Chapter 26 – Enough
Patience is a virtue. Only the truly virtuous have perfected the art, and so for Samantha O'Neill, the breaking point had been reached with the news from Earth. Until now, she had been the one restraining Jen Hailey from her worst excesses of venomous insults directed at their Jaffa hosts and even occasional bouts of wanton violence towards inanimate objects. Jen wanted to go get Jeff Grogan just as much as Sam wanted her husband back, but the Jaffa had been quite obstinate about refusing to antagonise the Tau'ri SGC in a scheme such as this. Even Teal'c had reluctantly accepted that he could not cross the line drawn by their ruling elite, despite his suggestions, threats, diplomacy, pleading and even willingness to desert the cause in pursuit of O'Neill's retrieval. Sam had talked him out of the last course of action more than once, but even that restraint had just disappeared.
She took off the sling that carried her broken arm and threw it aside, revealing the Chulak version of a plaster cast on her left forearm, the legacy of their almost explosive trip through the wormhole formed on the Andan seabed. She and Jen had anticipated that their short journey in the mini-submarine would be rough and had strapped themselves in as best they could, but the violence with which it had been flung through the Stargate and the velocity it had acquired as it was carried in the torrent of sea water had been their undoing. The craft had spun and tumbled suddenly and unexpectedly as soon as the blast of water had been freed from its sub- space restraints, and at the onset of turbulence as it passed through the destination Gate on Abydos, it had descended to the desert sand where it had crashed end-over-end, pushed along by the force of water. The last moments of awareness had been filled with disorientation, painful impacts as their limbs flailed around, sounds of breaking metal and glass, and in Sam's case, an overwhelming surge of desire to survive for the sake of her unborn child before she had blacked out.
Jen had emerged in marginally the better condition when they had eventually regained consciousness and had smashed her way through the remains of the observation port to drag Sam clear. The wormhole had long since closed after thirty eight minutes of disgorging huge volumes of the Andan ocean into the heart of the Abydonian desert, and the sand beneath them was still moist but now firming up again after being turned temporarily to mud. Jen calculated that they must have been out for over three hours. Both were bleeding from many cuts, and were covered in red welts and the distinctive purple-yellow colourations indicating the onset of extensive bruising. Sam's first conscious act had been to feel her stomach, but the pain that had shot through her when she had tried to move her left arm told her immediately that it was broken. Jen had calmed her down as much as possible and had gone about applying makeshift bandages from torn clothing, using Sam's one-handed assistance to apply them to herself in places awkward to reach.
Looking around after taking care of the most urgent first aid needs, they had seen the Abydos Stargate a few hundred metres distant beyond the wreckage of the mini-submarine. At least they felt warm again in the heat of the desert sun, and with difficulty they stood up and supported each other on their stumbling journey back to the portal. Relief on seeing that the DHD had survived the flood had spurred them on, and moments later they were stepping uncertainly through the Gate on Chulak, reasonably sure that they would be cared for by the free Jaffa and hoping that Teal'c would come to them sooner or later.
But three months, counting by Earth methods had passed since their arrival and Teal'c had only learned of their plight some six weeks previously. He had returned from yet another mission to scout for potential recruits to the Jaffa cause, but on seeing Sam and Jen had immediately appointed himself to be their protector and co-conspirator in the attempt to be reunited with their partners. No Jaffa, ruler or otherwise, had dared to argue with him.
However, Teal'c's new-found zeal had got him very little in the way of practical support for the two Earth women. His own visit to the SGC to ask after O'Neill and Grogan had met with a blunt "No longer any of your business, Sir." from General Bauer, and his requested meeting with Daniel Jackson had been a brief affair held in the presence of armed guards and civilian-suited security men, who had frequently interrupted the few words of dialogue between the two close friends with phrases such as "That's a matter for National Security, Doctor Jackson, and discussion is not permitted beyond the scope of what we authorise." The one that had infuriated both men the most had been "That is not a subject you are permitted to discuss with aliens, Doctor." The NID man who had spoken the words had added nothing more to the conversation after withering under Teal'c's subsequent stare, but their conversation was clearly at an end. Teal'c had recognised Daniel's despair in their farewell, but knew that further diplomatic attempts would be futile.
The last three weeks on Chulak had been spent in frustration at the impasse. All they knew was that Jack and Jeff were most likely being held prisoner somewhere on Earth, or – perish the thought! – had been returned to Andar and certain execution by the SHB. But now today, a Jaffa had strolled through the first wormhole of the day back to his beloved home world, and immediately sought out Sam in the house where she and Jen were quartered. After a brief introduction, he handed her a plastic-like pouch on which was written 'S. O'Neill' in someone's own handwriting, bowed and left.
Puzzled, she returned to sit in the sun on the other side of the house and opened the packet. Inside was a folded sheaf of papers which she opened and started to read. The script wasn't very legible and she guessed that the sender was not used to writing letters.
'Ma'am, I hope you will remember me.' it began.
'I'm Corporal Johanovic from Chicago, and it was me that led the squad that caught you all on Andar. If I'd knowed then what I do now, I would have let you all go right enough, so I would. I'll explain as best I can, but I ain't educated in these things, and it's probable that I won't ever make sergeant. I certainly won't make it if they catch me doing this but I can't stand by any more and see what they are doing as I feel I am responsible seeing as I caught you.'
Sam recognised the man's obvious sincerity straight away and continued reading, her heart in her mouth.
'Colonel O'Neill has been let go from the SGC holding cells where they kept him and Lt. Grogan for some weeks now. The Lt. has gone for trial in a special NID security court on charges of insubordination and cowardice in the face of the enemy and I don't give much for his chances. I heard some of the details from my pal who got to do guard duty some of the time they was in there. The NID men wouldn't let anyone else near them. The SGC is crawling with NID these days. My pal said they kept the temperature in the cells at less than 40 degrees F and the Col. and the Lt. was shivering most of the time, seeing as how you had all been on a hot planet before that. The Col. got real sick and spent a few days in the infirmary but they put him back in the cells but this time the temperature was put up to 45. They kept asking them questions day after day about what had gone down on Andar when you was fighting with the resistance there, but nobody talked even when they said they would let them go and not send them back to the Andans.
My pal said that Senator Kinsey was there a couple of times and he peeked through the grill when he heard scuffles and shouts. He said he saw the two NID men holding the Col. in a chair and Kinsey was kicking his bad knee. The Col. spat in his face when Kinsey got down to say something to him but then my friend had to duck out of the way quick when Kinsey left all red faced. He heard that the Lt. got worked over too just like the Col.'
Sam clutched the paper to her chest and her vision swam for a few moments. Shocked and angry, she straightened the paper again and continued.
'Then one day they was gone and I got the low down from my pal when I saw him off duty the next week. Lt. Grogan was told he'd be serving time in Leavenworth if they found him guilty. That's a joke, well no laughing matter Ma'am, as if he'd ever be found innocent if the NID was making their own rules. By the time you read this I guess he's there now.
Col. O'Neill was let go on indefinite leave. But here's the thing. My pal said one of the NID guys was real sick about what was happening and he tried to talk to him. The NID guy said that they knowed that the Col. was popular with the guys at the SGC and they knowed too that us military ain't too happy with the way things are run round here now. Kind of like we are the hatchet men for the Mob at times, you know? Anyway, it ain't why we all joined up, I know that. Anyhow they figure that banging up the Col. in the slammer ain't going to win no friends in the SGC, and they ain't going to send him back to Andar on account of that sends the wrong message to the troops as well. So they come up with this bright idea that they can let him go into the outside world and never let him back in the Mountain.
Sounds OK, doesn't it? But the guy said the Col. ain't going to be given no quarter on the outside. Where he goes, they will keep an eye on him and he'll get the once over from the local cops wherever he is and he'll be pulled on any and every offence that they can dream up. He won't get no credit any more and they froze his back pay since you all went away. I guess Ma'am that they probably froze yours too seeing how you married him just before you left. If he speaks to the papers about anything they'll have him back inside stat on account of national security. The Col. ain't in the best of health by all accounts. He limps a lot and he can't get no medical insurance either thanks to the NID.
A lot of the guys here don't like what's going on, not with the Col. nor anything else these days. Gen. Hammond was a fair man and a good leader. Gen. Bauer just does what the NID says and their goons are everywhere ordering us about. Some of us ain't far off a mutiny, but we know we won't succeed without someone like the Col. or you to be on our side.
I wrote this all down and will keep it with me until I find someone like a Tok'ra or a Jaffa who will maybe know where you are and pass it on to you. Ma'am I sure am sorry that I found you all on that planet and I hope you know that we was just following our orders. Find a way to rescue the Col. and the Lt. please Ma'am. Then I can start to sleep nights again.
Petr Johanovic, Corporal.
14th May 2006.'
Sam sat for some minutes, shaken to the core and trembling with rage. Enough was enough.
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Patience is a virtue. Only the truly virtuous have perfected the art, and so for Samantha O'Neill, the breaking point had been reached with the news from Earth. Until now, she had been the one restraining Jen Hailey from her worst excesses of venomous insults directed at their Jaffa hosts and even occasional bouts of wanton violence towards inanimate objects. Jen wanted to go get Jeff Grogan just as much as Sam wanted her husband back, but the Jaffa had been quite obstinate about refusing to antagonise the Tau'ri SGC in a scheme such as this. Even Teal'c had reluctantly accepted that he could not cross the line drawn by their ruling elite, despite his suggestions, threats, diplomacy, pleading and even willingness to desert the cause in pursuit of O'Neill's retrieval. Sam had talked him out of the last course of action more than once, but even that restraint had just disappeared.
She took off the sling that carried her broken arm and threw it aside, revealing the Chulak version of a plaster cast on her left forearm, the legacy of their almost explosive trip through the wormhole formed on the Andan seabed. She and Jen had anticipated that their short journey in the mini-submarine would be rough and had strapped themselves in as best they could, but the violence with which it had been flung through the Stargate and the velocity it had acquired as it was carried in the torrent of sea water had been their undoing. The craft had spun and tumbled suddenly and unexpectedly as soon as the blast of water had been freed from its sub- space restraints, and at the onset of turbulence as it passed through the destination Gate on Abydos, it had descended to the desert sand where it had crashed end-over-end, pushed along by the force of water. The last moments of awareness had been filled with disorientation, painful impacts as their limbs flailed around, sounds of breaking metal and glass, and in Sam's case, an overwhelming surge of desire to survive for the sake of her unborn child before she had blacked out.
Jen had emerged in marginally the better condition when they had eventually regained consciousness and had smashed her way through the remains of the observation port to drag Sam clear. The wormhole had long since closed after thirty eight minutes of disgorging huge volumes of the Andan ocean into the heart of the Abydonian desert, and the sand beneath them was still moist but now firming up again after being turned temporarily to mud. Jen calculated that they must have been out for over three hours. Both were bleeding from many cuts, and were covered in red welts and the distinctive purple-yellow colourations indicating the onset of extensive bruising. Sam's first conscious act had been to feel her stomach, but the pain that had shot through her when she had tried to move her left arm told her immediately that it was broken. Jen had calmed her down as much as possible and had gone about applying makeshift bandages from torn clothing, using Sam's one-handed assistance to apply them to herself in places awkward to reach.
Looking around after taking care of the most urgent first aid needs, they had seen the Abydos Stargate a few hundred metres distant beyond the wreckage of the mini-submarine. At least they felt warm again in the heat of the desert sun, and with difficulty they stood up and supported each other on their stumbling journey back to the portal. Relief on seeing that the DHD had survived the flood had spurred them on, and moments later they were stepping uncertainly through the Gate on Chulak, reasonably sure that they would be cared for by the free Jaffa and hoping that Teal'c would come to them sooner or later.
But three months, counting by Earth methods had passed since their arrival and Teal'c had only learned of their plight some six weeks previously. He had returned from yet another mission to scout for potential recruits to the Jaffa cause, but on seeing Sam and Jen had immediately appointed himself to be their protector and co-conspirator in the attempt to be reunited with their partners. No Jaffa, ruler or otherwise, had dared to argue with him.
However, Teal'c's new-found zeal had got him very little in the way of practical support for the two Earth women. His own visit to the SGC to ask after O'Neill and Grogan had met with a blunt "No longer any of your business, Sir." from General Bauer, and his requested meeting with Daniel Jackson had been a brief affair held in the presence of armed guards and civilian-suited security men, who had frequently interrupted the few words of dialogue between the two close friends with phrases such as "That's a matter for National Security, Doctor Jackson, and discussion is not permitted beyond the scope of what we authorise." The one that had infuriated both men the most had been "That is not a subject you are permitted to discuss with aliens, Doctor." The NID man who had spoken the words had added nothing more to the conversation after withering under Teal'c's subsequent stare, but their conversation was clearly at an end. Teal'c had recognised Daniel's despair in their farewell, but knew that further diplomatic attempts would be futile.
The last three weeks on Chulak had been spent in frustration at the impasse. All they knew was that Jack and Jeff were most likely being held prisoner somewhere on Earth, or – perish the thought! – had been returned to Andar and certain execution by the SHB. But now today, a Jaffa had strolled through the first wormhole of the day back to his beloved home world, and immediately sought out Sam in the house where she and Jen were quartered. After a brief introduction, he handed her a plastic-like pouch on which was written 'S. O'Neill' in someone's own handwriting, bowed and left.
Puzzled, she returned to sit in the sun on the other side of the house and opened the packet. Inside was a folded sheaf of papers which she opened and started to read. The script wasn't very legible and she guessed that the sender was not used to writing letters.
'Ma'am, I hope you will remember me.' it began.
'I'm Corporal Johanovic from Chicago, and it was me that led the squad that caught you all on Andar. If I'd knowed then what I do now, I would have let you all go right enough, so I would. I'll explain as best I can, but I ain't educated in these things, and it's probable that I won't ever make sergeant. I certainly won't make it if they catch me doing this but I can't stand by any more and see what they are doing as I feel I am responsible seeing as I caught you.'
Sam recognised the man's obvious sincerity straight away and continued reading, her heart in her mouth.
'Colonel O'Neill has been let go from the SGC holding cells where they kept him and Lt. Grogan for some weeks now. The Lt. has gone for trial in a special NID security court on charges of insubordination and cowardice in the face of the enemy and I don't give much for his chances. I heard some of the details from my pal who got to do guard duty some of the time they was in there. The NID men wouldn't let anyone else near them. The SGC is crawling with NID these days. My pal said they kept the temperature in the cells at less than 40 degrees F and the Col. and the Lt. was shivering most of the time, seeing as how you had all been on a hot planet before that. The Col. got real sick and spent a few days in the infirmary but they put him back in the cells but this time the temperature was put up to 45. They kept asking them questions day after day about what had gone down on Andar when you was fighting with the resistance there, but nobody talked even when they said they would let them go and not send them back to the Andans.
My pal said that Senator Kinsey was there a couple of times and he peeked through the grill when he heard scuffles and shouts. He said he saw the two NID men holding the Col. in a chair and Kinsey was kicking his bad knee. The Col. spat in his face when Kinsey got down to say something to him but then my friend had to duck out of the way quick when Kinsey left all red faced. He heard that the Lt. got worked over too just like the Col.'
Sam clutched the paper to her chest and her vision swam for a few moments. Shocked and angry, she straightened the paper again and continued.
'Then one day they was gone and I got the low down from my pal when I saw him off duty the next week. Lt. Grogan was told he'd be serving time in Leavenworth if they found him guilty. That's a joke, well no laughing matter Ma'am, as if he'd ever be found innocent if the NID was making their own rules. By the time you read this I guess he's there now.
Col. O'Neill was let go on indefinite leave. But here's the thing. My pal said one of the NID guys was real sick about what was happening and he tried to talk to him. The NID guy said that they knowed that the Col. was popular with the guys at the SGC and they knowed too that us military ain't too happy with the way things are run round here now. Kind of like we are the hatchet men for the Mob at times, you know? Anyway, it ain't why we all joined up, I know that. Anyhow they figure that banging up the Col. in the slammer ain't going to win no friends in the SGC, and they ain't going to send him back to Andar on account of that sends the wrong message to the troops as well. So they come up with this bright idea that they can let him go into the outside world and never let him back in the Mountain.
Sounds OK, doesn't it? But the guy said the Col. ain't going to be given no quarter on the outside. Where he goes, they will keep an eye on him and he'll get the once over from the local cops wherever he is and he'll be pulled on any and every offence that they can dream up. He won't get no credit any more and they froze his back pay since you all went away. I guess Ma'am that they probably froze yours too seeing how you married him just before you left. If he speaks to the papers about anything they'll have him back inside stat on account of national security. The Col. ain't in the best of health by all accounts. He limps a lot and he can't get no medical insurance either thanks to the NID.
A lot of the guys here don't like what's going on, not with the Col. nor anything else these days. Gen. Hammond was a fair man and a good leader. Gen. Bauer just does what the NID says and their goons are everywhere ordering us about. Some of us ain't far off a mutiny, but we know we won't succeed without someone like the Col. or you to be on our side.
I wrote this all down and will keep it with me until I find someone like a Tok'ra or a Jaffa who will maybe know where you are and pass it on to you. Ma'am I sure am sorry that I found you all on that planet and I hope you know that we was just following our orders. Find a way to rescue the Col. and the Lt. please Ma'am. Then I can start to sleep nights again.
Petr Johanovic, Corporal.
14th May 2006.'
Sam sat for some minutes, shaken to the core and trembling with rage. Enough was enough.
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