Author: Jackie W.
Email:
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And I know if I'll only be true, to this glorious quest, That my heart will lie peaceful and calm, when I'm laid to my rest ...
The Quest (The Impossible Dream)
Lyrics by Joe Darion
Man of La Mancha (Don Quixote) Soundtrack Lyrics
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PART 1 - To fight for the right, without question or pause ...
He disappeared on a Tuesday from P3R-788 during the final stages of a treaty negotiation. SG2 had made the original contact with the Margilese, and SG9 had spent a month living among them. General Jack O'Neill had travelled there for a formal dinner celebrating the treaty signing. Sometime during the evening's events he had vanished.
Several teams revisited the planet during the following weeks, but if the Margilese officials knew anything about the General's whereabouts they were doing a fine job of acting. They were honestly clueless and distraught by the turn of events. The planet was a trading haven they pointed out. There were, at any given time, hundreds of visitors within the capital city doing business. Their best guess was that someone had been laying in wait for the General, and although they attempted to question as many traders as they could, no information had been forthcoming.
Back on Earth, the General's former team members were distraught. They had been off world themselves when O'Neill had vanished and had returned to find Hammond at the base of the ramp with the bad news. Over the next several weeks they had worked every lead that they could. Teal'c put the word out with the rebel Jaffa to be on the lookout, and a chance run-in with a Tok'ra agent by SG4 had hopefully gotten the word spread amoungst their ranks as well. Still there was nothing.
As the weeks went by the three became more and more depressed, and Sam began to feel that if she couldn't get out there and search for herself she was going to go crazy. She spent less and less time at home, and by the end of the month she and Pete were barely speaking. Then the real blow fell.
Hammond was needed back in Washington, so Jack O'Neill was officially listed as MIA and a new General was sent to run the SGC. General Steven Wilkins was the polar opposite of George Hammond, a by the book pencil pusher, who had his own ideas of how the SGC should be run. Ideas that were backed by many of the Joint Chiefs. His first order of business was to break up SG1. Dr. Jackson and Colonel Carter were too valuable to be on a front line team where their lives were in danger constantly, he explained. Within days Teal'c had left, unwilling to take orders from the man and feeling like he had more to offer out fighting with Ishta the rebel Jaffa. Daniel and Sam were limited to missions through the gate where their particular areas of expertise were needed. Daniel didn't mind, but within days Sam was crawling the walls.
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She locked herself in the lab. Her final appeal to General Wilkins to put her back on a team had been met with an order to drop the matter or face disciplanry action. So now it was time for her make some decisions. Within hours she had a plan, but she would need help to pull it off. Quickly she put in a call to Major Griff asking him to stop by and see her.
When she was done explaining what she had planned Frank Griff sat in stunned silence. The plan was just crazy enough that it might work. And even if it didn't, he too felt the need to try something.
"I'm in," he stated and saw her relax.
"Who else can we trust?" Sam asked.
"Harper, Dixon and Reynolds, plus everyone on their teams," Griff repled.
"Are you sure about Reynolds? He's General Wilkins' 2IC after all," Sam questioned.
"Yeah, but he was Jack's 2IC first, and he'll do everything in his power to help including diverting any paperwork on supplies that we wouldn't want Wilkins to see," Griff pointed out.
Sam nodded. That was a good point. And it was better than she expected. With four teams helping she'd have her supplies set in a week.
"Plus we can count on Sgt. Wheeler in supply and Sgt. Morton in the armory. We should be able to request extra of whatever you need and get it to slip through the cracks," Griff offered.
Sam paused for a moment. "If any of you gets into trouble…." She began, only to have Griff cut her off.
"We'll back each other up, and if worst comes to worst we'll tell Wilkins you ordered us. You are a senior officer now," he reminded her.
"That won't help Reynolds," she worried.
"We'll have his six, swear his team wasn't involved because he's the 2IC," Griff supplied with a cheeky grin.
"I won't ever be able to thank you all enough, Frank," Sam told him.
"Just find the man and bring him home. Oh and since you are tendering your resignation in the process of this foolhardy stunt, be sure you remember that there are no regs between you when you find him. We are expecting him to come back very happy," Griff said with a wink.
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And so the first part of the plan was set. SG teams 2, 3, 5 and 13 all took extra supplies with them on each of their next several missions and before dialing back to earth when the mission was complete they would stash the extra supplies in a well hidden spot near the gate. SG2 was also able to pass along a note from Sam to Teal'c asking for his help. He then retrieved the supplies and hid them in a cave on P3R-591. The planet had been one that was considered for the new Alpha site, but because of the harsh winters it was taken off list. But it would be five months until winter set in there, which gave Sam plenty of time to use it as her own personal base of operations.
The second part of the plan was in many ways harder. The first thing she needed to do was break up with Pete. Since they had been virtual strangers for the last six weeks she figured he wouldn't be too surprised. But she debated on what to tell him. She didn't want to hurt him any more than necessary, and telling him she was going after Jack O'Neill because she couldn't live without the man would definitely be cruel. Finally she told Pete that she had been having second thoughts about marriage, and that she had been offered an off-world assignment that was going to last at least six months that was too good to pass up. She handed back his ring, told him she hoped he found someone who wanted all of the same things in life that he wanted, and watched him drive away out of her life. She felt a momentary pang of regret, but she knew now that the two of them would never have lasted and that this was for the best.
Then she wrapped up the rest of the issues being away would cause. She shut up the house, and gave Daniel power of attorney to take care of anything that came up while she was gone. Within ten days from making her decision she was ready to leave.
Of course that was going to be the hard part. She needed to get assigned to a mission off-world. She'd studied the upcoming scientific missions and knew that her only chance was with one that Dr. Lee was leading to study a natural power source on a planet SG5 had found several months ago. SG5 would be accompaning them which was perfect as Majot Harper and his team were in on the plan. Getting Lee to agree was going to tricky though.
She had two options. She could lie, tell him she was going stir crazy and promising to stay out of his way if he allowed her to come along, or she could tell him the truth. Jack O'Neill had saved his butt more than once, so even though he never had liked Sam very much he might do it for the General.
In the end she didn't have any choice in the matter. When she stopped by Dr. Lee's lab he didn't even act surprised to see her.
"You want to go with I suppose," he commented with a superior air.
Sam resisted the urge to slap him upside the head.
"Yes I do," she replied calmly.
"I just need to make sure of one thing," Lee stipulated. "When you rescue the General, make sure he knows I helped. I want him to know I learned not to leave anyone behind."
Sam eyes widened in surprise, and she nodded her assent.
It would seem that a lot of people had learned that lesson from Jack O'Neill.
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As she slipped the envelope containing her resignation to the bottom of the pile sitting in General Wilkins' in-box, Sam felt the first flutter of nerves she'd experianced since coming up with her plan. This was it. In a few minutes she would walk through the gate and cease to be a Lt. Colonel in the USAF. Heck she'd be lucky if they didn't throw the book at her despite her resignation. Realisitically she might never be able to return whether she found Jack or not. She took a deep breath and headed on down to the gateroom.
She was literally holding her breath as the cevrons were locked and didn't release it until Wilkins gave the go ahead. She looked up to the windows above and gave a small wave to Daniel who was watching from the briefing room. She had told him what she was going to do last night, and was surprised when he had just nodded in a knowing way.
"I figured as much when I heard you were going out on the mission. I couldn't imagine Lee asking for you. What did you promise him?" her friend had asked.
"Just that the General would know that he helped when I find him," Sam had said and then smiled at Daniel's shocked expression. "Yeah I know. I was surprised, too. I never thought he would be willing to stick his neck out like that."
"I don't suppose there is any way for me to go with you, is there?" Daniel had asked hopefully.
Sam shook her head. "I need you here Daniel. Be my eyes and ears. Pass along anything pertanent to Teal'c, and he'll be able to get in touch with me," Sam had told him.
Now he waved back and held up crossed fingers to wish her luck. With a nod she turned and left her former life behind without even pausing.
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TBC