Chapter 1

Saturday, April 3, 2021

2:33 PM

Jack was getting hungry. He checked his watch again. She was over an hour late. His stomach rumbled, which he used as an excuse to call Jim, also known as General Myers, commander of Andrews Air Force Base. The Pentagon frowned on people beaming in from the Hammond so the Air Force had set aside a hangar at Andrews, a room at the SGC, and a hangar at Groom Lake specifically for transports from the Hammond. Having specific beam down spots also reduced the chances of beaming into the middle of a crowd or other conspicuous situation, which had happened a couple times a few years ago, before these sites had been designated.

It didn't take long for Jack to be put through to General Myers' office. "Jack, how can I help you?"

"I was hoping you could tell Colonel Carter to get a move on, in a nice polite kind of way."

"I'd love to help you out Jack, but she hasn't reported in yet. I've actually been trying to decide how much longer I was going to wait."

"She was supposed to be there hours ago."

"I know. Something must have come up."

"I guess. I'll contact the Hammond and see what's going on. Thanks."

Jack hung up and turned to his computer, quickly opening a link to the Hammond. Major Lakeland's face filled the screen. "General, how can I help you, sir?"

"I was wondering when Colonel Carter would be leaving and what was holding her up?"

Major Lakeland shook his head slowly. "Colonel Carter beamed down at 1430 on schedule, sir."

Jack's head tilted slightly the right. "She hasn't checked in at Andrews yet. Can you ping her location?"

"Absolutely, sir." Major Lakeland looked to his right. Jack could hear voices, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. "Really?" Jack knew Lakeland wasn't speaking to him, but he didn't like the tone of his voice. Jack could see the concern written on Lakeland's face as he turned back to the screen. "She's still located in the transport hanger."

The muscles on the back of Jack's neck tensed. That didn't make any sense. "Get a team down there now. I'll alert General Myers."

"Sir, yes, sir."

Jack kept the link to the Hammond live as he picked up the phone and redialed Jim's office. "Jack?"

"Her locator places her in the hanger. A team from the Hammond is beaming down as we speak."

"I will have a security detail meet them."

"Thanks, Jim."

Jack returned his attention to the computer screen. He turned up the volume on the computer hoping that would help him make out what was being said in the background, but it was all still indistinguishable mumbling. He watched as Lakeland swiveled from his right to his left and back to his right before facing the screen.

"They found her transponder in a small pool of blood." Lakeland saw Jack's eyes slightly widen. "Not enough blood to be fatal."

"But whoever has her removed her locator."

"It appears that way, sir."

"And they have a three-hour head start on us."

"Apparently, yes, sir." Lackland's head turned to the right again. "A security team has rendezvoused with our team. They will lead the base search."

"Thank you, Major. I'll contact you if we can use your help."

"Yes, sir."

Jack spent nearly thirty minutes on the phone with General Myers as his security teams scoured the base and reviewed video footage. As soon as he got off with Myers he called General Landry, Colonel Paul Davis, and Special Agent Barrett, in that order. He knew that not only would all three men join the search, but they would martial their forces as well.

It was nearly midnight when the Andrews security team had their first break in the case. Two men entered the hanger nearly an hour before Sam beamed in and they were pushing a large crate on a dolly. They left moments after she arrived, with the crate. Both men kept their faces turned away from the cameras, so they clearly knew they were on surveillance. They put the crate into a nondescript black van and left the base just after 1445. They tracked the van through downtown DC but lost them in Virginia.