A/N: This story is a birthday present for my good friend and Beta buddy, ladygris.

Hehe! It is a very sneaky writer who gets the birthday girl to help make her own present.

Many, many good wishes for your very special day!

~Sandy

Atlantis Awaits

Chapter 3

Danger

With the protocols to protect the ATAs in place, the ZPMs were reinstalled and thoroughly tested once more. Woolsey asked for a volunteer to try it out and Lieutenant Coughlin agreed to act as the guinea pig. He stepped through the wormhole into the Gate Room without suffering so much as a muscle twitch.

Once it was deemed safe, the remainder of the teams stranded offworld had been allowed to return, much to their relief. Each team member was then given the most thorough physical exam they'd had since before posting to Pegasus, bearing the poking, prodding and especially the neurological tests with quiet dignity and grace. Not that they had a choice.

Amanda went over the test results, releasing the soldiers one by one, leaving Evan for last. Pulling the curtains around the bed as she'd done for the others, she called up his file. "All your tests look good, Major. According to this you are in perfect…"

Evan plucked the tablet from her hands, tossed it on the bed and before she could utter another word, swept her into his arms, kissing her as if he'd never get another chance and wanted to make it memorable for both of them. His hands rested on her waist holding her close as hers delved into his hair, kissing him back with equal zeal. They eventually parted, their foreheads touching as their breaths collided in the small space between them.

"…health."

"Missed you."

"Ditto." Amanda's arms tightened around his shoulders, her voice soft, barely above a whisper. "I thought…"

"Me too. But I'm here now." Evan held her close while she laid her head on his shoulder, her hands gripping the back of his shirt. "Know what I'd like to do right now?"

A small snort caused her breath to hit the side of his neck. "Making love in the Infirmary is frowned upon."

He chuckled silently and she felt it where their bodies touched. "That too. But first I need a long hot shower and a meal that's not made from MREs. Later we can talk about your idea."

"Wish I could join you, but we have too many patients for me to even think about more than eating at my desk and catching a few hours of sleep." She stepped out of his arms, picking up the tablet again. "Some of the weaker ATAs have been released though not back to work yet. Sheppard, McKay, Campbell, Stackhouse and four others are in comas. The rest are disoriented and unsteady on their feet."

"Isn't this privileged medical information?" Evan sat on the side of the bed bringing his eyes level with Amanda's.

"With Sheppard incapacitated, you…" she poked him in the chest, "…are now the ranking military officer, second in command of the base and the strongest ATA gene carrier. You, Woolsey and the rest of the senior staff are the only ones we can give the information to."

He shrugged, conceding the point. "Any idea when they might wake up?"

"Sorry. I wish the news was better."

Taking one of her hands in his, he kissed the backs of her fingers. "If you can get away, come have dinner with me."

"I'll try."

After one last kiss, Evan squeezed Amanda's hand and left.

~~O~~

Forty-eight hours after she'd communicated her idea to Carson, Jennifer still hadn't heard from him. He more than likely still had his hands full with patients that needed his immediate attention. The research she and Amanda were doing could wait.

With a sigh, she pushed to her feet and went to make rounds. She and her staff were keeping a close eye on the ATAs around the clock. While the weaker gene carriers had already come around, the others still needed to be watched.

As always, she finished her rounds at Rodney's bedside. Aside from the infrequent odd blip on the EEG, nothing much had changed for him or the others who were still comatose. She brushed the hair from his forehead, kissed his cheek and dropped into the chair. Taking his hand, she waited for some sign that would tell her he was waking up or that he knew she was there. As a doctor she knew it was futile, but the woman in her still hoped.

~~O~~

Soft footsteps entered the Infirmary coming to a stop at the foot of Chuck's bed. Glancing around, she dragged a chair over and pulled the curtains closed. She sat down, tucked her feet under her and rested her head on the bed where she could see his face. Before long she was asleep.

Dr. Martin Joval watched Dusty Mehra sneak into Chuck's cubicle and smiled to himself. She and the Gate Tech were in a relationship and while they weren't an obvious choice, he had to admit they made a fine couple.

Valerie Briggs had recovered enough to return to Earth and as Jennifer had predicted, she wasn't happy about it. He signed the transfer and forwarded it to Mr. Woolsey and Major Lorne before moving on to the next patient.

Tommy Stackhouse had actually reacted to the pain stimulus test earlier in the day. Now it was time to perform the test again. The young Marine was on his left side, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. As he'd done countless times before, Joval pinched Tommy's earlobe expecting nothing much would happen, but this time he was in for a shock.

Without opening his eyes, Tommy slapped his hand away. "Cut it out!"

Excited by this change, Joval stepped outside of the curtained area. "Jennifer! Stackhouse is awake!" He took out his penlight lifting an eyelid to check his pupil reactions. Again Tommy slapped his hand away.

"What the hell? I'm tryin' to sleep."

"Sergeant Stackhouse, its Dr. Joval. How do you feel?"

Blinking, Tommy rolled onto his back looking around in confusion just as Jennifer arrived at his bedside. "Where am I?"

"The Infirmary, Sergeant." The CMO flashed her own penlight in his eyes and this time he didn't complain.

"How'd I get here? Last thing I remember is makin' sure everyone behaved while the science team installed the ZPMs. Next thing I know, that guy's pinchin' m' ear and shinin' a light in my eyes." He looked around but the curtains had been drawn. "It isn't just me, isn't it?"

"No. All the ATAs were affected except those who were offworld at the time. You're the first to awaken." Jennifer turned to Joval. He nodded and left, knowing what had to be done next.

"Who, uh…"

"Colonel Sheppard, Dr. McKay, Sergeant Campbell, a few more. The others are resting here and in the auxiliary Infirmary. Some have been released."

Tommy was more than a little disturbed by the news. "Man. That stinks. We gonna be okay?"

"Don't know yet. You're awake so there's hope." Jennifer patted the young Marine's arm.

"Can I get something to eat, Doc?"

She smiled. "I'll order you a tray."

~~O~~

"May the Ancestors be with you and your people, Dr. Beckett." Donell clasped Carson's right hand in both of his. The man's entire family had been ill, his wife nearly dying from the illness that had swept their village. He'd been so grateful for the doctor's aid that he'd insisted on taking Carson and all of his equipment to the Ring of the Ancestors for his return home.

Carson waved as the wagon, pulled by horse-like service animals, disappeared around a curve in the path then shouldered several cases before dialing the DHD and sending his IDC. When it was accepted, he picked up the remainder of his equipment and returned home.

A pair of Marines stepped forward to help then followed him to the Infirmary. On the way, they met up with Amanda headed back to work after getting a few hours of sleep. "Welcome back, Carson." She took one of the three cases he was carrying, directing the Marines to set the others on the floor near the drug cabinet.

"Thanks, love. Sorry I wasn't here for the crisis."

"I'm not or you'd be in the same condition." She gestured to the filled-to-capacity-and-beyond ward.

"Alison? Is she…"

"She's fine. Her team was offworld when it happened. She's helping with the research in the secondary lab."

Relieved, Carson lowered his voice. "And how is the love o' your life?" He knew that Amanda and Evan had been keeping their relationship low-key.

She rolled her eyes as she called up the files on their patients. "He was offworld too so he's fine. He's…"

Alarms blared and seconds later Jennifer's voice called out. "Code Blue! I need a crash cart!"

Carson and Amanda hurried in her direction, finding her standing over John's bed, his chest bare, the defibrillator paddles in her hands. "Charge two hundred! Clear!" The nurse assisting her stepped back as Jennifer pressed the paddles to his chest his body twitching at the activation. On the display, the red line that tracked his heartbeat wavered then steadied into its normal rhythm. Her breath whooshed out in relief. She ordered tests and the nurse rushed to comply. "I want someone to stay with him at all times."

"I will."

Jennifer turned, just now noticing Carson and Amanda. They all turned as Teyla pushed her way between them to John's bedside.

"John needs to know that those who care for him are near and anxiously awaiting his recovery." Carson brought a chair, she seated herself, reached between the safety rails and held John's hand.

Hours Later

"Mr. Woolsey, Major Lorne and Dr. Zelenka to Operations." Amelia's voice rang through the city laced with a strong sense of urgency.

The three men arrived in the Gate Room within seconds of each other.

"What's the emergency, Sergeant?"

She drew their attention to the long range sensor display. "That asteroid we were tracking? It's changed course."

Radek hurried to an unmanned workstation and began furiously tapping at the keys. "Oh. This is not good."

"Doctor?" Woolsey inquired when Radek didn't continue.

With a few more taps on the computer, Radek overlaid the long range sensor data with the images of the solar system. "This blue line indicates the path that the asteroid was supposed to have taken." He pointed. "If it had stayed on this course, it would have missed our solar system by several billion kilometers. However, the outermost planet's gravity and that of its seven moons as altered its trajectory. Not much, but enough.

"First it will impact the fifth planet shattering it and sending the pieces on a collision course with our moons." He tapped keys on the tablet now in his hands, the view on the monitor changing to a computer model showing the planet breaking up and flying toward New Lantea. "These pieces will annihilate two of the five moons that surround this world."

"How long until this happens, Doctor?" Woolsey asked.

"Its impact with the planet will take place in approximately thirty-seven hours, long before the Daedalus is to arrive so we cannot expect help from that quarter.

"But to answer your question, it will take only a short time for the moons around New Lantea to be impacted which means that someone will have to destroy the pieces long before they approach."

"Sir, shouldn't Dr. Beckett be here?" Evan voiced his concern.

Woolsey shook his head. "The good doctor is needed in the Infirmary so it's your turn in the chair, Major."

Radek continued, "It would be best if you could take care of them before they enter the planet's gravitational field, Major."

"Yeah. I got that."

~~O~~

Evan looked at the control chair not with apprehension or fear, but with…concern. He'd only been in it a couple of times and never with so much riding on it. What if he couldn't do it? What if his gene wasn't strong enough and he hadn't the control he needed to do what they were asking of him?

You could have stayed on the porch, Lorne, but you chose to run with the big dogs. It's your turn to lead the pack, so get to it!

Asteroid Impact plus Twenty-Three Minutes

Radek and a team of scientists worked around Evan as he prepared to eliminate the threat to the city. The chair turned within the circle of light as he got his bearings thanking John and his team for finding the additional drones. This should be a walk in the par-

"Suck ra ninski!"

Evan understood enough Czech to know that what the scientist said was not a good thing. "What is it, Doc?" His eyes were closed as he waited for the go-ahead to begin launching the drones.

"The planet did not break apart as expected. It remains mostly intact and will now impact with only one of our moons."

"One instead of two. That's good, right?"

"No, it is not, Major. The moon will receive a glancing blow that will send it on a collision course with New Lantea where it will cause an extinction level event far worse than the one that exterminated the dinosaurs on Earth sixty-five million years ago. It would be a waste of time and resources to try to eliminate any one of these threats so…"

"We're getting out of here now!" He thought the PA to life. "Attention all personnel! This is Major Lorne. Grab onto something! We're taking off!" He raised the shield, activated the stardrive and lifted off. In his mind, he could see the impact as the smallest of the moons, still intact, headed right for them. With another thought, he chose a random course, engaged the hyperdrive and took Atlantis into hyperspace seconds before they would have been smashed against its surface.

TBC