Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

‘We got lucky, sir.’ General Hammond stared up at the ceiling of his SGC office and gripped the red phone by his ear a little tighter. ‘I don’t think I need tell you what would have occurred if Colonel O’Neill and Doctor Jackson hadn’t been able to negotiate a peace with the aliens.’ His lips pursed as he listened to the question at the other end. ‘Well, sir, I think this just reinforces the need for us to act in an ethical manner in all our dealings with other planets at all times. We can never be truly certain if our actions are going undetected or not.’

Hammond rolled his eyes at an interruption by Senator Kinsey. ‘With respect, Senator, Captain Carter had no reason to suspect SG11 were not SG11. Our medical tests confirmed their identities. She executed the mission she was assigned and there is absolutely no evidence that suggests she was aware of their deception.’ He sighed. ‘Mr President, as you know, Captain Carter was responsible for us making contact and establishing good relations with the Tok’ra a few weeks back who we believe could be an extremely powerful ally in time. The suggestion she is acting to undermine the mission of this facility just because of her previous experience with a Tok’ra symbiote is…thank you, Mr President.’

He rubbed his forehead tiredly as the politicians exchanged some sharp comments. He changed position, shifting to a more comfortable spot as another question came his way. ‘No, Mr President. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to establish any trade for the trinium. Colonel O’Neill reported that the aliens intend to bury their gate.’ He reached for the cold coffee sat on his desk and took a gulp.

A suggestion to try and establish a wormhole had him swallowing the wrong way and it was with some difficulty he managed to recover to speak. ‘I’m sorry but that is the craziest thing I’ve heard. Yes, actually I did mean that, General Bail, sir. The senator seems to forget that we only got out of this one by the skin of our teeth. If we give the aliens any reason to suspect we won’t keep our word, I don’t believe there is anything stopping them from carrying out their original intention.’

He gave a sigh of relief as the President agreed the senator’s suggestion was not appropriate. A few moments later the call ended. Hammond thanked the President and the Joint Chiefs and dropped the phone back into its cradle. He rubbed the back of his neck where an ever present knot had taken up residence since he had miraculously appeared in the gate room with no idea how he had gotten there or where he had been…maybe the knot had appeared earlier he considered, when he had argued with SG1 about the plans to mine the trinium without the knowledge of the Salish people.

Guilt nibbled at the edges of his thoughts. Hopefully, what they don’t know, won’t hurt them. Had he really said those words? His cheeks flooded with a ruddy warmth that signalled the depths of his personal shame. What had he been thinking? He unconsciously thumped the table. Had he really been prepared to steal from the Salish? He sighed and got up from his desk to pace a little in the office as he considered his actions.

The last few months had been something of a nightmare from a command perspective. The initial euphoria at surviving the attack from the Goa’uld had given way to an increased sense of urgency for the Stargate programme to deliver tangible benefits; technologies and alliances that would help in the defence of Earth. The attack from Apophis had proven the threat from the Goa’uld was real, very real and it had scared everyone with any knowledge of the programme. Hell, Hammond thought tiredly, it had scared him if he were honest. He knew better than most just how close they had come to being annihilated and he also knew that they couldn’t solely rely on the bravery and ingenuity of one team to save them. They needed weapons and they needed advanced technology; the metal ore trinium had been a great find; stronger and more durable than anything on Earth…

The sad truth was that he had been very tempted by the proposal to simply take the trinium when the Salish migrated from the mountain; tempted on two fronts, Hammond admitted to himself as he retook his seat. Tempted because it was a material he felt could help them tactically but tempted also because it would ease the immediate pressure on his command to come up with something else especially since the increased scrutiny of the NID had started to be felt a few months before.

Hammond picked up his coffee and finished the cold drink, uncaring about the lack of heat and bitter taste in his need for caffeine. The NID had become a thorn in his side ever since their suspected assassination of a young reporter who had threatened to reveal the presence of the Stargate. It had coincided with some political manoeuvrings which had made it difficult for the President to refuse Senator Kinsey’s insistence that the NID be allowed more oversight and involvement. He grimaced. He had been unable to prevent Teal’c from being taken by Colonel Maybourne during a recent incident, and he suspected that Samantha Carter was still in danger despite her involvement in their only major success; the alliance with the Tok’ra.

Alliances. Hammond sighed. He wasn’t unaware that they had mis-stepped badly with Tonane’s people and the alien race who were their protectors. The powers the aliens had demonstrated…teleportation, healing and body-morphing were impressive. They were obviously advanced and had already banished the Goa’uld from Tonane’s planet, saving his people. They could have been a valuable ally instead they had made them an enemy…

A knock on the office door leading to the corridor startled him and he took a moment to rearrange his files and settle back authoratively in his leather chair before he called for the unexpected visitor to enter. His pale blue eyes widened a little in surprise at the SG1 leader. The Colonel was still dressed in the plain green fatigues with his injured arm in a blue sling as he had been most of the day.

‘Colonel O’Neill.’

‘General.’ Jack pushed the door closed behind him and pulled a folder from under his arm which he handed to Hammond. ‘My recommendations for the outstanding SG team command positions, sir.’

Hammond took the folder and gestured for the younger man to sit. He flicked through it with interest. ‘Henry Boyd?’

‘Yes, sir.’ Jack waved at him. ‘He’s got an impressive academic record which will help leading SG10 as they mostly deal with science…’ he struggled to find a word, ‘stuff.’ He finished eventually. ‘Hank’s already had some command experience out in the field here on Earth and he’s got a good record. I think he’s ready.’

‘Thank you, Colonel.’ Hammond set the folder aside.

Jack stood up and hesitated. ‘If I may ask, sir…’

Hammond looked at him inquisitively.

‘I take it you’ve briefed the President and the Joint Chiefs on what happened earlier?’ Jack asked delicately.

‘I have.’ Hammond confirmed. He cleared his throat. ‘They’ve agreed in the circumstances that we would be best to forget about any further attempts to pursue the trinium.’

Jack nodded. ‘I think that’s for the best, General.’

Hammond waved him back into his seat and Jack sat down gratefully. ‘I feel like I owe you and your team a personal apology on this one, Jack.’

The Colonel registered the lack of ranks and shrugged awkwardly. ‘You thought what you were doing was for the best, sir.’

Hammond gave a short humourless laugh. ‘I think you’re letting me off the hook lightly. If it wasn’t for you and your team…’ he sighed. His eyes caught Jack’s. ‘Do you remember just after the business with Teal’c being on trial off-world, you and I sat out on your deck talking about how we wanted to do the right thing here on out?’

‘I remember, sir.’ Jack said quietly.

‘I think you’re probably doing a better job than I am at that right now.’ Hammond admitted.

Jack appreciated the compliment even as he replied jokingly. ‘Well, you don’t hang around Daniel and Carter as much as I do, sir.’

The General laughed again but this time it was with genuine amusement.

‘I also appreciate,’ Jack continued more soberly, ‘that my team is given a great deal of support and latitude.’

Hammond acknowledged the truth of that with a slight inclination of his head. ‘You should give yourself more credit though, Jack. You did a great job today.’

Jack hesitated before he plunged on. ‘General, I believe it was you who once told us we’d all make mistakes but the important thing was to learn from them.’

‘So I did.’ Hammond said lightly. He nodded. ‘Point well made, Colonel.’

Jack noted the shift back to formality and stood up again. ‘If that’s all, sir?’

‘Dismissed.’ Hammond agreed. He watched the Colonel leave before he reached for the abandoned report on his desk. So he had made a mistake, Hammond mused contemplatively, but the Colonel was right; what mattered was that he learned from it.

o-O-o

Jack wandered out of the locker room struggling into his leather jacket as he made for the elevator. His brown eyes alighted with relief on Sam as he spotted her hurrying down the corridor towards him. ‘Hey, Sam. Help me with this, will ya?’

She stopped and assisted him. His good arm went into the jacket but she let the other side hang down over his injured arm in its sling.

‘Thanks.’ Jack said gratefully.

‘You off home, sir?’ Sam inquired as she stepped back, clasping her hands behind her back in an unconscious mimic of their Jaffa team-mate. She’d been looking for the Colonel earlier to discuss the outcome of her first command mission but it looked like her plan to talk to him was going to have to wait.

‘Yeah, Daniel offered to drive me.’ Jack explained. ‘I’m just on my way to his office to get him.’ He caught the flicker of disappointment in her face. ‘Why? Was there something you wanted me for?’

Sam opened her mouth to agree when her brain registered the faint white lines of tension that bracketed her CO’s mouth and eyes. He had to be in a lot of pain from his injury, she realised belatedly, not to mention the events of the day had been extremely stressful and tiring. Her concerns about her performance could wait. She gave him a bright smile. ‘It’ll keep till tomorrow, sir.’

‘You sure?’ Jack asked inwardly pleased at her answer. The thought that there was a sofa and a beer with his name on it in his immediate future had been the only thing that had kept him going for the past few hours.

‘Sure, sir.’ Sam’s eyes gleamed with amusement at the way he was already sidling past her. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’

”Night, Carter!’ Jack threw over his shoulder as he skipped into the elevator. He roused the archaeologist with difficulty from his office, but the two of them were soon on their way out of the mountain and it didn’t take them long to reach Jack’s house.

Daniel settled Jack on the sofa and hurried into the kitchen to grab a bottle of beer for the other man. Jack had been quiet the entire journey home from the SGC and, although the military man wasn’t usually the most talkative of people, he had seemed even more subdued than usual. He flipped the top off with a bottle opener before heading back to give Jack his drink only to find him dry swallowing the painkillers Janet Fraiser had pressed on him.

‘Are you OK?’ Daniel asked worriedly.

‘Fine.’ Jack slung his legs up onto the sofa and closed his eyes. ‘Thanks for driving me home.’

‘Right.’ Daniel gazed at his friend’s prone form for a long moment. ‘I’ll…uh…just…’ he gestured over his shoulder towards the door. He took a step and stopped. ‘Jack.’

‘Daniel.’

‘Look, if something’s bothering you…’ Daniel began.

‘I said I’m fine.’ Jack bit out tiredly, swinging his legs back around to sit upright again.

Daniel took in the deep lines on Jack’s face; the other man had to be in a lot of pain. ‘OK. I’ll get going then. I’ll call for you in the morning.’

Jack glanced over at the archaeologist slowly backing out of the room. ‘Daniel.’

‘Yeah?’ Daniel looked over at Jack.

Jack shrugged awkwardly. ‘Want a pizza?’

‘Pizza?’ Daniel stepped back into the room and slipped into the chair opposite. ‘Sure.’

Jack picked up the phone and speed-dialled his usual delivery place. It only took him a moment to place the order and he threw the phone back down on the coffee table as he resumed his previous position lying stretched out on the sofa.

‘Did you see Sam before you left?’ Daniel asked as they waited.

‘Yeah. Why?’ Jack answered, taking a long gulp of his beer.

‘She was looking for you.’ Daniel replied. ‘I think she’s worried about how her first command turned out.’

‘Why?’ asked Jack, genuinely taken aback. ‘She did a great job.’

‘I think it had something to do with bringing aliens back who almost destroyed the base.’

‘Crap!’ Jack closed his eyes briefly. So that was what she had wanted to talk to him about; he should have stayed and heard her out, he berated himself tiredly. ‘It wasn’t her fault,’ he said out loud, ‘there was no way she could have known the SG11 that came back were aliens. Hell, if I’d been leading the mission I would have done the same thing.’

‘I think she just needs to hear that from you.’ Daniel said quietly.

‘I’ll talk to her tomorrow.’ Jack said. ‘I wanted to say thanks to you by the way.’

‘That’s OK,’ Daniel said, ‘you’ve thanked me already and…’

‘Not for driving me home.’ Jack interrupted. ‘For today. For being…’ he waved the bottle at the younger man with his good hand, ‘you.’

‘OK.’ Daniel said slowly. ‘How many of those painkillers did you take?’

‘Funny, Daniel.’ Jack swallowed a gulp of his beer.

‘What brought this on?’ Daniel asked curious as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

‘I just…Hammond reminded me of something when I went to see him earlier.’ Jack admitted. ‘You know there was a time when I did stuff I’m not particularly proud of.’ His thumb ran over the foil label. ‘But today…’ he stopped unable to express how proud he felt about his achievement; their achievement. He sighed. ‘We did good.’

Daniel smiled.

‘Thanks to you.’ Jack added.

‘You’re the one who convinced them in the end.’ Daniel said generously. He sighed. ‘I can’t believe the Air Force thought they could get away with stealing the trinium.’

Jack felt his lips twitch at the younger man’s blatant disbelief; the shocked innocence. ‘Just promise me you won’t stop being a pain in the butt.’

‘Now I know you took too many painkillers.’ Daniel said, staring at him with concern.

The doorbell rang.

‘I’ll get it.’ Daniel said, leaping to his feet. He wandered to the door and paid for the delivery before returning to the living room. ‘Jack, pizza’s…’ his eyes landed on the sleeping Colonel ruefully, ‘here.’

o-O-o

Sam hovered for a moment in the corridor after the departure of her CO, unsure of her own plans. She should head home herself, she determined. Where she could brood for hours about the fact that she had brought a whole bunch of aliens back through the gate, the voice in her head muttered derisively. She turned and walked back to the elevator. The first set of data from their mission a few weeks before to PX7941 was back; she really should take a look at the findings…

She was immersed in the scientific reports when Teal’c found her a few hours later.

‘Captain Carter.’ The Jaffa’s voice rumbled across the lab and Sam turned from her computer to find him filling her doorway and blocking most of the light from the corridor.

‘Teal’c.’ She smiled and waved at him to enter. ‘You should see this data. It’s from our mission to PX7941. This substantiates our suspicions that they do have some form of climate control.’

‘That is indeed good news.’ Teal’c murmured. He had enjoyed PX7941. It still surprised him when their arrival on a planet was greeted with joy and welcome rather than suspicion and fear. The Medronans had been friendly if a little naïve. ‘I assume you intend to petition General Hammond to return to the planet?’ He asked as he came to a stop beside her.

‘If the rest of the data substantiates these early findings, yes.’ Sam agreed. ‘This piece of technology could be the most important find yet for the Stargate programme.’

Teal’c raised an eyebrow.

Sam’s brow creased. ‘I’m sorry, Teal’c. You probably didn’t come in here to hear me babble on about this stuff.’ She gave an apologetic smile.

‘On the contrary, Captain Carter, my visit was prompted by curiosity for your presence on the base at so late an hour.’ Teal’c admitted. ‘I see now why you elected to remain.’

‘Ah.’ Sam bit her lip as her cheeks reddened. ‘Well, actually this was an excuse.’

His eyebrow rose again.

‘I wanted to avoid going home and thinking about what happened with Tonane and his spirits.’ Sam confessed her gaze on the keyboard of her computer.

‘For what reason?’ Teal’c asked, unsure why the topic would have distressed her given the successful outcome of events earlier that day.

Sam glanced up at his inquisitive eyes and sighed. ‘Because I blew it.’

Teal’c frowned. ‘Blew what, Captain Carter?’

‘My first command.’ Sam stated, looking away from him again and crossing her arms over her chest. ‘I failed.’

‘I do not agree with your assessment, Captain Carter.’ Teal’c murmured. ‘You acted most appropriately and to the best of your ability.’

‘I brought aliens back through the gate who could have destroyed us, Teal’c.’ Sam argued.

‘There was no reason to assume that the SG11 we recovered on the planet were not who they claimed to be.’ Teal’c rejoined. ‘Did not Doctor Warner and the medical team agree that they were SG11?’

‘I should have taken more precautions.’ Sam muttered, unwilling to be mollified. ‘I should have considered the possibility that Tonane’s spirits were real.’

‘There were no obvious signs to suggest that Tonane was not responsible for the disappearance of SG11, nor that there was an advanced civilisation existing alongside the Salish people. Neither I nor Daniel Jackson considered that possibility,’ Teal’c pointed out, ‘and was it not our job on the mission to inform and advise of you of potential threats?’

‘I’m not blaming either of you guys.’ Sam began. ‘I led the team, Teal’c,’ she said, ‘I’m responsible for what happened.’

Teal’c fell silent for a moment while he considered his reply. Eventually he shifted position a little and held his female team-mate’s eyes firmly. ‘Do you believe Colonel O’Neill to be a good leader?’

‘Of course.’ Sam replied automatically. ‘He’s a great leader.’

‘And General Hammond?’ Teal’c pressed.

Sam nodded.

‘Yet O’Neill and General Hammond have made mistakes, have they not?’ Teal’c stated quietly.

Sam sighed. ‘I know what you’re trying to do, Teal’c, and I appreciate the thought but…’

‘I believe you have good potential as a leader, Captain Carter.’ Teal’c said forcefully cutting across her. ‘If I did not believe so, I would not have been prepared to follow your lead on our mission.’

Sam warmed at the sincere praise. ‘Really?’

‘Indeed.’ Teal’c said simply.

‘Thanks, Teal’c.’ Sam said gratefully. Her eyes narrowed on him. ‘You know I forget how strange it must be for you. I mean, you led whole armies of Jaffa and now…’ she gestured at him, ‘you could lead your own team.’ She frowned. ‘You should at least be considered to lead SG1 when Colonel O’Neill is injured.’

He almost smiled at her fervent defence of his abilities. ‘I am satisfied to remain a member of SG1 and fight at your side and that of Daniel Jackson and Colonel O’Neill.’

‘Do you miss it?’ Sam asked impulsively. ‘Having command?’

Teal’c’s face grew grave. ‘No. I do not. As First Prime I may have led armies but I was still a slave. Here, I am free.’

Sam nodded and impulsively took hold of his hand. ‘Well, I’m glad you’re here, Teal’c.’

Teal’c gently squeezed her hand in reply. ‘As am I, Captain Carter, as am I.’

fin.