Chapter 17, part 2.
She reread the last few DMs from Marc for the tenth time.
This may be a silly idea, but it just came to me: maybe you'd like to take over the website?
I cannot give it the time & effort it requires now but it would be a real pity to lose the interest it's generated over the past few years.
But you seemed to enjoy commenting on it, and your comments were always excellent. Well-researched, clear & concise.
Maybe you'd like to take up the mantle. At least until my wife gets better and I can come back.
What do you say? Wanna try?
She looked up at the ceiling of her bedroom. She was in her bed, unable to sleep—what a shocker—and pondering Marc's proposition. Her initial, instinctive reaction was to decline; everything seemed to be against the idea. She was never a really social person, despite her recent foray into Twitter and Facebook; she lived her life in the shadows; and she was way too busy for such a diversion. But, as she continued to analyze the problem, she realized all this wasn't really a blocker. A blog didn't require much social interaction—she wouldn't even need to answer comments, she would just be writing articles—and about science, her favorite subject. Nowhere did she have to advertise her identity, either; she could do it anonymously. And, if she was being honest with herself, she could use a good distraction for those times during weekends she couldn't spend at work—an hour or two per week wasn't such a huge commitment. She could do this at night, when she couldn't sleep. At least it would let her concentrate on something other than her personal cloud of darkness.
I must be crazy to do this with all that's going on, she replied, feeling somewhat impulsive. But I think I actually do want to try.
I used to love your website and it makes me think back to the good old times.
No pressure if u don't think u can commit, he rushed to clarify. But I think u of all ppl wd be perfect for the job. I always wondered are u an actual scientist?
I'm something between engineer and scientist, she wrote back with a smirk. I have a BSc in Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering and a PhD in Computer Engineering.
Wow! Then u will crush this. And here I am, a mere BA in Maths, thinking I can measure up to u! lol I'm not even a native English speaker!
She raised her eyebrows. She's always felt that his writing was slightly awkward, as if English wasn't his first language and it was nice to have her vague feeling confirmed, but it only made the effort he put into his website the more impressive.
I never noticed, she lied. Where are you from, then?
Martinique, this tiny French island in the Caribbean, but I've moved to Tampa, Florida almost ten years ago after I met my wife. U?
Born & raised in Los Angeles, but I live in Colorado Springs now. I've moved around a lot, though—Nevada, Ohio, and even out of country.
I even spent a semester in France, back when I was in college—student exchange at Ecole Polytechnique.
Though I've already forgotten all the French I learned then ;)
Nice! Then you must have a lot of varying experiences. I'd love to travel more. Maybe when my wife beats the bastard cancer, we can do that.
You should! She replied, not really sure what else to add.
Anyway, I am so happy u agreed to my silly idea! Can u give me ur email? I'll set u up as a second admin to the site.
Then u can take a look around, read some articles, maybe come up with some ideas for what to do next? & then I'll make the announcement.
Sounds good, Alice replied after a moment, having first created a wholly new e-mail address for this purpose. My email is SpaceTinkerbell . Thank you!
No, Thank *you*. I gotta go now, I think I feel the sleep coming. Await the email tomorrow!
Great, thanks, and have a good night!
Alice grinned to herself in the darkness. It was nearly midnight in Colorado, which meant it was something like two in the morning in Florida. Marc had stayed up late to talk to her—and both that, his enthusiastic responses, and his proposal in the first place pleasantly stroked her ego. It had been quite some time since she felt like that and she wasn't sure why she was reacting this way, but she wasn't going to overanalyze this. It felt good, and that was all that mattered; she had so rarely felt good about herself lately that it was becoming an unfamiliar occurrence.
Alice was jogging up the street, already at the end of her morning run; her clothes were soaked through with sweat, the earphones pumping music into her ears. It was barely six in the morning and she had not had a great night; despite the good mood her Twitter conversation with Marc had put her into, the cloud of darkness had caught up to her eventually, and she ended up drifting to sleep at two in the morning, and woke up at five. Exhausted, she forced herself to go for the run, because she knew from experience that it would make her a little more alert and, since she was supposed to be going offworld that day, she desperately needed some alertness.
She was already on her street when she saw a figure running out of a house two doors down from hers and waving to her energetically. She recognized Forest Crawford, one of the people she had met at the barbecue organized to welcome her and Deanna into the neighborhood. He was the town's Deputy Chief Medical Examiner, she remembered, and the head of the local community outreach program.
"Doctor Boyd!" He greeted her with a huge grin as she halted nearby. "I'm so glad I caught you!"
"Please, call me Alice," she said, replying with a cautious smile. "How can I help you?"
He waved a stack of papers he was holding in his hand. "I want to ask you a favor. Our community outreach program is organizing a huge voter registration drive next weekend—it'll be a grand event, you know, barbecue food, drinks, fun and games for adults and children. We'll have an inflatable castle, animators to play with kids, face-painting—and also a shooting range, archery station and an open-air bowling alley!"
"Wow." She whistled. "That's a lot of effort!"
"I know, right?" He beamed at the impressed expression on her face. "We want loads of people to show up, but we don't have money for advertising so we're counting on the word of mouth. And here's where you come in—would you mind spreading the information among your peers at the base? These are our flyers, you could perhaps give them out to people?"
He handed her the stack of papers and she looked at the leaflet. It was printed in black-and-white with lots of mismatched elements and the name of the event was in Comic Sans. She smirked, thinking what her mom would say about it—her graphic artist's sensibility would certainly be offended.
"I don't think I can do that, but I'll pin one on our information board and leave the rest in the commissary," she promised. "That way whoever's interested can grab one and I won't be imposing on anyone."
He laughed. "I am past such inhibitions," he countered jovially. "But if it makes you feel better, then sure—I'm grateful, every little bit helps. And I hope you will come, too, of course!"
"I am already registered to vote," she noted. "But I may come out for a moment just to see—and I'll tell Deanna, I don't think she's had the chance to register yet."
"Perfect! Well, I won't keep you anymore—thanks for your help and have a great day, Alice!"
"Thanks, you too!" She waved to him with another smirk and then began walking back to her house. Her phone vibrating in her pocket stopped her. She didn't recognize the number.
"Hello?"
"Major, this is Carter," a familiar voice responded.
"Oh, General, good morning. What can I do for you?"
"Sorry to call so early, but I have a job for you. I was supposed to be back in Colorado today, but I got stuck in Washington—there are some urgent meetings I have to attend. Thing is, a recent new hire is supposed to start today and I need someone to intercept her from Peterson, get her down to SGC and explain all about the Stargate Program. Could you take care of it?"
"Of course, ma'am, happy to," Alice replied, rolling her eyes, safe in knowing Carter couldn't see her irritation. She was not fond of this kind of assignments. Though the fact that Carter referred to the new person as new hire was intriguing—it must have meant it was a civilian.
"Fantastic. Her name is Doctor Laura Green. Captain Scott has all the details, he'll give you what you need."
"Sounds good, thank you, ma'am. Anything special I should know about Doctor Green?"
There was just a beat of silence. "Nope. Scott will tell you everything."
"Alright, then. Anything else I can do?"
"No, that'll be all. Thanks, Major. See you tomorrow." Carter hung up.
Alice raised her eyebrows, a little uneasy about the conversation. It sounded as if there was something Carter didn't want to tell her—but just what could that be, Alice couldn't guess.
She went into the house, took a shower and made coffee before calling SGC. It made no sense to go down there just to ask Scott about this Doctor Green and then go back to Peterson.
"Yes, General Carter wanted to welcome Doctor Green herself, but I guess whatever she has in Washington must be more important!" Scott said on the phone after she'd inquired about this new hire.
"She said you'd give me the details—is she an MD or a PhD?" Alice asked. She supposed it could be someone joining Doctor Lam's medical team—but it was equally possible that Doctor Green was to add to the ranks of various types of scientists working for the SGC, either as consultants or part of an SG team.
"An MD—she's going to be working with Rennel," he replied, surprising Alice. This was not one of the eventualities she'd considered and immediately she understood Carter's reluctance. She remembered their discussion about Alice's mental well-being, and the fact that she was forced to reveal Rennel's sexist behavior. Carter had balked at Alice's hiding the incident and, after some thought, Alice had to admit that the general was right. She couldn't have been the only one who didn't see eye to eye with Rennel, and if he was a sexist pig once, it could happen again—women on the base deserved a better option. But, she reminder herself, it wasn't just women; even Watson expressed doubts towards the resident shrink.
"Oh. Good, so she's a psychiatrist?" She clarified.
"Yes, she's a Harvard Medical School alum and did her residency at the Johns Hopkins. She's been working at a private psychiatry clinic ever since, specializing in trauma recovery and veteran care. On paper, she sounds very impressive, and I know General Carter was very happy with how their interviews went, too."
"Sounds great," Alice agreed cautiously. Rennel also sounded good on paper. "Where should I pick her up?"
"She'll be waiting at the Peterson's Visitor Center in an hour. I'll text you her phone number just in case, ma'am."
"Alright, thanks, Captain. Goodbye." She finished the call and sat at the kitchen island for a while, sipping coffee and pondering this new development. A few minutes later, Deanna came down for breakfast, looking sleepy and still in her pajamas, and Alice ribbed her gently about missing the morning jog. They bantered as Dee prepared breakfast, but, although she offered, Alice declined to partake, her stomach not really ready for food yet, and then left to drive down to the Peterson Air Force Base.
The Visitor Center was a bit crowded as she entered, so she walked to the receptionist behind one of the counters and asked if by any chance Doctor Green had already come in.
"Yes, ma'am, she's waiting just over there," the young airman replied, pointing at the other side of the room. Alice looked over her shoulder and then quickly did a double-take. The woman looked familiar… very familiar. Blonde hair twisted into a thick braid, heart-shaped face and pretty blue eyes—it was the very same person Alice had sat next to on her flight back from San Francisco the day before!
"Thank you," she said to the airman distractedly and marched off towards the woman. She evidently recognized Alice, too, because her eyebrows were arched up as she threw her a measuring look—taking in Alice's service dress uniform, no doubt. For herself, the blonde was wearing a very smart business suit, a far cry from yesterday's jeans and t-shirt.
"Doctor Green?" Alice asked, coming to a halt a few steps away.
"That's me!" She replied, her eyebrows still raised. "Wow, what a coincidence—I had no idea you were even in the service, and now here you are!"
Alice shook her head. "I am just as surprised as you are, ma'am," she assured her. "I'm Major Alice Boyd—General Carter was unfortunately held up in Washington today and she asked me to give you an introduction to your new workplace."
Green smiled, her face finally relaxing. "Well, Major, it's a real pleasure to meet you—officially this time. I have to say, as far as surprises go, this one is very nice. I had thought about you a lot since yesterday—you've been so kind to me, I've been regretting there wasn't anything more that I could've done to express my gratitude!"
"No need, ma'am. I'm happy to be of help."
The psychiatrist smiled, but her eye was sharp as she looked at Alice. "So when you said you were a pilot—you meant in the military!"
"Yes, ma'am. Although I haven't flown anything in a while," she admitted and then made an inviting gestured. "Will you follow me, please?"
They walked out of the building and towards Alice's car.
"I hope I am not taking you away from something important," Green said politely.
Alice thought about all the research that was going undone because she was here, but she restrained her voice. "No, ma'am, I'm happy to step in for General Carter. I only hope I can answer all your questions to your satisfaction."
"I'm sure you can!" The older woman beamed at her encouragingly. "Although General Carter was pretty vague about a great many subjects—I have to admit, I'm a little intrigued. The amount of paperwork I had to sign was quite impressive! All these NDAs… I mean, there's already doctor-patient privilege in everything I do, so it's not like I can't hold a secret!" She laughed.
"This goes beyond that privilege," Alice noted. Besides, if you work for the Armed Forces, the doctor-patient privilege only goes so far. It was not unheard of for military therapists to be forced to share some information on their patients with their commanders, and these patients then being found unfit for duty, being denied requests for reassignment or held up for promotions. The confidentiality in the service was much more limited than in the civilian world.
Green gave her an odd look, perhaps surprised at her less-than-friendly expression, but got in the car without further comment. She did frown, however, and spoke up when she noticed they weren't turning towards the gates.
"Where are we going?"
"To a different base," Alice explained. "We are technically a remote detachment of Peterson, but we are located ten miles south-west from here, outside of the city limits."
"Oh. General Carter hadn't mentioned that…"
"I am sure there will be a lot of things General Carter hadn't mentioned," Alice acknowledged. "We operate under strict rules of classification—that's why you had to sign all those NDAs. You will not find a better-kept secret in the entire world."
Green gave her a doubtful look. "Surely, that must be an exaggeration."
"No exaggeration," Alice assured calmly. "You will understand once you know what we do there. Have you found a place to live already?"
"Yes, I got a place in Old Colorado City, but it won't be ready to move in until mid-November, so for now I'm staying in a hotel downtown."
Alice nodded, keeping her eyes on the road. "That's a nice neighborhood—and not a bad commute. Shouldn't take more than half an hour, forty minutes max with bad traffic."
"It's heaven compared to San Francisco," Green acknowledged with a smile.
"Tell me about it—I'm originally from Los Angeles, and now it takes me twelve minutes to get to work!" Alice chuckled.
"Los Angeles? Ha! I thought I detected a little bit of California in your accent, but I wasn't sure," the psychiatrist observed.
"I haven't lived there for the last ten years," Alice explained. "And since then, I've been in different places and with people from around the world. My accent is all over the place now, though you know, California accent isn't that distinct in itself." She shrugged. "You sound like a New England native, though."
"You have a good ear! I was born and raised in a tiny town in Maine, before I went to college in Massachusetts and moved to Maryland for my residency. I've only transferred to San Francisco five years ago after my husband got offered a job there."
Alice remembered that Green's husband had recently died in a car crash, so she didn't pull at this thread.
"That's a very coy way of saying I studied at Harvard and Johns Hopkins," she joked and Green laughed.
"Guilty as charged," she admitted merrily. "I see that you've had a gander at my personnel file?"
"Not really, General Carter's XO—Executive Officer—has told me a few things, but nothing beyond that, really."
"Executive Officer, is that like a second-in-command?"
"In other branches of the military, yes, but not in the Air Force. An XO is a staff administrative assistant, a position other uniformed services would call executive assistant or adjutant," Alice explained.
"Ah, see, that's valuable knowledge, thank you. Most of my patients so far have been Army or Marine Corps veterans, I haven't had a lot of dealings with the Air Force."
Alice nodded. That was not surprising—airmen weren't taking part in combat on the ground in Iraq or Afghanistan the way soldiers and marines were, so there was less opportunity for trauma.
"The SGC has a fair number of marines, too," Alice noted. "And a smattering of civilians. I guess all of them are your potential patients."
Green threw her a dubious look. "Yes, that's one thing that General Carter failed to explain. How come you need a trauma specialist in an Air Force base in the middle of the country? Do you have a lot of people coming back from deployments?"
Alice smiled crookedly. "In a sense, some of us go on deployments two or three times a week. And it's very different from Iraq or Afghanistan, I'd imagine, though personally I've never been to either. My brother has been in Iraq, though, so my view is based on his experience."
"Your brother's in the Air Force, too?"
Alice shook her head. "Marines. He's on convalescent leave now, though, back home."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Has he been injured or…?"
"Yeah, they got him in the gut. It was very, very close," Alice admitted. They were just turning into the winding Norad Road that led straight to Cheyenne Mountain Complex. "He's alright now, though. He still has a few weeks of physical therapy to do before he can get back, though."
"He works at the base with you?" She asked, visibly surprised.
"Not exactly, his base is elsewhere, but I used to work there and it's connected to what we do here."
Green looked out the window at the mountain range. "I wonder what can Air Force do on top of a mountain?" She murmured, as if to herself.
"Actually, it's inside the mountain," Alice corrected with a touch of amusement in her voice. "It used to house NORAD on the top levels of the facility, though we've grown so much that they've eventually been displaced into a new building at Peterson and the SGC took over the entire twenty eight floors of the Complex."
"What is SGC? You've mentioned it before but I don't know this abbreviation."
Alice smiled, but didn't reply as they just approached the gates that controlled traffic up the road. "Get your ID ready, ma'am," she instructed, picking up her own CAC. She handed both documents to a guardsman who peered at them cautiously before waving them through, even though he knew Alice very well by now.
"SGC is Stargate Command," she explained after a moment. "That's the name of our MAJCOM, though you will not find it on any official list of Major Commands, since it's deeply classified in itself."
Green shook her head, her expression half-amused and half-concerned. "And here I thought all those rumors about secrets the government is keeping from the public about our Armed Forces were conspiracy theories!"
"Most of them are." Alice side-eyed her with a smirk. "But this one is—well, let's just say that not all conspiracy theorists are as bonkers as everyone assumes."
Green's eyes were sharp as she threw Alice a measuring look, but she didn't reply and they continued on in silence for a couple minutes, before they finally arrived at the parking lot in front of the entrance to the Complex.
"Is that it?" The doctor asked, getting out of the car and pointing at the buildings that ringed the lot on the North.
Alice laughed. "No, ma'am. That one houses the EAS—Emergency Alert System, it's the early warning system for radio and television, it disseminates information about severe weather conditions, AMBER alerts and other public safety concerns. And there's a fast food restaurant in the other one." It wasn't the only thing that was located in the building, but it was of no real import. "We're going inside the mountain." She led the way to where a van was waiting to take them in.
"This is unusual," Green murmured as they got in.
"I usually just walk in," Alice explained, shrugging. "But it is approximately a quarter of a mile from here so whenever we have visitors, we use the van."
"What you're saying is that today is the only day I'll get to ride in," Green summed up, amused.
Alice grinned. "That's it, ma'am."
The psychiatrist's eyes were wide as they finally got off the van and walked past the pair of thick, 25-ton blast doors and went through multiple security checkpoints. At the first of them, she received a badge that said VISTOR in huge red letters.
"You'll get a permanent badge by the end of today," Alice told her as they were finally getting into the first elevator.
Green nodded. "You said there were twenty eight levels?" She asked, looking at the panel where Alice had pushed the button labeled 11.
"Yes, but there are two separate elevator shafts," she explained.
"Oh. You guys really take security very seriously here," the doctor observed, a little nervously, Alice thought.
"You have no idea. There are cameras all over the place, too." She waved around to indicate that they were everywhere, even on the elevator. "You'll find that this base, and the entire Stargate Program, has all of the best equipment available—and the best people. It's really an incredible honor to be invited to be a part of it," she added with a measure of humility that had the doctor throwing her another of her piercing stares.
"Invited? I know I'm a civilian, I have a contract, but I thought the servicemembers have to go where they're told?"
Alice nodded. "Generally, yes. But the entire Stargate Program is volunteer-based. Don't get me wrong, once you're in, you're under orders like anywhere, but that initial invitation is just that—an invitation. I've never known anyone to say no, yet, though."
Green shook her head and mulled it through for a moment. Before she spoke, they arrived at the eleventh floor and changed elevators.
"So what you're saying is that I should be flattered to have landed this job?" She inquired after a moment.
Alice looked at her with a cocked eyebrow. "Frankly, yes, ma'am. You would not have even been considered if you weren't excellent at what you're doing. And the fact that General Carter decided to bring you in—that just means that you must have that something extra that we need. She's a great judge of character."
"Hm." Green looked pensive for a moment. "I did wonder about—I mean, she told me that you already have one resident psychiatrist, Doctor Rennel? I know him by reputation only, he was a fellow at Johns Hopkins for a few years before I started my residency there, but he is incredibly accomplished, and although she didn't say anything outright, General Carter didn't sound particularly pleased with him. Is that why I am here?"
Alice sighed. She didn't really want to discuss the reasons why Carter had decided to hire another shrink, and a woman at that; but then again, the general would probably tell Green all about it anyway—she needed to know.
"Partially. Doctor Rennel is very well-qualified and he is doing a great job with the majority of the personnel. But"—she hesitated, and then thought oh, screw it—"I think General Carter wanted to make sure that there was an alternative for those who did not see entirely eye to eye with him."
Green frowned. "And why are they not seeing eye to eye with him?"
Alice sighed. "There's a—concern that he might prioritize appearing as one of the boys over making sure that—everyone feels safe with him."
"Ah." The doctor's face smoothed. "He's a sexist swine, that's what you mean." Alice didn't reply, but her expression must have been answer enough, for Green nodded understandingly. "I see. Well, it's always a good idea to have a female therapist available—many women do not feel comfortable sharing their thoughts with men."
They got to the level twenty-seven, so Alice was spared the necessity of continuing that vein of conversation. She led the way through the corridors and into the Conference Room.
"Would you like some coffee, ma'am?" She asked and busied herself with preparing the brew while Doctor Green walked towards the window that overlooked the Gate Room.
"What is that?" She asked after a moment of silent contemplation, pointing down, her eyebrows arched.
"That—" Alice put the ready pot in the middle of the table "—is the Stargate. Please have a seat, ma'am; I will explain everything."
It took almost two hours to go over everything with Doctor Green, but, to Alice's surprise, the psychiatrist took it much better than any of the people Alice had debriefed before; she was calm, asked a lot of detailed questions, and the SG-3 going off on a scheduled trip through the Gate was almost unnecessary to make her believe everything.
"I can see why you think so much of General Carter," she commented at one point, shaking her head. "It sounds like our planet would not be here if it hadn't been for her and the rest of the SG-1."
"Yes, ma'am," Alice replied simply, and continued with her exposé.
After they finished, Alice got Captain Scott to show the doctor her new office and left her with homework of mission reports to wade through, while the major prepared to go offworld.
A few hours later, after a debriefing with Mitchell—who was now, Reynolds having left to command his very own BC-304, the SGC's second-in-command—her team split up to their own work and Alice bumped into Doctor Green again.
"I got tired of reading," she explained with a twinkle in her eye. "So I decided to go explore the base a little. It's huge."
Alice nodded with a smile. "Yes, ma'am. And remember, there used to be NORAD on the top levels—but now we've taken over all of it."
"I bet it's not so easy to work here, though," Greene observed, and then explained, seeing Alice's cocked eyebrow: "It's underground, there's no natural light. I bet everyone here is on vitamin D supplements."
Alice ignored that last statement. "I sure miss Atlantis," she agreed. "It was always full of sunlight. My lab there was a hundred yards off the ground, with a huge window with a view of the South Pier…"
"Sounds lovely," Green admitted. "But then again—at least here you can get out and go meet other people, visit family and friends. Being on Atlantis must feel a bit isolated, doesn't it?"
Alice shrugged. "It's not easy on outside relationships," she acknowledged. "But Atlantis is really—well, it's one big family."
"You miss them?" The question sounded casual, but the psychiatrist's eyes were sharp.
"I still have many friends there," Alice replied cautiously, and then changed the subject: "And how did you find your reading material, ma'am?"
"Oof!" The doctor grinned. "Fascinating, but also extremely mentally taxing. So much has happened, and to think that nobody outside this Program knows—it's quite mind-blowing to think that I, of all people, have been allowed inside. You were right—it is a great honor to be invited here." She shook her head. "I can't quite comprehend how do you all go on. I've been treating veterans from combat-related trauma for years, but, really…" It seemed as if she was at a loss for words.
Alice nodded understandingly. "Like I told you, it is quite different from a deployment to the Middle East. That is not to say that it's any less traumatic there—but the very level of responsibility is beyond comparison. When you go offworld you risk not only your own life, or that of your team; sometimes, one wrong step might mean putting Earth in danger, or even the entire galaxy…" She sighed.
"You were just—what was the word you used? Oh yes, offworld. You just came back, haven't you?" Green asked, her eyes keen.
"Yes, ma'am. It was routine, though—nothing dangerous in it." She smiled. She had repaired a Tel'tak for one of Castor's contacts. The mercenary had been quiet for such a long time after they had let him go that Alice feared he'd babbled to the Lucian Alliance and got himself killed for it, but recently a couple people approached her claiming he had recommended her to them.
Green only shook her head at that, but didn't comment, and Alice excused herself to go back to work.