"No way, cool," Colonel John Sheppard grinned, then noticing the look on his superior's face, coughed and amended, "I mean, I don't think we need the Navy here Sir."
O'Neill rolled his eyes, "Nice try Colonel." Jack was in a supremely grumpy mood. Not only had he let Jiggs Starke (and really, what the heck kind of name was Jiggs anyway?) get the better of him but he also had some of his best people reacting to the news of a visit by Admiral Nelson and his Command Crew as if they were royalty. Sure the guy was a Nobel Prize Winner and he'd created the most advanced ship ("boat," he heard the correction in Daniel Jackson's voice; "whatever" his own internal voice snarked back) humanity had been capable of until the Asgard technology had been gifted to Stargate Command, and they'd built their first space ships; and yes, it had 'windows' but really, was that any reason for Carter, a normally unflappable and very sensible officer to gush like a fan girl at a rock concert? No. Daniel he could understand. He'd been trapped at a science symposium once listening to Nelson lecture on the properties of some type of mollusk for over an hour before he'd made his escape and from what he could remember; Nelson and Daniel would probably get on like a house on fire, but Carter?
"Es tu, Sam", he thought. And now, Sheppard, the quintessential 'flyboy' was trying to suppress the gleeful look of a kid who'd just been told Santa was coming for a visit. What was up with that? Sheppard looked bouncy; Teyla and Ronan looked politely confused and indifferent, respectively; Lorne looked quietly thrilled in his own laid back way as Sheppard; in fact the only ones who appeared to be the least bit dismayed were Richard Woolsey, the expedition's most recent leader and Rodney McKay, resident genius pain in the neck and places farther south. Hmmm, interesting; McKay he could understand but Woolsey?
"There's no reason for Nelson to come to Atlantis. What would be the point? And have you ever dealt with the man? The ego on that man, the constant arguments and have I mentioned his temper? He's unstable, at the best of times." Rodney was in full rant mode, arms waving and completely oblivious to the raised eyebrows of virtually everyone in the room.
"One of those stubborn science types that just refuses to admit when they're wrong eh?" Sheppard interjected dryly.
"Pot meet kettle" Jack barely heard coming from Lorne.
"Well, yes, be that as it may," Woolsey attempted to regain control of the intergalactic conference, time was money and keeping the wormhole open for this meeting was probably costing a fortune. "General O'Neill, I'm not sure that having such high level visitors to the base is a very good idea, security-wise, especially at this time."
"Really Richard," Jack asked, "and why is that?"
"Well General O'Neill, the Wraith could attack."
Sheppard frowned and he and Lorne shared a look.
"Richard, the Wraith could always attack, that's kind of what they do. These aren't civilians we're talking about; they're military even if they are Navy." Sheppard grinned, Lorne nodded.
"No, Woolsey's absolutely right. The man is a walking trouble magnet, wherever he goes, chaos follows. I know the man, if it's strange, it happens to him." Rodney added desperately. Why wouldn't these people listen to him, if they thought Jackson was bad with his constant dying and ascending foolishness they would be overwhelmed by Nelson; good lord the simplest experiment suddenly veered off through the Looking Glass when Harriman Nelson was involved; the only thing they could be the least bit thankful for was that SG-1 wasn't coming along otherwise they might as well kiss the Pegasus Galaxy good-bye.
Rodney once again failed to notice the raised eyebrows after the words 'trouble magnet' were uttered, nor the looks aimed his way.
"I wouldn't put it in quite those words but Admiral Nelson does have a bit of a reputation in certain circles for attracting…" Woolsey seem to be searching for the right word.
"Weirdness," McKay supplied forcefully and not at all helpfully in Woolsey's opinion.
"Dr. McKay, please," Richard Woolsey rubbed his eyes; he could feel a headache coming on. He'd been an attaché to the NSA when certain ONI reports had come across his desk. He'd been younger then, thinking himself fairly jaded but even so, reading those reports had been like reading a science fiction novel. He'd never told anyone but he'd actually looked forward to another report from the Seaview, say what you will, they were never boring, but that was then and now, now light years away from home on a floating alien city, Richard Woolsey very much wanted as much boring as possible. McKay was not putting it very delicately but he had a point, boring and Nelson; two concepts that did not keep company in any way, shape or form.
General O'Neill raised a hand to forestall any further discussion: "It's a done deal gentlemen, and Lady (with a nod to Teyla, which she graciously acknowledged). Admiral Nelson, Captain Crane and his XO Commander Morton will be arriving on the Hammond with Colonel Carter. Show them around, Be Polite (this directly sternly at Rodney who opened his mouth than shut it with a sulky snap, audible several galaxies away) and Colonel?" Sheppard straightened in his chair.
"Sir?"
"Try to keep the Marines from asking for their autographs." Sheppard gave a solid salute. "Yes Sir."
At that moment, CMO Jennifer Keller rushed into the room, "Sorry, sorry," she scooted into her chair, pushing hair out of her face and trying to catch her breath before smiling hesitantly at everyone; "What did I miss?"