Chapter Four

Young leaned against the circular central console and shook his head while Volker and Brodie told him the same thing they'd told him weeks ago when the Destiny's power had failed.

"We're dead."

Eli was more graphic; he echoed what he'd told Young about Telford's plan to channel star power through the Gate, ending with "cats and dogs…" and again, Young interrupted him with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Enough," he said roughly, even though he wasn't sure he understood half of what they were saying. "If I'm hearing you correctly, Rush figured out how to monitor the power flows and right now the indicators are showing an overload of power to the engines."

Brodie nodded. "Yes, we think it's a problem with the coolant system, but we're not sure. We need Rush. He's the only one…"

"Who understands the systems enough to find the problem and figure out how to solve it," Young completed for him, fatalistically.

"I can do some of it," Eli offered hesitantly. "I've already figured out that if the power and heat in the engine core continue to rise at a steady rate, we have about 8 hours. If the leakage increases, well, less than that, I'm afraid. How's he doing?"

Young sighed and shook his head. "Not good, but at least he was awake a few minutes ago."

"You need to tell him," Volker insisted.

"I will," Young shouted back before taking a deep breath to visibly calm down. "But he's seriously ill and may not be in any shape to work, so the three of you had better start coming up with some ideas." Brodie started to protest and Young simply walked past him, calling out "Now" over his shoulder.

He didn't notice Eli following him as he left.

- - -

Unsurprisingly, Rush's immediate response was to try again to get out of bed. He got as far as standing up and then proceeded to waver, drop to his knees supported by Greer, and lean over to dry heave, his body convulsing.

Young helped Greer hoist Rush back into bed. TJ applied a damp cloth to his forehead with one hand, checking his pulse with the other. She shook her head at Young.

"I've got Eli, Volker and Brodie working on it," Young said. "They'll find a solution."

Rush's laugh was coarse, raw. "Eli might – might – come up with something, the others are useless." His eyes, despite the reddened and puffy skin surrounding them, were still intense as he focused on Young. "I'm the only one who can solve this."

"You're in no shape to be doing anything but sleeping," TJ told him firmly.

"If I don't figure this out, we're all dead anyway," Rush pointed out. He closed his eyes for a moment and seemed to slip away before startling everyone by suddenly opening his eyes again. "Unless we use the chair," he told Young with a hint of his old sarcasm.

Young shook his head. "Only as a last resort. We don't even know for sure it would give us the information we need."

Rush shook his head and then winced in pain at the motion. He laid his head back on the pillow and stared at the ceiling. "Looks to me like we're well at 'last resort' territory, Colonel, so I'd suggest we either start asking for a volunteer or you let me get to work."

"You can't even stand up," Greer told him, "much less work."

"I don't need to stand up to think," Rush told him. "Hold me up if you have to."

Young figured from the look on his face that Greer would willingly do that if needed, but Eli interrupted, surprising them all.

"Why don't I just bring a console here?"

Everyone turned to stare at him. He spread his hands wide. "Shouldn't be too hard. I can fix a floating console like on a mini-antigrav sled, like the other one only smaller, and we can link in the Kino video feed if there's something he needs to see."

"Do it," Rush ordered.

"I don't think… TJ attempted, worriedly.

"No, you don't," Rush told her, though there was none of the usual sharpness in his words.

"Rush," Young remonstrated, even though he knew it was useless.

TJ shook her head at him and smiled sadly. "It's OK. There isn't much choice, is there?"

No, Young had to agree, there wasn't.

- - -

Eli's floating console actually did function as promised, not too surprisingly. The surprise was that Greer turned out to be a pretty good nurse. His bedside manner left a lot to be desired, but he showed no flagging of energy or attention, or any sign of being bothered by helping Rush use a makeshift bed pan or cleaning up vomit after an attempt to feed him some liquid protein meal.

Rush, himself, staggered between moments of intense focus on the console and episodes of unconsciousness, as the fever continued to wrack his body. His skin was parchment dry and pale; his voice lowered into the thick accent of his childhood, his words coarse and difficult to understand.

TJ continued to wash him down with cooled, damp cloths but gave up on the antibiotics on his command. They weren't working. His body was going to have to fight this infection on its own.

He began to mumble to himself, half-working through equations, half-muttering insensible words, as delirium took hold and he desperately fought against the oncoming unconsciousness.

Young spent most of his time standing or sitting off to the side, watching Rush battle with both ticking time bombs, Destiny's failing coolant systems and the infection raging in his veins, simultaneously. The Colonel felt helpless, felt awed, felt useless. Their survival depended on a man who was barely conscious, yet managed, against any seeming shred of possibility, to keep his jittery fingers poking at the console buttons.

Finally, however, the illness appeared to overcome even Rush's incredible determination, and he collapsed backwards, eyes rolling back into his skull before closing.

Not knowing what else to do, Young scurried over to kneel at Rush's bedside next to Greer who was still supporting the back of the scientist's head with his hand. TJ wiped down his face and neck again, but shook her head at Young's inquiring look.

"He's still alive, but I don't know, sir. If the fever doesn't break in the next few hours…"

Young dropped his chin to chest. "Without a solution in the next three hours, it won't matter anyway," he whispered, trying not to notice the break in his own voice.

He – and TJ and Greer – all gasped in sudden alarm as Rush's hand abruptly grabbed at Young's arm and squeezed tightly. "Console," he whispered, forcing them to lean in close to try to hear him. "Code. Eli. Tell Eli…"

Three pairs of startled eyes met and then Young was on his feet, shoving the floating console ahead of him, his radio crackling as he shouted into it.

"ELI! Someone find Eli, NOW!"

- - -

TBC