"Let this one work," Rodney muttered as he watched the computer run through the 'gate bridge simulation.

The math was sound, he reminded himself as the program started and the first 'gate lit up. Of course, the math was sound the last three times you tried this, too.

The simulation quickly passed the first four 'gates, and Rodney had started to hope this time would be the winner when a failure notice popped up on the screen.

"Damn it!" Rodney exclaimed.

He pushed back from the work table, crossed his arms over his chest, and scowled at the flashing notice.

"Rodney?" Radek called from the doorway.

"What?" Rodney barked back, still glaring at the computer.

Zelenka walked into the lab and stood at the end of the work table. "Should you be here?" he started to ask but stopped when Rodney scowled at him. "Umm." He glanced at the computer. "The macro for the 'gate bridge?"

"Yes," Rodney replied. He reached forward and pressed a key to end the simulation. "The command to signal the next 'gate in the chain still fails after the first few 'gates." He looked up at Radek and added. "Someone has to get it working if we ever want this project to get off the drawing board."

"Is the problem in the sequence or the buffer?" Radek asked. He bent forward, blocking Rodney's view.

"Do you mind?" Rodney growled and moved the computer so he could see the screen.

Zelenka muttered Czech invectives under his breath and stood straight.

"I heard that," Rodney told him. "Why are you even here? I thought you were checking the new jumpers we recovered."

"I was," Radek replied. "So far, Doctor Tsao and I have not found any anomalous systems such as you described with the inertial dampeners in the jumper that crashed."

Rodney flinched at the reminder. "That still doesn't explain why you're down here, bugging me."

Radek shook his head and stepped back from the table. "Colonel Sheppard radioed me. He wanted me to remind you that the debrief is scheduled for this morning."

Rodney hunched his shoulders and focused on the computer at the reminder about the meeting.

"Doctor Weir has asked me to attend," Zelenka continued.

Rodney grunted and considered various ways to fix the macro.

"She wants an update on the repairs to the damaged jumper and my analysis of the ships you found inside the tower."

"I'm sure everyone is eager to know how you plan to try and kill me with another of your so-called jumper repairs," Rodney replied without really thinking.

Even though he had grudgingly agreed when Sheppard said they needed to tell Weir, Beckett, and Zelenka about the recent changes in the mental bond, he wasn't looking forward to the meeting or the questions that would inevitably be raised as a result of their news.

If Radek even thinks about the word 'tests', I will personally dial M7G-677 and shove him through the event horizon, Rodney promised himself. Let Keras and the kids have at him with the face paint again.

He felt an evil smile cross his lips as he remembered Radek returning from his last visit to the planet with bits of straw braided into his hair and his face painted in vibrant reds and greens and quickly schooled his features.

Rodney looked up when Zelenka stopped speaking, saw the flash of genuine hurt cross Radek's face, and felt a quick stab of regret for making the comment. He was nervous and more than a bit worried about what would happen once Weir and Beckett heard about what the link could do now.

Heightmeyer would say you're lashing out, Rodney grumbled to himself as he checked his watch.

"Sorry," he muttered as he closed the computer and stood. "The briefing starts in five minutes. We need to go."

Rodney led the way back to the transporter, then into the control room and across the bridge to the conference room, his mind more on the impending explosion when the others found out about the link than the mission debrief. He entered the room and stopped short when he saw Colonel Caldwell seated in the chair next to Elizabeth.

"What's he doing here?" Rodney blurted.

"Excuse me?" Caldwell replied. "I don't think that's your decision, Doctor McKay."

John stood and quickly walked over to the door. "You want the 'gate on P4J-631, don't you?" he asked in a low hiss. He grabbed Rodney's arm in a tight grip and gave him a significant look.

"Oh, umm, yes?"

"Then we need the Daedalus, don't we?" John replied, tugging Rodney toward the side of the conference table where Ronon and Teyla sat.

"But -"

"That's why Elizabeth asked Colonel Caldwell to be here," Sheppard said, squeezing Rodney's arm harder.

Rodney glanced at Caldwell, who watched the exchange with a sour expression.

"Right." Rodney pulled his arm out of John's grip and sat. "Umm, sorry," he muttered toward Caldwell.

Caldwell held his glare for a moment longer, then turned to Weir, "Are we ready to get started? I need to get back to my ship."

Elizabeth gave Rodney a pointed look, then said, "We are only waiting for Doctor Beckett -"

"I'm here," Carson said as he hurried into the conference room. "Apologies. I needed to gather the last of the data on the quelen fever." He took the last chair next to Radek as the conference room doors twisted closed.

"All right," Elizabeth said. "Now that we're all here." She glanced around the table and then at the tablet computer next to her. "Carson, since you brought up the quelen fever, let's start there."

"Certainly," Carson replied. "The final count was twenty-seven full-blown cases and four more with lesser symptoms. All of our people are recovered …"

Rodney tuned out Beckett's report about the medical response to the quelen fever. He didn't need the reminder of how sick he'd been. Even though Beckett had released him from the infirmary two days ago, he tired more easily than he wanted to admit, and he still didn't remember much of what had happened once the jumper crashed.

He remembered John talking to him and had a vague impression of Teyla softly singing as she brushed something cool over his burning face and arms. He thought he remembered Carson spending at least one night sitting next to his bed, telling him he would be all right even as it felt like he was burning alive.

He stared at his hands as other memories surfaced.

Eleven-year-old Rodney watched as a nurse checked the IV in the back of his hand. A doctor stood at the end of the bed talking to his parents, and Rodney tried to listen without looking like he was eavesdropping.

"Your son is fortunate," the doctor explained as he studied a clipboard in his hand. "According to the tests we've done so far, he is hypoglycaemic but not diabetic. That's rare. Usually, the two go hand in hand."

"So he's fine," his father said.

"Not exactly," the doctor replied, looking up from the chart in his hand. "You will need to take certain precautions."

"What does that mean?" his mother asked.

"You will need to watch him more closely and make sure he eats regular meals. He told the school nurse that he hadn't eaten anything since the previous evening."

The doctor glanced from his mother to his father. "Something about a science experiment he'd been working on?"

"He's always working on some silly idea or other," his mother said. "I can't keep track of what he's doing most of the time."

Rodney shrank further into the bed. The idea wasn't silly, he wanted to shout, but he had learned a long time ago his parents weren't interested in hearing his theories.

The doctor looked up from the clipboard, then shook his head. "We've put him on a glucose drip to get his numbers back up," he continued. "We'll keep him on the drip overnight and let him recover from the effects of the reaction. You can take him home in the morning."

"So this wasn't much of an emergency then," his father said with an impatient glance at Rodney. "I was pulled out of an important meeting for nothing?"

The doctor frowned. "I wouldn't say that. If the nurse at his school hadn't acted as fast as she did, this could have been very serious."

His mother picked up her coat and purse. "I need to get back to the house. Jeannie will be coming home from school soon."

"I'll see you at home," his father replied, opening the hospital room door. "If I get back to the office before the end of business, maybe I can salvage something of the deal I've been working on for the past two weeks."

"You do not wish to stay with him?" the doctor asked, clearly surprised. "Hospitals can be scary places for a child."

"He's old enough to stay alone," his father replied. "Call us when you're ready to release him."

And people wonder why you go to such extremes to avoid getting sick, Rodney mentally grumbled.

He felt an elbow jab him in the side and blinked.

"Rodney," Elizabeth said with a concerned glance at Beckett.

"Hmm?"

"I said, what can you tell us about the Asurian tower."

Rodney shook off the bad childhood memories and focused on the present as he opened the laptop. He pulled up the file with the video Teyla shot of the pillar and symbols on the tower floor and ceiling and explained the problems accessing the Asurian database before the systems shut down.

"Do you have any ideas what these symbols could mean?" Elizabeth asked, studying the pictures on the screen behind Radek and Beckett.

Rodney shook his head. "I didn't really have time to study them. I took stills off the video and sent them to the translation team. They might have something back in a week or two."

Weir nodded and made a note on the computer.

"Maybe we should just harvest the 'gate and forget about the tower," Caldwell said.

"And leave a potential information source untouched?" Rodney demanded. "Are you insane?"

Caldwell scowled at him, and Rodney felt John kick him under the table.

"This is too good of an opportunity to pass up," Rodney continued in a less strident tone.

"I don't see how," Caldwell countered. "The Asurians were made by the Ancients, correct? They are just machines. Copies of the original."

"Learning machines," Rodney corrected, "that have been running independently for thousands of years. We know at least some of them have wanted to be more autonomous. They could have figured out the solution to any number of problems since the Ancients created them."

Caldwell glared across the table. "You said the tower locked you out of the system after a few minutes. How do you propose getting back in?"

"I'm …" Rodney scowled at the wall behind Caldwell's head. "I'm still working on that. I'm sure once I'm back inside the tower, I can analyse the systems and figure it out."

Colonel Caldwell shook his head and turned to Elizabeth. "Doctor Weir, I don't see how -"

"I might have a solution," Zelenka offered with a tentative glance at Rodney.

"Go ahead," Elizabeth said.

Radek nodded. "You said it looked like the village was modelled on the pattern of rings you found inside the tower, yes?"

"It is possible," Teyla replied.

"So the townspeople saw the pattern?" Radek probed.

"Based on what we saw of the villages near the tower, they must have," Teyla replied. "The similarities to the pattern were too many for it to be a coincidence."

Rodney stared at Zelenka, then scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, that's just great."

"What?" Sheppard asked.

Rodney pursed his lips into a thin line. "Radek thinks the lockdown was because of the ATA gene, not necessarily anything I was doing with the console."

"Yes," Zelenka replied. "If the Asurians were determined to assert their independence from their creators, it would make sense they would program their systems to detect the ATA gene to act not as a key, but as a lock."

John glanced from Rodney to Zelenka. "So if we send a team of people who don't have the gene -"

"The tower's security measures won't react," Rodney finished with a disgruntled sniff.

"I'd still like to have the Daedalus there, just in case the team we send into the tower runs into trouble," Elizabeth said with a glance at Caldwell.

"How long is this going to take?" Caldwell asked. "We're going to be overdue back to Earth as it is."

"It should not take more than a few days to download the database and do a preliminary survey," Radek said. "We would then have time to review the data and plan a better search of the tower once Daedalus returns to Atlantis." He glanced from Rodney to Elizabeth and added, "We might find information on what happened that forced both the native population and the Asurians to abandon the planet."

"That sounds workable," Elizabeth said. "Colonel Caldwell?"

Caldwell nodded. "I suppose we can spare a few more days here. I'll alert my crew that the mission to P4J-631 will involve more than just harvesting the 'gate."

"Thank you, Colonel," Elizabeth said.

"In addition to the security team, I'll also put together a team of Marines to search for drones and any other weapons that might be there," John added.

Elizabeth nodded and made another note on her computer.

Caldwell grunted and stood. "If there's nothing else …" He let the sentence hang.

"No, I think that's everything involving the Daedalus," Elizabeth replied.

Caldwell glanced around the table, then left the conference room.

Radek pushed his chair away from the table "If there is nothing else," he said and stood, "I will start on a list -"

"Hang on, Doc," John said, raising his hand.

"Colonel Sheppard?" Elizabeth asked.

Rodney glanced at John, then crossed his arms over his chest and refused to look anyone in the eye.

Sheppard waited until the conference room doors twisted closed behind Caldwell, then took a deep breath.

"There's something McKay and I need to tell you." He glanced at Beckett and Zelenka and added, "All of you."

Carson narrowed his eyes. "I know that look," he said, staring first at John before turning to Rodney.

"I do, too," Elizabeth said with a frown. "Radek, you might want to sit down."

Zelenka stared at Elizabeth, then swallowed and sank into his chair.

"All right, let's have it," Elizabeth said to Sheppard.

Rodney felt John's elbow in his ribs again. "Tell her," Sheppard ordered in a low voice.

Rodney scowled in reply.

"Rodney?" Elizabeth asked.

John jerked his head toward Weir, and Rodney pursed his lips into a thin line. "There's, umm, something you need to know." Rodney hesitated. "About the link."

"I knew it!" Beckett exclaimed and sat forward in his chair. "How many times -"

"Carson," Elizabeth admonished.

Carson blew out a breath but sat back in his seat.

Rodney took a deep breath, glanced at John, then explained everything that happened in the jumper when they went to find Sheppard.

"Three weeks," Carson said, shaking his head once Rodney was done. "Why did you wait nearly a month to say anything about this?"

"Because I wanted to talk to Sheppard first," Rodney retorted. "But he wouldn't -"

"You know now," John said, cutting across Rodney's explanation. "That's the important thing."

Carson glared from Rodney to John. "That's not the point, Colonel."

"All right," Elizabeth said, turning to Rodney and John's side of the table. "I need to know how you plan to deal with this new development."

Rodney glanced at John and shrugged. "Umm."

"The diary did state this would happen," Radek said into the heavy silence.

"Is that your way of saying 'I told you so'?" Rodney asked with a scowl.

"It is not that," Radek replied. "According to the diary, the two women worked for years to perfect their bond once it was established. You and Colonel Sheppard have also been linked by the mental bond for …" He glanced from Rodney to John.

"Two years," John supplied.

Radek nodded and continued, "The fact that the link is stronger now more than before is only logical."

"More Spock," Rodney grumbled. "Since you've done all of this research, why don't you tell us how to keep this from happening again."

"You don't," Radek replied. "I do not think it is possible."

Rodney clenched his hands on the table. "Not the answer I wanted," he growled.

John rested his hand on Rodney's shoulder. "Did the diary say anything about how to control this at least?" He glanced at Elizabeth and added, "At least keep the reaction from being so overwhelming?"

Radek shrugged. "I do not remember all of the text. I can go through it again if you like."

"Do that," John said. "Let us know if you find anything."

Elizabeth pursed her lips into a thin line and rested her arms on the table. "Perhaps we should consider bringing Doctor Heightmeyer -"

"No," Rodney said with a scowl.

"Rodney -"

"Absolutely not," Rodney replied. "The last thing I need is someone psycho-analysing this."

"She might be able to offer some suggestions that could help," Elizabeth pressed.

"I'm with Rodney," John said. "We don't need more people knowing about the link."

Elizabeth studied John, then glanced at Rodney. "All right, I will table the suggestion. For now."

Rodney glanced at John, then stood. "I have work to do," he muttered at the room in general and turned toward the conference room doors.

~*~*~*~ SGA ~*~*~*~

A few hours later, John exited the transporter and wandered down the hall toward Rodney's lab. He wasn't surprised to see the lab door closed and was about to wave his hand over the sensor when Radek stepped out of his lab.

"Oh, Colonel Sheppard," Radek said. "I did not expect to see you so soon after …" He let the sentence peter out.

John glanced up and down the empty hallway. "I don't suppose you found anything we can use?"

Radek pushed up his glasses and motioned John into his lab.

"Umm, no, not yet," Zelenka replied once the lab door closed. "I found the section in the diary describing how the two women used the link to communicate over distance." He unlocked the bottom drawer in his desk and pulled out a stack of paper. "But I have not found anything on how they controlled the effects of the bond. Perhaps," he started to say and stopped.

"What?" John asked.

"I have been thinking for some time about how some aspects of the mental bond are … missing from all of our data searches."

"We know the Ancients weren't big on writing personal things down," John replied.

"Yes, yes, that is true. But to have so very little information about such an important step in their ascension?" Radek shook his head. "It is odd."

"And?" John prompted when Radek hesitated.

"Hmm?"

"What was your idea?" John asked, forcing down the spurt of impatience.

"Oh! Yes. Sorry." Radek set the translation on the edge of his desk. "I wonder if part of the reason was because the Ancients already had those skills."

John stuffed his hands into his trouser pockets. "I'm not following."

Radek leaned against his desk and pinched his lower lip. "I read your report about the people you found living inside the Ancient sanctuary last year."

John had a flash memory of the cloister and Teer.

"You mentioned that the people living inside the cloister spent much of their time in meditation."

"Yeah," John drawled. "I wasn't very good at it."

Radek smiled. "It is possible that is why so many of the instructions on how to control the mental bond are missing."

John paced from Radek's desk to the work table and back again. "But that was Teer and her people. They weren't real Ancients."

"True. However, I think my hypothesis has some merit. Consider the chamber we found last fall with the cubicles."

John grimaced when he remembered Rodney trapped inside a tiny, gas-filled, compartment. "What you're saying is the Ancients were already taking steps to control the various effects of trying to ascend even if they weren't linked?"

"Yes," Radek replied. "And the information for controlling the mental bond wasn't recorded because, to them, it wasn't important. It was part of their daily routine. It would be akin to us reporting to the SGC every time we had a movie night or played a game of chess."

"Great," John said. "So where does that leave me and McKay?"

Radek pushed up his glasses. "I'm afraid it means you and Rodney will have to find your own path," he replied. "The little information Rodney and I found in the Ancient database a few months ago only described some of the abilities of those who were bonded. There was no mention of how they mitigated the effects of their mental link."

"That's not the news I wanted to hear, but I guess it makes some sense. Thanks for trying," John said, walking toward the door.

"I will keep looking," Radek offered as John opened the door.

John nodded and walked back to Rodney's lab, weighing the significance of what Radek had told him. He absently waved his hand over the sensor and was surprised when the door opened.

"Hey," John said, entering the lab and walking over to the work table where Rodney sat typing on a laptop.

Rodney looked up from the computer in front of him and frowned. "Just come right in," he groused.

"The door wasn't locked," John replied. He walked around the table and glanced at the string of mathematical equations and the model of a wormhole on the screen.

"That doesn't look like the 'gate bridge."

"It's, umm, it's not," Rodney replied.

John caught McKay's deer-in-the-headlights expression and frowned.

"Okay," he drawled. "What is it?"

Rodney inched the computer away from John. "I've been, umm, working on a new …" he mumbled something unintelligible under his breath.

"Come again."

Rodney looked up and hesitated. "I said, I've been working on a new idea for collecting the vacuum energy we need to power the Zed-PMs."

John stared at him in stunned silence. First the link, and now this. He scowled at the computer and crossed his arms over his chest. "Any other secrets you've been keeping from me?"

"It's not like that," Rodney replied.

John pointed at the computer. "Really?"

Rodney glanced at the computer. "Okay, it's a little like that. But not for the reason you think. I'm not trying to recreate the Arcturus project." He pushed the laptop toward John and pointed to the lines of mathematical notation. "Radek and I have been working on the idea of pulling vacuum energy from another universe."

John was surprised to hear Rodney was working with Zelenka. Maybe he learnt something after all, he thought as he pushed down the flash of irritation.

"Other universes? I thought that was just science fiction."

A wry smile crossed Rodney's face before quickly disappearing. "Tell me where we are living again and how we got here?"

John smiled. "All right, fair point."

Rodney huffed out a breath and typed another string of equations into the computer.

"So how would this plan of yours work?"

Rodney pointed at the computer. "We know we can punch a hole between two galaxies thanks to the stargate. I'm trying to figure out is if there's a way to do the same thing, on a much smaller scale, obviously, between universes."

John considered the idea and had to admit the way Rodney explained it, there was a certain logic to it. "Does anyone else know you two are doing this?"

"Of course," Rodney retorted. "I'm not a complete idiot."

John held his tongue.

"I told Elizabeth about my idea weeks ago. And I've had a few emails back and forth with Sam - Colonel Carter."

"And?"

"Elizabeth wasn't so sure about the idea," Rodney replied. "Carter thinks it might be possible, but the math isn't working. I'm missing something."

John sat on the stool across from Rodney and nodded. "All right. Keep me informed."

Rodney glanced at him with a surprised expression. "You aren't mad?"

John shook his head. "Why would I be mad?"

"After everything with the Arcturus device, I thought you would immediately shut down any other ideas I had about harvesting vacuum energy.

"Is that why you took so long to tell me about this little project?"

Rodney fiddled with a spare crystal lying on the table and shrugged. "Maybe."

John frowned. "It wasn't the idea of vacuum energy that was the problem," he said, making sure Rodney was looking at him. "The problem was you not taking the time to ensure your experiment was safe." He sat back on his stool. "That isn't happening this time."

"Oh, umm, okay then." Rodney dropped the crystal back onto the table. "I'll let you know when I sort it out."

John smiled. "You do that."

Rodney shook his head and focused on the computer. "Was there some reason you came barging in here?"

"Yeah, there was," John said. "I wanted to talk to you about the link."

Rodney flinched. "I don't want Heightmeyer -"

John held up a hand, and Rodney stopped speaking. "No argument from me."

"What do you want to talk about, then?"

"What you felt." John hesitated. "Right before you guys showed up in that clearing."

Rodney stared at him. "You mean, umm, when it seemed you were giving up?"

John grimaced.

Rodney glared across the table. "Is that why you've been so on edge since we found you?"

John crossed his arms over his chest. "Wouldn't you be? It's not exactly something I'm proud to admit."

"I thought it was because I had felt, well, everything. It puts a whole new spin on invasion of privacy." Rodney gave him a sideways glance. "I didn't do that on purpose, you know."

"Yeah, I know that," John replied with a smile.

Rodney nodded. "As for the rest, we all saw what …" Rodney swallowed. "We all saw what Kolya and that Wraith did to you," he said softly. "The fact that you survived at all was nothing short of a miracle." Rodney looked down at his hands. "I doubt I would have survived even one feeding."

"The truth is, I would've settled for Doctor McKay, but I don't imagine I would enjoy his constant wailing."

John clenched his jaw but said nothing. No reason for Rodney to ever know about that, he decided.

Rodney's forehead creased in a frown, and John forced himself to relax.

"I, umm, remember what you said while I was, umm …" Rodney paused and glanced across the table. "I don't think you're weak or something for wanting it all to stop if that's what you're so worried about."

"I don't think you're weak or something for wanting it all to stop if that's what you're so worried about," Rodney said.

Trust McKay to boil everything down in the most blunt of terms, John thought with a smile.

"Thanks. I think." He paused and weighed whether or not he should bring up the other thing he wanted to talk to Rodney about.

You agreed no more secrets regarding the link, he reminded himself and blew out a breath. "Since you brought up what happened in the jumper, I think there's something else we should talk about."

Rodney pushed the computer to one side and crossed his arms on the table. "I already apologised for -"

John raised his hand, and Rodney stopped speaking.

"That's not it."

"Then what?" Rodney rested his head on his hands and closed his eyes.

Beckett said he was still recovering, John thought. Maybe this should wait.

Rodney opened his eyes and stared across the work table. "Spit it out already."

John sighed and leaned forward with his arms resting on the table and his hands clasped together. "You said it on the way back to the jumper, and then Radek said something similar in the meeting today."

"What did I say?"

John frowned. "You said the link was changing. Getting stronger. I think what Radek described with those two women in the diary is happening to us."

Rodney opened his eyes and sat up. "Zelenka said they spent all their time working on strengthening the bond once they completed the trials. We haven't done anything like that." He stared at John. "Have we?"

"Maybe not consciously," John replied, "but yeah, I think maybe we have. How do you explain what happened in the jumper."

"We decided that was an outlier. It wasn't normal." John heard the hint of denial in Rodney's tone and wondered who McKay was trying to convince, John or himself.

"But that's not the only difference," John countered. He paused and stared at his clasped hands. "I told you I had noticed some new things too."

Rodney nodded. "The headaches and itch lasting longer."

"Those aren't the only things," John admitted.

"Oh? Now who's been keeping secrets?"

"It's not like that," John countered. "There just hasn't been a good time to tell you about them."

Rodney narrowed his eyes. He started to say something, stopped, then shook his head. "So what else is different?"

Now or never, John decided. "Lots of little things," he replied.

"Like?"

"Like, I always seem to know where you are now."

Rodney frowned. "That's not new."

"This isn't like looking for you when something happens off-world or when you end up trapped in a sinking jumper."

Rodney flinched, and John mentally kicked himself. "Before I had to concentrate on following the link," he explained. "Now, I just … know."

"So you are inside my head." Rodney scowled.

"No!" John stood and paced back and forth on his side of the table. "Before it was more of a feeling. Like a rope tugging me in a particular direction."

"And now?"

"Now, it's different. I'm not consciously thinking about it. I'm not trying to find you. I just …" John stopped pacing and rested his palms on the table.

"Know," Rodney finished for him.

"Yeah."

Rodney sat back on his stool and crossed his arms over his chest. "How long?"

John frowned.

"How long has this been happening?" Rodney clarified.

John shrugged. "Not long. I didn't really notice until we were back from Keota."

Rodney freed one of his arms and rubbed his forehead. "What do we do about it?"

"Radek suggested meditation," John offered.

Rodney snorted. "You told me you fell asleep when you tried meditating in that sanctuary."

John smiled. "True. But Radek thinks the reason you guys aren't finding a lot of information in the database on how the Ancients controlled this stuff is because they were already doing everything they needed to even if they weren't a bonded pair."

"Lovely," Rodney muttered. "So basically, what you're telling me is, we're screwed."

John grimaced. There was another option, he knew. But he wasn't sure he was ready to reconsider the idea of ascension. He glanced across the table at Rodney staring at the spare crystal lying on the work table. And Rodney's in no condition to talk about it right now, anyway.

"Hey," John said, and Rodney jumped. "I think we could both do with a night off. Let's get out of here."

"I need to work on this," Rodney said, reaching for the laptop. "Not to mention figuring out why the macro for the 'gate bridge still doesn't work."

"Not tonight," John said. "Come on. It will still all be here in the morning."

Rodney sighed, pushed the stool away from the work table, then stopped. "Does make you wonder, though," he mused.

"Wonder about what?" John asked.

"Oh, umm, Kolya." Rodney swallowed.

"Kolya? What about him?"

"How many other spies do you think he has in Ladon Radim's government."

John shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Something tells me that won't be a problem from now on."

"Oh?"

John smiled. "We know how the Genii do things. I get the feeling Ladon has been cleaning house since everything that happened."

Rodney twitched. "Good point."

John pushed thoughts about the Genii and the link to one side and glanced at his watch. "Come on. Night off, remember?"

Rodney powered down the computer and stood. "What did you have in mind?"

"Dinner," John replied. "And then I thought we would have a team movie night."

"I could eat. What movie did you have in mind?"

"The Maltese Falcon," John replied with a grin. "Humphrey Bogart, Sidney Greenstreet. It's going to be great."

FIN