Disclaimers in Prologue.
Part One
"All four of you on leave for 30 days?" Hammond asked.
After they had left Murphy's Folly, SG1 went back to Cheyenne Mountain and filled out the paperwork requesting 30 days leave. Then they had requested a meeting with General Hammond.
"Yes sir," Jack answered. "We all realized that we had been promising Teal'c for some time now to take him out and show him the sights."
"All four of you?"
"Yes sir."
Hammond sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "And just what sights did you have in mind?"
Jack exchanged looks with the other members of his team and it was Daniel who spoke first. "Well General. We thought we'd start with the seat of our democracy ... our government as it were. Washington D.C. You know the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial ..."
" ... belt way traffic, Paramount Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens. You know. All the really educational things," Jack added. "Those things that will give him a better idea of what kind of people he's hooked himself up with."
Hammond smiled. "I see. And it will take all four of you 30 days to do this."
"Well you know Sir. Have you ever tried to see everything there is to see in D.C. in a week? I mean Carter lived there for what ..." Jack looked at her and she said, "Two years." Jack continued, "Two years and she didn't even get to see everything. Granted she was working on the Stargate project for the Pentagon at the time so she couldn't spend all of her time sight seeing, but still ..."
"Alright Colonel. I get the picture." Hammond picked up the team's leave papers and reread them through.
***
Four identical signatures later SG1 was getting their things together to meet with Quinn back at Murphy's Folly.
"Carter, did you get that list the Commander wanted?" asked Jack.
She patted her pocket. "Yes sir. Everyone who is assigned here and at Area 51 including Senator Kinsey and his staff."
"Good. Teal'c, no."
Teal'c had walked into the locker room carrying a zat gun. "You can't take that with you."
"O'Neill it is easy to conceal. No one will notice."
"Teal'c, we're going sight seeing and the marines inventory those things. If one comes up missing, we'll be called back here so fast your head will spin."
"I am not sure I understand what you mean. Why would my head spin?"
"Take my word for it Teal'c. No zat gun, no staff weapon. Nothing."
Teal'c's look was one of either disappointment or confusion. Jack really couldn't tell which sometimes.
"O'Neill. Commander Masters said this would be dangerous."
"Yes Teal'c I know. But we can pick up some more conventional weapons outside."
"Very well O'Neill. I shall return it."
When Teal'c left the room Jack shook his head. "You know that boy has really got to get out more often."
Carter and Daniel smiled. "What do you think we're doing Jack?" asked Daniel.
***
"Admiral, did you update your General friend?"
Admiral Burns had walked back into the dining room after making a telephone call to General Hammond to let him things were going well.
"Yes. Officially he doesn't know what you and his people are up to. Unofficially, he'll give you all the help you need."
Quinn picked up the barrel of the Glock she was cleaning and looked through it. Satisfied that it was clean, she snapped it back into place. "He sounds like he might be a good man."
"He is. Believe me. He has the same kind of relationship with Colonel O'Neill and his team as I had with you and yours." Admiral Burns sat down opposite Quinn at the table. "Look, I pulled a few strings and got Prochek, Miller, and Bain back into N.I.D." he said quietly.
Quinn looked up from the Glock and gave the Admiral a wistful smile. "I know Admiral. I appreciate it and I know they do too."
"You've talked to them?"
"Yeah, right after their new orders came down. They called to let me know. It's not the same as Team One, but it's better than what they were doing."
She went back to inspecting the Glock and the Admiral watched for a few moments.
"Quinn what's up?"
"What do you mean Admiral?"
"I know you. Something's bothering you. What is it?"
Quinn set the Glock down on the cleaning pad. One deep breathe later ...
"I don't know these guys Admiral. I don't know what they can or can't do. All I know is that I'm taking them into what could possibly be a dangerous situation. They are going to be my responsibility and it worries me."
"I figured." Admiral Burns leaned over and placed the brief case he had carried onto the table. Opening it, he extracted four folders and passed them to Quinn. "Here are their jackets. I think you'll find that you can trust them to do whatever you need done and to do it well."
Quinn grinned at the Admiral before she took the folders. She shook her head. "Damn, you had this planned from the start didn't you? You knew they'd volunteer to come along and came prepared."
"I thought the Reverend Mother broke you from swearing."
"She thinks I smoke and that I was close to being an alcoholic once too." She grinned at the Admiral, took the folders from him, and started to read.
A couple of minutes later Jonathan announced, "She's coming."
Quinn dropped O'Neill's folder and scrambled to cover the Glock and her cleaning supplies with a cloth, but her actions weren't quick enough.
"Quinn!"
"Jonathan!"
"Don't yell at Jonathan. It wasn't his fault. I know where you have those sensor things put. I just avoid them."
"You missed one," Jonathan said.
"I'll find it next time."
"Reverend Mother. I put those there for a purpose," Quinn explained.
"I know. To make sure the kids don't get into certain areas of this place and that if they do, you can get to them before they get into any trouble," Reverend Mother said, "but I'm not one of the kids."
"Geez Louise."
"Quinn!"
"That's not cursing. It's ... it's frustration."
"You might have well as said a curse word. It's the same thing."
Quinn dropped her face to her hands and her shoulders started to shake. The Reverend Mother's stern look changed to one of concern and she rushed to place a hand on Quinn's shoulder. "Quinn?"
"I'm not crying Reverend Mother, I'm laughing. You are so ... so ..."
"So what?" asked the Reverend Mother.
"I don't know! Exasperating!"
Reverend Mother sat down next to Quinn and quite innocently said, "I took a class once."
Quinn looked at the Admiral who was grinning at the exchange between herself and the Reverend Mother. "Now you know how I felt dealing with you," he said.
She raised her face and looked up at the ceiling and implored, "God, give me strength."
"He will. Now are you going to explain why you have that pistol out here?"
"Reverend Mother you know there are some things I can't tell you. This is one of them."
"Alright, but does this mean you'll be leaving?"
Quinn nodded, "For awhile. I don't know how long, but I will be back."
"Of course you will. God has his eye on you."
"Oh I hope so Reverend Mother, I hope so."
***
Three hours later, SG1 had returned, Quinn had had time to read their jackets and the opinion she had formed while reading them was that they would do if she couldn't have her team back. She was impressed with O'Neill's jacket. Eleven years in Special Forces, then three years on the Stargate project. She noted the incident with his son and wondered if that is what kept him going in the SGC. Some men hide in dangerous work after tragedies like the one he had gone through.
She'd laid her worries to rest and finished the meal that the kids had made for her. She could only eat part of it. The kids would never understand that she didn't eat anything that used to have a face, so they always served her some meat. However, they did put lots of vegetables, fruit, and cheese on the table as well.
Now, the table cleared of the meal and the kids off doing homework with the Reverend Mother's help she and SG1 were holding a strategy meeting in the dining room.
"The first thing you have to understand is that an investigation such as this is incredibly intrusive. If you have a problem with that, you need to put it aside. By the time we're done, we're going to know practically everything there is to know about everyone you work with ... including yourselves and your General."
"General Hammond isn't the one," said Daniel.
"No one, Dr. Jackson, is above suspicion. Like I said, you four are even on my hit list."
"Hit list?" asked Teal'c.
Quinn looked at Jack who smiled at her. "Teal'c hasn't learned all of our colloquialisms yet."
"Oh." She turned to Teal'c. "It means that everyone is suspect Teal'c, even you."
"I see."
"Continuing. Right now Jonathan's crunching those names you gave me. He's checking all financial records, phone records, and military and civilian records for every name on there. I entered into his database certain key elements that he is to look for. If he finds anything unusual he'll tell us. Then the footwork starts. We're going to fly out to D.C. tomorrow and start looking into Zelig's history. He had to leave some kind of trail. Everyone does no matter how hard they try not to do so. I just hope that your official investigation doesn't get in our way or mess up any evidence.
"It's not going to be a walk in the park either. It's been two weeks since the hit and run. A lot of evidence is going to have been scattered by now or, if there was any to find, the Metro Police should have found it already."
"Will we be able to find out what they know or don't know?" asked Carter.
Quinn nodded. "Everything they know, we'll soon know Captain. They are the least of the problems. If the hit and run wasn't an accident, then it may be that someone high up arranged for it to happen. And they aren't going to like us digging around in their backyard. Now if we do this right, they won't even know. But there is always a chance that they are going to get wind of it. Are you prepared for that? They can't do much to me; but Colonel, you and the Captain still have your careers to worry about and all four of you have your work on the Stargate to think about."
Jack looked around at his team and they all nodded their heads. "Commander, we've talked about that. What we're doing is very important to us ... to me. We'll follow through no matter what happens."
"Quinn. What is it going to take to get you to call me Quinn?"
Jack smiled, "An act of Congress maybe?"
"Well that was easy. They accepted my retirement so that they could get rid of me. Does that qualify?"
"I'll think about it."
"Commander, just off the top of your head. Who do you think would gain by leaking this story?" asked Carter.
"There are all sorts of reasons for people to commit high treason, and that's what this would be. Money being the most persuasive. You've got one real major problem that I see right now. Someone leaked this, for whatever reason. They know what's happened. They know Zelig was killed before he could publish. If it was for money, then the person who did it is probably satisfied with what they got. But if this was for control or power over the Stargate, then your looking to see the leak pop up again. Another reporter is going to get the story. So the sooner we get this over with, the better it is for you and your project."
"Damn, I never thought of that," said Jack.
"Well that's what you're paying me for Colonel."
"Look, I've still got some preparations to do. Why don't you all get a good night's rest. It might be the last one you get for awhile."
"Can we explore?" asked Daniel.
"You mean Murphy's Folly. Sure, be my guest. Let me get you one of the kids though. A person could get lost in here if they don't know where they're going or where they've been."
Quinn arranged for one of the older kids to take SG1 on a tour of the castle. Then she took her kit bag and started going through it piece by piece to make sure everything was in perfect working order. She had everything laid out on the table when Jonathan spoke again. "Colonel O'Neill is on his way in."
Quinn looked up from what she was doing. "Thank you Jonathan. Oh and Jonathan?"
"Yes Quinn."
"Remind me to move the sensors."
"Sensors?" O'Neill asked when he entered the room.
"Yeah, I've got a kind of motion detector set around the place. They let me know if any of the kids are going into unauthorized areas. Things like that."
"Good idea," Jack replied. Motioning with his hand at all the items Quinn had out on the table he asked, "What's all this stuff?"
"Just my kit. I'm checking to make sure everything is here and working. Don't want any surprises when we get to D.C. tomorrow."
Jack wandered up to the table and picked up a small zipped pouch. "Lock picks?"
Quinn took it from him and opened it up. "Tracking. Kind of like a Low Jack, but a bit smaller and a little more range." She handed it back to him.
Jack zipped it back up and placed it back on the table. "What happened Commander? What happened to Team One?"
Quinn paused in what she was doing. She looked into Jack's eyes. "You heard Colonel. Political expediency."
Jack sat down at the table. He didn't say anything, just waited. Finally Quinn joined him. "I wasn't trusted with the team when Admiral Burns retired. I'd gotten a bad rep from a couple of incidents and the politicals involved in some of those things are still pretty powerful on the Hill.
"Admiral Burns recommended that a protege of his, a Navy one star take his place. However, the only reason the team survived as long as it did was because of Burns and the control and influence he had when he was active duty. With him retiring, the powers that be could do anything they wanted with the team ... including taking command of it away from me and putting in one of their own lackeys. They knew that I wouldn't put up with that or that the members of the team wouldn't. We gave them what they wanted. I retired as well as any of the other members of the team that could. The rest stayed in the military to get their years in. They got shit postings as a kind of punishment. Admiral Burns managed to get them put back into investigation by pulling a couple of strings ... calling in a few favors. I'm just hoping that they can hold on until they get their years in and they don't reach the wall and have to get out early. None of them have been promoted in the two years since we've disbanded. And Miller had his points when all this happened."
"Are you sure you want to do this then? You might be going up against some of the same people."
The smile Quinn showed to Jack was deadly. "I know I will Colonel. Senator Kinsey was one of the ones who wanted me out."
***
(to be continued)
Part One
"All four of you on leave for 30 days?" Hammond asked.
After they had left Murphy's Folly, SG1 went back to Cheyenne Mountain and filled out the paperwork requesting 30 days leave. Then they had requested a meeting with General Hammond.
"Yes sir," Jack answered. "We all realized that we had been promising Teal'c for some time now to take him out and show him the sights."
"All four of you?"
"Yes sir."
Hammond sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. "And just what sights did you have in mind?"
Jack exchanged looks with the other members of his team and it was Daniel who spoke first. "Well General. We thought we'd start with the seat of our democracy ... our government as it were. Washington D.C. You know the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial ..."
" ... belt way traffic, Paramount Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens. You know. All the really educational things," Jack added. "Those things that will give him a better idea of what kind of people he's hooked himself up with."
Hammond smiled. "I see. And it will take all four of you 30 days to do this."
"Well you know Sir. Have you ever tried to see everything there is to see in D.C. in a week? I mean Carter lived there for what ..." Jack looked at her and she said, "Two years." Jack continued, "Two years and she didn't even get to see everything. Granted she was working on the Stargate project for the Pentagon at the time so she couldn't spend all of her time sight seeing, but still ..."
"Alright Colonel. I get the picture." Hammond picked up the team's leave papers and reread them through.
***
Four identical signatures later SG1 was getting their things together to meet with Quinn back at Murphy's Folly.
"Carter, did you get that list the Commander wanted?" asked Jack.
She patted her pocket. "Yes sir. Everyone who is assigned here and at Area 51 including Senator Kinsey and his staff."
"Good. Teal'c, no."
Teal'c had walked into the locker room carrying a zat gun. "You can't take that with you."
"O'Neill it is easy to conceal. No one will notice."
"Teal'c, we're going sight seeing and the marines inventory those things. If one comes up missing, we'll be called back here so fast your head will spin."
"I am not sure I understand what you mean. Why would my head spin?"
"Take my word for it Teal'c. No zat gun, no staff weapon. Nothing."
Teal'c's look was one of either disappointment or confusion. Jack really couldn't tell which sometimes.
"O'Neill. Commander Masters said this would be dangerous."
"Yes Teal'c I know. But we can pick up some more conventional weapons outside."
"Very well O'Neill. I shall return it."
When Teal'c left the room Jack shook his head. "You know that boy has really got to get out more often."
Carter and Daniel smiled. "What do you think we're doing Jack?" asked Daniel.
***
"Admiral, did you update your General friend?"
Admiral Burns had walked back into the dining room after making a telephone call to General Hammond to let him things were going well.
"Yes. Officially he doesn't know what you and his people are up to. Unofficially, he'll give you all the help you need."
Quinn picked up the barrel of the Glock she was cleaning and looked through it. Satisfied that it was clean, she snapped it back into place. "He sounds like he might be a good man."
"He is. Believe me. He has the same kind of relationship with Colonel O'Neill and his team as I had with you and yours." Admiral Burns sat down opposite Quinn at the table. "Look, I pulled a few strings and got Prochek, Miller, and Bain back into N.I.D." he said quietly.
Quinn looked up from the Glock and gave the Admiral a wistful smile. "I know Admiral. I appreciate it and I know they do too."
"You've talked to them?"
"Yeah, right after their new orders came down. They called to let me know. It's not the same as Team One, but it's better than what they were doing."
She went back to inspecting the Glock and the Admiral watched for a few moments.
"Quinn what's up?"
"What do you mean Admiral?"
"I know you. Something's bothering you. What is it?"
Quinn set the Glock down on the cleaning pad. One deep breathe later ...
"I don't know these guys Admiral. I don't know what they can or can't do. All I know is that I'm taking them into what could possibly be a dangerous situation. They are going to be my responsibility and it worries me."
"I figured." Admiral Burns leaned over and placed the brief case he had carried onto the table. Opening it, he extracted four folders and passed them to Quinn. "Here are their jackets. I think you'll find that you can trust them to do whatever you need done and to do it well."
Quinn grinned at the Admiral before she took the folders. She shook her head. "Damn, you had this planned from the start didn't you? You knew they'd volunteer to come along and came prepared."
"I thought the Reverend Mother broke you from swearing."
"She thinks I smoke and that I was close to being an alcoholic once too." She grinned at the Admiral, took the folders from him, and started to read.
A couple of minutes later Jonathan announced, "She's coming."
Quinn dropped O'Neill's folder and scrambled to cover the Glock and her cleaning supplies with a cloth, but her actions weren't quick enough.
"Quinn!"
"Jonathan!"
"Don't yell at Jonathan. It wasn't his fault. I know where you have those sensor things put. I just avoid them."
"You missed one," Jonathan said.
"I'll find it next time."
"Reverend Mother. I put those there for a purpose," Quinn explained.
"I know. To make sure the kids don't get into certain areas of this place and that if they do, you can get to them before they get into any trouble," Reverend Mother said, "but I'm not one of the kids."
"Geez Louise."
"Quinn!"
"That's not cursing. It's ... it's frustration."
"You might have well as said a curse word. It's the same thing."
Quinn dropped her face to her hands and her shoulders started to shake. The Reverend Mother's stern look changed to one of concern and she rushed to place a hand on Quinn's shoulder. "Quinn?"
"I'm not crying Reverend Mother, I'm laughing. You are so ... so ..."
"So what?" asked the Reverend Mother.
"I don't know! Exasperating!"
Reverend Mother sat down next to Quinn and quite innocently said, "I took a class once."
Quinn looked at the Admiral who was grinning at the exchange between herself and the Reverend Mother. "Now you know how I felt dealing with you," he said.
She raised her face and looked up at the ceiling and implored, "God, give me strength."
"He will. Now are you going to explain why you have that pistol out here?"
"Reverend Mother you know there are some things I can't tell you. This is one of them."
"Alright, but does this mean you'll be leaving?"
Quinn nodded, "For awhile. I don't know how long, but I will be back."
"Of course you will. God has his eye on you."
"Oh I hope so Reverend Mother, I hope so."
***
Three hours later, SG1 had returned, Quinn had had time to read their jackets and the opinion she had formed while reading them was that they would do if she couldn't have her team back. She was impressed with O'Neill's jacket. Eleven years in Special Forces, then three years on the Stargate project. She noted the incident with his son and wondered if that is what kept him going in the SGC. Some men hide in dangerous work after tragedies like the one he had gone through.
She'd laid her worries to rest and finished the meal that the kids had made for her. She could only eat part of it. The kids would never understand that she didn't eat anything that used to have a face, so they always served her some meat. However, they did put lots of vegetables, fruit, and cheese on the table as well.
Now, the table cleared of the meal and the kids off doing homework with the Reverend Mother's help she and SG1 were holding a strategy meeting in the dining room.
"The first thing you have to understand is that an investigation such as this is incredibly intrusive. If you have a problem with that, you need to put it aside. By the time we're done, we're going to know practically everything there is to know about everyone you work with ... including yourselves and your General."
"General Hammond isn't the one," said Daniel.
"No one, Dr. Jackson, is above suspicion. Like I said, you four are even on my hit list."
"Hit list?" asked Teal'c.
Quinn looked at Jack who smiled at her. "Teal'c hasn't learned all of our colloquialisms yet."
"Oh." She turned to Teal'c. "It means that everyone is suspect Teal'c, even you."
"I see."
"Continuing. Right now Jonathan's crunching those names you gave me. He's checking all financial records, phone records, and military and civilian records for every name on there. I entered into his database certain key elements that he is to look for. If he finds anything unusual he'll tell us. Then the footwork starts. We're going to fly out to D.C. tomorrow and start looking into Zelig's history. He had to leave some kind of trail. Everyone does no matter how hard they try not to do so. I just hope that your official investigation doesn't get in our way or mess up any evidence.
"It's not going to be a walk in the park either. It's been two weeks since the hit and run. A lot of evidence is going to have been scattered by now or, if there was any to find, the Metro Police should have found it already."
"Will we be able to find out what they know or don't know?" asked Carter.
Quinn nodded. "Everything they know, we'll soon know Captain. They are the least of the problems. If the hit and run wasn't an accident, then it may be that someone high up arranged for it to happen. And they aren't going to like us digging around in their backyard. Now if we do this right, they won't even know. But there is always a chance that they are going to get wind of it. Are you prepared for that? They can't do much to me; but Colonel, you and the Captain still have your careers to worry about and all four of you have your work on the Stargate to think about."
Jack looked around at his team and they all nodded their heads. "Commander, we've talked about that. What we're doing is very important to us ... to me. We'll follow through no matter what happens."
"Quinn. What is it going to take to get you to call me Quinn?"
Jack smiled, "An act of Congress maybe?"
"Well that was easy. They accepted my retirement so that they could get rid of me. Does that qualify?"
"I'll think about it."
"Commander, just off the top of your head. Who do you think would gain by leaking this story?" asked Carter.
"There are all sorts of reasons for people to commit high treason, and that's what this would be. Money being the most persuasive. You've got one real major problem that I see right now. Someone leaked this, for whatever reason. They know what's happened. They know Zelig was killed before he could publish. If it was for money, then the person who did it is probably satisfied with what they got. But if this was for control or power over the Stargate, then your looking to see the leak pop up again. Another reporter is going to get the story. So the sooner we get this over with, the better it is for you and your project."
"Damn, I never thought of that," said Jack.
"Well that's what you're paying me for Colonel."
"Look, I've still got some preparations to do. Why don't you all get a good night's rest. It might be the last one you get for awhile."
"Can we explore?" asked Daniel.
"You mean Murphy's Folly. Sure, be my guest. Let me get you one of the kids though. A person could get lost in here if they don't know where they're going or where they've been."
Quinn arranged for one of the older kids to take SG1 on a tour of the castle. Then she took her kit bag and started going through it piece by piece to make sure everything was in perfect working order. She had everything laid out on the table when Jonathan spoke again. "Colonel O'Neill is on his way in."
Quinn looked up from what she was doing. "Thank you Jonathan. Oh and Jonathan?"
"Yes Quinn."
"Remind me to move the sensors."
"Sensors?" O'Neill asked when he entered the room.
"Yeah, I've got a kind of motion detector set around the place. They let me know if any of the kids are going into unauthorized areas. Things like that."
"Good idea," Jack replied. Motioning with his hand at all the items Quinn had out on the table he asked, "What's all this stuff?"
"Just my kit. I'm checking to make sure everything is here and working. Don't want any surprises when we get to D.C. tomorrow."
Jack wandered up to the table and picked up a small zipped pouch. "Lock picks?"
Quinn took it from him and opened it up. "Tracking. Kind of like a Low Jack, but a bit smaller and a little more range." She handed it back to him.
Jack zipped it back up and placed it back on the table. "What happened Commander? What happened to Team One?"
Quinn paused in what she was doing. She looked into Jack's eyes. "You heard Colonel. Political expediency."
Jack sat down at the table. He didn't say anything, just waited. Finally Quinn joined him. "I wasn't trusted with the team when Admiral Burns retired. I'd gotten a bad rep from a couple of incidents and the politicals involved in some of those things are still pretty powerful on the Hill.
"Admiral Burns recommended that a protege of his, a Navy one star take his place. However, the only reason the team survived as long as it did was because of Burns and the control and influence he had when he was active duty. With him retiring, the powers that be could do anything they wanted with the team ... including taking command of it away from me and putting in one of their own lackeys. They knew that I wouldn't put up with that or that the members of the team wouldn't. We gave them what they wanted. I retired as well as any of the other members of the team that could. The rest stayed in the military to get their years in. They got shit postings as a kind of punishment. Admiral Burns managed to get them put back into investigation by pulling a couple of strings ... calling in a few favors. I'm just hoping that they can hold on until they get their years in and they don't reach the wall and have to get out early. None of them have been promoted in the two years since we've disbanded. And Miller had his points when all this happened."
"Are you sure you want to do this then? You might be going up against some of the same people."
The smile Quinn showed to Jack was deadly. "I know I will Colonel. Senator Kinsey was one of the ones who wanted me out."
***
(to be continued)