Chapter 4 - Atlantis
They took a break before lunch to freshen up, and after it, they moved the recording back to their studio since it was fresher than the sunbathed gazebo. After preparing the room, Sam and Jack went back to their position, sitting relaxed next to each other.
"I bet Alexia's presence on the Atlantis base was something that would bring some issues."
"Yes. I had to put an end to it on the second day of her arrival. I talked with the heads, told them the real reason she was there, and that got it fixed quickly. The people on base learned to deal with it, and so did I."
2008
"I don't get it. Why the top brass and the IOA would allow Colonel Carter to bring her kid here while no one else has the same privilege?" John frowned.
"Are you accusing the IOA of favoritism?" Carter asked as she entered the room. Oh! She still had the right timing, she thought as she hid a smirk.
It was Sheppard, Keller, and McKay discussing her situation in that room, but she didn't want this to be another point against her. She was no Doctor Weir, and she needed no more rumors. Still, after two days of Alex's arrival, rumors were spreading fast.
"No, ma'am," John answered.
"Good, because it isn't favoritism." Sam sighed as she took a seat.
"It might not be, but it doesn't seem fair to the rest of the people here," Keller pointed out.
"You think it is fair for her? It is not like she will make tons of friends of her age here," Sam tilted her head. "Look, if this were favoritism, we would be both on Earth and not here," she sighed.
"Why did you take this job then?" Keller asked, confused by her last statement. Sam grimaced.
"I didn't. I retired, resigned, and somehow, they ordered me to report here."
"What are you talking about, Sam?" McKay asked.
"This will be a long chat. What do you know about my career?"
"You were with SG-1 for eight years, one at Area 51. After that, you did two more years at SG1, then last week you were at Midway, and now you are here. I didn't even know you had a kid. I can't imagine you having time to have a kid!" Rodney said.
"Well, I had the time," Sam grinned. "And now all of you know I have a kid."
"So, you got knocked up and then ended up here with the child in tow? It makes no sense," Rodney said.
"Well, no precisely. Let's see, I retired, got married, got recalled, got pregnant, resigned, they denied my resignation. I waited for five months and then tried to quit again. That failed, so I continued to work at 51. I gave birth, took four weeks of maternity leave, and they granted me a retirement. It lasted two whole days before I got recalled again. Three months later, they recalled me to be the 2IC of SG1."
"I thought you were SG-1's CO," John said with a confused frown.
"Yes. Before I left for Area 51, for my last two years at SG-1, I was the 2IC, nothing else."
"So, they punished you?" Sheppard asked.
"Well, they promoted me some months ago," she shrugged.
"You were back on the SGC roster?" Keller asked, and Sam nodded. "What did you do with Alex when you were on missions off-world?"
"We sent Alex to an ally before every mission and remained there until the CMO said so."
"Sent to an ally? You mean?"
"Yes, Rodney. I had to send Alex to another planet, to the Hak'tyl's, to be specific. During the years I was back at SGC, I tried to retire and resign. After the last attempt, my orders took me to Midway, and Alex was sent to the Hak'tyl's world again. Then, when I got back to Earth, I didn't have time to pick her up because I was ordered here. They gave me two days to get all my things together. So, naturally, I asked what was going to happen with Alex. After some deliberation, they told me she was coming too. They gave me three days to get used to moving here, and then they sent her here."
"What I don't get is why is she here? Why isn't she with her father or any other relative as everyone else's kid?"
"You haven't talked to her yet, have you, Rodney?"
"No."
"Please wait here. I'll be back," Sam left the room, and ten minutes later she was walking inside the room with Alex on tow.
"Alex, these are Dr. Rodney McKay, Dr. Jennifer Keller, and..."
"Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, I met him when I got here, mommy. Pleased to meet you, Doctors," Alex grinned.
"Doctors, this is Alexia Carter," Sam introduced her, lowering her Alex on top of the table
"Hi sweetie, how are you?" Jennifer asked
"I am good, thank you for asking, Dr. Keller. May I ask what your Doctorate is for? Mommy's Doctorate is for Astrophysics, and Uncle Daniel's Doctorate is for Archaeology," she grinned and then frowned. "Mommy? Is he the McKay daddy said you should be careful about?"
"Excuse me?" Rodney asked.
"I'm sorry, Rodney," Sam smiled apologetically. "Yes, honey, Rodney is that Mckay."
"Ok," Alex nodded, and then, she glared at Rodney. "Dr. McKay, my daddy said I should inform you that you have to behave around my mommy, or he will get after you."
"And who is your father?" Rodney asked, figuring it was a way to know it finally. But Alex laughed hard and shrugged.
"You are truly your father's daughter," Sam sighed, rolling her eyes and messing with her hair. "Dr. Keller is a medical doctor."
"Cool! Like Carolyn! I like Dr. Lam; she gives me lollipops when she is done testing me. The Doc said she is glad I am not afraid of needles."
"I am sure she said that. Honey, could you show them the reason you can't stay with daddy? Make sure you can't be seen from the outside," Sam asked. Alex looked straight into Sam's eyes and nodded once. All of a sudden, the glass surrounding the office turned black.
"What do you want me to do, mommy?" Alex wondered looking at Sam.
"Just lift something, and then we are done."
"Okay," Alex grinned. Then, the group noticed they were all floating at least a feet away from the floor before they were slowly lowered on their chairs, and the windows became clear again. "I'm tired now, mommy. Can I sleep?"
"What the hell?" Rodney was the first out of his chair.
"Yes, sweetheart, come here," Sam said. Picking her daughter up, she settled herself and Alex comfortably in a chair. "Don't worry, Rodney. She is not dangerous."
"But what the hell?!"
"When she was born, she got tested for the ATA Gene. I already knew she had it. As you may or may not know, I do not have the gene, but her father does, so hers was expected. Alex was marked as a national security issue because we never saw the level of her ATA in anyone else."
"Are you saying she has more concentration that Sheppard or O'Neill?" Keller asked.
"Yes. When we first tested Alex, she showed a 150% concentration. John's concentration is 70%, while General O'Neill has it at 95%. Now, her concentration grew exponentially, and it's way above our tests. That she had it, wasn't surprising. Still, we didn't fully grasp what that meant. Until one day I went to her nursery and I found her playing with her stuff, her flying things. So, we called in some favors from Thor, as in Supreme Commander Thor from the Asgards, and he agreed to take a look at her."
"You called in some Asgard favors?"
"Yes, Rodney. I did save Asgard sixes a couple of times."
"What did they said?"
"Turns out, Alex is more advanced than what they were expecting her to be. it seems that even when her dad has a great concentration of ATA, his brain pattern doesn't allow him to use it at full potential, and even if he had a different brain pattern, his ATA usage was still limited by the lack of a protein marker."
"So, her abilities aren't father's fault?" Jessica asked.
"Yes. The protein marker that he lacks is the one almost killed me, and since it is an active marker, it is passed from mother to child."
"So, you gave her the freedom to access the full ATA potential."
"And the brain patterns needed too," Sam grimaced. "Which at the end was a relief."
"How that can be a relief? I mean flying stuff, unknown traits..."
"You'll see. If Alex got the gene and the protein marker, but she didn't get a brain capable of keeping the pace, she would probably die after the first couple of months, up to two or three years at most. When Thor finalized the brain map, he compared it with mine and assured me she got in fact 'my brain'; we felt relieved. The Asgards are waiting for her to develop some more, and then, they will see if her genetics can help them with their cloning issue."
"I take she is quite a miracle?" John asked
"All in all, the combination of her father's genetics and mine weren't supposed to happen. Not yet, at least. So, yes, John; she is a miracle."
"I guess now you can't have any more kids? Even if you want too?" Jessica asked.
"I can have more kids."
"But no with her father," McKay added
"We, as in my husband and I, can have more kids. After some more studies, Thor assured us that the genetics behind the birth, the ATA, and my marker would result in the same situation. Therefore, I need to be prepared to have flying objects in the room for the first three months and to carry yet another child to dangerous situations. The good side is that her unique condition prevents her from getting ill. She develops antibodies in the first twenty minutes after contracting a disease; she learns everything at an incredible pace. Last year, she figured out how to set the Asgard portable shield so she can be protected anywhere."
"That's the reason I couldn't go into your room this morning!" John said, "Uh, I just needed you to sign something."
"Wait! You've said married and husband. Are you married?"
"Yes, Rodney, I am married," Sam nodded, pulling out her dog tags chain, with the tags laid her wedding band.
"I bet at the SGC were thrilled to know. Who won the bet?" Sheppard asked.
"No one. You are amongst the few who know about this situation. At the SGC, Daniel, Teal'c, Carolyn, and General Landry know I am married, and that's everybody there. So, I will ask you to please keep it to yourselves."
"What about General O'Neill?"
"He knows my husband, why?"
"Uh? He knows your husband?" McKay asked, surprised; she nodded.
"I was just curious," answered Sheppard.
2050
"And then, along came Terran," Sam grinned.
"I moved some strings and was there for the birth," Jack grinned. "Well, not for the birth itself, but I got to see Terran right after. It was a good thing that we had good timing for her pregnancy; Terran's birth happened when Sam was supposed to have her IOA six months checkup."
2008
"Can you show me the way to the medical area?" Jack asked as soon as John Sheppard greeted him.
"Yes, sir. May I say, General, we didn't expect you?" John said, and Jack stopped.
"I'm here for the six-month revision, Colonel. I believe you expected that."
"Yes, sir. But, we were expecting it to be delayed a little, sir."
"Oh, yes! Carter has her maternity leave this month."
"Isn't that six weeks, sir?"
"She only needs two weeks anyway, and probably by the end of those, she will be out of the mind with boredom."
"Sir?"
"When did you learn she was pregnant, Sheppard?" Jack squinted at him.
"Yesterday, we were at a meeting, and she told us she needed to go to the Infirmary. When we asked her what the matter was, she said, 'my water just broke' and took off."
"How many women you know won't tell anyone they are pregnant? Don't answer. For what I know, the chances are that the child has the ATA gene and her markers. At least if Thor's assumptions on that were correct. If they are, Carter only needs the first week to be back at normal. She will end her adaptation period around the second week, and then, she will need something to do, or she might start taking this place apart, and trust me, no one wants that happening. Don't look at me like that! Carter and I were friends for a long time, and I kinda was around the first time."
"She mentioned you know her husband."
"She did? Well, I was at her wedding. So, I know her husband. By the way, I am taking command for those two weeks," O'Neill said as they arrived at the infirmary.
"Colonel Carter, how are you?"
"General O'Neill, I'm doing excellent, sir. So does Terran," they all turned when someone squeaked.
"Alexia Carter quomodo es? Ego te desiderari" (how are you? I missed you)
"General O'Neill! Tu quoque adfui" (I missed you too)
"Can I see your newest acquisition, Carter?" he grinned proudly at her.
"Go ahead, sir. Alex can take you to him."
"Great! Then we need to have that chat about your six-month revision thingy."
"Yes, sir."
"Colonel?" John asked, looking at Sam, confused.
"Yes, John?"
"What was that?" John asked, looking towards the leaving form of General O'Neill.
"My daughter and General O'Neill, speaking ancient. They do that," Sam shrugged. They saw as Jack picked the baby up and walked back to the room.
"So, another brown haired blue eyed Carter, huh? Good genes there, Carter, and he got the big brain like his sister too!" He smiled. Sam blushed.
"So, what's the IOA decision on this, General?"
"What are you talking about, Sheppard?"
"You know, people with 'long term disabilities' have to go back to Earth."
"Are you calling this little guy a disability? I told you, I am here for the month while Carter is out of service. As for the kid, he will remain here with his mother and sister. Was he tested for the ATA?"
"150% just like Alex on her first test," Sam grinned proudly.
"Cool! You got another protected child then! Thor will be ecstatic! By the way, I informed the father, Daniel, and Teal'c, before I came here. Let me tell you they were more surprised to hear you were pregnant than thrilled about his birth."
"Uh, I bet they were," she said grimacing. "I forgot to let them know, sir."
"Yes, Carter. I noted that. Your husband was pretty surprised by the news. I hope I didn't get you into any other trouble. I know my wife would kill me if she learned it from someone else. Thankfully, whenever she gets pregnant, she is the first to know."
"I bet she is, sir. Anyway, thanks to my magic child, I'll be out of here in two hours. Then, I'll be in my quarters if you need me," Sam grinned.
"I hope you don't mind that I assigned myself the room next to yours."
"Why would I mind, sir? After all, your quarter was next to mine for five years at SGC."
"I still don't know how did you manage to sleep with Daniel snores. They were so loud that I could hear them from my room, and your room was between mine and his!"
"Well, it wasn't as bad as the shared bathrooms for those first two years, remember?"
"Oh, yes! The woman/man sign. Whoever came with that solution?"
Sheppard and the medical staff just stood by awkwardly watching the exchange between the two senior officers of the whole vessel.