Stuck
Chapter 4
"I really think it should be you," Sonya said, her hands resting on her hips. "After all, you're the important one, here."
Rodney shook his head, his face contorting into a severe scowl. If he heard that he was more important than anyone else just one more time, he would scream. Yes, he had saved the collective asses of both Atlantis and it's personnel, not to mention himself, on more than one occasion, but he knew that it was 99 dumb luck. He just hadn't told anyone else that.
Sonya sighed deeply, then squatted down to the ground. Using the duct tape, she attached two pieces of paper together. Then she removed the cap from the marker, and carefully began to print on the paper.
Rodney returned to the control panel, the I-pod balanced precariously on the bundled cables, both hands carefully sorting through the wires. One by one, he cut the wires (except the red one – he knew what that one did) and tested them on the I-pod. The work was tedious, and his arms were aching from holding them in this position for so long.
Sonya reached around him and grabbed the I-pod. "Here, I'll hold it," she offered, and he gave her a grateful half-smile. He held the small yellow wire to the I-pod's circuit board, and glanced at the screen. He grinned in relief; he had found the communications link. Now, to send a message.
"Okay, are you ready?" he asked, motioning her to put the I-pod down. Sonya replaced the device on to the edge of the panel, and then nodded, doubt in her eyes.
"Do you really think this will work?" she asked as she took her position on the opposite side of the transporter. She swooped up the taped papers, holding them in front of her.
"Of course it will work," Rodney snapped. Unless there was no one to receive the message, he thought to himself. He picked up her camera, now wired directly into the I-pod using the electrical connections from Sonya's headset.
"How do I look?" she asked, a small teasing smile crossing her face. Dramatically, she swept her hair off of her face. Rodney shook his head. Women. In another hour or two, they'd be gasping for breath, and yet she's concerned about her appearance.
"You look fine," Rodney snapped. "Although I suggest a panicked expression would be more appropriate, rather than a smile." He motioned her to move forward a bit, focusing on the papers.
"Oh, yeah, right…panic. Gotcha," she said, schooling her face into an expression of semi-terror. Close enough, Rodney thought, as he snapped the picture.
He took four pictures, hoping that at least one would surface on someone's computer somewhere. Soon.
"We're almost ready, Dr. Weir," Radek Zelenka advised, his eyes plastered to the computer screen in the control room. About three hours ago, the entire system had crashed, and it had taken him and the rest of the staff this long to determine the cause.
Apparently, seawater had been leaking into a section of Atlantis that acted as secondary control room. The circuits had finally fried, causing Atlantis to shut down some of the power grids. The transporters were out, as well as the cargo bay doors. Also, all communications had been blacked out, causing some minor chaos.
Radek had re-routed the power, bypassing the secondary control room, and now he was getting ready to boot the system back up. He ran a hand through his thinning hair, worried about McKay. He knew the lead scientist would be furious with him, trapping him in the transporter for this long.
Elizabeth gave a short nod of her head. "Whenever you're ready, Doctor," she said.
Radek nodded, then, saying a silent prayer, he keyed in the commands to reboot the system. He watched as the boards lit up, then slowly faded, the lights winking out one by one. Something was wrong.
"No, no, no…" Radek moaned, hands flying over the keyboard. Finally, he looked up as his screen blacked out.
"I must have missed something," he whispered. Elizabeth's eyes widened in concern, then she approached the Czech.
"Fix it, Doctor. We don't have much time," she ordered. Radek rapidly nodded his head, running quickly from the room.
TBC