John ran up the steps towards Elizabeth who was talking to the Chief Gate Technician. As he approached, they paused and two pairs of eyes turned to look at him. He took this as an invitation to interrupt.
"Elizabeth," he started. "Have you seen Rodney? I was supposed to meet him 20 minutes ago and he didn't turn up. He's not in his lab or his room or the Mess Hall."
Elizabeth and the Gate Technician exchanged an anxious glance, increasing John's concern.
"He went to pick up Carson, and they've not returned," Elizabeth explained, a worried frown between her eyes.
"We can't contact them by radio," the young Canadian technician added, before John could ask the question.
"Did you sense any hostility from them when you were there?" Elizabeth asked John.
"None," he confirmed, immediately. "They just seemed normal, or as normal as you get in this galaxy."
Elizabeth looked at him. She could see in his eyes the unspoken words she knew were in his mind. He would never have left Carson on the planet if he'd sensed any threat. Not after the last time. Not after Michael.
"Dr Zelenka," Elizabeth said into her comm-link. "Have you had any luck in tracing Rodney?"
"As far as I can tell," the Czech's voice came through the link, "he is not on Atlantis."
"As far as you can tell?" John asked. Radek was not normally as vague as that without good reason.
"We are having a slight problem with the sensors," Radek said, exasperation very evident in his voice.
"What sort of 'slight problem'?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes meeting John's.
"One of the crystals operating the sensor arrays has gone missing," Radek admitted, reluctantly.
"Gone Missing?" John said, surprise making his voice louder than usual. Several of the technicians around looked over at the small group in curiosity.
"So we've lost Rodney, Carson and a crystal, all in one conversation," he said, to no-one in particular. "That's pretty good going, even for us."
Elizabeth gave him a quelling glance, which had its usual non-existent effect on the pilot.
She turned to the young Canadian at her side, who was trying, unsuccessfully, to keep his face sombre. Ignoring his laughing eyes, she ordered a diagnostic of all the other systems to make sure nothing else was missing.
"Radek," she said into her comm-link, "I want you to investigate what happened to the crystal. We can't afford to loose anything else."
"Of course," came Radek's reply, his voice slightly distracted as if he was already into his investigations.
"Do you want me to find our missing doctors?" John asked, his light tone not quite disguising his worry about his friends.
"Yes," Elizabeth confirmed. "And be careful."
"Always am," he replied with a grin.
As Elizabeth turned back to her office, she could hear John contacting Teyla and Ronon as well as Lorne and his team.
With an efficiency born of much practice, it wasn't long before the team was assembled ready to go to the Jumper Bay for launch. Elizabeth felt a sense of pride at how well her people worked together, but her pride was tinged with anxiety, not just for this group that she was sending out into a potentially dangerous situation, but also for the two they were going to rescue.
Marshalling the team, John headed towards the Jumper. As he left, he turned to look up at Elizabeth. As their eyes met, he could read the message she wanted to send him. He could almost hear her saying 'Bring them home safely'. He nodded his response and then turned to follow the others.
oOoOoOo
Rodney fought his way back to consciousness only to wish that he hadn't bothered. He found himself in a dark, damp cell, with no light and nothing more comfortable than a thin, straw mattress to lie on.
For a moment he tried to gather his thoughts, trying to remember how he'd got there. And then, in a rush, the terrifying images of his memory came back.
"Carson?" he called out softly, his voice thin from the after effects of the stunner. "Carson!" he tried again, this time with more confidence and volume.
The only reply was silence.
Getting to his feet, Rodney tentatively explored the room, using his hands as a guide. He found the door, solid and unyielding. His attempts to open it only resulted in bruises and a few extra scrapes on his already suffering hands. He'd obviously injured his hands in the crash. He hadn't noticed it at the time. He had been too busy worrying about the badly injured Carson at the time.
His exploration of the room next took him to a corner, where the stench was enough to make him move away from it very quickly. There was obviously no en-suite in this prison.
Rodney's eyes were now beginning to adjust to the darkness. Although he wouldn't go as far as to say that he could see his surroundings, he could make out vague objects. There was a square shaped light patch near his bed, and he made his way carefully over to it, to see if there was anyway he could increase the light. His hand made contact with a harsh, stiff material. As he touched it, he could feel the air fill with dust particles that made him sneeze. And sneeze, and sneeze.
"Just great!" he muttered. "House-keeping ought to be shot." He paused for a moment, and almost laughed. He realised it was distinctly possible, given their captor, that house-keeping had been shot, at the very least.
He did manage to move the material away from the window enough to get more light into the room. It also allowed him to see that there would be no escape through the window. It was covered with thick, iron bars.
As the light trickled into the room, Rodney heard a groan from the other side of the room. Turning quickly, he saw the solid frame of Carson Beckett lying on another bed. He crossed the room quickly, and crouched down beside his friend.
"Carson," he said sharply. "Can you hear me?"
The doctor replied with a groan, his eyes still closed, dark lashes etched on his pale cheeks.
Rodney reached out a hand and gently shook the Scot.
"Carson," he tried again. "Now listen to me. I want you to open your eyes and look at me. It's important you wake up. You've got a head injury, and I want to see if you make sense. Or at least as much sense as usual." The last remark was muttered to himself.
"R'ney?" Carson's voice was weak and indistinct. The doctor's eyes still didn't open, but he did turn slightly in the direction of Rodney's voice.
"Yes, Carson," Rodney replied. "It's me, now waken up."
Rodney continued to examine Carson as he tried to persuade his friend to waken up. He noted that someone had put a bandage, a more or less clean bandage at that, round the doctor's head wound. There was blood seeping through it slightly, but the worst of the bleeding seemed to have stopped.
Rodney carefully lifted the covers off Carson's leg to see if it had been treated too. It had been. The leg was now straight and a make-shift splint had been strapped to it. Obviously their captor wanted them alive, at least for the time being.
"Where're we?" Carson slurred, his eyes now open a crack.
"In a cell somewhere," Rodney answered vaguely. "Sorry I can't be more exact, but I left my A to Z of the Pegasus Galaxy in the Jumper."
Carson managed to raise a weak smile in response, but that was enough to exhaust his energies, and the Scot turned his head away from the light, and his eyes fluttered shut again.
"Carson, now wake up!" Rodney continued, concern making his tone sharp.
"Tired," Carson muttered, almost inaudibly.
"I know, Carson, but it's important to try to stay awake."
"You should listen to Dr McKay," a voice said from the door. "He does make sense occasionally.
Rodney turned to look at their captor, his eyes full of the anger he was feeling. As he turned, Rodney could feel Carson's body tense under his hand.
The Scot's eyes flew open, wider now than before. "Oh God, no," he said, his voice full of despair. "Not you, again. Not again, not now, not now . . ." Carson's voice trailed away as his body gave up the fight to stay conscious.
"What do you want from us?" Rodney said, standing up, making sure he was between Carson and their captor.
"You will find out soon enough, Doctor," came the infuriating reply, as their captor turned silently, and left, closing the door with a solid thunk behind him.