CHAPTER 9 REALITY CHECK

She was given the all clear later that evening, Carson convinced that the gate travel had not debilitated her any more than it normally would have for a first time traveller. Sam had thoughtfully found suitable attire for her to wear, nicely fitting BDU pants and a black tshirt, as seemed to be one of the traditional forms of attire in the city. Or so Stephanie had noticed when a variety of personnel had been in and out of the infirmary for various things. It was Carson who had whispered to her with a smile and a wink, that the sudden increase in infirmary traffic was likely due to citywide rumours about their new guest from earth.

"When it's an unscheduled visit, rumours usually run fairly rife around here. And when it's a pretty lady, well... let's just say that the interestometer? Goes up a little..."

She had chuckled and blushed a little at that and once she was dressed she had presented herself to him eagerly.

"Can you show me where I'll be working Dr Beckett? I am anxious to begin. Unfortunately, once I get an idea in my head, it becomes somewhat overwhelming. I won't be able to sleep unless I can at least lay some of the foundation..."

"Now, lass? Why not wait until tomorrow. I've put all your samples into suitable storage so they'll remain viable. We have start breaking it all down tomorrow." Carson yawned then, and she felt a moment of guilt.

"Oh, I'm sorry Dr Beckett. You've probably already put in more than your fair share of time today. We can wait..."

The dejected slump of her shoulders had him shaking off his tiredness. He remembered those days, in fact had many of them himself. An idea or a process takes over and the need to immerse himself in it until an answer came. It was one of the things that had made him a good doctor over the years and he knew that it was likely one of the same things that made her an excellent doctor in her field. Sam had given him her file to read while she had been in the infirmary and it made for some exceptionally hard hitting reading. She was highly respected in her field and a prominent contributor to the microbiotics field, having taken on the private assignment at the Founder Institute primarily because it gave her the opportunity to work with a cure for Alzheimers. He had read that her own father had died of the disease, a slow and painful decline that she had helped nurse and this had given her the resolve to help eventually eradicate the disease.

"Aaah, lass. Sleep is overrated anyway... let me show you the research lab where we'll be doing the testing. That will be the start. Once we have isolated each compound and ascertained which ones are from this particular galaxy, then we will be embarking on a little field trip."

She followed him through the infirmary and down the hallway, toward the research annex. The prospect of a field trip sounded exciting and just a little dangerous and she voiced as much to Carson.

"A field trip? Is that dangerous... out here? Can we just go to other planets... whenever we need to?"

He held the door open for her to pass and smiled down at her. "It can be a little dangerous and that is precisely why we never go without security backup. That would be one of the military teams. Many of our missions in this galaxy are science based. We are always searching for plants, artifacts, minerals and anything else whose application can have a very real and positive effect back on earth. Firstly, it is studied here and tested extensively to ensure that eventual transportation to earth will be safe. Atlantis has two primary functions really. To collect samples from this galaxy, and that involves an extensive team of biologists, archaeologists, physicists, - we're all represented out here. The other is to form alliances with the people from other worlds. For trade, essentially and to help in fighting the enemy."

She turned to him, taking in his serious expression. "The enemy. The wraith, I assume?"

"You've heard?"

"Just the name, in a report. I don't want to hear about them right now..."

"You're damn well going to have to learn about them if you intend to stay out here for any length of time. They're one of the reasons for the high security. They're an enemy like no other – they feed on human souls, their essence and quite literally, Stephanie? They simply suck the life out of you, in seconds."

Again he had appeared out of nowhere and she had turned to see those hazel eyes staring at her.

"Colonel Sheppard! Was that really necessary?" Carson was exasperated and more than just a little annoyed at the Colonel's treatment of the doctor. He understood that she might have been a little difficult on the journey here, but it was not like the Colonel to be downright nasty to the new arrivals, at least until they gave him reason to be.

"She needs to know that it's no picnic out here. You didn't think I missed those stars in your eyes, Stephanie? Easy to do, but the reality is a cold check. They are a formidible enemy, and right now? We're the only thing keeping them from the doors of earth. We guard the stargate to ensure that they never find the way there, because if they did? It would be a new feeding ground and earth would not survive the cullings for very long. Come here... I'll show you."

He had taken her hand, ignoring the warning glance that Carson sent his way, and literally dragged her over to one of the research computers. Tapping a few buttons on the keyboard, John had pulled up a picture and some basic data about the wraith, and still holding on to her hand he had watched as her face changed and had asked himself why he had done that.

Why he had wanted to scare her in that way.

He had felt the shudder that shot through her as she stared at the face of the wraith that had appeared on the screen, and she struggled to pull her hand away. Her eyes shot to his.

"Are you satisfied? Ok, I get it. Yes, they are monsters – but you're the security detail, right? I'm here in a science capacity and I'm thinking that it's your job to keep these monsters from the door. So, if you wanted to scare me?... fine, consider me good and scared, but at the moment you're just resorting to bullying tactics, and I have to ask you this Colonel. Why? You dragged me here! I didn't run after you kicking and screaming for you to bring me here."

She backed away from the computer screen and away from the man who was now dragging a hand through his hair. Carson shook his head.

"Colonel, I don't know what is going on here, but I don't think I like it very much. This young lady needs to get some food into her and get to bed – this can all wait until tomorrow, Stephanie. I think perhaps tempers are running a little hot tonight and a little sleep with ease some of this tension. Colonel?"

Carson went to shut up his research lab, and turning back to the other two, he found that they had not yet moved.

"Do I need to call Colonel Carter down to arrange for an escort for the young lady? Or will you at least show some sense of common decency and show her where she will be sleeping. It seems that you left your good manners back on earth, Colonel."

John looked up at Carson and glared, but the doctor was not intimidated by the Colonel.

"Good night all. Turn the lights off when you leave..." and he smiled a little to himself as he left. There were some undercurrents there, and if he didn't know better, he'd think that the taciturn Colonel Sheppard was battling some unwanted feelings for the young microbiologist. Against his better judgement.