A/N Under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, ratified by 53 nations, persons accused of a crime in Antarctica are subject to punishment by their own country. I was unsure how to handle trying McKay. A reviewer suggested a Tribunal with Alexander and Corda, with a neutral third party. Then I found the above reference. It's from Rosseau, Bryant, Cold Cases, Crime and Punishment in Antarctica, The New York Times, 2016. Because the outpost is in Antarctica I'm going to let the U.S. try him for the crimes he's accused of. The research station belongs to the U. S. anyway and U. S. scientists were assigned there, as far as I know.

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Alexander watched Dr. Weir leave the memorial service looking troubled. He decided to follow her and see if she wanted to talk.

"Are you alright, Dr. Weir?" He asked.

"Did I contribute to this?"

"Yes."

"You're blunt."

"I don't think sugar coating it is going to make it any easier. Everyone who indulged him contributed to it. General Hammond is the only one besides me who stood up to him. General Hammond exiled him to Siberia in the hopes that he'd get an attitude adjustment while he was there. Instead, he just dug in deeper. Maybe going to Atlantis would have been good for him and he might have become a better person. Or maybe he would have destroyed entire worlds with his arrogance. Until he changed his attitude, I wasn't willing to take the risk. But I contributed too, by underestimating him. In hindsight, I should have recommended guards on the control room. Just telling everyone it was off limits and believing they'd act like responsible adults, in McKay's case, turned out to be a bad assumption."

"I thought his brilliance made him special."

"So did he. Doesn't change the fact that he's a flawed human being. The same as all of us. Corda and I knew this scientist back on Atlantis, Janus. Great guy, fun, brilliant, threw parties I avoided so I wouldn't get into trouble with Corda. He built a device he called the Attero Device. It emitted a wave that disrupted the hyperdrive systems of the Wraith. They couldn't use their hyperdrive while it was active. They would have starved long before they reached the nearest inhabited world with humans they could feed on. It had a side effect he didn't anticipate, it made Stargates explode. Fortunately, it was shut down before anyone died. Janus was a kind man, it would have destroyed him if someone had died because of his actions. He wanted to end the war. McKay just wanted to be acknowledged as the best."

"God, you're right. What else have I messed up on?"

"Hiring a geneticist as the Chief of Medicine. A Chief is supposed to have a broad range of skills, not be a specialist. No matter how warm and friendly he is."

"Anything else?"

"I haven't finished interviewing everyone yet. I'll let you know."

"I'm sure you will."

"Doctor, you made a bad judgement call. We all have at one time or another, all we can do is learn from it."

"I suppose you're right. I feel so useless right now. There's so little for me to do until the expedition leaves."

"Talk to Jon, he's the leader of this expedition, I'm sure he can find you something to do. I know, he was complaining about paperwork."

"You want me to be his secretary?"

"So your overqualified, it's a job."

"True. All right, I'll talk to him."

Later Alexander, Jon and Sheppard gathered to talk as well.

"Jack called. McKay's going to be tried in closed court. The Classified nature of the Program means it can't be done publicly. He's claiming innocence, but we knew he would. He's been assigned a lawyer." Alexander reported. "If convicted, his sentence will be anywhere from 1 - 6 years per death. So anywhere from 12 - 72 years, depending on the judge's mood."

"Here's hoping it's the maximum." Jon said.

"What happens now?" Sheppard asked.

"Now we carry on. There's still a war going on and an expedition to plan." Jon said.

"And I need to go back to Sunnydale and touch base with Corda and the group. I'm thinking a day or so. And I need to talk to the person I'm hoping will agree to helping me get us a Chief Scientist."

Alexander left shortly after and headed for Colorado, he set down in what was becoming his accustomed spot and headed for the checkpoint. Once he'd been cleared by the guards, he headed for Carter's area.

"Hey Carter, so Jack pass on my message?"

"Yes, he did."

"Any thoughts on the matter?"

"You're sure about his feelings?"

"Yes."

"I tried not to think about it. Physically he was 16. I tried to convince myself he was 16 and he'd fall in love with a girl his own age."

"What can I say? You make a lasting impression."

"Funny. The President is all for it. I think they like the idea of having a back up."

"Price you pay for being so damn good, without the arrogance of McKay. "

"Thank you for that. I never wanted to be like that."

"The worst anyone can say about you Carter, is that you forget that not everyone speaks technobabble."

"You and General O'Neill really have become friends."

"So have Jon and I."

"Alright, I've decided. I'll do it. I'll have the General call Thor and see if he's willing to help."

"If he's not, we can figure out a way to do it ourselves. We studied cloning ourselves. The Atlantis database is sure to have the information. Have you decided on a name?"

"I'll let her decide. It's her identity."

"True. Alright, I'm heading to Sunnydale. I miss my Corda. I can relate to Jon and Jack. Some loves can last across multiple lifetimes."