March 5, Atlantis
Dear Jane,
David loved the Dream Catcher. I can't thank you enough. I couldn't tell him where it actually came
from, he assumes it came on the Daedalus as a personal item. He already knew the legend, and it
now hangs in the window in the nursery.
In the weeks prior to James' birth, David and Major Lorne moved into one of the larger suites in the
North Residence Wing. The wing was opened up when the imperative to establish family housing became
overwhelming with little Sarah's arrival. It contains multi-room suites as opposed to the single room
quarters that had been the sole previous option. Now we have something like twenty-five two and three
bedroom suites available.
It kills two birds with one stone. First and foremost, it gives the new parents a room for a nursery.
Second, and almost as importantly, it keeps any cranky babies from disturbing the main population. The
suites are also available to single personnel (both military and civilian), but the trade-off for what
some consider better quarters is that they have to deal with the screams if the soundproofing doesn't
hold. There are three babies currently in the wing, although Sarah is more a toddler than a baby right
now. The rest of the population up there, it's about half full, is mostly scientist/military combinations.
The Athosians who work in the nursery have also claimed one of the three-bedrooms as a secondary residence
for when they can't get back to the mainland.
David and Major Lorne (Nick, in case you're curious) seem to have adjusted into their new roles reasonably
well. Unexpectedly, Major Lorne had more difficulty coming to terms with David's condition than David did.
Probably because he didn't have killer morning sickness for three months (We were actually concerned about
David at one point, he lost near to fifteen pounds before stabilizing and beginning to gain). Admittedly,
the Major's also having to deal with the personal ramifications for his career that may result from this.
I'd bury my head in the sand for a while, too. As he put it, "They didn't cover this in Major School."
In other news, Dr. Weir tested very pregnant a few days ago. Not as if there was much doubt, but
the readings we've gathered have been very helpful. We're going to see if we can modify the life-signs
detector to also register energy readings so that we can be alerted if a team triggers one of the latent
beams. If they trigger? People get a 24 hour hold notice on the exchange of bodily fluids, just to be
on the safe side.
I mentioned the usage of spaced cows as a battle tactic to Colonel Sheppard when he was in with a
laceration from a rough game of football on the mainland. He laughed, a lot. Apparently no one knows
if the wraith suck up everything with a large enough bio-sign or not. Culling knocks a person unconscious,
and when you wake up you're in a cell. No way of knowing if they might have picked up a cow alongside
that they blew out their equivalent of an airlock. Although the Jumpers (Puddle Jumpers) have 'windshields',
they also rely on complicated instrumentation when in space. I've only ever flown them on-world, so have
never had a reason to pull up the more complicated scanners (Never mind that I don't have quite the same
caliber of gene as the colonel).
Thank you for taking the time to look over the EMail. SGC stands for Stargate Command, it's another
name for the base at Cheyenne Mountain (or more accurately, the people there). You make valid points
about pulling out and leaving people behind. If we ever do pull back to Earth, it's already going to
be terribly messy.
The Athosians are becoming more and more an integral part of the city's community. There are those who
work in the nursery, Teyla (a member of Team One), the two men who have begun training the marines in
low-tech weaponry, and the teens who come in three times a week for schooling in both written English
and Ancient (They've been picking both up with remarkable speed). In exchange, as work in the city will
allow, we've had more than one scientist take up temporary residence in the settlement to conduct local
work. The botanists, biologists, geologists, and linguists have all been thrilled to trade time working
the fields and on the construction projects for lodging and something interesting to study. One of our
mechanical engineers has been doing some architectural work on the side, drawing up plans for more
permanent mainland structures.
There's been talk of stationing a small contingent of marines out there, as a precautionary measure should
there be an off-world attack (Unlikely given we have long-range sensors, but stranger things have happened)
or a lone Wraith undetected on the continent somewhere. I think it's Colonel Sheppard's way of acknowledging
that despite concerns, our populations are mixing rather thoroughly. I know it would make it easier for Sgt.
Williams, who has a son on the mainland.
There would always be the understanding that should it be necessary the marines would return to the city,
but it would give the men who are courting Athosians a chance to see what they might be, for lack of a
better term, stuck with should the expedition be recalled to Earth. And if they include weapons training
in the bargain, I'm sure the Athosians wouldn't mind in the slightest. It's not approved yet, but I
think it's the likely course at this point.
Our refugee population waxes and wanes. When I wrote you before, we had upwards of two hundred here.
Now, the city was designed to accommodate thousands. But we try to limit how much of the city is actively
used to conserve power. We have a ZPM, but it's at nowhere near full charge. We try to save it for the
things we really need, like the shield.
You asked about Mary. She seems to be doing well. I think she got a bit more lead time to deal with
the realities of moving to another galaxy. I think they may have also warned her that Sarah McKay has
two fathers, and one of them has a bit of an attitude problem. Oh, Sarah's hair? Comes straight from
Colonel Sheppard. No one believed him when he said it was natural until hers started doing that. It
looks even stranger in real life.
~ Laura
- - -
March 16, Atlantis
Dear Jane,
Wonderful news! The city has been abuzz with the news of a mostly charged ZPM recovered yesterday. I
managed to sit down with Dr. Irulan, one of the newer physicists, and make her explain how ZPMs work.
While Jason's "The city came Batteries Not Included" version was succinct, I wanted a more technical
explanation of what makes the lights flicker (Although one of the prevailing theories on that is
that the city's semi-aware). The Zero Point Modules (We call them ZPMs) are essentially a self-sustaining
reaction of some kind that generates vast quantities of power but can be drained (I asked about how that
works, and she got really technical. I smiled and nodded a lot). If I'm going to be here for the long
haul, I need a basic understanding of how things work. I don't need to be able to write the equations.
And I am going to be here for long haul. I'm doing so much good with the clinics, and the number of
different cultures I've been able to visit is just astonishing. Carson pulled me aside today to ask
when I was planning to take my Earth leave since I need to do so before Elaine's due in case there are
complications. I'd be shipping back on the Daedalus for a run (We don't have the power to burn
for regular gate usage on that scale, even with the new ZPM).
I realized as he was talking that I don't want to go. Not even for the seven week round trip in that
sardine can of a spaceship. Well, six week round trip, one week leave. Don't get me wrong, I'd love
to meet you in person some day. But right now? I am needed and valued here. This is where I
belong. I have Jason. I have the wonderful people I work with. I have the worlds I visit regularly,
never mind the Athosians.
I have so much opportunity here, even with the threat of attack. If I go back to Earth? There's the
chance I won't return. I can't take that risk. I now understand why none of the senior staff have gone
back for leave since I arrived. This is home, in every way that matters. We can't risk
abandoning the people here without a damn good reason.
~ Laura
- - -
March 21, Atlantis
Dear Jane,
It seems I spoke more truly than I knew. The Daedalus is a week late. A few days late has
happened before, but they've never been this late before. Dr. Weir contacted SGC, and got what amounts
to "I'm a lieutenant, I can't answer your questions."
Opening a wormhole back takes a lot of power. We couldn't keep it open long without using more than we
can spare. We may have more power than we did a month ago, but that's still not enough to waste it.
She gave instructions that she'll call back in 24 hours, hopefully there will be someone on hand to
answer questions.
Daedalus is our link to Earth, bringing supplies and information and a connection for the
expedition to the home they left behind. Even though this is home now, you never forget where you came
from. And the biggest concern is technology, at least from my point of view. Most of the rest of the
supplies they were bringing we can make do without or get from trading partners. But ammo for P-90's
and sidearms is complex, and has extremely narrow specifications in order to function correctly. And
laptops and headsets are minted using advanced technologies. Most of our trading partners aren't equipped
for massive industrialized production.
This has the potential to get very bad.
~ Laura
- - -
March 23, Atlantis
Dear Jane,
We're not going to be getting visits from the Daedalus any time soon. Dr. Weir managed to
contact someone in authority at SGC, and it's not a pretty picture. Daedalus has been pulled
from supply runs and re-assigned planetary security. For an indeterminate period of time.
We've essentially been given a pat on the shoulder and told "Good Luck, you're going to need it!"
If this doesn't resolve in a few months I'm going to inform Dr. Weir of our correspondence. Because at
least it'll give us a way to get letters out to families.
The good news, if you can call it that, is that Dr. Weir has had contingency plans in place in case something
like this happened. Both long and short term. Apparently we've been stockpiling technology, ammunition, and weaponry
quietly since it started arriving on the Daedalus, along with other essential and non-replaceable
supplies. And we've got a database to rival the Library at Alexandria, never mind what we have in the
Ancient Database. Information we can trade and use to bring some of our trading partners up to higher
quality production standards if we're going to be relying on them for a while.
We do have the Orion, a ship we recovered from an Ancient Outpost from what I gather, but it's
not in any kind of shape for intergalactic travel. It's been docked on the North-East Pier since I
arrived. The estimates I've heard about its repair run anywhere from one to five years. If Earth
doesn't come for us by then, we can make the trip ourselves if we have the ZPM to spare.
So it's not hopeless by any means, and I don't want you to be unduly concerned. But any information
you might have on why this is happening would be appreciated. And if you receive a bundle of letters
next month that's larger than normal, you'll understand why.
~ Laura
- - - - - - - - - -
March 7, Calgary
Dear Laura,
Oh, thank goodness. I'm so glad both David and James came through everything well. Have they determined
how they're handling the legalities yet? Did they go with a single parent birth certificate?
I have to agree that after two or three of these babies under strange circumstances they're going to
raise a collective eyebrow. On the other hand, if the SGC (I'm going under the assumption that it's a
regulatory body until I hear from you) handles anything in this galaxy like what you've encountered (or
implied that others have), then they probably know not to push for details if reports show a certain
flavor of reticence. At least one can hope.
I hope your testing goes well. While you're not in the ideal location for a baby boom, I can understand
Dr. Weir's personal position. We have lawyers at the firm who are facing infertility treatments because
they wanted to make partner before having children, and from what I've heard it's not a fun prospect.
Dr. Zelenka sounds amusing, and you're right about it being the perfect test case at this point. Sticking
with the civilian population should give you some legislative slack, never mind using a heterosexual
couple with no direct command conflict.
I'd love to hear these anecdotes about welcoming ceremonies at some point. Although I can understand if
discretion is exercised ("The names have been changed to protect the innocent" and all that).
So. Jason. Sleeping together, eh? I'm sorry your Valentine's Day didn't exist, but it's just a
superficial holiday anyway. It's not like they sell Russell Stover's where you are, at least I would
assume not. I find it amusingly refreshing that of the two of you Jason has the safer job. A nice
break from the stereotypical.
So Colonel Sheppard is an intergalactic Casanova, it's just by accident. That's just funny.
Aah, so Dr. McKay and Colonel Sheppard are seriously involved as opposed to a casual accident resulting
in Sarah. That clears some things up. Although really, there's just something amusing in talking about
two men accidentally ending up with a baby from a one night stand (even if it's completely true). You
said they never did figure out when exactly he got pregnant, if I recall.
Scientists living in their labs, not a new concept. Although I suppose one could argue that the whole
of Atlantis is, in some way or another, something to be studied. So in essence you're living in one
giant lab, eh?
~ Jane
- - -
March 28, Calgary
Dear Laura,
There's something going on with the American government, although no details have been released. The
buzz words in the media the last two days have been things like Allocation of Funding and
Audit and Massive deficit. The gist seems to be a slash to black box funding (Is that
you?) and national security concerns.
The American Congress seems to be up in arms, although I haven't seen enough to know if they're for or
against the funding cuts. It doesn't sound good. Thought I'd pass it along in case it affects you.
~ Jane
- - - - - - - - - -
Back to February
Forward to April
Back to the Beginning