Chapter three
Cadman turns her head just in time to see her leader vanish from the surface and runs back to the end of their small group, coming to a halt a meter or two away from the hole where her CO was just a moment ago.
"SIR!" She cries. "SIR!!"
Lathia pushes Parrish behind her and away from the hole and nods to Cadman, slowly edging her way forward to the rim of the hole to look down while the other woman holds her by her belt. The water from the field around them runs over the edge and she can barely see anything for a moment, then the view clears.
"Major Lorne, can you hear us?!" she calls, but at first there is no answer.
Lorne is on his back, spitting out the mud which has ended up in his mouth and nose. It hurts too damn much to move and cough. He frowns at the blinding light above him as he comes to thanks to the pain, registering female voices above him.
They move in and out of range too fast for his brain, eyes and ears to catch up, partly due to the mud, partly because of the impact, but also because of the pain.
There is so much pain that he just groans and tries to black out again for a moment. Then he remembers what happened and groans with more feeling. Shitty mission - in bold, capital letters.
"Ow…"
"Major Lorne do you hear us?!" Lathia repeats and he tries to look up, but falling water and a thick coating of mud on his face make it nearly impossible to see anything beyond the blinding light from above.
Then he sneezes and his body explodes in pain again.
"Be pleased…" Lathia calls down and Lorne smiles although he hurts.
"Thanks…" he calls back as the pain passes, and arches his back. It hurts but everything seems to work still, though his shoulder is a lot worse now.
"I'm still alive…" His leg must have gotten the worst of the impact, it certainly feels that way, and his head, well, he must have banged it as he fell on his face. "But my leg is probably broken," he adds.
"We're getting you out of there, Sir!!" Cadman's call echoes down to him, together with a wave of blue flower petals, water and mud.
The rim of the hole isn't too stable and they have no more than the usual equipment with them. No extra rope or beams to rig up a pulley to get him up; that is clear almost at once. They could try to use one of the vines to pull him up, or perhaps climb down and get him out – at least that is what Lathia suggests a moment later - but Lorne hears them and isn't happy at all.
"NO, Cadman," Lorne calls out. "Get back to the gate and get some help!"
"Okay Sir!"
It probably wouldn't be the wisest decision to leave their CO alone on an alien planet where something ate people and spat only the squishy bones out again, so Cadman does what Lorne says, just adjusts it a bit to the current situation.
"Parson, you and Lathia stay here. Keep an eye on the Major and his status. I am going to take Baker and Parrish back and get back-up." She gestures with her hand in a way that she might have adopted from Rodney, and receives nods of acknowledgement in return.
Parson still has Baker at his side but switches with Cadman as she commands him, glares at Parrish and takes his spot beside Lathia at the rim of the hole. Nobody else seems to look at Parrish, who just stands there and blinks down at the mess he has caused, clutching his sample case to him for all it's worth.
The only one not ignoring him is Lathia, who gives him a patented smile to get him moving even before Cadman can call out.
"We will take care of him, Dr. Parrish. Go…"
He nods slowly and climbs up the hill after the others, to go to the gate and get help.
o
Dr. Weir stands at her usual spot on the balcony as the gate activates, worry pouring off her in measurable waves. Lorne's team is too early and that seems somehow worse to her than any potential reason for delay. It means they have been confronted with a situation that can't be solved on the other world. Usually Wraith, Genii, bad trading agreements, former trading partners turned traitor, bounty hunters or whatever else is out to get them this week.
And in moments like this she knows, just knows that her worry is justified, with all of them out there. She brings her hands together and raises her head, waiting and hoping that it won't be another team that left with more people than it returns with, but seemingly no god is listening to her tonight.
Sheppard comes from the direction of a corridor below her as she turns and walks down the stairs. He looks no less worried than her. He reaches the stairs to the gate level in time with Cadman's appearance through the gate, with Baker leaning on her shoulder and Parrish trailing after her.
Sheppard waits but nobody comes after Parrish. His eyes snap to the lieutenant the moment the gate closes down. "Lt. Cadman, where is the rest of your team?"
Beckett and his usual med-team arrive next, and the Scot checks over his girlfriend with his eyes, counting fingers and limbs within a second just to make sure, then he takes in the lack of team members and blinks. "What happened?"
"Just my question," Sheppard quips.
"There was an accident, Sir…"
"Accident?"
"You weren't attacked by the villagers, were you? I thought Teyla said they were peaceful," Weir asks, her hands still clasped in front of her hips. This isn't good. Not another incident like that…
"It wasn't the villagers, they are dead," Cadman starts. "We don't know how they were killed or by whom - or what. We followed Dr Parrish down a hill and as we tried to climb up again to the gate, Major Lorne fell into a hole, perhaps a cave or tunnel; I couldn't tell."
She's looking at Parrish now, and there are enough accusations in her eyes for Weir to follow her glare and frown.
"He ordered us to get back up to fetch help; Lathia and Parson are still with him," she continues and Weir still looks searchingly at the scientist. Parrish bites his lip and looks away.
"Request permission to mount a rescue team…"
"Go Colonel," Elizabeth says and Sheppard is already moving, Cadman on his heels; she can hear her suggesting additional forces and equipment as they leave earshot.
"I should go with them as well…" Beckett requests just a moment later and she just nods and lets him go.
The paramedics move Baker onto a stretcher and wheel him out, and Parrish just keeps clutching his sample case and backpack tighter. He watches Baker and the others leave then notices Elizabeth's questioning look and turns his face away from her.
He clearly doesn't want to talk about what happened and Weir is tempted to push; there have been previous incidents in which he put his team in danger with his head-over-heels approach to something he saw.
"Dr. Parrish?"
"I would like to take the samples back to my laboratory," he almost whispers. "I don't think I will be needed back on the planet…"
Weir stares for a moment longer then nods. He can talk later when all this is over. "Alright, but don't forget your post-mission check-up."
"I won't," he whispers before hurrying down the steps and away to the nearest transport unit.
o