Allrighty, I'm glad you're all curious and wondering what's up with our peeps- but uh. You're just gonna' have to keep wondering for now. (:
Erisinia- you are correct about the 'principal' thing. Oops-- and not to mention-- thanks:P
Greywolf Lupous- Pudding King? OMG, you have no idea how hard I laughed when I read that! Heee! Whoo…. Ah, thanks for the review.
Okay, enough jibber-jabber- here's the third part:
(3)
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I tried working with him. I really did.
But the Czech was acting very peculiar, hovering over my shoulder, triple-checking my calculations - and he kept asking all these really asinine questions. Things like, "Are you sure you're feeling adequate enough to work?" or "I believe you should be resting, possibly?"
Obviously someone had told Zelenka about my spill on MG7-855, but, come on, this was just ridiculous! After an hour of that kind of treatment, I couldn't take it anymore and I chased him out of my lab, ignoring his squawked protests in both English and Czechoslovakian. I think he might have insulted my mother in the heat of the moment, but I couldn't be sure.
Running a hand over my head in annoyance and feeling more than slightly perturbed, I sat back down on the stool, settling myself in front of the MALP data. That had been really weird. Usually Zelenka was very work-oriented, and, uh, not quite so worried about my physical health. Whoever told him about my passing-out must have greatly exaggerated the circumstances.
So, I shook my head free of thoughts on the other scientist, what had we determined so far? As expected, externally everything checked out. I reached over my own laptop and pressed some buttons on Zelenka's computer (I hadn't let him come back for it), bringing up the graphs he'd started.
The graphs showed the more recent missions the MALP had been sent out on, the exact measurements of air toxins, water analysis -- something darted across the floor.
"What the -- " I spun around on the stool, seeing the creature zip out the door and down the hall.
I'd only seen it briefly, but I would've sworn…
Temporarily shoving all thoughts of the MALP aside I ran to the door, poking my head out while trying not to loose sight of the small creature.
There it was again!
And this time I got a clear view.
But… I… it couldn't be…
A cat? On Atlantis?
Impossiblé!
Except, that's exactly what I was seeing run down the hall, and… yeah, he looked just like Charlie. See, that's what made me uneasy. I mean, if it had just been any old cat, I'd have Elizabeth on the radio immediately, demanding to know why and- more importantly- how there had been a feline loose in my lab.
But… the thing looked like a carbon copy of Charlie from back home. The same brownish-gray fur with dark-colored stripes -- and, I made this out before the animal disappeared left down another hallway, a black-tipped tail.
I stepped out of my lab hesitantly, wondering if I should go after it.
With a small sigh and a self-deprecating roll of the eyes, I took off down the hall.
Following the path of the alleged cat, I turned left once reaching the hallway. There! I saw the back-end of the cat dart into the tech supplies room.
"Damn it!" I muttered under my breath, quickly chasing after. Of all the rooms to go into, it had to be that one. The tech supplies room was chock-full of useless crap. Useless crap that would make it very difficult for me to find the cat if it planned on hiding from me.
"Here kitty kitty…" I called, sliding quietly into the room, so as not to scare the creature. The lights switched on almost immediately, recognizing my presence.
I didn't see the Charlie look-alike anywhere.
I poked around a few stacked boxes and containers, but there wasn't much more I could do, the room was just too full. I only had a limited amount of space to maneuver in.
Trying as best I could though, and peering through the cracks and spaces between all the tech equipment, I got down on my hands and knees, watching for the luminous eyes of a cat staring back at me.
Sticking my head in a gap beneath a rather large box for a better look, I completely forgot that the door to the room was open behind me.
"McKay?"
I slammed my head into the box above me. "Ow!"
"What the hell are you doing?" Sheppard asked from the doorway, sounding more then a little alarmed.
Pulling my head out, I sat down on the floor facing John, gingerly feeling the top of my head, "Ow ow. Do you see a bump? I think I feel one coming on."
Sheppard didn't answer; he was staring at me as if I'd just said my nose had sprouted ten inches long and grown daisies at the end of it. IE: Like I was crazy.
"Seriously," I winced at my own touch, pointedly ignoring his uncalled for look-- honestly, it wasn't that weird. "it feels like a bump. Ouch."
"What were you doing?" he asked, then added with a slight eye-roll to pacify my complaining, "And no, I don't see a bump."
"Are you sure? Because it definitely feels like one…" I trailed off, dropping the hand down into my lap, and mournfully trying to ignore the throbbing from my head.
I glanced up at Sheppard, and because of his expectant look, I recalled that he'd asked me a question. So I told him in an amazed voice, "I just saw something I couldn't possibly have seen."
The way he responded to my little comment was amazing. I mean, he acted as if I told him his mother had died or something. His whole body sort of fell in on itself, and his head dropped forward in what could have been defined as defeat.
I stared at him. "Jeez, it was just a cat Major! I saw a cat, okay?"
"A cat." he repeated, still staring at the floor.
"Yes," I said, a fair amount disturbed at his reaction, "I was working on the MALP when I saw it and--"
His head lifted, sounding almost hopeful as he asked, "Hey, wasn't Zelenka working on that with you?"
"What? Oh. Yes. I had to send him away though, he was being very bothersome--"
"So… he didn't see the cat?"
I was getting angry with his incredulous tone, "Didn't I just say that? No, he didn't see the cat! But I did." I gestured at the boxes around me, "And it's somewhere in here."
"Are you sure it was a cat?" Sheppard asked, still using that annoying tone as he stared down at me, "Maybe it was something else -- "
"It had four legs, whiskers and a tail!" I interrupted furiously, rising to my feet, "I think I know what a cat looks like Major!"
He held up his hands, trying to placate me. "I know you know, McKay. But, well, there aren't any cats on Atlantis--"
"I know that!" I yelled in frustration, getting the distinct feeling that this conversation was going in circles and accomplishing nothing except getting me increasingly annoyed. "Are you even listening? I know what I saw--"
He frowned, starting again, "McKay--"
"Aah!" I shouted just to shut him up, throwing my hands in the air. Admittedly, it wasn't a very intelligent way to express my displeasure at the situation, but I found I was actually so annoyed at him that I couldn't think of anything else to say. "Just… forget it." I finally said disgustedly, striding past John and out the door.
He didn't try to follow me as I walked down the hall, which was good, because every second I looked at his doubtful face, the angrier I became, and might have done something I'd regret if he made me continue to.
John hadn't believed me, I realized as I stormed down the hall. He hadn't even wanted to listen to what I'd had to say; he had come in already not believing me. I rounded the corner, fists clenching and unclenching in irritation. You know, I could've understood initial doubt, but just to instantly think I'm a liar… The pounding from my head didn't make me feel any better.
I wondered bitterly if Carson would give me any aspirin now. Not that I was going to ask him, I was still mad about that whole situation too.
"This whole day… has been really crappy." I muttered to the silent room, arriving at the empty lab again to pick up where I'd left off. If no one wanted to find out why there was a cat on Atlantis, that was fine with me; it's not like I didn't already have hundreds of other things demanding my attention. Whatever.
Sitting down on the stool, I reached into the pocket of my shirt, looking for my one and only solace: a power bar.
I ripped the packaging open with my teeth, absently clicking buttons on the laptop. Some information popped up that reminded me to finish looking over Zelenka's graphs. Then I would need to cross-reference them with the relating field reports, establishing when the MALP had started to first malfunction. Then I would have to find out why it started to malfunction.
Even the power bar couldn't help me feel any better.
I carelessly tossed the untouched bar in the general vicinity of the trash can, looking back down at the computer with a heavy sigh.
It was going to be a long night.
---
---
I seriously considered putting chapters 3 and 4 together, but then I decided it's better and more… 'impacting' if they're apart.
So, don't hurt me for the 'shortness' of this chapter, 'kay?
--Hey, can you guess what I'm going to ask for here? Can ya'?
Why, I'll even give you a penny for 'em!
:P