Disclaimer: I don't own National Treasure but Jess is my own idea

A/N: Isabel had the stone! Not anymore she doesn't. But what part does the General play in all of this?

Chapter 07

"Is it true what they say? About area fifty one?" Jess asked the young General.

"Please, you can call me Smith."

"Despite what I call you, you can still answer my question."

"No, no it's not true. Just myths."

"Then why is there a military base around here?" Jess gazed out the car window and watched the desert outback like landscape pass her by. "Come on, if there is no such thing as aliens and the supernatural, then why would there be a military base out here?"

"Because some things just need protection. Now, don't ask any questions. You'll ruin the surprise."

The way he said surprise made Jess feel like it was more a bad surprise than a positive surprise like a birthday party. This was soon to be a weird day, she was sure of it.

In the other car, Ben and Abbie were getting nowhere in finding out about the military base, but to no avail. The cars soon met a large metal gate which opened by dividing into two panels that make the ground quake when they slid to the sides.

"This is all for show, big gates and a pick up car. Who are they trying to impress?" Riley moaned.

"Quit sulking, Riley," Abbie leant forwards from in between Ben and Riley to see out the windows. "This place sure is big. I don't get why no one's found it beforehand."

The cars drove down a wide corridor, just straight into the corridor where piles of boxes and crates littered the sides. Many army men held on tightly to their weapons as they stood up tall.

"Looks like they mean business here," Ben mumbled, peering out the window.

"Shall I whip out my book and see if I can sell a few?" Riley asked, in an attempt to shed some humour on the situation.

"Go for it, welcome to your new home Riley," replied Ben who was in total awe at the amount of secrets that would have been held within the base. "First, I want to know why Joshua brought us here. Not to mention the fact that I can do a bit of snooping."

"Ben!" Abbie squeaked, "No you won't, you'll behave."

"OooOoo," Riley taunted, the pitch of it dipping and rising like an irritating child. Only to be playfully hit on the arm by Abbie. "Hey!"

The car came to a sudden stop, the three rocked forwards from the momentum of the car.

"Everybody out," the driver called.

A little bewildered, the three filed out the car as the others got out of theirs. Jess stuck beside General Smith's side, smiling shyly at him. Joshua pulled General Smith aside and she overheard the mentioning of block C, aisle 5, box A14. Jess' curiosity shone through and she felt like she had to find out what was in there. Originally she thought that it could have been the other half to the first stone.

But how could she be so sure?

"Okay everyone, there's a reason that we came to this place. We are here for the other stone. Only this idiot tells me it's missing. So there's only one thing left to do-" Joshua started, Riley quickly spoke without thinking.

"We're going to search the base? Awesome!"

"Well, myself, Dora, Abbie and Paris will be searching through the boxes that are unmarked." Joshua smiled politely at Abbie, watching her hand slowly slip away from Ben's as she walked towards him.

"And Jess," Smith added shyly, smiling at her as she stared at her feet awkwardly.

"Mm, I suppose." Joshua nodded, completely exasperated. "Let's get searching." He pulled Damian, the architect, closer. "You watch them."

Damian grinned menacingly, "They won't disappear from my sight, Joshua." From the look on Damian's face, it was clear that he would much rather be searching through the artefacts.

Jess followed behind Abbie and Smith. She passed so many soldiers carrying some mighty looking weapons which intimidated her. As they walked on, her eyes found themselves tracing Smith's features. His broad shoulders, short blonde hair, muscular arms and then his bum-

"Jess!" Abbie squeaked quietly. "I saw that. Watch it."

"Sssshhh!" Jess squeaked, mimicking Abbie's volume. "I wasn't, I wasn't doing anything. Just looking."

"Well, why can't we all?"

"Abbie!" Jess burst out into laughter, linking arms with Abbie, begin to approve of the relationship she had with her father.

Being left behind, Ben and Riley watched the girls disappear around the corner.

"That's nice," Riley smiled.

Ben raised his eyebrows. "What's that?"

"Oh, it's just our- the two of them getting along so well. It's nice."

"Yeah, a little…" Ben noticed the watchful eye of Damian over him and Riley. "So, what are we going to do?"

"Nothing whilst oaf over there is glaring at us." Riley scanned the hanger deck that stood on. "This place is big, and it's practically in a hill."

"At least it is structurally sound," Ben murmured. "We'll just have to have faith that Abbie and Jess will find something, the other stone."

But it wasn't so easy to find it. Abbie and Jess were left staring at about five aisles of storage boxes from the top of a metal staircase.

"I know it must be amazing, but this is all labelled. Wait until you see what we are going through," Joshua called as he walked along the pathway towards a heavy door at the end of it.

Jess feebly held onto the railing. Abbie walked away, following after Joshua, Dora and Paris. Jess felt the temptation to leap over the edge and rifle through the content of the storage.

"Hey…"

She turned to see Smith staring at her. "Um, hey."

"You really shouldn't hang about on your own in here. Who knows what you could find." He turned on his heels and marched off after the others.

It sent a shiver down Jess' spine. She began to get a little creeped out by Smith's awkward behaviour. She hoped that Ben and Riley were doing okay bearing in mind that they had been automatically left behind. She had a tiny niggling sensation that this was a trap.

Oh how right she was.

Ben and Riley were standing, waiting for the others to return. There was a sudden click of guns being aimed at them, and Damian.

"What is going on?" Damian gasped, gripping the pistol that he had holstered to his side.

"Where is the stone?" one of the younger looking marines asked. He shook his gun. "Tell me!"

"If you just lower your weapons, I'm sure we can come to a simple negotiation," Ben replied, raising his hands to shoulder height.

"The time for negotiation is over. Where is the stone?" the marine demanded again.

Ben thought about who really had the stone, and why this base wanted it. He couldn't remember who was last with the stone, Isabel had it. Then Riley, then Joshua, but did Joshua still have it?

"I don't know who has it? What I do know, is that the stone has come with us. One of the others has it."

"Ben. Ben," Riley murmured, trying to subtly get his attention. "Ben-"

"Quiet Riley, I'm sorting this out!" Ben gritted his teeth, silencing Riley immediately.

The problem was, that Riley knew who really had the stone and it wasn't Joshua. They were hauled away, down a corridor in the opposite direction of the way the others had gone.

In the storage, Abbie was going through some boxes that had been left on a table for her, Jess, Paris and Smith to go through. The things in them were amazing. She had only dreamed of seeing such artefacts like the ones in the box, but Smith was quick to take the boxes from her reach whenever she finished going through. Jess picked up one of her boxes and was taking it towards the other searched boxes when Smith grabbed the other side of it.

"Smith, you can let go of the box. I can take it, trust me." Jess smiled broadly at the General.

"Oh- right. Sorry." Smith rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. Once Jess made it to the pile of searched boxes, she realised Smith was practically right behind her. "You're not safe here," he mumbled.

"What?" Jess stammered, staring at his brown eyes, his gaze fixed on her.

"Jess, you and the whole expedition team are in grave danger. You have to be prepared to run. For your life. They want you to stop searching, before you unearth the countless number of failed expeditions-"

"You ordered this?"

"Me? No… Oh Jess, I'm a brigadier general, the lowest ranking general. The General is the one who ordered the halt of your expedition. You can get away from this, if you give me the stone. I can get you away if you do."

"Are you blackmailing me, Smith?" Jess asked, screwing up her face and stepping away from Smith. Her eyes searched for an exit. There were two doors. One she had used to get to the room she stood in, she had no idea where the other door led.

"No, Jess, I just need you to do the right thing." Smith held out his hand.

"JESS!" she heard her father yell, he was warning her.

Smith lunged forwards for her, but she turned away, sprinting through the door. Abbie was immediately grabbed and cuffed before they could do anything. Marines entered the room with Ben, Riley, Damian, Dora and Joshua cuffed.

Joshua glowered at Paris. "Paris, what's going on?"

"That's General Garland. It's time to give up this treasure hunt Gallagher. On my orders, it was all over. The half you were in possession of is being taken from the girl as we speak."

Smith came running back into the room, "I lost her. She's somewhere in the base. Activate the lock down."

Ben couldn't help but grin at Smith's desperation and Paris' irritation. He just hoped that Jess was safe. Paris darted across the room, opening an electric control panel, he tried to initiate the lockdown, but every time he pressed enter, nothing happened and it reverted back to the home screen of the army emblem.

"Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Everyone looked up, thinking that's where Jess was, only it was her voice in the speaker.

"Find her! Bring her to me now!" Paris screamed, "Take them to the CIC!" He gestured Joshua, Ben and the others who were dragged away, struggling and pulling away from the marines. In the CIC, Paris ordered the marines away, locking the door after them. He pulled Ben towards the speaker that was also connected to the overhead speaker system. "Now you bring her to me, or neither one of you will see each other again."

Ben looked at Paris, did he mean that he would kill Ben, or Jess? It didn't matter, he couldn't take that risk. Ben moved closer to the mesh of the microphone.

"Jess, it's Ben." Ben paused momentarily. "You know the game we used to play when we were little? Well, I need you to do your very best at that game." Ben looked at Paris who couldn't understand what Ben was doing. "Jess, get away from the base now!"

There was a click as Paris held a gun to Ben's temple.

"Oh Mr Garland, I wouldn't do that if I were you. Bearing in mind I've got the power of the lockdown, what makes you think I don't have the power to blow this place up, this and everyone in it."

"You are bluffing, you don't have the guts little girl." Paris pressed the gun into Ben's head. "You wouldn't want to kill your father, and all these nice people now, would you?"

"And what about those artefacts, General? Are you willing to give them all up because of one measly half of a shiny stone. I mean, do you even know who has the other half, or where it is? Because if you shoot my father, trust me, you're going to have a war on your hands. I can tell people the things I've seen. I can spread the word, and then it won't just be me you should be afraid of. What will Mr President think of you? I'm referring to the murder of the man you're holding a gun to the temple of."

Paris raised his gun up. "You don't know who you're messing with."

"I don't think you know who you're messing with Paris. Paris, that's quite a girly name, isn't it?"

"What? No! Of course it's not. My father chose it. Shut up! Get out of my head."

"I would, but it's cosy here. I have to say, I didn't see you as a Nina Simone fan. Neither did any of the marines by the sound of it."

The others could hear laughter on the other side of the door.

"You're in my office!" Paris shouted. "Marines, I order you to seize that girl."

"General, you don't get it, do you? You don't stand a chance now. You're pathetic, you hide behind a gun because you don't want people to see you look weak. You're a coward, you get others to do your orders. Well I'll tell you something Mr Garland, why don't you come on down to the hanger deck? I believe you've got a visitor."

Pulling at his hair, Paris ushered the others out of the CIC and down the now empty corridor. Ben and the others had no idea what was going on. When the door opened onto the hanger deck, they saw Jess standing behind the right shoulder of, the President. Paris' gun dropped to the floor and he saluted him.

"I don't think you really mean that General. Yes, I am well aware of what you have been planning. Unfortunately, you do not have a clue where the stone is. Most likely because I was in possession of the other half. Miss Gates here tells me that you informed Mr Gallagher that you had something I was in possession of in a phone call. So I had to come and see for myself."

"Mr President-"

The President raised his hand. "Ben Gates, it seems our paths cross again." The President turned to his own guards. "Someone remove these handcuffs now."

The guards rushed to get the cuffs off the expedition team's wrists.

"Now Ben, I believe this is your daughter?"

Jess stepped forwards and stood to Ben's side. Ben put his arm around her.

"This is her alright."

"Well, she's a very smart intelligent girl. We could do with someone like her for her technological knowledge."

Jess' mouth dropped open. Over her shoulder, Riley was doing the exact same. "Sure, she takes over the overhead speaker system and she's smart and intelligent. I steal the declaration of independence, and I am below average." He jerked away when Abbie elbowed him. "What? It's true."

"You might want to say that a little quieter. I don't think they'll take statements like that so lightly," she reminded him of the pure scale of Riley's actions.

"It's still better," Riley mumbled like a child the attention had been drawn away from.

"Well, it was really all from the skills I had picked up from Mr Riley Poole here, he's the one you want to be talking to," Jess replied politely, reaching behind her to pull Riley forward. "Not a word of page numbers."

"Mr Poole, you have a set of very desirable skills-"

"Does the Shepherd's journal exist?" Riley beamed at the President who had no idea what to say.

"You'll have to find it if you want it."

"Mr President, I have to ask you for the other half of the stone. I'm still going to go on this expedition." Jess interjected slowly, hoping not to sound too rude. The hand that Ben had on his daughter's shoulder gently prodded her. "Please."

The President ushered one of the guards over, whispering something to him. The guard made a hasty reply. "That is waiting in a secret location."

"Under your pillow?" Jess laughed to herself. "Kidding," she added when she saw the looks she was getting.

"Join me, you and your team, on the plane home. To the White House, then I can discuss the location of the stone."

"I will talk it though with the rest of the expedition team.

Ben led the others away to a meeting room where he had put a layer of parchment onto the table. Riley, Joshua, Abbie, Dora and Damian crowded around whilst Jess spoke with Smith.

"I'm sorry about what I did to you, Jess. You're an incredible person. I wish I hadn't been such a jerk. I shouldn't have taken Garland's orders. Jess, I have something for you." Smith pulled out a gold wrist band and held it out to Jess. "It was a gift from my great grandfather, passed down the generations. Please, you have to take this." Jess held it in her arms and was about to protest when Smith turned away and the next she had was the sound of a screeching engine.

"I never got to know your real name," Jess whispered to herself. She held the wristband in her hands. It was a dirty, gold colour which was now covered in smudges of fingerprints. Not thinking anything of it, she slipped on onto her own wrist. At first, it was loose, but then it tightened which only made Jess panic more.

"Jess!" Ben called out to her.

"Coming Dad," Jess replied, yanking the sleeve of her jacket down over her wrist. "What's the plan?"

"We believe that the stone will work with the presence of the Shepherd's journal. Maybe reveal another clue. How do you want to go to Iceland?"

"Iceland. You mean, I can go to the hot springs of Eyjafallajökull? Awesome!" Jess exclaimed.

Dora let out a groan. "Is she being serious?"

"Come on, no more fights, okay?" Damian glared at Dora.

"I agree, we need to get along, for once," Joshua admitted. "So what are we waiting on? Let's go to Iceland!"

Thoughts from AspiringWriterGirl = Okay! I didn't think that it would be such a long chapter, but here you are. Let me know what you think