Ace In The Hole
Chapter 60
"Be sure to remember your orders Colonel Davis" Wallis offers an annoying smirk from the balcony as the gate begins to dial into the Midway station but his smirk quickly slides and becomes a frown as an S.G team enters the room and proceeds stand a few feet away from the Colonel waiting patiently "General Landry?!"
"What is it now Mr Wallis?" Landry sighs as he walks the short distance from his office to the control room.
"Why are you dispatching a team to accompany Colonel Davis?" the bureaucrat eyes each team member suspiciously before rounding on the General.
"I assume that you are referring to Major Jones and his team? otherwise known as SG-23" Landry checks his watch "As they are scheduled to relieve Colonel Dangerfield and SG-18 from their 3 month stint on the Midway station in 6 minutes they appear to be exactly where they should be" Landry smiles "I'm sure the relevant paperwork can be found somewhere on your desk" Landry smirks.
"If you are up to something" Wallis snaps.
"Why would I be up to something?" Landrys smile quickly disappears.
"Be very careful General you would not want to ruin your good standing with the council, it would be most inconvenient to have to find a replacement" Landry merely looks at him, clearly amused at the situation.
"General you're a smart man, in fact, I have never understood why things are the way they currently are, I could..." Landry merely shakes his head and turns his back on him before heading over towards Walter.
"We are all one people General" Wallis says causing Landry to pause.
"Under one man?" he says pointedly
"I was humbled at being chosen to lead this organization" he says sanctimoniously.
"Mr Wallis if its a place in the history books you're chasing, I think you're on track" Landry turns but as he does he momentarily locks eyes with a young lieutenant who offers an almost imperceptible nod in return as the gate finally connects.
[SG-23 you have a go] Landry's voice echo's through the room. Wallis watches patiently as Colonel Davis and a five man S.G team head out "Atlantis will see the benefits of these new arrangements General, I am quite sure of that"
"I guess we'll soon see"
"Paul?!" Colonel Adam Dangerfield quickly drops his pack and throws his arms around the other Colonel much to the amusement of the assembled officers.
"Good to see you Red" Davis chuckles
"Red Sir?" Major Jones asks with a slight grin
"It was his call sign back in the day, you know red for danger" Davis grins
"This idiot almost ruined my career before it even got started" Colonel Dangerfield laughs whilst thumping him playfully on the shoulder.
"Major Richmond bust my ass for that stunt" Davis grins "but it was well worth it"
"What you doing here?" Dangerfield points to Major Jones "I thought Jones and the boys were taking a turn"
"They are, the lieutenant and I are merely passing through" Davis casts a glance at the lone Lieutenant waiting nearby patently.
"Right"
"How's the construction going?"
"The last connectors on the Phase four labs section were finally locked into place only two days ago, unfortunately the next phase has been put on hold" Dangerfield sighs "Budgetary issues, so I've heard, shame really phase five would have almost doubled the size of the place, its not to bad now that the new labs are in place, there is a lot more room than there was when we first got here" Dangerfield grins and slaps Major Jones on the back "But that's all his problem now"
"Gee thanks sir" Jones quips "I think"
"I best get going" Davis grins "I'll leave you guys to hand over properly" he nods his good byes before taping his radio "Midway Control"
[Control here]
"Colonel Paul Edward Davis authorization code gamma, gamma, echo 3, 5, 9, victor"
[Identity confirmed what can do for you... Sir]
"Two headed for Pegasus if you please Dr Gillian"
[Colonel how many time do I have to tell you its Sarah] Davis grins at the flirty tone to her voice.
"The same number of times I tell you that you can loose the Sir"
"She likes the Sir bit" Dangerfield leers listening in with a knowing grin.
"I know" Davis says with a smirk as he feels the warmth of the beaming device moving them across from the busy Milky Way gate station to the empty Pegasus gate station.
The first thing that Davis notices as he exits Atlantis' stargate is just how busy the city is, two teams are suited up and waiting patiently for him to get out of their way before gating out, numerous technicians glance their way for the briefest of moments before continuing with their assigned tasks with little or no hesitation. As he begins to head for the control room Sheppard comes trotting down the stairs with McKay at his side "Paul" Sheppard shakes his hand with a cheery smile.
"John, good to see you" he glances around with a sly grin "Busy?"
"Nah, this is actually a quiet day" Sheppard shrugs "So, to what do we owe the honor?"
"Lieutenant wait here" Davis say to his travel companion with a nod.
"Yes sir"
"Can we?" Davis nods to the briefing room and Sheppard's smile instantly drops off his face "What's going on?"
Ten minutes later both Sheppard and McKay are both sitting speechless and open mouthed and for the briefest of moments Davis can't help the inner smile at the fact that he has finally managed to silence the great Rodney McKay even if it is only for the briefest of moments, if the mood wasn't so tense he would have probably laughed.
"The answer is thanks,... but no thanks" Sheppard sighs
"Isn't that up to Teyla?" McKay almost whispers.
"You think she's gonna agree to..." Sheppard glares frustratedly "We've put to much work into the Alliance" he sighs "It's gone to far"
"Does Wallis and his buddies have any idea what he's asking?" McKay asks finally coming out of his initial shock "He's basically asking almost 200 worlds in Pegasus to be counted as a single country under Earth rule!" McKay shakes his head "How in hell is that fair?"
"If anything we should be asking Earth if it would like to become a member of the Lantian Alliance" Sheppard smirks causing Davis to acquiesce with a nod and a shrug.
"John, things are going on behind the scenes" Davis sighs "Strange orders, changes in staff, redistribution of roles"
"Paul we have 194 worlds depending on us here, and if the Takarans have signed on by the time Teyla returns from final negotiations tomorrow that'll be up yet another notch to 195" Sheppard gets up and taps a few buttons on a nearby monitor "We have over 70 worlds alone supplying us with material for construction"
"Most of the worlds on the gate network in the Milky Way were plundered and mined dry by the Goa'uld, but the Wraith use organic technology and have little or no use for Naquadah, Trinium or more importantly Neutronium" McKay says pointing to a couple of worlds.
"Neutronium?"
"We had hoped to begin trading our supplies of the stuff with Earth to help kick start our economy"
"John" Paul sighs "To Wallis and his cronies you have just made Pegasus an even bigger prize for them to control"
"You can't seriously think they would be prepared to use force" McKay says aghast at the idea "The pubic would never allow it"
Sheppard can't help but notice Davis' wince "What?"
"Do you remember having a brief meeting with a guy named Darren Rice?"
"That religious nut? The one that wanted Teyla to let hundreds of wacko's into Pegasus?"
"That's the one, well it turns out that he basically runs the MFA , it is very quickly gaining massive worldwide support"
"MFA?" McKay frowns
"Multi-Faith Alliance" Davis sighs "you know a few years ago if you would have told me" he shakes his head "Rice has basically managed to get most of the major worldwide religions on side and working together as a single team"
"What?"
"They haven't exactly taken to well to the SGC's theories on our evolution" Davis shakes his head "Particularly the part about us being seeded by the Ancients"
"But we have physical proof" McKay blurts "Hell we even know a man who was there" he quips earning a weak smile.
"What's all this got to do with us?" Sheppard says trying to get back on target.
"Teyla and most the worlds in Pegasus worship the Ancestors?"
"I'd say its more like respect rather than actual worship" Sheppard waves his hand back and forth "Most the people in Pegasus know they were created by the Ancients they don't seem to have the same problem with it"
"Well all I know is that hearing words like heresy and blasphemy in the same sentence as Pegasus and Atlantis can't be good, but having them go out on worldwide TV is worse"
"Jesus" McKay looks horrified.
"I thought membership to the alliance was supposed to put an end to this crap?" Sheppard glares
"Ordinarily it has, but like I said the MFA has got organized, they have influence in almost every member country but Rice himself is based in Switzerland which has not joined the alliance, we can't touch him"
"Paul this is bull shit and you know it"
"Yes, but like I say the MFA is gaining massive support, they even have members that have even been voted into government in recent elections in Poland, Canada, and South Africa, add to that the public at large are getting increasingly restless" he sighs deeply "The SGC is trying desperately to bring earth forward, technologically speaking but they are determined to do it at a safe sustainable pace"
"And I'm guessing that the public at large just want adventure and exploration" Sheppard sighs
"And on top of that you have this Rice guy peddling fear and distrust" McKay groans "We're screwed"
Davies just nods "O'Neill is being stonewalled, the Fleet has been put on a strictly defense only posture, gate exploration has been halved and we have been ordered to stay away from investigating the Aschen or even helping the Tollan and on top of that" Davis sighs and opens the folder in front of him pulling out a letter.
"Don't" Sheppard implores "If you make it official you know there will be consequences" McKay looks on a little bewildered.
"What's that?"
"I'm under direct orders John, I don't have a choice" Sheppard nods sympathetically for him to continue "Colonel John Sheppard by order of the Tau'ri High Council you are here by recalled to active duty effective immediately" Davis sighs "You are ordered to expedite the immediate assimilation of the Lantian Alliance into the Tau'ri Alliance, Further more you will facilitate the transfer of all construction facilities currently based in the Pegasus galaxy to Earth within 3 months, failure to comply will be seen as an act of insubordination and will result in your immediate arrest and courts marshal"
"Jesus Christ!" McKay gasps visibly stunned.
"I'm sorry John" Davis says honestly, hating the position he is putting him in "Oh and and one more thing, the council have also told me to make it very clear to you that you are not to attempt any rescue mission to Destiny"
"What? Why?" McKay flusters
"Honestly" Davis shrugs "I don't know, I'm guessing that they want to retain sole control"
"To late" Sheppard shrugs "The rescue mission left 7 days ago"
"How did?..." Davis shakes his head "Never mind"
"This is bad" McKay starts panicking "Like really bad"
"Rodney"
"Like so so bad"
"Rodney!"
"What?"
"Breathe!"
"Right" McKay gulps down a few deep breaths trying to calm himself "What the hell we gonna do?"
Sheppard's resolve suddenly hardens as a wave of anger washes over him "I can't speak for the Alliance as a whole, that will be up to Teyla to decide but as for me then I think you know my answer"
A small glimmer of a smile flickers across Davis' face in admiration for Sheppard's sheer nerve and determination.
"Colonel Davis you can tell Wallis to go screw himself, I'm not going to jump through his hoops, if he wants to open honest equal negotiations with the Lantian Alliance then he and Teyla can sit down like adults and discuss it rationally but if he if he tries to use force he will be making a grave mistake"
"Good" Davis smiles surprising both Sheppard and McKay.
"Good?"
"O'Neill was hoping that you would not back down, he can't exactly fight this from the inside at the moment but an act of defiance like this should be enough to snap a few people back to their senses and realise their current policies are border line crazy"
"And if it doesn't?" McKay asks timidly already going over a thousand and one possibilities in his head.
"We are all screwed" Sheppard sighs.
"Perhaps" Davies shrugs "In the mean time, we, need your help"
"Our help?"
"There's lots to go over" Davis stands and momentarily leaves the room without saying another word, moments later he returns with the young Lieutenant that had accompanied him in tow "Colonel John Sheppard" Davies nods towards the smirking 25 year old beside him "Lieutenant Jonathan O'Neill"
"It's about time, do you guys have any cake around here?"