Chapter Eleven
The event horizon disappeared behind the group and they slowly descended the steps that led down into the departure area of the control room. The marines had already detached their P90's and were now standing awaiting fresh orders from Major Lorne. The mission had been a relative success and Dr Weir had been able to avert the diplomatic 'faux pas' before it had kicked off into a major incident; she had a distinct knack for pacification and it showed.
"Dr Weir if you will excuse us, we'll go get ready to debrief before Colonel Sheppard arrives back?"
"Yes, of course Major, and thank you for the 'escort," a smile touched her face as she turned towards the waiting soldiers, "I'm just glad that we were able to diffuse the situation. I didn't like having to leave the city with both its senior staff absent, but needs must and, as it turns out, it was worth it for the increased quota that we were able to negotiate."
"Yes it was, if you will excuse us," Lorne indicated to the group of marines on the steps. Elizabeth glanced over at the marines who were waiting patiently for their orders and nodded her thanks to them. As the group left the control room and headed off, Elizabeth nodded at Chuck as he sat at the main control console.
"Have we heard from Colonel Sheppard yet Chuck?"
"No, nothing as yet Dr Weir. They aren't actually due to check in for another hour yet though."
"That's fine - I wouldn't want to miss out on their update, I'm sure they are relishing the opportunity to polish up their individual negotiating skills" the wry smile that touched her lips as she spoke made Chuck smile back. She was a well liked member of the expedition; fair as a boss and a skilled negotiator. She knew that she wasn't well liked by all of the military contingent of the Atlantis expedition, but by her staff and by her close friends, she was admired and trusted.
"Yes Dr Weir, I'm sure they are…"
"Let me know as soon as they check in please, I'll be in my office." She left the technician and ascended the steps that led to the haven that was her office, with its commanding view over the gate room and control area. As she reached the doorway, the distinctive sound of the gate glyphs activating sounded and she turned back towards the sprawling embarkation area.
"Unscheduled gate activation, I'm receiving an IDC, ..its Dr McKay!" Chuck looked up in surprise at Elizabeth, but she didn't hesitate,
"Open the shield, let them through!" Elizabeth ran down the steps, stopped at the bottom and stood and waited for the arrival of the team. They weren't due back for a while, but she could already feel the hand of fear touch her heart again as she waited for the gate to solidify and the first of the group to come through. She had been in this position many times before, but she still couldn't keep the anxiety at bay. It was probably nothing to worry about; maybe the negotiations had finished earlier than expected and the team decided to return ahead of schedule…
The shield dropped away and for a moment nothing happened and she looked across at Chuck as he also stood slightly, waiting for the appearance of the first arrival. The moment of calm was fractured as Rodney broke through the shimmering circle, his face contorted in concern, his attention firmly fixed on those travelling behind him.
"Rodney, what's going on, you weren't due to check in for another……" her question caught in her throat as the rest of the team followed behind him and her hand raising to her mouth in shock as they appeared slowly, the gate shutting down behind them. Ronon and Teyla staggered down the steps, the limp figure of their CO strung between them, his body lifeless.
"Elizabeth, we need a medical team immediately. Colonel Sheppard has been terribly injured!" Teryla's face portrayed the intensity of her emotions, but her voice remained calm as they carried Sheppard down the last of the steps and placed him gently down onto the floor of the gateroom; Chuck didn't need to be asked, he was already calling for a medical team, his face as drawn as Elizabeth's.
Elizabeth hesitated for the briefest moment before approaching the group; she needed to compose herself before facing the situation that was now in front of her. As she made her way across the floor towards them, she could feel her heart racing as she caught sight of the red stain that was now painted the floor under Sheppard's too still body.
"What happened! It was supposed to be a safe trade negotiation. There shouldn't have been any risk, that's why we agreed to let them confiscate our weapons!"
"It was not the traders Elizabeth.." Teyla's eyes dipped as she looked up from her position beside Sheppard's trembling body, "It was…Michael."
Elizabeth's eyes grew wide at Teyla's admission "Michael, what do you mean, what was he doing there!?"
"We are not sure of the details, but we are fairly sure, base on the imformation that we could glean, that the meetings were set up in an attempt to gain access to Colonel Sheppard and that the security council themselves were involved. We believe that Michael was contacted by somebody within the security division, but as yet we have no proof of that. Elizabeth, we came back as quickly as we could…I only hope we were soon enough." Teyla looked across at Ronon as she spoke and his eyes spoke of his anger and frustration, their hooded lids lowered as he stared at Sheppard's limp form.
"Elizabeth, all you need to know is that 'bug boy' was undoubtedly behind the whole thing and if we hadn't intervened, its debatable weather Sheppard would be here now." Rodney's voice was strained as he stood, still grasping the LSD in his hand, "Where is the medical team, Sheppard needs help now!"
"What happened, how was he injured!" Elizabeth looked from one face to another, but it was Teyla who answered.
"He has been shot Elizabeth. We don't know exactly who by, but we are fairly sure that it was a member of the security force there." Teyla had leant over Sheppard's body as she spoke to Elizabeth, her hands pressing against the wound on his chest, attempting to stem the flow of precious fluid that still leaked onto the floor. She could feel the heat emanating from his body through the sticky material that clung to his lean frame and she couldn't help but think that they may have returned too late.
"The whole thing must have been a set up Elizabeth, we don't even know if the meetings that were arranged were legitimate or not - personally, I'm going with not… Where's Keller!"
As the words left Rodney's lips, Sheppard's body started to tremble violently on the floor and an agonizing gasp burst from his lips. Teyla clutched at his shoulders, straining to contain the shuddering movements that wracked his body. As she watched his struggle, Sheppard's eyes opened suddenly and he looked straight up at Teyla's face, but the gaze was unseeing and as she knelt helplessly at his side, his eyes rolled up and he convulsed.
"Oh god! We're losing him…" Rodney felt incredibly helpless. Give him a failing city, give him a computer glitch…give him anything that he could fix with a laptop and some crystals and he was happy, but there was nothing he could fix here, nothing to 'pull out of the bag' – he was completely helpless, watching his friend dying before his eyes, convulsing on the cold, hard floor of the gateroom, "we're losing him…" the whispered words slipped from his lips as he watched Teyla struggling to keep the pilot from injuring himself further.
The sound of running feet broke the tableau and the group turned as one as Dr Keller rushed into the gateroom with her team following closely behind.
"What happened," Keller dropped beside Sheppard and immediately started to assess his violently convulsing body. Her skilled eyes found the two wound sites almost immediately and she shouted orders behind her at her team as she cut the shirt open, exposing the bubbling wound in Sheppard's ribcage, "Okay, how long since he was shot?" she looked at Teyla, who sat in a state of shock, "Teyla, how long!"
"I am not sure exactly," Teyla looked up at Keller's anxious expression, "We believe that he may have been injured one to two hours ago…"
"That's not good, he's loosing blood like a sieve and there's already an infection present, he's burning up,"she looked up at the members of her team "OKAY, we need to get moving. I'm going to need a full set of bloods, pulse-ox, temperature and resps and I'll need two saline IV's running wide open asap. It looks like he's punctured a lung so we'll need to sort out a chest tube when we get there. Lets get him on the gurney and get the mask on, he's running on empty and needs oxygen, but we may need to bag him if it gets tricky on the way," she indicated for her team to position themselves on either side of the pilot's shuddering body, "Ready ..on, one, two and LIFT!" The medical team lifted Sheppard from the floor and onto the waiting gurney and Keller gave the team a quick nod before she turned and followed the disappearing trolley from the room on its journey to the waiting trauma team and surgeons.
Ronon had been silent since they had returned through the gate, but he vented his fury now as he watched his friend taken away, "I will kill Michael if he crosses my path again; I swear to you now, he 'will' die for this…"
"Ronon, we all feel the same, but for now we need to hold onto that anger and focus instead on Colonel Sheppard." Teyla knew how Ronon felt, she felt exactly the same, but she knew that she had to control her emotions, keeping them in check.
"Elizabeth….?" Teyla touched Elizabeth's arm.
Elizabeth's attention had been fixed on the disappearing trolley, "Yes - sorry Teyla, go. We can talk later, once we know more about John's condition."
The team needed no further prompting, and one by one they turned towards the doorway that led towards the infirmary and the fate of their friend.