Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Stargate (II) Productions, Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret productions, and Gekko productions and anyone I don't know about. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended.

The original characters, situations, and story line are the property of the author. This story may not be posted elsewhere without the consent of said author, me.

A new story but placed immediately after Are we Friends or Lunch.

Jack settled into his deck chair knowing he had at least three days undisturbed rest before him. A six pack rested inside an ice box on the ground at his side along with a bag of sandwiches. The fishing rod arced out into his pool and would be doing so innumerable times during the day. He was at one with the wilderness surrounding his cabin and fishing hole. He gave a contented sigh and took the first gulp of beer from a can and set it back in the ice box. He leaned back, pulled his cap low down over his eyes and dozed. For once the world didn't need him and he didn't need it. The tugging of the stitches in his chest lessened and died away as the day progressed and he was content. The sun rose lazily into the deep blue sky and warmed his bones and he stayed there for hours only moving to reel in his line and cast it again. During the whole day he caught not one fish and had not expected to.

As the sun began to set behind the tall Pine trees surrounding his patch of water, he heard the sound of an engine as a 4x4 crawled up his track to the cabin. He neither moved nor acknowledged its presence, even when a voice hailed him from the cabin front but a frown descended on his face. This was his time to recover why couldn't they leave him alone.

Quick footsteps tapping out a tattoo on the jetty planking told of persistence and urgency. A shadow fell across him as he listened to the invader of his privacy. "I'm sorry to disturb you Sir, but I have instructions to drive you back to Cheyenne Mountain. General Hammond wishes to see you urgently."

"Urgently?" Jack asked raising his eyes to the slightly flushed face of a young Lieutenant.

"Yes Sir." Then the Lieutenant's face turned scarlet and Jack became intrigued despite himself. He rose a little awkwardly from his chair and the stitches in his chest pulled tight reminding him that they needed removing. Another three days and Janet assured him they would be removed and he could return to desk duty at least. "I have not been told exactly what is urgent Sir." The soldier confessed looking straight passed his superior. "I don't have the clearance Sir."

"I see. So I had better get my things and come with you then," Jack offered sardonically. He was not in the mood to be diplomatic, then again he realised he hardly ever was anymore. 'Why won't the Universe leave me in peace for a while?' He thought morosely. He collected up his fishing gear and the Lieutenant tried to help, carrying the fishing tackle pack and the deck chair. Jack wondered briefly how the youngster thought he had managed to get everything down to his fishing pond in the first place.

"Catch anything Sir?" the soldier asked trying to make conversation.

"No."

"Oh, bad luck Sir."

"Not really. There's no fish in the pond," Jack responded a wicked smile appearing on his face at the confusion his comment caused.

Jack lounged in the front seat of the 4x4 leaning into his seat belt with his eyes closed. As far as the Lieutenant could tell the Colonel was sleeping so he tried to drive steadily and not disturb him. He seemed a little bad tempered which could be due to the half healed injury he was carrying, but the Lieutenant suspected it was his normal attitude when disturbed. He couldn't help but wonder what was so important that they would drag an injured man back to duty. 'Come to think of it how did someone who spends days at a time under Cheyenne Mountain get that badly injured? He wondered.

As the car pulled into the parking lot they could both hear the alarms sounding inside the mountain. O'Neill was up and out of the car almost before it had stopped moving and the Lieutenant found himself chasing the Colonel to the security check in. He was surprised by the speed that the injured old man could move. It belied what the rumours said about how bad his injuries were. Jack ran into the cavernous entrance with the young soldier at his heels and he appeared to be hunting for something or someone. The thought crossed the soldier's mind that if he stayed close to this Colonel he might actually find out what was happening deep under the mountain.

As the pair headed for the stairwell they almost collided with three soldiers in combat gear. "Hi Jamieson what gives?" Jack shouted at them. This new Colonel replied by throwing a P90 at O'Neill without even checking to see if it was caught and waving at the soldiers accompanying him. One of the other two threw him a weapon which he caught with equal ease and a small smile of satisfaction to be included.

"Foothold," was the only word he heard but it appeared to be enough for Colonel O'Neill. He yanked open the stairwell door and they all crowded through. The descent downward was swift, usually leaping the last two or three steps of each flight in their haste. To his disappointment they only went to level 27 and then shot into the corridor running along to an emergency control room. They entered the area and Jack crossed the room to where he could see General Hammond peering into a monitor.

"What's happening Sir?" Jack asked as he stared down at the scene in the Gate Room on the level below them. All he could see on the monitor was a thick white fog that filled the room. It was not escaping however as the room security doors were hermetically sealed when closed.

"We don't know son," Hammond responded. "There are or were three of our people in there but we cannot contact them or see them. They didn't have a chance to get out when the emergency protocols enacted. The fog came through the Stargate with surprising speed before we could shut it off."

"Why'd we open it?"

"SG8 were returning, or so we thought. They didn't make it through and we don't know what has happened to them," Hammond explained. "We are trying to figure out how to safely get a sample of the fog to ascertain what kind of risk it represents."

"Carter in on this?" Jack asked as he stared at the screen, and then looked up when Hammond didn't answer. "Sir?"

"It was your team in the Gate Room when we opened up for SG8 Jack."