"Wait one minute, please." Another pause, punctuated by a few hushed, unintelligible mutterings. "Ali, now. Please activate the shield. I will talk you through it."
With Zelenka's guidance, Corletti made the necessary adjustments. "Okay, that's it," the Marine announced at last. "Now how do we know if it's working?"
The response was subdued. "I can think of only one way."
Peering down at the mass of writhing gray below the jumper, Corletti glanced over at Teyla, looking for confirmation. Although her stomach lurched at the prospect of what was to come, Teyla turned in her seat to face Halling and the others. She did not have the right to endanger their lives, especially as she had denied them the ritual.
Halling offered her a tentative smile. "You must do what is necessary." Drawing Jinto closer to him, he nodded once, briefly, and turned his gaze to his son. "I love you."
At that moment, Teyla could not have been more proud to call herself an Athosian.
Corletti put the craft into a shallow descent and drew in a long breath. They would no doubt be dead before much longer in any case, and at the very least, a failure here would be swift.
Jumper Three settled onto a mass of gray goo-and was immediately engulfed by darkness.
Chapter Thirteen
Consciousness returned slowly, many of its usual signs jumbled or missing. He heard nothing and saw only blackness. There was no pain, which was strange because he had a distinct recollection of an extremely unpleasant toothache. A few seconds passed before other memories coalesced in his mind: the sandstorm closing in on him with a predatory howl-
Heart racing, Rodney jerked halfway off the bed. His bandaged hands were numb and failed to support him, but someone was immediately there, easing him back down into soft pillows. A gentle hand stroked his forehead, and a soothing, melodic voice broke through the hazy panic that had begun to set in. "Rest and do not fear. You are safe."
The human body, Carson had told him on several occasions, cannot remember pain. Well, Carson was full of it. The pain Rodney had recently endured would be imprinted on his psyche for all time. He was certain he'd felt his eyeballs burst, felt the skin being ripped away from his face. He remembered terror and agony and… And yet he was here, his skin whole and warm under the nurse's touch. She smelled of honey and jasmine, and the comfort she offered felt so incredibly pure. He found his pulse slowing and the memory of that shocking trauma fading. The drugs, no doubt. "Is Carson here?"
"I do not know of Carson."
All right, not a nurse. He was sure he would have remembered such a voice if he'd ever heard it on Atlantis. For some reason that didn't bother Rodney as much as he might have expected.
"You are in my home on Polrusso," the voice continued. "I am called Turpi."
Forgetting the bandages, Rodney lifted a hand to his eyes, and succeeded in knocking bound fingers clumsily against his face. "Why is it so dark?"
The woman — Turpi-caught his hand and lowered it to his chest. "Your eyesight will recover," she assured him, holding his arm in a loose grasp while her other hand still lay against his face. "But the damage was great, and it will take time for you to heal. You must leave the bandages in place for several days. If you remove them too soon you will lose your sight permanently."
"Permanently?" He should have been monumentally freaked out by that warning. Somehow, he wasn't. Which was worrying in itself, but even that argument failed to take root, and he found himself simply… accepting.
"Lie still. You have much healing yet to do "
"Wait." He wasn't sure why he'd said that. She'd made no move to step away, but even the idea of her leaving frightened him. Probably because you can't see, genius. "The others-the people traveling with me. Where are they?"
"I know of no others. They may still be in the village near the Stargate "
"We're not there now?"
"We live in a different village. It is some distance away."
Turpi's hand moved up and down his arm. The motion was soothing, but unusually dulled. "Why can't I feel my hands?" The flood of panic that he knew he should be experiencing refused, for whatever reason, to make itself known.
"Like much of your body they were badly burned. Your clothes and whatever possessions you had were taken by the sand. My father found you struggling and wrapped you in robes to protect you. He could not see the path to the cliff-dwellers' village, so he took you inland away from the storm."
As she spoke an image became sharper in his mind. He recalled a rider in swirling black robes, face shielded from the sand and hidden from view. The rider had been astride a white animal-a stallion, maybe, although it seemed to feature some traits that he'd seen in the llama-like village animals. The whole thing had a very Lawrence of Arabia feel to it, and although the image wasn't entirely clear, it reassured him nonetheless. If he'd seen this man-and he knew he had-then his eyes couldn't have been destroyed after all.
But he'd known that already, hadn't he? Turpi had promised that he'd regain his sight, and he knew on an instinctual level that he could trust her word. Her presence calmed him immeasurably, her hand on his cheek as soft as a newborn's. "We will get word to your friends when the storm abates. Rest, and heal. All will be right."
And it would. He remembered the crisis on Atlantis, but it seemed remote. They would be all right without him for a while longer. Secure, Rodney slid back into sleep.
When Carson first heard the discussion between Zelenka's and Teyla's jumpers over the com, he considered taking his earpiece out. He wasn't sure he could bear yet another loss if the shield modification failed. Looking across the crowded infirmary, he found Sheppard listening intently. A couple of hours of rest and medication had allowed the Colonel to sit up with only minor dizziness, and now he was fully focused on his teammate's plight.
Many of the woundedAthosians and sand victims who filled the infirmary were stealing occasional glances in Sheppard's direction, realizing that something important was going on. Changing tack, Carson went over to Atlantis's military commander. "Colonel."
He had to repeat the call before Sheppard glanced up. Carson mentally slapped himself. Of course Sheppard would have the earpiece in his undamaged ear, leaving him with only limited ability to hear the room around him. "Colonel, I think everyone would like to know what's happening with the jumper," Carson said, careful to enunciate. "It will have a large effect on our actions once the nanites reach the city"
Sheppard considered for a moment, then touched his earpiece. "Elizabeth, can you put this on the citywide channel?"
A second later, Carson heard the com chatter echoing from the PA system rather than through his earpiece. The Athosians notice ably straightened upon hearing Teyla's voice over the speakers, and Sheppard nodded, taking his earpiece out. "Good call, Doc"
Lieutenant Corletti was the first to report on the jumper's surroundings. "Well, um, it's dark. And gray."
"That's it?" asked Elizabeth.
With a faint smirk, Sheppard commented, "Rodney would have her head on a platter for that one."
Carson tried to smile in response, but couldn't quite manage it. Though he believed there was almost no chance that Rodney could still be alive, it was a viewpoint the Colonel evidently didn't share, and Carson feared that acceptance would not come easily if no evidence of Rodney's fate was ever found.
"Now that the inertial dampeners are functioning again, I have no sense of our passage forward," Teyla added, "no motion at all. Beyond our shield it is just… gray."
"Can you send me another material analysis?" Zelenka asked from inside Jumper Two, about to depart for Polrusso. Several seconds passed before he replied, "Good. Dr. Weir, were they transmitted to the control room as well?"