Final Decision

Author's Notes: refer to first chapter

Disclaimer: refer to first chapter

"Okay, sending power through."

Riley and Brody peered through the small window in the bulkhead. A few seconds later steam began to vent from the pipe that Riley had been welding, and an alarm sounded in the Control Room. Rush asked, "Riley?"

"Looks like a coolant leak."

Brody said, "I thought you got it."

"Yeah, so did I."

In the Control Room, the alarm kept sounding as Rush typed busily on the console. "There's a problem. Power's backing up in the link."

Telford ordered, "Shut it down."

"I'm trying. It's not working."

Dr. Williams said, "The problem is contained. It's restricted to that corridor."

"That's not the point," said Rush.

Understanding the point that Rush was trying to make, Telford asked, "How big of an explosion are we talking about?"

"We're in FTL," replied Rush. "If it punctures the hull, disrupts the shield at all even for a microsecond, then the entire ship could be in jeopardy." A minute later they heard the sound of the gas igniting and Brody's scream, "RILEY!"

Shortly after that, Brody was sitting on the floor outside of the Infirmary and Rush was standing nearby. TJ was inside tending to Riley's unconscious body. She had just finished bandaging his head and putting him on an IV drip when she came out to report to the men. Brody stood up and looked at her anxiously. She said, "It's gonna be touch and go."

A little while later Dr. Rush was in the Mess eating his meal when Telford sat down opposite him and said, "We're proceeding with the test the next time we drop out of FTL."

"Colonel, the man nearly died," said Rush.

"You're the one who put him in jeopardy."

Rush remarked, "I was trying to make sure you didn't kill us all."

Telford stated, "I'm not going to."

"Ok, I accept responsibility for what happened, but you forced the situation and activating the weapons system the way you're proposing is completely reckless."

"Come on, Rush. These people are in danger just being here as evidenced by what just happened. The ship is falling apart. They're the wrong people for this. We need to get them home."

"Yeah, well, there's a right way of doing that."

Telford said, "We are doing it the right way."

"That's a matter of opinion."

"Look, I know that we've had our differences in the past…"

"Yeah, you wanted me off the expedition team, I remember," replied Rush.

"It was my duty to express concern for how everyone else felt about you."

"So, are you suggesting that my judgment is now somehow clouded? Or is it that I'm just plain lying?"

"Admit it, Rush. After everything that's happened, you're afraid they're not going to let you come back." They locked gazes for a long moment after which Rush stood up and left the room. Quite pleased with how things were going, Telford turned his thoughts to what he could do about Young who he felt to be a nemesis in his side. Turning into a section of crew quarters he hadn't been to yet, he saw a guard outside one of the doors. "Sergeant, who are you guarding in here?" When the sergeant looked confused, he said, "It's Colonel Telford."

"Yes, Sir. I'm guarding two marines that assaulted Dr. Mitchell a few weeks ago. There was a trial and everything. The sentence was heavy labor with an escort at all times and a guard on the door when they're in their quarters."

"Were there witnesses?"

"Yes, there were four witnesses. Colonel Young said an example needed to be made so no one else would get the same idea."

"I'll bet he did." Looking at the door, Telford thought to himself, 'This will be perfect.' "Sergeant, why don't you take a break for an hour? I want to speak with the prisoners."

"I'm not really supposed to leave, Sir."

"It's ok. I've got it." The sergeant walked down the hall, and Telford opened the door and went in. When he did, he saw a tall, muscular brown-haired man sitting on the bed and a slightly shorter blond man sitting on the chair. The brown-haired man whose name was Saunders said, "We don't have anything to say to you, Young."

"Who said I was Young? It's Colonel Telford. Communication stones, remember?"

So, what do you want, Telford?" asked the blond man whose name was Williams.

Giving them appraising looks, Telford replied, "I think the three of us have something in common—namely we don't like Colonel Young. How would you like to have some fun?"

"We already tried that," said Saunders, "and we ended up in here."

Telford shook his head exasperatedly hoping he hadn't stumbled upon two idiots. "I have something a bit more permanent in mind. Young isn't here right now, and if you can get rid of the guy that's guarding Dr. Mitchell, you can grab her and bring her back here. Now, the one thing you have to do for right now though, no marks where they can be seen. If we can get the gate working, I want to be able to take her through the gate without a lot of notice."

"What about the guard?"

"Guard will be gone long enough if you think you can do it."

Saunders and Williams glanced at each other trying to decide if Telford was for real. "Of course we can do it. How long do we have?

"You have an hour. Don't let anyone see you. Try around the Mess or the Observation Deck or either of their quarters. She's with Lieutenant McDonald."

"Okay." The two men hastily put on their boots and headed down the corridor. "Let's try crew quarters first." Keeping out of sight, they went to the next section and stood in a shadowy corner while they were watching the corridor. About ten minutes later, they hit pay dirt when they saw Melissa and Mac coming down the hallway. Mac said, "I need to get a fresh shirt, Melissa. Just take a second."

"That's fine, Mac." They walked into his quarters, and Melissa waited while he changed. When they started to walk back out, Mac stumbled and fell onto the floor unconscious. "Mac, Mac, what's wrong?" Pulling out her radio, she toggled it and said, "TJ, it's Melissa. Medical emergency, Mac's quarters."

Someone grabbed the radio out of her hand and said, "No, no, we can't have that," It was Saunders who dropped the radio on the floor and kicked it out of reach.

"You weren't supposed to let her have time to do that," said Williams.

"Who the hell let you two pieces of garbage out?" asked Melissa. "And what did you do to him?"

Saunders held up a brick. "These are always helpful when you want to knock somebody out. Now, Telford said not to put any marks on you, but he wants you something bad…."

Missy knew she was only going to get one opportunity for this, and she ran for the door opening. If it had just been one of them, she would have made it, but Williams grabbed both of her arms and twisted them behind her. "Nope, you're coming with us." Unfortunately, there was no one coming down the corridor at the moment so they were able to muscle her back to the other quarters without anyone else seeing. When they walked back, Telford was waiting. He looked at his watch, and said, "Gentlemen, congratulations, that only took twenty minutes."

Angrily gazing at him, Melissa spat out "What the hell do you want, Telford?"

Giving her a sinister smile, he said, "Why, I want you, my dear?" He turned to the other two. "This is going to be fun. I thought of one other thing. Someone else needs to be taught a lesson about what they can and can't do to me. I'm going to get him. Do not touch her while I'm gone."

Saunders said, "Sure, you're the boss." Telford left the room to go down the hall.

Meanwhile, TJ and Scott had reached Mac's quarters and found him unconscious on the floor. TJ lifted his head up carefully and showed it to Scott. "He was knocked out." She looked around the room. "Where's Melissa? I know she wouldn't have left him if she had had a choice."

"I don't know, TJ. Dammit, we need to find some people we can trust who aren't intimidated by Telford. He must be crazy if he thinks he can make her disappear."

Placing a bandage on Mac's head, TJ said, "Yeah, if we make it back to Earth, General O'Neill will have a fit. You know she knows him, right?"

"Yes. Ok, we need to get Mac to the infirmary. Did you have any other people in mind to help us?"

"How about Peterson, Carter, and Reynolds?"

"That's works. Let's go." He helped her pick up Mac, and they walked towards the infirmary. They met up with Lieutenant James on the way there and asked for her help as well.

At the same time this was happening, Telford was collecting Greer from the room he had him confined in and taking him to where Melissa was. When they got there, the first guard had returned, and Telford told him to go—that the guard who had been watching Greer would stay there. After he left, Telford opened the door, and Greer saw Saunders, Williams, and Melissa as he stepped in. He turned to Telford and asked, "What kind of game are you playing, Telford?"

"Funny, you should ask that, Greer," replied Telford. "This would be the game where you can't prevent anything I choose to have done to her." He pointed to Melissa who bit her lower lip as she gazed at him defiantly. "Ok, what to start with first. Oh, I know, no one will see the bruises on her back. We can start by punching her there." For the next few minutes, the three of them each placed a few well-aimed punches to her upper back which left her cringing with pain, but bound and determined to keep from showing it as much as she could. Then Telford's radio squawked. It was Dr. Williams who said, "Sir, we're about ready to conduct the first test. I thought you'd want to be here."

"Yes, of course, I'll be right there." Turning to his two accomplices in crime, he said, "Don't touch them while I'm gone, ok?"

"Sure, boss." Telford headed out of the room while Greer helped Melissa sit down carefully on the bed. As the other two were talking in lurid detail about what they wanted to do next, Greer whispered to Missy, "Are you ok?"

She shrugged her shoulders and winced in pain, "It hurts, but I'm sure not going to show them."

"Good for you." He pointed to his forehead and said, "Maybe you should try it. If the colonel knows you're hurt, then he might be able to get back here faster."

"You're right. Listen, I gotta close my eyes for this. Warn me if Telford comes back in here."

"You got it." Melissa closed her eyes and thought for a moment about what she wanted to send. She knew it had to be very basic. Then she made a decision and opened the link. Focusing as much as she could through her pain, she sent, 'Please come home, Ev. I'm hurt.' A few minutes later she could feel Ev's worry and concern reflected back at her, and she could also feel one thought reflected over and over. 'I love you, baby. I'm coming. I love you, baby. I'm coming.' She let the sensations of love and caring wash over her because she knew she would need them until this was over.

Meanwhile, Telford had walked into the Control Room and was talking with Williams and McCormack. Scott, who had the others doing a quiet search for Melissa, came in and asked, "Excuse me, Colonel? Can I have a word?"

Telford told the scientists to excuse him for a moment and walked away with Scott. "It's about Sergeant Greer." As he spoke, a brief shimmer enveloped everyone as Destiny came out of FTL. Telford stumbled, but it was Colonel Young who grabbed hold of a console to steady himself. He stared around the room in confusion. Scott repeated himself, "Colonel Telford?"

Young said, "It's Young. What just happened?"

"We just dropped out of FTL, Sir. Listen, Dr. Mitchell is missing. I've had people looking, but we can't find her."

"Yeah, she just communicated with me through our link. Scott, she's hurt."

"Shit, do you know where she is?"

"No, listen, Scott, we don't have a lot of time. You've gotta shut down…." At that moment, everyone switched again and once more Telford, Williams, and McCormack were in the others' bodies.

Scott, who was unaware that everything had changed again, was confused as Young fell silent. "Colonel Young? Colonel Young!"

The expression on Young's face changed again, and Scott knew Telford had come back. "What just happened?"

Scott replied, "We just dropped out of FTL."

Dr. Williams added, "Looks like it might have temporarily disrupted the communication device."

"We have to fix that," said Telford.

Scott said, "Sir, I think Colonel Young wanted me to shut down the stones."