Disclaimer: SGA - not mine, don't sue! For fan enjoyment, not profit….
AN: Sorry about not posting yesterday - in meetings until 9:30…SGAfan33 corrected me about Rodney's engineering expertise - apparently in "Duet" he claims to have a degree in mechanical engineering. So sorry - my bad. I'll fix it on the rewrite! ;)
Decompression - Take 2
By Kerr Avon
"Oh, shit!" cried the Major, wrenching the controls so hard to the right that the Jumper was almost on its side. McKay, unprepared for such a maneuver, was hurled from his seat onto the decking. Skidding into the bulkhead behind his chair, he managed to grab hold of the bottom edge of the secondary station and hang on.
Sheppard's ship had the same reaction, veering hard to its right as well. At first it appeared that they might clear each other by millimeters, the left side of the crashed Jumper passing just below the underside of the rescue craft, but that hope was dashed when the horrible wrenching sound of tearing metal reverberated through both vehicles. Part of the left drive pod of the lower Jumper tore away, exposing the workings of the pod in an explosive flash of energy. The process gouged the underside of the rescue ship as well, but no actual pieces fell away. Sheppard immediately lost any semblance of control he might have had, struggling to keep the vehicle in a vaguely upright position. Lorne kept his vessel level all the way down, executing a perfect four-point landing, but at teeth-rattling speed. It felt as if they were going to go through the beach. His body was thrown forward by the jolt of impact, and he struck his head on the console in front of him. He let his head rest there for a minute, thinking, 'I'm alive' in disbelief, followed rapidly by, 'I can't believe I've crashed another Jumper! Weir will kill me.'
Once the shaking abated, he sat upright, touched a finger to the rising lump on his forehead and muttered, "These things ought to be equipped with airbags." Confirming that he was otherwise unharmed, he called out, "Hey, Doctor McKay, are you all right?"
Rodney groaned as he pulled himself out of the corner he'd ended up in. "I think so, no thanks to you. Where'd you learn to fly, some aeronautical demolition derby?" He put a hand to his lower back, stretching. "Now even my bruises have bruises."
Major Lorne ignored him, being more interested in the fate of the other craft. 'A complaining Doctor McKay is a healthy Doctor McKay', Sheppard had once confided, so he dismissed his earlier concerns about the physicist's health and slapped the panel to open the rear hatch. He was greeted by a deluge; in all the excitement he had forgotten the storm. No help for it; pulling the brim of his hat down on his forehead to keep the majority of the precipitation out of his eyes, he headed outside.
"Hey, what are you doing?" cried McKay after him. "That's a monsoon out there!" The Major didn't alter his course, making straight for the other downed Jumper which could barely be seen in the fading light, about 500 yards away.
"Oh, for crying out loud…." McKay shook his head then hurried after him.
The other Puddle Jumper was seriously worse for the wear, and the soldier let out a low whistle as he squinted at it in the cloud-covered twilight. Sheppard had clearly not had as much control over his trajectory as he would have liked, and the ship ended up halfway onto its left side, propped up at a 45-degree angle by a large sand dune. No light emanated from within, and pounding on the back hatch produced no response. Night was falling rapidly, and he wanted to get everyone in one place as soon as possible.
"Lt. Colonel Sheppard! Doctor Zelenka! Can you hear me?" The Major pounded again just as the dripping McKay arrived.
"Here, let me," said the scientist, elbowing him out of the way. "After my little experience last week, it occurred to me that it was inefficient of the Ancients to allow the occupants of a crashed ship to be the only ones able to access the craft." He palpated the edge of the door until, with a pleased exclamation, he sprung open a previously hidden panel and reached inside. "Likewise, they wouldn't want the Wraith to be able to get at the occupants while they were helpless or unconscious, so they had to make the release difficult to find and activate. So I looked it up in the database." The scientist grunted as he performed some complicated maneuvers inside the panel. The hatch suddenly hissed and swung open. "There we go," he concluded in satisfaction, smiling at his handiwork.
Major Lorne pushed past him and moved into the darkened vehicle. Walking was awkward due tilt of the floor and the decreased light, so he paused for a moment to allow his eyes to acclimate to the dimness.
"Don't thank me or anything," objected Rodney as he was pushed aside. When the Major didn't reply, he followed him in with an indignant air.
The soldier carefully made his way to the pilot's seat, knowing that Sheppard would be nearby. Amazingly enough, Sheppard was still seated, slumped unconscious over the control panel. "Colonel, wake up." Lorne shook his shoulder in an attempt to rouse him, which was partially successful.
Sheppard groaned and raised his head a few inches. The younger man could see a bandage on his forehead which was now blood-soaked. "Colonel, you're hurt. Let me help you sit up." So saying, he supported him from the front, easing him upright.
Sheppard let his head loll backwards, the blinked his eyes open to stare at the ceiling. "This is getting to be a bad habit," he muttered unhappily.
Lorne grinned at the comment, relieved to find his superior battered but not broken. "Yes, sir. I was considering having the engineering department install airbags."
"Good plan," answered the injured man, bringing his head upright. "How's Zelenka?"
"He's out cold," came the reply from behind them. Sheppard carefully swiveled around to look in the direction of the voice.
"McKay?" he asked. "What are you doing here? I thought you were still on the injured roster."
"Tell that to Elizabeth," groused the scientist. "Seriously, Radek has a lump the size of an egg here."
In the failing light the two soldiers could see the hunched form of Rodney McKay kneeling on the floor next to his motionless colleague. Lorne moved over to crouch across from him as Rodney gently slapped the engineer's cheeks. After a few moments to get his balance and let the world stop spinning, Sheppard trailed haltingly behind.
"Come on, Radek, speak to me," the physicist demanded.
Zelenka remained limp and unresponsive. The Major glanced up to where a white-faced Sheppard was leaning on the edge of a chair for support, then looked intensely at McKay. "We need to get them over to the other shuttle where we have at least some systems operational. I can carry Dr. Zelenka if you can make certain LTC Sheppard gets there.
Rodney glanced over his shoulder at the pilot, who looked even more pale than before, then turned back to Lorne and nodded. Standing, the scientist draped John's unprotesting arm over his own shoulders, then snaked his own around the injured man's waist.
Sheppard smirked at him foggily. "Why Rodney, I didn't know you cared; what ever happened to dinner and a movie," he quipped.
"We're going to the other shuttle; do try not to throw up or pass out on me."
Sheppard gulped and considered. "I will try," he finally concluded dubiously. Even though it was hours ago, the sandwich he'd eaten just prior to take-off was threatening to revisit. He forcibly pushed down the nausea and said, "Let's do it."
The Major hefted the limp engineer and draped him over his shoulder, wishing not for the first time that he had Ronan Dex's bulk. Leaning to offset the weight as well as navigate the floor was tricky, but he made it to the door. To his dismay, it was still pouring; the light was almost gone, though, so he couldn't afford to wait for a lull in the storm. Lowering his head into the wind, he made a beeline for his Jumper.
Sheppard didn't complain about the torrent; he was too busy trying to put one foot in front of the other without blacking out. Rodney, however, took the opportunity to glare up at the heavens and yell, "You really have it in for me lately, don't you?" before concentrating on assisting the shaky pilot.
The four sodden, bedraggled explorers reached their destination after a seeming eternity. Major Lorne gently lowered Radek to one bench seat in the rear compartment before turning to help Rodney. Between the two of them they manipulated the nearly-unconscious CMO onto the opposite couch. McKay began toweling them off and covering them in blankets as Lorne checked in with Weir.
TBC……
AN: I don't usually use curse words in my writing (I do have access to a thesaurus, after all), but apparently that phrase is the most common 'last words' found on the flight recorder of crashed airplanes, so I thought it might be more authentic. (The second most common phrase is 'I think we're gonna make it') Hope nobody minds too much
Sorry again for the delay; I have more meetings tonight as well, but I'll see what I can do.