As soon as they reached the control room, Rodney and Radek went to side-by-side computer terminals, periodically grabbing hold of the edges of the table to maintain their balance. After watching for a moment, Nabu rested the exogenesis machine on a chair and stepped in. Without a word, Rodney moved aside to allow him access, a fact that John found telling. Whatever had happened between them back on Polrusso had triggered something in Rodney that John hadn't fully believed existed: humility, or at least a recognition that someone in the galaxy actually knew more than Rodney did.
"This preliminary data suggests that the machine was not properly programmed. As yet I can find no real plan, only a series of discrete, open-ended events," Nabu determined.
"That fits with what Carson said." At the Polrusson's questioning look, Elizabeth explained about the pods. "Ea was driven by grief," she concluded, "and convinced that our presence in Atlantis was inviting a Wraith incursion. Destroying the city seemed to be her only goal "
"Ea andAtlas. Their story is more complicated than you know…" Nabu's voice trailed off, and a strange expression crossed his face. "To have come so far." Shaking his head in regret, he turned back to the computer. "Ea knew full well the potential of the exogenesis device, but perhaps you are correct in saying that grief clouded her mind. That haphazardness may be to our advantage. Once I deter mine her exact sequence, I can program a reversal and shutdown." He pulled up additional data, which began to flow down the screen in a familiar if still incomprehensible Ancient pattern.
"To effect an immediate response," Nabu added, "it will be best to insert the second machine into the planet's crust at its thinnest point, so that it will quickly burrow through to the mantle and draw the required energy."
John glanced at Rodney, but the anticipated info dump wasn't forthcoming. Elizabeth's eyes narrowed in concern. "Rodney? Any thoughts on that?"
"Uh…yes." More evidence as to their chief scientist's state of mind. The man looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his life and then handed him the pieces. "Yes, of course. That would generally be the deepest part of the ocean, where two tectonic plates are converging. Radek?"
"There is a trench." Already typing at a near-inhuman rate, Radek brought up a bathymetric chart on the main screen and pointed. "Depth is comparable to the Mariana Trench on Earth. The lithosphere is very thin, and there are also several hydrothermal vents here."
Rodney was nodding his approval, which John took as a good sign. "If we release the machine into a vent, it'll have a head start"
"Oh…. No, that is not good." Radek sat back in his chair and brought a hand to his mouth, then abruptly sat forward and began typing again. A new stream of data flowed across the screen.
Looking over his shoulder, Rodney paled. "That's bad. Exceedingly bad."
"Yes." Radek's voice held the sort of hushed awe that John had learned to really, really hate. Before anyone could ask for clarification, he pointed. "The ocean is rapidly transforming, but instead of remaining inert, the nanites have become… activated."
If the expression on Rodney's face was worrying, Nabu looked positively ill. "The program is neither random nor open-ended. It was not designed to destroy Atlantis. On the contrary… Ea." The name was almost a sigh, but it held an edge of pure terror. The Polmsson pushed his chair back and stood. "This is no longer a matter of saving one world. We must leave. Now. I will program Atlas's machine on the journey."
Confused, Elizabeth began to speak, but Nabu wasn't finished. "You have the means to return to your own galaxy through the Stargate?"
"The necessary crystal is at the Alpha site, but we need a ZPM." The words tumbled over each other. This was definitely panicRodney, not excitement-Rodney.
"We can't remove the ZPM from here, of course," interjected Radek, "because we need it to power the 'gate to get there-not to mention maintain the shield."
Nabu's gaze bored into Elizabeth. "Take all who remain in the city to this Alpha site." To Lorne and Witner, hovering in the background, he said, "You must return to Polrusso and tell my people that in her grief, Ea unleashed the final program. If we fail to contact you within three hours, go to the laboratory and remove the ZPM from the matrix." At the shock on everyone's faces, he added, "My people will not stop you. I would ask you to allow as many as are willing to come with you to your Alpha site." He turned again to Elizabeth. "From there, use the ZPM to leave this galaxy. And never, under any circumstance, should you return." He snatched up the exogenesis machine and raced up the steps to the jumper bay, his coat flapping behind him like a dark wing.
John looked to Rodney for an explanation and found his teammate sharing a moment of silent panic with Radek.
"Rodney?" Elizabeth asked, but she was talking to Rodney's back because he was already on Nabu's heels.
Radek grabbed his and Rodney's respective packs and sped after him, leaving the rest of them no choice but to follow. Fortunately, Rodney had perfected the art of delivering a succinct commentary on the run. Distraught as he was, his focus grew, as always, proportionally to the magnitude of the crisis. "Ea knew everything that Carson knew. She knew how we'd respond-how I would respond. The storm, the nanites and seismic waves; all of it was aimed at getting us to abandon Atlantis."
"She did not wish to destroy it?" Teyla asked.
"No," Radek replied simply, struggling with the packs until John relieved him of the larger one. "Ea wanted to give the nanites access to the Stargate." He almost fell when the city heaved hard to one side.
"Oh, God," Elizabeth breathed.
In a cold burst of comprehension, John got the picture.
Teyla, however, was apparently still confused. "I do not understand."
"Me neither," Ronon put in for good measure, his boots clomping heavily on the steps.
Without pausing, Elizabeth answered, "Ea said that our presence in Atlantis exposed `entire galaxies' to the Wraith. She also said that `Everything that should have been destroyed remains.' She wasn't talking about Atlantis; otherwise she wouldn't have entered a stasis pod with the expectation of surviving. She was talking about everything else-the entire Pegasus Galaxy!"
Stunned, Teyla halted, only to be nearly run over by Ronon. "That's what your people call overkill, isn't it?" the Satedan said.
"Not for an Ancient," Elizabeth countered. "They created all life in our galaxy with a machine."
"And last year, the almighty Ascended weren't averse to letting Anubis use that same machine to wipe out all life and recreate the galaxy to his taste" Rodney called over his shoulder, his voice projected so that he could be heard over the noise of the storm.
"As with replicators," Radek explained when they reached the jumper bay, "activated nanites can take on whatever form they've been programmed to adopt. Instead of breaking down everything, they can go into stealth mode and, once inside the city, infest the dialing computer."
"Like Beckett's stealth virus," John said, recalling the doctor's description.
"Yes, I believe so. His knowledge undoubtedly gave her the idea." Radek's face was pinched as he caught his breath.
John fished the jumper's remote out of his pocket and opened the hatch. "Maybe we should conveniently forget to mention that detail to Beckett" One hyper-traumatized teammate at a time was enough.
"At that point, the nanites could easily dial out to every Stargate in this galaxy-probably simultaneously-allowing them to destroy everything before beginning a new `life' program," Rodney added.
"Similar to initializing a hard drive before re-booting a computer." Radek dropped his pack and pulled out his datapad.
"This is an entire galaxy!" Lome sounded justifiably affronted. "It's a little more than a computer."