Sorry, everyone, I've had a busy couple of months and barely got online never mind had time to write. Happy to pop up the next chapter! Thank you to all who take the time to comment on the chapters, the words make my day :D

Chapter 24

Rella pressed a few buttons on the stasis pod and halted its functions in order to facilitate the purging of the Goh from John's system. Ronon looked down on his friend with sorrow as it already looked as if Sheppard had left for the happy hunting grounds of the afterlife. His skin was waxen and taught. What colour remained was confined to his injuries, the rest was as white as the pod interior. John's brow was creased as if deep in thought, but he was not thinking about anything. He had long succumbed to his injuries and slipped into a coma.

It was all Ronon could do to keep himself together. He'd seen death before, lost many to war and the Wraith. But this was different. This was up close and personal and took Ronon far from his comfort zone to watch the slow death John endured.

Rella and Nara moved the tank for the Goh closer to the pod. It had already been filled with water from the river and Rella pulled one of its connected tubes and proceeded to push the one-way valve and wide-bore cannula into John's arm. The Goh began exiting John's blood almost as soon as Ronon informed Primus that everything was in place. He watched the small creatures flowing from the valve, their squashed bodies plumping once inside the tank. The more that entered the tank, the redder the water became and Ronon looked to Rella with alarm. Rella reassured him that it was residual blood on the Goh's bodies, and not that John was about to bleed out.

Primus continued to converse during the letting. It had commanded the infants to be careful as they travelled John's vessels to the one that would give them freedom. They didn't burst from the valve in a flood, nor gush into it in spurts of many. The infant Goh left his body one at a time, though in a rapid fashion. Time was of the essence, and all present knew it.

As the Goh continued their migration, Caran checked over the modifications that Rodney had made to the stasis pod. It was a simple enough mechanism that, once triggered, would open the pod to the waters once placed outside the shield. It had been fitted with a field modulator that would allow them to push it through the PuddleJumper's shield and into the water without damage or injury to its inhabitant. Primus assured them that the Goh's own natural electrical field would be enough to save them from harm and so the tank, also fitted with a release mechanism, would be pushed into the sea at the same time as the pod.

Ronon kept watching the tablet and interface in case Primus flagged up any concerns. He concentrated so hard his headache only worsened and his leaning posture did nothing to alleviate the other pains in his body. His discomfort must finally have shown on his face, as while AR-3 readied the Jumper and themselves for the next part of the operation, Rella touched his arm gently.

"I think it's time for you to finally admit you're in pain."

He shrugged and looked back to the tablet. "Pain won't kill me," he muttered.

"Perhaps, but it will affect your thought processes and drain your energy. I have painkillers, here," she pushed her hands into the med bag at her feet.

"No, thanks. I need my head clear, not sedated."

"I assure you these have no sedative effect. And anyway, Carson trusted me with all of your well-beings, not just the Colonel's."

Ronon sighed and reached out his hand to take the offered medication; two yellow, oblong tablets which he swallowed dry.

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Primus was now quiet, no doubt readying itself for its own journey from John's body. It suddenly struck Ronon that he didn't know how that would happen.

"Wait, how will Primus get out? It isn't in Sheppard's blood."

Rella smiled softly. "No, it isn't. Carson, Primus and I already discussed it."

Ronon wasn't quite sure what she meant until she tapped her medical bag.

Ronon frowned. "You're gonna cut it out of him?"

"Not exactly. Primus would not fit inside a blood vessel without rupturing it and causing extensive and possibly fatal damage. It will be easier to cut an opening in the Colonel's back prior to them both entering the water."

"Won't that cause him to bleed out?"

"I will make a small incision on the Colonel's back near his shoulder shortly before we close the pod again. Once the tank is in the water and opened, Primus will use this incision to exit the body and simply enter the water that will flood the stasis pod."

Ronon didn't think there was anything simple about it. Once that pod was open, the only thing stopping John from drowning would be the breathing apparatus that Rella was now attaching firmly to his face. The oxygen tank was of Caronaa manufacture and promised to provide Sheppard with over thirty hours of oxygen. But, any cuts or injuries would be open to the water and any infection or toxins the water might contain could kill him as surely as drowning.

As if reading his mind, Rella said, "Primus has assured us that it will firstly attempt to heal all wounds once in the water. After that, well, I'm as anxious as you are to see what happens next."

"You mean you don't know?"

Rella shook her head. "Primus has remained rather enigmatic about the finer points."

"And still you are happy to allow it to take Sheppard?"

"What choice do we have?" Rella shrugged. "You know there is no saving your friend by any conventional means? What Primus is offering is something we do not understand, but it's the only course of action we can take that has any chance of survival, no matter how slim on facts it may be."

Ronon was furious but could see no other way. They were here now, and Primus was their only hope in saving John. He scowled at the tank filling with tiny infant Goh. As the infants continued to flow, Ronon made a silent vow to destroy them all if this was nothing but a ploy to get home with no care for Sheppard's survival. Even though he was angry, Ronon knew he was overthinking it all. He'd spoken with Primus and while it was electronic communication, he got the sense the creature meant everything it said. There was no reason not to believe it. Still, making the vow went some way to quench his anger at the situation.

The tablet flashed as Primus informed them that the last of the infants had left John's body. Rella removed the cannula and valve then placed a covering over the wound and pressed it tight. She motioned for Ronon to come closer, asked him to pull John onto his side then reached for her scalpel. Even with one arm, Ronon was able to do this without a problem. His stomach churned as he felt how light and corpse-like John felt. John was even cold to the touch, increasing the impression that he had already passed on. Once the incision was made, he gently settled John back in and the stasis pod closed.

Caran modified the Jumper shield to expand some meters from the hull of the ship then Teldy proceeded to open the bulkhead door. The Jumper was suddenly filled with a salty and clean scent, with just a hint of mustiness. Droplets of water dripped from the ship's exterior to wet the Jumper ramp in a steady beat. Outside, the river bed was wet and some pooling remained, yet Ronon could see the river held firmly behind the shield which shimmered with the rippling water. Through it, he saw some of the colourful inhabitants swim by. His eyes were drawn to the ominous-looking dark spot which marred the area and the source of the enigmatic lights which even now darted around in the darkness. He only hoped that whatever lurked in there would stay away from them.

Unable to do anything but watch the proceedings, Ronon stood to the side and made room to allow the manoeuvering of the stasis pod down the ramp and to the edge of the shield. Caran brought the tank filled with the baby Goh and set it down beside the pod then carried out final checks. When she was satisfied all was right, she nodded to the others who then raised the pod and pushed it through the shield to drift outside in the deep blue. The tank followed next and Caran clicked on her tablet once both were a suitable distance from the shield.

As he watched the mechanisms unfold to open both containers, Ronon's gut clenched and he couldn't suppress the shudder that tingled up his spine. It felt like he was saying a final farewell as the stasis pod opened and John's inert body floated out into the water followed by the umbilical and then the oxygen tank. It almost looked like a macabre space burial, minus coffin, or wreath. A small streak of red showed the incision site continued to bleed and Ronon hoped there were no predators around to smell it.

Then he saw Primus.

The little black creature swam out from behind John and quickly darted through the water as if with joy. It then swam behind John again and disappeared from view. Seconds passed and Ronon noted that the streak of blood diminished then finally stopped.

At least it was truthful about that, he thought.

With a surprising burst of speed Primus joined the shoal of infant Goh. For some minutes they darted and danced in the water, an obvious display of joy at their freedom. Then Primus approached the shield. It looked in on them, dipped its body as if in a bow, then disappeared into the darkness. Ronon almost cried out as the infant Goh followed and they all disappeared to the darkened area of darting lights.

With her eyes still looking out on the darkness, Rella reached to place a steadying hand on Ronon's arm. "Just wait," she whispered, eyes wide and searching.

Then tiny dots of light came rushing forward from the darkness. Hundreds of mature Goh flooded the area, their sleek black bodies moving in a blur. They flashed through the water in a shoal of blackness through which bright lights flashed making it look like a cloud full of lighting. Clearly the Goh were not as diminished in numbers as the Groten believed.

They surrounded John's lifeless body, each one taking up a place on his being until he was obscured by their little bodies. All Ronon could see of him was a tuft of black hair, but he didn't panic. His earlier doubts gone, Ronon knew he was watching the attempt to save his friend. Knew without a doubt that all able Goh had been called upon to help, and that Primus had called them. They moved in unison and pulled John towards the darkened area, followed by the trailing oxygen tank. They all soon disappeared into the cavern taking John with them, leaving Ronon and the others to stare at the now empty opening.

"How long do we wait?" Nara asked.

"Primus said we should go back to Caronaa and return in a day. He will update us then."

As they made their way back to the Jumper, creeping darkness played across the water above them. Ronon looked up in time to see the shape of a massive craft pass overhead, big enough to cast a shadow that momentarily plunged them into darkness.

"Get back in the ship," he growled. "We've got company."

To be continued...