Jen hurried towards the control room, barely acknowledging anyone as she jogged through the corridor. Slung over one shoulder, her rucksack bounced against her lower back, stuffed to the brim with two changes of clothes, a few personal items, and her tablet with as much research as she'd been able to dump on her hard drive in ten minutes.
Someone was experimenting with the Wraith enzyme. Who could possibly think playing with it was a good idea? It was too twisted to even think of the ramifications. Synthetic creations were dangerous enough without adding Wraith DNA into the mix. Highly addictive, highly volatile, and in the wrong hands, highly lethal.
As far as Jen knew, all active samples of the enzyme were stored in a stasis vault. For obvious reasons, very few people had the security clearance to access that particular storage unit. As well as the enzyme, the vault contained many different poisons, antivenin, drugs, and chemical compounds of Ancient design they hadn't even begin to understand yet. If someone was in there playing around…
"Dr. Keller!" Marie's voice cut through the shudder that was kicking down Jen's spine. She turned around to face the nurse.
"One." Marie whispered as soon as she reached Jen's side.
"Shit." Jen clasped her hand to her forehead. Her heart skipped a beat at the confirmation that one of the enzyme vials was indeed missing. "Just one. Are you sure?"
Marie nodded quickly.
"Okay." Jen exhaled, starting forward again. Marie fell into step beside her.
"Tell Mr. Woolsey," Jen whispered quickly. "Have Radek run a diagnostic on the unit and find out who's accessed it in the last six to twelve months. And confirm nothing else is missing."
"Right away."
Jen hesitated, stopping below the stairs of the control room. Pulling Marie into the shadows she looked around then lowered her voice to a whisper. "No one else can know."
"This is bad, isn't it." Marie whispered back, her eyes wide.
"Oh yeah." Jen nodded. "If anyone asks, the SGC just wants us to approve some new personnel."
"Okay." Marie answered.
Jen moved to step back but Marie quickly threw her arms around her neck and hugged her tightly."Be careful." The nurse whispered.
"You too." Jen answered. "If you find anything else, tell Richard right away. Ronon, Teyla and Radek are all in the loop, as is Evan's team. But no one else is to be trusted until we have all the details. If you need help, or if anything seems out of the ordinary, find one of them right away."
"I will." Marie answered, stepping back, then she hesitated. "You honestly believe someone here…?"
Jen nodded. "I hate to think it… but… what other explanation is there? So... just... be careful."
With a quick nod, the nurse hurried across the floor of the gate room, and ascended the stairs to the control room.
Jen met the three pairs of eyes as she moved to join John, Evan and Rodney in front of the gate.
"Dial the gate." Richard's voice carried from the balcony.
All four travelers stood side by side, looking forward as the dialing sequence progressed.
"And?" John asked quietly, not looking to see if Jen heard him.
"One." She answered quietly, looking down at her shoes.
"Shit." Evan cursed.
"Radek?" Rodney asked, pretending to find a spot on the front of his shirt to pick at.
"Working on it." Jen answered, letting the shiver ride down her spine as she stared at the now solidified event horizon.
"Let's move." John nodded stepping forward.
With a last quick glance to the control room, Jen swallowed hard, then stepped through the gate to Earth.
Evan stared at the windowless walls of the SGC boardroom, his own anxiousness reflected back at him through Sheppard's finger tapping. The minute they'd crossed the event horizon they were ushered into the conference room and ordered to sit tight. The two Marines posted at the doors gave them both apologetic looks but Evan knew they were just following orders.
No one was leaving the boardroom without permission.
Jen stood in the corner across from the door, hypnotized by a poster on the wall. Rodney stared at the screen on his laptop, occasionally making odd harrumphing noises to show his displeasure at whatever it was he was reading. The Colonel was lounging in his chair, his feet on the table, the highly relaxed pose covering the apprehension Evan knew was churning beneath the surface. From his vantage point on the other side of the table from the Colonel, Evan sat with his feet on an empty chair, his own mind jumping through a multitude of scenarios at what little they knew so far.
And until they were given more information, the four of them had no indication of how bad this situation really was.
A commotion in the hallway announced the arrival of visitors, and judging by the incredibly loud posturing, Wilsher was about to make his entrance.
"Where the hell is she?" His voice cut through the silence of the room as it carried in from the hallway. "No one hangs up on me like that, I don't care what level of security she has…"
Murmured agreement preceded the commotion, as two young aids in matching blue suits backed into the room and split apart, splicing to allow Wilsher's formidable bulk through the doorway. At least 5'10" and well over two fifty, the Director's face was red with either the exertion of walking the hallway, or the anger he was projecting past the two cowering assistants.
Evan saw Jen stiffen and turn when Wilsher made his entrance, and knew she was bracing for a verbal lecture. But what Evan wasn't expecting was Wilsher to cross the room fast enough to have her almost pinned to the wall before Evan could get between them.
"Back off." Evan growled, his face inches from Wilsher's. He could feel Jen pressed against his back and had to really fight down the urge to slam his fist into the pompous idiot's face.
Instead he leaned forward and forced the Director to move back or lose his balance. Then John wedged himself beside Evan, causing the Director to have to take yet another step back for lack of room.
"You're pushing your luck, Director." John warned, his voice low.
Rodney appeared beside Jen and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the corner and over to the other side of the room.
"Making friends already, Willy?" Jack O'Neill called from the doorway, stepping into the room.
Wilsher glared at John and Evan, then turned his head slightly, acknowledging O'Neill's presence with a snort. "You need better control of your people, O'Neill."
"Who, these two? Out of control? Really? Hmmm." Jack moved up to the trio and looked from John to Evan to the Director. "Sorry Will. Today, they're Dr. Keller's people. So put the testosterone back in your pants or get the hell out of my conference room."
"Fine" Wilsher scowled at Jen who was doing her best to glare back, despite the way she was tightly gripping her fingers in front of her torso. "We'll discuss this later."
"Like hell you will…" Evan turned away from Jen to stare pointedly at the Director.
"We're wasting time." Wilsher grunted and moved away, sitting heavily into the boardroom chair at the head of the table. His two aids moved to stand directly behind him, one of them setting the cardboard box he'd been holding onto a chair next to the Director's right hand.
Jack rolled his eyes at John and shrugged. "What can I say? They don't make civilian consultants like they used to."
"He goes after the Doc like that again and I'm going to knock his head off." John warned. "I don't care who he plays golf with."
"Look. For the moment, we need him." Jack sighed. "At least try to find what we're looking for before you go breaking any bones?"
"No promises." Evan glared at the back of Wilsher's head, really hoping he'd get the chance to show the man what he could do with his condescending attitude.
All eyes turned towards the door as two more men entered, both wearing dark suits. Evan didn't need to look very long to peg them both as professional letter agency types – CIA, FBI, DEA, or some unknown group no one was ever allowed to hear about. Clean cut, clean shaven, both lean and fit, and each carried a sidearm under the expensively tailored suit jackets.
"General." The first man nodded, extending his hand to shake O'Neill's before turning to John with a grin. "Colonel. Good to see you again."
"Marks." John smiled in return, piquing Evan's interest. "Still hiding behind a badge, I see."
"Beats gate travel." Marks laughed. "Never did get used to that queasy feeling of having your particles re-arranged."
"Major Lorne," John turned to Evan. "I'd like you to meet Agent David Marks. Former FBI, now, what? IOA guard dog?"
Evan shook the man's outstretched hand and Marks laughed. "As good a title as any, I suppose." He nodded, then turned to his partner. "My partner, Agent Noah Ryan."
Jen and Rodney joined in, and the introductions were made round the circle.
"So this is the infamous Dr. Keller." Marks shook Jen's outstretched had, earning him a disgusted snort from the table where Wilsher sat flipping through a file folder.
"Ignore him." Ryan rolled his eyes and smiled at Jen, taking an extra moment with the handshake before slowly releasing her hand. "He's all bluster."
"Yes, so I've heard." Jen smiled at Ryan, and extracted her fingers.
"If you're done with the cheese and crackers…" Wilsher called over his shoulder. "We have work to do."