The crew of Atlantis had resigned themselves to their new leader, a civilian. The part of the transition most had been upset about was who the civilian was. It was universally agreed amongst the residents of the city that Richard Woolsey was not the right person for the job. The commander of the expedition needed to be able to bend the rules as needed since this job required fluidity in decisions. Some had already decided they would not return when their contract was due for renewal, in the case of the civilians, or ask for a transfer, in the case of the military. It was an consensus that though Elizabeth Weir might have been a civilian, she'd quickly realized what really needed to happen, and the fact there were shades of gray when a leader of Atlantis. Colonel Carter had brought a more military mindset to the position and, after years under the tutelage of O'Neill, she knew that was needed as well. The new commander, one Richard Woolsey was just beginning to realize that the IOA was not necessarily the arbiter of what should or shouldn't be considered correct procedure here. The Pegasus galaxy was not the Milky Way galaxy; and that dealing with the Wraith was not the same as dealing with an enemy on earth.
The Odyssey had just arrived, bringing with it, a fresh load of supplies, new or not so new people to work in the city, both military and civilian. More importantly, as far as the crew of Atlantis was concerned, the mail came. Something that those who'd been on Atlantis since the beginning of the expedition appreciated.
John Sheppard liked being the position of postal officer most of the time, other times he had to be the bearer of bad tidings, and that part he didn't like. From what he could see, it looked like there were no letters from law firms or any apparent Dear John or Jane letters, though those were always harder to ferret out. The first thing he noticed in the large postal bins was there were postcards, as in abundance. That wasn't unusual; they got all their mail forwarded via Colorado Springs. Most post cards Atlantis saw were of the junk mail variety, but mail was mail as far as everyone was concerned. The one plus to his job, when it was his, he could get see what his mail was and put it in his office. There also appeared to be several boxes of the same size and shape.
Major Melissa Gould, a petite redhead from Montana, was the Air Force officer responsible for transporting the mail to and from the Pegasus galaxy so Sheppard helped her take the bins to the gateroom. This visit would actually allow her to see the city for more than a few minutes, as she was to cover for another officer in the medical department. She had her degree in nursing but the military had placed her in administration instead. This was the first time her degree would be used in a few years. Nurses who had been vetted for the expedition were rare, and since she was headed to Atlantis anyway, Landry had temporarily transferred her until a permanent replacement could be sent on the next transport.
She'd understandably suffered more than a bit of grief by everyone who had been at the SGC because of her last name, however her personality was a complete one eighty from the parasitic species, and any teasing quickly stopped, at least as far as her last name was considered. She'd understood the reason when her roommate was killed in one of Ba'al's attacks.
Mail call was the part of the job where John felt like he was Radar from MASH whenever there was a mail scene. Not surprisingly, everyone that was on duty anywhere near the gateroom 'managed' to find a reason to be there when the ship arrived. He went to the closest table and put the bins down, as did Captain Gould. She then stood aside to let the Atlantis crew close in. There would be time, after mail call, for her to meet with Doctor Keller.
Sheppard gave out most of the letters and packages; he'd quickly decided to leave the mail from Colonel Carter to last, especially since there was a lot of mail from her.
"McKay, Zelenka, Lorne, Carpenter, Sgt. Miller…" he handed out the post cards first, and then the other letters.
Chuck was the closest to Sheppard and was the first to get his postcard. when he saw where it was from he started laughing, upon turning it over, his laughter was even louder. As people got their postcard they joined in the laughter.
The front of it had
Greetings from Atlantis and showed a nice picture of a tropical isle.
The other side had
Having fun,
Wish you were here----not
Sam Carter O'Neill
PS Hubby won the grand prize so we won a trip here
Once all the postcards had been distributed, someone finally said what everyone was thinking. "Only Colonel Carter could go from Atlantis to Atlantis." Dr. Jennifer Keller said.
She was one of only a few to get a letter from their former CO, and was now quite curious as to the contents. She knew Jack and Sam were married, as CMO she had access to information that others didn't, but Sam hadn't told many. Rodney had found out, when he saw the picture of O'Neill in Carter's office, as had Sheppard, but the most of the others didn't know they were actually married.
"When did the Colonel and the General get married?" Zelenka asked the question on many a mind.
"Several months before her posting here, during a short window of time they weren't in the same chain of command." Jennifer Keller explained. It was the only explanation, short of having an exception from the President on fraternization.
"I have several packages from Colonel Carter; there is at least one that is for everyone so no griping if your name isn't called.
"Teyla" The Athosian was surprised to hear her name called, and curious as to what her friend would be sending. She took the package, deciding to wait until she was in her quarters before opening it.
However, the look Ronan gave her was to do it here.
Sheppard handed out all but the largest package to their intended recipients, keeping aside those who were not on the city currently, namely teams3 and 5. Those he would put in his office for safekeeping.
"The last one is from the Colonel and her husband." It's marked fragile. My postcard had a note about the package. Whatever is in there, there should be enough for everyone. Mr. Woolsey, would you do the honors." He stepped back, taking the small flat box he'd received in the mail, and the assorted other mail with him.
Richard Woolsey wasn't sure he wanted to be the one to open the large box. For all he knew it was just a large prank set up to embarrass him. He didn't have anything with him that would open the box, but Chuck had a leatherman tool kit with him at all times, and he handed it over to the balding man.
It was amazing how quiet the area was, no one was talking, curious about the contents. He quickly slit the box open and opened the lid. He looked at the contents. "I think everyone here will get to enjoy something from the box." He' decided to wait until everyone had a chance to get something.
Rodney was the first to get to the box, and he took the note, "There is one for every adult on the station. The foodstuffs are to be shared by all. Rodney there is a small box just for you, with no citrus. Katya and Jeremy there is something for you as well, I know you both are allergic to nuts so I got you something else, the package has your name on it." He read the note aloud, appreciating her concern for the crewmembers whose allergies often left them out of loop in communal gifts. The box would have to wait, so Rodney was magnanimous and waited for once.
Zelenka was the first one to actually take one of the cups out of the box. They had the Atlantis logo on them; one by one people took a cup, a few took two, but they were those who were close friends with those who were on shift and not able to be there.
Rodney had his cup, but he'd made it clear that people were taking too long in deciding what color they wanted-- blue or white. Moving the remaining cups for safety, he took out the other packages; there were three small ones for the highly allergic Rodney, Katya and Jeremy, and a large box that contained a nice mixture of fruits and nuts for everyone else. General O'Neill has sent everyone a nice package of coffee, and I have a note that says that everyone needs to be on the station before we have the foodstuffs and coffee. So we wait until the teams are back. Mr. Woolsey would you keep this in your office until then." Woolsey nodded.
People headed back to work, or to their quarters with their bounty, Teyla wondered what it was that Sam had sent her, and she could see that several were opening their packages. Others were waiting until a later time. Ronan passed over a small knife for her to use. She was puzzled as to why a small boat was in the package, boats were something to transport people. Jennifer noticed it and exclaimed. "That's so precious; Torren will get good use out of it." The look of confusion on Teyla's face had the doctor adding, "It's a bath toy, for him to play with when he is being washed."
Teyla smiled, and was grateful to the woman she'd just begun to get to know before her abrupt return to Earth. Maybe one day her thoughtfulness could be repaid.
Several people opened their package from the colonel to find a book or a t-shirt, depending on their personal relationship with Carter. The books would be share with others, as new books were still a precious commodity.
Three days later team three arrived back on station and wondered why everybody seemed so happy to see them. "We got mail while you were gone, and there's a gift for everyone from the Colonel, she said everybody had to be there before we got to enjoy. So get through medical so we can enjoy it." Sheppard said half ordering the group to hurry.
Meanwhile on earth
Colonel Samantha Carter, she would stay a Carter for professional reasons, was settling into her office at the Pentagon. Before settling into the duties of the day, she signed on to see what emails were vital to return and which could wait. Taking a glance she noticed one from Colonel Caldwell, she needed a dose of good news before starting in, Jack must be influencing her more than she cared to admit. It had other information that she knew she needed to know, but the part she kept with her for the rest of the day ---Thanks a million from everyone, everything done was appreciated.
More than one person commented to her that she seemed to be in an exceptionally cheerful mood. "Just heard from friends, and they liked the fruit basket I sent them from the Atlantis resort."
"So that's why you look so tanned, and I look like Casper," Lt. Colonel Paul Davis said deflecting anyone from guessing who the recipients actually were. Not everyone in this part of the Pentagon knew about the expedition.
"Yep" she grinned.
Authors note: I am taking liberty as to what a person could get at the resort, having not been without more than 2000 miles of the place. So let's just say you can get cups by the gross, and t-shirts. The website showed books and several cute baby toys.
Another note: I had to promote poor old Paul. For dealing with the Pentagon and the White House all those years, he deserves a full colonelship. Maybe in the next chapter.