Bookworm5- Huzzah, horrah! And all that other fanfare for the common man, another chapter done.
Leria006- yes, my turn for a break!
Bookworm5- what! Oh sting of curses ...man...
Leria006- you haven't even started...have you?
Bookworm5- looks at that and abandoned piles of AP work yes...yes I have
Leria006- till next week campers!
Bookworm5- ...I hope...maybe next month?
Leria006- cracks whip (it's from Australia)
bookworm5- ACK! Enjoy guys!
All was peaceful at the SGC...sort of. Over a week had passed without incident since General Hammond's surprising declaration to SG1. While the continued presence of SGC's flag team was not overly unusual, especially since three of the members had a tendency to never leave anyway, it did not go unnoticed.
It was the fourth member of the team that was causing some people pause. No member of the team was A) injured, B) lost, C) stranded off world, or D) had any missions that would require their presence, leaving no reason for the final member to remain on base. At least, that was the word circulating on base.
So the continued presence of the fourth member was a note of intrigue, and in relation, whispered speculation and gossip, which spread like wildfire on a dry grass plane.
Gossip, it should be noted, is one of the absolutes in any organization, from tree house clubs in the trees of southern Maine, to within the basement walls of the NID. After all if there is nothing to gossip about, what's the point in coming to work.
The SGC was no different. Granted, rumors and gossips from there would make Chris Carter, the infamous writer of the X-Files green with envy. Subsequently they were classified, effectively squashing any efforts to speak of them outside of the base.
Which, for the SGC, was all the more reason to keep coming to work.
Currently the fourth member was lounging in the security center amusing himself, and annoying others, with a large bag of rubber bands. Several of these bands were piled next to the console and even more had landed on the floor. Lieutenants Eriks and Jameson sat in stoic silence as they monitored the security videos and kept the lines open for any emergencies. For once they wished there was one.
SNAP!. Eriks managed not to jump as the projectile flew past his ear hitting the screen with a muted ping.
"Sir, are you sure there isn't any place you need to be?" Jameson asked as he added the rubber band to the pile.
SNAP!……..ping.
"Sir!" Jameson stated again, years of strict military training kept his tone much more cordial then he felt.
SNAP!……..ping.
Jameson swung around. His eyes narrowed, only to be met with the falsely wide innocent brown stare from one Colonel Jack O'Neill.
"Sorry, you say something?" O'Neill questioned, his trademark grin appearing as his hands folded neatly around the offending bag.
"I was just wondering sir, if perhaps you didn't have more pressing matters to attend to…. elsewhere." Jameson said politely.
O'Neill made a show of thinking. He looked around the room, drew his gaze across the floor, scanned the screens and then, ever so slowly, memorized every detail of his hands, still clutching the bag as a child would a bag of candy. His eyes drew back up to Jameson, his grin firmly in place.
"Nope." O'Neill practically chirped. Jameson resisted rolling his eyes and turned back around. There was no speaking with the man when he got this bored.
SNAP!……..ping.
Jameson and Eriks sighed silently, it was going to be a long shift.
Hammond shifted the last of his papers into the 'done' pile with a sigh of relief. Since no more teams were due back for a day at least it meant he might actually have a brief respite from the endless stream of paperwork.
He contemplated briefly calling up Pete to see how things were going, but, no. The whole point of this exercise was to test the security of the base, a goal he would not achieve if he got updates on the man attempting that feat.
Thinking of Pete though, he would have to make arrangements for his arrival in aboutone week's time. Pete would be arriving the more conventional route, via airplane and then military escort. Leaning back slightly he started to think who he wanted to pick his friend up. Clearly it would have to be a member of SG1, the only question was who.
He probably wouldn't want to send Teal'c, not because he didn't trust him but because he wanted someone who could hold a conversation easily. Teal'c was doing much better with the unusual customs on earth, but he still slipped up on occasion. Besides, he wanted to see Pete's face when one of those slip-ups occurred.
Okay, so not Teal'c. Major Carter perhaps. She could easily keep a conversation going with Pete and she would know what she should or should not say. Plus, being military she would show proper respect and courtesy. Mind almost made up Hammond suddenly thought about what she and Dr. Jackson had been doing besides checking on base security.
'Oh yeah, that would be a wonderful idea, just let her alone with the one person who can answer the questions that everyone has.' Hammond laughed dryly to himself, okay, so not Carter either.
A soft knock on his door interrupted any further thoughts and he looked up to see Teal'c standing in his doorway.
"Come in Teal'c. How are things going?"
"They are going well General Hammond. Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter asked me to hand in their reports so far. I have mine as well."
"Ah, good." Hammond said taking the three folders from the jaffa's hands. "Nothing from Dr. Jackson yet?" He asked when he realized one report was missing.
"Daniel Jackson will be handing his in personally General Hammond."
"In other words, he forgot and is writing it right now." Hammond almost laughed at the slightest nod of Teal'c's head. Almost. "Well regardless, thank you son. I'll start reading these right away." Teal'c nodded at the dismissal and left the office.
Hammond placed the folders in his just emptied 'to do' pile and sighed.
"So much for no paperwork."
Daniel Jackson hurried along the hallway, intent on getting back to his office as soon as possible. After turning in his report, fresh off the printer, he had already thought up some more possibilities to run by Sam. Even in his rushed state he had noted the amused smile on Hammond's face as he accepted the report, was there a joke that he'd missed?
He'd left when Sam had been printing out the lists of employees so that they could then be sorted and examined more closely. They had found out quite a bit of information on the Phoenix foundation and Pete Thorton. They had been fascinated at all of the assignments the foundation received.
They were also able to appreciate the level of security and classification that existed concerning much of the information. In an effort not to pry too much they had stuck to the basics. Even then though, there had been quite a lot.
"Hey Sam, how are things going?" He asked as he returned to his well-worn office.
"Okay I think, I've divided the employees into a few piles. This pile consists of current employees not currently in the United States. This pile is the employees still listed as being in the United States, but not currently on any assignment, classified or otherwise. This pile is the list of employees listed as being in the United States and on assignment, I haven't narrowed it down to whether or not the mission is classified or not." Daniel listened appreciatively as she explained her system.
"Ok, then we can disregard the pile of employees not in the US. They obviously can't be attempting anything here. However we might want to take a close look at the employees listed as not on assignment in case, for securities sake, they haven't made the other list yet." Daniel said as he determined the best way to figure out who was going to be arriving.Samlooked up, a conspiratory smile gracing her lips as she nodded, indicating he should sit down so they could get started.
Taking out his own pad of paper and pencil he started writing down the names of employees in the pile of 'not on assignment' as Sam started to further break down the other pile into what type of missions they were on. As he was writing Daniel noticed a fourth pile over on the corner of the desk. Curious he picked it up, clearing his throat to get her attention.
"Uh, Sam, what is this pile for?" She looked over briefly at the spot where they had been before waving dismissively at the pages.
"Oh, those are employees that are listed as being part time. I can't imagine that Colonel Thorton would trust a job of this magnitude to an employee that probably only works for him half of the year." Nodding his agreement Daniel replaced the pile and went back to work on his task.
Teal'c stopped by after a while with two cups of extra strong coffee and was roped into assisting in the process of narrowing down who was who. They had just gotten into a sort of routine, outlining each employee's accomplishments, attributes, character and so forth and were therefore unaware when the fourth member of their group silently showed up and leaned casually against the door, his hands fiddling with a nearly empty bag.
SNAP!……..ping.