The Traveler's visit Anchorage for a tour, and agree to join the Atlantian's in a partnership. Bra'Tac develops a love interest...
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Confirming Carter Book Two Daedalus
Chapter Eight
Interior-Kitchen
0705 Hours
"Where's Geraan?" Carter asked as she came into the kitchen. She went over to the coffee pot and poured a cup. "Refill?" She asked.
Tammy held out her cup, and Sam topped it off for her. "He went and crawled in with Pharris in the middle of the night." She said. "I have no idea how he knew that she was here. I checked on him, and he was already snuggled in and sound asleep. I don't think she even woke up when he climbed in with her."
"I did." Pharris said as she came through the door. "But I'm used to Phinnar joining me, so it was a comfort." She looked around the room. "What is that wonderful aroma? I think that's what woke me up."
"Coffee. It's a stimulant, and the most widely abused drug on Earth." Carter laughed, getting a cup from the tree and pouring some for her. She sat it on the table. "This is bitter as it is, you can add cream and sugar to make it more to your liking."
"Be careful, Pharris." Tammy laughed. "You may not want to go home if you keep finding things you like about us."
"We'll need an emissary from your people, to ensure our dealings run smoothly, and your people are treated well." Carter said, looking at Pharris. "Andi can find someone on her staff to send to your people."
"You'll want this too." Tammy smiled, sliding the cream across the table. "It adds body and taste."
"Am I that obvious?" Pharris smiled, imitating Carter, and heaping sugar into her coffee.
"Yes, but we've already made a connection, and while our foreign minister may be willing to deal with just anyone, we are not." Carter said as she sipped her coffee.
She looked over at Tammy. "I'm hungry. Will you call down and order us something? Or would you make me biscuits and gravy?"
"And eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, toast...the woman is a slave driver!" Tammy said to Pharris as she got up and went to the fridge. "Do this, do that." She turned and looked at Pharris with a soft smile. "And do you know that she didn't even ask me before she 'elevated' me, to use Andi's word."
Pharris watched as she took items from the fridge, sat them on the counter, then started pulling out pans.
"Pay no attention to the hired help, Pharris." Carter laughed as she got up and went over to Tammy. She turned her around and kissed her lightly, smiling at her. "Thank you for making me breakfast. You know how much I like your cooking."
"I'm not making you breakfast." Tammy laughed. "I'm making Pharris breakfast. To further entice her to stay with us. As the emissary of her people of course."
"You have servants, yet you prefer to do for yourselves. I have had dealings with leaders of many worlds, and most try to impress us with the grandeur of their houses. You welcome me into your home, and treat me as an honored guest."
"Only friends and family sit at our table." Carter said seriously. "If you were a guest, we'd be in the dining room or the mess hall. And we're not going to be able to do this much longer, I think, if Andi has her way."
Sam had just taken her seat again as Geraan came in, rubbing his eyes. He came over and buried his face in her lap.
"Good morning, little one. Did you sleep well?" Sam asked him, lifting him into her lap.
Geraan nodded, laying his head on her shoulder. "Ceweaul?" He said softly.
"Cer-REE-uhl. Say your r's." Sam said, holding him up so he could see her mouth moving. "And Tammy is making breakfast. Can you wait a few minutes?"
"Cer-ree-uhl." He repeated. "Hassbrown?"
"Yes, she's making hashbrowns." Carter laughed. "Go get your tablet, and play a game while she's cooking. Go." She said as she sat him on the floor, then watched him run out the door.
He was back a moment later, and started crawling up on her, but she waved him off, and pointed to the chair on the other side of Pharris. Geraan went over and climbed up, turned on the tablet, and was immediately engaged in a math puzzle.
"Tammy found some ancient children's games in the database, so we're letting him learn naturally." Carter told her. "We could put him on a teaching machine and give him the knowledge, but then it wouldn't mean anything to him. We'll train adults on them as needed, but children will still go to school, so they appreciate the art of learning. It's a skill in itself that has to be learned."
"Our scouts reported that there were Wraith ships in the area your ships were in." Pharris said. "We may not have been the only ones that saw you."
"Larrin told Sheppard that last night. We knew that there was a risk of detection." Tammy said as she added flour, then milk to a pan. She stirred it, then lowered the heat and put another pan on a burner and started laying strips of bacon in it. "We felt that it was better to have the Wraith focus on us, and perhaps take their attention off some of the worlds they've been culling recently."
"We've taken in groups of refugees recently that are telling us that the last round of cullings are different than those in the past." Carter told her. "Now, they're not just taking people, but destroying everything as they leave, so survivors have nothing to live on."
"We have seen this too." Pharris said as she watched Geraan work through a maze on his tablet. "None of our colonies has been culled, because they are on remote worlds, and located far from the stargates." She looked at Carter. "These are the people we would wish to bring to your cities first."
"When you're ready, we'll send a ship, or send jumpers through the gates with medical teams." Carter told her. "We can test your people for the ancient gene, and give them the treatment. We think you should move those that respond to the therapy to ships first where they'll do you the most good, we can take our time on manning up the cities."
"We want to concentrate on Anchorage." Tammy said as she took bacon out of the pan and put it on a plate. She stirred the gravy, then checked on a tray of biscuits in the oven. "We have months of work to do on that city, so the only thing we'll be producing there is foodstuffs for the workers. Once we get up and running, we can start supplying you on a regular basis."