Exogenesis

Chapter Twenty

Ronon kept a close eye on both Vend and Nabu, not fully trusting either of them just yet. He could see that the villagers were beginning to recognize and welcome the others into their midst, but he didn't understand how they'd been driven apart in the first place. Cast out into the sandstorms? Were they serious?

Regardless of McKay's tirade, Ronon had not looked on Turpi in revulsion but with compassion. Like Teyla, the more he'd learned about the Ancestors, the more he came to believe that they hadn't been the benefactors that most people thought them to be.

Half expecting one of the cliff-dwellers to make a move, Ronon was caught off-guard when a bright light once more flooded the room. He squinted against the glare and found the source: the woman in McKay's arms. This time, however, the light was different, concentrating solely around her. As he watched, Turpi's body faded from existence, leaving nothing but clothes behind. The light glided upwards, disembodied, but with solid looking filaments reaching out and gently touching McKay's face.

Ronon had seen that light before. When Sheppard had been stuck in the time dilation field months earlier, the people who'd taken him in had vanished the same way, transformed into energy. Ascension, his teammates had called it. He'd heard accounts of it from a dozen worlds; even his own planet had tales about a state of existence that the Ancestors had striven for above all else. As a soldier, he hadn't paid much heed to spiritual matters, but by all accounts, it was quite a feat to achieve. Good for her.

The villagers appeared to recognize what was happening as well, watching with expressions of wonder, even awe. Some fell to their knees in supplication, while others staggered back. Whatever indignation Vend had possessed was gone in an instant, and he now gaped openly. The sadness on Nabu's face eased with a small smile, one that Ronon read as an acknowledgement of something richly deserved. Sometimes, it seemed, the universe played fair.

The coil of light hovered in front of McKay for a moment and then rose slowly. Its tendrils reached out to embrace Nabu and Vend, and everyone present, before vanishing from sight. Ronon figured that meant the show was over. These people were safe, so now it was Atlantis's turn.

He checked on Sheppard and found that his team leader had surreptitiously braced himself against the wall, his features taut. "Beckett's drugs wore off, huh?" Ronon asked.

"Pretty much." Collecting himself, the Colonel spent a moment focusing on the act of standing upright. Then, concentrating on each step, he went to McKay and dropped a hand onto the man's shoulder. "C'mon, Rodney. Time to save the day back home."

Turpi's robe still lay in McKay's loose grasp. He stared straight ahead, dazed and unresponsive.

Zelenka tried next. "Rodney, we must go now. Atlantis needs our help."

Something in that statement must have gotten through, because McKay nodded dumbly.

Offering him a hand up from the floor, Nabu said, "I will accompany you to Atlantis."

"Please." Vend took a step forward, his voice subdued. "I… I don't understand. We did not know. How could we have known? The records of the Ancestors were clear!"

There were a lot of things that Ronon might have said to that, but he'd long since learned that saying much of anything was a waste of time once people had set their minds in a certain direction. Nabu looked like he wanted to snap back the obvious reply, but instead said, "This world was but one more in many experiments that the Ancestors undertook."

Vend looked like a man whose faith had been severely shaken. Not unexpectedly, he still clung to past truths. "What poison do you speak of? Can we not continue Polrusso's transformation once all… considerations have been addressed?"

"No." McKay shook his head, raw grief unashamedly written across his features. "You're going to…have to wait." His voice broke, and he cleared his throat before continuing in a shaky tone. "The terraforming program here was set up exactly as your records show, but with a compound that was deliberately introduced in order to imbue you with immunity against the Wraith. Ancient-like abilities are a bonus side effect. You'll need to let the program run until-" He rubbed a sleeved arm across his eyes, clearing away the tears but not the anguish, and glanced at Nabu. "Until Nabu shuts it down."

Sounds of dismay erupted from the cliff-dwellers. "But how long must we wait?" asked one of the other Elders.

"Several more generations," replied Nabu.

Ronon stared at him. Generations, huh? Zelenka had said something about Nabu being part Ancient.

Cutting off Vene's disenchanted protest with a sharp swipe of his hand, McKay continued. "And you need to understand that it's these people, your children, who will inherit the new world you've been waiting for. The abilities they're developing are the future of this planet, possibly even this galaxy. If you want your civilization to survive, you'd better stop rejecting every child that looks different or acts outside the socially accepted norm." The normal bite in his tone was subdued, but emphatic nonetheless.

"And what are we to do when their madness endangers us all?" Vene's question was honest, the earlier condemnation gone.

"That won't be a problem." Rodney took a deep, steadying breath, clearly battling to recover his composure. "Nabu's people know how to control their abilities. They've been teaching each other for generations, and it'll be a lot easier for them to keep doing so if they don't have to hide from you or run around saving the kids you toss out like damaged goods." Despite the waver in his voice, there was also a clear challenge. Ronon could see that the emotional shutters were already slamming into place. An understandable tactic.

Teyla spoke up. "I do not believe anyone will be forced to hide any longer, Rodney." She inclined her head toward the villagers, many of them embracing their estranged children. "No one who saw what has happened this day will be able to return to the old ways."

"No," Shira called, her face damp with tears. She was clinging to a young man who, if appearances were anything to go by, was her son. "Never again shall we be forced to tear out our hearts." Her determined look was directed at Vene.

"Colonel." Lome was standing near Jumper Two's rear hatch. "Are we good to go?"

"Yeah, I'd say so. We're running against the clock here." Taking a step toward the door, Sheppard staggered. Ronon watched him struggle to regain his balance and decided right then that they would ride back with Lorne, even if he had to drag Sheppard by his boots. If Atlantis survived, somebody could come pick up Jumper One later, but he'd rather crawl through the 'gate than allow the injured pilot to attempt to fly again.

Apparently he wasn't the only one who'd noticed. Nabu stepped forward, studying the Colonel. "You are hurt."

Sheppard blinked at him, clearly primed to deny it. "I-"

Nabu reached out and grasped his arms. The effect was immediate. Sheppard's body tensed, his eyes sliding shut. Reflexively, Ronon started forward, reaching for his weapon, but then he stopped himself. Every gut instinct he'd ever depended on told him that Nabu wasn't going to hurt the Colonel.

Sheppard's knees buckled, but the larger man's grip held him upright. After a few moments, he opened his eyes and straightened. "What… What did you do?"

Releasing him, Nabu was dismissive. "It was a small thing."

"Not to me, it wasn't." The pinched, pained look had disappeared, replaced by one of shock and wonder. "You- Do you have any idea what you've just given back to me?"

"Your hearing, and your equilibrium."

Sheppard shook his head, searching for the right words. "My life," he corrected quietly.

While Zelenka joined Lorne in Jumper Two, Ronon and the rest of the group made their way to the other jumpers parked haphazardly outside. Sergeant Witner immediately moved up the ramp into Jumper Four to begin the dialing sequence.

Starting to follow him, Teyla seemed to reconsider. "I will travel with Jumper One, Sergeant." She rejoined the team and turned to Nabu with knowing eyes. "You healed Colonel Sheppard easily," she said. "Why is it that you do not heal the others, or repair your own scars?"

Ronon glanced back at the people who had followed them out of the lab, so many of them physically disabled or deformed in some way. Nabu shook his head. "My abilities are limited. Turpi was the greatest healer among us. But the cost to her was…. great." He cast a shadowed smile in McKay's direction, but the scientist appeared too wrapped up in his sorrow to take notice. "She could restore any living thing that had been damaged by injury or disease, by directing the cellular structure to return to the pattern that was set at birth. But she could not change a pre-existent structure. Hence, she could not amend a physical deformity-except her own. Turpi held the power to transform herself into the most beautiful creature of your dreams. Yet she would not."

"Why not?" said Sheppard, walking up the hatch of Jumper One.

Entering the jumper alongside Nabu, Ronon watched through the windshield as the vortex of the 'gate shot out, then stabilized. The Polrusson's gaze moved across the interior of the unfamiliar machine, but he did not reply.

Surprisingly, McKay was the one to respond. He sat down heavily, not looking at any of them as he answered. "Because she loved the children too much to set herself apart from them."

Teyla's expression was uncertain. "I do not understand."

Ronon silently agreed.

Nabu looked down at McKay. "Perhaps not. But he does."

Jumper Five's return with the first ZPM had obviously extended Atlantis's lifeline. When Jumpers One, Two and Four emerged from the 'gate, it was to a deserted control room. Still, some minimal equipment was operating, and the ceiling retracted as usual to allow them into the jumper bay.

John put Jumper One in its customary parking place and shut it down, then ushered his group out into the bay. His foot had just hit the deck when the entire room rolled. Narrowly avoiding a faceplant, he glanced around at the others to make sure he hadn't been the only one to feel it. Figures. I get my balance back and the city starts wobbling for real.

Teyla's brow furrowed and she shared a look with Ronon. "I hope there is still time."

Only seconds passed before the doors opened to admit Elizabeth. Her gaze took in the group as a whole, quickly coming to rest on their chief scientist. "Rodney, thank God," she said, relief written openly on her face. "Are you all right?" She grasped the edge of a jumper to maintain her balance when the floor beneath them pitched again, this time in the opposite direction. Definitely not a good sign.

Rodney's mumbled "Debatably" was almost inaudible under the noise from the storm outside.

When Elizabeth's focus shifted to John, something hardened. Inwardly wincing, he prepared himself for the fallout that was sure to come as soon as all this was over. He'd taken a risk, and he'd known from the start that he'd have to live with the consequences.

"And you?" she asked neutrally.

"I'm fine. Thanks to our visitor here." John gestured. "Doctor Elizabeth Weir, meet Nabu."

Her eyebrows shot up at the name, and she examined his face closely. "Not a Wraith, then?"

"Not so much."

"I have knowledge of the exogenesis machine that Ea used here." Nabu held out the second machine. "I can program this to counteract its effects."

The mention of Ea's name told John that Nabu had been fully briefed by Rodney. When the tall Polrusson had produced the machine back inside the lab, John had assumed that either his vertigo or Beckett's drugs had been messing with his vision. But now he was sure that there was something weird about the silvery-gray cylinder. The surface was textured like a knobby piece of wood, the knots of which held recessed pieces of. luminous amber, maybe? Whatever the stuff was, it seemed to slip in and out of focus.

When Rodney, who was still clearly not firing on all cylinders, reached out to touch it, Nabu held up a cautioning hand. "The device has been shielded. However, it does not draw its temporal energy from this dimension, and so it is not entirely set within our time frame. You may experience extreme disorientation when handling it."

That declaration seemed to jolt Rodney out of his reverie. His head snapped up. "It employs a temporal field? Of course! Janus helped Atlas develop it-which would explain how it effects change at such a vastly accelerated rate"

Elizabeth's smile was as close to impatient as John had ever seen. "This all sounds fascinating, gentlemen, but we're under something of a time limit here. Perhaps you'd care to discuss it after the current situation has been rectified?"

Her statement hauled Rodney entirely back into scientist mode. He led them out of the bay with a brisk stride, babbling about temporal distortion fields and quantum states, or maybe it was strings. If his rapid-fire delivery was even more manic than usual, well, John could deal with whatever coping strategy Rodney employed to keep himself going. It didn't take a genius to recognize that anything capable of cracking Rodney McKay's shell must have been a profound experience.

Nabu nodded politely, his eyes taking in everything as he fol lowed close behind. John understood how he felt. Even rocking back and forth like a rowboat, Atlantis far exceeded the lab on Polrusso in terms of sheer scale and sophistication.

On the way downstairs, Elizabeth said to John, "Except for the volunteer crew working to get Daedalus ready, we've evacuated everyone to the Alpha site." The city lunged again, and she fell heavily against him. "Sorry," she muttered, then sent him an odd look when he steadied her. "Carson said… Never mind. Your inner ear really is all right?"

He tossed her a humorless grin. "Let's just say that, if I lose my flight status, it won't be due to a medical condition."

As soon as they reached the control room, Rodney and Radek went to side-by-side computer terminals, periodically grabbing hold of the edges of the table to maintain their balance. After watching for a moment, Nabu rested the exogenesis machine on a chair and stepped in. Without a word, Rodney moved aside to allow him access, a fact that John found telling. Whatever had happened between them back on Polrusso had triggered something in Rodney that John hadn't fully believed existed: humility, or at least a recognition that someone in the galaxy actually knew more than Rodney did.

"This preliminary data suggests that the machine was not properly programmed. As yet I can find no real plan, only a series of discrete, open-ended events," Nabu determined.

"That fits with what Carson said." At the Polrusson's questioning look, Elizabeth explained about the pods. "Ea was driven by grief," she concluded, "and convinced that our presence in Atlantis was inviting a Wraith incursion. Destroying the city seemed to be her only goal "

"Ea andAtlas. Their story is more complicated than you know…" Nabu's voice trailed off, and a strange expression crossed his face. "To have come so far." Shaking his head in regret, he turned back to the computer. "Ea knew full well the potential of the exogenesis device, but perhaps you are correct in saying that grief clouded her mind. That haphazardness may be to our advantage. Once I deter mine her exact sequence, I can program a reversal and shutdown." He pulled up additional data, which began to flow down the screen in a familiar if still incomprehensible Ancient pattern.

"To effect an immediate response," Nabu added, "it will be best to insert the second machine into the planet's crust at its thinnest point, so that it will quickly burrow through to the mantle and draw the required energy."

John glanced at Rodney, but the anticipated info dump wasn't forthcoming. Elizabeth's eyes narrowed in concern. "Rodney? Any thoughts on that?"

"Uh…yes." More evidence as to their chief scientist's state of mind. The man looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his life and then handed him the pieces. "Yes, of course. That would generally be the deepest part of the ocean, where two tectonic plates are converging. Radek?"

"There is a trench." Already typing at a near-inhuman rate, Radek brought up a bathymetric chart on the main screen and pointed. "Depth is comparable to the Mariana Trench on Earth. The lithosphere is very thin, and there are also several hydrothermal vents here."

Rodney was nodding his approval, which John took as a good sign. "If we release the machine into a vent, it'll have a head start"

"Oh…. No, that is not good." Radek sat back in his chair and brought a hand to his mouth, then abruptly sat forward and began typing again. A new stream of data flowed across the screen.

Looking over his shoulder, Rodney paled. "That's bad. Exceedingly bad."

"Yes." Radek's voice held the sort of hushed awe that John had learned to really, really hate. Before anyone could ask for clarification, he pointed. "The ocean is rapidly transforming, but instead of remaining inert, the nanites have become… activated."

If the expression on Rodney's face was worrying, Nabu looked positively ill. "The program is neither random nor open-ended. It was not designed to destroy Atlantis. On the contrary… Ea." The name was almost a sigh, but it held an edge of pure terror. The Polmsson pushed his chair back and stood. "This is no longer a matter of saving one world. We must leave. Now. I will program Atlas's machine on the journey."

Confused, Elizabeth began to speak, but Nabu wasn't finished. "You have the means to return to your own galaxy through the Stargate?"

"The necessary crystal is at the Alpha site, but we need a ZPM." The words tumbled over each other. This was definitely panicRodney, not excitement-Rodney.

"We can't remove the ZPM from here, of course," interjected Radek, "because we need it to power the 'gate to get there-not to mention maintain the shield."

Nabu's gaze bored into Elizabeth. "Take all who remain in the city to this Alpha site." To Lorne and Witner, hovering in the background, he said, "You must return to Polrusso and tell my people that in her grief, Ea unleashed the final program. If we fail to contact you within three hours, go to the laboratory and remove the ZPM from the matrix." At the shock on everyone's faces, he added, "My people will not stop you. I would ask you to allow as many as are willing to come with you to your Alpha site." He turned again to Elizabeth. "From there, use the ZPM to leave this galaxy. And never, under any circumstance, should you return." He snatched up the exogenesis machine and raced up the steps to the jumper bay, his coat flapping behind him like a dark wing.

John looked to Rodney for an explanation and found his teammate sharing a moment of silent panic with Radek.

"Rodney?" Elizabeth asked, but she was talking to Rodney's back because he was already on Nabu's heels.

Radek grabbed his and Rodney's respective packs and sped after him, leaving the rest of them no choice but to follow. Fortunately, Rodney had perfected the art of delivering a succinct commentary on the run. Distraught as he was, his focus grew, as always, proportionally to the magnitude of the crisis. "Ea knew everything that Carson knew. She knew how we'd respond-how I would respond. The storm, the nanites and seismic waves; all of it was aimed at getting us to abandon Atlantis."

"She did not wish to destroy it?" Teyla asked.

"No," Radek replied simply, struggling with the packs until John relieved him of the larger one. "Ea wanted to give the nanites access to the Stargate." He almost fell when the city heaved hard to one side.

"Oh, God," Elizabeth breathed.

In a cold burst of comprehension, John got the picture.

Teyla, however, was apparently still confused. "I do not understand."

"Me neither," Ronon put in for good measure, his boots clomping heavily on the steps.

Without pausing, Elizabeth answered, "Ea said that our presence in Atlantis exposed `entire galaxies' to the Wraith. She also said that `Everything that should have been destroyed remains.' She wasn't talking about Atlantis; otherwise she wouldn't have entered a stasis pod with the expectation of surviving. She was talking about everything else-the entire Pegasus Galaxy!"

Stunned, Teyla halted, only to be nearly run over by Ronon. "That's what your people call overkill, isn't it?" the Satedan said.

"Not for an Ancient," Elizabeth countered. "They created all life in our galaxy with a machine."

"And last year, the almighty Ascended weren't averse to letting Anubis use that same machine to wipe out all life and recreate the galaxy to his taste" Rodney called over his shoulder, his voice projected so that he could be heard over the noise of the storm.

"As with replicators," Radek explained when they reached the jumper bay, "activated nanites can take on whatever form they've been programmed to adopt. Instead of breaking down everything, they can go into stealth mode and, once inside the city, infest the dialing computer."

"Like Beckett's stealth virus," John said, recalling the doctor's description.

"Yes, I believe so. His knowledge undoubtedly gave her the idea." Radek's face was pinched as he caught his breath.

John fished the jumper's remote out of his pocket and opened the hatch. "Maybe we should conveniently forget to mention that detail to Beckett" One hyper-traumatized teammate at a time was enough.

"At that point, the nanites could easily dial out to every Stargate in this galaxy-probably simultaneously-allowing them to destroy everything before beginning a new `life' program," Rodney added.

"Similar to initializing a hard drive before re-booting a computer." Radek dropped his pack and pulled out his datapad.

"This is an entire galaxy!" Lome sounded justifiably affronted. "It's a little more than a computer."

Radek shrugged. "Perhaps a very large Petri dish?"

"Grab every power cell you can lay your hands on," Rodney barked at Lome and the other Marines who had followed them into the bay. "Load them all into Jumper One. We're going to need all the juice we can get."

John lowered Rodney's pack, strode inside and up to the cockpit, and initiated startup procedures without even sitting down. "So we need to fly Atlas's exogenesis machine into the trench and plant it inside one of those vents in the planet's crust?" he asked, making sure he had the big picture. The details he could pick up on the way.

"Preferably without boiling whoever does the inserting," replied Rodney. John glanced back to see him standing outside the hatch, staring at Radek. "Those vents are putting out a lot more heat than your average Jacuzzi."

Radek looked up. "Then, of course, there are the activated nanites-"

"And the possible consequences of interacting with a time differential."

Right, couldn't forget that. Because he'd had so much fun during their last adventure with time dilation.

"Somebody's going to have to lean out the hatch to drop the machine," Rodney continued. "It's going to be a bit of a high-wire act."

"I will do it," Teyla said without a moment's hesitation, earning John's respect once again. She was the most agile of them all and would have the best chance of getting it right.

"We'll put you in a HAZMAT suit and have someone anchor you-"

"Me," Ronon put in, his tone allowing no discussion. In spite of the situation, John had to smile. For better or worse, his team stuck together.

Elizabeth stepped back to allow Lorne, arms loaded with power cells, into the jumper. Turning to Rodney and Radek, she said, "As soon as you're through the 'gate, I'll have everyone from the Daedalus leave for the Alpha site. Lome and Witner, you'll be on standby on Polrusso. When you get there, shut down the 'gate and redial Atlantis so that we can keep in contact and transfer the ZPM quickly if necessary." She met John's gaze. "I'll need you to leave me your access code. It won't be necessary, of course, but if you don't succeed, I'll need two codes to set the city to self-destruct."

Radek gave her a somber look. "That will not be sufficient "

Once again, comprehension hit them all like a slap in the face. Despite the swaying motion of the city, Elizabeth stood straighter, and nodded. "I'll remain behind at the Alpha site."

John had always admired Elizabeth for reasons that went beyond leadership skills, because not all leaders, no matter how great, were prepared to go down with the ship. The city's self-destruct wouldn't damage the 'gate, and the crystal necessary to dial Earth would be left behind at the Alpha site after the expedition had departed. If Ea's intent had been to `reset' the Pegasus galaxy to zero, there would be nothing to prevent the active nanites from accessing Earth and who knew how many other galaxies whose addresses were secreted away in the bowels of some Ancient database.

After a pause, during which Rodney must have racked his brain for another solution, he finally said, "To destroy the crystal, open a wormhole to anywhere and toss it into the vortex."

There were a lot of things John wanted to say to Elizabeth in that moment-about what they were about to do, and about everything they'd done over the past two years. All the words that came to mind seemed inadequate, and so he took the coward's way out. "Saddle up, everyone. Time to leave"

"I will come" Radek immediately stepped inside the jumper, surprising the hell out of John. "I have had less… excitement these last days"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rodney shook his head. "You hate playing submariner. Don't be ridiculous. I'll do it."

"But I in fact want to go," the Czech persisted. "True, I have not yet learned to swim, but I realize that I must face my fears."

"Oh, as opposed to me, because I obviously can't handle it?"

"That is not what I said."

Radek's calm tone must have tipped the balance, because Rodney snarled, "You're coddling me! I don't need to be coddled!"

"Guys!" John was ready to put floaties on both of them. "That ZPM's not going to hold back the nanites forever. Flip a damn coin and let's get this over with." It was a gamble, he knew, but he needed Rodney to snap out of it. He turned back to the control panel.

"I'm not flipping a coin, and I'm not arguing. I'm leaving." Rodney stepped inside and took his place in the cockpit beside John, Nabu following behind.

"Then I will wait here with Dr. Weir," Radek called after him. "Perhaps I can improve the self-destruct."

"Oh, so now he thinks he can blow things up better than me," Rodney sniffed.

A little of his usual swagger had returned with that comment. It would have to do. John tossed a last look over his shoulder at Elizabeth, Radek, and Lome, as Ronon closed the hatch. "Don't start the apocalypse without us"