Chapter 9: Operation Bellerophon
The three men were silent on their journey down to Jack's office. Once inside, Jack shut the door and locked it, not wanting any uninvited interruptions.
As Daniel sat down in one of the leather chairs in front of Jack's desk, he prodded, "Okay, Jack. Are you ready to tell us what's going on?"
Jack walked behind his desk and sat down. He propped his elbows on his desk and ran his fingers roughly over his face in exasperation. "What's going on Daniel?" he repeated. "To put it in the simplest terms, I am Pete Shanahan."
"What?" Daniel exclaimed in shock. Teal'c, in turn, only raised his eyebrow in curiosity.
"I am Pete," Jack repeated and then continued, "Or at least I have been for about a year now."
Daniel looked at him skeptically, certain that this was just a very bad practical joke. "If you're Pete now and have been for a year, who was Pete before?"
Jack let out a frustrated groan. It had been a very long day and it was such a long and complicated story that Jack really didn't want to get into it right at that moment. But he knew Daniel would not let him put it off for one minute longer.
And so Jack tentatively began. "Well, that's a very long story. You see... about a year ago, Carter found out that someone from the Trust was impersonating Pete. It seems she discovered that he was using a modified mimic device in order to look and sound like Pete. When he found out that she was on to him, he tried to kill her."
Teal'c once again raised one eyebrow as he responded, "Such actions would be most unwise. Colonel Carter is a formidable warrior."
"Yes she is, Teal'c," Jack concurred. "And the guy, like so many before him, underestimated her and paid the price for it. Carter ended up killing the guy in self-defense and called me in a state of panic. I arrived at her house and took care of everything. To make a long story short, we eventually came up with a plan to use the situation to our benefit – to gather intel on the Trust."
Daniel nodded in understanding. "So you began using the mimic device to pose as 'Pete' in order to infiltrate the Trust?"
"Exactly," Jack replied. Jack hoped that the interrogation would end there. However, it was not to be.
It was clear from Daniel's expression that he was not a happy camper…and that he was not about to let Jack get off that easily. "Why didn't you tell us? We could have helped you."
Jack picked up a pen from his desk and began nervously fiddling with it. "I wanted to, Daniel, believe me. So did Carter. But we couldn't. After we found out about the possible threat posed by the Trust having these new modified mimic devices, we immediately informed Hammond and the President of the situation. They authorized what has become known as Operation Bellerophon. Since we had no idea who might be utilizing a mimic device to spy for the Trust, it was decided to keep the operation as need to know only. Carter and I were to be the only ones involved by order of the President himself."
Daniel's brow furrowed as he recalled something else that was bothering him about this whole scenario. "So for over a year, you and Sam have been pretending to be dating? Isn't that coming pretty close to crossing the line? I mean… you went so far as to pretend to marry each other. Aren't you breaking the regulations here?"
Jack looked down at his hands uncomfortably, not enjoying a single minute of Daniel's questioning. He took in a large breath of air as he resolved to reveal the whole truth, and nothing but the truth to his friends.
"Actually Daniel... we aren't pretending."
Both Daniel's and Teal'c's eyebrows shot up in astonishment at this news.
Jack tore his gaze away from the demanding stares of the two men, both waiting impatiently for an explanation.
After a brief moment, Jack obliged, embarrassed at having to talk so openly about his deepest feelings. "You two probably know… Carter and I have almost always had certain feelings for each other. In the past, we put our jobs first and kept whatever we felt hidden. But this operation required us to openly show those feelings. At first we were pretending that it was all just an act… a mission. Then as we got deeper into the operation, it suddenly occurred to both of us that we were no longer pretending… that we had never been pretending. Once we both realized this, I notified the President and Hammond immediately and basically told them that we could not continue on with the operation and still uphold the regulations."
Daniel face lit up with hope. "Did the President give you a special dispensation or something?"
Jack shook his head, a wry grin on his face. "No... I retired a few months ago... about a month after I was defrosted by Thor and promoted to Brigadier General. Actually, it was just after you three got stuck in Anubis's secret lab and Ba'al claimed that he had captured you. It was at that point that everything just seemed to be falling down around me. And all I knew was that I needed someone to be there for me… that I couldn't continue being 'the man' unless I could go home at the end of the day and be with Sam."
"You retired?" Daniel asked in disbelief.
"Yes, Daniel…off the record of course," Jack noted. "I have been running the SGC as a civilian ever since. Sam, in turn, now reports directly to Hammond so that there is no conflict of interest. It was the only way to continue running the SGC, complete the mission, and be with Sam."
"So... you and Sam..."
"...Are really married? Yes."
Daniel glared at his friend crossly. "Okay... now I am really mad that I wasn't invited to the wedding."
Jack merely smiled at Daniel's reaction. "Don't worry. Once Carter is all better and the operation is a success, I will publicly announce that I am a retired member of the military. Then Carter and I can have another wedding that you guys can come to."
Daniel sat back in his chair, contemplating all of the repercussions of what he had just learned. "So… all this while, you two have been digging up intel on the Trust." His face lit up as he realized something. "No wonder Sam always seemed to know so much about them. She implied that she had gotten inside info from Agent Barrett at the NID. I guess you were her real source."
"Guilty as charged," Jack admitted. "But we haven't been able to get the kind of information we really need to bring them down yet. The only person I have ever met with is a guy named Jennings."
Daniel nodded knowingly. "He's the guy that wanted me to translate those access codes from Ancient into Goa'uld when Teal'c was being accused of murder."
"The very same," Jack conceded. "I knew he was up to something at the time, but he never entrusted his plans to me. It seems the guy originally posing as Pete was just there to provide any inside info that he could glean."
"Like what?"
"Well, he was the one that told the Trust about Osiris being captured and how she used an Asgard beam to get to and from her ship."
"So with that information, they paid off the scientist at Area 51 to help them get access to it," Daniel noted.
"And used it to steal the Stargate," Teal'c surmised.
"You betcha. Unfortunately, it seems the guy posing as Pete was not very high up in the organization. Jennings never really entrusted me with much information. He never let me in on what their plans were concerning the Gate. If he had, I might have been able to do something about the whole situation with you being blackmailed into translating those codes and Teal'c's neighbor being kidnapped. Hell, I could've done something about the Gate being stolen in the first place."
"If you weren't acquiring much information, then why did you continue with the operation, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.
"For one thing, we're pretty sure they also had plans in store for Carter. We believe they probably were waiting for an opportune moment to kidnap her and scan her to make another mimic device. One of their ultimate goals was most likely to get someone posing as her inside the SGC. That was where 'Pete' came in. He was supposed to take her away on a honeymoon…"
Daniel interrupted, "…where Jennings and the others would be waiting to kidnap her."
Jack had a haunted look in his eyes as he simply replied, "Yeah."
He paused briefly before adding, "There was also always the hope that I would learn just a bit more – possibly who the leaders in the organization were, who their agents at Area 51, the NID, and possibly the SGC were. There's still that hope. The operation is ongoing as we speak. I have a meeting scheduled with Jennings in a couple of weeks actually."
Daniel stopped him, suddenly becoming a bit troubled. "Wait a minute Jack. If that guy that Sam killed wasn't Pete, what happened to the real Pete? Did the Trust have him killed to get him out of the way?"
A dark expression clouded Jack's face as he explained, "Actually, Daniel, we never met the real Pete Shanahan. Former Detective Peter Shanahan currently resides at Brookfield Mental Rehabilitation Center in beautiful San Bernadino, California. A couple of years ago, he went nuts when he found out his wife was leaving him... for his partner."
"Wow...that's rough." Daniel grimaced.
"Yeah… it gets better. His partner was a woman. It was enough to cause him to flip out. One night, he followed them to the partner's place and proceeded to physically attack his wife and pull a gun on his partner. Fortunately, no one was killed. But he's been in the loony bin ever since."
"How did the Trust discover this information, O'Neill?" Teal'c inquired.
"Good question... It seems that Shanahan's psychiatrist just happened to have been on the NID payroll at one time," Jack explained. "Pete had been seeing the guy for a while to deal with his marital problems before he went over the edge. In that time, the shrink discovered that Mark Carter was his old college roommate and then he found out that Mark was Carter's brother. He had been keeping tabs on Pete for the Trust for a few months before Shanahan went nuts."
"And of course, that provided them with the opportunity they were looking for," Daniel added, gradually beginning to grasp what had occurred.
Jack continued, "Once Pete was admitted to Brookfield, the doctor just changed the name on the records. So… Peter Shanahan now goes by the name of Joe Manning, although he still insists his name is Pete Shanahan. Everyone there just thinks he's delusional… which of course he is… just not about that."
"But why did the SGC security check not show evidence of Pete Shanahan's mental instability?" Teal'c asked.
"That's exactly what I wondered when I found out, Teal'c," Jack remarked. "I eventually learned that the Trust scrubbed Shanahan's police and medical records – they swiped the whole incident away in fact. The only thing that was left in the records was his divorce."
"Why did they go to so much trouble?" Daniel asked in curiosity.
Jack shrugged, uncertain of how to answer. "A lot of it was just coincidental. When Pete's little psychotic episode happened, they saw it as a good opportunity to replace Pete and get one of their agents close to Carter. The shrink must have arranged for someone from the Trust to scan Shanahan to create the mimic image to download into the device. Their agent, posing as Pete, called Mark Carter and told him that he had just moved to Denver after a bitter divorce and had started a new job at the Denver PD. It was only a matter of time before Mark played matchmaker."
"How did you ascertain this information, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.
"I got an update on Shanahan from Jennings one day. He mentioned Brookfield, and from there it was easy to find out what had really happened. I went out to California and found Shanahan still living safely at Brookfield, suffering from severe delusions and on heavy medication."
"So... Sam never dated Pete Shanahan?" Daniel wondered.
Jack grunted, obviously still angry and upset about what had been done to Sam. "She's never even met the guy, Daniel. In some ways, it was a relief to her – to know that the Trust hadn't been holding him hostage, or worse… killed him. On the other hand, she was completely freaked out by the fact that she had been dating that Trust goon for over a month. I tell you, that guy was lucky Sam got to him first. If he had still been alive when I got there, I would have made his death very long and painful."
Daniel looked at Jack in concern, hoping his worst fears were not actually true. "What exactly did the guy do to Sam?"
Jack realized what Daniel was asking and replied, "Nothing like that, Daniel. It's just… the bastard made her trust him. She opened her heart to him and all the while he was lying to her… using her. And then when he found out she was on to him, he attacked her. The asshole could have killed her if she hadn't been thinking on her toes. Luckily, the only physical damage he left were some pretty nasty bruises." Jack was still seething at the memory of what Sam had been through.
Daniel was still filled with unanswered questions. His friends had been living a double life for almost a year now and he had never even suspected anything. He was intrigued by this operation and how something so unexpected had finally brought his two friends together.
A bewildered expression crossed Daniel's features. "Wait a minute, Jack. What happened while you were frozen in Antarctica all those months? You couldn't have kept up the operation during that time…"
Jack smiled at his friend's astuteness. It was amusing to watch the questions unravel in the archaeologist's mind. Whereas Teal'c trusted and accepted all the information O'Neill offered, Daniel would not let the subject go until he was satisfied. Daniel never was one for blind acceptance – he had to uncover every detail…every doubt had to be put to rest.
"I didn't," Jack replied matter-of-factly. "Carter took care of everything while I was gone. She used the mimic device to pose as 'Pete' and met with Jennings once - just to let him know that the SGC was shut down for the time being and that no new information would be forthcoming. Jennings didn't contact me again until a couple of months after I was defrosted. It was at that meeting that he basically instructed me to propose to Sam."
Daniel let out a long sigh before a huge smile appeared on his face. "I can't believe it… you're really married to Sam! No wonder she was so happy about it when I grilled her for information. I always knew that she couldn't have been that happy over marrying Pete."
"Yeah…" Jack acknowledged, remembering how happy both he and Sam had been after their marriage.
Trying to bring the conversation to a close, he stared at his two friends with a serious look on his face. "Listen…you two need to keep all of this to yourselves. The operation isn't over yet. Jennings and the other members of the Trust are still out there and they still have an Al'kesh… they'll be back. Jennings wouldn't have set up a meeting with me if they weren't still planning something big. And it looks like it's up to me to find out what that plan is."
"If you need any help, Jack…all you have to do is ask," Daniel offered.
"Indeed," Teal'c added for good measure.
"Thanks, Daniel…T... I could probably use you guys when I go to meet Jennings in a couple of weeks. Sam is usually my back up…but she's in no position to help this time. For the time being, I'm going to focus on Sam and be there for her while she recovers. She needs me now. But…I'll let you know when the time comes."
TBC