Sensitivity: Part Five

Explanations

Elizabeth and Sheppard were already in the infirmary office when Rodney and Carson arrived.

"Well, I see we've got the important people, anyway," Rodney commented.

The Major raised his eyebrows with sardonic humour. "Beckett, what's happening?"

Carson took a deep breath. "Well, as you've probably noticed, there's been an increase in outbursts by personnel on the base in the last couple of days. In particular, there's been quite a few injuries - last night, a couple of marines got into a fight with each other over a minor matter."

Something about the way Carson spoke made Rodney ask, "A minor matter?"

"They got into an argument over a woman," Sheppard said.

Rodney stared. "Over a woman?"

"Apparently." Sheppard shrugged, looking very grim.

"Why on earth would--?" Rodney caught Carson's glare. "I'm just asking," he said defensively. Of course, the men were marines - soldiers - so they were trained to be aggressive, but a fight over a woman was just...ridiculous.

Maybe it would depend on the woman?

"At Dr. Weir's request, I called them in this morning for some hormone tests. We've been doing a spate of bloodwork in preparation for this delivery from Tabaasa, so we have records of the hormone tests performed on all the personnel in Atlantis from the last couple of weeks." Beckett turned the screen he had set up on his desk towards them so they could see the graphs he pulled up across it. "These are the results of one of the hormone tests we ran on him."

The graph was large and white, with a rectangular grey area running across the bottom and middle of the graph. The X-axis was labelled 'time', the a Y-axis was labelled 'percent', and there were various lines of various colours running across the graph, marked off at intervals by small dots.

"This point is the results of Lieutenant Darbin's previous test," Carson said, indicating a red dot on the edge of the grey rectangle. He traced the mouse along the line that joined it to the next dot. "This point is the result of the test we ran on him this morning. The grey section is two standard deviations from the average."

Rodney peered more carefully at the graph, aware that both Elizabeth and John were doing the same. The second point was well above the shaded rectangle, and the inclination of the line that joined the two dots was steep.

"Very pretty," he commented, unable to resist the prod. "But what exactly are we looking at?"

Carson stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"Carson, we're looking at dots on lines, but there's no meaning to it. You've committed the first sin of clear communication and not told us what we're looking at. For all we know, this could represent the...the number of fish Corporal Sinclair caught off the north-western pier last week, or the neutron radiation emitting from the black dwarf that's faintly visible in declension of the solar ecliptic."

Behind Beckett's head, Elizabeth gave him a 'look' before she turned to him. "It would help us if we knew what the lines represented, Carson."

Rodney assumed his most inoffensive expression as Carson glared in his direction before he turned back to Elizabeth. "It's a graph of his testosterone levels from this bloodwork and the last."

Sheppard was studying the graph with a narrow-eyed interest now. "And the previous bloodwork was...?"

"Last week." Beckett said. "But it's not just his levels, either." He pulled the keyboard over and began typing in commands. A moment later a whole series of lines appeared. Several stopped at the time interval before the one where the Lieutenant's testosterone levels spiked, but all the lines in the final time interval leaped - in many cases, outside the grey area. "Bloodwork is done regularly for all personnel in Atlantis. As you can see, testosterone has spiked in all the male personnel, no matter where it was before."

Rodney frowned. "Just the men?"

"Actually, the women are showing it as well. Obviously, not as much as the men, but they've got elevated levels."

"And this has happened in the last week?" Elizabeth asked. "No wonder we're seeing a higher incidence of fights and arguing in the base."

"It's not healthy," Carson said with blunt forthrightness. "Especially if things keep going this way. We had two personnel in here this morning who fought over a piece of toast."

John was studying the graph with rather more thoughtfulness than usual. "Fighting over minor things," he murmured.

"Don't let any of the women hear you say that, Sheppard," Rodney pointed out, then caught Elizabeth's eye and coughed. "Um."

"It's not fighting over the women that has me worried," she said. "It's the increasing reports of harassment of female personnel by male personnel."

Sheppard reared his head. "Harassment?"

"By quite a few men," Elizabeth said. "It may have escaped your notice that the atmosphere in the city is reminiscent of a frat house the last few days, complete with sideways looks, comments, and leers at the women."

"You know, one of my researchers was saying something about harassment this morning," said Rodney, remembering Kirin's breakdown just this morning. This might explain her state of mind - Kirin wasn't the type to crack under pressure. "Of course, that was after she burst into tears." Both Sheppard and Carson were staring at him with disbelief. He rolled his eyes. "She wasn't talking about me!"

Sheppard's stare didn't abate, and Rodney scowled back at the other man. Just because he wasn't the most...considerate person around didn't mean he was a bully! He just...lacked certain sensitivities.

Reminded of Patricia Kelmar's accusation about his behaviour earlier, Rodney amended that statement. He usually lacked certain sensitivities.

Which he found odd in and of itself.

He wasn't any kind of a medical officer, but various trivia lingered on in his brain nevertheless. One of them was that testosterone was not a hormone that made men sensitive in any way. In fact, it was liable to do exactly the opposite.

"Have you attempted to isolate what's causing the hormone changes?" Elizabeth asked, interrupting his train of thought.

"We've been in the middle of a spate of bloodwork for allergy testing," said Carson. "I can run a correlation between the increased testosterone levels and--"

"Do it," she said, cutting him off, more abrupt than usual.

"Rodney?"

"Carson?"

"I'll need you to help me with the correlations."

Rodney opened his mouth in automatic protest. He wasn't at Beckett's beck and call!

"Before you do," Elizabeth interrupted, "I'll need your help to call the military, scientific, and medical groups in Atlantis together and make several announcements. Some things need to be clearly stated for all personnel on this expedition."

Something in Rodney noted that Elizabeth looked...well...quite fine when she was in full sail as a leader. Commanding presence, quiet determination, now if she'd only dye her hair blonde...

Of course, it was the testosterone making him react like this; he'd seen her in command-mode many times before. He'd thought her quite impressive then, but this! Oh, this was charisma of a very different kind.

Still, he was one step ahead of Sheppard; he could guess what she wished to say to the troops.

Sheppard frowned and asked, "Matters?"

oOo

Teyla cast a watchful eye over the women in her class as they moved through the limbering-up stretches. Most were managing without difficulty, although a wobble here and there amidst the crowd betrayed a momentary lack of balance.

Her 'self defence' class was extremely popular. So much so, that the afternoon had seen an overflow of women who had heard of the class and come to partake of it.

The gymnasium had not been capable of such numbers, and she'd had to ask half of them to return after the evening meal.

If anything, the evening class was even more full than the afternoon class.

If the intention of the announcement was to reassure the women of Atlantis, then Teyla considered it a failure. If anything, it had the opposite effect, making the women even less trusting of their colleagues, friends, and acquaintances.

She could see their concerns in their eyes as she showed them how to balance themselves. More than being physically inept, many of the women of Atlantis were mentally off-balance, disconcerted by the subtle change in the men around them. It made them fearful, and yet they hid that fear beneath determination and anger.

She could see their anger in their movements as she stretched them slowly, knowing that many of them were not fighters, nor ever would be. They were not here to learn how to fight against the Wraith; they were not here to learn how to lay Major Sheppard out in staves; in all truth, they were not even here to learn how to defend themselves against their military colleagues.

That had been their goal in taking up the class, however Teyla had swiftly seen that the gap between present state and goal was too large to be easily bridge - especially not in a single class.

So she had changed the aims of the class, just slightly. Here, she would develop the women's confidence in their physical abilities - a confidence that too many of them lacked, accustomed to the exercises of mind and the discipline of their thoughts, but not the exercise and discipline of the body. Some of the things they would learn could be used in self-defence, but they were nothing more than temporary measures, intended to give them a space in which to flee from such an attacker.

Deep inside, Teyla hoped that there would be no need to use such skills against one of their colleagues in Atlantis. However, she could not guarantee it; and given the more aggressive behaviours of the men, she feared what might happen.

And she could not grant them the peace of mind they wished for in defensive skill.

"Your best hope in an attack is to call for help," she told them now, as they finished the stretches and she showed them how to ease their muscles. "These moves are only to delay your opponent, to break his grip upon you and give you a head start."

She saw some nods among the crowd - the few women who had military training understood what she was saying.

Yet in the eyes of many of the others, Teyla saw that they wanted more than this.

So she would give them an example of 'more than this'.

Even as she began to speak, she saw the eyes of the women flicker to the door, and turned.

"Am I early?" Lieutenant Ford asked, a half-smile on his lips.

"You are just in time, Lieutenant," she said, smiling in return. It did not escape her notice that the women nearest the door shifted, covering their movements with a desire for a drink of water, or going to speak with someone near them.

At dinner, she had silently debated the wisdom of what she was about to do, even as the conversation of the women at the table flowed around her. In the end, she stayed her course. The women and men of Atlantis would have to live with one another, even if this behaviour continued - especially if this behaviour continued.

Lieutenant Ford approached her, his hands in his pockets. "How's the class going?" His gaze ranged out over the women, and he nodded at one or two with whom he had a more-than-passing acquaintance.

"We have done our stretches," she said. "I have showed them some basic moves. Your presence is timely."

His smile was easy and broad, with less reserve in it than Major Sheppard, and less smugness than Dr. McKay. "My grandma always said I had good timing."

Teyla raised her voice to cover the chatter that had begun upon the Lieutenant's arrival. "I asked Lieutenant Ford here to show you some basics of self-defence. It will be easier for you to see how these techniques work when they are employed before you."

"But he's--" The woman paused.

"He is a friend," Teyla said into the silence left behind the stuttering halt of the young scientist's words. "And he was willing to be part of this demonstration." In truth, she'd considered asking Major Sheppard, only to decide against it. Aiden was a wiser choice.

She confirmed that choice as she instructed him on how to attempt to grab her, trap her, seize her, and he followed her requests. In turn, she showed the women how to briefly defend themselves against an attacker of any kind.

"But, as I said before, should you be attacked, your best hope lies not in defeating them, but in escaping them or gaining help."

The gasp of the women warned her of the Lieutenant's actions a moment before he barrelled into her, taking her down beneath him. She was not quite unprepared for his actions; his restlessness had been clear as they demonstrated the moves for the class. So Teyla used their momentum to roll them over, digging her fingers into the arm that wrapped around her waist. Breath hissed from his throat as her nails found their mark - the nerves beneath the skin - and his arm released her.

She continued the roll when she felt his back hit the ground, landing in a crouch on all fours on the floor of the gymnasium.

"Damn," was all he said, the dark face settling into a wry smile. "That hurt."

"It was supposed to," Teyla answered dryly before she climbed to her feet before the women, still watching around them. Pleasure unfurled within her as she saw their astonished and envious expressions. "That comes after many years of experience and training," she told them. "You could not expect to be able to defend against such an attack in a week, or even a month."

"Then why teach us at all?"

"Because a little training is better than none," said a woman from the back. Teyla did not recall the woman's name, only that she was one of the few military-trained women on the base. "Even a little training gives you that much more of an advantage when you're sent off-planet or out to the mainland and you find yourself under attack."

"And when are we going to find ourselves under attack?"

"Remember Brendan Gaul and Mikey Abrams?" Another woman said. "They weren't expecting to find themselves under attack when they went out to check the long-range sensors."

"And you will find there are uses - even about Atlantis," said Teyla. There was a stir of interest - and concern - and she hastened to alleviate it. Her intention had not been to refer to the current state of tension in Atlantis, but the situation was not far from anyone's mind - even hers. "A greater range of mobility and flexibility are always valuable - even to those of you who spend much time in your laboratories will find your muscles growing stiff and your bodies under strain. Self-defence is only one reason to learn such things."

"I doubt that Major Sheppard is taking lessons for self-defence or flexibility," someone murmured, just loud enough to be heard through the room. There were assorted snickers, and Teyla felt her skin grow warm. She reached one hand out to help up Aiden without looking him in the eye, although she could tell that his expression was querying as he regarded her.

Instead, she turned back to the class, reasonably confident that her embarrassment wasn't too obvious. "I am willing to continue this class every few nights if people wish to continue learning. There is no such physical training available to the women, and I would be glad to assist in this way - if people wish it."

Several of the women nodded, but others glanced at the door, nervously.

Major Sheppard arched a brow at her, his gaze looking from her to Aiden, standing close beside her. "Teyla. Ladies. Ford."

"Sir."

It was not her imagination. If the women had been unsettled when Lieutenant Ford entered, they were very uncomfortable now. "Major?"

"Sorry to interrupt your class, but we're wanting in the briefing room," he said without preamble. His gaze took in both Teyla and the Lieutenant. "All of us. Weir's request."

Teyla turned back to the class. "I apologise for cutting things short," she said to the now-restless women. "If you are interested in repeating this class again, then please speak with me sometime in the next couple of days." A momentary annoyance rose within her at the interruption. She dismissed it. If Dr. Weir had called this meeting, then there was reason for it - and doubtless a good one. Her own preference for remaining and speaking with the other women must take second place.

She preceded Lieutenant Ford out of the room, past Major Sheppard, and caught the hard glance he gave the younger man as she drew level with him.

Such tensions were common about the base these last two days; Teyla had witnessed the same delicate hostility between men who were more usually friends. Seeing it in her team mates, however, was disturbing. Their animosity was minimal, but even that small amount concerned her.

Whatever was happening - and she truly did believe that something was happening - it was not only causing rifts between male and female, but also between individuals.

As they came out of the corridor off which the gym lay, she turned her head a little. "Are you aware of Dr. Weir's reasons for calling this meeting now, Major?"

"I've got my suspicions," was his only reply.

His answer did nothing to alleviate her concern. Nor did the watchful gazes of the male personnel they met as they walked through the city.

Attuned to body language, Teyla cast her gaze slowly past the men, making eye contact where their gazes clashed with hers. She offered neither challenge, nor submission: only the flat, hard acknowledgement that she saw them. Nothing more.

Behind her, she could feel the tension in her team-mates, watching her and the other men with wary gazes. Had any man offered challenge, she had little doubt that either Major or Lieutenant would have taken it up in an instant.

This behaviour was far from normal.

Teyla had never felt quite as alien to the people of Earth as she did now. They had seen her, measured her when she and her people first arrived in Atlantis, and many had dismissed her. Yet never before had their scrutiny been so unnerving - not even when she had been under suspicion as a Wraith spy.

It was a relief to reach the briefing room and feel the doors slide shut, blocking out the probing gazes of the men so changed from who they were.

Of course, there were other men here; both Dr. McKay and Dr. Beckett looked up from where they hovered over Elizabeth Weir's shoulder. Still, at least there were none of the undercurrents as she'd felt them walking through Atlantis with the Major and the Lieutenant.

Dr. McKay seemed quite normal, fussing over his laptop, occasionally grunting and making noises of satisfaction and annoyance as he did whatever he was doing. Dr. Beckett twitched his eyebrows at her as though to ask a question. She gave him a quick smile and a nod to reassure him. He was a nice man, a little anxious, but polite and courteous and friendly.

Elizabeth Weir glanced up at them. "Thank you for coming up here so promptly," she said, and her eyes rested on Teyla. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your class. I heard you had to schedule a second one."

Teyla nodded as she took a seat, absently noting that her companions flanked her on either side of the table - just as the other men flanked Dr. Weir. "I believe it may become a regular class."

Dr. Weir nodded. "I think it's something that the base needs."

"I'd say the base certainly needs something," Dr. McKay said, looking up from whatever he was studying on Dr. Weir's screenboard.

"And in your case it's a good kick in the head," muttered Dr. Beckett.

"Excuse me, just because I didn't notice the first set of correlative data--"

"If you hadn't been mooning over Dr. Cheek, we'd have had the connection hours ago--"

"Doctors!" Dr. Weir cut through their arguing, regarding first one, and then the other with unconcealed irritation.

Neither man apologised, although they glared at each other. Teyla hid a wince. Perhaps the undercurrents between Dr. McKay and Dr. Beckett were not those of Major Sheppard and Lieutenant Ford, but they were no less discordant.

"So, are we going to get an explanation of what's going on?" The Major asked from beside Teyla.

Dr. Beckett shot Dr. Weir a quick glance, to which she nodded. "I explained that the personnel of the base are showing elevated levels of testosterone right now."

Not to Teyla. And not, apparently, to Lieutenant Ford, whose eyebrows had risen on his forehead.

"Testosterone is a hormone that is released in human bodies," Dr. Beckett said, turning to Teyla. "We generally call it the 'male hormone' since men have it in significantly greater amounts than women. But right now, it seems everyone in Atlantis is showing high levels of testosterone."

Teyla nodded, although she wasn't entirely sure of what that would mean. The others appeared to understand, however, and she didn't wish to interrupt his explanation at this point.

Others were not so inclined.

Major Sheppard narrowed his eyes. "Seems?"

"We haven't been able to test everyone," Dr. Beckett protested. "But from all the data we have, and from the behaviour about the base--"

"What behaviour about the base?"

It was Dr. McKay who answered. "Oh, I don't know, maybe the way the military personnel have been roughing up any civilian, male or female, that happens to get in their way?"

"But Beckett said that all personnel who were showing higher testosterone levels, not just the military," said Aiden.

"Lieutenant, try to understand this. The people who go into the military have a predisposition towards violent behaviours in the first place. It's a case of circular cause and effect."

There was a gesture Teyla had seen performed by quite a number of people around Atlantis at various times. In order to indicate their exasperation or irritation with someone, they slapped the heel of their hand against their forehead. Both Drs. Weir and Beckett looked as though they very much wished to perform this action now as Major Sheppard regarded McKay with a slowly growing expression of disbelief. "A predisposition?"

"From all the data we have and the behaviour about the base - both male and female - it seems that all personnel in Atlantis have higher-than-usual levels of this hormone," Dr. Weir said, raising her voice and looking pointedly at both military leader and scientific expert.

"McKay was singling out the military personnel."

"It goes further than the military personnel, John, although they are the ones showing the most markedly different behaviour."

"So you agree--"

Teyla was not inclined to listen to Major Sheppard mount an argument with Dr. Weir. Dr. Beckett had identified a problem in the behaviour of the people in the city. There must be a reason they had been called here to listen to it.

"Dr. Beckett," she said, addressing him directly and ignoring Major Sheppard's diatribe, "you have stated that this...substance is affecting the behaviour of the city's inhabitants. Do you know what has caused it?"

He seemed relieved that someone had brought up the issue again. "Yes," he said.

"So, what is it?" Lieutenant Ford demanded.

Dr. Beckett sighed. "The first increase in testosterone we have on record comes the day after you returned from Tabaasa. Almost overnight, personnel started showing signs of elevated testosterone levels, and the behaviour patterns we've been witnessing - aggression, boldness, conflict - began to show shortly after."

Judging by the expressions on the faces of Dr. McKay, Major Sheppard, and Lieutenant Ford, this was news to them. It seemed Dr. Weir was already aware of this, for she was, if not serene, certainly accepting of Dr. Beckett's news.

"You believe that our trip to Tabaasa has produced the effect that we are seeing here?" Teyla asked, just to be certain she had understood his words.

"It's the most rational explanation," Dr. Beckett said.

"It's not the most rational explanation," Dr. McKay said, looking at the other man as though he'd just pronounced a dire indictment on one of McKay's pet theories. "It's the most convenient--"

"It fits the facts."

"It fits nothing--"

"The second time you returned from Tabaasa, you said that Major Sheppard had indulged in a comparative testosterone contest, Rodney," Dr. Weir interrupted.

Dr. McKay looked surprised. "Did I?"

"Yes," she said. "You did." Dr. Weir turned to Teyla. "Teyla, do you remember anything else that the woman said to you when she gave you the warning?"

"Hatiana's words?" Teyla sifted through the memories, trying to identify anything that might help. "Very little, I am afraid."

"Anything you can remember might help."

She closed her eyes and thought back to that afternoon on the planet, trying to conjure up the sights and scents and sounds of the day so she could better recall what had been said. "We...we were speaking of the seasons," she said at last, opening her eyes. "Of seasonal...no, lunar cycles. She had mentioned the waxing of the moon. Then she gave the warning."

"About the tinael," Dr. Weir murmured.

"And that was it?" Major Sheppard asked.

"That is all I remember," Teyla said. She looked at Dr. Weir whose forehead had creased in a faint frown. "I am sorry, Dr. Weir, but I do not recall the specific words she used or what she might have meant by them."

The other woman shook her head, dark curls dislodging from behind her ears. "You remembered what you could, Teyla."

"But it is not enough."

"No." A grim expression came over Dr. Weir as she turned to Major Sheppard. "Major, we need more information about what is happening in Atlantis."

"And the place to get that is Tabaasa."

"The place to get that is Tabassa." She glanced at the timepiece on her wrist. "It's a little late to send you out right now, but first thing in the morning, you'll set out for Tabaasa again."

"And this time we get the answers to our questions," Major Sheppard said. He sounded quite grim about it, and Teyla regarded him with some caution.

Of course, Dr. McKay was not customarily one for caution. "Wait. You're sending us back there? The planet that's caused all this trouble from the start, and you're sending us back?"

"Makes sense," Lieutenant Ford said with something like a shrug, although he didn't look much happier about it. "Go back to where the problem started."

"And probably find ourselves in even more trouble?"

"Rodney." Dr. Weir silenced him with a single word, then continued. "Tonight, all personnel are to stay in their quarters, with the exception of a skeleton crew who will be manning the Stargate and Dr. Beckett who will be manning the infirmary. No exceptions will be made."

"So we're basically under curfew?" Major Sheppard looked as though he might rebel, but another glance from Dr. Weir curbed him.

"Unless you have a better idea," she said firmly, "yes."

oOo

FEEDBACK: Every author loves it.