“That was my virgin-alarm. It’s programmed to go off before you do!” - Dot Matrix

by Wolfen Moondaughter

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I love the episodes where they stay in the city the whole time, and this one is no exception! While the story wasn’t without tension, I appreciated the quiet character interaction. (Okay, so maybe I didn’t like it quite as well as “Doppelganger” or “Tabula Rasa”, but it was still really good!)

I feel bad for Rodney, and I have to admit that the way he acted around Katie in “Tabula Rasa” was very sweet, but really? I can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief that the Katie/Rodney ship seems to have been sunk by “canon”. Thank you, Carl Binder! Especially for throwing us some nice, juicy, McSheppy bones, as well. We can usually count on you for that …. Apparently, the programmers for the game at the MGM site agree with me, since this “mission” has Sheppard protecting Rodney while they get to a control panel — in other words, it has pretty much nothing to do with the episode! (Although, to be fair, maybe they just didn’t feel like making a Zelenka avatar. But they could have used only John, or John and Teyla, even, if they wanted to stay a bit more accurate.)

Yes, I’m going to be an insufferable McShepper when talking about the opening scene (and a few other parts). You may want to cover your eyes. Or, er, scroll down a ways, I guess.

Let the gushing begin!

4.13: “Quarantine”

John’s playing a golfing computer game in the lab, trying to cajole Rodney into playing another round. (I guess he figures he’s never going to get Rodney out of the lab to the driving range. I’m glad they still play other games together, even though they can’t play The Game anymore.) Despite the offering of a short game with a low par (is three really all that low?), Rodney insists he needs to meet Katie for lunch. John tells him to be late — girls like that. (And can I just squee over the fact that John wants to hang out with Rodney so much that he’d lie through his teeth? With the added effect of possibly screwing up Rodney’s chances with his girlfriend? Hey, allow me my McSheppy delusions ….) “No, they don’t,” Rodney says. (Hmm, he’s not quite as socially retarded as I thought!) He goes on to say that he especially can’t be late today. John asks why. “Can you keep a secret?” Rodney asks. “No,” John replies, matter-of-factly. And of course Rodney tells him anyway — or rather, shows him.

He hands John a box with a ring (and McSheppers everywhere give a heavy sigh, wishing he were giving John the ring), saying that he felt it was time to take his and Katie’s relationship to the next level. “Second base?’ John quips. (*Snicker*) “No, marriage,” Rodney replies, irritated. (… He’s going to propose at lunch? Well, I guess he’s not really a hearts-and-flowers kind of guy, but this makes the proposal smack of a business proposition — not that I’m surprised. In fact, while I already knew he was going to propose, I was pretty convinced before the ep even aired that said proposal was not going to play out well for him. Hey, the words “no marriage” might even be considered foreshadowing!) John is surprised, and a little mystified. Rodney, sounding a bit panicked , immediately asks if John doesn’t think he’s ready, or if he’s rushing into anything (which says that he’s really not, he’s just doing this because of what Jeannie said in “Miller’s Crossing”). John says that he didn’t say that. Rodney assures him that he’s thought it through. John asks, sounding awed, if the stone is a diamond (not because it’s huge, but because it’s so tiny, one can barely see it!) Oblivious to any criticism, Rodney assures him that it is — an eight of a carat and conflict-free, plus he got a good deal on it. “Oh, I’m sure you did!’ John says, dryly. (After all, it’s so tiny, you can hardly see the stone against the band! Is Rodney trying to impress Katie with his frugality? Really, though, to be honest, that would suit me just fine, were I her. I lose things easily, and I’ve known a few gals go into a tizzy losing their expensive engagement rings — I’d rather not have the stress. And kudos to him for going conflict-free!)

Rodney takes his radio out of his ear, saying, “Here I go!” Looking more than a little stunned still, John offers to buy him a beer later to celebrate. “Or to, ah, drown my sorrows, if she should say no,” Rodney suggests ruefully. “No, no, none of that!” John admonishes him. (Awwww. *Gush* Hey, does John sound a little broken up? Eh, probably just wishful thinking. While I can’t deny that a part of me would certainly like for him to be bummed by this turn of events, really, I’m deliriously happy that he’s being so supportive and sweet about it, showing what very good friends they’ve become.) Rodney just stands there, looking uncertain. “Well? Go get the girl!” John prompts, sending him on his way. (Well, if they can’t be together, John being happy for Rodney will have to do.)

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As Rodney hurries out the door, Teyla comes in. (Whoa, has she gotten big since we last saw her! How much time has passed? And how much of this seeming leap in size is just that she was a bit better “hidden” before, and now she’s wearing a shirt that accentuates it? I do like that shirt — we don’t often get to see her in something really pretty.) Rodney tells her that he can’t talk. (And I’m instantly reminded that we haven’t seen them talk to each other since she’s announced her pregnancy. We’re well overdue for a scene between them! Now, I’m sure his being in a hurry at the moment is simply a matter of not wanting to be late, not wanting to lose his nerve, and not wanting to let anyone else know, in case Katie says no. But I wonder if he’s also been avoiding Teyla at all, if her pregnancy makes him uncomfortable?) Teyla asks John if he has a moment to talk (which strikes me as funny, given Rodney’s line to her just a split-second ago.

Ronon comes into the infirmary, his arm bleeding. Keller asks if he got the injury sparring. He deadpans that he fell in the shower; he’s kidding, of course, and seems to enjoy teasing her (non-maliciously). She points out that this will be the third time she’s had to patch him up this week, suggesting that there are other ways he could spend his free time. He retorts that none are as fun. (Ohmygods, he’s getting hurt on purpose, isn’t he?! Just so he can see Keller! It’s stupid of him, yet adorable!! Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile so much in one episode! It must be love!)

A chipper Sam and Radek run into each other outside of a transporter and, discovering that they are headed to the same place, decide to share. (Hey, we haven’t really seen any interaction between Sam and Radek yet, have we? Outside of when they had amnesia, I mean? This will be nice, seeing them interact, and getting more Zelenka scenes to boot! More Radek is always a plus! )

Rodney finds Katie in the botany lab, and asks if she’s ready for lunch; she is. (Hey, Rodney said awesome! *Snicker* Hewlett supposedly can’t stand the word, and it seems writer Martin Gero teased him with it during some episode commentary, saying “David Hewlett, how are you so awesome?” ….) Rodney is very edgy, and Katie notices. He decides to just go ahead and “ask her”, comparing it to ripping off a band-aid, quickly clarifying that he doesn’t mean that it’s painful. (Sorry, Rodney, but it seems very much like it is a painful experience for you.) He babbles on uselessly for a few more moments, without actually getting to the question. (Amazing how Mr Never Shuts Up completely loses his ability to communicate around her — he’s never even come close to being this bad with anyone else we’ve seen him talk to! He may have a problem with brevity in a crisis, but at least he’s still coherent! Now, I concede that one could chalk it up to nerves here, especially under the circumstances, but even in everyday interactions, like when he went to see her at the beginning of “Tabula Rasa”, he still seems so awkward around Katie. He reminds me very much here of when he was trying to talk to her on their first date, during “Duet” — no one would ever guess they’ve been dating for a year and a half! In fact, I bet John wasn’t far off the mark with his comment about getting to “second base”!*Shakes head*) Rodney’s attempt to pop the question is cut off by the quarantine alert.

Doors start closing everywhere, trapping everyone in their respective places, including Rodney and Katie in the botany lab, Ronon and Keller (alone, wonder of wonders) in the infirmary, Teyla and John in Rodney’s lab (a wall comes down too, instead of just a door), and Carter and Zelenka in the transporter. (Eeek — I’d be getting sooooo claustrophobic, if I were Sam and Radek! Although, how cozy, ‘ey? Boy-girl, boy-girl …)

Rodney tries to open the door; Katie asks what’s going on. When he doesn’t answer her (he’s still trying to get the door open), she asks again, sounding a bit impatient. (So it starts …. Really, woman, give him a break — he might not know, either!) He doesn’t answer (I’m not sure he even heard her), saying only that he can’t get the doors open — they’re trapped!

Waving her hand by the door sensor, Teyla tells John that they are locked in. He calls McKay. Keller and Ronon make the same determination; Keller calls McKay. Sam and Radek are putzing with things in the transporter; Sam calls McKay. (Heheheh, granted, McKay is the obvious person to call for a potential system malfunction, this still tickles me. Especially since, in Sam and John’s case, they might also have called Keller, since the alarm would indicate a medical emergency …. Hey, if Rodney had had his radio with him, and the radios had been working, would Keller and Sam have gotten nothing anyway, if Rodney answered John? I mean, are they two-way like a phone, or one-way like a walkie-talkie?)

Closing a panel with crystals in it, Radek tells Sam that the control mechanisms aren’t working. They try to open the door manually, Radek telling Sam that the transporter doors are lighter than most of the other ones. No go. (And really, it would sort of defeat the purpose of locking the doors down, for quarantine or any other reason, if it was that easy to open them, but I can’t blame them for trying.) Sam tries Rodney again, and John too, to no avail; Radek says that communications must be down.

Rodney says he needs a radio; Katie tells him that it’s in the other room; they haven’t needed one in the plant cultivation room. “Well, you do now!” Rodney insists. (And if wishes were ZPMs ….) He explains that the sound was the quarantine alarm; apparently he tweaked the system because of the city’s failure to lockdown during the Kirsan Fever outbreak (in “Tabula Rasa”). He gets slightly derisive when talking to her, his mind on the problem instead of her. (I’d bet you anything that this is a first for her, being spoken to by him with anything other than doting reverence and courtesy.) He says he needs to get to a computer, then realises, horrified, that the computer, like the radio, is in the other room.

Ronon continues to struggle with a door. Keller figures that there must be another illness, mentioning that McKay said he was going to tweak the protocols to make them more efficient. Ronon asks, irritated, how cutting off the radios makes them more efficient. Keller suggests that there’s a glitch in the programme, going on to say that, without the radios, she can’t be informed of the severity of the illness or get the passcodes to open safe doors. (Um, if you’re going to treat ill people, I would think that would mean that none of the doors you need to go into would be safe — at least, not without a Hazmat suit. Maybe the suits should have some sort of automatic override-key feature?) She says she needs to be ready to treat the sick when they do finally arrive, asking for his help. “Tell me what to do,” he says agreeably.

John wishes he had Ronon’s gun. Teyla, looking at the computer, says that there’s been a Category 5 outbreak, asking what that means. John quips that it’s worse than Categories 1 through 4. (I live in Florida — those words are not words I want to hear. Granted, they aren’t talking about hurricanes here, but the loss of life implied in either scenario is still heart-wrenching. Well, except for the fact that I highly suspect that there is no illness at all, that there is indeed some sort of glitch. If this is a programme error, does this mean that Rodney’s long-running “dry spell” is still problematic? I sense a crisis of faith in himself down the road for Rodney ….) John looks at her belly nervously, mentioning how, in the movies, there’s always some pregnant woman who, despite being far from her due date, goes into labour. She assures him that she’ll be fine, but he’s still jumpy, insisting she sit down. (*Snicker*)

Sam wonders why the quarantine would take out communications. Radek, seeming a bit anxious, mentions that Rodney had tweaked the protocols, suggesting that the man made a mistake, and the security system is being too aggressive. (Wow, they’re really driving home the notion that this is Rodney’s screw-up, which makes me suspect all the more than he’s heading for a breakdown. It’s also kind of ironic, considering that he was the one they all turned to immediately for answers and help.) Sam suggests they tap into the mainframe with Radek’s tablet; Radek warns that the tablet has limited RAM, so all they could do is read what’s there. That’s fine with Sam; at least they could get an idea of what the situation is. She’s surprised by his wallpaper: it’s a pigeon. He explains that he raises them. (He’s mentioned that before — yay for continuity and snippets of the character’s personal lives!)

John frets over Teyla’s comfort. She uses it as a segue into what she came to talk to him about in the first place: his removing her from team missions. He thinks she’s going to complain about it again, but she assures him that she understands. He explains that it’s only temporary; she’ll be back in action after giving birth. “Will I be?” she asks, going on to suggest that, if it’s wrong to risk her son’s life now, it’s also wrong risk her life after the baby is born and potentially leave her son without parents. (Kudos to her for being so far-seeing now about her baby’s welfare!) John understands, telling her about a woman he knows who is a cop with kids: that woman struggles with that fear every day. Teyla asks how she makes peace with it. He says the woman rationalizes it by considering that she’s going out to protect not just her own children, but others as well. (I understand what he’s saying, I really do, but even under normal conditions, I can’t get comfortable with the idea of parents, or even just married individuals, going into dangerous situations as a career. No offence to any of my readers who are police, armed forces, firemen, etc. — I deeply respect people who make the choice to risk their lives for others, but even if I were brave enough to follow such a path, I could never do so while being married or having children — I would marry the career, so to speak. I also can’t see myself being married to someone in such a role — the constant fear of losing them would be too much of a stress. When I was little, my biggest fear was losing my parents, and I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who lost a parent as a child who wasn’t greatly affected, even years later, by such a loss. And in Teyla’s case, until they find her people, she is the only person left who can give her child a sense of his people’s history and culture, things that are important to one’s sense of identity!) John assures Teyla that, even if anything should happen to her, her child has a family. (That was wonderful — I need a hankie!)

Looking at the mainframe via the tablet, Radek and Sam note that there are wild power fluctuations, and that other systems are down. Sam says it’s like the city’s operating system is down, and suggests that there isn’t even an outbreak of any kind, that it’s all just a malfunction. Sam tells him not to worry, McKay’s probably fixing the problem. (Love her confidence in him!)

Of course, Rodney is doing no such thing; without his gear, all he can find to do is stand there awkwardly with Katie, not even looking at her. (There’s a nice sort of catch-22 going on with Rodney and the plot here: the lockdown forces him and Katie to spend time together, but the whole reason they are trapped is because he left his gear behind so that he wouldn’t be interrupted when he went to take the ultimate step towards spending time with her! In other words, each scenario was vital to making the other possible! Well, maybe that’s more of a yin-yang thing.) Katie assures him that others must be working on the problem, ticking off the names of people that we know are hoping the same thing of him. (John and Teyla may have access to workable computers, but they don’t exactly have the technical know-how. I wonder what all the other scientists and techs are doing …. Well, they could mostly be in the mess, for lunch. Maybe that’s where all the infirmary docs are, too!)

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Ronon tries to pry the doors open with an IV stand, breaking the stand — and tearing his stitches. Exasperated, Keller leads him over to a bed, so she can patch him up again, remarking that she’s never met anyone with such reckless aggression. “That’s not a compliment!” she adds when he smirks. She has him lie down, and gets ready to stitch him up again. As she works, she tells him that they’re not going to get the door open on their own, much less determine what doors are safe to use, so they just need to sit tight and get ready to help people when the time comes. He says he’s not good at sitting still; “Yeah, no kidding,” she replies wryly, then suggests that they pass the time by getting to know each other better. He eyes her speculatively, asking what she has in mind. Realizing how her suggestion could have been taken, she self-consciously assures him that she just meant talking. There’s a long, awkward moment of silence. (Yeah, Ronon’s not much of a talker. Maybe he’s even wondering if he should tell her he’d rather do what she thought he thought she meant. *Snicker*)

Katie tries to nudge the covering off of the door sensor. She asks (sounding a touch whiny) if Rodney can’t mess with it and get the door open. Exasperated, he says he could mess with it, yes, but that wouldn’t open the door — the quarantine disables the door mechanisms, the whole point being to keep people from getting out. (The question is an important one, from a storytelling standpoint — we need to know why he can’t get it open, and the question gives him a chance to explain that. It also gives her a chance to annoy him and get snarked at in return. But honestly, he’s a genius — doesn’t she think that it would have occurred to him to try that, if it would have done any good? I’d like to think this just goes to show that she’s not all that bright.) Hurrying over to him, she tells him it’s all going to be okay, that the others are working on it. (It’s good to be a positive person, but she’s way too bubbly and patronising — I don’t think I’d last five minutes with her without wishing for Lantea’s whalefish to perforate my eardrums.) Rodney cuts her off, turning away and moving out of reach, insisting that they don’t know that. He suggests that Zelenka and Carter are already sick, and that the disease could have spread throughout the rest of the city. She pouts, admonishing him for thinking of the worst-case scenario. “Hello! This is what I do!” Rodney points out (nicely contradicting the scene in “BAMSR”, when he told Todd, “This is when I shine,” and was being all upbeat about his work). He says that it’s his job to conjecture the worst possible outcome of any situation and prepare for it. (Though I’ve softened up to her a little with “Tabula Rasa”, and I appreciate him trying to be a better person with her in general, right now I’m enjoying every minute of him being his normal, flawed, paranoid self in front of her!) She asks if that includes good situations; he insist that good ones could go bad at any time.

He gives an example of enjoying a bike ride after acing a midterm, and the ride being spoiled when hit a pothole; she immediately asks him, pityingly, if that happened to him, reaching out to comfort him. He ignores the gesture (and she looks at her hand, sighing), saying that his point is that you always have to watch out for the potholes. (It’s funny that he’s missing out on a chance to be fawned over because he’s too busy making a point. She wants to comfort him, but he likes his misery, I think — it’s comfortable and familiar and doesn’t disappoint him because he’s already at the bottom of his expectations. I see two possible frames of mind for Katie here — and I don’t think that one necessarily negates the other. The first possibility is that she feels it’s her role in life to “make it all better” for people, like her search for a cure for leukemia; perhaps she’s taking the fact that he’s being so unresponsive to her soothing personally, like it’s a failure on her part. The second possible mindset is that she lives in that world of rainbows and unicorns that he accused Jeannie of living in, and she’s not dealing well with the storm clouds he’s bringing in — never mind that you don’t get those rainbows without a little rain now and then.) “Now, you can call me a catastrophist,” he says, turning his attention back to the door, walking away again, “but it’s a necessary burden I bear.” She insists that a person who thinks that way “would live in constant state of worry and fear.” “You forgot despair, he tells her. (*Snort*)

Zelenka discovers that their systems have been affected by an ionic storm, saying that they’re going to have to make some recalibrations if they’re going to continue living on that planet. (So it wasn’t Rodney fault? Yay!) He then ruminates on the fact that Rodney hasn’t solved the problem yet, remarking that the man has been a bit off of his game of late. Sam jumps to Rodney’s defense, suggesting that he simply hasn’t got computer access. (In hindsight, I see this bit as serving two purposes: one, to reinforce that “dry spell” thing again, like he did in “Miller’s Crossing” and “BAMSR”, and two, to help paint Zelenka himself in a slightly negative light, so that he can “redeem” himself later. Although, it’s not like he hasn’t criticised Rodney even before this season — he’s even had just cause to do so, like with Doranda.) Radek scoffs at the idea of Rodney without a computer. Sam remarks that, if there’s no outbreak, there’s no reason for them to stay stuck in there. Radek make a remark about not being able to get the doors open. She closes her eyes, pained. (Maybe she’s wondering how Rodney puts up with him!) She suggests they try hooking the tablet up to the control crystals. Radek tries to explain why that probably wouldn’t work, but she ignores his protests, taking the tablet and pulling out the jack. (I’m sure some people immediately thought “Oh no, Super Sam is back!” at that point, but I, for one, am glad to see her putting her smarts to use. Besides, that just makes Radek’s success at the end of the episode all the more meaningful.)

Looking at the computer, Teyla learns that there are still life-signs all over the city (so they aren’t surrounded by the dead), while John determines that he ventilation system has been shut down, so everyone is running out of air (so they could be surrounded by the dead soon). John then takes note of Rodney’s radio on the desk, and realises where Rodney is — a place with no computer or radio. Teyla looks forlorn at the news. “If he is locked in there—” she begins; “—He’s gonna be freaking,” John finishes. (Is that a note of worry for Rodney’s mental well-being in your voice, John? *Squee!*)

Rodney is trying to open the door with a spade when he doubles over, panting. “Aww, are you all right?” Katie asks, the way one might talk to a kitty. Rodney says he’s dizzy and feverish. She sets him down on a chair, feeling his head, saying that he doesn’t feel feverish. While she checks his hands and wrists, he points out that he feels achy. (There’s our lovable hypochondriac — if there’s a disease going around, of course he’s going to assume that he has it. He’s not looking too well, truth be told, but I’m guess it’s either a panic attack or a virus that would ordinarily be fought off, and he’s just lowered his immune system through stress.) “Pulse … 120?” she says, surprised. “Normal,” he assures her, saying that he’s always been that way. (Always a nervous wreck? *Snicker* And here I thought my pulse was a bit high, being typically 90!) He asks her how she’s feeling; she says she’s fine. He tells her, distractedly, to let him know if she starts feeling sick, turning back to the doors. She looks disappointed. (Well hey, at least he asked — there was a time when he might not have thought to see how someone else was! Then again, he doesn’t seem as concerned for her health as he did in “Tabula Rasa”, but that could just be chalked up to the fact that he’s supposedly the sick one this time.)

Teyla finds the same info about the ion storm that Zelenka mentioned, and suggests that there might not even be an outbreak. John points out that they’re still in lockdown either way, and that Rodney’s not going to be able to get them out of it. Teyla suggests that Carter or Zelenka might. John thinks that, if they could have, they would have done it by already. Teyla asks if anyone can do it; John says they’d need Rodney’s password — which he does. Teyla is shocked that Rodney would tell him. John says that Rodney didn’t think he’d remember it, then recites off the numbers, explaining that it’s comprised of the year of Newton’s birth, Einstein’s — and Rodney’s, Teyla realises. “Never underestimate the size of that man’s ego,” John tells her. (Immodest, sure, yet you can’t deny that Ridney belongs among their ranks, considering all he’s done. And there’s something to be said for the fact that Rodney doesn’t see a point in modesty because it is, in a sense, a denial of reality — defining reality is at the heart of physics. He often will be the first to point out his shortcomings, too — something most egotists will not do. I would have put Tesla in there, rather than Newton, though. Anyway, I never would have remembered Newton’s or Einstein’s birth years, so either John has a fantastic memory, his gift with numbers from “The Brotherhood” is somehow coming into play, or this is further proof that he’s pretty darn geeky for a soldier. Or he’s just paying an awful lot of attention to Rodney. *Grin* Probably all of the above ….) She asks the significance of the last part of the password, “42″; “The Ultimate Answer to The Great Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything,” he replies. (Heee, that’s the second time he’s referenced that bit from the Hitchhiker’s Guide series this season! He is a geek! I love the expression on Teyla’s face at that answer!) The password works; they’re in!

Zelenka takes his jacket off, obviously sweating. Sam decides that that’s a good idea, unintentionally giving Zelenka an eyeful of her cleavage as she takes her own jacket off. (The look on his face …. *Snicker*) “Much better,” she says. “Yes. much better,” Zelenka agrees, fanning himself with an odd expression on his face. (*Snicker* How cute! I’d always thought he had a crush on Weir; now he seems to be getting one on Carter!) She says that the interface isn’t working; he politely points out that he said as much. She says she knows, but she’d written a workaround to free up memory. “Oh, so fast!” he says, impressed. She adds that it wouldn’t be enough RAM to actually use the city’s operating systems, but should have been enough to let them open the doors. She just needs to get it to “recognise the authentication command.” Radek makes a suggestion, moving to mess with the crystals. She starts to tell him no, but it’s too late — he gets a nasty electrical shock and is thrown against the wall. And not only did the door not open, but the tablet is fried.

John discovers that the city is sending out a warning beacon for any approaching vessels, warning them of the “outbreak”. He says it can only be turned off in the control room, which means, since it’s still on, that the people in there don’t have Rodney’s password to turn it off. Teyla says that, so long as it’s on, “Atlantis is vulnerable to discovery.” (Is it really that big of a deal now? There are Wraith who already know where Atlantis is, as well as the Travelers, and the Asurans are gone ….)

Katie asks how Rodney’s doing; he says about the same. He squares his shoulders, taking her hands, saying that she looks like she could use some cheering up; she agrees amiably that she could. He braces himself, obviously about to pop the question, but the words won’t come. “What?” she asks, (understandably) exasperated. He looks around the room, a desperate look in his eye, and brightens as he finds something to divert the conversation with: the plant she’d named for him (in “Tabula Rasa”). He remarks that it’s grown. She goes over to it, saying that she dotes on it, and, with all that the extra TLC, “it just gets bigger and bigger.” She strokes the pot and gestures around the very phallic-looking plant, sounding seductive. Rodney coughs; it seems like embarrassment at first —and it probably is — but it keeps going a little, like the weak, rattling kind of cough one might give on one’s death bed. (Probably choked on his own spit or something. Almost like being hoisted by his own petard ….) Katie says that they need to get him to the infirmary; Rodney insists that the whole point of the lockdown is to prevent the spread of disease. She asks how the doctors are supposed to treat the sick, then, if they can’t get to them. (It’s a good question, but Keller answered it for us already: if the systems were all working properly, she would have access to codes that would allow her through the doors.) Instead of answering, he apologises, thinking that he’s given her whatever disease he’s carrying. She protests that she feels fine, figuring she should feel something by now; he points out that they have no idea what the incubation time is or how fast the symptoms spread, much less when he caught it. (And if he really were sick, he would have a point.) His point is, she’s going to get sick too. She looks unhappy, not because of the possibility of being sick, but because of how defeatist (to his mind, practical) he’s being. “Now, what were we talking about?” he asks, as if he didn’t just basically proclaim that he’s going to die and she’s next. “You were going to cheer me up,” she tells him. (*Dies* Oh yeah, he’s doing a terrific job of it, too, right? Seriously, though, she’s really having to struggle to keep her smile in place now!) “Oh, right!” he says — and then proceeds to stand there, saying nothing.

Keller paces; Ronon sits up, asking if she’s all right. (There’s an interesting parallel between this scene and Rodney’s asking Katie the same thing, in previous scene. I wonder if it’s intentional, and if John’s asking Teyla how she is is an intentional parallel as well ….) She admits that, like him, she has a hard time sitting still, especially when there are people who need her; she feels bad that she can’t get out there to do her job. Ronon insists that she’s not letting the people down. She protests that she’s a doctor, but she’s stuck there. “That’s right — stuck,” Ronon tells her pointedly; it’s not her fault, so she shouldn’t be blaming herself. (More evidence of how wise he can be, when he’s not wrapped up in his hatred of the Wraith ….) And then he opens up to Keller about the woman he’d loved, a healer who died during the Siege of Sateda, telling Keller of how she reminds him of her. (Omygods, I had forgotten about his girl back then being in the medical profession! No wonder he’s attracted to Keller! And is it just me, or is this the first time to anyone, as far as we’ve seen, about the love of his life, aside from that brief mention to Sheppard during “Sunday”? This is a huge development for his character — words cannot express how much I love this scene!) Keller looks a bit stunned when he says his girl was killed, saying she’s sorry. (I think that, despite her time in Atlantis, the idea of losing loved ones to war is still a foreign concept to her — she’s lived a sheltered life, and still is, in some ways.) Ronon goes on, a bit awkwardly, to say that he’d wanted his girl to leave, but she chose to stay behind and help — he feels he should have forced her to go. (Well, I guess he took Keller’s suggestion that they talk and get to know each other better to heart! By his own standards, he’s being as chatty as Rodney now! Think of how hard this must be for him! Look at that chagrinned smile! He needs to be “glomped”!) Keller echoes his words, telling him that it’s not his fault. “She chose to stay.” (And I think Keller would do the same, and that Ronon both recognises that and admires her for it.)

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John tries the door sensor again, but the door still won’t budge. He figures all they can do now is try to blast their way out, so that they can get to the control room; he tells Teyla to look for any explosives that Rodney might have left around. She starts to say that she doesn’t think Rodney would have something like that, then lets out a gasp. John eyes her warily. “Don’t tell me that you’re …” he starts (obviously having nightmarish visions of himself having to play midwife); she tells him that the baby just kicked. “Really?” he asks, coming closer; she takes his hand and puts it on her belly, letting him feel. (Whether they decide to get Teyla and John together or not, it’s so sweet to see them like this — they will always be, like John said, family, regardless of the exact nature of their relationship! John seems more happy than awkward about it, too.) John quips that the baby seems as anxious as they are to get out of there. Teyla gets a funny look on her face, like she’s ill; John’s smile is quickly wiped away by worry. She nods that she’s fine, but she doesn’t look like she’s being all that truthful; he gets back to getting them out of there.

John breaks the window; we see a thick ledge outside, which angles upward at one point. Teyla hurries over and grabs his arm, alarmed. He tells her that the control room is only four floors up; he’ll climb up and shut the beacon off. She clearly thinks he’s lost his mind, but he assures her, as he climbs out onto the ledge (and we get a sickening view of the drop ahead of him, if he should fall), that “Batman did it all the time!” (I’m the last person I would ever expect to say this, but, Sheppard, I think you need to lay off the comic books. The camera was laid on its side — Adam West was walking on a floor, not a building! Besides, wouldn’t you rather be Spider-Man in this case?) We watch him climb a bit. (There’s lots of ledges and things poking out of the architecture, but it’s totally freaking me out! I guess I haven’t totally lost my ability to suspend disbelief after all! By the way, I hear tell that Joe Flanagan likes to mountain climb as a hobby — I wonder if that’s what gave the writers the idea for the scene ….)

Radek apologises about frying the tablet; apparently he’s been doing that profusely, because Sam (exasperatedly) tells him that she’s said she’s not angry about it. After a moment, she says, conversationally, that they could really use one of his pigeons. “Oh, they’re not for eating!” he tells her. She says she knows, she just thought they could use it to get help. He furrows his brow, confused. She elaborates, talking about tying a note to its leg. Still confused, he points out that there are no windows. She starts to say she knows, but falls silent. (*Snicker* Awkwaaaard! That’s so cute!)

John continues to climb. He grabs the metal casing around a light — it breaks. He manages to keep from falling. (And I manage to keep from having a heart attack — man, is this scary to watch!) He climbs a bit more, then makes a bit of a leap to a support jutting out of the building, hanging by just his hands for a long (heart-stopping) moment before finding the strength to pull himself up. But he keeps going, and eventually makes it to the control room’s balcony. (Let me just say that, the effects of the city over his should are fantastic — absolutely believable! I really, really wish this beautiful city were a place that could really be visited ….)

We see Lorne (yay!) and a few others trying to open a door, with Chuck (yay!!) looking on. Chuck walks over towards another technician, who says that she’s managed to restore ventilation to most of the tower, but is still working on getting air up there. She continues with her status update for just a moment, when suddenly the window shatters. (Well, there’s your air!) John climbs in. He brushes off the questions, and uses a laptop to enter Rodney’s password. He breaths a sigh of relief when the beacon is turned off — and then the city’s self-destruct starts, shutting off all the computers!

Sam and Zelenka hear the alarm, becoming, well, alarmed themselves, wondering who would arm it, and how long they have.

Ronon rushes over to the door, trying to open them manually again, Keller admonishing him for efforts that they already know won’t work. He asks if there’s any C4 around. “In the infirmary?” she replies. He changes tact, asking, as he rifles through cabinets, if there’s anything explosive. She suggests the oxygen tanks. “Riiiiight!” he says, grinning. “Shoot ‘em like Sheriff Brody!” She asks how he knows a Jaws reference. “Sheppard showed it to me,” he answers, grabbing an oxygen tank. “It’s a good movie!” (I so less-than-three Ronon in this ep; he’s too, too adorable!!) He asks if she’s got a gun they can shoot the tank with. “Again, infirmary, not armoury,” she reminds him. (*Snicker*)

Lorne asks Sheppard why he would arm the self destruct. John scowls at him, saying that he didn’t. (Did the computer somehow think that he was, just because he was using McKay’s password, maybe? But don’t they need tow senior officer’s passwords to implement it? I don’t think John entered his own. Hmmm ….) The alarm suddenly stops. Chuck says the self-destruct is still going; he just managed to turn the alarm off. (Heheheh, that reminds me of that scene in the SG-1 ep “Company of Thieves”, where Vala did the same thing on their little ship when a trouble alarm went off.) The female tech explains that the city armed the self destruct on its own — she saw a “Breach of quarantine” alert on the screen before the computers went out. John realises that his coming into the room made the city think that the disease was spreading. (Fans have pointed out that the alert didn’t start when he busted out, so it seems odd that it would start because he busted in. I think it’s odd that it didn’t even start until after he entered the password — what was the delay? Well, we know the systems are a bit “wonko” from the storm anyway, so I’ll accept that as the reason for the delay.) Lorne says he thought that there wasn’t actually any disease; between John, Chuck, and the technician, we’re told that the city still thinks that there is one, and now it’s gotten out of control, so it’s blowing itself up as a final effort to contain the illness. Alas, Chuck did not see how much time they have left before the self-destruct goes. (And my, aren’t they calm — I would totally be freaking out!)

John decides that they need to shut the self-destruct off at the source, and is told that it’s in the main power room, six levels down. The jumper bay is sealed, and the corridors to the power room are blocked. He wants to climb down to it, outside, but they explain that there’s several doors between the outside wall and the room. He asks Lorne if he has any C4 — Lorne has one block. (People have asked, in the forums I frequent, why Lorne has C4 with him when he’s just in the city, rather than on a mission; they’ve also asked why he’s wearing his tac vest. It seems to me that we’ve seen the military wearing their tac vests in the halls before, though — if your on guard duty against possible invaders, wouldn’t you want to be prepared, with your ammo on-hand? And if you’re going to wear your tac vest at all, why empty it first? Of course, it could actually be, as others have suggested, that he’d just gotten back from a mission through the gate when the lockdown started.) Johns not too thrilled, but there’s nothing for it; he tells Chuck and the girl to come with them. (*Gasp* Chuck is getting out of the control room!! Eeeee!)

Katie thinks that the alarm getting turned off is a good sign: maybe the disease is cured, or the self-destruct is turned off, at least. Rodney points out dourly (and correctly) that they could have just turned the alarm off. Not feeling well, he lies down on the floor; she gives him the Rah, Rah! Don’t give up! routine the whole way from the stool to the floor. (Geez, was she a cheerleader once?) Then she find the box with the engagement ring on the floor. He seems very groggy, even slightly delirious, as he tells her that he’d intended to propose to her today. (Allergies, maybe? He is in a room full of plants, and Gaia knows I get foggy-headed when the lawn is mowed. Or maybe he’s just exhausted from all that fretting he’s been doing all day ….) Katie doesn’t exactly look thrilled.

Keller’s putting a safety visor on, saying, in utterly unamused tones, “This is not gonna work.” There’s an oxygen tank on its, side in front of her. Ronon tells her that it (whatever “it” is) is her idea; she points out that she’d said immediately after that there was “only a one in a million chance” that it would work. “Yeah, well, this is that one,” he assures her. (My gods, Keller is Rodney and Ronon is Katie!) She points out, “If I cut even a millimeter too far—” “—The tank will blow, I know. So just make sure you don’t cut too far,” he tells her, as if it were that simple. (And for him, most things are. I wonder, would his motto be “Today is a good day to die”, or “Never say die”?) He tells her to just score it, adding that if she won’t do it, he will. When she doesn’t answer, he picks up his tank and walks off, telling her she can do it. (If he’d cut off his dreads, he could use them as pom-poms ….) Gingerly, she uses a circular bone saw on the top of the tank, at the nozzle’s seam, sparks flying every time she turns it on. (And I cringe, thinking of how those sparks could create a pretty big boom if she actually cuts all the way through …. I had a slightly nightmarish dream last night, thanks to that saw and my having watched the excellent David Hewlett movies Cube and Nothing again within the last few weeks. I’ll spare you the details; suffice to say, I don’t usually get nightmares from movies or TV, so it seems very strange that I did this time, especially over something so innocuous ….)

Teyla, worried about John, steps out onto the ledge, looking skyward. (And fans everywhere, my mother and I included, start yelling at her that she better not dare try to climb, and that she better get her butt back indoors this instant, young lady!) She goes back inside. (Damn, Binder, what a fake-out! You had her do that just t scare the crap out of us! Of course, I feel stupid for falling for it …)

Keller tells Ronon she’s done — rather, she’s cut as far as she’s willing to. He takes the scored tank over to a bed where he has the second tank propped up against a scanner. They take shelter past a doorway into the next room. He asks if she’s ready; she says no. He smiles, then uses a remote device to make the scanner move to do its thing. The propped-up tank falls against the scored one, knocking the nozzle off. Oxygen bursting out of it, it flied across the room, hitting the door — then bounces off of it, ricocheting back the other way. The door hasn’t budged, but the room is trashed. “It’s a lot stronger than a shark, Ronon remarks. (Quack Anime Oxygen Tank Experiment … FAILED! Sorry, I know Mallozzi’s an Excel Saga fan — if you have no idea what I’m talking about, just never mind …. It looks like Ronon’s picked up some science, even if it didn’t quite work — good use of basic mechanics! Also, Ronon’s line strikes me as doubly funny, since Jason Momoa’s family’s totem animal is the Shark — it’s like he’s saying the door is stronger than him.)

John uses a bit of the C4 on a door. Sam and Zelenka hear it, and start pounding on their own door. John and his companions hear them; with Lorne’s help, and Sam and Zelenka’s on the other side, they manage to get the door open. Sam and Zelenka are gasping for air. John asks if Sam is all right; she says she is, Zelenka chiming in that he is too (with a bit of Thanks for asking! to his tone.) John tells them that there’s no outbreak. Sam says she knows, asking if Rodney was the one who disabled the self-destruct; John says it’s not disabled, and that he hasn’t heard from Rodney. (I love the way he says Rodney’s name there — he almost sounds like he’s pouting …. And if Zelenka had a thought bubble over his head, I think it would say, “We’re doomed!”) They tell Sam that the computers are all down, and that they were on their way to the main power room. John adds that they just used the last of the C4. “You mean we’re stuck here,” Zelenka says with a bit of a whimper. “Looks like,” John says somewhat irritably. Sam asks how much time is left on the self-destruct, and is told that they don’t know.

Katie is smiling now as she looks on the ring thoughtfully. She asks him why he doesn’t ask her. “What, now?” he whines. “Don’t you want to hear my answer?” she asks, still smiling. (Give the guy a break, Katie! Psychosomatic symptoms or not, he looks and feels like death warmed up and isn’t in a very good mood, under the circumstances! Don’t you want him to be feeling well, so that it’s a happy memory?? Sheesh, it looks like she’s as oblivious to the feelings of others as he is!) He says it doesn’t matter anymore. Wounded, she asks how he can say that. “Oh, maybe because we’re moments away from our deaths?” he asks petulantly. “Don’t talk like that!” she admonishes, insisting that there’s still a chance. (Well, okay, this time she’s right. And wow, isn’t it interesting to see her with a bit of spine to her after all?) He tells her to please stop already, figuring that, if no one’s come to rescue them yet, no one’s going to period. (People have complained about Rodney, after coming so far and growing so much, being so defeatist here. And I can see their point, yes, but Rodney being like this isn’t so unbelievable for me, even with his character growth. This was supposed to be a big day for him — a day he wasn’t feeling all that confident about to begin with, mind — but it was ruined by a situation that he’s been completely unable to affect in any way. He can’t even attempt to fix it. His trust, in this kind of crisis, is in his own abilities with computers — and now the thing he trusts most is unavailable to him! Of course he’s going to feel like there’s no hope when his destiny is out of his hands, especially when he feels like he’s just massively failed the woman he was going to ask to marry him, to boot! Not to mention that he was running on empty for quite a while — the guy’s probably all burnt out, now that the Replicator crisis is over!) Katie shakes her head a little, looking skyward. (Wow. She’s almost rolling her eyes at him! It seems she’s finally realizing that he’s not who she painted him to be in her head, and is unhappy with the realisation. And if she wouldn’t want to be married to him when he’s like this, then there likely won’t ever be a right time, so she should just move on. I feel sorry for her, really — that’s never an easy realisation to come too, that you basically wasted a lot of time and emotional investment in a relationship that could never ultimately work out. Still, like I said before, at least he got some growth out of the relationship, learning to be aware of other’s needs, even if he’s not always successful at implementing that knowledge. He’s a step closer to being able to have a relationship with someone he’d be more suitably matched with.)

After Sam and Lorne fail at opening a door, John points to a vent and asks if it leads to the main power room. Zelenka says that it does, but Sam points out that the ventilation system is closed off. The female tech tells her that they managed to get it back up before the computers went out. John pries the cover off and takes a look with Lorne’s small flashlight, announcing that it’s clear, but he’s too big to fit. Sam starts to say that she’ll go, but Zelenka says he will. (I’m a little skeptical at first — he’s shorter, but I wouldn’t have thought his shoulders were narrower. But as he gets into it, it seems he is!)

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Ronon tells Keller that he was wrong about her — he’d thought, when he’d first met her, that she was weak and didn’t belong. (Funny, I’ve seen a number of fans say that, too. But she’s Chief Medical Officer; I defy anyone to point out a time when she didn’t do well at her job. She wasn’t intended to be in situations like she ended up in with Teyla, and she wasn’t any more afraid than Carson has ever been.) She tells Ronon that not belonging is the story of her life; she skipped three grades, graduated at 15, got her Bachelors before she was old enough to vote, and basically missed out on a lot, like parties and dances. (And that explains how someone so young got into her position. Also, I wonder if Rodney skipped grades too, or just went to a school for geniuses. And I wonder at the fact that so many people say they can’t connect with/don’t feel like they know Keller. I can connect with being afraid, and not fitting in socially, and we know more about her personal history than Carson’s!) Ronon tells her that she really showed herself, blowing up the tank. (Well, he’s the one who blew it up, but yeah, her scoring it when it could have blown up was pretty damn brave! True bravery is knowing the danger, being afraid, and yet doing it anyway.) She points out that it didn’t work; he says it doesn’t matter.

Radek crawls through the vents, muttering in Czech. (Joe Mallozzi said David Nykl was free to make up his own dialogue there. I popped over to Gateworld, to look at the transcript, because they typically have the translations of his stuff, and get this: Radek berates himself at one point, saying, in English, “I’ll have the power off in no time.” Then, in Czech, “Jesus, that’s unbelievable. I’m such a moron. She’ll think I’m a total idiot.” Talking about Sam, of course. Heee! Also, I was getting pretty claustrophobic watching him; it was as bad for me as watching John climbing!) Radek reaches a six-way intersection and ends up having to go head-first, down into a shaft. (I’m not sure anyone could pay me enough to do that!)

Ronon shifts closer to Keller, who then leans against him. (*Squee!* A nice contrast to—)

Rodney is still laying on the floor, Katie sitting on a stool, a bit of a ways off. He’s oblivious, sleeping maybe, and she’s unhappy.

“Come on, Radek,” John urges, as if in prayer. “He’ll make it,” Sam says confidently; Lorne and John give her a skeptical glance.

Ronon sniffs Keller’s hair. She looks up at him.

Radek falls into the main power room and, picking himself up, hurries over to a wall of switches, and starts flipping them.

Ronon and Keller lean in to kiss. (I’m on squee overload!) The power goes out just before their lips can touch, startling them both.

Radek flips more switches, shutting down the power area by area, then throws them back on. Doors fly open everywhere.

Rodney scrambles to his feet, expressing joyous disbelief. He throws his arms around Katie, saying that they’re not going to die. They’re both smiling when they pull apart — until Rodney notices the box in her hand (probably remembering what he’s said earlier about it not mattering). She looks at it too, frowning, and suddenly the little ring and what it represents — not his love, but his pessimism — is a mammoth chasm between them. The look on his face says he knows that he’s screwed up royally; the look on hers says she’s just remembered that things aren’t all sunshine and lollipops between them, and knows that they probably never will be again. The dream is spoilt for both of them.

In the mess hall, John, Teyla, Ronon, and Zelenka talk about his heroic deed, John gently teasing Radek. Ronon starts to laughingly tell them about how Rodney thought he was really sick. (Ronon was probably still there when McKay came to the infirmary — maybe he and Keller were making out and Rodney interrupted them, ‘ey?) He spots Keller coming and abruptly cuts his story short, moving his legs off of the chair next to him. She asks if she can join them; Sheppard tells her, “Sure!” She flashes Ronon a smile. He shifts, noticing John, and scowls. John raises a brow and does a little gesture with his head to the side. (I thought he was doing it to Ronon at first, but now I think he was doing it to Keller, since she’s sitting right across from him, silently asking her if something happened with the Satedan.) “What?” Ronon snaps. (Is he thinking John is making eyes at his girl, or that Sheppard is teasing him?) Sam comes up to their table, telling them (and us) that it’s been a few hours, and it doesn’t look like anyone noticed their alert beacon. She also thanks Zelenka, laying a hand on his shoulder; he beams. “McKay would love this,” John says. (Heeeee, he’s totally got Rodney on the brain! *Grin* But … Rodney would love what? Love seeing Radek get praised? Love getting the praise himself? Did I miss something?)

Rodney goes back to the botany lab, calling out for Katie. She comes out of the back, wheeling the cart with his cactus and a number of other plants on it, keeping it between them like a barrier, much like the ring box. She’s not unfriendly when she greet him, but she’s definitely cooler towards him than ever before. She notes that he’s feeling better (and maybe there’s just a hint of You were never really sick snark to her tone). He mumbles that it was probably just an allergy thing, saying he’s fine. She asks if it was true that there was never an outbreak; he says no (when he should have said yes, says my inner grammar nut), explaining that it was an atmospheric disturbance that cause it all and adding that they made some adjustments so such a thing wouldn’t happen again. She says, questioningly (and maybe a touch pointedly) that someone said Zelenka shut off the self-destruct. “Technically, yes, but it was more of a group effort,” he hedges. (Why? She knows he himself had nothing to do with it — is he worried that she might be interested in Zelenka?)

He launches into the reason he came, saying, hesitantly, how he’s come to realise over the time that he’s been with her, that he has shortcomings, but now he’s also starting to understand that being aware if one’s shortcomings is just a small step on the way to overcoming them, that you need to do something about them. (And if he gets nothing else out of their relationship, hopefully he’ll hold on to that lesson!) She seems a bit uncomfortable up until that point, like she wishes he would just leave; then she smiles understandingly (if not exactly happily), saying that she knows it’s hard to do. He goes on to say that, though he’d planned on proposing to her earlier, after what’s happened, he thinks he’s rushing things, that he’s just not ready. (He’s so earnest and soft-spoken here, the nervousness finally gone too! And he’s being very wise. I love it! I also wish someone were recording the scene via security cameras or something, so that they could show Jeannie how her brother has made himself — and his girlfriend — miserable by following her advice!) Stoic, Katie tells him that she knows, adding that she isn’t either. (I get the impression that she’s really struggling, that half of her is as understanding as she claims to be, but it’s hiding a lot of anger, too. Bravo, Brenda James!) “Oh! Okay … that’s good,” Rodney says, sounding surprised and disappointed, like he was half-hoping she would be as optimistic and gung-ho as she was earlier, and tell him it’ll all be okay. It’s sinking in now, that something’s gone horribly wrong between them.

As if in a last-ditch effort to hold on, he tells her, almost pleadingly, that his feelings haven’t changed or diminished. “No!” she says a little too abruptly, in that way people say that they agree when they don’t actually. She’s frowning slightly (and again, it feels like she wants him to just go already, and she’s just being polite). He tells her that, if they got married now, he’d just make her miserable, and she’s too good for that. (It sounds like the It’s not you, it’s me speech, the one people don’t actually mean, but he sounds a hundred percent sincere — he really does believe he’s not ready, and that she deserves better, but is also holding on to hope that she’ll give him the chance to do better.) She tells him not to be so hard on himself (and seems to mean it). “Easier said than done,” he says ruefully. After a long, painful pause, he says, trying to sound like it’s just an ordinary day, “Rain-check on lunch?” “Absolutely!” she tells him. (And for a moment, I actually think maybe she’s willing to give him a chance.) As he starts to leave, she calls out to him. He turns. After a pregnant pause … “Bye,” she says sadly. “Bye,” he says with an awkward wave and a self-conscious smile, turning back to the door. When he reaches the doorway, he pauses, face falling. He realises that wasn’t a See you later, that was Goodbye; it’s over. Stricken, he turns back to her. She just stares back, sadly. The doors close. (*Shiver* How wonderfully metaphorical!) Rodney turns slowly and walks away, looking defeated.

Despite my not liking them together, that was a heartbreaking ending! (I need a hankie!) Kudos to Binder for making me sad about an ending I wanted, and for making me unable to actually hate Katie for it! I rather imagined that something like this would happen some day, that Rodney and Katie would be stuck in a crisis and she would be mortified when he treats her like he treats others. Well, except that rumours had me thinking she would die in this ep, but yeah, without her dying, this was the likely way for their relationship to culminate. Better now than after they’d gotten married, huh? Interesting how this episode parallels “Tabula Rasa”, with Rodney once again being with Katie (and Ronon spending time with Keller). Last time, there was a severe illness, and things ended well with Katie and Rodney; this time, no illness, and a disastrous end. (Well, at least Ronon and Keller made progress.)

See you next week, for “Harmony”. John and Rodney on a mission, just the two of them! (And, well, the little girl that they’re escorting.) Still, Mallozzi promises poignant moments between them! Yay!

PS ~ The first entry in this forum thread at Gateworld, a tongue-in-cheek look at the ridiculousness of fandom expectations, is a must-read for all fans! (Thanks, PG-15, for pointing us to it over at Mallozzi’s blog!)

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Wolfen Moondaughter is on the editorial board for the comics industry webzine Sequential Tart for which she has written since late 2001. She’s also written for Newtype USA, contributed to Andy Mangel’s book Animation on DVD, self-published a novel (Memory of the Brightwing). Writing as “Anastasia Witchhazel”, her fantasy short story, “Chase”, is the title story in a homoerotic anthology from Wapshott Press. She’s an artist, too, having done spot illustrations for Dragonlance, a few panels for Barb Lien-Cooper’s webcomic series Gun Street Girl, and private commissions. In her spare time, she’s a fanficcer/fanartist. See more of her work at her site, Wolfen’s Webworld.