers are clear, the engineers will return to Atlantis."
Woolsey was nervously drumming his fingers on the console. He didn't deal well with the fear that he felt each time some crisis befell Atlantis. That he had been able to appear calm and in control was an accomplishment; he knew that just under the surface, he was afraid. The most courageous people he had ever met surrounded him and he had tried to understand how they never appeared frightened. Then several weeks before, he overheard Colonel Sheppard talking to a very young Marine who had panicked on his first off-world mission and he had begun to understand somewhat how they kept their fear in check.
The colonel held the young man back after they walked through the gate and led him over to a small hallway under the walkway between Woolsey's office and the control room. Woolsey was heading toward his office when he heard the colonel asked the young man a question. He stopped to listen.
"So, what happened out there?"
The young Marine wouldn't look at his CO but mumbled, "I froze, sir."
"Well, that was obvious. I need to know why." Sheppard's voice was calm and soft but there was no doubt he was not requesting an explanation, he was ordering the Marine to explain.
"Sir, I have no excuse, I have never seen anything like those creatures that were coming at us." Then in a rush of emotion, he blurted out, "Sir, I was so scared, I have never been that scared in my life. I don't think I can do this; I don't want to go back out there. I want to go home." Sheppard noticed that the Marine was pale and trembling.
"That's it, Marine? You were scared?" Though Sheppard was tall, he wasn't that much taller than the Marine but, at that moment, he towered over the young man.
"Yes, sir."
"What was that again? Look at me when you answer." That was clearly an order.
Looking the colonel in the eye, he replied, "I was scared, sir."
Sheppard backed up about a half step away from the Marine and shook his head.
"You were scared. Do you think you were the only one? That everyone else was just taking an afternoon walk? Let me tell you something. I was scared; Ronon Dex was scared; everyone out there was scared. Coming across a herd of very large, fast moving animals with very sharp teeth who considered you their next meal can mess up your day." Sheppard paused for a second, sighing, "Fear is your friend out there; it keeps you focused and sharp. But you have to learn to control the fear, that's where your training comes in. And you wouldn't be here if you hadn't proven yourself already. Marine, you are not going home and you will go back through that gate. Now take your weapons back to the armory and get to the infirmary."
"Yes, sir." As the colonel turned to leave, the young Marine stopped him. "Colonel, sir? Sheppard turned back to him and waited. "You never seem to be afraid, sir. How do you do it?
Sheppard dropped his head for a second and then smiled at the young man, "Trust your training, your teammates, and yourself. Practice also helps." Shaking his head, he continued, "No doubt you'll get a lot of that here." With that Sheppard continued down the hallway and the Marine followed.
Woolsey had thought about that conversation often. He did trust John Sheppard and the men and women who had volunteered for the Atlantis expedition; now he had to learn to trust himself. As for practice, Sheppard was right; they got a lot of practice.
Amelia's voice interrupted his thoughts; she was telling him the teams were entering the gate room. As he watched them assemble in front of the gate, he thought, maybe too much practice.
1715 hours:
Eight Marines and ten combat engineers filed into the gate room, along with two large racks of chain saws, fuel, and spare parts. The engineers were still looking at their PADD's, replaying the MALP video and finalizing their plan. Teldy contacted the jumper bay; the military and medical teams were onboard the jumpers and ready to go.
1730 hrs:
The tension was palpable as they waited for the gate to activate. Woolsey had been pacing for the last 10 minutes. Dr. Zelenka had come to the control room was sitting next to Amelia. Woolsey was surprised to see Chuck still there, apparently running data for Zelenka. He supposed he shouldn't be surprised; this was Sheppard and his team on a rescue mission, everyone had a stake in the outcome.
Amelia announced that it was 1730 hrs. Quiet descended on the room as if everyone was holding their breath waiting for the gate to activate. Minutes ticked by, and Amelia reported, 1735 hrs. Major Teldy looked at Woolsey, who said, "Let's give them five more minutes."
No one moved, no one spoke, and the minutes continued to past by. As Amelia announced, 1740 hrs, Woolsey turned to Teldy, "Major, you have a go."
Teldy instructed Amelia to dial the gate and addressed the teams in the gate room, "Lt. Isaacs, let's do this." After he acknowledged he understood, Teldy turned and headed up the stairs to the jumper bay to join her team.
The MALP feed gave them a good view of the area around the gate. No one was there except for the incoming team. The Marines fanned out to secure the area. Once they were set, the combat engineers went through the gate and wasted no time in beginning their task. Two engineers immediately began measuring the minimum space needed for the jumpers to get through the gate, selecting two more trees on each side for extra measure and then spayed slashes of iridescent yellow paint across the trunks of the trees that needed to fall. The others were unloading the saws and within minutes, the trees began to drop outward from the gate. After 16 minutes, 10 of the 14 trees were down and Woolsey notified flight control to inform Teldy.
Lt. Anders gave the jumpers a go and opened the bay doors to the gate room. The sight of the first jumper waiting to go through the shimmering puddle only heightened the tension. A few more minutes passed and then Lt. Isaacs informed them that the trees were down, the equipment was out of the way, and the path was clear for the jumpers.
The first jumper zipped through the gate and was quickly followed by the other two. The gate shut down but immediately and Isaacs redialed Atlantis so that the engineers could return. The engineers and their equipment were back on Atlantis within minutes.
Everyone in the control room watched as Lt. Morgan broke off from his group and ran up the stairs, carrying a P-90. He went directly to Mr. Woolsey.
"Sir, Lieutenant Isaacs asked that I give this to you and inform you that this P-90 was found near the gate. It's been damaged, most likely by some kind of weapon's fire. The ground around the gate also looks like there may have been a struggle but there is no sign of any of the teams.
Woolsey took the P-90 and thanked the lieutenant. If the tension was palpable before, it was oppressive now.
1800 hrs:
The first check-in benchmark for the rescue teams had arrived and Woolsey left his office to join the control room personnel. Just as he entered, the gate activated and within a few seconds, Dr. Zelenka announced that he was receiving Lt. Isaacs' IDC and that the lieutenant was on audio feed only.
Woolsey addressed the lieutenant. "Isaacs, please report your status."
"Sir, we are nominal at the moment; we have had no activity at the gate. However, we have not heard from the jumpers since they cloaked and headed for the energy signal. I have tried to raise them but there has been no answer, sir."
Clicking off his COM, Woolsey leaned over Dr. Zelenka's shoulder and asked in a low tone. "The MALP is still there. Can we keep the gate open so that we can see what's happening? I can't shake the feeling that these guys are in danger."
Dr. Z nodded, "We will need to alternate dialing gate every 38 minutes. But should not be problem." Zelenka's Czech accent was getting thicker which revealed his anxiety
Straightening up, Woolsey clicked his COM back on. "Lieutenant, we are going to leave the gate open, we will alternate redialing every 38 minutes. Turn the MALP video on; that way we can see the gate area as well."
The MALP video started transmitting and Isaacs appeared in the viewer. "Atlantis, are you receiving MALP video? It's getting dark here, so I have turned on the spotlight."
"Yes, video is coming through." Dr. Zelenka answered.
Isaacs smiled, "Great, and I'll make sure the guys behave since they are on camera."
1830 hrs:
Woolsey was trying not to pester the off-world teams but he was having a difficult time not asking every few minutes if they could see anything. He knew that Atlantis would know when the teams knew something but he was filled with worry.
"Lt. Isaacs, any luck raising anyone?"
The lieutenant's face appeared on the monitors. "No, sir; we have been rotating through all frequencies every five minutes and we haven't heard anything."
Dr. Zelenka spoke up, "We will be dialing the gate in seven minutes so the gate should shut down for a brief moment and then reactivate."
"Understood, Doctor Z."
The next few minutes passed in relative quiet, everyone in the control room was watching the monitors. Dr. Zelenka had rolled his chair over to Amelia's station and was counting down the seconds for her to begin the redial. Suddenly, they could hear shouts from the Marines at the gate and then a very bright flash of light. Amelia dialed the gate and for a few seconds the monitors went blank; then the gate engaged and MALP telemetry came back online. The gate was clearly visible but the Marines were gone.
1840 hrs:
Woolsey called the military leaders and scientists into the briefing room. As he sat down, looking around the room, he could see a group of worried people.
"OK…suggestions?"
Captain Candice Mercer, Officer of the Day, was the ranking officer on Atlantis at the moment. "Sir, we can send more teams but until we know what we are dealing with I urge caution. With the number of teams already out of touch, we have no way of knowing if Atlantis has been compromised or not. I suggest we stay put, keep the shield up, and wait. We know who's on that planet; the best we have. If anyone can get through this, it will be Colonel Sheppard and his team."
Dr. Zelenka spoke up, "I have to agree, Mr. Woolsey, we need to wait. We cannot risk losing anymore personnel until we have more information."
Woolsey was frustrated but knew that they were both correct.
1930 hrs:
Chuck relieved Amelia so that she could have dinner but he doubted that she would eat. No one was hungry but someone was keeping the coffee pot in the conference room full of coffee as fast as it was consumed. He looked toward Woolsey's office and he could see the Atlantis chief pacing back and forth. Dr. Zelenka and several of the scientists were standing near the doorway to the balcony but were keeping an eye on the monitors that showed the MALP transmission. Amelia continued to dial the gate every 38 minutes to maintain contact. Other than that, no one had any idea what to do so they did what they were the most experienced at, they waited.
2100 hrs:
Amelia was back at the gate tech station; Chuck had gone to grab something to eat but promised to return. Woolsey had taken to pacing out on the balcony; stopping occasionally to look out over the ocean. The Marines in the gate room were like coiled springs waiting for something to happen. All eyes drifted to the monitors where the MALP still showed a deserted gate. More and more off-duty personnel were coming to control tower to wait.
2210 hrs:
Woolsey decided that too many people were milling around who didn't need to be in the area and ordered Dr. Zelenka to link the MALP feed to the monitors in the common areas. He understood the need to know what was going on and wanted to accommodate the city's personnel but he was concerned for their safety if something went wrong. Once Zelenka made the link, he announced to the crowd that if they wanted to wait for word about the teams, they could watch the monitors in the rec areas and the mess hall. Silently many of those standing around began to leave the control and gate rooms.
2305 hrs:
Woolsey decided enough was enough; he called Captain Mercer and Dr. Zelenka into his office.
"It's been over four and a half hours since the Marines guarding the gate disappeared and we have nothing. I am going to ask again, any suggestions?"
Candy Mercer was a career Marine and there was nothing she liked better than action but she couldn't find any validity to risking more lives walking into a situation they knew nothing about. With no intel they just didn't know and she had been beating herself up for the last few hours because she knew they couldn't do anything at the moment. Besides, she was pretty certain that Colonel Sheppard would not want any more of Atlantis' military sent into an unknown situation. She looked Woolsey in the eye, "Mr. Woolsey, I appreciate how frustrated you are at the moment; I am as well and I know Dr. Zelenka shares our frustration. But sir, we can't commit anyone else to this rescue at least until the sun comes up and we can see what we are doing."
Woolsey rose from his chair and began to pace again. "I hear what you are saying captain but there must be something we can do." He didn't expect her to answer and he turned to Dr. Zelenka. "Can we boost the sensors on the MALP to get any more data?"
"I have considered that and do not think that we can boost the sensors enough to see what might be happening in the area where the energy signal is located. Besides, someone would have to go through the gate and we could lose them as well."
Woolsey, uncharacteristically slammed his hand down on his desk, "I am usually a patient man but I am not patient now. We need to do something!"
Zelenka and Mercer didn't have anything to add and Woolsey was about to raised his hand to motion for them to leave when they heard Chuck yell for them to come to the control room; Amelia had Major Teldy on the COM.
Rushing to Amelia's side, Woolsey heard her say, "Major, please repeat, Mr. Woolsey just arrived."
"Sir, we have all Atlantis personnel accounted for; several wounded, need to have medical standing by in the jumper bay. Colonel Sheppard is ok but Ronon has a head injury and the colonel is in Jumper 6 with him. We need for you to shut down the gate and we'll dial in."
"Good to hear from you, Major. We are closing the gate now."
"Amelia, shut it down." He looked over at Chuck, "Inform the medical teams standing by in the bay that they have wounded coming in." Chuck nodded and as he turned back toward Amelia, he gave her shoulder a squeeze and said quietly, "Go, I'll stay here till Liang comes on duty." With that Amelia followed Woolsey up the stairs to the jumper bay as the gate activated.
0300 hrs:
The control room was quiet; Liang had picked up all the coffee cups and one of the marines had taken the cups to the mess hall. There were no other signs of the evening's events. At least until a very tired looking Richard Woolsey walked into the control room.
"Hello, sir. I thought you would be sound asleep by now."
Woolsey sat down next to Liang and leaned back in the chair. "I considered it but I cannot seem to stay in one place for more than few minutes. So I most likely won't be bothering you for long tonight."
Liang smiled and said, "Stay as long as you like, Mr. Woolsey. We usually have very quiet nights and love the company." Then added, "Sgt. Parks just made another pot of coffee, would you like a cup?"
"No, I had my week's quota since 1600 hrs."
"Well, I could use a cup, Liang, if that offer still stands."
Both men turned to see Colonel Sheppard enter the control room. Liang quickly responded, "One coffee coming up, colonel." and headed for the conference room.
The colonel pulled a chair over and sat down next to Woolsey. He was pale and had bruises and a few cuts on his face and arms and looked exhausted. He had convinced Keller not to keep him in the infirmary but she ordered that he go straight to his quarters. He wondered how soon Keller would check up on him.
"How are you feeling, colonel?"
"Like I just went a few rounds with Ronon; my head is still a bit fuzzy but most of the pain is gone. Otherwise, I'm fine.
"Who were they?" Woolsey leaned forward; the preliminary reports he was given as the team went to the infirmary were sketchy but frightening.
"I have no idea but whoever they are, they are one scary bunch. They were big, most of them Ronon big, very muscular, their skin was pale, almost white and a lot of them had eyes the color of wheat, hair mostly blond or light brown. They were wearing what appeared to be military-like uniforms; Teyla drew a sketch of the symbols we saw on the doors and walls and on their uniforms to see if we can find something in the database about them."
Sheppard rubbed the back of his neck and then shook his head, "We didn't have a chance; they have Asgard like beaming technology, their ship is very advanced, and they were certainly not friendly. When we got there, we only made it about a mile from the gate before we were beamed aboard their ship and found Lorne and his team had already been subjected to their hospitality."
Liang returned with the colonel's coffee and Sheppard took a moment to take a sip.
"Lorne and his men had been beaten for information but none of them talked. They also used some kind of mind probe on Lorne and Jacobs and a couple of the others. Those of us who arrived late to the party got both as well and McKay realized pretty quickly that they were only probing people with the gene. How they knew about the gene, I can't tell you. They used some kind of scanner on us but I don't know if they are familiar with the Ancients or just knew some of us were different than the others. If their scans were sensitive enough to pick up gene differences, that says a lot about their technology. The one thing I can tell you is that probe was painful."
"Replicator painful, Colonel?"
Sheppard winced, "No, not that bad but bad. They used a device they placed on the forehead, it felt like it sank into your skin and when they turned it on, waves of pain just kept coming. Still, not as bad as the Replicators." The colonel seemed to shiver and was quiet for a few seconds.
"You know, I think they were really mad that we had found them or more like stumbled onto them. They were very rough with everyone; no one escaped getting knocked around some. One of the aliens was a really big guy and he took an immediate dislike to Ronon. He pushed him, Ronon pushed back and the next thing I knew, Ronon was on the floor having taken one of those blasts right to the head. I thought he was dead; one tough guy, our Ronon.
"What's the latest on the injured, colonel? I haven't been back in the infirmary for about an hour."
"Ronon's under sedation but he did wake up; I guess you called Beckett back from one of the villages he was visiting and he's taking care of Ronon. Beckett says he'll be fine, brain scan is normal; he just needs rest. The guys who were hit with the blast weapons are recovering; Keller says they'll be fine once their nerve endings stop vibrating, her words not mine. She thinks there were two types of weapons used and that Ronon was lucky because he didn't get the stronger blast like the Marines did. Most injures from the beatings are just bad bruises; Rodriguez has a bruised kidney and Keller is keeping him overnight at least. Those of us in the mind probe club all have headaches but our neural scans came out fine. All in all, we were lucky."
Woolsey shifted in his chair, "Any idea what they wanted or why they were on that planet?"
"Just some bits and pieces, I don't think they knew about the stargate. Lorne said they kept asking him how his team arrived on the planet; they had not picked up a ship in orbit or landing. Lorne wouldn't tell them but he thinks they sent out a scouting party to retrace the path his team took. Most likely, the shadow we saw on the MALP was one of them but we didn't detect them on the scanner when we gated in. They might have beamed away and then beamed back and attacked the team we left there."
The colonel stopped to take another sip of coffee and rubbed his eyes, "I heard Isaacs sent a P-90 back that was damaged, Rodney will want to run some tests on it; maybe we can learn something from it. The Marines that took weapons fire were the ones guarding the gate, most likely from the blast guns that Keller thinks were more powerful than the weapon that hit Ronon. We're lucky they didn't kill anyone but I don't think it was out of the goodness of whatever heart they have. I think they just wanted more info."
"They must have left someone at the gate after they captured Lt. Stackhouse's team as they had after they took Lorne and his team. I'm surprised that they didn't beam the Marines and combat engineers onto their ship when they came through the gate."
"Do you think they were curious as to what the engineers were doing?
"I don't know, that could be it but they didn't strike me as curious as much as cautious. I'm glad they didn't or we wouldn't be sitting here now. They could have been curious to see why the trees were being cut down; they may have been anticipating ships coming through, I don't know. If they were, then they saw the jumpers before they cloaked. Teldy said they landed near where the energy signal was the strongest but they didn't see a ship. When the jumper ramps opened, the teams were beamed onto the alien ship immediately. They took the Marines after the fact; just doesn't make sense.
"Colonel, while you were being treated in the infirmary, Rodney told me he thinks the energy signal was strong because they were also cloaked and we were picking up that energy use. But he hasn't figured out how we could see the signal, that certainly defeats the purpose of a cloak and that has him puzzled. He thinks its might be due to whatever energy source they use, which may be very different from any power source we have or have seen."
Woolsey leaned forward and put his head in his hands for a second. "This is frightening in more ways than I care to think. This race sounds formidable. So you have no idea what they were doing there?"
"I don't, they kept asking how we got there, who we were, once they knew about the gate, what was the purpose of the gate, where did it go, it was like they had never been to any part of Pegasus or hopefully, the Milky Way either. That would be a good thing." Sheppard leaned back in his chair and continued.
"But I can tell you this, someone is after them. They brought me back for another little session with the mind probe device and had strapped me down on a table when another one rushed into the room. He was very serious and told them, 'They are near, we must leave. The one who was about to probe me again became very agitated and kept asking, How could they have found us? That is impossible. We will leave now. He turned back to me and leaned down in my face. We are not done with you; we will return. As he left the room, I heard him instruct one of the guards. Let them all go, beam them outside the ship. A few minutes later, we were all on the ground outside the ship; it was large, about the size of a Wraith cruiser; very sleek, made of some shiny blue material and was oblong shaped. We could hear the engines engaging and Rodney started yelling for us to get as far away from the ship as we could. We ran as fast as possible with the injured. A few moments later the ship took off and they were gone."
Woolsey looked stunned, "Do you think they'll be back?"
Sheppard shook his head, "That's what he said, but I don't think they know how to dial the gates and I don't think they had time to check out the systems on the jumpers."
Woolsey was tapping the console, all of this was overwhelming to him, "Rodney sent Zelenka to run diagnostics on the jumpers and check for tracking devices. The initial scans did not reveal any tracking devices or any indication that the jumper systems had been scanned or anything downloaded into or from the on-board computers. Tomorrow, or rather, today, Radek is going to take a full team and run more diagnostics. Until science clears the jumpers, colonel, they are grounded."
"No argument there, Mr. Woolsey."
The colonel paused, taking another sip of coffee, and then looked at Woolsey with a slight smile on his face. "I have to say that was great thinking to cut those trees down and get the jumpers there. Those guys were surprised that we had that kind of technology and I think the appearance of the jumpers increased their interest in us and helped keep us from being killed. It might have also made them more determined to try and find us again but, at least, we will have a bit of info about them if there is a next time. The important thing is that everyone came back alive."
"Thank you, colonel; at least there is that."
Woolsey turned to the gate tech, "Liang, cancel all missions tomorrow, all military personnel who were involved in the rescue including Lorne's teams are considered on 24 leave with the colonel's approval."
Sheppard smiled, "The colonel approves."
Turning back to Liang, he told the gate tech to have a team of Marines recover the MALP in the morning; Liang acknowledged his order.
"Colonel, I will check with Dr. Keller regarding a day off for any of her staff that was part of the mission." Woolsey got up and the Sheppard followed suit.
As they walked away from Liang's console, Sheppard quipped, "Do not let that gate light up tonight!" Liang smiled, "Understood, colonel."
Woolsey was about to turn to the colonel and see if he would like some of the good scotch he had in his office when Keller's voice pierced the quiet. "So, here you are."
Colonel Sheppard grimaced and turned toward her, "Yep, here I am."
Dr. Keller was standing with her arms folded across her chest, "Colonel?"
He held up his hands in surrender, "I'm going to my quarters right now."
Keller smiled, "I know, because I am escorting you. Just don't make me have to get a couple of Marines to help me."
As they walked off, she looked back at Woolsey and motioned for him to follow. "Come along, we're dropping you off at your quarters, too." With that, the two men were herded out of the room by the doctor.
Once again, the control room was quiet.
0655 hrs:
Chuck walked into the control room for another shift; the sun just beginning to flood the gate room with amber light. He stopped at the top of the stairs and looked around. From one day to the next, no matter what happened, they went on. Yesterday they were lucky, they didn't lose anyone. In their world, that was a good day.
He walked over to Liang and sat his coffee down. "Good morning; quiet night?"
"Fortunately, yes; seems you guys used up all the excitement earlier in the day."
"That we did. Any thing I should know about?"
"Only that Woolsey cancelled all of today's missions and gave the rescue team members the day off. The only exception is that SGA-3 will be recovering the MALP this morning."
"Well, that should make for a very quiet day. We could use that."
"That we could." Liang rose from the chair and spread his arm graciously for Chuck to sit down. As he started to walk off, he turned back to Chuck.
"One thing happened I think you will enjoy. About 0520 hrs we got an emergency call from Dr. Deidermeyer's quarters. It seems he went to take a shower and apparently the water contained blue dye. He was a bit hysterical according to one of the EMT's. He is sporting a very nice blue color all over his body that Dr. Jackson said should wear off in a few days. Funny thing, after this morning's science staff briefing, Dr. Zelenka came through on his way to the jumper bay and I noticed he had some blue stain on his hand. Just a coincidence I think, don't you?"
Chuck laughed, "Oh, this is going to be fun!"
The end….