Jen sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. Going through paperwork sucked no matter what end of the universe you were in. Her fingers brushed the roughness of the healing skin behind her ear. She made a face.
It had been almost a week and they were still no closer to finding any answers. It was damn frustrating. Not only because they were faced with so many unanswered questions, but because of the implications the not-knowing left behind.
The more she thought about it, and she'd thought about it a lot, the more Jen was convinced she and Laura had stumbled into the lair of a thief. It was the only conclusion she was willing to concentrate on. The notion that this was a personal attack was too uncomfortable to consider so she'd shoved it away and dedicated her free time to finding the missing cases. There were just too many variables pointing to disaster if someone was stealing tech or supplies of Ancient origin. So stock was being counted and accounted for, but with regular duties and the spastic demands of Pegasus, the search was going much slower than everyone would have liked.
Jen looked down at the stack of requisitions, then glanced at her monitor. A couple more hours and she'd be done cross referencing the medical deliveries for the last year. So far nothing was missing and no numbers seemed exaggerated. She'd flagged a few items to check on later, but for the most part, the entire delivery process looked like standard fare.
She jerked in her chair when a shadow fell across her desk, then laughed to realize it was Ronon. She had no right to be surprised. Not really. He'd practically been her shadow for the past five days.
"Sorry," he smirked.
"Yeah, yeah," she snorted, ignoring the added skip of her heartbeat. "What's up?"
He shifted his weight. "We're heading out soon."
"Right," Jen nodded her head slowly. She pushed herself out of her chair and leaned her hip against the side of her desk. "You guys are going to 218. They have the ah…" Jen's mind hiccupped on which particular crisis was on the books for today.
"Ancient weather machine. Apparently it's broken."
Jen smiled at his flat tone. "What, worried there'll be nothing to shoot at?"
He shrugged. "Could always shoot McKay."
"You're not shooting Rodney," she poked him in the chest. "And—" she held up her index finger when he opened his mouth to retort, "no shooting Colonel Sheppard either."
"Find anything?" he angled his chin towards the stack of papers on her desk.
Jen laughed at his blatant change of subject. "Nope," she waved her hand over the tall stack of completed requisitions. "Nothing yet, and I'm almost done. So far everything medical is accounted for. Laura and I are going to start going through the personnel requisitions after lunch. It's just so…daunting…you know? I can't help thinking someone who's that willing to…to...hurt people…can't possibly be up to any good."
"We'll find him."
"I hope you're right. There's too much technology here. Knowledge. In the wrong hands…"
"We'll find him," he repeated firmly.
"Okay," she relented. She bit the inside of her cheek, wishing she could steal his confidence. Suddenly, the thought of Ronon leaving the city didn't seem like such a good idea.
Ronon dropped his chin and leaned closer. "You going to be okay?"
She half smiled. "You mean…am I going to keep my head up and avoid any abnormal incidents for the whole four hours you're gone?"
"Basically."
"I'll do my best."
He frowned, clearly not believing.
Jen smiled and grabbed his upper arms, pushing to turn him around. She giggled to know the only reason he turned with her was because he wanted to.
"Go," she ordered, pushing him out of her office. "I'll be fine."
"You know I could just tell Sheppard—"
"Nuh-uh," she chastised. "You're not getting out of going that easily, Mister. I'll be fine. Now go."
He gave her a sideways glance and mumbled something under his breath that sounded like 'better be'.
"Seriously?" Laura dropped her elbow to the table and propped her chin against her palm. She stared at the inventory list displayed on the monitor in front of her. "We're going to be here for years…"
On the other side of the workbench, Jen sighed and rolled a kink out of her shoulders.
"How much stuff can people have?" Laura frowned disgustedly. "There's got to be like…seven crates per person, here!"
"Eight point six," Jen muttered, leaning closer to squint at the screen.
"So now what?" Laura frowned.
"Now we cross reference," Evan announced as he walked into the room. He dropped a stack of file folders on the desk beside Jen.
"Gee, thanks," Jen frowned at Evan. She pulled the top file off the pile. "There has to be…what…close to a hundred files here. These are all personal requisitions?"
The Major nodded.
"On paper? Geeze, have none of you ever heard of using a computer?"
"Oh right…" Laura snatched the next file off the pile. "This coming from the woman who still writes medical advice with a pen."
"I have thirty staff members running three full time shifts who need access to information whether we have power or not," Jen frowned. "This…" she held up the top sheet from the file she was reading, "is two toothbrushes, a set of twin bed-sheets, and a case of Oreo cookies."
"Someone has Oreo cookies?" Laura made a grab for the page but Jen snapped it away.
"The point is, we now have to go through all of this stuff manually, instead of having Rodney run some kind of…"
"Algorithm?" Evan supplied.
Jen nodded. "But instead we have to…read."
"Welcome to the U.S. Marine Corps." Laura made a face. "Kill the enemy seven ways to Sunday but only after you fill out the paperwork."
"In triplicate," Evan added.
After nearly four hours of squinting at paperwork and monitors, Jen and Laura decided on a run to clear their muscles, and their minds. They'd finished the personnel requisitions, having just as much success as Jen had with the medical reports.
They found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary.
Laura inhaled the salty scents of the ocean as they crossed the wide expanse of the north west pier. "So what's next?" she wondered aloud, talking over the rabid beat of Green Day playing in her left ear.
Beside her, Jen tipped her head. "We've covered weapons, equipment, medical and personnel. Last is tools and samples."
"Oooh, tools and samples," Laura repeated sarcastically.
"Well you asked. They're the only ones left. Everything else is accounted for."
"God, remind me to blackmail the guys into helping with those. If I have to spend four hours deciphering engineer-speak, I'm going to scream."
"Speaking of the boys, how'd you manage to get us out past curfew?"
"I had to swear I'd have you back by the time the street lights came on."
"What?" Jen laughed.
"Straight out, straight back. No detours, no lolly gagging, no stopping to smell the flowers…." Laura trailed off, smiling at the rest of promise she'd made to dump the bodyguard routine so she could have an hour of freedom. She'd pay for it later, but damn if it wouldn't be worth it. There were definite bonuses to dating a sexy Major.
"What else did you promise?"
Laura wiggled her eyebrows.
"You're such a slut," Jen laughed.
"Yeah yeah," Laura grinned, "this coming from the woman hiding a serious case of hot and bothered."
"I do not!"
"You do, so. You're practically salivating every time he pops out of the shadows. And don't try acting all surprised…I see the look on your face. That googley eyed dreamy thing you do…"
Jen skipped a step and wacked Laura across the upper arm. "I am not googley eyed!"
"If it makes you feel any better, he does the same thing."
"He does not!"
"Oh please. Ronon hasn't let you out of his sight in five days. It's hard not to notice."
"He's just being nice."
"Nice!" Laura laughed, wondering how someone who was so smart could be so blind. She loved her friend dearly, but some days the blonde definitely lived up to her hair colour. "Patting you on the top of your head and telling you to be careful is nice. Following you around like you're going to disappear if he takes his eyes off you is definitely more than nice."
"I'm so not talking about this right now."
"Oooh, so you admit there's something to talk about, later?"
"I do not!"
"Oh you will," Laura nodded knowingly. "You can't resist me."
Jen laughed and shook her head, refusing to take the bait.
They banked along the far lip of the pier, turning to cut across the extreme tip. Laura led the way down the stairs to the catwalk dangling out above the ocean. Attached to the side of the pier, the metal walkway hovered halfway between the surface of the pier and the surging tide.
Through the slats in the metal grating, Laura watched the white caps splashing against the hull thirty feet below.
The music in her ear shifted into the mix and she stumbled when she recognized the song. With a grimace she glanced over her shoulder at Jen who was jogging directly behind her.
"What?" Jen asked innocently.
"Bon Jovi?!" Laura made a face and scrambled to reach the iPod velcroed to her upper arm. "Good lord when did you make this mix? 1980?" Laura jabbed her finger at the iPod to change the song.
"Don't you be insulting Bon Jovi!" Jen narrowed her eyes. "And don't break my iPod."
"I'm not breaking it," Laura huffed when the next three songs were also Bon Jovi hits. "I'm trying to…stop…the…insanity! How can you listen to this crap?"
"Because I—gah!" A shrill clatter of metal above their heads sent Jen jerking back with a startled squeak. "What the hell?" A second clanging ping spit shards of metal dust off the side of the railing.
With an adrenaline fueled shock of recognition, Laura spun and dropped her weight.
Someone was shooting at them!?
"Get down!" she cried out, tackling her friend to the surface of the walkway.
"Laura!" Jen exclaimed, landing hard on the catwalk. "What are you—"
Laura winced when another bullet exploded metal shavings a foot above her head. Three thoughts went through her mind simultaneously.
The shooter wasn't a pro.
The shots were coming from the next pier.
They were sitting ducks.
Laura slapped her hand against her com then wrapped her arms around Jen and rolled hard to the side. She caught the sudden understanding on Jen's face as she pulled her friend over her body and under the middle railing.
"No, no, no, no, no!" Jen tried to jerk away but Laura held firm.
"This is Cadman!" Laura yelled into the com, wincing as a sharp pain shot up her arm when she rolled over the iPod, "Taking fire on the north west pier! We're in the water!" she shouted as their combined weight dropped past the edge of the catwalk.
Jen's scream drowned out the rest of Laura's frantic message as they plunged the thirty feet into the ocean below.