Supporting Character, Week 1: Just Another Day at the Office
Title: Just Another Day at the Office
Author: wildcat88
Prompt: illegal, supporting character appreciation
Word Count: 2500
Rating: PG
Warning/Spoilers: One small S4 casting spoiler
Summary: Lorne and Zelenka hide in an unusual room as they await rescue from the Wraith.
Just Another Day at the Office
"Come on, Doc. We've got to move."
Lorne gripped his P-90 with one hand and the back of Zelenka's vest with the other, half-pulling and half-dragging the man as they raced to the gate.
"I am moving," Radek panted. "This is top speed."
Moonlight filtered through a break in the clouds, illumining the hard-packed dirt path that led from the stargate to the Ancient ruins they'd been investigating. The shriek of a Wraith dart overhead intensified, and Evan veered sharply left, knocking Radek into the shoulder-high sea of prairie grass and diving in after him. Culling beams flashed around them, one skimming the muzzle of his gun as they scuttled further into the cover.
"Rodriguez, can you get to the gate?"
"Not leaving you behind, Sir."
"Of course, you aren't, Captain. You're going to get the cavalry. When you get to Atlantis, dial back to prevent any more darts from coming through. Bring a couple of jumpers with you when you return. The doc and I will be waiting for you in the ruins."
"Sir, it only takes one of us-"
"No arguments. Go, all of you, and that's an order."
"Yes, Sir."
Rodriguez didn't sound happy, but a minute later the area was lit in stargate blue. The dart banked immediately but not in time. Lorne grinned in satisfaction as the life signs detector showed three dots vanish into the large energy vortex.
Crouching, he hovered over Zelenka, P-90 at ready. "How are you doing there, Doc?"
Radek groaned and rolled onto his back. "I have been better."
"Perhaps you should consider a little more time on the treadmill."
"Perhaps you could refrain from signaling Wraith next time you force me to come off-world."
"Hey, I just asked for a scientist. Not my fault McKay was on New Athos for Teyla's birthday. And I didn't intentionally signal the Wraith."
Slowly sitting up, Zelenka straightened his glasses then brushed the dirt and grass from his hair. "No, you touched Ancient device that sent signal."
"How was I supposed to know the Wraith reprogrammed it?"
"I said 'do not touch'."
"You shouted at me in Czech. The only Czech I understand is references to questionable parentage and reproductive practices."
"Oh." Zelenka's shoulders slumped, and he rubbed his forehead and pushed his glasses up again. "I am I- I don't ." He sighed heavily. "I prefer my lab."
"I bet you do." Lorne kept his head low as the dart made another pass. "Don't worry, Doc. We'll be out of here in no time." He searched the night sky, able to hear the whine of the dart's engines but unable to spot it against the cloud cover. "Let's head back to the ruins."
They wound through the meadow, paralleling the path and pausing when the dart neared. The terrain sloped as they neared the crumbling buildings, the grass giving way to rock and silt. Sprinting once they were in the open, they dodged another culling beam and fell through the door of the only building still standing. The lights flickered on as they skidded to a stop.
"Can you seal the door? I don't want any uninvited guests dropping in."
"I am working on doing so." Zelenka flinched as dart weaponsfire hit nearby but clipped the last laptop connector to the crystal array and typed a few quick commands. The door controls glowed briefly. "There. Is done."
"Hopefully that will hold them until back-up gets here but check the database anyway. See if this place has any kind of defensive capabilities."
Lorne studied the cavernous room. It was eerily empty other than the bank of consoles in the alcove near the door where Radek was working. The walls were covered in thousands of tiny sensors, but he couldn't find the source of the room's light, the ceiling disappearing in darkness.
"Hmmm, that's odd," Zelenka mumbled. "Why would-"
A blinding flash filled the room, and Evan suddenly found himself on the bridge of an Aurora-class battleship. An explosion nearby tossed him sideways, and flames leapt from the navigation controls.
"Shit! Radek! Where are you?"
"Here!" a voice called from behind him.
Whirling, Lorne found nothing but more unmanned stations. "Where?"
"Right here. I have not moved."
"Well, I have! I'm on the bridge of a ship that the Wraith are pounding the hell out of." He ducked instinctively as the viewscreen showed a hive ship coming straight at him in a frightening game of chicken only to swerve at the last minute, shooting multiple blasts as it flew over. "What did you do?"
"Oh, wow," Radek breathed.
Evan spun around again and gaped as Zelenka's head floated over the environmental controls.
"I will never let Rodney live this down," he murmured. "I have found holodeck." He blinked at Lorne then looked down. "Oh! Computer, end program." He sighed after a beat. "Always works on Star Trek." Then his head vanished.
"Doc!" Had to be a nightmare. He just thought he'd taken a routine trip off-world today. His vision whited out again, and he was back in the original room, Zelenka standing exactly where he'd left him and grinning like a fool. "What the hell just happened?"
"It is a simulator, a training tool, I believe. You did not leave room."
"I was standing-"
"Right here. You simply thought you were somewhere else."
"I could feel the ship rock, smell the burnt wiring."
Radek's silly grin broadened. "Very impressive."
The room shook, scattering ten thousand years worth of accumulated dust.
"Another simulation?" Evan hoped.
Zelenka glanced at his laptop. "No."
Blue energy skittered across the door, the metal bulging inward. Grabbing Radek's arm, Lorne jerked him to the floor and covered him as current arced in every direction and danced over the consoles. Lights strobed, and the room rippled, giving piecemeal glimpses of ship interiors, Ancient cities, a beach, a snow-capped mountain, numerous battlefields sometimes several scenes at once.
"Uh oh," Zelenka muttered.
"You know, there are three things that scare me: gerbils, Teyla when she's really pissed, and a scientist saying 'uh oh'. What's wrong?"
Radek angled the laptop in his direction. Jumbled text in at least eight different languages zigzagged across the screen underneath an error message which read:
This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, please contact the program vendor.
The room plunged into darkness then sprang back to life.
"Are you kidding me?" Lorne shouted as sparks shot from the main console and raced down the connectors.
Zelenka cried out as the computer sizzled in his hands. Evan swung his P-90 like a baseball bat, and the laptop flew across the room, smashing against a wall. The projected landscapes spun crazily, and they found themselves huddled behind a pillar in a hallway similar to those in Atlantis. People screamed as they staggered and dropped when Wraith stun blasts enveloped them.
A woman crumpled next to them, and Lorne automatically reached for her, surprised when he encountered solid flesh. He dragged her behind the pillar as a drone rounded the corner. It stopped to feed on the man slumped against the opposite wall then moved on to the next one. When it finally left, he heard Radek gagging behind him. Pressing his fingers to the woman's carotid, he was relieved and a bit unnerved to feel a steady pulse pounding there.
"You OK, Doc?" he whispered.
"I have never seen . Is that what it's really like?"
"Yeah. At least he was unconscious. It's worse when they scream." Evan pulled his LSD from a pocket. Two dots. "It's so real. Will the Wraith be fooled by this?"
"Perhaps. I can see it so we know it isn't limited to the ATA gene." Zelenka's voice was laced with pain.
"Let me see your hands."
Radek didn't bother to hide the shaking. His palms were a fiery red, and blisters were already forming. Pulling gauze from his vest, Lorne wrapped the sterile dressings carefully over the burns, tying them off at the wrist.
"Keller will fix you up when we get back. Probably won't even scar." Footsteps approached, and Evan checked the LSD again. Still only two dots. "What will happen if one of those Wraith touch us?"
"I don't know. Probably nothing, but I cannot guarantee it. This is a training simulator. It may allow for the experience."
"That is not what I wanted to hear."
He ducked as two male warriors strode down the hallway toward them. The woman stirred next to him and blinked slowly. He clamped a hand over her mouth and brought his index finger to his lips. Her eyes widened, but she didn't move or speak. After the area cleared, he sat back.
"I'm Evan. Can you understand me?"
She nodded, scooting outside his reach. Her eyes flitted over his uniform, and she slowly backed away then ran across the hall and disappeared into a room.
"Well, that was weird."
"She isn't real, Major."
"I know. That's why it was weird."
"How much longer until the jumpers get here?" Zelenka asked.
He glanced at his watch with a frown. "Should have already been here by now." He clicked his radio. "This is Lorne. Anybody read?"
Static greeted him.
"It is possible the holograms are interfering with outside communication," Radek offered.
"Oh, that's perfect. So I have no idea who's going to come through those doors when they open."
"Well, there is one-"
The hallway upended, and vertigo washed over Evan as he fell through space to land with a thud in the middle of a desert. He staggered to his feet only to drop again as the world tilted to deposit him in a primitive village.
"So sorry!" Zelenka babbled as he backed hurriedly from a tent, blushing.
"Radek?"
"Major, the Ancients had a very strange sense of humor."
"You're telling me. Damn, it's hot. I guess they wanted to prepare for every situation."
It felt like Florida in August, sticky and gross. A full moon shone, and the fire that lit the center of the village added to the shadows that danced around them.
"That is understatement," Zelenka mumbled, red to the tips of his ears.
"What was in that tent?"
"Never mind."
Lorne trailed a hand over the fabric heavy and nubby. The village was quiet, no one stirring, the stench of livestock and dung hanging heavy in the air. "Do you think this turned into the VE of the stasis pods or vice versa?"
Kneeling at the fire, Radek poked at it with a stick. "I believe the pods came first. I do not think we are sitting immobile in that room. Somehow this science allows us to actually interact with the virtual environment instead of just experiencing it in our minds."
The groan of unseen metal jerked them back to reality. The LSD revealed two additional dots close by.
"Hide!"
They dove through the opening of a tent and came face to face with a sleepy little boy. Staring at them, his bottom lip began to tremble.
"Oh, no, no, no. Hey, little guy," Lorne soothed. "You're dreaming. Go back to sleep." The boy closed his eyes as Evan tucked a blanket around his shoulders. "Good man." He moved next to Radek at the entrance. "I just convinced a hologram to go to sleep so the life sucking aliens wouldn't find us. I love my job."
Then the world shifted again, and he was lying face down in the surf of the most perfect beach he'd ever seen. Blinding white sand stretched for miles in each direction, and the ocean shimmered from aquamarine to indigo. Palm trees waved in the floral and brine scented breeze while a hut nearby offered shade. The only things out of place were the two Wraith standing in the middle of it.
Lorne flipped onto his back and rolled to his feet in a smooth motion. "Doc?"
"Over here." A hand waved from behind a palm tree.
"Sit tight." He brought his P-90 up and aimed. Several dozen bullets later, the Wraith lay splayed in the sand, their black blood in disgusting contrast to the pristine beach. He checked the LSD again and grimaced as three new dots took up defensive positions outside the building and two others approached. He shoved the device in his pocket and braced his weapon against his shoulder.
"Do not shoot, Major. My scanner is picking up the sub-cu transmitters of your team plus Rodney and Col. Sheppard."
"Really? You're sure?" At Zelenka's nod, he glanced around the area with a grin. "Get over here."
As Radek made his way to the hut, Lorne dragged the Wraith bodies a short distance away and kicked sand over the blood splatter. He found cups and a bottle of a clear brown liquid in the hut.
"Have a seat, Doc." He poured them both a drink, one hand straying to his gun until the strident tones of Rodney McKay reached his ears. He sat quickly and raised his glass. "Cheers."
"What the hell- Radek, what are you doing?"
Holding a straight face, Zelenka sipped his drink, glancing over the rim at McKay. "Enjoying the beach. What are you doing?"
"There was a dart and Wraith and . Where are we?" Rodney asked.
"Holodeck."
"You did not- This is so unfair. I get captured by Wraith and thrown into cocoons or a holding cell. You get a beach on a holodeck?"
As the two scientists sniped at each other, Lorne grinned at his CO. "Good to see you, Sir. How was the birthday party?"
"Very nice. Gotta remember to go easy on that Ruus wine though. Hell of a kick. Interesting mission?"
"Oh, you know, Sir. Just another day at the office."
"Ah. Well, as long as there wasn't any trouble. Ready to go home?"
Evan finished his drink and stood, wondering if Keller would find anything in his system. "Yes, Sir."
"How do we get out of here?"
Radek's head poked through the hut's back wall. "This way, Colonel."
Blinking as Zelenka disappeared, Sheppard arched a brow at Lorne. "That was different."
Laughing, Evan followed him through the wall. He really did love his job.
Author: wildcat88
Prompt: illegal, supporting character appreciation
Word Count: 2500
Rating: PG
Warning/Spoilers: One small S4 casting spoiler
Summary: Lorne and Zelenka hide in an unusual room as they await rescue from the Wraith.
Just Another Day at the Office
"Come on, Doc. We've got to move."
Lorne gripped his P-90 with one hand and the back of Zelenka's vest with the other, half-pulling and half-dragging the man as they raced to the gate.
"I am moving," Radek panted. "This is top speed."
Moonlight filtered through a break in the clouds, illumining the hard-packed dirt path that led from the stargate to the Ancient ruins they'd been investigating. The shriek of a Wraith dart overhead intensified, and Evan veered sharply left, knocking Radek into the shoulder-high sea of prairie grass and diving in after him. Culling beams flashed around them, one skimming the muzzle of his gun as they scuttled further into the cover.
"Rodriguez, can you get to the gate?"
"Not leaving you behind, Sir."
"Of course, you aren't, Captain. You're going to get the cavalry. When you get to Atlantis, dial back to prevent any more darts from coming through. Bring a couple of jumpers with you when you return. The doc and I will be waiting for you in the ruins."
"Sir, it only takes one of us-"
"No arguments. Go, all of you, and that's an order."
"Yes, Sir."
Rodriguez didn't sound happy, but a minute later the area was lit in stargate blue. The dart banked immediately but not in time. Lorne grinned in satisfaction as the life signs detector showed three dots vanish into the large energy vortex.
Crouching, he hovered over Zelenka, P-90 at ready. "How are you doing there, Doc?"
Radek groaned and rolled onto his back. "I have been better."
"Perhaps you should consider a little more time on the treadmill."
"Perhaps you could refrain from signaling Wraith next time you force me to come off-world."
"Hey, I just asked for a scientist. Not my fault McKay was on New Athos for Teyla's birthday. And I didn't intentionally signal the Wraith."
Slowly sitting up, Zelenka straightened his glasses then brushed the dirt and grass from his hair. "No, you touched Ancient device that sent signal."
"How was I supposed to know the Wraith reprogrammed it?"
"I said 'do not touch'."
"You shouted at me in Czech. The only Czech I understand is references to questionable parentage and reproductive practices."
"Oh." Zelenka's shoulders slumped, and he rubbed his forehead and pushed his glasses up again. "I am I- I don't ." He sighed heavily. "I prefer my lab."
"I bet you do." Lorne kept his head low as the dart made another pass. "Don't worry, Doc. We'll be out of here in no time." He searched the night sky, able to hear the whine of the dart's engines but unable to spot it against the cloud cover. "Let's head back to the ruins."
They wound through the meadow, paralleling the path and pausing when the dart neared. The terrain sloped as they neared the crumbling buildings, the grass giving way to rock and silt. Sprinting once they were in the open, they dodged another culling beam and fell through the door of the only building still standing. The lights flickered on as they skidded to a stop.
"Can you seal the door? I don't want any uninvited guests dropping in."
"I am working on doing so." Zelenka flinched as dart weaponsfire hit nearby but clipped the last laptop connector to the crystal array and typed a few quick commands. The door controls glowed briefly. "There. Is done."
"Hopefully that will hold them until back-up gets here but check the database anyway. See if this place has any kind of defensive capabilities."
Lorne studied the cavernous room. It was eerily empty other than the bank of consoles in the alcove near the door where Radek was working. The walls were covered in thousands of tiny sensors, but he couldn't find the source of the room's light, the ceiling disappearing in darkness.
"Hmmm, that's odd," Zelenka mumbled. "Why would-"
A blinding flash filled the room, and Evan suddenly found himself on the bridge of an Aurora-class battleship. An explosion nearby tossed him sideways, and flames leapt from the navigation controls.
"Shit! Radek! Where are you?"
"Here!" a voice called from behind him.
Whirling, Lorne found nothing but more unmanned stations. "Where?"
"Right here. I have not moved."
"Well, I have! I'm on the bridge of a ship that the Wraith are pounding the hell out of." He ducked instinctively as the viewscreen showed a hive ship coming straight at him in a frightening game of chicken only to swerve at the last minute, shooting multiple blasts as it flew over. "What did you do?"
"Oh, wow," Radek breathed.
Evan spun around again and gaped as Zelenka's head floated over the environmental controls.
"I will never let Rodney live this down," he murmured. "I have found holodeck." He blinked at Lorne then looked down. "Oh! Computer, end program." He sighed after a beat. "Always works on Star Trek." Then his head vanished.
"Doc!" Had to be a nightmare. He just thought he'd taken a routine trip off-world today. His vision whited out again, and he was back in the original room, Zelenka standing exactly where he'd left him and grinning like a fool. "What the hell just happened?"
"It is a simulator, a training tool, I believe. You did not leave room."
"I was standing-"
"Right here. You simply thought you were somewhere else."
"I could feel the ship rock, smell the burnt wiring."
Radek's silly grin broadened. "Very impressive."
The room shook, scattering ten thousand years worth of accumulated dust.
"Another simulation?" Evan hoped.
Zelenka glanced at his laptop. "No."
Blue energy skittered across the door, the metal bulging inward. Grabbing Radek's arm, Lorne jerked him to the floor and covered him as current arced in every direction and danced over the consoles. Lights strobed, and the room rippled, giving piecemeal glimpses of ship interiors, Ancient cities, a beach, a snow-capped mountain, numerous battlefields sometimes several scenes at once.
"Uh oh," Zelenka muttered.
"You know, there are three things that scare me: gerbils, Teyla when she's really pissed, and a scientist saying 'uh oh'. What's wrong?"
Radek angled the laptop in his direction. Jumbled text in at least eight different languages zigzagged across the screen underneath an error message which read:
This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down. If the problem persists, please contact the program vendor.
The room plunged into darkness then sprang back to life.
"Are you kidding me?" Lorne shouted as sparks shot from the main console and raced down the connectors.
Zelenka cried out as the computer sizzled in his hands. Evan swung his P-90 like a baseball bat, and the laptop flew across the room, smashing against a wall. The projected landscapes spun crazily, and they found themselves huddled behind a pillar in a hallway similar to those in Atlantis. People screamed as they staggered and dropped when Wraith stun blasts enveloped them.
A woman crumpled next to them, and Lorne automatically reached for her, surprised when he encountered solid flesh. He dragged her behind the pillar as a drone rounded the corner. It stopped to feed on the man slumped against the opposite wall then moved on to the next one. When it finally left, he heard Radek gagging behind him. Pressing his fingers to the woman's carotid, he was relieved and a bit unnerved to feel a steady pulse pounding there.
"You OK, Doc?" he whispered.
"I have never seen . Is that what it's really like?"
"Yeah. At least he was unconscious. It's worse when they scream." Evan pulled his LSD from a pocket. Two dots. "It's so real. Will the Wraith be fooled by this?"
"Perhaps. I can see it so we know it isn't limited to the ATA gene." Zelenka's voice was laced with pain.
"Let me see your hands."
Radek didn't bother to hide the shaking. His palms were a fiery red, and blisters were already forming. Pulling gauze from his vest, Lorne wrapped the sterile dressings carefully over the burns, tying them off at the wrist.
"Keller will fix you up when we get back. Probably won't even scar." Footsteps approached, and Evan checked the LSD again. Still only two dots. "What will happen if one of those Wraith touch us?"
"I don't know. Probably nothing, but I cannot guarantee it. This is a training simulator. It may allow for the experience."
"That is not what I wanted to hear."
He ducked as two male warriors strode down the hallway toward them. The woman stirred next to him and blinked slowly. He clamped a hand over her mouth and brought his index finger to his lips. Her eyes widened, but she didn't move or speak. After the area cleared, he sat back.
"I'm Evan. Can you understand me?"
She nodded, scooting outside his reach. Her eyes flitted over his uniform, and she slowly backed away then ran across the hall and disappeared into a room.
"Well, that was weird."
"She isn't real, Major."
"I know. That's why it was weird."
"How much longer until the jumpers get here?" Zelenka asked.
He glanced at his watch with a frown. "Should have already been here by now." He clicked his radio. "This is Lorne. Anybody read?"
Static greeted him.
"It is possible the holograms are interfering with outside communication," Radek offered.
"Oh, that's perfect. So I have no idea who's going to come through those doors when they open."
"Well, there is one-"
The hallway upended, and vertigo washed over Evan as he fell through space to land with a thud in the middle of a desert. He staggered to his feet only to drop again as the world tilted to deposit him in a primitive village.
"So sorry!" Zelenka babbled as he backed hurriedly from a tent, blushing.
"Radek?"
"Major, the Ancients had a very strange sense of humor."
"You're telling me. Damn, it's hot. I guess they wanted to prepare for every situation."
It felt like Florida in August, sticky and gross. A full moon shone, and the fire that lit the center of the village added to the shadows that danced around them.
"That is understatement," Zelenka mumbled, red to the tips of his ears.
"What was in that tent?"
"Never mind."
Lorne trailed a hand over the fabric heavy and nubby. The village was quiet, no one stirring, the stench of livestock and dung hanging heavy in the air. "Do you think this turned into the VE of the stasis pods or vice versa?"
Kneeling at the fire, Radek poked at it with a stick. "I believe the pods came first. I do not think we are sitting immobile in that room. Somehow this science allows us to actually interact with the virtual environment instead of just experiencing it in our minds."
The groan of unseen metal jerked them back to reality. The LSD revealed two additional dots close by.
"Hide!"
They dove through the opening of a tent and came face to face with a sleepy little boy. Staring at them, his bottom lip began to tremble.
"Oh, no, no, no. Hey, little guy," Lorne soothed. "You're dreaming. Go back to sleep." The boy closed his eyes as Evan tucked a blanket around his shoulders. "Good man." He moved next to Radek at the entrance. "I just convinced a hologram to go to sleep so the life sucking aliens wouldn't find us. I love my job."
Then the world shifted again, and he was lying face down in the surf of the most perfect beach he'd ever seen. Blinding white sand stretched for miles in each direction, and the ocean shimmered from aquamarine to indigo. Palm trees waved in the floral and brine scented breeze while a hut nearby offered shade. The only things out of place were the two Wraith standing in the middle of it.
Lorne flipped onto his back and rolled to his feet in a smooth motion. "Doc?"
"Over here." A hand waved from behind a palm tree.
"Sit tight." He brought his P-90 up and aimed. Several dozen bullets later, the Wraith lay splayed in the sand, their black blood in disgusting contrast to the pristine beach. He checked the LSD again and grimaced as three new dots took up defensive positions outside the building and two others approached. He shoved the device in his pocket and braced his weapon against his shoulder.
"Do not shoot, Major. My scanner is picking up the sub-cu transmitters of your team plus Rodney and Col. Sheppard."
"Really? You're sure?" At Zelenka's nod, he glanced around the area with a grin. "Get over here."
As Radek made his way to the hut, Lorne dragged the Wraith bodies a short distance away and kicked sand over the blood splatter. He found cups and a bottle of a clear brown liquid in the hut.
"Have a seat, Doc." He poured them both a drink, one hand straying to his gun until the strident tones of Rodney McKay reached his ears. He sat quickly and raised his glass. "Cheers."
"What the hell- Radek, what are you doing?"
Holding a straight face, Zelenka sipped his drink, glancing over the rim at McKay. "Enjoying the beach. What are you doing?"
"There was a dart and Wraith and . Where are we?" Rodney asked.
"Holodeck."
"You did not- This is so unfair. I get captured by Wraith and thrown into cocoons or a holding cell. You get a beach on a holodeck?"
As the two scientists sniped at each other, Lorne grinned at his CO. "Good to see you, Sir. How was the birthday party?"
"Very nice. Gotta remember to go easy on that Ruus wine though. Hell of a kick. Interesting mission?"
"Oh, you know, Sir. Just another day at the office."
"Ah. Well, as long as there wasn't any trouble. Ready to go home?"
Evan finished his drink and stood, wondering if Keller would find anything in his system. "Yes, Sir."
"How do we get out of here?"
Radek's head poked through the hut's back wall. "This way, Colonel."
Blinking as Zelenka disappeared, Sheppard arched a brow at Lorne. "That was different."
Laughing, Evan followed him through the wall. He really did love his job.