The Saints of Atlantis 19
There were a lot of firsts that Elizabeth Weir had experienced since first coming to the Pegasus galaxy. There were the good ones; Atlantis rising to the surface, seeing Rodney McKay becoming a hero, traveling through the stargate. There were also the unfortunate ones; facing starvation while being flooded with refugees, helplessly watching John Sheppard turn into a bug, being unable to fight against the prejudice as Teyla and those like her were slightly ostracized for having Wraith DNA. Then there were the bad ones; the Wraith, having her people die in terrible ways and not being able to stop it, Kolya torturing Rodney, videotaping the message to Earth alerting them to the Wraith and knowing that should the Wraith succeed with their attack she would have to destroy Atlantis.
Now Elizabeth had one more experience to add to her list of ‘bad things’. She shuddered and forced the memory of Norhki’s hands away once more. She would deal with that by talking to Kate. She’d sent enough of her people to Kate when they’d gone through trauma to know that the doctor was very good at her job. She already had an appointment and she was going to keep it, no matter how much she just wanted to scrub the feel of his hands off of her. She would not let some back water world, petty aristocrat do what the Wraith could not and send her back to Earth with her tail between her legs.
Her people had come for her and she’d held him off long enough that the only damage she’d suffered had been bruises and a broken arm. How many times had her off world teams come back to Atlantis with injuries far more severe? John had turned into a bug for God’s sake! Ronon had been a Runner for seven years! Teyla had lived with the threat of the Wraith culling her and her people her entire life. This was nothing compared to any of that. Even Rodney had suffered more serious injuries than she’d received.
Elizabeth looked in her bathroom mirror and abruptly decided against covering up the bruises with makeup. She had done nothing to be ashamed of. These were injuries that had led to the women of a world being freed of the threat of kidnapping and rape as a way of marriage. The women of the council had also shocked the hell out of the men by demanding an addition to the treaty; that Cadman teach their daughters and granddaughters self defense in return for unlimited access to the library. The original treaty had only granted them limited access. No one had ever been given unlimited access before. It was Lieutenant Cadman and the McManus brothers that she had to thank for that.
She had never thought that she would be grateful to the vigilantes she had living in her city for anything, but she was grateful. Thanks to those men she knew for a fact that Norhki would never hurt another woman again. She knew that there were men who were incapable of changing their ways. She had just never thought about how much of a difference there was between putting that man in jail and killing him from the victim’s view point. She knew he was dead. She knew the twin’s ritual and what it entailed. There was far more comfort in that fact than she could ever have imagined.
Elizabeth walked out of her bathroom and Radek jumped up from her desk chair. The sight of the scientist brought the first smile to her face in what felt like ages. Of all the faces she had thought to see when her people came for her, his face had been the one she hadn’t expected. He was a scientist, one of her most dependable people, but he wasn’t a soldier or a fighter. He had become one for her sake.
“I brought breakfast,” Radek said, gesturing to her desk. “I thought you would wish to start the day without the stares. They will come soon enough.”
“Radek, you are the sweetest man I have ever known. Thank you,” Elizabeth said. She really hadn’t been looking forward to breakfast in the dining hall.
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Lieutenant Cadman had rarely seen her commanding officers so very furious. She stood frozen at attention, not wanting to have his rage directed at her. “You’re certain he’s dead,” the Colonel said flatly.
“Yes sir, along with approximately three eighths of the men who were attending the celebration,” Cadman answered.
“How did you choose these men?” Sheppard asked. He never stopped pacing.
“Conner and Murphy McManus had previously determined that there was a chance they would be called to do their duty because of the nature of the men who greeted us. We used Spanish to get around the translation program and Romeo figured out a way to ensure no one who was not eligible as a target was killed. Those targeted were rapists, abusers, blackmailers, murderers and they had reached a level of severity that would have put them in a maximum security prison back home, usually with a life sentence sir, if not on death row,” Cadman explained. She was grateful that she had asked exactly what constituted a target for the twins long before this last mission.
“And the man you killed Lieutenant?” Sheppard was well aware that the man had been twice her size and that what had happened to Elizabeth was just a preview of what would have happened to Cadman, but he needed her view on her actions.
“I’m a Marine, sir. No jumped up bully boy was going to keep me from doing my duty or use me as a toy against my will sir,” she spat, still angry that anyone had thought her a helpless victim.
Sheppard nodded. “I like your priorities Lieutenant. What about Radek? Why did you let him go in first into a building during an assault?” That was very much against the rules and they both knew it.
Cadman blushed. “Sir, first off the level of offensive technology these people have is pretty pathetic. We’re talking knives and swords here. The people on the first floor had no chance at all against a zat, especially as they weren’t expecting us so soon, if at all. Second sir, he did not go first into the second floor. We knew that there was a good chance of opposition there, unlike on the first floor. Sir, Doctor Zelenka was angrier than I’d ever seen him. He was less upset about Doctor McKay’s actions at Doranda. He was determined to go in. I figured it would be best for him to let out some of his rage on zatting the people who couldn’t hurt him. I certainly did not want him to be angry at me for not allowing him to do anything.” That would have been the standard response to Zelenka’s demand to be a part of the assault. “He was threatening to blow pieces off of the kidnappers, sir. You do know that he takes grenades with him off world?”
Sheppard nodded, smirking. “That was the deal Cadman. He can’t hit the broadside of a barn with a pistol and I didn’t dare try him out on anything more powerful, but he’s got a great pitching arm. He agreed to take a bunch of grenades that he’d souped up with him and I agreed to let him pass geek bootcamp so he could go off world.” Unspoken was the knowledge that Radek was needed off world almost as much as Rodney. He was one of their two experts on Ancient technology and they couldn’t allow anyone who couldn’t defend themselves somehow to leave Atlantis. That was one of the reasons for the bootcamp for geeks in the first place, because not even Atlantis was completely safe.
“Alright Cadman, at ease,” Sheppard said, finally stopping his pacing. “Your punishment for letting Radek do what he wanted is two weeks duty on the mainland, after you take a squad of female Marines and Teyla back to teach the Chulaon ladies how to defend themselves. I want you to run regular classes there. Take any of the male Marines that you want to use as demonstration dummies.”
“Yes sir!” They both knew it was a slap on the wrist and more of a formality than anything else, but Sheppard would get into trouble with the SGC if he didn’t do something to discipline her.
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All three McManus men were kneeling at the altar, praying. They’d had a wonderful reunion when the twins returned to Atlantis, although the twins had been shocked to find out that their cousin had been called as a shepherd. Never, in anyone’s memory had there ever been anyone with both callings. There had been a very few priests who had been released from their calling to take up the mantle of shepherd, but Nevan McManus had felt no lessening of his calling as a priest. It was still as strong as it had been since he was a teenager.
As ever, their prayers sent them into a state of calm that allowed them to listen for the answers they knew the Lord would send them. Moments later they raised their heads, Father Nevan comforted and the twins concerned. Murphy turned to Conner. “Gretchen, Jacob, the new twins,” he asked, his heart already breaking in two.
“We will do that which the Lord commands, Murph. He blessed us with them. He’ll find us a way to bring them here.” Conner looked up at the balconies on the walls. “One day soon, those balconies will be full of McManuses. I’m sure our Treasure and children will be among them.” He gave his twin an ironic look. “After all, who else would put up with the likes of us?”
Murphy grinned, reassured by his brother’s reasoning. “I can’t wait to show them around. They’ll love this place.”
“Come on lads,” Father Nevan said, patting both of his younger cousins on the shoulders. “You’ve got a bit of a delivery. Some people sent you some care packages.” He laughed at the excited looks on the twins faces. They looked like little kids at Christmas.
Father Nevan led the way to the mess hall, where the packages for those who had been off world when the Daedalus arrived were being delivered. Large groups were gathered around the lucky people, mostly to see what would soon be on the trading market. Father Nevan led his cousins over to where Romeo was gloating over the things his uncle had sent him. “What’d you get?” Murphy asked.
“Movies, flash drives with my favorite magazines and shit, booze,” Romeo held up a bottle of very good tequila. “And a long letter telling me that if I get myself killed, well let’s just say I’d be in a lot of trouble,” he laughed. “That one’s yours though.” He pointed at the large crate that sat next to the table. “Everyone wants to know what’s in it, so crack that baby open!”
“With any luck it’s a brewing kit,” Conner said, as he picked up the small pry bar sitting on the table.
“YES!” Murphy cried as he pulled out a large stainless steel cook pot. “Uncle Sivial sent us the good stuff.” Most of the crate was full of everything they would need to brew up enough alcohol to last them until the next time the Daedalus arrived in Pegasus.
“Seeds, letters from everyone,” Conner held up a large bundle of letters. “DVDs, bibles,” he tossed one to Murphy.
“Candy!” Murphy pulled out two large bags of small chocolate bars.
Conner pulled out the last thing in the crate, a photo album. “Oh good God,” he breathed as he opened it up. “Murph, Gretchen sent us the ultrasounds.”
Murphy dropped the chocolate like it was red hot and scrambled around so that he could also see the ultrasound pictures of their unborn twins. He touched the first one reverently. “We’re the luckiest bastards in the universe, Conn.”