As John strode into the Control Tower, several hours after Elizabeth's abduction, he caught a glimpse ofher desk behind the sliding glass door that gave her a little respite from the chaos of the rest of the city. Even though he knew she wasn't there, it still shocked him slightly that he didn't see her hard at work on some gravely important minor detail. He remembered all the times he'd sauntered in and she had glanced up at him and smiled. He missed that smile.
Focus, Sheppard! He squared his shoulders and walked over to McKay who was bent over a laptop, punching random keys and looking very agitated…as usual.
"So, where are we?" he asked as he approached the scientist.
Rodney frowned and stood up, but avoided looking at the Colonel. "We've narrowed it down to 30 possible planets," he said with a hint of frustration in his voice.
John stopped and stared at Rodney. "Thirty?" he demanded. His voice mirrored his emotions: shock, disbelief, frustration, and anger at the people who had caused this in the first place. How could it be so many planets!
McKay sighed wearily as though he expected this conversation. He started in on another of his mile-a-minute explanations, and Sheppard struggled to understand his barely coherent words.
"It's pretty complicated, Colonel. It's not like I can just pull the correct symbol out of thin air! Actually, you inadvertently helped us out. One of the symbols you didn't get was the point of origin, which we already know. So really, we're only missing one symbol out of the address, even though you only saw five. It dramatically lowered the number of potential addresses we needed to check." McKay paused as though contemplating the calculations once again in his head.
Sheppard shook his head in disbelief. "It dramatically lowered the number, and we still have thirty possibilities? Damn it! McKay, it could take weeks to search all those planets! Did you already take out the ones you couldn't get a lock on?"
An annoyed, impatient look crossed Rodney's face as he answered. "Oh gee," he snapped, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "I knew we were forgetting something! Here, let me go back and take care of an incredibly basic step that only an idiot would forget." He threw up his hands and shouted in the Colonel's face, "Of course I already did that!"
"McKay…" Sheppard growled in his most threatening tone.
Rodney sighed again, obviously frustrated. "Look, Colonel, we were lucky to get it narrowed down this far. There could literally have been hundreds of planets we had to check. Believe it or not, I'm giving you good news."
"Could've fooled me," John mumbled. He turned and looked into Elizabeth's office again. It suddenly seemed so incredibly empty.
Once again, John clamped down on his emotions and tried to focus on the task at hand. If he were going to find Elizabeth and bring her home safely, he needed to act quickly and decisively…like she would.
He turned back to McKay and began issuing orders for the rescue plan.
"Ok. We've got enough military personnel available to form six teams. Each team will check out a planet on the list and report back. We'll prioritize the list, starting with planets that have settlements closest to the stargate. Those will be easiest to search, and they're probably more likely destinations." He paused. "Let's just hope they didn't gate somewhere else once they were through."
Rodney's eyes widened slightly at that suggestion. It had never occurred to him that they might employ such tactics to avoid being followed. He swallowed hard and tried to put the thought out of his mind. He turned back to his computer terminal and began organizing the list of planets as Colonel Sheppard had ordered.
John headed toward the briefing room to meet with the heads of the other teams, but stopped outside the door to Elizabeth's office. He stepped closer, and it obediently slid open for him. Everything was exactly as Elizabeth had left it. Her laptop was sitting in the middle of the desk with a stack of reports to one side. The coffee cup she hadn't found time to wash out before the mission still sat on the corner. It looked like she had stepped out to speak to one of the scientists or something, and John half expected her to walk up behind him any minute.
"Colonel?" He jumped when he heard the voice behind him, and turned to face the speaker. Rodney looked slightly uncomfortable as he tried to figure out what to say to his friend. Finally, he handed the Colonel a data pad and said, "Here's the prioritized list. I broke it up into groups already so you can just assign the teams to a specific grouping…" He trailed off, wanting to say something reassuring, but not able to find the words.
John nodded and took the pad. He glanced over it as he once again headed toward the briefing room.
Rodney had no idea he was going to say it before he blurted it out. "Don't worry, we'll find her," he called, and it sounded pathetic even to him.
Sheppard stopped and turned his head toward the scientist. "I know we will," he said with a complete confidence that he didn't really feel. "I just hope it doesn't take too long." Without waiting for a reply, he started off again, attempting to banish images running through his mind of Elizabeth hurt, in pain, or alone somewhere.
He would find her. He needed her to be there when he walked into that office. He needed her to smile at him. Hell, he needed her to yell at him and tell him he was being a complete idiot! He needed her back. He couldn't stand the emptiness.
Ok, I know you were all waiting for John to be really pissed, and I promise he will be! Right now he just has to focus on running things. Don't worry, you'll get to see Scary Angry Sheppard soon enough! We'll have to get back to Elizabeth for a bit, then we can check back in on John.:-) Thanks for the reviews! They make me happy and make me write more often! Y'all rock!
