ACT 2 – TRUTH
Chapter 26 – A Terrible Morning
Rodney had lost track of how many days he'd been in Janus' Lab. He always loved challenges, lived for them in many respects, but breaking into Janus' Fort Knox of a database was the most difficult thing he'd ever done. Each cipher, password riddle, or Ancient puzzle they'd managed to crack – and there were far too few that they had deciphered for Rodney's liking – they'd only found more layers of protected data beneath each of them. So far, they'd not actually found anything.
It felt like Janus' database was some massive pile of onions, where even after hours of work got you through a decryption you found you were just through one layer of one onion within the mountain.
Janus had built this database like he'd never wanted anyone, ever, to break into it. Rodney had to imagine that even Janus' fellow Ancients would have struggled given that some of the puzzles seemed personal to Janus. The most infamous of which was a physics puzzle that had taken him and Carter working together to break, which had led to another puzzle with the simple question: "Mother's favourite recipe". How the hell was anyone supposed to know the answer to that question?!
Jackson had dug through Atlantis' records and had found Janus' Mum's name, but she hadn't left a log of her own, so they'd assigned someone to go back through Janus' public logs in hopes they'd find something about Janus' family recipes, but Rodney had all but given up on that one. If the secrets of the Skerti were hidden behind that encryption he really couldn't see how Janus ever expected them to crack it. Surely it was going to be pure fluke. However, the recipe question had apparently become something of a joke in the city, Sheppard having been gathering various guesses from people in different departments during his rounds, turning up several times a day with a new list of ideas to type in. Rodney had left Sheppard to that fool's errand, which, at least, seemed to be amusing the guy.
But for Rodney, Janus' database was getting really frustrating. He'd never taken this long to crack a mystery before, or at least feel like he was getting somewhere with a puzzle, but no, Janus' layers upon onion layers of passwords just seemed never-ending. If finding the Skerti info wasn't as time sensitive, he could have seen this as something fun to do around his other work, but instead the whole city was waiting for him – and the others – to find the vitally important Skerti intel Janus had promised Sheppard would be here.
If Janus could have just left a hint as to which bit held the Skerti intel. Or even just plain told Sheppard the answer to the puzzles they needed to get to the precise bit of information. As it was, they had no idea behind which riddle the Skerti info was waiting; which onion they were looking for within the mountain.
Rodney sat back from the maths calculations he had set running on his laptop; it won't provide the final answer, but simply a step to get to the mathematical answer Janus' puzzle was asking for. If Rodney had understood it correctly.
He'd always known the Ancients were intelligent, obviously, but some of Janus' scientific puzzles were the highest level stuff he'd ever worked on. The only positive was that Carter had looked as confused as him about a couple of them, especially the advanced physics ones. It had been a long time since he'd felt almost out of his depth and he didn't like it.
He watched the laptop running, the computer working through the various stages of the advanced calculation. It wouldn't take too long, but all he could do was wait. He set the laptop on the console and sat back in his chair with a tired sigh.
He realised that he had no idea what day of the week it was; he'd barely left Janus' lab for anything other than to use the bathroom down the hall and once he'd gone to his quarters to change his clothes. Whereas the rest of those helping out – both his own people as well as Skan and his experts – kept to their set hours, he and Jackson had pretty much spent every hour, day and night, in here. They'd had a camp bed put up to one side of the lab, and they'd taken sleep shifts through the nights, but Rodney wasn't sure he knew how long they'd actually been in here.
That they didn't appear to be getting anywhere with Janus giant mind-puzzle just made it all the more frustrating!
He missed the Mess Hall, missed sunlight – something he'd not ever considered before. He'd barely seen Katie, though he'd walked into her in a hallway yesterday when he'd gone to his quarters to switch his crumpled smelly clothes. He'd apologised to her for having essentially disappeared these last unclear number of days, but she'd said she understood; that everyone was talking about their discovery of the lab.
She really did seem to understand how busy he was…
He wasn't sure when he was going to talk to her about the proposal now, with his every waking moment here in the lab, and it felt weird to just ask her randomly while he was running between here and his quarters. If he could just find something in Janus' database, then he could set aside some time to see her. Finally finish the conversation they'd started in her lab.
"I'm through another password," Jackson suddenly announced victoriously from the left, his voice arriving with an abrupt loudness that made Rodney suspect that he'd been falling asleep as he watched the laptop running the calculations. Sitting up straighter and clearing his throat, Rodney peered at the screen above Jackson's console.
Unsurprisingly, no great promising list of Skerti secrets had appeared.
Just three more puzzles now revealed from behind the former encrypted password.
"Oh what a surprise; more riddles," Rodney muttered sarcastically, trying not to feel too pleased that Jackson hadn't been the one to finally get to something useful.
"Yeah," Jackson sighed, his brief enthusiasm dying away. "I'll start on them," he reached forward with one hand and tapped on the console to select the uppermost of the three new puzzles, while lifting his other hand to his face, rubbing at one eye behind his glasses.
At least Jackson looked as tired as Rodney felt.
"Maybe you should take a break, it's late," Rodney suggested.
"It's morning, Rodney," Jackson replied as the new latest puzzle played across his screen in Ancient.
"Really?" Rodney lifted his arm and peered blearily at his watch. 6:27am. "Right, yes, of course; I knew that."
He glanced over his shoulder and, sure enough, the rest of the Lab behind his and Jackson's chairs was empty of anyone else; just him and Jackson working away. He wasn't sure he had noticed when everyone else had left.
Had he even had a sleep last night? He definitely recalled having spent some time lying on the camp bed, because he remembered getting up when he'd had an idea about one of the physics riddles.
"Maybe you want to go for a walk?" Jackson suggested. "Get some fresh air?"
"I'm good," Rodney dismissed the idea, though actually that did sound kind of good.
Jackson sighed, his usually annoyingly optimistic attitude breaking a little as he pulled off his glasses and blinked round. "Is everything a competition with you?"
"No," Rodney objected instantly, while trying desperately not to yawn while Jackson was looking at him. "It's just, you know, this is really important work finding Janus' Skerti info stash…" He shifted his laptop slightly on the Ancient console's edge.
"We'll find it," Jackson replied with the quick return of his optimism. "Janus wouldn't have sent us here if we weren't capable of getting to the information."
"He could at least have given us a clue," Rodney muttered. "Some hint would have been good. Or just an index!"
Jackson nodded as he slid his glasses back on and peered back up at his Ancient screen. "I know. I'm pretty sure the 'Mother's favourite recipe' isn't going to be the right place to look," he added with a smirk of amusement.
"Exactly," Rodney agreed. "Not that Sheppard is going to stop trying." Annoyingly, Sheppard had actually been rather helpful, having solved a couple of the more basic maths puzzles.
Rodney knew he shouldn't be so desperate to be the one to break the most puzzles and riddles, to be the one to finally reveal the long awaited Skerti intel; but he just couldn't seem to stop himself from feeling in competition with Jackson and everyone else helping out.
Katie said he should be more patient, that he was part of a team and success for the team was success for him…
Still, if he could just break through the layers of at least one of Janus' onions of protection, he knew he'd feel better about things. Even if it was just finding out what was Janus' Mum's favourite recipe.
To the left, Jackson leaned forward, peering up at the screen. "Looks like this one is another Ancient knowledge puzzle."
"If it's as easy as the one Skan and his Ancestor expert solved, we may be in luck," Rodney muttered as his laptop flashed, the latest stage in the calculation was complete. He sat forward and ran his eye over the result, which looked close to what he'd predicted. He copied the result and fed it into the next stage of calculations he'd designed to solve Janus' brain-turner.
He set the laptop running on that and slouched back in his chair, sighing out a long tired breath. Maybe a walk would be a good idea. Maybe go up to the Mess Hall, get some breakfast, maybe change his clothes again. Checking Jackson wasn't looking, he dipped his nose and sniffed at his uniform in the vicinity of his underarms; it wasn't too bad, but he should probably change this morning. Have a proper shower.
Off to the right behind him he heard the faint familiar sound when someone stepped through the 'magic door' as everyone was annoyingly beginning to call it; he blamed Sheppard for that. It was probably the arrival of some of the morning shift. He glanced round to see who was so keen to start this early, and almost did a double-take as Katie stepped through into the lab.
"Katie!" He shot up from his seat, almost stumbling into the Ancient console as he got up.
"Hi Rodney," she smiled sweetly as she lowered her hands; everyone did that walking through the 'magic door', an instinctive thing Rodney guessed when you stepped into what looked like a solid wall.
Her smile switched into fascination as she looked away, taking in Janus' Lab.
"Wow," she said softly. "So this is the famous secret lab."
"Yeah," Rodney nodded.
"Good morning, Katie," Jackson added cheerfully from the right and Rodney watched Katie move her attention to the Archaeologist.
"Good morning, Daniel," she smiled brightly in return before her gaze returned back to Rodney. "I am sorry to interrupt," she frowned politely.
"No, no, you're not," Rodney replied hurriedly as he moved around from behind his chair towards her. "I was running calculations," he gestured back towards his laptop.
Katie nodded, her eyes big as she smiled tightly up at him. "I was up early to check on that new blooming flower that only opens in the early morning, and I thought you might be free for a walk?"
"Umm, yes, I," Rodney glanced back round towards the laptop; the latest stage of the calculation was still running and Jackson was here…
"Go, Rodney," Jackson waved a hand towards him. "You need a break; maybe breakfast."
"If you're sure," Rodney peered back at the laptop; even if it completed, no one else would know the next step… "If the others turn up, tell them not to touch the laptop. I've got to add the formula for the next stage once it's finished running this part of the calculation.
"Sure, Rodney," Jackson smiled and then looked past to Katie. "Was nice seeing you again, Katie."
"You too, Daniel," she smiled softly before she turned and started towards the wall behind her.
"I won't be long," Rodney assured Jackson.
Jackson glanced at him over the top of his glasses with what looked like a pointed look. "Take your time, Rodney. Enjoy your walk."
Rodney wasn't entirely sure what that was about, probably an order to take some time away from this unending set of riddles. If he was gone awhile, he'd insist Jackson do the same amount later; make sure they had equal break time.
Moving away, Rodney headed after Katie who had reached the wall, but it wasn't as clear where the 'magic door' area was on this side.
"Here," Rodney reached forward past her, his hand and part of his forearm disappearing into the wall.
"Oh," Katie laughed nervously before she lifted her hands up in front of her again and stepped out through the wall.
Rodney followed her, stepping out into the cooler air of the dead-end corridor. The musty smell of the old flood damage hit his nose, as it always did here. He'd gotten rather used to the warmer nicer smell in Janus' lab, but once he and Katie got out of this corridor, it would smell better.
"How are you?" He asked as they headed forward together.
"I'm fine, thank you, Rodney," she nodded sweetly as they walked. "How are you?" She asked with a more probing tone.
"Okay. Well," he reached up and pulled at his uniform jacket a little. "I probably need a shower and a change of clothes. Its hard work, Janus really didn't want anyone breaking into his database."
"I'm sure you're doing a brilliant job," she said kindly.
They'd reached the turn out of the dead-end corridor and as they turned out into the next hallway, he considered her complexion, which looked a bit paler than usual.
"Did you have to get up very early for the flower….check?" he wasn't sure if she'd mentioned the blooming flower and whatever experiment she was running on it before now.
"Not too early," she smiled, but her eyes shifted forward. "It's fascinating really, the plant is able to quickly adapt to changing light conditions. We're trying to understand the mechanism it uses to recognise the change in day length outside without access to natural sunlight. Somehow it still knows that the days are getting a little longer on this planet with the time of year, and it isn't even its native planet."
"That is interesting," he nodded.
She led the way into a side corridor, seeming to know her way around this area of the city better than he did.
Something felt a little off about her this morning; maybe it was the early start. He had gotten ridiculously used to all nighters, but most people didn't have the experience he did with staying up all hours as needed. He'd nearly always had that ability, to be able to focus despite being desperately tired. It had served him well through his career, especially since joining the Atlantis expedition.
That said, once Janus' puzzle box was solved, he was going to have at least a full day in bed.
"Hopefully we'll get the Skerti intel soon," he assured her as they took another turn and into a new corridor. "I was thinking, when I get some time, we could maybe have a picnic again."
She smiled, but it was a tight-lipped smile, her attention focused forward.
"Or something else…" he offered quickly.
She nodded, but then abruptly stopped walking. It took his sleepy brain and feet an extra couple of seconds to react to the fact that she had stopped, but he quickly pulled up and turned to face her, opening his mouth to ask if she was okay.
"Rodney," she said softly, "I have been thinking about when you visited me in my lab the other day."
"Right, yes, I remember," he nodded. How could he forget? When Jackson hadn't interrupted him mid-proposal! "I'm sorry about having to leave so quickly. Jackson has terrible timing and-"
"Its fine, Rodney," she held up a hand, her gaze meeting his. "What you are doing is really important."
He nodded, but something definitely felt off. Had she worked out what he'd been about to ask in her lab? If she had, she didn't seem to be jumping for joy about it…
"I was thinking about some of the things you said…" She added, her eyes looking massive now.
He nodded, but in truth he couldn't quite remember everything he'd said; he'd been so nervous and sweaty, and then things had kind of gotten busy afterwards with finding Janus' lab.
"And how things have been going well between us," she continued.
"Right, yes," he nodded; he did remember that because he'd practiced that part. "Though I know I've been really busy lately, but I think that, once Janus'-"
"It's just," she interrupted him, her eyes dropped away, "you're very busy and I'm not sure if…things just aren't right for us right now."
Right now?
He struggled to work his sleepy and suddenly anxious brain, opening his mouth silently.
"I think our work keeps us on somewhat separate paths," she added hurriedly, blinking up at him, and now he could see there were tears in her eyes.
Oh no.
"I know I've cancelled a lot of dates recently, but there's been a lot on," he explained in a rush.
She nodded, blinking rapidly. "I know and it is important work. It's just…" she glanced away and back up at him. "Our work here, it just seems that, there's always important work. I'm not sure that there's space for us here."
"I can do better…" He offered, but he couldn't really argue against her conclusion. His job involved long hours, and he knew he wasn't good at signing off at the usual end of a duty shift.
"You do amazing work here, Rodney," Katie replied. "You shouldn't ever have to apologise for that."
But clearly he did.
"I just," she added, glancing away, blinking away tears, "don't think that I can fit into your life."
He opened his mouth to argue against that…but, again, he couldn't actually dispute her conclusion. He'd outright forgotten dates, been late to others, not turned up her quarters when he'd promised her he would. And not just since the taskforces with the Elite or the search for Janus' lab; he'd been rubbish for a long time.
But he'd thought that things were at least okay between them, that she was busy too… How could things go from thinking about proposing to being dumped?
"But," he frowned, "I was going ask you-"
She held up a hand. "I know."
He looked back into her eyes.
She had known.
"I think this is the best decision for both of us," she stated.
He looked away, his throat catching.
Another failure.
He nodded silently.
"I hope that we can stay friends," she added.
He'd heard that too many times.
Been dumped far too many times.
Nothing ever seemed to change.
"If it's okay with you," she continued. "I'll take my things out of your quarters?"
He nodded. "Okay."
"You're busy here, so I'll put the things you left in my quarters back in your room too?"
"Okay," he frowned faintly. He had no idea what he might have left in her quarters; he couldn't think of anything.
He guessed that said something.
Failure on his part.
"I'm sorry, Rodney," Katie added, sounding emotional now.
He tried to give her a smile, but it didn't really work.
She smiled sadly and rose up on her toes. She angled herself in a way that he knew what was coming.
She pressed a light kiss to his cheek…
He closed his eyes for the brief moment of her touch, absorbing it with the depressing knowledge that it was the last kiss.
His throat felt cloggy and the exhaustion from the last few days seemed to rush over him.
She pulled back, but he looked away back down the corridor.
"I should probably get back to Jackson," he indicated the escape route. "He really needs my help with the…Ancient…Janus…stuff…"
"Of course," she replied. "Take care of yourself, Rodney," she uttered, her voice still sounding tearful.
"You too," he nodded and started moving away from her, hurrying down the corridor without looking back.
It was over. They'd been together for years and it was clearly his fault. He'd not made any time for her, his work too important…
He turned a quick couple of corners, hurrying forward without looking where he was going.
At least he hadn't actually proposed, even if she had worked out that he had been working up to it. Presumably that had been what had made her decide to dump him.
He paused, becoming aware of the corridor around him. Where was he? He'd not paid attention to where she'd led them for their break-up walk and now he was lost.
No, not lost, he could work it out.
He looked up at the waterline. It was slightly lower than the dead-end corridor with the 'magic door', which put him further in towards the centre of the city. He followed along the corridor to another corner, took that, peering ahead.
This felt far too symbolic right now; not sure where he was going and failing at everything.
Another corner took him to where the waterline stain was definitely higher. Yes, there up ahead was a bright arrow stuck on the wall to help guide staff to the lab. He hurried towards it and took the turn it indicated.
Right, yes, this was looking more familiar now.
He was okay…
The turn into the dead-end corridor came into view ahead and another bright arrow on the wall opposite it.
He took it quickly and hurried down the hallway towards the 'magic door'.
He'd just focus on his work, like he always did. He'd crack Janus' damn puzzles, then he'd be able to get back to working on the Elite joint taskforce work. Focusing on developing the tech that would help everyone here and those back home. Prove his worth again.
At least now he didn't need to spend his savings on a ring.
With that depressing thought, he walked through the 'magic door' and back into the lab.
The morning shift still hadn't turned up, so it was just Jackson still sat at his console. He had his trolley of his history books next to him again and was flicking through a large book, working on finding the answer to the latest Ancient puzzle.
Rodney headed straight for his own chair and where he could see that the laptop had finished the latest calculations.
"That was quick," Jackson noted looking round.
Rodney didn't look at him, just walked to his chair and sat down. "Yes, it was," he agreed as he pulled the laptop onto his lap.
He ran through the calculation result. Again, it looked about right. He just needed to input the final formula to run the result through and that should, in theory, provide the final answer to Janus' puzzle question.
"Everything okay, Rodney?" Jackson asked after a quiet beat.
Rodney nodded as he called up the programme to design the formula. "Let's just get on and break these latest puzzles," he stated, clearing his thick throat a little.
Jackson didn't answer right away, so Rodney looked round at him to find the Archaeologist watching him, the man's eyes shifting over Rodney's face with what looked like an annoying expression of pity.
"Can we get on, please?" Rodney asked, feeling uncomfortable under the compassionate look.
"Of course," Jackson replied with a smile.
Rodney looked back to the laptop. He'd just focus on his work and it wasn't like there wasn't a ton to do. Plenty to focus on.
"I think I might have an idea for this latest question," Jackson added.
"You do?" Rodney asked, taking the obvious bait.
"Interestingly, I think the answer we need is from Ancient Greek mythology," Jackson explained animatedly. "This is because the name Janus uses here…"
0000
Seeal was running a little late this morning. She had slept really well last night, waking up slowly and she'd struggled to get moving. Her busy day yesterday was probably to blame as well as having falling asleep a bit too late.
After a full day and then a lovely evening with Oneakka, she'd retired early to bed and lost hours snuggled up reading. Amel had recommended some fiction stories to her, so she'd started reading one. It was a tale set in the first starting days of the Alliance and told a fictional story of a brave male from Aria who had helped fight the Wraith during a culling and ended up helping the growing military movement. On assignment on another planet to secretly gain support for the fledging Alliance, he'd met and fallen "in love" with a female on that world. Their affair had been short as he'd had to leave with his team, only to have heard that her planet had been attacked by the Wraith. Seeal had ended up staying awake to read enough to be sure the heroine had survived. Which was foolish, because presumably the story was intended to be enjoyable not full of death. It was all a very grandiose tale and full of almost embarrassing amounts of romance, but it was oddly compelling and relaxing to read.
Plus it was nice to read something other than technical journals for a change.
Clearly Amel had good taste in stories.
But for now, Seeal was currently running late to meet Smee for First Meal. It didn't matter too much as he didn't have a shift this morning, having had to fill in urgently yesterday evening, and her Project team were starting a little later today when a guest speaker would be presenting the latest developments of the organic tech circuits. So there was no hurry, and she'd text linked Smee to let him know she was a bit late.
Cleaned and dressed, she set the pad with the fictional story in the little alcove by her bed, and spread her hands over the bed to make it bit tidier. She collected up her jacket and her pad, sliding it into her back pocket. She ran her hands through her hair, ensuring it was tidily secured back in its long tail, and glanced into the reflection of her dark wall screen to check she was presentable after the heavy night of sleep. All good, she headed out into the corridors of the Facility.
She was looking forward to her meal with Smee, as they'd not met up for a few days and she had so much to tell him about the incident on Saoka's station. He was going to completely agree with her shock at the station's lax security that had somehow let a blaster through undetected. Mentally she ran through the salient points that he'd be particularly interested in from a security perspective.
Arriving at the Canteen, she swept her gaze around the big room and quickly spotted Smee sat at a table. He lifted a hand and she waved back.
Heading to the morning's food choice, she selected several pieces of lightly toasted sweet-grain bread, some sticky fruit spread for the top and a big cup of her favourite Athosian tea. That done, she picked up her tray and headed for the waiting empty seat across from Smee.
He smiled as she arrived at the table. "Good morning, Seeal."
"Morning, Smee," she grinned back as she set down her tray and pulled out her chair. "How as the extra shift yesterday? I saw you having to deal with that Recruit."
"It was fine," he replied, which was a surprisingly brief answer from him; he was normally very keen to share security stories. "How was the latest research experiment yesterday?" He asked.
"It went fine," she replied as she spread the sticky fruit on the bread slices. "They're all done for the time being, though I wouldn't be surprised if I have to give some more blood samples or something," she added before biting into the tasty toast.
"Good," he nodded with what seemed an oddly strained smile.
She frowned at him as she chewed. He didn't look as relaxed as normal; she wondered if the extra shift had lasted through the night. "You okay?" She checked.
"I'm well, thank you," he replied, but again it seemed a little…formal for him. But, she took his answer at face value. If the male was feeling tired that was fine. She'd soon entertain him with her story.
"Well, I've got some great stuff to tell you about," she started. "I was on the big trading station a couple of days ago, the one Saoka-"
"Actually," Smee interrupted her, "there was one thing I wanted to talk to you about."
"Oh?" She asked as she chewed on another big mouthful of toasted bread.
He took a breath, leaning forward a little, laying both his forearms onto the table either side of his partly eaten First Meal.
She paused in her chewing, several things registering about him. There was definitely a strained tension to his face, faint frown lines between his brows, and he was holding his body stiffly….all signs of stress.
"I wanted to ask you," he glanced down, pausing, his fingers drumming briefly on the table as he seemed to be thinking. He was definitely stressed about something. "Does Honoured Elite Oneakka know that we're…friends?"
She frowned at that random question.
"Of course," she confirmed.
Smee's expression took on a pinched look. "Are you sure about that?" He asked with what sounded like a carefully chosen questioning tone.
"Am I sure that we're friends?" She joked to try to help ease some tension. "Yes, I know that."
Unless this was going to be another discussion about their friendship? She'd made it very clear in the discussion they'd had weeks ago that she was only interested in friendship between them, not the romance he had obviously offered. He'd said he understood and had seemed more than happy for them to continue sharing security stories from their pasts. Things had been fine since, and she really enjoyed their meals together.
But was he wanting to debate their friendship status again?
She wasn't sure why Oneakka came into that discussion though…
"No, I meant does the Honoured Elite know that?" Smee asked again.
She frowned at him. The signs of stress had gotten more pronounced. His complexion was faintly pale and, she focused a little on his breathing rate…yes, he seemed to be breathing faster than normal…
"Yes, Honoured Elite Oneakka knows we're friends," she stated clearly for him.
"And you're friends with him?" Smee asked next.
"Yes," she confirmed what was clearly obvious. "What's wrong, Smee?"
"I really value our friendship," Smee replied though, locking eye contact with her to emphasise his point.
"I value it too," she confirmed in case that was the issue here.
Smee smiled back clearly pleased with her answer, but his posture wasn't any more relaxed yet.
He glanced down and then leaned a little further forward. "Honoured Elite Oneakka," he started in a low voice, "isn't someone that I'd want to…" he paused and his face went through several uncomfortable expressions as he seemed to be searching for a word. "Anger."
She frowned at his word choice.
Anger?
She reassessed Smee's tense body language, which was starting to look more like how a victim of a crime might present.
"Did something happen, Smee?" She asked.
"I just think," Smee said in that lower precise tone again, "that perhaps Honoured Elite Oneakka is unaware of our agreement to enjoy our friendship. And I was hoping that you could maybe let him know how things stand."
Something didn't make sense here. Smee was an experienced Military Security officer, but he was looking more like someone who would need security to help him.
Clearly something had happened, something involving Oneakka apparently. She'd spent pretty much the whole evening with Oneakka though, the two of them having gone to see the goats after a very long Late Meal in here together. After that, as far as she knew Oneakka had gone back to his quarters. Had he and Smee walked into each other then or maybe earlier this morning?
It didn't make much sense though, because why would there be tension between the males over her friendship with Smee? She'd barely ever talked about Smee with Oneakka, Massa having been the one to have all the probing questions.
Nothing new had happened…except Smee had cancelled their Late Meal yesterday because of his shift. Surely Oneakka wouldn't see that as a slight against her for him to get cross about? That would be ridiculous.
Though it was Oneakka, he did nothing small…
"I will make sure to clarify things with him," she decided would be a clear answer and hopefully reassure Smee. "Oneakka can be a little overprotective of me and his other close friends, and he can appear very stern to some people."
"I deal with Elite every day, Seeal," Smee frowned at her though, having taken some offence at that. "I know a threat when I encounter one."
A threat?
She straightened up in her seat. "What do you mean 'threat'? Did he hurt you?" She demanded, aware that her Security Lead tone had appeared from nowhere.
"No, no," Smee replied quickly though. "He didn't hurt me."
She relaxed a little, but not much. Oneakka had threatened Smee?
"But, I'd appreciate," Smee continued, "if you could just clarify things with him for me."
That was a very out-of-character request from a Military Security member…someone who didn't back away from confrontations. He was trained to deal with confrontations and resolve them, just as she had used to do. Yet, here he was acting nervous and clearly asking for her help.
"You didn't make that point to him yourself?" She asked.
"I'd prefer not to have to speak with him directly for awhile," Smee replied with a very strained smile, the look and weak attempt at self-deprecating humour suggesting he was feeling embarrassed at having to ask her.
What in deep Wraith shit had Oneakka said or done to Smee for him to react like this?
She felt instantly affronted for Smee.
Whatever Oneakka had done was not acceptable!
"Don't worry," she assured Smee firmly. "I will deal with this straight away." She set down a slice of bread and pushed back her chair.
"I didn't mean you had to now," Smee frowned up at her.
"I won't be long," she told him, the Security Lead tone back again. Best she deal with this now and Smee could feel reassured.
And she'd deal with Oneakka.
She strode away for the exit out of the Canteen.
That Smee hadn't supplied details of what exactly had happened between the two males said a lot to her. Oneakka being overprotective about her coming under attack or being in a chilly cubicle was understandable, sweet even, but getting threatening about Smee cancelling a meal with her… It didn't make sense. Oneakka hadn't seemed to pay much attention to her time with other friends, male and female, here and on the Sythus. Why would he suddenly get overbearing now?
Or was his recent overprotectiveness getting out of control for some reason?
She paused halfway down a corridor, realising she had been heading towards Oneakka's quarters but wasn't sure if he'd be there. She quickly navigated towards a wall panel, tapped it awake and requested the location of his Beacon.
He was in the Rehab Gym apparently, but she had no idea where that specialist gym was located. She called up the map of the Facility and scanned through it, finding the Rehab Gym and how to get there from here. It was in the same sector as the main Gyms she'd used, and annoyingly close to the Spa Gym where Oneakka had recently forced her to confront the fish.
Yes, Oneakka could be pushy, she needed to remember that.
She set off through the Facility, aware that she was not entirely clearheaded with the bubbling annoyance.
Poor Smee; he'd looked afraid; had implied he was worried about his job here in the Facility. As if Oneakka would do that…would he? As strong-willed and blunt as he could be, he'd never behaved like a bully before; that wasn't acceptable towards anyone, least of all her friends.
A door ahead announced she'd found the Rehab Gym, so she strode purposefully towards and through the set of double doors.
The Rehab Gym turned out to be a long room that stretched off to the right. Pretty much every piece of gym equipment and exercise machine imaginable filled the long room. There were soft mats across various sections of the floor and banks of climbing frames, various pulley systems, and weight machines along the walls. Currently there two Elite just up ahead of her, one of them working through some floor exercises with his Physical Therapist which looked like it was hurting. The other Elite was a female who was sat with a large cast over her entire left arm, and the Therapist was currently drawing her free right arm round in big gentle circles to work her shoulder.
Glancing past them, she spotted Oneakka further down the Gym. He was lying on a narrow bench, a large weight bar in his hands that he was pushing up from his chest with slightly shaky arms, his Physical Therapist stood behind the bar watching carefully.
She headed towards them.
The Physical Therapist noticed her approaching first and said something down to Oneakka as he reached for the weight bar.
As she walked quickly over a series of soft floor mats towards the bench, Oneakka settled the weight bar up in its cradle and sat up, looking round at her with a surprised frown.
He was bare-chested, which seemed unnecessary given what he'd been doing, but clearly he'd worked up a sweat, his skin glistening as he stood up from the bench, seemingly slightly out of breath.
"Raven? What's wrong?" He asked as she neared.
She pulled up near him. "You and I need to have a discussion," she stated at him, the words having come out sterner than she'd intended, but they worked.
Oneakka glanced over his shoulder to his Physical Therapist.
"I'll be over there prepping the stretch routine, Honoured Elite," the Therapist told him. "Call me when you're ready."
Oneakka nodded simply in reply and waited as the other male moved away.
She crossed her arms, holding in the words until they had a small amount of privacy.
She'd not been this close to him while he was bare-chested before. The couple of times she'd seen him shirtless had been at a distance or when he'd been worked on by the Healers during the evacuation from the Rogue Hive. The brief flash of those horrific memories was not helpful right now, so she crushed them away and focused on the current issue at hand.
And not the fact that he somehow seemed bigger without a shirt, which made no sense at all. All the muscle she'd observed him regrowing under his shirts was now on clear display. It wasn't the bulky thickness as she'd seen too often on some pit fighters and criminals on Dream, where they built up muscle to look good and be as threatening as possible. Oneakka had a healthy smoothness to the strong lines of his upper body and arms; telling of a lifetime of strength, of muscles used rather than shown off. Not that showing off wasn't possible looking like this...
She wondered if she should ask him to put a shirt on. No! That would be admitting he was distracting.
She was here because he'd threatened Smee! Being protective over his friends was one thing, but Oneakka threatening people was not acceptable. There was no excuse for using his size and influence on people smaller than him, picking on others.
The anger flared back up and she fixed her attention on his face as he watched the Therapist leaving. Then his blue eyes moved onto her.
"What did you say to Smee?" She demanded.
His confusion shifted instantly into surprise and then into a sudden controlled blankness as he looked away. "I didn't say anything to him," he stated as he moved away from her, heading around behind the end of the weight bar bench.
It was the most avoidant body language she had ever seen from him, and it felt shockingly out of character.
She realised that she hadn't actually believed he had threatened Smee, but now…
She broke out of her tiny moment of shock and pursued him around behind the bench.
"Oneakka…?" She demanded, making sure he could hear her suspicions as she watched him reach down to pick up a small towel. It was presumably to mop up some of the glistening layer of sweat over him, some even caught in the light bit of chest hair he had across his toned upper chest….
He straightened and turned back to her, towel in hand as he wiped it over his upper chest and neck. She fixed her gaze on his eyes and face.
"I didn't say anything to him," he repeated firmly, which was a far more usual direct answer from him. He was holding her eye contact too, but his expression was worryingly controlled. There was definitely some tension in his cheeks and, as he finished talking, he pressed his lips together; all signs he was holding something back.
And that he'd not asked her when and what she might be referring to was telling of itself. A sure sign of guilt.
"Oh, you've never said anything to him ever?"
He gave her a bemused look and then glanced away as he quickly wiped the towel over his face, especially over his shiny forehead.
Given he was this sweaty, shouldn't he smell bad? But, she couldn't detect any odour off him at all.
"I can't remember the last time I spoke to Smee," he clarified. "It's been a long time."
She narrowed her eyes at him. That had seemed truthful...
"You've said something to him recently, yesterday or today perhaps?" She interrogated.
"I didn't talk with him yesterday or today," he replied, too calmly. Like he was carefully picking what he was being truthful about.
"Then did you do something to him?" She pushed.
"What would I do to Smee?" He asked, which was clearly not answering the question, which was another sign of guilt. She'd never seen Oneakka act like this. He was always up front and honest, brutally so a lot of the time, but this elusive evasive behaviour was really strange.
"What did you do?!" She demanded.
Oneakka glanced away from her to the rest of the Rehab Gym. "You need to lower your voice."
She glared at that technique. "I'm not raising my voice, but clearly you did something."
He met her gaze again. "I didn't do or say anything to Smee," he stated, very directly this time. "I don't talk with Security very much."
She pulled back her chin at that comment. "What does that mean exactly? Are Security people beneath you?"
"What?" He frowned at her. "Of course not. I think maybe you should take a breath, Raven. Calm down."
She needed to calm down? He was the one who had clearly done something.
"Something happened," she said at him in a controlled and calm voice. "What happened?"
His eyes strayed away from hers again, a move that might seem an innocent glance at the Rehab Gym behind her, but she wasn't fooled. It was evasive behaviour again.
He pressed his lips together. "We saw him in the Canteen yesterday evening. I remember looking at him." His eyes moved back to hers.
Finally, something. "Looked at him?" She asked. "Was this a glance or an Oneakka-style glare?"
"I think Smee is experienced enough to have Elite looking at him," Oneakka replied, again not directly answering her question.
"Yes he is experienced, but you've made him afraid for his job." She told him. "You have no right to go around threatening people, Oneakka. My friends especially; that is not acceptable."
Oneakka's eyes narrowed at that, taking offence, finally the blank carefully controlled expression breaking a little. "Maybe you should pick a male who is less easily offended by someone looking at him."
She frowned at that response. "Smee is not my male, he is my friend and I will not allow anyone to bully him."
Oneakka pressed his lips together and then glanced aside, dropping the towel down to his bag and then reached down again, picking up a bottle of water. "I don't want to get involved in your personal life," he stated as he opened the bottle and started drinking.
She paused at that, a strange mix of feelings rushing through her. What had that meant? He'd never said anything like that before.
It implied that there was something involved in all this that she was missing.
And it also held within it a slight sting…implying he wasn't part of her 'personal life'…the little feelings took a hit with that, but that was fine. Because he was a friend, like Smee.
She quickly collected herself. "Maybe you should have thought of that before you threatened my friend," she told him as she watched him lower the water bottle and close it up, his attention on the bottle rather than her. More guilt and avoidance. What in the Wraith shit was going on here?
Blue eyes lifted up to hers. "I looked at him across the Canteen. As I'm your friend as well, maybe you should explain that to him."
"I did," she quickly returned. "But apparently he's afraid for his job and safety because of your 'look'."
The controlled blank expression was back as Oneakka focused on setting his water bottle back down on the floor.
"You need to apologise to Smee," she told him.
Oneakka stood back up to his full height, which felt a little taller this morning. "Apologise for looking at him?"
Which was actually a good question, and for a second she struggled to think of an argument back. Maybe it had just been a misunderstanding. Perhaps Smee had misread a look from Oneakka as being threatening, but then why was Oneakka being so elusive now?
"Is this because he cancelled Late Meal on me yesterday?" She voiced the theory that made little sense.
"Why would I get upset about that?" He asked.
'Upset' was a strange word to use.
"Because there's no need to get that protective," she stressed.
A strange look crossed Oneakka's face. "Why would you think you need protecting from Smee?"
She paused. "Of course I don't."
She suddenly felt like she was losing control of this conversation.
"Are you sure?" He pressed, his chin lifting slightly.
"What does that mean?" She frowned up at him.
"Maybe you should ask yourself why Smee would find a look from me intimidating," he added cryptically.
Suddenly it felt like she was the one being interrogated.
"What? I don't know, you're the one who glared at him or whatever."
"As I said," he glanced aside, but this time it looked overly casual. "I don't want to get involved in your personal affairs," he repeated his annoying point, frustratingly implying that there was something more here she couldn't see.
She wasn't sure how to respond to that.
"Smee is my friend and you can-" She started.
"Does he know that?" Oneakka interrupted her. "That you're just friends?"
"What? Yes, of course he does." But Oneakka's question had been suspiciously close to Smee's own earlier question.
"I think you may want to make that clear to him," Oneakka added with a tone that sounded like he was being patiently calm with her. "Because the male clearly has intentions towards you beyond friendship."
She blinked at him.
"Smee and I have already discussed that," she replied, a strange awkwardness settling in her in talking with Oneakka about this kind of thing. "We've agreed that we're friends."
She glanced away over her shoulder to see one Elite and one Physical Therapist quickly look away, clearly having been watching her and Oneakka arguing - talking, not arguing.
She looked back round to Oneakka, who was watching her.
"As one of your other friends," he said to her. "I'd suggest you make things clearer to him. He hasn't heard you properly."
So was that what this had been about? Oneakka was warning her…and Smee…because he'd seen that Smee apparently had further intentions…but she'd already clarified that with Smee before now. He'd said he was fine with it. But Oneakka clearly believed that wasn't the case. That Smee had felt so intimidated by Oneakka perhaps suggested that opinion was accurate…?
Males understanding each other in a way she'd missed…
But she valued her friendship with Smee.
She frowned up at Oneakka.
"Fine," she grudgingly agreed. "I'll talk to him again."
"A good idea," Oneakka nodded, somewhat condescendingly, as he moved around the far side of the weight bench and reached down to the weights secured on the far end of the bar. He started undoing one of the bolts holding them in place, to either take weight off or add more perhaps.
She dropped her gaze down to the closest end of the bar with its half of the added weights. She frowned at the figures on the side of the three weights; he couldn't actually lift that crazy total weight could he? Of course he could, she'd seen him lifting the bar when she'd stormed – walked – in here.
"Unless there's anything else you want to shout at me about," he added. "I've got to get on with my rehab."
Embarrassment flared hot and flushed up through her. She'd come in here determined to make him apologise to Smee, but now she was the one on the back foot and had perhaps made something of a scene in here.
Not that she cared. Making a scene had been part of her role on Dream. When she hadn't been keeping silent and hidden to watch certain scum, she'd been loud and dramatic with others, making a scene to add to her reputation and hopefully help dissuade future problems from other scum.
Of course, she had no such reputation here…well, she had one but it probably wasn't all that complimentary. And she was perhaps only adding to it by storming in here to start an argument with Oneakka – a discussion.
"I didn't shout," she clarified as she started to move away from the weight bench.
"I'll see you for Late Meal?" Oneakka added as he slid a new weight onto the far end of the bar.
"Yes," she found herself agreeing. There was a strange vibe to him now; a sort of smug victory and she didn't like it.
She turned away from him, heading back down the Rehab Gym. Off to the right, everyone was all too obviously not paying her any attention. At least they wouldn't have been able to overhear her conversation with Oneakka, other than maybe the occasional raised word or two, but she definitely hadn't shouted. Still, the unfamiliar rush of embarrassment hit her, but she held her chin high and strode, calmly, out of the Gym.
Totally in control.
Outside and heading back down the corridor, she slowed and tried to run through everything that had just happened.
Oddly, the thing that stuck her the most now she was away from Oneakka had been her brief glimpse of his healed wound. The healed scars in his lower belly and back had looked so innocuous now, simple lines of healed flesh where before there had been that horrific gaping hole through him.
Turning into a main corridor, she paused, glancing back the way she'd come.
There had been something new about him today though, something shifty and hidden. It itched at her as something wrong and unidentified, but he'd seemingly explained his opinion about Smee and why a look from him might have hit a cord with Smee. If he was right that Smee did have further intentions... She'd been clear with Smee during their previous discussion though, hadn't she?
It was all suddenly feeling very messy and confusing.
She was pretty sure she would have picked up if Smee had future plans…wouldn't she? As much as she judged herself as a good reader of people, it wasn't like she'd had a wealth of experience of dealing with males with intentions. She'd spent most of her life repelling them on purpose.
Of those she hadn't, well Zio was the only one still alive.
A past brief fling with a fellow club bouncer hadn't lasted long and she'd heard years later that he'd been killed in a fight, and her first passionate love affair had been with a pit fighter who had been killed in the pit so long ago that nowadays she struggled to clearly remember his face.
Well, the only thing to do was go talk to Smee, as Oneakka had suggested.
She continued on through the corridors and arrived back at the Canteen, finding it quieter than when she'd left, but Smee was still at their table. He straightened when he saw her and she gave him a strained smile as she headed back to her chair. She'd left half her First Meal sitting on her plate and she'd not touched her tea; she'd just leapt up and rushed to deal with the problem.
Embarrassment moved through her again as she sat down.
"What happened?" Smee asked.
That was a good question.
"Honoured Elite Oneakka feels that our former discussion – our," she gestured between her and Smee to clarify the couple involved, "discussion - about us remaining friends," she watched Smee's face closely, "you and me as friends, isn't…resolved for you?" She asked.
Smee's gaze shifted sideways from hers.
What was with all the male evasiveness today?!
"We talked about it," Smee replied, meeting her gaze directly again. "We're friends," but she saw the careful wording there.
"And that's all we'll ever be," she clarified, wondering if she hadn't perhaps actually stressed that point in their former discussion on the matter.
Smee was a nice male, interesting, kind and good company, but she didn't want anything else from him. Not from anyone right now…
"Sure," he smiled, his gaze briefly darting away.
Oh no, Oneakka had been right.
"I'm sorry, I thought I'd made that clear before," she found herself adding.
Smee didn't answer right away, his mind clearly working behind his eyes as he adjusted his cup of juice on the table. "Is that because you have feelings for someone else?"
She didn't want to think, let along talk, about this. Today had gotten confusing real quick.
She'd had such a good day yesterday as well.
"It's because I don't want any…connection like that in my life right now," she replied, lifting her cooled tea to her lips. After she swallowed a good mouthful she licked her lips and set the cup back down. "I'm not sure how long I'll be working here at the Facility; once the Project is complete, then I'm intending to move somewhere else in the Alliance. Find somewhere secure to live."
Oneakka would have long since returned to his full battle rotation, be away from the Facility, she'd get the project work done and then she could literally go anywhere in the Alliance. She had no idea where she'll go or what she'll do, but that was the plan. Just her and Splodge.
"And you can't enjoy yourself while you're here?" Smee asked. "With anyone, not saying me," he added.
She felt awkward and uncomfortable talking about this kind of thing out loud, but she respected Smee and he was a friend…hopefully would stay as one. But then that would be typical wouldn't it – she always lost the people who meant anything to her, the few friends as well as the lost lovers. Even the newer friends, the Strays, were off on some dangerous mission on the Sythus and there was no guarantee that she'd see any of them again. That Madesh and Halling were even still alive.
She frowned down at the piece of toast in her hand that she'd not realised she'd picked up. Her own distracted avoidance behaviour it seemed…or her body was just reminding her to actually eat.
"Everyone I've ever cared about," she said down to the toast, "they've either left or they've been killed."
"Considering your past, I can't imagine that's much of a surprise."
She frowned up at him.
"I mean," he quickly added, "considering how you were treated by your people and the dangerous places you've lived and worked, I can't imagine anyone around you was…trustworthy?"
"Up until I was arrested by the Elite, I'd not really believed anyone could be truly honourable," she joked weakly, but honestly.
Some nights she worried that was the real reason for the silly little feelings for Oneakka; that he'd been the first trustworthy male she'd respected. That perhaps it was just some weird pathetic hero worship on her part. Which was just plain embarrassing.
Smee sighed with a grim smile. "Working security does that doesn't it?"
She nodded as she broke apart her slice of toast and slowly chewed on a piece.
"One day though, you're going to have to trust someone enough to let them into your heart, Seeal," Smee replied.
"I trust people now," she found herself arguing. "Some people here. I trust you," she clarified.
Smee held her gaze, but it was the assessing gaze of Security, the look she knew she gave others; assessing her body language, face, and tone.
"I think that," he uttered pointedly, "you're the type of female who is always ready to pack a bag."
She knew she shouldn't be surprised he'd worked that out; after all he, like her, had a wealth of experience and skill in reading people. But, she'd foolishly imagined that having those skills herself made her immune to others being able to read her so well.
It made her feel transparent and obvious…and she knew that was often how people felt when she'd told them a fact about themselves and their situation. Her own skills turned back on herself.
It was really annoying.
"And I think you trust me a little less now," he added, still frustratingly insightful.
"I should have been clearer with you," she decided to offer.
Damn it, she wished Oneakka hadn't said anything.
Smee sighed again. "When I was younger and first training in Military Security, our main instructor used to say that, once you start down the road of our career, that you'll start seeing crimes and bad intentions in everyone. Even your own family."
She nodded. That was true enough.
"Everyone you meet," Smee continued, "has secrets, things they hate about others or themselves. There is no rest for those of us who see too much, he used to say."
She scoffed slightly as she looked back down to her last piece of toast. "Clearly I'm not as good at that as I thought I was." Just the other day she'd shouted back at Oneakka for questioning her ability to assess and strategise, but here she was losing faith in her skills.
Making a scene in the Rehab Gym, Oneakka being all smug, and her friendship with Smee damaged.
"Well," Smee replied with a faint chuckle, "we all have our blind spots." Yeah, clearly she had more than she realised. "Things and people we can't see clearly."
She smirked as she reached for her tea. It was cold now and didn't taste as good as normal.
She'd had such a cheerful start to her day.
Her electronic In pad abruptly vibrated in her back pocket. She shifted in her chair to pull it out and checked the screen. It was the reminder she'd set for the Project start time today.
"I need to go, we've got a presentation in the Project Room," she told him. "I'm sorry it was a rubbish First Meal." She slid her pad away and turned to lift her jacket off the back of her chair. "Do you want to reschedule, or…" she met his eyes, "I'll leave that up to you."
He nodded and smiled but it felt strained. "I want to hear about the story you were going to share about Saoka's station."
She smiled back; good, he did want to continue with the friendship then.
"But I'm not free for the next few days; I'll let you know," he added.
Or maybe not then.
"Okay, it's up to you," she made herself smile as she got up. No need to show the depressing slump in her heart. It was fine if he wanted some space, wanted to walk away from their friendship. It was his choice.
She lifted her tray and, with one last exchanged smile, she turned and headed away.
She'd really enjoyed his company, someone who understood the security way of looking at the world, but then this was what always happened to her.
People always lied, left, or died.
0000
TBC
