"Please unroll your sleeve, Scott", TJ requested. Scott obediently lifted up his right sleeve, letting the doctor stick a needle in his vein, drawing blood. TJ tapped the needle. "Alright. Thank you, you should know the results in a few hours. I advise you stay here and rest for now." TJ walked into the next room to run her tests on the vial of blood.
Scott took her advice and walked around to find an unoccupied sleeping bag. There were sleeping bags spread out in rows, almost all of them filled with a sleeping or coughing person. Scott was amazed by the number of people who had gotten sick in the time he had been gone. It was then he noticed the three white cloths in one corner of the room. He could see the outline of a human underneath them. Sadness and fear gripped him for the people who had died and for his own health. Walking over, Scott leaned down and pulled the sheets over their heads. He didn't recognize the first victim; he was probably one of the random people who had been forced to evacuate Icarus base. He was shocked to find the second sheet concealing Wray. Camile Wray was one of his fellow officers, and had been perfectly healthy when he had left. She was a good acquaintance and he felt a pinch of remorse. He breathed out slowly and covered up the first two. Reaching for the third sheet, he pulled it down. Disbelief and horror struck him full force when he saw the face behind the white blanket. He didn't think this could be real. Tears poured down his face as he ran his fingers gently, affectionately, across Chloe's cheeks. Chloe couldn't be dead. A tear ran off his cheek and fell onto Chloe's. He wiped it off despairingly.
TJ heard sobs coming from the other room and rushed in. She saw Matthew Scott's body draped over the lifeless form of Chloe. His body was limp and trembling. She sighed; she had hoped she wouldn't have to be the one to tell Scott about his girlfriend. She walked quietly over to his and patted him on the back as comfortingly as she could. She grabbed him and gently pulled him up and away from Chloe. She forcefully led him to an empty sleeping bag and tucked him in. He curled up and continued to sob silently.
Rush heard a knock on his door. "Come in."
Eli poked his head in tentatively. Rush was sitting on his bed reading a book. "Um, I was just going through some of the data you recently pulled from Destiny. I haven't found anything worth mentioning, but I thought you might like to see the translated version." Eli didn't expect praise, and didn't wait for any. He walked over to Rush's homemade desk and laid the papers on top of it. He turned to leave when Rush spoke.
"Thank you, Eli. Why were you looking through that? The Colonel told you to rest."
Eli hung his head. He was tired, but he had really wanted to look back at Rush's new discoveries. "Yeah, I had to sneak past him to get to the control room, but I managed. You said you really needed to look through it, but I figured you needed more rest than I did, so I went ahead and read it." Eli tried to conceal his yawn from the older man, but was unsuccessful.
Rush frowned slightly. "It wasn't that big a deal, Eli. I was just going to do it in a few more hours. But since you've already done it, bring it over here." He gestured for Eli to bring him the papers. Eli took the stack of papers over to Rush and stood beside the bed. Rush surprised him by patting the bed beside him, implying that he wanted Eli to sit next to him. Eli carefully climbed up onto the bed and sat beside the doctor.
Rush leafed through the papers quickly as Eli fidgeted with his thumbs uncomfortably. Rush flipped back to the first page. "Let's take a look at this, shall we?" Eli nodded and they began to read. "Well, this planet seems breathable enough. If we ever find out how to steer the ship, we could stop here and take a look around."
"Yeah, and the next one has an orbit that is very close to the first, so it may be similar in dynamics." Rush and Eli went through the long list, debating which planets would be suitable to explore, should they ever find a way to control the direction of Destiny's course. This went on for an hour.
"We'd have to use the suits on this one", Rush went on, "so we could only send a few at a time, but it looks promising. What do you think, Eli?" Hearing no response from his assistant, Rush glanced over at Eli. Eli's eyes were closed and he had a serene look on his face. Rush smiled amusedly at the sleeping Eli. Rush quietly stood up, careful not to wake Eli. He strode to his desk and dumped the papers on top. Rush admired his young assistant from across the room, seeing for the first time exactly how young and innocent Eli was. He was really only a child. A child who had been whisked away from his dying mother and brought to the outer reaches of the universe.
Eli woke to silence. He rubbed his eyes and searched the room. It was familiar, but not his own. Retracing the last time he had been awake, Eli figured he must have fallen asleep in Rush's bed. Eli blushed. He hopped off the bed and opened the door to the hallway. He made his way to the control room, wondering how long he'd slept. He entered the circular room that held all of Destiny's reins and saw that Rush had beaten him to it.
Hearing Eli enter, Rush said, "Good morning, Eli. And how did you sleep?" Rush did not turn, but kept typing away at the console, pausing occasionally to read the glowing data.
Eli came up silently behind Rush. He huffed. "I slept fine." He peered over Rush's shoulder to read whatever it was that had been brought to the screen. Having read as much as he could, Eli reached to scroll down, his hand brushing lightly across Rush's in the process.
Having finally read all of the data, Eli retracted his arm. "So the power is okay, and so is the ventilation, but what about the water? Is it still contaminated?" The last Eli had heard, Jackson was dead, and there were about twenty more dying. Eli was thankful he was not among them, though he might join them at any moment.
"The water is still unsafe to use. Lieutenant Johansen is working on a cure with the venom right now, but more people are becoming sick."
"Right." Eli nodded. "Do you know who is sick?"
Rush glanced over at Eli. "Amanda, but you already know that. I heard Lieutenant Scott and Brody are sick, and Marcus isn't looking too hot himself. Oh, I heard Lieutenant Wray passed away."
Eli frowned. "Oh." He hadn't really known Camile that well, but she seemed nice at times. Rush fidgeted. "What's wrong?" Eli asked.
"Well, I heard that…" Rush paused, "that, uh, Miss Armstrong has passed away as well. I know how much you cared about her, so…" Rush let his voice fade out, which was fine since Eli wasn't even listening anymore. Eli stood in shock. Surely Chloe, his only friend, couldn't be dead.
Eli ran from the control room and dashed down the halls. He skidded to a stop on the sick bay, looking around frantically for Chloe. The closest thing he could find was Scott. He would know where she was. Eli ran over to Scott, who was presumably sleeping, wrapped up tight in a sleeping bag. When Eli got closer, he saw that Scott was trembling, and he could hear his muffled sobs. Eli crouched behind him and shook him gently. Scott rolled over. Eli saw that Scott's face was red and tear-stained. His eyes were puffy and bloodshot. "Scott, where's Chloe?"
Scott began to bawl again. "She – she's… Eli, no! No, no no no no no! CHLOE!" Eli pulled his hand away from Scott. "Eli, she's dead!" Scott howled.
Eli shook his head. No, Scott is lying, too. Chloe, the only friend he had ever known, was not dead. But Eli knew she was.
TJ stormed into the room. "Eli, what are you doing?" she snapped. She saw Scott and sighed. Then she saw tears welling up in Eli's eyes. "Oh god", she sighed. "Eli, I'm sorry, really I-". Eli ran from the room.
Eli had darted back to his room and flung himself on his sleeping bag, burying his face in the material. Eli lay there for what seemed to him to be hours, though he really didn't know. After an eternity of silence and solitude, Eli heard his door open. His face was still buried in the sleeping bag, so he did not see who entered, but he soon felt someone run their hands through his hair. It was very soothing, and Eli sighed happily. Still running his hands through Eli's soft, beautiful brown hair, Rush spoke. "Perhaps I shouldn't have told you."
Eli smiled to himself that it was Rush who was being so gentle and sweet to him. "No, I'm glad you did", Eli mumbled from the sleeping bag.
Rush shifted himself next to Eli. "I'm sorry about Chloe. I know how much you liked her." Rush had never liked Chloe all that much, but he had seen how happy Eli was when he was around her.
Eli moved so that he was propped up on his elbows, Rush still playing with his hair. Eli looked gratefully up at the older man and nodded sadly. "Yeah, she was the only friend I've ever really had." Eli leaned into Rush's side. "I really miss her", he muttered.
"I know, Eli. It's hard to lose someone you love."
Eli was lost in thought, warm and content in Rush's arms. He nodded. "It hurts."
"Yes, it does."
Eli looked up at Rush. "Who did you love that died?" Eli immediately regretted his words.
Rush sighed, but reacted as calmly as Eli had expected. After a long pause, "My wife."
Eli winced. "Oh." He returned his gaze to his hands. "I'm really sorry. I mean, Chloe wasn't my wife or anything", Eli made a disgusted face at the thought, "but yeah… I'm sorry."
Rush was gazing into another world, one that could only be seen by him. "It's alright, Eli. That was along time ago. It's better." He could not open himself to that level of vulnerability, even to Eli. But it was better, much better.
"I'm sorry, Eli." Eli reached for the doctor's hand and placed his on top.
Eli and Rush sat in an uncomfortable silence for a long time, Eli trying to imagine what losing a spouse would feel like, Rush remembering it. The silence was broken by the announcement that dinner was on. Rush climbed off the bed and shrank out from the room, Eli following minutes later.
Dinner was the consistent bowl of food that no one wanted to really eat, but ate anyway. Eli retired back to his rooms, falling onto his bed and fumbling around with KELI. KELI took to the air, Eli directing it through the air, not actually watching where it went. Eli was lost in thoughts about Rush and his wife. He felt a spark ignite in him when he began to realize that Rush had actually been married. Eli wondered who Rush had been before his wife's death. Was he the slightly egotistical, independent genius who Eli knew, or had he been softer then, not yet realizing the precarious and unmercifully pitiful thing that was life? Rush had once been happy, Eli thought. Eli pondered, KELI flying repetitively between the walls of Eli's room.
It was not long before Destiny connected with a new planet. Eli felt the jolt from their drop out of FTL and he hurried down the hallways towards the Gate room. When he stepped through the doorway, Eli saw the room bathed in a familiar blue, which rippled across the floor. Colonel Young, TJ, Becker, and Dale followed on Eli's heels. The excitement and concern of finding a new Stargate had disappeared; it was no longer new and mystifying. Greer and Marcus showed up at the same time, looking from each other to the Gate. Marcus called, "Well, who wants to go exploring?"
Rush, Eli, Colonel Young, Marcus, Greer, and Dale stepped out into the light of the new planet. The view was nothing spectacular; simply a bunch of brown rock. Dale led the expedition down paths of rock and dust, stopping suddenly at the top of a small rock hill. "What is it?" Eli called out. Dale did not move. His eyes were fixed on something over the hill, not yet visible to the other men.
Colonel Young climbed up behind Dale. "Oh God", he muttered.
This caused a mad dash to the peak, everybody wanting to know what could lie beyond this mound of rock. And they soon found out.
It was a space ship. Marcus and Rush made a race towards it, eager to examine. Eli took his time, eventually walking up behind Rush, who was running his hands across the ship's outer shielding. There were grooves and patters carved into the dull gray exterior, Eli soon noticed. "These markings, they are not Ancient", Rush commented enthusiastically.
Marcus was busy trying to pry open what seemed like the door to the ship. He tugged determinedly at the door, but it did not budge. He kicked the ship. After a few hours, the search team retired back to their own ship, relaying all the information they had gathered to the people in wait on the other end of the Stargate.