Part 5 – It's Your Funeral
Kavanagh observed McKay, Beckett, and Sheppard from his vantage point over by the far wall of the main dining area. The table the scientist had chosen gave him a good view of his victim as he closely scrutinized him for any sign of disability. Although the colonel was obviously still on his feet, Kavanagh was delighted to note that the man was beginning to look decidedly unwell, so he tried to convince himself that the bug had indeed struck.
Munching on his toast, Kavanagh's pony-tailed head turned as he watched the three men get up and leave the room, which meant he was also free to go and do what was necessary. To remove the damn bug from Sheppard's sleeping bag. So leaving his half-finished toast and cold coffee, he rushed towards the jumper bay.
He'd already tried to get access to the jumper right after the meeting but the flyer had still been locked up tight. Now, he was hoping that the clean-up crews had unlocked the vehicle but hadn't started to clean it up yet. However, as he entered the bay his heart fell when he saw several workers already busy cleaning the Ancient vehicle's interior.
One of them looked up as Kavanagh approached. "What do you want, doctor?"
The scientist searched his brain for a quick answer. "I…err…left something important behind yesterday and they sealed the Jumper before I could retrieve it."
The man looked at his companion as if to say, typical egghead before replying. "What did you leave behind, 'cause maybe we found it?"
Curbing his temper, Kavanagh smiled sweetly at them. "A data disc with some very important information on it."
"Huh…couldn't have been that important or you wouldn't have left it behind, would you?"
"I was very concerned about Colonel Sheppard at the time." Kavanagh lied through his teeth.
The other man gave him a skeptical look and muttered. "Yeah, I'm sure you were."
Kavanagh heard him but chose to ignore him. "Look it will only take a few minutes. I think I left it in my sleeping bag, so if you could just allow…."
"If that's the case you're too late," The first man interrupted. "The sleeping bags 'ave all gone off to the laundry to be cleaned."
"What! Oh, shit!" Kavanagh proclaimed as he rushed out of the bay.
The two men looked at each other again. "Sneaky creep that one," observed the first man.
"Yeah, never did like him," replied the second man.
-SGA-
Five minutes later, Kavanagh came to a halt in front of the laundry and slowed his breathing before calmly walking into the noisy room.
Several large washers were tumbling clothes around in the never-ending process of keeping the expedition members in clean clothing, fresh bedding, and the other multiple items that required washing. The room was lined with over six machines brought out from Earth, which was a great improvement from the early days when doing laundry had been a big problem. For some reason, nobody had yet figured out where the Ancients had kept their laundry machines or even how they had gone about doing their washing. Maybe one day when the whole of Atlantis had been explored, the mystery would finely be solved.
The scientist glazed over at the machines just as the supervisor Alison Gibson walked up to him. "Can I help you with something, Doctor Kavanagh?" she asked politely.
"Yes, I'm looking for the sleeping bags brought in from Jumper 1 this morning."
She looked at him puzzled. "Why do you want them?"
Kavanagh was beginning to grow very tired of this game and his temper showed in his reply. "Because I left a data disc in mine and I want it back before the thing ends up in the washer!"
The supervisor was willing to be helpful but his attitude set her on edge. "They're being stored in the back room at the moment and as Colonel Sheppard's team is laid up for a few days while the poor man gets over his stomach flu, they won't end up in the washer until tomorrow. I'll get you yours in a minute."
"I can do it myself!" Kavanagh shouted to her back as she wandered off.
She turned back to him with fire in her eyes. "You stay right where you are, mister. No one and I mean no one, disturbs my sorting room!"
"If that's the way you want it then it's your funeral." Kavanagh proclaimed before realizing what he'd said.
She came back to him now and stood with her feet firmly planted on the ground. Even though she was a mere five foot in height, Kavanagh suddenly felt like a small child. "What do you mean by that, doctor," she ground out.
"I…err…I.
She didn't give him chance to say more as she stuck her finger in his face, "Because if you think you can report me over this matter, then think again."
"I wouldn't do that and I'm sorry. Now if you could just let me have the sleeping bag I used, I'll be out of your hair in no time."
"You'd better be," she muttered as she marched off towards the precious sorting room.
A few minutes later, she returned and literally threw the sleeping bag at the tall scientist. He made a show of searching through it but of course, nothing turned up. With an apologetic smile, he quickly disappeared.
-SGA-
Normally a man of action, John found light duty to be the biggest bore out and although he had once admitted to being lazy to Ronon, he was only referring to actually having to fight hand to hand. His normal preference was having something interesting to do and problems to solve, so sitting in front of his computer and typing reports was a tedious task at the best of times. Consequently, the day proceeded at a snail's pace.
Beckett had explained his findings to him at breakfast, so Sheppard put his continuing dizziness, nausea, and occasional bouts of actual sickness down to that. He'd had lunch several hours ago, although he had to admit that half a turkey sandwich hardly classified as lunch. Nevertheless, he was thankful that the sandwich had actually stayed down, along with the glass of water that Teyla had insisted he drank.
After lunch, he had returned to his quarters to take a little nap and upon waking, he'd attempted to do some paper work. However, it was becoming more of a task to concentrate on the screen as his eyes kept blurring every few minutes. His head felt stuffed with cotton wool as a throbbing headache began to form across his forehead. The vague feeling of unease that he'd felt since yesterday still persisted, so he decided to call it a day and sleep some more.
Moving out of his chair like an old man, he was distressed when another wave of dizziness hit him and the sandwich threatened to make its comeback. Determinedly, he gritted his teeth and headed for his bed intending to sleep it off.
However before he could hit the mattress, his earpiece came alive with Lieutenant Kagan's worried voice. "Sorry to disturb you, sir, but we have a situation in the training room."
"What kind of situation, Lieutenant?"
"Corporal Higgins and Sergeant Mason got into a fight, sir, and the Corporal broke the Sergeants nose."
John closed his eyes trying to calm his growing anger towards the hot-headed young marine who had caused him so much agro since arriving in Atlantis three weeks ago. Although, he certainly didn't feel like dealing with this matter right now, he knew he couldn't leave the transgression unattended. Sighing, he replied. "I'll be along in a minute, Lieutenant."
"Alright, sir."
The slight adrenaline rush actually made him feel faintly better. So without another thought, he headed for the training room.
Arriving some minutes later feeling somewhat out of breath and extremely light headed, John found several marines milling around along with Lieutenant Kagan and Corporal Higgins. Everyone came to attention at the sight of him.
"Sir!" They all called in unison.
"Okay, let's hear it," he mumbled looking around at the fuzzy sea of faces as his eyes suddenly refused to focus properly. "Where's Mason?"
"Gone to the infirmary, sir." The lieutenant answered him.
"Okay, I'll get his version of events later. What have you got to say for yourself, Corporal?" Sheppard whispered through his increasing wooziness and white noise that now filled his brain to rhythm of his pounding heart.
"He started it, sir." The corporal's voice echoed from where he was still standing at attention. "He called me a useless waste of shit, sir! Just because I…" However, the corporal didn't finish his sentence as everyone's attention rapidly turned to their CO.
The colonel stood staring straight-ahead with glassy eyes and an extremely pallid complexion, and then without warning, he swayed to one side before collapsing heavily at Lieutenant Kagan's feet.
Kagan felt like having a panic attack, but the lieutenant remained calm and quickly bent to check his commanding officer's pulse. He didn't like the continuing ashen tone of the colonel's face or the violent tremors that had started to shake his entire body.
Sheppard suddenly cried out as if in a great deal of discomfort. Without hesitation, the lieutenant shouted. "Someone call for help!"
tbc