The next morning Rodney entered the gateroom, slightly bleary-eyed, wearing his one good shirt and jacket. He found John, Ford, and Teyla near the front of the assembled group and grimaced as he walked over to them. He was beginning to hate John and Ford's dress blues and Teyla's formal Athosian dress and leggings almost as much as the sports jacket he wore; it seemed they only wore them for funerals.
Elizabeth made her way slowly to the front of the group and up to the podium. "Thank you all for coming," she said as the sun played off the water behind her. "We are here today to remember Sergeant Joseph Markham and Corporal Peter Smith who perished yesterday while defending Atlantis from a Wraith scout ship."
Rodney stood next to John and listened with half an ear as Elizabeth talked about sacrifice and bravery. He hadn't known Corporal Smith at all but had grown to like Markham since their arrival in the Pegasus galaxy all those months ago. He'd come to rely on the fact if there was ever trouble off-world, Markham and his team would be there to help sort it out, usually with a minimum of bloodshed.
He looked around at the men and women, scientists and Marines, listening as Elizabeth spoke and the cynical side of his mind wondered if there would be anyone left in the city in a few weeks to hold another memorial for those lost once the Wraith hive ships arrived. He glanced at John standing beside him, his attention focused on Elizabeth. He knew Sheppard would be at the center of whatever defence they were able to mount. He also knew the odds of John surviving the attack were slim at best given their current resources.
He saw Sergeant Jeffries on the other side of the room flanked by Davis and Sanchez. All three stood ramrod straight, not a button or ribbon out of place on their dress uniforms, stoic expressions on all of their faces, as they honored the memory of their friend the best way they could. That was one of Rodney's bigger fears. That, if by some miracle Atlantis did survive the attack, he'd be standing here without Sheppard beside him. Maybe seeing John in his dress blues wasn't such a bad thing, after all, he decided with another sideways glance at John.
"Just promise me you'll try and lay off the self-sacrifice stuff. I can't keep watching you die," he remembered saying to John after Sheppard had pulled the stunt with the defibrillator.
"I can't make that promise, for the exact same reason you can't," John had told him at the time.
As he watched Markham's team and listened to Elizabeth, Rodney came to a startling realisation. Even if they managed to find a suitable Alpha site, he wouldn't be going through the 'gate. He told himself it was because he was needed here if they had any chance at all of defeating the Wraith, minuscule as that chance may be. The shocking reality was he'd discovered he'd much rather die with his family and friends than try to go on again without them.
Gall was right. He really had changed since coming to Atlantis, he thought to himself. Less than a year ago, the idea of staying to make a last stand would have been utterly foreign to him. Now the idea of leaving John to face whatever happened without him was inconceivable.
The memorial finished half an hour later. Rodney made his way back through the crowd to the nearest exit and escaped down to his lab. He savored the silence in the room for a moment as he took off his jacket and tossed it on his desk before heading to the work table. He checked the progress of the computer search then went back to work on the generator. If they wanted to have any chance at all, they needed the device to power the city's defences.
John strolled into the lab an hour later, dress blues replaced with his usual black uniform. "Elizabeth wants to meet this afternoon to talk about options."
"I'll be there," he replied.
John hesitated for a moment then walked over to the work table. "I've been thinking -"
"Always a scary proposition," Rodney mumbled and looked up from the generator. He'd expected some sort of sarcastic response and was surprised to see the serious look on Sheppard's face. "Thinking about what?" he asked, and put down the screwdriver in his hand.
"When we get the Alpha site set up, maybe you should -"
"No," Rodney said flatly.
"McKay," John drawled.
"No, Major." He glared across the table at John. Apparently, he wasn't the only one doing some serious thinking during the memorial. As usual, however, Sheppard had come to the wrong conclusion.
"Aren't you the one who's always telling me how important that brain of yours is," John said, and Rodney heard the frustration in his tone. "If we lose the city, the people sent to the Alpha site are going to need every advantage if they hope to survive."
"And if I'm here, maybe we don't lose the city at all," Rodney retorted, crossing his arms over his chest and sticking out his chin. And you don't end up dead, he added silently. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."
"Rodney -"
"You need me. If you're staying, I'm staying, too."
Before John could say anything in reply, the computer at the end of the work table pinged, and Rodney quickly read the scroll of data crawling across the screen.
"Hold off on whatever martyr speech you were about to make, Major. I think I just found what we need." He looked up at John. "According to the database, there's a moon orbiting a large gas giant." He read through the data and continued, "The Ancients built it as an outpost to spy on the Wraith and used a naquadah mining operation as a cover."
John looked up. "So there could be information there on the Wraith? Ship formations? Attack strategies?"
Rodney shrugged. "Yes, I suppose so, but that's not the important thing."
"Any information we can find is important, Rodney," John pointed out.
"Any information that's still there is going to be ten thousand years old. Not exactly fresh intel, Major. Look," he spun the computer around and pointed to a column of data running down one side of the screen, "the important thing is the mine was operational right up until the Ancients were run out of the galaxy. There's a good chance we could find refined naquadah just waiting for someone to come take it."
"How do we know someone hasn't already ransacked this outpost of yours?" John asked. "We know there are pirates willing to sell just about anything they can get their hands on. As you were more than happy to point out, this is a ten-thousand-year-old site, it could have been tossed generations ago."
Rodney forced himself to not think about Rasha as he brushed the argument aside. "We haven't run across any civilisations at a level where they could use the naquadah if they even knew what it was. The Genii are the only ones remotely close, and they are focused on nuclear options.
"According to this, the moon isn't inhabited. The atmosphere is about ninety percent carbon dioxide and extremely thin." He glanced at the readings again and added, "Not that different from Mars now that I think about it."
"You said the outpost was also used for espionage. The whole thing could have been destroyed or at the very least heavily damaged by the Wraith thousands of years ago."
"So we send a MALP," Rodney retorted. "We're running out of options, and we need to do something. This is the best I can come up with."
John glanced at the computer, the half-assembled generator, and then Rodney. "All right. I'll support the idea of going when you bring it up to Elizabeth. But we look for the naquadah and any intel or technology we can find."
"Fine," Rodney replied and glanced at his watch. "I need to talk to Grodin about sending a MALP to this moon. We don't have a lot of time to waste."
~*~*~*~ SGA ~*~*~*~
Elizabeth watched as Teyla and Ford along with Sergeant Bates, filed into the conference room and found seats along the triangular table. Rodney, Zelenka, and Peter Grodin stopped just inside the conference room arguing about something Elizabeth didn't quite understand involving a moon. John stood behind them, his head turning one way then the other as he watched the discussion.
"The rest of the casing will take at least another two days to build, Rodney," Zelenka said. "And it will need to be tested before we can integrate it with the rest of the power systems which will take several more days. That will be cutting things a bit close, no?"
"That's why you're working on the casing while I go get the naquadah."
"You're assuming there is refined naquadah on the moon," Grodin added. "For the generator to work the way you've designed it, you will need naquadah with a purity level of at least eighty percent."
"Your point?" Rodney snapped.
"There could be only raw ore, or the mine itself could be spent," Grodin replied. "You did say the mining operation was a cover. There's no way to know if the mine even produced anything worthwhile."
Rodney crossed his arms over his chest. "Which is why we need to send the MALP."
"Gentlemen," Elizabeth pitched her voice to carry over the argument, "I think we're ready to begin." She nodded her head at the remaining empty chairs.
Rodney glared at Peter before he sat next to John along one edge of the table.
Once the others were seated, Elizabeth folded her hands on the table and looked around. "All right, we all know the Wraith will be here in a couple of weeks. We need to have an evacuation plan in place for the city and the mainland." She glanced at Teyla and nodded. "We also need a defensive plan for the city and a failsafe contingency. Just in case."
"Sergeant Stackhouse is working up a list of potential planets we can use as an Alpha site," John said.
Elizabeth nodded. "Peter, can you go through the Ancient database and see if there are any viable planets we could add to that list?"
Peter nodded and looked over at John. "I'll have a preliminary list ready as soon as possible."
"What about the city's defences?" she asked with a glance at John then Bates.
"We don't have the manpower to defend the entire city," Bates said. "We will need to pull all personnel back to a limited area near the control tower."
"Meaning the Wraith could destroy everything else?" Elizabeth asked.
"I don't see any other way with the limited resources we have," Bates told her. "We have to protect the stargate."
"The control tower won't do us any good if the rest of the city sinks around us," Rodney pointed out.
"Several of my people may be willing to stand in defence of Atlantis as well," Teyla added.
Elizabeth frowned at the sneer in Bates' expression. "I don't think that will be necessary," he replied, his tone clearly dismissive of any assistance from the Athosians.
"Well, I think I have a better solution anyway," Rodney announced as Teyla frowned across the table at Bates. "Something better than sacrificing ninety-nine percent of the city to the Wraith and probably getting all of us killed in the process."
"I'm all ears," Elizabeth replied.
"Our biggest problem has always been power," Rodney said. "I've been working on building a new naquadah generator for the past few weeks -"
"You can build a naquadah generator?" Ford asked, and Elizabeth heard the disbelief in his tone.
Rodney rolled his eyes and glared across the table. "Why do you people all find that so incredible? Where do you think the generators we have came from? Someone had to build them."
"McKay," John said before Rodney could really get on a roll. "Just tell her your idea."
Rodney held his glare on Ford for a moment longer then turned to Elizabeth. "As I was saying, I've been working on building a new generator to replace the ones we brought with us that are nearly depleted. I've been able to make a few improvements to the design, and I think the generator will be enough to at least power the shield."
Elizabeth felt the weight on her shoulders lift slightly. If they could power the shield, it would mean the Wraith couldn't just destroy them out of hand. It would at least give them time to come up with other options. "What do you need?"
"A source of naquadah to power the reactor," Rodney replied and glared over at Grodin. "And I think I found one. A search of the Ancient database gave me the coordinates for a moon the Ancients used as a mining outpost."
"An abandoned mining outpost," Grodin added. "There may not be anything there. The mine could have been depleted ages ago."
"Yes, well, we won't know that until you send a MALP and we can see for ourselves," Rodney snapped.
"We need the MALP to scout out potential Alpha sites, Rodney. I told you that when you charged into the control room an hour ago."
"If we can power the shield, that would give us more time to look for an Alpha site and evacuate the city," Zelenka added quietly from Rodney's other side.
"Thank you. Someone who can still think," Rodney said.
Elizabeth could see she was about to lose control of the meeting, but before she could say anything, John spoke up, "There's another reason to check out this moon. Along with the mine, the Ancients used the outpost to spy on the Wraith. There could still be information there we can use."
Elizabeth could see the advantages of making the trip, but what about the downside? The trip would take time, time they may not have to spare. It also meant Rodney and John were both gone when they needed to be thinking about the city's defence and, worst-case, determining what should be salvaged and moved to the Alpha site.
Which they still needed to find, she reminded herself.
She clasped her hands on the table in front of her and ducked her head, listening as the debate swirled around her. She heard Bates dismiss Rodney's idea out of hand while Rodney's tone became more and more arrogant as he reminded Bates how few options they had.
This was likely their last chance to find another solution other than abandoning the city, she realised. She looked up and saw John watching her.
He glanced at Rodney still arguing with Bates, turned back to her, and nodded.
She met his eyes and nodded back. Rodney's idea may be a longshot, but it gave them a chance to save themselves and Atlantis.
"All right," she said and held up her hands. She waited for Rodney and Bates to settle back in their seats. She glanced at Bates and continued, "I'm not willing to sacrifice so much of the city if there is any other option. Rodney," she added and turned to face him, "give Peter the 'gate address for your moon. Peter, we need to determine whether or not there is still naquadah present in the mine and if the outpost is safe to visit."
"And if there isn't any naquadah?" Bates asked, his expression closed.
"Then we are no worse off than we are now," Elizabeth replied. "Move forward with your defensive plan for the control tower in case we need it, Sergeant. Teyla, the Athosians need to be ready to travel back to the city." She saw Rodney about to protest and held up a hand. "They have a week to get ready. After that, we will shuttle them back here to evacuate to the Alpha site."
Teyla nodded. "Thank you, Doctor Weir. I will leave at once for the mainland and inform Halling."
"With the narrowed parameters, I should have an answer about the naquadah in a few hours," Grodin added.
Elizabeth stood as the meeting started to break up. She watched as Rodney, Zelenka, and Peter left together, all talking at once. Bates and Ford followed them out. Elizabeth could tell from his body language, and how he glared at Rodney and his team, Bates thought she was making a mistake to even consider Rodney's idea.
"Teyla, since we have some time, I'll fly you over to the mainland," John said as he and Teyla stood near the door.
"Thank you, Major. I will be ready to leave in a few minutes." She smiled at John, gave Elizabeth a nod, and left.
"John?" Elizabeth said and waited for Sheppard to turn around. "You didn't say much, other than to mention the possibility of intelligence. What do you think of Rodney's idea?"
John stuffed his hands in his trouser pockets and waited for the conference room doors to twist shut. "If we want to have any chance at all, we need power," he said once they were alone. "Rodney's idea gives us that. It may be that the only thing we can do is activate the shield long enough for everyone to evac to the Alpha site, but that's better than what we have now."
"You don't see any way we can save the city?" she said and glanced down at her hands.
John shrugged. "Maybe if there's enough naquadah left in the mine Rodney can build another generator that might power the control chair. But as things stand right now? No. We can try to save our people, but there's not much we can do to save Atlantis."
Elizabeth took a deep breath and nodded. "Thank you, John. Once Rodney has the information from the MALP, let me know."
~*~*~*~ SGA ~*~*~*~
John stood to one side of the meeting tent, his arms crossed over his chest, as Teyla told the Athosians the news that the Wraith were coming. John saw a few shocked expressions, and one or two of the younger children started to cry, but for the most part, they took the news in stoic silence.
"Do you plan to abandon the city of the Ancestors?" Halling asked John, his disappointment clear in his expression.
"Only as a last resort," John replied. "We are looking for a new planet to resettle if the Wraith can't be stopped. We will send all non-essential personnel there, along with your people, while the military mounts what defence we can."
"And if some of us wish to fight?" Halling asked pointedly.
John walked over to Teyla's side. "Then you'll be welcome," he said and met Halling's piercing look with one of his own.
Halling held his gaze for a moment longer, then stepped back and turned to Teyla, "We will be ready to leave when you give the word," he told her. "I will let you know the names of those willing to assist in the defence of the Ancestor's city."
"Thank you, Halling," Teyla said with a smile as she stepped forward and touched her forehead to his. "We will survive this," she told him. "Either here, or on a new planet, our people will endure."
John watched as the Athosians left the tent then glanced at his watch and led the way back to the jumper. "Grodin should have some information soon about Rodney's moon," he said as he powered up the jumper and ran through the pre-flight checks.
He saw Teyla's shoulders tighten at the mention of McKay's name. "Rodney isn't like Bates, you know," he said casually and focused on the flight board.
"I do not understand."
"I know you're still mad about what he said last night." He glanced over at her and saw the mix of hurt and anger in her eyes.
"He seemed quite willing to abandon my people on the mainland," she replied stiffly.
John shook his head. "You know Rodney would never leave your people here to be culled."
Teyla refused to look at him.
"He only said what he did because of the current power situation," John explained. "If we can find the naquadah, that will take care of the problem. More power means we can evac your people back to Atlantis sooner and hopefully defend the city with the shield."
"And if we do not find this mineral he needs? What will he do then?"
John leant back in his seat. "He'll think of something else. This is Rodney we're talking about here." He scooted forward and tapped her arm. "He won't leave your people out here to be culled. None of us will."
She studied his face for a few moments, then nodded. "I know you are correct, John. However, after hearing Rodney last night and then Sergeant Bates in the meeting this afternoon, I am feeling a bit -"
"Defensive?" John asked with a smile.
"Possibly," she replied.
John finished the preflight checks and powered up the engines.
"Do you believe Rodney's idea will work?" Teyla asked as the jumper lifted off and John set a course back to Atlantis.
"I think he can do what he says and build a new generator," John replied. "You've been around him long enough to know he usually delivers on his ideas."
"True." Teyla stared out the windscreen as the city came into view in the distance. "What will you do if we cannot hold Atlantis against the Wraith?"
John sighed and used the need to pilot the shuttle as an excuse not to look at her. "Worst case, we send everyone still alive through the 'gate to the Alpha site and destroy the city." He heard Teyla's sharp inhalation and added, "We can't let the Wraith have access to Ancient technology."
"And you wish to protect the people in your own galaxy," Teyla replied.
"Yes," John admitted. "That's part of it, too." He glanced over at her. "Hey, we're not there yet," he reassured her. "We have two weeks, we'll think of something."
John toggled the sunroof of the jumper bay to open and heard Rodney over the radio as he brought the jumper in to land. "McKay to Sheppard, meet me in the control room. We have news."
John heard the click as the transmission ended before he could respond. "Gee, Rodney, thanks for the welcome back," he mumbled as he powered down the shuttle.
Teyla smiled. "It sounds like something happened while we were gone."
"Let's go find out if it's good news or not," John replied and followed her out of the jumper and down the stairs to the control room.
He entered the control room to find Rodney and Grodin huddled around one of the console stations staring at a computer screen.
"There, see," Rodney exclaimed and pointed to the screen. "The sensors are reporting refined naquadah. Good purity, too," he added as an aside. "I told you it would be there."
"Yes, I see the reading, Rodney, but it doesn't look like very much is still there." Grodin tapped at the computer keyboard.
"We don't need more than a few kilograms."
"Which is good because I doubt there's much more than that in the facility." Peter glanced up at Sheppard as he came around behind the console.
"McKay," John said as he stood behind Rodney. "You said you had news."
Rodney spun around. "Good, you're here. Yes," he pointed at the computer, "I was right. It looks like the moon has what we need."
John glanced from Rodney's smug expression to Grodin's wary one. "You're sure?"
"Of course I'm sure," Rodney snapped.
"And the building is intact?"
"Yes, Major," Grodin replied. "Telemetry from the MALP shows a breathable atmosphere and a temperature of eighteen degrees Celsius."
"The stargate is not out in the open," Teyla said as she stared at the images on another computer screen showing a large open area with floor to ceiling windows looking out on an expanse of red canyons.
"That's the best part," Rodney said with a grin. "With the thin atmosphere, the 'gate had to be placed inside the outpost. We won't need to hike for hours to get there."
John ignored Rodney's enthusiasm over the fact he wouldn't have to walk anywhere and focused on Teyla's point. "What's the problem?"
Teyla stood back from the computer. "It may be nothing. It is rare for a stargate to be in a village or town. Outside of Atlantis," she nodded at the stargate below, "I have never heard of one inside a building."
"Several of the Earth 'gates are in buildings," Rodney said dismissively as he scrolled through more of the MALP data.
"But they weren't dealing with the Wraith in the Milky Way," John pointed out as he realised what Teyla was implying. "What sort of defences does the MALP show around the 'gate?" he asked Peter.
"Nothing really," Grodin said. "From what we can see of the room, there are no obvious defensive systems. Nothing has happened to the MALP since it arrived, either."
"Have the camera do a slow pan of the room," John requested and looked over Rodney's shoulder at the images the MALP sent back.
John studied the room intently and had to agree about the lack of apparent defences. The columns he could see in the images were decorative as far as he could tell. They seemed to go from the floor to the ceiling, and there didn't seem to be anything mounted on them.
"Satisfied?" Rodney asked and glanced back at John. "We need that naquadah if you want any chance of surviving the horde of Wraith about to descend on the city."
John ignored the impatient tone and turned to Teyla. "Find Ford and get geared up. Rodney and I will let Elizabeth know about the MALP results. We'll meet you in the gateroom in twenty."
Teyla nodded and left.
"Come on," John said to Rodney. "Let's go convince Elizabeth this is a good idea."
~*~*~*~ SGA ~*~*~*~
Teyla walked into the gateroom adjusting the strap for the P-90. She glanced up at the glassed-in office and saw Rodney standing in front of Doctor Weir's desk, his arms crossed over his chest, with his chin jutted forward. He flung his hands in a broad gesture away from his body as he said something and she caught a glimpse of the scowl on his face as Doctor Weir replied. She could see John's hands were clenched behind his back as he listened first to McKay and then Doctor Weir. Teyla suspected he was no more pleased with what they were being told than Rodney was, but John was doing a better job of hiding his emotions.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Ford said, and Teyla turned to see him standing a few feet away, looking up at the office. "They've been like that for the past five minutes."
"No, it would not appear to be a congenial conversation."
It was another few minutes before Rodney and John left the office. Rodney stormed down the stairs to the gateroom and gave her a fleeting glance before he turned back to John.
"I'll need a few minutes to get the sample case we'll need to carry the naquadah," Rodney growled and glared up at the office before he left the gateroom, his hands clenched and his spine stiff.
"What has happened?" Teyla asked as John came over to her.
"Elizabeth gave us a deadline. We need to find the naquadah and any useful intel and be back here in twelve hours."
"That does not seem like enough time," Teyla said carefully.
"Why the short window, sir?" Ford asked at the same time.
John nodded. "That's what Rodney said," John said to Teyla. "With everything we need to do to find and prep an Alpha site, ready what supplies and gear we can for the evac, and prepare for the attack, Elizabeth doesn't think she could spare us for any longer than that."
"What happens if we're late returning, sir?" Ford asked.
Teyla saw the crooked smile form on John's lips. "I know what you're thinking, Lieutenant, and I'll tell you the same thing I told McKay, we stick to the timeline." He glanced up at the office.
Teyla followed his gaze and saw Doctor Weir looking down at them, her arms crossed over her chest and her expression unreadable.
"Elizabeth made it very clear there would be consequences if we weren't back within the time limit," John told them. "I, for one, don't want to find out what sort of consequences she has in mind."
Ford nodded. "Yes, sir."
John looked at his watch. "I'll go get my gear. Once McKay gets back, we'll go, get what we can, and get back."
John and Rodney were back a few minutes later, both wearing their tac-vests and packs. Rodney also had a large sample case in one hand.
Doctor Weir came out of her office as Doctor Grodin began dialling the stargate. "Twelve hours, Major," she said from the balcony overlooking the gateroom. "After that, we will need to make what stand we can with what we have."
"Yes, ma'am," John replied and nudged Rodney in the ribs when he didn't say anything.
"Yes, fine. Can we go?" he snapped in reply. "We don't seem to have any time to waste."
"Good luck," Weir said as the wormhole formed.
John nodded to Ford to lead the way. Teyla followed him with Rodney right behind her.
Teyla came through the other side and stopped beside Ford as she looked around the large room roughly the same size as the gateroom in Atlantis. She saw what looked like a smaller version of the control room situated on a platform raised off the floor by several steps in front of them and two hallways leading out of the room. That was where the similarities ended, however.
Unlike Atlantis with its metal and stained glass, the outpost appeared to be made from a reddish stone with large columns rising from the floor to the vaulted ceiling high above. She stepped closer to one of the columns and gasped slightly as she reached out a hand to touch the stone. The column was carved from base to top with the same sort of geometric patterns she remembered from the waypost on the mainland.
"I think it's just a column," John said from where he stood next to Rodney studying another of the columns.
"It better be," Rodney replied as he inched away from the column. "I do not need another trip through an Ancient obstacle course, thanks."
John and Rodney had not said much about what they had experienced when they were transported by the waypost on the mainland, but from what little she knew, Teyla suspected the experience had not been pleasant.
She followed Rodney and John over to the large floor to ceiling windows and looked out on a desolate, yet beautiful, landscape of canyons seemingly made from the same stone as the outpost.
"That's not something you see every day," John said as he stopped next to Rodney and pointed out the window to his right where a large blue planet hung low in the sky. "The Ancients did like to look at beautiful things."
Rodney was the first to step back from the window. "Yes, well, as nice as the view might be, we're on a clock here. We need to find the refinery and any information on the Wraith." He headed for the steps leading up to the control room.
Teyla followed John up the steps and found Rodney seated in front of the console, his computer balanced on the edge of the Ancient system as he dug through his pack. He pulled out a set of cables then ducked under the console.
"I need to get … aha!" He plugged the adapter for the computer into a port underneath the console. "Why didn't the Ancients put those things in a standard place. Every time I need to access a new system I have to go hunting for the access port," he grumbled as he sat up and typed something on the computer.
"This outpost is huge," he mumbled. "The mining operation alone is extensive. Even if it was just a cover, the Ancients must have pulled naquadah out of this moon by the metric ton."
He typed some more then looked up at John. "I think I know why there aren't any defensive systems even though the 'gate is inside the building." He spun the computer around enough for John to see the screen.
Teyla glanced at it as well and saw an image of the canyon with a clear dome covering one end. "This entire complex is protected by a cloak. The Wraith never even knew to look for the Ancients here."
He looked over the Ancient tiles and glanced at the small screen full of Ancient text above the console. "The cloak is rather ingenious really. It looks like the same technology that powers to cloak in the jumpers. Somehow they figured out a way to expand it to cover a wider area."
Rodney turned the computer back around and tapped a few more keys. "If I can figure out how they did that …" His voice drifted off as he continued to type.
Teyla was distracted from watching Rodney work by Ford looking around the room again and frowning.
"Anyone else notice anything odd?" Ford asked.
Rodney glanced up before he went back to dividing his time between the computer and the console. "Not really."
"Ford?" Sheppard asked and looked around the room.
"We have power, sir," Ford explained. "If this outpost has been abandoned for thousands of years, how is everything still working?"
"Could there be a ZPM here?" Teyla asked with a glance from John to Rodney.
"That would certainly solve a few problems," John agreed and turned back to the console. "McKay?"
Rodney shook his head. "The MALP didn't pick up any energy signatures matching a Zed-PM," he answered absently, never pausing in his typing.
"So how come everything works?" Ford asked with a frown.
Rodney looked up from the console. "There is more than one way to power a building," he told Ford, and Teyla could hear the edge of impatience in his tone. "The Ancients could have tapped some underground resource, used something similar to wind or solar power, or used something from the mines themselves. They were trying to keep the outpost a secret, you know."
John held up a hand before Ford could say anything else. "The important thing is there's no ZPM here," he said and turned back to Rodney. "What about the intel the Ancients had on the Wraith?" John asked.
Rodney glared at Ford a moment longer then tapped a query into the computer and frowned. He touched a few of the tiles on the console, and the frown deepened. "You have got to be kidding," he mumbled and spent a few minutes typing on the computer and muttering to himself.
"McKay!" John finally said. "We're on a clock, remember? What's the problem?"
Rodney looked up, and Teyla thought he looked slightly pale. "I don't think this outpost was used just for surveillance," he whispered and pointed to the computer screen.
John bent over Rodney's shoulder and looked at the screen. "You're sure about this?" he asked a few seconds later.
"The data doesn't lie," Rodney said shortly.
"John?" Teyla asked.
John grimaced as he looked over at her. "If what McKay found is right, it seems the Ancients were capturing Wraith and using them for various experiments."