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"O'Neill! What the hell?" The president have jumped out of his seat and stared at the men in front of him.
"Surprised to see me Henry?" Jack asked. "Oh, and I wouldn't hit your alarm button. You see, I don't think you want anyone else to hear what I have to say."
Hayes slowly sat back in his chair. A few seconds later his expression cleared and he looked as if it was totally normal for men to suddenly appear out of thin air.
"We thought you'd left the planet," was all he said.
"By "we" I assume you mean Hubbard and General Caine? And yes, I left the planet – but I'm back."
The president regarded him stoically for a few more seconds and then sighed. "And I expect you're the reason I can't contact either Colonel Hubbard or General Caine?"
"Or good old Shesmu," Jack nodded. "Yup, I'm afraid you can blame me."
"If you've killed them -"
"Oh, they're not dead," Jack interrupted. "Just – unavailable at present. Actually, I'm afraid the Goa'uld is dead – kind of a "him or me" scenario. But the other two are fine. Oh and Henry – I have the weapons."
Hayes closed his eyes briefly and then opened them to look at the Colonel. He barely glanced at either Dr. Jackson or the Jaffa Teal'c. He knew that O'Neill was the person who was in charge. "What do you want Jack?"
"What do I want? Well, let's see Henry. You were responsible for hurting my friends and family, you tortured me, you sold out Earth to a bunch of slimy traitors – and to a Goa'uld for god's sake. What do you think I want?"
"I would point out that I didn't do any of those things."
"You ordered them – or at least you gave the okay, so you are responsible."
"I assume to want me dead."
"Well, I had thought about that – and I admit it's tempting – but no, that's not why I'm here. What I want is for you to resign – along with all of those who were involved. In case you're wondering, I have the list of names."
Hayes laughed. "And why would I do that? I didn't do anything. Everything that was done, was done for national security. And the fact is, you can't tell anyone anything because it's all classified and you'd be arrested as a traitor."
"Mmm – true – but you're still going to resign."
Hayes shook his head. "I don't think so. There is nothing you can do to make me."
"That's true – but the Asgard can."
"What?" Hayes frowned. "What do they have to do with this? They're not about to start a war with Earth over something like this."
"No, of course not. But they will cancel their treaty with Earth – and there are still quite a few Goa'uld out there. What do you think they'll do when they hear that we're no longer a protected planet? And then there's the Nox – they're not very happy with you either Henry. They're willing to convene an interplanetary summit to bring forth sanctions against Earth and to effectively close off all gate travel. So you see, we'll lose any advantage we have presently – and we'll be in danger of attack."
"You wouldn't do anything to hurt Earth," Henry said, his eyes narrowed. "I know you Jack. You're too much the hero and defender of the planet."
"You know, that's probably true." Jack stood there for a moment as if in thought. Finally he spoke. "Hmm – this is a bit of a problem, isn't it. Daniel, Teal'c – any ideas?"
"I am afraid not O'Neill," Teal'c said. "I suggest we simply zat them all. No one will miss them."
"Now that sounds tempting but – nah, I don't think so. Daniel, what about you?"
"I don't know Jack. I kind of like Teal'c's suggestion."
Jack stared at his friends and then smirked. "Tsk, tsk – what bloodthirsty fellows you are!" He turned back to Henry. "I admit that the zat is tempting, but I have a better idea. I'm gonna ask Thor to take you and your co-conspirators and drop you all off with Hubbard and Caine. That'll rid the country of a whole bunch of traitors at once."
"You can't do that," the president said, although he was starting to sound a bit worried. "There would be mass panic."
"I don't know – it could be a day of celebration! Certainly your opponents would be happy. They'd get rid of half the Cabinet in one go." Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out an Asgard communicator. "Thor, hi – it's O'Neill here. Could you prepare to beam Henry up, along with all the people on the list I gave you? We'll take them to the planet where I left Hubbard and Caine."
"Of course O'Neill," Thor's voice came over the communicator. "Shall I take him right now?"
Jack once again looked at the president. "Your decision Henry – what will it be? Do you want to go to a desolate planet – one without a gate I might add – and spend the rest of your life with a bunch of other politicians – or are you going to resign."
Hayes looked as if he wasn't quite sure whether O'Neill was telling the truth, or whether he was simply trying to scare him. What he knew of the man seemed to indicate that O'Neill was bluffing.
"I don't think so O'Neill," he said, finally.
"Okay Thor – I don't think he's going to listen."
Before Henry had a chance to say another word, he felt a strange tingling feeling and the next moment he was – hell, where was he?
"Welcome president Hayes," Thor was standing a few feet away from him. "I apologize for keeping you behind the force field, but O'Neill insisted that you be kept there. As soon as the others are on board we will leave."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Henry practically yelled. "What am I doing here?"
"Did not O'Neill inform you? He has asked me to take you and your followers to the planet Helviti. It is where two of your fellow citizens are residing."
"Send me back!" Hayes ordered. "You can't kidnap me like this. My people will put in a formal complaint to your government!"
"They will not care," Thor explained calmly. "You attempted to harm O'Neill, who is considered a great man by my people. In fact the Asgard and the Nox know that the destiny of the galaxy rests on him. By attempting to harm him, you are standing against us all."
"This is insane. You can't just kidnap me like this. I have rights!"
"Did O'Neill also not have rights, according to your own laws? You did not appear to care when he was taken."
Hayes attempted to argue for the next hour, but nothing he said or did seemed to move the little gray alien. Soon others began to join him, all of them angry and frightened by what was happening to them. It was only as the last person was brought on board that Hayes asked to speak once more with O'Neill.
A few minutes later he was transported to an empty room – he assumed he was still on Thor's ship. He only had time to look around when a noise alerted him. He turned, to see O'Neill once again standing in front of him.
"You're really going to go through with this?" the president asked tiredly.
"Yes," Jack nodded. "You see, you were right Henry, I do believe in defending this planet – and that means defending it against those people who think they can do whatever they want and ignore the laws of the country. As president you serve the people – not vice-versa. And your job is to be a leader that upholds justice for all. What you did was wrong – and I'm not talking about what was done to me, because I'm not all that important. But you almost sold out our world to an alien enemy – someone who would destroy this world in the blink of an eye. It's because of that that you can no longer be president."
"And you want me to tell the country exactly what I – what was done?"
"Even now you don't want to take responsibility, do you? You can't tell them everything, but you can tell the country that you almost sold them out – that you are no longer fit to serve as president because you have not adhered to the principles on which this country was founded. And then I want you and your associates to resign."
"And then what?"
"And then – if you're not arrested and tried – I want you to retire and stay out of the public eye. I don't want to ever see or hear of you, or any of your cronies ever again." Jack watched him for a few seconds.
"Do we have a deal?" he asked finally.
Henry let out a sigh. "Yes, we have a deal. At least you have one with me. I don't know about the others."
"I suggest you convince them – or you're all going to be spending a long time on that planet. And by the way – if you try and go back on this, or at any time any of you try and hurt me or mine, you will be very, very sorry. The Asgard and the Nox are both keeping an eye on things."
"What about Hubbard and Caine?" Hayes asked, not bothering to respond to Jack's words.
"I don't know. I think I'm going to let them stay where they are for now. It'll do them good."
Jack returned to Earth – to the SGC where Daniel and Teal'c, and General Hammond were all waiting.
"So, what happened?" Daniel asked.
"He agreed."
"He's going to resign?"
"Yes, he said he would. Right now he's trying to convince the others."
"Do you think it's really over Jack?" Hammond wanted to know. "Do you think they'll abide by this?"
"I warned them that they'd better not try anything. And Thor promised to monitor them."
Over the next few days the country saw a massive upheaval in their government, with the president and half of his congress all resigning. No one was quite sure what it was about, and so far no one had been arrested, but the world watched and waited to see what would happen next.
On a small planet, light years from Earth, Jack O'Neill strode through the stargate and began walking down a well-worn path. The azure blue sea was visible on one side, the air smelled of lemons and laurel and oregano and Jack stopped briefly and smiled. A moment later he strode on.
He was almost home.