Thanks once again for all your reviews. They are most welcome.
Michele – Sorry if the song got stuck in your head. You're lucky you only get to read each chapter once. I have it running through my brain all the time I'm trying to write this! It's driving me nuts! Oh, and I'm not giving any clues away...all will be revealed in time!
AFOSI – Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Quote – "The vast majority of AFOSI's investigative activities pertain to felony crimes including murder, robbery, rape, assault, major burglaries, drug use and trafficking, sex offenses, arson, compromise of Air Force test materials, black market activities, and other criminal activities." - Wikipedia.
THIS OLD MAN.
By LetitiaRichards.
Previously:-
Who was out there? And why did they want to kill Jack or any one of them?
Chapter 9
This old man, he played two.
He played nick-nack with my brew.
With a nick-nack, paddy wack,
give the dog a bone.
This old man came rolling home.
General Hammond was more astonished than annoyed. He just couldn't understand why anyone would want to poison one of his best team or perhaps Gene. Though he didn't dismiss the possibility that it could very well have been another attempt on Jack's life. Perhaps they whomever it was behind this had wanted all of them dead?
But that was just stupid. No, he was sure that this person, whomever it was, had wanted Jack out of the way. He'd taken pot luck that it was Jack who'd eaten the poisoned slice of pizza or had drunk the spiked beer; if it hadn't been Jack it would have been one of the others, and in this man's game, it would have been counted as unfortunate and better luck next time.
The evidence was there. Jack had been shot and that person remained an enigma, though why he'd tried to kill Jack was a deeper mystery still.
It had to be Jack he was after, and it had to be the same person. It was the only thing that made sense. Daniel, Teal'c and Janet had gone over the Colonel's home with a fine toothcomb and had come up empty; they found no trace of any medication containing Doxepin. Therefore Hammond had no choice in the matter, and had already put in a request for an AFOSI team from Bolling AFB to come out and investigate the crime, determined to get to the bottom of this.
OoOoOoOoO
"General Hammond? Colonel Chuck Mayhew reporting sir, AFOSI." The officer saluted and held his body stiffly to attention until Hammond had saluted in return.
Hammond then shook hands with the younger man. He was tall, confident looking and his uniform was immaculate. There weren't many medals decorating the jacket, certainly nowhere near as many as Jack had earned, but he guessed they didn't see a lot of action from behind a desk or at a crime scene. Aged around forty-five, Mayhew's cropped blonde hair was nothing more than a raised fuzz over his head. His steely grey eyes held Hammond's steadily as they regarded each other for a brief moment.
"Sit down Colonel. Do you have your orders?"
"Yes sir, they're right here." He took out a folded sheet from his inside Jacket pocket and handed it to the General who read through them looking for the relevant information.
"It says that I'm to give you full clearance for your investigation. That's a pretty tall order Colonel, I hope you are prepared for the ride of your life." Hammond studied the man; he appeared to be a capable looking person, but you never knew these days. Some people were just harder to read.
"I think I can handle anything you might throw at me General. I mean what is there to Deep Space Radar Telemetry that could possibly be so difficult to understand sir?" Mayhew had seen everything in his career, so what was there here that he couldn't handle?
"Well, Colonel, you're just about to find out!"
Hammond reminded him that as an officer of the United States Air Force he was bound by the rules to keep what he was about to hear as Top Secret and it was imperative that it remained so. He then went on to outline the story of the Stargate and the SGC's main concerns in gaining technology from alien cultures to help win the fight against an enemy never before imagined. Liberating those peoples who were enslaved by said enemy and becoming allies in that war to rid the universe of the Goa'uld and others like them, i.e. the replicators.
To give him his due, the Colonel listened without interruption until the General had finished his account.
"That's all very interesting General, but can we get down to the real purpose of what exactly you do here?"
Hammond could hardly blame him for not understanding the importance of what they did on a daily basis, but hadn't he just gone through the whole thing?
"That is exactly what we do here Colonel." Hammond threaded his fingers together and rested them on the open file on top of his desk, and waited patiently for the penny to finally drop.
"Oh my god! You actually do travel to other worlds?" the Colonel gaped in astonishment. He'd thought the General was pulling his leg for some reason.
"Yes Colonel we do. And Colonel O'Neill was the first man to lead a team onto a distant planet. He is an integral and vital part of this operation Colonel, and I need to know exactly who is behind these attempts to take his life, and whether there is actually a link between the two incidents."
"I'm sure we will do our best sir. May I introduce you to my team sir?"
Hammond stood and nodded, gesturing for Mayhew to lead the way.
As soon as they entered the briefing room the four team members stood to attention in deference to the senior officers present.
"General Hammond, this is Major Tanya Robson, and Lieutenants Josh Hamlyn and Zac Masters."
General Hammond gave each of them a nod, summing up their appearance and the way they interacted.
"This is Doctor Daniel Jackson." Hammond then took over the introductions. "He's our civilian anthropologist and linguistics expert assigned to SG-1 and this is Teal'c our civilian combat advisor, also a member of Colonel O'Neill's team. Major Sam Carter is SG-1's second-in-command, but she's still waiting at the hospital bedside of Colonel O'Neill, hoping he may have something to add to your investigation when he recovers." He didn't say 'if'. That possibility just didn't enter his head. He just couldn't see Jack curling up his toes just yet, despite the very real threat. Jack was a fighter.
Everyone shook hands and then the General called them to order, giving everybody time to reseat themselves around the gleaming table.
Colonel Mayhew was very thorough in his questioning, not that Daniel and Teal'c were the ones who were on hand at the time, but they told the Colonel everything that Sam, Gene and the doctors had told them.
The first thing that Mayhew wanted to do while Jack was still too sick to stand up to an interrogation, was to speak with Gene Thomas. He acquired the address and he and one of his team were taken there in a staff car.
OoOoOoOoO
Gene opened the door and saw two uniformed officers standing on his doorstep. His jaw dropped open when he thought the worst.
"What's happened? Is Jack...?"
"Colonel O'Neill is recovering Mr. Thomas," Mayhew was quick to reassure Gene that Jack was still with them. "I'm here to carry out an investigation into the attempts on his life. I'm sorry if we startled you. May we come in?" Colonel Mayhew flashed his ID card at him and Gene nodded, stepping out of the way so they could enter the hallway.
"What can I do for you Colonel?"
"We were wondering if you could give me all the details of your interaction with Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill the other day. We'd like to cover all the bases and get all the facts straight first off."
"Sure. I don't mind. Come in."
Gene had led them through to the sitting room where they could sit comfortably.
"Can you begin," Colonel Mayhew asked as soon as he was seated, "by telling me everything that happened during that meal?"
"Sure. You guys want some coffee? It's a long story."
"We've got plenty of time and lots of patience Mr' Thomas, but no thanks to the coffee. I just need you to answer the questions."
"Of course," Gene sighed, and began his version of the story. "Jack, Sam, Major Carter that is, and I drove to a local diner. I know the guy who owns it. He's ex-Air Force too. We ordered a couple of pizzas and three bottles of beer..."
Gene took his time and went over every detail until Mayhew was satisfied he was telling them the truth and had missed nothing out.
"Just how did you and Colonel O'Neill become friends sir?"
Again Gene launched into the fact that it was quite by accident that he had moved in next door to Jack, having inherited the house from an old aunt, but being neighbours and both Air Force, they had naturally gravitated towards friendship."
After several more gruelling questions Mayhew had enough information to go through for now and thanked Gene for his time.
"You're welcome Colonel. Anything that would lead to finding out who is after Jack. What else can I tell you?"
OoOoOoOoO
"Hey there! How're you feeling?"
Jack forced his eyes open further. He could just make out a fuzzy shape, but it was one he would recognise anywhere, plus the voice gave him another clue.
"Hi angel!" His reply was a little slurred, having just woken from a long sleep, and completely ignoring the question on how he felt.
Sam giggled at the appellation he'd given her and bent over to kiss him tenderly on his brow, pulling away with a huge smile. She sat down again, taking his hand in hers.
Jack leaned into the gentle caress of her fingers as they now brushed the hair from his forehead.
"'s'nice," he murmured, closing his eyes once more, savouring every touch.
"Hey!" she cried softly, trying to sound indignant, though she didn't mind really if he did doze off again; just so long as he was okay. "You gonna go to sleep on me?"
Jack smiled lazily, opening and focusing his deep hazel eyes to pin her to where she sat with that intense look of his.
"I wish," he smirked.
"Behave! You're not out of the woods yet, you know!"
He shrugged a little, acknowledging the fact that he still felt washed out.
"Sam."
"Yeah?"
"When... when I get outta here," he began slowly, squeezing her hand purposely. "How about we..." he paused, not knowing how she would take his proposal. "well, we skip right to the main event, huh?"
"You don't want to wait?"
"Nah. You?"
She smiled emotionally.
"I don't want to wait Jack. I want us to have something...before..." her voice trailed off but even in his half awake state he could tell what she was thinking. "I love you so much."
His hand, shaking a little from weakness, pulled her hand to his lips and he kissed her fingers.
"I know Sam. Love you too. That's why I asked. This way at least we get something out of it. I'll have a word with Hammond. See what he can arrange, yeah?"
"You will? Promise?" She asked, soothing his forehead again, needing the contact just as much as he appeared to.
Jack had tired easily and just with what little conversation he'd had with Sam had worn him out. He'd been scared out of his mind; he hadn't known what to believe was wrong when he'd felt so bad and he knew she had assumed the worst too. Learning that he'd been poisoned with something that could prove just as deadly as a heart attack was almost as bad. He wasn't going to let the bastard win though. He would come back fighting; just as he was fighting to stay awake now, but he just had to close his eyes for a moment or two.
"Jack?"
"Sleepy."
"I know. Rest now!" Sam reached over and kissed his cheek gently, making him smile. "I'll be right here!" A moment later he was well away.
This old man, he played three...
TBC
