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�Oh, Samantha, I�m so sorry,� John whispered. �I�m so, so sorry.�
Four people sat around a table in the Commissary, all with coffee cups in hand, various foods filling their individual trays. The Scot had a sandwich and some kind of soup, though even he didn�t know what it was, exactly. One of the Americans had a salad and an extremely large brownie sitting next to each other�the brownie had more missing from it than the salad did. The other American had a turkey sandwich, a personal luxury that he had not been afforded for several months. And the Canadian had heaping piles of everything except for the lemon chicken, which the other three had avoided as well, simply because no one wanted to hear about the dangers of citrus again.
�Okay, run the timeline by me one more time,� John said before putting down his coffee and reaching for his sandwich�fresh turkey, even, not processed cold cuts, either, which was something that had the pilot beaming in a way that Elizabeth had said was disturbing when directed at food and Rodney had said was simply disturbing in general. John had kept his mouth shut when Elizabeth showed the same glee at the giant brownies that she had heard about from Daniel but never gotten the chance to experience for herself.
Elizabeth took a slow sip of her coffee, relishing the taste of actual coffee, not the improvised stuff made from a bean on P9Y-629 that shared a lot of qualities with the coffee bean�at least, that was what her science teams had told her and, really, she hadn�t cared about anything other than the fact that the people who were going through caffeine withdrawals, herself included, would once again have access to their vice of choice. The coffee wasn�t great�Elizabeth knew that the only really good coffee on the base was in the lab of Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter or, if he had stolen her coffee maker again, Doctor Daniel Jackson�s office�but it was a hell of a lot better than the Fluntuthga Seed coffee-like-substance that most of Atlantis had been living on for the several weeks preceding the siege. Once she had savoured her coffee as much as possible, Elizabeth put her cup down and began picking at her salad, knowing that she should at least make a dent in it considering that she was eating with her physician who was constantly badgering her to eat regular meals and get more sleep and do all the things that she simply did not have time for while running the city.
�We�re on Earth for two weeks, give or take a day or so,� Elizabeth said, her voice not betraying the frustration she was feeling at having to go over the schedule for their time on Earth for what she was sure was the fortieth time. �During that time the three of you have to flesh out your departments. I�m going to be leaving for DC later today with General O�Neill and we�re going to have a series of meetings with the IOA as well as the President and from there I�ll be able to give you guys firm numbers for how many more people, civilian or not, they are willing to support. Hopefully staffing won�t take too long�I know you all have names in mind, and there are a lot of files that the SGC has waiting for you to go through�so any time between the time you finish staffing your department and the time that we board the Daedalus is yours to do with as you wish. The Daedalus should be back in Earth�s orbit in ten to twelve days, and then there will be two more days for the scientists at Area 51 to go over it to make sure that nothing got too badly screwed up since it left Earth. After that we board the Daedalus, and eighteen days later we�re back on Atlantis.�
�What are we supposed to do until you get back to us with numbers?� John asked.
Elizabeth shrugged. �Go off-world with one of the many SG teams that are willing, if not eager, to have you join them on a mission. Relax. Maybe take a day or two to visit friends or family, though I wouldn�t plan any long trips until after you�ve staffed your department�believe me, General Landry wants the staffing process completed as quickly as possible and, honestly, I agree with him. We need to get this done.�
�Says the woman who had her department staffed the moment she stepped foot on Earth again,� Rodney groused.