THE RETURN

"Tell me again what you are," Jack said quietly.

"I am a representation of the scanners and memory banks, designed to facilitate information gathering," Alice said patiently. "For security reasons I can only be perceived by those with what you call the ATA gene naturally, and even then only with a certain proficiency."

"Yeah, all I'm hearing is blah, blah, blah."

"I'm the city's brain," she said slowly.

"Ok. That, I understood. Why are you helping me?"

"John Sheppard is my captain. You are his captain. My loyalty is with you, not with the Asurans. They're much farther from the People than you are." She looked past him. "Your companion is not very happy."

"Woolsey? Yeah, he's not really used to this kind of thing."

"General?" Woolsey hissed from the next corridor.

"See, that's just not the sort of thing you do when you're hiding."

"No one's here," Alice told him. "No Asurans anywhere near here."

"You're sure? No Replibugs creepy-crawling around anywhere?"

"No...Replibugs. You and he are the only lifesigns on this level."

"General?" Woolsey called again, louder.

Jack sighed, swinging around the corner to confront him. "And if I'm a Replicator?"

"Then I just exposed my position," Woolsey muttered.

"Again."

"I'm sorry. I'm not very good at this."

Jack tossed him an energy bar. "Here."

"Thank God! I'm starving! Is this all you could find?"

"No – actually there was a lovely buffet."

Woolsey was too busy eating the bar to roll his eyes, but he managed to give the impression that he had. "How did the recon go?"

Jack sat down. "Well, the Stargate Ops is crawlin' with `em. There's no way we're gonna get across to the Jumper Bay."

"Are they looking for us?" Woolsey finished the bar, stuffing the paper into his pocket.

"I plum forgot to ask," Jack told him.

"Not actively," Alice told him. "Though they will capture you if they see you, of course."

"Well, as long as the life signs detectors aren't working in these damaged areas, we should be able to hold out until they rescue us," Woolsey murmured.

"Uh, Richard, there's not going to be a rescue."

"What?"

"Landry has standing orders to nuke the city if there's any sign of a foothold situation."

"What kind of a standing order is that?!" Woolsey demanded.

"Mine," Jack muttered.

Alice, still standing at the head of the corridor, looked up sharply. "You ordered the destruction of the city?"

"You'd rather the Replicators got their hands on her?" Jack asked.

"What are...oh." Woolsey scowled, playing with the wrapper from his bar. "The AI."

"Alice," she said firmly.

"He can't hear you," Jack reminded her.

"That's no reason to be rude. I'm using his name."

"Uh, no, you're not."

"Well, I will if he will."

"I have a question," Woolsey said carefully. "If the scanners aren't working down here, how does the AI know where we are?"

"Alice," Jack told him.

"How does Alice know where we are," Woolsey rattled off.

Jack glanced up at Alice. "Care to explain?"

"Radek inserted a new level of scanners. The output's buried under seven different databases, and the power consumption's hidden as well. He's got them active in most of the City. He's been working on it for months."

"Promotion," Jack said in relief, summarizing quickly for Woolsey.

" 'Gate's open," Alice said suddenly, looking away.

Jack's radio beeped. "Authentication code Alpha Six Delta Charlie Niner. General O'Neill, Woolsey – do you copy?"

"Sheppard? Is that you?" Jack said in surprise.

"Yes, sir. I need to know if you're anywhere near Stargate Operations."

"No, we're not."

"That's good. Can't talk right now, sir. I'll get back to you in a couple of hours. Sheppard out."

"Can't talk right...Sheppard!"

An explosion rocked them; Jack caught the wall, frowning. Alice was staring upwards, expression totally blank.

"That sounded like an explosion," Woolsey said blankly.

"Because it was," Jack said absently.

"Is Sheppard attacking the city?"

"He'd better be."

"He's just blown up the Control Centre. The whole tower." Alice vanished abruptly.

"Why can't he get back to us for two hours?" Woolsey asked.

"I don't know," Jack said semi patiently. "Alice!"

"He blew up the central tower," Alice said angrily from behind him.

"Did he tell you his plan?"

"No. Something to do with the Replicator they spaced a few months ago."

"They want to bring in more Replicators?"

"He won't talk to Alice in the 'Jumper, and they're not talking about the plan. I don't know what the plan is."

"Keep an ear out, huh?"

Alice saluted absently, vanishing again.

***

John ignored the discussion coming from the back of the 'Jumper, watching the HUD carefully. "How close are we?" he muttered.

"You haven't told me what we're looking for, John," Alice said patiently.

"Niam."

"Oh. Then we are quite close. Perhaps another five minutes."

Teyla's voice was louder than the others when she spoke. "Should we not have informed General O'Neill of our plan?"

"He knows we're here," John said absently. "We'll contact him again as soon as we get closer to the city."

Rodney snorted. "Well, that is gonna be easier said than done. With all those hits we took, it's gonna be impossible for me to convert the shield back to a cloak."

"And by "impossible", you mean ..."

"I mean "not possible". What do you think I mean?"

"Well, hopefully we took out the sensors when we blew the tower," John said with a shrug.

"Alice isn't happy about that," Alice warned him.

"Well, you said they could rebuild remarkably fast," Elizabeth reminded Rodney. "How long before they restore critical systems?"

"A couple of hours?" he guessed.

"Plus the painting and redecorating," John added.

"If we time this right, this could work to our advantage."

"There," Alice said suddenly, pointing. The HUD flashed at the same time and John nodded.

"Got him. Right where we left him!"

"That's him," Rodney agreed.

"Who else would it be?" Ronon pointed out.

"True," Rodney said absently. "His power levels are barely registering. It's no wonder the Replicators didn't find him."

"Alright, I'll swing around and pick him up," John said. "Watch yourselves – I'm closing the bulkhead."

The group pulled forward into the cabin as the bulkhead closed.

"Will we not be vulnerable to the same nanovirus with which Niam infected Elizabeth?" Teyla asked.

"He's been floating in space for over a month now," Carson told her. "Existing in such a harsh environment, direct solar radiation has severely diminished his power levels. We're fairly certain he's almost completely incapacitated."

"Is he dead?" Ronon asked impatiently.

"As in 'mostly dead'. Besides, we don't have a choice. He's the key to our whole plan." Rodney didn't look up from his computer.

"Alright," Elizabeth agreed. "But if he even twitches..."

Ronon tapped his two ARG together. "Don't worry."

"Please make him stop doing that," Alice murmured. "He'll blow a hole in my wall if he's not careful."

John waved her off. "Got him. Closing the rear hatch. Take the seat," he added to Carson.

The doctor climbed into the pilot's seat as John headed towards the bulkhead door. He took one of the ARGs from Ronon; Ronon scowled, pulling out his own gun instead.

"The compartment's re-pressurised," Carson told them.

Ronon opened the door, aiming both weapons. John ducked around the door as it opened, moving out of Ronon's line of fire. Alice was crouched over Niam, frozen on his back.

"OK, OK, OK," Rodney murmured, coming into the compartment. Alice skipped out of his way, perching on the seat and watching him scan Niam.

"OK. This is good. His power levels are minimal but not *too* minimal. I'm fairly sure he doesn't have the juice to regain consciousness..."

"Careful," Alice said warningly. Rodney scrambled to his feet at the same time, backing away as Niam's hand twitched.

"Whoa..."

The movement faded. Ronon relaxed; Rodney leaned forward, peering at him. "I was ... fairly sure."

"Just load the programme," John ordered.

Rodney knelt down, typing slowly, glancing warily at Niam as he worked.

"Rodney has the best ideas," Alice said thoughtfully.

"He'll be thrilled that you think so," John muttered, powering the engines back up.

"Of course I remember the plan. It's my plan," Rodney said from the back.

"Uh, actually, using Niam was Elizabeth's plan," John called back.

"Thank you!" Elizabeth said brightly.

"It was mostly my plan," Rodney protested.

"Modest," Alice noted.

"You're figuring this out now? Where've you been for the past two years?"

Alice made a face at him, leaning against the helm and watching the argument in the back compartment.

"How much closer?" Teyla was asking.

"Much," Rodney said impatiently.

"With no cloak?" Ronon asked.

"No cloak," Rodney agreed.

"Good to be back home, huh?" John said over his shoulder.

"Hmm! There's no place like it." Elizabeth came to join him, watching over his shoulder as they headed back towards Lantea.

***

Jack had found a ball somewhere in a pocket and was bouncing it off one of the walls. The steady beat had lulled Woolsey into a doze; Alice was watching closely, tracking the ball as it bounced.

"The Ancients must have played with balls," Jack said idly.

"Children's toys. For backwards children. No adult would ever…"

"Ever what?" He glanced up when she trailed off.

"We're firing drones."

"At what?"

"Jumper." She took a couple of steps away, looking upwards. "What's he…"

"What's happening?" Jack nudged Woolsey, waking him.

"Ow. John's flying them into my buildings." She scowled. "He knows better than that."

"That sounded like another explosion," Woolsey said worriedly.

"Yes. Yes, it did," Jack agreed.

"What does that mean?"

"Something exploded."

"But is it Sheppard attacking the Replicators, or the Replicators attacking Sheppard?"

"We'll find out!"

"How did they even get here? Through the Gate?"

"I've been sitting next to you through the whole thing," Jack pointed out. "Why do you think I have more information?"

"Look, I told you I wasn't good at this. Can you just ask the AI…"

"Alice," Jack and Alice said at the same time.

"…what's going on?"

"He said he'd be back in a couple of hours," Jack reminded him, glancing at his watch. "That gives him a good ... eleven seconds."

Something very large exploded very near; Alice flickered, vanishing. Woolsey scrambled to his feet, clinging to the nearest steady piece of furniture. "What was that?"

Jack stood, glancing around. "Alice?...she's gone somewhere. Don't look at me like that, Woolsey, I have no idea what's going on."

***

"If we keep this up, there won't be much of a city left to save," Elizabeth said mildly.

"I'll try to run the drones into your least favorite buildings," John said absently. "McKay!"

"It should be working," Rodney protested.

"Jack and Woolsey are fine," Alice offered.

"Not the time!" he hissed, jerking the 'Jumper around another building. One of the pursuing drones clipped the rear shields.

"Shields have been damaged," Teyla said calmly.

"Alright, I've had enough. I've got a different idea." John took them out of the City.

"I hate this idea," Alice muttered. John grinned, retracting the drive pods and taking them under the water. The drones lost sight of them, heading upwards instead.

***

"They're overdue," Woolsey said impatiently.

"Not yet."

"It's been well over eleven seconds."

"Yes. But you've been ignoring the dramatic element of ..."

He trailed off as Alice reappeared, glancing around in something like confusion. Catching Woolsey's look, he added absently, "... suspense."

"General O'Neill. Are you there, sir?"

"They're fine," Alice said belatedly.

"See?" Jack told Woolsey. "Yes, we're here. You're late."

"Sorry, sir. Had to go into space and pick up some ...frozen goods."

"He's got a Replicator in the 'Jumper," Alice added.

"Whatever. Where are you now?"

"We're not exactly inside the city yet. We're headed toward an underwater Jumper Bay."

"Well, what we think may be an underwater Jumper Bay," Elizabeth qualified.

"Is that Doctor Weir I hear?" Jack asked.

"Yes, General. It's good to hear your voice too."

"I didn't say it was good, Elizabeth. Please, don't be offended as I express my ... surprise that Landry would send you on a mission like this."

Elizabeth hesitated. "Well, sir, General Landry didn't sanction this mission."

"So, am I to assume you are not surrounded by heavily-armed SG teams and young strapping marines?"

"In one 'Jumper?" Alice pointed out. "You know how big they are, right?"

"You've got Colonel Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla, McKay, myself and Doctor Beckett."

"Ooh! Doctor Beckett, is it? Well, I'm comforted."

"Hey, stop that. Carson's good people," Alice said sharply. Jack scowled at her, but John was already speaking.

"We've got a plan, sir, a good one."

"Yes, Colonel, I'm sure you do," Jack agreed. "But in the unlikely event you don't fail miserably, you're fired."

"Yes, sir. Look…forward to that."

"They have a plan," Jack told Woolsey, flicking the radio off.

"I heard." Woolsey didn't sound any more reassured than Jack did.

"It's a good plan," Alice offered.

"Yeah, but you thought sending one 'Jumper to meet the Replicators was a good plan," Jack pointed out.

"No I didn't. No one asked me. I'd have told them it was a stupid idea." She glanced down suddenly. "Trouble."

***

"Careful," Carson murmured, wincing as John steered the 'Jumper through the entrance to the bay.

"Thanks, Doc!" John gritted. The 'Jumper felt three times as heavy and moved much more sluggishly than he was used to.

"OK," Rodney said once they'd landed. "Closing the outer door. Yes. Now, I just have to pressurize the compartment and we are ... Huh?"

"What?" John demanded.

"It's not letting me do it," Rodney said, bewildered.

"The water's not draining out," Carson noted.

"Yeah, excellent observation, thank you."

"It is, however, draining in," Elizabeth said from the rear compartment.

"Oh, not again," Rodney groaned.

John came back to examine the tiny crack. "Well, guess we took some damage."

"I just wanna point out that this was not my idea," Rodney said flatly.

"You said, "Get us close to the city." This is pretty damned close!"

"And yet, no cigar!"

"Alright," John said, sighing. "Just open up the outer doors – I'll figure something else out."

"Right," Rodney agreed.

"That might be a problem," Alice murmured. John shooed Carson out of the pilot's seat, ignoring her.

"Ohhhh ... dear," Rodney said reluctantly.

"What?" Elizabeth demanded.

"I don't think I'm gonna be able to open the outer door."

"Why not?"

"I think it might be jammed."

" 'Might'?" John repeated.

"OK, 'is'."

"Well, that's unfortunate."

"Yeah, I'd have to agree with you on that."

"This part of the plan isn't going so well."

Alice laughed softly. "I think Elizabeth's about to hit you." She considered for a moment. "Ronon might hold you down for her. Do you two plan that?"

"Naturally gifted," he muttered.

"There must be a manual override somewhere," Elizabeth said thoughtfully.

"In the Bay's Control Room, yes," Rodney agreed.

"OK, I'll swim to it," John suggested, giving up on sealing the leak.

"... which is sealed from the other side," Rodney continued.

"Of course it is!"

"It's a safety precaution," Alice muttered. She was sitting crosslegged on the bench seat, avoiding the deepening water.

"Perhaps General O'Neill can reach it," Teyla suggested.

"Good," Rodney agreed. "OK, give me half an hour to get Niam to the right power level so we can do this."

"We've got more than one fracture," John pointed out. "We don't have that kind of time." He touched his radio. "General O'Neill? We're gonna need a favor."

***

"OK, there should be a hatch leading down to the next level. Do you see it?"

"Yep. Sure do. We see it."

"The Control Room should be almost directly below," Rodney continued, ignoring the sarcasm.

Jack glanced down into the hatch, sighing. "OK, slight problem here."

"What's that?"

"Well, the level below is completely flooded too."

"Ah." Rodney paused. "I, uh, couldn't convince you to take a swim today, could I?"

Jack winced, eyeing the water, and looked up at Alice. "Really?"

"They are not in danger yet, but soon. There is no other way…you'll have to swim sooner or later."

"Alright," he agreed reluctantly, passing the radio and his rifle to Woolsey. "If you hear something, don't call out to it. Shoot it."

"Understood."

"Anything that's not me is a Replicator, so don't hesitate." He kicked off his boots and pulled his jacket off, grimacing at the sight of the water.

"You won't be gone long, will you?" Woolsey asked.

"Uh, kinda depends on the temperature of the water." He tested it, shuddering. "Not long. McKay? What do I do once I get down there?"

"It's a manual override. It should be in the centre of the console. It'll be obvious once you get in there."

"Alright."

"Good luck," Woolsey offered.

"Thank you." He left the radio on the railing, climbing down the ladder. "Alright, here we go."

He could see the 'Jumper from the control room, though he couldn't make out any forms through the distortion of the water. The control panel had five sides and, despite Rodney's words, nothing particularly stood out. He poked half heartedly at a couple of controls before heading back to the ladder.

Woolsey was lying on the deck, peering into the water. Jack surfaced, blowing air out explosively.

"Did you do it?" Woolsey asked worriedly.

"Radio," Jack gasped. Woolsey pulled the radio off the railing, passing it down to him. "McKay?"

"Did you do it?" Rodney demanded.

"You and I have very different ideas of what "obvious" is."

"Well, I've never seen it before!"

"There are dozens of controls down there I wouldn't even know how to describe." Jack scrubbed a hand through his hair.

"Well, it's an emergency control," Rodney said. "It should be among the most prominent."

Jack turned the radio off, tossing it back to Woolsey. "You planning on helping?" he demanded.

"I've been try…"

"Not you!"

Woolsey grimaced, looking away. "The AI."

"Alice."

She looked up as though startled. "Yes?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Show me the control!"

"Yes," she agreed.

"God," O'Neill muttered, pushing off again.

Alice was standing next to the console when he made it back into the room. Her hair wasn't moving in the water and she wasn't making any effort to stay in place. Jack groaned, following her pointing hand to one of the controls.

Through the window he could see the water starting to drain out of the bay. He let go, heading back for the door.

The lever popped back up and the water stopped draining. He glanced at it, torn, but his air was gone and he headed back for the ladder.

McKay was already complaining over the radio before he was even out of the water. "It sounded like you had the right control. Why did you stop?"

"It's a dead man's switch," Jack said wearily. "I have to hold it in place."

"I had no idea."

"Really? Nor did anyone here, apparently." He turned the radio off, glaring at Alice. "You couldn't have warned me?"

"Warned you?" she said blankly.

"About the…you know, never mind. Go find out what the Replicators are doing, alright?"

"I don't have to go anywhere…"

"Go. Away."

He dove without waiting for her answer, heading straight for the control and holding it down determinedly.

***

John caught the ARG Ronon pitched at him, checking it absently.

"Woolsey? ... Woolsey, come in," Rodney said for the fourth time.

"Something's wrong," John decided, triggering the hatch. "McKay – you stay here and reprogramme Niam. We're gonna go and meet General O'Neill and Woolsey, alright? We'll wait for your OK."

Rodney waved them off, turning back to his work, and John led Ronon, Elizabeth and Teyla out.

They found the hatch easily enough; it was still open, and the floor around it was covered in bullet casings. John crossed to look down the hatch.

"They have been captured?" Teyla asked, glancing around.

"Yeah, looks like," John agreed absently.

"Which means their minds will be probed for information any minute now," Elizabeth murmured.

John moved to check the far end of the corridor. Alice was standing just around the corner, staring towards the 'Jumper bay.

"Where are they?" he murmured.

"In the Brig," she said absently.

"Injured?"

"Your General isn't. It's hard to tell with the other one. He complains all the time."

"Yeah, he'll do that." Tapping his radio, he added, "McKay. Fire up that virus."

"I am working as fast as I can," Rodney snapped.

He turned back towards the others. "The Replicators have O'Neill and Woolsey."

"Unfortunately, that information can't make me work any faster."

"This way," John told the others, flicking his radio off again.

***

Niam's inadvertent destruction meant the plan had to change, fast. Surprisingly it was Rodney who came up with it, including the double-bluff to keep the Replicators from figuring it out.

John stayed to lock down the 'Jumper, waiting until the others were gone to say, "Alice? You tell Big Sister about the plan?"

"No. Do you want me to?"

"Yeah, but tell her not to tell General O'Neill about it. In fact, tell her to stay out of the brig altogether."

"Yes, John." She glanced at the front viewscreen. "She doesn't like the plan."

"Too bad. We'll fix it later."

"Sheppard!" Rodney yelled from outside. "We have to move, we're on a schedule here!"

"Tell her to stay out of the brig," he repeated, snatching up his ARG and heading out to join Rodney.

***

There was no sign of Alice as they worked on the emitters; John kept an eye out, but Rodney was sticking too close for him to risk calling her. The timing was too close for him to risk dropping behind, and he gave up looking for her somewhere between emitters.

Apparently the Asurans had a sense of irony. No one was captured until they'd finished their work. John was quietly relieved about that; he'd worried that they'd be stopped before completing the reprogramming.

Instead the shield went up, everything flared very, very bright…

And the Replicators were gone, dissolved into piles of components.

Alice peered down at one of the heaps, frowning. "That's lovely, Replicator parts all over me," she muttered.

John ignored her. "Good old Plan D – works every time. You guys stay here a sec." He headed out of the cell, followed by Ronon. Behind him he could vaguely hear Jack explaining the plan to Woolsey.

The corridor was empty, bar two more piles of Replicator at various points. John nodded, glancing at Ronon. "Looks like we're clear. Go round 'em up…we need to head off Daedalus before she attacks us." Ronon nodded, turning to go back to the cell.

"Where've you been?" John murmured.

Alice looked up from the second pile of parts. "Don't go in the brig."

"Yes. We've been running around the City for a while, now."

"I had things to do," she said vaguely. "You're clear of Asurans, but your ship is about ready to attack."

Elizabeth and the others reappeared, pouring past John and heading for the nearest transporter. Jack was behind them, pausing by John. "Coming?"

"Yes sir," John said automatically.

"Didn't see much of your girl."

"She doesn't like the brig much. Some programming thing."

"Huh. She's a little odd."

"Yeah. You get used to her."

"Sheppard!" Rodney yelled from the transporter. "I think we'd all prefer not to be blown up by our own side, since the Replicators failed so utterly, so if you wouldn't mind?"

***

The Replicators were creepy, but they could build. The Control Tower was already back in place, an almost perfect replica. Alice had – somewhat sulkily, and John really couldn't figure out what she was mad about – confirmed that the computers and databanks were up and running again, too.

Elizabeth was standing in her office, staring blankly at one of the walls. Jack tapped on the doorframe without stepping in. "Gettin' all settled in?"

"Easily – although their decorating? Little bit spartan for my liking." She came to join him, gazing towards the 'Gate. "But the Replicators did do a fine job on rebuilding Stargate Operations back to its original state. How about yourself? Do you check out OK?"

"Apparently I don't have any little tiny robots floating in my bloodstream, which is always nice to hear."

"Huh! That it is. So what now?"

"Oh, a Jumper ride home to the SGC, followed by a hot shower, followed by a hot toddy, followed by ..."

"I was thinking a little more selfishly," Elizabeth confessed. "What are the chances of my team staying here in Atlantis?"

"Elizabeth, if it were up to me ..."

"It is up to you," she pointed out quickly.

"... Right," he agreed slowly.

"John Sheppard is my captain," Alice added from behind him. "This City wants no one else."

"You can stay," Jack agreed.

"Really?" Elizabeth asked.

"You're probably still gonna have to get the rubber stamp from the IOA, but since you saved Woolsey's ass and you did a fair job on mine, I don't think that'll be a problem."

"Well, I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you very much."

"Hey, you came back to rescue me," Jack said easily.

"Hmm! Yes, we did."

"Of course, next time, consider bringing Carter with you."

Elizabeth smiled and he returned it, turning away.

"Welcome home," he added.

Elizabeth caught his arm before he could move past her, tugging him into a hug. Jack, slightly confused, carefully patted her on the back. She let go, smiling, and he turned away.

John was wandering the corridors nearby. Alice obligingly directed Jack to him, falling into step six feet behind them.

"I guess you already know the good news, huh?"

John nodded. "We're staying."

"You're staying. Did you know your city just threatened me?"

"She'll do that. The Alices like me. The Ryans, not so much."

"Ryans?"

"Aurora-class ships have AIs that manifest as males. Ryan. Cityships, 'Jumpers and some research posts have Alices. The Alices tend to like me better than the Ryans do."

"She's loyal to you."

"Yes."

"Not the expedition. Not Earth, or humans. Just you." Jack glanced over his shoulder; Alice was gone.

"She's loyal to the Ancients. I'm…a stand in. A surrogate." John didn't bother following his gaze. "She's not listening."

"You haven't told anyone?"

"Teyla. Lorne. Radek." He thought for a minute. "And I'm getting suspicious of Carson, but I haven't actually told him."

"Radek, but not Rodney?"

"It'd just annoy Rodney. He can't see her, or hear her. Radek knows how to work with them…he and Ryan saved the iOrion/i, during the fight with Michael."

"The Antarctic base have an Alice?"

"I don't know. She needs a lot of power to be effective, so she's probably not online even if she's there." Glancing around, he added "Alice?"

"Yes, John."

"The base in Antarctica, does it have an Alice?"

"No. It's a weapons post, not research. There's no need for an Alice there." She glanced at Jack. "We can arrange a program, if the power's there to run it, but she'll have no function. There's nothing there we can affect."

"Seems a little pointless, then," Jack said thoughtfully.

"We're entertaining to talk to."

"She's entertained by talking down to us," John corrected her. "Sir, does…"

"She doesn't need to be in the report," Jack said when he trailed off. "I'll talk to Woolsey." He eyed John. "They'll find out, eventually."

"Yeah." He glanced at Alice, waiting patiently for an order. "Radek figured it out. And if Carson knows, he figured it out as well. Teyla, too."

"Lorne heard me," Alice offered. "General O'Neill is the only person who saw me first, except you."

"None of the others can see you," John pointed out.

"Not the point. You haven't told anyone about me cold, yet. They've all known. General O'Neill's told more people than you have."

"I told one person!" Jack protested. "Because he was standing right there."

"One is more than none," she pointed out.

"Yeah, you're not going to win," John drawled. "She's very particular."

"You're sure she's never met Carter?"

"Pretty sure."

"Who's Carter?"