Pollution

"The frequency, if sustained for long enough, begins to vibrate the particles at just the right speed to trigger a chain reaction in the..."

He aimed a stern finger at her, very, very quickly. "Ack!"

"Sir?"

He waved the finger, before pointing it back at her. This time, with a touch of friendly menace. "I said 'ack', Major! Why are you trying to pollute my mind with science?"

She was a little confused. "You did ask how it works, Sir."

He sighed, rolling his eyes at her. "I know, but I didn't mean to ask 'how it works'. I was asking how it 'works'."

She thought about it for a few seconds. But was still confused. "Sir?"

He groaned, perhaps in some exasperation. "What buttons do I press, Major?"

She finally understood. "Oh."

Her slender fingers flew over the control panel. "There, there and...there."

He got that. "Thank you, Major. See, it wasn't hard to explain, was it?"

Then he peered down at the object and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Wait, are you sure that's it? That's all?"

"Yes, Sir. As I was saying, the activation device vibrates the particles..."

He looked alarmed. "Ack, Major! Again! Don't you know that every time you talk to me about vibrating particles, another minor Simpsons character dies?"

She had to admit, he stopped her dead with that one. She was flummoxed. "I'm sorry, Sir?"

He started speaking to her as if she were five. "In my limited mind, Carter. You try filling my head with any more science and I might lose Flanders or Apu. Don'tcha see? That would be very bad!"

Ah. It was nice to see that imminent planetary destruction was still being properly prioritised by her C.O. "I...suppose it would, Sir."

He looked indignant. "Darn staight it would, Major!"

She tried to impart some possibly useful information, without wantonly killing off any more apparently important animated 'people'. As he no doubt regarded them to be.

But as she opened her mouth to speak, he simply picked up the tiny device, dropped it into his shirt pocket and stuck his fingers in his ears, moving out of her lab rapidly.

He bumped into something, or somebody, just as he turned, outside of the doorway. He looked down and spoke rather too loudly, what with his digits still preventing his own hearing and all.

"Can you believe it? She's polluting my brain with science again!"

Then he recognised the individual. Lieutenant Hailey.

He huffed. He sighed. He grimaced.

He moaned, "Oh, like you'd understand my pain!"

He stalked off, his fingers still firmly making his hearing loss damn near total.

Lieutenant Hailey stuck her head around the door, tentatively.

Major Carter was looking at the doorway, in some disbelief.

The young woman just had to ask. "His brain, ma'am?"

Sam rolled her eyes at the junior officer, smiled, shrugged and turned to her computer screen.

She knew him better, so today she would make no comment.