Note: Been a short break in posting there as it's been a very busy few weeks at work, a heatwave in the UK, and several friends and family all got Covid at the same time, some of them vulnerable. Fortunately everyone is okay though and the heat in the UK has dropped a bit. Whew. I need a holiday!
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ACT 1 – DISCOVERY
Chapter 17 - Never Mundane
It never ceased to amaze Daniel how often he could find a crucial piece of information when there was no one else around to share the excitement with, which usually required him to go find someone to tell. However, given Atlantis' size, today he'd used the radio, which meant he was now left by himself waiting for the others to turn up.
So he filled the time by going over the Ancient text again, shifting ahead in the log again just to check the Ancient hadn't said anything else that was relevant. There was nothing else, just like the last few times Daniel had checked before he'd called in the others.
He looked up towards the open door: no one yet.
He just knew this was the clue they'd been waiting for; it felt right. Sure it wasn't an exact 'open this door' kind of clue, but it was surely as close as they were going to get given how well Janus had clearly hidden his lab.
Turning to Rodney's laptop again, which he'd commandeered, he expanded the map view of Atlantis and rechecked for the third time that he had the right spot mentioned in the Ancient's log.
The distant sound of footsteps snapped his attention back to the doorway, but they were still a bit of a way down the corridor still, so he turned back to his legal pad, writing down the entry in English along with the original Ancient.
Just as he'd reached the last word in Ancient, the bootsteps arrived through the door.
He grinned up towards Sam and Colonel Sheppard. "Good you're here," Daniel greeted them excitedly. Rodney wasn't here yet, but he'd catch up when he arrived. "I've been focusing my research on the database entries of Janus' assistants and-" he started to explain only for the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps outside became unavoidable and a second later Rodney burst through the open door.
"I'm here," Rodney declared, sounding a little out of breath.
"Thanks for joining us," Sheppard baited Rodney sardonically.
"I was just-" Rodney started to defend himself pointing out through the door with his thumb, only to realise he was being teased. "Oh right," he scoffed as he pushed past Sheppard to get up close to the lab table, peering past Daniel to the Ancient screen. "So, you think you've got something…?"
"Yes," Daniel replied happily, "I'm reading the log entries of one of Janus' young assistants, who recalls a day where Janus turned a corner down a hallway. He chased after Janus with a question about his work, but when he rounded the corner, Janus was gone. The hallway was a dead-end and he had seemingly disappeared," Daniel grinned up at them.
Sheppard moved forward a pace to stand next to Rodney, "Into his secret lab."
"That's what I'm thinking," Daniel nodded.
Rodney had noticed his laptop was by Daniel's elbow and reached for it. "Did this assistant happened to mention-"
"Which hallway?" Daniel jumped on the question. "Yes, he does," he answered as he reached towards the laptop but Rodney was turning it away. "From what I can determine, it was a relatively unpopulated area of the city at that time," Daniel pointed to the back of the laptop's screen as Rodney peered down at it. "If I've got the right hallway," he amended, since it wasn't like he was an expert on the City's layout, but he'd used the maps everyone here was using.
"Mmm, well, let's see," Rodney uttered authoritatively as he lifted the laptop onto one arm and consulted Daniel's legal pad's translation, clearly deciding for himself if it was the correct hallway. Daniel didn't mind, after all he wanted Rodney's opinion, but he saw Sheppard give Rodney a look before he leaned in and frowned at the screen.
"Not much out that way," Sheppard confirmed.
"Which hallway is it?" Sam asked as she moved in close behind Rodney, looking over his shoulder.
"It's a pretty insignificant area of the city," Rodney muttered.
"It's remote, which is promising," Daniel nodded. "Janus wouldn't want anyone around when he went in and out of his lab."
"Just like the bat cave," Rodney added, finally showing some excitement about the discovery, and, next to him, Sheppard grinned.
"Well then," Sheppard said eagerly, "I say let's go find Ancient Batman's lair."
"Except," Sam interjected as she moved around from behind Rodney's shoulder, "we did agree to involve Skan and the Elite with anything we discover."
"Skan is still in that meeting with Carson's retrovirus team," Sheppard replied, "they're pretty busy talking technical about…" he paused, clearly struggling to remember what it had been about, "I want to say it's something about cellular walls."
Sam smiled. "Either way, we did agree to share what we find."
"We haven't technically found anything yet," Rodney pointed out. "This could turn out to be nothing, maybe this assistant blacked out for a bit, you said he was running. That can happen to a person," he added weakly with a single shoulder shrug.
"You need to get more exercise," Sheppard told Rodney. Rodney frowned self-consciously at that, but Sheppard turned towards Sam. "Look I agree," Sheppard continued, suddenly very professional, "Skan should be there if we find and open Janus' lab, but right now we don't actually know there is anything down in that hallway. I say we scout it out first and, if it looks promising, call in Skan then."
"We wouldn't want to waste the Surfer Dude's time," Rodney put in, backing up Sheppard.
Daniel looked to Sam, all three of them watching her considering it. Daniel honestly didn't care one way or another if the Elite warrior was with them, he just wanted to get out to that hallway. Clearly Rodney and Sheppard were eager to do the same.
Sam pulled a bemused smile at them. "Alright, just some reconnaissance. I'll go talk with Skan now, let him know we might have a lead. If you find anything promising, let me know right away and Skan can join at that point."
"Great," Sheppard grinned round at Daniel and then to Rodney. "Let's go boys."
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Oneakka had no idea why he'd agreed to join the trip to the marketing station. His whole plan had been centred around spending less time with Raven, not going on shopping trips with her and her new Ridd-Ellman colleague.
Throughout the trip to the station he had been at a loss as to what he was doing. It was just that Raven had appeared out of nowhere and made the very good point that he could do his new daily walks off-world rather than around the dull corridors of the Facility and, somehow, he'd just agreed to go on this trip.
He wasn't sure if she'd ever invited him to go anywhere with her before.
Not that he was anything approaching a good travelling companion today; in fact, he was fed up with his own company.
He'd sat silently throughout the short trip from the Facility to the Portal, watching the barren moonscape passing by below the Transport while listening to Raven and Amel talking, the two clearly turning from colleagues into friends.
His miserable sullen mood this morning felt like a cloggy weight stuck in his body, sucking any energy out of him and dulling everything. Plus, his morning so far had been just plain depressing. His appointment with the Lead Physical Therapist this morning to establish his new recovery plan had involved over an hour of finding everything he was currently bad at in terms of exercises and flexibility. He understood the reason, that they needed to understand where he was weakest and therefore where to focus his rehab, it had just been depressingly defeating to focus so intently on everything that was wrong with him.
After he'd had a short Late Meal with Massa and Raven yesterday evening, he'd gone back to his quarters and had spent hours going over his Medical Review's report and reading up on rehabilitation from 'penetrating abdominal trauma', as his injury was classified. He was angry with himself for not having done that research earlier, as it had all clearly referenced the risk of internal scarring, loss of range of motion, strength and flexibility. An Elite always researched before a battle, but he'd apparently forgotten that basic precept of his profession and had focused his previous rehab only on strength and cardio, which had nearly always been enough to get him through most injuries before now.
His Medical Review's report had also made several mentions to another factor in his recovery: his age. None of his previous injury reviews had mentioned that before, and he'd checked to make sure. Though still far from middle-aged, he was admittedly far older than the average survival age for an Elite and far older than he'd predicted he might live. The older an Elite lived, the more highly they were respected among all aspects of the Military, but his passing years of growing experience now also meant it could take him longer to recover from injuries.
Which had brought a stark reminder as he'd lain in the dark, unable to fall asleep last night.
That he'd now lived more years of his life without his people being alive.
He'd been an orphan longer than he'd been a loved member of his family.
The reality of that had stuck with him all morning.
As they reached the Portal, Raven heading away to arrange the dial to Saoka's station, Oneakka looked off across the moonscape. There was a near constant cutting wind on this bare plateau, and he was acutely aware of how he could feel less of the sharp air against the old deep scars through his right cheek.
Sometimes, when he was on cold and damp planets, that old deep wound would ache. He was pretty sure that hadn't happened as much when he'd been younger.
The Portal exploded into life, drawing his attention round to it, and he swore he could feel Raven's attention on him, but he didn't look round at her.
Didn't want to see that pitied worried look in her eyes again.
The watery surface of the Portal stilled and a call from the left was permission to proceed, so Oneakka strode forward.
His belly wound ached faintly as he moved, but he didn't resist it today. He just let his response to it slide away behind the morning's numb feelings as he stepped through the Portal.
The wild open air of the Facility's moon transformed instantly into the enclosed, regulated warm air of Saoka's flagship Marketing Station. The air also echoed with hundreds of voices bouncing off the high, bright white walls of the station's Portal Room and its adjoining hall and lobbies.
Across the large room, the Portal Security Staff all stood to sharp attention and Oneakka exchanged a nod with each of them as he passed by, heading out into the hallway that connected to the series of lobbies of the station. One side of this initial hallway was lined with a long queue of visitors all waiting to Portal off the station, and Oneakka was aware of all their eyes on him. As usual, there were many polite nods, some shocked expressions and plenty of fascination, but he ignored it all as usual background as he led the way into the first and largest lobby.
The large space was full of moving humanity, all flowing between different areas of the station or waiting to meet each other by the ceiling-high windows looking out on the starscape outside. Of course there were no windows on the other side of the station, as it looked down on the dead empty planet above which Saoka's station sat in high orbit. Instead, Saoka had all his visitors' eyes turned to the stars and docked ships using his station. An idle glance out at the closest docking arm revealed two trading ships and what looked like a Military Fleet ship. No doubt all here to partake in all that Saoka's station had to offer, from ship repairs, simple shopping, restaurants of all kinds, leisure facilities and hotel rooms for people to stay.
Through Si, Oneakka knew that Saoka made a massive fortune from this station, but that it also cost him considerable currency to run it. The near constant running of the Portal drank a shocking amount of power in of itself, but powering the rest of the station, keeping the air clean and circulating, the station in stable orbit, and paying the hundreds of staff required to care for the thousands of daily visitors meant that Saoka had to charge high fees for the traders using the marketing halls and fixed shops.
Still, such fees were more than worth it for the masses of personally vetted Traders that worked out of the marketing halls. Khepri though had his jewellery shop, and the workshop behind it, up on a higher floor, paying considerable fees for the privilege of a permanent location, but the Master Metalworker probably made more profit than Saoka ever would. Not that Khepri used his profit for personal growth as it was all focused into his Blacksmith Training Programme, with schools, travelling workshops, and profitable shops based on several Alliance planets. As a regular donating patron, Oneakka had visited many of the training schools to look at the facilities. Having an Elite warrior seen in his schools gave Khepri' programme greater attention, but that was never why either of them enjoyed the visits.
Both sons of Blacksmiths, their earliest years lived in family forges, Oneakka always enjoyed Khepri' company, though he'd not seen the metalworker in well over a year now. Today, the prospect of visiting Khepri' workshop especially appealed, the scent of metalworking and the heat of furnaces something that always soothed an old deep place inside Oneakka. So, perhaps this trip had been a good idea after all, plus he did have a commission he'd wanted to bring to Khepri.
Halfway across the large busy lobby, civilians were doing their usual parting ahead of him like he was some sort of predatory fish swimming through a shoal of prey. The analogy suddenly caused a stir of amusement within his numbness and the urge to mention the fish thought to Raven suggested itself, but he resisted the inclination. Only then he realised he wasn't exactly sure where Raven was. He pulled up sharp and looked round for her, only to find she had been barely half a step behind his shoulder, Amel on her other side. The Ridd-Ellman was turning on the spot as she walked, her mouth hanging open in fascination as she looked at the station around them, clearly never having visited here before.
Raven though looked up at him, dark eyebrows lifted. "So," she asked, "which way to Khepri' shop?"
He wasn't sure how he knew, but he could tell that she was choosing not to address his silent sullen mood yet was somehow making sure he knew that was what she was doing.
He held her gaze, feeling simultaneously annoyed at her unspoken point but also a little grateful for her choice.
Not that he needed to be 'friendly', he'd never once felt that inclination. He prided himself on being direct and honest about his opinion and feelings about everything…
Well, except when it came to one particular subject matter in regards to her.
They didn't talk about that.
Maybe she didn't even think about it?
After all, she clearly had plenty of other males with an interest in her company.
He shifted his gaze away from what was feeling like rather prolonged eye contact, and saw that Amel had wandered away a little, her mouth still gaping open as she took in everything. Only people had started to move round her, cutting her off slightly from him and Raven.
Raven looked round as well and reached between two passing males and caught Amel's closest elbow, drawing her closer. "Watch out for pickpockets here," Raven warned her.
Despite Saoka's infamously good security measures, Raven seemed very certain about such thievery here. A year ago, Oneakka might have been surprised, but after Saoka's apparent blind spot when stolen Elite military tech had been moved through his stations, Oneakka didn't doubt Raven's opinion. Plus, Raven had history with Saoka, having been involved in Creass' apparent constant vying with Saoka to get spies on each others' space stations. Clearly a lot more went on here than Oneakka was aware, or even cared, quite frankly. Still, Amel couldn't have a better bodyguard with her than Raven, who could probably spot a pickpocket half the station away.
"Really?" Amel asked Raven in response to the warning, sounding like she found the prospect of being the victim of theft more exciting than worrying.
"Keep your bag on your shoulder and close to your side," Raven instructed Amel with a casualness that spoke to her experience, and then focused her attention back on him. "Khepri?"
"He's up on the third floor," Oneakka replied as he watched Amel loop her bag's short straps over one shoulder and pin the bag to her side with her elbow with a confident smile. He imagined most people would normally be unnerved by Raven's warning but the Ridd-Ellman didn't seem to be. Why the two females were becoming friends became a little clearer to him.
Not that it was any of his business.
"This way," he turned away from the two females smiling expectantly up at him and led the way quickly towards the wide staircase at the far corner of the lobby.
Great more stairs: his favourite thing.
His wound felt okay as he made his way up the many stairs, ignoring more shocked reactions from civilians at seeing him. He needed to practice stairs anyway, so again this was actually all a good reason to come to the station; it was part of his rehab. Not just because she'd invited him.
Aware of Raven listing the various station facilities on each level for Amel, he focused his attention on getting up to the third floor; not wondering whether Raven was keeping her knowledge up-to-date about Saoka's station or if that was just from her former gathered knowledge from her Dreamstation days.
Finally on the third floor, he turned to the left, heading between fixed storefronts for various speciality shops. There were quite a few for bespoke clothing in this part of the level, one small shop selling just hats, but Khepri' shop took up the far end of the level, its storefront showing nothing of the merchandise inside. Stood outside the simple entrance into the jewellery shop, the single Guard on duty was a familiar face to Oneakka. As Oneakka led Raven and Amel inside, the male nodded and politely greeted Oneakka, no doubt the comment heard over a hidden link to the other Guards concealed in and around the luxury shop,.
Khepri' shop was very simply decorated inside, mainly because the three adjoining rooms were taken up with long waist-high glass display cases and most of the walls were lined with glass cabinets. Flattering subtle lighting glittered off the mass of jewellery within the cases as Oneakka headed towards the counter set along the far wall. There were currently only two other customers, who were busy purchasing some bracelets by the looks of it, but there was one assistant available. The female was another recognizable face as she smiled at him.
"Honoured Elite, welcome back," she said with friendly professionalism. "How may I help?"
"Is Khepri available?" He asked as he reached the counter.
She lifted a small electronic pad attached to her belt by a small metal chain and consulted the display. "He is just finishing some work with students, but I will let him know that you are here," the helpful female smiled.
"We'll wait until he's free," Oneakka nodded and the female disappeared behind a curtain concealing the entrance to the workshops.
Oneakka turned away, only to discover that Raven had been stood practically against his elbow so he was now abruptly right up almost against her. They both quickly stepped back away from each other.
However, it had been enough for her scent to fill his nose, seeming stronger than normal, which was probably simply due to the warmth of her body after the walk here through the station. Or she was nervous about something? He studied her profile for a moment as she turned to look round at the shop, but she seemed relaxed.
"Wow, everything here looks stunning," she uttered conversationally as she moved towards the closest display case. Amel was already moving along the case and pointed down at something, so Raven moved up next to her and the two females began inspecting and admiring Khepri' skill together.
Following vaguely along behind them, Oneakka pulled out his personal pad. He hadn't intended to talk to Khepri yet about the new commission, but he was pretty sure he had the images he needed on the pad. A few taps and he found he had everything. Most of the images were ones he'd copied from his own database of his Ugun items, though some were also captures of Ugun drawn pictures or of sculptures. It should be plenty for Khepri to be able to design the armlets for him. The highly decorated metal armbands had been a very common thing for his people to wear, worn by males and females, young and old, around any part of the upper arm. Oneakka could well remember his old ones he'd worn as a boy, though admittedly he'd gone through quite a few of them. Having grown so fast, even the usual gap in the metal bands hadn't been enough to keep up with his growth. Fortunately, having a father who was a Blacksmith meant his parents had never needed to purchase new ones for him, and children's armlets had been far more simply decorated.
However, now he wanted to try some proper adult-sized decorated ones, and hopefully Khepri would have more than enough here to design and forge them for him.
Given yesterday's Review outcome, he'd not really thought about the commission or the new tattoo he'd had planned. The renewal imagery on both Ugun traditional decorations feeling a little less appropriate today, but since he was here…
He slid the pad back into his pocket and realised he'd followed Raven and Amel into the side display room that held one particular, and very personal, item.
His eyes fell on the largest cabinet against the far wall and the large central metal necklace displayed on a simple dark mannequin.
It was always stunning to see, even as a copy of what had been an equally stunning original: a full Ugun Festival necklace.
Moving towards the cabinet, Oneakka ran his eyes over the multiple semi-circular lines of intricate metal tubular beads that Khepri had reproduced so faithfully. Each small tube was embossed with tiny precise detail, all forming part of a larger decoration across the whole collar necklace lying against the mannequin's chest. In between each line of metal tubes, small orange beads sat perfectly placed between each tube. His people had used orange beads to symbolise the colour of harvest, and the combined pattern across the large collar necklace represented the sprouting and growth of food plants. These necklaces had only been worn at High Festivals by that season's chosen representative of the respective local villages, and he remembered one year Mother had been chosen in a Summer Festival to represent her fellow Healers within the community.
He could still remember the hot summer's evening at that Festival; almost hear again the loud pounding of the drums, the fields full of his people dancing…
He broke his eyes away from the collar and the old memories, the former numbness traitorously now evaporating to an old homesickness that he'd rather hoped might have gone since his vision. Apparently not.
He glanced back to the collar, annoyed at himself. It wasn't as if he didn't have a copy of the necklace in storage, and he even had the original broken one he'd found in a metal box half buried in the ruins of a mountain village on his world. Having remembered these collars well enough, he'd been able to tell Khepri how the copies should go together and Khepri had done an amazing job in recreating it.
Raven's reflection moved across the collar necklace and he quickly stamped down on the wrestling emotions as he turned his back to the cabinet.
"Beautiful necklace," Raven said, her eyes holding his with that penetrating assessing way of hers.
"Khepri does beautiful work," he glanced away to the many display cases filling the room. "I'm sure he can clean up your necklace for you."
He shifted his gaze down to her old tarnished pendant lying against her light brown skin just below her throat, and then quickly back up to her eyes.
Only she was looking into the cabinet behind him. "Ugun maybe?" She asked of the collar necklace.
A rush of irritation itched at him. Some days he just wanted her to be less aware of every little thing he did or said.
The sense of being as transparent as the glass panels of the cabinet made him want to snap at her. Or try to make her leave him alone as he'd almost done in the Hydroponics Bay yesterday, except she'd looked hurt and he'd felt compelled to come up with an excuse for her to stay. Though, admittedly, she had done most of the hard work in mucking out the goats so it had been a helpful decision on his part.
"It's a copy of one Khepri recreated for me," he explained, knowing she'd only keep pushing if he didn't tell her.
She looked instantly more interested though and moved past him towards the cabinet to look at the collar more closely. "It's beautiful," she repeated her assessment. "Your people didn't wear necklaces like this all the time did they?"
"No, just certain festival events," he confirmed as he moved away to the closest display case, focusing on various intricate buckles and buttons presented inside.
"Seeal," he heard Amel call from across the room. "Look at these."
Oneakka looked up to see Raven joining her friend, the two leaning over a display case, both pointing to the metal items inside. The artificial display lights inside the case sparkled dully off Raven's old necklace where it hung down and forward as she looked into the glass case, and suddenly he found his eyes focusing past it to the deep shadow of her cleavage now visible beyond the gaping neckline of her top.
He always kept in tight control of keeping his eyes from straying below her collarbones, had kept to that ardently even in times of temptation in the last couple of weeks, but suddenly he found himself breaking his rule.
He could see the upper swells of her breasts and the edge of blue fabric around them that had to be her bra under her top.
She looked up and he snapped his attention away, annoyed with himself.
"Oneakka, look at this," she smiled brightly at him though, waving him towards her and the display case.
He wanted to simply say no, but he moved towards her, apparently unable to ignore her invitations today.
He reached the display, making sure not to stand too close to her, and looked down into the case. It was full of stunningly made silver brooches, but it was obvious the one she was indicating. It was a brooch shaped to look like a face in profile and embossed across it was a curved line of Wraith-like markings, representing an Elite Warrior.
"Some people wear them as they believe it gives them protection from the Wraith," he told her, having seen examples of these before, but clearly she'd hadn't.
"Really?" Raven uttered. "I've found it's far more effective to bring an actual Elite Warrior with you for protection."
Despite himself and his mood, he had to smile at that as he studied the other brooches, one in particular catching his attention. "That one looks like a raven," he pointed it out.
"It's beautiful," she said appreciatively.
"You should get it," he suggested.
"Please, look at the price," she muttered towards the tiny little price card beside the brooch. "It's solid silver surely. I'll be happy with a cleaned pendant and new chain. Have you seen silver chains anywhere?" She looked up and around.
"Over here," Amel was the one to answer her from another case and Raven headed off towards it.
Left alone, Oneakka considered the raven brooch. She was right that it was expensive, probably because of the intricately carved tiny detail of feathers and the sparkling gem that was the bird's eye.
"Honoured Elite," Khepri' deep voice drew Oneakka's attention instantly up from the raven and he saw the Master Metalworker enter the room.
"Khepri," Oneakka smiled as he headed around the display case.
"It is good to see you," Khepri grinned as he extended his foreman, which Oneakka grasped in greeting; Khepri' grip of his own forearm held the usual developed strength of the Master's profession.
As usual, Khepri was dressed in his work clothes, the toughened leather overalls coloured with various stains and burn marks, and sporting a myriad of various pockets, each holding individual tools.
"It has been too long, Honoured Elite," Khepri kept smiling as he released Oneakka's forearm. They were of relatively comparable ages and heights, but Khepri had always been a little stooped, no doubt due to the intricate work of his profession. "But no doubt full of victory?"
"Most of the time," Oneakka nodded. "I'm sorry to turn up unannounced when you're teaching."
"You know that you are always welcome here, Patron," Khepri replied pointedly. "So, do you bring a new project for me or are you keen to see the latest additions to the workshop?"
"Both," Oneakka replied honestly. "But first," he glanced round to see Raven already heading towards them, "this is my friend, Seeal. She has an old necklace that needs some restoration and a replacement chain."
"It's pretty old and I'm not sure what it's made of exactly," Seeal told Khepri as she tugged the tight broken necklace chain over her head and handed it to Khepri' waiting hands.
"Yes," Khepri pondered as he walked across to a section of a case that held various tools. Picking up a magnifier, Khepri peered down through it as he turned the pendant in his fingers. "I would say a silver alloy. I'm not familiar with the design style, but was probably made with a lost-wax method."
"It's from well outside the Alliance," Seeal supplied, having trailed Khepri so Oneakka followed as well.
Khepri nodded as he turned the pendant. "There's a maker's mark, but I'm not familiar with it. Still," he set the magnifier aside and lifted a small pad with two prongs protruding from the one end. He slid the pendant between them and pressed a button. "Yes, quite high silver content, some copper and other elements. The chain though is not such a superior metal." He picked up the magnifier again and peered at the chain links.
"The chain was broken when I found it," Seeal explained, peering over Khepri' arm to look through the magnifier as best she could. "I just squeezed a couple of links shut to hold it together.
"I doubt the chain was original with the pendant," Khepri reported as he set the magnifier aside. "We can easily clean up the pendant for you, and maybe smooth off this edge as well, and then a new chain. The silver chains I'd recommend that will complement the pendant design are in here." Khepri led Seeal to a case and unlocked the side of it.
Amel had wandered over to see the chains too as Khepri lifted a section of shelf out of the case and set it on top for Raven.
"All of these would go nicely, if you like them," Khepri laid the pendant among the chains. "Though, I'd suggest one of these three here as the colour match should be perfect with the alloy once it is cleaned."
Seeal was nodding as she reached for one of the chains and Khepri set a small mirror in front of her.
"Is she able to use my discount rate, Khepri?" Oneakka asked.
Khepri looked round with a smile. "Of course, Honoured Elite."
Good, that would almost half the cost for her.
He watched as she lifted one long sparkling chain around her neck and Amel held the still tarnished pendant up against it so Raven could see how it would look.
"I can adjust the clasp so it's a little shorter if you'd like," Khepri suggested reaching around the back of Seeal's neck to lift the chain a little.
"That is a better length," Seeal nodded and glanced to Amel for her opinion. Amel nodded.
Oneakka looked away, his opinion unnecessary, besides he planned to keep his eyes above her chin level for the rest of the day.
"We should be able to clean and tidy up the pendant within an hour, and move the clasp on the chain at the same time," Khepri moved through Oneakka's view, Seeal's pendant and new chain in his hands.
"That's great. We're planning on visiting the marketing halls and can come back afterwards to pick it up." Seeal agreed as she followed Khepri, looking at Oneakka with a smile.
He followed them through to the next room where Khepri was writing up the work on a small paper work-order. He still used paper in the workshop alongside pads and screens, his artisanship still preferring the feel and texture of paper and pen. Oneakka frowned at what he now realised was an Atlantis writing implement in Khepri' hand. Clearly Elkaska's trading extended further than Oneakka had realised.
"You're going to stay and look round the workshop then?" Raven asked him so he focused his attention on her.
"Yes, and I have a new project I'll talk through with Khepri."
"Amel and I will go shopping then eat here before heading back to the Facility later." She had that assessing look again, still pitying him no doubt.
"I'll head back long before then," he told her as he looked away, watching as Khepri disappeared with her pendant and chain to the workshops behind the curtain.
"Okay," Raven replied. "Well, if you change your mind and want to eat with us, we'll probably be in, or near, the main halls on the Portal level."
"I'll probably see you for Late Meal with Massa this evening," he replied though, making it clear that they'd part ways here for the day. He'd followed her around enough for today. Though a thought hit him. "Unless you're doing another one of the research experiments tonight?"
Khepri had returned through the curtain, the necklace left with one of his staff to work on.
"No, the next experiment is in a couple of days time," Raven answered. "Atmospheric cold tolerance tests."
He frowned at that. "Which means what exactly?"
"I'm going to sit in a cool room for a bit," she glanced round at Khepri. "Do I need to pay now?" She asked.
"Only once you are happy with the results of the clean," Khepri replied, though Oneakka knew Khepri usually asked for holding deposits on everything. He guessed it was because Raven was here with him, being one of Khepri' patrons.
"Wonderful," Seeal smiled. "We'll be back in a couple of hours."
"We are open until late closing, so take your time," Khepri assured her.
"Thank you," she replied before turning to Oneakka. "We'll see you later." He wasn't sure why 'we' was necessary, as he was hardly going to be seeing Amel later.
He simply nodded though and watched as Raven headed for the exit out of the shop, Amel joining her on the way. The two females were instantly talking as they headed outside, Raven laughing cheerfully at something.
The second they were gone, Oneakka turned back to Khepri, the metalworker smiling at him.
"I have a new Ugun project for you," Oneakka told him as he pulled out his pad.
00000
With a brief stop to pick up some flashlights and an Ancient tablet for Rodney, it hadn't taken all that long to get out to the promised section of city that was finally their first proper clue to finding Janus' hidden lab.
It was an area of the city that John didn't know all that well, but you could sure smell it a mile off. The faint, but noticeable, dank smell of old flooding seemed to have permeated the walls throughout this whole section level. The place had technically dried out years ago, but maybe something had been growing down here since. Or maybe it was just lack of ventilation. Thanks to the flooding, and various power emergencies over the years, fully repairing this unused area of the city hadn't been high up on anyone's list. At least the overhead lights were working…barely. Actually the dim intermittent light sources in the ceiling did kind of add a slightly spooky feel that felt pretty appropriate given the potential bat cave location.
"Up here on the right," Rodney instructed from a few paces behind, so John turned his flashlight on the distant right wall and, sure enough, the promised turning came into view. Leading the way up to and into the new corridor, the dank smell grew even stronger to John's nose.
"Is that a waterline up there?" Jackson asked, his flashlight's beam casting up one wall to the now very obvious high waterline in this hallway.
"This section of the city flooded the first year we were here," Rodney replied from behind John's shoulder. "Anything salvageable got moved to the main tower."
"This whole section was like a swimming pool," John joked as his light ghosted down the hallway ahead and met a wall at the far end. "I take it this is the dead-end Janus' assistant was talking about."
It wasn't all that long a hallway really and there weren't any doorways off it that John could see. He frowned as he ran his flashlight over the walls again to be sure. Nothing. "Seems weird they'd build it like this. I mean there're no rooms off it, why build a dead-end anyway?"
"Maybe it was used for storage?" Jackson considered from John's left.
"There are other hallways like this in the city," Rodney reported idly as he moved ahead of John, his eyes fixed on the Ancient tablet in his hand.
"Maybe it was a muster point," John considered as he made a complete turn as he walked, checking everything over with the flashlight. Peering upwards, he ran the beam over the dull light fixtures overhead. Everything looked secure and nothing seemed out of place.
"A small dead-end hallway," Jackson uttered as he stopped and ran his light over one wall. "Certainly looks promising as a location where he'd hide his lab."
Yes, but the 'where' was the important bit. John moved on towards the end wall of the hallway, which seemed the initially logical place to have the hidden lab's entrance. Maybe the hallway had once extended beyond here and Janus had bricked it up?
"I'm not picking up anything unusual," Rodney reported from the Ancient tablet's readings.
"Nothing through this far wall?" John asked as he arrived at the dead-end. Reaching up, he gave the wall an experimental push, but there was no give to it at all.
"Nothing," Rodney repeated as he turned away and started back along the hallway, eyes fixed on the little screen.
John focused his attention back on the end wall though. All the walls in this section had a rough textured surface, broken up into panels, which would be a good place to conceal a trigger for a hidden door. John ran his fingers through the dips between the panels, seeking out any concealed latches with his fingertips, but all he found were flaky bits of dried mud from the flooding.
"Looks like something used to be attached here," Jackson noted from back along the corridor.
John glanced round from his wall inspection to see Jackson was shining his flashlight on a small rectangular hole in the left-hand wall.
"And here," Rodney added, his light focusing on another hole just along to the right of Jackson's. They looked like the fittings for wall light fixtures to John, so he returned his attention to checking the rest of the end wall.
"And another one," Jackson reported.
John slid his fingers along the last panel crease of the wall and reached the corner where the end wall met the left side wall. Nothing still, so he ran his flashlight and his fingers up the seam of the corner.
"Any idea what they are?" Jackson asked.
"Looks like a run-of-the-mill sconce interface," Rodney replied, clearly agreeing with John's silent conclusion.
The corner and first panels of the left-hand wall were providing no hidden door triggers either so far, so John took a step back and ran his light up above his head to the ceiling and then down to where the wall met the floor.
"Right, well, where are the sconces?" Jackson asked.
Nothing seemed out of place to John, so he turned to run the same checks on where the right-hand wall met the end wall.
"I don't know. Maybe the decorator changed his mind," Rodney grumbled.
"You said after the flood that anything worth salvaging was moved to the main tower," Jackson asked, his voice speeding up. "Now, please tell me you kept detailed records of what was found and where."
Still coming up empty, John gave up on his inspection of the dead-end and headed over to look at the sconce interfaces that had Jackson so interested. Admittedly, there being three in a row in this random end of an unused corridor seemed weird. Though, maybe Jackson was right and the Ancients had used to store things in dead-end hallways like this. Maybe they parked mobility scooters down here or something. Or, for all they knew, maybe the Ancients had still been adding rooms to Atlantis or perhaps damage from the Wraith siege had resulted in them abandoning and boarding up rooms out here?
"Did we keep detailed records?" Rodney scoffed at Jackson's question. "Who are you talking to here?"
"So, yes?" Jackson correctly interpreted.
"Please," Rodney scoffed again.
"Great, let's go then," Jackson said eagerly.
"Hold up," John held up his free hand. "This is just the scouting mission remember. You think these sconces are a proper lead?" He asked Jackson.
"I do, yeah," Jackson nodded.
John shone his flashlight across the three small empty sconce interfaces. They did seem out of place and this hallway certainly seemed to tick all the boxes for a good bat cave hideaway location. Given that Janus had successfully hidden his bat cave from the other Ancients for all the years he lived in the city, clearly proved he'd concealed the place really well, so maybe the key was something as mundane as wall sconces.
Plus, Janus had told John they'd need Jackson to find the lab.
"Okay." John reached up to his radio and tapped it awake. "Colonel Carter this is Sheppard."
"Carter here, Colonel. I'm currently here with Honoured Elite Skan. Have you found something?"
"Maybe," John replied. "This section of hallway has no rooms off it and just ends in a random dead-end like the assistant guy reported. Seems a good place to hide a secret lab. There's no hidden entrance that we can find yet, but there are three missing sconces that were grouped together on one wall and Dr Jackson thinks they may be important. This section flooded during our first year here and everything found in the floodwater was packed away, so we'd like to check the records, see if the original sconces were found down here and might be sitting in storage."
"Sconces as in light fixtures?" Carter asked with some doubt in her voice.
Jackson lifted a hand to his ear and tapped his radio open. "Hey Sam," he said. "If we could check the records and see if they were retrieved, I think it's the best place to start."
"Okay, Daniel," Colonel Carter agreed instantly. "Why don't you all head back to your lab and Honoured Elite Skan and I will meet you all there to go through the records."
"Understood Colonel," John confirmed. "We'll see you up there." He tapped his radio closed and saw Jackson do the same with a smile.
"Great," Rodney muttered, "there's only hundreds of photos we took of this section of the city to dig through."
"That's the spirit, Rod," Jackson patted Rodney sharply on the back and turned away, heading off down the corridor, clearly excited at the prospect.
John grinned at Rodney's less-than-enthusiastic frown and waited for Rodney to look round at him. "Archaeologists," John shrugged at him and headed after Jackson.
0000
She'd felt weird leaving Oneakka at Khepri' shop, though she wasn't entirely sure why.
There had been something different about him today. At first she'd thought it was simply his sullen introverted mood after yesterday, but during the trip to the station and while in Khepri' shop she'd started spotting little fleeting glimpses of something else… Whatever it was he was feeling or thinking about, he had done a good job in concealing it enough to stop her being able to identify it.
That alone felt strange, and a little unnerving, as unpredictability and withholding wasn't something she associated with Oneakka. He normally was very open with how he was feeling, as demonstrated through the height of his grumpy Cuddly Bear of Moor routine during his recovery. As much as he had been occasionally difficult back then, she'd still been able to understand why he was behaving the way he was, had been able to read what was going on behind those bright uniform blue eyes of his.
But today…today there had been something new, something she'd not been able to name.
And, at times, it had started to feel like it was directed personally towards her, but clearly it wasn't that he was angry with her. After all he'd come on this trip, had taken her personally to meet Khepri, even pointed out that pretty raven brooch to her. So, it wasn't that he was pissed at her for something. Besides, she had seen his grumpy-at-her face plenty of times, so she could spot that from across a room. This indefinable look was something new.
It had made her not want to leave him, and think about popping back to the shop to check on him, which was just plain stupid. He was an Elite Warrior who battled Wraith in hand-to-hand combat all through his adult life, and he was the sole survivor of an entire people, so the man knew how to deal with negative emotions and keep going. He clearly didn't need her worrying over him, trying to take care of him when he clearly preferred to silently stew in his brooding.
Which he was perfectly entitled to do.
He didn't need her getting all patronisingly protective.
He was an Elite.
And Oneakka, that alone was a category of self-sufficiency.
Which kind of left another possible explanation for her feeling uncomfortable at leaving him alone: the silly little feelings were getting above their station again. Was she really at the point of worrying over big, strong and confident Oneakka because it made her feel wanted? Made her feel part of his life?
No, she was pretty sure that wasn't the case…probably.
It was far more likely that it was just that she'd not been able to identify that new emotion or thought process going on behind his eyes. She was pretty damn good at reading people, and so it was probably just the professional confusion over what she'd been seeing that was the problem. Yes, that seemed far more likely…
So, to help counteract that, she'd enjoyed some people-watching in the marketing halls while she and Amel went shopping. Unlike Oneakka and his distant blanked looks, everyone here was a walking open book of personalities and emotions on display.
She and Amel had found the large section of the station's marketing halls dedicated to home furnishings and had been systematically working their way along the lines of stalls set widthways across the tall large rooms. Currently, they were in what seemed to be the last hall in this section, the back wall visible behind a couple more lines of stalls. Amel had been very successful in her shopping so far, her expanding bag stuffed full of various purchases including cushion covers, fabric wall-hangings, a blanket with a shocking amount of sequins on it, and she was currently in discussion with a Trader over his brightly coloured hand-painted mugs. Seeal was getting used to the way Amel worked when she went shopping, the Ridd-Ellman clearly knowing how to haggle. More than once she'd gotten a Trader to alter items to suit her, often resulting in combining rather clashing colours that most others wouldn't purchase. Amel was so personable though that it worked well, and was clearly more than ready to buy the most garish of items, which Seeal imagined most Traders would struggle to sell, which meant that so far all the Traders had been very willing to accommodate her.
The negotiation and haggling processes also gave Seeal time to watch the crowds and feel confident that she wasn't losing her touch, that it was just Oneakka who was the exception. And only then it was just this last emotional whatever that had confused her. Normally she was well on her game.
Plus, it was kind of enjoyable to watch people nowadays without being in her 'Security Lead' mode; though she was keeping a careful eye out for any pickpockets.
This section of the marketing halls seemed to attract a lot of families, which included many a tired whinging child in tow. She's seen a few tantrums already, the poor parents struggling to explain to their bored offspring why spending all day picking out furniture and paint was important work. Though, Saoka had made accommodation for such moments, as each widthways line of stalls ended at one wall in a small line of chairs for people to rest. From what Seeal had seen so far, said chairs had been mostly occupied by elder customers needing to rest their legs, the odd bored-looking spouse and for children needing time to calm down. There'd never been spare chairs to sit on around Dream, mainly because they'd just have been free weapons for people, but also they'd only have invited people to ambush others while they were resting. Still, here the chairs were a very smart move.
Glancing back to Amel, Seeal could see that the mug discussion was ongoing, but that already two were stacked in front of Amel ready to be purchased. There was still a-ways to go it seemed, so Seeal looked back the other way down the line of stalls, spotting a small crowd forming around a stall. She was too far away to tell what was being displayed inside the Trader's stand, but she could faintly hear a showman's toned voice from inside it. Clearly whatever was being demonstrated was catching people's attention. Seeal watched a young girl push her way forcefully between the adults watching the stall and, after a beat, appeared right at the front, staring up at the Trader inside with fascinated wide eyes.
Idly running her eyes over the profiles of the watching crowd, Seeal saw plenty of real interest and amusement across their faces; the Trader was doing his job well.
Two males crossed into Seeal's view, appearing around behind the watching crowd, and the taller male stopped to watch the Trader's show.
He held Seeal's interest instantly. Middle-aged with short unkempt black curly hair, he was dressed only in dark colours, including a very well worn thick jacket that seemed a little warm to wear in these marketing halls. It was a long jacket too which, in her previous profession, would have triggered some warnings. A long jacket worn indoors like that covered the waist and hips, therefore concealing any possible weapons. Of course that wasn't relevant here, as Saoka's Portal Security used scanners and were more than ready to pat-down any suspicious types to reinforce the rule that no weapons were allowed on the station. The exceptions being for Elite warriors, military staff, and Saoka's own station Security.
She imagined this particular male would have caught Security's attention and that they'd have made sure to run a thorough scan before he was allowed into the station proper. Looking back to his face, she watched him watching the Trader's display. He was faintly smiling with amusement, but there was a very noticeable sneering arrogance to his face. He also had a pretty scruffy face, seeming unable to decide between having a beard or patches of overgrown stubble. She watched him lift a hand and scratch a long thumbnail against his chin. A tattoo was just visible under his jacket's cuff, but it looked like a generic swirling pattern.
She glanced aside, seeking out his compatriot, but she'd not seen his face. No one in view seemed a likely companion for Scruffy Face though.
The most interesting piece of watching found, she looked back round to check on Amel. Amel now had four mugs stacked on the stall table in front of her and was pointing up towards something bright and fluffy that was hanging from the low roof of the stall. Seeal had to wonder how much more Amel could get in her bag, though, presumably, she'd just buy another bag if she needed it.
The idea of decorating her quarters was interesting though, so Seeal turned to look over the additional tables set around the stall. Besides the hand-painted mugs that had Amel's interest, the Trader was also selling hand-painted stools, picture frames, mirrors. A mirror could possibly look nice in her quarters, so Seeal wandered towards the section of table on which stood mirrors of various sizes. Most of them were on stands, while a wooden mesh behind the table supported several dozen various hanging mirrors. Seeal glanced over them, considering the sizes and colours, picturing them in her quarters.
Various small patches of the marketing hall behind her were reflected in the varying angles of the multiple mirrors, but one suddenly caught her attention.
Scruffy Face had appeared in it, his eyes massively wide, the look of shock making him look like he was frozen in place.
A quick mental calculation of the angle the particular mirror was hanging suggested that he was looking at her back. Moving her head away from his direction a little, but fixing her eyes on the mirror, Seeal watched his reflection step back a fraction, look to one side and then back the other, as if he was hurriedly looking for someone. There was an edge of angry panic to his expression now.
She was good with faces, but Scruffy Face remained in no way familiar; however, it could be that he'd used to visit Dreamstation and had recognised her. If he'd been well behaved and kept his head down during his visits to Dream, he wouldn't have been drawn to her attention, but he clearly didn't know that.
If he was even looking at her for certain…
To test it, she shifted her body abruptly, moving as if she was about to turnaround.
He reacted instantly, turning away and disappearing from the mirror, only to cross through several more reflections as he walked away quickly.
He looked back over his shoulder twice though.
Seeal turned round properly now, keeping the motion casual, but she ran her eyes quickly over the aisle space between the current row of stalls.
He was gone.
She stepped out slightly into the aisle, peering down it as if just interested in a stall down the way.
No dark jacket, no black curly hair.
He probably had recognised her from Dream then, probably freaked out that she might recognise him, which suggested he had a warrant out on his name in the Alliance, no doubt here under an alias then. She mentally reran the details of his features so she could check the official wanted lists in the Elite database later.
Amel crossed into her view, a big smile on her face while she struggled to close the top of her now bulging bag.
"Mugs?" Seeal asked her with a smile.
"I got four. He didn't have any with orange and pink designs together, so I got separate coloured mugs. He did say there might be a stall that sells bright coloured crockery in the next aisle of stalls."
"Great," Seeal agreed. Every quarter distance along the lines of stalls, there was an avenue through to the next row, so they headed for the closest one.
"You haven't seen anything you want?" Amel asked as they headed through to the next lane of stalls.
"I was thinking about a mirror for my quarters."
"Ooo did you see the nice hand-painted ones back there?"
"I did." Seeal realised she had stopped considering them the instant she'd seen Scruffy Face's reaction. "I might go for something in plain wood instead."
"There looks like there may be wooden furniture in that back row, maybe we'll see something for you when we get there," Amel suggested as they turned into this penultimate row of the marketing hall. As Amel had been promised, it seemed to be full of stalls dedicated to kitchenware. "Oooo this must be the stall he mentioned," Amel dashed forward to the right, heading across the new aisle towards a wide stall, its tables covered in various stacks of bright colourful plates, bowls, and tablecloths.
Seeal followed, glancing down the aisle one way and then-
Scruffy Face disappeared behind a family wandering between the stalls, his movements too abrupt to have been casual.
Keeping her eyes on his previous location, she turned her head as if looking across at the stalls opposite, but kept the family in her peripheral vision…and saw Scruffy Face emerge from behind them, glance back towards her and then disappear elsewhere into the crowd.
Why had he come to this aisle? If he was frightened she'd recognise him he should have made a run for it, left this section of marketing halls. Or better yet, if he was really wanted, he should have just plain left the station.
Instead he'd come through to this next aisle further into the marketing hall…
Unless he'd just been continuing his shopping and trying to avoid her? However, two other explanations were possible; well three if she counted the possibility that she was just being paranoid. Ignoring that possibility, he had come back here either to try and scout her out from behind this new row of stalls, or he had come here to find his companion. That suggested he either wanted confirmation of her identity or…
Adrenaline had already started entering her bloodstream and suddenly the previously nice relaxing marketing hall was becoming far too noisy and full of too many hiding places.
She'd been strolling across the aisle towards Amel while 'not' looking for Scruffy Face and now arrived beside Amel at the crockery stall.
She looked the other way down the aisle between this row's stalls, checking for anyone else that caught her eye.
No one seemed obvious.
She could be overreacting. Scruffy Face might just be rubbish at trying to hide from people or had decided to take a circuitous route to get out of the marketing hall.
Moving up closer to Amel and turning so her back was towards the stall, Seeal pulled out her electronic pad. Amel was chatting away about a plate, so Seeal nodded, making it look casual if Scruffy Face was watching. She tapped awake her pad and scrolled to a section that she'd rarely used: a list of Personal Beacons of those, either Elite or their staff, with whom she spent most of her time. Oneakka's Beacon was listed at the top, so she tapped into it. Looking up and down the aisle again, she tried not to make it obvious that she was looking for more signs of Scruffy Face.
The pad vibrated that its search was complete. She looked down at the screen to see that Oneakka's Beacon was confirmed within a certain distance of her, which meant he was still on the station. Judging by the distance displayed, probably still in Khepri' shop.
She might just be being paranoid. Maybe Scruffy Face was already on his way out of the marketing hall.
"I'm just going to check that stall over there," Seeal told Amel and headed away, straight across the aisle. As she walked she kept her eyes unfocused, letting her peripheral vision work hard. Dark clothes slid partly through her vision to the left. She glanced towards the movement with just her eyes.
Scruffy Face crossed behind some people, paused just on the limit of her vision and then disappeared.
At the stall, she stopped and looked round, the back of his dark jacket disappearing between two stalls, heading to the back and last aisle of stalls. Not good.
Moving abruptly that way, she walked as casually as possible towards where he had gone… close enough to see the stalls there and see that he hadn't used a proper avenue through to the next row. He'd squeezed himself between the sides of two stalls…one of which sold cutlery, including several big transparent boxes full of glittering knives.
Wraith shit.
She kept walking though, turning to look at a stall to cover herself. Turning her back to the crowd itched at her, but she didn't want to let Scruffy Face know that she'd clocked him. She lifted her pad, pretending to look from its screen to the stall, as if reading a list of things to buy maybe. After a good long beat, she turned back the way she'd come, quickly locating Amel, still at the same stall and in discussion with the stall's Trader.
Lifting her pad, Seeal tapped into the text link section. Every instinct told her to keep her back to a wall, not walking through a crowded marketing hall where someone could all too easily brush past and stab you without people initially noticing. It had been the primary way people had killed each other on Dream and it had been difficult to stop because people could make a shiv out of pretty much anything.
She called up the text link section on her pad, selected Oneakka's name and quickly typed a message to him.
Need help. In marketing hall. 1-2 males. Pos armed. Sending Amel with location.
She had no idea if Khepri' workshop might be loud and busy, but hopefully Oneakka had his pad on him and would hear or feel it vibrate. She sent the message, hoping she wasn't just making a scene, and slid her pad back into her pocket.
Heading towards where Amel was now having a rather animated discussion with the stall Trader, Seeal focused past her down the other end of the aisle of stalls. A new male had appeared perhaps ten metres away, just barely in view. He was leaning casually against the side of a stall, wearing a long dark jacket, his arms crossed. His attention was directed away, but he had an air of doing it on purpose. He was chewing on something, a faint smile across his face. She wasn't close enough to be certain, but she was pretty sure his clothes were as worn as Scruffy Face's had been.
As she walked, Seeal peered between the stalls to her right, towards the back of the hall and the direction in which Scruffy Face had disappeared further back. If he was tracking her from behind the row of stalls, she saw no obvious sign, but his likely compatriot was up ahead, ready to pincher her in? Or simply to provide back up while Scruffy Face attacked her?
Seeal suddenly became acutely aware of just how many civilians made up the shoppers around her. She had never had to worry all that much about innocents being around on Dream, but there were a hell of a lot here. Including a lot of children.
If Scruffy Face couldn't get up close to her, if he'd stolen some knives back there, he could just throw them at her. They would be difficult to spot in time in this busy hall and could easily hit other people.
Arriving at Amel's side, Seeal checked again on the male up ahead, who was still working on his studied casual indifference, chewing away.
They'd have seen that Amel was with her too, which meant Amel could be in danger too.
Wraith Shit.
"I didn't drop it, the plate slipped off the top of the stack," Amel's voice rose slightly. "You shouldn't put such thick glaze on your products."
Seeal slid some attention to Amel, turning to put her back to what was clearly now a grumpy Trader. "Amel?"
"It's not my fault, they are clearly badly made," Amel told her.
"I need you to give me your bag," Seeal told her quietly but firmly.
"What?" Amel frowned at her.
"I need you to go get Oneakka and bring him here. He's probably still in Khepri' shop, maybe already on his way."
"Why?" Amel asked worriedly. "What's going on?"
"There's two males here, I think they've recognised me and I think they're dangerous," Seeal told her calmly, sliding her attention along the aisle again. Mr Casual Indifference was still there, though had slid a little further out of view.
"If you're in danger, we should go get Security-"
"Yes, do that. I'll lead these males into the next row of stalls, get my back to a wall. Maybe the chairs at the end in the corner. Tell Oneakka."
"But," Amel stepped closer, "you should come with me."
"If they pick up that I've clocked them, they could strike here with all these people, these children, around. I'll draw them into the back corner while you get help here."
"But-" Amel insisted again.
Seeal reached for her bag, taking it from her. "Go get us some drinks and I'll meet you at the chairs," she added at a more level volume for others to hear.
Amel blinked, but then nodded firmly. "I'll go get us some drinks," she repeated, a little loud and awkwardly, but she was onboard with the plan now.
"Don't run while you're in this marketing hall in case it spooks them, and I'm not sure how many of them there are," Seeal instructed quietly as she hefted Amel's bag in her hand. "I'll see you at the chairs," she added at normal volume again.
Amel turned and walked away, the stall's Trader muttering something about weak hands towards Amel's retreating back.
Seeal shifted Amel's stuffed full bag, testing its weight. There were only the newly purchased mugs in it to give it any weight, but right now it was Seeal's only weapon and shield.
She looked down the aisle, watched Mr Casual Indifference looking away, and then she quickly stepped around and down the side of the grumpy Trader's stall. Following Scruffy Face's example, she hurriedly squeezed herself between the high sides of the stalls, having to drag Amel's thick bag roughly behind her.
As she reached the back of the stalls, she found that there was a narrow walkway of space that ran widthways across the hall between the rears of the stalls, which would have been very useful for Scruffy Face. Edging out as little as possible into the narrow walkway, Seeal peered quickly one way and then other, but either Scruffy Face or Mr Indifference were in view. She took one long stride to get across the lane and squeezed her way swiftly forward between the sides of the new stalls.
At the end of the tight space, she held still, glancing back behind her and then out around the side of one stall into the last shopping aisle in the marketing hall.
She checked both ways without putting more than the very edge of her head out into view, but there was no sign of the enemy.
To the right, at the end of the aisle, the promised collection of chairs were all pleasingly empty of civilians. But, more importantly, there was the back corner of the hall which would be the best place for her to hold her ground away from innocents until help arrived.
She quickly stepped out into the aisle and strode towards the waiting chairs and the promising safe corner.
0000
TBC