Chapter 12
Disclaimer: Oh, I want to, but I don't own anything!
Author's note: Two chapters at once, that's a real record for me. Please enjoy and review!
"Teyla!" John shouted.
"John!" Elizabeth said, her face pale with shock "General O'Neill?"
"Beckett get over here!" John barked.
"What.. but… h-how…?" McKay flabbergasted.
"Beckett!"
"Calm down sir," Ford spoke for the first time "She's only fainted. McKay stop whimpering."
"I am not whimpering." Rodney said indignantly "I'm just surprised, that's all."
"You and the rest of us." Elizabeth said weakly, clutching at the nearest table. Rodney subconsciously reached out and steadied her, stopping at the raised eyebrow from Jack.
"What?"
"Nothing McKay," Jack said, smiling faintly "Absolutely nothing."
"Major, if you would just let me…" Carson's voice was strained.
"Sheppard, relax." Jack said.
"John." Elizabeth said "Let's get her to the infirmary."
"Right." John said. Then he lifted Teyla up and walked straight out of the room. Several screams were heard from the corridor along with Carson's harassed voice telling the major to wait for him.
"So how're things going here Dr. Weir?" Jack asked pleasantly.
"So you touched the device in your galaxy at the same time that John touched the device here?" Elizabeth said slowly.
"Yep, Carter said it had something to do with the power supply." Jack answered.
"That makes a lot of sense," McKay said "It also proves our theory that some ascended beings were still connected back to their physical existences. You see for that type of energy calibration to have worked, and across galaxies, we thought there may be a possibility that at one time the ancients used their ascended powers, although before they knew they were their ascended powers, to have interacted with their technology. Therefore, this power supply must have malfunctioned when you two used it. Probably a power surge as the devices weren't meant to be used together."
"So something to do with the power supply?" Jack asked innocently.
"Does anyone of your people know how to put it right?" Weir asked quickly.
"No, not yet."
"Not yet?" Ford asked.
"When we first came to we were in some kinda place, a plane existence of some sort. There was a guy there, Skaraar." John explained.
"Ska'ara." Jack said patiently.
"Right. He said we were trapped like this until the machines could be made to work again. He also said that he , or anybody else up there, couldn't help us but that we could help ourselves."
"We figured that meant you guys do the work while we act as messengers." Jack continued.
"What, by trying different manipulations of the device?" McKay asked.
"Sort of." John replied.
"The devices aren't complete in each place," Jack explained "Your device here opens up but doesn't have any writing on. The device back at Earth has writing on but doesn't open up. They're half of each other. We have to figure a way to make the two devices work properly at the same time so as to reverse the effects."
"That makes sense." Ford said "How'd we do it?"
"You guys have to experiment and see what works on the devices individually. If something works then we go tell the other guys and see if that helps them. If two things work, we'll coordinate a timing when they'll be tested together." John said.
"Trial and error." Elizabeth said.
"Yep."
"How do we know when something works?" Ford asked.
"We'll tell you." John said after a pause.
"And if something doesn't work?" Elizabeth said.
Jack and John looked at each other, trying to decide what to say.
"You'll go into cardiac arrest again." McKay said softly "If something goes wrong with the device, your bodies will stop working."
"We don't know that for sure." John assured hurriedly.
"It's what happened last time!"
"That is a major risk for us to take John, General." Elizabeth said.
"We'll be fine, we can handle it."
"Aye, you might major," Carson said as he entered the room "But your bodies might not. A body can only take so much. Possible cardiac arrest on an almost regular basis due to these tests could easily finish your bodies off."
"Is that likely Carson?" Elizabeth said sharply.
"Likely? That depends. The likelihood will increase as the test progress, that's definite."
"Elizabeth I know there's a risk…" John began.
"A risk major!" Weir said hotly.
"Yes," Jack said loudly in his command voice "there are risks. But we can't stay like this. The two options are try some stuff out and see if it works or wait and let it kill us. We don't have another choice Dr. Weir. If we did, you'd know about it and we'd have probably taken that course of action by now. But we don't so let's try the option we do have."
There was silence as everyone in the room stared at each other nervously.
"Alright," Elizabeth said finally "We'll try it your way. But Carson is going to watch the strain on your body, and you have to report back what's happening with yours General, and if its getting too much then we'll reconsider our options. Deal?"
"Deal." John said. "Is Teyla awake?" He asked Beckett.
"Aye."
"She's alright?"
"She's fine, just a bit shocked."
"Ok. I'm gonna go see her." John announced and started walking off. He stopped at the door and turned back to face Jack.
"I'm not coming," he stated bluntly "We don't have to go everywhere together. Besides, I want a tour, Daniel will be wanting all the gossip."
John grinned slightly and set off to the infirmary.
"Hey." He greeted Teyla softly "You alright?"
"I am well major."
"You sure? 'Cos I call collapsing not well."
"I was surprised to see you due to your current condition." She said softly, turning her head to face the bed a few along from hers where John's comatose body lay.
"Yeah I'd imagine that's a real heart lurcher," he muttered to himself "We haven't really mastered the whole flashy transport thing yet."
"Flashy?" Teyla said uncertainly.
God he loved that about her. The way she was always curious about his ways and his terminology, but how it never scared her off.
"Yeah, that's just what we nicknamed it 'cos everything goes all bright and … well, flashy." John explained, smiling.
"Oh, I see."
"Um, it's a bit difficult to explain, this whole thing." John said cautiously, gesturing between himself and his body.
"I'm sure you will help me to understand," Teyla said as she settled back into her pillows "You always do."
"Um, ok," John said, flustered. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks. "Well, what happened was…"
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