A jagged flash illuminated the interior of the jumper. It was almost immediately followed by a second bolt of.. lightning! Relief swept through her. They had reached dry land, which meant that they could not be too far from the camp. Testing her com, she was not surprised to hear nothing but static.
The pain above her ear and the throbbing at the back of her eyes were indications that she had been rendered unconscious, although she had no idea for how long. "Lieutenant?" she called.
The next lightning flash confirmed that they had indeed landed upside down. Of Lieutenant Corletti she could see no sign. Teyla took a step-and froze when the jumper slid backward nearly its own length before coming to a jarring stop. She glanced at the windshield and saw nothing but violently thrashing branches. Their landing site, if it could be called that, did not feel at all stable.
"Lieutenant Corletti?" Another sharp ribbon of light allowed her to look into the back of the shuttle, and she quickly located the Marine's form sprawled up against the rear hatch. A pang of remorse struck Teyla. Had it not been for her insistence in continuing to the mainland, the young woman would not have been injured-or worse.
Although the jumper continued to shudder in the gusts, it seemed to have settled in position by the time Teyla cautiously made her way to the Marine. The flashes of stark white light were almost continuous now, showing all too clearly the lieutenant's grimace of pain. "Lieutenant?"
A soft moan was followed by colorful string of expletives. "My shoulder. It's dislocated."
"You are certain?"
"Oh, yeah. Not the first time." Biting her lip, Corletti brought her right hand across her chest to brace her shoulder before easing into a sitting position.
Having treated similar conditions in the past, Teyla said, "I can help, if you would allow me" The sooner it was set, the easier it would be and the faster it would heal.
"Where are we?" The pilot peered out through the cockpit. "Hell of a storm. At least we landed in one piece-more or less-instead of ditching in the ocean." In the ragged light her grin became a wince, but she added, "You know what to do? I'm pretty sure it's an anterior."
Finding a suitable location for first aid in the upended shuttle took several minutes. Eventually, Teyla braced the woman against the chairs and rotated her arm with decisive force. Corletti clenched her jaw, giving only a brief, wordless cry when her shoulder locked into position with an audible `click'.
Battling the obvious pain, the lieutenant hissed a series of short breaths through her teeth. "Oh…man," she said finally. "Feels better already-thanks."
"Are you certain that is your only injury?" The Marine's words of gratitude contradicted her pale features.
Corletti frowned at Teyla. "I figure I'm probably doing better than you. Your face is caked in blood."
"It is a scalp wound, nothing more. I have tried to call Atlantis," Teyla continued. "Perhaps the jumper's radio?"
"Doubt it " Allowing herself to be helped up, Corletti reached for the control panel and endeavored to power up the jumper. "Must have busted something when we hit, which makes us the luckiest people in the Pegasus Galaxy. I would have thought that anything violent enough to damage a jumper would have turned the contents into Spam."
"Spam?"
Pulling out a panel, Corletti replied, "You don't want to know-on either count."
Teyla used the light from her weapon to locate the medical kit. The lieutenant was favoring her left arm, and although the shoulder appeared to be in place, Teyla suspected there was additional damage. "Your arm needs to be strapped."
"Just a sec." Corletti managed to activate the HUD. "Oh, crap… Well, it could be worse. We could have gone right over the edge."
It took Teyla a moment to interpret the inverted display, but it seemed they had landed atop the uneven cliff directly behind the main camp. A careless movement might send them plunging to the ground. With no inertial dampeners to cushion the fall, it could prove to be fatal.
Under normal circumstances it would have been prudent to stay with the jumper, but Teyla knew only too well that a rescue was out of the question, at least until her teammates returned from offworld with a machine that might or might not exist. And while she had every confidence in Rodney's ability to operate such a device, it would take time. "Most of my people would have taken refuge in the gorge below us"
"How far below?"
"Perhaps two hundred feet."
"Okay." Corletti fastened her with a determined smile. "We have rappelling equipment stowed in the back."
"Your shoulder-"
"Is fine. It was a dislocation, not a break. Like I said, it's happened before. Nothing to get excited about." Corletti was already moving to the rear of the jumper.
Perhaps the Marine was being truthful on one level, but Teyla knew that the injury would be a hindrance. "I believe it is best if I climb down to the ground and locate a suitable anchor point." She found her pack and pulled it on, then crouched by the hatch, prepared for the onslaught.
Corletti opened the hatch. "Don't climb back up. I'll throw down-"
The howling wind tore the words away before they had fully left her mouth. Teyla had expected rain and wind, of course, but the water's impact on her face was like a million tiny punches, making it almost impossible to draw breath. The violent wind slammed her back into the bulkhead. Even the sound was like a physical force.
Ignoring the fierce pain of shredded twigs and branches slapping against her, Teyla lunged across the jumper and hit the mechanism to close the hatch, for Corletti had lost her grip and also been flung back. When the jumper was once more sealed and some order reestablished, she looked back to see the lieutenant. The woman's dark hair was plastered back off her dripping face, and she was clinging to the bulkhead that divided the two sections of the jumper. Only inches from her face, one end of a splintered branch had speared deeply into a supply kit.
Eyeing the near-deadly missile, Corletti spat out a mouthful of water and said, "Okay, let's rethink that. As much as I like shish kebabs, I really don't want to end up as one-whoa, what was that?"
The jumper abruptly slipped another short distance, but that did not concern Teyla so much as the blast of noise that reverberated through the hull.
Halling waited until everyone was clear of the shelter and making their way back down to the main camp before following. He understood that some of his people would be injured in the ferocious storm, but he also knew that the consequences of remaining under the shelter of the mountain would be catastrophic.
"We must keep going," he declared. "Move as if the Wraith were in pursuit!" Through the flashes in the sky he could see people fall and slip in the mud, but none were left behind. By the time they had all reached the outskirts of the main camp, two ominous cracking sounds had come from higher up in the mountains. He looked back but saw nothing. The storm had eased for a time, which, though it made for a smoother journey, provided them with less light.
At the main camp several hunting parties ran to greet them, wanting to know what was happening. Kwesi gesticulated wildly and pointed back the way they had come. When he motioned toward the river and headed in that direction, several people made as if to return to their tents.
"No! We must stay together," Halling told them, looking around for those who had been up at the lakeside camp. "Has anyone seen Jinto?"
"No one from the mountains has returned," replied a new arrival. "Perhaps we should stay here and wait?"
Kwesi's normally soft voice broke through the discussion. "Listen to me! We must cross the river and take shelter in the caves on the far side. Staying here is dangerous. Look!"
As a group, they turned and peered into the darkness. It took several moments, but the next series of lightning strikes confirmed what Halling had feared. Beyond the next valley, the entire face of two mountains had sheared away. He could not see what had become of the earth, but there was no doubt that it filled the valley beneath, cutting off the path to the lakeside camp. Any hope of going in search of Jinto was now lost.