Aberrant: Stargate Universe - Fortifications

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

[Continued from Snake in the Garden: The Other Shoe]

Olivia was relieved that Hatchins seemed to take her threat seriously and didn’t follow her. That gave her more than a little pride, and she held her head higher as she walked – once she was safe in her room. She showered and went to breakfast, joining her team. Though she’d already eaten, it wasn’t hard to convince herself to get a plate of fruit and join them.

Thankfully, Hatchins wasn’t there anymore, and she relaxed. Olivia was more confident as she ate with her team; while they were there, she couldn’t be touched. But it was more than that: she’d stood up to him and let him know that he wasn’t in charge, not here. So she was feeling a little more fierce this morning than usual.

She remained quiet until after their daily activities; then she fell into step with Damien as they left the room they used for her afternoon lessons. “Have a moment, sir?” she asked quietly. Dread filled her gut; she’d never wanted to talk to him about this, but she didn’t have many options left. She needed her allies ready to go; Declan was ready. Now it was time to bring her commanding officer on board.

[Adrian Moss]

Something has gone wrong was the signal from his gut. His newfound senses were geared to the changing signals that people gave off. He couldnt' quite tell emotions most of the time, but he could detect highs and lows clearly enough.

"Sure thing Specialist," Caine said as he let his protective aura spread out to encompass her. He might sound formal, but his body langauge gave off the more primative 'One of mine' feel. No one had better move too close or he would turn out his aura further and become a vengeful guardian.

Damien scanned the crowd once, looking for trouble then focussed on his friend.

"Walk and talk, or do you want to go back to my office?"

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"Office," Olivia said simply, smiling at her commanding officer. He was there for her, as always, and in a better way than had they been lovers. She felt safe around him, and that feeling only increased as they walked the corridors together.

Once they were there and she was sinking into one of his chairs, he said, "What do you need?"

She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes. "What I'm about to tell you is... difficult. And it involves a bit of a story, but not one I want to go into. My reactions to large men... my fear of them, has roots in an attack on me from seven years ago." Her eyes dropped nervously, then fluttered shut. "I'd rather not go into the details, sir. But... there was more than one, and it was... awful."

She kept her eyes closed as she said, "I'm telling you this because I've wanted you guys to know what is... well, wrong with me for a while now. I thought you guys should know. It might impact an upcoming mission."

[Adrian Moss]

Damine nods. He knows how important Olivia's secrets can be to her core self. He gives her that space. Questioning would only pick at the scabs of wounds not healed.

"What can I do to help? Exactly how do you see this impacting our next mission since even I don't know what it is yet?"

"Something more is going on here. Usually you are much more concise in the information you feel I need to know. I'll take what you give me, but you haven't given me much to work with here."

His tone wasn't commander to subordinate, but friend to friend. If she could give more, she would. He felt it was necessary to tell her she wasn't firing on all cylinders though.

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"It's going to, it has to," she said softly. "It almost did this time. One of them... he... choked me," she said, shame and pain vivid in her voice. "Had the Unas grabbed me around the neck, I wouldn't have been able to hold it together." Her words were tumbling out quickly. "I would have lost it. I could have cost the team, big time. I'm working with Major Hawke and Declan both on this, but it's not an instant process."

She finally managed to look at him. "And sir, it'd be a liability for the team, too. You guys are all very protective of me. I mean, what if one of my attackers were within arm's length? Honestly, Damien... what would you do to him?" She kept her eyes on him, needing to know how much trouble he'd get himself into over her.

[Adrian Moss]

"One," Damien says very slowly, "I get to decide who is a liability on my team. That comes with the whopping big paycheck. Seriously, can you tell me your instincts are any more of a problem than Declan's - him and Red?"

"Sure, you weakness was almost exposed this time around. Next it might be my turn, or Gwyn's. If I thought you and your pain was a real threat, I would act on it. You are not going to get us killed, because you always, and I mean ALWAYS keep proving to yourself and me that you are stronger than anyone else thinks you are."

"So, you have a weakness. You know about it and are taking it on. It may take a long time. It may take a lifetime, but you won't quit. Whatever befell you before you became a Specialist, you are being honest with yourself about, am I right?"

"Now if one of these sons-of-bitches was within arms reach ... in a public place? One, we don't tell Declan; not yet. Gwyn will talk to them until he finds a quiet, out of the way to fall on them, or fly them up and drop them from orbit out at sea. Me - I would find a way to make the feel the way you felt, without anyone having to know about what you went through. Death is not good enough. They have to pay. That's my honest assessment of what we would do."

He crosses his arm studying Olivia nd disecting her tactical approach to situations. Some of the friendliness leaves his eyes, replaced by determination.

"Why do you ask?"

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"Because I need to know what you'd guys do," Olivia said, simply. "I'd need to know whether I'd even let you guys know if I saw one of them. I know that Declan and Red would tear him apart, but I wasn't sure how you or Gwyn would react."

She paused a moment and collected her thoughts. "I'm not sure I'd like any of your plans," she said softly. "I've been through all kinds of hell, and after a while, you lose the taste for even seeing others hurting. I don't want to see the men who attacked me dead or hurt. Jailed, maybe. But mostly, I just want to be left alone." She tilted her head, looking at him closely. "Is this something that can be done? Can our team restrain themselves? Or if I pointed one of them out on the streets, would he disappear soon after?"

[Adrian Moss]

Damien nods and his eyes soften.

"You have a good point. The critical thing is that we protect you, not get revenge to salve our male egos. We would like to hurt them, but you come first - always."

He grins,

"If you ever see one of these guys, point him out. He won't disappear, but I want to know who this person is. Once a sexual predator, always a sexual predator. It's a sickness for which I know of no certain cure."

"You have to accept that if they would hurt you again then it all of our problems. Then it is something you are going to have a hard time dealing with ... and besides, the bastards hurt you and now they don't get a third shot, sorry."

"Listen Livy, the best thing I can tell you is that I will protect you as much as you let me. I'm here for me when you need reinforcing, moral support, or bones broken. I can think through these problems much better than I used to. Not having the strength of Declan or Gwyn, I have to be more clever, just like you. Don't be afraid to borrow some of my clever."

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia was afraid to tell him, afraid that his desire to protect her would decide that bloodshed would do the best job, but she had little choice. Declan already knew his name, and in time, he'd run into him. And there was no way Red wouldn't recognize him as a fellow predator. "The one who did all the talking, the one who... was first," she said, unable to look at Caine again, "his name is Carl Hatchins. USAF Sergeant Hatchins, and he's just been stationed here." She smiled, and it was a little hard for Damien to see the fragile emotions that accompanied that expression. "I already had breakfast with him. I hope that our little chat will keep him from being dumb."

She gathered herself and said, "So you see why I asked my prefacing questions, now. I don't want anyone to get themselves in trouble. Not over me."

[Adrian Moss]

Damien couldn't stop himself, he stepped forward and gave Olivia a long hug, pulling her close to him and resting his chin on the top of her head. He lets her go and steps back.

"Gave him a piece of your mind, didn't you? You stood up to him. You didn't run away and come straight to one of us. First coup in the struggle for you, Livy."

"I'll pull up his personel file and look it over so I can recognize it, but that's all. I want to be aware of his schedule so you don't have to run across him if you don't want to. I'll take care of that right now."

Caine walks around the desk and accesses his computer.

"We are going to corner Declan in his quarters and tell him the news. No way he is going to be surprised by this and shoot straight to Red. That's how we handle him."

"We tell Gwyn the same story. They need to know what this guy looks like and make sure he doesn't corner you somewhere, or start following you around. They guy is a creep and get's treated like one."

"As long as he doesn't cross the line ... well, we wait until the thug in him can't take it anymore and he has to act. Gwyn and I will start carrying earpieces so that you can contact us at any time."

"Here it is. Come around and make sure this is the bastard."

She did and she barely contained her shudder.

"He's a tough son of a bitch. Two tours in Afghanistan before transfered to the SGC. I wonder were he'll get assigned. Whatever SG team he is assigned to may be a problem. This kind of maggot is a poison to whatever troops he's put with."

"Trust him to scope out areas you go around. He may try to find out your work schedule. Until we can catch him at something work at not being alone."

Damien sighs.

"What more can I do for you?"

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"This is more than I expected, honestly," she said, returning to her seat. She was more glad than ever that she and Caine had never become lovers. How did you have this conversation with someone you were this intimate with? She didn't know - didn't even know how she'd even begin to break this to Vinny.

He'd see it, even if Declan didn't. He'd understand that she was spoiled goods. And once Declan felt better about himself, he'd see it, too. Of course, Caine didn't know the full story. He didn't know she hadn't fought back, that she'd just taken it. And she really didn't want to let him know, either.

"I'll do all that," she said to him, nodding. "Anything else? Oh, and, uh... what about sleeping? I mean... alone. In my room." She was fighting a blush at that question.

[Adrian Moss]

Damien looked up at her,

"Is there someone you can sleep with for a few days? I mean one of the female specialists?"

He looks forward somewhat embarrassed.

"Hey ... this is odd. Hatchins is full-time Air Force, but he should have been promoted above Staff Sergeant by now. The reason isn't on his profile, but ...."

"He's done security work, but here he has been assigned to the Quartermater's Corp. Weird for a combat specialist but ... how did he get in here?"

Caine looks back up,

"Livy, who knows about this guy and you? I mean, what are the odds? With his record he should never have been assigned to the SGC. No way," he says as he sees more. "His record has all kinds of minor infractions. He'd have to be a specialist to get in with his folder and he's no specialist. No, someone pulled some strings to bring him here."

After a moment,

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia felt a sense of dread. Someone else knew. "No one else knew but the three other men... myself... and Bill." Olivia finally looked like she might cry.

"Who's Bill?" Caine asked gently.

Click to reveal..

"You fuck!" she shouted the second she recovered, trying to get up. He grabbed her and yanked her back down into the seat. His hand closed over her throat and Livy froze as the violence became serious.

"I'm not done with my story," he said calmly.

"Bill," she whispered, looking to her boyfriend, her eyes pleading.

He left the room without a sound, heading for the balcony.

"He, uh... he abandoned me," she said, her voice thickening with tears. She stopped and bit them back angrily. Hatchins had hurt her, but Bill had betrayed her. Hatchins had been a stranger, but Bill had said he loved her. "He was my boyfriend. He had Hatchins and his friends over, then... he left the room. When they... you know."

She looked at the far wall. "If someone wanted to know how to hurt me, it'd be easy to find out we were connected. We shared a lease, for a time. And he's proven he's a coward once."

[Adrian Moss]

Caine leaned back inh is chair.

"Bill, you just made the List," he murmured. "Sorry Livy, thinking with the caveman brain."

He leans back a little farther, smiling,

"You do realize what this means though? This means Hatchins is nothing but a tool, Livy. He's a pawn in someone else's game. He's an expendable little git and nothing more. He probably doesn't even know yet that he's being used ... like ... well, I'm not sure how to best categorize this kind of vermin."

Damien turns to face Olivia, that warm confident smile on his face. His confidence is infectious. After all, Olivia has three, no four, specialists in her camp and he is alone.

"He's not a man. Men dont' treat women like this. They don't need to beat down others to feel good about themselves. Hatchin's is weak and you will find a way to exploit that weakness and he won't even expect it of you. He hasn't a clue what you are capable of while you've survived all his tricks. He's the one who should be worried."

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"I said as much to him," Olivia said, trying to regain control. "And that 'list' stuff is exactly what I was talking about. Why do men think it's ok to do violence? All it does it bring more pain and trauma, no matter how much it may be deserved." Olivia looked distraught as she said, "It doesn't change what happened. And... I loved him, once." She looked at Damien. "I know that shouldn't matter after what he did to me."

She looked away, her expression miserable. After a second, she pulled her misery in; Damien saw her swallow all that pain and pressure away. "Alright, so Hatchins was sent here for a reason; he just didn't get a transfer. Damien, based on your military history, who has that kind of pull that would be interested in using him... for something." She frowned. "Am I the target here?"

He could tell the thought bothered and scared her, and she was trying not to think though.

[Adrian Moss]

Click to reveal..

Intelligence+Command roll: Last dice a Mega - (16:08:48) ChatBot: (Thomas) rolls 9d10 and gets 4,3,3,8,10,9,1,5,10.
(16:09:02) ChatBot: (Thomas) rolls 2d10 and gets 10,3.
(16:09:09) ChatBot: (Thomas) rolls 1d10 and gets 1 = 7 successes!

Damine barely seems to think at all, but Olivia knows that a powerful mind is rapidly going over all he knows.

"The IOA. They have the pull, they have the motive, and O'Neil said they would operate in this manner."

Does no one consider what happens when they drop a rapist in her amongst us? I bet they have, bastards.

"Bad news, he's not going anywhere until he screws up. When he does screw up expect something to fall on us full force to make the matter drop."

"Good news, we know who they are and they have a flawed tool. They have no conception of who we are, what we are, and how we operate."

The Major stands up and puts a hand on Livy's shoulder.

"No vengeance. No missing bodies gone forever. This is an Action. He has made himself our enemy and we deal with him as such. We only do what's necessary. I understand were you are coming from and I agree. Hurting this guy because we can is no way to operate."

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

He can’t stay here. I can’t have him here. But Olivia even as she pleaded silently, she knew this was where he was staying. She just couldn’t be alone until they were sure he was safe. Of course, if he did try something, it mean the waiting was over and they could get him out of here that much sooner.

It'd be hard, but she thought she could do it. He wouldn't have hardly any time, not once she called for help. She shook away the thought of turning herself into bait. It was an idea, but only a matter of last resort.

Olivia nodded at Damien's words. "Do... should we tell General O'Neill that we suspect that he's an IOA spy? Can we do that without telling him about... everything? I mean, he should know, shouldn't he?"

She didn't want him to know; people treated her differently after they learned. She couldn't imagine O'Neill being anything but uncomfortable with this; she couldn't even imagine telling him about it. He wasn't Damien or Gwyn or even Declan. She didn't want to tell him about it.

[Adrian Moss]

"I can't tell him enough without it coming back to you. Besides, he must know he's IOA. One look at his personnel file would make that clear. Like us, there's not much he could do. Being IOA isn't enough, nor is your word about what a scumbag he is."

"It sucks, but only after the fact can we kick IOA in the balls on this one. Given a chance, we can find Bill and make him tell us what he told them, so we can use that against the IOA, proof that they KNEW what they were unleashing on the people here."

"I know this is being hard on you, but that is their exact intention - to make you squirm and suffer. They don't care how much because they want to make an example for the rest of us Specialists. That's my bet on how this situation is layed out. This it totally deliberate intimidation by rape."

There, he had used the R-word. As horrific as using it around Livy was the sad realization that their oversight group was willing to do this to keep them in line ... and he saw this backfiring horribly.

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia flinched at the word and then shook her head. One thing that Caine couldn't know is that Olivia had never used that word to describe what had happened that night. Even in her own private musings about it has never included the word 'rape'. "They can't intimidate you or Declan this way," she said, her voice tight with pain. "It won't teach the other specialists a lesson because they're not weak like me."

Her head was still shaking back and forth, denying something, maybe many things. "This is pointed at me, Damien." And if they offered her a job again in exchange for taking him away, she might not be able to stop from taking it. "Thankfully, they can't do this to anyone else."

[Adrian Moss]

"You? Why does it have to be you being so special? Livy, listen to yourself. Think about people you've met here and talked to. We all have weaknesses that can be exploited to harm us. Declan's obvious. I have a Father, step-Mother, and step-sister all whom I care about. Gwyn ... well, I haven't delved into Gwyn's past, but I'm sure there are things there he would like to keep in the past, or people he would protect."

"Stop beating yourself up. YOU ARE NOT WEAK ... because if you are then I am too. I'm no supers-soldier like I need to be. I'm the third best warrior on my team - third. You think that doesn't bother me at times?"

"I don't let myself dwell on what I can't do, or who has to cover up for my weaknesses. I look for the things I can do to cover other people's weaknesses and were I can excel. You are the same way as me. You will find your niche and grow into it. It may take time, but don't push it. Don't go crazy becasue you are afraid of your weaknesses. Believe you are the smartest person on this base and own it."

He waves one hand while reaching out and touching her hand with another.

"Olivia, I believe in me. If I felt you were a weakness to the team, or were weak in some other way, I would have told you by now. Hell, who besides yourself tells you that you are weak? Don't let him chose to fight were you are weak and he is strong. You don't have to because you know were you are stronger. Use that."

"After all, if I had to take on Gwyn, I wouldn't do it with a knife. I'd trick him into going airborne and whip out a Stinger on his ass. Going toe to toe is his fight."

"In your case, I can't quite figure out how to beat you. Normally I have you seeing its coming and acting appropriately."

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Caine didn't see it either. Why didn't they see it? Why did they always insist on telling her how strong she was even when it should be clear that she wasn't? Long experience - and fights - had taught her that the men who took this stance wouldn't change their minds. So she just nodded and said, "I'll find ways to not be alone... should we pull Gwyn in now?"

[Adrian Moss]

Click to reveal..

Wits+Rapport:Last one Mega (22:32:39) ChatBot: (Thomas) rolls 9d10 and gets 1,10,3,3,8,9,10,6,1 = 4 successes

She didn't see it in herself. No matter how much she improved herself, it would never be enough. She wouldn't be happy unitl she was as fast or faster than anyone she had to face. Strength had been used against her to hurt her and now that seemed to be all that mattered. There would be no success until she could push away those fingers around her neck herself.

"Let's pull in Gwyn now. I'll call him to my office."

Damien put out the call to the intercom service for Specialist Jones. Now they had to wait.

[Rorx]

The call caught Gwyn during his afternoon alien tech discussions with Dr Lee, although today it was actually Major Carter discussing the Naqudah generators and their development and variations. Despite that he was at Major Caines office in only the 5 minutes it took to walk there.

Seeing Olivia there and the vibes he could pickup off the two of the it was obvious something no good was up.

"Major, Doc, I suppose my first questions has to be whether this is about Sergeant Hatchins, the IOA or perhaps both?"

Click to reveal..

Wits + Rapport roll for Olivia's and Caines state on arrival

5dice

(03:52:40) ChatBot: (Gwyn_Jones) rolls 5d10 and gets 10,2,8,7,9.

4 sux

[Adrian Moss]

The surprise on Caine's face is barely visable, but his look becomes serious.

"Both. How have you figured out so much so fast, and why do you think Hatchins is a plant? Mind you, I havent' met the man, but he's come to my attention. By the way, you will take no action against him unless you directly catch him breaking regulations, no matter what you may learn about him. I'm about containing him and let him hang himself if that's his choice."

[Rorx]

"Luck to a large degree. Early this morning after I finished a swim I went to the cafe for a coffee and a couple of doughnuts before I headed back to my room. As I was getting my stuff I saw the Doc here getting up from a table she had been sharing with someone I didn't recognise, and I could see she was agitated."

Gwyn shrugs at Olivia before continuing, "So I went over and introduced myself to one Staff Sergeant Carl Hatchins, newly arrived from a combat team in Afghanistan and yet assigned to the quartermasters here and no idea what the SGC is other than some guff about deep space astronomy. To me this stank to high heaven. A combat guy would go into the teams or a security detail not quartermasters, unless he shouldn't be here at all and was hence a plant by someone. Since the IOA had a go at Olivia recently it seemed most likely that they would be behind it."

He looks from one to the other, "So what has he done against the Doc, presumably in the past since he hasn't been here much more than a day yet. By the way I don't think he will accept what we do here very well, and he sure isn't going to like the idea of us Specialists. He is too rooted in the idea of him being the big man, I doubt he could really cope with realising how small he really is."

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"I know him." Olivia's voice was tense. "He was responsible for an attack on me, about seven years ago." She was getting tired of telling the story, already. And she hadn't even gotten to Vinny or Declan - technically, Declan already knew.

Vinny... She thought about the strange conversation they were having and sighed - she still owed him a reply. She'd forgotten about it in the 'joy' of finding Hatchins was here. She couldn't tell him about that, though. He'd do something rash.

"We need to be careful about cornering him," Olivia said softly, her thoughts far away from the room. "He seems like the kind who will have a bad reaction, and while he may not lash out at me, he might choose a... softer target, like Dr. Frasier or Major Carter."

[Adrian Moss]

That option didn't leave Caine any happier.

"Well, I can't get close to him," Damien admitted. "Gwyn, you might be able to remain someone he confides in, if you don't push the matter. This kind of creature doesn't get were he has because he's incautious. He's a real piece of work and he can use any of us if we let him. I don't want to give him the opportunity."

"If he goes after Fraiser or Carter ... we'll deal with this. Olivia, I would like your permission to beat around the bush with Major Carter. She may very well have insights that I have missed, being too close to you."

"I would like to also warn the other team leaders that Hatchins is with the IOA. That much we can do."

Seeing Livy hurting like this was hard to take. The warrior in him wanted to strike and strike hard. That was a good way to strip away any protection others had though. Wasting the bastard would be one final victory for that filth. Fight smart and they would win. Hatchins would mess up. He had to.

[Rorx]

Gwyn shakes his head at the two, "You're crediting him with too much power or ability. The guy is a bully, he gets his kicks out of exerting power and control over others, and he will hate it if people are doing the same to him. Frasier and Carter are too high profile and have too much power of their own as head of a Dept and Carter's rank and position on SG-1 to be targets for him. He is more likely to go for a supply clerk or someone like that. Someone he can more easily exert power over and who might think twice about trying to report him."

Gwyn paces slightly in the confined space of the office as he continues, "He is not going to be happy when he finds out about the Specialists because the IOA have kept him so completely in the dark about the real situation here. He is going to know that he could never really exert power over a Specialist either physically or within the organisation. My bet would be he tries to get out of the SGC as soon as he can once he finds out about us Specialists, first through channels and then possibly just going AWOL if he thinks his position and how he has been used by the IOA is bad enough."

He stops suddenly and turns to the others blushing slightly, "Sorry, I had a psychologist girlfriend for a while and got to that section of the library last week. But I'm still confident of my reading of his personality type."

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"I'm not, Gwyn," Olivia said softly. "I don't mean any offense, but a former girlfriend in the field and a read-through of some texts don't give anyone a complete understanding of something as complex as the human mind. Personality types are not set in stone, and one conversation over breakfast when both parties are being coy isn't enough for a detailed reading. I can at least say I spent a few hours with him, even if it was several years ago. I'm pretty sure I saw the real Hatchins that night." She tried to say that calmly, and wasn't sure how much she succeeded. "I don't think he'll bolt when he realizes he's in trouble; I think he'll hunker down and find a way to turn it to his advantage. If he goes AWOL, he loses everything. So long as he doesn't think his life or liberty are in danger, he'll feel he has a chance. Even if he doesn't, he's arrogant enough to think he does.

"And I think we should give him a supposed advantage," Olivia said, her mind starting to work as shock finally disappeared. "Let me lay out an idea; you probably won't like it. We tell the general that the new guy tripped our instincts. We don't tell him about the personal stuff. One look at the guy's record will tell General O'Neill the same thing it told us; that someone put him here, that he never earned a place here. We then propose to the general to turn him into a double agent. We feed him what we want IOA to know. He won't be able to give us much about IOA in return, but as a member of the Quartermaster's Corp, he won't be able to give them much either. But his being a spy was never their goal.

"It makes Hatchins think he's in a position of power," Olivia said. "Even if he tells the IOA what we've done, which is unlikely because it will erode his power, they have to know that'll we'll figure it out. He's a pawn, and he'll know that soon enough. If we give him back some small power, we can use him."

She felt a little sick thinking like that, but part of her couldn't help but think that Hatchins deserved all this and more. "The goal here is to make me say uncle; to get me to agree to spy for them if they'll make him disappear. But I'm not saying uncle, so let's make the best of this, and make it work for us."

[Adrian Moss]

"That could work. It keeps him close so we can keep an eye on him without him understanding our real motivations. I can bring this to the General. Who gets the 'instinct tick'? Might as well be me unless someone wants it. Beyond that, I can recommend it to the General and have him give me the go-ahead to turning him into a double agent."

"I'm not underestimating him, but I think I can do it. Once he becames a double agent, we slowly work it so we are close to him without him noticing. We want him to fuck up so that he is a liability to the IOA and they take him away."

Damien nods to Olivia.

"This can work."

[Rorx]

Gwyn shrugs, "I never claimed to be an expert, so I'm happy to be ignored. However Major I think I would be better having the 'tick' as I actually spoke to him and worked it out from that before you called me in here. Indeed I was going to raise it with you after dinner tonight. We could both go to the General as I brought it to you and you checked his record which confirmed it for us etc."

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"I agree with Gwyn," Olivia said, nodding. "He's already made friendly contact with Hatchins. And I plan to stay out of view of this as much as possible. Dec'd be a bad choice, so it's to you two alone.

"Gwyn has another ace he can use," Olivia added, looking at her teammate with a hint of excitement in her voice. The delight of solving a problem was overcoming her distress. "Gwyn, you can play up being disgruntled with me - not a lot, but remarks about how I'm nosing into your research. If you play up me being a meddling woman, just a little, it might get Hatchins to open up to you a bit. That's if we want to go the low-key route and play him casually as a double-agent - he starts getting info just for Gwyn, he thinks. And then you can court-martial him for treason later."

Olivia was a little surprised that she felt such satisfaction over the thought of him facing a military court. She was sure that it would only be for a fraction of his crimes, but treason was about as bad as it got.

"Or," she asked, looking at the two men with more experience in these matters, "is it still treason when he's selling to another branch in the same government?"

[Adrian Moss]

"Not it's not, Livy," Caine says glumly. "He's operating in a legitmate capacity with the IOA which is allowed to have oversight for us."

"Gwen remains his friend then and goes to the General with me. We don't lie to the General, just use what you figured out on your own ... which you might not have done without your Specialist talents."

"I'm uncomfortable in keeping Livy in the forefront of his mind, but it makes sense and its a weakness for him. For this to become a success we need him to mess up and in a way we can break him with."

[Rorx]

"I'm all in favour of giving him enough rope to hang himself. I've already told him I'd talk to him again about the details of how come I'm hee after he's had his breifing on what the SGC is."

He turns to the Major, "Could you find out what his schedule is and when he has that briefing. Actually it would be good to know if it covers the Specialists as well."

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

"Yeah," Olivia said, a little deflated from learning that what he was doing was immoral, but not illegal. She made a note to look up the Code of Military Justice. She should probably learn this stuff if she was going to have to be dealing with it in the future. "I'd particularly like to know his duty schedule. It'll make it a lot easier to avoid him - or if we need to rile him up a bit using me."

She looked from teammate to teammate. "Are we ready to try to be Declan in now?" Another thought occurred and Olivia added, "Damien, if we take this off-base, we can tell everyone on the team all the things they need to know." She willed him to realize she meant telling Gwyn about Red.

[Adrian Moss]

"Okay, I going to run you through a training op. I want you to select four people - one old timer, two mid-timers, and one new-timer who are elements of an intelligence cell. The more data you prepare me, the more life-like my Op will be. It's going to ber a lot of work, gaining date on whomever you pick for us to create into this hostile time ... and its all legal."

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia blinked and worked through what Caine had said. She'd heard of wargames before, but she was startled to find that they were based on intel. She'd never been asked to do something like this, and she started to ask why, when she caught what he wanted.

He wanted her to gather data about four members of SGC in a mock-wargame, and one of them had to be someone who'd been here less time than she had. And it was perfectly legal.

"Right," she said, her heart starting to pound as she considered who to choose. She immediately discarded the idea of using Vinny; that wasn't the way she wanted to learn about him. Daniel came to mind next; his intellect should make him a force to be rivaled, plus his access to the upper echelon made him dangerous. The two in the middle should be Specialists, to assess their unique threat. The consideration of 'threats' made her think of Declan immediately, and adding Steve Courier was natural as well. He claimed that computers forgot him, which would make assessing this threat level difficult. And then the new man would be one Sergeant Hatchins.

"Not a problem, sir," she told Caine. "How long do I have?"

[Adrian Moss]

Caine smiled at this. His basic concept, but with a team mate running the permeters. I wanted it over breakfest," he says with some pride, "but since I didn't think of it then, I will have to be satisfied with 1130 Standard time. I would like to show this to the General before he finishes Dinner ...

[z-Olivia Jenings-Izumi]

Olivia's jaw dropped, right before she stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Typical brass, just like at Area 51 - they dropped an assignment in your lap with no concept of how long it would take to get the damn thing typed up, much less properly done. "Right," she said. "I can get you a preliminary report by then, but if you like something really detailed, I'll need at least a day. Or a week."

She reminded herself that Caine probably hadn't meant the same kind of report that she did. "Damien, I need to back up just a bit - how big and detailed did you want this report to be?"

[Adrian Moss]

"Oh, this is has got to be enough to me get in front of O'Neil's face, not the String Theory Bible. We can put forward an Actioniable account for the end of the week, and that will allow us to run operationsn against specified people. End of the month for you to have something we can work with and haver ready for whoever will do the final data analysise of this excercise. Livy, you set up the time table you want this to run on. The greater the set up, the longer the operation will run."

"Since this is your first operational intelligence excercise you've worked on, do you want me to help out? I have nothing on my desk that can't wait until late night. I would be happy to pitch in ... off the books."