Disclaimer - "Stargate" and all related characters are the property of MGM Television Entertainment.
Rating – T
Summary – When a weapons test on the Daedalus goes disastrously wrong, the ship is left in the middle of deep space without any power. The crew have very little hope of surviving whilst they await rescue. That's not the only thing they have to worry about though...
Setting –Sometime during the first half of Season 5
Characters – McKay, Caldwell, a few OCs, Zelenka, team Atlantis.

Chapter 1 – Reputation

"Caldwell to all hands. We're approaching Atlantis."

Engineer Dr Mark Thompson nodded at his commanding officer. She returned the gesture as Thompson checked the energy flow to the sublight engines for anomalies. He did not find any, so he sat back in his chair and surveyed main engineering as a crewman walked through and hastily picked up several stray tablets adorned with the same schematic that Thompson himself knew back to front after staring at the diagrams for the past two weeks.

Chief Engineer Levitt was nervously retying her dark brown hair into the tight and practical bun she always wore. Thompson watched her for a moment and frowned. This was also going to be his first meeting with the infamous Dr Rodney McKay, whose impressive accomplishments were spoken of in hushed voices everywhere he went. They were also backed up and proven in many mission reports and he was surprised to have found out that most of the tales he had heard were not exaggerated.

Thompson had been on many supply runs back and forth from Earth to Atlantis on the Daedalus. The engineering team rarely left the ship as the hyperdrive had to be carefully checked to make sure there were no errors or faults when it was reengaged for the taxing return trip to Earth. By the time they had finished their work it was always time to go home.

Thompson sighed and tapped a few buttons on the panel in front of him as the helmsman far away on the bridge set the Daedalus in a geosynchronous orbit above the city resting on the ocean many miles below them.

Levitt glanced across at him so he announced, "Orbit is holding steady. Energy distribution normal."

She smiled, "Good, we want to make a good impression."

Thompson replied, "Yes." His voice sounded forced though.

"Caldwell to engineering."

Levitt stood up from the central control panel and went over to the wall next to the main schematic of the ship. She tapped the comm, "This is Levitt, go ahead."

"Dr McKay is keen to get started. He will be beaming up with his team in a couple of minutes."

Levitt raised her eyebrows, "He sure doesn't waste any time, sir."

"That he doesn't. I hope you've tidied your room, Jo."

She laughed, "Yes, sir! I can't answer for the cleanliness of the conduits around the sublight thrusters though!"

"Just cover them up with a blanket."

She grinned and replied, "I'll do my best, sir."

"Good. Standby."

Levitt turned around from the wall panel and faced the centre of the room. Thompson looked around and saw that the rest of the engineering team were assembling to attention while they waited for the arrival of the party.

Thompson glanced down at the panel again and satisfied that nothing was going to explode for the next few minutes, he stood up and went over to stand by his commanding officer. She shared a small smile with him and brushed her hands over her jumpsuit to smooth out some of the creases.

Thompson thought that if anyone should be apprehensive of meeting the scientists he should be. He was the one who had spent most of the time over the last few weeks assembling the schematic they had been sent into something that could actually be seen and used. Then again, any mistakes would be reflected on the Chief Engineer rather than himself.

He had also heard many more stories of sarcastic comments and the abrasive nature of Rodney McKay spoken about in the officer's mess more frequently than stories of his achievements.

Thompson was therefore not all that surprised when the Asgard beam flashed bright white in the centre of the room in front of him and McKay appeared in person. He immediately turned to Levitt and said, "Are you the one in charge around here? Shall we get started?"

Levitt stepped forward and held out her hand with an ingratiating smile, "I'm Dr Sarah Levitt. Welcome back to the Daedalus, Dr McKay."

He nodded in slight confusion and then passed his tablet to her, not realising that she wanted to shake his hand. Her face fell a little as she took the computer and tapped some of the keys to reveal a schematic similar to the one they had been working on. Thompson squinted over her shoulder to see the diagram and felt his heart sink.

McKay pointed to the diagram and said, "I've made some modifications. Nothing major, but it'll make the upgrades even more efficient than before."

Levitt turned to Thompson and passed him the tablet, "Mark, please review the schematic and implement the changes."

McKay said, "Get Zelenka to help you."

Thompson looked up at the scientist who was gesturing to a smaller man behind him with flyaway hair and glasses. Thompson turned to Levitt who gave him a warning look, "Go ahead," she approved.

"Yes, sir." Thompson did not want to start taking orders from civilians on his own ship; he thought it best to follow the proper chain of command.

Levitt turned to the other engineers behind her, "Crewmen Foster and Jones, show our guests to their quarters."

McKay spun around and looked over at his team. Thompson counted four more scientists in addition to McKay and Zelenka. They nearly all turned away under his searching gaze, but Zelenka gave him a nod of encouragement. McKay said, "With all due respect, I'd like to brief your staff about the mission and then check over your work."

Levitt seemed affronted and folded her arms over her chest, "I assure you, Doctor, we've followed your instructions to a T."

McKay frowned and then shrugged, "Just to be sure. Then it'll only take a few minutes for the modifications to be completed."

Levitt nodded and announced to the gathered crewmembers, "Alright. Let's get started everyone. Briefing in an hour."

Thompson was close enough to hear her mutter under her breath as the rest of the engineering staff dispersed. She stood closely to McKay and said, "A word, Doctor."

His expression was puzzled, but she was looking back at him with her eyes intense and dangerous. Not a trace of the earlier anticipation and happiness to meet him was apparent in her features anymore.

He sighed and followed her as she led the way out of engineering. Thompson hoped she was going to put him in his place. She was in charge when it came to matters of the ship systems and Thompson had seen a power struggle developing.

Thompson felt the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile at the thought. He had disliked McKay in his mind ever since he had heard of him. He could not understand how a single man could have done so much and it made him feel slightly sick. Now he had come to undo all the work they had accomplished in the last two weeks. He was loathed to let McKay order everyone around like it was his own ship or just his next little experiment and then take all the credit himself as Thompson assumed from reading the mission reports.

"Hello, you are Dr Mark Thompson?"

He looked up and saw the man McKay had referred to as Zelenka looking at him with an excited and eager expression. He had a slight accent and Thompson caught sight of a Czech flag patch on the scientist's sleeve. He hoped that language was not going to be a barrier and nodded back at him, "Yes, you're Dr Zelenka?"

"Dr Radek Zelenka." He pointed down at the tablet still in Thompson's hand and said, "Shall we start. It is mostly code work and a small component we have already constructed that just needs to be installed."

The other four scientists came over and together they worked through the changes and upgraded the project even further. Thompson found himself secretly impressed with the modifications and felt himself seething slightly inside as he finished the last line of code.

His mood was not alleviated by how the four scientists, and even Zelenka, went through every line of code and then two of them went away to check the device installed.

Thompson was sure that McKay had put them up to it and his lowering estimation of the man sunk right down to the floor. McKay's distrust of the Daedalus crew was open to see by all, it was almost like he was worried that he would take the fall for anything that went wrong. His massive ego was obviously far too large to take it if he or one of the Daedalus crew made a mistake in his precious project.

An hour later, Thompson was still feeling angry as he stood in the briefing room with the full engineering team. Colonel Caldwell had also turned up to watch the scientists outline their mission plan.

McKay stood in front of the display screen looking mightily pleased with himself. His eyes swept across the gathered crowd and his smug smile became even more apparent.

Thompson felt his brow deeply creasing as he frowned at the man from where he was standing at the back of the room. He wanted to see everyone else's reactions to the Atlantis team. Several were looking apprehensive, but Chief Engineer Levitt was looking at McKay neutrally.

McKay said, "Okay people. The modifications to the Asgard beam weapons are complete. Zelenka assures me all the errors have now been corrected and we're ready for our first test."

Radek was standing near the front with the other scientists and Thompson watched as he looked away with a slightly embarrassed expression as McKay nodded at him. When McKay turned back to the crowd he shot everyone an apologetic look.

McKay continued, "I'm going to take a final look over the code with Dr Levitt while we go to these coordinates."

He pointed a controller at the screen and a map of the Pegasus Galaxy flashed up. The display zoomed into a system several light years away. He continued, "Plenty of asteroids for us to destroy while we test the upgrades. Atlantis is loaning us the use of a Puddle Jumper so that we can take additional readings during the test."

Caldwell asked, "What exactly have you asked my crew to do to my ship, Doctor?"

McKay smiled happily and waved his controller holding hand about in wild and enthusiastic gestures as he spoke. Thompson felt his rage levels building but pushed them down so that they remained carefully hidden.

"We, or more specifically I, have been working on a way to increase the yield of the Asgard beam weapons. They will use less energy and be able to sustain bursts for a longer period of time than before."

Thompson frowned and asked, "What about the overheating problem? We're currently running them on the highest safe yield we can fire without destroying ourselves in the process."

Caldwell looked at him and then back at McKay for his explanation. McKay spoke in a patronising tone which did nothing for Thompson's opinion of the man, "That's the device we got you to build. It passes the excess heat back into the system instead of venting it into space. Therefore it uses less energy and we can safely increase the beam strength to at least 110% of what it currently is without any danger."

McKay glared around the room, daring anyone else to ask a question. None were forthcoming and Caldwell went over and stood at the front of the room next to McKay. He said, "Alright everyone. You've all worked really hard over the last couple of weeks. But there's still a lot of work to be done. We will break orbit in the next hour or so when the Jumper is onboard. It should take us a few hours to reach the site."

Thompson was glad that at least his commander was showing some gratitude over what they had all achieved; unlike McKay, who just seemed like a man who viewed other people as tools to bend to his will.

Caldwell said, "Dismissed." He then tapped his radio and headed up to the bridge.

Thompson let McKay and Levitt leave together and then followed them as they went back to engineering. He watched them working together out of the corner of his eye in loathing as he monitored the engines and made sure the hyperdrive was functioning properly ready for their next trip.

TBC