Confirming Carter Bk. 02 Daedalus Ch. 08

The Traveler's visit Anchorage for a tour, and agree to join the Atlantian's in a partnership. Bra'Tac develops a love interest...

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Confirming Carter Book Two Daedalus

Chapter Eight

Interior-Kitchen

0705 Hours

"Where's Geraan?" Carter asked as she came into the kitchen. She went over to the coffee pot and poured a cup. "Refill?" She asked.

Tammy held out her cup, and Sam topped it off for her. "He went and crawled in with Pharris in the middle of the night." She said. "I have no idea how he knew that she was here. I checked on him, and he was already snuggled in and sound asleep. I don't think she even woke up when he climbed in with her."

"I did." Pharris said as she came through the door. "But I'm used to Phinnar joining me, so it was a comfort." She looked around the room. "What is that wonderful aroma? I think that's what woke me up."

"Coffee. It's a stimulant, and the most widely abused drug on Earth." Carter laughed, getting a cup from the tree and pouring some for her. She sat it on the table. "This is bitter as it is, you can add cream and sugar to make it more to your liking."

"Be careful, Pharris." Tammy laughed. "You may not want to go home if you keep finding things you like about us."

"We'll need an emissary from your people, to ensure our dealings run smoothly, and your people are treated well." Carter said, looking at Pharris. "Andi can find someone on her staff to send to your people."

"You'll want this too." Tammy smiled, sliding the cream across the table. "It adds body and taste."

"Am I that obvious?" Pharris smiled, imitating Carter, and heaping sugar into her coffee.

"Yes, but we've already made a connection, and while our foreign minister may be willing to deal with just anyone, we are not." Carter said as she sipped her coffee.

She looked over at Tammy. "I'm hungry. Will you call down and order us something? Or would you make me biscuits and gravy?"

"And eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, toast...the woman is a slave driver!" Tammy said to Pharris as she got up and went to the fridge. "Do this, do that." She turned and looked at Pharris with a soft smile. "And do you know that she didn't even ask me before she 'elevated' me, to use Andi's word."

Pharris watched as she took items from the fridge, sat them on the counter, then started pulling out pans.

"Pay no attention to the hired help, Pharris." Carter laughed as she got up and went over to Tammy. She turned her around and kissed her lightly, smiling at her. "Thank you for making me breakfast. You know how much I like your cooking."

"I'm not making you breakfast." Tammy laughed. "I'm making Pharris breakfast. To further entice her to stay with us. As the emissary of her people of course."

"You have servants, yet you prefer to do for yourselves. I have had dealings with leaders of many worlds, and most try to impress us with the grandeur of their houses. You welcome me into your home, and treat me as an honored guest."

"Only friends and family sit at our table." Carter said seriously. "If you were a guest, we'd be in the dining room or the mess hall. And we're not going to be able to do this much longer, I think, if Andi has her way."

Sam had just taken her seat again as Geraan came in, rubbing his eyes. He came over and buried his face in her lap.

"Good morning, little one. Did you sleep well?" Sam asked him, lifting him into her lap.

Geraan nodded, laying his head on her shoulder. "Ceweaul?" He said softly.

"Cer-REE-uhl. Say your r's." Sam said, holding him up so he could see her mouth moving. "And Tammy is making breakfast. Can you wait a few minutes?"

"Cer-ree-uhl." He repeated. "Hassbrown?"

"Yes, she's making hashbrowns." Carter laughed. "Go get your tablet, and play a game while she's cooking. Go." She said as she sat him on the floor, then watched him run out the door.

He was back a moment later, and started crawling up on her, but she waved him off, and pointed to the chair on the other side of Pharris. Geraan went over and climbed up, turned on the tablet, and was immediately engaged in a math puzzle.

"Tammy found some ancient children's games in the database, so we're letting him learn naturally." Carter told her. "We could put him on a teaching machine and give him the knowledge, but then it wouldn't mean anything to him. We'll train adults on them as needed, but children will still go to school, so they appreciate the art of learning. It's a skill in itself that has to be learned."

"Our scouts reported that there were Wraith ships in the area your ships were in." Pharris said. "We may not have been the only ones that saw you."

"Larrin told Sheppard that last night. We knew that there was a risk of detection." Tammy said as she added flour, then milk to a pan. She stirred it, then lowered the heat and put another pan on a burner and started laying strips of bacon in it. "We felt that it was better to have the Wraith focus on us, and perhaps take their attention off some of the worlds they've been culling recently."

"We've taken in groups of refugees recently that are telling us that the last round of cullings are different than those in the past." Carter told her. "Now, they're not just taking people, but destroying everything as they leave, so survivors have nothing to live on."

"We have seen this too." Pharris said as she watched Geraan work through a maze on his tablet. "None of our colonies has been culled, because they are on remote worlds, and located far from the stargates." She looked at Carter. "These are the people we would wish to bring to your cities first."

"When you're ready, we'll send a ship, or send jumpers through the gates with medical teams." Carter told her. "We can test your people for the ancient gene, and give them the treatment. We think you should move those that respond to the therapy to ships first where they'll do you the most good, we can take our time on manning up the cities."

"We want to concentrate on Anchorage." Tammy said as she took bacon out of the pan and put it on a plate. She stirred the gravy, then checked on a tray of biscuits in the oven. "We have months of work to do on that city, so the only thing we'll be producing there is foodstuffs for the workers. Once we get up and running, we can start supplying you on a regular basis."

"How soon could we begin moving people to this Ankara...how do you say the name?" Pharris asked.

"Anchorage." Carter said. "It's the name of a city on Earth, and the original meaning was a place that ships sat at anchor, or were held safely in place. The name was Andi's idea. She felt that since that city is land locked, it was appropriate."

"We'll have to check with Andi's people, but I'd say we can be ready within the week, two at the most." Tammy said as she took the tray of biscuits from the oven and turned it off. "But the more people we get in there, the faster we can get it up and running."

"Are you cooking again?" Andi asked as she came into the kitchen. "Good morning. It smells delicious. Are you going to have enough for me?" She noticed Pharris at the table, and her eyebrows went up. "Good morning, Pharris. I didn't know you had stayed. Are they treating you well?"

"We have plenty, but you know the rules." Tammy said as she started sitting food on the table. "You can start by putting out plates and utensils."

"I have been made to feel welcome, and am being treated very well, minister." Pharris said as she started to stand. "Can I hel..."

"No." Andi laughed, waving her back down. "I'll get it. But you can help with dishes after. House rules. If you don't cook, you wash dishes. And that's the real reason I got you a staff, Tammy. I hate doing dishes."

Tammy got glasses and bottles of juice from the fridge, then picked Geraan up and brought him over to sit by her. She filled a plate for him, then grinned at him. "Knock yourself out kid, you're on your own this morning."

"We were speaking of your city Anchorage." Pharris said as she watched Sam and Tammy load their plates. She took a sampling of everything, then looked at the juices. "May I?" She asked, then lifted the orange juice, sniffing at it cautiously. She wrinkled her nose, then did the same on the apple and grape juices. She went back to the orange juice and filled her glass.

"Our population problems are most pressing." She told Andi as she sat down next to her. "We fear for our planet bound people. Not just from the Wraith, but the Genii, and others as well."

"We told her that we had to check with you, but that we should be able to start moving people into Anchorage in the next week or two." Carter told her.

"We can take a thousand as soon as you can get them there. We'd need a week to get them trained so they can train others, then we can take another ten thousand immediately." Samuels said. "We have food and supplies to support that many for several months on hand already, and if they don't mind sharing apartments, and are willing to work, we can add five thousand a week, up to sixty thousand, or until we reach production capacity."

Pharris choked on a mouthful of food, then turned to stare at Samuels. Tears filled her eyes as she tried to speak.

"Perhaps we should save our talks until after we eat." Andi said gently. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"No. It's just that you speak so calmly of such large numbers of people." Pharris said as she got herself under control.

Samuels colored slightly. "I'm sorry, we look at this from different perspectives." She said. "I see numbers I need to fill certain goals, while you see the people themselves. I'm meeting our new citizens as we bring them in, but I still see...I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for. I too look down and see what needs to be moved here or there. It must be done." Pharris said. "I was just not expecting to be able to begin so quickly. You had said that you had only recently acquired Anchorage."

"Yes. Five days ago." Samuels told her. "But the parts of the city we'll be working and living in have been untouched for centuries, and are in almost pristine condition. We need workers to go into the areas that the former inhabitants had converted, or allowed to fall into disrepair. A few will go to the production areas, so we can start ramping up food production."

Sam turned and looked at Tammy. "How do you think Ronin would feel about a field trip?"

"He'll want to send an advance team, but as long as we stick close, and don't wander off, I don't think he'll object." Tammy grinned. She looked down at Geraan. "We may have to put this one on a leash though."

Carter turned to Pharris. "I'd like you to go home, and invite your fellow council members to come tour Anchorage with us, today if possible. Also tell them that we wish you to be your people's emissary to our city. I'll put that in writing, in any language you like. We will accept any emissary they offer, but relations between us will be better if we can work with you. You needn't tell them that, but we want you to know it."

"Thank you. I will have to resign my seat on the council, but that is not a hardship." Pharris said with a smile. "Waleen had mentioned several excellent choices as emissaries, but they would do equally well as my replacement."

"We'll speak to them when we tour Anchorage, so don't say anything yet." Tammy told her. "We'll bring it up, so it won't look like you're maneuvering for the job. Which you didn't."

"If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to finish my breakfast before we go traipsing off to Anchorage." Andi said as she got up and got the coffee pot. She refilled everyone's cups, then sat back down. "Besides, she still has to help me with the dishes."

Interior-Council Chambers, Traveler Ship Qintoo

0920 Hours

"Why did you stay, Pharris?" Arrin asked, glaring at her across the table.

"I was invited." Pharris replied. "It would have been both unwise, and rude to decline."

"They would not harm her, Arrin." Waleen said. "I think perhaps, that they thought to sway her."

"They did not, and even if they had, it would not have taken much to do so." Pharris said lightly. "We spoke of my grandson, Phinnar. And I watched them with the child Geraan. You saw them at dinner last night. Good words for everyone, and their patience with the boy..."

"An act to get us to..." Arrin began.

"No, I ate with them this morning, and the boy climbed into bed with me in the middle of the night. Lady Tammy checked on him, but when she saw he was safe, and that I did not object, returned to her own bed." Pharris smiled at the memory. "This morning, Lady Tammy cooked, at Samantha's request. The foods they eat! By the stars, if only to share their table, I desire their friendship."

"The Earth foods were delicious." Waleen said. "The meats with the thick yell..."

"They call that 'bacon cheeseburgers'. It seems that everyone in two galaxies is enamored of them." Pharris laughed. "Yet they take it as just another in a host of choices available to them."

"Did you hear Andi talking to Teyla about Earth?" She asked them. "There are six billion people on their world. Six billion! And we struggle to maintain two million."

"Not all live as well as the people in Atlantis, Pharris." Arrin said. "Many live in poverty, and they war amongst themselves. Sheppard and Caldwell were officers in the military of the dominant nation. They spoke freely of their experiences, and the ways of their world."

"Theirs is but one of several powerful nations, and they fear for their homeworld." Waleen said, glancing at Arrin.

"The fact that these people speak so freely about the problems on their homeworld," Larrin said as she came in, "Speaks volumes about them. They want us to know that they are not without fault, and are willing to learn." She shook her head. "Sheppard forced a Wraith to give me my life back, and would have killed it without a thought. I actually wish he had, but he was moved to tears last night by that simple ceremony with those women."

"The power they have over their people is impressive." Arrin admitted. "Even I could see that it was given to them freely. These people want these women to lead them. How is that possible?"

"They wish us to join them to tour their city Anchorage, today if possible." Pharris said, looking around the table. She paused, looking at each of her fellow council members. "Andi, Dr. Samuels, says that they can take a thousand people as soon as we can get them there, then ten thousand a week later, once the first group is trained to train the others. Then they can take five thousand a week until the city reaches production capacity. She said up to sixty thousand people all told."

"We are moving too quickly." Arrin said. "They are powerful, but few in numbers. There are just over a thousand of them in Atlantis." He looked around, and met empty stares. "You wish to proceed on this course then? Even you Larrin?"

"Yes. What do we have to lose? Our way of life?" She asked, laughing harshly. "Even if they betray us, the people they take in will have a better life as their slaves than they do now. But the Athosians trust them. We all know Teyla Emmagan. She is not one that is easily fooled. She has been allied with them for almost five years, and has been our intermediary to them."

"She intends to marry the bald one, Caldwell. They are betrothed, he was saying that he was going to seek the consent of her people to wed." Waleen said. "And the old man, Bra'tac, of the Jaffa. He told us that the Ta'Ree, that's what his people call them, helped his people free themselves from the bondage of false gods as he called them. The other old one, O'Neill, explained that these gods were really a snakelike parasite of terrible power and intelligence."

"I wish to see this Anchorage, and ask that you join me." Pharris said, looking at Arrin. "They offer us havens for the planet bound, parts for our ships, a treatment to make the ancient gene come alive!"

"I will go." Waleen said

"Me too." Larrin said. "I want to see this city, and find out just why they are so eager to have us come live there."

"Finally! A voice of reason." Arrin said.

"They don't say that they don't stand to gain, Arrin." Larrin said. "Their offer was to share what our people produce. I think we have met the first trading partner that will deal fairly with us, because they need us. They spoke of a partnership, which means a voice in how things are done. And we have seen their partnerships in action, when we joined with them to fight the replicators."

"We lost three ships in that battle, Larrin." Arrin said. "My son was on one of them."

"We all lost friends and loved ones that day. But the humans went into the fire, Arrin." Larrin said, shaking her head in amazement. "They went down onto that planet, set their trap, and we all saw what happened. The Replicators are no more. If only for that, we should listen closely when they speak."

"And they kill the Wraith. They do not just speak of it, they seek them out, and destroy their ships, and planet based operations." Waleen said. "Did you see the man that announced the queens last night? Do you know who that was?" He asked Arrin. Arrin shook his head, and Waleen smiled. "Ronin Dex, of Sateda. The runner. He is one of their knights. The Lady Tammy called him guardian of the realm, and her protector in all things."

"He looked near tears as well last night." Larrin said. "I didn't think that was possible." She turned to Pharris. "Contact them. Make the arrangements, and tell them the three of us will be pleased to join them."

"I will go." Arrin said. "If they have won you all over..."

"We only go to look, Arrin." Waleen said. "We have not committed to anything yet."

Interior-Kitchen

1045 Hours

"Col. Carter, we have a message from the Travelers. They say they will be pleased to join you, and ask for details." The Ops tech said when she answered her comm.

"Thank you. Tell them that we can meet them here, send a jumper to take them to Anchorage, or meet them on any world of their choosing. Tell them that we would like to leave in one hour, but are adjustable."

"Response is, Atlantis in one hour."

"Advise them to radio before they go through the gate, so we can lower the shield." she told him. "We don't want any accidents."

Interior-Gateroom

1200 Hours

"Incoming wormhole." The Ops tech said. "We're getting a radio signal. It's the Travelers. They say five visitors."

"Five?" Sheppard said as he brought the jumper down and parked it in front of the gate.

"It's okay, John." Carter laughed when she saw that he had parked the jumper right in front of the gate. "Now, would you back that thing up, and give them a little room to come through?"

"Go ahead and lower the shield, Ops. Then tell them to proceed."

She stepped up next to the jumper as Sheppard moved it back, then waved for him to keep going. Tammy and Geraan joined her, while Ronin moved to the front. Ronin looked back over his shoulder.

"Shields on?" He asked, looking at the pendants on their vests.

The travelers stepped through the gate, stopping short when they saw the jumper. Carter went over to them and knelt in front of the boy they had brought with them.

"You must be Phinnar." She said, holding out her hand. "Your grandmother has told us much about you." She looked over her shoulder, and Tammy brought Geraan over. "This is Geraan, of the Free Jaffa Nation."

Geraan stepped up and looked at the other boy. "I am a great and mighty warrior." He said. "I am here to protect the warrior queen."

Phinnar stepped forward, standing inches from Geraan. "I will be the greatest pilot among the greatest pilots in the universe." He replied.

"He'll do." Ronin said as he picked both boys up by the back of the shirt and carried them around, then into jumper.