A/N: Somewhere I have a button that reads, "Cruel, nasty, neurotic, paranoid, antisocial, but basically happy." I just may have to dig that out of storage. :) And now ... the bitty snowball has just topped the crest of the hill and is starting down.
Chapter 15
Despite being the most brilliant man on the planet (if he did say so himself), and despite having a power of concentration so fierce that if bottled it could just possibly wear Mount Everest down to a mole hill if poured over its summit, there were times Rodney's powers of simple observation were sorely lacking. Like right now. He made it all the way across the cafeteria, sat, and had even shoveled in a few mouthfuls of food before he realized his breakfast companions were rather … subdued. Ronon had his head down and was scowling as he picked at his food, Lorne looked exhausted and hadn't even bothered to shave this morning, and Zelenka looked like someone had, well, kicked his puppy. If he had one. "Hey, did I miss something?" Rodney asked innocently.
"Yeah, doc, ya did," Lorne replied and sat his fork down. He sat back in his chair and scrubbed his face hard with both hands. "Sheppard made a break for it this morning."
"He did?" Rodney said. "When? How?"
"Right around two. Got into the air vents from the library." Lorne picked up his coffee cup and grimaced since it was empty. "Even managed to get out of the building."
"Really?" Rodney said, his breakfast all but forgotten.
"We fished him out of the ocean before he froze to death," Ronon rumbled. "The sonuvabitch stole my kayak." Ronon frowned and shook his head.
"Holy crap," Rodney muttered. "Um, somewhat stupid question here, but … why did you stop him?"
"Been wondering that myself," Lorne said quietly.
"You couldn't disobey Kolya's orders," Zelenka said as he pulled off his glasses to clean them. "Would have raised suspicion."
"He wouldn't have made it to the mainland," Ronon said. "Better to have fished him out then have him freeze to death."
"Why, so he could be relegated to a fate worse than death?" Rodney noticed Lorne flinched at that. "I'm sorry, but I don't see how stopping him was a good thing at this point."
"If he had just waited a little longer," Lorne said angrily. "Things will be different."
"Yes," Zelenka replied thoughtfully as he put his glasses back on. "We have the time, but I'm not so sure he does."
Rodney scooted his eggs around his plate for a second. "Where is he right now?"
"Infirmary," Lorne replied.
"That's good. Yeah, Carson will be able to keep him there for awhile." Rodney looked at Zelenka and lowered his voice to barely above a whisper. "How's that list coming?"
"We can count on entire engineering division, nepochybně. And nearly everyone else in sciences is willing to help, just not actually fight."
"And we can count on a third of the military force, no problem," Lorne added.
"Okay," Rodney said. "Well, subterfuge is not for the stupid or weak willed, that's for sure. We've got a start." He picked up his coffee and grimaced as he sipped and thought. "Next step will be to meet, hopefully without Col. Cuckoo's knowledge."
Ronon snorted at that and grinned for the first time.
"All righty, then," Rodney said as he sat his cup back down. "Now we need to get some key people …."
Rodney was interrupted by Keller's frantic voice coming over their ear pieces. He'd taken to wearing one just because it was easier to get a hold of him in case of a dire emergency, like one of the labs in danger of full meltdown, a viral leak, or the coffee pot in the main physics lab had boiled dry. "Dr. Keller to Major Lorne, come in. Please!"
Lorne sat upright and tapped his piece. "Lorne, here. What's wrong, doc?"
"Get to the infirmary, immediately," she gasped out. "Carson's hurt."
That had Rodney shooting to his feet as fast as Lorne and Ronon. "On my way," Lorne said and they all left their trays on the table. And the group earned a lot of strange and worried looks as they charged out of the mess.
-oOo-
Keller glanced up and practically shook with relief when Lorne and Ronon charged into the exam room, shortly followed by Rodney and Zelenka. Carson tried to sit up, but she put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Oh, no you don't. And don't you dare remove that ice pack."
Lorne stopped right next to the table, and Ronon came to a halt right next to Keller. He put an hand on her shoulder and she patted it gratefully. "What the hell happened?" Lorne asked.
"Kolya," Carson replied and started to sit up again. He waved Keller off impatiently and swung his legs over the edge. He swayed briefly, but he kept the ice pack pressed firmly to his left cheek and eye and now they could all see the blood spattered on his white lab coat. "He came and got Sheppard a few minutes ago. When I voiced my displeasure, he smacked me down." For emphasis he pulled the pack away – his eye was half swollen shut and his cheek was purpling nicely. He turned briefly to Keller. "Stitches?"
"Stitches," she said with a nod.
"Crap." Carson returned the pack with a wince. "I dunno where they took him," he said miserably.
"I'll find out," Lorne replied, and after a quick nod to him and Keller, he left. Ronon stayed put.
Rodney was frozen in place from the second he stepped into the room, the acidic taste of coffee thick in the back of his throat. When Carson pulled the pack away he nearly puked, and now as he stood there he noticed that a good portion of the infirmary staff was in the room as well. And he had a feeling the expression on his face was pretty much the same as theirs – an equal mix of horror, fear, and numbness. But something else was creeping into Rodney's awareness, and when his hands started shaking and his breath started coming in gasps he realized it was anger. Pure, unfiltered, unadulterated, nuclear, brain numbing rage. He turned his head and saw Zelenka staring at him, his eyes huge behind his glasses. "Uh, hold up a second, major," he said and spun around. Before he left the room he heard Carson call his name, but he ignored it.
Lorne was waiting for him, an impatient scowl on his face. "I think it would be best if I checked this out on my own," he said to the scientist.
"No, no, I'm coming with you," Rodney replied. He was absolutely amazed he sounded as calm as he did in spite of his breath still coming in great, chest expanding gasps. Right about now the little voice in the back of his head should be screaming at him to run away, run away, and he would be on his way to his lab to bury himself in his work, but, no. His best friend had been pistol whipped – and he knew that was what Kolya used because the bruise on Carson's cheek was definitely rectangular in shape – pistol whipped in his own damn infirmary because he was trying to protect a patient. A patient who may or may not be human, but a patient nonetheless. And Zelenka liked the guy; that little fact spoke volumes for Rodney, because even though he may be loathe to admit it, and certainly would never admit it out loud, he trusted the little Czech's instincts explicitly. He found Lorne staring at him, so he snapped his fingers impatiently. "Time's a wasting. Let's go."
-oOo-
"Oh, dear lord – I hope he doesn't do anything stupid," Carson muttered. "Or get himself shot." His head was really pounding and he decided to lie back down again. Keller helped him settle back.
"Who was with Kolya?" Ronon asked. His voice was dangerously low.
"Ford, Bates, and …." Carson waved his free hand faintly as he fished for the name.
"Pedersen," one of the nurses supplied.
Ronon nodded a thanks to her. "Yup, all Kolya's men." He rubbed his bottom lip briefly with a thumb as he scowled. "How was Sheppard when they took him away?"
"Ford had bashed him in the head a couple times and he was unconscious when they dragged him off," Keller said. "But man, did he put up a fight. Practically threw Ford over a bed, one handed."
"I'd like to have seen that," Carson said, his voice tight from both pain and anger. He was still pretty loopy from the hit and barely remembered Keller being there. "Jenn, could you be a dear and fetch me some Tylenol?"
"Are you sure you don't need something stronger?"
"Aye, I do, but I want to keep my wits right now," he replied through his teeth.
"Gotcha. Be right back."
Carson glanced at the rest of his staff milling about. "Don't you people have work to do?" he snapped.
They all jumped, but the nurse who supplied the name of the third soldier earlier cleared her throat. "Not really, sir," she said, and judging from the murmurs they were going to be sticking close by.
"All right," Carson said with a sigh. He had a feeling just about every single one of them would have gone storming off with Lorne and Rodney if given half a chance. Then Keller was back with a bottle of water and some pills, and he sat up briefly to take them. He settled back down and lowered the pack. "Ready for stitches yet?"
Keller pulled on a pair of gloves quickly and very carefully checked the gash. Carson hissed with every touch. "I'd feel better if that swelling was down more. And it doesn't feel like your cheek is broken." She gently put his hand back in place.
Carson looked at Ronon and saw the big man fidgeting. "Go, lad. I'm fine. And when yae find out where they took him, could you let me know?"
"Sure, doc." Ronon flashed him and Keller both a tight smile and was out the door.
Carson noticed Zelenka for the first time – he was standing back out of the way, chewing on one fingernail. That was a gesture he was used to seeing with Rodney, not him. He waved the man over.
"Yes, Carson?" Zelenka asked.
Carson couldn't help chuckling – the look on the man's face made him think of a scene right out of the Godfather and Zelenka was about to ask Don Corleone for a favor. But he needed the favor from him right now. "You're in charge of all the camera maintenance, correct?" he said softly.
Zelenka nodded, and a slow smile started to light his face.
"How hard would it be for yae to hack into that system?"
Zelenka made a pfft noise and waved a hand. "I could do it in sleep. With blindfold."
"And how hard would it be to set up my computer with a direct link?"
"In less time than it takes for Rodney to make up mind in Chinese restaurant."
Carson grinned and ignored the pain in his cheek. "I ripped the camera out of my office months ago, and Rodney set up the encryption program on my laptop himself." After Rodney's personal laptop, his was probably the second most secure on Atlantis. "Go, be our eyes."
"Gladly," Zelenka said and practically bounded out the door.
"Is that wise?" Keller said to him. "I mean, if Kolya finds out …."
"Screw Kolya," Carson hissed. "When he dragged a patient out of my infirmary, he declared war, and I thoroughly plan on fighting back."
Keller slowly grinned, and when she glanced at the others in the room, she saw them nodding and grinning as well. "I am going to draw the line at you yelling 'freedom' and painting yourself blue, however."
Carson waved and let out a short chuckle. "Yae don't have to worry about that. My arse isn't nearly as photogenic as Mel's." Then he glanced at the rest of his staff. "All right, ya goofy buggers – git. You're hooverin' is making me antsy. I'm fine." They reluctantly filed out of the room, and each and every one of them patted him on the foot as they went by.
-oOo-
By the time they got to the elevators, Rodney's breathing had regained a more normal rhythm. Which was good – Lorne kept glancing at him as if he expected the scientist to keel over any second from hyperventilating. But Rodney ignored the looks, and when they stepped into the elevator he set his jaw, adjusted his jacket, and gave his head that little jaw thrusting twitch that the rest of the scientists knew usually preceded one of his rants. But he remained silent and they rode down one level.
The main control room for Atlantis was directly underneath the cafeteria and took up half the space that room did, including the kitchen. Here every system could be monitored, from sewage to heating, water purification to power consumption. Branching off of the main room were the various offices for administration. Elizabeth's office had been dark for some time, but next door Kolya's was bright but empty. The main security suite was next to Kolya's office, and Lorne had taken up residence in a small office in that room. It was also the only room in control that had an additional entrance from the hallway. It led directly into the main surveillance center, and there were few casinos in Vegas that couldn't boast such state-of-the-art equipment. It took four men per shift to cover everything, and they even had access to some scanning technology that supposedly came out of Area 51 and was pretty damn sweet. The armory was actually further down the hall in a room that was heavily fortified, and far enough away from control that if something did blow, it wouldn't affect any internal systems.
When Lorne stormed into control he did it with the intentions of seeing if Kolya was there or not. He didn't see the colonel so proceeded into Security. Rodney was right behind, and he glanced briefly at Peter Grodin, the engineer who pretty much ran the climate controls for Atlantis. The man looked up, a puzzled frown on his face as he watched them charge on by. Once they disappeared through the door to security, he glanced at Chuck over at communications and said, "What do you suppose that's all about?" Chuck just shrugged, but both of them never took their eyes away from security.
"Where is he?" Lorne snapped, and the four men on duty in the surveillance center practically fell out of their seats. "Kolya – where is he?" he clarified.
"He's, he's in the basement, sir," Carpenter replied. The big Marine glanced at the various screens in front of him. "Holding cells."
And just like that all the fight went out of Rodney. Technically Atlantis had three sub-levels, but they all referred to the lowermost one as 'the basement'. That's where the special holding cells were, the ones that Kolya had built in the last year.
And that was where he also kept the vampire.
"Oh, crap," Rodney muttered. His eyes met Lorne's, and even he could see a touch of fear run behind the major's gaze. "This is so not good."
End Note: Yup, VERY big boo-boo smackin' the doc.
