Jennifer felt her body being pushed, pulled and battered. She opened her eyes and found she was looking down a very long drop. She shut her eyes convinced she was hallucinating, but as recent events flashed into her mind she lost faith in that being the case. As she was pushed again and her entire right side crashed painfully into something solid her eyes opened. Despite the gloom she saw that she was suspended a very long way up from the rough ocean. She instinctively panicked and started flailing her arms and legs as the blood rushed round her body. As she was once again pushed into the tower wall she realised that she was not actually plummeting to her death. Forcing her eyes to stay open she tried, despite the nausea and dizziness that were overpowering her, to calm her breathing and work out where exactly she was and how she was suspended. The pain down her right hand side suggested that she had already crashed into the wall several times. On the bright side she hoped that might mean that help was now close by. As she once again crashed into the wall, she decided that just hanging around was not the best option. She tried to move her body into an upright position despite her fear that the movement would decrease stability in the harness or the rope. She was freezing and every muscle felt like it was cramping. Despite that she heaved herself up and tried to cling to the vertical rope. This was not helped by the fact that the strong wind meant that the rope was not really vertical and the large balls of hail roughly hit her already frozen and cut hands.
Not wanting to look down as that only added to the dizziness she already felt she tried looking up as the wind once again blew her into the side of the tower. She figured she had three choices: Try climbing the rope, which was nearly impossible due to how wet it was; Try to grab hold of the wall; Wait for help.
Not wanting to give Dyson the satisfaction of having to rescue her, she quickly ruled out the last option. She knew that there was no way to climb the rope in her state or the current conditions, which left the middle option. As the wind blew her in to the wall again she used her feet to rebound her in a virtually pain free way whilst she scanned for anything to cling to. Seeing something she thought might offer grip she allowed herself to feel optimistic. Unfortunately the wind's power was not constant the next swing to the wall took her to a different part all together. Giving up on trying to scout the wall for good grip she decided next time round she would just try and hold onto anything. The only flaws with her plan were firstly, her hands were so numb they could barely grip anything and secondly the wind was moving around with such force she was hitting the wall so fast her momentum was causing to rebound nearly too quickly to get a grip. Finally though, after several attempts, she managed to cling on to something. Relieved she rested her forehead against the cold damp surface and took a few calming breathes before looking up and planning her route to safety. Her aching limbs were already complaining and she knew she could not afford to rest. She scaled the wall reminding herself to send anyone she knew who climbed for fun to a psysch assessment.
She kept climbing until her limbs burnt and she was forced to stop. She looked up and could see the balcony. Unfortunately she could not see anything else she could get purchase on. She knew that within minutes her muscles would no longer cooperate and she would plunge again. The thought caused her to look down again at the blur below and another bout of dizziness hit her. Shaking her head she looked again at the balcony and decided if she was going to fall anyway, she might as well jump. Putting as much force as possible onto her footholds she leapt towards the balcony and managed to stretch out her hands and wrap them round a railing. As gravity tugged on her body, which was being swayed back and forth by the wind, she found her grip beginning to slip. She desperately tried to cling on, but she could feel the rail slip from her grasp. Just as she had resigned herself to another plunge and her fingers unwound from the railing something warm and firm grabbed her wrist.
She looked up and saw Lorne and Young reach over the balcony towards her. Lorne had what she hoped was a very strong grip on her wrist. She could make out through the rain their mouths moving. However, there was no way she could hear what they were saying over the rain, wind and her blood flow. She felt herself being lifted up and soon found herself being pulled over the balcony and then half carried, half dragged into the bright warmth of the inside of the tower.
"Doc…doc…Jennifer." Lorne said hoping to get some response.
"Evan."
"You hurt?" Lorne asked.
"Just bruised and cold." Jennifer replied. Lorne pulled her into an embrace and ordered.
"Never do that again. I thought you'd…" He started but didn't finish. Looking over her head he said to Young. "We need to get her out of the harness and down to the infirmary."
Young nodded and helped take the harness off Jennifer.
"You as wet through as I am?" Lorne asked.
"Yes Sir."
"Sorry doc, looks like you will have to wait for dry clothes." Lorne said as he bent down to pick her up.
"No." She said very forcibly causing Lorne to freeze. "I have been hanging for what seems like a very long time. I don't want my feet to leave the ground for a long long time."
"Doc you need to go to the infirmary and you need to get some warm clothes." Lorne argued.
"Then I will walk."
"You sure?" Lorne asked.
"Of course I am sure. Just help me up."
Lorne nodded to Young, who came over to Jennifer's left side, whilst he stood on Jennifer's right. Both men carefully helped Jennifer to her feet. As soon as she was up another wave of dizziness passed over her, nearly causing her to crumple. Fortunately Lorne and Young were keeping a firm hold on her.
"Doc?" Lorne questioned, his voice full of worry.
"Just vertigo. I'll be ok."
Young looked to Lorne, who nodded, and the two men helped Jennifer to the transporter. As Young repaired the damage he did earlier Lorne ordered.
"When we get to the infirmary, you need to detain me. For now you need to follow Dyson's orders."
"Bollocks." Young exclaimed before belatedly adding, "Sir."
"Young I appreciate the loyalty, but we need someone on the inside who Dyson will trust. Until the Colonel returns I need someone who can hold things together. That means following Dyson's orders regardless of what happens."
