The Wishing Well
Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate Atlantis or any of the characters associated with it.
Chapter Eight
She could hear them before she reached the lab. Voices raised in debate over scientific and medical processes, some too complicated for her to grasp, but not for them. Their combined skills and ingenuity were beyond compare. She had the best of the best, thank goodness!
Weir chanced a peek around the open doorway and had to bite back a soft laugh at the sight that greeted her tired eyes. One dark head was bent over, one eye pressed tightly against the view piece of a microscope. Two similarly coifed dark heads were tucked in close, one on either side. All three were oblivious to their surroundings, only focused on one goal; save Colonel Sheppard. Their debate continued, and the casual observer would naturally assume the three men were not on good terms. The more learned members of the Atlantis expedition, however, would recognize deep commitment and respect, buried under layers of worry and fear, which resulted in the "snarkument" currently on display.
Weir hated to interrupt, but wanted a progress report. She knew if they had made any significant headway, she would have been the first…well, technically fourth… person to know. She was drawn to the lab, needing to see for herself just what the three had cooked up so far; needing the reassurance that she was doing everything possible to ensure the safe return of her top military officer.
"Carson," Weir said quietly. Even as she spoke, the dark head in the center shot upward, knocking into the other two heads pressed close to its own. All three gave nearly identical yelps of pain. As one, three sets of eyes turned and pinned her to the doorway. She watched as each set of eyes recognized who had dared interrupt, saw when anger turned to surprise and surprise turned to regret tinged with a small dose of sympathy.
"Elizabeth." Beckett extracted himself from the center of the group and moved forward. She entered the room and met him halfway. "What are you still doing up, lass? It's nearly three in the morning?" He looked closely and could see the traces of faint purple shadows under her eyes. "As your doctor, I'm recommending you take yourself straight to bed." Normally he would have insisted, but as he was sure he had identical shadows under his own baby blues, he settled for gentle prodding.
"I'm on my way there, Carson, but I wanted to stop in here first. I won't be able to sleep unless I check to see how things are coming along. Have you made much progress with finding a way to help John?"
"Aye, we've made some progress, just not enough. It's a complicated thing, messing with DNA, and with no way to test our results, we may never be certain it will work." At her crestfallen expression, Beckett set a reassuring hand on her elbow. "Now, don't go giving up on us yet, Elizabeth. We're a long way from failure."
McKay had come to stand next to Beckett. "Carson's just being overly cautious. I am confident I can hold up my end of the process. I'm leaving the medical voodoo up to him and he's just feeling the pressure of competition." McKay turned a smug face towards Beckett.
"Rodney, it's very delicate work, reprogramming DNA is! If you think you're more qualified, then, by all means, have a go!" Beckett rubbed an exasperated hand over his face and up into his hair.
Radek must have had some spare Czech Heller coins in his pocket because he heaved the equivalent of his two cents worth into the proverbial cash can with a resounding clang. "Rodney, you not mess with DNA. You have Sheppard waking up with extra appendages! You know Carson is best. Let him do work!"
At the little Czech's words, Weir felt the room spin. "Extra appendages?..." Strong hands reached out and grasped her arms as both Beckett and McKay eased her into a nearby chair.
"Oh! Thank you, Radek! You had to go and scare the pink right out of her cheeks, didn't you!" McKay said furiously. "Elizabeth, he was kidding. Carson won't let me do any such thing, right Carson?"
McKay glanced up when Beckett didn't immediately answer, and did a double take. Beckett looked decidedly green. McKay connected a solid size 10 1/2 boot with Beckett's left calf.
The doctor jumped and, catching on quickly, echoed, "That's right, Elizabeth." Then, with more conviction and a determined look in McKay's direction, "Rodney will not be touching that DNA!"
Radek stepped forward and knelt in front of Weir, hands clasped tightly in front of his body, his dark earnest eyes probed deeply. "I'm sorry, Dr. Weir. I did not mean frighten you. I was just making point… badly."
Shaking off her moment of fear, and she had seriously envisioned Sheppard returning to Atlantis with an extra arm or leg, or worse, she patted Radek's hands and stood up. "Its okay, Radek. I'm just tired and worried. I know you're all working hard and will do your best." She looked from man to man. "Now, I suggest you also get some rest. Good night, Gentlemen."
She turned and rushed out into the hallway. As she hurried away, she heard McKay and Beckett grousing at Radek as the three men picked up their debate just where they'd left off when she walked into the room. She smiled as she entered the transporter for the trip to her quarters. Yup, she had the best of the best.
"Find anything?" Sheppard turned from his spot near a corner and could just make out Anna's shape across the room.
"Nothing!" He turned back and continued running his hands over the parts of the wall he could reach.
"There has to be a way out of here. Either that or the poem means nothing."
"I've been thinking about that." Anna paused in her search. "If the well allows travel from one reality to another, then why are we here? Why didn't you get pulled into my reality or me into yours?"
"Good question." Sheppard grunted as he stretched his arm high on the wall.
"I think I have an equally good answer." Anna resumed her search. "I think this room is like a waiting room between realities, the place "weary travelers" visit before being allowed to go on to another reality."
"Okay, I'm with ya so far."
"Well, I think we have to find or do something before we can continue…" Anna lurched forward as the room began to expand and contract, distorting around the edges. The bright light began to dim as the walls took on color and motion. Looking closer, she was stunned at what she saw reflected in the quilted diamonds on the walls.
"Do you see what I see?" Sheppard shouted above the sound of the room gyrating.
"Yeah! I think we must have taken a first step on the path out of here." Anna turned excitedly and moved toward Sheppard.
"Funny, I didn't realize we were walking yet!" he smirked.
"Do you know what this is?" she asked when she got closer.
"No, but I'm guessing you do. Care to share?" He reached out and took her hand to steady her.
Anna pointed at the wall. "What do you see when you look at each quilted diamond?"
"People, places, things… looks like a giant T.V. wall display, like at an electronics store, y'know, with each T.V. tuned to a different channel." He scrunched up his eyes and studied one of the diamond shapes. "This would be easier if we had a big screen, preferably HDTV…"
In one diamond, people scurried along, busy in their daily lives. He looked at a different diamond and saw the same people but in different circumstances. A third diamond showed a third scenario, different show--same actors. The settings looked familiar, but the images were too small to make out much detail.
Anna scanned his face, waiting for him to catch up with her and beamed when she saw understanding resonate across his features.
"Other realities, right?" He turned, eyes stunned and a little awed. At her quick nod, he continued, looking around the room in amazement.
"There must be millions of them! This is like a cross-dimensional version of the stargate!" He reached out to touch one of the diamonds, but Anna quickly snagged his arm sleeve.
"Don't! We don't know how this works. Until we figure it out, I wouldn't touch anything! Remember the poem? Dire consequences and all that?"
"Good point." He quickly drew his hand back and balled it into a fist at his side. "So, how can we tell which reality is ours?"
"Haven't figured that part out yet." Anna looked apologetic.
The room stopped shifting, making it easier to move around. Sheppard and Anna circled, searching each diamond for their respective realities.
"This is impossible! We'll never figure out which one of these is ours!" Sheppard stopped in the center of the room, hands on hips, and turned a slow circle, trying to take it all in.
Anna, having a grand appreciation for the enormity of their efforts, joined him. "There has to be a way to tell. We just haven't found it yet. To quote my personal foot masseuse, 'don't get worked up, it won't help.' And I believe the last quote was 'we'll figure it out.' Well, am I right?" She poked him in the chest with a mischievous grin.
Sheppard's eyes narrowed as he snagged her poking finger with his hand. In seconds, he'd gently swiped her feet out from under her, pinned her to the soft floor and latched on to one of her feet.
"If you wanted another foot massage, all you had to do was ask."
Her laughter rang out, sounding muted in the padded space. "Hey, no fair!"
A humming vibration that permeated the space interrupted their playful tussle.
"What's that?" Sheppard untangled himself from Anna's feet just as the floor in the center of the room opened up.
TBC