"Vacation"
…
General Anson had a grim look on his face as Jansingh led her team into the briefing room. She was certain she knew why. By Earth reckoning, the Alpha Site had been out of contact with Stargate Command for almost two days. The idea left most of her team worried, especially when they considered all the things they had heard about SG-1, Earth's flagship team. Earth could be blockaded by the Goa'uld, their Stargate could have been disabled because the control computer had gone haywire again, an alien artifact could have attached itself to the interior of the Embarkation Room and caught personnel in the process… the speculation running abound in the Alpha Site reached an absurd level. So far, there was very little actual information to go on. All attempts to contact the SGC using the Stargate resulted in less than a pretty show of lights before the Alpha Site Stargate became bored and shut itself down for the next user. It had been a minor inconvenience for SG-14, whose members had to spend yesterday evening on an alien planet.
Unfortunately, the Alpha Site was left in a much direr situation. With contact with Earth cut off for an unknown amount of time, the fallback point for the interstellar exploration branch of the United States Air Force was short of supplies and personnel. The fatigues worn by SG-14 had been donated to them by base personnel with the team patch replacing the customized delta of the Alpha Site. This left Jennifer Choi, a particularly short woman, with an oversized uniform modified with small pieces of duct tape from a roll that McBay had swiped from a maintenance locker.
"Ladies and gentlemen," General Anson addressed them, indicating the conference table set up in a room suspiciously similar to the briefing room at the SGC. With his girth, the general could almost pass for the SGC's commanding officer, General Hammond, if he shaved his head. Jansingh took the closest chair to the head of the table with Choi next to her while Captain McBay and Lieutenant Brandt sat opposite from them. The general also took his seat and laced his fingers together. But instead of starting the briefing, he silently contemplated the clean surface of the table. Then he sighed.
"We have a problem."
"You mean other than the problem with contacting Earth, right?" Choi asked in a snobbish tone that, alone, would constitute insubordination. It was only Choi's fortune that she was not Air Force personnel. Jansingh felt Anson's dagger-shaped glare slice the air inches from her face when his eyes darted in Choi's direction.
"Until we make contact with Earth again," he continued after a brief moment, "the Alpha Site will have to be self-sufficient. The survey teams here have already identified a number of edible plants in the area, so our food supplies will be rationed and supplemented with what we can find. Unfortunately, we are understaffed at the moment, so function of this base won't be as smooth as the SGC."
"SG-14 is ready to help in any way possible, sir," Jansingh said, her nod drawing agreement from McBay and Brandt.
"I'm aware of that, Major," the general said. "But as the only exploration team on-base, your primary function will not be here at the Alpha Site."
"Anywhere we're needed, General," McBay chimed.
"Without Earth, most off-world teams are exposed with no means of retreating. That's why, since yesterday, we've been attempting to contact every team that has been deployed in an effort to retrieve them."
"How many have responded, sir?" Jansingh asked.
"So far, only you."
"Out of how many?" McBay asked.
"We've attempted to contact seven teams thus far. According to the mission roster we received from Earth before contact was lost, seven SG teams and five survey groups are expected to be off-world."
"I suddenly don't have a problem with low-priority missions," Brandt remarked to McBay. The captain nodded in agreement.
"Half of the SG teams and the survey groups are expected to be operating off-world for a while," the general continued. "But SG-10 is overdue. They were supposed to check in with the SGC five hours ago, so they should have tried to contact us since then."
"Maybe they're like us and don't know the Alpha Site's address," McBay suggested.
"If that's the case, then they need to be brought back here immediately. SG-14's mission will be to go to P2X-755, assess SG-10's situation, and bring them back to the Alpha Site."
"Any idea what their mission was?" Brandt asked.
"Follow-up, mostly. Land surveys. Also, they were supposed to be negotiating trade with the indigenous population, although the briefing we received from Stargate Command failed to specify what."
"General, if you don't mind," Choi spoke up, one hand in the air. "I'd prefer to remain here and run some soil tests."
"Sorry, Doctor, but as a member of SG-14, you're expected to accompany the team on every mission they are assigned unless specifically requested elsewhere. And I didn't like that comment you made, so it's just as well I don't have to listen to you any more than I want." Choi sat stunned while Brandt and McBay tried to hide the impulse to grin.
"You said P2X-755 has an indigenous population, sir," Jansingh said. "Did the briefing indicate any hostility?"
The general shook his head. "No, but if the potential for trade is any indication, the indigenous people don't hate us yet. See if SG-10 was able to maintain good relations."
"If they didn't, you'll know two minutes after the 'Gate closes, sir," McBay commented with a grin.
Anson stood, prompting the team to follow. "SG-14, you depart in ten minutes," he said. "Gear up."
…
The Alpha Site Stargate sat in a dirt clearing somewhat removed from the few pre-fab buildings that served as the base. Other than a couple of SFs standing guard around the DHD, a few BDU-clad civilians and armored Jaffa (rebels, of course) roamed the grounds. No sign of Tok'ra operatives, though, which turned out to be a disappointment for McBay; he had been prattling on about some of the visitors to the SGC which the technicians gossiped about. As SG-14 approached dressed in clean camouflage with packs, one of the SFs' radios buzzed. After an acknowledging comment, he turned and dialed the DHD. The Stargate gave its customary kawoosh, and a shimmering pool filled the empty space in the middle of the Ancient device.
"So, does anyone know what these people are like?" Brandt asked as they continued across the dirt clearing.
"According to the mission report, SG-12 took the first recon last week," McBay said. "But the Alpha Site has yet to get in touch with them, so we're on our own."
"You read the mission report?" Jansingh asked over her shoulder.
"I skimmed it." But Brandt gave him a doubtful side-glance. McBay then admitted, "Okay, I had one of the technicians give me the highlights. Nice lady. Can't say the report was as interesting, though."
"I was almost surprised, Captain," Jansingh commented over her shoulder in an unimpressed tone. "Just for that, you have the point."
"Yes, ma'am," McBay groaned, stepping around her.
"This is SG-14," she said into her radio. "See you soon, Alpha Site."
"Keep in touch, Major," General Anson replied.
The team stepped through the portal, feeling almost nothing against their skin as the water-like surface absorbed them. A vision of stars flew past them before emerging into another afternoon seemingly on the other side of the Alpha Site's Stargate.
The first sound heard was a sneeze from McBay.
"Bless you," Brandt said with a grin.
"That sneeze had better not be a problem, Captain," Jansingh commented as her eyes scanned the surroundings. The Stargate sat on a hill overlooking a cluster of wood-shingled roofs, connected by a road of grey brick. Other than an F.R.E.D. sitting silent next to a DHD painted in an array of gaudy colors, no immediate sign of SG-10 was to be held.
"I've never had anything like this, ma'am," McBay replied as the Stargate shut down.
"You did the same thing when we stepped onto the Alpha Site," Brandt commented.
McBay sniffed. "I've never been off-world until P3… uh, until two days ago."
"You mean until P3C-529?" Brandt asked, drawing his camera.
"Whatever."
Jansingh clicked her radio to transmit. "Sierra-Golf One-Zero," she said into it, "this is Sierra-Golf One-Four. Please respond." She paused for a moment, but no response came. "Sierra-Golf One-Zero, we need your location. Please respond."
Silence answered, prompting McBay to quip, "Guess nobody's home."
"We should've called ahead," Brandt commented.
"We did," Jansingh said. She addressed her radio in a stern voice, "Sierra-Golf One-Zero. Major Weaver, please respond. Where the hell are you?"
McBay allowed the grace of half a minute before saying, "I think we're going to have to find them the hard way, ma'am."
"Captain, take the point," Jansingh told him. "We're heading into town."
"Why are you taking pictures?" Choi asked as she and Brandt fell in step behind Jansingh.
Brandt shrugged. "It's an alien planet. Why wouldn't I?"
"We're picking up another team," she pointed out. "They've probably done all the first visit stuff."
"Every little bit helps."
Choi stared up at the sky as if to indicate her lack of interest. "You must have a good budget on film."
Brandt gave her a stumped look. "Uh… actually, I'm using a digital camera."
She shoved her hands in her pockets. "So no problem, then," she replied in a cool tone.
"Doc," McBay whined, "why don't you just admit you're bored?"
"Because I'm holding out for an admission from someone that I was right," she answered. "Because there is no reason for me to be here. Just like I was trying to explain to that general."
"Major," McBay said, "requesting permission to tell the doc she's a waste of space just like she wants." Brandt snorted.
"Excuse me?" Choi replied.
McBay shrugged. "That's what I heard."
"Captain, you have the point," Jansingh told him. "Put some distance between us."
"Yes, ma'am," McBay said, quickening his pace.
"Doc," Jansingh continued, "I'll be the first to admit that I would rather have anyone but you walking behind me because would actually be paying attention. That being said, it doesn't take much effort to use those pretty eyes of yours to look around for four adults wearing military fatigues. In fact, it would take less effort than staring at the back of my head and whining about how useless you are."
Choi was silent, her mouth hanging open in an expression of wordlessness. Brandt, humored by the even voice with which Jansingh had delivered her opinion, turned and snapped a profile shot of Choi's face. "I'll call this one 'The Day the Major Broke the Doc'," he joked as he admired the picture on the camera's screen. "Copies, Major?" However, Jansingh glared over her shoulder, a clear indication to Brandt that he should shut up.
The road, as they walked, changed into steps at steeper points. Other than that, there did not appear to be anything special about it. There were no signposts, which made sense because the road never branched off. The residents also had not put up any sort of lighting. The overall walk took about twenty minutes, all spent in silence.
The first evidence of human presence sat at a small booth between the buildings on either side of the road. The path switched to red brick as it entered what looked like a series of shops lining both sides of a town street. People in both casual clothes (which looked like t-shirts and sweatpants to the members of SG-14) and business uniforms crisscrossed the road. There were no immediate signs of military or police establishment because no one they saw carried weapons. Under the circumstances, Jansingh felt that spotting SG-10 should be quite easy.
McBay had been stopped at a small booth just outside the town. His stance, leaning on the wall with his hands casually in his pockets, told Jansingh of a lapse in interest in the mission.
"Situation, Captain?" she asked in a sharp tone that made McBay jump in surprise.
"Oh, hey, Major," he replied. After clearing his throat, he continued, "Uh, this is Suah. She's… uh…"
A young woman of dark skin peered over the table with almond-shaped eyes. "Hello," she said with the kind of smile which added "I'm clueless" to the end of every statement. "How can I help you?"
"You're an info booth?" Jansingh asked.
"I prefer the term 'Information and Scheduling Specialist'," she answered, holding her smile.
"We're looking for SG-10." It seemed straight-forward to Jansingh. Until Suah tilted her head like a confused dog. She added, "There should be four of them, all wearing uniforms like us."
At this information, the girl Suah put on an uncomfortable look. "Um… th-this is just my first day…"
"Some specialist," Choi commented. Suah shot an irritated glare at her.
Jansingh gripped her radio and addressed it, "Sierra-Golf One-Zero, where the hell are you?" As before, no response. "Captain, take the doc and start looking around. Lieutenant, you're with me. Keep in radio contact. And if you go missing, too, I'm going to find you just so I can shoot you."
McBay gave a nervous grin. "Yes, ma'am."
"Get going."
McBay gave a salute before indicating to Choi to follow. Jansingh's gaze brushed over the useless information specialist as she glanced over her shoulder at Brandt. Her hand formed a terse signal, and Brandt stepped ahead of her. Giving her watch a quick glance, she fell into step behind him.
The buildings around them all appeared to be made of brick, two or three stories hich each. None, especially so close to the town entrance, seemed to be any sort of residence. Instead, most of them sported signage of various design, their writing system appearing to resemble excerpts of Goa'uld if they were written with an Asian calligraphy brush. At least, that was how they appeared to Jansingh; Brandt did not think so much of it as his camera continued its fanatical clicking.
Jansingh was scanning what appeared to be a pet store when Brandt suddenly came to a halt. "Hey, Major," he said over his shoulder, using the top of the camera to point. "Take a look at that."
The major's eyes swept in the direction her subordinate gave. In the front window of some kind of outfitter's store, a set of fatigues bearing the shoulder patch of an SG-10 member sat on a wooden form. Jansingh stepped in front of Brandt, ruining the shot he was about to take, to examine the uniform further. It had not seen any sort of combat, spot-free and intact as far as she could tell. The rank insignia were missing, but the person had neglected to remove the tag reading "MUELLER", indicating that this had belonged to Second Lieutenant Mueller.
Brandt attempted to share a confused look with her, but the major laced a finger into the trigger guard of her P90, stepped to the front door, and used a hand to wrench it open hard enough to snap the frail chain attached at the top. The elderly man tending the front counter jumped in surprise, dropping his glasses. He scrambled to put them back on so he could identify the woman who nearly took his front door off its hinges.
"H-hello," he greeted in a timid tone. "H-how can I—"
"'Help you'?" Jansingh finished. "you can tell me why you have a uniform in your display window."
"Ah," the old man droned as his eyes scanned Jansingh. "Looking for an upgrade, soldier?"
Jansingh glanced down at her BDU. "No," she answered. "And if you intend to refer to me by a title, I am a major."
The man released an audible gulp, tipping off to Jansingh that he recognized her rank. "Y-yes, Major."
"The fatigues in your window."
He raised his hands in innocence. "Borrowed, Major. Honestly."
"But you have it on display," Brandt said as he stepped from behind his superior officer.
"A lot of people around here expressed interest in the design," the old man explained. "If I could get enough local travelers interested, I would be given the materials I need to recreatet the design. Lieutenant Mueller was kind enough to lend it to me for the day; he said he wouldn't need it for a bit."
"He must be running around here naked," Brandt joked. But the grin he directed at Jansingh met a venomous glare. "I, uh… why-why don't I just take the uniform down?"
"I wish you would, Lieutenant," she replied.
The old man watched Brandt for a moment. Then he asked, "Are you associates of the off-worlders?"
Jansingh relaxed her grip on the P90. "SG-14, Major Magdalena Jansingh," she said. "We're here to find SG-10."
"Likewise," Brandt said, leaning back into view with a hand raised. "Lieutenant Brandt."
The old man nodded. "Yes, the group from… Oord, was it?"
"Earth," Jansingh said.
"Yes, that world," the old man said with a snap of his fingers. "Toa'rok gets so many off-world visitors, it gets hard to keep track of them all. Ah, perhaps not so much anymore; I don't think I've seen many armed Jaffa lately. Probably something to do with the chaos that Apophis seems to bring about. You know those Serpent Guardis of his—"
"I'm afraid I'm a little pressed for time," Jansingh interrupted, holding a hand up. "A situation has developed, and SG-10 needs to accompany my team back to base."
"Ah, yes, the lack of contact with Earth, right?"
"How do you know?" Brandt asked, now carrying the folded fatigues under an arm.
"Lieutenant Mueller cited it as the reason for lending his uniform," the old man answered.
"Do you know where SG-10 is?" Jansingh asked.
At this, the old man shrugged. "Scattered about, I imagine. Probably trying to keep themselves entertained until the path to Earth reopens."
"Well, at least we know they're still around," Brandt told her.
Jansingh pulled open the Velcro strap covering her watch. "Still four and a half hours to look around," she replied. She took the fatigues from Brandt. "We're moving on."
"Yes, ma'am," Brandt nodded before leading her back onto the street.
Outside, Jansingh addressed her radio, "Captain McBay?"
The radio buzzed back, "Yes, Major?"
"We have reason to believe that SG-10 are somewhere in town. Probably scattered. If you find anyone, tell them to meet us back at the Stargate."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Shouldn't one of us be at the Stargate in case they show up without us knowing?" Choi's voice chimed over the radio.
"No," Jansingh replied in a blunt tone. She waited a moment for a response, but when she did not get one, she assumed McBay had stopped her. So she signaled Brandt to start walking.
They continued to follow the main street through the town, although she realized that SG-10 would be harder to locate if they were wandering about in local clothing. She would have to rely on an inferior-grade officer's tendency to salute on first sight of her; none of her team had had access to personnel files on the Alpha Site (much like the rest of the Alpha Site staff), so they did not know what the members of SG-10 looked like.
Looking around at the town, Jansingh could not help seeing a parallel between the local shops and the seedy side of a city in the United States. Granted, she might have simply misunderstood the purpose of these shops due to a lack of knowledge concerning the written brand of Goa'uld (if it was) on the signs around them, but advertizing which involved naked people in the front windows of a few shops seemed to explain itself. This was more prevalent as she and Brandt continued deeper into the town.
Forty-five minutes had passed since finding Lieutenant Mueller's uniform. Jansingh had just been checking her watch when they encountered someone.
PANG!
Jansingh froze at the sound of two metal pans slamming together. She looked to her left, her eyes falling on a young man wearing only a black, silk robe. His head was covered from the brow up with what appeared to be a bedpan. The hand he saluted with was trapped in a small bucket. She made it a point to stare at him with as blank a face she could manage for just a moment.
Then she returned the salute. "You have a name, mister?"
"Second Lieutenant Gregory Simms, United States Air Force," he answered, dropping his hand.
Brandt stepped closer to him, looking his unruly form up and down. "Missing a party somewhere, Lieutenant?" he asked with a grin.
Simms stammered for a moment. "Well, uh… with the Stargate not working… well, Major Weaver felt we should take it easy until the SGC called, sir."
"Lieutenant, I've been calling over the radio for over an hour and a half," Jansingh said. "No one's answered. Just how did Major Weaver expect to hear from Command?"
"We-d-I… uh… o-our liaison was supposed to have her radio on."
"She doesn't."
Simms nodded. "Y-yes, ma'am."
"Where's Major Weaver?"
He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "Inside. Room on the left at the end of the hall, ma'am."
"Get your gear and go find your liaison officer. We're taking you to the Alpha Site."
"Yes, ma'am." Simms scrambled back inside, losing the pan on his head in the process.
Jansingh grabbed her radio and addressed it, "Captain McBay."
"Read you, Major," McBay replied.
"We've found Major Weaver. If you see anything that looks like a…" She paused to look at the signage of the building before her. No naked people, but the window sported a large number of fancy bottles. "… anything that looks like it would attract the curious little boy in you, go in and look for SG-10 members."
McBay did not answer right away. "You mean… like a bar, ma'am?"
"Any place of ill-repute, Captain."
Another pause. "Uh… where… exactly are you?"
"The local red-light district, by my guess."
"Right, we must be on the boring side of town."
"Try not to sound too disappointed, Captain."
"Roger."
"Jansingh out." She heaved a sigh before talking to Brandt. "Stay out here in case more show up. Tell them to get their gear and head to the Stargate."
"Yes, ma'am," Brandt replied with a salute. Jansingh pushed Mueller's fatigues into his arms before walking inside the same store Simms had disappeared into.
When Jansingh stepped inside, she made certain that her boots echoed off the marble floor. The sound seemed to make the locals grimace, the kind of effect she was looking for. Immediately to her left, Simms snatched up pieces of his gear from the curious employees with his only free hand. After glaring at him while he struggled to steal back a boot from a heavy-set woman, she continued forward down the hallway. As she walked, she peered into the open rooms. She concluded that the establishment was a massage parlor, evidenced not only by the presence of padded tables and far too many bottles of oil to count, but also by the activities of the people who forgot to shut the door.
She found the door Simms had indicated and walked in without knocking. The room smelled like gasoline. It made Jansingh wish she had a lighter, for on the table in the middle of the room lay the half-naked form at Major Weaver. He lay on his stomach with a towel covering his buttocks. Despite his apparent fitness, the major's skin was beginning to wrinkle in places, and his hair had already turned stark-white. He had his arms folded under his chin, and the angle at which he lay made it difficult for him to see the door.
His comment upon her entry quickly gave Jansingh the urge to just shoot him and write him off as a loss.
"You know, I think I want to try something different today. Earth girls like to give massages in less clothing; it's not as restrictive on movement. You might try it."
Jansingh put on her best glare and crossed her arms. "I have a dinner-and-wine prerequisite, Major."
"Ma-what?" Major Weaver propped himself up on one arm so he could see the door. In the next few seconds, he was on his feet with one hand holding his towel up. "Wha-who the hell're you?!"
"Major Jansingh, SG-14."
Weaver blinked in surprise. "SG-14? You guys at the SGC finally notice us missing?"
Jansingh shook her head. "We came from the Alpha Site, Major. Earth still isn't responding. I'm under orders from General Anson. We're here to bring you and your team back."
Weaver cleared his throat. "We tried the Alpha Site. We thought there was just something wrong with our 'Gate; Lieutenant Simms dialed twice."
"Is this the same Lieutenant Simms with a bucket glued to his hand?"
Weaver stepped to a table on the far side of the room from Jansingh. He continued to talk as he dug through his clothes. "It's not the strangest thing he's had his hand glued to. Give me a moment, and I'll assemble my team. We'll meet you at the Stargate."
"Lieutenant Simms should be getting your liaison officer now. We need to find Lieutenant Mueller; we have his uniform."
Weaver stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, I see. … I believe he mentioned a spa of some sort up the road from here."
"We'll meet you by the 'Gate then." Weaver nodded, and Jansingh left.
Outside, Brandt snapped a salute at her. "Lieuteant Simms just took off, ma'am."
After dismissing the salute, Jansingh addressed her radio. "Captain, where are you?"
"Just leaving the local brothel, ma'am," the radio replied in McBay's voice. "Anyone know a good shrink? I'm gonna need some serious help after what I just saw."
"I know a high school janitor back in Montana who's great at handling hormonal teenagers, sir," Brandt joked into his radio. He tried to share his grin with Jansingh, but his humor died once again at the sight of her irate scowl.
"Bite me, Lieutenant" McBay said.
"Captain, take the doctor and wait by the Stargate," Jansingh said. "SG-10 should be joining you shortly."
"Yes, ma'am."
"And us, ma'am?" Brandt inquired.
"The major said that Lieutenant Mueller should be at a spa further up the road."
"Got it." But Brandt glanced around for a moment. "Uh… which way?"
Jansingh released an irritated sigh; she only now realized that Weaver had not specified a direction. Given that she had not noticed anything overly resembling a spa as they walked the main road, she indicated the road they had yet to see and said, "That way."
"So, did Major Weaver explain what happened on their end?" Brandt asked as they started moving.
"Same thing as us; they couldn't dial Earth."
"What about the Alpha Site?"
"He said they tried. If our little venture with that idea is any indication, they don't know the address, either."
Brandt nudged his cap aside to scratch his scalp. "Huh. I guess we're not the only ones who dropped the ball on that one."
"I'm more inclined to believe that individual teams off-world never had to go to the Alpha Site like this. It sounds less stupid."
Brandt nodded and took his camera out again. "Of course, ma'am."
Jansingh glanced at him. "The Alpha Site is supposed to be the SGC's fallback point. It may simply be just a case of security. In order to keep it a secret, the SGC prefers that we don't regularly travel there."
"Then… why give us the address in the first place?"
"Shit happens."
He sighed. "True." Then he stopped and nodded at a nearby building. "Hey, Major. Think this might be it?"
Jansingh stopped and turned in the direction he had indicated. Unlike the other buildings, this one was a single-story, wooden building. It was also considerably wider than its neighbors and lacked the large display windows that they had seen everywhere else. Jansingh doubted Brandt's observation until she realized that people entering and leaving wore what looked like bathrobes.
So she took the uniform from under Brandt's arm and marched to the door. "If it isn't," she called back over her shoulder, "look out for the stampede.
"Because I'm going to tear this whole planet apart."
"Will do, ma'am," Brandt replied with a nervous grin. After he watch her disappear through the door, he scanned his surroundings. Then he backed up to the building across the road. "Yeah, someone's gonna die."
Jansingh's abrupt entrance startled the young woman drifting to sleep at the reception desk directly across from the door.
"Men on right, women on left," she cried out on reflex.
"Thank you," Jansingh said, immediately turning right.
"Wha—hey, wait!" The young woman rounded the desk, although too late to stop her. "You can't go in there!"
"Then stop me," Jansingh said, continuing down the hallway ahead of her.
"I will," the young woman said. She reached back to the desk for a long board hidden around the corner.
The scrape of the board alerted Jansingh. Her hand hit the 9-millimeter holstered on her hip. In the second it took the young woman to bring the board up and turn to swing it at Jansingh, the major already had the pistol pointed at her face.
The subtle click of the safety releasing gave the young woman reason to pause.
"I want it very clear… that I've had a long day," Jansingh said in a barely audible voice. "So if you want to stop me, I suggest you find something larger than a two-by-four." The response was a hesitant stare down the barrel of Jansingh's gun before the board fell. "Good. Now. Do you know Lieutenant Mueller?" A nod. "Where is he?"
She pointed to a door past Jansingh. After confirming with door, Jansingh replaced the gun. Without another word, she walked over to the door and shoved it open.
The room on the other side was empty except for a set of clothes laid out on a bench. Warm, moist air kissed her bare skin, but she could not find the source. She crossed to a doorway blocked by an ornate, wooden screen.
"Hey, this baths' bein' used!" a voice called to her as she entered. Jansingh stepped around the screen and into a large bathroom. The bath was sunk into the floor, leaving Jansingh towering over the man sitting on the opposite side of the room.
Even after he rose with a splash, completely naked, with an unceremonious "Oh, shit".
Jansingh slowly examined him. "Enjoying yourself, Lieutenant?"
Lieutenant Mueller glanced down at himself. "I, uh…" he replied, standing very still.
"Cover yourself up, Lieutenant."
The response was an instant "Yes, ma'am" as he grabbed a towel sitting on the floor near him. "I-I suppose I got some explainin' to do."
"The situation seems quite apparent to me."
"Y-yes, ma'am."
"Get dressed. We'll rendezvous with the rest of SG-10 at the Stargate. I'll leave your fatigues in this other room."
"Yes, ma'am. Oh—thank you for bringing my uniform, ma'am."
"And, for the record, Lieutenant, if I ever see you out-of-uniform again, you'll be brought up on sexual harassment charges."
"Yes, ma'am."
"After I shoot you."
Lieutenant Mueller gulped.
…
"Welcome back, Major," McBay's voice called out as Jansingh approached with Brandt and Mueller behind her.
Jansingh returned the salutes the received from McBay, Weaver, Simms, and one additional woman in fatigues. Choi stood on the bottom step of the platform in front of the Stargate, arms crossed and barely acknowledging Jansingh. "Major Weaver, is this your whole team?"
"Yes, Major."
"Captain, dial up the Alpha Site," Jansingh said, flicking a wrist at McBay.
"Yes, ma'am." McBay stepped over to the DHD as he indicated Choi to Simms, who was standing close to her. Simms nodded, reached, and tugged Choi away by the back of her shirt.
"Captain Brandt, did we get trade like we were assigned?" Major Weaver asked.
Lieutenant Brandt glanced around in confusion at the sound of his last name but apparent inaccuracy of his rank, although he did not mind so much. However, Major Weaver's liaison officer answered, "No on the mining rights, Major. But I'm sure I can make a better deal; the only reason they pulled out was because we lost contact with Earth. They are willing to exchange medicines with us, but that deal's gone if we can't get back to Earth."
"Maybe we can borrow a few things from the Alpha Site," Major Weaver said.
"I wouldn't count on that, Major," Jansingh spoke up. "Without Earth, supplies and personnel are almost non-existent. That's why General Anson sent us to get you."
Captain Brandt gave an annoyed groan as the Stargate activated. "So I'm just screwed then."
"Don't let it get to you, Captain," Weaver said. "If they're still interested in what we have to say, we'll just have to get them in round two."
"Wait, wait," Captain Brandt said, holding up a hand to both majors. "We're short on supplies?"
"The Alpha Site will be breaking out MREs for a while," McBay said.
"Hmm." Captain Brandt cupped a hand on her chin. "I just might be able to work with that."
"How?" Lieutenant Brandt asked.
Captain Brandt paused to think. "Even if I knew, you probably don't want to know."
"I can live with that," McBay commented.
"You're not looking at doing anything against the regs, are you?" Weaver asked.
"Not sure yet."
Jansingh shook her head and addressed her radio. "Alpha Site, this is SG-14. We found SG-10 and are bringing them back."
"You're clear, Major," Anson replied. "Come on back."
"Let's move, people," she told the rest, signaling them towards the Stargate.
"Major," Weaver said to her as their teams began walking through to the Alpha Site, Simms driving the F.R.E.D. He approached her with one hand rubbing the back of his head. "Look, about the mission report…"
Jansingh held up a hand. "Major, I have no idea what you and your team were doing before we showed up, and I have no need to speculate on it in my report. Nor do I really need to dredge up the memory of how we found you. My report will be simple."
Weaver saluted. "Thank you, Major."
Jansingh dismissed the salute. As she walked past him, she added, "Don't ever mention it, Major."