Author's Note: Sorry this took so long! I had trouble logging on.
OOOOOOOOOO
"So..."
They were on the elevator; just the three of them. Sam looked over at Ian, who'd spoken.
"Hmmm?"
"Briefing room, huh?"
She nodded.
"That's not Air Force jargon for 'torture the guys for shooting the doctor room', is it?"
Sam smiled.
"No."
"I'm betting it's where we're going to be told to keep our mouths shut about what we've seen," River said.
"Or where they'll explain it a little better," Ian added, hopefully.
Sam didn't say anything, which pretty much confirmed what they were thinking. Of course, she wasn't all that surprised they'd figured it out – the two were bright young men, after all. Or they wouldn't be in the Academy.
"Doctor Fraiser will be all right, right?" River asked Sam.
"They said she would – and they're the best doctors in the world."
"So..." Ian was looking at Sam intently, his dark eyes thoughtful. "Shawn told me that you're involved in deep space telemetry..."
She nodded.
"Got a lot of telescopes buried down here in this mountain?"
"NORAD uses-"
"NORAD uses radio telescopes and very little telemetry, Major," Ian said. "I know. I checked it out when I was debating what I wanted to do with the Air Force when I got out of the Academy. They don't do anything with deep space..."
Sam smiled. Oh, yeah, he was bright. Too bright, maybe?
"You'll have to wait and hear what General Hammond tells you."
"And if he tells us you're in deep space telemetry?"
"Then that's what I'm in."
The door swooshed open and she led them to a staircase, which led in turn to an open well-lit room that was dominated by a table surrounded with comfortable leather chairs. Obviously, this was the briefing room.
"Have a seat guys."
If they were nervous, it didn't show. Both cadets sat down, although Sam noticed Ian winced slightly when he sat down, and shifted a little.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
He nodded.
"Pinched myself."
Since he didn't explain further, she didn't ask, but she did wonder why he suddenly looked a little guilty. Before they could say much of anything to each other, however, the door opened and General Hammond came through.
"You two pose something of a problem to me..." Hammond said without preamble as he came over and sat down at the head of the table.
The cadets didn't know what to say to that since they weren't sure if he was referring to the shooting of Doctor Fraiser or the fact that they were on his top-secret base.
Hammond looked at both of them, scowling, but neither wilted under that look. Sam was impressed, but Hammond was annoyed. He was hoping to intimidate them a little, but it apparently wasn't going to happen. Ian Brooks, of course, had been around high-ranking brass all his life, Hammond decided, and that would rub away a lot of mystique about them. River Hayden was probably just young enough and brash enough to not want to show any fear around his friend.
Hammond was wrong about that, though. River just plain didn't fear anything. He was far too easy-going to have phobias, and was way too intelligent to believe that Hammond was going to do anything to mess up his possible career as an Air Force pilot. After all, he hadn't asked for any of this to happen, and shooting the doctor aside, none of it was his fault.
Finally Hammond broke the silence in the room.
"Suppose I told you that everything you'd seen today was simply a drug-induced hallucination?"
Ian snorted.
"I'd say that was bullshit."
He saw Sam close her eyes in disbelief and realized what he'd said.
"Of course, I'd probably get in trouble for saying that whole bullshit line, so then I'd probably say I didn't believe it..." He added, lamely.
Hammond scowled, but he didn't turn quite as red as he had been in the hallway.
"Well, you're right. It's not a hallucination."
The cadets were silent, waiting for whatever they were going to hear next.
"What you've seen is technology that we've managed to procure from sources that we don't really want to spread around too much," Hammond said.
"You're talking about Thor?" River asked.
Hammond sighed. So much for hoping they wouldn't think about that part. Of course, he'd known it was too much to hope for. After all, it was hard to forget Thor once you've seen him, Hammond knew.
"I'm talking about sources we need to keep secret." He told them, sternly. "The only reason you found out about them was because it was necessary to save you from what was happening – and even then, had I been contacted first, we might well have come up with a better way of doing it."
"Well, since I don't know exactly what they had planned for us – or when they had it planned – I'm going to be glad no one bothered to contact you, Sir," Ian said, leaning forward. "Secrets aside, I saw the hardware those guys had with them in that safe house, and I'm pretty sure they were willing to use it."
Hammond scowled, and River nudged Ian's side to shut him up. The General looked over at Sam, but she wasn't sure what to say. From what little she'd heard and seen, she though Ian was probably right. Especially since Kinsey was involved. Sam wouldn't hold him above doing anything to anyone to prove a point. He'd shown plenty of times what kind of man he was, after all.
Hammond leaned back in his chair. He'd already spoken to those he needed to speak with about this. The President –the President, now, not President-elect Hayes – had told him that he had full permission to do whatever he wanted. Of course, this was the President who'd also allowed Shawn Adams to go to the Air Force academy years before he should have, and had filled out all the necessary forms that would allow Andrew Stephens to go there as well when he was ready to, so there was very little surprise that Hammond had been given full rein to do as he wished concerning two cadets who were of legal age and already in the Military.
"You two are members of the United States Air Force," Hammond said. "Although you don't carry the rank yet, some day – God forbid – you will both be officers, and will be given the privileges and responsibilities that come with that rank. For now, though, you're still held accountable to the oaths that you swore when you entered the Academy – and that includes the one where you swore to obey all lawful orders given to you by a ranking officer. Do you remember that oath, gentlemen?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Yes, Sir."
"I am going to tell you a few things that you need to know – mainly because it's simply safer to let you know than to allow you to remain in the dark and try to guess for yourself what you've seen. You two will keep this information to yourselves, and you will not discuss it with anyone off this base unless specifically ordered to do so by myself. Do you understand?"
Ian leaned forward slightly, and nodded.
"Yes, Sir."
River nodded, as well, just as interested in whatever was coming.
"Yes, Sir."
"If you disobey this order, you will be court-martialed and I will make sure both of you are sent to Leavenworth for the rest of your lives. If not shot outright for Treason. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Sir."
"Yes, Sir."
"Major O'Neill?" Hammond turned to Sam, who sat up a little. "Please go make sure that Colonel O'Neill keeps General Brooks occupied for a while. This isn't anything he needs to know about and I'd prefer he and Jack didn't walk in here in the middle of it."
"Yes, Sir."
Sam stood up, and left the room, closing the door behind her, and Ian turned to Hammond.
"She's not in deep space telemetry, is she?"
Hammond allowed a slight smile.
"No… she's not. Not exactly. What she is is involved in some scientific research that we'd much rather keep secret than allow the rest of the world to know about…"