As promised, the three young men got to sleep in later than they usually did, Ferretti's wife waking them just a little after 8 before heading off to the kitchen to fry them up bacon and pancakes for breakfast. They each helped out in the kitchen as they took turns in the bath to shave and wash up.
Heasley was coming out of the bath and the other two were setting the table for breakfast when Ferretti called them into the living room and showed them the massive, but healed wound on the back of his leg, a huge burn scar that left his tendon short and prevented him from taking a full step. "Doc Fraiser was sure I was going to lose the leg when I was brought in with this, but she did her damnest to save it, and was as surprised as everyone else when she succeeded."
"Looks like you had a close encounter with a flame thrower or something like it," Morgan commented, curious, kneeling to get a better look at the scarring. "But the damage is so… localized."
"Yah, that's what gets most people when they do see it," Ferretti agreed, smiling, but didn't offer any further information. "You'll have a chance to see what caused that damage later, and you better pray you're not going to end up in front of one yourself."
"You're serious about this job being more dangerous than what those other guys are going to be facing in Iraq?" Heasley asked, watching him as he sat down and eased the leg of his pants back down over the mutilated leg. "And why are they so interested in the three of us to begin with?"
"Oh, yeah, much more dangerous. As for why… Well, you, for starters, are a linguist and archeologist, as well as a good soldier. You can get along with civilians, and you're a history buff. Your geology background is a bonus in the job, they're always looking for more them for the teams. Carlson, you know how to handle just about any explosive known to the US military, and you've been heard to complain about not having anything challenging to play with. That's going to change, you're going to love playing with Major Carter's toys. Morgan, you're another history buff, especially when it comes to ancient Middle Eastern history, and that's something that they really need as well. You don't have Heasley's experience as an archeologist, but that's not necessarily something they're looking for. It's a bonus, but not something you have to have."
"Since when is the military so interested in archeologists? I thought they brought in consultants when something came up in that field?" Heasley questioned, pulling on his socks and reaching for his boots as he sat down on the couch. "No one's ever shown any interest in that part of my schooling."
"Wasn't brought to the attention of the right people is all. Ever heard of Dr Daniel Jackson?"
Heasley looked up from lacing his boot. "Oh, yeah… Made some claims about the age of the pyramids being incorrect, that they could be thousands of years older than archeologists believe. Some people have said that he thinks they were made my men from Atlantis, or even Martians, but that's just bad reporting. Everything I've heard from my friend Teresa says that he never said that at all."
"He didn't," Ferretti assured him. "What have you heard of him lately?"
"He hasn't been heard from on a professional level for eight or nine years that I know of. He disappeared right after that lecture about the pyramids and no one has heard from him since."
Ferretti smiled. "He's been working as a civilian consultant for the Air Force at Cheyenne Mountain for the last seven years or so. Let's just say, he's going to be your boss."
Heasley considered this as he finished tying off the second boot, and grinned. "He's suppose to be a really nice guy, that could be a perk," he admitted cheerfully.
"That it could be. Carlson, what's bugging you?" Ferretti asked, noting the man's frown and thoughtful look.
"Why me?" the young man questioned, his voice rising a bit as he mentally tried to put the pieces together. "Explosive experts are a dime a dozen in the military, so why single me out? There's a half dozen guys in the group going over that are as good as I am."
Ferretti's smile turned to a full grin. He knew Carlson was a smart one, and he was proving it with that question. He could see all three of them were thinking over every word that he was saying, and knew there was going to be a lot more questions later on. "Number one, you know when to keep your mouth shut. Number two, your hobby, of all things."
Carlson blinked, his confusion growing. "Ancient weapons?" he asked. "You picked me because I'd rather use a bow than a gun?"
"And who cannot only give the history of every ancient weapon in the history museum over in LA, but knows how to use most of them. Believe it or not, that's the main thing that got you picked out for the job. It's a skill no one else has at the mountain, and it's one that's been desperately needed in the past."
"What does using a sling, sword or atlatl have to do with working for the Air Force?" Carlson asked.
"That's something you'll have to wait to find out. Disclosure time will explain a lot," Ferretti assured them.
"This doesn't sound like any sort of posting I've ever heard of," Carlson told him.
"It isn't, believe me. The place you're going, they're actually going to expect you boys to think on your own and question what you see. Not asking questions and taking things at face value is a damn good way to get yourself killed," he warned them, noticing that his wife was putting platters on the table. "Now, you boys go tuck into that food the missus has finished up, while I go finish getting dressed and packed to get out of here. Seems the General was serious about wanting me off the base, and the Pentagon has already decided to send me back to the mountain to take over field training there."
"Bet your wife isn't happy about that," Heasley murmured.
"Actually, we got a house there already, so she's delighted, though we'll have some work to do before we can move back in. Been renting the place out, and it sounds like the last tenants weren't the best pick," Ferretti admitted, rising and heading off to get ready to go.
They had just finished eating and helped to clean up when the call came that their ride was just entering the base. Since two vans of personnel were just arriving out front, and a large moving van was coming in after them, it was pretty easy to guess what was going on. Ferretti smiled when he saw who was getting out of the first van. "Satterfield, good to see you're still with the program," he told the young woman, with a cheerful grin. She had joined the SGC right out of the Academy as he'd been recovering from his injuries, and he remembered her kind and cheerful manner in dealing with people. Not to mention the crush she'd had on Daniel Jackson... "They sent you to pick us up?"
"Nope, I was sent to help your missus while we pack your house up," came the reply as a group of big, burley marines joined her along with the usual moving crew. He grinned as he recognized them as his former team, and nodded a greeting while Satterfield continued to explain what was going on. "Lieutenant Colonel Davis should be at the General's office by now, and then he'll be heading this way to pick you all up." Her look sobered, the cheery look fading away, and she stepped up close to him and lowered her voice so just he could hear her. "I think I better tell you this now; we lost Dr Jackson this morning. Heart attack, there was nothing they could do. The guard on his room turned out to be an assassin and he delayed them enough so that by the time they knew there was a problem, it was too late."
"Oh, damn it all to hell," Ferretti swore, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "That guy just never seemed to get a break. Not news I wanted to hear, but better now than later, you're right about that… They get the bastard?"
"Yeah, the doctor helping Dr Fraiser with Daniel took him down, and they got him locked up for questioning," she assured him.
"That's good," he sighed "When's the funeral? I'd like to be there if possible…"
She shook her head. "There's no way to get back there in time," she told him, wiping at her own eyes and giving a sniff. "We were already on the road when we got the word, and the funeral could possibly be over by now. They heard that someone was going to try to seize his body for scientific study because of what happened to him… He died, disappeared and returned, and the guys at 51 want to know if he changed at all doing that. It's the NID, as usual, and the Colonel and the General want to make damn sure they don't get their hands on him."
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Wearing his full dress uniform, O'Neill watched the work crew Siler was directing put together the wooden frame that would hold Daniel's coffin in the path of the exploding 'kawoosh' effect of the engaging Stargate. It was highly fitting, everyone thought, that the gate he had helped to open would offer Daniel's body its final resting place. Anything caught in the effect was disintegrated completely, and it would ensure that his remains wouldn't be dug up or seized for study, something they'd already been warned was in the works. So far, the order hadn't come through, and they hoped they'd gotten enough of a jump on things to take care of this before the order did arrive.
At this point, in fact, it was unclear how the NID and the Pentagon had even found out what had happened. The speed in which they had learned about Daniel's death was alarming, and hinted that various groups still had agents inside the SGC they hadn't found yet. Either that, or Davis' phone wasn't as secure as he thought it was.
Then again, tapping Carter's cell phone was probably even easier than tapping Davis' would be, he mused, and wondered if he'd inadvertently given things away himself. Well, he'd put Carter to work on that as soon as the funeral was done, it would give her something to do to keep her mind off of things.
Sarah had chosen not to come, not wanting to face old memories of what she'd been forced to do, and knowing that her being there would disturb a number of people who had had the misfortune of running into Osiris. She instead remained with her students in Chicago to mourn in private.
Others were gathering, and things were ready to start as soon as Carter arrived. The coffin itself was in the armory just down the hall, an honor guard in place, and Teal'c was backing General Hammond up as they questioned the assassin. What was going to happen to him when they were done with their questioning was something that hadn't been decided yet, but O'Neill was half hoping he'd go the same way Daniel's body went.
Siler and the work crew finished up, and O'Neill looked at his watch. He'd set the time with the Alpha Site himself earlier that morning, and he hoped that he'd given the last of the mourners time to get into place. He could see people gathering in the control room, and in the briefing room above it, so he wasn't surprised when more people began to file into the Gate room, all staying respectfully quiet as the offworld teams began to form up into small groups. Janet came in with them, and he moved to her side to give her a comforting hug, ignoring the fact completely that both of them were in full uniform. "How are you holding up?" he asked her softly.
"Tired, and still a little dizzy from getting hit," she admitted. "Sam's on her way down right now, she said to thank you for making sure her dress blues were on the plane so she could change and come straight in."
He nodded. "I know this seems fast, but there's a reason for it," he told her softly. "If we want to keep the body out of NID hands, we have to do this now!"
She nodded in agreement. "I can't believe they want to…," she started, then stopped, shaking her head as her words trailed off. "Can they stop things once the funeral starts?" she asked.
"No, I made sure of that," he assured her as Hammond came in, Teal'c right behind him. "Sir, get anything out of him?"
"NID rogues, the names he gave us match some of the ones on that list of agents that have disappeared recently. He's in debt to the wrong people, and they offered to clear those debts if he'd take Dr. Jackson out. He says he tried to refuse, tried to get rid of them, but then they told him they'd make sure those 'wrong people' found out where he and his family were living. A fine mix of blackmail and bribery from the story he gave us."
"Sounds like we need to do a new round of background checks on our personnel," O'Neill mused. "Probably should every few months anyway."
"Set it up, Colonel," Hammond told him as a murmur arose behind them. They all turned in time to see Carter coming in, her uniform pristine, but her red-rimmed eyes told of recent tears.
Nodding to the two men, she moved immediately to Janet, hugging the woman in a show of mutual grief. "Are you all right?" she asked softly.
"I'll live, your father and Selmak took care of most of the concussion that guard gave me last night," Janet assured her, brushing away her own tears. "I'm going to take some time off, a week or two at least. Abby is staying around, and I'm going to take Cassie to Florida for a real vacation. Put this place behind me for a while."
"You should," Carter agreed, letting her go and stepping back as a piercing whistle brought everyone to formal attention, the honor guard carrying in the casket so the funeral could begin.
It was a sober affair, Hammond and then O'Neill speaking from a podium beside the ramp instead of at the top of it like they had in the past. Both spoke of their first impressions of Daniel, O'Neill telling the story of how he had turned the research team's theories inside out within minutes of seeing the Gate's cover stone. It brought a few chuckles and smiles to the room, as he had hoped it would, and reminded them all again that if it hadn't been for Daniel, none of them would be doing what they were doing now. And the earth would be unaware and undefended as far as the Goa'uld were concerned, at the very least.
O'Neill glanced at his watch, seeing he had only one minute left, and noticed a commotion growing in the control room as he continued to speak. "When we first met the Tok'ra, it was Daniel who realized what their name really meant. They were 'against Ra', the first system lord that we killed, Daniel and I. Garshaw pointed out that in a way we were 'Tok'ra' ourselves, Daniel most of all for his strong desire to end the Goa'uld rule of our galaxy. As such, we thought it was fitting that in his case, we should give him a funeral in the Tok'ra fashion."
As the inner ring began to turn, the honor guard lifted the flag from the casket and stepped quickly down the ramp, getting clear of the danger area and then folding the flag properly. O'Neill stayed by the podium, but he noted that Hammond had disappeared and there were no warnings coming from the control room. The normal alarms had been silenced, so only the roar of the forming wormhole as it disintegrated the casket and its contents was heard as the guard finished folding the flag and handed it formally off to O'Neill. He took it in it his arms, and passed it then to Dr. Fraiser, Janet being the closest to Daniel's heart at this time. She had tears in her eyes as she took it from him, holding it close as the somber ceremony came to an end.
The group broke up as the Stargate shut down, people going back to their jobs, and O'Neill was quick to send Carter with Janet while he headed for the control room. The thick glass stopped sound from reaching the gate room, but he could see there was a definite ruckus forming up there. He headed up as quickly as he could, not at all happy to see who had decided to give them a visit. "Kennedy, Kinsey, what brings you two to our fine facility?"
Kinsey turned to glare at him, annoyed as always with O'Neill's 'lack of respect' for his current title. "Who gave you permission to destroy Dr Jackson's body, Colonel?" he demanded.
"Daniel's will requested cremation if he didn't ascend again," O'Neill told them. "Unlike some of us, he also liked some of the Tok'ra, and was interested in their customs, especially their burial rites. He told me himself that if he were to die again, he wanted to be sure that his final resting place would be somewhere where his remains would never be bothered. I just combined the two together, and made sure that his request and wishes were carried out."
Kennedy's face glowed angrily, he knew there was no way he could ever get to do his studies now. "We needed that body, Colonel, to study, there's no way to tell how Dr. Jackson changed when he came back from the dead if we couldn't examine him…" He looked over at Walter Harriman, who was in his normal place at the controls. "Why didn't you close the iris when I ordered you to?" he demanded.
"Because I have to reach the hand plate, and you were between me and it," Walter replied, a hint of anger underlying his reply. "I couldn't reach it to close the iris without shoving you out of the way, and you were so intent on shutting the iris yourself you weren't listening to me, you'd shoved me out of your way."
This left the officer confused. "Hand plate? What are you talking about?"
"Who cares," O'Neill told him, cutting off any explanation. "You weren't going to get Daniel if me and the entire base had anything to say about it. And as Daniel's executor, I damn well did have the final say."
Kennedy rocked back on his heels at the force of O'Neill's anger washed over him, and wisely shut up as Hammond and O'Neill turned their attention to Kinsey. "What are you doing here, Senator?" Hammond asked him.
"I came to pay my final respects to the good doctor," Kinsey replied, still watching O'Neill with some suspicion. "In spite of our… disagreements… in the past, I still had some fondness for Dr Jackson, even if his ideals still put our good earth in danger."
O'Neill let out a disgusted snort. "Yeah, right. Daniel's 'ideals', and those of others like him, have kept us from becoming no better than the Goa'uld, scavengers willing to do anything to get more power."
Kinsey's glare grew hotter. "We're nothing at all like the Goa'uld, Colonel, we don't go enslaving other races."
"No, you haven't stepped over that line. Yet. But you have ordered items stolen from our allies and come damn close to leaving us without any help at all out on the other side of that gate," O'Neill replied hotly. "Heaven help the earth if the NID ever get control of this base, we'll have our own friends breathing down our necks."
"If the NID had control of that gate, we wouldn't need those allies so much, we'd be able to defend ourselves without any of their so-called 'help'," Kinsey replied with equal heat, then stepped back and made a visible effort to calm his anger. "This isn't the place or time to discuss this, Colonel. Tell me, General, who is going to take command of Dr Jackson's departments now?" he asked. "Got to have the right people in charge of those scientists, after all."
"Those decisions haven't been made yet, Senator, as you said, this isn't the time for it," Hammond told him calmly. "Colonel O'Neill and I will make those choices over the next week or two."
"I've heard that you're hiring new personnel for those departments. Perhaps you should wait and choose someone new for the posts. I know of some people who are experts in those various fields, I would suggest you consider some of them for those jobs… I'll have my office send you a list."
"There's no guarantee those people will be eligible to actually work here, Senator," Hammond pointed out as Kinsey turned to leave.
"Oh, I'm sure they'll all pass your checks," Kinsey assured them. "Even if they don't have Dr Jackson's ideals, they're all just as knowledgeable as he ever was and they know their loyalty needs to be with the defense of this planet. Unlike some of those here who have been infected with Jackson's goody-goody nature." Shaking his head, he headed out, Kennedy trailing behind him and leaving Hammond looking perplexed.
O'Neill scowling at his back. "Is it just me, or did what he say sound a lot like the garbage spouted off in that letter?" he asked.
"It sounded a lot like that letter," Hammond agreed as they headed upstairs to the briefing room and on to his office. "I think we better take a very, very close look at that list when we get it, Jack. I have the feeling the names on that list could wind up being of people just like those missing NID personnel."
"If not worse," O'Neill agreed, taking off his tie and jacket and laying them over a chair. "If Kinsey is behind this, and from that it pretty much sounds like he is, he's flaunting it right in front of our faces and daring us to do something about it. And we can't, can we, there's no proof?"
"Not yet there isn't, and from the look of the pre-election polls, it looks as though he's going to get the vice-president's position with Hayes. If that happens, we're going to be in for a rough ride, Jack. He gets Hayes on his side, and we'll lose the SGC for good. And that would be a planetary disaster."
O'Neill nodded and changed the subject, he'd work out how to pin Kinsey to this mess later on. "Abby and the supplies went on the Beta site early this morning without any comment or trouble. Davis should be back with Ferretti and those new boys in a couple of hours, and then we'll see what new information he was able to pick up for us. I don't trust communications in and out of the mountain right now. Jacob went out just before Abby and the team to find someone to send a message on to Malek, then he'll be going on to Beta as well. What did the Joint Chiefs say when you told them Jacob and Selmak have left the Tok'ra for good?"
"They weren't happy, but there isn't anything they can do about it, and they know it. Either way, we would have lost our standing with the group. At least this way we have Selmak, and perhaps managed to keep a few supporters in the group who will be able to help Selmak and Jacob help us. From what Jacob told me, he was fairly sure that Malek and Garshaw would still support the Tau'ri cause, and Selmak concurred."
"Should be interesting to see what happens the first time they need us for one of their 'special' missions. Should also be interesting to see if they show up demanding that we return their 'kidnapped' ambassador, Selmak," O'Neill admitted with a smirk. "Well, Janet has lined up a two week vacation for herself and Cassie, I need to go see if she wants to take that vacation off world. Teal'c was planning on heading out to spend a week or so with Master Bra'tac."
"What about Major Carter, Jack?" Hammond pointed out quietly. "She took his ascending hard before."
"Yes, and I'll find an excuse to take her to Beta tonight, but for now I've got a question for her that should keep her busy for a bit. The only people outside the base to know about Daniel's death were Davis and Carter, they're the only ones I called to inform them of what happened. So how the hell did Kinsey and Kennedy find out about it?"
Hammond looked properly alarmed at this question. "I have no idea, Colonel, but I suggest we find out, and fast."
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Abby shivered as she stepped out of the Stargate, stumbling as someone gripped her arm to steady her and help her down the steps from the gate itself. "You all right?" asked a calm, cheerful voice. "Just take it slow, it's a bit unsettling the first time you go through the gate, and if you push it, you'll likely be sick."
"God, that was the roller coaster from hell," she told him, shaking a bit as they got clear and the first of the FREDs came through. "And cold!"
"You'll have to ask Major Carter to explain it to you, I don't know the tech behind the gate myself, but she can tell you all about it," Reynolds told her as the second load of supplies arrived. "Four FREDs, you and airman Everett, is that right?"
"Pretty much," she nodded as the male nurse came through and stepped down to make sure she was all right. Abby blinked at him, noting how calm and collected he was. "You've obviously done this before."
"More times than I care to think about," Everett replied, grinning. "Nice to do it into a peaceful area for a change, usually we're going in to evacuate wounded out a fire fight."
She nodded in understanding. "Some of the things in this load are pretty delicate, I hope there's a smooth trail to the base site," Abby told Reynolds. "I don't want things badly shaken up on the overland route."
"First thing we did was clear the path and set sensors and alarms on the gate so we know if it's activated," Reynolds told her as the last of the track vehicles loaded down with supplies came through. A moment later the gate closed down, giving her a clear view of the entire clearing. "We have the medical facilities the Colonel ordered all set up and ready for use. We thought you'd like more room for yourself, and have an area curtained off for your personal use, along with a nearby tent for Everett. You're not the only woman here, mind you, I have Lieutenant Drake on my team, and Major Stevens is with Colonel Pierce."
"Oh, that's nice to know," she assured him as they headed down the trail away from the gate. The four vehicles moved along easily enough, not tipping or being jarred at all on the smooth track. "How long will it take for us to reach the camp?"
"About twenty minutes," Reynolds assured her. "Delicate equipment? Not cold sensitive I hope? A lot of stuff tends to freeze coming through the gate."
Abby nodded and headed for the second FRED, which held the large, oblong box she was most concerned about. The entire line came to a quick halt as she removed a couple of crates and motioned for others to help her. "I want to get this heavy crate open right now," she told them. "I don't know if we wrapped this piece of 'cargo' warmly enough or not. I think we did, but after bouncing down those steps…"
Reynolds, and Major Harper, whose team was running the FREDs, moved quickly to help her and Everett unbury the box they were most concerned about. It took a few minutes to unload the track vehicle and Abby motioned them to the opposite side of the heavy wooden box. Unlike most of the crates, which were just made for a fast trip and tended to have slatted sides, it was made of good, solid wood. And it was big. "Lift straight up, the lid is inset to hold it firm, it's not secured," she stated.
The two Marines nodded, grasping the slight lip on the box and lifting it up as she directed. They shifted the heavy lid back to reveal the SGC's idea of 'precious cargo'.
Seeing what was inside, both men had to agree that to some, that was exactly what it was…
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Hello, everyone. Just to let you know, I have the next chapter started already, and I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. Reviews to tell me what you think of it would be, as always,welcome! (BG)