The Weight of an Oath – Chapter 16/17
"Problem? What? What problem? What are you talking about? A problem?" Rodney knew that he was babbling again, but he just couldn't seem to stop it.
"Three tunnels and a bunch of squiggly lines that look like language of some sort," Ronon brusquely said, ignoring Rodney's rant. "I thought that maybe you could figure out what the writing says."
Rodney took a minute to digest the information, and then carefully looked at Sheppard. There was no way the man was going to make it if they had to go on an extensive spelunking expedition. Ronon, remarkably, was right. Sheppard's only hope for a speedy transfer to the 'gate—provided that there was a 'gate in the first place—was for them to focus their efforts on one course of action. On one of three tunnels.
Why did he suddenly feel that Einstein was wrong, and that God did play with dice?
Possibly because Einstein had never found himself on the edge of another galaxy in cahoots with three aliens and a sheep-herding doctor to save the life of a glorified genetic mutant.
Okay, so that wasn't fair to Sheppard—or to Albert, for that matter—but, damn it! He suddenly hated the Pegasus galaxy and all of its over-rated wonders.
It only took Rodney's brain a moment to rifle through all of the worries and anxieties brought up in instances such as these, and the routine of it all had him settled down and able to react. He refused to consider how crazy his life had become or how ridiculous it was for that adrenalized spike of anxiety to have become routine.
"Okay, yeah, sure," Rodney said dully. He stood up from where he had been hunched by Sheppard's side, took two steps away from the man, and then paused. A look of pure irritation settled in on his face, and he turned around to address Torca.
"You'd better come along," Rodney said, not bothering to hide his annoyance. "It could be a Netharian inscription that you might be able to decipher."
Torca's face took on a look of exasperation that matched Rodney's. But she graciously nodded a quiet farewell to Carson and Teyla, clutched Sheppard's shoulder for a moment (it was an action that had Rodney's ire up again) and faced the subject of her impatience.
"After you, Doctor McKay," she said, motioning him forward.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Rodney said, and wordlessly followed Ronon to the source of their newest problem.
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The atmosphere shifted, and John suddenly felt as if the space around him had emptied. Before the subtle change occurred, he had been following Carson's instructions to relax, to just breathe, to gather his strength. Now, however, he wanted to see what that shift in the air around him meant but found that it was a struggle to open his eyes, especially since he hadn't realized that they had drifted closed. But after some time, he managed the task and tried to focus his beleaguered eyesight so that he could determine what had been altered.
"Hello, Colonel. How are you feeling?" It was Carson who was speaking, but John's world was still a blurry mess. A blob of light and dark settled in the center of his field of vision, but he had to blink several times to clear his sight before recognizing that the doctor was hovering over him.
He couldn't find the strength to both answer Carson's question and take a look around, so he settled on the look around. Immediately he saw that Rodney, Ronon, and Torca were missing, but it took his oxygen-deprived brain some time to process the information. When it did, John felt a jolt of fear speed up his already stressed heart and cause his breathing to worsen.
"Where…where's…Rodney? Ronon? What's going…on? " he asked between desperate gasps for breath.
He felt Carson immediately grab his wrist and press it against his rib cage so that he could simultaneously gauge his pulse and rate of respiration. He also felt a soothing hand run its way through his hair and was startled to find that it belonged to Teyla, who was wearing an expression on her face that he had never seen before. What was that? Was that fear?
If Teyla was frightened, then things had definitely taken a turn for the worse. And Carson hadn't answered him yet.
"Rod…ney?" he asked again, and realized that that was all the vocalization that he was going to be capable of for a while.
"He's fine, Colonel," Carson answered, too slowly for John's liking. "He and Torca just went up ahead with Ronon to see what's what. We're almost home. You just need to calm down and let us take care of you."
Something was placed against his mouth, and cool liquid drained into his throat, choking him and making him gasp harder for air. He closed his eyes since they weren't helping him see much anymore, and since it was taking entirely too much energy to keep his eyelids open.
"Shhhhh. It's okay, Colonel. I just need you to relax. Stay calm," Carson said in an attempt to soothe his failing patient.
Calming down was easier said than done, and Sheppard remained tense until Rodney, Ronon, and Torca came back some moments later.
He heard them coming, because Rodney and Torca were quietly arguing again. He never did see them, though, because his eyes had closed. They remained closed when the bickering abruptly stopped, and even when he heard Rodney's voice, more subdued, shuddering out nervous questions.
"Carson, what the hell happened? How can he be so much worse? We were only gone for a few minutes!"
John wanted to open his eyes to find out who Rodney was talking about, but he just couldn't seem to accomplish it this time. He wondered about the quiet fear in McKay's voice. Wondered why everyone around him seemed to be so afraid all of a sudden. It wasn't like Teyla to show fear, and that tone in Rodney's voice, that awful, pained tone, he'd never heard that before either.
But he didn't have too much time to consider these things, because then, for some reason, his breathing got all wonky and difficult, and his body decided that it was just best to shut down for a little while.
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Carson was trying to make Sheppard more comfortable and had just noticed another ulcer on the skin of the man's right arm when Rodney and Torca returned with an obviously annoyed Ronon. The engineer and Netharian were arguing in tight whispers, but Carson was too preoccupied with the Colonel's increasingly labored breathing to be overly concerned about what had provoked the heated discussion.
Suddenly the conversation stopped; however, when Rodney apparently caught sight of the Colonel.
"Carson, what the hell happened? How can he be so much worse? We were only gone for a few minutes!"
Rodney's voice was surprisingly restrained, but there was no missing the panic that was lacing it. And Carson understood. The Colonel's condition had quickly taken a drastic turn within minutes. A sudden fever was slowly making ground, and sweat covered Sheppard's entire body, dampening his clothing and his hair. The man was shivering uncontrollably, and Carson was concerned about dehydration. In fact, he had been attempting to force water down an increasingly non-responsive Sheppard, when Rodney and the others had returned.
He was about to answer Rodney's question when the Colonel's breath stuttered and stopped. Full-fledged panic came over Carson, and his entire attention returned to Sheppard. He listened carefully to the Colonel's chest and determined that his heart was still beating, but that his respiration had stopped. He shook the Colonel hard, and when Sheppard's breathing did not resume, tilted the Colonel's head back, leaned down and blew two puffs of air into the ailing man's mouth.
He had to perform two more repetitions of the rescue breathing before Sheppard coughed and spontaneously drew in air. Relief flooded through Carson, but he maintained fixed attention on the Colonel's respiration and heartbeat. Sheppard's condition was tenuous at best, and he wanted to act quickly if things deteriorated again.
"I need another oxygen injection," he said demandingly to Torca. Her face was pale and drained of expression, when she hastily handed over the object that he requested.
Carson immediately injected the contents of the syringe and watched as Sheppard's breathing evened out and eased slightly. Carson then felt all of his energy leave him and sat back to lean heavily against the cavern wall.
"We need to get him back to Atlantis now. I'm not even sure how he's survived this far," he said bluntly to the others. "If he hadn't been in such terrific physical condition before this had happened, he would have been dead hours ago."
His companions seemed just as disturbed as he was by the knowledge of Sheppard's grave condition, but Carson saw determination harden each of their features. Their unwillingness to give up on one of their own was what had kept this bizarre mixture of personalities together and made it a successful team. That same resolution was the only thing allowing Carson any level of hope for the Colonel's health.
"There is a Stargate here," Rodney said. There was no inflection of irritation in his voice. No retaliation on Torca. No comment on possible problems. Just grim determination.
"Thank the Ancestors," Teyla muttered under her breath.
"Yeah, I had a similar thought," Rodney shot back grimly. "There's also a chair with a presumably working ZedPM, but I don't suppose—"
"We need to get Sheppard back," Ronon stated brusquely.
"Yes, that's what I was going to say. We need to get Sheppard back. That's our priority," Rodney said, quickly agreeing. Carson felt a moment's worth of incredulity at McKay's easy agreement to ditch the possibility of retrieving the ZedPM. The power source was desperately needed by Atlantis, and it would be difficult for Rodney to have to put its consideration aside.
But it seemed that the life of Colonel Sheppard had taken precedence for them all.
"There are also Netharian guards here," Ronon reported. "They came out of one tunnel and entered the one that led to the chair. We'll have to assume that the Stargate will be guarded."
"And how are we supposed to take on a group of armed guards when we don't have any weapons to speak of?" Carson asked, beginning to feel like the universe had something against them all.
"From what I can tell, it's just a light reserve of guards. They should be easy for us to take care of," Ronon said with a somewhat evil twinkle to his eye. The Satedan looked to Teyla for confirmation of his statement, and she nodded without hesitation.
"Trust us, Doctor Beckett," Teyla said, and Carson saw a warrior where there recently had been a woman, frightened for her friend.
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"It's amazing really," Rodney said in a whisper as they carefully walked down the corridor that led to the three tunnels. Sheppard groaned, and his breath hitched just a bit, causing Rodney and Carson to abruptly stop walking in order to assess their human burden. But the Colonel continued breathing almost immediately, and Rodney readjusted the man's weight over his shoulder before both men proceeded down the natural hallway.
"What's amazing?" Carson asked, needing the distraction that Rodney's nonstop theorizing could supply. He hefted Sheppard's arm more tightly over his own shoulder. The man's lean muscle made him heavier than he looked.
"Well, the inscriptions along each of the three tunnels are in Ancient. Pure, unadulterated Ancient. No Netharian pollution of the language."
Carson heard an angry sigh from Torca who was walking behind them and shook his head at the amazing level in which McKay was able to annoy her. Although it was true that Rodney had a singular skill in driving everyone around him crazy, it appeared that his talents were exceptionally honed on the Netharian woman's nerves.
"I'm not as fluent in Ancient as Elizabeth is, but from what I could tell Netharia was established by the Ancients as something akin to a prison colony. Sort of like a Pegasus version of Australia."
"You have no proof of that statement, Doctor McKay!" Torca hissed.
"It makes perfect sense," Rodney whispered harshly back. "Besides, you can't even read Ancient, so you have no idea what you're talking about."
Torca fell silent, and Rodney huffed smugly.
"Why does it make perfect sense?" Carson asked, suddenly curious.
"These people have an enormous amount of technology that is closely related to Ancient technology. And they're able to activate Ancient devices as well. In addition, they know very little about their historical origins. If this planet is one big Ancient prison, it kind of makes sense that the Netharian ancestors would want to hide the big skeleton in their closet and erase foundational records."
"You cannot be sure of this information," Torca whispered angrily. "You are not even certain of your level of understanding of the language of these Ancients. It is most likely that you have misinterpreted the writings!"
"You're just upset because you just found out that your highfalutin, hoity-toity, better than everyone else society is really just comprised of the progeny of criminals who were tossed out on their collective asses by people who had a better moral standing. Don't take your disappointment out on me!" Rodney whispered. Carson thought he sensed a bit of glee emanating from the scientist. "Besides, what are you going to say about my capabilities of understanding Ancient when I lead us to the Stargate, hmmm?"
Torca seemed too upset to respond, but Carson supposed that her silence could have been due, in part by the scathing glare that Ronon directed at the bickering scientists.
"We're almost there," the ex-Runner said in a hushed whisper. "Shut up!"
After that, conversation dwindled.
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Sheppard's breathing became affected for a moment while they waited in the darkness of the middle tunnel for Ronon to return from scouting out the area around the 'gate.
There was actually a 'gate. A Stargate. A way to escape from this world ruled by fear and ego and questionable ethics. A way home.
The relief that Carson was feeling was interrupted when the Colonel's breathing caught in his throat, but after a heart-racing instant, Sheppard rallied.
They needed to get back to Atlantis. Now.
It was no longer a matter of time before Sheppard's body failed. It now was an imminent certainty.
"Where the bloody hell is he?" Beckett whispered fiercely. He couldn't help it. He just couldn't.
Rodney opened his mouth as if to respond, but before he could, Ronon was back and looking remarkably optimistic.
"Stargate's there. Looks just like the one at home," he said. Carson took a second to marvel at the idea that the wild Satedan considered Atlantis his home, but then concentrated on Ronon's next words. "Only two guards. Looks like they're not expecting visitors. We should be able to take them easily."
Teyla tensed and prepared for the confrontation, but Carson minutely relaxed. Maybe this was going to be easier than they had all thought it would be.
"Stay here until one of us gives you a signal," Ronon instructed, and then he and Teyla left.
"Signal? What signal? They didn't even tell us what signal they were going to use!" Rodney appeared to be as insulted as he was concerned.
"Don't worry, Rodney. I'm sure we'll figure it out," Carson said, and then placed his hand against the Colonel's ribcage to more closely monitor his breathing.
"I'm just saying that it would be nice to know what the signal is," Rodney said, petulantly.
Carson refused to respond and maintained his attention on his patient. It was during the quiet of the wait that what he deemed a fairly important question came to him.
"Uh, Rodney, where exactly are we going to 'gate to? Torca, helpful as you were, lass, only brought us my medical supplies. We have no way of contacting Atlantis to let them know that they need to lift the shield."
"Shield? What shield?" Torca asked, unable to hide her innate curiosity.
"Our Stargate has a force field associated with it to keep out all sorts of nasties. Only problem is, it's going to keep us out as well if we have no way of contacting Atlantis and letting them know our intentions," Carson explained with a shrug that no one could have seen.
"Yes, and thanks ever so much for not bringing our equipment. This is a serious problem that could have been avoided if you had just brought us our headsets!" Rodney's comments were unmistakably directed at Torca.
"How can you be so ungrateful!" Torca exclaimed. "If it wasn't for me—"
"Ungrateful? Ungrateful! What the hell do we have to be grateful for! If it wasn't for you and your people we'd never—"
Rodney's bitter comments ended so quickly that Carson nervously reached for the man.
"Rodney? Are you okay?"
His concern was met by the unmistakable sound of fast-snapping fingers.
"What's the date?"
"The date? What are you going on about now, Rodney?" Carson asked, trying to process the non-sequitur.
"The date! The date! What day is it?" Rodney asked in a tight whisper.
"Uh, I'm not sure Rodney," Carson said, deciding to just humor the physicist. "Torca, lass, how many days have passed since the Colonel and his team came to your world?"
"It has been almost four days now, Doctor Beckett," Torca stated, stoically.
"Four days. Okay, four days. All right now. Accounting for the differences in planetary rotation, it's been almost three Atlantis days," Rodney began to babble but stopped abruptly. "Jesus, three days. They must be going crazy looking for us. God, I hope they didn't send anyone. What do you think would have happened?"
Rodney continued to babble along in this vein for quite some time, and although Doctor Weir's intentions had been something that Carson had become chronically worried over, he knew that now wasn't the time to be distracted by how Atlantis' leader was planning to act.
"Rodney, why are you going on about the date?" Carson asked, interrupting and thereby forestalling Rodney's anxious tirade.
"Oh, that's right. Hmmm. Three days. Oh! This will work. Major Lorne should be exploring MXP-339. I know, because I sent Zelenka with him to study an energy reading that the sensors picked up," Rodney's voice was a triumphant murmur. "Zelenka isn't going to be too happy with me, given that those energy readings were situated in the middle of a swamp, but I know the address. We'll just dial up the planet and then hitch a ride back to Atlantis with the Major!"
It sounded like a half-hatched plan to Carson, but given the fact that their presence here, so close to escape, was based on a plan that wasn't even half-hatched, Carson figured that they could risk it.
"Good idea, Rodney," Beckett said, tiredly.
"All of my ideas are good!" Rodney replied, smugly.
Carson felt Torca tense up at his side, but before she was able to garner any momentum for her sharp tongue, Teyla was softly calling for them from somewhere further down the tunnel.
"Come on, Rodney. Help me with the Colonel," Carson instructed.
Rodney groaned, began to complain about his back, but helped out anyway.
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"This isn't supposed to be happening!" Rodney said, ranting as if someone had interfered with his dinner plans. "We're supposed to just dial the 'gate, find Lorne and a seriously pissed off Zelenka, and then go home! It's supposed to be that simple!"
Rodney tried to dial the Stargate again, but got the same result. Meaning, no result. A device he'd never seen before on any 'gate continued to blink red, but that was about all the action the Ancient equipment was offering.
When Teyla had beckoned them to the 'gate room, Rodney had had certain expectations. He had expected to see Ronon standing over two unconscious guards and had been thrilled to find that prospect met. He had expected to see a working Stargate and, again, had not been disappointed. Lastly, he had expected to see a functional DHD, and although there actually was a powered dial-home device at the end of the tunnel, the functionality of the damn thing was suspect.
"We need to get out of here now, McKay. There are more guards scattered around these caverns," Ronon said, and then lifted up one of the projectile weapons he had confiscated from the guards. "And two guns aren't going to protect us for long."
"It's not as if I'm not trying!" Rodney exclaimed, abrasively. He appeared to think for a moment, and then beckoned to Torca. "Hey, you, come here now. Maybe you can deactivate it."
Torca bristled at the command, but a gentle smile from Teyla and the knowledge that Rodney was the only person standing between her and imprisonment by her people placated her a bit. Frowning, she walked to the DHD, and then placed her hands on the device like Rodney indicated.
"Just think 'off'," Rodney instructed.
Torca did, but the red light continued to flash, and the Stargate remained inaccessible.
"Okay, okay," Rodney muttered, continuously snapping his fingers. "Maybe it's Ancient, and I just can't activate it."
He refused to acknowledge the smug look that Torca was directing at him.
"Carson, you try."
Not especially thrilled with having to play around with Ancient technology, Carson didn't leap to the call. But after considering the dire condition of Colonel Sheppard, he slowly walked to the device and placed tentative hands on it.
"Off. Just think 'off'," Rodney commanded.
Carson did, but still nothing happened.
"You're not concentrating hard enough," Rodney accused.
"Well excuse me if I find myself a wee bit distracted right now, Rodney!" Carson exclaimed unhappily.
"Never mind," Rodney said, curtly. "Just try again. There's got to be some way to deactivate this locking mechanism."
"Why would there be a locking mechanism on this Stargate anyway, Rodney?" Carson asked, still unhappy about being bossed around.
"What do I look like, Carson? An anthropologist? How the hell should I know?" Rodney snapped back. But then a look of realization crossed his features, and Carson prepared himself for a drawn out explanation. "Probably to keep the criminals incarcerated. This must be the original 'gate. The one that the Ancients brought the prisoners through. I guess it's conceivable that the criminals could construct a new 'gate, meaning the one in the city, but that's pretty amazing. I mean really—"
Carson noticed Torca bristling again, and since another argument between the two scientists would have been detrimental to progress, he intervened.
"That's great, Rodney. But this isn't working. Apparently it's not happy with the condition of my ATA gene."
"You're right. This is all making sense to me now. The Netharians can operate Ancient technology, but Sandrina never gave me time to determine just how much Ancient technology they could activate," Rodney's words grew acerbic as he remembered his initial excitement about the work he had started with the Netharian scientist. "And my ATA gene doesn't always work on these things, and it looks like yours isn't doing much better. That means that our best candidate for deactivating this damn thing is—"
"Rodney, no. He's in no condition to—"
"Carson, we have no choice. It's either get Sheppard to deactivate this device or stay here and wait for the bad guys."
"He's unconscious, Rodney!"
"Well, maybe he doesn't have to be conscious to deactivate it. Ronon, you want to help us out here?"
Teyla took Ronon's place near the unconscious guards, and Ronon, looking somewhat more annoyed than he had before, bent to pick up the Colonel. He brought the unconscious man's body to the DHD, and then placed one of Sheppard's limp hands on the device.
Nothing happened.
Rodney looked grim.
"Carson, do you have any stimulants in with those medical supplies?"
"Rodney, no. He's in grave condition. Who knows what a stimulant will do to him."
"Carson, we don't have any choice."
"Doctor Beckett, what Doctor McKay says is true. We have no choice," Teyla said serenely. "And I am sure that Colonel Sheppard would want to attempt to help if he were conscious."
"See, even Teyla agrees with me!" Rodney said, although his voice held little vindication, and too much depressed bleakness.
"All right. I know. You're right. Let me see what I have on hand."
After that it was just a matter of loading a syringe with the adrenaline he found in the medical supplies he had with him and injecting the substance into Colonel Sheppard's blood stream. He also injected the last dose of the Netharian oxygen, all the while cursing under his breath.
When Sheppard eventually stirred and opened his eyes a slit, they heard noise coming from the tunnel that led to the 'gate room. Ronon immediately took a position on one side of the 'gate room entrance while Teyla stood on the opposite side.
"Please! Don't hurt them!" Torca begged. "There's a stun setting on those weapons. Please."
Ronon didn't look to happy about changing the setting, but reluctantly did so after a hard look from Teyla.
Rodney and Carson were too busy trying to fully rouse Sheppard to take much time being concerned about the military situation that was slowly growing around them. Instead, the two of them hoisted up the disoriented Colonel and dragged the breathless man over to the DHD.
Seemingly dazed, Sheppard stared at the flashing lights in front of him. He appeared completely oblivious to his surroundings, and Rodney saw the beginnings of an ulcerated sore on the man's face. Rodney scowled in frustration and worry, and then ducked as shots were fired near the room's entrance.
"Off! Think off, Sheppard!" McKay yelled over the barrage of sound that now surrounded them.
Sheppard's breathing was beginning to break down, and Carson bit his lip in frustration. He was about to insist on settling the Colonel back down on the cavern floor, when Sheppard suddenly grabbed onto the alien device on the DHD and closed his eyes.
The flashing red light softened to a blue glow.
Sheppard's eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he collapsed.
Rodney desperately dialed the 'gate.
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"Don't shoot! For the love of all physicists, don't shoot!" Rodney exclaimed when he saw too many P-90's pointed at him.
"Doctor McKay?"
The query came from Major Lorne who was staring at Rodney as if he had toilet paper stuck to his shoe. Rodney rolled his eyes with disgust.
"Yes, of course it's me! Who the hell else were you expecting?"
Lorne just looked confused, but Rodney ignored the dull expression on the Major's face, instead focusing his attention on the others who stepped out of the 'gate.
"Close the 'gate! Now!" Rodney exclaimed when all of his companions had successfully made the transport from one planet to the other.
"Doctor McKay, what are you doing here? What happened to Colonel Sheppard? What the hell is going on?" Lorne asked after giving the order to disconnect the active wormhole.
"I would love to answer all of your questions, Major," Rodney said, exasperated. "But there's a pretty big chance that some mean, nasty bad guys are going to redial to this planet to find us. I'd like to be somewhere else when that happens."
"We were just getting ready to return to Atlantis," Lorne said, suddenly understanding the seriousness of their situation.
"Well, time's awastin'. Let's get moving," Rodney said, beginning to feel the effects of the strain he had been under. His legs felt decidedly noodleish, and he wondered how long he was going to have to wait to collapse.
Zelenka, filthy and stinking of swamp water, stepped in his line of vision, and Rodney groaned. He couldn't. He just couldn't do this right now.
"Radek, I promise to take the backwater assignment of your choice if you just keep any comments you may have to yourself right now. Please, I can't take it," Rodney said, disliking the begging quality to his voice.
Radek didn't seem entirely happy yet, but Rodney could see that he was realizing the potential of such a deal. He wondered if he had completely screwed himself.
"Fine," the swampy smelling physicist said, and the Stargate whooshed into life behind them.
Afraid that the Netharians had managed to redial before they could contact Atlantis, Rodney jumped in alarm. But then Lorne was standing by him, smiling broadly.
"It's good to have you all back," the Major said, cheerfully. "Let's go."
Ronon grabbed Sheppard and entered the event horizon. Torca sticking close to Teyla followed, and then Carson and Rodney, sharing a look of concern, stepped into the seeming pool of water.
When Rodney exited the Stargate, he saw a medical team already surrounding Sheppard.
"Okay, I got him here," McKay said casually to Carson who was still standing next to him. "Now you go fix him."
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A/N: One more to go! Whew! I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter:) Emrys