Day 18

Carson's working by flashlight as Elizabeth comes through the now always open doors to the infirmary. She can hear the beeps from the EKG's and the soft hum of oxygen machines, but other than that, the infirmary has limited power. It's pretty much the only place with any power. Once doctors McKay and Zelenka determined the actual problem facing the city, Rodney told her that he had to lock open all doors so that no one would get stuck in a room without an exit. Yesterday, it had seemed a bit extreme, but as she walked the corridors, she realized how many doors could actually be compromised by this power outage.

For some reason not even McKay could explain, the Puddle Jumpers had not been attacked by the virus, so earlier today, she'd ordered most of the personnel to the mainland since they could not get any work done in the dark. Only Carson, Rodney, Peter, Zelenka and herself remained…along with Teyla and Ford.

"Hey, Carson," she says, startling him a bit. John always told her she moves like a cat. "What day is it?"

"Uh, Sunday, I believe. How are you feeling today, Dr. Weir?

"Better."

"Did you eat your supper?"

"Every horrible bite." She sneers at that. With the power leakage came a shutdown of refrigeration. Most of the edible food went with the others to the mainland for immediate consumption. They were left with military rations and other dried goods.

"Then you should be getting some sleep."

"I'll sleep when we get Major Sheppard back."

Carson looks up from his work, his eyes sad and weary. "And if we don't?" Elizabeth felt her heart slam into her chest. "I'm sorry, Dr. Weir, but it has been over two weeks without the Stargate. Not only that, given what Dr. McKay witnessed, there's little probability-"

"I'm not delusional, Carson. I know the odds of him actually being alive. I'm just saying…we need to get him back."

Carson seems to understand her full meaning and nods. "I'm wondering if you might consider… having a wake for the lad?"

Elizabeth slides into the chair nearest him and rests an elbow on his desk. "I've thought about it."

"It might be good…for closure."

She feels the tears rising again, but this time she doesn't fight them off or try to hold them inside. She can't anymore…it's just too damn hard to be so in control these days. Carson's in front of her immediately, wrapping his big arms around her and pulling her against his chest. "I don't want to say goodbye, Carson."

"Shhh…I know." He lets her weep; rocking her like a baby until she has no more tears to shed.

Elizabeth sits back, pulling herself out of his grasp and rubbing her sleeve under her nose. "It's not fair. It's not right."

"It never is…for those left behind," Carson says and Elizabeth nods.

She wipes the remaining tears away and looks beyond the office to the only two patients. "How are they doing? Any good news?"

"News…don't know how good. The virus is attacking the electricity in their cells, but it's taking its time. It seems to know they can't be drained completely."

"Is that even possible? For a virus to know that?"

"On Earth? No. But out here…I've seen a lot of impossible things. At least for the time being, they're relatively stable. I have them on high electrolyte IV's and oxygen. They're fevers haven't broken yet, but they haven't gone higher."

Elizabeth nods. "What about the gene. If McKay's not sick-"

"Aye. I've run some tests and it does stop the virus. Unfortunately, it must be present prior to exposure. It acts as a barrier on the cells, deflecting the bug." He shows her a crudely hand drawn visual aid. "The virus has to attach itself to an electrical source immediately to survive and multiply."

"So, how did the city get infected?"

"The rocks," McKay says, leaning against the office door frame.

His eyes are wide with dark circles underneath and he hasn't shaved since returning from Luminance. The beard is starting to grow on her, however…no pun intended. He starts to talk with his hands in that rapid fire way everyone is so used to now. Sometimes Elizabeth misses portions of what he's saying, but at least she gets the gist of it.

"It's in the rocks that followed Ford and me through the gate. I've surmised that the entire planet has this virus. Now, we all know that electricity is life. I figure the virus is generally inert, until it's hit by lightning. Which basically wakes it up like that first jolt of coffee in the morning…then it jumps into the nearest conductor for food.

"And it found the strongest electrical signature in the system," Elizabeth says.

"Precisely. The Ancient technology is a combination of bio and mechanical. Which is how they incorporated the use of the gene. But the city doesn't have the gene itself, so no barrier. The bio tech is directly linked to the mechanical, so when the virus jumped from the rocks, it latched into the gate system somehow. Possibly during transport through the wormhole even. Then all it had to do was spread to the mechanical power."

"How did it get Ford and Teyla?" She asks.

"Well, we were very close to a lightning blast and we all got covered in dirt from it. I'm sure that must be when it happened."

Carson nods. "That makes sense. The virus doesn't survive long in the atmosphere. In all the blood samples I've taken from Ford and Teyla, the virus is either dying or dead by the time I get it under the microscope."

"So how do we kill it?" Elizabeth asks.

McKay huffs. "It's a biologic turned computer virus. It's not like we have a Norton's program on standby."

"There has to be something. We can't lose the city because of this thing." Elizabeth can tell he's holding something back. His eyes are shifty and he's twitching a bit. "Rodney?"

McKay rolls his eyes and raises his brows. "I do have a radical thought. It might work." He pauses. "Maybe."

"That's the craziest bloody thing I've ever heard!" Carson yelps.

"And the possibility of it working are pretty remote." McKay says, looking at Dr. Weir. "But you said yourself, it's not contagious so it can't jump anywhere, correct?"

Carson grimaces. "Well, yes…but-"

"There you go."

Dr. Weir rubs her hands over her face. "And you can't think of anything else that might be a little less…dangerous?"

McKay looks as if he's considering saying something then tilts his head. "Nope."

Dr. Weir takes a deep breath. "Well…it's not like we have any real options here. Dr. Beckett, what will you need to sustain Teyla and Ford?"

Carson shakes his head. "I can't believe you're considering this." But Dr. Weir cocks a brow at him, letting him know he's out numbered. "Very well. I'll need at least two portable generators that haven't been affected by the virus."

"Done," McKay says.

"Really?" Elizabeth asks.

"Yeah. The Puddle Jumpers have their own power supply. I'll have Zelenka harvest a couple and bring them down here."

"And you're sure they're not infected."

McKay makes a face. "Pretty sure."

Carson exchanges a skeptical look with Dr. Weir, but he says, "It'll have to do."

Dr. Weir gets to her feet. "Okay then, we'll try the generators for at least a day. In the meantime, Rodney, I want you and Dr. Zelenka to test your theory on a smaller scale."

"Smaller?"

"Laptops."

"Elizabeth!"

She holds up a hand to stop him. "Then we'll go from there."

McKay's bubble bursts and he pouts. "Fine."