"We got C4, I say we wait till we get back and blow the drive," Ronon proposed.
John began to nod, but Rodney told them, "That could work, or it could tear a hole in the space-time continuum, not only killing us but destroying the entire solar system!"
"Well, we'd better think of something fast," John said.
One by one, they all turned to Rodney, whose eyes grew wide as he realized that they were expecting him to come up with a solution.
"Okay," he closed his eyes against their expectant faces, "we, um, we need to get off the ship. I mean, there's no way to shut down the alternate universe drive without – and the Jumpers are gone, we can't – there's no way to – "
"Rodney, focus," John and Teyla spoke simultaneously.
He opened his eyes and glared miserably at them. "I'm trying, it's hard to think with my arm all shot up!" Rodney passed a shaking hand over his sweaty face. "Off the ship, how do we get off the ship without – EVA! The EVA suits, we can use the EVA suits!"
John frowned. "That gets us off the Daedalus, but how do we get back to Atlantis?"
"We'll just have to hope they notice us. Radek will be checking everything the long-rage sensors can pick up, and they'll probably send out a Jumper to investigate." Rodney sighed heavily. "Look, we don't have time to argue and there aren't any other options. This is it. This is all I've got."
"I guess we're going for a space walk, then," John told them, getting to his feet.
"Wait – Rodney, your arm," Teyla reminded them. "Let me bandage it, at least."
He shrank back involuntarily as she reached out to him, then made himself stand still as she pulled back the tatters of his sleeve. She hissed through her teeth as she examined his shoulder.
"I can't really feel it, the whole arm's gone kind of numb," he told her, unable to look at the damage to his flesh. "Is it – bad?" His voice broke on the last word.
Her warm fingers on his cheek made him turn his head to meet her calm gaze. "The wound is not deep and has been cauterized. I think you will have a scar, but isn't that…a 'chick magnet'?"
Ronon grinned at him over Teyla's shoulder. "Yeah, McKay, you can use all the help you can get."
"You think you're so funny," Rodney shot back, but his mouth curved up slightly on one side.
The trip to the nearest EVA suit storage was cautious but swift, and they didn't encounter any more of the aliens. At one point, they had to backtrack and find an alternate route to bypass a section of the ship that had depressurized, and by the time they reached their destination, Rodney was clearly having a hard time keeping up.
"Hurry, we don't have much time left. And could I get some help, here?" Rodney panted, stumbling through the doorway.
John grabbed the nearest suit and undid the fastenings, silently thanking, once again, whoever had designed EVA suits that you could get into quickly and without assistance. The scientist was sweating profusely and nearly lost his balance when he lifted a leg to step into the suit. Ronon, halfway into his own suit, reached out and steadied him. When they tried to put his injured arm into the sleeve, he expected to hear a yelp followed by a tirade, but the only sound was a pained grunt before Rodney went limp and slumped into John's startled grasp.
"Shit," John muttered, struggling to support the sudden burden. "Ronon, give me a hand, here."
He felt Rodney's weight lifted away from him as Ronon wrapped a long arm around Rodney's chest and pulled him away. John put his fingers to Rodney's collar to check his pulse. His skin was clammy to the touch, but his heart beat strongly and he continued to breathe normally, so John and Ronon wrestled him the rest of the way into the suit.
The ship was beginning to shake with the vibrations from the impending dimensional jump by the time they stepped into the airlock, Ronon dragging Rodney awkwardly through the door. They waited, impatient and worried, for the air to cycle out.
"Welcome back, sir," were the first words out of Major Lorne's mouth when the door separating the cockpit from the rear of the Puddlejumper opened.
"Good to be back, Major," John replied. "Radio Atlantis and tell them to have a medical team waiting in the Jumper bay. McKay got shot with some kind of energy weapon."
Zelenka was already out of his seat and helping Teyla remove her helmet, but at John's words, he moved past her to where Ronon was carefully lowering Rodney to the floor. By the time John had his own gloves and helmet off, Radek had Rodney's helmet off.
The scientist blinked dazedly up at the worried faces peering down at him. "Am I dying?"
Ronon snorted, John grinned, and Teyla answered gently, "No, Rodney, I do not think so."
"Oh…good…" His eyes closed, but opened a moment later. "Did we get off the Daedalus?" he asked.
"Yep," John answered. "Lorne and Zelenka got here just in time to pick us up. You got us back home." John started unfastening Rodney's bulky EVA suit. "You did good, buddy."
"Yeah, good job, McKay," Ronon added.
Teyla smiled down at him and said, "Thank you, Rodney."
Radek glanced around at the team and muttered, "Šťastnej parchant."
fin
Author's note: Thanks go to Darian for the Czech translation: "šťastnej parchant" means "lucky bastard".
Thanks to Patricia for the title.