Disclaimer:- Don't own anything, so please don't sue me.
A/N This is the sequel to My Kind Of Infirmary. The first few chapters hopefully tie up all the loose ends from that story as well as My Kind Of Bravery, before the new story starts properly round about chapter 4 or 5. Thanks to all who have reviewed my stories, I can't tell you how much of a buzz I get from them.
'She'd find out. Women always find out our little secrets'.
When John Sheppard had uttered those fateful words, he'd been talking about Ronon hurting or even killing Drs. Thomas and Jenkins, not about what had happened to Jennifer in Ronon's quarters during her withdrawal.
It had been 3 weeks since Thomas had injected Jennifer Keller with the Wraith enzyme in an attempt to get it back to Earth, and Jenkins had tried to engineer her removal from Atlantis, so that he could take over the running of the Infirmary. 3 weeks in which Jennifer and Ronon had hardly seen each other, one recovering and the other off-world a great deal returning children to their homes.
Physically Jen had recovered from both the injuries sustained on Tallon and those she had received fighting Ronon during the withdrawal. Unfortunately, the psychological effects went much deeper – she had, after all, been betrayed by 2 of her own staff. Both men were due to board the Daedalus for Earth later that day, but before they left, Jen accompanied by Col. Carter and Major Lorne went to see them. She needed to try and understand why they'd done it.
Neither man made any apology to Jen. Dr Thomas was still convinced that nothing would happen to him on Earth, believing that The Trust would take care of their own. However Col. Carter knew a great deal about that organisation and was well aware of how they reacted to failure – she didn't expect Thomas to survive long if he managed to escape from custody. Dr Jenkins, on the other hand, appeared to have had a severe mental breakdown. Jennifer knew that he hadn't approved of her promotion to CMO, but even she was shocked by the hatred he displayed towards her. Also disturbing was the way he felt about the inhabitants of the Pegasus Galaxy – seeming to consider them almost as sub-human.
On leaving the holding cells, Jen turned to Samantha Carter saying "We need to seriously check up on our selection procedures for people coming here. I've worked with these men for a while now, and I had no idea that Jenkins felt that way. We can't afford any more like him getting through the net. Thomas is just an opportunist and I don't know if we'll ever be able to stop people like him".
"I've already been on to the SGC. All we can do is try and make sure that it doesn't happen again" replied Sam.
"What about the staff we've already got? How many of them feel like Jenkins or have been suborned like Thomas? I really thought that I knew them both, I trusted them".
Carter and Lorne looked at each other, before Sam spoke again "We have had some thoughts on that. Unfortunately it all boils down to the same thing – everybody on the base is going to have to be tested using whatever means are necessary. That means lie detector tests. I will not have traitors or racists in my command".
"What kind of lie detectors?" asked Jen, frowning.
"Well, McKay reckons he's found an Ancient device that should work, there's always the old standby – drugs, and then there's Kazy".
"Kazy is 5 years old. I don't really think we can expect her to do that. It's not right".
"Normally Doctor I would agree with you. However this isn't a normal place and we need answers quickly. She can give us them".
"Major Lorne, you and Marie have spent a lot of time with Kazy and her brother. Surely you don't think we should do this".
Evan Lorne coloured slightly as Jen mentioned his growing relationship with her head nurse.
"Oh goody" she smirked "Someone else who blushes when things get personal".
"Lay off, Doc" muttered Lorne, going even redder. "It's not as though Kazy would be asking the questions, just listening to the answers and evaluating whether they're lying or not. And you can always sit in, make sure it's not too much for her".
Sam shivered.
"Col. Are you okay?" asked Jen
"Yeah, just remembering a Tok'ra lie detector. It wasn't a pleasant experience even though things turned out alright in the end. The point is, the questions have to be very specific and even then, leaving things unsaid can be construed as lying. We're going to have to be careful, and then of course we'll have to decide what to do if anybody refuses to take the test. There are bound to be some who won't agree, just on principle".
"Colonel, I need to make sure that the transfer arrangements to the Daedalus go as planned, so if I'm not needed here anymore..."
"Certainly Major. Carry on".
Major Lorne left the two women who headed back towards the Infirmary. As they walked Jen contemplated all that had happened to her in the last month. This was her first day back at work and she felt nervous. Many of her staff had been on duty when, under the influence of the Wraith enzyme, she had stabbed Dr Jenkins in the arm before turning the surgical scissors on herself. Even though they all now knew the reason, she was worried about how they would react to her. She needn't have bothered, as she was greeted by a huge 'Welcome Back' banner and a party that was just getting started.
When her embarrassment had died down, Col. Carter tapped her on the shoulder and pointed towards her office, indicating that she wanted a private word.
As the door closed behind them, Sam said "I realise that you've got a lot of catching up to do with your staff and paperwork etc, but I'd like you to organise DNA tests on the children we have left on Atlantis, as soon as possible. Ronon is particularly anxious to find out if Penta and Kazy are Satedan as they claim, and I would like to know if Rula has the Ancient gene. Plus we still have several children that we have no idea of their planet of origin. Of the 162 that were rescued, we've managed to get 105 back to their families. Of the other 57, 20 are so badly traumatised they can hardly speak. So DNA is our only hope, provided the Ancient database contains the right reference samples".
"Okay Col. we'll get started on that as soon as I can get that lot back to work. Maybe Teyla could come in with them, she seems to have a calming influence from what I've seen. In my experience, children tend to be terrified of Infirmaries even with the promise of lollipops. I'll contact her and set up a schedule. Is there anything else urgent that I need to deal with?"
"Yes, actually there is" Sam said slowly.
"Go on Col. Say it. You think I aught to take some time away from Atlantis, don't you?"
"Jennifer. I won't force you to take leave. Just think about it, ok".
"I'll consider it, Samantha. But I have no intention of going anywhere until I've done everything that needs doing with the children. I presume that, since you haven't said anything to the contrary, that they've settled in alright".
"Oh yeah. Rula, our little computer genius, is busy teaching all the other kids the basics, it's driving McKay round the bend, trying to keep up with them".
"And how is Rodney? I haven't seen him very much these last few weeks. I get the impression that he's avoiding me".
"That's quite possible, I'm afraid. He won't talk to anybody about what the problem is, though we know it concerns you and the camp. I don't want to hack his personal files. I'm just hoping he'll tell us eventually" Sam said sadly.
"Well if there's nothing else at the moment Colonel, I'll attempt to get my staff out of party mode and we'll set up those DNA tests. I'll contact you when I have some results".
After saying their farewells, Jen switched on her computer intending to collect her e-mails before starting work. Unfortunately, the final one had the colour draining from her face.