Search and Rescue
John regains consciousness; he is lying in the debris of the collapsed building. Small fires are burning to his right and a large metal beam is across his chest, pinning him to the ground. His right arm is trapped under a metal canister. The debris above his head leaves a clearance of only a few feet. As he coughs at all the dust floating around, Ronon calls his name. "Sheppard! Hey, buddy!" He said. "Where are we?" John asked. "Michael's compound, it collapsed on us." Ronon replied. John tries to sit up, but cries out in pain and sinks back. Behind his head, Ronon puts a hand on his shoulder. "Hey." He said. John grunts weakly. "I think I…" He trailed off. "Yeah, hold on, let me take a look." Ronon said. He squirms around and sees that a slim metal pole has punctured John's right side. Looking at John for a moment, he reaches down and yanks the pole out of him. John cries out in agony. "What the hell was that?!" He shouted. "No big deal." Ronon said. He opens a field dressing to put on the wound. "What about the others?" John asked. "I don't know, we got separated." Ronon replied. "Try 'em on the radio." He said.
In the room where Rodney, Natalie and Team Lorne had been searching before the explosion, McKay has the same idea and has switched on his radio but is getting nothing but static. He has several cuts on his face and is covered with dust. The room has collapsed and there is barely enough space for him to stand upright. He holds the radio up high but then shakes his head. "Still no signal, there's to much interference." Rodney commented. Sitting on the floor nearby, Evan groans. "I'm pretty sure my leg is broken." He said. "I think I'm remarkably fine." Rodney replied. "Well, isn't that wonderful?" Evan said sarcastically. "That brings me great comfort." Evan then looks to the person sitting beside him. "Natalie, how are you?" He asked. "Sleepy, tired." She replied. "Ok, don't go to sleep honey alright?" Evan told her. Natalie nodded weakly. "Where does it hurt?" He then asked. "My right arm, right leg and my head." She replied groggily. Evan checked her head wound, it wasn't deep, just a scrape. He then checked her arm, it was definitely broken, the arm was lying in an awkward angle. He straightened her arm and then checked her leg wound. Damn, he thought as he looked at it. It was deep and bleeding heavily. "Rodney, I need you to come here." Evan said. "Why?" Rodney asked. "Now." Evan ordered. Rodney grumbled then made his way over there. "I need you to help me stop her bleeding." He said. Rodney's eyes widened. "She's bleeding!" He said. "Will she be alright?" Lorne nodded. "As long as you help me." He said. "Get one of her bootlaces off and give it to me." Lorne said. Rodney did just that. "Okay, now hold her down." He added. "Just incase she fights us when we apply the pressure." Rodney commented.
Rodney held her down as Evan wrapped the lace at the knee, just above the wound. He applied the pressure and tied the laces in a knot. Natalie groaned and made a move to get away from who was causing the pain but Rodney held her fast. "Thank you, Rodney." Lorne replied. Rodney moved back to where he was previously and looks around. "I don't think we're that deep." He said. "I can see daylight, if I could just…" He tries to shift a piece of debris above his head. It only moves a little but sends a cascade of dust and rubble down onto Lorne and Natalie's heads, Evan cries out indignantly. "I'm sorry!." Rodney exclaimed. "I just posted Edison at the entrance to the building, he'll get help." Evan told everyone. "Yea." Natalie said half-heartily. "That is assuming he wasn't hit by the falling debris." Rodney pointed out. "Doc, the Daedalus left Atlantis while we were still confirming Sheppard's story." Evan said. "With that kind of a head start, they should be here in less than three hours, so one way or another, help is on the way." Natalie moved a little, causing Evan a little discomfort but he was glad to know that she was still with him. Natalie was a little clearer headed since they stopped the bleeding. "I'm sorry, I'm just, um, I'm not good in tight spaces." Rodney said. "Rodney, look there's no bad guys around, ok?" Natalie said still a little weak. "No bad guys, just a lot of debris." Evan nodded. "So if you please just sit tight and try not to make the ceiling collapse, that would be great!" He added. "Ok, no bad guys, just ….just sit tight." Rodney said to himself. Trying to reassure himself, he stares up through the one tiny gap in the ceiling that leads to daylight.
On Michael's cruiser, a long way away across space, Kanaan brings a Wraith computer tablet to Michael on the bridge. Michael takes the tablet and looks at it, then hands it back to Kanaan. "When did you get this?" Michael asked. "Moments ago." He replied. Michael alls out to the hybrids on the bridge. "Change of plans, we're setting a new course, our compound has been compromised." He said. The cruiser turns and jumps into hyperspace.
In Atlantis, in the Gateroom the gate activates. "Unscheduled offworld activation, its Lt. Edison's I.D.C." Amelia the gate tech said. Edison stumbles through the gate, covered in dust and with several cuts and grazes on his face. The gate closes down as Carter runs down the stairs to meet him. "What happened, where's the rest of your team?" She asked. "There was a massive explosion; everyone was in the main compound, the whole building imploded on itself." He told her. "Were there any survivors?" Sam asked. "Radios are down, I don't know, I just thought I should get back here." Edison replied. "No you did the right thing." Cater said. She turned to a couple of technicians. "Get him to the infirmary." She ordered. As the technicians help Edison out of the Gateroom, she turns to Amelia. "How far away is the Daedalus?" She asked. "Still two hours out." Banks replied. "We can't wait that long." Cater commented. "Have the combat engineers gear up and have Dr. Keller ready her away team." Amelia nodded. "Yes, ma'am." She said.
Back at Michael's compound, Rodney is tinkering with bits of Michael's computers that he has found in the rubble. "What are you doing?" Lorne asked. "I'm claustrophobic." Rodney replied. "I'm trying to keep my mind busy – which is hard 'cause, you know, it's …it's my mind." Evan rolls his eyes, then looks around the rubble. "Well, there's no way anything useful survived that implosion." Evan pointed out. "Speak for yourself." Rodney said. "You know what I mean, Doc." Lorne said. Rodney was still tinkering. "Look, I found a bunch of computer parts, all right." McKay said. "Are they working?" Natalie asked quietly. "Well, the motherboards are all fried or snapped but some of these hard drives look like they might still be intact. If I can just get the power to…" Data starts to stream across his computer tablet. "Hello, hello." Rodney comments, looking at the information. "Whoa!" He then exclaimed. "What is it? Something good?" Evan asked. "I don't know, there's a lot of information." Rodney said then his tablet beeps. " Hold on! I think I just hit the jackpot!" Lorne and Natalie glanced at each other. "What – some way to broadcast a signal, let people know our location, speed up the rescue, what?" Evan asked. "No… although in hindsight, I would say you're right, that should probably be considered the jackpot, but no." Rodney replied. "This hard drive, I can only access what's on it." Natalie rolled her eyes. "Which is?" She asked. "It's Michael's Wiki!" Rodney exclaimed. "It survived the explosion!" Lorne looked confused. "The What?" He asked. "Michael's database!" Rodney said. "There's a large chunk of it, maybe the whole thing too. I mean, we've got base schematics, medical research information, list of planets. You know what this means?" Evan rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, it means we're still stuck here, I still have a broken leg, she has a gash on her leg and a broken arm." He said. "Yeah, in the short term, but if we get out of here…" Rodney began. "If?" Evan pointed out. "When." Natalie assured him. "….we have him on the run! He'll be finished! Look, if Michael…." He trials off as he looks at the latest information on the screen. "Oh, no." He said. "What?" The other two asked together. "Look, I don't wanna concern you two any more than you actually already are but if I'm reading this correctly, then Michael is…" Rodney said but was cut off by Evan. "Shut up!" He said. "No, you shut up. This is important, if Michael is…" Rodney said but was once again cut off by Evan. "Shh! Quit making noise!" He said. They listen, the sound of movement can be heard far above them. "It's footsteps!" Natalie exclaimed. "Ok, revise that: start making noise!" Evan ordered. "Hey!" He shouted. "Down here!" Rodney yelled. "Help!" Natalie joined in. "We're down here!" Rodney yelled. "Help!" Evan yelled. "Hey!" Rodney yelled. They continue to call out for help. Many feet above them, Sam, Jennifer and the rescue team are making their way into the building, unable to hear the muffled shouts coming from below them because of the noise they themselves are making. "All right, we've got five life signs in two different locations." Sam said. "The first three should be right beneath us." As she stops speaking, Jennifer tilts her head. "Listen." She said. They hear the muffled shouts and drop to the ground to get closer to the sounds.
"McKay? Is that you?" Carter calls out. "Oh, thank god!" Rodney said. "Yes! I'm trapped with Lorne and Natalie!" He said. "Are you ok?" Sam asked. "We're fine!" Rodney replied. "Hey, Doc!" Evan said indignantly. "Right, right, right." Rodney mumbled to himself. "Ok, Lorne's got a broken leg, Natalie has a gash on her right leg and a broken arm." He yelled upward. "All right, McKay, stay put." Carter ordered. "We've got combat engineers here." Rodney glanced at the other two people with him. "Well, hurry up!" He shouted. "We'll work as fast as is safe, Rodney." Carter assured him. "No-no-no, you don't understand." He said. "I just found out that when the self-destruct is initiated, it's automatically programmed to send a sup-space burst. Michael's probably already on his way!" Capt. Alicia Vega turns to Sam and Jennifer. "It doesn't look like they're too far down." She said. "We should be able to get them out inside of an hour." Jennifer looks at the life signs detector. "What about the other two?" She asked. Sam also looks at the detector. "They're a lot deeper." She replied. "Well, the Daedalus will be here soon, so then we can just beam them out, right?" Jennifer asked. "As long as Michael doesn't get here first." Sam replied. She calls out to the rescue team. "All right, let's get started. Rivers, take a jumper into orbit and keep a look-out for Michael's ship. Let me know the second he gets here." Rivers turns and makes his way out of the rubble. The rest of the team gets to work.
In Michael's maternity room, John and Ronon are trying to get the metal beam off John's chest. "Ok, one, two, three." John said. They both push as hard as they can. The beam lifts a little but is wedged at the top and they can't move it off John. After a few seconds they give up. "Oh, this thing ain't moving." John said. "Wonder what happened to the others?" Ronon also wondered. "I don't know, it happened pretty quick, I don't think many people made it out." He replied. "So stupid!" John commented. "Of course the building was booby-trapped. I should have seen that coming." Ronon shook his head. "Yeah, well, none of us did." He said. "Yeah, but I'm The Guy, you know, like, The Guy." John pointed out. "Everyone knew what we were getting into." Ronon told him. "We all knew how dangerous it was, so don't beat yourself up about it." John looked up at the gap above him. "You need to start thinking about how to crawl your way out of here." He said. "No way." Ronon said. "I'm serious, you just keep moving up, keep moving the debris, work your way up." John said. "I'm not leaving you behind, Sheppard." Ronon stated. "Come on, I'm not trying to be a hero here." John said. "It's a selfish thing." Ronon has moved round to John's side and, groaning with the effort, forces the metal canister upwards so that John can pull his right arm free. "I need you to dig a hole so that the rescuers can come down and get me." John added. Ignoring him, Ronon starts moving some of the rubble out of the way around the base of the beam. "That's the wrong way, chief." John pointed out. "If we get this beam off you, we get you free, we dig ourselves out together. Deal?" Ronon asked. "You ain't gonna listen to me one way or the other, are you?" John asked. "Great, deal." Ronon said, nonchalantly. John sighs.
In hyperspace, aboard Michael's cruiser, Teyla is in a lab, lying on a table. Its tilted at forty-five degree angle, her wrists and ankles are attached to the table by metal clamps. Michael is running a scanner over her stomach and looking at the results on a nearby screen. The baby's heartbeat can be heard. "Excellent, this is all very good." Michael said. "Your son should be making an appearance any day now." Teyla gazes upwards, her face bitter. "I thought that would make you happy, I can't imagine carrying a child inside of you is very comfortable." He added. Teyla turns her head and glares at him briefly before turning away again. "I will not harm him, why can't you just accept that?" Michael asked. "Because I know you." Teyla said. "All these worlds filled with people, busying themselves with their pathetic lives." Michael told her. "They come and go, they live and they die and the galaxy is no better for it. But your son – your son will be an instrument of change. He will be remembered for the ages." Teyla shook her head. "And what of his mother?" She asked. "You speak often of his future, but never of mine. Why is that?" Unseen by Michael, Kanaan has walked into the room and is watching the two of them. "I had hoped that you would…. (he hesitates for a moment.) I had hoped that you would understand…" Michael began but was cut off. "It is time." Kanaan said. "Very well, remove the restraints and post a guard outside this door." Michael ordered.
He leaves the room, Kanaan deactivates the clamps and Teyla struggles to sit up. "I must escape before our child is born, He will kill me once I am of no use to him." Teyla said. "I can't." He replied. "Kanaan, why?" Teyla asked. "It is too dangerous." Kanaan replied. "For who?" She asked. "He will kill us." He told her. Kanaan looks down at her stomach. "Kill us all." He added. "Yes, he will, whether you help me or not." Teyla pleaded. She puts her hand on his chest, he gazes down at it. "You are disposable to him." She said. "Can you not see that?" Kanaan puts his hand over hers and looks into her eyes. "Listen to me." Teyla told him. An alarm starts to sound. Kanaan looks up, then pulls his hand free and starts to walk out of the room. "Kanaan!" Teyla exclaims. She gets off the table and starts to follow him. "Please! Please!" She begs. Kanaan goes out of the door, then turns and activates a control to close it, locking her in. Putting her hands protectively over her stomach, Teyla stares around the room in despair.
In the compound, the engineers have finally broken a big enough hole into the floor. Rodney reaches up to them, handing his computer tablet up. Someone takes it and the engineers haul him through the gap. Once he's out, he takes his tablet back. Jennifer takes his arm and leads him away as the engineers turn back to retrieve Evan and Natalie. "Come over here." Jennifer instructed. "I'm fine; it's just a couple of scrapes." Rodney told her. "Wow." She said. "Rodney McKay refusing medical help. Now I really know there's something wrong!" Rodney looked her in the eyes. "Seriously, I'm ok." He said. "Just—you should look after Lorne and Natalie." Jennifer turns and sees the engineers pulling Evan up out of the hole. Natalie is being carried by one; Jennifer goes over to them as Sam walks over to Rodney. "Any survivors?" Rodney asked. "We found two other life signs but their buried under a lot more debris than you were, so it's gonna take a little longer." She replied. "We've got people working on it." Rodney sighed. "Know who it is?" He wondered. "Not yet, Rodney, did you find Teyla?" Carter asked. "No, no, but I think Sheppard was right." He told her. "He was gonna bring her here. We just – we came too soon." Carter's comlink activated. "Col. Cater?" A voice asked. "Go ahead." She replied. "Ma'am, a Wraith Cruiser just came out of hyperspace." Rivers told her. "Michael's here." Carter told Rodney. On the cruiser, the ship take up orbit around the planet. On the bridge, Kanaan turns and reports to Michael. "Multiple life signs, it must be the Atlanteans." He said. "They're combing the debris. But they must know it's too dangerous to stay here." Michael commented. He then smiles unpleasantly. "They're searching for survivors. This might not be a total loss after all."
Back on the ground, everyone is getting ready to go. "Everyone fall back to your Jumpers!" Carter ordered. As the crew starts to leave the area, the distinctive sound of an approaching Dart can be heard. "We've got incoming!" Vega yelled. The Dart soars over the surface, heading for the compound. As everyone else takes cover, Vega aims an M4 rifle into the air and opens fire. She fires a hail of bullets at the approaching Dart and hits its underside. It swoops away, trailing smoke behind it. Jennifer comes out of hiding, looking up admiringly. "Nice shot!" She exclaimed. "All right, let's fall back to the Jumpers." Carter said. "We've still got men trapped down there." Rodney pointed out. "They're gonna have to wait." Sam replied. "We're no good to them out in the open like this. Let's go! Fall back!" The crew heads out. Evan, Natalie, who was being carried by a marine and some of the soldiers and engineers take seats on the benches in the back of one of the Puddle Jumpers, Rodney, Sam, Jennifer and Vega run in and take the front four seats. "Cloak the ship." Carter ordered. Rodney took the pilot's seat. "Got it." He said. Sam sat in the co-pilot's seat. "We're getting a reading. The gate's been activated." She said. "It's a classic Wraith battle technique." Rodney explained. "They dial the gate, lock everyone out, make sure they can't escape." Sam nodded. "Well, it's a good one." She replied. "Yeah, well, they're not idiots." He pointed out. Rodney calls up the H.U.D. onto the windshield. "We've got more Darts on the way and they've already got troops on the debris field." Rodney told them. "They must know we got people down there." Vega said. "How many Jumpers do we have?" McKay asked. "Three, including this one." Sam replied. "I'm reading over twenty darts." Rodney said. "But they can't see us, right?" Jennifer asked. "Well, not right now, but we can't fire while we're cloaked." Rodney pointed out. "Look, it's gonna take them time to dig them out, the same as us." Carter pointed out. "We wait for the Daedalus. Rodney take us into orbit." Grimacing, Rodney files the Jumper into the air.
On the bridge of the cruiser, "Darts reporting minimal resistance." Kanaan reported. "We've already started searching the debris." Michael turned to him. "We must work fast, I need them alive." He said. Back on the Puddle Jumper, still cloaked it approaches the cruiser. "There it is." Rodney said. "Is that Michael's Cruiser?" Jennifer asked. "Well, it looks like it." Rodney replied. "Does that mean that Teyla's on that ship?" Keller asked. "It's possible." Carter told her. "Well, that's great, though, right?" Jennifer asked. "When the Daedalus shows up we can just beam her up too, no?" Rodney shook his head. "It's not as easy as that." He said. "Chances are, Michael's already removed her transmitter, and even if he hasn't." Carter began. "Wraith Cruisers surround themselves with an electromagnetic jamming field. No beaming in, no beaming out." Jennifer sighed. "We're so close!" She exclaimed. Sam and Rodney look at each other. They understand Jennifer's feelings but know that there's nothing they can do.
In the compound, John is only half conscious. "Hey, come on, one more try." Ronon said. John groans faintly. "Feeling pretty weak, buddy." He replied. "You're not quitting on me yet, are you?" Ronon asked. "No …..uh, well, I was thinking about it." John replied. "That wasn't part of our deal." Ronon told him. "You keep adding things to this deal of ours." John pointed out. "All right." Ronon said. He gets into position by the beam. "Ready? One, two, three." He braces his shoulder against the beam and, groaning with the effort, starts to push it upwards. He tries his hardest but although it lifts a little it's too wedged at the ends for him to be able to move it off John and after several seconds, he has no choice but to give up. "Ronon, you need to get out of here." John told him. "Would you leave me if I was stuck under there?" He asked. "Yes." John said but it was a little unconvincing. Ronon looks up as he hears sounds from above them. "You hear that?" He asked. "What?" John asked. "Sounds like digging." He replied. "Yeah, I hear it!" John exclaims. "I hear it!" Ronon looked back up. "Hey! Hey, we're down here!" He shouted. "We're coming for you! Just stay calm!" A male voice told them. Ronon grins at John. "And you were gonna quit!" He said. John sighs with relief.
In space, a hyperspace window opens and Daedalus flies out of it and heads towards the planet. Col. Caldwell walks onto the bridge and approaches Kevin Marks as the weapons officer's position. "Status?" He asked. "Reading another ship in orbit, it's a Wraith Cruiser." Marks replied. "Shields up, ready forward beam weapons." Caldwell ordered. "Sir, I'm receiving a coded transmission from Col. Carter." Marks said. Caldwell activated the comms on his chair. "Sam, what's going on?" He asked. "Long story short, that's Michael's Cruiser and he likely has Teyla on board." Sam replied. "So I can't blow him out of the sky." Steven pointed out. "No, I'm afraid not." Sam said. The cruiser opens fire on the Daedalus. "We're taking fire, sir." Marks said. "Shields are holding."
Meanwhile, on the cruiser. "They managed to get their shields up before we hit them." Kanaan said. "That's un fortunate." Michael said. He turns to another hybrid. "Transfer power to the hyperdrive." Kanaan turns to face him. "What about the Darts?" He asked. "Acceptable losses." Michael said. Kanaan turns away, unhappy at his decision.
On the Daedalus. "He's running." Marks told Caldwell. "Not if I can help it, target his hyperdrive." He ordered. "Yes, sir." Marks replied. A hyperspace window opens in front of the fleeing cruiser. As it races towards it, an Asgard beam soars out from Daedalus and impacts the cruiser. The hyperspace window fritzes out and disintegrates. The cruiser soars through the remains of the window but cannot reach escape velocity. Daedalus fires at it again. On the cruiser's bridge, Kanaan turns to Michael. "We've lost hyperdrive!" He exclaimed. Michael smiled. "Well, I guess we're fighting after all." He commented. The cruiser fires a barrage of blasts at Daedalus. "Shields are down to eighty percent." Marks said. "Daedalus, we still have two people on the planet." Sam said over the comms. "It is just a matter of time before the Hive retrieves them." Rodney added. "Can you scan for transmitter signals?" Carter asked.
In the compound, John and Ronon are waiting for the rescue team to break through to them. "Stay calm!" A voice said. "We're almost there!" John looked up and called up to them. "I'm gonna stop making fun of combat engineers as of today, I promise." He said. "Harris up there with you?" Silence for a second. "Yes, he's here, don't worry, we'll have you out soon." The voice replied. Ronon frowns and looks at John. "I thought Harris was on leave until next month." He said. John nods, then calls up to the ceiling again. "If we get out of here, beer's on me, boys." John said. "What do you like, uh, Duff Beer or Oprah Ale?" There was a slight pause. "Duff." The voice answered. "Well, they don't watch the Simpsons or drink beer." John told Ronon quietly. "Michael's hybrids?" Ronon suggested. "I bet he was tipped off when the building blew." He moves around to a position behind John's head and picks up his blaster. "You totally should have gotten out of here!" John exclaimed irritated. "Yeah, whatever." Ronon replied. "I can't reach my gun." John said. Ronon reaches under the beam and pulls John's pistol out of its holster. Cocking it, Ronon hands it to him. "Here." He said. "All right, how do you wanna play this?" John pauses, gathering his last remaining strength, then looks at Ronon. "Shoot until we can't shoot any more." He said. Ronon smiles. "All right." He replied. He settles into position behind John's head and the two of them gaze up at the ceiling as cement dust cascades down on them, indicating that the hybrids are almost through. John turns his head towards Ronon again. "Been a pleasure." He said. Ronon smiled. "Same." He replied. As one, they raise their right arms and aim their weapons towards the ceiling.
On the Daedalus, as the ship continues to be fired on by the cruiser, Marks looks at his screens. "We got 'em." He said. "It's Col. Sheppard and Ronon." On the jumper, Sam and Rodney look at each other. Sam turns back to the radio. "Can you beam them up?" Sam asked. "We'd have to drop our shields, I kind of think that'd be a bad idea right now." Steven pointed out. "Look, if Michael gets his hands on them, he'll kill them." Carter pointed out. "We don't have a choice." Caldwell sighs and turns to Marks. "All right, get ready to drop the shields." He said. "As soon as they're down, beam Ronon and Sheppard directly to the infirmary." Marks nods. "Yes, sir." He said. "Sam, you might as well bring your Jumpers on board at the same time." Caldwell added. "Understood, we're in position." She replied. "All right, do it." Caldwell told Marks. The shields drop and the cruiser's blasts begin to impact the ship. In the compound, John and Ronon continue to gaze upwards as a large piece of the ceiling is pulled away and two hybrids come into view. One of them aims a Wraith stunner down at them. Before anyone can fire, an Asgard transporter beam whisks the boys away. The hybrids stare down in surprise.
On the Daedalus bridge, consoles and wall panels explode. "We got 'em!" Marks said. "Jumpers are in the bay." Caldwell nodded. "Shields up!" He ordered. A couple more shots from the cruiser impact the ship, then the shields re-deploy. On board the cruiser, Kanaan reports. "Enemy vessel has raised shields again. But we've scored several direct hits." He said. "Keep firing!" Michael orders. On board the Daedalus, Sam and Rodney make their way to the bridge, passing crewmembers repairing the damage done to the ship. Sam walks over to Caldwell. "How are we doing?" She asked. "Not so good." He replied. "We've lost sub-light, hyperdrive and Asgard weapons. Life support's down to fifty percent." Carter sighed. "What about the shields?" Rodney asked. "Well, there holding for now, but we're basically dead in the water." Caldwell told him. In the infirmary, Evan's leg was being put into a cast, Natalie's arm was already in a cast and the nurse was stitching up the wound on her leg. Ronon was sitting on the side of a bed near the other two. He slaps away the hand of a medic as he tries to treat his wounds. "Don't touch me." He said. The medic moves towards him again but Ronon surges off the bed and steps towards him threateningly. The medic wisely backs away as Natalie and Evan chuckle at the scene. On the next bed to Ronon, John lies grimacing as Jennifer treats the wound on his side. "I thought we'd lost you there." She said. "Yeah, well, for a second I thought we'd lost me." John commented. "It's going to be ok, though, right?" She looked up at him. "Yeah, you need some serious work but you should, you know, live to fight another day an' all that." Keller told him. "So what's going on?" He asked. "I guess Michael showed up before the Daedalus right?" She nodded. "Yeah, we had to lower the shields to beam you up here." She said. "Sorry about that." John said. "Well, I'm sure McKay and Col. Carter will be able to fix it." She told him.
"McKay's alive?" John asked. Jennifer smiled. "Yeah." She said, then her smile faded. "Yeah, he, Natalie and Lorne were the only three to make it out of the rubble." She added sadly. John looked at the other beds where his sister and Lorne were being patched up. "Patch me up, I need to get back out there." John said. "What?" She asked. "No-no-no, look, you will be fine but you're far from it now." Jennifer told him. "You need surgery and a transfusion. I mean, this can't wait." John shook his head. "Look, Doc, Michael's here." He said. "That means Teyla's probably on the ship. I'm too close to sit here and do nothing." Keller sighed. "You're not gonna be sitting around doing nothing." She said. "You're gonna be laying here in surgery." John frowned. "Look, there's gotta be …" He trails off as he tries to sit up but can't quite manage it. Sinking back, he rolls his eyes. "There's gotta be a quick fix." Keller bit her lip. "No." She replied. "I need a few hours." John pleaded. "I'm sorry, I can't." She said. She turns to walk away but John reaches out and grabs her arm. "I have had a chance to rescue a team mate before, and it slipped through my hands." He said. "I am not letting that happen again." Jennifer looked at him and thought for a moment. "Ok, I'll bandage you up to try and stop the bleeding for awhile." She said. "Thank you." He said. Jennifer quickly bandaged him up and John got off the bed. Ronon knew what he was doing and got up to follow him. On their way out, John stopped at Natalie and Evan's beds. He walked up between them. "Why are you going to try this?" She asked, they both heard the argument a few moments ago. "Because Teyla needs me." He replied. "But what if you die over there?" She asked. John didn't answer her, he just walked up to the edge of her bed and kissed her on the forehead. He then turned to Evan. "Lorne, you're the new military commander if the worst happens." He said. "Yes, sir." Lorne replied. They both watched him and Ronon walk out of the room. Evan turned to his wife. "Don't worry, Sheppard is the luckiest guy I know, he'll survive." He said. She smiled faintly. "I hope you're right." She said.
In the Daedalus Asgard core room, Sam is sitting in semi-darkness working at the Asgard console. A moment later all the lights come on. She looks around admiringly. "Nice one!" She said. "Of course." He replied. He has been working on a panel of crystals pulled out from the wall. "Life support's still not working at full power, but at least we won't freeze to death." Rodney commented. He takes off the headband flashlight he is wearing and goes over to a central console. "Well, I've almost got sub-light back online but the way these guys are taxing our shields, we won't have any power to spare anyway." Carter said. "We need to take out the cruiser's main weapons." McKay frowned. "With what?" He asked. "We could launch a 302 attack." Carter suggested. "That's what I was thinking." John said. Rodney and Carter looked to the doorway to see Ronon and John standing there. "Colonel!" Sam exclaimed. "Dr. Keller said you were out of commission." John smirked. "She revised her diagnosis." He said. Unable to help himself, he puts his hand to his side which is obviously still giving him a lot of pain. Ronon gives him a long disapproving look. John turns back to the others. "Look, we may have an idea." He said. "Maybe a way to get Teyla back." Ronon added.
Shortly afterwards, on the bridge, John, Ronon, Rodney and Sam are explaining their idea to Caldwell. Outside the ship, the bombardment from the Wraith Cruiser continues. "We need to take out the cruiser's main weapons." Sam said. "The easiest way for us to do that right now is launch an attack with 302's." Caldwell frowned. "I wouldn't exactly call that "easy." Caldwell pointed out. "They'll just send out Darts to intercept them." Ronon smiled. "That's what we're counting on." He said. "In order to launch the Darts, they'll have to open the bay doors." Rodney explained. "If we have a cloaked Jumper in place, a small team should be able to sneak onto the cruiser undetected." John nodded. "We find Teyla, bust her out and blast our way home." He added. "As a rule, I like to keep daring rescues down to one a day." Caldwell commented. "Look, the shields are already down to twenty percent." Sam told him. "It's just a matter of time before they fail completely." Caldwell looks dubious. "She's over there, Steven, counting on us." Carter said. "I won't take "no" for an answer." He thought for a moment. "All right, take a cloaked Jumper." Caldwell said somewhat reluctantly. "Radio us when you're in position." Rodney and Ronon head out. Sam stays for a moment to smile and nod gratefully at Caldwell, then she and John follow the others. John is holding his side as he walks. "John, what really happened in the infirmary?" She asked. "Nothing." John replied. Sam seizes his arm and pulls him to a halt. "So you're telling me if I go down there right now and talk to Jennifer, she'll tell me that you're fit for duty?" She asked. "I'm just trying to do a job." John said. "So am I, part of my job is determining whether or not you're gonna be a liability on this mission." Carter told him. "Colonel, I have more respect for you than any commanding officer I've ever had, but I'm getting on that Jumper, end of story." John said. "I'll surrender for court martial when I'm done." He turns and walks away.
Later, the cloaked Jumper is in a position near the bay doors of the cruiser. John sits uncomfortably in the pilot's seat, fighting to keep his face from contorting with pain. Rodney looks across to him from the co-pilots seat, his face full of concern. Ronon, standing behind Rodney with his arm on the back of the seat, nudges him in the back. Rodney looks awkward, reluctant to even broach the subject, but eventually turns to John. "You know, Ronon and I could probably handle this." He said. "Maybe you should stay with the Jumper." John turns and scowls at him. Rodney wilts under his gaze. "…or not." McKay added. John activates the comms. "Daedalus, we're in position." He said. "Confirmed." Caldwell said. He turns to Marks. "Launch 302's." He orders. Half a dozen F-302's deploy from the ship and head towards the cruiser. "302's approaching, cue the Darts." Rodney commented. Obligingly the Dart bay doors open and about eight Darts soar out. The bay doors immediately begin to close again. "It's closing." Rodney pointed out. "I see that." John shot back. "It's closing quickly." McKay added. "I got it." John said. He sends the Jumper racing towards the rapidly closing doors, turning the ship around ninety degrees so that it can squeeze through the gap. The doors slam shut behind them. "Daedalus, we're in." John said into the comms. Ronon pats John's shoulder in a congratulatory way. Outside, the F-302's engage with the Darts and fire their weapons toward the cruiser. Some of them get through and impact the ship. "It worked!" Carter said. "The cruiser just lost main weapons." Caldwell nodded. "Let's hope that Sheppard has the same luck." He added.
In the cruiser, a couple of hybrids walk along a corridor. Once they're out of sight, John, Ronon and Rodney come out of hiding and make their way to a terminal. "All right, this won't take more than a couple of seconds." Rodney said. He plugs his tablet into the terminal and looks at his screen. "That's ….troubling." He commented. "What?" Ronon asked. "Michael's a lot further ahead with his repairs that I would have thought." Rodney replied. "Hyperdrives almost back online. We've gotta make this quick." John frowned. "What do you mean, "quick"?" He asked. "Well, like, fifteen minutes, it's not a lot of time." Rodney commented. "No that's not a lot of time." John said sarcastically. "So why don't you tell us where Teyla is, already?" Rodney looked back at his screen. "Right, right-right, right." He said. He types a few moments. "Got it, ok, follow me." Rodney said. He runs off down the corridor, then stops when he realizes that he'd rather have a heavily-armed soldier ahead of him. "Or you." McKay added. He gestures the way to go and follows John as he heads off. Further down the corridors, a hybrid is guarding the door to the lab. At the sound of approaching footsteps, he draws his stunner pistol and steps out to investigate, only to be gunned down by John. Inside the lab, Teyla is sitting on a bench, covered in sweat. She looks up as she hears the gunfire. "John?" She calls out. "Gonna get you out of here!" He shouted back. "Not a moment too soon!" She shouted. She struggles to her feet. The doors of the lab slide open and the boys run in. "We're gonna get you back to the Jumper." Ronon said. He runs over to her and catches her as she crumples to her knees, crying out in pain. He eases her into a sitting position on the floor and John kneels down to her. "You ok?" He asked. "It's my baby." Teyla replied. "What, is something wrong?' John asked. She shook her head. "No, I have been having contractions for over an hour now." She explained. "They're very close, my baby's coming." Ronon helps her back to the bench and she sits down, gasping for breath. "I'm sorry, I need a moment." Teyla said. Still kneeling on the floor, John takes his hand away from his side and finds his fingers covered in blood.
"I'd carry her, buddy, but I'm not really up to it." John said. "Yeah." Ronon agrees. He reaches for Teyla. "Ok, you ready?" She shook her head. "No, I can walk, I just need a moment." She assured him. Rodney looks at his computer. "Uh, say, friends?" He began. "We have a small issue here." John rolled his eyes. "Oh, what now?" He asked, irritably. "Looks like Michael's got his hyperdrive back online." Rodney told him. "It's powering up." John sighed. "Can you shut it down?" He asked. "Well, not from this little thing." Rodney said. "look, the drive room is just down the corridor. You slap a C4 charge on that thing; it should certainly shut it down." John groaned. "Where?" He asked. "Here, I have a map." McKay said. He types into the tablet and gives it to John. "All right, Ronon, you're with me." John said. "I'll be right back, everything's gonna be fine." Ronon told Teyla. He then walks over to Rodney. "You take care of her." He said. Ronon follows John from the lab, Rodney turns and looks nervously at Teyla as she gasps in pain. "So ….how you doing?" He asked. "The pain is very great." She replied. "Oh, yeah, yeah, I had a kidney stone once. Incredibly painful." Rodney began. "Same kind of thing, from what I'm told, so I hear ya. Actually, my cat and I had one at the same time. We were not fun to be around, I'll tell you that much. He got his 'cause he was eating too much of the dry cat food; I got mine 'cause I wasn't drinking enough liquids. That's why you always see me hydrating – I have no desire to experience that kind of pain again. Oh, it was just the…" Teyla cut him off. "Fascinating story, thank you!" She said sarcastically. "Yeah, no problem." Rodney said. Teyla cries out in pain and sinks off the bench onto the floor. Rodney runs over and kneels down beside her as she continues to wail. "Ok, just-just-just breathe, breathe, ok?" Rodney said. He purses his lips and starts panting rapidly. Teyla looks round at him, appalled. "What are you doing?" She asked. "Well, it's Lamaze." Rodney said. "It's supposed to help with the …..Look, I don't know what I'm doing. What do you need me to do?" As another contraction takes hold, Teyla screams and grabs his hand and squeezes it tightly. The bones in his fingers crunch unpleasantly and Rodney's face contorts in silent agony.
"Ok, there, there. There, there you are." He said through gritted teeth. "There, there." He pats her hand comfortingly. "The baby is coming." She said. "You just – you just hang on." He told her. "We'll get you back to the infirmary on the Daedalus and Keller can putt it…. out." Teyla shook her head. "No, the baby is coming now." She said. Rodney's eyes widen in horror. In the hyperdrive room, Ronon walks into the room and guns down a hybrid standing by the main control console. Two more hybrids turn but Ronon shoots one and John guns down the other. They look around to make sure nobody else is in the room, they then look at the hyperdrive generator suspended over their heads in the center of the room. "It's almost powered up." Ronon commented. "Give me your C4." John ordered. Ronon hands him a block of C4. John steps underneath the generator and tries to reach up to it but groans and doubles over in agony. "Here, give it to me." Ronon said. "I got it." John said. "Give it to me, you don't have to do everything." Ronon said, mock-tetchily. Snatching the block out of John's hand, he reaches up and attaches it to the generator, then sticks a detonator to it. "All right, you ready?" Ronon asked. John nods. "Let's go." They turn and hurry out of the room, gunning down some more approaching hybrids. They race around a corner and Ronon retrieves the tablet that he had hidden in an alcove. John takes out the detonation activator and flicks up the switch. "All right, let's hope we're far enough away." John commented. "Yeah, we'll see." Ronon replied. "Fire in the hole." John said. He presses the button and the hyperspace generator explodes. The cruiser shakes violently. On the bridge, Michael and his hybrids struggle to stay on their feet as the lights go out and the engines begin to power down. "What happened?" Michael asked. "The hyperdrive just exploded!" Kanaan replied. "No, that's impossible." Michael spat. "Main power is out across much of the ship." Kanaan added. "An accidental overload?" Michael wondered. "It doesn't appear that way." Kanaan told him. "How did they do that?" Michael asked. "I will look into it." Kanaan said. As he hurries away, Michael realizes the truth. "They're on board, how did they get on board?" He asked himself.
In the lab, Teyla is sitting on the floor with her back against the bench. She has her knees drawn up and her legs open and is gasping in pain. Rodney kneels at her feet, staring at her in a panic. "Well, can't you hold it in?" He asked. "No, Rodney!" Teyla gasped. "This doesn't happen this quick!" Rodney exclaimed. "No-one has babies this quick!" Teyla wails. "My water broke quite a while ago. I've been trying to…" She gasps as another contraction takes hold. She holds her breath for a moment, then wails. Rodney stares down in horror. "Oh, I can see its head!" He said. "That's good." She said. Teyla smiled through her pain. "That's a good thing, Rodney." Rodney frowned. "Yeah, but am I supposed to …am I supposed to …am I supposed to touch it?" Rodney whined. "Am I allowed to touch it? I don't know what to do!" Teyla gasped. "Rodney, calm down, I need you to be calm." She said. Unfortunately, Rodney is anything but calm. "But I'm not an M.D.!" He exclaimed. "I've never been an M.D.!" Teyla shook her head. "People have been having babies for thousands of years, most of them without doctors." Teyla told him. "Yeah, but before doctors the infant mortality rate was incredibly high!" Rodney said, hysterically. "It was something like one in three, I think! Look, a doctor is a very important part of this process! Trust me, we should…." Teyla cut him off. "Rodney." She said firmly. "There are no doctors around, you have to do this. We don't have a choice." Rodney stares at her, wide-eyed, then grimaces and tries to pull himself together. "Ok, ok." He said to himself. "Now, you need to catch him." Teyla instructed. "Catch him?!" He exclaimed. "Yes, you need to catch him when I push him out." Teyla told him. "Oh, God!" Rodney exclaims as he screws up his eyes, turns his head away and holds his hands out. "Ok, well, just underhand him, all right? I've never been good at baseball." If she wasn't in so much pain Teyla would have smiled. "Rodney." She said anguished. He opens his eyes and looks at her. "Please." She pleaded. For a moment Rodney screws up his eyes and turns away again, then forces them open and looks at her. "Ok, I can do this. All right, look, I may have… I may have panicked a little back there but we're gonna do this." He said still half-hysterical. Rodney takes off his jacket. "We're gonna do this. I am great with kids … the little ones, the ones that don't talk back." He scrunches up his jacket and holds it between her legs. "Here it comes!" Teyla exclaimed.
She grits her teeth and wails through them as she pushes. Rodney makes noises of disgust, screwing up his eyes again but holding his jacket in place. "Ok, almost there, almost there!" He told her. Teyla wails as she continues to push. Rodney wails with her. Suddenly the baby pops out, landing safely in the jacket. Rodney stares up at Teyla. "I got him!" He said, then laughs. "I got him!" He pulls the baby free and gently lifts him up. The baby starts to cry. "Hey, it's a boy!" Rodney exclaimed. Teyla laughs in delight. "Watch his head." She said. "Right, right, ok." Rodney said as he supports the baby's head. "Ok, little guy, ok." He looks at Teyla. "Do I get to cut the cord? I get to cut the cord, then, right?" Rodney asked quickly. She nods, smiling. "Ok." He said. Rodney lays the baby down to free up his hands. "Ok, here you go. There, ok, so, ok!" He comments. Having cut the cord, he picks up the baby again. "Teyla, I'd like to introduce you to your son." He said. He hands the baby, wrapped in his jacket, to his mother. Teyla takes him, laughing delightedly. As she looks down at him, smiling, John and Ronon run in and stop, looking at the scene in amazement. "Wow!" John comments. "I caught it, didn't hit the floor or anything!" Rodney said. Teyla smiles up at John and Ronon. "He did a wonderful job." She said. Ronon walks over and squats down beside her. "That's good, that's …you did good, Rodney." John said. "All right, we gotta get you out of here." Teyla nodded. "Ronon, you may need to help me." She said. Effortlessly, Ronon picks her up as she cradles the baby protectively. They hurry out of the room and make their way to the Dart bay. John takes out the cloaking device activator and presses it but the Jumper doesn't appear. "Why isn't it decloaking?" John asked. "Let me see, what, did you break it?" Rodney asked. He takes the activator and presses it. John walks forward, waving his arms in front of him in an attempt to find the invisible ship, but he doesn't make contact with anything. "No, no, we parked the Jumper right here." John pointed out. "Yes!" Rodney agreed. "One hundred percent." Ronon added. "Someone stole the Jumper?" Rodney asked. "Oh, this is not good." John said. "I told you you should have stayed here!" Rodney exclaimed.
Later, the team is making their way around the cruiser. "How the hell are we supposed to get off the ship now?" Ronon asked. Everyone looks at Rodney. He stares back at them indignantly. "I just delivered a baby!" He pointed out. "That's not enough for today?!" John sighed. "Don't they have escape pods or things like that on a cruiser?" he asked. "No! They …they…wait." Rodney said. "I know. We need to get back to a data terminal. A lot of their internal power's down. Maybe I can short out the jamming coded. We can get the Daedalus to beam us out." John smiled. "Great, lead the way." He said. Rodney hurries off down the corridor, the others following. They make their way onwards, then come face to face with Kanaan, who aims his stunner pistol at them. John and Rodney aim their own weapons back at him. "Don't shoot!" Teyla exclaimed. "Put me down." She said to Ronon. Reluctantly, Ronon lowers her to the ground. "It's all right, John." She said. "This is Kanaan, he is the father." She puts her hand placating on John's arm, then slowly carries her baby towards Kanaan. As she approaches him, he lowers and holsters his pistol, staring at her in amazement. The baby frets quietly. As she reaches him, Kanaan puts his hands gently onto his son, gazing at him in awe. "This is our chance." Teyla said softly. She looks round to the others. "These are the friends I told you of." She said. "They can help you get back to your old self, but first you have to help us. We must get off this ship. Do you know a way?" Kanaan nods. "Yes, follow me." He said. John and Rodney have lowered their weapons but Ronon is still pointing his blaster at him. "No offence, Teyla, but I don't trust this guy." He said. "He has tried to save me before, I trust him." Teyla said. John walks forward to Kanaan. "Give me your weapon." He said. Kanaan takes his pistol from its holster and hands it to John. "What's your plan?" John asked.
Some time later, a single Dart head towards Daedalus. "Sir? We've got a Dart trying to hail us." Marks said. "What?! Let me hear it." Caldwell said. Marks activates the comms and John's voice can be heard. "This is Colonel John Sheppard, authentication code Bravo Delta Charlie Alpha Niner. Daedalus, please come in." He said. "Authenticated, Col. Sheppard, what the hell happened to your Jumper?" Caldwell asked. "Well ,I got all turned around in the parking garage." John replied. "I was in a rush so I borrowed this Dart. I've got the team beamed into storage device." Caldwell frowned. "Do you have Teyla?" He asked. "Yes, and the baby." John added. "You beamed a baby into Wraith storage?!" Caldwell exclaimed. "No." John replied. He looks down into his lap where he has the baby safely cradled, still wrapped in Rodney's jacket. "Got him right here. So feel free to do whatever you want to that cruiser." Caldwell nods. "Copy that." He said. He turns to Marks. "Major Marks, please make that ship go away." He ordered. "Yes, sir." He replied. As the F-302's race out of the way, Daedalus soars towards the cruiser and fires an Asgard beam directly at it. A second beam follows and the cruiser blows into a million bits. "Col. Sheppard, why don't you head down to the planet, beam your crew out and land that Dart?" Caldwell suggested. "I'm pretty sure you can dial up that Stargate now." John smirked. "Copy that." He said. He looks down at the baby and strokes his face gently. The baby yawns and snuggles down.
In Atlantis, Rodney walks through the corridors carrying a vase of flowers. He stops as he sees Sam with a couple of large bags over her shoulder. "Hey, what's with the bags?" He asked. "What's with the flowers?" Sam asked. "Going to see Teyla." Rodney said. "Oh, you probably heard I delivered her baby?" Sam smiled. "I did!" She replied. "And they tell me she's gonna name him Rodney!" Rodney grins and punches the air triumphantly. "Yes! Really?" He asked. "No, not really." Carter replied. Rodney's smile fades. "Ah, that's funny." He said. "Where are you going?" Sam smiled. "Back to Earth." She said. "What? Why?" He asked. "They caught the last Ba'al clone." Carter told him. "The Tok'ra are going to extract the symbiont. They want SG-1 to put in an appearance." He nodded. "Ok." He said. "Plus the I.O.A. wanna do an "exhaustive" review of my first year in command, so, you know, that can't be good." She commented. "Are you crazy?" Rodney asked. "They probably wanna give you a medal. You had a great year." Sam smiles at him. "I know my opinion doesn't mean much to those folks, but I think you've done an excellent job. I'm glad you took the post." He added. "Thanks Rodney, that means a lot." Sam said. She turns to leave, then turns back for a moment. "Tell Sheppard the court martial will have to wait." She added. Rodney frowns uncomprehendingly, then turns away. "Sure, see you soon." He said. "Hope so!" She exclaimed.
Meanwhile in the infirmary, John and Teyla are lying in adjoining beds. Teyla is cradling her baby; John is playing on a hand-held computer game. Evan is in an bed across from them. Natalie walks in, still favoring her leg with the stitches in it. She also has her arm in a sling. She walks up to her husband's bed first. "Six weeks in bed huh?" She asked. Evan turned to her. "Yes, I'm already going nuts." He said. "You can go nuts with me, I be in here for about two weeks." John told him. "Yes, sir." He replied. "How long will the surgery take?" Teyla asked. "Doc says a few hours." He replied. "I cannot believe you attempted to mount a rescue in your condition." Teyla commented. "Me too." Natalie added. "Attempt"?! The last time I checked, I succeed." John pointed out. Teyla smiles. "How's the kid?" John asked. "Dr. Keller says he's perfectly healthy." She says as she smiles down at the baby. "I say he's perfectly everything." Natalie made her way over to Teyla's bed. "He so beautiful." She commented. "Mmm, that's great, that's great." John said. "I wanna thank you." Teyla said. "There's no need." John told her. "I never gave up hope because I knew." She said. "I knew that you would come for me, John." He shook his head. "You would have done the same for me." He said. "Yes." Teyla replied. Jennifer comes in, dressed for surgery. "All right, you ready, Colonel?" She asked. "Ready"? From my understanding, I …I'm not doing anything." John replied. "Well, that's right." Jennifer said. "You just have to lie still and let me play with your insides." She grins at him. John stares back at her straight faced. Jennifer's smiles fades. "Sorry, um, let's go." She said. Natalie went over to her brother and kissed him on the cheek before they started to wheel him away. As they wheel his bed past Teyla's, John turns to her. "What are you gonna name the kid?" He asked. "Well, if it's alright with you, I was thinking of Torren John, after my father and after you." Teyla said. "Really?! Wow!" John commented. "McKay's gonna hate that!" Jennifer exclaimed. "I would be very honored." He said. Teyla smiled. "Very well." She replied. John is wheeled out of the room, Teyla smiles at her son. "Torren John Emmagan." She said. "Well, I better be going to see Sam off and take over some of her duties." Natalie said. She walked over to Evan and kissed him quickly and started to leave the room. "Why you?" He asked. "Well, Rodney is actually in command while John is out of commission, but do you really want his to be in control of Atlantis?" She asked. "Good point." Evan said.
Natalie left the room and caught up with Sam just as she was about to leave. "Bye." Natalie said. "Bye, make sure Rodney doesn't blow up the city." She said. Natalie nodded. Carter left the control room and walked towards the Gateroom, the Stargate activated and she walked through. She comes through the gate in Stargate Command and walks down the ramp. Richard Woolsey is waiting for her at the bottom. "Col. Carter." He said. "Mr. Woolsey, how are you?" She replied. "Very well, thank you for asking." He said. "So is this whole week evaluation process gonna take very long?" She asked. "I mean, there's a lot of work to be done on Atlantis and I'm kind of anxious to get back." He nodded. "I'm sure you are." He said. "However, the I.O.A. has decided that perhaps someone with a different skills-set would be more suited to lead the Atlantis expedition now." Carter's mouth falls open in shock. "Excuse me?" She asked. "I'm here to inform you that, effective immediately, you are being removed from command." Woolsey said. Sam stares at him, lost for words for a few moments. "Um, who-who's replacing me?" She asked. "As a matter of fact, I am." He replied. A few hours later, in the control room, Natalie is in Sam's office going over her paperwork she left when the gate began to dial. "Off world activation!" Chuck shouted. Natalie walked into the control room. "Who is it?" She asked. "Stargate command." Chuck said. A screen activated near them and Woolsey face appeared. "Mr. Woolsey." Natalie greeted. "Are you in command for now?" He asked. "Yes, Rodney is working on other matters right now." She replied. "Can we talk in private?" He asked. Natalie looked at Chuck. "Send it to Carter's office." She ordered. He nodded and sent the video there just as she arrived in the doorway. "Now what is this about?" She asked. He told her about him taking over Atlantis. Natalie reeled in shock. "I want you to tell the order over the city-wide, I'll be there in three weeks." Woolsey told her. "Yes, sir." She said. The gate disconnected. Natalie sighed then went back to the control room. "Put me over the city wide." She ordered. Chuck looked confused, but did as he was told. "Stargate Command just contacted me and told me to say this order over the city wide." She began all work stopped in the city. Rodney and Zelenka were working on a computer, John, Evan and Teyla were in the infirmary, Ronon was in the sparring room. "Affective now, Col. Carter has been removed from the command of Atlantis." Shock was heard around the city. "The person replacing her is Mr. Richard Woolsey, he will be here in three weeks." She finished then signaled to Chuck to cut the transmission. Everyone looked at each other, wondering what would happen next.
Author's note: Yay! I'm done with that story. Reviews, I need reviews. I need to know how I'm doing. And I also need ideas, some of my best stories are from readers ideas. So, PLEASE, review.