Quarantine

"Quarantine" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season of Stargate Atlantis.

Synopsis
A quarantine lockdown leaves everyone in Atlantis trapped, threatening several relationships in the progress. However, some of the team learns that the quarantine lockdown might be nothing more than a false alarm, but it does not matter, as the entire city could be threatened.

Plot
It is a normal day in the city of Atlantis, with Expedition members performing their usual duties. In the lab, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard plans to play a computer game of golf with Doctor Rodney McKay. However, he plans to have lunch with Katie Brown, but with a surprise. He brought a diamond ring from Earth, and plans to marry Katie, since they saw each other for around two years. Sheppard promises to get him a beer after this to congratulate. McKay then leaves and in the way, passes Teyla Emmagan, now visibly pregnant, who comes to see Sheppard. Meanwhile, Doctor Jennifer Keller sees Ronon Dex, who has yet again injured himself in a sparring session. Also, Colonel Samantha Carter joins Doctor Radek Zelenka in the transporter to the main tower. McKay joins Katie in the botany lab to get some lunch. A nervous McKay then reaches down to get the ring. However, as he is about to, an alarm sounds and the door behind them closes. He is not the only one, the entire city has mysteriously locked down.

Sheppard, Keller and Carter separately calls McKay for help in what is going on, but there are no answers. Zelenka notices that communications are down. Meanwhile, McKay explains to Katie that they are in a quarantine lockdown. He tweaked the system after the Kirsen fever, since the quarantine had not took affect then. Now that he knows what is going on, he needs access to a computer to stop it. However, Katie says he can't since she left the computer and radio in another room, that can't be reached because of the lockdown. In the infirmary, Keller has Ronon help her ready the infirmary, since she knows that this is also a quarantine.

John and Teyla discover that they are in a "category five" lockdown, the highest level, meaning absolutely everything is out; ventilation, communications, long range sensors, as well as all primary and secondary systems. Teyla then tells John that she originally came to discuss the future of her position in the team, due to the child. If the rest of the Athosians aren't found, then she may have to pull back, since she doesn't want her son to grow up without a mother. Sheppard then assures her that if something does happen, then Atlantis would be the son's family. Meanwhile, Carter and Zelenka, who are also trapped figure out the quarantine status. Carter starts to doubt if there is a disease outbreak, since everything is down. Their suspicions turn out to be correct, as there was an intense ionospheric storm the previous night which spiked Atlantis' power, which ultimately caused the city to lock down. They wonder why McKay hasn't figured out the problem yet, not knowing he has no access to a computer.

In the botany lab, Katie and McKay begin to argue about what to do next. Afterwards, McKay decides to cheer her up, but couldn't think of anything, until he notices the Rodneyana villosa, which has fully grown. McKay then starts to feel ill, believing the disease has affected him, not knowing there is no outbreak, and is likely just allergic to some of the shrubbery and plants.

Ronon, who doesn't like sitting around decides to force the door open, tearing up his stitches in the process, but the door still won't budge. Keller frustratingly restitches his wound. They decide to both talk to pass the time. However, she can't find anything to speak to him about. Soon, Keller starts to admit that she is not good at sitting and waiting either, since nothing has happened for a while. Ronon starts to talk about how she reminds him of Melena, his former lover who was killed on Sateda during a Wraith attack several years ago, trying to save her people. Keller tells him that there was nothing he could've done to make her come with him, if she wanted to stay and help her people.

Meanwhile, Sheppard feels unnerved that "in the movies", the pregnant woman always goes into labour, despite Teyla saying that the baby is months away. Sheppard then plans to hack into McKay's systems, and does so by typing his password, which Rodney once told him, because he never thought John would remember it. He types McKay's password, which happens to be 16431879196842 (a combination of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein and McKay's birth years, and 42, the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything). There, he discovers that the city has activated a distress signal since the lockdown, which is leaving their position vulnerable. He still can't go to the control room. Teyla's baby then starts kicking. Sheppard plans to blow the door open, but can't find any explosives. With no other option, Sheppard breaks open a window, and plans to climb up to the control room, which is only four levels up. He starts to climb up the central tower.

Carter and Zelenka are starting to get a little hot, since the ventilation is down, no cool air is coming in. They plan to use the computer to get the transporter door open. However, in the process, a power surge knocks Radek back. The surge also burnt out the RAM, meaning they are now stuck for good. Sheppard continues to climb up Atlantis, and almost falls on one occasion. However, he is able to make it up to the control room balcony and then breaks himself into the control room. There they find a group of technicians frantically working on restoring the ventilation, which they restored on the central tower, and tries to stop the distress call, which is protected by McKay's password. Sheppard is able to get into McKay's system and shuts down the signal. However, there is another problem, since Sheppard broke into the control room, this means that there is a breach in quarantine, which causes all the computers to shut down and the self destruct sequence activates.

After hearing the destruct sequence, Ronon tries to open the door again, without any success. Since he doesn't have his weapon with him to blow the door open, he plans to find explosives, despite the fact that it is an infirmary, not armory. He then has an idea when Keller mentions the oxygen tanks. He plans to use an oxygen tank and shoot it to blow a hole into the door, similar to how Sheriff Brody stopped the shark in the movie "Jaws". However, since there are no guns in the infirmary, he has Keller score some marks into the neck of the tank with medical machinery. Meanwhile, Chuck is able to shut down the alarm, but not the self destruct sequence. The only way to stop it is to go down six levels, enter the power room and shut down everything to reboot the systems. With half a dozen doors to get through, they plan to blow through them. However, Major Evan Lorne only has one block of C-4. A team of Lorne, Sheppard, Chuck, and Amelia Banks starts to climb down Atlantis.

McKay is now lying on the ground in the botany lab, and tells Katie that the technicians may have only muted the alarm. There, Katie notices the ring McKay is carrying, and McKay admits that he came to her today to propose to her, but now that he thinks he is dying, says there is not much point in doing so, which upsets Katie a little. In the infirmary, Keller is done marking the oxygen tank. Ronon sets up a contraption, by using a few hospital beds, a scanner and another oxygen tank. From a distance, the two take cover behind a wall, where Ronon then activates the scanner, where the second tank falls onto the end of the other tank, where it acts as a missile, and then bounces off the door, before flying past Keller and Ronon. When they check if the door opened or not, all they saw was the a lot of mess, and the door hasn't opened.

Sheppard and the team are now inside the city, and uses the last of their C-4 to blow a door open. There, Carter and Zelenka hears the noise and shout for help. Sheppard hears them, and he and Lorne help open the transporter door, since they aren't as strong as the other doors. There, the two are briefed on the situation. With no more C-4, they see an air vent, which leads to the power room. Zelenka volunteers, since he is small enough to fit. The team helps him up, and he crawls though the vents.

In the botany lab, McKay is still lying on the floor, with Katie not talking. In the infirmary, Ronon admits to Keller that when she first arrived, he thought she was weak, but has a change of heart since the attempt on scoring the oxygen tank. Keller tells Ronon that there was never a part in her life where she belonged, since she was focused on education more than her personal life when she was younger.

Zelenka falls into the power room, stands up and limps to the control switches and turns them all off. Ronon and Keller are about to kiss, when the power shuts down. When it reboots, the entire city has now become fully operational again, with the lockdown overwritten, and the self destruct sequence deactivates. This distracts Keller and Ronon from their very near kiss. Meanwhile, McKay is relieved that the doors have opened again, but looks awkwardly at Katie, who is holding the ring.

In the mess hall, the whole team congratulates Radek on his work in shutting down the lockdown, and all owe him a debt of gratitude. Carter also informs them that for 24 hours now, there has been no sign of any ships, Wraith, or otherwise that has detected the signal, and are all in the clear. Ronon tells them that he heard McKay thought there was an actual quarantine, since he was sick, but stops talking when Keller arrives. Sheppard and Teyla then tease Ronon about a possible relationship between him and Keller.

Meanwhile, McKay returns to Katie in the botany lab and admits that after the lock down experience, he has realized that he has "shortcomings", like McKay, and says he isn't ready for marriage and doesn't want to risk ruining her life until he's worked out his own personal problems. Katie also admits that she's not quite ready for marriage either, and both she and McKay agree to put off the proposal for a future date, and having a raincheck on lunch. As Rodney heads to the door, Katie said "bye" with a very sad look on her face, before the door closes.

Notable quotes
McKay: Hey, it doesn't take much for a good situation to turn ugly. One minute you're happily riding your bicycle back from a senior Lagrangian mechanics mid-terms, you know, the warm breeze in your face. Next thing you know, you're flying through the air because you just hit a pothole.

Brown: Oh, Rodney! Did that happen to you?

Teyla: McKay told you his password?

Sheppard: He didn't think I'd remember it. (types it down) 16431879196842. See? Doesn't take a genius.

Teyla: It doesn't?

Sheppard: 1643 is the year Isaac Newton was born, 1879, Einstein, and 1968...

Teyla: The year Rodney was born.

Sheppard: Never underestimate the size of that man's ego.

Teyla: Wait, weren't there other numbers?

Sheppard: Forty two.

Teyla: What is that?

Sheppard: It's the Ultimate Answer to the great question of life, the universe and everything. (Teyla has a blank look on her face)

Teyla: John, what are you doing?.

Sheppard: The control tower is only four floors above us. All I have to do is climb up and I'm in.

Teyla: Climb the tower? Is that even possible?

Sheppard: Sure... Batman did that all the time.

Background notes

 * McKay's password is revealed to be 16431879196842. Broken down they are;
 * 1643; the birth year of Isaac Newton
 * 1879; the birth year of Albert Einstein
 * 1968; the birth year of Rodney McKay
 * 42; the ultimate answer to life, the Universe and everything

Production

 * Sharon Taylor, who played a technician in the episode, previously played an Asuran technician.