In honor of my brand new niece, two parts tonight!
DOWN CAME A SPIDER
By TIPPER
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CHAPTER SIX: CROSSING OVER
A day and a half later, Carter found herself sitting down in the Daedalus engine room, near Hermiod's station, the Asgard looking over her shoulder as she scanned information about McKay's condition on her laptop. A little ways away, Novak was pretending not to be interested in what they were looking at, pretending to stretch or yawn or "flex" her neck so she could glance in their direction.
When she caught site of what were obviously biological life signs, though, her face paled and she looked away for good. Remaining detached was not a Novak skill.
Carter sighed slightly, eyes trying to keep up with her mind, which was racing with possibilities. By her side, the Asgard was very quiet, barely even breathing. He had been quiet the moment she had explained why she was there and what she was doing. He even offered his assistance, his voice carrying the usual disinterested tone of the Asgard, but she had noticed a slight tension in him. She had only ever seen it before in Thor—that hint of emotion that showed he did actually care. She'd thanked him with a smile, and, together, they were now scrolling through the notes Doctor Zelenka had sent concerning the device currently wrapped around Rodney's head.
"It is far more delicate and intricate that the Goa'uld I retrieved from Colonel Caldwell's head," Hermiod said finally, tilting his head a little. "At least the Goa'uld was one organism. This one appears to have started to separate into multiple pieces, as if to attack different sections of the brain and nervous system at the same time. Something I find puzzling and disturbing, since it is not that difficult to kill a human." He paused a moment, then gave the smallest of head shakes. "Doctor Beckett is right—it is too dangerous to risk trying to beam it out."
She glanced at him, "Even with the extra cushion of the time dilation caused by the stasis field?"
"Cushion?" Hermiod repeated, pinching his face. "It is not a cushion, Colonel Carter. It is a hindrance. The beaming technology was never meant to work in two different temporal planes. Even if I felt confident enough that we could beam all the pieces of that machine out, I could not guarantee that I would be able to do it any more quickly than it would take the machine to kill him."
Carter nodded, "I thought you might say that." She shrugged, "If it was as easy as beaming it off his head, they wouldn't need me." She sighed and leaned back in her chair, rubbing a hand down her eyes. Fact was, she wasn't entirely sure why they needed her anyway. From what she'd read of Doctor Zelenka's notes, they had already thought of and tried everything she could think of at the moment.
"So," she said, "see anything else I'm missing?"
The Asgard looked at her, really looked at her, yet another trait that was unusual among his kind. Then he turned away.
"No."
She grimaced.
"But then," he said, more quietly, "I am not you. Nor am I Doctor McKay."
She frowned, glancing at him. "I'm sorry?"
"My people have come to you in the past, Colonel Carter, because of your unique human way of thinking around problems. Doctor McKay appears to share that ability with you, although," Hermiod's brow flexed, as if remembering something particularly irritating, "I will admit, he is somewhat louder about it than you are."
Carter just stared at him a moment, then, with a quick shake of her head, asked, "Really? McKay?"
"He can be...quiet inventive."
Her eyebrows lifted, and she turned back to the screen. Inventive? Rodney? He was smart, sure, but...inventive?
"And for that reason, because, like your Doctor McKay, you are inventive," Hermiod continued, "I am certain that you will find a way to help him."
Carter frowned slightly, then grimaced, finding she very much wanted to change the subject. "Well, I hope so. For Atlantis' sake."
The Asgard just hummed at that, then returned to his study of the information on Carter's laptop.
A moment later, something else registered, and Carter spoke again. "Oh, and he's not my Doctor McKay."
If she didn't know better, she would have though Hermiod smiled slightly at that.
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Carter walked onto the bridge of the Daedalus, called up there when Caldwell said they were about to enter the planet's mesosphere. Looking down, she was startled first by just how blue the planet was. A smattering of clouds, but otherwise, it was almost all blue.
"Seventy percent," she whispered to herself, remembering the intel about how much of the surface was water. And they called Earth a blue planet. "Wow."
"Pretty, isn't it?" Caldwell asked as she came up alongside him. He was standing up before the central window, arms crossed, watching the approach.
"The descriptions don't do it justice," Carter agreed.
"Wait until you see Atlantis," he promised, his eyes smiling. Carter met the smile with one of her own, and wondered if he could see how her heart had started to beat faster at the prospect.
The blurred, flaring air before the windows disappeared and they descended through the upper levels of the stratosphere towards the troposphere. Soon, the were flying through clouds, and a glance at one of the monitors showed the temperatures down below: 75 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degrees Celsius) and sunny on the surface. Heh. Colorado this was not.
The Daedalus banked, inertial dampeners not quite absorbing all of the motion, and Carter found herself leaning a little on one leg as the horizon angled before her.
Then she saw it. Laid out like a snowflake on the water.
Unconsciously, she moved forward, closer to the windows.
The Daedalus leveled out and drew closer, and her eyes quickly catalogued the six long piers and tall central tower. Many other buildings—many of them spires and skyscrapers—filled the long piers, and, for a second, she wondered if Frank Lloyd Wright and I.M. Pei had been descendants of these people. Maybe all artists were, but she still saw a lot of the architectural genius of those two men in this place.
It was beautiful.
She was right against the windows now, leaning against the bar. The Daedalus was descending almost too slowly. She glanced behind her at Caldwell.
"You might want to get your things," the Colonel said, easily seeing the impatience and excitement in her eyes. "Hermiod can beam us directly to the Control Room in the Central Tower."
Carter didn't need to be told twice. "Yes, sir," she said, turning and walking swiftly out of the room. Once outside of his view, she started to run.
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When Carter opened her eyes, the last of the white Asgard light fading from around her, she found herself standing on a balcony overlooking the Gateroom with Colonel Caldwell. Doctor Weir stood a few feet away, and was smiling broadly. Carter couldn't resist looking quickly around at the grand room just once, one she had only ever seen through a computer monitor, before smiling back at the woman standing before her.
"Colonel Carter," Elizabeth greeted warmly, moving forward and giving her a quick hug. "It is very good to see you again."
Carter grinned back, "It is good to see you as well, Doctor Weir."
Elizabeth backed away to Carter's side, and swept an arm out to indicate the people up here with her—a full crew was here. A shorter man with wild hair and slightly askew glasses limped forward, a broad smile on his face. Weir smiled at him.
"I believe you know Doctor Zelenka?"
"Of course," Carter said, reaching to take Radek's hand. "It's good to see you again, Radek."
"Colonel Carter," the Czech greeted warmly, shaking her hand vigorously. Carter's eyebrows rose as she saw the cast on his leg, but he waved her off. She just smiled, planning to ask later.
"And Doctor Beckett," Elizabeth said, looking to the man closest to Zelenka as the Czech limped out of the way.
"Carson," Carter's smile was equally warm as she took his hand. "General O'Neill sends his warmest regards."
"I'm sure he does, lass," Beckett replied with a rueful smile. "He forgiven me yet?"
"Almost," Carter's smile grew as Carson drew back. A shorter woman stepped forward, a quiet strength emanating from her.
"And this is Teyla Emmagen of the Athosian people," Weir said.
"I have heard much about you," Carter said, reaching out her hand. Teyla took it, holding it tightly.
"And I you, Colonel Carter. Doctor McKay and the others speak of you often. You have quite the reputation."
"Yes, well," Carter blushed, "I'm sure we speak of all of you just as often, believe me. What your people and mine have managed to achieve since being here, against such amazing odds..."
Teyla just gave a polite nod in return, recognizing the words for what they were—diplomacy—and let go. Backing up, she remained aloof to the newcomer, but even in her carefully maintained air of calm, Carter could easily sense the same deep anxiety that she saw in the others.
"And, finally, Ronon Dex of the Satedan people," Elizabeth finished, indicating the tall man on Teyla's right. Carter tried not to lift her eyebrows too high as one of the tallest men she had ever seen stepped forward and took her hand. He gripped it fast, but the clear wariness in his eyes suggested a man who had spent much of his life learning never to trust anyone. It was an interesting counterpoint to Teyla.
"It is good to meet you, Ronon," Carter said. "Like Teyla, we have heard—"
"Colonel Sheppard is waiting for you downstairs," he said abruptly, letting go her hand. "Shall we go?"
"Oh, I..." Carter looked at Elizabeth, who gave her a chagrined look.
"We're all a bit anxious, Colonel. I apologize. Ronon," Elizabeth turned to the Satedan, "please inform the Colonel that we will be down soon. First, we should show Colonel Carter to her quarters and see if she needs—"
"Actually, Doctor Weir," Carter interrupted, "I would like to see Rodney. I have a limited time here, as you know, and I probably shouldn't waste any of it."
"I'd like to see him as well," Caldwell asserted, stepping up, his expression grim.
Elizabeth looked at the two of them, then inclined her head. "Follow me, then."
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The halls were quiet, and Carter found herself growing increasingly uncomfortable as, every time they passed a group of people, conversations immediately stopped. All eyes had been on her almost from the moment they had left the Control Room, and she would have to have been blind not to see the hope and fear filling the eyes of the people here.
Elizabeth walked at her side, speaking constantly, if somewhat distantly, about things they passed, explaining as best she could some of the more technical aspects. Zelenka would add items if Elizabeth missed something, but, generally, he was fairly quiet, hobbling along on a crutch next to Teyla behind them. Walking at the back of the group, Beckett spoke softly with Caldwell and Ronon, answering some of the questions Caldwell had about McKay's physical condition, and Carter soon found she was more interested in the background conversation between the two of them than what she was walking past.
It wasn't that she wasn't completely enamored of Atlantis and dying to see more of it, it was simply that the intensity of the people around her was making her want to stay focused on Rodney even more than she had been.
The new corridor they walked down after exiting the transporter was cooler and a little darker than the ones up above. The feeling of disuse flavored it, despite the occasional scientist or marine that they passed. Eyes widened at her appearance, and that marines saluted with a little extra vigor.
And then they turned into a brightly lit room at the end of the corridor, where she met Colonel Sheppard for the first time, the man saluting her formally before shaking her hand after she returned the salute. It was a clear gesture of respect from an equal, which she appreciated, knowing his record. He had obviously been sitting down at a table set up for scientists, and her eyes took in the half finished game of solitaire he had dropped at her arrival. His eyes were shadowed, his expression grim and almost stern. She swallowed, recognizing in the small action of his "being here" just how much this man cared and also just how afraid he was for Rodney. And when she looked at the other faces with her, even Caldwell's, she realized she saw that same look repeated on all of them, and had also seen it in all the faces she has passed on the way here.
Never in a million years would she have guessed...
These people didn't just need Rodney...they loved him.
"He's over here." Sheppard took her arm, guiding her around the console, and she saw the stasis chamber for the first time.
"Oh my God," she whispered, nearly choking on her own breath at the sight of seeing him for the first time, her hand covering her mouth, "Rodney."
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TBC...
I just couldn't throw her into Atlantis. I can't think she wouldn't look around with the same awe as McKay did, when he first arrived. And of course, she'd see it first from above, like seeing New York for the first time...I'd think it'd be pretty spectacular. So, please excuse the indulgence...