Tegan Chronicles 7
Dying Tomorrow 1
"SG1 to the briefing room, SG1 to the briefing room." The klaxons blared and Tegan couldn't help but wonder what had gone wrong now.
"As you know Dr. Fraiser went off world with SG10 to assess a possible contagion on P8X-572. The disease was found to be only contagious among the people of the planet." General Hammond jumped right to the point. "When they were returning to the Stargate, Dr. Fraiser lost her footing and fell into a crevasse. They've been unable to extract her and they're pretty sure she needs medical assistance before any further attempts are made. I'd like to send SG1 in to retrieve her; can you be ready in 20 minutes."
Jack turned to look at Tegan. "How long do you need to get the medical supplies together?"
"I can be ready to go in as little as 10, sir."
"Major Kiser I'd like you to head up this mission, the rest of your team will be there as support staff." He glanced at Jack. "Do you have a problem with that Colonel"
"No sir." Jack stood up and looked at Tegan. "We'll meet you in the gate room in ten."
"Yes sir."
"Dismissed." General Hammond called to Tegan's already retreating back.
"She's down there." Colonel Foster pointed down into the chasm to the tangled body that lay at the bottom of the perilous incline. From their current point of view Janet looked like a broken china doll in army garb.
Another of SG10's members had most likely broken his ankle when attempting to go down to check on Dr. Fraiser's status. Tegan scanned him quickly; The ankle was crudely splinted and would have to do until they could get back to the SGC. She didn't want to waste another second on her original objective.
"Is she conscious?" Tegan asked, already gearing up her harness for the descent.
"We never got anyone down there Major, we don't know."
"Has she moved at all?" She jerk his binoculars from his hand, not caring he out ranked her and looked down to find Janet. Her eyes were closed, and Tegan reasoned it was a good sign, unless of course she'd closed them during the fall and… she could think about that, not now.
"We couldn't tell and to be honest I'm not sure how we're going to get her back up here." Foster was the CO of SG10, and some days Jack wondered how he managed the rank of Lt. Col.
"Very carefully," Tegan tilted her head to the backboard another member of SG10 was already lowering down the side, as she handed the binoculars back.
She was still a little miffed no one aside from Sam had offered to carry anything. She had her lighter pack, the backboard and a large med box that weighed at least 70 pounds. Not to mention she had to lug it a good two and a half miles from the gate. Of course it could be that she'd turned down Sam's offer, which caused no one else to ask.
"Sir, I'm ready to go down."
"Let Carter go down with you."
Tegan looked down at the slippery drop off, it was a strange formation. The rock was probably molten in nature since it looked like polished black marble. "No offense, sir, Major; but I think we've already got enough injuries for one day."
"And I'm letting you rappel down there because?" Colonel O'Neill raised an eyebrow.
"Because I'm an experienced climber and I am the only one who can properly assess Janet's injuries."
"Details, details…" He waved his hand. "Go on, if you need assistance radio up."
"Yes sir." Tegan turned to Teal'c. "Just make sure the ropes remain secure."
"Indeed." The Jaffa inclined his head as Tegan began her descent.
"Tegan," Colonel O'Neill called out when she'd descended about ten feet.
"Sir?"
"Be careful." He hated the situation that they were in, but it was great to see just what leadership skills she was capable of.
"Always sir." She gave him a small nod and continued.
When she reached the bottom a few minutes later she rushed to Janet's side. "Dr. Fraiser?"
"Tegan?" She opened her eyes.
"That's a good sign." Tegan smiled as she pulled a pen light out of her cargo pocket.
"Where am I?"
"You're at the bottom of a ravine. Do you remember what happened?"
"Yeah I lost my footing… and next thing I know... I'm down here." Janet's breathing was labored and Tegan did her best to forget that the person lying in front of her was a close personal friend.
"Did you lose consciousness?" Tegan asked while checking her pupils for reactivity.
"Tegan," Fear flashed in Janet's eyes. "I… I can't move."
"I don't want you to try to move, ok Janet." Tegan's voice remained calm despite the voice screaming in her head that this wasn't happening. "Are you hurting anywhere?"
"No." She tried to remain calm, breathing was hard enough as it was. "I don't think I can feel anything below my neck."
Although she didn't show it, her stomach felt like she'd just realized she didn't have a parachute seconds after jumping out of a plane.
"You're going to be alright Janet." Tegan reassured her before she put her stethoscope in her ears and listened to Janet's chest. She kept her professional mask on, hiding the frown that threatened to pull at her lips. "I'm going to go get the backboard so we can get you out of here."
Tegan walked over to the backboard and radioed up to Jack. "Colonel respond."
"I'm here Major, what cha got?"
"Sir, it doesn't look good." Tegan glanced back over at her friend and colleague. "In the very least she has a few fractured ribs and a collapsed lung." She took a deep breath; this was just a bad dream. It had to be. "Worst-case scenario she won't make it off the planet. Second worst, she'll be paralyzed from the neck down."
"Damn." He said more to himself than to the radio. "Sam's still trying to figure out the best way to get her back up."
"We don't have time to spare, sir." While she'd been talking to him, Tegan had been going through Janet's supplies. "I don't have anything down here I can use to help re-inflate her lung, I need you to get one of the medics to go through the med pack and look for a chest tube kit and sterile drapes. I'm going to put her on the back board and secure her to my harness."
"You're not going to be able to climb over 500 feet up that glass wall Major."
"Sir, I don't have a choice. Besides it's not glass."
"It might as well be." Jack grunted. "It's too risky Major."
"It's take a chance and maybe save her life… or…I can do this sir." She said with more resolve.
"I have to advise against it. Give Major Carter ten more minutes to come up with a plan."
"My understanding was General Hammond put me in charge of this mission, sir. You are here as back up personnel. I will give Major Carter until I get Janet secured and immobilized before I start climbing."
"Understood."
Tegan moved back over to Janet with the backboard and c-collar. "How are you doing Janet?"
"Can't… breathe."
"I know." Tegan nodded. "You've got a collapsed lung, most likely from the trauma. When we get topside, I'm going to put in a chest tube."
"Can't… climb."
"I'll make you a deal, you concentrate on breathing and I'll concentrate on climbing." She secured the c-collar around Janet's neck.
"Just… leave me… here."
"And tell Cassie what, that I left you at the bottom of a cliff on some planet in another galaxy? Or that you just gave up? That's not the Janet Fraiser I know." Tegan put the board between her and Janet. "I'm going to roll you away from me, so I can slide this under you."
Janet closed her eyes, and both women silently wished she would feel pain even if it was just a twinge. Janet wished to feel anything.
Tegan rolled the shorter woman carefully pushing the board underneath her before laying her back. Once she had Janet completely immobilized and secured to the board she secured her harness and prayed to anyone who would listen that it would hold. "Sir, we're coming up."
"Alright, Major." Jack nodded to the muscular Jaffa. "Teal'c is going to pull up your slack. Watch your footing on the way up."
"Of course, it'll be a piece of cake sir." Tegan glanced at the wall of slick rock in front of her taking a deep breath. There weren't many good footholds. She secured her radio and called over her shoulder. "You ready Janet?"
"Yes," Came the breathy reply.
"Alright, it might get a little bumpy, but you're not going to fall."
"Trust you."
"I'm glad someone does." Tegan's response was so low, only she could hear it. She raised her voice. "Ok, here we go."
Tegan made good timing on the first 100 feet. It was as if someone was putting all the right sized outcroppings just where she needed them. Every few minutes she would ask Janet how she was doing. At 150 feet the footholds were getting scarce and the ones she was finding were so small she was afraid they would give way with the weight of both women.
At two hundred feet her right hand grasped onto a nice small ledge, just as the rock under her left foot broke free from the mountain. She slammed into the cliff wall, her face taking a beating but managed to keep her grip.
"Te…gan."
"It's alright Janet." She answered automatically while trying to get her footing back. The strain in her arms was tremendous, and sweat burned her eyes. A small seedling was the only thing Tegan could see to support her right foot. She wasn't sure it would hold, but knew it was her only chance. Her left grip was beginning to slip.
At the top of the cliff, Jack was beginning to worry as seconds turned into minutes without there being any change in the ropes' slack. He wished Tegan had left her channel open, so he would at least know what was going on. Three full minutes passed before Teal'c's expression relaxed and he pulled the rope in another foot. "Maybe she just needed a break O'Neill."
"You don't take a break when you're climbing a cliff like that big guy."
It was thrity-five minutes later when Tegan's voice was heard. "I could use a hand here."
She was just below the crest of the cliff, and with Teal'c and Jack's help she and Janet were pulled back onto level ground.
"Thank you." She said as Sam and Teal'c disconnected Janet from her harness. "Where are the supplies I asked for?"
"Right here." One of the field medics held up the pack.
"We need to set up a sterile field around Doctor Fraiser. Lieutenant Peters, if you will. Jacobs, go ahead and prep her chest. It's the left lung. Janet do you have any allergies?"
"No."
"Good. I'm not going to be able to give you anything for pain, I'm sorry. I need you lucid for the trip back through the gate. Once we get a head CT we can go from there."
"Understand." Janet was using her words sparingly. She smiled lightly. "Can't…feel… anyway."
"We're ready Doctor."
It took Tegan a second to realize they were addressing her. With a shaky arm Tegan mopped the sweat from her forehead, and turned her cap around backwards to help keep her hair back. She donned a pair of sterile gloves and looked up at Jack. "Sir you may want to look the other way. I don't want to have to suture your head."
"Right." Jack turned to face Major Carter who was looking anxiously at her injured friend. "Let's take a little walk Sam."
"You might feel a little pressure." Tegan was almost hopeful in her statement. She slid the tube in with a loud pop and when she pulled the guide out there was a large evacuation of blood. She connected the tube to a collection bag before calling out orders. "We need to get her back to the infirmary stat. Peters call ahead and have two units of O negative on standby. Let Warner know what we've got."
Tegan did a quick check of Janet's vitals before standing back up.
"You did good." Janet's breathing was already improving. "Much better now."
"We'll have you back on base and in Warner's capable hands with in two hours." Tegan reassured her.
"Not Warner, you."
"Warner's on duty." Tegan nodded to Teal'c to help her carry the stretcher.
"Warner's…" Janet thought better of calling him an ass in front of those people who depended on him for their care. He was a competent doctor; there just wasn't anything exceptional in his skill. "Not you. I want you."
"We'll see." Tegan responded hesitantly as they began the trek back to the gate.
"Last time I looked… I was still CMO. I'll fire him… if I have to."
"Let's not go to extremes Janet."
"Doc? Go to extremes?" Jack asked sarcastically. He was still worried about his favorite doctor, but he was glad to see she was still with them. "You gave us quite a scare Fraiser."
"You and me… both."
Half way back to the Stargate Jack had to take over for Tegan. The trembling that had started before she inserted the chest tube had increased. She hadn't asked for him to help, he just carefully nudged his way in. He knew the signs of fatigue and exhaustion and had been negligent in letting her help carry Janet back to the gate in the first place.
Janet was drifting in and out of consciousness and didn't even notice the change. Tegan informed the team it was a result of the blood loss and the quicker they got her back to the SGC the better.