Encoded – Part 17

“It shouldn’t be too difficult,” Rodney noted as they headed toward the transporter. “Radek found some artifacts that require a stronger gene than what any of us has to make them work. At least, that’s his guess, since not even Miko or Carson could make it do anything. They’re both certain it is Ancient, though.”

“Yeah, okay. Been awhile since I had to play lightswitch,” John said, amused. “I’ve already cleared a block of time this morning.” He was actually looking forward to spending time in the labs. Aside from the fact that it meant being near Rodney, he enjoyed hanging out with the geeks. Some people thought it strange, but he didn’t care. Not even Rodney knew that John could have been in Mensa, and while Rodney had read his file and was aware of John’s masters in math, he still hadn’t quite caught on to the fact that he liked math. It was one of John’s guilty pleasures to secretly correct the scientists’ math behind their backs. It amused him greatly to have them return from a break and find their work changed for the better and no one being the wiser. It was almost a sport to him.

Rodney shot him a pleased smile that warmed John’s insides. He looked so unguarded in that moment that it took some effort for John to not drag him into a closet or empty room and kiss the man senseless. They were rounding the corner to Rodney’s lab when Teyla called from behind them. “Major Sheppard!”

Both Rodney and John turned, surprised to find their friend and teammate trotting down the corridor toward them. When she reached them, she offered them each a smile. “Teyla, everything okay?” John asked, wondering why she had sought him out rather than radio him.

“Dr. McKay, Major Sheppard. I apologize. I tried to catch you in the mess hall but you had already left by the time I got there,” she explained.

Sharing a look of confusion with Rodney, John murmured, “Okaaaaay. So what’s going on?”

Taking a steadying breath, Teyla focused on John. “I was hoping you would be willing to fly me to the mainland.”

Tilting his head, John took a moment to observe his friend. Even after months since the debacle with the transmitter and everything that had happened, her relationship with her people was still strained. She loved them dearly, fought for them every single day, but the fact that she had chosen to remain on Atlantis and had stood by Elizabeth, rather than side with her people and leave had cost her a great deal.

Casting a sideways look at Rodney, he nodded. “Sure, Teyla. You don’t mind, do you, Rodney?”

Rodney blinked at him in surprise. “What? Mind? No, no, of course not. Radek can wait, it isn’t like he doesn’t have ten other projects that need his attention. Go! Say hello to Jinto for me.”

Teyla’s relief was plain to see, as was her genuine amusement and pleasure at Rodney’s inclusion of Jinto. The boy held a special place in their hearts since that time he had gotten lost in the city and released the energy being the Ancients had captured. John wasn’t entirely sure how that had ended up making Rodney warm to the boy, but it had. Teyla inclined her head gratefully. “Thank you. I will meet you in the jumper bay in fifteen minutes?”

“I’ll be there,” John assured, smiling. They watched her leave, and as soon as she was out of sight, John grabbed Rodney’s arm and pulled him into an empty lab, the door immediately locking behind them.

“You sure you’re alright with me ditching?” John met his gaze searchingly. He didn’t doubt that Rodney was as concerned for Teyla as he was, or that he hadn’t been truthful in saying it was okay, but a part of him still needed the reassurance.

“Of course. I mean, if it had been anyone else, I would have told them what they could do with their request, but this was Teyla. She doesn’t get to spend nearly as much time with her people. You really think I’d get in the way of her actually going?” Rodney asked incredulously.

Cupping Rodney’s face in his hands, John pressed a gentle kiss to the man’s lips. “No, I don’t. But I’m not the only pilot and I did promise to help out today.”

Huffing, Rodney crossed his arms as he gave him a narrow look. “John Sheppard, just what do you take me for? Teyla came to you for help. She asked you. Teyla rarely if ever asks anyone anything for herself, and she’s always there for us. I might not be very good at this whole ‘friends’ thing and new to the whole ‘team’ thing, but Teyla is both and that counts for something.” He frowned, suddenly seeming unsure. “Right?”

John grinned. “You’re absolutely right. I am sorry though, was looking forward to hanging out in the labs today.”

Rodney surprised him by fisting his shirt and pulling him in for a searing kiss that left John kind of dizzy. With a look of satisfaction on his face, Rodney whispered roughly, “I know, me too. Now get the hell out of here before we make a liar out of you.”

John’s lips twitched in amusement. “Sir, yes, sir,” he mumbled, causing Rodney to blush. The sudden gleam in his eyes nearly made John reconsider, but the door suddenly opening was enough to douse his arousal. That was going to be something they would have to explore at some point, he promised himself as he hurried to the jumper bay.

When he got to the jumper, Teyla was already loading things she had traded for on behalf of her people. It wasn’t much and it didn’t take them long to finish the task. John couldn’t help but wonder whether this was a normal haul for her or not. Once in the air, Teyla busied herself rearranging the wares while John only half paid attention to flying. After a few minutes, John prodded cautiously, “You haven’t been to the mainland for a while. How is everybody settling in?”

Leaning on the console next to him, Teyla smiled tentatively. “Halling believes the first crops will have a good yield.”

Okay… not exactly the kind of answer he had hoped for. He knew evasion when he saw it and debated whether to call her out on it. Deciding to leave it for now, he asked instead, “Do they still miss home?” He carefully kept his eyes on his flying in order to give her space.

“There is…” Teyla hesitated, then sighed. “Still talk of returning. Even though I’ve told them the Wraith have scorched Athos bare in revenge for our resistance.”

John’s heart went out to his friend. He could hear the longing for the place she had lived her whole life. Hear how much she missed her people. Her friends, and those she considered family. “Well, maybe given time, this will start to feel like home,” he offered hopefully with a sideways glance at Teyla before checking their course.

Teyla’s worried, “Do you see that?” had him looking up. It took him a moment for what his eyes were seeing to compute. What in the world was that? “That can’t be a storm. It stretches across the whole horizon,” he mumbled in disbelief.

Teyla frowned, sounding awed. “I’ve never seen something like that from so high.”

He couldn’t help but smile a little at her amazement. He had to remind himself that the Athosians didn’t have flight capability, and that flying was still new to Teyla and her people. For John, it was old hat, even if the jumpers were nothing like any aircraft he’d flown on Earth. Still, he was pretty awed himself at what he was seeing now. “I’ve seen a lot of things from this altitude, but nothing like that,” he admitted.

Hitting the comms, John said, “Atlantis base, this is jumper one. We’re gonna change our heading to investigate a storm.”

Weir’s voice crackled in response. “Major, this is …. copy that…. breaking up.”

John shared a concerned look with Teyla as she slipped into the co-pilot’s seat. “Atlantis, I said we’re going to investigate a storm. It looks to be headed your way, so we’re going to do a little weather forecasting. Sheppard out.”

Figuring the best way to get a clear idea of the scale of the storm was to see it from above, John took them into low orbit. He blinked at the scope of the storm. The damned thing took up most of the viewscreen from up here.That could not be a good thing.

Teyla’s concern seeped into his already growing alarm. “Do all storms look like this from above?” She sounded almost hopeful.

He hated to burst that bubble. He shook his head, eyes fixed on the storm. “No.” Pulling up the HUD, he scanned the readings. Dread filled him as he eyed the darkening sky ahead. “This one’s supposed to cover twenty percent of the planet,” he said incredulously. That couldn’t possibly be right, could it?

Taking a steadying breath, Teyla tried to read the HUD. “Is it headed toward the mainland?”

“It’s tracking right toward the settlement,” he confirmed. Oh yeah, that was very, very bad news. There was no way that the Athosians would be able to make it through a storm that big in one piece. Crap. Taking in the readings that continued to pour in, John’s stomach plummeted.

“And after that?” asked Teyla, sounding resigned.

Glancing at her, John swallowed. “Straight to Atlantis.” Taking a few last readings in order to give the scientists a more complete picture, John turned to Teyla. “We have to get back to the city. Warn them so we can prepare.” Teyla opened her mouth, but John went on. “As soon as we have more information, I’m sending out every jumper to collect your people. We’ll keep them safe, Teyla.”

She nodded jerkily, her eyes fixed on the viewscreen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Alright, people. Listen up. I want everyone with the gene to man a jumper. I don’t care if you’re an expert pilot or not. Your job is to head to the mainland and help the Athosians with their evacuation. We have four hours to get this done, so let’s go!” Evan ordered.

Ioan nodded. Turning to Teyla, he touched her arm. “You can ride with me,” he said softly. Evan would be one of the few gene carriers staying behind on the city, since Sheppard was off-world looking for a place they could bunker down for the duration of this storm, and someone had to organize the evacuation from the city.

Teyla inclined her head and followed him. Taking a seat next to Ioan, she swallowed hard, her face a mask of worry. Going over his pre-flight, Ioan cleared his throat. “They’ll be alright, Teyla. We’ll have them all out of there before the storm hits.”

She offered him a wan smile. “Thank you, Lieutenant. I’m sure we will. I just…” she trailed off with a shrug.

Flashing a comforting smile, he dipped his head. “I know. I get it, believe me. And please, call me Ioan, okay?”

“Thank you. Ioan.”

“Alright, here we go. It’s already pretty windy, so it might get a little bumpy before we get to the mainland,” he cautioned.

It took them almost twenty minutes to have every one of the jumpers flown over and parked at a safe distance. Teyla immediately went to find Halling and Ioan saw them argue briefly before Teyla came rushing back. “We need to do what we can to secure the settlement, and take that which cannot be safely left behind with us. Halling if spreading word of the evacuation, but he says there are several hunting parties out at the moment. He is not sure they all can be reached in time.”

Everyone set to work, though some with less grace than others. Ioan shook his head at Carson’s grumbling about not having the right boots for this kind of work. Carson had already been on the mainland in order to inoculate several babies when news of the storm had arrived, and he was not keen to be drawn away from his duties. Ioan really liked the man, but there were those times when he felt the good doctor got a little too one-track minded. Still, a few quick words from Teyla set him to rights.

Ioan was hot and sweaty by the time they had everything as ready as they were going to be, and the wind had picked up considerably. Ioan ordered everyone else to head back to the city. “Carson, I need you to stay here and wait with Teyla for the last stragglers. According to Halling, there are still three people missing.”

“But I should go see to my staff,” he protested.

“Carson, Mac has everything well in hand. Your people are trained well and know what to do. I need you here in case one of the hunters is injured. They should have been back by now.”

Running his fingers through his hair, Carson nodded. “Right. Okay.”

“I’m leaving Lieutenant Ford with you, just in case. Come back as soon as you can and let me know if you run into any trouble.”

“Will do. Good luck, lad.”

“You, too, doc. Teyla.” Ioan hurried off after a quick word with Ford. Ioan had a few months on the guy, but even so, he bristled at the order to stay and babysit the others, though once Ioan repeated the order, a look of determination came over the man. Ioan shook his head as he made his way to the jumper. Ford was overall a likeable guy, but one thing that bugged Ioan was how uppity he got when he thought he was in charge. He almost felt sorry for Carson and Teyla, but they would just have to deal.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rodney’s head was starting to throb. Massaging his temples, he peered at his screen, hoping a solution would come to him. All he had to do was the impossible, as usual, and save the city from this massively huge storm from hell so that the expedition wouldn’t be completely stranded and at the mercy of the Manarians. No pressure there. Breathing in deeply through his nose, he murmured to himself, “Come on, McKay. Focus. Like Sheppard said, this city has survived thousands of years. You can not let it be destroyed now, especially not by something as stupid as a bit of wind.” Okay, a lot of very, very powerful wind.

He and his team had been at it for hours already. Well, those of his minions he hadn’t set to begin evacuation procedures, at least. Tapping his earpiece, he grumbled, “Simpson, status.”

Simpson promptly relayed where they were at, informing Rodney they were almost done battening down the hatches and had corralled all non-essential personnel toward the gate room. As soon as he signed off, Rodney drained his cold coffee with a grimace. Scrubbing his face with his hands, he sighed.

“You know, in Czech Republic we don’t have to deal with hurricanes,” Radek piped up from the other desk.

Rolling his eyes, Rodney huffed as he prodded at his pad. “Yeah well, we don’t get that many in Canada, either. Except one called Hazel.”

“Hazel?”

“Hm, yeah, about forty years ago,” Rodney replied distractedly. There just had to be an answer to their problem. There had to be.

“That’s interesting.”

“Not really,” Rodney murmured.

Radek paced in front of his desk. “No, not really,” he admitted.

Mind only minimally on the conversation, Rodney added, “I was once almost struck by lightning.”

Radek came to a halt. “Lightning?”

Rodney froze, then jumped to his feet, sharing a look of excited hope with his colleague and friend. “That just might do it.”

They hurried off to talk to Elizabeth to tell her of their tentative plan. If they could get the grounding stations offline, they should be able to reroute the power from any lightning strikes to the shields. There was a slim chance they would be able to pull it off and survive, he was sure. A better chance they would save the city but die in the process, he thought, but he was wise enough to not voice that. He certainly was willing to do what it took, and he was positive that he could improve the odds of their survival with just a little more time. So between them, Radek and Rodney explained what they had just come up with and got the okay.

Snapping his fingers, Rodney said, “Okay, Right. To the grounding stations, then,” he said to Radek, who shook his head.

“No, I think we should do the power distribution station first,” he corrected.

Ah, yes, of course. Rodney should have thought of that himself. “Ah, good point. Good call,” he praised. Not something he got to do very often around his minions. Radek was one of the few people he knew that could keep up with him. Miko and Kimberly coming very close after him. They also happened to be some of the few people who understood how Rodney worked and were able to handle his abrasiveness.

As Radek headed to the stairs, Rodney followed. “I tend to get ahead of myself,” he mused.

Radek chuckled. “Yes, you do. Now we must hurry, or else we run out of time.”

It took them a little longer than Rodney would have preferred to get done, but he insisted they double check everything. They would only get one shot at this, so they couldn’t afford to screw up. The only thing left to do was to uncouple the grounding stations, which Rodney figured that he, Elizabeth, and John should be able to handle alone.

Tapping his earpiece, he called John. “We’re done, Major.”

“Alright. Head back to the gateroom. I want all non-essential personnel off-world stat. We have one jumper still inbound, but other than that, we’re good to go. Let’s not push the envelope too much, timewise.”

“Copy that. Meet you there.” Rodney replied, jerking his head to Radek. “C’mon. Time to get you to safety.”

Radek shot him a bemused look. “You sure you wish to stay? I could do this, too, you know. Is not difficult.”

Shaking his head, Rodney led the way to the transporter. “No, I’m staying here. If anything were to go wrong, I want to be here to try to fix it.” And he would never leave John to deal with this himself. He couldn’t stand the idea of being safely on Manar, knowing what John was facing here. He knew himself well enough to realize that his own imagination would be his worst enemy. No, best he stay close to his major and do whatever he could to keep both him and the city safe.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Rodney stood next to John on the balcony, overseeing the evacuation. “This feels wrong, somehow,” he said quietly.

Frowning, John turned to him. “Wrong, how?”

“Hm? Oh, not wrong in the sense that the plan isn’t going to work. I’m sure it will,” he said, waving off John’s concerned look. “No, I meant wrong to have to abandon the city after everything we’ve been through. Even if it is only for a couple of days.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean.”

Once the last person had gone through the gate, it deactivated and Rodney straightened. “Right. Let’s head to the labs so we can get started.” He stared into John’s eyes for a moment, drawing strength. John nodded, smiling softly.

Time to get to work.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Evan’s gut itched, which was never a good sign. John had taken him aside before Evan had stepped through the gate and informed him of the ‘agreement’ he had come to with Smeadon. Evan hadn’t liked the sound of it at all, and he could tell that John, too, felt something was off. They didn’t have much choice, however, so they would hold up their end of the bargain.

He glanced around, taking in the Manarian guards around their camp, which they had been allowed to put up a mile west of the gate. Yeah, something was definitely not quite right, he just had no idea what. “Ioan, Bates,” he called out, jerking his head. When the two men were in front of him, he stepped a little closer and lowered his voice so no one could overhear. “Bates, I want you to gather some men and set up a perimeter, work in shifts so that we have it covered at all times until we can go home. Something is up and I do not trust the Manarians. You take first shift, Ioan, you take second, I’ll do third.”

Both men nodded, and Bates left to do as ordered. Evan kept a sharp eye out and was pleased to see that Bates took care to have security tight, but not too obvious. It wouldn’t do to invite problems by being blatant in their suspicions, after all.

“What brought this on?” Ioan asked quietly.

Shaking his head, Evan sighed. “Something Sheppard said, mostly.” He conveyed Sheppard’s thoughts about Smeadon not having been on the up and up, then added, “Coupled with those guards…” He trailed off upon seeing the look of comprehension on his brother’s face.

“Alright. I’ll make sure everyone knows to be on alert, including the civilians. No wandering to town for any reason. Keep everyone in the camp, just in case,” Ioan murmured, eyes roaming the area. Evan nodded his approval. Ioan looked at his brother, worried. “Do you think they’ll manage it?”

Evan cocked an eyebrow. “What? Save the city? Yeah, I think they just might. I hope, anyway. We’ll find out in a day or so, I guess. No sense in fretting about it when we can’t do anything to help them. Focus on the here and now, and go from there.”

“Right,” Ioan agreed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rodney bent over his computer, pulling up the schematics on Atlantis and putting it on the large screen. His mind half on double-checking the information on the grounding stations codes, half on trying to explain what they would be doing and how it would work. “There are dozens, possibly hundreds of lightning rods placed strategically around the city.”

“Wait a sec,” John said suddenly, startling Rodney.

“What?” asked Rodney.

“Why?”

Confused, Rodney looked at him. “Why, what?” What was he on about now? Rodney scrambled to refocus completely on his major.

John leaned against the desk. “Why are there hundreds of lightning rods on the city? Wouldn’t the shield protect against lightning?”

Rodney stared at John, wondering whether he was being serious, because really? “Yes,” he said, shaking his head in bafflement. “Yes, it would. But running the shield all the time is only good for one thing: draining power.”

John inclined his head. “Right,” he said, though to Rodney it almost sounded more like a question.

He blinked at John, not quite able to comprehend why they were having this conversation. Now, or ever! Surely John should be able to figure this all out for himself, he wasn’t that stupid, he was sure. Taking a steadying breath, Rodney had to work hard to keep his tone level and to not scrub his face in frustration. “You are aware that there’s a time element to what we’re doing here? Right?”

Rolling his eyes, John stepped closer. “Yes, it’s been brought to my attention,” he snarked.

Gathering his thoughts, Rodney took a steadying breath and attempted to explain his intentions again. This time, making sure he was using small words, so the major could understand it, even if it made Rodney roll his eyes at him. “Like I was saying, there are lightning rods – a lot of them – placed all over the city. Now, as it stands right now, all the energy they capture is routed into four main grounding stations. In turn, those stations ground all that energy into the ocean below us.”

Rodney watched John’s face closely, pleased to see that he was grasping it finally. “So,” said John with a slight frown. “Instead of sending the electricity into the ground-,”

Grinning, Rodney pointed his fingers at John. “We use it to power the shield.”

“How?” asked Elizabeth, who seemed unsure this would work.

Oh, come on, people! This wasn’t rocket science, why was it so difficult for them to follow along? Turning to her, Rodney attempted to expand on what he had already said, his hands ‘speaking’ as much as his mouth, as he tended to do when he was agitated. “By directing it right down the corridors of Atlantis and into the shield generators.” Really, the whole thing was very clever if Rodney said so himself.

Elizabeth looked dubious. “The city can handle this?”

“Yes,” Rodney answered emphatically, then added, “theoretically.” Well, it should! Radek and he had been over it several times, and everything indicated their idea should work.

John tilted his head, brow furrowed. “Like ‘dinosaurs turned into birds’ theoretical, or ‘theory of relativity’ theoretical?”

Rodney blinked at him. “What?” Where did the man come up with this stuff? And what did it matter? “Err, somewhere between,” he replied absently, his mind already spinning back to the matter at hand. Turning back to his computer, he started typing. “Elizabeth, you take grounding station two, I’ll take grounding station one, and Major, you take grounding stations three and four.”

They both nodded, then John shook his head, looking mildly confused. “Whoa whoa whoa, wait a second. Where are grounding stations three and four?”

Rodney pointed out the two furthest away on the map. “Here, and here.”

“And we are..?”

“Here, yes,” Rodney said, pointing to the approximate middle of the city, wondering why it mattered. “I need to get done quickly so I can start working on the subroutines, and Elizabeth was complaining about her knee the other day,” he explained. See, he knew how to be courteous and considerate. He wasn’t going to make her walk any more than he had to. Perfect gentleman, here. Besides, John was military for crying out loud, and in great shape. The exercise would be good for him.

Elizabeth didn’t quite manage to hide her smile as she shrugged. John, however, balked slightly. “Wait a second. Are these things even close to a transporter?”

“Err, yes? Elizabeth’s is.”

John tilted his head. “And mine?”

“It’s a… brisk walk away,” Rodney hedged, not quite able to meet John’s eyes.

Narrowing his eyes, John asked, “And by brisk you mean far?”

“By walk, I mean ‘run’,” Rodney admitted. Seriously, he ran all the time. For fun! This should be a cakewalk for the man.

John slowly nodded. “Okay,” he said softly, making Rodney wonder what was going through his mind.

“You’ll need to radio once you get to your first station.”

John nodded again and sighed, turning to go. “Alright, let’s do it.”

Rodney headed toward his grounding station, mentally going over everything they would need to do in order for his plans to succeed. God, but he hoped they would.

 

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