CHAPTER 30 – TIME RIFT
They sat in Elizbeth's office now and it was getting a little crowded. She debated moving them to the large conference room, especially as the door continued to open as yet another fascinated Lantien member decided that this was too good a science fiction story to miss. Levity? She pondered the reason for it here. There should be nothing humorous in what was sitting before them all now.
The small dog sat at John's feet. It had refused to leave his side, almost as though the dog sensed that he was his only tie with his correct time line. And his missing mistress. There was indeed, a keen intelligence in the small canine's eyes and Elizabeth wondered just how much information an animal stored in it's brain. Likely more than they gave it credit for.
John's eyes while bleak, still managed a spark of humour when he saw all the people crowded into the room. "Looks like the gangs all here Elizabeth. It's a shame we didn't have Dr Who with us – he'd have the perfect explanation for why this has happened, and could maybe give us a heads up whether we can expect any other unpleasant surprises."
As if taking offence to being called an 'unpleasant surprise' the little white dog cocked his head and made a small yipping sound, bringing a smile from Elizabeth. "Not this little guy's fault Colonel. Looks like he wants to go home and seems to think you know the way. Rodney. We need some help here. What could you find in the ancient data base. Just what the hell are we dealing with here and can we expect anything worse than this."
"Quite frankly Elizabeth, I think you're all a little naïve if you think you can simply travel back in time fifty years and leave no imprint whatsoever. I don't care whether the device, the time portal – was designed by ancients. They are not infallible – we've certainly managed to learn that the hard way. They've made grave errors in both judgement and in the design of some of their technology. Hell, we know that much of it was still in an experimental stage when they left Atlantis. We know this because the data base for such technology is essentially incomplete." Rodney glanced around the room, saw the interest on all their faces and continued.
"We've screwed up also. I know I call the ancients arrogant, and for the most part I stand by that – but we've been equally arrogant and it's not often I will admit to arrogance..." There was a small chuckle around the room. The scientist was well known for his arrogant and often obnoxious ways, but he was an extremely gifted scientist, not just in his own field of astro physics, but had chosen to become more than proficient in other fields as well.
"You all know that time travel is theoretical, at least back on earth. But there is some basis to the theory and some repercussions that even if we haven't technically proved ourselves yet, we have a pretty good idea that these would be a given. There is talk about cracks in time – this is likely what the ancients discovered and designed their portal around – but in theory, these are actually two parts of space and time that should never have touched. They are present in the very fabric of spacetime - a crack that appeared to be part of a wall would still be there if the wall were removed. Some cracks act like wormholes and could be opened to allow a passage between the places on either side. Regardless of the size and what was on the other side, and if handled incorrectly they could erase people and events.Some cracks release energy of pure time able to wipe individuals from time itself and remove events from history, however smaller, inconsequential things could be erased as well, including, perhaps, a dog from a persons life. I think this is what has happened here. The ancients have tried to control the rift, but there is still an unguarded portion so to speak, and when John came through it he left it open, unguarded – but because it was very small, only a small object could come through – such as a dog."
Rodney sat back now. He had spent the last hour researching what he knew about theoretical time travel and stretching his mind back to some of his physics lectures where he had had great enjoyment in baiting one of his tutors who firmly believed that the theory would never become more than theoretical. If he could use the time portal himself, he would go back to his days in these lectures and explain to the obnoxious professor, just how damn wrong he was.
"So, my fault. I left the door open. Does that dumb it down enough McKay?"
"Pretty much Sheppard. Although not your fault as there are no operating instructions or manuals for most of the ancient technology. Half the problem really. We wing it, we test it and if there are consequences, we suffer them. In this case, not just from our time – consequences may have been effective in both times."
"What do I do?" John absently reached down and petted the dog, who now sat comfortably at his feet. "I can't go back until October. If I do, I'll likely cause more damage. And when I go back next time, we need to find a way to close the door behind me, so that nothing else can slip through. But... if I close the door, how the hell do I get back?" He rubbed his forehead, then winced when he remembered the wound that was still there, uncovered and unattended. "Ok, so sore head again, and not just your fault Ronon. Brain ache. And Rodney? Don't tell me such a thing doesn't exist. Because having experienced it several times in that past couple of weeks, I am more than convinced that it is an actual condition. And if it's not yet? Then consider it officially invented."
His aggrieved comments brought a small smile to Rodney's face. "Firstly, you need to go to earth – most the of the main players in your little game are on earth. Mitchell is still heading SG1 – Sam is working in area 51 and Jack is in DC. Get those three players together at the SGC for a meeting. Make sure that there are no discrepancies in this time. I'll come with you, I know the players as well as you do. We know that you didn't affect anything from the stargate programme – no one has noticed anything unusual or wrong this week with any operational equipment or work here in Atlantis. I think the rift was a small one as I said, and there will only be small things that have been affected or pulled through into this time line. The only problem is one's definition of small. Some small items are important, and that is dumbing it down again. And if they come here? They no longer exist there..."
There were some serious faces not the least Elizabeth. She had understood easily what Rodney had said and had some serious reservations herself as soon as Ronon and Rodney had come back and told her that John was doing some ancient meddling fifty years in the past. But there hadn't been a lot she could do about it then. The damage had already been done, but she mentally cursed the ancients and their damn meddling and the fact that they got involved in things that they had no right to affect. Lives. Emotions. It may have been a small thing bringing a dog through to this timeline. But what change had occurred on earth fifty years in the past when the dog disappeared?
Sheppard was right. Your brain could hurt.