Jo Graham - Secrets

In a moment General Hammond came down the stairs from the conference room above, Major Carter with him grinning broadly. O’Neill followed, his uniform still soaked with stage blood.

“It was a test,” Ford said flatly.

“Welcome to the SGC,” Hammond said, and shook each of their hands. “Well done.”

They’d done eight months of training, some of it in the field on alien worlds, and then Laura had gotten a plum slot on SG-12. Ford had gotten the Atlantis expedition. She’d cried when he’d been listed MIA a year later. And six days later she’d been told she was going to Atlantis on Daedalus to take his place.

Laura followed Carter through the corridors of the Hammond, waited while she opened her door. Please don’t let me wash out, she thought fervently. Not now!

Carter’s quarters were spartan, her narrow bed neatly made with squared corners, a big framed picture of the Hammond bolted to the wall above it. She sat down in the only chair by the desk. “Tell me what happened on the hive ship,” she said.

Laura took a deep breath. “We got pinned down. Dr. Zelenka hotwired one of the blast doors, which cut off the Wraith attacking us but also cut us off from Ronon and Dr. Keller. Colonel Sheppard told Ronon to go get Dr. McKay while we retrieved the ZPM…”

It was a long story, all the way through their precipitous departure and Todd’s hive ship, all the way through the part where a Wraith diplomatic delegation had been told she was Carter’s heir.

“That wasn’t my idea, ma’am,” she said swiftly. “That was Teyla, and so I followed along.”

“Always the best thing to do with Teyla on the subject of anything Wraith.” Carter looked vaguely amused, which was probably a good thing. Less like washing her out. “Cadman, have you ever wondered why I’m so hard on you?”

“No, ma’am.” One proper answer to that.

“Because you have tremendous potential,” Carter said quietly. “You think fast and you’re brave and practical, but you don’t lack imagination. I think you could go a long way. I want to give you the opportunity to test yourself and to have a variety of experiences. That’s what will give you the confidence you need to stand in any company.” The colonel looked at her keenly. “You’re not a kid from Florida State. Right now, today, you’re the best of the best. I’m not saying you need to be arrogant. But you’ve done two years in Atlantis and three with the SGC before and after that deployment. You’re head and shoulders above half of the people here. It’s time to put yourself out there. It’s time to start making the calls and thinking of solutions rather than waiting for orders. It’s time to believe in yourself the way others believe in you.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Laura found herself inexplicably blinking. “I don’t…” She stopped, squaring her shoulders. Carter was looking up at her from the chair, not nearly as scary as she’d seemed before, forty something and a little worn. Somehow that made it easier to blurt out the thing she was thinking. “I’ve never been very smart.”

Carter was an academy graduate. At Laura’s age she’d already had a PhD in astrophysics. There was no comparison.

“There are different kinds of smart,” Carter said. “And not all of them come out of a book. Sometimes the most important ones don’t come out of a book.” She put her elbow on the desk, glancing at the pictures on the wall behind it and back to Laura. “The most important thing is teamwork. None of us have all the skills. Nobody is able to handle everything alone. We don’t have Superman.”

“And Superman has the Justice League,” Laura said, and then felt like slapping herself.

Carter broke into a smile. “He does. Because it’s all about complimentary skills. You’re not a scientist. And you don’t have to be. You don’t have to be an anthropologist or an engineer or a physicist. You just have to be the best of what you are. Take the opportunities you’re given and shine.” She shook her head. “Believe me, Cadman. You’re not short on anything. Colonel Sheppard would steal you back in a heartbeat. But I’m not letting him. I get you back as soon as Lorne is up and around!”

“Yes, ma’am,” Laura said, which was about all she could manage.

“You’re doing fine. You just need to develop the confidence to push when you need to.” Carter stood up. “Now go get some rest. Stand down for twelve hours, if the universe will give us that much time.”

Major Lorne limped into the control room, maneuvering around the consoles fairly skillfully on his crutches. Sheppard was just coming out of Woolsey’s office, still in the dirty uniform he’d presumably worn on the last mission, two days beard on his chin. Asking “How did it go?” would be rubbing salt in the wound. Obviously they didn’t have McKay, and everybody had already heard that Ronon and Keller were MIA. Well, maybe not everybody, but he’d already talked to Cadman, on her way out to the Hammond to report after getting a hot shower.

Lorne drew himself up, doing his best to look professional. “Sir, if I might have a word with you?”

Sheppard stopped. “Sure,” he said, frowning.

Lorne bet he wanted to hit the showers too, so he made it brief. “Dr. Beckett says he’ll take the cast off my leg this afternoon. I thought…”

Sheppard shook his head. “You know it’s not going to work like that, right? He’s going to put braces and things on it, and you’ll have weeks of physical therapy. There’s no way you’re going straight back on full duty.”

“Yes, sir, but…”

Sheppard clapped him on the shoulder. “It’s a few more weeks,” he said. “Light duty for a few more weeks. You don’t want to screw that leg up permanently. Right now Cadman’s covering for you on the team, and as soon as Beckett says you’re ready, I’ll give her back to Carter. But you know that’s not going to be today.”

“I know,” Lorne said. And he did know. But he’d hoped anyhow.

Ronon made his way back along the cliff’s edge at a trot, one eye on the declining sun. It was already brushing the tops of the trees, but if he hurried, there should be enough time to get McKay and Jennifer to the gap he’d found. And down, and across, and up again… But they could do it. He could do it. They wouldn’t be able to get very far once they’d crossed the river, not in the waning daylight, and it would be a long march the next day — probably too long, reasonably calculated, to reach the Stargate, but it was better than he had feared.

McKay was still sitting under the tree where Ronon had left him, but Jennifer had made her way to the stream, was filling the water container. That was a good idea — she’d come a long way since he’d first met her, and he couldn’t help an approving nod.

“Keller! McKay! I’ve found a way down.”

Jennifer looked up quickly, and Ronon saw the relief in her face.

“That’s wonderful,” Rodney said, sourly, and hauled himself to his feet. “Is it far?”

“Nope,” Ronon answered. Well, by some definitions, it wasn’t. He eyed the stream warily. “Better cross further back from the edge.”

It took almost two hours to reach the break in the cliff that Ronon had decided was the best place to cross. There was an easier slope another couple of kilometers further along, but here the opposite bank had given way, and it would be an easy scramble up to the other side. Rodney balked at the top, staring down at the rocks and the rushing water. The river came close under the cliff here, and water foamed around the heaped stones.

“You know, this doesn’t look like all that great a place to climb down. One false step, and you’ve got a sprained ankle, or worse.”