Chapter 18 – Friends in High Places

After four attempts and hours of computer technicians' time in diagnostic manoeuvres, everyone except the Andan Ambassador was convinced that the malfunction was not their own Stargate acting up.

"I demand that you keep trying!" was his final outburst before Senator Kinsey calmed him down, adding his own reluctant agreement to the opinions around him.

"This isn't finished, Hammond!" Kinsey fumed in the General's office. "This extradition will be carried out. It is the will of the US Government and cannot now be countermanded by The President."

"And in the absence of any means of contacting Andar, it is worthless." stated Hammond. "Now if you have quite finished, Senator, we have work to do around here. You can leave as soon as you like."

"Not without my prisoners!" retorted Kinsey. "They're coming with us."

"That will not happen, Senator, as long as there's breath left in my body." said Hammond with a firmness that silenced his opponent. "Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter will remain under my jurisdiction until such time as The President himself instructs me to hand them over." He glared at the man with contempt. "You've already threatened me with everything that you can, Kinsey." he stormed, his face reddening. "Take your NID men and this *alien* and get off my base before I have Major Griff and his squad take you on the scenic route out of here! Understood?"

"All right, *General*!" said Kinsey. "But you know I'll be back within a day or two to take what's mine. And I doubt very much whether your tenure of office will extend that far."

In response, Hammond picked up the telephone and punched a number. "Sergeant? Have Major Griff report to my office with his men immediately for armed escort duty."

It was not really so strange, thought Jack, that Griff appeared at the door less than thirty seconds later, backed up by his squad. 'Almost as if he'd been waiting.' he mused as he stood at the back of the room. His thin smile was caught by Carter and they exchanged a flash of recognising identical thoughts.

As the party left the room and disappeared down the corridor to the accompaniment of Griff's strongest parade ground voice clearing the way and encouraging them to move faster, Jack turned to his Commanding Officer and asked, "Scenic route, General?"

"CO's prerogative." smiled Hammond. "Major Griff will escort them up to the NORAD levels via the emergency escape route. You know, the one we train on for when the elevators aren't working. I doubt that Kinsey will have the energy to call Washington for a while after that." He gestured with his arm. "Sit down, you two. The fun's over for now, and I'm damned if they're taking you like this." He picked up the telephone again. "Have Captain Hailey and Lieutenant Grogan report to my office, please. Thank you, Sergeant. And would you have meals and drinks for five brought to the Briefing Room in fifteen minutes. We shall be in closed session until further notice."

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"This is an informal meeting with no recording devices." said Hammond to the four officers around the table, who were listening intently despite continuing their meals. He looked at Hailey and Grogan in turn. "I've called you two in because I don't know whether I can protect you from NID surveillance and possible interrogation and arrest for more than a few days."

"Thank you, Sir." replied Jen Hailey. "I speak for Lieutenant Grogan when I say that we realise that fact, and are willing to do anything to prevent the Colonel and the Major from being taken to Andar again."

"Thanks, Jen, but you know you don't have......" Jack interrupted.

"Yes we do!" she came quickly back at him. "Sir!"

"Jack, we're past the stage of keeping them out of it." said Hammond, and Sam nodded her agreement. "Now, tell me the part that you left out of the previous debriefings." he continued. "What did you do to their Stargate?"

Sam opened her mouth to start an explanation, but Hammond made a brief hand gesture and looked pointedly at Hailey.

"I blew it up with a supercharged wormhole." Jen replied in a calm voice. "The problem is, I don't know whether it's just charred and fused and can be repaired, or whether the damage is more permanent. What I was aiming for at the very least was a large enough blast from the 'kawoosh' to damage their DHD beyond repair so that they couldn't dial out anywhere. We can only determine the extent of the damage by eyewitness reports or a surveillance mission."

"How did you do it?" asked the General, fascinated by the forthrightness of his aspiring officer. "I thought that these things were nigh on indestructible?"

"I attached one of the Andan subspace multipliers to the circuitry of a DHD on another world." Hailey responded. "Major Carter and I worked out how to do it while we were on board the Tel'tak coming back from Andar. That's why we were dropped off on that *smell-hole* of a planet for a few days – so that the Major had time to get back here to assist in getting us back in through this Gate, while we could 'bomb' the Andan Stargate using the DHD on that world."

"But what about the risk of causing many casualties on Andar?" asked Hammond.

"We sent a warning note in five languages first." explained Hailey. "Jack..... I mean the Colonel wrote it out in English, Spanish, French, Latin and Arabic, so that they couldn't be too sure of who had sent it." Sam looked at him in amazement and he shrugged his shoulders, while Jen continued. "It said that their Stargate address was behaving strangely when we dialled it and that they should evacuate to a distance of four hundred chains – that's five miles to us - or more as a temporary precaution. I tied it to a rock and threw it into the Event Horizon. Then after a long enough interval so that they could discuss things and hopefully get away, I attached the Multiplier to the DHD and dialled again."

"And?" asked Hammond, fascinated.

"Apparently it worked, Sir." replied Jen.

"Sir," Sam interrupted, just bursting to add words of clarification. Jack recognised the signs of what he called 'Carter's floodgates of explanation' and looked down at the table with a mock grimace. She glared at him but continued anyway. "The dialling devices convey a signal and energy burst in subspace that triggers the development of a wormhole from the departure Gate. The Captain had worked out that boosting the subspace energy to the Gate with a Multiplier would develop a much more energetic wormhole than usual, and that the destination gate might not be able to handle it. I don't know why the Andans hadn't thought of it themselves – the threat of using it would make a formidable weapon, giving them immense bargaining power over other worlds."

"Immense *blackmailing* power, you mean." said Jack wryly. "And that's what's been worrying me all the time since we blew their Gate out. We haven't ended contact with Andar, just made it temporarily or permanently more difficult. The NID wants this deal so badly that they'll trade using space ships if necessary. And once the Andans fix their Gate and figure out what we did to it, they could blow away Cheyenne Mountain altogether if they wanted to."

"So what do you suggest we do about it?" asked Hammond.

The silence that followed indicated so well that practical suggestions were hard to come by. Surprisingly, it was Jeff Grogan who came out with the words that mattered.

"Make their civil war less one-sided." he stated simply. The statement reverberated around in the silence, which Jeff mistook for disapproval. "Sorry. Sirs. Stupid idea."

"Au contraire, Lieutenant." smiled Jack. "It's brilliant."

"It is?" said Jeff, truly puzzled. "Er, thanks, I think."

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"Don't even think it." said Sam, stuffing clothes into her Air Force holdall as she ransacked the drawers and cupboard in her bedroom. "You know what I mean, Jack. Whether we live another day or another fifty years, you're never leaving my sight again."

He closed his mouth with a snap, never having uttered the first letter of her name. But she had quite accurately predicted his thoughts, and in that moment, he realised just how much she loved him. So he put aside his initial embarrassment at being dragged into her bedroom to help her pack, and watched in fascination as she drew out items of clothing both personal and practical, quickly discarding onto the floor those that were unsuitable for their immediate, possibly one-way journey. After fifteen minutes, she pronounced herself ready to go and they left the room. She stopped in her lounge and looked around, a gesture that Jack totally misunderstood.

"You're losing so much. I'll make it up to you one day." he said quietly. Sam looked round at him, surprised by the gentle note in his voice. She dropped the bag and turned, placing her arms round his neck.

"You don't get it, do you?" she said, clearly understanding that this was a statement rather than a question.

He shook his head just once, and breathed "No."

She took a deep breath. "I thought of this as home - my refuge – for a long time. And when Pete was here with me, at first I felt content that I'd got the balance of my life right. Well, I lied to myself to the point where I believed it for a while. Then you went out on a limb for all of us *yet again* and I realised that I'd never stopped loving you. I told you on the way back to Earth that I'm living for you now. Please don't tell me that you don't believe me. Wherever we end up is OK if you just love me back." She paused a moment. "I'm not going soft: I know we might not make it through this or the next one. But it should have been me with you last time, not Hailey and Grogan. And it always will be in future, I promise you that."

He pulled away from her just a little and stared into the intenseness of her eyes. Then he touched his forehead against hers and sighed, "When did I get so lucky?" and kissed her gently. He could feel the warmth, both physical and emotional, radiating from her and the kiss deepened for a minute. But knowing that time was wasting if they were to make this future happen, they broke apart. Sam crossed over to her bookcase and without hesitation, picked a single worn book from the shelf.

Seeing his curious expression, she showed him the cover title. 'God's Equation, by Amir Aczel', it read. She smiled and said, "It's about Einstein's life and discoveries. He's my hero." She tossed the book into her bag and zipped it shut. Walking out of the house behind Jack, she closed the door on a long chapter of her life.

The frantic packing was repeated at his house, and he wore a wry smile when showing her the cover of his book choice before he packed it away. 'The Art of War', 'by Sun Tzu'. They left quickly, and he didn't even look back as the door slammed behind him. Noticing her quizzical expression, he merely said "It was the loneliest place I ever lived. Until last night.", and her breath caught in her throat.

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Apart from supervising the packing of several sealable containers with all their personal gear, as well as survival rations, emergency medical kit and last but not least, spare gun parts and copious quantities of ammunition, O'Neill, Carter, Grogan and Hailey had little to do back at the SGC. Although it was nearly midnight, tiredness had yet to make itself felt to any of them.

General Hammond likewise had not rested since the earlier meeting with his four endangered officers, and had spent the whole time putting together and directing a small task force to get them started on their daring – or reckless, depending on the outcome - mission.

He called O'Neill away from the other three and they stood together in a remote corner of the Control Room where they could talk in private. Jack knew that something was amiss by the expression that the General was failing to conceal. He decided that personal relations took precedence over military rank, and merely said "George?" quietly.

Hammond took a deep breath and then sighed. "I got a call from The President. He said he was sorry, but he had no authority over the Joint Chiefs in internal military affairs. In about an hour's time, General Bauer will arrive with orders for me to stand down as CO with immediate effect. It was good of him to warn me, anyway. I'd like you to tell the others only when you're safely away from here."

"I'm sorry, Sir. If I've been the cause of that, then......" Jack started.

"Don't be silly, Jack." retorted Hammond. "We both know the score. It's a sad day when the country is being secretly run by a self-appointed bunch of thugs pulling strings at all levels. I'm glad we'll be able to get the four of you away in time. And you just might save us from worse to come if you stop the Andan Multipliers from getting here. Go with my blessing. I regret nothing, and I hope you don't either."

"Thanks, George, I'm truly honoured to have served under you." replied Jack. "No regrets, except one, maybe."

"Which is?"

"That Sam and I won't be married before we leave for God knows how long – maybe forever." Jack laughed. "Don't look at me like that, George. I'm as old-fashioned as you."

"Now that's a wish I can grant you, if you both want it." said Hammond, his eyebrows raised. "The chaplain is on Base tonight. I can have someone wake him up if you don't mind rushing. Go and ask her, son. Now!"

And so it was that Grogan and Hailey, not to mention the object of Jack's desire herself, stood in amazement when he limped over at speed and grasped her hand. Their re-telling of the following events would occur time and again over the years, maybe with just a few exaggerations, but not so many as to render the tale unbelievable.

"Sam, will you marry me?" he said quickly.

"What?" she stammered. "I thought I already said 'yes' last night, well, in a roundabout sort of a way. But...."

"In the next ten minutes?"

"Jack, are you feeling OK?"

"Never better. What do you say, Sam? I'd get down on one knee but it'd take ten minutes to get up again."

"Well, we can't have your knees suffer that much, can we?"

"Sam, I'm not joking. You'll make two old men very happy!"

"Two!?"

"Yes, General Hammond as well as me. I'll explain later. What do you say?"

"What about a ring? I mean, I don't mind about that, you got me one already."

Jack fished into his shirt and pulled out his dog-tags. Attached was a small loop holding a gold ring. "While you were shopping for clothes, I went back to the jeweller and got this. I hope you don't mind."

"Jack?"

"Sam!"

Jen Hailey coughed theatrically in the background, and Sam turned to face a glare that brought back crystal clear memories of their conversation in the cargo hold of the Tel'tak. She looked back at Jack's hopeful face and sighed.

"Yes, you idiot."

They turned at the sound of a footfall to see the sleep-lined face of the chaplain staring at them, with General Hammond standing behind him to block any possible retreat. The priest's rumpled hair, bleary eyes, Homer Simpson tee-shirt, slacks and bare feet in unlaced trainers gave him an individual look, one not seen at many weddings.

In the background, Sergeant Davis was surreptitiously dialling the numbers of as many personnel as he could, whispering into the mouthpiece of his headset instructions to get here as quickly as possible if they didn't want to miss 'The Big Event'. Those who merely cursed and went back to sleep, annoyed at his supposed practical joke, would kick themselves later.

The words "You may kiss the bride" came simultaneously with "Chevron Seven Engaged!", followed closely by an aide calling General Hammond to say that General Bauer had arrived at the entrance to the SGC and was demanding to see him. The only available wedding photos were extracted later from security camera films, and showed the bride and groom with their best man and bridesmaid departing through the Stargate with unusual haste behind a squad of men carrying several containers.

General Bauer was surprised too to find the man he had come to replace sitting behind his office desk lighting a large cigar, contrary to all regulations about smoking on Base.

"Bauer, you're an asshole." said George Hammond with relish, blowing smoke in his direction.

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