Disclaimer: As per previous chapters.
A/N Thanks to all who have reviewed, you continue to inspire me. Thanks also to Nicol-leoraine for her beta skills.
Chapter 9
The small family group of Bonyx grazing around the clearing surrounding the stargate threw their heads into the air as the chevrons began to engage. They grouped together nervously, snorting and pawing the ground, but as the wormhole activated with a whoosh, they turned and stampeded away, herding the youngest member of the group in front of them. Several monkey-like creatures in the trees at the edge of the clearing screamed a warning then huddled in anxious silence into hiding places amongst the leaves, watching to see what danger would result from the activity in the usually quiet clearing.
The glimmering puddle settled and as the moments passed, all was still. A barely perceptible ripple in the shining surface, followed by another a minute later was the only movement, then the gate shut down. The creatures gradually relaxed, as they saw no apparent threat, and resumed their interrupted breakfast of tree fruits.
--ooOoo--
"Stay cloaked Jumper 2, we'll head towards the village. Keep your eyes peeled for any of the natives, or any of the Genii," Major Lorne ordered.
"Yes sir," jumper 2's pilot acknowledged.
They proceeded cautiously on their way, quickly realising that using the Life Sign Detectors would gain them little advantage due to the huge amount of wildlife that lived in the area. Forested areas were dotted with small clearings, trickling streams and the occasional rocky outcrops, and nearly everywhere that they could see the ground, there was movement…birds flew around them, somehow managing to avoid smacking into the jumpers, the monkey-like creatures skittered wildly amongst the trees beneath them, and everywhere they looked, they saw Bonyx. What they didn't see was people – either native or Genii.
"The village should be just over the next rise," Teyla said, and Lorne relayed the comment to the other puddle jumper.
"Jumper 2, hang back and circle the village, we'll go in for a closer look," the major said.
The occupants peered out of the viewports of the jumpers, looking for any signs of people, but instead were greeted with the sight of a destroyed village. Most of the huts were collapsed smoking ruins, and craters pockmarked the landscape beneath them.
Major Lorne cautiously landed the jumper in the centre of the village, as the second puddle jumper reported no signs of life in the immediate area.
"Ronon, Teyla! Take 4 marines and check the village out, the rest of us will cover you."
The hatch opened, and the reconnaissance team slipped out, instantly darting towards the few still standing huts and flattening themselves against the walls, weapons ready. They quickly fanned out in teams of two, checking each building or the remains of one, then moving on to the next.
They met at the end of the village, conferred briefly, then Teyla hailed the major.
"Major Lorne, it appears the village has been abandoned, there are no bodies left, and apart from the obvious signs of destruction, there are signs of a hurried departure. There are cart tracks heading towards the north-west."
"Do you think you can track the refugees?" the major asked.
"Yes," Ronon answered simply.
"Right, in that case, start tracking them, we'll follow you for support. Jumper 2, go back to the gate, and inform Atlantis of what's going on, then catch us up."
Hearing affirmations given to his orders, Lorne lifted the jumper up and started slowly following the tracking team, all the while keeping an anxious watch on the LSD and the surrounding countryside. Who knew where the Genii were?
--ooOoo--
John lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. As long as he remembered not to move, most of his injuries stayed relatively quiet, the 'good stuff' Beckett gave him being quite effective. He'd worked out for himself that his major injuries seemed to be to his shoulder, his ribs and his head…and for some reason, to his throat…or more specifically, his voice. He remembered feeling something hit his neck at the same time he'd last seen Kolya, but didn't really know what it had been.
As he lay there, he could hear the reassuring tap-tapping noise of fingers on a keyboard. He knew without looking that McKay was there, but saw little reason to try to get his attention again. What was the point, when anything anyone said was just a jumble of meaningless sounds? He knew it was just him; that it was a result of his injuries, and he also suspected that it was probably connected to his head injury. The good part about that was that at least for the moment, the persistent headache had faded a bit, and was currently bearable.
Hearing footsteps approaching he turned his head minutely, and watched as Beckett approached him, a PDA in his hand.
"Ok Colonel, I think this might be the way to go," Carson said hopefully, as he walked up to him.
Halting beside the Colonel's bed, Carson paused briefly while he typed something on the PDA, then turned it to show John what he'd written.
Sheppard looked at the screen eagerly, figuring that at last, he'd have an idea of what was going on. It took a moment for his disbelieving eyes to actually realise what he was seeing, and his dismay was obvious to both Beckett and to the now watching McKay. He slowly brought his good hand up to his eyes and rubbed them, before looking back at the screen.
Chicken scratchings! Not English! Not French or Spanish! Not Hieroglyphics…not even Ancient, which he'd started to be able to recognize a little. Chicken scratchings! That's what it looked like to him. A schizophrenic chicken had somehow got onto the PDA and had been madly scratching it up looking for the juicy worm it's pea sized brain had told it might be there. Squiggly lines, straight lines, dotted lines and broken lines, that's what his brain told him his eyes were seeing.
He closed his eyes tiredly, his face falling in defeat. The momentary excitement he'd had at the sight of the PDA now dropped him hard on his proverbial ass, and the disappointment rolled off him in waves. Opening his eyes again, he saw a similar look echoed in Beckett's eyes, and he watched as the doctor slowly put the PDA down on the next bed.
"Damn, I really thought that might have worked," Beckett muttered. He slumped down to sit on the bed beside it, and regarded the PDA with a disgusted look. Turning back to Sheppard, he saw the hazel eyes watching him. He saw the frustration, dejection, pain and worry in the prone Colonel's gaze, and tried to smile reassuringly.
"Well, we'll just have to think of something else," he said.
More footsteps approaching brought his attention to the doorway, and Elizabeth walked in to join them.
"How's he doing?" she asked.
"I'm keeping a close eye on his shoulder, it seems ok for the moment, but any excess movement could create a problem," Carson explained.
"I thought you 'glued' him together, why would movement be all that bad," Rodney said, moving to join them.
"Here, I'll try to explain," and Carson grabbed a protesting Rodney, turning him around and proceeding to explain the difficulties he'd had repairing the Colonel's shoulder.
Elizabeth and Rodney listened, trying to make sense of Beckett's explanation.
"Well, that's all well and good, but what about his being a vegetable, and not understanding us?" Rodney said snidely when Beckett paused. "I thought you said he should be ok when he woke up next. He can't even read!"
"The tests I ran a while ago show there doesn't appear to be any internal skull problems, so it would seem that his inability to understand us is just a by-blow of the concussion. I'm hoping it might be like a case of temporary amnesia…no actual problem I can fix, it just needs time to fix itself." Beckett sounded frustrated and perplexed at his diagnosis.
"I knew it! You really are a witch doctor, you have no idea how to fix him!" McKay accused.
"Rodney!" Elizabeth and Carson spoke in unison, with similar exasperated looks on their faces.
"Well? He doesn't, and he just admitted it. That's what I keep saying, medicine is just so much hocus pocus, unlike real science, where there's a reason and answer for everything."
Sheppard watched them all closely, desperately trying to work out what they were saying. He felt a sense of loneliness creeping in, an eerie isolation that ate at his insides with icy bites. Here he was, surrounded by his friends, he couldn't speak to them, and he couldn't understand what they said. He felt very small and alone right now.
They continued talking, his only clues to what they were saying various gestures and facial expressions. Then suddenly, his attention sharpened. Carson had spun a vocal Rodney around, and was pointing to his shoulder, moving his finger in various motions while Elizabeth watched, glancing from them to Sheppard and back to them again. It looked like Carson was explaining something to them, involving Rodney's shoulder…or perhaps his own!
--ooOoo--
Sheppard watched in mounting excitement, as Carson then moved on to pointing at McKay's head, still speaking in a steady tone. It really did appear that they were discussing his injuries…and if so…maybe, just maybe…he sucked in a deep breath causing his ribs to stab at him. Perhaps he wasn't quite so alone after all.
Grabbing hold of the bed rail he gave it a shake, causing it to rattle fiercely, and watched as 3 pairs of eyes turned his way. Raising his hand, he began making motions with it, all the while with his eyes on Rodney's face. Rodney, Carson and Elizabeth watched mystified, but as he continued, he saw a dawning look of comprehension on Rodney's face.
"Tell me he's not doing that," Rodney said excitedly.
"Doing what?" Elizabeth answered.
Sheppard continued moving his hand, eyes boring into McKay's, who suddenly moved his own hand in response.
Sheppard nodded at Rodney, grinning for the first time since his return from the planet.
"Ah-hah!" McKay crowed in delight.
"What?" Weir and Carson asked, their question nearly lost under the gleeful noises McKay was making.
"He might not be able to understand us if we speak to him, or even if we write him notes, but it looks like he might just be able to understand sign language," McKay cried in delight
Carson and Elizabeth looked at each other in silence, then Elizabeth spoke.
"I know sign language Rodney, and that isn't it!" she stated.
"Maybe not 'proper' sign language, no…but you haven't been on many missions Elizabeth. I have, and I've had to learn the ridiculous sign language that these military grunts like to use when they don't want to use radios." Rodney puffed out his chest, and looked all-knowingly at them both.
Carson's jaw dropped for a moment, then he closed it abruptly. His eyes showed his thoughts were racing.
"Try him with the correct sign language Elizabeth," he asked, and watched as she turned to Sheppard and began motioning to him.
Sheppard watched her a moment, then shook his head in frustration, before making some more of his own hand signs.
Rodney smiled at Sheppard, made some more motions, then turned to his watching audience.
"He doesn't understand the formal sign language Elizabeth," McKay explained in a superior voice, "but as I really don't know if he knows it in the first place, that may not be relevant. What is relevant, is that he does understand military sign language, probably because he's more flyboy grunt than normal person. It's like a battle language. All the shoot 'em up and blow 'em up types use it in combat when they have to be silent. There's really only basic signals, such as go, stop, down, quiet, see, numbers and so on. Plus there's a few we've had to invent ourselves, like a sign for the Wraith."
Beckett and Weir listened in amazement, as they heard more about how military personnel managed to do their jobs in silence and still be sneaky about it. As neither of them had ever been in that type of situation, they didn't know the signs themselves; instead, a 'babysitter' was usually the one who whispered them instructions.
Finally, Rodney stopped, and Elizabeth got a chance to ask the question she'd been wanting to since they'd made this discovery.
"So? What did he say just then?"
To her surprise, McKay suddenly blushed.
"Ummmmm…well….ummmm," he hedged.
"Come on Rodney, what did he say," Carson asked impatiently.
McKay muttered something under his breath, turning his eyes to the floor.
"Dr McKay, I didn't hear you," the Scot said forcefully.
Rodney flicked his glance over Elizabeth, then looked apologetically at Sheppard where he lay in the bed watching with bright laughing eyes, before turning to Carson.
"He said," McKay sighed heavily, "that he needs to have a pee."
--ooOoo--
A/N I don't know if such an affliction as I've given John here is possible or not, but figured that as this is Science Fiction fiction, that I could probably get away with it. Bearing in mind that just about any doctor you ask will say the brain is a complex thing, who knows if it's really possible or not? If I've made a serious boo boo here though, I sincerely apologize, and ask that you simply enjoy the story. After all, this IS science fiction, lol. Enjoy.
