Chapter 44

Dr. Weir paused for a moment and then looked Sheppard and said, "Colonel? I'll leave that one in your hands. And before I forget — there is still that matter of a ZPM on the planet Felix talked about. You should split up for now — Colonel — you and Ronon go back to the planet and find the ZPM, and see what we can trade for it, or what we can do to get it to us."

She paused to take a deep breath and continued, "Rodney — you and Teyla go after Felix and hook into the DHD to see where he went. I'm pretty certain he would go to another planet instead of staying there on the first one — that just isn't his way, I'm thinking. And yes Rodney, I know that the DHD holds only the last however many gate activations in no order. But we do have Felix's notes from when he was travelling, so we can compare the coordinates with what each world has notes. Questions?"

Ronon asked, "Are you sure we can't shoot him?"

That earned him glares from Weir and Sheppard — he raised his hands and said, "Okay, just asking."

Teyla spoke up for the first time and asked, "Why are we treating Felix like we are hunting him? What has he done wrong?"

Sheppard answered, "He has been privy to certain information that if it falls into the wrong hands — will definitely compromise us here in Atlantis. We need him back also because he shouldn't be off-world right now as he isn't exactly a picture of model behaviour."

McKay asked again, "So how do you propose we find a person that is really good at hiding and staying hidden?"

Sheppard looked at Ronon and asked, "Could you track him if we get wind of where he may be?"

Ronon thought for a moment and then replied, "I'm pretty sure I can, but we all saw how he moves and blends in. And we didn't see him that first time until he stood up ... it'll be a good chase, that's for sure."

Dr. Weir added, "He is NOT be harmed — just brought back here so he can de-stress some. Plus General O'Neill gave him the task of setting up CSAR here in Atlantis, so he is required here." She looked at the group and said, "All right then, I'll leave you to your tasks."

With that she turned on her heels and went back to her office so she could figure out how she was going to explain this mess to General O'Neill when he called.

The two pairs went through the Star Gate to their respective destinations and returned about an hour later.

The first ones back were Sheppard with Ronon and they appeared to have a ZPM with them. They went straight to Weir's office with the ZPM, where Sheppard placed it on her desk and said, "Well, Felix was right about it waiting to be scooped up — it only cost us 30 gold pieces. Now all we have to do is figure out if it still works or booby-trapped like the previous one the Genii gave us."

Weir actually cracked a small smile and said, "Good work Colonel, Ronon. Now all we need is for Rodney to come back with the information from the DHD and we can start figuring out where Felix went. We can worry about the why later."

Just as they finished that conversation they heard the Star Gate activate and they looked to see who was coming through and were happy to see McKay and Teyla walking in.

The pair walked straight to Dr. Weir's office, McKay working on the laptop while walking.

As they got to Weir's office she asked, "Well, any luck Rodney?"

Teyla rolled her eyes as McKay stopped working long enough to say, "I hooked up with no problems like usual, but this is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack, Elizabeth. The odds of actually finding which gate address he went to are ... phenomenal at best. I would have better luck teaching Ronon how to use a computer than finding Felix this way."

Sheppard commented, "Well, unfortunately for you Rodney, you ARE the smart one that can track people that way." He smacked McKay lightly on the back and smiled at him. Sheppard then looked at Dr. Weir and said, "The only other way we can get any results is to get the word out that we are looking for this person. But we'll have to give a reason that sounds legit without giving too much away about the importance of Felix."

After a moment looked up, snapped his fingers as he said, "I've got an idea, Colonel."

Sheppard raised an eyebrow and asked, "What?"

McKay beamed a smug smile as he replied, "We could say a friend of ours has amnesia and we really need to get him back for treatment."

Weir and Sheppard looked at each other and then at Teyla and Ronon for their reactions and replied, "Yeah, that could work — it's plausible enough."

McKay lowered his face to the computer again as he said, "Ah, I amaze even myself yet again."

Ronon rolled his eyes and asked, "So what now?"

Sheppard replied, "Felix will most likely have a safe place that he was already at from earlier before he came here. So once McKay figures out which planets Felix has been to from that particular DHD and we compare the notes from Felix, then we start tracking. But until then, there isn't much we can do."

Rodney spoke up, "Actually Colonel, I can probably give you an answer in about 15 minutes."

Weir asked, "That fast? Rodney — you amaze me."

McKay raised his head again and smiled as he said, "I know — I love being right."

While the Atlantis team was working on figuring out where Felix had disappeared to, the grey man was gating to the last destination. After he materialized he stopped a short distance away from the gate and checked the area carefully to make sure he was still alone. He was alone except for the wildlife, so he moved off towards the tree line a short walk away, where he had cached some stuff for just this kind of situation.