Title: Whispered Voices
Author: Illman
Category: gen
Disclaimer: It's not my universe.
Rating: FRC
Spoilers: minor ones for The Storm
Author's Note: Remix of Rachael Sabotini's Preparation. Originally for the 2005 Remix Challenge.

Summary: Carson prepares for the Wraith.

"There are a number of people on this expedition that could benefit from treatment with anti-depressants. Alone among the people that have come to see me voluntarily I could identify at least five patients for whom I would recommend treatment under normal circumstances." Dr. Heightmeyer said, reading from her files.

"These are hardly normal circumstances. Where would we be if we started dispensing medications like we would back on Earth? Our supply would run empty within a few months. Then where would your patients be?" Dr. Harper challenged.

Originally the medical staff had met to discuss the upcoming crisis, but the briefing had quickly deteriorated. Carson was starting to question whether it had been such a good idea to bring all his staff into one room at the same time. They were all excellent professionals in their respective fields, but taken together, the combination was just a little too potent. Combinations, there was another problem. With the help, of Gandin, an Athosian healer, they had managed to include a few herbal remedies in their repertoire. An anti-pyretic, a blood-thinner, a few mild pain-killers. But many of the medical staff were reluctant in using the alien drugs, there was too much they didn't know about them and their reactions with Earth based drugs. There had been no time and no resources for elaborate studies. All they had managed to do was achieve a somewhat better standardisation of purity than the Athosians had. But with the Wraith on there way, there were bound to be casualties and they had go new ways. But what they had was not enough.

"...Privates Smyth and Weinstein finished the inventory yesterday. We have about a total of a third the supplies left that we came with. A lot was destroyed or taken by the Genii, but we should be able to hold out a while."

What Dr. Ibson didn't say was what they were really lacking was equipment. They had only been able to take so much with them through the Gate. The Ancient City had potential, but they had yet to tap into it. It was lurking beneath the surface. Carson could feel it. Not always, but when the infirmary was quiet at night, when his patients were sleeping, he could feel a low hum reverberating through his skull, so soft it was almost imperceptible. The first time he had felt it he had called Dr. Zelenka to get rid of the noise, but the engineer had found no fault with any of the machinery in the room. During one of the next nights, he had been in his quarters, waiting for sleep to catch him, the hum had returned and this time, he had heard a whisper beneath the oscillations. They were not words in any language he could make out and he doubted they were directed at him, but the presence of something living was unmistakable.

Lately the City had been mumbling more loudly, he had felt the soft hum not just during moments of absolute quite, but also during the day in his office, when he was writing reports or busy in the lab working on his research. It had come to the point when it was almost distracting at times. He wondered whether it was due to his increasing control over the Ancient gene.

"Dr. Beckett? Dr. Beckett, is everything all right?" Dr. Biro's voice drew him out of his thoughts. He had totally drifted away from the briefing.

"No, everything is fine. Is there anything else?" He tried to cover his lapse in attention.

"No, no. Dr. Ibson has just proposed to do some more first aid drills with the scientific community. A lot of the personnel only had the basic course before they joined the expedition and could use a refresher. It's been almost a year."

"That's a good idea. Contact Dr. McKay and work out a schedule. It might be difficult to fit it in, seeing that everyone is working overtime."

oOo

It was late. Carson had finished his work a while ago, but something kept him in his office. Tonight he could feel the tug of the City more strongly than most days. He could almost hear the words that she was whispering in a thousand voices. He sensed the hum of her incredible power vibrating softly through his body and knew that there was so much power that they had yet to find and understand. The City had welcomed the likes of him and Sheppard and tolerated those who had come with them, but they had yet to embrace the City with all its wonders, they had yet to come home. The City was calling him. She knew him, as strange as it sounded. It was more than just the more connection of a scanner with a gene passed down from his Ancestors; the City knew who he was and what he did best. She knew he was a healer and not a soldier. It was in the infirmary where he felt his connection to the City, not in the Ancient chair, where the power of the City was frightening and alien to him. Drawn by the soft pull of their floating home, he strolled out into the infirmary.

The vibration intensified through his entire body, making him feel as if the entire City was shaking, but only the City was gearing up in his mind, gearing up to open herself to him, he realized as a sharp pain sliced through his head and all the way down his spine. Ancients panels on the walls suddenly came to light and a crescendo of voices crashed over his head. Feeling dizzy, he supported himself on a bedrail, when his head cleared again and the hum receded. The City had opened herself to him or had he finally opened himself to her? The connection was made. He stared at the lit panels. Not understanding the symbols, but knowing instinctively what they meant. A diagnostic tool, interfaced with the Ancient medical database, engineering to detect virii and foreign substances in the patients blood without having to take a sample. A scanner of some sort. It would allow a multitude of scans to be done without the patient having to be moved in between different pieces of equipment. Now he understood. It would take time to teach all his staff how to use the Ancient technology, but he knew what to do. It was a step in the right direction. The City had come to their aide. Now all they could do was wait.

The End