The Colonel stumbled a couple of times as they walked down the long corridor. Daniel was holding on to him so he didn't fall, but it couldn't help but be obvious that he was weak and having some trouble walking. At least he hoped it was obvious.
In actual fact, he was feeling incredibly weak and it was hard to keep going, but he wasn't quite as bad as he let on. He was actually watching everything very carefully as they moved towards what he assumed were the holding cells. He was a little surprised the guards hadn't done more to check him or Sam and Daniel out. He worried that all wasn't as it appeared, and for that reason kept alert.
Sam was also surprised at how easy it had been and had been worried that the gig was up when the guards called Moss. She didn't know quite what had happened and was interested to hear what Daniel had to say but clearly something had gone right – for a change. She wondered about that whole 'Oz' thing and was going to interrogate Dr. Jackson on that.
She glanced again at O'Neill and grew even more worried about him. Although he would have her believe he was better than he was letting on, she was pretty sure he was in bad shape. He was ghost white, with dark circles under his eyes and she noticed that his hands were shaking. She just prayed they were all going to get out of this alive.
Daniel held on the Colonel with a tight grip, knowing that if he didn't Jack could easily go down, which would be bad. He was very afraid that all this activity was going to cause permanent damage to the man's back, especially since his friend was having real trouble walking. He gave Jack's arm a subtle squeeze, trying to give him some encouragement. Jack, of course, didn't say anything but Daniel caught his quick glance and was pretty sure he saw the man's lips quirk.
Just then they arrived at a metal door which was closed and locked. Ingers took out a key card and swiped it and, after the 'click' pushed the door open and walked into the holding cell area, followed by the prisoner and the two soldiers.
Sam looked around quickly but saw only a desk with a single guard who she figured was 'Johnny'. Beyond that was another door – glass this time – and through it she could see a row of what looked like empty cells; at least she hoped they were empty. The man at the desk stood up when they entered and grinned.
"This him?" he asked the Corporal.
"Yup – this is O'Neill."
"God, he looks half dead. Should we call the Doc?"
"You can call him after we get him settled", Daniel said firmly. "The Lieutenant and I wanna get out of here. We've been driving all day and we're ready to crash."
"Yeah, I bet", Johnny, the man behind the desk said with a smirk. He looked at Sam and regarded at her as if he was undressing her, licking his lips as he did so.
"In your dreams Sergeant", she said coldly. "Now, can you open up so we can drop this guy off?"
"We'll take him from here", the Sergeant said, his expression turning ugly at her clear disdain. "You don't need to stick around."
"They've been told to stay with him until he's locked up", Gerry said. "Just open the door and put him in the cell. The brass can deal with him then. I've gotta get back to my post. Can you handle it from here?"
Johnny – Sergeant Mills – gave Sam one more look and spoke to Ingers. "Yeah, I can handle her - them. See you later." He waited until Ingers was gone and, with a smirk towards Sam, pulled the key card from the lanyard on his neck and walked towards the door. "Does the Vice-President know you got O'Neill?"
"Yeah", answered Daniel. "He's pretty pleased about it."
"I can imagine", he grinned as he unlocked the door. As he went to pull it open he took his eyes off the prisoner and his escorts for just a second. It was at that moment that Sam moved into action.
While Daniel kept a close watch – and hand – on Jack, Sam took a deep breath and struck – literally. Mills went down without a sound.
"I feel bad about that", Daniel said with a grimace. The man had just been doing his duty after all.
"Not me", Sam answered, checking out Mills to make sure he was indeed unconscious. "He was a creep."
Just then they heard a soft sound and turned in time to see the Colonel slowly slide to the ground, his legs no longer able to hold him.
"Sir!" Sam rushed up to him while Daniel began to secure the unconscious man. She reached Jack, who was now sitting on the floor, leaning up against the desk. "Are you okay?"
"Just fine Major", he said softly. "Just takin' a little rest."
She reached out with her hand to feel his forehead but he jerked away from her.
"I told you I'm fine", he said, sounding petulant.
"No you're not Colonel. You have a fever and you look terrible."
"Thanks! I didn't know you cared."
"Sir?"
"I'm sorry Carter – I'll be fine, really. Hadn't we better be moving?"
She frowned at him for a second but knew there was really nothing else to be done. "Can you walk?"
"Of course I can." He sat, not moving. Finally he looked up at her. "A hand would be good though."
"Of course Sir – just give us a minute." She looked at him for a moment longer and then turned to Daniel. "How's it going?"
"Fine. He's secure and I've removed his weapon and everything in his pockets. We'd better get moving."
She nodded and moved slightly away from the Colonel. "Let's put him in the back, into one of the cells. Then I need to check out the computer to see if we can find where the President is."
They spent the next few minutes moving the guard back into one of the cells – as far away as possible from the door. They ended up tying him up and gagging him and placing him on a cot with a blanket over him. Hopefully, if anyone looked quickly they'd simply see a sleeping prisoner.
"You think he'll be okay here?" Daniel asked worriedly.
"He'll be fine. Someone will come eventually. Come on, let's go." They hurried back into the guard room, to see Jack still seated on the floor, although he was awake and regarding them carefully.
"What next campers?" he asked, trying to grin.
"I'm just gonna check the computer Sir", Sam answered, her attention on the computer terminal on the guard's desk. She bit her lip as she began to type. At one point she swore, which had Jack raising his eyebrow and looking over at Daniel, who simply shrugged.
"Any luck there Carter", he asked after a few more minutes had gone by. "Not that I want to hurry you or anything but we are in the middle of a Marine base."
"I know Sir", she said, sounding irritated and not looking at her. "I'm going as fast as I can."
"Fine. Take your time. Don't let me hurry you. I wouldn't want to bother you or anything. I'll just sit here, taking it easy, while you do your thing. No one can accuse Jack O'Neill of being impa-"
"Shut up Jack", Daniel told him quietly. "She's going as fast as she can."
Jack was pretty sure he heard a 'thank you Daniel', come from his 2IC and he narrowed his eyes and regarded her. When she didn't look up, or acknowledge him, he sighed and leaned his head back. He knew he was being a jerk, but he felt – hell - worried. These situations were always nerve-wracking but this time it was worse than usual because of how weak and sick he felt.
He hadn't wanted to say anything, but before he'd sat down (okay fallen, but he would never tell) his legs had started to tingle and go numb. He was really frightened that he'd done some permanent damage to his back and would end up a cripple. Janet had warned him many times not to push it – that it would be bad. Well, he certainly had pushed it and now he was reaping the reward. Still, if he had it to do over again he wouldn't change things. He had to do this – had to find the president and clear their names, otherwise it really wouldn't matter if he could walk or not. He'd probably end up tried and convicted for treason.
"There!"
"Find something Major?" he called.
"Yes Sir. I think I know where they're holding him. There's a section marked off here that looks like a heavy security area."
"So let's go." He tried to push himself to his feet but when that didn't work he looked over to Daniel who came and reached down with his hand and pulled O'Neill up. "Thanks", he said quietly, weaving slightly. He grabbed on to the side of the desk and tried to make it appear as though he was leaning casually against it, rather than relying on it to keep him vertical.
"Uh Sir – there might be a bit of a problem", Carter said, looking fiercely at the computer screen.
"And that would be?"
"Well, from what I can tell, it requires special security access codes to get in."
"And?"
"And we don't have them", she explained patiently.
"So, you'll just have to find them", he answered, looking at her with his usual trust and confidence.
"I can't Sir – not from here – at least not without a lot more time."
"So, what do you suggest?" he asked, leaning a little more heavily on the desk.
There was silence for a few moments as both men looked to the Major to again come up with a brilliant solution. Jack would like to have contributed something – anything – but every bit of brain power he had was focused on keeping him from falling over or puking his guts out.
"Damn! If I only had access to the mainframe at the SGC I could probably do it."
"Wait – would Siler be of any help?" Daniel wanted to know.
"Siler?" She looked at him in confusion. "Of course, but there's no way he can. The SGC is in the hands of the bad guys."
"No it's not", grinned Daniel. "At least not all of it. That was Siler on the phone."
"What? Siler? When?"
"When I called Moss. It was Siler on the other end of the phone. That's what that whole thing was about – you know, Oz and the lion's den – Daniel and the lion's den."
"And you're just telling us now", Jack spoke from his position against the desk.
"Well I didn't have a chance. It's not like we haven't been busy and the guards were with us."
"Okay, okay – hey, maybe things are looking up. Carter, do you think you can you get through to him", Jack turned and asked Sam.
"I don't know. I expect the phones are monitored but -"
"Cell phone", Daniel said quickly. As the other two looked at him he grinned. "I took one off the guard. I put it in the desk." He reached over and pulled it open and retrieved the phone. Let's just hope he doesn't have a password on it."
"Who doesn't have a -"
"Good." Daniel grinned again and handed the phone to Sam, who shook her head at the stupidity of some people.
"Teal'c?" Siler grabbed the mike and spoke into it. "Is it ever good to hear your voice. What are you doing here?"
"I was concerned that there was a problem", Teal'c answered calmly. "We were unable to dial the gate and so I came with Master Bra'tac. We have arrived by Tel'tak. Can you tell me if everything is fine?"
"No – it's not. Something really strange is going on and enemy agents were in control of the SGC – we think some elements of the government may be behind it. We've managed to regain control of the base but as yet don't have access to the surface. The guards at the surface are involved and we don't know who else in the Air Force or government is part of it."
"What about General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill?"
"The General was away for the weekend and we haven't heard from him. They kidnapped Dr. Jackson and tried to kidnap Colonel O'Neill, but he got away from them and made his way out of the base. I don't know what's happened with him since then. We've been in lockdown."
"O'Neill was injured. How was he able to escape?" Teal'c asked, still sounding calm – although he always did, thought Siler.
"Uh – he went up in a garbage can. He was still pretty wobbly but I think was okay. Have you contacted Petersen? Can you land?"
"I have not contacted them. Shall I do so and request permission?"
"I don't think it would be a good idea since we don't know who's involved in this thing. Look, we're safe here for the time being. I have things rigged up so that no one can get in and if things start to look bad we'll gate out to a friendly planet. If you can just hold tight we'll try and figure out – wait" Siler suddenly noticed Toll, who was motioning to him. He realized after a second that there was an incoming phone call. "Can you hold for a moment Teal'c?"
"I shall hold Sergeant."
Siler picked up the phone in the Control Room, punching in the button for the incoming call. "General Hammond's office", he answered, thinking that was the safest.
"Siler?"
"Major Carter? Is that you? Are you okay?"
"Yes, it's me and I'm fine. Look, I don't have much time. Are things secure there? Can you get to a terminal?" She listened to his reply and then bent back down to the computer and quickly typed in some codes and sent them to the Sergeant.
While Sam was busy Jack decided it was best to sit down again although the floor looked awfully far away. Fortunately Daniel came to his rescue by grabbing a chair and gently pushing him into it.
"You gonna be okay Jack?"
He sighed. What did they want him to say? He had no choice but to be okay and them asking every five minutes didn't help. Still, he knew they were worried and they cared – and even though it drove him crazy it also made him feel – hell, he was getting all mushy and was gonna end up crying like a baby if he didn't stop. "I'm okay Daniel. I just want to get this done and get out of here and go see Janet" he paused, "Hell, I wouldn't even mind one of her needles!"
"You and me both – I mean about the getting out of here. I can't leave Janet's needles."
The two men suddenly turned their eyes to Carter as she let out a sound that signified success. She was squinting down at the computer. "That's got it Siler, thanks. What?" She listened for a few seconds and then looked excited. "Yes, let me speak with him." While she waited she turned to Jack and Daniel and grinned. "Teal'c and Bra'tac", she said. "They're in orbit."
"Teal'c", she said thankfully. "I am so glad you're here. Look, we could really use your help. I've sent Siler our coordinates and he can pass them on to you. Do you think you could get here and be ready to bring us up to the ship?"
"Wait!" Jack signaled with his hand until Carter handed him the phone. "Teal'c – buddy – good to hear your voice. I'm wondering if I could ask a teeny tiny favor?" He listened for a moment. "No, you don't have to clean out my refrigerator. …. Yes, I know there are things probably living in there. Look, we need you to create a bit of a diversion. Just a second." He lowered the phone and looked at Daniel. "What hospital was Reagan taken to after he was shot?"
"Uh I think it was George Washington University Hospital", Daniel answered.
Jack stared at him for a brief moment. "How do you -" He shook his head and lifted the phone again. "Teal'c, go to George Washington University Hospital and do something to cause attention. Just make sure no one is hurt and make sure you can get out of there quickly." He listed briefly. "Yeah, Siler will know. Wait for our call and then you can come and get us. Thanks Teal'c!" He handed the phone back to Daniel.
"I always knew Teal'c was a handy man – or Jaffa – to have around", Jack muttered, sounding unbelievably weary but with the faintest note of hope in his voice.
"A diversion Jack?" Daniel looked at him with a half-smile on his face. "And why the hospital?"
"Hopefully they'll think that we think that's where they took the President. It might make it a bit easier for us here."
Both Daniel and Sam looked skeptical but with a look that said they really didn't have any other options. They helped Jack to his feet and quickly – or as quickly as they could with an injured man – left the area and headed down to where they hoped the President was being kept. They knew they didn't have much time to get in, get him and get out.
Jack limped along with his two team mates praying that they'd actually survive this crazy plan. He sighed quietly. One of these days they wouldn't.