Brimstone

Chapter Seventeen

“Well?”

Rodney stiffened, but did not turn. “Brilliant as I undoubtedly am, you might give me a full minute in an alien system before you start checking on the status.”

“It’s been two hours.”

“It has?” Rodney glanced at his watch and looked up, blinking. “Hey, where is everyone?”

“Ronon and Teyla went to bed.”

His eyebrows rose. “Together?”

“Don’t be an idiot.”

With a shrug, Rodney got back to work. He moved his connection inside the panel once, then a second time, returned to the keyboard and, finally, with a soft outburst of triumph, he looked up. “It’s familiar in concept, but the layout is completely different. I had to trace the power couplings and work backward. Not sure how deep my access is, and if they have any security protocols running they may know we’re there, but we’re in.”

Sheppard sat up. “Can you reach the DHD configuration?”

“Trying that now,” Rodney said. He fiddled with his computer, waited, and then nodded. “Yes, I can see it but — ”

“No buts,” Sheppard warned. “Buts are always bad.”

“I can see the circuit that provides the phase shift,” Rodney said. “It’s not added on or patched in — they’ve integrated it into the system itself. Without that circuit in place, none of it will work.”

“Can you get around it?”

“Given time,” Rodney said. “If I go in there and just start trying to bypass things, I’m more likely to break the dialing protocol forever. And I don’t have to remind you it’s going to start getting hotter around here very soon.”

“So there’s nothing you can do?”

“I didn’t say that,” Rodney frowned, keying in a set of commands. “Come to think of it, when was there ever ‘nothing’ I could do?”

“So what are you doing?” Cumby said, trying to glance over his shoulder.

“I’m trying to work under incredibly cramped and uncomfortable conditions while idiots babble in my ear. When I’ve done something significant, you’ll be the first to know. Or the second, maybe the third. I’ll be sure to get you on the list.”

Cumby stepped back.

“Don’t mind Rodney,” Sheppard sighed. “Sometimes he’s overwhelmed by his own intellect.”

There was an abrupt knock on the door. Sheppard was on his feet in an instant, he and Cumby stepping between Rodney and the open computer access hatch. But when the door opened, it revealed only Ronon and Teyla returning.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Ronon said with a shrug.

“Rodney was just about to explain whatever it is he just did,” Sheppard said. “That might help.”

Ronon smiled, but said nothing.

“I’ve been thinking,” Cumby said as the door slid shut again. “What if we don’t get the gate working? We’re going to have to make some sort of decision by tomorrow. If they just lock us up, we’ll never get out of here.”

“Oh please,” Rodney muttered, not looking up from his work. “As if there’s even a choice! Eat, drink, and be merry, or go all Russell Crowe in the arena? It’s a no-brainer.”

Ronon glanced up and met Sheppard’s gaze. “The other choice might work.”

Cumby stared. “For you, maybe. How long you think I’d last against something like that Woard?”

“Just hold on,” Sheppard said. “Nobody is making any decisions right this second. But whatever we do, we act as a group. If they separate us, we’re going to have a harder time getting everyone out when we find a way.”

“Yes!” Rodney exclaimed.

Sheppard turned to him, eyebrow raised.

“Sorry,” he said. “But I got the signal. I’ve been able to analyze it and nail down the frequency of the signal that triggers the phase shift. I know what it is that prevents the gate from locking onto an address more than once.”

“And can you fix it?”

“It’s simple,” Rodney said, “and for once I don’t mean it’s simple for me and impossible to explain.”

He placed his computer on a small table and they gathered around. In the center of the screen a modulated sine wave had been captured, numbers and readings surrounding it. Rodney pointed to one.

“This is the frequency of the signal,” he said. “When someone dials an address on the DHD that has already been accessed, this circuit is activated. The symbols that are keyed in on the dialer create a precise pattern keyed to the location they are trying to reach. The circuit that Saul designed causes a shift in the phase of the carrier signal for the code — basically, the data itself remains correct, but the manner of its delivery is changed enough that what is dialed, and what reaches the gate, are two different codes.”

“And you already told us you can’t get past it, recreate it, or predict it,” Cumby said, “so…”

“If you’ll let me finish?”

Cumby fell silent, and Rodney continued. “The way RF radio signals are sent is by adding your signal to a carrier wave. The receiver at the other end takes the signal, filters out the carrier, and what is left is the message.”

Sheppard cocked his head. “We can use this carrier to get a message to Atlantis?”

“In theory. If we can get our message attached to that carrier frequency, and if Atlantis tries to dial the address into their DHD, and if someone on the other end is analyzing the signal to try and figure out why they can’t lock onto the gate they are trying to dial. It might open a gate somewhere, if the new code actually coincides with an address, but it breaks the connection to Admah. It’s a chance…it might be the only one we have. Zalenka is still back there. If it isn’t me working on it, he’s my second choice.”

“Get that panel closed up,” Sheppard said. “If we’re going to do this, we’re going to have to think it through. We get one message — one chance to try and let them know what has happened, and how to get us out. Right now we don’t even know what to tell them.”

Rodney disconnected quickly from the access panel. He pocketed the cables he’d used to connect into the system and reattached the panel, tightening the screws as quickly and efficiently as possible. When he was done, he stepped back. Cumby already had the piece of tapestry in his hands and he and Teyla pressed it back into place. They were working on the final seam when there was another knock on the door. This time, there was no hesitation between the knock and the door opening.

Teyla sat down quickly while Cumby stood, gaping at the door. One small corner of the tapestry cover protruded from the design, but there was no way to smooth it out without drawing immediate attention to it. No one moved.

Mara stood in the doorway, staring in at them. The tension caught her by surprise and she glanced first at one of them, then the other, and finally let her gaze alight on Sheppard, where it held.

“What is it? You all look as if you’ve seen something horrible.” She glanced past Cumby at the tapestry, stood very still for a moment, and then turned back to Sheppard. “If you are almost done here, I was hoping you might join me for a drink?”

Sheppard glanced at the others, and then nodded. “Sure, why not?” Like it or not, Mara was their best bet of finding a way out and he wasn’t above exploiting her to get his team home. “The rest of you, get some rest. We’ll meet back here first thing in the morning.”

Mara held out her arm and Sheppard put on his most engaging smile, took the proffered arm and stepped through the door. A moment later it closed behind them and Mara drew closer, a slow smile on her lips.

The things I do for the team.

He wasn’t even joking.