Chapter 13-Inside a Mind of two Scientists
Rodney opened his eyes and saw whiteness above him. Thinking he was in the infirmary and the lights were bearing down on him he called out, "Carson, turn those damn lights off, they're hurting my eyes."
A quiet voice responded, "They are no lights. Only the vast expanse, you, and me."
He sat up and looked around, the voice was correct, only the empty whiteness surrounded him, he was back in his own mind. He looked behind him and saw Garin lying on his back, his eyes closed. Anger immediately swirled through his head and he jumped him, gripping his white linen shirt and shook him, punching his face with his right hand in between words.
"You…son…of…a…bitch!"
Garin threw Rodney off of him, stood up, and yelled, "Damn McKay, what are you doing!"
Rodney tackled the Ancient's legs, and pinned him to what can be called the ground. "What does it look like?" He started hitting Garin's head against the white ground, "You took over my life!"
Garin responded angrily by punching Rodney in the jaw and took the opportunity to force him on his back and within a moment his hands were wrapped around his neck.
Rodney struggled swinging his fists at Garin's sides, but the Ancient's eyes were flooded with wrath and didn't stop.
Then something changed as he stared into his eyes, Garin's face fell from rage to remorse and slowly relinquished his grip. Without a word, he stood and backed a few steps away, looking down at Rodney and at his own hands, and then turned his back.
Rodney got to his feet and rubbed his neck, "Why didn't you just finish the job! Nothing you haven't done before. What were their names…Davis and Lockhart?"
He turned around as he responded quietly, "Fighting among ourselves is pointless. For one, neither of us can be killed in this reality, and two, I never intended to become what I have."
Rodney immediately realized that he was not out of breath, nor did he hurt in any way, and that Garin showed no signs of being injured himself. He yelled out of exasperation, "This is not happening!"
"I am afraid that it is." Garin looked right at him, "The last thing I recall is the ship crashing, waking up here for a short amount of time and getting extremely tired as I was standing. Then I woke lying down and you were lying where you were. Nothing I attempt to control seems to work."
Rodney scratched his head, "Well, we're in my mind huh? And neither of us can control anything… I'm probably unconscious from the wounds."
"Wounds?" Garin looked a little confused.
Rodney's anger rose again, "Yes, I'm injured, probably dying in the back of the Jumper where no one knows where I am and it's your entire fault!"
Garin's also rose, but he kept it in check, "Do not put the entire blame on me." He pointed to himself, "I only wanted to make a visit to my house and pick up something."
"You took control of my body for four days, and did the same to Kate with your wife! This whole thing is your fault."
Garin folded his hands behind his back, "My wife's name is Elana and I am sure she is treating Kate extremely well since she found out what happened after I copied her."
"Oh, yes, that you're a murderer, a criminal, insane, and a lunatic. Did I mention murderer?"
"Do you think that is what I intended to do when I went to speak with the Council Members privately?"
The two men were standing about six feet apart yet in the empty white space, "What else am I supposed to think?"
"Those articles tell little detail. The situation… escalated and I reacted. I was not myself at the time, my emotions were… off."
Rodney snarked, "That makes me feel soo much better."
"I
wanted my wife back and they would not let me continue with my work.
All I had was my work and family. I could not just let Elana slip
away. Would you not do everything in your power to save someone you
cared for?"
"I would, but not destroying others in the
process!"
"It was unfortunate, but there is nothing to do about it now."
"Unfortunate? Two Ancients are dead, I'm dying, and Kate has Elana in her mind. I cannot understand what would posses you to do this! You can't go around doing these things. A Wraith took your wife from you, yes, but we have lost some damn good people to the Wraith too," His voice cracked remembering the super Wraith, Abrams and Gall, "so you believing you can do whatever you want is incredibly dense."
"You have no idea what I have been through at the hands of the Wraith so keep silent about it or I swear I WILL COME OVER THERE AND SILENCE YOU MYSELF!" Garin took a step towards him.
Rodney instinctively took a step back, "YOU TOLD ME! Your wife was killed by one!"
Garin took a moment and calmed, "Do you believe that is all they did? They took my life, McKay, not directly by feeding on me, but by feeding on the ones I loved! I could not let Elana go, she was the only thing that kept me going after …" Garin stopped talking.
"After what?"
"Nothing you need to know about."
"It's not like we're going anywhere! So you might as well tell me."
"Let it rest McKay. I am asking you politely."
"Politely? You took over my body!"
"I am aware of that fact."
Rodney's innate curiosity beat his anger, "Well, what else did they do?"
Garin looked straight into Rodney's eyes and slowly stated, "They took my son. A seven year old boy. Are you satisfied now?" He stepped away.
Rodney was stunned but still went on quietly, "It still doesn't give you the right to-"
"I know. I never meant for this to happen when I copied Elana. I truly had the best intentions." Garin was no longer looking at Rodney.
"Some of the worst crimes have been committed with the best of intentions."
"I am painfully aware of that. My work was supposed to keep the great minds of our society alive, and instead all it did was destroy. The ultimate goal was to regularly copy the minds of out leaders and take cellular samples in case they were killed in the war. That way, we could clone a new physical body and not loose them."
Rodney added to Garin's statement referencing the articles, "After the incident with you the others stopped the work because it was 'corrupting and degenerative.' Corrupting, obviously, degenerative… I assume they meant the eventual breakdown of DNA that has been cloned repeatedly."
"That is what I also assume. They were correct though, it posed too many problems." He sat loosely cross-legged on the ground.
Rodney was lost in thought and also sat down, his legs out in front of him bent to form a narrow triangle, wanting to lie back on something, but there wasn't anything at all. There really was no point in fighting more, it wouldn't get them anywhere. He began to piece the facts together.
We're stuck in some white world of nothingness in my brain because of the crash, and I woke up in the Jumper the first time but Garin said he woke up here. The trauma must have pushed him out…then I passed out…so did he…and we both woke up here… but why wake up in here? No fun delirious dreams for me, I'm stuck with this psycho… What changed? What the hell is going on out there?
He sighed and wondered what else he was supposed to talk about to the Ancient who invaded his mind, it was talk or sit in silence. They had covered quite a bit of material in the past twenty minutes.
---
Dr. Beckett was standing over the side an infirmary bed taking just a moment to look down at the pale Chief Scientist before notifying the others. He had tubes leading into his arms- one for fluids and one for blood, EEG sensors stuck to his head, a heart monitor attached to him, a blood pressure monitor, and oxygen, along with a bandaged chest, left arm in a cast, side injury stapled closed, and a calf muscle sown up. He was in still in a coma after a couple hours in surgery, but was stable in everything else, unlike when he first came in.
This had to be one of the more difficult parts of being a doctor, the waiting. After the fury of work when a patient first comes in and knowing all has been done that could be, all that was left was the checking of vitals and waiting. Waiting until something changed, hopefully for the better.
"Doctor?"
Carson spun behind him to see one of the nurses standing there, "Yes, Carolyn?"
"I've just double checked the blood supply, and the last pint of O positive is hanging there." pointed to Rodney's bloodline. "Captain Balsa and Dr. Wood have donated too recently, but there is someone on the night shift that is awake now, Dr-"
"No, there's no need for that. I have someone in mind. I'll go get her myself."
"Yes, doctor. I'll be waiting here for her." She looked down at her chart and jotted something down.
"No, there's no need, I'll take it."
Carolyn eyed Carson's face, he had heavy bags under his eyes, "This is my shift, you should get some rest since you've been working since eight this morning and it's," She looked at her watch, "Well, it is now three minutes into Saturday."
He chuckled a little, "I know you're right, I'll head to bed in a few minutes, right after I take care of this."
"Yes, doctor." Her slight smile hid her worry as she walked back to the desk the nurses had claimed as their station in the next room.
Carson took one more look at Rodney before heading out to the makeshift waiting room just beyond the main area of the infirmary. A small group consisting of John, Elizabeth, Aiden, Teyla, and Kate/Elana was assembled there. They were sitting on chairs dragged there one by one from the mess hall by people who had team members and friends in the infirmary over the past few months.
Elizabeth was the first to speak, "How is he?"
"He's stabilized, but he has not regained consciousness since he was brought in and he is in a comatose state. He has two broken rib bones, a fractured left ulna, a torn tendon in his lower right leg, a gash in his left side, and a concussion."
John's eyes widened along with the others throughout the explanation, "Is that all?"
"I have him on fluids, oxygen, and a blood drip. Oh, and Elizabeth, I was wondering if you would like to give a small donation as you're the same type as Rodney and I'm out, he might be needing more." Everyone there had felt like they gave something directly to the cause of helping Rodney- the team found him, Kate/Elana told them where to go, and Carson patched him up, and he just wanted to make Elizabeth have something tangible like that. Though they all knew she was the backbone of the expedition.
She folded her hands in her lap, "Of course."
"Is he going to be alright?" Teyla asked.
Carson avoided giving a definite answer, "We'll have to see if, when he wakes up."
Aiden asked the question that was on everyone's minds, "But he is going to wake up, right?"
Carson once again avoided a yes or no answer, "From the looks of it, he spent quite a few hours lying in the back of that Jumper and he lost a fair amount of blood and took a great amount of trauma. It is basically a waiting game."
Elizabeth began to stand, "When would it be safe to remove Garin?"
"I want to be sure that the procedure, even as short as it is, won't do unnecessary damage. The counteragent has been tested on the suppressant, but I want to run a few more tests before I go giving it to Rodney."
John was still sitting, "How soon will that be?"
"I'm aiming for the morning. Now, I must insist you all get some rest. Elizabeth, if you would come with me."
Kate closed her eyes and rubbed her temple, not having said anything during the past conversation. She was worn out, but trying not to show it. "It has been a very long day, Kate."
-Yes it has.- "Carson?" She stood as Teyla and Ford said their goodnights.
He turned to her, "Aye?"
"Keep us informed, please."
He nodded and she left with Aiden and Teyla, leaving Carson, Elizabeth, and John in the room.
Carson and Elizabeth started walking into the infirmary, followed by John, but Carson noticed and gave him a 'where do you think you are going?' look, which John responded quickly to, "I'm going to see him."
"Alright, but not too long."
The three walked into the central room of the infirmary, one bed being occupied by Rodney, and the one next to it having a metal cart with supplies on it. Carson thought that Carolyn must have placed it there.
Carson motioned to the bed, "Have a seat please."
She sat down, looking over at Rodney, "He really does not look well, Carson."
"I know." He picked up a finger blood pressure monitor as John pulled up a chair in between the beds and sat down.
John motioned to the sensors on Rodney's head, "Are you detecting Garin this time on the EEG?"
"Aye. It's the strangest thing, the last time he went undetected." He directed his speech at Elizabeth, "Lie back, palm up."
She did just that and he slid the monitor on her finger. "Any idea why?"
"Garin's a smart fellow. I'm sure he could have found a way to evade me." He took off the monitor, "Your pressure is 110/66."
John kept looking at Rodney's face, he only looked like he was sleeping, "Why are you detecting him now?"
He picked up an ear thermometer from the cart and started taking her temperature, "I'm guessing it has to do with Rodney being comatose. Garin would be in the same situation. 98.3, now I just have to make sure you're not anemic." He set the thermometer down and picked up a small needle and thin tube.
"I wonder what is going on in that mind." She winced a little as Carson pricked her finger and then took some blood in the tube.
"I suppose we'll never know. Okay, I'll be right back, you stay here." He left the ranking military officer and expedition leader looking tired and weary over at the chief scientist.
Yawning himself, Carson tested Elizabeth's blood in a small machine that spun the tube. Everything looked good for the donation; her hematocrit count was 38, so he headed back into the room where the others were.
"Eliz-" Carson stopped as he noticed she was now sleeping, along with Major Sheppard who was on a chair in between the two beds. He didn't have the heart to wake them, if he did and they walked back to their quarters, they might not get to sleep, and they needed it. He picked up two blankets, spread one over Elizabeth, but thought John shouldn't be sleeping in a chair.
He turned to the Major and after a few mumblings in his sleep, managed to get him into a bed on the other side of Elizabeth. He spread the second blanket over John and then went to get Carolyn.
She looked up from her station in a different room, "Doctor, what can I do for you?"
"Page the other Doctor for a donation. My contact fell through."
"Right away."
"Thank you, lass. I'll be in my office." He went to get some sleep himself; his staff had thoughtfully put an infirmary bed in his office. He trusted the night staff, but he still wanted to be near in case anything with his patient, the only patient at the time, changed.
Xxx xxx
Rodney looked over where Garin was sitting down, they had been sitting in silence for an uncalculated amount of time, if time even existed like it was on the outside. He remembered there was still one topic to fully discuss. "You know you cannot stay, right?"
"I am not going to leave, so do not waste your breath."
"After all this talk about knowing what happened to your family doesn't give you the right to do this, you still refuse to leave? This is unbelievable!" He stood up.
He also stood, "I would prefer to be alive, and what is done, is done."
"The others know about you now, you're not going to be allowed to stay!"
"Well, they wouldn't know where I dialed the Gate to, so this conversation is irrelevant."
Rodney's anger escalated, "Oh, yes, how could I forget. I'm dying!" He shoved Garin, who stumbled back a step.
Garin shoved back, "Because you wouldn't let me fly the damn ship!"
"Well, it is my body!" Rodney pushed Garin's shoulders, but he didn't move and instead they got into a wrestling match, Garin forcing Rodney to the ground, only to get swept himself. It would have been comical to see, Garin at one point getting Rodney into a head lock, only to be elbowed in the face.
When they finally separated and stood up, and Garin spoke, "This is ridiculous! Let us just stay away from each other."
Rodney nodded and they started backing away, watching one another, the space in between increasing until it was about fifty feet. He looked around at the bare and empty white world he was stuck in, sat down, and grunted. This really sucked, as far as he knew, his body was still in the back of the Jumper, dying, and he was here in this place. He scratched his head and figured his body was not strong enough to create any other place for them, two minds fighting in one brain was evidently taking its toll.
TBC…
