The Best of the Bad Ideas (part 5)
Title: The Best of the Bad Ideas
Author: Shenandoah Risu
Rating: PG-13
Content Flags: some bad language
Spoilers: Season 1 up to "Divided"
Word Count: around 18,910
Summary: It shocks her to the core when she sees the sadness in his eyes, which suddenly don’t seem so alien any more.
Characters: Everett Young, Tamara Johansen, the Destiny crew
Author's Notes: Written for the LJ Comm syfybigbang
Disclaimer: I don't own SGU. I wouldn't know what to do with it. Now, Young... Young I'd know what to do with. ;-)
Thanks for reading! Feedback = Love. ;-)
( part 1)
( part 2)
( part 3)
( part 4)
( part 6)
The Best of the Bad Ideas (part 5)
TJ has finished checking up on Young’s human body. With Chloe’s help she takes his blood pressure and temperature, checks his cortical reflexes, heart and pulse.
“How’s he doing?”
TJ shakes her head.
“High blood pressure, slight fever, as usual. Could be some sort of infection, could be a side effect of the stone use. We may never know.”
Chloe nods.
“Vanessa thinks I should go see Colonel Young.”
TJ pauses.
“He’s been asking about you every day.”
“Really?”
“Yes, of course. He’s concerned for both you and Dr. Rush.”
“Has Rush been there?”
TJ puts her stethoscope away.
“Yes. He’s making a chess set. I think he’s close to done. Then I guess the two of them will play.”
Chloe looks at her hands.
“I feel like such a wuss. I mean, he came after me, and here I am, and I look like I don’t care. I just have these horrible nightmares… I can’t help it. I’m scared.”
TJ nods and gently ushers her out into the corridor.
“Look, it’s totally up to you. He knows what he looks like. He’s not expecting you to go see him. He understands, believe me.”
“Will it make me feel better?”
TJ smiles. “I don’t know that, Chloe. Shock therapy like that can go either way. But you’ll never know unless you try. Just don’t guilt yourself into something you’re not ready to do.”
Chloe nods.
“I think I want to try. Would someone be with me?”
“Lisa is with him right now. I’m sure she’d be happy to stay with you.”
Chloe takes a deep breath. “Okay, let’s do this.”
***
Rush is relieved when Destiny jumps back into FTL. His chest aches more with each passing day, and he knows he has to come clean soon about the danger he poses.
As the colored lights of FTL speed wash over him he resumes his whittling.
He has to concentrate on not cutting himself.
It helps.
***
Lisa is reading a trashy Wormhole X-Treme novel to Young.
He seems to be quite enthralled, because Lisa’s reading comes with a running commentary and MST3K dialogue, complete with different vocal impressions.
“Sssa,” Young interrupts her and nods at the door.
Lisa looks up and spies Chloe through the porthole.
“Chloe,” she beams. “Come in!”
The door cycles open and Chloe stands there, holding on to the door frame to steady herself.
Young sits very still as she just stares at him for a while.
Then he purrs softly. “Ko-ee.”
Chloe smiles just a little. “Hello, Colonel,” she responds.
Lisa waves her over and she approaches cautiously.
“I brought you something,” she says hesitantly.
He tilts his head a little and looks up at her.
She holds out an iPod and small speakers.
Young hisses softly and reaches for the keyboard.
VERY KIND
Chloe takes another step and reads the screen.
“I can do without it for a little while. Mr. Brody says you should be able to work it yourself, if I show you how.”
One tap.
“I have a pretty diverse collection - I’m sure there’s something on there that you like.”
MOODY BLUES
Chloe laughs in delight. “Yes! I have all their albums on here! How lucky! They are - were - my dad’s favorite band. He used to go to all their concerts, he was a real Blues Head.”
And she slides up next to him and explains how to call up the menu screens, how to choose an album or a song and he works hard at using a claw to tap the tiny dial.
Lisa stands back and just watches with a smile on her face, the tacky novel all but forgotten.
There is a victory being won in front of her eyes.
It is far more satisfying than anything she has in print.
***
Eli is brooding.
He’s checked and re-checked the results of the communications stones device.
“It has got to be a problem on their end,” he mutters.
Grabbing his laptop he ambles down the hall to Kyrrtik’s cell. Dunning is standing watch outside, Volker is inside, engrossed in a camping stove manual.
Dunning signals to Volker and opens the door.
“Yo, Blueberry,” Eli greets the alien in Young’s body.
“Take a look at this. Have you seen this before?”
He turns the screen towards Kyrrtik. It shows a large high-res image of a communication stone.
Kyrrtik’s reaction is instantaneous - he explodes into a frantic struggle and screams and hisses aggressively. Volker jumps up and scoots towards the door as Dunning comes rushing in, gun at the ready.
“Bingo,” says Eli. “He knows something. Maybe he screwed it up, or someone else did after he used the stone.”
“All he did was holler,” Volker jerks a thumb at the snarling alien.
“Yes, but the reaction was quite sudden and extreme. It was definitely triggered by that image.”
He closes the laptop.
“I’m gonna talk to Colonel Young.”
***
The familiar blur-shift occurs and Scott and Greer race to the shuttle.
“We’ve got 2 hours,” Rush urges them on via the radio, “which means you have half an hour at best, probably less, before the aliens show up again.”
They strap themselves in and go through an abbreviated launch check-out, having left the shuttle in standby mode, just in case.
Dr. Inman compares her kino footage to the shuttle’s path while Brody, Volker and Lisa look on anxiously. “You’re good, right on track. To your left a little,” she advises Scott who’s piloting.
Lisa is monitoring the long-range sensors. “Still nothing,” she reports. “Hurry up, you guys.”
“There.” Brody taps his screen with the end of his pencil.
Inman beams. “Go around the damaged gun to your right. It will give you a little bit of coverage.”
“Roger that,” Scott responds.
Greer chuckles. “Weapons hot.”
Rush wanders over to the holographic display, scratching his scraggly beard. “Good to go, Sergeant,” he confirms.
“Contact,” Lisa yelps. “Oh my god, they’re back!”
“Firing.” Greer sounds uncharacteristically calm, and they can all feel the thump of the impact.
“Woohoo!” Scott shouts excitedly. “Got it in one! Greer, you da man! The tracking beacon is history.”
Rush shakes his head and turns away, rubbing his chest. “All right, Mr. Brody - transfer all available power to the shields.”
Lisa moves over to the intercom system and announces a ship-wide blackout to conserve power.
Kyrrtik wails in his cell.
Eli hunkers down to wait it out in the dark corridor.
Young closes his eyes as the music plays on.
***
“I’ve gone over the test results countless times. All the data supports that the problem is not on our side.” Eli gestures wildly as Young stares at the laptop screen.
“It has to be the stone that Rush took - maybe it’s defective or the Blueberries, no offense intended, screwed it up somehow.”
Young looks up at him.
THANKS
Eli seems crestfallen.
“I don’t think there is anything we can do, but I felt you should know where we stand, and the fact that you may be like this for the rest of your natural life.”
Chloe, who has been standing near the door, breaks into tears.
“This is all my fault,” she sobs. “If I’d stayed in my room they wouldn’t have taken me, and he would never have come after me.”
FOUND RUSH
“That’s true,“ Eli agrees. “He did find Rush.”
Chloe sniffles. “Still… I feel horrible about it, really, I do, Colonel.”
“And now the beacon is gone. Greer zapped it a couple of hours ago. I’m sorry, Colonel.”
OKAY
Eli gently ushers Chloe out of the room.
Young sits quietly, stunned.
***
TJ steps into the light, and there’s Young in his alien body, tied to his chair.
She listens to his heart - a strange rhythm, but for some reason it doesn’t bother her, as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world. She checks the back of his skull. Routine.
She shines her penlight into his eyes. There is no reflex.
“Tee-ssay,” he hisses softly.
“Don’t,” she replies, trying hard not to cry.
He makes a low keening sound and hangs his head, as she reaches for his wrist and then stops.
She lets go of his hand and unties the straps holding his arms down, then she takes off the rope around his chest and neck and kneels down to remove the bindings around his ankles.
She reaches out under his arms and pulls him up out of the chair. He groans in pain as he straightens out, and she pulls him close into a gentle hug. He rests his chin on her shoulder, and she reaches around and supports his head, pressing his face against her neck. He’s quiet, trembling a little.
“Come on,” she says and takes his clawed hand.
They step into the dark hallway and she leads him to her quarters, closing the door behind them.
He stands perfectly still as she opens the back seam of his suit, and it peels off his body easily, painlessly, bunching up at his haunches, and she bends down to hold the stiff material as he steps out of it.
Then she takes off her jacket and shoes, pulls down her pants, socks and panties, peels off her shirt and bra.
She reaches for his chin, makes him look at her. She kisses him, and his lips are strangely soft, exactly as she remembers, and she can feel him shivering in the cool air of her room. She touches his face, his chest, runs her hands along his arms, then kisses him again, slowly, sweetly.
She takes his hand and moves to the bed, and he lies down, never letting go of her hand, looking up at her.
She climbs up onto the bed and straddles his hips, then leans forward and kisses him again. He moans as she goes deeper, and she can feel his other hand on her back, stroking her gently with the tips of his claws. She smiles against his lips and begins to move above him.
He moans as he bucks his hips upwards, and she flies.
There’s something wet on her face, and she wakes up in tears, her body still thrumming with intense heat.
She cries out in terror and buries her face in her pillow, sobbing.
She’s alone.
She’s ashamed.
And she has to admit she loved every second of it.
***
“You want purple or green?”
Rush holds up two chess figures to Young.
COLORS
“Yes, well - we don’t have black or white paint, so Brody gave me a little purple sweet potato hooch for dye, and Becker got me some green seaweed to use on the others. So - purple or green?”
PURPLE
“All right.”
Rush pulls over a small table and sets up the chess board Riley has lovingly crafted out of bits of tile he found in a storage room. The figures are a little off in size, and none of the pawns actually look even remotely alike, but Rush finds himself irrationally pleased with his set. He places the chess pieces on the board and then holds up a coin.
“Heads or tails?”
Young cocks his head.
“Heads it is for you.”
Rush tosses the coin in the air, catches it and slaps it on the back of his other hand.
“Tails.”
One tap.
Rush makes his first move.
***
Lisa is in the infirmary with a nasty cut that won’t quit bleeding, after she hurt herself on a water container. Destiny has dropped into orbit around another planet with a large lake near the Stargate and everybody pitches in to replenish their reserves. TJ adds layers of gauze and applies pressure to the wound.
“You look great today,” Lisa says to her through a haze of pain.
“I do?”
“Yeah - you’re smiling. And you got color in your cheeks. Ouch.”
“Sorry.”
“No, no, I’m good, I’m just a wimp. So, what happened?”
TJ shrugs.
“I got some sleep for a change.”
Lisa blows out a breath. “I know what you mean! Now that the stupid beacon is gone we should be safe, right?”
TJ closes her eyes briefly. “Yes, you’re right, that must be it. Maybe we’ll all sleep a little better now.”
And in that moment the lights dim and an impact rocks the ship.
“Oh no.”
***
Brody urges the away team to hurry, and as soon as the gate shuts down they re-route its power to the shields.
The aliens are back.
***
HOW
Rush leans back and closes his eyes.
“Because I’m still here,” he whispers. “They implanted a transmitter in my chest, next to my heart.”
BEACON
“Yes.”
REMOVE
“I agree, but we have nobody here on board who can even remotely attempt to do the surgery, and we can’t use the stones to bring in a surgeon from Earth. I never expected the thing to work so well - and I certainly didn’t expect we wouldn’t be able to fix the stones device.”
Young leans back and looks up at the ceiling, eyes half-closed.
Rush gets up and gathers the chess pieces and board. He’s been close to calling check mate anyway.
Young utters an anguished cry.
GO TO SHIP
“What? Are you nuts? Oh, cheerio, folks, would you kindly remove the bloody transmitter from my chest?”
Two taps.
I GO
“You?”
LIKE THEM FIND STONE DESTROY
Rush sits down. “You fooled them pretty well last time,” he has to admit. “We have no idea where the stone is. It’s a very big ship.”
BRING FAKE FIND STORAGE
Rush squints at him.
“That’s nuts.”
DESTROY STONE DOC OPERATE
Rush looks up.
SCOTT TJ
“I’ll go get them.” Rush takes his chess set and leaves.
Young sits up straight.
He’s alone with his plan.
***
Vanessa and Chloe are feeding Kyrrtik when Becker hurries in. “Colonel Young wants to see you two. It’s urgent. Go. I’ll finish up with Blueberry here.”
The women exchange a worried look and Chloe hands the cup to Becker.
Kyrrtik growls and tugs at his restraints.
They leave, and Becker pulls up a stool. “All right, buddy, it’s just me. Settle down, now. Gotta finish your din-din. Heeeeere comes the airplaaaaaaane… vroom vroom vroom…”
Kyrrtik relents and eats up.
***
TJ is pale and nervous as she addresses her closest friends.
“Colonel Young has decided to go back to the alien ship. He’s the only one who can do it. He will take a fake stone with him. Sergeant Riley has agreed to fabricate one from available materials. Anybody like to help him?”
Camile raises her hand.
“Thanks, that’s great. Once on the ship he will try to find the place where the other stone is kept and destroy it. At that point he and Kyrrtik should swap bodies again.”
“Those things are pretty hardy little devices,” Camile pipes up. “How will you manage?”
Greer holds up a palm-sized square of gray doughy material.
“C-4 should do the trick quite nicely. Probably take out a few rooms, too.”
“Why don’t we give him a lot of that stuff then, so he can blow up the whole ship?” Eli indicates a massive explosion with his hands.
Scott shakes his head.
“Kyrrtik needs to physically survive. If he dies, the Colonel dies. So, we’re going to use a timer, to give him a chance to get a safe distance away.”
Nods all around.
“What if they figure out it’s not Kyrrtik? What if they don’t fall for this whole thing? What if he can’t find the stone?” Camile is clearly not convinced.
Young makes a clicking noise and they all turn to him.
MY DECISION
Camile shakes her head. “I still think it’s too risky, Colonel.”
Volker puts his hand on her shoulder.
“We’ll just have to hope for the best.”
TJ sighs. “So that’s the plan, then. It’s another bad one, we all know that, but we can’t go on like this, and Colonel Young is correct: it is his decision.”
“He did great - acting the part when Dr. Rush and I were over there,” Chloe confirms. “They never suspected a thing. Where is Rush, by the way?”
“He wasn’t feeling well,” Brody supplies.
“All right, people, let’s get to work,” Scott says. “Brody, Lisa and Caine - get the alien shuttle ready. TJ, if you could look into transferring the supplies for the Colonel - we have to get him in there as soon as possible, so he can take off right away at the next contact, before they start shooting. Eli - find Rush and drag him up there, to help with explaining the flight controls. Riley and Ms Wray - Becker is waiting for you; he has some stuff in the mess you can use for the fake stone. James and Chloe, TJ needs you for another minute. Everyone else - go do your job.”
They all leave quietly, subdued.
TJ bites her lip.
“Here’s the deal - Rush has a transmitter in his chest. He told the Colonel - that’s how the aliens could find us even after the beacon was destroyed. Now, I can’t do this kind of surgery. As soon as the stone on the ship has been destroyed, someone has to connect with Earth and switch with a surgeon. Dr. Brightman, if possible.”
“I’ll do it,” Chloe jumps in immediately. “I mean, I don’t have to know what I’m doing, right? It won’t be me.”
“That’s correct. Thank you. Vanessa, I need you to get an operating room ready - this is going to be down-and-dirty field surgery. Do the best you can, and I’ll check on it in a little bit.”
They stand there, stunned by the revelation.
***
“Rush, we need you. Come on. Please.” Eli gently puts a hand on his back.
Rush groans and clutches his chest. “Okay, okay,” he breathes. “Just… give me a second.”
Eli shifts nervously from foot to foot, until Rush gets up. He takes a deep breath.
“The pain comes and goes,” he mutters. “Let’s be off.”
Eli is quite thrilled to be in the alien craft, and as he watches Rush do a systems check he’s writing furiously to provide instructions for Young. He applies tape to the most critical systems and labels them clearly.
Rush shakes his head.
“Young’s a pilot, Eli. Don’t be so anal about this.”
Eli glares at him.
“Do we really want to risk him flushing himself out into space instead of engaging the docking clamps? I think not.”
“Fine. Whatever,” Rush grumbles.
TJ comes climbing up into the shuttle with a tub of supplies. She hangs the bags on rails at the low ceiling and drapes the feeder and drain lines over the pilot’s seat.
Eli looks up. She’s weeping quietly.
He moves over to her and pulls her into a bear hug.
“He’ll be fine, TJ. This is what he’s trained for. And I for one can’t blame him for wanting to get back into his own body.”
TJ nods. “I know. And he’s not doing it for himself, anyway. He’s doing it so we can operate on Rush, so we can be safe.”
“Exactly my point,” Eli smiles. “It’s what he has to do. You’d do the same, if it were you, right?”
TJ smiles a little.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
Rush has been listening quietly.
“It’s ready,” he points out. “Let’s go.”
***
( part 1)
( part 2)
( part 3)
( part 4)
( part 6)