Stranded
Chapter 4
The faces of the personnel in the conference room were grim. Although Lt. Colonel John Sheppard appeared calm, inside he was as tense and coiled as a spring. Only the whitening of his knuckles as his hands grasped the arms of the chair revealed his frustration.
Dr. Radek Zelenka, one of Atlantis' physicists and McKay's second-in-command, shook his head. "Our stargate appears to be in perfect condition. The problem must be with the unit on PX7-312. Whatever the reason is, we cannot dial that planet and get a connection. There is either a problem with the DHD or with the stargate itself." The short scientist leaned his hands on the table, his eyes troubled. John stared at the Czech for a long moment, then nodded. They had the technicians run the diagnostics on the stargate a multitude of times, and had arrived at the same conclusion. Still, Elizabeth had wanted Radek to look at the gate, knowing that the scientist was the most qualified person, other than McKay, to determine any problems.
Elizabeth clasped her hands together. Her eyes swept the table, falling on John. The chief military officer was unusually quiet, and Elizabeth knew he was blaming himself for Rodney's predicament. She would have to speak with him, reassure him that it was nobody's fault that McKay was missing.
"Ideas, anyone?" she asked. She was met with a moment of silence, then Carson spoke.
"What about the Daedelus, Dr. Weir?" The familiar Scottish brogue of Dr. Beckett was thicker than usual, betraying his concern over McKay.
John was already shaking his head as Elizabeth answered. "Colonel Caldwell and the Daedelus have only just arrived at Earth. Even if they left now, it would still be eighteen days before they reached Atlantis. If our calculations are correct, it would then take another twelve days to reach PX7-312 from here, even at FTL speed." Carson's face fell, and his shoulders slumped.
All was silent around the table, and John could feel the tension in the room build.
"What about fitting a jumper with an FTL drive?" John asked, and this time it was Radek Zelenka shaking his head.
"Not near enough room, and I don't think that the ship can handle the stress," he replied. "Dr. McKay and I had already looked into upgrading the jumpers awhile ago. He believed that if it was possible, the Ancients would have already done it."
Ronon took a breath. "What if we dial a gate that is fairly close to PX7-312? Take a jumper, go through our gate to whatever planet is closest, and then fly to PX7-312?" John stilled in his chair. That idea had some potential.
Radek slowly nodded his head. He got to his feet and left the room, hurrying towards the stargate control area. John and Elizabeth watched him go, then exchanged bewildered looks. After a long moment, Radek popped his head back into the room.
"Come….please," he said, waving with one hand, then turned and headed back to the control station. He was followed by the rest of the staff.
Radek paused at the map of the Pegasus galaxy, which glowed with thousands of faint lights. The scientist entered something into the computer, and after a moment, a clear blue light gleamed in the middle of the map.
"That is Atlantis." He entered another command into the computer, and on the outer edges of the map, a new light flickered, pulsing slightly.
"And that is PX7-312," he said. "Now, whenever we dial another stargate - like PX7-312 - anywhere within the Pegasus galaxy, the location of that address is shone on the map." Looking bored and impatient, John merely nodded.
"Yeah, we know, Zelenka. What's your point?" Slightly insulted, the Czech scientist typed another command into the computer system.
"Currently, we can only enter an address into the system, and have the location show on the map. We cannot do the reverse – select a location," he stopped and pointed at a small yellow light that sat next to the pulsing PX7-312 marker, "and have that gate address shown to us."
"Well, that's a daft way to do things," Dr. Beckett stated, but Radek shook his head.
"Keep in mind that there are literally millions of stars in the Pegasus galaxy. This map only represents a very small portion of those stars, those that the Ancients actually visited – via the stargate or a ship. Remember the Aurora?" Radek paused, watching as everyone nodded their head, thinking of the Ancient spaceship they had discovered a while ago.
"Not every planet or star displayed on this map has a stargate. You also have to consider that it's been ten thousand years since this map was updated, and some of the stargates may no longer work, or may have been removed to who knows where…." He trailed off as dismay crossed Elizabeth's face.
"So you're saying…what?" John asked harshly.
Radek drew in a breath. "I'm saying that I have to devise a computer program that will run through the thousands of gate addresses the Ancients stored in their system, and locate each one on the map. When we finally do locate one that is fairly close to PX7-312, we will have to send a MALP through first, to verify that the gate is still functioning. Only then can we use Ronon's plan."
Silence met his words.
"How long will that take, Dr. Zelenka?" Elizabeth asked, and was taken aback by the scientist's crestfallen look.
"Hours…maybe a day. Or two. There are literally thousands of addresses that we will have to map. Unfortunately, it will take time." Radek's voice dropped as he shared the thoughts of the others.
Time. Rodney could be hurt, could be captured, could be undergoing any number of horrible things. John was certain that the one thing Rodney did not have was time. He glanced around the room, seeing his own fear and doubts reflected back at him.
"Get to work, Doctor. And let me know if you need anything at all," Elizabeth added. She watched as the scientist hurried from the room, muttering to himself in Czech. Carson gave Elizabeth a sad smile, then wearily plodded out the door, followed by Ronon and Teyla.
"John." Elizabeth's soft voice cut into his reverie. "There's nothing more we can do. Let's just hope that Zelenka gets a suitable gate address soon." He nodded at her words, but inside he remained in turmoil. More than anything, he hated feeling powerless. Drawn and pale, he ran a hand across his face. Elizabeth watched as he made his way across the room, pausing long enough to glance back at Dr. Weir.
"Elizabeth, you know that even if Zelenka does find an address, Rodney is probably already……" He couldn't finish, and swallowed as she shook her head.
"No. I refuse to believe that Rodney is dead. He's resourceful, John. I have to believe that even if we can't get to him, somehow, he'll get to us." Elizabeth paused, her hazel eyes clouded and distressed. John refrained from going to her, pulling her close and holding her, easing her pain and his, as well. No, now was the time for John to be the military leader, his mission to organize a search and rescue party – not comfort his boss. He merely stared at Elizabeth, not making any comment, just absorbing her faith and trust in Rodney, then slowly walked out the door.
oOo
Rodney watched the sunrise, and had to admit that it certainly was beautiful. Even if it only meant that he could get moving, and retrace his steps back to the stargate.
Time to go. Okay, McKay, on your feet.
He planted his hands on the ground, then carefully pushed himself to his feet. Using the small tree as a brace, he slowly stood, doing his best to ignore the jagged lance of pain that flowed from his belly. The bleeding had stopped a while ago, although his shirt was stiff with dried blood.
He swayed slightly as dizziness muddied his mind, and he tightened his grasp on the small tree branch.
Weebles wobble but they don't fall down.
Now, where the hell did that come from? Stifling a snort of disbelief, he waited a few moments while his head cleared. His equilibrium restored, he let go of the branch, taking a few hesitant steps. Good. He could walk.
Yay – progress. Now what?
Rodney eyed the slope that loomed over him. While running from the perturbed natives, he had plunged into the brush, moving as fast as he could. Suddenly, he had burst into a clearing – that dropped straight down. He had bounced and tumbled down the sheer face of the ravine, his body little more than a pinball bouncing off the rocks. Rodney was amazed that he hadn't, in fact, broken something.
He took in a deep breath. Last night, as he fought off exhaustion and fear, waiting to become something's dinner, he had come to the conclusion that he was on his own. If John and the others were coming for him, Rodney was certain they would have been here by now. Obviously, something had happened, and although Rodney was slightly worried about what that something was, he knew that his first order of business was getting off this planet, and back to Atlantis.
Okay. I can do this. Just get going, McKay.
He reached down, stifling a gasp as he grabbed his backpack. He carefully slid it over his shoulders, then paused, waiting for the black spots in front of his eyes to either take him over or disappear. After a moment, his sight cleared, and he began to climb.
TBC