For his friend's ears only, Rodney said, "This isn't the way it's supposed to work."
"Yeah, well, mine is not to reason why, and all that jazz." Matching his low volume, Sheppard responded to Rodney's intent as much as his statement. "Thank you. Now drop it. And put that popcorn in my quarters, or I'll kick your ass and then tattle to Teyla."
Reluctantly Rodney gave in and closed his mouth. They all could take care of themselves for a while, Sheppard included.
"Mr. Woolsey will be anxiously awaiting your report from M1M-316," Landry told Rodney and Radek tersely before turning to Sheppard. "Colonel, we have a slight change of plans. I need you and Agent Larance to accompany Dr. Jackson. He believes he knows where to find records of what this Lilith might have done after she evacuated to Earth."
"I thought he already knew." Radek's brow furrowed.
Rodney was only marginally gratified by that reaction. It appeared Radek was not entirely conversant with every aspect of this situation, either.
"In general terms. Given the information just recently provided by Agent Larance, it's beginning to look as though the details are a bit more complicated." Landry rolled his eyes. "Imagine my surprise. The original plan was for Colonel Sheppard to assist Agent Larance in continuing her investigation. Now that the good doctor has been briefed on the Stargate and in turn provided us with some very specific details that may be of some use, the IOA has asked her and the Colonel to go along with Dr. Jackson."
And the IOA always got what it asked for, didn't it?
Landry called into Jumper Three's cockpit. "Lieutenant, you have a go. Dr. Weir, we'll bump up the check-in schedule to once every twelve hours. Good luck."
"Safe trip," added Sheppard, hands clasped behind his back in a very military and uncharacteristic manner.
"You, too," Elizabeth echoed quietly.
Somewhat mollified, if not entirely certain he had grasped the entire picture, Rodney settled on a jerky wave as he activated the control to raise the jumper's hatch.
Over the hum of the mechanism, her heard Sheppard ask the General, "Sir, where exactly would a member of SG-1 and an FBI agent need to be accompanied by another field trained officer?"
Rodney had wondered that same thing. The hatch sealed, obscuring Landry's reply. Radek, though, had kept a more careful watch through the narrowing gap, and now he drew back with a wary expression.
"Did he just say Baghdad?"
Chapter ten
John entered the briefing room in time to watch Jumper Three descend into launch position in front of the open gate. He didn't try too hard to quash the resentment that flared at the sight. Temporary assignment or not, he was being left behind, the rest of his team carrying out a separate mission three million light years away.
No matter what Landry said, John knew there was more than one reason for keeping him here. Radek's explanation notwithstanding, being kept out of the loop was an indication that you were about to find yourself demoted.
Honesty was something he'd come to expect from Elizabeth. The evasive look she'd given him in the jumper bay frankly worried the hell out of him. Of course, he was the only person around who'd had the pleasure of hosting the iratus virus. Dr. Lam was expecting him in the infirmary in a few minutes, so he had an evening of blood tests and cell samples to look forward to. He wasn't convinced there would be anything there for her to find, especially since he'd never produced the feeding enzyme even while he'd been infected-thankfully. That would have been a whole new level of wrongness. In any case, he'd made it his policy not to argue with people who wielded big needles, so he'd play pincushion like a good boy. Right now, any act, no matter how small, to persuade his superiors that he wasn 't a hotheaded maverick who leapt at any chance to blow off an order seemed like a smart move.
John had been around this block before. He recognized the signs. While his defiance during the Asuran invasion of Atlantis hadn't gotten him exiled to Antarctica again, it hadn't been forgotten, either. Four of them had borrowed that jumper, but of those four only John had been military, assigned to the SGC, and given a direct order to turn back. The fact that they'd saved the city, not to mention General O'Neill and the ION s pet mouthpiece, was a secondary consideration to some. Hell, there were days when he still found himself surprised that Woolsey and O'Neill's support had been enough to keep him in his post.
Since he was on a short leash with Landry and most of the IOA, maybe being confined to Earth for a while would give him an opportunity to demonstrate his value and dependability. If so, he'd take it. He'd do whatever was necessary to stay on the Atlantis expedition, because the alternatives didn't bear thinking about.
He had to smirk. Confined to Earth, huh? He wasn't sure when Atlantis had become such a fundamental part of his identity, but it had happened all the same.
Stepping fully into the briefing room, he raised his voice to address the only other occupant. "Kind of overwhelming, huh?"
From her place at the window, Rebecca Larance glanced over at him. Almost immediately her gaze was drawn back to the gate, now partway through the dialing sequence. When the final chevron locked and the wormhole exploded into being, she sucked in a startled breath, taking an involuntary step back. "My God," she gasped.
"I know the feeling. I got dragged into all this just by sitting in a damn chair." John joined her at the window and did his best not to clench his jaw when Jumper Three disappeared into the event horizon. The rippling blue disk disintegrated, revealing nothing but a blank gray wall behind it.
The FBI agent slowly shook her head, captivated. "It really exists," she murmured, staring out at the now quiet gate. "The portal to another world." A curl of vapor rose from the coffee cup in her hand, the contents apparently forgotten as reality provided a more immediate stimulant.
"Another galaxy, in this case." Seeing that she looked troubled, he offered a smile. "I'll admit it takes some getting used to, but it's not all bad."
She snorted softly. "I don't even know how to react to that, Maj — pardon me, Colonel."
"Try `John' instead," he suggested on impulse. "Since at one time you were in possession of more personal information about me than just about anyone I know."
For a moment, she regarded him in silence, as if sizing up his motives. He must have passed the test, because some of the hard lines set into her features eased. "Rebecca, then," she said finally. "Since the doctor/patient dynamic is no longer applicable. John, I've spent the lion's share of my career explaining away UFO cults as a coping strategy to reconcile the ontological gap between mainstream religions and modem science. In the last couple of hours I've been given a Who's Who of known gods-or, more accurately, known false gods and energy beings. Your little operation here efficiently demonstrated to me that my profession, which dismisses such beliefs as based entirely on flawed reasoning and weak rhetoric, is itself misguided."
John had never pinned much of his worldview to any particular set of religious beliefs, or even to an absence of belief. Nevertheless, he could understand why Dr. Larance-Rebecca-might find the gate's very existence disturbing.
Possibly mistaking his lack of response for a lack of comprehension, she scrubbed at tired eyes with the side of her hand. "I'm sorry. What I got right and wrong before, and why, isn't important. What matters is that." She laid her index finger against the glass, indicating the gate below. "This Stargate; it's real, and in light of that fact, many things I previously labeled as mythology-indeed, all so-called mythologies-now merit serious consideration."