Title: It Was Just the Fear
Author: Soledad
Genre: Angst
Rating: 16, just to be on the safe side
Series/sequel: A short vignette out of my lengthy "Moments of Joy" story.
Archiving: my website and the Otherworlds.
Disclaimer: don't own them, no money made.
Timeframe: during the 1st Season episode "Hide and Seek".
Summary: In "Sometimes It Takes A Man" Zelenka tells Hays about him and Marta starting off on the wrong foot. Ever wondered what happened?
Author's notes:
This vignette takes place between "The Secret Weapon of Atlantis" and "Sometimes It Takes A Man". In my stories, Dr. Weir is still played by the wonderful Jessica Steen, so she's still blonde.
xxx
Radek had barely slept three or four hours (by the level of exhaustion he was feeling when rudely awakened) when the klaxons of a general alarm began to sound. He put his discarded clothes back on and walked into the control room, with his eyes half-closed… practically on autopilot. The entire command staff was already there.
"What happened?" he asked Grodin quietly.
"Jinto is missing," Grodin replied. "His father has just discovered he's gone half an hour ago. The military and Mr. Naseband's people are doing a floor to floor sweep in teams of two. So far, no results."
"Well, at least we know he's not in any of the other living quarters," Dr. Weir said. She must have been dragged out of her bed as well, for her blonde hair was mussed up and there were rings under her eyes.
"What about shuttle bay?" Radek asked, wide awake all of a sudden. He could understand the anxiety. A missing child on an alien – and probably dangerous – station wasn't a good thing. "Boys like machines that can fly."
"That was where Major Sheppard started the search," Grodin said. "The kid isn't there."
"Can we help somehow?" Radek asked. "Have you tried to use internal sensors to locate him?"
"They're of no use," McKay shrugged, "unless we could activate the whole city at the same time. For which we don't have enough power. Not nearly enough."
"And even if we had the power, it wouldn't help," Grodin said. "The sensors don't distinguish between individuals."
Unexpectedly, the lights began to flicker in the control room, startling everyone present.
"What was that?" McKay demanded.
Grodin called up the schematics of the city on the big screen.
"I don't know," he replied, studying the readouts. "We're getting strange energy readings in one of the unexplored areas across the city."
"Which direction?" Radek asked.
"East pier, a good way beyond the greenhouses," Grodin answered. "I thought you've checked out the energy relay centre in the greenhouses."
"I have," Radek said defensively. "They were all right. But we never got any further."
"It's still strange that the sensors can't penetrate that particular area," McKay said with a disapproving frown.
"It could be shielded," Radek pointed out, "or sensors malfunctioning. We should take a look."
"It would help a lot, of course, if the boy didn't wander around," Dr. Weir said. "Perhaps if we talked to him through the comm system…"
But communications – and most other systems in the control room, in fact – shut down in the middle of her third sentence.
"We've lost power," Grodin reported, rather unnecessarily.
McKay whirled around and glared at him accusingly. "Why?"
Grodin shrugged, switching the main systems back on. "I don't understand it. We haven't had serious fluctuations since the city rose to the surface."
"This is not good," Dr. Weir said. "Can anyone tell me what's going on here?"
"I don't know," McKay admitted reluctantly. "Perhaps Zalinka disturbed something when he worked on the control panel of the greenhouses."
"Hey!" Radek protested, irritated that McKay questioned his professionalism and got his name wrong, once again. "Everything was in best working order when I left yesterday. Perhaps there's disturbance with interfaces between naquadah generators and city systems."
"Either that, or the way we isolated some of the systems could be causing erroneous operations in the Ancient programming," McKay shrugged. "All this stuff is pretty old."
"Or there are really ghosts here," Radek grinned. McKay looked at him blandly.
"Perhaps there are. After all, there are also things called Wraith who can suck the life out of you with their hands."
"I for my part still think this is a technical malfunction," Grodin said. "I'll run a diagnostic on the power flow."
"And I'll take a look at control panel of greenhouses," Radek offered. "Perhaps I've overlooked something."
"You shouldn't go alone," Dr. Weir warned.
"Send Hays after me," Radek answered with a shrug and jogged off.
xxx
Despite his brave words, he felt a bit… uncomfortable, hurrying down the long corridors to the greenhouses. In fact, the speed he chose was a bit faster than necessary. The more was he surprised to find a slight, dark-haired woman in the middle of the cavernous room. For a moment, he wasn't sure whether he was seeing Marta or Ireni; the lights were too dim for his poor eyesight. But then she greeted him, and he recognized her soft voice.
"Marta," he said," what are you doing here?"
"Looking for Jinto," she replied simply. "We are more familiar with the customs of our children than your people."
"Coming here alone is bad idea," Radek said seriously. Marta nodded.
"I know. I set off with Lambeth – one of our young warriors – but we got separated somehow," She smiled at him shyly. "I'm glad you've come, doctor. It's… it's a little frightening here. The lights – they keep getting off and on."
"We are having malfunctions," Radek explained. "We're looking for problem already. I came to check out control panel here."
"I don't think it's the machines," Marta said. "I can feel… something – and it's getting closer."
"Ghosts?" Radek asked, half-joking. But Marta shook her head.
"I don't know what ghosts feel like. But I know this feeling. When we ran by the damaged Wraith ship, it was burning, and one of the soldiers said it was about to explode. I felt the same, then. A prickling on my skin. And the little hairs on my neck and arm bristled."
That made sense. A damaged starship engine set off a lot of energy. And strong energy fields could cause exactly the same sensations that Marta was describing.
"An energy field," Radek murmured. "That's likely possibility. But where could it come?"
"I think," Marta said, her voice shaking, "it is coming from behind you."
Radek turned around and saw something looming on the very corridor he had just come from. It was like a dark cloud of energy, like the personified darkness, crackling barely audible as it rolled down the corridor. It was heading directly towards the greenhouses, and all systems went offline along its way, one after another.
"Můj Bože, tomu nevěřím," Radek muttered darkly. "Marta, get out of its way! Now!"
But she just stood in the middle of the greenhouse, too petrified to even move, her eyes wide and glassy. Radek, moving on pure instinct, darted along the room, grabbed her and pushed her out of the… the thing's way, to a side path between the rows, throwing himself onto her to protect her with his own body. He could feel her tremble under him with fear, uncontrollably.
"Sssssh, be still, sluníčko" he whispered, becoming acutely aware of the softness of her flesh pressing against him. "It will pass, just lie low."
She gave a wordless sound of consent, clinging to him desperately, and, horrified, he felt himself grow hard from her closeness. It had been too long since he'd touched a woman – any woman – and his treacherous body chose to react at the most inappropriate time.
The cloud of dark energy slowly passed along the rows, heading towards the control panel, the glowing crystals of which suddenly darkened, just before the cloud could reach them. Radek froze, remembering an earlier discussion with McKay about human bodies and the heat energy they gave off. Assuming that this… thing was absorbing energy, which it apparently did…
Můj Bože, Radek thought, closer to panic than he'd been for a long time, and Peter has just switched off energy source of greenhouses! He might have very well signed our death sentence!
But for some reason, the malevolent dark cloud drifted away, less than an arm's length from them and left the greenhouse.
"It's gone," Radek whispered against Marta's mouth, a mere inch away from his own. He knew he should get up and apologize. There was no way Marta could have overlooked his almost painful hardness pressed against her thigh. But Marta kept clutching him to herself, her breathing laboured and her eyes wide with panic, and he couldn't tell for his life which one of them had finally bridged the small gap between their lips, but all of a sudden, they were kissing frantically, with teeth clashing and tongues gliding over each other, and Marta's hands were seeking to open his trousers, and he realized that she was wearing one of those Athosian-style skirts today, sliced up on one side, so that he could push it out of the way easily.
Their coupling was fast and desperate, almost violent, and it hurt them both, but in a way they needed it. It made them feel that they were still alive. That if nothing else, they at least had each other to hold on to. And when it was over, they did hold each other fore a long time indeed, not caring that they were lying practically naked in a very public place, and that anyone could come in at any moment to check out the room.
"We should get dressed," Marta finally murmured, reluctantly releasing him from her desperate grip. Radek nodded.
"Yes… yes, we should. I… I apologize for… for what happened."
Marta laid a gentle finger across his lips. "Don't! I needed it, too. You know I did."
"I hurt you," he said, ashamed. He'd always been a gentle and considerate lover. This… this mindless rutting was not what he usually did. Unless he was out of his mind with terror, apparently.
"A little," she admitted. "But I hurt you, too, so... Perhaps we could try this another time, when we are not so frightened. Perhaps we can learn to do this without hurting each other."
Radek, fastening his trousers, froze in surprise. "You'd like to be with me again? After what just happened?"
"That was not you… or me," she said, trying to bring her own clothes in some semblance of order but gave it out seeing her torn skirt. "That was our fear – but still, not entirely unpleasant. I'd like to know what it is like when it is not about fear."
Radek looked at her lovely, serene face and couldn't understand what was happening. Why wasn't she screaming at him, calling him names, throwing things at him. All right, he hadn't exactly raped her; she had been more than willing. She had even initiated their… encounter, at least partially. Still, it had been a rough thing, both of them running on fear and instinct and adrenaline, without caring for the other's comfort. And she wanted a repeat performance? Well, not exactly a repetition of what had just happened, but apparently, she wanted to be with him again.
"You are serious," he said in surprise. She nodded. "What will your people say?"
"I have no family left," she replied simply. "It's my choice. The others won't interfere." She looked at him expectantly, and as he didn't answer, she nodded in understanding. "I see. You're not interested. Never mind, then."
"It's not that," he said hurriedly. "It's just… unexpected. Too much, too soon. I haven't considered…"
"If you live in the shadow of the Wraith, you don't have years to look for a partner," she said. "I understand that it's different for your people. But if you want to survive in our world, you'll have to learn to change your ways."
"I'll… consider your offer," Radek said vaguely. "We should tell Dr. Weir what we saw, though."
"I'll do it," Marta said, "after I've changed. You seek out one of your search troops, for protection."
"What about you?"
"I can feel this… this shadow coming, so I can get out of its way. Be careful."
"You, too," Radek hesitated for a moment, then gave her a quick kiss and hurried off.
His life had just become a lot more complicated.
The End