The red phone rang, and Sam picked it up, curiously. "Carter."
"Colonel!" President Hayes greeted. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, sir." She said, confused. "And you?"
"Never better, never better." He said, jovially. "Hey, is Jack around by any chance?"
She looked at her commanding officer. "Yes, sir. He's right here."
"Put him on a minute, please."
She offered the phone to the General. "It's the President. He'd like to speak with you."
Jack raised an eyebrow as he accepted the phone. "Mr. President?"
"Jack! Long time no see!"
"I was just there, briefing you on the..."
"Joke, Jack." The President chuckled.
"Right."
"Jack, I hear you have Helen Magnus in custody."
Jack looked at Sam with his brow furrowed. "Sir, how could you..." He began.
"She called."
"Helen Magnus called you?" He asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yes. And she would like to be released."
"Uh, sir..."
"Jack, we have a standing arrangement with the Sanctuary network. They take care of the creepy, crawly things, and we let them go from our top-secret military bases."
Jack sighed. "Yes, sir."
"You don't agree?"
"No, sir, I don't."
"Why not?"
Jack exhaled silently. "Because she's not human, sir."
"Of course she's not!" Henry exclaimed with a laugh. "Do you think any human could live to be a hundred and fifty-seven years old and look as incredible as she does?"
"Then you know, sir?" He asked, confused.
"Look, she's not Goa'uld or Tok'ra. You had that checked already. So, she's got to be something else, and at this point, does it really matter what?"
"Of course!" Jack sputtered.
"Jack, she's a good woman." Henry sighed. "And I'm ordering you to let her go."
Jack looked up at the ceiling, feeling defeated. "Yes, sir."
"Now...put the Colonel on," he commanded. "I want to make sure my orders are taken out."
Jack winced slightly as he handed the phone back to Sam. "He wants to talk to you now."
"Okay..." She said somewhat nervously. "Hello, Mr. President?"
Jack's thoughts raced as Sam talked to the President. Helen Magnus had connections with the President? Just how deep was her cover? How many layers of secret organizations were piled over the dust of the Sanctuary network?
"He wants us to let her go." Sam said as she hung up the phone.
"I know." He said, shaking his thoughts from his mind.
"You could talk to her." She suggested. "Ask her to explain Honduras..."
"There's nothing to explain." He said, standing.
"Look, I may seem like the blond version of her that has less than a third of her life experience, but she probably has a good explanation for what she did." She said, seriously.
He inhaled as he turned to leave. "Maybe you're right."
"I know I am."
He looked back at her. "By the way, Carter...she hasn't always been a brunette...when I knew her, she was a blond."
Sam shook her head fiercely. This was getting WAY too weird.
