"How come you're letting weenie boy go with you, but you're not letting Daniel?"
Melony sighed, closed her eyes and counted to ten. The meeting had broken up, and Mitchell had headed for her quarters for a cup of coffee – and to give them a little privacy when Jack inevitably came after her asking why she was letting Carson accompany her back. Sure enough, she hadn't even finished brewing the pot when there had been a knock her door, and she'd let him in, knowing he was just barely holding back his curiosity.
"Jack, I told you not to call him that."
"Well?"
O'Neill wasn't going to be sidetracked.
"Because Daniel can't fly a Jumper."
"What?"
"I said, 'because Daniel can't fly a Jumper'."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"You think I'm going to carry all that crap back in a sack slung over my shoulder?"
He scowled, and it was obvious to her that he hadn't considered that.
"Why don't you take a Jumper?"
"Because I'm going to Earth to get Fuglier – which I need – and I can't fly a Jumper and Fuglier."
"Where's weenie boy – I mean, Beckett, going?"
"He's going directly to Melonyville, where we will meet up. Then I can park Fuglier in the hangar that we built her in, and I can strip what I need off her, and transfer it over to the Jumper, and fly back here. Daniel doesn't have the Ancient gene so he can't fly the ship – and he really is needed here – and Carson does, although he's not the best pilot in the world. He's not needed here, so he can come, and it won't screw anything up here to have him gone for a week or two."
"You think you'll be gone that long?"
He outranked her, and they both knew it, but in an instance like this, as long as he understood the decisions she was making, there wasn't any reason for him to argue with her about what she was doing. And it was obvious that she'd thought it through – or Talon and she had, one or the other.
"It depends, Jack," she said, handing him a cup of coffee. "I'm not sure where the Jaffa stashed the rest of the crystals, so it might take them a while to get them for me, and I have to decide what exactly to pull off Fuglier – I'm going to try to strip her completely since we'll want to have all the technology we can get our hands on – especially since the Wraith haven't seen it before."
O'Neill took a sip of the coffee she gave him, and nodded.
"Another reason to take a Jumper."
"Yeah. You can send Carson through the gate to Melonyville a couple of days after I leave, and he can cloak and wait for me. It's deserted, but you never know."
At least he wouldn't have to worry about running into the Wraith – or even a Goa'uld. But you never really knew, and she wouldn't want him to be in sight on a planet all alone with no knowledge of any other gate addresses to escape through if it became necessary.
"And while you're gone, we'll start loading Jumpers with all the technology that Daniel and McKay can salvage from here – because if we can't come up with a way to lure the Wraith away from this city, I am going to blow it up – with as many of them on it as I can."
She nodded, because she agreed completely. It was something they'd never disagree on, no matter what else they grumbled about; Earth had to be protected.
"We can send the Jumpers to Melonyville, if you want. Once I get back with the crystals, we'll know better what kind of power resources we're going to have, so we'll know how many trips we can make – depending on what kind of plan we come up with."
"And you'll know whether the Jaffa are willing to help…"
She scowled, but since she'd already promised to bring it up with Tao, she nodded.
"Yeah. I'm not going to demand an answer right away, though. Tao is my First Prime, but even though the rest of the Jaffa will do what he says, it's not going to be his decision alone. I'll go back to Melonyville and let them meet about it without me looking over their collective shoulders and pressuring them.
"And it'll give you a little alone time with Beckett…" Jack said, slyly.
She nodded, without feeling at all self-conscience about it.
"I considered that, too, yes." She sat down on her bed, and sighed. "If we don't come up with a plan – a plan better than simply blowing up Atlantis – I'm going to stay on this side of the Stargate. And it'll be a while before I have a chance to spend any more time with him. Since the opportunity is there, I'm going to take it."
"I'm not going to let you stay here by yourself…"
She smiled.
"It's not going to be as bad as it sounds, Jack. I'll have all sorts of technology to work with, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to modify a Jumper's drive so I won't be stranded out here. Once we're done, I'll be able to get home – even without that crystal thing in the gate."
He shook his head.
"Don't you guys think you've saved the world enough times already?"
Melony echoed Talon's mental snort.
"How many times have you saved Earth from being destroyed by the Goa'uld, Jack?"
He scowled.
"I wasn't keeping track."
"Well, I was. We're still behind you." She drained her coffee cup, and stood up to get a refill. "Besides, this isn't about saving the world. Not Atlantis, or any of the other worlds around here, anyways. It's really not even about saving Earth – although of course we'll protect it by keeping the Wraith away."
"What's it about, then?"
"Revenge, Jack. Pure and simple revenge."
He nodded, and held out his cup, silently asking for more coffee as well. He could understand that.