Day 53, 4 am, Rodney's rooms, mess hall [F]
"This one," Radek says, looking up from the pad in his hand and points at the panel next to the door. Rodney nods and sets down his kit to reach for the cover. The lights are flickering and he's got the feeling that something's odd, but can't pin it down. He can't remember why he's there and what he's supposed to do. But Radek only rolls his eyes and points at the panel. There's a faint buzzing sound, that intensifies as he leans closer. It sounds as if the buzzing comes from inside the panel. He frowns, pondering the chances, that something is in there. He hesitates and turns to look at Radek, but the other man just shrugs at him. Rodney catches himself thinking of Star Wars, and how Obi Wan Kenobi told his master that he had a very bad feeling.
Suddenly Rodney notices that the cover vibrates softly, and he isn't sure if it's just his imagination. He swallows hard and collects his courage. It's just his imagination, he decides, and with a swift motion rips the cover from it's place.
But there's nothing. Just the controls and wires. Feeling the tension in his muscles fade, Rodney sets down the cover. He opens his toolkit, and all of a sudden there's the buzzing sound again. He looks up, confused. There's a mosquito, flying about Radek, who tries to chase it away, the pad still in his hand. Radek's faster than he thinks and manages to catch it and squishes it to death in his fist.
Rodney doesn't like the expression on the other man's face as Radek turns to him. His eyes are cold, and the smile looks fake. He can still hear the buzzing sound, what can't be, because the mosquito is dead. Except there's more mosquitos, he suddenly realises. Startled he looks up at the open panel, but there's nothing.
***
With a start Rodney woke, he sat up straight, and there still was the buzzing sound. It took him an instant to realise where he was and that the buzzing sound wasn't from a mosquito, but his radio. He tried to shook of the weird feeling from the dream, as he thought on the light to a soft glow and reached for the tiny ear piece on the night stand.
"McKay," he replied, wiping the sleep from his eyes with one hand.
"It's Collins, sir," Dr Collins informed him. "We just got the results."
Rodney was awake instantly. "I'll be there in 20 minutes," he announced and got out of bed. "McKay out."
He took out the radio and sat it back on the night stand. He should get up, get showered and dressed. He felt a pang of loneliness as he looked at the dent in the tiny pillow, missing Carson's presence next to him in the bed. But Carson prefered sharing his bed with someone else, and all that was left were a couple of dried clothes in the bathroom. Rodney sighed, feeling utterly alone. He wallowed in his melancholy for a minute, then decided that Carson wasn't worth it. There was work to do, and while Carson probably snuggled up with his new lover, he'd find out more about that gate address.
Determinedly he folded back the covers and got out of bed. He started pulling off his clothes and headed for the bathroom to take a shower. He should also call Elizabeth, he suddenly realised. Looking down along his naked frame, he decided to do that after the shower and on the way to the lab.
The clothes he and Carson had hand washed only two evenings ago were still hanging in the bathroom. Rodney quickly collected them with mixed emotions, threw them into the laundry basket and pushed it out of the bathroom with his foot. He made a quick affair of showering, brushing teeth and shaving. Fortunately he had enough clean clothes, he thought, as he dressed. He could get the rest of his stuff later in the day, when Carson was in the infirmary.
Rodney grabbed his earpiece and strapped on his watch. It was only shortly after four am, when he left his rooms and called Elizabeth. She sounded tired, so he kept it short. He informed her that they had found the gate address, and that he would tell her more in the morning. He also tried to call Sheppard, who didn't reply. First Rodney was a little worried, then he remembered that Sheppard had mentioned the infirmary. Maybe they'd drugged him to sleep, he pondered. Since it wasn't an emergency, Rodney decided to let the case rest and inform him later.
Then he took a detour to the mess hall, craving coffee. But it was still too early, Dixon wasn't there yet. Rodney pondered his options, then decided to take things in hand and fix some coffee. He found the coffee powder and after some struggling with the machine, managed to make enough coffee to fill one thermos. He found some muffins in the pantry and grabbed them, then he hurried to the lab.