YESTERDAY.
by Lingren.
Italics...indicate the internal conversation between the host and his Tok'ra symbiote.
Previously:
Miller turned away and yelled for Jack's aide.
Chapter 11
The man came hurrying into the room,dropping down by his saviour's side, a band-aid was now slapped across his bruised and bloody nose.
Kanan backed off, and roused Jack, telling him this was it and that he would help give him just enough strength to make it look real.
Jack reached out a shaky hand to lay it on Adam's arm. The younger man latched onto it immediately.
"Adam!" Jack's voice was weak and barely audible.
Adam bent low over his friend and pleaded with his eyes for Ryan to hold on, but deep down he knew it was a hopeless prayer.
"Thanks... It was...a pleasure...my privilege...to know...you," each word Ryan spoke was dragged out and more difficult to utter than the last.
"Mr. Ryan..." Adam started, but Jack had already gasped his last breath and as his head fell to one side, Adam felt the hand that was holding his, slacken and fall limp in his grasp.
"Nooooo!" he cried in anguish, looking up into Miller's eyes. "Please! No!"
Adam wasn't ashamed to shed his tears, and he allowed them to fall now. His guardian had left him; he was all alone again.
Edward Miller bowed and shook his head and silently said goodbye to John Ryan and with all his heart, he hoped that Kanan could work his miracle and sustain Jack until he could return as himself. All he had to do now was complete the paperwork and notify General Hammond.
He stood up awkwardly, his aging body aching with loss, and stepped round the lifeless body to pull Adam into a hug. He held onto the sobbing man as the door burst open again and the guards all stood there dumbfounded at hearing Adam's distress.
Miller glanced their way and shook his head. John Ryan was dead. He'd died of a stab wound at... Edward glanced up at the clock and solemnly noted the time... 12:36hrs.
OoOoOoOoO
THE NEXT DAY.
General Hammond picked up the ringing phone from off the desk in his office.
"Hammond!" he barked into the receiver.
"General Hammond. It's Teddy Miller. Doctor Edward Miller, Mr. Ryan's personal physician. In accordance with my patient's wishes, it is my painful duty to inform you, that he, John Ryan, died yesterday afternoon. According to his Will, you are to arrange his funeral as per your discussion last month?"
General Hammond sucked in a deep breath and willed Kanan to keep Jack from dying in reality, until they could get him to a safe place off-world where he could be revived.
"Dr. Miller, I am very sorry to hear your news and of course I will see to it that Mr. Ryan has his last wishes carried out. Thank you for informing me of your client's demise. If at all possible, I would like to discuss the arrangements with you and Adam as soon as possible. Would you both be available...say, the day after tomorrow at 10:00hrs?"
"I am sure that can be arranged General. Thank you."
"Good. I will send a car to collect you both from the hotel. I look forward to meeting with you. Please send my condolences to Adam."
"I will. Thank you."
Hammond replaced the phone and sat pondering over the news. He couldn't say anything over the phone of course; he'd had to make it sound formal in case the phones in the Doctor's office, or wherever he was, were bugged.
He pressed the intercom.
"Sir?" his aide's voice echoed through the speaker.
"Get me SG-1!"
"Yes sir!"
George sat back in his chair and waited; he locked his fingers together and rested them over his ample midriff. He wondered whether Jack could pull this off, or if it would be too much for his symbiote to cope with. He'd heard about the stabbing of course. The media had covered the news in all the papers, TV and radio.
The media had all speculated on the big question as to why John Ryan was murdered, but no-one had any answers. It was deemed a sudden meaningless and unprovoked attack on a man who had spent his life doing good deeds according to the press reports. Naturally, anything that Ryan had been involved with, right from winning his first million to the unknown amounts of money that had disappeared without trace into the Government's coffers, was fair game for investigation by those wishing to unearth some dirt.
George Hammond knew where those missing millions had gone. Without them, Stargate Command wouldn't exist, and no-one but the Appropriations committee and the President knew about that, and that was how it should be. Of course, it wouldn't stop the media from speculating. Rumours were rife about private funding into all sorts of secrets that were withheld from the public and Ryan it seemed was into everything from Chemical warfare to Space technology. These conjectures were ignored; neither denied nor confirmed which only accentuated their secrecy.
Hammond was startled from his reverie when the knock on the door came. He looked up and beckoned in SG-1.
"Come in people, take a seat."
They had already been warned not to mention any connection with Ryan apart from the fact that they had met him a few weeks ago at his request. No-one save the General and SG-1 had any knowledge about his wish to be buried on a distant planet.
They had all seen the news. The coverage on the cold-blooded murder of such an esteemed and mysterious personage as John Ryan was extensive and far-reaching. They could hardly avoid it. Moreover, every member of SG-1 knew what it had meant, though they were worried sick about the possible outcome. Jack had told them, that Ryan would suffer a heart attack but this, this stabbing was totally unexpected. Was he really dead or was Kanan still keeping him alive despite the odds? They wouldn't know the truth until Dr. Miller could fill them in.
"I am sure you are all aware of the news concerning John Ryan?" Hammond asked, knowing full well they were, but he had to be seen to assume they were ignorant of his proposal. He continued after they had all agreed. "It was discussed after his visit that he wished to be buried on a remote planet and that SG-1 would act as pallbearers and burial party. I have already designated a distant planet, one that is devoid of any inhabitants and isn't on the Abydos cartouche, so therefore hasn't, to our knowledge, been visited by the Goa'uld. His body should be arriving in a few days. You should prepare yourselves for this. Full Military dress will be worn and respects paid at a small ceremony in the gate room before we remove him to his final resting place. I will of course be present during the burial as well."
"Yes sir!" Sam answered, seeking reassurance from him as to whether or not he knew if Jack had survived the attack. "Is there any..."
"I have no further news at this point, Major. I am expecting Adam and Dr. Miller the day after tomorrow at 10:00 hrs though, so I may know some more details then," he informed them, covering his message to them as subtly as possible, meaning that he didn't know anything more at this point in time.
OoOoOoOoO
TWO DAYS LATER.
"Why am I here?" Adam asked Edward Miller as they stood patiently in the elevator that was dropping down to the 26th floor below Cheyenne Mountain entrance.
"Because General Hammond wants to finalise the funeral arrangements for Mr. Ryan," Teddy explained, though not very specifically, because their escort was an unknown SF.
"Yes, that's all very well; but why am I here. I know nothing of Mr. Ryan's last wishes."
"I know that Adam. Please, be patient. I really don't know any more than you do at this point. Apparently Mr. Ryan had arranged all this with the General when you visited a while ago."
"It must have been when I left the room then, because he never mentioned anything to me. Not even afterwards," Adam sighed sadly. Yet again, Mr. Ryan had kept more secrets from him. The man had been a complete enigma.
"I think it was most likely that Mr. Ryan wasn't expecting to die any time just yet," Edward sighed. He missed his friend very much, and would do so in the future, knowing Jack wouldn't be able to contact him for fear of being recognised. How do you explain the firm companionship that existed with an apparent complete stranger? Especially one who looked so startlingly familiar. There was no way round it. His friend had died, and he would have to live with that.
The doors opened and Sam was there to meet them. Adam remembered her and smiled in greeting.
"Major Carter! How are you? Good to see you again." Adam shook her hand warmly.
Sam liked the man. Anyone that held such a fondness for his employer such as Adam had for Jack was okay in her book.
"This is Dr. Edward Miller. Mr. Ryan's personal physician when he was...alive," Adam's voice dropped to a whispered croak and Sam realised just how upset he was over Ryan's death.
"How do you do?" Miller responded by reaching out to shake her hand too.
"Hello Doctor. Would you come this way please? The General is waiting for you."
Sam led the way into the briefing room, then into the General's office, shutting the door behind her.
TBC
Many thanks of course to all of you who reviewed the last chapter. I really do appreciate all your comments. I'm glad you are all still enjoying this.