Chapter 20: I could really use an advantage here
I got to Colonel Carter's office just in time to hear the tail end of another 'wacky' John Sheppard plan. Carter had already disappeared and Ronon and Teyla followed as soon as they saw my expression.
"You want to use a piece of Alien technology to talk to Rodney in his sleep?" I asked incredulously.
"Look what that thing did to Doctor Heightmeyer!" John said harshly. "Do you really want to give it time to do something similar to McKay? You know he can only stay awake for so long!"
"Of course not," I retorted. "But I don't want you going into this thinking you have to atone for something."
"I'm not," John insisted. "We'll ask Rodney before we proceed but I'm pretty sure he won't be keen to reveal his nightmares to anyone ... I'm guessing that in the end he'd rather it was me than someone else."
"Okay, fair enough," I agreed reluctantly. "Just ... be careful. This thing has proven it can kill from inside a dream ... and we have no idea how it accomplished that, or whether you can be affected too even if it's not your dream."
"I'm just gonna make sure Rodney knows it's not real," John insisted. "You know - stop him from doing anything stupid, give him some moral support."
"Don't underestimate how disturbing these dreams are John," I said seriously. "Nor how real ... if you really do find yourself inside Rodney's dreams, you may not have as much control over events as you're hoping."
"It has to be done," John was all seriousness too now.
Which is how I found myself standing in front of the observation window a couple of hours later. Below in the isolation room John and Rodney were already stretched out on two adjoining beds while Doctor Keller and Radek made sure the equipment was working.
"Are you sure this is safe?" I asked Colonel Carter, keeping my eyes on the scene below.
"We first encountered the technology ten years ago on a planet where the survivors of a holocaust were living entirely in a virtual world created in their minds" she explained. "Since then, we've managed to modify it for use in the V.R. training of S.G. team members. It only took some minor calibrations to tune it in to subconscious activity."
"So Sheppard is actually gonna see McKay's dreams?" Ronon asked curiously.
"Well, to be honest, the technology is untested for use in this manner," Carter admitted. "Dreams are much more random than conscious thought. It may be difficult for the system to translate what's going on in McKay's brain so that Colonel Sheppard can understand it. I'm just hoping that the two of them will be able to interact somehow."
"Yeah, they usually manage to do that ... somehow," I quipped a bit nervously.
"John will be fine," Teyla told me reassuringly.
"I hope so," I muttered, watching Rodney and John getting themselves set to start.
"We're ready if you are," Doctor Keller announced, getting the nod from both men. "Administering sedative."
Jennifer activated the drip going into Rodney's arm and he seemed to fall asleep almost immediately. Radek then turned on the device that was supposed to link John's mind to Rodney's.
"Nothing's happening here," John said with a frown.
"He's not dreaming yet," Jennifer told him. "Wait for it ...,"
A moment later John closed his eyes, giving every appearance that he was asleep too.
And that's when the frustration started. Because we had no idea what was going on. Rodney was clearly having a nightmare, his body writhing and his expression tormented as he fought whatever was after him. John didn't look scared like Rodney, but he too was obviously experiencing a fair level of stress within Rodney's dream.
"This is insane," I turned away from the window for a moment. But of course I had to turn back ... as if by my watching alone I could stop anything bad from happening to John. It went on for several minutes ... time during which we were in the dark about John's progress in helping Rodney. I'd taken to pacing impatiently in front of the viewing window before any progress was made.
"Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep."
The insistent monotonous tone of Rodney's heart monitor announced that things had gotten beyond grim.
"Oh my God," I muttered sickly, watching the drama unfold around Rodney in stunned disbelief.
Switching my glance quickly to John, I didn't know whether to be relieved or not that he showed no visible reaction to Rodney's plight. He was still asleep even though Rodney was no longer dreaming – surely that couldn't be a good thing.
Doctor Keller moved into action immediately, bringing in the defibrillator and applying the paddles to Rodney's chest. Radek meanwhile was using an airbag to breathe for Rodney, his eyes on the monitors the whole time.
"Stand clear," Jennifer told Radek.
Radek lifted the airbag clear and waited as Jennifer shocked Rodney. They both looked at the heart rate monitor as it started to emit the sound of a heartbeat. Faster than I would have believed possible Rodney opened his eyes and looked around.
"Oh, it's OK, it's OK. Just try to relax," Jennifer put a hand on his arm and reassured him.
"What's going on?" Rodney asked in confusion.
"You were in cardiac arrest," Jennifer told him.
"The entity?" Rodney looked at Radek for the answer to that question.
Radek had been checking the readings on his laptop and now he looked at Rodney with a worried expression. "It's in Colonel Sheppard."
"I'm going down there," the words were out before I had time to think. I don't know who I was directing them at, but Teyla was the one who stepped in front of me to stop my reckless flight down to the isolation room.
"It will not help John for you to put yourself in danger," Teyla said firmly.
I turned back to the observation window uncertainly, looking down with a tormented kind of frustration eating at me. There must be something I could do. John was clearly struggling within his own dreams now, his expression grim and determined.
"His heart rate is dangerously high," Doctor Keller told us.
"Can you wake him up?" Colonel Carter asked.
"I could try," Keller said uncertainly, "but in his physical state, that could make things worse."
"Yes, and the entity would still be in him," Radek added that obvious point.
While they were talking around the issue I stood silently, arms folded into myself as I willed John to come out of it on his own. Instead his heart rate jumped again before settling into a faster beat. This time I didn't announce my intention, rushing out the door and down to the isolation room before anyone could stop me.
I burst into the room just as Rodney sat up with his 'I've worked it out' expression firmly in place.
"Rodney?" I asked, ignoring the way Jennifer tried to stop me getting closer to John.
"You need to hook me up again," Rodney announced. "I know how to convince it to leave John."
"No," I said firmly. "Not two minutes ago you were flat lining! Tell me what to do and I'll go in instead. "
"Colonel Carter?" Jennifer looked up to the observation room for some kind of guidance on what to do next.
"You need to send someone who can convince John," I said firmly, looking up at Sam insistently. "He'll know it's me."
"Do it," Colonel Carter ordered after a short pause for thought.
"I was thinking about why the entity left me," Rodney explained as he was shifted out of the way so I could take his place with the device. "The only thing that makes sense is that Jennifer shocked me. The entity must be susceptible to electricity."
"You're suggesting we shock Colonel Sheppard?" Doctor Keller asked worriedly, hooking me up to so she could monitor me too. "That's not exactly without risk Rodney."
"I know," Rodney said weakly. "I'm not suggesting you hit him with a full charge, just enough to convince the entity we mean business – so it'll leave John and go back to its crystal."
"Okay," Jennifer looked at me expectantly. "You ready?"
"Yes," I said firmly. "Send me in."
oOo
It seemed that I closed my eyes for a second before opening them again. I appeared up the stairs looking down on the Gateroom. In front of me stood John ... and John. One was standing menacingly over the other, who was stretched out on the floor, leaning over an arm in exhaustion. I knew immediately which was which.
"Get up. Come on, John. FIGHT!" Alien John jeered.
"No," my John taunted weakly. "That's what you want."
"It's your fault Heightmeyer's dead," Alien John taunted. "Your fault McKay is dead."
"Rodney's not dead," I announced firmly as I walked down the stairs, understanding how the entity was weakening John, the dreams he must have already experienced. He was getting at my John through guilt ... trying to make him believe that somehow this really was all his fault.
It was kind of satisfying the way the alien John glared at me when he realised he no longer had the only ticket to influencing the real John. He stalked forwards, reaching out to grab me. I stepped back, and he advanced. John was trying to pull himself off the floor to help.
"John, fighting sticks," I called out urgently, spinning and ducking around the alien so I was now backing back towards my John again.
"What?" John asked in confusion.
"This is your dream," I reminded him, keeping my eyes on the alien version. "You must have some level of control over the environment ... and I could really use an advantage here."
Instantly I feel the comforting weight of the fighting sticks in my hands. Swinging them expertly I smiled at the alien John.
"That's more like it," I announced confidently.
"You can't win," alien John said with certainty as he advanced again.
"Now that's where you're wrong," I replied, stepping away from his intended hit and slamming my sticks across his back. The thought that I was hitting someone who looked almost exactly like John didn't bother to me ... it didn't even really occur to me because the real John was right there too. "Rodney worked it out," I told my John. "He flat lined and Jennifer had to shock him. It's vulnerable to electric shock – that's why Rodney's still alive."
John was weakly standing on his feet now ... both of us looking on as electricity surged through the alien. That's when the whole thing got a bit disturbing – watching a version of John writhing in agony while blue fire travelled over his body.
"What the hell was that?" John demanded when the electricity died away.
"Sorry," I said weakly. "Jennifer had to use the defibrillator on you too ... not a full shock, just enough to get the message across."
Alien John had fallen to his knees, weakened by the electricity. My John strode towards him angrily, grabbing his shirt and lifting him up to standing again. Then he spun the alien in a wide circle, doing a couple of revolutions before he had enough momentum to hurl the alien through the wormhole that had been shimmering in the Stargate the whole time.
"Nice work," I complimented.
"Thanks," John said weakly.
"I'll see you back in the real world," I added just before my eyes closed involuntarily. When I opened them again I was back on the bed in the isolation room, John in the bed beside me.
"Hey," I greeted him with a smile.
"Hey yourself," John returned. "Thanks for the assist."
"You're welcome," I replied. "Thanks for not getting mad I took Rodney's place."
"Even I'm not unreasonable enough to give you grief over something you did in a dream," John retorted.
"Good point," I dropped my head back on the pillow, relieved to finally have gotten rid of John's impersonator.
The side effects from John's dream world were surprisingly few. Within a few minutes we were both up and back to normal, enough that John led the mission back to M3X-387 to return both crystal entities to their own planet. The day ended in the usual way and then it was time for bed.
oOo
"You asleep?" I asked in a low voice, just in case John actually had managed to fall asleep during the hour since we'd turned off the lights.
"No," John admitted, turning to face me as he thought the lights on to low. "Not tired enough."
"Me neither," I agreed. "That alien is gone and it's still ruining our sleep!"
"You did good against it," John pulled me into the circle of his arms.
"It helped that it wasn't my nightmare," I pointed out. "The setting surprised me a bit ... I was expecting somewhere back on Earth I guess."
"Things were happening here because of someone who looked like me," John explained. "The entity was trying to use those feelings of responsibility against me. He had me convinced for just a few moments that Rodney really was dead. Before he couldn't resist showing himself and I knew it was no longer Rodney's dream, that it was me stuck in a dream of my own."
"What were you thinking when you realised I was there?" I asked curiously.
"It was pretty obvious up front that it wasn't part of the dream," John pointed out. "To be honest he'd kicked me around enough I was just glad to have some help. He did get to me ... otherwise he wouldn't have been able to knock me down so easily."
"I'm not so sure about that," I countered. "I tried to get free in my dream but the alien seemed to have some control over what emotions I was feeling. You managed to change something minor to help me because it was focussed on your emotions, not mine."
"I'm just glad I don't have to worry about having a starring role in another nightmare," John sighed sadly, "especially given what happened to Kate."
"She knew it wasn't you," I offered that comfort, believing it to be true. "What happened to her makes it obvious it wasn't just a need to feed off our feelings - those aliens are malevolent in a way I haven't seen before."
"Which is why we aren't going anywhere near them again," John promised.
"So was Rodney's nightmare as bad as he made out?" I asked curiously. "Without telling me the specifics."
"Not really," John laughed. "He did have clowns though."
"Definitely nightmare material," I teased with a feigned shiver.
"And whales," John added.
"Still?" I asked in surprise. "I thought he'd be over that after his experience with his buddy Sam back on Lantea."
"Apparently not," John replied. "Probably because Sam wasn't really a whale."
We lapsed into silence for a while, both of us still unable to settle.
"I'm not gonna be sleeping anytime soon," John finally announced with a resigned sigh. He sat up, looking down at me with a raised brow. "Snack?"
"Why not," I agreed, letting him pull me out of bed.
A few minutes later we were sitting at a balcony table in the Mess with a nice selection of nibbles in front of us. I was laughing at something John had said when a new voice joined us.
"Couldn't sleep," Teyla explained by way of greeting.
"Us too," John gestured for her to join us.
As she was pulling out a chair to sit down Rodney appeared with his own plate of food – considerably larger than ours of course.
"Thought I'd have a little snack before I ...," he commented like it was an every night event for us to be in the Mess after midnight.
"Yeah, we couldn't sleep either," John said just as casually.
It didn't surprise me when Ronon arrived moments later, followed by Doctor Keller. We had an impromptu 'we're not sleeping' party ... a rather fitting end to what had been a disturbing few days.
Author's Note:
Apologies for the delayed post ... had an internet slow down which seems to affect things like uploads. Anyway, back to normal now ... just in time for Travellers ... excellent!
Next Up? Fortunate Journey Season 4 Chapter 21