Making the impending loss of this civilization even more tragic. Anger worked its way into Rodney's mind, jockeying for position alongside helplessness and frustration. Just for a moment, he wished for Turpi's calming influence.
Sensing the change and the invitation, she slipped into his mind, but only hovered on the periphery, smoothing the edges of his emotions without altering them.
"That really is a gift," he said quietly, leaning into her touch, both physical and mental. "You'd put psychiatrists all over my planet out of business inside a week."
Her laugh existed only in his mind, and was all the more beautiful for it.
"Think you could just keep doing that until the end of the world-you know, considering that might not be too far away?" he said.
"If you wish it, I will be here." Something shifted, and he felt her anticipation. "I see something approaching in the sky."
Grasping at any last possibility he could find, John set a different inbound course to the lab than the one they'd taken outbound. Maybe they'd just gotten the location wrong. Maybe they still had a shot at stumbling on that damned hive ship out here somewhere. He knew, though, that time was working against him. Jumper Four had nearly reached its destination, and Jumper Five was already docked at the Ancient structure, its crew standing by to remove the ZPM.
"Incoming!" came a sudden yell from Lome over the radio. "We've got Wraith Darts buzzing the lab."
How the hell had that happened? John swore under his breath. His headache had just been looking for an excuse to make a repeat appearance. "Tell me what you see, Major."
"Six of `em, three pairs coming in from different directions. They're on converging flight paths, but it looks like they're not heading for us"
Had they spotted one of the cliff-dweller convoys? Crap. He set the jumper's nose at a high angle of attack, acute enough that Ronon looked at him askance. "Use the HUD to triangulate their convergence point and send it to me. We're taking the low-orbital route back. Hopefully it'll shave a few minutes off the commute. Everybody else, stay put and keep doing what you're doing."
Lome worked fast. The coordinates appeared within a minute, and John adjusted his flight path accordingly. Before long, the radio signaled again. "Alpha site calling Polrusso. Can anyone hear me?"
Even with John's diminished hearing, the accent and the odd radio etiquette made the caller's voice readily identifiable. Why was the Alpha site dialing in to talk to them? "We hear you, Doc. Is the evacuation complete?"
"Ah, Colonel," Beckett greeted archly. "So you haven't fallen on your face yet?"
John winced. When adding up the number of people irritated at him, he'd forgotten to include Beckett. "Sorry about skipping town. Is the evacuation complete?"
"I wish I could say so" Annoyance quickly gave way to anxiety. "We were expecting another group of evacuees a few minutes ago. When it didn't happen, we called Atlantis. The city's ZPM is too drained to risk dialing out again. They estimate that two hours remain until the shield fails."
"That should not be!" Radek broke in. "Unless conditions on Atlantis have worsened since our departure "
"Much worse," acknowledged the doctor. "The waves just keep coming. The last group through said that even the seabed is beginning to break up. They've had to divert a lot of power just to hold the city in something approximating a stable position, and that's requiring the use of the inertial dampeners. The plan right now is to take cover on the Daedalus and power the city down as much as possible. I've been asked to pass along a rather urgent request for at least one ZPM at your earliest opportunity. One would bring the last group safely here, but two might just give the Daedalus enough time to finish its repairs"
"Copy that," Lorne said. "We'll do our best to hustle."
"Dr. Weir sends her thanks in advance. Alpha site out."
Of course Elizabeth was still in the city. John imagined that she probably felt like the captain of the Titanic just then.
"Sir, we're already in place," reported Jumper Five's pilot- and damn, being unable to identify the kid's voice pissed John off. "The ZPM's right in front of us. We could grab it and be back to Atlantis in no time."
"If you remove it out of sequence, you may initiate a chain of events that will prevent Jumper Four from recovering its ZPM," Radek warned.
"Jumper Four is now in position at the base of the cliff," said Teyla. "We are beginning to tunnel through the sand."
That meant at least twenty minutes of waiting, twenty minutes that Atlantis might not have if things continued to deteriorate. It was a hell of a choice. Take one ZPM now and save the rest of the expedition, or wait for two and possibly save the Daedalus, their best chance of ever getting back to Earth.
"Listen, Vene was just here," Lome put in. "He says some of his people are lagging behind and need more time. If we start pulling the ZPMs now, he's afraid they'll lose a couple hundred, maybe more." John could hear the Polrusson's desperate voice in the background. "He says thirty minutes would make a big difference to them. Sir, it's your call."
One of the many reasons why, on occasion, command really sucked. John had seen those villagers' faces, seen their joy and hope. There was no way he could trade so many of their lives for the few souls remaining on Atlantis. Elizabeth would agree wholeheartedly, he knew, though that didn't make him feel the least bit better about it.
"Stand by, Jumper Five. Teyla, holler the second you find that ZPM, then both of you grab your ZPMs and make for the 'gate. Jumper Five, don't wait for Four-they'll be behind you. With any luck, we might be able to give our friends on the Daedalus time to get that hyperdrive back up and running. Lome, pack up everything there and prepare to leave the moment the sequence begins. Take Radek in Jumper Two to the Alpha site."
"Wait!" Zelenka's voice cut through. "I should return to Atlantis to assist with the Daedalus."
"Daedalus has Hermiod. If they run out of time, the Alpha site is going to need both of you."
There was a momentary silence, until Lorne responded in a voice deliberately stripped of emotion. "What about you, sir?"
John glanced over at Ronon, who looked as determined as ever. "We have a date with some Darts. We'll catch up."
Tunneling through the sand, Teyla decided, was not unlike moving through the formless gray goo, except that the grains at least offered some hint as to forward motion. The map illuminated on the HUD gave a clearer indication of their progress.
"Let's hope it doesn't take this long getting out," said Witner.
While the force field was proving to be an effective tool to clear the passage, the loose sand and rubble simply closed in behind them as they dug.
"There will be time," Teyla assured him. She had long since schooled herself in the art of patience, and this delay, while imperiling Dr. Weir and those who remained on Atlantis, at least would give the people of Polrusso more time. The outcome would be whatever was best for both worlds.
Still, she found herself staring at the HUD, urging the small light that indicated their location to move faster.
"We've reached the force field." Witner's hands moved across the controls, and the sand outside rapidly fell away to reveal the same style of airlock found on the Ancestors' laboratory.
While Witner rotated the jumper within the force field, Teyla stood and went to the rear of the craft, her hand close to the hatch release. The moment she felt the jumper lock into position against the structure, she activated the mechanism. A blast of rank air gave her momentary pause, but then she hurried outside before the hatch was fully lowered.
"We're in," Witner announced.
"Good, very good," replied Dr. Zelenka.
The room, if it could be called that, was large, and looked very much like the lab near the 'gate. It appeared to have been abandoned in a great hurry, for shelves and equipment were scattered everywhere. Although the facility had been woken by the arrival of the jumper, it was difficult to ascertain where the power module was located. "Dr. Zelenka, we appear to be in a laboratory. Could you please direct me to where I might find the ZPM?"