As soon as they reached the room, Ronon started looking around.
"What are you looking for, Ronon?"
"There must be a map. Sheppard, you mentioned a button."
"Yeah. There it is."
Ronon turned the stone and removed the brick surrounding it.
"Here it is."
They all approached and looked at the little map engraved in the wall.
"There's the maze..."
"What is the round chamber?" Teyla asked.
"It's the last one. I think I know how to get there."
They all followed him through the deep forest surrounding the room. After an hour, they reached a big dome . It looked like it was made of glass and had a radius of about thirty meters.
"We should go -" Sheppard started walking towards the dome.
"Wait! We must see if he's there and learn more about it, first." Ronon seemed unusually cautious.
"Is there something we don't know, son?"
"Many have... many have died in such tests, most of them because of their comrades, who did something wrong."
"Rodney!" John shouted, hoping that Rodney was on the other side and that he could hear him.
A few moments later they saw Rodney coming towards them.
"You came back! How did you know to come back for me?"
"Ronon explained a few things about the room and -"
"I was right!"
"Yes, Rodney, you were right. We must get you out of there."
"It's some sort of force field. I can't get out. It's like... glass. Just that it won't break."
"You tried breaking it?" Ronon asked.
"I was desperate... I didn't expect you to come back."
John touched the dome and they all saw how his hand went through. He slowly retracted his hand and stared at Rodney.
"Well... it's a very interesting thing. I should do some research on it... after I get out." Rodney sounded resigned.
"Any food in there, Rodney?"
"No, Colonel. Very thoughtful of you to remind me."
"Sorry, it's just that I -" John saw Carson searching through his bag. "What are you doing?"
"I'm preparing."
"For what?"
"He's injured, I must see how bad it is."
"You might not be able to get out."
"I'd rather be stuck with him there than watch him suffer from this side, Colonel."
Carson walked to the edge of the dome and slowly entered.
"Teyla, please got to the gate and announce to Dr Weir that we need Zelenka. Get another doctor and some more supplies." John was upset with himself for letting Carson go. If anything, things were getting worse.
Twenty minutes later Zelenka arrived and greeted Rodney.
"Radek! Thanks for coming."
Zelenka looked at Sheppard and back to Rodney.
"He banged his head," John responded with a smirk. Carson's glare made them all realize that Rodney's condition was worse than it seemed.
After two hours, Zelenka gave up.
"There's nothing more I can try. I don't know anything about the power source. There's nothing I can do to disable the shield."
"We must get him to the infirmary." Carson tried to hide his worries, but they all understood that Rodney's situation was worsening, due to the head injury.
Rodney tried to shift his position, leaning against the dome's wall.
"Not sure that's a good idea, Rodney." Carson tried to calm him, but Rodney kept moving.
"Nothing can happen."
"Okay, let me help ye."
Carson leaned on the wall and supported Rodney. When he touched the wall, they both jumped away from it with a scream.
"What happened?"
"We... it was different."
"What?"
Rodney's face lighted as he started explaining "That's it! If we both touch it at the same time, it will let us pass."
"It didn't seem too pleasant," John observed.
"I think we'll make it through. Feel up to it, Rodney?"
"Let's try."
They both leaned against the dome's wall, slowly going through. After a few moments they were on the other side, breathing heavily. Carson helped Rodney to get down on the ground and settled down beside him.
"We should go back to Atlantis."
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"It felt like... like my lungs were sucked out and -"
"You'll be okay, Rodney. Let's prepare him for transport." Carson said, trying to catch his breath.
Two hours later Rodney was in an infirmary bed, with all his friends around him.
"I don't know what would've happened if I wasn't such a smart person."
Elizabeth smiled, asking Carson: "Is he gonna be okay?"
"Aye. And hopefully we'll survive his time in the infirmary."
Rodney glared at him, but the Scotsman chose to ignore him.
"You can visit him tomorrow."
Carson walked out of the infirmary together with them.
John asked Ronon: "So? What was it all about?"
"I believe it proved that he can manage on his own."
"And that he has good friends." Elizabeth added.
"Yeah." Ronon seemed distracted.
"Anything else, son?"
"One of my best comrades and I were once in such a test-chamber. I... I failed him. He was left to face challenges that were meant for two. He died and I thought this was similar. I thought that..."
Sheppard understood. They all did.
"It's okay. I did the something similar. After that, I thought I was never going to do it again. And when Rodney..."
"Rodney's fine." Carson reassured them.
That moment, Rodney started complaining: "Carson, you're working with vampires!"
"As a matter of fact, he's annoying."
He walked back to the infirmary and approached Rodney's bed "There are SOmany ways I could get blood from you, Rodney!"