CHAPTER 28 – A NEW DIRECTION
The next forty eight hours passed with dizzying speed. He did not see Nicole very much during that time and he had gotten to know Robert Craig better than he would have liked. The man held nothing back... everything was documentated. Meetings dating back two years, names of the lower echelon players and key locations where others like Nicole were being blackmailed to bring both the stargate and the space programme down to it's knees. Compiling the data, Sam and John realised that this multi national group wanted total domination over earth and sought to control all countries on a utililarian basis through eventual fear and withdrawal of basic needs. They would hold all the cards and would effectively bring the world as they knew it, to it's knees.
Robert had cautioned them. "This is a far reaching plan Colonel. You can't chip away at it. You need to put all your land mines into place first, before pulling the firing pins. Bring the whole house of cards tumbling down at once. Or else? It'll simply rebuild itself. It is that powerful. You've got to leave everything in place. That photo expose holds a major key to their plan, because once it hits the news stands they have her booked for national TV – on all continents. She's a pawn in their game, but an important one, and if you pull her from the game now, you'll lose the moves that have been made to date and you'll have nothing. They'll close ranks so fast that you'll never get near them. They only way is to keep the game in play. I am their only contact here at the moment and I can control what goes in and out information wise."
John watched as Robert paced around the cell. He had begun to have grudging respect for this man, regardless of the things he had done over the years.
"What sort of danger is she in. I need to know."
"If she does her job Colonel... none. They need her. They chose her for this because of what happened last year with Ben, her partner. After he was killed, she went darkside a little and published an amazing story about the diamond trade in South Africa. It blew the lid off a lot of big groups around the world, and took a lot of bad people down. She got into the hearts of a lot of people and became a celebrity in her own right. Credibility. That's what they need to bring this down. And their plans for her don't stop there. They want her as a front person for their future publicity... for the weapons platform. They think she'll sell the story in such a way that they will become the heros... God complex and all that... these guys have it in spades."
Tired now, he rested back against the bars, watching the wary gaze of the colonel, whose eyes had barely left him.
"My advice Colonel? Let her do the story, the whole thing, exactly as they want it. Then gather your information and bring them down. The story? Keep it on the backburner once it's done. Who knows? Nicole will spin a twist on it that puts it in the light that it deserves... and maybe... just maybe... the world is ready to know about what goes on out here. Let the story run, the way it should be run. People do deserve to know what goes on out here, because there's more good than bad, and with someone like Nicole? She gets that, she saw that from the first day... and you put a story like this in her hands? You guys will come out as heroes, and I guarantee... if the world was even a tiny bit ready to accept... this..., then she would be the one the make sure that they did."
It was Sam who had shaken her head. "The people that run this programme... Home Office... the Military... they'd never allow exposure like that. There will always be someone to block it. We'll always be a shadow group of players and our family and friends back on earth... they'll never know what it is we really do. That's what we signed up for, and while I see your point, and agree that if it could be done, then Nicole would certainly be the one to do it... we'd never sell that idea to our higher ups."
"There could be a way...if you let me contact some people back in Washington. I have contacts... ones that have nothing to do with... this. Good guys, and unfortunately, their names are on that list I was telling you about earlier.. they'd help in they knew the story. They'd find a way to get your higher ups agree to at least bring the story that Nicole is doing to a workable format, just in case. If they're not ready to run it yet, then one day... they will be. And it'll be ready to go, at the push of a button. Would you trust anyone else to do it?'
John brought Nicole's lovely face to mind, her determined brown eyes and the way she tilted her chin when she simply refused to accept someone elses idea. He could visualise her on a talk show, earnestly telling the world about this place and the way her eyes would sparkle as she described the feeling of flying through space. Described that moment when you stepped into the wormhole and just simply went from one place to another... light years away. If anyone could sell their story, could make the world believe that they were doing some good out here, then she could do it.
Sam watched John's face and knew what he was thinking. She had thought along the same lines, many times. NASA had talked of bringing in a sanctioned camera crew once, to document what they did out here, just in case... something went horribly wrong. It had never happened. Security was so tight that they had decided that it just couldn't happen and now? They were presented with the perfect alternative. A ready to go journalist whose credibility was already established in the world of international photojournalism. And she was already here.
A plan began to form in her mind and she suddenly couldn't wait to talk to Jack. He would help. And they would serve up both breakfast and dinner. Bring this group down and document the stargate programme. Fully sanctioned.
Robert had watched her and keep his smile hidden. He liked the lanky Colonel and admired the way she ran the base. Firm with administration, yet she was still a soldier and could hold her own on any battle field. He knew that General O'Neill and herself had a relationship of sorts and had a lot of respect for the General, having been involved in one of his Washington groups for a short time, in an effort to infiltrate himself into the stargate programme. He sought retribution now, and would only find peace once he had done his best to turn this around. He had people to protect and had now put that list of people in the hands of those who stood before him. Colonel John Sheppard and Colonel Samantha Carter. He hoped that they wouldn't let him down. Those people on the list were good people, and had been put there because they had been targetted by the Group as worthy players. Dirt could always be found under the cleanest rug, and made to look far worse than it was and Robert knew for a fact that the names on that list, some of them his friends, were not bad people.
"Sam...?" John's voice pulled her out of her reverie. He was ready to leave the cell and needed her attention. "You're gonna go for this, aren't you?" He didn't bother to censure his words in front of Robert. He wasn't going anywhere, and John knew enough about people to know who he could trust and who he couldn't.
"It makes sense John... and face it. Out here, when something makes sense, you run with it. She can help us, and if I sell the idea to Jack – he'll do his best to get it approved. I know that. You've seen the photos she's done so far. They're brilliant. Insightful, thoughtful and more than that. They show the truth. And the story she writes to go with them? It'll swing things our way, bring us out of the dark and into the light... for once. One day, John. One day, I want to work in the light."
He followed her out of the cell, needing caffeine and something else. Something he had been pushing down. He needed to see Nicole, breathe her scent and listen to her quiet voice. To be with her and simply... be.
"John?"
Sam's voice got his attention and he turned to see the questioning look in her eyes.
"What are you going to do about her... hmmm?"
She read him like a book, it had always been like that. But he guessed that was what made her an excellent base commander. She took the time to get to know her personnel, and more so her key personnel. She knew what made them tick, knew when they were off their game and simply knew... when things weren't right.
"Honestly, Sam? I have no idea. She's not ready... and now? We're playing a game of cat and mouse with a group of high rollers who could bring her down in a heartbeat if they even suspected she wasn't in the game. I need to protect her, that's my mandate here. But I can't push back the feelings that almost overwhelm me when I'm with her. Hence the distance these past couple of days."
"Has it worked?" Her voice held a hint of amusement as though she already knew the answer to that one.
"Not so much..."
"You'll work it out John. Unfortunately the job comes first... especially in this case because if either of you blow it? The effects are far reaching. You get that, I'm sure. So tread carefully John, but don't deny yourself if that is what you really want. What you both want."
"I know that Sam. I'll let fate take a hand for now... I can't keep throwing myself out there and have all this crap come down on me when she runs. She's got issues, hell, we've both got issues – and I don't know if either of us can get past those issues."
"If she makes you feel that much John... then don't throw it away. Just saying... I've been there, with Jack. Sometimes these things only come along a few times in your life, and if you toss it casually over your shoulder, you can't play catch up. I've seen you two together. There's sparks all right, but something else. Something like lego blocks that fit together. You have the right fit, John. And that doesn't happen often."
He gave a bark of laughter. "I'll take all that under advisement Sam. Speaking of said lego block, any idea where she is?"
"Out on a mission with Lorne...he was taking a science team to P2B340. Ancient ruins... it seemed a good photo opportunity."
The look on his face was priceless.
