“Poor Dick.” Teyla stopped just short of the door, the rain falling around her. “He knew this might happen. He knew that bringing Atlantis back would be likely to cost him his career.”
“He wouldn’t be the first,” Sam said, appearing in the doorway. She shrugged sheepishly. “It’s not that I go around eavesdropping, actually. I just thought I’d come down and see how the mission went.”
Teyla laughed. “We were on our way up to you, so you would not have missed much.”
“I was saying Woolsey’s in hot water,” John said. “I wish we could have just thrown the IOA out the window and kept O’Neill in charge.”
Sam’s eyebrow quirked. “Do you? I don’t. It’s not his Air Force, John. And I could tell you some stories about the VP in the last administration. At least having more hands in the pot provides some accountability. We obey any lawful order, but most of the time we have no way of knowing how those orders were arrived at or what their consequences are.”
“Any lawful order,” John said with a mirthless smile.
“That doesn’t contravene the Constitution of the United States.” Sam stepped back inside, giving Teyla room to get out of the rain. “That’s what our oath is to. That’s what we promise.”
“Try giving that as a defense at a court martial,” John said.
“People have. People should.” John fell into step beside her as they walked down the hall to the transport chamber. “There’s a book called Dereliction of Duty you should read. About Vietnam.”
“There’s a winning topic,” John said. “The elephant in the middle of the room. The thing you’d better not talk about. Thanks, but no thanks. I’m happy to be about a zillion light years from that argument.”
“The questions aren’t any different here,” Sam said seriously, her back to the wall of the transport chamber.
John’s face sobered. “I know that,” he said.
Chapter Twenty-three
Original Sin
“I hate this,” Sam said to no one in particular. She’d been on her way down to the Hammond when the Eternal had landed, and she hadn’t been unhappy to be sidetracked by Teyla’s return. She hadn’t figured out quite what she’d say to Major Franklin.
Now, as the transport chamber doors opened again in the empty corridor, she figured she’d better work it out. Her crew was just starting to come together as a team, and now Franklin had to rock the boat. She was going to have to land on him like a ton of bricks. Being the disciplinarian didn’t come easy to her, but over the years she’d learned how to do it and this was one of the situations that called for it. She couldn’t afford the tensions within her crew this raised, and the last thing any of them could afford was a problem with Sheppard or the Atlantis expedition. Or, for that matter, with the Daedalus’ 302 wing. Thankfully, Lorne knew her and trusted her enough to bring it to her before it got out of hand.
The doors to the pier slid open ahead of her, and here was Franklin coming toward her. Which begged the question of waiting. Better to get it over with.
“Major Franklin,” she said. “Just the man I was looking for.”
“Ma’am?” Franklin looked surprised. That wasn’t her usual tone of voice. She sounded like she was channeling Jack. He could kick somebody’s butt between their ears in the most thorough way she’d ever seen without ever raising his voice.
“I understand you have a problem with Colonel Sheppard,” she said. Spit it out and see what he said.
“Ma’am?” He looked bewildered, not guilty. That was a good sign, if it was genuine.
“Telling stories on his record at the poker game last night.” She didn’t wait for him to deny it. That was a General Hammondism — if you know it’s true, never give them a chance to sidetrack the conversation onto how you know it. “I’m very disappointed in you, Major. That’s unprofessional. Digging up rumors seven or eight years old about the commander of the base you’re visiting and repeating them to his subordinates is absolutely out of bounds.”
“Um,” Franklin gulped. Ok, not guilt or hostility. Franklin could be a motor mouth. She’d already figured that out. Maybe this was nothing but that, gossip to make himself sound important when trying to fit in with people he didn’t know. But Hocken would read it as a threat, and Lorne as an attack on someone whose back he was watching.
“Sheppard is a fine man and a good officer,” Sam said. “Moreover, he’s the commander of this base, where we are guests. Guests do not muddy the water for their hosts. Is that clear?”
“Abundantly, ma’am,” Franklin said, drawing himself up. If she’d been him, her cheeks would have been flaming.
“Right now we are enjoying the full liberty of the city. It wouldn’t be very pleasant if the crew of the Hammond or any individual were to lose that liberty and have to stay aboard the ship for the remainder of our stay.” Atlantis’ mess served fresh food. They had unlimited showers and a full gym, movie nights and poker games and pick up basketball. Franklin being stuck aboard the Hammond for several weeks would be a pretty severe punishment. For the entire crew of the Hammond to be stuck aboard the ship because Franklin had insulted the base commander would make his life utter hell.
Not that Sheppard would do that. He wouldn’t punish the whole crew of the Hammond by placing the city off limits. But Franklin probably didn’t know Sheppard well enough to know that. And Sam would certainly require Franklin to stay aboard if she thought he was going to make trouble.
“Yes, ma’am.” Franklin’s voice was very precise. He saw the event horizon looming there too.
“I do not want to hear any further stories about you spreading old rumors,” Sam said. “Gossip is unprofessional, and doubly so when it reflects poorly on your ship and your command. I am sure this is the last of this incident.”
“It is, ma’am.” Franklin brought himself to attention.
“Good. Now go get a crew together to get the hull plates that Dr. Kusanagi will need for repairs tomorrow. Ask her which bay they’re stored and move them to the tarmac next to the Hammond. You’ll need the bobcat, because the plates are large and very heavy.” Franklin had probably been on his way to dinner, but it wouldn’t hurt him to wait a little while. A couple of hours’ work loading hull plates would serve as a reminder of how very unpleasant his life could become, but wouldn’t be severe enough to get his back up. That was the other thing she couldn’t afford. She needed a first officer who was on her team, who was 100 percent bought in. She could strangle him for making this necessary. But it also wasn’t the kind of thing she could afford to let pass.
“Yes, ma’am.” Franklin opened his mouth and shut it again, as though deciding what to say. “Ma’am, I want you to know that I don’t have anything personal against Colonel Sheppard. I barely knew him in Kandahar.”
“Good,” Sam said. “Then I’m certain we won’t need to speak of this again.”
Teyla dreamed, and in her dream she knew she was in Atlantis. She rose up from her bed and left John sleeping, left her rooms and walked the halls sleeplessly, through silent echoing corridors, past windows that opened on night.
She made her way to the control room, hearing even before she entered the comforting soft sounds of the machines, the voices of the duty crew. Chuck was at the ops board, and gave her a smile as she passed. The office door was open, and Teyla was unsurprised to hear Rodney, to see him pacing back and forth, explaining something to Elizabeth, who sat at her desk, her laptop open before her.
“Of course it’s a problem,” he said testily. “90 percent of the females died in the initial trials. But those who lived were more radically transformed than we anticipated. I don’t think we had any idea that we would be creating those kinds of mental powers, far beyond anything we have previously experienced.”