DISCLAIMER: The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-1, the goa'uld and all other characters that have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of the people who made them up. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.
Acquisition
Part two
Daniel breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the water cleansing him, the warmth unknotting the tense muscles in his neck and shoulders. After the soap was rinsed away, he luxuriated in the feeling of being clean and allowed himself to relax before reluctantly shutting off the water and getting himself dressed. They'd just returned from successfully retrieving the Touchstone and he was looking forward to a couple of days of down time before SG1 went with General Hammond to seal the second Stargate, but he had one thing to do before leaving the mountain.
Alison's door was closed when he arrived at her office, which was unusual. Like his own, her door was normally open while she worked and he began to wonder if he'd left it too late, that maybe she'd already gone home. Then he heard voices. Tapping lightly on the door, he opened it and peered around, startled at the sight in front of him.
'What's going on?' He asked, his forehead creasing in puzzlement. Alison appeared to be bundling up all her notes on the tablet she'd been working on under the eagle eyes of two air force officers.
'Dr Jackson?' The captain asked. 'We've got orders from Nellis to transfer the tablet from P39 6SX along with any notes, with immediate effect.' He held out a sheaf of papers.
Daniel glanced through the papers, seeing they appeared to be in order except for one thing, and this, along with the mechanical way in which Alison was gathering her notes together set the alarm bells ringing in his head.
'General Hammond doesn't seem to have signed these yet - you'll need…' Daniel was backing towards the still open door as he spoke but before he could reach the safety of the hallway he found his arms pinned to his side and a hand across his mouth while the other man injected him with something that made his head feel delightfully light. 'I'm sorry - what was it you were after?' His mind was working sluggishly, screaming at him that this was all wrong even as his body obeyed the commands from the two officers.
XOXOXOX
'Anyone seen Daniel?' Jack asked Teal'c and Sam as they were finishing breakfast. They normally ate together when they were on base and it was unusual for Daniel to miss it completely.
'I have not,' Teal'c responded as he finished eating his plateful of sausage, eggs and pancakes.
'He wasn't in his office earlier,' Sam volunteered.
'Well, if he doesn't get here soon he's going to be late for the briefing,' Jack said. 'Speaking of which…'
They pushed back their chairs and headed out of the mess hall to make their way to the briefing room, fully expecting Daniel to already be there or to come rushing in out of breath and dropping bits of paper everywhere.
'Anyone know what he was planning on doing during his down time?' Jack asked, looking questioningly at the other members of SG1.
'As far as I was aware he was going to catch up on the latest archaeological journals,' Sam said.
'Great, a nice relaxing few days off then, should be ready to come back to work fully recharged,' Jack replied sarcastically, still finding it hard to believe that the two scientists on his team would prefer to work than take time out to relax.
'Where's Dr Jackson?' Hammond arrived at that point, prompting Sam and Jack to stand before he took his own seat.
'I don't know sir,' Jack spoke up. 'I think he's running a bit late.'
'We'll continue with the briefing, but I want all of SG1 ready to depart at 1300, is that understood Colonel?' Hammond sounded irritated. Understandably so, Jack thought to himself. They'd got him an assistant to take some of the pressure off and he was still unable to make it to a briefing on time.
XOXOXOX
'It's not like Daniel to just not turn up at all,' Sam sounded worried.
'Oh he probably got so caught up in his rocks that he forgot to go to bed - I'll bet he's sound asleep on his couch right at this moment,' Jack was doing his best to keep a grip on his temper. Now he'd have to spend the rest of the morning trying to track down the errant archaeologist and he could really do without this. He'd had the morning earmarked for finishing up some much loathed paperwork and General Hammond was already on his back because so many of his reports were long overdue.
'Daniel?' Jack peered into the gloom of Daniel's office, lit only by a small lamp in front of one of the bookcases. Jack snapped the overhead light on and took a better look, seeing no sign that anyone had been in the room recently. Jack picked up the telephone and dialled Daniel's apartment. The phone rang for a long time before the answering machine eventually kicked in and Jack hung up, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he considered his next move, wondering if Daniel's assistant had seen him that morning.
He headed down the hall and arrived at Alison's office, finding it unoccupied as well. He took a quick look around, noting it to be remarkably clear of clutter considering how it had looked the last time he had stopped by, then headed for the security checkpoint to find out when either of them had last been in.
'Looks like they both signed out two days ago and neither has signed in since,' the guard on duty informed Jack. Jack kept his thoughts to himself, wondering if maybe the two of them had more than a professional relationship going. 'If you don't mind waiting sir, I think Lieutenant Phillips was on duty then, I'll get him up here.'
Jack rocked backwards and forwards on his feet while he impatiently waited for the arrival of the Lieutenant, cursing the length of time it took for the elevators to work around here.
'Colonel?' A voice spoke behind him. 'Can I help you with something?'
'Phillips,' Jack greeted the new arrival. 'You were on duty two days ago when Dr Jackson and Dr Trethewey left?'
'Yes sir,' Phillips replied smartly. 'They left together with a couple of officers from the Pentagon. Let me see,' Phillips checked the logbook before returning to Jack. 'A Captain Starsky and a Major Hutch.'
Jack cursed silently under his breath as he realised what this probably meant. 'Phillips, I need you to recall the security tapes for the whole of that day and have them sent to the briefing room. And I want them yesterday,' Jack snapped as he turned around and headed back down into the bowels of the mountain, collecting Sam and Teal'c as he went.
'What's the problem sir?' Sam asked, trying to understand from Jack's demeanour what had happened to make him so uptight.
'Daniel and his new assistant left here together two days ago - in the company of Captain Starsky and Major Hutch.'
'And…?' Sam asked, not quite understanding where this was going.
'Didn't you ever watch cop shows back in the seventies?' Jack asked in exasperation.
'Well…' Sam began, then was stopped by Jack speaking again.
'No - don't answer that one, but surely you must have heard of Starsky and Hutch?' Jack looked at the two blank faces in front of him, beginning to feel his age. True, Teal'c was nearly twice his age, but he could easily have passed for being a lot younger than himself. 'It was a TV show and they were the main characters. I think it highly dubious that two air force officers from the Pentagon should share their names, especially as there is no trace of either Daniel or Alison.'
'Couldn't it be a coincidence sir?' Sam asked, not wanting to believe anything could have happened. 'I mean, if Daniel's not at home, maybe they're at Alison's place - it's at least a possibility isn't it?'
'Ye-es,' Jack conceded just as they reached the briefing room where they were greeted by General Hammond.
'Colonel O'Neill, I'm glad you're here,' Hammond jumped straight to the point. 'I think we've got a problem.'
'You're telling me, General,' Jack responded. 'That's what I've just been trying to convince Carter.'
'How on earth can you possibly know - I've only just found out myself,' Hammond sounded surprised.
'Well I tried to call him but there was no response, then when I went to check if his assistant had seen him, there was no sign of her. I've just come back from the security checkpoint and they're sending the security tapes down here, sir.' Jack brought the General up to speed in a rather incomprehensible rush of words.
'I'm not sure what you know, Colonel,' Hammond was all business now, 'but it seems like the second Stargate has been activated again. I've just received a report that some visitors from the Pentagon managed to overpower the guards there long enough to dial it up and go through. No-one has any idea where they might have gone.'
'I think I might be able to shed some light on this, sir,' Jack interrupted the General. 'Security report that Daniel and Alison Trethewey left together two days ago in the company of Captain Starsky and Major Hutch from the Pentagon. They're sending down the security tapes for that day. Should be here any minute.'
'So what you're saying…' Hammond said, before being interrupted.
'Is that Daniel and his assistant have been abducted from under our noses for some reason,' Sam finished off, having grasped the situation now.
'Right.' Jack agreed, just as an airman arrived with a handful of tapes. 'Great - anyone brought popcorn? Soda?' Jack was saying as he started playing the first tape.
They fast-forwarded through several innocuous tapes until even Jack was ready to give up when they at last found what they needed. The tape showed them images of Daniel and Alison being escorted by two faceless individuals. The two men had taken great care to make sure their faces wouldn't show up on the security cameras. They weren't quite so successful at the desk on the main level where there were a number of cameras situated and it was impossible to avoid all of them.
'Well, that was enlightening.' Jack threw in as he paused the tape.
'They don't seem to be aware of what's happening,' Sam rewound the tape a few frames then set it to play again. 'Just there, Alison seems to be heading straight on but those guys want to take a left, they whisper something, she looks at them blankly then changes direction. That seems a little odd.'
'The whole situation is odd, Carter. The question is - what now?' Jack turned to Hammond.
'I don't even know where to start on this one. At least when we tracked the 'gate down we had something to go on, but we're starting with a blank here.' Hammond looked at those present, inviting suggestions and options.
'Maybe we should try to find out what Alison was working on - it seems likely that whatever they were after, they must think she can help them in some way, and if you look here,' Sam rewound the tape a couple of frames, 'it looks like Daniel walked in on them clearing Alison's office. It's somewhere to start anyway.'
'Very well.' Hammond said. 'Colonel, I want you to find out what you can about these two men, what their names are, where they're from and where they might have gone.' Hammond instructed Jack, his face grave. 'I'm afraid you won't turn anything up, but we've got to try.'