CiC meets SGC

By Michael Weyer

Stargate owned by MGM.

Commander in Chief owned by ABC.

Frankly, I'm surprised no one's done this before. Sure, there have been other stories with this basic plot but I thought it might be more unique to show it for this particular President. All comments are welcomed.

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Jim Gardner had been through a lot in the last few months. It was always a turning point when a President died and the VP had to take over. Considering the fact that the new President was a woman, well that made things more unique. Adding on the fact that she was an independent, that just compounded the problems. It was a historical fact that the President always had to get into fights with members of the opposite party. In this case, however, Mackenzie Allen had to fight both parties, which made handling affairs even harder.

As the Chief of Staff, it was Gardner's job to make sure things in the White House ran as smoothly as possible. The transition to the Allen administration hadn't been easy to say the least. Multiple resignations, including the White House Press Secretary, had cut around and even Gardner had been tempted to leave. But, he decided to stick around, if for no other reason than the fact he thought Allen at least deserved the chance to make things work.

At the moment, he knew she was about to face a major test, the one that could make or break her. Gardner didn't envy being the one to have to tell her but it had to be done.

"I hate having to wear this." Gardner looked to the man walking next to him. General Jack O'Neil was fiddling with the collar of his dress uniform. Indeed, it didn't seem to suit him well. With his short gray hair and tight face, one could tell this was a soldier more suited to the field than behind a desk. He also didn't seem happy with his current surroundings.

"This is the White House, General," Gardner stated. "You can't go prancing around in fatigues."

"I don't prance," O'Neil replied as they made their way to the Oval Office. He fiddled with his tie again before pausing to fix Gardner with a cool look. "Okay, lay it on me. How is she going to take it?"

Gardner let out a long breath. "I don't know. I honestly don't. I know Bridges got on board fast and Allen is already surprisingly good with the military. Still, this is something so huge…"

O'Neil brushed a hand through his hair. "I still say you should have gotten Hammond. He's done this before, he can handle it."

"You're the one in charge now," Gardner noted. "It's your responsibility."

"I hate responsibility," O'Neil muttered. "I never wanted this, you know. I was perfectly happy fishing in retirement but no…"

Gardner ignored him as he knocked on the door and then entered. "Madam, your appointment is here."

Despite all the preparation, Jack O'Neil was thrown at the sight of a woman behind the desk of the Oval Office. President Mackenzie Allen was a strikingly beautiful woman in her late forties with dark brunette hair and a ring of pearls. She was wearing a dark red dress that offset her well. Sitting before the table was her husband, Rod Calloway, a confused look on his face as he looked to Gardner.

"Appointment?" Allen asked. "I don't remember any other appointments tonight, Jim."

"This is off the books, Madam President," Gardner stated as he fully entered. He nodded to O'Neill. "This is General Jack O'Neil." The man made a salute.

"At ease, General," Allen said as she removed her glasses. "Jim, I've had a long day as it is, and I had no idea there was another appointment."

"As I said, Madam, this is off the books." Gardner paused and looked to the First Gentleman. "Rod, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Why?" he immediately asked.

"What I'm about to say is for the President's ears only," Gardner said.

"He can stay, Jim," Allen stated.

Gardner shook his head. "Madame, as far as I know, no other President has shared what I'm about to tell you with their spouses."

Allen made a light smile. "Well, Jim, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not like every other President."

O'Neil had to smirk a bit at that. Allen and Rod both noticed it and shared a glance. Gardner took a deep breath. "Madame, I have to say once more…"

"He is staying," Allen said in a harder voice. "Now, let's get this over with so I can get to dinner with my family."

Gardner slowly nodded and then moved to shut the door and lock it. "Ma'am, what I'm about to tell you is pretty much the single most classified piece of information on the planet. Aside from a few members of the highest ranks of the military and some senators, no one else in the government knows about this. And that's the way it has to be. You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you. Not Kelly, not the VP, not even your family." He threw a look at Rod with those words.

The First Gentleman raised an eyebrow. "Getting a little melodramatic on us, Jim. What is this about?"

Gardner turned to O'Neil who moved forward. "Ms. President…" He stopped and frowned. "Is that okay? Never had to use it before."

Allen smiled. "Madam President is fine."

O'Neil nodded as he opened his briefcase and pulled out a large folder. "Madam President, I'm gonna cut down to it." He opened the file and threw down a large photo. Allen and Rod leaned in to see an image of what looked like a gigantic ring in some sort of hanger, covered in bizarre symbols. "Madam President," O'Neill started. "That is the Stargate. It's an alien artifact found in Giza in 1928. It was transferred to the United States and moved to Cheyenne Mountain. It took seventy years to figure out how to work the damn thing but once we did, we found it could create a wormhole that could instantly transport someone to another planet, as far as the other side of the known universe."

The reaction was pretty much as he expected. Both Allen and Rod stared at him open-mouthed and wide-eyed. Realizing they weren't going to be speaking any time soon, O'Neil plowed on. "Well, the Stargates were built by some ancient race God knows how many thousands of years ago. It's an entire network going across the universe, each at a planet suitable for human life. They've been used by these guys." He threw down a series of photos of men in women in various odd dress. Everything from Egyptian-like clothing to Oriental-like robes.

"These are normal humans, descendents of people kidnapped from Earth centuries ago and used to settle various planets," O'Neil went on. "Now, what sets them apart is this…" He threw down a photo of a hideous worm-like creature in a glass jar.

"What in God's name is that?" Rod gasped.

"That, sir, is a Goa'uld," O'Neil answered. "An alien parasite that takes over a human host, giving them enhanced strength, knowledge and oh yeah, glowing eyes and a weird echo to their voice."

O'Neill shuffled through the files. "So, the Goa'uld set themselves up as gods to the people of these worlds to use them as slave labor while fighting each other for power. They also use some humans as Jaffa." He put down anther photo, this showing some dark-armored men with strange embalms on their foreheads. "They're the footsoldiers who believe these guys are gods and are willing to die for them. They even carry an infant symboite inside them until it matures."

Allen was staring at the photos in shock as O'Neil went on. "We sort of stumbled on them and the entire Stargate network by accident and that got their attention. So for the last decade, we've been running teams through the Stargates to explore, find info on the Goa'uld and get what allies we can. We have gotten some help from the Tok'ra. They're a bunch of Goa'uld who don't buy the whole 'we are gods, hear us roar' thing."

He finally paused and looked to Gardner. "Did I leave anything out?"

"The Asgard?" the Chief of Staff dryly noted.

"Oh, yeah, right, thanks!" O'Neil turned back to Allen. "Well, you know all those gray alien guys they've been talking about for years? Turns out they're the Asgard, a big alien race who have been fighting the Goa'uld for a while. Well, when they're not fighting a race of replicating spider things, that is."

He put the file on the desk. "So, that's the basic gist. Any questions?"

The First Couple simply stared at him dumfounded. Mackenzie shook her head slowly and focused her gaze at Gardner. "Jim…is this some sort of joke?"

Gardner shook his head. "That was my reaction too, Madam President. But it's for real."

Allen's face grew hard. "And why is this the first time I've heard about this?"

Gardner took a breath. "Madam…."

"Jim, I've been VP for two years and Bridges never said one word of this to me!"

"Truman had no idea the atomic bomb existed before Roosevelt died," Gardner pointed out. "As I said before, Madam President, this is ultra-top secret."

"Who else knows?" Rod asked, still looking through the photos. "I mean…do any other nations know about the…Stargate?"

"The Russians found one a few years ago," O'Neil said. "England, China and France were brought in a couple of years after that."

"That's all?" Allen demanded. "You've kept this closed off from the U.N.? From the other powers?"

"Yeah, this is exactly the sort of thing we want to broadcast to other governments," O'Neil sarcastically said. "The more people who know, the more chance the public gets wind of this and I don't have to tell you what kind of problems that will cause."

Allen rose up from her seat and O'Neil was thrown to see she was almost as tall as he was. She turned to the window looking out and shaking her head. "I can't believe this…"

Rod was shaking his head. "Let me get this straight. A bunch of alien worms kidnapped humans thousands of years ago, transported them to other planets via these Gate things, one of which is in a mountain in Colorado and we have a secret program to combat them, aided by these gray alien guys?"

O'Neil paused. "Well, sure, when you put it that way, it all sounds ridiculous."

Allen paced before the window. "Is this…is this a military operation or science-based?"

"A bit of both," O'Neil answered. "SG-1, that's the main team, has an astrophysicist and an archeologist on board. There's also Teal'c, he was a Jaffa who turned on the Goa'uld to help us. He's been organizing some rebel Jaffa for the last few years."

Allen rubbed her forehead. "What I mean is…are you using this thing to explore or just try to find stuff that can help the military?"

O'Neil paused to consider his answer, biting back his usual sarcasm. "Ma'am, we do try to help other cultures as well we can and yeah, we do study their technology but only with permission. The file has a list of the stuff we've been working on, a lot of which can help pioneer medical research like cancer cures and alternate fuel sources."

Allen faced him, her face sober. "General, you wanted to cut to it, so fine. How much has this been costing the country since it opened?"

O'Neil bit his lip. "The regular budget is about seven billion a year. Add in creating technology for the ships…"

"Ships?" Rod blurted. "Wait a minute…are you telling me…we…the United States…have spaceships?"

O'Neil smirked. "Yeah, pretty cool ones. I still want to call one the Enterprise but I keep getting outvoted."

"So we're spending billions of dollars a year so the military can increase their private weapons stock, is that it?" Allen said in a cold tone.

O'Neil turned to her, his smile vanishing. "Twenty-two."

Allen blinked. "I'm sorry?"

O'Neil nodded to the file. "Inside, you'll find twenty-two instances where Earth was almost attacked by the Goa'uld or another alien race and the SGC were responsible for saving it. I think a few billion is a pretty cheap price to save every man, woman and child on this planet, don't you, Madam President?"

Allen was a bit taken aback as she realized O'Neil was dead serious about this. "The whole planet?" she asked. "You've saved the whole planet."

O'Neil frowned. "You don't have to sound so shocked at that…"

Allen pursed her lips. "I just find it hard to believe it's so altruistic."

O'Neil sighed. "Well, there has been a group called the NID that's wanted to use it for their own ends. The usual big power brokers and such. We've tried to deal with them but never gotten concrete evidence as to who's in charge."

"What do they want?" Rod asked.

O'Neil shrugged. "Depends on whoever's in charge. Sometimes, they want to get rid of the Gate, bury our heads in the sand and hope the Goa'uld leave us alone. Other times, they want to take the fight to them by any means necessary, even if it means stealing from allies and wiping out innocents in the process."

Allen looked at him, then to Gardner. "Who else in our government knows?"

"Most of the Joint Chiefs," The Chief of Staff replied. "A couple of the highest ranking Congressmen in charge of the budget issues."

"Templeton?"

Gardner shook his head and Mac let out a sigh of relief. O'Neil had his hands behind his back as he spoke. "We try to keep it as quiet as possible. Let's face it, Ma'am, the public isn't ready to know there are aliens with the ability to take over human bodies attacking us on an almost regular basis."

Allen frowned. "I don't know about that…" She shook her head. "Sorry, I'm just trying to wrap my head around this."

"I know it's hard to accept, Madam President," Gardner broke in. "I wanted to tell you earlier but thought it best to wait until you had a Vice-President installed and….well…"

Allen gazed at him with a cool look. "And you were sure I'd be sticking around for a while."

Gardner looked down at his feet without replying. Allen nodded, not too surprised. She brushed back her hair as she headed back to her desk. "I…I need to look over this and…" She shook her head as she sat down. "General, I'm probably going to have a hundred questions for you later but for now…"

"Understood, Ma'am," O'Neil said as he saluted. He paused. "Permission to speak freely, Ma'am?"

Allen couldn't resist a smile. "You don't strike me as the kind of person who asks for that often, General."

O'Neil licked his lips. "Ma'am…this is important. It is. To this planet, to our race, to the universe itself. The people there believe in what they're doing and so do I. I know it sounds crazy and you'll have people telling you it's easier to end it and bury the thing back in the desert. But the Goa'uld are out there and they're not going to stop coming unless we do something to stop them. Your predecessors understood that. I'm hoping you do too. Because if you don't, you're going to pay for it and your children and their children and everyone else on the planet. And the only consolation won't be that you won't go down in history as the woman responsible for the end of the human race because there won't be any human left to record it."

Allen stared at him for a long moment before the corners of her lips turned up a bit. "You spent all morning practicing that in the mirror."

"Did it come off too over the top? I'm not a big speechmaker."

Allen nodded. "I can tell." She took a deep breath. "Are you staying in Washington?"

"Got to get to the Pentagon for some business," O'Neil confirmed.

"I'll call you later about this," Allen said. "Dismissed."

O'Neil saluted and turned to head out. A long silence came over the Oval Office as the First Couple took in what had just happened.

"Jim, please say this is some sort of elaborate joke for new Presidents," Rod half-pleaded.

"If only I could," Gardner stated.

Allen lifted up the large file and began to flip through it. "I want to bring Keaton in on this."

Gardner frowned. "The Vice President is usually among those out of the loop."

"He handles more military aspects than I do," Allen replied. "He should know about this."

"Your decision, ma'am," Gardner said. "Anything else you need?"

Allen rubbed her face. "Relay a message to my kids. Let them know dinner is going to be a little late tonight."

Gardner nodded as he walked out of the office.

Mackenzie Allen gazed at her husband. "How you feeling?"

Rod was flipping through photographs of the technology captured from the Goa'uld. "It's….God, I can't believe this…any of it…"

Allen leaned back in her chair and rubbed her face. "Here I thought I'd be able to be one President who kept this country out of war. Now I find out the whole planet has been involved in one for years."

Rod shook his head. "This is…a lot, Mac. I mean, a whole lot, even bigger than I thought or imagined…"

Allen stared at the ceiling. "Should I keep it open?"

Rod shrugged. "I think we need to read more about it before we can decide that. Offhand, if O'Neil's right and that's the only defense we have…"

Allen leaned forward. "So all I have to do is explain away the odd occurrence and keep this out of the media. Wonderful."

Rod sighed and reached forward to rub his wife's shoulder. "We'll handle this."

"I hope so," Allen replied softly as she gazed around. For the first time, the weight of the office was truly pushing down on her, more than she thought it would.

The husband and wife sat there for the next few hours, reading the amazing story of the SGC as both realized that being the President may open up new doors…but sometimes they led to rooms no one should ever explore.