Chapter 2 – Asteroids and Shadows

Sheppard flew the Jumper out of the atmosphere of the planet now home to Atlantis. He guided it towards the tiny glint he saw reflected in the sun a short distance away. He activated the comm, "Sheppard to Daedalus."

"Caldwell. Go ahead, Colonel."

"I've got the ship you requested, sir."

"The garage is open."

Sheppard smiled, "Acknowledged."

He flew the Jumper into the open hanger and parked it between a couple of F302s where a space had been cleared. He lowered the rear hatch and walked through the ship to find McKay.

He headed straight for engineering and found he had been correct in his assumption of where his friend would be. He spotted Rodney leaning over a console next to a woman with long brown hair tied back behind her head so tightly that her face was slightly stretched.

Sheppard recognised her as the chief engineer, Dr Joanna Levitt. She was engaged in a heated discussion which would have sounded like an argument to a casual observer.

Another engineer was glaring daggers at them as he hunched over a panel on the other side of the room. His short black hair was on end where he had probably run his hands through it in exasperation after his first encounter with McKay.

He locked eyes with Sheppard and his expression was long suffering as he tilted his head in the direction of the raised voices.

Sheppard stopped in front of them and asked loudly, "I hope you're not ignoring her, McKay? You should listen when she tells you you're going to blow up her pristine ship."

Rodney stopped speaking and straightened up with a grimace, "No. I was just pointing out the finer points of this energy flow schematic and how the 'two' I found on the second line really should be a 'three;' otherwise one of her crew may cause the ship to become nothing but a cloud of tiny metal fragments."

Levitt frowned and rolled her eyes behind his turned back. John smirked at her and then looked at Rodney, "You sure you don't want Teyla, Ronon and me to come with you?"

Rodney glanced down at his computer, "Yes. You've got your responsibilities on Atlantis and I'm surrounded by enough military types to keep me out of trouble."

I hope so, Sheppard thought. He said, "Alright. Well it's only four days. I'll see you later and good luck with the test."

McKay smiled at him lopsidedly and said, "Okay, thanks."

John tapped his radio, "Sheppard to the bridge."

Caldwell answered again, "We're about to break orbit. Is the Jumper secure?"

"Yes, sir. I'm ready to beam back down."

"Standby."

Sheppard quickly remembered and said to Rodney, "Oh, bring me a souvenir rock sample. Preferably with a nice black Asgard beam scorch mark."

His vision was obscured by white light as the last word left his mouth. He thought he had seen McKay nod at him, but his view melted into the Atlantis control room before he had been sure.

He walked up and stood next to Mr Woolsey, Ronon and Teyla as they watched the display showing the Daedalus in orbit. He shook his head at them as they gave him questioning glances.

Teyla said, "Well, Rodney does not really need us on this mission. He is perfectly safe on the Daedalus and it is only for a few days."

Ronon grunted in agreement and then mumbled, "There's a gate in the system. If they need any help they can call us."

Sheppard frowned and then smiled, "I know. It just feels like we're abandoning him with people he doesn't know."

Teyla frowned, "Dr Zelenka and several members of the science staff are with him. He will be fine."

The technician announced, "They have left orbit and are entering hyperspace."

Sheppard watched the display with the others as the Daedalus blip vanished from the screen.

After a few seconds Ronon asked, "Who's up for lunch?"

Sheppard smiled as he walked away with the remainder of his team, but he could not help the unsettled feeling inside him at not having McKay within radio contact. Maybe he had just got far too used to having him around and being the one in charge of watching over his friend in the past few years.

He shook himself out of his thoughts and cursed his over protectiveness as he went into the mess hall. He joined the queue with a tray to grab something to eat before the afternoon training session with the marines.

Another asteroid peeled apart in a growing cloud of debris and small rocks. The blue light of the scything beam that had destroyed the floating rock in the massive belt immediately stopped. The ship it had emanated from hung in space and a much smaller ship kept a safe distance to closely monitor the destruction.

Zelenka looked out of the window of the Puddle Jumper and then analysed the data just sent to the tablet plugged into the sensors. The pilot, Captain Edwards, backed the craft away from the spinning rock fragments as some came closer to where they were.

Radek frowned down at the data and said, "Rodney, there was a minor fluctuation at zero point five seconds again."

"Yes, yes, yes. I'm on it," was the exasperated reply over the radio.

"The new device needs to be activated a fraction of a second before the beam is fired or the lag will keep occurring."

"I know, Radek!" McKay snapped back over the comm.

Zelenka sighed and looked out of the window while he waited until the new configuration was complete. He watched the asteroids spread out in front of them with Edwards. The sun reflected from the rocks and the more distant ones looked like tiny misshapen moons as they slowly drifted through space.

After a few minutes Captain Edwards asked, "So, how much are you going to push the beams?"

"They are currently at 105% while we individually adjust each one of the emitters for the upgrade until we are sure they are working properly."

Edwards nodded while he tapped the controls.

McKay announced over the radio, "The adjustment's complete. Transmitting next target."

Edwards brought up the HUD and flew the Jumper to the location indicated.

Radek watched as another beam arced from the Daedalus and obliterated a large rock into nothing but dust and shards. He mumbled, "Tenth time lucky..."

Edwards smiled across at him and nodded, "Yes, I'll be glad for a nice relaxing shift at the helm after this excitement."

Radek analysed the data and a grin spread across his face, "I think we've done it!"

His voice carried through the radio and Rodney eagerly said, "Increasing to maximum 110%!" There was a brief pause and he added, "You'd better back off a little bit more. I think this one will melt anything in the vicinity; even Puddle Jumpers with shields."

Edwards once again lined them up for the next asteroid marked by the signal from the Daedalus. Radek glanced out of the window and then down at his tablet with a smile as he waited for the results after the next shot was fired.

Dr Thompson kept a careful eye on the energy distribution graph during and after each use of the Asgard beam. He had acknowledged that the device was a success after the first shot, even though it needed some minor calibrations before it would be perfect. Deep down he was disappointed that it was working, his dislike for the man standing on the opposite side of the room twisted even more. He would have enjoyed seeing McKay's smug face crumple into misery when the man finally received another failure to add to his infuriatingly short list.

It was not that Thompson was jealous because he was unintelligent. He had enough high level degrees to give even the great Rodney McKay a run for his money. He just lacked the practical experience under pressure and the galaxy sized ego that McKay had nurtured throughout his life.

The radio chatter between the Daedalus and the Puddle Jumper was coming over the main speaker so that everyone in engineering and on the bridge knew what was going on.

Levitt was sitting next to McKay as they configured the device remotely from the main console in the middle of the room.

They were just about to test the highest yield when Zelenka said over the radio, "We are detecting something on the sensors. It appears to be a shadow."

Thompson knew that was bad news, but the pilot on the Jumper asked, "What is it?"

McKay looked up from where he had been staring down at the screens and said patronisingly, "It means that your little ship and our much larger ship have triangulated yet another ship in the area."

Thompson felt a deep frown forming on his forehead as McKay insulted his fellow crewmember's intelligence. His anger only increased further as McKay gestured with his hands to each slowly drawn out syllable.

Levitt looked across at Thompson and asked, "Are we detecting anything?"

He quickly neutralised his expression and changed to the sensors. He shook his head, "No. But they could've masked their approach using the asteroids."

McKay was gazing at him curiously and then frowned slightly, "Or they may have been hiding behind one of the planets."

Thompson shot him what he hoped was a scathing look, but McKay had already tilted his head back down to analyse the data on the screen in front of him.

Caldwell spoke through the open radio channel, "Looks like our game of Asteroids is over for the time being. I've recalled the Jumper and we're on an intercept course. If it's the Wraith, maybe we can really find out what these weapons can now do."

Thompson looked up from his screen just in time to see McKay sharing a smile with Levitt and he sighed quietly. The scientist from Atlantis was simply impossible for him to get along with. The superior looks and comments grated him so much he had to grit his teeth on occasions to bite back a reply.

McKay already seemed to have endeared himself to chief engineer Levitt and just about everyone else around him was now worshipping at the altar of Rodney McKay.

Thompson was not going to let his guard down though, so he continued to make sure the results were accurate and nothing was missed.

"We have the Jumper, sir," Major Marks announced from his seat at the weapons console on the bridge.

Caldwell said, "Raise the shields and have the F302s standing by." He turned in his chair to Crewman Saunders standing at the console behind, "Anything on the sensors yet?"

"No, sir. The data from the Jumper puts the shadow behind an asteroid on our current trajectory."

He nodded at them and then tapped his radio, "Caldwell to engineering."

"Levitt."

"Ask Dr McKay and his team to reduce the output of the beam back to 105%."

"Yes, sir."

Caldwell was not surprised when an annoyed and insistent voice spoke through the channel, "But this is the perfect time to test it at full capacity!"

"I disagree, Dr McKay. We know it works. I'm not going to risk my ship in a live combat situation."

Levitt seemed to have pushed him away or at least warned him as she replied, "He understands, sir. We're adjusting it now."

Saunders interrupted them, "The ship has moved into sensor range. It's a Wraith Cruiser! They're launching darts!"

"Can we escape into hyperspace?"

"No, sir," the Helmsman replied. "There are too many asteroids around us to create a stable field."

Caldwell's mind kicked up another gear from where it had been ticking over in apprehension of what was about to happen. He kept his voice even as he calmly relayed his orders to the crew. "Launch 302s to intercept. Take us out of the main part of the asteroid belt and begin evasive manoeuvres. Move us within firing range as soon as possible."

Each member of his crew replied, "Yes, sir!" He received confirmation that the beam was adjusted and ready from his chief engineer.

Caldwell watched and waited as the pieces moved into place and the battle begun.

TBC