The door to his office opened, but Carson didn't bother to look up. It could only be Rebecca and she'd seen him like that before. Well… almost.
"What is that, sir?" she asked, looking at the glass of Scotch.
"It's like…wine, only the taste is different and you get drunk a lot faster."
She looked at him awkwardly, sighing emphatically. "You're not going to fix anything this way."
"I wasn't planning on getting drunk," he said, looking at the amber liquid. "When I was young, my dad used to drink a bit of Scotch, each Sunday. I didn't understand it then, but this was how he spoiled himself. He sat in the big armchair, with all of us playing outside, and drank in peace, thinking about how things went and what he wanted to do."
"So this is for meditation…" she started, looking at the liquid a bit less disapprovingly.
"Aye, you could say that," he said, smiling fondly at the returning memories.
"Perhaps you should get out of the meditation and look at these papers," she said, handing him a few reports. "They're getting close to their deadlines, and I thought…"
He took the papers and looked at each one briefly. They were minor things, requisition forms, project proposals. "Did anything come from the Ministry of Defense?" he asked when he was done.
"Yes, there was one, but I'm waiting for a confirmation, because it said you don't have control of 671 anymore," she answered.
"It was correct. As soon as you get it back, I want it so I can sign it and get this over with." His voice was a bit harsher than he had meant, but remembering his earlier argument with Rodney, he couldn't help it.
Rebecca started to walk towards the door, but halfway there, she stopped. Slowly turning around, she said, "This is probably none of my business, but I think you shouldn't do this."
"Is that so?" She deserved every bit of sarcasm now.
"There are things you don't know… maybe you should see things from a wider perspective." She seemed to be afraid to speak her mind fully.
"Enlighten me, why shouldn't I make my own decisions?"
"It's not that, sir, you… there are people who think you shouldn't be in this position." Carson raised an eyebrow to that statement, looking at her suspiciously. "There are people who think the way you run things is… things are happening and…"
"Say it, or walk out that door and leave me be!" He was getting impatient and seeing Rebecca stutter was not comforting in any way.
"They want you gone, and not on a holiday, sir." She said the words quickly and stopped, afraid.
"That's very poetic, but I don't -"
"When they'll finish the gene therapy for themselves, they'll get rid of you, and probably your friends as well."
Carson frowned, realizing how serious Rebecca was. He didn't doubt what she said, or better said, that she believed what she said, but how could something like that have developed?
"What sort of people are you talking about? How could this… thing happen?" He wanted to think of this as a joke, but there was something nagging at him, telling him he'd better listen.
"People with power." Rebecca looked at him with compassion, and he found it very unnerving. "You trust people, and from time to time, it's the wrong people. There's talk about a revolution."
"A revolution? We're not some tyrants that want to… Am I a tyrant?"
"No, but people only know that you're one of the four ministers, sitting in your big building and doing what you want. They don't know what's happening and -"
"What people are you talking about now?" Carson asked, confused.
She sat in one of the chairs and explained, "The common people feel they are being… controlled, by you and the other ministers, and you know there are always people who want to be in charge. The only position where… the ministers are the only ones who can decide anything. Some of them see this as an opportunity."
"And where do you stand in all this? How come you know this and I had no clue?"
She smiled bitterly. "When one of the doctors yelled at you, you waited for him to finish without saying a word. After the meeting was over, you asked me if he had personal problems. You wouldn't see it if it walked through that door."
Carson frowned. "Are you saying I'm… what are you saying?"
"You've ignored all the signs. If you want to stand a chance when this revolution unfolds, you'd better start looking around you and start making plans."
"Plans? What plans can I make? How can I know anything?"
She looked down, shaking her head. "I would have told you more, if I knew. But I don't. They have this network, a -"
"Like computers network?" Carson asked, finally stepping on familiar grounds.
"Yes, of course, but you know nothing about those."
"No, I don't, but Rodney knows everything," he announced triumphantly.
"He just went over your decision and ordered against your recommendation. What do you expect of him?"
"Quite a lot, actually." Retrieving his laptop from the desk, he continued, "Rodney and I have been through a lot. You probably wouldn't believe half of the things I could tell you about. But trust me, when it comes to a crisis, he's a different man."
"If… could you sign something before you go," Rebecca asked, looking pleadingly at him.
"Sure, what?"
She handed him a piece of paper. "If the revolution comes, I'd rather not be here," she admitted, bowing her head.
Carson signed her pass accept for Atlantis and wondered if she would have said a thing if she wasn't afraid for her own safety. He got into one of the black ministry hoverers and asked the driver to take him to the stargate.