Teyla only lingered long enough to instruct Ronon to take the others back to the Puddle Jumper. Dr. Jackson chose to follow her and she didn't complain. The man could keep up with her and at the moment, that was all she was concerned with. She could hear his boot steps at her back and the rustling of leaves and other flora being disturbed by their careful but hurried movements. She pushed herself hard, not sure how long Colonel Sheppard had. A thing branch sliced a shallow cut in her neck, but she ignored it and kept running.
They skirted the village, cutting across the cliff wall the backed the one permanent building in the settlement. The rock was covered in thick moss and vines, but it didn't slow them down. Together, Teyla and Daniel started searching, patting down the moss and tearing away vines. Daniel was the one to find the door, which was set into the rock and completely overgrown.
"Third door," Teyla said to herself as Daniel pulled open a heavy door. In the back of her mind, she wondered how an old woman like Nidrah ever opened this on her own.
The hall was dark, the only light coming from the bright moon outside. Teyla still had her P90 and the light attached, so she turned it on and aimed it down the hall. She moved inside, cautious, but still moving quickly. Their boot steps echoed on the smooth tile floor and the flat, dull grey walls and ceiling. Just as Nidrah had said, there were three doors, spaced evenly, along the right side of the hall. Each door was matte silver with a latch and no indication of what was inside the room. At the movement though, short of someone trying to kill her she had no interest in anything but the third room.
"These doors are locked," Daniel said as they moved past the first two doors.
"As long as the third is not," Teyla replied. She stopped in front of the last door and tried the latch. It was locked. They had no key, there was no number pad to override the lock, and they didn't carry any tools they could use to pick the lock.
"Could always shoot it," suggested Daniel, glancing from the latch to Teyla.
Frowning, the Athosian looked around. "There is a high possibility of ricochet."
"True, but what choice do we have?"
Letting out a short sigh, Teyla nodded. "Fine, but be careful."
Daniel looked momentarily surprised that she wanted him to do it, but the expression disappeared as he stepped up and pulled his side arm from the holster. He stood an arm's length from the door, aiming at the latch and covering his face with his free arm.
"Okay, on the count of three. "One…Two…Three!" On the last number, he pulled the trigger. The bang was ear-splitting in the enclosed space, but Teyla was happy to see the destroyed latch hanging limply from its mounting. She nudged the door open with the toe of her boot and it swung open. Whatever sound it may have made as it did was lost on both Teyla and Daniel.
The room in front of them was brightly lit, the white walls blinding after the gloom of the hall. A waist height wooden table sat in the center of the room, the surface covered by all of the equipment that had been taken from John, Ronon and Daniel. Teyla was glad to see that, but she was relieved to see the wall length storage unit at the rear of the room. It reminded her of the coolers in the infirmary where Dr. Beckett stored certain medicines and samples. The doors—six total—were clear glass so a person could easily see the contents. Only one shelf was occupied. Behind the third door, on the top shelf was a rack with three vials.
"I'll grab as much of this as I can carry, you get the serum," said Daniel, already slipping on his TAC vest.
Teyla approached the cooler as she pulled the pendant from her pocket. Next to the handle for the door was a small rectangle with an indentation. It looked like it could have been the mould from which the pendant was created. Taking a deep breath, Teyla pressed the pendant into the indentation and there was an audible click and a beep. Without hesitation, she pulled the door open and carefully pulled out one of the vials. As she held it in her hand, only now did it cross her mind that whatever the contents were may be poisonous. It may kill John instantly. Before she closed the door, she grabbed a second vial for Dr. Beckett to test.
Slipping the vials into her vest and making sure they wouldn't smash against one another while she ran, Teyla went to help Daniel. She grabbed the remaining vest and P90 off the table, slipped the last handgun into her waistband like Daniel was doing and then reached up to activate her radio.
"Ronon, we are on our way back," she said, leading Daniel back into the hall. There was silence for a moment and a crackle of silence before any reply came.
"You might want to hurry." Ronon eventually replied. There were voices in the background.
"How is he?" she asked.
"Listen." Ronon was quiet for a moment and in their ear pieces they could hear agonized shrieks. "Just hurry."
Teyla and Daniel exchanged a brief glance before breaking into a flat out sprint. She hoped they wouldn't be too late.
~oOo~
"Can't we just zap him?" Rodney asked, cringing. Between the pain in his leg and Colonel Sheppard's screaming, he was ready to kill someone.
"At this point, it would be too risky," Edrah replied, trying to hold John's arms flat. They had him stretched out on the bench in the rear of the Puddle Jumper, pinning his arms and legs so he wouldn't hurt himself. Mednai was sitting next to Rodney on the opposite bench, gnawing on his bottom lip and quivering in fear.
"Why can't we just take him home?" Ronon asked.
"We need to keep him flat for a while, at least until the bleeding slows. It's best we give him a chance to calm down before taking him through the 'gate," Rodney said through gritted teeth.
"Any shook to his system could kill him right now," Oderyn added, holding John's leg's flat.
"And 'gate travel can be a pretty big shock."
Ronon just grumbled something under his breath before walking back down the ramp to keep an eye out for Teyla and Jackson.
"We are going to have to go through though," Rodney added to himself, watching John and feeling utterly helpless. The Colonel was breathing fast, clenching his jaw and arching his back. There was another string of screams before he sagged against the bench again. The man was in a very bad way and they would have to get him back to Beckett sooner rather than later.
"Rodney, dial the 'gate and tell them to have a medical team waiting." Teyla said into his ear, interrupting his thoughts.
"Oh it," Rodney answered, pushing himself to his feet. He hobbled to the front of the Jumper and collapsed in the pilot seat. With practiced ease, he dialed Atlantis and watched the Stargate through the Puddle Jumper windscreen.
"Atlantis, this is McKay," he said, trying to keep some of the panic out of his voice.
"Go ahead, Rodney," Dr. Weir answered almost immediately.
"As soon as Teyla and Jackson get here, we're coming through. We need a medical team ready when we get there."
"For who?"
"Colonel Sheppard. One for me wouldn't hurt either," Rodney replied.
"All right. We'll be waiting."
"Shouldn't be long. I'm leaving the 'gate open."
"Understood."
Rodney was just pushing himself out of the chair when Ronon disappeared from the Jumper. Moving as fast as he could, Rodney hobbled through the Jumper and down the ramp. Ronon closed the distance between the Jumper and Teyla as she immerged from the forest, Jackson in tow. Ronon took the extra gear from Teyla and his pistol from Jackson as they slowed to a jog.
"Rodney, can you fly the Jumper, or should we leave it?" Teyla asked him before she even reached the bottom of the ramp.
"Are you kidding? Sheppard would kill me if I left the Jumper behind. I can't promise a smooth ride though," Rodney replied, hobbling back to the front of the Jumper.
"It's a short trip," Jackson said, slipping into the co-pilot seat. He was breathing hard, his words airy.
Before Rodney could say anything, someone hit the panel for the ramp, sealing the ship up for the short ride through the wormhole. Just like he thought, the take-off was a little jerky and he brought the Jumper around too fast, but he was able to get them through the Stargate in one piece.