Chapter 7: Shut it down McKay!

"We're ready to proceed down here Elizabeth," Sheppard reported two hours later.

"Has Rodney isolated the room from the rest of the power supply," Elizabeth queried.

"He says as much as he can yes," Sheppard admitted. "He's worried that a power surge could still get through which is why we have Doctor Beckett down here as well ... just in case."

"Okay Colonel," Doctor Weir said in agreement. "Proceed with your attempt ... and good luck."

"Thanks Elizabeth," Sheppard acknowledged, turning to look expectantly at Rodney. "Are you ready to do this?"

"Most of the effort's coming from you," Rodney countered. "We're the ones who should be asking if you're ready."

Sheppard glanced from Rodney to Carson and then on to Ronon who'd insisted on being present during the attempt. Nodding confidently he said briskly "Okay then, let's do this."

Rodney powered up the portable generator he'd hooking into the command console, waiting as the energy built up enough to hopefully recreate the events of last time. "I'm transferring power to the console ...now," he reported, hitting a button on his laptop and then motioning for Sheppard to move in.

Stepping closer to the Dequitas John felt again the 'tractor beam' like pull dragging him into the centre of the device. Not resisting this time he let the Ancient machine draw him in, placing his hands firmly down into the places provided. The secondary power supply flowed through the device connecting him to the system. Sheppard closed his eyes as the link drew him in mentally, concentrating on seeking communication with the Ascended beings he hoped were on the other side. Suddenly the power levels spiked ... Sheppard winced as what had been an almost pleasant sensation of energy flowing turned into a painful clawing surge throughout his whole body.

"McKay," he groaned out, trying to remove his hands from the device and finding that he couldn't.

"There's a power build up in the main systems," Rodney's fingers flew over his laptop as he attempted to work out what had gone wrong. "This is exactly what I said would happen – there's too much power – the tractor effect of the device has been amplified enough to trap you in place."

"THEN CUT THE POWER!," Sheppard yelled, pain running through his voice and etched into his face.

"What do you think I'm doing over here?" Rodney complained irritably. "If I turn off the secondary power supply it should release you."

Sheppard's whole body was twitching now as the cumulative effect of that much power flowing through him took its toll. Fading out a little he put all his focus into not translating the screaming he was doing in his head into something audible.

"Shut it down McKay!" Ronon growled, hovering around Sheppard as he writhed and groaned.

"I'm trying!" Rodney yelled back. "The surge in the main systems is interfering with my equipment – I can't turn either power source off."

Sheppard's verbal distress shifted from groans to something as close to screaming as John would ever get. Tired of waiting for Rodney to fix it, Ronon ripped out the ever present blaster, taking aim and firing directly at the supplementary power unit. The effect was immediate – the shot obliterating Rodney's equipment and sending sparks shooting through the Ancient console. Sheppard, released from the hold of the Dequitas, slumped limply to rest against the top of the inert device.

Carson rushed over, checking for a pulse. "He's all right," he said in relief, raising the drawbridge and easing John down to lie on the floor.

"Are you nuts?!" Rodney rounded on Ronon angrily. "That could have killed him!"

"But it didn't," Ronon stated the obvious. "And you're welcome."

"Colonel?" Carson shook John gently, tuning out the sounds of Rodney continuing to grumble about the Satedan's caveman tactics.

"Mmm," Sheppard's eyelids fluttered before he opened his eyes with a groan. "Ouch," he complained. "That didn't go to plan did it?"

"Not exactly," Carson agreed, helping Sheppard into a sitting position. "How do you feel?"

"Like I just stuck my finger in an electric socket," Sheppard joked, relenting when Carson looked at him without amusement. "It's okay Carson – I'm fine – I think the device itself protected me from the worst of the surge."

"I'd still like to get you down to the infirmary," Beckett replied insistently. "Just to make sure that machine didn't do anything to you internally."

"Later," Sheppard promised, pushing himself up gingerly from the floor. He swayed for a moment before steadying himself and moving over to the console. Rodney was standing in front of it, checking his laptop with a troubled expression. "Is it still working?"

"We'll be lucky if we can retrieve what little information we did get," Rodney retorted. "This thing is completely fried ... and before you ask, by fried I mean dead as in there is no way we are ever gonna fix it."

"Oh," Sheppard slumped somewhat dejectedly. "I guess that means we'll just have to go with what I got then."

"You got something?" Rodney jumped on that eagerly.

"I did," Sheppard said with a triumphant smile. "Let's round up the gang so I only have to explain this once."

x

"I didn't talk to any Ascended Ancients," Sheppard revealed that bad news to the others up front, "so there's no magic fix guaranteed to get us a new PSU."

"Then what did you get?" Rodney asked impatiently.

"I saw ... something," Sheppard said somewhat cryptically. "It was just a flash ... of a place not much different in appearance to any planet we might Gate to in Pegasus. Everything was brighter – the colours, the ambient light, the sky – but that could have just been because I had all that energy flowing through me."

"Are you saying you connected to the higher plane where the Ascended Ancients exist?" Doctor Weir made the connection immediately, looking at John with an incredulous look.

"It makes sense," Sheppard defended his statement. "We just assumed it would be something completely unrecognisable ... the only person we know of to return from the higher plane was Daniel Jackson and he didn't remember anything."

"How does that help us?" Rodney asked impatiently. "Correct me if I'm wrong but don't you have to die – I'm sorry, Ascend – to get there?"

"Who says it takes one to get to the other?" Sheppard challenged. "That's just another assumption we've all made based on evidence that should suggest otherwise ... we've seen an Ascended being right here on Atlantis so we know they can exist in our own plane. Who's to say we can' t exist in theirs?"

"Just because they can come back here doesn't mean they don't also exist on the higher plane at the same time," Rodney challenged back. "Maybe they don't really come here at all."

"Let's not complicate this too much," Sheppard cautioned. "Look, from what I saw while I was connected to that device the higher plane is just a place like any other. I think the Ancients Ascended and then moved on to that place."

"So you're saying that Ascension and the higher plane are unrelated?" Weir frowned in confusion.

"All I'm saying is that the higher plane isn't a consequence of Ascending," Sheppard replied with certainty. "It's just a place to live."

"I see where you're going with this," Rodney sat forward abruptly, clicking his fingers and sounding excited for the first time.

"The nine symbol gate address," Sheppard grinned at Rodney, feeling a fair bit of excitement himself.

"You think the address you wrote down the first time you touched that device leads to the higher plane of existence?" Doctor Weir looked from John to Rodney in disbelief.

"Where else?" Sheppard put the question back on her.

"Just because I can't think of another destination doesn't make your conclusions any more valid," Elizabeth pointed out logically.

"True," Sheppard allowed. "Combined with what the hologram told me and what I just saw when I was connected through the Dequitas I don't see any other viable explanation."

"How do we know there are Stargates on the other side?" Ronon asked the logical next question.

"Because I found a second gate symbol linked with the one for Atlantis when I was researching the Dequitas device with the hologram program," Sheppard revealed. "I didn't understand what it meant at the time but now I think it's the designation for the lower plane of existence which means only one thing ... the Ancients were expecting to dial back here using something ... the only conclusion is that there's at least one Stargate on the other side of that address."

"But who would have built them ... it?" Doctor Weir quizzed.

"I don't know Elizabeth," Sheppard admitted. "I can only assume it wasn't the Ascendeds because they wouldn't need a Stargate to travel wherever they wanted to go."

"Surely the power requirements for such a connection would be beyond the scope of a zero point module," Teyla postulated.

"This is more McKay's area than mine," Sheppard answered while Rodney was still thinking about it, "but I'm thinking the power requirements might actually be less than for a galaxy to galaxy connection." Turning to Rodney he asked "Isn't it all about distance?" When Rodney nodded John continued. "Theoretically energy should be a moot point for a lower to higher plane connection because the concept of distance doesn't really make any sense."

"He's ... ah he actually might be right," Rodney looked at John in surprise.

"Don't worry Rodney," Sheppard smiled in amusement at his friend's dismay, "Your position as resident genius isn't under threat."

"So the nine symbol gate address leads to the higher plane of existence," Doctor Weir summarised, "the place the Ancients Ascended to and you want to go there. Forgive me but that sounds more than a little risky."

"I can't prove that the trip will be completely safe," Sheppard admitted freely, "but aren't we at the stage where we have to risk it?"

"I don't know, are we?" Elizabeth turned to Rodney expectantly. "Can we still power the Stargate? What are the real consequences if this PSU gives out and could we find another PSU down the track and restore the system then?"

"Yes, yes, bad and no," Rodney replied succinctly. When Elizabeth looked at him pointedly he relented. "Okay – the long answer. Yes we can still use the Stargate for Pegasus gate travel because that's powered the same way as all the other Stargates – it's only for an Earth connection that the ZedPM is employed," Rodney said all in one breath. "And yes we are at the stage of needing to take the big risks to get another PSU because no we can't replace a dead PSU with a new one sometime down the track. If the PSU dies suddenly the affect on any of the systems would be unpredictable – we could fry the Ancient database all too easily which would be bad. We could try a controlled shutdown before that happens but it's still the same problem because I wouldn't want to risk that without backing up the database first. There aren't enough hard drives on Atlantis to hold even a small percentage of it, no matter how much I compress it."

"So can we go?" Sheppard looked at Elizabeth hopefully, watching carefully as she thought about all the angles.

"Yes," she said finally. "You can try to establish a connection ... if the MALP readings look favourable I'll authorise a mission."

"Nice," Sheppard grinned excitedly. "Come on Rodney – let's go get that MALP ready."

Elizabeth watched the two of them run off like school boys late for recess, followed closely by a more sedate Ronon and Teyla. Shaking her head fondly she couldn't help but feel that somehow this would turn out to be a really bad idea.