AN: Somebody has pointed out to me that this story is like another older one. I swear I haven't read that one before and I have no intention to do it so that my story isn't influenced. But I have my doubts about whether or not to continue since the plot may have already been taken. I have discussed some particulars of the story with a friend of mine who studies electrotechnology for the consistency of Rodney's finding, and the probable outcome, but...
Anyway, here is another chapter, probably the last one in a while unless you persuade me otherwise.
And thanks for the rest of the reviews.
Atlantis. John's team landed quickly in the Jumper Bay and came running down to the control room. They had already changed into their standard uniforms.
"What the hell is going on? Why is everyone still here?!" John shouted as he stormed into the room closely followed by Aiden and Teyla. He had noticed a good dozen of soldiers milling around in the Gateroom, going nowhere. Among them, there were a few scientists showing something on their pads to the military. John didn't know their names, didn't recognise their faces. Those guys tended to spend all their days in labs without knowing what being in the field meant. They didn't count with lives. Only with the probability of unknown xs and ys.
Aiden tapped his shoulder and pointed at a grenade launcher one soldier was holding. It looked like a Mk 19 grenade launcher throwing 40 mm grenades. John whistled. That was a huge gun-power. They seemed ready to take the mysterious super-tough Dart down at any case. John wouldn't be surprised to see a cannon nearby even though he knew it was highly unlikely.
But there was one bad thing about all this. Those heavily armed men were going nowhere. They were just figuratively waiting for a lightning to strike.
"Why are they still here? What's wrong?" John demanded again, more heatedly.
Carson appeared from behind the highest console and complained: "It's been an hour!" He clearly voiced his frustration. "An hour since Captain Jorgenson's team returned!"
Suddenly Peter Grodin appeared and added his own unhappiness about the situation: "They haven't moved out, yet, and there has been no word from Rodney."
"You mean…" Teyla started.
"I don't imply anything, however, Rodney would have checked in by now if it was possible for him. He's very punctual and dutiful."
John swallowed uneasily. "He may not be able to use his radio. Have you tried dialling the planet to catch him?"
He looked specifically at the female Gate technician, who had sent them to the lake. Betty turned her head no. "They want to shoot the Dart down," she sobbed. "And if Dr. McKay is onboard…"
She couldn't finish the sentence. They all knew how indispensable Rodney was for the expedition and having him die only because of a nervous soldier was… Well, it was disturbing.
"They won't be taking it down until we know for sure," John promised to her before looking down at people in front of the Gate, leaning over the railing and calling down. "Nobody fires on that Dart until I give you the permission."
Some soldiers looked up bewildered. "That's an order," John declared, "as we might have our man aboard."
Even the rest of them looked up as they weren't pleased by the idea of having to wait while the Dart would whiz past them. They shifted uncomfortably and some of them looked up in the direction of the conference room. Some of them, Stackhouse for instance, were astonished that John's team had already returned.
"Let me make myself clear," John called down again. "Nobody pulls the trigger until they get my say-so! And when you haven't moved so far, I'll lead the mission myself instead of Bates. I want only a small strike force to ascertain McKay's position. Others aren't going anywhere until we find out what's going on."
John looked around the room and added: "Where the heck is Jorgenson?"
One soldier with a bent head, who seemed to avoid his eyes, started to climb the stairs.
John turned to Carson and noticed he was fully prepared to go on a mission. Carson noticed his scrutiny and opened his mouth to ask but John was first. "Carson, I'm not letting you go with us. I know what to do if he is injured but I can't endanger you as well. You're the best medical doctor we have."
"But…" Carson began.
Elizabeth chose that moment to open the door of the briefing room. Drs. Zelenka and Sanders, Sarah and Sgt. Bates flanked her.
"Major Sheppard," she greeted him delighted that things would finally move forward. She knew she couldn't let him win immediately although she was so scared for Rodney that she would easily go off-world for him herself if it had ensured his well-being. She needed to appear strong and cool-headed and make John the one who would want to rush everything.
Meanwhile, Jorgenson had reached the top of the stairs and searched for John. He hadn't had the courage to look into his eyes, yet.
Elizabeth looked back at the scientists. "We've just found a…"
"Why haven't you sent them out?" John asked incredulously. "We're leaving. Now," he added as an announcement.
"No, you're not," Elizabeth stopped him. He eyed her astonished. Even Teyla and Aiden were so shocked they forgot to breathe.
"Excuse me, ma'am," Aiden spoke up politely, "but we really need to move out. Dr. McKay has been waiting for so long to get a backup that we can't lose any more time."
"I know," Elizabeth breathed out, "believe me, I do. But Dr. Zelenka here suggested using a computer virus on the Dart to disable its defence. Therefore Sgt. Bates wanted to wait for Radek to finish it before heading out. I found it rather sensible so I didn't fight against it."
Radek looked at John's team, mainly John, apologetically. "I'm really sorry it took me so long. Without Rodney and his fingers dancing on the keyboard while thinking ten commands ahead, it took me ages to finish anything."
John sighed. "Don't worry, Radek, I don't blame you. It's just, ah… Leave it. Is the program ready?"
"As ready as it can be," Radek confirmed.
John looked at Elizabeth and finally, he noticed her dilated pupils, her sweating palms. She was more than worried. None of them could imagine what they would do without Rodney.
"Now, you have a go," Elizabeth stated wiping her hands on her pants.
John nodded and measured Bates with his sight full of disdain. Bates levelled his chin and returned his look defiantly. John took into account how huge power that man had and he didn't like it at all.
"Alright, buddies. Radek, are you going with us?" John asked partly expecting a negative answer. Radek didn't want to go out unless it was unavoidable and this wasn't the case.
Radek put his datapad in Sarah's hands which were trembling ever so slightly.
"I have explained everything to Dr. Ginger. I would be of no good for you there. I'm not the right person. But she knows what to do and is familiar with the terrain. She'll be fine."
"I won't disappoint you," Sarah stated firmly.
John smiled at her. "I know you won't." Then he turned at all other people and called so that even those down in the Gateroom understood him. "I'm taking the leadership. Bates, you'd better stick to Dr. Weir and find means of defending Atlantis face to these Darts. Dr. Ginger, you'll be fine with us. Ford, Teyla, Jorgenson, Vysockaja, Vegaz, Markham, Stackhouse. You're going with me."
Elizabeth nodded in affirmation. John would have loved to calm her but he couldn't embrace her in front of the audience. So he sent her a tight smile, took his team, Jorgenson and Sarah and quickly descended the staircase to the others while Radek rushed to Peter to the dialling console.
John stripped the nearest marine of his grenade launcher and his vest with a clipped P-90. Teyla and Aiden did the same with other men. The three soldiers didn't battle and, except for John's, willingly let others take the equipment.
Elizabeth called from the balcony: "Major Sheppard, I don't know if you have been told all the particulars of this situation!"
"I have, Dr. Weir," John called back while putting on the Kevlar vest. "A Dart which can't be shot down with P-90s, Dr. McKay trapped in underground ruins. Dr. Hansell gave us a thorough briefing. We'll make it."
Elizabeth smiled ruefully. "I hope you're right," she whispered before saying to Peter: "Dial it up."
John called the same in the exactly same timing so Peter didn't understand what they wanted from him verbally. Nevertheless, he knew himself that he should dial M1X-808.
While the Gate was engaging and John's rescue team was preparing to step through, Elizabeth called: "Wait!"
John looked at her angrily. He didn't have a clue what she could want. "It seems like what everyone has been doing for the last hour! I'm missing one of my men and I'm going to get him back at all costs. I bet he avoided the capture. He's a clever and witty scientist who has survived much more than I would have expected from him when I first met him in Antarctica!"
Elizabeth gasped for air. Her voice froze in her throat. "I-I," she stammered before regaining her posture, "I just wanted to wish you good luck."
"Oh," John was conscious enough to look ashamed and go red a little. "I'm sorry," he added.
"Just bring him back," she pleaded with a neutral tone.
John nodded and readied himself. But he feared what he would find there on that planet. He feared they would find nothing, or 206 bones…
His inner talk was… Well, who am I to judge? He told himself: 'God, let that arrogant pig-headed pain-in-the-ass be hiding deep underground. Let him be pissing and moaning about leaving him behind and for waiting for so long. Let him shout at me for being an idiot and not telling him sooner about the team trip. Let him be mad at me, at Elizabeth, at Jorgenson for not getting to him sooner.'
Then it was time and John turned to his men again. "Fire only under my command, are we clear?" he questioned them again, clutching the grenade launcher close to his chest.
All of them nodded so he turned back to the rippling blue event horizon. "Let's get him back," he said to no-one in particular and stepped through to the damp forest of M1X-808.
– – – – – – – – – –
M1X-808, the meadow near the river. Rodney was fiddling with the crystal and tying it to the holster. He had found out it was designated to point at the sky and pivot according to the base.
He wondered why it was pointing in that direction when the sky was full of clouds almost all planetary year. So he excluded it as a star telescope.
It might have been an SOS device for when the Wraith had attacked the planet. It may have been designated to light up Wraith Darts during a night attack. It might have been created to film the Darts. There were too many maybes. Rodney was certain it wasn't a weapon because it contained a lens but not a power source big enough to make it a laser.
The thing's holster was partly mangled from Rodney's kick and he knew it would take too long to repair it completely when most wires were ripped out. Despite all these, he had managed to re-attach some of those connectors, mainly the thick red wire, exposed blue and green ones and the thinnest white one.
Rodney looked up once again because he was sure the Wraith were still on the planet and he really needed to get going. He was pissed he couldn't help himself and messed with this new piece of technology. And still, he realised this riddle helped him centre, calm down and, most importantly, bring his mind back in order. Even his shiver was almost gone. He felt as if he was in his lab bowing over another Ancient gadget.
Suddenly, the device began to glow light blue and hum. It was an odd sound for Rodney's water-filled ears, nonetheless, at least he knew it worked, that his work was useful. He was so proud of himself!
"Let's see what you can do," he whispered and pushed the crystal to the centre of the base.
Suddenly the Wraith Dart appeared out of nowhere. It hovered for a while and flew just above the waterfall up the river.
Rodney was so terrified that he stopped pressing the lens crystal and backed as much as he could in his sitting position. He was angry at himself for having been caught off guard.
And then it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. Rodney blinked in surprise. He was staring at the empty space, where the Dart had been only moments before, while putting his legs under him and crawling backwards away from the waterfall. He threw glances all around himself trying to find the Dart or where it had gone but there was nothing there, not even a sound. As if the Dart didn't even exist at all.
Rodney's terrified mind didn't pay attention to his injured foot so he hit it slightly and jerked back in pain. That was when his sight fell upon the electronic device again. It was in two pieces but realisation dawned on him."You're kidding me," he breathed out silently and pushed up to his feet.
Waggling, he partly walked, partly jumped toward the base. There he kneeled carefully and eyed both parts of the device. He exhaled decisively and took the lens part in his left hand. He pointed it to the far bank and reconnected it loosely with the base.
The Dart appeared just above the bank, but it was a watery unstable imaginary production of an alien technology. Then a few sparks went off from the wires and the image faded away.
Rodney spat at the ground in disgust when he realised the truth. He lowered his hands with a sigh of disbelief.
"Hologram," he sieved through his gritted teeth. "It was a hologram. And I've almost killed myself for it."
He laughed bitterly, ruefully when his mind took into consideration that nothing, not a single thing, had been real. He was infused with such a tremendous fury that he had almost killed himself for nothing.
Rodney began to mutter to himself just for the sake of getting the venom out of himself. "I'm safe. And so is Jorgenson's team. So is Sarah. And I'm wet and cold while they're all dry and warm sitting by the big table at Atlantis presumably briefing Elizabeth or even writing my obituary. Huh, they left me here. They left me while they ran away as soon as they thought they were being attacked. I wasn't one of their men anyway. I never belonged. Anywhere."
Those final sentences were said in a more mollified manner, unhappily.
Rodney was freezing to the bone and rubbed his arms to get some heat in them. Suddenly, it stopped helping and his eyes went wide with terror.
"Now that the Dart isn't circling in the sky, they will think it has already left and when I won't answer with my radio gone, they'll think it took me. And if Sarah remembers the ruins, they won't summon it like I did because I broke the device. Amazing! Just amazing!"
Rodney groaned in frustration. "Well, at least I needn't hurry so much. It's not a matter of life and death of anyone else but me."
Rodney stared at the projector for a minute thinking about whether he should take it with him or not. Finally, he decided to do so because he would have a proof and it may be useful later. He might be able to project himself behind the shield and tell Atlantis to come to him. At this time he didn't know how he would use it in the end when this first plan was impossible to fulfil…
"Right, set priorities. You don't need to worry about the Wraith but you need to find some place to dry yourself and clean your cuts. Sure, you'll make it. This can't get any worse."
It's always advised not to praise the day before evening. As if on cue, his day did get worse. It started to rain. Not that nice and warm May rain. It was a heavy, thick, rainforest one.
"It's just great," Rodney muttered. "This is a real punishment."
He ripped the wires from the base and began to limp to the treeline with the projector clutched to his chest, damning whatever devil, wicked spirit had brought him here in the first place. He was soaked wet in a second.