CHAPTER TWELVE
SGC
Cheyenne Mountain Air Station, CO.
It was an interesting quirk when you thought about it, O'Neill mused. He had visited dozens of worlds in his time with the SGC. During those visits, he had met and negotiated with world leaders of every size, shape and persuasion. Some had been better than others, but they were leaders none the same. Once you developed a gut feeling for their personality, you could learn to stroke egos and gain the upper hand. He had negotiated treaties, arrangements, peace accords and a multitude of similar agreements. He was completely at ease going to an unfamiliar planet and politely asking a form of "take me to your leader" without breaking into laughter. He was not easily cowed nor did he lack the intellect for delicate negotiation. If anything, his sometimes-withering skepticism helped him look past the carefully constructed facades and get to the root of the issues.
However, there was still one leader who made his knees buckle when forced to appear before him: the President of the United States. It was one thing when it's someone else's leader. When it's your Commander in Chief, it's something else entirely. O'Neill had developed a comfortable rapport with President Hayes. In his job, you had to or you might lose the confidence of the President and his advisors. Hayes had developed an appreciation for Jack O'Neill's sometimes shoot-from-the-hip style. George Hammond had been a big help in this regard. Hammond was not only an old acquaintance of the President's, but had the extensive experience he had built during his time commanding the SGC. Hammond had counseled O'Neill especially on how to present his arguments in a way that would get civilian leadership to agree with him. Like many things in life, it was as much art as science.
It was with this in mind that O'Neill found himself and his staff sitting in the Command & Control Center. He had already given an initial briefing of the situation on Langara to General Maynard. Now, they would be presenting options to the President and the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff. Ultimately, the decision sat with the President, but various people, from the Joint Chiefs to the National Security Advisor to Lieutenant General Hammond, were all going to throw their opinions into the ring. This is going to be an interesting one was all O'Neill could think at the moment.
Before long, President Hayes appeared on the large teleconference screen along with his advisors from the Situation Room at the White House. Hayes actually looked upbeat today, O'Neill thought. That was about to change.
"Good morning, Jack. General Maynard tells me we've got a situation. What are we looking at?"
"Good morning sir. We have a serious situation with a potential ally. As you know, we've had an ambassador and two SG teams on the planet Langara. Their mission has been to cultivate good relations and if possible, negotiate a trade deal for mining rights. The Langarans have recently discovered additional high quality deposits of naquadah.
"Yeah, I saw the initial report from Ambassador Howe. I thought it was going well?"
"It has been sir. The Langarans are not the problem, per se. We have just within the last 18 hours received disturbing intelligence from the Tok'ra. With your permission, I'd like our J-2, Chief of Intelligence, Colonel Jeremiah Glyndon, to brief you on the specifics of what we've learned from the Tok'ra."
"Ok."
Colonel Glyndon turned to the screen. "Mr. President, the Tok'ra have relayed to us the latest intelligence on a minor Goa'uld by the name of Nimar…" Glyndon then went on for about five minutes relating Nimar's plans and the strength of his forces. It seemed Nimar only had two mother ships and about 7,500 loyal Jaffa. But with his advanced technology, he could overwhelm Langaran defenses, even with his small numbers. "Mr. President, we'll be receiving more up-to-date information from the Tok'ra as they get it, but the basic situation will not change."
"Thank you Colonel. Okay Jack, what are you proposing?"
"Mr. President, we have a couple of options at our disposal. One is that we recall the ambassador and the teams and leave the Langarans to defend themselves. They do have numbers but our assessment is that ultimately they would fall to Nimar and his forces. Second, we could have Lieutenant Colonel McNulty take some of his force to Langara. Their mission would be to secure the gate while we evacuate our personnel and various Langaran leaders and others deemed important by the Langaran government. Third and lastly, we devote our resources to helping defend Langara."
The implication of that last option hung in the air for a moment as no one at the SGC or the White House wanted to be the first to touch it. It was as if a group of very smart adults were playing hot potato at the intellectual level.
Finally, Daniel Jackson spoke up. "Mr. President, if I may?"
"Of course Dr. Jackson, go ahead."
"I'm not militarily adept enough to think I can debate options two or three, however, I can tell you that option one is not a good idea."
"Why exactly is that Dr. Jackson? In the past, the Langarans have been nothing short of a pain in the rear. Generals Hammond and O'Neill have made that plainly clear." The speaker was Admiral Jonathan Clark, the Chief of Naval Operations. "Please point out where it says that we're bound to assist the Langaran government. Last time I checked, they didn't join NATO or sign a mutual defense treaty."
Daniel did his best to hide his impassioned zeal, which usually came out at these moments. O'Neill was impressed. "Admiral Clark, we've just spent the last couple of months wining and dining the Langarans so that we could get their naquadah. If we were to just pick up and walk away, it would look horrible. Also, word would get out that we just left a friendly planet to get enslaved. Trust me, it will. You would be fooling yourself to think otherwise. What potential ally is going to want to deal with us if we run at the first sign of trouble?"
The National Security Advisor, Dr. Marsha Regan, spoke up. "I'm afraid Mr. President that I must agree with Admiral Clark. At what point, do we stop and say 'enough'? We've already sent a Marine Recon company and the Daedalus to defend our Atlantis team from these Wraith beings. How many enemies can we make at once? Also, when this eventually goes public, it's going to look to the antiwar crowd like we're out looking for fights."
Admiral Clark wasn't budging from his position. "I understand you're point Doctor Jackson, but last time I checked, we hadn't been deputized as the interstellar 911 force. Are you advocating we make war on what's left of the System Lords? Last time I checked, we had a war of our own to fight at the moment." Admiral Clark scored some points with the participants with that observation. The war against terrorism was ongoing and required a lot of resources. The US military was spread thin. "Have the Langarans even asked for support yet?"
O'Neill spoke up, "No, I dispatched Colonel Carter to brief the Langaran government on the situation. She has three SG teams along as backup. I'd expect a formal request shortly though."
At this point, Daniel, who had returned from Langara for this meeting, felt the need to defend his position. "Admiral, I'm not advocating that we go looking for a fight, but are we going to walk away every time we're asked for help? And Dr. Regan, how do you think the antiwar crowd is going to feel about millions of humans being enslaved as we dove for cover? I don't think that would play well in Middle America."
The President had watched the debate flow back and forth for a few moments. He liked having people flesh out arguments in his presence. It allowed a myriad of options to develop, thereby not limiting potential solutions. Finally, he spoke up to get things on track.
"Alright, we know what our potential options are, but are they feasible? Dr. Jackson, I agree with your analysis to a certain extent. I don't like leaving a potential ally to be conquered either. But, what realistically can we do? It's not as if I can commit a couple of Marine regiments to this…"
The Commandant of the Marine Corps nearly blanched.
"…but I don't want to see us unilaterally pull out either. General O'Neill, are we in a position to secure the Langaran's stargate?"
"Yes sir. Colonel McNulty and his ops staff have drafted a plan for that type of scenario. The 7th Rangers would deploy to Langara to assist them in securing their stargate complex. From what we've been told, they have a sizable security force guarding it at an undisclosed location. At that point, we could decide to evacuate or assist in defense, whatever your decision. We can also put Prometheus on alert for possible deployment to Langara should you decide to fight. The Russian Liaison, Colonel Chekov, also tells me that President Mikhailov will be contacting you to offer Russian military assistance."
"Oh, that's just what we need" muttered General Hugh Gresham, Army Chief of Staff.
The President looked like he was giving the entire matter deep thought. Finally, he looked up and made his decision: "Okay Jack, put Prometheus on alert and order Colonel McNulty to begin deploying the Rangers."
"Yes sir!"
A secure Langaran military facility
The stargate roared to life. The Lanagarn security force was in place to defend against a Jaffa incursion attempt. There had been no sightings of ships in orbit as of yet but no one was taking any chances. In the control room, a technician called out. "We're receiving a signal, it's from Earth. They're requesting permission to send a party through!"
"Let them come! Notify Commander Varan immediately!" The Langaran duty officer hoped the Americans brought good news.
A small group of men came through the wormhole. They weren't dressed like the others that had come from Earth. They wore a uniform with a different pattern of green, brown and black. They also wore helmets and load-bearing gear. They were armed to the teeth. The duty officer recognized highly trained warriors when he saw them. The lead soldier spoke up.
"Captain Curtis Miller, Alpha Company, 7th Rangers. I here you've got a Jaffa problem!"
And so it begins…