"Anything yet Major Lorne?"
"No Ma'am. We finally established a wormhole, but there was no answer. If anyone is in the building or in the Pavilions, they maybe shielded or out of comms range."
She noticed the pregnant pause.
"Dr. Weir, do you want us to go and search?"
'Yes more than anything. I want the cavalry to arrive and save the day,' is what she thought.
"No," is what she said. "We will wait to hear from them. No more into the breach Major. It might put them at risk; it would definitely put Atlantis at risk."
"Agreed Ma'am." His words agreed; his underlying tone did not. She felt the same way. "Alpha Site out."
The Gate shutdown for the umpteenth time since McKay and Sheppard had left on their mission. With no power, they could not effectively test McKay. Hell, the brig had no force field around it. Just guards with stunners. She felt like that little kid in front of the class in only her underwear. She sought out one of the engineers working on one of the many problems facing the city.
"Any progress Dr. Cooper?"
"Yes and no. In a few seconds, Dr. McKay somehow overloaded certain crystals that are irreplaceable or that we have not found a substitute for. The ZPM is fine, no damage. No damage to the console. He triggered an overload pure and simple. We are tracking down damaged areas," he replied in a muffled voice. His head, shoulders and part of his torso were lost in the bowels of the console.
"Thank you, keep at it. I will check on Dr. Zelenka. Dr. Beckett said he was going to be released." Weir exited the control center hoping that maybe Zelenka could speed things up.
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Strange sounds bounced around in his head. It was similar to a dial-up modem connecting with another computer. There could have been talking too. It was like picking up a radio station in his fillings.
"Did you say something Dex?" Sheppard opened both eyes. His vision was blurry but it was improved from just the one eye.
"Sheppard?" The dreadlocks came into view first.
"We need to talk about that hair Rasta Mon."
Now that his nerves had decided to play nice, he could rest a little easier. He still did not feel good. He felt warm and then cold. Almost like a flu bug, but noisier.
"Sheppard, can you hear me?" Dex grew worried as he faded out on him.
"Yes. Where is everyone?"
"The culling is over. We are preparing to leave." Dex sat down on the floor. He was alone with Sheppard as the others prepared to jury rig the papoose up all seven levels. "We have removed the gauze; your injuries are completely healed. But now you are running a fever."
Dex looked directly into Sheppard's eyes. Flecks of metal seemed to float in them. It had the same glittery look as the gauze. His concern peaked. He had not known this man for long, but he had allowed him to stay. This had earned a certain amount of loyalty.
"Can you walk?"
"I can't even raise my pinky finger. It takes all my energy to blink." Sheppard looked around the office. "Are you sure no one else is here. Someone's talking."
"No one is here Sheppard." Dex stood up and called down the hallway to Stackhouse.
Stackhouse jogged up, "What's up?"
"He is hallucinating or delirious. He's hearing voices."
Stackhouse peeked into the room. Sheppard was searching erratically around for something. He walked in and knelt down by his C.O.
"Sir, we are getting ready to haul you up the tube. Are you all right?"
"Yes. Just make them stop talking. They are getting too loud." Sheppard put the palm of his hand to his forehead. "Plus they are giving me a headache."
"Look into his eyes Stackhouse," suggested Dex.
Stackhouse did.
"What the hell is that?" Now his concern was peaked. Maybe Simpson had been right. It had still been the only option.
"What?" Sheppard asked.
"Sir, we are getting you to the Alpha Site as soon as possible."
"No. Atlantis. We need to go to Atlantis and fix whatever Rodney did." He raised his head up just a little and fixed Stackhouse with a commanding gaze. "That's an order Sergeant."
"Understood Sir."
He collapsed back onto the palette that was his bed.
"Atlantis, I'd better wake up in Atlantis."
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It had taken nearly an hour and a lot of sweat to lift Sheppard up the Jeffries tube. But, they did it. Once out, they triggered the door and started the hike back to Parcini.
They looked like pall bearers carrying a fabric casket. They had loosened the papoose and created a sling using the rope to form handles on either side of the console covers. Sheppard remained unresponsive through the entire thing. It was great when hauling him up a shaft, not so great health wise.
They stood atop a small rise on the road and looked down into Parcini or what was left of Parcini. It was destroyed. Trees toppled, buildings demolished and smoke rising out of the rubble. It was disheartening.
Stackhouse got out his binoculars and surveyed the town. Kramer joined him with the life sign detector.
"Looks like they got the doors to the Archive and the Health Pavilion down. That's a good sign." He directed his attention to Kramer. "Picking up anything?"
"The Pavilions are too far away. Nothing any closer." Kramer pivoted, trying every direction.
"This is Sgt. Stackhouse, anyone copy?"
Nothing.
He motioned to the group to start walking.
As they reached the edge of town, he tried again.
"This is Sgt. Stackhouse, anyone copy?"
"Sergeant, this is Dr. Dupree in the Archive. We are here!"
Smiles were shared all around.
"Doctor the Wraith have left. It's safe to come out."
"Well, that's the thing. We can't get the door open." The doctor laughed nervously. "The people in the Health Pavilion are having the same trouble."
"How many are with you?"
"About 200 Parcinese and four of us." Dupree continued, "The Pavilion has about 100 Parcinese and two of us. All the other expedition members already left with a few sick Parcinese."
There had been about 20,000 Parcinese. Everyone felt a little sick after that sobering thought. Maybe some had taken refuge in the other Pavilions.
"Alright, I will contact the Alpha Site and send for reinforcements. We have to get Col. Sheppard home."
"You're leaving us?" Panic evident in his voice.
"No. Col Sheppard is in bad shape, we are carrying him as we speak. I will dial the Alpha Site so they can send help." Stackhouse motioned to the group to continue the trek to the Stargate. As they walked, the radio transmissions form the Health Pavilion and Archival Pavilion came into range.
"They're leaving us!" The voice from the Health Pavilion cried.
Stackhouse really did not want to deal with this right now. He was about to explain the whys again, when the canvas started to jerk.
"Ford!"
"Sir, it's all right. We are heading to Atlantis."
"Stop...the voices! Right into the beam…An entire solar system!"
"Set him down."
Stackhouse leaned over him. Sheppard was drenched in sweat and writhed around with a wild look in his eyes. He grabbed Stackhouse by the vest and pulled him down.
"Subroutine 01000100...checked. Clear. Subsystem, net, Pav., Health, Bed 0100001000...checked. Clear. Subsystem, net, Pav., Health, Bed 0100001001...checked. Clear." He closed his eyes. "Too fast, too much, can't understand." He reopened them.
Stackhouse watched as his commander's eyes turned to liquid silver. It reminded him of mercury from a thermometer.
"I shot him… in the leg." Sheppard's voice produced a hollow, mechanical laugh. "Unable to connect…You're like a kid aren't you? We haven't gotten to the hard part yet…Run diagnostic…too fast…can't open door…sorry…will comply…" He let go of Stackhouse and pressed the palm of his hands into his eyes. "Sergeant…something's…wrong."
"No shit," he answered and then added, "Sir."
"Command…creator…directive…over ride…open door." Sheppard practically gasped the words out.
"Hey, what was that?" The team overheard Dupree on the radio. "How…the door's open!"
"Same here!" The Health Pavilion exclaimed.
Sheppard shouted, arched his back and continued, "Stop diagnostic…loosing oil pressure…return to normal function…We're going down!" He tried to gouge out his eyes. Dex grabbed and held his hands. "Can't understand…don't…know…"
A wail came out of his mouth and he completed the raving, one sided conversation. "That would be Dr. Weir right? Diagnostic halted…returning to normal mode." His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he passed out.
The group exchanged bewildered looks.
"Let's get him home," directed Dex.
"Dr. Dupree take everyone to the Alpha Site. We will meet you at the Gate and let you dial first. Tell…no…I'll talk to them." Stackhouse nodded to everyone. They picked Sheppard up and finished the trek to the Gate.
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"Hello Dr. McKay." Elizabeth gave a small smile.
"So, London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down…"
"Stun him."
They moved him to the infirmary. Zelenka, Kavanagh, and the new man, Dr. Cross finally figured out how to deactivate the loop and return power to and from the naquada generators. They had limited systems, the infirmary being one of them.
"Let's get the restraints on him and hook him up," Beckett directed his staff. "Call up Rodney's baseline brainwave pattern. OK, let's compare."
Unlike with Lt. Cadman, the consciousness of the other individual did not coexist separately. Beckett studied the readings. The pattern was unified. A single wave pattern with elements of McKay's and the Wraith's.
This was all fine and good, but since he did not know what caused this, fixing it would have to wait. His hands were tied until they could get back to Parcini.
Alarms went off. He guessed they had them connected through the generators. At least they had one line of defense.
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"Dr. Weir to Command." She was already entering when the call went out. "Incoming wormhole."
"Do we know?" She waited. All guns trained on the event horizon.
"Receiving IDC…It's Sgt. Stackhouse's." The technician turned and smiled. "He has Col. Sheppard." The smile faded. "He needs a medical team and decontamination procedures."
She and a few others leaned over the balcony as the group came through.
Nine hours after losing contact with Parcini: Dex, Kusinagi, Simpson and Stackhouse with his team returned to Atlantis. They carried Sheppard through on the sling.
He was shrieking.
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A/N: Whee! The first drop is over with or is this the second? Did I mention Shep whumping? Not letting our boy off so easily. Support the whumpage-please review.