SGA story, a paragraph per post...

[CarsonsKitty]

Carson headed to Rodney's lab but couldn't see him there, spotting Zelenka he asked if the Czech had seen him.

"No... I have not seen him today, I thought he was in infirmary with you" came the answer.

"Aye, well... he seems to have decided to refuse my hospitality." The Scot signed and carried on his search, the Mess, and balcony both were sans Rodney so he headed to the physicists quarters. Opening the door using his medical override he soon found the sleeping man. On the table by the door there was a note propped up that said 'Carson' on it so he picked it up.

"Carson, I know you'll find me... Fisher was driving me nuts so I came here. Rodney" he read. He quietly went up to Rodney and took his pulse, McKay grumbled slightly and pulled his wrist away, half waking.

"Ah ye daft sod" Carson chuckled "Go back to sleep" and he crept back out the room, radioing Owen to let them know where their missing man was.

[Alder]

Carson nipped back to the mess to get a tray of food, after having been disturbed by the dispensary alarm earlier, and took it to his desk in the infirmary, eating one-handed, and reading the lab reports. There were three unknown compounds that had appeared in McKay's blood, and trace amounts of the same substance in Fisher's, so Carson was fairly sure that they were from the green Tartessos moss. He glanced up as Owen Bainbridge came and sat down opposite him.

"What have you got?" asked Bainbridge.

"Well," Carson chewed and swallowed while he handed a few papers over to Owen. "There are these three compounds in both their blood. I'm calling them M1, M2, and M3, for now. The amount in Dr McKay's blood is far greater than in Fisher's. I'm thinking Fisher had such an extreme reaction because the compounds got straight to his bloodstream, even although relatively speaking it was less than Dr McKay. Rodney, on the other hand, accidentally swallowed the stuff, and I think ended up with a greater dose."

Bainbridge looked over the results and nodded.

"We need to work out how quickly it's moving through their system," he said.

"Right, son," said Carson, "so we'll need another run of blood tests in a couple of hours, and then again later. Can you take care of that, Owen?"

"Sure," said the young doctor, smiling and gathering up the papers he needed.

[CarsonsKitty]

The next morning Carson recieved a call saying that Owen couldn't find Rodney to get another sample. Sighing, Carson dragged himself out of bed and once again checked the Canadians usual haunts but he was nowhere to be found. Acting on impule he them went to the Catmonkey room and sure enough, Rodney was sat on a crate sharing a tray of fruit and dry meusli with the little animals. Carson smiled and sat on another crate to watch and to give Ailsa and Joe a scratch when they came to see him.

"I know" sighed Rodney "you need to steal more of my precious blood... vampire" He said with a smirk, Carson was just happy to see his friend looking more alert and smiled as he lead the grumbling scientist to the infirmary.

[Alder]

Owen gathered up the blood samples and took them along to the lab, where he started to work on the various tests.

Back in the infirmary, Rodney rolled up his sleeve.

"Can I go?" he said, his knee bobbing up and down with nervous energy.

"Aye," said Carson. "But I want to see you back in here about 4. And make sure you eat properly today."

"Yes, yes..." said Rodney absently, hurrying out in the direction of his lab.

Carson went back to his desk, and started reading through the information he'd downloaded from the Tartessos database. He'd pretty much used a scattergun approach, taking any references he could find to the moss, to the Wraith tech virus, and then any random medical stuff that looked interesting, but there was a lot there, and he was fairly sure that he would have missed useful references. He really would have to go back for a few hours to check through the database more carefully, and get further samples of the fresh moss.

"Aha! Well, that should make things easier," said Carson out loud. He had finally found a reference to Bryoklor, which seemed to be the official Hesperidean name for the moss. When he returned to Tartessos, he could do a more accurate search with the correct name.

[CarsonsKitty]

Carson sighed as he came through the gate, despite Tartessos being almost identical to Atlantis he was glad to be home. He now had pretty much all the surviving data on the Bryoklor to study. A quick check showed that the blood cultures from Rodney and Fisher were ready and to Carsons concern they were getting worse. Fishers were still only showing the maturing M1, M2 and M3 but Rodneys contained more spores, indicating that the moss was either growing in his blood or he had been re-exposed. Shaking his head Carson sat down to read up on the effects of Bryoklor on humans.

"Oh my God" He said as he reached one section, calling Dr Bainbridge over "According to this 'Once Bryoklor is in the bloodstream it forms cultures that secrete a powerful stimulant, once this is being produced sleep can only be obtained through the use of powerful sedatives'.... If this is true then we need to get these things out of Rodney and Kevin... prolonged exposure to stimulants will eventually damage the heart and kidneys beyond repair! and we've already seen what it does to they're psyche"

[Alder]

Owen Bainbridge sat down next to Beckett, looking worried.

"Is there anything there about treatment?" he asked, looking over the material that Carson was studying. Carson shook his head.

"Not that I've seen, yet. They did a lot of research into the properties of Bryoklor, interested in its contradictary effects at different stages. It seems that they may have used a refined form of the compound as a medicinal stimulant, and as a long-term treatment as a sedative for chronic sleep problems. But patients would be on the drug for life, unable to sleep without it..."

Bainbridge looked up to where Fisher was still tossing and turning in his bed.

"That's not good news for our boys," he said.

"We'll have to make sure that everyone visiting Tartessos takes extra precautions as well. It's like wandering around all day in a field of opium poppies - we need to get that stuff cleared out of the city if we're going to be spending much time there safely," said Carson.

[CarsonsKitty]

Dr Bainbridge opened an e-book on Earth moss and the medical complications they could cause, grinning as he found one that could cause mayhem in the bloodstream. He took notes before taking the information to Carson.

"Umn.. Dr Beckett?" the young Doctor said, "I have found here that in rare cases moss spores can enter the bloodstream on earth, treatment to remove them is dialysis" Owen felt proud when he saw the pride on Becketts face, Owen almost hero worshipped the Scottish Doctor.

"Aye lad, that seems the most sensible option available at the moment, let's go grab some dinner and work out a schedule" Carson said, clapping the younger man on the shoulder. Whilst eating, Owen was playing with a herb sauce on his plate when he suddenly went white.

"Doctor... if the people using the Bryoklor as a sleep aid cannot sleep without it... how come Dr McKay is doing better? if he had an Earth sedative it could be really dangerous for him! did you prescribe anything?"

"No lad, I didnae give him anything" Carson scowled, "Oh no, what's the silly sod done now?" Carson abandoned his food and went in search of his friend.

[Alder]

The silly sod was off in a remote area of Atlantis, pacing again. He'd liberated Ginny from her living space, and she was perched on his shoulder, chittering quietly, her fluffy tail tickling his neck as he stroked her tiny head. It was the only thing that seemed to relax him - his mind was racing, but he could feel exhaustion creeping up on him again.

McKay stumbled drunkenly sideways for a moment, and then recovered his balance, leaning against the wall with one hand. Ginny grabbed on tight to avoid slipping, and scolded him for the fright.

"Sorry," he muttered, lifting her off his shoulder and holding her in the crook of his arm. He made his way over to a bench, and sat down for a while, leaning his head on his hand, trying to slow his breathing. He had slept exceptionally well again the night before, woken up rested and relaxed, and been full of energy all day, but now he felt completely drained. His knee was bobbing up and down as he leaned back against the wall instead, and his hand twitched.

"I need...something..." he said to himself, and finally got up, heading back through the corridors towards his quarters, and the little bag of Bryoklor...

[CarsonsKitty]

Carson rubbed a hand over his face and scowled, he had looked everywhere he could think of for Rodney and there was no sign, and of course today was when the internal sensors had to be shut down for recalabration. With a sigh he went back to Rodneys quarters, it was getting late and he would eventually show up there. Using his medical override he walked in, coming to an abrupt stop as he saw Rodney by an open access panel, a plastic bag containing moss clutched in his hand.

"Rodney! what on earth are you doing?!" He gasped, snatching the bag away and putting it in his pocket, Rodney looked worse than before with sweaty pale skin, deeply shadowed eyes and he was trembling as if he was in an earthquake.

"Carson...I....I... I just wanted some sleep... and..." He stammered as Beckett grabbed his arm and guided him out the door.

"But nothing... that stuff is dangerous and you are coming with me" Carson marched him down to the infirmary and quickly had him in scrubs and in bed.

"I'm sorry to do this to ya Rodney, but you leave me no choice, we need to get that stuff out of your system before it's too late" The Scot said, his eyes filled with compassion as he fastened the restraints with Owens help, trying to shut out the cries and accusations aimed at him by the ill scientist.

[Alder]

"Right, Bainbridge, he's been exposed to this stuff at least twice, so we're doing to have to treat him first," Carson said briskly. "We need the dialysis machine..."

"I'm on it," said Owen, already halfway down the room, and returning a few minutes later, pushing the machine with the help of a nurse.

"Right, let's get this set up," said Carson, and the three of them worked quietly and efficiently to attach McKay to the machine, Carson taping the tube to McKay's arm gently.

"Ok, we'll leave him on it for five hours I think, and then take more blood tests to see how much of the Bryoklor we've removed. I want you to check on him every hour Owen, without fail...!"

Bainbridge nodded.

"I'll do that, and then re-set it for Fisher," he said. "And...Doctor Beckett?"

"Aye, son," said Carson, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"I'm perfectly capable of doing this. You get some sleep yourself..." said Owen pointedly.

Carson chuckled.

"I'll see you in the morning then," he said, and went off to his quarters.

[CarsonsKitty]

Meanwhile, back on Tartessos, John, Teyla and Lorne were handing out facemasks to all the personel over there, they had been notified of the danger the bryoklor posed. So instead of doing the research and exploring they hoped to be doing, the crew were going through the city with high pressure power cleaners and cleaning the moss from the work areas. John sighed as he handed out the last mask, adjusting his own so it sat better and picked up a pressure washer for himself.

"Oh yes, come to the Pegasus Galaxy for all the excitement you can handle, near death round every corner!" he muttered before amusing himself by writing his name in the moss with the powerful jet, shrugging at Teyla's amused expression he then worked on cleaning the rest of the console.

[Alder]

"Man, this stuff is everywhere," said Ronon, shovelling what was now green sludge into a garbage bag.

"We're making some headway," said John, hosing down the Gateroom stairs to where two long-suffering techs were brushing the moss into a huge pile. "Couldn't wander about the place with it like this, just asking for trouble."

Zelenka picked his way past Sheppard, trying to avoid the puddles.

"Have you heard anything about Rodney?" he asked, pausing for a second. "How's he doing?"

Sheppard shook his head.

"It'll be tomorrow before we know anything for sure, according to Carson," he said. "Better check back then."

Zelenka gestured with his tablet.

"He'd better have improved, there's work for him to do here..." he said, wandering off again.

[CarsonsKitty]

Zelenka sighed as he went over the data he was working through. It was the schematics for the Aeschylon tech, that weird hybred formed by the Aeschylon and Ancients all those years ago. One interesting thing he noted was they had very limited weapons capability unless there was an Ancient on board.

"Colonel Sheppard... I believe you will be interested in this" He called "It appears that the Ancients built in many safety protocols so these ships could not be used against them, in fact there must be both Ancient and Aeschylon for them to... how you say... reach potential" the excited Czech told him.

"Well you can understand the Ancients wanting to protect themselves... these ships are way more powerful than the Wraith ships we have seen... McKay will want to see this when he is better" John said, rubbing his jaw as he thought through the possbilities.

[BFH_Bushy_Tush]

Ronon threw his pressure washer to the ground, heading into the cleared area and up into the control room so he could take a break.

"I hate to say it, but I doubt we'll be getting this done any time soon. There's just too much." Sheppard made a sound of agreement from where he sat.

"I'm a member of the U.S. Air Force. Apparently, that means that I get to be a gardener in my spare time." Lorne and a few other military members laughed at their CO as they entered the area. Teyla shook her head at all of them.

"When the Daedalus arrives, we should talk to the Aeschylon and the Bion about this moss. See if they know of any ways to get rid of it." Sheppard nodded.

"I'll be sure to mention that to Weir when she checks in..."

[Alder]

Back on Atlantis, Bainbridge was setting up the equipment to dialyse Fisher, being as careful as he could be. He looked up to see Doctor Beckett sneak in the door. Owen beckoned him over.

"I thought I told you you didn't need to get up," he scolded quietly.

Carson grinned and yawned.

"I woke up anyway," he said, "and then couldn't get back to sleep without coming to check on them. How's McKay doing?"

Bainbridge glanced over to McKay's bed.

"Well, I don't want to be too optimistic yet, but I think it helped. He's in a fairly light sleep, keeps waking, but it's natural at least. I'm starting the new tests, and then heading for bed myself, Dr Doyle is on in about a half hour."

"Ok, then," said Carson, reassured. "See you in the morning, then."