"Colonel Carter," one of the technicians said, interrupting Sam's thoughts as she stood on the bridge of the U.S.S. George Hammond.
"Yes, Major?" She asked, turning to him.
"We're receiving a communication from the SGC. It's Daniel Jackson. He requests a video conference with you."
"Set it up," she said with a small, but troubled smile as she thought once more about General O'Neill's odd behavior at the Pentagon two weeks previously. She shook the thoughts from her mind as she quickly made her way to the quarters and turned on her computer.
Within moments, the occasionally absent-minded archaeologist appeared on the screen, speaking to another person off-screen, probably one of the Gate technicians or another archaeologist, about a device which had come back through the Stargate with one of the teams after one of their latest missions. The familiar sights and sounds of the Gate room made her heart ache with the kind of homesickness that she hadn't experienced since her first year as a cadet at the Academy. She missed the SGC – the people, the work, and the adventure of it all. The personnel had become like a family to her, and not just the members of SG-1 either, General Hammond, Janet Fraiser, and Walter had come to be as dear to her as her own family.
She swallowed. It wasn't that she disliked her crew on the George Hammond. They had proven to be as loyal and capable as the best of the SGC personnel. But she hadn't had the time or the inclination to develop with them the same kinds of complex personal relationships that she'd developed with the others. After all, she was the commander, and she had to remain at least somewhat impartial. As she had needed to be on Atlantis.
She felt her eyes moisten as she thought of her friends, past and present, alive and dead. She quickly wiped at them, stopping any more thought of the people she'd lost over the years as she coughed to signal her readiness to the oblivious archaeologist.
"Oh," he said, turning back to the screen. "Sam. Uh…just…just a second."
She chuckled softly. His absent-mindedness was somewhat endearing, especially now that it had become more rare than during their first few years as a team. She rightly attributed the change to his years of enduring Jack's persistent interruptions. Even now, she sometimes paused in her work because it had been too long since she'd been affectionately badgered by the officer.
Who was now distancing himself from her in any way he could think of.
"Okay, I'm back."
Sam managed a thin smile. "Hi, Daniel. How is everything?"
He managed a strained smile. "Uh…I'm fine. Vala's fine. Teal'c, Mitchell…they're fine too."
She studied the archaeologist's face for a moment. "How's General O'Neill?" She asked, knowing that the source of his concern was most likely the same source of her own.
Daniel looked surprised for a moment, as if he hadn't considered that Sam would know anything about the news that he was about to share with her. "He's…been arrested."
She rocked back in surprise. Whatever she had been expecting, it hadn't been that. "Arrested? Why?"
Daniel's gaze flickered off-screen, a signal of his discomfort.
"What is it, Daniel?" She pressed.
"He's, uh," he began slowly. "He's being court-martialed."
Her eyes widened, and she just sat there for a moment. Sure, he had a history of insubordination, but despite that he'd been promoted to Lieutenant General. And insubordination was virtually impossible that far up the chain of command.
Suddenly, she felt a sick feeling grow in the pit of her stomach. Woolsey's memo.
"Sam, they're charging him with fraternization with a subordinate officer."
She felt dizzy and nauseated as everything came together. Jack's question about what she would do if accepting the assignment on the George Hammond was an admission of guilt, his sudden coolness, the strange looks at the Pentagon. "With me," she whispered. "They're accusing him of having an inappropriate relationship with me."
"Sam, he didn't want you to know…"
"When," she interrupted.
"He's still meeting with his lawyer. He'd be angry if he knew that I'd told you, so I don't think you need to show up tomorrow or anything, but…"
It doesn't look good, she finished internally. "Thank you, Daniel, for telling me." She said, quietly. "But I can't just stay here and do nothing. I'll be there as soon as I can find a replacement."
He swallowed. "I'll, uh, see you, then."