Exogenesis

Chapter Ten

"Very efficient designers, the Ancients," Radek commented when he saw the proximity of the lab entrance to the Polrusson 'gate. Anxiously looking across the sand dunes, he added, "Not a step wasted."

"I'd classify it as a healthy sense of self-preservation more than anything else. It's always prudent to have an escape route nearby." Rodney checked his pack one last time, wishing it wasn't always so crammed full of equipment. Ancient technology was great stuff, but if their designs had all been a little smaller and lighter, they would have made his life a lot easier.

"Could be that they were just lazy," suggested Ronon, drawing a smirk from Sheppard as the Colonel eased Jumper One to the ground on the opposite side of the 'gate to the DHD.

"Yes." Radek glowered at Rodney. "Which would explain why I was required to load everything into the jumper when we could have walked through the 'gate considerably faster."

"I want to go for a spin around the planet," Sheppard replied. "The HUD can tell us real-time specifics about the location of the water reservoirs and the ZPMs."

"You sure that won't alert the Wraith?" Ronon pointed out.

"Flying cloaked has never been much of a risk before."

"It's incredibly foolish to assume that, because something has been done successfully in the past, it carries less risk. That's how your government manages to keep losing space shuttles." Rodney waved a hand toward the lab. "In any case, we've got all the information and monitoring equipment we need right here-including systems built into the jumper." He glanced at Radek. "So, Colonel, clip your wings."

Radek continued to glare at him while Sheppard merely shook his head and powered down the jumper. "Looks like they rolled out the welcome mat for us"

Outside, a small crowd had gathered near the 'gate. Rodney recognized Vene and Shira among them. When the team stepped out of the jumper's hatch, the Polrussons moved in to greet them with obvious enthusiasm.

Vene reached them first, a welcoming smile lighting his features. "Forgive us," he said. "It was not our intention to overwhelm you. These people are waiting for family to return from traveling before we begin the journey inland to our new homes. They are excited to see the Ancestors' children who have come to give us the glorious new world we have so long awaited."

Well, that wasn't a bad state of affairs. Certainly being hailed as saviors beat the reception they received on a lot of planets.

Shira approached Radek, studying him inquisitively. "You are not the one who was here before-the healer."

"His name's Radek. He's delighted to meet you." Rodney turned in the direction of the lab, confident that the Czech was currently giving him a murderous stare and not particularly concerned about it. "Given our time constraints, I think we should get started."

"If it is acceptable, may we observe what it is that you will be doing?" Vend asked, indicating himself and Shira. "Shira is a historian, and this is indeed a historic time."

Sheppard glanced at Rodney, who responded with an indifferent gesture. "The more, the merrier."

Leaving their adoring fans behind by the 'gate, the team approached the entrance to the lab, the floor of which, he noted, had been swept free of sand. Both the inner and outer doors opened at the Colonel's command as easily as they had before.

Once inside, Radek's gaze swept the room, taking it all in. "I expected it to be more… tidy."

"I think we can assume that the researchers left in a pretty big hurry when the Wraith showed up." Sheppard rested his hands on the stock of the P-90 clipped to his vest, which bugged Rodney more than he wanted to admit. They could be on a mission to a planet of pink fluffy bunnies, and they'd still be armed to the teeth, because you just never knew in this galaxy.

"Since you are frequently eager to direct the course of my work," Radek asked, his expression falsely innocent, "perhaps you would like to tell me where to begin?"

"Cute." Rodney crossed the room to the lab's records interface. "The reservoirs couldn't contain all the water of this planet through geology alone, so it stands to reason that the terraforming process must employ a type of shield technology. Since that's been the focus of your research for some time, you're as likely as anyone to be able to decipher whatever notes the Ancients left."

"We are certain that otherwise the process should have been completed by now? Perhaps something further needs to be done before we shut this down." Radek withdrew his laptop from his pack and set up an interface with the Ancient computer, demonstrating the other reason Rodney had wanted to bring him along: he never needed to be led by the nose.

"Our timekeeping is accurate," Vend said. "As I explained to your friends earlier, we can ascertain by the level in our wells that the process of creating water ended more than ten generations ago."

"A fact verified by the program files," Rodney confirmed.

For a time, the two scientists worked in silence, accessing the files left by the researchers. As was so often the case with Ancient records, the problem was having too much data rather than too little. Sifting through file after file for relevant information was, to put it politely, an exercise in patience.

"I have found a diagnostic program," Radek announced some time later. "It should confirm the status of the terraforming process."

"And?"

Adjusting his glasses, he fixed Rodney with an irritated look. "The program requires input from sensors all over the planet and has not been accessed in quite some time. Pestering it or me will not make it go faster." No sooner had he finished complaining, though, than a completion message flashed on the screen.

Rodney went to stand at Radek's shoulder. "I repeat: And?"

"Diagnostic confirms it. Atlas's machine was never used, and the original process is complete. The force fields surrounding the reservoirs have been set to manual release. We need only shut down the shield generators."

"Yes, we've been through that, thanks." Ignoring Radek's rolled eyes, Rodney added, "It's the order of operations that requires careful handling."

"Which will not be a trivial task." Radek pointed to the geological data of the ZPM located nearby.

While the lab was situated on solid rock, the structure housing the ZPM and shield generators was not so well placed. "Okay, that presents a minor obstacle. We're being a bit ambitious in our aims here, attempting to drown the Wraith hive ship and yet prevent the ZPMs from washing away in the planetary flood."

Sheppard didn't appear concerned about the details. "But you can do it?"

"Of course I can do it." Rodney reached over Radek's shoulder to type in a command. "I'm just submitting advance warning that there'll be an optimal sequence for shutting down the force fields, and it may take a while to figure that out."

"Duly noted."

The next order of business was to pinpoint the locations of the eleven remaining force fields and their associated ZPMs. If the tedium of the search was getting on the scientists' nerves, Rodney could at least take comfort in the fact that their military counterparts were even more restless. Sheppard and Ronon looked about ready to climb the walls, taking turns wandering the room and pretending they weren't in fact pacing. Vend and Shira eyed them with curiosity and a hint of bemusement, while Rodney mostly tried to block their antics from his mind.

At last, he stretched his arms up over his head and cracked his back. "All right, we've got the ZPM locations mapped out. The topography's well marked in the database, so we ought to be able to run some simulations on our own computers and determine which force fields should be released first" He stood and went across to his laptop. "The possible combinations are minimal, so it shouldn't take long. Meanwhile, I'll enter the data on the material components of exogenesis machine and resume our treasure hunt using the scanners."

Ronon glanced up from the knife he'd been sharpening rather obsessively. "What about the hive ship?"

"What about it? Based on previous experience, it's big and bad and we hope it doesn't somehow float."

"I think he wants to know if your sensors picked it up," the Colonel suggested helpfully.

"The sensors were only intended to monitor the terraforming. Wraith detection wasn't included in the design, which, I admit, was yet one more oversight on the part of a supposedly enlightened race. We're not going to locate anything other than the ZPMs and the shield generation equipment-and presumably, once I enter the data, the exogenesis machine."

Sheppard turned to Vene. "How confident are you about where this hive ship is?"

"I can show you the general location." The Elder approached the Ancient computer screen and studied the map Rodney had called up. With a callused hand, he indicated one of the deepest areas in a pre-oceanic basin on the opposite side of the planet.

Ronon tucked the small blade back into his hair-which raised no shortage of logistical questions all by itself-and folded his arms. "We need to be more certain than that."

"And more precise." Indicating the placement of two adjacent ZPMs with his finger, Rodney said, "That canyon could be flooded one of three ways, and if we don't pin down the Wraith's exact location, the wrong sequence could give them enough time to get the whole ship powered up"

He'd nearly forgotten that Shira was present until she spoke up. "There was once a small settlement not far from the ship. It was destroyed many years ago, but a few of its people still live in our village. I have heard an old man speak of what he saw there-something that looked like a hill, until the Darts emerged from it and flew off to begin raiding."

Having seen the immense crater left by the first hive ship they'd encountered, Rodney had no trouble believing that, even without a sprinkling of trees, a few sandstorms would help the hill camouflage succeed on Polrusso.

"Can we talk to this old man?" asked Sheppard.

"I will take you to him." Vene moved toward the door leading to the village, and Sheppard and Ronon started to follow.

"Whoa, hold up." Rodney scrambled to find a datapad compatible with the computer. "You need an accurate map, or all you'll get is story time at the nursing home." Uploading the map to the datapad, he thrust it into Sheppard's hands. "We'll stay here and get started on the simulations."

Once the others had left, he bent over the computer again, wondering idly if he'd restocked his ibuprofen bottle. Not only was the Ancient lab bench ergonomically deficient, but there had to be some fine particulates in the air, irritating the exposed nerve in his aching tooth.

"So," Radek began. "In an ideal reality, we will do what? Release each force field and fly in to extract each ZPM as soon it powers down? Hoping, of course, that the water does not move quickly enough to require either of us to engage in another undersea jumper ride."

"And I'd been doing so well at avoiding that thought until now-thanks ever so much. At least, if we do this right, we shouldn't have to worry about the Wraith at that point."

"By all means, then." Radek smiled. "Let us do it right."

The complexities of the terraforming program were undeniably intriguing. However, Rodney found himself more fascinated by the physical reality of what they were about to set in motion. It presented a bit of a perspective shift for him. For most of his life, it had been the purely theoretical nature of research that held his interest. Now, the practical applications of that research felt more immediate and more important. Samantha Carter's influence, he suspected.

For some reason, she'd been on his mind a lot lately, mostly after having been trapped underwater with her-or rather some manifestation of her in his head. Very strange. At least, as strange as having an attractive woman on the brain could be.

He was also starting to understand why Atlas had worked to accelerate the process by creating the exogenesis machine. It was heady stuff, the idea of flipping a switch and turning a planet from a barren dustbowl into a Garden of Eden. The science behind it could have innumerable uses elsewhere. Properly calibrated, it could reverse decades of environmental damage on Earth or create new homes for races devastated by battles with the Goa'uld and Ori.

So much could be learned, if they could only find the machine that Atlas had left on Polrusso. "Did you input the data on Ea's machine yet?"

"I do not have it "

"What?" A familiar flash of annoyance jerked Rodney back to the here and now.

"You had it on your computer on Atlantis " Radek's forehead crinkled. "I reminded you of this."

"I told you to bring it!"

Pushing himself back from the bench, Radek threw his hands in the air in defeat. "Fine! I will go back for it."

"And waste valuable time in the process." Rodney scrubbed at his eyes and decided that ibuprofen was sounding better and better. "All you had to do was burn it to a DVD."

With a jaundiced look, Radek shook his head. "Yes, it will waste all of ten minutes. Disastrous. The 'gate is just outside the door. As I have clearly failed you by not reading your mind, I will go." He rose from his stool and started toward the exit, favoring his twisted ankle.

"Oh, for crying out loud." Rodney rolled his eyes skyward. "I'll go. You set up the water-release simulation matrix and make sure the computer doesn't choke on this new diagnostic." Tapping his radio, he hailed their team leader. "Colonel, if you and Ronon are okay where you are, I'm going to briefly head home to pick up some necessary data."

Sheppard replied immediately. "You want me to go? We're only a few minutes away."

"No, you're better off getting the location of the hive ship. I'm waiting for a diagnostic to finish here. Besides, I have my doubts that you could successfully identify anything in my lab without a yellow sticky note on it, much less download something from my computer."

"Don't knock the sticky notes. They got me through college."

"I'm sure. I'll be back in a few minutes." He rubbed his face. The broken tooth was beginning to feel like a spear through his skull.

"Check in when you get back. Sheppard out."

Once outside, Rodney found himself caught up in the crush of people hanging around the 'gate, joined now by their recently returned friends. As before, they wasted no time in cheerfully getting inside his personal space, which had the added bonus of aggravating his headache.

"You are returning to your home?"

"Temporarily." Rodney shook his arm loose from a child's enthusiastic grip. "Just need to go get something."

"We could wait for you if you wish."

Wonderful. A fan club. "No need. You'll have plenty more opportunities to smother me later."

"Please allow me to help," offered an eager young man hovering by the DHD. "It would be an honor to open the 'gate for you."

If Rodney had learned one thing from their various meet-andgreets gone wrong, it was to never let strangers see his home's address. "That's all right. It's, um, enough that you were here to greet me. But you've got lots of work to do before the big move, I'm sure, so go on. Take care."

Starting to dial a false address, he turned to the crowd and gave a jerky wave, hoping they'd get the hint. They did, waving back and calling out their thanks as they departed. Rodney waited until they were a reasonable distance away before redialing the correct address. A round-trip 'gate transit for a damned DVD with a smidgeon of data. Embarrassing.

"Hey, honey, we're home," John announced as he entered the lab. It occurred to him a moment later that, since his current companions were a Czech and a Satedan, neither of them were likely to find his comment the least bit funny. It didn't bother him; he was used to his jokes bombing. "What's for dinner?"

"Torture bars, if you ask Rodney." Radek either understood the reference or ignored it, his attention focused on the computer screen in front of him. "He is still rather irate that a power bar caused him dental distress. Legal action has been mentioned."

Typical. John hopped up to sit on an unused lab bench. "He's not back yet? It's been two hours."

"Perhaps the dentist made him wait." Radek sounded a little too amused by that notion. "Do you have the location?"

Ronon pulled the datapad out of his pocket and handed it to the scientist. "The old man was pretty specific about where the ship is."

Studying the map for a moment, Radek nodded, satisfied. "Jo. DobFe. This will work. In fact, it is a good place to begin the water release. Flood this location first, and pressure will be relieved in the adjoining areas. This will allow us to collect the ZPMs in an orderly manner."

"All of them?" Once again the phrase `too good to be true' sprang to mind. "Aren't there twelve of the things?"

Radek shrugged. "It is possible that we may lose one or two, but with several jumpers participating, I do not foresee a problem retrieving them."

John glanced over at Ronon, who looked just as surprised. "Sounds like we caught a break for once"

Their radios signaled simultaneously. "Sheppard, McKay. I'm coming back through."

"How's the tooth, Rodney?"

They heard a huff of indignation from the other end. "Excruciating, thank you, but that had absolutely nothing to do with the delay. If people would just respect the workspaces of others, we wouldn't have these problems. Someone made a unilateral decision that my computer had to be evacuated to the Alpha site, and consequently I wasted far too much time-"

There was a break in the transmission as Rodney presumably entered the wormhole. "Calm before storm," muttered Radek.

Then Rodney's voice returned. "-could have…Ow! What… Um, got a slight problem out here, guys. Except-no, not slight at all. Massive problem."

John vaulted off the bench and ran to the exit. The inner doors obligingly opened, but the outer set refused to budge. "Rodney? What's going on out there?"

Something pounded on the door. Rodney's urgent "For God's sake, let me in!" was immediately followed by cry of agony unlike any John had ever heard. "It's burning me! I can't see-it's in my eyes…"

A surge of horror-fueled adrenaline raced through John's veins. He turned around and yelled, "Radek! Open the doors!"

Color fled from Radek's features, and his fingers flew madly across the keyboard. "I can't. The system will not allow me!" He leaped from his chair and hurried to the control panel by the doors, calling, "Rodney! The jumper-you must get inside!"

Fists banged ineffectually at the closed doors. "I can't see… Someone help me! Please!"

The words ended in a choking scream that tore through John like a knife. "Rodney! Dammit — get to the jumper!"

It was less than thirty feet away, but in a sandstorm, just as in an Antarctic blizzard, that might as well have been thirty miles.

Radek shouted in triumph. John dimly heard a warning yell from Ronon, but then the doors abruptly opened, and a blast of blood-red sand flung John back.

Instinctively, he turned his head as he fell, fiery pain spraying against the side of his face. Before he could get his bearings, a force field snapped into existence across the outer doorway, sealing them off from the raging storm. Where the hell was Rodney?

"…located DHD-I'm…dial by feel!"

"Airlock has a failsafe," Radek realized, his eyes wide with shock. "It must have detected the sand."

"There has to be a way around the failsafe. Find it!"

Behind the force field, a dark red rain of grit whipped past. Scrambling to his knees, John stumbled back inside the lab, and noticed that Shira and Vend had arrived. He wouldn't make it through the sand unprotected, but with some help, maybe… "Uene, give me your robe!" He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the acid sand that stung his hands.

Next to him, Ronon was slamming his fist into a large window, but nothing was happening. Furious, he kept striking it, then drew his weapon. Radek shouted, "No! It is protected by the same force field. The entire laboratory is sealed. You shoot in here and-"

Face contorted in rage, Ronon jammed his weapon back into its holster.

"Give me your damned robe!" John yelled at Vend again, taking a step towards him. The Polrusson stood frozen with shock and sorrow.

Radek grabbed John's arm with a surprisingly fierce grip. "You cannot get out; Rodney cannot get in. The lab is sealed!"

Over the screech of the wind, Rodney's voice was weakening. "God, it's pulling the skin off my fingers! I can't feel the symbols…"

Damn it, he couldn't listen to this and not do something. His throat constricting, John turned a desperate gaze to Radek. "Get us out there!"

The scientist only shook his head, as helpless as the rest of them. "I cannot."

"Perhaps this way?" Shira suggested, running to the doors that would lead them back to the village.

John knew that it would take at least twenty minutes to reach the 'gate by that route, but he had to try. He bolted to the door, only to stop when the signal from Rodney was abruptly cut off. Even the hiss of the storm no longer reached them. Afraid to do much more than breathe, John reached for his radio and turned back into the lab. With his view obscured by the wall of sand beyond the force field, he couldn't even verify that the 'gate had opened. "Control, do you read?"

"Reading you fine, Colonel," a tech's voice replied promptly. "Did you dial in?"

Thank God. Some of his tension ebbed away, but it didn't stray far. "No, McKay did. When he gets to you, he's going to need a medical team ASAP."

"Sir, we haven't received his IDC."

"What? Lower the shield! McKay's already inbound."

"I'm sorry, sir, without an IDC-"

"Lower the damned shield!"

There was a disturbingly long pause before the tech replied, "Sir, I've had to override the inbuilt safety protocols… 'gate shield down."

"Clear everyone out of the control room and get essential personnel into HAZMAT gear. The sand here is a killer."

"Yes, sir. We're getting some coming through already. No sign of Dr. McKay yet"

The next few seconds stretched intolerably. In a subdued voice, Radek said, "The sand will keep the 'gate open. The particles have sufficient size and momentum to be detected by the system."

Spinning around, John speared Vend with his stare. "Why didn't you warn us?"

His lips trembling in obvious distress, the Polrusson replied, "I…came to do just that, to warn you not to leave. The storm came upon us suddenly. We did not know your friend had not yet returned!"

A yell issued from the tech. "Sir, we still don't have Dr. McKay, and sand is blasting through the 'gate! People are getting hit-" The man's pained scream melted into a cacophony of cries from the Atlantis personnel.

"Colonel!" Dr. Weir's voice joined the bedlam. "I just got to the control room. What's going on?"

"McKay arrived back here in a sandstorm, and the lab locked him out," John said tersely, clutching at a few last threads of hope. "You have to give him more time. He can't see-"

"We can't wait! Our people are suffering terrible injuries. The sand is eating away their skin! God knows what it's doing to the equipment. We may not be able to function much longer."

John sat down hard on the floor, determination evaporating as reality began to set in. It had been too long by now. Raising his head, he saw Ronon's distant gaze and knew that he believed Rodney had to be dead. Wild anger and grief swamped John's soul, and he turned away until he could regain some control.

"This cannot be," whispered Radek, pulling his glasses off and bringing a hand to his face. "He only returned for some data. That is all. There was to be no danger!"

"John, I don't have a choice!" Elizabeth was yelling, and the piercing screams around her triggered memories that John really didn't need to replay just now. "I have to raise the shield. Get back here as soon as you can."

The transmission ended. John detached his radio from his vest and looked at it for a long moment. Deciding that control was overrated, he hurled the device against the wall.

When the brilliant white flare faded from her vision, Teyla found herself on the bridge of the Daedalus. Beside her, Halling was already looking around at all the activity in the room.

Colonel Caldwell greeted them, perfunctorily returning Corletti's salute. "We've picked up everyone near the camp, from both sides of the river, and a number of your people from downstream," he told the Athosians. "Some of them were badly injured, so we beamed the entire group to the infirmary. Dr. Beckett is attending to them."

Teyla smiled in relief, feeling the weight of loss lift from her shoulders. "Thank you, Colonel."

"We are most grateful for your efforts," Hailing said. "Is there any news on the other hunting parties?"

"We have some of them on board. Due to the electromagnetic interference from the lightning Hermiod's having some trouble detecting everyone. We're getting there, though. I understand from the others that there's also a group up in the mountains?"

"Yes, Halling's son and five-"

"Sir," Novak called. "Sorry to interrupt, but we have a report from Atlantis. In an attempt to retrieve Dr. McKay from Polrusso, they have sustained a number of severe injuries due to caustic sand coming through the Stargate."

"What's their status?" Caldwell took a step toward her station.

"They're asking us to return immediately. Dr. Weir isn't sure they can even dial out to the Alpha site, and they're afraid they won't be able to activate the city's star drive without Dr. McKay's help"

"They didn't get him back?"

The nervous young woman shook her head. "No, sir. He's presumed dead."

Feeling a deep stab of sorrow, Teyla said a short, silent prayer for her friend. There was little time for anything more.

Exhaling heavily, the Daedalus's commander turned back to her. Before he could begin, she spoke for him, knowing what was coming. "You must return to Atlantis."

"With evacuation options diminishing, our priority now has to be repairing the hyperdrive. We can't do that while we're out here. I'm sorry." His regret was sincere, she knew, and she appreciated it.

"I understand." Giving Halling the briefest of glances, she continued. "We must ask you to send us back to the surface"

"Teyla, you need not go," Hailing said immediately. "Jinto is my son."

"And I am your leader, and his. I could not claim to be so if I abandoned either of you." She was dismayed that Halling had thought to make the comment. Had she been separated from her people for so long that they no longer knew where her heart lay?

Corletti cleared her throat. "Sir, with your permission, I'd like to go back as well. I may still be able to get Jumper Three operational."

Surprised, Teyla opened her mouth to voice an objection, but Caldwell reacted first. "That shoulder looks bad, Lieutenant"

"Due respect, sir, I can't screw it up any worse at this point. It'll keep."

Caldwell's gaze moved over each of the trio in turn. "All of you need to understand that, if I send you back, the odds are good that it'll be a one-way trip. I can't make any promises about being able to return for you before the exogenesis machine begins producing nanites."

"We understand, Colonel," Halling said. "Our choice has been made"

Her superior's scrutiny did not cause Corletti to waver. "That's a kid out there, sir," she said simply.

"All right. Good luck."

Teyla closed her eyes, thinking of Rodney and hoping that his death had somehow served his cause. The Daedalus was the last hope for both his people and hers, and she understood that leaving it now made it unlikely that she would ever be reunited with any of them. But her people's best chance for survival lay with her adopted team, and that was enough.

If she were to die this day, she would do so unafraid. She nodded to the Asgard, and the beam swept her away.