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10 Minutes
John had spent years ignoring what Colonel O'Neill and Dr. Jackson were up to. Until he couldn't anymore because his guide had been tapped to work at Area 51, and he'd been sucked into a mixed service command that's testing brand new planes. Planes that went into space.
It was all kinds of awesome, and he adored being a test pilot for the F-302 because they were the most fun to fly. And he was able to use his degrees to help tweak and design planes and ships for the SGC. They also allowed him to help take newly discovered tech apart and make it work on Earth.
Things were going well until their world got kicked off its axis. Someone was caught in a buffer, and some squirrely Colonel wanted Rodney to fix it. Because while he'd been working with planes and spacecraft, Rodney had been studying the tech that allowed them to get them and became an expert at it.
This was going to be interesting.
Art by Starkindler
Rodney glanced up at the gate and pressed a hand against the structure of it. “It’s vibrating.”
“It started to do that when we connected it to the mains,” Carter said. She had her laptop open and was plugging in the sensors he’d attached to the gate into a central hub so the information being gathered could be collated. “The whole place used to vibrate like we were in the middle of an earthquake when we’d dial the gate until we figured out how to isolate the complex from the gate.”
“That sounds less than good,” Rodney said. He connected the last sensor and patted the gate as he did. “Last one.”
“We’re getting a lot of information off the gate,” Carter said after she had connected the last sensor.
“Doesn’t surprise me,” Rodney said before he looked over her shoulder. He reached out to follow one of the datasets. “That’s the last trip in, right?”
“It is,” she confirmed. She traced the same dataset and tapped where it ended. “That’s where it stopped. The data’s still there but can’t integrate.”
“And neither of us are certain how to get it to integrate without a DHD,” Rodney concluded. “Would you be okay with leaving these sensors in place for a few cycles of the gate once we get Teal’c out?”
“I would. It’s information that we need to know and since we’re at this stage anyway….” Carter said. She flipped to another page of data and sighed. “The gate’s currently in standby mode. I can see the power draw and it’s higher than it normally is when we’re not using it, so it has to be holding something in place.”
“That’s good news,” Rodney said. He eyed the dataset she had up and sighed. “We need to monitor this to make sure that there’s no degradation over the next day.”
“Agreed,” Carter said. She glanced up at the control room and raised her voice slightly. “Walter, please ask Colonel O’Neill if he’s gotten an update on Daniel’s errand.”
“Will do, Major,” one of the figures in the control room said over the loudspeaker.
“Oh, look at that, there is a degradation,” Carter said. She had been moving through the various screens showing the results from the sensors and frowned at the information being shown. “But wow, that’s slight.”
Rodney stared at the minute change and tried to do the math in his head. “I’m getting way more than 48 hours until that’s below even the most generous of viability limits.”
Carter huffed once before she crossed her arms over her chest. “So, utter bullshit.”
“Utter,” Rodney agreed. “But I doubt we’re going to get much more than that.”
“Same,” Carter said with a frown.
“Major Carter, Colonel O’Neill reports that Dr. Jackson has secured the DHD and he’s arranging to transport it. It’s going to be about 8 hours before it gets back here,” Walter reported several minutes later.
“Daniel’s in Moscow?” Rodney asked. He frowned as he glanced up at the control room. “How? There’s no way that he could have gotten there this fast on a commercial jet!”
“We had an Al’kesh parked upstairs,” Carter said, waving her hand up towards the top of the old missile silo. “The Colonel used it to train your sentinel and Mitchell in Goa’uld ships, and we kept it because it’s too damn useful to let go.”
“It’s a very interesting ship. I did get a chance to look it over while John and Maverick were flying it,” Rodney said. He shrugged when she looked at him. “I like spaceships. I wasn’t going to let the chance to examine one pass me by.”
“Oh, I get it,” Carter said. She grinned softly as she remembered something. “I’ve been in a lot of alien ships, and while some are beasts to fly, others are just pure fun. Al’kesh’s are on the fun side of the beasts.”
Rodney hummed softly as he made a note of the changing numbers on the screen. “Have you been in a F-302?”
“Yeah, I have. I did some of the design work on it, but I really haven’t had a lot of time to devote to it. I do want to fly the final version of it when Sheppard and Mitchell sign off on all the last updates,” Carter said.
“Well, we’re within John’s range, so I’m sure he heard that and will do what he can to get you on one,” Rodney said.
Carter flashed him a big grin before turning her attention back to the sensors they were studying. “We still need to figure out how to get the gate to complete the aborted wormhole.”
“I know,” Rodney said as he started to actually inspect the gate itself. While he’d had his hands on it while attaching the sensors, he hadn’t been able to study it closely. Now, while Carter was busy, he could.
“We’re going to need to let the General know what’s going on,” Carter said.
“I’m sure John’s updated him on what’s been happening,” Rodney said, most of his attention on the physical reality of the gate. He had seen how the wormhole worked, and now he could ask one of the questions that had been burning in his mind. “How in the world does this thing work and not eat the ramp?”
“It did eat parts of the ramp the first few times we opened the gate,” Carter said absently as she typed on her laptop. “We got around the flush by changing the angles of both the gate and the ramp by a few degrees. It looks straight, but it’s not quite.”
“Ah, very cool,” Rodney said. He stood up and walked around the gate, inspecting every inch of the ring within reach. He could just barely tell that the whole setup was tilted at a shallow angle. “Impressive engineering.”
“It is,” Carter agreed. She glanced up at the gate and sighed before turning her attention back to what she was reading. “It really is.”
John stared out the window of the conference room and watched as his guide attached sensors all over the stargate. “At least they’re getting along?”
“I don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing,” O’Neill observed. He was standing beside John, arms crossed as he kept his eyes on the duo below. “I mean, they’re both smart as hell, but Carter hasn’t exactly been thrilled at the reports coming out of Area 51.”
“Lemme guess, she’s not fond of the scathing commentary he keeps putting in his updates regarding what’s missing and how unwise it is that she didn’t work on updating the gate plans?” John asked. When O’Neill hummed in agreement, he sighed. “It burns the engineer in his soul to have a machine in use with no plans. I’m sure I’m going to hear about this mess soon enough.”
“Because if we had the plans and the knowledge of what the gate could do, we might have been able to work around this,” O’Neill said with a sigh of his own. “Or if we had a DHD or equivalent in place, this whole mess wouldn’t have happened at all.”
“Yes, sir. And he’s going to say it. Soon. Because he’s like that and he’s never been one to hide from uncomfortable science,” John said softly. “No matter how much he might want to.”
“Carter hasn’t either, but she’s also the type to get wrapped up in the science she’s doing and utterly forget the human side of the equation,” O’Neill admitted. “It’s caused some friction before, and I don’t know how to mitigate it.”
“It’s not on you to do that, sir. She’s got to remember that what she does has consequences,” John said. He wrapped his senses around his guide and tried to get a bead on how he was doing. Rodney seemed mostly calm, with curiosity spreading out around him in waves. Their bond also had flavors of curiosity, but under it was irritation. He was not looking forward to his guide losing his temper.
“Oh, yeah, that’s something that I agree with,” O’Neill said.
“How much does she listen to Daniel, sir?” John asked.
“He’s a soft scientist, so she’ll listen when it impacts on her areas of specialization, but she’s ignored him before when she thinks that hard science is right,” O’Neill said. “I’ve ignored him too. And normally get shown to be wretchedly wrong to do so.”
“It sucks when your partner is right more often than you are,” John commiserated. “I stopped trying to out-science Rodney years ago. The smug gets to be a bit much.”
“Good call,” O’Neill said. He accepted a tablet from Harriman and read through the note on it. “And it looks like Simmons has been a very bad boy, playing with the Trust. Now I have to talk to one of my least favorite people to see if we can trace his movements.”
John glanced over at his alpha and raised an eyebrow. “I’m not going to tell Daniel that you went off on your own to track down clues, sir. You’re on your own there.”
“Thanks, Sheppard.”
Jack walked out of the SGC and pulled his phone out to call one of his least favorite people on the planet. “Maybourne,” he greeted when the man picked up.
“Jack,” Maybourne said warily. “Why are you calling me?”
“Colonel Frank Simmons. He’s Trust,” Jack said shortly. “He’s trying to limit a rescue operation to recover Teal’c.”
“Jesus,” Maybourne said with a sigh. “That man’s a bottom feeder.”
Jack snorted with no amusement as he got in his car. “That’s being generous. Look, I need to meet with you.”
“Why do you think I’m close enough to meet you?” Maybourne asked.
“You really think I don’t keep an eye on where you are?” Jack asked. He pulled out of the parking lot and started for the house he knew Maybourne was holed up in.
“I hate that part of you being a sentinel,” Maybourne bitched.
“It’s got nothing to do with me being a sentinel, and everything to do with you being a giant pain in my ass. I want to know where you are at all times for my peace of mind,” Jack said simply.
The laugh Maybourne let out sounded honestly amused to Jack’s ear. “That’s not how you get people to do you favors, Jack. I’ll put the coffee on.”
“Sounds good,” Jack said. He quickly hung up to concentrate on the drive to avoid thinking about everything going on. His bond with his guide was thin, and he missed Daniel intensely. Having McKay close by was a help, but the man wasn’t his guide, and it was rude to rely on him unless there was no other choice.
When he got to Maybourne’s bungalow, he carefully parked and headed in. Maybourne was smart enough to leave the front door unlocked, and he let his senses spread out to check the structure for any recording devices. Nothing. “Harry!”
“In the kitchen, Jack,” Maybourne called.
Jack followed his nose to the kitchen and accepted the cup of coffee Maybourne passed him. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Maybourne said. “Now, what’s Simmons up to?”
“We had an accident with the gate. A ship hit the outgoing gate and likely disconnected the DHD from the gate itself as Teal’c entered the gate. He didn’t come out on our side,” Jack said. He took a sip of the coffee and hummed in appreciation. Maybourne had good taste.
Maybourne rocked back and forth on his feet as he processed that. “That’s not great. How do you know that Teal’c’s recoverable?”
“You know what happened with me and the Ancient repository?” Jack asked. When Maybourne nodded, he tapped one finger against the side of his head. “Something up here is telling me that we can get Teal’c out of the gate. I just don’t know how, and the knowledge I have is mostly missing. Carter’s sure it’s possible if we have a DHD, but we need confirmation of how.”
“And that’s the sticker on this,” Maybourne concluded.
“It is. Simmons showed up with the stargate expert we’ve been growing from Area 51 and confirmed that he’s the source of the 48 hour time limit we’re working under. We’re most of the way through the first 24 hours, and we’ve still got to figure out how to get him out once we get the DHD from Moscow,” Jack said bluntly.
“You’re being awfully forthcoming here, Jack. Should you be?” Maybourne asked, one eyebrow raised.
“Honestly, I probably shouldn’t, but no matter how bent your ethics are sometimes, you’re still working on the side of the angels, and I want to get you back to work for us. Call this a job interview,” Jack said with a smile.
Maybourne froze before he took a sip of his coffee and then took a deep breath. “You want me to run security for the SGC, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Jack confirmed. “General Hammond authorized the offer.”
“Holy shit,” Maybourne huffed. “Okay. So, I went looking to see what Simmons has been up to and you’re right. He’s Trust and those assholes have a pet Goa’uld. They also haven’t closed the backdoor that I used to get in, and I know where they’ve hidden him.”
“Well, that’s something that I’m going to want to take care of, because I’m not going to leave a Goa’uld on the planet,” Jack muttered. “Now, why should I currently care where they’ve stashed their pet Goa’uld?”
Maybourne smirked at him before saluting him with his coffee cup. “Because Simmons reported to his bosses that their Goa’uld knows how to get someone out of a gate when something like this happens.”
“And yet, he didn’t share that with his bosses, so we now have to go find the damn Goa’uld,” Jack said with a huff.
“Yup.”
“Daniel is going to kill me,” Jack said with a sigh before draining his coffee cup. “Lead the way.”
“Excellent!” Maybourne said with a bloodthirsty grin.
Well, that was certainly an interesting twist. I did not see it coming..
dayum!! excelente update! really enjoying the hell outta this one!
Now that I didn’t see coming. I’m looking forward Rodney finally having his say. The fact that O’Neill notices that Carter puts the science ahead of lives / consequences is very telling. You can’t change her but you can hold her accountable.
Great post!