Not That Guy 2

"It's a suicide mission, Dr. McKay."

Before that moment, I'm not sure I could have hated anyone more than the Genii. Woolsey was certainly trying hard for that top spot. I spun round in the doorway and glared at him.

"So that's IT!?" I spat out darkly.

To his credit, Woolsey probably was conflicted as hell but i was far too angry and scared to take notice of anyone else's feelings at the moment.

Things had been going too well for us in Pegasus of late. The Wraith were finally contained. Our Fleet presence in this galaxy was at an all-time high with seven Daedalus-class vessels stationed at Atlantis. We were close to developing our own version of a ZPM.

More importantly than any of that...Jennifer wanted to get married.

God, how I wished i'd followed my initial impulse and scrounged up a priest there and then after she first suggested it.

That was a month ago.

Early this week, a call came in from one of our allies asking for medical assisstance. Some stubborn epidemic they were having a hard time fixing. Jen, of course, dropped everything and led the relief effort out there in the space of a few hours.

Two days later, we got an emergency call from the squad that went with them. They were under attack by the Genii.

Sheppard and Lorne immediately mounted a rescue op but it was a trap. Four marines dead, eleven wounded. Sheppard was one of them, shot in the chest. They'll think he'll make it but he's uncouncious and likely to remain so for the duration.

Ronon's mad as hell that he was offworld at the time.

The Genii...hate us. They hate that we came here and 'fixed' everything without suffering like they have for generations. They begrudge us our Ancient technology, our ships...our 'wealth' as they call it.

They ignore the fact that we would probably share some stuff with them if they weren't so needlessly hostile.

They see everything we have and they want it.

Kidnapping Jennifer and her people is, for them, just another way of getting it.

Damn them to hell.

I turn to Caldwell who was standing in one corner of the office looking pensive. "Let's just take the Fleet to the Genii homeworld and start blowing up cities until they give her back!"

Caldwell, for all his gung-ho, military agression, glared at me with a mixture of distaste and sympathy. An odd combination on his face, i noted absently.

"The Fleet isn't in the business of blowing up cities anymore, Doctor." Caldwell replied, referring to the first and only use of the 'Horizon' missile.

Whilst the situation had been different and the Replicators were machines, the reaction of the use of 'Horizon' had been curiously unanimous amongst those in the military and government. It was relegated to one of those things that we worked hard to develop and then wondered why.

The fact that I, of all people, was advocating its use once more shows you just how much Jennifer was my moral compass.

"Besides, Doctor," Caldwell continued, "the Genii live underground. Our probe indicated that they are several kilometes below the surface. We would literally have to tear the planet apart to get to them. Sending in ground forces would result in a bloodbath on both sides."

"So we do nothing?!" I cried out in disgust.

Woolsey shook his head. "We'll try the diplomatic approaches first and see what this is all about. In the meantime, we'll develop a suitable military response. For the moment, we'll have to wait. I'm sure they won't act precipitously and Dr Keller and her people are still alive."

I nodded absently. These people were going to be of no help.

If I was going to save Jennifer, it was going to be up to me.

Without another word, I spun in place and strode out of the office.

As i headed towards my office, Ronon fell into step beside me. I said nothing but i'm sure my expression gave away the results of my conversation with Woolsey.

"So what do we do?" He asked grimly.

I never broke my stride. "We go after her."

Ronon smiled.

The thing that some people don't get, even people as smart as those assigned to Atlantis, is that if you know the system, you can control the system and nobody knows the system better than me.

Woolsey and the IOC would be horrified to learn how thoroughly invested I was into the Atlantis computer system. It took me less than thrity minutes to have at least seven different orders from four different department heads having equipment that i would need, delivered to Jumper Bay 2 over the course of eight hours.

All with Woolsey's 'authorization'.

I sat down with Ronon and laid out my general plan. We still had the scans from our earlier visits to the Genii homeworld. i had no idea where she and her people would be held but once i got into their computer networks, I would learn everything I would need to know in short order.

I 'monitored' Woolsey's conversation with the Genii government. As expected, they all said a lot of stuff without saying anything of value. The Genii were clearly stonewalling for some reason and just as clearly, had no intention of returning our team. They did even ask for anything.

That meant they specifically wanted Jennifer and her people.

Shaking my head, I grabbed a bite to eat and waited. Everything was in place, I simply needed to wait until shift-change before making my move.

Eventually, shift-change apporached. Typing in a few command sequences, I set my programs running, grabbed my jacket and left for the jumper bay.

Ronan walked casually along the corridor towards Operations.

McKay's plan was reckless, dangerous and irresponsible.

He grinned. H always knew the little scientist had it in him He guessed McKay just needed a good woman to bring it out of him.

Thinking of Jennifer erased all trace of his amusment. Jennifer reminded him too much of his wife.

For a very short while, he had considered starting a relationship with her but it was easy enough to see that he was looking at her and seeing only his Melena.

It would have been doing her and his wife a great dishonor.

Besides, he saw how she looked at McKay. He wouldn't have been able to compete there.SHaking off the familiar feelings of loss, Ronon put his game face on as he climbed the stairs to Operations.

"I'm reading activity in Jumper Bay 2. Jumper is launching." Someone cried out.

Perfect. He was right on schedule.

"On whose authorization?" Someone else asked sternly.

"Checking...i'm reading Mr Woolsey's code."

"That's impossible. Woolsey would have cleared any departure with me first. Lock down the Jumper Bay."

"I'm trying, sir. The system just shut down, i'm locked out."

Just then, the Stargate started dialling under the control of KcKay's automatic programs. Doors around the Stargate area began slamming shutdown in an abbreviated lockdown sequence. Nothing else was effected, just enough to delay any interferance for the next five minutes.

The one in charge opened his mouth to respond when Ronan calmly raised his gun and shot the man in the back, stunning him unconcious. With no hesitation, Ronan stunned the other two staff members before they could do anything.

The one in command wasn't any idiot and that was precisely why McKay had asked him to neutralise everyone in Operations. When working with the quality of people here on Atlantis, relying on someone's incompetence was a surefire way of getting caught.

Without pausig to admire his handiwork, he ran to the side of the entrance to ops, just as the two on-duty Marines charged up the stairs to investigate the gunfire. The Stargate exploded to life and the two Marine were torn between securing Operations and defending the Stargate.

That hesitation was all Ronon needed and in a quick flurry of blows and the two guards were down. They'd be sore once they woke up but they were alive.

The door to the jumper bay opened and a Jumper floated gently down, its rear door lowering.

Ronan smiled widely as he ran down the stairs and fairly leapt into the Jumper that was packed with all sorts of equipment.

"Go!" He called out.

McKay turned back to his console grimly as he propelled the Jumper into the Stargate.

"Hold on, Jen. i'm coming."