Confirming Carter2 Daedalus05
Two days later
Interior-Bedroom
0725 Hours
“I, Col. Samantha Carter, duly elected Queen of Atlantis, do hereby
declare and decree the City of
“From this day forward, the people of Atlantis neither bow to, nor serve
any other master besides our fair city, and as Queen, I answer to them in its
name. We reach out to our neighbors, welcoming them to join us in friendship, with
the hope of peace, goodwill, and trade between us.”
“We have no history of oppression or mistreatment, but vow to aid others
that find themselves oppressed or mistreated. We take this action because
others have failed to, and we will no longer stand by as our neighbors and
brothers suffer without relief. We will come to their assistance, and bring
down furious vengeance upon those that bring them harm.”
“Like the Ancients that built this city, and her sisters throughout the
universe, we will make it a haven, a center of learning and trade for all to
benefit from. We ask only that others join us freely to assist, or refrain from
impeding our efforts to improve the lives of those left behind as...”
“This isn’t working.” Carter said as she threw the tablet across the
room, watching it bounce across the carpet. “I like the opening, but that’s
about all.”
She looked over at Tammy. “I know you’re not asleep, so quit faking. Why
did she give this to me? She’s the brain mechanic, she knows all the buttons to
push...just look what she’s done so far!”
“She gave it to you because she wants to know what you want to say, and
how you want to say it.” Tammy said, not turning over. “She’ll clean it up and
make it pretty. So quit worrying about it. No one expects you to be Thomas
Jefferson. And he did like what, twenty drafts over a couple of months? You’ve
been working on yours for twenty minutes.”
“Why are you being like thi...”
“Excuse me, ladies.” Samuels said as she walked into the room. She went
directly to the tablet lying on the floor by the window, picked it up, and
walked out, stopping at the door to bow, and say, “Thank you.”
“What the hell?” Carter said. She looked over at Tammy, who was now
looking back at her.
“Andi! You get your ass back in here! NOW!” She shouted.
“Yes, maam?” Samuels said as she stepped back into the room. She no
longer had the tablet with her.
“Don’t you maam, me! You know damn well why I called you back in here.”
Carter said, getting up on her knees on the bed. “Are you watching us? Is that
how you knew what I...”
“Yes, Sam. I watch you all the time. You both know that.” Samuels said
calmly as she sat on the side of the bed. She looked around the room, then back
at Carter. “I’d like to put a desk for each of you in here, and maybe a few chairs.
With the view from these windows...”
“Don’t change the subject, Andi.” Carter said. “Why are you watching
us?”
Samuels looked surprised at the question. “That was rule number one, on the
second day, Sam. You have no private life. Someone is with you, or watching you
at all times.”
“Tammy is with me! Why do you feel the need to watch me as well?”
“No one said we wouldn’t, or couldn’t, do both. And now we need to watch
Tammy too.” Samuels said.
She looked at Tammy.
“Isn’t that right Tammy? The cameras were your idea, you’re the only one
with access to the software, so I’m assuming that since it hasn’t been
modified, neither of you had any objection to being monitored. And you both
know that you should be, given what you’ve been up to behind Jennifer and my
backs.”
“How dar...don’t try to blame Tammy for this, Andi.” Carter said, her
face coloring as she got angrier.
“Sam, I’m not blaming anyone. I watch you because I need to, and because
you and Tammy are such fascinating subjects.” Samuels said. “I have to watch
what you’re doing, because you don’t tell us. I hope you’ve noticed that I
haven’t interfered with any of your plans.”
Tammy took Carter’s hand as she sat up on the bed. She looked over at
her, then let her eyes fall to the bed. “I knew she was watching us, Sam. She’s
mentioned it several times when we’ve talked about things. She hasn’t tried to
hide it.” She looked over at her again. “I didn’t modify the software because
only the four of us have access to it. And I don’t think about the cameras
being there.”
“Do you watch us...making love?” Carter asked, glancing over at Tammy.
“Yes.” Samuels said, meeting her eyes. “And most of the time I’m
jealous. The love the two of you have for each other, and the way you share it
so freely, is so beautiful. I want you to know that no one else has, or will
ever see any of those recordings. Most of them have already been recorded
over.”
“But why, Andi?” Carter asked her. “There’s more to this than you’re
telling me. It’s true that we haven’t told you and Jennifer things, but why do
you need to watch us make love? Or just be together?”
“I review your whole day, every day, Sam. I document the important
moments, preserving the video, and make notes on my observations of the rest.”
Samuels said, turning on the bed and bringing her legs up under her so she was
facing them both.
“In addition to being your foreign minister, and in-house plotter slash
tactician, I’m a psychiatrist and cultural anthropologist.” She paused, looking
at her. “Do you have any idea how valuable being able to observe you as you
progress down the path you’re on is? Not to mention the historical record we’re
creating. I promise that none of what I document will be made available until
after both your deaths, but what I’m doing is important in so many ways I can’t
even list them all.”
“Wow. I can’t believe what I’m hearing.” Carter said, shaking her head.
“Why not, Sam? I haven’t hidden anything from you, Tammy, or Jennifer.”
Samuels said. “Granted, I haven’t volunteered information, but if asked, I tell
you what I’m doing, or what plans are in the pipe. You knew that I’ve been
documenting your case, as has Jennifer. Are you surprised at the level its
being taken to? Is that the problem?”
“I don’t know Andi. You just hit me upside the head with a two-by-four,
and you’re telling me that I knew you were doing it and why, neither of which
makes it hurt any less.”
Samuels got up and went into the next room, and came back with the
tablet. She brought up a screen and opened the file Sam had been working on.
She made a change, then saved the file and handed her the tablet.
“I came in here earlier to get that tablet, and just made a small change
in what you had written. I took that ‘as’ off the end of the last paragraph.
You’re finished. Our declaration is complete as far as I’m concerned, and I was
terrified that you would delete it and start over. Which would have been a
shame.”
She turned to Tammy. “I might have suggested some changes, but this
declaration had to come from Sam. We need it to reflect what she believes, and
what she feels in her heart.”
She looked back at the tablet in her hand, then back up at Carter. “You
said, in plain, heart felt language, what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and
what we hope to accomplish.
“That last paragraph just kind of ends, and doesn’t really say
anything.” Tammy said.
“Now she’s a critic.” Carter muttered. “I was gonna drop it, but didn’t
think it would be long enough without it.”
“
She looked over at Tammy. “We can talk about the last paragraph later.
We make it ‘those previously left behind, and we’ll be fine.”
“You’re upset. So instead of dwelling in it, why don’t you go up to the
gym and workout. “ Samuels said. “Get warmed up, and I’ll send Amelia and Ronin
up, and you can vent a little.”
“Why don’t you come up Andi?” Carter asked her, a wry smile on her face.
“You could spar with me. I guarantee, that would do me a lot more good.”
“Fraid not, love.” Samuels laughed as she took the tablet and got up off
the bed. “I’m a voyeur, not a fighter. Just pretend that Ronin is me. And try
not to hurt him too bad, okay?”
Interior-Kitchen
0900 Hours
Carter skipped her workout, and summoned Sheppard,
“Tammy is in my office, she’s got a marine down in the power room
swapping out the ZPM’s for her.” She said lightly. “She’s worse than I am,
she’s got him putting them in the receptacle, and won’t start the cycle till he
leaves the room.”
“They’ve already got more than enough for what I want to do.” She said.
“We’re going to take
“John, I want a hundred marines, armed with zats and stunners loaded on
the Daedalus. Steven, its in the early morning hours there. I want you to use
your beaming trick to take everyone out of the city, and replace them with the
marines. They’ll do a sweep of the city, and as soon as they tell us it’s
secure, we’ll start gating people over to start working on it.”
“What do you want us to do with them once we beam them out of the city?
“
“Separate the constables and the hangers on. John can talk to the leader
of the former ruling family, and give them the option of working with us, or
going with the other group.” She said. “The constables are thugs, so dump them
on an uninhabited world on the way back, or better yet, on the mainland here,
so we can keep an eye on them. Leave them shelters and food, and we’ll check on
them from time to time.”
“If the family with the gene agrees to work with us, we’ll see what they
know about the cities systems, if anything. They might be useful. Bring them
back here. To the city, not here.” She said, looking at Andi. “I’ll meet with
the leader and explain the situation. Tomorrow.”
“What do you want to do about the declaration?” Samuels asked.
“I’ll leave that to you. If you’re happy with it, send it as it is. If
not, make any changes you see fit, I’ll trust your judgment. Send it to Teal’c
on Chulak first. Ask him if the Free Jaffa Nation will recognize us. And let me
know as soon as you have an answer. Send it to Earth at noon our time. Then
send it to all the races we have radio contact with at thirteen hundred.
Include an offer to open diplomatic relations to everyone we send it to.
Tomorrow, we start sending out emissaries to every other world we know of that
has a sizable population. We’re just going to invite any world with under a
thousand living there to move into
She turned back to Sheppard and Caldwell. “I want this done before sun
up local time. I doubt if any of the nobles get up before then. Take supplies
to give to the local villagers, we’ll have the work teams distribute them and
tell them what’s happening once they get the ZPM’s installed, and get the
shields up.”
Both officers stood and headed for the door. “Is there anything else
colonel? It’s going to be a few hours before we get back.” Sheppard said.
“Have you heard anything about the group we brought in last night? How
are they doing?” She asked.
“Jenn has her medical teams in with them, they started around oh seven
hundred. She should be checking in with Andi soon.” He said. “I don’t have
anything else.”
“That’s fine, we’ll reach out to her. There is one thing I’d like to do,
and it’s not a rush item.” She said looking at
“Oh get up!” Carter laughed. “Go, both of you, you have work to do.”
Interior-Kitchen
1130 Hours
“It’s not as bad as it looked at first glance.” Keller was saying. “The
marines got them cleaned up, and got some food in them last night, and after a
second meal this morning, they looked alot better. Some of the adults hadn’t
eaten in days. John’s marines were a godsend, they all spent the night with a
family, and by the time we started this morning, the children were calm, and
well behaved. The adults were more hesitant than the kids were about the tests.
Unfortunately, we don’t have many treatments for diseases native to Pegasus, so
we just inoculated them for what we could pass along.”
“So they’re going to live? We’re not going to lose any?” Samuels asked.
“No, three died overnight. All older, but I don’t know what counts as
old in Pegasus. All three from complications related to starvation. There are
five others that are in danger, but we moved them to the Infirmary, and are
doing what we can for them.”
Ronin stepped into the room, and Carter looked at him. “Yes, Ronin?
“Sheppard’s on comms, he says mission completed. They’re on their way
back.” He said. He held out a headset, and she stood up and took it, slipping her
arm through his and walking into the living room with him.
“John?” She said as she put the comm unit behind her ear. “Any
problems?”
“No, maam. We took them all sleeping, even the constables, only two
guards were awake.” He reported. “I’ve spoken to the leader of the family and
explained the situation, and she’s agreeable to your terms. She tells me that
there are only fourteen members of the family that actually have the gene left,
and doesn’t seems too concerned about what happens to the rest.”
“She sounds like the kind of girl I want to keep at arms length.” Carter
said, glancing up at Ronin. “Have all of them tested anyway. The family might
have missed something. Anyone that doesn’t have the gene goes to the mainland.
Do you have enough shelters and food to supply them for a month? It’s going to
be that long before we can get back to them.”
“We can leave them three months worth. They’ll get used to MRE’s. I
brought some of their weapons with us. Once we get them situated, we’ll beam
them down. There’s some nasty critters running around on the mainland. So
they’ll need something to defend themselves.”
“That’s fine. How long do you need?”
“Call it three hours before we can dock. I’m going to throw up a basic
stockade and put the shelters up before we beam them down. It would take them
weeks to do what we can do in a couple of hours. Nothing fancy, just something
to keep the big stuff out.”
“Whatever you think is best, John. Be careful. Carter out.”
“You met these people, are they worth the bother?” She asked Ronin as
she handed him the headset.
“No, but you’re not me. Neither is Sheppard.” He said. “Sometimes you
have to give an enemy a chance to become a friend.”
She nodded. “Well put.” She looked up at him as she took his hand. “You
know that you’re not a messenger, or here to run errands. You have a job to do.
If you need to speak to me, don’t wait like you just did. Get my attention, and
speak. Okay?”
He nodded.
“I heard that Amanda wants to let some of the special forces that came
in on the Daedalus try out for the household guard. What do you think of that?”
“I want them to go out on some ops first.” He said. “We don’t know them.
They may be good fighters, but they don’t have any reason to be loyal to you,
so I don’t trust them.”
“That’s what I was thinking. I’ll talk to Sheppard about them. Keep your
guards to people you know. I’ll feel better if you pick them.” She turned to go
back in the kitchen, then stopped and came back, taking his hands in hers. “And
keep me honest. I’m going to do things you don’t like, and we can get away with
it for now. But you’re going to have to put both me and Tammy on a leash at
some point. Are you up to that?”
“Yes.” He said, trying not to smile. “I talked to Tammy. I’m glad you
said something first.”
“Good, I have to get back. We have alot going on today.”
Interior-SGC, Earth
1200 Hours
“Unauthorized gate activation. Incoming wormhole.” Sgt Harriman
announced over the PA. He picked up the phone and dialed Woolsey’s office.
“Yes, Walter.” Woolsey said, putting him on speaker. “What is it?”
“We have an incoming wormhole sir. Wait one...I’m getting Atlantis’ IDC,
sir.” Harriman said.
“Do not open the iris, Walter. I’ll be right out.”
“The wormhole has closed, sir. But we received a databurst.”
“Send it to my office, Walter. Let’s see what she has to say.” Woolsey
said.
He turned to his terminal and brought up the list of databursts in the
database, and clicked one. The file opened, and a text document opened on the
screen.
“Oh my, I didn’t expect that at all.” He said.
He picked up the red phone and pressed the center button.
“This is Richard Woolsey of the IOA. I need to speak to the President
please.”
Interior-Gateroom
1310 Hours
“Maj. Lorne, this is the
“Go on Lorne.”
“Sir, I have an incoming wormhole, and am receiving the SGC’s IDC.
They’re requesting a video conference with Col. Carter at fourteen hundred
hours sir. What should I tell them.”
“Tell them that she’ll be there. Lorne out.”
“Lorne to Dr. Keller or Dr Samuels, come in please.”
“Yes major, this is Dr. Keller. What can I do for you?”
“I need to speak to Col Carter, maam. Is she with you?
“Yes, wait one.”
There was a pause, and Carter came on. “Yes Evan, what do you need?”
“We just received a message from the SGC, maam. They’re requesting a video
conference with you at fourteen hundred. They didn’t offer any details.” Lorne
told her. “I had Ops tell them you’d be there.”
“Good, that means we don’t have to dial them back and ask what they
want.” She said, grinning at Keller and Samuels. “I’ll be there. Would you
contact the Daedalus and tell Col. Sheppard to get in a jumper, and gets his
ass back here?
“Yes maam.” Lorne said, grinning broadly. “I’ll get right on it.”
Interior-Conference Room
1400 Hours
Carter sat at the far end of the table, with Tammy, and Sheppard
flanking her. Ronin stood by the door, and five marines stood on each side of
the door on the outside.
“Incoming wormhole, colonel.” Chuck said. “We’re getting a video signal,
maam.”
“Send it in here Chuck.”
The monitor over the door came to life, and Gen. Landry looked down at
them.
“Gen. Landry! It’s good to see you sir. We had heard that you were under
arrest.” Carter said, smiling at him.
“Thank you colonel. Or, I’m sorry, do you have an official title? I
wouldn’t want to get our talks off on the wrong foot.” He said, trying not to
laugh.
“No, sir. Colonel, Sam or Samantha is fine. My advisors say I earned the
rank, so I should wear it.”
“I wish I had people that smart working for me.” Landry said. “Come to
think of it, I used to. But most of them got a better offer.”
“Sorry about that general. But let me say again how relieved we are to
see you. Are you back in command at the SGC? Or is the IOA just giving me a
friendly face to talk to?
“I’m disappointed that you would think that, Samantha. No, the President
has withdrawn the
Carter looked down at the table. When she looked up, her face was
somber.
“I’m sorry general, but that won’t be good enough. Just because you
control the gate, that doesn’t give you the right to speak for the peoples of
Earth.” She paused, giving him a moment to digest what she’d said. “We have
already been recognized by the Free Jaffa Nation, and the Athosian peoples. We
have also announced our independence to the worlds of the Pegasus galaxy, and
expect to be begin establishing diplomatic ties within the week.”
“You didn’t waste any time did you? But are you saying that you want to
deal with the IOA?” Landry asked, looking perplexed.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying. In order for me to negotiate with
Earth, we would have to work with a representative body that speaks for the
majority of peoples of Earth, not a group looking out solely for the interests
of member nations. I’m not saying that you have to make the gate public, but we
have to ensure that the best interests of all the peoples of Earth are taken
into consideration.”
“We can wait until you speak to the President, and he speaks to whoever
he has too. In the meantime, there are issues that we can discuss that are to
our mutual interest.” She added.
“Actually Sam, the President is listening.” Landry said. “But these
other issues? Would they involve property and assets recently seized from the
IOA?”
“No, general, I’m think more along the line of gifts. One of which
you’ve already received. Well, that was our first trade item really, and we
haven’t received our requested price for it.” She said casually.
“I’ve read the note you sent through with Ellis. That price is being
discussed. But you mentioned other gifts in your note.”
“Yes, ten thousand drones for the chair weapons platform in
Landry finally lost it, and burst out laughing. When he regained
control, he was smiling broadly, and said, “We’d be glad to take them off your
hands, Sam. And I’m being told that the best we can do for that trade item is
three for your one.”
“That’s fine, general. We just wanted to know that you would trade.”
Carter said. “We’ll need a gate address to send the drones to. I will not send
them directly to Earth. I won’t take the risk of being responsible for an
accident. I hope you understand.”
“I understand, and appreciate that, Sam. Would you still like our
depleted ZPM’s to be sent to a space gate?”
“Yes please. I’ll feel better doing it that way. Please don’t send the
one Camulus gave you. We’ll be checking them carefully.” Carter told him. “It’s
not lack of trust, but we’re not going to be shipping anything into Atlantis.
All trade from offworld will be routed to other gates, inspected, then
transferred. It’s just good business.”
“Very well.” Landry said. “I’m getting questions about the Daedalus and
Apollo. What is their condition, and when will they be returned?”
“Both ships are in excellent condition, and we will be keeping both of
them for the Atlantian navy.” Carter said.
She watched as Landry winced, then removed an earwig from one ear and
dropped it in his trashcan. His phone started ringing immediately, and he hit
the speaker phone.
“You can ask your own goddamned questions now, and if you want to fire
me, feel free.” He said lightly. “You need me a lot more than I need you right
now.”
He was met with silence from the phone.
“Tell them that if it makes them feel any better, I plan on returning
thirty of the three-oh-two’s the Apollo carried as soon as I can.” Carter said.
“Probably within the next two weeks. Daedalus and Apollo, however, are spoils
of war. If I’m to believe Mr. Woolsey, in addition to issuing a death warrant
on me, the IOA also declared war on my city. Talk to your people, Hank. I have
a copy of the death warrant. I’ll send it to you if you like. We never received
the declaration of war. Very sloppy.”
“To my knowledge, there was no declaration of war, Sam. The IOA is not
authorized to take such an action.” Landry said. “I believe Woolsey misspoke in
your last conversation, But that’s neither here nor there. You should know,
however, that you’ve placed Earth in a precarious position by seizing those
ships, Sam.”
“No, general. I defended my city and my people from hostile vessels, and
neutralized the threat.” Carter said. “But we can talk later about them. As we
acquire more ships from other sources, we may be open to returning one of those
ships, or providing you with others. But rest assured, that should the need arise,
we will assist in the defense of Earth, regardless of our diplomatic status.”
“You would...” Landry began.
“Let us make this clear for everyone listening.” Carter said, looking
directly into a camera. “Atlantis is our home now, and our first responsibility
is to it, and our people. But Earth is our homeworld, and we will not allow
anything to happen to it because of the fumblings of dimwitted politicians and
bureaucrats. Should the need arise, we will bring our ships and cities to
Earth’s defense.”
“Excuse me...your highness.” A voice said. “Did you say cities? Am I to
under...”
“Who is speaking please?” Carter said, a look of irritation crossing her
face. “And I would prefer that address me as colonel, or Samantha.”
“This is Henry Hayes, colonel. President of the
“I was speaking in future tense, sir.” She smiled. “We are aware of other
ancient cities and outposts, and as our population grows, we plan on restoring
them, and expanding our domain.”
“Thank you, colonel. Knowing that you have a place in your heart for
Earth gives me hope for the future.” Hayes said. “Would you accept the
recognition of the
Carter touched a button beside her, and Samuels came up on a monitor off
to the side.
“Your thoughts Andi?” She asked.
“It would be in the best interests of all parties to have some sort of
formal agreement in place, Sam.” Samuels said. “I’m Dr. Andi Samuels,
gentlemen. Foreign Minister. It also allows us to deal directly with the
“What type of personnel would you be referring to, Dr. Samuels?” Landry
asked
“Doctors, engineers, skilled labor, construction workers.” Samuels
answered. “I’m sending you Col. Carter’s outline for the department she
proposed to the IOA, and copies of requests she has sent to the Pentagon, then
the IOA over the years she was with the SGC. You will see what we have in mind for
Pegasus, and eventually, the Milky Way galaxy.”
Samuels turned her attention back to Carter. “If I may? This is as good
a time as any.” She said.
Carter nodded, taking Tammy’s hand again as she sat back, crossing her
legs.
“We will announce a date for the coronation in the next few days. Our
tentative plan is to have that in sixty days, and we are on schedule for that.”
She said, looking at her notes. “Representatives from Earth are of course
welcome, but we would ask that you assist us by arranging transportation for
family members and friends of the colonel’s court. We will provide you a list
of who we wish to have in attendance.”
“If I may.” Hayes said. “I’ve been through two inaugurations, and both
were a nightmare. I don’t even want to begin to imagine what my staff went
through. As an act of friendship, would you allow us to assist you in planning
and preparing for the coronation? I’m sure that our friends with royal houses
would also be willing to assist.”
“Thank you, Henry.” Carter smiled. “We would appreciate that. Can I
assume that you would like to accompany Gen. Landry to the ceremony?”
“Yes, please. My wife and I weren’t invited to several recent events,
and to be honest, if I missed an event such as this, I’d never hear the end of
it.” Hayes laughed. “And I would like to see your fair city. From what I’ve
seen and heard, it is a sight to behold.”
“If we could get back on topic.” Samuels said. “Col. Carter will
appreciate any assistance the American government wishes to provide, and we
believe that formal relations between us are acceptable. This is of course,
contingent on a later agreement with a body representing all the peoples of
Earth. This is non-negotiable. All of our diplomatic relations will be done on
a by world basis, not individual states on those worlds. That is not an issue
in Pegasus, but will present a problem in the Milky Way.”
“My staff will prepare and send an outline of our needs, as well as what
we have to offer in the form of trade, training, and technology. We should
establish channels of communication, but those are details that can be worked
out later.” Samuels said. “For now, I believe we should exchange statements of
intent, then have representatives meet to formalize an agreement. Those talks
should take place on neutral ground, and I believe Chulak would be a good
choice for that, since we both have friendly relations with the Free Jaffa
Nation.”
“That will be acceptable, doctor.” Hayes said. “My staff will have that
statement of intent to you by close of business today, and we’ll await your
next communication on the other issues.” Hayes paused, then addressed Carter.
“Col. Carter, I regret that you were put in a position that you felt it
necessary to take the steps you have. But from what I have heard today, and
from briefings recently, I am beginning to believe that this might actually be
for the best. I want to assure you, that the American government will work with
you in any way we can, to ensure peaceful, productive relations between
Atlantis, the peoples of the Pegasus galaxy, and Earth.”
“Thank you, Mr. President.” Carter replied formally. “Friendly relations
with our homeworld is the most important diplomatic effort we have, and is
foremost in our minds. Our people will wish to return home someday, to see
their families and loved ones. You have our assurances as well, that we have
only warmest feelings for Earth, and her peoples. We truly hope that we can
once again become a family, and not just friends.”
“I believe that we should conclude this initial meeting on that high
note.” Samuels said. “Gen. Landry, we will be communicating with you regularly
over the next several days, and will have an introductory package for you by
close of business as agreed. We will accept any communications from you of
course.”
“Thank you, doctor.” Landry said, looking down at his monitor. “I will
forward everything as it is received from
“Gladly general.” Samuels smiled. “If no one has anything else, I
believe we’re finished.” She paused for a moment. “Thank you gentlemen,
Atlantis out.”
The monitor over the door went dark, and Samuels looked up at them from
her monitor. “Ops confirms the gate is closed. We’re clear.”
“That went better than I expected. But we’ll have to wait and see what
they come back with.” Carter said. She looked over at the monitor and grinned.
“And when did you get a staff Andi?”
“As soon as you approve it, my queen.” Samuels laughed. “Would you like
to come home and talk more, or would you like to see your new conference
center?”
“We’ll come home. See you in a few.”
Interior-Kitchen
1530 Hours
“I’m going to ask Andi to make us up a greatest hit disks of us doing it.”
Tammy said as she sat on the toilet. “I think it would be kewl to watch us
doing it while we did it.”
“Don’t you dare!” Sam said, coming over to stand in front of her. “It’s
bad enough that she watches us, but...”
“Oh come on, Sam! You never watched porn before?” Tammy laughed as she
stood up. “Just think how hot it’ll be! We’re the stars!”
“I don’t even want to think about that, much less talk about it.” Sam
said, shaking her head as she walked out of the bathroom. “I’ll be in the
kitchen.” She called back over her shoulder.
Tammy came into the kitchen a few minutes later, and stopped behind
Andi. She leaned down and whispered to her, and Andi looked back at her, then
shook her head. She looked back at her tablet, then waved her over to take her
seat.
“We received a gate address to send the drones to, and the initial
package for the diplomacy. Still no ZPM’s.” Samuels said. “The statement of
intent is straightforward, and doesn’t commit them to anything. That’s to be
expected. Our’s reads the same way. But it’s just an opening gesture.”
“What do you think? Are they legit, or are they playing a game?” Carter
asked.
“Hayes means what he says, but he’d prefer to keep us, and the gate
program in American hands. I don’t have a problem with that, but I agree that
we deal with worlds, not states. So they’re going to have to grow up. I think
they’ll do it, but they’ll only approach the developed, or industrialized
countries, they won’t include the third world. We can look at dealing with
forty or so countries, not just the five the IOA was made up of. That’s a
representative sample, call it a little over sixty percent of the total
population of the planet.”
“What we have to watch out for is the big dogs. The Americans, the
Russians and the Chinese. The Russians and Chinese have been letting the
Americans foot the bill for the gate program since they found out about it, but
have been demanding a share of all technologies found, while trying to call the
shots by using threats of exposure, even war. That’s more the Chinese more than
the Russians. They’re going to be pushing for settlements in Pegasus inside the
first year.”
“So we’ll be pulled into a diplomatic cesspool on Earth, while trying to
establish our own relationships here in Pegasus.” Carter said, shaking her
head.
“No, we tell them up front that we won’t do that.” Samuels said. “We
deal with whatever agency they present us, in good faith, but we sit down
privately with the leadership of the big three beforehand. We explain to them
what we expect, and if they find it unacceptable, we tell them all deals are
off, they can give us a call if you need us.”
“There’s six billion people on that planet, and there has already been
noise about wanting to resettle some of them somewhere else. Involuntarily, of
course. With Atlantis as a shield, they’ll want to look here for that. The
Milky Way would actually be safer, but they won’t see that.”
“Are you saying that they still see us as their property? A wayward
child as it were?” Tammy asked.
“That’s a good analogy. There are some that believe that we will come to
our senses, and come running home to mama.” Samuels said. “Another group, a
small one thankfully, will do everything they can to impede our progress.
They’ll eventually be ignored and left out of the process once others see that
we’re standing on our own, and are making strides without Earth’s help. The
bulk of the people that we’ll be dealing with will see what we’re offering as a
benefit, and try to figure out how to get a piece of the pie for their people.
That’s the group we target.”
“The way you say it, it makes it sound like we don’t want to deal with
any of them, Andi.” Keller said.
“Necessary evils, and I admit, neither diplomacy nor psychiatry are the
friendliest of languages for describing people or relationships. Let’s talk
about the group that will want us to do something for them.” Samuels said.
“Let’s table this for a while instead.” Carter said. “I’m not up for
listening to another three hour lecture. Make your arrangements, see what they
have to say, and keep me in the loop. How many people do you have working for
you right now, Andi?”
“Directly? Forty or so, then another two hundred reporting through
them.” Samuels told her. “That’s in half a dozen different efforts, including
translating manuals, database searches, and making arrangements to import
refugees.”
Carter nodded. “I’d like all of you to give me an org chart. I want to
see who is working on what, and what progress they’re making. That means
formalizing your departments, with an outline of duties, responsibilities and
goals. I’m thinking that we’re already duplicating efforts, and I’d like to
stop it before it gets started, or too deeply ingrained.”
“Andi, you mentioned to Tammy the other night that you want to bring in
a household staff, and secretaries for me and her. I like that idea. I also
like your idea of desks in the bedroom. Make it happen as soon as possible. And
start staffing your diplomatic corps. Take what you need from any department,
but feel free to go offworld if you need to. Keep it in Pegasus.”
She looked around the table at them. “I’ve been the worst offender, at
least when it comes to winging it. I’ve been throwing out ideas and orders, and
expecting things to get done. I’ve been able do that, because I have the best
people working for me, but as we start to grow, things are going to get out of
control. So I want daily status reports from all of you. Copy Tammy, and the
other department heads. And while I’m on it, if you get a reply from Tammy,
follow it, she’s my co-queen, and shares my authority, but only senior staff
needs to know that.”
“In addition to your household guard, Ronin wants to setup a strike
force, which I think is a good idea.” Sheppard said. “We have rapid response
teams, but now that we have these spec ops people, we might as well make use of
them. I want to recruit as we import people too, not all of them are going to
have the ancient gene, and we’re not going to need that much manual labor.”
“You’d be surprised how much manual labor we’re going to need, John.”
Samuels said, sliding a tablet down to him. “With each city running at full
capacity, it could take as many as twenty-eight thousand unskilled workers too
keep them going. Of course, we’ll need another forty-five thousand skilled
workers to get everything running at peak capacity.”
“Seventy-three thousand people to run each of them?” Tammy said. “Are
you sure about that Andi? I mean...”
“The actual number to run both cities is over a hundred and ten
thousand, Tammy. Once you add in clerical, support and management staffs.”
Samuels said. “Right now, with the exception of the drone facility on the east
pier, all our efforts are being concentrated on the north pier. We should hit
five percent production in some of those shops by the end of the week.”
“Two hundred thousand people.” Carter said slowly. She shook her head,
looking around the table. “It looks like we have out work cut out for us. Let’s
get to it.”
Interior-Office
1710 Hours
“May we speak?” Teyla said softly. drawing Carter off to one side as the
meeting broke up, and people drifted into the living room. “Privately?”
“Of course, Teyla.” Sam said. “Would my office be private enough? Or
would you prefer to go outside? We can...”
“The office will be fine. I have news of...we must talk.”
Carter led her into her office, closing the door behind her. Teyla took
a seat, perching on the edge a chair, and Sam looked at her as she leaned
against the desk.
“What’s on your mind, Teyla?” Carter asked. “We should be celebrating,
but you look frightened, or at the very least, nervous. What’s wrong?”
Teyla looked up at her for a moment. “I do not wish to tell you, but I
must.” She paused, her eyes pleading before she dropped them. “We have word of
a gathering of hive ships. Ten so far, and their escorts, but we believe that
more are on the way. We do not know why. A gathering such as this has never
occurred before in the memory of my people.”
“And you’re worried what we might do. Especially since Daedalus is
equipped with cloaking technology now.”
“He will wish to go, Samantha!” Teyla said in a rush. “He knows of my
hatred for the Wraith, and will want to go and attempt to destroy as many of
them as he can. I cannot ask you to stop him...”
“You just did, Teyla. And I would do the same.” Sam said as she went
over and knelt in front of her, putting her arms around. She was silent as she
held her, glad that she hadn’t begun to cry, but as she thought about it, she
had never seen Teyla cry. Leaning back, she held her at arms length, meeting
her eyes.
“I’ll need to speak to John and Steven, but I can assure you, I will not
send one ship into a hornets nest like that, no matter what we thought they
could do.” She let Teyla absorb that, then continued. “But if Apollo can be
ready, I may have to send both of them. But you knew that before we came in
here, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” Teyla said quietly. “I have not spoken of this. Only to you. But
we must tell them, so plans can be made, and options weighed...”
“I’ll want you to go with them, if we decide to do anything.” Carter
said, as she moved over and sat in the chair next to her. “With your knowledge
of Wraith ships, we can’t afford not to have you there. Would you do that for
me?”
“You need not...how does John say it...work me, Samantha.” Teyla said
with a smile as she stood up. “But yes, I will accompany them. And thank you.”
Carter waved her back into her seat, and leaned over, opening the door.
“John, Steven? Would you come in here please?” She called. “And would you call
Jack? I’d like to talk to him too.”
“Here!” O’Neill said, high stepping into the room. He grinned down at
them as he looked around for a seat. “That little brat Bra’tac brought with him
hasn’t shut up, or sat down since he got here. I had to get out of there.”
“Sit here, Jack.” Carter said as she stood up and went behind her desk.
O’Neill turned to Teyla as he sat down. “You and Caldwell. I didn’t see
that one coming.” He said lightly.
“Yes, apparently you do not see many things when it comes to affairs of
the heart, general.” She replied with a wry smile. “Let us hope your vision is
better when it comes to military matters.”
“Ouch.” O’Neill said, wincing, then smiling at her. “I guess I had that
coming. I was about to add that I thought you looked good together. Is this a
new thing, or have you been interested for a while?”
Teyla looked at him for a moment before she replied. “I did not care for
him when first we met, but he showed himself as a capable fighter during the
Wraith siege of the city. He had changed when he returned to Atlantis following
his encounter with the Goa’uld.”
She seemed to almost look through him as she continued. “The arrogance
had been replaced by thoughtful self confidence, and I found that appealing.
When he joined us, he spoke from his heart, wanting to help right the terrible
wrong being done against Samantha.”
“Having a snake in your head will make you take a good hard look at
yourself.” O’Neill said. “I was glad we could save him. There was pressure from
“Then I owe you my thanks.” She said.
Sheppard came in and had a seat. “
Carter nodded and smiled. “Vala was host to the Goa’uld Katesh for
almost fifty years. So if anyone can relate to what he’s been through, it’s
her. You should run ideas through her, she can be conniving and devious. She
knew every sneak thief, con artist and underworld operator in the Milky Way,
and bested them all. I’m going to put her with Andi when she gets her intelligence
services up and running.”
“Well, we should as...”
“That woman isn’t as dumb as she puts on.”
“I’m glad everyone is catching on about Vala.” Carter laughed. “I didn’t
say anything because I wanted you to see it for yourselves. She won’t head
anything, she an operator, and it would be a shame to waste her skills, that’s
why she’s a royal advisor. I’m going to ask her to be our emissary to the
Genii.” She laughed again as she looked around the room.
O’Neill grinned wolfishly. “They’ll never know what hit them! You may end
up with new subjects, not just allies.” He laughed.
“That would be a best case scenario. But we asked everyone to come in
here to discuss something else.” She said, looking at Teyla. “Teyla has
information you need to hear, so I’ll let her have the floor.”
Teyla glanced at
“One of their scout ships detected a gathering of hive ships in a remote
sector of the galaxy, I have the coordinates. So far, they have confirmed ten
hives, and they believe that more are on the way.”
She looked around the room before she spoke again. “Such a gathering is
unknown in the history of my people. The Wraith are broken into factions that
are openly hostile to each other, and often fight amongst themselves over
territory. They are, however, all subject to one queen that they call the
Primary. All the factions are loyal to her.”
“So taking her out could throw them into disarray, and maybe even get
them fighting each other.” Carter said. She looked at Teyla. “Do you know how
the Primary is chosen? It can’t be hereditary, so I’m betting that the head of
the strongest alliance takes it be force.”
“I do not know, Samantha. Many of the leaders in this galaxy are chosen
by who leads the strongest armies. It would seem natural that the Wraith would
do the same.”
Carter nodded and stood up. “We can’t really do anything else tonight,
but I want you all to think on it. I’d like to hear some options in the
morning. Let’s go into the living room, I’m sure Vala has Andi in a tizzy by
now. Either that, or she’s trying to seduce Tammy.”
“Zelenka’s people just knocked off for the night, and he’s saying that
the cloak on the Apollo is operational. I’d like to do a few test runs, and see
how she performs. If he has feedback waiting in the morning, they’ll be able to
get her ready that much quicker.”
“That’s a good idea.” Sheppard nodded. “Do you want to just do jump
tests, or go live fire with the jumpers again? I think Marks was having a good
time when you guys were doing the shakedowns on the Daedalus.”
“He was having a blast.”
park ride. But I was thinking of using the three-oh-two’s this time.
They have roughly the same radar signature and maneuvering capability as a
dart, so it would be a better test for us.”
“That’s a good idea. Copy me on whatever you send Zelenka, and send me
results on how you do against the
three-oh-two’s. Put all your birds in the air, and have them do
targeting runs on asteroids or rocks in their areas, we might as well use the
time to get them some practice too. We want them moving, going on sitting
targets doesn’t really tell us anything.”
Sheppard grinned as
“What’s Steven doing, John?” she asked.
“He wants to do some test runs on the Apollo. Zelenka’s people just
knocked off for the night, and say the cloak is operational.” He said as he
turned toward her.
“That’s fine
, Teyla doesn’t look to happy, but let him have his fun.” She told him.
“I’m going to have Tammy see about getting us something to eat, do you want to
stay, or do you having else going?”
“No, I need to talk to Samuels about
“Good, leave the towers alone, and concentrate on the production
facilities.” She said as they walked toward the windows. “We want to bring then
online as soon as we can. And get a structural scan. Andi has concerns about it
not being space worthy. We can live with that, but having two working starships
makes us a force to be reckoned with.”
“Let’s not worry about that yet. We can defend both cities, that’s
enough for now.” Sheppard said, looking out over the ocean. “I can’t believe
I’m saying that, but we have other things we need to do first. I’d like to see
us making alliances, and diplomatic ties before we start looking at getting
aggressive.”
“I agree, but...nevermind, you’re right. Let’s take it slow for now.”
She said. “We all have enough on our plates as it is. And speaking of plates,
I’m getting hungry, so I’m going to see if I can get Tammy to rustle something
up.”
1850 Hours
“Prepare to exit hyperspace and acquire targets, Mr. Marks.”
“Aye, sir. Exiting hyperspace in ten seconds...full stop, three targets
acquired. Firing. Reversing to starb...”
The ship shuddered, and Marks was thrown violently against his console.
“Inertial dampeners offline.” The weapons officer said as his hands flew
over his console. He glanced at Marks. “Cloak and shields holding steady.”
“Sublight engines coming online, sir.” Marks said. “Moving ahead, one
half sublight.”
“What the hell just happened, Marks?”
“Checking sir. All systems online. Breaking off.” Marks said, turning to
look at
“Bridge to all stations.”
“Recall the birds in the area, Marks. Once we’ve got them, we’ll go to
the next zone.”
“Aye, sir. Sickbays reports eleven injuries, nothing major.”
“Nevermind Marks, we’re not gonna chance it. Notify all birds to standby
for pickup, then take us home.”
Interior-Dr. Zelenka’s Lab
2010 Hours
“Just explain it to us nice and slow, doc.
“Bunch of egghead pansies.”
“A power relay in the sublight control system failed. It had nothing to
do with the cloak being installed, so we didn’t test it.” Zelenka said, showing
them on the telemetry where the relay failed. “I’ll have a crew replace it in
the morning, and check all the other systems as well. Just so you know, this
was not caused by our cloak installation. The Apollo may be overdue for
maintenance. We have no control over that.”
“That’s fine, doc.” Sheppard said. “No one is blaming you. But I’d like
your crew going over that bucket bright and early tomorrow. We may have to take
her out. I’m not sure who we’re putting in the big chair yet, but if she’s
gonna act like this, it may end up being me. I’m not going to put someone in
command of a ship I wouldn’t fly myself.”
“And I won’t fly with someone dumb enough to fly in a busted bucket of
bolts like this.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll send them out now. If you’ll excuse me.” Zelenka said as
he scurried out of the lab.
“I think you scared him.” Sheppard said as he stepped through the door.
“You made him run out of his own lab.”
“You were going to let him sit on his ass all night. “Bright and early.
The fucking ship is in space for gods sake! It’s dark all the time. Mensa my
ass.”
“It really irks you that I’m your boss now, doesn’t it?” Sheppard
grinned. “Let go get a beer.”
“Like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Now you’re talkin’.” Sheppard said as he keyed the porter.
Ends