"Major, we need to test you and Jon out on the control chair." Alexander said to Major Sheppard. "Right now, I'm the only one familiar with it and Jon doesn't even have Jack's memories of using it to give him an idea of what it's like. And I can't be here all the time. One of you might need to use it if another Gou'ald comes sniffing around. So I was thinking about two this afternoon, if that works for you guys."
"I've just been doing paperwork." Jon said. "I'll beg you to get me out of that, it's the downside of this job."
"I've been on light switch duty since I got here. Believe me that's as boring as it sounds." Sheppard said dryly.
"I have no doubt. But you're the only two, besides myself that can understand that weaponry the control chair controls. Beckett may have an Alteran heritage, but he's a medical doctor. Someone like that doesn't belong in the chair. Your emotional state can effect the interface. Just knowing about the weapons would make him nervous, which could lead to all kinds of problems. So anyway, two o'clock, meet me in the control room."
"Yes, sir." Major Sheppard responded.
"I'll be there." Jon said and the three went back their work.
Alexander was heading for the control room when a sudden rumble very nearly knocked him off his feet. He managed to keep his footing and then ran for the control room. The chair could do a scan and figure out what had caused that. Jon and Sheppard arrived just as he did. They entered to find something that shocked them all.
"Dr. Beckett, what are you doing in the control chair?" Alexander asked.
Dr. Beckett looked confused. "Dr. McKay asked me to help him run tests on it, he said he had permission."
They could see McKay sitting on the floor nearby, with his laptop and cables running from it to the chair.
"Major Sheppard, please take Dr. McKay into custody. He did not have permission to be in this room or to run any tests on the chair."
"But someone needs to and I'm the best person to do it!" McKay protested, just as another rumble shook the outpost.
"Dr. Beckett, please disengage from the interface." Alexander said. "I need to access the sensors and find out what's going on."
"I think I accidentally launched a drone." Dr. Beckett said, to the horror of Alexander, as well as Jon and Sheppard. Dr. Beckett got up from the chair and Alexander sat down and began a scan. He drew in a sharp breath at what he found.
"Attention!" He announced over the outpost speaker system. "A rogue drone has been launched, it has impacted on the ice sheet. The sheet is breaking up. Repeat, the ice sheet is breaking up. Everyone into the outpost! Now! The ice sheet is not going to hold!"
"How long do we have?" Jon asked.
"Two minutes, tops."
"We'll end up in the ocean." Sheppard said.
"Not if I can help it. There's no more time. Attention! The outpost has shielding. In thirty seconds I will have to raise the shield or we'll be sinking in the ocean. I'm sorry." And he raised the shield.
"How many are outside the shield?" Jon asked.
"Everyone at the research station. I'm reading three helicopters taking off. They're full, but there aren't enough for everyone. Twelve people are still in the station. I can't save them, the shields won't extend that far. I might have been able to use the Altimah to save some of them, but there wasn't time for me to do both."
"What do we do now?"
"The outpost doesn't have engines, is not a ship. But I can use the Altimah to tow the outpost to land. Which at this point, is already several miles from us. A significant portion of the ice sheet has broken up. We'll have to wait until it stabilizes or I can tow us to the nearest island."
"That's probably a better bet." Jon said. "The ice may be unstable even after it stops breaking up."
"He's probably right." Sheppard agreed.
"Before I do that, there's something else I need to do. Jon, could you take over monitoring? The interface will guide you, until you get the hang of it."
"Sure."
Alexander disengaged from the computer and stood up. Jon took his place and interfaced with the computer. "I see what you mean." He said.
Alexander walked over to where Sheppard was holding McKay's arm and drawing back his own arm, slammed his fist into McKay face. McKay dropped, unconscious to the floor.
"Sheppard, secure him in an empty room. Strip him to his underwear if you have to, just make sure he doesn't have access to anything he can use to escape. Put two guards on the door."
"Yes, sir." Sheppard bent over and picked up the unconscious McKay and lifted him onto his shoulders in a fireman's carry and left to follow his orders.
"Dr. Beckett, this isn't your fault. He lied to you. You were never meant to sit in that chair. I'll make sure the blame goes where it belongs."
"People are dead, I still have to live with that."
"You're a surgeon, you've lost people before?"
"A couple of times, aye. No doctor can claim every patient lives."
"I couldn't save them either, Doctor." And Alexander headed out of the control room.