Chapter 4

About seven months ago...

In the end they took Chuck with them. There wasn't really a good reason why they did, except perhaps that conspiracies such as this did not seem complete with only two conspirators. Okay, so 'conspiracy' was perhaps too strong a word for what they were doing. Though they were scheming together and would be doing something in secret, their plan lacked something the best laid conspiracies did: an evil ending. Their plot was for the best of intentions and did only in secret because failure would hurt those who knew about it. The less people knew about the scheme, the less people would get hurt.

As the puddle jumper glided through the upper levels of the atmosphere, Laura wondered at the reason for bringing Chuck along. It wasn't that they needed him to pilot the jumper: Laura could do that. And it wasn't exactly as if they were going to ambush a Wraith ship, so she and Jennifer hardly needed the back-up. Yet, even as they had discussed their plans in the quiet of the infirmary, they had known the plot would be incomplete without an accomplice. And the chosen candidate had turned out to be Chuck. Okay, he was their friend and they both seem to feel towards him as a brother. Perhaps that was it: though he was cute enough, Chuck was safe. He was a friend and confidant and often seemed more like one of the 'girls' than anything else. Not that he was gay, to be fair. It was just that not once had either of them felt the slightest pang of attraction towards him. And, of course, there was always his incredible loyalty towards Atlantis. From the start he had been one of the first to proclaim his intention of joining the conspirators (those who planned to steal Atlantis from the IOA, and for them the term 'conspiracy' was apt) in the Pegasus galaxy. Yet Laura sometimes wondered if his loyalty was really to Atlantis, or to the leaders of Atlantis. She suspected he somehow saw Elizabeth and Colonel Sheppard as a kind of king and queen that had been placed under a curse of some kind. Only in this fantasy the magical kingdom was Atlantis, the evil sorcerer had been that Replicator guy and the curse the nanites. In all honesty it was a nice fantasy and one almost worth fighting for. She knew, though, that their king and queen had better sort out their differences/curse before too long, or it would become rather tiresome and the sparkle of it will fade; almost like a series that has gone on too long without ever going anywhere.

Laura suddenly realised that the only light inside the jumper was that from its internal lighting: the jumper had rounded the curve of the earth and had left daylight behind. Usually they would have planned the trip so that the eight hours difference would not be a problem, but they had less than twenty-four hours before said king and queen (and their lackey Rodney) intended to steal the space-city and they would need every moment of those hours to pull off their scheme.

"They didn't really give us much time to prepare," Jennifer spoke the thought that had been in Laura's mind. Smiling at her probably-soon-to-be-sister-in-law, Laura nodded.

"Yeah, but do you really want Atlantis to become the victim of someone like Kavanagh?" she asked. These past few weeks the scientist had been pissing her – and most other people – off in spades. In fact, the only reason she hadn't Wraith-stunned his ass was because Doctor Lee of the SGC had confided in her that it was a spectacular sight to see Kavanagh pass out from fear. So since then she had been attempting to do just that; a petty distraction, but a needed one.

To this statement Jennifer shrugged, but she grinned as well. "I never really believed the stories everyone told about him until last month," she admitted. "Now I'm more than convinced and would be happy to stand in the long line of those wanting to shoot him. I'll even doctor him to health in between shots just so that we can do it all over again," she gleefully added and Chuck laughed out loud from where he was piloting the jumper.

"I never knew you were so bloodthirsty," he exclaimed with glee. Jennifer looked slightly abashed.

"Well, I wouldn't really break my Hippocratic oath like that," she quickly amended. Chuck laughed even more and she blushed. "No!" she exclaimed as she realised what that must have sounded like. "I wouldn't shoot him, but I would try and heal him," she explained, making Laura laugh as well. Jennifer pouted. "Fine, have it your way," she finally mumbled, but Laura could see she wanted to laugh as well.

"Don't worry, we'll never tell," Laura commented. Jennifer smiled sweetly.

"Oh, thank you very much," she commented just as Chuck called up a street-plan of the town they were hovering over on the HUD. In the tradition of real geekdom, Chuck really loved playing with the Head's-Up Display of the jumper.

"Where do you want me to put this baby down?" he asked of the women, turning his head in their direction but not taking his eyes from the display for a single moment.

Both Laura and Jennifer leaned over to look at the intricate map displayed in front of them, obscuring the lights of the small town outside. According to the HUD, they were hovering just a few feet above the highest building.

"Well," Jennifer said as she leaned over and touched a point on the HUD map, "this is where we're heading," she told them Laura had no reason to doubt her. Though neither Duncan nor Carson had visited here, Laura had made a point of getting Duncan to tell her where they needed to go. The weird part was that Duncan did not even suspect. Whereas everyone always suspected Laura of plotting something, Jennifer could ask the same questions in that little-girl voice of hers and nobody would even think to wonder about her sincerity. Not even Duncan, who had been dating her for nearly a year now, ever suspected. "We can't park the jumper in the middle of the street, though," the blonde doctor added. "I would suggest you put down here," she decided as she pointed to another spot on the HUD. "I think it's a small park just outside town. We can walk from there."

Chuck agreed and moments later they set down on what indeed turned out to be a small park, but not one entirely outside of town. On their left the rest of the town ended, but to their right lights came from a very modern, ugly building. Judging by the people gathered outside it, it was a night-club of some kind. It even had a number of taxis parked outside, waiting to transport young people back home sometime in the dark hours of the night.

"Or we could take a taxi," Laura happily exclaimed. In all the years they had been going through the gate, it had become a standard joke that the first town was always just a few brisk miles' walk uphill from the gate. A taxi would be a nice alternative, especially as it was raining like crazy outside.

"That would be great, except how would we explain our military dress to the cabby?" Chuck asked.

"Um," Jennifer drew their attention with a soft sound. "I might be new at this perhaps, but did any of you bring any money with them?" she carefully asked.

"I've got a few dollar," Chuck piped up, but then an awful silence descended upon the group. "Um..." he finally tried again. "I don't suppose they use American dollars over here, do they?" he finally added and Laura grimaced. Life on Atlantis had spoiled them. Though they regularly went all over the galaxy, they never took any money with them. What would be the use, after all? And most of their trips from Atlantis these past few weeks had been to parties and stuff, where they had not needed wallets and things as mundane as cash. Then another thought struck her.

"Did any of you bring your passports?" she wondered. She frowned. "In fact, I think mine expired last year," she worriedly added.

"Well, we are Americans," Jennifer tried to cheer them up. "Besides, we won't really need any identification, as we're not going to stay in a hotel or something," she happily added, but Chuck and Laura frowned.

"Cool, but without cash and without identification we're going to have to walk," he informed them and the inside of the jumper fell into an uncomfortable silence. They were, compared to where they had been these past few years, basically on their own doorstep, yet they had already forgotten some of the rules of the game. Laura knew that had they set out in civvies, they would have remembered their wallets and stuff. But they had all felt this was a mission to be performed not only as individuals, but as representatives of Atlantis. She knew for a fact she had two bars of chocolate, a power bar and a bottle of water on her, as well as numerous other items always packed for a mission through the gate. Unfortunately they hadn't gone through the gate, but had flown to Scotland.

"Why is it that I feel more at home in the Pegasus galaxy than here in another English-speaking country back on good old earth?" Chuck mused. He sighed. "Okay, I can still try and land us closer to the..."

"No!" Laura exclaimed. "We're breaching enough protocols here as it is," she interrupted her friend. "We'll walk," she adamantly informed them and both Chuck and Jennifer sighed as they exchanged a look. Then Jennifer shrugged and patted Laura on the shoulder.

"As you wish, big sis," she sweetly agreed and Laura thought she would gladly Wraith-stun the other woman along with Kavanagh at that moment.