Chapter 4 – The Conference
John contemplated today's wide selection of food for attendees of Torren's big ongoing Intergalactic Conference.
He had been getting good at spotting his favourite Athosian food, but, for this Conference, new exotic foods from other planets across the Alliance had begun appearing. Torren always put on a good party, and the Governing Complex had never once come close to running out of food through all these days of the Conference, despite the many visitors.
John contemplated the small label cards next to the different bowls of food, which provided, in various languages, descriptions of what the food was, which planet it was from, and which should be avoided by certain Alliance peoples due to known reactions and allergies. Atlantis had already found out by trial and error that there were a handful of Alliance foods that didn't agree with Earth stomachs, so there were warnings now for those from Earth to avoid certain foods. There had also been the inclusion of the comment "possible lemon" where relevant, which had left Rodney free to gorge himself on all the food safe for him.
The food descriptions included a close attempt at English, which were sometimes really funny. But with each passing day here, the visiting linguists from Atlantis were fast improving the translations, and the labels were starting to make more sense.
Still, the "living bright green leaves on hotting potatoes" was worth a snigger as John added a large spoonful of them on the last available space on his plate. The green-coated small vegetables were a favourite of his from his first days on the Sythus and tasted like curried potatoes, which presumably was what the "hotting" part of the funny translation was trying to get at.
He contemplated the last few bowls on the excessively massive buffet tables, and decided he had enough piled on his plate; which was important in order to avoid having to come back to the long queue and refill his plate. He'd leant that from the first day of the Conference.
Fortunately, today was the last day of Torren's big successful Intergalactic Conference, and it couldn't end soon enough. As interesting as it had been, John did not enjoy being the centre of so much attention, which included lots of eyes following his every move, the daily grind of having to smile politely all the time and make small talk with the constantly changing faces visiting the Conference. Everyone wanted to talk to him, and he had lost track of who anyone was, where they were from, or whether he'd already met them during these long full weeks.
It didn't help that there were so many people here, especially today. He turned from the buffet and looked around him at the crush of the large busy room that was the Conference's Mess. It was normally one of the Governing Complex's largest banqueting rooms, but was instead stuffed with tables and chairs for the meal breaks between talks, seminars, and debating sessions. Today, every chair was full and it was standing room only. Off ahead to the right, Rodney and Ford had found a small available bit of space away from the buffet tables where they were stood waiting for him and Cadman.
Rodney was already stuffing his face from his mountain of spectacularly colourful food.
"McKay," John sighed as he slid into the tiny free space at his friend's shoulder, "can you at least attempt to make a good impression."
Rodney, some pale pink sauce around his mouth, lowered what looked like the leg of some unfortunate blue-coloured bird. "We've been coming here for weeks; we're well past first impressions."
"Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of," John muttered as he glanced around the large room again.
Teyla had been gone three days now and he was starting to worry. She obviously knew how to take care of herself, but who knew what she was facing on her latest secret Elite mission. He hoped she was okay, that she might make it back in time for Torren's big closing ceremony tonight, and that she would definitely be back for tomorrow.
Tomorrow, when she was due to start her first official stay in Atlantis as part of their Political Marriage contract. She was going to stay for a whole week, accompanied only by Si and Ketra.
Sure, she'd stayed in Atlantis before during the whole non-aggression treaty talks, but that had been different. And things had been different between them too.
This time, they were Political Husband and Wife, representing their people and ensuring the new contract held strong. This was going to be the new normal for them, spending a hundred and fifty days a year with each other – half in Atlantis and half wherever Teyla was at the time.
And during their visits, they were going to be living in new adjoining quarters in the city and here in Tjaru. Sure, the last time she had visited Atlantis, they had shared quarters, but that had only been because they'd snuck her into his quarters for the nights. This time, they were married, but there would be no sharing a bed.
He didn't think.
Things had been pretty good between them these last weeks, as they'd faced dealing with the Conference together. He'd really enjoying spending so much time with her, and she had made everything more bearable. But, there were still those occasional moments of awkwardness between them.
Sharing adjoining quarters was probably going to dance hazardously close to those areas of awkwardness again, but John was determined to make it all work. Sure it would probably feel kind of...intimate...living one door apart at night. It had sure felt weird since he'd moved into his new half of those quarters. The quarters were nice actually, and were far bigger than his old room back in the Central Tower. He had more space now, more furniture, and that door into her side of the quarters. He'd kept it open since he'd moved in, and he wasn't really sure why. It wasn't like any of her stuff was in there yet and she hadn't even seen her new quarters. But, each night he'd found himself wandering into her empty side of the door and moving around her space, wondering how he could help it look more inviting for her.
Like that was going to make the difference. As an Elite, Teyla was used to bivouacking probably anywhere, whether in forests, on a mountain, or crammed up in that starship they'd smuggled themselves onto Dreamstation in. Her Atlantis quarters might look bare, but it wasn't like she was the type to get all uppity about that. She wasn't Nancy.
Maybe he was just worried about it because he wanted her to feel comfortable in the City, especially since things were still a bit uncomfortable between them at times. There were new lines in place.
Though, sharing quarters, did part of him kind of hope that things might cross over the line again? Did he even want that, considering all that had happened?
She was his wife now, so would it technically be against the rules anymore?
If the IOA found out, what would they do anyway? It wasn't like they could ban him from seeing her, after all it was their marriage that had formed these new ties and brought this Intergalactic Conference about. Earth and the IOA seemed nothing but eager now to embrace this new contract with the Alliance, and clearly Colonel Carter and Torren had big plans. Even the Elite were keen, according to Teyla, and once she and Si had started their stay, the new trade possibilities with the Elite would be explored.
It was all good really.
Confused feelings aside, the Conference was going well, the people here were all friendly, and he and Teyla were getting on well again.
Things were good.
Besides, there were good reasons why he and Teyla had decided their former 'affair' hadn't been smart. He still had no idea how he had managed not to get fired, or at least reprimanded, for having started this Political Marriage contract without permission first. If it things hadn't turned out so well, he was almost certain that his ass would have been thrown back to Earth.
He never seemed to learn that jumping into things with his heart instead of his head usually landed him in hot water. Well, maybe nice warm water in this case.
The marriage contract was working out for everyone so far, and this large banquet hall was certainly stuffed full of people eagerly chatting away, sharing knowledge. Sure, a lot of them were taking far too much interest in him at times, but it was all for the good of Atlantis and Earth.
He just wished Teyla was back here already, that he knew she was safe.
"McKay," Cadman exclaimed as she bumped slightly against John's shoulder. "Don't drip that stuff on me."
John returned his attention to his wayward team who were now all four stood in a tight small circle. Like him, Ford and Cadman were in their standard black uniforms, but without sidearms. Outside of the Athosian Complex's guards and visiting Elite, there were no weapons allowed within the Governing Complex on Tjaru during the Conference. Despite the almost university-like atmosphere here of late, John wished he had his sidearm. His uniform felt incomplete and he knew he'd feel a bit more relaxed if he had his sidearm; especially with Genii at the Conference.
"There's no room in here," Rodney protested to Cadman, "anyway, you bumped into me."
Rodney wiped at Cadman's sleeve with one of the Athosian cloth napkins. The attempt was pretty pathetic and achieved nothing but to smear the drops of the unidentified pink sauce further across Cadman's arm.
"Thanks, McKay; that really helped," Cadman muttered as she wiped the rest away with her own cloth, balancing her plate precariously as she did so.
"You going to eat that blue chicken leg?" Rodney asked her.
"That is why I put it on my plate," Cadman stated back, pulling her plate as far from Rodney as she could in the limited space of their crushed circle.
"Try and keep it professional, guys," John advised, more from hope than any real order; but he was supposed to be the leader of the group, and now technically an 'Ambassador' for Atlantis. If Dad knew, he'd never believe it. Most days, John didn't believe it either.
"Sure is packed in here today," Ford muttered, looking uncomfortable as someone brushed past his back.
"Last official day of the Conference," Cadman reminded him. "Everyone wants in."
"Just what we needed, a full house to witness McKay's rant," Ford uttered.
"Everything I said in that seminar was accurate," Rodney stated with his usual arrogance.
"And you made sure to shout that as loud as possible in there," Cadman noted. Fortunately, John hadn't been in that particular seminar on Ancient consoles this morning. Instead, he'd been subjected to two hours of a debate on how to hold a territory line in space – actually it had been quite interesting.
"Trust me, I know more about splicing into Ancient tech than any of those so called 'Ancestor Engineers' here," Rodney waved the tattered remains of the blue chicken leg around to indicate the room at large.
"Whatever you say, McKay," Ford muttered doubtfully. "I thought Colonel Carter was going to be here today?" He peered around the busy room.
John could see the various members of the IOA in the room, as well as a smattering of Atlantis scientists and a few Marines keeping a subtle watch over them. The politicians and scientists looked in deep conversation, while the Marines looked vaguely bored.
"The Colonel is coming in later for the closing ceremony," John replied to Ford.
Someone pushed past behind Cadman's back and John pulled back a bit to avoid her plate.
"We need to find a table," he sighed as he scanned the packed large room around him again in hopes of an empty table. He made sure to keep his gaze moving as he did though, because most of the Conference visitors usually tried to catch his eye if they caught him looking around. He'd found that making eye contact with a politician here was basically an invitation for them to head over to him and start up a long conversation.
Then there were also the others who purposefully tried to catch his eyes, which included two particular women who were now waving at him from a far table. Why did they always seem to be here? They had a way of randomly appearing every day of the Conference, full of overly smiley expressions and copious constant questions about Earth. They only ever appeared when he was not standing with Teyla, and he'd gotten the impression that they weren't all that interested in what he actually said to them, rather they just wanted the chance to talk to him.
He nodded and smiled politely at the two women and then quickly moved his gaze away from them.
Things were easier when Teyla was here. Her whole Elite vibe thing tended to keep all the well wishers and long conversationalists at bay. People still crowded in to say hi, but the resulting exchange was always shorter with her at his side. Now she was away, people were clearly talking the chance to talk to him more.
So, he kept looking across the crowd nice and fast, but then a warm presence leant close to the back of his right shoulder. Vakalis: his now ever-present shadow when he was on Athos.
The Honour Guard were always waiting for him when John stepped through the Gate onto Athos each morning and they stayed with him until he stepped back through the Gate at the end of the day. During those hours, the five person team kept a constant watch around him, with two of them always within a couple of metres of him at all times, and two others were usually spread further out in the room. John had noticed that they often paid particular attention to any Genii in the same room. Then there was Vakalis, the Lead Guard, who was never more than a few feet away from John at any time.
They were a good team, and Teyla had clearly chosen efficient smart people, but who all had a similar kind of relaxed edge to them. Still, as much as he respected them and found their presence kind of comforting, John still felt weird at having his own bodyguards.
"We've located an empty table over by the open doors to the courtyard," Vakalis reported quietly over John's shoulder, his hand vaguely appearing in John's peripheral view, indicating the direction of said table.
John looked partly over his shoulder at his ever-present watchdog. "Thank you, Vaky."
Vakalis was especially good at his job, and there were clear signs of a good sense of humour behind the guy's eyes, but it was overlaid with that Athosian extreme sense of decorum; which only made John feel the need to downplay the seriousness. Naming him Vaky had been a good start.
"Meroe is holding the table for you," Vakalis added, not showing any signs as to whether the nickname annoyed him.
John returned his attention to his team. "Seems like we've got a table ready for us," he told them as he indicated the direction with his full plate.
"About time," Rodney muttered around a full mouth of food.
Cadman led the way through the press of people, Rodney after her, followed by Ford and John took up the rear. Vakalis was on his six, and John spotted the other Guard member, Shemu, shadowing them a metre or so away through the busy room. But, despite the protection detail, John still had to weave and squeeze his way between other guests, while making sure not to accidently lose his food down some politician's fancy outfit.
He also had to do the whole polite smiling thing at everyone who nodded or said hi as he passed by them. Thank God it really was the last day of this; he hated being the centre of so much attention. The sooner Teyla got back the better. Though, with each hour that passed, the chances were lowering that she would return here in time for the Closing Ceremony tonight and her Atlantis trip tomorrow.
"Major Sheppard," a sudden big, somewhat familiar, smile stepped forward into his path in the tight press of humanity.
"Oh, um, hi," John pulled up short, saving his plate from disappearing into the woman's overly displayed cleavage. "Nice to see you again."
"It has been another fine day in this Conference," the woman grinned. She had a wide heart-shaped face that he kind of remembered her telling him was common among her people – he had no idea who her people were. Something about mining? Was she one of Rhakshar's people?
"Yes, it has," John replied, hoping she wasn't going to test him on where she was from. He glanced beyond her highly piled hair to see that Ford was waiting for him, but was clearly laughing at the stop.
"I hope you will be attending the Closing Ceremony this evening," said the woman of unknown name and planet.
"Sure," John smiled as best he could. "Look forward to it," he offered, hoping to end this conversation quickly. "You'll have to excuse me, we've got a table to get to," John tried, only to suddenly worry that she might see that as an invitation to join him there.
"Of course," the woman giggled loudly, "I will see you this evening."
"Sure," John winced; had she thought he was flirting? "Have a nice day," he offered quickly as he moved around her as best he could without brushing up against her and continued on towards Ford's amused and traitorous grin.
"They're like vultures," Ford chuckled as John reached him.
"Whatever," John pushed at Ford's back encouraging him on to where he could now see that Cadman and Rodney had reached the empty table. The crowd was thinner here, probably because of two of John's Honour Guard, Shemu and Meroe, were stationed on either side of the table, cornering it off from the rest of the crowded room. The weapons on their waists and their efficient calmness did the rest.
John was just happy for some space to breathe as he reached the table.
Rodney was sliding around to the far side, the doors behind him open to a Courtyard. John could see that rain was still falling outside, but it was light and the air not too humid. He guessed if the weather was better, people would have been standing outside.
Cadman sat down next to Rodney, the table rather too big for just the four of them. But, John didn't care. It meant there was plenty of space if others of Atlantis' crew or the IOA lot wanted somewhere to sit.
John pulled out a chair, which he'd picked so that most of his back was to the crowded rest of the room, as Ford began to sit down next to him. Only, the kid froze partway down into his seat, his eyes sliding to something over John's shoulder.
"Incoming. Cat woman!" Ford whispered a loud harsh warning.
"What-?" John started to ask, but his brain caught up with Ford's meaning as a voice called to him from behind.
"Major Sheppard," the purring feminine voice uttered and John spun round, plate still in hand, to find a familiar woman stood directly behind him.
"Mistress Nigh," John tried to smile at the tall woman. She had been a regular presence at the Conference, being a big political figure from Aria. John wasn't overly sure what she did on Aria, but clearly she had a lot of power and carried herself like she knew it.
"You are looking most well this day, Major Sheppard," Nigh smiled. She had wide lips that were always painted a dark red and, as she smiled, she really did look rather like a cat. It was a bright friendly smile, but full of overly white teeth and had a kind of predatory feel to it.
"But then you do most days," she added, her voice lowering slightly.
She seemed suddenly closer than before, just a little too close for comfort really.
"Uh, thanks," he replied.
She had loose long dark brown hair that always seemed to shine far brighter than natural hair should, and her large almond-shaped eyes were a surreal blue-green that had to be contacts. She also had a way of moving that was very lithe and flexible, which all only added to the cat-like vibe, so he and Ford had taken to referring to her as 'Cat Woman'.
"Are you well?" He asked politely into the strange little pause after her compliment.
"I have enjoyed every day of this Conference, but then every day that we can exchange knowledge and experience is a good day for me," she replied.
She had a way of making anything she said or did feel as if it dripped with sexual suggestion, which was emphasised further by her very tight shapely bodysuits. Today's was a shiny dark blue material that glimmered unnaturally, and the front was cut so low that he could see her belly button. Not that he was looking that low, especially as she had somehow slinked closer again without him actually seeing her do it.
Fortunately, he still had his plate of food in his hand and held it at chest height to help create a barrier. He probably had green "hotting" potatoes soaking into the front of his uniform, but he didn't dare take his eyes off the predator in front of him.
"I trust that your good wife is undertaking a great victory with her blades," Nigh asked, her accent some weird French English like sound but with something rather like an Australian edge to it.
"I'm sure she is," he tried to smile.
"She is an exceptionally skilled warrior," Nigh agreed, nodded her head, the overhead lights glossing across her curtain of thick hair.
"Yes, she is," John agreed, feeling on safe ground with this subject.
"It is difficult though for us who are in a Political Marriage with such skilled warriors," Nigh sighed softly as she shifted closer. It had been a small subtle series of steps that somehow made her float right into his personal space so that she was now up against the other side of his food barrier, and he was pretty certain that warmth against his hand holding the plate was all her body heat.
John froze, not sure what to do. He didn't want to cause a scene. He vaguely looked off to both sides, looking for help, but his team were all at the table behind him and all he could see was the wall of standing lunchtime crowds.
Where was Vaky when he was actually needed?!
"My husband," Nigh sighed, "He is also away on his victorious campaigns all too often, but it is good that there is such freedom in a Political Marriage." Nigh smiled that wide cat smile again, her head and body angled with a model's skill to show off her best assets.
Had she just implied what he thought she had?
"Um-," John started.
"If you ever find yourself waiting alone in those long empty stretches," Nigh continued her voice low, "I always welcome an exchange of information and," she paused, her eyes flowing down John and up again, "culture." She rolled out the last word in the softest exhale that almost sounded like a moan.
John's tactical brain kicked in, reporting on the best exits out of the situation, but with consideration of the best excuses to depart away from this woman as quickly as possible.
Only, he became aware of faces looking round in the crowd behind Nigh, and that the volume of chatter had dropped slightly. Maybe people were finally going to come to his rescue.
Nigh, also realising that something had changed too, turned slightly to look behind her only to reveal that someone shorter had approached her from behind.
Relief hit John like a wave.
Teyla stood behind Nigh, dressed in dark close cropped colours, gun on her hip and the hilt of one sword visible over a shoulder. As usual, Teyla stood with an elegant and dangerous grace to her, her chin held high and her gaze straight and bold.
And that Elite, Wraith-killing gaze, was locked on Nigh as the woman turned.
"Honoured Elite Emmagan," Nigh said instantly, all smiles and politeness as she stepped back and to the side, bowing to Teyla. "It is so pleasing to see you returned from what was surely a great victory."
Teyla held her ground, unmoving except for her head as she followed Nigh with her eyes.
John noticed that a lot of the crowd were watching the exchange with clear interest, but while trying to appear as if they weren't watching.
John was just desperately relieved Teyla was here, and clearly she was in one piece from her mission.
She looked good.
"Mistress Nigh," Teyla intoned coldly.
"I was just remarking to your noble husband that it is nothing but a blessing to us to share marriages with victorious warriors," Nigh said rising from her deep bow.
John didn't like the way Nigh had put him and her into 'us' in that sentence.
"My noble husband knows plenty himself of war, Mistress," Teyla stated to Nigh, her eyes still fixed on the woman with a look that reminded John that the sword on her back could cut through bone.
"Of course, Honoured Elite," Nigh inclined her head, finally deciding it best to back away.
John controlled his expression carefully as Nigh moved away, her head still lowered until she finally turned in one smooth cat-like twist and slipped away into the crowd – all of which were suddenly all interested in their plates again.
John finally let out a breath of relief and returned all of his attention to his newly arrived wife.
Teyla moved towards him, but her eyes were still on the spot where Nigh had disappeared from view.
"Hey," John grinned at her, feeling that usual ridiculous burst of happiness in seeing her again; to know that she was alive and unhurt.
Having decided that Nigh was gone, Teyla finally looked up at him and smiled back. It was the controlled smile she used in public, but he could tell she meant it.
"Thanks for the save," he told her, still grinning down into her dark eyes.
"You need to watch out for her," Teyla told him.
"Yeah, she's scary," John said with feeling.
Teyla' lips rose higher at one end, a half smile that he knew would have been far bigger if they were alone.
"She's like out of a cartoon or something," he added.
Teyla angled her head in that elegant way she did when she didn't understand what he was saying. "Cartoon?" She asked with a delicate frown.
"It's like a movie, but with drawn pictures," he paused, knowing he wasn't going to be able to explain this properly. "I'll show you a cartoon when you come and stay." He hadn't meant to reference the visit so quickly; he'd planned to ease into it. Instead, he'd just blundered into the subject.
"Of course," she nodded, but the edge of awkwardness was abruptly there; he could see it in the faint sense of caution to her expression even though she still had that polite public smile in place. Was she feeling weird about the visit too? Or was she about to back out of it? For all his stress and worrying about it, the thought that her stay might be cancelled made him realise how much he had been looking forward to her living in the adjoining quarters with him.
"We're still on for that?" He asked quickly, wincing inwardly at himself.
The visit was an important political thing, with Atlantis planning for it with meticulous detail this past week, and the marriage contract meant a massive deal to Athos, and yet here he was asking her as if it was a date.
God, was it like a date? Was that why he was feeling weird about it?
No, it was more like bringing a girlfriend home to stay with your family. Except, she wasn't going out with him, instead she was his wife and they weren't sleeping together any more. It felt weird, mixed up and confusing. Judging by the way she took in a breath and gave him a strained smile, maybe she felt the same weirdness as him.
"Yes, tomorrow," she nodded.
Relief again struck him so hard that his legs were feeling slightly wobbly. He really needed to sit down.
"You want to join us?" John gestured to the table behind him.
"Thank you," Teyla agreed and moved to the chair next to his.
Rodney and Cadman both rose up slightly from their seats as Teyla sat down and they exchanged hellos. Teyla had been sitting with them for meals most days during the Conference, sometimes with a whole table of people from Atlantis, so it wasn't unusual for her. Still, John felt ridiculously pleased that she was joining them, so turned back round to his waiting chair.
He finally put his plate of food down on the table and glanced down at the front of his jacket to check he hadn't left a line of sauce and food bits against his chest. He was debris free, so moved to sit down finally, only to spot Vakalis stood right behind his chair, and the man met John's gaze. John was almost certain he'd seen a flicker of amusement in the Athosian man's eyes.
"Where were you?" John whispered loudly at his lead bodyguard as he indicated where Nigh had been stood.
Vakalis lifted his shoulders a fraction. "Right here."
"Next time, help me," John told the guy.
"You weren't in any danger," Vaky replied, definitely with a glimmer of humour in there.
"Danger takes many forms, Vaky," John argued dramatically as he pulled out his chair and finally sat down.
"Understood," Vakalis replied from behind the chair, but John heard the amusement for certain this time. He gave the guy a look over his shoulder.
Ford leant in. "Vultures circling."
John waved him away and the kid chuckled.
"Glad everyone's finding it funny," John muttered as he picked up a spoon-forky Athosian utensil and examined his long neglected food.
Teyla shifted in the seat next to him and he looked round at her. He'd sat closer to her than he'd realised, and he felt her knee graze slightly against his as she leant towards him. The familiar sweet smell that was just simply her drifted to his nose, and all the busy room annoyance and worries about tomorrow slipped away.
"Are you well, John?" She asked, her dark eyes moving over his face.
"Yeah, I'm good," he confirmed instantly, sliding his eyes over her face in turn. He couldn't see any bruises on her golden soft skin. "You okay?"
"Yes," she replied simply.
"Mission went well then?" He asked next.
He hadn't gotten to hug her hello, or even share the whole Athosian forehead touch thingy. He'd have to make sure to fill that hug deficit later when they had some time alone.
"It was very successful," she smiled with clear satisfaction.
"Wraith related, I assume?" He fished as he finally started eating his lunch.
"It was," she confirmed with a little half smile as if she was kind of pleased that he had asked.
"Fewer Wraith out there to hurt anyone, huh?" He asked.
"Indeed," she answered. "How have matters been here?" She glanced around at the busy room.
"I've been splitting my time between listening to various military talks and the other half keeping Rodney from starting an intergalactic incident," he joked.
Teyla pulled her attention back to him, which presumably meant Nigh was still out of sight. "You attended technical seminars?" Teyla asked doubtfully.
"Well, no," John admitted. "But, I've been keeping track of him the rest of the time."
"And who has been keeping track of you?" Teyla asked. It had felt playful and maybe faintly flirtatious? It was that delicate line they danced around with each other now.
"I can look after myself," he informed her, keeping the light banter feeling going.
"I noticed," she replied with a nod of her head to indicate where Nigh had been when Teyla had arrived.
"That's your fault for leaving me unsupervised," he countered.
Her lips stretched into another smile, her eyes bright. "At least you did not end up down in a trapper's hole this time."
He made a show of sighing and rolling his eyes, but he felt nothing but stupidly happy at her teasing him. It felt light and how things used to be.
"You've got to let that go," he pretended to protest.
"I do not see why not," Teyla replied. A faint chime echoed room and Teyla glanced away. They were halfway through the lunch break. "I need to find Father before the afternoon's seminars; I've only just arrived back and should see him."
John nodded. "Sure." Did that mean that she'd come to find him before she'd checked in with her family?
"Which meetings are we attending today?" She asked, looking back to him, a delicate little frown creasing the bridge of her nose again. "I have lost track with the mission."
"Um," John reached up to his left front pocket and pulled out his Alliance pad and tapped the screen awake. "We're scheduled to go to a talk on the history of the Alliance's border expansions, then a discussion on intergalactic trading possibilities, Elkaska's leading that one."
"I remember now," she nodded. "Then we end the day with the open forum on the future of intergalactic politics."
John nodded as he slid the pad back into his pocket. "Then we end it all with the big Closing Ceremony and banquet. Your Dad loves a good banquet."
Teyla grinned at that. "That he does. I do need to go find him. Shall I meet you at the first talk once the midday meal break ends?"
"Sure," John agreed, though he kind of wished she could stay longer. "You want me to come with you now?"
"No," she dismissed the idea quickly though as she started to stand up. "You have your food to eat and there are many hours of talks and discussions to get through today for which you will need the sustenance."
He pulled a face at that, but she smiled as she stood up beside him. John stood up with her.
Teyla nodded goodbye to the others at the table and turned to him.
"Say hi to Torren for me," John told her. "I only saw him for a minute or two this morning."
Teyla smiled. "Of course," she turned to leave, but he felt her hand touch against his arm, the warmth flooding through the fabric to his skin.
He watched her move away, seeing her share nods with the Honour Guard who were in view, and then she slipped into the crowd.
He turned back to his table, the others distracted. Cadman and Rodney were disagreeing over something, so John focused on sitting back down and actually eating his food. He'd see Teyla in half an hour or so.
Ford leant in from the right. John had actually forgotten the kid was sat on his other side.
"Vultures haven't got a chance," Ford teased.
0000
Ladon had spent most of his life underground. Like any Genii on the homeworld, he had an innate preference to be below ground. The deep hidden citadels had protected the Genii people for many generations, and, despite many now living above ground in the new main cities, it was not always comfortable living in the sunlight.
That said, tunnels and deep cities were one thing, but these roughly hewn and constricted secret escape tunnels were not comfortable. Just over a decade ago, Supreme Leader Cowen had declared that all leaders and merchants should now live above ground and he had founded the first cities. All Government meetings, military drills, and public offices were to be above ground in a show of Genii confidence in the Alliance and in their superiority over the ancient fear of cullings.
However, Cowen and his closest followers might appear to live on the surface, but Ladon knew that all had their own deeply cut bunkers and living spaces still underground. From these, new tunnels had been quickly dug to older local underground tunnel systems, thereby providing an escape route should the Alliance Military and the Elite fail one day and the Wraith attack.
Ambassador Hulte, who had been rising with increasing political speed these last months, was no exception to this rule. His above ground residence in the First City was not too far from the seat of Government or Cowen's Palace, but far enough away to be placed above some old tunnels. As expected, Hulte had fashioned a bunker quickly under his home and an escape tunnel from it to the local tunnels. What was not known was that Hulte had gone further and, using only family members for the work, he'd had a second deeper bunker cut and a tiny escape tunnel dug out from it to a very old and abandoned set of unfinished tunnels from before the days of the Alliance. As only the family had helped construct it, in theory, Cowen should be unaware of the extra bunker and escape tunnel.
Which is why it was the best place for Ladon's co-conspirators to meet.
Unfortunately, the narrow secret escape tunnel had been constructed in the fastest and basic way possible. The tunnel was only just the width of a man's shoulders and the floor was uneven, leading you to step up and over a large uncut section of the tunnel every few paces. Getting through the confining and poorly ventilated tunnel was not pleasant, but it did provide the best opportunity for secret meetings that Ladon's group wished to remain undetected.
A faint buzz in Ladon's pocket was a warning from his electronic sensor pad that he was approaching the protection field ahead. Hulte had had counter-surveillance tech installed from the middle section of the tunnel, which disabled any tech carried through it and could even distort the strongest of ground penetrating scans from orbit. Ladon was confident in the efficiency of the protection field as he had been the one to create the tech, as well as the ground penetrating scanners it was designed to block. So he was well placed to ensure that he and his group had the best protection from any suspicious eyes or ears.
Ladon paused, breathing heavily in the oxygen thin chilled air, and twisted his body enough to reach into his coat pocket and pull out his electronic pad enough to check the reading and then deactivate the pad – he didn't want anything on it damaged by the protection field. He then pushed on ahead into the protected zone.
He hadn't been able to risk bringing some breathing apparatus with him, because he'd found his way here via the regular tunnels, slipping away to the unfinished tunnels and through to here. The group couldn't risk giving Cowen's spies anything to even suggest they were meeting outside of official Government hours. And Cowen was growing more paranoid and aggressive of late.
Kolya's attempts to destabilise Cowen's rule had gone far further than anyone had predicted, even among Ladon's co-conspirators. Kolya had worked a clever and destructive campaign that was having shocking affects on the Confederation, but particularly in the cities here on the homeworld. Kolya had been doing everything he could to upset his own people, and making sure that Cowen was the one blamed. Increasing illegal substance use, missing food shipments, aggressive anti-government movements, and Cowen's own tendencies to use an overly firm hand, had led to riots in several of the main cities. Cowen had responded predictably by using local military might to suppress and place a curfew on the population. Rights were restricted and access to the Portal was tightly controlled. This had only made matters worse, with population rallies and several recent attacks on public buildings.
Kolya was ramping up his campaign, and even from the great distance of his banishment outside of the Alliance, he was striking quite effectively at the heart of Cowen's power. However, Ladon had been growing concerned at the lack of detail Kolya had been communicating regarding the riots and the extent of his ultimate plan to finally throw Cowen from his throne. In fact, Ladon had secretly begun to suspect that Kolya might have further spies watching his own fellow co-conspirators.
With an almost audible pop, Ladon squeezed his body through the tightest point of the tunnel and stepped up and over another bank of uncut stone. Ahead, the tunnel was getting a little wider, heading in towards Hulte's deep bunker.
Sweat was slick on Ladon's forehead now, but the air was improving. Hulte had installed proper ventilation and waste air collection in the deep bunker ahead, and its affects could now be felt down this part of the tunnel.
As much as Ladon worried at the efficiency of Kolya's plan to replace Cowen, he looked forward to the day when he would no longer have to squeeze himself into this bunker.
He'd prefer to have Sora with him too, but it was too risky for them both to slip away down here. Besides, she had her Government military sentry duties to fill her time today.
She had shown her own signs of frustration over the long wait to kick Cowen from power, and she had developed a clear dislike of Hulte, but the Ambassador was useful and a vital part of the plot against Cowen. She also hated that Ladon had made it clear that her father, Tyrus should not know about their affair. Ladon needed Tyrus focused and not questioning Ladon's time with his daughter. Tyrus was a good military man, but he could get emotional about things and was very protective of his only daughter, despite her age and expert military skill.
A sound of scraping metal echoed ahead and Ladon saw the bunker's door ahead had been opened further and General Maloo's bland face appeared above a hand gun.
"It is me," Ladon called out to the newest member of their group.
Hulte and the General had an old friendship and it seemed that, following Maloo's failed attempt to win the Political Marriage with Athos and the Elite, Cowen had taken a dislike to him. Hulte had taken the opportunity to invite Maloo to join their ground, and the General was certainly well placed in the military to assist when the day came that Cowen was replaced.
"It's Radim," Maloo announced over his shoulder and stepped out of view.
The many low voices from inside the deep bunker told Ladon that he was likely the last to arrive. He pushed on towards the growing light and finally the tunnel widened to a more comfortable space and he stepped through the bunker's doorway.
"Good, we are all here," Hulte stated with a nod to Ladon. "Let's start."
Ladon pushed the bunker's tunnel door shut, securing it with the three bolts holding it closed against any infiltration from the narrow tunnel, and turned to the small bunker.
As the bunker was secretly set below Hulte's family's main bunker, there was little amenity other than a side storage room. There was nothing electronic down here, the protection field would kill it otherwise, and nothing of interest other than the eight men sat around in a circle.
It annoyed Sora to her bones that there were no females of power in this group, but since the group had been put together mostly by Kolya's most loyal older contemporaries, there appeared to be no female presence. Ladon suspected Kolya didn't trust females, since he rarely had one in his life.
One wooden folding chair was waiting for Ladon as he moved around Hulte who stood in front of the others.
"I am sure you all heard the latest report," Hulte started. "Cowen has, just an hour ago, issued another proclamation that the Second City is in full lockdown and undergoing a military sweep."
"My reports tell me that the group responsible attacked the Enforcement building," Pendrick stated. Pendrick worked at the highest level of Government security and had for as long as anyone could remember. He had been a close friend and colleague of Kolya and had an intense hatred for Cowen that he somehow hid successfully on a daily basis working for the Supreme Leader.
Tyrus sighed heavily from the chair next to Ladon. "That is not good. Attacking Genii forces is one thing, but Alliance Enforcement as a target is foolish. The Military Council will be informed and will no doubt get involved in Enforcement's response."
"Cowen had already heard from the Council," Pendrick supplied. "I couldn't make out what was said exactly through the closed door, but his voice was loud and raised enough for me to know who he was speaking with."
"When isn't he angry nowadays?" Someone else muttered.
"If his weak rule is seen as a threat to general law and that Enforcement are under threat here, then we could see Alliance military boots on the homeworld," another suggested.
"That will never happen," Maloo stated firmly. Despite receiving much of Cowen's wrath of late for his failure to obtain a marriage to the Elite, the General was still in a good position. Elite warrior Emmagan had granted him several notable trading deals, and he had amassed a multitude of other trades in his attempt to push others out of the running for the Political Marriage. If it hadn't been for the unexpected involvement of Atlantis, Maloo would have won the Political Marriage. For those reasons, he had kept his position and had gained considerable more respect in the halls of the Confederation Government. No doubt Hulte, presumably with Kolya's backing, had promised Maloo even more power once Cowen fell.
"The Alliance has enough to focus on with fighting between the Councils and the repeated attacks on our border following the recent mighty victory against the Wraith," Maloo continued. "They will let Cowen collapse under his own weakness."
"Surely they will respond to an Enforcement building being set alight," Tyrus argued.
"No one was hurt and Cowen will face the expense of rebuilding it," Maloo shrugged.
"I am more concerned about the escalation," Hulte uttered, still stood. "This, along with Kolya's determination to proceed with his plan despite Atlantis now being direct allies with the Elite...it seems to be madness."
"Madness," several people agreed.
"Kolya has assured us that the plan has been adapted enough to protect us from the Elite," Pendrick put in.
"How?" Tyrus demanded loudly. "How is killing an Elite warrior's husband not going to have the entire force of the Elite, Atlantis, and perhaps all of Athos' closest allies, turning on us?"
"Cowen will be blamed," Pendrick reminded them.
"Because Elite warriors are well known to forgive and forget?" Tyrus replied sarcastically.
"Once Kolya has Sheppard, Cowen will do everything he can to avoid any blame," Pendrick reiterated the plan with an edge of impatience in his voice. "We just need him off-world and on the primary planet and Ladon's device will take care of him."
"Cowen is growing more paranoid each day," Tyrus argued. "I suspect the last thing he will do is go off-world, even to assist the Elite. I cannot see how this plan will succeed now Atlantis is tied with the Elite."
"Kolya always succeeds," Pendrick stated.
"Like he did in Atlantis?" Maloo was the one to challenge that.
Ladon glanced at the faces around him; the battling within the group had been growing worse in the last few weeks as the riots had increased.
"It was Cowen who ordered that attack," Pendrick replied, the two men staring aggressively at one another. "It was his foolishness in striking blind at an enemy we did not understand at that time. We understand them now."
"I agree," Maloo conceded, "but we also know how Elite warriors react. Before, they might have considered assisting Atlantis, but now they will definitely strike quickly to reclaim Emmagan's husband."
"It will not matter how quickly they react; Kolya will have his revenge on Sheppard," Pendrick stated. "Cowen's weakness will be blamed, but he too will be dead, and Sheppard's body will be presumed lost in the same explosion. Who can the Elite blame?"
"Us!" Tyrus said with alarm.
"There is no evidence against us," Pendrick crossed his arms. "Cowen is all anyone needs to blame and he will be removed."
Ladon shifted in his seat.
"The question is when this is going to happen," Hulte put into the following tense silence.
"Kolya has his people in place," Ladon reported, faces turning to him for the first time in this meeting. "He has informants on planets where Atlantis are due to visit, or are likely to visit, in the near future. It is a waiting game now until Sheppard is spotted and captured."
"The Athosian Conference finishes today," Pendrick added, "which means Sheppard will presumably be returning to his usual duties."
"Unfortunately, I have just heard that Elite warrior Emmagan has returned to Athos following a mission," Hulte supplied. "So the window there has closed, but hopefully she will be assigned elsewhere quickly."
"One of my sources at the Conference spoke with Torren yesterday evening," Maloo supplied, "he reported that Honoured Elite Emmagan will not be available on Athos from tomorrow."
"Another mission hopefully," Hulte suggested with relief.
"Or simply returning to her ship or the Elite facility," Ladon put in logically.
"Either way, the longer it is until Kolya obtains Sheppard, the greater the chances that Emmagan will be distracted elsewhere," Hulte stated.
"I still do not see why Cowen would go off-world at Atlantis' call," another asked.
"Because we will suggest it, strongly," Pendrick replied. "The right people are in place in and around Cowen. We will suggest that if he is present when Sheppard is saved, or saves him himself, it will look very good for him. He will use his supreme battalion and storm Kolya's primary planet."
"Are the receivers ready, Ladon?" Hulte asked.
"Yes," Ladon replied. "The Portal multiple dial will bounce Kolya's signal to Atlantis' Portal."
"Very clever, Ladon," Pendrick stated.
"What about the scribes?" Hulte asked next.
"Everyone is ready and in place," Pendrick supplied. "They will make sure what we want recorded is recorded and reworded as needed for the official Government records."
"What if Atlantis invade?" Tyrus asked.
"Invade here?" Maloo asked incredulous. "They never would. They know Kolya has been excommunicated. If they join Cowen on the primary world, then they will lose their own along with Cowen and his supreme force. We will all mourn together." There was the faintest of a snarling smile on the man's usually expressionless face. Clearly Maloo was still holding his failure at winning the Political Marriage against Atlantis.
"We simply need to wait," Pendrick stated with firm conviction. "We wait for Kolya to confirm capture of Sheppard and then respond as planned."
"Everything is in place," Ladon assured Hulte.
Hulte considered that for a moment and then nodded. "Then, I suggest that this is our last meeting unless an emergency one is required. We will follow our usual chain of information and everything must be passed along quickly and efficiently. Again, no one else is to be included unless we have already authorised it."
Nodding heads were his answer.
"Then to victory," Hulte stated more confidently.
"To victory," everyone chorused, though Ladon found little enthusiasm in it.
With that, the meeting ended and the bolts were slid aside on the bunker door and Ladon's co-conspirators slipped into the tunnel beyond, a good space between each.
Ladon held back with Tyrus though, talking about the local battalion's schedule, whilst Hulte saw all out except Maloo. Maloo, being a friend of Hulte's, usually came down into the bunker from above with him so rarely left via the tunnel.
Hulte turned from the still open tunnel door. "Ladon, I need to speak with you again about the trigger for the detonation," he announced so as to be overheard by those departing through the tunnel.
"Yes, of course," Ladon replied with a nod to Tyrus. Tyrus headed into the tunnel, ensuring that none were hanging around to listen. Pendrick was the one to be particularly cautious about in that regard.
Ladon talked for a few minutes about the measures to stop the early triggering of the device that would deal the final blow to Cowen off-world. All of these details were Kolya's to deal with now, since the device had been delivered to him many months ago, but it was good cover in case any others of the group might be listening still. Maloo stood by the open tunnel door during the long minutes and finally nodded. Tyrus had reached the halfway point of the tunnel and reported that he'd seen the others leave. Maloo slid the bolts closed over the tunnel door and joined Ladon and Hulte on three chairs amongst the others now empty.
"Did Sora visit the bunker?" Hulte asked immediately.
"No," Ladon replied. "The exchange was at the factory hideout, but the latest information was relayed directly from Kolya by Pranos. Sora timed her visit so that she stayed one night before coming back. It provided time for cards and conversation with the soldiers after Pranos left. They reported that Kolya is as strong and determined as ever."
Hulte nodded, but he looked faintly disappointed.
"However," Ladon continued and the two men looked at him anew, "she was able to obtain some gossip as some of the soldiers had been on rotation through Kolya's main bunkers."
"How can we be sure they told her truths?" Maloo asked.
"They all trained together, she was one of Kolya's personally trained inner circle," Ladon reminded them. What he did not add was that Sora had several old lovers among the old battalion, and perhaps some current ones, Ladon was not sure. It did not matter to him ultimately, for he and Sora wanted the same thing and shared similar tastes at night.
"Are any of them turning from Kolya?" Hulte asked.
"No," Ladon shook his head. "They are all as loyal as ever, almost fanatically now. What she did learn was that Kolya might not be as confident as he presents. Apparently he is often heard pacing the hallways of the bunker in the early hours. He has killed all his captured Wraith save the tamed one he uses, which implies he is indeed keeping to the original plan."
"A hostage taken for a perceived coup, needing weapons from Atlantis to fight Cowen," Hulte nodded.
"It is not all that perceived," Maloo pointed out.
"We all want Cowen removed," Hulte stated, "but not to simply replace one madman with another. Kolya's work is destroying our people. Quantum use is increasing dramatically and these riots and attacks on public buildings... This is not the Genii way."
"Kolya does not see it that way," Ladon pointed out. "He is creating a problem that he can fix once he is in power himself."
Hulte nodded. "Which brings us to when we are to strike."
Ladon nodded. He had been running this through his mind over the last few days, as they all waited anxiously for the news that Kolya had captured Sheppard and the clock began ticking to deal with Cowen.
"We know where Kolya's main bunkers are, what he is planning," Ladon thought through out loud, "the question is when we inform Atlantis."
"We need to make sure that Cowen leaves for the primary planet," Maloo stated. "We cannot have Atlantis save Sheppard too soon or Cowen will never go. We will need to time it right."
"And if Kolya escapes Atlantis?" Ladon asked. "He might work out that they were informed of his location, and will easily conclude that it was one of our group."
"Maloo is right," Hulte answered. "We just need to time it perfectly. We follow Kolya's plan to the point that Cowen leaves in his attempt to save Sheppard himself, the weapon will be triggered and then we inform Atlantis. We will look as if we have just dragged the intell out of a spy we have found, and send Atlantis the Portal addresses, and they can deal with Kolya. The Elite are bound to be with them so they will no doubt capture, and preferably kill, Kolya."
"It could work," Ladon considered. "Though, Kolya could still escape."
"It will be too late, even if he does," Hulte smiled. "If Sheppard is still alive, he will implicate Kolya, and if he is not, we will have all the evidence we need that Cowen and Kolya were in a battle for power. The Elite, if not Enforcement, will then find and deal with Kolya."
"At which point he will name us," Ladon pointed out.
"We have everything covered for that, and we can argue that we were forced into the battle between Cowen and Kolya," Hulte replied. "We are small men caught up in the manipulations of the more powerful, just following orders and trying to survive. Plus we will be the ones to have provided Atlantis with what they needed to find Kolya, and, perhaps, helped save Sheppard. Yes, it should work."
Ladon nodded, though, in truth, he was not so sure it was that simple. Kolya was never predictable, except in his lust for revenge against Cowen.
Pendrick was right enough though, there was little to do now but wait.
All these years of secrecy and planning could hopefully soon come to an end.
Regardless of the final details of what Atlantis and the Elite would do, perhaps in only days or weeks now, Cowen would finally be gone.
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TBC