A/N: I am going to try to get a post up at least every other day. I'm still finishing up the story and proof reading it before I post. Sorry about the cliff hanger!

Chapter Four: Czech in Charge

Rodney stared blankly at the ceiling of the infirmary. He had been examined and re-examined over the past week. A steady stream of people seemed to trickle by to see how he was doing. He did not recognize anyone and he just wanted to be left alone to wallow in his own misery.

"And we have managed to get two percent more power output from the ZPM with these modifications," droned the scruffy looking scientist that had to keep pushing his glasses up on his nose. Rodney had tuned out most of what he had said, he had trouble following the accent anyways.

"Um, great."

"Rodney, it is strange to see you not talking. Most days you will not stop." He paused, "This is a good change I think."

The scientist rolled over in the bed and looked at the man with narrowed eyes. It seemed that he was waiting for a retort of some sort. "Look, who ever you are…"

"Radek," he supplied.

"Yeah, whatever. Radek, I really don't care about a Zed-PM at the moment, much less a measly two percent power increase. I have more pressing matters at hand, like trying to remember who the hell I am." The frustration was clear through the strain in his voice.

"Your pleasant personality has survived unchanged," said Elizabeth as she pulled back the curtain that isolated Rodney from the rest of the infirmary.

Radek snickered earning a glare from McKay.

"I see Dr Zelenka is keeping you company," she smiled at the annoyed look Rodney had. "I wanted to be the one to tell you that I just spoke with Dr Beckett. It took some convincing, as he wanted to keep you here until he could figure out what was causing your amnesia, however you've suffered enough for now. Physically you're fine, so unless you want to, you're free to go back to your own quarters."

"Wonderful. Now if I knew where my quarters were, this might be welcome news." He tried to sound sarcastic, but in reality, he was terrified of leaving the only place he had become familiar with.

Radek looked over at Rodney. "If it is ok with you, I can…" he paused searching for the right term, "show you the ropes."

Rodney opened his mouth to protest, but Dr Weir cut in, "That's a great idea Radek. You could probably show him the lab too and see if that triggers any memories."

Pressing his lips into a thin line he glared at both of them, just for the sake of glaring.

It was weird to look at pictures of himself with people and not remember who they were or when the photos had been taken. He moved from photo to photo examining each, and desperately racking his brain for any inkling of a memory. He sighed still frustrated from his lack of success and turned to Radek who was standing in the middle of the room watching him. "So, I was told I work as a physicist here?"

"Yes, one of the best."

"Huh. What did I actually do?"

Radek had a dangerous glint in his eye. He knew that taking advantage of the man while he was like this was low, but every memory of every name Rodney had called him came back and the temptation was too great. Besides, if the amnesia was permanent the lie would become the truth. "You are my second in command."

"Really?" Rodney sounded skeptical. "You just don't seem like someone who would be in charge of something like this."

The Czech frowned, even without a memory the man was still insulting. "I cannot help it if I'm a better scientist than you." He shrugged apologetically.

Still not convinced, but not having enough information on the matter to argue, Rodney just shrugged. "Whatever." Changing the subject he rubbed his hands together and said, "So, are you going to show me to my lab?"

"Our lab," Radek corrected. "If you will come with me I will show you."

"There wasn't much left for us to find," stated Major Lorne. He had spent a week on the planet where Rodney had lost his memory and they had lost Colonel Sheppard. "The entire population of the village had been decimated."

Elizabeth nodded, she was told as such in the message he had radioed back in the first few hours of his investigation. Now Lorne's team, including Ronon and Dr Biro, were seating in the briefing room bringing her up to speed on the situation. "Did you find anything that may indicate where Colonel Sheppard is?"

Lorne shook his head, "We didn't find a body, so there is a good chance he isn't dead. What we did find may explain what happened to Dr McKay."

"The building where Teyla and I found Rodney in was also some kind of lab." Despite Ronon's broken ribs and bruises, and the protests of Dr Beckett, he had insisted on joining the investigation. "It was hard to tell. It looked like after we left someone came back and tried to destroy most of it."

"Was there any indication of what was going on in that lab?"

"Dr Biro would probably be the best one to field that question," Lorne motioned to the short woman who had been unusually quiet.

"Well, it was more than a lab, really. More like a research complex by the look of things." The pathologist seemed impressed by the structure they had found and began to speak with fervor, "The building seemed to be made up of several containment rooms, which is where Dr McKay was found, a positive pressure laboratory, a disturbingly extensive morgue and various other offices and rooms for security."

Elizabeth nodded, "So it would seem that the people using the building had a good grasp of technology."

"Not a good grasp, an excellent grasp. Medically more advanced than we are, at least in the areas of genetic manipulation, and that's what I'm assuming most of the equipment there was used for." Pausing for a moment she stared off into space as if double checking her words. "We found a few bodies in the morgue that hadn't been touched, so I did perform an autopsy on them."

"What did they die from?"

"We're still running some tests, but right now I think that there was an abnormality in their brain. We found significant amounts of scar tissue in very specific areas in the temporal lobe as well as on the hippocampus. Damage to both those areas can cause permanent memory loss."

"But that won't kill someone in itself, right?"

Dr Biro shook her head, "No. But what caused the scar tissue might. It is highly indicative that these individuals suffered from some kind of seizures. From the damage I would guess they were a type of focal seizures, meaning they only affected a small area and there may not have been any physical manifestations."

Elizabeth shook her head in disbelief, "So it's possible then, that these individuals were experimenting with seizures and memory loss? Could this be what's affecting Dr McKay?"

"I believe so. At least from what we could discern from what wasn't destroyed. There could have been something being researched there that is much more malicious than just destroying someone's memory."

Major Lorne spoke up, "We think that the village was a testing ground for whoever was conducting this research. There was also some evidence indicating that they just recently developed this settlement too. And judging by what little personal effects they had, my money is on it being some kind of refugee camp or a penal colony."

"So we are looking for a planet that these people either ran from or were forced to leave," stated Ronon. "I think I know a few planets we can check out and see if anyone knows anything about this."

Looking at Major Lorne, Elizabeth said, "At least it's something."

Rodney rubbed his burning eyes, he was getting a headache and was desperately trying to ignore it. He had finally found something he remembered and he wasn't about to call it a night because of a little headache.

"Rodney, maybe you should go to sleep?" said Radek from the other side of the lab. He looked worried.

"No, I'm fine," he said stifling a yawn. "These equations seem to be the only thing I can do right at the moment. I don't have a clue what they're suppose to be for, but they're making a lot of sense to me."

"Fine. Maybe you can take break and come help me?" Dr Zelenka was holding a tiny device in his hands, it looked as if it were dead. "A few weeks ago, you could turn this on. I have made modifications to it and I need to test it now."

Holding out his hand Rodney grabbed the device. Almost as if on cue a panel on it lit up. "So what's it supposed to do?"

"I don't know," said Radek, he looked over at the device's screen and began to make several notes on his computer.

Suddenly a stabbing pain shot through Rodney's head. He yelled out in pain and grabbed his head, dropping the device. Deftly Radek caught it midair and set it on the countertop.

"Rodney, are you ok?"

It took him a moment, but the pain seemed to pass. He straightened up and said, "Yeah, I think so. Stupid headache." Snapping his fingers at Zelenka, "Give it back."

"Do not drop it again," warned the scientist.

Taking the device back Rodney held it like he had before expecting it to turn on. It flickered slightly but then stayed dark. "Ok, I know I didn't break it." He concentrated on it harder. Zelenka had explained to him how the ATA gene worked, so thinking about turning on the device should have turned it on. Instead the stabbing pain returned, this time it was so great that he fell over. The last thing he heard was Zelenka radioing Dr Beckett to the lab.