Laura Cadman made her way down to the gym to take out some of her worry on a punch bag. As she entered the gym she realised she was not alone. In front of her on the matted area a group of women were practicing hand-to-hand combat. Seeing the punch bags were all unused she made her way past the group to the bags.
Ignoring the noise they were making, Laura set to work on improving her power per punch. When the door opened again another woman entered and in a loud voice, too loud for Laura to ignore said.
"You will never guess what I just saw in the infirmary." Hearing the location of the latest gossip Laura began to concentrate more on their conversation and less on the punch bag.
"What?" One of the other women asked.
"Ronon all over Keller."
"No matter what the Daedalus crew said, surely she can not be interested knowing that he is just trying to win a bet?" Another woman spoke.
"She is probably so desperate to get some action she doesn't care. It is not like she has options." The first woman said.
"But why is Ronon still chasing, surely the bet is off?"
"Perhaps it is double points now she knows. I hear McKay looked really pissed when he saw her all over Ronon on the Daedalus." A different woman opinionated.
"Maybe he has fallen for her?" Someone else said.
"Hah." The first woman snorted. "There is no way that he would go for someone as pathetic as Keller. I mean she is s-" She never finished the sentence as a fist connected with her jaw, sending her flying.
"What the hell did you do that for?" One of the other women demanded as the decked woman rubbed her jaw.
"I don't recognise any of you, so clearly you have not been here very long. So let me explain a few things to you. Jennifer Keller is CMO here and a damn fine doctor. If you are as stupid as you appear sooner or later you will screw up on a mission. When that happens she will be the one to save your lives. So gossiping about her is clearly not smart. As for why Ronon would go for someone like her, as opposed to someone like you, well she has many traits that none of you do. For example, intelligence, personality, skill and the fact that unlike any of you she is a nice person."
It was at this point that the woman on the floor decided to exact some revenge and swept Laura's legs from under her. Before long the rest of the group were closing in on Laura, who was lying on the ground.
"It would appear you are not so smart yourself." One woman said looking down on her. "Seeing how you are clearly outnumbered. You can apologise and we will go easy."
Not deterred by the odds Cadman sprung up and began to fend off the onslaught. With the exception of a brief lapse of concentration, which allowed a revenging fist to connect with her face, she fought them off successfully so that soon they were battered bodies on the ground. Standing over them she said.
"Next time you slag someone off don't do it in front of their friends. And the next rumour I here about Jennifer I will assume comes from you and, if you are lucky, will deal with it in a manner I deem appropriate, so that today's little lesson is the equivalent of a kindergarten class. If you are unlucky I will let Ronon deal with it."
As she spun round to collect her belongings she saw an amused looking Kiryk standing in the doorway.
"I would have helped, but you seemed to have everything under control." He shrugged. "I'm impressed, although you dropped your left guard too often and if your opposition had any skill you would have been in trouble." He added.
"Everyone's a critic." Laura complained as she picked up her towel and water bottle before heading to the door. As she reached Kiryk she asked. "You come down to spar?"
"No." Kiryk said before falling silent.
"Ok you and Ronon need to see someone about communicating useful answers." She muttered.
Looking slightly uncomfortable Kiryk said. "I came to find you."
"In which case, lets get out of here." She smiled.
"Will they not require medical treatment?" Kiryk said nodding his head at the dazed women on the mats.
"Probably, but they will live without it." Laura shrugged as she left the gym.