fic: Serpentine
Mar. 1st, 2009 12:01 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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picfor1000Title: Serpentine
Author:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gritkitty
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis
Notes: Picture here Thanks tonestra for beta help.
As ordeals went, this was an easy one: walk across a room. Major Lorne didn't like it, though, and Elizabeth looked troubled. Radek was oddly calm.
"I think a ZPM is worth a short stroll," he said.
"They should have mentioned a test before now," said Elizabeth. "I don't like surprises."
Rimond, their guide, returned with the key, which was attached by silver chain to a staff two meters tall. "Pass through this room to the door on the far side to be reborn, transformed, and you may choose a token of the Ancestors' favor."
"What's in the room?" asked Elizabeth as Rimond unlocked the door.
"The means to test your worthiness," he said simply, pushing the door inward. The upper reaches of the room were bright, but the floor was dim and not entirely still.
"What are those?" demanded Lorne.
"Serpents," Rimon replied. "They are the servants of the Ancestors' judgment."
Lorne began to protest. Elizabeth spoke over his refusal, loud and controlled. "Tell me; just how do the serpents test petitioners?"
"Venom. But the favored need not fear. The Ancestors will protect them."
Lorne's hand fell to his empty holster. Elizabeth argued there was no need for the ordeal. Radek's calm eroded.
"We should go, ma'am," Lorne said. "I can't risk Doc here getting hurt."
"There is a clear path," said Radek. They looked at the winding trail across the floor. "It's obviously a test of nerves. If I walk slowly, there is no problem."
"Is this the only way to access the room of the Ancestors?" Elizabeth asked Rimon, who nodded gravely even as unobtrusive guards materialized from the walls.
"It's an acceptable risk," Radek said. Elizabeth looked torn between worry for him and need for a ZPM. Radek smiled. "Don't worry. I am a coward who is very fond of his life."
"I'll go," said Lorne, but Radek insisted, "No. I know what to look for."
*
They watched from the open door, Rimon pushing back the more inquisitive snakes with the staff. A serpent darted forward, forcing Radek to step closer to the tangle on his left, and he heard the creak of Lorne's tac vest, Elizabeth's gasp. He regained the middle path carefully.
"On your right, it's coming," said Elizabeth. "Another on the left -- careful!"
"Be quiet," he replied levelly. "I need to concentrate." It wasn't the first time he'd told her to shut up. In those early days he remembered how, with a pretty tilt of her head and a wry, knowing smile, Elizabeth had sparked an infatuation Radek never pursued. The Pegasus Galaxy demanded too much, and ultimately, he loved Atlantis more.
He was deep into the room when the serpents stirred in greater numbers. Radek's gut rose into his chest as they paced him, keeping their distance, reaching only so close before drawing back, like waves on the shore. His limbs twitched, which was the pent energy of flight; he had a well-developed sense of self-preservation. Others might mistake it for fear; Radek didn't care. Life was worth any amount of scorn, and he was a survivor.
The path narrowed. A larger serpent flowed across like a small river, one meter, two, three, its fat body continuing without signs of narrowing to an end. Radek stepped over it, slowly, resisting the urge to leap and dash for the door.
Other snakes crawled about as if roused to curiosity. Radek skirted some, stepped over others, and then froze, breath caught hard in his throat when a mass of them writhed in a knot to break apart against his leg and scatter. One last juvenile, a limber little rope, curled around his ankle and then away. He closed his eyes, trying not to let the panicked knocking of his heart throw him down. He forced a slow breath, tipped his head back, and looked up.
Light from round windows spaced evenly around a great dome threw into brilliance a mosaic of reds, ambers, gold. Fear became wonder, then excitement, as he recognized the abstracted form of an Ancient city-ship and the ZPMs that framed it in a ring.
He continued with stronger purpose, anticipating the changing ribbon of clear floor as if prescient until he reached out to the door. His foot skidded as if on a pebble, and he fell to one knee.
"Radek!"
"It's okay," he said and stood, the door giving way under his hand as he pushed through to fall on hands and knees. Guards inside the room used their staves clear the doorway and shut the door. Radek tried to get up but couldn't. Fire licked through his right leg. "What's wrong? I --"
"The serpent bit you," said one guard as he helped Radek to stand. "This is the test of the Ancestors: Of the treasures here you may choose one - or take the anti-venom." He drew a vial from his robes.
Pain lanced higher into his body. Radek reached out for the vial but hesitated, looking at the equipment and artifacts, his gaze landing unerringly on a softly glowing ZPM. He shuffled forward and took it reverently into his hands.
"How long?" he rasped in a tight throat.
The guard cast an assessing eye over him. "Not too long," to which Radek replied, "Then I must be quick."
*
Fear was pointless now.
Radek saw Elizabeth and Lorne waiting -- people he would miss. His body throbbed, heavy with poison. In the room's center he staggered, folded to his knees, flinging out one hand in response to his shouted name. Above him arched the cathedral ceiling, older by far than any he'd seen in his life. He imagined that, if Atlantis had a heart, it would look like this, throbbing with light in some hidden chamber.
He imagined surviving to find it.
Shaking, Radek climbed to his feet, plucking up a small serpent behind its neck before straightening. Carson would need a sample to formulate anti-venom. Unchanged but stronger, he lurched across the red room to his waiting friends.
Author:
gritkittyFandom: Stargate Atlantis
Notes: Picture here Thanks to
nestra for beta help.As ordeals went, this was an easy one: walk across a room. Major Lorne didn't like it, though, and Elizabeth looked troubled. Radek was oddly calm.
"I think a ZPM is worth a short stroll," he said.
"They should have mentioned a test before now," said Elizabeth. "I don't like surprises."
Rimond, their guide, returned with the key, which was attached by silver chain to a staff two meters tall. "Pass through this room to the door on the far side to be reborn, transformed, and you may choose a token of the Ancestors' favor."
"What's in the room?" asked Elizabeth as Rimond unlocked the door.
"The means to test your worthiness," he said simply, pushing the door inward. The upper reaches of the room were bright, but the floor was dim and not entirely still.
"What are those?" demanded Lorne.
"Serpents," Rimon replied. "They are the servants of the Ancestors' judgment."
Lorne began to protest. Elizabeth spoke over his refusal, loud and controlled. "Tell me; just how do the serpents test petitioners?"
"Venom. But the favored need not fear. The Ancestors will protect them."
Lorne's hand fell to his empty holster. Elizabeth argued there was no need for the ordeal. Radek's calm eroded.
"We should go, ma'am," Lorne said. "I can't risk Doc here getting hurt."
"There is a clear path," said Radek. They looked at the winding trail across the floor. "It's obviously a test of nerves. If I walk slowly, there is no problem."
"Is this the only way to access the room of the Ancestors?" Elizabeth asked Rimon, who nodded gravely even as unobtrusive guards materialized from the walls.
"It's an acceptable risk," Radek said. Elizabeth looked torn between worry for him and need for a ZPM. Radek smiled. "Don't worry. I am a coward who is very fond of his life."
"I'll go," said Lorne, but Radek insisted, "No. I know what to look for."
*
They watched from the open door, Rimon pushing back the more inquisitive snakes with the staff. A serpent darted forward, forcing Radek to step closer to the tangle on his left, and he heard the creak of Lorne's tac vest, Elizabeth's gasp. He regained the middle path carefully.
"On your right, it's coming," said Elizabeth. "Another on the left -- careful!"
"Be quiet," he replied levelly. "I need to concentrate." It wasn't the first time he'd told her to shut up. In those early days he remembered how, with a pretty tilt of her head and a wry, knowing smile, Elizabeth had sparked an infatuation Radek never pursued. The Pegasus Galaxy demanded too much, and ultimately, he loved Atlantis more.
He was deep into the room when the serpents stirred in greater numbers. Radek's gut rose into his chest as they paced him, keeping their distance, reaching only so close before drawing back, like waves on the shore. His limbs twitched, which was the pent energy of flight; he had a well-developed sense of self-preservation. Others might mistake it for fear; Radek didn't care. Life was worth any amount of scorn, and he was a survivor.
The path narrowed. A larger serpent flowed across like a small river, one meter, two, three, its fat body continuing without signs of narrowing to an end. Radek stepped over it, slowly, resisting the urge to leap and dash for the door.
Other snakes crawled about as if roused to curiosity. Radek skirted some, stepped over others, and then froze, breath caught hard in his throat when a mass of them writhed in a knot to break apart against his leg and scatter. One last juvenile, a limber little rope, curled around his ankle and then away. He closed his eyes, trying not to let the panicked knocking of his heart throw him down. He forced a slow breath, tipped his head back, and looked up.
Light from round windows spaced evenly around a great dome threw into brilliance a mosaic of reds, ambers, gold. Fear became wonder, then excitement, as he recognized the abstracted form of an Ancient city-ship and the ZPMs that framed it in a ring.
He continued with stronger purpose, anticipating the changing ribbon of clear floor as if prescient until he reached out to the door. His foot skidded as if on a pebble, and he fell to one knee.
"Radek!"
"It's okay," he said and stood, the door giving way under his hand as he pushed through to fall on hands and knees. Guards inside the room used their staves clear the doorway and shut the door. Radek tried to get up but couldn't. Fire licked through his right leg. "What's wrong? I --"
"The serpent bit you," said one guard as he helped Radek to stand. "This is the test of the Ancestors: Of the treasures here you may choose one - or take the anti-venom." He drew a vial from his robes.
Pain lanced higher into his body. Radek reached out for the vial but hesitated, looking at the equipment and artifacts, his gaze landing unerringly on a softly glowing ZPM. He shuffled forward and took it reverently into his hands.
"How long?" he rasped in a tight throat.
The guard cast an assessing eye over him. "Not too long," to which Radek replied, "Then I must be quick."
*
Fear was pointless now.
Radek saw Elizabeth and Lorne waiting -- people he would miss. His body throbbed, heavy with poison. In the room's center he staggered, folded to his knees, flinging out one hand in response to his shouted name. Above him arched the cathedral ceiling, older by far than any he'd seen in his life. He imagined that, if Atlantis had a heart, it would look like this, throbbing with light in some hidden chamber.
He imagined surviving to find it.
Shaking, Radek climbed to his feet, plucking up a small serpent behind its neck before straightening. Carson would need a sample to formulate anti-venom. Unchanged but stronger, he lurched across the red room to his waiting friends.
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Date: 2009-03-12 07:22 am (UTC)