Copyright © Anakin David 2003

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They had found the Lost city and managed to defeat Anubis with the help of the data Colonel O'Neill had downloaded to his brain, and the overwhelming defeat of the hybrid Goa'uld seemed to have settled down the other system Lords for a while. Of course, the Tok'ra and the Asgard were still on the watch out there and alert with some other mysterious powerful threat, but as long as they were gathering information, there seemed to be no immediate danger for Earth.

The Stargate program was no more a military one, although the Air Force still controlled Cheyenne Mountain base and ensured its security. Dr. Weir was still in command so far, but every one knew she would soon be transferred to another post. General Hammond was now working close to the president. A planet-wide security program had been promptly decided amongst the 5 members of the Security Council first, before being voted at the UNO assembly. A huge international satellite program was to be launched as surveillance net around Earth and at the farthest limits of the Solar system. Enhanced by the latest discoveries the different SG teams had brought back along the previous 7 years, the satellites were to be sent to the far limits of the solar system and stay on watch for any alien intrusion. How the intrusion was to be treated in case it was unfriendly, was an entirely different matter that had yet to be debated amongst the countries, but at least, this constituted a first step toward some kind of international program to defend Earth from possible alien threats.

Two months had passed. After working over the top of their physical and intellectual capabilities for about a month, the remainder of SG-1 had been sent of forced leave, and Colonel Jack O'Neill was still frozen in his chamber back in Antarctica. Despite the many discoveries that had been made at the Ancient's outpost, no progress has been made in trying to undo the freezing process and return the Colonel to life.

He received yet another medal as well as Major Samantha Carter. One of those pompous things held at the base, with Dress-Blues and a straight face… As a matter of fact, Teal'c and Daniel Jackson also received honorary decorations from the hands of the president himself, and with the exceptional attendance of General Hammond.

Right after that, the Asgard had finally put in an appearance and had retrieved O'Neill's frozen chamber. Since then, no news had come from the little grey aliens. The only certainty they had was that O'Neill was in the most capable hands they knew.

But it all had a bitter taste… A terribly bitter taste.

One month. One month spent on forced downtime, for what? Mourn a friend, a C.O., a man? Bullshit! It was rather leaving the new rulers of the SGC time and freedom to rearrange things as they saw fit!

Jack O'Neill had given each member of his team, a specifically labeled manila envelope: 'These are things I want you to have, personally' He had explained when they were all gathered while he was putting some order into his personal things in case he did not return.

Bastard! He KNEW he wouldn't return! He KNEW what kind of experience he was putting himself into! And he knew damn well what kind of hurricane he was putting his whole team into, too!

None of them had opened the envelopes yet. None could.

They tried to recapture the team's spirit one night, gathering at Sam's and watching videos eating take outs, but it hadn't worked. In the end, they had all fell silent, each engrossed in their own thoughts and memories of Jack O'Neill. So they had decided it might be good if they went away for this short while. Teal'C returned to see Bra'Tac and his son, while Sam went to visit her brother, and Daniel went to Washington D.C. to attend an Archeologists' seminar.

The morning that settled the end of their downtime, Sam arrived at the base first. Nothing really important seemed to have changed, except there were now two entire floors reserved to civilian personnel. Understanding the importance of military in the program, it had been decided that the civilians would only go to friendly planets, already visited and 'secured'. Their missions mostly consisted in establishing various kinds of treaties, and developing the commercial relationships between the different worlds. Sometimes, when the situation required it, they were even allowed to set up colonies. But the changes in the program were still too fresh and no colony had been set yet.

The military kept doing what they were best at: exploring and signing strategic alliance treaties, but to Sam's utmost dismay when she learned about it, every time some kind of mining or trading interest was uncovered by the first explorations, at least one civilian member was part of the next mission. As for the scientific research, it was now to be conducted both by the military and the civilian scientists.

She had read the new rules over and over, sometimes not believing what her eyes discovered, but she'd had a month to get used to them off base, and she had to admit: to civilian eyes, some of them made sense. All in all, Dr. Weir and her team had done a rather good job in trying to mingle civilian and military. The only question that remained was who would be commanding the military, since General Hammond wasn't on base anymore. A temporary command had been set for now, with Col. David Martin who was, after Col. O'Neill, the highest ranked officer, and the most capable.

She took the elevator down to the military quarters, and made a bee line to the women's locker room. Opening the door of her locker, her heart flinched severely: there was a picture of her team Cassie had taken just before her mother died. They were all gathered topside, in their military attire (Cassie had insisted), with General Hammond standing on the left, and Janet Fraiser standing on the right, next to her. When the prints had been processed, Cassie had given them all one. She knew Teal'C had had it framed and put on the wall in front of his bed, Daniel had put it in his lab, and Colonel O'Neill had it also framed and she'd seen it on the mantelpiece in his house just before…

She shut the door brusquely, leaning her forehead against the cool metal. Then she re-opened it, and watched her Commanding Officer closely. He was smiling. Something she had come to realize he had been doing less and less, at least the way he smiled on that picture. It was a happy smile that softened the lines burrowing his brow, a smile he used to give her at some point… Her eyes were beginning to sting. She sighed and closed the door, exiting the locker room to try and find her other teammates.

Teal'c was just exiting his quarters when she strolled down the corridor, and in a mute agreement, they went to Daniel's lab.

At least, the military quarters had not been rearranged, and everything seemed to be in place, even her lab, she realized as she made a quick survey on her way to Daniel's.

They met Daniel and decided to recap shortly the latest month's events in their respective lives around a cup of coffee in the commissary. They were all asked to report to Dr. Weir and Col. Martin at 0900, but they still had time.

They entered the briefing room to find Col. Martin and Dr. Weir already seated. After the appropriate salutes, they each took a seat and waited.

Dr. Weir stood up and began pacing the room.

"Colonel Martin and I have several points we would like to clarify with you, and the first one is that SG1 is still the flag team of this base. As you may have read in the new rules we've established, there has been several changes in the organization of the base. The President remains the supreme power, but I am next, and my Second in Command, as you military would put it, is Colonel Martin."

"If I may interrupt Madam…" Sam said "Dr. Jackson here is not military and Teal'c belongs to another world. I believe I am the only military representative here… We've been working alongside civilians from the beginning, we know how to deal with them. The only thing that's really changed is the structural organization of the base…"

"Major, I wish you would let Dr. Weir finish before you make your opinion be known." Colonel Martin interrupted sharply.

"It's okay, colonel… Major Carter has been put through a lot of stress lately, and her position is not one to be taken lightly… About that, Major. As much as it pains me to say some part of this, since Col. O'Neill is still frozen at the Ancient's outpost in Antarctica, you are now officially the commanding officer of SG1. I'll leave you decide who, among the military personnel, you would want as your second in command. As you are also a highly efficient scientist, I will mostly entrust SG1 with scientific explorations, so maybe it would be wise to recruit the new member of SG1 within the military scientific community. Any question so far?"

"No, Ma'am…" Sam said a bit dully.

"Good… You will report both to me and Colonel Martin. When you're not on a mission off world, you will continue your scientific research, and since you are the most prominent specialist of this base, it has already been decided that you will be in charge of the whole scientific research conducted in this facility. I will set up a meeting with the chief of the civilian scientific department so that you can decide how you would want to organize this with him. Dr. Anderson is in charge with the civilian scientific team, maybe you know him?"

"The name rings a bell indeed…"

"He used to be military… Major James Anderson, he worked in area 51 before…"

"Oh yes, now I remember him… In fact, he's been involved in the Stargate program since the beginning from Area 51, right?"

"That's why we chose him, and the fact that he was used to working with the military."

"Good choice…"

"Thanks… Now I'll let Colonel Martin explain more the military implications of your work…"

"First of all, Major, I have the honor and pleasure to announce you that you are to be promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. This will be effective tomorrow. General Hammond will hold the ceremony here." He said with a smile. "While deciding to give you your first command, it has been put under our attention that despite saving the world several times and the tremendous work you've accomplished along the past 7 years, you hadn't been promoted in a long time."

Sam's eyes grew wide, and a smile slowly crept upon her lips.

"Congratulations Sam!" an excited Daniel came to give her a hug, while Teal'c, discreet as ever, nodded respectfully towards her with a faint smile.

"I concur, Major Carter."

"The ceremony will take place in the gate room tomorrow at 10.00."

"Thank you, Sir…"

"Oh I think you highly deserve it, Major…" He concluded with a Smile.

"Now Dr. Jackson," Dr Weir resumed, "there are several memos waiting for you in your Lab. Although the SG teams haven't been very active lately, some of them brought back several artifacts that I think you will be interested in. When you are ready, I would like you to come to my office so that we can discuss the reinforcement of your department. I have someone in mind for your assistant, and I would like to have your opinion on that matter."

"Department? Assistant?" Daniel asked incredulously, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, that's another important change in the organization of the base. Too often were you forced to abandon your research all too soon, and General Hammond himself told us that given more time and more means in that area, it would have been worth making more thorough researches. So we are currently recruiting a civilian team of expert archaeologists which you will supervise, as well as Major Carter will supervise the scientific research."

"Wow!"

"You see, going public doesn't only have drawbacks…" Dr. Weir smiled faintly. "We've had a lot of financial support from private investors, which the Army couldn't have…"

"Now Teal'c…" Colonel Martin started.

Teal'c raised his eyebrows, thus showing his attention.

"I know this is a difficult task I'm asking you to do, because I know Jack O'Neill should have been in charge of that mission, but… well… Circumstances are different now, and I also know would he have been faced with the choice, he wouldn't have hesitated. I want you to take charge of the settling of the Beta site. Fortunately, we managed to transfer most of what had been done on the Alpha site to the Beta site, but there are still many things that need to be decided, and you have both the trust of the rebel Jaffa and the Tok'ra. Jacob Carter will help you as well as he helped Jack."

"I feel most honored, Colonel Martin, and I will do my utmost to complete this mission."

"Your SG1 exploring schedule will be a bit reduced, due to the new responsibilities you all have, but once again bear in mind that SG1 is the model team we want to keep for this base, and in case your experience is needed, all the rest will become secondary." Dr Weir resumed. "You all might as well start searching for a trusty assistant, or second, as you'd like to put it, to replace you in case. Now if there isn't any further question, this meeting is adjourned."

They all stood up and went about their different businesses.

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Sam went over the list Colonel Martin had given her about possible 2IC for her. She was a bit anxious and was debating internally the options she had between choosing a female officer, or a male. Daniel and Teal'C were no problem and would not question her authority, but maybe a male officer would take confidence in a male environment, and would be more likely to do so.

She checked her watch for the umpteenth time… Something was amiss and she knew perfectly what: the Colonel's interruptions… Colonel O'Neill's interruptions… She sighed and went over the list once more. She hesitated between three names:

Captain Siobhan Lewis, recently included in the Stargate program, Masters Degree in quantum physics, excellent military record, but rather inexperienced when it came to field, more so regarding Stargate travel.

Major Denis Kobb, recently promoted, a short two year experience on SG12, had illustrated himself when rescuing his entire team from a huge unknown bugs' attack on P6A 695, Masters Degree in Biochemistry, he was known for his sharp military instincts and so far his career was spotless of any inadequate military behavior.

Captain Henry Dobson, on the Stargate program since the beginning, good field experience, praised by his former superiors, despite some tendency of disobeying orders (most of the time it had been of no serious consequences though).

These were her candidates. She took the files of the people she had selected, and asked for an interview with Colonel Martin.

"What can I do for you, Major?"

"Colonel, I've gone over the list of possible 2IC you gave me, and I came up with three names. I'd like you to review them, and tell me your opinion on them."

"Okay, let me see…" he said extending his arm to take the three folders.

He looked at them for a few minutes and looked at Sam again.

"What is your best choice, Major?"

"Well they all are interesting to some degree, but I think Major Kobb is the best shot…"

"That's what I was going to say. Good choice, Major. I will signify Major Kobb to report to you as soon as he's back with SG3. That will be all, thank you…"

"Colonel?"

"Yes, Major?"

"Permission to speak freely, Sir?"

"Go ahead."

"Do you have any information on who is going to take over?"

"Dr. Weir?"

"Well her and you, Sir."

"Frankly Major, I have absolutely no clue whatsoever. I'd rather like the position myself, regarding the military command of course, but I suppose it would more likely be the place of a general, although I still report to General Hammond in D.C. Before the president, he's my ultimate contact. Now regarding Dr. Weir, I know the same general also has his saying in that, but it's the president who will decide in the end. From the grapevine rumor, I heard he has some names too, and if the rumor is correct, not bad ones for the survival of this facility. Dr Weir should be transferred to the New Project soon, so it shouldn't be long before we know."

"Thank you, Colonel. I appreciate the honesty."

"Since we're talking off the record here, Major, I happen to have a great deal of respect for what you've done over the years, and most of all, for what SG1 has accomplished under the supervision of Jack O'Neill. I know of the close relationships he maintained with his team. I am sorry it had to end up like that…"

Sam was a bit taken aback.

"Well thank you Sir… It might be foolish of me to even consider that, but I have the feeling that Colonel O'Neill will return to us soon. Although we have made no progress on our research in Antarctica,."

"I sincerely hope you're right, Major." He smiled, standing up and beckoning her to the door. "I'll see you tomorrow at the ceremony, right?"

"Yes, Sir. Thank you for listening, Sir."

"You're welcome."

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