Chapter 3 – Firefights and Flames

F302s wove around the darts approaching the Daedalus. They expertly dodged the attacks aimed at them and fired back straight and true to destroy the darts before they reached the ship they protected.

Some darts came near the Daedalus, but they were no match for the rail guns and shields and were soon reduced to nothing more than particles of debris spreading out in the frictionless vacuum.

In engineering, Thompson watched the shields and rerouted power to necessary sections to make sure they were evenly protected when a dart got a lucky shot or collided with them.

Levitt was double checking the Asgard beam weapons with McKay. He turned to her and said quietly, "We should increase the beam power to 110%. I know the modifications will work and we could take out that cruiser before it can squeeze a single shot at us."

Levitt sighed heavily and Thompson continued to strain his ears to hear what they were saying. She turned to him and firmly said, "No. The Colonel's orders stand. You could swear to me all day long that it would work, but I still wouldn't do it. I'd rather it took one more second, than we ended up with no weapons at all if it overloads."

McKay glared back at her briefly and she returned the expression without flinching. Thompson smiled when McKay's eyes softened and he mumbled something inaudible under his breath. Levitt turned back to the console after he had looked away and shook her head slowly as if an insect was bothering her.

Thompson had the data up on another screen nearby so that he could look at the readings for the Asgard beam weapons himself when there were minute lulls in the attack.

He could not see anything wrong with the set up, so he went back to tapping the controls to keep the shields at their full potential.

On the bridge, Caldwell asked, "Weapons range?"

Major Marks was gazing down intensely at the controls in front of where he was sitting, "Thirty seconds."

Caldwell nodded, "As soon as we're in range, open fire."

"Yes, sir."

Back in engineering, Thompson took another opportunity to glance across at the data from the beam weapons. He suddenly saw an alarming power fluctuation in the readout and did not even have time to fully yell, "Abort!" before there was a massive impact underneath them. There was a sound was of tearing and twisting hull metal and roaring fire.

He fell from his seat and was thrown savagely up into the air as the deck jolted alarmingly. As he fell back down he caught a glimpse of McKay and Levitt landing heavily on the floor on the other side of the room. Before he slammed into the deck himself, Thompson had seen McKay rolling over to cover Levitt with his own body as a ceiling support buckled and fell down towards her.

The lights immediately turned out and left nothing but pitch black and a dull whooshing sound from somewhere close at hand.

Maybe he had been wrong about his perceived selfishness of McKay after all. He no longer had any time to ponder his new train of thought as he hit the floor and the darkness blanketed his awareness as well as his sight.


"It's quiet."

"He has only been gone for a few hours, Ronon."

"I'd make the most of it. It's only for four days," Sheppard said.

John, Teyla and Ronon were sitting at a table in the mess hall. John was typing up a mission report on his tablet, while Teyla and Ronon had stopped by to keep him company.

John sighed and ran his hand through his hair as he leant back in his chair. They always did everything as a team and he knew he should have pushed Woolsey and Caldwell to let them accompany McKay on the mission. He had allowed himself to be convinced that they were needed more on Atlantis and could not be spared. Sheppard had had no comeback as he could not really justify their presence on a ship already filled with military personnel.

He glanced across at the empty chair at the table with them and then continued to type on his tablet.


The first sensations to return to Thompson were of smoke, heat and fire. There was something else though, and it took Thompson a while to figure it out as his fuzzy mind reengaged.

There was no pressure anywhere on his body. He thought he should have been resting on the floor, but he could not feel the stiffness or bite from where he had fallen and lain still for however long his body had needed to recover. His training, combined with the way his stomach rolled slightly, confirmed his condition to him. He was weightless.

A high pitched and panicky voice broke through, "Dr Thomas! Are you awake?" There was a pause filled with a savage hacking cough and a moan. The voice suddenly became more urgent and squeaked as it continued, "There's a fire. I need your help to put it out. Please wake up!"

Thompson felt something gently tugging at his sleeve and frowned as he opened his eyes. He blinked through the smoke and saw that the whole scene was illuminated in dull shades of orange as a nearby fire crackled and burned. There was no gravity to hinder the watery flow of the flames as they washed over the wall a few metres away. A large bulkhead was lying diagonally from the ceiling to the floor and the walls he could see were blackened and warped.

Thompson looked at the man still clutching his sleeve and muttered, "McKay…"

Thompson was fairly certain that McKay had caused the malfunction which had led to the power fluctuation and explosion. He had been the last one to manipulate the controls for the Asgard beam. Thompson was unsure whether it was the stress of the attack or perhaps the infallible and all knowing Rodney McKay had finally made a fatal mistake.

There was no-one else with access immediately before the explosion, only Levitt. Thompson had been working with her for long enough to know that she would never do it. McKay on the other hand… he was an impostor on the Daedalus.

Maybe he had thought he could increase the power to 110% and then pretend he had not noticed or that he was just taking the initiative when everyone patted him on the back and stroked his ego when it was a complete success. Only he had failed and now they had no power.

Thompson also had no idea whether the Wraith cruiser had been destroyed or was bearing down on them at that very moment to finish what was left of the Daedalus.

The expression he received from McKay in the dim light was filled with terror and Thompson inwardly groaned at what he was about to have to endure with the other man. He stretched out his legs and pushed them off the floor so that he floated over to the emergency supplies.

McKay quickly said, "I've already tried using an extinguisher, but it didn't work. We need to turn it off manually."

Thompson glanced back at him and frowned. He thought it was strange that McKay was now only deciding to play with others as something had gone wrong. Thompson's growing sense of unease intensified further when he noticed that McKay's jacket was missing and one of his pale arms was wrapped around his midsection as he floated in the cloud of smoke.

Thompson called out to him, "The panel on your right should deactivate it!"

"I've already tried that! There's no power. What do you take me for? Just another jarhead marine?" McKay grimaced and coughed again. Thompson watched as a visible shudder ran through McKay's body and he pressed his arm down more firmly against his stomach and furrowed his brow.

Suddenly the other man looked all too human and vulnerable in his pain and fear. He had finally been reduced from the lofty heights of smug superiority and was revealing himself to be not as much of a superhero as the mission reports and rumours had led them all to believe.

Thompson felt a grim satisfaction that McKay could actually be hurt just like everyone else, as some of the reports he had seen had made him out to be an invincible superhero. Thompson would need to straighten out the records if he survived what was happening to get a chance.

McKay winced and placed his other bare forearm on his midsection. His wide and scared eyes locked with Thompson's in the dark. At that moment, McKay looked physically fragile and like he would be easily broken through his low tolerance of the pain.

There was no time for offering any first aid and Thompson also felt like he needed some too as his head throbbed as he inhaled more of the choking fumes. Unfortunately they would both have to wait and take stock of their injuries later.

The top priority at that moment was finding a way to stop the fire otherwise it would spread throughout the ship and consume their oxygen until they were all dead. He had no idea where everyone else was and the preservation of those who were conscious was paramount to make sure the luckier ones could then assist those who were still unable speak.

Thompson reached the wall by the emergency kit. He quickly pulled the bag away and slung the strap over his shoulder. He then pushed off again and drifted towards the manual shutoff valve for the power conduit which was on fire.

He shouted to McKay, "I need you to pull the other one on your side. It's probably affecting more than one relay."

McKay whimpered and muttered, "Why do you think I woke you up!? I can't move anymore. I think I've broken half my ribs and the internal bleeding…" He inhaled a sharp breath and fought back another coughing fit. He said in a broken and sad voice, "It hurts so much!"

Thompson was unsure whether to believe him or not. He could just be another scientist holding up their reputation as being geeky wimps who spent all their time sitting at computers in nice, clean, danger free labs. He had read differently in the mission reports he had seen involving McKay, so the other man's current comments were completely irrational. If McKay had truly experienced what was written about him, then why was he still acting as though he was weak and frightened?

He narrowed his eyes and saw that McKay was looking back at him with his face contorted in pain. The fire flared and the light level in the room increased. Thompson could see that McKay was trembling now that he was more visible. Whether in nerves or pain, he was unsure. He hoped it was through fear, because Thompson was not evil and he did not wish hurt upon anyone else no matter how much he disliked or hated them. Thompson knew he may also have been wrong about McKay and he could very well be seriously injured.

He hoped that McKay was just scared and looking for encouragement to keep him going by exaggerating his injuries for sympathy.

Thompson had little choice though, so he said sternly, "You can still talk and move and breathe, McKay, so help me!"

McKay looked like he had been slapped and Thompson savagely thought he would have been justified to make the action literal had he been close enough to the panicked and whining chief scientist from Atlantis. He tried not to smile at how satisfying it would have felt after McKay's blatant disregard for the authority of Thompson's commanding officer earlier. He briefly wondered where Levitt was, but then focused on the task at hand.

Thompson's eyes streamed as he pulled the panel off the wall and heard ragged breathing in exertion from the other side of the room. He also found himself panting noisily as he inhaled what little air was left for them that had not already been consumed by the fire.

He sealed off the damaged conduit and the hissing of the fire stopped a few seconds later when there was a small click from where McKay was. The room was plunged into darkness as soon as the fire's fuel supply was sealed off.


"Report!" Caldwell asked into the dimly starlit bridge in front of him. He had hauled himself from unconsciousness and was pressing a bandage against the arm of Crewman Saunders as they both floated weightlessly in the room.

The silence and darkness on the bridge was unnerving as the usual hum and pulse of the engines was missing. It was almost as though the ship was cold and dead as its usual steady and ever present heartbeat had ceased.

He saw Major Marks approach his console and tap a few of the black controls. He shook his head, "I'm sorry, sir, there's no power. Whatever happened or hit us must've taken out the auxiliary backup power too."

Caldwell kept his voice even, "You're saying that we're dead in space?"

Marks looked away with a slightly ashamed expression, "Yes, sir. All the conduits run by engineering and if no-one there has been able to get the power back…"

Caldwell shook his head as Marks trailed off, "Do you know the status of the Wraith ships and the F302s?"

"Not without sensors. There's also a possibility we've been boarded as the shields are offline."

Caldwell nodded and then turned to the crewman in front of him. Bleary eyes shone back at him brightly as the sun drifted past the window and bathed them in its harsh rays for a moment before it was gone again as the rotation of the ship spun them around.

The crewman said, "You should go, sir. I'll stay on the radio if you need anything."

Caldwell pressed one of the portable radios he had retrieved from the emergency kit into the free hand of the crewman as his other hand replaced Caldwell's over the bandage.

Caldwell gave him a reassuring smile and then used his hands on the ceiling to move himself over to Marks. He clicked his own radio and lifted it up to his mouth, "Bridge to engineering. Levitt, please respond."

There was no reply. Marks frowned at him in concern and Caldwell suddenly had another idea, "Bridge to Zelenka and Edwards."

There was a brief pause and then; "This is Captain Edwards. We didn't think anyone had survived that."

Caldwell smiled grimly, "Report."

"I'm still in the Jumper with Dr Zelenka. The inertial dampeners saved us from the worst of it. Several Wraith darts landed a few minutes ago. The bay only just repressurised before the explosion and several Wraith drones have headed out into the corridors. We were just gearing up to go after them, sir."

Caldwell frowned, that meant that the darts had gained entry when the rail guns and F302s should have taken them out before they got that far.

"Negative. I need you to take the Jumper out and find out what's happened. Is the Wraith cruiser still intact or did the Asgard beam destroy it before the impact or explosion? What's the status of the Daedalus?"

Zelenka replied, "There is no need, Colonel. We are able to get the readings from where we are."

Caldwell held his breath as Zelenka continued, "The Wraith ship is disabled, but not destroyed. I believe they will soon repair the damage in order to call for reinforcements if they have not done so already."

Caldwell released his breath and asked, "And the F302s and my ship?"

"The F302s are still in space trying to fight away the darts. The Asgard beam fired for a fraction of a second before it cut out. A huge explosion came from one of the emitters and travelled through the conduits." He stopped abruptly and sighed.

Caldwell waited patiently and then Edwards continued, "We're only detecting around 150 life signs on the Daedalus, sir. Some of those will be the Wraith invaders. Many of the readings are weak and some are trapped in areas sealed off by emergency bulkheads to prevent the spread of the decompression."

Caldwell steeled his nerves and locked away his emotions. It was more difficult than usual though, as the crew complement before the explosion had been 200.


TBC