Stuck

Chapter 5

Sonya watched in concern as Dr. McKay, his eyes focused on the floor, paced nervously in the small transporter. He continuously tapped his hands against his thighs as he walked, making her a bit crazy. Step-tap-step-tap-step-turn around-step-tap-step-tap-turn around. He certainly has rhythm, she thought.

"You should sit down," she advised, waiting for the inevitable snide remark. All the rumors regarding Dr. McKay and his somewhat-less-than-charming-attitude had, so far, been corroborated. Still, he had dreamed up a possible plan of rescue, which is more than she would have done, so she was willing to make allowances.

Rodney didn't pause in his motion, but kept on plodding back and forth. Sonya sighed deeply, then stood. When he returned to her side of the room (didn't take too long, really), she reached out and grasped his shoulders. His head popped up, and she was surprised to see the level of distress in his eyes.

"What!" Rodney barked, taking a step back and yanking free of her touch. He had been running formulas in his head, trying to distract himself from the 'incredibly shrinking transporter with hardly any air' dilemma. Not that it was working, but pacing seemed a better way to occupy his time than sitting in the corner and moaning in claustrophobic fear.

"You should sit down, Dr. McKay," Sonya repeated, her own eyes searching his face. "You're using up air when you move around," she added when she saw he was going to protest.

Rodney closed his mouth, realizing that she was probably right. Still, he was having a problem controlling his innate fear of enclosed places.

"You're claustrophobic, aren't you?" she asked gently, steering him to the floor and handing him the water bottle. He took it gratefully, ignoring the protest from his already-full bladder, and took a drink.

"Among other things, yes," he snapped back. He was immediately sorry at his tone, but she didn't seem to mind. How does she stay so calm? he wondered.

Sonya only nodded, saying, "Me, too. It's pretty common, actually. To be honest, I didn't even like coming here on the Daedelus…I don't like to be confined. I need the big outdoors." She was silent for a moment, then said, "Too bad the Daedelus wasn't here."

Rodney nodded in agreement, then leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. If Colonel Caldwell and his ship had been in the area, they could have been beamed out of here hours ago.

Rodney looked at his watch. Another two hours had passed since they had sent their S.O.S., and they hadn't received any reply. The air in the transporter was getting noticeably staler, and the temperature seemed to be rising as well. Occasionally, he or Sonya had tried to contact help using Rodney's headset, but it was all for nothing.

"Do you have family on Earth?" Sonya asked. Rodney stiffened, his reluctance to speak about his childhood and family rearing it's head. Instead of elaborating, he merely nodded, hoping she would drop the subject.

"Me too," she said. "Two brothers and two sisters. Both parents still married, even with five kids," she added. She watched Rodney sigh, then crack open an eye, trying to look interested.

"My father, Nikolai, immigrated from Russia when he was attending medical school. He never went back. Instead, he fell in love with my mom, who's a music teacher."

Rodney nodded again, opening his mouth to remind her that talking, as well as pacing, uses up precious oxygen. He paused, looking closer at the woman, suddenly realizing that she was as terrified as he was.

"The oldest is Nikolai – we call him Little Nicky. He's a pizza maker, believe it or not. Owns his own place. Then there's my sister, Natasha – Tasha we call her. She's the brains of the family, studying law. Then me. After me comes Tirza, who insists on being called Terry, although I don't know why. Tirza is such a lovely name. Finally, there's Anton. He's only twenty-two, and plays in a band on weekends. He's driving my parents crazy."

Sonya paused, and Rodney saw tears forming in her eyes. "I miss them," she added softly.

Rodney reached over and grabbed her hand. "Your family sounds…. nice," he said awkwardly. She nodded in return, her face thoughtful and far away.

Rodney released her hand, taking another look at his watch. "We should probably be quiet, and not talk too much," he advised. Sonya glanced at him, then shook her head in agreement.

"Thanks for being here, Dr. McKay," she said softly. Sonya leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes, humming softly to herself.

Rodney watched the woman for a moment, then shut his eyes as well. Help would come, he thought desperately. But would it come soon enough?

"Okay, this time I think I have it," Radek announced. Once more in the control room, he hovered over the main keyboard. Nervously, he rubbed his hands together, his eyes on the clock.

"'You think?'" This from Colonel Sheppard, who glowered at the Czech scientist.

"Zelenka, this needs to work. I don't want to hear 'you think', got it?" Radek only nodded nervously, not willing to admit that he was only about 90 certain that his new configuration would restore all operations on Atlantis. Still, 90 was better than nothing.

"Doctor, whenever you're ready," Elizabeth Weir advised. Radek nodded, then started typing in commands.

"The trick is to start things up one by one," he said to himself. "First, communications." His hands flew over the keys and he watched the screen carefully. Nothing. His face grew increasingly agitated as the monitors remained stubbornly blank.

Then, static. Suddenly, within the black and white fuzziness, Radek could see an image forming. He gasped as the picture finally focused. Behind him, he could hear the surprised voice of John Sheppard.

"What the hell is that?"

Radek stared, his eyes taking in the frightened face of a woman, someone he vaguely recognized. She was holding a sign, and Radek enlarged the image so he could read the words. He swallowed as their meaning sank in:

HELP

Transporter 1

14:20 stuck

17:00 this message

Air gone soon

(4 – 6 hours?)

McKay

Radek Zelenka looked at his watch; it was now about 21:00 hours. That meant Rodney and this woman had been stuck in the transporter now for nearly eight hours. And it seemed Rodney had determined that they had only four to six hours of air. Radek's face drained of blood as shock set in. He turned his wide gaze on to Elizabeth and John.

"Get that transporter back into a docking station now, Doctor!" Elizabeth ordered as John yelled for Carson Beckett to have a team standing by. Radek hurriedly started typing in commands, praying that his bypass had worked.

TBC