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�That�s good to hear,� Sam said.
�Yeah,� Elizabeth said, nodding. �Walter said you wanted to see me?�
�Right,� Sam nodded. �Uh� here,� she said, grabbing a small device off the centre table. �I� uh� I know it�s not really my place, but I know you plan on going to see Doctor Wallace while you�re on Earth. You two were in a relationship before you left, correct?�
�Yes,� Elizabeth said, not wanting to delve into further details. �What�s that for?� she asked, looking at the device Sam was holding out to her.
�We�ve had some problems with people bugging the homes of those with clearance lately,� Sam explained.
Elizabeth took the device and frowned at it. �Bug killer?� she asked, eyebrow arched.
�Frequency jammer. Same idea, but this will cover more variables,� Sam said. �Just flip the switch to turn it on. It only has forty hours battery life but if you flip it on and off when you talk about anything sensitive you should be fine.�
�Just flip the switch?� Elizabeth confirmed.
�Just flip the switch,� Sam nodded.
Nodding in understanding, Elizabeth looked from the device to Sam and back to the device in her hand. �Thank you.�
Sam shrugged. �Just trying to protect our shared interests,� she said honestly. �I may have been at this longer, but what we do is no less your life�s work than it is mine.� She offered up an apologetic smile. �I�m sorry if I haven�t acted like I understand that.�
They shared a look of understanding and then Elizabeth nodded and left the lab, the frequency jammer in hand.
�What�s that?� Simon asked, frowning, a forkful of soy sauce drenched rice halfway between his plate and his mouth.
Elizabeth flipped the switch. �Frequency jammer,� she said as she set the device down between them. The Atlantis expedition meant everything to Elizabeth and she was willing to do whatever it took to ensure that the expedition remained as covert as it was. �It�s� a long story. This is just� a precautionary measure,� Elizabeth said, waving off Simon�s questioning stare.
�What exactly have you gotten yourself into this time, Elizabeth?� Simon questioned, more in frustration than disbelief, much to Elizabeth�s surprise. Simon had always been incredibly supportive of the lengths she sometimes had to go to for her career.
�It�s just� very secret. And I would like to keep it that way,� Elizabeth said, feeling more than a little defensive of her beloved expedition. It felt like that was all she had done since she arrived back on Earth�against politicians, against military types, against scientists who didn�t think the things her people wanted were rational�and she really didn�t want to have to defend the expedition to Simon. She was sure that there were a plethora of other things she would have to defend to Simon, but she refused to allow the expedition be one of those things.
Simon nodded slightly, hearing the momma-bear note in Elizabeth�s voice, the one that meant she was ready and willing to fight to the death over what she was talking about. He was angry, and hurt, and guilty, and several other things, but he wasn�t insane; going up against Elizabeth when she had her momma-bear voice going was not something he had made the mistake of doing since the first year of their relationship.
�What happened, Elizabeth? One day you say you have a meeting with the President and you�ll be home late, then you call from Colorado Springs and say that you need to move there for a little while, possibly permanently. It takes me months to move the two of us here, and by the time we have the house set up you say you�re being given a better position, but you can�t tell me where, then you take your sub-zero-weather bag and the next time I hear from you is in a video tape after seven Air Force guys�armed ones, I�d like to point out�make me fill out seven hundred pages of non-disclosure