“Was that an invitation?” William asked, working his way through the rubble after him, and stopped. “That — that looks important.”
“Yes. Oh, yes.” Radek pushed his glasses up onto his nose, still not quite able to believe what he was seeing. “This — whatever happens, William, this has to get back to Atlantis.”
For a second, he thought the other would object, but William nodded slowly. “All right. What is it?”
“One of the major control crystals for the hyperdrive,” Radek said. He was almost afraid to say it out loud, for fear it might somehow vanish. “With this — and a ZPM, of course — we can fly the city again.”
William stuffed the notebook into his pocket, pulled out his flashlight. “It’s really beautiful. Very sculptural.”
The doubled lights drew more colors from interior facets, thin sheets of color like the aurora playing inside the crystal. Reflections danced on the walls, on the fallen ceiling, sparks that drew bits of color from the paintings. The Satedan curators might not have known what they had, but they had taken good care of it, secured it against the padding so that even the collapse of the display hadn’t jarred it loose. Reluctantly, Radek turned his beam away from the array, scanned the case and the straps that held the crystal in place. It would take some planning to get it out safely, but he thought he could do it —
“Hang on,” William said. “I thought I heard something.”
Radek cocked his head, listening. For a second, there was nothing, but then he heard it, too, the unmistakable sound of booted feet on the stone floors. “Crap.”
“Not our people,” William said nervously.
Radek said something stronger in Czech, swung his flashlight around again, looking for a way out. There was only one entrance to the hall, and if they could hear the Genii coming — because it had to be the Genii — it was too late to get out that way. His light struck the edge of a doorway, the frame picked out with DHD symbols; there was another beam down in front of it, but if the door opened away from them… He was already moving, ducking under first one beam and then another, William scrambling at his heels. There was just enough room to stand upright inside the last beam, and he quickly checked the door, praying it wasn’t locked, praying it opened the right way. He worked the latch and pushed hard, and to his relief the door scraped open half a meter, loosing a shower of plaster.
“Quick, inside.”
William slipped past him, pistol in one hand, flashlight in the other. “It’s — not very big. Some sort of storage — ”
“Be quiet,” Radek said, and stepped in after him. William flattened himself against the back wall — it was covered with narrow shelves that were crammed with boxes, and Radek managed to work the door almost closed again. “Turn out your light.”
William obeyed, and Radek did the same. The P90 was heavy against his chest, and he worked it awkwardly into position, elbowing William hard in the process. The archeologist grunted, shifted so that he could aim his pistol over the shorter man’s shoulder. The footsteps were coming closer, louder and more distinct. Definitely more than one person, Radek thought, craning to see through the crack he’d left in the door, and — yes, definitely Genii. There was a thump as someone dropped something, and then the rattle of someone shedding equipment.
“Well?” William’s voice was barely a breath in his ear.
“Ssh.”
William shifted uncomfortably. They were so close in the dark that Radek could feel the pressure of William’s hip, feel him breathing, the quick movement of his chest.
“Radek.” That was Teyla’s voice in his ear, the radio he’d forgotten until now, and he jumped, reached hastily to shut it off, not daring to risk anyone else hearing. They would contact her later, when the Genii had left — though it sounded as though they were settling in for the day. He could hear voices now, soft conversation, though he couldn’t quite make out the words. If they had to stay here for more than an hour or two — already his leg was starting to ache. It would cramp soon enough, and then he’d have trouble walking, wouldn’t be able to keep up if they needed to move fast.
The unmistakable crackle of a Genii radio cut through his rising fear.
“Team one, this is base. Report.” It was a woman’s voice, and Radek swore again. Surely their luck couldn’t be running this badly.
“Team one here,” a man answered. “It looks as though the Satedans have been back here, Sora. Someone’s been checking on what we’re doing.”
Radek felt William shift again, heard the breath of a curse, and felt like swearing himself. Of course they’d left tracks, marks in the dust; probably they hadn’t put the Genii supplies back exactly the way they’d been. And of course it was Sora.
“Any damage?” the woman asked.
“No. Just looking around.”
There was a little pause, and then the woman’s voice said, “Right. We can’t have that. Head back to camp, we need to have a talk with Cai.”
“We could still get some work done,” the man protested.
“Negative. We need to establish our position. Head back now. Base out.”
One of the Genii said something that had to be a curse, and the man who’d been on the radio raised his voice. “Roal! Come on out of there. We’re heading back to camp.”
Radek closed his eyes, feeling almost faint with relief. They stood listening for what seemed like hours as the Genii team recovered their equipment and moved reluctantly away. When he was sure they were out of earshot, he risked lighting his watch, counted off ten minutes before he took a slow breath and reached for the door.
“I think we can go now,” he said, and felt William nod.
“Go ahead. I’ll cover you.”
“This is insane,” Radek said under his breath, and pulled the door open again. The hall was empty, sunlight pouring in through the half opened shutter. He worked his knee, and took a cautious step. It hurt, but the leg held his weight, and he turned back to see William playing his flashlight over the shelves of boxes. “William — ”
“Hang on,” William said, and Radek touched his radio.
“Teyla. Teyla, this is Radek.”
“Radek!” Teyla sounded relieved. “There are Genii in this area — ”
“Yes, I know. They were here, and left — they were heading back to their camp. They did not see us.”
“Good,” Teyla said. “We must head back to the gate. Ronon wishes to have a word with Ushan Cai.”
“I am sure he does,” Radek said, and was rewarded by a chuckle.
“We will meet at the square where we stopped before,” Teyla said. “Can you get there?”
Radek glanced at the hyperdrive array still untouched in its case. It wasn’t that heavy, wasn’t much bigger than a football, and they had brought carriers that would protect it. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see William stuffing what looked like decks of playing cards into every available pocket. “Yes. We’ll be there shortly.”
“Be careful,” Teyla said, and cut the transmission.
By the time the team made it back to the gate square, the smell of cooking was in the air there too, and there were people crossing the square, apparently going about business of their own but giving Ronon and the rest of the team frankly curious glances. Ronon stopped the first person who came near enough to speak to, a woman in work clothes with her hair pinned up at the back of her neck. “Where’s Cai?”
“I think he’s in the old hotel,” she said. “He was talking to — talking to some people.”
The line of Teyla’s mouth tightened, and Ronon knew what she was thinking. If the Genii had gotten here before them, they could still wind up in a fight. He waved the woman on and looked at the scientists. Radek was cradling the case that held the hyperdrive crystal as if he didn’t trust it not to fall apart at any moment, or possibly just as if he didn’t trust himself not to trip and drop it.