Rodney had had no concept of how quickly things could disintegrate until the singing started.
Since Sheppard was far from capable of walking on his own, both McKay and Beckett had been forced to drag the man across the decimated mansion's long courtyard towards the surrounding trees where Teyla and Torca were hopefully waiting for them in the concealed car. The journey was an arduous one, made more trying by the fact that Sheppard simply would not shut up. Rodney had become so frustrated with the Colonel's refusal to be tactfully silent, that he was seriously considering doing physical harm to the already infirm man.
The talking and intermittent laughter had become so much of a problem that Ronon had been forced to circle back to the front of the burnt out mansion so that he could again distract the local police enforcer. Ronon's reluctant separation from the three of them was an act that had had Rodney fervently praying to gods that he didn't believe in but wished he could that the Satedan wouldn't be forced to resort to minor indiscretions of violence. They were sure to be caught if the native lawman was found unconscious due to suspicious circumstances.
Struggling with John's recalcitrant weight, Rodney had wondered how it had all gotten so bad. It had been pretty bad before Sheppard had tripped the light fantastic, but afterwards it had just gotten, well…VERY bad. Rodney hadn't been able to imagine how things could get much worse, hadn't; in fact, wanted to know.
Then fate, disguised as a United States Air Force Colonel, happily showed him just how much worse things could get.
The man began to sing.
"My Bonnie lies over the…ocean. My Bonnie…lies over the sea!"
It was breathless, off-key singing that reminded Rodney of the weird braying sound that the goat-like creature on P57-239 had made when it had charged him with the intent of butting him off a cliff. The ugly sound made Rodney cringe, and it set his teeth on edge.
"Please, Sheppard, I'm begging you. SHUT THE HELL UP!" Rodney screamed in a coarse whisper, feeling a last nerve begin to twitch wildly.
Sheppard paused in his singing only long enough to wobble his head upward to look drunkenly at McKay. By the light of the now fading moon, Rodney saw a rebellious glint flare up in the other man's glazed eyes.
"Bring BACK! Bring BACK! Bring back my Bonnie, to…ME! To…ME!"
Resisting the urge to tackle the man and knock him unconscious, Rodney instead glared violently at Beckett.
"How could oxygen do this to him?" he asked while trying desperately to smother Sheppard's singing with his hand.
"There's more in that injection than just oxygen, Rodney," Beckett quietly explained as he, too, attempted to silence the affected man. "In order to maintain oxygen in an injectable form, there's apt to be a pretty fancy injection medium mixed in with the gas. I wouldn't be surprised if he's reacting to something that the Netharians find innocuous."
"That's just ridiculous!" Rodney exclaimed.
It was then that Sheppard fought to move his face away from Rodney's hand in a clumsy effort to continue vocalizing the song that had apparently become something of a fascination for him. The awkward and sudden maneuver threw off the Colonel's equilibrium and caused him to turn a shade of green with which Rodney had had some familiarity in the very recent past.
Being unprepared for the shift in weight, Rodney unwillingly followed Sheppard's lead, and they both tumbled to the ground. Sheppard was retching before his face even touched the damp grass, and Carson reached down to turn the man's head into a position less conducive to aspirating on expelled stomach contents.
"It's all right, Colonel. It'll be over in a moment," soothed Carson as he supported Sheppard through the vile bout of sickness.
Endeavoring to escape being puked upon, Rodney scrambled backwards. He watched Beckett as he patiently cared for the weakening Colonel and felt a sudden rush of shame claim him. Sheppard couldn't help how he was acting, and yet only seconds ago Rodney had been close to knocking the man unconscious just to get him to quiet down. What kind of friend was he that he could have thoughts like that?
Feeling rueful, Rodney rushed back to Sheppard's side and did his best to help Beckett comfort the man. A short while later, the Colonel's vomiting ended, and he lay in the damp grass looking stricken and shaking with the reaction of being sick.
"Are you feeling better then, Colonel Sheppard?" Carson asked while discretely taking John's vital signs.
"Not really," Sheppard responded, and then laughed too loudly.
"You'd think a bout of puking would return him to some semblance of his normal self," Rodney remarked when his friend's laughter continued unabated. He noted the still distracted look in Sheppard's eyes and rolled his own eyes in disgust.
Beckett didn't give any indication that he had heard Rodney's words. Instead, he gave a resigned sigh as he stared down at the laughing Colonel. "Well, come on, Rodney. Help me haul him up."
Both men reclaimed their positions on either side of the Colonel and then dragged Sheppard upright. John stopped laughing when he again turned a slight shade of green with the movement. He looked distinctly uncomfortable until his complexion settled back to its now ever-present, bruised appearance. His good humor returned, and he again lifted his head to throw McKay an insubordinate look. McKay groaned and prepared his ears for the assault he knew would come next.
"My Bonnie lies over…the ocean," John began to sing once more, and both Carson and Rodney shared a despairing glance with one another.
Feeling his previous guilt evaporate, Rodney experienced a renewed urge to knock the man senseless. He was weighing his options when John lifted his head and forced a sad gaze on him. "You know," he said, "I really miss…Atlantis."
"Tell me about it," McKay responded, but then thought better of his words. "Never mind, don't tell me about it. Just shut the hell up."
Sheppard obliged by passing out again.
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In the end, Ronon hadn't had to resort to knocking the lawman unconscious. Instead, the man had run off on his own accord when an irate member of the local wildlife emerged from the forest underbrush and charged him. The man had evaded the creature only by running faster than Ronon would have given him credit for and then scrambling up a nearby tree. The boar-like animal had given up shortly thereafter and, seemingly unphased, had contentedly trotted off back into the forest.
But the incident had apparently been enough to convince the lawman that no trespassers existed on the property, and he had quickly scuttled down the tree and had run back to his machine. With a disgusted snort that Ronon heard all the way from his hiding place at the edge of the forest, the lawman had then started his machine's engine to subsequently escape from the pig-infested land.
The machine had skidded dangerously on the gravel of the front driveway before righting itself and then tearing off into the night. A heavy cloud of dust had hung suspended in the air, momentarily keeping the vehicle from Ronon's view. But when it had turned onto the main road, Ronon had caught sight of the machine and had known from the speed at which the vehicle continued to travel that the lawman would no longer be a problem with which he need concern himself.
Remembering the almost comical look of panic on the lawman's face as he had scampered up the tree, Ronon felt the need to release some tension by laughing. Contrary to McKay's postulates, the newest member of Sheppard's team could appreciate the humor of a situation. He simply did not feel the need to express his appreciation to the extent that the others did.
But now, walking towards the rendezvous point and relishing the memory of a grown man scared silly by a pig, he allowed himself the indulgence of a private laugh. In fact, his smile lingered until he heard the singing.
His smile instantly converting to an angry scowl, Ronon moved swiftly through the forest that bordered the extended yard but did not catch up to the others until the singing had ended. Despite the grudging respect he felt for the distance that the other three men had traveled in the short time since he had separated himself from them, he remained irritated.
He burst through the forest to find Beckett and McKay struggling with Sheppard's slack body.
"I thought I told you to keep him quiet!" Ronon said fiercely.
McKay yelped at the Satedan's sudden appearance but recovered quickly enough to turn his own annoyance onto his newly arrived teammate.
"Well, he wasn't being very cooperative about it," Rodney said, scathingly. "What did you want us to do, knock him unconscious?"
"Yes, if that's what it took."
His unequivocal response seemed to irritate McKay even further, and Ronon had to suppress the urge to laugh at the man.
"I should have just done it," Rodney muttered to himself before indicating Sheppard's now unconscious state. "Well, anyway, the goat-calling has finally ended of its own accord. Help us with him."
Ronon stooped down and lifted Sheppard up into his arms to again hold him against his chest in the way that he knew would protect the man's injuries. He started walking swiftly through the yard, and the other two men struggled to keep up with his fast pace.
"What about the Netharian man?" Carson suddenly asked breathing heavily from the speed he was forced to maintain.
"He's gone. Took off after a pig ran after him."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Rodney asked. He muttered something about goats and the improbabilities of friendly farm animals, but Ronon was too busy searching for Teyla and the Netharian woman to take much notice.
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They sped across the countryside far faster than Torca had anticipated. At first she was surprised that there had been no true search parties seeking them out via roadblocks or flying helios. But after considering the situation, she supposed that the search had probably remained restricted to the city. The city was large, making any search of it a time-consuming undertaking. It was also quite possible that the Administration thought that the escapees would keep to the city in order to use the convenience of its Stargate to return home. And though the Administration undoubtedly knew by now that Torca had associated herself with the Atlanteans, it was very possible that they had underestimated her resourcefulness and her willingness to leave the city.
So, after considering their predicament for a while, she decided that it wasn't so surprising that the only search parties they had seen were those of the unorganized local law managers like the one they had encountered at her father's estate.
But despite their current good luck, Torca had no illusions that they had much more time before the upper echelon of Administrators came to the conclusion that she and the Atlanteans had left the city. They needed to quickly reach the Hollows where the second Stargate stood if Colonel Sheppard had any hope of survival.
She caught a glimpse of the sick man in the reflective surface of the driver's mirror and knew that this hectic ride through the countryside truly was a fight for the man's survival. Sheppard appeared drained of all life as he leaned heavily against Doctor McKay's shoulder, and his breathing had reverted back to the wheezing it had been before Doctor Beckett had given him the injectable oxygen. She noted the blue tinge around his mouth and wondered if his poor respiration necessitated the dangers of another injection of the oxygen.
After the unexpected side effects of the first injection, both she and Doctor Beckett had agreed that avoiding further use of the Netharian medications was probably wise. But after having caught a glimpse of the ailing man's current condition and knowing just how much further they would have to travel, Torca realized that they would have to risk yet another injection of the oxygen.
Recalling again the behavioral effects that Sheppard had demonstrated after receiving the first injection lead Torca to curse silently to herself. Travel through the Hollows would have to be on foot, which was a prospect that would be difficult even if they didn't have to deal with Sheppard's troublesome lack of judgment. The thought of the man under the negative influence of the Netharian drug while wandering through the Hollows made her mentally recoil.
She hoped that Colonel Sheppard would remain unconscious, because it simply provided them all with the best-case scenario for completing the difficult task that lay ahead of them.
She felt a bit guilty for not having completely explained the difficulties of seeking out the Stargate within the Hollows, but the urgency of their escape coupled with the intractable nature of Doctor McKay had forced her to keep some of her expectations to herself.
Now, having driven for a full day's time and nearing the end of the easiest leg of their journey, Torca was beginning to feel edgy at the thought of how the others would take the news of traveling the rest of the way on foot.
The sun reflected brightly off of the surface of a single car that was traveling in the opposite direction. She admitted relief to herself that the way seemed to be sparsely trafficked. The countryside had long ago become a place to avoid, since most people preferred the city and the luxuries it afforded. She, herself had not been in the country since her father had been killed, and even when he had been alive, he had been considered eccentric for keeping a home so far away from the city.
She vaguely remembered her father telling her stories of a second Ring down in the Hollows, but she had not really thought much about it until undertaking the investigation into her father's death. The subject of the second Stargate had been one that had come up accidentally in conversation with an aged friend of her family. The woman had been more than happy to ramble on about the second Stargate's location as well as about several other tedious subjects. Torca had believed the woman's stories to be nothing but the ramblings of a senile old woman, but after doing further research, she had discovered that the information that the dotty friend had given her held merit. She had even planned a trip to seek out the second Ring, but school and work had impeded her plans.
She had often wondered why the second Ring no longer was used before coming to the conclusion that its lack of operation was due to nothing less than laziness on the part of her indulgent people. Why travel through the barren countryside when everything that was needed could be found within the lavishness of the city?
She turned off the main road, and knew that she had only moments before she would have to disclose to the others the bad news that the truly arduous part of their journey was about to begin. She frowned when she attempted to predict the reaction her companions would have to her news. In particular the thought of Doctor McKay's reaction left her feeling hesitant and annoyed.
McKay had been nothing but an ill-tempered and rude traveling companion from the start, and this made him something of an aggravating curiosity to her. Why would Colonel Sheppard trust such a pompous, self-indulgent lout to be an important part of his team?
She had yet to puzzle it out, and so this irritation of a man had remained something of an enigma to her.
However, she had no trouble determining that McKay would be far from happy with the information she was about to impart to him and his team. The trepidation she felt at the anticipated argument with Doctor McKay lead her to wonder if Ronon would kill her where she stood when he heard the news. She hoped that Teyla would see reason and attempt to intercede on her behalf, or at least that Doctor Beckett would attempt to heal any wounds the other three imparted to her.
They reached the opening to the trail that lead down to the Hollows, and she slowed the forward progression of the vehicle. Her conscious passengers stirred from their individual thoughts and began to look at their surroundings. She knew that they would see nothing but emerald grassland and sloping hills for miles around. They were in a remote place where only a trail and a road overgrown with virile plant life showed sign of any previous Netharian presence.
They were now beyond the realm of true Netharian civilization.
She looked in the mirror and saw realization begin to encroach upon Doctor McKay's expression. After a moment of brief orientation, he turned to glare at her reflection in the mirror.
She defiantly returned his look and then exited the vehicle. She stood outside for a moment to gather up her resolve before bending down to open the back door. McKay staggered out of the back seat and shot an accusing look at her.
"What in the hell is this!" he exclaimed.
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