A familiar clicking sound caught Evan's attention as he made his way across the cafeteria. Spying Colonel Carter - he just couldn't wrap his tongue around Sam now that she was his boss - and Zelenka seated at a table, he joined them. "Colonel, Doctor."
"Major." Carter smiled at him as Zelenka barely grunted, his attention fixated on the game in his hands. "Early lunch?"
"Yeah. Lieutenant Hendrix wants to have a racquetball game this afternoon so..." He shrugged.
"Not fun on a full stomach," she said.
"You play?"
She shook her head. "No. I'm not much into any sport that needs a ball."
Zelenka muttered in Czech as he worked a Rubiks cube, his fingers twisting the toy so hard Evan feared that it'd break.
"New training?" Evan asked motioning towards the other two cubes setting on the table, both as thoroughly scrambled as the one in Zelenka's hands.
"His niece and nephews got these for Christmas," Carter explained. "After six months, they've send them for Uncle Radek to solve."
Zelenka cursed some more and tossed the toy down in disgust. "Impossible," he growled, picking up his fork. "Why buy the toys if they cannot solve them?" He viciously stabbed a piece of meat and shoved it into his mouth. "Why not blocks? Blocks are classic."
"Probably because they're boring," Carter said as Evan abandoned his sandwich to pick up the discarded cube.
"There are millions of combinations," Zelenka said, gesturing with his fork.
"Billions," Carter corrected.
"Really?"
She nodded and tilted her head, picking up one of the cubes to trace her fingers over its surface, tapping them gently. "43,252,003,274,489,856,004," she said after a few minutes.
"That's not right," Zelenka said, picking up the other one.
"Yes, it is."
Zelenka shook his head. "No. That's not right. 43,252,003,274,489,856,000," he said triumphantly.
She nodded. "You're right. I forgot to carry the six."
"A Czech invented this." He held up the cube.
"No, he did not."
"Yes, he did. Erno Rubik."
"He was Hungarian," Carter said.
"NO."
"Radek, it was on one of those quiz shows the last time I went home," she said.
"His parents were Czech," he said, his tone slightly petulant.
"There's an easy way to solve this thing."
"I will NOT peel off the stickers," he said, making a move to grab it from her.
"Why not? All the sides will be the same color, puzzle solved." She shrugged. "Then again, people notice that. Just take it apart."
"Take it---Colonel, these belong to my niece and nephews."
"They'll never know."
"I'll know."
"Then buy them new ones."
"They'll know that too."
The last row settled into place and Evan set the cube down on the table, interrupting their discussion. The two scientists broke off and stared at the finished puzzle.
"How did you---" Zelenka sputtered.
"It's not that hard," Evan said as he got to his feet. He picked up his tray and ambled out of the cafeteria, whistling tunelessly between his teeth.