Part Thirteen: What the Hell?...
"It is still not working. Bryson, what are you doing?"
The smallest normally proportioned adult male that Radek Zelenka had ever seen—let alone worked with—raised his tiny head above the glowing control panel. The slightly built Czech empathized.
Bryson blinked curiously. "I'm sorry. This particular console is unfamiliar to me."
Taking a moment to fold his frustration neatly away for expression elsewhere, Zelenka tapped the younger man and gently moved him aside. Bryson had correctly rerouted the power supply. Fine job, actually. The alligator clips attached to the device held it tightly in their tiny jaws.
Weir entered the laboratory and, with nary a sideways glance, approached Zelenka for answers.
"Talk to me," she said, without preamble.
The Czech noted that Elizabeth's locks were almost as messy as his own and that her large, grey eyes were bloodshot with exhaustion. He tried to surreptitiously smooth his hair but gave up before his hands got halfway to the crown of his head.
"It is complicated, so have patience. We're not completely certain what happened, but Dr. Bryson and I believe that the device—either by accident or by design—sought out and detected all Atlantis personnel exhibiting a particular brain wave frequency."
Elizabeth was a very intelligent woman. That was one reason why Zelenka respected her so much. As a diplomat, however, she dealt with generalities such as trade, war, peace and leadership. In science, it was all about the details.
"You see, there are four named types of brainwave activity: beta, which is the waking pattern, alpha, which is the light sleep phase, theta, which is a deep meditative state and delta, also known as the REM sleep. As far as we can tell, each of the missing individuals was experiencing a specific brainwave frequency of 9.357 megahertz, which is in the mid-range of the alpha phase. This equates to light sleep."
"But I thought you said that Dr. McKay was awake in his lab with you."
"That is partially correct. He was here in the lab, working on boosting power to the long-range sensors. However, he has been engaged in this project for several days in a row. I suspect that he has not slept more than three hours a night. It is highly likely that at the moment he vanished he had actually drifted off to sleep or else was engaging in a form of meditation. Either way, his brain wave frequency would have had to be exactly 9.357. The same is true for the others."
Elizabeth crossed her arms and looked askance, processing this information.
"You know all of this how?" she queried, skepticism shading her words.
"We exposed the device to several types of stimuli, including light, heat, moisture, electrical impulses and sound. It responded only to the electrical waveform frequency signature of 9.357 MHz. Dr. Bryson's work with biophysics is especially useful in this respect, for he was able to cross reference our findings with previous work done on brainwave functions."
Zelenka nodded to his colleague, who poked his head up over the edge of the console at the sound of his name.
Elizabeth acknowledged Bryson's presence, then turned back to Zelenka, who was awaiting her next question. "You said that Dr. Beckett and Ronon were affected simultaneously. What is the likelihood of two people in the same room having exactly the same frequency?"
Bryson stepped forward, his eager face lighting up with the answer.
"Various cultures have been able to prompt meditative states by creating an external rhythmic pattern."
Elizabeth regarded him blankly.
"What I'm saying is that a drum beating a particular rhythm at a particular speed can bring an awake individual into the alpha state in short order. It is similar to becoming hypnotized by a slowly ticking metronome. When he disappeared, Dr. Beckett was running a hematocrit on a patient, using a centrifuge, which does, in fact, produce a metronomic-type rhythm. This centrifuge is within hearing distance of Dr. Beckett's office and also the bed on which Ronon was lying. Thus, it seems rather obvious that at the moment I triggered the device, both the doctor and Ronon were within the alpha frequency range. At 9.375, in fact. There is no other explanation at this time."
"And they are where?"
He shrugged, then straightened, seeing the stricken expression on her face.
"The pods retrieved from the northern part of the city contained a powdery substance. The powder in two of the pods disappeared when Major Lorne and Dr. Steward seemingly reappeared in his quarters. Not coincidental, I'm sure. Also, the device is producing small amounts of energy. Right now Dr. Zelenka and I are attempting to connect the device with one of the consoles to extract data, images, whatever may be stored inside, if, in fact, it has any storage capacity at all. When Dr. Steward and Major Lorne awaken, perhaps they will be able to shed some light on the situation. Until then…"
He sighed, despondent. Returning to the console, the younger scientist quivered with barely concealed anxiety. "I'm sorry, Dr. Weir. I had no idea the device would activate, no idea that it would do anything at all. Until that very moment in the lab, it appeared to be dead."
"And now?"
His eyebrows rose in interest. "Actually, if you asked me how it's acting at this very moment, I'd say that it seems to be…uh…alive."
