Such a busy day

[ba_al]

It was nearing the time for Steven to call with his report. This would be the first of such reports since his arrival in this galaxy and Ba'al would admit, if only to himself, that he worried about Steven's safety while they spoke

Comments

[steven_rayner]

Steven locked the door to his quarters and opened the case next to his bed - three electric locks with codes he'd bet even Dr. McKay would have trouble cracking, and an equal number of physical locks, and he intended to keep the whole thing hidden as soon as he'd settled in enough. He removed a smaller case from inside it, glancing at the door. He didn't entirely trust the lock to stay locked, not with so many people around with stronger ATA genes than him. He carried the case into the bathroom and locked that door, too. Another level of security, and even if someone happened to wander into his room, he doubted they'd be so rude as to break into his bathroom without giving him a few minutes to "make himself decent" should he so request.

He opened the case, carefully, showing a round sphere. Activated, it showed Ba'al's face. "My Lord. I trust all is well with you?"

[ba_al]

Ba'al returned to his quarters aboard his ha'tak. The palace wouldn't be ready for another week at least. He smiled when he saw the communication ball glowing. He picked it up, activating it to show Steven's face.

"All is very well. I will transmit an encoded message with the address of a planet which you may go to contact me should you ever need it. You understand that I cannot send the address of the planet my new palace is on directly, of course."

Ba'al paused, studying Steven for a moment. "How are you settling in? Has there been any problems?"

[steven_rayner]

"Of course, Lord. I understand how important security is, and would never wish to be the cause of you having to relocate."

Steven smiled. He hated to be seperated from his Lord, but necessity was necessity...he lived to serve, of course, but he would rather serving meant more time with Ba'al and less among his fellow Earthlings. "I'm settling in well enough, Lord. One boy seems suspicious of me, and he has the ear of a few of the more important people here, but he has only his instinct, no evidence. I've been playing it off as mutual animosity with a close friend of his for personal reasons, hopefully he won't look beyond that."

[ba_al]

Ba'al frowned at that. "Boy? They would send a child to the city of the Ancients? And here I thought the Tau'ri could sink no lower."

He thought about this. For them to send a child to Atlantis meant that he either wasn't fully human, he was someone's relative or that he had special knowledge no one else did. After a minute he refocused his attention on Steven. "Keep an eye on this child. Gather all that you can on him and his background without giving yourself away. Is there anything you can tell me about him now?

"Yes, very good. If he becomes a problem, I want you to use the memory device on him, see what he knows, then wipe his mind. He can't tell what he knows, if he knows nothing. But only as a last resort. I do not want your possition there compromised. Understood?"