DISCLAIMER – Stargate: Atlantis does not belong to me. It is the property of MGM/UA and associated companies. This story is a work of fan fiction created for personal enjoyment, not profit. With regard to this story, no exchange of money in any form has taken place.

RATING – Story rated T

SPOILERS – Anything up to the end of Season 2 is fair game.

A/N – Well, here's a nice long chapter for you. I am rather pleased with how this one turned out, personally. Here you get to see Shadow vexing Rodney a bit, and sharing a few of her secrets with Radek and Carson. So, yes… HUGE THANKS to everyone who replied to the last chapter. You guys always make my day with your replies. Special thanks to NenyaVilyaNenya the most consistent reply-poster ever! -nod- Anyway, I hope you all enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it for you.

Anything in «double-angle quotation marks» represents something written in Ancient.

Still beta-less. Blame all the mistakes on me.


The Song Of Silent Rivers

11. Knowledge And Power

John had never been good at paying attention to people when they talked for more than ten minutes at a time. He supposed he should work on improving himself in that area, because with Rodney around, ten-minute monologues were the rule rather than the exception. The Canadian could really get going when he was speaking about a subject that fascinated him. The trouble with Rodney was that too many things fascinated him. His hunger for knowledge was matched only by the capacity of his brain, which in Rodney's own estimation, was vast. John was no slouch in the brainpower department, either – he'd scored in a high percentile when he'd taken the MENSA test – but expecting him to keep up with Rodney was something like asking a guy in a Cessna to out-fly a fighter pilot in an F302. Just couldn't be done, no way, not a chance. The Canadian was in a league all his own. At the moment, Rodney was rendering his self-important opinion on the proposed return trip to M4X-382. John didn't see that an entire lecture was necessary. John's input had taken all of two minutes. He thought they should go back. They'd created more risk for themselves on M4X-382 than any dangers the planet seemed to hold for them. They'd just have to be more careful next time. The chance of finding a ZPM or some other useful technology was worth going back to investigate, and now, as John understood it, they had a native guide to show them the best way to go.

John slouched in his chair and looked around at the other participants at the briefing. Ronon was slouched similarly in his own chair across the table from John. Teyla and Elizabeth both appeared to be listening intently to whatever Rodney was going on about. At the end of the table farthest from John, the woman who called herself Shadow was sitting side-by-side with Carson. Since her unexpected arrival in Atlantis the day before yesterday, Shadow had been restricted to the Infirmary, though this afternoon Elizabeth had agreed it was all right to let her explore. John suspected everyone in the Infirmary was relieved about that. When John had dropped in to visit Dr. Zelenka this morning, he'd been assaulted with dozens of questions and demands from Shadow, none of which he could respond to. Dr. Zelenka had said he thought the young woman was bored. John could hardly blame her. Two days and nights cooped up in the Infirmary would've had John bored out of his mind, too.

Apparently, Shadow had been pestering everyone in the Infirmary with a constant stream of requests for information, attention and food. John wanted to laugh when he thought about Shadow not asking for, but demanding, something to eat. The woman had an appetite to rival Rodney's, and that was saying something. According to Carson she would eat anything edible, but power bars were her snack of choice. Carson's story about Shadow snitching Rodney's power bar in the lab had made John laugh so hard that his sides ached. He thought he might've given a million bucks for a picture of the physicist's face.

John caught himself watching Shadow, now. He could see something of the eccentric in her as she worked her pencil over the sheet of paper on the table in front of her. Her face was intense with concentration. At first, John had thought she was writing, but then he realized she was actually drawing something. He wanted to see what it was, but couldn't get a proper look at it from where he sat. He pushed down a mild wave of envy and wanted to laugh at himself for even having that feeling in the first place. As much as he'd like to be able to divert his mind from tedium by drawing pictures, he would never get away with it. Elizabeth would not be amused. Or maybe she would be, but she'd make sure he never realized it.

John became aware that Rodney had finally stopped talking when the physicist dropped into the chair beside his. Rodney looked smug, as if he'd made some particularly salient comment of which everyone present should now be in total awe.

"Thank you, Rodney. That was particularly…thorough," Elizabeth was saying.

"I know," said Rodney.

"And your conclusion is…?" John prompted him for the quick, plain-English version of whatever the man had been saying for the past ten minutes.

"I'm sure I already made it clear that I think we should return to the planet," said Rodney. "I said that, didn't I? Anyway, I think I should go this time. I always say that if you want something done right, you should do it yourself."

John thought about going back to that humid, insect-infested planet with Rodney McKay in tow. He wasn't looking forward to listening to the physicist complain about the bugs and the heat and whatever other burrs Rodney had under his proverbial saddle that day, but he could not refute the fact that Rodney was the best person to have along if they actually did discover some Ancient stuff. Rodney was a good person underneath the ego and the bluster. He was loyal and determined, and nobody could deny that the guy was a genius. John truly liked him and was glad to call him a friend. It was just that sometimes, the whining could be difficult to take. Rodney was, as the saying went, high-maintenance.

"Of course you're coming with us, McKay. We wouldn't dream of leaving Atlantis without you," John said. He looked around at the other members of his team. "What do you guys think?"

"We shoud go back," Ronon said.

"I think," said Teyla, "that we should ask Shadow what she thinks. We are talking about a visit to her world. Should she not be told about what we are discussing?"

"She offered to show us around…didn't she?" John glanced at Elizabeth, who was looking down at the table. "Elizabeth?"

"Yes," said Elizabeth. "Yes, she did offer to guide us, but Teyla is right. She needs to know what we're planning to do."

"Somebody should describe the ZPM to her," John suggested. "Maybe she knows exactly what we're looking for."

"Rodney, can you do that?" Elizabeth asked.

"Explain the ZPM to her?" Rodney looked dubious. "I doubt she'd understand—"

"You don't have to give her the Ph.D. seminar on the science of power generation," John said. "All you have to do is describe to her what the ZPM looks like and tell her what it does. Draw a picture for her, or something. I'm pretty sure she relates well to pictures."

From the far end of the table, Carson grinned at Rodney and John. The doctor had been relatively quiet throughout the briefing, but now he spoke up. "Aye, she does. You might be interested in Shadow's pictures, too, Rodney."

"I doubt that," said the Canadian.

"Oh, I think you'll appreciate them," Carson said. "The lass is making you a survival guide for when you visit her world."

"See? That could really come in handy," John said. He grinned at Rodney. "You wouldn't want to accidentally run into some alien strain of poison ivy, would you?"

"I'd be more concerned about the forest cats," said Carson. "My Ancient's a wee bit shaky, but I believe she's written here that the beasts like to 'eat man's bones'. Not the sort of buggers you'd want to run into, I expect."

Carson looked much too innocent when he'd said that, John thought. He wondered what sort of byplay was going on between the doctor and Rodney. The two of them seemed to have a thinly-veiled battle going on, and John was itching to get to the bottom of it. Perhaps he'd do a discreet bit of asking around, later. Gather some intel, he decided. Right now, though, there were more important things to concern himself with, like making sure Rodney did what he'd been asked to do without too much fuss.

John said, "So, how about it, McKay? Will you trade pictures with Shadow? You never know. She might actually be able to teach you something."

"Hmph," Rodney said.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Radek was bored.

He'd often heard Colonel Sheppard complain about how two days and two nights in the Infirmary could feel like a year. He had always thought the colonel was exaggerating, but now he began to realize the appropriateness of Sheppard's sentiment. When one was ill or injured the Infirmary was the best place in the galaxy to be, but once a person began to feel better, that same Infirmary could start to feel very confining. The problem with the Infirmary was that there was nothing to divert a person's attention from the fact that he was in the Infirmary. Lying in bed gave him lots of time to think about how he'd ended up lying in bed in the first place. Not exactly the most mentally stimulating thoughts, Radek decided. He wished someone would come and offer to play chess with him. At least then he'd have something to occupy his mind.

Radek was still bruised and sore, but his headache had mostly disappeared. Carson had said his lungs sounded much better today, as well, but the doctor had insisted on Radek spending one more night in the Infirmary. Perhaps in the morning, Carson had said, Radek would be allowed to leave the Infirmary in favour of resting in his own quarters. Radek knew better than to argue or protest, though he really didn't see why Carson couldn't let him go to his quarters now. If Carson was worried his patient might decide to spend the evening tinkering with machines in the lab, Radek would have been happy to assure him that wouldn't happen. Work could wait, though he would have liked to write in his journal and listen to some music. What Radek wanted most of all was to be able to curl up in his own bed, in his own room, away from the presence of nurses and medical equipment and the pungent smell of antibacterial cleaning products.

Radek sighed. At the moment, he didn't even have anyone to talk to. Carson had taken Shadow with him to the briefing about M4X-382, but had returned without her. According to the doctor, Elizabeth had finally agreed it was all right for Shadow to leave the Infirmary. Knowing Shadow, she was off wreaking havoc someplace, much too busy exploring and having fun to sit around and keep Radek company. He missed her being there, but he was glad she'd finally been allowed to go. The Infirmary had been like a cage to her, and Radek suspected Shadow was not the sort of person who could survive being confined for long.

He tried to guess where she might be right now. The mess hall, perhaps, where there was no telling the amount of mischief she could cause. Radek wondered if she'd discovered blue Jell-o yet. God help the soldier in the mess hall kitchen if she ended up liking blue Jell-o as much as she liked power bars. She would have the reputation of being the next incarnation of Rodney McKay. That was a frightening thought. A single iteration of Rodney was enough for Atlantis. The Lost City could not possibly cope with two.

Radek could just imagine what might happen if Shadow and Rodney were left alone in a room together. If only he could render himself invisible, Radek would have loved to hide in a corner of that room.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

The more human beings Rodney met, the more he liked his cat.

After the briefing, Elizabeth had insisted that he take Shadow with him to his lab and explain the details of their proposed mission to her. Rodney had been hoping the deaf woman would not want to go with him, but to his utter chagrin, she had seemed all too excited by the prospect. She had practically skipped down the corridor on the way to the lab, irritating Rodney to the point where he actually raised his voice and commanded her to walk sensibly. That had been pointless, since she couldn't hear him anyway.

In the lab, he had tried and ultimately failed to get her to sit still and pay attention to what he was writing. She seemed disinterested in the mission and the intricacies of ZPM technology. In fact, the only thing she did seem interested in was the device Radek had been working on before the original mission to M4X-382. Rodney and Radek had found the device when they'd been exploring the city, but they'd been unable to ascertain its purpose. Radek thought it was a recording device, though Rodney had no idea where the Czech had come up with that theory.

"Don't touch that!" Rodney said, for about the fifth time, as Shadow reached for the device.

Grumbling to himself, Rodney hurried across the room to interpose himself between Radek's work table and the curious woman. Shadow fixed him with an annoyed glare, which Rodney ignored. He said, "Look, we're supposed to be doing something productive, here. You can't touch Radek's experiments. You can't touch anything! Do you underst— No, of course you don't. Just…come here."

He put his hand on her arm and tried to steer her in the direction of his own work table, but she evaded him and scurried to the far side of the lab. From her sanctuary in the corner, she wagged a finger at Rodney and formed her expression into something so reminiscent of Carson Beckett that Rodney wanted to scream.

"This isn't helping!" Rodney exclaimed. He waved his hands in a gesture of unqualified exasperation. The menace in the corner flapped her hands, too, making fun of him. Clearly, like nearly everyone else around here, Shadow did not take Rodney seriously. The beleaguered physicist covered his face with his hands and muttered. "That's it. I give up."

When Rodney uncovered his eyes several seconds later, Shadow was gone.

Rodney stared at the spot where she had been. There was no way she could have gotten out of the lab without his noticing it…was there? His gaze darted around the room, trying to locate where the deaf woman might be hiding. He didn't see her, but he did see something that almost convinced him he might be going crazy. The two power bars that had hitherto been on the table near his computer vanished into thin air, right before his eyes.

"What the—" Rodney began.

The next thing to disappear was the toaster-sized device that had once resided on Radek's work table. One moment the object had been there and the next moment it was not.

"Shadow!" Rodney shouted, knowing even as her name left his lips that calling to her was a fine exercise in futility. "Whatever it is that you're doing, stop it! Stop it right now!"

The soft swish of the lab door sliding open made Rodney spin around to gape in that direction, but all he saw was the door opening and closing on nothing. He couldn't help thinking of all that ridiculous ghost nonsense Radek was always talking about. Up to this point, Rodney had been firmly convinced his friend and fellow scientist was the owner of an extremely active and not entirely rational imagination, but as he stood gazing at the door of his lab, Rodney began to wonder if some of Radek's stories might have a fragment of credibility after all. Then again, Rodney thought frantically, maybe this was the first sign of some kind of horrific mental illness. Seeing things, not seeing things… God, it was enough to make him want to get himself examined…almost.

At that precise moment, the only thing Rodney McKay could say he knew for certain was that the woman who called herself Shadow was more than what she seemed.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Radek was startled when Shadow appeared beside his bed, mostly because he'd just been thinking about her and imagining that she was somewhere else, but also because he hadn't heard her approach. He hadn't actually seen her come in, either, and if he hadn't known better, he would have said she'd appeared out of thin air. He noticed she had changed out of the white scrubs Carson had given her, and was once again wearing her threadbare green dress and leggings. She was also wearing her peculiar necklace again. In her arms she carried a small metallic box that looked suspiciously like the device Radek had been experimenting with several days ago in his lab.

Shadow appeared to have been running and she was somewhat dishevelled, but she seemed none the worse for it. Radek couldn't help thinking she was very pretty, especially when she smiled the way she was doing now. She seemed genuinely happy to see him, and left little doubt of it in his mind when she put down the object she'd been carrying, climbed onto the bed with him and gave him an affectionate hug. Radek returned her embrace, marvelling at how demonstrative she was with him when she seemed so wary of nearly everyone else.

Apparently satisfied, Shadow settled into a comfortable position at the foot of Radek's bed. When she pulled a power bar from the small bag hanging from her belt, and calmly began to unwrap it, Radek didn't even bother to suppress his grin. Shadow was nothing if not resourceful. He was sure she could survive anywhere. Shadow broke the power bar in half, and offered one of the pieces to Radek. He accepted it with a nod of thanks. Even before he tasted it he could smell the scent of peanut butter emanating from it, and he had a very good idea where the confection had come from. He glanced at Shadow, who was chewing with a contented expression on her face.

"You took this from Rodney, didn't you?" Radek said. He fluttered his hands and scowled in a plausible imitation of his friend. "Shadow, you know Rodney, don't you?"

Shadow laughed. She made absolutely no sound, but Radek knew she was laughing. Her eyes crinkled at the corners. She covered her mouth with her fingers, and she shook all over with the mirth she could not give voice to. Watching her, Radek felt like laughing too. Her sense of humour was infectious.

When Shadow's silent fit of giggling ran its course, she finished her half of the power bar in a few indecorous bites and casually discarded the foil wrapper by flipping into the air. Radek didn't scold her, although he probably should have. He happily convinced himself the reason he didn't admonish her for throwing things around was because without something to write on, he had no way to communicate with her. That, of course, was not strictly true, but if anyone happened to ask, it was what Radek intended to say.

Shadow dusted the crumbs from her hands and promptly turned her attention to something else. Radek watched as she lifted the pendant of her necklace and ran her thumb over its surface. The pendant was the size and shape of an almond. Radek thought it was a locket. Shadow seemed to deliberate for a moment as she rubbed the silver-coloured object. Then, she slipped the loop of cord from her neck and calmly placed her necklace in Radek's hand.

On closer inspection, Radek discovered the object was indeed meant to be be opened, though he couldn't figure out how to accomplish it. He stared at the necklace for a long time. He was far from ready to admit he was 'stumped', as Colonel Sheppard would say, but neither could he imagine solving the problem of how to open the locket without a more in-depth study than he was able to make with just eyes and fingers.

Shadow reached out and stroked the edge of the pendant, and as if by magic, the two halves came apart, conjoined only by a tiny hinge. She indicated the object and made a gesture like closing her fist. Instructions, Radek decided. He curled his fingers around the silvery object.

Nothing happened.

Shadow frowned. She tapped his hand and he let go of the pendant, allowing it to slide between his fingers and land beside him on the blanket. Shadow scooped it up and closed her own hand around it.

She vanished.

"Oh!" Radek exclaimed, delighted with his sudden revelation about what was going on. The girl's pendant must contain a similar technology to that which enabled the puddlejumpers to be cloaked, and if Shadow could make the device work just by touching it, then she must have the ATA gene. "Yes, yes this makes sense. It was how you were able to come through Stargate without being seen, too, wasn't it?"

Shadow popped back into view, exactly in the spot where she'd disappeared. She offered the pendant to Radek. He accepted it, even though he knew he couldn't make it work. Not for the first time, he wished he had the gene that would enable him to use Ancient technology like this. He didn't have the ATA gene naturally, and Dr, Beckett's gene therapy hadn't been successful on him, so he knew how fruitless it was to wish. Still…

Shadow put her hand over the device, and interlaced her fingers with Radek's. Radek felt a slight tingling sensation against his palm, and before he had time wonder what that meant, he witnessed both the girl and his own hand become invisible. No, not just his hand. All of him. It was an odd, disorienting situation to be able to feel, hear and see his surroundings, but not to be able to see his own body when he looked down.

When Shadow released his hand and they both reappeared, she was grinning mischievously at him. She took the pendant, somehow sealed the two halves together again, and replaced the cord around her neck.

"No matter what, please do not let Dr. McKay play with this. No one here is ready for invisible Rodney," Radek said. He smiled at Shadow and amended, "Okay, perhaps you are ready. I think you like strange adventures. You like to test limits, yes?"

She didn't answer him, but then he had not expected her to. Her only response was to creep up beside him and snuggle against his side. She settled her head on his shoulder, and shut her eyes. Radek knew he probably shouldn't let her do that, but he didn't have the heart to tell her to move. She was a comfortable and comforting presence, and the truth was, he liked having her there. He let his own eyelids droop, and thought no more about the consequences of falling asleep next to a pretty, curious alien woman.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

When Carson returned to the Infirmary he was surprised to discover Shadow waiting for him in his office. He thought she would still be with Rodney, or else exploring the city on her own. He had not expected to find her sitting at his desk, composing a message for him. As soon as she saw him, she hopped off the chair and hurried toward him to show him what she'd written.

«The River Man is sleeping. He is well. I have something I wish you to see. Will you explain zero point module?»

It took Carson a long time to decipher everything, and just as long to compose his answer. «Healer not know zero point module. See what?»

Shadow smiled fondly when she read his clumsy reply, and Carson got the distinct impression she pitied him in his illiteracy. Maybe where she came from, everyone was fluent in the language of the Ancients. With all the Ancient writing in Atlantis, she probably thought everyone here should be able to read and write it, too. Then and there, Carson decided he needed to practice his Ancient language skills. He wouldn't use the old excuses that he had neither the time nor the aptitude for it. He lived in the city of the Ancients, so he reasoned he ought to have more than a passing acquaintance with their words.

Shadow wrote, «I want to show you the stars of many worlds.»

Carson wasn't sure he understood exactly what she meant, but he supposed he'd find out soon enough. Shadow crossed the room and lifted a small metallic-looking box from the top of Carson's desk. Carson wondered where the thing had come from and what it was for. Shadow must have found it somewhere, because it certainly didn't belong in the Infirmary.

Shadow put the box on the floor. She knelt beside the object and placed her palms on either side of it. Carson watched, fascinated, as a holographic display appeared above the box and filled the office with a soft light. All at once, Carson remembered where he'd seen something like this before. There was a room in Atlantis that was a sort of repository of history. The holographic projection in that room showed the stars of the Pegasus galaxy and traced the progress of the Ancients' battle for control against the Wraith. The image glowing in the middle of Carson's office looked very much like the diagram in that other room.

Fast on the heels of that observation, Carson had another startling insight. If Shadow could make the holographic projector work, she must have the gene. He wondered if it was as rare among her people as it was among his. Maybe if Colonel Sheppard and his team located the village Shadow had mentioned, they would find out. Carson imagined they would find out a lot of things if they reached that village.

Shadow removed her hands from the box, and the holographic image faded away. She reclaimed her pencil and demanded:

«Take me to your Leader. I have many questions to ask.»

Carson shook his head in wonder. When Elizabeth heard about everything that had happened this afternoon, the Leader would probably have a few questions of her own.

TBC
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A/N #2 -- gah...today the breeder and I both realized 4 September is a holiday, so now Grace will either be coming home on the 5th or 6th instead. I bought fabric to sew a cushion for Grace's dog bed. The dog bed is an antique wicker dog basket which my mother found at somebody's garage sale. It'll go well in my room next to my antique nursing rocker which I bought a few years ago at somebody else's garage sale. Okay...so the dog bed isn't exactly a cradle, but then Grace isn't exactly a child, either.

Erm...yes...now that I've bored you all to death with that bit of minutiae... Next part of the story should be posted tomorrow night, with any luck.