"How am I doing, Doc?" Michael asked as Carson removed the blood pressure cuff.
"Very well, all things considered," Carson replied with a smile as he put away the cuff. "I think you're ready to be released." He glanced at Michael sitting on the edge of the bed. "I spoke to Doctor Heightmeyer. She mentioned your feelings of anxiety after everything that happened before your rescue. Hopefully, being in a more familiar setting like your quarters will help you feel more secure."
"That'd be nice." Michael braced his hands on the edge of the bed. "It's a weird feeling. Looking at people and wondering …"
"Wondering what?" Carson asked when Michael stopped speaking and looked down at his feet dangling over the side of the bed.
"Wondering who I was to everyone before," Michael looked around the room with a sigh, "before everything that happened to me. Did they like me? Hate me?" He glanced at Carson and shrugged.
"That's understandable, lad," Carson replied and patted Michael's leg. "I know it can be frustrating, but try not to force things. It's going to take time to -"
Carson pressed stop on the video and stared at Michael's distraught expression. "He wanted to fit in," Carson muttered to himself. "He wanted to be liked. And I couldn't help him. I wasn't able to save him." He blew out a breath and rewound the scene.
"How am I doing, Doc?" Michael asked as Carson removed the blood pressure cuff.
"Doctor Beckett?" Sharon called as she walked into the lab.
Carson paused the video and turned around. "Did you need something, love?"
Sharon glanced at the frozen image of Michael on the computer screen and pursed her lips. "I wanted to let you know Sergeant Stackhouse's team returned from their mission to M7R-486."
"Any issues?"
Sharon shook her head. "They're all fine. Sergeant Stackhouse believes the people on the planet would be interested in a trade of medical training for supplies. He plans to discuss the idea with Doctor Weir during their debriefing. I told him I would tell you about it in case you had any input on the specifics of the training and any supplies we'd want to include in the exchange."
Carson nodded. "I'll review Thomas' mission report and have Serafina put something together." He glanced at the computer screen, staring at the image of Michael sitting on the bed.
"You did everything you could for him, you know," Sharon said.
"I'm not so sure about that," Carson admitted with a sad smile.
"Maybe …" She hesitated, and Carson looked up at her. "Maybe there isn't a medical solution," she offered. "If the Wraith were once human, that was a long time ago. Maybe too long."
Carson shook his head and pointed at Michael's image on the screen. "I don't accept that."
Sharon glanced at the screen, and Carson saw her flinch before she turned toward the door. "I'll upload the medical scans for Stackhouse's team and let you know when they are ready for review."
Carson gave Sharon an absent nod and waited for her to leave the lab. He removed the disc with the video of Michael, put it back in its sleeve, and pulled up the data on the retrovirus. "At least part of it works," he reminded himself. "You just need to figure out where you went wrong and correct the error."
He put the image of Michael's wistful expression out of his mind and concentrated on the data he had gathered while Michael had been with them. The answer was there. He just had to find it.
Sometime later, he stretched, sat back on the stool, and scowled at the computer. "Damn," he murmured as he rechecked the data.
"Carson?" Elizabeth said, making Carson jump.
"Elizabeth! Sorry, I didn't realise you were there." Carson gave her a questioning glance. "Exactly how long have you been standing there?"
"Not long," Elizabeth replied with a smile. "You heard about the potential trade mission to M7R-486?"
"Mmm," Carson replied. "Sharon told me about it after giving Thomas and the rest of his team their post-mission checks. Was there anything specific I needed to know about the planet or the people?"
"No," Elizabeth replied and walked over to the table. "The population appears to be at the level of Europe in the early 1800s. Sergeant Stackhouse didn't mention any specific problems they were having."
Carson nodded and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Something tells me this trade agreement is not what you've been working on for the past few hours?" Elizabeth said with a glance at the computer.
"Umm, no," Carson replied. "I've been trying to figure out where I went wrong with the retrovirus."
"I take it from your comment as I walked in here that you figured it out, and it's not good news."
Carson grimaced. "That depends on how you look at things, I suppose," he admitted.
"All right. Walk me through it," Elizabeth said and stood at the end of the work table.
Carson turned the computer so Elizabeth had a better view of the screen. "Rodney wasn't entirely wrong when he suggested the Wraith ability to heal quickly played a role in what happened with Michael," Carson admitted with a sigh. "And no, I don't plan on telling him that," Carson added with a tight smile.
Elizabeth clasped her hands together in front of her and smiled in reply. "How so?"
Carson sat back on his stool with his arms crossed over his chest. "The good news is, the retrovirus did what it was supposed to do. It successfully blocked the Wraith DNA from expressing itself. In essence, the retrovirus prevented Michael's body from reading that part of his DNA. The problem was the other drug I developed, the one that was supposed to suppress those aspects that already existed -"
"The Wraith-like appearance, the feeding hand?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yes, exactly," Carson replied. "Since the accelerated healing was one of those aspects …" He sighed. "Michael's body was able to break down that drug much more quickly than I'd anticipated. I'll need to reformulate that drug to take the accelerated metabolism into account." He glanced at Elizabeth. "Now that I know where I went wrong, I think I can have a new version of the retrovirus and the secondary drug ready for testing in a few months."
Elizabeth frowned. "You heard Rodney. The Wraith could be here almost any day. You might not have that kind of time."
"I'm not sure we have much choice. The retrovirus is the only thing we've found that we know will stop the Wraith," Carson replied.
Elizabeth studied him for a moment, and Carson felt his temper rising. Why was everyone constantly questioning his findings? he thought as he scrubbed a hand over his chin. Maybe this is how Rodney feels whenever he knows he's right and everyone else is wrong.
"You're certain you want to continue with your experiment?" Elizabeth asked with a glance at the computer. "After everything with Michael, if the ethics of what we're proposing here is an issue, I will back you all the way up the SGC and IOA chain of command if you want to discontinue this line of research. There are other things we can -"
Carson shook his head, and Elizabeth stopped speaking. "Michael is the very reason I need to continue, Elizabeth." He dropped his arms and leant forward on the stool. "He was human, with human emotions and human fears. I'm more convinced than ever that the invasive Wraith DNA is similar to a genetic disease. With a little time, it will be one we can eradicate," Carson countered. He held up the disc with the video of his conversation with Michael. "At their core, the Wraith are still human. I just need more time to find a way to cure them."
Elizabeth held up her hands. "All right. I'll let Stargate Command know what you've discovered and that we might have a new version of the retrovirus to test in a few months."
"Thank you," Carson replied. "I'll keep you informed about how it's going."
~*~*~*~ SGA ~*~*~*~
Rodney tapped off his radio and glared at Sheppard's empty bed. "It's a win-win," he mimicked under his breath.
"Rodney?" Teyla asked. "What did Colonel Sheppard say?"
Rodney crumpled up Sheppard's note and threw it into the corner of the room. "He and Ronon left early to head to that town on the other side of the hills." He waved one hand toward the window. "We're to stay here and see what the villagers know about the Zed-PM. Maybe look around for the source of that strange alloy."
"Such a division of labor is a logical course of action," Teyla said. "As you have mentioned, the Wraith could return to Atlantis at any time.
"Doesn't make getting left behind any less annoying," Rodney replied. "Again," he muttered under his breath and walked over to the door. "We may as well see if we can find something to eat. Then we can decide how to look for the Zed-PM."
Rodney followed Teyla down the stairs and into the pub. Thick fog still shrouded the village square leaving only the fire in the deep fireplace built into one wall and a few candles scattered on the tables to light the room. A few people sat at various tables, conversing in low voices as they ate. Tanis stood behind the bar, polishing mugs with a towel. The men and women sitting at the tables gave Rodney and Teyla a quick glance as they walked into the room before returning to their conversations.
"Good morning," Tanis greeted as Teyla stopped at the end of the bar. He glanced at the stairs and added, "Will Colonel Sheppard and Ronon Dex be down soon?"
Teyla shook her head. "They left early this morning to visit the town on the other side of the hills."
Tanis made a face. "Oh. I see." He turned and focused on stacking the clean mugs on a shelf.
"Is there a problem?" Rodney asked.
"No, no," Tanis replied with a hesitant smile. "It's just …" He ducked his head, then glanced at Teyla. "The people in that town can be difficult to deal with."
"Is the town called Kiroma?" Teyla asked.
"Yes, though Kiroma is more than just another town," Tanis replied. "You've heard of it?"
Teyla nodded. "I have met many Kiromans on Hyax."
"Then you already know how they treat outsiders."
Rodney gave Teyla a startled glance. "And how exactly do they treat outsiders? Are Sheppard and Ronon in danger?"
"No, nothing like that," Tanis replied. "No one will do anything to harm them. It's just …" Tanis let the sentence peter out.
"Yes?" Teyla asked.
Tanis shrugged. "It's just the way they deal with anyone who isn't from Kiroma," he explained. "Almost as if they think they are better than the rest of us. I doubt Sheppard or Ronon will learn much."
"Maybe getting left behind this time wasn't so bad after all," Rodney muttered and saw Teyla smile.
"Anyway," Tanis added after a moment of silence, "I'm sure Sheppard and Dex will be fine. Breakfast is ready. If you want to find a place to sit, I'll bring it out to you."
They found a table near the large window, and Rodney looked out at the foggy central square. "Nice weather," he grumbled as Tanis walked over carrying a tray.
"It's always foggy in the mornings this time of year," Tanis said. "It will burn off by mid-day," He set down two bowls of porridge, a larger bowl of mixed berries, and two steaming cups. "Let me know if you need anything else," he added and walked back to the bar.
Rodney watched as Teyla spooned some of the fruit into her porridge, picked up his cup, and grimaced when he realised Tanis had given them tea. He set the cup down and picked up his spoon.
They had only been eating for a few minutes before there was a scrape of chairs and the other villagers stood. They thanked Tanis for the food, then trooped out of the pub.
"Something we said?" Rodney asked as he watched the villagers leave.
"They are farmers," Teyla replied. "They will likely not return to the village until nightfall."
Rodney grunted and finished his porridge. "According to the readings I was getting yesterday," he said, dropping his spoon into the empty bowl, "this Ancient building we're looking for is somewhere in the woods between the village and the lake." Rodney pointed out the window with his spoon. "If you could see the lake."
"Mmm," Teyla replied.
"Maybe it will turn out to be another archive like the one on Mendar," Rodney mused as he picked up his cup. The fact that he'd been unable to save more than a few books from the Ancient building still rankled. All of that knowledge lost, he thought to himself.
"I wouldn't say no to finding more Ancient devices on top of a fully charged Zed-PM." Rodney glanced at Teyla and frowned when he saw she was staring out the window, lost in thought.
"Or we could try dredging the lake," he suggested. "Maybe the Ancients sank another city under it."
"I am sure you are correct," Teyla said with an absent smile as she sipped her tea and set down the cup.
Rodney stared at her for a moment, then shook his head as he watched Teyla toy with her food. "I know I'm going to regret asking this, but is there something wrong? Besides, Sheppard and Ronon deciding to ditch us and go galavanting around the countryside?"
Teyla scooped up some of her porridge, and Rodney had decided she wasn't going to answer when she looked over at him and said, "Do you require my assistance in your search for the Ancestor's building?"
"Umm, yes," Rodney retorted with a scowl. "What kind of question is that?"
"Rodney, I am being serious -"
"So am I!" Rodney exclaimed. "What could possibly be so important that you think I want to go stomping around in the woods, in that," he pointed at the foggy square, "alone?"
"Ronon's happiness."
Rodney stared at her open-mouthed for a few moments, then scrubbed a hand over his chin. "Come again?"
Teyla pushed her empty bowl to one side and clasped her hands on the table. "Ronon and Orlin lost someone they deeply cared for when the Wraith attacked Sateda. Yet, instead of reaching out to each other for support, they pushed each other away."
"That's ancient history," Rodney replied. "I'm not seeing how this is more important than finding the Zed-PM the Ancients left here."
Teyla leant forward, rested her forearms on the table, and stared at Rodney with an intent expression.
Rodney felt a little uncomfortable with her scrutiny and crossed his arms over his chest.
"You mentioned once you have a sister and that you are no longer speaking to each other."
"And?" Rodney asked, his tone stiff.
"If you were given the chance, would you want to try and reconnect with her?"
Rodney thought about the video he had made for Jeannie and the hurt he had felt when he discovered she had refused to accept it. If he were given a chance to speak to Jeannie, explain himself, and ask her to forgive him, would he risk another rejection? he wondered. After a moment of thought, he was surprised to realise the answer was yes.
"Maybe," he admitted and stared down at the table.
Teyla nodded and sat back in her chair. "I would like to give Ronon and Orlin the same chance for reconciliation."
"Not sure either of them will thank you for it."
"Perhaps not," Teyla replied. She looked down at her hands clasped on the table, and Rodney saw the flash of sadness underlying her determination. "But I would like the opportunity to try."
What was that about? Rodney wondered before he shrugged. "Fine. Go play happy families. I'll just find the Zed-PM by myself."
"Thank you," Teyla said with a gentle smile. "I am certain Ronon will thank you as well."
"Somehow, I doubt that," Rodney grumbled.
"Tanis," Teyla called and stood from the table.
"Everything all right?" Tanis asked, walking over to the table.
"Breakfast was lovely, thank you," Teyla replied.
"Except for the lack of coffee," Rodney muttered under his breath, but Teyla ignored him.
"I was hoping you could tell me where I could find Orlin," she said to Tanis.
"He should be at the school. There's a group of students heading into the woods for a survival class today. Orlin should be there to see them off." Tanis replied and nodded at the window. "Just across the square and down the road. It's the long stone building with the bell tower. You can't miss it."
"Thank you," Teyla said. "Rodney, I will see you later?"
"Fine," Rodney said.
Rodney watched as Teyla left the pub and passed the ghostly shape of the stone pillar in the square before she disappeared into the fog. He made a disgruntled face as he finished his tea, a reaction to the tea as much as the weather, then climbed the stairs and entered their shared room.
"You can just go wandering around in an unknown forest by yourself, can't you?" Rodney muttered to himself as he pulled on his tac-vest. "When will people realise I am not the wilderness type?" he asked the bedpost.
He stuffed the scanner in one of the vest's front pockets, then dug through his pack until he found a few extra power bars and the extra magazine for the Beretta. He shoved those into another pocket, glanced around the room, then headed back down the stairs and out of the pub.
"Lovely," Rodney grumbled to himself as he zipped his jacket a little higher against the damp weather. "Just what I wanted to be, cold and wet. First Lurra, now this place. Why couldn't the Ancients hide their Zed-PMs on a planet with better weather?"
He heard muffled voices coming from one of the alleys off the square, and a door slammed with a muted thud. Rodney glanced around but didn't see anyone else in the square. He passed the stone column and glanced up at the huge bird crowning the pillar. Thanks to the fog, the bird looked like a vague, angry shape floating in the air above him.
"It is a harpy eagle," a woman said and stopped next to Rodney.
"Those live around here?" Rodney asked with a startled glance at the forest.
"No," the woman replied with a sad smile. "They live on Sateda."
"Oh, umm, sorry," Rodney muttered.
"It's all right," the woman replied, patting his arm. "It's important to remember the old world even as we make a new life on this planet. But we will never forget what the Wraith did to Sateda." Her expression hardened, and Rodney was reminded of Ronon when he first arrived in the city.
The woman's expression cleared a moment later. "The harpy eagle was the symbol of the Satedan military. They are fierce predators and one of the largest birds on Sateda. We placed the pillar here to memorialise those lost in the attack." She looked up at the bird and patted the base of the column. "I still miss seeing them flying over my village in the summer." She glanced at Rodney and stepped back from the pillar. "Anyway, I should be going. I want to see the children off on their adventure."
She stepped back from the pillar, continued across the square, and disappeared down the street. Rodney waited until she was gone, then pulled the scanner out of his vest pocket. He set the scanner to search for the strange metal alloy and turned in a slow circle, holding the scanner out in front of him.
"Yes," Rodney muttered when a blip appeared on the screen.
He walked out of the square and followed the direction of the blip down a path between two large vegetable patches. The forest at the edge of the village loomed out of the fog ahead of him as a dark wall.
"Just get it over with," Rodney said, staring at the trees. "The sooner you find the Zed-PM, the sooner you can get back to your nice, dry lab."
He squared his shoulders and walked the last few meters until he stood at the edge of the trees. "Gah!" he exclaimed a moment later as he pushed his way into the forest, and dew from several of the large leaves dripped on him.
Rodney scrubbed the water out of his hair and kept one eye on the scanner as he stumbled through the trees until he found a moss-covered path lined with slippery stones. The lingering fog muffled the sound of water plonking on the leaves and made his footfalls sound hollow as he walked. He thought he heard children's voices calling from nearby, but when he tried to pinpoint an exact location, the voices faded.
"Nothing eerie about that at all," he muttered as he glanced down at the scanner, then at the surrounding trees, and kept walking.
The dew collecting on the moss-covered rocks made walking a challenge, and Rodney slipped more than once as he followed the path deeper into the trees. It wasn't long before his uniform was streaked with moss stains, and his hands were scraped from trying to catch himself on tree branches.
Rodney had been walking for a couple of hours when he noticed he could see more of the forest as the fog dissipated and sunlight trickled through the tree branches. "Finally, something is going right," he said as he checked the scanner.
The blip was close, and Rodney peered through the trees, looking for what he hoped was an Ancient structure. The last wisps of fog evaporated, and Rodney realised he was standing near the edge of a low cliff. He shuffled back a few steps and swallowed hard at the thought of how close he had come to blindly stepping off the edge.
He took a moment to get his heart rate under control, then inched forward, carefully peering down into the valley below. Other than a few tumbled boulders at the base of the rocky slope and a clump of trees covered in some kind of trailing vine, there wasn't much to see. Smoke rose in the distance to his left, and Rodney thought it might be from the Satedan village. Trees surrounded the clearing on the three sides not faced by the cliff, but there was no sign of any Ancient structures or even ruins.
"That doesn't make any sense," Rodney said, shaking his head and scowling at the scanner. He stepped back from the edge and tried adjusting the scanner's settings.
"So where …" he started to say just as his foot slipped on another of the moss-covered rocks.
There was no handy tree for him to grab hold of, and before he even realised what was happening, Rodney found himself sliding over the edge and tumbling down the side of the low cliff.
His shriek of surprise ended in a groan several seconds later when his legs collided with one of the boulders at the base of the incline. Rodney waited several seconds, then slowly lowered his arms from his head and sat up, rubbing his shoulder.
"Oh, that's just great," he said with a scowl up at the top of the cliff. "What else can go wrong today?"
Rodney braced his hand on the boulder and tried to push himself to his feet, only to groan again when his right knee throbbed in response. "I had to ask," he grumbled as he plopped back down on the ground and fingered his torn and bloody uniform trousers. "Perfect. Just perfect. I hope you all are happy now!" he shouted at his nonexistent team.
He tore the hole in his trouser knee wider and grimaced when he saw the bloody scrapes across his knee and down his calf.
"And, just my luck, it's probably going to swell up, too," he said as he patted his vest pockets. He found an antiseptic wipe, tore it open, and hissed when the wipe touched the abused skin. He cleaned out the scrapes as best he could, then found a sterile pad and a roll of gauze in another pocket and wrapped it around his knee.
Once his knee was taken care of, Rodney sat with his back braced against the boulder and weighed his options. "You can try climbing back up the cliff." He glanced at the moss-covered rocks, then down at his knee. "Who are you kidding?" he added and shook his head. "Which leaves finding another way back to the village."
He glanced down and frowned when he didn't immediately see the Ancient scanner. "Oh, this just keeps getting better and better. If I have to redesign a new scanner …" he grumbled as he looked around for the device.
When he didn't immediately see the scanner nearby, Rodney pushed himself to his feet, limped around the boulder, and then wandered back toward the rocky slope. He spotted the Ancient scanner lying on the ground near the base of the cliff, limped over to it, and blew out a breath of relief when he discovered the device was no worse for wear after his tumble down the incline.
"Find the highest concentration of life signs, and that should be the village," he told himself. "Then all you have to do is follow it to get back." He glanced at the sun high in the sky. "Preferably before it gets dark."
He started changing the scanner settings to search for life signs and froze when he saw he was right on top of the blip he'd been following. "Maybe it was damaged after all," Rodney mumbled as he checked over the device. He didn't find any obvious damage and shook his head. "There's nothing here," he told the scanner as he looked around the clearing. "Just a bunch of trees."
Rodney studied the clump of trees and then the rest of the clearing. Even to his untrained eye, Rodney could tell the trees were older than the ones edging the clearing.
The trunks of the trees in front of him were gnarled and twisted. Their bark more brownish grey than the lighter brown of the smooth trunks of the surrounding trees. Only a few branches near the tops of the older trees were still in leaf. Thick vines with huge flat leaves hung from the lower limbs to the ground, forming a natural screen and hiding the ground under the trees from view.
Rodney turned in a slow circle, wincing as his knee complained, and shook his head. The scanner insisted he was practically standing on top of the source of the alloy, but other than the boulders and the natural bower, there was nothing else in the clearing.
"It can't be anything naturally occurring," Rodney muttered as he adjusted the settings for the scanner and limped over to the trees. "It has to be something …" He brushed aside some of the vines and stopped short. "Man-made," he finished in an awed whisper.
A device, roughly the same size and shape as a DHD, sat in the middle of the natural bower.