AN: Yes, the Air Force does have a JAG Corps, and Major General Fiscus is the current head of it; in 1997 it was called the JAG division, and I don't know who was in charge of it. If anyone does know, please let me know! Also, as always, if I get something wrong in the military stuff, please let me know so I can correct the errors.
AN2: Why does a story have to be either angst or fluff? Can't it be a happy medium? Both? Serious and realistic, but without being deathly so?
Sam was already seated in the briefing room by the time Jack made it up there, as were several other base personnel. She acknowledged his entrance with a short nod, then went back to studying her hands, pressed flat on the tabletop. As the seats near Sam were taken, he grabbed himself a stretch of wall behind her. He couldn't help but notice the sergeant who normally sat at the desk taking notes and assisting presentations was not there. Jack studied the others in the room; most of them he didn't know, as the base had only been up and running for a few weeks. There was Captain Hiller of SG-2, sitting uncomfortably next to a female second lieutenant Jack thought was one of the nurses. That had to be bad; Jack knew from his personnel jacket that Hiller was married, and not to anyone on base.
General Hammond strode through the door to his office. "As you were," he said, waving at everyone to remain seated. He took the last chair, the one at the head of the table. Doc Fraiser followed him, taking up station behind him, a folder in her hand.
"Obviously, we're going to have to get used to unusual situations not covered by normal regulations if we're going to keep sending missions through the gate," Hammond said briskly. Jack was one of the few people looking directly at him; most seemed to find the table or the walls or empty air infinitely more fascinating. "I've discussed this situation and the general issues arising from it with the Air Force Chief of Staff and General Fiscus of the JAG Department; we've been going over a lot of the unusual things that the SGC may find itself having to deal with in the future. First, I want to let you all know that we're not going to penalize you for something that was clearly beyond your control. There will be no charges of fraternization or adultery resulting from this incident, nor any reprimands in your files. The situations you find yourselves in are bad enough; I'm not going to make things harder for you folks." He paused to let this sink in, catching the eyes of anyone who would look up at him. "However. This situation still needs to be dealt with.
"I've reviewed the circumstances surrounding each of your cases with Doctor Frasier; some are common to you all, and some are unique. Obviously, some of you have significant others who do not work at this facility. They do not have clearance to know the causes of this . . . situation, and we would prefer that they not learn of the situation at all."
"So I'm just supposed to pretend this baby is my husband's?" said a young brunette airman sitting three places down the table from Sam. She didn't sound happy about it.
"Ideally, yes," Hammond replied, "although I'll understand if you have to tell him otherwise."
"We do have a psychologist with experience in relationship counseling at the Academy Hospital, a Doctor Amanda Hiroshi," Doctor Fraiser said. "She's very good at her work. She's been briefed on the situation; if any of you feel the need to talk to someone about all this and don't want to speak with Doctor MacKenzie, I'll give you a referral to her."
Jack shuddered. He'd had encounters with shrinks before, mostly after his time in Iraq and other traumatic missions; none of those encounters had been at all pleasant. For him or the shrink. God, he hoped Sam didn't want joint counseling, or anything. I mean, he'd promised to be there for her, but surely a shrink was beyond the call of duty?
"Also," Frasier continued, "for those of you who decide to keep the babies, there are medical concerns; we're not sure how the virus will affect the fetuses (if at all), so you will be seeing an OB/GYN at the Hospital who has also been briefed. He can come here occasionally to examine you, but you will probably have to go see him there at some point."
"Thank you, Doctor," Hammond said. "For those of you who do not wish to keep the pregnancies, the NID has requested that any aborted fetuses be turned over to them for study. You are not required to do so by any means." Again, he glanced around the table. This time, more were willing to meet his eye. Jack shuddered at the thought of babies ending up as lab rats like some cheesy science fiction movie, and prayed again that Carter would be willing to keep it.
"Now to the more immediate practicalities," Hammond said. "All the women are restricted from further gate travel for the duration of their pregnancies; we don't want to take any unnecessary risks, here. If you are in the same chain of command as your … partner, one of you will be transferred to a different position within the base. Which one gets transferred and to where will depend on the respective ranks, qualifications, and wishes of the personnel involved after consideration of the base's needs. As you are all aware, we are extremely short on personnel and will be for some time, and that will have an impact on the transfers. I will be meeting privately with each couple over the next few days to sort out transfer requests and any business specific to each individual's situation. Any … relationships resulting from this situation are your own business. Aside from that, it will be business as usual until further notice.
"This incident is going to lead to at least one permanent change in our SOP. We will be requiring all female personnel who travel through the gate on a regular basis to be on some form of contraceptive; that will at least cut down on the number of … repercussions if anything like this should happen again. Are there any questions about any of this?"
"What are we authorized to tell?" asked a blond gate technician hovering near the door. She was the only person who'd been later than Jack. "I mean, it's going to be pretty obvious this kid isn't my boyfriend's." She glanced over at a dark, Hispanic sergeant that Jack thought was one of the gate guards. If he was the father of her kid, she was right—there was no way anyone was going to mistake any child of his as Caucasian.
"Anything that doesn't compromise our security or bring undue attention to us," Hammond replied. "In other words, no alien viruses or anything work-related. No spills of experimental chemicals or lab accidents involving inhibition-removers. Other than that, whatever story you think he'll accept."
"So women who are stationed on base but don't go through the gate don't have to be on contraceptives? So women on a team would have to transfer off it to have a kid?" That came from the nurse.
"That's correct, Airman," Doctor Frasier answered. "Once they conceived, they'd be pulled off the team anyway. This just makes the transition smoother and protects the everyone."
"What kind of child support are we supposed to give?" Captain Hiller asked. "I mean, I want to be there for Connie, and everything, but I love my wife. I don't want her to find out I cheated on her, however unintentionally. If I start paying something like child support, Crystal's going to find out."
Hammond frowned. "I'm not sure, son. We'll have to work something out, assuming that Airman Franks chooses to keep the child and wishes child support. I believe Doctor Hiroshi may be of some assistance, here."
"If we want to donate the fetus to the NID, will they want to do the abortion?" someone else asked. "I mean, I'm assuming they won't want us to just go to some clinic in town."
Doctor Frasier frowned. "The NID will send a doctor to perform any abortions here in our own infirmary, to provide as much discretion as possible for this program and to avoid disrupting things any more than necessary."
"Are there any other questions?" Hammond asked. None were forthcoming. "Very well. Dismissed."
"Sam," Jack said as his—former?—second in command stood up. She turned to face him. "Can we talk? We haven't really done that, yet."
"Sure," she said, some surprise in her voice. Had she been expecting him to just watch from the sidelines for the next nine months? He wasn't the most talkative person in the world, at least, not about the big stuff, but he'd told her he would be there for her.
"I've been told I have an office, somewhere," Jack said. "Wanna go see if we can track it down?"
"Okay," Sam replied with a small smile.