Not mine, never will be. All characters and locations belong to the show's writers except for Dr. Schwartz. He's mine. All script transcriptions also belong to the show's writers.
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Carson walked toward the jumper bay, carrying a bag of supplies on one arm and Pete in the other. As it turned out, they hadn't been able to leave for the mainland yet. Teyla had contacted her people by radio and found that many of them were scattered away from the settlement. Only now, several hours later, were they finally ready to go.
Carson hadn't minded the delay. He'd been able to secure his experiments in progress and most of the delicate medical equipment. Unfortunately their drug supply was too large to completely waterproof, but if it came to the point that high water reached the infirmary, they were pretty much screwed anyway.
Then he went to talk to Steve Schwartz, who would be in charge while he was gone. Carson had only recently had the necessity to designate a "second in command", so to speak, and Schwartz was proving both capable and dependable. It also helped that Schwartz had been the only one with enough guts to care for the boss when he was ill, and had been able to win most of the ensuing arguments. (Carson remembered one that involved threats of calling security and sedating his ass into the "middle of next week.") Anyone who could do that would have no trouble running the busy medical section.
The two physicians had already discussed the care of the patients currently residing in the infirmary. Fortunately there weren't many, and most were stable enough to be discharged. If and when it became necessary to evacuate, Schwartz would arrange for medical care at their destination.
All of that had taken most of his time. Afterward, Carson tried to find Jinto to give Pete back, but the Athosian boy wasn't in his quarters. There wasn't time to go searching for him, so Carson intended to transfer custody of the dog to Elizabeth. If she was making him fly the blasted jumper, then the least she could do was get Pete back to his owner.
Carson idly wondered what kind of half-brained scheme Rodney and Radek were going to come up with this time.
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Rodney was astounded at the stupidity being demonstrated in front of him. Even Zerenka... Zalunka... whatever the hell his name was, who normally displayed at least rudimentary signs of intelligence, was being particularly dense. "No, no, no, no, no, I've already thought of that!" What was he, talking in Goa'uld or something?
Dr. Z. pointed towards one of the junior scientists -- just another high-IQ redshirt, thought Rodney privately. "He may be onto something."
"I've already thought of it -- it doesn't..." Rodney spent another few minutes re-explaining what he thought he'd already explained several times before.
"We could relocate some of them," Dr. Z. suggested. "Put them closer together."
That was it. Obviously he worked with idiots. "You're right -- if only we had a magical tool that could slow down time. I foolishly left mine on Earth - did you bring yours!"
The little Czech guy didn't like that at all. "You know, you're not pleasant when you're like this, McKay."
"I'm always like this."
"My point exactly."
John and Aiden entered just in time to hear the tail end of the exchange. John looked both self-satisfied and nervous. "Well, I got the green light from Smeadon and the Manarians. I'm not sure how pleased he'll be if we get stuck there, though. That's not going to happen, right?"
"Isn't Smeadon that guy from the Lord of the Rings?" whispered the junior scientist to Ford, who quickly tried to hide his grin.
"Naw, that's Smeagol. But Smeadon and the Manarians sounds like a really cool name for a rock band." At the sound of John clearing his throat, Aiden quickly snapped back to attention. "Are we sure there's no part of the mainland we can go to?" he asked, in what he hoped was an intelligent manner.
"Unfortunately not," said a female voice. Elizabeth, Teyla, and Carson walked into the lab. Carson was empty-handed, but Rodney was amused to note that the collars of his lab coat looked distinctly chewed-on. "Everywhere that we've explored is in the path of the storm," said Teyla. "My people are evacuating even now."
John jumped in again. "Still, Ford's right. I mean, the mainland's the size of North America. You're telling me the entire continent's going to get hit?" Rodney shrugged. "It's just that I'd rather not owe Smeadon any favors."
As usual, Elizabeth looked at the bigger picture. "If we lose Atlantis, we'll be stuck on the mainland without any access to the Stargate."
"Well, McKay will come up with something."
Were they kidding? Were they absolutely out of their so-called minds? Sure, he was a genius. But he didn't have control over the forces of nature -- yet. There were a few things he wanted to experiment with when this was all over...
In the meantime, Rodney hated to disillusion everybody, but, "I will try, but despite what you all may think, I'm not Superman."
Aiden smirked. John gave Rodney his "you've got to be kidding me" look. Then he asked, "Was anyone seriously thinking that?" Jerk.
Elizabeth shook her head, and it seemed like she was about to burst out laughing. Redshirt-boy also shook his head slightly. And just in case the message hadn't been received, Aiden added helpfully, "No, sir."
"Never!" And there was Zalorka, putting his two ceska koruna in.
Heretics, all of them. "Fine!" Rodney snapped. "My point is the storm will affect over seventy percent of the mainland, and Atlantis isn't safe either. If you want everyone to live, you gate them offworld."
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John, Rodney, and Carson left the lab after that final briefing and headed toward their respective destinations. Ford and Teyla had taken a quick detour to Elizabeth's office and would meet Carson at the jumper bay.
"Soooo... come up with anything yet?" asked John innocently.
"In the five minutes since you last asked, not so much!"
"Just checking. Hey Carson, where's your furry little buddy?"
"Och, he's back with Jinto. In theory, he shouldn't be able to get into any more trouble."
Rodney snorted. "In theory. Right."
"Lighten up, Rodney. Don't you like dogs?" John wanted to know.
"No way. Dogs are way too clingy and needy. Always whining, always thinking of food..." Rodney stopped when he noticed John and Carson grinning broadly.
"Oh, very mature, both of you. Insult the guy who's going to pull your nuts out of the fire."
Carson grinned again and slapped Rodney on the back. "But it's so much fun."
"Get serious," Rodney muttered. "I mean, it's not like we're going to die or anything like that."
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Wide-eyed, Jinto held Pete in his arms and looked around the large room. He'd seen a large ring like that before, of course, but this was the first time he'd seen some of the accompanying machinery from the City of the Ancestors. It was truly impressive.
Pete, though, was too frightened even to whimper. Even though Jinto was his friend, he hadn't liked it when the healer left him behind. He was starting to feel a sense of wrongness. The air was hot and still, and he could almost feel distant electrical discharges. He was also scared of the blinking lights and the large, round circle with the puddle of water standing on its side.
More and more people were gathered in the room. Many were carrying blankets and supplies. Some of the small children were crying. Pete's fur bristled with the tension. Finally, unable to stand it anymore, he let loose with a mournful howl. Immediately all conversation in the room ceased as everyone turned to look at Jinto and Pete. "Ssshh!" said Jinto, anxiously trying to calm the dog. "You're going to get us into trouble -- again!" He looked anxiously at Dr. Weir.
The alpha-female was staring at them, but Pete didn't care. He felt better after expressing himself, but still knew that something bad was going to happen.
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Elizabeth stood on the balcony, looking at the Athosians milling about on the gateroom floor. All the jumpers were back except for Jumper One, which a very reluctant Carson had piloted. She wasn't all that worried yet. Sergeant Markham had told her that the crew of Jumper One was waiting for a few stragglers who were out on a hunt. Still, if they didn't return soon, things were going to get ugly. Already she could see flickers of lightning on the horizon.
"Excuse me, Dr. Weir," said a pleasant baritone off to her side.
Elizabeth jumped a little. "Dr. Schwartz! Is everything all right?"
Schwartz ran a hand through his dark brown hair. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to tell you that things actually went better than I thought. Everyone who couldn't be discharged outright is stable enough to travel, and there are really only one or two that I want to keep a close eye on. No disasters, although I realize that's unusual around this place!"
Elizabeth gave a little laugh. "Just wait. Rodney hasn't told us his plan yet."
"Oh, right. Too soon to relax, then. How are you holding up?"
Elizabeth was struck at how alike he and Carson were. Both with a dry sense of humor, gentle one minute and implacable the next, and with definite mother-hen tendencies. Before she could answer him, though, her thoughts were interrupted by a loud howl. She whirled around, trying to find the enemy, before realizing that it had to be Pete. Sure enough, when she leaned out over the balcony railing, there was Jinto holding the dog.
"What in God's name was that?" Schwartz demanded.
Elizabeth let out a breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. "That, Dr. Schwartz, is the most recent patient of our Chief Medical Officer."
"Wow, the kid really has good lungs to make that kind of shriek!"
"Who said anything about Jinto?"
Schwartz looked blank for a minute. Then he shook his head. "Carson treating a dog. That sounds like a story I'd like to hear, if for no other reason than to blackmail him the next time I have to order him to stop working. But now probably isn't the best time."
"Probably not."
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The order had come for the Athosians to evacuate through the Stargate. Jinto walked closer and closer to the shimmering puddle in the middle of the ring. With each step, Pete squirmed harder. He didn't care what kind of trouble was going to happen here. He definitely did not want to go into that water! Finally, just as Jinto was stepping into the puddle, Pete jumped out of his arms. He hightailed it out of the gateroom like a bat out of hell.
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A/N
nebbyj: -sniff- That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me! Hope this one makes you laugh, too.
Espiritu, Rhin Ariel, Lennexa: Yes, Pete's descriptions are certainly accurate. Let's see what he does with our favorite Genii...
Out of Phase: Hope you had fun at the beach!
Belisse: Before the end of this story, Pete and Rodney will meet. Who gets the upper hand during the encounter is anyone's guess.
jennamagig: Definitely a smart dog. He'll need it, too, once our villains show up!
Emma: One of the things I like best about this show is the team interaction. You get the sense that each one would lay down his/her life for the rest. If that doesn't make them pack brothers, I don't know what would!
threegraces: It's definitely been challenging, trying to weave my storyline in with the episode's. Much harder than coming up with a completely new plot. But fun!
OK, back to work for me. Please R&R and tell me if there's anything you want to see Pete do or have done to him. Also, any suggestions on what I should have Pete call Ford, Kolya, or Sora?
TBC