Reminder:
"This is spoken English."
"This is spoken Czech."
This is a thought.
Last time: Since Radek has the flu or whatever (since about chapter 30), Anna is trying to go on a field trip (since chapter 34).
Chapter 36. Bargaining.
The room looked empty. She assumed that Radek was in his room, sleeping. It wasn't Anna's fault if she couldn't ask him, right? If they were on Earth right now, and Anna wanted to go to see a movie, she'd just go. She probably wouldn't get in trouble for that…
On the other hand, she wasn't sure what kind of a parent Radek was. Outside of Atlantis and all the stress it offered, he might have been a really strict and uptight parent, for all she knew. In the end, Anna decided it didn't much matter. Even if he was, she could deal with the consequences of her illicit movie-going later.
But if they were on Earth, they'd be in the USA, which meant the film would be in English. That wouldn't be any fun at all.
Going to another planet seemed like the kind of thing she needed permission for.
She walked to his door, took a deep breath, and asked for entrance.
She didn't have to wait very long for Radek to open the door. She peered in.
Not only was he up and about, but he didn't look half-dead like he had yesterday. He'd been busy. It used to be something of a mess, with piles of clothes and books everywhere just waiting to be put away. He apparently hadn't put any effort into putting his things away after arriving on Atlantis. Now, it was relatively organized. Only one pile of books sat on a desk. The blinds on the windows were open, letting in the overcast day's light.
"You're feeling better."
"Doctor Beckett warned me it's just the medications." He picked up a book from the stack and considered it. "I think it's thirty-seven hours free of Rodney." He hesitated for half a moment, and then turned to grin at her. "But, who is counting?"
Anna smiled and stepped into the room, looking around. "I'm glad. Colonel Sheppard, Teyla, and Ronon wanted to tell you to get well soon."
He didn't say anything, just offered an obligatory smile.
"And also Iskaan and his father—they're the Athosians we met, remember?" He nodded a bit too quickly. She wondered if he actually remembered. "They are on Atlantis to trade with their partners offworld, and I was wondering… if I could go also?"
He looked at her for a moment. Anna could feel it coming. Offworld? Absolutely not.
"A member of the science team is going," she said quickly. "Looking for Ancient tech and… I thought I could help."
He seemed to reconsider his unspoken thoughts. He flipped through a few pages in his book and then put it in a shelf that was no longer empty. One book. Then he turned around and leaned on the bookshelf. "I wish I could go with you, but I'm sure Carson wouldn't approve that."
Anna couldn't help but smile. Two reasons. "You mean I can go?"
He hesitated. Sighed. Nodded. "Yes, you can go."
And he wasn't coming. She skipped in excitement even though she could almost hear him thinking about how much he was going to regret this. "Thank you."
She tried not to feel too guilty when he smiled at her. "When are you leaving?"
Anna wasn't sure, but it seemed like later today or tomorrow. "Today," she said. She was about to bring up the several days bit, but decided not to. There was no way he'd approve that. What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, right? Besides, it was a lot to ask to be escorted back to the 'gate every night. He'd understand that.
No need to get complicated.
"Have fun and be careful."
"Thank you, thank you!" Anna ran out of the room. What would a trading mission be like exactly? Would they stay in tents? Was it like the Athosian settlement or… something different? What should she bring…?
She supposed she'd better find that out before she got too excited.
#
Radek watched her leave the room with half a shudder. There was no reason to be worried. The only time he'd gone off-world had been fairly dull.
Since when was a crashed Wraith dart "dull"? He needed to call her back right now and tell her there was no way she was going, didn't he?
He sank down on the edge of his bed and turned the book in his hand over to look at the spine. "Calm down, she'll be fine." The Athosians never went anywhere dangerous. The 'gate teams were always arguing over who had to escort the Athosian traders because it was so boring. Boring was good, right? Boring was synonymous with no Wraith darts.
Maybe he should go with her.
That was stupid, so he caught himself back from thinking too far down that road. Anna was fifteen, and if they were on Earth—
If they were on Earth, there would be no Wraith darts to worry about.
There were plenty of other things to worry about on Earth, though. Things Radek hadn't even thought about to worry about before. Things like criminals with various ill intentions, and children with irresponsible and probably illegal access to drugs, alcohol, other items with a negative health impact. Things that the underdeveloped teenage brain wouldn't think about until it was too late.
Anna was smarter than that.
Every parent thought that their child was smarter than that, though. Radek didn't know Anna well enough to make any judgement on that in the first place. Because she never said one word outside of the usual topics of science homework and prime numbers. He was grateful for that, really. He didn't know what to say otherwise. But if she ever said anything outside those topics, he was sure he could figure it out.
That was what he did, right? He figured things out?
Usually by asking people to "stop talking, please." His problems weren't the kind that needed to be talked about, but that was the only way he could think of to understand his daughter any better. He didn't have some sort of Ancient machine to help him out with this one. He felt like he'd spent weeks testing her responses to various conversations, sort of like his early days on Atlantis with the Puddle Jumpers. He loved those things so much he gave them names... They never talked back, but he knew how they worked.
He was worrying over nothing.
There was nothing to be worried about. No Wraith darts, so it was basically like Earth. And if they were on Earth, the last thing a fifteen-year-old would want was her father following her around the mall.
Delbradia was just the mall. Now he just had to get himself to believe that. "She'll be fine."
#
"You're coming then?" Iskaan looked pleased and surprised. Maybe he'd figured out in their short meeting that Radek wasn't exactly the most adventurous sort. That was probably one of the first ideas one could get about Radek. "We are going to Delbradia first. It should only be a few days."
"What should I bring?"
Iskaan laughed. "What do you bring when you leave home for a few days on your planet?"
Sometimes it seemed like she brought far too many things for being gone for only a few days. The things she brought on the trip to Atlantis were few, even in comparison to day-trips back home. "Clothes," she said. Toothbrush, toothpaste, brush, soap. There would probably be no showers on Delbradia, if the Athosian settlement was any indication of what civilization was like in a galaxy where humans were cattle.
Iskaan chuckled. "Good start. You should bring your instrument, too." He pulled his panpipes from his vest. "Was it called a violin?"
Anna could see bringing her instrument with her everywhere if it was as small as his panpipes. Besides, her violin was breakable and expensive. It also wasn't as if she could just get a new one if she broke it. But, then… it was just for fun these days.
"Do you play while you're on trading missions?" Anna asked.
He nodded, his dark eyes bright. "I have friends on Delbradia that perform for their village for festivals. We play whenever I visit them. I thought you would like to join us." He hesitated. "And I know they would like to see your violin."
It was sort of nice to be immediately accepted as interesting and new when the only thing she had to offer was a violin. It seemed so commonplace on Earth. "I'll bring it." She glanced over her shoulder to see Doctor Kavanagh still sorting through his equipment.
Anna nodded in his direction and whispered, "Does Doctor Kavanagh go with you often?"
Iskaan looked, grimaced. "Only sometimes. He doesn't do well outside of Atlantis."
From his interaction with her earlier, it seemed he wouldn't do well in Atlantis, either, but she didn't say anything. "He said he is investigating the ruins, looking for Ancient tech."
"The ruins on Delbradia were the Ancestors'?" His eyes went wide.
Anna shrugged. "It was worth a look. Maybe we can help him look while we're there."
The look on Iskaan's face said he'd much rather do almost anything else. "Maybe we can," he said. "But you can also bring things to trade, in case you see something at the markets that you want."
She hadn't thought of that. There wasn't really a Pegasus galaxy version of a credit card. "Things… like what?" Anna only had a few trinkets from Earth, things with sentimental value for her or her mother.
Iskaan shrugged. "We sell materials and crafts from our hunting, but usually in exchange for crops since we grow very little."
That made sense. Anna decided to look around for something to trade. Bargaining in a market on another planet would be interesting to do just once. "When do we leave?" she asked.
"Tonight."
#
"I heard that you are going Delbradia with Rhetto and Iskaan." Teyla sat in the chair next to Anna. She had some sort of Pegasus-version of an apple in her hand. "That sounds quite enjoyable."
Anna smiled and devoured the rest of her spaghetti and meatballs. "I'm very excited. Iskaan told me to bring something to trade, but I don't know what to bring." Anna remembered someone telling her once that Teyla used to do most of the trading for her people. She would certainly know.
"Oh, you may bring anything," she said. "Delbradia's market is very large. You will most likely find someone who wants whatever it is you have."
"I have some figurines from Earth," Anna said.
Factory-made things on Earth weren't very highly sought after there… but maybe agrarian societies might find them interesting and well-made. On the other hand, Anna had seen figurines smaller than her little finger of amazing detail made a thousand years ago in a museum. The Pegasus galaxy probably had similar craftspeople.
"Here." Teyla put a necklace in her hand. "This is a Wraith-bone necklace. I'm sure it will fetch you a very high price."
"But, Teyla," Anna objected. She wasn't sure she wanted to hold it in her hands, much less trade it. They looked like finger bones, with holes drilled in them and strung along a leather strap.
"Nonsense. I have many." She smiled.
Anna held up the necklace. "Thank you," she said. She turned it around and considered her own jewelry. She bought several bracelets and necklaces at the mall in Colorado Springs before she learned of the Pegasus galaxy. She wasn't wearing very much jewelry these days, either…
"I have jewelry from home," she said. "Not made of Wraith bones, but I could trade them."
"Jewelry is usually scarce and trades very well since very few people make it. Our materials and time are usually spent crafting other things, more practical things."
That was the thing. Things on Atlantis were generally too practical for her to even wear jewelry. And if this was what passed for jewelry around here, she wasn't sure she even wanted to wear any. "Thank you again, Teyla. I'm going to finish packing."
"You're very welcome, Anna. Have a wonderful time."
Next time: So I guess this is a rare thing?
