CHAPTER 12 – GATHER THE FORCES
"I'm not leaving you here Mallon! As soon as Carson clears you for travel, I'm taking you back to Atlantis with me. No arguments." He saw the suddenly stubborn set to her small chin, a chin that did hold a measure of bruising from her encounter with Karlin.
"You cannot order me around John. I have a job to do here. As soon as I am well, I need to work with your mediators. You know this!" He sat down on the bed gently, not wanting to jar her body in any way.
"Will you let me look after you, just for a little while at least?" His hand reached up to touch her face gently and he had to push down a small shaft of anger that sought purchase at the sudden flinching as his hand moved toward her and the fear that blossomed in her eyes. "Damn it Mallon - I would never hurt you - you know that!"
"I am sorry John... I just need a little time."
He rose off the bed then, and stood looking down at her. "I'll give you your time Mallon, but I'll be back for you."
Shyly she looked up at him, then dropped her eyes quickly. Nodding she said quietly. "I would like that..." He left her then. He had work to do in Atlantis and he needed to stand back and let the mediators do their job. This was not his field and if he remained, he would only be in the way and would likely do more damage than good.
Elizabeth noted how tired he looked when he arrived back through the stargate. He simply stood and looked around him as the gate shut down and seeing the slump of his shoulders, Elizabeth took a deep breath and left the control room, running lightly down the stairs to stand in front of him. "Rough one John?"
"More than you know Elizabeth. Damn, I hated leaving her there, but I understand why she needs to stay."
She took a step forward a placed a hand on his shoulder. "You did good today John, saved a society from self destruction and gave them back their hope."
"They've still got a long road to run Elizabeth, it's only the beginning for them."
"But you made it happen, you pushed their case and made earth see reason and step in. That took a lot of guts on your part, and I'm proud of you. Give her time John, her ways are not ours and you can't force her into a life that was never intended for her. I need you to go back in a few days and make sure everything is going to plan - you can take a team with you. I want you to get some sort of military strategy in place as soon as possible. Technically, they remain under Atlantis military law until they can elect a new group of officials, or government if you will. I want you to head up that team for now.. if you are happy with that?"
The smile on his face told her what she needed to know. He was a good man, and he deserved a little happiness of his own and in this, she at least had the power to give it to him. "But before you get too excited... there's a little backlog on those mission reports you promised me. How about a little deal here - get those reports up to date, and you can leave as soon as they are."
Like a happy school boy he flicked her a light salute. "You've got yourself a deal Elizabeth."
The reports took John a little longer than he was happy with but the thought of being able to head back to see Mallon, had him typing at warp speed and when he was finally up to date he took the time to organise his military strategy for continuing with the military rule. He had chosen his teams that would take over the marine teams who now held security detail on the planet. These were the men who would spend the time training the civilians who showed aptitude and an eagerness to form their own military and John knew that it would be a lengthy process. At the beginning he would chose to take on most of the responsibility and he felt it was important to impress upon those who were chosen, the degree with which the military would have control. They had to be very careful that they did not go from one ineffectual society to another. The leaders of this world had attempted to promote a utopian society where there was no racism, no crime, no moral injustice, however in their ineptitude they had failed and created a communism regime that had pushed fear amongst it's people. As military leader, he would need to tread very carefully.
Two days later John filled the gate room yet again with a military command team, made up of his handpicked soldiers, some of them newly recruited from earth - all of them excited to be part of the formation of a new government. Elizabeth looked down from the control room and smiled at John. "You have a go John. Good luck to you all. Take as long as you need, your security detail on Atlantis is covered. Be safe!"
The gate technician dialled the coordinates and as he waited for the blue event horizon to settle, John patted his pocket where he had placed the gift he was bringing over for Mallon, a gift that signified promise on his behalf. As soon as he stepped through the gate on the other side, the team that permanently manned the stargate on the other world stood at attention. It had been deemed necessary that while under military rule, the stargate being the only means offworld, would be secured to monitor any arrivals or departures. People were free to leave. If they chose not to live under the new rule that was being established, then their choice to leave would be respected. So far, none had left. Traders had arrived, in larger numbers now that the word had begun to spread throughout the galaxy that this world was no longer under the rule of it's previous government and they would not be subject to punishment if they brought in weapons and technology. Discretion was still mandatory, weapons had to be registered with gate staff and approved and all technology was permitted and encouraged. This is the only way that this world could begin to effect suitable changes.
Mallon met him on the outskirts of the city. John let his military teams go in and settle in their designated areas ready to be briefed by the personnel already on world. She stood still, waiting for him, a smile on her face for the passing soldiers, who looked at her curiously, then back at the Colonel. There were many who did not know of the relationship. His eyes took her in, saw the dark bruising on her neck that if anything, had darkened since he last saw her. But saw also the sparkle in her eyes and hoped that part of the reason it was there, was the fact that he had arrived.
As he looked at her, she moved towards him, shyly at first then as she got closer she ran into his arms and he was able to gently squeeze her small body, mindful of injuries and apologising profusely when he heard her cry out as her ribs connected with his hard chest. "You look... better, Mallon. As thought the weight of this world and all others, is not resting on those pretty shoulders."
"I feel better John. The people here, they walk around with smiles on their faces and hope in their eyes. It is as though a cloud has been shadowing the sun for a very long time and it has finally moved away allowing us to feel the warmth of the sun once more. And you have done this!"
Her lips parted slightly in invitation and he could resist no more, bending now to slant his lips across hers, not caring at the moment if it was too much too soon. His thoughts these past few days had been only of her and now that he held her in his arms, he knew that he had made the right decision.
"And Farek?" he asked now, pulling back from the kiss just a little, wanting to see the expressions flit across her face. "How has he managed to fit into all of this?"
"He is a trained doctor as you know John, so the hospital has become his responsibility, his passion. He took over from Carson and now Carson just maintains a slight presence but as I understand it, he will leave for Atlantis tomorrow and Farek really will run things on his own. He has changed so much John, he is a man now, and not the frightened boy he had been for so long. He's been given back a reason to live. You must be extremely proud of all that you have accomplished here."
"My biggest accomplishment Mallon? Falling in love with you I think..." This was said softly and he wondered if she had heard him – her only reaction a small gasp of shock. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small gift her had brought for her, a lovely piece of handcrafted jewellery and saw the tears glistening in her eyes as she held it in her hands.
"This is lovely John,thank you. I don't know what to say... things have happened so fast over such a short time. I have the same feelings for you, but we leave in separate worlds and I am not ready to abandon this world yet – it needs me, there is so much to do here to ensure that it becomes a fully functioning society and the newly elected government have asked me to guide them with making new laws that are just and fair to all people. That is a big task John, and one that I do not hold lightly."
He pulled her back against him, running a hand soothingly up and down her back. "I understand all that Mallon, and I'm proud of you for the role that you have stepped into here. If it wasn't for you, these people wouldn't have a shot at this new life. I just wanted to make my feelings for you clear. And I guess, I sort of wanted to know where I stood with you..."
"There is no other John, and it is only of you that I think … like that..." she was shy now and he smiled into her hair. "Perhaps soon, I will be ready to explore those feelings a litte more." His smile became a grin and she felt him shift slightly in front of her, the evidence of his feelings become physically clear. "Oh..." she muttered, and he laughed again.
"Yes... oh...that about says it all Mallon. Perhaps later, we can do something about that..."
Mallon's reply was a little muffled, but he heard it nonetheless. "Perhaps we can John..."
