"It Runs in the Family"
Ch. 12
(Wraith Planet, Puddle Jumper)
Tris woke up with a groan. The others began to wake as well. Tris looked up at the Event Horizon. They were stuck in the Stargate. McKay had woken up. He noticed that Teyla had been thrown across the Jumper. Half of her body was sticking out of the blur horizon. McKay went and dragged her.
Tris pointed at the blue shimmering water-like Horizon.
"That's . . ." she began.
"That's the Event Horizon," McKay finished.
"Of the Stargate," Tris said slowly. "Damn."
"Jumper One, what's your status?" Daniels voice boomed through Tris' radio.
"We're stuck in the Stargate," Tris explained.
"The drive pod. The wing things that stick out while we're flying must've failed to retract. That's the only thing it could be," McKay told him through his radio, giving a side glance to Tris.
"They must have been damaged in the fight," Tris said slowly.
"Fight? What fight?" Daniel asked through the radio.
"The Wraith paid us a visit, Honey," Tris told him.
"Dr. Fox took care of the one's on the ground fairly well," Teyla told Daniel through her radio.
"Aw! It was nothin'" Tris waved the compliment away. "They're just like the Goa'ulds." off handedly Tris said, "I'm gonna try to get this bug off of Major Sheppard while Rodney fixes the Jumper."
"Keep us posted, Tris," Daniel said. "We'll see what we can do from our end. Good luck."
"Right. Tris out," she looked up at Rodney. "You have 38 minutes. Get going, Rodney."
Nodded and began to get his equipment out and start working on a conduit. Teyla looked at Tris blankly.
"38 minutes?" Teyla asked.
"That's how long before the Gate shuts down and we suffocate and die," she explained for the Ethosian. "Let's see what we can do for Major Sheppard."
"There's a First Aide Kit in there," McKay pointed to a compartment.
Teyla got up and retrieved it.
"Can we pull Stockhouse out?" Teyla asked, giving the kit to Tris.
"Thanks," Tris said.
"Our hands and arms would dematerialize as soon as we crossed the event horizon. There's no way to reach for them," McKay explains, as he is trying to fix the conduit.
Teyla looks around and remembers Major Sheppard. She goes to him.
"He must have been knocked unconscious by the impact," Tris told her.
The bug on Sheppard's neck is expanding like a leech. Sheppard begins to wake up. Tris is going through the First Aide Kit.
"Hi, Tris," Sheppard said.
Teyla gets up and comes to sit at his side.
"Are you all right?" Sheppard asked Teyla.
"I'm fine," Teyla told him.
"Something tells me we haven't made it to Atlantis yet," Sheppard asked Tris.
"No," Tris said.
Sheppard looks disappointed, then looks up and sees the event horizon.
"McKay?" John asked the flustered scientist.
"We're stuck in the Stargate," Rodney told him.
"You mean my day just got worse?" John groaned.
"There's no way of knowing, really, but ah, if you know of some way of manually retracting the mechanism…" McKay asked Sheppard.
"Cockpit, on the left," Sheppard told him, breathing heavily.
"The cockpit is regrettably demolecularized at the moment. But how about somewhere back here?" McKay asked.
"No," Sheppard said sadly.
"No. I didn't think so. Well, if you'll excuse me, I'll be a foot and a half over there, taking some readings, feel free to talk amongst yourselves," Rodney said, making his way over.
McKay is pushing buttons on his computer. He gets up and pushes something beside the doors and closes the bulkhead door. Everything goes dark.
"Sorry, here," McKay raises a light.
"Jumper one, this is Atlantis," Grodin spoke up through the speaker.
"Still here," Tris said.
"We recommend closing the bulkhead door," Grodin told them.
"Oh, good thinking," McKay looks irritated. "What else?"
"We're still working on the problem. We'll get back to you. Atlantis base out," Grodin said.
"Thanks for calling! Anyone else claustrophobic or is it just me?" McKay said, trying to stay calm, but failing miserably.
"Why'd you close the door?" Sheppard asked, groggily.
"So that when the Stargate shuts down and the forward section is severed, we're not directly exposed to space," McKay explained.
"Will it hold?" Tris asked.
"Like a screen door on a submarine, I just prefer apoxia to explosive decompression. It's a personal thing," McKay said,
"If the air is gonna get thin in here, you have to calm down, Rodney," Tris told McKay.
Wait till you see how thin it gets in 27 minutes…"
"McKay –" Sheppard said, warningly.
"Vacuum. That's thin," McKay mumbled.
"Knock it off," Sheppard told him.
"Well, I apologize for being the only person who truly comprehends how screwed we are!" McKay finally exploded.
"Don't talk to me about screwed," Sheppard shouted, causing him great pain.
McKay gets quiet, looks at Teyla and Tris. They hear a scraping sound.
To be continued . . .