Chapter 13: Day of Reckoning
One month later (During 'Full Alert')
Jack rushed home from the grocery store, quietly humming along with the radio as he drove. He was determined to get the steaks on the grill before Sam got home. After all, the whole reason he had left the SGC a couple of hours early was to get everything in order to surprise her.
A couple of days before, he and SG-1 had returned from Harry Maybourne's planet and Jack wanted to do something nice to mark Sam's return to full active duty. The mission had been her first one off world as the rightful leader of SG-1 since being injured off world months before, and as it turned out it had also been his first trip off world in over a year. He had fully enjoyed once again going out on a mission with his old team, no matter how annoying Harry Maybourne could be.
And there was something more to celebrate - the mission had been an overwhelming success. With the aid of SG-1, the people of Maybourne's planet had been able to defeat the Goa'uld, the SGC had acquired a very nice piece of new technology in the form of a really cool Ancient time ship, and Jack noted that Sam had most definitely got her mojo back.
In the previous few weeks, she had constantly been doubting her decision-making skills and abilities. This last mission merely confirmed that she was an able and talented commander and Jack could sense her confidence slowly returning as the mission progressed.
Jack pulled his truck into his driveway and promptly got out and went to retrieve the provisions he had bought at the store. As he grabbed the cases of beer and the bag of groceries, he worried to himself that Sam probably wouldn't be all that impressed with the two cases of beer. Even though she often partook of the occasional beer herself, she certainly would think a couple of cases to be excessive.
Then he smiled as he thought 'but she will absolutely love the steaks and cheesecake I bought.' And he really had a good reason for the beer – it was his turn this week to bring the beer to his Friday night poker game with the guys. Surely the fact that he wasn't planning on drinking it all himself would be good enough to alleviate his wife's disapproval.
With both arms full, he jogged up his front steps and approached the front door. He abruptly stopped in his tracks when he noticed that the door was slightly ajar. Carefully putting down the groceries, he reached behind his back and pulled out the handgun that was tucked safely in the waistband of his pants. He cautiously entered the house, aware that the intruder was probably still there...and was just waiting for him to arrive home.
As Jack crept slowly into his living room, he groaned in irritation as he discovered the identity of his intruder. It was none other than ex-Vice President Robert Kinsey – one his least favorite people in the entire universe. Not to mention, the man actually had the nerve to be drinking Jack's best bottle of Scotch.
Kinsey turned around and faced Jack with a shrug. "Bad news…you're out of Scotch." The politician then poured what was left of the bottle into the crystal tumbler he was holding in his hand.
Jack directed a look of annoyance in Kinsey's direction as the other man took a seat in the leather chair in the corner.
"Well, if I'd known you were coming, I'd have hidden the good stuff," Jack scoffed, a threatening tone to his voice.
It took several minutes for Kinsey to convince Jack to not call the police on him. They had then settled in for a long, yet somewhat acrimonious, conversation about the Trust. For the next thirty minutes, Kinsey told Jack about his recent contact with the Trust and what they had asked him to do.
Afterwards, to ensure the ex-politician's safety, Jack insisted that Kinsey stay at the SGC until a plan to deal with the Trust was worked out. Before the two men left for Cheyenne Mountain, Jack slipped into his bedroom to make a single call on his cell phone.
"Hey Sam…." he began after she answered the phone in her lab.
Sam could immediately tell something was the matter by the hesitant and slightly apologetic tone of his voice. "Jack…what's wrong?"
Jack sighed in frustration. "Don't bother coming over after you get off. Something's come up. I'm heading back to the SGC…and I'm bringing a guest."
"Who?"
"I don't want to talk about it over the phone. Just get Teal'c and Daniel and meet me in the briefing room in about an hour."
"Yes sir," Sam responded teasingly before hanging up.
"D'oh…!" Jack cursed as he stuffed his cell phone back in his pocket. "So much for a romantic evening for two."
An hour later, Jack arrived at the SGC with Kinsey in tow. Jack immediately headed up to the briefing room, while two SFs escorted Kinsey to a holding room to keep him safe and sound for the time being. Awaiting Jack patiently in the briefing room were Sam, Teal'c, and Daniel.
"Hey kids…sorry about keeping you all here this late," Jack announced as he strode into the room and took a seat at the head of the table. "I know some of you had plans for this evening," he added as he looked affectionately at Sam, silently conveying a sincere apology to her. "But...something's come up."
The three members of SG-1 looked at each other in curiosity, each wondering what could be so important as to drag Jack back to the SGC at this hour.
"What's going on, Jack?" Daniel asked.
Jack folded his hands in front of him as he related the whole story to them. "I went home early this afternoon only to find someone had broken into my house."
Sam looked up at him in surprise. "A burglar?" she inquired. "Did they take anything important, sir?"
"It wasn't a burglar, Carter. It was much worse…it was Kinsey."
Daniel looked perplexed. "What would Kinsey be doing at your house?"
Jack sighed and ran his hands roughly through his unkempt hair. "Well…it seems he was recently approached by his old friends at the Trust to do something for them."
"Did the Trust not sever all ties with Kinsey after he was forced to resign as Vice President?" Teal'c asked.
Jack nodded and replied, "Indeed they did."
Teal'c tilted his head in amusement at Jack choice of words before continuing his inquiry. "What then could the Trust possibly want from Kinsey?"
"Well, Teal'c…it seems that they asked him to set up a meeting with General Miraslov Kiselev."
Daniel's eyebrows shot up and he immediately jumped in and interrupted, "The Russian Defense Minister?"
"The one and the same."
Daniel looked at Jack, his brow furrowed in concern. "What do you think they're up to now?"
"Kinsey seems to think they're trying to turn the Russians against us."
Daniel huffed and brought up an obvious point. "Well, that would be a problem. Technically the Gate's only here on loan. If the Russians decide they want it back, things could get sticky."
"Is it possible Kinsey is simply lying?" Teal'c posed.
Jack tapped his fingers restlessly on the briefing room table. "That is always possible."
Sam, who had just been listening to the exchange taking place, finally spoke to offer up another question. "Has he asked for anything in return for the information?"
"Protection," Jack answered simply.
"Makes sense - if he doesn't co-operate, the Trust will kill him," Daniel pointed out.
"Maybe he should cooperate," Sam suggested. "This could be our chance to get somebody on the inside - infiltrate the organization."
"Jack…" Daniel began, "You did say that there was something a little odd about Jennings the last couple of times you met with him. That he had changed somehow."
Jack nodded. "Kinsey also noted that there seems to have been a change in attitude in the organization. He thinks the Trust is now going forward with their plans in a more overtly aggressive manner."
Sam stared at Jack, a worried look on her face. "Do you think there's a connection between the two factors?"
"Could be the Trust is under new management," Jack surmised. "That might explain why Jennings' attitude has been different in the past couple of months."
The people around the table were silent, each deep in thought.
Daniel then broke the silence. "Well, if we want to find out what's been going on with the Trust…like Sam said, we sure could use someone like Kinsey on the inside."
"The question is…can we trust Kinsey?" Sam asked tentatively.
"It appears we may have to," Teal'c concluded.
Their objective to get Kinsey on the inside with the Trust failed miserably. Kinsey had vanished, the members of the Trust were gone, and there was still no way to know what they were up to. It seemed that the Trust had once again just slipped through SG-1's fingers. As Sam had noted, it was getting to be a habit. The only thing the SGC could do now was to look for the Alkesh the Trust was using and hope they found it in time.
Teal'c was already aboard the Prometheus and the crew was busily scanning for the Alkesh using a new detection program that Sam had developed in record time. Daniel would be arriving in Moscow at any minute to see what the Russians were up to, and Jack and Sam were currently holding down the fort at the SGC.
The United States government was at Defcon 3 and it looked as though tensions between Russia and the U.S. would only continue to escalate.
A few hours later came the dreaded news: Russia was targeting the U.S. because they believed the American government had been infiltrated by the Goa'uld. And the Russians had practically irrefutable proof - ex-Vice President Robert Kinsey had earlier that very week tried to assassinate the Russian Defense Minister, General Kiselev. And worse still…Kinsey was a Goa'uld.
Once this bit of information was revealed, Jack met with Colonel Chekov and Sam in the command center that had been set up at the SGC. During the meeting, Carter hypothesized that the Trust agents that had earlier tried to steal the Stargate had most likely been captured by the Goa'uld and implanted after journeying deep into Goa'uld territory.
After the Trust's mission to steal the Stargate and launch symbiote poison on Goa'uld occupied worlds failed, the agents had ventured outside of the solar system to launch a couple of more direct attacks from their Alkesh. Soon after these two attacks, Sam surmised, they had probably been captured and implanted by the Goa'uld. The now-infested Trust agents had then come back to Earth to most likely begin implanting the members of the Trust with symbiotes. In implanting Kinsey, their ultimate goal had probably been to infiltrate the higher echelon of the Russian military and government.
After their talk with Chekov, Sam and Jack made their way to her lab to talk in private. As they both sat down on either side of her lab table, Sam looked at Jack, worry etched on face.
"You know what this means, Jack?"
Jack nodded sternly. "That the Trust is now controlled by the Goa'uld and have been for months…that their plan in Florida was to get me to lure you down there so they could implant you with a symbiote…and that they wanted you to come back to the SGC afterwards to act as their spy."
There was a grave pause before he continued, "Not to mention that from there, they could have practically taken over the entire SGC. If they had succeeded, it would also have been undeniable proof to the Russians that the SGC had been compromised. But…. why you? Surely, they could have gotten to someone else more accessible and less visible…someone lower down the food chain?"
Sam thought to herself and soon came up with a probable answer. "They probably wanted to implant me first because I can sense the presence of naquada. If their ultimate goal was to take over the SGC, they would have had to start with me or they would have quickly been found out," Sam hypothesized. "There's one thing that's bothering me though."
"What's that?" Jack asked.
Sam's brow furrowed as she explained, "Agent Monroe… He came into our hotel room in Florida. He grabbed me…he was as close to me as another person could get. And yet, I never sensed the presence of a symbiote. If the Trust had already been infiltrated by the Goa'uld, wouldn't he have already been implanted?"
"Not necessarily," Jack countered. "Maybe he didn't know that he was working for a bunch of snakeheads…or maybe he didn't care. Those guys that work for the Trust are not known for their shining sense of morality. He could've been willing to go along with the plan for the right price."
Sam shook her head vigorously. "I don't think so, Jack. The Trust may use immoral methods, but their goal has always been to protect Earth from the Goa'uld." She paused and then added, "Monroe had to have known what Jennings had in store for me. He must have known that a similar fate awaited him… even if they were paying him well."
Jack tilted his head in curiosity. "What's going on in that head of yours?"
"Jack…" she started hesitantly, almost afraid of the very thoughts she was contemplating. "What if he did have a symbiote? What if I just couldn't sense it?"
"Is that even possible?" Jack looked at her skeptically.
"Remember…over a year ago, when we went to Kelowna to help out Jonas and his people?"
Jack groaned at the memory. "Do I remember…? How could I forget? I was stuck here dealing with the negotiations. I cannot express how glad I am that we haven't heard anything from those Langarans since then. They gave me a huge headache."
Sam laughed softly and shook her head at Jack's response. "Anyways…Jonas was working with another scientist named Kyanna."
"Yeah…she turned out to be a Goa'uld, right?"
"Yes," Sam acknowledged. "She was one of Ba'al's agents. The point is…she was using a drug to mask the presence of her symbiote. I couldn't sense that she was a Goa'uld. Later, I took a sample of the drug back to the SGC for testing. The medical staff conducted tests on it and we've had a sample of it in the labs here ever since."
"You think Monroe was using this drug?" Jack inquired.
"It could be," she admitted, before staring out into space, deep in thought. "But how did he get the drug? It was developed by Ba'al's scientists. And Daniel told me earlier that he doesn't think Ba'al is behind all of this…something about him being too busy trying to conquer all of the other System Lords. The other major Goa'uld, at least as far as we know, don't have access to the drug. And Ba'al certainly wouldn't share it with another Goa'uld."
"No, he wouldn't," Jack admitted. "So how did the Trust get it? From Area 51?"
Sam shook her head slightly. "No…we never sent a sample there. Since the original sample was so small, it remained at the SGC for study and has remained here ever since."
Jack stared at Sam, a determined look in his eyes. "I'm willing to bet that whoever last handled the drug sample is our mole. What do you think, Carter?"
"That would be a very good possibility," she answered.
"So…we need to find out who has access to the sample and if any is missing."
Sam nodded firmly. "I'm already on it, sir."
Fortunately, the situation between Russia and the United States ended with a whimper instead of a bang. After faxing the evidence that the SGC had collected to him, the Russian president had been convinced that General Kiselev was indeed a Goa'uld who had been trying to get the two superpowers to blow each other to hell. President Mikhailov had called back the fighter planes and ordered his people to close the doors of the nuclear missile silos. Russia had backed down and mutually assured destruction had been averted.
The debriefing at the SGC the next day yielded a wealth of information. Daniel and Teal'c reviewed what had happened aboard the Prometheus. The Trust's Alkesh had been completely destroyed, apparently with the key members of the Trust and Kinsey aboard. The Trust would clearly not be a threat in the near future.
Colonel Chekov, after getting in contact with President Mikhailov, reported on what was going on in his home country. General Kiselev and his closest advisors and supporters had been restrained and locked up for questioning. As they had feared, the Russian general was a Goa'uld. His ultimate plan had been to set off a nuclear war between Russia and the United States and then to beam up to the Alkesh before all hell broke loose.
Unfortunately for him, the Trust's Alkesh had been destroyed before he even had the chance to escape. Chekov hoped that his government would be able to find out more after interrogating the Goa'uld in Kiselev. The Russians were also going through the process of screening all those men and women who had been loyal to Kiselev over the years, in case any others had been implanted with Goa'uld. It would be a long process, but it would hopefully weed out all of the remaining Goa'uld in the Russian government and military.
It was also clear to all in the room that elements of the Trust might still be on Earth – many of which might be Goa'uld. It would take a little more legwork to round up the remaining members of the organization, but with the leaders of the organization now presumed dead, the Trust would hopefully no longer be a major threat to the SGC or the world.
After the debriefing was over, Jack and Sam were left alone in the briefing room. They sat beside each other, matching smiles of relief on their faces. It appeared that their hard work had finally paid off. Operation Bellerophon was now finally over. At least for the most part…
There was still the matter of the Trust mole who was most likely still operating within the walls of the SGC.