Stargate Atlantis: Path of the Storm

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Chapter Thirteen

Radek Zelenka stared at that laptop in front of him, took his glasses off and pinched the bridge of his nose. Rodney McKay finally turned from his own work to see the Czech effectively slacking off. "This is no time for breaks," he complained.

"I'm not having a break," Zelenka responded while quickly putting his glasses back on, all this time staring at bright monitors were not good for the eyes. "I'm giving my eyes a rest."

"Maybe you shouldn't have the resolution so high," McKay retorted while walking around him and tapping a few buttons while running different problems in his mind.

"It is not the resolution." Zelenka fought hard to hide the irritation forming in his voice, it was an hard enough task to accomplish without the addition of Doctor Rodney McKay. "Perhaps the present company is giving me headache."

"Are you saying I'm annoying you?" McKay asked straightening up.

"Yes the sound of your voice is grating on my ear drums, I can hardly hear myself thinking."

"Or at least you claim to be thinking," McKay retorted quickly while turning back to his work, they should have been working and not arguing. Of course, he weren't to say that outloud because doing that would be admitting defeat to the Czech. Zelenka glared over in his direction, trying his best to ignore him but failing. He had learnt that Doctor Rodney McKay was not the type of person you could just ignore, his egotistical nature made sure of that. He muttered some in his native language before turning back to the computer.

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Down in the gateroom, Bates and Lieutenant Ford stood side by side while awaiting the arrival of the scientists who had been assigned to this mission. Summers and Reed, two members of Bates' security team were also coming along just in case things got out of hand and they needed the additional support.

Weir stood in the control room over looking the gateroom. "What's the hold up?" she asked tapping her headset, Bates turned and looked directly at her while tapping his own.

"Doctor Cummings and Nivera are gathering their equipment together," he answered trying to hide his frustration. The doors opened to reveal a male and female, they walked out with a lot of cases and Bates glanced to the control room once more where Weir nodded to him.

Bates walked over to them and looked down at the cases. "Are you finally ready?" Doctor Cummings, the male of the two sensed the disapproval in the man's tone.

"We had to make sure we had all the right stuff, we don't want to forget anything when we are analysing…"

"The different plant samples," Nivera finished.

Ford strolled over to join them and let out a small long whistle; they did seem to be carrying a little too much. What was the word for it? Overkill. "Isn't all this a bit extreme?" Nivera tucked a strand of black hair behind her hair while placing a case down at her feet. "It's necessary to complete our task, we only want to make sure we find the correct sample in order to help Doctor Beckett with his work in the anti-toxin."

Shaking his head slowly, Ford wanted to remind them that they did have a strict time frame to work with but they already knew that. If they waited any longer than the time allocated and, as he understood it, finding an antidote for Teyla would be of no use to her.

"All you need is a few containers, find a load of plants that fit the MO, take a sample and the rest of the work can be done here," Bates said quickly. Ford didn't realise that Bates would actually be concerned for Teyla, considering he didn't exactly trust the Athosian female.

"After all," Ford said trying to maintain a cheerful air. "How many of that description can there be?"

The female offered him a small smile then looked to Bates who exchanged a look with Ford, who in turn looked to the scientists. "It had better be," Bates carried on. "We can't risk staying on the planet any longer than we can afford to…" he paused quickly. Ford thought he was going to mention something about Teyla. "We don't know who else may turn up while we're there." He pushed past Ford while tapping his headset and speaking to Weir.

So much for change Ford thought while watching after Bates. He placed a hand on his hip and looked up at the control room. "We're ready to go ma'am."

"Very well, take care Sergeant." Weir folded her arms and stood back, she wished them all the best of the luck. After all, Teyla's very survival depended on them and their ability to find out what exactly had been put in her drink. "Dial the gate," she said glancing over to Peter Grodin. He gave a firm nod and did what she requested. As soon as the wormhole was established, the small team stepped through and disappeared. Elizabeth watched after them with a sense of dread, she sincerely hoped that they could find something in time.

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If you had seen one set of four walls, then the probability was extremely high that you had seen them all. Sheppard groaned and got to his feet, walking over to the bars and looking out into the dark room, Kolya had been gone a while and that deeply concerned him because god knows what that man had planned. John was growing increasingly bored and he had to admit that the two Wraiths weren't exactly interested in conversation. "Ninety Nine green bottles," he said singing to himself while sitting back down. "Sitting on the wall, ninety nine green bottles sitting on the wall and if one green bottle should accidentally fall there'll be…"

"Silence Human," the Wraith to his left said quickly with an irritated voice. That is, if the Wraith did in fact get irritated because to Sheppard all of them pretty much looked and sounded alike. John stared at it a moment as if contemplating it then carried on.

"There will be ninety eight green bottle sitting on the wall. Ninety eight green bottles sitting on the…"

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