Chapter 4 – Rescue Attempt
"Okay what's your idea?" Weir asks when she enters the briefing room with the team, Zelenka, Lorne and Col. Caldwell in it.
"Well, Ronon, Zelenka and Lorne have apparently been working on a solution for the last three days, when they had an idea they ran it by Caldwell."
"What's the idea?" She asks impatiently.
"We use the Daedalus." Ronon tells her.
"I thought the Daedalus couldn't locate him?" Weir asks confused.
"We can't that's where Zelenka and Lorne come into it." Caldwell says.
"Ok someone better starts filling in the gaps because at the moment you are just wasting my time." Weir says forcefully, she's worried about Rodney and if they have a viable option to rescue him she needed to know, now.
"Ma'am what we're suggesting is that Caldwell beam us down to the planet. My team and I take Zelenka to wherever he needs to shut off whatever is blocking the Daedalus from beaming up while Col. Sheppard and his team go and find McKay. Then all Caldwell has to do is beam us up and we're all home free." Lorne explains.
"So your idea is for me to send you all on a mission to the middle of a wraith outpost where you can't get out. What if Zelenka can't shut it off?" Weir asks.
"Then we'll meet up with the others and McKay can fix it," Zelenka says.
"And failing that we steal a Dart and fly right back to the Daedalus." Sheppard explains.
"Alright, go bring him home." Weir replies after thinking it over.
Several Hours Later
"Atlantis this is Col. Sheppard please respond." Sheppard requests over the radio when the Daedalus is once more over Lantea.
"Yes John I'm here." Weir says just stopping herself from crying out with relief, they made it back! "Was the mission successful?" She asks.
"I'm sorry Elisabeth, he was no where to be found. So either he's escaped and is running around the planet somehow masking his locater beacon or…" Sheppard begins but trails off.
"Or he's been fed upon." Weir finishes for him. "Ok, come in down, we'll debrief in fifteen minutes."
"Yes Ma'am, Sheppard out."
Fifteen Minutes Later
Never before has Elisabeth Weir seen a room practically screaming with hopelessness, because this was the last great idea, and now Rodney was really lost to them, possibly forever, just like Ford. But now wasn't the time to think about that, maybe if they worked out what went wrong then they could still make it work.
"Ok, what happened?" Weir asks as she sits down.
"The locater beacon would have been able to penetrate the barrier masking the Wraith life signs, hell Caldwell never lost sight of us. But we went in anyway, Zelenka couldn't find any device and we couldn't find any Rodney, we searched for nearly two hours with Wraith hot on our asses the whole time, but he wasn't there." Sheppard explains never once looking up, he spoke in a dejected monotone voice the entire time.
"I'm sorry to have to do this but I have to declare Rodney Missing and Presumed… Presumed Dead." Weir says, "We'll discuss your next mission in the morning, get some rest. Dismissed." Weir orders before leaving the table and once more heading to her office, she knows Sheppard will follow and he does.
"Elisabeth, we can't give up on him." Sheppard says angrily.
"Give me another option John!" Weir yells at him.
"We don't leave our people behind!" He yells back.
"Well at the moment we don't have a choice, tell me a way to get him back and I'll do it, but John at this point if he's getting back he'll have to work it out on his own, I won't risk more lives! We can't help him, I don't like this any more than you do, if you attempt to go after him without my authorization I will have you forcibly stopped am I clear?" She says quieter but no less forceful, and regretful.
"Yes Ma'am." Sheppard says, and just by the way he said it she knew he may never look at her the same way again.
I am soooo sorry this is nearly a week late! Things got crazy and I haven't been at school, which you'd think would give me more time to write but anyway, I'm really sorry but next chapter will be up later today! As always I hope you all enjoyed it and please review!
~ Alyxx