Chapter Text
Dr. Radek Zelenka sipped his morning coffee as he swiped his fingers across his tablet. He tapped the icon for his email as he mentally reviewed his work for the day. First, breakfast. Then there was the containment problem with the singularity project, maintenance of the fusion generator, and ideally a break for lunch. Later a staff meeting then if there was nothing pressing he could...
Oh...
Zelenka slowly put his coffee down when he saw the sender of this email.
Ever since the project was declassified he'd been hounded by universities, pressed for interviews, begged for research opportunities. As far as he knew all of the other scientists dealt with such things. But this...
No one else had yet received a message from the Nobel Committee. He opened the email and...
“Do prdele,” he whispered.
“What's up?”
Zelenka looked up. The lab was awakening as scientists came in with their own coffee. His workstation wasn't private, he preferred it that way, he didn't want a private lab when all his work was done here in the open. But that meant something big like this couldn't be kept secret.
Especially not from Dr. McKay.
And then it hit him.
He had to decline. He couldn't do it.
Rodney stood holding his own coffee, tablet under his arm, his free hand waving as though trying to pull an answer out of Zelenka.
“We need to talk,” Zelenka said. “You and I. Alone.”
Zelenka's schedule went out the window as he led Rodney to his own private lab to give him the news.
It was mixed news at best.
“I am being offered Nobel Prize in Physics,” Zelenka said as soon as the door closed.
Rodney's grin was blinding. “That's great! What for? Are you sharing it? I'm glad one of us is finally getting something, we've been declassified long enough. Damn it, I owe Woolsey five bucks. I was so sure I'd be the first of us.”
Zelenka took a deep breath and made his decision. “Rodney...”
“What is it? Come on, man, this is great news! This should be announced. I should--”
“Rodney!”
“What?”
Zelenka sat down. Only now did Rodney realize Zelenka wasn't acting right. The man wasn't excited at all. “It's a Nobel Prize,” Rodney said. “What's wrong?”
“It's your research,” Zelenka whispered. He took a deep breath and sat up, anger evident in the lines of his face. “They want to give me a prize for your research! You are not mentioned at all!”
Rodney sat heavily in his chair. “Oh...”
“Doranda was not your finest hour,” Zelenka said. “But analysis of blast zone did reveal evidence for extra dimensions. Vacuum bubble expansion is slowing down, energy leaking out into subspace.” He gave a bitter laugh. “Of course, we prove extra dimensions with hyperspace engine but no, only pure human endeavor is eligible. Not that Doranda was either but they do not care.”
Rodney looked down at his hands. “At least one of us...” He cleared his throat. “At least the research is getting attention?”
“I will not accept,” Zelenka said.
Rodney gaped like Zelenka had just declared the Earth flat. “You can't.”
“I can and I will. I will not accept prize for standing in the room while discoveries are made around me. I refuse to take credit for your work.”
Zelenka left Rodney in his lab, left the man to his utter shock. He had a formal refusal to write.
I regret to inform the committee that I cannot accept your recognition. The principle investigator of the Doranda project was Meredith Rodney McKay, PhD PhD. He was responsible for the experiment that produced the stable Higgs field that destroyed the Doranda System (seven planets, five destroyed plus the central star). He was the head scientist in charge of analysis of the system wreckage. He made the discovery that the expansion of the stable Higgs field, far from propagating at the speed of light, instead showed deceleration consistent with the open string configuration implied by the M-Theory of String Theory. I refuse to take credit for another man's work.
I am aware the Nobel Committee has a habit of awarding prizes to non-principle investigators or unaffiliated scientists including but not limited to Physics 1943, Chemistry 1944, Physics 1974, and Physics 1983. I refuse to contribute to this history of omission.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely
Radek Zelenka, PhD