Chapter 20
Three months after the treaty with the Edorians was signed, Sam was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. As a reward, Jack took her for a week of adults-only time in their cabin while Jacob took the kids to San Diego, to spend the week with Mark and his family.
On a southern part of the world, Chris was promoted to Lead Seamen, and while he and Sally celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary, Charge took his kids to celebrate his promotion to Chief Petty Officer. Two days later, a frigate received Mike as he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander.
On September, the 11th, SG1 returned from a four days' mission off world. When their expected wormhole started, he walked down to the ramp. His jaw was clenched and his shoulders a bit slumped.
"Jack? What happened? What's wrong?" Sam asked before she reached his side. He sighed.
"I'm sorry to announce that earlier this morning there was a terrorist attack," he said sadly.
"On which planet?" Daniel asked.
"The planet was… Earth. US Soil. Four planes were hijacked."
"Do we know where they are?" Sam asked, her mind going through every possible scenario. Jack nodded. "Where?"
"One plane crashed in a field; one hit the Pentagon." He stopped before giving them the worst news; they already looked shocked by the news as most of the world, he thought.
"And the remaining two?" Sam whispered bracing herself for the answer.
"They hit the twin towers, one each. The structure…" he paused, the image of the collapsing buildings still fresh on his mind. "The buildings didn't resist the damage, and both have collapsed by now."
"Oh God" Sam managed to said.
"Casualties?" Daniel frowned.
"Definite numbers are unknown; thousands of lives were lost. Experts are saying that we might never know how many lives exactly." He gulped. "The general comment is that the results are worse than Pearl Harbor."
"Holy Hannah. Where in the Pentagon, Jack? Do you know?"
"West Wing is what I've been told. The whole wing was empty at that time due to renovations. I placed a call to dad when the whole thing happened. But he's away on a mission."
"Do we know who is behind it?"
"No, we are on full alert since the first one reached its blank. It's been a nightmare. The whole US airspace is closed, only military planes are working."
"Jack?" Sam looked at him, and he understood she wanted to ask him something personal. Her team took a step away.
"Go, I'll see you all in an hour for debriefing." They nodded, and Sam remained, "What did you want to ask?" he added softly, looking around before quickly caressing her cheek.
"How are the kids?" She asked a worried frown on her face as she bit her lower lip.
"Well, I'm pretty sure that if it happened after school, they wouldn't know. However, schools are closing so I called Dixon's wife and she took them. They called me, and they were worried. So, we will have worried and scared kids waiting for us when we reach to them." Sam sighed.
"Not exactly what I had in mind for my return," she added. "What do you mean with if it happened after school they wouldn't know?"
"Ah, your daughter…"
"My daughter?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, completely yours…" Sam chuckled.
"What did she do?"
"She not only dismantled the TV remote last night, but she also dismantled the TV." He sighed. "She could only get that from you."
"Did you manage to put it back together?" He raised his eyebrows.
"What do you think I mean when I told you she dismantled it?"
"Oh, no. She didn't!"
"Yup, she did." Sam rubbed her face tiredly.
"I'll guess I'll look at it when I get home." She sighed.
"I will appreciate that, yes." He winked at her.
"And the boys?"
"They are good. Stop worrying, mom. They will be fine. Now, go, you have less than an hour to be up there."
"Hey," Jack said from the threshold of her lab, six months later. She looked up from the artifact she was verifying and grinned.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," he showed her three envelopes before she reached for them and checked the names and dates on it.
"Are you going to fly over there?"
"Yup! Want to come for a ride?" He offered.
"Sure! I'll meet your top side in twenty minutes?"
"Sounds good, just get in your civvies for safety reasons," he grinned, she squinted at him.
"I'm pretty sure you liked my outfit, and that's the reason behind your request." She grinned.
"Well, I'm not a blind man. And even if I liked your outfit we will get less attention if we are in our civvies than if we appear there in our bdu's." He said with a smirk.
"Sometimes you are too smart, for your own good." She grinned. "Okay, see you in twenty."
As she promised, twenty minutes later they were on the ship ready to fly to Australia. A few minutes later, when they were close to their destination, Sam brought the maps she had managed to download on the ship's computer and searched the address.
Finding a place to park, Jack downloaded the ship on a not much-transited street. Watching around to prevent someone to see them, Jack opened the back door, and Sam jumped out of it quickly. Letter in hand, she read the instructions and found the apartment.
There was music blaring from a stereo, and she smiled, crouching down she slid the envelope under the door. And placing herself on the side of the door, just in case someone saw the letter go, she knocked the door. Then, carefully not to attract much attention to her, she walked around the corner. She heard the door being opened before she returned to the ship.
"It's done," she said
"Good, next stop?" He asked, and she added the address from Cairns. They found the house fairly quickly; the lights were on.
"Oh, I must be quick," she said as she grabbed the letter. "Let the door down."
She ran to the front door, slid the letter, rung the bell and ran back to the ship in three minutes' tops. Jack closed the door behind her, and at the precise moment the interior of the ship disappeared, the door of the house opened.
"That was close," they said simultaneously as Jack started the ship.
"One more left, I guess we can post it," Jack said.
"Find a post office, will ya?" Sam searched for what he asked, and soon they were behind a post office in New Castle.
"Here," he said giving her Australian money. She took a last look at the map before getting down to the ship.
She walked to the post office that was across the street they parked in, got a stamp and left the letter to be sent. Then she walked back to where they were.
"Done, let's go home." She smiled.
"As the lady wishes."
Kate was listening to her favorite cd while cooking dinner when she heard the knock on her door. Curious to know who might be at her door, she lowered the fire and walked to the door to find the space empty. She opened the door and took her head out to the corridor and looked left and right but there was no one around.
"Weird," she muttered to herself, closing the door. She reached her kitchen to continue what she was doing when she turned once more to look glare at the door for interrupting her cooking. And she saw it; the white envelope was glaring back at her.
Shaking her head, she walked to the entrance again and picked it. She frowned, yes, it was her name and her address, but it also was her writing. She could read the letter then and burn her dinner, or she could have a decent meal and then read it.
As she was starving, she chose the second. Her meal was so good that she almost forgot the mysterious envelope. But as she almost wetted it when cleaning after her, she found it. Finishing everything, she grabbed the letter from the dry place she had placed it and walked to her living room and read it.
"Mike Flynn," she tested his name out loud, then she chuckled to herself. "I don't even know who you are."
Mike was at home. The doorbell sound pierced his skull, and he inhaled deeply before walking to it. Without checking he opened the door, but there was no one outside. Frowning, he took a couple of steps outside, and he found his street empty. No adults, no pranking kids.
"That's odd." He muttered, going back inside. His phone started to ring, so he quickly locked his door and ran to his phone.
"Mike Flynn," he answered it.
"Hey, mate! How are things? Drinks? Sure! Give me an hour, mate. Great, see you then."
He left the phone in the charger and had a quick dinner. Half an hour later, he was walking towards his door to get to the place they had agreed on when he saw the envelope on the floor. He pick it up and opened it quite certain it would be a prank of his mates or another bill. But it wasn't.
"Kate McGregor," He read, "strange day."
He shook his head as he returned the paper on the envelope, as he did he read the word urging him to buy a house, but not any house. One with a specific address. He was about to take it out and read it again when the taxi arrived. He left the halfway in a letter on the table by the entrance before rushing to the cab.
The next morning, he found himself going to NAVCOM for a meeting.
"Sir, you wanted to see me?" he asked to Commander Johnson's as he entered his superior officer office.
"Yes, Lieutenant Commander, please take a seat. Well, you were called because I need to announce to you that you've been transferred." He gave Mike his letter, as Mike was reading Johnson continued. "You will be in Sidney for six months. Three on HMAS Sydney and then," he stopped.
"Watson bay for another three."
"Any ideas what will happen to me next?" He asked his commander, and Johnson nodded, giving him another paper.
"Afghanistan?" He asked as he read the document.
"Yes, only for one tour."
"I don't know what to say, sir."
"Well, what I can say, Lieutenant Commander is, enjoy your week off." Mike passed the documents back to the Commander.
"Is there anything else, sir?"
"No, that is all. Good luck, Lieutenant Commander," Mike smiled
"Thanks, sir."
After the meeting, he went back home and took the mysterious note out. Humming in thought, he got changed thinking that he had nothing to lose by checking the address.
"Huh," he left out when he noticed the house was in Holloway's beach area, ten minutes north of Cairns and fifteen minutes from NAVCOM and the navy port. "Convenient," he frowned.
He stopped in front of the house in question; the sea smell told him he wasn't far from the beach. And the house, well, it was a two-story home with a triple garage from what he could see. Trees and shrubs were growing along the fence line plus he noticed palm trees on the property blowing gently in the breeze that was coming from the sea.
As if the real estate agent felt him coming, his car parked in front of Mike's. The man went down and took a for sale sign and a hammer from his trunk before walking to the house and placing the sign on the property the letter said he had to get for himself. Mike frowned remembering the part after the address.
'Buy the house before someone else does.' That did it. Mike got out of his car.
"Excuse me, sir," Mike called out as he crossed the street.
"Yes? Is there something I can help you with?" The realtor asked turning towards Mike.
"What can you tell me about this house?" The man grinned and crouched to where he left his bag getting a clipboard out of it.
"It's a lovely family home. Five bedrooms, five bathrooms on the first story. The second story has two bedrooms with bathroom in between. Chief kitchen and large dining area which can hold eleven-piece dining suite. A large living room as well family room. Games, romper room with wet bar, an extra toilet, and an office. The triple-double garage which can fit two SUV, camper van and a boat," he said, making Mike smile when mentioning the boat.
"Outside there's a swimming pool and a large dining area for those summer night entertainment." He finished, lowering his clipboard.
"Sounds like a great place."
"It sure is. Would you like to see it? It's empty."
"Can we?"
"Yes, come on. I'll show you around," the realtor smiled, and Mike followed him in.
"How old is this house?"
"It was built in nineteen ninety-two, and it had one owner."
When they reached to the master bedroom, Mike noticed it was twice as big as his old place; the joined bathroom had a double size spa bath, a three-square meters' walk-in shower and his and hers basins and toilet. The other rooms were smaller and had a regular sized in a suite with shower, basin, and toilet.
Downstairs, he noticed a twelve-foot stud ceiling throughout the house. In the games room, he found the wet bat with four chairs in one corner.
"The wet bar was put in just last year," the realtor told him following Mike's line of sight.
"Ok."
They kept walking, the office was bigger than his current one, and for some reason, the toilet had handrails used to help people in wheelchairs. And a hand basin. But what surprised him was the kitchen. A seven by four meters' room with a breakfast bar and beside it the dining area.
The realtor kept walking showing him the living room and family room, before directing them to the outside which was as impressive as the inside. The entertainment area and the pool were big spaces yet what won him over was the view, from the backyard, he could see the patrol boats returning to port.
"What do you think of the house, sir?" The realtor asked noticing the smile on Mike's face.
"How much are they asking?" The agent smiled surprised.
"A little over a million dollars."
"What's a little over?" He asked his grin still in place.
"One point two million."
"I'll buy it," the realtor raised his eyebrows.
"Are you sure, sir? It is a lot of money; don't you need to contact your bank manager?" Mike turned to the man, the grin never faltering.
"Let me be the one who worries, and I'm not. I can afford it."
"If you are sure, then we can return to my office and get the paperwork started. It might take a couple of weeks." For the first time since they met, Mike frowned.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Yes. Timing, I'm only here for a week, before I leave for Sydney for six months. Then I must go for a six-month tour to Afghanistan," he said, the realtor's eyes widened.
"Are you in the navy?"
"Yes, I am Lieutenant Commander Flynn, I don't think I've introduced myself before," he grinned.
"In that case, I will have the paperwork done by tomorrow."
"I appreciate it. If you give me your card, I will be there with a bank cheque to cover the full price by tomorrow."
"Very well then, I'll see you tomorrow Lieutenant Commander Flynn," he said giving Mike his card.
"Thank you... Donald Fowler," Mike said looking at the card before shaking hands.
With the grin, back in place, Mike returned home and placed some calls.