Her head snapped up from her chest for the third time in an hour and she glanced, sheepishly, out the window to see if anyone had caught her dozing. Her coffee had gone cold in it's cup, which was probably a good thing as she'd lost track of how many cups of it she'd had already today. With nothing but Jell-o in her stomach, she could only imagine the toll it was taking on her digestive system. What it wasn't doing, however, was keeping her awake enough to read the performance evaluations her department heads had sent her. She was pretty sure there wasn't enough caffeine in the universe for that.

It had been a thrilling afternoon since she'd returned to the sanctuary of her office. A stack of paperwork had awaited her. Monthly reports. Requisition requests. Disciplinary actions (two of which mentioned Corporal Powell, she noticed). Assignment lists. Staff rotation schedules. And of course, the much groaned-over—at least by McKay—performance evaluations. She couldn't help but notice that he'd given everyone in his department the same rating: "Fair", the sole exception being Zelenka, whom he'd expansively deemed "Adequate". All of McKay's sparse comments were identical as well, although Zelenka stood out again with an additional sentence of grudging praise. John had warned her that Rodney was horrible at administrative stuff and she knew she ought to make him redo every single review. But a certain part of her empathized with McKay and quite frankly, she just didn't have it in her at the present time to make an issue out of it. Besides. His evaluations were mercifully brief compared with the next batch, which had put her right to sleep.

Literally.

Maybe she ought to save them for late night reading. After all, nothing else had been working much lately to help her get to sleep.

A small window popped open on her computer screen accompanied by an insistent beeping. An appointment reminder. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was nearly three o'clock. According to the alert, she had a meeting scheduled with the head of the geology team and a few of his people. She'd completely forgotten about it. Dr. Burgh had some "concerns" he had wanted to discuss with her. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what they were. Sam sighed. Suddenly the tedious performance evaluations were seeming the lesser of two evils.

Knowing Burgh, though, he was probably already waiting for her in the conference room. Ten minutes early.

Where was a minor crisis when she needed one.

Lacking that, however, the next best option seemed a fresh cup of coffee and a quick tour of the control room, just to stretch her legs. But when no glitches appeared, no unscheduled wormholes activated and no one seemed remotely like they needed her assistance with anything, she had no choice but to head to the conference room to meet with the Rock Guys.

Geologists, she quickly corrected. It was bad enough to miss Jack as much as she did. She didn't need to start channeling him.

She had been right, of course. Burgh was there. Along with three other solemn looking men, all of whom wore the exact same expression. Which was none at all. Looking at the four of them she was reminded of Mount Rushmore. They were all as gray as the stone presidents and were it not for the occasional blinking of eyes, she might have thought they were made of stone themselves. She nodded to them in acknowledgement and found it vaguely disturbing when they nodded back. It was like having the mountain suddenly move.

Washington…she meant, Burgh…spoke first.

"We thank you for giving us a few moments of your time, Colonel. To be honest, we don't believe we get the same degree of respect as the other science departments on this base and we feel, at times, underappreciated." His voice was low and…she couldn't help but thinking it…gravelly. She bit her lip for a moment to counteract the smile that was trying so hard to take command of her face. Finally she had to study her hands for a moment until she was sure she had regained control. As long as she didn't think about it too much, she would be okay.

She hoped.

With great effort she looked up again and focused on the man in front of her, hoping that by giving him her full attention her thoughts would begin to behave themselves.

"Why don't you tell me what the problem is," she invited, hoping that she was sounding receptive and open to his concerns. He blinked at her from behind his thick glasses for several moments before replying.

"I just did."

"You…did…." She tried not to make it sound like a question as she struggled to recall precisely what the man had said. Finally she gave up. "Perhaps…you could expand upon that a bit…," she tried. Burgh blinked at her some more.

"We don't get to go on enough away missions," Thomas Jefferson piped up. Teddy Roosevelt, next to him, gave him a nudge.

"That's not what they're called here," he hissed. The two men exchanged glares.

"I think what my colleagues are trying to say is," chimed in Abraham Lincoln from the far right of the row of scientists. "We don't get to go through the gate nearly as often as we feel we should, given that we've been given a mandate to learn everything we can about the planets in this galaxy. Botanists…biologists…astronomers…even entomologists…get priority over us. It makes it difficult to justify our presence here if we never have anything to show for our efforts."

Sam gave the man her full attention. Unlike Burgh or the other two, this gentleman had identified some valid concerns. Or at least was more capable than the other three in articulating them.

"I'm sorry, it's Dr…," she paused, hoping he'd supply his name.

"Stone. Dr. Fredrick Stone. And please, Colonel. No puns. I assure you, I've heard them all."

The man's professional demeanor deflected any inclination her brain might have had to find his name amusing, for which she was grateful. She felt, at least for the moment, as though she had control of the situation again.

Protocol dictated that as head of the department, Burgh should have been the one speaking. But as he obviously had no difficulty with Stone taking over, Sam directed her comments toward him.

"I think you'll appreciate that when it comes to exploration, our first concern is the safety of the teams we send through the gate," she began. "That said, on the scale of potential risk factors, those that are biological, botanical or even entomological—in general—pose a much more immediate hazard to our people than do geologic make-up or even seismic activity. And that doesn't even begin to address security concerns." She swept her eyes over the four men but continued to speak primarily to Stone. "And yes. I admit…we've been extra careful about who goes on what missions these past months. Your department isn't alone in feeling as though your research has been curtailed. But until we get a better feel, strategically, for what's going on out there and the shifting balance among the various Wraith hives, I intend to continue to err on the side of caution and limit off-world research for non-essential groups."

"Then you might as well just send us home, Colonel," retorted Burgh sharply, before Stone could reply. "If we're of no use to you, then Atlantis is of no use to us. There are more than enough planets in the Milky Way galaxy to keep us busy without having to beg for gate time. Although I'm sure the IOA will want to know why a group hand-picked by them hasn't gathered even enough data for a decent science fair project."

She took a deep breath. If only she had a dollar for every time she'd met someone like Burgh: always ready to take their marbles and go home the moment things turned out not to their liking. For bonus points he'd even brought up the IOA. She fought back the urge to suggest just what he could do with his threats and the IOA, sure it would be physically impossible anyway, and instead plastered what she hoped was a menacingly patient smile on her face.

"Dr. Burgh," she began, leaning across the table in his direction. "You are more than welcome to contact the IOA with any concerns you may have about operations on this base, including how much off-world time you may or may not have. But I can assure you," she tilted her head to stress her point. "The IOA can relieve me of command before I'll place anyone unduly at risk simply because their wheel squeaked louder than anyone else's. That includes you or anyone else on this base."

Burgh glowered, but said nothing. She thought she saw a wry twist of amusement in the corners of Stone's mouth; the other two just sat there gaping.

"Now," she continued, trying to sound slightly less like she was about to rip them to shreds. "If you'd care to remain in Atlantis, I will do my best to see that members of your team are attached, when appropriate, to SG units exploring planets we know to be relatively safe. If you can continue to operate within those parameters, then I'm happy to have all of you remain. Otherwise…." She paused to maximize the dramatic effect. "I'm sure when the Apollo makes a return trip next month they'll be able to squeeze you and your equipment onboard. And I'm afraid you'll just have to make-do in the meantime."

It came out with more of an edge than she'd intended, but that was okay. Tom and Teddy looked as though they wanted nothing more than to bolt from the room. Burg seemed as though he were trying to formulate some kind of pithy response that would permit him to accept her offer while still presenting himself as a victim of military discrimination. Only Stone was nodding. Why he wasn't the head of this group, she didn't know. He certainly seemed the more capable, at least in terms of human interactions. Although if seniority was the issue, then by age alone, Burgh definitely had the rest of them beat.

"As much as we might wish it could be otherwise, Colonel," Stone replied, resuming the role as spokesman. "I think it's safe to say that we understand that the present climate isn't particularly conducive to pure research. No doubt, as a scientist yourself, you can appreciate the disappointment in that. However, when all is said and done, even if we can glean only a little knowledge from this galaxy, it is most certainly better than none." He glanced, finally at Burgh, who still looked like a pouting child, but who, nevertheless, gave a slight, acquiescent nod. "All of which simply means that we'll continue to work within the current constraints and hope for a day in the not too distant future when we can access the planets more freely."

"Excellent," she declared, rising from her chair with a not so subtle signal that the meeting was over. The two middle scientists scuttled out the door as quickly as they could, and while she suspected Burgh would have liked to have done the same, he was going through the gesture of gathering up folders he hadn't even opened before disdainfully leaving the room. Stone lagged behind.

"We do get rather sensitive about these matters, Colonel. I hope you understand. Our field isn't one that most people consider 'cutting edge' when it comes to scientific research. Many people take what we do to be a bit of a joke."

Rock Guys.

She pushed the name back into the closet of her thoughts and mentally leaned on the door.

"Believe me. I understand. I'd like nothing more than to give all the science teams free rein. But there are two things we need to keep reminding ourselves…first of all, that we're guests in this galaxy…and secondly, we're not always welcome ones."

Stone smiled.

"I think that's one thing those of us without the benefit of your experience in the SGC tend to forget. Those are real worlds out there with real dangers."

"Indeed they are," she agreed and moved toward the door.

"Actually…."

There was something in the way he said the word…some slight hesitancy in his voice…that started alarm klaxons sounding in her head. Two heartbeats later she knew she should have kept walking. But by then it was too late.

"…I have some questions about the properties of naquadah—I spent a fair amount of time in the Milky Way galaxy mapping some of the abandoned mines left behind by the goa'uld…and I was wondering if you had any time later to talk. Something less formal, maybe. Like over dinner."

Full blown sirens were going off now. She hadn't seen this one coming until it had been too late. Usually she could tell a guy on the prowl from a hundred feet away. Stone's normalcy compared to his fellow scientists had distracted her, and she'd missed the warning signs completely.

If she had a dollar….

Yeah.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," she replied lightly, edging her way toward the door. Maybe he'd simply accept the polite refusal and she could walk away without any further explanation. When he stepped slightly toward her, though, she knew this one was going to be persistent.

"It's just dinner."

Right.

"And I'm just the base commander, Dr. Stone. I don't do 'dinner'."

She could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't ready to let this one go. Maybe he was as dense as his name. She doubted she could have been any more blunt. But there it was, that half-smile that said he was sure she was playing hard to get.

A not so commander-like response was on the tip of her tongue when Chuck's voice came over her headset.

Rock Guy didn't know how lucky he was.

"Sorry to disturb you, Colonel…." The urgency in his voice had her complete attention. "But we have an unscheduled wormhole coming in. Thought you'd want to know."

"Thank you…I'll be right there." And without even attempting to be polite, she pushed past Stone and hurried to the Control Room, hoping she wasn't tempting fate by being grateful for the interruption.