DISCLAIMER – I do not own Stargate: Atlantis. It belongs to MGM/UA and associated companies. I am writing this story for fun, not profit.
RATING – This story is rated T (just to err on the side of caution.)
SPOILERS – None in this chapter, though there's a reference to "The Seige" and if you spot it, there's a chocolate cookie in it for you!
A/N – Any narrative blocks that are in present tense and italicized are flashback scenes.
As I said in the notes of a previous chapter, I speak a few languages, but Czech isn't one of them. This chapter has a few snippets of Czech, so I apologize in advance for my poor grammar. I've provided translations at the end of the chapter, though I think the meanings will be contextually evident when you read it.
All mistakes are mine, cos I still have no beta. :P
The Song of Slient Rivers
6. Safe At Home
The watcher came through the 'Gate into a world the like of which she had never seen before. There were people…people everywhere. She hadn't seen so many people in one place for many seasons, and she was frightened and excited all at once. There were objects and machines, too, and the people were using them for…what? The watcher had only seen objects that compared to these in one place before, and that was the secret place of the Ancestors on her own homeworld. Not many of her people had ever known about the Ancestors' secret place, but the watcher's father had taken her there. It was because of the Ancestors hidden monument that she had survived. She'd found one small treasure, the first time she'd gone there with her father. When he saw that she had the power within her to make it work, he had allowed her to keep the small thing. She was very glad she had it now, for it might help her to survive in this strange new world, too.
She wore her treasure on a cord around her neck, so she would always have it with her. Now, she caught herself stroking her thumb across the surface of her small treasure from the Ancestors. She often did this to comfort herself, for the memory of finding the object she wore as a necklace made her think of her father. Her thumb passed over the engraved writing. The word etched on the treasure was 'concealed', and so the watcher was when she opened the little object and thought about being hidden. She must stay concealed in this place, she told herself. This was not a time to ignore her instincts. The people around her were people she did not know, and she dared not trust them yet.
The watcher observed a dark-haired woman running to meet those that had come through the Gate of the Ancestors. Two men were with her, and one of them went straight to the stranger who'd fallen in the river. The dark-haired woman looked distraught, as if she might weep, but the watcher sensed the dark-haired woman was strong. She would not weep in front of the others, no matter how much she wanted to. The watcher thought the dark-haired woman must be a leader among the people of this peculiar village. All the men around her seemed to jump to do her bidding. The watcher admired her. A strong woman able to command the respect of men was a worthy person indeed.
The leader addressed the ones who had come through the 'Gate. The watcher did not understand their words, but at the moment, this did not matter to her. What concerned her now was that one of the people was taking away the man the watcher had saved from drowning. The watcher felt an odd tugging sensation that felt like fingers around her heart. She did not want the man to be taken to where she could not see him.
Gathering her courage, she followed.
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It took every bit of will power in Elizabeth Weir's possession to keep her from running after Carson as he left the control room with Radek. She told herself sternly that there would be time to go to the Infirmary later. The last thing Carson and his staff needed just now was Elizabeth getting in the way of their work. Besides, Elizabeth had other things to attend to before she could satisfy her own personal interests. She surveyed the remaining three members of the offworld team. They looked a bit worse for wear, and John was scratching industriously at some bug bites on his arm, but no one else seemed to be hurt.
"I guess we don't have to tell you we didn't find a ZPM," John said.
"Yet," Ronon added.
"I'm just relieved all of you returned to Atlantis safely," said Elizabeth. "I'm glad you were able to rescue Dr. Zelenka and make it back here."
"About that," John said. "We didn't exactly rescue the doc. He was already out of the water when we found him. Haven't got a clue how he managed to climb out by himself, but it's lucky for him that he did."
"Yes," said Elizabeth, because she couldn't think of anything else to say. She let her gaze take in all of the team members. "Why don't the three of you get cleaned up? John, go and see the Infirmary staff about those bites on your arm, too, all right? We'll meet in one hour, and you can tell me everything that happened."
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"Scaredy-cat, scaredy cat! Radek is a scaredy-cat!"
Six-year-old Milena Zelenka chants in a singsong voice, hands on hips, as she stands in the middle of the field. Radek wants to deny his sister's accusation, but he can't. He's nine years old, much too grown up to be afraid of what might be inside an old abandoned barn, but the truth is, he really is nervous. His grandmother had warned the children not to enter the barn, and she wouldn't have said such a thing without reason. Nevertheless, Milena seems determined to defy their grandmother's words.
"Why do you want to go into the stupid barn, anyway?" Radek says to his sister.
"It's not stupid!" says Milena. "It'll be fun. We might see a ghost."
"Ghosts don't go into barns."
"How do you know?"
"All the ghosts are in the city, haunting all the castles and the Mala Strana," Radek says. "Let's think of something else to do, okay?"
"No," says Milena. "There's nothing else to do, anyway. You just don't want to go in because you're scared. Scaredy-cat!"
"I am not a scaredy-cat," Radek says, but he knows Milena doesn't believe him.
Radek sits in the grass. He hates being sent to stay with his grandmother in the country. He misses playing games with his friends, Alexander and Mirek and little Jirina. He misses going to the library with Mother, listening to Uncle Jaromir's stories at bedtime, and going ghost-hunting in the Mala Strana at dusk with Cousin Dušana. Here at his grandmother's house, no one tells him stories and his only playmate is Milena. Grandmother is too old to play games with them or take them places, and Radek would never ask his Uncle Viktor to take him anywhere. Viktor is the kind of grown-up who seems to think it's funny to embarrass children and make them feel stupid. Radek doesn't like him. Secretly, Radek believes Uncle Viktor is the one who's stupid. Uncle Viktor cannot read and he doesn't do any work, and he does still live with his mother, after all.
Radek watches a butterfly come to rest on a nearby wildflower. Sometimes he wishes he could be like the insect and fly away from anything that annoyed him or frightened him. Maybe if he could fly, he'd go as far as the ocean and see what it looks like. Then, he could go to the mountains and see what they look like, too. After that, he would fly to Prague, straight to his room in his own house. Radek stretches out his hand slowly toward the butterfly. He holds his breath and tries to keep still. Usually, the pretty insects flutter away when Radek reaches for them, but this one seems brave. It leaves the wildflower and lights on Radek's finger, just for a second. Its tiny wings quiver, and then it flies away. Radek sighs. He wants to go home.
Nearby, Milena is hopping up and down. She says, "You can't just sit there all day."
'I can if I want to," says Radek.
"That's no fun. Let's see what's in the barn."
"No, Milena, we can't. Babička said we aren't allowed."
"Grandmothers don't know everything," Milena asserts. "Come on."
"But—"
"Come on, Radek! You're such a baby," says Milena. Her tone is scornful and impatient. "I'll bet if Mirek was here, he would go."
Radek is sure Mirek would go into the barn, too. Mirek has a particular talent for doing things he's not really supposed to do. Radek gets up and brushes loose bits of grass from his clothes. Maybe he should go into the barn. All he has to do is step inside the door. He tells himself he doesn't have to go all the way in. Maybe Milena will be satisfied with that, and she'll leave Radek alone so he can look for interesting bugs and plants to draw pictures of.
He says, "If I go into the barn, will you promise to stop bothering me for the rest of the day?"
"I'm not bothering you. You're bothering me," Milena says. She grabs his hand and drags him in the direction of the falling-down barn. "Let's go."
Radek lets her pull him along to the door of the old structure. He tries to see inside without actually stepping across the threshold. The windows were boarded up long ago, and the only light comes from cracks in the walls. All Radek can see are shadows and strange shapes. He thinks he hears something moving, but he doesn't have time to figure out what it is. Milena tugs hard on his hand and draws him into the darkness.
A spider's web brushes against his face, and Radek gasps, startled. Milena giggles. There's another small scuffling noise, like something moving in a far corner. Milena lets go of Radek's hand, and just as she does, something large leaps from the darkness with a horrible roar. Arms bulging with corded muscle grip Radek around the middle and squeeze tight. Radek yells. He beats at the monster with his fists and shouts frantically.
"Let go of me! Leave me alone!"
Behind him, he hears Milena's shrill laughter. She thinks it's funny. Her voice is sharp and mocking. "Scaredy-cat, scaredy-cat! It's only Uncle Viktor."
Uncle Viktor is laughing, too. "Silly little boy," he says.
Radek squirms out of his uncle's grasp. He turns and runs from the barn, back into the sunshine. He doesn't stop running until he reaches the safety of his grandmother's house. He dashes through the front door and pounds up the stairs to the spare bedroom where he wriggles under the bed and lies on his stomach with his cheek pressed against the cool floor.
He closes his eyes and wishes with all his might that Father would come for him and take him back to Prague.
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"You've got to stop fighting me, Radek. I cannot help you this way!"
Carson Beckett's voice was sharp-edged with frustration and concern. For once, the doctor wasn't helping. That much was obvious to Elizabeth, the moment she entered the infirmary and spied Carson trying to catch the hands of Radek Zelenka, who in turn was attempting to fend off the Scot with defensive motions that looked more feeble than intimidating. It wasn't Radek's movements that alarmed Elizabeth. The noise of his breathing was the thing that threatened to make her own throat constrict. Radek sounded like he was choking, gasping for breath. Along with struggling for air he was mumbling in his native language.
Elizabeth spoke five languages fluently. At the moment she wished one of those five were Czech. Still, she understood enough of Radek's native language to catch the essence of what he was saying. He kept repeating one phrase in particular. Even if she hadn't comprehended the actual words, she would have grasped the meaning from Radek's tone. Leave me alone! Don't touch me!
"Carson," Elizabeth said aloud.
The doctor turned. He shot Elizabeth an exasperated look. "Dr. Weir. I've got my hands a wee bit too full to spare the time to brief you just now."
"I can see your problem."
"Can you, really? Do you know what it's like trying to treat someone who keeps fighting you off? I need to examine him, and I really need to get him started on oxygen. I could help him if he'd just let me, but the poor lad won't even allow me to touch him."
"Carson, he's scared," Elizabeth said. "Let me try talking to him."
"Aye, of course. See what you can do," Carson said. He moved back, making room for Elizabeth, but his alert gaze never left his patient.
Elizabeth stepped up to the bed where the struggling engineer lay. She leaned in close to him and said quietly but firmly. "Dr. Zelenka? Radek, it's Elizabeth. Can you understand what I'm saying to you?"
Almost immediately, he stopped squirming on the bed, and he lowered his hands to his chest. His breathing didn't seem to come any easier, but his desperate gasping faded to a ragged whimper. "Elizabeth?"
"Yes, I'm right here. Dr. Beckett is here, too. He wants to help you, but you have to cooperate and stop fighting him. You have to speak English to him, Radek, because he doesn't understand Czech. Can you do that?"
English, yes. But—" He lapsed into a fit of coughing that left him trembling and more white-faced than ever. "Působi bolest až k dýchat! Elizabeth…please…"
"I know it hurts to breathe." Elizabeth pushed down the wave of guilt and anxiety that threatened to overwhelm her when she looked into Radek's eyes. He hadn't wanted to go on this mission, but he'd done so because she'd asked him to, and now he was hurt. Elizabeth brushed errant locks of light brown hair away from the engineer's forehead. She said, "Will you let Carson help you?"
"Y-yes."
"That's better," Elizabeth said softly. She patted Radek's hand. "I'll stay right here."
"Okay."
Carson moved to the engineer's side, looking relieved that he could finally approach his patient to begin examining him. He said, "Radek, do you know where you are?"
"Atlantis?" Radek whispered. "Thank God...Atlantis..."
"Yes, Radek, you're in Atlantis," said Elizabeth. "You're home and you're safe."
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Atlantis. Yes, that's where he was, safe in Atlantis. Elizabeth was here. Her voice had broken through the confused haze of his dreams to reach him. She'd stroked his head and told him everything would be all right, and he'd felt her small, cool hand on his hand. He knew Carson was here as well, taking care of him. Elizabeth had said so. Radek lay still and didn't struggle any more, because Elizabeth had asked him not to. He was sure he'd try to do anything Elizabeth asked, even though it was hard and he was afraid. Elizabeth talked to him while Carson worked. Radek didn't try to answer her. He just listened. He whimpered once, when Carson pierced his skin with a needle, but Elizabeth soothed him with the most melodious nonsense he'd ever heard. He liked Elizabeth's voice, even if he didn't quite know what she was saying a the moment.
Radek was vaguely aware that his bed was inclined so that he was nearly sitting up. That helped. Small tube in the nose…that helped as well. Whatever Carson had done to him, it was working, Radek decided. It still hurt him to inhale too deeply, but at least he no longer had to make his body fight for each breath. With increased oxygen flowing through his system, he became slightly more alert. His grasp on consciousness wasn't so tenuous any more. With that realization came the ability to devote a little of his attention to what Carson and Elizabeth were actually saying.
"…concerned with respiratory complications," Carson's voice declared. "He's got quite a few bumps and bruises, including bruised ribs. He has a concussion, too, and that worries me."
"He's going to be all right, though, isn't he?" Elizabeth sounded anxious.
'I'm going to keep him here as long as I feel it's medically necessary," Carson said. "I'm sure he'll make a full recovery, but I want to keep a close eye on him in the meantime."
"Can I… Would it be appropriate if I came back later and visited?"
Radek could hear the compassion in Carson's voice. "Of course you can, love. I'm sure he'd appreciate visits from his friends."
"Thank you."
"You know this isn't your fault, don't you? It could've happened to anyone in the same circumstances."
"He didn't want to go, Carson. I…I believe he went because he thought I wanted him to."
Elizabeth's voice was barely above a whisper, and Radek thought she might be crying. He concentrated on his fingers, on tightening his grip on her hand. He wanted to tell her that he didn't blame her. Carson was right. It could just as easily been Teyla who'd fallen, or Colonel Sheppard. They all took risks when they went offworld. Just staying in Atlantis could even be a risk sometimes. Don't blame yourself, Elizabeth, please, he wanted to say.
For a moment, Radek wondered if he'd spoken the words aloud or if they'd just been there in his head. He had his answer when Elizabeth squeezed his hand and whispered, "I promise, I won't let anything like this happen to you ever again."
Then there was Carson's voice again, still compassionate, but firm. "I think it's best that we let him rest now, Elizabeth. He can have visitors later."
"All right," Elizabeth said, but she sounded reluctant.
Radek focussed all his energy on curling his fingers more tightly around Elizabeth's. He didn't want her to go just yet. There was one thing he needed to ask, and he concentrated hard to remember what it was. A picture of a girl with sandy hair came into his mind. Yes, that was it. He needed to ask about the girl.
"Jirina…kde…where is she?" he said.
"Who's Jirina?" Elizabeth sounded puzzled.
"She was…with me."
"On the planet?" said Elizabeth. "Colonel Sheppard said you were alone when he and Ronon found you."
"Elizabeth," Carson said. "Let him rest, now. He's a wee bit muddled at the moment. You'll be able to talk to him when he's stronger and more alert."
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Elizabeth understood that she shouldn't stay, but the look in Radek's eyes when she'd slipped her fingers out of his grasp was nearly enough to make her ignore her better judgment. She didn't want to leave him when he so obviously needed reassurance and comfort. She had to remind herself that she had other concerns. She had all of Atlantis to worry about, and she could not let her personal feelings interfere with her duties, no matter how much she might want to. Carson had told her she could come back later, so that's what she would do. She would debrief John and his team, and then she would return to the Infirmary.
She was just about to leave when she heard someone's voice calling her over the radio.
"Dr. Weir?"
Elizabeth touched her earpiece. "This is Weir. Go ahead."
"Ma'am, this is Major Lorne. We've got a little problem here. Colonel Sheppard thinks you should come down."
"Are you in the control room?"
"Just outside the 'jumper bay, actually, ma'am."
"What's the problem, Major?"
"Uh…well, this is going to sound weird, but it seems like somebody might have followed the colonel and his team on the return trip through the 'Gate," came Lorne's response. "We have an intruder in the city."
"Major Lorne, how is that even possible? I didn't see anyone other than Colonel Sheppard's team come through the gate, did you?"
"No, ma'am. I can't explain it," Lorne said.
"Okay. I'll be right there," Elizabeth said. She glanced at Carson and the nearly-asleep Radek. "I have to go, but I'll be back later. Keep me in the loop, all right?"
"Of course," Carson said.
Radek's eyelids fluttered briefly. "Elizabeth…?"
Elizabeth let her fingers brush against the back of Radek's hand. She smiled at him. "Don't tell me. I am the loop."
"Yes. You are, yes."
"Go to sleep. Carson's here with you, and I'll come and look in on you in a few hours."
Radek said nothing, but he obediently closed his eyes again.
Satisfied that Radek was in good hands with Carson, Elizabeth left the infirmary and headed for the jumper bay at a brisk jog.
TBC
--------------------
Babička
– Grandmother
Působi
bolest až k dýchat –
It hurts to breathe.
kde
– where
A/N #2 – I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next one will be up soon as well. Um yes... I know I said I'd show off some pics of Grace, but I can't do that, because URLs don't seem to want to show up properly. My apologies! I so wanted to share...
