Previously: Radek has been preparing for Anna's birthday (chapters 56-59), and it's been a good distraction. Except he's been catching attention he doesn't want (chapter 49 and 59).
Chapter 61. Oddly Familiar.
Anna swung her legs back and forth off the gurney. She wasn't too sad. After all, people had jobs to do. No one stopped doing things just because it was Anna's birthday. She didn't expect them to. The fact that Radek remembered her birthday at all felt like a miracle.
"I'm almost sure I'll be back for your birthday," Doctor Beckett said.
Anna giggled. "You don't have to, Doctor Beckett. It's not a big deal if you miss it. I'll still be sixteen whenever you get back."
"I know, but I promised I'd be here." Doctor Beckett shouldered his pack of medical things, including something he seemed very excited about. A Wraith retrovirus, and he finally had a willing subject. A girl, maybe a little younger than Anna. A girl who would be queen but desperately wanted to be human.
Maybe some Wraith weren't so bad after all…?
Anyway, Anna didn't remember him promising anything like that. "We're only having cupcakes."
"I know." Doctor Beckett grinned. "I love cupcakes." He looked around the infirmary. "Alright. Got that. I have…" He proceeded to pat every pocket on his person, followed by pointing at the two enormous bags on the ground. He nodded each time. "Good. I'm ready to go." He looked at Anna as he picked up his bags. "Wish me luck?"
"Hodně štěstí," * she said with a smile. "You look like you're about to go to Antarctica for a month."
"I packed less to go to Antarctica, if you can believe it." He started walking out of the infirmary.
Anna hopped off the bed to follow him, a little sad that she wouldn't have anything to do now except… botany with Doctor Brown. She shuddered.
"I will see you tomorrow. I'm sure Radek has some exciting things planned."
"Radek…? Planning exciting things…?" Anna was unsure about that. She laughed. "We're talking about the same Radek, right?"
"Give it a chance," Doctor Beckett warned. "You never know."
Anna was pretty sure she knew more often than not. He'd managed to arrange for cupcakes, though. That seemed like a serious endeavor. "He said he'd let the city sink before he missed my birthday. So let's hope it's nothing too exciting."
Doctor Beckett smiled knowingly. "Well, I guess we'll see."
Anna paused as Doctor Beckett got into the transporter. "Is there something I should know?"
Doctor Beckett shrugged, grinning in such a way that Anna knew there was something he wasn't telling her.
"What is it?" She got into the transporter with him, not looking out at the Control Room when the doors whooshed open. "Tell me, please? I'll still act like I didn't know."
"Anna, I'm surprised at you."
Doctor Beckett walked out into the Control Room where John and Elizabeth waited for him. John leaped up, looking as relieved as he was antsy.
"Good, you're here. Ready?" he asked. He glanced at Anna. "Happy birthday?"
"Tomorrow," Anna said.
John snapped his fingers. "Damn. A day early. I'll catch you tomorrow." He tucked his thumbs in his pant pockets and looked at Doctor Beckett, his two bags, and the backpack. "Think you have enough stuff, Beckett?"
"This is the first opportunity we've had to study a juvenile Wraith, Colonel. It's better to be prepared." Doctor Beckett waddled down to the 'gate room.
John cast a grin at Anna. They followed Doctor Beckett down the steps to wait for the gate to dial. "There is something sort of familiar about this Wraith girl," John said conversationally. "I don't know what it is. At first, I thought it was because she's about your age, Anna, but… no… It's something else."
"You've met a few Wraith queens," Doctor Beckett suggested. "Maybe that's it?"
"Nah. She's not much like a Wraith queen. Like I said, she's different." John looked at Doctor Beckett and shrugged. "Almost like someone on Atlantis, but I have no idea who. Really familiar. It's actually kinda creepy."
#
Anna quickly got bored of sitting around in Radek's lab waiting for something exciting to happen. Nothing exciting ever seemed to happen there, and her mind ran with the imaginings of what a Wraith girl was like in the meantime.
It distracted her from her birthday tomorrow.
Another typical, dull day on Atlantis. People buzzed through the control room, carrying reports to be finalized or approved. A few scientists had more tangible fruits of their labors, and botanists sometimes had literal fruit. At one time or another, it seemed like everyone went through the Control Room to show that their time here was worthy.
Anna was beginning to wonder if hers was spent so well.
She didn't have any real friends and she'd been here for several months. It was January now, January eleventh, which meant that she'd been here a little over three months or so. She lost track somewhere along the way, but the combination of Christmas and New Year's put her calendar back into focus.
She hadn't made any New Year's resolutions, though Elizabeth encouraged her to. Anna couldn't think of anything she wanted to change that she had any control over whatsoever. There wasn't all that much she wanted.
She wanted a friend.
She didn't realize it, but she enjoyed going to school and talking to people. Even if they were people she didn't like all that much or who didn't seem to like her. Even though Anna hoped she would not be returning to her school in the Czech Republic, she didn't bother saying goodbye or giving contact information to any of her classmates.
She wondered if they ever thought of her like she was thinking of them, now.
Probably not. They had lives to go about. Anna didn't. The most important thing to happen to her in a while was her birthday. Before that it was a funeral. Before that, it was another funeral.
And somewhere in the middle, she'd gone to another galaxy.
"May I sit down?"
Anna smiled up at Elizabeth and nodded. "It's a good view," she offered as Elizabeth sat down on the floor at the edge of the balcony next to her.
"It is. It looked comfortable, too." Elizabeth chuckled and rested her arms on the bar in front of her. "Tomorrow is your birthday, then…" Anna realized just in time it wasn't a question and waited for Elizabeth to go on. "Are there any gifts you hope to get?"
Anna shrugged. "I don't know what kind of gifts are available in the Pegasus galaxy, so, no." She smiled at Elizabeth. "I am grateful for the cupcakes, though."
"I'm glad." Elizabeth turned her eyes toward the Stargate. "Cupcakes seemed like a safe bet. Everyone likes cupcakes. But do you have a favorite dessert?"
Anna remembered back to earlier birthdays. "I really like cupcakes. I had cupcakes on my birthday for as long as I can remember." And somehow, someone somewhere had known that.
"Oh." Elizabeth nodded knowingly. "Well, I hope you like them, and your gifts."
Elizabeth kept her eyes on the 'gate, looking as happy as anything. Anna leaned back on her hands and looked at the 'gate. She was getting a gift… of some kind. She couldn't possibly guess what it was. But it was something exciting to Doctor Beckett and at least interesting to Elizabeth.
She could only safely guess one thing. In the Pegasus galaxy, it could only be a birthday gift like she'd never seen before.
#
Radek spun around, pushing his chair over to the adjacent desk. No one was here at the moment, giving him plenty of space and freedom to do what he wanted. No one to run into, no one to scold him for acting like a child. He had the brief thought that Collins might be interested in a drink later. Radek could have a drink, toast everything they'd lost recently, and wonder when he'd stop expecting Collins to show up in the morning.
Until the major walked in. Radek recognized him, but the only thing that came to mind about him was his rank. Couldn't quite find his name. Radek spun the chair toward him. The major stood, all confidence and conviction, in the doorway like he belonged there. Radek checked to make sure he was the only one in the lab. He was. Maybe the major was lost?
"Can I help you?" Radek asked.
"Is this Lab 02?"
Sure enough, that was Radek's computer. A picture of Anna sat framed underneath the most prominent monitor. "Yes…"
"You're Zelenka."
Radek wasn't sure why that sounded like an accusation. An accusation Radek was usually less hesitant to own up to. Although, the major didn't remember Radek's name, so he felt slightly better for having no idea what his name was. Maybe they'd met, maybe they hadn't. The point was neither of them considered the other important enough to remember.
"Yeah," he said, and stood. "That's me. Doctor Radek Zelenka."
"Doctor Zelenka." The major graciously corrected his lack of salutation, putting emphasis on the title this time. Still, he looked the slightest bit irritated as he gave Radek a once-over. "Major Evan Lorne."
Radek nodded. Right. Of course. He recognized him. He'd remembered this face with the name when he and Elizabeth were talking before… about science team members on offword reconnaissance teams…
Oh, god.
"Doctor Weir told me no decision had been made yet about putting a scientist on your team."
"There still hasn't. And, to be honest with you, I'd like to keep things the way they are. But I also figured I should meet you before any decision is made." And size him up, apparently.
That seemed reasonable to Radek, though. He wasn't even mad that what Major Lorne saw before him obviously did not impress.
"To be honest with you," Radek echoed, "I'd also like to keep things as they are."
"At least, we agree." Major Lorne grinned.
He stepped into the lab, walking like his field gear weighed him down when he was, in fact, carrying nothing. Not even in a flak jacket, which was how Radek was used to seeing him. Right now, he was dressed in the standard military black shirt, with the chalkboard-blue slacks. He glanced around the lab. "This came up earlier, before I got here, but you weren't even on the short list until recently."
"I wasn't?" Radek wondered what had changed. If something had changed.
"Yeah. I guess you caught someone's eye." He continued his self-guided tour around the lab.
Radek was too busy to offer him any pointers on the organization of the Ancient and other alien tech arrayed about the lab. Too busy trying to figure out whose eye he caught and how he could un-catch it. He was used to being more-or-less invisible. When he wasn't invisible, he was being ridiculed. As much as he hated it on one hand, he couldn't possibly let it go, either. It was far too convenient.
Major Lorne, unlike other meddling military personnel Radek had met, kept his hands off all the shiny bits and pieces of Ancient history scattered around. He halted his steps next to a desk, hands on hips, and observed a winking bit of circuitry on the desk, miraculously, without touching it. Maybe he already learned that lesson: touch the shiny artifacts, get yelled at.
He looked up at Radek. "I have my doubts," he announced.
"Me, too." Assuming that they were talking about the same thing: Radek's ability to join an offworld reconnaissance team. Not the absolute last thing he wanted to do, but it was definitely not on his to-do list. "I assume there are tests I have to complete."
Major Lorne sniffed to hide laughter. "Right, yeah, tests. I'm pretty sure McKay consistently misses his combat shooting marks, but they keep him on."
"That can't be…" Radek mumbled.
"He couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if he were standing inside it," Major Lorne said, as if it were a matter of fact. He found it amusing, sure, but he didn't have any disdain for Rodney because of it. "But it's not his job to be able to headshot a Wraith drone."
Radek knew that. Of course. If that was Rodney's job, he would have starved to death ages ago.
Radek couldn't help but think that Major Lorne hid some sort of disrespect or, at least, disregard for Atlantis's scientists. Perhaps he considered them members that didn't pull their own weight. After all, scientists couldn't go anywhere without escorts. They were typically more interested in plants, rocks, and ruins than anything else. They were notorious for not paying close attention for anything that might kill them.
But that was Lorne's job. Lorne and people like him.
Lorne spent a lot of his time escorting scientists from one planet to another, forced to recognize they had a use without understanding exactly what that use was. The major was new to Atlantis, but from what Radek understood, he held the same sort of opinion for the SGCs anthropologists and other cultural experts.
He wouldn't know Radek held that view in common.
"But Rodney has the ATA gene," Major Lorne finished.
Radek could have laughed. For all the good it did Rodney. Of course, it made things more convenient. Sometimes. Rodney could technically fly a Puddle Jumper, but most people insisted on another pilot if they wanted to go anywhere in a straight line. He couldn't be trusted with a Puddle Jumper, but he was getting to the point of translating almost anything Ancient or Wraith. He couldn't aim his gun correctly, but he could snatch his team back from the brink of destruction with some uncommon technical voodoo.
Radek didn't want to have to aim a gun; he didn't want to be anywhere near the brink of destruction. For once, not having the ATA gene looked like it might have just saved his life. Except… for some reason… he felt his professional pride threatened.
He was just as capable as Rodney without it, wasn't he?
"Having the ATA gene is one thing. Not everything Rodney does requires the gene. Most of it doesn't." Why was he saying this? Radek, just shut up and leave it alone. He doesn't want you on his team and you don't want to be on his team. "The ATA gene only allows for the activation of Ancient technologies. It doesn't grant any special knowledge or anything. That comes with experience and study. Rodney studies these things as much as I do. There are some things I cannot use, such as the personal shield we found early on. But there are many more things that don't require the gene."
Lorne smirked, folded his arms over his chest. "You seem a little eager."
"I'm not." Radek looked back at his computer with a sigh. "But even the most experienced Atlantis team members don't really understand the ATA gene."
"And you do?"
"More than some, yes. Which goes to show you need more than the gene on your team." Radek glanced up to see Major Lorne's grin. "I'm not what you need on your team, Major. But you need more than the gene."
Next time: Feel any different?
