"After all that fighting with Price, now you're worried if this thing is safe?" O'Neill teased him. "Raptor 1 ready for take-off," he informed the traffic controller and waited for his wingman with Agent Price to come up beside them.
"Raptor 2 ready for take-off, sir." He then keyed the cockpit radio, "You ready, ma'am?"
Andrea looked to the small mirror in front of her pilot, "As I'll ever be Major Towers," she told him with a half sure smile.
"Don't worry ma'am, I've been flying these for five years… And I've only crashed once," he told her with a smile as he gunned the engines and took off right behind O'Neill's aircraft.
"What?!" she yelled at her pilot once they'd taken flight.
Major Towers grinned even wider as he followed O'Neill into outer space. He then looked into the mirror to see the horrified expression on the Secret Service agent sitting behind him who continued to glare at him.
"Don't worry ma'am, I was testing the inertial dampening system in the F-302's… so technically I didn't crash because the system worked… But I was trying to crash it…"
"You would intentionally try and crash one of these? Why in God's name would you do that?" she asked him.
"So that we could safely fly one of these up here… Take a look around," he told her as he motioned with his hand.
For the first time in the F-302 Agent Price looked outside of the cockpit and saw that indeed it would have been worth it. She saw the vast expanse of black empty space all around her littered with twinkling lights hundreds, if not thousands, of light years away. The two aircrafts banked towards the planet they had just left giving the passengers a glimpse of the entire planet in a single panorama.
"Wow!" were the silent whispers coming from both passengers as the power of their surroundings set into their minds.
"We're really up here aren't we Jack?" the President asked.
"Yes, sir," he quietly replied letting the President absorb this moment in all its glory. He looked into his own mirror and enjoyed watching the emotions play across his Commander-in-Chief's face. He remembered his own first time in a death glider when they were escaping Apophis' attack ships in Earth's orbit.
"This is absolutely amazing!" Ryan muttered to himself as he ingrained the image into his memory. "Have you gone up in one of these in Earth's orbit?" he asked him excitedly.
Jack nodded his head, "A few times," he modestly replied.
Ten minutes later, five other ships joined them, each carrying a member of the President's entourage. They orbited the planet in silence several times letting the guests savor the moment of their first, and probably last, time up into space.
The F-302's split into two teams, Jack, Cathy and their escorts went one way, while SecDef and the CIA operatives went another way.
"So how about a quick peak at the two moons and a quick tour of this solar system?"
Two and a half hours later, the two flight groups regrouped in the planet's orbit for a few more trips around the planet around the planet at lower altitudes.
"Jack?"
"Yeah Cathy?" O'Neill asked as he looked over at Teal'c and his passenger.
"Thanks…"
"For what?"
Cathy smiled, "For letting me learn about the SGC and all of this!"
"Yeah Jack, I don't know if I'd be able to keep this from her," the man sitting behind him replied. The President then cued the private radio with Jack, "I hate not being able to tell her some of the stuff I do… But she sees the effects it has on me… She was there when the nightmares started happening after Columbia… She never knew what was going on, but she was always there for me… I wanted to tell her, but I didn't want to tell her what I'd seen… All the death…" he began explaining in a distant voice.
Jack silently looked straight ahead. He knew exactly what his friend was talking about. Sarah had put up with him and supported him and been his rock for almost ten years. But the secrecy that revolved around his work in Special Ops had put a strain on their marriage.
Something in the corner of his eye brought Ryan back to his surroundings. He noted Jack's silence and watched him in the mirror for a few seconds before he realized that his friend knew. "God, Jack… I forgot…"
Jack looked back at the President and sent a small smile, "It's okay… it's in the past… Besides, we had good memories…"
A silence ensued in the small cockpit as they flew across one of the Alpha Site's oceans and were coming upon a landmass with a mountain range running along the coast that they traveled along.
"I'm glad I don't have to keep this from Cathy, this is too beautiful and awesome not to share with her," Jack Ryan quietly added.
The General nodded as he maintained his vigilance on their surroundings. He envied his friend and this experience. He was getting to share it with the woman he loved and had. Jack, unfortunately, couldn't have that, not as long as he was still in the Air Force. He and Colonel Carter had experienced many things together, but they'd never been able to discuss it with the intimacy that his two friends would be able to do when they returned home.
"Consider it an anniversary present Jack," he told his friend.
"Alpha, this is Raptor Leader, requesting permission to return to base."
Thirty minutes later all the F-302's had landed and all the pilots and passengers found themselves in the debriefing room sharing their excitement with what they'd just experienced. The pilots watched with amusement as this group of doctors, engineers, and experienced bodyguards were reduced to small children as they shared their feelings at what they'd seen.
"You have given them something that they will not easily forget, O'Neill," Teal'c quietly told his friend.
Jack smiled and looked over at his friend, "Yeah… You never forget the first time…"
Teal'cs eyes danced with the happy memories as he recalled his first time in a death glider and flying over his own home world of Chulak. "Indeed."
TBC
Remember to let me know what you think, and this'll be the last chapter for awhile! Sorry :(