Fic: Chase the Morning {28/37}
Chapter Three: Weapon
Date: October 13, 7 A.I. [2007]
Location: Old City Sanctuary, Old City, B.C., Canada
Nikola stretched, bringing his arms over his head and extending them as far up as he could. He had just come out of a two hour meeting with the Tau’ri Alliance, which was what the newly formed association of the SGC, Atlantis, and the Sanctuary Network was called, and felt exhausted. The new allies were carefully testing out the waters that they now shared, cautiously revealing the progress they had made, and the projects they were working on. The SGC and Atlantis had already been working on a joint project they’d codenamed Phoenix, and were being reticent about sharing information. So far, all that Nikola had learned was that it had been in progress for at least six years, and was actually being worked on off-world. The Lantean portion of the project was being led by McKay’s second-in-command, Doctor Radek Zelenka, and his Tok’ra wife, Doctor Jess Connor.
Apparently, the Lantean scientists were helping in making great strides with the project, as they assisted in integrating more and more Ancient technology into whatever the end result of Phoenix was. Nikola had the feeling that the Sanctuary Network would find out soon, or at least, that’s what he hoped. At least they were being told something about Phoenix; the others could’ve simply kept it from the Sanctuary Network altogether, but they didn’t, which made Nikola feel somewhat good about the progress they were making in trusting one another.
Another good thing that had come out of the alliance was the fact that there had been a few more unexpected reunions; Sam’s father, for one, had been given refuge at the Mexico City Sanctuary a few months prior to the Alliance forming, and he and his Tok’ra symbiote, Selmak, were now safely at the SGC, and a few others had been reunited with their loved ones as well. The last Nikola had heard from Peter, Sasha had been picked up from Denver and was now living happily in Atlantis. The news that Peter was married had been a great surprise to his fellow Lanteans, as was the effect that Sasha had on him. Now that Peter wasn’t constantly picking up an almost unbroken stream of emotions from the people surrounding him, he was much more like the warm and personable man Nikola remembered from the few meetings he’d had with him before the Wraith attacked Earth.
Nikola sighed and made his way towards his room, wanting nothing more to lie down and clear his head of the business of the day. He made it to his room without incident, half-expecting the Big Guy or one of the other Sanctuary personnel to meet him on the way there with something that would take up the rest of his evening. Nikola preferred to set a little time apart each evening for relaxation, because even though he technically didn’t need to sleep, what with being half-vampire and all, it still drained away the stress and fatigue poisons that threatened to overwhelm him if he went too long without at the very least laying down on a bed in a darkened room. After shutting and locking the door behind him- the others knew to at least knock if they needed him, Nikola lay down on the bed fully clothed, not even bothering to take his shoes off before idly shutting off the lone bedside lamp with a brush of his fingers. Moonlight spilled into the room through the half-open curtains, and Nikola lazily watched the shadows play as clouds moved across the full moon outside.
Eventually, Nikola fell into a light doze, the closest he ever got to true sleep these days, and let his weariness flow away from him, his body slowly regaining its energy. Four hours later, Nikola was roused from his nap, his body tensing as he bolted upright and instinctually shifting to what Will and Henry had jokingly called “Vampire Mode”.
‘Doctor Tesla?’
Nikola relaxed, forcing the adrenaline to fade as he let his features change back to their normal physiology. It was Anya Faulkner, one of the non-Abnormal employees of the Old City Sanctuary. Anya had been a veterinarian back before the Wraith came, and she now used those skills to help take care of the more animalistic Abnormals who resided at the Sanctuary.
‘Yes, Anya?’ Nikola replied after clearing his throat. ‘I was resting.’
‘I know, and I’m sorry, but you’re needed downstairs.’ Anya said, sounding apologetic. ‘Tucker ‘n’ Tyler said they need to talk to you.’
Tucker ‘n’ Tyler was the (literally) two-faced man that had been there for as long as Nikola could remember; they’d been hiding out in the Sanctuary with the Big Guy when Will, Henry, and Nikola had arrived almost four months ago. God, had it really been that short of a time? Things were moving so fast now, ever since Will and Henry had come across Peter in that orchard. Nikola shook his head, not bothering to turn the light on as he crossed the room and unlocked the door; the moonlight coming in through the window was more than enough to see by.
Anya stood outside, not at all surprised to see that the lights hadn’t been turned on. Nikola was well known for his odd habits, and the Sanctuary staff had had plenty of time to get used to them. Nikola idly straightened out his mildly mussed clothes as he followed Anya downstairs, wondering what Tucker ‘n’ Tyler needed to talk to him about. He was relatively sure it was something important; the two-faced man knew not to bother him when he was resting unless absolutely necessary, so this should be good. The last that Nikola knew, Tucker ‘n’ Tyler had been working on a weapon that could be what they needed to at least have better success in close range fights with the Wraith. The gun was an updated model of the sonic stunner that was supposed to do serious harm only to the Wraith, and Nikola was interested to see what they’d come up with. Whatever it was, it probably was worth it. Besides, Nikola felt fine. It wasn’t as if he was going to collapse or anything simply because he didn’t get the full six hours of rest he usually tried to achieve.
‘Did they say why they needed me?’ Nikola asked Anya as they descended the staircase and made it to the main floor.
‘No, they didn’t, but they said it was important.’ Anya shrugged. ‘They were arguing about power supplies when I left.’
Nikola rolled his eyes. Tucker ‘n’ Tyler was probably the only man who could get into an argument with himself and actually come out in a stalemate. The last time the two faces hadn’t agreed with one another, Tucker (the more normal looking one) had worn a parka for a week, muffling Tyler’s protests quite neatly while he continued working. That had been two months ago, and Nikola figured that they were probably due for another big blow-up at one another.
‘Fantastic.’ Nikola said dryly. ‘Just what we need. They won’t talk to one another for a week, again, and we won’t get any productive work done.’
‘Maybe, maybe not. Anyways, it sounds like they’ve stopped.’ Anya said as they neared the main science lab.
‘And yet, that scares me more than the arguing. Let’s go assess the damage, shall we?’
Anya nodded, and the two entered the lab, Nikola wary for any projectiles that might come their way, just in case. Nothing happened, though, so they moved on, getting as close as they could to Tucker ‘n’ Tyler without spooking them.
‘I hear you wanted to talk to me?’ Nikola asked, getting the man’s attention. Tucker focused on him, giving him a bright smile.
‘Yes, we did.’ He said, nodding briefly. ‘Tyler and I think we’ve finally cracked the problem of how to get the power source to be the size we need.’
‘Yeah, we did.’ Tyler chimed in, sounding happy. Tucker obligingly turned around so that Tyler could see Nikola, who saw a rare sight indeed: Tyler smiling brightly. Usually Tyler had a very grumpy expression on his face, which Nikola suspected was a sort of default defense mechanism, so the smile was rather off-putting.
‘That’s fantastic. Can I see?’
‘Sure, boss.’ Tyler said as Tucker turned back around and pointed out the gun and the new power pack to Nikola, who examined it closely. They’d done a good job; this power cell was much more compact than the old one, and from what Nikola could tell, it was about twenty percent more efficient at energy storage and dispersal, which was a vast improvement on its previous incarnation. Then again, if he just tweaked it like that...
The two men continued working, occasionally bouncing ideas off one another as they tested the weapon out on dummies and one time, on Nikola. He’d been a willing test subject, and he’d had sufficient protection, but as always, it felt like he’d stuck his head inside a huge metal bell and someone had rung it while he was still inside. Nikola tried to shake off the ringing in his ears as Tucker fiddled with the gun, taking a seat on a nearby chair.
‘You ready to try again?’ Tucker asked, his voice curiously muffled.
‘What?’ Nikola inquired, and saw by Tucker’s wince that his voice was probably a wee bit too loud. ‘Hang on; give me a second.’
He waited for his hearing to return to normal and then waved a hand at Tucker. ‘Sorry about that,’ he said, now that it didn’t feel as if his ears were stuffed with cotton balls. ‘What did you say?’
‘I asked if you were ready to try it again.’
‘Why don’t we try it on you?’
Nikola grinned at the sight of Tucker’s grimace and threw him the padded helmet. He was so going to enjoy this.