Chapter 10 – Picking up the Pieces

Thompson continued to hold onto McKay's hand even after Rodney had been rendered unconscious. Part of him was trying to find comfort in the touch so that he could lessen his own guilty feelings of negligence as he felt partially responsible for McKay's condition. He also hoped it would break through and keep McKay alive in those precious few minutes before the medical team arrived.

He felt firm hands pulling him away and allowed them to guide him over to the wall as the newcomers swarmed around the man on the floor. He watched in a daze as they jabbed needles into McKay's arms and held IV bags aloft as they continued to work on him. He felt a sudden tiredness threatening to overwhelm him, but he was snapped out of it by his CO's voice.

"What happened here, Dr Thompson?"

Thompson relayed details of the attack as the medical team took Rodney away.

Caldwell asked, "What about Dr McKay? You said he got stabbed in the leg."

Thompson sighed and said, "I think he had internal bleeding from the falling bulkhead and when he was punched earlier."

Caldwell frowned, "And he didn't go or even ask to go to the infirmary?"

"No."

That was not entirely true though, as Thompson suddenly remembered that McKay had asked to go many times, but never for himself. He thought that maybe McKay had used his concern for Zelenka as a mask that he not only wanted to check on his friend, but to get himself checked out too. Thompson thought that McKay may have left it for too long though and he had little faith that the rudimentary conditions in the Daedalus infirmary would be enough so that the medical team could do anything for him.

Caldwell nodded, "Alright. I want you to continue working on the power grid. The rescue teams from Atlantis should be here within the hour."

Caldwell approached Major Feeney, who was still standing guard over the unconscious attacker. Caldwell knew the man; he had known him for over a year since he had come onboard the Daedalus. It was Corporal Simon Hollis.

Caldwell knew the brig would not be working, so he addressed the Major, "Take him to a spare room and restrain him. I want a guard of at least two on the door at all times."

With the assistance of one of his colleagues, Feeney grabbed the Corporal, who was slowly returning to consciousness, and took him away.

Caldwell was about to head over to the infirmary when his radio activated, "Sheppard to Colonel Caldwell."

He smiled as he replied, "Caldwell. Go ahead."

"We've got some gear for you. Where do you need it?"

"Not a moment too soon," Caldwell thought. He said, "Acknowledged. Bring the generators to engineering and take the medical supplies to the infirmary."

He glanced at Thompson who returned a relieved expression. He said, "Good work, Doctor."

Thompson nodded once, but then sighed and said, "It was mostly McKay."

Caldwell pursed his lips and then said, "Do what you can with the generators, I'm going to check in with Corporal Hollis and our guests."

He walked away and a few minutes later he was facing down the man who had probably murdered many members of his crew. Forensic evidence would need to be gathered and analysed before he made any accusations, but at least one attack was now confirmed.

Hollis had a crazed expression as he sat on the small metal chair by a table in the crew quarters doubling as a makeshift brig. He was glaring at the wall and did not acknowledge Caldwell's presence. Major Feeney had come into the room with him and had his stunner ready and aimed at Hollis.

Caldwell voiced his single question, "Why?"

Hollis chuckled, but the sound reverberated hollow emptiness, devoid of all mirth. He glanced up at Caldwell and his eyes were blank and emotionless as he started muttering, "We're all going to die out here. Space… space and Wraith." As he continued to babble, he rocked back and forth gently and closed his eyes.

Feeney mumbled, "He looks a little twitchy. Shall I stun him again, sir?"

Caldwell saw that he was handcuffed to the desk by the chair and shook his head, "No, Major. Make sure he stays here and no-one else can get to him."

Caldwell hoped Feeney understood the hidden meaning in his orders. Lots of angry and scared people would be looking for revenge as soon as they found out about the attacks and needless deaths. Hollis was the only one they could heap their grief upon and Caldwell trusted Major Feeney to protect him against any potential vigilantes until he could be properly secured and returned to Earth for the help he needed.

Doctor Jenkins regarded her fragile patient as he lay on a hastily vacated gurney. The man who had been occupying the bed was now being tended on the floor as McKay's more serious condition had necessitated use of the bed.

She knew they had no more blood left to transfuse. The last of their supply had been used during Dr Zelenka's surgery. She sighed as the heart monitor hooked up to him continued to beep alarmingly fast nearby and the low blood pressure alarms sounded.

She knew McKay had been thoroughly checked several hours ago after he had been hit and no life threatening bleed was noted. He had then been emphatically told to return if he got worse or any new symptoms developed. He had not and now the internal abdominal bleeding had spread to such an extent that his life was in the balance.

She sighed as a grim choice formed in her mind. They could operate to repair the damage and risk the chance that the surgery would kill him or wait and hope that he was strong enough to survive until the rescue came with the requested medical supplies. Either way, they would need to do something soon to ease the pressure on McKay's diaphragm. The knife in his leg had been well wrapped, but not removed, to prevent any further blood loss.

Her medical team stood nearby and watched her in expectation. One was using a hand pump to ventilate McKay through the breathing tube in his mouth leading down into his lungs.

Jenkins sighed and furrowed her brow as the seconds ticked by. She was just about to issue her orders when someone behind her asked, "Need any help?"

Jenkins frowned in confusion and spun around. She almost laughed in relief when she saw Dr Keller standing there with what looked like half the medical staff from Atlantis along with trolleys of equipment.

She gestured to McKay and said, "Definitely."

Sheppard had heard about what happened to McKay the moment he came onboard the Daedalus. He had forced his concerns aside when Jennifer exchanged a worried look with him and then dashed to the infirmary with her team and equipment. He knew Rodney was in the best hands he could be as far away from civilisation as they currently were.

He had helped the others carry the generators over to engineering. Caldwell had then asked him to carry out a structural analysis of the Daedalus using the Puddle Jumper's advanced sensors and feed the results back to main engineering.

He was currently out in space while he patiently waited for his next order.

"Caldwell to Sheppard."

"Go ahead."

"The analysis is complete. Until we know it's safe to reinitialise the engines, I'd prefer it if we were a little closer than five hours away from the nearest help."

"The takeaway pizza would get cold in all that time, sir."

"Precisely. I'm transmitting coordinates to you now. They're grapple points. My acting chief engineer, Dr Thompson, advised that you could use them to tow the Daedalus nearer the gate."

Sheppard raised his eyebrows and Caldwell continued, "I'd like you to liaise with Thompson about exactly how to do this, Colonel. Make sure my ship stays in one piece."

"Yes, sir."

Sheppard was finding it increasingly difficult not to radio the Daedalus for a report on McKay's condition, but he stopped himself. There were more people in danger than his friend and he needed to keep his emotions in check if he was to work to his best ability in order to help them all.

A few minutes later, he shot the Jumper's grapple and joined the other small ships which had come to help. They then began the slow and arduous process of towing a much larger and badly damaged spaceship halfway across a solar system whilst making sure none of the ships fell apart.

A few hours later, Sheppard was sitting in the briefing room along with Caldwell, Thompson and Mr Woolsey. Every member of the medical staff was assisting in treating the injured. McKay had come out of surgery and had joined the steady stream of medical and science personnel going through the gate in Jumpers back and forth from the Daedalus. The ship was now positioned right next to the gate on the other side.

Mr Woolsey had remained silent while the rest of the information about what had happened on the Daedalus was relayed to him from Caldwell.

At the end, the Colonel said, "We now have the evidence we need to prove that Corporal Hollis not only carried out the murders, but also sabotaged the systems and called the Wraith down on us."

Sheppard frowned, "Any ideas why he did it?"

Caldwell looked uncomfortable for a moment, "Unfortunately, yes."

He paused and appeared to gather his thoughts, before he spoke carefully, "Corporal Simon Hollis has been on my ship for over a year. In all that time, he's only been off the ship once, which was when it was being refitted with the Asgard plasma beams and other upgrades. But he spent that time underground at Stargate Command."

Sheppard baulked, "So he hasn't seen anything other than interior spaceship hulls and concrete in all that time?"

"Yes."

Sheppard released a low whistle and muttered, "Cabin fever…"

Caldwell inhaled a deep breath before he spoke again, "He's in the brig on Atlantis for now." He nodded his thanks to Mr Woolsey, "And then we'll take him back to Earth. We should be able to find a nice outdoor place where he can be looked after."

"And see the sun again," Sheppard added.

"Yes." Caldwell turned to Thompson and said, "Now for the condition of the Daedalus, I'll turn your attention to Dr Thompson."

Thompson nodded and said, "Yes, sir. Repairs are underway now with the assistance of the science department from Atlantis. We should have main engines online within the next day and enough to form a hyperspace window to get to Atlantis a short while later. With your permission, Mr Woolsey and Colonel Caldwell, sir, it would be better if we landed the Daedalus on one of the piers to avoid so many EVAs to repair the hull."

Mr Woolsey nodded and Caldwell looked at him for approval before he voiced his own decision, "Agreed. The Apollo is also on its way to offer assistance."

Thompson smiled and Mr Woolsey said, "Alright, you all have a lot of work to do. We can meet again for a more in depth mission report at a later date."

Everyone got up to leave, but Sheppard was still not quite finished, "Dr Thompson?"

He remained and looked puzzled as Woolsey and Caldwell left the room and the doors swung shut behind them.

"Colonel Sheppard."

John was very angry about what had happened to Rodney when he had left his friend to the care of the Daedalus crew. Sheppard had tried to visit McKay, but the infirmary staff had sent him away. However, they had told him that Rodney had spent many hours suffering from a slow internal bleed and that it must have been absolute agony. They were all surprised he had been able to function at all, let alone repair systems in his condition. The Daedalus crew had all but killed him in their failure to protect the scientist where Sheppard had trusted them.

He knew that Thompson was the one who had spent the most time with McKay so the responsibility fell mostly on him. He said dangerously, "I can't believe you let McKay work in his condition. He shouldn't have kept going while he was hurt."

Thompson looked down in guilt and mumbled, "I didn't know it was so bad. I thought he was alright."

Sheppard continued to glare at him. He knew McKay could be difficult to manage if many lives depended on him. His arrogance always made him believe he was the only one who would be able to save everyone in time. Even if he killed himself in the process, McKay had a mentality that always forced him to carry on regardless of his own pain and fear.

Sheppard knew that had he been there he would have made McKay return to the Daedalus infirmary. He also knew that few other people would have seen the signs to do the same or would have had the nerve to ask him to go.

He sighed and said, "You're lucky he's so stubborn or he'd be dead right now."

Thompson said sadly, "Why did he continue to work with it?"

"He's Rodney McKay, it's what he does."

"So everything written about him in the reports is true?"

Sheppard softened his expression and nodded, "Yes, every last detail. I should know; I was there for most of the missions."

He patted Thompson on the back as he walked past. "I'm going down to check on McKay and Zelenka. You know, it might be easier to get past the infirmary staff with both of us going. That is, if you can spare a few minutes?"

Thompson frowned in confusion as he asked, "Strength in numbers?"

Sheppard smiled grimly, "Something like that."

TBC