Confirming Carter3 Changes02
Three Days Later
Interior-Gateroom
0650 Hours
The vortex burst from the gate, consuming the makeshift pyre they had
put up, along with the body. As the vortex receded, a man stepped from the
gate.
“Whore!” He shouted, his face twisting into a mask of rage as he drew a
handgun, pointing it at Carter as he began firing.
“Don’t kill him, we need him alive.” Tammy shouted as she pushed Sam to
the floor, covering her body with her own. Her hand pawed at the personal
shield as they tumbled off the platform.
Ronin stepped forward, his own gun whining as he set it to stun. Weapons
fire sounded from all around him as the marines opened up on the man. Walking
forward slowly, he fired again and again, not taking his eyes off the man until
he lay limp on the floor.
“Are you and the colonel okay, Tammy?” He called, glancing over at where
he had last seen them. He kicked the body lying on the floor in front of him,
rolling it over. He kept his gun trained on it the whole time.
“I...I took a hit...I couldn’t get my shield up. Sam...Sam’s okay.”
Tammy panted, rolling off of Sam onto the floor.
“You’re hit?” Sam cried out as she scrambled to her knees beside her.
“Where, baby? Oh god.” she moaned as she saw blood soaking Tammy’s vest, just
above her waist.
“I need a med team in here right now!” She shouted as she ripped Tammy’s
vest open, and felt around the wound. She looked up at the marine closest to
her. “I mean now, goddamn it! Move!”
“They’re on the way, colonel. They’ll be here in two minutes.” He said
calmly, pushing her aside as he knelt beside her, then pulled a battle dressing
from his flak jacket and tore it open. “Roll her toward me so I can get this on
the wound.” He said as he shook it out, then pressed it to her side, applying
pressure.
“What’s your name?” She asked him as she sat back on her heels, watching
him work.
“Carter, ma’am. Steven Carter.” He said. “No relation.”
“Did you shoot at him?” She asked.
“Two hits. Hip and thigh.” He said as he lifted the dressing and looked
at the wound. He smiled as he glanced over at her. “In and out, it just grazed
her.” His face got hard again and he added, “I’m sorry ma’am, I had to pull low
when she yelled not to kill him. That let him get off more shots.”
“You did your job. Thank you.” She said softly, leaning over and kissing
him lightly on the cheek.
“I’m sorry, Sam.” Tammy groaned, trying to sit up. “I should have had
the shield on. Thank god you did.”
“I know, he scored two hits on me, both center chest.”
“Oh god.” Tammy gasped, tears rolling down her face.
“It’s ok, baby. We’re both gonna be okay.” She said softly, brushing her
hair away from her face.
She looked up at Ronin as he stood over the man’s body. “Is he alive,
Ronin?”
“He’s alive. How’s Tammy?”
“Flesh wound. It looks like it just grazed her.”
He nodded, his face clouding up with anger. “What do you want me to do
with this?” He asked, kicking the man as he began to stir.
“Take him to detention. I’ll be with you as soon as I can.” She said as
the med team came up behind her. “I want to know what’s the hell is going on,
but there’s something I have to do first.”
“Carter.” She said, looking back over her shoulder as she strode across
the gateroom. “You and your squad, on me.”
* * * * *
Sgt. Carter stood with his back to her as he waited at the door to her
office. Sam was at her desk, going through the logs of the STM bridge. Her face
paled as she saw the entries in the logs matched the gate events. There was no
doubt that it was the bridge that was causing all this.
She got up, and moving quickly, she pushed past Carter and went into the
kitchen, digging in drawers for the biggest knife she could find. She ran the
blade across the back of her arm to test the edge.
“Colonel?” Carter said softly behind her.
“What?” She grunted as she pulled open another drawer, looking for a
whetstone.
“If you want that knife for what I think you do...”
“Shut up marine.” She grunted, looking back over her shoulder at him.
She stopped, then turned around when she saw what he was holding in his hand.
“This’ll do a better job for what you have in mind than anything you
have in here.” He said quietly, holding his fighting knife out to her, butt
first.
“
* * * * *
“He’s not going to last long if we don’t get someone to look at him.”
Ronin said as she walked into the detention center.
“He doesn’t have to.” Sam grunted as she stared at the man in the cell.
He was kneeling, bound hand and foot. A
short piece of wood spread his knees apart, and a long pole ran up his back to
keep him upright. “Open the door.”
“Are you sure?” Ronin asked, then hit the control as she glared at him
over her shoulder.
“Who are you?” She asked the man as she backhanded him in the face with
the butt of the bowie knife, knocking him backward and making him topple to one
side.
Stepping over him, she grabbed him by the hair and jerked him up,
getting him settled back on his knees.
“Who are you?” She asked again. She drew the knife back, getting ready
for another swing.
“Sulan Qint, Knight of Atlantis.” He shouted at her. He spat a mouthful
of blood at her. “But you know that, you witch whore! I served you faithfully
before you betrayed us!”
“Who wants us dead? And why.” She leaned down, her lips brushing his
ear. “And if you call me whore again, I’ll cut your balls off and let you wear
them for earrings.”
“It doesn’t matter what you do to me, witch.” He grunted, staring up at
her. “The Dorquan will see you dead before this is through. Your demon spawn as
well.”
“Who is this Dorquan, and why does he want us dead?” She asked as she
squatted in front of him and dug the blade of the knife into one of the wounds
on his leg.
Qint screamed, and she pulled the blade back and stood up. “I asked you
a question. Who and why. Tell me, or I start cutting off pieces.”
“You know, but I’ll play your game witch.” He groaned. “The Dorquan
decreed that you and the child must die when it was discovered that you had
mated with a demon, replacing your husband’s legitimate heir!”
“And you believed that bullshit?” She laughed. “Where the fuck are you
from, Oz?”
“Ronin, my brother knight, I beg you! Slay this witch and her demon
spawn so our people will know peace.” Qint cried out suddenly. “Why do you
serve her? You kno...”
Carter backhanded him across the mouth, sending blood and teeth flying
across the room.
“Shut up!” She screamed as she kicked at him. “He serves me because it
is just and right that he serve me you piece of shit! Now tell me why your
master wants her dead!”
Qint fell in a heap on the floor, staring at her. “You...”
“You’re finally getting it, huh asshole?” She whispered harshly. “This
isn’t your Atlantis. You jumped into a different universe on your way to
wherever you were going.” She leaned closer, her face a mask of hate. “But I’ll
tell you this. You succeeded. She’s dead, we were having her funeral when you came
through the gate and started shooting up my city.”
She leaned even closer, her hands resting on either side of him, her
face inches from his.
“But you only did half the job. The child lives.” She paused, smiling down
at him as his eyes got wide. “That’s right. And I’m going to raise him as my
own, as I hope my sister would do for me.”
She stood up, holding her hand out behind her as she looked down at him.
“I’m going to kill you now. Not because you killed her, but because you shot my
wife you piece of shit!” She said, her voice rising to a shriek. She kicked him
again, looking back as Ronin put his gun in her hand.
“Thank you.” She said softly. “What’s it set to?”
“It’ll do what you want to do.” Ronin said softly as he stepped back.
She nodded as she stepped right up over Qint, her feet straddling his
body. She looked down at him, her eyes blazing with hate.
“If you thought she was a witch, you ain’t seen nuthin yet, asshole.”
She said quietly. “After I kill you, I’m going to go kill your precious
Dorquan, your family, your world. I’m going to go kill your whole fucking
universe. And when her son is old enough to understand, I’m going to tell him
about you, and how I avenged his mother.”
She stared him in the eye as she raised the gun and fired point blank at
his face. The blast disintegrated his head, sending pieces of flesh and shards
of bone flying in all directions. Her next shot hit him at the neck line, and
she continued firing, working her way down the body until it fell in half. She
started shooting at the pieces, moving the gun from side to side.
Ronin stepped over and grabbed the gun, jerking it from her hand. “He’s
dead, colonel. You can stop now.” He said gently, putting his arm around her
shoulders and leading her out of the cell.
“I’m not done yet.” She said as she shook him off and walked quickly
toward the porter. “Come with me, both of you.”
The rest of Carter’s squad was waiting for them just outside the
detention area, and they stared at her as she strode passed them. She stopped
at the porter and looked at the marines.
“Give us your weapons and ammo, and go back to your quarters.” She said
as she looked from man to man.
“What happened in there, colonel? Are you okay?” A corporal asked,
staring at her.
She looked down, noticing for the first time that she was covered in
blood.
“I’m fine.” She said smiling at him. “It’s not mine.”
“You heard the queen! Weapons and ammo, now.” Carter barked, holding out
his hands. He looked at one on the end and added, “
He looked back over his shoulder at Ronin.
“I’m good, but thanks.” Ronin said as he took weapons from the marines,
handing one back to Sam.
When they’d collected everything, they stepped into the porter and Ronin
keyed in the code for her suite. He grabbed her arm, stopping her as the doors
opened.
“Take off your clothes.” He said as she looked up at him. “You’ll get
blood all over everything if you don’t.”
She nodded and ripped her vest open, shrugging it off, then opened the
button on her pants and pushed them down. She looked down, then wiped her feet
on the wad of clothes on the floor. She looked at Carter as she stepped out.
“Hold the porter. I’ll be right back.”
Ronin followed her into the office, and stood watching as she worked at
the keyboard of her ancient terminal.
“Are you really going to do it?” He asked her quietly.
“Do what?” She asked him, looking up at him with a bland expression on
her face.
He nodded, and stepped over by the door, letting her work.
A few minutes later, she stood up and took his hand as she went out the
door.
“Yes, I am.” She said quietly.
“Good.” Was all he said.
They joined Carter in the porter, and she tapped out the symbols for the
gateroom. When the doors opened, He stepped in front of her and held up the
flak jacket. “Put this on.” He said, holding it out to her. “I’m not letting
you go into a firefight butt naked.” He glanced over at Ronin.
Ronin nodded, then squatted down, picking up her vest and lifting the
shield pendant from it. He handed it to her, and she pressed it to her skin. It
began to glow as she ran her fingers down the center of it.
“I’m good.” She said as she brushed him aside and walked over in front
of the gate. She turned and looked up at the techs on the balcony. “Open the
gate, it doesn’t matter what address. And give me an open channel. Squeeze as
many frequencies onto it as you can.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The tech answered and a moment later, the gate began to
dial.
“Clear the gateroom. Everybody out.” She said, looking around. “I’ll let
you know when you can come back”
The last tech was stepping into the porter as the seventh symbol locked
on the gate. A moment later, the vortex burst into the room.
“Fan out, three meter spread.” She said, reaching up and touching her
ear. “I don’t know what’s going to...damn, I need a comm.”
“Here.” Carter said, tossing his over to her. “I want that back.”
She put the comm on and pressed the button on it, waiting for the beep.
When she heard it, she stepped forward, her arms spread wide, and shouted at
the gate.
“Dorquan! I am Samantha Carter, Queen of Atlantis, and I come to avenge
my sister, who you have unjustly murdered! Come face me you coward, or face a
death you cannot escape!”
She looked at the men on either side of her. “Shoot anything that comes
through the gate. Don’t give them a chance.”
Both men nodded, guns at the ready.
“I’m waiting for you, Dorquan.” She said, stepping closer to the gate.
“Come face me. Or do you need your minions to do that for you.”
“What of the child?” A calm voice asked a moment later. “Does it live?”
She froze, her heart skipping a beat.
“He lives, and I will raise him as my own. I believe she would do the
same for me.”
“You did not know her. But perhaps you are right, filth begets filth,
and clings together.”
“Why. I would know why she had to die. It seems such a pointless death.”
“She displeased me, and I grew tired of her. As I grow tired of you.”
The voice said in her ear. She took a step toward the portal, then gasped as
she felt a hand grip her arm, pulling her back.
She looked over her shoulder, and saw Ronin looking at her. ‘Trap’, he
mouthed, pulling her further back.
She nodded, and turned back toward the gate.
“I’m sure she tired of you long before...”
“SILENCE!” The voice shouted. “What have you done witch? How is this
possible? What magic do you use...”
“There are many forms of magic, little man. What you are seeing is but
one.” She said calmly. “You will be dead before the portal closes, long before,
I would think, but I’m going to wait to make sure.”
“How? No such magic exists.” the voice said.
“Not in your reality. But I have reached out and touched yours from
mine. A fateful accident. But one with dire consequences. For you.”
“Stop this! I am Dorq...”
“And I am Samantha Carter. I come to avenge my sister. You don’t fuck
with my family.” she said softly.
There was no response, so she stood, waiting patiently.
Before she knew it, the gate shut down on its own. She turned and looked
at Ronin. “Has it been thirty-eight minutes already?”
He nodded, coming over and taking the guns from her hands, handing them
to Carter.
“Come on.” He said, taking her by the hand. “Let’s go the infirmary,
they should have Tammy patched up by now.”
* * * * *
Jennifer spotted her as they walked into the infirmary. She hurried
over, pointing at her office. Carter started to walk by her, but Jennifer
stepped in front of her, stopping her.
“Go in my office Sam.” She said softly, looking over her shoulder at
Ronin, then back at Sam. “Tammy is fine. It was a clean wound, no damage to any
organs. But we need to get you cleaned up, and get you some clothes before you
see her.”
Sam looked at her, then nodded and stepped into the office with Ronin.
Sgt. Carter stopped and stood in front of the door, looking around as he held
his weapon at the ready.
Jennifer went over to a cabinet and pulled down a set of scrubs, then
got a box of wipes and a bottle of antiseptic, and went into her office,
closing the door behind her.
“Sit down, and don’t give me any shit.” She said as she pushed Sam back
onto the couch. She knelt in front of her, tossing the scrubs onto the couch as
she tore open the box of wipes. “I don’t know what you’ve been doing, but I’m
not letting Tammy see you like this.”
Pulling a handful of wipes from the box, she poured antiseptic over
them, then began wiping the blood from her face.
“Thank you, Jennifer. You’re a good friend.” Sam said softly, sitting
quietly as she let her work.
“This isn’t your blood.” Keller said, dropping the wad of wipes on the
floor.
“No.” Sam said.
Keller looked at her as she began cleaning her neck, then moved down to
her hands. She looked up at Ronin. “There’s a brush in my top desk drawer, left
side.” She said. “Get it for me?”
Ronin nodded, and moved around behind the desk. He found the brush, and
came back, standing quietly behind her.
“Can you tell me what happened?” Jennifer asked, pulling Sam forward so
she could wipe some blood off her shoulder. She examined her quickly as she cleaned
her, relieved when she found no wounds.
“A man came through the gate, and started shooting.” Sam said quietly.
“I know about that. What happened after?” Keller said, reaching over and
picking up the scrub top. She shook it out and handed it to her. “How did you
get all this blood all over you?”
“Need to know, Jenn.” Carter said as she took the top and pulled it over
her head. “You don’t.” She stood up and grabbed the pants, stepping into them,
then holding her hand out to Ronin for the brush.
She ran it through her hair quickly, then shook her head, and looked at
Keller, handing her the brush.
“Take me to her.”
* * * * *
“Tammy?” She said quietly as she stepped up next to the bed, taking her
hand in hers.
“Hi baby.” Tammy smiled groggily, squeezing her hand. “I’m so sorry. I
should have had my shield on. It was stup...”
“Shhhhh, it’s okay. You’re going to be okay.” Sam whispered as she
leaned down and kissed her forehead. “That’s all that matters, so don’t think
about it anymore.”
“Did he tell you anything?” Tammy asked her.
Sam nodded and smiled softly. “Who and why. It was pointless, and sad.”
She shook her head as tears ran down her cheeks. “”It was such a waste, love.”
“What are we going to do?” Tammy asked her.
“It’s done. We won’t be hearing from them again.” Sam told her.
Tammy looked at her for a moment, then nodded. “Thank you.”
“I did it for all of us.” Sam said, her voice cracking as she spoke.
“But mostly for her. She deserved better.”
“Sam?” Jennifer said as she came up behind her. “We need to let her
rest. The meds should wear off in a couple hours, and I’ll let you take her
home then. But for now, I want her to try to sleep.”
“Yes ma’am.” Sam said, looking down at Tammy and squeezing her hand. She
leaned down and kissed her gently, then looked back at Keller. “Call me when I
can come get her, Jenn.”
“Go sweetie, you have things you have to do.” Tammy said. “I’ll be fine.
I’ll see you in a little while.”
Sam nodded, then turned and walked away. Ronin followed, and as she
passed Carter at the infirmary door, he heard her say, “Come with me.”
Interior-Kitchen
0845 Hours
She told them to wait for her in the kitchen as she stepped out of the
porter and went into her bedroom. Pulling off the scrubs, she went into the
bathroom, showering quickly, then getting fresh clothes from her closet.
Still buttoning her vest as she walked into her office, she moved behind
her desk and checked the STM bridge. The bridge had collapsed, because the
universe it was connected to no longer existed. She looked at the screen for a
moment, watching the ‘No Target Selected’ message flash, then shut the system
down, and turned off the terminal. Opening her desk drawer, she picked up her
spoon and moved out from behind her desk. She walked out the door and down the
hall to the kitchen.
Most of the court was gathered in the kitchen when she walked in. She
looked around, then stepped over next to Ronin and Carter.
“I need the room.” She said. “We’ll be with you shortly.”
She waited as they filed out, then turned to face Carter. Ronin glanced
down, and saw that she had her spoon in her hand.
“You stood by me today, defending my city and my love.” She said softly.
“I didn’t do it alone, colonel.” He said, meeting her gaze.
“After...what we did...after.” She said, stepping closer to him.
Ronin put his hand on Carter’s shoulder, pushing down lightly. Carter
looked at him and Ronin nodded. “Join us, in the brotherhood.”
Carter stared at him, then dropped to one knee in front of her.
“Steven Carter, in recognition of your service to us, we wish to reward
you with honors befitting your loyalty and your deeds. Do you accept this
honor, and pledge to serve us faithfully and well?”
“Always, my queen.” he said quietly, his head bowed.
She reached out with her spoon, and laid it gently on each of his
shoulders.
“Rise, Sir Steven.” She said. “Welcome to the Knighthood of Atlantis.
May we serve each other well.”
She took him in her arms as he got to his feet. “Thank you.” She
whispered as she drew back. “My sister will do her part when she returns. For
now, let me introduce you to the family.”
* * * * *
“Knights of Atlantis, stand forward.” She said as they came into the
living room.
The four officers stepped away from the group and assembled before her.
Ronin stepped past her and joined them.
“Gentlemen, allow me to present your brother, Sir Steven Carter. Please
make him welcome to the Knighthood.”
The officers came to attention, with Ronin imitating them. They saluted
as a group, then dropped it and gathered around him, drawing him off to the
side.
“What di...”
“He was rewarded for service to his queens, and our city.” He said
softly. “I was there, he’s worthy of it. That’s all you need to know.”
Carter came up behind them, joining the circle. “I said make him
welcome, not run off with him.” She said lightly.
She looked over at Carter, smiling softly. “Now I need to figure out
what to do with you. I like to keep my knights close.”
“I need a captain of the guard.” Ronin said. “Someone I can trust.”
“And?” She asked, her smile widening.
“I want him.”
“Steven?” She said, then shook her head. “That’s not going to work. I
already have a Stephen. And we can’t just call you Carter, that will be
confusing too.”
“Cisco. My friends call me Cisco, ma’am.” he told her.
“That fits.” She laughed. “Especially with that big ass...”
She stopped, staring at him. “Oh my god, Your knife! What did I do...”
“You gave it back to me. But you still have my comm.” He told her.
“And you said you wanted it back.” She said, reaching up and pulling it
off, holding it out to him.
“I finally got one that worked.” He said as he took it and put it on. “I
just don’t want to jinx it.”
“Can you tell us what happened?”
She nodded at him.
“That about covers it.” She said. “Ronin and Cisco’s team took him out.
I know how it happened, and it will never happen again.”
“This has something to do with Prince Jacob, doesn’t it?”
“Jacob and his mother...my sister, along with the intruder this morning
were intercepted and brought here by my STM bridge.” She said, looking at him.
“I’ve taken steps to ensure that it won’t happen again. Including shutting down
the bridge. We really don’t need it right now, so it’s not a hardship.”
“The situation has been dealt with, Stephen.” She said, cutting him off.
“We won’t need to speak of this again.” She looked at each of them. “Is that
understood?
“Yes, ma’am.” They all said.
“Ronin, Cisco. A moment if you will?” She said, then walked over to the
windows.
“Ronin,” She said as they came up behind her. “Get with Andi, and get
him quarters near you. Introduce him to your teams, and get him into the
rotation. I want you two to split the teams between you. One of you will be on
at all times.”
She paused, then turned, smiling at them. “I’m sorry, Cisco. But you
need to audition.” She glanced over at Ronin. “We’ll do it in the morning. Let
me know when you’re ready. Make sure you bring Amelia.”
Ronin nodded.
She saw Sheppard heading toward them, and she met him halfway. “John, I’m
sorry, but...”
“We need to talk.” He said. “Can we go in your office?”
She looked at him for a moment, then nodded. She led the way, closing
the door behind them.
Sheppard held out a flash drive. “I watched the video feeds from the gateroom
and the detention center. I copied them onto this, and deleted them from the
servers. No one else needs to know what happened this morning.”
She stared at him, then took the drive and slipped it into her pocket.
“Did anything happen here? Did you talk to...”
“No. Nothing that anyone can use to make a connection, even Andi.” She
said. “The most they’ll see is me working at my terminal, and you can’t see
what I’m doing on it. There’s no audio in this room either.”
Sheppard nodded. “Good. I’ll discharge Carter, and get him transferred
over to Ronin. We should do that quickly. What do you want to do about the rest
of his team?”
“Nothing, they don’t know anything. The most they can say is they saw me
with some blood on me.” She said. “Promote one of them to sergeant, we should
keep them together.”
He nodded again and stepped toward the door.
“John?”
He turned and looked at her.
“Did I do...”
“Don’t start second guessing yourself now.” He said, coming back to
stand in front of her. “It’s done. Would I have done the same thing? Yes. My
only regret is you didn’t get to watch the bastard die.”
She nodded, looking down at the floor.
Lifting her chin with his fingers so her eyes met his, he looked at her,
then said, “Put this behind you. We need you. Our people need you, and Tammy is
going to need you. Don’t dwell on this. It’s done, and we need to move
forward.”
Interior-Floor 140,
0940 Hours
“As captain of the guard, you’ll report directly to Ronin. He’ll give
you duty assignments and brief you on what may be going on with the queens, or
anything else you need to be aware of.” Andi said as she led him into the
suite. “This is a city view. There’s two other open suites on this floor, so if
you don’t like this one, we can look at one of the others...”
“After two years in an open bay with twenty other guys, this is fine.”
Cisco said, looking around. He turned back to her after a moment. “When can I
expect to report for duty? And when will I meet the guards?” He asked.
“You won’t go into the rotation until Ronin and Amanda give you an
audition.” She said. “You’re going to have to prove yourself to them before
they’ll let you go out with the queens.”
He nodded. “The colonel mentioned that. She says she wants to do it in
the morning.”
“She’s planning on being there?” Samuels asked, looking at him closely.
“I wasn’t expecting that. You must have impressed her. Just what happened this
morning? I went to look at the video from the gateroom, and it had been
deleted.”
“I’m not at liber...” He began.
“Sergeant, I’m the foreign minister of Atlantis, and I’ve been in on
this from day one.” She said. “When I ask you what’s going on in the city, you
tell me, is that understood?”
“Yes ma’am, I understand.” He said carefully. “But you’ll need to take
this up with the colonel. I’m sure she’ll tell you whatever she thinks you need
to know.”
Samuels nodded, staring at him. She looked down at her tablet, then
pulled a slip of paper from her pocket and handed it to him.
“This has your access code on it, you need it to get in and out of the
royal residence, that’s building fifty-eight on the southwest pier. The first
set of symbols will get you into the colonel’s suite. The next one is for your
quarters. We’re on floor one forty of the north tower. The conference room is
up on forty-four. The last set of symbols is for the east tower. That’s the
formal dining room. With me so far?”
“Yes ma’am.” He said, nodding as he looked at the slip of paper
“You and Ronin will be on call twenty-four seven.” She told him. “He’s
been doing twenty hour days since he started, and I’m amazed at how well he’s
holding up. You can work out a division of labor, but one of the first things
I’d like you to do is work with him on how we do things, and teach him how to
use our computers. I’m not sure he knows how.”
She paused, then smiled at him. “You can expect to put in some long days
for the next few weeks. The colonel and Tammy are going to want to have you
around so they can get used to you, and I’m sure Ronin is going to have you working
with the guards, either teaching them what you know, or catching up to them.”
“So how did you get the name Cisco?” She asked. “Got anything to do with
the Cisco Kid? You a cowboy or something?”
“No ma’am.” He laughed. “My dad works at Cisco. And when I first got
here, he was sending me care packages from their mailroom. They let employees
ship free to military family members. So every time I’d get a package, the
sergeant would yell ‘Cisco’, and it stuck.”
“That’s precious!” Samuels laughed. “And I think we’re done for now. Why
don’t you go get your gear and bring it over here. Sam is visiting with her
father, and Tammy is still in the infirmary. I’m pretty sure it’ll be a couple
hours before we need you. But keep your comms on, and plan on joining them for
dinner.”
Interior-Guest Quarters,
1000 Hours
“I’m sorry I couldn’t get over sooner, Dad.” Carter said as she came
into the suite. “It’s just been a busy morning.” She walked over and hugged him
quickly, then went over and sat down on a couch.
“It looks like it.” Jacob said as he came over and sat beside her.
“Selmac and I have been going over what we talked about last night, and we have
some ideas.” He glanced over at Ronin and the marines standing by the door.
“Can we speak privately?”
“We are speaking privately, Dad.” She said. “I trust these men with my
life. None of them will repeat anything they hear.”
“I see.” He said. “So you don’t trust us either.”
“Dad, I haven’t seen you in over a year, and before you found out about
the stargate program, I was a disappointment to you because I didn’t want to be
an astronaut, and fly on the shuttle.”
“That’s not tru...”
“Yes, Dad. It is. But I’m over it, and I like having you in my life
again, accepting what I’m doing. It makes me feel good. But to be honest, I
don’t trust the Tok’Ra anymore than they trust me. That’s why I can’t be alone
with you.”
“You believe that I would try to blend with you.” Selmac said, taking
control.
“I’m just not sure, Selmac. And I don’t want to put you in the position
where you might be tempted.” She said. “I’ve always liked you, as an
individual. You have a better sense of humor than most Tok’Ra I’ve met. And
I’ll always be in your debt for what you’ve done for my father.”
“I owe you a debt as well, and if only for that, I would never blend
with you without your consent.” He said. “But I understand that you must
protect yourself, and your people. I take no offense.”
“Good.” She said, leaning back on the couch. “My Dad said you had some
ideas. And can I have him back? I really need someone to rub my feet for me,
and...”
“Martouf enjoyed having his feet rubbed as well.” Selmac said, a small
smile on his face. He held out his hands as he slid back on the couch. “If I
may? I can assure you that your father does not enjoy this activity.”
“Knock yourself out.” She grinned, twisting on the couch so she was
leaning back against the armrest. She lifted her feet into his lap and sighed
happily as he began rubbing them gently.
“Given what we saw last night, and I must admit, the view of your city,
lit as it was, was magnificent.” He said as he massaged the ball of one foot.
“But what you told us about your plans, with what the Asgard have told us, has
convinced me that our best course of action is to leave you alone, and let you progress
at your own pace. This is what I will tell the High Council.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” She said, sighing as he increased the pressure
on her foot. “But you said basically the same thing last night, you just didn’t
commit to it. I haven’t heard anything new yet.”
“You mentioned establishing trade with the
“That’s one of the issues we’re still looking at.” She said. “And to be
honest, it’s our biggest roadblock. We’re still trying to figure it out.”
“The ancients left many outposts in both galaxies, perhaps if one could
be located and restored, it could be used as a gateway of sorts.” He said.
“That’s a great idea. Do you know of any outposts like that?” She said.
“Having you assist in locating some of those outposts would go a long way
toward convincing me that we can work together, as partners.”
“I do not have specific knowledge of any at the moment.” He said. “But
should the council know of any, why would they wish share that information,
given your reluctance to allow them into this galaxy.”
“Well, to begin with, I wouldn’t expect them to do it out of the
goodness of their hearts. I’d be willing to compensate them, probably in the
form of technology and research. I might even throw in training with our
ancient teaching machines if they got me a really good one.”
“That is an attractive offer, and I will pass it along to the council.”
He said. “But I fear that it still may not be enough. They will wish to be
active participants in any venture you establish between our galaxies.”
“Well, the best I can do there would be to make them my agents in the
Milky Way. They can act as brokers, managing the network on their end.”
“The High Council will not accept simply being merchants, and
shopkeepers.” Selmac said.
She lifted her feet from his lap and sat up on the couch. She smiled at
him as she spoke again.
“Let’s put it all on the table, shall we? I don’t need the Tok’Ra. I
already have the
“What you say is true. Both the humans and the
“Then your people think less of themselves than I gave them credit for.”
She said. “With the last of the system lords out of the picture, the Tok’Ra
have access to more Goa’uld technology than anyone in your galaxy. And you not
only know what and where it is, you know how to use it.”
“What are you suggesting, that the Tok’Ra do as you seek to do, and
distribute Goa’uld technology to any that ask for it?”
“Not quite. I’m saying that you should use the technology you have to
help people live better lives, not try to tell people how to live their lives.”
She stood up and stretched, then looked back down at him.
“Tell me something, Selmac. Why did the Tok’Ra begin fighting the
Goa’uld in the first place? I thought it was because you objected to how they
treated the people under their control, that you wanted to help free them. Was
I wrong? I was there when they found Egeria on Pangara. She was proud of what
your people had accomplished fighting the Goa’uld. What would she think if she
knew that you were making moves to replace them?”
“That is not what we are doing, Samantha...”
“That’s what it sounded like to me last night. The first thing you said
was that the High Council had concerns about humans having control of ancient
technology. That told me that they wanted to limit our development, just like
the Goa’uld did with the rest of the galaxy.”
“Yes, I can see how you would interpret it that way, but that is not what
was meant.” He said. “We only wish to prevent you from making mistakes that
will cause harm. Not just to the Tok’Ra, but to the galaxy itself.”
“But what gives you the right to make those decisions? The fact that
you’ve been running around the galaxy longer then we have? You didn’t make any
of the technology you use. You stole it from the Goa’uld, who stole it from the
people that developed it. We came into possession of technology abandoned by
its creators. That falls under the law of finders keepers in my book. I’m doing
the same thing you did, and you want to tell me I can’t. That’s just not
right.”
She paused to catch her breath. “There’s one more thing I want you to
tell the council for me.” She said. “Tell them not to confuse experience with
wisdom. And remind them that the capacity for intelligence, doesn’t guarantee
it. Just because you’re older than I am, and genetically disposed to be more
intelligent than I am, doesn’t mean that you’re smarter or wiser. Tell them to
think about that.”
“Wow, you knocked his socks off baby. “ Jacob laughed. “The Asgard were
right about you. And I think we’re going to have to get you to meet with the
High Council, that’s the only way we’re going to get your case across.”
“I’ll do a video conference anytime they want, we do it with Earth all
the time.” She said as she walked over to Ronin.
“Comm.” She said, holding out her hand.
“Carter to Cisco.” She said as she put the headset on.
“Go on Cisco.” He answered immediately.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m putting my gear away ma’am.”
“Good, what do you think of the new place?” she asked.
“It’s nice, and the view is great.” He said. “I’m going to have to stock
up, the cupboard is bare.”
“We’ll take care of that.” She laughed. “Meet me in the infirmary in ten
minutes. We’re doing lunch with my Dad and Landry, and I want them to meet you.
I also want to spend some time with you.”
“Yes ma’am, I’ll be there.”
“Dress is casual. You won’t be wearing a uniform anymore, so wear your
civvies till we get you something else.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He said. “Anything else?”
“That’s all for now. Carter out.”
She handed the comm back to Ronin and turned back to Jacob.
“I have to go down to the infirmary for a few minutes, Dad.” She said lightly.
“Ronin is going to take you over to the house, and when I get back, we can eat
lunch before I send you and Gen. Landry home.”
She turned to Ronin and grinned. “Have Landry brought over to the house,
and call ahead and have someone order food. You can go ahead and start eating,
I don’t know how long this is going to take.”
He nodded, smiling as she moved towards the door, motioning to the three
marines.
“You three, on me.” She said as she walked through the doorway.
Interior-Infirmary
1140 Hours
“Jenn?” She said, standing in the door of Keller’s office.
“Sam. I was just about to call you.” Jennifer said, standing up and
coming around from behind the desk.
“How is she?”
“Oh, she’s fine.” Jennifer said as she led her out the door. “The bullet
went in and out through the transverse abdominis on her right side, here.” She
said, running her hand over her own side just over her hip. “She’s going to be
sore for a few days, but she’s in no danger. It never got close to a major
organ.”
“So can I take her home?” Sam asked.
“Oh god, would you? Please?” Keller laughed, leading her over to Tammy’s
bed. “She’s been a pain in the ass since she woke up.”
“Sam!” Tammy said when she saw her. “For the love of god, get me out of
here!”
“Well, it looks like you’re in agreement.” Sam laughed as she took
Tammy’s hand. “You want out of here, and she wants you out of here.”
“Let me take these leads off before you try to get out of bed, okay?”
Jennifer said. “For god’s sake Tam...”
She stopped suddenly when she saw a man standing a few feet behind Sam.
“Can I help you?” she said as she looked over at him.
“I’m here to see the colonel.” he said quietly. “I can wait.”
“Who’s the stud, Sam? You replacing me already?” Tammy asked, looking
him up and down.
Carter turned around, her eyes going wide when she saw Cisco. “Wow. Not
quite what I was expecting when I told you to wear your civvies. But she’s
right, you’re hot.”
He was wearing a pair of skin tight jeans, cowboy boots and a black
Willie Nelson t-shirt. The t-shirt clung to him like a second skin, and every
muscle on his upper body was on display.
He shrugged his shoulders as he put his hands in his pockets and ducked
his head.
“Sorry colonel.” He said. “But these are my civvies.”
“Oh my god, he’s blushing.” Tammy laughed. “So who is he?”
Sam held out her hand and he came over, standing beside her.
“Tammy, Jennifer, allow me to introduce Sir Steven Carter. No relation”
She grinned as she looked over at him. “He’s going to be our new captain of the
guard.”
“Sir Steven?” Tammy asked, looking back and forth between them. “When
did this happen?”
“He goes by Cisco.” Sam said. “And it happened this morning. I’ll
explain later, okay?”
“That’s fine.” Tammy said, turning and sitting on the side of the bed.
“Did you bring it?”
Sam reached into her pocket, pulled out her spoon and handed it to
Tammy.
“You put the battle dressing on me.” Tammy said to Cisco.
“Yes ma’am.”
“How many times did you hit him?”
“Twice, hip and thigh. I had to pull low when you said not to kill him.”
“What else did you do? Why did she knight you?”
“Tammy. I said I’d...”
“Let him answer Sam.” Tammy said, not taking her eyes off him.
“I stood with my queen to defend our city, ma’am.” He said quietly,
meeting her gaze.
Tammy nodded as she slid off the bed and said, “Take a step back and
kneel.”
He took a step back, glanced down, then took another step back. Dropping
to one knee, he bowed his head and waited.
“Steven Carter, in recognition of your service to us, we wish to reward
you with honors befitting your loyalty and your deeds.” Tammy said as she
stepped forward. “Do you accept this honor, and pledge to serve us faithfully
and well?”
“Yes, my queen.” he said quietly, his head bowed.
Tammy reached out with the spoon, and laid it gently on each of his
shoulders.
“Rise, Sir Steven.” She said. “Welcome to the Knighthood of Atlantis.
May we serve each other well.”
He stood and Tammy put her arms around him. “Thank you.” She said
softly, then released him.
“What did Ronin have to say?” She asked Sam as she reached for her hand.
“He asked for him as captain of the guard.” Sam said. “I think he’s been
studying.”
“So you’re loyal, discreet, and buff.” Tammy said. “I think I’m going to
like having you around.”
She turned to Jennifer and grinned at her.
“Get a sample before you send him home.” She said as she walked away,
pulling Sam behind her.
Jennifer handed him a plastic cup.
“I’m sorry.” She said, trying not to smile. “But we don’t have any
magazines. You’ll just have to use your imagination.”
Interior-Kitchen
1220 Hours
“So how much did you get, Jenn?” Tammy asked as she saw Keller and Cisco
come onto the kitchen.
“He’s a bull. He damn near filled the cup.” Jennifer laughed. “I think
he did it twice though.”
“Really...” Tammy said slowly. She glanced over at Sam and grinned.
“Ask him if you want. I got mine.” Sam said.
She looked down the table at Ronin.
“Let’s do that audition today, Ronin.” She said. “Call Amanda and ask
her to come over. We can do it after lunch.”
“Let’s do it now.” Cisco said. “I don’t like to workout on a full
stomach.”
“He’s got a point.” Sam said, standing up.
“What’s going on?” Landry asked.
“I’m sorry, Hank.” She said as she walked over toward the door to the
gym. “This is Sir Steven Carter, known a Cisco. He’s going to be the captain of
my guard. He has to audition first though. Come on up and watch.”
She looked over at Cisco, a sly smile on her face.
“And judging by his attitude, I’m betting it’s just going to be a
formality.”
She opened the door and started up the stairs. Ronin looked over at
Cisco, looking him up and down. Cisco just stared back.
* * * * *
“Full speed, full contact, anything goes.” Tammy told Cisco as they
gathered at the far end of the gym. “No deathblows, and keep the broken bones
to a minimum. A win is a knockout or a submission. Understand?”
“Yes.” He said. “Straight-up hand to hand, no weapons?”
“Not to start. We just want to see what you have.”
He nodded and pulled up his pants leg and pulled his knife from his
boot. He paused and pulled his boots off, stuffing the knife in one, then
reached behind his back and pulled two small pistols from the waistband of his
jeans, dropping them in the other boot.
“Whoa! Hold-up there, Cisco.” Sam laughed. “Let me see those peashooters
you got there.”
He looked at her, then pulled the guns from his boot. He broke one open
and shook the rounds out into his boot, then dropped the clip from the other
one into it. He worked the slide, then handed them to her.
“Pepperbox. I’ve heard about these, but I’ve never seen one.” She said
as she turned it in her hand. She handed it to Tammy as she looked at the other
gun. “You’re not going to stop anything with this little thirty-two though.”
“I use explosive rounds, mercury tipped.” He said as he opened his pants
and pushed them down over his hips. He pulled them off over his feet, then
pulled his socks off and dropped them next to his boots. When he stood up, he
was wearing his t-shirt and a jockstrap.
“Nasty.” Tammy said, looking at him. “But it does add punch.”
Ronin had been watching him as he spoke to them, then stepped forward
when Cisco faced him.
They circled on the mat, and Cisco opened with a spinning backhand
roundhouse that Ronin blocked easily. Ronin’s eyes went wide as his feet were
swept out from under him and Cisco landed on top of him, his arms closing
around his neck, his fingers griping his chin.
“You’re dead.” Cisco said softly. “I just snapped your neck.”
Ronin nodded, and Cisco released him and moved back.
Ronin got to his feet and faced him again. He leaped at Cisco with an
overhand punch. Cisco stood his ground and took the punch on his shoulder as he
drove both fists into his kidneys and ribs half a dozen times. Ronin staggered
back and Cisco followed him, grabbing the front of his shirt and jerking him
forward, head butting him, then bringing his knee up into his crotch several
times.
Ronin collapsed on the mat, and Cisco looked over at Sam.
“Next.” He said quietly.
“That’s me.” Amanda said as she stepped onto the mat and helped Ronin to
his feet. She was guiding him off the mat when she spun and darted at Cisco,
dropping low, going for his legs.
He dodged to the side and landed a punch on the back of her head. Amanda
dropped to the mat and didn’t move. He circled her slowly at a distance, then
squatted, turning his head to get a better look at her face.
Standing up, he took another step back. “Would someone check her, and
make sure she’s okay? At this point, I’d just shoot her.”
Amanda rolled over and got to her feet, laughing as she rubbed the back
of her head.
“I’m not going to be able to beat him, not if he’s gonna act like that.”
Sam nodded, looking over at Tammy. “What do you think?”
“I like what I’ve seen so far, but I wish Teyla was here.” Tammy said.
“And I wish I wasn’t hurt, so we could double team him.”
“On the mat? Or...” Sam laughed.
“Either, or both.” Tammy laughed.
“If you would indulge me, Samantha.” Bra’tac said as he pulled off his
robe and stepped over to the weapons rack. He picked up two staffs and tossed
one to Cisco, stepping onto the mat in his breechclout.
They circled each other, probing with their staffs, each trying to find
an opening. Bra’tac stepped forward, his staff a blur as he worked it from side
to side. Cisco blocked every blow, then spun to the side, dodging out of the
way.
Bra’tac planted his staff on the mat and swung around on it, driving his
feet at him. Cisco ducked out of the way, and Bra’tac released his staff and
dropped onto his back, driving his fists into his sides in a flurry of blows.
Cisco had twisted under him before they hit the mat and had his arms
locked around his throat, his legs wrapped around his ribcage, squeezing
tightly.
Bra’tac had an arm across his throat, choking him, and was driving his
other fist into his face
when Sam called draw.
They broke apart, and Cisco picked up his staff, facing Bra’tac. Bra’tac
shook his head and picked up fighting sticks. Coming back onto the mat, he held
a pair out to Cisco, then swung at his head as he was reaching for them.
Cisco ducked, gripping the sticks and driving them into his midsection,
then pulled back and got one in each hand, a small smile on his face as he
faced Bra’tac again. Bra’tac nodded, and Cisco charged him.
The sound of wood on wood sounded through the room as they exchanged
blows, neither of them able to land anything. They broke off, going back to
circling each other.
Bra’tac opened with a flurry of swings, and Cisco let his guard drop,
taking one on his left side as he reached over Bra’tac’s back, pounding up and
down his spine with the blunt ended stick. Bra’tac dropped to his knees and
Cisco brought the other stick around, stopping it just before it connected.
Bra’tac looked up at him and nodded, and Cisco stepped back and held out
his hand, helping him up.
“You’ve had training, that much is obvious.” Sam said. “Let’s hear the
resume.”
“Karate, judo, jujitsu, savate, street, and a little of whatever the
“I want to see Ronin and Amanda at the same time.” Tammy said.
Cisco nodded and faced them, waiting calmly.
“No, he’ll take us both.” Ronin said. “Make him head of the house
guards, and your personal guard.”
“I agree, we can learn alot from him.” Amanda said, then looked at
Cisco. “What belts?”
“Red.”
“Which disciplines?”
Cisco grinned and put his head down for a second, then looked up at her.
“All of them. Well, I don’t know about the
“Master.” Bra’tac said, stepping over and holding out his hand to Cisco.
“You matched me easily. And you willingly took damage to win, few in my
experience would go so far.”
He looked over at Sam. “I agree with Ronin. With his skills and
attitude, no harm will come to you in his presence.”
Tammy saw him wince as he bent over to pick up his jeans, and she walked
over to him.
“Hold up a second, Cisco. Let me look at you.” She said as she lifted
his t-shirt and ran her fingers over his side. “I thought so. You’ve got at
least two broken ribs.”
“A couple fingers too.” He said, holding up his hand.
“Okay, let’s get you down to thirty-one and get you patched up.” She
looked over her shoulder at the group. “Someone call ahead and tell them we’re
coming down.” She bent down and picked up his clothes and boots, handing them
to him. “Let’s go.”
* * * * *
“Why did you want a sperm sample?” Cisco asked Tammy as they got on the
elevator.
She looked over at Sam.
“Don’t look at me. You’re the one that wants it.” Sam laughed.
“I want to have your baby.” She said bluntly. “We’d go in vitro of
course, after Jenn picked which little swimmers she’d want to let into the
pond.” She looked at Sam again, then stepped closer, running her fingers
lightly over his chest. “But you can still make a direct deposit if you want, I
wouldn’t mind.”
He stared at her.
“Are you serious?”
“About which part?” Sam asked as she moved to the other side of him.
“She’s serious about wanting a baby, we both do. I already have my donor, we
were going to use the same one, but you look like good stock, and having
different fathers might be a good idea.”
She dragged her fingers over his chest next to Tammy’s. “But would that
be a problem? Having sex with us, I mean?”
“We’re really good in bed, and...” Tammy said.
“I...I don’t know what to say.” He said blushing furiously.
“We’d have to be discreet of course.” Sam said. “But since you’re going
to be with us all the time anyway...” She dropped her hand down and stroked it
over the front of his jock.
She looked up at him, then over at Tammy.
“Big?” She asked as she glanced down.
Sam nodded, then stepped back, taking his hand and pulling him behind
her off the elevator.
“Think about it, Cisco.” She said as she led him to the med bay. “It’s
going to take a few days for those ribs to heal, and Tammy’s hurt too, so
there’s no hurry.”
“Speak for yourself.” Tammy laughed. “I can’t remember the last time I
had a good shtupping.”
“Shtupping? Did you actually just use the word ‘shtupping’?” Sam
laughed.
* * * * *
“What would happen if I said no?” Cisco asked as he laid on the bed in
the med bay.
“To which part?” Sam asked, glancing at Tammy.
“The second thing.” He said, looking at Susan as she stood at the
controls of the scanner. “I’m fine with the other one, honored even.”
“Nothing would happen.” Tammy said. “You’d do your job, and we go on
business as usual. We won’t take it personally.”
“I’ll be back in a minute.” Susan told him. “I need to go next door and
get the other scanner. I don’t know who keeps moving it in there.”
“We’re not asking you to be our boyfriend or anything.” Sam said as the
doors closed behind Susan. “It’s just that sometimes, it would be nice to...”
“To get fucked till our brains run out of our ears and make a puddle on
the bed.” Tammy finished for her.
Cisco laughed, wincing and holding his side. “Oh god, don’t do that.
Please don’t make me laugh again.”
“You’re going to see us having sex anyway.” Tammy said. “We do it a
couple times a day, all over the house. Most of the time we clear the floor,
but we forget sometimes.”
“Just think of it as one of the perks of the job.” Sam said, walking
over and standing in front of Tammy. She pulled her hands up so they were
cupping her breasts, her eyes closing as Tammy started nibbling at her neck.
“But it’s not like we’re going to want it everyday. Not after the first few
weeks, I mean.”
Tammy moved her hands down to Sam’s waist when she heard the door swoosh
open, and she looked over at Susan as she pushed the ancient scanner over by
the bed.
“Why did you want that one, Susan? Did you see something on the other
scan?” She asked as she walked over next to the bed.
“I’m not sure.” Susan said. “And I wanted to get a better look. This
thing will give me a 3D view and let me look from different angles. Here, take
a look, and tell me what you think.” She said as she handed Tammy her tablet.
“Is something wrong?” Cisco asked, looking back and forth between them.
“Based on what we just saw upstairs, I want to say no.” Tammy said. “But
looking at this, I don’t know what to think.”
“Let’s do some blood work, Jennifer’s going to want it, and have you
called her yet?” She asked Susan.
“Yeah, she’s on her way.” Susan said, going over and opening a cabinet.
“She should be here by now.”
“Oh my god!” Jennifer laughed as she came in. “You just couldn’t wait to
get him into bed, could you?”
“Would you pass up beefcake like this?” Tammy laughed. “We were gonna
tag team him.”
“I’m in.” Susan said as she came over with a tray.
“Susan!” Keller laughed. “What would Robbie say?”
“I wasn’t planning on telling him.” Susan said as she wrapped a rubber
tube around his upper arm. She tapped on the inside of his arm to bring a vein
up, then slipped a needle in and quickly filled two vials with blood.
“Not that I’m complaining,” Cisco said, looking around at them. “But is
anyone going to look at my ribs before I start servicing you all?”
“Your ribs are fine, a couple of hairline fractures. I’m more worried
about the fingers.” Susan said and she picked up another syringe from the tray
and injected a clear liquid into his hand at the base of his middle finger.
“Let’s get the scanner set up before you do anything on that.” Keller
said. “I looked at the first scans, and I want a better look with the ancient
one.”
“What did you see?” He asked.
“Nothing serious, definitely not life threatening.” Susan said. “It’s
just that your internal organs seem to be...larger than normal.”
“It looks like the external ones are too.” Tammy said, looking at his
crotch.
“Oh for god’s sake.” he laughed, reaching down and pulling his jock off
to one side. His cock flopped out, dangling limply over the wrinkled sac of his
scrotum. “Happy now?”
“Wow.” Susan muttered, stepping closer.
“That’s a nice dick you got there, Cisco.” Tammy said. “Can I touch it?”
“Move over, I want to see too.” Sam said as she came up next to Tammy.
“John’s is bigger.” Jennifer said to no one in particular.
“Yeah, but it would be weird doing it with him.” Sam said. “I can’t even
fantasize about that.”
“I do.” Tammy and Susan said at the same time.
“Really?” Sam asked, looking at Tammy.
“Just...sometimes. You know, when I...never while we’re doing it.” Tammy
said. “I wake up and...”
“Uh huh.”
“I can save you some trouble.” Cisco said as he pulled his jock back in
place. “They saw the same thing on my initial medical exam. They said it was no
big deal.”
“I wasn’t done with that.” Tammy said, reaching for his jock.
“Yes, you are.” He said, grinning at her as he sat up. He looked over at
Keller. “Why don’t you do this. Look at my records, then if you still think
there’s a problem, I’ll let you check me out again. But before you do that, can
we do what we came down here for, or do I have to go over to the infirmary?”
“He’s assertive too.” Sam said, smiling at him. “I think I made a good
choice.”
“Let’s do this.” Jennifer said coming around in front of him. She pushed
Tammy out of the way and grinned at him. “You’re here, we have the equipment
ready, and it will only take a couple of minutes to do the scan we want. If it
will make you feel any better, I’ll throw these two out so you can relax.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” Sam said, glaring at her,
“Okay, Doc. Do your scan.” He said, laying back down on the table. “But
let them stay. I didn’t realize that this job was going to be this much fun.”
“I think he likes us.” Sam said, putting her arm around Tammy’s waist.
“I know he does.” Tammy said, smiling at him.
Interior-Kitchen
1450 Hours
Bra’tac and a squad of marines had taken Landry and Jacob over to the
gateroom so they could go back to Earth while they’d been in the med bay.
They’d said their goodbyes, and assured Sam and Tammy that they would stay in
touch.
“Your heart is more than thirty percent larger than the average human
heart. Your lungs a little over twenty percent larger.” Jennifer was telling
him. “Kidneys and liver not quite ten percent. This isn’t a genetic defect or
anomaly. I think there’s something else at work here.”
“You already know what it is doc.” He said. “Just tell them, so they
quit fretting.”
“When did you start martial arts training, or what sports did you play
in school, at what level?” She asked.
“I didn’t play sports in school, my family moved around alot.” He said.
“But I started learning how to fight before I could walk. I have five
brothers.”
“I thought it was something like that.” She said nodding. “Who gave you
your early training? Did you study with the same person for a while at the
beginning?”
“Yeah, we took lessons from a crazy old chinaman who thought Bruce Lee
was a fag.” He told her. “I was already a brown belt when they enrolled us in
the new dojo. I think I was eight, maybe nine. I got my first black belt at
ten.”
She looked over at Sam and Tammy. “Now that we got his booboo’s taken
care of, he’s gonna be fine. Susan overreacted, I guess she’s never seen a world
class athlete before. At least, not the inside of one.”
“His internal structure is the same as a typical olympic athlete, they
demonstrate the same traits. I knew there was nothing wrong with him when I saw
that his resting heart rate was forty-two.”
“You took Ronin down twice in less than a minute both times. I don’t
think that first one lasted twenty seconds.” Sam said.
Cisco nodded. “I watch him all the time in the gym, I like his
roughhouse style. He hasn’t had much formal training, he learned what he does
by fighting, and incorporating what works for him. I had an advantage, he’s
never seen me fight.”
“Why is that? That we didn’t hear about you.” Sam asked him. “And why
didn’t you tryout already?”
“I didn’t know that there were open tryouts, and I don’t spar in the
gym. There’s no one I can go with and not worry about hurting them.” He said.
“I tried when I first got here, but I kept sending people to the infirmary, so
my sergeant told me to knock it off. Now I just do my katas out on the east pier.
I guess I just slipped under the radar.”
He paused for a moment, then looked over at Sam. “What’s the old man’s
name? I’ve seen him before.”
“That’s Master Bra’tac.” She said with a grin. “Teal’c was his
apprentice, and succeeded him as first prime of Apophis.”
“I thought so, I just wasn’t sure. I know Teal’c, I used to spar with
him. I spent three years at the SGC before I came here. I was on SG-14.”
“Is he going to be okay?” Ronin asked as he came into the kitchen.
“I’m fine, they got me taped up.” Cisco said, starting to get up. “You
need me for something?”
Ronin waved him down and stopped next to Carter. “I wanted to talk to
the colonel about how we’re going to set up the guard, now that we have you.”
“We can do that.” She said, looking up at him. “Have a seat, and let’s
hear what you have to say.”
“You don’t need me for this, so I think I’m going to go back over to the
infirmary for a while. I have a few things I need to catch up on.” Keller said
as she stood up.
She looked down at Cisco as she went by. “Change the tape on those
fingers everyday, and keep the splints on for at least a week. You can get the
wrap on those ribs changed day after tomorrow. Come to the infirmary, or Susan
can do it downstairs. It’s waterproof, so you can shower in it.”
“Thanks, doc.” He nodded
“Come back for dinner later if you want, Jenn. And bring John, we’re
going to want everyone to get used to having Cisco around.” Tammy said, getting
up and filling her glass.
“We’ll do that. Thanks.”
“What’s on your mind, Ronin?” Carter asked as she left.
“I said it upstairs, make him head of the guard.” Ronin said, looking
down at the table. “I don’t know what I’m doing. and I don’t want what happened
this morning to happen again.”
“No.” She said. “You are my guardian of the realm, and head of the
household guard. If you don’t think you know how to do the job, we’ll get
people in to teach you how to do it. We just got you your first teacher. He can
teach you the military structure we use here, and how the guard is going to fit
into it.”
“And you’ve been doing a great job so far.” Tammy said. “You’ve got
people picked out, and are getting them trained. And you’ve got us trained not
to leave the house without a team.”
“You didn’t turn your shield on.” He said, looking down the table at
her. He looked over at Carter, then back at Tammy. “I keep telling you that you
have to keep them on, because we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Tammy looked away, and before she could say anything, Cisco spoke up.
“She got the colonel out of the line of fire and was covering her while
we took him down.” He said. “She made a mistake, but she made up for it. And
that was our fault too, for not checking.”
He looked down the table at Carter. “Can we do this here? Or do you want
us to get things worked out between us, let him bring me up to speed, and set
up a program, then come back and tell you what we’re going to do?”
“We don’t have anything planned.” She said. “I wanted to spend some time
with the boys, and I haven’t seen Jacob since this morning. But let’s do it
now.” She looked over at Tammy. “Get them a couple tablets, we might as well
write it down.”
“Okay, then item one, Ronin and I should have quarters in this building,
not all the way across the city. We need easy, unrestricted access to you. Dr.
Samuels said that she had moved everyone else out of this building. Give us two
floors for our security teams.”
“Andi took a floor for the household staff, so having your guys here
won’t be any different.”
Tammy came back and slid a tablet over in front of each of them. Ronin
looked down at his, and Cisco said. “I’ll do it. I’ve got a couple smaller ones
over in my quarters that will work better for us anyway. I’ll show you how to
use it later.”
Ronin nodded and pushed the tablet away.
“Put your guys on thirty-two up to thirty-four, that will give you room
for growth. You two take the suites on the next floor down from us.” She said.
Cisco nodded, and looked over at Ronin. “How many people do you have
picked out so far for the guard? And how were you going to schedule them?”
“We’ve found twenty-eight so far, Amanda wanted to bring in some of the
special forces guys, but I don’t trust them.” Ronin said. “We talked about two
teams of three on eight hour shifts.”
“I don’t trust them either, they don’t have any reason to be loyal yet.”
Cisco said. “But I’d go with a six hour shift. There’s going to be a lot of
standing around on this job, and that wears you down fast. Plus we want some
time for training, and still keep it under a ten or twelve hour day.”
He looked at Carter again. “Can that porter out there be locked out?” He
asked.
“It is, you have to have an access code, and know the symbols for it.”
She said.
“And how many people have access codes?”
“I’d have to look.” She said. “The senior staff, Daniel, Vala and Chuck.
Call it a dozen.”
“I’d like to take that down to two. You and Lady Tammy.” He said.
“Everyone else can go through a security checkpoint on a lower floor and come
up in the elevator. You should know who wants to come up, what they want, and
approve it before they come up.”
“I wanted to do that, but they didn’t like it.” Ronin said.
“They’ll get used to it.” Cisco said. “Besides adding a layer of
security, it ensures them a little privacy. There’s no reason for people to
walk in and out of here anytime they want.”
“We might not miss as many meals that way.” Sam said. “Next?”
“Call your med bay. I think Tammy is bleeding.” He said as he stood up
and moved around the table and knelt beside her chair. Lifting her scrub shirt,
he nodded when he saw the bandage.
“Put your arm around my neck.” He told her as he put his arm behind her
back.
She pushed him away and got to her feet. “I can walk, and do you really
think you’re going to lift me with those ribs?” She laughed. She leaned over and
kissed him on the cheek. “But thank you.”
Ronin led them to the elevator and they went back down to the med bay.
Susan was waiting for them, and she got Tammy up on a table and cut her shirt
off. She was cutting the bandage off when Jennifer walked in.
“I thought I told you to take it easy.” Keller said. She waited while
Susan cleaned the wound, then stepped closer to look at it. “You didn’t tear
the stitches, this blood is coming from inside.”
She looked at Sam, then back at Tammy. “I’m sorry, I must have missed
something. We’re going to have to take her back over to the infirmary. I can’t
do what I need to do here.”
Sam turned and looked at Cisco. “How did you know?”
“She was quiet, not as lively, and I noticed that she was getting pale.
And I saw it on her shirt.”
They got Tammy laid out on the bed and wheeled it out to the porter.
Cisco stopped at the door, and looked at Ronin. “Can you cover this? I need to
touch base with Col. Sheppard, and I’d like to talk to Dr. Samuels again.”
He looked over at Carter. “Is that okay with you?”
“That’s fine, just stay on comms. And plan on doing dinner with us.”
He nodded as he stepped back and watched the porter doors close.
Interior-Marine Barracks,
1600 Hours
“Second squad, front and center.” Cisco called out as he stepped into
the bay.
The men assembled quickly, coming over to stand in front of him.
Before they could say anything, he said, “Come with
Closing the door after the last one, he turned to face them.
“Where the hell have you been, Cisco? And why are you in your civvies?”
One of them asked.
Cisco held up his hand, and looked at them for a minute. “I’m being
transferred to the house guard. I’m going to be working for Ronin Dex.” He
said. “But I need to talk to you about what happened this morning.”
“Yeah, what the hell happened in there?”
“Shut up, and listen to me, all of you.” Cisco said, a hard edge in his
voice. “Have any of you talked about what happened this morning, to anyone?”
They all shook their heads. He looked at them carefully, then nodded and
went on.
“If anyone asks you what happened this morning, and I guarantee they
will, you tell them that an intruder came through the gate, we took him out,
and the colonel dismissed you and sent you back to your quarters.”
He paused again, letting them absorb what he was saying.
“The video from the gateroom and the detention center has been deleted,
so there’s no official record of what happened. But I’m putting all of you up
for commendations anyway. There’s six of us, and he had fifteen bullets in him.
We put him down good.”
“What happened in there Cisco?”
“And she looked like she had skinned a whale when she came out. I ain’t
never seen that mu...”
“Shut up! Just shut the fuck up!” He said softly “This is what’s gonna
cause a problem. You saw a couple things, but you don’t know what happened in
the middle. I do, and I’m gonna tell you right now, I was proud to be standing
beside her.”
“No one else, not even your grandkids fifty years from now can ever hear
about what you saw this morning. I asking you as a friend, and a fellow marine,
keep this to yourselves. It’s best for everyone. Running your mouths about it
will only hurt the queens, and the city.”
“Did she send you down here?”
Cisco shook his head. “She doesn’t know I’m here. They had to take Lady
Tammy back to the infirmary, Keller missed something when they worked on her
earlier.”
“What happened to your hand?”
Cisco grinned. “I had to audition for the job. I kicked the shit outta
Ronin, then Master Bra’tac gave me a lesson in
“You sure about what you’re getting yourself into, Cisco?”
“No, but they’re good people, and I like what they’ve done so far.” He
said. “And I want to help them.”
“Okay, we’ll do it your way, but just so we know, who’s gonna come
asking?”
“Samuels, the foreign minister, maybe Caldwell. It won’t be Sheppard.”
He told them. “She worked me over earlier, and he was pushing the colonel. They
know less than you do, so just be cool, and don’t volunteer anything.”
Interior-Col. Sheppard’s Office,
1630 Hours
“You’re out of uniform, Carter.” Sheppard said as he stood up and came
from behind his desk. “You still work for me.”
“Yes sir, Col. Carter told me to report in civvies, and this is all I
have.” Cisco said, coming to attention.
“Relax, I’m kidding. I already signed your discharge papers.” Sheppard
said as he held out his hand. “What did she call you, Cisco?”
“Yes sir, it a long story.”
“Make it short.”
“An intruder came through the gate and we took him out sir.”
“I suppose your squad is going to say the same thing.”
“Yes sir.”
“Give it a rest Stephen,” Sheppard said. “If anything else happened, the
colonel has a good reason for not telling us. Need to know. Personally, I
believe him.”
“Okay, I just don’t like being left out of the loop.”
“There’s a lot of loops Stephen, you can’t be in all of them.” Sheppard
laughed.
“You got that right.”
“Lady Tammy had to go back to the infirmary, they missed something when
they worked on her this morning.” Cisco told him.
“And?”
“That’s all I know, they haven’t called me yet.”
“Close the door, and have a seat.” Sheppard said, pulling a chair over
and dropping into it. “He’s not a bad guy once you get to know him, it just
takes a while. Give him a little time.”
“Yes sir.”
“You can call me John, or Sheppard.” He laughed. “But that’s going to
take a little time too.”
Sheppard leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs out in front of
him. “I saw the video from the gateroom and the detention center. Was that your
pig sticker she was hitting him with?”
“Yeah, it was better for what she was gonna do than was she was gonna use.
She didn’t use the end I was expecting though.”
“Yeah, she has her own way of doing things, that’s for sure.” Sheppard
said. He looked over at Cisco. “You understand what really happened this
morning, don’t you?”
“Yes sir, we killed them.”
“She killed them, and I’m glad she did.”
“No, we did it. I knew what she was going to do when we went back up to
her suite, and I let her do it. Then I went down and stood with her while she
called him out.” Cisco said
Sheppard nodded. “Now I see why she knighted you. What happened to your
hand?”
“Master Bra’tac gave me a lesson in
“How about Ronin?”
“I don’t think I hurt him too bad. Well, maybe his pride.” Cisco said.
“We’re good. But tell me something, does he know how to read?”
“Some, but not alot. We need to do something about that.” Sheppard said.
“Does he have the ancient gene?”
“I don’t know. Let me look.” Sheppard got up and went over to his desk, bringing
up a file on his laptop, he entered Ronin’s name in the search field and
waited.
“It doesn’t look like he’s every been tested.” He said.
He keyed his comm as he stood up. “Sheppard to Ronin.”
“Ronin.”
“Is the colonel with you, and are you still in the infirmary?”
“Yeah, they’re about to bring Tammy out of surgery. I’ll get the
colonel.” Ronin said.
A moment later, Carter came on. “Yes, John?”
“How’s Tammy?”
“I’m waiting for Jennifer, they’re not out yet.”
“Okay. I don’t have a record of Ronin ever being tested for the ancient
gene. Can we get that done while you’re there?”
“Sure, what made you think of that?”
“I didn’t, Cisco did right after he asked me if Ronin could read.”
“Okay, I’ll take care of that while we’re waiting for Tammy and Jenn.
That all?”
“Yes ma’am. Call me when you know something?”
“Of course. Carter out.”
He closed the channel and looked over at Cisco. “Tammy is still in
surgery, and the colonel is going to have Ronin tested. You got any other ideas
you want to throw out? You’re on a roll.”
“There’s only twenty-eight guards so far, not enough for two three man
teams per shift.” Cisco said. “It didn’t hit me till after they had left, so I
haven’t mentioned it to Ronin. But we could go with two man teams augmented by
marines, at least until we get the guard up to strength.”
“We can do that. Let’s talk to Ronin about it tonight.” Sheppard said.
“I need to get him over for a beer, I’ve been neglecting our friendship. What
else?”
“I heard Ronin got captured and taken back to Sateda, and killed a boss
Wraith there.” Cisco said slowly.
“Actually, it was Dr. Beckett that killed him, with a drone.” Sheppard
said
“Do you know if the Wraith are occupying that planet?”
“I don’t think so, they took him back there so they could hunt him
again. They meant to kill him that time. Why?”
“I was just wondering if there’s anymore of those hand cannons Ronin
carries laying around. Maybe some other stuff.” Cisco said. “From what I hear,
his people were fairly technologically advanced.”
Sheppard just stared at him, then shook his head.
“You’ve been working for me for two years, and I’m just now hearing
about this stuff?”
Cisco shrugged. “I’m just a grunt, colonel. I’ve mentioned it to people
a few times. I just never heard anything else about it.”
“You’re not a grunt anymore, you’re senior staff now.” Sheppard said
seriously. “If you get an idea, talk to someone else on the senior staff, or go
right to the queens, you’re going to have their ear. It sounds like you have
some interesting ideas, and we need all of those that we can get.”
Interior-Conference Room,
1740 Hours
“Jennifer is going to keep Tammy overnight in the infirmary.” Carter
said as she looked around the table. “They missed something this morning, and she
lost about a pint of blood. There’s some other problems now as a result.” She
paused, wringing her hands in her lap. “They have Jacob over there too. He’s
okay, but Jenn still wants to observe him for a few days, because he’s so
young.”
“Are you going to be okay, Samantha?” Vala asked. “You can stay with us
tonight, so you don’t have to be alone.”
“Thank you, Vala. I’d like that.” Sam said. “I have some things I want
to talk to you both about, so we can do that too.”
She looked around the table again, her eyes finally settling on Samuels.
“Andi, we were talking earlier, and Ronin’s team is going to be making
some changes in the residence.” She said. “I want Ronin and Cisco moved into
the suites on forty-three, and three floors blocked out for their guards. Those
people should be close, just like the household staff.”
“That’s a good idea.” Samuels said. “Does it matter where? There are
several large conference rooms around that building that they can use as
assembly areas, or do you want them above thirty-one?”
“Get with Ronin and Cisco about that, show them what you have, and the
three of you decide.” Carter said. She looked over at Cisco, then spoke to the
group.
“We’re also changing the access to our suite. You won’t be able to port
right in anymore, I’ve already disabled all the codes.” She said. “From now on,
you’ll come out at a security checkpoint on thirty-one, and only allowed up
with approval.”
Heads nodded around the table, but no one said anything.
“We found out today that Ronin had never been tested for the ancient
gene, we tested him, and as luck would have it, he has it.” She said, smiling
down at him. “He’s been treated with the therapy, and it worked. Teyla is being
tested right now, with luck, she’ll have it too.”
“I don’t have the gene.” Daniel said. “But I don’t think Vala has ever
been tested for it. Can we get that done?”
“As soon as we finish here.” Carter said. “All of you that have the gene
have been issued the ancient shields. Start wearing them. Andi and Daniel, I’ve
ordered Kevlar vests that you can wear under your clothes like a t-shirt,
that’s what they look like. Gen. Landry is going to handle that for me, and
send them along when they come in.”
“Can I ask why your father and Landry came over yesterday?” Samuels
asked.
“Sometimes a girl just needs to talk to her daddy, Andi. You should know
that.” Sam said with a sad smile. “It turns out that he was at Stargate Command
when we called and asked them to find him for us. Landry asked if he could come
too, and we said yes.”
“It was good seeing him again.”
“Well, them coming here wasn’t all upside.” She said. “Jacob and Selmac
were at the SGC talking to Landry about us. Apparently, the Tok’Ra have
concerns about us being in possession of this city, and the ancient
technologies here. Tammy and I talked to them about it last night.”
She looked over at Samuels. “Andi, send that out to everyone, I want
them to see it.”
Samuels nodded, making a note on her tablet.
“I had another conversation with them this morning. I made it clear that
the Tok’Ra have no say in how we run our city, and that they are not welcome
here, or in the Pegasus galaxy. They can have the Milky Way.”
She paused, looking around again. “I’m pretty sure that they know about
“I told him that we were still trying to figure that out, and he
suggested that we consider looking for ancient outposts to restore.”
“Then they definitely know.” Sheppard said. “Do we want to beef up the
security team there, maybe send some jumpers or three-oh-two’s over?”
“Yes, you and Stephen work out what you can give up.” She said. “And
Andi, I want that outpost maxed out on drones. Once you have it at capacity,
keep loading it. Half of all drone production goes there effective now.”
She looked at Daniel. “You just got back from there. How is it set up?
Is the gate inside the main shield?”
“Yes, but there’s a shield up on the gate too.” He said.
“Have them pull the shield back around the outpost, so the gate is
outside it, move the gate if you have to. If we get an intrusion, they’ll still
have to get through the main to get to the outpost.”
“Now, before you all start asking me questions. Yes, this is because of this
morning’s intrusion. I’ve shut the STM bridge down, and won’t turn it back on
unless we need it.” She said. “But that doesn’t mean that someone else out
there, in this reality, or another one, isn’t playing with the same technology.
I think we’re safe with our gate where it is, since we have the secondary
shield now, so I don’t think we need to move it. Does anyone have any thoughts
on that?”
“Having the secondary up all the time doesn’t use that much more power,
so that’s not an issue.” Chuck said. “And to be honest, we’d be alot more
comfortable up on the balcony with it on, now that we’ve seen that things can
come through the gate shield.”
“I spoke to Dr. Zelenka. He says that these people passed through the
gate shield because it was in such close proximity to the wormhole. If anything
passes through it again, the secondary should stop it, because it will have
reformed into matter or energy. At least, that’s what I think he said.”
“I’ll talk to him about it, Chuck.” Carter laughed. “I want to ask him
about oscillating the gate shield too, to see what effect that might have.”
“From a practical point of view, we might consider moving the gate to
one of the production piers.” Samuels said. “Once we begin actively producing
and shipping goods, it would just make sense. At a minimum, we’re going to have
to look at redesigning the gateroom for easier access.”
“Work something up. You’ll need to get with Chuck to work out the
logistics of it, and get input from the rest of the department heads.” She told
her.
She looked back at Chuck. “We’d really only have to move the gate, is
that right? We could leave the DHD in the tower, or just use a DHD in a
jumper.”
“Yes ma’am.” He nodded. “There’s no actual physical connection between
the gate and the DHD. I don’t know what the range on them is though.”
“We can figure that out. In the meantime, you two get me suggested
locations, and what would be involved in getting it done if we decide to do
it.”
She looked around the table again. “What’s next?”
“I was talking to Cisco this afternoon, he came over to do some
paperwork.” He said. He looked over at Ronin. “He had an idea, and we talked
about it, along with some other stuff.”
“He told me.” Ronin said.
Sheppard nodded, and turned back to Carter. “Why not go with two man guard
teams, augmented by marines until they get the manning up to where they want it
on the guard. They cover you and Tammy, and the marines cover their back. That
gives them some breathing room, and frees up some of my marines at the same
time.”
“Work it out with them, and let me know what you want to do. Next?” She
said.
“He also mentioned something I hadn’t considered, that I think we should
start doing on a wholesale basis.”
“And what was that?” She asked.
“Scavenging. He mentioned going looking for some of those hand cannons
Ronin uses on Sateda. There’s probably other stuff laying around too.” He said.
He looked over at Ronin again. “Your people were fairly technologically
advanced before that last Wraith attack.”
Ronin nodded. “I think we should go look. I know where some of the
armories were. But it’s been eight years, and I know that Kell was selling
weapons, and that’s probably where he got them.”
“Work it out, and let me know what you find. We can send the Apollo or
Daedalus if we need to.”
“Ronin and I were talking about the boys last night, and Tammy mentioned
that there were more than twelve hundred children in the city now.” O’Neill
said.
“That number is closer the thirty-seven hundred.” Samuels said. “We had
a problem in the census, and the numbers I gave her were off.”
“Anyway, she said that she would talk to Daniel about heading a
department of education. With her down for a few days, I didn’t want it to slip
through the cracks.”
“Thank you, Jack.” She said, smiling at him. “What were you talking
about?”
“Nothing you have to worry about for at least five years.” He laughed.
“They’ve just been asking him about stuff he didn’t have the answers for. We
handled it.”
“Before you ask.” Daniel said, smiling at her. “Yes, I’ll do it. I’m
spending half the day with Geraan and Phinnar anyway. Picking up a few more
won’t be a problem. I’d like to make the cut off age twelve, anyone over that
should just go right on a teaching machine.”
“Get with the other department heads, and make sure you talk to Pharris,
she may have some ideas, and you can look at how their education system is
setup.” She said.
“God.” She sighed, leaning back in her chair. “We said we weren’t going
to use nannies, that we’d raise our kids ourselves. And I promised Bra’tac and
Pharris that we’d spend time with the boys...”
“It’s going to happen Sam.” O’Neill said. “But the boys are being well
taken care of. Ronin and Bra’tac are teaching them warrior arts, not just how
to fight, Daniel takes them out into the city to explore, Vala lies her ass off
during story time, Amanda has them doing math and language lessons, and I’ve
been teaching them how to fly a jumper. They’re getting a well rounded
education.”
“I don’t lie.” Vala said softly. “I embellish.”
“Thank you, all of you.” She said, tears welling up in her eyes. “You
know I couldn’t have done this, any of this, without you.”
“Yeah, you being the notorious slacker that your are.” O’Neill muttered.
Interior-Med Bay-Tower Fifty-eight
1900 Hours
“Are there any other languages in that thing besides ancient?” Cisco
asked Sam as she scrolled through the menu, setting it up for Ronin’s first
lesson.
“Probably, I haven’t looked.” She said, glancing over at him. She held
out a headset to Ronin. “Put that on.”
Ronin put the headset on, and she started the process. When the cycle
ended, she picked up a pad and wrote on it quickly, then held it up in front of
him.
“What’s it say?” She asked.
“I trust you with my life.” Ronin said, his voice catching in his throat.
“I do, so does Tammy.” She said, coming over and hugging him. She
reached in her pocket and pulled out one of the shield pendants and handed it
to him. “Put this on, and take the headset off. Just sit it on the machine.”
She tossed one of the pendants over to Cisco. “You too.” She said. “Now,
why did you want to know about other languages?” She asked as she scrolled
through the menus.
“I was thinking that if we could find something obscure, we could hit
our guys with it, and not have to work up a separate code system.”
“Smart.” She nodded. “And everything in here is going to be obscure. But
why not just use ancient?”
“Because everyone in the city speaks it, and word is going to get around
that we speak it.” He said. “So other people may start trying to figure it out,
and I want to be a step or two ahead of them.”
“Anything else you want while we’re looking?” She asked.
“Jumper training, how to use the terminals like yours, weapons systems,
math, medical or first aid training, and anything else that looks like it will
be useful.” He said as he watched her.
“I’ll hit you both with jumpers, first aid, and the terminals now.” She
said. “Tell Andi to put a terminal in each of your suites, along with the
standard desktop. Talk to Tammy, she has the boys tablets running games out of
the ancient database. Ask her how she did it, or get her to set some up for
you.”
She was working rapidly through the screens on the teaching machine, and
after a couple minutes she looked up and tossed Cisco the headset.
“Put that on. I included how to use the teacher so you can do your guys.
This is going to take a couple minutes, so get comfortable.”
“I’m fine.” He said
“Have it your way.” She said as she started the cycle.
It was almost five minutes before the process ended this time, and Cisco
swayed slightly as he took the headset off. Ronin grabbed his arm and led him
over to a bed, and helped him get up on it.
“Sit or lay down.” He told Ronin as he handed him the headset. “I
started getting woozy toward the end.”
Ronin nodded and sat on the other bed, then put the headset on and laid
back.
“Okay, I’m ready.” He said.
Carter started the machine again, and came over next to Cisco.
“You give any thought to what we talked about?” She asked, not looking
at him.
“A little.”
She looked over at him, a small smile on her face. “You don’t give up a
lot, do you.”
“You already got your answer.”
“I did?” She asked. “When?”
“Think about it. You’ll remember.”
They waited quietly for the process to end, and when it did, Ronin
sighed, then groaned.
“Just lay still for a few minutes, Ronin.” She said as she took the
headset off. “Open your eyes and look at me.”
She felt his pulse as she looked at his eyes. They were glassy, and it
was obvious that he was disoriented.
She stayed with him, holding his hand until he turned his head and
looked at her. “Feel better now.”
She nodded, and helped him sit up. She smiled at him.
“You had me worried there. I thought we had hurt you.”
He shook his head. “So much...just so much.”
“Just relax, it should get better.” She said. “Do you have a headache?
You’re looking better than when the process ended.”
He shook his head. “I keep seeing pictures, all jumbled up.”
“What do you for a severed femoral artery?” Cisco asked.
“Apply pressure above the wound and clamp it off, then medivac.” Ronin
said immediately.
“Think about a jumper. Can you see the control panel.” Cisco asked.
“Leave him alone, he needs to rest.” Carter said.
“No, this helps.” Ronin said. “I can see it. Now what?”
“Find the control for the HUD.”
“Got it.”
“What’s right next to it, on the left.”
“The emergency hatch release, it’s a handle.”
“Good, Just think about one thing at a time. That’s what I’m doing.”
Cisco said. He looked over at Carter. “It is a little overwhelming at first,
but it gets better.”
“So we just do one lesson at a time, and let you get used to them.” She
said.
They both nodded.
She made them sit for another fifteen minutes to make sure that they
were okay.
“I’m staying with Daniel and Vala tonight.” She said. “Who wants to take
me over?”
“I will.” Cisco said. He looked over at Ronin. “Sheppard said something
about wanting to have a beer with you. Why don’t you give him a call? I want to
touch base with Samuels, I didn’t get to her earlier.”
“And if he’s still at his desk, tell him he’s fired.” Sam laughed. She
turned to Cisco and held out her hand.” Come on, I want to talk to Daniel about
his education program.”
2030 Hours
“I’m glad you came by, I was going to call you.” Andi said as she let
him in and led him into the living room. She waved him toward a couch, and
poured them both a drink.
“Nice place, doc.” He said as he sat down. He sat his glass on the table
and looked at her.
“Please, call me Andi.” She said. “We’re kind of informal around here.
That’ll probably change after the coronation.”
“I wanted to talk to you about getting the guard moved into the
residence, and where we’re going to put them.” He began. “Ronin and I just got
some training on the teaching machine, and one of the things we got was how to
use the ancient terminals. The colonel said to talk to you about getting one of
those, and a desktop in our quarters.”
He paused, looking at her for a moment. “Did you want to set up a
contact for us, or would you prefer that we go through you?”
“Let’s go through me.” She said. “I’ve been dealing with Ronin, and the
house guard is under my department. Plus I’m Sam’s resident psychiatrist, and I
need to know what’s going on with her.”
“I can’t do my job if I’m left out of the loop on what she’s doing.” She
added.
Cisco just looked at her.
“Did you know that their suite is monitored?” She asked. “There are
video cameras in every room, and they’re reviewed daily.”
“Can Ronin and I get access to that system?” He asked. “If the systems
already in place, we can have our people monitor. Are any other floors
monitored?”
“Not that I know of.” She said. “And you’ll have to talk to Tammy about
access, She set it up and installed the cameras.”
Cisco nodded, waiting for her to go on.
“There was some interesting video this morning. Right after the
intrusion, she came back to the suite and did something on her terminal, then
went into the kitchen with you.”
“That sounds about right.” He said.
“She came back half an hour later, naked, with blood all over her, and
did something else at her terminal, then left again. With Ronin this time. Oh,
and one of the house staff found these in the porter.” She said, reaching under
the table and pulling out Sam’s bloody clothes. She dropped them on the table.
“The Ops tech said that the three of you came in, she had them open the
gate to a random address, and a comm channel with a wide frequency spread, then
cleared the gateroom.”
When he didn’t say anything, she continued.
“She didn’t show up in the infirmary till forty-five minutes later.
That’s about the time it would take the gate to do a full thirty-eight minute
cycle, and for the three of you to walk to the infirmary.”
He reached down and picked up his drink, tossed it back and reached for
the bottle. He poured another shot, and sat back on the couch, looking at her.
“You’re not going to tell me what happened, are you?” She asked.
“No.” He said tapping his comm. When he heard the beep, he said. “Cisco
to Dr. Jackson.”
A moment later he said, “Yes sir, I need to speak to the colonel
please.” He waited, then spoke again. “Yes ma’am, Dr. Samuels needs to speak to
you...yes...no, this needs to be handled now.”
He listened, then took the headset off and leaned over, handing it to
her.
Andi put the headset on and said, “Yes Sam?”
She listened for a long moment, then said, “Of course, Sam. I can do
that. No, that’s fine. Have a good night, I’ll talk to you in the morning.”
She closed the channel and tossed the headset back to him.
“She said that that get up is all the civvies you have. Leave me your
sizes, and I’ll have your closets stocked. We can move you in in the morning,
we should have everything setup in your offices by then.” She said.
“Thank you.” He said. “Do you have an opinion about how we should dress
the guard? I’d like to avoid uniforms for the ones that go out with them, maybe
put them in Atlantian style clothes? I’ve been seeing lots of people running
around in them recently. I’m guessing that they’re just raiding closets around
the city.”
“They were. We started emptying the closets and clearing out personal
items when we started moving people into buildings on the outer piers.” She
said. “We’ve got a warehouse full of clothes. Mail me names and sizes, and I’ll
get it taken care of.”
He looked at her for a moment, then said. “I know this has been an
unusual day. But there’s something I have to bring up. Emotionally, she’s been
all over the place, and the changes happen quickly. I’m going to need to know
about her medical history, and what we need to do if she has some kind of
incident.”
“Ronin already knows the whole story.” She said, reaching out and
picking up the bottle. She filled her glass, then held the bottle up. He nodded
and held out his glass.
“Sam was exposed to the Athosian herb korathis, but I suppose you
already know that...”
They spent the next two hours talking and making plans..
Interior-Infirmary
0110 Hours
He stopped and talked to the marines at the door, then went into
Keller’s office and pulled her chair out from behind her desk. He rolled it out
and put it next to Tammy’s bed, then pulled a stool over in front of it.
He sat down, and had just gotten settled when she said, “Did you come to
keep me company?”
“Yeah.” He said. “Go back to sleep.”
“Okay.” She said, smiling at him. “Thanks.”
He nodded and closed his eyes, and was asleep in moments.
Ends