After eating breakfast, John finished some paperwork that he hadn't been able to complete the night before. He then joined Ronon and Rodney, and they headed to the recreation room. Toting beers and munchies as they head down to the room, they argue like little boys over what video game to start off with.
"Ah, com'on!" Rodney protests. "We kill bad guys all the time! Why do we have to play a game that is the same thing?"
"Cause we like shooting things… it's what we do best," John says playfully, but in a sarcastic tone. Ronon gives an agreeable smile to John's comment.
"It's not my fault you guys got me hooked onto these things," Ronon says jokingly.
"No, it's his fault," Rodney grumbles as he points to John.
"Don't worry. I'll make sure you have plenty of time for us to dual against you in 'Force Unleashed'…." John begins to say.
"And I'm sure we'll kick your a…" Ronon starts to tease before John purposely interrupts.
"Teyla!" John calls out.
Further ahead down the hallway, is Teyla with Torren in her arms. It's obvious to the three men that she's trying to settle him.
"Hey, we were about to play some video games. Do you wanna join us…. we'll even find something PG for Torren to watch," John offers with extreme pleasantry. "I'll even help hold him while you're playing."
"What!" Rodney begins to protest more. "First your combat games and now this?"
Teyla smiles, ignoring his outburst, "It is ok, Rodney. I cannot stay. I have to get Torren down for a nap. Perhaps another time."
A brief silence falls between her and John as they exchange a small glance.
"Good. Look forward to it, "John responds, trying to act nonchalant.
Teyla leaves when Torren begins to fuss, and John watches as she walks away. His thought is interrupted by the sound of Ronon clearing his throat. He turns around and sees his friends looking at him strangely.
"What?" he questions innocently.
Ronon and Rodney exchange a look between them. "Um… what was that?" Rodney asks.
John walks by them to continue towards the rec. room, "I don't know what you're talking about. I just simply asked Teyla to join us. That's nothing unusual?"
"But the look you gave her was," Ronon joins in with Rodney's taunting.
"I… I… didn't…" John nervously stutters, his voice going into a higher pitch that reminded him of Rodney's hysterical voice. Thinking of Rodney made him remember something. "I forgot to ask you last night how come you didn't do the diagnostics for the control room yesterday. Woolsey was wondering."
Rodney smirks at the not so subtle way of John's quick change in the subject, but decides to answer his question anyway. "Actually…" Rodney starts with a self satisfying look on his face. "I convinced Woolsey to let Radek do it…. I don't think I give him enough of a chance to show what he's capable of doing."
Both John and Ronon roll their eyes. "So, it's just happened that you forgot to do what you were supposed to do yesterday and then convince Woolsey to let Radek do it today?" Ronon asks suspiciously.
Rodney looks at them, looking slightly uneasy, "Um… yeah?"
Radek is in the control room, grumbling to himself, knowing full well that Rodney purposely left this job for him. He begins his diagnostics and floats to different stations to check various readings.
He waves his hand, pointing to both Chuck and Amelia, "Um, if you would…. could you begin scanning the planet and long range scans as well." He pauses a moment before going back to what he was doing. "Oh, and let me know if you find anything."
Both Amelia and Chuck begin the scans and almost immediately Amelia finds something. "Dr. Zelenka?"
"Yes," Radek responds as he pushed the ridge of his glasses with his pointing finger.
"I believe I found something. It's a strange energy reading coming from the planet's surface," Amelia continues.
"Really?" Radek questions as he walks to her station.
He looks over her shoulder for a bit then kindly gestures for him to take over her seat. He begins to observe the monitor and push a few buttons to do more readings, his face looking a bit puzzled.
"Hmm. I can't understand how come we didn't see this before," Radek comments, still a bit perplexed.
"It wasn't that long ago since we did our last diagnostic test….. I wonder how long this has been going undetected," Radek mumbles.
"Sir?" Amelia asks, not knowing how to answer his question.
Radek snaps out of his little daze, "Oh. No. I was just thinking out loud." He pauses and clicks on his ear comm. "Mr. Woolsey… this is Dr. Zelenka."
Woolsey is walking down the corridor heading towards his office, "Yes, Dr. Zelenka. How can I help you? Is everything going well with the diagnostics for the control room?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Radek proceeds. "During our scans we discovered an energy reading coming from the mainland."
"An energy reading? How come it wasn't detected before?" Woolsey asks in a displeasing tone.
"I… I… don't know," Radek nervously stuttered. "It only showed up while doing our recent scans."
Woolsey frowns and sighs, "Very well. Why don't you and Major Lorne and his team go to the mainland and check it out."
"Yes… very good," Radek responds quickly. "I will inform Major Lorne right away."
"Oh and one more thing," Woolsey slowly adds. "Why don't you also get a hold of Dr. McKay?"
"Oh… um, ok," Radek says, sounding like his ego was deflated.
"Don't think I don't have confidence in you, Doctor. I do. I just have other reasons why I want Dr. McKay to join you," Woolsey adds.
At this time Radek realizes that it's most likely because Rodney didn't do the diagnostic when he was supposed to. "Oh…"is Radek's simple response.
"Rodney. Come in, Rodney," Radek says into this comm. as he heads to his lab to get any equipment he may need.
Rodney has just put "Force Unleashed" in the Wii system and is about to set it up for 'dual mode' when Radek calls.
"What now, Radek? I'm kinda in the middle of something important," Rodney rudely answers.
"Well, we found an energy reading on the mainland and Woolsey wants you to come with me along with Major Lorne and his men."
"And I suppose that he want me to go because he wants someone capable to check it out," Rodney comments with sarcasm and self exalting.
"Well…. um, perhaps, but it could also be that it wasn't detected earlier…. Like yesterday," Radek cautiously responds.
"Oh," Rodney simply says as his arrogance leaves him, knowing full well what Radek was referring to.
After signing off with Radek, Rodney addresses the men, "Well, I guess there's a job that Woolsey needs me to do. Apparently, they discovered an energy reading on the mainland and want me to check it out."
"So, what your actually saying… because you didn't do your job and didn't find this energy reading yesterday, Woolsey is pretty much making you do it now… on your day off," Ronon pointedly remarks and calls Rodney's bluff.
John cracks a satisfying grin, knowing that Ronon is right.
Rodney's shoulders slump as he releases a sigh, "Yeah." He knows his bluff is called and he walks away, grumbling, disappointed that he didn't get a chance to play his games.
Lorne is flying the jumper to the mainland, rolling his eyes as he listens to both Radek and Rodney complaining in the back.
"We're almost there!" he yells above the doctors' voices. "There are too many trees in that area. I'll have to land east of the location. So, we'll have to do some walking."
"Oh great!" Rodney whines more. "This was supposed to be my day off."
"Yes, and if you did this yesterday instead of waiting 'til today and pawning it off to me, you might have been still enjoying it and I wouldn't be here with you," Radek rebukes.
"Oh, so we're going to make this about you," Rodney snaps back.
"Alright, already!" Lorne shouts. "It doesn't matter anymore. We're here now. So, let's hurry up and get this done."
Both Radek and Rodney look apologetic and grab their gear before exiting the rear hatch of the jumper. Rodney pulls out his computer tablet from his backpack and begins to figure out which direction they need to go.
He points towards the dense part of the forest, "It's this way."
Lorne, his team and Radek follow Rodney as he continues to follow the readings on his tablet.
Fifteen minutes pass by and they finally reach their destination. They begin to rummage through the foliage to find the device. It is lying on its side and from the amount of plant growth around it; it is obvious that it has been there for a long time.
The ancient device is fairly large, approximately twelve feet in length and too heavy for them to attempt to stand it upright. Rodney opens a panel on the side and it slides open, revealing various color crystals.
"What do you think this is?" Lorne asks the two scientists.
"We're not sure," Radek answers.
"Well, I wouldn't exactly say that," Rodney interjects.
"So, you do know what this is?" Lorne questions.
Rodney hesitates before answering, "Well, um… no, but I'm sure I can figure it out in no time."
"Great," Lorne sarcastically responds. He motions for a couple of his men to keep their eyes out, just in case and they fan out in different directions. He sits down on a log next to the area the scientists are working at, patiently waiting while they do their work.
John and Ronon take a break from their game time and decide to get some lunch. When they arrive at the cafeteria they see Teyla just sitting down at a table with a tray of food. They both walk up to the table to greet her.
"Hey, where's the kid?" Ronon asks in his deep voice.
"Torren," Teyla says in a somewhat corrective tone, "Is being watched by Jennifer. She volunteered so I can have some time to myself."
John and Ronon look at each other and look at her apologetically.
"Do you want us to leave you alone?" John asks in a soft tone.
She gives them both a warm smile, "No, I did not to mean to apply that I did not want you both here… Please, come join me."
"Great," John says with a smile and a happier tone. "We'll be right back."
In no time the men each return with a full tray of food and begin to eat.
Teyla looks at them curiously, "Where is Rodney? I thought for sure he would be with you. It is not like him to miss a meal."
Ronon grins with a mouth full of food and John couldn't help but to release a slight chuckle.
"He's out on the mainland with Lorne and Zelenka," John starts to explain. Teyla gives him a puzzling look. "Apparently, sometime after Zelenka did the diagnostics for the control room, they did a scan…"
"And they detected an energy reading," Ronon eagerly interrupts and leans forward towards Teyla. "So, Woolsey sent him to help check it out because he didn't do it yesterday."
Ronon relaxes back into his seat as Teyla eyes open wide with some disbelief.
"Hey. We've all told him that one day this would happen," John interjects.
"Very true," Teyla responds sympathetically. "Do we know what it is yet?"
John shook his head, while trying to finish the food that was in his mouth. "No, not yet, but I'm sure it's no big deal.
Rodney and Radek are continuing to analyze the device and despite the fact they are able to interface their computer to it, they still are not able to get any information about what it's suppose to do.
"I think that this is causing the malfunction and that's why we can't retrieve any data," Rodney says to Radek as he points to one of the color crystal and now begins to reach for it.
"I… I don't know about this, Rodney," Radek debates with extreme nervousness.
"Ah, com'on… what's the harm it can do?" Rodney remakes nonchalantly.
"Rodney, I must protest. I think this is a terrible…" Radek begins, trying to urge his co-worker to stop.
Rodney, in arrogance, doesn't listen and pulls out the crystal he believes to be faulty.
"…idea," Radek finishes his objection.
Within seconds, lights begin to violently flash on the ancient device.
"Oops," Rodney simply and shamefully remarks.
"McKay? What do you mean by, 'oops'? What did you do?" Lorne says as he quickly gets up from his seat, sounding extremely agitated.
"I… um… I don't know," he answers nervously. "But my suggestion is that we… RUN!"
Lorne calls out to his men, "Everyone, back to the jumper! Now! Move it!"
They run in the direction towards the jumper, everyone expecting a huge explosion, but before they can even get very far, a monstrous electromagnetic pulse begins to emanate from the device, knocking everyone to the ground.
Woolsey anxiously enters the control room, "Is there any more news for Dr. McKay or Dr. Zelenka? Were they able to retrieve any information about the device they found?"
Chuck nods his head, "Dr. McKay thinks he knows why they can't interface with the device and asks us to stand by."
An alarm from the console goes off.
"What's going on?" Woolsey asks demandingly.
"I'm not sure," Chuck answers with an uncertain tone to his responds. He begins to frantically look over his monitors. "It looks like some kind of…" But before he could finish the power goes out.
Woolsey looks around the room, "What just happened?"
"It looks like there was a giant EMP wave that came from the mainland before we lost all power," Chuck explains.
Woolsey reaches for his ear comm. "Dr. McKay, come in…. Dr. McKay."
"That won't work, sir. Everything is down," Amelia informs him.
Woolsey frowns. He addresses Chuck and Amelia, "Very well. See what you can do to get the systems back on and get whatever help you need."
"You… and you," he says while pointing to two Marines. "I need you to find Colonel Sheppard. Get whoever you need to help you. I need him and his team out on the mainland to see what is going on."
"Yes, sir," the Marines responds in unison and immediately leave.
John, Ronon and Teyla are walking down the corridor when the electromagnetic waves hits and the power goes out. They each take in their surroundings and see that the whole corridor is dark.
John reaches up and clicks on his ear comm., "Control room, this is Sheppard. Control room… come in." There is no response. "The whole city must be out. We need to go the control room and find out what is going on." Teyla and Ronon nod in agreement and go with him.
The corridors are dark and hard to maneuver in some areas, but they keep working their way towards the control room. Teyla is worried about her son and lack of being able to contact Jennifer doesn't help. As they do, one of the Marines that Woolsey talked to runs up to them.
"Sir, Mr. Woolsey wanted me to find you and asks you to report to the jumper bay. He needs you and your team to see what's happening on the mainland," the young officer reports.
John and his team continue walking down the dark corridor. He looks at the Marine, "Do you have any idea what has happened?"
"Not quite sure, sir," the young man begins. "All I know that they mentioned something about a massive EMP wave… or something like that."
John frowns and looks very agitated, "McKay!"
Teyla and Ronon look at each other, knowing that this isn't good and Rodney was in big trouble.
Before continuing any further, Teyla pulls the Marine aside, "I need you to go to my quarters and find Dr. Keller. Let her know where I am going. If the time comes and she can no longer care for him, tell her I trust her judgment on whom she choices."
The Marine nods his head, "Yes, ma'am."
Everyone on the mainland slowly gets up, groaning slightly in pain.
"What the hell was that?" Lorne exclaims.
"I believe it was an electromagnetic pulse," Radek answers, while still gathering his bearings.
"Dammit!" Rodney shouts. "My Mac is dead!"
"Well, that's because of the….." Radek starts to respond to his remark.
"EMP. Yes, I know!" Rodney replies, very rudely and harshly.
Lorne tries to contact Atlantis.
"That's not going to work… either," Rodney continues with his snarky attitude.
"I realize that now!" Lorne barks back. "And if you only listen to Zelenka for a change… we wouldn't be in this mess to begin with."
"You don't think I know that!" Rodney yells back.
"You guys!" Radek interjects. "We're not going to get anything done if we keep arguing."
Both Lorne and Rodney look apologetic to each other.
"Sorry," Rodney speaks up. "I think this headache I have is only making it worse."
Lorne begins to rub his forehead, "Yeah, I have one too."
"Well, that can't be a coincidence," Radek says as he observes their discomfort.
"Do you have any symptoms, Doc?" Lorne questions Radek.
He quickly shakes his head then turns to look at the rest of Lorne's team and they shake their heads as well. "Perhaps the device is sending out some kind of signal," he tries to reason.
"And what… it just affects me and Lorne?" Rodney sarcastically rebukes.
"I… I don't know…perhaps," Radek stutters. "It is an ancient device… maybe when you tampered with it; it did something that only affects those with the ATA gene."
Rodney furls his brow, releasing a sigh, as he contemplates what Zelenka has said.
A sudden thought comes to Radek's mind, "We should probably go back to Atlantis and warn them."
Rodney rolls his eyes, "About what…killer headaches? "
Radek is starting to get a little frustrated now, "What about when we had those sea creatures and the sound waves they were giving off. People were seeing things, experiencing headaches, nose bleeds and even death."
"Alright… alright! I get it," Rodney interjects. "That was totally different. They were trying to communicate with us…. and besides, I doubt this can even reach Atlantis. They are probably worried about us and trying to get a hold of us right now."
As John settles in his seat in the jumper, he closes his eyes and unintentionally releases a soft grunt. Teyla notices that he is in some kind of pain.
"John?"
He can hear the concern in her voice. "I'm ok. I just have a headache coming on…. I'll be fine."
"Are you sure? Perhaps we should get you to the infirmary and have someone else fly us to the mainland," she gently urges.
"Nah," he says dismissively. "Like I said, I'll be fine and the sooner we find out what's happening, the better."
Teyla continues to look worried as she looks back at Ronon, who is sitting in the seat behind John.
John notices something in Teyla's hand in the corner of his eye. "Whatcha got there?"
"It is a laptop," Teyla answers. "Amelia found one that must have been closed when we got hit and was not affected by the electromagnetic pulse." She places it back in her backpack. "She figured Radek and Rodney might need it."
John is impressed, "Hmm, good thinking." Teyla nods in agreement.
As they continue to get closer to the mainland, Teyla can see that John is getting worse. He tries to hide it, but she notices him clutching to the controls so tightly that his knuckles are white. Small beads of sweat have begun to form over his brow and there is a look on his face, as if he was feeling a bit uneasy. She wants to say something, but she's afraid to upset him and she also knows that it would be pointless. He would only dismiss it.
It doesn't take long before they arrive at the mainland. John finds the clearing where Lorne had parked the other jumper and settle theirs close by. Without hesitation, Ronon and Teyla get up and head towards the hatch at the rear of the puddle jumper, but John remains in his seat.
"Hey, Sheppard," Ronon calls out.
John realizes that he forgot to open the hatch and pushes a button on his console.
"You coming?" Ronon asks in his serious, deep voice.
John is silent. He can feel an uncomfortable feeling coming over him and there's no way for him to control it. He tries to get his mind back in focus, but it is hard. It is a feeling a fear… a fear of returning to this place. The place he faced a dead enemy… or so he thought. This was the place he was tortured and lost his hand, but later discovered it was all an illusion.
Either way, it was a haunting memory and being back here brings it all back…. including the fear. Now he is struggling to keep his dark nightmare from his teammates… his friends… a little longer.
He forces himself out of his seat and ignores the faces of concern from both of his teammates. They start walking in the direction where Rodney should be and each step gets harder for John. Familiar landmarks intensify his anxiety. His breathing becomes a bit more erratic and slowly the realization of his team being with him is gone.
John hears something in the forest. He draws his side arm and cautiously continues on until he sees who is making the noise.
He cocks the hammer on his gun, "Stay right there."
The Marine is confused, as well as Teyla and Ronon.
"What are the Genii doing here?"
The Marine doesn't know how to respond and the silence irritates John.
"Where is Kolya? I know that Son of a…. is here," John continues grilling the soldier.
"Sheppard, what are you doing?" Ronon asks. "That's Marks. He's not a Genii… and you killed Kolya years ago."
John looks confused. His arm slowly lowers, but quickly rises it again and looking more intent to shoot.
"John!" Teyla yells.
John swings around and sees Teyla and Ronon staring at him with extreme concern in their eyes. He looks back and finally sees the Marine that he almost shot. John lets go of his gun and it falls to the ground. Ronon cautiously picks it up.
Teyla goes to him and has him look at her face on, "What just happened?"
Fear and dismay fills his eyes, "I… I don't know."
Teyla looks at him sympathetically and strokes his upper arm, "We will figure it out. Perhaps Rodney will know more."
"Marks, why don't you let Lorne know that we're here," John suggests. "We'll be there shortly." The Marine respectfully concedes.
John couldn't let one of his officers continue to see him this way. Pride is only part of the reason. No, trust is the most important. If his men didn't trust him, then he didn't have anything.
They begin to walk again. His pace slows more as he lags behind and he can see his teammates slowing down too. "Don't worry about me… I'll be fine."
"You know you suck at lying," Ronon playfully teases.
"Only to you… That's why I don't play poker with ya," John quips back. Ronon chuckles.
Teyla and Ronon start to feel a bit better, thinking that John is regaining his composure, until they look back and see him slumped on the ground and one hand tucked in his shirt. They quickly run to check on him. His breathing is erratic, to the point where he is on the verge of hyperventilating.
They are both unaware that this is the place of one of John's worst nightmarish moments.
Marks arrives back to where the scientists and Lorne are, "Colonel Sheppard is here, sir."
"Well, we knew that," Rodney says with a sarcastic tone. "We saw them fly over awhile ago."
"So, what's taking them so long to get here?" Lorne asks.
Marks is unsure how to respond to the question, "Um… I'm not sure how to explain it, sir."
"Try," Lorne urges.
"Well… um, for a moment… Colonel Sheppard thought I was a Genii… and asked for someone named Kolya."
Rodney, Radek and Lorne exchange a look between them.
"Are you sure the Colonel said, 'Kolya'?" Lorne cautiously asks.
"But Kolya's dead.... Why would he say that?"
"Perhaps the damages from this device is more severe than we thought and causing more problems than headaches," Radek suggests.
Rodney swallows hard, "Sheppard's Ancient gene is a great deal more than ours, with perhaps the exception of Carson. But why is it doing this?"
Radek frowns and shrugs his shoulders.
"I'll go meet up with them and see if there's anything I can do," Lorne suggests before motioning his men to stay with the two doctors.
"Sheppard. Sheppard?" Ronon calls, trying to get him to respond, but he doesn't answer.
"John?" Teyla says as she kneels down in front of him. She is surprised when he lifts up his face to her and sees tears streaming down his face.
"This … this is where it happened," John struggles to get out.
"I… I do not understand," Teyla says pleadingly.
"This is where he…he cut my hand off," John tells her in a low tone, hoping that Ronon doesn't hear and feeling embarrassed for not being able to control himself.
"No, John, it's still there," she says reassuringly as she pats the hand hiding in his shirt.
"No… when I was here before… He tortured me and then cut off my hand," he responds and sounding a little manic.
Teyla is confused, "Who… who did, John?"
"Kolya."
"No, John. You killed him over two years ago," she speaks to him softly and tries to comfort him.
John feels frustrated. He struggles to get his words out, but most of all; he struggles to get his composure back. Each failing passing moment only fuels the fire of his frustration. He looks up towards Ronon and he can see the look of pity plastered on his friend's face. John looks down and away, hating that one of his best friends is seeing him breakdown piece by piece.
"Ronon, give this to Rodney," Teyla says as he hands him the laptop. "Tell Lorne that John has fallen ill and we need him to bring us back to Atlantis."
Ronon hesitates. He wants to stay with his friend, but he knows doing what Teyla suggests is the best course of action. He nods his head to acknowledge her command and leaves quietly.
John leans forward, resting his forehead on Teyla's shoulder. He is exhausted, both physically and emotionally.
"John," Teyla speaks to him in a soft, comforting voice. "What happened here?"
John continues to try to get his emotions under control, "I… I'm sorry Teyla."
"There is no need to apologize," she reassures him. "Perhaps I can help you through this if you would explain."
Sorrow fills her heart as she sees him this way. She knows with everything he has been through he always remained strong and for him to react like this… something tremendously bad had to have happened.
He releases a groan, his head reeling in pain, but he manages to sit up to face Teyla. "It happened when I brought Parrish and Kiang to check out the plant life here."
"Yes, that was the time when the Sakaris came and visited Rodney and Mr. Woolsey," Teyla recalls. "We knew you had been visited by one as well, but you never talked about it."
John nods his head, "That's why. The torture, the lobbing off of the hand by a machete… all that was to keep me busy while the other ones were dealing with McKay and Woolsey."
The lines around Teyla's brow deepens as she takes in all the painful images of his ordeal.
"But I was able to get past it, Teyla. I dealt with it. So, I don't know why this is happening now," John says in a weary voice.
She can see how tired he is, his eyes struggling to stay open. Between the headaches he is having and what he just went through… it is no wonder, but then she starts to notice him becoming more lethargic.
She watches his body go limp, as he collapses to the ground- she's unable to help him.
"John. John!"
Lorne hears Teyla yelling and runs towards her direction and sees that John is unconscious.
"What happened?" the Major asks as he kneels down by them.
"I am not sure. We must get him to the infirmary," Teyla answers with great concern in her voice.
Without another word, both of them get under John's arms and begin to carry his limp body back to the jumper. His dead weight slows their pace through the forest, but they still reach the jumper fairly quickly.
As soon as they get in the jumper, they lay him on the floor and Lorne quickly jumps into the driver's seat and takes off to get his commanding officer back to Atlantis for medical help.
Woolsey stands on the balcony. He hates feeling out of control. Not knowing what is happening on the mainland is difficult enough for Woolsey. Now, there are reports trickling in that several members of the expedition, including Carson are falling ill. He suppresses a frown as he waits for the answers they need.
Quite some time has passed since he sent Sheppard and his team to the mainland, and without radio contact it is impossible to know how bad their situation is.
His attention is caught by the flickering of lights behind him. The sign of this progress brings a sigh of relief, and he decides to return to the control room to see how close they were to getting the lights fully functional. As he walks through the door, the first person he sees is Amelia Banks.
"Amelia, can you tell me how soon the power will be back on?" Woolsey asks in professional, but polite way.
As she looks up to answer him the lights come back on. She smiles, "How about now?"
Woolsey smiles back, "Very good. And any ideas when…."
Amelia has an idea what he is about to ask next, "Communications will be back on?" Woolsey nods. "I'm not sure, sir, but I wouldn't think it would be too much longer."
"And what about scanners… do we have either long range or local?" he asks with some concern.
She shakes her head, "Sorry, sir. Without both Dr. Zelenka and Dr. McKay, things are going a lot slower."
He frowns slightly, hoping to get better news, but some good news is better than nothing. He releases a small sigh, "Contact me as soon as they are up… I'll be in the infirmary, talking to Dr. Keller and finding out more about why some people are falling ill."
"Yes, sir," she responds and immediately returns to her work.
In the infirmary, Keller is checking on her patients. She sees Woolsey walk in and she goes up to meet him.
Woolsey looks around, "How is everyone doing?"
"Well, besides a constant headache, I'd say they are fine," She responds as they walk through the infirmary.
"And what about Dr. Beckett?" he asks with concern.
She frowns, "His symptoms are a bit worse. Besides having a severe headache, he's also experiencing some dizziness. I wanted him to stay to monitor him, but he decided to take some meds and lie down in his quarters…. And what's even more strange, is the fact that it seems to be only affecting those with the ATA gene."
Woolsey gives her a puzzling look, "Are you sure?"
"Well, fairly sure, but since the power was out I had no way of testing them," she answers.
Before Woolsey can continue his conversation he hears his name being called in his ear.
"Mr. Woolsey?" it is Chuck's voice on the other end.
"Yes, Chad…" Woolsey answers optimistically.
"That's Chuck, sir," Chuck corrects with a sigh.
Woolsey clears his throat, "Oh… sorry." He's obviously embarrassed for still not remembering Chuck's name and luckily can't see the technician rolling his eyes. He quickly decides to change the subject. "Well, I see we have communications back on."
"Yes, sir," Chuck responds.
"Have you been able to contact Colonel Sheppard or Dr. McKay yet?" Woolsey asks.
"We are about to attempt that now, sir. You told us to inform you as soon as communications was up. So, we did that first."
"Yes, well thank you… Chuck," Woolsey says, emphasizing on saying Chuck's name right. "Let me know as soon as you hear anything. I'm on my way back to the control room now, Woolsey out."
Ronon finally makes it to where Rodney, Radek and Lorne's team are. Rodney looks up from his work and is puzzled not to see Teyla and John with him. Before Rodney can open his mouth to question his Satedan teammate, Ronon motions his head for Rodney to follow him to a more secluded area to speak in private.
Rodney looks over Ronon's shoulder, still expecting for the rest of the team to show up, "Where's Sheppard and Teyla?"
Ronon struggles to find the words and it begins to trouble the scientist. "They're not coming," he pauses, still not sure what to say to him. "Sheppard started getting these bad headaches and it got worse when we got here."
Ronon is on the verge of choking up as he recalls what his friend went through. "Let's just say that it was real bad. Teyla sent me to get Lorne to bring him back to Atlantis since Sheppard is in no condition to fly back."
Rodney is heartbroken to hear of one of his best friends being stricken like that, knowing it is his fault. He finally snaps out of shock from the recent update, "Didn't you see Lorne on the way here?"
Ronon shakes his head, "No, I followed Marks' trail and I think he got lost a couple times before he finally found his way back here."
"Well, Lorne left awhile ago. Maybe he has already found them and left already," Rodney continues.
"I hope so, Sheppard was looking pretty bad when I left," Ronon says with a frown.
"What happened?" McKay questions him with tremendous concern.
"I think it would be better if Sheppard tells you himself. I don't think he knows I heard what he was telling Teyla."
Rodney's eyes widen, "Oh…. Ok."
He begins to walk back to the device and rolls his eyes. "Dammit! I wish I knew Lorne was going back. I would've asked him to find me a working computer."
Ronon pulls one out of backpack that Teyla gave him, "You mean something like this."
Rodney grabs it out of his hand, "How did you know to bring one?"
"I didn't. Amelia thought you could use it."
"Amelia? Really?" Rodney remarks with a not so subtle hint of being surprised.
They walk towards the device and he begins to rub his head and squint his eyes in pain.
"What's wrong with you?" Ronon asks with a puzzled look.
"Nothing. It's just a headache," Rodney responds with a dismissive attitude.
Radek raises his head from work, unaware of what the two of them had been talking about earlier. "We think the device may be the cause of it," Radeks interjects and Ronon gives him a questioning look. "We think that after Rodney pulled the crystal out of the device and the EM pulse was released, it may be transmitting a frequency that is causing his and Lorne's headaches. Possibly only affecting those with the ATA gene."
"Well then stop it," Ronon demands.
"We can't…. We don't know how. That's why I needed the computer. It should help me figure out what is going on… I hope," Rodney jumps in and looks nervously at Ronon.
A whirling sound rings through the air as Ronon pulls out his weapon, charging up to its maximum potential.
"No!" both scientists shout simultaneously. "We don't know if that will only make things worse."
Ronon walks up to a guilt ridden Rodney, "Fix or I will. There is no way I will allow Sheppard to go through what he did back there again."
Rodney fearfully and silently nods as Radek looks on confused.
As Lorne flies the jumper closer to Atlantis, John slowly starts to regain consciousness. His eyes slowly open to see Teyla kneeling next to him. Her attention is away from him, she strains her neck to look out past the front window of the jumper, desperate for any sign of the majestic city getting closer.
"Teyla?" John calls as he groans in pain and tries to lift himself to an upright position.
Teyla's head swings around, shocked to see him awake and quickly places her hands on his shoulders to prevent him from getting up any further. He doesn't fight her and he lies back down.
"What happened?" John asks and notices that he's in the Jumper. "And who's flying the jumper?"
"Major Lorne is flying us back to Atlantis," Teyla answers with a worried look on her face.
"Lorne? But I thought we were suppose to help Rodney?" he responds in a groggy tone and feeling a little disorientated.
"You do not remember what happened on the mainland?" she asks, the lines around her brow deepened as her concern grew when he carefully shook his head.
She continues to question him, "What is the last thing you remember?"
He thinks a moment before answering, "I remember feeling…" He carefully tries to find the right words to use. "… anxious as we got closer to the mainland. We landed; we got out of the jumper and then headed out to find Rodney…."
"And you do not remember what happened after that?"
John looks at her warily, "Why? What happened?"
Before she could answer him a voice comes over the radio.
"Major Lorne, this is Atlantis. Come in Major Lorne," Amelia calls out from the other end.
Lorne is relieved to hear from Atlantis, "This is Lorne. I'm coming in with a medical emergency. Colonel Sheppard is down. Have a medical team meet us in the jumper bay. I'll fill Mr. Woolsey in with the rest of the details when I get in."
John groans in protest and tries once again to sit up, but again Teyla won't let him. "I'm… I'm fine. I feel much better now."
Teyla doesn't believe him. She can still see that he is in pain, but obviously a lot less than he was before. "And you are a terrible liar," she disputes his claim as her eyebrows rise.
John in frustration rolls his eyes and settles his head back on the floor of the puddle jumper.
In a matter of moments they arrive in Atlantis and as soon as the back hatch opens up a medical team comes in, led by Dr. Keller.
Teyla is surprised to see her there, "Jennifer? I thought Carson was on duty today."
"He was, but he became ill after the blackout along with other members of Atlantis," Keller explains.
Lorne speaks up, "Zelenka believes that after McKay tampered with the device we found and the EMP was released some frequency might be transmitting and affecting those with the ATA gene."
Jennifer frowns, "Well, I guess that proves I was right about it only affecting them."
John rolls his eyes, "I knew McKay had something to do with the blackout, but this… this I think is new for him." He looks up at Jennifer. "Doc, I'm really feeling much better now. I feel kinda silly riding in one of these things."
"He passed out while on the mainland and does not remember anything after landing," Teyla blurts out.
The doctor gives him a sympathetic look, "Sorry, Colonel, but I think we better be safe than sorry." John releases a disappointing sigh.
"Dr. McKay, this is Atlantis. Come in Dr. McKay," Amelia tries to contact the scientist.
Rodney's eyes opens wide as he hears a voice over his radio, "This is McKay. Good to hear you have communications back up."
"Thank you, sir," Amelia responds.
"Dr. McKay, this is Woolsey." Rodney is not happy to have to deal with him, especially knowing that he has to tell him that it is his fault. "I was wondering what happened and what your situation is now."
"Well, it's kinda hard to explain," Rodney tries to stall on telling him.
"Try me," Woolsey demands.
"Well… um, we found what was causing the signal. It is an old ancient device." He pauses for a while. "I hastily pulled out a crystal, thinking I could disengage it, but I didn't realize it had some kind of failsafe mechanism and that's when it admitted the EMP wave."
Radek jumps in, "Yes and we believe that now it is transmitting some kind of frequency that is causing some affects on Rodney as well as Major Lorne and now Colonel Sheppard."
"Yes. I know," Woolsey says in a dissatisfying tone. "It's affecting Atlantis. Dr. Beckett and several others have fallen ill as well."
Rodney remains silent, now feeling worse than he did before.
"Did Sheppard get there yet?" Ronon asks.
"Yes…" Woolsey begins to answer.
"How is he doing?" Rodney eagerly jumps in.
"They have just arrived. I will let you know as soon as I know more," Woolsey finishes and is about to sign off.
"Hmmm. That's interesting," Radek says slowly.
"Hold on. I think Radek found something," Rodney informs Woolsey.
"What!" Rodney asks Radek crudely.
"According to the data that just came up, this is some kind of defense mechanism… or least the start of one," Radek says before he continues looking at the computer.
"Let me look at that!" Rodney says rudely as he jerks the laptop out of Radek's hand. He gets back on the radio while glancing at the computer. "Looks like this was something the Ancients were working on to protect whoever lived here from the Wraith."
He continues to read the data and a thought finally hits him, "Oh! This is similar to the device the Asgard made to keep the Goa'uld off that… that planet SG-1 went to… The one with all the Norse mythology."
"You mean Cimmeria? " Woolsey queries. "The one that had "Thor's Hammer?"
"Yes. I believe that was the place," Rodney answers.
"Can you get this one fixed to do the same thing?" Woolsey asks hopefully.
"No, for some reason they never got it working," Radek interjects.
Ronon kneels down by the device and removes some more foliage. "This is why," Ronon says as he points to some burnt marks that was barely visible. "Looks like the Wraith were able to make sure it never got finished."
"That is most unfortunate," Woolsey grimly comments.
Keller walks up to Teyla, "Teyla, you said that Colonel Sheppard lost his memories from the time after you landed on the mainland. Can you tell me what happened?"
Teyla hesitates and looks over to John, "Can I talk to him first before I tell you? I feel that he should know first."
Keller is a little surprised, but she understands, "Um, sure. I'll be checking on some patients and I'll be back…. Oh, and um… I left Torren with one of my nurses. She said she use to babysit back home and she was excited to help. She's at your quarters with him now."
Teyla smiles, "Thanks you, Jennifer."
Keller nods to show she was welcome and proceeded to do her rounds.
Teyla slowly walks up to John's bed side, "How are you doing?"
John scrunches up his face, "They're giving me meds, but it doesn't seem to help. Keller wants to do some scans on me in a few minutes." He looks around. "I thought I just saw her before you came over."
She gives him a weak smile, "You did, but I wanted to talk to you about what happened on the mainland first. The parts that you don't remember."
John can see the distress look on her face, "That bad?" She simply lowers her eyes. "I… I didn't hurt you…did I?"
She shook her head. She hesitates to go on and she lowers her voice so no one else can hear, "But you did almost shoot Lieutenant Marks, thinking he was a Genii."
His eyes opens wide, with dismay and he remains speechless.
"It only gets worse from there," she continues and he swallows hard. "As we approached a certain part of the woods…." She didn't want to go on.
"What? What happened?" he pleads.
She sadly sighs, "You… you had what I believe your people call a panic attack…. I know what happened there, when the Sarakis disguised themselves as Kolya and the Genii. I know what they did to you."
John turns his head away, feeling ashamed, weak and vulnerable. He doesn't say anything in response to what she's told him.
"I wanted you to know before I have to tell Dr. Keller."
John quickly turns to her, "Please… don't."
Teyla looks at him mournfully, "I wish I did not have to, but you were unconscious for a very long time and she needs to know what happened. She will not say anything."
"But her and McKay…." John tries to interject.
"She is a doctor first, and she cannot and I do not believe she will, say anything to anyone without your permission," she tries to reassure him.
"What about Woolsey? He's going to want it in the reports." John disputes her reasoning.
"I will not put it in my report," Teyla says firmly. "And I will ask Lt. Marks and Ronon to do the same."
"They saw it as well?" he grimaces.
Teyla shakes her head, "The lieutenant left before things got worse and I am not sure about Ronon… but you know he will not say anything to anyone."
John nods his head.
Keller can see the tension between the two of them from a distance and before she walks over she makes sure they know she is coming.
"Ok, Colonel," she calls out. "We will be doing your test now and try to see what's happening to you." She wheels the scanner closer to his bed. "I've tested everyone else, but Carson, and they don't seem to show too much on their scanners…."
"Is Carson ok?" John asks with concern.
"Yes. I just had Marie check on him and said that he's managing and he will inform us if it gets worse," Keller replies.
"So, why am I stuck in here and not able to go to my quarters?" John sarcastically questions.
"Because…. he didn't black out like you did," she answers.
"Oh…. about that…"John begins.
"Don't worry. I've decided not to worry about the details," she sees the puzzled look on their faces. "I can see that whatever happened was on a personal nature and unless it has to do with you medically… I don't see why I can't just let it go."
Teyla smiles and places her hand on Keller's shoulder. "Thank you, Jennifer." The doctor simply smiles in kind.
A curious look crosses Keller's face, "This is odd."
"What?" John asks.
"Well, this scan shows that this area of your brain is swollen a little and it's the area that normally controls your fear, anxiety and other emotions," Keller explains and she points to the monitor screen.
Teyla and John exchange a look between them that Keller doesn't notice. Teyla realizes that what happened to John was because that part of his brain was heightened and John felt a small bit of relief knowing that wasn't completely losing it.
"Hey! I was wondering," Ronon blurts out as the two scientists continue to work. "How did this thing turn on by its self if no one is around?"
Radek and Rodney look up at him, not knowing how to answer him.
"I think there were some broken branches newly pulled off it when we first started clearing it off." Marks tells them, looking as if he's not sure if that's helpful to them.
Radek turns his head to look at him, "Oh! That is right. I didn't think of that." He looks back at Ronon. "That is most likely what happened. And for whatever reason, the scanner didn't pick them up until we did the diagnostics this morning."
"So, what's taking so long to shut it down?" Ronon asks.
Rodney rolls his eyes, "Because it simply doesn't have an off/on switch, and besides they don't want to make it so easy that anybody can just walk up to it and shut it off whenever they want to."
"Uh, oh," Radek mumbles.
"What? What, uh, oh?" Rodney questions him sternly.
"I believe that this thing is building up for another EMP wave," Radek said as he points to the same light that flashed the last time.
The two scientist and the Marines begin to run like last time, but Ronon stands where he's at. He pulls out his pulse weapon and charges it to maximum and with several, loud blast to the device, Ronon finally shuts it off. The two scientists verify that the device is completely dead.
Ronon walks up to Rodney, "You should've let me blast it when I wanted the first time."
Carson walks into the infirmary and sees John looking rested. John smiles as he sees his friend walking in.
"Hey, Doc! How are you feeling?" John jovially asks.
Carson laughs, "That's funny, cause I was gonna ask you the same question."
John gave him a small smile, but Carson saw a hint of something else in his friend's face. "What is it? Something botherin you?" John silently shakes his head. "If you ever decide ya need someone talk to…"
"I will, Doc. Thanks," John quietly answers.
"Well, I have some good news for you," he grins and purposely changes the subject to make things more comfortable. "Jennifer says you can get out of here."
"Finally," John exclaims.
Carson laughs and pats John on the shoulder before walking away to do his rounds, since Keller had to replace him during his shift.
Rodney catches John leaving the infirmary and runs up to meet him.
"Sheppard." John doesn't answer. "John!"
John stops, but doesn't turn around.
Rodney finally catches up, "Hey. I just want to say that… that I'm really sorry."
"There's no need to apologize, Rodney," John replies in a low tone. "It's not that you did it on purpose."
"Well, no…. of course not…. If I had known what would happen…" Rodney stutters.
John places one had on his friend's shoulder, "I'm not mad at you, Rodney. I just had a very long, bad day and I would just like to go to my quarters and relax."
"Oh, ok," Rodney sadly replies.
John begins to walk away, "I'll see you tomorrow, Rodney." And he continues without turning around and raises his hand to signal, 'good-bye'.
Teyla is walking down the corridor with Torren, when she notices John a little way ahead of her.
"John," she calls out and catching his attention.
He stops and turns around to see her beaming smile.
"I heard that Mr. Woolsey is going to let us have part of the day off tomorrow, since we didn't have much of one today."
John grins, "Does that include Rodney?"
Teyla shakes her head a chuckles slightly, "I do not believe so. "
"Good, he deserves it… Remind me to never let him delay his job in order for him to 'stick it' to Radek," he says with a mix of cynicism and playfulness.
Teyla nods to agree. She looks a little nervous, "I… I was wondering if your offer for showing me some… video games was still available… For tomorrow."
John is quiet for a moment before he gives Teyla a gentle look, "Yeah that sounds like a good idea."
"Good," Teyla beams and watches John continues on his way down the corridor.
John finally gets to his quarters. He enters the dark room, walks up to his bed and plops down on it. He is relieved to get rid of his miserable headache and now for some peace and quiet, but the chimes on his door ring. He tries to ignore it, but it keeps ringing.
"What!" he yells as he gets up to open his door.
As the door slides open, he sees Ronon standing there with a six pack of beer. "Hey Buddy, thought you could use some of this right now," Ronon says with a smirk.
John is tempted to say no and go back his quiet cave, but nothing sounded perfect than to end the day with a beer and one of his best friends.
"Sure," John replies as he waves him in and turns on the lights.
Ronon pulls over a chair as John gets back in his bed and props himself with some pillows. Ronon cracks open a beer and hands it to John. John raises his bottle to thank his friend.
A big grin spreads across Ronon's face as he leans back in his chair, "So, how are you going to get back at McKay?"
John leans forward, trying not to spit out his beer while laughing and Ronon looks pleased with himself for finally seeing his friend laugh today.
The End