Chapter 13-Teyla’s Interview
Gibbs watched his next interviewee enter the room with a quiet grace. She walked confidently up to him and extended her hand.
“I am Teyla Emmagan of the Athosians.” She gave him a small smile as she shook his hand.
“Special Agent Gibbs,” he replied politely. “Did Dr. Weir explain why we’re doing this interview?”
Teyla nodded. “Yes, but I would appreciate your explanation as well. Elizabeth said that you are here to find information on Aiden for his family, but John… Colonel Sheppard disagrees. He is under the impression that you are on a… ‘witch hunt’ was the phrase he used.”
Gibbs wasn’t quite sure where to start with this woman… this ‘alien’ woman. Her reports were clearly written and detailed, but hadn’t seem to display the personality of the person writing them. They felt too formal. However, watching her as she approached, he could see that he had misread the personality in the reports. This woman matched the formal, confident tone he had identified. Perhaps it was her perspective that was throwing him off. As an alien human working closely with the Earth humans, she would see events from a slightly different angle… And that difference might be enough to help.
“Alright.” Gibbs nodded and gestured to the chair on the opposite side of the table. “Are you familiar with how Earth has deemed that all information about this expedition is ‘classified’?” He asked first, trying to find common ground as a starting point.
“Yes. John has explained that few people on your planet are privy to knowledge of Atlantis.” She said as she sat down. As she fixed her gaze on him, Gibbs was reminded of his Second Grade teacher and he resisted the urge to squirm a bit.
“Very few. I was unaware of this posting until I was selected to represent the lieutenant’s family as their advocate. Lt Ford’s family does not have clearance. I will review the facts of the case and to talk to everyone involved on behalf of the family, as their representative. When I’m done, I will go back to the lieutenant’s family and tell them what I can about what happened; about how he lived, fought, and how he went missing. I’m not here to point fingers or place blame on anyone. This is not a criminal investigation,” Gibbs stated firmly.
She slowly nodded her understanding. “Then you may ask your questions, Special Agent Gibbs.”
Gibbs returned her smile, liking her elegant style. “What do you recall about the events after Lt Ford’s behavior changed due to the Wraith enzyme?”
Teyla considered her answer before carefully explaining what she remembered from her encounter with the lieutenant in Dr Weir’s office. Her words are almost an exact repetition of her reports. She had minimal contact with Ford in her encounters on both Atlantis and on P3M-736. The only time she had any prolonged contact with Ford after he had changed was when the lieutenant had taken them hostage.
Teyla stopped her narration and closed her eyes for a moment. “My mind was clouded for most of that last mission with Aiden. I knew that what I was doing was not right, but… I found it hard to care. While I was taking the drug, I agreed with Aiden. I understood him and his goals sounded reasonable. Now, free of the drug and its influence on my mind, I can see how flawed his plans were. How his plan to convince us was flawed.
She turned back to Gibbs and looked him directly in the eyes. “Ultimately, Aiden wanted to prove himself… to us and your military, but mostly to Colonel Sheppard. With Colonel Sumner’s death, John and Aiden were both thrust into positions that they were unprepared to take. Both of them succeeded in filling their new roles, but Aiden always felt that he had to prove himself, especially to John; to prove he was a worthy second in command. As a warrior, he had been tried and tested in one of your Earth battles. But as a leader he was untried, and he didn’t trust himself. So, he looked to John. The drug amplified his feelings of insecurity. It turned his self-doubt to mistrust.”
“Aiden was my friend and fought by my side as a fellow warrior. I owe him my life several times over. If there is a chance he is alive, I owe it to him and his family return him to his people.” She looked down and her hands; clasped carefully in her lap. “However, I do not believe that Aiden escaped the destruction of the hive ships. I have mourned him as a fallen warrior and a lost friend.”
“Do you believe that the lieutenant would have come home with you, if he had been able?” Gibbs asked carefully.
Teyla frowned thoughtfully. “No. As long as he was taking the drug, he would doubt his friends on Atlantis. It would cloud his judgment as it clouded mine. I know that John was able to talk to Aiden when the drug’s influence had waned. Perhaps, if Aiden had not taken more of the drug, he would have followed the colonel to our cell and together we could have made our escape.” Teyla looked up and smiled sadly, “But he did not and I am left to mourn my friend. I wish I could have done more for him… to convince him that we wanted him home… that he could trust us.”
Gibbs briefly fought the urge to console her before uttering a quiet, “Thank you, Ms. Emmagan. That’s all I have for now.”
“Special Agent Gibbs?” Teyla asked politely as she rose from her seat.
“Yes?”
“Perhaps you could share your findings with Colonel Sheppard… to reassure him that he did everything possible,” Teyla gave him a conservative, polite face.
Gibbs examined her closely as he considered her request. “Is there any particular reason I should do that?” He intended to share his findings with the Atlantis Command Staff, including LtCol Sheppard. But he was curious about the reasons.
Teyla ducked her head briefly. “Colonel Sheppard is a good man. Aiden’s disappearance has been hard for him to accept. Perhaps… your report will allow him to mourn Aiden’s loss.”
Gibbs considered her for a moment longer and nodded his acceptance. “Very well.”
“Thank you.” Teyla bowed her head in thanks briefly, and left the room.
--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG—SG
Jon looked up as Gibbs entered the team’s lab. Jon didn’t think that Gibbs could look more frustrated. Considering that he had completed his interview with Teyla Emmagan and then followed it with Ronan Dex… well, dealing with aliens, even the human kind, could turn your perceptions sideways and give you a screaming headache. After all these years, Jon still couldn’t tell when Teal’c was teasing him or being serious. “Hey, Boss. Fun interview?”
Gibbs send him a quick searing glance before making his way to the corner he had claimed as his work space and dropped the files he carried. “No.”
Jon smirked. “You gotta love the aliens… They have no appreciation for subtext.”
Jon heard a disgruntled snort as his only response.
“So… anything new?” Jon asked.
“No. Ms. Emmagan was very concise in her reports and Mr. Dex really didn’t have much to do with the lieutenant, even on that last mission. He just followed Sheppard’s lead and kicked ass when directed.” Gibbs sat down and considered his next move. “No, what we really need is to get Sheppard to open up.”
“What about Beckett?” Jon suggested.
“What about him? I watched the discussion between Abby and Dr Beckett. I’m confident that Abby understands his science and I didn’t see anything that would warrant another interview. The doctor was open and honest about his findings and how he got them.” Gibbs considered the information again. “No. I can’t think of any follow up questions for him. Why?”
Jon reconsidered. “I was just thinking that he is the only member of the Atlantis Senior Staff that you haven’t interviewed. And he seemed a bit… preoccupied by the failure of his retrovirus research when Abby and I went to visit him. ”
“I noticed. But he perked up and focused on Abby and the enzyme research when they started to talk about his results.” Gibbs shook his head, “No. That won’t help us.”
The door to the lab opened and Abby bounced in. “Gibbs, Johnny Boy!” she greeted them with a cheer. “I can’t believe some of the cool stuff they have here. Man, this whole city is built out of cool stuff.” She turned to Gibbs, “They have this alien gizmo that can sequence DNA in like 3 seconds flat. I’m serious, it is so cool. It can even cross reference DNA. I HAVE to have one.”
Gibbs chuckled while Jon just smiled. “Sorry, Abs. But when we get back, you’ll just have to settle for the human technology... Earth human,” Gibbs qualified quickly.
“BUT GIBBS!” she whined.
Gibbs just gave her an amused shake of his head.
“Alright, but if something happens to end up in my luggage, it’s not my fault.” She said with a mischievous smile.
“Of course not,” he replied evenly.
Jon was struck by the image of Walter going over her bags with an alien gizmo detector as Abby looked on innocently.
“That’s it!” Jon suddenly leaned over his computer console and started opening one of the reports. “I knew we were missing something. It’s been bugging me for ages.” He hit a few more controls and started to scan Colonel Caldwell’s report on the hive ship encounter.
Gibbs and Abby joined him at the computer. “What are we looking for?” Abby asked as she read the report over his shoulder.
Jon continued to scan the report as he absently responded. “Locator beacons. I remember reading about the Daedalus scanning the hive ship for the team’s location for a beam out.”
“Yeah. They couldn’t get a lock through the Wraith countermeasures… Dr McKay said something about the frequency used by the beacons being too close to the frequency used by the Wraith shields…” Abby replied as she scanned the report with more diligence.
“And…” Gibbs prompted them.
Jon stopped scanning the report and turned to face Gibbs. “The personal locator beacons are sub-dermal and about the size of a grain of rice. Colonel Caldwell scanned the hive ships looking for SGA-1, but did they scan the debris field after the explosion?”
Abby’s eyes lit up. “You’re right. Once the ships were destroyed, he should have been able to detect the locator beacons.”
Gibbs shook his head. “No. The report said that they didn’t bother with a scan because everything in the blast radius was destroyed.”
Jon nodded and cocked his head to one side. “Ships, yes. People, probably. But the locator beacon should be small enough to survive as debris. So, while the ships were destroyed, we should be able to search the debris field for Ford’s locator beacon. If we find it, we know that he died on the hive ship. If we don’t find it, then it is remotely possible that Lt Ford survived to fight another day.”
“Okay. Assuming this is a valid theory, what do we need to check out the debris field?” Gibbs asked
Jon considered the question. “We will need Lt Ford’s beacon ID and a ship capable of detecting the signal. The Daedalus can do it, but they are returning to Earth tomorrow. Let me see if one of the jumpers will work.” He turned back to computer and worked for a few minutes while Abby continued to scan the report. “Yes. As long as we have the code, we can scan the debris using the jumper’s scanners.”
“Good.” Gibbs said with a nod of approval. “That gives me an idea. Get your gear, Probie. You and I are going on a field trip. Abby, get those beacon IDs. I’m going to arrange our ride.”
--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG--SG—SG
TBC
5
Finding Closure von Rocza
Kapitel Bemerkung: Gibbs interviews Teyla and Jon makes a discovery.
Kapitel Abschlussbemerkung: Okay, it didn't take a week. But I don't plan on making rapid turn around a habit. Next up - Field Trip.
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