Lightning Strikes, part 20
I must humbly apologize to all of you. After a comment by timespirt, I realized that I had not posted part 20. Here it is, so please put the rocks down! Thanks as always to my great beta, nacinom! Now on with the story...
Part 20
Ronon and Amelia were spending quality time together as well. They hadn’t spent much time together recently so Amelia decided that Ronon could make it up to her by being her willing sex slave. She found that Ronon, who was a very vigorous lover, was also very good at being submissive, at least where sex was involved. The only thing he balked at was being tied up until Amelia showed him how easy it was to escape from the cuffs.
They had showered and were taking a break for lunch when their radios went off. Grabbing their respective units, they headed to opposite corners to take their calls. Ronon’s was from Teyla while Amelia’s was from Chuck.
Teyla asked that Ronon meet them at the Chair room. With two entrances, she felt that John would not be safe because she would not be able to guard both doorways.
Chuck called Amelia to ask for her help in the Gateroom. Some of the technicians had been affected by the power surge and had been escorted back to their quarters.
Ending their calls, the two shared their conversations before dressing and heading out. Ronon escorted Amelia to the Gateroom then took off at a run for the Chair room. The way Teyla had sounded made Ronon suspect that she was expecting trouble.
John was hoping to make it to the Chair room without incident. His vision was starting to blur and the pounding in his head was getting worse. The power surge was also eroding his self-control. The loss of control was why he didn’t like to get drunk. He hated the fuzzy, disconnected feeling it gave him. John and Teyla were almost to the Chair room when they met one of the roving bands. The hallway ahead of them was blocked by a group of soldiers. The gang had been nervously milling around in the corridor until they saw the Colonel and Teyla.
“Well, well, lookie here. We’ve caught the root of our problems, boys.” The speaker was Corporal Jensen, a relative newcomer to the city. Six other soldiers filled the corridor behind him, all of them natural gene carriers.
John stepped forward, projecting strength and calm, the ring of command evident in his voice. “Corporal, you and these others need to stand down. I need to get to the Chair Room now.”
The Corporal shook his head. “Nope. See, we’ve all been feelin’ itchy since just after you went to that warehouse planet. So me and my buddies think it’s all your fault.”
John knew the situation was going downhill quickly. He felt Teyla move away from him in order to be ready for the rush they both knew was coming. He had turned his head just a notch to check on her position when a fist came out of nowhere. The blow caught him by surprise, throwing him back several feet to slam into a wall. Pain shot up the left side of his back at the impact, greying his vision out and stunning him for a moment. John’s vision cleared just in time for him to intercept a booted foot aimed at his head. Quick as thought, he grabbed, twisted and pulled. The hapless Marine had no time to prepare for the fall and landed with an audible crack.
Looking at the unconscious Marine, John staggered to his feet, chuckling. “That’s what I call a two hit fight.”
Watching for his next opponent, John saw Teyla take out one of the soldiers while ducking a wild swing from another. Another Marine loomed in John’s view, bringing his attention back to his own fight. John ducked a poorly aimed haymaker, landing a knee in his opponent’s stomach then planting that same knee in the trooper’s face when he doubled over. The move sent a shooting pain up John’s back that he pushed aside for the moment. Unfortunately, Corporal Tanner managed to hook one of John’s ankles and topple him, this time smacking his right side against the wall, drawing a sharp cry of pain. Tanner tried to take advantage of his distraction, but John caught a glimpse of the roundhouse punch coming. He slid down the wall and struck out with a foot, using Tanner’s own momentum against him. Tanner, unable to stop, stumbled into the wall face first. He hit with a clunk which was followed by a resounding thud when he hit the floor.
His third opponent tried to be sneaky, holding off and jumping around throwing rabbit punches at the Colonel. Unfortunately, Airman Roberts was shorter than his CO. Pushing his pain down, John bid his time then swung into a beautiful roundhouse kick, shifting his hips just enough to alter the trajectory downwards, making the kick deceptive. The move caught Roberts unaware and he toppled as the kick impacted his groin.
Drawing himself up, John looked for another opponent, but there was none. Teyla had taken out three other soldiers. The last one, a young Airman, was standing in the corridor in shock, having just seen his CO and the petite Athosian take down six highly trained soldiers. Eyes wide in disbelief, the trooper took to his heels and disappeared.
John staggered as the adrenalin rush faded. Teyla grabbed him around the waist until he found his balance. At his grunt of pain, she looked up into his face. John was pale and she could see the pain lines around his mouth and eyes. “John?”
John let out another groan, straightening as he found his balance. His back felt like Rick Allen had used it as a bass drum at a Def Leppard concert, with his head filling in for one of the tom-toms. As an added bonus his eyesight kept getting fuzzy, which didn’t help his headache. All he wanted right now was some good drugs, a firm bed and Teyla’s soft hands massaging his back.
The last time he’d felt like this, he’d been on leave with Mitch and Dex. They had gone to a bar that served a drink called ‘the Zombie’. Mitch and Dex bought him four of them while they drank Long Island Iced Teas then watched him stumble around the bar, laughing hilariously until he threw up on both of them. That was the only time they ever got him drunk. Once he sobered up, John took the pair to the gym and beat the crap out of them under the guise of sparring.
They were almost at the Chair Room when John stumbled again, placing his free hand to his forehead.
“John?”
He could hear the worry in her tone.
“I’m alrigh’. That… was the third… ZPM kickin’ in.”
John peered down at Teyla, noticing the worried frown on her face. The breathy quality of his voice probably didn’t help ease her concerns.
Taking a deep breath, John concentrated on his next words, enunciating carefully. “I’m good. Let’s get this done.”
Teyla looked at him askance. “If you say so. Was not Rodney supposed to wait on you before he installed the third ZPM?”
“I thought he was going to. Guess he decided not to.”
He wasn’t fooling her and they both knew it. Fortunately they weren’t far from the Chair Room. Upon arrival, Teyla swiveled the Chair for John so he wouldn’t have to move any further than necessary. Once he was seated, John sealed the doors and hallways leading to the Chair Room.
Watching John as he eased into the Control Chair, Teyla worried. She had seen him take two very hard hits to his back. Helping him walk to this room, she had felt the tension and stiffness developing in his muscles; she knew he would be in great pain when this was over. Moving over to a corner of the room while John started the diagnostics, Teyla got ready to call Carson when her radio chirped.
“Teyla, this is Carson. Is the Colonel with you?”
Teyla nodded even though the Scot couldn’t see it. “He is. I was about to contact you. We were set upon by a group of apparently inebriated soldiers near here.”
“Where are ye, lass?”
Teyla blushed. “I am sorry, Carson. We are in the Chair Room.”
“Are either o’ ye injured?”
“I am fine, but John was thrown into the wall hard twice and had trouble straightening afterwards.”
“Hmmm… did he hit his head?”
Teyla thought a moment then shook hers. “No. The impacts were to his back.”
“I’ll make a note of it an’ have a team on standby for him.” Carson was silent for a moment. “Teyla, is John showing any signs o’ drunkenness?”
Carson quickly explained what had happened to most of the city’s gene bearers.
Teyla frowned, glancing over at John, seated in the Chair and already working with Rodney. “I am not sure, as I have never seen John drunk. He was walking unsteadily and has a headache, but I do not know if those are from the fight or from the ZPMs.”
She heard Carson sigh.
“Aye, those could be from either condition. If he experiences any blurred vision, slurred speech or nausea let us know.”
“I will, Carson. Thank you.”
Ronon arrived late. He had been waylaid by drunks as he crossed the city and kept having to detour. He knew something was going on because there wasn’t enough alcohol in the city to get this many people drunk. When he neared the Chair Room, he realized that Teyla and Sheppard were already there because the doors were sealed. He tapped his radio.
“Teyla, get Sheppard to let me in.”
“I will, Ronon.”
Just as her words reached his ears, the doors in front of him slid apart just enough for him to squeeze through and quickly closed behind him. Loping towards the Chair Room, Ronon came across the unconscious troopers. From the way the men were laying, he figured that Sheppard and Teyla took out three apiece.
Once he reached the Chair Room, he noticed Sheppard reclined in the Chair, the headrest glowing brilliant blue. His eyes were closed, but that just made the pain lines and the dark circles under them more noticeable. With a nod to Teyla, they each took up station by one of the doors. No one was getting past them to harm their friend.
John was already deep in the systems running the diagnostics. He could feel Rodney in the ZPM chamber checking over the results on his tablet. Radek was also online, working with different systems. Through a sixth sense, he could even tell where Teyla and Ronon were lurking. On a normal day, the stress of balancing two sets of diagnostics would only give him a mild headache that a couple of Advil and a nap would cure. Today, though, it felt like a Gremlin with a jackhammer had taken up residence, although he hadn’t been in contact with any Mogwai lately. As if the pounding in his head was not bad enough, John started to feel nauseous- he kept it at bay through sheer stubbornness.
John was in a lull while Radek and Rodney conferred over priority for a few of the systems when he felt something trying to work its way into his already throbbing head. It was a small program, but his mind saw it as a snake and he knew it didn’t belong. He threw up a mental shield, but the snake slithered around it. Having failed to deter the snake, John did the next best thing - he put his ‘foot’ on it. He ‘looked’ back along its path and noticed a trail of distortion and wrongness.
“McKay.” John croaked, surfacing from the interface slightly. He was surprised at how awful he sounded. No reply, just the two scientists arguing, so he tried again. “McKay.” His voice was a bit stronger, but he still sounded hoarse. Still no response from the Canadian physicist. Taking a deep breath, John inwardly cringed, knowing what he was about to do would make his headache worse. “Rodney!”
“What? You don’t have to shout.” Rodney sounded miffed. “I have delicate hearing, you know. Why, you could’ve…”
John gritted his teeth. “Rodney! I’ve found a program that doesn’t belong. I have it captured and need some place to put it until you can dissect it.”
“What do you mean it doesn’t belong?” Rodney paused, and John could almost hear him curbing his impatience. “You’re not a programmer, so…”
John took a deep breath and counted to ten … slowly. “Rodney, I spend enough time in Atlantis’s system that I know it almost as well as you do. When I’m in the Chair, I can see the systems in this city very clearly. I can tell where changes or repairs have been made. If I touch those areas, I can even tell who did it and when. So believe me when I tell you that this program does not belong.”
Rodney and Radek were ecstatic. That was the most Sheppard had ever divulged about working with the Chair, although both men felt that he saw more than what he said. Rodney theorized that the pilot interacted with the Chair just like he did with the Jumpers, by envisioning a HUD that would allow him to make changes and affect systems.
Rodney shook himself, drawing his attention back to the matter at hand. Reaching into his pack, Rodney pulled another tablet out. This one was not connected to any of the networks in the city. He quickly hooked it to his current tablet so he could control what the second one saw. “Okay Sheppard, I have a secondary tablet hooked in.” He entered a few commands. “You should see a funnel shape. Drop the program in there.”
John did see a funnel shape, so he carefully grabbed the ‘snake’ and tossed it into Rodney’s funnel. “Rodney?” John put a wealth of questions into the name.
Rodney tapped on the two tablets. “I’ve got it.” He unhooked the second. “It’s secure. We’ll dissect it later and let you know who’s been naughty.”
John chuffed softly. “You do that and I’ll let Ronon bite them. He’s been feeling a bit testy since he hasn’t gotten to shoot anyone lately.”
Radek chimed in. “Let us know and we will record. Would make interesting viewing for Orientation. Wonder if the bite of a Satedan is poisonous?”
John let out a soft bark. “Hah! You got it, Dr. Z. I don’t know, but I know I don’t want him biting me.” John could feel Ronon’s amusement at the banter between him and the Czech.
With the program out of the way, the rest of the diagnostics went relatively smoothly. With Atlantis’ help, the trio fixed the damage left by the snake. Radek and Rodney broke into the occasional squabble, but that was nothing new. If they weren’t fussing at or with each other, the crap had already hit the fan and they were all in serious trouble.
Usually surfacing from the Chair Interface was like swimming to John, but this time he had to fight his way out. He was so exhausted that it took an enormous effort. Seeing him struggle, Lantis gently pushed him out. Blinking at the dim light, John focused on Teyla’s worried face as he released the lockdown on the area. “Hi, Teyla.”
“John. You had me worried.” She put her hands on his shoulders and touched her forehead to his before kissing him. “How do you feel?”
John took a deep breath. The nausea had faded for the time being, but his head still pounded like a double bass and even breathing sent shooting pains up his back. “Truthfully? I feel worse than crap and would really like a hot shower, a massage and some of Carson’s good stuff.”
John shifted his hands on the Chair and flexed his knees, preparing to get up. When he pushed up, pain flared up his back like he’d just been dipped in liquid fire. Ronon caught him as he let out an involuntary sharp cry of pain and eased him back. The aborted movement had ratcheted up his headache and the nausea made a comeback. At his cry, he heard Teyla call for the med team Carson had promised. Carson was sleeping off the power trip but he’d told Jennifer what had happened. She had put a med team on standby near the Chair Room and they moved in at Teyla’s call. The medics arrived just as John turned green. One of the nurses noticed and grabbed a bucket, holding it for John as Ronon supported him, Teyla stroking the back of his head and neck while he lost his lunch, breakfast and probably last night’s dinner. When the retching stopped, the dry heaves began. His vision greyed out and he felt himself being lifted from the Chair as the darkness swooped in and covered everything.
Part 20
Ronon and Amelia were spending quality time together as well. They hadn’t spent much time together recently so Amelia decided that Ronon could make it up to her by being her willing sex slave. She found that Ronon, who was a very vigorous lover, was also very good at being submissive, at least where sex was involved. The only thing he balked at was being tied up until Amelia showed him how easy it was to escape from the cuffs.
They had showered and were taking a break for lunch when their radios went off. Grabbing their respective units, they headed to opposite corners to take their calls. Ronon’s was from Teyla while Amelia’s was from Chuck.
Teyla asked that Ronon meet them at the Chair room. With two entrances, she felt that John would not be safe because she would not be able to guard both doorways.
Chuck called Amelia to ask for her help in the Gateroom. Some of the technicians had been affected by the power surge and had been escorted back to their quarters.
Ending their calls, the two shared their conversations before dressing and heading out. Ronon escorted Amelia to the Gateroom then took off at a run for the Chair room. The way Teyla had sounded made Ronon suspect that she was expecting trouble.
John was hoping to make it to the Chair room without incident. His vision was starting to blur and the pounding in his head was getting worse. The power surge was also eroding his self-control. The loss of control was why he didn’t like to get drunk. He hated the fuzzy, disconnected feeling it gave him. John and Teyla were almost to the Chair room when they met one of the roving bands. The hallway ahead of them was blocked by a group of soldiers. The gang had been nervously milling around in the corridor until they saw the Colonel and Teyla.
“Well, well, lookie here. We’ve caught the root of our problems, boys.” The speaker was Corporal Jensen, a relative newcomer to the city. Six other soldiers filled the corridor behind him, all of them natural gene carriers.
John stepped forward, projecting strength and calm, the ring of command evident in his voice. “Corporal, you and these others need to stand down. I need to get to the Chair Room now.”
The Corporal shook his head. “Nope. See, we’ve all been feelin’ itchy since just after you went to that warehouse planet. So me and my buddies think it’s all your fault.”
John knew the situation was going downhill quickly. He felt Teyla move away from him in order to be ready for the rush they both knew was coming. He had turned his head just a notch to check on her position when a fist came out of nowhere. The blow caught him by surprise, throwing him back several feet to slam into a wall. Pain shot up the left side of his back at the impact, greying his vision out and stunning him for a moment. John’s vision cleared just in time for him to intercept a booted foot aimed at his head. Quick as thought, he grabbed, twisted and pulled. The hapless Marine had no time to prepare for the fall and landed with an audible crack.
Looking at the unconscious Marine, John staggered to his feet, chuckling. “That’s what I call a two hit fight.”
Watching for his next opponent, John saw Teyla take out one of the soldiers while ducking a wild swing from another. Another Marine loomed in John’s view, bringing his attention back to his own fight. John ducked a poorly aimed haymaker, landing a knee in his opponent’s stomach then planting that same knee in the trooper’s face when he doubled over. The move sent a shooting pain up John’s back that he pushed aside for the moment. Unfortunately, Corporal Tanner managed to hook one of John’s ankles and topple him, this time smacking his right side against the wall, drawing a sharp cry of pain. Tanner tried to take advantage of his distraction, but John caught a glimpse of the roundhouse punch coming. He slid down the wall and struck out with a foot, using Tanner’s own momentum against him. Tanner, unable to stop, stumbled into the wall face first. He hit with a clunk which was followed by a resounding thud when he hit the floor.
His third opponent tried to be sneaky, holding off and jumping around throwing rabbit punches at the Colonel. Unfortunately, Airman Roberts was shorter than his CO. Pushing his pain down, John bid his time then swung into a beautiful roundhouse kick, shifting his hips just enough to alter the trajectory downwards, making the kick deceptive. The move caught Roberts unaware and he toppled as the kick impacted his groin.
Drawing himself up, John looked for another opponent, but there was none. Teyla had taken out three other soldiers. The last one, a young Airman, was standing in the corridor in shock, having just seen his CO and the petite Athosian take down six highly trained soldiers. Eyes wide in disbelief, the trooper took to his heels and disappeared.
John staggered as the adrenalin rush faded. Teyla grabbed him around the waist until he found his balance. At his grunt of pain, she looked up into his face. John was pale and she could see the pain lines around his mouth and eyes. “John?”
John let out another groan, straightening as he found his balance. His back felt like Rick Allen had used it as a bass drum at a Def Leppard concert, with his head filling in for one of the tom-toms. As an added bonus his eyesight kept getting fuzzy, which didn’t help his headache. All he wanted right now was some good drugs, a firm bed and Teyla’s soft hands massaging his back.
The last time he’d felt like this, he’d been on leave with Mitch and Dex. They had gone to a bar that served a drink called ‘the Zombie’. Mitch and Dex bought him four of them while they drank Long Island Iced Teas then watched him stumble around the bar, laughing hilariously until he threw up on both of them. That was the only time they ever got him drunk. Once he sobered up, John took the pair to the gym and beat the crap out of them under the guise of sparring.
They were almost at the Chair Room when John stumbled again, placing his free hand to his forehead.
“John?”
He could hear the worry in her tone.
“I’m alrigh’. That… was the third… ZPM kickin’ in.”
John peered down at Teyla, noticing the worried frown on her face. The breathy quality of his voice probably didn’t help ease her concerns.
Taking a deep breath, John concentrated on his next words, enunciating carefully. “I’m good. Let’s get this done.”
Teyla looked at him askance. “If you say so. Was not Rodney supposed to wait on you before he installed the third ZPM?”
“I thought he was going to. Guess he decided not to.”
He wasn’t fooling her and they both knew it. Fortunately they weren’t far from the Chair Room. Upon arrival, Teyla swiveled the Chair for John so he wouldn’t have to move any further than necessary. Once he was seated, John sealed the doors and hallways leading to the Chair Room.
Watching John as he eased into the Control Chair, Teyla worried. She had seen him take two very hard hits to his back. Helping him walk to this room, she had felt the tension and stiffness developing in his muscles; she knew he would be in great pain when this was over. Moving over to a corner of the room while John started the diagnostics, Teyla got ready to call Carson when her radio chirped.
“Teyla, this is Carson. Is the Colonel with you?”
Teyla nodded even though the Scot couldn’t see it. “He is. I was about to contact you. We were set upon by a group of apparently inebriated soldiers near here.”
“Where are ye, lass?”
Teyla blushed. “I am sorry, Carson. We are in the Chair Room.”
“Are either o’ ye injured?”
“I am fine, but John was thrown into the wall hard twice and had trouble straightening afterwards.”
“Hmmm… did he hit his head?”
Teyla thought a moment then shook hers. “No. The impacts were to his back.”
“I’ll make a note of it an’ have a team on standby for him.” Carson was silent for a moment. “Teyla, is John showing any signs o’ drunkenness?”
Carson quickly explained what had happened to most of the city’s gene bearers.
Teyla frowned, glancing over at John, seated in the Chair and already working with Rodney. “I am not sure, as I have never seen John drunk. He was walking unsteadily and has a headache, but I do not know if those are from the fight or from the ZPMs.”
She heard Carson sigh.
“Aye, those could be from either condition. If he experiences any blurred vision, slurred speech or nausea let us know.”
“I will, Carson. Thank you.”
Ronon arrived late. He had been waylaid by drunks as he crossed the city and kept having to detour. He knew something was going on because there wasn’t enough alcohol in the city to get this many people drunk. When he neared the Chair Room, he realized that Teyla and Sheppard were already there because the doors were sealed. He tapped his radio.
“Teyla, get Sheppard to let me in.”
“I will, Ronon.”
Just as her words reached his ears, the doors in front of him slid apart just enough for him to squeeze through and quickly closed behind him. Loping towards the Chair Room, Ronon came across the unconscious troopers. From the way the men were laying, he figured that Sheppard and Teyla took out three apiece.
Once he reached the Chair Room, he noticed Sheppard reclined in the Chair, the headrest glowing brilliant blue. His eyes were closed, but that just made the pain lines and the dark circles under them more noticeable. With a nod to Teyla, they each took up station by one of the doors. No one was getting past them to harm their friend.
John was already deep in the systems running the diagnostics. He could feel Rodney in the ZPM chamber checking over the results on his tablet. Radek was also online, working with different systems. Through a sixth sense, he could even tell where Teyla and Ronon were lurking. On a normal day, the stress of balancing two sets of diagnostics would only give him a mild headache that a couple of Advil and a nap would cure. Today, though, it felt like a Gremlin with a jackhammer had taken up residence, although he hadn’t been in contact with any Mogwai lately. As if the pounding in his head was not bad enough, John started to feel nauseous- he kept it at bay through sheer stubbornness.
John was in a lull while Radek and Rodney conferred over priority for a few of the systems when he felt something trying to work its way into his already throbbing head. It was a small program, but his mind saw it as a snake and he knew it didn’t belong. He threw up a mental shield, but the snake slithered around it. Having failed to deter the snake, John did the next best thing - he put his ‘foot’ on it. He ‘looked’ back along its path and noticed a trail of distortion and wrongness.
“McKay.” John croaked, surfacing from the interface slightly. He was surprised at how awful he sounded. No reply, just the two scientists arguing, so he tried again. “McKay.” His voice was a bit stronger, but he still sounded hoarse. Still no response from the Canadian physicist. Taking a deep breath, John inwardly cringed, knowing what he was about to do would make his headache worse. “Rodney!”
“What? You don’t have to shout.” Rodney sounded miffed. “I have delicate hearing, you know. Why, you could’ve…”
John gritted his teeth. “Rodney! I’ve found a program that doesn’t belong. I have it captured and need some place to put it until you can dissect it.”
“What do you mean it doesn’t belong?” Rodney paused, and John could almost hear him curbing his impatience. “You’re not a programmer, so…”
John took a deep breath and counted to ten … slowly. “Rodney, I spend enough time in Atlantis’s system that I know it almost as well as you do. When I’m in the Chair, I can see the systems in this city very clearly. I can tell where changes or repairs have been made. If I touch those areas, I can even tell who did it and when. So believe me when I tell you that this program does not belong.”
Rodney and Radek were ecstatic. That was the most Sheppard had ever divulged about working with the Chair, although both men felt that he saw more than what he said. Rodney theorized that the pilot interacted with the Chair just like he did with the Jumpers, by envisioning a HUD that would allow him to make changes and affect systems.
Rodney shook himself, drawing his attention back to the matter at hand. Reaching into his pack, Rodney pulled another tablet out. This one was not connected to any of the networks in the city. He quickly hooked it to his current tablet so he could control what the second one saw. “Okay Sheppard, I have a secondary tablet hooked in.” He entered a few commands. “You should see a funnel shape. Drop the program in there.”
John did see a funnel shape, so he carefully grabbed the ‘snake’ and tossed it into Rodney’s funnel. “Rodney?” John put a wealth of questions into the name.
Rodney tapped on the two tablets. “I’ve got it.” He unhooked the second. “It’s secure. We’ll dissect it later and let you know who’s been naughty.”
John chuffed softly. “You do that and I’ll let Ronon bite them. He’s been feeling a bit testy since he hasn’t gotten to shoot anyone lately.”
Radek chimed in. “Let us know and we will record. Would make interesting viewing for Orientation. Wonder if the bite of a Satedan is poisonous?”
John let out a soft bark. “Hah! You got it, Dr. Z. I don’t know, but I know I don’t want him biting me.” John could feel Ronon’s amusement at the banter between him and the Czech.
With the program out of the way, the rest of the diagnostics went relatively smoothly. With Atlantis’ help, the trio fixed the damage left by the snake. Radek and Rodney broke into the occasional squabble, but that was nothing new. If they weren’t fussing at or with each other, the crap had already hit the fan and they were all in serious trouble.
Usually surfacing from the Chair Interface was like swimming to John, but this time he had to fight his way out. He was so exhausted that it took an enormous effort. Seeing him struggle, Lantis gently pushed him out. Blinking at the dim light, John focused on Teyla’s worried face as he released the lockdown on the area. “Hi, Teyla.”
“John. You had me worried.” She put her hands on his shoulders and touched her forehead to his before kissing him. “How do you feel?”
John took a deep breath. The nausea had faded for the time being, but his head still pounded like a double bass and even breathing sent shooting pains up his back. “Truthfully? I feel worse than crap and would really like a hot shower, a massage and some of Carson’s good stuff.”
John shifted his hands on the Chair and flexed his knees, preparing to get up. When he pushed up, pain flared up his back like he’d just been dipped in liquid fire. Ronon caught him as he let out an involuntary sharp cry of pain and eased him back. The aborted movement had ratcheted up his headache and the nausea made a comeback. At his cry, he heard Teyla call for the med team Carson had promised. Carson was sleeping off the power trip but he’d told Jennifer what had happened. She had put a med team on standby near the Chair Room and they moved in at Teyla’s call. The medics arrived just as John turned green. One of the nurses noticed and grabbed a bucket, holding it for John as Ronon supported him, Teyla stroking the back of his head and neck while he lost his lunch, breakfast and probably last night’s dinner. When the retching stopped, the dry heaves began. His vision greyed out and he felt himself being lifted from the Chair as the darkness swooped in and covered everything.