Carson piloted the Jumper distractedly. He directed the ship automatically, while his thoughts were focused on what they were flying out to meet on the island.
If he had been paying attention, he would have realized that he had never flown like this before. The Jumper responded eagerly to his commands. It flew arrow straight. The heads-up display answered his thoughts with alacrity, the way the Atlantis Jumpers only did when he didn't want them to. He found the speed in kilometers and an automatic weather correction. There was even a little counter that indicated time since power-up. But despite repeated attempts, they could not raise Sheppard on the radio again.
Nevertheless, Carson might have been thrilled about the sudden improvement in his piloting abilities, if he hadn't been so preoccupied. He didn't even notice the dead and dying villages as they sped past.
Teyla and Ronon were silent, as if he was under a spell they didn't want to break.
-
Beckett was not surprised to find the co-ordinates that the Traders had provided were next to a hill. From above, and knowing what they were actually looking at, it was obvious that the long axis of the hill was the shape of a huge spaceship like the Aurora. The nose had plowed into the earth, while the stern had evolved into a grassy cliff. There was a small stand of trees around the mid-point.
The life signs indicator was on the heads up display before he even realized he was thinking about it. There were two life signs among the trees. The sensors identified a tunnel in that location as well. But he filed the information away as the display highlighted something far more concerning.
A group of six life signs were emerging from the hill not far from the trees.
The display zoomed to a magnified view at Carson's unconscious bidding.
"Those look like the people," Ronon growled, pointing out guns and other armament that would have complemented a group of twenty. "Put me down and I'll…"
Carson interrupted. "I have a better idea."
The display shifted to make room for a new set of data. Columns of tactical information that he didn't understand flickered on-screen, and was ignored. He felt instinctively for the system he wanted, and it leapt to life at his touch. There was a grating as millennia old engineering shunted into position.
The figures on the ground looked up. One raised its hand, while a couple brought guns to bear.
"Doctor," Teyla hissed.
There was no need for her warning. He was committed now. He powered up the weapons and did not need the display to tell him that systems responded willingly. The visual shifted to a targeting schematic, centered on the Traders.
With the images from Reliquary fresh in his mind, Carson fired.
Perhaps some day he'd feel guilty, but he thought that would be a long time in the future. Now, the events in the village were far too clear. He could still hear the dying gasps of the little blond boy echoing in his ears, and he could feel the helplessness as Ronon carried another body to the makeshift grave.
This wasn't revenge, though. He was protecting his own. He would not let them endanger his people anymore.
There was a flare on the HUD as the drone hit. He flicked the display away before it settled. He didn't care if they were dead, but they were out of his way.
He released the breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
"Dr. Beckett," Teyla said urgently. "There is something wrong with one of the life signs at the Colonel's position."
Oh, bugger.
Carson brought the Jumper smoothly down towards the stand of trees. About eight feet from the ground, Ronon, then Teyla, leapt from the back of the Jumper.
The craft seemed to take an age to finally touch down, despite Carson's impatience. By the time it did, Ronon was already waiting. He stepped into the Jumper and laid his unconscious burden on the floor. There was no ceremony, but the former Runner touched Rodney's shoulder with a strange gentleness before he went to help Teyla with Sheppard.
Carson slipped easily into the motions of his life. Airway, breathing, circulation…
-
SGA
-
Sheppard was jolted awake as Rodney shifted. He had a hazy recollection of a ladder that wouldn't form into a coherent memory, but he knew that McKay was in no fit state to be moving anywhere. Then he realized it wasn't Rodney moving on his own, but someone else lifting him. For gods sake, couldn't they just leave them alone?
He struggled to wake, to fight them off, but someone was urging him to be calm.
Eventually he realized it was Teyla, but it took even longer to understand what she was saying. "Colonel Sheppard. Let Ronon take him. It will be alright now."
He cracked open an eye to see a blurred shape silhouetted by the sun. "Hi, Teyla," he said. He was surprised at how rough his voice sounded.
She moved away from the light and smiled at him. She looked good. "Do you think you can walk?" she asked. "I'm sure they will be keen to get home."
He nodded, and she helped him to his feet. He paused for a second or two to let the world stopped spinning, thankful he didn't start coughing.
The first couple of steps felt as if the ground was unsteady, but, with an arm to hold onto, he managed to stay on his feet. "Rodney?" he asked.
"Dr. Beckett will be looking after him." She glanced anxiously over her shoulder. "We should leave."
John had never heard truer words spoken.
He didn't lean on her too much, but she kept a firm hold on his elbow. With every step his legs seemed more under his control. The fuzziness in his head remained, but at least he was awake.
Ronon appeared at his left side. "Hi, Ronon," John said.
The former Runner did not answer, but frowned. He slipped his large hand under Sheppard's other elbow and fell into step.
The new Jumper came into view. Beckett was crouched in the back. John concentrated on the ship itself because he didn't want to see who the doctor was working on. The Jumper was wide open at the back, and there were still branches protruding from gaps. A number of relics dangled on strings from the roof and walls. The display was powered down, but the controls looked wonderfully familiar. A pilot and a co-pilot's seat at the front, and a further four behind them towards the back of the Jumper where…
"Teyla, I need your help," Beckett called out urgently.
She let go of Sheppard's elbow, and left the two men standing at the entrance.
Inevitably, John's eye was drawn to Carson.
It looked like magic. He was working out of the portable med-kit and asked Teyla for medicines like calling out incantations. There was already a bag of clear fluid running into an IV. Rodney lay unnaturally still on a woven mat with an oxygen mask obscuring his face.
Carson asked for another medicine with an impossibly long name, and Teyla handed over a vial. He drew it up into a syringe.
As he emptied it into a cannula, Beckett glanced up and saw John. In the second that their eyes met, Sheppard knew he had been triaged into 'able to wait for medical attention for another five minutes while the urgent problems are dealt with.'
Carson did manage to spare him a, "Sit down before you fall down, Sheppard."
John tried to smile reassuringly, but suspected he failed badly. It didn't matter, however, as Beckett was already looking back to his patient.
Sheppard slipped past and sank into the pilot's seat. It was habit now. Ronon followed him, dropping into the co-pilot's chair.
In the back, Carson muttered, "Damn, Rodney," as he listened to the scientist's lungs with a stethoscope.
John spun his chair. He called on the heads-up and found the display responsive. The sensors did not show any life signs.
"Can you work in a draft?" John asked.
"You cannae fly."
"We need to go home." He didn't have the energy for a more flippant reply.
He didn't wait for an answer. It didn't come; something happened with McKay, and Beckett cursed. John imagined it wasn't good.
Rodney couldn't afford to wait.
The engines burst to life at his thought and the Jumper rose effortlessly off the ground. There was a catch in the power relay, but she accelerated sweetly. It was probably feverish thinking, but he imagined her waiting ten thousand years for someone to bring her out to fly. She was like an eager puppy. No wonder Beckett had been able to fly her.
"Damn it," Carson said behind him. "I'm going to have to intubate. Give me that bag. And tie that stuff down."
John ignored the conversation and concentrated on flying.
The fresh greens of the island's flat plain were quickly gone. The view changed to choppy blue water.
"Come on, McKay," Carson muttered.
John didn't want to listen. He rubbed his aching ribs.
Ronon reminded him, "You're flying too high, Sheppard."
The Jumper's altitude was getting close to the maximum for a non-pressurized ship. John brought her back to a safe height.
They were about an hour from the 'gate. He kept data flashing on the heads-up so that he wouldn't be tempted to turn and watch what was happening in the rear of the Jumper. The view from the front did not change from endless ocean. John thought he might have seen enough water to last him a lifetime.
There was still no sign of land when Carson said urgently, "If there's any more speed in this thing…"
John glanced behind him just once. He couldn't help himself. Beckett was kneeling beside Rodney. And Rodney…
John's feverish eye caught an impression of too much equipment. There was a large tube in McKay's mouth and the thin plastic IV lines in his hands. A set of wires connected the EKG to the emergency kit.
Sheppard turned back to the windscreen. "Hold on," he said, and nudged the Jumper to greater speed. The wind whipped his hair. Various relics were blown out the door and lost to the waves, but it didn't sound like anything important. Teyla must have managed to secure the three occupants and the doctor's equipment safely.
The Jumper thrilled to the movement. John found himself thinking that she would benefit from one of Zelenka's tune ups. He was doing a nice little business in the mechanical repairs of the Jumpers. Maybe he could open his own little garage…
"Sheppard," Ronon said. "Fly straight."
John brought his brain back to the present, and sighed. He was exhausted. He was cold and shivering. And now his thoughts were wandering. He wanted to curl up to sleep for days somewhere. He felt uncomfortably close to panic. Rodney had been all right a few hours ago and now Carson was saying things like 'intubate.'
And John knew that whatever had hold of McKay was getting a hold of him, too.
The extra speed made talking difficult because of the turbulence, but it did cool the dry heat in his skin.
The continent appeared first as a ribbon on the horizon, and then it expanded to cliffs and coastline. John aimed for the landmass and pushed the Jumper as fast as the occupants could withstand.
Ronon reminded John to fly straight or lower or both with a gentle hand on his arm. The former Runner didn't speak; there was no point. More importantly, he didn't question John's ability to keep them in the air.
John was aware of Carson working in the rear of the Jumper. He couldn't let his thoughts dwell there, but he knew they might already be too late.
-
Rodney was losing the battle, and all Carson could do now was watch. He had thought the battle was lost the moment the life sign started flickering as they were landing by the hill, but somehow the scientist was still alive. Every medical instinct Carson possessed said that McKay should already be dead.
Only his professionalism stopped him yelling in frustration. This was his friend and he couldn't watch him succumb the same way as the children in the village. Beckett willed each breath and each peak in the sats monitor as he worked. They kept coming.
He regretted complaining, on many occasions, about Rodney's stubbornness. Right now, it was the only thing keeping the man alive.
-
John may have dozed off or faded out, because when Ronon said, "That's it," and pointed down to a village, he felt himself jerk back to alertness.
At first John could see nothing different between this village and any of the others. Then he saw the Stargate, and knew they were almost home. He brought the jumper down to an approach vector, and began to dial.
That was when they were fired upon. He guessed it was the Trader's only ship. Maybe they were waiting in ambush, or just happened to be here; John didn't care. He was furious. Who the hell did they think they were? Sitting there like a spider in a web! Well, he would show them what happened when you messed with his team. He had promised he would.
He left the address half dialed and brought the Jumper around. "Hold on," he warned.
The other craft was invisible, but 10,000 year old algorithms leapt to life at Sheppard's request. They projected a course based on where the shots had originated. He fired at the projected location.
Four of his six shots connected with something, in a flare of sparks.
He shifted their Jumper before the other craft could return fire. When it did, only one shot of their barrage connected. It was enough to force the occupants of the Jumper grab handholds.
Carson yelled something but Sheppard was beyond listening now. Everything ceased to exist except his Jumper, and the craft that threatened them.
Details scrolled on the heads-up, identifying a problem in the other ship's cloak. There was an energy leak that the Jumper could track. A glassy representation of the other ship appeared on the display.
John directed all drones to its position. Every single shot was a direct hit. The Trader's cloak flickered, and the ship, which looked like a modified Jumper, appeared in the previously empty sky. Sparks and flashes coursed across its hull. It did not fire again, but hung motionless in the air as John watched in fascination.
Slowly the sparks intensified across the port hull. The craft began to lose altitude and developed a spin. As the flares of energy across the hull intensified, its descent hastened, until it tumbled towards the ground like a stone.
It looked as though it might crash into the village, but, at long last, it seemed as if someone was looking out for the Padanarams. A gust of wind seemed to catch the burning ship and pushed the wreckage towards a field of crops. Flames engulfed the craft and smoke billowed into the air; there would be no survivors for the villagers to worry about.
John looked at the wreck in a daze. It felt like an anti-climax.
Ronon finished dialing Atlantis, and Sheppard directed them towards home. The Stargate flared to life.
Despite being a foreign Jumper, it listened to the same Atlantis protocol that slowed its progress and brought it gliding to a halt in the control room. The familiar walls and the stairs surrounded them.
For two seconds there was silence.
Then Carson was speaking, but John couldn't find the energy to try to understand. He couldn't even tell if the Doctor was pleased or worried.
Then all hell broke loose. Now there was too much noise and too many people shouting. It assaulted John's ears. He put his head down on his arms.
The world darkened and he met it with relief.