Chapter 2: Aren't you forgetting something?
The shaking of the city woke me some time later – after a few moments the tremors stopped and I relaxed back onto the bed. I had the sense that I'd been asleep for a long time and at first I had no idea where I was. It was quiet and dark and actually pretty creepy waking up in that strange room. The lights came on a little and I scanned the room as my brain filled in the gaps and reminded me I was as lost as any person had ever been. And pretty damn hungry too. I didn't really have any plan in mind about how I was going to get out of the mess I had gotten into – all I knew was that I didn't want to get caught and tossed into jail which seemed like the only outcome I could imagine now that things had gone so far.
So food – how was I going to deal with that if my intention was to hide? I searched the boxes I'd carried through the gate and found a bunch of electrical components that might have been useful to someone else but not to me. Looking in my bag I discovered the bottle of water and package of nuts I'd put in there the morning this whole mess had started. Realising that there was no point in rationing such a meagre set of supplies, I decided to assuage my hunger and worry about my next meal later.
After eating I explored my little room some more and discovered that I had another door leading out onto a little balcony. It opened automatically as I approached (how cool was that!) and I got my first very worrying sight of where I was. All I could see was water ... lots and lots and lots of water. So – no chance of escaping and finding my way home out that door. My heart was beating super fast and I felt that horrible wash of sensation come over me that you only get when you think about something really scary. I sat down right where I was and put my head on my knees, breathing deeply. I had expected to see mountainside because that's what I'd seen just before I entered the NORAD base. A big ocean of water was as far as you could get from that. Was I in some other country completely and how had that happened and more importantly how was I going to get home now?
Not knowing what else to do, I decided my only priorities right then should be survival and NOT getting caught. The room had bathroom facilities so that wasn't going to be a problem. Although my desire to remain hidden would give me the motivation to go as long as possible without food I knew within a day or two I'd have to go in search of supplies.
You know how in movies when someone stows away and is then discovered they emerge from their tiny box or whatever they've been hiding in showing little sign that it was even a hardship? So not the case in reality! After only one day in my spacious (especially compared to a box) hiding place with absolutely nothing to do I began to feel very frustrated. The fact that I didn't know anything about what was going on outside my room was driving me nuts and I decided that that night I'd risk it and try to find some supplies as well as a little more about where I was.
I say "night" because although I'd been using my watch to determine how much time had gone by I couldn't reconcile night and day – when my watch said it should be midnight it was blazing with light outside on my balcony so either there was something wrong with my watch or I was in a completely different time zone.
The waiting for darkness was killing me – seriously I hate waiting for anything in general and this was worse because at the back of my mind I was coming up with various ways I could explain my presence when I got caught by the very scary looking military guys I was sure would be jumping me as soon as I opened my door.
Luckily all that worrying was for nothing because when I peeked out my door no one was there. Hoping that no one would find my room while I was gone I checked to make sure the door did close automatically after me (still cool – like being on Star Trek without the people with pointy ears) before creeping off down the corridor.
I decided to head in the opposite direction I'd come from to avoid the whole gate area that I assumed would be busy no matter what time of the day it was. I heard voices from down the corridor and quickly ducked into a side passage to wait for them to pass. And that's when I had my truly great idea – it had only been a couple of days – would everyone really know who everyone else was? Maybe I could hide out in plain sight instead of creeping around and looking suspicious. It was late so the number of people around would be small and as long as I behaved as though I belonged here I could totally get away with it.
Taking a deep breath and trying to put on an expression of serious belongingness I stepped out of my hiding spot. I tried to imprint on my memory enough markers so I could find my way back again before I walked confidently down the corridor, following those voices I had heard previously.
The voices led me to an area that was clearly some kind of commissary – it looked like they only had military rations but I couldn't afford to be fussy. I grabbed a tray like the two guys I'd followed and continued to emulate them as I picked up a packaged meal, a coffee (yeah – caffeine!) and a bottle of water to take back to my room. I sat a few tables away from my "tour guides" and bent my head down, trying not to rush the first meal I'd had since arriving here. Once done I sat for some more thinking about my next move and frankly being surprised that I was still "at large". That's when it happened ... I spotted that military guy I'd admired my first few minutes here. And he was looking right at me with a puzzled look on his face ... I knew he was trying to remember where he'd seen me before.
"Oh crap" I thought. "He's coming over ... what do I do? What do I do!"
Pasting a weak smile on my face I looked up when he stopped in front of me and said Hi.
"Hello," I replied. Geez, could I sound any more nervous?
"I don't know your name," he said "but I remember seeing you when we first got to Atlantis."
"Yeah – been pretty busy since then," I said, trying to sound like I had a purpose, other than trying not to pass out because I'd suddenly forgotten how to breathe.
"Major John Sheppard," he introduced himself, holding out his hand.
"Nice to meet you," I replied, shaking his hand and then quickly letting it go when I felt a not altogether unpleasant jolt pass from his hand to mine. "Sorry to rush off but I really have to get back to my ... work," I added, gathering up my tray as I pushed my chair back and away from him.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked.
I turned back to look at him ... noticing again how seriously hot he was especially now that I could see he had these deep hazel coloured eyes and a quirky grin on his face – did I do something amusing?
"What?" I asked. That came out sharper than I'd intented but I seriously wanted to get out of there and I didn't know what I was going to say if he asked me for my name. Should I tell the truth or just make something up?
"Your laptop," he said, pointing to the computer I hadn't noticed was sitting on the table when I'd sat down.
I smiled again in thanks, grabbed it quickly, and then make a hasty exit. I turned to look back once I'd got to the entrance and saw he was still standing at my table watching my retreat with that same puzzled look on his face.
Once back in my room I sat on the bed breathing deeply. It had been a very nerve racking experience but well worth it. I now knew I was in a place called Atlantis – the very name of which sent a chill mix of dread and excitement through me. And I had a laptop which even if it didn't contain more information would at the very least have games (please not just solitaire – I hate that game) to relieve my boredom.