As promised – a weekly installment of the activities of our favorite SGA team!
Chapter Sixteen
After getting to his knees, John carefully turned Ronon onto his back, so that he would at least be more comfortable when he came to. He saw the dark red spot on Ronon's jaw and he let his fingers slide over the area to make sure he hadn't broken it by accident when he'd struck him so hard. It was difficult for John to gauge how much force he was actually using when he was in the suit.
Luckily, Ronon's jaw bone was smooth. Ronon would have another bruise to add to his growing collection, but no broken bones. That fact didn't help the guilt that still hung over John heavy and roiling like a brewing hurricane. Damn Ronon's stubbornness anyway. John chewed on the inside of his cheek. He'd been left with little choice. The bottom line was he had to make sure his connection to this damned suit was severed once and for all.
John's fingers brushed over the interface at the back of his neck and the sensation was distinctly odd. He could feel the skin around the insertion point, but not the filaments going into his neck. They were alien, as alien as the artificial intelligence trying to control his body.
John thought for a moment, then opted for one of Ronon's sharper knives for the task ahead. After he had Ronon's knife in his hand, he brought it up to the back of his neck, but let it hover there without proceeding.
John swallowed, trying to brace himself for the pain he was sure would follow. Then, he shook off his apprehension. After all he'd been through, a little more pain wouldn't make much difference, especially when he thought of Teyla, Ronon, Rodney and little Ashina. He knew what he had to do.
He brought the knife to the filaments, but stopped when he heard the sound of distant rumbling. It was strong enough to rattle items on nearby shelving. He lowered his hand. His first thought was maybe it was a ground quake, but then he remembered Lorne and Zelenka's teams were still at work. With the radio out, they had no way to know what was happening inside the facility.
And there was no way to warn them. Any hesitation John had left was cast aside with that thought. He could not allow the suit to escape the facility. He brushed the fingers of his left hand over the interface, then raised the knife in preparation to cut. In the next instant, the artificial intelligence's subsystems began to boot up. Maybe it was some sort of self-preservation mode on the suit's part that kicked into action or maybe just bad timing, but the suit was coming back online much too fast.
"No," John whispered.
He'd hoped he'd have a little more time. There was more and more activity in the AI's systems and already John was aware of alarms heralding the AI's imminent arrival.
John knew he only had a second or two before he would lose control of his body again. If that happened, his friends would be in danger again. He closed his eyes and raised the knife to his neck again, slipping the sharp edge of the knife under the patch of filaments, when suddenly his body contorted and the suit began to morph again.
His mind flashed white hot as the knife sliced through at least a few of the suit's filaments, but not enough to shut down the suit. John tried to keep from groaning, but the best he could do was scream as he fell to the floor. The suit again tore away at his clothing and skin as it transformed rapid fire from one configuration to the next.
He squeezed his eyes closed, somehow sure McKay was behind the transformations and he was grateful McKay had been able to stop the suit before it was fully online again, though a part of him was furious about his own failure to cut out the neural interface.
The contortions and machinations continued for what felt like an eternity and the longer it went, the more it felt like he was being flailed alive. His thoughts, his body, all he knew was enveloped in an all-encompassing cocoon of endless pain. He was grateful for the reprieve when he finally passed out.
oOoOoOoOo
McKay rounded a corner and saw John leaning over an unconscious Ronon with a raised knife. "Oh, crap, he's going to kill Ronon," he whispered.
He scrambled for the kill switch in his pocket so quickly he almost lost his crutch in the process. He aimed it in Sheppard's direction and cringed as he pressed the button, knowing full well what it would do to John.
As John was caught up in another siege of contorted transformations, Rodney rushed over to Ronon, and pulled him a couple of meters away, careful to watch his distance from John.
He glanced in John's direction and caught a glimpse of pure agony in John's face, not that John noticed him or what he was doing.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered to John as he moved to Ronon's other side, trying to stay as far away as possible from John.
Rodney grabbed a nearby crate and put it next to Ronon, intending to sit on it. He paused, wallowing in his guilt. "I'm so, so very sorry."
John was still rapid cycle morphing when Ronon started moving, groaning softly as he fought his way back to consciousness. He looked confused when Rodney awkwardly sat down beside him.
"McKay? What's going on?" Ronon asked as he rubbed his jaw and raised his head, still lying on his back.
Rodney couldn't contain himself, he began spewing some of the emotion he felt swirling around him. "He was going to kill you. Geez, it was close. If I hadn't come along when I did – well, let's put it this way, you would not be talking to me right now."
"Who was going to kill me?" Ronon asked as he squinted against the overhead lighting and moved his jaw from side to side as if it pained him a great deal.
Rodney pointed to John a few meters away. "He had his knife raised and I couldn't risk him stabbing you, so I activated the kill switch again."
Ronon's hand dropped from his jaw and he looked up at McKay in confusion. "What are you talking – "
Ronon stopped speaking when he finally saw John. He got to his knees, his eyes widening at the horrific sight of John and the suit still caught in the transformations on the ground beside him. Ronon reached forward and picked up a knife from the floor near Sheppard.
"That's it. That's the knife Sheppard was going to use on you," Rodney said as he pointed, still actively maintaining his distance from John.
Ronon shook his head. He closed his eyes and said, "He wasn't trying to kill me – he was going to cut out that damned interface on his own. That's why he knocked me out, because I wouldn't let him try it."
"Cut out the interface?" Rodney asked breathlessly.
"Yeah, he was determined to cut himself free from it."
Rodney thought he was going to pass out from sheer guilt as he stared at John in horror. John was still caught up in the swirling mass of moving suit and flesh, and Rodney remembered how he'd avoided looking at John the last time he'd used the kill switch. Now, Rodney couldn't take his eyes off of him.
"No... I was sure... I mean, I thought... Oh, crap, what did I do?"
A moment later, John collapsed and became deathly still. Thank God the terrible morphing had finally stopped. Now, there were even more areas of skin and clothing gone from John's body. Rodney closed his eyes to block out the sight, but the agonizing images were forever seared onto his retinas.
Rodney began to breathe faster and faster as realization of what he'd done swept over him. "You mean, I did – I did this – for nothing? Ah, geez," he stammered as he ran a hand over the back of his neck and he struggled to stand. He had to move. He had to move or he was going to explode. Or puke. He had to move and now.
As Rodney struggled to stand, Ronon went to Sheppard's side to check on him, his expression dark, and Sheppard was so still. Rodney couldn't even see him breathing. He gave up in his attempt to stand and stared at John as he sat on the crate, trying to catch some glimpse of movement, but there was nothing.
By that time, Rodney was sure he'd already had gone way passed the exploding phase and had skipped right to the puking part. He'd just killed his friend for nothing – for nothing for crying out loud. His mouth turned as dry and he asked in a small scared voice, "He's dead, isn't he?"
Ronon's expression was stoic, even for him and told him very little, except that he was pissed. That could only mean one thing.
Oh, God, I just killed John Sheppard.
Rodney's heart was in his throat as he waited for confirmation. After an eternity, Ronon shook his head. "No, but he's in a bad way."
Ronon bent over to straighten Sheppard's limbs and turn him onto his back, leaving a bloody trail where Sheppard had been lying on the floor. Rodney couldn't look at Ronon or Sheppard – his eyes were drawn to the growing smear of John's blood on the floor. What had he done, Rodney lamented. Seriously, what had he done?
Rodney looked at the kill switch still in his hand and suddenly it became the epitome of everything that had gone wrong on this damned mission. Without another thought, Rodney threw it against a nearby wall so hard, he almost toppled over. The switch shattered into pieces when it hit the wall and fell to the floor.
Breathing heavily, Rodney exclaimed, "Damn it to hell! I nearly killed Sheppard over nothing!"
Ronon turned to him. "You thought you were saving me."
Ronon paused as he rubbed his injured left arm, staring at the broken pieces of the kill switch. "Destroying that kill switch probably wasn't the brightest thing you've ever done. It was the only thing keeping the suit off of us."
Rodney shook his head, one hand waving in the air dramatically. "It was a one-piece torture machine that worked with the press of a button! I couldn't have used it again, no matter what was happening. Look at Sheppard now. Geez, he's more dead than alive."
Ronon put a hand on Rodney's shoulder. "McKay, get a grip. We've got to contain the situation. We need to find something heavier to tie him up with this time to keep the suit from getting loose again."
McKay shook his head. "I honestly don't think there's anything here that strong."
Ronon chewed on his lip. "Well, we'll do the best we can until Atlantis breaks through."
Rodney's eyes widened and he knew he had to look half-crazed, but it didn't keep him from saying, "The radio! Maybe with the AI offline, we can break through the radio jamming signal."
He pulled out his scanner and punched some buttons. He smiled with the results he found and tapped his radio headset. "Zelenka, do you read?"
There was some static, then Woolsey's voice came over the radio. "It's good to hear your voice, Dr. McKay. Dr. Zelenka is involved at the moment. What happened to the radio signal? We've been unable to reach you."
"It's a long story," Rodney said with a sigh. "And one I don't have time to explain right now. Just tell Zelenka and Lorne to stop all attempts to break through the ventilation system until you hear from me again."
Woolsey's voice was hesitant. "Very well, Dr. McKay, if that is your order, we will stop, though we aren't far from breaking through. Is everything okay there?"
"No, far from it," Rodney answered. "I'll be in touch. McKay out."
Rodney glanced up at Ronon. "I'm going to need both you and Teyla to help me finish up, so I can complete Damisk's backup plan. Come on, there's no time to waste."
Ronon didn't move right away, staring hesitantly at Sheppard. "It doesn't feel right to just leave him here like this."
Rodney waved his fingers in the air. "If we don't get moving, he'll be up and about before I'm ready for him. Come on, move your ass!"
Rodney started to get up, struggling again with his injured knee. Without a word, Ronon helped him up. Rodney began hobbling away with his crutch, and then heard Ronon fall into step behind him. He tried to focus on what he needed to do to finish the magnetic field generator, but still all he saw when he closed his eyes was Sheppard in agony.
It was something that would surely haunt him for the rest of his days – which might not be that long unless he got Damisk's backup plan operational in time.
oOoOoOoOo
"Rodney?" Teyla asked as she stood at a computer console, inputting instructions from Rodney and tried catch Rodney's attention, but he was pretty much refusing to acknowledge her attempts at conversation.
All she could see was Rodney's back as he stood on a fork-lift device, working to complete Damisk's magnetic field generator that comprised most of the overhead netting. At times, he told her to flip switches, turn dials, and check the data on Rodney's tablet computer.
There were two sides to the netting with a wide aisle separating them. The netting was heavy with equipment that came in a variety of shapes and sizes with cables linking one piece to the next. Rodney was in the process of finishing the attachments, using the long clear cables that he'd found in a pile of supplies below the netting.
Ronon had helped Rodney to attach some of the heavier equipment to the netting before he left to do a quick check on John's position, watching for any sign that might indicate the artificial intelligence was back online.
Sighing, Teyla tried again. "Rodney, please."
"Working," Rodney replied finally.
She took a deep breath, trying to ignore the dizziness that still plagued her after regaining consciousness. "Yes, I know, you are working on the plan that is supposed to stop the suit once and for all, but you have not gone into much detail about how the plan will play out."
"That's because that would take time and time is something we don't have in great abundance."
Time. Of course, Rodney was right. They didn't have a lot of time to waste, but this was important. Teyla tapped her fingernails on the computer console, praying that this plan of Damisk's – and now Rodney's – would work as designed and without a hitch. Rodney had been uncharacteristically silent, except when he needed Teyla to do something for him – it was unnerving, mostly because it was all so very un-Rodney-like.
She glanced back in the direction Ronon had taken when he left to monitor John – though Rodney insisted there was very little trouble John was now capable of. To hear Rodney tell the story, John was near death.
Teyla didn't disbelieve him, she simply tempered the information with what she knew to be Rodney's tendency toward exaggeration. But then, there had been Ronon's elevated level of concern. If anything, Ronon was the very definition of understatement, so if Ronon was so worried, Rodney's account was probably accurate.
Teyla closed her eyes for a moment as she recalled John's appearance the last time she'd seen him and then tried to imagine it worsened. Her thoughts wouldn't process that image and she sent out a prayer for both John and Rodney.
Finally, she could no longer hold her tongue. "Rodney, I know you are upset about what happened to John," she said, hoping to open the door so that Rodney would begin to release some fraction of his pent-up self-recriminations.
Rodney's response was devoid of Rodney's usual animation, positive or negative. "I'm not talking about that right now, Teyla," he said without looking toward her. "Maybe not ever. Right now, I need to stay focused. So, please test the conductivity of this component using the gauge on the upper right-hand side of the console."
As Teyla tested the conductivity, she thought back to the brief explanation Ronon had given her upon his return with Rodney. What little she had heard about the incident nearly broke her heart. The inner turmoil Rodney was trying so hard to suppress only shone more brightly as he went back to work. She let her imagination paint a picture of what Rodney was going through right now and it was a heart-wrenching portrait. At best, Rodney was living with the knowledge he had driven John to unconsciousness with seizures and excruciating pain. At worst, he'd nearly killed him over a misunderstanding.
Poor Rodney. No wonder he was so withdrawn.
She continued, despite what Rodney had said, "John would never blame you for acting in what you thought were Ronon's best interests, even if it did cause him pain."
Rodney stopped for a moment without looking over at her, then resumed his work. "Activate the alternate circuitry and tell me what you see."
She did as he asked, then pressed forward again. "Rodney, please – "
"Teyla," he said in a rush still not looking at her. "I don't have time for any more of your touchy-feely moments. I did what I did and I'll have to live with that. The operative word being live, because if I don't complete these modifications, we'll all be dead and it won't matter."
Teyla nodded as she took in a calming breath. "Very well, Rodney. The alternate circuitry shows it is active. What do you need from me next?"
Rodney licked his lips and nodded an unspoken thanks to her. "There are some figures to be inputted from my tablet computer. Do you see them at the top of the screen?"
"Yes."
"Start typing them in. I'll be down in a moment."
She began filling in the blanks on the monitor screen. When Rodney was beside her, his mood seemed a little less dark and she asked, "Rodney, what do you think happened to Damisk?"
As Rodney typed on the keyboard, he said, "I think he ran out of time. He had the components to the magnetic field generator in place, just not attached and functioning – at least not all of them attached. Maybe Damisk had thought the first phase of the magnetic field the equipment generated would be enough to incapacitate the suit or maybe he overestimated its abilities. Bottom line, he screwed up."
Teyla glanced at the area around him. "Could that explain the degree of disarray this area is in? It appears there were violent explosions here – look, there on that canister. Those are scorch marks that extend down its side onto the floor."
Rodney nodded absently. "Activating a field generator of this capacity would wreak havoc with most electronic systems, even the operation of Ancient systems, which are usually shielded from that kind of effect, and that no doubt resulted in significant explosions. It might be behind the scrambling of the computer's database, now that I think about it."
He finished typing in his figures and pressed enter. The computer screen was filled with numbers and equations. Rodney watched closely as the data scrolled by. "Actually, I think Damisk had tried in several ways to protect the outside world from the dangers of his work with the way he designed the facility. Some of Damisk's entries explained that the false canopy above the cavern was designed to collapse if ever the facility was compromised in order to destroy all outside evidence of its presence. The high-pitched frequencies I detected were part of an alarm to keep anyone with the Ancient gene away from the facility."
Teyla stood idle for a moment. "It would seem you have unraveled a good portion of the mystery surrounding this place."
Rodney grunted. "Just call me Sherlock Holmes, my good Watson, but all of that information won't do us one bit of good if I can't get Sheppard out of that damned suit."
Teyla nodded. She looked over where Ashina was lying. "I should check on Ashina."
Rodney glanced in the child's direction and a pained look came over his face. "She hasn't been awake in a very long time, not even with all the excitement we had."
Teyla sighed. "Yes, it is most disturbing. I only hope that once we are free, Jennifer will be able to treat her."
Rodney grunted, his dark mood returning. "Once we are free? Don't you mean if we get free?"
She shook her head. "No, I meant what I said. It will happen, Rodney."
Rodney sighed. "Yeah, but will it be in time – "
He stopped in mid-sentence. When she turned back to him, he was snapping his fingers, then he stopped to refer to Damisk's recorder. After staring at it in deep concentration, he looked up at the netting, then back to the recorder. He squinted at the netting again, straightening his shoulders as he nodded.
"Time!" he said as he put away the recorder. "That's it! That's the glitch!"
He laughed out loud as he waved her back. "Teyla, I'd kiss you if it wouldn't be grossly inappropriate for one team member to kiss another! Please, come here. I need you for a moment," he said as he took his tablet computer and went to stand under one side of the netting.
There was a renewed sense of confidence and Rodney wore a smile on his face for the first time in what seemed like days. She basked in its radiance for a moment, then she moved closer to him. "What happened?"
Without turning in her direction, he answered, "I think I see where Damisk went wrong. It was in the timing of the two phases. At least, I hope that's the problem."
He made one more connection and said, "Okay, Teyla, try the link. What do you see?"
Teyla looked and shook her head. "Nothing."
"Damn it!" Rodney exclaimed, slamming his crutch against the shelving beside him. "I thought I had it!"
"Keep trying, Rodney. You are so close."
"It should work, damn it, so come on, work for me," he whispered as he adjusted a setting on a nearby piece of equipment. He scratched at the back of his neck and took a deep breath, then he said, "Focus, McKay, damn it."
"I must check on Ashina," Teyla said after a few minutes, but Rodney didn't act as though he'd heard her.
She went to the sleeping child. Ashina was still unconscious. The longer she remained unresponsive, the more Teyla worried about her. She brushed her fingers along Ashina's forehead and put Soho in the front pocket of her shirt to make sure it didn't get lost. Ashina would want it when she awakened.
She began humming the melody to Ashina's song The Moon and the Sun Are Sisters, hoping the music might reach some part of her when all the other noise that had been going on hadn't and finally rouse her, but the child never stirred.
Teyla jumped when she heard a clatter and saw Rodney kicking away some debris at his feet not far from her.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle," he said, frustration echoing in his tone as he rubbed at the knot on his forehead. "This is so not working."
He went back to the computer console.
Teyla rubbed at the knot on her own forehead. Her head throbbed and she was fairly certain she'd sustained a mild concussion, but that was the least of their worries right now. She returned to Rodney, content the child was as well taken care of as could possibly be done at the moment and placed a hand on Rodney's forearm. "Perhaps you had a brief break to eat – "
Rodney shook his head, his grumpy disposition back in place. "Who's got time to eat?" he growled.
"You need to maintain – "
He slammed the regulator in his hand down on the console. "No, I need to stop this nightmare and get Sheppard and Ashina to Atlantis – that's what I need to do and I'd be doing it if I wasn't constantly being interrupted – " he stopped, bit his lip, and slapped a hand over his eyes.
Forcing himself to take a deep breath, he said, "Damn, I'm sorry, Teyla. I didn't mean to bite your head off."
Teyla shook her head. "We are all under a great deal of stress. Do not worry over it. They are just words."
"Just words?" Rodney said as he hooked his tablet computer into one of the cables hanging down from the netting that he'd been working on earlier. He took another deep breath and seemed to will more calmness into his body. "There's a saying on Earth that goes, sticks and stones may break my bones – " he started.
Teyla smiled and added the rest of the words. "But words will never hurt me. Yes, I know that rhyme. Dr. Zelenka has spoken of it before when discussing you – I mean, well, there was not any intended – "
Rodney grunted. "I know what you meant and I even understand that I was probably the basis for the moral of the story, but right now – "
"Right now, you have work to do. Yes, I know." She caught his gaze. "Just try to remember this, we will all survive this challenge, and one day I will regale Torren's children with tales of our exploits."
Rodney searched her face, as if he were looking for visual confirmation of her steadfast belief of their survival. His deep blue eyes held unspoken doubts. Then he looked away, nodding slightly, as if maybe, deep down, he also held onto that belief, though his conviction might not have been as strong as Teyla's. "We need to get back to work. Throw that red switch over there when I give you the word."
Time. It was all about time. Their lives depended upon having enough to enact their plan. How things would play out, she had no idea, but they had a chance and that prospect was enough to keep her going.
oOoOoOoOo