"I can show you the general location." The Elder approached the Ancient computer screen and studied the map Rodney had called up. With a callused hand, he indicated one of the deepest areas in a pre-oceanic basin on the opposite side of the planet.
Ronon tucked the small blade back into his hair-which raised no shortage of logistical questions all by itself-and folded his arms. "We need to be more certain than that."
"And more precise." Indicating the placement of two adjacent ZPMs with his finger, Rodney said, "That canyon could be flooded one of three ways, and if we don't pin down the Wraith's exact location, the wrong sequence could give them enough time to get the whole ship powered up"
He'd nearly forgotten that Shira was present until she spoke up. "There was once a small settlement not far from the ship. It was destroyed many years ago, but a few of its people still live in our village. I have heard an old man speak of what he saw there-something that looked like a hill, until the Darts emerged from it and flew off to begin raiding."
Having seen the immense crater left by the first hive ship they'd encountered, Rodney had no trouble believing that, even without a sprinkling of trees, a few sandstorms would help the hill camouflage succeed on Polrusso.
"Can we talk to this old man?" asked Sheppard.
"I will take you to him." Vene moved toward the door leading to the village, and Sheppard and Ronon started to follow.
"Whoa, hold up." Rodney scrambled to find a datapad compatible with the computer. "You need an accurate map, or all you'll get is story time at the nursing home." Uploading the map to the datapad, he thrust it into Sheppard's hands. "We'll stay here and get started on the simulations."
Once the others had left, he bent over the computer again, wondering idly if he'd restocked his ibuprofen bottle. Not only was the Ancient lab bench ergonomically deficient, but there had to be some fine particulates in the air, irritating the exposed nerve in his aching tooth.
"So," Radek began. "In an ideal reality, we will do what? Release each force field and fly in to extract each ZPM as soon it powers down? Hoping, of course, that the water does not move quickly enough to require either of us to engage in another undersea jumper ride."
"And I'd been doing so well at avoiding that thought until now-thanks ever so much. At least, if we do this right, we shouldn't have to worry about the Wraith at that point."
"By all means, then." Radek smiled. "Let us do it right."
The complexities of the terraforming program were undeniably intriguing. However, Rodney found himself more fascinated by the physical reality of what they were about to set in motion. It presented a bit of a perspective shift for him. For most of his life, it had been the purely theoretical nature of research that held his interest. Now, the practical applications of that research felt more immediate and more important. Samantha Carter's influence, he suspected.
For some reason, she'd been on his mind a lot lately, mostly after having been trapped underwater with her-or rather some manifestation of her in his head. Very strange. At least, as strange as having an attractive woman on the brain could be.
He was also starting to understand why Atlas had worked to accelerate the process by creating the exogenesis machine. It was heady stuff, the idea of flipping a switch and turning a planet from a barren dustbowl into a Garden of Eden. The science behind it could have innumerable uses elsewhere. Properly calibrated, it could reverse decades of environmental damage on Earth or create new homes for races devastated by battles with the Goa'uld and Ori.
So much could be learned, if they could only find the machine that Atlas had left on Polrusso. "Did you input the data on Ea's machine yet?"
"I do not have it "
"What?" A familiar flash of annoyance jerked Rodney back to the here and now.
"You had it on your computer on Atlantis " Radek's forehead crinkled. "I reminded you of this."
"I told you to bring it!"
Pushing himself back from the bench, Radek threw his hands in the air in defeat. "Fine! I will go back for it."
"And waste valuable time in the process." Rodney scrubbed at his eyes and decided that ibuprofen was sounding better and better. "All you had to do was burn it to a DVD."
With a jaundiced look, Radek shook his head. "Yes, it will waste all of ten minutes. Disastrous. The 'gate is just outside the door. As I have clearly failed you by not reading your mind, I will go." He rose from his stool and started toward the exit, favoring his twisted ankle.
"Oh, for crying out loud." Rodney rolled his eyes skyward. "I'll go. You set up the water-release simulation matrix and make sure the computer doesn't choke on this new diagnostic." Tapping his radio, he hailed their team leader. "Colonel, if you and Ronon are okay where you are, I'm going to briefly head home to pick up some necessary data."
Sheppard replied immediately. "You want me to go? We're only a few minutes away."
"No, you're better off getting the location of the hive ship. I'm waiting for a diagnostic to finish here. Besides, I have my doubts that you could successfully identify anything in my lab without a yellow sticky note on it, much less download something from my computer."
"Don't knock the sticky notes. They got me through college."
"I'm sure. I'll be back in a few minutes." He rubbed his face. The broken tooth was beginning to feel like a spear through his skull.
"Check in when you get back. Sheppard out."
Once outside, Rodney found himself caught up in the crush of people hanging around the 'gate, joined now by their recently returned friends. As before, they wasted no time in cheerfully getting inside his personal space, which had the added bonus of aggravating his headache.
"You are returning to your home?"
"Temporarily." Rodney shook his arm loose from a child's enthusiastic grip. "Just need to go get something."
"We could wait for you if you wish."
Wonderful. A fan club. "No need. You'll have plenty more opportunities to smother me later."
"Please allow me to help," offered an eager young man hovering by the DHD. "It would be an honor to open the 'gate for you."
If Rodney had learned one thing from their various meet-andgreets gone wrong, it was to never let strangers see his home's address. "That's all right. It's, um, enough that you were here to greet me. But you've got lots of work to do before the big move, I'm sure, so go on. Take care."
Starting to dial a false address, he turned to the crowd and gave a jerky wave, hoping they'd get the hint. They did, waving back and calling out their thanks as they departed. Rodney waited until they were a reasonable distance away before redialing the correct address. A round-trip 'gate transit for a damned DVD with a smidgeon of data. Embarrassing.
"Hey, honey, we're home," John announced as he entered the lab. It occurred to him a moment later that, since his current companions were a Czech and a Satedan, neither of them were likely to find his comment the least bit funny. It didn't bother him; he was used to his jokes bombing. "What's for dinner?"
"Torture bars, if you ask Rodney." Radek either understood the reference or ignored it, his attention focused on the computer screen in front of him. "He is still rather irate that a power bar caused him dental distress. Legal action has been mentioned."
Typical. John hopped up to sit on an unused lab bench. "He's not back yet? It's been two hours."
"Perhaps the dentist made him wait." Radek sounded a little too amused by that notion. "Do you have the location?"
Ronon pulled the datapad out of his pocket and handed it to the scientist. "The old man was pretty specific about where the ship is."
Studying the map for a moment, Radek nodded, satisfied. "Jo. DobFe. This will work. In fact, it is a good place to begin the water release. Flood this location first, and pressure will be relieved in the adjoining areas. This will allow us to collect the ZPMs in an orderly manner."