Here we go! Sorry for the long wait, but I hope you will enjoy the end result! Take care!
Chapter Eighteen
The first blast took Teyla by surprise, even though she had mentally braced herself for its appearance. The second explosion left her reeling. It seemed to encompass most of the facility with a blinding white flash. The concussion knocked her to her knees. Debris flew everywhere. She bent over, protecting Ashina with her own body even as her heart pounded with worry for the others.
She had a flash of déjà vu. For the second time on this mission, she was alone with Ashina – and the fate of her friends unknown. She wanted to run to them but the subsequent blasts going on in the aftermath of the main explosions quelled that thought.
Teyla's senses seemed much more acute in the ensuing seconds, but it was probably just the adrenaline pumping through her system. Even though her ears were still ringing from the blasts, she listened hard for some sort of sound from the others.
Most of the lights had been blown out, along with all kinds of other equipment, though the flames of several burning fires scattered around the area lent enough ambient light for her to see by – yet, there was nothing she could see of the others.
The smoke was noxious, causing her to take in tiny breaths instead of inhaling a lung-full of the stuff. Hopefully, the facility's ventilation system was still functioning well enough to save them from smoke inhalation. Then again, a little smoke was the least of their worries right then.
There was no sign of the others, alive or dead, and that detail was killing her.
Teyla straightened, cradling Ashina under her chin and she returned to where she'd left Rodney as quickly as she could, but she was beginning to cough harder from the smoke. When she realized the full scope of the damage wreaked by the magnetic field generator, air suddenly seemed to be an unimportant afterthought.
If the area had looked scarred before, it was nothing to compare to the destruction present now. Entire aisles had been leveled. There was very little of the netting still hanging from above and there was debris strewn all around.
And the fact she couldn't see any sign of the others made her stomach twist with worry.
"Ronon? Rodney? John?" she called out, carefully stepping over the rubble, using her cane to help support her as she carried Ashina.
She gasped when she nearly stepped on Ronon. His back was covered with lightweight rubble as he lay sprawled over Rodney in a protective pose. Setting Ashina down beside her, she moved much of the rubble away, then paused to feel for Ronon's pulse. Thankfully, it was there, beating in its slow steady rhythm. His face was covered in a layer of dust and grime. She put her hand to his cheek, but he didn't react to her touch.
Rodney moaned from underneath Ronon. Positioned as Rodney was with Ronon's body between her and him, and surrounded by other pieces of equipment blocking her direct access to Rodney, all Teyla could do was reach out and pat Rodney on the arm to help calm him.
"Rodney? Can you hear me?" she asked. The moaning slowed a little, then resumed again.
She started to try and move Ronon off of Rodney, but he was dead weight and she stopped for fear of aggravating any possible injury for either man. She would let the medical teams move them, it would be safer for all concerned that way. Stepping clear of Rodney and Ronon, she glanced around for any sign of John. Again, she was caught up in a time loop that repeated their situation of the past few days. John had been okay the last time she'd searched for him, as were the others, but how long could their luck possibly hold out?
She caught sight of John. He was lying on his back at the far end of the aisle that had once comprised the magnetic field generator, as if he'd been blasted off his feet and slid until he stopped where he now was.
"Rodney, I will be right back," she told him, just in case he could hear her. She glanced back at Ashina who was lying beside Rodney and Ronon, but she hadn't stirred. "Please stay out a little longer, child," she whispered. "I won't be long."
The lighting was dimmer where John was lying, so Teyla retrieved her flashlight. She switched it on to see the suit basically lying in a dark puddle surrounding John's body. It was now only a vague remnant of the ominous danger that had been plaguing them for days. The parts of the suit's inner workings – the circuitry and other apparatus – seemed to be cast haphazardly into the black puddle. It was strange to see what had been so much danger was now so much nothing.
John's appearance without the suit presented a starker portrayal of how much he had suffered. His uniform was in tatters and the wounds seen through the holes in the suit were ghastly. Teyla's hands hovered over him for a minute, unsure of what injury to address first.
She heard a rumbling, then there was another blast that spewed very little debris. She bent down, automatically protecting John, but it wasn't necessary since the blast was across the facility. She rose up again and turned toward the blast area. That had to be Atlantis. Help was on the way.
Through the haze of dust in the air, Teyla saw Major Lorne and his men come pouring through the hole in the wall made by the detonation. Major Lorne spoke to his men. "Maintain this perimeter. Do not let anything through and I mean anything. Use whatever means you need to, up to and including explosives and the anti-artillery guns."
She straightened and waved to get his attention. "Major Lorne! Over here!"
His demeanor shifted the moment he saw Teyla. As she waited for him to arrive, she found herself breathing faster with the knowledge their ordeal was nearly over.
"Teyla," he said, patting her on the arm as he stopped beside her. "We heard the explosion. Is it safe to let the medical teams in yet?"
Teyla nodded. "Yes, the suit has been rendered inert, so it is safe to enter the facility. We have injured and they need immediate medical attention."
"Understood. Just a second while I touch base with the others."
Major Lorne turned to speak to one of his men, then he was on his radio. Again, she glanced toward Ashina, who lay unmoving. Worry flooded Teyla, but she had to dealwith the worst injured first. Teyla returned to John. She lowered herself to the ground using her cane and a nearby wall, and then reached out to put her fingers on John's carotid. His pulse was fast and weak, his breathing fast and shallow, and his color was bad.
Teyla turned back to Lorne. "We need the medical teams – "
Lorne nodded. "ASAP – I know. They are on their way, along with Woolsey, once they get the all-clear sign."
Teyla frowned. "All-clear sign?"
"Dr. Zelenka needs to confirm the suit is... inert as you said, before we send in any other teams."
It made sense, except Teyla didn't feel very practical at the moment. She wanted the medical teams there, treating her friends already. No, she wanted more than that. She wanted them all back on Atlantis, safe and sound.
Instead, she said, "Of course."
Radek popped into view, and Teyla wasn't sure when he had entered the facility, just that he was now there. He moved quickly, as if Jennifer had lit a fire under him, and knowing Jennifer, she probably had.
Radek greeted her, holding his scanner and wearing a backpack. "Teyla, I heard what you said to Major Lorne over my radio, that the threat of the suit, for lack of a better name, has been neutralized?"
Teyla nodded.
Radek's gaze darted all around them. "Where – " he started to ask.
She pointed to where John was lying. "There, that puddle of black liquid lying beneath him. That was what once comprised the suit."
Radek knelt down, his appearance disheveled and dirty. She remembered, he'd also been nonstop working for days trying to free them. Radek stiffened as he stared at John. "Oh, my, Colonel Sheppard is badly injured. I will work as quickly as I can." He pointed a finger at the liquid, then at some of the circuitry that remained. "And this is all that is left of the suit?"
Teyla sighed and nodded.
"Amazing. May I?" he asked, activating his scanner. "Just to be sure before we go any further."
"Yes, of course," Teyla said, her gaze going back to the opening. "As long as this doesn't delay the medical teams any longer than necessary."
Radek didn't reply right away. He did one test and then another. It seemed to be taking forever. Teyla was about to say something when Radek finally nodded. "No, I'm not getting any readings whatsoever. It is safe to bring in the others."
Mr. Woolsey came through the opening next. Teyla was glad to see him, but her friends needed medical attention. Major Lorne noticed her apprehension as she struggled to stand and he helped her to her feet.
"It's okay, Teyla. The medical teams are in the ventilation shaft right now. They should be showing up any moment. Maybe you should try and rest a little."
She shook her head. "I am fine. But the colonel and the others – they need medical treat – "
She paused when she saw the first medical team come through with Keller leading the way. She let out a long sigh. By then, Mr. Woolsey was at Teyla's side.
Mr. Woolsey's eyes were wide as he took in the area. "I assume this is the aftermath of the blasts we heard?"
Teyla nodded, then stepped forward, awaiting Jennifer's arrival as Jennifer jogged over to them. "How are they?" Jennifer asked, adjusting her stethoscope to hang around her neck as she came to a stop.
Teyla pointed to John. "They all need medical care, but I fear John's situation is the most dire."
As Jennifer knelt down beside John, Teyla closed her eyes. With Jennifer's presence, Teyla knew everyone would be taken care of and she sighed, as if a weight was now taken off her shoulders.
"Whoa," Lorne said, and then Teyla felt his hands steadying her arm and shoulder.
Someone else's hand went to her back and she heard Mr. Woolsey speaking, now much closer to her. "Get a medic," he ordered.
Blinking several times, Teyla realized she had almost collapsed. Lorne was starting to direct her away from John, saying, "I think you better sit down before you fall down."
Teyla shook her head. "Honestly, I am fine. Just tired and sore. I let my attention wander. It will not happen again. Please see to the others. I'd rather stay on my feet until they have been seen."
Major Lorne glanced down at Jennifer as she knelt beside John. Jennifer studied Teyla for a moment. "Are you sure, Teyla?"
Teyla straightened her shoulders. "I would not request it if I could not."
Jennifer licked her lips, then nodded. "Okay, if Teyla says she can stand, then let her."
Teyla gave her a smile, hoping it conveyed the depth of her gratitude. An argument with Jennifer right then would have been counterproductive. Turning back to John, Jennifer added, "But stay close to her, Major, just in case."
Mr. Woolsey cleared his throat. "While we wait, Teyla, perhaps you can explain what we missed during the radio interference."
Teyla nodded, gathering her words as she rubbed at the knot on her forehead. "It will take some time to relay everything."
"Save that for the debrief. Just the highlights."
"Just the highlights," she repeated with a sigh. No matter how she did it, it would still take considerable time.
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"What about the neural interface in his neck?" Teyla asked after Jennifer had finished with her examination of John. "What do you see?"
"Nothing." Jennifer shook her head. "Though, I will need to put him under the scanners back home before I can say anything definite. It is encouraging that we can no longer see any of the filaments. It would be nice if that all dissolved away with the suit's loss of cohesion. We'll just have to see what we find with the additional tests."
Jennifer stood. "Okay, the colonel's vital signs are stronger now with the medication and IV in place. He's as stable as I can get him. Let's go ahead and move him out."
Teyla watched as the medical team picked up John's body to place him on the litter, leaving the pool of black goo on the floor behind him, and she felt the tense knot of muscles at the back of her shoulders relax. John was finally free of that abomination.
Mr. Woolsey put his hand to Teyla's back. "How about I accompany you outside?"
Teyla smiled and nodded. "That would be welcomed, but there's Ashina to – "
Teyla stopped when she heard Ronon growl, "I said, I'm fine!"
By the time she glanced over in his direction, Ronon was on his feet, though he did stagger a little. He leaned back against the remnants of a demolished computer console and took a deep breath as he squinted, but he looked ready to take on all comers.
Teyla followed the medical team and John's litter as they passed by Ronon, intending to stop and check on Rodney and Ashina. She put a hand on Ronon's forearm, but before she could say anything, Jennifer was in front of Ronon with her hands on her hips, matching Ronon's attitude with her own and said, "Ronon, you are most assuredly not fine! Even a blind man could tell that much."
Jennifer looked over at the poor medic who'd been trying to treat Ronon. "Are his vitals stable enough for him to walk the short distance to the jumper?"
Ronon glared at the man, as if to intimidate the answer he wanted. Jennifer put her hand on Ronon's arm to get him to back off. "Are they stable enough, considering this is Ronon?"
The man shrugged slightly with that caveat and said, "Probably. From what I could tell, he's got some obvious injuries, but his vital signs are strong."
"Strong as a horse," Jennifer muttered.
Teyla noticed Ronon relaxed a bit, as if he knew with that remark that Jennifer was going to let him go, but Jennifer turned back to Ronon, her expression as stern as Teyla had ever seen it. "That is the last time you will growl at one of my people like you just did, is that understood?"
Ronon shrugged with no hint of remorse.
Jennifer patted the medic on the shoulder. "You're new and I haven't had a chance to brief you on Ronon, though I'm sure you were warned about him from the others. We'll take care of that after things slow down again."
She turned to Ronon. "You can walk to the jumper, if you must, but you are going to let this medic and Major Lorne here escort you there, okay? And you are going to behave yourself. Otherwise, you'll have to deal with me. Is that understood?"
"I'm going with Sheppard," Ronon said gruffly, his gaze still a little unfocused.
Jennifer shook her head and turned to Teyla. "You work this out, Teyla. The colonel is on his way to the jumper and I've got to go."
Teyla squeezed Ronon's arm when he tried to pull away to leave.
"We all can go together," Ronon said, staring down into her eyes. At least now, his gaze a little steadier.
"What about Rodney?" Teyla asked, glancing to Rodney's unconscious body. "The medics are still working with him. Someone should stay to – "
"I'll stay," Radek said quickly. "I'll stay with him until they are ready to move him."
Mr. Woolsey nodded. "Do not worry, I will also stay with Dr. McKay. He won't be alone. You two better get going if you are going to keep up with Colonel Sheppard and his medical team."
Mr. Woolsey's tone was smooth and confident sounding, but after working with him for a while now, Teyla thought she could hear worry in his voice.
Teyla turned back to see the medical team with Ashina was now beside her, ready to move out, too, and that took all doubt out of her decision. She would accompany John, Ronon, Ashina and the others to the surface. Reaching down, she took Ashina's hand, thinking Ashina would finally be back with her parents as she had wanted so badly for so very long.
Lorne cleared his throat. "Okay, looks like everybody who's going is ready to go. Why don't you lead the way with the girl, Teyla? There's some pretty frantic parents waiting for her out there," Lorne said, quietly directing traffic, pointing to the order the teams would leave.
Lorne swirled a hand in the air in the classic military signal to get moving. "These people have a date with the infirmary."
Teyla looked ahead, and saw Jennifer and the team with John disappear into the widened ventilation shaft. She pressed forward, relying more and more on her cane. She was close to exhaustion and she knew once she stopped, she would not be moving for a long while.
Ronon's medic and Major Lorne stayed close to both her and Ronon, positioning themselves between the two of them, probably to catch either one of them if they collapsed. The group had just stepped out into the bright sunlight when she heard Methet exclaim, "Ashina! She's here, Jisef! She's finally here!"
It took a moment for Teyla's eyes to adjust to the intense sunlight and she smiled when she saw Methet kneel beside the litter so she could kiss Ashina's forehead. "Shini, can you hear me?"
The medic with Ashina said, "She's still unconscious, ma'am, but her vital signs are good. Once we get her back to the infirmary, we can find out exactly what's going on for her."
"She's so pale," Methet murmured. "Oh, by the Ancestors, Jisef, just look at her... "
"She's alive, Methet. She's alive. She could have been lost to us forever if not for these people." He glanced at Teyla and said, "Thank you, Teyla."
Jisef stepped behind Methet and tried to help her to her feet. Teyla saw Methet's reluctance to leave Ashina and she bent so her face was closer to Methet as she said, "Methet, the medic was correct when he said Ashina's vital signs were good. She is a strong child."
"Methet?" Jisef started.
Teyla touched Methet's sleeve when there was still little reaction from her. "Methet, you may go with us. You can stay with her all the way. Our medical facilities are very advanced. She will have the best of care."
Methet nodded as her hand remained clasped around Ashina's, unable to take her eyes off the child, then almost as an afterthought, she glanced up at Teyla. It was as if she noticed Teyla her for the first time. The weariness in Methet's eyes reminded Teyla Methet had also spent nearly three long days of emotional upheaval.
The young woman looked tired, but the emotion highlighting her features almost erased the fatigue. "Oh, Teyla," she said as she moved to take Teyla into her arms. "Thank you so much for all that you did for our little girl. She would not be alive today, if not for all the things you and your people did to save her."
Teyla hugged her back and was surprised by the wave of intense feelings that swept over her. She swallowed back tears and nodded her reply, because she was afraid her voice would fail her at that moment. Days of worry and struggle were rapidly catching up to her.
As soon as Methet released Teyla, Methet's hand went back down to grasp Ashina's.
"She's going to be all right," Methet said firmly, her other hand brushing Ashina's blonde locks from her face.
"Yes, she will," Teyla said with resolve, then she put a hand forward to usher them along. "Come. They must go, but you can be with her every step of the way."
"Thank you," Jisef said quickly and he gave her a quick hug before they took off with the medical team accompanying Ashina toward a waiting jumper.
Teyla took a deep breath as she looked around. The sun was shining, the hillside was greener and the air was fresh. The weather was so much nicer than the rain they'd dealt with when they first arrived through the stargate days ago.
She glanced ahead and noticed the team with John had stopped while she'd been involved with Ashina's parents. John's litter was now on the ground and Jennifer was examining John. Ronon and his medic were standing near them. Major Lorne was still at her side. Ronon turned back as Teyla and Major Lorne approached them. All it took was one glance from Ronon for Teyla to know something had gone very wrong.
Jennifer was quickly issuing orders as Teyla stopped beside Ronon, but before Teyla could ask what was happening, Ronon said, "It's something to do with his lungs and that broken rib. A pneumo – pneumo – something," he said, then stop as he struggled to find the proper term.
Major Lorne filled in the blank. "A pneumothorax."
Seeing Teyla's confusion, Major Lorne cleared his throat and said, "It's a hole in the tissue surrounding the lung that allows air to build up outside the lung. It can collapse the lung if it gets bad enough. Had one myself a few years ago when I was injured on a training exercise, but it was nothing compared to this."
Teyla watched Jennifer request a scalpel while a medic sterilized an area on John's chest with an antiseptic swab, then Jennifer carefully cut an incision into John's chest. John didn't even react to the painful procedure, which scared Teyla more, then Jennifer inserted a tube into the incision in John's chest.
After a few long moments, Jennifer finally relaxed a little. "Okay, that seemed to relieve some of the pressure. I'm getting positive airflow. Let's get him moving. I don't want him crashing on the way. I've got to get him into surgery ASAP."
The medical team mobilized and was on the move in the next few moments. No one said a word as the group headed toward the jumpers. Teyla took in the surrounding area again as she hurried along behind them. Somehow, the day wasn't nearly as inviting as it had just minutes before.
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