Detente Part Two
“Major Marks, get gurneys up here now.” The deep resonant voice of Colonel Steven Caldwell rose above the chorus of gasps as Sheppard, and his team materialized on the bridge of the Daedalus.
Sheppard was struggling to get up, but Major Lorne reached him first, gently holding him down. “Colonel, stay put, Doctor Beckett’s right here. We’ll get everyone taken care of and be back in Atlantis before you know it.”
Grabbing Lorne’s arm, “No… gotta go… ba…” Sheppard slumped backward, Lorne catching him before he hit his head on the deck.
Beckett had gone to Ronon immediately after spotting the knife sticking from his side then slipped beside Lorne. The major glanced at him and said, “Doc he was talking, then just passed out.”
“Aye Major... from the amount of blood soaked through his clothes, it appears the colonel has lost a lot of blood.” Beckett pulled the bandages back a bit to assess Sheppard’s wounds, shaking his head, “Two bad stab wounds, and he’s still bleeding.” Beckett stood up, “We need to get him to surgery now.”
The clattering of hard-rubber wheels on the deck, announced the arrival of the gurneys and medics, along with ship’s Doctors Lincoln and Breslin. Beckett directed triage and within minutes, the patients were loaded onto the gurneys and whisked off to sick bay, Major Lorne and Captain Stackhouse following.
Silence enveloped the bridge as the sound from the gurneys faded. Colonel Caldwell walked to the science station where Doctor Radek Zelenka was standing, staring down the passageway. Squeezing Zelenka’s shoulder, Caldwell said, “Good job, doctor... good job.”
It was night-time on Atlantis, as the dim lights indicated, but the activity level was anything but restful. Medics rolled McKay from recovery into the trauma bay and transferred him from the gurney to his bed, while Teyla rested in a nearby bed, Kanaan at her side. Major Lorne leaned against the wall, where he had been waiting for updates on Sheppard and his team. Doctor Eric Breslin checked McKay’s IV tubing, whispering something to one of the nurses, and made some notations on his pad before he walked over to Lorne.
“Major, I’m aware you want to know Colonel Sheppard's and Mr. Dex’s condition, and I wish I could give you more information. All I can tell you is they're still in surgery, both in guarded condition.”
“What about Teyla and Doctor McKay?”
“Teyla has a serious concussion but no cranial bleeding, which is very fortunate. She will be fine, given some time to rest. Doctor McKay has a serious laceration through the vastus lateral muscle, the rectus femoral muscle… oh… I guess you don’t need to know all that. Let’s just say, he has a very deep nasty cut, the blade slashed across his thigh; it took nearly forty stitches to close the wound. He lost a lot of blood, and the wound was infected. We're trying to identify the bacterium, but have him on mega doses of broad-spectrum antibiotics, so we should be able to knock it back.”
“Doctor, McKay’s wound looked really ragged. Do you know what type of weapon was used?”
“Definitely a blade of some sort, not especially sharp, and there were traces of metal flecks in the wound. I would suspect a very primitive, hand forged-knife.”
Lorne asked, “What about the radiation they were exposed to, any danger to them?”
“White-cell count was up slightly, but that could be from the infections or the injuries stimulating the immune system. However, it doesn’t appear that they suffered a significant enough dose of radiation to do any real harm. Now if you will excuse me, Major, I need to go check on Teyla’s latest scans.” Lorne nodded and decided if he was going to wait, he was going to sit down. Just as he settled in a chair, Richard Woolsey arrived; he jumped up.
“Mr. Woolsey, did you speak to General Landry?”
“Yes, I did, and while you are in temporary command of the troops, you are to defer to Colonel Caldwell should the need arise.”
Lorne pursed his lips, and said, “Yes, sir.”
The corners of Woolsey’s mouth upturned slightly, “The good thing, Major, is that both Caldwell and I have mellowed over the years.”
A tight grin appeared on Lorne’s face, “Yes, sir.”
“Any word?”
“Not yet, Teyla has a bad concussion but Doctor Breslin feels she’ll be fine, McKay’s out of surgery to clean out that wound, and the colonel and Ronon are still in surgery.”
“Surgery? I thought they both underwent surgery on the Daedalus.”
“They did, sir. Colonel Sheppard was bleeding internally, so Dr. Beckett did an exploratory, and after finding the bleeders, he cauterized them, but didn’t sew him up. Beckett decided to bring him here to poke around more.”
Woolsey’s eyebrow shot up, “Poke around?”
Lorne lifted his shoulders, “Okay, that might be my description.”
“Did they take the knife out of Ronon onboard, or do it here?”
“Here… Beckett was worried the Daedalus wasn’t equipped if something went wrong. He wanted to get Ronon into the Ancient Scanner to see what they were dealing with before they removed the knife.”
“No word at all?”
“No, sir; Doctor Breslin’s only comment was they were in guarded condition.”
“Caldwell said Sheppard regained consciousness a couple of times, saying something about going back to that planet. Do you know what he meant?”
Lorne shook his head, “I had a chance to ask Doctor McKay. He woke briefly on the ship but all he knew was that Sheppard promised to help the people who captured them.”
Woolsey blew out a deep breath, “I suppose we won’t know until Colonel Sheppard can tell us. So now we wait.” Dragging another chair over, the Atlantis director and Major Lorne waited.
As word spread throughout Atlantis that Sheppard and his team were injured, a few airmen, Marines, and scientists collected in the infirmary’s small waiting room. When he first realized some of the Atlantis personnel were gathering outside, Lorne went to speak to them expecting to discover exactly what he found, Corporals Paul Brenner and Ramon Rodriguez had organized the vigil. The two young corporals were extremely loyal to Colonel Sheppard and the colonel to them.
Spotting them immediately, he walked over, “I take it you’re responsible for this?”
Corporal Ray Rodriguez nodded, “Yes, sir; Brenner and I know the Colonel’s team always stands watch when one of them is injured. Since we were on the Daedalus, we know how seriously they are all hurt. We thought someone should be here for them.”
Lorne addressed the others, “No news yet. I'll let you know.” Turning to Rodriquez and Brenner, he said, “You two, with me.”
As they waited inside the trauma bay, Lorne observed the two young Marines and the infirmary personnel worried as they waited for news. He wondered what Atlantis would be like without Sheppard and his team. That question Lorne decided was one he didn’t want to answer.
Another hour passed before Beckett emerged from the surgical bay. From his haggard expression, Lorne knew the doctor was exhausted and concerned. He stopped to speak to Marie Cho, the chief nurse, then walked toward Lorne and Woolsey. As Lorne rose, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the corporals moved closer.
Woolsey’s eyebrow raised, “Doctor?”
Beckett tugged the scrub cap from his head, running his fingers through his hair, “They were both a mess. Colonel Sheppard will be out of recovery in about a half-hour. He has two very serious stab wounds, one in his side and one in his upper chest. Fortunately, we managed to get the bleeding stopped but the weapon used was crude, covered in burs and not very sharp, and did a lot of tissue damage. The upper chest wound nicked his right lung, so we repaired it and debrided the wounds.” Beckett leaned against a storage unit, “John’s lost a lot of blood. We gave him a unit and other fluids to build him back up, but his pressure is very erratic. He’s not out of the woods, but I’m hopeful.”
Lorne asked, “Ronon?”
“I checked on him before I came out. Doctor Lincoln’s just about finished. He has a probable concussion, there’s a big lump on the back of his head, but fortunately no cranial bleeding. The blade used was about six inches long, and it was in his side up to its hilt. Lincoln said it was messy inside. Fortunately, Colonel Sheppard must have secured the knife with bandages, so the only damage was from the initial wound. However, his liver, intestines, and gallbladder were perforated, and when we extracted the knife, we had some major bleeders to deal with. He also has an infection, but Lincoln feels he’ll recover, as long as he responds to the antibiotics. Now, if you will excuse me, I want to change out of these scrubs and check on the colonel. I’ll keep you informed.”
~ooOoo~
The world was blurry as Rodney McKay opened his eyes. He rolled his head toward the sound of soft tapping, to see a fuzzy but familiar image. He asked, his voice breaking “Radek?”
At the sound of McKay’s weak voice, Zelenka jumped up, “Rodney, jsi vzhůru.”
McKay, lifted his hand, waving weakly, “Wha… I’m awake.”
“I know, I just said that.”
McKay stared blankly at Zelenka for a second, then asked, “Sheppard… the others…”
“Being treated, Teyla’s been awake on and off, Ronon’s improving,” Radek stopped, a shallow sigh escaping.
McKay raised up, grabbing Zelenka’s arm, “Sheppard… what about Sheppard?”
“He… he’s back in surgery. A blood vessel damaged by one of the stab wounds began bleeding again.”
“Stab wounds… how bad is he?”
“Doctor Beckett is cautiously optimistic, to use his words. He said Colonel Sheppard’s blood pressure is quite erratic, likely because of the bleeding. Beckett feels his pressure will improve after this surgery.”
McKay dropped his head against his pillow, “How did you know what happened to us?”
“Fortunately, when you didn’t check in on time, Chuck remembered hearing something said before the gate disengaged. It was inaudible on playback, but he enhanced the audio, and we thought we heard you yelling ‘EMP'. We dialed the address again and tried to contact you, without success. Major Lorne ordered a communications drone sent through the gate. We were monitoring it and when we lost contact, the readings indicated it lost power due to electromagnetic radiation.”
“Sheppard was hoping you heard me. We lost power seconds after we exited the gate, but momentum carried us about two miles before we crashed. We were lucky no one was hurt, at least then.”
“Lorne and Woolsey decided to recall the Daedalus, fortunately, she was only about two hours away under hyperdrive from Atlantis. I explained it would be tricky not only locating your beacons in the radiation on the planet but beaming you aboard would be difficult.”
“Especially since you didn’t have me to do the calculations.”
Zelenka glared at McKay, saying, “Jsi tady, vid,” under his breath. Out loud, he said, “It took time to determine the exact frequency of the beam that would penetrate the EM field. Then it took split-second timing to beam all four of you up together when the field was at its weakest.”
McKay said, “Thirsty,” and motioned for a drink of water. Zelenka poured a glass for him, and as he took a sip, Zelenka asked, “Did you try to get back to the gate?”
“Yes, we managed to get to the gate, but one of the control crystals had been removed. Funny thing about that, don’t know if they removed the crystal each time and brought it back. If they did, it wasn’t a power crystal, must have been one activating the dialing sequence.”
“How else would they be able to use the gate?”
“I don’t know… I…”
“Doctor McKay, you’re awake.” Maria Cho appeared at the foot of the bed. She motioned to another nurse, “Please get Dr. Breslin.”
McKay asked, “Sheppard?”
Marie said, “Still in surgery,” she patted him on the arm, “they should be done soon. It was going well when I got the last report. Now relax, Doctor Breslin will want to check you.”
After examining McKay, Breslin ordered a light meal for him, and McKay was finishing his jello when a medic and nurse rolled Sheppard into the trauma bay. Throwing down his spoon, he called out to Beckett, who was following the gurney.
“Carson, how is he?”
From the bed to his left, McKay heard a gruff voice ask, “Sheppard okay?”
Beckett stopped in front of Ronon’s bed, “Ronon, glad you’re awake.” He checked Sheppard’s portable monitor, then continued, “We repaired the bleeder. We missed the cheeky bugger the first time. John's pressure remains more unstable than I’d like but hopefully, this last surgery will take care of that issue.”
While the nurses and medics were getting Sheppard settled, Beckett walked between McKay’s and Ronon’s beds. He took a moment checking Ronon’s monitor, then said, “Ronon you were lucky. That knife did a great deal of damage, but Doctor Lincoln did an excellent job putting you back together. Your vitals are strong and your fever is coming down, just a matter of time before you’re on your feet.”
Ronon replied, “Ready to get up now.”
Beckett smiled, “Not going to happen. But I can tell you this, as injured as all of you were, we were lucky to have Lincoln and Breslin here, with Keller on leave.”
“That we were Doctor,” Richard Woolsey said as he, and Colonel Caldwell entered. Beckett briefed them on his patients’ status, then checked on Sheppard, while Woolsey and Caldwell approached McKay.
Woolsey asked, “Doctor, do you feel like talking with us?”
McKay nodded and Woolsey continued, “Major Lorne told us Colonel Sheppard was insisting on going back to the planet after he was beamed to the Daedalus. I know Lorne asked you already but do you remember anything more than you told him?”
“No… all I know is that they attacked us… they kept telling us we were mercenaries there to kill them.”
Caldwell asked, “Why did they think that?
“They kept talking about overlords and…”
“They are political prisoners,” Ronon interjected.
Woolsey asked, “Political… how do you know?”
“Heard Sheppard talking… to one of them… not sure but heard something about a rebellion and being sent through the gate after being captured. Sheppard told her he would help.”
Caldwell asked, “Help with what?”
“Don’t know.”
Woolsey glanced at the unconscious colonel, “I suppose we need to be patient and wait for Sheppard to tell us himself.”
Caldwell, arms crossed behind his back, said, “So, we wait to see what Sheppard’s gotten us into.”
~ooOoo~
Corporal Paul Brenner gazed about the infirmary as he sipped a cup of coffee a nurse brought him a few minutes before. It was 0300 hours, quiet except for the staccato beats from the instruments and Doctor McKay muttering in his sleep. Ronon had finally dozed off, after trying to stay awake until Sheppard woke up. Teyla, who had regained consciousness a few hours before, managed to eat a little dinner and then fallen asleep.
Beckett had been in and out checking on Sheppard, the last time telling Brenner Sheppard was stable but extremely weak. He glanced at the colonel, remembering his friend Ray Rodriguez’s admonition to take care of their CO while he caught a nap. Brenner waited to see the rise and fall of Sheppard’s chest before he relaxed.
About half-way through his coffee, a soft murmur broke the silence. At first, he wasn’t certain where the sound came from until a louder moan confirmed the voice was Sheppard’s. Jumping up, Brenner leaned over the bed.
“Colonel, can you hear me?”
Sheppard’s eyes fluttered, his hand reaching toward Brenner. In a raspy low voice, he whispered, “Inan… Inanri… need to…”
“Colonel, let me get the doctor.”
As Brenner started to turn, Sheppard grasped his arm, “Need…”
“What do you need?”
“Supplies… food… med-medicine… through the g-gate, tell… be back.”
Sheppard’s eyes closed, his arm slipping onto the bed. Anxiously, Brenner looked at the monitor, relieved to see a steady pulse and heart rate. Realizing Sheppard had fallen back to sleep, he darted off, looking for a nurse.
Shortly after 0700, Major Lorne joined Woolsey and Caldwell in the main conference room. Acknowledging the two men, he grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down.
“Colonel Sheppard is still asleep and Beckett refuses to wake him, so I can’t ask him about what he said to Corporal Brenner. The others are awake, and I learned quite a bit from them.” Lorne spent a few minutes relating the events after the jumper exited the gate, up to the time Ronon and McKay were injured.
Caldwell leaned back in his chair, “So McKay said the people who came through the gate were referred to as refugees?”
“Yes, sir, and Ronon remembers hearing Sheppard and the woman talking about finding a gate on their home planet and some kind of rebellion. He’s not clear on any details, said he was drifting in and out of consciousness."
The colonel responded, “I’m uncomfortable about getting involved without more details, like where this planet is and how advanced it is. How do we even know if these people told Sheppard the truth? He does have a tendency to act first, then find out what’s happening.”
Lorne noticeably bristled but remained silent. Woolsey did not, “I have learned to trust Colonel Sheppard, and if he feels we need to get supplies to those people, then we are going to do just that.”
Caldwell took a gulp of coffee, then said, “Richard, despite what people think I trust Sheppard. I’m just saying that despite his desire, we can’t save everyone in the galaxy.”
Woolsey stood up, “We can try. Major, get food and water, blankets, toiletries, whatever else you think you need to send and check with Doctor Beckett about medications. We’ll send a note from Colonel Sheppard to let them know we’ll be in touch again.”
The hint of a smile crossed Lorne’s face, “Understood, sir.” He spun toward Caldwell, “Sir,” and hurriedly departed, already speaking with the supply chief as he cleared the door.
Caldwell shook his head, “The other thing I’ve learned over the years is not to forget how loyal these people are to Sheppard.”
Woolsey chuckled, “Smart man.”
~ooOoo~
Drifting in and out of consciousness, Sheppard was aware of Atlantis softly prodding him to wake up. As he slowly awoke, Sheppard realized his nose was itching. Lifting his arm to scratch the irritation, he felt a sharp tug near his wrist and pain radiated through his arm. He decided against moving it again; his nose would have to itch.
Getting annoyed with Atlantis, he spoke to her through his thoughts, “Enough, I’m awake.”
“I was simply attempting to assist you in regaining consciousness. The others are concerned that you have not awakened.”
Sheppard breathed in deeply, “Okay... you can stop nagging me now.”
“As you wish, Colonel, I will withdraw until you summon me.”
Sheppard sighed; Atlantis sounded a bit miffed. He remained amazed at the Atlantis AI’s ability to develop personality traits, unfortunately, she was beginning to sound like McKay. McKay… panic swept through him as he remembered his team was hurt. He forced himself to wake up.
Sensing a presence nearby, he managed to pry open his eyes to narrow slits, enough to see Marie, the head nurse standing next to his bed. He spoke her name, getting no reaction. He realized he hadn’t spoken aloud, trying again, he said, “Marie?”
Her face brightened, “Colonel... so good to see you awake, you worried everyone.”
“McKay, Tey…”
Marie stopped him, “Teyla and Doctor McKay have been released to their quarters, and Ronon is recuperating nicely.” She tapped her COM, “Doctor Beckett; Colonel Sheppard is awake.”
Carson Becket raced into the trauma bay, “Colonel, welcome back.” He pulled out a penlight and checked Sheppard’s pupils causing Sheppard to finch.
"Hey, Doc… don’t.”
“Quit your complaining, you’re lucky to be here.”
Sheppard raised his head to reply, then dropped his head onto the pillow, the effort made him dizzy. “How's Ro…”
“Ronon is healing well, good job securing that knife; likely, it kept him from bleeding out. He’s been moved to the main ward.” Beckett checked the IV port in Sheppard’s left hand, “Took a lot of stitches to close Rodney’s wound, and a bad infection, but he was doing much better today. I discharged him this afternoon, and attempted to confine him to quarters, but my spies tell me he’s already been to his lab.” Beckett slipped the hospital gown Sheppard was wearing off his shoulder to check the wound dressing on his upper chest and his side.
“Teyla?”
“Be patient, I’m getting to her.” He straightened the gown back, “She’s been discharged as well. She had a severe concussion, but her headaches are subsiding, and the nausea has gone away. After four days, she was getting anxious to be with Torren more, so…”
“Four… days…”
“Aye, laddie, you lost a considerable amount of blood. You were bleeding internally when we got you onboard the Daedalus. We cleaned your wounds, cauterizing the bleeders while we were on the ship. I decided to leave the wounds open, give you a couple of units of blood and finish the surgery once we got back to Atlantis. We missed a bleeder; bugger was hiding and had to take you into surgery a second time. You’re quite weak, John and we had a difficult time getting your blood pressure stabilized. You have a few weeks of recuperation ahead of you.”
“No… gotta get Inanri and her people off that planet.”
“Don’t worry, we sent them supplies.”
“How ….?”
You regained consciousness a couple of times, once when Corporal Brenner was here. You muttered something about supplies; Lorne took care of that.”
“Need to talk to… Woolsey and Lorne.”
“I’ll let them know, but right now, I want you to rest. I’m going to have some broth brought to you; you need to eat something.”
With help from a nurse, Sheppard was having broth when a blustering McKay arrived. “Why didn’t someone tell me he was awake?”
Beckett entered the trauma bay behind McKay, “Cheeky bugger, if you’d stayed in your quarters like I told you to, I would have let you know.”
Sheppard waved off the nurse, who frowned and looked at Beckett, who nodded. As the nurse gathered the tray, Beckett addressed McKay, “What are you doing here? I believe Doctor Breslin gave you strict instructions to remain in your quarters, off that leg.”
“I wanted to see Sheppard… and… you shouldn’t have given me crutches if you didn’t want me walking around.” McKay sat down with a flourish in the chair next to Sheppard’s bed.
“He’s got you there, Doc,” Sheppard cocked his head.
“Cheeky buggers, the lot of you,” Becky snarked. “Rodney, you can stay for a few minutes but that’s all. I finally managed to get Brenner and Rodriguez out of here, but it took an order from Major Lorne to do that. Don’t make me have to set him on you.” Beckett took a quick peek at Sheppard’s vital, then said to him, “You can chat with Rodney for a few minutes only. He turned to McKay, “I’ll be back.”
Sheppard sank wearily into the pillow, “Glad to see you walking around… even if you aren’t supposed to, but… that never stops us, does it?”
“No.”
“How’s Teyla?”
“Better, saw her this morning. Kanaan’s keeping her corralled in their quarters, so she will rest.”
“Smart man.” A perplexed look crossed Sheppard’s face, “What did Beckett mean…” he took a breath, “about Brenner and Rodriguez?”
McKay shrugged, “The corporals decided since we were all hurt someone had to stand watch for the team. They were here since the Daedalus returned. Once all of us were discharged, and you were stable, Beckett ordered them to get some rest, but it took Lorne to get them out of here.”
Sheppard glanced down, a slight smile crossing his face, “Those are two… good Marines.”
“Colonel, good to see you awake.”
Sheppard looked around to see Woolsey, Caldwell, and Lorne walking into the trauma bay. He bobbed his head, “Good to be awake.”
Woolsey approached the bed, “Colonel… we are understandably curious about what happened on that planet. Doctor McKay and Ronon have filled us in on what happened up to when they were injured, but we are sketchy about what happened in the cabin. Are you up to talking?”
“Yeah, so you know that the people on the planet… are political prisoners.”
Caldwell answered, “Not really. We know they referred to themselves as refugees. McKay said he heard that when you were first captured, and they took you to the main building.”
“They…” Sheppard stopped, his head jerking toward Lorne, “Beckett said you sent supplies?”
“Yes, sir. Captain Royce in the Materiel Unit came through. We could only estimate how many people were there on what Ronon and Doctor McKay told us. Royce put together food, blankets, clothing, and Doctor Beckett sent medicines, based on the observations McKay made about their skin, hopefully enough to take care of all of them. We sent a note in your name telling them we would be back.”
“Good job, Lorne.”
Pursing his lips before he spoke, Caldwell asked, “Exactly why do these people need help, Colonel?”
Sheppard eyes turned cold, picking up on the edge of sarcasm in Caldwell’s voice, “Inanri told me there was a tremor in the mountains and when they went to investigate, they found a cavern where the stargate, orbis they called it, was located. There were numerous consoles in the chamber, and they managed to turn them on. Their scientists finally figured out how to dial the gate, and they visited the planet we were on.”
He stopped to take a breath, then continued, “What they didn’t do was tell a neighboring territory, Hona, about their discovery until the Honans found out for themselves. When the Honans learned the Lazanans had visited another planet, they invaded and overpowered Inanri’s people. When the rebellion started, Inanri said the rebels were betrayed, placed on trial and sentenced them to death. The Horan Overlord, now in control of Lazana exiled them to the planet to await execution.” Sheppard was struggling to talk, and reached for the water glass next to his bed. Caldwell was closer and handed the glass to him.
As Sheppard took a drink, Caldwell said, “Sounds like a civil war to me. I don’t believe our mission is to take sides in a civil war.”
“Our mission is the peaceful exploration of this galaxy and uncovering Ancient artifacts.” Sheppard replied, his tone hard, his hand gripping the sheet.
Woolsey stepped forward, “Yes it is Colonel.” He looked at Caldwell, “It sounds to me as if the discovery of the gate and other artifacts on this planet are important. I believe we should investigate.”
Caldwell locked eyes with Sheppard, then replied, “Perhaps we should.”
Sheppard replied, fatigue evident in his voice, “The first thing… we have to do is get those people off that planet. Prisoners or not, being there… is killing them.”
“How?” Caldwell asked, “It took considerable effort by Zelenka to beam the four of you aboard through the EM field.”
“We bring them through the gate…”
McKay sputtered, “But the gate’s broken.”
“No… just missing a part. You can fix it, can’t you?”
“I… I… probably.”
“Then, we need to get…”
“You, laddie will do nothing,” Beckett was standing in the doorway, arms crossed, “and the rest of you, out of here, my patient needs to rest.”
Woolsey said, “Colonel, the Lazanans have supplies now and they should be all right for a few more days.”
Sheppard appeared unconvinced, but agreed with the Atlantis director. Beckett began herding the visitors out when McKay stopped, spinning around on his crutches.
“Wait, I don’t understand something, if the gate isn’t working, how do the mercenaries' gate off the planet?”
Sheppard flashed a weak but impish grin, “I wondered how long it would take you to ask. They have something we don’t have… a portable DHD.”
~ooOoo~
“I still don’t understand why you didn’t tell me.”
“I was unconscious.”
McKay was sitting beside Sheppard’s bed, pecking away at his laptop, “Well, you could have told me about the portable DHD.”
From the bed next to Sheppard’s, Ronon growled, “Enough, McKay... you’ve been whining for three days.”
“I have not been whining.”
Sheppard dropped his head against his pillow, “You’ve had your nose in that database since I told you about the portable DHD. Have you found anything?”
McKay scrunched up his face, ignoring Sheppard as he stared at the pad he was holding. When he looked up, Sheppard was glaring at him. He snarked, “What?”
“Did you find anything about a portable DHD?”
“No… nothing, absolutely nothing… so far.”
Sheppard glanced at the infirmary door, “When did you say Zelenka was going to talk to Woolsey about the DHD?
Glancing at his watch, McKay answered, “1000 hours.”
Sheppard looked at his own watch, “That was nearly forty-five minutes ago, Lorne said he’d come here as soon as they were done.”
“He’ll be here; Caldwell’s probably got a lot of questions,” Ronon said.
“Yeah,” Sheppard agreed, tapping his fingers on the mattress.
Another twenty minutes passed before Major Lorne entered the infirmary.
Sheppard sat up, wincing as he moved, “Major”
“The mission’s a go, sir, Lorne smiled, "even Caldwell’s okay with it. Doctor Zelenka, with Doctor McKay’s help put together a repair kit, including all the crystals that are used in the DHD. Colonel Caldwell will be on standby, if we do not dial back to Atlantis within a prescribed time, the Daedalus will depart for the planet to rescue us.”
“Who’s going to repair the gate?”
“Dr. Zelenka.”
“Don’t you need him for the calculation if you have to use the Asgard Beam?”
Lorne glanced at McKay, “Uh… sir… Doctor Breslin cleared Doctor McKay to go on the mission, providing he remain on the Daedalus.”
Sheppard turned to McKay, “And you were going to tell me this when?”
“Don’t get all snippy, I just found out this morning, and you never gave me a chance to tell you.”
“I gave you plenty of …..”
“Colonel…” Lorne interjected, “we need to leave. It should be dark on the planet now, and it’s a short night.
The Daedalus will be on standby. If we don’t call in at a prescribed time, Caldwell will head for the planet. In addition to my team, I’m taking Stackhouse and Isaacs’ teams along. We’ll get the refugees to the gate, hopefully bringing them through that way, if not we’ll have them in one place for beam-up.”
“Sounds like a plan Major. You should go, and good luck.”
“Thank you, sir.” Lorne turned on his heel and rushed out of the infirmary.
As Sheppard watched the major leave, Ronon said, “Don’t worry, those people are in good hands.”
Sheppard nodded, “That they are.”
~ooOoo~