DISCLAIMER – Stargate: Atlantis is the intellectual property of MGM/UA and associates. I am not making any money or receiving any compensation of any kind for creating this story. It's just for fun, so please don't sue me.
RATING – Story rated T
ARCHIVE – Anyone can archive this story. You have my permission to do so. Please, just let me know where it is going, and I'll be happy.
SPOILERS
– Anything up to the end of Season 2 is fair game. This
chapter has specific references to (but not major spoilers for):
"Runner"
"Before
I Sleep"
"Aurora"
"Sateda"
(season 3)
A/N – Thank you to everyone who replied to the last chapter. I love reading all your comments. Special thanks to those of you who leave me those thought-provoking, next-chapter-shaping comments! Some things you suggest help me to see the story through eyes other than my own, so I don't leave out important details. I know I've already said this, but all of you are fabulous! I hope you enjoy Chapter 23. It turned out a bit weird, in my opinion, but…Oo…you get to meet a new character!
Yay! Thirteen people now have this story on their alert list, according to my stats. That gives me the warm fuzzies! teehee. -hugs the fans-
Oh…and some free advice that is totally un-story-related: never put caramels in the fridge, especially if you intend to eat them the day after having oral surgery. That is all.
I have no beta. Can you tell?
The Song Of Silent Rivers
23. Awareness
John stared down at the people in the stasis capsules and fought his own emotional reaction at the sight of the tiny, lifeless children. The kids were perfect, the twin little girls and the dark-haired boy, flawlessly preserved. Beads of cold sweat broke all over John's skin when that thought came to him. He wondered how the children had died. Maybe they'd already been dead before they'd been put in stasis, as terribly morbid as that seemed. He tore his attention away from them and concentrated on the old man instead. Rodney had said the man wasn't dead, and judging by the old guy's colour and the fact that his eyes were closed, John decided he had to agree.
"Can you get him out?" John asked Rodney.
"Getting him out would be the easy part, if you don't care whether we get him out alive or not," Rodney said.
Leave it to McKay to make a statement like that. Under normal circumstances, he might have said something about Rodney's deficiency in the tact department, but these were not normal circumstances. John could tell that his friend was affected by stress, and he didn't want to aggravate him.
"Of course we want him alive," John said. He did his best to keep most of the impatience out of his voice. "Can you do it, or not?"
"Under the right conditions and with the proper amount of time, maybe," Rodney said. "Since I assume you're in as much of a rush as ever, then the answer is no. I probably can't get him out alive. At least, I'm almost certain I can't."
"These pods are like the ones we found on the Aurora, aren't they?" John said. "You figured those out. What's different about these?"
"Well, for one thing, these capsules aren't interconnected like the ones on the Aurora, which is probably a good thing, since only one of the occupants is actually alive."
"You're saying these are more like the pod we found in Atlantis?"
Rodney sighed. "I'm going to say that's the case, but I won't actually know that until I examine it more carefully, which I won't be able to do unless you stop asking me questions."
"So, once you figure it out, then will you be able to get this poor guy out alive?"
"I doubt it."
"Okay," John said. He glanced at the other scientist in the group. "Radek, what do you think? Could it be done?"
"Hey!" Rodney exclaimed. "I already said it can't be done. Why are you asking him?"
"Because he's a mechanical engineer. Machines are his thing," John said. "The stasis pod is a machine, so…"
"Your grasp of logical reasoning truly astounds me, Sheppard," Rodney said.
"I know. I'm brilliant," said John. "So, Radek, how about it?"
"I think it is possible," Radek said. "Rodney is right, though. We will need some time to work on it. Even if we can open it, the man might die anyway. He looks very old. Reviving him might be too much shock for him."
"See what you can do," John told them. "I think I'll have another look around while you two are tinkering. You never know what else we might find around here."
"At this point, I'm not sure I want to know," said Rodney.
"Keep in radio contact and let me know how everything's going, all right?" John said. "I'm not going to leave the building, so I won't be far away."
"I'm coming with you, Sheppard," said Ronon. "You coming, Teyla?"
Teyla smiled at Ronon as if she would've liked nothing better than to go walking through a ten thousand year old science lab with him, but then she turned her eyes toward John. She said, "Colonel, would it not be better if I stayed here with Dr. Zelenka and Dr. McKay?"
"Maybe somebody should stay with them," John said. "Just in case."
"In case of what?" Rodney said.
"Maybe there are evil spirits," Ronon suggested, deadpan.
Rodney visibly shuddered. "Don't joke about that! It's bad enough that I'm here on this god-awful planet full of dead people, but now I'm stuck working side-by-side with Eastern Europe's answer to the Ghostbusters, on top of everything else. Do you have any idea what this is doing to my nerves? And my blood pressure? God…my hands are shaking. Look at them!" He thrust his hands toward John in an almost pleading gesture.
"We can all stay here with you, if it'll make you feel better," John said.
"It won't! It won't make me feel better at all," Rodney told him. "I'll feel better when we get off this planet, and—"
"If someone stays, it will make me feel better," Radek said. "I will have someone rational to talk with."
"Hey!" Rodney said. 'I'm rational!"
"You say that, yes, but no one believes you right now. Let's get to work. We will go faster if you concentrate on the work and not on yourself."
"You miserable—" Rodney began.
Radek fixed his colleague with a hard stare. "Rodney, don't say it. Just…do not provoke me. Please."
"Guys—" John said.
Rodney and Radek stopped glaring at each other and simultaneously turned toward John. "What?" they said together.
"Uh…do you want one of us to stay with you, or not? Last chance to say something."
"Look, we don't need baby sitting, Sheppard. If you want us to get this done, then just leave us alone and stop pestering us," Rodney said. "Besides, Radek hates it when people look over his shoulder."
"And Rodney doesn't like people talking to him when he is trying to concentrate," Radek added.
"And neither of us want to hear a constant stream of stupid questions," Rodney finished.
Those two are just like brothers, John thought. They'd fight like cats and dogs with each other all day long, but when an outside force intervened with something that concerned them both, they'd put up a united front, no matter what. John couldn't resist grinning at them.
He told himself they'd be all right together, without someone to keep an eye on them. They'd stop bickering once they got busy with the stasis pod. If anything happened, they both had radios and could call for help if they needed to. Rodney knew how to handle his sidearm, more or less, and John had to assume the army had taught Radek a thing or two about weapons. With any luck, though, it wouldn't be necessary for either scientist to use those particular skills.
John convinced himself everything would be okay for the time being, and headed for the door, beckoning for Teyla and Ronon to join him.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Radek listened to the receding footsteps of his teammates as they exited the room. As much as he didn't like the idea of being away from the people who knew best how to protect the group, part of him was relieved they were leaving for a bit. Radek was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain any sort of composure; he realized it was taking an alarming amount of bodily energy to do so. That concerned him, but he tried not to think about it. Now, he had to concentrate on helping Rodney figure out how to open the stasis pod and free the man inside. One thing at a time, he reminded himself. He pushed his shaggy hair away from his eyes, and settled down to work.
Radek liked working with Rodney when it was just the two of them, with no outside interference. Most people seemed to make Rodney jittery, or they upset him by talking and asking too many questions. Radek knew better. When they worked together, he rarely spoke to Rodney unless it was really necessary to do so. During the time Radek and Rodney had known each other, they had learned to anticipate each other. When they had their hands on some complicated piece of machinery, they didn't need to talk much. Concentration was more important than conversation, as Rodney was fond of telling the other Atlantis scientists.
Radek's problem at the moment was that he was finding it hard to concentrate. He caught himself having to stop and think about things that should have been second nature to him by now. It was frustrating. He wasn't normally like this, even when he was tired.
His inability to focus was worrisome, but he told himself it was probably the heat that was distracting him, the humidity, or the infuriating itch all over his skin from numerous insect bites. Nothing serious. He repeated it silently in his head like a mantra. Nothing serious. He'd suffered through worse things than being hot and uncomfortable during his military training, and he'd come through that experience relatively intact. Well, physically intact, at any rate, but now wasn't the time to dwell on that, either.
To take his mind off the heat and the itch, he thought about Prague in winter. He envisioned his cold, beautiful home surrounded by snow. The play of the shadows against the snowdrifts would look like folds in a soft, white blanket, and he imagined himself lying on his back in a deep drift, staring at the brilliantly blue ceiling of the sky.
He was almost unaware of the fact that he'd let his eyelids slip closed until he had to make a conscious effort to raise them again at the sound of Rodney speaking to him.
"Hey," Rodney said. His voice was unusually quiet.
"Hmm…?"
"You okay, Radek?"
The question caught Radek off-guard. He hadn't expected his friend to say anything while they were busy with the machine. He looked up to find Rodney studying him candidly. Feeling slightly perplexed, he said, "I…I think so, yes. Are you?"
"Yeah," Rodney said.
Radek didn't believe Rodney was really okay, but then, he supposed Rodney had fully justified doubts about him, as well. He shook his head and exhaled a long breath. "We are two terrible liars, Rodney. We can't even lie to each other about the same thing."
"Yeah," Rodney said again. "Look…um…I wanted to say something. I mean, you know I haven't been trying to irritate you on purpose, right? It's just, you know, I react badly to stress and this has been one hell of a stressful mission so far."
"I know," Radek said, and somehow managed to find a smile for his friend.
"All those dead people," Rodney said. "I'm going to have nightmares."
"I can sympathize."
"Can you?"
"Did you think I couldn't?"
"No. I don't know," Rodney said. "I mean, you don't seem like the nightmare type. All that talk about ghosts and everything, and you just seemed so…I don't know…composed."
"You do not know everything about me."
'I guess not, but isn't any of this bothering you?"
"It is, yes. It's bothering me a lot. I feel sick and scared and tired, just like you, and I would rather be somewhere other than here," Radek said, and added quietly. "I would rather go home to Atlantis, but we have reason for being here. You know that."
"God, I'm sorry. I know," Rodney said. All of a sudden he looked contrite and embarrassed. "This must be a million times worse for you than it is for me. I just want to get this mission over with so I can go home and sleep and eat and take a bath, but you've got someone—" Rodney's voice faltered to a stop and he looked away. "I'm really sorry, Radek. I didn't mean to—"
"Is okay, Rodney."
No matter how often Rodney might inadvertently hurt or offend someone or say something utterly tactless at exactly the wrong moment, Radek knew his friend rarely meant it. That was just Rodney's way. He was abrasive. He had an aggressive personality and often spoke before thinking. No amount of wishing would change him, and pointing out his faults only antagonized him, so Radek chose to leave the man alone and simply put up with his tirades. Beneath the bluster, Rodney was good and determined and loyal to a fault. Others should only be so fortunate as to have a friend like Rodney McKay who would come through for them when it really counted. Tolerating his idiosyncrasies was a fair price for his dependability as a friend.
"Let's just pretend we're not having this conversation, okay?" Rodney was saying. "I'll shut up, and…yeah…shutting up right now."
"Perhaps that is best," Radek said. The second the words left his mouth, he realized how they might be misconstrued. He took a steadying breath and met his friend's gaze again. "Rodney?"
"Yeah."
"Thank you."
"For what? For shutting up?"
"More than that. Just…everything."
"Right. Don't mention it," said Rodney, and promptly turned his attention back to the stasis pod, scowling his usual scowl, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The Ancient laboratory was bigger than it looked from the outside. While exploring with Teyla and Ronon, John discovered it was a multi-level structure, with several chambers underground. It would certainly take longer than a few hours to check out every room thoroughly. John mentally began to compose his mission report, and knew instinctively that at some point, another team would be coming back here for the sole purpose of going through this lab, one room at a time. John didn't envy whoever got sent to do that job. The humidity alone was enough to drive him to distraction.
Well, at least there were no bugs inside the Ancient structure. John was already covered with bites and he wasn't anxious to collect any more. He had visions of himself coating his entire body in a generous layer of anti-itch cream when he got back to Atlantis. Yeah, that would be soothing, he thought. He wondered if he could convince one of the nurses in the Infirmary to put it on him. Maybe that tall Croatian woman with the big, dark eyes. Her name was Zora…something. Nice idea, very nice. He didn't care if Rodney thought he was a 'Kirk'. The pretty nurses were always nice to Captain Kirk, weren't they?
That wayward notion kept him occupied for several satisfying minutes during which he forgot about his insect bites. He led his teammates into yet another room, which lit up obligingly at his approach. He'd expected the room to be just another basement lab, and he wasn't wrong about that. This lab was nearly identical to the one where they'd left Radek and Rodney working on the stasis capsule. This one had pods, too. Six of them lined at the far end of the room.
"This looks familiar," Ronon said.
"Yeah, too familiar," John agreed.
"Do you suppose there are people inside the pods?" Teyla asked.
John wasn't sure he really wanted to know the answer to that question, but he guessed he'd have to find out. He said, "Only one way to know, isn't there? Let's have a look."
He led the way toward the six chambers. When he got there, he was more than a little relieved to see they were all empty. His relief was echoed by Teyla, who let out a long breath of air.
"I wonder what the Ancients were doing in this place?" Ronon said.
"Perhaps this was a place where they conducted research about placing people in stasis," Teyla suggested. "We have seen two rooms like this one, so far. There may be others."
"Maybe," John said. "If we had a chance to translate some of the writing around here, we'd have a better idea. Another team will probably—" He was interrupted by the crackling of his radio.
"Sheppard, this is McKay," declared Rodney's disembodied voice.
"Go ahead, Rodney," John said.
"I think we might've figured out how to open this pod."
"You think?"
"We can open it. Are you coming back here, or not?" Rodney said impatiently.
"Yes, we're coming," John said. "We're on our way."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"He looks dead," was Ronon's succinct observation.
Rodney and Radek were both kneeling on the floor, one of them on either side of the open stasis capsule. John crouched beside Rodney and studied the face of the old man who lay in the pod. The old guy was definitely unconscious, though John wouldn't have gone so far as to say he looked dead. He reached out and pressed his fingertips to the man's throat to check for a pulse.
The pulse was there; weak, but present. John said, "He's not dead."
"Yet," said Rodney.
"Still as optimistic as ever, I see," said John. "Nice work getting this thing open, by the way. I knew you guys could do it."
"I did most of the work," Rodney said.
John was a little surprised to see Radek nod in silent acknowledgment of Rodney's statement, but he decided there was no point in commenting on it. How the two geniuses divided their workload was their business. John's job had little to do with supervising the brains. He only had to keep them safe and get them home in one piece.
"Whoever did it, you did good," John said. "Now, all we have to do is see if our friend here is going to wake up."
"I think he is already waking up," said Radek's quiet voice from the other side of the pod. "Look."
Sure enough, when John looked, he saw the old man's translucent eyelids were beginning to twitch. Several moments passed in complete silence while everyone watched the occupant of the capsule. The old man sucked in a wheezy, rattling breath, and then he opened his eyes fully.
His irises were green, John noticed. The eyes looked much too young to belong in a face as withered and ancient as the one that confronted them from the pod.
John offered the man what he hoped was a disarming smile. The man's eyes shifted frantically, but no other part of him moved. He looked terrified.
John rested his hand on the old man's arm. "Hey," he said. "It's okay. We don't want to hurt you. Can you talk?"
The old man groaned inarticulately, and then inhaled another shaky breath. His mouth formed a word, but he didn't produce any recognizable sounds to go with it. After a few more shuddering breaths, he tried again.
"Jana…?" the old man said.
John exchanged looks with his teammates. "Who's Jana?"
"Daughter. My…daughter," the old man mumbled. "Who're you?"
"I'm John," John said. "These guys are Rodney and Radek, and those two over there are Teyla and Ronon."
"What…world?"
"We three are from Earth. Ronon is Satedan and Teyla is Athosian."
"I know…Sateda," said the man. "Wraith…killed…"
"Yes," John said. He didn't want to get into a discussion of that particular subject, especially not with one of Sateda's few survivors standing a few metres away. He said to the man, "Can you tell us your name?"
"Morin," the old man said. "Doctor…Kadan Morin."
"Do you remember what happened?"
"Wraith," said Morin. "Almost…killed. Jana…put me…in here."
That certainly explained a lot. The guy had been attacked by the Wraith and his daughter had placed him in a stasis pod. John wondered if the daughter had been trying to keep Morin alive. John shifted his gaze sideways, looking at the old woman in the pod next to Morin's. Maybe the daughter had put herself in a stasis pod, too, only hers hadn't preserved what little remained of her life as Morin's had done. Then, there were the children. John didn't even want to think about who'd put the three little kids in stasis, or why. That was a morbidly terrifying speculation.
"Dr. Morin," John said. "Do you know if there were any other survivors besides you and Jana?"
"Don't know," Morin mumbled. "Must find…Jana. Hiding?"
John swallowed, attempting to get rid of the dryness in his throat. "We don't know—" he began.
"We might know where she is," Radek interjected.
Beside John, Rodney gave a disdainful snort. "We don't know, Radek. I mean, she could be in that clearing with all those—"
"Rodney!" John said.
"Well, she could be, you know," Rodney said.
Radek raised a hand in a 'please-shut-up-right-now' gesture that caused Rodney to glower and made John want to laugh despite the situation. John had seen Rodney hushing other people with that very same pre-emptive wave of his hand, and John was mildly gratified to see Rodney's response when his own commands were turned toward him.
Radek looked directly at the old man in the capsule. "Dr. Morin, does Jana like to hide?"
"Her…favourite game. Become…like…a shadow."
"Like a shadow," Radek repeated quietly, and then asked, "Can she hide by making herself invisible?"
"Ancestors…device."
"This one?" Radek said.
John watched the engineer with curiosity as Radek slipped his fingers beneath the collar of his shirt and removed something that had been suspended on a string around his neck. John recognized the object as the pendant he'd seen Shadow wearing. It must be the Ancient personal cloaking device, he guessed. John hadn't known Radek had the device. Carson must've given it to him for safekeeping while Shadow was in the Infirmary.
John felt an unanticipated wave of compassion for the engineer. Evidently, Radek had decided the safest place for Shadow's treasure was to wear it around his own neck so that he'd always have it with him. There was a profound message in that, John thought. It bespoke something deeper than ordinary kindness, and for the first time John realized he was truly beginning to understand something about Radek Zelenka's personality. The understanding only made John admire the man more.
John watched as Radek held the silvery object within Morin's line of sight.
Morin seemed to recognize it immediately, and he became agitated when he saw it. Morin fairly gasped out his words, "Yes. It is…Jana's. What…did you do…to her?"
"Nothing," Radek said. "We did nothing to her. She followed us home. I have this device because I am keeping it safe for her."
"Where…is Jana?"
"She's all right," John said. "She's safe."
He immediately regretted saying those words when he saw the look Radek gave him. Radek was far too polite to call John on the blatant mistruth, but it wasn't hard to see the little Czech was none too impressed about it.
"Dr. Morin," Radek said evenly. "Jana is in Atlantis."
"Atlantis." Morin closed his eyes. "No, no…underwater. Everyone thought…Atlantis…underwater."
"It was underwater, yes, but not now."
Morin's hand moved feebly, pointing to – or perhaps reaching for – the silvery Ancient device that still hung on its string around Radek's neck. Morin said, You must…take me. Please."
TBC
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