Confirming Carter Bk. 04 Expansion Ch. 04

"Larrin, we're going to put a hundred people on that station by the end of the week, and I want them trained so we can start bringing in five thousand more a week as soon as possible." Carter told her. "The first thing we're going to do is build forty of those ships Radik showed us. I already have ten of them, and another fifty of other types and classes. Will you crew them for me, or do I have to go into the labor pool?"

"I will crew them for you." Larrin replied. "What do you have in mind?"

Carter got up and walked over to the screen.

"We're going to setup our own network." She said, pointing at places on the image. "We'll setup bases on planets with stargates, and supply Kinai's people, and anyone else that wants to do business with us."

"My people will not like you competing with them..."

"Fuck 'em if they can't take a joke." Carter laughed harshly, then ran her hand over the far side of image. "Besides, they abandoned this part of the galaxy, so this is a wide open market. Apparently, someone didn't understand that when we said we were going to make this galaxy a better place to live, we meant for everyone, not just the Travellers."

"I will crew your ships, and man your station, then build you enough ships to fill the galaxy." Larrin said as she got to her feet. "And I will bring my clan into your service, regardless of how the others vote. I will serve my queens as no other ever will, I swear it."

"Thank you Larrin." Carter smiled. "We will welcome you with open arms into our service."

"This is why we wish to join you." Kinai said. "We had heard of how you inspire loyalty in others...but to see it demonstrated so well..."

"Your people are welcome to join us Kinai, but we still want to meet your partners."

"Andi, have OPs find me stargates on this side of the galaxy." She said, looking at Samuels as she moved her hand over the far side of the image. "And get Chuck to throw up small settlements on the planets you choose. He can get the wood, stone and plastics he needs from Anchorage. We'll need shields too, so put that on the list."

"Sheppard, we'll need jumper pilots, so start getting them trained." She went on. "Any new jumpers coming out of the jumper plant will go to the new outposts as they come online."

"We're going to stop sending jumpers to Earth?" Samuels asked.

"We're going to put that on hold for a little while." Carter replied. "We've given them almost a hundred jumpers so far, and what have we gotten back? Nothing."

"We've go..."

"Stephen, I want at least one, preferably two Auroras stationed in the area we're talking about." She told him. "There aren't enough Wraith left in the galaxy to cause them a problem. If they're attacked in force, they can withdraw until we can get help to them."

"If we send two, we'll need to send a zone commander to..."

"I'll do it." O'Neill said.

"Jack?" Carter asked, taken aback. "I thought you said that was a young man's game..."

"Sitting in the big chair of a starship is a young man's game, but being a fleet commander requires someone with experience." He replied. "Besides, I didn't come here to sit on my ass, babysitting Geraan and Phinnar..."

"I need you on the station O'Neill." Larrin said. "If we're going to be training people, building ships..."

"It's going to be at least a month, if not longer, before they get any of this off the ground Larrin." O'Neill laughed. "We'll have plenty of time to get you setup and work out most of the kinks. I doubt if you'll need me after that."

"I want to go with you if you go Jack." Sandy said, then looked up at Carter.

"We'll need a spy master and an ambassador at large in that part of the galaxy." Carter said. "Find your replacement Lady Sandy, I doubt if Andi wants the intelligence services back."

"Not to be a complete downer when you appear to be having such a good time." Tammy said. "But does this mean that we're putting the emergency response systems on hold?"

"I don't know Tammy, I..."

"I agree that everything you've talked about is important Sam." Tammy said as she walked over and lifted Jacob from his baby pack.

"But so is he." She said as walked down the table and came to a stop in front of her, putting her free arm around her. "I'm holding the two most important people in the universe to me, and I want to know that you're both safe, and are going to be taken care of before we go running off to fix someone else's problems."

"You don't have to be so dramatic about it." Carter whispered as she put her arms around her.

"Apparently I did." Tammy laughed softly. "Go ahead and fix the galaxy sweetie, I want you to, but take care of our family first...please?"

(-)

Interior-Kitchen

1700 Hours

"The emergency response wasn't that ba..."

"Excuse me colonel, but I agree with Tammy." Cisco said as he got a coke from the fridge and popped the tab. "The whole thing was fubar. I don't think we could have screwed the pooch any worse if we had tried."

"You're both right." Tammy said as she filled her glass from the tap. "Things could have gone better, but the plan itself is a big part of the problem. There's no reason to have jumpers on site in thirty seconds, and why the hell do we need marines surrounding the building?"

"We talked to Sheppard and Samuels about that, and we're revising the plan." Cisco said, then took a sip from his coke. "There needs to be responses for different scenarios, not one all encompassing pl..."

"So you're handling it?" Carter asked, taking his drink from him and taking a sip.

"Ronin is on it." He said as he opened a cabinet and took down a glass, then filled it with ice. "He has an outline with half a dozen scenarios, with a breakdown of which department needs to do what. He surprised the shit out of me when he showed it to me."

He handed her the glass, then opened the fridge, but Carter stopped him.

"No, I don't want coke right now." She said, sitting the glass on the table then taking her seat. "Would you call down and have them send up some unsweet tea? Just have them send a pitcher..."

"You're not drinking coke? Are you feeling okay?" Tammy asked. "You haven't drunk anything else since I met you."

"I feel fine, I just want something different today." Carter told her.

"Okay, but you let me know if you feel any changes." Tammy said as she sat down. "The korathis may be working on you again and..."

Larrin and Kinai walked into the kitchen, and Carter smiled when she saw that Kinai had put the t-shirt she'd worn earlier back on.

"Are you naturally a tease?" she laughed, looking her up and down. "That t-shirt lets all your naughty bits hang out."

"I often wear less than this at home." Kinai smiled. "Other than my assistant, Simeon is the only one that enters my quarters."

"Well, wear what you want, just don't be surprised when the guys stare at that bare beaver." Tammy laughed.

"Do you think I could pull off that look?" Carter asked, smiling at her.

"No. That blonde bush stays where it is." Tammy said, giving her a stern look. "We can trim it if you want, but I like the way it looks and feels."

"Neesha and Durrin both prefer that I shave." Larrin said as she sat down.

"Can we change the subject please?" Cisco asked as he leaned against the counter.

"Sure, but you need to sit down Cisco." Carter said. "I don't like not being able to see you."

"Beer me before you sit down big boy." Larrin grinned, reaching up and holding her hand behind her.

"He is an attractive specimen." Kinai said softly. "He attracted my attention as soon as you entered the bar."

"So did you come home alone the other night?" Tammy asked him as she watched him open the fridge and hand Larrin a beer, then Kinai when she held her hand out.

"No my queen." He laughed as he came around the table and sat beside her. "I did as you so graciously instructed."

"Good." Carter muttered. "I was wondering if you ever got laid...you're not banging us any more."

"Again...can we change the subject?" Cisco asked, blushing slightly.

"If we have to." Carter laughed. She looked over at Larrin and Kinai. "What do you two want, or are you just hanging around?"

"I meant to ask if you wish to speak to the council." Larrin said. "You appeared upset when you heard that the fleet had been moved, and..."

"No, there's no point." Carter said. "Not until the vote is in and we see what your people are going to do."

"I'm pretty sure Andi has already spoken to Pharris, so it wouldn't surprise me if we heard from her." Tammy said.

They paused when they heard the elevator, and a woman stepped into the kitchen, bowing as she sat a pitcher on the table, then disappeared just as quickly.

"We should ask Andi to tell them that they can talk to us if they want." Carter grinned over at Tammy.

"I talk to Suria on the night shift all the time." Tammy told her. "She'll sit with me sometimes if I order something."

"As I said earlier, I will bring my clan into your service no matter what the rest of our people say." Larrin said. "The Travellers are dying, and are just now beginning to admit it to themselves. You are our best hope for survival."

"We knew things were bad, but didn't realize that is was that bad." Tammy said.

"The foodstuffs Pharris is producing in Anchorage are being distributed throughout the fleet. She keeps half for her clan, but shares the rest." Larrin said. "But food is not the problem. The lifeblood of the Travellers is being drained through every leaking pipe, broken conduit..."

"That space station will need a crew of more than a hundred thousand, and we'll want them drawn from all the Traveller clans, and our labor pool." Tammy said.

"Go get Angelo." Carter told Tammy. "We need that projector thing he does..."

"Okay, be right back."

"Kinai, you not only knew that Boris and Angelo were androids, but it sounded like you know quite a bit about them." Carter said as Tammy left the room.

"I have studied the ancients research on the subject, mainly to find a way to fight the replicators if they had come to parts of the galaxy we are in." Kinai said. "Your androids appear to be from a series that was produced well before the replicators."

"We know that, and both Tammy and I have studied the database about them, but we're guessing most of the time when we try something." Carter told her. "Fran, doctor McKay's android, is much more advanced than either of ours. She's the only one that has a personality profile."

"And you would like me to assist you in learning more about them?" Kinai asked. "The androids themselves would be your best resource on their abilities, but I would be happy to work with you on this."

"That's exactly what we would want you to do." Tammy said as she came back into the room with Angelo behind her. She pointed at the far end of the table and he walked around and sat in the chair at the end.

"We need a star chart, not just a picture of the galaxy." Carter said.

"Way ahead of you sweetie." Tammy muttered, tapping on her tablet as she sat down.

"Angelo, access the database and bring up a star chart of the Pegasus galaxy." She told him. "Project it, and send it to my tablet. Mark Atlantis and Anchorage positions, and accept verbal and visual input, and input from my tablet."

"Larrin, you know the most about what we're looking for." She said as she slid her chair over next to Sam's so they could both see her tablet. "Why don't you take over?"

Larrin got to her feet as Angelo projected an image of the star chart over the table, glancing down at him, then back up at the chart.

"Mark the position of the following stars." She said as she recited a long list. Bright green dots appeared as she spoke. "Now outline marked stars."

A yellow line appeared on the chart centered over the green dots. A narrow band was outlined, stretching from near the top of the image to just above the bottom. The band was narrower at the top, widened in the middle, then bulged out at the bottom.

"This is the current position of the Traveller fleet." She said, glancing down at Carter and Tammy. "But this information is more than a week old."

"It's close enough for our purposes." Carter said.

"You know all that off the top of your head?" Tammy asked. "You're smarter than I gave you credit for."

"Thank you." Larrin grinned, "But I have been studying star charts since I was a child, and receive periodic updates on the position of the fleet."

"Save current markings, and add the following list." She told Angelo. "Mark stars and outline in a different color."

A wider band of orange was highlighted on the chart, overlapping the yellow band, but extending further into the right side of the chart.

"This was the position of the fleet three months ago, before our patnership."

"Wow, they did move quite a ways toward us." Carter said. "And they're covering less volume."

"Yes, which is why my people now have a supply problem." Kinai said. She looked down at Angelo as she added, "Mark positions of the following coordinates." Then rattled off a long list.

Blue dots appeared all over the chart, but more than half of them were on the right side of the chart, well away from the yellow band marking the position of the Traveller fleet.

"These are the positions of Durrim Samar's facilities throughout the galaxy." Kinai said. "You can see for yourselves how the movement of the Traveller fleet has affected us."

"You did get fucked by that move." Tammy muttered.

"Yeah, and this is what we're going to do about it." Carter said, taking the tablet from Tammy and running her finger over the screen. A long, wide loop appeared on the chart, centered between the edge of the yellow band, and the right hand edge of the galaxy.

"This is going to be the territory of the Sammy clan." She said, looking over at Larrin. "We won't need as many ships, since our people will be planet based, and we'll ship through the stargates to the bases we establish. We can ship food and materials to any planet with a stargate directly from Atlantis. The Travellers can use Anchorage for now, but we'll be taking from there too once we get things organized."

"You are taking almost a third of the galaxy for yourself." Larrin said, looking at the chart.

"The Travellers don't want it, or else they wouldn't have moved away from there." Carter said. "And we'll be adjusting as conditions change. Once we start getting ships repaired, or new ships built, I'd like to see the Traveller fleet positioned like this."

She ran her finger over the tablet again, and a large box appeared in the center of the chart, extending from top to bottom, and taking up most of the center of the galaxy.

"The fleet hasn't been that extended for more than two thousand years." Larrin said. "But with new ships, and our older ones in better condition, we can easily cover that area."

"And you can cover the entire galaxy again, like I need you to." Carter said. "But the area I marked is for the Sammy clan. More than half of the Durrim Samar facilities are in that area, and we're going to keep them secret. I don't see any reason why that information needs to be shared with anyone."

"The Travellers already know the locations of many of our facilities." Kinai said.

"Some captains may, but that knowledge is not widespread." Larrin told her. "I agree with Samantha that those facilities be supplied by her clan. It will not require many ships."

"Can that area be supported by two hundred ships Larrin?" Tammy asked.

"Easily. It can be supported by the ones docked on the station, even though a quarter of them cannot carry enough cargo to make it worthwhile." Larrin replied. "But I think you should build at least two hundred of the Korenion class cargo ship Radik told us about. He said that could be done in year."

"And we already have ten of that class on the station." Carter said. "Would those ten be enough to support the Durrim Samar facilities for the time being?"

"Yes, if you place them near planets with a stargates, you could support them easily."

"There are stargates on worlds at these coordinates." Kinai said, then gave Angelo a list of numbers. White triangles appeared up and down the right side of the chart.

Carter got up and walked over to stand beside the map.

"So if we put a supply depot here, and here." She said, pointing out positions on the chart. "We can cover all of these facilities, and maybe start supplying other worlds at the same time."

"Or buying from other worlds." Larrin said. "Many worlds grow more than they consume, and are willing to trade. My people have arrangements with many of them."

"We could get away with putting one Aurora here." Tammy said as she came over and stood beside her. "Or if we decide to send two, put them here, and here."

"So we can send food and supplies from Atlantis, then start sending fresh food as we establish trade in the area." Carter said, then looked over at Larrin and asked, "How soon can you get those ten ships crewed up?"

"Two weeks? But I'd like at least three." Larrin said. "We can train people on the systems, but they will need time to move, become accustomed to the ships..."

"Good, I was afraid you would say one week, or even worse, a couple of days." Carter laughed. "We need to get Chuck started on putting up settlements, move jumpers..."

"So we have a plan." Tammy said, taking Sam's arm and leading her back to her seat.

"I have a taste for something hot and greasy." She grinned as she walked over to the comm. "Any of you have a preference?"

"Hot and greasy sounds good to me." Sam smiled.

(-)

Interior-Kitchen

1820 Hours

"God, that really hit the spot." Sam laughed as she pushed her plate away.

"It was an interesting taste." Kinai said as she rolled a french fry in a puddle of ketchup and popped it into her mouth. "Two different meats, the thick sauce...and the vegetables for a different texture. Is this dish native to your homeworld?"

"Bacon cheeseburgers." Tammy laughed. "They're considered junk food where we come from, but they're a hit with everyone we serve them to."

"I am not surprised." Kinai smiled as she rolled another fry in the ketchup. "But these food sticks, and this red sauce...I cannot stop eating them."

"I like how juicy the cheeseburgers are." Larrin said, wiping her mouth as she pushed her plate away. "We do not have foods that the juices run down your chin, and drip off your fingers."

"You're not eating them right, but as long as you enjoy them." Carter smiled.

"Enjoy them?" Tammy grinned, getting up to answer the comm. "She had three!"

"Tammy." She said as she hit the button on the comm.

"Yes maam." The guard replied. "Dr. Samuels, Lady Pharris, Master Bra'tac and Gen. O'Neill are requesting permission to come up."

"That's fine." She said as she turned and smiled at Kinai, taking the plates she was carrying. She sat them on the counter, then picked up her's and Sam's, stacking them with the others on the counter.

"I need to talk to Ronin and ask him to get us a keg of that Athosian ale." She said as she sat down. "That would have gone great with those burgers."

"It would, but a keg?" Sam laughed. "Do you have any idea how big a keg is?"

"Enough to last a couple of days?"

"You'll need at least a barrel." Larrin said, pointing behind Tammy. "You can put it on that counter over there, it won't stick out much."

"No way! The two of you will be drunk off your asses every night." Sam laughed.

"Three." Kinai said. "I love Athosian ale."

Samuels looked around as she stepped into the kitchen, smiling when she saw the dishes on the counter.

"Did we miss dinner?" She asked as she got glasses from the cabinet, handing them around.

"Yeah, but we can order you something if you'd like." Sam told her as she watched everyone get drinks, then move to seats around the table.