Warning: Language
Chapter 14
Is There Anyone Home?
"Um…greetings friends, this is Eldred. Are you receiving me?" was how Atlantis found out where Rodney and the Colonel were located.
Carson had just stepped onto the second tier of the Gate room when the chevrons engaged and the fantastic, blue, glowing pearls fluttered around the giant necklace. Eldred of the second Atlantis had called and requested assistance for Dr. McKay and Col. Sheppard. Carson was about to do an about face to get his gear, when Lorne told him to stay put. Lorne had said with unequivocal harshness that: "The Doc would have to step over his dead corpse to get to the Gate."
"You're not going Doc and that's final."
Carson chased after him like he was seven years old and wanted to go to that friend's house that his mum did not like.
"From his description of their conditions, they'll be needin' medical attention," he insisted, pleading his case.
"Oh, I agree Doc. Just not your medical attention. I'm sending corpsmen. If this is a trap and Michael is waiting on the other side…" Lorne kept talking as he walked from console to console.
Carson hung his head. "I understand." He did, he really did. He just didn't like it.
Lorne nodded to the sergeant at the Gate controls.
"Jumper 5, this is Flight, you have a go."
Jumper 5 lowered and launched itself through the puddle.
Jumper 3 soon followed after it gained clearance and an all clear from the other side of the puddle.
Eldred met them and led the team to a small hut that Ronon later described as a shed. Baldric waited for the group outside of it and pointed the way into the dark, little hovel. Ronon entered first and found McKay seated and shaking against one of the clapboard walls right inside the doorway. He aimed a hand-held stunner at an unconscious Sheppard who was lying on the floor opposite of him.
"He's still a she," McKay said with a voice just as shaky as his dirty hand.
Ronon said that he walked up to check Sheppard first. Finding a strong pulse, he turned around and immediately noticed the discoloration on McKay's shirt. Even the dim interior light could not hide something so prevalent.
Carson remembered being mesmerized by each little muscle in the Satedan's jaw line as he recounted his story. They rippled like liquid with tension and restrained anger.
As an aside to Carson after the official debrief, Capt. Schaub said he had never heard Ronon shout so desperately for anything as when he called for the medics. The captain was unnerved at how the perceived superman had faltered when faced with another teammate decorated with a feeding mark. It should have unnerved the captain because it did not often happen to Ronon.
Both wayward men were now safely tucked away in the infirmary. Col. Sheppard purposely remained in a state of sedation and Rodney rested comfortably. Ronon stalked the corridors outside and, occasionally, held up the walls inside keeping tabs on his team.
After Rodney was wheeled in, he held up a pouch. "I'm fucking Santa Claus, or the damned Wise Men. I bear gifts and a message of comfort and joy."
Carson called Lorne to join them as Elizabeth was wheeled over in a chair.
"First, the message." It was strange not hearing any arrogance from the man. And, it was sad. "This," he pointed to his chest, "is a message of just how restrained the Wraith can be. I quote directly, 'Tell Dr. Beckett and the others of my restraint,' end quote." The man still delivered on the condescension, though. "Guess I should add a 'Love, Michael' to the end of it."
Rodney had not been fed upon, just sliced into like the spiral cut, holiday ham. His chest had the distinctive handprint festooned in the middle of it-- a message with a bloody seal of approval on it.
See, I don't have to act like Wraith, the message basically said
Carson was not sure if that was better or worse to Ronon. He was sure it was better in many ways, but the violation was still inexcusable to Ronon's way of thinking. And rightly so.
"Now for the gifts: number one is Sheppard. She's still in there, but hey, we get the dubious honor of evicting her. All we have to do is serve her with electronic papers. Easy."
Rodney opened the flap on the little, tan, membrane bag with fumbling fingers.
"Number two is this little data module. Michael said even though our original deal…" Rodney started to laugh in the not-funniest sense of the word as he pulled a spherical blob from the little pouch.
"Take your time, Rodney," said Carson.
Rodney let the mirthless chuckle continue for a moment more before pressing on with his story.
"Even though our original deal was prematurely broken, the services rendered demanded payment. He said this is the information about the queens."
Lorne took the little, inorganic blob from him. "I'll make sure Dr. Zelenka gets this."
"Yes, yes because the third gift is what Radek's already working on. The transmitter and recall device to get these Goddamn things out of our Goddamn heads." With Michael's correspondence delivered, Rodney melted into the bed.
Michael, in his own perverse way, was living up to his end of the original deal. Why he had left anyone alive was up for a great deal of speculation. Why he surrendered the queen in Col. Sheppard's head…Carson's own head was feeling the need to explode trying to figure this all out.
"Anything else, Rodney?" Dr. Weir asked.
"Just that I had to stun him two times in addition to the one time Michael did. She's a persistent bitch and wouldn't take her beauty sleep as prescribed by Dr. Rodney. I also had to drag that bony, heavy ass to the town to get help. Bastard dropped us off just north of the middle of nowhere, so…my shoulder also hurts a little," he sheepishly mumbled.
"We'll take a good look at it while you under the scanner, Rodney," Carson gently stated.
Elizabeth placed a hand on McKay's arm. "Glad you're both back. I have to ask: they got a cloak from one of the remaining Jumpers, didn't they?"
Rodney nodded. "We couldn't very well store all of them here. She must have used Sheppard's knowledge to figure out where to go. Apparently, she knows something about cloaks because she practically hard wired it with a minimal assistance from yours truly. Sheppard couldn't have that detailed of knowledge. He likes to fly 'em, not fix 'em."
"The implants have similar technology. Guess she didn't want to let Michael know that though," said Carson.
The door to the infirmary opened and stopped the conversation. Zelenka walked across the room with an air of satisfaction that made Rodney sit up even farther in the bed.
"Oh, I like the look on your face, Radek," Rodney crooned as he nearly leaned all the way out of the bed trying to see around Elizabeth.
"We've found out how the device works. Since we are the broadcasting the signal to block anything we might have erringly transmitted, you shouldn't have felt any effects." He looked at them questioningly waiting to prove his statement right.
"No Radek, we didn't drop off during any conversations. At least, I don't think we did?" Rodney looked at each face in the room lingering on Elizabeth's who shook her head uncertainly.
"Nay, neither one have zoned out for lack of a more precise term," answered Carson secretly amused that falling asleep without warning had somehow become commonplace.
"Now, from what we know," Zelenka began, "The octopus in Colonel's head is modified. This may not have any effect on him what so ever. But, you can send short, deliberate messages to us. If it is all right with Dr. Beckett, I'd like to send you back to this state to find out if you can ascertain the Colonel's condition. However, I think it's wise to do this before the effects of the sedative wear off."
"Why?" Elizabeth asked.
"She's still in control; right now she can't do anything with his body. Of course, the extent she controls device in head is pure speculation until we remove it. We already have some clues on how to handle freeing him from the implant because the both of you said "reset" when you awoke the last time."
Carson looked at the two of them. Elizabeth was already returning to her bed and Rodney was easing back into his. With the pair's obvious answer conveyed, who was Carson Beckett to stand in the way?
"Let's get them ready!" he called out to his staff.
Within minutes, the Colonel had two nurses stationed at his bedside. With the monitors and leads double checked, they waited for Carson's signal. The same went for Elizabeth and Rodney. Carson positioned himself at a station to keep track of all three.
Once everyone was ready, Carson acknowledged Dr. Zelenka and Dr. Zelenka reengaged the device. He turned to Dr. Haushaur, who had followed him into the infirmary, and motioned for her to cancel the electronic jamming.
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Elizabeth opened her eyes to Rodney standing across from her and John lying on the floor. The Queen, still looking like John and standing over him, rounded out the quartet.
Upon seeing them, Lucy furrowed his brows and smirked, "Well, my job is done. I was just waiting to see if you would come back and check on him." She knelt down and ran her hand across the top of John's head like he was her pet. "I relinquish my control of the trigger. He's all yours; I give him back."
The Queen let a cadaverous grin cross her copied face and dissolved into a swirling, cotton candy mist. However, John remained on the floor frozen in suspension, his status unchanged.
"She's erasing herself," Rodney observed over the singing children. "But she didn't revive him."
"Rodney, when Dr. Zelenka shuts the transmitter off, John's not going to wake up. Even now…"
"Even now, his body's probably shutting down."
"Life support!" Elizabeth shouted. "Rodney you figured it out before, you knew with the reset. How do we…?"
"Your job is life support, mine is…mine is…we need to turn him back on…and that sounds so…well…"
"Rodney focus; we're running out of time! They'll be pulling us back soon!"
With no easing into it, the falling sensation engulfed them both with John following suit.
"Now or never, Dr. McKay!" Elizabeth screamed.
But which phrase to use? She heard him think as the playground swirled away and she took up her requisite mantra to repeat over and over and over.
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High pitched, mechanical squealing and a shout from across the room welcomed her back from Never, Never Land. The nurse standing next to her shouted at the melee a few beds over.
"Life support!"
Carson nodded back and yelled, "Right!"
A nurse from Rodney's bed yelled, "Turned off!"
Carson looked at his staff and dourly said, "Complete intervention."
Dividers went up and equipment brought over. Her last glimpse of Beckett was of a nurse snapping gloves on his hands. More personnel poured behind the curtains and she just lay back in her bed waiting for Carson to come out. She would wait for him to walk out and say everything was fine and of course you can see him. She knew that was not going to happen from all of commotion behind the flimsy screen.
She spied both Teyla and Rodney trying to sit up farther in their respective beds to see what was going on behind the curtain. Rodney smacking at the nurse made his efforts seem a little more urgent. Teyla balancing on her good arm while it was shaking from the effort seemed superhuman. They knew what was happening, but they needed to see him-- just in case.
After the indeterminable eternity passed, the whir of machines and the beeps of other machines started to fill the infirmary's air. Snicks, and pumps, and bleeps told everyone not in the know that John Sheppard's body still had a chance.
Beckett called from behind the curtain for Dr. Zelenka. He edged his way over nervously looking at each of them as he walked. He looked a little green around the gills, but maintained an all business face as he stepped into the closed off area.
"We need to get this thing out so we can study how to…what did Rodney and Elizabeth say?"
"Reset," Zelenka said quietly.
"This is a temporary measure. He can be kept like this for a while, but this is not a preferred way of living. We need to figure this out as quickly as possible." Carson kept his voice low and respectful.
Zelenka remained behind the curtain for approximately ten minutes and exited with the transmitter. Still maintaining a greenish hue, he immediately looked at Rodney. "We successfully removed the implant. We need…"
"…ours to compare," Rodney finished.
Radek nodded as he spoke, "The implants are like those in the chair at Ixion, and so we have been scouring all information we downloaded from it. Your "reset" gave me idea. There was a "return to normal" type of command in computer, correct?"
Rodney sat up in the bed and his eyes brightened as if to match all the mechanical sounds coming from Sheppard's area. "Exactly, that's what I must've been thinking!" He shook his head in smug disbelief, "I amaze even myself sometimes."
Elizabeth had to agree. The entire team amazed her and it was most of the time. Teyla's arm was bound to her body to prevent movement and still she levered herself up on the other. Bandages peeked out from under Rodney's scrub shirt as he gave his input to Zelenka. He was already well into having Sheppard up and dancing to the oldies by the end of the day. And Ronon, whatever he had said to Carson had had a profound effect. There was a snap to the doctor's step that had been missing for far too long.
They had a one of a kind dynamic that meshed in some inexplicable way. Sheppard's team was like residents of the Island of Misfit Toys who had found a home. Each member was diverse and unique in some little way that made others underestimate their cohesion.
She was very glad they were on her side because heaven help anyone who stood against them.
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A/N: Didn't leave a cliffhanger this time, hunh? OK , so maybe I sort of, kind of killed Shep again, but that's so easily fixed, right? Well, thanks go out to everyone who has reviewed and read. Totally appreciated!
Anyway, we're almost there folks! And for those of you in the U.S., Happy Thanksgiving!