From Here To Eternity: The Road to Redemption, The Second Step
Part 3
All disclaimers can be found in Part 0
***
If you own your own island, you can develop it any way you want and for some that also meant having your own form of government. It was easy to do if you were one of the wealthiest men in the world and Jacob Castro was one of those men.
As a youth, Castro was curious about the world and at the age of seventeen had set sail from Hawaii on board a sloop he had built himself from cast off lumber. His mother had not even noticed he had gone.
Sailing came natural to the young man and he had no difficulty controlling the small craft. He had stolen everything he needed: maps, compass, dried food supplies, water containers, fishing equipment, and one .22 calibre revolver from a local sporting goods shop where he had worked in the stock room for two years.
Several weeks into his trip, he ran out of dried food and fresh water. Using his stolen fishing equipment, he kept himself in fresh fish. He hung strips of fish letting the sun dry them and rubbed the salt that condensed on the sloop into them to preserve them. He would chew on raw fish for the small amount of water that their flesh gave up. A small squall furnished more drinking water. Using his sail, he laid out his water containers underneath it to catch the rain water as it struck the sail and dripped to the deck of the sloop. A week later, he sighted land.
***
The phone rang softly. He let it ring twice before answering. He held the instrument to his ear and listened. Nodding he softly said, "As I expected. You know what to do." Then he hung up the phone and grinned at the young woman seated on the couch against the far wall.
The woman hid a shiver of revulsion at the sight of the mans' massive lips parting to reveal large, horse-shaped, teeth yellowed and chipped. She forced herself to smile back. "Do I start?" she asked.
"Of course. Crater will let you know the particulars. The plane is waiting to take you to Colorado."
The woman stood preparing to leave but was stopped by the man's voice just short of the door. "Jessica, if you fail me you know what will happen to you."
The woman, who was facing away from him, closed her eyes and swallowed nervously. She nodded and left the room.
***
O'Neill decided it would be easier to recruit his team to help him with Makepeace if they were in a public place. He chose The Lighthouse, a restaurant that served home style cooking. As he walked in he decided it had been a perfect choice. He had been there once before and had been impressed with the feeling of solitude that he had felt while dining. He had chosen one of the high backed booths and had noticed that even though the restaurant was crowded, no voices carried far enough for him to make out the words being spoken by the other diners. The lighting was subdued enough to make dining intimate but there was still enough light so that you could actually see what you were eating. He had called ahead for reservations asking for a corner booth and was happily told by the female that had answered the phone that one was available for the time he wanted. Then he had called Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c and asked him to meet him there at 1900 hours. All three had seemed a bit stunned by his invitation. They had all gone out together before but it was usually to O'Malley's Bar and Grill or some pizza joint never to someplace as exclusive as The Lighthouse. All three had accepted but O'Neill could tell from their voices that they were suspicious of his motives. Well, all except Teal'c who wasn't yet caught up on all the nuances of choosing places to dine out.
He was the first to arrive having planned it that way. He took the side of the booth that sat against the wall facing the direction of the door so that he could see who was coming in and out. Ordering a Guiness stout, he nursed it while he watched and waited continuing to plan what he would say to his team. He knew they would have objections and he hoped that he had anticipated them all and had a reasonable counter argument to them. He thought he had since he figured he'd had the same objections while he was discussing this with Hammond. However with Carter and Daniel, one never knew exactly what and how they thought. It was a constant surprise to him how they reacted in some situations and some of the arguments they always put forward to him when he had made a decision really made him think. Even Teal'c at times surprised him and unbeknownst to them all, he relished in it. All three had opened up his mind to so many different possibilities and he thanked his lucky stars that fate had put the four of them together.
He had consumed about half of his ale when he saw Carter walk in followed closely by Daniel and Teal'c. He watched as the hostess brought them over to his booth. Carter and Daniel slid onto the bench opposite O'Neill and Teal'c slid in next to him. The hostess was soon replaced by the same young man who had taken O'Neill's drink order. As soon as the three new arrivals had given him their order and left Daniel said, "Well Jack. This is nice, but it's ... ah ... not exactly the kind of place I would have thought you to frequent. So what are we doing here and what are you trying to bribe us into doing?" His blue eyes met O'Neill's across the table and held them.
"Sir, I have to agree with Daniel. This whole thing is kind of fishy," added Carter.
O'Neill turned his head to look at Teal'c waiting for him to add his agreement into the mix, but all he got from him was a raised eyebrow and a tilt of his head. He turned back to face Daniel and Carter.
"Okay, you got me. I chose this place for a number of reasons ... one" he said holding up a finger, "I needed someplace neutral where we could talk and someplace where you probably wouldn't yell too loud when I tell you what we have to do. Two ..." a second finger joined the first, "I figured we might as well eat while we're talking and three ..." another finger went up, "I had a craving for southern fried steak and this place has the best." He ended by waving his three fingers back and forth in front of his grinning face.
Carter and Daniel exchanged glances and Daniel who was on the outside started to slide out of the booth followed quickly by Carter. Teal'c also rose. O'Neill had half expected this kind of reaction. He waited a beat and said quietly, "We might have a chance to find out who is behind Maybourne and Kinsey and stop them." He didn't look up at them choosing instead to lift his glass of ale and drain it. He slowly set the glass back down on the table when he had swallowed.
All three stopped, exchanged looks again, and then sat back down.
"You've got our attention," said Daniel.
The waiter took this moment to walk up with their drink orders and after delivering them down, he nodded when O'Neill picked up his empty glass and waved it in the air. Taking the empty glass he said, "Would you care to order now?"
Carter picked up her menu and answered, "I think we're going to need a minute. We haven't looked at this yet."
***
Thirty minutes later, their meals arrived and O'Neill had told them all about his meeting with Makepeace, the attempt on his life and Hammond's decision to have him moved to a safe house. O'Neill had been slightly surprised when his team had let him tell the whole thing without any interruptions. Finished with his recital, he took a bite of steak and looked at each while he chewed.
Daniel was the first asking what O'Neill had known would be the first question, "Do you trust him?" The only thing O'Neill had debated with himself was who would be the first to ask it.
"No, not entirely."
"What do you mean, not entirely?" asked Carter between spoonfuls of her crawdad soup.
"Well," said O'Neill cutting off another piece of steak, "I was having some difficulty with the idea that if he knew all this information why these people were letting him live."
"And the attempt on his life changed your mind," asked Daniel.
"Almost."
"Colonel, it really isn't like you to be so enigmatic."
"You're right," he agreed. "I guess it's the food and the ambiance of this place."
"Ambiance? You know what ambiance is?" asked Daniel jokingly.
"Yes Daniel, I know what ambiance is and I know this place has it. Okay?" he responded. "Anyone else want to insult my intelligence?" he asked in mock anger.
Carter tried to look serious but failed when she started to laugh. "No, sir," she said behind a hand which was covering her mouth to keep her from ejecting the mouthful of soup she hadn't had a chance to swallow before O'Neill had asked his question.
O'Neill cast a sideways look at Teal'c who was calmly eating his steak. He had ordered the same meal as O'Neill. "We have nothing like this on Chulak. I believe Master Bra'tac would enjoy this meal," said Teal'c.
"Uh huh," said O'Neill. "We'll have to invite him the next time he comes to visit."
Teal'c nodded while saying, "Indeed," and spearing another bite sized piece of southern fried steak.
"You were saying, Jack ..."
O'Neill tore his gaze away from Teal'c to look at Daniel. "Oh yeah. We all know that there is someone out there pulling the strings and that they're pretty damned powerful. We think we know that some of them are only interested in weapons technology, but what if there is more to it than that? What if there is some commercial use of the Stargate that they've concocted? Now if they're all that damned resourceful to have a piece of the military in their pockets as well as several senators and congressmen, wouldn't they be able to fake a murder attempt on someone just to get us to think that the ... murderee is on the up and up?"
"So you think that Makepeace is still playing us?" asked Carter.
"Maybe."
"Jack you're going around in circles here. You maybe trust him ... you maybe don't. He may have had someone try to murder him or he may have had someone make it look like they were trying to murder him," argued Daniel.
O'Neill sighed. "Yeah, I know. That's why I want you all to be on the team that hides him away and talks to him. There is one thing I do know. I trust your judgment. All of you," he said taking them all in with a wave of his fork. "Each of you will come at this from a different perspective. I'm hoping that because of that, we'll get to the truth."
Three pairs of eyes met one pair and slowly three faces smiled. It was Daniel who spoke.
"Damn, I wish I'd had a tape recorder to save that because we're never going to hear it again."
***
continued in part 4
Part 3
All disclaimers can be found in Part 0
***
If you own your own island, you can develop it any way you want and for some that also meant having your own form of government. It was easy to do if you were one of the wealthiest men in the world and Jacob Castro was one of those men.
As a youth, Castro was curious about the world and at the age of seventeen had set sail from Hawaii on board a sloop he had built himself from cast off lumber. His mother had not even noticed he had gone.
Sailing came natural to the young man and he had no difficulty controlling the small craft. He had stolen everything he needed: maps, compass, dried food supplies, water containers, fishing equipment, and one .22 calibre revolver from a local sporting goods shop where he had worked in the stock room for two years.
Several weeks into his trip, he ran out of dried food and fresh water. Using his stolen fishing equipment, he kept himself in fresh fish. He hung strips of fish letting the sun dry them and rubbed the salt that condensed on the sloop into them to preserve them. He would chew on raw fish for the small amount of water that their flesh gave up. A small squall furnished more drinking water. Using his sail, he laid out his water containers underneath it to catch the rain water as it struck the sail and dripped to the deck of the sloop. A week later, he sighted land.
***
The phone rang softly. He let it ring twice before answering. He held the instrument to his ear and listened. Nodding he softly said, "As I expected. You know what to do." Then he hung up the phone and grinned at the young woman seated on the couch against the far wall.
The woman hid a shiver of revulsion at the sight of the mans' massive lips parting to reveal large, horse-shaped, teeth yellowed and chipped. She forced herself to smile back. "Do I start?" she asked.
"Of course. Crater will let you know the particulars. The plane is waiting to take you to Colorado."
The woman stood preparing to leave but was stopped by the man's voice just short of the door. "Jessica, if you fail me you know what will happen to you."
The woman, who was facing away from him, closed her eyes and swallowed nervously. She nodded and left the room.
***
O'Neill decided it would be easier to recruit his team to help him with Makepeace if they were in a public place. He chose The Lighthouse, a restaurant that served home style cooking. As he walked in he decided it had been a perfect choice. He had been there once before and had been impressed with the feeling of solitude that he had felt while dining. He had chosen one of the high backed booths and had noticed that even though the restaurant was crowded, no voices carried far enough for him to make out the words being spoken by the other diners. The lighting was subdued enough to make dining intimate but there was still enough light so that you could actually see what you were eating. He had called ahead for reservations asking for a corner booth and was happily told by the female that had answered the phone that one was available for the time he wanted. Then he had called Carter, Daniel, and Teal'c and asked him to meet him there at 1900 hours. All three had seemed a bit stunned by his invitation. They had all gone out together before but it was usually to O'Malley's Bar and Grill or some pizza joint never to someplace as exclusive as The Lighthouse. All three had accepted but O'Neill could tell from their voices that they were suspicious of his motives. Well, all except Teal'c who wasn't yet caught up on all the nuances of choosing places to dine out.
He was the first to arrive having planned it that way. He took the side of the booth that sat against the wall facing the direction of the door so that he could see who was coming in and out. Ordering a Guiness stout, he nursed it while he watched and waited continuing to plan what he would say to his team. He knew they would have objections and he hoped that he had anticipated them all and had a reasonable counter argument to them. He thought he had since he figured he'd had the same objections while he was discussing this with Hammond. However with Carter and Daniel, one never knew exactly what and how they thought. It was a constant surprise to him how they reacted in some situations and some of the arguments they always put forward to him when he had made a decision really made him think. Even Teal'c at times surprised him and unbeknownst to them all, he relished in it. All three had opened up his mind to so many different possibilities and he thanked his lucky stars that fate had put the four of them together.
He had consumed about half of his ale when he saw Carter walk in followed closely by Daniel and Teal'c. He watched as the hostess brought them over to his booth. Carter and Daniel slid onto the bench opposite O'Neill and Teal'c slid in next to him. The hostess was soon replaced by the same young man who had taken O'Neill's drink order. As soon as the three new arrivals had given him their order and left Daniel said, "Well Jack. This is nice, but it's ... ah ... not exactly the kind of place I would have thought you to frequent. So what are we doing here and what are you trying to bribe us into doing?" His blue eyes met O'Neill's across the table and held them.
"Sir, I have to agree with Daniel. This whole thing is kind of fishy," added Carter.
O'Neill turned his head to look at Teal'c waiting for him to add his agreement into the mix, but all he got from him was a raised eyebrow and a tilt of his head. He turned back to face Daniel and Carter.
"Okay, you got me. I chose this place for a number of reasons ... one" he said holding up a finger, "I needed someplace neutral where we could talk and someplace where you probably wouldn't yell too loud when I tell you what we have to do. Two ..." a second finger joined the first, "I figured we might as well eat while we're talking and three ..." another finger went up, "I had a craving for southern fried steak and this place has the best." He ended by waving his three fingers back and forth in front of his grinning face.
Carter and Daniel exchanged glances and Daniel who was on the outside started to slide out of the booth followed quickly by Carter. Teal'c also rose. O'Neill had half expected this kind of reaction. He waited a beat and said quietly, "We might have a chance to find out who is behind Maybourne and Kinsey and stop them." He didn't look up at them choosing instead to lift his glass of ale and drain it. He slowly set the glass back down on the table when he had swallowed.
All three stopped, exchanged looks again, and then sat back down.
"You've got our attention," said Daniel.
The waiter took this moment to walk up with their drink orders and after delivering them down, he nodded when O'Neill picked up his empty glass and waved it in the air. Taking the empty glass he said, "Would you care to order now?"
Carter picked up her menu and answered, "I think we're going to need a minute. We haven't looked at this yet."
***
Thirty minutes later, their meals arrived and O'Neill had told them all about his meeting with Makepeace, the attempt on his life and Hammond's decision to have him moved to a safe house. O'Neill had been slightly surprised when his team had let him tell the whole thing without any interruptions. Finished with his recital, he took a bite of steak and looked at each while he chewed.
Daniel was the first asking what O'Neill had known would be the first question, "Do you trust him?" The only thing O'Neill had debated with himself was who would be the first to ask it.
"No, not entirely."
"What do you mean, not entirely?" asked Carter between spoonfuls of her crawdad soup.
"Well," said O'Neill cutting off another piece of steak, "I was having some difficulty with the idea that if he knew all this information why these people were letting him live."
"And the attempt on his life changed your mind," asked Daniel.
"Almost."
"Colonel, it really isn't like you to be so enigmatic."
"You're right," he agreed. "I guess it's the food and the ambiance of this place."
"Ambiance? You know what ambiance is?" asked Daniel jokingly.
"Yes Daniel, I know what ambiance is and I know this place has it. Okay?" he responded. "Anyone else want to insult my intelligence?" he asked in mock anger.
Carter tried to look serious but failed when she started to laugh. "No, sir," she said behind a hand which was covering her mouth to keep her from ejecting the mouthful of soup she hadn't had a chance to swallow before O'Neill had asked his question.
O'Neill cast a sideways look at Teal'c who was calmly eating his steak. He had ordered the same meal as O'Neill. "We have nothing like this on Chulak. I believe Master Bra'tac would enjoy this meal," said Teal'c.
"Uh huh," said O'Neill. "We'll have to invite him the next time he comes to visit."
Teal'c nodded while saying, "Indeed," and spearing another bite sized piece of southern fried steak.
"You were saying, Jack ..."
O'Neill tore his gaze away from Teal'c to look at Daniel. "Oh yeah. We all know that there is someone out there pulling the strings and that they're pretty damned powerful. We think we know that some of them are only interested in weapons technology, but what if there is more to it than that? What if there is some commercial use of the Stargate that they've concocted? Now if they're all that damned resourceful to have a piece of the military in their pockets as well as several senators and congressmen, wouldn't they be able to fake a murder attempt on someone just to get us to think that the ... murderee is on the up and up?"
"So you think that Makepeace is still playing us?" asked Carter.
"Maybe."
"Jack you're going around in circles here. You maybe trust him ... you maybe don't. He may have had someone try to murder him or he may have had someone make it look like they were trying to murder him," argued Daniel.
O'Neill sighed. "Yeah, I know. That's why I want you all to be on the team that hides him away and talks to him. There is one thing I do know. I trust your judgment. All of you," he said taking them all in with a wave of his fork. "Each of you will come at this from a different perspective. I'm hoping that because of that, we'll get to the truth."
Three pairs of eyes met one pair and slowly three faces smiled. It was Daniel who spoke.
"Damn, I wish I'd had a tape recorder to save that because we're never going to hear it again."
***
continued in part 4