"Dismissed." Hammond was nearly out of the conference room before the SG commanders and staff had risen to their feet. Time was not a luxury. He turned abruptly in the doorway.
"Major Carter, can you meet me here in fifteen minutes with those figures?"
"Yes, sir," the young woman replied dutifully, even though the general had already disappeared and was out of earshot.
Dr. Daniel Jackson looked thoughtfully at the door. "Do you think he ever slows down- you know... doesn't rush from one place to another?"
"You try getting him to slow down. He won't listen to me," quipped Dr. Janet Frasier. As the Stargate Command Medical Officer, she handled all concerns medical or psychological, whether human or alien. Looking after General Hammond's health seemed the trickiest of all. Even Teal'C, the former Goaul'd with his resident larval symbiot in his belly, did not give her as much trouble as Hammond. It took her three months to convince him that he had to get a knee replacement or quit running; she'd yet to get him eating regularly and healthily. The general looked tired this morning; then again, he often did. Nothing, however, seemed to slow him down.
She stopped gathering the medical reports that lay on the table before her and looked pointed at the archaeologist drumming his pencil absently on his knee and the commander of SG1 who was slouched in the chair across the table. "He's older, but has more energy than both of you put together."
"Well, I don't know about that," Colonel Jack O'Neil drawled lazily as he slid a little further down in the padded chair.
The SGC medical officer tapped the sheaf of papers on the table then walked to the door. "I, for one, have work to do."
"So do I," Carter added, following the doctor. The looks they gave to the remaining SG1 members said that they should find something to do, too.
"You know, Jack, if General Hammond comes back and finds you...," Daniel began slowly, gesturing at the officer sprawled in the chair opposite him, "he might, uh, get the idea you have lots of spare time and put you on that stack of folders in his office."
"Indeed, that would be an efficient use of time and resources," agreed Teal'C.
O'Neill sat up quickly and looked from Daniel to Teal'C then made a face. "Well, I, uh, just remembered something I gotta do, guys."
"So, you see, sir, even with standard displacement, PL3372 is not where we expected it to be."
"Just how far off is it, Major?" Hammond asked.
Carter brought up a new screen, then another close-in schematic. "Not far, astronomically speaking, sir, but in relation to the other planets in that system, PL3372 has shifted noticeably."
"I see." Hammond folded his arms and studied the screen. His education in the field of engineering helped him understand some of the physics involved in their work, but only a little at this level. That was why he was surrounded by experts. He considered for a moment. "Could it have something to do with the system's two suns- maybe one's becoming unstable?"
"Yes, sir...in a manner of speaking, sir," Carter replied tactfully. The general wasn't completely right; then again, he wasn't completely wrong, either.
"Doesn't bode well for the planet's inhabitants, does it?" he asked thoughtfully.
"No, sir." Carter waited. Although the inhabitants of PL3372 had not contributed any useful technology, they were a peaceful, pleasant people and she was concerned for their welfare. General Hammond was under no obligation to be, but she hoped he was, too.
He looked up from the screen to find the young woman watching him. "I think the situation bears further investigation, Major."
"Thank you, sir!" Carter couldn't help but smile.
Hammond grinned to himself. He had to be by the book sometimes, but he knew how and when to bend the rules. It never hurt to lend a hand.
"You can brief SG4 this afternoon."
Carter's smile faded a little. "Yes, sir."
This time, Hammond's grin touched the corner of his mouth. He stepped closer to the window high over the Gate Room.
"You may accompany them, if you wish, Major." He nodded at her relieved response as he scanned the room below him. Technicians were making minor repairs to the ramp to reinforce its railings and installing a new, heavier cable to its power source. All was quiet; it was a lull in the storm.
His gaze swept the banks of computers on the right side of the room, set up in preparation for a series of off-planet scanning missions that would commence in 48 hours, and came to rest on Dr. Jackson, who was gesturing at a screen, and a woman.
More accurately, he noticed the woman.
In profile, she was bending to get a closer look. Her dark hair was pulled back into a twisted braid of some sort and her jacket and pants draped nicely over her curves. Very nicely.
"I didn't know we'd brought on a new staff member," he said quietly, thinking aloud.
"Sir?" Carter followed his gaze, puzzled.
Hammond cleared his throat. "That is, I don't think I've met the woman talking with Dr. Jackson."
Turning to her left, giving Hammond clearer view of her face, the woman slipped off her glasses and laughed at a remark Jackson made. She was pretty. Very.
He spoke again, slowly. "Major, do you know who she is?"
Carter frowned. She was certain the woman could not be an visitor or pose a danger. Authorization for admittance was only after a thorough background check and a bona fide need to be in the facility established. At least one armed security person accompanied the visitor, per the general's orders, once given clearance. There were three separate security checkpoints, including body scans, before anyone entered the command area itself, to prevent unauthorized entry. No guard stood at her side, therefore, the woman had to be on staff.
"Dr. Jackson did mention a linguist had been assigned to SGC- perhaps that's she," Carter offered.
The general continued to look out the partition, following the couple as they stepped nearer the gate. Sam waited, but he did not make further comment. She shifted from one foot to another. Hammond stared silently.
"Sir," she began hesitantly, "I need to know the time of our mission for the briefing this afternoon."
He turned to face her and she could have sworn he colored faintly. "Right...tomorrow morning, early. Check with the SG4 CO about a specific time they can be ready and put it on my evening brief. Dr. Jackson may go as well, if he wishes. That's all, Major."
"Thank you, sir. I'll tell Dr. Jackson, sir," she replied then left for the stairs leading to the Gate Room two levels below. Behind her, General Hammond asked an aide waiting nearby to request Col. O'Neil join him.
Hammond turned back to the window and the dark-haired woman. A linguist? He remembered Jackson saying sometime back he needed staff to catalog language data they had discovered so the catalog could be used to compare and decipher new languages. He vaguely recalled telling Jackson to pursue the request through Personnel. Apparently, the archaeologist had.
The woman and Jackson were at the bottom of the ramp now. Major Carter joined them and the two women shook hands. While he watched through the window, Hammond fielded a quick call, confirming details for his upcoming trip to D.C. He disliked the whole political game, but he could play it as well as any; he was a patient and resourceful man. Some said he was downright cunning. Being on a first name basis with the President helped, too.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" Col. Jack O'Neil stood at what was his version of a respectful at-ease. At least he didn't have his hands stuck in his pockets, Hammond noted.
"Yes, Colonel," the general began, pulling his gaze away from the attraction of the floor below to his rumpled second-in-command. "I have authorized another visit to PL3372 by SG4 tomorrow."
"PL3372? Why? We didn't find anything there. Sir." O'Neil jammed his hands in his fatigue pockets oblivious o the fact that he'd just questioned his superior's decision.
"I feel it prudent we return," the general stated tersely, staringat the colonel.
"Uh, yes, sir," O'Neil replied. He tried to stand a bit straighter then winced as Hammond turned away to face the window. Jack O'Neil respected Gen. George Hammond more than he respected any other commander he'd served with, but military protocol was not his strong suit.
"Major Carter has noted a shift in the planet's orbit. She will be accompanying SG4, along with Dr. Jackson, most likely." The woman was talking to Carter; Jackson had left. "Seeing how half your team will be there, I thought you might wish to go as well...that is, unless you have other work that needs your attention."
Hammond looked over his shoulder at the O'Neil.
Four performance reports, two unfinished off-world briefings, and three pages of unread email came to O'Neil's mind.
"Uh... no, sir, nothing waiting. I'll go," O'Neil said quickly. Better to be out of the office than in it was his motto.
"Very well. The major is giving a briefing to SG4 this afternoon for a go tomorrow morning," Hammond said looking back to the window. "Thank you, Colonel."
"Yes, sir." O'Neil took a step away, hands still in his pockets, and sauntered toward the stairs.
The general watched as O'Neil disappeared down the stairs. Jack was a unique individual well suited for the unorthodox work SGC was did, so he overlooked what few COs would not. SGC team members worked in a high stress situation and everyone reacted to the pressure in a different ways.
Some adhered strictly by the book, gaining support from relying on laid-out plans to decide exactly what to do. If one of his troops, a commander, in particular, could not adjust to quickly changing scenarios and make decisions on their own, it could be dangerous. He watched for those and reassigned them elsewhere.
Others reacted by being foolhardy in their off time. He insisted on being the commander to on the scene when the first of his troops was arrested for drunkenness. The punishment had been swift and, he thought, just. The word went out that he would not tolerate such foolishness- period.
Some tested military boundaries to the limit, stretching the rules as far as possible. For the most part, he allowed his commanders to set the limits for their own groups- but only to a point. He knew the value of military discipline.
Colonel Jack O'Neil fell somewhere in between, or somewhere beyond, the extremes.
Hammond sighed. SGC needed O'Neil's extensive talents, but if he was ever going to convince the Joint Chiefs of Staff to give Jack a star, he was going to have to do some mighty fast talking.
Movement at the edge of the room caught his attention. Time to get back to the tasks at hand.
"Would you have Major Montez meet me in my office in five minutes?" he directed the waiting aide. There was a full morning's work ahead going over the SGC's seven billion dollar budget. It was something he didn't look forward to, but he didn't avoid it, either. Hammond was not one to shirk duty or a challenge.
He gave one last glance to the woman below and found her looking up, straight at him. She was not just pretty... she was beautiful.
She smiled.
Twenty-eight levels beneath the earth's surface, through nearly 3,500 feet of solid rock, General George Hammond felt sunshine flood the room.
Hammond nodded somberly in return then left.
She saw him standing at the window high above the huge room with its large, strangely marked ring. Had anyone asked what it was about him that had caught her attention, she would have been at a loss to answer. Still, there was something about him and Dr. Kathryn Freeman found herself lifting her gaze to where he stood several times. She could see glints of metal on his shoulders and people had come to him- Major Carter and others- so he must be someone of importance...but who?
The blonde officer was showing her a complicated graphic of the gate's interface when 'dialed-in'. Dr. Freeman shifted her most of her attention to the screen.
"...and this allows travel via the wormhole to another gate connected by the appropriate impulse," Carter explained.
"I see," Dr. Freeman replied slowly. She looked at the major and frowned apologetically. "Well, actually, I don't see. It all sounds rather unbelievable."
"You don't have to understand it- I'm not sure we really do. And please, call me 'Sam'," Carter answered. She liked the new linguist Daniel had found.
"All right, Sam, and please, call me Kathryn." She smiled and Sam leaned down to type in new commands to the computer. Kathryn looked up. The man was talking to a gray-haired soldier in fatigues and she could see him more clearly from where she stood now than before. He was a bit heavy-set and had little, if any, hair. When he turned back to face the window, she quickly looked away and blushed to find Sam watching her.
"Who is that man up there?" she asked as casually as possible.
Sam looked up. Jack O'Neil, standing slightly slouched, was talking with the general. His steel-gray hair, a shade longer than regulation, was ruffled and he listened with his head cocked to one side. He was a handsome man, Sam had to admit, and from the way many women looked at him, others agreed.
"That's Col. Jack O'Neil, the SG1 commanding officer and Stargate's second in command," she explained as she watched O'Neil walk away, to the stairs. His movements reminded her of a panther's graceful prowl.
"Col. O'Neil?" Kathryn asked. The man still faced away from the window.
Sam was surprised to see Kathryn watching General Hammond.
"Oh! Well, no, this is Col. O'Neil," she explained, gesturing to her CO, as he entered the room from the circular stairwell. Kathryn's gaze stayed on the general. O'Neil motioned to her. Before joining him, Sam added, "He's Major General George Hammond, the CO of the Stargate program."
"Oh...George Hammond," Kathryn repeated softly, not noticing Sam had left.
Above her, the man turned abruptly to the window and looked directly at her.
George Hammond.
She smiled, Hammond nodded, and Dr. Kathryn Freeman was very glad she had accepted the position of Librarian of Language Studies for the Stargate program.
