Chapter Two
As they passed the nurses station, the nurse sitting there called out to them. She handed them a note. She explained that a courier had dropped it off less than 5 minutes ago. She had pointed out which room they were in but the courier had been insistent on leaving it at the desk. Sam shrugged and opened the note assuming it had to do with the SGC. Her startled gasp had George quickly turning to here. Her face was whit and she looked like she was going to faint. Slowly he led her over to a chair. The nurse knelt and took her pulse. Declaring that it was slightly elevated but that she'd be fine, she left to get Sam a glass of water. Carefully George took the note from Sam's hands and read it.
'For your crimes against the people of Earth you must choose. Your children or the Stargate. For too long the American Government has hidden the truth and put the planet at great risk. No longer can the government be trusted to run the program. You must hand over the Gate to us or lose your children for good.'
Sitting in stunned silence, George looked over at Sam. Her color was returning. In fact she looked damn angry. He was glad, an angry Sam was much better that a scared Sam.
"Who could it be?' Asked Daniel "We know that no-one came through the Gate. Could it be the NID?"
"Can Agent Barrett not assist us in this matter?"
"I've already put a call through to him. I'm just waiting to hear back from him."
The three men turned their heads to look at Sam as she entered the room. She looked really drawn and tired. She probably hadn't slept at all last night.
"Sam, come and sit down before you fall down. I'll get you some coffee."
"Thanks Daniel."
Meanwhile in Washington, Agent Barrett had just returned to his office. Sitting at his desk he leafed through his phone messages. The top one was a surprise, it was from George Hammond asking him to call back. Barrett thought that Hammond had retired. Oh well, he could wait as could all of his messages. What was discussed in the meeting was of far more importance. The rogue agents that had slipped through their net a few years ago were back. They'd been lying low for a few years but now they had been showing up all over the place. Something must have happened to bring them out of the wood work. The question was; what was it? Barrett decided to lean on his sources and find out. He picked up his phone and started dialing.
Two hours later he still didn't have any more of an idea than he had when he started. His sources said that they would look into it and get back to him. He decided that now was a good time to return a few phone calls. Before he could start his phone rang. Answering it, he listened.
"Holy shit! Are you sure? Did you find out where they are? Well keep digging and let me know."
Hanging up the phone, Barrett decided to return Hammond's phone call straight away. Looking through his phone messages he retrieved the one he was searching for. Dialing the number he waited for it to be answered.
"Hello?"
"Sam, its Barrett. I just found out what happened."
"What do you know?"
"Not much Sam."
"Barrett don't lie to me. WHAT DO YOU KNOW?"
"Sam, I really don't know much. There have been rumors that the rogue element has risen again. I've been trying to track them down today. That's how I heard about your kids. One of my sources informed me that these guys have taken them. I'm trying to find where they've taken them. What have they demanded?"
When Sam told him he could only shake his head. Those damn bastards. They'd gone to far this time.
"Sam, I'm going to do everything I can. Let me check out a few things and I'll get back to you."
Colonel Paul Davis raised his hand to knock on the door. The news he had was not good. He really didn't want to be the one to break it to the General but he knew there was no-one else. When the door opened he was looking at one of the men he respected the most. He saluted out of habit. George Hammond just smiled and held out his hand.
"Good to see you again Colonel."
"You too sir. Is the General in?"
"Of course. Come in, everyone is in the living room."
Nodding, Davis removed his hat and walked into the living room. Sam, Daniel and Teal'c looked up as he entered. Saluting to Sam he shook Daniel and Teal'cs hand. Not knowing where to start he sat in the offered chair and tried to gather his thoughts. Noticing his hesitancy, George spoke.
"Paul, just tell us what you've found out. The sooner we know the sooner we can make a plan."
"Yes sir. I have been in touch with my contact within the Russian government. He informed me that yes; there has been some rumbling about being locked out, once again, from an active role at the SGC."
Seeing that both Sam and Daniel were about to speak, he held up his hand.
"Yes I know that we now have half a dozen Russian teams. Most of the Russian government is quite happy with the status quo, but as I said, it's a small group who are trying to get more control of the SGC itself. By conducting a further search, my source was able to locate a slush fund that has had regular large amounts of money transferred to the States. On our end we checked into the name of the account and found out that it is a dummy company that was run by the rogue NID agents. So it seems that not only are the NID involved again but so are the Russians."
Across town, two men were quietly talking to one another.
"Do you think they'll do it?"
"It doesn't matter. While they're looking for us, our man is retrieving what we need. As soon as we get the word we don't need to worry about anything any more."
"Yeah, but remember what happened last time?"
"Of course I remember. Why do you think I decided to take the kids? We needed to keep the O'Neill's and their band of merry followers occupied."
Smiling, the man turned and entered the room where the two 3 year olds slept. After taking care of their father, which he enjoyed immensely, the children were a piece of cake. They should only need another few hours for their man on the inside to get all they needed. Then they had to get out of here without being caught. He hated having to work with the Russians but desperate times called for desperate measures. When he was contacted about this mission he was dubious. He went ahead with the meeting and was surprised. A faction of Russian government officials wanted to get their hands on some of the top level documents pertaining to the SGC. The felt that their government was way to trusting of the Americans. They thought that there was a lot of information not being passed on to them as was in the pact between their governments. How ironic that these same officials were now relying on Americans to get them what they wanted.
During the course of the initial meeting and subsequent planning he had decided to kidnap the O'Neill children. Their parents would be so focused on finding them that they wouldn't think to look in their own backyard for the real crime that was taking place. Their man one the inside was searching for the relevant files to be handed over to their Russian friends. He was also looking for the plans of any weapons or plans that could be sold on the black market. When SG1 had closed down their operation years before he had lost a lot of artifacts that he had intended to sell, therefore losing out on a lot of money. He deserved a huge payoff and this was his way of getting it. If the O'Neill's had to suffer, all the better. He'd been living the life of a fugitive for the last few years and now with the help of the Russians, he'd be able to recoup all his money with one good sale and move to a non-extradition country to live his life in style.
"Steven Palmer. He seems to have slipped into Colorado Springs about two months ago."
Pulling a photo out of the folder, Agent Barrett showed Sam and the others.
"We had him under surveillance but he gave our team the slip two weeks ago and since then he's stayed low."
"He looks familiar, who is he?"
"He should look familiar sir. He was Maybourne's lackey. We always thought he was involved in the rogue activities but we could never prove it. Before we could gather any solid evidence on him he disappeared. He remained off our radar until he showed up two months ago. The man in the picture with him is Yuri Slevanoc. A Russian businessman with ties to the government and the Russian Mob. It's our conclusion that Slevanoc was acting as a go between. We believe that he made the initial contact."
"OK, so we know who the players are at this end but who's holding the purse strings?"
"Daniel, I don't care!" picking up the photo, "This is the guy who has Jacob and Janet. He probably beat Jack up as well. Don't forget that Jack was instrumental in closing down Maybourne's team. If Palmer was in on it with Maybourne, he wants revenge. We have to find him."
Daniel looked at Davis for a long time before speaking.
"Can you figure out what it is they want?"
Nodding, Davis responded.
"I've already got my best men looking into it as we speak."
"Good, that leaves the four of us to look for the kids. We know that Palmer was in Colorado Springs so hopefully he and the kids are still here."
Barrett spoke, looking at Sam
"I have a full team with me. We're ready to assist in any way that you want."
"Can you trust these men?" Seeing him nod Sam continued "OK, thanks. We need all the help we can get."
"You better count me in as well."
Twisting around so fast that she nearly fell out of her chair, Sam let out a cry.
"Jack, what are you doing here? You should be in hospital. Cassie, what happened?"
Looking behind Jack, Daniel saw Cassie shrug.
"I tried Sam but you know what he's like."
"Sam, I can't stay in hospital. I need to find the kids. I'll rest when we get them back. I promise."
With that he gave Sam a kiss and sat down in her chair. Sam sat on the arm of the chair and started to fill him in on everything that had happened. Daniel walked Davis out. He had his word that as soon as he learned anything he would ring. Barrett also left to round up his team, to brief them on what was going to happen. Daniel waited on the porch until they had driven away. Slowly closing the door, he contemplated everything that had happened in the last 36 odd hours. Something didn't add up. The guys who had kidnapped the twins must have known there was no way in hell the Stargate would just be handed over. They were obviously after something else, but what? He walked into the kitchen to make some more coffee. George must have hade the same idea. He was already preparing a new pot. Daniel made his way out to the patio. He could hear Jack talking, well yelling actually. They should have known that he wouldn't stay in hospital. Injured or not he would want to or need to be looking for his kids.
"Screw procedure. I say we go in and shoot the bastards."
Whoa, Daniel thought as he entered the house and headed for the living room. Jack was reaching boiling point. Time to calm him down.
"Jack?"
When he didn't reply, Daniel put his hand on his friend's shoulder. When Jack turned to look at him Daniel continued.
"Jack, think for a minute. If we go in with guns blazing, the kids could get shot. You know that. We need to do this logically. Use our heads and not our hearts, and yes all our hearts are involved."
It took a moment for the words to sink in but when they did Jack looked around at his friends and saw them all nod their heads. Hell, he knew that they all loved the kids. Geez, Daniel, Teal'c and Cassie were their godparents. Jack slowly sat down nest to Sam. Instantly she wrapped her arms around him and held on tight. Whispering in his ear she said
"I should send you back to hospital but I need you here."