ooOOooOOoo
John was in the mess hall once again, this time for a little more substance than just a cup of coffee. In fact, he was enjoying a full breakfast of scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage and a third cup of coffee.
As Ronon and Teyla joined him, both looked quizzically at one another. Neither had ever seen the Major with such a full plate or had seen him eat with such gusto.
"Major, are you alright?" Teyla asked hesitantly.
"Mmmm-quite alright!" John looked up and smiled hugely. Teyla always loved the Major's full smile. She loved the way his eyes sparkled and how his cheek dimpled in response to his slightly lop-sided grin. He really did have a wonderful smile. Shaking herself from her senses, she asked, " What has happened that has made you so joyful?"
Once Ronon and Teyla had settled, John quietly told them about Rodney's find. They were excited also and started asking him all kinds of questions he had no answers for yet.
" Listen-until we have more info, which Rodney and Radek are working on, as we speak...we keep this to ourselves. Only Elizabeth and our team know anything. Let's wait til we have more info before we get everyone else's hopes up. I'd hate for this to be another false alarm. As far as anyone else is concerned-if and when we go-it will be assigned as a routine mission."
At 0930 hours, Elizabeth requested her lead offworld team to meet her in the conference room in 15 minutes time. As CMO, Dr Beckett was also privvy to the information firsthand and Elizabeth had gladly offered the astonishing news. John had also done so with his second, Lt Evan Lorne. Lorne and Dr Beckett would be joining the meeting also.
When all were present, Elizabeth started, " Okay, everyone here knows the significance of the information Rodney is about to share. If I deem it reasonably solid-and safe, Major Sheppard 's team will man the mission to scout the Ancient base. I dont want another false hope to stress everyone more than they are already, so for now, I'd like this to be a need-to-know operation."
"With that said, Rodney please fill us in on your findings"
Rodney stood and it was apparent that he was bursting with good news.
"First off, Radek and I have scoured the Ancient database and feel confident that my initial findings are viable. We found the gate address to the planet, though it is an orbital gate. The planet's designation is P32-S19. While many of the further planets out are uninhabitable, this planet has its own superstar that essentially acts as its sun. It is surprisingly Earth-like, a significant amount of its surface is water covered. There is polarity at opposite points like the Earth's North and South Poles. An equatorial line, also like Earths exists." Rodney confirmed, " This planet is reasonably viable, the atmospheric conditions are borderline but not toxic, though according to the Ancient records, the ratio of oxygen and nitrogen are a bit more scewed than our norm-but not so off that it would pose that much difficulty."
"How much difficulty are ya talkin' bout, Rodney?" Beckett asked.
"Well-it would be a bit like being at very high altitude on Earth. Definitely breathable, but the air would feel thinner and breathing would be a bit labored." Rodney explained. " I dont think that this should be a deterrent to keep us away though"
Carson thought about this and added, " Personal oxygen tanks could be supplied along with extra, larger tanks secured inside the jumpers for refilling. Hypoxia and its range of symptoms-would not be pleasant and needs to be avoided at all cost or I can not give this mission my approval." He was adamant that he wouldnt let any team explore with knowledge that there was such a risk.
"Wait a minute...set me straight here-without the aid of the oxygen tanks, how long could someone breath this air? John asked, wanting to be sure he knew what he was getting his team into.
Beckett took over the explaination. "Major, the air isnt toxic and a human could concievable breathe the air unaided, but it would be uncomfortable. With the oxygen level decreased, a condition of hypoxia could occur upon any kind of physical activity, causing symptoms including dizziness, headaches, shortness of breath, nausea and vomitting. Luckily on the planet in question, the oxygen deficit isnt too significant, so symptoms would range from mild to moderate, and definitely not fatal for a healthy adult. The oxygen tanks would just compensate for the deficit so that normal activity would be easier to perform."
John felt better informed with Carson's explanation, but he still didnt like this set of circumstances they would have to deal with.
Moving on, Elizabeth asked, "Where exactly is the location of the Ancient facility?"
" According to the database, its on the largest land mass directly below the orbitting stargate-of course, this information is over 10,000 years old. We dont know what kind of natural shifts have occured on the planet since."
"Hence, the reason why we send an orbittal MALP through to gather more up-to-date information" John wasnt too keen on the information Rodney had supplied so far. " We need to know more, McKay-before we go off on an Easter Egg hunt."
Teyla was wondering," Rodney, what are the chances that there are Ancients or other people living on this planet? Is there information as to whether the planet was evacuated before the Ancients were lost? If the Ancients had ZPM's so readily available, would they not have been in a better position to conquer the Wraith?"
Rodney was impressed with Teyla's insight. "I've thought of those very questions myself." Radek rolled his eyes. " There is mention of an evacuation of all personnell. The facility was placed on lockdown and a shield protects the entire planet from any intrusion except those of Ancient composition."
"Luckily, we have jumpers, right?" Ronon added.
"Right-we should have easy access through shield." Radek answered.
"How is the orbittal MALP going to get information-its not Ancient tech, it wont be able to penetrate the shield?" John was beginning to get a bad feeling.
Radek fielded this question, " Your concern is with merit, Major. The MALP will only be able to collect data about the physical condition of the planet. We will equip the MALP with Ancient probes that can penetrate shield and collect data from inside like atmospheric conditions, climate and whether there is any signs of life.
Elizabeth took over the meeting, "Okay, so I suggest we ready the MALP, send it through and meet again when the data is compiled."