Richard Woolsey surveyed the group gathered in his office—Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne, Dr. McKay, and Ronon. Granted, the area was small by meeting room standards, but it should have been sufficient to house five people for a briefing. Yet oddly enough, the current spacing left him feeling a little claustrophobic. There was something in the energy level that made his glass walls feel a lot less like a spacious office, and more like a tiny goldfish bowl.

He reseated his glasses and nodded towards Colonel Sheppard. "So you don't think this was a personally directed attack?"

John tipped his head. "At this point we're not ruling anything out, but it looks more like a crime of opportunity." He shook his head. "Both women confirmed they told no one where they were going."

"The apparent music room?" Richard queried.

Next to John, Rodney nodded. "It's actually quite an acoustical accomplishment. The room is completely soundproof when sealed. The user simply selects their music of choice…well…Ancient music, of course, although I'm sure I could—"

"Facts, McKay," John interrupted.

"It's a music room," Rodney stated.

"And this music room has no other purpose other than to play music?" Richard asked, wondering if paranoia came with the job, or just the location. Heavens knew this city held Her own share of secrets. A music room on the outside could have very different connotations on the inside.

Dr. McKay was shaking his head. "It's just a music room."

"We think," Sheppard uncrossed his arms and stuffed his hands into his front pockets, "this has something to do with the supply cases."

Richard glanced at the briefing report on the desk in front of him. "The silver transport cases?" He looked at the group for confirmation.

"Both Dr. Keller and Lieutenant Cadman reported seeing silver transport cases in the room," Major Lorne reported. "There were no cases there when we arrived."

Richard's gaze shifted to the Major. "And we're sure their memory isn't just—"

"They both saw them," Ronon said firmly.

"Very well," Richard forced his voice into a calm and diplomatic tone. There was a little too much tension in the room. He reminded himself to tread lightly and avoid any emotional explosions. "Has anyone reported a theft?"

"Nothing's been reported missing." Rodney lifted one shoulder then let it drop. "But that doesn't really surprise me. Things could be missing and we just don't know about it. With a city this size, and the number of unexplored rooms, we're talking hundreds of thousands of possibilities."

In this case, Richard understood the math. It was impossible to know what was in the cases.

"But," Rodney continued, "while there's nearly unlimited possibilities on what someone could possibly want to hide, there's limited possibilities on what they could store them in."

Richard blinked. "The cases?"

Rodney smirked. "The cases."

"Do we know what was in the cases?" Richard asked hopefully.

The scientist shook his head. He pulled out his tablet and made a few quick jabs at the screen. "We have…exactly…two thousand, three hundred and seventy four cases matching the size and description of the ones Dr. Keller and Lieutenant Cadman say they saw. And an additional three thousand, seven hundred and six cases of alternate sizes and dimensions, bringing our grand total to six thousand and eighty."

"Cases?" Richard asked, surprised. "In the city?"

"It's actually quite reasonable considering the supplies delivered from the Daedalus, the number of personnel, equipment requisitions, the—"

"Okay," John interrupted. "We get it. We have a lot of stuff."

"So how do we know which of the…six thousand…" Richard trailed off and glanced at Dr. McKay.

"…six thousand and eighty cases…" Rodney prompted.

Richard nodded his appreciation, and continued. "…six thousand and eighty cases missing?"

Rodney snorted. "They're spread out all over the city. Storage rooms, personnel quarters, the mess hall, labs…" The scientist shook his head. "There's no way to tell who has what, where or why."

"They aren't inventoried?" Richard thought the question should be self explanatory, but the sheepish look on the scientist's face told him all he needed to know. "They aren't inventoried…" he sighed.

"We put trackers on our people...not the supplies." Rodney rolled his eyes. "Yes they're inventoried…just not…all of them."

"How many?" John asked.

"Four thousand six hundred and sixty two," Rodney stated.

"So that leaves…" Richard prompted.

"One thousand four hundred and eighteen unaccounted for," John finished.

Richard sighed. "So we don't really know anything other than someone attacked two female members of our expedition, and it may, or may not, have anything to do with…something…in storage cases which could be anywhere in a city the size of Manhattan."

"Pretty much," John nodded, his frustration clearly evident in the set of his shoulders.

"Okay," Richard took a moment to collect his thoughts. He looked down at the unfinshed report on his desk. He couldn't send it through to the SGC in its current state. It held water about as well as a sieve. "What are our next steps?"

"We have teams scanning the level near the music room, searching for anything out of place," John began. "McKay and Zelenka are going to work on cross referencing inventory lists with storage rooms to see if anything comes up missing. When the Daedalus returns we'll use their cargo lists as a backup to see if anything's being moved that shouldn't be."

"You think someone's stealing?" Richard made the connection quickly. If the person was removing items from the city, the only likely destination would be Earth.

"Caldwell's not going to like knowing he's a pack mule," Evan stated.

"No, not if this is what...this is all about…" Richard placed his palms on his desk on either side of the report and pushed himself to his feet. He hesitated to ask the question which was rolling around in his mind. In the end he relented and let the words out. "Having said that... what if this was, in all actuality, a personal attack?"

"We're covering that angle as well," John said firmly. "Marie will be working with Rodney and Radek to cross reference all personnel reports and psyche evaluation for any red flags."

Richard considered then dismissed any rules of propriety when it came to having the scientists accessing personnel files. At this point, he had to go with the majority. "How long with that take?"

"Hours…" Rodney shrugged. "Days. There's no way of knowing."

"Aren't Dr. Keller and Lieutenant Cadman are being released tonight?" Richard felt a tingle of warning across the base of his skull. If this was a personal attack, was it wise letting the unsuspecting women back into the city? While the Lieutenant seemed more than able to take care of herself, the city's CMO required a little backup.

Hell…a lot of backup.

John's gaze shifted from Evan, to Ronon, then back to Richard. "They'll be well protected."

"Security detail?" Richard frowned. He hadn't seen any requests for any specialized assignments.

John shook his head. His expression was closed, but the challenge in his gaze suggested Richard didn't really want to know the answer. The less he knew, the less he could be challenged by the IOA at a later date. He sighed. "Very well, Colonel. I trust you'll keep things…under control?"

"Don't I always?"


Jen sat alone in the empty room. Through the open door she could hear the evening shift moving quietly through the late night routines. She tried to seek comfort in the soft sounds and familiar scents of antiseptic and alcohol, but the grip of the report still clung too tightly.

She couldn't stop thinking about it.

She tried to come up with something to play it against, but nothing in her life had come close to leaving the same kind of hollow feeling. She'd feared the Bola Kai might resort to rape for a confession, but they'd been content with just hitting, so the feeling was quickly lost beneath the pain of having a fist connect with her face. Looking back, she supposed that was the closest she'd ever come to being worried about that.

She was a single doctor on a military base with an almost eight to one ratio of men to women. She'd been kissed. She'd been groped. She'd been propositioned. Each incident left her feeling a little off kilter, but never before had she felt this horribly disconnected. Sure somewhere in the back of her mind the worry was always present. Hell, it was for any woman, she supposed. On Earth. In Pegasus. It's all you ever heard about as a young woman. Stranger danger. Paranoia. Don't take rides from strangers. Don't leave your drink unattended. Chain emails and urban myths. News, television, movies. Kidnapping, rape and murder.

But never had she ever considered it as a possibility here. Not in the city. Not in her city. This was her home. Her sanctuary.

And yes. Okay. Fine. The tests had been negative. She'd thoroughly read through the results line by line by repeated line. She'd even quizzed Marie for all the pertinent details. There was no evidence what-so-ever to support even the tiniest of hint that anything had happened. No gut feeling that it was true. No pain. No ache. Nothing other than the empty hole in her mind.

Because she couldn't remember.

And that was the root of the problem.

Maybe if she could remember nothing happened she wouldn't feel hell bent to remember nothing happened.

Jen lifted her feet to the seat of the chair and hugged her legs tightly against her chest. Resting her chin on her knees she stared at a random pattern on the floor.

She really should get going…

She peered at the empty bed across the room. Laura had all but bolted the minute Evan had shown up with a clean set of BDU's. She'd left so fast Evan practically had to run to catch up to her.

Jen didn't blame her friend. She couldn't. Laura made an even worse patient than Ronon. The thought that made her smile…if only for a moment.

Jen truly had intended on following Laura's escape plan.

She'd changed.

Dressed.

Put on shoes.

Yet somehow she couldn't seem to make the final leap into freedom.

Sleeping in the warmth and comfort of her own bed instead of a hard packed mattress in a noisy infirmary…her own pillow…her own bathroom…no interruptions…no excitement…no…people.

She rolled her forehead back and forth across the top of her knees.

Yeah. Okay. Fine. Miss I'm so independent I can travel across the galaxy except I don't want to go back to my room alone.

"That's showing them who's boss," she mumbled into her legs.

She yawned.

Sleep sounded like a really good idea. And there just so happened to be an empty bed right beside her. A bed that technically was in a room she could have to herself without theoretically being left alone…

Yeah. Because that would be the brave thing to do.

And she was nothing if not brave.

She sighed into the tops of her legs.

She really should get going…


Standing in the shadows, he glared at the young Lieutenant as she hurried down the hallway in the company of Major Lorne.

He cursed under his breath. He'd understood she was a Marine when he'd heard the Colonel's city wide page. But he hadn't known just which Marine the redhead was until the chatter started later this afternoon. Now he was going to have to deal with the suspicions of the top explosives expert this side of the Milky Way.

He knew it was only a matter of time before he'd have to remove the two women from the equation.

They'd seen the cases.

The sudden interest in inventory confirmed that little tidbit.

But what he didn't know was just what part of the cases they had seen. It irked him…if only a little…that he couldn't remember if he put the cases in the room with the logo facing out, or in. A stupid mistake. A rookie mistake. He'd gotten sloppy in his time here. A error in judgment he would not repeat. From now on, it would be business only. He'd gotten enough through to leave his next five generations disgustingly wealthy. He was a gambler, yes. But even he knew when it was time to fold.

He would see this hand through to the finish, then count his chips and walk away.

And as part of the final round, he needed to rid himself of the competition. Or in this case… the witnesses.

The Doctor was easy. Young and unsuspecting. Quiet. Kept to herself. A few friends, but no significant other. A woman with such a gentle nature. One he would most definitely use to his advantage when the time came.

But the redhead...the redhead would require a little more...finesse.

With a shrug he moved off down the hallway in the opposite direction. Finesse he could do.

He was nothing if not resourceful.