A BEE IN THE BONNET

PART 7: COAT HOOK

The search was expanded as it was reasoned that the device might expended its last energy in a burst and McKay much further than the 10 meters. There were parties patrolling throughout the area, on multiple floors, searching everywhere in this otherwise uninhabited portion of Atlantis.

Beckett was worried. What with McKay's intolerance for fluctuations in his blood-sugar and the nasty after-effects of 'too much messing about with things best left alone', Carson had reasoned that Rodney may be in serious trouble if he wasn't found soon. "He's possibly unconscious. If he's awake, he won't be thinking properly and may not be able to move much at all," the good doctor had informed them. "We have to find him… soon."

Sheppard found his strength returning with each moment. As he jogged down one corridor and then another, he kept promising himself that McKay would be just around the next corner, or maybe in the adjacent room, waiting for them, needing help, getting impatient and fussy. They'd find him.

Some doorways refused to open. The ATA gene didn't seem to help. Task forces were assigned to find the secrets to the locks, but so far they'd had no success. If Zelenka only had that damn bee working again, they could explore those hidden rooms.

An adrenalin rush had overtaken the last of his fatigue, keeping the major moving. Coupled with the amount of sugar Beckett had forced on him, Sheppard felt as if he could run all night. Teyla and Ford kept up with him as they moved from floor to floor, room to room.

Two puddle-jumpers patrolled the waves outside Atlantis: one searched the structure, the other was circling in ever widening arcs, watching the sea. Nearly every available Atlantian was actively looking. Hell, Teyla even had Halling and the other Athosians searching the coast on the mainland – just in case.

"Where the hell are you?" Sheppard growled. Night was falling… and there'd been no sign of the missing scientist. "Where did you go? What did it do with you?" He searched his head again, wondering if a physicist was hiding somewhere in there – no – just as normal as ever.

Their radios were cracking with communication, people reporting in, giving updates that promised nothing. So far, there'd been no news – no news whatsoever.

"Do you honestly think he got so far?" Ford asked, as they took another turn, bringing them closer into the central hub of the complex. "Wasn't Dr. McKay convinced that it only had a range of 10 meters? He's usually right about things like that."

Sheppard sighed, annoyed with this contradiction. They'd searched every possible space within that radius – up, down and round and round – finding no trace – no sign. "I don't know, Ford," he muttered. "We haven't found him. If he's within that perimeter, then he either went off the edge of the balcony or materialized inside of something solid."

"You'd think we'd see an arm sticking out somewhere if that was the case," Ford said thoughtfully. "Looking like a coat hook or something?"

Teyla shuddered visibly. "That didn't happen," she said earnestly. "Certainly, he is alive."

Ford let out a sad sigh, his face falling as he spoke, "I just feel really bad. One of the last things he ever did was read that letter -- my letter – then he gets transported into a wall."

"He did not get transported into a wall!" Sheppard snapped.

"Then why haven't we found him?" Ford continued, equally annoyed. "We should have gotten to him by now!"

"I don't know," John returned. "And it's about time we find another way." And he picked up his pace – heading toward the main lab.

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A/N - Ford can come up with some picturesque images