'Minimum two hours' was what McKay had said.
It seemed an inordinately long amount of time. The primordial 'fight or flight' response to fear had sent adrenaline surging round Daniel's veins and he felt jumpy and claustrophobic. Physically unable to wait patiently in the control room he paced anxiously around the SGC corridors; but try as he might he couldn't outpace the thoughts and images that pursued him. Would the cold of the water render SG-1 unconscious instantly or would they have time to struggle? How long did it take to drown anyway? Two minutes? Three? It was supposed to be a peaceful death – once you stopped struggling. Supposed to be; that seemed unlikely. Lungs screaming for air, the desire to breath in becoming more and more all-consuming until unable to fight any longer you opened your mouth... The water would rush in; the cold and salt of the ocean adding to the pain of delicate alveoli crushed by the force of fathom upon fathom of water. 'Full fathom five thy friend doth lie.' Actually, they probably wouldn't lie. They'd swirl in the eddies and drift with currents, eyes open in an expression of surprise. Or fear. Or pain. Or –
Daniel screwed up his eyes tightly and dug the heel of his hand into his forehead, trying to forcibly push the images away. But they floated back, bobbing around him and taunted him. Longing to fight back he tensed his muscles so hard that the tendons stood out and his arms quivered with the impotent power.
Dr Zalenka and Dr McKay sat side by side in the control room. Zalenka had his elbows on the bench and was staring vacantly, tapping his steepled fingers against his bottom lip thoughtfully. McKay drummed his thumb nervously on the table, and also stared moodily into the distance.
"So no power anomalies" said McKay.
"No other gates" sighed Zalenka. He brightened. "That is a good thing!"
There was a long pause.
"Computer virus?" suggested Zalenka, speaking to the room at large.
"Checked for it." McKay countered without looking at him.
"Solar activity?" Zalenka offered, still staring into the middle distance. "If a solar flare could…"
"Checked for it - No change in solar activity."
"Jamming? If someone or something were deliberately jamming the gate…"
McKay glared at him "Then we are all dead" he said bluntly. "Definitely and unavoidably dead. How about we focus on the scientific problems that we might actually be able to do something about?"
"Insufficient power?" said Zalenka mildly, unmoved by McKay's outburst.
"Power supply readings normal."
There was a short pause.
"Inaccurate power readings?" Zalenka offered, eyebrows raised in an 'open to all ideas' type expression.
"From six different sources?!" McKay said in scathing tones. "You got to be kidding me! The odds against that would be…" He broke off suddenly, jerking upright as an idea beginning to form.
"What?" Zalenka asked, turning to look at him. "Do you think that…"
"No, no, no, shh" McKay stuttered quickly, zigzagging his hand in the air to silence his colleague. "If the super-conductivity of the naquadah was affected or er compromised in some way then the Gate's ability to amplify the supplied power would be greatly reduced. The power in would be the same, but the Gate still wouldn't have enough power to dial an address."
"And the dialling sequence would be aborted." Zalenka butted in, finishing the sentence for him.
"Yes, yes, yes – it all makes sense." McKay continued excitedly. "But what would change the properties of the naquadah?"
"Temperature" said Zalenka
"Temperature readings are normal."
"A strong magnetic field from a different source might be able to disrupt the Meissner effect." Zalenka offered thoughtfully.
McKay shot him another sarcastic look "Oh of course, let's just ask around the SGC who brought a super-magnet to work this morning and just happened to leave it lying around the gate room." He screwed up his eyes in frustration as he tried to think.
Minutes past and neither of them spoke. "It's got to be it" McKay groaned "But I don't see how, or what or… or…" He thumped the desk in frustration, sending the electronics bouncing.
"Well we can't fix it unless we know what is causing it." Zalenka said gloomily stating the obvious.
"Really? Thanks. You don't think I hadn't worked that out for myself!" McKay said bitterly. He was so close, so tantalisingly close to a solution.
Daniel paused outside the control room and wondered if he had waited long enough. A small part of him was tempted to defer finding out for a few more minutes and keep the spark of hope alive, but the overwhelming urge was to face up to the truth; he had to know one way or the other. As he gripped the door handle his stomach knotted in anticipation and he suppressed a shiver. He pushed the door open and his blue eyes flicked between the dialling computer and the scientists scanning for clues. McKay stood with his hands flat on the desk, leaning forward, head slumped in an attitude of defeat or frustration. Zalenka sat with his chin in his hands, a small puzzled from creasing his brow. Unable to interpret their body language, Daniel ran his hand nervously through his hair and cleared his throat to get their attention.
"Uh…have you found anything?"
"Maybe" said McKay, distracted, and for a split second Daniel was certain, absolutely certain that the worst had happened. McKay looked up, saw Daniel, reinterpreted the question and shook his head with a irritated grimace. "No gate. No power spikes, no other active gates on Earth. Absolutely no indication of anyone dialling in. You were wrong." He paused and added a little awkwardly "It wasn't a stupid idea though". McKay felt he could afford to be magnanimous; after all, he had been proved right.
"Oh thank god for that!" Daniel said sinking weakly down onto an empty chair as relief washed over him. McKay looked at him oddly.
"I said you were wrong" he repeated, confused by Daniel's response.
"I know. That's good. Very good." Daniel smiled beatifically. "If I was wrong then there is actually still a chance that SG-1 are still alive."
Zalenka and McKay exchanged a confused look as Daniel closed his eyes wearily.
Sha're's face faded into Daniel's view. 'You will find them Dan'yel, be patient and wait.'
'So you say.' Daniel replied silently to himself. 'The thing is, are you me or are you you?'