The Report, part 4

Carter couldn't help but giggle at the faces O'Neill made as he tried, unsuccessfully, to sit quietly in the Academy airfield's VIP waiting-room: his seldom-used dress uniform looked quite out of place on his rugged frame, and his cap was tilted to far back and kept falling off.

O'Neill looked over at Carter, deliberately keeping his eyes raised so as not to look at how she looked in a dress, and scowled, "Something funny, Major?"

Carter put her hand over her mouth to stop herself laughing, "No, Sir, nothing at all."

"This is why I joined Special Forces: you never have to wear dress uniform."

"Well, from what I've read about General Clark, he's the same."

"From what you've read?"

"I contacted a few of my friends back at the Pentagon and had them send me a copy of his file."

"Hand it over." Carter open her briefcase and handed over a file holder, which O'Neill opened and looked at first sheet of paper inside, "Let's see: John Terrance Clark, born in Indianapolis, 1944, joined the Navy just after he turned 18. Served 6 years, Vietnam, a SEAL: Underwater Demolitions Expert. He received the Navy Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star with Combat 'V' and 2 clusters, Purple Heart with 2 clusters! Left with the rank of Chief Petty Officer. Spends some time as a free-lance diver, then joins the CIA, and completely drops off the radar screen until he starts up this 'Rainbow' unit three years ago." He looked over at Carter, "How did a former Chief Petty Officer, even one as highly-decorated as Clark, end up a Brigadier General?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Carter pointed out the window: The plan had just landed.

O'Neill and Carter straitened their uniforms and walked outside to where the Gulf Stream-V jet sat. The front hatch popped open, and a pair of airman rolled set of mobile steppes into place, and then came sharply to attention. The first man to step out had the dark skin complexion and square jaw that betrayed a Latin heritage. His neatly pressed olive-green uniform contrasted sharply with the dull gray of the airplane. Both O'Neill and Carter immediately pegged him as Chavez. He scanned the surrounding, pursing slightly when his view fell on the two Air Force Officers, then he turned to say something before walking down the steps and waiting at the bottom.

The second officer to exit the plane looked even more uncomfortable in his uniform than O'Neill. His may have looked old, but O'Neill saw something in the man's eyes that he immediately recognized: John Clark was a warrior, a man who had spent his entire life in the service of his country.

O'Neill smiled: he liked the man already.

Clark stared walking across towards the two blue-dressed officers waiting for him, Ding following a few steps behind and just to the right. O'Neill noticed that Chavez's eyes never stopped moving, always scanning, looking for danger. This, he decided, was someone who had learnt the hard way that things where never as they seem.

O'Neill and Carter came to attention as Clark and Chavez reached them, "General Clark sir, General Hammond sends his regards, and apologizes for not being able to meet you himself." O'Neill kept his expression neutral as he gave his rehearsed-speech, waiting to see how Clark would react.

To his credit, Clark managed to keep a straight face throughout O'Neill's greeting, then smiled slightly, "So it has nothing to do with his wanting the leader of the team we are here to evaluate to get a chance to give us a look-over before we reach the base?"

"I would never presume to second-guess the Generals motives, sir." O'Neill smiled slightly.

Clark, smiled, motioning Chavez to step forward, "This is Major Domingo Chavez, leader of Rainbow Team 2. Anything you need to tell me about the Stargate project you can say in front of him: President Ryan has given us both full clearances to examine your mission reports. We even had a look at a few on the way here. Ding here says it sounds like a TV-show he watches, Wormhole X-treme! I think it's called."

"Yes, that's kind of a funny story actually really." Carter smiled slightly, "You see there was this…"

O'Neill held up a hand to silence her, "I don't think we need to go into that at this time, do you Major?"

"No sir, we don't." Carter nodded.

O'Neill smiled, "Well, General, Major, If you would follow us, we have rooms ready for you back at the base."

With that he led them towards the waiting staff-car.

To Be Continued…