Chapter 2, part 2
The next flight of stairs led them into the Stargate Operations. Alice paused for a moment to take in the sight.
It was bigger than what she'd imagined. The control room hung above the lower level, where the Stargate itself was located. Several futuristic-looking consoles dotted the area, with a couple of people sitting in front of the monitors, focusing on them so much they didn't yet notice Sheppard and Alice's entrance. On their left, there was a short gangway leading to a glassed room; someone was sitting inside, just visible through the window. On the right, there was a balcony and stairs leading down to the Gateroom, and all the way across was a walled-off circular area that Alice suspected might be a briefing room of some sort. Everything looked alien, but elegant, and Alice was impressed with the overall design. It was certainly an improvement over the drab, gray insides of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex. And here, there were windows; through the dark blue-tinted glass, she could see city's towers reaching up to the sky.
"So what do you think?" Sheppard asked, waving his hand around in an all-encompassing gesture.
"It's nothing short of amazing," Alice answered, awed. "The Ancients didn't lack a sense of style, did they?"
He sniggered. "No, they did not." He watched her as she approached one of the consoles and leaned over it curiously. A technician who sat nearby looked up and noticed her for the first time. He was wearing a sort of charcoal black uniform with wide green stripes on the sleeves and shoulders, and had a patch with a flag on the left arm: black, red and yellow, denoting Germany.
"Hello," he said hesitantly, throwing her a suspicious look. She straightened up at once and smiled timidly back.
"Hi."
"You'll have time to make the acquaintance of everyone," Sheppard clapped her on the shoulder and she turned towards him. "Let's go meet the boss." That, she knew, would be Mr. Woolsey, the former American representative to the International Oversight Advisory, now the commander of the Atlantis expedition. Alice hadn't had a chance to meet him when she was deployed with the Prometheus, but she'd read up on him and he seemed like a typical bureaucrat, more concerned with the rules than human lives. Alice was a firm believer that the rules were established to serve the people, and not the other way around. Still, the latest reports painted a rather more favorable picture of the man, so maybe there was hope for him after all.
Sheppard led the way through the gangway to the glassed office on their left, knocked perfunctorily, and entered without invitation. Alice followed him more gingerly.
"Mr. Woolsey, this is Captain Alice Boyd, our newest acquisition," the lieutenant colonel announced as the man sitting at the desk looked up at their entrance.
He was of average height and build, his head balding, with only a thin remainder of dark hair on his temples. He had a pair of glasses on and was wearing what seemed to be the standard Atlantis uniform: charcoal black, but with deep red stripes instead of the green ones the technicians outside had; except his was pristine, not a crease on it, almost angular. To Alice, he looked like a lawyer, but his eyes were surprisingly kind when he stood up and offered her his hand, which she shook, inclining her head respectfully.
"Hello, Captain," he greeted her mildly. "Welcome to Atlantis."
"Thank you, sir," she replied with a small smile. "It's an honor to be here."
"You'll be interested to hear that she piloted our Jumper all the way here, and landed it perfectly on the first try," Sheppard informed him casually, taking a seat in front of the man's desk. Woolsey waved to Alice to get the other one and sat down himself.
"Really?" His eyes bored into Alice's as if he were trying to get to the other side of her skull. "So our hopes turned to be true, for once?"
Alice smiled nervously. "Yes, sir, insofar as my ATA gene is concerned, at least."
"She doesn't think she belongs in here," Sheppard explained in a theatrical whisper.
"And why is that, Captain?"
Alice began to feel a bit uncomfortable under his steady gaze.
"I'm a fighter pilot, sir. That's what I'm trained for."
"Well, you're here to pilot a Jumper. From what I understand, it isn't terribly different."
It was very different, Alice now knew, but she didn't think correcting him on this point was worthwhile. It wouldn't be fair to expect someone who's never flown anything to grasp such subtleties.
"Yes, sir, but that's not all there is to do here, isn't there?"
"No, it's not," he conceded and changed gears smoothly. "I understand that you are also a scientist?"
"More of an engineer, sir. But a good one," she admitted, thinking of her PhD dissertation, which generated some interest not only within the tight Stargate community, but also in the wider scientific world.
"Then you'll fit right in here," Woolsey assured her. "One thing we always seem to have in excess is technological problems or mysteries to discover."
"Yes, sir. But isn't the city thoroughly searched and studied by now?" Alice wondered. After all, it's been five years since the first Earthlings stepped through the Atlantis Gate.
"Well, yes and no. We've explored the entire city, that is true, but there are many labs and projects left over by Lanteans that we haven't gotten to study yet. It takes time, you see, and it's not the safest thing in the world to go poking around unknown Ancient tech..."
"Nooo, why wouldn't that be perfectly safe," Sheppard put in ironically, and then added more seriously: "We have had slightly different priorities too. The war with the Wraith and the Asurans, the fallout of the Hoffan drug dissemination, these things kind of pulled us away from exploring our fair city, and the Pegasus galaxy."
Alice nodded. This had been evident from the reports she's read, too. As much as Sheppard's own unit, for example, went out looking for new allies and technologies in the first couple of years, they limited those activities somewhat in the last while, instead opting for more direct approach in the continuous war. Oh, sure, they still went on reconnaissance missions from time to time, but much less frequently than previously.
"Indeed," Woolsey agreed. "So you see, Captain, we are quite desperate to get new resources that will help us in this ongoing struggle. You're just one of these resources."
Alice raised an eyebrow, but decided not to voice her doubts at that.
"Alright, I'm sure there will be more occasions to talk later, but for now I have work to do," the commander said, effectively ending the meeting. Sheppard and Alice stood.
"Thank you, sir." Alice nodded to him before heading out, Sheppard only waving his hand in an indeterminate gesture.
"So what do you think of our fair commander?" Sheppard asked as they crossed the gangway.
"He seems nice," Alice responded thoughtfully. "Is it normal for him to meet all his new people like that?"
"Eventually," Sheppard allowed. "You have to remember, most of the new people we're getting now are transfers from the SGC or Area 51, so he knows them, more or less. Hey, Schneider," he called to the technician who had previously greeted Alice. "What's up with that?" He pointed to a console on their right; the German was leaning over it, tapping the keys furiously.
"Don't know, it just froze on me. We've been trying to alter the code of one of the sub-processes to allow for a more precise pin-pointing of the leaky power relays, and it was working fine all morning, I have no idea why it just decided to stop…"
"Have you tried turning it off and on again?" Alice asked half-jokingly and approached the screen, her curiosity getting the better of her.
The technician looked at her as if she suddenly grew another head.
"It's Ancient technology," he said. His accent was nearly imperceptible. "I don't think a simple reboot is gonna solve the problem."
Alice shrugged nonchalantly, but cringed inwardly. "A computer is a computer, I don't care who built it, and code can sometimes get jumbled up if it arrives at an unpredicted loop or a missing error statement." She looked into the monitor and was happy to realize she could actually decipher some of the text frozen on the screen. "Especially if you guys tried to mess with it."
"Just do it," Sheppard told the German and the man went down on his knees – to find a reboot button, Alice thought – grumbling to himself in his language. The console flickered off and then lit up again. The strings of words were no longer still on the display; they were running through the screen like droplets, from the top towards bottom.
Schneider hmphed and started pushing buttons, bringing up a sandbox to check out the code, Alice guessed.
"Good catch," Sheppard told her and she smiled at him. It was such an easy thing, but sometimes people got stuck in their own heads and couldn't see the obvious answers. God knew it happened to her enough times so as to become seriously annoying when she was working on her research.
He led her towards the staircase again and they descended another flight of stairs. Sheppard stopped on the landing to point at the door, but he didn't go through it.
"This is where the Atlantis Infirmary is," he explained. "It has three levels, this one is General Infirmary, below we have the Operating Level and below that there's the Recovery Ward. Our current CMO is Doctor Jennifer Keller, but she isn't in the city today, so you'll meet her some other day."
"What about Doctor Beckett?" Alice inquired curiously. She knew he was a clone, albeit with all memories and emotions of the real one; he was officially dead, though, so he wouldn't be able to go visit his family. Alice presumed they might have given him a new identity, but surely his expertise would be invaluable for Atlantis?
"He wants to go back to Pegasus and continue his work on the effects of the Hoffan drug." Sheppard started off down the stairs again. "He feels responsible."
Alice didn't reply. She knew that it wasn't Doctor Beckett's fault, but there was no denying that if it hadn't been for him, the drug – she thought it should have been called the Hoffan poison – would not have been finished for a long time. He meant well, but all the best intentions couldn't erase the atrocious consequences.
They were down three flights of stairs before Sheppard stopped again.
"This level has some living quarters and labs," he explained. "My own room is here, as is Teyla's and Ronon's, but Woolsey and McKay opted for bigger quarters outside the Central Tower. Typical," he finished with a grin. They went down the stairs again and Alice began to wonder why they were walking at all, instead of using the Atlantis transporters; she's read about them in the reports, and they supposedly could take you almost anywhere in the city. She didn't ask, though.
Once they were at the base of the tower ("That's where the ZPMs are," Sheppard told her), the lieutenant colonel led them through a door and along a corridor.
"We'll have to climb a bit now," Sheppard warned her as they came to the end of the passage and started up the stairs. "Some additional exercise, eh?"
"Sir, why don't we take a transporter? I believe they are quite numerous in the city?" Alice finally asked after a few minutes, her breath getting slightly rugged.
"Not working," Sheppard explained, his respiration equally quickened. "It was one of the things damaged during the battle with the super-hive and the atmospheric re-entry… McKay is working on it but they have to first plug the holes in the power relays, lest we drain too much of the ZPMs."
They didn't speak after that, instead concentrating on their breathing as they hiked higher and higher, finally coming to a stop on the last landing, at what must have been the very top of that tower. Sheppard led the way through another corridor and they finally entered a circular room, empty but for a large chair in the very center. Alice had never seen it before, of course, but she knew instantly what it was.
"There's something we call Chair Interface Aptitude," Sheppard breathed, leaning forward and putting his hands on his thighs. It had not been an easy climb, and they kept a good pace; Alice was feeling in her muscles the three years she's spent at the AFIT. It wasn't that she didn't work out at all, but she let herself slip a little with the intensity there, first because of her injury, and then because she was so busy taking care of her mom and working on her research. Should've gone back to it sooner, you stupid fuck, she told herself off angrily, as she approached the control chair. Here it was: the single most complex piece of technology they've ever encountered. From here, one could operate the Ancient drones, the most powerful weapons they knew of, as well as fly this entire city. "That's a rating we assign to people based on how easily they can handle the Chair."
"You're the highest-ranked in Atlantis?" Alice asked, although she knew the answer.
"Yeah, and Doctor Beckett is second, to his everlasting chagrin. Wanna try it out?"
It was tempting, Alice couldn't deny that; but at the same time, intimidating. If she did something wrong, the consequences might be enormous. But having experienced the way the neural interface worked on the Puddle Jumper, she was reasonably sure she wouldn't break anything just by trying it. Right?
"Go on," he encouraged her and Alice nodded, squared her shoulders and took the two steps towards the Chair. As soon as she sat down, the back lowered behind her, while the leg-rest went up, forcing her into a semi-horizontal position. Her hands lay on the gel-filled pads on each side, and once again she suddenly had that exhilarating feeling of connectivity. She was one with the ship, she could feel its powerful engines, now asleep but ready to go at her command, the drones just waiting to be let out, the shield – now turned into a cloak – vibrating in the air over them, the power conduits leading from the ZPMs at the base of the Central Tower to every corner of the city… Holy fuck, was the only thing she could think at the moment.
"Good!" She heard Sheppard's voice through the layer of wonderment she was immersed in. "Let's see how you do with some simple commands… show me the Milky Way!"
She heard him, but the holographic image flickered to life above her seemingly before she had the chance to think it. It was as if her consciousness couldn't quite catch up with her brain. Thousands of stars illuminated the room like sparks from a fire. It was beautiful.
"And Pegasus?"
The silvery flickers moved quickly and rearranged themselves to mirror the star maps of the dwarf galaxy Alice had studied a long time ago, just after they had established regular contact with Atlantis thanks to the Daedalus.
"How about you show me Lantea?"
The starry dots disappeared, giving way to a holographic display of a single star system, with a planet covered nearly entirely in water, which grew bigger and closer, revealing one small greenish-brown continent on its surface.
"I kinda miss that planet," Sheppard noted and she heard a smile in his voice. "Okay, I think it's enough for today."
The holograph flickered off and the Chair began righting itself before Alice could properly think to turn it off. The neural interface was truly the most amazing thing she's ever experienced. A bit overwhelming, but spellbinding.
"Well, I think Doctor Beckett will be pleased. He never did like his second spot in the CIA ranking." Sheppard grinned at her as Alice stood up. "You're definitely better than him, maybe even better than I am."
She arched her eyebrow incredulously.
"I don't mind," he assured her. "It's nice to know we have another person who can use the Chair effectively when needed. With Beckett gone most of the time, I had often found myself stretched a little thin," he admitted.
Alice nodded understandingly. In case of an emergency, the base's military commander shouldn't be occupied with shooting the guns or holding the rudder, which was what essentially sitting in the Chair came down to during an attack on the city.
"Alright, let's get back to the Central Tower!" Sheppard ushered her through the door and they began their descent the same way they came. "Tell me, Boyd, how soon can you get here full-time?"
Alice was surprised by the question. Formally, she would be under Sheppard's command as soon as the paperwork went through – probably within a week – but since she had been so ordered by General Landry, she was already reporting to the Atlantis ranking officer. She would do whatever he ordered.
Sheppard noticed her confusion – or at least the silence made him look around at her, so he explained: "I presume you don't want to stay on Atlantis with the one bag you have on you. So, how soon can you collect your stuff and move here?"
It was still an odd question in Alice's opinion, but she decided it must have been the city's more relaxed military atmosphere that she hasn't yet picked up on. But she supposed she could make use of it, if it was being offered. She considered her options. It was at least a six hours drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles, probably seven or even eight, depending on the traffic. If she started now, she could get home by nine in the evening. She'd spend the night at the house, then pack in the morning – it wouldn't take long, she didn't have all that many things she wanted to bring with her – and drive back up to the Golden City.
"If I go immediately, with a little luck I should be back by six pm tomorrow," she answered carefully. That would give her enough of a time buffer to even say goodbye to her family and friends in the morning. It wasn't likely that she'd see them very soon. Or maybe she would? Would they get a chance for some vacation – or a pass – before they flew off to Pegasus? She didn't know, but she supposed it was better to err on the side of caution.
She saw Sheppard's head bob up and down as they continued down the stairwell.
"Fine by me. Take your time. We're still waiting for a few guys before we start you off on a training with Ronon and Teyla."
Alice wondered what such a training would cover. She had bad feelings about it; from what she's read in the reports, both Pegasus natives were known especially for their close-combat prowess, and that didn't bode well for her. She's never been good at that, and the three years of pursuing her diploma at the Air Force Institute of Technology certainly didn't help her to grow this particular set of skills. She shook her head; obsessing about it would not change anything, and there were more pressing matters at the moment.
"Sir, when do you think the city will be able to fly to the Pegasus?" She asked as they finally reached the base of the tower and proceeded along a corridor to the other one.
"Not sure. McKay says they should have everything done within a month, tops, but McKay is only dependable when his life is at stake. We're not there yet, though when my patience runs out..." Sheppard grinned. "Generally speaking, the earlier the better."
Alice wondered what was the rush, but she didn't pursue the topic. Instead, she decided to clarify something much more immediate.
"Sir, how do you get to the land from Atlantis?" They couldn't use Jumpers to ferry everyone and everything, could they? Alice suspected some equipment or parts and replacements must have been too large for a Jumper anyway; she remembered seeing a normal, Earth-made crane on one of the extended arms of the city as they approached earlier that day.
"There's a Coast Guard boat helping us out with such things. Two actually, one's moored to the West Pier, the other one is at the Coast Guard Station Golden Gate, so that our people can go either way. Gotta pamper the civilians." He shrugged. "And the Navy is keeping watch too, so that no stray cruiser can peep under the cloak."
Alice frowned. A lot of people who would normally not know about Atlantis must have been informed just to allow the expedition members to come and go as they pleased. Then again, she supposed it was hard enough on the people to be so far away constantly, and it stood to reason that the one time they actually were on Earth they would be permitted to go out and enjoy it.
"I swear, I will never complain about the transporters being too far away ever again!" Sheppard mumbled as they began the climb back up the Central Tower. They went in silence, conserving their breaths. Again, Sheppard imposed a quick pace that didn't quite defeat them, but was enough to feel it in their legs and lungs. By the time they reached Stargate Operations, they were both nearly gasping for air.
"That was fun," Alice commented, making a mental note to step up her daily workout.
Sheppard didn't reply but turned around the staircase into the room proper, where he brightened at the sight of a couple of men standing around the consoles, both of whom, although not armed, had military written all over them.
"Lorne!" The lieutenant colonel exclaimed and one of the servicemen turned around to look at him. He was of average build and height, a few inches smaller than Sheppard (but still considerably taller than Alice). He was wearing the standard charcoal uniform, but with black stripes. He had an American flag on his shoulder, too. Even if Sheppard hadn't mention his name, Alice would have guessed who it was: Major Evan Lorne, the military second-in-command on Atlantis.
"Colonel," he greeted him and then his eyes rested on Alice. She supposed she looked like a peacock among crows here, what with her Blue Service Uniform.
"This is Captain Alice Boyd, she's joining our merry bunch," Sheppard presented her and Alice came to attention, because she didn't know what else to do. She realized that the rules were much more relaxed here but the compulsion instilled in her since the first days of her Officer Training School was too strong. Thankfully, Lorne smiled rather kindly at her, although she thought she saw a shadow of derision in his eyes; but she might have been mistaken. It wasn't like she was good at reading people.
"Welcome to Atlantis, Captain." The major said and she thought she must have seen something that didn't exist because his voice was perfectly nice.
"Thank you, sir."
"Captain, Major Lorne will escort you to the West Pier so you can take your leave with the help of our friendly coasties."
"I will?" Lorne repeated somewhat disconsolately.
"I believe I just said so." Sheppard's tone was insistent. "And I hope that the transporters will be fixed by your return tomorrow." He didn't sound very hopeful, though; more desperate, and Alice quite agreed with the sentiment.
"Yes, sir."
"Alright, then, let's go, Captain." Lorne waved her towards the stairs – which she had just climbed with Sheppard. Oh, for fuck's sake. She understood he only led her all the way up in order to find a scapegoat who would show her the way to the Coast Guard's boat.
It was going to be a long walk.
Alice was back on Atlantis just a little after five the next day; the traffic had been light. Someone from the Coast Guard must have signaled ahead of her coming because an airman was waiting for her at the West Pier to help her with her stuff. It really wasn't necessary – she only had one large suitcase, a smaller duffel bag, and a ukulele case. Nevertheless, since the transporters were apparently still out of order, it was a good thing to not have to drag it through the entire city by herself.
The airman deposited her in a corridor in a tower just North of the central spire, outside a door that he said led to her assigned quarters. Alice entered it hesitantly, throwing curious looks around. It was a rather spacious room – almost the size of the apartment she'd occupied with her mom at the Wright-Patterson base. Granted, for a two-bedroom place it had been tiny, but it accommodated two people, and the Atlantis quarter was for herself only. The room was irregular in shape, with walls of muted grayish-green color, and soft lamp light. Tall, wide windows overlooked the city's western side, now streaked with reddish rays of the setting sun, with the Point Bonita Lighthouse already blinking in the distance. She would have light in the evenings, which suited Alice very well; she was an early riser only by discipline, and liked to sleep in when she could.
The room was furnished in a rather ascetic way, but it wasn't devoid of certain coziness. The bed was large and, on closer inspection, turned out to be very comfortable. It was placed in an alcove that opened up to a larger living area with a table, dresser, closet, and a desk. There was another sort of niche, half-hidden behind a partial wall, where a chaise longue stood facing the window, which stretched from the floor to the ceiling and opened up like a double-door onto a small balcony. Alice instantly fell in love with the spot. How nice would it be to just lie there with a good book as the sun was setting on the horizon! Alice didn't bring any physical books – it was counter-productive, as she read them too quickly, and they were heavy and bulky – but she had an e-reader, a device she came to appreciate immensely in the past few months. With a few clicks she could have any book she wanted – that was converted to the appropriate format, of course – and the offer of available e-books was ever growing. Procuring new books would be hampered when Atlantis came back to Pegasus, but certainly not impossible. They had ZPMs, which meant they'd be doing regular radio check-ins with the SGC on Earth, during which private mail of the expedition members would also be transferred both ways, so Alice could always ask Jake to send her new releases.
Alice decided to leave unpacking for later and went exploring the city instead. It became evident almost immediately that it was easier said than done; the corridors all looked the same to her, and there were no people around to point her the correct way, and eventually she managed to make it to the Central Tower only because she could look out the window and identify her relative position based on the view on the horizon. Water meant West, Golder Gate Bridge indicated East.
In contrast to the previous day, there was a small crowd in the control room now. Alice didn't know any of them, but most of them were wearing the Atlantis standard uniforms, some with green stripes, others with blue. Alice thought they must have denoted departments – black was apparently military, red probably indicated command, since Woolsey was wearing it, and green and blue must have meant two sorts of scientists. Alice was still wearing her service blues. She stood out, but none of the men gathered around the control consoles noticed her as she leaned on the staircase's railing, listening in on their conversation. They were in the midst of a heated debate, although only three of them seemed to be engaged, the rest just looking on.
"I am telling you, it is not possible!" Said a short man with bushy hair, wearing a blue long-sleeved undershirt without a jacket. He had a pair of glasses on and a shadow of a beard.
"You just don't want to come up there again!" Another man answered in a raised voice. He was a good three or four inches taller than his colleague, and wore the blue-striped uniform. He had a Canadian flag on his shoulder so Alice guessed this must have been the famed Doctor Rodney McKay. Her suspicion was confirmed a few seconds later.
"Oh of course, because it is my fault!" The shorter man threw his hands up in exasperation. "I can't shrink myself, Rodney! I don't fit in there!"
"You got there last time just fine!" Doctor McKay accused. "This is extremely delicate work, we can't get it done with a robot, you know it as well as I do!"
"None of us has ever been so deep inside!" His interlocutor gestured widely.
"The Ancients must have had a way to go in there in case something broke," a third man, this one wearing green stripes, but also Canadian, put in reasonably. "A remote probe of some sort maybe, or maybe the conduit opens up in some way..."
"If it does, we haven't found how." McKay shook his head. "And there's no time to look now. Need I remind you that every moment we waste arguing about it, we drain power from the ZPMs?"
"We are aware, Rodney! Do you have any other suggestions?" The shortest of them asked cuttingly.
"Yes, how about you gear up and get down there?"
"Do prdele! How many times do I have to tell you? I don't fit in there!"
"Maybe we could ask Teyla," the green-striped man interjected calmly again. "I believe she is the shortest of all the Atlantis personnel."
"Great idea," McKay sniped sarcastically. "And when did she get a degree in engineering, huh? Because I don't remember her being able to..."
"We can guide her via headset," the short man cut him off. "It's better than any of the ideas we've heard so far."
"Excuse me?" Alice approached them, catching them unawares, so enthralled they were in their discussion. She didn't know exactly what they were talking about, but understood enough. "Sorry to interrupt. I'm not sure what this is about, but I think I can help you."
All of them – seven people in total – looked at her for a moment silently; she smiled nervously back at them.
"And who are you?" Doctor McKay asked somewhat sourly.
"Captain Alice Boyd. I've just been reassigned here. I gather that you need to get to some place cramped enough that no one can get in?"
"Yes," the short man responded; he was over three inches taller than Alice, and she was also much slimmer. He gave her an appraising look and turned to Doctor McKay. "She may just be able to climb in there."
"Yes, yes, but it's the same problem as with Teyla, isn't it?" McKay countered. "This is delicate work on a vital system, very easy to screw up! And how do you expect us to guide her when we don't know what is wrong?"
"I'm sorry," Alice put in again, a bit apprehensive. "I presume the problem is with the city's power relays. Colonel Sheppard mentioned it to me yesterday," she added, seeing questioning looks all around. "It fits." She shrugged lightly. "I haven't had a lot of experience with Ancient technology, but it sounds like there's not a lot of other options. I have a PhD in Computer Engineering, and a BS in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics. I've previously worked on the Prometheus and the Daedalus so I have some idea about alien technology too, albeit not specifically Lantean."
"Well, I don't think that's..." McKay began, but his colleague cut him off decidedly:
"That is perfect. We will appreciate your help, Captain." He then extended his arm and shook hands with Alice. "I'm Doctor Radek Zelenka, and this Grumpy McGrump over here is Doctor Rodney McKay."
"It's an honor to meet you both," Alice said turning to McKay and offering her hand as well, which he gingerly took. "I've heard a lot about you. I read all the Atlantis mission reports."
"All of them?" McKay looked flustered.
"Yes, sir. The work you've done is really amazing," she assured him. He brightened instantly.
"Yes, I'm sure it is."
"Yes, yes, yes, can we go and do the thing?" Zelenka rolled his eyes.
Alice nodded. "Please, lead the way, Doctor."
"I'll monitor the power flow from here. Chuck, that console over there? The rest of you… don't just stand there, get busy!" McKay sat down and immediately called up some diagnostic on his laptop, which was linked to the Ancient equipment. Alice followed Zelenka down the stairs.
"We've put a big strain on the city," the scientist explained as they walked, accompanied by two men with green stripes on their jackets, carrying toolboxes. "We had to use an experimental wormhole drive to get here in time to help with the super-hive."
"Yes, I've read about it. The drive burned out, though, didn't it?"
"It did. But we may be able to repair the regular hyperdrive. We hope," he added uncertainly. "Anyway the drive first and later the stress of super-hive firing on the shield and our atmospheric reentry have punched a lot of holes in the power conduits. We've managed to plug all of them except this one. For the most part, the conduits are easily accessible for maintenance, but there are a few places where it's impossible to get at them from outside, we needed to isolate them and climb inside to effect the repairs." He paused and Alice thought she saw him roll his eyes again. "That means I had to climb inside. But this one last conduit is too small even for me to fit in. I seriously hope you will be able to do it."
"I think your colleague was right," Alice commented. They were still descending the stairs and she wondered if they were going to another tower. "I think the Ancients must have had a better way to access such places."
"Possibly," he acknowledged. "But we are yet to find it. And this conduit is important, it leads from the ZPMs directly to the stardrive. We can't begin the repairs until we plug this hole."
"Atlantis has been here over a month. How come the ZPMs haven't been depleted yet if they're leaking power all the time?" Alice asked curiously. Everything about the city was of vital interest to her, now that she decided to link her fate to it.
"We managed to repair the conduits used by the cloak before anything else. All the other systems were turned off at first, but we had to maintain the cloak because, well, we can't let Atlantis be seen, can we?" They've arrived finally on the ground level and Zelenka led them through a door and along a corridor, a different one than that Alice and Sheppard took the day before to get to the Chair room. "We've been turning on different systems as the repairs progressed. The problem is, the same conduit that supplies power to the stardrive is also used to keep the city afloat in one place, so we don't drift into the Golden Gate Bridge by accident. It doesn't take a lot of power, and the leak is relatively small, but it's more or less constant. We've only found it today," he added defensively. "Identifying the holes has been a problem, but we're relatively sure this is the last one."
They arrived at another staircase and went down again. Alice thought they must have been below the water level now.
"So once the leak is stopped, what's the next step?"
"The transporters." Zelenka was already breathing heavily, even though they were only descending. Well, he was a civilian, so he didn't need the kind of physical form the servicemen had to maintain. Plus, he was something like fifteen years older than Alice.
"Good idea," she agreed with a small chuckle. Climbing all the way up would be a pain even for her.
"Then we have to repair the hyperdrive and a few minor systems and we're good to go," Zelenka finished. "We still have enough power in the three ZPMs to make the ride home in something like ten days." Alice noted his use of the word home. For him, home was in Pegasus. Alice wondered if it was just an unconscious slip of the tongue, or a purposeful indication of his preference? Either way, it told her a lot about the man's dedication to the expedition.
They finally reached the very bottom of the staircase and went alongside a corridor, then another, and finally found themselves in a large hallway; it was completely empty and poorly lit, with low ceiling and massive pipe-like bulges sticking up from the floor.
"Here we are." Zelenka gestured broadly towards the conduits lining the room. "Kyle, Yong, can you isolate the conduit, please?" The two men who accompanied them went forward and began opening the power relay's control circuits. "This will take a few minutes, we need to make sure there's no more power coming in or out before you go in."
Alice nodded and for a moment they both looked on without speaking.
"So, Doctor." Alice broke the silence. "The uniforms, blue is scientist, and green is…?"
"Technician," he replied, smiling. "I remember I was confused at first, too. Black is military, red is command and yellow is medical," he added.
Alice smiled back. She was beginning to like the man. He seemed nice and welcoming.
"So, Captain, you said you were just reassigned to Atlantis. In what capacity?" He asked curiously, looking down at her. Alice thought it must have been unusual for him.
"A Jumper pilot. I have the ATA gene and used to fly fighters," she explained. "I'm sure that won't be all I'll be doing, though. Colonel Sheppard hasn't been very forthcoming on the subject yet."
"You said you have a degree in Computer Engineering?" Zelenka frowned. "You think Colonel Sheppard will let you work with one of our science teams when you're not flying?"
"I don't know, Doctor. I certainly hope so." Alice looked up, to the ceiling; it hung so low she could nearly touch it if she stood on her toes and stretched her hand. "Before I went to get my PhD, I was an F-302 pilot, stationed aboard the Prometheus. My secondary duty was in the engine room. I think my squadron leader gave me that assignment because I kept sneaking in there after hours instead of getting the mandatory crew rest." She chuckled.
Zelenka didn't have a chance to reply because the two technicians approached them at that moment.
"It is done, the conduit is separate," one of them said in a thickly accented voice. His shoulder patch identified him as a Korean. "You can begin."
"Let's do it, then. We need to hurry," Zelenka cautioned. "Without power going through this relay, we are drifting on water. I don't want us to hit anything."
"That would be bad," Alice agreed, snickering. The technicians have already opened the conduit at the base, where it linked with the wall of the room. Alice looked in; it was big enough at the base, but narrowed down the line. It looked dirty, too, and Alice regretted not changing into a utility uniform. Her blues would be ruined after this trip. Oh well, I'll probably get one of these fancy charcoal uniforms anyway, she thought and squatted down next to the opening in the conduit's base.
"You're gonna need this, Captain," the other of the technicians, an American Zelenka called Kyle, handed her a flashlight and a small tablet with a cord attached that had two endings, one that could be clipped onto a crystal, or could act as a multimeter pointer, and the other with a sort of mini-scanner.
"First thing to do is to assess the damage," Zelenka instructed. "It will not be a literal hole, you have to check the wires manually."
Alice nodded. Would it be easy to find the leak? She doubted it. She took a deep breath and got down on all fours, thanking her stars that she was at least wearing slacks and not a skirt. Nevertheless, she felt awkward going into the tube, aware that three men were now observing her bottom as she crawled deeper inside. She chased that thoughts away, turned the flashlight on and began examining the circuits with the scanner, looking at the readings on the tablet; they created an intricate pattern, thickest on the bottom, but also present on the sides and the top of the tube. The actual power was relayed through these cables; the duct Alice was now squirming through must have been built only in order to give access to the circuits – except it was too narrow for a normal-size person. Again, Alice thought that the Ancients must have had a better way to repair those places. Perhaps they did have some sort of a robot that was now long lost.
The further she went, the narrower was the passage; already she was on her belly, dragging herself along with her hands and knees. It reminded her of the exercises during the assault course at the Officer Training School. She hated it then, too. It was slow going, because she didn't want to miss anything, so it took her almost twenty minutes to get halfway through the conduit – she could see it bend down some ten yards ahead. If the leak was somewhere in the downward piping, she wouldn't be able to go there; there was just no way. Thankfully, she noticed it just a moment later; it was over her head, she nearly missed it. It was too narrow now to turn on her back so she looked at the copper (or at least, copper-like) wires at an awkward angle. They looked normal, but the readings were definitely anomalous. Now came the harder part. With the multimeter pointer ending, she began methodically checking each wire; there were dozens of them. Each produced a slightly different result she could see on the tablet (it was awkward working on the ceiling and looking at the screen at the same time), and the problem was identifying which ones were abnormal. McKay was quite right: it was delicate work and if Alice hadn't known as much about alien technology as she did, she'd have probably missed it.
"Found it!" She called to the men waiting outside some ten minutes later, hoping that she identified the faulty wire correctly. She made a mental note of the exact spot, and began backing out of the tube. She could go much quicker now that she wasn't looking for anything anymore, but it still took her full five minutes to make the thirteen yards back to the base of the conduit. She emerged from it gasping for air – it was very stuffy inside, and crawling backwards was even worse than forward.
"It's just one wire, maybe two inches long," she said, taking quick, shallow breaths, as she stood up and stretched. "I'm not certain what it's made of, but they all look identical and I'm pretty sure I can repair it if we have a replacement."
"Do you have the readings?" Zelenka asked and Alice handed the tablet over to him. He examined the results carefully and then squatted down next to one of the technicians' toolboxes. Alice leaned over to look; it was full of different cables. Of course; they were fixing the leaks for a month now, obviously they had all they needed. A minute later Zelenka stood up with a silver string in his hand. "This one should work. And here the clamps, too."
Alice took them into one hand, along with the flashlight, grabbed the tablet into the other and, sighing, dropped down onto her hands and knees again.
Fifteen minutes later the wire was attached securely with clamps, bypassing the faulty part, and Alice was checking its readings on the tablet. It looked okay to her, but they wouldn't be sure until they checked the power flow. Careful not to leave anything behind, Alice began backing out of the tube again. It was her fourth time going the length of it and she was feeling it in her muscles in arms and legs. She sincerely hoped that it would now work properly; she didn't know if she had it in her to go back there the fifth time.
As soon as Alice was clear of it, the technicians closed the base of the conduit and went back to the controls to bring the relay online again. Zelenka patted her shoulder.
"Good job!" He said enthusiastically, and Alice snickered. No doubt his enthusiasm had something to do with the fact that he wasn't the one crawling into a pipe this time; Alice understood perfectly why he was resentful towards McKay when the head scientist belittled Zelenka's work in plugging the holes.
Alice was able to calm her fluttering heart and began breathing normally before the technicians were done. Zelenka touched his ear – Alice hadn't noticed before that he had a headset – to inform the control room of their success.
"How's the power flow, Rodney?" He asked and then listened to the reply. "Good, then we can move on to the other… yes, Rodney. Right. We're coming back." He shook his head in exasperation. "Good work, everyone," he told them. "Let's head back to Stargate Operations."
They went at a leisurely pace, but even so they had to pause a couple of times so that Zelenka could catch his breath. The two technicians looked only marginally better. Alice didn't mind the stops; her muscles were screaming at her after all the crawling and she sorely regretted letting herself slip with the physical training while at AFIT. Nevertheless, she made it to the control room in a better condition than her civilian companions. The earlier crowd of people was gone; only McKay and the technician he had called Chuck were hovering over the consoles.
"Ah, you're here, finally!" McKay said as they appeared at the top of the stairs. "What took you so long?"
Zelenka rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything. Alice thought that was very patient of him. Or maybe he just couldn't catch his breath yet.
"Anyway, it seems that we are done with the holes! I've been steadily increasing the power inputs in different areas of the city and I detect no more leaks." McKay tapped on the keyboard of his laptop. "See? Perfectly even."
Zelenka approached him and peered into his screen. "Yes, looks good, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. There are still dozens of systems we couldn't yet check..."
"Way ahead of you, Radek. Look." The head scientist jabbed his finger into the monitor.
"Full system diagnostic?" Zelenka looked up to compare the readings on the Ancient console. "That will take a while."
"Of course it will take a while, what did you think? I figure tomorrow morning we should get the results, so we can check how to prioritize the rest of the repairs."
"Transporters first," Zelenka insisted and McKay waved his hand.
"Yes, yes, we can do that. That's gonna be easy."
Zelenka didn't reply – at least not coherently, just grumbling to himself.
"Oh, here you are!" A new voice – familiar by now – spoke from behind them. Alice turned to face Colonel Sheppard. "I've been looking for you. Where have you been?" He raised his eyebrows, glancing at her uniform. Alice suddenly became painfully aware that her shirt and slacks were all dirty from crawling through a filthy tube.
As usual when she was embarrassed or unsure what to do, Alice fell back on protocol. She straightened up to attention and inclined her head towards the ranking officer.
"I've arrived about an hour and a half ago, sir," she answered. "I made my way here and, well, I found that I could help Doctors McKay and Zelenka with something."
"Oh?"
Alice smiled uneasily and explained shortly the nature of the problem and how she was uniquely suited – because of her size – to effect the needed repairs.
"I guess being tiny has some big upsides, then, huh?" Sheppard quipped. "I'm glad you're making yourself useful already! But I think you can take the rest of the day off. I think you've had enough of Rodney for one day, haven't you?"
"Oh, that is just..." McKay mumbled but Alice didn't hear the rest of what he wanted to say, because Sheppard continued in a raised voice:
"Anyhow, I need you to visit the procurement officer to get the proper uniform and suchlike. Tomorrow you can explore the city, if you'd like. Just stay within the Inner City and don't touch anything that you don't recognize, okay? All the transfers should be completed within the next two days, so you'll start your orientation on Monday. That shouldn't take more than three or four days." He paused for a moment. "I'll tell Ronon to go easy on you all."
Alice nodded with a nervous smile. Sheppard still didn't explain what exactly this orientation, or training, was supposed to include. But she guessed if civilians were going to go through it also, it couldn't be that bad, could it? Alice hoped so.
