CHAPTER 21 – CLOSURE
John did not feel any enthusiasm for the group that met them in the jumper bay as they arrived back in Atlantis. He gave a cursory salute to General O'Neill, ignored the two IOA officials that stood nearby with bland faces and barely gave an acknowledgement to the fourth man, whose face would have needed no introduction.
"Colonel Sheppard I presume?" This fourth man stepped forward and held out a hand, and John, who held tightly to Dani, still unconscious, looked at the hand with just a little loathing and disbelief. He dragged his eyes upward, lifted her slightly in his arms and used one hand to key his ear comm, effectively ignoring the party who stood before him.
"Carson, I need medical down in the jumper bay - now!" Wearily, he shut his eyes briefly, opening them again in the hope that the group who stood in front of him, now shuffling a little uncomfortably in the face of his lack of enthusiasm, would have gone. However, they had not, and he noted that General O'Neill's eyebrows had drawn together rather forbiddingly, a sure sign that he was well on the way to a temper meltdown.
"Sheppard! I realise that this has been an extremely... delicate... mission, but as your superior officer, do I need to remind you that it is customary to show some sort of respect for the President of the United States."
John did not respond immediately, drew a deep breath and blew it out when Carson came running into the jumper bay with a gurney, allowing John to carefully lay Dani on it. He went to follow the gurney, choosing then to turn back briefly.
"With all due respect... sirs... this mission has been a bitch, I'm feeling extremely let down by a country who I have always held as above reproach and unfortunately...sir... as leader of that country, I am finding that my trust in your leadership is feeling a little misplaced - and while I understand that you are not involved in what has come to light, you as leader of that country, have a measure of responsibility in all that happens within it's governing factions... "
He turned then, ignoring the surprised gasp from O'Neill and followed Dani to the infirmary. Let them sort out their crap - he had his own to sort out.
He sat broodingly in a chair while Carson patched her up, calling John over only when she became conscious again. "That took a hell of a nerve Colonel... the President? They've been here for the past couple of hours, questionning the soldiers that Lorne brought in - that is, after I had to bloody patch them up - funny how they all ended up with a bullet hole in their leg... something to do with getting inadvertently in the line of fire?"
"Yeah, something like that Doc... accidents happen eh?"
Carson have a non committal grunt. "Well your lady here, considering the war zone that she's just come out of... could be a lot worse. The ribs will heal,the shoulder was dislocated and I've popped that back in, fortunately did that while she was still unconscious."
Her warm eyes were looking at John now, and he carefully picked up the one hand that appeared to have suffered the least from her adventure. "Hey, you..."
"Back atcha sweetheart... you did it Dani. In a slightly unorthodox and not exactly acceptable way, but in the end, it's done. All the men have been caught..."
He was interupted by the sound of a throat clearing, and turning his head, John saw General O'Neill along with the President, walk into the infirmary. Carson, looking a little flustered, backed off and John turned his head back to Dani, sending her a quiet message with his eyes. Their conversation would wait until later.
"I wanted to personally thank you for your part in bringing this down. I know you have been through a traumatic experience, and I know..." here he cast a sideways glance at John, whose back had gone rigid in the chair. ..." that there are those who choose to spread the blame for an event that should never have come to pass."
She took her gaze from John's squeezing his hand gently to let him know she understood how he felt, and locked eyes with the President.
"There are those... who agree that that blame should be shared by more than those who were directly involved and that is something that .. those particular people will need to resolve in their own minds, and in the actions that come to bear once this is made public." She saw the shift in his eyes and sighed. "This won't be made public, will it. It'll be dealt with internally, swept under the carpet with little more than a smack on the wrist... would that be a suitable description... sir?"
She appeared to deflate a little in the bed, and angered, John rose now, turning to face the men. "So it comes down to this? Damn it, I fought for my country - Jesus, out here I fight for my planet, for the prevention of alien threat to the human race and when this becomes compromised, our very existence becomes compromised, it is dealt with in platitudes and non meaning gestures. You people make me sick!"
"Sheppard, stand down - immediately. And that's an order!' The General thundered, wanting to grab the younger man around the neck and shake just a little bit of sense into him. "Their punishment will be dealt out accordingly, and while it may not reach the exacting standards you have obviously set, rest assured Sheppard, it will be done."
Dani attempting to deflect a little of John's anger, spoke to the President. "You found my notes then? Proof that this went as high as your second in command?"
"Yes Dani... may I call you Dani?" at her nod he continued. "Your notes were extremely thorough, fortunately, as the men that were captured have refused to implicate any members of the government, refusing to admit even their own parts in all of this. They're soldiers after all... will take their allegiance to the grave, and unfortunately, that allegiance is not to their country, but a different power. The second stargate has been shut down, packed and put away in storage. Too dangerous to have more than one on our planet, and we do wonder however, if there are any more out there that we don't know about. This particular one, we believe, was located in an extremely deep trough in the Atlantic Ocean. Our scientists have been going over it thoroughy, and trace evidence has been found showing particulates that indicate it had been resting there for some time. We believe that earth has likely, always had at least two stargates, and possibly more."
The President sighed now, looking immeasurably weary, turning to face John. "I hope, Colonel Sheppard, that one day we can help you to get your trust back in your government and your country. You're a good man, and are going an amazing job out here.' He moved forward, putting his hand out, and John, hesitating for a brief moment, took the hand that was offered and shook it.
"Goodbye Colonel Sheppard, Dani. Should you choose to continue your career in politics, I will have a place for you on my staff, you can be sure of that." With a smile, he turned and left, O'Neill following behind, after casting a thoughtful glance at the pair.
"So Dani... a chance to work with the president? Every PoliSci major's dream, I should imagine?" John walked away from the bed and turned abruptly. "Don't leave... stay here, with me."
She held out a hand to him, waiting until he had taken it and brought it up to her cheek so that she could rest it there. "Elizabeth talked to me the other day, about a coalition that she was setting up in this galaxy and that a position would soon become available for a negotiator, someone with political and law background. She asked me if I would be interested to heading it up."
At the cheeky light in her eyes, he took a shuddering breath. "So going down on bended knees and begging was not going to be necessary..."
"Would be an interesting sight... Colonel Sheppard." and she grinned, her eyes alight now with mischief and he laughed out loud, thinking that the future of earth be damned for now, he quite possibly could be looking at his own right here.