Stargate: The Return - Part Two

Chapter 19

Rodney jumped and lifted his head off the table as the door to his temporary lab was pushed open. Radek walked in, watching as Rodney rubbed the sleep from his eyes, "What do you want?" Rodney grumbled, annoyed that his nap was cut short.

"The Colonel wanted to know if there is any new information he needs to know before the meeting starts. In an hour" Radek replied.

"No" Rodney sighed.

Radek slowly left, closing the door on his way out, sensing Rodney didn't want him in there. Rodney yawned and looked over his desk, it was still a mess, data crystals were scattered around randomly, only a few were actually of any use. He continued looking around until his eyes fell on the strange device Carson had found, he hadn't really looked at it yet. "What the hell" he said quietly to himself as he reached across the table and picked it up. Looking at it closely, it was small, small enough to fit in the palm of Rodneys hand, it was mostly spherical other than what Rodney assumed was the bottom, which was flat and had a small slot in it. The surface was very smooth, it was a dark silver colour and didn't have any kind of patterns on it. He looked over his small pile of adapters and sighed, he was going to have to modify one of them.

Rodney smiled to himself, proud of how he could make a working interface while still half asleep. He plugged it in and opened his laptop. It contained a lot of files, audio files. 'Strange' he thought to himself, 'Probably just part of the PA system or something'. He opened one of the first files and listened.

"We can't just give up!" familiar voices were arguing, Rodney's tiredness began to fade as he concentrated on the conversation.

"We are not sending anyone on a suicide mission unless there isn't any other choice!"

"What if they're not marines?" Rodney jumped at the sound of his own voice, he realised that his heart rate had been steadily increasing while listening.

Rodney shook his head, he was obviously not hearing it properly. He skipped ahead and opened one of the last few files, this time he concentrated on every word.

"Transmitting coordinates"

"Coordinates received, plotting course. The Atlantis is ready"

"Atlantis, you are cleared for departure, have a safe trip to Pegasus"

"Engaging hyperdrive"

The audio file had ended, but Rodney hadn't noticed, his eyes were wide as he pieced together what the device was. He jumped out his seat and was about to leave when he noticed something on his laptop. It was small and easy to miss, but noticing it made the colour drain from Rodney's face. The laptop was charging, it wasn't connected to anything. Other that the strange device. He dived for the small screwdriver he had used to make the interface, lifted his arm and... SMASH! The shell of the device cracked open and the laptop screen dimmed slightly, it was no longer working. Rodney glanced at the insides of the device, what little colour that was left on his face disappeared in an instant. He knew this technology, but it wasn't Ancient.

He threw open the door to his lab and sprinted down the corridor, time to barge in on a meeting.