Disclaimers in Prologue
Team One - Part Seven
"So we're going to break into Kinsey's, right?" asked Jack.
Quinn nodded. "His house I think. Something as incriminating as a journal I don't think he'd keep in his office in the Congressional Building. That and the fact that I can see him sitting in a chair next to a fireplace holding a glass of brandy reading about his exploits," she said smiling.
"Where does he live?" asked Daniel.
"It's within walking distance from here. Sharon Pratt Kelley's old house that she bought when she was elected Mayor of D.C. It's just down 16th Street a couple of blocks."
Quinn stood up and stretched. "Look there's a few things I have to do tonight. Why don't you all relax? Take Teal'c out and show him some of the sights."
"What things do you need to do?"
"Things. Boring things. Just trust me on this, will you?"
"I would like to see the Mall that Daniel was telling me about," said Teal'c.
Jack turned to Teal'c trying to read the big Jaffa's face, but as with almost all of Teal'c's expressions it could be saying almost anything. He shrugged. "I guess we're going to the Mall."
"The Metro station isn't that far from here and it runs until midnight. You can walk to it," Quinn tossed a set of keys to Jack, "or drive. There's plenty of parking." Turning she walked down the hallway and disappeared into the room she shared with Carter.
Jack watched her go and then turned to Carter, indicating with a nod of his head that she should go and see what Quinn was doing. She got up and went to the bedroom door.
Knocking first she asked, "May I come in?"
The door muffled the answer, but it was a positive one. Carter opened the door and walked in shutting the door behind her. "I just want to change my clothes before we leave."
Quinn was sitting on her bed digging in her bag.
"You're not going to go to Kinsey's by yourself tonight, are you?" she asked when she saw that what Quinn had been looking for was a Glock 9mm.
Quinn looked up after inserting a magazine in the pistol. "No, Carter. I'm not. I'm going into a part of D.C. that isn't very nice." She tucked the pistol in the back of her pants under her shirt. "And yes," she smiled, "I do have a carry permit."
"You're sure?"
"That I have a carry permit, of course. Do you want to see it?"
"No, that you're not going to try and get into Kinsey's."
Quinn put her bag back down on the floor at the foot of her bed. "Yes, I'm sure." Quinn could tell that Carter wasn't satisfied. "Look, I know a guy who knows a guy who broke into the Pratt-Kelley house right after she finished all her remodeling. I'm going to go and try to find him. He lives in South East. You lived here for a couple of years. You know what it's like in there."
Carter sat on the foot of her bed. "How do you know this guy?"
"From my father." Quinn put her hand on the doorknob. "Ask O'Neill about my Dad, he'll tell you how he knew him." Then she left.
By the time Carter walked back out into the living room, Quinn had left the apartment.
"Well?" asked Jack.
"She said she's going to go find some guy that broke into the house before. She said her father knew him and that you could tell me how."
"Later," Jack waved it off. "Believe her?"
"Yes, Colonel. I do."
Jack looked around at his team. "Well then I guess we're going to the Mall."
***
Jack and his team managed to catch the last train from the Mall to Silver Spring. When they got back to the apartment, Quinn was already in bed and apparently asleep. The next morning, she was the first up.
Jack found her working on some hand drawn floor plans. He sat down across the table from her. "Kinsey's place?"
"Yep."
"Nice looking place."
"Yep."
"Big."
"Yep."
"So, when do we go in?"
"I go in tonight."
Jack put his right hand over the drawing that Quinn was marking on and waited for her to look up. When she did, he asked, "What do you mean 'I go in'? We're here as a team, remember?"
Quinn sat back in her chair, took a deep breath, and put her hands on the table in front of her. "Colonel, this is going to be delicate. Kinsey's augmented Pratt-Kelly's security with a system of his own. He's hired his own thugs as guards for the place. I can guarantee that I can get in. I can't guarantee I can get a horde in, and that's what four extra bodies would be in this case. I need you outside, as backup in case things go sour."
Jack tried hard to come up with objections to her logic; but as much as he wanted to, he couldn't. "You'll go in carrying?"
She smiled, "Of course. And I have some for you also. I dropped by Bains' house to say hello to his wife. While I was there I picked up a few things for you. They're over there, behind the couch."
Jack got up from the table and walked to the couch. Looking behind he spotted a large, wrapped bundle. He bent and picked it up and lying it on the couch, unwrapped it. Inside were four MP-9s and four Glock 18s along with extra cartridges for all and several boxes of shells. "Where did he ..."
Quinn had joined him at the couch. "Don't ask. You don't want to know." She reached over and picked up one of the Glocks, popped the cartridge and showed it to him. It was empty. "You'll have to load them all before we go. I've got more shells I brought with me if you don't think these will be enough."
Jack counted the boxes. Enough there to fully load each cartridge. "These should be enough. We aren't going to start a war."
"My thoughts exactly." She set the pistol back down on the wrapping and walked back to the table, sat down, and started making marks on the paper again. Every once in awhile she would consult another piece of paper before making a mark.
Jack joined her. "How did you know that Kinsey added security?"
"Easy, that stuff has to be registered. I had Jonathan check the Metro police records, everything's on computers these days. It not only lists what kind of system it is, but who installed it. Then it was a matter of getting the installation diagrams."
"You broke into a security firm?"
She grinned up at him. "It was fairly easy. All the systems are pretty much the same. Some use motion sensors, some use magnets on the doors and window casements."
"Are you sure you've made all your money with patents and copyrights?"
***
Everyone pretty much left Quinn alone for the majority of the day while she studied the floor plans to Kinsey's house. Carter made breakfast and lunch, and Daniel and Jack were preparing dinner when Quinn finally broke with what she was doing and went to the bedroom. She came back out carrying two large, black duffles and an empty black backpack. Soon the living room floor was covered with stuff and Quinn was picking and choosing things and placing them in the backpack. When she was done, the backpack went by the front door and the two duffles went back in the bedroom.
Dinner conversation consisted of what SG1 had seen at the Mall the night before. Teal'c had been fascinated with the monuments -- especially the Lincoln Memorial.
Daniel had bought him a couple of books about Lincoln. Teal'c had spent the day reading one of them. Ever since he had learned how to read, he had devoured every book Jack, Daniel, or Carter had given to him. He was hungry for knowledge, especially anything to do with freedom and democracy.
Once the dinner dishes had been cleared from the table and put in the dishwasher, Quinn brought out her floor plans again. Everyone sat around the table. Daniel made sure that everyone's coffee cup and Quinn's juice glass were full.
"The house has two floors, no basement. There are four main rooms on each floor. Downstairs a living room, dining room, kitchen, and a den or library ... whatever you want to call it. Upstairs are two bedrooms, an office and a smaller library." Quinn pointed to each on the floor plan as she enumerated them.
"Kinsey has had the house wired pretty thoroughly, but it's not impenetrable. The man is paranoid. He's also got a guy inside that wanders around at night, two guys that walk the grounds, and one in the gate house ... here.
"At one point he had cameras outside, but they had an ice storm last winter and were destroyed. He hasn't replaced them."
Jack looked at her drawings. "Just what kind of security are we talking about here inside the house?"
"Motion and glass break sensors in each of the rooms except for the hallways and Kinsey's bedroom. Electronic keypads at each door to deactivate them so that the guard can check the rooms at night. The doors and windows have magnetic contacts. If they're broken, they set off the alarm."
"Wired directly to the police?" asked Carter.
Quinn chuckled. "Used to be, but they had some false alarms. After three times, the District starts charging for calls so they're just hooked up to the Gate house now. The guard there calls for the police if there's an actual problem that Kinsey's thugs can't handle."
"Where do you think he's hiding the journals?" asked Daniel.
"If I had to guess, I'd say in his office upstairs. There's a safe up there that Pratt-Kelly put in. Nothing fancy to it though," she answered.
"So what's our job in all of this?"
"Stand watch and come running if I need help. There's an alleyway behind the house where two of you can watch the back. It's not lit so no one is going to spot anyone loitering there. You really can't see the house from the street. It's set pretty far back and surrounded by trees. But those same trees can hide anyone watching the house from out front. You can see the guard shack from the street. Sixteenth street is divided there with a median running down the center. Each side has two lanes. We'll walk to get there. Parking is at a premium all along 16th, so there isn't going to be anyplace to put a car.
"I'm going to go over the fence ... here," she pointed to a spot on the backside of the property. "It's pretty blind actually. Lots of trees."
"The fence is electric?"
"No Daniel. Not in a residential area. God, all he'd need to do would be to fry a neighbor kid and he'd be run out of town on a rail."
Jack cleared his throat preparing to speak. Quinn looked up at him.
"We have to talk about what we're going to do when you find those journals," he said.
Quinn sat back in her chair. "Go on."
"A public trial would be just as bad as if Zelig had published. Worse even. It would lend credibility to the story. Everything would come out in the open. Even if it was a closed session, word would leak or out of spite, Kinsey would tell everything once he's prosecuted."
"Agreed," said Quinn. "Don't worry Colonel. Kinsey won't tell anyone about the Stargate."
"How can you be so sure?" he asked.
"Trust me on this one, okay? I know how important this is and I know how important it is to keep it quiet. I know Kinsey well enough to know what to say to keep his mouth shut. A trial won't be necessary. You just want to close the leak, right?"
"Right."
"After tonight, Kinsey's part will be closed."
"What about his partner ... the company he's working with?"
"We'll have to save that for tomorrow after we find out who it is. In the meantime, get some rest. We'll go in at 0200 hours."
***
To be continued ...
Team One - Part Seven
"So we're going to break into Kinsey's, right?" asked Jack.
Quinn nodded. "His house I think. Something as incriminating as a journal I don't think he'd keep in his office in the Congressional Building. That and the fact that I can see him sitting in a chair next to a fireplace holding a glass of brandy reading about his exploits," she said smiling.
"Where does he live?" asked Daniel.
"It's within walking distance from here. Sharon Pratt Kelley's old house that she bought when she was elected Mayor of D.C. It's just down 16th Street a couple of blocks."
Quinn stood up and stretched. "Look there's a few things I have to do tonight. Why don't you all relax? Take Teal'c out and show him some of the sights."
"What things do you need to do?"
"Things. Boring things. Just trust me on this, will you?"
"I would like to see the Mall that Daniel was telling me about," said Teal'c.
Jack turned to Teal'c trying to read the big Jaffa's face, but as with almost all of Teal'c's expressions it could be saying almost anything. He shrugged. "I guess we're going to the Mall."
"The Metro station isn't that far from here and it runs until midnight. You can walk to it," Quinn tossed a set of keys to Jack, "or drive. There's plenty of parking." Turning she walked down the hallway and disappeared into the room she shared with Carter.
Jack watched her go and then turned to Carter, indicating with a nod of his head that she should go and see what Quinn was doing. She got up and went to the bedroom door.
Knocking first she asked, "May I come in?"
The door muffled the answer, but it was a positive one. Carter opened the door and walked in shutting the door behind her. "I just want to change my clothes before we leave."
Quinn was sitting on her bed digging in her bag.
"You're not going to go to Kinsey's by yourself tonight, are you?" she asked when she saw that what Quinn had been looking for was a Glock 9mm.
Quinn looked up after inserting a magazine in the pistol. "No, Carter. I'm not. I'm going into a part of D.C. that isn't very nice." She tucked the pistol in the back of her pants under her shirt. "And yes," she smiled, "I do have a carry permit."
"You're sure?"
"That I have a carry permit, of course. Do you want to see it?"
"No, that you're not going to try and get into Kinsey's."
Quinn put her bag back down on the floor at the foot of her bed. "Yes, I'm sure." Quinn could tell that Carter wasn't satisfied. "Look, I know a guy who knows a guy who broke into the Pratt-Kelley house right after she finished all her remodeling. I'm going to go and try to find him. He lives in South East. You lived here for a couple of years. You know what it's like in there."
Carter sat on the foot of her bed. "How do you know this guy?"
"From my father." Quinn put her hand on the doorknob. "Ask O'Neill about my Dad, he'll tell you how he knew him." Then she left.
By the time Carter walked back out into the living room, Quinn had left the apartment.
"Well?" asked Jack.
"She said she's going to go find some guy that broke into the house before. She said her father knew him and that you could tell me how."
"Later," Jack waved it off. "Believe her?"
"Yes, Colonel. I do."
Jack looked around at his team. "Well then I guess we're going to the Mall."
***
Jack and his team managed to catch the last train from the Mall to Silver Spring. When they got back to the apartment, Quinn was already in bed and apparently asleep. The next morning, she was the first up.
Jack found her working on some hand drawn floor plans. He sat down across the table from her. "Kinsey's place?"
"Yep."
"Nice looking place."
"Yep."
"Big."
"Yep."
"So, when do we go in?"
"I go in tonight."
Jack put his right hand over the drawing that Quinn was marking on and waited for her to look up. When she did, he asked, "What do you mean 'I go in'? We're here as a team, remember?"
Quinn sat back in her chair, took a deep breath, and put her hands on the table in front of her. "Colonel, this is going to be delicate. Kinsey's augmented Pratt-Kelly's security with a system of his own. He's hired his own thugs as guards for the place. I can guarantee that I can get in. I can't guarantee I can get a horde in, and that's what four extra bodies would be in this case. I need you outside, as backup in case things go sour."
Jack tried hard to come up with objections to her logic; but as much as he wanted to, he couldn't. "You'll go in carrying?"
She smiled, "Of course. And I have some for you also. I dropped by Bains' house to say hello to his wife. While I was there I picked up a few things for you. They're over there, behind the couch."
Jack got up from the table and walked to the couch. Looking behind he spotted a large, wrapped bundle. He bent and picked it up and lying it on the couch, unwrapped it. Inside were four MP-9s and four Glock 18s along with extra cartridges for all and several boxes of shells. "Where did he ..."
Quinn had joined him at the couch. "Don't ask. You don't want to know." She reached over and picked up one of the Glocks, popped the cartridge and showed it to him. It was empty. "You'll have to load them all before we go. I've got more shells I brought with me if you don't think these will be enough."
Jack counted the boxes. Enough there to fully load each cartridge. "These should be enough. We aren't going to start a war."
"My thoughts exactly." She set the pistol back down on the wrapping and walked back to the table, sat down, and started making marks on the paper again. Every once in awhile she would consult another piece of paper before making a mark.
Jack joined her. "How did you know that Kinsey added security?"
"Easy, that stuff has to be registered. I had Jonathan check the Metro police records, everything's on computers these days. It not only lists what kind of system it is, but who installed it. Then it was a matter of getting the installation diagrams."
"You broke into a security firm?"
She grinned up at him. "It was fairly easy. All the systems are pretty much the same. Some use motion sensors, some use magnets on the doors and window casements."
"Are you sure you've made all your money with patents and copyrights?"
***
Everyone pretty much left Quinn alone for the majority of the day while she studied the floor plans to Kinsey's house. Carter made breakfast and lunch, and Daniel and Jack were preparing dinner when Quinn finally broke with what she was doing and went to the bedroom. She came back out carrying two large, black duffles and an empty black backpack. Soon the living room floor was covered with stuff and Quinn was picking and choosing things and placing them in the backpack. When she was done, the backpack went by the front door and the two duffles went back in the bedroom.
Dinner conversation consisted of what SG1 had seen at the Mall the night before. Teal'c had been fascinated with the monuments -- especially the Lincoln Memorial.
Daniel had bought him a couple of books about Lincoln. Teal'c had spent the day reading one of them. Ever since he had learned how to read, he had devoured every book Jack, Daniel, or Carter had given to him. He was hungry for knowledge, especially anything to do with freedom and democracy.
Once the dinner dishes had been cleared from the table and put in the dishwasher, Quinn brought out her floor plans again. Everyone sat around the table. Daniel made sure that everyone's coffee cup and Quinn's juice glass were full.
"The house has two floors, no basement. There are four main rooms on each floor. Downstairs a living room, dining room, kitchen, and a den or library ... whatever you want to call it. Upstairs are two bedrooms, an office and a smaller library." Quinn pointed to each on the floor plan as she enumerated them.
"Kinsey has had the house wired pretty thoroughly, but it's not impenetrable. The man is paranoid. He's also got a guy inside that wanders around at night, two guys that walk the grounds, and one in the gate house ... here.
"At one point he had cameras outside, but they had an ice storm last winter and were destroyed. He hasn't replaced them."
Jack looked at her drawings. "Just what kind of security are we talking about here inside the house?"
"Motion and glass break sensors in each of the rooms except for the hallways and Kinsey's bedroom. Electronic keypads at each door to deactivate them so that the guard can check the rooms at night. The doors and windows have magnetic contacts. If they're broken, they set off the alarm."
"Wired directly to the police?" asked Carter.
Quinn chuckled. "Used to be, but they had some false alarms. After three times, the District starts charging for calls so they're just hooked up to the Gate house now. The guard there calls for the police if there's an actual problem that Kinsey's thugs can't handle."
"Where do you think he's hiding the journals?" asked Daniel.
"If I had to guess, I'd say in his office upstairs. There's a safe up there that Pratt-Kelly put in. Nothing fancy to it though," she answered.
"So what's our job in all of this?"
"Stand watch and come running if I need help. There's an alleyway behind the house where two of you can watch the back. It's not lit so no one is going to spot anyone loitering there. You really can't see the house from the street. It's set pretty far back and surrounded by trees. But those same trees can hide anyone watching the house from out front. You can see the guard shack from the street. Sixteenth street is divided there with a median running down the center. Each side has two lanes. We'll walk to get there. Parking is at a premium all along 16th, so there isn't going to be anyplace to put a car.
"I'm going to go over the fence ... here," she pointed to a spot on the backside of the property. "It's pretty blind actually. Lots of trees."
"The fence is electric?"
"No Daniel. Not in a residential area. God, all he'd need to do would be to fry a neighbor kid and he'd be run out of town on a rail."
Jack cleared his throat preparing to speak. Quinn looked up at him.
"We have to talk about what we're going to do when you find those journals," he said.
Quinn sat back in her chair. "Go on."
"A public trial would be just as bad as if Zelig had published. Worse even. It would lend credibility to the story. Everything would come out in the open. Even if it was a closed session, word would leak or out of spite, Kinsey would tell everything once he's prosecuted."
"Agreed," said Quinn. "Don't worry Colonel. Kinsey won't tell anyone about the Stargate."
"How can you be so sure?" he asked.
"Trust me on this one, okay? I know how important this is and I know how important it is to keep it quiet. I know Kinsey well enough to know what to say to keep his mouth shut. A trial won't be necessary. You just want to close the leak, right?"
"Right."
"After tonight, Kinsey's part will be closed."
"What about his partner ... the company he's working with?"
"We'll have to save that for tomorrow after we find out who it is. In the meantime, get some rest. We'll go in at 0200 hours."
***
To be continued ...