The word is about
There's something evolving
Whenever it comes
The world keeps revolving
The say the next big thing is here
And the revolutions near
And to me it seems quite clear
That it's all just a little bit of history repeating
18th June 2000
Yugoslavia 1 Norway 0. Half time. This has to have been the crappest match of the tournament so far. Maybe it was the pleasure-pain theory. The
previous day England had actually beaten Germany for the first time in ages so this personally felt like a kind of pain after the pleasure.
Anyway maybe the England match was the pleasure after the pain. From what I'd heard there had been some trouble before the match. The sort of
trouble that is guaranteed to happen during an England-Germany match. Both countries have always had their share of screwballs and the results
are usually pretty violent.
There also happened to be a bigger problem this time out â€" from what I'd heard the Belgian police had overreacted and were arresting every
England fan coming out of any pub, where there was a fight. One heck of a lot of them had got deported, some even jailed and most of them were
just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This was getting me nervous. Steve was just finishing his first year at Bolton doing Journalism and guess what? The jammy bastard had won a
university competition to watch a local paper cover Euro 2000 â€" the tournament that was currently going on in Belgium and Holland. All this really
meant was free tickets for all the England matches - and some others â€" and a chance to sample some of the local beer, which I've heard happens
to be very good.
Anyway Gary Linekar was saying something on TV. Something about England getting banned from the tournament if there was any more trouble.
What the fuck is going on here? England fans weren't the only ones causing trouble! No one's given Turkey any trouble for a couple of Leeds fans
that got killed over there a couple of months back.
I yelled something incoherent at the screen. Not that it mattered, no one else was in the house at the time. My parents were out having a quick
walk. I was still smouldering when the phone rang.
"Hello"
"Is that Rick there? It's Jane" Jane was Steve's mum.
"Jane. What's up?"
"I just had a call from Steve. He's currently in jail in Charlroi"
"Huh?"
"He's in a Belgian jail for hooliganism. Due to the evidence of a police spotter"
"When's the trial?"
"Steve says it's already happened. It lasted about an hour. He's going to be in there for six months."
Jane sounded stunned. Not that I could blame her. Hooligans are scumbags â€" there is no other word for them. They are like a load of insects at a
barbecue. I've never in my life met any hooligans. Steve and I have pretty much grown up together, but there's one thing that's for certain, if he
had ever engaged in any hooliganism, then I wouldn't have been hanging out with him for very long.Which left me with one question
How the fuck did this happen?
September 2nd 2001
They were planning a memorial for the guys who got killed during the occupation and take back of the SGC by Klorel. I guess it's one way of getting
an English football fan down from the high of his country beating Germany 5- 1 the previous afternoon. I used a website, which had a match
tracker, to keep up to date, as it's near-impossible to find a bar that'll show a European 'soccer' match this side of the Atlantic â€" particularly in
Colorado Springs.
Anyway I decided to attend this memorial seeing as I'd played a part in the take-back. Couple of weeks ago now and it still feels unreal.
'I do believe that it was you who wanted to go on the assignment Rick.' There's Seng'ok reading my thoughts again. 'Did I need to remind you that
we are fighting in a war or that people die in them?'
'No you didn't Seng'ok â€" I just took the whole 'seeing-people-who-have-just- been-killed thing worse than expected'
'Then maybe your place is not amongst the Tok'ra. We could be separated if you wish'
'Good point. I guess the idea is worth considering, maybe I'll talk it over with someone at some point.'
At the service there were loads of US military types, all in what they called 'dress blues'. The Stargate was activated and a mixture of coffins for
those whose bodies were still intact and wreaths for those that were triple- zatted were carried into the 'Gate by General Hammond. The first
funeral/memorial that I have ever attended and it's a military service for people I didn't know. And no I do not know which planet is serving as the
cemetery.
Talking about people that I don't know, at the end of the service, a couple more 'dress blues' turned up, and I was near dead-cert that they
weren't SGC personnel. One of them approached General Hammond.
"Sir, I'm Colonel Daniel Marxham from the Pentagon, and this is Lieutenant Granger. I regret to inform you that I have been sent by the President to
arrest four of your people for treason
"Which ones?" asked a shocked General
"Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson and a fourth person called Teal'c sir!"
Huh?
June 2000
After the match I caught the last train back to Waterloo â€" no matter what news I'd heard, I had to get back in time for the next morning's lectures.
I was finishing my first year at South Bank university doing Computing, 20 years old as of the Thursday just gone, single and currently bloody
confused.
That week I was really just going through the motions. I was planning to get to Charloi the next weekend to talk to Steve, see if he had any idea
what had happened. My sense of unreality was only compounded when we got beaten by Romania. England getting knocked out at the group stage
had not been what I had expected from this tournament.
Another thing that was hard to take was the stream of letters coming into pretty much every paper I read entitled 'England's shame' or 'England
should be banned' or some other such bullshit! Oh sure, just because of a few tossers amongst the England fans that were in the Low Countries,
every single England fan should be punished, add to that Kevin Keegan and the England squad!
The fact that at least one England fan is in jail, who near-dead cert shouldn't be in there? These fuckers will probably be fucking cheering for
Christ's sake!
On the subject of these idiots a particularly interesting letter turned up in the Times on Thursday
Sir: May I congratulate the Charloi police of doing a excellent job of combating the menace posed by English hooligans with the
assistance of the specially hired hooligan spotters. However the fight is not by any means over. We understand that the public has been
supportive over the action taken and are writing this letter in a plea for further help. If anyone wishes to help our cause they should
email us at the address below.
Reginald Porter
Director Anti-Hooligan Alliance
Exeter
There was a website and email address underneath
Very interesting. It was the first time that I had heard anything about any organised anti-hooligan groups. Luckily I had a laptop with a modem
attached. The internet bills got expensive sometimes but I wasn't that bothered. Anyway I checked out the AHA's website. Apparently they'd hired
a few of their own 'hooligan spotters' that hadn't been snapped up by the Belgian police, supposedly to 'prevent tolerance of this menace.' I had a
hunch that there was more to this than met the eye.
The only way I was going to be able to dig deeper was to email this Reginald Porter guy and ask him a few questions â€" put on a supportive voice to
nudge the answers out. That meant that I couldn't use my current name and email in case they worked out that I was bullshitting. So I registered
for a Hotmail address under the alias Frank Stevens.
My account was opened a few minutes after registration and I sent the first message.
Reginald
I was interested to read your letter in the Guardian yesterday and am sympathetic to your cause. I am a Computing student at
Cambridge University and would be interested to know more about your precise philosophy â€" how exactly do you plan to tackle the
hooligan problem
Frank Stevens
The reply came the next day
Frank
Thank you for your support. My fight against the English hooligans is a personal one. The son of an Italian friend of mine was a supporter
of Juventus football club when he was killed in a fight with Liverpool supporters in 1985.
I believe that he was killed, by the fact that the Liverpool supporters have such pride in their team that they do not see how petty their
game is. It is this pride, this self-importance, that forms the seed of this hooliganism. Therefore the best way to prevent hooliganism is
to stifle this pride.
Our methods are not what you'd consider fair play but our task has to be done. People complain about the hooliganism but do not care
about the sheer tribalism among football fans that has to be stamped out. I'll tell you of one such incident from last Saturday, the day of
the England Germany game. Some English hooligans were arrested, having been reported to the Belgian police by our spotters. A young
man started protesting â€" I believe his name was Steve Adams â€" we later had to report him to the police as well.
A regrettable incident â€" but a necessary one if we are to stamp out hooliganism
Reginald Porter
Gotcha! I printed off the email and made my way to the local police station.
"Uh excuse me" I asked the officer at the desk "I've got some uh evidence of criminal activity." Not the best line to start with I know.
"What have you got?"
I showed him the emails. "The earlier email is one I sent to Reginald Porter, the head of the Anti-Hooligan-Alliance, the latter one is the reply that
he sent"
"So Frank..."
"Uh my names not Frank, it's Rick"
"But here you told Mr Porter that your name was Frank Stevens"
"See down here" I pointed at Steve's name "That's my best mate. I happen to know that he is in a Belgian jail at the moment. The evidence here
suggests that he has been framed. Now what are you going to do about it?"
"Correction" The copper replied "This evidence could be easily fabricated. I know that you sent an email to the AHA and I know that you received a
reply. However what is on here may not be the message that you sent. Which means that you could be trying to get a hooligan released from jail.
You will need better evidence than that to get a conviction mate"
"But aren't you going to do anything about it?"
"As I said, we'll need more evidence, and not from you. Leave this to the professionals."
I turned and left very pissed off.
*"Leave this to the professionals."*
What the fuck were the professionals doing about this?
I returned to the flat and decided to listen to some music. The CD I put on was Offspring's 'Americana.' Towards the end of Track 2 'Have you ever'
were these lyrics
When the truth runs away
Who is gonna stay
Cos the truth about the world
Is that crime does pay
So if you walk away
Who is gonna stay
Cos I'd like to think the world
Is a better place
A plan formed in my mind.
Was what I was planning illegal?
Probably.
Was what I was dealing with illegal?
Very likely.
Would my plan work?
Fuck knows!
Did I have a better idea as to how to get Steve out of jail?
No.
3rd September 2001
The day after the memorial and subsequent arrest of SG1 I got up to do what was my 'official' job â€" helping out with the administering of the SGC
computer network. Well they needed something to officially pay me for, I could do it and it passed the time between assignments. It also provided
a good 'cover story' to give to the folks back home.
First up however was breakfast which I had in my flat/apartment (Note: Never try military canteen food â€" it gives you the shits!). Anyway while I
was eating some toast the phone rang
"Hello"
"Rick, this is General Hammond, I want to meet with you at the SGC ASAP. We may have an assignment for you"
'We' suggested that I'd be added on to an SG team for the time being which would be interesting. I got on well enough with SG1 but they were
currently behind bars and the other team commanders were a mixed bag when it came to me.
"OK. I'll be down in an hour."
An hour later I was outside General Hammond's office knocking on the door.
After entering I saw the General and another man, about Jack's age, with dark hair, a Hawaiian shirt and white shorts lounging with his feet up on
the General's desk. The General introduced us.
"Rick this man," he (stated), staring at him with contempt "is ex-Colonel Harry Maybourne. And Colonel, this is Rick Francis, host to Seng'ok â€" our
resident Tok'ra operative. Take a seat Rick, and Colonel WOULD YOU PLEASE GET YOUR FEET OFF MY DESK!"
"I'm not a Colonel anymore," replied Maybourne
"Uh, I'm a civilian and a British one at that. Even I'm not dumb enough to put my feet up on the General's desk."
He retracted his feet "It's none of my business, but since when did the Stargate hire foreign nationals?" he asked.
"General didn't you hand this guy a file on the Shutech incident or something beforehand?"
"He did and I read it," replied Maybourne. "But if as that file says, the British Prime Minister knows about this program, then I'm not surprised that
the NID are pissed!"
"Celebrated the fact with too much beer afterwards?" I was feeling smart alecky
"Look kid...THEY WOULDNT BE CELEBRATING." Now he was the one who was pissed off!
"May I ask who the NID are?" I asked
It was the General who answered. "NID stands for National Intelligence Department," he continued. "They are more concerned about using the Gate
to find new technology than fighting the Go'auld"
"What sort of technology?"
"Weapons" replied Maybourne
Seng'ok and I conferred for a minute.
'Hang on, they're not bothered about the Goa'uld but they want weapons? That doesn't make sense'
'I have heard of this NID before. Two of your years ago they attempted an operation from another planet, stealing technology from other races,
including the Tok'ra. It was only thanks to Colonel O'Neill's infiltration efforts that they were stopped. I believe that they wanted to put the
weapons to use on Earth'
'Hang on...'
"They weren't planning to have the US military use these weapons on Earth enemies were they?" On Earth the US is the world's superpower. It
doesn't need them" I blurted out loud.
"Tell the NID that." Maybourne replied. "The plan to get some of your compatriots on board didn't go down very well."
"So why are you telling me this?" I asked. I didn't like the feel of this.
"I hacked into the NID email account last week, borrowing a password given to me by an old buddy â€" I'm ex-NID myself - and found this message."
General
I am concerned about the proposals to make the SGC an international project, specifically due to the fact that my campaign, to close
the program down for good, will suffer if the US Government's influence is reduced. I want you to do whatever you can to discredit the
SGC and therefore prevent the proposal from taking shape.
Senator Kinsey
*"Some goddam politicians can't keep their noses out of our business."*
"Have you had trouble with this Kinsey guy before?"
"Yes. He temporarily shut down the program in late 1996. It was only SG1's subsequent covert operation, to prevent the Goa'uld from invading
Earth, that persuaded the President to re-instate it." General Hammond replied.
"He was also part of an NID plot to force General Hammond into resigning. Jack had to get me out of jail to help get him re-instated." Mayboune
added.
"Why...?"
Seng'ok decided to take over. "What I would like to know is why did you bring us here?" he asked
"If what I've heard of him is anything to go by, Rick can work that out," Maybourne replied.
I regained control. This didn't sound good. "Let me guess, you've had trouble convincing the President about what's going on and you want me to
go inside the NID and find the necessary proof that they're up to no good. I've done that sort of thing before, and I was lucky not to get jailed for
it! It ain't happening!"
"You could say Rick" said General Hammond sternly "that you take that risk every time you go through the Stargate. You also took that risk during
the Shutech incident!"
*"FIZZ, FIZZ, FIZZ, FIZZ." Both Shu and the bodyguard hit the deck!*
"Good point. However this stuff is all 'classified'. If this goes wrong then I can bet that the NID will quite happily set us all up for a very big fall! I
wind up in jail, probably doing time on both sides of the Atlantic, if the AHA incident gets exposed, and it could well do. You probably wouldn't last
very long in charge of this facility General and however you got out of jail, Colonel, you'd be going straight back! There's too much at stake here."
"And if we don't do anything, then a team that has saved the Earth on more than one occasion will be executed for a crime that they didn't
commit," replied the General.
'I fear that the General has a point' added Seng'ok
I took a deep breath. "OK, I'm in"
2000
On the Saturday, I took the Eurostar to Brussels and a Belgian train to Charlroi before getting a local bus to the jail where my best mate was
currently residing. For one thing, I wanted to make sure that a psycho inmate hadn't killed him already, for another, one way or another I wanted
Steve to know my plan.
For this I had brought the hard copy of the emails. After being allowed into a visitors room with a glass wall and a phone, and Steve on the other
end, we started talking.
"Rick, fucking good to see you mate." Steve started.
"What happened?" I asked.
"As in&
"How did you wind up in jail?"
"I reported to the paper's temporary office. At the door I got arrested."(this should all be one paragraph)
"Why?"
"Because some wanker of a 'hooligan spotter' told the police that I'd been causing trouble in a local bar. True I was in that bar and fights were
breaking out but I was staying out of the way! At least they got my location right though! There's a Villa fan here where that isn't the case!"
"OK, what if I told you this: Ich habe eine Plan. Wir muss Deutsch sprechen." I decided to do this bit in German because I could see the CCTV and
they probably had an English speaker watching this. French was out as we were in a French speaking country.
"What is your plan?" Steve replied in German, getting the message
"I know that you were falsely convicted,(end/begin sentence)the spotter who had you arrested was working for a group called the AHA"
"Who?"
"The AHA is short for the Anti-Hooligan-Alliance. They are based in Exeter. Read this." I placed the email sheet against the screen.
"The shits! So this is why I'm in jail! You were talking of a plan mate?"
"Yes. I've taken this email to the police back in London but they are doing nothing. Therefore Frank Stevens is going to get himself a job at the
AHA. And when that happens, I'm going to be able to find the proof that you were falsely convicted and give it to the police. If that doesn't get Mr
Porter arrested then it's hopeless"
Steve thought this over for a bit. "You're crazy. You'll go to jail with me!"
"Maybe, maybe not. Do you have any better ideas? It's your choice, I'm not in jail at the moment. You are."
"You're crazy, but I'm desperate. Do it"
Over the next few weeks I grew a beard before dying both it and my hair black. I didn't want anyone to connect Rick Francis to Frank Stevens.
A week before the academic year ended I emailed the AHA asking for a job, small time, just doing bits and pieces. The next day I got the reply: yes
with a £4 a week salary.(all one paragraph)
I then emailed my parents about my plan â€" they already knew that Steve was in jail. Despite this they probably wouldn't be doing handstands â€" I
knew this but in all honesty wasn't prepared to argue with them.
On Saturday I travelled to Exeter and found accommodation as a lodger at a house in Howell Road. On Monday I commuted, to my new job on the
other side of town by bus. The AHA's home was a two floor office building. I put on a slightly posh accent for the receptionist as I handed her the
email that I had received.
"Good morning. My name is Frank Stevens. I believe I was supposed to start work today?"
"Good morning Mr Stevens, Mr Porter is expecting you. This way please."
She led me into Porter's office. A grey-haired man, who looked like he was in his fifties, Porter beckoned me to sit down.
"Welcome Frank, welcome to our humble offices, it is always good to meet a Cambridge student like I myself once was. Which college are you in?"
Crap! Come on Rick..."Christ's School."
"Ah, I was in Churchill myself, about thirty years ago now, and there weren't any Computing degrees, not that I can remember anyway...enough
about the old days though, there's work to be done in the present. Tell me your reasons for joining us"
"Well, I've just started the summer holidays and was planning to get a job. When I heard about your organisation it seemed ideal â€" a way to do
something worthwhile â€" wipe out the scum that shame our country."
"And it is, dear boy. Sign right here!" I signed the contract. Was that the Mission Impossible theme tune playing in my head?
5th September 2001
A couple of days after the meeting Rob Keane â€" a young Airman arrived at my apartment in uniform.
"Rick, I have orders to help you get packed and prepare for a trip to Nevada."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I'm just following orders."
After getting packed, Rob drove me to a nearby airstrip where General Hammond was waiting along side a ready-to-go plane
"Rick, Colonel Maybourne told me to give you this," he said handing me a folder. "Enjoy your flight and the best of luck. We're all rooting for you!"
I got on the plane.
'Well I'm presuming that this is to do with my going inside the NID,' I told Seng'ok 'But it's a bit short notice.
'
'That is true Rick. But it certainly looks as though we'll be well prepared!"
That's one way of saying it. I looked through the folder â€" it was pretty much a briefing dossier written by Colonel Maybourne. Useful information
included:
Cover name: Kurt Richards. Civilian computer technician. A New Yorker(luckily I can do the accent â€" though they should have checked).
Place I was going to: Kirktown, a small town in Nevada where I was to meet with a latex artist who'd make sure that Kurt didn't look like me.
NID base: Nelis AFB. Also known as...Area 51?
'What is this Area 51?' asked Seng'ok
'Over 50 years ago an alien spaceship was supposed to have crash landed on Earth. It has always been assumed in some circles that the US
Government covered it up and placed the spaceship in Area 51. Looks like it was true'
'If so could the Tau'ri have since come into contact with the race that sent the ship here?'
'Very likely. There has been video footage of what is supposed to be aliens being experimented on â€" and they don't look unlike the Asgard'.
'I remember hearing rumours about the Asgard losing a ship on a primitive world once. I never once thought that it could be the Tau'ri world.'
Going back to the dossier, I found out that the current commander at Nelis was a Major General McGuire, and that I would reside in Kirktown for the
assignment. Maybourne had a series of flats all over the country so that was where I would be staying.
A couple of hours later the plane touched down in Nevada. This was the first time that I had been in this part of the States and the first thing that
hit me was the heat. It was fucking insane. I just hoped that this flat had a shower and a fridge with a cold beer in it.
7th September 2001
Another car to pick me up, another Airman driving. But this drive was not to a plane. After half an hour in the desert we came across a security
point. The driver flashes his pass. Ten minutes later we come across a steel hulk of a building. Standing outside is a man with grey beard, and if it
wasn't for his blue uniform I could picture him as a pirate captain.
"Welcome to Area 51 son, I'm General McGuire. Would you like a tour of this place?" he asked. Now I know what they call a Deep South twang.
"Sure," I replied in my tough New York accent. While we entered the building I mentioned something to Seng'ok.
'There's a story I read once where one character described another like this. He is a fool that does not know he is a fool and that makes him the
most dangerous fool of all. Expect to find a lot of dangerous fools working here Seng'ok.' So speaks a guy that's played this game before.
July 2000
I was given a quick tour of the AHA offices by Porter and if I hadn't known exactly who they were I'd have mistaken them for a charity. There was
even one section for legal Aid, helping the victims of hooligans. Very good idea â€" as I've said before I'm not a fan of hooliganism in itself. The only
question was as much as this was doing good and I'll admit it was - how had Porter and his people become so misguided that they considered
someone like Steve a problem? All he'd done was protest at some police cack- ups. What exactly were these people looking for? I decided to ask
Porter a few questions.
"Mr Porter? Can I ask you a few questions?"
"Call me Reg, dear boy and fire away."
"Is this all your own work. Did you set up the AHA?"
"I'll admit that we have had some foreign funding, particularly from Belgium.They were worried about hooligan trouble during their European
Championships over the past month or so â€" it was how we were able to hire our own spotters."
"What do our spotters do exactly?"
"They look out for potential hooligans. Like that Steve Adams fellow I told you about."
"What about hooligans from other countries?"
"None of our business really. Not that there's many of them and they were inspired by our ruffians â€" so if we take care of them then the foreigners
will take care of themselves."
I didn't want to disappoint Reg â€" he wouldn't believe that it wasn't true.
7th September 2001
I don't think I've seen anything quite as fascinating as Area 51. The amount of...futuristic technology here was absolutely amazing. Then again I
had a very good idea where it came from.
"General â€" some of this stuff here looks real nice. Where'dya get it from?" I asked.
"If I told you then a Yankee like you would just say â€" 'this ol'Dixie boy's been drinking too much whisky!'"
"My dad always said that they drank too much whisky down South anyway. All I know is that this is supposed to be the legendary Area 51! Try
me!"
"OK, all this stuff...we stole it from another planet!"
"You mean you got it off a UFO in the 40s? Yeah I heard about that!"
"Oh yeah, we got that too. But... just read this!"
He handed me a dossier. It was pretty much the NID equivalent of the introductory document to the SGC that was given to me on my transatlantic
flight a couple of months back. More hard-line, not particularly friendly to the SGC, but it did mention the NID rogue op of two years ago, which a
certain Colonel Maybourne apparently headed up! It looked like he'd fallen from grace recently though â€" or at least in the NID's eyes due to two
incidents last year. Firstly he gave Stargate info to the Russians who now have their own program apparently â€" this was what he got jailed for,
treason! Second his role in foiling the NID/Kinsey plan pissed them off well and truly.
"Well you now know what this is about, go do your job!" snapped General McGuire.
'What do you plan now Rick?' asked Seng'ok.
'To do the same as I did with the AHA, I'm network admin which means I've got the freedom of the system. I make sure no one else does anything
dodgy 90% of the time and have a look around myself when I get the chance. And hope like fuck I don't get caught.' If I did, one heck of a lot of
chips would go down the drain!
July 2000
It was two weeks before I was able to make my breakthrough. Over those two weeks I had found out about a database that was supposedly of
hooligans and 'potential hooligans' that they were keeping a watch over or had been jailed. I was near dead cert that this was where I was going to
find the proof that Steve had been set up.
So I started bugging Reg on when I would be able to get a password for this system.
"Frank, you do not do enough work on the computer for us to give you a password," was the standard reply. "There are three people I would trust
with such a device me, Adam and Roger and that's it"
Adam Bennett and Roger Craven were Reg's right and left hand men respectively. Together they were pretty much the heart of the organisation.
I then had to switch to plan B. There was no password to get me into the main system. The only problem was, specific documents which would
probably be very interesting to the police were contained there. So how to get one of these passwords? Luckily Reg slipped up on Thursday
afternoon â€" second week! Only slightly, but enough.
I was fixing up some tea for Adam while Reg was working on the computer. There were two documents up â€" I couldn't see the first one â€" however
the smaller window had two boxes with two, what-were-probably, passwords. One to be able to open the document, one to modify it â€" and these
were unencrypted. All I managed to catch was the new passwords being entered in - 'benito' and 'torino'. Reg must have closed both windows by
the time he looked round.
"Frank â€" when did you get in?" he asked.
"Just now â€" I was making a cup of tea for Adam," I replied
"Ah good. Any chance of one for me?"
"With pleasure!" I found another cup.
"Did you see anything that was on the screen just now?"
"As I said Reg, I just got in!"
"Good, good." He looked relieved
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing"
I walked out the door having skated on some very thin ice. Why I hadn't caught hypothermia I'll never know!
Before I got to work on the Friday, I bought a pack of floppy disks from a local stationary store, took out one and put it in my rucksack with my
lunchbox.
4pm and I stayed back late â€" I needed to anyway â€" Geraldine the receptionist had given me a very long letter to type up. Perfect opportunity.
After finishing the letter I went into the database. Sure enough it was what I had suspected â€" pretty much a list of every fan that had got set up
by the AHA. After formatting the floppy I added the info on to the disk, shut down the computer, gave the printed off letter to Geraldine and left
the building for good.
The first stop was to hand the disc in to the police. Within two hours I was packed up and on a train home.
September 2001
For two weeks against the AHA, read three days against the NID. Being a network administrator has it's perks â€" for example you have unlimited
access to everything and don't have to get past any passwords. However even with these advantages I still had a supposed job to do. Therefore I
had limited time to do my real one.
And so it was Friday afternoon that I eventually found the email that gave me the information I was looking for.
Senator
Thank you for your email â€" we will be more than happy to help you out. The course of action that we have decided to take is this. We
have given the President false evidence that the members of SG1 have passed on nationally secure information to the Chinese in return
for a payment of $10 million dollars each. The apparent fall from grace, of the SGC's 'special' team, will make it a lot easier for you to
convince him to close down the SGC. In return we ask that you try and persuade him to give official backing to a technology
procurement project that we are planning.
Major General McGuire
Unlike the AHA, I knew that I couldn't take the NID down, but that was not my mission â€" my mission was to get enough evidence to get SG1 out of
jail. This might get General McGuire court-martialled but that's about it.
Either way it was game over. I copied the email on to a word document, then on to the floppy that I had on me and when work ended, returned to
the apartment. In the apartment was a laptop that was there to email my results to Colonel Maybourne. This I did at 6pm. At 8pm the boor bell
rang â€" it was the latex artist.
"Excuse me but I've been asked to come here by Colonel Maybourne. Could you please get packed as you have a plane to catch at 10pm and I've
got to remove the latex from your face before then."
At 10pm I was in the air. In Wednesday 5th September â€" out Friday 7th. Not bad.
August 2000
"And so the jury have delivered guilty verdicts to the judge and as a result the three defendants will spend the next five years in prison"
Fuck me that was a relief. A month after the Exeter police had raided the AHA's offices the ring leaders were in prison â€" where they belonged â€" and
Steve and several others were out. But it was far from easy. OK enough other junior employees had given evidence against they're bosses â€" maybe
someone else had found out what was going on - so a certain Frank Stevens was not needed on the witness stand.
The catch came when Reg claimed that the evidence had been fabricated. When asked by whom he replied "Someone in the pay of a hooligan
group." He said that his prime suspect was an employee of the AHA for two weeks â€" Frank Stevens.
The cross examination was not till the next morning and that must have been the most sleepless night of my life â€" luckily the prosecution lawyer
took Reg's conspiracy theory to pieces â€" he hadn't a scrap of evidence to back it up.
But it was still enough to make me nervous â€" Reg at least had sussed me out â€" the only thing that stopped him going down was his pleading
innocent. I don't know how much information he'd gained on me â€" apparently he was an ex senior-inspector in the police â€" maybe he'd found out
about my original visit to the police and put two and two together â€" if he'd pled guilty I'd could have been in deep shit!
"So now that this is all over â€" could you do me a favour?" my Mum asked.
"Sure" I replied
"NEVER do this sort of thing again!"
I had no problems with that
"Got it"
11th September 2001
Well that turned out to be a pile of bullshit! Luckily Mum just thinks that I helped out a group of US federal investigators a couple of months back.
And that I'm now working as a network administrator for NORAD as a thank you present from the US government with a possibility of working for
NASA later on. Otherwise, forget the Goa'uld, I'd be dead the next time I set foot on British soil!
Anyway it's Tuesday 11th September. 7am. I'd just woken up when I heard the phone ring.
"Hello."
"Rick, this is General Hammond. Do not come to work today."
"Are you giving me the day off General? If this is a reward for the NID assignment then why didn't you give me yesterday off?"
SG1 had returned to duty the previous day and General McGuire had been relieved of his command.
"It's not that Rick, did you just get up?"
"Yeah!"
"Turn on the TV, it doesn't matter what channel." The General said sombrely
I turned it on to ABC. The picture showed a plane that had crashed into what looked like the World Trade Centre.
"General, is this what I think it is?"
"It is the picture of a hijacked plane that has just crashed into the World Trade Centre son, a commercial airliner at that!. We're evacuating the
base â€" NORAD could be another target."
"For who?"
"For whoever did this. It looks as though terrorists have attacked the United States."
'Could it have been the Goa'uld?' asked Seng'ok.
'Unlikely' I replied 'No motherships have been seen in the solar system since the Shutech incident. The General mentioned terrorists and they'd have
to be suicide bombers at that'
'More dangerous fools?'
'Not quite. They're a bit like Jaffa.'
'Are they common among the Tau'ri?'
'In some areas yes but...not here!' To quote Marty McFly 'This can't be happening'.
Jesus fucking Christ â€" a little more than a year ago I'd received news that both shocked and offended me. I thought that it was a big deal.
I'd been wrong â€" the Charlroi incident was petty compared to this.
'Seng'ok, could you just do me a favour'
'What Rick?'
'I never claimed that we were perfect and we have some very sick people in our midst, but please my friend â€" don't give up on us'
I turn to you and I say
Thank goodness for the good souls
That make life better
I turn to you and I say
If it wasn't for the good souls
Life would not matter
Next up...Unfinished Business.
There's something evolving
Whenever it comes
The world keeps revolving
The say the next big thing is here
And the revolutions near
And to me it seems quite clear
That it's all just a little bit of history repeating
18th June 2000
Yugoslavia 1 Norway 0. Half time. This has to have been the crappest match of the tournament so far. Maybe it was the pleasure-pain theory. The
previous day England had actually beaten Germany for the first time in ages so this personally felt like a kind of pain after the pleasure.
Anyway maybe the England match was the pleasure after the pain. From what I'd heard there had been some trouble before the match. The sort of
trouble that is guaranteed to happen during an England-Germany match. Both countries have always had their share of screwballs and the results
are usually pretty violent.
There also happened to be a bigger problem this time out â€" from what I'd heard the Belgian police had overreacted and were arresting every
England fan coming out of any pub, where there was a fight. One heck of a lot of them had got deported, some even jailed and most of them were
just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
This was getting me nervous. Steve was just finishing his first year at Bolton doing Journalism and guess what? The jammy bastard had won a
university competition to watch a local paper cover Euro 2000 â€" the tournament that was currently going on in Belgium and Holland. All this really
meant was free tickets for all the England matches - and some others â€" and a chance to sample some of the local beer, which I've heard happens
to be very good.
Anyway Gary Linekar was saying something on TV. Something about England getting banned from the tournament if there was any more trouble.
What the fuck is going on here? England fans weren't the only ones causing trouble! No one's given Turkey any trouble for a couple of Leeds fans
that got killed over there a couple of months back.
I yelled something incoherent at the screen. Not that it mattered, no one else was in the house at the time. My parents were out having a quick
walk. I was still smouldering when the phone rang.
"Hello"
"Is that Rick there? It's Jane" Jane was Steve's mum.
"Jane. What's up?"
"I just had a call from Steve. He's currently in jail in Charlroi"
"Huh?"
"He's in a Belgian jail for hooliganism. Due to the evidence of a police spotter"
"When's the trial?"
"Steve says it's already happened. It lasted about an hour. He's going to be in there for six months."
Jane sounded stunned. Not that I could blame her. Hooligans are scumbags â€" there is no other word for them. They are like a load of insects at a
barbecue. I've never in my life met any hooligans. Steve and I have pretty much grown up together, but there's one thing that's for certain, if he
had ever engaged in any hooliganism, then I wouldn't have been hanging out with him for very long.Which left me with one question
How the fuck did this happen?
September 2nd 2001
They were planning a memorial for the guys who got killed during the occupation and take back of the SGC by Klorel. I guess it's one way of getting
an English football fan down from the high of his country beating Germany 5- 1 the previous afternoon. I used a website, which had a match
tracker, to keep up to date, as it's near-impossible to find a bar that'll show a European 'soccer' match this side of the Atlantic â€" particularly in
Colorado Springs.
Anyway I decided to attend this memorial seeing as I'd played a part in the take-back. Couple of weeks ago now and it still feels unreal.
'I do believe that it was you who wanted to go on the assignment Rick.' There's Seng'ok reading my thoughts again. 'Did I need to remind you that
we are fighting in a war or that people die in them?'
'No you didn't Seng'ok â€" I just took the whole 'seeing-people-who-have-just- been-killed thing worse than expected'
'Then maybe your place is not amongst the Tok'ra. We could be separated if you wish'
'Good point. I guess the idea is worth considering, maybe I'll talk it over with someone at some point.'
At the service there were loads of US military types, all in what they called 'dress blues'. The Stargate was activated and a mixture of coffins for
those whose bodies were still intact and wreaths for those that were triple- zatted were carried into the 'Gate by General Hammond. The first
funeral/memorial that I have ever attended and it's a military service for people I didn't know. And no I do not know which planet is serving as the
cemetery.
Talking about people that I don't know, at the end of the service, a couple more 'dress blues' turned up, and I was near dead-cert that they
weren't SGC personnel. One of them approached General Hammond.
"Sir, I'm Colonel Daniel Marxham from the Pentagon, and this is Lieutenant Granger. I regret to inform you that I have been sent by the President to
arrest four of your people for treason
"Which ones?" asked a shocked General
"Colonel Jack O'Neill, Major Samantha Carter, Doctor Daniel Jackson and a fourth person called Teal'c sir!"
Huh?
June 2000
After the match I caught the last train back to Waterloo â€" no matter what news I'd heard, I had to get back in time for the next morning's lectures.
I was finishing my first year at South Bank university doing Computing, 20 years old as of the Thursday just gone, single and currently bloody
confused.
That week I was really just going through the motions. I was planning to get to Charloi the next weekend to talk to Steve, see if he had any idea
what had happened. My sense of unreality was only compounded when we got beaten by Romania. England getting knocked out at the group stage
had not been what I had expected from this tournament.
Another thing that was hard to take was the stream of letters coming into pretty much every paper I read entitled 'England's shame' or 'England
should be banned' or some other such bullshit! Oh sure, just because of a few tossers amongst the England fans that were in the Low Countries,
every single England fan should be punished, add to that Kevin Keegan and the England squad!
The fact that at least one England fan is in jail, who near-dead cert shouldn't be in there? These fuckers will probably be fucking cheering for
Christ's sake!
On the subject of these idiots a particularly interesting letter turned up in the Times on Thursday
Sir: May I congratulate the Charloi police of doing a excellent job of combating the menace posed by English hooligans with the
assistance of the specially hired hooligan spotters. However the fight is not by any means over. We understand that the public has been
supportive over the action taken and are writing this letter in a plea for further help. If anyone wishes to help our cause they should
email us at the address below.
Reginald Porter
Director Anti-Hooligan Alliance
Exeter
There was a website and email address underneath
Very interesting. It was the first time that I had heard anything about any organised anti-hooligan groups. Luckily I had a laptop with a modem
attached. The internet bills got expensive sometimes but I wasn't that bothered. Anyway I checked out the AHA's website. Apparently they'd hired
a few of their own 'hooligan spotters' that hadn't been snapped up by the Belgian police, supposedly to 'prevent tolerance of this menace.' I had a
hunch that there was more to this than met the eye.
The only way I was going to be able to dig deeper was to email this Reginald Porter guy and ask him a few questions â€" put on a supportive voice to
nudge the answers out. That meant that I couldn't use my current name and email in case they worked out that I was bullshitting. So I registered
for a Hotmail address under the alias Frank Stevens.
My account was opened a few minutes after registration and I sent the first message.
Reginald
I was interested to read your letter in the Guardian yesterday and am sympathetic to your cause. I am a Computing student at
Cambridge University and would be interested to know more about your precise philosophy â€" how exactly do you plan to tackle the
hooligan problem
Frank Stevens
The reply came the next day
Frank
Thank you for your support. My fight against the English hooligans is a personal one. The son of an Italian friend of mine was a supporter
of Juventus football club when he was killed in a fight with Liverpool supporters in 1985.
I believe that he was killed, by the fact that the Liverpool supporters have such pride in their team that they do not see how petty their
game is. It is this pride, this self-importance, that forms the seed of this hooliganism. Therefore the best way to prevent hooliganism is
to stifle this pride.
Our methods are not what you'd consider fair play but our task has to be done. People complain about the hooliganism but do not care
about the sheer tribalism among football fans that has to be stamped out. I'll tell you of one such incident from last Saturday, the day of
the England Germany game. Some English hooligans were arrested, having been reported to the Belgian police by our spotters. A young
man started protesting â€" I believe his name was Steve Adams â€" we later had to report him to the police as well.
A regrettable incident â€" but a necessary one if we are to stamp out hooliganism
Reginald Porter
Gotcha! I printed off the email and made my way to the local police station.
"Uh excuse me" I asked the officer at the desk "I've got some uh evidence of criminal activity." Not the best line to start with I know.
"What have you got?"
I showed him the emails. "The earlier email is one I sent to Reginald Porter, the head of the Anti-Hooligan-Alliance, the latter one is the reply that
he sent"
"So Frank..."
"Uh my names not Frank, it's Rick"
"But here you told Mr Porter that your name was Frank Stevens"
"See down here" I pointed at Steve's name "That's my best mate. I happen to know that he is in a Belgian jail at the moment. The evidence here
suggests that he has been framed. Now what are you going to do about it?"
"Correction" The copper replied "This evidence could be easily fabricated. I know that you sent an email to the AHA and I know that you received a
reply. However what is on here may not be the message that you sent. Which means that you could be trying to get a hooligan released from jail.
You will need better evidence than that to get a conviction mate"
"But aren't you going to do anything about it?"
"As I said, we'll need more evidence, and not from you. Leave this to the professionals."
I turned and left very pissed off.
*"Leave this to the professionals."*
What the fuck were the professionals doing about this?
I returned to the flat and decided to listen to some music. The CD I put on was Offspring's 'Americana.' Towards the end of Track 2 'Have you ever'
were these lyrics
When the truth runs away
Who is gonna stay
Cos the truth about the world
Is that crime does pay
So if you walk away
Who is gonna stay
Cos I'd like to think the world
Is a better place
A plan formed in my mind.
Was what I was planning illegal?
Probably.
Was what I was dealing with illegal?
Very likely.
Would my plan work?
Fuck knows!
Did I have a better idea as to how to get Steve out of jail?
No.
3rd September 2001
The day after the memorial and subsequent arrest of SG1 I got up to do what was my 'official' job â€" helping out with the administering of the SGC
computer network. Well they needed something to officially pay me for, I could do it and it passed the time between assignments. It also provided
a good 'cover story' to give to the folks back home.
First up however was breakfast which I had in my flat/apartment (Note: Never try military canteen food â€" it gives you the shits!). Anyway while I
was eating some toast the phone rang
"Hello"
"Rick, this is General Hammond, I want to meet with you at the SGC ASAP. We may have an assignment for you"
'We' suggested that I'd be added on to an SG team for the time being which would be interesting. I got on well enough with SG1 but they were
currently behind bars and the other team commanders were a mixed bag when it came to me.
"OK. I'll be down in an hour."
An hour later I was outside General Hammond's office knocking on the door.
After entering I saw the General and another man, about Jack's age, with dark hair, a Hawaiian shirt and white shorts lounging with his feet up on
the General's desk. The General introduced us.
"Rick this man," he (stated), staring at him with contempt "is ex-Colonel Harry Maybourne. And Colonel, this is Rick Francis, host to Seng'ok â€" our
resident Tok'ra operative. Take a seat Rick, and Colonel WOULD YOU PLEASE GET YOUR FEET OFF MY DESK!"
"I'm not a Colonel anymore," replied Maybourne
"Uh, I'm a civilian and a British one at that. Even I'm not dumb enough to put my feet up on the General's desk."
He retracted his feet "It's none of my business, but since when did the Stargate hire foreign nationals?" he asked.
"General didn't you hand this guy a file on the Shutech incident or something beforehand?"
"He did and I read it," replied Maybourne. "But if as that file says, the British Prime Minister knows about this program, then I'm not surprised that
the NID are pissed!"
"Celebrated the fact with too much beer afterwards?" I was feeling smart alecky
"Look kid...THEY WOULDNT BE CELEBRATING." Now he was the one who was pissed off!
"May I ask who the NID are?" I asked
It was the General who answered. "NID stands for National Intelligence Department," he continued. "They are more concerned about using the Gate
to find new technology than fighting the Go'auld"
"What sort of technology?"
"Weapons" replied Maybourne
Seng'ok and I conferred for a minute.
'Hang on, they're not bothered about the Goa'uld but they want weapons? That doesn't make sense'
'I have heard of this NID before. Two of your years ago they attempted an operation from another planet, stealing technology from other races,
including the Tok'ra. It was only thanks to Colonel O'Neill's infiltration efforts that they were stopped. I believe that they wanted to put the
weapons to use on Earth'
'Hang on...'
"They weren't planning to have the US military use these weapons on Earth enemies were they?" On Earth the US is the world's superpower. It
doesn't need them" I blurted out loud.
"Tell the NID that." Maybourne replied. "The plan to get some of your compatriots on board didn't go down very well."
"So why are you telling me this?" I asked. I didn't like the feel of this.
"I hacked into the NID email account last week, borrowing a password given to me by an old buddy â€" I'm ex-NID myself - and found this message."
General
I am concerned about the proposals to make the SGC an international project, specifically due to the fact that my campaign, to close
the program down for good, will suffer if the US Government's influence is reduced. I want you to do whatever you can to discredit the
SGC and therefore prevent the proposal from taking shape.
Senator Kinsey
*"Some goddam politicians can't keep their noses out of our business."*
"Have you had trouble with this Kinsey guy before?"
"Yes. He temporarily shut down the program in late 1996. It was only SG1's subsequent covert operation, to prevent the Goa'uld from invading
Earth, that persuaded the President to re-instate it." General Hammond replied.
"He was also part of an NID plot to force General Hammond into resigning. Jack had to get me out of jail to help get him re-instated." Mayboune
added.
"Why...?"
Seng'ok decided to take over. "What I would like to know is why did you bring us here?" he asked
"If what I've heard of him is anything to go by, Rick can work that out," Maybourne replied.
I regained control. This didn't sound good. "Let me guess, you've had trouble convincing the President about what's going on and you want me to
go inside the NID and find the necessary proof that they're up to no good. I've done that sort of thing before, and I was lucky not to get jailed for
it! It ain't happening!"
"You could say Rick" said General Hammond sternly "that you take that risk every time you go through the Stargate. You also took that risk during
the Shutech incident!"
*"FIZZ, FIZZ, FIZZ, FIZZ." Both Shu and the bodyguard hit the deck!*
"Good point. However this stuff is all 'classified'. If this goes wrong then I can bet that the NID will quite happily set us all up for a very big fall! I
wind up in jail, probably doing time on both sides of the Atlantic, if the AHA incident gets exposed, and it could well do. You probably wouldn't last
very long in charge of this facility General and however you got out of jail, Colonel, you'd be going straight back! There's too much at stake here."
"And if we don't do anything, then a team that has saved the Earth on more than one occasion will be executed for a crime that they didn't
commit," replied the General.
'I fear that the General has a point' added Seng'ok
I took a deep breath. "OK, I'm in"
2000
On the Saturday, I took the Eurostar to Brussels and a Belgian train to Charlroi before getting a local bus to the jail where my best mate was
currently residing. For one thing, I wanted to make sure that a psycho inmate hadn't killed him already, for another, one way or another I wanted
Steve to know my plan.
For this I had brought the hard copy of the emails. After being allowed into a visitors room with a glass wall and a phone, and Steve on the other
end, we started talking.
"Rick, fucking good to see you mate." Steve started.
"What happened?" I asked.
"As in&
"How did you wind up in jail?"
"I reported to the paper's temporary office. At the door I got arrested."(this should all be one paragraph)
"Why?"
"Because some wanker of a 'hooligan spotter' told the police that I'd been causing trouble in a local bar. True I was in that bar and fights were
breaking out but I was staying out of the way! At least they got my location right though! There's a Villa fan here where that isn't the case!"
"OK, what if I told you this: Ich habe eine Plan. Wir muss Deutsch sprechen." I decided to do this bit in German because I could see the CCTV and
they probably had an English speaker watching this. French was out as we were in a French speaking country.
"What is your plan?" Steve replied in German, getting the message
"I know that you were falsely convicted,(end/begin sentence)the spotter who had you arrested was working for a group called the AHA"
"Who?"
"The AHA is short for the Anti-Hooligan-Alliance. They are based in Exeter. Read this." I placed the email sheet against the screen.
"The shits! So this is why I'm in jail! You were talking of a plan mate?"
"Yes. I've taken this email to the police back in London but they are doing nothing. Therefore Frank Stevens is going to get himself a job at the
AHA. And when that happens, I'm going to be able to find the proof that you were falsely convicted and give it to the police. If that doesn't get Mr
Porter arrested then it's hopeless"
Steve thought this over for a bit. "You're crazy. You'll go to jail with me!"
"Maybe, maybe not. Do you have any better ideas? It's your choice, I'm not in jail at the moment. You are."
"You're crazy, but I'm desperate. Do it"
Over the next few weeks I grew a beard before dying both it and my hair black. I didn't want anyone to connect Rick Francis to Frank Stevens.
A week before the academic year ended I emailed the AHA asking for a job, small time, just doing bits and pieces. The next day I got the reply: yes
with a £4 a week salary.(all one paragraph)
I then emailed my parents about my plan â€" they already knew that Steve was in jail. Despite this they probably wouldn't be doing handstands â€" I
knew this but in all honesty wasn't prepared to argue with them.
On Saturday I travelled to Exeter and found accommodation as a lodger at a house in Howell Road. On Monday I commuted, to my new job on the
other side of town by bus. The AHA's home was a two floor office building. I put on a slightly posh accent for the receptionist as I handed her the
email that I had received.
"Good morning. My name is Frank Stevens. I believe I was supposed to start work today?"
"Good morning Mr Stevens, Mr Porter is expecting you. This way please."
She led me into Porter's office. A grey-haired man, who looked like he was in his fifties, Porter beckoned me to sit down.
"Welcome Frank, welcome to our humble offices, it is always good to meet a Cambridge student like I myself once was. Which college are you in?"
Crap! Come on Rick..."Christ's School."
"Ah, I was in Churchill myself, about thirty years ago now, and there weren't any Computing degrees, not that I can remember anyway...enough
about the old days though, there's work to be done in the present. Tell me your reasons for joining us"
"Well, I've just started the summer holidays and was planning to get a job. When I heard about your organisation it seemed ideal â€" a way to do
something worthwhile â€" wipe out the scum that shame our country."
"And it is, dear boy. Sign right here!" I signed the contract. Was that the Mission Impossible theme tune playing in my head?
5th September 2001
A couple of days after the meeting Rob Keane â€" a young Airman arrived at my apartment in uniform.
"Rick, I have orders to help you get packed and prepare for a trip to Nevada."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I'm just following orders."
After getting packed, Rob drove me to a nearby airstrip where General Hammond was waiting along side a ready-to-go plane
"Rick, Colonel Maybourne told me to give you this," he said handing me a folder. "Enjoy your flight and the best of luck. We're all rooting for you!"
I got on the plane.
'Well I'm presuming that this is to do with my going inside the NID,' I told Seng'ok 'But it's a bit short notice.
'
'That is true Rick. But it certainly looks as though we'll be well prepared!"
That's one way of saying it. I looked through the folder â€" it was pretty much a briefing dossier written by Colonel Maybourne. Useful information
included:
Cover name: Kurt Richards. Civilian computer technician. A New Yorker(luckily I can do the accent â€" though they should have checked).
Place I was going to: Kirktown, a small town in Nevada where I was to meet with a latex artist who'd make sure that Kurt didn't look like me.
NID base: Nelis AFB. Also known as...Area 51?
'What is this Area 51?' asked Seng'ok
'Over 50 years ago an alien spaceship was supposed to have crash landed on Earth. It has always been assumed in some circles that the US
Government covered it up and placed the spaceship in Area 51. Looks like it was true'
'If so could the Tau'ri have since come into contact with the race that sent the ship here?'
'Very likely. There has been video footage of what is supposed to be aliens being experimented on â€" and they don't look unlike the Asgard'.
'I remember hearing rumours about the Asgard losing a ship on a primitive world once. I never once thought that it could be the Tau'ri world.'
Going back to the dossier, I found out that the current commander at Nelis was a Major General McGuire, and that I would reside in Kirktown for the
assignment. Maybourne had a series of flats all over the country so that was where I would be staying.
A couple of hours later the plane touched down in Nevada. This was the first time that I had been in this part of the States and the first thing that
hit me was the heat. It was fucking insane. I just hoped that this flat had a shower and a fridge with a cold beer in it.
7th September 2001
Another car to pick me up, another Airman driving. But this drive was not to a plane. After half an hour in the desert we came across a security
point. The driver flashes his pass. Ten minutes later we come across a steel hulk of a building. Standing outside is a man with grey beard, and if it
wasn't for his blue uniform I could picture him as a pirate captain.
"Welcome to Area 51 son, I'm General McGuire. Would you like a tour of this place?" he asked. Now I know what they call a Deep South twang.
"Sure," I replied in my tough New York accent. While we entered the building I mentioned something to Seng'ok.
'There's a story I read once where one character described another like this. He is a fool that does not know he is a fool and that makes him the
most dangerous fool of all. Expect to find a lot of dangerous fools working here Seng'ok.' So speaks a guy that's played this game before.
July 2000
I was given a quick tour of the AHA offices by Porter and if I hadn't known exactly who they were I'd have mistaken them for a charity. There was
even one section for legal Aid, helping the victims of hooligans. Very good idea â€" as I've said before I'm not a fan of hooliganism in itself. The only
question was as much as this was doing good and I'll admit it was - how had Porter and his people become so misguided that they considered
someone like Steve a problem? All he'd done was protest at some police cack- ups. What exactly were these people looking for? I decided to ask
Porter a few questions.
"Mr Porter? Can I ask you a few questions?"
"Call me Reg, dear boy and fire away."
"Is this all your own work. Did you set up the AHA?"
"I'll admit that we have had some foreign funding, particularly from Belgium.They were worried about hooligan trouble during their European
Championships over the past month or so â€" it was how we were able to hire our own spotters."
"What do our spotters do exactly?"
"They look out for potential hooligans. Like that Steve Adams fellow I told you about."
"What about hooligans from other countries?"
"None of our business really. Not that there's many of them and they were inspired by our ruffians â€" so if we take care of them then the foreigners
will take care of themselves."
I didn't want to disappoint Reg â€" he wouldn't believe that it wasn't true.
7th September 2001
I don't think I've seen anything quite as fascinating as Area 51. The amount of...futuristic technology here was absolutely amazing. Then again I
had a very good idea where it came from.
"General â€" some of this stuff here looks real nice. Where'dya get it from?" I asked.
"If I told you then a Yankee like you would just say â€" 'this ol'Dixie boy's been drinking too much whisky!'"
"My dad always said that they drank too much whisky down South anyway. All I know is that this is supposed to be the legendary Area 51! Try
me!"
"OK, all this stuff...we stole it from another planet!"
"You mean you got it off a UFO in the 40s? Yeah I heard about that!"
"Oh yeah, we got that too. But... just read this!"
He handed me a dossier. It was pretty much the NID equivalent of the introductory document to the SGC that was given to me on my transatlantic
flight a couple of months back. More hard-line, not particularly friendly to the SGC, but it did mention the NID rogue op of two years ago, which a
certain Colonel Maybourne apparently headed up! It looked like he'd fallen from grace recently though â€" or at least in the NID's eyes due to two
incidents last year. Firstly he gave Stargate info to the Russians who now have their own program apparently â€" this was what he got jailed for,
treason! Second his role in foiling the NID/Kinsey plan pissed them off well and truly.
"Well you now know what this is about, go do your job!" snapped General McGuire.
'What do you plan now Rick?' asked Seng'ok.
'To do the same as I did with the AHA, I'm network admin which means I've got the freedom of the system. I make sure no one else does anything
dodgy 90% of the time and have a look around myself when I get the chance. And hope like fuck I don't get caught.' If I did, one heck of a lot of
chips would go down the drain!
July 2000
It was two weeks before I was able to make my breakthrough. Over those two weeks I had found out about a database that was supposedly of
hooligans and 'potential hooligans' that they were keeping a watch over or had been jailed. I was near dead cert that this was where I was going to
find the proof that Steve had been set up.
So I started bugging Reg on when I would be able to get a password for this system.
"Frank, you do not do enough work on the computer for us to give you a password," was the standard reply. "There are three people I would trust
with such a device me, Adam and Roger and that's it"
Adam Bennett and Roger Craven were Reg's right and left hand men respectively. Together they were pretty much the heart of the organisation.
I then had to switch to plan B. There was no password to get me into the main system. The only problem was, specific documents which would
probably be very interesting to the police were contained there. So how to get one of these passwords? Luckily Reg slipped up on Thursday
afternoon â€" second week! Only slightly, but enough.
I was fixing up some tea for Adam while Reg was working on the computer. There were two documents up â€" I couldn't see the first one â€" however
the smaller window had two boxes with two, what-were-probably, passwords. One to be able to open the document, one to modify it â€" and these
were unencrypted. All I managed to catch was the new passwords being entered in - 'benito' and 'torino'. Reg must have closed both windows by
the time he looked round.
"Frank â€" when did you get in?" he asked.
"Just now â€" I was making a cup of tea for Adam," I replied
"Ah good. Any chance of one for me?"
"With pleasure!" I found another cup.
"Did you see anything that was on the screen just now?"
"As I said Reg, I just got in!"
"Good, good." He looked relieved
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing"
I walked out the door having skated on some very thin ice. Why I hadn't caught hypothermia I'll never know!
Before I got to work on the Friday, I bought a pack of floppy disks from a local stationary store, took out one and put it in my rucksack with my
lunchbox.
4pm and I stayed back late â€" I needed to anyway â€" Geraldine the receptionist had given me a very long letter to type up. Perfect opportunity.
After finishing the letter I went into the database. Sure enough it was what I had suspected â€" pretty much a list of every fan that had got set up
by the AHA. After formatting the floppy I added the info on to the disk, shut down the computer, gave the printed off letter to Geraldine and left
the building for good.
The first stop was to hand the disc in to the police. Within two hours I was packed up and on a train home.
September 2001
For two weeks against the AHA, read three days against the NID. Being a network administrator has it's perks â€" for example you have unlimited
access to everything and don't have to get past any passwords. However even with these advantages I still had a supposed job to do. Therefore I
had limited time to do my real one.
And so it was Friday afternoon that I eventually found the email that gave me the information I was looking for.
Senator
Thank you for your email â€" we will be more than happy to help you out. The course of action that we have decided to take is this. We
have given the President false evidence that the members of SG1 have passed on nationally secure information to the Chinese in return
for a payment of $10 million dollars each. The apparent fall from grace, of the SGC's 'special' team, will make it a lot easier for you to
convince him to close down the SGC. In return we ask that you try and persuade him to give official backing to a technology
procurement project that we are planning.
Major General McGuire
Unlike the AHA, I knew that I couldn't take the NID down, but that was not my mission â€" my mission was to get enough evidence to get SG1 out of
jail. This might get General McGuire court-martialled but that's about it.
Either way it was game over. I copied the email on to a word document, then on to the floppy that I had on me and when work ended, returned to
the apartment. In the apartment was a laptop that was there to email my results to Colonel Maybourne. This I did at 6pm. At 8pm the boor bell
rang â€" it was the latex artist.
"Excuse me but I've been asked to come here by Colonel Maybourne. Could you please get packed as you have a plane to catch at 10pm and I've
got to remove the latex from your face before then."
At 10pm I was in the air. In Wednesday 5th September â€" out Friday 7th. Not bad.
August 2000
"And so the jury have delivered guilty verdicts to the judge and as a result the three defendants will spend the next five years in prison"
Fuck me that was a relief. A month after the Exeter police had raided the AHA's offices the ring leaders were in prison â€" where they belonged â€" and
Steve and several others were out. But it was far from easy. OK enough other junior employees had given evidence against they're bosses â€" maybe
someone else had found out what was going on - so a certain Frank Stevens was not needed on the witness stand.
The catch came when Reg claimed that the evidence had been fabricated. When asked by whom he replied "Someone in the pay of a hooligan
group." He said that his prime suspect was an employee of the AHA for two weeks â€" Frank Stevens.
The cross examination was not till the next morning and that must have been the most sleepless night of my life â€" luckily the prosecution lawyer
took Reg's conspiracy theory to pieces â€" he hadn't a scrap of evidence to back it up.
But it was still enough to make me nervous â€" Reg at least had sussed me out â€" the only thing that stopped him going down was his pleading
innocent. I don't know how much information he'd gained on me â€" apparently he was an ex senior-inspector in the police â€" maybe he'd found out
about my original visit to the police and put two and two together â€" if he'd pled guilty I'd could have been in deep shit!
"So now that this is all over â€" could you do me a favour?" my Mum asked.
"Sure" I replied
"NEVER do this sort of thing again!"
I had no problems with that
"Got it"
11th September 2001
Well that turned out to be a pile of bullshit! Luckily Mum just thinks that I helped out a group of US federal investigators a couple of months back.
And that I'm now working as a network administrator for NORAD as a thank you present from the US government with a possibility of working for
NASA later on. Otherwise, forget the Goa'uld, I'd be dead the next time I set foot on British soil!
Anyway it's Tuesday 11th September. 7am. I'd just woken up when I heard the phone ring.
"Hello."
"Rick, this is General Hammond. Do not come to work today."
"Are you giving me the day off General? If this is a reward for the NID assignment then why didn't you give me yesterday off?"
SG1 had returned to duty the previous day and General McGuire had been relieved of his command.
"It's not that Rick, did you just get up?"
"Yeah!"
"Turn on the TV, it doesn't matter what channel." The General said sombrely
I turned it on to ABC. The picture showed a plane that had crashed into what looked like the World Trade Centre.
"General, is this what I think it is?"
"It is the picture of a hijacked plane that has just crashed into the World Trade Centre son, a commercial airliner at that!. We're evacuating the
base â€" NORAD could be another target."
"For who?"
"For whoever did this. It looks as though terrorists have attacked the United States."
'Could it have been the Goa'uld?' asked Seng'ok.
'Unlikely' I replied 'No motherships have been seen in the solar system since the Shutech incident. The General mentioned terrorists and they'd have
to be suicide bombers at that'
'More dangerous fools?'
'Not quite. They're a bit like Jaffa.'
'Are they common among the Tau'ri?'
'In some areas yes but...not here!' To quote Marty McFly 'This can't be happening'.
Jesus fucking Christ â€" a little more than a year ago I'd received news that both shocked and offended me. I thought that it was a big deal.
I'd been wrong â€" the Charlroi incident was petty compared to this.
'Seng'ok, could you just do me a favour'
'What Rick?'
'I never claimed that we were perfect and we have some very sick people in our midst, but please my friend â€" don't give up on us'
I turn to you and I say
Thank goodness for the good souls
That make life better
I turn to you and I say
If it wasn't for the good souls
Life would not matter
Next up...Unfinished Business.