"They were. Can you recalibrate the city shield to match that of Jumper Three?"
"I am sending you the procedure now. This is all that will be necessary to let Jumper Three through, and it will minimize the amount of energy required to maintain the city shield until the ZPMs from Polrusso are available."
"We're on it," said Elizabeth. "Good luck, Jumper Two. Be safe."
Carson watched Sheppard's expression flatten slightly as the sound of the 'gate activation signaled the departure of Zelenka and Lome. "They're big boys and girls," he reassured the Colonel. "You can afford to let them out to play without your supervision every once in a while" From the way Sheppard's eyes went cold, it became clear that the comment was a gross miscalculation. "Too soon?"
Sheppard suddenly appeared to find the far wall worthy of study. "Just a little."
An apology on his lips, Carson was interrupted by another report from Teyla. "We are now free of the gray, and have set a course for Atlantis."
The Athosians scattered throughout the infirmary reacted with noticeable relief. "We're very glad to hear it, Jumper Three," said Elizabeth. "How does the situation look out there?"
"The sky is no longer as clear as it was a short while ago. There appear to be more storm clouds gathering, though they look different… an unnatural hue. I believe-"
"The goo's airborne," Corletti announced shortly.
Sheppard immediately looked to Carson. "Were we expecting that?"
"Once the concentration of nanites reaches a certain mass, some of them go into a kind of dormant mode." Carson's lack of surprise came as something of a surprise in itself. "They're light enough to be blown up into the atmosphere, where they form the nuclei of further rain droplets "
"They don't break down the water?"
"Apparently not-that must be why I'm thinking of them as going dormant. Stealth, if you prefer. They stop duplicating and follow the atmospheric depression cells created by the first wave of storms. The lower air pressure allows the nanite-seeded clouds to rise higher in the atmosphere, and thus travel further and faster around the planet. Once they rain down on land, ice caps and large bodies of water, the nanites change mode again, re-initiating the replicating sequence. It's quite fascinating, actually, similar to the way some viruses-dengue for instance-hitchhike on macrophage cells to disperse inside the human body."
Shaking his head gingerly, Sheppard said, "You go into a whole other mode yourself when you're talking about this stuff. You know that, right?"
"May I have everyone's attention, please?" Elizabeth's voice on the citywide channel quieted the room. "We've completed our recalibration of Atlantis's shield, which will allow us to stretch our power reserves and give us more time. However, as yet we cannot afford to divert enough power to the Stargate to dial Earth. It's also an unfortunate reality that the repairs to the Daedalus hyperdrive will not be complete before the city's power supply is exhausted. We are hopeful, of course, that Dr. Zelenka's team will return soon with at least one more ZPM to augment our shield. Even so, I've decided to proceed with the evacuation of non-essential personnel and equipment to the Alpha site. Please report to your department heads for further instructions."
The faint click that ended the transmission seemed inordinately loud to Carson. "So this is to be the way Atlantis ends, after millions of years," he murmured.
Sheppard raised an eyebrow. "With all due respect to your former hitchhiker, Doc, the city's still here, and we simple humans do have our moments."
Teyla's voice sounded in Carson's earpiece again. "Dr. Beckett, are you still on your radio?"
"Aye, Teyla, I'm here. Do you have any injured among your group?"
"Several people were hurt while fleeing the storms. Earlier it seemed a secondary concern, but now that we are able to return to Atlantis, we will gladly accept any available medical attention."
"We'll be waiting in the jumper bay for you." Carson turned to see Sheppard easing himself upright. "And who told you getting up was a good idea, Colonel?"
"You've got wounded coming in, and you're running short on beds as it is," Sheppard replied reasonably, placing one cautious foot on the floor and then the other. Experimentally, he lifted his supporting hand off the bed and only swayed for an instant before straightening. "The coeds are keeping the vertigo and the headache under control. You said yourself that there wasn't much else to be done. The Athosians on that jumper need your help a lot more than I do."
The Colonel was clearly not at full strength, and the hard set of his jaw bothered Carson in a way he couldn't pinpoint. It made little sense, though, to keep the man in the infirmary when there was no treatment available to give him back what he'd lost. Feeling another pang of remorse, Carson gave in. "Off to your quarters with you, then. Stay off your feet as much as possible, and no sudden movement. Assuming the world hasn't gone to hell in the meantime, come back in eight hours so I can reassess the inflammation and the medication levels."
Sheppard was headed for the door almost before the instructions were given, tossing a halfhearted wave over his shoulder. "I'm quite serious about your staying off your feet," Carson called after him, but he couldn't be sure that he'd been heard. Shaking his head, he went to round up a team to greet the wounded from Jumper Three.
Chapter Fourteen
The silent scream tore from his throat before he was fully awake. Rodney's bandaged hands pushed at empty space, breath coming in short gasps that provided too little air. The sensation of drowning clung to him until he recognized the familiar nightmare that had plagued him for weeks.
Then, instantly and easily, Turpi was there, drawing him close. She murmured words of safety and reassurance over and over, and at last he began to comprehend that he had nothing to fear. Surrounded by her embrace, he let his head sink against her shoulder, inhaling her sweetness. If he'd ever known such comfort before, it could only have been by his mother's hand, when he was very young-in the brief time before bitterness and sadness defined their lives.
Turpi began to sing a wordless lullaby. She sounded amazing, but there was something far more at work here, something profound. Unable to see, his whole world became focused within this cocoon of warmth and…love?
He instantly tried to withdraw from the emotion. Love had no place in his world except on a pure, intellectual level, and that was absolutely by his own design. It was fine for Hallmark cards and banal movies, but it didn't fit in his life. He would not allow it, because it exposed him, made him vulnerable to the ravages of rejection. Having faced that pain many times before, he never wanted to do so again.
Perhaps it was Turpi's lullaby, the tenderness of her embrace, or something else that he could not put a name to-but no matter how much he needed to refute the unwanted feelings, the withered husk of a seed buried deep in the corner of his soul refused to remain confined. And in a spark of comprehension, he understood why. It was Turpi's offering of love, deep and unconditional, that had driven this awakening.
He'd never been able to truly convince himself that he was worthy of love, and it came so unexpectedly that something within him seemed to break. His sobs mingled with her angelic voice until sleep overtook him again.
Radek did not relish his return to Polrusso. Arriving through the 'gate by jumper, he avoided looking in the direction of the DHD pedestal, because a coldly logical voice in his brain insisted on pointing out that Rodney might very well have died on that spot.
Instead, Radek focused on a large group of cliff-dwellers milling about. A work crew, if the digging tools were any indication. Their half-completed task appeared to be to clear out a wide path between the 'gate and the entrance to the lab. Interrupted by the vortex, they soon got back to work once it closed, though not without some gestures of surprise and gratitude at the arrival of the visitors.