Thanks for all the Reviews, it has been really encouraging. There is a spoiler warning in this one for "Grace Under Pressure" – Enjoy!
OoOoO
John thumped his fist down on the table, making the papers on it jump. Ronon looked at him, his eyebrow raised.
"There must be some way to get there," John said, his frustration also evident in his voice.
"We just need to keep looking for a Stargate near the planet," Teyla said, retaining her calm. Their plan was to find a Stargate as close to the planet as possible, and use the Puddle Jumper to get them actually on to the planet.
"But that is like trying to find a needle in a haystack," John said. "We don't even know where half these addresses are, or if there is still a viable 'Gate there."
"We just need to keep looking," Teyla said persistently.
"I think I have something," Radek said from the other side of the table. "This Stargate is working correctly," he said pointing to one of the options on the list they had. "We went to that planet when we searching for minerals. It is just within reach of the Puddle Jumper."
"Radek, I could almost kiss you," John said, earning himself a rather startled look from the Czech scientist. "But don't worry I won't."
"All we need to do now is persuade Dr Weir to let us use the Stargate," Ronon pointed out. After the problems in retrieving Carson and Rodney, Elizabeth had stopped all 'Gate traffic until they found out what the problem was.
"I will inform her of what we have found," Radek said. "And I will assure her that there is nothing wrong with the Stargate at this end."
"Way to go, Radek," said John, slapping the other man on the back.
"Rodney and Carson are my friends, too," the Czech said with a quiet dignity. "I will do everything I can to help get them safely off that planet."
"Okay, kids," John said, turning to Ronon and Teyla. "Let's go and see if we can rescue Carson before Rodney has driven him to insanity."
OoOoO
The two doctors sat and listened. The noise seemed to get closer.
"It sounds like rushing water," Carson said, a worried frown on his face.
"But we're no where near water," Rodney said. "We checked out the whole area when we got here."
"Well, what's that rushing towards us, if it's not water?" Carson said, trying to keep the fear out of his voice, as he pointed towards a torrent of water that seemed determined to head their way.
"Oh, crap!" Rodney said succinctly.
Carson looked around frantically; trying to see somewhere they could escape the fast approaching flood. There was a small ledge on the cliff, the one from which Rodney had started his out-of-control, controlled slide.
"Rodney," Carson said to his friend. "If I help you, do you think you could manage to make it to that ledge?"
Before Carson had finished, Rodney was pushing himself up to his feet, grabbing his backpack as he did so. Carson put his arm under Rodney's arm and supported his body.
"Try not to put too much weight on your bad leg," Carson said, knowing that there would inevitably be further damage to Rodney's broken leg, whatever they did. He just wanted to keep it to a minimum.
The water was now almost upon them. The base of the cliff was in a narrow valley and the water was gathering pace as it was forced through the narrow gully that formed the entrance to the valley. There were already branches and large rocks in the water. Carson was concerned if they didn't get above the water line before it hit them, they could both be crushed against the cliff.
With a lot of determination, not much grace, and a huge dollop of pain, they made their way up to the ledge. It was just big enough to hold them both, if they sat sideways on it, curling their legs up so that they weren't dangling over the side. Rodney had to lie out on the ledge, to protect his leg. Carson found he could just balance on the edge, without falling over, provided he curled up.
The climb up had exhausted them both, and they lay slumped on the ledge for several minutes before either of them could move. Eventually, Carson managed to rouse himself, and checked Rodney over. His leg didn't seem to have sustained too much damage in the climb. The splint was still in place and Carson tightened it up, to give Rodney more support. The scientist had several more cuts from the climb, and Carson suspected that Rodney would also be covered in bruises by the time the sun rose again.
By the time he had finished his examination, Carson was in serious pain himself. His damaged ribs were making their presence felt, and his head felt as if someone was playing the drums on it. He slumped down, trying not to vomit, that was all they needed on their narrow ledge. He was exhausted, in pain, and to make matters worse, they hadn't been able to rescue his medical supplies in the frantic rush to safety. They were both okay at the moment, but the way this planet seemed to be throwing problems at them, there was no telling what they might need in the future, before rescue arrived. Carson had to believe that rescue would arrive.
"Carson," Rodney said, noting his friend's pale face. "Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine, Rodney," Carson said. "I'm just worried that we've lost the medical supplies."
"Your arms bleeding," Rodney pointed out. With all the other problems he was facing, Carson hadn't noticed that. The exertion of scrambling up the cliff face had opened up the wound again. That was all he needed.
Just at that moment, he was distracted from his physical discomfort by the arrival of the water. It started to lash against the cliffs, pounding into the rock below them, turning white with the impact. The spray soon had both men soaked to the skin. Carson could feel his skin tingle from the impact of the water.
The sound was incredible. It sounded as if they were in the middle of a wind tunnel, as the water hit the cliff, and threw rocks and branches against the cliff. The water rose alarmingly as it reached them. Before long, it was lapping against the ledge, almost dragging the two men off it as it ebbed and flowed. The both clung to some roots that protruding out from the ledge.
It seemed as lifetime later that the realised the rush of water had stopped. Carson looked up first, and noticed that although the water still lapped around the ledge, it had stopped surging, and was no longer rising.
"Rodney," he said, gently touching the scientist's arm. "I think we've made it through this."
Rodney looked up, almost afraid to believe what Carson had said. The water wasn't exactly calm but it was no longer trying to pull them off the ledge. They were both completely soaked, and Rodney started to shiver. Carson reached into the backpack and pulled out a survival blanket. He wrapped it round Rodney. He then looked further and found some power bars. He handed one to Rodney and took one himself.
"We need to eat, to keep our energy levels up," he said to the scientist.
"Well," Rodney responded. "These power bars aren't going to last us very long, and since our friends at Atlantis have decided not to rescue us, we need to do something ourselves."
"Well," Carson replied. "Unless you have a boat in that backpack of yours, I think we could be in trouble."
"Sorry, I left my boat at home today," Rodney replied, his sardonic humour still intact.
"Well, in that case," Carson responded. "We'll just have to hope that Colonel Sheppard manages to come up with a plan to rescue us."
"But I'm the ideas man," Rodney said, rather pitifully. "And at the moment I seem to be right out of them."
"Maybe Radek will come up with something?" Carson said soothingly.
"Radek, come up with an idea?" Rodney snorted.
"Don't be too quick to judge, Rodney," Carson said, admonishingly. "Remember who rescued you when your Puddle Jumper sank."
"You did have to bring that one up," Rodney said.
"Yes," Carson said, with a hint of a grin. "I did."
"Well, I have to say, Sam Carter was a much more interesting companion," Rodney retorted.
"But she was just a figment of your imagination," Carson reminded him.
"Exactly," Rodney said, then pulling the blanket round him, curled up and went to sleep.
Carson just shook his head, and settled himself to watch over his sleeping friend.
