John took in the barrier and the pipes at the top leading into the ceiling at a glance. "Stand back!" he ordered Ford and lifted the P-90.
If what he suspected was right, he didn't have time to worry about what would happen to the glass or whatever the barrier was made from when he opened fire. All he knew was the shield was stopping him from reaching Rodney who was obviously in trouble.
He took careful aim and fired several rounds into the barrier until it shattered. Crystalline material rained down onto the platform, onto McKay. John didn't wait. He dropped the rifle and ran up the steps, Ford right behind him.
"Sir?" Ford asked as John reached Rodney's side. He lifted him off the console, supporting McKay's weight as Ford went to Rodney's other side. John felt a twinge in his stomach as he had his first good look at Rodney's face, pale, almost grey, with a slightly blue tinge around his lips and nose.
Training took over and together he and Ford quickly lifted Rodney off the stool and laid him on the floor. John ignored the crunching of the broken pieces of the shield as he knelt beside Rodney.
John watched as Ford pressed two fingers to Rodney's wrist, then his neck, almost afraid what he would find, or more to the point, not find.
"I have a pulse," Ford finally reported. "It's thready, but there."
"He's not breathing," John said grimly and proceeded to tilt Rodney's head back, pinch his nose closed, and blow air into his mouth. He focused his attention on Rodney's chest, hoping to see him take a breath on his own.
"Come on, Rodney, don't do this," John muttered and tried again. After a third breath, Rodney started to cough, and John rolled him onto his side and sat down heavily beside him, keeping one hand on Rodney's shoulder as he coughed and gasped.
Ford dug through his vest pockets, found an emergency blanket, and handed it to John.
John nodded his thanks and covered Rodney with the blanket. That's it," John encouraged and rubbed one hand up and down Rodney's arm as McKay's breathing slowed from ragged panting to more regular inhalations. "Just keep breathing."
Ford held up the blister pack of ibuprofen, and when John took it, he dug through his pack for a bottle of water.
"Thanks," John said once he'd swallowed the pills.
"No problem, sir. How's he doing?" Ford asked with a nod at Rodney.
John felt for the pulse point at Rodney's wrist, noted the stronger heartbeat, and glanced up at Ford. "I think he'll be all right for now. Go find Teyla. She said she was trapped in one of the labs. Help her get out and then we need to head back to Atlantis." He glanced down at Rodney as he started coughing again.
"Yes, sir," Ford replied. He gave Rodney a last look and headed down the nearest hallway.
John sat on the edge of the platform, alternately looking at the console with the computer still plugged into it and checking Rodney as his breathing evened out and his color improved. The blue tinge was gone, but he was still pale, and John could feel the tremors in the arm he rubbed.
"Hey, buddy, how're you doing?" he asked once the worst of the coughing stopped. "You with me here?"
Rodney nodded but didn't open his eyes.
John waited, his hand never leaving Rodney's arm. He could hear a slight wheeze with each breath. At least he's breathing, he reminded himself. They'd find Teyla and get both of them back to Atlantis and Carson's infirmary. He hadn't forgotten how pained Teyla's voice had sounded over the radio.
He glanced down and saw Rodney had his eyes open but wasn't really looking at anything. After another few moments, he slowly blinked, looked up at John, and started to weakly push against the floor.
John leant McKay against him as he sat up. He adjusted the blanket over Rodney's shoulders and wrapped an arm around him to help keep him upright when he started to sag.
"Dizzy," Rodney mumbled and closed his eyes again.
"Just take it slow," John replied.
Rodney nodded, took a deeper breath, winced as he rubbed his chest, and slowly opened his eyes.
"How you feeling?" John asked and ducked his head enough to see Rodney's still pale face.
"Tired," Rodney whispered. "Hurts to breathe."
John nodded and tightened his hold on McKay's shoulders. "Ford went to help Teyla. Once they get back, we'll head back to the 'gate. You have an appointment with an infirmary bed."
Rodney shook his head. "Need to finish the generator," he insisted. "Need the power."
"Hey," John said and waited for Rodney to lift his head and look at him. "When I found you, you weren't breathing." John looked at the wall in front of them. "I thought you were dead."
Rodney's eyes widened in shock as he stared at John, rubbed his chest, and coughed again.
"I don't care if every Wraith ever hatched is about to descend on us," John continued in a low voice, not bothering to hide how afraid he'd felt in either his tone or his expression. "You're going to Carson, and you're going to stay with him until he says you're recovered."
Rodney studied his face for a few moments, then nodded. "Sorry," he whispered. "Didn't mean to scare you."
John squeezed the arm still around Rodney's shoulders, pulling him a little closer in the process. Finding Rodney half dead was not something he ever wanted to experience again.
Rodney glanced at John, then at the pieces of the shield littering the floor around them. "What happened?" he asked a moment later, and John thought he sounded a little stronger.
"I was hoping you could tell me," John replied. "Teyla radioed and said she was stuck in one of the labs, but you weren't answering when she tried to call you. Ford and I got here and found you slumped over the console with this weird shield surrounding you."
Rodney picked up a few pieces of the material scattered around them, letting his fingers run around the edges.
John noticed for the first time all of the pieces were small and didn't appear to be sharp. Ancient safety glass, he thought to himself, grateful they didn't have to deal with any cuts as well as the near asphyxiation.
"Not glass," Rodney muttered and dropped the fragments in his hand. "Not that different from the material the control crystals are made from." He looked over at John. "How did you break it?" he asked hoarsely.
"I shot it." John frowned as Rodney started making a strangled, gasping sound again. It took him a moment to realise it was McKay laughing. "I'm not seeing what's so funny here," he growled and tightened his hold as Rodney's face went from pale to bright red and he pitched forward, his arms wrapped around his chest.
Rodney coughed a few times as he got his breathing back under control. "Sorry," he finally said with another glance at John. "You're right. It's just so typically you, that's all."
John smiled slightly but wasn't ready to see the humor quite yet.
Rodney looked over the console again. "How did you know the chamber wasn't full of some sort of gas that would kill you, too?"
John ducked his head. Now that Rodney brought it up, he realised it could have just as easily been a gas inside the shield, poisoning McKay instead of suffocating him. "I didn't," he admitted and watched as Rodney's expression went flat. "All I knew was something was trying to kill you and I had to stop it. Shooting it seemed like the best idea at the time."
Rodney must have heard the sincerity in his tone as he nodded and coughed again. "Thank you," he said.
John squeezed his shoulders. "You're welcome. Just don't ever do something like that again."
"I'll do my best."
"So what do you think happened?" John asked a moment later.
Rodney glanced over at the console and shuddered. "There must have been some sort of failsafe," he said. "I found the data on the Wraith. Both the surveillance and what I imagine were Crius' more … personal files. I had just started to download them to the computer when I saw one of the tiles change from the usual white to red."
He looked back at the console and John felt him shudder again. "I didn't have time to do anything before … the barrier surrounded the console and …" He glanced over at John. "I could feel the air running out, but couldn't find a way to stop it," he whispered.
John pulled McKay against his side. Too close, he thought to himself. Way too close.
"I think I'm really starting to hate the Ancients," Rodney mumbled a few seconds later.
John couldn't help the snort of laughter that escaped. "I think I'm starting to agree with you," he replied. He started to say something else but stopped when he heard footsteps pounding in their direction from the hallway to their right. He stood in front of Rodney, his P-90 held low but ready, and waited.
Ford ran into the room and stopped in front of John. He glanced at Rodney and nodded before he turned to John. "I found Teyla, sir. But there's a problem. Her leg is caught in some sort of shackle. I couldn't find a way to get it open."
John looked down the hallway, then at Rodney seated on the platform behind him. "Stay with McKay," John ordered. "I'll go see about Teyla."
"Yes, sir," Ford replied and moved until he stood next to Rodney.
"You might need help," Rodney protested and pushed aside the blanket as he climbed to his feet.
John shook his head and pushed him back down as he started to sway. "You can barely stand. Stay here with Ford. If I need you, I'll call," he said and waited for Rodney to reluctantly nod.
He exchanged a look with Ford over McKay's head, silently ordering Ford to keep Rodney where he was.
Ford glanced from John to Rodney and bobbed his head once.
Confident his message was received, John readjusted the blanket around Rodney's shoulders and headed down the hallway.
"Teyla? Where are you?" John called as he entered the large room at the end of the hall. He looked around at the equipment on the shelves and the bed in the middle of the room with mild interest. He noted the restraints on the bed were made of some sort of metal, instead of the leather cuffs Carson used in the infirmary, and gave the bed a wide berth.
He caught a glimpse of Teyla's face peeking out of a room on the far side of the room and hurried over to her.
"Major! Is Rodney …"
John saw her worried expression and quickly reassured her. "He's alive," he said as he entered the small room and knelt down beside her. "He going to be spending some time with Beckett, but he should be fine."
"Aiden said Rodney wasn't breathing when you found him," Teyla said softly, and John caught the way she watched him as he knelt down beside her.
John forced himself to focus on the metal band around Teyla's leg instead of the memory of Rodney's grey face and blue-tinged lips. "I got him breathing again," John said shortly, still not looking at her.
"Are you all right?" she asked softly and laid a hand on his arm.
John finally glanced up at her and nodded. "I will be," he said with a tiny smile. "McKay will be, too." He examined the chain and the cuff around her lower leg. "Let's get you out of this and get out of here."
"I have tried," Teyla said with a frustrated sigh. "Lieutenant Ford tried as well. We could find no way to release the shackle."
John turned Teyla's leg, first one way then the other, trying to find a way to remove the restraint.
"There are skeletons in some of the other rooms," Teyla said as John examined the shackle.
He couldn't see any way to release the cuff. The metal was solid and smooth, not even a seam to indicate how the shackle could have opened.
"The bones are of Wraith drones," she continued. "Each skeleton also had restraints such as this binding the legs."
"How did this end up around your leg in the first place?" John asked as he helped Teyla lean against the wall of the small room near the door.
"I do not know," she replied. "I made sure to avoid the cuff as I entered the cell. When I turned to leave, it was almost as if the restraint sensed my movement and closed around my leg by itself. What is so strange is the other restraint," she pointed to another cuff on the floor behind him, "did not react to Aiden at all. He stepped into the cuff before I could stop him. However, nothing happened. The cuff remained inert."
John picked up the other cuff and examined the two separate pieces of metal held together with a nearly invisible hinge. A length of chain attached to the cuff behind the hinge. He clapped the two halves of the restraint together a few times trying to see how they would seal together, but nothing happened.
"So it does open," John muttered to himself as he tossed the cuff into the corner of the room as far away from Teyla as possible. "I just have to figure out how." He looked up at Teyla with a smile. "Let's try the easy way first," he said. He touched the band, closed his eyes, and focused on mentally opening the shackle.
He opened his eyes and looked down. The restraint was still in place.
"Everything we tried only made the band tighter," she told him as John ran his hand around the shackle trying to feel for a manual release mechanism.
"Tighter?" he asked her and glanced up at her face. "How much is it hurting you?"
She shook her head. "There is some sort of electrical charge running through the restraint as well," she told him. "My leg is numb, preventing me from standing. I cannot feel anything below my knee at the moment."
"That's not good," Rodney said from behind them, and John whirled around to see McKay, pale, shaking, and held up by Ford, stagger into the cell.
~*~*~*~ SGA ~*~*~*~
Rodney sat on the top step of the platform after John left, his arms propped on his knees, trying to breathe without coughing. He rested his head on his arms and closed his eyes. All he wanted to do was crawl into a corner and go to sleep, but he knew that wasn't possible. Not yet anyway.
The blanket crinkled near his ear as Ford pulled it back over his shoulders.
"You okay, Doc?" Ford asked a few minutes later, and Rodney could hear the edge of concern in his tone.
Rodney nodded and rubbed his chest with one hand. Who knew nearly suffocating could be so painful once you survived, he wondered idly.
He lifted his head and did a slow survey of the room then looked up at Ford. "Where's the sample case?" he asked. "Please tell me you found the naquadah."
Ford nodded. "Got as much as the case would hold. It's back at the 'gate."
Rodney let his head sink back down on his arms. That much naquadah should keep them in generators for the foreseeable future. Assuming we have a future, he reminded himself grimly. He tried to sigh and ended up coughing again.
He was giving serious reconsideration to the idea of curling up and going to sleep when he heard the computer behind him beep. He opened his eyes and glanced up at Ford before slowly turning to look at the computer still balanced on the edge of the console. He'd almost forgotten the download he'd started just before the shield surrounded him and the console tried to kill him.
"What was that?" Ford asked and looked from Rodney to the console.
"The computer must have finished downloading the files Sheppard wanted," Rodney told him. He gave the platform another wary look then started to pull himself to his feet.
"I don't think Major Sheppard wanted you moving around, Doc," Ford said even as he reached out to keep Rodney from falling.
"After everything I went through to get those files, we aren't leaving without them," Rodney insisted, letting the blanket puddle on the floor at his feet. He ignored the slow dip and roll of the room as he shuffled back over to the console.
"Is it safe to be up here?" Ford asked, keeping one hand on Rodney's arm as he stopped in front of the console.
Rodney looked down at the small, glittering bits on the floor around them. "The shield is in several thousand pieces," he replied and pointed at the floor.
"Yeah, but what else can this console do to us," he heard Ford mutter and silently wondered the same thing.
"I'll get the computer. You grab the backpack," Rodney ordered and shook off Ford's hold on his arm.
He sank onto the stool in front of the console and checked the files on the computer. He was surprised to see the drive was nearly full. He did the math in his head and stared back down at the laptop. With the compression algorithm he'd been working on, the drive could hold roughly three times the usual amount of data. It was going to take weeks, if not months, to analyse everything, he realised as he unplugged the computer from the console.
Ford picked up the backpack, and they made their way off the platform and over against the wall. Rodney sank to the floor and busied himself with stuffing the computer and cables back in the pack. He glanced down the hallway where John had disappeared and frowned. They should have been back by now. "What did you say was wrong with Teyla?" he asked once the laptop was stowed.
"Her leg was caught in some sort of trap," Ford said with a quick look of his own down the hall.
Rodney looked up. "What kind of trap?"
Ford looked uneasy as he glanced down the hall again. "Umm, a shackle, on the end of a metal chain. I'm sure Major Sheppard will have her out of it soon, and then we'll head back to the 'gate."
Rodney heard the uncertainty in Ford's tone. "There's something else, isn't there," he said.
Ford glanced down at his feet. "The cuff around her leg got tighter every time we tried to get it off. I'm not sure what else Major Sheppard can try before the circulation is completely cut off to her foot."
Rodney stared up at him for a moment then started to pull himself to his feet. "Where is she?" he asked.
"Major Sheppard said to wait here," Ford protested, but Rodney ignored him and headed for the hallway with his shoulder braced against the wall to keep himself upright as the room did slow loops.
"The Major is going to kill both of us," Ford grumbled as he picked up Rodney's backpack and slung it over his shoulder. He draped Rodney's arm over his other shoulder, and they started walking down the hall.
"They need help," Rodney said and concentrated on not tripping over his own feet.
By the time they made it to the room at the end of the hall, Rodney was out of breath and trying not to cough as he fought the waves of vertigo.
"There is some sort of electrical charge running through the restraint," he heard Teyla say. "My leg is numb, preventing me from standing. I cannot feel anything below my knee at the moment."
"That's not good," Rodney said, and his knees buckled as he gave in to the coughing fit.
He felt Ford quickly adjust his hold and heard John muttering under his breath before he felt a familiar grip on his arm as Sheppard helped him sit on the floor with his back against a wall.
"I thought I told you to wait for us to come back," John admonished, the hand gently rubbing his arm belied the frustration Rodney could hear in John's tone.
Rodney opened his eyes to see John kneeling on the floor in front of him. "You need me," he said hoarsely once he caught his breath again. "If you could get Teyla out of that leg trap alone, you would have done it by now."
John ducked his head for a moment, then looked Rodney in the eye. "Twenty minutes ago, you were almost dead. Just take it easy for a minute. We'll figure out a way to free Teyla."
Rodney nodded then leant his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. He felt John squeeze his shoulder then heard him move away.
"Is Rodney all right?" he heard Teyla ask from the other side of the wall.
"Stubborn as ever," John replied, then added in a lower tone Rodney barely heard, "We need to get him back to Atlantis."
He couldn't disagree with that idea and rubbed his chest as he worked to get his breathing back under control.
"You could return to Atlantis with Rodney," Teyla suggested. "Lieutenant Ford and I will continue to work on a solution to the restraint while you are gone."
Rodney cracked an eye open in time to see John, kneeling in the doorway next to him, shaking his head. "We don't know what will happen if there's no one here with the gene. All of the systems, including the life support, could shut down."
"Did either of you try the obvious solution?" Rodney asked.
John glanced over at him. "Obvious solution?"
Rodney braced himself against the wall and carefully pushed himself upright. He spotted the console on the other side of the room and pointed at it. "Crius had to have some way to get the restraints off when he wanted to move one of his guinea pigs or when one of the Wraith died. All we need to do is find the release command in the system."
He edged around the room, sank down on the stool in front of the console, and tried to hide how out of breath he felt just walking across the room. He glanced up as John stopped next to him then went back to studying the console.
"You okay?" John asked.
Rodney ignored the question as he reached out his hand then drew it back, his fingers curled into a fist.
"What's wrong?" John asked.
"Think about what happened in the other room," Rodney said.
"I'd rather not," John replied quietly.
Rodney glanced up at him and pursed his lips. "Sorry." He didn't see anything obvious and reached out his hand again to activate the console. "I was the only person near that console. I have the gene. Crius had that system booby-trapped so that even other Ancients couldn't access it. Why?"
John grabbed Rodney's wrist just before he touched the console. "You think he knew what he was doing was against the will of the other Ancients?"
Rodney shrugged and tried to pull his hand free. "You saw the memos. Someone wasn't happy with what he was doing."
"So he booby-trapped the console with all of the data?"
Rodney nodded. "It's the best explanation I have. If he was the only one working in this area, it wouldn't have been hard to do. He could have easily programmed a trigger into the system. If anyone tried to access the system without knowing how to disable the trigger …" He rubbed his chest with his free hand.
John let go of Rodney's wrist and looked around the console. "You're sure it's safe?"
"Only one way to find out," he replied and touched the console.
The tiles started to glow and the small screen in front of him scrolled a line of data from the bottom to the top. Rodney checked all of the tiles, didn't see anything out of the ordinary, and turned to John. "I'm going to need my computer," he said and pointed to his pack lying just inside the door to the room.
John retrieved the pack and handed it over.
Rodney pulled out the computer and cables, found the access port, plugged in the computer, and started searching for the restraint systems. He felt John's impatience growing as he alternately typed on the computer then pressed various tiles on the console.
"Come on," he muttered. "Where is it?" He typed another few lines of code into the computer and squinted at the screen. "That's not good."
"What?" John asked.
Rodney shook his head and pressed another sequence of tiles on the console and glared at the computer. "That should have worked!"
"Rodney!" John said in what Rodney recognised as his 'command' voice. "What's the problem?"
Rodney looked up at John. "I can't access the systems for any of the security protocols. Everything I try just sends back errors."
"So much for the obvious solution," John said. He grimaced and looked from Teyla to Ford. "Anyone have any other ideas?"
"We could try shooting it off," Ford suggested and held up his Beretta.
Rodney shook his head. "Are you serious? The bullet would probably just ricochet off and hit one of us instead."
"He's right," John said. "If this was meant to hold a Wraith, the chances of a bullet penetrating the cuff or the chain are slim."
Rodney turned back to the computer. He couldn't access the security systems, but what about … He read the information scrolling across the screen. "Yes! That could work. Maybe. "
"Rodney?" John asked.
Rodney ignored him "It would depend on the wires and if the current is strong enough," he continued more to himself than John.
"What could work?" John asked.
"I'll need to separate the wires," Rodney muttered. "Gonna need tools." He started digging through his pack again.
John pulled the pack out of Rodney's hands. "What could work?"
"Teyla said there was an electrical current running through the cuff making her leg numb. There has to be some sort of wire running through the chain to the cuff. I can turn those wires into a crude arc welder," Rodney said. "Cut through the restraint."
"What about Teyla's leg?" John asked. "The cuff is pretty tight."
Rodney glanced over at Teyla. "I'll try to be careful," he told her with an apologetic look, "but you could get burnt."
"I am willing to risk Rodney's idea of cutting the restraint," Teyla said. "Nothing else we have tried has worked."
Rodney nodded and started to stand. "First I need-"
"Hang on a minute," John said and pushed him back onto the stool. "You aren't going to do anything except tell me what to do."
"Major -" Rodney started to protest, but John held up a finger.
"Show me your hands," he ordered.
"What?"
"Show me your hands, Rodney."
Rodney sighed and held out his hands. He frowned as he saw they shook slightly.
"You're exhausted," John said softly. "Just stay there and tell me what to do."
Rodney tried to glare but had to admit John was right. His chest still felt tight, and he couldn't seem to catch his breath. He gave John a reluctant nod. Sheppard handed him the pack, and he pawed through it until he found the bundle of tools.
"Here," he said and handed John the small toolkit. "When I tell you, you need to cut the wires as close to the cuff as you can. Pull the wires out of the chain so you have some slack, but don't break the connection to the system. You'll need to separate the wires until there's a few centimeters of space between them. When I turn the power back on, the current will arc across the wires. You can use that arc of energy to cut the cuff off."
John nodded and turned back to the cell.
"Hey!" Rodney said and grabbed John's arm. "The wires probably aren't very well insulated. Find something to protect your hands. Speaking from experience, electrical burns are not fun. And find something to cover your eyes!"
"Got it. I'll be careful," John said and went back to the cell.
Rodney typed a new string of code into the computer looking for the system running the electricity to the cells. There had to be a way for Crius to turn off the cuffs when he needed to, he argued with himself. Wraith prisoners couldn't have been that easy for him to find that he could risk one dying from a surge. He tapped a series of commands into the console and read the data on the computer screen.
"Come on, come on, where is it?" he muttered and tried a different set of commands. Instead of the electrical system, he found some unusual information on the air handling system and paused.
He swallowed when he realised it was the schematics for the containment chamber around the horseshoe-shaped console in the atrium. "How did you configure the chamber to pull out the air?" he mumbled and traced the various pipes with a finger. He sat back in surprise as he read more of the data, and was about to pull up more information when John yelled from the cell.
"Rodney? Any time!"
"Yes, yes. Working on it!" Rodney hollered back and cleared the information on the air handling systems.
He pressed a different series of tiles and read the screen. "Found it. Give me a minute to shut down the power." He entered the series of commands to power down the cuff. He double-checked nothing was going to the restraint, and turned around. "Power's off! Cut the wires!"
"Done!" John said a few seconds later. "Turn it back on."
Rodney powered the system back on then stood and walked back to the cell. The room only swayed a little as he made his way back across to the cell, using the wall to keep his balance. He stopped at the edge of the door and saw Teyla with Sheppard's jacket draped over her leg, while John, wearing a pair of tactical gloves and a pair of sunglasses, held the two arcing wires next to the links of the chain just behind the cuff.
The metal sparked when John touched the wires to the links of chain and Rodney ducked his head and looked away.
"Got it!" John said a few minutes later.
Rodney turned back to see Sheppard drop the still sparking wires and help Teyla stand on one leg. The cuff was still attached to her other leg just below the tattoo of her family name.
"How you doing?" John asked as he wrapped an arm around Teyla's waist to keep her from falling.
"The feeling is coming back in my leg," Teyla said, and Rodney could easily hear the pain in her voice. "The cuff around my ankle is also painfully tight."
Ford handed her a bottle of water and gave her a couple of ibuprofen from the first aid kit in his pack.
"I figured it would be easier to cut through the chain, than the cuff itself," John said and helped her limp out of the cell once she'd swallowed the pills. "Hopefully Beckett will have some ideas on how to safely cut off the rest when we get back."
Teyla nodded and winced again when she tried to put weight on her injured leg.
Rodney went back to the console for his computer and backpack. They had the naquadah and the intel they came for, he was more than ready to get back to Atlantis. He was about to power down the computer when a new line of code scrolled across the computer screen and what looked eerily like a countdown started blinking at the corner of the console screen. He read the text then frantically started inputting commands into the console.
"No, no, no. You are not going to do that," he told the console.
John turned around. "What's wrong?"
"The system thinks there's been a jailbreak," Rodney replied as he sent a series of commands to shut down the security protocol. "Technically, I guess it's right," he pointed out tangentially. "We did break the restraint. Teyla did kind of escape the cell."
"McKay!"
Rodney forced himself back on track and glanced at John. "Crius repurposed this room for his experiments; he had to have a way to contain his Wraith prisoners. If one did manage to escape he had systems in place to keep it from leaving the area and killing the Ancients working in the outpost." And giving away what he was doing down here, Rodney thought to himself.
Rodney turned back to the computer and tried a different set of commands, but the system still refused to acknowledge the new code. Instead, the console started beeping insistently, and all the cell doors in the room suddenly slammed closed.
"What going on?" Ford asked.
John passed Teyla over to Ford and went to one of the cells. Rodney watched as he pulled on one of the doors then walked to the next cell over and tried that door as well.
"You aren't going to get them open," he told Sheppard. "This section is going into lockdown. I tried to get it to abort, but the console isn't accepting any new commands. Probably some sort of failsafe in case an escaping Wraith tried to do exactly the same thing."
Now he understood the rest of the air handling schematic. Crius or whoever it was, didn't build the system to purge the air from the chamber around the horseshoe-shaped console, at least not all of it.
"Are you going to be able to walk?" he heard John ask Teyla.
Rodney shut down the computer and unplugged it from the console. "The answer better be yes," he said grimly as he struggled to get the computer back in his backpack. "We need to get out of here before all the hallways are blocked. Trust me, we don't want to get trapped in here." He stood up and shot out a hand to balance himself on the edge of the console as the room spun slightly.
"What happens once the doors are sealed?" John asked, and Rodney felt Sheppard's hand on his arm, helping keep him upright.
Rodney looked over at him and didn't bother to hide the fear he felt. "If we can't get out," he swallowed and looked at John. "If we can't get out, I won't be keeping that promise I made, and we'll all be dead in about fifteen minutes."