oOo

Six hours later, Elizabeth found herself questioning if the Ancients really were as advanced at they thought. Would it have killed them to install Google? She had translated nearly a quarter of the huge database, and wasn't anywhere close to finding any references to the device. Her head was throbbing, and she desperately needed an aspirin. The pain had started at her injured temple, then slowly spread throughout her head, down her neck and shoulders, finally setting up a summer home in the small of her back. Carson had told her to report any headaches to him immediately, but she hadn't reported her current aches and pains for fear that Carson would pull her away from her work, and Rodney needed her. Not only was she translating the Ancient database for him, but she was also acting as his moral support. When he got extremely frustrated with their lack of progress or started panicking, Elizabeth was always there to talk him down and keep him grounded in reality. Once his focus was restored, he would return to his place by Zelenka's side, offering helpful advice that Elizabeth could now relay without breaking her concentration on the database translations. They were working together like a well-oiled machine.

Elizabeth was engrossed in her work, only half-listening to Rodney's idle chatter in the background, when Major Sheppard entered the lab. "Major? What are you doing back here?"

"I know, I've been exiled, but I have reports from Beckett and the SGC," he said in a clipped tone. He clearly hadn't quite forgiven her for his banishment, yet. "Carson wanted me to tell you that he's run ever conceivable test on McKay, and aside from the fact that he has yet to go into rigor mortis, there's nothing unusual to report." There was pointed grumbling from Rodney at the thought of his body entering rigor mortis.

"And the SGC?" Elizabeth asked.

"They said they know how this kind of thing goes. Well, not this kind of thing, exactly…Anyway, we can reschedule the meeting at our next convenience."

Elizabeth stifled a smirk. "You know, you could have just radioed that information to us."

"I know," John leaned in conspiratorially. "But I'm also here on a covert ops mission."

She raised an eyebrow curiously. "Oh?"

"Carson sent me to check on you," he smiled. "How are you feeling?"

Elizabeth suddenly remembered her aching muscles with a bitter vengeance. Rubbing the back of her neck, she replied, "I'm fine, just a little tired."

"Right," John said slowly, clearly not buying it. "You look fine." He replaced her hand with his, and gently began rubbing her neck muscles. "Where does it hurt?"

"Really, Major, I'm fi—ohh." John's fingers kneaded the back of her neck, and Elizabeth closed her eyes, suddenly feeling like she could take a very long nap. After a few seconds, her eyes opened to slits and saw Rodney staring very hard in her direction, before quickly looking away. Elizabeth immediately felt very guilty, reminding herself that she was supposed to be working on the database translations. With a curt, "Thank you, Major," she sat up straight again, and resumed her duties. John stood silently behind her for a while, before finally shifting his attention to Zelenka.

"How's it going, Doc?" he asked a little too cheerfully.

"Not good," came Zelenka's frustrated reply. "I am afraid we have hit a dead end."

"It's not a dead end," Rodney insisted harshly. "It's just a…momentary lull in progress…I hope."

Sheppard examined the device from afar. Eventually, he decided to share his observations. "You know, this thing kinda looks like a Rubic's Cube."

Three voices answered him simultaneously, without looking up. "It's a sphere."

John rolled his eyes. "Fine, then, it's a Rubic's Sphere," he said slowly, clearly annoyed. "My point is, I think with these little cracks and grooves, it looks like the squares could move around."

All attention was now directed sharply at Sheppard.

"Cracks?" Zelenka asked.

"Grooves?" Rodney chimed in.

"Yeah, have a look."

Zelenka and Rodney moved as one to examine the ball. Rodney picked it up, examined it for a moment, then gave Elizabeth a hopeful look. "Here goes nothing," he said, then twisted the ball in his hands. With a series of clicks, the top of the ball rotated several squares clockwise, and Zelenka let out a victorious whoop.

John's face broke into a confused grin. "Did I just save the day?"

"Maybe," Rodney said.

"Possibly," Zelenka replied, already typing away at his laptop.

Rodney turned to Elizabeth, and said, "We've determined the sphere emits some kind of energy burst at a constant frequency, which must be controlled by the pattern on the surface. If we can configure it into the exact opposite pattern, it'll emit the inverse frequency and the two will cancel out."

Elizabeth began relaying this information to Zelenka, but he was already on top of it. "Yes, it is possible, but not practical. The number of possible combinations of patterns is enormous. I am trying to calculate—"

"17,360," Sheppard said. "There are 17,360 possible combinations."

Zelenka looked at him blankly for a minute. "Uh, yes. And even if we analyzed one combination every hour, it would take us—"

"Almost two years to get through them all."

McKay looked incredulously at the Major. "How do you do that?" Turning to Elizabeth, he asked, "How does he do that?" She just shrugged.

"So you see, is not feasible to test by trial and error," Zelenka continued.

"Not if you construct a computer program to analyze them for you."

"However," Radek added, "I could possibly write program to analyze data from possible combinations. It would be much faster."

Rodney threw his hands into the air. "Thank you!"

"How long will that take?" Elizabeth asked.

Zelenka let out a long breath. "Oh, another 6 or 7 hours. Plus however long it takes for computer to run simulations."

Elizabeth sighed, leaning heavily against the lab bench. Sheppard took it upon himself to speak for her. "Elizabeth, you look exhausted. You both do. How about a break?"

Elizabeth spoke up instantly. "John, no! I'm not leaving Rodney like this for any longer than is absolutely necessary."

"I'm not asking you to!" John snapped back. "I'm just asking you to let Carson have a look at your head!"

"Dr. Zelenka needs me here, Major. Perhaps you've forgotten, but I'm the only one who can see and hear Rodney!"

"Actually," Radek interrupted, "I really don't need either you or McKay for this particular step. I am perfectly capable of writing a simple computer program on my own. And McKay's presence is more hindrance that help."

"Well, excuse me for wanting to double check your results a few extra times. It never hurts to be thorough. After all, this is my life we're talking about here!"

"Radek," Elizabeth said, "are you sure you'll be alright? I don't want to go off and leave you to work alone."

"I will be fine, Elizabeth." Zelenka held up a hand to stop her objections. "I will ask Miko to help me. We should get it done in half the time." She resisted the urge to smile knowingly. In addition to being a highly skilled programmer and mathematician, Dr. Miko Kusenagi had somehow managed to unwittingly become the object of Radek's affection.

Elizabeth's reverie was interrupted by Rodney's voice. "Really, Elizabeth, I don't understand why you're objecting so strongly to leaving with Major Sheppard." He gave John a look that fell just short of hostility. Elizabeth had seen them bicker, even argue, but she could never recall a look like this.

"Rodney," she said gently, assuming this was yet another by-product of his stress-induced outbursts, "if you'd rather that I stay and—"

"Oh, don't let me stop you," he spat, then immediately regretted it when he saw the confusion and hurt on her face. Sighing, he scrubbed his hands over his face and said, "I'm sorry, Lizabeth. Taking a break actually sounds like a good idea, and I'm sure Carson wants to check on your head."

She frowned at him. "Rodney, I—"

"Just go, Elizabeth. I'll be fine." She could tell he was trying hard to show tenderness towards her, but he was losing his patience.

Finally, Elizabeth nodded. Turning, she followed John silently down the corridor to the infirmary.

oOo