Previously: During a break from an offworld mission (chapter 43-46), Radek and Anna spend a little time together (chapter 47). But he had to go back again.
Chapter 49. Fun and Games.
Anna studied the peas on her plate. They were slightly yellow, and not the normal sort of peas from Earth. These were apparently traded from some other planet far away and grown right here on Atlantis. No idea where. But they were yellow… That was the important thing.
She rolled one pea across her plate and then stabbed it with one of the fork's tines.
A tray of food slid onto the table across from her. "You look about as bored as I feel," Sheppard said. He slumped onto the opposite bench and eyed her plate. "Are those as gross as they look, because…?"
"No," Anna sighed. She turned the fork in front of her eyes. "No, they just taste like peas. Sweet peas, with rougher skin."
"Oh. Rough skin," Sheppard contemplated. He scooped up a spoonful of them. "Well, I guess since the boredom hasn't gotten me, the peas probably won't either, huh?" He popped the spoonful in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. He seemed ambivalent about the taste.
Anna smiled a little and slid the pea off her fork with her teeth. "Probably not."
"Yep." He swallowed and nodded, clearing his throat. "So what's new on Atlantis?"
Anna shrugged. "Nothing. What's new at the outpost?"
Sheppard had been gone for several days, checking up on Doctor McKay, Radek, and the rest of the team. Anna was desperately jealous of his traveling offworld so often, but he probably thought that whatever the science team was doing at the outpost was more boring than watching the peas grow. On the other hand, Anna would have taken that over whatever it was she'd been doing for the past few days. It must have been boring because she couldn't even remember what it was.
"Uh, I think they're making some headway," Sheppard answered. He shrugged. "It's hard to tell. McKay yells as much when they're making progress as when they're not." He frowned at that and cut into his chicken. "Any interesting homework?"
Anna shook her head. Nothing interesting, basically, since Radek and everyone else had left last time. She had been eating breakfast alone for what felt like ages now. Lunch, too, except sometimes Elizabeth or Jennifer were available to make it less quiet.
Colonel Sheppard nodded. "Well, I guess that's that, then, huh?" he wondered.
"It must be Thursday," Anna sighed. "I never could get the hang of Thursdays."
Sheppard grinned, but didn't respond. Anna didn't say anything after that, either. They ate in relative silence until Sheppard was about halfway through his meal. He suddenly looked up with a spark in his eyes.
"Wait just a second. I have an idea."
Anna was unconvinced, though she wasn't sure why. She hoped it didn't have anything to do with shooting or knife throwing, since she'd very well had her fill of those things over the last weeks. She still wasn't very good at either, but it was getting boring all the same.
"I picked up a couple of remote-control cars when we went to Earth," Sheppard said. "I thought, you know, racing across the plaza could be pretty cool, but I haven't even had time to break them out of their boxes yet." He fell silent. It was probably more like he couldn't find anyone who wanted to race with him, since he apparently found the spare time to golf off the balcony.
"Remote-control cars," Anna said.
"Yeah. It's cool. We should break them out, give them a try," Sheppard said. He nodded as though he were completely convinced. "What do you say? Bet you couldn't beat me in a race."
Anna smiled. She wasn't exactly one to take a challenge like that seriously, especially if it involved remote control cars. "I'm pretty good at racing games," Anna said, anyway. She picked up a spoonful of peas. "I don't think I'll lose."
"You're on." Sheppard grinned and stood, picking up the rest of his meal. It was mostly unfinished, but he didn't seem to mind.
He picked up the remaining chicken in his hand and dumped the rest. Anna hopped up, shoving one last bite in her mouth before doing the same. Sheppard led the way to the transporter.
"I've got a yellow one and a red one," Sheppard said. "They're pretty much the same in every way, except for the color. I hope you don't mind yellow." He looked at her sideways.
Anna smiled. "I don't mind yellow."
"Good." Sheppard hit the button for the Central Tower quarters. "Nothing too complex at first, probably. We could do something more like drag racing until we get the hang of it and then set up some more complex courses… The question is… where?" Sheppard was quiet for a few seconds while he thought about it. "Gotta find somewhere out of the way, but with enough open space to set up some obstacles…"
Anna grinned. "Well, Doctor McKay's lab is empty."
Sheppard nodded, smiling devilishly. "Now you're talking."
Anna waited for Sheppard to bring the cars out of his quarters. He handed her one box and started opening the other one. Anna paused to read the font, but it didn't make a lot of sense to her without translation. Anna wondered why in the world Sheppard would have bought these cars and… well, things did get pretty boring around here sometimes.
"I wonder if we could make these faster with some improvements…" Anna wondered, pulling the yellow car out of its box.
Sheppard raised his eyebrows at her. "You mean Ancient improvements?"
Anna shrugged. "I'll ask Collins, but I bet that I could do it."
"It could be like, uh… a school project," Sheppard suggested.
By the time they reached Doctor McKay's lab and set up an obstacle course for the cars, Sheppard was starry-eyed with the idea of Ancient batteries and axles spinning near the speed of light. He calmed down a bit in time for them to start racing.
Even though he really didn't need any help moving obstacles for their cars around in the lab, he gamely let Anna think she was helping move the naquadah reactor. He didn't argue when she felt that Doctor Collins' desk was just a little bit too far to the left, either. He insisted on putting the tape on the floor, though.
"Alright," Sheppard said, holding his hand up to stop Anna from saying anything even though she didn't have anything to say. "Just to recap. We take our cars from here, around Collins' desk, hang a right at the naquadah generator, and straight on to the rack of servers."
"And then," Anna filled in, "you go counterclockwise around the power cell before going back under Rodney's desk and then…"
"Finish line," Sheppard finished triumphantly. He set his car down on their line marked by about a foot of electrical tape stuck to the floor. "You want to call it?"
Anna nodded with a smile. She set her car down next to Sheppard's.
"What's 'go' in Czech?" Sheppard asked, spreading his feet and setting his eyes seriously on their track. He looked more like he was getting ready for a boxing match than a remote-control car race.
"To start a race, it's 'teď,'" * Anna answered.
Sheppard's car took off across the line.
He laughed when Anna landed a helpless punch on his shoulder. "Sakra—podvodník!" ** Anna couldn't believe she'd fallen for that, but her car was already right behind Sheppard's and heading around Collins' desk.
"Watch your language, young lady," Sheppard scolded, still chuckling.
"You watch it," Anna answered, carefully maneuvering the car past the naquadah generator. Miraculously, she'd managed to cut off about an inch and a half around Collins' desk and it really made up some space between their cars. She cut close around the naquadah generator and the power cell, too.
Anna knew she wasn't going to win—it was basically impossible with the head start that Colonel Sheppard had. But she gave it her best shot and her car didn't cross the line too long after Sheppard's.
"Alright, again," Anna said, resetting her car. "This time, for real."
"Okay." Sheppard laughed. "Sorry."
"Right," Anna said sarcastically. He didn't sound very sorry. "I hope you're ready."
"I'm ready…" Colonel Sheppard said. He straightened out his red car and looked at Anna. "On your mark. Get set…"
"Teď!" Anna shouted, and her car took off first by just a fraction of a second.
Sheppard's car was close behind, and Anna wasn't sure who was going to win. Just as the cars raced underneath McKay's desk Sheppard said, "I hope you're ready to eat my dust, Anna."
Anna didn't really know what that meant, but shook her head emphatically. "No way."
Anna's yellow car raced over the tape just a second before Sheppard's did. She looked at him with no small amount of pride, because she hadn't cheated… much. "Best two out of three, Colonel Sheppard?"
"You're on." He picked up his car and offered, "By the way, why don't you just call me John."
The way he said it made it seem more like a command than a question, so Anna figured she'd better start calling him that. She pressed her lips together and nodded. "John," she repeated. She carefully toed her car back into place and said, "And you can call me… the winner."
He chuckled. "Not a chance. But you're welcome to try."
Anna held her finger over the trigger, fingers primed to send the car on the track. "Ready?"
Sheppard held his remote control out in front of him like a handgun. "Teď!"
#
"Now, this is what I'm talking about." Collins came into the room with a plastic crate.
Radek glanced up from his trunk. Five sets of clothes, toothbrush, extra blanket. Everything one could have needed for an offworld excursion, given that the expedition provided a futon. Initially, he was disappointed with himself. He hadn't slept on a futon since his undergraduate days. Never in his wildest dreams was he sleeping on a futon, post-doctorate. An alien planet entered his thoughts before futons did.
Radek slapped the trunk shut and stood. "What are you talking about?"
Collins just grinned, walked straight to Radek's futon, and dropped his crate on the quilt. He picked up two glass bottles from the crate and handed one to Radek.
Budweiser.
Radek smiled and took the bottle. It had been a long time since he'd had anything close to a real beer. Even after he'd emptied this bottle, he wouldn't have. But it was close enough. Collins popped off the cap with his utility knife and handed it to Radek.
"Angels are thinking of us right now," Collins said. He waited a few seconds before lifting his bottle to toast. "To McKay."
Radek joined in. "Na zdraví." **
"Na zdraví." Collins chuckled and took a long drink.
Their toast called in other scientists. There was only one set of words they knew in Czech that was undeniably a good thing. It always meant alcohol.
"Collins, you bastard, you were gonna share, right?" one of the Irish scientists asked. Doctor Flanigan embraced stereotypes for the pure joy of it.
"I thought you were the one who asked for it." Collins laughed, wasting no time in distributing the beers among the rest of the scientists. "Come on, don't shove. There's enough for everyone."
Most of them were accounted for, and there were only enough for each of them to have only one. Everyone was probably thinking about that last beer, the one that Rodney was due, but probably wouldn't have. No one seemed to know where he was. He was probably working or something, even though everyone was turning in for the night.
"Hopefully this is a good omen for us," Doctor Optrican sighed. His bottle was already half empty. "I don't think I could handle another straight week of this."
Everyone nodded their agreement, even though none of them believed in omens. Not really. On the other hand, it had been so long that Radek had stopped believing in beer. Kusanagi made some sort of comment about power node three floors down that was giving her a headache. Simpson reassured her that at least she wasn't working with the interface controls. Every time she thought she had those working right, they "blew up in her face." Not literally, Radek had to imagine.
"Well, nothing's blowing up today. It's Saturday, and I think we deserve a break." Doctor Higginson walked to her trunk and pulled out a black box, followed by three DVD cases, and a bunch of things wrapped in wires. "I told Jensen pick up Halo 2 for me when they go back to Earth. It came out last month and I'm dying to play it. In the meantime, I guess it's back to the old Combat Evolved."
Almost everyone seemed thrilled about that.
Doctor Higginson waved one of the cases above her head as she hooked up the box to her tablet screen. Collins whooped and skidded across the floor to offer his assistance in unwrapping the game. Radek had never seen an Xbox outside of pictures before, but he'd heard a lot about it. Not exactly his preferred platform for gameplaying, and none of these games looked like the kinds he enjoyed playing. On the other hand, the only game he'd played of this sort recently was chess against an AI.
Radek sat on the floor while Higginson unrolled the controllers. Kusanagi knelt next to Radek, picking up one of the red game cases. "I love this game," she whispered, turning it over to look at the back. Radek didn't see what it was, but he couldn't wait to find out what kind of game Kusanagi liked to play.
Higginson apparently finished and switched the console on. "Alright, who's playing?"
A tumble of scientists clamored to join them on the floor. Some people gave way so others could play. Flanigan set up a sort of tournament to give everyone a chance to play as much as to give away McKay's beer to the winner.
It wasn't long before everyone in the room was involved, even those who weren't particularly interested. Radek figured he should finish his beer before his turn came around. Then Rodney walked into the room before the first match could start.
"What are you guys doing?" Rodney asked, heading straight for his bunk. "We have a lot of work to do tomorrow."
"Come on, McKay," Collins said. "Tomorrow's Sunday and we've been at this for weeks now. Give us a break, will you?"
McKay shrugged and looked around, finally spying the screen on the floor. "Oh, is that Halo?"
"Sure is," Optrican mumbled, focusing on the screen as the match started. "You want to play? There might be a beer in it for you." He, and everyone else, conveniently left out that it was supposed to be McKay's in the first place.
It didn't matter all that much, since McKay didn't seem enthused. He agreed to play anyway. He was placed in the same bracket as Radek, Kusanagi, and Esposito, and they wouldn't be playing for three matches. Radek sat next to Collins and took his time with his Budweiser.
"How do you play?" Radek asked.
"Somehow I knew you never played Halo before…" Collins mumbled with a half-grin.
Radek hoped that someone here appreciated the irony of their in-game avatars traipsing over alien landscapes, destroying one another in the most creative ways, while, in reality, they watched this sort of thing in terror from the sidelines. Granted, this didn't look real in the slightest… but this was exactly what they didn't want to happen during their work-days. And every last one of them would probably beg to not be armed with the heavy-looking weapons their characters lugged around.
Collins gave a brief run-down of the controls. It looked simple, which probably meant it was more difficult than it seemed. Collins suddenly groaned and a character in bright red armor crumbled to the virtual grass.
Collins leaned forward to look around Doctor Hewlett. "What the hell was that, Robert?"
Robert just grinned and kept playing.
Collins sighed and waited a few moments for his character to reappear.
"Aren't we glad we don't have to wear armor like that…" Radek observed.
Collins chuckled. "Basically a neon sign saying, 'I'm over here, come eat me'? Yeah, I'm glad. What—oh, Hewlett, you are gonna get it. Just wait a second."
Radek watched in amusement, fully aware that he'd have to take his turn in a few minutes. Rodney pulled up a chair and sat down next to Radek. "I played Doom when I was in college," he said. "I was pretty good at it."
Collins laughed. "Yeah, have you played any first person shooters since?" he asked. "Because a lot has changed since 1993."
"Excuse me, I've been busy," Rodney snapped. "I've saved Earth twice since then."
"In 1993, my daughter was three years old…" Radek offered. They were all practically Ancient themselves, now, weren't they? "Let me tell you: that is busy. Saving Earth is nothing."
"It doesn't matter, anyway," Kusanagi said. She sat straighter and arranged her ponytail. "Because I'm going to beat both of you."
"Oh, nice." Rodney waved her bravado away with a scoff. "You might just have to eat those words."
"You'll have no argument from me," Radek offered. "I will stand no chance. But as long as you kill Rodney several times, I'll die happy."
Kusanagi gave him a helpful nod. Radek could see a future of digital murder in her eyes. Perhaps that it was McKay was just a bonus? Radek was probably awful at video games, but this was enough for him. A few hours of downtime before another full day of work tomorrow.
Suddenly, Collins handed him the controller. The green X in its center shimmered. Even though there were only about six buttons to worry about, it managed to look more complex than the 'gate control console in the control room. At least those only had pictures on them.
"Wait, what do these do again?" Radek asked. He pressed each of the buttons.
"Just shut up and play, Radek," Rodney mumbled. He sat on the edge of his chair and waited for the match to begin.
Collins laughed and pointed at each of them. "That one shoots, jump, this one can get you in and out of vehicles, too. This one switches your weapons."
"Oh, my god, what? You have more than one?" Radek watched the screen intensely. He wasn't sure what just happened, but he was pretty sure he just died.
"You have grenades, too."
"You're kidding me. Damn, we need to outfit the offworld teams like this… Where do we carry all this?" Backpacks the size of pickup trucks, maybe.
Collins just laughed.
Radek directed his character over the field toward the nearest little red man running in circles and pointing its gun at the ground.
Obviously, Rodney's character.
Radek managed to kill one of the other players. Judging by Rodney's reaction, Radek had completed his personal objective and could be happily slaughtered by Kusanagi for the rest of the game. That was basically what happened. It didn't seem to matter what Collins shouted about shooting or running or dodging.
Kusanagi went on to the next bracket, one step closer to the last bottle of Budweiser. Rodney never even asked if there was one for him.
After the tournament—Collins walking away with McKay's beer—most of the people went off to bed. Collins stayed up to play something called Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II, and Radek decided he didn't have anything better to do than to finish off his beer and watch. He'd never made sixteen ounces last so long.
"So," Collins mumbled, concentrating on the game, but only enough to apparently not be hacked to death by an orc. Or something.
Radek squinted at the screen. What was that thing?
"You've heard that they're looking to put one of us on an offword team, right?" Collins asked.
Radek almost spilled what remained of his beer. "What? One of us?" He hoped that was some terribly exaggerated bit of trivia dreamed up by the military personnel to make it more difficult for the science team to sleep at night. "You mean you and me?"
"You're on the list. I'm on the list. Kusanagi, maybe. Hewlett, though that's looking more unlikely. Higginson was also on the short list," Collins said.
"I haven't heard anything about this."
Going offworld with a reconnaissance team on a weekly or monthly basis sounded like some sort of torture. He wouldn't be selected. He was almost sure.
"They're keeping it quiet," Collins said. "Until they decide who's going." He grinned and looked at Radek. "And you suddenly turned white as a sheet. Amazing."
"I cannot," Radek said, pausing to find the word he wanted. "I cannot articulate how awful that would be." He wanted something stronger than awful, but nothing came to him in English.
"Traipsing around offworld with Major Lorne's team?" Collins asked. "Yeah. Talk about hell."
"At least it would not be a second scientist to Colonel Sheppard's team," Radek mumbled, quietly enough that he could be assured that Rodney wouldn't hear him.
Collins raised his second beer like a toast. "Hear, hear."
"Well, I don't have anything to worry about," Radek said.
Collins scoffed. "Don't be so sure."
"I can be," Radek said. "Rodney's going to do me a favor for once. He's going to keep on telling everyone how utterly incompetent I am. No one wants someone like me on their team."
"Who knew being on McKay's bad side was a blessing?" Collins wondered.
Radek sighed and drank the last of his beer. "I'm the luckiest man alive."
Czech Things
* Teď = now
** Sakra—podvodník! = Damnit—cheater!
** Na zdraví = cheers; "to (your?) health," I think
A/N: Okay, it's been ages since Halo: Combat Evolved. But Halo 2 just wasn't out yet… and it's not like it hasn't been ages since Halo 2, either. I guess Higginson is the kid that always has the newest toys... and still has her Atari in a box somewhere in the garage. Not based on a real life person at all. No way.
Next time: I can't believe you forgot this.