Halcyon

Mason gave a small sniff of disdain. He had already made it clear to Carson that he laid the blame for McKay's abduction at Erony's feet, convinced that the girl was working for her father's ends. The doctor wanted the reverse to be true, but as she had said herself, trust was hard to find on this planet. He took a deep breath. By now, the duty officers in Atlantis's Gate Room would have alerted Elizabeth of Mason's signal, so at any second-

"This is Dr. Weir acknowledging receipt of transmission. We're ready to lower the shield at your discretion."

"Elizabeth, it's Carson here," he began, "don't drop the force field. This is just an update."

When she spoke again, Beckett heard the wary tone in her voice. "Okay, Carson, I understand. What's your status over there? We're at Condition Blue, over"

Beckett nodded to himself. After Kenealy had Gated back with Hill's body, the other doctor had been under orders to give Weir the full story on what had taken place on Halcyon since Sheppard had left with the Puddle Jumper, and that included Rodney's kidnapping. As part of new security protocols introduced on Atlantis, they had created a series of seemingly innocuous code phrases that could be inserted into radio communications to allow off world teams to send a warning that they were operating under duress. Condition Blue meant that Weir understood that Carson was on unfriendly ground, and she was ready to assist. The doctor searched his memory for a moment for the correct counter-sign. "It's, ah, Condition Yellow," he said. "We're okay here, for the moment."

Elizabeth relaxed a little-but only a little. She stared at the open Stargate, visualizing Carson on the other side, his expression taut with concern. Weir had gone over Kenealy's report a dozen times, scouring it for anything she could use. Other duties vital to the running of Atlantis had slipped as the situation on Halcyon had gotten worse, and she had to admit she was finding it hard to keep her mind on the job at hand while her friends were in harm's way out in the Pegasus Galaxy.

"Can you speak freely?"

"Aye, go ahead."

"I'm ready to come through myself to take up a role as negotiator. Perhaps I might be able to secure Rodney's release if I spoke directly with the Lord Magnate."

There was a pause. "Staff Sergeant Mason is firmly against that idea, Elizabeth, and I'm sure Colonel Sheppard would be to, if he were here. We don't want to bring another senior member of Atlantis staff in where they can take a shot at them. They might decide you're a better bet than McKay and go for you instead."

Weir glanced down from the control room to where a squad of men armed with heavy machine guns and assault rifles stood at the ready, poised to advance through the Stargate on her word. She hated playing the military card, but at this stage her options were very limited. "In that case, Carson, we can go for the more direct approach. Major Lorne and his unit are standing by." Elizabeth left that offer hanging, fully aware that Beckett would understand what she was hinting at.

A different voice broke in on the radio channel. "Mason here, ma'am. As much as I'd like to agree to that, it's my estimation that a show of greater force would be very bad for your Dr. McKay. We need to deal with this at our end."

"I hear you, Staff Sergeant." Elizabeth glanced at the Gate Technician to her right. "Keith, tell Lorne and his team to stand down. For the moment."

Beckett was speaking again. "Things are moving quickly here. Lord Daus has given us notice that his men have apparently located Rodney, although he hasn't shown any proof yet."

Weir frowned. "Apparently? If they found him, why isn't he back with you? Where's Colonel Sheppard?"

"On a hunting expedition." She listened carefully as Carson outlined the content of Sheppard's discussion with the Magnate and the trade of the rogue Wraith for the Atlantis team's scientist.

"And John went along with this?"

"Aye, although he was nae very happy about it." She heard the doctor sigh heavily over the radio link. "But that's not the worst of it. We potentially have a much bigger problem than McKay's capture. Sheppard detected and destroyed a marker drone in orbit over Halcyon. It was of Wraith origin, Elizabeth. They tagged this planet as a food source thousands of years ago. "

Weir felt her breath catch in her throat. Beckett's statement hung in the air, and everyone in the control room who heard it felt the same jagged little dagger of fear the word `Wraith' engendered. They had all been there, watching the storms of weapons fire against the city's shield dome when the aliens had laid siege to Atlantis, and all of them understood the ruthless threat the Wraith posed. She heard a soft, muttered curse from over her shoulder. Dr. Radek Zelenka had entered the control room without her noticing, and now stood there, his face pale behind his glasses.

Elizabeth clamped down on her own concerns and moved past them. "Do you know if the beacon was transmitting? Are there Wraith on the way to you?"

"We can't be sure. It's possible."

She tapped her hand on the console. "Then I want you back here. If Halcyon is under threat of Wraith attack, I don't want my people there a second longer than they need to be."

"That's not going to happen," he replied wearily. "Gate travel to or from this planet has been suspended, under penalty of being shot to pieces. Until that changes, we're stuck here. And even if we could go, I've still got work to do here. Elizabeth, a lot of these people here are dying."

"They'll all be dying if the Wraith come for them," muttered Zelenka.

She hated to admit it, but the scientist had a point.

"Carson, making those people healthy isn't going to count for anything if a Hive Ship drops out of hyperspace over their planet!" Weir's voice sounded in Beckett's ear and he looked at Mason once again. The SAS trooper was watching the gun turrets. "If we want to help the Halcyons, we need to think about evacuating them to another world! Let me come through and I can talk to Daus — "

"No, Dr. Weir," snapped Mason. "I can't allow that. I'm the ranking military authority here in the Lieutenant Colonel's absence, and I'm telling you this. Anyone who comes through that Gate will be a red smear ten seconds later."

"Staff Sergeant, do I have to remind you who is in command of this expedition?"

Beckett swallowed hard at the soldier's gruesome description, but he saw the sense in it. "Elizabeth, listen. He's right. They'll shoot you down and not even blink."

When Weir spoke again, it was with firm resolve. "Then in that case, Staff Sergeant Mason, I expect you to make sure Dr. Beckett and the rest of the team are kept safe until we can get all of you home."

"Orders received and understood, ma'am," replied the soldier.

"Carson?"

"Go ahead."

"Try to keep out of trouble. In the meantime, I'm going to see if I can get you another ride, understood?"

Beckett and Mason exchanged glances, an unspoken communication passing between them. There were some things that Weir wasn't willing to discuss on an open channel, but her meaning was clear.

"Understood," replied the doctor, the stress of the last few hours abruptly settling on him. "Halcyon out."

Elizabeth turned to Zelenka, to find the scientist already working at a control console, his hands flying over the glassy Atlantean keypad, then to a laptop, then back again. "Radek, can you pinpoint the-"

"Location of the Daedalus?" A semi-transparent screen shimmered and solidified into a display of the Pegasus Galaxy's interstellar region. Zelenka touched a control and three cursors illuminated. "This is us, Atlantis. This is Daedalus. This is the Halcyon star system."

Weir gave a small smile at the man's ability to anticipate her request; but then he was a genius, like so many of the experts that had come with her from Cheyenne Mountain. "It's within their hyperspace transit range. We may have another option after all." She gestured to the duty technician. "Get sub-space communications on line for me. Send a priority one flash message to Colonel Caldwell."