In this chapter, a few more problems come up with Destiny and Rush is finally up and about.

Chapter 7

"Do we have any idea why the Destiny is shifting all it's power to the chair?" asked Young as he continued to pace inside the Control interface Room where most of the Science Team was looking over different consoles.

"None," came Brody's short reply but he was busy looking over his console to see the glare Young aimed his way.

"Any other explanation would be appreciated Brody," said Camille before Young could snap.

"I don't know what to give you," came Brody's reply as he punched a few more buttons on his console and a schematic of some sort appeared before them. "Look, all we know is that Destiny is running on low power levels already and most of the ship's energy that was supposed to be for the shields and the FTL drive suddenly shifted to a new system: the chair."

Young sighed and got his radio. "Lt. Scott please have a detail on the chair room." He stopped then thought it over. "Better make that the hallway. No one in that room without my consent or knowledge."

"Yes sir," came Scott's quick reply.

"Why are we still in FTL then?" asked Greer to the Science Team when the Colonel was done.

"Because we apparently still have enough energy for other systems," explained Volker. "Or at least the ship still has to spare besides the different things going haywire in her systems."

"We're running on how many then?" asked Young.

"No estimate...but I'm pretty sure we're going to drop out of FTL soon," said Eli but that just made the colonel glare at him.

"Greer," commanded Young without ceasing his glare at Eli. "Just in case, have some men ready at the gateroom."

"Sir!" saluted Greer and left the room just as Telford sighed and ran a tired hand over his face.

"What are the chances that we drop out of FTL into empty space?" asked Telford and the Science Team just turned to each other. "Let me guess, no definite answer?"

"Well no definite answer until Rush wakes up," clarified Eli. "Some of the other systems that use full on Ancient might tell us something, but I'm not really the person who can switch from English to Ancient at a snap."

Young was all but ready to snap but Brody intervened. A headache was already building and he didn't want to listen to a lecture that would be barked at them, "Look Colonel, we're going to try and learn what we can...but if you want a definite answer. You're going to have to wake Rush and fix whatever the Lucian Alliance did to him or we're all going to die."

Everyone in the room, military or Science Team, all turned to Brody in surprise. He was always an easy going guy and sometimes people didn't even take him seriously...especially when he said that he was going to try and bring alcohol to their limited resources on the ship.

Young must have caught something in his expression because he just nodded and left the room. Camille and Telford both followed him out with surprised look on their faces while the Science Team continued to look at Brody.

"Come on," said Brody softly. "We have to figure something out…"


"What was that about?" asked Camille as she and Telford caught up with Young at the hallway near the Infirmary.

Young didn't reply but did turn around to face the other two. He avoided Telford's eyes and gazed pointedly at Camille.

"You're Human Resources, I'm pretty sure you know what's going inside Brody's head," whispered Young and Telford looked between the two of them until finally Camille sighed.

"What happened to Rush isn't his fault," began Camille. "Neither is it yours."

"That wasn't your opinion a few hours ago," snorted Young.

"I said you should have pulled him out but I didn't say it's your fault that he's like this," argued Camille.

"Hold up," cut off Telford. "Why would Brody blame himself for what's happening to Rush?"

Camille sighed and looked turned to the other man who she all but witness die in one of the rooms in Destiny. "Because Brody was the one responsible for venting the atmosphere out of that room."

Telford's eyes widened with realization and sade nothing more. Camille turned back to Young who was looking at the floor not meeting her gaze.

"Finding someone to blame, blaming yourself or Rush won't do us any good," continued Camille. 'For once maybe you could take a leaf out of Rush's book and just focus on the work and what needs to be done to stay alive."

"What needs to be done is for Rush to be awake and not battling memories of torture so he can solve and fix the problem." replied Young in a low voice.

"Then we find people who can help TJ with that," fired back Camille. "Meanwhile, we're going to help the Science Team try and figure things out with Destiny's system. Wouldn't that be a more productive way to spend what could be our last hours alive instead of looking for someone to blame or wallowing in our own self-pity?"

Camille turned and headed back to the interface room before the two men could even digest her words. Young sighed and shook his head. Brody was already doing as Camille had suggested and just went back to work, already concluding that it would a better use of his time to save their lives instead of blaming himself for what happened.

Why was it easier for Brody than it was for him?

"Everett?"

Young looked up to see Telford a few steps beside him. "Go with her. I'll go see what I can help with at the Infirmary."

Help...that was a start.


His head felt like it was trampled on by something…

Actually it wasn't just his head.

He felt like he was run over by a truck then trampled by an elephant and then maybe pummeled with a sledgehammer for good measure. Or maybe a jackhammer would be a better comparison?

A pained groaned escaped his lips. Even thinking was an act that could him drag him back down to unconsciousness and an endless sea of pain.

"Dr. Rush?"

Another groaned escaped from him as the room slowly came into focus...the light blinding him suddenly as memories came rushing back.

He was on Destiny. He was on a ship in the middle of nowhere with people who pretty much wanted him dead which was a more possible scenario than living if he had to be honest…

"Dr. Rush? Can you hear me?"

He blinked a few more times before TJ's face finally came into focus on one side of his vision. "Welcome back."

Rush manage to lift his head slightly. Sure enough, he was still on one of the beds in the infirmary despite having memory of already waking up and talking to TJ and Young about-

"It happened again," explained TJ as she helped him sit up. "Why does it look like it hasn't completely passed?"

"I...I don't know," admitted Rush, having no energy to argue or mask what he was feeling right now with any of his usually snark. "I think it's getting worse."

"You think?" said TJ automatically, regretting it instantly and wishing she had better self-control than that. "Sorry. So you're still feeling the effects?"

Rush nodded. "Unlike before when I woke and there was a dull ache either in my chest or my head...this time I feel like I was ran over by no less than a dozen cars, an elephant and whatever else you can think of." He groaned and let his head drop down into his hands.

They weren't real. They were memories...flashbacks of what had happened. But why did they feel real?

"I think the device hotwired your brain or something," explained TJ and Rush's head shot up. Did he ask that out loud?

He was regretting the course of action as the room turned slightly and TJ must have noticed his expression because she gently placed a cup of water in his hands and told him to take calming breaths.

"Easy," she coaxed as Rush slowly drank, hoping that the water stayed down. He had already passed out in front of the woman, he didn't want to add throwing up to the things TJ had seen him do.

"So too much work, boredom and talking with the Colonel are the things you can't do for the time being," began TJ, trying to lighten the mood but only got a snort for a response from the Scientist. "I'd add not eating and sleeping-"

"Technically sleeping relaxes the mind and from what happened the last time, I don't think sleeping will help," argued Rush.

"Well keeping you awake won't do us any good either," fired back TJ, willing herself to not get short with the man. He was the one reliving torture and not her. "I'm sorry. Look, Rush, I'm just trying to figure out a way to help you."

"You can help by leaving me to fix this by myself," said Rush, the usual strength in his voice noticeable absent.

"We've done that," said TJ, shaking her head. "Didn't work."

"It's only been a day or so," said Rush, discarding the now empty cup on the table beside his bed.

"And yet you've have two attacks next to each other," said TJ. "It's not working and we need to find a way to cancel whatever the Pulse has done to your head because we need you to be up to fix-"

"Yes because that's the most important bit and not my well being."

TJ's eyes widened and she was too stunned to even react when Rush jumped off the bed and headed out of the Infirmary without another word.

"Dr. Rush!" she finally shouted after him when she got her bearings. "Wait!"

"Save it Lieutenant," called back Rush without looking back at her.

"That's not what I meant," said TJ, catching up with him. "Please, just stop and hear me out."

"What else is there to say?" said Rush, not meeting her gaze. "I got us into this mess. Serves me right to be reliving my torture because it's the right penance for what I did, getting us all stranded in Destiny."

"That's not what I meant," began TJ.

"Oh it was pretty clear," replied Rush as he made to continue to leave the infirmary but TJ just placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Please-"

"Stop acting like you care Lieutenant," said Rush harshly. "Nobody on this ship ever gave a damn about me because as they have surmised on their own, I don't give a damn about anyone else but myself." He paused to glare at her. "Fixing every problem we're faced with was all because I didn't want to die...not because I give a damn about anyone else on board! I took my name out of that stupid lottery because I knew what was going to happen not because I didn't want anyone to die in my place and that I was bloody terrified!"

He stopped and leaned on one of the beds, energy finally being spent.

TJ was at a loss for words and they just stood there for a while until TJ manage to will herself to stand right next to him, leaning back on the bed.

"I'm sorry," she said after a few more moments of silence.

"Forget it," came the automatic reply.

"No," argued TJ. "You're right. Everyone of us onboard think that you only keep fixing or solving all our problems is because you don't want to die...you haven't really given us the reason to think otherwise."

"I'd love to hear your point TJ," said Rush, his usual tone a relief for TJ.

"But," she emphasized with a small smile. "We shouldn't have judged you so quickly." She paused to look at him. "I shouldn't have."

"It doesn't really matter now does it," sighed Rush, not meeting her gaze.

"It does," replied TJ. "To me, it does. And to your team, to Chloe, I'd wager even to Camille. Just as much as we care about you, Dr. Rush."

Rush nodded finally but still avoided her gaze. That was a start anyway. "So any ideas on how we can stop you from going back to the memories you'd rather just forget?"

"As much as everyone believes I have all the answers," began Rush, finally looking up to look TJ in the eye, a small hint of a smile on his face. "It usually just comes to me unexpectedly and I just try it out."

"Don't let the Colonel hear you say that," said TJ, but the seriousness of the conversation both made them focus. "The problem isn't just avoiding the things that could trigger an episode."

"It's about cancelling it out as well," said Rush. "I agree."

"So what could be strong enough to cancel that recall?" asked TJ. It was meant to be rhetorical but as soon as Rush saw the instruments on one of the tables in the infirmary, they got their answer.

"I think I have an idea."