The Road Not Taken, Part 06
THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
by Soledad
Author's note: For disclaimer, rating, etc. see the secondary index page.
This chapter describes the events of the 2nd season episode “Intruder” from a different point of view… among other things.
I don’t know whether the Daedalus has an auxiliary control room or not. I simply assumed that the place where several unlucky technicians ran the fatal computer diagnostics was something like that and borrowed the name for the room from Star Trek.
Also, I’m not entirely sure in which season the Asgard locator chip implant has been introduced - but since this is an AU anyway, I decided to allow them to have it already.
PART 06
The day of the start had finally come, and Reid was standing nervously in the embarkation room of the SGC, waiting to be beamed aboard the Daedalus. He rubbed his upper arm where the locator chip implant - a marvellous result of Asgard technology - had been injected, making an emergency beam-out possible. He knew that the technically highly advanced aliens had used transporter technology without problems for several millennia; still, the thought of being broken down into his base atoms, then being transported in the form of pure energy at near-light speed to his destination where he’d be reassembled again, made him anxious.
Sometimes having an analytic mind that enabled him to understand how many ways things could go wrong was truly a curse. Unfortunately, Calvin shared this particular trait… even if he seemed to find travelling via transporter a lot less questionable than Reid did.
On the other hand, Calvin had travelled via Stargate quite a few times, too. He’d had years to get used to this kind of thing. Being deconstructed for the first time in one’s life was… intimidating. Quite frankly, it scared the shit out of him.
He looked with ill-concealed envy at young Dr. O’Neill, who’d gained the sloppy nickname Junior among SGC personnel, and who was just sauntering into the embarkation room leisurely. He had two carry-alls and a backpack, which presumably contained just about everything a young man of his age might need for a one-year-trip to a foreign galaxy - assuming said young man had the memories of a middle-aged Air Force officer and knew how to pack efficiently, without burdening him with unnecessary stuff.
He gave the clearly mortified Reid a tolerantly amused look and grinned at him encouragingly.
“No need to worry, doc. The Asgard transporter is absolutely safe… and I’m the person who can assure you about that. I’ve been beamed up and down more than all the others counted together.” He didn’t add in which body he had been when that happened. There was no need for that. “You won’t feel a thing, really.”
“I know that,” Reid answered, annoyed with his own ridiculous reaction. “Unfortunately, I also know what happens when one is transported. The image isn’t exactly… encouraging.”
O’Neill Jr’s grin grew in width. “One reason why my… uncle chose to remain in blissful ignorance,” he said.
“Don’t believe him,” Kavanagh said to Reid. “General O’Neill is an intelligent man. He might not be a scientist, but he’s got a fair general understanding of the tech he has to work with. And what’s even more important, he knows when to have the scientists alone to do their jobs… unlike other officers whom we won’t name here,” he added, shooting Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard, who had just arrived in the company of Dr. Weir, a displeased look.
“Which shows that we aren’t as similar as people might think,” O’Neill Jr replied brightly. “I couldn’t do that. I just need to stick my nose into things and figure out what makes them tick.”
“Oh, you are similar enough all right,” Reid said, grateful for the distraction. “You just got something very few people get: a second chance.”
“I’d rather call it the road not taken,” O’Neill Jr answered, “but basically, you’re right, of course. We’re very fortunate. Few people can say they could have their cake and eat it. He’s got his military career and I’ve got my scientific one - but we both get a piece from what the other one has chosen, too.”
The other newbies slowly filed in, showing various degrees of nervous anticipation. The Gate technician checked something with the transporter operator of the Daedalus, and one by one, people were enveloped in a pale golden beam of light and simply vanished. When his turn came, Reid tried very hard not to panic, but with very little success. His overactive mind simply supplied him with too many horrid images about possible transporter accidents. To be honest, he was close to bolting in the last moment.
But then Calvin, ignoring the baffled looks of their colleagues and the snickering of the Marines waiting for their turn, reached out and took Reid’s hand, the way he’d take the hand of his own sons when they were frightened. Reid was startled at first, especially in front of everyone, but then he accepted the help gratefully. He even stopped hyperventilating as he entwined his fingers with Calvin’s. The calm, firm hold his friend… colleague… lover had on him was really soothing.
Kavanagh looked at the Gate technician.
“We are ready,” he said simply, and in the next moment the transporter beam took them.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
They rematerialized on board the Daedalus, still holding hands, Reid still chalk white and slightly shaking. Kavanagh was demonstratively slow to untangle their fingers, ignoring the smirks around them, and looking into Reid’s still dilated eyes in concern.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked. “Don’t panic; you’ll get used to it, given enough time.”
“Let’s hope so,” Colonel Sheppard commented snidely. “It’s bad enough that Zelenka is afraid of Gate travel; having someone on my team who’s scared witless of beaming would slow us down considerably.”
“He’s not scared witless,” Kavanagh sneered. “On the contrary. He’s scared because - unlike most people here - he actually understands what happens during the process. We scientists usually don’t have the dubious advantage of being thick-headed.”
“As much as it pains me, I must agree with Kavanagh in this,” McKay said before Sheppard could have exploded into Kavanagh’s face. “Now, can we stop this infantile squabbling and move on? I’d like to have an orientation meeting for my geeks, and I’m sure Colonel Caldwell would prefer to leave orbit some time before the next millennium.”
The level of sarcasm in his voice revealed that his irritation had already reached third grade, and everyone who’d ever worked for the SGC, be it geek or jarhead, knew that a third-grade irritation on the McKay scale could easily lead to endless tirades, describing their idiocy in loving and opulent detail. Like every good scientist, Atlantis’ head geek was nothing if not thorough. Therefore the instinct of self-preservation quickly moved people out of his way, and the new expedition members were taken aboard and put away in their assigned quarters in record time.
Quarters were shared aboard the Daedalus, due to the number of people that needed to be transported to the Pegasus galaxy. Logically, Kavanagh and Reid were assigned to the same room, with O’Neill Jr and a friendly, dark-skinned technician named Lindstrom as their immediate neighbours.
“You realise, of course, that there’s gonna be talk,” Reid said, after they’d done some minor unpacking; just what they’d need for the rest of the day, and some toiletries.
Calvin shrugged. “Let them talk… or could that cause you problems with the FBI?”
Reid shook his head. “No; it’s just not anyone’s business.”
“They’d have found out sooner or later anymore,” Calvin replied with another shrug. “Atlantis is a small, closed community, full of busybodies… and there’s very little entertainment aside from gossip. They’ll get used to us. As long as we’re discreet, nobody will care - after the first couple of days.”
“What you just did wasn’t exactly discreet,” Reid pointed out.
Calvin nodded. “I know. I wouldn’t have done it; not so soon… not for quite a while yet, were you not panicking.”
“I’m sorry…”
“Don’t be. At least it’s out in the open now; and people will have eighteen days to get used to us being… well, whatever we are… before we get to Atlantis.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As it turned out, they’d both been right. People did get used to see them together, especially as they remained very discreet fort he duration of the journey and didn’t flaunt their closeness into anybody’s face. And there was talk, of course. Two long-haired male geeks, sharing a room - and who knew what else - inspired the fantasy of the Marines to new lows. So it wasn’t surprising at all that by about two weeks after the Daedalus had broken Earth’s orbit, everyone on board knew that Dr. Kavanagh and “that geek chick from the FBI” were more than just friends.
“I wonder how they manage to do the dirty,” Stevens, one of the newly reassigned Marines, said in the mess hall, just loudly enough that Reid, who was studying something on his laptop while sipping his coffee at a nearby table, couldn’t help but overhear. “I mean, they’re all elbows and knees, both of them… it oughta be fucking uncomfortable…”
The others snickered, failing to notice Major Lorne, who’d just entered the mess hall and approached them with the promise of black thunder on his otherwise so open and friendly face. He didn’t like at all if assholes like Stevens spoke ill of people who had more intelligence under their fingernail than a dozen jarheads counted together. Still, he chose not to interfere just yet. He wanted to see how Reid would deal with the situation.
Reid looked up from his work, completely unfazed.
“You might have a problem imagining it, Private,” he reaffirmed himself of Stevens’ rank with a quick flicker of an eye, “but it isn’t always about sexual acrobatics. Some of us actually enjoy talking when spending time together. Of course,” he added dryly, "that would require the basic ability of coherent speech to begin with.”
Stevens had already half-risen from his seat, his face and short, thick neck red with anger… but dropped back again as Lorne’s hand gripped his forearm with steely strength.
“Stop it, Private,” Lorne ordered, his voice deadly calm.
This was his command voice, developed after having faced the Unas on P3X-403. A voice that could make the biggest, beefiest, most spectacularly drunk Marine shake in his boots with fair. Which, considering that Lorne was an Air Force officer, seen as a cocky flyboy by every self-respecting Marine, was no small feat.
“Let me tell you a thing I’ve learned about Atlantis, Private,” he continued, still in that low, terribly calm voice. “It’s very different from the SGC. Atlantis is Earth’s only outpost in the Pegasus galaxy; the only thing that stands between the Wraith and Earth. And, unlike at the SGC, on Atlantis everything depends on the geeks. Because they’re the ones who understand Ancient tech and can make it work, with or without the ATA gene. Can you follow me so far?”
Stevens nodded, with his mouth literally hanging open. Reid was secretly amazed how thoroughly Lorne was able to intimidate these tough, gung-ho Marines, even though he was a head shorter than every single one of them. Air Force officers didn’t need to be big and burly. They were supposed to become pilots, after all, and being of average stature was actually an advantage in tight little cockpits.
Lorne nodded, too, slowly, deliberately.
“Very well. Now, let us summarize the basic facts for the lot of you in a few easy sentences. Atlantis protects Earth. The geeks protect Atlantis. And we… we protect the geeks, by any means necessary. If it means to die to save them, we’ll do so. If it means to ride the whole city of everything even vaguely reminiscent of citrus, so that Dr. McKay wouldn’t accidentally eat something he’s deadly allergic to, we’ll do it, too. Are you still following me, men?”
“Sir, yes, sir!” the Marines chorused.
“Good,” Lorne said. “Furthermore, as long as they’re doing their jobs, their private life is not our concern. Whether they hold hands in the moonlight and recite bad poetry or fuck sheep on the mainland - or whatever counts as sheep in the Pegasus galaxy - we won’t interfere. We won’t bother them in any way, we won’t harass them, and we’ll never, under any circumstances bully them. Have I made myself clear?”
“Sir, yes, Major Lorne, sir!” the Marines replied crisply as one man.
Lorne glanced at his watch. “Pleased to hear that. Now, if I’m not mistaken you’re all scheduled for unarmed combat practice in ten minutes. Eat up and get out of here to spend your energies in a more… useful way. Preferably yesterday.”
The Marines obeyed in record time, and Reid looked up at Lorne in mild exasperation. “Was that truly necessary, Major?”
Lorne grinned, looking impossibly young all of a sudden. “Sure it was. Marines need to be yelled at by their commanding officers on a regular basis, to know that they’re cared for. It gives them the illusion of safety.”
“An illusion?” Reid repeated, arching an inquisitive eyebrow.
Lorne nodded, his face grim and bleak again. “There’s no true safety, doc, in either of our two galaxies. The sooner you realise that, the longer will you live."
In that moment, Reid’s headset came alive with the tense voice of Dr. McKay. “Reid? I need you in the auxiliary control room. There’s been an accident.”
“I’m coming with you,” Lorne offered, and Reid saw no reason to refuse. An accident didn’t sound promising. The Daedalus was a ship well beyond her shakedown cruise, there shouldn’t have been any nasty surprises.
Reid’s suspicious mind suggested sabotage. He just couldn’t think of anyone who’d benefit from such an act.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When they reached their destination, they found Dr. Beckett, the chief medical officer of the expedition, bending over a man lying on the floor. Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard were already there, as was McKay, sitting at a nearby console and giving the diagnostic screen an unhappy frown. Colonel Caldwell arrived at the same time as Reid.
Reid recognised the dead man on the floor with a shock. It was Dr, Monroe, one of the newly-hired engineers - and a fairly young one at that.
“What happened?” he asked, his trained eye already searching for any possible evidence but found none. Not yet, anyway.
Dr, Beckett shrugged and waved in the waiting medical team with the gurney. “I cannae tell just yet… but he’s dead, for sure. Poor lad, hasn’t even made into the Pegasus galaxy. A real shame, it is.”
The medics zipped the poor man into a body bag, and Dr. Beckett helped them to lift it onto the gurney. “All right, lads, take him to the morgue. I’ll be with you shortly.”
Colonel Caldwell stepped aside to make room for the medics, his big, bald forehead creased into a frown.
“How did he die?” he asked.
Dr. Beckett shrugged, every bit as unhappy with the fact as the Colonel was. “I’m not a hundred per cent certain, but there were burn marks on his fingertips.”
Sheppard shrugged, too, already dismissing the whole problem. “Well, obviously, there was a shortcut. Door’s open, circuits are charred… sad, but it happens.”
Colonel Caldwell, however, didn’t seem quite that convinced. “Is there enough juice in those circuits to kill anyone?”
“No,” Reid answered promptly, although Caldwell had probably aimed the question at McKay. “Not according to the official blueprints of the Daedalus, that is. The most harm a shortcut should be able to cause would be a slight stinging in the fingertips; yet apparently, here happened something a lot more serious.”
“Apparently,” Caldwell agreed dryly, then he looked at Beckett. “Well, doctor…?”
Beckett sighed. “I’ll know more once I’ve had the chance to examine the body more thoroughly.”
“I’d like to see any evidence you may find,” Reid said.
“You’ll get it,” Beckett replied tiredly and left.
Dr. Weir looked at McKay who was working furiously at the nearby console. “Rodney, do you know what Dr. Monroe was working on?”
“It was computer diagnostics, strictly routine,” McKay replied with a frown. “It shouldn’t have caused any problems. Reid, do we have security camera footage?”
Reid walked around the console and called up the footage on another monitor. The others gathered around to watch it. They could see Dr. Monroe sitting at the same console, then getting up to work on another part. He reached over to touch a panel… then the footage went static.
“What happened there?” Dr. Weir asked.
Reid shrugged, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t know… but I don’t like it.”
“It could be a camera malfunction, of course…” McKay began.
“Right before the man was killed?” Sheppard asked. “Interesting coincidence.”
“Certainly not a coincidence,” Reid corrected. “Especially considering the fact that there isn’t enough power running through these circuits to kill someone.”
“At least not normally,” McKay added, thinking furiously. One could almost see the little cogwheels whirling in his head. “However…”
Dr. Weir looked at them, a little confused. “What are you thinking?”
“It is possible that there was some sort of isolated power surge in this section,” McKay began.
“… which would explain the lost camera,” Reid added, getting the direction of the other man’s thinking.
“… and the malfunctioning door,” McKay continued.
“So, when the door didn’t respond, Dr. Monroe took out the panel to bypass the circuits,” Reid suggested.
“… and received a fatal jolt,” McKay finished.
Dr. Weir and Sheppard exchanged blank looks.
“It’s almost as bad as with Zelenka,” Sheppard commented.
“Ha, bloody ha!” McKay snapped at him. You shouldn’t be so envious, just because I've finally found someone who’s almost up to understanding me. In fact, you should be grateful to have two genius-level scientists on board instead of one. With Reid’s help, I’ll only need half the time to run a full diagnostic on the power distribution system.”
“I thought we’d have to drop out of hyperspace to dot hat,” Colonel Caldwell said with a frown. He was a man who seemed to frown quite frequently. His entire facial structure was adjusted to it.
“Which is exactly what I was just about to suggest,” McKay replied.
Caldwell shook his head. “No, Doctor. If we drop out, we risk being detected.”
“True, true,” McKay admitted impatiently. “I still think we should…”
“No,” Caldwell interrupted. “We’ll be back in Atlantis in less than two days. You can do you diagnostic then.”
Dr. Weir gave the colonel an unhappy look. “Colonel, are you sure that’s right?”
“With all due respect, Doctor,” Caldwell replied through gritted teeth but with impressive self-discipline, “you got back to Earth through the Stargate. This is my third trip on the Daedalus between galaxies; I know my ship well enough. Certainly better than you do.”
“I understand that, but this ship is relatively new,” Dr. Weir argued. “There might be some problems…” she looked at McKay, as if expecting him to provide her with the necessary data, but the head scientist just shrugged and kept staring at his screen unhappily.
“Theoretically, there shouldn’t,” he said. “There weren’t any problems during the previous two trips; not even during battle.”
“That doesn’t mean there couldn’t be any hidden problems,” Dr. Weir insisted. “Perhaps…”
“Doctor,” Caldwell interrupted with forced patience. “A word, please?”
He gestured her to step outside the room. She followed him outside. Barely on the corridor, they obviously started arguing again, although the others in the auxiliary control room couldn’t hear a word of it.
“It seems that Colonel Caldwell is still unhappy about not getting my job,” Sheppard commented dryly.
“He might not be the only one,” Lorne warned him. “If I were you, sir, I’d be very careful.”
“I’m always careful,” Sheppard replied, which made McKay roll his eyes in exasperation.
“Yeah, and snowballs have a real chance in hell, Major. Now if you and your fearless second-in-command here don’t mind, Reid and I have work to do. A lot of work. Preferably undisturbed. So, could the two of you just, you know, go somewhere else and do… whatever manly things you do when you actually don’t have anything to do?”
For a moment, both officers went glassy-eyed, trying to figure out whether they’d been truly insulted or McKay had just been… well, McKay. Then Sheppard wisely grabbed Lorne by the elbow and dragged him out of the room. In this mood, McKay was better avoided.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
McKay glared at their backs until they were safely out of the door.
“Good,” he finally said. “I thought they’d never leave. Sometimes Sheppard is bloody hard to get rid of. Now we can finally do some serious checking.”
“What do you want me to do?” Reid asked, knowing that McKay was more than capable of doing a full system check by himself.
“Not for running some routine computer diagnostics, obviously,” McKay replied as if he’d read Reid’s mind. “I could do that alone… in my sleep, actually. But you’re a trained FBI agent, used to find suspicious things. It’s that mindset what I need right now.”
“I can give it a try,” Reid said, slightly doubtfully. “How do you wanna do this?”
“Help me check the power distribution log against the time code on the security camera,” McKay suggested. “That way we’ll see if there’s any connection at all.”
“Sounds plausible,” Reid agreed and took the other seat.”
They worked in silence for a couple of moments. Then Reid discovered something on his control screen.
“Look at this,” he said. “There was an unexpected energy spike.”
McKay glanced up from his own screen. “What time?” he asked.
“Fifteen-thirty-five and forty seconds,” Reid tuned his screen, so that McKay could see it as well. McKay frowned.
“Well, that’s… bad,” he said.
Now it was Reid’s turn to frown. “Why?”
“Because if the power distribution logs are recording correctly, this energy spike happened thirty seconds after the camera went off,” McKay replied grimly.
“Which means, the malfunctions in the door and the camera were not caused by the same problem,” Reid said slowly. “The colonel was right… that would be too much of a coincidence.”
McKay stared at him in confusion. “When did Caldwell say that?”
“Not Colonel Caldwell,” Reid answered patiently. “Colonel Sheppard.”
McKay blinked several times. “Uh, right. Oh, that’s gonna take some getting used to.”
“So, do you think Dr. Monroe’s death might not have been an accident, after all?” Reid asked, trying to steer him back to the actual topic. “Might it have been sabotage?”
“I don’t know,” McKay said. “But there’s something else. It looks like Monroe was in the process of enabling the Wildfire Protocol.”
“The what?” Reid checked his memory but found nothing useful under that name. In fact, he was sure he’d never heard it before.
“Computer security protocols designed to isolate and shut down corrupted programmes,” McKay explained. “They’re Zelenka’s design, and usually work like a charm.”
Reid’s mind raced. “What programmes are we talking about?”
“I don’t know!” McKay was almost in tears with frustration. “That’s just it - Monroe was killed before he could finish.”
“Does this mean there’s something wrong with the ship and someone’s killed Dr. Monroe to cover it?” Reid asked. “You realise, of course, that it sounds like really bad sci-fi, don’t you?”
McKay shrugged. “I know. But there’s definitely more going on than just random malfunctions.”
“In that case, you’ll have to talk to Colonel Caldwell,” Reid said. “If we’ve been attacked by a Trojan, all systems might be infected already. We’ll have to drop out of hyperspace and run that full system check.”
“And won’t the colonel just love that?” McKay muttered unhappily. But he did go to speak to Caldwell nonetheless.
Left alone in the auxiliary control room, Reid suddenly had the same eerie feeling he’d usually got in the past when he’d known the unsub was watching the team on a crime scene. Considering that the small room was utterly empty and there were no shadowy corners where as much as a mouse could have been hiding, it was a ridiculous thing - and yet it made his skin crawl.
He didn’t ignore the feeling. Gideon had taught him to listen to his instincts because they could save his life one day, and those instincts were now screaming at him to get out of here as soon as possible.
In a sudden rush of panic, he jumped to his feet and stormed, before the malfunctioning door would trap him inside.
Once in the corridor, he risked a glance back. The room was every bit as empty and dead as it had been only moments ago. And yet he couldn’t shake off the feeling of being watched.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He activated his headset to check on Calvin and found him in Engineering, working with Dr. Nowak and Hermiod. He decided to join them down there. The fragile, puppet-like alien had fascinated him from the first moment on, and Hermiod didn’t seem to mind his presence - as long as he was quiet and left him alone. The Asgard preferred to work in a state of tranquillity very few humans could hope to achieve… least of all Dr. McKay, whose elements were, without any doubt, hectic and chaos.
“Oh, Reid, good,” he said absently. “Come in and help us with this thing here.”
Already used to McKay’s very specific vernacular, Reid made an educated guess of what was expected of him and joined Calvin, who was already running some diagnostics. Hermiod, on the other hand, still seemed to be equally annoyed and confused by the peculiar McKayisms.
“If I may be so bold, what exactly are we looking for?” he asked dryly. It was a dryness that could have put the High Gobi Desert to shame; especially if one added the sight of Hermiod’s huge eyes closing for a moment in utter frustration.
“Any indication that somebody’s been tampering with the ship’s computers,” McKay replied absently, his overactive mind already occupied with four or five potential scenarios.
Hermiod sighed and muttered to himself in Asgard. They couldn’t understand the words, of course, but the very cadence clearly revealed his opinion of McKay.
“My thoughts exactly,” Kavanagh agreed, which caused McKay to turn around and glare daggers at him.
“What was that?” he demanded.
“Nothing,” Hermiod said with a finality in his scratchy voice that told everyone that he wouldn’t disclose the meaning of his words.
“He just called you an asshole, I think,” Kavanagh said with a smirk. McKay rolled his eyes and ignored him.
“Look,” he said to Hermiod,” Just check the major systems: propulsion, navigation, life support. Look for anything out of ordinary. Reid will do the same; he has an eye for that sort of thing.”
“And what exactly do you hope to find?” Hermiod inquired in the manner of a long-suffering college professor.
“I’m not sure,” McKay admitted, “but once we’ve checked out the power distribution system, maybe we can figure out what caused that power spike.”
“Or so you hope,” Kavanagh commented wryly.
“Yes, I do!” McKay glared daggers at him again. “In the interest of us all - or else we’re gonna have an even bigger problem.”
“Too big for someone who’s supposedly the smartest man in two galaxies?” Kavanagh sneered.
Reid rolled his eyes. “Calvin. Stop baiting him. Right now, we have more important things to do.”
Neither Kavanagh, nor McKay showed much willingness to stop their private little bitch-fest; fortunately, Colonel Sheppard walked in at that very moment.
“How’s it going, guys?” he asked with a clear undertone of impatience in his voice.
“It is going to take a while,” Hermiod replied tersely. That earned him a suspicious look from Sheppard - until McKay walked over and elbowed the newly promoted colonel in the ribs.
“Don’t stare!” he hissed. “He hates it when people stare.”
Sheppard gave their head geek a queer look. “Am I the only one who thinks it’s strange we’re working with an alien?” he asked.
“Yes,” Reid and Kavanagh replied in unison.
“Intergalactic hyperdrive technology is kind of new to us,” McKay added. “So we need his help.”
Sheppard glanced at Hermiod again. “But why does he have to be naked in order to help us?” he whispered to McKay.
Unfortunately for him, Kavanagh had good ears.
“Would it still bother you if he were a beautiful, nubile alien princess, Sheppard?” he asked. “Or are you only queasy because he’s a male alien?”
“Shut up, Kavanagh!” Sheppard scowled.
McKay rolled his eyes, then decided to do some damage control. He looked across to a technician who was working nearby. “Lindstrom, Kavanagh, you with me. Reid, try to keep Hermiod and the colonel from each other’s throats.”
“I’ll try my best,” Reid promised, taking over Kavanagh’s place and giving Dr. Novak a nervous smile. She smiled back… and hiccupped, revealing her inner tension.
With another eyeroll, McKay left, taking Kavanagh and the technician who happened to be their cabin neighbour with him. Sheppard looked round at Hermiod again, who scowled back at him.
“Colonel, if you don’t mind we’ve got a lot of work to do here,” Reid said, because Dr. Novak would never dare, and they really needed to hurry up. Sheppard raised both hands in defeat.
“I’m going, I’m going…” and then he left indeed.
Hermiod was muttering to himself in Asgard again. Reid found it oddly charming, although he could see that the little alien was truly annoyed.
“Well, then,” he said to Dr. Novak. “Shall we?”
Dr. Novak nodded and hiccupped. It was sort of cute, actually - especially if one knew what a brilliant mind was hidden behind the awkward personality traits.
“Yep, definitely,” she said between hiccups. “There’s something… hick… very odd here… hick… I’ve been working… hick… on board since this ship… hick… was built… hick… and we never… hick… had any problems like this… hick… We must find the reason… hick… and soon…
Reid nodded in agreement, and they continued to work in companionable silence, broken only by Hermiod’s muttering.
Part 07
by Soledad
Author's note: For disclaimer, rating, etc. see the secondary index page.
This chapter describes the events of the 2nd season episode “Intruder” from a different point of view… among other things.
I don’t know whether the Daedalus has an auxiliary control room or not. I simply assumed that the place where several unlucky technicians ran the fatal computer diagnostics was something like that and borrowed the name for the room from Star Trek.
Also, I’m not entirely sure in which season the Asgard locator chip implant has been introduced - but since this is an AU anyway, I decided to allow them to have it already.
PART 06
The day of the start had finally come, and Reid was standing nervously in the embarkation room of the SGC, waiting to be beamed aboard the Daedalus. He rubbed his upper arm where the locator chip implant - a marvellous result of Asgard technology - had been injected, making an emergency beam-out possible. He knew that the technically highly advanced aliens had used transporter technology without problems for several millennia; still, the thought of being broken down into his base atoms, then being transported in the form of pure energy at near-light speed to his destination where he’d be reassembled again, made him anxious.
Sometimes having an analytic mind that enabled him to understand how many ways things could go wrong was truly a curse. Unfortunately, Calvin shared this particular trait… even if he seemed to find travelling via transporter a lot less questionable than Reid did.
On the other hand, Calvin had travelled via Stargate quite a few times, too. He’d had years to get used to this kind of thing. Being deconstructed for the first time in one’s life was… intimidating. Quite frankly, it scared the shit out of him.
He looked with ill-concealed envy at young Dr. O’Neill, who’d gained the sloppy nickname Junior among SGC personnel, and who was just sauntering into the embarkation room leisurely. He had two carry-alls and a backpack, which presumably contained just about everything a young man of his age might need for a one-year-trip to a foreign galaxy - assuming said young man had the memories of a middle-aged Air Force officer and knew how to pack efficiently, without burdening him with unnecessary stuff.
He gave the clearly mortified Reid a tolerantly amused look and grinned at him encouragingly.
“No need to worry, doc. The Asgard transporter is absolutely safe… and I’m the person who can assure you about that. I’ve been beamed up and down more than all the others counted together.” He didn’t add in which body he had been when that happened. There was no need for that. “You won’t feel a thing, really.”
“I know that,” Reid answered, annoyed with his own ridiculous reaction. “Unfortunately, I also know what happens when one is transported. The image isn’t exactly… encouraging.”
O’Neill Jr’s grin grew in width. “One reason why my… uncle chose to remain in blissful ignorance,” he said.
“Don’t believe him,” Kavanagh said to Reid. “General O’Neill is an intelligent man. He might not be a scientist, but he’s got a fair general understanding of the tech he has to work with. And what’s even more important, he knows when to have the scientists alone to do their jobs… unlike other officers whom we won’t name here,” he added, shooting Lieutenant Colonel Sheppard, who had just arrived in the company of Dr. Weir, a displeased look.
“Which shows that we aren’t as similar as people might think,” O’Neill Jr replied brightly. “I couldn’t do that. I just need to stick my nose into things and figure out what makes them tick.”
“Oh, you are similar enough all right,” Reid said, grateful for the distraction. “You just got something very few people get: a second chance.”
“I’d rather call it the road not taken,” O’Neill Jr answered, “but basically, you’re right, of course. We’re very fortunate. Few people can say they could have their cake and eat it. He’s got his military career and I’ve got my scientific one - but we both get a piece from what the other one has chosen, too.”
The other newbies slowly filed in, showing various degrees of nervous anticipation. The Gate technician checked something with the transporter operator of the Daedalus, and one by one, people were enveloped in a pale golden beam of light and simply vanished. When his turn came, Reid tried very hard not to panic, but with very little success. His overactive mind simply supplied him with too many horrid images about possible transporter accidents. To be honest, he was close to bolting in the last moment.
But then Calvin, ignoring the baffled looks of their colleagues and the snickering of the Marines waiting for their turn, reached out and took Reid’s hand, the way he’d take the hand of his own sons when they were frightened. Reid was startled at first, especially in front of everyone, but then he accepted the help gratefully. He even stopped hyperventilating as he entwined his fingers with Calvin’s. The calm, firm hold his friend… colleague… lover had on him was really soothing.
Kavanagh looked at the Gate technician.
“We are ready,” he said simply, and in the next moment the transporter beam took them.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
They rematerialized on board the Daedalus, still holding hands, Reid still chalk white and slightly shaking. Kavanagh was demonstratively slow to untangle their fingers, ignoring the smirks around them, and looking into Reid’s still dilated eyes in concern.
“Are you feeling better?” he asked. “Don’t panic; you’ll get used to it, given enough time.”
“Let’s hope so,” Colonel Sheppard commented snidely. “It’s bad enough that Zelenka is afraid of Gate travel; having someone on my team who’s scared witless of beaming would slow us down considerably.”
“He’s not scared witless,” Kavanagh sneered. “On the contrary. He’s scared because - unlike most people here - he actually understands what happens during the process. We scientists usually don’t have the dubious advantage of being thick-headed.”
“As much as it pains me, I must agree with Kavanagh in this,” McKay said before Sheppard could have exploded into Kavanagh’s face. “Now, can we stop this infantile squabbling and move on? I’d like to have an orientation meeting for my geeks, and I’m sure Colonel Caldwell would prefer to leave orbit some time before the next millennium.”
The level of sarcasm in his voice revealed that his irritation had already reached third grade, and everyone who’d ever worked for the SGC, be it geek or jarhead, knew that a third-grade irritation on the McKay scale could easily lead to endless tirades, describing their idiocy in loving and opulent detail. Like every good scientist, Atlantis’ head geek was nothing if not thorough. Therefore the instinct of self-preservation quickly moved people out of his way, and the new expedition members were taken aboard and put away in their assigned quarters in record time.
Quarters were shared aboard the Daedalus, due to the number of people that needed to be transported to the Pegasus galaxy. Logically, Kavanagh and Reid were assigned to the same room, with O’Neill Jr and a friendly, dark-skinned technician named Lindstrom as their immediate neighbours.
“You realise, of course, that there’s gonna be talk,” Reid said, after they’d done some minor unpacking; just what they’d need for the rest of the day, and some toiletries.
Calvin shrugged. “Let them talk… or could that cause you problems with the FBI?”
Reid shook his head. “No; it’s just not anyone’s business.”
“They’d have found out sooner or later anymore,” Calvin replied with another shrug. “Atlantis is a small, closed community, full of busybodies… and there’s very little entertainment aside from gossip. They’ll get used to us. As long as we’re discreet, nobody will care - after the first couple of days.”
“What you just did wasn’t exactly discreet,” Reid pointed out.
Calvin nodded. “I know. I wouldn’t have done it; not so soon… not for quite a while yet, were you not panicking.”
“I’m sorry…”
“Don’t be. At least it’s out in the open now; and people will have eighteen days to get used to us being… well, whatever we are… before we get to Atlantis.”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As it turned out, they’d both been right. People did get used to see them together, especially as they remained very discreet fort he duration of the journey and didn’t flaunt their closeness into anybody’s face. And there was talk, of course. Two long-haired male geeks, sharing a room - and who knew what else - inspired the fantasy of the Marines to new lows. So it wasn’t surprising at all that by about two weeks after the Daedalus had broken Earth’s orbit, everyone on board knew that Dr. Kavanagh and “that geek chick from the FBI” were more than just friends.
“I wonder how they manage to do the dirty,” Stevens, one of the newly reassigned Marines, said in the mess hall, just loudly enough that Reid, who was studying something on his laptop while sipping his coffee at a nearby table, couldn’t help but overhear. “I mean, they’re all elbows and knees, both of them… it oughta be fucking uncomfortable…”
The others snickered, failing to notice Major Lorne, who’d just entered the mess hall and approached them with the promise of black thunder on his otherwise so open and friendly face. He didn’t like at all if assholes like Stevens spoke ill of people who had more intelligence under their fingernail than a dozen jarheads counted together. Still, he chose not to interfere just yet. He wanted to see how Reid would deal with the situation.
Reid looked up from his work, completely unfazed.
“You might have a problem imagining it, Private,” he reaffirmed himself of Stevens’ rank with a quick flicker of an eye, “but it isn’t always about sexual acrobatics. Some of us actually enjoy talking when spending time together. Of course,” he added dryly, "that would require the basic ability of coherent speech to begin with.”
Stevens had already half-risen from his seat, his face and short, thick neck red with anger… but dropped back again as Lorne’s hand gripped his forearm with steely strength.
“Stop it, Private,” Lorne ordered, his voice deadly calm.
This was his command voice, developed after having faced the Unas on P3X-403. A voice that could make the biggest, beefiest, most spectacularly drunk Marine shake in his boots with fair. Which, considering that Lorne was an Air Force officer, seen as a cocky flyboy by every self-respecting Marine, was no small feat.
“Let me tell you a thing I’ve learned about Atlantis, Private,” he continued, still in that low, terribly calm voice. “It’s very different from the SGC. Atlantis is Earth’s only outpost in the Pegasus galaxy; the only thing that stands between the Wraith and Earth. And, unlike at the SGC, on Atlantis everything depends on the geeks. Because they’re the ones who understand Ancient tech and can make it work, with or without the ATA gene. Can you follow me so far?”
Stevens nodded, with his mouth literally hanging open. Reid was secretly amazed how thoroughly Lorne was able to intimidate these tough, gung-ho Marines, even though he was a head shorter than every single one of them. Air Force officers didn’t need to be big and burly. They were supposed to become pilots, after all, and being of average stature was actually an advantage in tight little cockpits.
Lorne nodded, too, slowly, deliberately.
“Very well. Now, let us summarize the basic facts for the lot of you in a few easy sentences. Atlantis protects Earth. The geeks protect Atlantis. And we… we protect the geeks, by any means necessary. If it means to die to save them, we’ll do so. If it means to ride the whole city of everything even vaguely reminiscent of citrus, so that Dr. McKay wouldn’t accidentally eat something he’s deadly allergic to, we’ll do it, too. Are you still following me, men?”
“Sir, yes, sir!” the Marines chorused.
“Good,” Lorne said. “Furthermore, as long as they’re doing their jobs, their private life is not our concern. Whether they hold hands in the moonlight and recite bad poetry or fuck sheep on the mainland - or whatever counts as sheep in the Pegasus galaxy - we won’t interfere. We won’t bother them in any way, we won’t harass them, and we’ll never, under any circumstances bully them. Have I made myself clear?”
“Sir, yes, Major Lorne, sir!” the Marines replied crisply as one man.
Lorne glanced at his watch. “Pleased to hear that. Now, if I’m not mistaken you’re all scheduled for unarmed combat practice in ten minutes. Eat up and get out of here to spend your energies in a more… useful way. Preferably yesterday.”
The Marines obeyed in record time, and Reid looked up at Lorne in mild exasperation. “Was that truly necessary, Major?”
Lorne grinned, looking impossibly young all of a sudden. “Sure it was. Marines need to be yelled at by their commanding officers on a regular basis, to know that they’re cared for. It gives them the illusion of safety.”
“An illusion?” Reid repeated, arching an inquisitive eyebrow.
Lorne nodded, his face grim and bleak again. “There’s no true safety, doc, in either of our two galaxies. The sooner you realise that, the longer will you live."
In that moment, Reid’s headset came alive with the tense voice of Dr. McKay. “Reid? I need you in the auxiliary control room. There’s been an accident.”
“I’m coming with you,” Lorne offered, and Reid saw no reason to refuse. An accident didn’t sound promising. The Daedalus was a ship well beyond her shakedown cruise, there shouldn’t have been any nasty surprises.
Reid’s suspicious mind suggested sabotage. He just couldn’t think of anyone who’d benefit from such an act.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
When they reached their destination, they found Dr. Beckett, the chief medical officer of the expedition, bending over a man lying on the floor. Dr. Weir and Colonel Sheppard were already there, as was McKay, sitting at a nearby console and giving the diagnostic screen an unhappy frown. Colonel Caldwell arrived at the same time as Reid.
Reid recognised the dead man on the floor with a shock. It was Dr, Monroe, one of the newly-hired engineers - and a fairly young one at that.
“What happened?” he asked, his trained eye already searching for any possible evidence but found none. Not yet, anyway.
Dr, Beckett shrugged and waved in the waiting medical team with the gurney. “I cannae tell just yet… but he’s dead, for sure. Poor lad, hasn’t even made into the Pegasus galaxy. A real shame, it is.”
The medics zipped the poor man into a body bag, and Dr. Beckett helped them to lift it onto the gurney. “All right, lads, take him to the morgue. I’ll be with you shortly.”
Colonel Caldwell stepped aside to make room for the medics, his big, bald forehead creased into a frown.
“How did he die?” he asked.
Dr. Beckett shrugged, every bit as unhappy with the fact as the Colonel was. “I’m not a hundred per cent certain, but there were burn marks on his fingertips.”
Sheppard shrugged, too, already dismissing the whole problem. “Well, obviously, there was a shortcut. Door’s open, circuits are charred… sad, but it happens.”
Colonel Caldwell, however, didn’t seem quite that convinced. “Is there enough juice in those circuits to kill anyone?”
“No,” Reid answered promptly, although Caldwell had probably aimed the question at McKay. “Not according to the official blueprints of the Daedalus, that is. The most harm a shortcut should be able to cause would be a slight stinging in the fingertips; yet apparently, here happened something a lot more serious.”
“Apparently,” Caldwell agreed dryly, then he looked at Beckett. “Well, doctor…?”
Beckett sighed. “I’ll know more once I’ve had the chance to examine the body more thoroughly.”
“I’d like to see any evidence you may find,” Reid said.
“You’ll get it,” Beckett replied tiredly and left.
Dr. Weir looked at McKay who was working furiously at the nearby console. “Rodney, do you know what Dr. Monroe was working on?”
“It was computer diagnostics, strictly routine,” McKay replied with a frown. “It shouldn’t have caused any problems. Reid, do we have security camera footage?”
Reid walked around the console and called up the footage on another monitor. The others gathered around to watch it. They could see Dr. Monroe sitting at the same console, then getting up to work on another part. He reached over to touch a panel… then the footage went static.
“What happened there?” Dr. Weir asked.
Reid shrugged, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t know… but I don’t like it.”
“It could be a camera malfunction, of course…” McKay began.
“Right before the man was killed?” Sheppard asked. “Interesting coincidence.”
“Certainly not a coincidence,” Reid corrected. “Especially considering the fact that there isn’t enough power running through these circuits to kill someone.”
“At least not normally,” McKay added, thinking furiously. One could almost see the little cogwheels whirling in his head. “However…”
Dr. Weir looked at them, a little confused. “What are you thinking?”
“It is possible that there was some sort of isolated power surge in this section,” McKay began.
“… which would explain the lost camera,” Reid added, getting the direction of the other man’s thinking.
“… and the malfunctioning door,” McKay continued.
“So, when the door didn’t respond, Dr. Monroe took out the panel to bypass the circuits,” Reid suggested.
“… and received a fatal jolt,” McKay finished.
Dr. Weir and Sheppard exchanged blank looks.
“It’s almost as bad as with Zelenka,” Sheppard commented.
“Ha, bloody ha!” McKay snapped at him. You shouldn’t be so envious, just because I've finally found someone who’s almost up to understanding me. In fact, you should be grateful to have two genius-level scientists on board instead of one. With Reid’s help, I’ll only need half the time to run a full diagnostic on the power distribution system.”
“I thought we’d have to drop out of hyperspace to dot hat,” Colonel Caldwell said with a frown. He was a man who seemed to frown quite frequently. His entire facial structure was adjusted to it.
“Which is exactly what I was just about to suggest,” McKay replied.
Caldwell shook his head. “No, Doctor. If we drop out, we risk being detected.”
“True, true,” McKay admitted impatiently. “I still think we should…”
“No,” Caldwell interrupted. “We’ll be back in Atlantis in less than two days. You can do you diagnostic then.”
Dr. Weir gave the colonel an unhappy look. “Colonel, are you sure that’s right?”
“With all due respect, Doctor,” Caldwell replied through gritted teeth but with impressive self-discipline, “you got back to Earth through the Stargate. This is my third trip on the Daedalus between galaxies; I know my ship well enough. Certainly better than you do.”
“I understand that, but this ship is relatively new,” Dr. Weir argued. “There might be some problems…” she looked at McKay, as if expecting him to provide her with the necessary data, but the head scientist just shrugged and kept staring at his screen unhappily.
“Theoretically, there shouldn’t,” he said. “There weren’t any problems during the previous two trips; not even during battle.”
“That doesn’t mean there couldn’t be any hidden problems,” Dr. Weir insisted. “Perhaps…”
“Doctor,” Caldwell interrupted with forced patience. “A word, please?”
He gestured her to step outside the room. She followed him outside. Barely on the corridor, they obviously started arguing again, although the others in the auxiliary control room couldn’t hear a word of it.
“It seems that Colonel Caldwell is still unhappy about not getting my job,” Sheppard commented dryly.
“He might not be the only one,” Lorne warned him. “If I were you, sir, I’d be very careful.”
“I’m always careful,” Sheppard replied, which made McKay roll his eyes in exasperation.
“Yeah, and snowballs have a real chance in hell, Major. Now if you and your fearless second-in-command here don’t mind, Reid and I have work to do. A lot of work. Preferably undisturbed. So, could the two of you just, you know, go somewhere else and do… whatever manly things you do when you actually don’t have anything to do?”
For a moment, both officers went glassy-eyed, trying to figure out whether they’d been truly insulted or McKay had just been… well, McKay. Then Sheppard wisely grabbed Lorne by the elbow and dragged him out of the room. In this mood, McKay was better avoided.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
McKay glared at their backs until they were safely out of the door.
“Good,” he finally said. “I thought they’d never leave. Sometimes Sheppard is bloody hard to get rid of. Now we can finally do some serious checking.”
“What do you want me to do?” Reid asked, knowing that McKay was more than capable of doing a full system check by himself.
“Not for running some routine computer diagnostics, obviously,” McKay replied as if he’d read Reid’s mind. “I could do that alone… in my sleep, actually. But you’re a trained FBI agent, used to find suspicious things. It’s that mindset what I need right now.”
“I can give it a try,” Reid said, slightly doubtfully. “How do you wanna do this?”
“Help me check the power distribution log against the time code on the security camera,” McKay suggested. “That way we’ll see if there’s any connection at all.”
“Sounds plausible,” Reid agreed and took the other seat.”
They worked in silence for a couple of moments. Then Reid discovered something on his control screen.
“Look at this,” he said. “There was an unexpected energy spike.”
McKay glanced up from his own screen. “What time?” he asked.
“Fifteen-thirty-five and forty seconds,” Reid tuned his screen, so that McKay could see it as well. McKay frowned.
“Well, that’s… bad,” he said.
Now it was Reid’s turn to frown. “Why?”
“Because if the power distribution logs are recording correctly, this energy spike happened thirty seconds after the camera went off,” McKay replied grimly.
“Which means, the malfunctions in the door and the camera were not caused by the same problem,” Reid said slowly. “The colonel was right… that would be too much of a coincidence.”
McKay stared at him in confusion. “When did Caldwell say that?”
“Not Colonel Caldwell,” Reid answered patiently. “Colonel Sheppard.”
McKay blinked several times. “Uh, right. Oh, that’s gonna take some getting used to.”
“So, do you think Dr. Monroe’s death might not have been an accident, after all?” Reid asked, trying to steer him back to the actual topic. “Might it have been sabotage?”
“I don’t know,” McKay said. “But there’s something else. It looks like Monroe was in the process of enabling the Wildfire Protocol.”
“The what?” Reid checked his memory but found nothing useful under that name. In fact, he was sure he’d never heard it before.
“Computer security protocols designed to isolate and shut down corrupted programmes,” McKay explained. “They’re Zelenka’s design, and usually work like a charm.”
Reid’s mind raced. “What programmes are we talking about?”
“I don’t know!” McKay was almost in tears with frustration. “That’s just it - Monroe was killed before he could finish.”
“Does this mean there’s something wrong with the ship and someone’s killed Dr. Monroe to cover it?” Reid asked. “You realise, of course, that it sounds like really bad sci-fi, don’t you?”
McKay shrugged. “I know. But there’s definitely more going on than just random malfunctions.”
“In that case, you’ll have to talk to Colonel Caldwell,” Reid said. “If we’ve been attacked by a Trojan, all systems might be infected already. We’ll have to drop out of hyperspace and run that full system check.”
“And won’t the colonel just love that?” McKay muttered unhappily. But he did go to speak to Caldwell nonetheless.
Left alone in the auxiliary control room, Reid suddenly had the same eerie feeling he’d usually got in the past when he’d known the unsub was watching the team on a crime scene. Considering that the small room was utterly empty and there were no shadowy corners where as much as a mouse could have been hiding, it was a ridiculous thing - and yet it made his skin crawl.
He didn’t ignore the feeling. Gideon had taught him to listen to his instincts because they could save his life one day, and those instincts were now screaming at him to get out of here as soon as possible.
In a sudden rush of panic, he jumped to his feet and stormed, before the malfunctioning door would trap him inside.
Once in the corridor, he risked a glance back. The room was every bit as empty and dead as it had been only moments ago. And yet he couldn’t shake off the feeling of being watched.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He activated his headset to check on Calvin and found him in Engineering, working with Dr. Nowak and Hermiod. He decided to join them down there. The fragile, puppet-like alien had fascinated him from the first moment on, and Hermiod didn’t seem to mind his presence - as long as he was quiet and left him alone. The Asgard preferred to work in a state of tranquillity very few humans could hope to achieve… least of all Dr. McKay, whose elements were, without any doubt, hectic and chaos.
“Oh, Reid, good,” he said absently. “Come in and help us with this thing here.”
Already used to McKay’s very specific vernacular, Reid made an educated guess of what was expected of him and joined Calvin, who was already running some diagnostics. Hermiod, on the other hand, still seemed to be equally annoyed and confused by the peculiar McKayisms.
“If I may be so bold, what exactly are we looking for?” he asked dryly. It was a dryness that could have put the High Gobi Desert to shame; especially if one added the sight of Hermiod’s huge eyes closing for a moment in utter frustration.
“Any indication that somebody’s been tampering with the ship’s computers,” McKay replied absently, his overactive mind already occupied with four or five potential scenarios.
Hermiod sighed and muttered to himself in Asgard. They couldn’t understand the words, of course, but the very cadence clearly revealed his opinion of McKay.
“My thoughts exactly,” Kavanagh agreed, which caused McKay to turn around and glare daggers at him.
“What was that?” he demanded.
“Nothing,” Hermiod said with a finality in his scratchy voice that told everyone that he wouldn’t disclose the meaning of his words.
“He just called you an asshole, I think,” Kavanagh said with a smirk. McKay rolled his eyes and ignored him.
“Look,” he said to Hermiod,” Just check the major systems: propulsion, navigation, life support. Look for anything out of ordinary. Reid will do the same; he has an eye for that sort of thing.”
“And what exactly do you hope to find?” Hermiod inquired in the manner of a long-suffering college professor.
“I’m not sure,” McKay admitted, “but once we’ve checked out the power distribution system, maybe we can figure out what caused that power spike.”
“Or so you hope,” Kavanagh commented wryly.
“Yes, I do!” McKay glared daggers at him again. “In the interest of us all - or else we’re gonna have an even bigger problem.”
“Too big for someone who’s supposedly the smartest man in two galaxies?” Kavanagh sneered.
Reid rolled his eyes. “Calvin. Stop baiting him. Right now, we have more important things to do.”
Neither Kavanagh, nor McKay showed much willingness to stop their private little bitch-fest; fortunately, Colonel Sheppard walked in at that very moment.
“How’s it going, guys?” he asked with a clear undertone of impatience in his voice.
“It is going to take a while,” Hermiod replied tersely. That earned him a suspicious look from Sheppard - until McKay walked over and elbowed the newly promoted colonel in the ribs.
“Don’t stare!” he hissed. “He hates it when people stare.”
Sheppard gave their head geek a queer look. “Am I the only one who thinks it’s strange we’re working with an alien?” he asked.
“Yes,” Reid and Kavanagh replied in unison.
“Intergalactic hyperdrive technology is kind of new to us,” McKay added. “So we need his help.”
Sheppard glanced at Hermiod again. “But why does he have to be naked in order to help us?” he whispered to McKay.
Unfortunately for him, Kavanagh had good ears.
“Would it still bother you if he were a beautiful, nubile alien princess, Sheppard?” he asked. “Or are you only queasy because he’s a male alien?”
“Shut up, Kavanagh!” Sheppard scowled.
McKay rolled his eyes, then decided to do some damage control. He looked across to a technician who was working nearby. “Lindstrom, Kavanagh, you with me. Reid, try to keep Hermiod and the colonel from each other’s throats.”
“I’ll try my best,” Reid promised, taking over Kavanagh’s place and giving Dr. Novak a nervous smile. She smiled back… and hiccupped, revealing her inner tension.
With another eyeroll, McKay left, taking Kavanagh and the technician who happened to be their cabin neighbour with him. Sheppard looked round at Hermiod again, who scowled back at him.
“Colonel, if you don’t mind we’ve got a lot of work to do here,” Reid said, because Dr. Novak would never dare, and they really needed to hurry up. Sheppard raised both hands in defeat.
“I’m going, I’m going…” and then he left indeed.
Hermiod was muttering to himself in Asgard again. Reid found it oddly charming, although he could see that the little alien was truly annoyed.
“Well, then,” he said to Dr. Novak. “Shall we?”
Dr. Novak nodded and hiccupped. It was sort of cute, actually - especially if one knew what a brilliant mind was hidden behind the awkward personality traits.
“Yep, definitely,” she said between hiccups. “There’s something… hick… very odd here… hick… I’ve been working… hick… on board since this ship… hick… was built… hick… and we never… hick… had any problems like this… hick… We must find the reason… hick… and soon…
Reid nodded in agreement, and they continued to work in companionable silence, broken only by Hermiod’s muttering.
Part 07