Here's another little chapter for you all... Sorry for the delays, things in the real world have been occupying my time.. I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to add another chapter to this story... But I promise that it will be finished! Please remember to let me know what you think.
Jack and Kyle walked away from the two women in silence. Jack led them further up the mountain for ten minutes before he stopped and sat down on a few rock slabs.
Jack put Kyle through his first test. Jack just sat there in silence and looked down on the base. He sat there like that for ten minutes. The entire time he watched Kyle out of the corner of his eye. He was impressed at how cool Kyle was, he wasn't looking around worriedly or speaking for the sake of speaking. Rather Kyle sat there patiently waiting for Jack to say something. Kyle occupied himself as he calmly stared up at the night sky and marveled at the majestic beauty of looking at the night sky from a different planet.
"What are you thinking?"
"Honestly, sir?"
"I don't want to hear anything but the truth from you," Jack warned him.
"Yes, sir. Well, it might sound kind of silly… But, I was trying to decide if that group of stars up there looks like a dragon spewing fire from it's mouth or a dinosaur holding a bouquet of flowers," he replied as he pointed up at the stars.
Jack followed his arm, "Where?"
Kyle leaned over and pointed out the stars more carefully, "You see that row of stars, kind of looks like the back of an animal… And there's the legs… And the tail… And you see that cluster of stars in front of the 'head'? … I can't decide if that's a fireball or a bouquet of flowers…"
Jack stared at the 'constellation' in question. As he was coming to his own decision of the star cluster himself he realized how funny it was… Trying to find shapes in the stars was something he would do. As he continued to look up, the corners of his mouth curled up in a small smile. He then seriously answered, "Definitely a fireball."
"I was leaning that way myself, sir." Kyle calmly replied as he continued to stare at his constellation.
Both men continued to look up at the stars in silence for another few minutes.
Kyle broke the silence this time, "Do you know if anyone here has charted the stars and come up with constellation names, sir?"
"Don't know… You come up with a name for your dragon?"
"Yes, sir. St. George."
"Wasn't that the knight who fought the dragon?"
Kyle looked over at the retired colonel next to him. "Yes sir. But it was the best story reference I could come to concerning a dragon… So it was either St. George or Puff the Magic Dragon, sir."
Jack laughed at the alternate name as he looked over at Kyle. Once he stopped laughing he spoke again, "St. George it is."
Kyle smiled and nodded his head in agreement.
They sat in silence once again as they looked out over the planet. Jack's mind was having a very hard time. He wanted to dislike the man sitting next to him, but he was finding it hard to. The man had stood tall ('Except for when T zatted him!' he mused) during the day's exercises and his constant nit-picking. He listened to his criticisms and then incorporated what he'd learned into future scenarios – marks of a true leader. The man wasn't reckless. He did want to be a doctor though! But he couldn't hold that against him… 'As long as he doesn't come near me with any needles!' And he also kept his cool as evidenced in their recent chat… And the guy wasn't serious all the time… 'Kind of like me… Damnit Sam, why do you have to be right?'
"Sam tells me you want to be a doctor."
"Yes, sir."
"You're at the top of your class and could have your pick of any field, why be a doctor?"
"There's the obvious reason that I want to help people, but more than anything… The human body fascinates me, sir. We're this amazing machine that has so many little parts and processes that have to work in concert together for us not to trip over our own feet. I guess you could say I want to be the repair man you call when something is wrong with your body…"
Jack nodded his head as he listened, he'd never heard a reason like that before. "What field?"
"I like Emergency Medicine… I like the adrenaline of it and thinking on your feet fast when someone's life is in your hand… But I guess if I work here at the SGC, I'll probably look into internal medicine as well, sir."
Jack smiled as he heard Kyle's reason for liking emergency medicine-adrenaline. 'I knew he was an adrenaline junkie!'
Another silence ensued between the two men. "Sam tells me that J.D. introduced you both."
"That's correct, sir." Kyle thought about Jack's choice of words, both times he had broached a topic with him, it was about information he had obtained from Sam, not Stella. He began to wonder what Stella, Jack and Daniel had talked about that morning. "J.D. and I are on the hockey team together."
Jack looked over at the young cadet who scored another point in his book, "You play hockey?"
"As long as I can remember," Kyle revealed with a smile.
"What position do you play?"
"Center… I take it you're the one who taught J.D. how to play."
"Yep… Had to pass it on to one of my kids!"
"J.D.'s a good player. He's got good puck skills and he plays the ice well both ways… He just needs to work on seeing the whole rink… But he's working on it… I won't be surprised if he's named team captain his senior year…" Kyle told him seriously.
"You're not saying that just to get on my good side, are you?"
Kyle shook his head emphatically, "No sir! I meant what I said about your son's playing skills! And the other player's respect him and see his potential as well. I've spoken with the Coach about your son several times and the future of the team."
Jack's eyes went wide, "Wait a minute! You're the captain of the team! J.D.'s talked about you a lot!" As the pieces fell into place in his mind he recalled everything that his son had said about Kyle. That he was a good captain, treated all the players fairly, even the freshmen. Apparently, Kyle ran a tight ship among the team and didn't allow any hazing of the freshmen. His son really respected the man he was sitting next to… 'So that's why J.D. introduced you to Stella…' he mused. But Jack wasn't going to share any of that information with this young man… Well, maybe just a little.
"J.D. has a lot of respect for you," he revealed somberly.
Kyle didn't respond, he was a humble man.
"So, who's your favorite team?"
"The Red Wings, sir."
"You got to be kidding me?"
Kyle shook his head, "Nope. I was born in Detroit."
"I thought you lived in Colorado?"
"I do. But I could never root for the Avs!"
Jack nodded his head happily, "At least we're in agreement on that!"
"I take it you're a Blackhawks fan like J.D."
"Yeah. Luckily he got that from me and didn't choose Sam's team."
"Who's that?"
Jack looked over at him out of the corner of his eye, "The Red Wings."
Kyle smiled widely, but didn't say anything to that as he looked back over the planet.
Jack continued to process what he'd learned of the man next to him. The more he spoke with him, the more he was inclined to like him. Sam's words rang in his mind again, 'Maybe she's drawn to him because he's like you?' But she was right, Kyle did seem to have the best parts of both himself and Daniel, without the added baggage both men had carried. Maybe this man wasn't bad for his daughter?
"We should probably head back," Jack finally offered as he began to stand up. "Stella's probably thinking that I've thrown you off the mountain."
Kyle laughed, and not in a hesitant fearful laugh. Rather in a confident laugh to a funny suggestion. He was standing up as well and turned to head back down the mountain when Jack reached out for his arm.
"I'm going to tell you something that Sam's father told me…" Jack stared into the young man's eyes and with the utmost seriousness continued on, "If you ever hurt Stella and I find out about it, there won't be a place in this galaxy where you can hide from me and stop me from hunting you down and killing you. Am I making myself perfectly understood?"
"Yes sir… For the record, I don't plan on ever giving you a reason to."
Jack nodded his head before he started heading down the hill, "Good… Now shall we go sneak up on the O'Neill women?"
Kyle's face lit up, "Excellent idea, sir! What do you have in mind?"
Jack reached into his pockets and withdrew two small objects and held them out for Kyle to see.
"Excellent choice of ammunition, sir!"
TBC