Part 4
Jennifer had managed to get a rather dazed and woozy Zelenka up on his feet, and explained Rodney's plan to him. He'd reacted with a considerable amount of skepticism. "I don't like it," he'd said.
"Me neither," Jennifer had replied. "But I don't think there's an alternative, except do nothing and surely get killed."
"Rodney will get killed," he'd solemnly pointed out.
"I know," she'd sighed. "And so does he. But he wants us to have a chance."
Radek had said no more as she'd helped him lean against the wall by the door, most likely because he needed all his strength to ride out the pain it undoubtedly caused him and to just stay on his feet. But now, fifteen minutes later as they still waited, he spoke again. "It probably won't work anyway. I won't be fast enough. Not like this." He looked at her, his boyish, blue eyes filled with an earnestness that truly moved her. "Perhaps you should leave me behind, as well?"
"No," she said and tore her gaze away from his, fearing the look in his eyes might actually persuade her.
"You would stand a better chance if…"
"No, Radek!" she repeated. "I won't hear of it. I'm not leaving more people behind. To have one man sacrifice himself for me is quite enough!" The words came out much harsher than she'd intended and she had to blink several times to fight back her tears.
He must have seen it. "I'm sorry," he said.
She glanced back at him. "Just stay alive. I'll get you home."
He was about to say something, but just then a loud bang came from the hall outside. It startled Jennifer, but she soon pulled herself together and grabbed Radek's unharmed arm. This had to be Rodney's distraction.
And sure enough, the next second she heard the click as the door unlocked. Here goes, she thought as she used the weight of her body to push the door open, pulling Zelenka along with her.
There was smoke in the hall and no Genii soldiers were anywhere near her cell. Jennifer had no idea how Rodney had managed this, but it didn't surprise her. She knew him to be quite resourceful, especially under pressure. She didn't even look back over her shoulder as she hurriedly made her way along the wall and found the door at the back of the room Rodney had directed her to. She kicked it open and pushed Zelenka in first. And as the door closed behind her a second later, she heard the lock click into place, and the shadow of a smile fell across her lips and she sent a silent thank you to Rodney for giving them this head start.
"Come on," she said to Radek and pulled him with her as she started walking down the corridor they'd ended up in. She counted the doors, recalling the directions Rodney had given her. "One… two… three… third door on the left." She opened it and allowed Zelenka in first once again.
They continued through the facility in this manner, she leading the way and he just concentrating on keeping up. They didn't see or hear anyone, and Jennifer couldn't believe their luck. At the same time, though, it made her a little uneasy.
Eventually they ended up in some sort of tunnel and at the end of it, they almost ran into a ladder leading to a hatch in the roof over them. "Here," Jennifer whispered as they came to a halt. "This must be it." She looked at Zelenka. "Can you climb?"
He was panting and almost doubled over from the strain. His face had turned awfully pale, and he peered up at her with glassy eyes. "Do I have a choice?" he mumbled, and shifted his gaze to the ladder. "Give me a push."
He shouldn't be moving around this much, she thought to herself. But what did it matter? He had to, and somehow he was still capable to. Where he found that strength, she would very much like to know. She steadied him as he started climbing, using only his left arm, the other still in a sling tied to his chest. She followed right behind, nudging and pushing him upwards, until they reached the top.
"Hold me," whispered Radek. "I need my arm to open the hatch."
She climbed another step and put her arms around him, steadying them both as he reached out his shaking, left hand and flipped the handle. The hatch made a hissing sound as it came loose of its hinges and Radek gave it a push to open it, revealing a clear sky overhead.
"We're out," Radek panted and climbed the last few steps. Jennifer hurriedly followed, and they both tumbled out. Radek groaned as he stumbled and fell, and Jennifer picked him up, pulling him with her towards a thicket close by. Once hidden they both dropped to the ground to catch their breath.
Jennifer peeped over the bushes and had a look at the surroundings. The only visible part of the underground facility was the hatch they had just come out of. The rest of the landscape looked like any other forest. She dumped back down next to Zelenka. "I can't believe that worked," she whispered.
"We're not through the Stargate yet," he pointed out, his speech even more slurred than before.
"Yeah, where is the Stargate?" She gazed around again. Rodney had only directed her this far. She had no idea which direction they should take next.
Radek fought to sit up and she reached out an arm and helped him. "We've been on this planet, what, like maybe twenty-four hours?" he asked.
She glanced at her watch. "Something like that."
"If this planet's solar cycle resembles that of Earth, then the Stargate is somewhere in this direction." He nodded his head to indicate where.
She frowned. "How d'you know?"
"Because of the sun, of course. I remember walking towards it when we first arrived. Most habitable planets have twenty-something-hours days. I see no reason why this should be any different. But I can't know for sure."
"It's our only lead," she said. "I'll just take your word for it. Can you stand?"
"I think so."
She gently helped him to his feet, and they started walking away from the sun. As they slowly made their way through the underbrush, Jennifer listened carefully to all the sounds around them, ready to throw herself and Zelenka into hiding in a moment's notice. But so far everything was going well. There were no Genii soldiers to be seen or heard. The only obstacle at this point was Radek's worsening condition. He was walking rather slowly and seemed a little dizzy, and she offered him a hand, which he accepted without any fuzz. "Just hang in there," she whispered to him. He didn't reply.
They reached the top of a hill and she stopped dead in her tracks, making him bump into her. There below them was the clearing with the Stargate – and a couple of Genii soldiers. Jennifer crouched down behind a bush. "It's guarded," she said, even though Radek could clearly see that for himself. "But of course it is."
Before she could do or say anything else, Zelenka tilted and collapsed. She lunged forward and caught him, his weight nearly brought her down with him, but she managed to regain her balance and gently lower him to the ground. "Yeah, have some rest," she said, as if he had fallen deliberately.
He peered up at her and his body trembled beneath her hands. He was white as a sheet and his lips were turning blue. "Let me have a look at you," she said.
She sat down next to him and carefully loosened the sling a little to examine his arm. It was swollen and purple almost beyond recognition, just like she'd expected. All this movement had increased the blood circulation and made him bleed more. The splint was still neatly in place, though.
She fastened the sling again and had another look over the bushes at the 'gate and the soldiers. She knew they were well hidden and too far away from the Genii to be heard. "Hopefully they'll stray away from it soon," she whispered to Zelenka. "Let's just wait here."
She sat back down and looked at Radek. He had closed his eyes, and she leaned in and gently slapped his cheek. "Hey, stay with me!" His eyes flashed open again, and he seemed a little confused as he looked up at her. "You need to stay awake," she explained.
He made no reply, but she could see he tried hard to oblige. She also knew he was fighting a losing battle. No matter what any of them did now, he was about to go into shock. She carefully elevated his legs, and wished she'd brought the blanket to keep him warm.
"Let's talk," she whispered. "We could play a game. Name the capital?"
He still didn't say anything, but he kept his gaze locked on her. "Okay, I'll start," she said. "Eh, Colombia?"
"Bologna," he answered.
"That was easy. Let's see… Iceland?"
"Reykjavik."
"Rwanda?"
"Kigali."
"Okay… Surinam?"
"Paramaribo."
"Wow, you're good at this game," she said in genuine amazement, just as his eyes began to slide shut again. "No, no, stay awake!" She gave him another slap. "Radek?" He didn't respond and she shook him. "Radek, talk to me! Tell me more about Prague, will you? About how you threw wooden sticks into Valta."
"Vltava," he corrected her in a low and ghostly voice.
"Yes, Vltava," she repeated, happy to hear him speak. But he was already slipping again, and she knew there was no way she could keep him conscious much longer. "We need to get to the Stargate, Radek," she decided. "We can't afford to wait."
She crept forward a little and peeped through the bushes at the clearing down below. There were only to guards stationed there. "We need a diversion," she said. The words were directed at Zelenka, but she was uncertain whether he heard her or not. Either way he didn't answer.
She thought hard for a few minutes to come up with something, and when a ray of light from the sun penetrated the leaves overhead and reflected in Zelenka's glasses, she was suddenly struck by inspiration. "Fire," she exclaimed. "We could make a fire to lure the guards away. That would work. We use your glasses as burning-glass. I've seen it in movies."
"Matches," he mumbled.
"What?" she said, pleasantly surprised to hear his voice again.
"Matches," he repeated. "In pocket."
For a moment she felt incredibly silly. She should have remembered that matches were standard equipment on off-world missions. "Or we could use matches," she mumbled. "That's even smarter."
She retrieved the little box from Zelenka's pocket. "You just wait here," she instructed, as if he was able to do anything else.
Not taking any chances, she gave the clearing and the soldiers a wide berth as she walked to the opposite side. It gave her some time to think, and she thought about Rodney and wondered if he was still alive or not. Surely they must have discovered their escape by now, and he was the one who would have to take the brunt of it. The thought filled her with so much sadness that it almost knocked her to the ground, but there was no time to grieve now. She shook her head to pull herself out of the state of despair, and made a big pile of dry leaf before she sat a match to it.
Bending down to blow the first hesitating flames into life, she spotted a flower beside her. It resembled a daisy from back home, except that the stamens were bright red. Suddenly strangely bothered by the fact that this flower would be consumed by the fire, she picked it up and almost unconsciously put it in her pocket.
Once she was confident the fire wouldn't die out, she got to her feet and hurried back the way she had come. Now she could only hope that the guards would soon detect the smoke and go to investigate.
Radek was where she had left him and apparently he hadn't even moved. His eyes were closed, his face looked lifeless and she touched his cheek with the back of her hand, feeling how cold and clammy he was. "Hang on," she whispered. "Just a little more."
She looked over the bushes and smiled to herself as she saw the thick smoke coming from the forest. The two soldiers had seen it to, and one of them left the Stargate and disappeared in between the trees. "Come on," Jennifer whispered, silently urging the other to follow. She was half on her feet, ready to jump into action.
Just as the first yellow flames became visible from where Jennifer sat, she heard the first soldier shout and the second answered him and disappeared into the forest too. Jennifer didn't waste any time. She grabbed Zelenka's left arm and draped it over her shoulder, pulling the semi-conscious man up from the ground. He was heavy, but she gritted her teeth, assembling the last of her strength, and pulled him along down the slope and unto the clearing below.
By the time she reached the DHD, she was running on adrenalin alone, and Radek fell limply to the ground when she dropped him. She started dialing and for every symbol, she turned and glanced nervously over her shoulder. And just as the last chevron clicked into place, the two soldiers came back. They saw her, shouted and cocked their guns, running towards her. She pressed the center button, and the strangely tilted 'gate kawooshed into life just as a bullet whistled passed her head.
She stooped down to pick up Radek, dragging him towards the event horizon. Another bullet just missed her, and hoping that the Atlantis Gate tech had had time to receive her IDC and lower the shield, she threw herself and Zelenka down into the wormhole.
There was a strange feeling of falling down and then they propelled horizontally out of the event horizon, landing ungraciously in the familiar Atlantis Gateroom. Jennifer only just managed not to land on top of Zelenka, and she lifted her head and saw several marine boots running towards her. "Raise the shields," she gasped. "No one else is coming."
The Stargate died behind her and she turned her attention to Zelenka. He was lying lifeless on the floor next to her. "We did it, Radek," she said. "We're home."
He didn't respond, and she felt for his pulse as she gazed up at the people surrounding them. "We need…"
One of the marines was already on it. "Medical team to the Gateroom… STAT," he called into his radio.
Jennifer spotted Woolsey and Sheppard making their way through the crowd. They both looked like they wanted to ask her a lot of questions, and she didn't blame them, but right now she didn't have the time. "Come on, Radek," she urged the unconscious Czech. "Just a little longer."
"Dr. Keller, what happened?" Woolsey asked.
"Where's Rodney?" Sheppard added.
"He stayed behind," she replied curtly, feeling how painful it was to hear herself say those words. "So that we could escape."
The Atlantis medical team, bless them, was fast as always. The next moment they rushed into the Gateroom with a gurney, and Jennifer saw they were lead by Dr. Jim McBride. "Hurry!" she said to him. "He's got a nasty fracture in his right arm. Internal bleeding. He needs immediate surgery and blood transfer."
McBride's eyes met hers and he smiled gently. "I got it," he said calmly.
"Yes," she said and slowly got to her feet, suddenly realizing how exhausted she was. She allowed McBride and the others to take care of Zelenka, and they had soon gotten him onto the gurney and hurried from the room.
Sheppard grabbed her arm. "What happened?" he demanded.
"It was a trap," she said. "They used the Semani to…"
"That much we know," he interrupted. "When you didn't check in as scheduled, we contacted them and they said a group of Genii soldiers had taken you. One could wonder why they didn't bother to tell us right away…"
"Don't blame the Semani," she said. "The Genii frightened them."
"So where did they take you?"
"Some other planet. I don't know where."
"The planet you dialed in from now?"
"Of course."
Sheppard sighed. "Not that it matters much. The computer doesn't store addresses from incoming dials. So, unless you know which planet…"
"I don't, okay?" Her voice was sharper than intended. She was so tired and full of despair, wanting nothing more than to scream and then cry. "If I knew where I just came from, don't you think I would have told you? It's my boyfriend back there!"
She felt a hand on her arm and turned to see Teyla standing next to her. She hadn't even noticed that the Athosian woman had arrived. And so had Ronon. He was standing behind Sheppard with that well-known, determined, ready-for-action look on his face. "We will search for him nonetheless," Teyla said earnestly.
"You'll never find him." Jennifer's voice trembled now. "And it's probably too late anyway. They would… will…" She couldn't say it out loud – there was no way she could bear to hear herself say that he had most likely been killed – and now the tears welled up in her eyes.
"I ain't giving up yet," Sheppard said through gritted teeth.
"Tell us what happened," Woolsey said compassionately. "From the start."
She quickly gave them a summary of the events, feeling the rest of her strength leave her as she did so. She was so incredibly tired and overcome by emotions that she could hardly think straight, and her story was probably a little incoherent. She didn't even notice the tears sliding down her face before she felt Teyla's arm around her, patting her gently. "Do not give up hope yet," she said. "It seems the Genii needs Rodney. They might still want him alive."
Jennifer had put her hand in her pocket while she spoke, and now she pulled it up in a sudden movement, waving it around in a desperate gesture. And as she did so, the little flower she had picked on the planet, fell out. Teyla bent down to pick it up. "What is this?"
"It's a flower from the planet. I took it. The fire… I really don't know why I took it."
Chuck, the Gateroom technician, had come down from his place at the control station to get his piece of the action. "Hey, that's a myriantis," he said.
They all turned to look puzzled at him, and especially Sheppard and Ronon lifted their eyebrows in a questioning frown. Chuck blushed a little and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Well, at least that's what Rachel… um, I mean, Dr. Abram from Botany has told me."
Amelia Banks, who was standing next to him, smirked knowingly and rolled her eyes a little, and Jennifer thought to herself that she too might have found this a little cute if she hadn't been so worried.
"Well, good, now we know its name," Sheppard said sarcastically.
Chuck looked at him. "No, seriously, according to the Ancient database the myriantis only grows on one planet."
Inside her Jennifer felt a faint spark of hope, and Sheppard was suddenly all ears. "Which one?"
"Eh, just a minute." Chuck hurried over to the nearest computer and typed at the keyboard a little. "It's right here… M74-410."
Sheppard and Ronon were already on the move. "Lorne!" the Colonel called to his second in command. "Get your boys and meet us in the Jumper bay."
Teyla squeezed Jennifer's arm a little and gave her a reassuring smile, before she followed the rest of her team. Jennifer watched them go, silently cursing the optimism that was growing in her. Don't get your hopes up, she told herself.
She flinched as Woolsey put his hand on her shoulder and spun around to face him, which in turn startled him. "Doctor," he said. "Perhaps you should go to the infirmary and have yourself looked at?"
For a few moments she just stood there, silently contemplating his suggestion. "Yes," she eventually agreed. "And I need to see to Radek."
Amelia reached out a hand. "I'll take you there," she offered, and Jennifer gladly accepted her help.
They made their way to the infirmary without talking and arrived to find the place buzzing with commotion. Marie, the head nurse, spotted Jennifer as she came through the door and stepped up to greet her.
"Zelenka?" Jennifer asked, before the nurse had had a chance to say anything.
"He's being prepped for surgery," Marie said. "Come sit down. You look like you're ready to drop." She gently, but firmly made Jennifer sit down on a bed. "Are you injured?" she asked.
"No," Jennifer shook her head.
Marie squeezed her arm and smiled mildly. "Then have a little lie-down. And then a shower."
"I will."
"Good. I need to get ready. Will you be alright?"
"Yes. Go help Jim. You have to save Zelenka."
"We'll do our best," the nurse promised.
"I know," Jennifer said and managed a little smile. "You always do."
Marie went to the OR and Amelia headed back to the control room and her duties, leaving Jennifer alone in the infirmary. And now, when all the action was over and she was safe and sound back in Atlantis, she had time to think once again, to really dwell on her thoughts. And she thought about Rodney and what he had done to save her.
Well, at least she wouldn't have to doubt his love for her anymore, she thought bitterly, recalling their fight. It seemed so stupid now. Zelenka's right, she thought. Not all battles are worth winning.
And then she buried her face in a pillow and silently cried.
