38 minutes with Death

by Molly Annice

This is a sequal to Rising Death. A story I posted in 07.

38 minutes with Doe

One of the Lantians might die… or all considering the shape of the ship that we are in. It will be Sheppard… Major John Sheppard that is… I think I prefer Sheppard. We were above the Wraith planet we were one when Marshall died. I watch as Lieutenant Ford runs to the cockpit. In the front, the pilot is a Sergeant Markham and a Sergeant Stackhouse is his co-pilot.

"How we doing," asked a worried Ford.

"OK, Lieutenant," replied the pilot, "Uh, I think I've got it lined up pretty close." You think. Do they know how hard it is collect people from space?

"No such thing as close," ordered Ford, "You thread the needle or we're dead." I wonder if he sews.

"Right," agreed the pilot.

"OK, you can do it. Nice and easy."

Ford turns to speak to a loud and obnoxious man known as McKay, who was in the rear like me, "OK. I think we're close enough to dial the Gate."

"Yes, yes! Hurry up and get us back," snapped McKay irritable.

The co-pilot dialed the DHD and we keep flying towards the Stargate. I turn and look down at Sheppard lying on the floor. He was the one that was going to die. I stare at the Iratus bug that was on his neck. He looks to be in great pain and distress. Teyla and McKay are both by his side, holding him down.

He was yelling at them to get the thing off him. Teyla told him they can not. He turns to McKay, "Cut it off." Instead, McKay turns and calls to the front of the ship, "As soon as we establish a connection, radio back that we've got a medical emergency."

"There must be something we can do for him," asks Teyla. Who… oh Sheppard. He does look like he is in pain, doesn't he?

"There's an emergency first aid kit behind the pilot's seat," McKay informed her, "Get it." I watched as she did as was told. "Major," McKay told him, "everything we've been trying to remove it just makes the pain worse. Now try to be still." Major Sheppard nods.

I step out of the way, as Teyla walk to the front and asks if they can go any faster. The co-pilot tells her that the pilot is trying to get back in one piece. I am keeping an eye on Sheppard and McKay.

Ford speaks into his radio, "Atlantis base, this is Ford. Jumper one is inbound with a medical emergency. Please respond." I do not listen in any more as I watch Sheppard wither in pain on the floor and McKay is going through a small box called first aid.

"What am I expecting to find in here that's gonna get rid of that thing," he tells himself.

Teyla in return says that they should give him something for the pain." Do they have anything strong enough?

"I don't think Tylenol's going to do it. He needs a doctor," McKay tells her before calling to the front, "How much longer?"

"Almost there," replies Ford before turning to his head set radio, "Flight: Jumper One on final approach." I turn to watch ford speak into it.

He pauses before answering it, "Some sort of funky alien bug attached itself to his neck. He's completely immobile." I walk closer to hear what the other side is saying.

He pauses before answering again, "We don't know, but we can't get it off him and we tried everything." I hate hearing only one side of a conversation and not both! I stomp my foot in annoyance and frown.

"Yes, ma'am, I do, but we really don't have a choice in the matter," he say again into the radio.

I turn and see that Teyla is now helping Sheppard and McKay is doing something with an overhead panel. I over hear Ford tell Markham, "its all automatic from here."

"Here we go," he yells to the people in the back.

We were half way though when the gate ship called 'Jumper One' stops. All of the people in the back of the jumper went flying and fell into unconscious states. I am thankful that many of the rules of the mortals don't apply to me I look over at Sheppard he looks peaceful as the lights flicker and the only light is coming from the front of the puddle jumper itself. I look over and see that Fords arm was hanging out of the massive horizontal puddle. I watch as both Teyla and McKay wake from their previous unconscious state.

"Oh no," sputtered McKay.

"What happened," Teyla asked him, as if he would know I think scoffing.

"The drive pod. The wing things that stick out while we're flying must've failed to retract. That's the only thing it could be," he Tells her looking alarmed at what he was looking at, "Well, it's that, or-or the Stargate shrank, which I highly doubt. This is, this is a -- a big problem." I was wrong.

"What can we do?"

"I don't know that there's anything we can do. I mean, this is a, this is a ... a very, very big problem." That is a … understatement at most. I watch as he finally notices fords arm sticking out of the puddle.

"Give me a hand," he said. Why does he not take Fords arm?

I watch as they pull Ford from the puddle.

"What the hell was that," he asks them while scrambling to his feat and stares at the event Horizon, "that's strange."

"Yes, it is," said McKay, agreeing.

Ford Points at the event Horizon, "That is the …"

"Yes it is," said McKay, again.

"That scraping sound… we're stuck," Ford asks hoping he was wrong.

"Yes, we are. Apparently, the engine pods failed to retract in time. It's a square peg, round hole," explains the intelligent McKay.

"Can we pull Markham and Stackhouse out," Ford asks. Is he of lesser intelligence?

"Our hands and arms would dematerialize as soon as we crossed the event horizon. There's no way to reach for them," explains McKay.

I watch as Teyla finally remembers Sheppard and goes back to him. He is still unconscious and not moving.

"The major," Ford asks.

"He must have been knocked unconscious by the impact," Teyla informs him.

"We're stuck in the Stargate, Ma'am," Ford answers.

He pauses before going on "Ma'am, Jumper One is lodged in the Stargate. Teyla, Doctor McKay and myself are in the rear compartment with the major. He's in bad shape," behind him, an irritated McKay was twirling his hand telling him to get to the more important part.

"Engine pod," began McKay prompting him.

I smirk as Ford gives McKay a mean look, "We Think it was one of the engine pods, but there's no way to be sure." What?

"It is the only viable possibility," snaps a now angry McKay.

"Yes. Elizabeth, it's an extremely intriguing conundrum and one that I would love to discuss with you in detail until the Stargate shuts down and this ship is cut in two ..." McKay starts telling her. I am certainly confused and hate being on only one side of this conversation. It is quite… confusing.

"... At which point of course ..."

He turns away both frustrated and irritated greatly. This Elizabeth Weir said something to calm him down a tiny bit. She might have yelled at him.

Ford starts telling her what happened, "we couldn't I.D. the Wraith base of operations from space like we did the last time we were there, so we went to the same landing coordinate as before to get a closer look. We then noticed that in the place of the mountain there was a hole in the ground. We went closer and found that we were correct. Teyla first thought it was a crater but we quickly realized it was more like as if it just got up left. We figured it was some kind of Wraith culling ship. That's when McKay noticed some movement in the trees. It turned out it was the wraith and they started firing at us. The Major told us to start heading back."

McKay finally interrupted, "She hardly meant begin at the beginning."

"This is Intel she needs to know," Ford tells him. I would not think so.

McKay looks down on to a thing on his wrist, "And we have less than thirty eight minutes." Thirty-eight minutes, what is important about thirty-eight minutes?

"Hold on," Weir interrupts, "Why thirty eight minutes?"

McKay explains, "Because that's the maximum amount of time a Stargate can remain open in non-relativistic conditions. It's one of the more immutable laws of wormhole physics and, oh my, looks at the time. It's now more like thirty-five minutes. Are we all caught up?"

"Help," McKay tells her.

"That's good. And the Czech, the Czech, um, the Czech whose name I can never remember."

"That's him. We'll work it at our end." Have I mentioned how much I dislike hearing in on only half a conversation?

"We'll call you. Thank you," he deactivates his radios.

Sheppard is finally waking up with the Irratus bug still attached to his neck. The first thing out of his mouth was, "hey Teyla."

Teyla gets up, goes over, and sits beside him.

"Are you alright," he asks her.

"I'm fine."

"Something tells me we haven't made it to Atlantis yet, Sheppard tells her.

"No," she responds sadly, while shaking her head slowly.

He looks up and sees in amazement the sight of the event horizon. McKay looks back at Sheppard.

"Ford," Sheppard asks, which Ford immediately came to him and sits on the other side of him putting a hand on his shoulder, "What is that?"

"We're stuck, sir," explains ford. He can see that, can he?

"What," asks an astonish Major Sheppard.

"In the Gate," Ford tells him

"You mean my day just got worse?" It's not that bad, the bug could be in his pants on a certain piece of anatomy.

"We're going with the assumption it was one or both of the drive pods. I don't know whether it was mechanical failure or," McKay tells him letting his sentence trail off not knowing what to say.

Ford finishes it, "... it was damaged as we tried to take off."

McKay continues, "There's no way of knowing, really, but, uh, if you know of some way of manually retracting the mechanism …"

"Cockpit, on the left," Sheppard tells McKay.

"The cockpit is, uh, regrettably de-molecularised at the moment. But, uh how about somewhere back here," McKay asks.

"No." The creators of these ships do not sound so bright.

"No. I didn't think so. Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll be a foot and a half over there taking some readings," he point to the other side of the ship, "Feel free to talk amongst yourselves." I got up from where I was sitting and started looking over McKay's shoulder. Ford is watching him. I had to move when McKay decided he had to move. He pressed a button on the side of jumper and the bulkhead doors closed making the back into darkness.

"What are you doing," Ford asks.

"Sorry, McKay tells him, turning on a handheld light and handing it to Ford, "Here."

McKay switched on his headset, "still here."

McKay turns to the door and tells them "Oh, good thinking! What else?" They probably have just told him to close it just after the fact. My lip twitches upward again. I watch as Ford and Teyla get more of that… hand lights out and switch them on placing them all over the back of the puddle jumper.

Thanks for calling, McKay sarcastically tells the other side, before turning around to the others, anyone else claustrophobic or is it, uh, just me?" This McKay is afraid of small places... interesting?

"Why'd you close the door," Ford asks. Probably to keep as much air, in the back of the gate ship as possible before the gate closes down.

"So that when the Stargate shuts down and the forward section is severed, we're not directly exposed to space," explains McKay to Ford. Ford then asks if it will hold.

"Like a screen door on a submarine. I just prefer hypoxia to explosive decompression. It's a, it's a personal thing," tells his cynically.

"If the air's gonna get thin in here, you really do have to calm down," Ford tells him.

"Oh yeah? Wait 'til you see how thin it gets in twenty seven minutes …," McKay informs him.

"McKay…" Sheppard says speaking low and calmly, he is angry.

McKay turns to him and gestures while telling him, "Vacuum! That's thin."

"Calm down," Sheppard tells him in the same tone as before.

McKay is now getting angry and a little hysterical, "Oh, I apologise for being the only person who truly comprehends how screwed we are!" A bizarre sound emanates from my mouth. I pause and stare out in confusion. It had an up and down hitch to it. I believe the mortals call it laughing or… giggling.

"Don't talk to me about screwed," Sheppard tells him in anger, he glares at McKay who has calmed down a bit, "And let's not give up on Markham and Stackhouse either. There's plenty of time to solve this thing, but you've got to stop using your mouth and start using your brain."

"I'm sorry," McKay informs him, "It's just, um; I react to certain doom a certain way. It's a bad habit and… and… Maybe there's a way to manually retract the mechanism."

"Yeah, maybe there is," agreed Sheppard.

McKay then opens up a panel in the ceiling. I watch what he is doing from behind he is moving things behind her. My eyes flicker over to the three others. Teyla is putting her jacket behind Sheppard's head to pillow it, "you seem stronger." I snort, no; he's not.

"No, it's just the pains not so bad now."

"That's good," Ford says optimistically.

"No, it isn't," Sheppard tells them, before explaining, "I can't feel my legs. My hands and arms are numb. I can barely move them, and it's creeping up. Lookit, Lieutenant. What I'm trying to say is that if you don't get this damn thing off me, I have even less time than you do." I look over at McKay. He looks worried for his… companion. There is hope for this coward of a man yet.

"Lieutenant, get your knife out and cut this damned thing off. It can't hurt as much as it did last time," orders Sheppard.

Teyla being the voice of reason, "The last time we almost lost you."

"Well, you're going to lose me anyway." He could do it a lot faster.

Ford squats next to himself, "Sir, we tried to get it off you when we were back on the planet. We tried everything. Everything we did just hurt you more. The thing just heals itself."

"It feeds on your strength, like a Wraith," theorized Teyla.

Sheppard groaned, "You had to say that."

"My father often told stories of creatures such as this. I always thought he was just trying to keep the children from straying far from our camp." There always is an ounce of truth in a story no matter how bizarre the story maybe.

"Great. He tell you how to kill it?"

Teyla shakes her had sadly.

"I don't know, sir. I'm not sure we can," Ford says.

"Well, I could use a second opinion," Sheppard informs them, "get Beckett on the radio." I dislike this radio. I watch as they get this Beckett on it.

"This is Ford. Major Sheppard's conscious but the creature is still latched on to him."

"How do you feel about house calls, Doc?" They pause as the other side talks. "That's funny," said Sheppard, before quietly laughing, "It's like the ugliest damn tick you've ever seen." It is not a bug it is an Irratus creature.

"Well, we were on our way back to the Jumper with the Wraith shooting at us. I told the others to head back I'll watch there six. When I was on my way back I ran into its web."

The other side then asks for a description of the Irratus bug. "Yes sir. It's about two feet in length, including the tail. That's wrapped down under his armpit. It's got two sharp, spiny things in his neck near the major's carotid artery." That does not say much about the bug. Apparently, the other side agreed with me.

"Its forelegs, I guess you'd call them that, they're wrapped around the major's throat. I can't see any eyes. It's got a real hard shell, but there's a soft leachy part underneath."
The other side might have then asked for the symptom from Sheppard. Which were Great sharp pain then loss of feeling and you cannot move.

"Well, first it felt like a knife in the eye since then I've lost all the feelings in my extremities. I can't move."

"I need to be able to move around to help McKay with the mechanical problem. Markham and Stackhouse are dead if I don't."

"I tried to cut it off. I tried to burn it off. I even tried to shoot it off -- nine mil, point blank. Not much worse I can do without killing the major along with it," Ford told him. That did not sound smart.

"I believe the creature is related in some way to the Wraith," said Teyla telling her hypothesis. McKay looks away from the panel, "really?"

"It healed itself after each attempt to remove it by sapping life from Major Sheppard, just as a Wraith would," Teyla explained to the other side. The ancestors probably had something to do with this evolution from Irratus to Wraith. They had feared me so greatly after all that is why they ascended, to get away from me!

"I suppose the Wraith must have evolved from something. It's probably some sort of, uh, prehistoric cousin," McKay agreed.

"Listen, Doc. The Major's getting worse. We've got to do something right now," Ford told the other side.

Ford then said, "Yeah. I tried to cut into it, but the thing practically strangled him to death." That still doesn't sound quite smart.

Ford was looking around the Gateship, "OK, from the vests, we've got a Swiss Army knife, some chocolate, some water, matches, emergency kit. We have alcohol, iodine, painkillers ..."

Teyla opens something that she found, "What is this?" Exactly, what is it?
Ford tells the other he found a portable defibrillator. I believe it might be a lie detector unit.

They listen to the other side and Ford agrees with them.

"Zelenka," McKay said snapping his fingers, "Why can I never remember that name?" Zelenka… it is an original.

"Thank you. Now we're getting somewhere," McKay told the other side.

"What," Ford asks. What, exactly, what is happening?

"Zelenka's identified the control pathways to the engine pod," which means," which means that's increasing my chances of fixing this from one in a million to one in a thousand, but, uh ... it's something. Elizabeth?" McKay is quite the pessimist. "I'll only have seven to nine seconds to warn you if I accidentally trigger a catastrophic overload, so ... if I tell you to raise the shield, don't hesitate."

There screwed but not that screwed.

He then starts working on the control conduit again, while the other two help Sheppard with trying to remove the Iratus. Ford activating his radio tells the other side, "We're starting with iodine." We all watch waiting for a response. Nothing happens. "Scratch Iodine."

After the other side said something McKay decides to ask for food. "Are you joking?"

"You're kidding," Ford says. Well good, someone else is agreeing with me.

McKay tells him that he is teetering on a hypoglycemic reaction and they have less then twenty minutes, what ever that is? However, this makes Ford throw him a food substance because he unwraps it and eats it quickly while thanking him. He then quickly goes back to work. McKay quickly thanks him. Teyla and I watch as this display happen with… disgust…annoyance…something. She then hands a bottle to Ford, "here."

"We're going to try the alcohol now," Ford tells the other side.

"Save some for me," Sheppard tells Ford.

"Wrong type of alcohol, sir."

"What's the good of that?"

The Iratus purred at this alcohol in its way.

Ford agrees with him before telling the other side nothing happened.

I watch as Teyla pulls "salt" out of the bag. "Did the doctor not say to pour salt on the creature?" Did he say that?

"I think that was a metaphor," McKay said with his mouth full. Teyla looks at him with a look that says 'I knew that.' He goes on, "But it doesn't matter, just try everything."

Ford sprinkles on the salt, nothing happens, Sheppard looking dismayingly, everybody else anxious. "Water. Give me Water," Ford tells Teyla. She hands it to him. What are they worrying about; Sheppard he is good and dead. Everybody dies; friend, enemy, stranger and companion everyone dies. Ford pours it on to the Iratus. It reacts horribly to this mixture And Sheppard convulses in pure pain as the Iratus bloats and tightens its grip around his neck. I yawn … Why he can't die faster, I'll never know. The screeches he make are quite… funny.

"Sir? Sir, are you alright? Sir? Major," asked Ford in concern. I roll my eyes of course he is not.

This is when Sheppard start screaming. Ford tries asking him what is happening, is he all right. While all I am thinking is its doing its job, finally, stop that heart beat. I watch as both Teyla and Ford try to hold down the flailing Sheppard as he withers in clear agony. He is in so much pain his strength doubles and he is able to throw Ford against the side of the ship. The impact jolts the Gateship and it moved a little bit.

McKay stares at the panel as ford Gets off the floor and looks at Sheppard who is grimacing in pain. "It could have reacted to either the salt or the water," Ford told the other side.

"Negative."

"If anything it dug in more," Teyla added.

"Please, don't do that again," told Sheppard. Please do, the side effect is quite enjoyable from point of view.

"I won't, sir," promised Ford, "I'm sorry."

"We move," explains McKay to every one, "When you fell, I must've crossed one of the circuits. I think the engine fired for a microsecond, but it stopped. Oh, no" he said look at the… horizon sowing at the bottom of the door. Ford asks what is bad before seeing it.

"So much for Plan A," said McKay. Ford then asks what again.

"When the Stargate closes now," McKay started explaining, "every molecule of air in this compartment is going to rush out through there." McKay points at the puddle seeping in.

"We've slid in further," said Teyla. I would believe that is obvious.

McKay then tells them they have only fifteen minutes left.

Ford was spoken to by the other side and he answered, "The Puddle Jumper has shifted slightly. The rear compartment has now breached the event horizon. Doctor McKay ...Doctor McKay… is still hopeful he can retract the drive pod in time." McKay looked at him hopelessly the second time his name was said.

McKay got up and gets back to work. Impressive.

"Yes, ma'am," Ford said to the radio.

"I'm still here," said a grimacing Sheppard after the other side asked… probably.

"I know you are. Listen, uh, I'd like to say something while I still can." This is good news… he is not in denial. I have a dislike for people who are in denial.

He smiles slightly at what the other sides says to him. It is quite a sad smile, "If I was ... he wouldn't have let me go." The Wraith, It stood over and realized the lost meal.

"The Wraith," Sheppard started, "He stood over me and just left… I guess he saw me as good as dead, 'cause he just walked away, so ... I guess he saw me as good as dead, 'cause he just walked away, so ...," he clears his throat, "what I wanted to say was ..."
The other side interrupts him, this people has no respect for the dieing.

"This is important," informs Sheppard. They tell him go ahead as he opens his mouth and Ford interrupts him.

"We should send him through the event horizon. If Doctor McKay figures it out in time, we can fix the major up on the other side. If he doesn't, we're all dead anyway." No respect!

"No pressure," said McKay sarcastically.

The other side spoke for a few minutes.

"Why not," Ford asks. The other side said some thing

"Then we must do some thing," Teyla says earnestly.

"Hit me with the defibrillator," Sheppard tells them. The Lie detector? Why would hitting him with it help?

"No-no," Ford says, "You said that might kill him." How… it stops the heart… It will quicken my Job…do it!

"That's the idea," Sheppard says. I knew I liked this one. The other side explained to her why.

She told them, "yes."

Teyla stares at him and begins to understand.

"It would stop feeding." I believe someone deserves a treat.

"When the thing lets go, we give him another jolt," Ford said. The other side is speaking Sheppard just want the thing off him.

"Yes, sir," Ford told the radio then told Teyla to cut Sheppard shirt. What?

He repeated himself making it more of an order.

She grabs for the scissors and cuts his shirt before ripping it to reveal … more hair.

"Charging to two hundred. Move his tags."

"What?"

"Move his chains to the side." She listens to Ford the second time.

Ford squeezes a jelly-sort of substances on the paddle and rubs them together causing the machine to beep.

"Ready to go," Ford said before turning to Teyla, "Once the bug falls off, I'm going to have to kill it. I'll wait for it to charge up again and I'll give him another jolt. McKay, if we can't restart his heart on the first time, I'm going to need that bulkhead door open again."

"Done," He stops what he was doing on the … thing he was working on and opens the door to the front.

They then figured out who was going to bring Sheppard through the gate after it closes. It is Teyla.

Ford hesitates to apply the paddles, while looking at Sheppard unsure if this is the right course. Do it already!

"Do it!" See Sheppard even agrees with me.

We all watch as he convulse and collapses.

"This is weird."

Ford puts the paddles down and feels for a pulse.

"No its life."

"No pulse."

Teyla starts tugging at it. It purrs and withstand her pulls.

"Who the hell are you," Sheppard said looking over at me with great suspicion.

"It won't come off," said Teyla.

I wave at his body, "I am …this…"

"Your death," he concluded.

In the background, Teyla pulls the Iratus off the body's neck. I watch as Sheppard reacts as if he felt it. He stares at his neck

"That looks nasty," he concluded, wincing.

"You felt that," I ask, "when she pulled the Iratus off."

"Yeah," he said.

"You are an intriguing one Major Sheppard," I told him.

"Oh… why's that?"

"I'll tell you another day."

She then throws it to the other side of the puddle jumper, which Ford shoots it where it lays. He then shocks the body and Sheppard disappears for a second.

"That was …"

"Weird? Strange? Odd? Peculiar?"

"I was going to say different but sure."

"Nothing?"

"Thanks," he said, "So you got a name."

"No."

"Ok Jane it is."

I stare at him blankly, "That is a strange name."

"Nothing," Ford informs Teyla, "Let's get him through."

McKay then started moving the equipment out of the way while Teyla. While both Teyla and Ford move the body to the front of the gateship. McKay and Ford then helped Teyla get a better hold on him and take him through the gate.

"Got him."

"Yes."

The body is then dragged trough the wormhole.

Ford activates his radio, "This is Lieutenant Ford. The creature's successfully been removed from Major Sheppard, but we were unable to revive him. Both he and Teyla are now on the other side of the event horizon.

McKay closed the bulkhead again and turned back to his work.

"I'm only halfway through all the possible circuit pathways and time's almost up. We're never going to make it."

"Just keep at it," Ford ordered McKay, "There's still time."

"You should consider stepping into the event horizon. I'm serious. I'll keep trying to the end, but given your choices, that's a far better way to go."

"You know out of all of you this one I like the most."

"And leave you here alone with that thing wrapped up in my jacket," Ford asked looking at him strangely.

"Why?" Sheppard looks at me strangely.

"You did check to make sure it was dead, right?"

"He's a coward and a non-believer," I told Sheppard confidentially, "They are easy targets to … the condition of…quaking in the footwear."

"It's dead."

"That makes sense."

"Good, because explosive decompression and death by suffocation with that thing on my face ..." McKay said.

"I might?"

"Stop acting sheepish." He looked irritated.

"I AM not! How does one act sheepish?"

We were pulled out of are discussion just then.

"Work," Ford snapped at McKay, "Work!"

"Sorry," McKay does as told.

"What happened," I asked.

"I don't know," Sheppard stared at me incredulous.

"I know the time," Dr. McKay told the radio, "I've still got over two dozen circuits I haven't tried." We watch him listen to the other side.

"If I do that," McKay told the other side trying to be patient, "I run the risk of attempting to activate the same circuit twice."

"I'm telling you, there's no way I can ..."

Out of nowhere, noise came from out of the gate ship and it started working.

"What is that?"

"Wait," McKay Proclaimed, "I think I did it! Elizabeth, I think the engine pods retracted."

"What he said. We aren't going to die."

"We? You realize you dead besides… we're not moving."

"She's right," said Ford agreeing, "Why aren't we moving?"

"Stop looking smug?" He then calls me worse then McKay.

"Its inertia," McKay illuminated, "The drive shut down before we went through the Stargate. We've shed all our forward momentum."

"I hate to be right…"

"No you don't"

"…What is he doing?"

"He's tying to move the ship."

We watch as Ford runs and throws himself at the door several times.

"You're wasting your time. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."

"Then what are we going to do?"

"Ford is not the brightest of your people is he?"

"Barn and fire."

"…"

"That could do it," McKay agreed with someone in Atlantis, "But the only mechanism to blow the hatch is back here."

Ford opens the bulkhead door and runs to the back of the gateship.

"You go through, I'll do it."

"No, no. You'll get blown out into space."

"No, no, there's no time to argue, just go, just go," Ford told McKay before shoving him toward the wormhole.

"Make sure you hold on to something!"

"Go!" Ford pushes McKay Through.

"The Jacket it moved!" I told Sheppard, who was watching his friends, "Why are you grabbing that bar?"

Ford, as well didn't notice it. He is checking strength of bars on room. He grabs one and then reaches for something to pull the back door open. Sheppard and I watch the bugs legs come from out of the jacket. Beep. Ford grabs for the handle and he is swept off his feet from the pull of space. The Jumper movies slowly forward.

People are now rushing in and giving aid to the deceased body and Ford. A man is using the defibrillator on the corpse. Another is pumping air into his lungs. Sheppard flickers for a second while the man is checking the monitor he is hooked up to, "again!" the other fills his lungs with air as the man working the defibrillator shocks Sheppard.

"They don't want to let you go, do they?"

"No."

Ford is being placed on a bed on wheels and being given air. A woman comes rushing in and is talked to by McKay.

"He's going to be fine," McKay tells her.

They walk to the front. The woman gives Ford a moment before he is wheeled away. Just as I turn back to Sheppard. He is gone for longer this time. The woman and Teyla acknowledge each other. Before the woman turns around and speaks to Rodney. Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Well done, Rodney." I believe this woman might be Elizabeth.

"We'll see each other again." He disappears before he could say anything.

"We'll see."

"We've got a pulse," said the man using the defibrillator.

The Pilot and co-pilot still sitting in their seats, look at each other worriedly. The monitor continues to beep.

"Getting stronger," The man puts his head on Sheppard's chest, "He's going to be OK."

The tension that was in the room before seemed to lift; I never really noticed it that much until now. McKay sighed in relief as Weir sinks down on to a bench. McKay wanders aimlessly out of the back of the Jumper and wanders back in to lean against the wall. The medics continue to work on the now unconscious Sheppard. This is my time to leave. I am enjoying these humans.

The End