Chapter 51: What about the ones that got past us?

"You're gonna want to look at this," Chen, one of the Control Room technicians, said when we walked in just behind Rodney. Pointing to his screen, he drew our attention to a diagram showing a series of objects in a circular formation.

"What is that?" John asked.

"An asteroid belt?" Rodney offered.

"This just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" I commented grimly, hardly able to believe we were facing yet another problem.

"Are the sub-lights still offline?" John looked at Chen expectantly. When he confirmed they were, meaning we wouldn't be able to alter our course, John turned to Rodney. "We're gonna need to expand the shield."

"We don't have enough power!" Rodney said irritably.

"How long 'til we get there," John asked Chen, "and how long 'til we get through it?"

"About ten minutes 'til we get there. After that, maybe two minutes to get through," Chen replied.

"Two minutes to get through an asteroid field?" John asked in surprise. I was more concerned with the ten minutes to get there thing myself ... that hardly seemed enough time to implement a plan, let alone come up with one in the first place.

"Well, we're not passing all the way through; we're just gonna skim the edge," Chen adjusted the view on his screen to show us how our path was going to cross the top layer of the asteroid belt.

"You can't even give me two minutes of full shield?" John asked Rodney incredulously.

"Don't take it personally," Rodney said sarcastically. "I'd like them up as much as you would, but we just can't afford the power."

"Rodney!" John gestured to the screen, reminding him of the situation.

"Look, Zelenka needs forty-five minutes to complete the repairs to the power conduits," Rodney explained. "If we raise the shield even for one minute, it'll eat up all his time. We can't do it."

"OK," John relented, staring intently at the screen, thinking hard. "How big are they?"

"Well, we're in the middle of a pretty big solar system right now, and the asteroid belt's probably made up of remnants of early failed planets, so ... you know ... building size and larger?" Rodney offered hesitantly.

"I can get in the Chair, fire drones and clear a path to travel through,' John suggested.

"In principle, a good idea," Rodney agreed, "but the Chair Room is outside the shield right now and we'd never get to it. Look, we could, um ... ah, that's not gonna work. Uh, we could ..." Rodney trailed off, unable to think of anything else to suggest.

"How many people on the base have the Ancient gene?" John asked when Rodney stopped talking.

"Twenty or so," he replied. I knew immediately what John was thinking - using the Jumpers to fire drones at the asteroids was a brilliant plan. Rodney had also worked out what John had in mind and was less than thrilled with the idea. "Look, no, no, no-no-no-no. That is a bad idea," he complained.

"It would work Rodney," I urged him to think beyond his own nervousness at having to be one of the people flying a Jumper.

"Okay - do you have a better idea?" John demanded, looking at Rodney expectantly.

"Not yet," Rodney admitted, pointing a finger at John as he thought. "I just, I just need some time. If you, er ..."

Taking that as answer enough, John walked away, giving instructions to Chen as he went. "Contact everyone on the base who has the Ancient gene; tell them to meet me up in the Jumper Bay asap."

I headed up the stairs with John, followed soon after by a reluctant Rodney. It only took a few minutes to get everyone gathered in the Jumper Bay. I stood off to one side of the group, watching as John looked around at his collection of mostly inexperienced and non military Jumper pilots.

"Atlantis is about to skim the edge of an asteroid belt," John began his explanation. "Doctor Zelenka and his team are repairing the damaged conduits so that we can get the hyperdrive back on line. They need another 45 minutes to complete their work which will use up most of the buffer we have to still make a hyperspace jump possible ... which means we can't raise the shield because we don't have enough power. And we can't change our course because the sublight engines are offline too. If we don't clear a path for the city, it'll get ripped apart. So we're gonna take every last Jumper we have and we're gonna clear a path through the belt by firing our drones."

John's words caused nervous shuffling and the exchange of worried glances. One of the medics, Adams, raised his hand hesitantly.

"Excuse me," he said nervously. "I've really only flown a Jumper twice and I've never actually fired a live drone, so ..."

"You've done it in simulations, right?" John said lightly.

"Well, yeah, but ...," Adams replied, still not confident.

"Basically the same thing," John tried to offer a reason to be confident. "If McKay can do it, you can do it."

"Yes, look, about that, actually, I ..." Rodney began.

"Look, I know it's dangerous," John talked over the top of Rodney, not needing the most senior of the non military present giving anyone reason to be doubtful. "I know a lot of you haven't logged a lot of hours in these things, but right now it's the only viable option we have, or, um ...," he trailed off, not sure how to put it.

"Or die," Rodney finished the statement of how bad things were going to be if we weren't successful.

"Let's get moving," John ordered. "You ready?" he turned to look at me questioningly.

"Piece of cake," I smiled confidently, waving before I moved to my designated Jumper.

"Alright, I've loaded a flight formation for all of you," John instructed once everyone was installed in a Jumper. "Stay in your designated positions; take out anything that's in your path. You've got a full load of drones, so ammo shouldn't be a problem." John gave everyone a moment to make sure we understood what to do. "Alright, everyone, let's go. Open the Jumper Bay doors."

Powering up my systems I flew the Jumper out of the city, through the shield and then out into space. The asteroid belt was clearly visible in the distance ... looking at the HUD I saw my position in the line flashing - manoeuvring carefully I eased the Jumper into the correct position. John had arranged the line so that the more experienced Jumper pilots were spaced out between the less experienced ones. He had me towards the middle of the line with four of Rodney's less experienced staff on either side of me - I smiled because without saying anything he'd sent a clear message of his confidence in my abilities.

"Come on, guys, stay in formation," John ordered. "We can't afford any gaps."

I watched the HUD as the stragglers brought their Jumpers into position so that the line looked almost straight.

"Yeah, there you go," John congratulated everyone. "See? Not so hard."

"Jumpers, you should be in range in three ... two ... one," Teyla reported from the Control Room.

"Fire at will," John ordered.

Concentrating firmly on the task I sent two drones towards the closest rocks, waiting as they blew apart and cleared before acquiring two more targets. Around me the others were doing the same and space was a confusion of flying drones and blasted rock.

"Nice shooting, people," John encouraged.

"There's too many of them," Rodney said over the open channel. "They're coming in too fast. We're not gonna get them all."

"Alright, double up. Fire four apiece," John ordered.

"I can't control four drones at the same time!" Rodney said what I'm sure a lot of the pilots were thinking.

"Just concentrate," John advised bracingly.

Sinking myself mentally even further into the Jumpers systems I acquired four targets and sent drones to take them out. Now it was a matter of firing and dodging as the rocks came too fast for me to get them all.

"What about the ones that got past us?" I asked John worriedly as I continued to fire drones.

"On my mark, you, Bolton and Levine are gonna break formation and head back to the city - take out anything that we missed," John said confidently.

"Are you sure I should be -" I began, worried that one of the military pilots would be better placed to take on that important role.

"Break!" John ordered, ignoring my momentary protest.

I swung the Jumper up and around, heading back towards the city. The path we'd cleared through the asteroid belt was clearly visible, along with the few remaining asteroids we hadn't been able to get. Firing off two drones I increased speed to get to the furthermost rocks before they got too close to the city.

"Sabina - there's a big one on your left," Levine pointed out.

"I'm on it,' I reported, altering my path to intercept it.

I powered towards a large asteroid that was on a path to hit the lower part of the central tower. Firing a set of two drones I waited impatiently to be sure they'd reduced the rock to small enough parts before pulling the Jumper upwards in a steep climb skimming the side of the tower.

Clearing the city I scanned space, looking for any other rocks close to the city. Levine and Bolton had done a good job of clearing the others - we formed our own small line heading back out into space, intercepting the main line as they doubled back to pick up any remaining asteroids.

"Okay people, looks like we got them all," John congratulated everyone on the success of the plan. "Atlantis is clear of the asteroid belt ... head back to the Jumper Bay."

Each pilot brought their Jumper in to land in the Bay and soon the room was filled with light hearted voices still excited over the success. I walked towards John, joining him as he walked out the back of his Jumper.

"Nice shooting," I said with a smile.

"Back at you," John replied. Spotting Rodney we headed over to him - he too was almost bouncing with excitement over his success.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" he exclaimed. "That was amazing!"

"You did good, Rodney," John offered that praise with an easy expression.

"Yeah!" Rodney agreed smugly. "So Zelenka and his team should have the conduits repaired by now, so I think we're finally out of the woods!"

The happy smile on his face dropped as the intercom activated.

"Colonel Sheppard, Doctor McKay. Please report to the Control Room immediately."

"Oh, come on!" Rodney said indignantly.

John and Rodney hurried towards the Control Room - having nothing else to do I followed after them.

"What the hell happened?" John asked Teyla. Doctor Zelenka had come up from the Power Room and was sitting at one of the consoles checking something.

"The hyperdrive is offline," Teyla reported simply.

"I thought it was good to go," John frowned in confusion.

"It was," Radek agreed, "but a few large pieces of rock impacted the city and one of the control arrays was damaged. We can't jump until we fix it."

"Damn," I muttered, feeling responsible for the missed asteroids because I'd been part of the group who were supposed to have taken them out.

"Probably came off the bigger rocks," John excused. "We were never gonna break up every asteroid enough to avoid some damage to the city." Turning to Radek he asked "how do we fix it?"

"I will explain as we walk," Radek offered, motioning for John and Rodney to follow him down the stairs.

Knowing I'd be little help I stayed behind, realising that I'd hardly said anything to Teyla since the whole ordeal had begun.

"How are you holding up?" I asked softly, knowing she'd taken on the role of maintaining a command presence in the Control Room.

"I am fine," Teyla said graciously. "Do you have any new information on Ronon or Elizabeth's condition?"

"Ronon's good - already eager to get out of the infirmary," I started with the easy one, happy to see Teyla smile in relief. "Doctor Weir was still in the OR when I went down there," I hesitated wondering how much to tell her. "Elizabeth's head took the brunt of the fall - her condition is critical but Doctor Keller hasn't given up hope," I offered. Teyla's face fell at the less than positive news.

"Is Colonel Sheppard aware of her condition?" Teyla asked, her voice subdued.

"Doctor Keller spoke to him personally," I replied, looking at Teyla and seeing her nod as she correctly interpreted the expression in my eyes.

"I will keep my thoughts positive," Teyla said firmly.

"Me too," I agreed, taking a seat at one of the consoles and wondering what I should do next.

Radek had left the map showing the location of the asteroid damage up on screen and I realised for the first time that he and John would have to do a space walk in order to get there and fix the problem. "I'm just gonna run down and see how John's doing," I told Teyla, jumping up and hurrying from the Control Room before she could respond. John was already suited up when I got there and just about to head into the transporter.

"John," I used the radio to call out urgently, relieved when he turned back towards me. "I just came down to wish you luck," I put a confident smile on my face, despite the fact that my insides were a mess of nervous butterflies. John had done space manoeuvres before and I knew he was more than capable but ... things hadn't exactly been going our way lately and I felt like nothing could be taken for granted.

"Piece of cake," John returned my words from earlier with a teasing smile. "I'll see you back in the Control Room when we're done."

"Okay ... be careful," I watched as they stepped into the transporter, waiting until the flash of light signalled their departure before heading back up to Teyla.

x

I'd expected Rodney to be up in the Control Room when I got back - since he wasn't with John and Radek when I'd seen them - but he appeared to be missing in action.

"Where's Rodney?" I asked Teyla with a puzzled frown.

"He did not return after assisting Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Zelenka," Teyla replied.

"That's odd," I said in concern. "Rodney, this is Sabina. Teyla and I were wondering where you are."

"Sorry," Rodney returned. "Doctor Keller wanted to see me ... actually I could do with a second set of eyes. Come down to the main lab," he broke off the connection before I could ask him anything about what he was up to.

I sat back even more confused, looking at Teyla with a raised eyebrow.

"Go," she urged. "I will remain here to monitor Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Zelenka's progress."

x

"Rodney?" I stopped in the doorway, watching as Rodney worked simultaneously on two laptops he had set up side by side. When I realised what I was seeing on those screens I walked quickly across to his position. "What are you doing?"

"Doctor Keller suggested using the dormant nanites in Elizabeth's system to help repair the damage,' Rodney said quickly. "I can get the nanites to replace the damaged cells but the instant they're deactivated Elizabeth will be in the same predicament."

"Does John know about this?" I asked with a frown.

"Yes!" Rodney protested. When I looked at him pointedly he relented. "Okay, he knows we wanted to use the nanites like this but he ah ... he said we can't do it unless we can guarantee the nanites won't bring the Replicators down on us."

"And can you guarantee that?" I quizzed him.

"I've reprogrammed the nanites so they'll never harm Elizabeth and shut down their ability to contact the Replicators via sub-space," Rodney replied.

"If you can reprogram them like that, couldn't the Replicators do their own reprogramming?" I asked the obvious question.

"Technically yes," Rodney admitted. "But to do that they'd have to have more than just passing contact with Elizabeth. As long as we keep her away from them we should be fine."

"John's not gonna go for that Rodney," I told him sadly. "And you know how much he wants to save Elizabeth."

"I know," Rodney said reluctantly. "That's why I'm still working - to try and come up with a way to get the nanites to repair her own cells so they can be switched off like before."

"Okay, how can I help?" I offered.

"If you could check this program," he pointed to one of the laptops, "see if there's anything I missed ..."

"I can do that," I agreed, glad of all the time I'd spent looking at the NAP programs.

We worked in silence for a time - I was focussed on the task but part of my mind was occupied worrying about John and Radek out in the outer section of the city. Rodney had mentioned micro asteroids - bullet sized pieces of rock still bombarding the city - which only served to heighten my nervousness. We hadn't heard anything which I decided could only be a good thing.

"Doctor McKay?" Doctor Keller contacted Rodney over his headset.

"What is it, Keller?" Rodney questioned with some annoyance.

"Elizabeth's crashing," Doctor Keller said simply. "If we're gonna do this thing, we need to do it now."

"I need more time," Rodney's face paled as he protested.

"We don't have more time," Doctor Keller denied him. "I can't keep her blood pressure up and if her I.C.P. continues to climb, there's no bringing her back."

"OK, I'm transferring the programme to you now," he sighed, turning to his machine and tapping out a few commands. Standing up with computer tablet in hand he added "I'm on my way."

"Rodney," the stern tone in my voice halted his progress.

"What?" he turned back to look at me defensively.

"You haven't managed to get the nanites to repair the damage," I stated what we both knew. "You can't do this without John's approval."

"Well he's not available right now," Rodney excused. "In his absence the decision is mine."

"You could radio him and you know it," I discounted the whole John's not available excuse.

"There's no time to explain everything," Rodney disagreed. "You heard Keller - we need to do this right now ... or not at all."

"I want to save Doctor Weir too but ... this could cause a whole host of problems we won't be able to fix easily," I pointed out.

"I'll deal with them when they crop up," Rodney said confidently.

"Rodney!" I protested again but he ignored me, walking away quickly before I could say anything more. I briefly considered contacting John myself but in the end decided against it - he was involved in a delicate and dangerous endeavour and the last thing he needed was me telling him about something he wouldn't be able to address. By the time John made it back to the main part of the city it would be too late for him to stop Rodney.

I sat there staring into space for a while contemplating the dilemma the whole situation presented. None of us wanted to lose Elizabeth, but did we want to keep her around by making her part replicator? Would she want that? Would she thank Rodney for doing that to her? As it stood now, if she didn't survive hopefully she wouldn't have been aware of her impending demise before it happened. This way, if things went bad she would know, she might even have to be the one to tell us to terminate her. Sighing heavily I dragged myself up and off to the infirmary.

Authors Note:

I know there's a heap of dialogue from the show in this chapter but ... I couldn't work out how to not have to use it and I couldn't see the point in changing it just for the sake of it - I did make some minor changes and additions but they'd be pretty hard to spot I think. I also made up the name for the Control Room technician who does the asteroid scene, since he didn't have one and it read poorly to keep refering to him as "the technician"!

Also apologies if anyone hated that I took the big fly up the side of a tower thing from Rodney but ... seriously when did Rodney get the time to go from 'I can't fly in a straight line' to 'I can skim tall buildings with ease'? And finally I didn't buy the whole Shep wasn't available deal - if he could radio for a Jumper then Rodney could have radioed him in return!