Chapter five

As the construction crew let Sam, Janet, and the other car heading to the base through the roadblock, Sam glanced down at her dash clock again. 06:49. Sam was beyond panic. She had never been late for anything this important. But as much as she just wanted to scream at someone, she couldn't bring herself to do anything but watch the clock, and the rearview mirror. Janet was back there, and it felt even worse for Sam because Janet was going to be late too. Not to mention the last car behind Janet. At least the construction crew had done their best to move quickly; Sam did have to give them that.

They were about a half of a mile from the first security checkpoint, when Sam felt a huge BANG! Followed by a schlopp, schlopp, schlopp, and then a wump! The passenger front tire had just blown out. Sam swerved off to the right shoulder. Janet, and the car behind her swerved off too. Sam got out of her car in a hurry. So did Janet. So did the airman that was behind her.

"Shit." Sam cursed as she walked around the front of the car to stare at her tire.

"Sam it's okay, we'll get it fixed. Do you have a spare?" Janet said as she leaned in Sam's car to find the trunk release lever.

"Where's your trunk release?" Janet couldn't seem to find it.

"Here, you got to use the keys. The release is under the seat, but it' s broken." Sam handed her the keys. And looked up as the airman approached. She too, was dressed in her blues. But she had chosen to wear the dress blue slacks instead of the skirt. Sam wished that she had followed the young airman's example as another breeze found its way up her backside.

"Ma'am do you and Dr. Frasier need help? I know the inspection is supposed to start soon, but I can stay if you need me too. There's nothing wrong with being late if I were to be late helping you. Besides there are only six other females beside myself and you two that need to get inspected, so maybe they will wait until we get there?" The slight, young, female airman was about Janet's height, but just slightly smaller. She had always been intimidated by Major Carter, and had always gone out of her way to go out of Major Carter's way. But she was still fascinated by the major, and hoped one day, she could go to college and be an officer just like her.

"Thank you Sergeant Vaughn. But there is no sense in you being late as well. I sincerely appreciate the gesture, but it's already..." Sam looked at her watch. "07:00. The inspection is starting already. You work for the engineering and maintenance department is that correct? Under Sergeant Siler?" Sam asked.

"Yes Ma'am. And frankly, he's gonna have my hide when he finds out that I am late. But if I were to come in with you, he wouldn't say anything." The young Sergeant didn't meet Sam's eyes. She knew that she was never supposed to look directly at a superior officer, so she didn't.

"Relax Sergeant. You go ahead on to the base, and when you get inside, tell Sergeant Siler you WERE helping Major Carter and Dr. Frasier, and that we are also going to be a few minutes late. You can help us by delivering the message. And also, tell Siler to deliver it to Colonel O'Neill as well. I'll talk to Siler later, and back up your story so that you won't be in any trouble. Thank you for stopping to see if we were okay. Now hurry, before I change my mind, and Janet and I kidnap you for a girl's UA day on the town."

The sergeant smiled up at Sam. Major Carter was pretty cool. She had even remembered her name. Sergeant Vaughn got back into her car and drove towards the base. She waved at the two female officers as she drove by.

"Well that was nice of you Sam. You know, I don't think I have ever seen her talk anymore than two words at a time before. She's come into the infirmary for various reasons, but she always answers my questions with as few words as possible, and gets out of there as fast as she can. But working with Siler, she's bound to get more injuries than the rest of the base, so I suspect I'll be seeing her quite often. Okay, let's get this spare on."

Sam's adrenaline was starting to wane, and she took off her dress jacket to get the spare out of the trunk.

Janet took her jacket off as well, and the girls got the spare out of the trunk. Sam got the lug wrench out and went back to the front side of the car, as Janet went back to look for the jack. The realization that she was officially, undeniably late for one of the biggest command inspections of her career, hit her, and Sam could do nothing but shake her head and get to work on the first lug nut. The Colonel was not going to be happy to say the least.

"Um...Sam? Where's the jack? You do have a jack don't you? Because I know for a fact that mine is broken and I have been putting off getting a new one. Where's your jack?" Now it was Janet's turn to look at her watch. 07:12. No doubt the inspection was almost over.

Sam was in disbelief. She didn't know what to say. Could anything else possibly not go right today? It was only seven in the morning, she thought that there were still a lot of hours left for everything to not go right. This was going to be a long day.

"Sam? The jack? Where is it?" Janet asked again.

"Inside the base probably wetting his pants because I'm not there for this inspection." Sam quipped as she looked up at Janet from her spot on the ground by the front tire.

Then both girls just cracked up laughing. There was nothing else they could do. Sam was pretty proud of her little joke, that, and she desperately needed some coffee. The girls just laughed and laughed, until somebody snorted. Then they laughed some more. When they settled down, Sam spoke up.

"Janet, I think that the jack that you were referring to is back home in my basement. When I rotated the tires the last time, I didn't put it back in the trunk. I just put it back with the rest of my tools when I cleaned everything up. I have just been so busy, that I hadn't had the chance to get it back in the trunk. Can you at least give me a ride on base? I'll come back out here later, and get Siler to help me fix it."

"You bet Sam. Get your jacket. Maybe you can hide the dirt smudges on your skirt with it. And at least you won't have to worry about the inspection. C'mon." Janet shut the trunk lid after Sam put the lug wrench in. Sam grabbed her dress Jacket, jumped in Janet's car.

"Jan you need to clean this thing out. Seriously, there might be something crawling around in here that you might not even know about."

"Well, I know my glove box isn't alphabetized, but is it that bad really?" Janet smiled as she pulled away.

Sam just shook her head and laughed.

"No, I guess it isn't as bad as say..Daniel's car. Trust me you don't ever want to go in there. What goes in isn't guaranteed to come back out."

Janet laughed too, as she pulled up to the first security station. The airman was dressed in his blues.

"Wow. When he said command wide, he wasn't kidding. I think NORAD had theirs today too. He's a cutie."

"Hello Ma'am. Hello Ma'am. Can I see your identification please?" The young soldier inquired.

Janet showed the airman her ID, and Sam showed him hers. He wrote their names in the log, and let them pass. The girls continued on through the remaining checkpoints. When they got to the security station where they had to scan their badges and palms, Sam stopped short.

"Jan you're not going to believe this. I forgot my security badge. I have my ID because that's in my wallet with my license. But my security badge is in the pocket of my BDU's." She turned to one of the guards.

"Listen airman, please call downstairs and get me clearance to go through. I have been through these security checks hundreds of times, my palms and retinas both match, I just don't have my security badge. Don't you guys have temporary ones?"

"No can do Ma'am. I know that you are Major Carter. And the computer thinks that you're Major Carter. But with out the appropriate security badge, I cannot allow you to pass. I'm sorry ma'am, but that's protocol for anyone. And no, we don't have temporary badges for top secret security clearance. For the lower security levels we do, but not for yours. You're going to have to get your badge."

"I know what the protocol is damn it, and I know why it's in place." Sam just looked at Janet with a pitiful

'help me' look.

"Yes, I will take you home to get your badge Sam, but you owe me. Hey we can get your jack while we're there." She turned to the airman.

"Thank you. If you should get a call from someone looking for us, tell them we had something come up, and that we will return when we get it taken care of. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am. Will do."

The two women headed back out to Janet's car, only to have to back track through security. As they drove past Sam's car, on the way out to the main road, Sam looked at her watch for what was probably the hundredth time that morning. 07:48. She looked out the window and up at the sky. It looked like a storm was coming. Perfect.