Chapter Nine
Rodney yawned and glanced over at Teyla as he waited for the data transfer from the main computer to his tablet computer to finish. They had been trapped in the facility for nearly sixteen hours, yet it seemed like a lifetime. Rodney massaged the back of his neck, then said, "You don't have to wait for me, you know. I can walk ten meters without an escort."
Teyla shook her head. "I would rather wait with you. You are nearly done?"
"Yes, now with the able assistance of you and Ronon. Team effort and all that. You know, you've really progressed in your knowledge of Ancient computer systems. Of course, you are nowhere near my capabilities, but still... "
He glanced at her again, giving her closer scrutiny. "Funny, between you and Ronon, I haven't been alone all night long."
She licked her lips, then smiled. "You noticed?"
"Kind of hard not to," Rodney said after a moment, rolling his eyes.
He adjusted his position on the stool Ronon had given him, then using both hands, he moved his leg so that it was resting better on the crate beside the stool. It did help a little, but the most effective pain reliever was getting lost in the computer database clean up programs. There, he could nearly forget about his throbbing knee.
Teyla winced, looking sufficiently chagrined and said, "We wanted to help. Is that so wrong?"
"No, of course not, I understand that concept more than you might imagine," Rodney said, shaking his head, then paused to rub at his forehead. He must have let his hand linger there longer than he intended, because he felt Teyla's intense gaze and he let his hand drop away.
"Are you all right, Rodney?" she asked as she touched his arm.
He started to nod, then he narrowed his gaze, searching for hidden clues. "Are you sure that's the real reason you're here or are you sticking to my side like ugly on an alligator because you guys really think I'm about to collapse from a brain hemorrhage or something equally dire? Be honest. I can take it."
Teyla paused, taking a deep breath as she shifted her stance.
"Oh, damn, that's it, isn't it? I'm going to die a terrible, horrid death."
Teyla shook her head. "No, Rodney, I do not believe you are going to die. Perhaps, it was a little bit of both circumstances for Ronon and myself," Teyla conceded finally with a smile. Then she had to put a hand on the computer console in front of her for support.
She moved to put more of her weight onto her good leg and Rodney frowned. She was almost as bad as John and Ronon was when it came to powering through pain, but when she looked up at him next, there was a smirk on her face. "Did you just call me ugly, Rodney?"
Rodney straightened. "No, of course not – " He blinked several times, then put his hand back to his forehead. "It was just a manner of speech – I meant – oh, never mind."
He glanced over to where Ronon was with Ashina and John, sitting in between the two of them. Rodney watched as Ronon looked down at the arm sling Teyla had given him, fooling with it in irritation. Rodney was willing to bet good money that Ronon would abandon it any minute, even with the awful-looking assortment of bruises and contusions Ronon had on his shoulder and upper left side of his body. Not that Ronon had uttered a word of complaint about any of it.
Rodney looked back at Teyla as she adjusted her hold on a piece of high durability plastic she was using as a cane. Another one without complaint. Rodney chewed on his lower lip, dumbfounded.
Teyla noticed his puzzled expression and asked, "Rodney, what is the matter?"
Rodney searched Teyla's face for answers. "You guys handle disaster so much better than I do. I mean, if anything, disaster makes you stronger."
Teyla pondered silently, then asked, "Why do you say that?"
"Because it does... for all three of you."
He fluttered his fingers in the direction of the others.
"Sheppard's fighting for his life right now, fighting with everything he's got. It's frightening to see, yet my money is on him to win. Ronon dislocated his shoulder saving my life, and he says it's no big deal. Then he turns around and saves all of our lives from those damned lasers by blasting the laser turrets into a million pieces. Again, he says no big deal. You get shot by a laser trying to save that little girl and yet here you are on your feet with a hole through your thigh, just to make sure I'm okay," Rodney said, finishing with a sigh before he added, "And all I ever do is whine and complain. Guess that makes me the weakest link in the chain."
Teyla's eyes widened with understanding. She let out a slow breath, and leaned closer to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Rodney, I have no doubt that you will be the one who ultimately saves all of our lives."
Rodney grunted. "No pressure there."
She smiled at him and the area around her seemed to brighten with it. "I trust in you and your abilities as deeply as I do for the sun to rise. It is the same for Ronon and John. Your courage may be a different type than it is the rest of us, but it is no less significant in its strength, perhaps more because you must overcome your fears to rise above it all."
He stared at her as her words sunk in, then his chest swelled a little and he stood a little taller, though he was at a loss for words. How does one reply to something like that without sounding pious or condescending, he wondered.
Teyla saved him from finding out by pointing to Rodney's computer. "Your download is complete. Come, it is time for a break. You have been pushing yourself hard for several hours. Combine that with the fact I know you were in your lab before 6AM and you've been going for over twenty hours."
"Twenty hours? Pfft, piece of cake. Remember what I did during the Wraith siege on Atlantis? That was bad, but it was a whole lot more than any measly twenty hours. You know, I was once up for eighty-four hours straight. That was a personal best. Though, I really don't remember much of it, and, of course, I collapsed soon afterward and didn't wake up for three days – "
Teyla put up a hand to silence him and Rodney took a deep breath to stop himself. Using her firmest tone, she said, "That was twenty hours during which you sustained a significant injury and exhausted yourself working on a way to free us. So, I say it is time for some food and sleep, whether you want it or not."
Rodney sighed, then nodded as he continued to work, but he held up a pointed finger. "Be honest, Teyla. I wouldn't exactly classify power bars as food."
Teyla looked like she wanted to agree with him, but caught herself before she did. "Nonetheless, it is the best we have."
Rodney grunted. "It's the only thing we have. By the way, how much do we have in supply?"
"A few days worth if we are judicious."
Rodney sighed. "Hopefully, the Daedalus will arrive ahead of schedule... ugh, the thought of two days with nothing but power bars just makes me plain nauseated."
He could have sworn he saw Teyla start to nod her head, but she stopped short. Her expression took on a very determined edge and she said slowly, "But they will sustain us and that is all that matters."
Rodney considered Teyla's words as he placed his computer into his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. He sighed then, his fingers fiddling with the strap of his backpack. "I just – I just wish we could find something more useful than the gibberish that is so rampant in this damned database."
She put a hand on his back. "We will find a way to get John free, Rodney. One way or another, we will find a way to free him from that suit."
Rodney nodded – a rather aimless nod, but he did agree with her. To think otherwise felt like it would betray everything John Sheppard believed in and Rodney wasn't about to mess with that.
Teyla put her hand to rest against the center of his chest and leaned her head against his shoulder. Rodney heard her sigh, then say, "We must help him."
Without thinking, Rodney brought up his hand to give her a quick pat on the back as he turned into her touch. It might have been considered a hug, but only in the vaguest of terms, of course. At least, that was what he told himself.
He felt strangely at ease with Teyla's lack of personal space. It wasn't so long ago that he would have stiffened at the thought of such contact... but now it just seemed the right thing to do. They had to support one another in every way they could – it was the only way they were going to find a way to save Sheppard.
Teyla sighed again, pulling away, then smiled up at him; exhaustion and pain were etched into the lines in her face, but somehow with her smile, everything seemed a little better and a little less dire.
"Food, water and rest," she said simply as she gestured for him to head toward the others.
So, Rodney started walking... well, he used the term loosely. A three-legged ostrich would demonstrate better grace than he did. As he moved, he was aware of every ache and pain his body had. Ten meters suddenly seemed like ten kilometers as he trudged along.
He felt a hand on his back and looked up to see Teyla beside him, giving him an encouraging gaze. He glanced down at her cane and the left leg she held so stiffly, yet she was there rooting him on. He stared at her, thinking he'd never fully understand what motivated people like Teyla, Sheppard and Ronon to do what they did – except when he thought in terms of loyalty, friendship, and dedication, then everything became perfectly clear.
His breath hitched before he gave her a quick smile back, then focused on crossing the remaining distance without complaint or whining. Once he arrived at the pallets Ronon and Teyla had prepared for each of them to sleep on, he glanced over at Sheppard and let out a long sigh of disappointment when he saw that nothing had changed for John.
Sheppard was still out of it, his lips moving, his breathing fast, and his countenance pale. Little Ashina, on the other hand, slept without moving. A distant part of Rodney wondered if he should mention to Teyla how Ashina had told him that her mother's singing always made her feel better, then he decided he would the next time Teyla spoke to her mother. Maybe something like that would help restore the little girl's spirit and give Teyla some peace of mind.
He stared at Ashina's doll as it lay in the crook of Ashina's arm, hoping it would comfort the girl when she opened her eyes again. Funny, how Ashina took up more and more of his thoughts. Maybe children weren't as irritating as he once thought, even the ones who could talk back.
Rodney fought the urge to yawn, and succeeded for a moment, but when it happened again, he allowed himself a prolonged stretch and a wide-opened mouth yawn. As good as that felt, he knew sleep was a long way off, not with all he had to do.
He gave Ronon a nod of acknowledgment as he neared him, but then paused in confusion when Ronon stood and stopped beside him.
"What?" Rodney asked with more than a little irritation. He was thirsty, hungry, and hurting – and he wasn't in the mood for guessing games.
Ronon gestured toward Rodney's knee and said, "I thought you might need a hand getting settled."
Rodney swallowed down his irritation and almost protested that he didn't need any help, but then finally agreed. It turned out he was grateful for the assist, because once he was down on the pallet, his hands trembled from the effort. How could one damaged joint hurt so damned much?
Ronon reached into a pocket and tossed Rodney a small packet of pain relievers after he was settled. "You're way past due," he said softly before straightening. "Take it before you get any grumpier and I have to kick you in the ass."
Rodney rolled his eyes. "Florence Nightingale you aren't," he muttered.
As he got comfortable, he felt Teyla's motherly gaze, then heard her chiding tone, "You should have rested hours ago."
"Well, I'm here now," Rodney said, then smacked his lips in mock anticipation and rubbed his hands together. "Did I hear someone mention something about a power bar for dinner? Oh yum!"
Teyla eyed him closely, and Rodney began to fidget. Crap, he could never hold up against that. He knew part of what was fueling her undivided attention – he'd worked way too long, especially with an injury, without a lot to eat or drink, but what else could he have done? The team was depending on him and he wasn't about to let them down.
He looked up in time to catch the power bar Teyla tossed to him.
"Enjoy," she said softly.
Her soul-penetrating stare was finally gone, and she just looked tired, and in pain, and so not the usual Teyla. Rodney thought about giving her the same type of chiding he'd just endured, but changed his mind when he realized he could never, ever, not in a million years, pull off that look as well as Teyla did.
He unwrapped the power bar and bit into it. He almost gasped in response. Maybe he was hungrier than he thought. He made himself take tiny little bites so the bar would last as long as possible, but it still disappeared way too fast. He didn't ask for another.
A growing silence overtook them, one that Rodney had attributed to frustrated exhaustion. It was broken the moment Sheppard groaned and rolled onto his side. He wrapped his arms around his middle, startling everyone.
Teyla was the first to react. She reached out with one hand and squeezed John's arm. "John, we are here... you are not alone," she said firmly, her voice conveying strength and support.
After a moment, Sheppard seemed to relax a bit and his breathing evened out a little, but his lips were still moving. Rodney bent forward to better hear what John was saying and sighed when he thought he heard him say, "Not giving up... "
No, of course not. John Sheppard never gives up.
Rodney swallowed hard and looked at the others. He wasn't surprised when he saw the same bitter frustration he felt reflected in their faces. When nothing more happened, Rodney relaxed a bit. He opened his backpack to retrieve his computer, then tossed the backpack behind his head to use as a pillow and shifted, but he still couldn't find a comfortable position until Ronon put a rolled up tarp under Rodney's knee to give it better support.
"Thanks," Rodney said, and he really meant it, but then he felt a twinge of regret for all the names he'd called Ronon over the years – Chewbacca, Tarzan, Big Foot, etc. It was an aspect of his relationship with Ronon that he decided he really needed to curtail. It wasn't fair at all, definitely more demeaning than anything else, not to mention the fact that Ronon could squash him like a bug if he wanted to.
Pushing that thought to the back of his mind, Rodney began to examine the information on his tablet computer, scrolling through the data when something bounced off his shoulder. When he looked up, he saw an empty water bottle falling off to the side.
"What the hell?" Rodney asked, more than a little indignant. He decided he would just take back that twinge of regret he'd felt earlier. To hell with Ronon and his Neanderthal manners. "Trying to concentrate here, Conan."
Ronon shook his head and gestured toward Teyla. "Pay attention. Teyla was talking to you."
"Oh... sorry," he said as he glanced over at Teyla. "What?"
"Water?" she asked, holding out a bottle of water. "You still have not taken your pain reliever."
Rodney forced himself to take the bottle of water, even though he really wasn't that thirsty. He made a show of opening the packet of pills and swallowing them, followed by a swig of water, then another one. Damn, he was thirsty. Finally, he set the bottle down at his side as his thoughts centered around a possible workaround to the scrambled information he'd transferred to his computer.
"Uh, thanks," he said as an afterthought.
The download from the facility's database vexed him with its jumbled files and pervasive gibberish. He gave himself into the project of cleaning up the section he'd downloaded, but it was slow going. Still, he was making progress. The data held him engrossed until another empty water bottle hit him on the arm. It was quickly followed by another that bounced off his hand and popped up to hit him lightly on the head.
Rodney slapped a hand over the area and hissed as he waited for the pain to pass. "Do the words head injury mean nothing to you?" he started, preparing to give the Satedan a piece of his mind, but stopped when Ronon looked sufficiently chagrined.
Rodney let out a long breath instead, trying to contain his irritation. All that vanished when he saw Teyla's concerned expression.
"What?" Rodney asked emphatically, lifting a hand into the air. Obviously, he was missing out on something of importance.
Teyla took a deep breath and said, "Rodney, I was hoping you would get some rest. If you exhaust yourself, you will be of no help to anyone, least of all yourself."
He sighed, waving his fingers in her direction. "I'm lying down now, so technically I am resting," he said, not really in the mood for an extended debate.
Ronon said, "Come on, McKay, you've had your nose stuck in that computer for over an hour."
Rodney blinked a couple of times and said, "An hour? Really? Huh."
He frowned, disturbed by the fact that he'd lost track of a considerable chunk of time, but then he moved and realized Ronon was probably right. What else would explain the way his body had stiffened since he had last moved? Hissing as he tried to find a more comfortable position, Rodney waved a hand in the air, ignoring the pain as he met Teyla's penetrating gaze. "You won't care about me resting when you hear what I've found out."
"What's that?" Ronon asked as he sat with his back against a wall, slightly cradling his bad arm with his other.
Ronon's interest in Rodney's revelation earned him a withering glare from Teyla. It was very obvious Teyla wanted Rodney to sleep and do nothing else. Ronon shrugged off the death stare Teyla directed at him far easier than Rodney could have done as he put out a hand. "Teyla, McKay's going to tell us about it whether we want to hear it or not, so why not get it over and done with?"
Normally, Rodney would have enjoyed watching Ronon catch some flack from Teyla, but he let it pass, mostly because he couldn't keep himself from gushing about his discovery. He dove in before Teyla could mount a counterattack.
"The Ancient scientist who built this place was named Damisk. It seems he was banished from Atlantis for running dangerous experiments, but he was trying to get back into their good graces by coming up with a successful project, so he was willing to do just about anything to get there. I take it he was more than just your common risk taker when it came to the pursuit of scientific gain."
Rodney paused. "You know, I think his name is familiar. Yeah, yeah, I remember him now from the Ancient records on Atlantis. Yeah, the man was a genius, but the Ancients considered him way too dangerous to work in the city – and with good reason – as I recall, he nearly blew up the east pier."
He searched his memories for more references to Damisk, but couldn't come up with anything else. He blinked a couple of times and realized Teyla and Ronon were waiting for him to continue. "Sorry... anyway, he was forced to leave the city shortly after that."
He glanced around at the cluttered, overflowing shelves and grunted. "This says funds were tight and he couldn't always procure high-quality Ancient-type materials, so he turned to other worlds and technologies. I guess that explains part of what's stockpiled here."
Ronon leaned forward. "So what happened? Why did we find his dead body?"
Rodney shook his head. "Something went south in a big way. Not sure quite what. He had about six major projects going and several lesser ones – "
Sheppard's hoarse voice cut Rodney off. "No!"
When Rodney glanced over at him, John had his eyes squeezed shut and he was shaking his head. He held an outstretched hand and shouted, "Not giving in, damn it!"
Rodney blinked when he thought he saw the black suit shift around John's body as if it were moving, as if it were actually causing ripples across its smooth surface. Then the ripples thickened at Sheppard's chest. Rodney drew back in fear. Even the normally stoic Ronon looked surprised as he glanced over at Teyla.
The rippling progressed up John's chest and now the strange black material flowed up over John's mouth and nose, becoming something resembling a diving mask and regulator, only John wasn't getting any air. He clawed at his nose and mouth, struggling to breathe, but it didn't seem to do him much good.
As he watched, Rodney's hands clutched into fists so tightly they began to cramp. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was beyond words.
Ronon's reaction was much stronger – he slammed a fist against the wall beside them and yelled, "You want someone to fight, take me on, you damned thing!"
The sudden outbursts from Ronon startled Ashina awake and she began to cry. Teyla brushed her fingers over the child's eyebrows and shushed her gently, pressing Soho beside Ashina's cheek, so that she could see the doll. Ashina sighed and took Soho, nuzzling it under her chin. Luckily, the doll must have helped, because Ashina dropped back to sleep almost immediately.
In the distraction, Rodney lost track of Sheppard and the strange rippling he'd seen. When he looked back, the strange manifestation in the form of diving equipment was gone and John was taking in huge gulps of air, his face deep red from the effort to restore his breathing. His neck was mottled as if he'd been strangulated and dark bruises were forming on his neck, leaving Rodney to wonder what other injuries might be hidden under the rest of that damned suit.
Ronon was at Sheppard's side and Teyla put a hand on John's chest. Rodney gaped in disbelief as he saw the suit move on its own again, reminiscent of how it had first attacked Sheppard, flowing over his body like liquid evil.
After a moment, John's hand dropped from his chest to the floor. His eyes never opened, but his lips kept moving as he struggled. Teyla and Ronon did their best to comfort him, even as he whispered, "No, stop."
There was another ripple in the suit and Sheppard's hand went to his hip as he arched off the floor in obvious pain. John held his breath as he fought. Rodney didn't realize he was holding his breath, too, until John took in a couple quick gasps.
Ronon leaned forward and gripped John's shoulder. "Don't back down, John. You can beat this thing. We're here for you. Kick its ass."
John's resolve seemed to strengthen and his voice was stronger as he rasped, "Leave me the hell alone!"
Rodney had no idea what was going on for Sheppard, but something must have happened, because John collapsed back to the floor and did little except breathe. Ronon continued to talk to Sheppard in a low voice as he kept his hand on John's shoulder. Rodney couldn't really make out what he was saying to him in quiet whispers, but it seemed like Sheppard relaxed a little more.
"Did you – did you see that?" Rodney asked Teyla hoarsely as he pointed at Sheppard. "The suit, the way it moved?"
Teyla's gaze darted at Rodney, then back down at Sheppard. When she spoke, her voice was slightly hushed, because of Sheppard and Ashina, but her tone was angrier than Rodney had heard it in a very long time. "Yes, it almost suffocated John while we were powerless to do anything except watch."
She swallowed hard when her voice cracked. "He cannot keep this up indefinitely."
She sat back, rubbing her thigh, stewing in her fury. If this suit was something Teyla could have taken on herself, Rodney knew she would have done so without reservation, and Rodney might even have felt sorry for the thing after that, except for the fact it was an enemy.
Once Sheppard fell silent again, Ronon shoved himself back against the wall, the sharp angles of his face dark with unspent rage. "We've got to get this thing off of him!"
"I know, I know," Rodney murmured as he picked up his computer again. "I'm working on it."
There was a long silence. Ronon took a deep breath, and glanced over at Rodney as he moved back to sit down. "He's out again. What else did you find in the computer?"
Teyla nodded as she asked, "Did the cleanup program accomplish its task?"
Rodney glanced at her, then back to his computer and frowned as he sought to gather his thoughts again after the emotional rush of concern for John. "Like I said before, this database was impossibly scrambled. Even after running the programs that we did, it's still a mess, but I was able to find something."
He opened the file again and scrolled down the screen, quickly skimming over the words. At the periphery of his vision, he saw Sheppard begin to struggle again. Ronon moved back to his position at John's side, his hand on John's arm as he talked to him again in a low whisper. Rodney tried to focus his thoughts only on the database files, on the things he could help with, and not Sheppard's downward-spiraling situation, but he wasn't doing a very good job at it.
When he looked back up at Teyla and Ronon, he knew there was dread in his expression, but it was with good reason. "This place wasn't shut down, it just went on standby mode after a few millennia. That's why all the defense systems went bugeyed when I overrode the door controls. According to this, once the shield door comes down, there isn't any other way of getting out of this place. It was a last resort to be used if one of Damisk's more ambitious projects went out of control."
There was silence between the three for a long moment, the only sound from Sheppard's ragged breathing. Teyla sat back, leaning against the wall behind her and sighed. "I had hoped there would be a faster, easier way to leave this place."
Rodney nodded. He started scrolling through more information. "As awful as it was to have happen, when Sheppard activated the suit, the computer system opened access to a larger cache of data related to the suit and the facility as well and that has helped things a great deal and that's how I was able to make some progress finally."
Rodney cleared his throat, not tired any longer, but he would have killed for a cup of hot coffee right then. "No wonder your knife didn't put a dent in it, Ronon. The suit was a prototype that could be used for defense, offense and other more practical applications such as search-and-rescue, and so on. It could even be used underwater or in space if necessary."
Ronon nodded. "Makes sense."
Rodney skimmed ahead, then said, "Wow."
He looked up at Sheppard, then at the others, his mouth opening and closing a few times before he managed to say, "Okay, this explains a lot."
Rodney tried to formulate a less complicated explanation of the facts before he started speaking. He took a deep breath and said, "We saw the material of the suit move or ripple for lack of a better word, especially when it covered John's mouth and nose or thicken over one of Sheppard's injuries, causing him suffocation or pain. That's not the only thing that suit can do."
He looked at Teyla and Ronon as he said, "The suit can actually morph into different configurations depending upon the need at the moment."
Ronon frowned. "Morph?"
"Yeah, like for underwater use, it could make fins, a face mask and regulator, as we saw up close and personal. For rescue, it would adapt into a configuration again capable of providing an air supply and head cover for the wearer to walk into a burning building or as a rappelling harness and cutting tools for other situations."
He paused, then continued to read. "It's got a force field – that's what we saw when you tried to use your knife. I mean the potential of a suit with capabilities like this is – is mind-boggling. It was originally designed as battle gear, code named 'Invincible', but Damisk moved away from that early on in its design, not activating any of its offensive weapons, other than the laser and that was intended to serve as a tool, not a weapon. He was aiming for something more altruistic, something the Ancients would be more interested in – as in search-and-rescue and/or underwater or space exploration."
He looked at the others, but they only seemed to understand a fraction of what he was telling them. "You guys, this is an amazing advance for something so condensed and compact. I'm sure the Ancients would have had to be impressed with something of this magnitude. I just wonder how Damisk got around the power consumption requirements and – "
Realizing he'd veered off topic, he took a deep breath. "Sorry. This is just so incredible."
He swallowed and tried to go back to relaying the important stuff, instead of extolling the amazing possibilities that went with such a discovery, but before he could, Teyla lifted her chin. "It does seems impressive until one considers the toll it is taking on John."
Reality check, Rodney thought with a cringe, and he sighed. Teyla's comment had taken the proverbial wind out of his sail. He nodded, looking at Sheppard for a long moment. "True, but if Sheppard can come out of it for any length of time, this might be our way out."
Ronon studied him. "What do you mean?"
"With all that at his disposal, Sheppard might be able to make us a way out. We could finally escape this hell hole."
Teyla's frown deepened. "I do not think involving John for that purpose would be wise in his present condition."
Rodney chewed on his lip as he reconsidered his idea. "Yeah, you're probably right, but if I know Sheppard – and I think I do – he won't be able to resist testing at least part of that awesome arsenal of toys this suit comes with. Any one of those capabilities might just be what we need to break out of here."
Rodney caught Teyla's quick glance at Sheppard as he lay so still, her expression tight with worry. After a moment, she looked at Rodney. "Some things are simply too dangerous to consider. But we can discuss this later. If we are to defeat this thing, we will need our rest. Put away your computer for now and get some sleep," she said sternly. "I will take first watch."
Rodney's head popped up. "Let me take it, Teyla."
Confusion marked her tired features. "Rodney, you have to be exhausted after everything that has transpired today."
Rodney shook his head. "No, I won't be able to sleep for a while, not with all of this stuff swirling around inside my head. Besides, I want to do some more reading."
Teyla watched him closely, then yawned and stretched. "Very well, if that is your decision."
"It is."
"All right, the first watch is yours."
Ronon looked at Rodney as he shifted to get more comfortable and said, "Don't fall asleep, McKay. And turn down the lights."
Rodney smiled like he'd won some major debate and said, "Reduce illumination by half."
Then he went back to reading.
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Chapter 9