Reading Time: 95 Minutes
Title: Common As Fuck
Author: Duochanfan
Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis
Genre: Angst, Action Adventure, Crime Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Suspense
Relationship(s): John Sheppard/Rodney McKay
Content Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Major Character Death, Violence-Graphic, Dark Themes, Minor & OC Character Deaths, , Murder, Character Bashing, Illness, Poisonings, Virus
Author Note: I blame HarleyJQuin for the obsession with SGA, her fic started it. This was also supposed to be a one shot of about 2k. And HarleyJQuin, thanks so much for all the help you’ve given me on this one! Thank you as well, HarleyJQuin for letting me borrow her OCs, Dalton Cooper, Connor James and Adam Nero. You’re a STAR!
Beta: HarleyJQuin
Alpha: HarleyJQuinn
Word Count: 128,616
Summary: John is fighting to keep Atlantis and the Expedition alive, but fighting with Weir about every single decision has led him to work behind her back to make sure they come out on top. When John’s cold turns out not to be so common, his friends rally around him to make sure he’s not left on ice.
Artist: NotSally
Chapter One
John turned his head and coughed into the crook of his elbow. Grumbling under his breath at the cold he had caught. Seems that even in a different galaxy, the cold was just as fucking common and just as fucking annoying. He was over his nose that was always blocked, head that ached with every sound, bright light, and movement. Along with the shivers that wracked his whole body at times. He was done with all of it, but life continued. He needed to keep going; he had reports to go over, more to write, and a base to continue keeping alive. Now he had a cough, a chest that was feeling tight, and a feeling of being freezing cold but also boiling hot.
John sighed, rubbing his head as he began to read through the report in the little room he had snagged for an office. “Okay, let’s get this done,” he said as he went back to reading another mind-numbing report about something that had already been reported numerous times. Most of them were the same; the only difference was that occasionally, there was something in one of them that showed there was something bigger they had to think about.
With the Athosians now setting up home on the mainland. Weir had to be talked into letting the agricultural group start planting and farming on the mainland. Thankfully, the Athosians were willing to help them get started with crops that could grow in the Pegasus Galaxy. John had led a few trading missions with Teyla and Ford, and with Rodney occasionally joining in. Making sure that they had a good source of meat in the form of livestock.
John leaned back and began to cough a few more times. Barely catching his breath in between them. “Fuck,” he cursed as he looked at the reports. He had to finish them. He knew that Teyla was on the mainland with a few others, making sure the fields were plowed, planted, and fertilized. The irrigation system was running well, according to someone that John couldn’t even remember at that moment, as black spots began to dance in his vision. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against folded arms for a few moments. Letting himself recover for a moment before he carried on.
John looked up when the door chime sounded, echoing loudly in the room. It felt like someone had just hammered his head.
“Sir,” the man said as soon as he walked in, “There’s a problem in the mess that needs to be sorted. You’re the only one that might be able to help.”
John bit back a sigh and stood up, “Tell me on the way,” he said as he closed things down and followed the soldier to the mess, quickly getting the situation sorted and under control. It didn’t need his attention, but over the last several months, he’d felt like he had to take on everything. He was the highest military officer on Atlantis, meaning it all fell to him. He knew that Sumner had made sure his men knew not to trust John because of the black mark on his record. Even now, most of them were wary of him, even with all that he had done to try to keep them alive.
It took almost an hour to sort the ruffled feathers out and head back to his office. The smell of the food had actually turned his stomach a little, and he had retreated as quickly as he could. In the quiet of his office, he settled down to go through the reports. That was the sixth time he’d had to deal with something that had to have his attention. He’d only been in the office half an hour before he’d been called out to deal with a problem in the armory.
The rest of the day, he was interrupted and constantly pulled from one end of Atlantis to the other. The scientists needed a light switch. Dr Weir needed to talk to him about the teams that were going through the Stargate. Beckett wanted to go over a few things he had found out about the wraith. So he worked late into the night to make sure everything he’d needed to work on was finished before he crawled into bed.
XxXxX
John woke up with a jolt. His alarm hadn’t sounded, but he felt like it should have already. He began to cough, not able to breathe properly as he lay there. He sat up, shivering as the cold air hit him. He flopped back down onto his side when the coughing stopped. His chest felt so tight, it was like he was suffocating. He hated the little wheeze in his throat, the tickle of it going right through him. John lay there, trying to catch his breath, before he reached for his watch, seeing the time and groaning. He had half an hour to get ready and head to a meeting with Weir.
John struggled to his feet, black spots dancing in his vision as he stood there, trying to keep himself upright. “Okay, maybe it’s not just a cold,” he grunted as he went to get ready.
John sped through a cold shower and dressed, wondering if he had pissed someone off to end up with cold water instead of hot. Shivering, he headed out of his room and quick-marched to the meeting room that had been set aside for them to go over the running of Atlantis. Entering the meeting room, he could see Weir was already talking with Rodney. Beckett was off to one side talking to another of the scientists. He was the only military representative in the room. He would usually have one of the others in the room. Like Lt. Ford, but the man was on the mainland helping set up a small group over there to help with a few pet projects for the scientists, and helping with any heavy lifting when it came to the farming.
“Right,” Weir said as she looked around, “Let’s get this started.” She smiled as she took a seat. The others, doing the same, with all the scientists grabbing a coffee. John refrained; while he drank coffee occasionally, he actually preferred tea. He grabbed a bottle of water and sat down, looking at the tablet that was in front of him. His head was already hurting, and the brightness of the screen was making it worse. Squinting a little, he picked it up and turned down the brightness, not that he felt like it was helping at all.
John could barely keep up with everything that was being discussed. He managed a few questions and answered any directed to him about what he was doing.
“What about the rota for off-base exploration?” Weir asked, “We have a list of places to go that Miss Emmagan gave us. I need a rotation of teams that can be deployed.”
John gave a small cough, forcing himself to stop. He could feel it tickling in the back of his throat. “I’ve got five teams now ready to go through the gate, and we have another one that is training at the moment. The scientists who go through the gate have to get signed off on a weapon. No one going through will be unarmed,” he said, as he knew that Weir disagreed with the edict.
“Are you sure that will be necessary?” she asked, not happy that he was still restricting who went off-world.
“Yes,” John told her, shaking his head and hiding a wince as it caused the pain in his head to spike. “Dr Weir, I know you think we should be handing out leis to everyone we meet. But we’ve already come across those who are willing to kill us. We’ve had to defend ourselves not only from the Wraith but also those native to Pegasus. I’m not going to let anyone through the gate on an exploration mission who doesn’t know how to fire and hit the target at least 90% of the time. I’m sorry, Dr Weir, but I’m sticking to that policy. Dr McKay and several others have already passed, and have proven they can fire a handgun with enough proficiency to travel through the gate. Dr McKay and one of the other scientists are also learning the other weapons we have at our disposal, just in case, which I find admirable. While none of us like the fact that we have to fight to survive, we have no choice. We’re doing what we can with what we have. On the mainland, we’ve found repositories of raw materials that will help us build up our ammo supplies again. I’ve got three men on restocking at the moment, but I’ve asked them to see if anyone else will be able to volunteer help out. Or at the least, are willing to be taught.”
Weir didn’t look happy, “Major Sheppard,” she began.
“He’s right,” Rodney said as he looked at her, “Dr Weir, we’re in an unknown galaxy, one which has already turned out to be after us. We’ve survived so far, and to continue doing so, we’re going to have to do things we wouldn’t normally do.”
Dr Weir pursed her lips together and then nodded, “Then carry on, but I want to try and minimize it as much as possible. We’re here to explore, after all.”
John nodded, forcing himself to keep back the cough that wanted to be released. “I’ll… see to it,” he said, giving a little huffing cough as he held back the rest.
“Are you alright, Major Sheppard?” Weir asked, there was something in her voice that didn’t sit well with John.
“I’m fine,” he said, waving a hand. “Are we done? We have two teams to go through the gate today, I want to brief them before they go,” he added, looking at Weir.
“We’re done, Major Sheppard, but I believe that I should be the one doing the briefings,” she added, pursing her lips together and trying to wrangle control from John.
“You have the purview of the scientists, they get their orders from you, or rather from Dr McKay, since he’s the CSO of this expedition. The military personnel who go through that gate come under my command,” he said, breaking out into a cough fit. It took a few moments for it to subside. “Sorry,” he said as he did his best to cover, “tickle in the throat.” he smiled, waving it off as Carson Beckett looked at him with a frown marring his face.
“Are you sure that’s all?” Beckett asked as he looked the Major over, “You’re a little pale.”
“I’m fine, Dr Beckett,” he repeated as he stood up. “Right, I have several things to get to. We’ll talk again later,” he nodded as he turned on his heel and walked out before they could ask anything more.
John marched to his little office. He would be having his first meeting with one of the gate teams in about half an hour. Before that, he wanted to review what Teyla had reported about the planet and the people living there. He rubbed his eyes as soon as the door closed behind him and went to his desk. Grabbing his own tablet and booting it up. He dimmed it as much as he could before he reviewed the report that Teyla had written for them. He committed the details to memory before putting the pad face down. John grabbed another water bottle, sipping at it as he waited for the team he had chosen for this mission to come to his office. He rested for a few moments, coughing and wheezing and just letting himself feel the misery of being ill, before he steeled himself and sat up straight as the chime for his door echoed loudly in the quiet room.
John watched as the team he had selected for this mission walked in. Only three people walked in; the fourth was nowhere to be seen. “Where is Doctor Marsh?” he asked. “I believe he’s supposed to be going with you; his expertise in agriculture is one of the main reasons we’re going to this planet,” he added.
“Dr Weir said he wouldn’t be needed for the briefing,” Sergeant Ravani said as she looked at her commanding officer.
“I see,” he said, voice tight, as he coughed a little, “Right,” he said, starting to go over the information, “And when you meet with Dr Marsh, tell him that they have several Earth like root vegetables that Teyla has given us samples of already to test. They’re suitable for growing here,” he reached for a sheet that he printed off and handed it over. “These are the vegetables. They grow quickly, and there are also a few things to look out for on that page. Take it and hand it to him; he should know what we’re going for,” he finished.
“Sir,” Sergeant Ravani nodded, taking the paper and looking at it, “I’ll pass it on to Dr Marsh when we meet in the gate room.”
“Good, dismissed,” he nodded as the three saluted and then left the room.
John was finally alone; he dimmed the lights in the room, turning off the electronics for a few moments. Enjoying the quietness and darkness of the room. He rested his head on his arms and just let himself drift for a few minutes. He still had an hour before the next team would be stopping by for a briefing on their location.
Chapter Two
John was done for the day, or rather, the three briefings he needed to do. He stood up, blinking rapidly as his vision blurred and he felt his legs shake under him. He was thirsty, but also feeling sick. The thought of having anything turned his stomach even more. He went to head to his door, only to start coughing so badly he fell against the wall, sliding down it as his legs just couldn’t hold him up, as his whole body jolted with each cough.
Black spots danced in his vision as he tried to catch his breath. John shivered a little as he waited it out. He leaned his against the wall, letting the coolness of it soothe him as he closed his eyes and just let himself drift. He jolted a while later, checking his watch to find he’d spent almost three hours half asleep against the wall of his office. John slowly stood up, leaning against the wall. He felt tired and drained more than anything. He took a few minutes before pushing off, coughing a few times as he made his way to his desk and saw a few missed messages. He winced as he saw one from Weir telling him to meet her in her office. He looked at the time and saw that he still had twenty minutes before he had to be there.
John sat down for a few moments. He knew why she wanted to see him. He was sure he knew what the meeting was going to be about. It had been the same for the last couple of weeks. Weir wasn’t happy with how he was running the military side of things. He made sure that the teams that went through the gate were armed and ready for anything, which included any of the scientists who went with them. Weir had been trying to stop him from arming them, teaching them how to shoot, and basic self-defence, and hand-to-hand.
He stood up and went to the door, grabbing his water bottle. He opened it and sipped at it while he walked towards Weir’s office. He coughed into the crook of his arm a few times before straightening himself up. He didn’t want anyone to see him so weak and out of breath. He reached Weir’s office and knocked, waiting a few moments before he was called in to enter.
“Major Sheppard,” she said, looking at him and gesturing to the seat on the other side of her desk.
“Dr Weir,” he said, his voice sounding a little off. He walked into the room and sat down. “What can I do for you?” he asked, giving a lazy drawl as he waited for her to start.
“We have a few ground rules that we need to go over, I believe,” she said, as she sat back and templed her hands in front of her. For a moment, she reminded John of Mr Burns from The Simpsons. All that was needed was the wave of fingertips touching and the excellent to be said.
“I think we do,” John nodded in agreement, holding back a wince as pain shot through his head.
“You’re coming close to breaking some of the rules that I-” she began.
“Dr Weir, let’s cut to the chase, you didn’t like it when you learned that I was doing briefings with the teams going out,” he said, not wanting to hang around waiting for her to dance around the issue she was having. “You also don’t like the fact that I’m making sure that anyone who goes on a gate team has weapons training at the very least. More if I can manage it,” he told her, looking at her and waiting for her to reply.
Weir didn’t look happy at the blunt words. “Major Sheppard, you forget that I’m the one in charge of this expedition.”
“You might be in charge of the expedition as a whole, Dr Weir, but each one of us has our part. The Military Commander is the one in charge of the gate teams. That’s in the charter. I will be the one to brief and debrief them. I will be the one to decide who goes on the missions through the gate. The only time, Dr Weir, that it comes under your purview is when it is going to be purely scientific, and even then, there will still be a military presence to keep you all safe in case of an attack,” he reminded her, “You may not think it, but I can read, Dr Weir, and I can read between the lines.”
Weir sighed, though it sounded a little more like a growl, “I know that,” she said, “I just wish to be informed on everything that is going on.”
“You tried a power play in the meeting this morning, Dr Weir, trying to exert control when there wasn’t to be any. I’ve listened to you and even taken in what you’ve been saying. But I’ve learned that you have a very narrow view of what we should be doing out here. We’re here to explore, to find out more about the ancients, but also to make new friends. We’re cut off from Earth, and we might be for a while. We’re going to have to put down roots, grow things. You want to make this just a search for ZPM or Ancient tech, but we can’t do it. I’ve been looking over the supply lists and realized that both you and Sumner short changed everything we need, ammo, weapons, food, and water. It’s a good thing that we have some of the brightest minds in the fucking universe right here with us, or we would be up shit creek without a fucking paddle,” he snapped a little. He’d been going over everything that had been brought along with them and found some major discrepancies. “I was told it would be a year or more of being in Pegasus before we would be able to establish contact with Earth and be resupplied. You and Sumner, between you, brought enough to last us barely three months, and not the two years that should have been planned for. Medical supplies are dwindling fast. However, thanks to Teyla and her people, we have places that we can visit to start trading with. We’re mining and collecting things from the mainland as soon as we find them to see if they’re of any use, and you want us to stop.”
“We couldn’t bring that much through,” she reminded him, shaking her head and then saying, “We had a limited amount of time to go-”
“Yeah, I know, 38 minutes,” he rolled his eyes, “Every single person should have been carrying a pack of supplies, only the military, you, and four others were doing so. There should have been more boxes and trolleys filled with them as well. There weren’t. Most of what was brought through was scientific equipment. 38 minutes can be a lot longer than you think, if you’re truly organized, but this expedition was let down before it even left Earth. You wanted to concentrate on just the exploration, when you should be thinking of what the people here in the city need. Exploration, true exploration, needs to take a back seat while we start building our supplies up again. I’ve got Teyla talking to people as much as she can, trying to find where we can get some of the raw materials that we need to make our own. So I’m doing what I can to make sure we have everything we need, food, medical, even clothing, or soon, we’re going to be walking around like cavemen,” he finished.
Weir pursed her lips together, “I am doing what I can.”
“Yeah, you are in one respect, but you need to worry about the rest of it. You’re the leader of this expedition, but you don’t act like it. Instead, you’re stepping on McKay’s toes about the science behind everything, instead of worrying when the next lot of food is going to be coming from to feed your people. I had to push to get the people I needed to start farming on the mainland. To get the irrigation set up. At the beginning, I let you dictate what we were going through the gate searching for. Now I’m not. We’re looking to establish trade, and for that, we need things to trade and not just knowledge. Because that’s a one-time deal. It’s now time for you to be a team player instead of trying to make your own little kingdom,” he bit out, “Because to me, that’s what you’re trying to do.”
“Major Sheppard,” she began, her voice tight and full of annoyance and anger, “I am in charge here, and you will respect my authority,” she added.
“I do,” he said, adding a silent Cartman to the end of it, “But you’re also not thinking at all about the people that look at you and rely on you to not only keep them safe, but to keep them whole. Things aren’t easy out here, and you’re making my job to keep everyone safe, a lot bloody harder than it needs to be,” he told her, “Look at what we need, and what we have, and then help come up with solutions, instead of coming up with more problems. Power is fine at the moment, and I have at least one in every four missions to be searching for a ZPM, but I have to prioritize trading and gathering materials that we need to continue living as we have been.”
Weir was silent for a while. “Get me a report on everything, and I’ll see what I can do,” she sighed.
“I’ll have it on your desk by tomorrow morning,” he said. “Is that all?” he asked, wanting to head to his office for the rest of the day and hope he would be left alone.
“That’s all,” she nodded, sounding a little tired.
“Get some rest, Dr Weir,” he advised, “And start looking at everything and not just the scientific discoveries and those related to the Ancients.”
Weir nodded as John stood up, swaying slightly. “Are you alright?” she asked, her voice now sounding worried for the man standing there, leaning slightly against the back of the chair he had been sitting in.
“Yeah, just stood up too fast,” he said after a few moments. “I’ll see you later,” he said, waving a hand before walking out.
John moved quickly toward his office, only to groan quietly when he saw McKay standing there about to enter it. “McKay,” he said.
“Ah, Sheppard, I need you to come with me,” he said as he began to walk away, expecting John to follow.
“I have a few things to do, McKay, so what’s needed?” he asked him, not moving from his door, taking the moment to lean against the wall beside it.
“I need someone with a strong ATA gene, so yes, I need you. We’ve found a few-” Rodney began.
“Rodney, I have a lot to do,” he said. This wouldn’t be the first time that Rodney had needed him for such things.
“We all have a lot to do, Major Sheppard, but I’m trying to make sure that this fucking city stays afloat and we stay protected. So if you could come with me and make a few things light up, then get moving,” he said as he began to turn around.
“Rodney, I need to get a report done for the morning about where we stand with the supplies we have and what we’re getting in,” he said tiredly as he rubbed at his face before coughing a little.
Rodney faced him and frowned, “You’re ill,” he said, taking a little step back. “I noticed it this morning that you didn’t look as you usually did, but since you dismissed it,”
“You did as well,” John sighed, “I’m fine, really.”
“Don’t believe you, but I do know you. You’re not the type to stop,” he rolled his eyes. “Grab your laptop, you can still come with me to my lab. I do have a few things that I need you to do, but you can either work or rest on my couch,” he said, a slight hint of worry in his voice.
“Yeah, fine, and I’ll work,” he said as he went into his office, grabbed his laptop, and followed Rodney. “So what exactly do you need me to switch on and off?” he asked.
“It’s one of the diagnostic tools that they use here. I can’t turn it on,” he muttered as they walked, ”
It would help if Carson’s gene therapy worked fully.”
“I can’t always be your light switch. I have important work to do as well, if we’re going to continue living out here.”
“As long as you find a good coffee substitute, I’ll be happy,” Rodney muttered.
“One of the main things we’re looking out for,” John laughed, only to start coughing, and this time, he couldn’t force it down as he tried his best to catch a breath between coughs.
Rodney hovered near him, “Okay, I think you need to go and see Carson,” he said.
John was losing his grip on his laptop. “La… lap… top,” he bit out.
Rodney grabbed it before he could drop it and stood back, “I’ll radio Car-” he began, reaching up for his radio to call the Doctor.
John managed to reach out and grab at Rodney’s arm, “No,” he gasped out as the coughs finally subsided, “I’m fine, it’s just a cough that’s a bit of a bitch,” he said, breathing hard as he started to slowly straighten himself up.
“John,” he said, his voice slightly softer than its usual biting tone, “That’s not just a cough being stubborn,” he pointed out.
“I’ll be fine, just need to sleep it o-” he began.
“You don’t sleep off a cough, John, that’s… just not possible!” he snapped.
“Fine, resting will help, just taking it easy. We don’t have a mission through the gate for the next three days. I should be fine by then. I have reports and briefings to get to, and meetings as well,” he said, finally standing up straight again as he gestured for the laptop.
“No, I’ll keep hold of this,” he said, “No doubt you’ll drop it the moment you have a tickle in your throat,” he said as he turned, “Come on then, we don’t have all day.”
John snorted, coughing a little as he moved to keep up with the slightly smaller man.
Chapter Three
Rodney walked into his lab and glanced around. There was no one else there, since most tended to avoid him. He went over to one of the tables and put the laptop down, “Right,” he said as he turned to John, who was slowly walking into the room, “Couch, over there, go. The tech I wanted you to turn on, I can bring to you, so sit down before you fall. Knowing your luck, you’re liable to break something, mostly yourself.”
“I have-” John began to protest.
“No, couch now, I can bring over a rolling tray table for you to use if you must,” he said, pointing at the couch, “Over there, and nowhere else. I’d rather you didn’t get whatever germs you have all over the equipment.”
John rolled his eyes, but walked over to the couch, coughing into the crook of his arm before sitting down. “There, I’m sitting on your couch,” he huffed, only to start coughing again.
“Hmm,” Rodney hummed as he watched him, “Water?” he asked.
John leaned back against the couch and gave a weak nod. “Yeah, it would be nice.”
Rodney grabbed a water bottle and brought it over, “Now, don’t die,” he said with a hint of sarcasm, but a lot of worry was hidden within the words.
John looked at him, “I’ll be fine, Rodney,” he told him, reassuring him, “Like I said, it’s just a cough being a bitch.”
Rodney snorted, “Being ill is always a bitch, John,” he snipped as he watched the man take a few sips. “Have you even eaten at all today?” he then asked him, frowning as he could see that the other man was shaking slightly.
“Not really hungry, Rodney,” he pointed out.
“You still need to eat, and since I missed dinner as well. I can have someone bring us something,” he said as he went to his radio and asked someone to bring two bowls of the Athosian soup that had been made for dinner that day.
“Rodney,” John murmured, feeling annoyed.
Rodney stood there, “You need to eat,” he stated before turning and grabbing the device that he wanted John to turn on. “It’s been giving us trouble with turning on. I think it might just need a stronger gene for it to do so. So here,” he said as he brought it over.
John reached out and took it. He could feel the faint buzz of the ancient tech, as he had done since he’d entered Atlantis. “Hmm,” he hummed, coughing into his elbow again when it irritated his throat. “It’s what you said, a diagnostic tool, not medical though,” he said as he frowned and tried to turn it on. “Oh, it’s broken, should be an easy repair for you. That’s why it’s only turning on for a few seconds. There’s a broken part,” he murmured as he pointed to a few things, coughing into his elbow every now and then as he explained.
“Of course, why didn’t I think of it?” Rodney rolled his eyes and huffed as he almost snatched it away to tinker with it.
“Can always be the smart one,” John grinned at him. “Don’t forget to check the simplest of solutions. Not everything is going to require those PhDs of yours.”
Rodney glared at him for a moment before there was a knock at the lab door. He went over and opened it. “Carefully put them on the table over there,” he demanded as he gestured for one of the tables that was well away from anything he was researching.
“Rodney,” John said, frowning as the Corporal brought the two bowls off the tray along with some bread rolls and nodded at the two. “Thank you, Corporal Lavits,” he said.
“Welcome, Major Sheppard,” he nodded, “Dr McKay,” he added as he then left the room.
“Try and be a little polite,” John admonished as he began to stand up, only to be on the receiving end of a harsh glare. “What, I was coming over to eat, since you’re demanding that I do.”
“Stay there, I’ll bring it over, rather not have you knocking it everywhere,” he said as he brought over the bowl and one of the bread rolls. “Here, eat as much as you can,” he said, his voice almost gentle.
John smiled at him, “Sure,” he grinned a little more as he picked up the spoon and took a tentative sip.
Rodney huffed as he went for his own bowl and started to eat, all the while keeping a close eye on John. Seeing how he was slowly drinking down the soup. He hadn’t even eaten a third of it before John pushed it aside. “At least you had some,” he muttered as he finished his own before going back to work.
John rested his head back against the back of the couch. “Just going to rest my eyes before I do some work,” he said.
Rodney wanted to snort at that comment, but refrained, knowing that John would actually work, instead of rest. He worked quietly, occasionally glancing over, since he could hear the rattling breaths. He debated with himself whether he was going to get in touch with Carson and bring him down so he could check on the man properly. He remembered the meeting that morning, and the sight of John almost bent double as he coughed, passing it off as a tickle in the throat. Rodney knew that no one believed him, especially himself, and Carson. The others he could easily see falling for the act.
Rodney looked over at John again and got up, “John,” he said, his voice gentle for once. He gently prodded John to lie down; it wasn’t hard, the man was already half asleep. John was soon lying down on the couch, boots now off, and the man curled on his side with an arm tucked under his head. Rodney looked around, nodding to himself as he saw the blanket he used tucked away in a corner. He got up, grabbed it, and covered his friend up.
“Thanks,” came the mumbled words as John opened his eyes for a moment.
“Sleep, idiot,” he said fondly as he went back to his work. He waited a while, glancing over occasionally, not able to fully concentrate on his work. John would give the occasional cough, but it was the wheezing breath that would hitch in the man’s throat that worried him. Rodney waited until he was sure the man was asleep before grabbing his radio and leaving the room, closing the door as he activated it. “Carson,” he called out.
“Rodney, what cannae do for you, lad?” he asked.
“I have Major Sheppard in my lab with me. I think he should be looked at, but getting him to the infirmary is going to be a challenge. Already tried to call you once when he was awake. He’s sleeping now, so stop by when you can,” he said as he turned to look at his lab door.
“Aye, I’ll be on me way in a mo,” Carson said, before adding absently, “I’ll need to bring a few things.”
“Good, he sounds awful. He’s wheezing when he breathes, the cough was so bad that I thought he was about to pass out,” Rodney explained what he had observed.
“Either a bad cold or pneumonia,” Carson said, though there was something else in his voice as he spoke, “I’ll be there shortly.”
“Right,” he said, biting his lip for a second before shaking his head, “Just get here quickly. I have work to do, and his wheezing is annoying.” He sounded snappish, but Carson could hear the worry in his friend’s voice.
“Keep ya shirt on, laddie, I’ll be there soon,” Carson replied, hoping to calm him down.
Rodney snorted and then shut the radio down. Heading back to his lab and opening the door quietly, not wishing to wake John at all, not now that he had him almost cornered. Rodney looked over once more as John started to move around. He frowned as it sounded like he was struggling to take a breath. “John,” he said as he got up and headed over. “John!” he called out as the man sprang up, coughing and spluttering. Rodney hadn’t even taken another step towards him as the Major keeled over, his head hitting the rolling table that was near him.
Rodney’s knees hit the floor with a loud thud. “John!” he called out, reaching out but not daring to move the man, “Fuck, of all the inane things to bloody well do!” he yelled out as he did a quick check to make sure the man was still breathing. He got up, grabbed his radio, and said, “Carson, get a medical team here. John collapsed, but he hit his head, and there is blood, ugh.”
“Right, I’ll be there in a jiffy, laddie, keep an eye on him and his breathing,” Carson told him, “Don’t ya worry lad, we’ll be there soon.”
“Of course I’m worried,” he snapped, as he went over to John and knelt, this time not thumping hard on his knees. “You idiot, why the hell did you jump up like that?” he grumbled as he kept checking on the man. It took several minutes for the door to his lab to burst open, and Carson entered with two of his nurses. “Finally, I thought you had ended up going past bloody Earth before coming here!”
Carson spared him a quick glance as he went to John and pulled out the ancient scanner that they had gotten working a few weeks previously.
“Well?!” Rodney prompted, “Are you going to tell me how he is?”
“Shut ye geggie,” Carson snapped at him, “I’ll tell ya in bit. I need to asses first and get him back to the infirmary,” he said, “Marie, Jay, help me get him on the gurney and lets get going,” he said, before looking at Rodney, “I know ya worried, Rodney,” he said, “But come with instead of screechin’ there like a banshee,” he snapped, “Now, hush, and come on,” he added as he saw Rodney about to say something else. The two were quick to follow the nurses and the prone John Sheppard to the infirmary.
Rodney hurried to lock things up and follow after them, worried for his friend.
Chapter Four
Rodney was waiting as Carson finished examining John. The man was awake and complaining about being in the infirmary between bouts of coughing. He was starting to shiver in the cool air that circulated around them.
“John, shut up and let Carson look at you,” Rodney snapped, “You fell and bashed your head, do remember the nursery rhyme, please,” he added with a roll of his eyes.
“Didn’t think you’d know that one,” John’s reply came with a coughing fit that left the man breathless.
“Okay,” Carson said, “Oxygen, as I don’t like ya stats at all,” he said, as Rodney could hear the man moving around. Rodney listened as Carson murmured something to John, who huffed and started coughing again.
Rodney grumbled as he paced, “Finally,” he said when Carson let him see John.
“Why the hell did you call-” John began as he gave Rodney a weak glare.
“You collapsed and hit your head, what part of that didn’t you hear? Look, you even have a shiny white little bandaid on your head,” Rodney snapped at him as he walked over to the bed, “Carson, so what is wrong with him then?”
“Pneumonia, your lungs are full of fluid, going to start ya on some antibiotics, but we’re going to be testing if it’s viral, bacterial or fungus,” Carson said, “You have a fever as well, your breathing is rapid and short. Hence the oxygen, you need it at the moment, lad,” he sighed, “You’ll be here for a bit, Pneumonia isn’t something to laugh at. Not always easy to get over either. It can take weeks to recover, sometimes months.” He was biting his lip and looking worried.
“I can’t be down for that long,” John said as he tried to get up, “I’ve got a lot to-”
“Lad, you ain’t going anywhere,” Carson told him as he moved to the bedside and pushed him back down, “Ya might be on light duties after a while, but going through the gate won’t be on the table for a wee bit. That’s if this is normal pneumonia,” he added quietly.
“I-” John started, only to start coughing.
Carson was quick to help him sit up, grabbing a small bowl as John spat something out. “This is what your lungs are filled with,” he said, “I’ll be taking you for an X-ray, to see what the damage is, as far as your lungs are concerned.”
“Yeah,” John said, breathing rapidly and barely able to keep his eyes open.
“He’s going to be okay?” Rodney asked, looking at Carson in worry.
“He will, just might take a while,” Carson smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes at all, and Rodney knew at that moment something more was going on. The two looked at John as he drifted off to sleep in a reclined position.
Rodney slumped, “He’s… this is going to be hard, he’s the highest ranking military officer here, Carson, Weir is-”
“Going to try something,” Carson nodded, “I know, I really do. She’s been pushing for something for a while. She comes down here a lot trying to find out who is out medically, and yeah, she’s asked about the Major a few times as well.”
Rodney looked at John. “She tried to undermine him at the meeting this morning.”
“The briefings?” Carson asked as they moved away from the bed to let the man rest without them talking near him.
Rodney nodded, “He’s been doing it since the first mission. He’s also been working on making sure we have enough food, ammo, and more than we need. He’s basically been the one running this expedition, not Weir. All she’s done is go over the sciences, and then only the things to do with the Ancients. She’s tried the gene therapy?” he asked.
Carson nodded, “Yeah, it didn’t work for her, she’s tried it several times. She was… annoyed, to say the least. She’s been pushing me to improve it, but there’s nothing else that I can do to it,” he sighed heavily, “I’ve tried to talk to her, but she wants that gene, and she wants it badly.”
“I know,” he murmured as he began to pace. “John’s been trying to get through to her exactly what type of situation we’re in. We’re running low on so many supplies, medical, food, ammo, everything. John’s been keeping me updated as best as he can. But I know he’s been hiding a lot of it from me as well.”
“I’ve been doing the same. Elizabeth hasn’t… she hasn’t listened to my concerns over the general health of people either,” he said as he moved to one side, “If I’m right, then the pneumonia that Major Sheppard has is going to be a bad one. We’ve had nine come down with it over the last two weeks. It drains ya badly, makes it difficult to breathe, as you can imagine. Then there are the chills, fever, aches, and pains. Headaches as well, debilitating ones. That’s not to mention that other things are coming up that I’ve never seen before with either the flu or pneumonia. I’ve had three in isolation for the last couple of days. Another four confided to their quarters, the other two. Well, it’s not looking good; they’re in isolation as well, and I have Derek with them. They’re both on ventilators, and the antibiotics we have just aren’t strong enough to combat it. Then we have the flu-like virus that is hitting many as well. Both the Athlosians and us,” he flopped into his chair at his desk. “I’ve got over one hundred down with that. Knocks them for six, but a few days later, and everyone is okay,” he added, shaking his head.
“So far I haven’t seen anything like that with John,” Rodney frowned, “Let’s hope it’s an Earth virus or bacteria,” he added.
“I hope so, too, but I doubt it. Anything from Earth would have gone by now,” he sighed, “I’ve been looking into this one, mapping it as best as I can. Antibiotics do help to slow it down, but we’re already starting to run low. It’s to the point where I’m trying to make more along with a few others, but we’re almost out of raw materials. John was looking into what he could get me to make more of them. We can easily do the penicillin, but we have two who are allergic, so we need something else that can work. The Athosians have a few things that could work, but again, we need the raw materials, as they’re not available here.”
“Weir has been doing nothing to help, I know. John’s been shouldering everyone. Trying to get through the gate, while Weir has been pushing us to just find a ZPM. John’s been dealing with what it actually takes to make sure that we all stay alive,” Rodney murmured, looking back to where John’s bed was.
“We’re goin’ ’round in circles,” Carson huffed, “I’m going to make sure we get these results ASAP, you make sure Weir stays away from here for now.”
“John has to write up a report about what the expedition needs. I could at least get that started. I know a little of what he’s been complaining about and compiling,” Rodney said, wondering exactly what John needed to do, and if he could pull off writing a report like John. He’d read a few of them, but mimicking someone else’s way of writing wasn’t easy.
Carson was about to say something as they heard John starting to cough and an alarm sound. Carson jumped from where he was sitting and rushed over to the bed. “Okay, Major,” he said, as he helped the man sit up straight and lean forward a little, keeping an arm around his chest as the man started to cough even more. He glanced at the monitors, “Alright,” he murmured as John leaned against him, exhausted. “Let’s get you laid back a bit, laddie,” he said as he gently moved him to lie down in a reclined position. Not letting him lie down fully, “Right,” he said, “Rodney needs to know what the report you were supposed to be doing entails, and he’ll get that done for you. We can’t let Weir know that you’re ill at the moment.”
“I… should get back to my office, I-” John started, wanting to struggle to sit up, but having no energy to do so.
“Not going to happen,” Rodney said as he walked over and stood at the bottom of the bed, “John, you’re ill, and it-”
“It… could be the one,” John began, “That’s been affecting the others.”
“Aye, chances are it is,” Carson sighed as he looked at John’s stats, “I’m not likin’ the numbers,” he told him, “I’m going to up the oxygen and I’ll also be giving you something to try and help that temperature to come down, it’s getting to high for my likin’,” he added as he began to move around.
“John, I’m going to try and get that report done, all you need to do is rest,” Rodney said as he began to head out.
“Le… let me read it when done?” John asked him.
Rodney smiled slightly, “I will,” he nodded as he then walked away, leaving Carson to take care of John.
Chapter Five
Rodney looked at the information in front of him. He knew things were bad, but he had no idea how dire they actually were. Food stores were extremely low, so low that they would run out of food within the next two weeks if they weren’t able to secure trade deals. Medical was also running low, and their ability to protect themselves from the Wraith and more was just as bad. Even with the three military members contributing to bring the ammo count up, Rodney would be asking if anyone else had the skills to keep it up. They had found the materials and everything. John was sending as many as he could out with Athlosian’s to help boost their food stores, and to start becoming self-sufficient now that the mainland was free for them to use. Crops were starting to be planted, but they were going to take time to grow.
“You’re doing so much,” Rodney whispered to himself and wondered if there was anyone who was looking out for the man. He was doing everything that should have been handled by Weir and the support staff, and wondered who was on it. It took him a moment to realize that there was no true support staff for the expedition, and there should have been.
“Rodney,” Radek Zelenka said as he walked into the other man’s lab.
“Radek,” he looked up, nodding at his friend.
“I thought you were going to join me in the main lab?” he asked as he walked over.
“We’ve got some major problems going on,” he murmured, looking back at the data that was in front of him. “Look at this,” he said, gesturing to the screen, turning it slightly so that Radek could see.
Radek walked over and read through what was there. “Why hasn’t Dr Weir told us this?” he asked, frowning deeply.
“Because she doesn’t give a fuck about the expedition as a whole. She’s focused on one thing,” Rodney answered, looking at his friend and fellow scientist.
“Ascension,” he muttered, “That’s what she’s been concentrating on. Even on Earth, she was the same,” he reminded him.
Rodney nodded, “I know, at the outpost in Antarctica, she was the same, always asking about it, seeing if there was anything in the database. I know Dr Jackson was a little sick of her by the time we left. She was constantly asking questions. I think we’re going to have to take a vote of no confidence against her. It’s in the charter, we can do that if we feel that she’s not got the best interests of the Expedition at heart. She’ll be free then to do her own things, which is what she has been doing anyway.”
“We’ll have to be careful, we need a 70% vote against her, and I know she has some supporters that will…” he reminded him as he got up from where he was sitting, “Rodney,” he said as he turned to face him, “We have to be careful, if people know how dire things are, there could be…” he trailed off as he looked at his friend.
“They’re going to panic, and we can do without that. Though I think we’re going to have to tell the heads of each department. Military and Civilian. John’s been managing to keep us afloat; he’s sending at least two teams every couple of days on trade missions to get more food and everything. I… I never even realized how much he was keeping an eye on.” He frowned, “How could I have missed this, Radek?” he said as he looked at the data that John had been collecting since he’d taken over.
“From what I can see of Major Sheppard, he knows the panic that could happen, especially with some of the civilians. We’re scientists; we don’t really think about where our next meal comes from. He’s making a choice to shoulder it himself, to not worry anyone, you included, my friend,” Radek said, shaking his head a few times, “What are you doing with all that, anyway?” he asked, “Where is Major Sheppard?”
“Infirmary, which we need to keep from Weir as well,” he said as he rubbed at his face. “I need food,” he grumbled. He was starting to feel shaky. He went to his desk to the hidden compartment he’d made, and he grabbed a power bar. He didn’t have many left; he’d have to find another way to combat his hypoglycemia. He just wished they had been able to find the root cause of it, instead of just managing his symptoms when they showed. He sighed, “He needs to file a report on what we need, and where we can go for certain things. He’s made a list, and he… he’s talked to most of the Athosians about their trading, not wanting to step on their trades at all, but to make sure that he’ll be able to get what’s needed for us as well as them.”
“It’s a lot, and Dr Weir has done nothing,” Radek said as he sat down, “Finish this, and we’ll do what is needed to make sure she can’t bring us down any more than she already has.”
“Keep a zip on this, Radek. I’ll start talking to people after I’ve done this, so I know exactly what’s going on,” he told him, eating the last of the bar and hoping that it would help with the shakes soon.
“We’ll speak more later,” Radek nodded. He got up again and left Rodney to his thoughts as he began to write the report that John was supposed to be doing.
XxXxX
“Damn,” Carson cursed as he looked over the results, “Same as the others.” He leaned back on his chair and looked over to where John was resting. He was on full oxygen at the moment, a cannula giving him what he needed, even though his oxygen was still lower than Carson would like. His temperature wasn’t being affected by the medication that he’d tried over the last couple of hours. It has risen another degree in the last hour. He got up and went to check on the others who were in isolation. They were doing alright for now; neither of them needed a ventilator at all, though their stats were improving, and Carson hoped that was a sign they were starting to recover.
“Dr Beckett,” came Derek Lewis’ voice as he walked over, “Millie isn’t doing well, her stats have just taken a dive-” they were cut off as an alarm blared from the isolation room that Derek had just left. The two rushed in to hear the drone of a machine.
“Fuck!” Carson cursed as he began to do what he could to try to save her. Derek was beside him as another nurse ran in with the defibrillator. “Charging!” he called out as soon as Derek put the patches down, and he charged the machine. “Stand back,” he ordered as he put the paddles down and pressed to deliver the charge. Checking the pulse, he growled as it hadn’t worked. He repeated twice more as Derek continued the compressions.
Carson stepped back, “Calling it,” he said after half an hour, his chest feeling tight. This was why he had moved into research. He hated seeing death. Since coming to Atlantis, he’d seen more of it than he had in almost a decade before. “Time of death of Millicent Lexi, 1744 hours,” he sighed, as they all began to clean up. Preparing Millie for what came next on Atlantis when it came to death. It was being buried on the mainland, or cremation, where their ashes would be taken back to Earth, should they be able to get back. Or, if they wished, for them to be spread within space or over the ocean.
Carson looked at the young woman, she was one of the scientists, working alongside Miko Kusanagi in delving into the databases on Atlantis. “I’ll call up Dr McKay to tell him the news. For now, put her in the morgue; an autopsy will have to be carried out. I’ll be doing that in the morning with Dr Biro, after people have been informed. Do not speak of this to anyone, I’ll do the talking,” he pointed out to his two nurses.
“Yes, Dr Beckett,” Derek nodded, “I’m going back to Steve,” he said, mentioning the other patient who was on a ventilator in isolation.
Carson nodded as Nina nodded as well to the command she’d been given and left. Carson was alone for a moment, “I’m sorry, lass, I wish I could have done more,” he said to the now deceased Millicent Lexi.
He left the room as Nina came back in to take her to the morgue. Carson nodded at the young nurse and then left. She was military and not civilian, so knew better than to speak of anything that she had seen. Grabbing his radio and moving to a side room where he could be alone, he radioed Rodney. “Rodney,” he called out, “Pick up ya wee bastard,” he muttered, when the line remained dead.
“I’m here,” Rodney replied. “Is John okay?” he asked, and Carson could hear the worry in the other man’s voice.
“Aye, for now,” he sighed, “Millicent Lexi, she’s just passed away. The virus is bad. I’ll be doing an autopsy to find out what I can. Not convinced I will find anything. Dr Biro will assist me, since she’s trained more for this,” he added, “Dr Kusanagi will need to know. So will Dr Weir, but I’m going to put that off for a while.”
“Right, I’ll talk to Miko, it would be… better to come from me. I know I’m a blunt bastard at times, but it’s not the first time I’ve had to deliver news like this. Since Weir won’t do it at all,” he sneered.
“Yeah, I know. I’m going to be moving John into an isolation room for now; it will be better for him to be out of the main infirmary. I don’t want Weir coming down and seeing him. So far, the only ones who know he’s there are both of us and some of my staff, so I’ll need your help moving him when you can, as most are busy with those already ill. Only those who are going to be authorized to go into his room will be us, and maybe Derek and Nina. Those two I trust more than anyone else on my staff,” he said, “I’m not taking chances,” he finished, “So get here when you can.”
“I’m almost finished with this,” Rodney said absently, “It should pass for John’s work, but I’ll let him check if he’s up for it.”
“He won’t, but no doubt he’ll want to look anyway. So bring it down for him,” he said, as he started to go through Millie’s chart, to see how the stats declined, went up for a bit two days before, and then a sharp decrease just moments before her death.
“I will,” Rodney said as the line went dead once more.
Chapter Six
Rodney quickly finished the last of the report, tucking the laptop away, and headed for the main lab. He knew that Dr Kusanagi would be there, working on the database. He entered the lab, seeing several scientists dotted around working hard. Dr Kusanagi was standing to one side, debating something with one of the others.
“Ah, Dr Kusanagi,” he called out to her, getting the younger woman’s attention.
The young woman looked over at him, “Dr McKay, what can I help you with?” she asked, looking annoyed.
“I need a quick and private word with you,” he said as he went to one of the side rooms that wasn’t currently in use.
“Sorry, Dr Kavanagh, I’m needed for something more important than your complaints,” she said, though they could all hear the sarcasm in her voice. “Dr McKay,” she added as she followed him. “He was annoying the hell out of me,” she grumbled as soon as the door closed behind them.
“I know he is, and I would love nothing more than to kick him off Atlantis for good; he brings nothing to the table,” he muttered as he turned to face her. “Miko,” he said, his voice taking on a more gentle tone.
“Who died?” she asked, steeling herself. The only way that McKay was gentle was when something bad had happened, and no one else’s life was in danger. Otherwise, he was a sarcastic fucker who let the world know they were stupid.
“Millie,” he replied, “This virus is bad, from what Carson said. A few more have come down with it. Carson is going to look into it as much as he can, but there’s only so much that he can do.”
“I know, I was afraid of this when she started getting ill. We thought it was the athosian flu. But it was more, the cough, and the way she breathed was wrong. I got her to Dr Beckett, but she… I wasn’t able to see her over the last couple of days. She was in isolation, and no one was allowed to visit. I haven’t been infected. So it’s not airborne,” she said, frowning, “I’m not a microbiologist, but it seems that way.”
“Carson, Dr Biro, Dr Reed, and maybe Dr Huang, are going to be looking into it even more. Find out what makes it work and how we can combat it. We have nine people down with it now,” he said, thinking of John.
“I thought it would be eight now with Millie gone?” she asked.
“Major Sheppard has come down with i-” he began to say.
“Do not tell Weir!” she almost yelled in his face, “Do not,” she repeated, her eyes wide in an almost panic.
Rodney almost took a step back with the way she was acting, “We won’t be. What is it?” he asked her, “What do you know about why we shouldn’t tell her?”
“Good, she’s planning something, something to do with Major Sheppard, I’m unsure what. But I do know that she’s jealous of his ATA gene. Dr Beckett hasn’t been able to get the therapy to work for her at all, even with the improvements he’s made over the last month to it. Some of the things she’s said just… it makes me believe she might be trying to use his DNA to make it work for her. Unsure of how she’d go about it,” she said as she began to pace. “She’s desperate and not in the mood to wait until Dr Beckett has made it work for everyone,” she stopped and turned to him.
“Do you know how many would take Weir’s side if we call a vote of no confidence against her?” Rodney asked her, being serious about doing so. He’d already thought of it several times, but with everything he was learning, he was more and more sure that he should do it sooner rather than later.
“I’m unsure, but she won’t go quietly. I know she was happy that Sumner was killed and that Major Sheppard took over. She thought she’d be able to manipulate him, but he’s… smart, very smart,” she smirked, “I’ve watched him run circles around her. It’s only in the last few days that I’ve noticed that he’s been… under the weather, as they say,” she frowned suddenly.
“Yeah, Weir’s noticed a little of that,” Rodney nodded, “The meeting this morning. He was coughing, she was gleefully watching, but pretending to worry.”
“Hmm,” Miko nodded, looking at him pointedly.
“You don’t think?” he began, looking at Miko in horror as a thought crossed his mind.
“Where would Major Sheppard have come across it? Most of those who have been infected are scientists. You’re the main one he comes into contact with, along with Beckett, Weir, and Grodin. He doesn’t come to us often. The only other one that sometimes sees him is Zelenka.”
“We have two marines down as well, don’t forget,” he pointed out, trying to ignore the growing thought.
“Yes, but they worked closely with one of those who has become ill. He’s not been in direct contact with them, and it’s not airborne, remember, or we would all be down with it. We have no immunity to Pegasus viruses yet,” she responded, with a tilt of her head.
“We don’t know that. Earth-bound viruses and such may be stronger or weaker versions of ones from here. Which means we might have some immunity,” Rodney reminded her.
“Maybe.. But I have a bad feeling, and I trust that,” she snipped a little, “Find out what Dr Beckett says about it, and the microbiologist that we have on staff. I can’t remember their name at the moment.”
“Jane Reed,” Rodney answered, reminding her of what he’d said before, “She’s good at her job, helps Carson at times. Dr Xiaoli Huang is the other, I believe.”
“Let’s hope for an answer soon on what Weir has done; she has no true care for anyone under her. Never has, not even back in Antarctica,” Miko told him, “You and Major Sheppard do, even if you’re a complete bastard at times. You at least have the smarts to back up the ego you have.”
Rodney’s lips thinned as he pressed them together, not sure what he should say to that. He didn’t want to believe that Elizabeth Weir would purposely infect someone with an unknown virus. “We’ll see, I just-”
“I know, but Elizabeth Weir is used to getting her own way. We are but stepping stones to her ambitions, and she wants to be like them, the Ancients; she wants to ascend as they did. As Dr Jackson did. I’ve watched her carefully, it is better the devil you know after all,” she quoted, “Now, I must return to work and kick Kavanagh’s ass about his ego. He doesn’t have the smarts to back it up.”
Rodney snorted, “Go and have fun kicking his ass, and if he continues to be one, file a report. I’ll then have words with him,” he grinned, mentally rubbing his hands together in glee at the thought of doing so.
Miko smirked and nodded as she turned and left the room. The grin dropped as he thought over what Miko had told him and what she had said about Weir. He hoped she was wrong, but he knew that the woman had good gut instincts that most should listen to. And Miko was an excellent judge of character. He left the room and headed for the infirmary. Rodney wanted John in a safe place where no one could get to him, just in case Miko was right and that Weir had been the one to infect him. He would inform Carson as soon as he could, so that when John was moved into the isolation room, it could be locked against anyone that Carson didn’t approve of as visitors.
XxXxX
John was now in an isolation room. He’d read through the report that Rodney had written on his behalf and tweaked a few things so it sounded more like he had written it and not Rodney. He was finally asleep again, but the cough was worse than it had been earlier that day. It was getting close to midnight now as Rodney and Carson were in Carson’s little office near the infirmary. John’s laptop was open on the report that he’d tweaked so Carson could read how bad things were getting.
“How are we going to do this?” Carson asked, looking from the laptop screen to his friend, “Weir wants this in the morning and a meeting with him, John’s not going to be up for that at all.”
“I know,” Rodney sighed, “He’s not going to like that at all. We’re going to have to play keep away to protect him from Weir. I know there are two gate teams scheduled to leave tomorrow. I can deal with their briefing, and the three that went today will be arriving back tomorrow, barring anything happening.”
“We’re going to need a few more people that we can use to make it happen. Who in the military side of things can we trust?” he asked, looking at Rodney, hoping he knew a few that they could trust.
“Ford,” he said quickly, “I know he will, he’s protective of John, Stackhouse would be another. Markham as well. Both are loyal to John.” He hummed for a moment, “I’m unsure of most of those that we can trust on that side of things. I know Bates is still… against John being in charge, but I don’t think he’s happy with Weir either. So I may have to sound him out and see what he thinks. Maybe have Ford do that.”
“Okay, we’re getting somewhere,” he said, “Who else can we trust from that side?” Carson asked again.
“I’m not sure, there are many that would follow him, but there are also those that are still loyal to Sumner even though he’s been dead for months,” Rodney hissed as he got up and started to pace, “We’ve been out here for a while, and you can see the divide most of the time between military and science, sometimes there is overlap, especially those that John’s taken under his wing. They’re more accepting of what we’re doing out here. Those who are on Sumner and Bates’ side don’t like the fact that John has a black mark on his record.”
“Isn’t that supposed to be private?” he asked.
“Sumner made sure as many of his men knew about it as possible. The thing he didn’t say was how John got the mark on his record,” Rodney growled a little. “I only know what I’ve read. He disobeyed an order and went after three men, trying to save them. They’d been shot down behind enemy lines. It didn’t end well for John. He was tossed aside, even with the training and skills he had; it was like it didn’t even matter because he tried to help people. It doesn’t make sense to me and you, but to them… to the military, it means a lot.”
“Hmm,” Carson nodded, “Well, he ended up doing scut runs in the Antarctic, I’d say it didn’t end well.”
“Anyway,” Rodney said, “I did notice at first, within the first two months, how most of the military would-”
“Ignore Major Sheppard,” Carson said, nodding along with Rodney. A lot of the scientists had noticed it.
“Yes,” he said, annoyed. “Ignore him and the orders he was giving at the time. Not so much now, though.”
“No, he’s proven to them that he stands by them and will do his best for them. Of course, there are still a few holdouts, but most will follow John,” Carson nodded, as he saw a few examples of their change of hearts over the last few weeks.
“Exactly,” Rodney nodded.
“Rodney,” Carson said, “I’ve got several that I know don’t like the way that Weir has been running things. They prefer John’s method, since he’s been the one really running the show. A lot of what you’re finding out, some of us already know.”
“Miko Kusanagi knew. You as well. I knew a little, but I think John was keeping things from me as well,” Rodney frowned.
“He knows you’ve got a lot on your plate, Rodney. You stretch yourself thin at times, lad, and it worries him. You’ve collapsed twice because of your hypoglycemia. You’re overseeing a lot of the experiments that are happening, as well as going on gate teams trying to find us a ZPM. That’s not including all the work you’re doing to make sure none of the scientists are murdering each other. Kavanagh especially. I know he’s been stepping on so many toes,” Carson pointed out to him.
“Well, even I would like to throw him through one of the space gates,” Rodney huffed as he then added, “He’s sore because Weir gave him a dressing down a while back, and he’s been refused several times to be allowed through the gate. He won’t certify with a gun, so he’s not going. He is arguing about it constantly. Even Weir has tried to come down on his side and allow it,” he smirked, “The way John worded it to Weir was that if Kavanagh goes through the gate, he’ll be going alone, because John won’t risk his men to defend an idiot that wants to go walkies without proper training and protection.”
“That would keep him on this side of the gate, Kavanagh is a bit of a coward,” he said, “If there’s a fight, he’d run from it.”
Rodney snorted, “I know, he’s done it before. He doesn’t like it when his ego isn’t stroked, and no one here will pander to him.”
“So, we have a few people to talk to; you deal with those in the military. I’ll deal with the others. They’ll listen to you better than me,” Carson told him, as he looked at his friend.
“I’ll do that… It’s late,” he said as he checked the time, “I know a few will be on duty now, but not many. Stackhouse and Ford are on duty, with AR-1 not going out for another three days; they should be in the city. I know Ford said something about duty near the armory tonight,” he said as he got up. “I’m going to go and talk with him. See if I can get him somewhere private so we can talk. It wouldn’t do to let anyone else overhear,” he said. “Keep me informed on John’s condition?” he asked as he started to walk away.
“Course,” he nodded, as he went back to monitoring John and his other patients.
Chapter Seven
Rodney walked through the quiet halls of Atlantis, heading toward the Armory. There weren’t many out, but it was getting close to one in the morning, Atlantis time. It had taken a little while for people to get used to the twenty-six-hour days, but they had done so as soon as they stopped leaning on Earth Time. He reached the armory and glanced around. There were a few people in there, including Stackhouse and Ford. He was relieved to see them both. There was another in there, but they were not someone that Rodney knew.
“Dr McKay?” Ford asked as he went over to him, “Is everything alright?” he continued, a frown on his face.
“Just something I need to discuss with you and Stackhouse. Would you be able to come to a quiet corner? It’s a… private matter,” he answered as he glanced around, taking into account who was around.
“Sure, we can go to the other side. Peters should be fine for the moment,” Ford said as he looked at Rodney, still confused as to what the man could want.
“As long as we can talk, privately, it should be fine,” he said, not sure if he wanted to just be in the corner of a room; he didn’t know how sound would travel in the armory.
“Stackhouse,” Ford called out, waving him over. “Dr McKay wants to talk to us,” he said.
“Sure,” he nodded as he hurried over.
Rodney nodded and led the way to the quiet spot. He murmured a little, checking that the other man in the room couldn’t hear him. “Right,” he said, his voice a little louder, once more checking and seeing that the other didn’t hear them. “What I’m about to tell you no one can know,” he said, staring at both of them in turn, “As you know, a virus has been going around some of the scientists,” he began quietly.
“Yeah,” Stackhouse nodded, “Two of ours have come down with it as well, since they worked with one of them.”
“Carson is mapping it at the moment, but we don’t believe it’s airborne, which means that method of infection could be through touch. We do know that another virus is going around the mainland at the moment. But it’s just a mild flu from what Carson and Teyla have said. However, John is ill with the more serious virus,” he began.
“He’s been nowhere near anyone who’s become ill. Don’t think he has even been in their labs either,” Ford frowned as he and Stackhouse shared a look.
“I know, which is what’s got Carson and me puzzled,” Rodney said, not telling that they suspected someone of doing it.
“Someone could have…” Stackhouse went quiet.
“Markus?” Ford asked, using the man’s first name.
“Someone could have infected him?” Markus said, giving Ford a look, “We all know that there are a couple around here that will, Sir,” he said as he looked at Ford and then at Rodney, “Dr McKay, Bates still dislikes him. Especially how he stuck up for Teyla when all that spy stuff was going on. He stuck up for a lot of people that Dr Weir and Bates don’t like. He’s made it possible for us to be able to grow food on the mainland as well. Teyla’s people are helping us. I… one of those two would love to get rid of him. Bates thinks that he’d be the one to take over the military side. He’s talked to a few of the others about it. I was going to talk to Major Sheppard in a few days. I… I have something set up to record him. He-” he bit his lip.
“I see,” Rodney said, “And you didn’t tell anyone what you were doing?” he asked him.
Stackhouse shook his head, “No, Bates… was talking about taking over from the Major, he wants the job, and he thinks he should have had it since Sumner trusted him. He and Sumner were the ones who were telling us all that the Major has a black mark against him.”
Rodney folded his arms, lowering his head as he thought for a few moments. “Hmm,” he hummed, “Bates wants command, and he’ll be making sure that we follow military protocol fully. The charter we have to handle things will be a thing of the past. Bates is militant. He will not care if we all die of starvation, he has no idea how to-” he cut himself off.
“Doc?” Ford frowned, wondering what the scientist was going on about.
“Sumner and Weir didn’t outfit the expedition correctly. John’s been doing what he can to correct that, with the trades, the missions he’s sending people on, and the fact that he’s got people growing food on the mainland. Mining and all,” he answered, “John becoming ill now… could put all that he’s working on in jeopardy. Bates could shut everything down, the missions, trading, everything.”
“Would Weir shut things down?” Ford asked him, “I know the Major has a few people making trinkets and things like that, that can be traded.”
“Yes, she would. She’d be sending out teams to only search for ancient artifacts and information on ascension. She would forget about actually supplying the base, because to her, that’s not what she does,” Rodney answered. “I know John’s had to write a report on how we’re doing at the moment, supply-wise. He brought it to her attention, but chances are, if she takes over, it’ll fall to the side again, as I said, it’s not what she is focused on.”
“It’s bad,” Stackhouse said quietly. “I’ve been helping the Major with gathering information.”
“It is,” Rodney agreed, frowning and wondering how much John trusted Markus Stackhouse if he was having him run some of the errands.
“So, what are we going to do?” Ford asked.
Rodney looked at the two of them, “We keep this a secret for now. Stackhouse, I want you out to the settlement, pretending that Major Sheppard has gone with you. To check on how things are going. At the moment, he’s tucked away from prying eyes; the only ones allowed near him are Dr Beckett and myself.”
“So, keep away,” Ford said, getting a nod from Rodney.
“Yes, I need to get the civilians together to cast a vote of no confidence against Weir. We need her to step down; unfortunately, that will mean I’ll have to take over the overall leadership,” Rodney said, pulling a face.
“You’ll do fine there, Doc,” Ford grinned, “You’ll have them all trained within a month.”
“We’ll see,” Rodney muttered.
“I’ll log in a flight to the mainland with Major Sheppard in the morning, leaving in a couple of hours,” Stackhouse said, as he looked at Rodney and Ford.
“Go and get some sleep for that. I’ll start the spread,” Ford instructed him. “You’ve only got about three hours,” he added, checking the time.
“Sir,” Stackhouse nodded and gave a salute before heading off to get a little sleep before making off to the mainland.
“I’m going to check on John once more before I go to sleep myself. I’ll wake early to make sure that people hear that John’s gone to the mainland and will be out of communication for a while,” Rodney added, “Ford,” he nodded as he then began to head to the infirmary again.
Rodney entered the corridor where the isolation rooms were. He walked to the room where John would be; there was nothing outside the door that would tell anyone that someone was in there. The windows darkened, and no noise was coming from them. It was like Atlantis itself was trying to protect John as well. He activated the door and walked in. John was sleeping, sitting up on the bed. Cannula and IVs, wires attaching him to machines that monitored his health.
The door closed with a whoosh, and he walked over. “Hey,” he murmured when he saw eyes opening a little. “I would ask how you feel, but you look like shit.”
John rolled his eyes as he blinked tiredly. “Feel like it too,” he murmured, his voice hoarse after several coughing fits since he’d been brought in.
“Stackhouse is going to head to the mainland and pretend that you’ve gone with him. We’re trying to keep Weir from finding out that you’ve caught the virus,” Rodney told him, settling on a chair.
“Stackhouse is loyal. One of the people that I went back for was his older brother. I trust him. When he realized who I was, he thanked me for bringing him home. I just wish I’d been able to get there sooner, maybe he… he would have lived longer,” he said, signing a little only to start coughing.
Rodney stood up and helped John sit forward, bringing an emesis bowl to him so he could bring up the phlegm that was plaguing him. Rodney held him, feeling how John’s body shook with each cough. As soon as it was over, he helped John lie back, making sure he was still elevated enough that it wouldn’t cause John to start coughing again.
“Thanks,” John murmured, his eyes barely able to stay open.
“I had wondered how you could trust him almost straight away. And how much you trusted him, and he trusted you just as much,” he said softly, as he took hold of John’s only free hand and held it.
“Markus is a good kid; his brother was only two years younger than me. He and the other two I went to rescue. They were all good men and didn’t deserve to be left out there. They… they were alive when I got there. Jason, Markus’ brother, was badly injured, but he kept the insurgents back. I landed not a few meters from them. I went on the offensive. Getting them into the chopper. I was shot twice during the extraction, but I got them in and lifted off. I didn’t know that Jason was bleeding out; my first aid skills weren’t the best, but I did what I could for them all. I’ve learned a lot more since then,” he told him, explaining a little of what he’d done to earn the black mark on his record, giving a few weak coughs between words.
“You got them home, you got them back, and that’s something that impresses the hell out of some people,” Rodney had to admit. He’d been able to see the file, and while a lot had been redacted, there was enough that he could piece a few things together, along with what little John had told him.
“Markus has been wanting to just yell at those that hate me because of the black mark, because if I hadn’t done that, he would have,” he started coughing, and once more, Rodney helped him sit forward, making it easier for John to get rid of the gunk that was clinging to his lungs.
“I think maybe you should stop talking for a bit,” Rodney said.
“I’m bored, and all I do is sleep, and I… It’s nice to talk about it. Kate was trying to get me to talk, but she isn’t military, she doesn’t… understand the things that I’ve done. She’s a civilian after all, and you… You might be a civilian, but you-”
“I get it to a point,” Rodney said, “Especially with going through the gate as I have been.”
“Yeah,” he said as he closed his eyes and just breathed a little, grateful he didn’t feel like he was suffocating for a few moments.
“So Jason, Stackhouse’s brother died?” he asked.
“Yeah, he did. Jason made it back to base, alive. Just about, Markus was also on base, but I didn’t know that until he told me when we got here, and he was able to speak to me alone. They were able to say goodbye to each other. Markus told me that being able to do that, to know that someone disobeyed orders to get them back, to get them all home. It was something he wanted to live up to as well. It’s why he was quick to join the rescue mission for Sumner and to ask to join my team. He’s a good man, much like his brother,” he added, “Jason was under my command, and the CO at the time ordered him and two others to make a run. It was a combination of bad intel and the CO being a dick, he decided to send them on the mission even though the intel wasn’t confirmed. So I went after them when I heard their distress call,” he said, his eyes still closed.
“He sounds like he was a friend, too,” Rodney said, wondering about the relationship between the two.
“He was. I knew Jason’s brother was on base, but I never had the chance to meet him. Since he was a Marine and not Air Force, like Jason,” he said, his words beginning to slur a little with sleep. “They all were. Jason… Jason died, but David and Leon both lived. I don’t… know what happened to them. I was cut off from them and others after I woke up from surgery. I was shipped out as soon as they could do it safely. I recovered stateside and then got my orders for McMurdo, and that was it.”
“I see,” he nodded as he reached up and brushed spiky strands of hair from John’s face, “Get some sleep. I’ll sit here for a little while before going to bed.”
“Don’t have to, be fine,” he murmured as his breathing evened out as much as it could.
Rodney nodded, “I know,” he said, a little smile playing on his lips as he settled down and watched as John fell asleep. He stayed there for almost half an hour before getting up and heading for his quarters so he could get a couple of hours’ sleep before getting up and playing a game of cat and mouse.
Chapter Eight
Rodney woke and wished he could go back to sleep. He was quick to dress and get out of his room. He wanted to check on John, but knew that he’d have to hand over John’s report to Weir in a couple of hours. First, he went to the jumper bay, seeing that Stackhouse was already there.
“Dr McKay,” he said as he saw him, “Shouldn’t you still be sleeping? It’s the ass crack of dawn.”
Rodney snorted, “It is, and I wanted to see you off. I talked with John last night, before he settled in truly for the rest of the night.”
“You… wanted to know why he would trust me?” Stackhouse asked, a sad smile on his face.
“He told me, and I’m sorry for your loss,” he answered with a firm nod.
“Jason spoke highly of Major Sheppard and how serving under him was a great thing. I trust the Major to keep us all alive as best as he can. I know he’d never leave us behind. I hate that Weir tried to do that with Sumner and the others, and with Teyla and the Athosians. She’s not someone I could trust. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I could fully trust Sumner either. He had a reputation for doing things by the book all the time. Major Sheppard, while he does things by the book, has a moral compass that makes a lot of us want to follow him. I know I’ll follow him into battle and give my life to make sure he comes back. To me, there are only two people in Atlantis that I consider mission essential, and that’s you and Major Sheppard.”
Rodney was taken aback by that statement. “I would have thought Weir-” he began.
“Weir has no idea what she’s doing, Doc. She’s an idealist who had no idea what the military contingent really needed. What the whole of Atlantis needs. Major Sheppard is trying to get an alpha site sorted, and she’s blocking him. He’s trying to get us up and running to be self-sustaining, which was one of the criteria for us coming through.”
“I remember the briefings,” Rodney nodded.
“We all do, and she’s done nothing to get that kick started. Major Sheppard had to instead. I doubt even Sumner would have thought of it. Neither of them is really the Big Picture type of person. Weir was in control of the SGC for a while, and the place hit the skids. We lost a lot of good people because of her mismanagement. Sumner, while a good Marine and someone I don’t mind having at my back, was too set in his ways. He could have made sure that we were outfitted properly, but he didn’t,” Stackhouse said, as though he was getting a lot off his chest in one go.
“They really didn’t, I didn’t see the manifest of what we had until we were here. Half of what I suggested for the supply lists were left behind. I know that a few of the others were angry and disappointed in what was left behind. We could have brought a lot more with us, but we didn’t. But we’ll manage, John’ll make sure of that.”
“I know he will, Doc, he’s a good man, and one I’m honored to be able to serve with. Never thought I would, didn’t think I would see him again either. No matter how much I and the two men that he had rescued and survived asked about Major Sheppard, we were never told where he had gone. I… got in touch with them as soon as I learned. They sent me letters to give to him, and I will when he’s feeling better.”
“I think he’ll be happy to know what happened to them after it all. He talked about that last night, not being able to find out if they were okay or not,” Rodney told him, “Right, I need to prepare to meet with Weir. Then I need to talk to the others. When you get back, can you give me what you’ve got about Bates? I want to nip that in the bud as soon as possible. I won’t let that pedantic fucker anywhere near command of the military on this base. Ford is… young, too young for command.”
“He isn’t ready for it, Doc. Ford already said that he wouldn’t have a clue as to what he should do. The Major really needs to take someone under his wing to get them up to speed in case he’s injured badly enough that it’s going to take more than a week or two for him to recover,” he told him, “I need to get going.”
Rodney nodded, “Take care, and tell Teyla what’s going on, and only her. I know she’s still on the mainland at the moment.”
“I will, Doc,” he nodded as he got in the jumper and closed it up.
Rodney stepped back as the man lifted off and headed out, under the guidance of Markham, who was on duty for the jumper bay. He nodded to the man, who nodded back and gave him a thumbs up and a grin.
Rodney headed to his lab. Meeting with Radek and Miko on the way. He grabbed the two, while Radek knew what was going on, Miko didn’t. Reaching his lab, he closed and locked the door, making sure that no one would be able to hear what was going on inside.
“What is going on?” Miko asked as she looked between the two men.
“Weir, we need to get some of the other heads of departments together to get a vote of no confidence against her. She’s a danger to the expedition at this moment in time. John’s ill, and I think it’s going to get worse before he starts getting better. Carson worked through the night to figure out as much as he could about this virus. He’s got another working on it with him, one that he trusts. They are both also dissatisfied with how Weir’s been handling things,” he said as he then proceeded to catch Miko up on everything that he had learned. Including the real state of the supplies.
Miko began to pace, “She’s been asking me to hack into the Ancient database, over and over. I get messages about it daily, sometimes more than once a day. She doesn’t stop. She is too focused on one thing. I agree that a vote needs to be taken. I will start talking to some of the other heads of departments and find out where they stand and if they believe we should as well.”
“Right,” Rodney nodded, “For now, Miko, I know that a few people are on the mainland at the moment. We have someone pretending to have taken John there. We’re going to keep saying that he’s gone to the mainland to oversee some of the construction of our farm out there.”
“Good, see if they can keep that rumor going for a while,” Miko suggested, nodding as she then settled on one of the stools in the room. “I’ve been compiling all the things that she has asked of me, and of the others. It’s all about the Ancients and their ascension experiments. I’m worried that she is going to try to force us to go through with what I believe is a suicide ritual to try to ascend.”
Rodney sat down heavily in the swivel chair he’d been able to find. “She really is obsessed with that,” he sighed, pulling a face.
Radek nodded, “We saw it at the outpost. She was always trying to find out what they did. And when Dr Jackson stopped by, she would corner him to interrogate him on what he went through. He had no memory of ascending or his time while ascended. Though even if he did, I don’t think he’d be telling anyone what he had done to achieve it.”
“I don’t think he would either; he was put off by her attitude a lot. I knew I should have said something to the IOA about her behaviour. I was worried that she would be trying something like this, that she would zero in on one thing. She doesn’t know a thing about what we are trying to do out here.”
“What will happen if a vote is called against her and it’s successful?” Miko asked, “Who would be taking charge?”
“Unfortunately, me,” Rodney said, not looking happy at that fact. “I’m in charge as the CSO of the expedition and second to Weir. Though she’s been trying to undermine my authority a lot over the last few months, and even trying to do so while we were at the outpost on Earth.”
“She tried to ask me to take over for you,” Radek said, “She was going to kick you from the mission and have me take your place. When I refused, she… wasn’t happy about it at all. No one wanted to kick you off the mission. Or take your place. The only one that would have done without hesitation was Kavanagh. But he was quickly stopped from becoming the lead.”
“Good, if that idiot was in charge, we would’ve been dead before we could have gone on that first fucking mission. He has no clue what he’s doing most of the time, and when he does have a clue, he’s fifty steps behind everyone else,” Rodney snapped at the thought of Kavanagh taking his place.
“So, what will happen to Weir?” Miko asked again.
“If she is ousted, she won’t be in charge. She might not take things well. I’m hoping she will take it gracefully,” he sighed, shaking his head.
“I don’t think she will,” Radek said, shaking his head, “She doesn’t like being told what to do.”
“She’s a diplomat, and a politician at heart,” Miko added.
“One of the things I may end up doing is locking her out of certain research areas. I don’t want her to mess things up. I know that she’s been on at Carson to do more research on the ATA gene. He’s done all he can for it, but she’s hounding him for more,” Rodney added, “Right, Miko, Radek, call for the heads of departments for a meeting this afternoon, 1400, the meeting room off the lab here,” he told them as he got up.
“I’ll make sure that they’re all told to come, no matter what they’re doing. Is this going to be mandatory?” Miko asked.
Rodney nodded, “Yes, mandatory for them all. Anyone missing, I will hunt them down and drag them to the meeting room while I verbally eviscerate them. And don’t think I won’t.”
Radek snorted, “Of course you would, Rodney,” he said, shaking his head, “I’ll see to the soft scientists. Dr Beckett attending?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m going to have to ask him to have someone in his team help with John’s care. Someone who will be trusted with it. I don’t want anything to happen to John at all,” he sighed as he headed for his door and unlocked it. “I’ll see you later. I’m going to head and see Weir now. I’m going to go over what John showed me and the report I wrote for him.”
“She’s not going to be happy that you’re in the know,” Miko warned him.
“I know,” he said, “But she’s going to have to get used to the fact that I am not the ignorant buffoon that she wanted on this mission.”
Miko nodded as the two watched him leave. They looked at each other and started to divide up who they would each talk to about the meeting.
Chapter Nine
Rodney walked to the office that Weir had claimed just above the gate room. He looked at the Stargate and wished they could dial home once more. Just so they could figure out what they should do, and to get the supplies and personnel that they needed. He sighed and walked into the room. “Did you receive the report that Major Sheppard sent you?” he asked her.
“Yes, I saw that he CC’d it to you as well,” Weir frowned, not happy with that.
“Of course he did. Considering he was supposed to be here meeting with you this morning about it. Instead, he’s had to head to the mainland to oversee some of the construction on the farm and its irrigation system that we’re building and setting up out there,” he said as he went over to the chair and sat down.
“I see,” she said, not looking happy at all at the news that John had left Atlantis. “I didn’t give permission-”
“He doesn’t need permission to go to the mainland; he heard that there was a serious issue, he’s going to make sure there isn’t. Since we’re getting low on food. Dr Kinder has approved some of our Earth seedlings to be planted on the mainland. She’s also set up a small area on Atlantis to start cultivating crops as well, especially those that won’t do well in the environment out there. We can control it to an extent here,” he said, “Major Sheppard has done a good job in making sure that we have all the necessary equipment we need through trade, as well as seeds and crops that are more native to the Pegasus Galaxy,” he told her as he watched her closely.
“I see,” she said, not happy that John wasn’t there. “Well, he’s going to have to start. I’m in charge of this expedition, and I expect to be informed of any travel that anyone in this party does. No matter where it is,” she said.
“Sorry to say, but the movement of the military isn’t under your purview, and that’s part of the charter. I’ve read through it, and so has John. He knows what he can and can’t do. Just like I do. I’ve read the one that you didn’t doctor, which I’ve also sent to everyone to make sure they have the one that they signed, and not the one you wanted us to try and follow. Nice try, Dr Weir,” he sneered a little, “But next time you want to become a dictator, you may want to make sure that the rules in place for you to do it are there before we’ve read the charter. I’ll be making a note of this little uprising of yours for when we contact SGC. So far, only John and I know what you have done, but soon the rest of them will as well.”
“You have no ri-” she began to hiss at him.
“I have every right to protect the people under my command. And they are under my command. You may make suggestions to both myself and John, but we don’t have to listen if we believe them not to be in the best interest of the expedition. You played your hand a little early,” he smirked at her, “Now I know exactly what you’re up to. I would also like to point out that you have no say in what direction any of the research goes in. We are not here for your personal research, we’re here for a lot more.”
“You have no right to tell me what I should be doing. I have personal interests in things out here, and I will make sure that-” she began, only to stop when she saw the expression on his face change.
“I have every right, as of this moment, you’re not to touch anything within any of the research projects. They are being locked down even as we speak,” he added, knowing that Miko and Radek would be doing so.
“Then I will not have you in charge any longer,” she said, smirking as though she had won the argument.
“You have no say in my appointment as CSO, Dr Weir,” he said, saying her name like it was an insult, “And you are well aware of that fact.”
“I will find a way, McKay,” she snapped at him.
“You’re an idiot. You were hellbent on leading this expedition, however all you and Sumner did was make sure that we would be able to live for three months; that was all the supplies you brought here would have lasted us. Three months. If it wasn’t for Major Sheppard and his ability to make friends and broker trade, we would have starved to death by now. We are in dire straits, and all you can think of is your own selfish desires,” he told her, “You’re not fit to lead this expedition, and you know it,” he finished.
Weir stared at him, “I don’t know what you think you are doing with that, but I am in charge of this expedition, and it will be doing what I need it to do,” she told him.
“We’ll see,” he said as he stood and looked at her, “Dr Weir, I suggest that you remain in your office for the rest of the day. I have things to do and I don’t want you interfering,” he warned her, “I’ll be back by 1600 hours to speak with you about a very serious matter that you have brought to my door.”
Weir looked at him, confused for a moment as Rodney turned and walked out of the room. The door hissed to a close behind him.
Rodney was seething; she had all but said that she was only here for herself. Well, he’ll make a copy of the video footage of the meeting and make sure that every head of department knows what is going on. He wasn’t going to let her lead anymore. He needed her out of the way and locked away. She wouldn’t go quietly, and in the end, the choice would be to either confine her or dump her on a distant planet. He would vote for the planet, but he didn’t think any others would go for it. Well, maybe Radek and Miko would, they were just as bloodthirsty as he was at times. It was nice to know he wasn’t alone among the civilians for that.
Rodney walked to the infirmary and saw Carson moving around his office. The man was looking at his tablet, then he checked a display on the wall. He knocked on the window, seeing Carson looking up and gesturing for him to enter the room. Rodney entered and looked at his friend, “You found anything?”
“Yeah, the virus, it’s not contagious. You can get it by oral ingestion or if it’s injected,” he said, “I’ve examined the others. I’ve found puncture wounds on two,” he sighed, “Someone purposely gave them a dose of the virus. Rodney, this is something that has been worked on in a lab,” he told him, “There are only three here that have qualifications to do that type of work, and you’re looking at one of them,” he finished before Rodney could ask.
“I see, and the other two?” he asked, getting their names. “Neither of them would be the type to do such a thing.”
“No, they wouldn’t. Rodney, I don’t know who developed this virus, but I’ve asked them to come here, telling them that I found a virus that I would like their opinions on. Rodney, don’t think them guilty.”
“I’m not, but if this is lab-grown, Carson, we need to know where and who did so,” he pointed out, “It’s killed one-”
“Two,” Carson said softly, “One of the patients we believed would be okay, passed away in their room two hours ago. I’ve been up all night seeing to this, Rodney. It fills the lungs up with liquid, and I can’t get it drained fast enough. They have a surge near the end where things start looking better. But in the end, they are drowning.”
“I see,” he said as he sat down heavily on the chair, “You believe that they all will… die?” he asked, hoping that wasn’t the case.
“I don’t know,” he answered, being honest with his friend, “I’m hoping we’ll find a way to combat it, but at the moment, all we can do is try and fight it with what antibiotics we have left, which isn’t much.”
Rodney nodded, “Thank you for being honest,” he said, “I want to sit with John for a bit, but I don’t want to draw attention to where he is.”
“I think ya might have to wait a while on that, Rodney. I’ll let you know when it’s safe. Weir contacted me not long ago, trying to find out where John is. She said he looked ill when she saw him last night. I told her he had a little cough, but it wasn’t serious, and the culture revealed nothing,” he said, “I don’t know if she believed me.”
“If she has or not, it’s her problem. So I’ll wait for a while, then,” he sighed.
“He’s strong, Rodney, you’ll just have to have faith in him,” Carson told him as there was a knock on his door. He got up and let in two people. Dr Jane Reed was a tall, stocky woman with sharp brown eyes and hair that was braided and went to her thighs. Dr Xiaoli Huang was around the same age as Carson. Dark black hair and eyes that almost matched, he had a gentle smile on his face as they walked in.
“Jane, Xiaoli,” Carson said, “Thanks for getting here so quickly. You know the virus you’ve been helping me map?” he asked.
“Yes,” Jane was the one to speak, while Xiaoli nodded.
“The mapping that I’ve been working on leads me to believe that there are only a couple of methods for it to be spread. It could be in the saliva, but it’s not in the mucus or phlegm that comes from the lungs. We’ve got it from the blood as well. So the only other way that it could be introduced into a person is by injection. We’re still working on how it’s actually transmitted, but we’re getting closer to narrowing it down.”
“I’ve been looking at it, Carson,” Xiaoli began, “it’s very much like the Athosian Flu, but it’s been changed, mutated.”
“It’s acting like a bio weapon,” Jane added, “I’ve been looking at the way that it attacks the cells and the body. After young Millie’s passing and now Dale, the results of the autopsy that you performed on Millie and the one Dr Biro did on Dale. They’re the same. We don’t know the incubation period.”
“No, we don’t. If another person comes down with this, I’m going to get everyone to be tested and isolate anyone who comes back positive. We can’t take a chance of it passing on between people. It might not be airborne, but it’s still being transmitted. I need to find the links between everyone.”
“We have had ten patients so far come down with this,” Carson said as he went to the board in the room and wrote down nine of the names, leaving one with just an X. Rodney knew that represented John.
“Millie has a puncture wound on the arm. No one on the medical staff has given her anything. So someone else did that. Dale also had the same on the back of his hand.”
“Alan and Millie were seeing each other; they could have kissed, which would have passed it on,” Jane said, “I caught them a few days ago, before she became ill.”
“Steve, I’m not sure,” Carson said, putting a question mark beside his name.
“X?” Xiaoli asked him.
“Again, not sure,” Carson sighed. “No puncture wounds that we’ve been able to find.”
“Nathan had an injury on his arm,” Rodney said, “I remember asking him about it, he said that Weir brushed against him and he ended up with a cut along his arm.”
“I remember treating it; he needed stitches,” Carson frowned, “I put down a report, and how it happened. Weir told me that I should delete it, as it was an accident. I didn’t, of course.”
“Graeme has nothing, neither does Yuri. Debbie has a puncture mark on her arm as well. Tina as well. I think we need to talk with those who have an injection site mark, and if they’re able to, to answer if they know where it came from,” Carson finished as he put beside each name what they believed.
“A different method of infection could have been used for the others. We’ll need to talk to all of them, get a rundown of the last few days before they begin feeling ill, and see if there is something that sticks out.” Rodney suggested to them.
“Yes,” Jane nodded in agreement.
“I need to confirm that neither of you has played around with this virus?” Rodney asked the two of them, “I need to know where this came from and who worked on the flu to tweak it into something deadly.”
“No, we did study the flu when it first started showing up. It’s much like the same as the one we have on Earth. Most of the same markers are on it. But a few differences, to cause us a little more of a problem. But that’s to be expected. The viral and bacterial profiles of the atmospheres that we go through are all different. We found much the same on Earth with those going through the gate on missions. We only had two instances with viruses coming through the gate; most of the time, the wormhole can take care of them. We took cultures through to see how they would be affected. If they are covered and airtight, they will survive; if not, then they die.”
“Would that work in sending someone through the gate if they’re ill?” Carson asked, frowning, as he hadn’t thought of what the gate could do in such instances.
“No, the bacteria and viruses are within the body, and can’t be reached. Think of it like a bath. We go in and come out physically clean on the outside, but we can’t clean inside the same way,” Xiaoli explained, getting a nod from them both.
“Is there anyone else on staff within the expedition who would have some idea of how to cultivate this virus?” Rodney asked them, “Anyone?”
“Graeme,” Xiaoli said, “he studied it, but never took a qualification within it; he changed to straight up biology.”
“I see,” Rodney murmured, “Maybe he would be the one who cultivated this. But…” he trailed off, “Why would he infect himself?”
“Maybe he didn’t?” Carson said, “We don’t know. I think we’re going to have to speak with Graeme. Thank you both for all the help. If you can keep working on finding something that will help us combat it, that would be amazing,” he told the two.
“We’ll do what we can; we’ve asked a few of the biologists to help,” Xiaoli nodded as he and Jane then left the office.
Rodney sighed, “So, someone gave it to him, someone infected him. Let’s go and talk with Graeme. Where is he?” he asked as Carson cleared off the board so that no one else could see what had been up there. “Also, Alan, how would he get it? He was kissing Millie, yes, he was one of the military assets that was also helping her, but how…”
“Could have been blood-to-blood contact, or he was exposed to it as well in another way. Hell, it might be passed on through sex,” Carson told him, “And Graeme is quarantined in his quarters; he was alright for a while so we gave him permission to isolate where he would be comfortable, although I’m going to be bringing him and any others here to make sure that they are well taken care of. I’ve asked Derek and Nina to start preparing an isolation ward for them all to be housed in.”
“Right, let’s go and talk with Graeme,” Rodney said as he began to leave the room.
“Wait up, you don’t even know where he is living,” Carson said with a roll of his eyes. “Dr Biro,” he said as he went over to the other doctor, “please keep an eye on the patients. Call me if I’m needed,” he said.
“I will,” she said with a firm nod. She’d been with him while he had performed the autopsy on Millie and had worked on Dale. She was a fully trained pathologist after all.
“Thank you,” he nodded as he and Rodney headed to the living quarters. Graeme Thorton was one of the biologists who had taken to looking at the animals around the mainland that they had found, to see if they were a viable food source. The man had become ill almost nine days ago. He’d been in the infirmary for four of them before transferring to his quarters with Carson and the others checking on him, and monitoring his vitals. Dale had died in his quarters, too far away from help. They were all going to be transferred back to the infirmary and the isolation ward.
Carson knocked on the door and walked in, “Graeme,” he greeted the man who was looking a lot worse than he had during the rounds that he’d done two hours before. “Okay,” he said, “I’m going to have you transferred to the infirmary. I don’t like how pale you are, and your stats are starting to drop to levels I’m really not liking,” he said as he shook his head and began to examine him.
“I’m really sorry, Graeme, but I need to ask you a few things. This virus is lab-grown.”
Graeme looked at him and nodded weakly, coughing a little, as blood spilt from his mouth. “Weir asked me.”
“How were you infected?” Rodney asked.
“Bitch, she cornered me. Came on to me,” he coughed, “been a while, let it happen. Sucked me off and stabbed me in the balls,” he wheezed as he started coughing even more. A little more blood spilling from his lips as he started choking.
Carson rushed over, pushing Rodney out of the way as he began to try to help. He called for help, but both of them knew there was nothing they could do to help. A few moments later, Graeme flatlined, and while others rushed in to help. There was nothing they could do.
Chapter Ten
Rodney and Carson were back in Carson’s office. It was getting closer to the time for the head of department meeting. Weir had come fishing around the infirmary for a bit, but had been turned away quickly by Dr Biro, who had taken a no-nonsense attitude with Weir and made sure the woman had been chased off. Rodney had checked with Miko and Radek and had made sure Weir had been locked out anything essential.
“Three victims so far. And she was the one responsible,” Rodney said, sighing heavily as he tried to reason with himself just why Weir would do such a thing.
“I can’t believe she would…” Carson said and then sighed, “No, I can,” he said as he sat back, “Rodney, I had the gene therapy ready a month before we left Earth. I went through so many checks, but I didn’t want Weir to know at all. I knew if she had the gene activated for her that things would… go badly for us. So I pretended I wasn’t that far ahead,” he sighed. “I checked to see if she would be viable before I said that I’d perfected it. And really, I had, I just-”
“Lied?” Rodney said, “I’m not an idiot. When you said you hadn’t done testing, I was shocked at first, but I know you, Carson. I’ve known you for years. I realized after you’d given it to me that you knew it was fine, that it had been tested. I saw the data when you sent it to me encrypted. I knew then that something was going on, I just never was able to find a time and a place to talk to you about it.”
“I left the research back on Earth as well, everything they need, left it with O’Neill, he’ll know what to do with it, along with Carter,” Carson told him. “They’ve got Dr Lam as well on it. So they’ll be okay, I have it here, and I made sure to test everyone first to see if they would be viable. If Weir had been viable, I would have said that I couldn’t make it work and slowly pulled those I trusted to one side to give it to them. I would’ve reported that it was the City that was changing you, or being here that was changing people.”
“Sneaky,” Rodney smirked, “I can see why you would have faked it. But you know she would have found out as soon as we got in contact with Earth.”
“Maybe so, but by then I’d hope that she’d either ascended or fucked off another way,” he said, smirking.
“I like the way you think,” he said, checking the time, “We need to head up. Dr Biro is going to the autopsy along with Dr Reed?” he asked, meaning Graeme.
“Aye, they’ll be doing that while we’re meeting. Anita told me to give her vote against Weir,” he told him as they walked out of the office and headed to the meeting room that Rodney had said would be the meeting room for them.
Rodney walked into the room to find nearly all of those he wanted there, already waiting. “I see most of you are here,” he said as he looked at them.
“The rest are on the way,” Radek said as he looked up, “Kavanagh got into something he shouldn’t have, and has caused a few problems with some joint experiments. We’ve put a lock on what he can do now.”
“Good, idiot,” Rodney snapped a little, “I’ll be having words with him again.” He rolled his eyes, wondering how many more times he would have to have words with the man. Kavanagh believed himself to be one of the smartest scientists on the expedition; he didn’t even rate in the bottom two, as far as Rodney and some of the other scientists were concerned. If Rodney was being very honest, he believed that Kavanagh rated less than all of the military personnel in terms of how smart he was.
Rodney sat at the front of the room, waiting for the others to enter. As soon as the last one did, he made sure the room was locked and secured, so that no one was going to be getting in.
“Right, some of you are going to be learning a few things for the first time, and others will already know what is going on. This is more because we’ve been trying to stop any panicking and idiotic behaviour from happening,” he said with a roll of his eyes, as he nodded to Radek.
“Look at your tablets,” Radek told them, “on them I’ve sent you all the numbers of our food stores, medical stores, and everything. Everything that we would need to continue to survive out here,” he said as he waited for them all to look at the numbers.
“How are we so low? I know we took in the Athosians, but even with them, we should have had enough for last year?” One of the scientists who worked mostly under Rodney asked.
“Because we were lied to by Weir and Sumner. Major Sheppard figured out what we actually needed and what we brought, well, the math didn’t add up,” Radek began.
“Considering he could easily have earned a PhD in mathematics, he knows his numbers, and his logistical skills are on point as well,” Rodney said, wrinkling his nose, as though he didn’t want to compliment the man who was currently in isolation.
“So we should be fine then,” another said as they put down their tablets.
“We’re not,” Rodney looked at her, “John’s been doing what he can to repair what they did. He’s not concentrating on the scientific missions because he’s trying to make sure that we get food and medical supplies. Or at least the raw materials we need to try to make our own. If he hadn’t, we would have run out of food almost four months ago. Two months after arriving here.”
“So why this meeting? Not like we can do anything about it now,” the head of the translation team stated, “We’re stuck here, with no backup.”
“I know,” Rodney shook his head, “What I’m going to say remains in this room. No one is to speak of it after you leave,” he warned. “I mean this, you fuck up, and I’ll ruin you, here and back on Earth. There won’t be a place in two galaxies that you’ll be able to hide from me.”
“Dr McKay, there is no need for threats,” Dr Heightmeyer said as she looked at him.
“I know you’re friends with Dr Weir,” Rodney told her, “But at this moment in time, you’re going to have to put that aside,” he said, “She’s not the woman you think she is. She’s not here to lead us to make discoveries and to see the Pegasus Galaxy. She’s here for herself and her own agenda.”
“Elizabeth is a formidable woman, no doubt you’re confusing that-” she began to defend her friend.
“Dr Heightmeyer,” he snapped, “As of this moment in time, we are suspecting her of helping to create the virus that has already killed three of the members of this expedition. Millicent, Dale, and Graeme. All three are dead. Graeme told us before he died that he was the one to work on this virus. It can only be passed on by ingestion or by being injected with it. Four of those infected have injection sites.”
“Five,” Dr Biro said, “We found the one on Graeme at autopsy; he was corrected, and it had been injected into his scrotum. You would think that after at least a week, the mark would no longer be there. But it seems like this virus stops it from healing. Stops a lot of things from healing. Millie had a cut on her arm that had happened a few days before she had become ill. It was still there, looking almost fresh when she passed. It almost stops the healing of the body, which is dangerous. Should someone be injured during this time, they will not heal properly.”
“How the hell!” someone said, eyes wide and legs crossed as he winced.
“Graeme was with Weir in an intimate setting, she injected him while they were…” Rodney started.
“She was giving head,” Radek said bluntly, rolling his eyes at Rodney.
“Yes, that,” Rodney said, pulling a face. “I have someone trusted going through his items and the work he has done to try and find anything else that might lead to getting solid proof of what is going on. But, aside from that, I am also calling in a vote of no confidence in Dr Elizabeth Weir; she is no longer fit to run this expedition. She has put lives in danger in her own pursuits, and has tried to stop us from going through the gate to secure trade for food, medical, and more. I know a lot of you won’t wish for this. Neither do I, as I hate the very thought of having to take control,” he huffed, “But I’m willing to do it if we can work together to make sure that this expedition works. I need you all, and I really hate saying that. But I’m not… a leader, not like that.”
“What about Major Sheppard?” Dr Heightmeyer asked, “Wouldn’t he just take over instead?”
“The thing is…” he paused, not sure what he should say.
“What is said must not be spoken about. Few know,” Miko said, “Millie… she died because of this woman. She died from this virus, and there are still seven people affected by it.”
“Seven,” one of the others said, “How do we know it’s not going to infect everyone?”
“Because it’s not airborne. It can’t live in the air we have. The nitrogen in the air is causing it to weaken, which is where we get the Athosian Flu from. It also means it can’t be transmitted from one to another. It has to be ingested with something or injected, as already stated,” Dr Biro said, “I’ve been studying it for a while. Most of the markers between the two are similar. One is strong, the other weaker, but can still kill if conditions are right for it. The virus is vicious when it starts. I’m working out its incubation period at the moment, which is just over a day.”
“So we have a virus that can only be given out; we don’t know how much of it was created or where it is. For now, I suggest that you all watch what you eat and who gets close to you,” Jane said from where she was sitting near Dr Biro.
“So, a vote of no confidence against Weir?” Rodney said, bringing the point of the meeting back to the forefront.
“This will be anonymous,” Radek said. “Miko created a program to make sure that it will be. The results will be shown on the projection; none of us will see the data, as it is encrypted.”
“Elizabeth Weir was in charge of the SGC for a while, and several people died under her watch. She has tried to stop many of the missions that Major Sheppard has on the table, because they don’t bring anything to the table in her eyes. If not for the missions she objected to, we would have died from starvation. Even after I gave her the information that John had collected, she still didn’t look like it mattered at all to her,” Rodney said. “Voting is open. Everything spoken and done in here will not be said outside of it,” he added as he looked to them all to start.
Chapter Eleven
People started voting as Dr Heightmeyer looked at them, “I’m going to abstain from voting. Elizabeth is my friend, and I’m not sure that I can be impartial.”
“I understand and respect your decision on this,” Rodney said with a nod. “This is why I asked that we all come here and talk this over. If you’re not confident in voting either way, ask questions. Find out why you will vote yes or no,” he finished, looking around. He could see that some were hesitating.
“What will you do while in charge?” one of them finally asked.
“For one, I’m going to be looking at the stores we have. I didn’t realize how bad it was getting, as John was keeping that from us. He’d only confided in a few who were helping him gather information. I believe that John’s work and what he’s laid out will help us get back to where we should have been when we arrived on Atlantis. Not only that, but I agree with him that those who want to go through the gate should be proficient with a 9mm at the very least. I know I’m getting better with P90, but I doubt I’ll ever really want to use one,” he sighed, “This isn’t a sunshine and rainbows situation. It’s raining and thundering. Attacking on all sides. And from within. Discounting the fact that we think she poisoned several members of this expedition. She’s not done a single thing that she should have done when we got here. And I’m not just on about the things the military side of us talks about either,” he said, “I’m talking more about the farming, the growing of food, the lookout for supplies that we can do. The fact that she pared down everything we needed to bring with us until it was just the basics when it came to surviving.”
“It’s hard,” Miko said quietly, looking contemplative as she glanced up, “We put our faith in her; in Dr Weir. It was soon evident to me and a few others that she had an agenda that wasn’t part of the remit of this expedition.”
“That was clear to me before we even left Earth,” Carson said, “I’ve known Weir a good number of years, and I thought of her as a friend until the last four months before we left for Atlantis. She was starting to show a side of her that I’m not sure I liked. I did voice my concerns back then, but the IOA shut me down. I also tried to back out of going. But again, that was shut down, and the letter I sent was tossed aside. I also tried to make them see that I wasn’t cut out for the CMO position. I hadn’t practiced medicine on someone in over five years until now. I moved from treating patients to research because the constant death and despair was burning me out,” he told them. “She forced this position on me, and she knows that I didn’t want it. I’m just lucky I was able to get a few more people to come in and help in setting up a medical staff that could deal with the injuries and illnesses that we might get out here.”
“So you’re saying she forced you to come here? But this was voluntary.”
“Oh, I volunteered to come, but I didn’t want to be CMO, Diane, I’m a researcher, not a medical man,” he told her, “I may have practiced for almost ten years, but for the last five, I’ve been nowhere near an A&E, or ER as you Americans would call it. So I withdrew from the volunteer pool to try to get her to see that I didn’t want it. She denied my withdrawal and made it so I couldn’t quit, not without being sent into some black hole somewhere.”
“She wouldn’t do that,” Kate Heightmeyer said, shaking her head.
“She would, and she has twice,” Carson told her, “She refused to let me and another go.”
“Who?” Kate asked him.
“I will not say,” he told her, “That’s for them to talk about, if they want to.”
“I see,” she nodded and then looked at the others, “I can’t tell you not to, not after what you’ve heard. I… I have known Elizabeth for almost three years. This doesn’t sound like the woman I’ve known in that time.”
“Again, I’ve known her for a while, so have many of us,” Rodney told her, “We know of her ambitions, we know of what she’s done.. She is a diplomat, a politician, and ambitious. She wants to ascend, and that’s something we can prove.”
Miko looked at Kate and said, “Since we arrived on Atlantis, she has asked repeatedly for me to find any information in the city’s archives for Ascension.”
“Before that, she would corner Dr Jackson and ask him some rather uncomfortable questions regarding what happened to him and how he ascended,” Rodney added, sighing, “Weir has been stupidly persistent in her need to question Dr Jackson.”
“She’s after the ATA gene as well, since she’s mentioned several times wanting to look at the database herself to find what she wants,” Carson finished quietly. “She is after information on ascension, and that alone. She has no care about anything else.”
“Please cast your votes. I’m going to be closing it in one minute,” Rodney said. “We can’t wait here all day,” he finished quietly, as he waited for all the votes to be in. After a minute had passed, he ended it.
“All say yes,” he said as he saw the tally, “I’m… rather surprised at that. I thought more of you would vote against asking her to step down.”
Kate looked at them, “I can understand why the vote went against her staying,” she said softly, “From what I’m hearing, you all have reason to doubt her.”
“I wish this wasn’t the case,” Rodney said, “Now there is one more bit you all need to know. Several military people know about this. But not all, and no one but myself, Miko, Radek, and Carson know about this.”
“What’s going on?” Dr Biro asked, “I know there is another that is ill, but I’ve not seen them.”
“Yes, it’s Major Sheppard,” Carson answered, “He was brought in last night. In the hours since we’ve discovered a lot. Including what we found out about our food and medical situation. He has the virus, but no puncture wounds that we can find.”
“The meeting, yesterday morning,” Kate said, “he was coughing, that’s one of the symptoms, yes?”
“Yes, it does look like the Athosian Flu at first. But when we checked, it was the virus,” Carson added, “I’ve been mapping it out, just as much as the others. Working together with them. We’ve found nothing so far that combats it. I’m creating an isolation ward for the others, but John is being kept separate. At this moment in time, it’s because of two reasons.”
“Elizabeth?” Kate asked him.
Rodney was the one to nod and answered, “Yes. She has it in her head that John is undermining her authority. She’s been trying to curtail all the missions that he’s been arranging. Even the farm we’ve started on the mainland is something she’s not happy with. John showed me several messages last night that he’s gotten from her in the last couple of days. John’s ill, and if this continues, he-” he began only for Carson’s radio to crackle to life.
“Fuck,” he cursed as he listened to the message on the small headset. “Okay, we have victim number four. Tina has passed away. Four out of the ten infected so far have died. Within ten days of symptoms showing.”
“How… How long has it been since Major Sheppard started showing signs?” Dr Biro asked Carson.
“He’s on day three,” he answered, “I’m going to have mandatory testing to see who has the virus compared to the flu. Since both present the same, but turn more serious within the first twenty-four hours.”
“So he could… die within the week?” someone else asked. A murmur of shock went through them all at the thought.
Carson nodded slowly, “There is a chance. We… don’t know how to combat this.”
“What about the military assets in the city? Who… who would take over from Major Sheppard?” someone asked.
Rodney sighed, “That’s the problem. Next in line would be Lt Ford, and while he’s a good man, he would be the first to admit that he doesn’t have what it takes to lead the military side of things. The only other one would be Sgt Bates, but-”
“He’s an asshole and doesn’t-” one of Radek’s subordinates began.
“Like scientists, and would restrict what we do in other ways. Yeah,” Rodney nodded, “Bates is a problem on his own, even with John in charge. Bates has been trying to get a few people to start a coup, or at least talk about asking John to step down from his command position. It might end up being the case that he’s locked up until we can get in touch with Earth. Unless something happens to show him that he’s wrong about what he’s doing.” Rodney sighed as he finished and then began to explain why Bates didn’t like John, and what Sumner had done before they had gone through the gate, and since. How those within the military hadn’t trusted John, and that some of them still didn’t trust him.
“So we vote out Weir, have you, and then Major Sheppared dies, and we’re still fucked,” someone snorted.
“We’re working on a cure, and on something to at least help combat what’s happened to the Major and the others,” Carson told them, looking at them all.
“For now, we’re pretending that he’s fine and on the mainland with the Athosians and helping out with the farming. Sgt Stackhouse is in charge of that. Lt Ford is also helping by spreading it around in the City. There are minimal people from our expedition that’re over there at the moment,” Rodney added, “Right, let’s go. Kate, I’m not going to ask you to come with me while we tell Weir what is going on. But she may come to you for guidance and comfort. Please make sure she’s okay. She is a strong woman, but even the strongest can break”.
“That’s rather nice of you to say, considering what you’re normally like,” the head of anthropology commented.
“He may be cold and snappy to most, but that’s because he has to work with idiots. Those who spend time with him and get to know him properly, understand where that sarcasm comes from,” Radek said as he stood up, deleting the data from the vote.
“I see,” he nodded.
