"Aha!" Radek Zelenka yelled to the empty hangar. He'd been working solidly on trying to fix the Puddle Jumpers all morning, and he'd finally made progress. He'd come to the conclusion that whatever they'd been doing to interface the cloaking device power output with the shield generator, had been to the dislike of the Jumpers. He'd realised that the Puddle Jumpers that had been taken out were the ones he and Rodney had experimented on the night before to determine whether their theory could be done. Unfortunately, he hadn't realised it until after the Colonel's one had crashed.
Zelenka had been recalculating all of the equations he and Rodney had worked out the night before in order to reverse everything they'd changed, and had finally come up with answers that worked.
He tapped his radio. "Rodney?"
There was static for a moment before the Canadian, who if possible was more irate than usual, answered.
"What is it, Radek?"
"I've fixed the Jumpers." He replied.
Radek could visualise Rodney's face lighting up on the opposite side of the city.
"Well what are you waiting for?" He snapped. "Get up here and show me!"
Radek rolled his eyes, unplugged his datapad and walked to the cockpit of the ship. This time he was taking no chances. He pulled out a piece of paper, a roll of masking tape and a marker pen from his pocket that he'd managed to steal from Kavanagh earlier. He wrote a message and signed his name, and taped it to the window of the ship. Walking around the front of the ship to make sure it was clearly visible, he smiled. The window now read "OUT OF ORDER."
oOo
Rodney, satisfied at Zelenka's calculations, had smiled for the first time in an hour.
"Well done, Radek. It's good to see that you aren't completely incompetent."
Radek had rolled his eyes but ignored the comment. Elizabeth was hovering.
"Colonel Sheppard?" Rodney said into his radio.
"Ssshhhhh!" Came the reply. "Are you out of your mind?"
"What?" Rodney said indignantly, raising his eyebrows.
"He's asleep and you almost woke him up!" John hissed. "Is he okay?"
"What?" Rodney asked, completely confused.
""I wasn't talking to you!" John snapped. Rodney was taken aback.
"He is fine, John." came Teyla's voice.
"Who? What?" Rodney spluttered.
"Kai!" said John and Teyla simultaneously.
"Who?" Rodney practically yelled.
"The baby. Will you shut up? He's barely an hour old and already he has to put up with your incessant screeching. Jeez, McKay." Rodney could almost hear John's eyes rolling.
"Baby? You mean the baby's been born already?" The Canadian asked, sipping his fifth cup of coffee.
John considered a sarcastic reply and then decided he couldn't be bothered.
"Yeah. A boy. His name's Kai."
"John?" Elizabeth asked. "I thought Carson was going to let us know when the baby was born?"
"Well, he had other things to deal with."
"Like what?" She frowned. It was not like Carson to forget something like that.
"Ronon fainted."
The control room winced as they were covered in a spray of coffee. Apparently, Rodney found it amusing. Elizabeth frowned. She, fortunately, had escaped the drenching, however Radek had not. He glared.
"He must have whacked his head more than we thought." John added. "Carson's gonna check him over when we get back."
"Oh! That reminds me, Colonel. We've managed to fix the Jumpers." Zelenka coughed. "Well, Radek thinks he has." Another glare from the Czech.
"Good." John said. "Any chance we can come back some time soon?"
"Well, if Radek's calculations are correct, then yes. I don't see why not." Rodney replied.
"Great. What do I need to do?"
oOo
John was pleased with himself. Radek had taken him through each instruction step-by-step, and the Jumper that originally hadn't worked had just sprung back to life. 'Remind me again why you didn't join Mensa?' He asked himself smugly.
"Colonel?" came Teyla's voice from the rear of the ship, interrupting his thoughts. "Dr. Beckett says Eryn and Kai are ready to depart now."
"Okay. I'll come and help in a sec. How's Ronon doing?" He asked.
"He is fine. A little weary perhaps, but Dr. Beckett thinks he will be alright."
"Good. Get him on board, I'll go help the doc."
Some time later, Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla, Carson, Eryn and Kai were on board the ship. The doctor's equipment had all been loaded, and Teyla had said farewell to her people. The villagers had invited them all to return for a special ceremony which was traditionally held when an Athosian baby was born. John had accepted, and promised to negotiate Nevan's return in time for the celebration.
"Atlantis, this is Sheppard."
"Go ahead, John." Elizabeth replied.
"Jumper One is good to go."
"Glad to hear it. Have a safe flight."
"We'll do our best." He replied, before smoothly navigating the Puddle Jumper into the air.