Supporting Rumors - Part 37
Teal'c stood with his back against the wall, part way between Jack and the door. He seemed to be at ease, but Jack knew the Jaffa was coiled, ready to move if the need arose.
He felt his heartbeat quicken slightly as the door opened and his assailant was brought forward, cuffed between two officers.
The man, who Jack knew to be in his forties, gazed straight at Jack, the frown that appeared as he entered, rapidly dissolving into a mocking smile.
"You can leave," Jack instructed the two officers.
Clearly they had been briefed and did not query the order. The officer on the left quickly undid the cuff from his wrist and re-fastened it on his prisoner's free wrist, securing his hands together in front of him. The officers both then left the room, quietly closing the door behind them, leaving Minucos standing at the foot of Jack's bed.
"Have a seat." Jack waved at the chair Teal'c had positioned earlier.
Minucos stared at Jack and for a moment, he wasn't sure that the man had heard him.
"Sit," commanded Teal'c firmly, taking a single step toward the man.
Minucos seemed to notice Teal'c for the first time and gave an almost imperceptible nod, before taking the indicated seat. "I asked to see you alone."
"He stays." Jack's tone brooked no argument.
"I can see why you might fear me."
Jack started slightly. "Fear you? Ah, you've got it a little wrong there ... you're in no position to cause me any further harm."
"Am I not?" Minucos smirked and sat further back on the chair. "I must say, General O'Neill that I am surprised you are still here."
"What? You thought you were a better shot huh?"
Minucos shook his head. "Why this charade, General?"
"Charade?" asked Jack, not needing to feign any puzzlement.
Minucos nodded. "They must know by now."
"Know what?"
"Just what you are."
Jack's eyes narrowed slightly. "And just what is it that you think I am?"
Minucos snorted. "Come now, there's no need to keep up this act. Perhaps there are many more of you than I thought ... even you." Minucos directed his gaze to Teal'c, who revealed nothing in the look he returned.
Jack almost choked. If the man knew just how close a real live alien stood to him. "Cut the crap, Minucos."
"I think you are afraid General, afraid of just what I know."
"Well, seeing as what you know is still inside your tiny mind ..."
Minucos's eyes narrowed. "Don't mock me. I know what you are. You think you are so clever. Your cover though is very good. I mean after all, who would have thought the Head of Homeworld Security could be an alien."
"An alien? You think I'm an alien? Is that why you shot me?"
Minucos shrugged.
Jack sighed. The man was way too calm for Jack's liking. At this rate there would be nothing worth recording.
"Look, I hate to disappoint you, but I am not an alien."
"When I first approached you I thought you were different from the others, that you might just listen."
Jack shrugged. "We always listen. Did it not occur to you that there was just no action to take?"
"Oh, there's a need alright. You and your kind are trying to take over ... enslave us, destroy us ..."
"Is that why you shot me?"
Minucos nodded his head. "You are an alien. I don't know how you persuaded the hospital to keep it quiet."
Jack couldn't help the brief snort of laughter that escaped him. "The hospital keeps what quiet?"
"There are differences, physiological, biological," murmured Minucos. "This is a set up? They know don't they?" Minucos stood up and took a step closer to the bed.
Jack almost flinched at the movement. Almost. He held his breath and glared at Minucos.
Teal'c hadn't moved, didn't need to ... at the moment.
"You should be dead. You were shot through the heart – twice! The post mortem should have revealed you for what you truly are!" spat Minucos.
"You write to me and I don't ignore you and suddenly you decide I'm an alien and try and kill me, why? What sort of fucked up logic is that?" demanded Jack.
"I have proof."
"Yeah ... whatever." Jack responded wearily, trying to sound disinterested.
Minucos took another step closer. Teal'c's massive bulk also took a step, but towards Minucos.
"I have proof to support the rumors."
"What rumors? Rumors of my alien-ness are greatly exaggerated." Jack waved a hand at his legs. "You think if I had some kind of super alien thingy I would be laid here like this? You are way crazier than I thought."
"I am not crazy. I saw you with my own eyes!"
Jack stared at the short, ordinary looking man, wondering exactly what he had, or rather, thought he had, seen. Not that it was a problem either way, but Jack was curious, especially if Minucos thought he had proof ...
"What? Did I unzip my skin or something?" joked Jack, trying to draw the man out.
Minucos's eyes narrowed. "Don't mock me. No matter what you do to me, the truth will be heard."
"Perhaps I could have you beamed to another world ... never to be heard of again ..." said Jack sarcastically.
"And I probably wouldn't be the first, would I? How many people have you sent to meet their deaths on your world?"
Jack closed his eyes for a heartbeat. What Minucos was inferring was too close to the real thing that ate at Jack. Good men had died off-world, men had been sent to their death, though not with that intention.
Minucos laughed. "I saw you greeting one of your kind. I saw how he arrived. The rings of light that he appeared from ... I saw!"
"Rings of light?" echoed Jack. He was frantically searching his mind for just what Minucos thought he had seen.
"It was easy enough to do. A couple of careful enquiries ... I followed you, even took the same plane ... I staked out the cabin," bragged Minucos.
The light dawned on Jack. Crap! What Minucos had seen was Harry Maybourne's appearance back on Earth.
"A very convenient location in the middle of nowhere, no questions ... no visitors. How many of your kind have arrived here?"
"Oh, thousands perhaps?" said Jack rolling his eyes.
Minucos raised his chin, meeting Jack's eyes.
"I saw it with my own eyes."
"Of course you did." Jack maintained his sarcastic tone, mindful of the listening devices recording their every word.
"I have proof."
"Yeah, sure." More than anything Jack felt the man had no evidence. If he had Jack felt sure that he wouldn't have resorted to shooting him. "You saw nothing. You have nothing. You don't have what it takes to kill someone - you didn't shoot me," he goaded, trying to get Minucos to actually admit it out loud for the tape.
Minucos pulled at his cuffed wrists, the metal jangling loudly in the room. "I know where your alien heart is and that's where I shot you. You should be dead!"
"How the hell do you even know where my heart is if I'm an alien?"
Minucos stood stock still. "Ah ..." He let out a breath. "He said ..." Minucos hesitated.
"What?" Jack's ears pricked up. "Who said?"
The other man shrugged. "He said ... the alien you beamed down."
"The alien told you were my heart was?" asked Jack incredulously.
"He stood facing you and placed his hand over here." Minucos demonstrated on his own abdomen, just where he had actually shot Jack twice.
Jack's eyes screwed shut at the memory.
Maybourne stood in the little clearing near the cabin after being dropped off from the Tok'ra ship.
"Are you sure you can pull this off, Harry?"
Maybourne tapped the side of his head. "Of course. I've got enough stuff up here to put them away."
"I need you to see this through, no matter what."
"Hand on heart, Jack, hand on heart," responded Maybourne, placing his closed fist over the aforementioned organ.
The fact that Harry missed his heart by a good few inches wasn't lost on Jack …
xoxoxoxoxoxoxox
TBC
