"Oh, and my time is somehow less valuable?" Rodney brandished his laptop. "I've only got a planet-wide transformation to halt, but yes, by all means, let's spend a few minutes to confirm that none of us is getting the sniffles from the killer sand."
His atypical reaction set Elizabeth back a step. If Rodney, who was pathologically conscientious about his welfare, felt he had higher priorities than a post-mission exam, that was a weighty statement indeed.
"I'm sure you can keep your computer open while you turn your head and cough," John assured him dryly, starting the group in motion toward the doors. Addressing Elizabeth, he asked, "How's the evacuation of the Athosians going?"
As much as she hated being the bearer of bad news, Elizabeth had gotten a depressing amount of practice at it. "We've lost contact with Dr. Mane at the Athosian camp. Conditions deteriorated rapidly, and we had to recall the jumpers. Teyla and Lieutenant Corletti were unable to return. Based on their last known position, we presume their jmnper crashed on the mainland."
Both John and Ronon froze at that, their expressions going carefully blank at almost the same moment. Their disparate backgrounds notwithstanding, it seemed the two men had similar traits, at least when it came to their concern for a teanunate and their desire not to make that concern obvious to others.
"Corletti's good," John said resolutely. "If they were anywhere near land, she put it down all right."
"And Teyla can take care of herself," added Ronon.
Neither sounded fully confident.
"I believe you're both right," Elizabeth said, leading them down the stairs. "Unfortunately, there's no way we can start search-andrescue operations right now." For John, who had SAR in his blood, she knew this was a particularly galling choice, but she also knew he would understand. "The other jumpers just barely managed to make it back ahead of the storm. We've had to power up the city shield in order to prevent damage to Atlantis."
One of the large windows came into view, illustrating the magnitude of the storm and the glow of the shield. Rodney's pace slowed. "Tell me you're not operating it at full strength," he demanded. "Tell me somebody had the brains to-"
"Of course," Elizabeth reassured him. "Radek is still fine-tuning the optimization, but he's certain he can keep power usage to a minimum."
When they reached the briefing room they were joined by Caldwell, who acknowledged the team's return with a nod.
"Good. Conservation and protection are our new goals in life," Rodney said, taking a seat and setting his laptop down on the polished table. "We need to safeguard every nut and bolt in the city if we're going to have any chance at what I have in mind. I'm going to pull Radek off his shield project. In fact, all work needs to stop, because I need everyone's undivided attention."
"With the exception of the Daedalus repairs," Caldwell corrected.
"No. When I say `all work,' I mean without exception." Rodney ignored the impending objection from the ship's commander and pushed ahead. "We may be able to get the star drive operational and turn Atlantis back into a space ship."
His announcement was met with stunned silence. Elizabeth felt a rush of the same excitement that had accompanied her first steps into the city, nearly two years ago. Biting her lip in an effort to contain a smile, she sat forward. "Are you serious?"
Looking faintly smug at their reactions, Rodney continued. "I'll admit that I didn't completely believe it was possible at first, but I know exactly what needs to be done. I didn't have any trouble firing up the engines in the sister city we found on that delightful, intrigue-laden Renaissance Fair planet. Our only constraint up to now has been our limited power supply-and we've just found a veritable mother lode of ZPMs. By my count, Polrusso has twelve."
"Twelve?" Obviously the revelation had been played for maximum effect, and Elizabeth had to admit that it worked. "How solid is that information?" she asked.
"The tech doesn't lie," John confirmed. "But before Scrooge McKay over here gets carried away, you should know that it'll be tough to get our hands on that many. For one thing, the Polrussons have built their villages around the ZPMs. Since the terraforming process was never completed there, they depend on the power."
With even half that many ZPMs, they could conceivably fulfill the Atlantis expedition's original mandate to enhance the defensive capabilities of Earth. God, what an opportunity! "Tell me about the Polrusson people." Elizabeth rested her forearms on the table.
"Not the usual crowd." John shrugged out of his battered jacket. "They have a surprisingly good grasp of history, their own as well as the Ancients'. They're aware of the situation with the terraforming and have adapted well to a harsh environment. The government's democratic, with a group of Elders that hold down day jobs-one's a teacher. Artistic bunch, too. All in all, really normal and well-adjusted."
"Sounds too good to be true." Caldwell folded his arms. "What's the catch?"
"I had pretty much the same reaction." John grimaced. "Turns out they've got a hive ship parked somewhere on the other side of the planet."
Blinking, Caldwell replied, "That's a hell of a catch."
"The Wraith don't disturb the village all that often on the relative scale. The villagers tell ghost stories about a Wraith named Nabu, but the vast majority of the hive is hibernating." Rodney was dismissive. "For our purposes, it's a minor detail."
"Doctor, when it comes to the Wraith, there's no such thing. If all the other hives are awake, why not this one?"
"What makes you so sure that they're all awake?" Ronon asked.
That proclamation was met with four worried glances. "Oh, wonderful. Thank you. That's just the positive reinforcement I needed right now," Rodney snapped.
"Be that as it may, I have to agree with Colonel Caldwell," Elizabeth said. "If that hive is disturbed-"
"Two birds, one stone." Her chief scientist clearly had no intention of letting anyone rain on his parade. "Three birds, actually. These people want the terraforming machine shut down. We want the ZPMs. The hive ship — well, we know what it wants, but that's irrelevant. More importantly, it's located in a pre-oceanic basin. Pulling the ZPMs will release the reservoirs. The Wraith will be underwater before they know what hit them."
"Unless a Wraith comes along beforehand and feeds on someone with knowledge of the plan." Caldwell's counterargument was directed at Rodney, but his gaze was on John. Elizabeth recognized his implication, and felt a flicker of fresh sorrow at the loss of Aiden Ford. Not flinching from his superior's gaze, John remained silent.
"Okay," said Elizabeth, hoping to steer the conversation down a more productive path. "So whatever we plan to do should be closehold information, kept to only the Elders on Polrusso."
Rodney was already shaking his head. "Not possible. Most of the Polrussons live in settlements near the ZPMs because they need the Ancient-designed wells that tap into the reservoirs in order to irrigate their crops. Once the ZPMs are removed, those areas will be wiped out by the massive outpouring of water."
"Where will everyone go, then?"
Ronon, whose taciturn nature always seemed more pronounced in briefings, spoke up. "They've made plans."
After John elaborated on the villagers' intentions to move inland when necessary, Elizabeth began to warm to the idea. It did appear to solve a number of problems, not only for themselves but also for Polrusso. "You're certain that the Polrussons will be okay? There's no chance that removing power will leave them with an even less hospitable environment?"
"The Ancients terraformed countless planets," Rodney said. "From what I've seen, they had it down to a fine art. The Polrussons will be fine, but they all have to be ready and willing to move-every man, woman, child, and camel-looking thing. The good news is that they've spent generations expecting imminent shut down so they're prepared to pull up stakes at a moment's notice. The bad news is-"