Within an hour after sending the message to Stargate Command, one of Carson's assistants radioed Elizabeth that Colonel Caldwell was resting comfortably in recovery. Tapping her earpiece, she notified Sheppard and Captain Adair, happy to be able to have some good news to impart for a change. The Texan's explosive 'Ye-haw!' had left her ear ringing and she seriously began to wonder how he and the commander ever worked together. Then again, she thought smiling, probably the same way she and Sheppard eventually had been able to hammer out a working routine: a lot of yelling, some serious disagreements, and a large dose of mutual respect.
oOo
"We can find someplace for you and the rest of your crew to bunk tonight," Sheppard said as he led Adair down one of the many Atlantis corridors towards the infirmary. Preoccupied with his datapad, Rodney was trailing slightly behind them. "I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to stay on board, not until we're sure it's safe."
"Seems reasonable," Adair replied.
The men slowed their pace as they came upon a crowd in the hallway outside the mess hall. A mixed group of Daedalus crew and Atlantis expedition members mingled about as Dr. Biro stood to one side, a clipboard in hand, checking off names as people entered. Adair looked to Sheppard for an explanation as the congestion caused them to slow their pace.
"Blood drive," answered Sheppard, giving Biro a raised eyebrow of inquiry as they approached.
She did a quick scan of her clipboard. "Sheppard and…Adair?" At Sheppard's confirming nod, she flipped a couple of pages. "We have plenty of your type at the moment but we'll contact you if we need more."
Sheppard gave another a nod of acknowledgement, waving Adair ahead of him as they twisted their way through the dense crowd.
"Not you Dr. McKay," said the pathologist, snagging his arm as he passed by and swinging him smoothly into the mess hall. "We're running low on your blood type."
"But I need to um…to check some readouts on the Daedalus," he replied nervously, shooting a forlorn look over his shoulder at the backs of the two officers as they disappeared into the dense mass of people. "It's very important..." He looked around frantically for a possible escape route as Biro continued to pull him into the room.
"I'm sure it can wait. After all, the Daedalus is just a machine. We're saving people's lives here." She deftly wove him around the row of white lounge chairs that had been set up. The regular tables and chairs had all been shoved to one side of the room. "Here we are," she said, guiding him to the only empty chair.
It happened to be right next to one of his least favorite people. "Oh great," said McKay, sarcastically.
Cadman looked up from where she was reclining with a book. A tube of bright red snaked from her arm into a nearby bag. "Well, look who's here."
"Isn't there someplace else we can do this?" he asked Biro, turning back towards the door and possible freedom. She pushed him down into the chair as a nurse brought over a packet of supplies. Taking a seat near McKay, she began preparing his arm.
"Ouch!" he said jerking his arm away as she tried to find a vein. "Where's Beckett? You're not very competent at this."
She held the needle up in one hand with a look of long-suffering patience. "Dr. Beckett is busy treating the wounded. None of my other patients complain."
"You're a pathologist--all of your other patients are dead. I'm not."
"That can be arranged," Biro muttered in exasperation as she put a gloved hand on his arm to steady it and tried again.
"Ow." This time when he jerked away, he refused to let her grasp his arm again, keeping it out of her reach and glaring at her.
"If you'd keep your arm still…" she snapped quickly losing her patience.
"Don't be such a big baby, McKay," needled Cadman.
"Let me tell you something…" Rodney said heatedly, turning towards the young Lieutenant with the intention of giving her a thorough tongue-lashing.
"Oh, hey Katie," interrupted Cadman, as she cheerfully greeted someone behind him.
He spun his head around to see Katie Brown holding a tray full of orange juice-filled cups. There was a band-aid on the crook of her arm.
"Hi, Laura," replied the botanist, handing Cadman one of the cups. She turned to Rodney, smiling. "Rodney, how good of you to come and give blood when you're so busy with the Daedalus!"
"Yes, well, I'm…ah…always ready to do my part." The last word came out as a yelp as Biro took advantage of his distraction to slide the needle home. He gave the doctor an irritated look, which she completely ignored as she handed off the trash to the nurse and moved to her next patient.
"Isn't his self-sacrifice inspiring?" gushed Cadman, giving Rodney a saccharine smile from behind Katie's back.
Struggling to suppress his desire to leap up and strangle her, he shot her angry look instead. Cadman took the hint and ostensibly returned her attention to her book. Katie handed him the juice and his fingers briefly overlapped hers on the cup, the touch causing his nervousness to increase ten-fold.
"Oh! You're allergic!" she said suddenly, retaining her grip.
"What? Oh, yes, right. I'm allergic." He released the cup reluctantly. "To citrus. Oranges are citrus." Cadman gave snort of amusement, and Rodney glared in her direction but the lieutenant gave every appearance of being engrossed in her book.
The botanist returned the cup to the tray. "I'll see if I can find you something else," she said smiling brightly at him.
"That would be um…really…um…nice. Thank you," he finished lamely to Katie's back as she headed towards the kitchen.
"Smoooooth, McKay," said Cadman, grinning, her eyes still focused on her book.
"Oh shut up!"
oOo
"Sabotage?" Propped up on several pillows and only just shaking off the last vestiges of anesthesia, Caldwell stared at the captain in disbelief.
"We've sent a report to Stargate command with all the information available. Colonel Sheppard and Dr. Weir felt it was important to inform them as soon as possible so that they could start rechecking personnel files on their end." Adair let out an exasperated breath before pushing himself up from his seat and began to pace around his superior's bedside in agitation. "I just can't believe that one of our people is responsible for this, sir."
"You did the right thing," Caldwell said tiredly, not wanting to believe it himself. But someone had to be the saboteur and no one from Atlantis had been on the Daedalus since she'd arrived this last trip--which shortened the list of candidates considerably. He began turning the names of his crew over in his mind, dismissing each one as a possible suspect. Most of them he knew personally from his time in the service, and those he didn't know personally came with high recommendations from people he trusted. The person responsible had to be back on Earth--didn't he?
Adair watched his commander fight the pull of sleep and knew he should leave before the Scottish doctor came back and kicked him out. He'd been warned when he'd first arrived not to overextend his visit and wear out the colonel. "I really should go so you can get some rest, sir."
"Do I look that bad, Captain?" Caldwell asked, struggling to pull his fuzzy thoughts back to the present.
With his hip resting against the foot of the bed and his arms folded across his chest, Adair cocked him a droll smile. "Sir, if you don't mind me saying so, you look like you've been rode hard and put up wet."
The senior officer gave his Captain a wry look in return for the honest assessment. "You and Sheppard do what you can to get to the bottom of this." No longer able to hold the pull of healing sleep at bay, his eyes slipped shut.
A million thoughts ran through Adair's head as he stood there taking in all the wires, tubes, and bags connected to his commander. "Yes, sir. We'll get to the bottom of this," he vowed quietly.
oOo
The day's never ending events and meetings brought the team members together again hours later to view the return databurst from Stargate Command. Seated around the large conference table, Dr. Weir had asked Sheppard, Rodney, and Capt. Adair to join her in watching General Landry's message on the laptop before them. They each had come from different directions carrying cups of coffee or other items to help keep them sharp while dropping anxiously into the vacant seats, ready to hear what news the General had to impart.
"We commend you on your handling of the situation, Captain Adair. That said, we're putting Colonel Sheppard in charge of the Atlantis end of this investigation--at least until Colonel Caldwell is released to active duty, which we're given to understand from the medical reports we received, could be awhile. I have a team rerunning all the background checks, references, and interviews of the Daedalus crew." Shifting to stare directly into the camera he paused, his gaze hardened as if he was seeing each of them watching him, before continuing. "I'm sure you are all fully aware of the grave implications of this matter. Captain Adair, we expect you and the rest of Daedalus crew to give Colonel Sheppard any and all necessary assistance and your full cooperation during this investigation. We'll exchange reports tomorrow at 1800 hours and share any pertinent information."
When the message ended, Rodney and his ever present coffee mug disappeared once more, Elizabeth made her way back to her office after telling both men she had every faith in their abilities, and Adair looked to Sheppard and shrugged. "You're the foreman."
oOo
Elizabeth strolled into the infirmary in search of her CMO. Spotting him the same time he spied her, the met up in the middle of the room. "How's he doing?"
Carson looked towards Caldwell's bed and shook his head, "Restless, feverish, agitated, and exerting himself far too much for a man who underwent surgery just hours ago to have his liver repaired."
"Can he have visitors?"
"Can you two get on for five minutes without getting into a row?" he countered. Weir and Caldwell's vehement arguments were no secret to those on Atlantis or the Daedalus.
She shrugged, not promising anything. When he didn't look amused, she quickly nodded.
Apparently that answer satisfied Beckett and he jerked his head in the direction of Caldwell's bed, giving her taciturn permission to visit.
Pulling up an empty chair to Caldwell bedside, she gave him an encouraging smile. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine." He shifted slightly to find a more comfortable position and winced as the drainage tube pulled at his injured side.
His obvious discomfort contradicted his comment but she chose to overlook it. "Dr. Beckett thinks you'll be up and around in two or three weeks."
"Dr. Beckett is overly cautious."
"Maybe," she said amiably. Hooking her heels on one of the chair rungs, she leaned forward with her elbows on her knees, deliberately challenging the officer. "I don't think that's what's really bothering you, though."
His gaze narrowed and he stared hard at her, obviously becoming annoyed. "What then?"
A slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "You prefer to be the one in control."
"And you don't?" he said, half chuckling and wincing at the pain it cost him.
"Touché," she replied, settling back into the chair.
"Sheppard called you, didn't he?"
Her telltale brow of irritation quirked in his direction, "You're interfering with his investigation, and when Carson finds out who snuck you in a radio there's going to be hell to pay. Just accept that this is out of your hands for the moment."
"It's my ship that was blown to hell, Doctor, and my people who were injured," he replied heatedly. "I want to know who or what is responsible for this!" The outburst instantly sent waves of agony shooting down his side and he hissed in pain.
Beckett, alerted by Caldwell's tone, came over and injected something into the colonel's I.V. "That's enough of that now," he admonished and watched as Caldwell's eyes slid shut in unwilling response to the sedative. "Visiting hours are over Dr. Weir," he said sternly, urging her out of the chair and ushering her out the infirmary door.
oOo
Sheppard slipped into Weir's briefing room for the third time that day with mere minutes to spare. He'd spent most of his afternoon and early evening pouring over the readouts that Zelenka had managed to salvage from the Daedalus. Then he had a debriefing with Captain Adair and the engineering team, looking for any possible leads as to what had caused the explosion. After that, he'd finally been able to snag a sandwich from the mess hall on his way back. Taking a large bite, he pulled out an empty chair and sagged in relief at the luxury of finally being able to sit still for more than five minutes.
"Care to share with the rest of the team, Colonel?" Elizabeth inquired. "Or, perhaps you could inform us as to the whereabouts of Rodney?"
"Sorry," he mumbled through a mouthful of ham and cheese. With a quick swallow, he shot a glance around the room and confirmed for himself that Rodney hadn't made it back yet. "Last I saw him; he was going over the relay connections to the thruster controls with the Asgard, looking for any possible reason for the first explosion."
"Did they give you any possible leads?"
"Uh…no."
"You don't sound certain, Colonel. Was there a problem?"
"Other than McKay and the little grey guy getting into it? No, not really."
Elizabeth's left hand instantly rose to rub the invisible headache forming behind her temple. "What do you mean, 'getting in to it'?"
Sheppard popped another bite in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully while the others seated around the table waited. "They might have been a little…off task…when I last saw them. There was some sort of 'discussion' in regards to human brain capacity and Ancient genetics that was getting rather… heated."
Her hand froze in mid circle as her gaze met his. "Perhaps you'd care to go find him and have him report back here with you while we take a thirty minute break." She didn't wait for her 2IC to answer before slipping from her chair and stepping over to where Carson was seated. "Have any aspirin on you?"
oOo
Thirty minutes wasn't going to be enough time to find McKay and drag him back from his latest puzzle, but Sheppard wasn't about to tell Weir that. Hustling out to the Daedalus, he jogged through the narrow hallways, nimbly sidestepping around crewmen, before entering the bridge. The sight that greeted him was something he never imagined in a million years.
There on the floor, sticking out from beneath the main console, were two pairs of legs, each with one leg extended and the other bent at the knee. One set clothed in regulation black pants, the other gray and naked.
He gripped the edge of the terminal and leaned down to get a better view, grimacing uneasily at the Asgard's nudity. "Hey fellas, how's it going?"
Muffled voices emanated from inside the console before Rodney wiggled out and sat up, wiping his grease and soot stained hands on a rag. "We found possible remains of the original detonation device."
"Original? You mean there was more than one?"
Before Rodney had a chance to answer, Hermiod mumbled something and the scientist turned around and handed the rag back to the small grey hand sticking out from under the console behind him. "Yes, we found an encoded timing sequence hidden inside a temporary system file that was scheduled to activate once the Daedalus entered hyperspace. Now since we had to shut down the power to disengage the Wraith virus on several accounts, the sequence was restarted every time we reactivated the ship's systems."
"But you said 'original detonation device'. What was the timer connected to?"
Rodney held up one finger before lying down and sliding back underneath the console. More murmuring could be heard between the two scientists. A moment later he was back holding a fused piece of a plastic that looked like a circuit board form inside a computer.
Sheppard plucked it from McKay's hand and turned it over. "What is it?"
"We haven't quite figured that out yet. But there appears to have been wires attached that overheated, setting off a chain reaction that overloaded the life support system, causing an immediate shut down. The thing about it is that whoever set this up had to know about the emergency power and impending life support failures." When Hermiod began to mumble further, Rodney scowled over his shoulder at the alien, "I was getting to that." Picking up a small socket wrench, he handed it back under the console before continuing. "And then to cripple the thrusters? If this had happened while they were traveling within hyperspace, it would have either left them abandoned in space to die with no way to return to either galaxy, or caused the Daedalus to explode."
There was further muttering under the console. "Yes, yes, I was getting to that, too," said Rodney, irritated at the continuing interruptions. "We believe that the individual who created this program had been attempting to dismantle it after leaving Earth."
Holding up one finger in response to this news, Sheppard paused to put the pieces together of what he'd been told so far. "What do you mean? He or she may now be here on Atlantis?"
Rodney snatched the melted piece of plastic back and turned it over in his hand, pointing to a small spot of dribbled solder. "This area is more recent," he said, gesturing to one spot and then another, "than this one. We think the connections were being changed or there was even an attempt at dismantling the triggering device. Most likely, once the individual responsible discovered that he or she couldn't get off the Daedalus, and knowing the timer was being continually reset during the virus, they had little choice and didn't want to get killed themselves."
Sheppard blew out a tight breath and looked suspiciously at those working on repairs around them. "Any ideas who we need to check on first?"
"We found a device on the bridge, in the console near Colonel Caldwell's chair," Hermiod's disembodied voice stated matter-of-factly.
"Well that certainly narrows things down. Only half the crew normally has bridge access, though it's possible someone might have snuck up there at some point. McKay, can you patch Atlantis into their system so we can access their personnel…" Sheppard's face scrunched and he swore lightly under his breath, suddenly remembering why he was talking to Rodney in the first place. Pulling himself to his feet, he reached down and tugged McKay hastily to his feet. "Come on, we're late."
Clambering up, the scientist almost toppled back over when he discovered one foot had fallen asleep. Shaking it to restore circulation, he glared at Sheppard, making it quite clear he wasn't about to go anywhere. "For what? I have work to do."
The colonel caught Rodney by the arm before he could hop away. Guiding him towards the burned out doorway, he was surprised and a little disconcerted to see Hermiod had disentangled himself from the console and was following them. "Weir's briefing. We were both to be there twenty minutes ago."
oOo
Seated at a table surrounded by crew members of both Atlantis and the Daedalus, Elizabeth raised a brow but said nothing as her two department heads entered the meeting followed by the Asgard. Watching the trio take seats towards the rear of the room, she nodded to Carson to continue with his report.
"He's going to have to stay in the infirmary for at least a week, maybe longer until he's well enough to rest in general quarters. I don't think he should leave Atlantis until he's had a chance to heal."
Elizabeth took the information in stride, not happy to have the colonel stay any longer than necessary, but also not about to give the wounded officer the boot. Besides, what was she going to do--send him back through the Stargate? Then who would command the Daedalus once repairs were complete? "Keep me updated on his condition," she said and Carson gave her a nod. Turning in her seat, she flipped her stack of papers to the next page. "Dr. Zelenka, have you discovered any other anomalies within the readouts?"
"Anomalies?" Rodney popped a questioning hand in the air before Radek had a chance to answer.
"Yes. I found an access code…"
Sheppard cleared his throat, catching Elizabeth's eye and shaking his head slightly. Realizing that he wanted her to stop Radek, she reached over and tapped the scientist on the arm, "Just a moment."
Radek looked over to Rodney and noticed his coworker frowning. "What?"
"Z, I think the grease twins here found something they'd like to show you down in McKay's lab," Sheppard hastily explained.
"Colonel, is it imperative that they leave now?" Weir asked.
"I think it would be a good idea."
Rodney frowned. "Actually, I'd like a chance to grab a bite…"
"McKay…" Sheppard drawled, "We'll meet you in the lab, in say fifteen minutes."
Rodney blinked but said nothing. Licking his lips, he stood up and followed Radek out into the hallway with the Asgard trailing close behind. "Something happen while I was gone?" he asked once the door closed behind them.
"You first," Radek demanded.
Hermiod's large, dark eyes blinked in boredom at the Czech scientist. "We have discovered physical evidence of a saboteur's attempt to disable the Daedalus."
"Saboteurs," Radek corrected, stressing the 's' and giving the alien an irritated glare.
"There's more than one?" Rodney squeaked and glanced quickly up and down the hallway, giving a wide berth around individuals he didn't recognize as they passed by.
"I discovered three separate instances of tampering so far in ships logs. I do not think they could have all been accomplished by a single individual."
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