Chapter 2
Dr. Radek Zelenka walked across the verdant green- and yellow fields with a wary expression on his face. He kept looking up at the sky as if half expecting a whole fleet of darts to descend out of nowhere and abduct them all. He had brought with him a handful of other scientists to help him solve their little dilemma and to help him carry the equipment, but none of them seemed so very jumpy as he was.
"Dr. Zelenka!" Sheppard greeted, trotting up to meet he Czech. The man nearly dropped the case he was carrying when he heard Sheppard's voice. The Colonel slowed down and grinned at the scientist.
"First time off world?" he asked casually. Zelenka glared at the man—Sheppard knew full well that it was, but Zelenka knew he would be getting no sympathy on this trip. Not with two very important lives at stake. Sheppard grinned again. "The dart's this way."
Zelenka and his little mini-troop of scientists followed the Colonel and the handful of other soldiers accompanying him to the mangled wreck of the crashed dart. On first glance the thing looked like a lost cause, crumpled at the bottom of a self-composed ditch still smoldering in places from the force of the impact. The shot-up dead body in the cockpit didn't make things any less intimidating.
Zelenka sighed and looked at the people he had brought with him.
"Start setting up the equipment." He instructed with his heavy Czech accent.
Hours passed, the sun becoming increasingly hotter with each tick of the clock. It didn't help that all the scientists were crammed into the dart-formed ditch next to the ship, all tapping away at this computer or peering at that piece of equipment or that every military personnel on guard was continually looking over their shoulders.
The sixth time that Sheppard did it, Zelenka snapped.
"Will you stop doing that?" she shouted. Sheppard raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry, doc, didn't mean to be bothering—"
"Yes, well, you still are." Zelenka pointed out rudely. Sheppard's lips twitched in a slight smile, but he backed off and nodded to his men to do the same. It wasn't long before Carson, too worried for his trapped friends to pay any attention to the Czech's temper, came to the edge of the crater.
"Are you getting anywhere?" he called down. Zelenka swore to himself in Czech and refused to look up from the pad in his hands.
"I would be if people would stop looking over my shoulder." He snapped.
"Look, Doctor," Sheppard spoke up, coming back to the edge of the ditch, "we don't know how long people can stay in that thing. We need to get them out as soon as possible."
"Don't you think I know that?" Zelenka demanded. He sighed and turned his pad so that the two men could see it. He indicated two glowing dots on the screen. "Doctors Weir and McKay are located somewhere in the memory buffer of the ship, but the ship only has power to rematerialize one of them."
Sheppard looked down at Zelenka.
"Well, that's easy," he said and Carson looked at him in surprise. The Colonel shrugged. "McKay. That way he can figure out a way to get Elizabeth out of there."
Zelenka, a little miffed at once again being called second best, shook his head.
"It is not so simple. It is impossible to differentiate between both life signs." Zelenka pointed to the screen again. "I cannot tell who is Dr. McKay and who is Dr. Weir."
Carson glanced over at Sheppard and the Colonel's lips twisted into a grimace. He looked long and hard at the screen and then at Zelenka.
"What happens when we take one of them out of there?" he asked. Zelenka shrugged.
"We will have to find a way to power the memory buffer back up again." He said. "But the second life sign will be… should… remain intact once we remove one of them."
"Should?" Carson looked at Zelenka. "You don't sound so sure."
"Well I cannot be." Zelenka admitted. He shrugged and added quickly, "But it is unlikely that any damage would be done to the second life sign."
Carson looked at Sheppard and the man glared back at him, then gestured at Zelenka.
"Well we have to try to get one of them out of there—whoever it is." He said shortly. Zelenka sighed and got to his feet, gesturing to the screen.
"Then please, be my guest." He said shortly. Sheppard glanced at Carson again before descending into the pit. He hovered over the screen for what felt like forever before he breathed a heavy sigh.
"That one." He said and punched the life sign on the left.
A second later there was a flash of brilliant light, but it was not Rodney McKay who materialized before them. Instead Elizabeth Weir stood looking befuddled for a few seconds before her green eyes rolled up into her head and she fainted dead away—Sheppard managing to catch her before she hit the ground. He grimaced and looked up at Carson.
"Carson, get your medical team down here. We've got to get her to the infirmary."
Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes and she found herself looking up at the sterile white ceiling of the infirmary. For a brief moment, while her mind readjusted to being awake and aware, she found herself wondering why all hospitals across the universe were white. It wasn't a very comforting color. Blue was a comforting color. She wondered if she should have the infirmary repainted—but no. The Ancients knew what they were doing so it was best not to mess with it.
"Oh, bloody hell, you're awake."
Elizabeth turned her head to see a very relieved-looking Carson Beckett standing next to her bed. Sheppard was standing there with him, with Teyla and Ronan hovering just behind his shoulder.
"We were starting to get worried." Sheppard smiled at her.
"It is very good to see that you are awake, Dr. Weir." Teyla said in her fluid, calming voice. Ronan, as usual, said nothing but he seemed just as happy as everyone else did.
"What… happened?" Elizabeth asked slowly as she struggled to sit up.
"You and Rodney got beamed up by that Wraith dart. We shot it down and most of it's in the science lab now, but—"
"Wait, where is Rodney?" she asked, suddenly realizing that the man in question was nowhere to be seen. He, of all people, she would have expected to see hovering anxiously at her bedside.
Sheppard glanced at Carson and the two of them seemed to be struggling with what to tell her. She was starting to get worried when she heard the familiar tones of her favorite scientist.
"Don't worry, I'm right here." She heard the man say—though it sounded unnaturally close and echoing. "Though why I'm here lying in a hospital bed and not helping examine the Wraith dart, I have no idea."
Carson sighed, as if he hadn't heard the man, and he turned his big blue eyes to Elizabeth.
"Dr. Weir, we could only get one of you out of the dart. Rodney is still trapped inside the ship's memory buffer."
"No I'm not." The man snapped irritably. Elizabeth, wondering if perhaps the doctor had somehow forgotten he had a patient, turned to see if she could see Rodney through the dividing curtain separating their two hospital beds. But, to her surprise, there was no dividing curtain and no one lying in the next bed. Turning her head to look the other way, she saw no one lying in the bed behind Carson and the others.
Sheppard frowned.
"Are you… looking for someone?" he asked slowly.
"Rodney, where is he?" she asked again.
"Right here." The man said in exasperation.
"I am sorry, Rodney," Elizabeth said calmly, "but I don't know where here is."
She reached for her headset as she spoke, but she felt no earpiece. She frowned and was about to ask why Rodney was speaking over the citywide communications when the Scot spoke again.
"I just told you, Dr. Weir. He's still trapped in the dart." Carson said slowly, eyeing his patient worriedly.
"No, you idiot, I'm right here." Rodney snapped. "I'm staring right at you!"
Elizabeth paused and looked up at Carson.
"Rodney… who are you looking at?" she asked slowly. She watched the four people hovering at her bedside glance at each other and she felt a growing dread in her stomach.
"What do you mean, who am I looking at? I'm staring right at Carson!" There was a pause. "Why… who are you looking at?"
"Rodney…" she said slowly.
"Elizabeth, can you do me a favor? Cover your eyes for a second." The Canadian said quickly.
"Dr. Weir, I don't know how many times I can tell you but Rodney is not he… what are you doing?" Carson asked slowly as Elizabeth peeked through her fingers at the startled Scot. Sheppard, Teyla and Ronan regarded her with equal confusion.
"Oh no." Rodney groaned. "I can see that—I mean I can see through your fingers."
"You can what?" Elizabeth asked in alarm, dropping her hands from her face.
"Elizabeth…?" Sheppard asked slowly.
"Elizabeth—I could see what you were seeing!" Rodney shouted in alarm. Elizabeth looked up at Carson, her green eyes wide.
"Love, are you sure you are alright?" Carson asked carefully. Elizabeth groaned and slid down under the sheets, covering her eyes with her hands again.
"Oh, this is not good." Rodney sighed.