Confirming Carter Bk. 02 Daedalus Ch. 04

"That's not quite what I had in mind Mr. Woolsey. I have something that belongs to you, and I'd like to return it." She said.

"And what would that be?" Woolsey replied snidely.

"The crew of the Apollo."

"I don't believe you, colonel." Woolsey said, his voice taking on a harder edge.

Carter waved Ellis over and motioned for him to speak.

"Mr. Woolsey, This is Col. Abraham Ellis, Commander of the Apollo. Col. Carter is not lying to you, she has my ship, and is offering to return me and my crew to Earth. We are all in good health, and being treated well."

"Are you telling me that you are a prisoner of war, colonel?"

"I wasn't aware that a state of war existed between Earth and Atlantis, Mr...may I call you Richard? I knew that the IOA had issued a death warrant on me, Richard, but wasn't aware that you had declared war on my city."

She looked at Ellis and shrugged. "Richard, I'm going to assume that you're not going to open the iris. I probably wouldn't either. But would you be so kind as to transmit a gate address I can send these people too? I would prefer not to be responsible for them."

"One moment please, colonel." Woolsey said.

Carter muted the mike, and turned to Ellis. She held out an envelope.

"The address to a space gate is in there, along with my offer, one charged ZPM, upfront, for five depleted ones. Have them test and examine it just to be sure. Bill Lee knows what to look for, they've had that trick pulled on them before by Camulus. I get the ZPM's, you get the drones. It's all in there. If they don't open the iris, I'll give you a GDO, and send you to Chulak. You'll be safe there till you can be returned to Earth."

"Richard, I changed my mind." She said. "I'm going to give Col. Ellis an a GDO, and send him and his crew to Chulak. They'll be safe there, and High Council can assist in their return. Would that be more acceptable?"

"No, colonel. I'm going to trust you." Woolsey said. "We're opening the iris."

"Richard, I'm going to send Col. Ellis through first. He has our first trade item for you. Please have Dr. Lee examine it before you try to use it. I want to hear Ellis's voice before I start sending his crew through."

She turned to Ellis. "I'm sorry Abe, I have to ensure that those people get home safely. You're my crash test dummy. Good luck." She held out her hand.

Ellis took it. "Thank you Col. Carter. If something goes wrong. Send my crew to Chulak like you said before."

"I will, Abe." She said, then looked passed him. "Sergeant? Escort the colonel to the gate."

When Ellis reached the gate, he turned and looked back at her. He saluted, then stepped through the event horizon. It was almost two minutes before she heard his voice.

"Col. Carter, this is Ellis. I'm safely through."

"Walter, please confirm that the iris is still open." She said.

"Yes maam, the iris is open. We're ready to receive the Apollo crew." Harriman said.

"Thank you, Walter. Sending groups of twenty, thirty seconds apart. Wait one."

She changed to Daedalus channel. "Steven, let's have the first twenty, then send them 30 seconds apart."

"Copy colonel. First twenty on the way." Caldwell replied.

"We'll also be sending some crew members from the Daedalus, and the marine detachment they had aboard when they arrived. That's another twenty-eight." She said as she switched back over to the SGC. "They'll be following the Apollo's crew."

It took almost ten minutes to send all of them through the gate. The departing Daedalus crew members arrived while Apollo's crew was still being beamed down. They followed the last group, and when they were through, she opened the channel to the SGC again.

"Col. Ellis, would you give me a head count please. We want to make sure you have everyone."

"Confirm two hundred sixty-two from both crews. Thank you colonel. And good luck, Sam."

"You too Abe. Richard, we'll look forward to hearing from you shortly. Atlantis out."

She closed the channel and looked at the Ops tech. "Shut it down." She said. "Let Sheppard know if they contact us."

She turned and skipped down the stairs, and jogged over to the porter. She felt good, and hoped she had some ice cream in the freezer. If she didn't, she'd have to send someone to get some.

Interior-Kitchen

1800 Hours

"Where's your guards?" Ronin asked as she stepped off the porter.

"I left them in the gateroom. They took me to the porter, and I didn't think anything would happen between the time the doors closed there, and opened here." She smiled as they walked toward the kitchen.

She saw Tammy sitting in her usual seat, eating out of a carton of ice cream, so she got a spoon and sat down, reaching over and digging out a spoonful.

"Andi is bringing in four hundred some odd people in an hour or so from Cealacan, there was a culling a few days ago, and they're in bad shape. She wants to put them on the north pier near the main storage center." Tammy told her as she dipped out a scoop of ice cream and licked at it. "I let the Infirmary know, and we'll have teams ready to check them out and test them for the gene."

"Ronin, would you and Teyla go talk to them when they get here?" Carter asked. "When they hear that your people have been through the same thing, it should help make things easier for them. Tell them what we have in mind, and help get them settled."

He nodded and stepped from the room.

"He hasn't relaxed since you left." Tammy grinned at her. "You had five marines with you, and another twenty over at the Ops Center, but he still didn't like it."

"I know, but there are other things he's going to need to do sometimes." Sam said. "How did the first group look? Any likely candidates?"

"Amelia liked a few, Ronin didn't like any of them. I think he expects them to be able to beat him to qualify. Like that's going to happen." She laughed. "Amelia wants to look at some of the special forces guys, and I think it's a good idea."

"Anybody home?" They heard Keller call from the living room. They heard her talking to Ronin, and a moment later, she came into the kitchen.

"Where is everyone?" Jennifer asked as she sat her laptop and a stack of tablets on the table. "This place is usually packed."

"They're still bringing the Apollo and Daedalus down, Andi is handling some refugees, and I haven't seen anyone else." Carter said.

"Daniel, Vala and O'Neill are over in the central section going walkabout. She called all excited, she's finding all kinds of souvenirs. She wanted to know if she could keep them." Tammy laughed. "Daniel came on after I said yes, and asked me not to do that, but I told him that a few baubles wouldn't hurt anything. He laughed and told me that she's got O'Neill loaded down like a pack mule."

Sam laughed with her, then turned to Keller. "Why all the tablets, Jenn? You going Andi on me?"

"No, but we need to talk about a few things." She slid a tablet over to each of them, and opened her laptop. "I asked Ronin to keep anyone that come in out of here till we tell him. I've been reviewing and comparing your tests results from the last couple days." She said, tapping at her keyboard. The tablets in front of them came to life, and they both picked one up, glancing at them. "I've got them slaved to my laptop, so just look, don't touch."

"What are we looking at?" Tammy asked. "And are you still mad at us? I mean, I'm sorry, Jenn. Bu..."

"I was mad at first, but I should have known it was going to happen." Keller said, smiling at her. "You two are meant to be together, and it's not for me to get in the way, so I might as well help you."

"The first screen is your scans from yesterday, Tammy is on the left, Sam is on the right. Everything is fine, with one exception. Your heart rate, blood pressure, almost every major reading is damn near identical. That's a little unusual, but you have the same body type, and build, and both of you are in excellent physical condition, so I can't call it weird."

She changed screens and looked up at them. "This is this morning's scan. You won't see the difference, so I'll just tell you what it is." She said, pausing before she continued. "You're both ovulating, which is weird. Tammy is two weeks early, and Sam one. It's not unusual for women living together, or in close quarters to have their cycles come in line with each other. But that usually takes several months to occur. You did it in less than one."

"Is that good or bad?" Sam asked, flipping back and forth between the screens.

"I don't know yet. And I told you not to do that." Keller said, tapping at her keyboard again. "I'm in contact with both of you daily, and I don't see any adverse affects of exposing or infecting Tammy, however you want to put it. If anything, it appears to me that you're both thriving. Sam hasn't had a major incident in over two weeks, but we've been keeping her, you both actually, away from radiation sources."

She looked over at Tammy. "When was the last time you used korathis? It's been at least two weeks. I know, because I took your stash out of your suite because I didn't want Sam to get into it, and you haven't logged any out of the dispensary."

"That night we called you and Andi to ask if it was okay to do it." Tammy said.

Keller looked at her laptop, and scrolled through several screens. "That was seventeen days ago. And you're not showing any signs of withdrawal?"

"No, I feel fine, and that night, I was just feeling a little off, not uncomfortable, or in pain."

Keller nodded. "Your korathis levels are steady, almost as if you're still ingesting frequent doses, so it appears that you may be producing the active components as well. But you may have been doing that already, I have no way of knowing."

"Now the bad news. Andi knows that Tammy has been exposed." Keller said. "She's in the medical database daily, she uses it to augment her psych profiles, so I saw no need to block her. But there are notes indicating that she knew before you told me. I went looking through her notes after you told me the other morning. I think she's watching the video feed too. She's keeping her mouth shut about it. To all of us."

"We know she's playing her own game, Jenn." Sam said. "I don't know what she's up to, but she's giving me what I need, as I need it. And everything is falling right into line, almost like we're being guided somehow. I doubt if she has the power to influence outside events, just our reactions and responses to them."

She turned to Tammy. "What do you think?"

"I don't care if she's up to something anymore." Tammy smiled, looking back and forth at Carter and Keller. "I'm happy, and I like where we're going. We're bringing Atlantis and Anchorage alive again, we're going to help the people in two galaxies, and Sam and I are going to have beautiful children that will follow us, and take our places someday. She can play all the games she wants, it really doesn't matter."

"I hope you're right." Keller said. "Look where we've come in just a few weeks."

"We are." They said together, then turned and at smiled at each other.

Interior-Kitchen

1930 Hours

Sheppard and Caldwell had come in giddy as a couple of schoolboys, so Carter had asked Jennifer to call Daniel, Vala and O'Neill back for dinner.

Daedalus was docked on the east pier, and Apollo was in a parking orbit while crews went through her systems and stores.

Sheppard was reviewing Apollo's stores, a shit eating grin on his face. "We'll have to confirm this when we offload, but the inventory shows thirty thousand small arms, including twenty thousand P-90's. Five million rounds of ammunition, rocket and grenade launchers, 6 tons of C4. Based on this, it looks like they were planning on reinforcing through the gate if Apollo managed to take the city. And there's thirty extra nukes, in addition to her standard compliment of twelve."

"I want half of those for Daedalus." Caldwell said, looking between Carter and Sheppard. "They're designed for use..."

"Relax, Steven." Carter laughed. "You'll get some of them. Just calm down."

"With what we took from both ships, and what we had on hand, we've got over twenty-eight thousand P-90's, and enough ammo to last for years. We can field a small army if we want." Sheppard said. "Not that I want to, but if the need arises..."

"How many three-oh-two's does she have?" O'Neill asked.

"Sixty. sixteen in each bay, and another twenty-eight strapped to the hull." Caldwell said, looking at Carter. "With the thirty-two Daedalus carries, you just acquired an impressive navy, colonel. We can talk about it later, but I'd like to split the three-oh-two's between the two ships, with ten each going to Atlantis and Anchorage, to supplement the jumpers."

"Some of those are fresh off the line." O'Neill said. "And that has to be every one they had. They didn't keep anything in reserve. What the hell are they thinking?"

"They're politicians, Jack. They probably didn't listen to what the military was telling them." Carter told him. "They had one ship disappear, so they loaded up everything they had, thinking that Apollo would come in and intimidate us with an overwhelming show of force."

She shook her head as she looked around the table. "The IOA knew I was playing with the STM bridges, so they had to make the connection that I wanted to charge ZPM's. I guess they didn't give me enough credit. They will now. I told Ellis that I had charged up the one I gave him."

"Half the people we sent back to Earth with Ellis were Spec Ops. SEALS, Rangers, and a dozen CIA. Those were all wet work people. Ellis had them isolated from his crew, he didn't want anyone near them. He doesn't speak kindly of them in his log." Sheppard said. "I copied it and mailed you a copy colonel."

"What's wet work?" Vala asked. "Were they going to attack from the water?"

"They're assassins, Vala. Their job is to eliminate targets in advance if possible." Sheppard said quietly.

"It doesn't matter now." Carter said, pushing her chair back and getting to her feet. She raised her glass, smiling at Sheppard and Caldwell. "To the conquering heroes! You've done well by us all today, and we thank you. Your courage and ingenuity give us great hope for our future. Salute!"

Interior-Col. Sheppard's Suite

2020 Hours

"A death glider will fit through the gate. Will a three-oh-two?" Carter asked, sitting on the floor in front of Tammy's chair.

"Yes, but just barely." O'Neill said. "The wingspan is a little wider than a death glider."

"I can't speak for John's jumper pilots, but none of my people are going to be able to take one through at speed. What do you have in mind colonel? Quick hits on planets being culled?" Caldwell asked.

"No, but make a note of that, that's a damned good idea Steven." Carter said. "Jack is right, they threw everything they had into the pot, and hoped they'd get soup. And they lost. But because they didn't think, they left Earth sitting wide open. Thank god we're the only ones that know about it."

She looked back at Tammy, and got the nod she expected. She turned back toward the couch.

"It's a good idea, Sam." O'Neill said. "We can launch or push them through the gate. We send them to St. Louis, and they can do a hyperspace jump from there."

"What are you...No! You can't give them back!" Caldwell said, getting to his feet. "Think about what we..."

"We're talking about Earth, Steven. Not the IOA. The American's aren't going to listen to the IOA anymore, that's pretty obvious." Carter said. "I can't in good conscience leave that world undefended. That would be criminal, and you know it."

She turned and looked at Sheppard. "The gate at Anchorage is outside, not up in the tower, like it is here?"

He nodded. "Someone moved it a long time ago. There's a long field leading up to it. and the DHD is set off to one side. We could do it from there." He looked at Caldwell, pacing angrily next to the couch. "How many are you thinking of sending?"

"Thirty." She said, looking at Caldwell.

"I need a drink." Caldwell said, turning and walking toward the kitchen.

"We'll be right back." She said as she got to her feet. She waved Tammy back down as she started to follow, then went into the kitchen.

Caldwell was leaning against the counter, A bottle of scotch in his hand. He upended it and took a big drink as she stopped in front of him, holding out her hand. He handed her the bottle and she took a drink, then handed it back to him.

"Do we have a problem, Steven? You and I?" She asked. "You know why I want to do this."

"No, I just...there's so much we can do here." He said, holding the bottle up.

She shook her head, and he replaced the cork, sitting it on the counter.

"I know, but I can't leave all those people undefended, not that thirty three-oh-two's is going to make that much difference." She said as she looked at him. "I'm going to send them the drones, even if they don't send us any ZPM's back. I may send them more, I haven't decided yet."

"You're right. My daughter Carol and her mother are there." He said. "I know we have to think of Earth, not the IOA, I just haven't made the adjustment yet. I'm sorry, I got caught up in the excitement, and now it feels like..."

"Like you won a big prize at the carnival, and your mom says you have to share it with your brother?" She grinned.

"That actually happened." He laughed. "But yes, that's what it feels...felt like. I was passed it before you came in."

"You keep thinking about what we need to do here, and how we're going to get it done." She told him. "You're going to have a family here, soon I think, but when we get things calmed down, we could see if your daughter would like to live here. We're going to need wedding planners."

She turned toward the door. "Let's go get John and Jack and go upstairs. I'd like to talk about some other things with everyone. Come on, Teyla and Ronin should be back by now."

Interior-Living Room

2110 Hours

Teyla and Ronin returned shortly after they got back upstairs. Teyla saw Caldwell standing with Sheppard and O'Neill, and came over, putting her arms around him and laying her head on his chest.

"It went well? You are unhurt?" She asked, looking up at him.

"It went just as we planned, no one was injured." He told her taking her in his arms and kissing her lightly. "Well, there was one injury. Ellis's pride took a beating. I heard he landed on his ass when we beamed him into that hold!"

Teyla hugged him tightly, then released him. She turned to Sam. "Andi asked me to tell you that she may not get away. She has much work to do to get these people settled. I offered to stay, but she said we were needed here."

"Those people are in bad shape." Ronin said. "This is some of the worst I've ever seen, even on Sateda."

"John's men are caring for them. Lt. Crown called for a hundred marines, and at first, the villagers were frightened." Teyla told them. "But the marines each took a family, bringing them food and water, then showing them to quarters, and helping them get settled. I believe they are going to stay with them overnight."

She turned and looked at Sheppard, and he nodded.

"I talked to Crown, and he asked if we could spare them. He thinks we may need to keep our guys with them for a few days, especially when we start doing medicals on them." Sheppard told them. "It'll be better if they have a friendly face with them, someone they're used to telling them that it's okay, that no one is going to hurt them here."

"That was a good idea, and a damn nice thing to do." Carter said. "But I don't want to leave them any longer than I have to. This is going to wear on those men, and we're going to be seeing alot more like this before it gets better." She looked around. "I don't want to sound cold, but we have to take care of ours first. So while this group is being processed, we need to start looking at training everyone else for this kind of thing. I don't want these same guys doing this all the time. Even if they volunteer."