Carson didn't like the period immediately after Christmas. He'd never liked it. He always felt faintly depressed, usually without any reason to feel that way. As a child, he thought it was because of the big let down after Christmas. All the presents had been opened, all the parties enjoyed, and now all he had left to look forward to was going back to school.

However, as a young adult, he found that this time of year still make him feel blue. He thought it might be the horrible weather. There was rain, and wind, and snow, and that was just on the good days.

But even now, he still found that he felt the same way, even on Atlantis. He couldn't exactly blame the weather now, could he? Maybe it was just that he enjoyed Christmas so much that he felt let down after it was all over. He still enjoyed Christmas, even through an adult's eyes. In fact, he often reverted back to childhood, reliving traditions he had enjoyed as a boy.

He loved putting up decorations, singing carols, buying presents. It was more of a challenge now he was on Atlantis. Present-buying necessitated a lot of planning, devious plots and the odd bit of bribery. But it was still great fun. He hadn't been sure, there first Christmas on Atlantis, what it would be like. There were so many races, so many cultures, split between two galaxies; he just didn't know how his Christmas would be. But it had been fun. And it continued to be fun.

He smiled as he remembered trying to explain to Ronon all about Christmas. The big Satedan had accepted the bit about the baby Jesus, the shepherds and the wisemen, but when Carson had started to explain about Santa Claus and Rudolf, well that had just been too much for the big man. He had left Carson standing, walking away muttering about these strange people from another galaxy. John and Elizabeth had just stood there, laughing.

Carson smiled as he remembered the occasion, then sighed as he returned to the report he was writing. Things were strangely quiet on Atlantis at the moment. John, Teyla and Ronon were on a visit to the Athosians, helping them with a building project. Rodney and Radek were involved in trying to optimize the use of the ZPMs, and Elizabeth, well, she was just "leading".

Picking up the mug of tea at his right hand, he took a sip and tried to concentrate on his report. It was one part of his job that Carson didn't really like, writing reports. He knew they were necessary and he would hound his staff to make sure they filed their reports quickly, but he hated doing them himself. He much preferred dealing with a real patient, or doing some research in his lab.

Sighing, he let his fingers hover over the keyboard, ready to get back to his typing. He was rescued, however, by a voice in his ear.

"Carson," Elizabeth said. "Could you join me in my office."

"Right away," he said, the eagerness evident in his voice.

When he arrived at Elizabeth's office, the sight that greeted him also surprised him. Sitting across the desk from Elizabeth was an obviously reluctant Rodney and standing behind him was Colonel Caldwell.

"Elizabeth, Rodney, Colonel," Carson said by way of greeting, and then sat in the free chair beside Rodney.

"Thank you for joining me, gentlemen," Elizabeth said, including them all in her smile. "We received a distress call today from a group calling themselves the Batak."

"Have you encountered them before?" Caldwell asked, looking at the others.

Both Carson and Rodney shook their heads. It was Elizabeth who responded.

"We've not encountered them personally, but I spoke to Halling, and the Athosians have traded with them before. However, a religious sect started to exert an influence on the Batak and they stopped trading."

"What is the problem they are having? Is it still related to the sect?" Carson asked, a worried frown on his face.

"No, not as far as we can tell. From what we can gather, they seem to have some kind of accident involving their Gate." Elizabeth replied. "There has been an explosion and people are injured."

"You don't sound too certain, Dr Weir," Colonel Caldwell said.

"The message we received was kind of garbled," Elizabeth replied. "Whatever caused the explosion seemed to be interfering with the transmission. But we do know that the Gate was damaged and they are concerned there might be more explosions. They are also reporting a considerable number of injuries. They asked for our help both in dealing with the problem with the Gate and the casualties."

"Well, that explains why Carson and I are here," Rodney said. "But what about him?" He nodded towards Colonel Caldwell, who simply raised his eyebrows in response.

Elizabeth smiled. "The damage to the Gate is too extensive for us to use it," she explained. "And Colonel Caldwell has kindly agreed to take you and your teams to the planet."

"Are we sure we can trust them?" Rodney asked. For a moment Elizabeth wondered if he meant Colonel Caldwell, but then she realised that Rodney meant the Batak.

"As certain as we ever are," she replied. "Halling says they used to be very reliable, but since the sect took control, they have had some strange ideas."

"Just what we need!" Rodney exclaimed. "More voodoo and weird worshippers."

"They seem not to be a violent people, Elizabeth continued. "Quite the opposite, in fact. But we don't want to take any chances."

"And that's where I come in," Caldwell said.

"Yes," Rodney replied. "And another thing, we really need, the heavy mob."

"Rodney," Elizabeth said, narrowing her eyes. "Be nice."

"Did they say what the nature of the medical problems was?" Carson asked.

"Mostly burns," Elizabeth replied. "But they weren't too specific about them."

Carson nodded. "I'll go and get what I need. I'll include general emergency equipment as well as burns treatments." He paused before he left the room. "When do you want to leave, Colonel?"

"As soon as possible," Caldwell replied. "Novak and Hermiod are running through last minute checks as we speak, so the Daedalus will be ready when you are, Dr Beckett."

"And now I feel so much safer," Rodney added, as he left along with Carson.

oOoOoOo

It took a while to load up all the items they thought they might need. Because the Batak people had been so vague in their call for help, Carson wanted to be ready for any eventuality.

"Carson," Rodney said, when he saw all the things the physician was taking with him. "Have you left anything in the Infirmary? Like the odd painkiller, and maybe a syringe or two?"

Carson glanced up at his friend. "Aye, Rodney," he replied. "I think I left a kitchen sink behind, now that you mention it."

"Very funny," Rodney replied as he checked through his own supplies.

"Are you ready, gentlemen?" Caldwell asked, as he and Elizabeth approached the two doctors.

"We will be once Carson gets his kitchen sink," Rodney replied.

Not surprisingly, both Caldwell and Elizabeth looked more than slightly confused.

"In joke," Rodney said by way of explanation.

With the help of Atlantis and Daedalus personnel, it didn't take long to stow all the supplies on board the ship. And once both doctors were safely onboard too, the ship left Atlantis.

After the relative freedom of Atlantis, Carson always found the Daedalus slightly claustrophobic. Not claustrophobic in the sense of fearing the confinement in the way that Rodney did, but rather just a few too many people in too small a space. This was especially true when Rodney and Hermiod started on one of their one-up-man-ship competitions. Carson sat with them for a while, before deciding that his sanity was better preserved away from the argument.

On a ship the size of the Daedalus, it wasn't easy to find a quiet spot. But eventually, Carson found a small hideaway where he could sit quietly with his thoughts. It wasn't often he had the chance to sit quietly and contemplate. On Atlantis he was on call virtually 24/7. In theory, he did have time off, but those hours were few and far between, and were generally interrupted by some emergency or other. He didn't really mind; he liked to be kept busy. If he wanted an easy life, he wouldn't have come on the expedition. But just sometimes it was nice to be able to enjoy his own company.

He sat with his cup of tea and just let his mind wander. In the background, he could hear the muffled sounds of activity. He heard a voice raised in anger, berating something or someone. He couldn't hear the words exactly, just the tone. The voice was answered by another, soothing in tone, obviously trying to keep the peace. An argument in a confined space like the Daedalus wouldn't be a good thing, he supposed.

With the last of his tea drunk, Carson was just about to leave when he heard a loud sneeze behind him.

"Bless you," he said, turning to see who belonged to the sneeze. It was Colonel Caldwell.

"Sorry to disturb your peace, Doctor," he said, before blowing his nose loudly.

"Do you want me to give you something for that cold?" Carson asked.

"No, thanks," Caldwell replied. "It's just a regular cold, doing the rounds. One of the crew picked it up on the last trip back to Earth and it's been circulating ever since. I was just saying how grateful I was not to get it, and then I started sneezing."

Carson smiled. "Colds tend to have a habit of doing that," he agreed. "Wait until you think you're immune, and then jumping up and attacking you. Just let me know if you feel worse, and I'll see what I've got to help."

"Thanks, Doctor," Caldwell replied.

"Please, Colonel, call me Carson," the Scot continued. "I always feel as if I'm on duty when people call me "Doctor" all the time."

"Thank you, Carson," Caldwell nodded. There was an awkward pause, as the Colonel tried to work out how to phrase his reply. Eventually, he continued. "And if you wish, please call me Steven, but . . ." He trailed off, unsure how to finish.

"It's OK, Steven," Carson replied. "I'll not use your given name when any of your crew is present." Carson gave him an understanding smile.

"Thank you, Carson," Caldwell repeated, returning Carson's smile with a grateful one of his own.

"Now is there anything I can do for you, Steven?" Carson continued.

"I just came to tell you that we will be arriving in around an hour," Caldwell replied.

"Ah, that's good," Carson said, with a smile. "There's only so much of Rodney and Hermiod I can take in any one day."

Caldwell laughed. "That, I can understand." He then turned and left Carson to his musings.