We are heading back to Ignothia to see what happened to John and Primus...

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Chapter 40

The dolshee was a colossal fish, not unlike the great white shark of Earth. It had two long flippers, a rigid, sleek tail, and a huge head full of razor sharp teeth. The moment it struck John with one of its flippers, Primus knew the man was in trouble. The dolshee had rolled in the water and twisted violently, causing its flippers to spring outwards, one of which slammed John into the rocky wall. His head made a distinct twack under the water, then he gradually sank into the dark. Primus raced after him as he descended through the water, his agonising contortion indicating only one thing: the man was drowning

Managing to evade being similarly struck, Primus swam speedily into the side of the dolshee, biting into its flesh and gorging on its meat before pulling away. It would need the energy the meat provided for its plan to save the human. It then torpedoed after John, who continued to fall into the depths. When it leveled with the man, Primus saw his head had fallen backwards, his mouth was open, and his half-open eyes stared ahead at nothing, glazed and unseeing. Without hesitation, Primus swam quickly to Sheppard's back and tore through the skin of his shoulder, burrowing deeply until he aligned with his spine below the skull. He connected to Sheppard's system and experienced the shutting down of the human's mind, though it was clear that John still sensed enough to be aware he was dying.

As the Goh surrounded the dolshee and unleashed their electrical bombardment, Primus charged a massive surge of the same energy through John, forcing his body to convulsively expel the water in his lungs. Immediately after, Primus forced John's body to shut down, preventing it from taking another reflexive breath as it simultaneously charged the man's muscles to get his limbs moving. As they slowly ascended, Primus was horrified to sense the final thud of the human's heart and despaired. It knew that John wouldn't survive if they didn't get him to their destination soon and try to revive him.

Above them, the dolshee emitted deafening shrieks as it writhed in pain from the Goh attack, whipping into a frenzy as the electrical current coursed through its body. In the seconds it took the Goh to recharge, the dolshee regained its senses and hit out with its flippers and tail while gnashing at the little creatures in an attempt to flee to safety. But the Goh electrocuted the beast again, mercilessly shocking it until its huge body shuddered. Its spine arched painfully and stayed that way as life left its body. As John had before, now the dolshee slowly sank through the water, lifeless and no longer a threat. Through Sheppard's eyes, Primus watched as the beast passed his line of sight, down into the deep darkness.

Their task complete, the other Goh returned to Sheppard's body and buried their teeth into his flesh and restarted the final stretch of the journey. When Sheppard's imminent demise became clear to all, the Goh's tiny flippers moved so fast as to blur as they cut through the water. They put all their strength and everything they had into moving John safely through the final expanse of water. Ahead, the light source grew brighter as they hurtled towards it, and Primus hoped that John would live to see it.

They entered the bright area into a pool of water warmer than any they had been in before. Above, they could see an opening in the tunnel system, the sun in the Ignothian sky beating down rays of warmth and light. They hurried upwards, dragging Sheppard's lifeless body towards the sun and his hopeful resurrection. With a thrust of speed, they breached the water together, far enough into the air for Primus to see a ledge to their right. Dropping back into the water, Primus instructed the Goh to get Sheppard onto the ledge. With one last, almighty burst of speed and strength, the entire soaking mass of human and Goh cleared the water and landed with a sloshing slap upon the ledge. The exhausted adult Goh rolled and wriggled their way back to the water and floated there, bobbing up and down as they watched Sheppard's motionless form for any signs of life.

John Sheppard lay on his side, his left arm dropped across his front, the other pinned beneath him. His hair was clamped to his head, red rivulets of water draining from it, mingled with the blood from his recently injured head. Somehow, his trousers remained intact, but his upper torso was bare and showed every scrape, scratch and injury he had sustained on his journey. This included the many raised rings of the Goh's teeth, a lurid red against his pallid skin.

Primus registered John's temperature steadily dropping because his circulatory system was no longer pumping heat around his body. There was little more than fading and confused white noise in the human's mind, brain activity ceasing. Primus charged itself, hoping against hope to restart John's heart and bring him back to life. Sensing how close to death John was, Primus panicked and almost released its energy too soon. It managed to hold on long enough to send a powerful jolt through John's body. There was no return from its output; the heart didn't thump back to life, and the mind continued to fade towards oblivion. Primus charged again, sending John's body into a tight spasm that ended with him thrashing against the ledge as every muscle in his body quivered and trembled with the jolt. Nothing seemed to work, and Primus found itself in a diminishing spiral of repeated charging and discharging, exhausting its energy and hope.

On its final attempt, Primus sensed John's heart pound back to life with an almighty thump. It fell into a worrying irregular thudding as the muscle attempted to regain a normal rhythm. Primus thought to charge again, but the heart normalised into a rapid beat that made Primus glad. With his body rebooting, John took his first gasping breath, letting out a cry that told of the agony his body experienced with the impromptu defibrillation. John's cry gave way to a sob that wracked his body, and he rolled onto his back with a loud moan to stare up at the sky. Primus sensed a flicker in John's mind and honed in on the scrambled thoughts that loudly burst forth, none of which made much sense. They were in complete disarray, neurons firing back to life and reconnecting his mind to his body.

John lay there for a long time just gazing up at the sky, trying to piece together what had happened to him. But his thoughts wouldn't coalesce into something meaningful, so he simply existed under the warm sun and was at peace. After some time, things started to come back to him. Air pockets hidden sporadically within endless, dark and suffocating tunnels. Skin that burned with pinpricks of tiny teeth. He remembered the welcoming light at the end of the tunnel and the shadow which blotted it out and attacked them. He remembered the shark-like monstrosity that had smashed him senseless and drowned him. Then he remembered the intense pain in his shoulder in the seconds before he died. John raised his trembling hand to his shoulder, covering the throbbing pain with his fingers. He tried to speak, but his throat only gave up a dry whisper. He coughed and cleared his throat, trying again, and this time when he spoke, his voice was hoarse and quiet.

"Primus, are you there?"

I am, Sheppard.

"You just had to get back inside, didn't you?"

There was no other choice.

You were dying.

John chuckled. Hearing a noise, he turned his head to face the water and saw the other Goh still floating near the ledge, watching. "Thank you," he whispered, then more forcefully, "Thank you all."

They are glad you are alive, Sheppard, as am I. Primus said as the other Goh dropped below the waterline and disappeared.

"So, what happens now?"

Once you have gathered your strength, you should go back into the water to heal.

John yawned and turned onto his side to peer into the water. "There's a small rock jutting out. I could use it to sit on. Most of my body would be under the water."

Yes, that would be a good idea.

But for now, Sheppard, you must sleep and rest.

"Well, I can't sleep and tread water, Primus. Surefire way of drowning, and I've had enough of that to last a lifetime."

Then allow me to remain in your body. I can assist in coordinating your limbs to sit securely while you slumber.

John eyed the water warily, not wishing to enter it again. Everything that had happened to him since leaving Atlantis was because of water and what was in it. The thought of sitting in it again for an indeterminate measure of time wasn't appealing in the slightest. Then again, water and things in it had saved his life more than once since leaving Atlantis. With this thought in mind, John rolled to the edge of the ledge, then slipped into the water. When he located the little outcropping beneath the waterline, he settled on it and rested back onto the rocky wall with a sigh. The small amount of movement drained his dwindling strength, and the gentle swaying of the water threatened to dislodge him just before Primus took control of his movements.

Relax, Sheppard. Sleep.

I will keep you safe.

But John didn't even reply. He was already fast asleep.

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When John next awoke, he felt immeasurably better than he had in a long time. He still sat on the underwater outcropping with his body taut and held firm in the control of Primus. The water had risen while he slept and sat just below his chin, his fingers anchored rigidly to the outcropping to keep him safely in place. It appeared that Primus, too, was resting as it didn't seem to notice that John was awake. He couldn't move even to twitch, so he sat there and took stock of his many pains. He found that most of his body felt warm and relatively pain free, but how much of that would change when he finally started to move, he wasn't sure.

A shadow passed overhead, prompting John to raise his eyes. Without being able to move his head, he could only see a small slither of the sky and saw that it was darker than it had been before. It appeared that either hours had passed since he fell asleep, and it was evening, or it was dawn and he had slept an entire day and night. Another shadow passed, this time plunging the haven into momentary darkness. A heavy thrumming sound accompanied it, increasing in intensity as it passed overhead, then fading as the dim light flooded back.

The Groten, Primus informed him.

"They're still here, huh?"

They never leave, Sheppard.

They have been here since I was an infant.

A spark of anger ignited within John. "We'll need to see what we can do about them," he said darkly.

Firstly, Primus replied. We need to see what you can do for yourself.

Primus slowly slackened its hold over John's system, and at first, he floundered in the water until he regained his balance and control of his own body. He sat a moment, surprised to discover that there really wasn't as much pain as he thought there might be. The only pain he felt keenly was the hole in his shoulder, but he could handle it now that every other pain had diminished to the background.

The warmth of the healing water lapped at his skin, which, he noted, was no longer pale and waxen. It glowed with health, and his injuries were markedly better. The little bite-mark rings had decreased in size and colour, fading away to almost nothing. He took a moment to look over his body, remembering the grievous injury that had originally incapacitated him. The Goh entry wounds on his chest were healed, the two holes still visible, but barely. They were now a silver marring on his chest, and he assumed that the tissue and bone beneath were similarly healed. He still looked painfully thin, and it occurred to him that he had no idea when he last ate.

"Is it morning or evening?" he asked, looking at the dimly lit sky.

It is early morning.

You slept a long time.

"How long?"

It has been almost two days since we got you here.

But you seem stronger.

"I feel stronger. Better. I won't be running a marathon anytime soon, but I can see a future now."

You didn't before?

John shrugged, "Can't say I did."

He stretched his arms, testing them as he raised them above his head. There was some stiffness from disuse, but nothing he couldn't work with. His legs followed, paddling them for a few moments, getting used to the movements and wondering if they could hold him up if he were to stand.

John Sheppard wasn't the kind of man to lay around doing nothing, and he'd had his fill of that already. Even when grievously wounded in the past, he didn't sit around, often pushing through injury to join a battle or save someone. Today would be no different. Primus tried to talk him out of it, saying it would be better if he stayed a little longer in the water, but John had had enough of being wet.

"Don't you want to see a different side of your planet?"

I don't understand.

"Well, you see what I see. How about we do a little exercise and head up to land? See what this planet is like topside."

I don't think we should.

What if something happens to you?

We would both be in peril with no hope of rescue.

"Come on, Primus," John said as he pulled himself from the water onto the ledge. "Live a little, huh?"

It appears I have little choice.

"Well, you can straightjacket my ass with your powers if you think I'm taking it too far. Agreed?"

Agreed.

I've never seen Ignothia from above the water.

With the decision made, John pulled himself from the water and onto his feet. He shook out his arms and legs, gauging how much strength they had and if they would hold up to a little exercise. He'd been down and ill for so long that there wasn't much that would stop him from climbing out of the pool into the land above. He was pleased and impressed when his legs held him steady, and was already studying the rocky walls surrounding them. He could see footholds here and there, mostly over wide areas, which would have been a cakewalk for him if he was at full health. He sought better holds, ones that led a less strenuous path to outside. He found it to the far left of the ledge, an easy way up on a gentler slope with plenty of spaces for his hands and booted feet. It was slow going at first. He didn't want to risk injury or to push himself faster than his still-frail body could manage, which annoyed him greatly. Since when did he, John Sheppard, military man, adrenaline junkie, shy away from pushing himself to his limits?

Since you almost died several times in quick succession, Primus reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah," John growled as he pulled on a slanted gap in the stone. "Doesn't mean I can't do it."

Yes, but at least acknowledge the ordeal you have been through.

"To do that would be to admit fear." He raised his foot to the next rock.

"And right now? We don't need fear. I don't need fear." He pulled up and reached for a small ledge above his head.

"I've been scared since this all started." His foot found a hole, and he pushed into it and up onto his toes.

"Since you first hit me. Since I left Atlantis." His left hand lost grip, but his legs held him firm.

"I've been scared to death, but I'm alive, Primus. We are alive." His hands scraped the edge of the opening as he brought his leg up to the next foothold.

"This isn't strenuous exercise we're doing, this is a celebration of life."

John pulled himself from the opening to the pool and out onto a landscape like none he'd seen before. He took a few wandering steps forward into long, forest-green grass that felt like cotton and smelled of roses. Shrouded purple mountains stood in the distance, waiting for the sun to burn off the mist that cloaked them. A jungle of towering fuzzy-topped trees, many meters high with yellow mottled bark, lay ahead and seemed to go on for miles. Plants of all shapes, sizes and colours spread upon the land, and strange animals grazed on them, unaware of the alien who watched them.

John fell to his knees and raised his face to the slight warmth of the rising sun. He felt its healing rays as he breathed a sweet breath of air and closed his eyes. A gentle breeze toyed with his hair, carrying all kinds of scents he couldn't identify. He heard the sound of running water, the strange animal calls, and the song of an avian never heard by human ears before.

It's beautiful. Primus said with an awe that matched John's.

"It sure is," John agreed, and they sat in quiet, private thought, content to enjoy the beautiful moment.

Their reverie was cut short when an annoying thrumming sound filled the air. This time, John saw the huge craft as it passed over them. The red pitted metal of its immense hull glinted in the new sunlight, the spiderweb between the plates twinking with blue flashes that spread through it like lightning. Its silo turrets were silent, but still looked ready and armed for the press of a button. The engine ports flamed blue as it moved inexorably onward, leaving behind a smoky trail like a festering wound in the blue sky.

John heard distant thrumming sounds and saw other ships moving across the horizon to the left. He didn't know how many were on the planet, but John estimated they would be nearly impossible to destroy with a handful of Jumpers. And what cemented in John's head as he watched the blight upon the sky dissipate was that he wanted to annihilate these beasts and protect Ignothia and all its inhabitants.

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feed the fat dragon cookies!