John tapped off the radio and turned to McKay lying on his side, half under the work table.

"No blood," he muttered and winced when he saw the bruise forming across Rodney's forehead.

He reached for Rodney's wrist to check for a pulse and frowned when he saw a small black cube clutched in Rodney's right hand.

"What the hell?" John muttered, staring at the softly glowing cube.

He reached forward to take the cube, then froze and pulled his hand away. "Let Beckett deal with it," he told himself.

He pressed his fingers to McKay's wrist and blew out a silent breath when he felt the slow, steady beat. He's alive at least, John thought.

"Rodney? Can you hear me?" John called, tapping Rodney's cheek.

McKay didn't react to his voice or the tapping.

"McKay!" John said a little louder.

"Colonel Sheppard?" a male voice called from the doorway.

John twisted around and saw a pair of med-techs enter the lab. He recognised Jason, pushing a gurney, but the female tech carrying a large bag over one shoulder was one of the new recruits recently brought out by the Daedalus.

"Over here," John said. He straightened and waved the medical team over to the work table.

"Colonel Sheppard," Jason greeted. He left the gurney in the hallway and knelt beside McKay. "This is Shannon," he added, nodding to the dark-haired woman behind him.

"Sir," Shannon said.

John stood as Shannon knelt, opened the medical kit, and grabbed a pair of gloves.

"What happened?" Jason asked as Shannon found a stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff in the bag and scooted under the table.

"No idea," John replied. "I found him like this. He was fine when I talked to him about half an hour ago."

Shannon wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Rodney's arm and inflated it. "Pressure's good,' she said a moment later. She set the ends of a stethoscope in her ears and listened to Rodney's chest. "Good breath sounds. Heart rate is slow but stable."

Jason nodded and made a note on the tablet computer in his hand.

Shannon removed the cuff and wrapped the stethoscope around her shoulders. "Doctor McKay, can you hear me?"

Rodney didn't so much as twitch.

"He didn't respond when I tried either," John said.

Shannon gave him an absent nod and probed the bruise on Rodney's forehead. "Contusion over his right eye," she added. "No other visible signs of injury, but patient is non-responsive."

She crawled out from under the table, replaced the stethoscope and blood pressure cuff in the medkit, and added, "There is some sort of device in his hand."

"Don't touch it," John warned. Shannon glanced at him, and he added, "I think it's some sort of Ancient artefact."

Shannon pulled her hand back in surprise. "Understood, sir." She stood and turned to Jason. "I think it's safe to move him."

Jason nodded and set the computer on Rodney's desk. "I'll get the gurney."

He disappeared into the hallway for a moment, then returned, pushing a gurney in front of him. He parked the gurney next to Rodney's desk, lowered it, and set the wheels.

"We'll need to get him out from under the table first," Shannon said. "You take his shoulders. I'll crawl under and take his legs."

"Ready?" Jason asked once Shannon was in position.

Shannon nodded, and together, they carefully moved Rodney out from under the table.

Jason took Rodney's shoulders in a different hold and glanced at Shannon. "One. Two. Three," he counted, and on 'three', they lifted Rodney onto the gurney.

Once Jason had Rodney secured, he pushed the gurney out of the lab while Shannon collected their gear.

John followed the medical team back to the transporter and tapped his earpiece as the doors closed on Jason, Shannon, and the gurney. "Sheppard to Teyla and Ronon."

"Colonel?" Teyla replied. "We expected you and Rodney to be here by now. Is everything all right?"

"No," John replied, waving his hand over the sensor. The transporter doors opened, and John stepped inside. "I just found Rodney passed out on the floor in his lab. Meet me at the infirmary." John tapped off the radio without waiting for Teyla's acknowledgement and pressed the map section for the infirmary.

What the hell could have happened in twenty minutes? he wondered.

The doors opened, and John met Teyla and Ronon as they came around a different corner near the infirmary.

"John? What happened?" Teyla asked.

"Don't know," John replied.

He pushed through the infirmary doors, and his worry notched up another level when no one tried to stop him. Jason pushed the empty gurney out of the way as Carson stood over Rodney's bed. Sharon and another nurse gathered supplies from a cabinet. Shannon read off the medical team's notes to Carson as Beckett checked McKay.

"Get the scanner set up," Carson ordered as he listened to Rodney's chest.

"Yes, Doctor Beckett," Shannon replied.

She set her computer on the roll-away table and crossed the room to the large Ancient scanner in the corner.

John motioned Ronon and Teyla against the wall near the door and watched as Beckett and his team worked.

"What about the device?" the nurse taking a blood sample asked, pointing at Rodney's hand.

"Leave it for now," Carson replied, wrapping the stethoscope around his shoulders. "Our first priority is the head trauma."

The nurse nodded, taped a cotton ball over the puncture site, gathered her supplies and the vials of blood, and disappeared through the door on the other side of the infirmary.

Shannon wheeled the Ancient scanner over to Rodney and positioned the device over the bed.

Carson powered up the computer attached to the scanner, then pressed three of the large gem-like buttons on the side of the Ancient device.

John watched as the scanner slowly moved back and forth over McKay's body. "It didn't react to the cube," he murmured.

"Cube?" Ronon asked.

John waved off the question as the scanner stopped moving. "I'll tell you later."

Carson studied the computer and nodded. "No skull fractures. He was lucky."

"That is good news," Teyla whispered.

John nodded and hissed in a breath when Carson spotted them.

"Get him settled and see about reducing the swelling on the welt," Beckett said to Sharon. "Set up an EEG, and I want his vitals checked every two hours. I'll be right back."

"Yes, Doctor," Sharon replied.

Carson picked up a tablet computer and walked over to John as the nurse with Sharon moved a privacy screen around the bed.

"Colonel," Carson greeted with a somber expression.

"How is he?" John asked.

Carson gazed at the privacy screen, then nodded toward his office. "Come with me."

John frowned but followed Carson into the office. He nodded at Teyla to take the chair in front of Beckett's desk. Ronon stood against the wall next to the door. John closed the office door and leaned against the filing cabinet.

"How bad is it?" John asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure," Carson replied. "Whatever happened to Rodney happened so quickly that he didn't have any time to react. The bruise on his face is likely from him hitting his head as he fell. He's lucky that he didn't fracture his skull in the fall, but he is concussed."

"Is that why he's still unconscious?" John asked.

Carson hesitated. "Maybe."

"You do not believe the head injury is truly the cause for his present condition," Teyla said.

"No." Carson held out the tablet computer to John. "Worse, I don't think he is merely unconscious."

John glanced at the screen and felt his stomach lurch. "Coma?"

"I'm not certain," Carson said. "That's why I've ordered the EEG. But it's something we have to consider. While the initial scans of his skull show some swelling, it's not enough to explain his persistent state of unconsciousness."

"I was talking to him less than an hour ago," John said. "He sounded fine."

Carson nodded and took back the computer. "That's what Shannon said in her report." Carson glanced at the screen. "It's also the part that has me the most puzzled," he admitted.

"This couldn't be some weird delayed reaction to the quelen fever, could it?" John asked.

"No," Carson replied. "Rodney fully recovered from that weeks ago, and nothing in my initial exam just now pointed to an illness. We took blood samples, but I don't think we'll find much." He shook his head. "Generally speaking, Rodney is perfectly healthy. There's no medical explanation for what's happening with him."

"He was clutching that cube in his hand," John said.

Carson nodded. "I know. Unfortunately, we've been unable to really examine it. The scanner didn't get any clear images of the interior, and Rodney refuses to let go of it."

"Or he can't," Ronon offered from his post near the door.

"Also a possibility," Carson agreed.

"So what do we do?" John asked.

"I'm not sure. I've ordered an EEG so I can get an idea of what's going on inside that brain of his," Carson replied. "Otherwise, he seems stable. He just isn't waking up."

"May we see him?" Teyla asked.

Carson hesitated, then nodded. "All right. Maybe hearing a few familiar voices will help bring him out of whatever this is."

John opened the door but stopped when Beckett turned toward the medical lab. "Carson?"

"Go on. I want to check the status of Rodney's lab work. I'll be right there."

John nodded and let Teyla and Ronon precede him out of the office.

The privacy curtain around Rodney's bed was gone. John noted the extra monitoring equipment surrounding the bed as he followed Teyla across the room. He recognised the machine tracking Rodney's vitals. From what he could tell from the readings, McKay seemed stable. None of the numbers were blinking, and there were no alarms. He did not recognise the second monitor recording a single, low-frequency wave pattern and assumed it was attached to the band of sensors around Rodney's head.

The bruise across McKay's forehead had settled into a swollen, blueish-purple welt that obstructed the corner of his eye. McKay's arms rested at his sides, and John saw the cube was still clutched in Rodney's right hand.

"Rodney?" Teyla said. She reached forward and squeezed Rodney's lax fingers. "Can you hear me?"

McKay didn't physically react to Teyla's voice or touch, and John didn't see any change on either of the monitors.

"What can you see of the cube?" John asked from the foot of the bed.

Teyla leaned over the bed. "There is some sort of etching covering the cube's surface."

"Can you see what it is?" John asked.

Teyla shook her head. "They could be words in Ancient text, but it is difficult to be sure. Rodney's fingers are obstructing parts of the surface."

Ronon walked around to Rodney's right side and picked up McKay's hand. He turned Rodney's wrist and squinted. "Only some of the words are glowing," he reported and tried to hook a finger around the cube.

"Ronon, what are you doing?" Teyla asked.

"If Beckett is right, we need to get it away from him," Ronon replied. He grimaced and glanced at John. "Can't get a grip on it. He won't let go."

"Ronon!" Carson exclaimed, stopping next to John.

"What?" Ronon replied and tried again to pry the cube out of Rodney's hand.

"Leave the cube alone," Carson ordered.

"But -" Ronon said.

"If that device is the cause of Rodney's coma," Carson interrupted, "I don't know what will happen if we suddenly take it away from him."

Ronon glanced from Carson to John, then laid Rodney's arm on the bed.

"We can't leave him like this," John argued.

"No, we can't," Carson replied. "But until I know more about what that device does or how to shut it off, I won't forcibly take it from him either."

John scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's that damn cubicle all over again," he growled.

"Not quite," Carson replied. "The cubicles induced a dream-like state." He pointed to the pattern on the new monitor. "According to the EEG, Rodney's brain activity only registers as delta waves."

"What does that mean?" Ronon asked.

"This," Carson pointed to the band of sensors encircling Rodney's head, "is measuring the level of activity in Rodney's brain. When you are awake, your brain is active. It is thinking, planning, and alert to everything your senses tell it. That activity level would appear on this machine as a series of jagged peaks and valleys, or beta waves. When the four of you were trapped in the memory cubicles last year, your brains reacted as if you were dreaming."

"More like having nightmares," John murmured.

Carson smiled. "Just so. Your brain wave patterns back then resembled a series of regular rolling hills. Those were theta waves. Your brains were somewhat active due to the induced dream state, but not entirely conscious."

"Rodney's pattern is neither of those," Teyla said.

"No," Carson replied with a worried glance at the machine. "Rodney's brain pattern is currently showing very little activity. He is not dreaming, nor is he aware of what is happening around him. His brain is maintaining involuntary functions such as breathing, but little else."

"What will happen to him?" Teyla asked.

Carson pressed his lips into a thin line. "I don't know. If he doesn't regain consciousness, his body could remain in this state for days or even months with external support."

John paced away from the bed.

"Colonel?" Carson asked.

John ignored him and kept pacing.

"John?" Carson tried again.

"He wouldn't want to live like that," John said in a hoarse whisper.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Carson replied. "It's only been an hour since you found him. I'll not be giving up on Rodney quite yet. We both know how stubborn he can be."

John glanced at McKay's motionless body and nodded.

Carson glanced around the room, then whispered. "Is the link telling you anything?"

John shook his head. "There's no itch, no pain. Nothing."

Carson frowned.

"What?"

Carson hesitated. "Rodney told me something after …" He glanced at John. "After you were infected with the retro-virus. He said there was another component to the link, more than just the tingling feeling or a pain spike when you were injured. He described it as a sort of feeling in the background, letting him know the link was there."

John crossed his arms over his chest. "He's never said anything about that to me."

Carson smiled. "I'm not surprised. Rodney told me he wasn't even aware of this background feeling until he thought it was gone."

John glanced at Rodney, then closed his eyes and concentrated on the link. There was something there, he realised. Not the itch. Something more subtle, just at the edge of his awareness.

"Okay." John opened his eyes. "There is … something. Sort of a low hum, I guess. I can't really describe it. I just know the link is still there."

"Good." Carson patted John's shoulder. "You need to tell me if that changes."

John nodded. He walked back to the end of the bed, stared at the monitors for a few seconds, then made a decision. "Teyla, stay here. If anything happens with Rodney, radio me and Ronon."

"Where are you going?" Teyla asked as John motioned to Dex and stepped toward the exit.

"Back to McKay's lab," John replied. "If we're going to help him, we have to figure out what that cube is."

John glanced at Rodney's slack expression, then turned on his heel and led Ronon out of the infirmary and back to the transporter.

"What are we looking for?" Ronon asked as the transporter doors opened on the quiet science section.

"Any notes Rodney made about the cube. We also need to see if there is a second cube in the lab."

"Why?"

John ignored the question and waved his hand over the sensor for Rodney's lab door. The door whispered open, and John entered the room. He pushed the image of finding Rodney lying on the floor from his mind as he crossed to the work table where several Ancient items sat along with a half-empty storage crate. John glanced at the various items then looked inside the crate.

Ronon stopped at the end of the table and picked up a folder. "Sheppard," he said, holding up the folder. "Looks like a report."

"What's it say?" John asked as he reached into the crate.

"Colonel Sheppard? Umm, sir?" a timid voice said before Ronon could reply.

John looked up from the crate and saw a young Japanese woman standing in the doorway.

"Doctor Kusanagi?" John replied. "If you're looking for Doctor McKay -"

"No," Kusanagi said and took a hesitant step into the lab. "I heard what happened. I came to find you and apologise."

John glanced at Ronon. "Apologise? What for?"

Kusanagi bowed her head. "I believe what has happened to Doctor McKay was my fault."

John heard Ronon growl low in his throat and casually stepped between Dex and the scientist.

"What makes you say that?" John asked.

Doctor Kusanagi nodded to the crate. "I asked Doctor McKay for assistance with some of the items Major Lorne's team retrieved from M9R-174."

John felt his stomach muscles clench. "You mean you don't know what any of these things do?" He turned to Ronon. "I thought you said there was a report."

"Yep," Ronon said, holding up the folder. "Not much in it. Mostly descriptions."

"That is why I had Doctor McNab bring these items to Doctor McKay." Doctor Kusanagi nodded to the work table. "My team had not been able to discern what any of these items were used for. We could not even power many of them on." She looked down at her hands clasped loosely together in front of her. "I had hoped Doctor McKay would have better luck."

She paused and glanced around the lab. "None of this would have happened if I had not done that."

So much for the easy solution, John thought. Now what was he supposed to do?

John pinched the bridge of his nose. "What happened wasn't your fault," he said with a gentle smile.

"It is kind of you to say so," she replied. "If there is anything I can do to help, please let me know." Doctor Kusanagi glanced from John to Ronon, then gave John a tiny smile and backed out of the lab.

"Now what?" Ronon asked once she was gone.

John shook his head. "I'm not really sure." he walked over to the work table and reached for one of the Ancient items.

"You sure you want to do that?" Ronon asked.

"All of Kusanagi's team have the gene. So does McKay. They handled all of these things, and according to what we just heard, they couldn't get any of them to work."

"McKay got one of them to work," Ronon said.

John pulled his hand back from the table. "Yeah." He picked up the folder instead and flipped through the first few pages. "I'll go through this." He held up the report. "You check the rest of what's in the crate. Hopefully, we'll find another cube McKay's scientists can take apart."

Twenty minutes later, John had finished the report, and Ronon had all of the items from the crate laid out on the work table.

"No cube," Ronon said.

"There was no mention of a second cube here, either," John replied, closing the report. He stared at the items, wondering what their next move could be. He needed to talk to Lorne, he decided. Find out everything that happened on his last trip to M9R-174.

"Teyla to Colonel Sheppard."

John glanced at Ronon. "It's Teyla."

"Can't be good," Ronon replied.

John pursed his lips into a thin line and tapped his earpiece. "Sheppard here. Teyla? What's going on?"

"I am not certain," Teyla replied. "Doctor Beckett is concerned about Rodney. You and Ronon should return to the infirmary."

"We'll be right there." John tapped off his radio and turned to the door. "We need to get back upstairs."

"What's wrong?" Ronon asked as John led the way out of the lab and made sure the door was locked.

"Teyla wasn't sure. She just said we needed to get back."

John forced himself not to run as he walked back to the transporter. Carson is with him, he reminded himself. If anything had happened, you would know it. Link or no link.

He entered the infirmary and stopped short when he saw the activity around Rodney's bed. He saw Teyla standing on the opposite side of the room from the medical huddle and headed toward her.

"Teyla?" John said.

Teyla shook her head. "I do not know. One moment, Rodney was fine. The next, the machine monitoring his brain activity sounded an alarm."

John clenched his hands into fists behind his back and watched as Carson and his team checked the monitor, then Rodney.

"I want to know the instant anything changes," Carson said.

"Yes, Doctor," Sharon replied.

"And find out what's taking the lab so long to run those tests."

Sharon nodded, and Carson crossed the room as the rest of the medical team dispersed.

"Carson?" John asked. "Is he -"

Carson held up a hand. "Rodney is still with us, but something has changed." He turned to the bed. "See for yourself."

John glanced at Rodney lying in the bed, unmoving, then at the EEG monitor and did a double take. "What the hell?"

"A very good question," Carson said. "According to this." He pointed at the series of jagged peaks and valleys on the monitor. "Rodney's brain has gone from minimal activity to being fully awake and aware."

"He's still out," Ronon said.

"Exactly," Carson replied. "Whatever Rodney is experiencing right now, he likely doesn't know he's dreaming. To him, whatever is happening seems very real."

John stared at the scrolling peaks and valleys on the EEG monitor and then at Rodney lying in the bed.

Not even a twitch, John thought. That was what was so disconcerting. He had sat with McKay countless times in the last three years after missions went south, but never before had Rodney been so still for so long.

"When Elizabeth was infected by those nanites, you thought she could still hear us. Do you think the same is true now? If I tried talking to him, would McKay be able to hear me?" John asked.

"I'm not sure," Carson replied. "This is not a typical coma. It's been induced by that, that device." He pointed to the cube clutched in Rodney's hand.

"Still worth a shot. "John bent and rested a hand on Rodney's arm. "Hey, buddy," he whispered. "It's John. Can you hear me?"

He didn't see or feel any reaction and tried again. "Rodney?"

John glanced up at Carson, who shook his head. "No real changes. He is still unaware of anything happening around him."

"You have not felt any changes with the link?" Teyla asked.

John shook his head. "Everything's still about the same. There's the background hum, but nothing else."

"Hmm," Carson murmured, and studied the monitor next to McKay's bed.

"What?" John asked.

"The cube is an Ancient device," Carson explained. "If the link hasn't reacted to Rodney's current state -"

John put the pieces together and glared at Beckett. "You're saying this is supposed to happen? That he's meant to be like this?" John scowled.

"It is something to consider," Teyla said. "If the device is meant to induce such a state, it would mean Rodney is in no physical danger."

John let go of Rodney's arm. "I'm not ready to just sit back and wait for that," he pointed to the glowing cube, "to finish with him." John clenched his hand in a loose fist, then reached toward the cube. "Maybe if I -"

"No," Carson replied. "Absolutely not."

"It might be the only way," John argued, hovering his hand over the cube.

Beckett shook his head. "That trick worked once, Colonel, and may I remind you the state you were in afterwards?"

"What are you talking about?" Ronon asked.

Carson gave John a steely glare, then turned to Ronon. "Colonel Sheppard is proposing he try touching the cube to try and free Rodney."

"Would that work?" Teyla asked.

"How should I know?" Carson exclaimed.

"It worked with the alcoves," John said.

"And you were lucky to survive that little adventure," Carson countered. "We have no idea how these cubes work. You could make the situation worse."

John glanced at McKay's slack features, and his hand inched closer to the cube. "We have to do something," he insisted.

Carson grasped John's wrist and moved his hand away from the cube. "Right now, Rodney is not in any physical danger. If you go blundering in, you could overload whatever the cube is doing, and then both of you would be in trouble."

John pulled his hand from Carson's hold and clutched the bed railing in a white-knuckle grip. "We can't just leave him like this." He heard the note of desperation in his tone and didn't care.

"I'm worried about him, too," Carson said. "But reckless experimentation isn't the way to help him."

John blew out a frustrated breath and nodded. "So, what do you suggest?"

"I need information," Carson replied. "Anything you can tell me about this cube, what it does, how it works, will help me help him."

"Was there anything in Rodney's lab that could help?" Teyla asked, glancing from John to Ronon.

John shook his head. "There was a crate of Ancient devices in the lab, but Doctor Kusanagi's team hadn't been able to learn much. She had hoped Rodney would be able to tell them more. That's why they were in the lab in the first place."

John studied Rodney's lax expression, pushed away from the bed, and turned to the exit.

"John?" Teyla asked.

"I'm going to see Elizabeth. I'll give her an update on what we know so far -"

"Not much," Ronon said.

John grimaced. "And I need to talk to Lorne. Stay with him." John nodded at Rodney. "Let me know if anything changes."

John left the infirmary and forced himself to walk down the hall to the nearest transporter. This is one hell of a way to avoid a team night, McKay, he thought with a worried glance back toward the infirmary.

He shook his head and waved his hand over the transporter sensor.

"Evening, Colonel Sheppard," the woman manning the control console said as John passed.

John barely nodded to her as he crossed the bridge. He hadn't bothered to radio Elizabeth to let her know he was coming and was relieved to find her in her office.

"John," Elizabeth greeted when John tapped on her office door. "Was there something …" Her welcoming smile turned to a frown. "What's wrong?"

John entered the office and closed the door. "We have a situation."

Elizabeth glanced at the control room. "What sort of situation?"

"Rodney is in the infirmary."

Elizabeth sat back in her chair with a startled expression. "What happened?"

John grasped the back of one of the chairs fronting the desk. "He was examining one of the artefacts Lorne's team brought back from M9R-174, and it activated."

Elizabeth sat forward in her chair. "How seriously is he hurt?" she asked, and John heard the note of concern in her tone.

John let go of the chair, paced a few steps away from the desk, and scrubbed a hand across his chin. "Carson says he's stable for now."

Elizabeth frowned. "If Carson says he's fine -"

John turned back to the desk and shook his head. "He's not fine. He's in a sort of coma."

John watched the parade of emotions cross Elizabeth's face. "Why didn't Doctor Beckett inform me about this immediately?"

"I only found Rodney in his lab a little over an hour ago when he didn't meet us for dinner. Carson is still running tests, but …" John hesitated.

"There's some sort of complication," Elizabeth said.

John's lips twisted into a wry smile. "You could say that. According to Carson, this isn't your typical sort of coma. Rodney's mind is active. He's just not responding to any of us."

"Not even …" Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

John shook his head.

Elizabeth nodded and motioned to the chairs in front of the desk. She waited until John sat, then picked up a pen and made a few notes on a pad of paper. "All right, what do we know about the artefact that caused this?"

"Not much," John replied. "Mostly because Rodney won't let go of it."

Elizabeth looked up in surprise. "He still has the device?"

John nodded. "A small cube." He held up his hands in an approximation of the cube's size. "Carson is afraid of what might happen if we try to take it away from him."

Elizabeth pressed her lips into a thin line and made more notes. "I see. What do you need?"

John grimaced. "According to Carson, we can't do anything without more information. The science teams didn't know anything, which is why the cube was in Rodney's lab in the first place. I need to talk to Lorne. He led the team that found the thing. Maybe he can shed some light on what it does."

"Major Lorne's team returned from M6R-877 a few hours ago."

"They're back early. Anything interesting?"

"No. Their initial survey shows that the planet is entering an ice age. If there is a human population living there, they have either migrated elsewhere on the planet or through the 'gate to another world. Major Lorne has requested a jumper to do a more thorough exploration."

John stood. "In that case, I'll find him and see what he can tell me about this cube."

"While you do that, I think I will see Carson and find out how Rodney is doing."

John nodded. "I'll let you know what I find out."

He left the office, stopped in the corridor outside the control room, and tapped his earpiece. "Sheppard to Lorne."

"Lorne here," came the crisp reply.

"My office in five, Major."

"Umm, yes, sir."

John heard the confusion in Lorne's tone at the abrupt order but ignored it.

He'll find out why soon enough, John thought.

He tapped off the radio and felt his stomach rumble as he waved his hand over the transporter sensor.

He didn't have time for things like food, he mentally grumbled.

His hand briefly wavered over the map section with his office before he tapped the section for the mess hall.

On the other hand, you won't do Rodney any good if you end up in the bed next to him.

He clenched his jaw, then tapped the screen for the mess hall.

He entered the mostly empty room a minute later with a sigh of relief. The dinner rush was long over, and only a few people sat at the various tables scattered around the room. One of the scientists and one of the Marines were playing chess. A few other scientists were huddled around one of the larger tables, arguing about something John couldn't catch. A group of Marines seated near the door nodded a greeting as John entered the room.

John gave the Marines a distracted wave as he approached the coffee carafes. He grabbed a cup of coffee and a wrapped sandwich and left before anyone could ask awkward questions.

He stepped out of the transporter and met Lorne in the hall outside his office.

"You wanted to see me, sir?" Lorne asked as they walked down the hall and stopped outside John's office.

John saw the mix of curiosity and concern in Lorne's expression and ordered himself to stay calm. What happened wasn't his fault, John reminded himself.

"We have a problem," John said.

He balanced the sandwich on top of the cup and waved his hand over the office door sensor.

"Okay. How can I help?" Lorne asked, following John inside the office.

John sat behind the desk, waved toward the extra chair, and opened the sandwich. "I need to know everything you can tell me about your last mission to M9R-174."

Lorne sat in the indicated chair and mouthed the planetary designation. "Oh, you mean Verda."

"Whatever," John said with a dismissive wave. "You brought back some Ancient artefacts and wanted the science team to examine them."

"Yes, sir," Lorne replied with a puzzled frown. "I don't know that much about what they've found out so far, though. Last I heard, Doctor Kusanagi hadn't been able to learn anything, either. She wanted Doctor McKay to take a look at the relics before we returned them to the village."

John's eyes narrowed as he bit into the sandwich. "Relics?"

Lorne shifted in his chair. "Yes, sir. That's what Tybis' people called them."

John grunted and swallowed the bite of the sandwich.

Lorne sat forward in the chair. "If I may ask, sir, what's going on? Tybis and the rest of the villagers are good people. We've been trading with them for months. I've been back to Verda twice since our first meeting, and we've never had any problems."

John picked up his cup. "One of the artefacts you brought back put McKay in the infirmary."

Lorne paled. "Is he -"

"He's alive, but he's in a coma."

Lorne sat back in the chair and stared at the file folders stacked on the desk. "I don't understand. Doctor Kusanagi's team had tried for weeks to activate some of those relics. When I saw her a couple of days ago, she said they were still trying to get many of them to even turn on. She wasn't sure if the devices were damaged or if their power source was depleted somehow."

Lorne glanced at John. "She told me she wanted McKay to look at them before we returned them just to make sure her team hadn't missed anything."

John swallowed some of the bitter coffee and grimaced as he set down the cup. "One of them is active now, Major, and I need to know whatever you can tell me about it."

"Of course, sir. Umm, which one was it?"

"A cube," John replied. "About two inches square."

Lorne nodded. "I think I know the one you're talking about. It's black with Ancient writing all over it."

"That's it," John agreed. "Some of the writing glows blue."

Lorne looked at John with a surprised expression."Tybis' people used it in one of their ceremonies when we were there last, but I never saw it glowing, sir."

John pursed his lips into a thin line. Great, he thought. Another dead-end. He took another swallow of coffee and tried to hide his growing frustration.

"Where did they get an Ancient artefact in the first place? From your initial report, there wasn't anything like an Ancient structure near the village."

"No idea, sir. Tybis told me it was an important relic gifted to them by the Ancestors."

"So you have no idea if the cube was even from that planet?"

"No, sir. I guess not." Lorne clasped his hands in his lap. "I'm not much help, it seems," he added with a wry smile.

John waved away the comment. "Tell me about this ceremony. Maybe there's something there we can use."

"It's a pretty big deal," Lorne replied. "At the changing of the season, the villagers gather to celebrate their children reaching adulthood, which seems to be around age fifteen."

"You saw this ceremony?"

"Yes, sir. There's dancing and a huge feast. There's a big ceremony in the meeting hall. Each parent presents their child and says a few things about them growing up. Tybis steps forward, makes a sort of blessing, and gives the kid new clothing. I guess that marks their transition to full members of the village."

"Where does the cube come in?"

"That's the next part," Lorne replied. "The kid goes behind a screen and changes into the new clothes. When they return, Tybis introduces the child- well, I guess new adult- to the village and places the cube in his or her hand. They hold it above their head and say, 'Blessed Ancestors, show me the path of light to guide my steps and help my people'. Then they hand the cube back to Tybis and rejoin their families."

"And there was nothing else?" John asked.

Lorne shook his head. "That's pretty much the whole thing, except for the eating and dancing afterwards. And like I said, the cube never glowed or did anything special."

John rubbed a hand across his chin. "Where is the cube when they aren't having this ceremony?"

"They have a special spot for it in the meeting house," Lorne replied. "Next to the Codex."

John rested his forearms on the desk and clasped his hands. "Codex?"

"It's this big book." Lorne spread his hands a foot or so apart and eighteen inches high. "I think it's a sort of written history of the village."

"Was there anything in it about the cube or this ceremony?"

"Sorry, sir. I just saw the book on its stand. I didn't open it."

John sat back in his chair. Was the cube just some convenient item they started to use for this ceremony? he wondered. Or was there more to it? He needed to get Beckett a look at that Codex. The question was how.

He sat forward in the chair and rested his arms on the desk. "If this cube, relic, whatever, is so important, why did Tybis let you bring it back here?"

Lorne ducked his head. "That might be my fault," he admitted. "I asked Tybis about it after the ceremony. That's when he told me it was a gift from the Ancients and offered to let me hold it. Luckily, I saw the Ancient writing in time and politely declined the offer."

John raised a questioning eyebrow.

Lorne shrugged. "I read about what happened to your team on P2J-496."

John had a flash memory of Rodney holding an innocuous-looking yellow stone, and Kalani's people thinking he was some sort of god when the stone reacted to the ATA gene and began to glow.

"I made sure none of my guys touched it," Lorne finished. "Corporal Resnik mentioned that we had people who studied such relics and asked if we could bring someone back to examine the cube and any other devices they might have. Tybis offered to let us borrow them in exchange for any information we found out about them."

"Awfully generous of him," John muttered.

"Sir?" Lorne asked with a frown.

"Nothing," John replied.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, then Lorne shifted in his chair. "Umm, sir? What's going to happen to the cube now? I sort of promised Tybis we would return it in time for the next ceremony, which will be in a week or two."

John grimaced. "That might be a problem."

"I guess I understand that," Lorne replied. "If the cube is dangerous, we don't want to expose anyone else to it. I'm not sure what I'll tell Tybis. He trusted me to take care of it."

"No, that's not the problem." John balled up the empty sandwich wrapper and tossed it in the trash. "Rodney still has it."

"Sir?"

"He's still holding it."

The image of McKay lying in the infirmary, trapped in some sort of nightmare, rose in John's mind.

"Carson won't let me touch it, and Ronon couldn't get it away from him."

"Oh," Lorne replied. "So what's the plan, sir?"

If we can't find any answers here, it's time to go to the source, John decided.

"I know your team just got back from a mission, Major," John said as he stood, "but I need you on this. Get your people and meet me in the gateroom."

Lorne nodded. "Umm, yes, sir. I take it we're going to Verda?"

John waved his hand over the door sensor and nodded. "Hopefully, your friend Tybis can tell us what the cube is supposed to do or show us where his people found it."

"Yes, sir. I'll get my guys and meet you in the gateroom."

"I need to stop in the infirmary first," John said when they reached a junction. "I'll be there in twenty."

"Yes, sir," Lorne said. He turned down the left-hand corridor while John continued back to the transporter.

John entered the infirmary and blew out a breath when he didn't see a medical huddle around Rodney's bed. Ronon leaned against the wall next to Teyla, who sat in the chair beside the bed. Elizabeth and Carson stood on Rodney's other side.

"How's he doing?" John asked, stopping next to Teyla.

"There has been no change since you left," Teyla replied.

John gripped the bedrail and glanced at Rodney. Is that good or bad? he wondered.

"What did Major Lorne tell you?" Elizabeth asked.

John glanced at the softly glowing cube. "Not much. He saw the villagers handling the cube during one of their ceremonies, but it didn't react to any of them."

"I see," Elizabeth replied. "What do you plan to do?"

John pushed off the bed. "I'm hoping their leader, Tybis, can give us the information we need to safely shut the cube down. I told Lorne to get his team and meet me in the gateroom in a few minutes."

Ronon pushed off the wall.

"Ronon?" Teyla said as Ronon walked toward the door.

"I'll be in the gateroom."

"According to Lorne, these people are friendlies," John said.

Ronon glanced at Rodney with a raised eyebrow and a skeptical expression, then turned on his heel and left the infirmary.

"It is possible Tybis does not know anything about how the cube works," Teyla said once Ronon was gone.

John grimaced. "Yeah, I thought of that. But the cube had to come from somewhere. Lorne also mentioned a book the villagers use to record their history. Maybe someone back a few hundred years ago wrote something down about it that we can use." John glanced at Rodney. "It's the best idea I've got."

"Go," Elizabeth said. She patted Rodney's leg and walked toward the door with Teyla. "Check in once you learn something," she added as the doors opened.

John nodded. "I'll be right there," he said to Teyla.

John waited until the doors closed, then stepped closer to the bed and rested a hand on Rodney's shoulder. This had to work, he told himself. The village was their best chance of finding answers. If the villagers couldn't help them, he wasn't sure what else to try.

"I'll make sure nothing happens to him," Carson promised.

John nodded and stepped back from the bed. "Thanks, Carson."