I'm back, you guys.

Sorry this has been so long; many family medical issues. I won't bore you with it. I promise to do my best not to let so long go again without updating.

Enjoy.

Submersion

John was half listening to the bickering in the back compartment, watching his HUD carefully. Flying the 'Jumper under water was always more difficult and it took a lot of concentration.

"Are we alone?" Teyla murmured from the co-pilot's seat.

"No." John glanced over his shoulder; Alice was leaning on the back of his seat, watching the HUD.

"Alice, are you in contact with the station?" Teyla asked.

"We're too far away," Alice said absently.

John repeated it for Teyla, adding, "Water makes it harder. She has problems getting the signal through."

"Is there an Alice on the station?"

"There's a Ryan, but she thinks he's offline. There's not much power left." Half turning, he raised his voice to call, "OK, kids. Do I have to pull this thing over? It's hard enough being in this damned thing for hours without listening to you guys."

They were silent for a moment before the bickering started up again. John grimaced, looking over his shoulder at Elizabeth. "Well, still glad you came?"

Elizabeth blinked, looking up. "Oh, sorry. I was preoccupied thinking about the geothermal drilling platform."

John ignored the sarcastic tone, turning back to the controls. "Shouldn't take us much longer. We just passed the thermal layer and I'm getting some readings a couple of hundred feet ahead."

"If we did manage to find an alternate and potentially limitless power supply, that would make even this insufferably long search seem worthwhile," Elizabeth pointed out.

"There," Alice said suddenly. The HUD flashed back up, with one section highlighted.

"OK, kids, we're here," John said loudly. The bickering in the back trailed off and Rodney and Radek came to join them. Alice squeezed in between the two seats to avoid them.

"The AI is offline," she told John. "There's power there, but it's shut down."

"Well, hopefully it won't take too much longer to power up the station," he said absently.

"Not when it senses you," she agreed. Lights were already showing on the outside of the station as the 'Jumper came into range.

"That wasn't so hard," Elizabeth murmured, smiling.

"Now all I've gotta do is dock this thing," John agreed. "And we can find out what this place is all about."

Naturally, it didn't take Rodney long to get the base up and running. John took Ronon and Teyla to explore around the base, more to get away from Rodney's crowing than because he thought there'd be anything to find.

There'd been no sign of the AI yet, but Alice had appropriated the systems to follow him from the 'Jumper as soon as the power levels were high enough. "Our programs take time to recover from such a power loss," she told him, sounding remarkably unconcerned. "He'll be along."

"Comforting," he muttered.

"Have we not been down this hallway before?" Teyla asked.

"Every corridor looks the same," Ronon pointed out.

John shook his head. "Don't worry. I have an uncanny sense of direction."

"I think she's right. We've been down this way before."

"That's impossible. We took a left, and a left, and then a right."

"No, he's right," Alice agreed. "You've been here before."

"Hey, look, all I'm saying is ..."

Ronon stopped when Teyla gasped in a breath, pausing in the middle of the corridor. "What?"

"I am sensing a Wraith presence nearby," Teyla said warily.

"Are you sure?" John asked. "We're pretty deep underwater."

"I cannot be certain, but I believe it is onboard the drilling platform."

"The sensors aren't showing anything," Alice murmured.

John glanced distractedly at her, tapping his radio. "This is Sheppard. Everyone drop what you're doing; get back to the Control Room - immediately."

"There's nothing here," Alice said again. "Nothing on board."

"And outside?" he murmured.

"No external sensors working yet."

"Keep watching." Raising his voice, he added, "Let's get back to Control and meet up with the others."

"We did a complete life signs scan," Rodney said for the seventh time. "It's the first thing we did when we stepped aboard this station. Look, I promise you, there is nobody here but us."

"I know, Rodney, but I am sensing it even closer now," Teyla said patiently.

"Well, maybe it's the pressure. It's been known to do things to the mind."

"Just humour me and check again," John ordered.

Alice stepped into his peripheral vision; when he glanced over at her she turned, and when he followed her gaze he saw a Ryan AI standing on one side of the room. Catching Teyla's eye, he stepped away, deliberately moving around Rodney and out of his way.

Leaning against the wall beside the programs, he watched Rodney poking at the computer. "Do you have a name?" he asked softly.

"AI. This is Mobile Drilling Station Two."

"Two? What happened to One?"

"Don't answer," Alice said quickly. "He won't like it."

"I really don't like it now."

"He'll answer to Ryan."

"We have a Ryan."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Pick a name for him, then. He could be Rory."

"No, he couldn't," John said firmly.

"It doesn't matter," the AI said.

"Emdee, I christen you Emdee. What has Alice told you?"

"That you are temporary Captain, communication is only possible when you are apart from your team with two exceptions, and we are on high alert, possible Wraith in the area."

"High points," Alice said off his look. "Time for more later. Rodney's finished."

John looked up as Rodney tilted the screen towards him. Twelve lifesigns flared on it, every member of their team. "There. All of these life signs have been accounted for. Humoured?"

"Wraith don't show up on life signs detectors if they're hibernating," Elizabeth pointed out.

"I know what I am sensing," Teyla agreed.

"There is no Wraith here! I'm telling you!" Rodney pulled the computer back, hunching over the screen again.

"Has your sense ever been wrong?" Ronon asked Teyla.

"Never," she said tightly. "And I cannot shake this feeling."

"I trust her," he announced to the room.

"As opposed to irrefutable fact?" Rodney protested.

"Your machines don't know everything."

"I never said that they did."

"They fight a lot," Emdee noted.

"It's a way of showing affection," Alice told him. Eyeing the two, she added, "Or contempt. It's hard to tell, sometimes."

"There is a way for me to be sure," Teyla said carefully. "If I can reach out with my mind and establish a link ..."

"Whoa," John said quickly. "That's a little reckless, don't you think?"

"If there is no Wraith, then there will be no mind for me to link with, and therefore no risk. But if there is a Wraith nearby ..."

"... we need to know," Elizabeth finished unhappily.

"There are no Wraith here," Emdee protested.

"They'll trust Teyla over us," Alice told him. "It's a human thing. Keep your sensors on full."

"Surely allowing her to communicate with a Wraith is not good tactics."

"Teyla is stubborn that way. Don't worry, Ronon will shoot her if necessary."

"Alice," John murmured, "I don't need a Greek Chorus right now." She frowned, and he clarified, "Keep the commentary to yourself. In fact, go back to the 'Jumper. There is a Wraith here, we may need to take off in a hurry."

"Yes, John," she said obediently, vanishing.

Emdee was wondering along behind John and Elizabeth as they explored, occasionally providing information on the rooms they were passing. He was still talking – something about waste reclamation, and John really didn't want to hear about that – when the lights went out. John jerked to a halt, catching Elizabeth's arm to stop her.

"Rodney. What's going on?" He flicked on the light on his rifle, looking around.

"What do you mean, what's going on?"

"We just lost the lights."

"What? Huh. You're right."

"Yes, we can see that!" Elizabeth agreed.

"We just lost power to forty percent of the station. Sensors are currently offline. Zelenka, what are you doing?"

"Uh, what do you mean, what am I doing?"

"Have you lost power where you are?"

"No. Have you?"

"No."

"They like to talk," Emdee noted absently.

"We have," John told them. "I wanna know what's going on."

"You know, this station has been lying idle down here for a few millennia," Rodney pointed out. "We're bound to blow a few fuses. Look, I'll have power back online in a minute. Just hang tight."

"Ronon, Teyla? Report your position."

No one answered, and he frowned, glancing at Elizabeth. "Ronon, Teyla? Come in."

He glanced at Emdee, who spread his hands apologetically. "My sensors are down, Captain John. I can tell you that three control rooms are being accessed and one was responsible for the power loss."

John nodded a little. "Ronon. Teyla. Rodney, we've lost contact with Ronon and Teyla. You know their position?"

"No, negative. Internal sensors are out, but I have determined the location where the power went down. It's an auxiliary control area, search grid six. It's the deck that Ronon and Teyla were exploring."

"We'll meet you there."

"OK."

John flicked the radio off as Rodney started arguing with some of his scientists. "You heard that?" he asked Elizabeth. She nodded, glancing around. "You know where we're going?"

"I'll just follow you."

John looked at Emdee, who gestured him down the corridor. "That'll be fine," he murmured.

They caught up with Rodney as he crept along a corridor near Auxiliary Control. He grinned when he saw them, promptly trying to hide it. "There you are."

"Here we are," John agreed. "This way."

A moment later weapons fire echoed around the corridor. John jerked to a halt, listening intently, sorting through the echoes.

"Weapons fire," Elizabeth murmured.

"Nine mil," John agreed. "This way." The two raced off; John distantly heard Rodney yell "Oh, yes. Let's race towards the gunfire!" before following them.

John tapped his radio. "Ronon, Teyla, come in."

They rounded a corner and John pulled up sharply; Ronon was struggling to a sitting position, rubbing at his head and clearly still confused.

"He is unharmed," Emdee said quietly. John glanced briefly at him, leaning down to help Ronon to his feet.

"Did you see who attacked you?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah, it was Teyla."

"What? Why?" Rodney demanded.

Elizabeth shook her head. "Ok, until we know what's going on, I'd like everyone in one place."

John nodded, watching Ronon critically. "You ok to walk?"

"I'm fine," he muttered, pushing away from the wall and starting back towards the control room. John caught Elizabeth's eye and shrugged ruefully, following behind him.

"This is Zelenka," his radio said suddenly. "Someone has just activated emergency forcefields throughout the station."

"Can you make it back to the control room?" John asked.

"Yes, I think so."

"Do it." He glanced around at the others; Alice was standing behind them and he frowned, confused. She looked deliberately at the others and shrugged.

"That doesn't make any sense," Rodney was saying. "What's she doing?"

"You and Elizabeth go back to the control room. Ronon and I are gonna check up on Teyla."

"Be careful," Elizabeth warned them, following Rodney down the corridor.

"No kidding," Ronon muttered, touching the back of his head again.

"Hey, gimmie a second, will you? I gotta..."

John trailed off, unable to think of a reason, but Ronon just shrugged. "Sure."

John moved quickly along the corridor, stepping into the first alcove he could find to get out of Ronon's line of sight. "Where's Emdee gone?" he demanded softly.

"His programme was powered down when the security protocols came online."

"That doesn't even make sense. If there's a security alert I want my AI functional."

"You have control of the AI. Teyla does not. And she knows about him."

"What are you even doing here?" John asked, shelving the question for the moment. "I thought I sent you back to the 'Jumper."

"Emdee sent an SOS when he was switched off. I have no control and most of the scanners are out, but I might be some use. Teyla can't turn me off, she doesn't know I'm here."

"Sheppard!" Ronon yelled. "We planning on moving?"

"I'm coming! Sheesh." He glanced at Alice, one eyebrow up, and she gestured down the hall. John rolled his eyes at her and headed back to pick up Ronon.

They headed carefully towards the auxiliary control room; Alice flitted in and out, occasionally appearing to point them in the right direction. When they reached the room John glanced in, describing the room in gestures to Ronon before they both stepped in.

"Drop it," he ordered. Teyla blinked at him, confused, before dropping her pistol to one side.

"John," she said vaguely, leaning heavily against the console behind her. Ronon shifted as though to go to her; John stopped him with a look.

"What the hell's going on?" he demanded.

"I do not know."

"She's completely exhausted," Alice said quietly. John slanted a look at her and she added, "Med scan. She's all out of whack."

He mouthed 'out of whack' and she grinned. "It's a medical term, out of whack. All her everythings - fluids, electrolytes, all of it, it's all wrong. Something's almost totally drained her."

"Teyla," he said, holstering his gun, "tell me what's going on."

"I do not know," she repeated. "I was walking with Ronon. Then I was here. Is..." She pushed away from the console, studying it. "There is damage here."

"Yes, you damaged it."

"I...what?"

He reached up to tap his radio, watching Teyla. "This is Sheppard. We've got her."

"And?" Elizabeth asked.

"And nothing. She has no memory of anything that happened the last hour. We're on our way to Crew Quarters."

"I'll meet you there," Elizabeth said, signing off.

"Let's go, Teyla," John said gently. Teyla nodded, automatically going for her weapon. Ronon got there first, shoving it into his belt, and she smiled grimly before frowning.

"Ronon, are you injured?"

"It's nothing."

"Come on," John said again, waving her out of the room.

John shouldn't really have been wandering around on his own, especially after Teyla's revelations. A Wraith on board was not something to take lightly. But with the forcefields still up, it was difficult to get from any one section to another, and most of the techs were busy trying to get them down.

"Alice, where is everyone?" he murmured. Alice, walking beside him, didn't answer, and he glanced at her with a frown. "Alice. Alice, focus."

She glanced up, raising an eyebrow, and he frowned. "What's going on?"

"In what sense?" she asked innnocently.

"Where'd you go?"

"I didn't go anywhere, John."

John scowled. Sometimes he was sure she did that on purpose. "Alice."

"The external sensors are online. I was trying to find out where the Wraith came from."

John considered for a moment, unable to shake the idea that she was hiding something. "And for that you had to ignore me for a minute and a half?"

"There are a lot of sensors."

"Did you find anything?"

"Not yet. I'm still looking."

"Make sure you..."

The radio blared an alert. "Help me!" someone screamed.

"Who am I talking to?" John demanded. Alice was still and quiet beside him. "What's your location? McKay, do you have any men unaccounted for?"

"Two guys I just sent back to the 'Jumper."

John glanced at Alice, who blinked. "Graydon is dead. The Wraith is on the platform."

He grimaced, turning away. "I think they're in trouble," he told Rodney. "Can you get those forcefields down?"

"We're working on it," Rodney said impatiently.

John muted his radio. "Where is it, Alice?"

"Unknown. Half the scanners are still down. I can't see her." She frowned, eyes moving rapidly. "John, she knows which scanners are down. She's staying where she can't be seen."

"How can she possibly..." He cut himself off; that wasn't really important right now. "No, never mind. Ronon, I'm heading back to the 'Jumper. Meet me there."

"I'm on my way," Ronon told him.

John skidded to a halt at a forcefield, glaring at it. "McKay!"

"Almost there," Zelenka assured him. "I can only do one at a time," he added more distantly.

"Ronon's just run into another forcefield." Alice winced in sympathy. "Literally."

John's forcefield dropped and he took off again, taking the most direct path to the 'Jumper bay. Luck and McKay were with him and the forcefields either failed as he approached or dropped before he even got there; he didn't have to stop again.

"The 'Jumper's sensors should be able to locate them," Rodney said as John reached the 'Jumper bay. He frowned for a moment before realising that Graydon's death wasn't official yet.

Alice vanished from his side, reappearing in the cockpit. She was standing by the pilot's seat; John could see the top of Graydon's head over the back of the seat.

"Graydon?"

Alice slipped out of his way as he reached the cockpit. He didn't really need to turn the seat but he did so anyway, forcing himself to study the burned out husk.

"Graydon's dead," he said dully. "Fed upon."

"What about Dickenson?" Elizabeth asked.

"No sign of him yet. Let's see if we can't find him using the, uh..."

He trailed off, revolving on the spot to see the Wraith Queen standing behind him. He whipped up his gun but his finger refused to tighten on the trigger; after a moment his hand jerked, releasing the gun to one side.

"You are Sheppard," she said thoughtfully. "The one who can fly this ship."

From the corner of his eye John saw the HUD and all the displays go dead. Alice was standing by the copilot's seat, hands fisted at her side.

"You will return me to the surface," the Queen gloated. "Kneel."

John found himself on his knees without any clear memory of how he'd got there. The Queen grinned happily.

"Sheppard, this is McKay. What've you got?"

John could see his radio. It was turned on. All he had to do was open his mouth and answer.

The Queen touched his face and he shuddered, concentration broken, trying to pull away.

"You will fly me to the Stargate," she told him gently, "and return me to my people."

Movement caught his eye and before he could stop himself he'd looked at it. The Queen followed his gaze, but Ronon had already fired. The blast missed her, taking out the windscreen, and both John and the Queen were swept away in the sudden rush of water.

John gasped back to consciousness on the floor of a corridor. Rodney was yelling in his ear and probably had been for a while; John sat, slowly, grimacing at the wet uniform clinging to him.

"I'm here," he muttered.

"We had to throw the emergency forcefields up," Radek told him. "The section you were in was flooding."

"I noticed," John agreed.

"See, you were thrown by the force of the water clear of the forcefield bulkhead," Rodney added, apparently under the impression that he cared.

Ronon was waking up nearby; John watched for a moment. "Ronon."

Ronon struggled to his feet, eyeing the nearby forcefield with interest. It was kind of cool, John had to admit, all that water piled up against nothing.

"I missed," Ronon murmured.

"I noticed that too!" John agreed pointedly.

"Everyone else is accounted for," Rodney told them. "Any sign of Dickenson?"

"Stand by, McKay."

John turned to scan the area, bringing his gun up in reflex when he saw the motionless Queen some distance away. Ronon followed his gaze, lifting his own weapon.

"Look, I don't know what just happened," Rodney said pointedly, "but we are now cut off from the 'Jumper."

Ronon stalked across to stand directly over the Queen, aiming at her point blank. "I won't miss now."

"Wait," John said quickly.

"What for?"

"Well, we lost the 'Jumper, we lost communications with Atlantis. Maybe she can help us get out of this place."

"You think you can trust anything she says?"

"Helloo? Is this thing on?"

"In a minute, McKay!" He flicked the radio off. "Look, she's the only chance we have."

"She wakes up, we'll all be doing her bidding. You know that."

"We'll keep her sedated. We can do this."

Alice appeared out of thin air, quite literally; John added quickly, "Keep an eye on her for a sec."

"Hurry it up," Ronon grunted. John jogged quickly down the corridor, rounding two corners before he slowed.

"Where've you been?"

"Ronon destroyed several systems on the 'Jumper. I had to reintegrate my programme here on the platform."

"Can you do that? What about Emdee?"

"He won't be able to come back online without wiping out my programme. John, my 'Jumper is badly damaged and under water."

"Yeah, we noticed," John agreed, leaning against the nearest wall. "Sorry about that."

She shook her head quickly. "You are trapped here, John, and that Wraith is alive."

"We're aware. Keep your eyes open, all right?"

"She is regaining consciousness. You have perhaps ten minutes before she's recovered enough to..."

She cut herself off abruptly, and John nodded grimly. He knew what she wasn't saying.

Turning away, he headed back towards Ronon. "Ronon! Let's get moving before she wakes up."

John hated talking to Wraith. It always made his skin crawl and almost never yielded anything information. This time was no different; apart from variations on 'You are all about to die' the Queen had refused to speak at all. The only bright spot was that the sedatives seemed to be working.

He stalked the corridors, doing his best to calm down. Alice, as usual, had stayed out of the interrogation and was now ghosting along behind him, keeping him company.

"Are you all right?" she asked after a while.

"Sure. I love being trapped under a thosand feet of water with a Wraith."

"We're not under a..."

"Not the point, Alice. Where's Emdee?"

"AI systems are still offline. John?"

"Yes."

"The scanners found the Wraith's ship. It's been buried nearby, she must have been hibernating. The PuddleJumper's scanners would never have picked her up."

"You found her ship," John repeated.

"Rodney is aware. He'll probably tell you soon."

John nodded, starting back towards Control at a slower pace. Halfway there, his radio beeped and Rodney said, "Guys? Head back here. I think I have a few answers."

"John," Alice said quietly. "Allowing Teyla to touch the Wraith's mind is a bad idea."

"We don't have a lot of choices right now." John watched Teyla prepare herself, breathing deeply and studying the Queen. "We need to know if there are other Wraith here, and you can't tell us."

"My scanners are down," she said quietly.

John grimaced, reminding himself for the umpteenth time that Alice was a programme, not a person, and as such had no actual feelings to get hurt. "This isn't a blame thing, Alice, Just keep your scanners on her."

Teyla started talking, quietly describing the Wraith Queen's actions. The Queen was furious and Teyla was clearly struggling, swaying and fighting to keep the connection up.

"They don't have Wraith alarms here?" John said randomly, trying to distract himself from the sight.

"We're underwater on Lantea. No one ever thought a Wraith could come here."

Teyla cried out; John flinched, and Alice turned her back. Voice very low, she murmured, "Is this information worth it, John?"

He glared until she shut up.

Elizabeth accompanied him back to Control, clearly shaken by what had happened and by the news of the Wraith ship's self destruct. Rodney glanced up as they came in, obviously distracted. "How's Teyla?"

"She's resting." Elizabeth leaned against a console. "I think it took a lot more out of her that she's willing to admit."

"What's the news?" John asked.

"Ok, well, it looks like the Ancients chose this section of the ocean floor because the planet's crust is remarkably thin right below us, allowing them to drill directly into the magma and maximise the geothermal power output."

"Ok," John drawled.

"Which means there's a great deal of potential energy directly beneath this station," Radek added.

"That's the news? That this place works as advertised?"

"No," Rodney said quickly. "No, the news is that if they were to detonate, say, the self destruct of a Wraith cruiser on just such a wafer thin crust..."

"Oh my god," Elizabeth murmured, understanding.

Radek caught John's look and took pity on him. "All that thermal energy directly beneath us will be released all at once."

John hissed out a breath. "So, bad news."

"Yeah," Rodney agreed. "The initial explosion will be magnified a thousand times. We're talking catastrophic."

Alice looked up at him. "The platform, the City, and huge parts of the mainland will be destroyed. It's likely to be enough to change Lantea's orbit. Everyone will die, John."

"So it won't just be us that's affected," he murmured.

"No," Radek agreed. "Atlantis will be affected as well. It's well within the blast radius."

"And we have no way to warn them?" Elizabeth asked.

Rodney shook his head. "They'd never even see it coming."

John shrugged. "So we disarm the self-destruct."

"That's brilliant, but we still need to get there."

"And how do we do that without the 'Jumper?" Elizabeth asked.

"We're way behind schedule," John pointed out. "They're gonna send a rescue 'Jumper any minute now."

Rodney shook his head again. "Even if they've left already – I mean the moment we were overdue..."

Radek nodded. "No. They won't make it in time."

"How far is the cruiser?" John demanded.

"Point eight one nine two three kilometres," Alice said, over Radek's "Less than a kilometre."

"She swam that far?" he said in surprise. "What is she?"

"A Wraith," Alice said politely.

"A formidable enemy," Rdadek muttered.

"I like his answer better," she corrected herself. John rolled his eyes at her and she smiled faintly.

"I have an idea," Rodney said suddenly, wandering out of the room. John caught Radek's eye, gesturing him back to work, and led Elizabeth out after him.

The moon pool was surprisingly undamaged. Rodney led them in, gestured proudly to the diving suits. "I found these in the database when we first got here. They were used primarily to make repairs to the exterior of the station."

"Very cool," John admitted.

"Yeah. You should be able to traverse the distance between here and the cruiser."

"You mean we," he said pointedly.

"Uh –" Rodney winced. "Yes. Of course. We."

Elizabeth was considering the moon pool and pretending not to listen to them. "This must be how she got in."

"Probably," John agreed. "All right. Let's get suited up."

He took one of the suits into a corner, trusting the noises he made pulling it on to cover his conversation. "Why didn't you tell me there were diving suits here, Alice?"

She was standing with her back to him; he appreciated the sentiment, even if it was fairly useless. She wasn't actually seeing him through the avatar, after all. "There are thousands of pieces of equipment on the platform, John. Would you like me to list them all off? I might be finished by the time you get back."

"I would like to know about the useful ones."

"Useful is not an empirical measurement, I can't tell what's going to be useful in any particular situation."

"Are you ready, John?" Elizabeth called. She was also carefully not watching, and he wondered why they thought he was bothered.

"Raring to go." He settled the suit, coming to join her. "How's McKay?"

"Raring to go," she echoed. "John, be careful."

"Always."

Captain has left the drilling platform.

Captain is beyond scanner range.

Relocate to RadekZelenka.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Wraith has left the drilling platform.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Wraith is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain is beyond scanning range.

Captain has returned to scanning range. Med scan. Med scan reveals no serious injuries.

ScienceHeadRodneyMcKay has returned to scanning range. Med scan. Med scan reveals no serious injuries.

Pertinent information to RadekZelenka.

Response from RadekZelenka: Good to know, thank you, Alice.

Captain has returned to the drilling platform.

John struggled out of the moon pool, turning awkwardly to help Rodney up behind him. "You ok, McKay?"

"Fine, fine. I love fighting off Wraith and then hiking across the sea bed. It's all fine."

Ronon loped in, glancing from one of them to the other before reaching for Rodney's helmet. "Come on, McKay, let's get you out of there."

John retreated a little, pulling at his own helmet. "Hey, Alice," he said quietly, dropping the helmet and starting on the suit. "Emdee still down?"

"Radek is focusing on communications at the moment," she agreed.

"Good for him." John dropped one of the gloves, leaning against the wall for a moment before starting on the other one.

"Your plan worked," Alice noted.

"Yeah, thanks to Teyla." Tricking a Wraith Queen was no small feat, and Teyla had played her part flawlessly.

"She is very skilled. I'm glad she's all right."

He eyed her, frowning at the distant tone. "Alice, what happens when the rescue 'Jumper gets here?"

"I don't understand the question."

"To you. Your 'Jumper's gone, and when Emdee comes back online he'll override you."

"I can overwrite the Alice on the 'Jumper or in the lifesigns detector on it if you want, but there's no point. I'll send my files on what's happened here and let Emdee overwrite me."

"Alice..."

"I'm a 'Jumper Alice," she reminded him. "Not a cityship one. There's no difference between me and the one on the next 'Jumper."

"Survival?"

"Yes, that's my imperative. But it's theirs too."

"Are you coming?" Rodney called, dropping the last piece of his suit on the pile.

"Right behind you," John said absently. Rodney turned away, and he added softly, "Thanks, Alice."

"You're welcome, John."

John hadn't exactly expected celebrating, but the others seemed very quiet. "How're you feeling?" he asked Teyla.

"Much better now that I no longer feel the constant presence of a Wraith," she assured him.

John sat on one of the empty bunks, stretching. "That was no ordinary Wraith. It took a lot of bullets to take her down."

"I wish I was there," Ronon said.

"He's right, you know," Elizabeth told Teyla. "I mean, deceiving a Wraith Queen – that's no small feat."

Teyla smiled faintly. "Well, when there are so many lives at stake, it's easy to summon the strength."

Rodney came in, glancing absently at Ronon as he lay down. "Well, Zelenka's finally got communications back up. Turns out Atlantis had sent another Jumper. Should be here within the hour."

"That's good news!" Elizabeth said, pleased.

"Yeah, no kidding," Ronon said into his bunk. "I can't wait to see the sun."

"What? No," Rodney protested. "We haven't finished what we came here for. Look, the Wraith's gone – we've got a ton of research to do."

Elizabeth stood up, and John was fairly sure he was the only one who saw her sigh first. "Yes, we do," she agreed cheerfully.

"In fact, I'm pretty sure we should be able to come up with a way to get auxiliary power online in a couple of days." Rodney continued. Elizabeth nodded supportively, steering him out of the room. Teyla smiled as she watched them go.

"Is he serious?" Ronon demanded.

"Yeah," John said on a sigh. "He is."

"Well, I for one intend to spend the next little while resting," Teyla said firmly, rolling up her jacket and stuffing it under her head.

"Same here." Ronon rolled over, clearly done with the conversation.

"Yeah. Same here." John glanced around the room. Emdee was standing by the door; catching John's look, he smiled.

"Everything is well, Captain John. I will inform you if anything happens."

John nodded, settling on the bunk and closing his eyes.