Therefore, later today Elizabeth would have the unenviable job of distributing that list to the department heads, well aware of the strong odds that more than one city resident would read it and gasp in horrified recognition.
Absorbed in his own conflict, Rodney only blinked at her. They were rescued from the difficult silence by a rap on the glass door, where Katie Brown stood, looking somehow hesitant and excited at the same time.
Elizabeth forced a more pleasant expression and opened the door. "Dr. Brown, good afternoon."
"I'm sorry to be late for the meeting." The botanist twirled a data storage device between anxious fingers. "So many of the samples from 316 merit further study, and I only have two hands. That being said, I think I've already found something very interesting."
It was her presence rather than her promise of information that seemed to lift Rodney out of his fixation. As a rule, Elizabeth tended to be wary of intradepartmental relationships, but Katie seldom had to report directly to Rodney, and no one could find fault with the calming influence she often appeared to have on him.
Maybe this disaster of a meeting could be salvaged after all. "Why don't we join the others?" Elizabeth suggested, raising her eyebrows at Rodney in a pointed query. "All of us.
Slowly, as if realizing he'd just been pardoned, he nodded. The three of them headed for the briefing room in single file. Elizabeth heard the last vestiges of a shared laugh fade as she walked in with Rodney following. The expected awkwardness never gained traction, thanks to Katie's arrival; apparently others were aware of her effect on their chief scientist.
Acknowledging nothing and no one, Rodney reclaimed his seat. "Please continue," Elizabeth told Geisler, settling into her chair.
With a faint chill lingering in the air, Geisler cast a brief look of assessment at Rodney before beginning again. "I was telling the group that the evolutionary differences between Earth dinosaurs and the beings we encountered on 316 are too complex to have occurred over a period of only ten thousand years. DNA manipulation is certainly a possible cause, but that alone couldn't account for the magnitude of the changes we're seeing. These changes are evident in the genetic assays we've performed on several samples, including Dr. Brown's detailed botanical analysis."
At his wordless nod, Katie spoke up. "The vegetation samples are remarkably close to the modem equivalents of birch, elm, a few variants of orchid, and cycad." In marked contrast to Rodney, she glanced over at Geisler as if uncertain about overstepping her bounds.
"In my view," the older scientist said, "it seems probable that the Ancients saw something of value in the biota of the middle to late Cretaceous and chose to preserve it in the Pegasus Galaxy. Since this must have occurred long before the Wraith became a threat, I can only assume the Ancients were studying some aspect of the ecology that they thought might lead them to Ascension." He gave a small shrug. "It could be that their focus was not the raptors we met, but instead some other species that has since Ascended from the planet."
Clearly itching to jump in, Rodney managed to exercise some restraint. Elizabeth raised the issue that had to be on his mind. "That doesn't explain the more recent Ancient activity on 316. Your research in the city database showed that Lilith ran experiments there just prior to the Lanteans' abandoning the Pegasus Galaxy. Were you able to find any details about the nature of those experiments?"
Geisler shook his head. "Nothing beyond her name and a general reference to testing, both executed and planned. We can only speculate about the Ancients' motivations; all I know for certain is that they were forced to leave in a hurry and that Lilith intended to return."
"A sudden departure seems quite likely," Radek agreed. "The condition of the lab we explored-it was not the controlled shutdown state we found upon first arriving in Atlantis. No steps had been taken to cover or otherwise preserve equipment." He absently disassembled and reassembled a pen. "Not exactly a Marie Celeste, but very close."
Elizabeth decided to reward Rodney's forbearance and swiveled her chair in his direction. "What did you find in the lab's records?"
"I've only had time to skim the files so far," he said promptly. "There's no doubt that the Ancients transplanted a large representation of Earth's biota some millions of years ago, which would explain the existence of the extremely old Ancient structures. Lilith and other more recent Ancients were in fact working on the `empathic' gene, so to speak. It looks like they hoped to make humans immune from Wraith attacks by inducing a kind of dynamic emotive feedback. Essentially, any attempt to feed on a human would result in the Wraith experiencing the same terror, agony and, ultimately, death."
It was a fascinating idea, but was it practical? Had the Ancients who'd originally stocked the planet abandoned their efforts because of a lack of progress or because they'd opted to let natural evolution to take its course'? In either case, why had Lilith revisited the experiment'?
"A considerable number of the lab records are focused on botany," added Radek. While Rodney's gaze blanked, Katie's lit up, although she didn't voice her eagerness. She reminded Elizabeth of a young student who knew the answer to the teacher's question but was too shy to call it out.
"Dr. Brown, you said earlier that you'd found something of interest?" Elizabeth prodded.
Katie returned her smile. "Everything Dr. Geisler brought back from 316 is of interest. In particular, I think there's a lot to be learned from the ginkgoopsida."
Well, that wasn't a word that often came up in conversation. "I'm sorry?"
"A class of plants commonly known as ginkgoes," Katie clarified.
Rodney frowned. "Those rancid-smelling pods that were all over the ground?"
She nodded brightly. "Ginkgoes originated on Earth nearly three hundred million years ago. However, only one species survived the K-T extinction event. In fact, until a few years ago, only a single population of trees, located on Tian Mu Mountain in China, was known to exist. Instead of seeding, however, they spread from a type of basal root. On 316, the ginkgoes would seem to be mostly seeding."
What that meant in regard to their objective, Elizabeth hadn't a clue, but she trusted the botanist to come to the point soon. "Isn't ginkgo biloba one of those herbal supplements people take to enhance memory?"
"That's right. It's also used to relieve the symptoms of many types of brain dysfunction. I've been testing the active ingredients from the 316 ginkgoes-they're drastically more concentrated than their Earth counterparts. Up to ten thousand times stronger, in some cases. They also contain several dozen more active ingredients, most of which I haven't been able to identify yet, although I did recognize a few as being used in the treatment of genetic disorders." Completely in her element, Katie was almost beaming. "These plants have incredible potential for medical applications."
Her last comment seemed to go unnoticed by Rodney as he zeroed in on the one that had preceded it. "Genetic disorders?"
"Those trees were abundant in every area we visited on the planet," Geisler said. "Whatever properties they contain would have completely saturated the food chain."
"Did you say genetic disorders?" Rodney demanded. "How?"
Katie appeared more than willing to explain. "Well, some of these components can be used to trigger dormant genes. We often think of retroviruses in a negative context, but not all of them are bad. Take the ATA gene, for instance. The gene therapy Dr. Beckett developed is a retroviral trigger. The ginkgoes on 316 may contain ingredients that trigger any number of useful retroviruses."
Although the expedition would soon learn about the recent developments on Earth when the victim list began to circulate, only a few members had been fully briefed so far. Katie hadn't been included in that group, so it wasn't surprising that she'd taken a rather optimistic view of the possibilities. Elizabeth, by contrast, felt an uneasy sense of recognition begin to coil in her stomach.