2 years earlier, earth…

Melody left the main building of MIT as fast as she could and almost flew down the stairs. When her cell phone had started to vibrate during a lecture, she knew it had to be bad news. She had no friends who would call her, just her mother and her (two years) older sister had this number. Her hands were shaking when she opened the phone and read the message. It was from her mother.

Her time is drawing near. Hurry.

That was all. Six words which made her world collapse. And she hadn't expect it; not today, not tomorrow, in one year at the earliest. Disregarding her fellow students, the professor, or anyone or anything else, she closed her laptop, stuffed it into her bag and ran off. She hurried to her sister, who would die today, and her mother, who would be a broken woman today.

When she had reached the bottom of the stairs she swore to herself...she had no car. A man was standing on the sidewalk, looking at her. Melody didn't pay him any attention and started to run past him, when he addressed her. "Miss Melody Hansen?"

Normally she would have at least asked him how he knew her name and what he wanted, but not today. "I don't have time" she said and dodged around him.

"It would be my honor to take you to your sister at the hospital" the man offered and Melody stopped. She turned around and asked "How did you know?"

The man merely pointed to the black SUV parked beside him. Behind the wheel sat another man who was wearing (which Melody just noticed) a military uniform, like the man in front of her.

"Who are you?" she added. The man showed her his badge.

"Lt. Fynn," he introduced himself. "Your sister has been working for us. If you like, we can take you to her." He made an inviting gesture towards the car.

Melody (caught by surprise) didn't hesitate any longer and got in the back seat. She just wanted to get to the hospital as fast as possible. When she was seated and buckled in, Fynn got in the front seat and the driver moved the car into traffic.

"What exactly does my sister do for you?" Melody asked after several minutes.

Lt. Fynn turned and said "If you like, Miss Hansen, you'll get to know everything. However, before I can tell you anything, you would have to first sign a non-disclosure agreement. We can talk about that later. Right now you should focus on your sister and your mother. They're going to need you." The Lt. gave her a short, compassionate, sad smile and turned back around.

Melody's mind was racing. What was happening here? What had the military to do with her sister? And why didn't she know anything about it?

Ten minutes later, they arrived at the entrance of the hospital. Lt. Fynn guided her to where her sister was, obviously he had been here before At the intensive care unit entrance, a nurse greeted them and led Melody into the room. The Lt. waited outside.

When she entered the room she had to fight back tears. Her mother looked like she had aged several years overnight as she sat hunched over beside the bed in which her elder daughter Gwendolyn lay, holding her hand.

"Melody. You're here" Gwendolyn said faintly and gave her a smile. Her mother also gave her a short look, then concentrated on her moribund child again.

"It's too soon, sis" Melody answered and hugged her sister carefully.

"I know, little one, but we knew the time would come sooner or later."

"But I need you!" Melody couldn't hold back her despair any longer and hot tears ran down her cheeks. Her big sister was her world. They had never been rivals, even when they were little children. She had always been there for her when Melody had to bear all that teasing in school. Like Melody, her sister was a math genius and could understand what she had to go through.

And now she would leave her. Forever. A year ago, Gwendolyn had suddenly felt weak and suffered a terrible headache. In the hospital, they had found a malignant, inoperable tumor in her brain. It had stopped growing at that point and the doctors said, with the right medication, she could live an almost normal life. As long as it wasn't growing. But it had started growing again and now the pressure on her brain was increasing...fatally.

"The physicians give me hours… or minutes" Gwendolyn weakly explained to her sister. "And before I die, I have to tell you something." She now looked at her mother, who gave her a questioning look.

"Mom, would you please give us a few minutes in private? This is a sister-to-sister thing, okay?"

Although both girls could see that their mother was not very happy, she nodded and left the room.

Half an hour later, Melody emerged to call her mother back inside. As she did, her eyes rested on Lt. Fynn, who was still waiting, but at a respectful distance. No surprise there; her mother mustn't have known about any of this.

"Mom?" Melody said and the elder woman wiped away her tears and followed her younger daughter back inside. Melody closed the door.

Two hours later, Lt. Fynn (waiting dutifully outside the sick room) heard a low, desperate cry. Shortly after, he saw a nurse hurrying into the room. Sadly he looked down and sighed. He was not only sorry for Gwendolyn and her family; they had also just lost an important member of the Icarus project. Now he could only hope that the younger sister was equally promising, as Gwendolyn had indicated, and that she would accept the offer to work with them.

Carefully he peered into the room, the door standing half open. Melody wasn't crying, she just sat there and looked at her sister, who serenely had slipped away. Her mother however, had obviously been given a sedative by the attending nurse.

Melody's eyes wandered to the door, meeting Lt. Fynn's and for a moment they just looked at each other. She nodded slightly and the Lt. put his card on a cabinet by the door. Then he was gone.

Melody looked at her mother again. The sedative was taking effect but her mother was so...broken. Gwendolyn had always been her pride and joy. Of course Melody was hurt that her mother didn't seem to love her like Gwendolyn, but the love and care her elder sister had shown to Melody had always compensated for that.

Right now she was asking herself if her mother would ever rally. 'Cause one thing was clear, Melody couldn't do it for her. While she was thinking these dismal thoughts, a second nurse entered the room, followed by two male nurses, one of whom was pushing a wheelchair.

"I need you to leave the room for a litle while. I promise that you can come back in a few minutes to say your farewells" the nurse said and Melody nodded. Her mother was carefully seated in the wheelchair and wheeled out. As Melody went through the door, she grabbed the card and put it in her bag without even looking at it. She knew what it said. Gwendolyn had told her everything about Icarus, although she couldn't really believe it. But Lt. Fynn hadn't left an impression of being a practical joker.

Maybe it's best I continue Gwendolyn's work and be away from mother, I'd always remind her of who she lost, she thought.

Two weeks later she packed up her things. She had given her mother, who was lying in a sanatorium unresponsive, a last kiss on her forehead and went away with Lt. Fynn.

Present, Obelisk

"Miss Hansen?" Rush's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Yes?" she asked a bit distracted, trying to remember what she had been doing before she had lost herself in memories.

Rush gave her a sharp look and seemed to reconsider what he been about to say. But then he looked away and said "You should keep working. We don't have much time left to get out of here."

Melody swallowed. It wasn't necessary for Rush to explain why time was running out. If they couldn't get help from outside, they really were on their own. And Melody seriously doubted anyone could help them from the outside. "I'm sorry, Dr. Rush" she apologized and focused on the code in front of her again.

A groaning behind her made her turn around. Eli opened his eyes and Melody was by his side at once.

"Eli? Are you feeling better?" she asked. Eli tried to move. He still felt some pain, but it had gotten better. "Better than before. What did I miss?" he asked and with Melody's help came to his feet.

"Nothing. We're not a bit further along than we were at the beginning," Rush gave him a quick summary. Suddenly he paused, then looked at Eli and Melody and asked "Eli, when you and Miss Hansen returned to the obelisk, you said something about checking a theory."

"Melody might have found something", Eli replied slowly with an apologetic look at the girl. Rush's eyes looked daggers at her and he asked impatienly "Which theory is that?"

Melody felt as anxious as ever. Telling her theory to Eli was one thing, but Dr. Rush…he never would believe such nonsense.

"It was just a stupid idea", she tried to take his mind off it.

"WeIl that depends on what you were thinking" Rush retorted. " Why don't you just share it with us and let us decide if it is really as much nonsene as you think." He gazed at her and added gently "We need a way out. As long as you haven't had the idea of busting through the walls with a sledgehammer, I'm open to suggestions."

Melody still hesitated, then she softly sighed, grabbed her laptop and walked over to a particular point on the wall. Dr. Rush and Eli followed her.

"This," she pointed to some symbols, "was also on the outside." She showed them an image on her laptop. "The longer I studied the symbols, I…" she halted again. In the presence of Dr. Rush, she was even more afraid of relating what she had seen.

Eli stepped in when he noticed Rush getting more and more impatient.

"Bach's cantata" he said, which resulted in Rush and Melody staring at him in confusion.

"I beg your pardon?" Rush asked and frowned.

Melody tried to make the best of it. "What he meant to say is Canon in D major by Pachelbel."

"I was close…" Eli murmured, shutting up. Melody, feeling Rush needed more explanation before he passed verdict on her sanity, added "These particular symbols match in order and type exactly the beginning of the canon. I… don't just see equations, numbers and sums; sometimes everything transforms into music."

With cheeks reddened in embarrasment, she had barely whispered the last part of her statement; her eyes fixed on the ground. At last, her secret had been revealed to Dr. Rush.

He'll say it too, any moment, you're crazy, she thought and waited for the withering words. When he didn't say anything after a few moments, she dared to give the scientist a shy look and realized in surprise he was no longer looking at her but at the symbols.

"Unusual approach, but I see what you mean. You're right. Question is, if you're on the right track."

Melody mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. Understanding was the last thing she expected.

"Miss Hansen," Rush addressed her again "Please try to think very carefully what you were doing when the symbols started to glow." He had his arms folded in front of his chest, waiting patiently.

"You… you don't think I'm crazy?" she asked doubtfully.

"Why should I?" he asked back in surprise.

"Because…" she struggled for words, but nothing came. Instead she closed her eyes and tried to remember every single detail about what she had done.

"I was staring at the image and saw the notes in it" she said. She concentrated and suddenly started to hum the sequence of notes of the canon without even realizing it. The symbols on the wall suddenly started to glow softly and Rush's eyes widened.

"What the…" Eli exclaimed, interrupting the moment. Melody opened her eyes again and saw the light fading.

"What did I do?" she asked confused and Rush eyed her speculatively. He was looking at her curiously.

"Didn't you notice? You were humming the first part of the canon" Rush explained.

"I was humming?" she asked confused and Rush and Eli looked at each other.

"You didn't realize it, did you?" Eli asked.

Melody shook her head. "No, actually, I was just trying to remember what I had done. Nothing more."

"What ever it was, Rush interrupted, "You do seem to be capable, Miss Hansen, of controlling the obelisk. Obviously it's reacting to sounds. I dare say you're humming or singing occasionally without realizing it was probably how the transporter was activated."

Melody didn't know what to answer, she was shocked. Would it never stop?, she thought desperately. I'm a freak! I only cause trouble.

"Miss Hansen?" Rush started to worry about the girl. She looked as if he had told her Destiny had left them here. Melody gulped and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, that wasn't my intention" she said apologizing.

"You shouldn't worry about it. On the contrary, you broke the code and activated the obeslik. That's what I wanted." The corner of Rush's mouth showed a satified smile and Melody was even more confused than before. This was the second time Dr. Rush appreciated something Melody saw for herself as a bad thing. And since she knew it wasn't his habit to lie to someone in such matters, she believed him. New confidence flooded through her and she said "In that case I'd better find out which harmony is the right one to get us out of hear, hadn't I?"

Rush nodded. "That's what I want to hear. Let's get started."

While Melody was trying to figure out how to translate the symbols into harmonies and Rush seemed to know as well what to do, Eli felt once more obsolete. In this case, he had absolutely no idea how he could be helpful. So he sat down on the ground, leant his back against the wall and watched them both work. It took only a few minutes until Melody said to Dr. Rush "I think I got it." She showed him the laptop, which was now showing sheet music. Rush studied it quickly and nodded. "Let's try it."

Melody clicked start and the computer played, but nothing happened. There was no glowing, everything stayed dark.

"I don't understand" Melody murmured and started the harmony from the beginning. Dr. Rush stepped to her side and his eyes wandered between the notes and the walls, but still nothing happened.

"Did you do everything exactly like the first time?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure" Melody replied.

"No, you didn't" Elis voice came from behind her. Rush and Melody turned to look at him, waiting for an explanation.

"Maybe it's the computer. I mean... when you're singing, it's different… it doesn't sound so…" Eli tried to find the right words, "cold and perfect like the computer. In your voice lies warmth and passion." Eli lifted his hand slightly defeated and added, when Melody and Rush stared at him in surprise, "Sorry, I simply should learn to shut up." He turned away but his hand was held in place. He looked down and saw Melodys hand holding his. When he looked up, he saw such a lovely smile that he felt his heart grow warmer.

"No Eli, you shouldn't. In fact, that was the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. And for that I'm very grateful." Eli's eyes slid briefly over to Rush's, but his facial expression hadn't changed. He looked away again. Melody noticed it, but said nothing. She let go of his hand again and said "Maybe that's it."

Then she began to sing the melody and this time, something happened. The symbols started to glow again, but instead of activating a transport device, the energy was focused in a large beam targeting Melody's chest. The girl stopped singing, too shocked to react and the discharge hit her directly in the chest. She screamed in shock realizing as she flew backwards that her head was starting to pound something awful. Everything started to blur and the last thing she saw was Eli's face growing darker and darker.

"Melody!" Eli had screamed in horror when she was hit by the discharge. At once, both men were by her side. Eli placed his hand carefully under her head watching her eyes close. Rush checked for a pulse and said relieved "She's just unconscious. The cardigan, Eli." Rush gestured with his head behind him and Eli saw Melody's cardigan still laying at the spot where she had saved Rush's life. The blood had dried in the meantime and he turned the cardigan inside out before putting it under her head. Then he grabbed his own jacket and covered her with it.

"What happened?" Eli asked. Rush shrugged his shoulders. "Seems, she hit a wrong note."

Eli snapped. Was he now blaming Melody? "She was just thrown against a wall because once again you care more about some damn alien technology than anything or anyone else. You really don't give a shit about the people around you, do you?"

Rush gazed at him completely perplexed and opened his mouth to reply but Eli cut him off before he could say a word. "Just forget it. The only thing you care about is Destiny and old, ancient secrets."

He turned his back on Rush and looked after the girl again.

The Scot stood up and continued working, as if nothing had happened. In fact, he had been deeply hurt by Eli's words. Of course it mattered to him what had happened to Miss Hansen, but he couldn't do much for her right now. She would wake up soon and until then he had to find out what had gone wrong, so they could try again.