Lightning Strikes, part 28
Part 28
Jack O’Neill was nervous. He didn’t exactly have fond feelings for most Ancient technology and he secretly found Atlantis a bit intimidating. After they had been in hyperspace for a few hours, he had popped into the Chair Room to check on John. Nodding to Ronon and Teyla, he was amazed that John was able to concentrate on flying the city with McKay fussing in the background. Seeing the peaceful expression on John’s face made him realize just how attuned the younger man really was to the city he called home. He returned to his quarters and stared out the window for a time, oddly soothed by the sight of the stars streaking by.
He slept for a while, woke up refreshed and showered, ready to take over. His palms were sweating a little while he waited for John to surface from the interface. He had allowed his mind to wander, watching Teyla playing with her son and John’s movements startled him from his reverie. John slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times to adjust to the light. The Chair shifted to its upright position. John stood up and stretched, muscles stiff from sitting for so long. Even though John no longer sat in the Chair, the light did not go out.
“O’Neill,” John said. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah, as much as I ever will be, Sheppard.”
John smiled and motioned for Jack to sit. “I’ll maintain control until you get settled, then I’ll hand it off to you.”
Jack settled into the Chair. He noticed the memory foam cushions and wondered why no one ever thought to put any on Earth’s Chair. Leaning back, he closed his eyes and reached for the connection, but it hovered just out of reach.
“Relax.” John spoke softly, voice pitched for Jack’s ears alone. “Flying Atlantis is like riding a horse. You have to be gentle or it will fight back and throw you off.”
Jack cracked one eye open to glare at John. “I’ve never ridden a horse.”
John chuckled. “Okay, but you’ve flown plenty of fighter planes. It’s the same idea; just the city is a lot bigger. Now, what do you think about when flying?”
Jack thought for a moment. “Fishing under a clear blue sky.”
“Great. Now, imagine that the interface is a big fish that you just caught. You don’t want to lose it so you reel it in gently.”
Following John’s advice, Jack relaxed enough to connect to the city. As he did so, he caught a sense of amusement from the city.
“Good,” John said. “Now, focus on the hyperdrive systems. Feel how smoothly they’re running.”
Jack did so, and was amazed at the sheer power at his fingertips.
“Are you comfortable?” asked John.
Jack heard the unspoken part of John’s question - Are you ready? Instead of answering , Jack nodded. Immediately , a rush of power flooded into his mind as John turned over full control. It was like whitewater rafting on the Colorado River. Clinging to that thought, he simply rode the flood instead of trying to fight it. After a few heartbeats, the flow steadied and he managed to guide it instead of merely riding it.
Immersed in the interface, Jack didn’t notice John and his family leave the Chair Room.
As soon as they left the Chair Room, John slipped on his Aviators. Even though the corridors were at their normal daytime brightness, they felt extremely bright to his tired, bloodshot eyes after spending over twelve hours in the dimness of the Chair Room. He headed for the mess hall with Teyla and Torren. Ronon went off for a run, saying he’d eat later. After being in the Chair all day with only two turkey sandwiches to eat, John was starving. He filled a tray and settled at their usual table with his family. Torren was full of questions about the new planet and John and Teyla took turns answering them so they could both eat. After depositing their trays, John headed for his old quarters while Teyla took Torren off to play. After a hot shower, he slipped into sweatpants and a t-shirt. He pulled the curtains closed and mentally turned the door chime off. His radio was on the nightstand where he had placed it when he came in. Exhaustion creeping up on him, he crawled into bed, thought the lights out and closed his eyes. He was asleep by the time his head hit the pillow.
John woke briefly when Teyla crawled into bed with him, but he was warm and relaxed and quickly drifted off again. When the pulse alarm in his watch went off at 0300, he reluctantly rolled out of bed, showered, dressed and headed for the mess hall.
When he arrived, the cooks had coffee and breakfast waiting for him. Sam strolled in about the time he was halfway done.
“Hey, didn’t expect you to be here.” John sipped his coffee. “Figured you’d be on the Hammond.”
Sam set her coffee down. “Coffee’s better here and I’m not on duty right now.”
John looked up from his meal struck by the tone of worry in her voice. “Alright, what’s wrong?”
Sam grimaced. “Am I that obvious?”
John smiled a little. “Only to someone that knows you.” He took a bite of toast, chewing while he thought. “You’re worried about Jack.”
Sam ducked her head. “Yeah, just a little.”
John quirked an eyebrow at her, his grin deepening slightly. “Relax, he’s fine. He had a bit of trouble connecting at first, but I helped him with that.”
Sam relaxed. “That’s good. You know his track record with Ancient technology.”
It was John’s turn to grimace. “Yeah, I’ve read the Mission Reports.” He took another bite of toast. “Why don’t you come with me? You can collect him, make sure he’s alright and that he gets to his quarters.”
Sam smiled. “Alright. Thanks, John.”
John ducked his head. “No problem.”
In the Chair Room, Jack O’Neill contemplated the nature of hyperspace. It was pretty, but it was boring and, after almost twelve hours, he was ready for a different view. He could see why John liked Atlantis so much. The AI was friendly and helpful. She didn’t try to suck his brain out or download her entire database into his skull.
The first time he had wondered about the time, a clock appeared in one corner of his HUD. Because visualization of a HUD had helped him the first time he flew a Jumper, he had rightly figured that it would work this time too, even though the city was much more complicated.
He was flipping through the different filters available for image analysis when a presence intruded. At first he thought it was the AI or an unfriendly visitor, but when he queried the city, she flashed up a scene of one of the approaches to the Chair Room. The presence belonged to John. While still connected to the city, he absently wondered how he appeared to the city. The image on the HUD wavered. It still showed John and Sam, but, while Sam’s figure remained unchanged, John’s glowed with a clear blue light. In the image, the pair walked past one of the sentry posts. He noticed the same effect around one of the Marines on duty but it was much weaker. This was interesting. He’d have to mention this to John or Carson, so they could see if there was a way to use this effect in order to find gene carriers.
Distantly, he heard McKay greeting Sheppard, the ritual insults flying between the two. When he heard McKay ask Sheppard to do a system check once he was in control, Jack was glad that he had asked Sheppard and not him because while he could do it with Atlantis’ help, there were many unfamiliar nuances to the city systems.
Suddenly, John’s presence edged into the link and the Chair shifted. Opening his eyes, he looked into John’s face, his hazel eyes danced with a spark of mischief. “’Bout time you got here, Sheppard.”
John straightened, stepping back just a bit. “I’m actually early, Sir.”
Jack stood and stretched. “I know, but I’m allowed to razz you. It’s one of the perks of command.”
“Jack. Play nice.” Sam chided the General from her spot hear the door. “Remember, you’re on vacation.”
Jack shot a glance over at Sam. “Spoil sport.”
John chuckled softly to himself as he settled in the Chair. The glow brightened measurably as he slipped into the link with the city. Before he slid too deep, he cracked his eyes open. “Any problems, Sir?”
Jack faced the pilot, thinking hard for a moment. “For about the last hour, it felt like there was a strain on the system. Kinda like driving up a steep hill with the air conditioner on in a car.”
“Hmmm.” John closed his eyes. After several minutes, he had an answer, his voice soft. “Rodney, there’s an unauthorized experiment running in the labs. It’s not draining the ZPMs, but it is a stress that we don’t need.”
“Dammit! I told those incompetents that there would be no experiments running while we were in flight!” Rodney was irate. “Which idiot’s lab is it?”
John checked the registry. “Dr. James’.”
“Can you shut it down from here?”
John checked. “Yeah. The way he’s tapped in to the power grid, he’s lucky it hasn’t blown up in his face.”
“Do it.” Rodney requested.
“John, who’s Officer on Duty this morning?” Sam called from the doorway. She and Jack had decided to stick around to find out what was going on.
John was silent for a few minutes before answering. “Major Teldy is OD this morning.”
Jack tapped his radio, going to the military frequency. “O’Neill to Major Teldy.”
“Sir?” Teldy’s voice came through clearly.
“We have an unauthorized experiment running in,” Jack paused, looking at Rodney, his hand covering the mike, “McKay?”
Rodney looked up, startled that O’Neill had called his name. “Lab D6, Dr. Matt James.”
Jack returned to Teldy. “Lab D6, Dr. James.”
Teldy let out a soft curse. “I’ll take a squad there immediately. What do you want me to do with the doctor?”
Jack didn’t even have to think about a reply. “Toss him in one of the holding cells. I understand it’s getting quite cozy down there.”
Teldy barked out a laugh. “Yessir. He can keep Ferrin and Stanley company.”
“Let us know when you get there so Colonel Sheppard can shut him down.” Jack ordered.
“Will do, Sir. Teldy out.”
A frown crossed Sam’s face. “Isn’t that a bit extreme?”
Jack opened his mouth, but McKay beat him with an answer. “No, it’s not. The experiment in question involved an ore with volatile properties. One wrong move and he could have caused a lot of damage. He was informed that the experiment could not be run in the city and especially not while we are in flight.”
John cut the connection when Teldy called back. He had recorded the entire event and shunted a copy of the recording to his secure files. With the drama over, he started to sink deeper into communion with Atlantis, settling in to finish the trip. With their current speed, they would drop out of hyperspace in about ten hours. Once there, he planned to match the city clock with the planet’s rotation before he set down in order to make the time adjustment easier.
Jack looked at John as the young Colonel settled deeper into the chair’s embrace. “Y’know, Sheppard, this city of yours is nice. It’s the first piece of Ancient tech that hasn’t caused me pain.”
John frowned slightly as he rose to the surface. “Pain? From what?”
“From the Chair.” Jack replied. “Every time I sat in the Chair in Antarctica, I got shooting pains up my wrists and ended up with a headache.”
“Hmmm, that’s interesting. The Chairs have always welcomed me.” A furrow creased John’s forehead. “Sitting in one kinda reminds me of stretching out on a lounge chair at the beach on a warm day.”
From the monitoring station, McKay chimed in. “So the two of you get different reactions from the Chair? That’s fascinating! I wonder if that would hold true for other pieces that require more than a basic interaction. We could set up tests and…”
Whatever else Rodney was going to say was drowned out by three simultaneous cries of “No!”
Rodney sniffed, “Well, you don’t have to be so negative about it. We have so little information about the differences between carriers and…”
“No, Rodney.” John firmly cut him off. “I already play light switch for you on a regular basis. That kind of thinking leads to lab rat status, remember?”
Rodney’s expression drooped. “You’re right. I just can’t help it. I’m like a dog with a good steak in his jaws. I see a question and I just want to answer it.”
In the Chair, already in the early level of communion, John smiled. “Yeah, but just like a good hound, you’re also faithful.” John closed his eyes and sank deeper into the systems.
Rodney returned to his monitors and Jack and Sam headed off, arm in arm to share breakfast and some quality time.