"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?"