Carson had found a gurney in one of the side rooms, making their trip down to the second level a lot easier. He hadn't been sure if he'd been able to carry John that far. With John on the gurney, he made good progress
Less than an hour later, he reached the Stargate. The two story room was an exact replica of the control room on Atlantis, except for the windows. Carson checked the life signs detector for unwanted company and checked in with Markham and Rodney before he finally was able to rest.
Carson sat down, knees against his chest. This place gave him the creeps. Like in a ghost town in space with its empty halls and corridors, Carson could feel that something terrible had happened in this place. He couldn't shake the feeling that they were not alone. John had miraculously been placed in stasis, a process which might have saved his life. He almost waited for something to jump out of the shadows at any moment, but there was nothing but stillness and the sounds of their breathing around him.
oOo
Rodney was clamouring on to Markham like a drowning man. The marine was the only thing that was keeping him on his feet. Now that the adrenaline had faded, the pain from his injuries had fully set in. It felt like his skin was painfully tight over his face, arms and hands. He couldn't even talk without his while face hurting. The more his eyes stung and burned, the more worried Rodney grew that there might be something really wrong with them. He couldn't lose his sight, he simply couldn't. They'd send him back home. No, they couldn't send him back him, they didn't have a ZPM. He'd be trapped on Atlantis, helpless and hopeless. Just like Teyla.
"We're almost there." Markham announced and shook Rodney from his dark musings. "Let me just get this door." Markham shifted, obviously reaching for the opening mechanism.
Rodney heard the sound of a door opening and second later he heard Carson.
"There you are! How's Rodney doing?"
There were footfalls and hands touched him.
"Easy there. I've got you. Just sit down." Someone, presumably Carson held him, pulling him away from Markham and guided him downwards. Rodney followed the movement, tired and worn.
He felt his shirt lifted. As hands roamed over his chest, touching cuts and burns, Rodney tried to block the hands with his, but stronger hands caught him around the wrists.
"I know this hurts a bit, but I just have to check you out. Keep those hands down by your side for a while longer. It seems the sergeant did a good job patching you up. There isn't any serious bleeding and I can't see any third degree burns. The worst part will be digging out the small pieces of shrapnel." Carson explained.
Rodney winced at the thought. He wanted to ask about his eyes, but then thought better of it. Rodney normally didn't hold with the proponents of ignorance, but there were times when a man just didn't need to know.
"Rodney." Carson was back again, somewhere close to his face. "I'm going to give you a shot for the pain. The ride through the Gate won't be comfortable."
"I don't need it." Rodney said. In case something went wrong, he had to be alert.
"How's John?" Rodney asked, changing the subject.
"He's holding steady." Carson replied. "I'm not going to force that shot on you, but I'd think you'd be a lot more comfortable that way."
"No." Rodney ground out.
Carson raised an eyebrow. This was very much unlike the Rodney he knew. He packed the syringe away and gathered his gear.
"I'm ready to go, sergeant. You can dial the Gate now,"
Markham punched in Atlantis's Gate address. Rodney listened to the familiar sound of the chevrons engaging one after another. Soon, soon they'd be home. After the seventh chevron had locked, Rodney waiting for the 'kawoosh' of the vortex forming, but nothing happened.
"I don't understand." Markham started dialling again, with the same result. The dialling sequence went without a hitch, but the connection wasn't established.
"Maybe there is a malfunction with the dialling device." Carson speculated.
"Can't be...dials fine." Rodney said. "Gate is...the problem." It was getting harder to stay awake. Blackness was tempting him to give in and surrender, promising oblivion and freedom from pain. Rodney did all he could the resist its pull.
"If the Gate's broken, we're really screwed." Markham exclaimed and kicked the dialling computer, too late remembered that it was his injured foot.
Cursing, Markham held his foot. While Carson was berating him for not being more careful.
Rodney's head hurt, he wished they'd just shut up. He thought back of Antarctica. None of this crap had ever happened there. It had been peaceful. His mind drifted back to the endless white plains and blue skies. Something was tickling at the back of his mind. Antarctica. Then he remembered the mission report.
"Can't dial...gate on the same...planet." Rodney mumbled fighting against unconsciousness. He was slipping fast. He felt a fleeting touch and heard a familiar voice.
"What do you mean, Rodney?"
"Alpha Ssst..." Rodney tried to form the words before the thoughts behind them evaporated like water on a hot plate. Rodney's last thought was of Antarctica, the everlasting winter and the endless ice.
oOo
Elizabeth was bored. She had talked Dr. Woods into letting her shower earlier, but the doctor had been adamant when it had come to the request for a laptop. 'No work, that's what Beckett ordered' Dr. Woods had said and left her to herself. That had been three hours and sixteen minutes ago. Elizabeth had tried to read without much success. Her head had started aching and the lines had started to blur in front of her eyes. Now she had a head ache and was bored.
Teyla and Ford were two beds away, immersed in an Athosian board game. Ford acted as Teyla's eyes and hands, manoeuvring her stones, as she told him her moves. The two had been playing since the morning. In a way, Elizabeth envied Teyla. It was lonely at the top. Especially when you could never get away from the people who worked for you. Elizabeth often felt isolated in her role of the expedition leader. In her position, she hadn't made friends the same way others had. She had come to trust her staff implicitly, but they were not close on a personal level. They always kept some amount of distance. It came with the job.
Teyla was respected among her people, but isolated. Aside from Halling, she seemed to have no friends. But Teyla had found on Atlantis what Elizabeth lacked. Friendship. Understanding. She could talk to Carson, she thought, remembering their joint breakfasts, but the expedition would always come first in her life. Leadership wasn't about making the popular calls. She had chosen this life when she had accepted the position as expedition leader, knowing it could be a one way trip. Elizabeth was not sure anymore she would have made the same decision again.
An outbreak of activity caught Elizabeth's attention. The previously calm and quiet infirmary had been plunged into a frenzy of activity when a medical team headed by Carson had wheeled in the unmoving forms of Rodney and Sheppard.
Elizabeth didn't catch a good look at them, but what she saw alarmed her. Amidst the moving bodies and bandages, she caught a look at Rodney's face, bandage wrapped around his forehead and eyes, what remained visible of his face looked raw and blistered.
God, not again. Would the dying never stop?
Before Elizabeth could see any more, curtains were drawn and the medical staff went to work.
oOo
It was already evening when Carson stepped up to her bed. Markham had come by earlier and had given her a preliminary report of what they had found.
The doctor looked dead on his feet and his stoic expression made it impossible to tell whether the news was good.
"Carson?" Elizabeth asked.
Carson pulled up a chair and sat down.
"They are going to pull through. Rodney had us worried for a moment. There was a small explosion, a console blew up. He was smart enough to duck, but still suffered first and second degree burns to his face, chest, arms and hands. He also caught a lot of shrapnel. It took us quite a while to dig out all the fragments. While most of the burns should heal just fine, there will be scarring from his other wounds."
Elizabeth's heart sank. This would be hard for Rodney. She almost didn't dare ask the next question.
"Any permanent damage?"
"The area around his eyes was burned and he got some debris into his eyes. Sergeant Markham did a good job rinsing them out and he got most of the debris out. His corneas are pretty swollen up now, which is only to be expected, but there seems to be no damage. But he had developed an infection in his left eye."
"Worst case scenario?" Elizabeth whispered.
"He could lose his sight on that eye. But that's just a possibility at the moment." Carson reassured her.
"John?"
"He's unconscious. As far as I can tell, he wasn't injured in any way. There is really not much I know at all. His head injury remains problematic and we can't rule out long term damage."
"Is he going to wake up?" Elizabeth wanted to know.
"Yes. He is no longer comatose. But he has suffered a serious head injury; even partial recovery from something like this can take months. And we still don't know what happened to him during his captivity." Carson explained.
oOo
Elizabeth wrinkled her nose at the smell of the Athosian tea. She would have gone for coffee substitute, but Carson had ordered her to cut back. She had to start somewhere. Teyla had overheard the conversation in the infirmary and had recommended the traditional morning tea of her people. It was said to be very invigorating. According to Teyla, her people started their day with a cup of strong tea, just before dawn. Setting down her cup, Elizabeth waited for the arrival for his breakfast partner. Carson was just coming from the counter with a tray of food and settled down on the opposite side of the table.
"How was your night?" Carson asked, taking in the tell-tale signs of fatigue in nearly aspect of the woman in front of him. Her skin was pale, her eyes were weary and bloodshot, and they were framed by dull shadows.
"I have slept." Elizabeth confirmed.
"Couldn't have been long, it's not even 0500 yet, but I'm letting this one slide. Did you take the pills that I gave you?"
Elizabeth flinched. "No. I felt pretty tired."
"I really want you to think about using the pills tomorrow night. You are not sleeping enough. If you don't start taking care of yourself, I will relieve you from duty, and not just for two days." Carson was serious.
"I'm taking care of myself, Carson. I'm drinking tea, having breakfast and got five hours of sleep last night. I'm doing well." Elizabeth insisted.
"I'll still keep an eye on you. Drop by the infirmary this afternoon. I'd like to check on your blood pressure and temperature. I don't think there is anything to worry about, but just to be on the safe side." Carson said.
"Are Rodney and Sheppard awake yet?" Elizabeth asked the question that had been on her mind all morning.
"Rodney briefly came to yesterday evening, but he's still in a lot of pain. We are keeping him medicated for now. If everything goes well, we'll be able to cut back on his meds by tomorrow. The major's still unconscious. Dr. Biro is running a whole battery of tests on him today. The fact that John regained consciousness back in the Ancient compound is a very good sign. He was lucid and able to communicate verbally. That rules out some of the things we have been concerned about."
"What about the delusions he experienced earlier? Do you think he'll try to harm himself again?"
"There is no way of telling. To be on the safe side, I have a nurse watching him at all times."
"Good." Elizabeth carefully sipped and immediately gasped for breath and started coughing.
"Are you all right?" Carson, who was sharing breakfast with her once again, asked.
Elizabeth recovered her breath. "Teyla gave me the recipe. Traditional morning tea. I have no idea what's in it. It burns like fire." Elizabeth eyed the cup with disdain.
"Well, spices are natural disinfectants. It makes sense if you don't have access to purified water." Carson explained.
"Well, we do have clean water here in the City. I'll think I'll stick to plain water next time. Shame we ran out of Earth herbs a while ago and we didn't come equipped to start farming here." Elizabeth remarked lightly.
"You seem to be doing better," Carson comment
"I'm glad that we got John and Rodney back. I just hope that they are going to be okay, after all that they have been through."
oOo
"If we go by what Dr. McKay told Sergeant Markham and Dr. Beckett and this Ancient outpost really is on the mainland, it isn't that easy to Gate there." Dr. Jamison explained.
Dr. Weir had assembled Dr. Jamison, Dr. Kavanaugh and Sergeant Markham in the briefing room at 0700. The newly discovered Ancient outpost had opened up a wealth of new opportunities that could help them in the fight against the Wraith. Elizabeth wanted to send teams there as soon as possible.
"I find it hard to believe that there could be an Ancient outpost on the Mainland. We have done scans, taken soil and water samples and done geological surveys and have found nothing."
"We couldn't detect Major Sheppard from Atlantis. The outpost might be shielded." Dr. Jamison considered.
"Dr. Grodin is running some new scans at the moment. I'd like to know where we are headed in case there are any problems. Unfortunately Dr. McKay isn't able to talk yet. Right now, our priority is to explore the outpost and secure a possible energy source and technology."
"There isn't much precedent here. We only have the situation the SGC encountered on Earth to go on. We have consulted their reports regarding the incident in Antarctica and as far as we have figured out, we have to shut down our Gate in order to dial the Gate located on the planet. The two Gates have the same Gate address. They can't be used both at once. Back when both the SGC and the Russians had a Stargate, only one location could have the Gate active at any one time." Dr. Jamison explained the details.
"Are there any risks in powering down the Gate for a few hours?" Elizabeth asked.
"That's Dr. Zelenka's field of expertise. But it should be no problem." Dr. Kavanaugh replied.
"Sergeant Markham, get your team and that of Sergeant Stackhouse ready to leave. Dr. Jamison and Dr. Kavanaugh will accompany you. I don't have to tell you how important this mission is for Atlantis." Elizabeth concluded the briefing. She hoped that she was making the right move. They didn't know what was out there. But every time she sent a team out, there was a chance that they might not come back. This was no different. If they wanted to survive, they had to push forward into the unknown. The trails were lined with graves. The West had been won that way and humanity had been made their way into space at the price of lives.
TBC