Chapter Fifteen: A drink, or six

Both Clark and Chloe watched as Lana weaved between the now mostly empty tables and out of the mess hall.

Clark then turned to Chloe, "You up for a drink?" He asked her, standing up.

Chloe shook her head, "I best not. My first shift starts at nine." She said, pulling a grim face, "Best to make a good impression."

Clark nodded his head with a smile, before making his way over to the drink bar. "A six pack of Carlsberg."

"I'm sorry, only Command can withdraw alcohol from the bar on Code Red Status."

"Oh..." Clark said immediately.

"Kent! El! Clark! Kal!" Lieutenant Ford said loudly as he was followed into the hall by the rest of the team, a can of Carlsberg already in his hand. "Ah...You're in a predicament, huh?"

John walked up to them, placing his hands on one of their shoulders. "Hand them out, Bob. And take notice; this is our new Commanding Officer." He told the man behind the bar with a chuckle.

The bartender nodded, before giving Clark his requested six pack.

Clark smiled slightly as he picked it up. "Come on then, you two. I have an hour to get as much alcohol into the two of you as possible." He told them, walking over to the table that Chloe and Teyla were now sat at, the fore mentioned timidly munching on a sandwich.

"What about you, Clark?" Teyla said, having taken the seat Lana had previously been sitting at, John taking the seat next to Clark, and Ford pulling up a chair next to Chloe.

"Alcohol doesn't affect me."

"Ah, that is no fun what so ever!" Ford said, shaking his head.

John smiled, taking one from the pack and opening it. "That means we don't have to be careful with how much we drink, though!" He said, putting his can in the air in a toast. "Here's to Clark! Our resident Boy Scout!"

Ford tapped his nearly empty tin with John's, while Chloe raised her juice cup. The two drinking soldiers looked at her for a moment, before shrugging and tapping her cup.

"Guys; this is Chloe Sullivan, she's..."

"Rodney's new Assistant. Got ya." John said, giving Chloe a small salute. "Good luck with that."

"What...How did you know?" Clark asked with a frown, as he took a can for himself.

"Clark...I was the Commanding Officer here...It was my job to know. As far as I'm aware; I'm to resume these duties?" John asked, after taking a hefty swig from his drink.

"It would be much appreciated, John. I'll most likely have to take over your duties sometime in the near future, seeing as we have another Ancient lose on the planet. You and your men won't be able to handle it."

John looked offended, "Now, Clark; I'm sure we can handle one Ancient Computer!"

Clark shook his head immediately. "If it was my Father that created it, then it will look and act like an Ancient! If that's the case; your bullets will simply bounce off of it."

John opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it, realising that Clark had a bit more experience in this area than he did. "Alright." He relented, nodding.

Clark took a sip from his beer, eyes wondering around the room. There were two other tables that were occupied, not including theirs. "Talk about dinner rush." He noted after a moment of listening to Ford gulping his second tin down.

John nodded his head from beside him. "It's not normally like that. People usually come and go as they please, but due to everyone being cooped up without any food, they all wanted it at the same time."

"Understandable." Clark said, "Where's Sam?" He asked after a moment.

"She's in her office being a kill joy. We did invite her. Well...that's why we're here. She gave us some time off, unofficially. We still need to remain alert...which we are...with you here." Ford said, nodding towards Clark.

Clark smiled slightly. "I see. And if Zod just happened to walk into the mess hall now?" He asked inquiringly.

"We'd shoot him, of course. He's not the one we're worried about; it's his PC." John answered.

Ford laughed and raised his tin in another toast, which John happily accepted.

Clark laughed, before becoming serious again. "Guys...both of them are extremely dangerous, powers or no powers."

"Like you said, Clark, what good are we against an Ancient Computer? It may even give us an unpredictable edge to fight drunk." Ford said, shrugging.

Clark smiled, shaking his head. "Unbelievable. How many have you had?" He asked the Lieutenant.

"Four...Three...Five..." The man answered uncertainly, as if it was a trick question. "One?"

John laughed, "Light Weight!" he shouted, raising his tin again. Ford, Chloe and Clark all predicted it, so raised theirs too, and Teyla, who wasn't drinking anything, was left to smile and shake her head disapprovingly.

"He's been drinking since the search stopped." Teyla informed Clark from across the table, as she watched Ford sneakily take a now cold French fry from an unsuspecting Chloe.

Chloe, who had now gotten into a conversation about Rodney with John, moved her plate of to the side, having finished. It was now closer to Ford, who, having realised they were cold, started flicking them at the other occupied tables.

"Aiden!" Teyla said, "If you don't stop, I'll force you to pick them up!"

John paused in his conversation with Chloe to see what the Lieutenant was up to, and piped in, "And I'll order you to eat them!"

Ford's finger, which was just about to flick another one, halted, before his hand went to his tin of beer. "Fine!" He said in a huff.

Clark chuckled as he finished off his own drink. Launching it into the air, they all watched as it sailed neatly into the bin, which was across the room.

"Well, that's settled it. We're not playing Basketball with you!" Ford said, when the awkward silence became too much for him.

John laughed, before attempting to shoot his own can into the bin.

"Fail!" Clark shouted, just as it hit the edge of the bin and rolled onto the floor.

John huffed, but didn't get up to retrieve it. When Teyla gave him a look, he explanation was "Well, we have to give the cleaners something to do! We don't pay them for sitting around and doing nothing!"

"Like you're doing now?" Teyla shot back with a raised eyebrow.

"Hey! I've down my work today!" John replied.

"All fours hours of it." Teyla muttered, but left it there, not really in a mood with John.

Clark smiled as he listened to their bickering, before glancing down at his watch. "I've gotta get going in a minute guys, I'm meeting...someone."

"Ah! Your Lady-Friend from the Gate room, perhaps?" John asked with a smile. "Very attractive, I must say." He added as an afterthought.

Clark blushed, but didn't deny anything. "I've only just met her!"

"So?" John challenged, "I saw the way she looks at you...She likes you." He said in a sing song voice.

Clark's blush deepened, before turning to Chloe for help. She was laughing, and gave a small shrug.

"What can I say to that, Clark?" She asked him, "Besides...he's right. She does like you. You were the first thing she mentioned when she got off her shift last night. And even I've seen the way she looks at you..."

Clark huffed, having not got any support from her. "Anyway!" He said, turning to evasive tactics. He stood up and walked to the edge of the table. "I'll see you guys..." He trailed off as he heard something.

The gang all began to agree with him, but he silenced them with a look. Expanding his range of hearing, he quickly tried to identify anything that may have caught his subconscious attention.

Nothing...

Nothing...

And then he caught it. It was someone softly saying "Clark!"

Honing into it, he realised it was coming from the Gate room.

"Clark...Clark...Please. If you're listening, you need to get help! Get as many armed men as you can!" Clark then realised it was Lana.

"Please. It's Zod. He's in the gate room! He's trying to get through the Stargate, but he doesn't have the codes! Nobody else is around!..."

And then she began saying it again, probably in case he hadn't heard her the first time.

"John! Gather you men, and meet me in the Gate room, now! Zod is trying to access the Gate!" Clark told him curtly, before super-speeding out of the Mess Hall, leaving the room quiet and sober.