Daniel stepped onto the ramp, his footsteps echoing loudly in the silent room. It was funny, he'd walked up the ramp so many times and yet he had never really been focused on what the gate actually looked like. Everything now looked strange in the way that familiar things do when you suddenly decide to take notice of them, and he couldn't decide what was normal and what wasn't. He reached out and ran his fingers over the edge of the ring, pressing his hand against the cold metal as though it were a talisman. He had got so used to the reality of being able to gate anywhere in an instant that he had never really thought about what it would be like if the gate broke. Now Earth was cut off and the universe suddenly seemed unfathomably immense. Wearily, he tipped his head forward, allowing his forehead to rest against the gate and tried to think. 'The gate itself is fine.' Well, if the gate wasn't the problem, then something else must be. That left the dialling computer. If the problem was not in the gate then it must be in the systems that ran the computer. But why would the computer be at fault? That makes no sense. Again he got that uncanny sense that there was an idea just out of sight. Something to do with the computer. Computers ran programs. Programs … hadn't Sam -
There was a noise from the doorway and Daniel turned to see a dishevelled-looking Dr McKay shamble into the gateroom. He was wearing a faded T shirt with the Canadian flag across the torso which he had paired with grey sweat pants. It looked like he had just got out of bed although the half empty coffee mug in his hand suggested otherwise.
"Hey" said Daniel, not a little surprised to find other people wandering round at three in the morning.
"Couldn't sleep" McKay muttered with a yawn.
"You and me both" Daniel was beginning to warm to McKay.
"Thought I might as well…you know… get on…" McKay gestured vaguely to the room at large, nearly spilling his coffee in the process. He hurried over to the equipment still set up from earlier and began earnestly checking the cables, his back to Daniel.
Daniel nodded and addressed the back of McKay's head "Uh me too."
McKay paused, turned, looked at Daniel and said "Hm."
It wasn't an unfriendly 'Hm', but neither was it confident and Daniel realised that his lack of faith in McKay was mirrored by McKay's complete lack of faith in him. It was understandable; up to a point. He wouldn't assume that a physicist would be much use at archaeology. On the other hand, he liked to think he would at least be open to the possibility that they might have some good ideas. His mind skipped unbidden back to all the problems that he and Sam had solved together; she always valued his contributions, but then she knew him. If he was honest with himself, he did get the whole 'I'll solve it on my own thing.'
"I've been thinking" he said to McKay's back "What if the gate itself is fine?"
"Well it isn't" McKay said flatly. "It isn't holding its charge. Thus the energy is insufficient, that is why we can't get a lock." He swung his laptop round and showed Daniel the figure covered screen as if to prove the point.
"But if it not the gate" Daniel persisted "then the problem could be in the computer."
"I've already told you" said McKay wearily "there is no fault in the computer. No viruses. Nothing. The gate itself is the problem."
"Just hear me out" Daniel said with forced patience "It doesn't have to be the gate. A problem with the computer could manifest as an apparent issue with the gate."
"Ok, suppose you are right" said McKay humouring him. He stood up to face Daniel and folded his arms purposefully. "As you said earlier, the gate should still be able to receive an incoming wormhole."
"Should it?" Daniel asked. "If the power was being drained sufficiently fast at this end then the dialling gate may not have enough power to maintain a steady wormhole."
"But why would the power be draining?"
Daniel was stumped. "I dunno" he admitted "you are the scientist."
"Oh great" McKay said miserably "remind me that it is all down to me." He turned back to his computer and for a couple of minutes the only sound was the tap of McKay's fingers on the keyboard.
"Cassie!" Daniel said suddenly.
McKay looked up, puzzled. "What?"
"Cassie!" Daniel repeated triumphantly, his eyes shining. "After Cassie… ah.." (McKay was still looking blank) "Ah… never mind.. um..Sam realised that naquidah could potentially become unstable. To prevent the possibility of our gate ever reaching the point of going critical she wrote a program to re-route gate power through the earthing rods into the mountain if the dialling computer identified any anomalous power readings." He looked confidently at McKay.
"But… but..wait a minute" McKay stuttered, wishing he had had more caffeine and finding it hard to keep up. He shut his eyes, running back over what Daniel had said. "Okay… yes… could make sense…" He opened his eyes and looked accusingly at Daniel "Why didn't you say so before?"
"I've only just remembered." Daniel admitted, mentally kicking himself and wondering how he could forget anything so obviously central.
"Okay… well… but why…?" McKay stuttered, still working things through in his mind and staring blankly at the window into the control room. Suddenly the bemused look was replaced by one of confidence. "Yes, yes!" He looked at Daniel "When SG-1 beamed up the gate, the Asgard beaming technology would have caused a power-surge back from the gate to the dialing computer. The computer might interpret this as a critical power build up in the gate."
"So all you need to do is override those fail safes…" Daniel said hopefully.
McKay gave him a look "Just override the fail safes!" He repeated his voice bitter with sarcasm "yes, safety protocols tend to be really easy to hack!"
"But you can do it?" Daniel said and tried to make it sound like a statement rather than a question.
"I can do it." McKay repeated in resignation "it's just going to take all night."
Getting there - about three chapters still to go I reckon. Thanks for everyone who has kept reading so far :-)