Chapter 59

Felix was now dressed in a pair of his cargo shorts, a black Air Force t-shirt, which he really didn't like, tan socks, and a comfortable pair of desert boots. The nurse had already removed the IV from an almost impatient Felix, and was explaining the dressing change to be done; Beckett was listening to this exchange before his patient flew the coop.

When the nurse finished, he put a hand on Felix's shoulder and in a firm but friendly voice told him, "Take the time to allow your self to heal, Felix - outside as well as inside - okay?"

A nod was all Beckett saw as Felix walked away - then he stopped in his tracks, turned around and said, "Thanks for everything Doc."

Then over Beckett's headset was Dr. Weir's voice calling for Felix to head for her office - he caught the words and gave Beckett a thumb up that he was on the way. It took him an extra minute to get to her office, and as he came up the stairs he stopped short when he saw four Marines milling near the entrance to Dr. Weir's office. He wondered what was going on and then decided there was only one way to find out - so he went the rest of the way up the stairs quietly.

Chuck the Gate technician saw him - Felix smiled as he put a finger to his lips to keep his appearance quiet - and then he stopped just behind the Marines. He saw Dr. Weir about to tap her headset to call for him but she stopped short when she saw him standing behind the Marines as unobtrusively as possible.

She shook her head and barely hid a smile as she told the group, "Your new boss has just arrived - please turn around to meet Sergeant Felix Grey, the head of our CSAR operations here in Atlantis. He got out of the infirmary, so take it easy on him - but don't let that fool you. Sergeant?"

The four Marines turned around to see a short unshaven wiry looking man standing there with an impish grin on his face; their initial impression was wondering 'what have we got ourselves into'.

Elizabeth handed Felix four service folders and told the five of them, "Have fun getting acquainted," and went back into her office with a knowing smile.

Felix looked at the four faces and then asked, "When was the last time any of you ate?"

One of the Marines spoke up; "Quite a while ago, sir."

Felix nodded and motioned for them to follow along and added, "Then why don't we grab some food and we'll get to know one another a bit - let's go - I'm starved." As they walked down the stairs and then along the hallways Felix told them, "Just so you know - I have limited knowledge of this city. If I know any answers I'll tell you - and I think you will find the learning curve will be a bit steep at first, but that is to be expected in a new place."

They arrived at a transporter, entered it, and Felix then showed where they at, where they were going, and what to press; they exited the transporter and followed the shorter man along the hallways to the dining hall. He paused and told them, "You don't have to show any ID or pay anything - you just grab what you'd like and we'll grab a table together."

After a few minutes of everyone getting their food they managed to gather at a table together, where the Marines were trying to figure their new boss out for the first bit of lunch. Once he was finished his Caesar salad, he placed his fork down then announced, "Why don't we go around the table and introduce ourselves, as I have no idea if any of you folks know each other or not - obviously I am at a disadvantage here. But I'll start things off..."

He paused a moment to see if they were paying attention - they were so he continued, "I'm Sergeant Felix Grey, 39, single, never been married, been in about 21 years now, and out this way about 2 and a bit years, um ... grew up on a farm in Alberta, done a few overseas tours and missions. Probably missing lots but that's the basics for now. Next?"

They went around the table and said their short piece about themselves; Felix digested and absorbed all their information for future use and reference. Once that was finished, it was the female L/Cpl Stacy Meach who started asking questions of Felix; "So what unit were you last with, Sarge?"

The reply was his usual non-committal, "22nd LRRP."

"Never heard of them."

He gave her a small smile and said, "That's a good thing then."

The big Texan Cpl Dom Tarsell asked, "Where y'all been at, Sarge?" Felix listed the majority of the overseas missions he'd been on but left a couple out, as they didn't need to know about those ones.

They continued their Q & A back and forth as the dining hall filled up with the usual crowd - Felix disregarded the looks and small talk they were getting, as they were new and sitting with 'him'. Felix learned they were all qualified Scout/Sniper in Force Recon, but only two were up on their first aid, which he planned to rectify in the immediate future as it was a definite priority in his eyes and needed to be practised regularly.

There were so many questions that he wanted answers to and only so many answers available at present, and then he remembered a few more points that should be made aware. He said, "To get you folks into the swing of things even before you go off-world, we should have a detailed info session about what you can expect to encounter. It might seem insulting or overprotective on my part, but Iraq is a whole different ball game compared to some of the missions out here. The danger level is still there, unseen, but some of the aliens ... not good."

Just then Dr. Weir came over with her tray and asked the table at large, "May I join you?"; there was a mutual assent so she sat down across from Felix and asked, "How are things going with the new people, Sergeant?"

He answered, "So much stuff to pass onto these folks so they don't go out unprepared - I didn't realize how much information I know until I have to pass it on like I've been trying to do. I wish it could be done with a data burst or something like that."

Elizabeth finished her mouthful of food and gave Felix a small smile as she said, "I can help with that - there are a number of mission reports from the various teams that they can read up on to get acquainted with the hazards."

Felix nodded his approval and replied, "Excellent - saves me from talking them to death," and he paused as he sensed she wished to add something, so he waited for his boss to continue.

Elizabeth took a sip of her tea, looked down at her cup and then back up at Felix and said, "I may have to put you on a rescue today. I know Dr. Beckett let you go this morning and doesn't want you to push yourself, but you did bring up a good point about going off-world with little or no experience."

The four Marines watched the interaction of their new boss and the leader of Atlantis, and were surprised to see Felix's eyes light up at the prospect of a mission. Felix asked, "How soon do you need me ready to go, ma'am?"

Weir replied regretfully, "Is thirty minutes enough time?"

Felix nodded in reply and rapidly finished the remainder of his food, stood up when he was finished, and told the Marines, "I'll see you folks in a bit," and dropped off his tray en route to his room. Once there, he quickly sorted out his laundry - it had to be done - found all the fresh clothing, gear and rations that he required, and then repacked his Bergen. He gave all his weapons a quick going over and then once that was finished he rechecked all the gear he would probably need, and found a few items to cross load. Felix made sure his micro headset was in his ear, did a radio check with Gate control and was told at that time that Dr. Weir wished him at the Control room soonest.

He looked his room over to make sure he had everything he figured he would need, shouldered his Bergen, grabbed his ghillie suit and threw it over a shoulder, and finally picked up Sasha with the magazine, and headed to the Control room. Once there, he laid his gear down just to the rear of the Gate console out of the way, then asked Chuck the Gate technician to pull up all the information and the brief of the potential mission.

Felix noted Dr. Weir coming up the stairs with the four Marines following her - they still looked a bit stiff and kind of awed and lost being in Atlantis. He spotted the female L/Cpl Meach checking out his Bergen as well as Sasha, then he watched discreetly as she knelt down to look closer at his modified rifle; all this gave him a bit of a chuckle at seeing the various reactions to a new environment.

Dr. Weir was explaining something to the Marines while Felix then asked Chuck to display the topographical view of the off-world team AOR; while they were studying the display Chuck looked at his panel and exclaimed, "Incoming wormhole!" A pause as the IDC showed up and he added, "It's Lieutenant Anderton," as he looked at Dr. Weir.

She nodded and then said, "Lower the shield," and a moment later the young officer came through the Gate, which then shut down after him.

The young Marine officer came running up the stairs to where Dr. Weir was standing, gathered his breath, and then spoke; "Ma'am - we were surrounded just after we entered the town. The Captain made a distraction so that we could escape back through the Gate, but I didn't see any of the others on the way back here."

Dr. Weir did something she normally didn't do - she motioned to Felix and said, "I believe this is more your area of expertise, Sergeant," then stood back to watch with pride as Felix talked the young officer through the mission calmly, getting all the details while using the map display and a couple of quick drawings. The four Marines watched with a gradual fascination as Felix gleaned every possible about the town layout, buildings, ground, locals, but they couldn't see inside his head as he was running through all sorts of variables.

Finally he sat back and told Dr. Weir, "Yeah, this is workable," stretched and yawned than added, "This one will be fun for sure - that is, if you wish me to go, ma'am."

She looked at him with a confident small smile and told him, "You have a 'go' Sergeant - bring them back safe and sound," and then went back to watching as he blocked out the people staring while he pulled on his ghillie suit.

It was while he applied his facial camouflage that Elizabeth was tempted to point out to the newcomers how much their new boss transformed from plain harmless Felix to the Grey Man while readying for a mission. The Marines had been paying attention to their new boss and what he was doing and how, as they had done similar in Iraq, but as Felix had pointed out - things were a bit different out here in Atlantis.

Felix took another long look at the map again after he finished his face and decided to take just the medical bag this time instead of the Bergen complete - he was wavering on that decision though. He turned away from the faces, started arming his weapons with the Diablo as he pulled it out and softly told it, "In sequence load flechette x 2, over-blast, flechette x 2, smoke, then standby."

The gun was about to protest that it could make its own choices, thank you very much, but it found itself holstered and back into standby - not that it wanted to be. Felix had holstered the AI gun rather discreetly before the Marines could ask questions about it that he really wasn't in the mood for answering at the moment; he checked Pain and Panic his silenced .22 calibre pistols, then shouldered his medical bag and finally picked up Sasha.

He slung his beloved rifle over his shoulders - the uniqueness of the big rifle always got a few comments from the likes of the Marines; the sleeve silencer was screwed onto the barrel, the full magazine was placed onto the rifle, a bullet chambered, and the weapon placed on safe. It was the big brash Texan who asked almost sarcastically, "Why do ya need so many guns, Sarge?"

Felix thought for a moment and then replied bluntly, "I solve problems - practical problems. With the various aliens and enemy out here I have to wonder sometimes: how am I going to stop some big mean alien from tearing me a structurally superfluous new hole? The answer: is a gun," as he patted both Pain and Panic, "- and if that don't work - use - a bigger gun. Like this 50 calibre rifle modified by me, and you best hope ... it isn't pointed ... at you."

That threw the Marines for a bit of a loop while Elizabeth Weir turned around and smothered the beginnings of laughter with a cough.

L/Cpl Meach asked, "What loads you fire, Sarge?" Felix looked her in the eyes and replied casually, "300-grain Match grade pain relievers," and then made sure his IDC was handy and operational. Felix took a final look around and then walked quietly towards the stairs down to the Gate; Elizabeth followed him while the Marines talked amongst themselves about how 'off' their new boss was.

Once at the bottom Felix turned and faced the expedition leader and asked her quietly, "Where's Colonel Sheppard, ma'am? I haven't seen him or any of the team in a while."

She replied, "They're on a mission of importance is all I'll say for now," a pause and then she came close to Felix and added, "Bring them back safely - and your self safe as well, Sergeant."

He looked into her eyes a long moment until she broke the contact briefly and he gave her a small smile and then said, "I will - ma'am," then his work face came back as he looked up at the Gate control and twirled his hand next to his head for the dialling sequence to begin.

As the Gate started dialling, Elizabeth could actually see the work face drop into place and his whole body language shift as his strong hands held Sasha comfortably at the ready, then as the Gate activated he brought the big rifle into the shoulder and went through the wormhole rapidly and was gone; from the look on his face she wondered if anything ever bothered Felix.

While Felix made his way to the town stealthily in the fading light, he periodically stopped to check the life signs detector and compared it to what he had seen through the thermal sight - no aliens or Wraith so far. It took him about an hour to reach the edge of the town using what scrub and cover there was - after that it was all buildings and built up area - where a ghillie suit didn't exactly blend in properly.

Thankfully it was just about night, which obviously worked in his favour; Felix spent about 15 minutes checking the town through the thermal sight, then moving around the town checking from various angles. He couldn't determine the exact building he was looking for, so he let his ears do the work and listened for the night sounds that didn't belong normally.

It took a few minutes to pick out the sounds - and they sent shivers down his spine, but he shoved the fear into a corner and continued locating the sounds; the faint screams of a person in agony echoed in his ears and finally he figured out the direction in conjunction using the detector.

Because of the close-in work coming up, Felix decided to cache Sasha in the scrub for the time being with a broken branch as a marker; the rifle was just that bit too big in close quarters if he had to do certain things while rescuing 3 people. Using the life signs detector he moved quickly and quietly into town and definitely stayed in the shadows - as he got closer to his objective he drew the Diablo.

The screams were marginally louder when he was only three buildings away, so he figured there was a lower level to the building he wanted to enter. The screams were also affecting Felix as he just about had a flashback to when he was tortured by the Genii - not a good thing right then - he consciously pushed those thoughts away and moved to the next building.

He then put the detector away as he wouldn't need it for the next part: he also figured that now was the appropriate occasion to do what one of his instructors had told him. 'When in doubt - go in the front door.' It seemed appropriate now, so he added a silenced .22 for the left hand - the Diablo could be a bit noisy at times.

Felix took a deep breath and then casually walked into the building several feet then stopped - behind a desk directly in front of him were four men in uniforms. Both his guns were aimed and ready - he gave the men a fighting chance to give up or skedaddle away, but for whatever reason they decided not to exercise that option. He at least waited until they had weapons in their hands before they found themselves removed as threats permanently; Felix worked with a cold calculated precision as this place reminded him too much of ... he shook those thoughts away.