Chapter 7, part 1.
Alice was still on the base when Cox and Martinez came through. She went down to the Control Room and stood by, watching them step onto the ramp and immediately be surrounded by Security Forces. They didn't handcuff them, Alice noted, but as they escorted them, Alice thought Cox and Martinez both looked resigned rather than confused or angry.
The Gate was still active as they disappeared in the corridor; Carter was talking to Sheppard.
"What is going on?" He asked suspiciously after she told him they wouldn't be back for a while.
The general breathed deeply. "This is for your ears only: there has been a leak of classified data, and Cox and Martinez are our prime suspects. They're gonna be confined here until we complete our investigation and a verdict is reached."
"You mean court-martial? Damn." Sheppard whistled.
"So you see, I'll need you to step up as the temporary commander on Atlantis, John." Carter's voice was somewhere between pleading and determined.
"Sure, as long as it's really temporary," he replied, and Alice could almost hear his eye-roll. "Alright, anything else?"
"No, that's all. Good luck, John."
"Thanks. Atlantis, out."
The connection broke as soon as the radio signal went out.
Carter dropped heavily on one of the chairs next to the Gate Control Console. "I think I'll need a drink after all this."
Alice nodded gravely. "Tell me about it. It's been a tough first week in command, ma'am."
"Yeah, I almost would've preferred a foothold situation," Carter quipped tiredly.
"I'm sure that's not true," Alice protested with a weak smile.
"That's because you don't know that it's my job now to go talk to them." Carter got to her feet. "That'll be fun, I'm sure."
"Good luck, ma'am."
Carter sighed, nodded and left the Control Room. Alice waited for a moment, looking at the still Gate through the window, and then walked back to her own lab. It was already seven in the evening, but she didn't feel like going home. There was nothing for her to do there, and focusing on work was safer—it distracted her mind.
It was only half an hour later when her phone vibrated on the desk, and she picked it up to take a look. It was a text from Aaron.
Have you eaten?
She rolled her eyes. Ever since their conversation when he expressed concern for her and she admitted to sometimes forgetting to eat when focusing on work, he was bugging her with similar texts almost every day. It annoyed her to no end, but she had to acknowledge that it was actually helpful—she often needed a reminder.
Just finishing up some work and then I'm off to dinner, she replied. How's your day been?
It only took him a minute to respond. Eventful. Long story short, I'm buying a new house.
?
Decided to leave this one to Sarah. I bought it for her anyway. I was thinking I might actually move to Bel Air. I know, very cliché. But there is this one property with a fantastic view that I like. It's at the very edge of what I can afford, though, and that should tell you something.
I keep forgetting how insanely rich you are now. Nonetheless, if you like it, go for it. As my mom always says, a house is an investment… unless you make it a habit of giving houses away ;)
Count on you to use a word like "nonetheless" in a text message :D
Alice rolled her eyes and put the phone down to get back to work, but at that moment there was a knock on the door. She turned back and beheld Carter, standing at the entrance, dressed in casual clothing—jeans, a blouse and a leather jacket.
"So how about that drink, Major?" She asked with a smile and a twinkle in her eye.
Alice stared at her for a moment, taken aback. "Um… sure, why not," she managed finally. "I mean, actually, I was gonna go for dinner…"
"Great, I haven't eaten yet, too," Carter said lightly. "We can find a place that serves food and drinks."
Alice blinked very fast and then smiled tentatively. "Sure. Let me get changed and I'll meet you on the surface?"
"Sounds good." Carter nodded and then left her alone.
Alice shook her head, still stunned. Drinks with a general—that was a new concept to her. Of course, she had a pretty good relationship with Carter—she was reminded of that time she had called Alice her friend. It was always in the context of work, though—never before had she had a chance to socialize with her mentor outside of it. She realized she actually felt excited at the prospect. Carter was a woman after her own heart—more outgoing, perhaps, and much less socially awkward than Alice, though the younger officer had made great strides in that department in the last few years; still, she seemed to regard life in much the same way as Alice, at least insofar as Alice could ascertain. The possibility of learning more about her personally was more than interesting.
Fifteen minutes later, Alice stepped out into the night, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. It was warm—high seventies, she thought—and almost completely dark by then, except for the perpetual glow over the city below. Alice walked towards the parking lot, where she saw the dark figure of General Carter standing next to a beautiful red motorcycle. She was holding a helmet under her arm and beaming at Alice as the younger officer approached her.
"Wow, nice machine," Alice said, taking a closer look.
"Thanks. Wanna ride with me?" Carter asked, still smiling.
Alice thought about it, and decided it would be too weird. "I'll follow you in my car, ma'am."
"Suit yourself," Carter agreed, mounting her bike and putting on the helmet.
Alice walked away, smirking, towards her own car. The used Chevy looked somewhat less impressive than the bike it followed out onto the Norad Road and down towards the town, but it kept up alright and they pulled into the parking lot almost at the same time.
The bar was busy, with most tables occupied. Alice and Carter found one that was just freed next to a tiny stage, where a long-haired man with a guitar strummed softly, barely audible above the hum of many voices. They barely sat down when a server approached them with menus and asked if they wanted refreshments first. They both ordered diet cokes and, when the server came back bearing glasses, burgers and fries.
"God, I hope they're fast," Carter said as the server walked away. "I'm starving."
Alice nodded, feeling her stomach growl, too—which was a nice change, since usually she was so focused on other things that she completely forgot about eating, and it seemed that her body adapted to it. "I've been spoiled recently," she admitted with a smile. "There's always a meal waiting for me when I come home—all I need to do is reheat it, and it's always delicious. My roommate is a great cook," she explained.
"Ah, yes, and how is it going, living with—what was her name? Delilah?"
"Deanna," Alice corrected with a warm smile. "She's great. I keep telling her she doesn't need to cook for me, but she insists. She's a bit of a free spirit, always itching for something fun to do. I find it refreshing, if a little trying at times," she admitted. "She's got loads of energy."
"Well, she's essentially still a kid." Carter shrugged. "It's quite natural. What's her story, anyway?"
"She had broken up with a long-term boyfriend and decided to move to Colorado Springs for a fresh start," Alice replied. "She's a seamstress and dreams of being a fashion designer. I know very little about fashion, but her designs are very good, insofar as I can tell. She wears a lot of her own handiwork, even made me a dress a while back—a real nice one, too." The emotion associated with that memory colored her voice—warmth for Dee, certainly, but also a bit of distress at how Alice had behaved that night.
"That's cool," Carter enthused. "I've been looking for a dress for a friend's wedding next month—you think she'd be interested in making something for me?"
"I think she'd be delighted." Alice smiled. "I'll ask and let you know, ma'am."
At this moment, the server came back with their food, and for a while they concentrated on eating.
"How did you find London? Was it your first time there?" Carter asked after they both satiated their first hunger.
"Yeah, it was—and I loved it. It's a beautiful city, though very different from anything I'd seen this side of the ocean. Kinda like Paris, but not exactly."
"Right, I forgot—you spent a semester in Paris, right?"
"The school was in Palaiseau, some fifteen miles south of Paris, that's where I spent most of my time—though it was only half an hour by RER to Paris, so I was there quite often, too." She pronounced the RER with the rolling R and the right accent. "RER is like a suburban rail system that connects directly to the Paris subway," she explained.
"Wow, public transport that really works, unheard of here." Carter shook her head.
"I wouldn't know, I grew up in Los Angeles—it has one of the best public transportation systems in the country. And yet, the traffic is still constantly jammed," she quipped.
"I don't doubt that." Carter smirked. "How was it, growing up in L.A.? Have you met many celebrities? Aside from your musician friend," she added quickly.
Alice shook her head with a lenient smile. "I lived in Cerritos—it's technically a separate city, but I honestly never bother differentiating. Not that many celebs there—though, yeah, I've seen a few in downtown L.A. I'm not really keen on TV, though, so I might have actually missed some. The ones I do remember were almost exclusively musicians."
"Why does that not surprise me?" Carter chuckled and started saying something else, but was interrupted by the arrival of the server again.
"Is there anything else I can get for you?" He asked, picking up their empty plates.
"Yeah, how about a beer? Anything you'd recommend?" Carter asked him.
"We have a great range from local breweries," he replied and gave a few options. The general made her choice and then turned expectantly to Alice.
She thought about getting a martini, but then decided it wasn't a good idea, and especially not after the circus she'd made of herself in London. She ended up selecting the same beer as Carter.
They clinked the glasses before trying it out.
"Not bad," Carter allowed and Alice agreed. "Ahh, I needed this after today—I appreciate your company, Major."
Alice smiled. "The pleasure is mine, ma'am. Hasn't been an easy day for you."
"No, it has not. Though I have to say, I'm glad to know about what happened to you—what you'd seen… the priority Landry gave to the chase after Jareth didn't make much sense to me before, and now I understand. It's helpful—gives me perspective, you know. Makes me think if we shouldn't have more teams out looking for Jareth than just Four, Seven and Fourteen."
Alice nodded pensively. "I've wondered that myself, but at this point I do not see how it could help. We have to rely on second-hand information, all our allies are already aware of our request to look for him, and all our teams are keeping their eyes open. We're chasing our tail and I don't think dedicating more resources to it right now will change that."
"Right now? So when would be a good time to do that?"
"When we have something concrete." Alice shrugged. "All the clues we've found so far were too vague or too old to give us any headway." She didn't add how concerned she was that they would never get anything more substantial, and that all she'd done to stop Jareth had been in vain—that the scenario she sacrificed so much to prevent would still take place…
Carter must have seen something on Alice's face, because when she spoke next, her voice was soft and reassuring. "I'm sure we'll find him sooner or later. As far as I understood, the Wraith cloning facility was the biggest factor in how the future you've seen played out—and you prevented that when you destroyed his ship and the ZPMs."
"I hope so." Alice nodded, her tone doubtful. "Even so, he's still incredibly dangerous. But I won't stop until I find him," she pledged.
"I know." Carter paused for a moment, draining the last drops of her beer. Then she put the empty glass on the table and looked at Alice with a wary expression. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course, ma'am." The younger officer replied with a similar cautious glance.
"About Jareth… this is more than just concern about that future scenario repeating, isn't it? For you?"
Alice took an uneven breath, telling herself to remain calm. She shifted her eyes away from Carter's face, trying to decide how to respond. She could lie, of course—god knew she'd done that many times recently. But she wasn't talking to just anyone—this was General Carter, her CO, but more importantly—her mentor and friend. Didn't she deserve the truth?
"No, it's not," she acknowledged reluctantly. "I have… history with him."
"I read in your file… he tortured you."
Alice shivered at the bluntness of how the general put it. She never thought of her time in the dungeon that way—it made it seem more real, and all she wanted was to forget about it.
"He did more than that," she breathed, quietly, her voice suddenly hoarse, thinking of Jareth's examinations, of seeing her brother and friends do his bidding, of watching one of his victims, Keana, die slowly after Alice had promised to bring her home—and of the impossible choice Jareth had forced her into... She tried to swallow, but her throat seemed constricted, so she took a sip of her beer—it gave her a few seconds to compose herself, too. Then she raised her eyes to meet Carter's empathetic gaze. "He made me kill someone I cared about."
She didn't seem surprised. "Basil Karim. He was in your unit. O'Neill told me—I mean, I know how it happened. I'm sorry, Major." Her words were benign enough, but there was an edge to them that made Alice wonder if Carter actually knew. Just how many people were aware of Alice's relationship with Karim?
She dropped her eyes and looked at her hand, clenched around her now-empty glass so hard the knuckles were white. She made an effort to relax her hold. "I felt very hypocritical today," she murmured, mostly to herself, half-hoping Carter wouldn't hear, and at the same time feeling compelled to confess.
There was a few seconds of loaded silence, and then Carter sighed deeply. "Yeah, me too."
It made Alice look up again. So it was true! Almost as long as she had been in the Program, there had been rumors about Carter and O'Neill—but never anything concrete, just people gossiping furtively, with the understanding that no disciplinary action would ever follow even if it proved to be true—not for these two heroes. And, Alice amended in her own mind, they were both officers—true, in the same chain of command, but there was never any evidence that their relationship had compromised that chain, or that there was any favoritism, or any other inappropriate conduct. Relations between officers and enlisted men, on the other hand, were expressly forbidden—so while Carter could argue that no improper fraternization took place in her case, Alice didn't have that same luxury of rationalization.
The silence between them was tense as they exchanged a long look, unspoken word passing between them—an understanding on a level that Alice rarely felt with anyone, save maybe Jake and Aaron. And then Carter smiled—it was a warm smile, full of compassion but no judgment.
Alice replied with a wan smile of her own. "Did you ask Martinez or Cox…?" She ventured after a moment, a little shocked at her own audacity.
The general shook her head emphatically. "I wasn't authorized to ask them anything—I only had to inform them of the charge, which was leaking of classified info. I don't know how their relationship, if there is one, is going to factor into that."
"That couldn't have been fun, especially with General Cox," Alice said quietly.
"No, it wasn't. He technically has seniority over me, but the Apollo is still away so O'Neill couldn't come immediately and it fell onto me to give Cox the news." Carter shuddered.
Alice shook her head incredulously. "I still can't quite believe it. General Cox was—I mean, I learned a lot from him in the eight months he was Atlantis's CO. You know, things like effective leadership and stuff… I looked up to him a lot."
"I don't think what he did invalidates all that," Carter pointed out. "He's an excellent leader, if he weren't, he wouldn't have gotten the Atlantis command in the first place. It's horrible that one misstep might have such a devastating consequences for his career."
Alice nodded and decided to veer away from the difficult subject, at least a little. "Assuming that Cox isn't going to get back to Atlantis—who do you think is going to replace him?"
The general shook her head. "No idea. IOA will probably try to push another civilian candidate—if Cox is taken down in disgrace, that gives them a lot of latitude to push for whoever they want. I wouldn't be surprised if Shen finally made a move—she could even succeed this time."
"China heading the Atlantis expedition—I can't quite see that happening." Alice turned her head towards the table next to them, where a group of men just sat down; they were talking and laughing loud, drowning out the guitarist's soft music completely and making Alice raise her voice instinctively to be heard.
"Me neither," Carter admitted, straining her voice as well. "But at least Shen has been with the Advisory for many years, and she's not… unreasonable. Honestly, Richard Woolsey seemed much worse at one point in time, but in the end he did quite well as the leader of the expedition."
"I'm convinced there's some kind of curse over that position," Alice confessed half-jokingly, trying to lighten the mood further. "Woolsey made it the longest, but really—Doctor Weir died in office, you were forced out after just a year, and now this thing with Cox…"
Carter smirked, but didn't get to say anything, because the table next to them burst into cheers. They both looked that way instinctively and saw one of the men slam his hand onto the surface.
"Coin check!" He cried, loudly enough for the entire bar to hear. His companions cheered again, each plunging their hand into their pockets and pulling out small metal objects, glistening under the lamp light.
Carter looked at Alice, an impish smile on her lips, as she fished out her wallet from a pocket and pulled a brass coin. Alice snickered and got out her own wallet and a coin from within. They both got to their feet and approached the rowdy table.
"Hello, ladies!" The man who had initiated the challenge exclaimed with delight at their sight. "How can we help you?"
"I believe someone here owes us a drink," Carter said, putting her coin onto the table, Alice copying her a second later.
Another loud cheer erupted around them, followed by laughter.
"Well, Barry, it seems that you're buying!" One of the guys called, addressing the challenger. "We all have our coins!"
"Ah, well! It was worth a gamble—good job on keeping your coin on you, butterbar!" Barry said to the youngest of them. "Now get up and get chairs for the ladies—you'll drink with us, won't you?" He turned to Carter and Alice.
Carter deliberated for a moment and then smiled. "Sure, why not. Just one round, though."
They took the seats offered by the young man. Barry flagged a server and ordered seven beers.
"Unless you'd like something else, ladies?" He asked, as an afterthought.
"No, beer's fine."
"So what unit are you?" One of the others asked curiously. "Can't remember ever seeing you around the base, and I think I'd remember you." He looked at them appreciatively.
"Peterson, 21st Space Wing," Carter replied lightly. It was a lie, of course—Stargate Command was a MAJCOM in and of its own, but its existence was classified, so everyone who was attached to it had been assigned a cover story. For most of the personnel, it meant pretending that they were part of a remote detachment of the Peterson's Space Operations Command. "And you, fellas?"
"Fort Carson, 1st Battalion, 66th Armored Regiment," Barry replied with a grin. "You're quite a ways away from Peterson in here. What brings you here?"
"It's close to the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station," Carter shrugged. "You're here often?"
"Yeah, this is our favorite bar—they have a great selection of local beers," he replied, and at that moment, the server came back with their drinks. "Thank you, sweetheart." He raised his glass. "Hooah!"
His four companions answered loudly, and in unison: "Hooah!" And they all took a swig.
Alice and Carter mirrored them a second later. It felt a little weird to Alice—she hadn't even heard that cheer in a long while. Nobody on Atlantis used it—there were simply too many civilians and foreigners, and even among the military there was too much variance; they were all wearing the same uniforms, with no insignia to denote branch association or rank. She realized that it all served to equalize them all—to make them one coherent group, and it served its purpose, she supposed, but she had to admit she kinda missed the feeling of brotherhood that came with all the little traditions observed by the armed forces in normal circumstances. Challenge coins and battle cries were just the tip of the iceberg.
"This is actually Bradley's first time in here," Barry continued after a second, patting the youngest guy on the back so forcefully that he almost spilled his beer. "He's just joined us, what, two weeks ago?"
"Three weeks, sir," the kid corrected nervously. He didn't seem to enjoy himself particularly well, and Alice felt pity for him. He still looked more like a boy than a man, and Alice thought he must have just graduated West Point.
"Well, he earned it," another of the men said, toasting the youngster with his beer. "In the three weeks he's been here, his platoon went from absolute shit to doesn't-entirely-suck, which is a great accomplishment." He smirked flippantly.
Carter chuckled. "Well, good for you," she told the kid. "Keep that up and soon you'll give these old stagers a run for their money."
This was met with a wave of raucous laughter. "I'd like to see that!" Barry said with a wolfish grin. "But I'm sorry, I think we forgot our manners and didn't introduce ourselves properly! I'm Lieutenant Colonel Barry Andersen, and these are Major Terry Hale, Captains Greg Owens and Kenneth Lawson, and the kid is Second Lieutenant Bradley Frost." He pointed at each of them as he spoke.
"Nice to meet you, fellas." Carter nodded with a pleasant smile. "I'm Brigadier General Samantha Carter and this is Major Alice Boyd."
Alice hid a smirk, watching their jaws drop.
"General? Wow," Barry said, recovering. "It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am."
"It's a new affair, not even two weeks old. No need to make a fuss," Carter assured him. "We're here for the same purpose as you, I guess—to relax after the whole week of work."
"Sure." He nodded, but his eyes were wondering. "We come here every week once the war games are over," he added.
"Wish we could stop endlessly training and go do something finally," said one of the captains, Lawson.
"Yeah, that's because you don't know what a real war looks like," Barry scolded him. "Just wait till we go back, you'll be cured of that itch soon enough."
"You've been deployed recently?"
"Yeah, came home last year. Afghanistan."
"Wasn't that bad," Major Hale protested. "I'm with Lawson on this, Colonel."
"Well, there is no excuse for you." He rolled his eyes. "How about you? What is it that you do? Space Wing—is that like space shuttles or something?"
Carter chuckled. "Hardly. It's mostly about radars and missile warning operations. Though we do a lot of different things," she added with a sideways glance at Alice.
"You've seen battle, though," Barry noted, pointing at Alice's exposed right arm, where an irregular dark circle of raised skin betrayed that she'd been shot.
Her left hand reflexively flew to hide the scar, but of course it was too late, so she just touched it and let her hand drop back on the table.
"Yeah, I've only been with the 21st for the last two months," she replied, trying to sound casual. "This is older. T'was just a flesh wound."
"Right." He nodded pensively. "Though last I checked, women shouldn't be in combat at all."
Alice felt her temper rise suddenly, and worked hard to quell it. "Why, you think I can't do anything you can just because I'm a woman?" She challenged him.
He snorted. "Kinda, yes. It's just basic biology—you're just not strong enough. I'm sorry, no disrespect intended, it's just how it is."
Alice's eyebrows shot up. "You don't think I could drive a tank?" She chuckled. "I've flown F-16s, I don't think tanks would present much of a challenge, with a bit of training."
He huffed, ruffled. "Yeah, but could you load ordnance into the main gun in a sustained fire scenario? That shit's heavy!"
Alice had to concede that one. "Fine, so maybe I couldn't—but I know plenty of women who could. And it's not like you've been loading anything into anything at all, sir—isn't it usually a PFC's job?" She rolled her eyes and continued before he could respond: "But in general, you say women don't belong in combat—but I'm sure I could kick your ass in any shooting competition. Sir," she added after a full second.
"Oof, are you gonna let that slide, Colonel?" Carter baited with an impish smile.
Barry puffed, looked at his men—all eyes were on him—and then shook his head emphatically. "Let's settle it then. Tomorrow at five p.m. at the CMSC?"
Alice smiled pleasantly. "Sounds good to me."
"I gotta see this," Carter announced with a grin of her own. "I wish Cam was here—he'd get a kick out of this." She then looked at her watch, raised her glass to drain the last few drops, and stood up. "It's time for us."
Alice got up, too. "It was nice meeting you, gentlemen."
"We'll see you tomorrow," the lieutenant colonel promised, his expression half-amused and half-indignant still. "Have a good night, ladies."
They nodded and turned around to leave, stopping only at the bar to settle the bill.
"That was interesting," Carter noted as they walked to their vehicles. "Didn't expect you to be so easily baited."
"I guess I let my feminism overpower me," Alice quipped lightly. She felt pretty good about herself at the moment—the entire evening was quite pleasant, maybe with the exception of that moment when they discussed Jareth and Karim; and her little spat with the Army colonel made her feel refreshingly invigorated. She was confident she could out-shoot him, and was looking forward to being able to shove his conceited words back into his mouth. The fact that it took her mind off the dark cloud in her soul was an added bonus. "I have to say, I was surprised you wanted to join the challenge, though, ma'am."
"Ah, well, someone told me recently I should let myself be more impulsive," Carter replied, shrugging, as they stopped by her bike. "But I wanted to ask—I didn't recognize your coin, where is it from?"
Alice smiled. "Prometheus, actually. I prefer it to the AFIT one. Shame that Atlantis doesn't have its own."
"You don't have the SGC one?" Carter asked with raised eyebrows.
Alice mirrored her expression. "There is an SGC challenge coin?"
"Yeah, it was introduced by Hammond, years ago." The general nodded, then cocked her head to the side, her face pensive. Then, with one swift motion, she pulled her own coin from her jeans pocket and offered it to Alice. "Here. You deserve to have it."
Alice felt slightly taken aback, but flattered. "That one's yours, though."
Carter shrugged. "I'm a general now, I can get a new one. And as your CO, it is only right that I make sure you do have our coin."
Alice smiled, a little abashed, and accepted the gift. "Thank you, ma'am."
Carter nodded and then mounted her motorcycle. "I'll see you tomorrow at five."
"Yes, ma'am." Alice's smile turned into a crooked smirk. "Have a good night."
"You too, Alice," the general answered, putting her helmet on. The motorcycle roared to life and Alice watched her drive off. Only after she lost her from sight, she turned around and walked towards her own car.