CHAPTER 61 – WITH BATED BREATH
John had taken the time to calm the General down. He understood exactly where he was coming from. In the space of two weeks, world war three had come down hard on Atlantis in more ways than one and John was fighting to hold his head above water. He needed someone to share the problems. Sam was doing a hell of a job and she had stepped in at a time when her expertise was more than invaluable, and Elizabeth was in the process of closing off all her open files and would leave soon. She had contemplated staying until all of this had been sorted, but thought it best to leave Sam a clear playing field.
"The operation is about to begin, sir... and unfortunately Carson is not allowing any observers in there. Only his medical staff and Gina – she will assist and we also want to monitor her reaction to the device."
The General's eyebrows shot up. "Is that wise Sheppard? She may likely have some adverse affect to it – reports are that she is experiencing the same symptoms as the girl, so is it possible she has the same device in her?"
"We've checked sir, and she is clear..."
John frowned when he recalled her reaction to the MRI scan yesterday. He had been asked to keep Carlie company until she came out of her sedative, while Carson supervised the scan he wanted to do on Gina. When John had asked if he could be at her side, he had received a curt 'no' from the doctor. Alarmed at this refusal, he had looked at Gina and she had slid her eyes away. Something strange there, but in light of all that had occurred, he had not pushed the issue. Simply done what he was asked to do and keep Carlie company.
Carson had found nothing unusual inside Gina and John reported this to the General now. "Carson thinks that she is just linked somehow to Carlie and the device is actually targetted specifically at her. She is the one they want, so this does make sense – sort of..."
"It's these 'sort of's' that I'm having the most difficulty with Sheppard. There's too many of them lately. Damn – if Rodney was around, these 'sort of's' would be definites."
At this John could not resist a bark of laughter. "With all due respect sir, I know you have worked a little with Rodney in the past – but here in Atlantis? Rodney was kinda the king of 'sort of's' – he winged it more than once I have to say. Just had the lucky knack of hitting the nail on the head most of the time."
"You still miss him.. eh Sheppard?" On their way to the infirmary now, Jack had paused outside the mess, deciding whether or not to risk a cup of coffee. He had certainly tasted better than what was prepared here in Atlantis.
"Some days General, not at all. Especially when he was in true Rodney form, moaning about everything. But other days.. yeah. He had a gift – you either loved him or hated him, and some days you never knew which one it was going to be. But he got the job done, and got us out of more tight spots that I can give him credit for. His heart was certainly in the right place – most of the time."
"He's not dead Colonel! That sounded somewhat like a eulogy..." Jack decided cafeine was a requirement and indicating the mess door, gave John the signal that he would duck quickly in here.
"It kinda feels like he's dead... I mean, what are the chances of us seeing him again. Apart from random newspaper clippings that show us he more or less did what he was supposed to do?"
"To be honest Colonel, who knows what the future brings. He may just arrive back on your doorstep one day... maybe the 1960's will get sick of him and send him back here – swap him for someone else..."
John chuckled at that. "Maybe... as you say, who knows. But we've got a great team here and Sam will be the perfect addition."
"A word of advice Colonel – stay on her good side. That woman has a hidden mean streak... oh boy!"
Chuckling again John said. "Bet you don't have the guts to say that in her presence...sir!"
"No siree... I value certain parts of my anatomy just the same as you do Sheppard." And whistling a little now, the General continued out of the mess and John had no choice but to follow him, shaking his head. Some times he never knew just how to take the General. He was a man of many sides and John thought he had seen most of them now. But once in a while he brought out another one. Just for the hell of it.
An hour later and they were still pacing restlessly outside the infirmary. The General did not do 'waiting' well – for that matter neither did John, but General O'Neill, his long legs disliked inactivity intensively, finding that his knees seized up easily these days. Ronon joined them and soon it was the three of them pacing restlessly and John had the brief somewhat amusing thought, that they must have resembled expectant fathers and almost asked out loud where the cigars were. Teyla joined them for a short time but found their restlessness disconcerting. She had her own ways of finding peace within herself and did not need to resort to endless walking up and down a corridor. It was not her way.
One of the medical staff finally walked out but it was not to give them good news. He held a partly collapsed Gina in his arms, she was folded over and groaning in pain, gripping her stomach.
"Damn it Sheppard! I told you she shouldn't have been in there." The General got to her first and took her from the medical asistant so that he could go back in and continue with his assist of the operation. He lifted her easily and carried her back inside. The operation had been set up in a separate room and the infirmary beds were still accessible an he laid her down on one of the beds, reaching behind to flatten the pillow slightly so that she was lying flat.
"Gina? Hey..." John had moved up beside the bed and picking up a hand rubbed it hard as if to put some warmth back into it. She was freezing cold and had started to shiver and John did the only thing he could think of under the circumstances. He eased himself up onto the bed beside her and pulled her against him, wrapping her in his warmth. Alarmed by the shivering, he looked toward the room where the operation was being completed, hoping that one of the medical staff would come out to have a look at her.
Lorne walked in then and suddenly the infirmary seemed too small. He too appeared alarmed to see Gina shivering as though she would never get warm again. "What happened Colonel? Has the operation finished? Did something go wrong?"
John responded to the alarm in his voice and told himself that the Major had every right to show concern. From one friend to another. "I don't know what's going on Lorne. Someone just brought her out like this, but so far – no one has told us anything."
Just then a nurse came from another direction running. Carson had contacted emergency staff to come in and assist in the infirmary and the nurse taking one look at Gina, moved quickly to her side and pushed John's arms and hands away.
"I'm sorry Colonel. You'll need to move. I have to take a look at what's happening to her and I can't do that with you draped all over her." She smiled at him to show that she meant it in the kindest way, and he eased himself off the bed and let the nurse take over. General O'Neill and Major Lorne, now feeling uncomfortable and in the way, gestured vaguely toward the door and Ronon, giving the girl on the bed a hooded look, turned and left also. Leaving John and the nurse and one woman who lay groaning in pain on the bed.
"Is she having some sort of reaction to the device that Carson is trying to remove?" He ran a hand through his hair – he felt useless, hell – less than useless. Wanting nothing more than to help her and this inability to do something that should be so simple was making him want to hit out at something.
"Colonel – please. I need to have a look at her. I'll answer all your questions after I've finished my examination. Why don't you go and sit down over there – you'll still be able to see, but at least you'll not be in my way."
At that moment the door to the operating room burst open and a frazzled looking Carson came out, looking extremely tired and very disheveled.
"Mary? How is she? Sorry Colonel, I had to remain sterile, I couldn't get to her in time."
"That's ok Carson – have you finished? Did it work – is it out?"
Carson held up a hand. "One thing at a time Colonel. Yes, we've finished. I've left my assistants in there to sew her back up and I will have the device brought out to you shortly. You'll be wanting it tested by some of the science people to find out exactly what it's use is."
Again John thought fleetingly of Rodney. This would have been the sort of project that he would have gleefully leapt into head first. Just enough hint of the mysterious to capture his interest. Zalenka would no doubt step up to the plate, unless Sam herself wanted to check it over.
"Does it look as thought there will be any residual effects from the device? Or is it too early to tell?"
He was just about to answer when Sam walked in and went immediately to Gina, looking at the nurse completing her exam before turning to Carson.
"Ok Carson. Give me the good news first so I can savour something sweet. Then I'll take the bad."
Carson's eyebrows shot up. She was a straight talker and he thought carefully before he answered her. "Good news? We got the device out. Bad news Colonel? Colonels... Gina appears to be linked to the device and as soon as we removed it she was hit by instant pains. That is my worry at the moment. They've obviously built another fail safe into their little science experiment and when I get my hands on those arrogant bastards, I shall decide whether or not to perform a few experiments of my own. Without anaesthetic. What I saw in there was beyond cruel. To place a device such as that inside a child for reasons that are preposterous in themselves. To get Gina to their dimension. The mind boggles. I don't know what to do with Gina and her pain – if we destroy the device, we could effectively kill her – I just don't know..."
Carson was upset – more so than John had ever seen him and he placed a hand on the doctor's shoulder. "You've done your best Doc – hell – you always give more than your best. That is never in question. Sam?" He turned now to the new base commander and she left Gina's side at the sound of her name. "What do we do here? We're screwed whatever we do. We destroy the device, we may kill her – keep it near her and maybe that is how they track her, and she gets sucked into their … place..." He didn't want to use the word dimension, didn't want to acknowledge that it existed. For now it was a pretend place and that was fine by him.
Sam's face was pensive. She turned back to the woman on the bed, then looked at Carson. "Can you keep her lightly sedated, so that the pain is controlled for now? At least until we decide how to proceed with this?" Carson knew what she was really asking, knew she wanted to know whether it would be safe for the baby and mentally cursed Gina for not telling him. These were exactly the decisions he would need to be fully informed for, in order to make and it was unfair for Carson to allow him to think that there were less risks than what there really was.
"Sedation can be dicey Colonel and it's not something I would normally recommend. In this case though, I don't think we have much of a choice. She is experiencing intense pain as a result of the device. We could try moving it a far distance from her – perhaps it is governed by how close she is to it?"
John's eyes widened. "Last night in bed, she experienced the cold feeling and Carlie had just climbed into bed with us. The first time the pain hit – wasn't that the first time she had contact with Carlie? Proper contact? And didn't the pain ease once she left the mainland?"
"You could be onto something there Colonel. Mary? Go into the operating room and tell them not to bring the device back into here. They're to take it and place it in a lined box, one of the boxes that we used to store that nuclear device we had to move through the city. Then get one of the marines to take it down to one of the lower chambers."
John spoke up. "Tell them to take it to the room with the portal – the one where Gina came through and the one that is a suspected second portal to … there... according to Carlie, anyway. Maybe it'll just disappear back to where it came from."
"That'll effectively be telling them we're onto them John." Sam was shaking her head. "They may retaliate, and on a larger scale. They may send someone after Carlie."
"Let the bastards come. My teams will be ready for them. Of that you can be sure."
"You'd better be very sure Colonel, because arrogance like that can lead to the downfall of a city."
Sam spoke sharply, needing to make him think carefully about what he was saying. "Do what you need to do Colonel and I'll work on getting that damn portal closed. For good."