An hour after Ronan left, Carson was really wishing he'd taken Rodney with him. The Canadian scientist was ruthlessly efficient in a crisis, but with time to kill he was a right pain in the arse. For the past fifteen minutes, he'd been haranguing the doctor to find his laptop.

"Seriously, Carson, if you just look around, it's probably in one piece. Those things are built to withstand getting run over by a tank."

"And if I find it, what then? You can't bloody see the thing anyway."

"Well, obviously you'll have to help me out in that respect. I just want to take some readings, see what the damage to the jumper is."

"That's the least of our problems," Carson declared. "Besides, I can't be your lab assistant right now. I've got to keep an eye out for our lovely new friends."

Rodney sighed and pitched his empty water bottle away. It impacted with a bulkhead and fell to the floor with a hollow clatter. "Did you find any more water? I'm still thirsty."

"I'll look." Bracing an arm against the wall, Carson pushed himself to his feet. He leaned there, panting softly, and waited for his head to stop spinning.

"Carson?"

"Give me a moment, lad. Leg's asleep from sitting." Carson pushed off the wall and wiped clammy sweat from his brow with one sleeve. The jumble of equipment where he'd found the water seemed impossibly far away.

There was no longer any question in his mind. He was in trouble, and in very real danger of bleeding out before help arrived. His belly was rigid and distended beyond what could be blamed on his predilection for scones and jam, and his heart was beating too fast. And God, he was so thirsty. Scrabbling around the jumper trying to fill Rodney's drink order just added insult to injury.

"Here we are," he announced, injecting as much cheer into his voice as possible. He unscrewed the cap and placed the new bottle in Rodney's hand. The Canadian guzzled greedily, and Carson found himself captivated by the water that trailed from the sides of his mouth and down his face. The doctor gave himself a shake. "Try and make it last," he advised. "I don't see any others."

"Maybe you should keep looking," was Rodney's sage advice. "Hey, maybe you can find a lifesign detector. At least that way we'll have some notice before the Kalerians take you away."

Carson added the detector to the mental list of things he was scouting for. "You know, I'd appreciate a more positive outlook," he said, kicking a box of power bars out of the way. "Even if you think they'll take me off and do dreadful things to me, could you at least fake a little distress over it?"

"I'd miss you terribly. You're the only one on the medical staff who knows all my allergies by heart. And your needle sticks are almost painless."

"Why Rodney, that was almost a compliment."

"Hey, I'm not denying you're a handy guy to have around. You're reasonably intelligent. I mean, you almost elevate medicine to a science."

"How kind," Carson acknowledged sourly. He wiped his forehead again and sank to his knees, digging through piles of supplies and debris. A nylon strap peaked out at him, and he tugged, the effort bringing tears of pain to his eyes. He could have wept for joy when the attached pack turned out to be the jumper's emergency medical gear. "Come on," he muttered, fumbling with the zipper. "Please."

"Did you find the lifesign detector?" Rodney called.

"Not yet." Every emergency kit contained two units of IV solution. It wasn't as good as a blood transfusion, but if the bags were intact they would buy him some time. His heart dropped as he reached into the pack and encountered wetness. "Please," he whispered again, dragging the pack's contents out onto the floor.

One of the bags had ruptured during the crash. The other was intact. "Thank God," he sighed, uncoiling the tubing and hanging the bag from a jutting bit of metal. In short order he had started the IV on himself, taped down the needle and adjusted the flow to run wide open.

"Carson, what the hell are you doing over there?"

"Um, I found some rations," he said, dragging the box to him. He tossed a power bar at Rodney, barely watching as it bounced lightly off his chest. "Have a bite, eh?"

Rodney tore into the food, sufficiently distracted, while Carson continued to dig in the wreckage. "Ah! Found it!" The doctor blew some dust from the lifesign detector's display and activated the little device. Immediately, the screen lit up with tiny blips. Carson studied it a moment, his heart dropping to his aching stomach.

"Crap."