Read Online STARGATE UNIVERSE: Air by James Swallow - Free Book Online
Authors: James Swallow
Tags: Science-Fiction
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“Of course.” He stepped back from the control console and beckoned to Wallace as he walked away. “Eli, we’d better go over your equations again. Make sure that nothing was missed.”
Eli’s hand went to his chest, pointing at himself. “You’re not seriously putting this on me?”
Scott looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
“Not my fault,” insisted Eli, shaking his head.
CHAPTER THREE
Rush felt the problem like an ache behind his eyes.
He stood before the whiteboard and the scrawl of equation after equation, scanning the trains of numbers and mathematical symbols for what had to be the thousandth time, searching for the place where the disconnect was hiding.
How many times have I been here? The question burned in him. There had been so many close calls, so many moments when he had been absolutely certain that the key to it all was just within his grasp. Ever since the beginning, since the day he’d discovered the theorem of the ninth chevron and dared to guess at its purpose, Nicholas Rush had been consumed by the hunt for the proof that would unlock it. But it always stayed one step away. Close enough that he could sense the shape of it, lurking just outside his comprehension, but always out of reach. It drove him on like a hand at his back, pushing him and pushing him. He stared at the numbers and saw them like an enemy he could not defeat, and Rush reached up and massaged the bridge of his nose, taking a long breath.
It was galling enough that he hadn’t been able to solve the proof, not after years of research, first at Area 51 and then out here at Icarus. It dented his pride to admit that he’d been forced to accept the proposal of the blind test hidden in the Prometheus game. He’d actually laughed when that suggestion had been made — General O’Neill had been right, with all the collected intellects working on the Stargate program, the fact that none of them could solve the formulae was, well, embarrassing . It was a radical way of trawling for an outsider’s viewpoint, for a fresh take on the problem, but Rush had never believed that the game would net a solution, not in a million years.
But you didn’t count on Eli Wallace, did you Nick? The voice in his head, warm and lightly mocking, was that of his wife. A slacker wunderkind solves your puzzle and suddenly everything is turned upside down.
Rush had taken back every reservation he’d ever had about the secret test when Eli’s solution had been brought to him, stamping down the slight sting of resentment with the weight of elation at finding the final piece of the puzzle. After all, the majority of the work had been his, and while Wallace clearly had some level of raw, untrained insight, this was still Nicholas Rush’s project. Still his destiny to fulfill.
Except it wasn’t working. It all looked right, but the numbers were mocking him. After everything that had happened, the puzzle was still missing a final piece.
“There has to be an error in here.” He glanced over his shoulder, and saw Eli scanning the equations, his lip curled.
“Seriously, who uses a whiteboard any more?” Eli nodded at one of the monitors nearby. “You have computers everywhere here.”
“It helps me to think,” Rush muttered. He tapped a subset of figures with the marker in his hand. “Power flow was within the target range. Why wouldn’t the chevron lock? Why wouldn’t the address connect?” Not for the first time, Rush briefly entertained the thought that the code they were dialing might be a dead end. In all the countless millennia since the Ancients had traveled the stars, there was nothing to say that the location they were trying to reach even existed anymore. He shook his head slightly. No . The feedback through the gate would have given a null reading, and they hadn’t seen anything to indicate that.
“Wrong address?” offered Eli.
Rush shot him a look. “There is only one. Rodney McKay and his people found it in the
Eli’s hand went to his chest, pointing at himself. “You’re not seriously putting this on me?”
Scott looked at him and raised an eyebrow.
“Not my fault,” insisted Eli, shaking his head.
CHAPTER THREE
Rush felt the problem like an ache behind his eyes.
He stood before the whiteboard and the scrawl of equation after equation, scanning the trains of numbers and mathematical symbols for what had to be the thousandth time, searching for the place where the disconnect was hiding.
How many times have I been here? The question burned in him. There had been so many close calls, so many moments when he had been absolutely certain that the key to it all was just within his grasp. Ever since the beginning, since the day he’d discovered the theorem of the ninth chevron and dared to guess at its purpose, Nicholas Rush had been consumed by the hunt for the proof that would unlock it. But it always stayed one step away. Close enough that he could sense the shape of it, lurking just outside his comprehension, but always out of reach. It drove him on like a hand at his back, pushing him and pushing him. He stared at the numbers and saw them like an enemy he could not defeat, and Rush reached up and massaged the bridge of his nose, taking a long breath.
It was galling enough that he hadn’t been able to solve the proof, not after years of research, first at Area 51 and then out here at Icarus. It dented his pride to admit that he’d been forced to accept the proposal of the blind test hidden in the Prometheus game. He’d actually laughed when that suggestion had been made — General O’Neill had been right, with all the collected intellects working on the Stargate program, the fact that none of them could solve the formulae was, well, embarrassing . It was a radical way of trawling for an outsider’s viewpoint, for a fresh take on the problem, but Rush had never believed that the game would net a solution, not in a million years.
But you didn’t count on Eli Wallace, did you Nick? The voice in his head, warm and lightly mocking, was that of his wife. A slacker wunderkind solves your puzzle and suddenly everything is turned upside down.
Rush had taken back every reservation he’d ever had about the secret test when Eli’s solution had been brought to him, stamping down the slight sting of resentment with the weight of elation at finding the final piece of the puzzle. After all, the majority of the work had been his, and while Wallace clearly had some level of raw, untrained insight, this was still Nicholas Rush’s project. Still his destiny to fulfill.
Except it wasn’t working. It all looked right, but the numbers were mocking him. After everything that had happened, the puzzle was still missing a final piece.
“There has to be an error in here.” He glanced over his shoulder, and saw Eli scanning the equations, his lip curled.
“Seriously, who uses a whiteboard any more?” Eli nodded at one of the monitors nearby. “You have computers everywhere here.”
“It helps me to think,” Rush muttered. He tapped a subset of figures with the marker in his hand. “Power flow was within the target range. Why wouldn’t the chevron lock? Why wouldn’t the address connect?” Not for the first time, Rush briefly entertained the thought that the code they were dialing might be a dead end. In all the countless millennia since the Ancients had traveled the stars, there was nothing to say that the location they were trying to reach even existed anymore. He shook his head slightly. No . The feedback through the gate would have given a null reading, and they hadn’t seen anything to indicate that.
“Wrong address?” offered Eli.
Rush shot him a look. “There is only one. Rodney McKay and his people found it in the
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