�Hey, Rodney. I�m going into town to pick up some things. Wanna come along?� John asked, leaning against the counter just inside Rodney�s temporary laboratory.
John knew that such a simple invitation wouldn�t work, but, with Rodney, John had learned, it was easiest to deal with him in a certain way. Starting off easy and working his way up to a direct order�though John doubted it would get that far, considering his secret weapon�was always much more effective with Rodney than simply ordering him to do something. The civilian scientist often balked at the fact that he was being ordered around, which was why it was easier to use what he and Elizabeth had termed the �sliding increments of authority�.
�I�m busy,� Rodney said, not looking up from the device he was working on. John had heard about Sam�s little outburst with the Canadian before they left for P9T-934 about the Ancient plunger�John�s internal cheer of vindication when he found out that he had been right about the device had, wisely, remained entirely internal�and since then Rodney had become even more reclusive than usual, which was, honestly, beginning to worry John.
�I get that,� John nodded. �But you haven�t been out of the Mountain since we got here. Whatever you�re working on will keep for a few hours.�
�I highly doubt that. This is very important work, Sheppard,� Rodney said.
�I�m sure it is,� John said, placating the irritable genius. �Fine, I�ll leave you to your very important work,� he said, making a move to leave. He stopped, turning around again to face his teammmate. �You wouldn�t happen to know the way to the Memorial Park area, would you? It�s been a while since I�ve been in the States, let alone Colorado Springs, and I promised Samantha I�d stop by her house, check on things for her, while she�s off-world.�
The ploy worked, just like John knew it would, and Rodney finally looked up from his project. �Memorial Park? Yeah, I think I know where that is,� the Canadian said. John was fairly sure Rodney had no clue where Memorial Park was, let alone how to get there from Cheyenne Mountain, but, fortunately, John knew Colorado Springs about as well as he knew Atlantis�the unexplored parts of the lost city being the parts of Colorado Springs that had changed since he had graduated from the Academy.
�So, you coming?� John asked.
Rodney looked down at himself, then at his watch, then back down at himself. �I�ve been working for thirty hours or so,� he said.
�Go take a shower. I�ll be in the Commissary when you�re ready to go,� John said, pleased with how easy it had been to get Rodney out of the lab.
Nodding, Rodney backed up his data before shutting his computer down and leaving the lab. Once John was sure that Rodney was, in fact, heading for the locker rooms he headed for the Commissary to wait for Rodney to be ready to leave.
Though John knew he should be feeling at least a little guilty about using Rodney�s hopeless crush on Sam to get some company on his shopping trip, he didn�t let himself register any guilt-related feelings. He would save those for the next time he saw Sam.
�Major, a subspace message just came in,� Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman said as he fell in step beside John.
�From the Daedalus?� John asked, hoping that he had hid the fact that the short �Gate technician had scared him, appearing out of nowhere the way that he had�the way that John noticed he had a tendency to do whenever he was away from the Control Room.
�Yes, sir,� Walter said. �Colonel Caldwell reported that the hyperdrive is down; they�re moving on sublight engines at the moment.�
John sighed. �But they made it though the dead space between the galaxies, right?�
�Not quite, sir. Colonel Caldwell�s message was relayed through the span to the Delta Site, our closest outpost to the edge of the Milky Way.�
�So� the message is a little dated,� John surmised.
�Only by a few hours, Major.�