Elizabeth was staring at the orb, bent down, mesmerized by a tiny flashing light that she hadn't noticed before. "So this isn't random?"

"No." Radek was hunched over his desk.

"I take it you have no idea how to get them out?"

"No."

"Not much for conversation, are you?"

"No."

She straightened and looked at Sheppard. "They really are inside that thing?"

"Seem to be." He studied the array of materials that had been erected around the orb to keep it perfectly stationary. "Hate to think what could have happened when it hit the floor."

"I mean, they aren't physically in there, are they?"

"They have been converted to energy. Problem is, finding out which energy is theirs."

"There's no distinct signature?"

"Only an increase when the object was sucked in. I tried once more. Somewhere in that orb two apples are rolling around."

"Not if Rodney found them."

Radek sighed. "I don't even know if they have form. They could be in there asleep, not even aware of what has happened."

"Or they could be joined at the hip. Or come out joined at the hip." Sheppard wished he could jam the comment back in, as soon as he said it, because Radek was glaring at him.

"Yes," he muttered, "it presents a tidy problem, sorting out their codes from that of everything else in there. I can not do this with all the surrounding hysteria!" His voice rose and he slapped his hand on the desk, turning back to his readings and the odd equipment he had connected to the datapad.

They took the hint, which was really a demand, and left Radek to his work, but not before the source of irritation was made known in the form of a reluctant Kavannaugh shouldering past them, rubbing his tired eyes and grumbling about how this was taking away from his personal time.

They just managed to hear a remark in Czech that could only be a threat, and Beckett's name. Their imagination provided the rest.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rodney had found another panel. Carson watched him work, wondering why they seemed to appear wherever Rodney was, as he hadn't seen one in the rooms during Rodney's absence.

"Nothing, though there is a little more here to work with." He sighed and closed the door. "This is getting old. Real old."

"No good then?"

"Of course not." Rodney sighed. "Why couldn't you have just walked in noisily like any normal person? Then I wouldn't have dropped that damn orb and hit that . . . whatever I hit . . . and we wouldn't be in this god-forsaken mess!"

"You're blaming me?"

"Damn right I'm blaming you! Because I have to blame someone, so it might as well be you!"

"You're the one that dropped the bloody ball!"

"Oh, nice euphemism there, hot shot!"

"What's happening," Lenore asked, panicked. Her arms stretched out, and she shrieked, "What's happening?"

"What, we just got here!" Rodney's comment went unheard as she screamed.

"Lenore!" Carson started to run forward, but Rodney beat him. He watched as Abrams collapsed, his large bulk writhing in pain. Rodney bent over him, touched his arm, and yelped as he pulled his hand away. Abrams' skin stretched between them, stringy and taut.

"Oh SHIT!" Rodney shrieked, frantically wiping his hand on his shirt. "He's tearing apart!"

"Rodney!" Carson ran to him, pulling him back and pressing them both to the wall. Their companions continued to cry out, rolling, their skin slowly peeling from them and sticking to the floor.

Lenore's face pressed to the floor as she rolled onto her stomach. She screamed in terror as she tried to push herself up, feeling her face stick to the floor, feeling the flesh pull in strings like taffy as she cried out, her large eyes imploring the horror-stricken men. Her lips pulled back grotesquely, revealing gums ripping from bone. "Help – me." Unable to fight the strain any longer, she cried as her face slammed against the floor, and sobbed in pure fright as her skin flattened around her.

Abrams' pitched yells were short and desperate as his flesh melted out around him, dripping from his fingers, sagging from his eye sockets. It took only moments before both he and Lenore melded into one large pinkish pool of flesh, looking like rolled silly-putty. Abrams' elbow jutted out from the center of the puddle, and Lenore's mouth cried out from the joint.

Carson and Rodney weren't aware of anything but their own repulsive screams as the wall opened up behind them and pulled them through.

"Shut it off! Je! Shut it off!" Radek yanked at the cord that connected the orb to a power distribution coil. "Soustani!"

"What happened?"

"I do not know. Nothing good. There was no feedback loop, the power just kept building."

"Too much?"

"Too much."

"So that's not the answer."

"No." Radek sighed and ran his hand through tousled hair. "We will try something else."

Rodney collapsed on Carson, and the medical doctor frantically shoved him away. He scurried to the corner of the room, gasping, his eyes wide in terror.

It was some time before Rodney dared speak. "That . . . that was . . ." he shook his head, the squeak of his voice revealing his discomfiture.

"Oh Mother of Mary," Carson finally breathed, and did something Rodney had never seen him do in all the years he'd known the man.

He crossed himself.

Rodney swallowed. "You know, I – I think there is a chance we may not get out of here." His eyes watered, and he wiped at them angrily, looking around the room. "I hate this place." He stood, glaring at the walls. "I hate this place! You hear me? I HATE this place!" He lunged forward and punched the wall. "God dammit! Whoever you are, you SUCK!"

"That's the best you can do?" The voice held a hint of defeat, but Carson's eyes were livid.

Rodney sighed, and his shoulders slumped. He leaned against the wall, forcing back tears of desperation he refused to let Carson see. "What's that song, what's that song . . ."

"What?"

"Something about the wind and purple islands. I was humming it when I was alone, trying to find you guys, I don't know why, it just got stuck in my head and it wouldn't go away." He was babbling, and he knew he was, and he didn't care. It kept his thoughts at bay, forced the fear to the back.

Carson was slowly rising to his feet. "Have you gone mad, son?"

"Oh come on, you'd know it! It's been stuck in my head for the longest time." Rodney turned and leaned back against the wall, his eyes tight shut in concentration. "Oh, uh . . . 'Brave are the hearts that beat beneath the Scottish skies'."

Carson frowned. "How the devil do you know that?"

"Hello? McKay here? Mac Kay?" He sighed. "Honestly."

But Carson was shaking his head. "Was that supposed to make you feel better?"

"Actually I was hoping it would make you feel better, but I can't remember it."

"Me? You wanted to make me feel better? After what we just saw?" Carson pointed to the wall, not knowing if the remains of Abrams and Lenore were on the other side, or had become one with the floor.

Rodney didn't know what to say, but his distraction wasn't working for either of them. He passed off the remark with a wave of his hand and a smart-ass comment. "So much for fixing things."

It was a mistake.

Again, Carson's pent up rage cracked. In the space of a breath he had Rodney against the wall, his hand crushing the startled man's windpipe. "I'll let you in on a little secret, son," he said in a low voice, "I am a physician. I hold the power of life and death in my hands. I can heal, dammit. I can heal people, or I can let them die. You got that? I can kill you now, not completely, but just close enough," he squeezed tighter, "and bring you back. How often have I brought you back from the brink of death? Do you understand that? I can kill you, Rodney. Your life is literally in my hands." He leaned in, his mouth close to Rodney's. "I can feel your pulse. I can feel the blood, and I can stop the flow. I can leave you here. I can kill you."

A running thought steam-railed though Rodney's mind . . . this is insane this is insane, this . . ."C-Cars . . ." he croaked, clawing at the grip.

"I have a choice. Either I let you go, or not. It's so simple." He gave a short laugh. "Why is this one choice so simple? Of all the choices I can make, this one is broken down to simplicity, yet covers so much ground. A human life." His eyes were scary. "So do I, Rodney? Do I kill you? You decide."

Rodney couldn't speak.

"Oh, bloody hell then, leave it to me to decide. Don't you think I have enough on my mind?" His grip increased, and Rodney gave a final choke. "I can stop this, but I can't save the others. I mean, isn't that crazy? I have no control. I had to watch. Every . . . single . . . time I had to watch, and there was nothing I could do. This . . . this I can stop whenever I want. I control this." He gave one final push, and let go.

Rodney doubled over and crashed to his knees, grabbing his throat, rasping, struggling for breath. He coughed painfully, rolled to his side, and instantly felt hands grab him. He fought them off, but they were only pulling him up.

"No! Nonono, no rest. The room'll suck you in. Don't you see? It'll suck you in, tear off your flesh, until you're nothing."

Rodney pushed him away, his eyes wide. "Carson," he croaked, "stay – the fuck – away from me."

"I think I have it this time."

"Radek, you better be sure."

"I am certain."

"Certain sure?"

"Yes." And he connected the power box. "I think."