Author's Chapter Notes: A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews! Meta info can be found in part one.
Chapter 4
One month went by quickly; the Daedalus was on its way back to Earth and was now out of communication range. John and his team resumed their missions though they never stayed away for more than a few hours. Even though Abby was used to not seeing her father everyday when she was living on Earth, she had come to rely a lot more on him since he took her with him to Atlantis and he didn't want to leave her for too long. He knew that one day, he'd probably have to stay off-world overnight but he hoped that when it'll happen, Abby would be okay to stay with Elizabeth alone. For the moment, even though things were steady, Elizabeth told him that she was still a bit withdrawn when they were alone. The members of the expedition also got used to Abby's presence in the City and the couple often heard that it was refreshing to have a child in Atlantis. With some couples already existing in the Atlantis, and some new blossoming relationships since the new members arrived, they wouldn't be surprised if one of them came to see them one day to announce that they were pregnant.
Elizabeth was now in her office, working on some reports when John, Abby and Sedge burst into the room. She sighed, putting her stylus down onto her desk and looked up at her companion.
"John… How many times have I told you to not run in the Control Room if it's not an emergency?"
"A few times…?" he tried and he knew she wasn't in the mood for joking when she gave him a pointed look.
"And I thought that as her father you should show the example to Abby… You wanted something?" she decided to change the subject.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to take Abby to the mainland tomorrow."
"And you haven’t waited until tonight to tell me because…" She trailed off, wondering which excuse he would invoke this time.
"Because I love to interrupt you while you're working? And, I also wanted to know if you were coming with us?"
"I'd love too, but I have briefings all day long. And in between I have work."
"You don't need me for those?"
"No, I'll handle them. The first one will be with the scientists, the second with Major Lorne's team about their mission and then I have to see Carson."
"Why? Are you ill?" he asked, worried.
"I'm fine," she said, nonetheless touched that he was worrying. "I just have my monthly check-up."
"Oh, ok."
"You should ask Teyla if she wants to come with you."
"I was going to," he agreed, having already thought about that himself. "So, I guess we'll leave you to your work. See you tonight?"
"Yeah," she answered as he leaned in to kiss her. "Bye, Abby."
"I wanna stay with Lizzie," Abby then said, surprising them both.
"Sweetie, Elizabeth has to work, why don't you come with me…"
"No," the girl simply replied, raising her arms and thus silently asking Elizabeth to sit on her lap, to which the woman complied.
"It's ok, John. She can stay. And by the way, you have work too, so why don't you go to your office for a couple of hours and actually do work. Should I remind you you have a mission briefing the day after tomorrow and if you want to go the mainland tomorrow, I'd suggest you to work on it today."
"I see I don’t really have a choice. Fine," he pouted and Elizabeth had to laugh at him. "Contact me on the radio if you need me," he told her before leaving the office.
"So, Abby, why didn't you want to stay with Daddy?" Elizabeth wanted to know. She wasn't sure the girl would tell her, but she had to try. "You know, if you don't want Daddy to know, it can stay between you and me…," she tried, hoping that it would make her decide to start talking. She wanted nothing more than to lift the girl from what she had on her mind.
"I miss Mommy and Dinah," she answered, sniffing and snuggling closer to Elizabeth.
The diplomat tightened her arms around her little body, kissing the top of her head in the process. She wasn't surprised by the girl's confidence, but she couldn't really do anything about that besides being there for Abby. They stayed a few minutes in a complete silence, Elizabeth's chin resting on top of Abby's head, rocking her gently. She still heard some sniffles here and there and knew she should do something to cheer the girl up if only a little. She didn't have to wonder anymore when her eyes fell onto her laptop.
"You know," Elizabeth said after a while and Abby looked up at her, "I think I could use a break, so why don't we play for a little while?"
"Play what?"
"I think it's time for me to teach you one of my favourite games… Solitaire," she finally said, opening the game on her laptop. "And when I'll have to get back to my work, maybe you could draw something for Dinah and we'll send it to her as soon as possible," she suggested and Abby nodded. "Ok, first…"
When John entered the control room a couple of hours later, he immediately noticed that Abby was still sitting on Elizabeth's lap and both were looking intently at the screen in front of them. He stopped, watching them interact for a moment, and from the corner of his eyes, he saw Chuck smiling knowingly at him. He shook his head at him and started walking again towards his companion's office. He was crossing the catwalk when he heard his daughter scream and saw her jump down from Elizabeth's lap. He nearly burst into the room, worried, and the diplomat looked up, surprised to find him there.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I've won!" Abby shouted as she ran towards him and he had no choice but to lift her in his arms.
"What are you talking about, sweetheart?" he asked again and when she showed no sign of responding, he turned towards Elizabeth.
"I've taught her to play Solitaire and she just won her first game alone," she answered, seeming really proud of Abby.
"Oh, don't tell me you got her hooked on it, too? As if I didn't have enough problems with you addicted to it already," he said in a mock complaining voice and that earned him a slap on his arm from Elizabeth. "I hope for you that she won't end up playing for hours on end like you tend to do from time to time," he warned her with a pointed look. "Anyway, don't tell me you spent two hours playing Solitaire?"
"What?" Elizabeth nearly squealed, surprised as she was looking at her watch. "And I still have a ton of work waiting for me…," she sighed.
"Here's the deal. I'm done for today so I'm going to take Abby with me. You keep on working for as long as you need and we'll see you later, ok?"
"Ok, I'll try to wrap this up as soon as possible."
"Then come on, Abby, time to go."
"No, I wanna keep playing with Lizzie."
"See? You've already corrupted her," he said, giving her once more a pointed look. "Elizabeth has to work but we can play together if you want." Abby shrugged in response and John feigned to be offended. "Ok, then, we're going. See you later."
"Later," she replied as they were leaving the room.
Elizabeth shook her head and closed the game before opening one of the many files waiting for her. She sighed, seeing it was sent by one of the scientists and that it was fifteen pages long; she didn't really want to read that now, but it wasn't like she had a choice, she had to. One day, she should just ask McKay or Zelenka to sum that kind of reports up for her because she was no scientist and fifteen pages of this or that meant absolutely nothing for her most of the time.
The next day was spent on the mainland for Teyla, Abby and John's part while Elizabeth had to stay in Atlantis, working. It was the second time John brought her to see the Athosians; the first time they had gone along with Elizabeth and had stayed well into the night, and Abby had fallen asleep in the Jumper during the ride back home. Now, she was playing with some children and Sedge while he was sitting on a bench next to Halling. The man was telling him about life after Jinto's mother's death by the end of the Wraiths. Even though the situation was different from John's, he still could find some similarity.
"It's a good thing you both have Doctor Weir in your lives. She may never replace her mother in your daughter's heart but she needed a role model. Jinto has the chance that among our people we are really close to each other; he has several women to keep an eye out on him. Even Teyla given her rather young age was there for him, and she still is when she's around."
"Yeah, and I'm grateful to have Elizabeth. I'm sure that even if we weren't together she would be there for Abby. She's a natural at being a mother. I know that things aren't perfect, but it's going to work. Abby had a lot to take in in a short period of time, but it gets better everyday. There are still times when she didn't really acknowledge Elizabeth but they're getting fewer and fewer. Yesterday, they spent two hours together playing a game, and they had so much fun that they didn't see time pass."
"And how's Doctor Weir adapting to the situation?"
"It was difficult at the beginning. Actually, it was difficult for the three of us; I wasn't prepared to take care of Abby, not like that. And the fact that I learned about it just after I told Elizabeth the truth about Abby was another difficulty. But I took my responsibilities; I was ready to stay on Earth to be with her, but General O'Neill allowed me to take Abby to Atlantis. There was only Elizabeth and I and all of the sudden Abby came in the equation, so yeah it wasn't easy at first. But it starts to get better. A few days after coming back, we moved into bigger quarters; we started over in a way. Actually, I think Elizabeth is copying better with the situation than I. Which is strange in a way, you know. Elizabeth was right saying that we both have to learn how to take care of a child."
"I understand what you mean, and I hope things will get better and better with each day passing. Losing the one who gave you life isn't easy for any child and it's a chance that they have people looking for them. I know that Jinto still thinks about his mother although he never talks about her with me. It will be the same for your daughter. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go."
"Thanks Halling."
The Athosian just nodded in response and left him sitting on the bench watching the children play. Soon, it'd be time for John and Abby to go back to Atlantis. He didn't know yet if Teyla would come back with them or if she would stay for the night with her people. Just as he was thinking that, the woman in question came towards him.
"Hey, Teyla. How's the rest of your people?"
"They're fine, thank you. Will we leave soon?"
"Yes. If you want to stay for the night, I can send someone to take you tomorrow morning so you'll be there in time for our briefing about our next mission."
"I'll go back with you and Abby."
"Fine. Then, I think it's our cue to leave. Abby?" he called her and she came running towards him, Sedge in tow. "We have to go back home, sweetie."
"I wanna stay here!" she whined, pouting.
"We can't. I promise we'll come back soon. Now, go tell goodbye to your friends, we're waiting for you."
Teyla watched the still pouting girl walk towards the Athosian children she had been playing with. She couldn't help but sigh at seeing them so carefree; it was like they had never seen the horror the Wraiths caused in their wake. Since they came to Atlantis, life sort of changed for them, they didn't need to fear for the Wraiths to come and cull them as they did. There, they were safer, even if the Wraiths did come, they could go hide in the City, under its shield and cloak.
"You have time for that," John said, jolting her out of her thoughts. She turned towards him, raising her eyebrow to ask for an explanation. "I mean, you're young, you should make the most of your youth and wait to have children of your own."
"Oh… No, John, I wasn't thinking about that. Is it what you feel about Abby?"
"What? No! It might sound a bit cliché but Abby is one of the best things that happened in my life these last few years."
"You're right though. I have time to think about children. Though by my age, my mother already had me. But, I guess I need to find the father, first."
"You already have," John muttered.
"Excuse me? I didn't catch that."
"Oh, it's nothing, I was just talking to myself. So, we're going?"
Abby joined them and the four of them left towards the Jumper that John had landed in a nearby clearing. The trip back to the City was uneventful; Abby was sat on the floor at the back of the Jumper, playing with Sedge while Teyla took the seat beside John. They talked about the next day's mission which should be uneventful, seeing as no trace of human life had been detected by the MALP they had sent a few days prior.
While Teyla went to her room to drop a few things her people gave her, John, Abby and Sedge went to see Elizabeth but Chuck told them that she had a briefing and would probably not be free for at least another two hours. So instead, they went to their quarters and John gave his daughter her bath before settling down on the couch, with her on his lap, reading her a story.
That was where Elizabeth found them when she entered the room an hour later, tired of her day. John shifted Abby and motioned for her to come and sit on his lap. Elizabeth kissed Abby's forehead and exchanged a brief kiss with her companion before she let her head rest against John's, turning towards Abby.
"Did you have fun on the mainland?" she asked the girl.
"Yeah! I played with Jinto, and Anya, and Saski, and…"
The list went on and on as Abby listed all the children she played with and what she did during the day. Elizabeth and John listened attentively to her, both glad that she not only made friends but also spent a good time with them. She was obviously quite excited of her day on the mainland and they loved seeing her like that, acting like the child she is.
Later that night after they had put a more than tired Abby to bed, Elizabeth led John to their room and started to shed him of his clothes. She knew that usually on nights before he had to go off-world he loved his rest, but tonight she was feeling cheeky. And in the aftermath of their lovemaking, as he was already asleep, she laid with her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and couldn't shake off this nagging feeling that something would go wrong.
The next day, they spent an hour or so in the mission briefing, Rodney and Elizabeth explaining what they would have to do. The MALP they had sent through had detected some sort of energy readings though no visible trace of civilisation. Upon hearing that, McKay had immediately requested that his team had to investigate it, just in case it could be a ZPM. So now, John was in Elizabeth's office, saying goodbye to Abby.
"I'll be back in four hours, sweetie. If you need anything, you ask Elizabeth, ok?"
"I want to come with you,"
"No, it can be dangerous. But I'll spend the rest of the day with you. I should be there just before you wake up from your nap time," he added, kissing her on the cheek, before standing up to face Elizabeth. "You look worried," he noticed, "something's wrong?"
"I just have a bad feeling about this mission."
"Hey, it's a simple recon mission. And hopefully, we may even come back with a ZPM."
"Be careful, please."
"I'll keep an eye out on Rodney, I promise."
"John…" she sighed, she didn't want him to joke at the moment.
"I will be."
He took her in his arms for a few seconds before releasing her and kissing her lightly on the lips. He left the room after giving her a reassuring smile and she followed, stopping with Abby in the control room where she ordered the sergeant to dial the Gate. She watched the wormhole form and the team step into it, John with one last look and wave towards them.
"Be safe," Elizabeth whispered as usual as the Gate disengaged.
On the other side, his team was already waiting for him, Rodney seeming impatient, when John emerged from the wormhole. He ordered Ronon to take the point while he covered their six and they started their short journey towards the source of the energy. He hadn't told Elizabeth, but deep inside, he had the same bad feeling. He hoped that they were both wrong, though he knew that everything was possible in this galaxy.
"John? You ok?" Teyla asked as she walked at his side.
"Yeah, yeah. I just have a lot on my mind."
"What is it?" she wanted to know and he actually considered telling her the truth for a moment, but finally decided against it; he didn't want to seem paranoid.
"Nothing too important."
"It is if it clouds your mind from this mission. You know you can tell me."
"It's just a gut feeling," he admitted, knowing that she probably wouldn't have let him go. "Like something would go wrong."
"What? What would go wrong?" McKay picked up, and he stopped, turning towards them. "What are you talking about, Sheppard?"
"It's nothing, just forget it, ok. But I'd like everybody to stay on their guard, you know, just in case."
"We will, Sheppard," Ronon answered before he resumed walking.
Half an hour later, McKay finally told them to stop; the source of the energy readings was within a fifty meters distance.
"I see nothing," Ronon said, turning to observe the clearing in the middle of which they stopped.
"It is there, my sensors are picking up something, so it has to be there."
"McKay, there's nothing but us in this clearing. Unless it is cloaked," he added as an afterthought. He picked up a small rock and threw it in the open.
"What are you doing?" Rodney asked, exasperated by the Colonel's attitude. "It can't be cloaked. What I'm picking up is not powerful enough to power up a cloak."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I am, ok?" he answered the Satedan who asked the question.
"So where is it?" John wanted to know.
"I don't know! So now, just stop bugging me and let me work!"
He took a few steps away from the rest of the team, determined to find the origin of the energy. Teyla hadn't said anything during the exchange between the three men, observing her surroundings.
"Remind me why we didn't take a Jumper, Sheppard?"
"I think it was because McKay thought it was closer to the Gate than it actually is."
"Why is it always my fault?" the scientist asked, turning towards the two men. John was ready to answer him when Teyla's voice interrupted them.
"Underground…"
"What?" the Earthlings said, surprised while Ronon looked at her, waiting for an explanation.
"What if it is underground?"
"You might be right," McKay replied, snapping his fingers a few times.
"So what do we do, now?"
"We'll search the immediate surroundings," John answered, "and if we find nothing, then we'll go back to Atlantis and take a Jumper to scout around a more important area. Teyla, McKay you take the East and South of the clearing and Ronon and I will take the North and West. We'll meet here in half an hour."
"What? But that's not enough time!"
"McKay, we'll come back with a Jumper," John sighed before gesturing to his team-mate that they were going.
"Do you think like McKay that it could be one of your ZPM?" Ronon asked him after a few minutes.
"I don't know. I guess it could be possible, but then why would it be here? There's nothing on this planet as far as we can tell. But maybe the Ancients hid it there for that reason. Like I said, I don't know."
"Yes, but underground?"
"That's a mystery for me. But then again, they already built an entire City underground so…"
"Couldn't it be a trap from the Genii? I heard they have underground bases."
"True, but I don't think so. Even though I don't really like it, they are our allies now. I don't trust them, but I don't think they would do that."
"I hope you're right, Sheppard."
They reached the edge of the forest surrounding the clearing and stepped in it in case the entrance was hidden in there. They wouldn't go far anyway; now wasn't the time to get lost.
"If it's really a ZPM, what could it bring to Atlantis?"
"We could power up more sections of the City and if, and God I hope it won't happen, but if the Wraith attack us, we'll have better means to fight them. And if one day we find a third one, the City could fly. I don't know if someone told you but it was how the Ancients came to Pegasus in the first place. See, the City was on Earth centuries ago and they suffered from a plague so they left Earth in their flying City. I still remember when Doctor Jackson had told General O'Neill that the City flew; he hadn't believed it for a second. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, so they left aboard Atlantis and settled here in the Pegasus Galaxy."
"And that… plague, they suffered?"
"It could be a problem. General O'Neill's team, back when he was a Colonel, went to the research site in Antartica and there they found a woman. An Ancient woman to be precise, I believe her name was Ayiana. She carried the plague and SG1 and the research team fell ill. She saved them but she died in the process, and I think that was before she could help O'Neill, but they've found a way. I think it's possible that the Ancients might have continued their researches to find a cure to the plague, we haven't found anything in the labs we explored but I guess there are others in other sections of the City."
"Wouldn't it have been risky to have a sample of something that could kill you?"
"Yes, but us scientists love to take risks. It's for the love of the science like we say."
Teyla eyed him suspiciously; as anyone else in Atlantis, she knew that the scientist wasn't prone to take risks. Actually if he could stay as away as possible from any risks, he would. Though she admitted that sometimes he took risks with full knowledge of the facts, like that time when they were Ford's prisoners and under the enzyme influence.
"There seems to be nothing here," she finally said, "we should join Ronon and Colonel Sheppard. Maybe they've found something."
"They would have contact us by radio," McKay replied.
"Probably, but we should still go. Like Colonel Sheppard said, we'll come back with a Jumper and cover more terrain."
"Yeah…"
Reluctantly, Rodney followed Teyla to the rendezvous point where John and Ronon were already waiting. They hadn't found anything either so John decided that it was time to go back to Atlantis to request a Jumper from Elizabeth; maybe the scanner in them could find something they couldn't see.
"McKay, dial the Gate," John ordered the scientist. Once it was done, John sent their IDC and was ready to go through the Gate when McKay stopped them. "What is it?"
"I'm picking up an energy surge."
"Is it dangerous?"
"I don't know 'cos I don't know why I got it," Rodney snapped at him.
"Well, we should go through the Gate before it closes, we'll investigate that too when we come back."
Meanwhile, in Atlantis, Elizabeth left her office, where Abby was taking a nap, when she heard the Gate activation.
"Who is it?"
"Colonel Sheppard's team, Doctor."
"They're early. Lower the shield, Sergeant." They waited for a minute or so before the wormhole started to be unstable and the Gate deactivated itself. "What happened?" she asked worried that Atlantis first team hadn't come back.
"I don't know, Ma'am."
"Radek?" she contacted the Czech scientist by radio.
"Doctor Weir?"
"I need you in the control room; we seemed to have some problems with the Gate."
"I'll be right there."
"Thanks. Major Lorne," she then called by radio.
"Yes Ma'am?"
"I want you and your team to stand by. Colonel Sheppard's team had sent their IDC but none of them came through. The Gate disengaged itself and I have Zelenka checking that out. Once we're able to dial the planet and if we have no radio contact, I want your team to go there to check on them."
"Understood. We'll take a Jumper just in case if it's ok with you."
"Permission granted. Weir out. Tell Doctor Zelenka that I'll be in my office if he needs me."
"Very well, Doctor."
When she turned towards her office, she saw Abby at the door, holding her Teddy in a hand and rubbing her eyes with the other. Despite her being worried about the team, she couldn't help the smile that crept up on her face at that sight. She crossed the catwalk and picked the girl up in her arms.
"You slept well?" she asked her.
"Mmh Mmh. Daddy?"
"He's going to be a little late," Elizabeth said. She hated lying to Abby but she really didn't know what happened to the team and why they hadn't gone through the Gate, nor contacted Atlantis. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Zelenka enter the control room and sit at one of the consoles and she hoped that he'd find what happened. "Why don't we sit on the sofa and I read you a story. I think I need a break."
They read The Princess and the Pea, and then Abby decided that she wanted to draw the princess. So, Elizabeth went back to her work, trying to not think about the team. She was reading the same sentence for the nth time when Zelenka knocked on the open door of her office.
"Radek, have a seat please. Do you have some news?"
"I'm afraid I don't know a lot more. There was a sort of energy surge that passed through the Gate and it closed just after that. I'll need to study it for a few more hours before I could tell you anything else."
"Could we dial the Gate?"
"I think so. I didn't detect any problem with the Gate itself."
"Thank you, Radek," she said, dismissing him, before standing up herself. "Abby, I want you to stay here, I'll be just there in the control room, ok?"
"Ok."
"Sergeant, dial the planet where Colonel Sheppard's team is, please."
"Yes, Doctor." He began the dialling sequence and soon enough, the wormhole formed.
"Is the MALP working?"
"Yes, Ma'am. We're receiving MALP telemetry as we're speaking."
"Open a channel."
"Already done, Ma'am."
"Thank you, Sergeant. This is Weir, Colonel, please respond. John?" she tried after a few seconds of silence. "Rodney, Teyla, Ronon? Is someone receiving me?"
"They may not be in range," Chuck tried to reassure his worried superior.
"I know. Close the Gate. Major Lorne?" she called him by radio. "Is your team ready?"
"Yes Ma'am. I take it you hadn't been successful with contacting them."
"No. Take a Jumper and try to find them."
"Understood."
She watched as the Gate came to life once more and the Jumper lowered in the Gateroom. It disappeared through the wormhole and she couldn't help but hope that they'd come back soon and with AR-1.
Meanwhile, aboard the Jumper, Lorne and his team unknowingly shared the same hope as their leader. Lorne piloted the Jumper, casting from time to time a side look towards the life scanner on the screen, though he knew his men were focused on it. They tried contacting them as soon as they arrived on the planet but with no luck.
"Sir?" Lieutenant Moore's voice piped up. "I think we're just above the energy source AR-1 was searching for."
"No sign of them?"
"No, sir," Captain Hawkins answered. "But it's possible they're too close to that energy for our sensors to pick them up."
"Does someone see something that could be emitting that energy?" A chorus of 'No Sir's could be heard in the Jumper and Lorne sighed.
"Sir, I think we've found something," Moore said, pointing to a section of the screen. "This might be an entrance of some sort. The energy source might be underground since there is nothing on the surface."
"Ok, then. I'll land the Jumper in that clearing and we'll go."
While landing the Jumper, Lorne somehow already knew that the team wouldn't be there; if the team was still on the planet, they would have stayed near the Gate instead of coming that far. But still, his team needed to investigate that energy source in case it was a ZPM, or they would find clues about AR-1's location.
After a fifteen minutes walk in the forest, they found the entrance; it was a sort of trapdoor on the ground, heavy enough that Lieutenant Tracer had to help Moore to open it. It was pitch-black down there and all they could see was the beginning of a staircase. They lit their torches and started to go down the stairs, Major Lorne taking the lead.
"Why is it so dark when there seems to be an energy source not far from there?" Hawkins wondered out loud, thus voicing everyone's thoughts.
"I can only guess that whoever built the place and hid whatever is emitting that energy didn’t want it to be found easily," Lorne answered. "Ok, we have two different paths here," he said when they came to a fork. He continued, pointing to the left one, "We'll first go that way, and then if we don't find anything, we'll try the other."
It proved to be less easy than the team first thought; it was actually a labyrinth and with the lack of light, it was even more difficult. They met some dead-ends and to avoid being lost Lorne had ordered Moore to mark the way they were following with arrows on the walls.
"Do you think AR-1 might be lost in there?" Tracer asked the rest of the team as they met yet another dead-end.
"No, I don't think so. Colonel Sheppard would have done the same thing and mark their way and we haven't found anything like that."
"Maybe they were already lost when he had realised it?" Moore suggested as he drew another arrow on a wall.
"Why don't we stop thinking like that and concentrate on finding what we came for?" Hawkins snapped.
"I thought that we came to find Colonel Sheppard's team since they were answering their radios…"
"They're not on the planet anymore; otherwise they would have stayed near the Gate, right sir?"
"It's what I think too. We'll continue searching for another hour."
"And then?" Tracer asked
"Then we'll go back to the Jumper and Atlantis. We can't search the place forever by ourselves. If we don't find anything, we'll ask Doctor Weir to come back with at least two more teams as soon as possible."
"Can't we pick anything with the sensors we have?"
"I wish we could, Captain, but no," Moore answered. "I have a strong signal coming from the energy source but I can't tell from where it comes. The walls seem to prevent it as well as the labyrinth was conceived to lose those who don't know where it is exactly."
An hour later, Lorne called off the search and led his team towards the exit. It wasn't that long before they were out in the open and they could only guess that they retraced their steps more than they thought at first. Soon, they were back in the Jumper and in the air.
"Still no life signs," Lorne said after having taken a look at the screen he just brought up. Hawkins, dial the Gate and then send the IDC. It's time to go home."
"Yes, sir."
Meanwhile, Elizabeth was waiting, alone, in her office. After having heard what happened, or rather not happened, Kate had come and offered to take Abby with her for the rest of the day. The diplomat couldn't be more grateful of the psychiatrist's offer; at the moment she just couldn't answer Abby when she asked when her father would come home.
Somehow, she knew that Lorne's team would come back empty handed, but a part of her couldn't help but hope that she was wrong. As she was looking at the things she kept on her desk to keep her mind off of the team, her eyes came across the drawing Abby made that afternoon. She smiled at it, remembering how touched she was when Abby gave it to her; it was the first 'present' that the girl offered her and she would keep it preciously.
The Gate activation jolted her from her thoughts and she all but ran to the control room, stopping just behind Chuck to see who it was.
"It's Captain Hawkins's IDC."
"Lower the shield," she said before opening a channel between herself and Major Lorne. "Report immediately to my office, Major."
"Yes, Ma'am."
She went back to her office and sat on her chair, trying to wait as patiently as possible. From the corner of her eyes, she finally saw Lorne crossing the catwalk to her office, alone.
"Please, take a seat," she said, gesturing to the chairs in front of her.
"I hope you don't mind that I told my team to go to the infirmary…"
"Not at all, Major. I guess you stayed together all the time."
"Yes, Ma'am." He stopped, not really knowing how to tell her the rest. Finally, he decided to start with another part of the mission. "We searched for AR-1 and we've found the point of origin of the energy source. It was underground and thanks to the scanner in the Jumper, we've found an entrance. It was a labyrinth down there and we couldn't find what was emitting the energy. I suggested we go back with two other teams and continue the search."
"And for AR-1?" Elizabeth asked and she heard the young Major sigh as soon as she said the words.
"They're not there, Ma'am. We searched for them and tried contacting them by radio. I don't think they would have gone far from the Gate. I don't know where they are, but they're definitely not on that planet anymore."
To be continued
One month went by quickly; the Daedalus was on its way back to Earth and was now out of communication range. John and his team resumed their missions though they never stayed away for more than a few hours. Even though Abby was used to not seeing her father everyday when she was living on Earth, she had come to rely a lot more on him since he took her with him to Atlantis and he didn't want to leave her for too long. He knew that one day, he'd probably have to stay off-world overnight but he hoped that when it'll happen, Abby would be okay to stay with Elizabeth alone. For the moment, even though things were steady, Elizabeth told him that she was still a bit withdrawn when they were alone. The members of the expedition also got used to Abby's presence in the City and the couple often heard that it was refreshing to have a child in Atlantis. With some couples already existing in the Atlantis, and some new blossoming relationships since the new members arrived, they wouldn't be surprised if one of them came to see them one day to announce that they were pregnant.
Elizabeth was now in her office, working on some reports when John, Abby and Sedge burst into the room. She sighed, putting her stylus down onto her desk and looked up at her companion.
"John… How many times have I told you to not run in the Control Room if it's not an emergency?"
"A few times…?" he tried and he knew she wasn't in the mood for joking when she gave him a pointed look.
"And I thought that as her father you should show the example to Abby… You wanted something?" she decided to change the subject.
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to take Abby to the mainland tomorrow."
"And you haven’t waited until tonight to tell me because…" She trailed off, wondering which excuse he would invoke this time.
"Because I love to interrupt you while you're working? And, I also wanted to know if you were coming with us?"
"I'd love too, but I have briefings all day long. And in between I have work."
"You don't need me for those?"
"No, I'll handle them. The first one will be with the scientists, the second with Major Lorne's team about their mission and then I have to see Carson."
"Why? Are you ill?" he asked, worried.
"I'm fine," she said, nonetheless touched that he was worrying. "I just have my monthly check-up."
"Oh, ok."
"You should ask Teyla if she wants to come with you."
"I was going to," he agreed, having already thought about that himself. "So, I guess we'll leave you to your work. See you tonight?"
"Yeah," she answered as he leaned in to kiss her. "Bye, Abby."
"I wanna stay with Lizzie," Abby then said, surprising them both.
"Sweetie, Elizabeth has to work, why don't you come with me…"
"No," the girl simply replied, raising her arms and thus silently asking Elizabeth to sit on her lap, to which the woman complied.
"It's ok, John. She can stay. And by the way, you have work too, so why don't you go to your office for a couple of hours and actually do work. Should I remind you you have a mission briefing the day after tomorrow and if you want to go the mainland tomorrow, I'd suggest you to work on it today."
"I see I don’t really have a choice. Fine," he pouted and Elizabeth had to laugh at him. "Contact me on the radio if you need me," he told her before leaving the office.
"So, Abby, why didn't you want to stay with Daddy?" Elizabeth wanted to know. She wasn't sure the girl would tell her, but she had to try. "You know, if you don't want Daddy to know, it can stay between you and me…," she tried, hoping that it would make her decide to start talking. She wanted nothing more than to lift the girl from what she had on her mind.
"I miss Mommy and Dinah," she answered, sniffing and snuggling closer to Elizabeth.
The diplomat tightened her arms around her little body, kissing the top of her head in the process. She wasn't surprised by the girl's confidence, but she couldn't really do anything about that besides being there for Abby. They stayed a few minutes in a complete silence, Elizabeth's chin resting on top of Abby's head, rocking her gently. She still heard some sniffles here and there and knew she should do something to cheer the girl up if only a little. She didn't have to wonder anymore when her eyes fell onto her laptop.
"You know," Elizabeth said after a while and Abby looked up at her, "I think I could use a break, so why don't we play for a little while?"
"Play what?"
"I think it's time for me to teach you one of my favourite games… Solitaire," she finally said, opening the game on her laptop. "And when I'll have to get back to my work, maybe you could draw something for Dinah and we'll send it to her as soon as possible," she suggested and Abby nodded. "Ok, first…"
When John entered the control room a couple of hours later, he immediately noticed that Abby was still sitting on Elizabeth's lap and both were looking intently at the screen in front of them. He stopped, watching them interact for a moment, and from the corner of his eyes, he saw Chuck smiling knowingly at him. He shook his head at him and started walking again towards his companion's office. He was crossing the catwalk when he heard his daughter scream and saw her jump down from Elizabeth's lap. He nearly burst into the room, worried, and the diplomat looked up, surprised to find him there.
"What happened?" he asked.
"I've won!" Abby shouted as she ran towards him and he had no choice but to lift her in his arms.
"What are you talking about, sweetheart?" he asked again and when she showed no sign of responding, he turned towards Elizabeth.
"I've taught her to play Solitaire and she just won her first game alone," she answered, seeming really proud of Abby.
"Oh, don't tell me you got her hooked on it, too? As if I didn't have enough problems with you addicted to it already," he said in a mock complaining voice and that earned him a slap on his arm from Elizabeth. "I hope for you that she won't end up playing for hours on end like you tend to do from time to time," he warned her with a pointed look. "Anyway, don't tell me you spent two hours playing Solitaire?"
"What?" Elizabeth nearly squealed, surprised as she was looking at her watch. "And I still have a ton of work waiting for me…," she sighed.
"Here's the deal. I'm done for today so I'm going to take Abby with me. You keep on working for as long as you need and we'll see you later, ok?"
"Ok, I'll try to wrap this up as soon as possible."
"Then come on, Abby, time to go."
"No, I wanna keep playing with Lizzie."
"See? You've already corrupted her," he said, giving her once more a pointed look. "Elizabeth has to work but we can play together if you want." Abby shrugged in response and John feigned to be offended. "Ok, then, we're going. See you later."
"Later," she replied as they were leaving the room.
Elizabeth shook her head and closed the game before opening one of the many files waiting for her. She sighed, seeing it was sent by one of the scientists and that it was fifteen pages long; she didn't really want to read that now, but it wasn't like she had a choice, she had to. One day, she should just ask McKay or Zelenka to sum that kind of reports up for her because she was no scientist and fifteen pages of this or that meant absolutely nothing for her most of the time.
The next day was spent on the mainland for Teyla, Abby and John's part while Elizabeth had to stay in Atlantis, working. It was the second time John brought her to see the Athosians; the first time they had gone along with Elizabeth and had stayed well into the night, and Abby had fallen asleep in the Jumper during the ride back home. Now, she was playing with some children and Sedge while he was sitting on a bench next to Halling. The man was telling him about life after Jinto's mother's death by the end of the Wraiths. Even though the situation was different from John's, he still could find some similarity.
"It's a good thing you both have Doctor Weir in your lives. She may never replace her mother in your daughter's heart but she needed a role model. Jinto has the chance that among our people we are really close to each other; he has several women to keep an eye out on him. Even Teyla given her rather young age was there for him, and she still is when she's around."
"Yeah, and I'm grateful to have Elizabeth. I'm sure that even if we weren't together she would be there for Abby. She's a natural at being a mother. I know that things aren't perfect, but it's going to work. Abby had a lot to take in in a short period of time, but it gets better everyday. There are still times when she didn't really acknowledge Elizabeth but they're getting fewer and fewer. Yesterday, they spent two hours together playing a game, and they had so much fun that they didn't see time pass."
"And how's Doctor Weir adapting to the situation?"
"It was difficult at the beginning. Actually, it was difficult for the three of us; I wasn't prepared to take care of Abby, not like that. And the fact that I learned about it just after I told Elizabeth the truth about Abby was another difficulty. But I took my responsibilities; I was ready to stay on Earth to be with her, but General O'Neill allowed me to take Abby to Atlantis. There was only Elizabeth and I and all of the sudden Abby came in the equation, so yeah it wasn't easy at first. But it starts to get better. A few days after coming back, we moved into bigger quarters; we started over in a way. Actually, I think Elizabeth is copying better with the situation than I. Which is strange in a way, you know. Elizabeth was right saying that we both have to learn how to take care of a child."
"I understand what you mean, and I hope things will get better and better with each day passing. Losing the one who gave you life isn't easy for any child and it's a chance that they have people looking for them. I know that Jinto still thinks about his mother although he never talks about her with me. It will be the same for your daughter. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go."
"Thanks Halling."
The Athosian just nodded in response and left him sitting on the bench watching the children play. Soon, it'd be time for John and Abby to go back to Atlantis. He didn't know yet if Teyla would come back with them or if she would stay for the night with her people. Just as he was thinking that, the woman in question came towards him.
"Hey, Teyla. How's the rest of your people?"
"They're fine, thank you. Will we leave soon?"
"Yes. If you want to stay for the night, I can send someone to take you tomorrow morning so you'll be there in time for our briefing about our next mission."
"I'll go back with you and Abby."
"Fine. Then, I think it's our cue to leave. Abby?" he called her and she came running towards him, Sedge in tow. "We have to go back home, sweetie."
"I wanna stay here!" she whined, pouting.
"We can't. I promise we'll come back soon. Now, go tell goodbye to your friends, we're waiting for you."
Teyla watched the still pouting girl walk towards the Athosian children she had been playing with. She couldn't help but sigh at seeing them so carefree; it was like they had never seen the horror the Wraiths caused in their wake. Since they came to Atlantis, life sort of changed for them, they didn't need to fear for the Wraiths to come and cull them as they did. There, they were safer, even if the Wraiths did come, they could go hide in the City, under its shield and cloak.
"You have time for that," John said, jolting her out of her thoughts. She turned towards him, raising her eyebrow to ask for an explanation. "I mean, you're young, you should make the most of your youth and wait to have children of your own."
"Oh… No, John, I wasn't thinking about that. Is it what you feel about Abby?"
"What? No! It might sound a bit cliché but Abby is one of the best things that happened in my life these last few years."
"You're right though. I have time to think about children. Though by my age, my mother already had me. But, I guess I need to find the father, first."
"You already have," John muttered.
"Excuse me? I didn't catch that."
"Oh, it's nothing, I was just talking to myself. So, we're going?"
Abby joined them and the four of them left towards the Jumper that John had landed in a nearby clearing. The trip back to the City was uneventful; Abby was sat on the floor at the back of the Jumper, playing with Sedge while Teyla took the seat beside John. They talked about the next day's mission which should be uneventful, seeing as no trace of human life had been detected by the MALP they had sent a few days prior.
While Teyla went to her room to drop a few things her people gave her, John, Abby and Sedge went to see Elizabeth but Chuck told them that she had a briefing and would probably not be free for at least another two hours. So instead, they went to their quarters and John gave his daughter her bath before settling down on the couch, with her on his lap, reading her a story.
That was where Elizabeth found them when she entered the room an hour later, tired of her day. John shifted Abby and motioned for her to come and sit on his lap. Elizabeth kissed Abby's forehead and exchanged a brief kiss with her companion before she let her head rest against John's, turning towards Abby.
"Did you have fun on the mainland?" she asked the girl.
"Yeah! I played with Jinto, and Anya, and Saski, and…"
The list went on and on as Abby listed all the children she played with and what she did during the day. Elizabeth and John listened attentively to her, both glad that she not only made friends but also spent a good time with them. She was obviously quite excited of her day on the mainland and they loved seeing her like that, acting like the child she is.
Later that night after they had put a more than tired Abby to bed, Elizabeth led John to their room and started to shed him of his clothes. She knew that usually on nights before he had to go off-world he loved his rest, but tonight she was feeling cheeky. And in the aftermath of their lovemaking, as he was already asleep, she laid with her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and couldn't shake off this nagging feeling that something would go wrong.
The next day, they spent an hour or so in the mission briefing, Rodney and Elizabeth explaining what they would have to do. The MALP they had sent through had detected some sort of energy readings though no visible trace of civilisation. Upon hearing that, McKay had immediately requested that his team had to investigate it, just in case it could be a ZPM. So now, John was in Elizabeth's office, saying goodbye to Abby.
"I'll be back in four hours, sweetie. If you need anything, you ask Elizabeth, ok?"
"I want to come with you,"
"No, it can be dangerous. But I'll spend the rest of the day with you. I should be there just before you wake up from your nap time," he added, kissing her on the cheek, before standing up to face Elizabeth. "You look worried," he noticed, "something's wrong?"
"I just have a bad feeling about this mission."
"Hey, it's a simple recon mission. And hopefully, we may even come back with a ZPM."
"Be careful, please."
"I'll keep an eye out on Rodney, I promise."
"John…" she sighed, she didn't want him to joke at the moment.
"I will be."
He took her in his arms for a few seconds before releasing her and kissing her lightly on the lips. He left the room after giving her a reassuring smile and she followed, stopping with Abby in the control room where she ordered the sergeant to dial the Gate. She watched the wormhole form and the team step into it, John with one last look and wave towards them.
"Be safe," Elizabeth whispered as usual as the Gate disengaged.
On the other side, his team was already waiting for him, Rodney seeming impatient, when John emerged from the wormhole. He ordered Ronon to take the point while he covered their six and they started their short journey towards the source of the energy. He hadn't told Elizabeth, but deep inside, he had the same bad feeling. He hoped that they were both wrong, though he knew that everything was possible in this galaxy.
"John? You ok?" Teyla asked as she walked at his side.
"Yeah, yeah. I just have a lot on my mind."
"What is it?" she wanted to know and he actually considered telling her the truth for a moment, but finally decided against it; he didn't want to seem paranoid.
"Nothing too important."
"It is if it clouds your mind from this mission. You know you can tell me."
"It's just a gut feeling," he admitted, knowing that she probably wouldn't have let him go. "Like something would go wrong."
"What? What would go wrong?" McKay picked up, and he stopped, turning towards them. "What are you talking about, Sheppard?"
"It's nothing, just forget it, ok. But I'd like everybody to stay on their guard, you know, just in case."
"We will, Sheppard," Ronon answered before he resumed walking.
Half an hour later, McKay finally told them to stop; the source of the energy readings was within a fifty meters distance.
"I see nothing," Ronon said, turning to observe the clearing in the middle of which they stopped.
"It is there, my sensors are picking up something, so it has to be there."
"McKay, there's nothing but us in this clearing. Unless it is cloaked," he added as an afterthought. He picked up a small rock and threw it in the open.
"What are you doing?" Rodney asked, exasperated by the Colonel's attitude. "It can't be cloaked. What I'm picking up is not powerful enough to power up a cloak."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I am, ok?" he answered the Satedan who asked the question.
"So where is it?" John wanted to know.
"I don't know! So now, just stop bugging me and let me work!"
He took a few steps away from the rest of the team, determined to find the origin of the energy. Teyla hadn't said anything during the exchange between the three men, observing her surroundings.
"Remind me why we didn't take a Jumper, Sheppard?"
"I think it was because McKay thought it was closer to the Gate than it actually is."
"Why is it always my fault?" the scientist asked, turning towards the two men. John was ready to answer him when Teyla's voice interrupted them.
"Underground…"
"What?" the Earthlings said, surprised while Ronon looked at her, waiting for an explanation.
"What if it is underground?"
"You might be right," McKay replied, snapping his fingers a few times.
"So what do we do, now?"
"We'll search the immediate surroundings," John answered, "and if we find nothing, then we'll go back to Atlantis and take a Jumper to scout around a more important area. Teyla, McKay you take the East and South of the clearing and Ronon and I will take the North and West. We'll meet here in half an hour."
"What? But that's not enough time!"
"McKay, we'll come back with a Jumper," John sighed before gesturing to his team-mate that they were going.
"Do you think like McKay that it could be one of your ZPM?" Ronon asked him after a few minutes.
"I don't know. I guess it could be possible, but then why would it be here? There's nothing on this planet as far as we can tell. But maybe the Ancients hid it there for that reason. Like I said, I don't know."
"Yes, but underground?"
"That's a mystery for me. But then again, they already built an entire City underground so…"
"Couldn't it be a trap from the Genii? I heard they have underground bases."
"True, but I don't think so. Even though I don't really like it, they are our allies now. I don't trust them, but I don't think they would do that."
"I hope you're right, Sheppard."
They reached the edge of the forest surrounding the clearing and stepped in it in case the entrance was hidden in there. They wouldn't go far anyway; now wasn't the time to get lost.
"If it's really a ZPM, what could it bring to Atlantis?"
"We could power up more sections of the City and if, and God I hope it won't happen, but if the Wraith attack us, we'll have better means to fight them. And if one day we find a third one, the City could fly. I don't know if someone told you but it was how the Ancients came to Pegasus in the first place. See, the City was on Earth centuries ago and they suffered from a plague so they left Earth in their flying City. I still remember when Doctor Jackson had told General O'Neill that the City flew; he hadn't believed it for a second. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, so they left aboard Atlantis and settled here in the Pegasus Galaxy."
"And that… plague, they suffered?"
"It could be a problem. General O'Neill's team, back when he was a Colonel, went to the research site in Antartica and there they found a woman. An Ancient woman to be precise, I believe her name was Ayiana. She carried the plague and SG1 and the research team fell ill. She saved them but she died in the process, and I think that was before she could help O'Neill, but they've found a way. I think it's possible that the Ancients might have continued their researches to find a cure to the plague, we haven't found anything in the labs we explored but I guess there are others in other sections of the City."
"Wouldn't it have been risky to have a sample of something that could kill you?"
"Yes, but us scientists love to take risks. It's for the love of the science like we say."
Teyla eyed him suspiciously; as anyone else in Atlantis, she knew that the scientist wasn't prone to take risks. Actually if he could stay as away as possible from any risks, he would. Though she admitted that sometimes he took risks with full knowledge of the facts, like that time when they were Ford's prisoners and under the enzyme influence.
"There seems to be nothing here," she finally said, "we should join Ronon and Colonel Sheppard. Maybe they've found something."
"They would have contact us by radio," McKay replied.
"Probably, but we should still go. Like Colonel Sheppard said, we'll come back with a Jumper and cover more terrain."
"Yeah…"
Reluctantly, Rodney followed Teyla to the rendezvous point where John and Ronon were already waiting. They hadn't found anything either so John decided that it was time to go back to Atlantis to request a Jumper from Elizabeth; maybe the scanner in them could find something they couldn't see.
"McKay, dial the Gate," John ordered the scientist. Once it was done, John sent their IDC and was ready to go through the Gate when McKay stopped them. "What is it?"
"I'm picking up an energy surge."
"Is it dangerous?"
"I don't know 'cos I don't know why I got it," Rodney snapped at him.
"Well, we should go through the Gate before it closes, we'll investigate that too when we come back."
Meanwhile, in Atlantis, Elizabeth left her office, where Abby was taking a nap, when she heard the Gate activation.
"Who is it?"
"Colonel Sheppard's team, Doctor."
"They're early. Lower the shield, Sergeant." They waited for a minute or so before the wormhole started to be unstable and the Gate deactivated itself. "What happened?" she asked worried that Atlantis first team hadn't come back.
"I don't know, Ma'am."
"Radek?" she contacted the Czech scientist by radio.
"Doctor Weir?"
"I need you in the control room; we seemed to have some problems with the Gate."
"I'll be right there."
"Thanks. Major Lorne," she then called by radio.
"Yes Ma'am?"
"I want you and your team to stand by. Colonel Sheppard's team had sent their IDC but none of them came through. The Gate disengaged itself and I have Zelenka checking that out. Once we're able to dial the planet and if we have no radio contact, I want your team to go there to check on them."
"Understood. We'll take a Jumper just in case if it's ok with you."
"Permission granted. Weir out. Tell Doctor Zelenka that I'll be in my office if he needs me."
"Very well, Doctor."
When she turned towards her office, she saw Abby at the door, holding her Teddy in a hand and rubbing her eyes with the other. Despite her being worried about the team, she couldn't help the smile that crept up on her face at that sight. She crossed the catwalk and picked the girl up in her arms.
"You slept well?" she asked her.
"Mmh Mmh. Daddy?"
"He's going to be a little late," Elizabeth said. She hated lying to Abby but she really didn't know what happened to the team and why they hadn't gone through the Gate, nor contacted Atlantis. From the corner of her eyes, she saw Zelenka enter the control room and sit at one of the consoles and she hoped that he'd find what happened. "Why don't we sit on the sofa and I read you a story. I think I need a break."
They read The Princess and the Pea, and then Abby decided that she wanted to draw the princess. So, Elizabeth went back to her work, trying to not think about the team. She was reading the same sentence for the nth time when Zelenka knocked on the open door of her office.
"Radek, have a seat please. Do you have some news?"
"I'm afraid I don't know a lot more. There was a sort of energy surge that passed through the Gate and it closed just after that. I'll need to study it for a few more hours before I could tell you anything else."
"Could we dial the Gate?"
"I think so. I didn't detect any problem with the Gate itself."
"Thank you, Radek," she said, dismissing him, before standing up herself. "Abby, I want you to stay here, I'll be just there in the control room, ok?"
"Ok."
"Sergeant, dial the planet where Colonel Sheppard's team is, please."
"Yes, Doctor." He began the dialling sequence and soon enough, the wormhole formed.
"Is the MALP working?"
"Yes, Ma'am. We're receiving MALP telemetry as we're speaking."
"Open a channel."
"Already done, Ma'am."
"Thank you, Sergeant. This is Weir, Colonel, please respond. John?" she tried after a few seconds of silence. "Rodney, Teyla, Ronon? Is someone receiving me?"
"They may not be in range," Chuck tried to reassure his worried superior.
"I know. Close the Gate. Major Lorne?" she called him by radio. "Is your team ready?"
"Yes Ma'am. I take it you hadn't been successful with contacting them."
"No. Take a Jumper and try to find them."
"Understood."
She watched as the Gate came to life once more and the Jumper lowered in the Gateroom. It disappeared through the wormhole and she couldn't help but hope that they'd come back soon and with AR-1.
Meanwhile, aboard the Jumper, Lorne and his team unknowingly shared the same hope as their leader. Lorne piloted the Jumper, casting from time to time a side look towards the life scanner on the screen, though he knew his men were focused on it. They tried contacting them as soon as they arrived on the planet but with no luck.
"Sir?" Lieutenant Moore's voice piped up. "I think we're just above the energy source AR-1 was searching for."
"No sign of them?"
"No, sir," Captain Hawkins answered. "But it's possible they're too close to that energy for our sensors to pick them up."
"Does someone see something that could be emitting that energy?" A chorus of 'No Sir's could be heard in the Jumper and Lorne sighed.
"Sir, I think we've found something," Moore said, pointing to a section of the screen. "This might be an entrance of some sort. The energy source might be underground since there is nothing on the surface."
"Ok, then. I'll land the Jumper in that clearing and we'll go."
While landing the Jumper, Lorne somehow already knew that the team wouldn't be there; if the team was still on the planet, they would have stayed near the Gate instead of coming that far. But still, his team needed to investigate that energy source in case it was a ZPM, or they would find clues about AR-1's location.
After a fifteen minutes walk in the forest, they found the entrance; it was a sort of trapdoor on the ground, heavy enough that Lieutenant Tracer had to help Moore to open it. It was pitch-black down there and all they could see was the beginning of a staircase. They lit their torches and started to go down the stairs, Major Lorne taking the lead.
"Why is it so dark when there seems to be an energy source not far from there?" Hawkins wondered out loud, thus voicing everyone's thoughts.
"I can only guess that whoever built the place and hid whatever is emitting that energy didn’t want it to be found easily," Lorne answered. "Ok, we have two different paths here," he said when they came to a fork. He continued, pointing to the left one, "We'll first go that way, and then if we don't find anything, we'll try the other."
It proved to be less easy than the team first thought; it was actually a labyrinth and with the lack of light, it was even more difficult. They met some dead-ends and to avoid being lost Lorne had ordered Moore to mark the way they were following with arrows on the walls.
"Do you think AR-1 might be lost in there?" Tracer asked the rest of the team as they met yet another dead-end.
"No, I don't think so. Colonel Sheppard would have done the same thing and mark their way and we haven't found anything like that."
"Maybe they were already lost when he had realised it?" Moore suggested as he drew another arrow on a wall.
"Why don't we stop thinking like that and concentrate on finding what we came for?" Hawkins snapped.
"I thought that we came to find Colonel Sheppard's team since they were answering their radios…"
"They're not on the planet anymore; otherwise they would have stayed near the Gate, right sir?"
"It's what I think too. We'll continue searching for another hour."
"And then?" Tracer asked
"Then we'll go back to the Jumper and Atlantis. We can't search the place forever by ourselves. If we don't find anything, we'll ask Doctor Weir to come back with at least two more teams as soon as possible."
"Can't we pick anything with the sensors we have?"
"I wish we could, Captain, but no," Moore answered. "I have a strong signal coming from the energy source but I can't tell from where it comes. The walls seem to prevent it as well as the labyrinth was conceived to lose those who don't know where it is exactly."
An hour later, Lorne called off the search and led his team towards the exit. It wasn't that long before they were out in the open and they could only guess that they retraced their steps more than they thought at first. Soon, they were back in the Jumper and in the air.
"Still no life signs," Lorne said after having taken a look at the screen he just brought up. Hawkins, dial the Gate and then send the IDC. It's time to go home."
"Yes, sir."
Meanwhile, Elizabeth was waiting, alone, in her office. After having heard what happened, or rather not happened, Kate had come and offered to take Abby with her for the rest of the day. The diplomat couldn't be more grateful of the psychiatrist's offer; at the moment she just couldn't answer Abby when she asked when her father would come home.
Somehow, she knew that Lorne's team would come back empty handed, but a part of her couldn't help but hope that she was wrong. As she was looking at the things she kept on her desk to keep her mind off of the team, her eyes came across the drawing Abby made that afternoon. She smiled at it, remembering how touched she was when Abby gave it to her; it was the first 'present' that the girl offered her and she would keep it preciously.
The Gate activation jolted her from her thoughts and she all but ran to the control room, stopping just behind Chuck to see who it was.
"It's Captain Hawkins's IDC."
"Lower the shield," she said before opening a channel between herself and Major Lorne. "Report immediately to my office, Major."
"Yes, Ma'am."
She went back to her office and sat on her chair, trying to wait as patiently as possible. From the corner of her eyes, she finally saw Lorne crossing the catwalk to her office, alone.
"Please, take a seat," she said, gesturing to the chairs in front of her.
"I hope you don't mind that I told my team to go to the infirmary…"
"Not at all, Major. I guess you stayed together all the time."
"Yes, Ma'am." He stopped, not really knowing how to tell her the rest. Finally, he decided to start with another part of the mission. "We searched for AR-1 and we've found the point of origin of the energy source. It was underground and thanks to the scanner in the Jumper, we've found an entrance. It was a labyrinth down there and we couldn't find what was emitting the energy. I suggested we go back with two other teams and continue the search."
"And for AR-1?" Elizabeth asked and she heard the young Major sigh as soon as she said the words.
"They're not there, Ma'am. We searched for them and tried contacting them by radio. I don't think they would have gone far from the Gate. I don't know where they are, but they're definitely not on that planet anymore."
To be continued