Rodney groggily dragged himself back to the lab after a few short hours of restless sleep. He figured the cause of his current state was either from the post adrenaline rush of Adair's near crash landing and his life passing before his eyes, or the fact that he and Radek had spent hours deciphering hidden text messages from unknown saboteurs discovered in the Deadalus logs until the early morning hours. One thing was for certain, it was going to be at least a pot and a half breakfast and someone had damn well better have something brewing by the time he made it to his lab. Eyes half closed as he made his way through the corridor to his lab, he brushed shoulders with one of the Daedalus crewmembers headed in the opposite direction. They seemed to be everywhere these days. "Sorry," he mumbled.
"No problem, Dr. McKay." The crewmember reached out and caught the scientist's arm a moment to steady him before continuing down the hall. "You look like you could use some coffee," he called over his shoulder.
Rodney squinted sarcastically but the man had already rounded the corner and disappeared from sight. Continuing towards the lab, he grumpily rubbed his arm where the ensign's firm grip had bruised it. Why is it the military thought force was the answer to everything?
When the doors slid open and the deep aroma instantly caught Rodney's attention and he forgot all about his sore arm. Heading straight for the pot, he snagged his favorite mug off his desk on the way, ignorning everyone and everything until the first mugful disappeared and he was pouring his second. Only then did he notice Radek leaning against the wall watching him with his arms crossed, shaking his head in disbelief.
"What!" he snapped, topping off his third cup before making his way over to his laptop.
"You are," Zelenka muttered to himself, "what is the word?" He looked back at Rodney, "Oh yes, 'cranky'. You are cranky before your first three cups of coffee."
Rodney chose to ignore the comment as he booted up his system and studied the readouts they had acquired only hours before. Stopping a moment to rub away his blurry vision, he scowled when he had trouble focusing and reached down for his mug. It was definitely going to be a pot and a half morning.
"Okay, let's go back over this again," he directed to Radek as he absentmindedly picked up his cup, but lost his grip when the hot liquid spilled over his hand. Instantly shaking it in the air, he dropped the mug, its contents spilling across the table, as he raced over to the sink and ran his burnt fingers under cold water.
Radek snatched a towel and sopped up the mess, sliding Rodney's computer out of the way before anything else happened. "Do we need to see Dr. Beckett?"
"We? No, we don't need to see Beckett." He flexed his reddened fingers, scowling at the discomfort. "What we need is to go back over to the Daedalus and show Hermiod what we found. Maybe there's a way to trace the messages to a specific terminal onboard the ship."
Stepping between the now half empty pot and his agitated superior, Radek shrugged. "After breakfast."
"We don't have time for breakfast," Rodney growled, closing his laptop and pinning it under one arm while still fussing with the sore fingers on his other hand.
Radek refused to be bullied. "Breakfast or I tell Dr. Beckett you burnt your hand."
"What are you, my mother?" When the smaller scientist reached for his earpiece, his finger threatening to activate it, Rodney huffed. "Fine, hopefully we'll get there before Dex has eaten everything."
"I have never seen someone eat as much as he can," Zelenka added, following McKay out the door. When Rodney practically ran into a doorframe, Radek grabbed him and steered him down the hallway, taking the laptop from the distracted scientist before it also became a victim.
McKay never even noticed, he was too busy thinking about food. "You should see him off world," he mumbled as they made their way into the cafeteria and stepped up to the serving line.
oOo
Seated across the room, Sheppard watched the two scientists grab some breakfast and make their way to an empty table along the edge of the room. Deep in conversation, the pair didn't appear to notice anyone else in the room as they huddled over a laptop while chomping on bagels.
He grinned and shook his head before returning his attention to those at his table. "Teyla, how did your trading mission go?"
"It went well, thank you. We made a very good bargain. It was not half as exciting as your week though." She looked pointedly at Adair as the tall man pulled out a chair one handed, spun it around backwards, and sat down while balancing his tray with his other hand.
"Oh! Sorry," said Sheppard. "Teyla, allow me to introduce Captain Austin Adair. Captain Adair, Teyla Emmagan of the Athosian people and a valued member of my team."
Adair held out his hand and shook hers. "Ma'am you are about the prettiest little thing I ever did see."
"Why…thank you," she said, a little taken aback by his comment.
"And I bet you can outthink a cow, too."
Sheppard, who had been in mid-swallow, started coughing and had to take several gulps of coffee before he was able to stop. Teyla merely cocked her head at the captain while frowning slightly. "And this is a good thing?"
"Oh, absolutely, ma'am."
"Well, then, I thank you for your…compliment," she said, smiling wryly. "Now if you gentlemen will excuse me." She picked up her empty tray and made to leave the table.
Adair immediately stood and Teyla gave him a smile for his courtesy before making her way out of the mess hall. The Texan stared longingly after her.
"She can kick your ass in a fight, too," Sheppard informed him, amused by the whole exchange.
The captain sighed as he stood watching a moment longer, breakfast clearly forgotten. "And that's a bad thing?"
Sheppard snorted and then delved back into his scrambled eggs. "There are some off-world assignments that I need to go over with the expedition teams this morning, but I'll be free this afternoon to continue our investigation."
"Fine with me, Sir." Adair sat back down and reached for his cup of coffee, draining it in one large gulp. "There's plenty of damage aboard the Daedalus that needs fixin'. I can lend a hand with that in the meantime."
"I think that's a good idea. We don't want whoever is behind this to know that we are on to them so I suggest we make it look as though we believe the accident is an equipment malfunction." Taking another swig of his own coffee, he stopped and set his cup back on his tray. "Just to be safe though, let's have teams of at least three in each area and mix in some Marines while we're at it. I don't want anyone left alone."
Adair nodded in agreement. "I'll ride herd until you get there."
oOo
Rodney struggled to juggle a stack of printouts, a bagel, and the ubiquitous cup of coffee as he made his way through the maze of Daedalus corridors, threading his way though the various repair crews. He shifted the items in an attempt to get a bite of his snack, or at least a sip of coffee, but the pages started to slide and he quickly abandoned the idea before everything in his arms ended up on the floor.
Tired, and not wanting to have to search the entire ship, he waylaid a passing ensign. "I'm looking for Captain Adair."
The man jerked his thumb to indicate the way he had just come. "Just follow the noi…um…singing, sir."
Rodney frowned in irritation at the vague directions but headed down the indicated passageway; realizing after a moment that the odd faint echo he was hearing was someone singing...
"…but I always come back to myself long before daylight…"
He cringed as the singer, who he suddenly realized was Adair, kept falling in and out of tune with the music. As he rounded the corner towards engineering, the singing got noticeably louder.
"But aaaaall my exes live in Texas and that's why I hang my hat in Tennesseeeeeeeeee."
He cautiously entered engineering to see Lieutenant McEnroe at one of the consoles and a pair of boots sticking out from a nearby access conduit in the wall. A series of grunts and bangs emanated from inside the small space. One of the Atlantis marines who was pulling guard duty gave a bored yawn from the far corner of the room.
"I'm a pilot because I flunked out of engineering school, Sir," the young Lieutenant was apparently reminding the captain.
"Shit, Marty," Adair scoffed from inside the access tunnel, his drawl turning the first word into two syllables. "All you gotta do is flick the switch when I tell ya, watch the little doo-hicky on the console, and tell me when it goes from green to yellow. Just be sure to say something before it hits red."
Settling himself at the console, Marty checked the green gauge carefully, tapping it lightly with a fingernail to make sure it was functioning properly. "What happens if it goes into the red?" he asked over his shoulder, suddenly curious.
"We explode," was the muffled, matter-of-fact reply.
The Lieutenant started to laugh but quickly fell silent when Adair didn't join in. He looked nervously again at the console's dial.
"Shouldn't your chief engineer be handling this?" McKay asked, glancing curiously at the George Strait CD cover lying open on one of the consoles. He set down the stack of papers used the opportunity to take a bite of his bagel and a small sip of the scalding coffee.
"Well, seeing as our chief engineer is currently in sickbay with busted ribs, I thought I'd take a shot and fix what I can. Is that Doctor McKay?"
"Yes. And it's 'infirmary'," corrected Rodney automatically.
"What?" Adair asked, obviously having trouble hearing from inside the conduit.
Rodney picked up the CD and flipped it over, reading the back cover and raised his voice, "You said sickbay. A sickbay is on a ship. Atlantis is a city. It's called the infirmary." He put the CD back down and took another bite of his bagel before picking up his coffee cup, blowing on the hot liquid to cool it.
"You say 'pinto', I say 'paint'," was the disembodied reply.
"What?" McKay stopped blowing on his cup and squinted at the boots, not understanding the reference.
"Try it now, Marty," was the only reply.
The young lieutenant obediently flipped the switch, watching the console with rapt attention. The very instant the dial crept into the yellow area he gave a piercing yell of 'Now!' that caused McKay to give a startled jumped.
Rodney's hot coffee sloshed over the side of the cup onto his already tender fingers and he dropped it with a curse, waving his hand frantically in an attempt to relieve the fresh burning pain. He glared at the McEnroe who was still nervously watching the dial as it crept a little further into the yellow zone, completely oblivious to the mess he had caused.
Deciding to wait and vent his fury until the Lieutenant no longer held their lives in his hands, Rodney reached down to retrieve his cup from the floor. He had to lean against the console briefly from the headrush that resulted when he picked up his cup from the floor. "Damn Biro and her blood drive," he thought. As if there weren't plenty of other people on base with his blood type.
There was a muffled chuckle from Adair, apparently in response to the young lieutenant's overreaction, then a snick from inside the conduit and suddenly the lights in the room increased their brightness to full strength and the dial fell back into the green area. McEnroe gave an exaggerated sigh of relief.
"That's got it," said Adair, carefully crawling backward out of the access tunnel. He wiped his hands on a rag McEnroe provided. "What was it you wanted?" he asked, turning to McKay.
Rodney set his empty cup down on the edge of McEnroe's console with a glare at the young man before he shuffled through his pile of papers, pulling several pages free and passing them to the captain. "I wanted to know if," he paused, looking down and scowling at the lieutenant who was listening intently.
Adair followed the scientist's gaze. "Marty, why don't you take a break, we've been at this all morning. Here," he said handing the young man the electrical manual he'd been using in the access tunnel. "Swing by and drop this off to Chuck on the bridge your way out."
The young officer didn't have to be told twice, apparently anxious to leave before he got drafted into any other death defying repairs. The guard automatically trailed after him leaving McKay and Adair alone.
"Yes, well, as I was saying, I wanted to know if you were familiar with any on this list of names that Zelenka and I put together last night."
The captain read down through the page, his eyes drawing into a tight line. "I know most of them personally and wouldn't be shy about having them watch my back. A couple of these fellas though I know by name only." The console they were standing next to suddenly sparked. Both men jumped back in surprise as it erupted into flames.
Adair quickly grabbed a fire extinguisher off a nearby wall and sprayed retardant at the panel, effectively knocking the rest of Rodney's papers and the empty coffee cup to the floor once more while putting out the small fire.
McKay ran over to the relay panel on the other side of the room and began typing furiously on the keyboard. Scowling at the information drawn up on the screen, he spun around to stare, searching for something or someone.
"What is it, doc?" Adair snapped, his hand automatically going to his hip for his sidearm. Caldwell had talked Sheppard into arming a few of his most trusted officers.
"There's an energy spike reading that was initiated from the bridge."
"The bridge? Crews have been up there since yesterday fixing the damage. Maybe somebody crossed some wires by mistake?" Adair asked hopefully.
Rodney turned back to the console and tapped several more keys. Licking his lips nervously he pointed to the new information. "This wasn't an accident."
oOo
Adair raced through the passageways and corridors, clambering up the stairs leading to the main level, before bursting onto the bridge with McKay right behind him. They found the room filled with technicians and engineers busily replacing damaged components, all of whom stopped working to look up in surprise as the duo rushed in.
Scanning all the faces, the captain recognized all of the crew. "Was there anyone else working up here just a few minutes ago?" he asked.
Several individuals nodded.
"People have been in and out all day sir," a young ensign answered.
"Freaking Grand Central Station," another mumbled.
Rodney stepped over to the main board, set his papers down, and began shakily typing on the keyboard. Nodding to himself as his fingers flew; he looked up to Adair and met the Texan's questioning glance. "It came from here," he confirmed.
"Gawd Dang it!" Adair exploded. He checked his watch and threw his hands up in the air. "And I'm due to meet with the commander in twenty minutes and give him a status report on our progress. What the hell am I supposed to tell him?"
oOo
Carson caught the young captain as the man came striding through the infirmary doorway heading determinedly towards his commander. "Now look here," the physician said, pinning Adair to the infirmary wall with a forefinger and a steely glare. "I won't have the lot of you disturbing and upsetting the Colonel. He needs rest to recover."
"Easy, Doc. He asked me to come down here; and I reckon when my superior officer requests the honor of my presence, I don't have much choice in the matter, now do I?"
Beckett glared at him a moment longer, then lowered his finger. "Fine, but you better not upset him or so help me…" he left the threat unfinished. "Have I made myself clear?"
"Clearer than a cold mountain spring on a summer's day," replied Adair.
Beckett thought about that for a moment, finally deciding it was the affirmative answer he wanted, and waved the Texan toward the colonel's bed.
"Captain!" greeted Caldwell in relief when he saw his officer approach. "I was beginning to think you hadn't gotten my message."
"Sorry I'm late," he said, taking a seat by the Colonel's bed. "But we've had another sabotage attempt."
"What!"
"Keep it down, sir." Adair glanced around warily. "The doc there will have me gelded if I get you riled up." He jerked his head towards Beckett who was busy checking the bandages on Lieutenant Drake's leg.
Caldwell waved off the threat impatiently. "He's all bark."
"Begging your pardon, sir, but it wasn't you he was snortin' fire at just a second ago."
"Enough of that," said Caldwell, dismissing the incident. "Fill me in on what we know so far."
Adair took a chair by his commander's bed and handed over the printouts while filling him in on everything that had just happened. He had just finished his report when they were interrupted by a pretty nurse who gave the captain a smile and a saucy wink as she injected medication into the colonel's I.V. port. Adair grinned back, concluding that Atlantis had more than its fair share of attractive women.
The colonel fretted at the delay, waiting impatiently until the nurse left so that he could continue their discussion. "This just doesn't add up. It's too well-organized. I'm beginning to think there's a third party involved."
"What do you mean, Sir?" Adair instinctively leaned in at the Colonel's circumspect tone. "You think maybe a foreign government…?"
"Think closer to home." Caldwell shifted, trying to get more comfortable. "There's more than one of our own in-house organizations who have been caught using 'unorthodox' methods to reach their goals." He grimaced and shifted again.
Adair noticed his commander's discomfort and frowned. "You okay, Sir?" Glancing around for someone to help, he managed to catch Beckett's eye just as one of Caldwell's monitors began to beep insistently.
The doctor was at their side in an instant. "Colonel?" he asked, studying the monitors and placing a hand lightly on the injured man's shoulder.
"My chest feels tight and it's getting a little hard to breath," Caldwell gasped.
Beckett reached up and unhooked an oxygen mask from above the colonel's bed, settling it on his face and adjusted the angle of the bed slightly higher. "Better?"
Caldwell closed his eyes and nodded.
"This came on suddenly? No warning?" Beckett asked Adair. His eyes flickered between the Colonel's pale face and the monitors that continued to beep unhappily.
"Far as I could tell," Adair replied. At the doctor's skeptical look he continued, "Honest Doc, we were just sitting here calmly talking. If you don't believe me, ask the nurse."
"Which nurse?" Beckett asked distractedly as he took Caldwell's pulse.
"The little blonde filly who was here not two minutes gone," the captain answered, glancing around the room then added uncertainly, "though I don't see her now." He was suddenly overcome by a sense of foreboding. "She gave the Colonel some medication."
"I didn't order any medication." Carson quickly checked Caldwell's chart. "And there's nothing noted here." He pinned the man with an intense stare. "How was it administered?"
"What?"
"Did she give him a pill? Did she inject him? Think man," he said urgently.
"Ah…" Adair searched his memory. He hadn't really been paying much attention to what the cute blonde was doing with her hands, he'd been so captivated by her smile. Playing back the moment his head, he snapped his fingers. "She injected it into his I.V."
Beckett reached over and immediately crimped the line before deftly disengaging the needle. "Kelli, I need a new I.V. setup here," he called. The nurse appeared instantly, trading the fresh I.V. bag and accompanying paraphernalia for the used tubing Beckett handed her. "Take this to the lab and have them analyze it immediately," he said quietly. "Someone injected something into this and I want to know what it was." She gave him a wide-eyed nod and disappeared toward the lab.
Beckett quickly hooked up the new I.V., briefly checking the seals to make sure it hadn't been tampered with. The colonel was growing increasingly gray despite the oxygen and was now covered with a cold sheen of sweat. Quickly attaching several heart leads with the assistance of another nurse, he watched as cardiac arrhythmias bounced with a sporadic increase across the screen. "What's his pressure?"
"It's rising rapidly, doctor," the nurse replied.
"Get me Atenolol!" he snapped to another nurse who quickly came back with the medication. Drawing the clear liquid into the syringe, he checked the dosage before injecting it into the IV.
So intent on watching what was happening, Adair didn't notice Sheppard had entered the infirmary. The lieutenant colonel stepped up to the stricken officer's side. "Come on," he said quietly, taking the captain by the arm and tugging him back out of the way. "We have to give Beckett room to work."
