Jack rose along with everyone else in the courtroom as the officer called court into session. Yesterday it had been his turn on the witness stand. Today's session would consist of closing arguments and, if they were lucky, a verdict. Not that it mattered. The trial had served it's purpose in lulling Kinsey into a false sense of security. Over the past three days Sam had kept track of Kinsey's communications through his computer. The meeting at Camp David was still a go for tomorrow. Kinsey continued the pretense of illness, but this one meeting with the new President was still on his schedule. So no matter what happened today it would be their last in court.
Jack glanced over to his left to see Sam rubbing her thumb across the new ring on her left hand. He smiled thinking of the plain gold band he would place beside it later tonight as he vowed to join his life to hers. He'd been surprised at how quickly the plans had come together for the ceremony. It turned out Commander Turner's father was a retired chaplain and a friend of A.J.'s. He'd easily been convinced to officiate when his son asked him on their behalf. Planning for the wedding also helped them keep their other plans covert. Jack and Sam had no wish to involve A.J. and his people in what came down to a raid on Camp David. As Jack had quipped to Daniel and Teal'c while dressing that morning, treason was such a small step up from fraternization. Even to his own ears the joke had fallen flat.
"Be seated. General Moore, you may present your closing arguments," Judge Pierce informed the lead prosecutor.
"Thank you, your honor," Moore said as he rose from his seat. He walked the short distance that would place him directly in front of the jury box. "We have heard from the defendants own mouths confirmation that they knowingly broke the regulations forbidding fraternization among officers. Their defense attorneys would have us believe that they had no choice. I submit to you that there is always a choice," Moore told them, "and choices have consequences." With the dramatic flare of a Shakespearean actor, Moore paused allowing the jury time to contemplate his words. "Both defendants knew of these consequences before they broke the regulations. They made a conscience choice, and now, regardless of what led them to that choice, they must face the consequences. Colonel O'Neill himself acknowledged that one of the consequences they might face was court-martial. We expect our soldiers to obey the code of conduct even as prisoners of war. That the prison was on another planet makes no difference," the general said. "The defense would have you disregard these facts, instead focusing on the conditions in which the defendants reached their decision. They want you to base your verdict on emotion instead of fact. Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter are unquestionably brave soldiers. We have heard testimony of actions by the defendants that have saved every man, woman and child on this planet, but you must put that aside when making your decision here today. You must base your verdict on fact. The fact remains, they are guilty of fraternization." Having completed his statement General Moore returned to his seat and nodded to Judge Pierce.
"Defense," Pierce said motioning to the jury box.
Commander Rabb rose from his seat as he mentally made rapid adjustments to his planned statement. "Black or white. Right or wrong. These are simple distinctions, but the world is not black and white. It is filled with color and a myriad shades of gray," Harm told them, "and as I was told by their commanding officer, nothing is simple when it comes to SG-1. Right and wrong also hold a myriad shades of truth. This is something we acknowledge every day in our society and by extension our judicial system. A mentally unstable man shoots his wife. If the world were only black and white, he would automatically be found guilty of murder. Instead we place him on trial where a jury of his peers is asked to decide. It may have been murder or maybe manslaughter. Depending on the severity of his mental problems, maybe he's declared not guilty by reason of insanity. All are different shades of truth."
Rabb looked each of the officers seated in the jury box in the eye in turn as he paused in front of them. "General Moore implied in his closing statement that Major Carter and Colonel O'Neill made the easy choice on Panersh instead of the right one, but in his closing statement he also reminded you of another choice they made. If the world were as black and white as he painted it, we'd most likely all be dead or slaves to the goa'uld now. If Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter hadn't looked at the shades of gray and decided to ignore orders, the goa'uld invasion fleet would have destroyed Earth. The easy choice then would have been to follow orders, but I think we can all agree it wouldn't have been the right choice. It is but one example of a pattern of choices made by Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter. None of them easy. A pattern started when Colonel O'Neill chose to protect the people of Abydos by reporting it destroyed and allowing Dr. Jackson to remain behind. There have been many other hard choices over the years. The easy choice for Major Carter would have been to abide by the Tok'ra decision against a treaty with Earth. Instead she chose to offer her own father as a host in the hopes of forging an alliance with the Tok'ra and possibly saving his life and many others. A choice she made even though she'd rather die herself than become a host again. When the Tok'ra, Martouf, was revealed to be a za'tarc, a brainwashed assassin, he begged a room full of armed security forces to stop him. It was Major Carter who honored that plea, though...Major Carter, whose mind holds memories of a thousand years of marriage to him. These were not easy choices. They were the right choices. Now it is your turn to make a choice. Make it the right choice, not the easy one."
Jack O'Neill listened to Judge Pierce's instructions to the members of the court with half an ear. The majority of his attention had turned inward though as he played out scenario after scenario in his mind's eye trying to find vulnerabilities in the plan they'd quietly developed over the last few days. He'd never been this nervous before a mission in his life. He remembered the gut wrenching fear he'd felt on his very first mission. He'd been green as grass and tossed his cookies both before and after that mission. That was nothing compared to what he felt now. Over the years as he'd become more confident in his own abilities, he'd become less nervous before a mission. He'd felt nervous before every mission with the noticeable exception of the first mission to Abydos. He'd felt relief then that the pain and guilt were going to be over and anticipation that he would be with his son soon. He'd felt relief and anticipation on his second mission to Abydos too but for very different reasons. He'd been relieved to finally be doing something with his life again. The thought of going through the Stargate again and seeing Skaara and Daniel had filled him with the same kind of anticipation he'd felt as a kid the minute before the last bell rang on the last day of school. The anticipation had returned on every mission since, and so had the nervousness. Before each mission his mind played out the countless scenarios they might encounter as soon as they stepped through the Stargate. Sadly he knew from experience a large percentage of those scenarios wouldn't be good.
A.J.'s elbow jabbing into his ribs brought Jack out of his reverie in time to rise with everyone else in the courtroom as the judge dismissed the members of the court to deliberate. As soon as they had filed out of the room, Pierce brought his gavel down hard. "Court is dismissed," he announced.
"Now what happens?" Jack demanded.
"Now, we wait," A.J. told his friend. He led them to one of the many private consultation rooms in the building where they waited over the next several hours as the members of the court deliberated. The conversation was often stilted with Mark's presence. Sam and her father asked him about his job, and when that subject quickly lost interest they moved on to talking about how Mark's kids were doing in school. That subject too was quickly abandoned as both Sam and Jack became agitated thinking of their own missing twins. Commander Rabb and Lt. Colonel McKenzie had brought work from their other cases with them and were already working to catch up on the work that had piled up over the previous days. By the time Daniel arrived bearing enough takeout food to feed the entire group, the others had mostly drifted off into silence lost in their own thoughts.
Only two hours after they'd finished the meal Daniel had brought the court officer knocked politely on the glass of the door. When Admiral Chegwidden bid him enter, he stuck his head in the door to announce the members of the court were ready to render their decision. A.J. acknowledged the information with a nod as he began to gather up the papers he'd been working on. They left Mark standing in the hall as they returned to the courtroom. A few minutes later those inside the courtroom stood as Judge Pierce and the members of the court filed in.
"If the defendants and their attorneys will remain standing," Pierce commanded. "The court will publish its findings."
The officer at the end of the row stood. He looked at Pierce as he said, "On the charges and specifications of fraternization, we find the defendants, Colonel Jonathan O'Neill and Major Samantha Carter, guilty."
"Very well," the judge acknowledged. "I'm ready to pass sentence. Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter, having been found guilty I hereby sentence each of you to fifteen days confinement. Time served. Additionally I order a forfeiture of pay for a like number of days. I am also ordering that all records of this trial be sealed and classified 'Eyes Only President.'"
As the judge brought the gavel down Colonel Rivers protested, "Time served!"
Pierce looked down his nose at Rivers over the wire rims of his glasses. "Fifteen days confined to the stockade hardly compares with the fifteen months of slavery they've already endured wouldn't you say, Colonel?"
"But..."
"Not to mention their torture at Eszia's hand," Pierce continued. "They've already more than paid the price for their fraternization, Colonel. However, if you disagree with my decision, feel free to file a protest."
"There will be no protest, sir" General Moore said before his subordinate could speak again.
"Good," Pierce replied. "Colonel O'Neill, I understand you and Major Carter have put in for immediate retirement."
"Yes, sir" Jack agreed speaking for Sam as well.
Pierce removed his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose as he said, "The Air Force hates to lose you. You're both fine officers, but I understand after what you've been through the need to make a new life for yourselves."
"Yes, sir" they confirmed in unison.
Pierce nodded. He held out a stack of paper. "General Hammond's taken care of everything for you. I just need your signatures. As of now, you are both civilians." The two now former officers stepped forward to take the papers from Pierce. "I'd like to shake your hands, if I may" the judge asked as he relinquished the paperwork to them.
Jack nodded holding out his hand to the other man. "Thank you, sir."
Pierce's expression was full of respect as he responded, "I truly think that should be the other way around, Colonel. Thank you."