3.
Jack reeled his line back in, looked around him, and grinned. The houseboat was great, even if he did say so himself. A Discovery XL Platinum 59 footer - with controls on the upper and lower decks along with a grill and full patio on upper level; complete kitchen and four bedrooms, two baths and a living room - was clearly essential for this mission. Yep, it was essential. And after he'd pulled her out of the Bullfrog Marina and into the Lake, the quiet and isolation of the place itself had hit him as well, relaxing him instantly.
It wasn't the forests of Minnesota, of course. He looked around; in fact, there wasn't a tree for miles. But Powell had its own beauty. Navajo Mountain loomed over everything, its distant peak already covered in snow, a stunning sight. But it was the canyon itself that was spectacular, the sandstone walls towering two hundred feet above him on either side, their orange and reds reflecting almost as an optical illusion in the glassy calm of the water. It went on as far as the eye could see. Bright blue skies, sunshine, clear blue water and red rocks for miles.
Yeah, it was great; definitely great. He grinned and threw out his line again.
Great…except there was that pesky fact that he was pretty sure Carter was pissed at him. Very, very seriously…pissed, annoyed, angry, irritated… had he mentioned pissed? - yeah, he had- at him.
Maybe should recheck that.
He called down to the houseboat's lower level. "Hey, Carter, any news from Daniel or Teal'c yet?"
"No."
Huh. Total silence. Not even a strangled "sir", although to be fair he had told her to lose the "sirs" in range of the civilian population. But they were out of the marina and in the middle of Lake Powell. He had been right; the tourists were long gone. Their houseboat was the only one on the water.
There was literally no one around for miles. And still no "sirs". As evidence it was damning. She was seriously pissed.
Which was really totally unfair. He was completely innocent.
He sighed, took a sip of beer, rearranged his feet on the bannister, and cast his line back in. He thought back on the last 10 hours. Okay, maybe he could have … slightly … annoyed her when he he'd threw out all of her recommendations for logistics and travel. She'd wanted to helicopter into the Air Force base at Moab and grab a jeep from there, bivouacking in the side canyon near to the coordinates they'd identified as the emission's source.
He'd stopped that idea dead in its tracks. Sure, flying the copter might have been fun, but a jeep was NOT his truck, and he wanted his truck. If he was going to be in the Arizona and Utah canyon country, his truck was a necessity.
So he'd shut her plans down. Immediately.
OK, maybe he could have been a little more … politic.
"Negative. We're not doing any of that. No copter, no jeep. We're driving."
She looked surprised and then annoyed. Yeah, now that he thought about it, that was the first time he'd seen her "annoyed" expression. But she'd hidden it quickly, swallowing before she responded.
"Sir, it's a ten hour drive, minimum."
"Eight and a half if we take I 70 across the mountains."
She tried again. "With my plan we're there in four hours."
Ok, that comment had called for some major offense, simply because he knew she was right. He'd let Daniel and Teal'c follow her plan when they got back just to get them to the location faster. But Carter and he were taking the truck.
"You want to define covert for me, Major?"
She grimaced again. Yeah, maybe that had irritated her. "Getting to Moab via copter won't raise any red flags, sir. And a jeep out in that country won't even be noticed. The emission's signature location is surrounded by literally hundreds of miles of isolation, not just on the Lake but the entire area. No one will notice us. We can be at the targeted site by noon with this plan."
"Not going to happen, Carter."
She tried again, a determined tone in her voice. It reminded him of the time that she'd rigged the power source with her doppelganger from the alternate reality – the tone that said "we will do this, no matter what." He grimaced.
"Sir, time is of the essence if we're going to investigate this. We're on the roster, scheduled for a mission next week. "
"I know there's a deadline. But nothing happened at these sites for the last three weeks while Lee and Harris were 'identifying' them. As far as we know, nothing has happened before. The likelihood is that nothing will soon, at least not in the eight hours or so it will take us to drive."
"But..."
Cater at her most determined was a force not to be reckoned with. He bailed, knowing if he let her, she'd argue him out of his plan. It was inevitable. Best to get out now.
"The truck goes or I don't, Carter. That's final."
Yeah, that could have bothered her. Maybe.
He thought back. During the seven-hour trip out (yeah, he'd pushed it a bit) in his truck to Lake Powell, she'd grumbled at him occasionally, but he'd expected that. He'd been prepared. Carter wasn't used to breaks. He'd been cheerful, helpful and tolerant of the science stuff she occasionally spouted even though it had been painful. Huh. He really deserved some serious credit there, but he hadn't gotten any. In fact, now that he considered it, she had seemed to get even more annoyed with him the more cheerful he was.
Still, she had grudgingly agreed that the scenery was spectacular. She'd been quiet for the first three hours of the drive. Powell was on the western side of the Rockies, the mountains a massive barrier between the eastern Front Range cities of Colorado Springs, Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins. To get to Powell, they needed to cross the high mountains and then head down into red rock country. She'd stayed silent for the first three hours of the trip, ignoring the Eisenhower Tunnel and saying nothing as they drove through the high country ski towns of Frisco, Breckenridge, and Copper Mountain, and continued to ignore him and the scenery all the way through Vail Pass.
It wasn't until they hit Vail Valley that she finally acknowledged his presence, even though he was the one driving.
"Wow."
He grinned, staring at the mountains surrounding them on both sides. The valley was covered with gold, the aspens huge bands of color for miles, interspersed with the green of the pines.
"I told you we needed the truck."
She grinned back at him. "It's stunning. I don't think I've ever been up here when the aspens were at their peak."
He suddenly started to relax, enjoying Carter enjoying the view. He cleared his throat. "Yes, well, if I recall correctly, you rarely get out of Cheyenne Mountain, let alone Colorado Springs, Carter. There's such a thing as a break."
"Sir, this isn't a -"
"Jeez, Carter. No reason not to enjoy it while you can." When it looked like she was going to argue with him again, he changed the subject back to the view and tried again to get her focus off the mission and onto enjoying the day. "Wait until we get past Glenwood Springs. The country opens up and the color's amazing. The scrub oak will be bright red, along with the gold of the aspen and the green of the pine. Not to mention that the red rocks of the canyons."
She'd subsided, looking at the view. They made their way through Glenwood Springs canyon and Grand Junction, with the buttes of the Colorado National Monument stark and compelling, and then headed into the wild, open country of Utah's high mesas. He thought they'd even reached a détente of sorts until they hit the supermarket.
Uhuh. Yep, now that he thought about it, she had been not just annoyed but appalled when he stopped in the tiny supply town of Hanksville, population 250, to get groceries.
"Sir, there are plenty of MREs. I packed them myself."
"Along with the kitchen sink, apparently."
His truck was completely crammed with stuff. There'd been barely enough room for his fishing gear.
"Sir –"
"Ah - enough, Carter." He raised his hand to stop her argument. "I am not eating that crap for the next week."
She almost glared at him, but caught herself. "Respectfully, sir, we're on a mission."
He shrugged. "Doesn't mean we can't eat well." He cut off any other possible protests by turning his back and heading into the market.
She had followed him in finally, catching up with him while he was deciding between one or two cases of beer. He'd already stocked up on steaks, potatoes, ribs, snacks, green stuff for Carter, fruit for Teal'c, and coffee for Daniel. Yeah, they had most of what they'd need for a week. He decided on two cases of beer. He could always take it home with him and there was no way to resupply easily on the Lake.
He glanced up at Carter. She was staring in horror at the shopping cart. He glanced at it. Maybe it was a little full but…
"Colonel, we can't possibly take all this. It's nearly all perishables. They'll spoil at the campsite, and the camp stove can't handle steaks and ribs and… god... what else is in there?"
She was rambling. He might as well get the rest out while she was in shock. "We're not camping, Carter."
"What?"
Yep, she did look like she was a little bit in shock. He decided to break it to her gently. "I said we're not camping, Carter. I rented a houseboat with a speedboat attached. We pick it up in an hour or so at the Bullfrog Marina."
"You're taking a houseboat on a mission?"
"Hey- shush." He looked around, but luckily there was no one close by enough to have heard her.
"Watch it, Carter. And lose the 'sir' and 'Colonel' in public."
She stared at him, then back at the cart, and then back at him again. He wasn't sure, but he thought she might have turned a slight tinge of green when she realized he was stacking cases of beer on the bottom shelf of the cart. Yeah, well, stocking up on alcohol wasn't necessarily part of missions, so he could understand her confusion. But her green tinge did make him remember something.
He looked up, grinning. "I got your salad stuff. You know, cucumber, spinach, all that green rot. I didn't forget so you don't need to worry."
She went absolutely still, silent. And then suddenly turned. "I'll be in the truck."
Yeah, breaking the houseboat to her like that might not have been one of his best ideas.
But in his defense, they bivouacked all the time off world. He saw no reason to be uncomfortable on this little "mission". Here, they were nicely set up with REAL beds on the lake, on a boat, with all accouterments, not scrambling up some godforsaken cliff to get to even ground where they'd have to put up a tent, scramble down for water… yadda, yadda.
What was the fun in that? They did it on a daily basis.
No, it couldn't be that she actually wanted to bivouac… yet… again. She must see the advantage in the houseboat, even if it did mean it would be another four hours on the lake and in tributary canyons before they got to the emission location. Nope, she couldn't want to bivouac so much that she was unhappy with the houseboat.
Of course, her dislike of the houseboat might have something to do with the little incident that occurred while they were renting it. But he was sure .. uhh.. pretty sure she hadn't heard that interaction. Once he'd signed the papers to rent the boat, Carter had disappeared into its depths with SGC equipment in hand and hadn't come out.
He grimaced. If she had heard his conversation with who was it … Tom… he'd have to explain. She didn't understand the macho western culture and curiosity of some old timers who lived in this part of the west. Although now that he considered it, Tom looked like he was in his thirties. Well, anyway. The guy… yeah, Tom, who had rented the houseboat to them, had offered to help load supplies and started asking questions.
Tom handed him another sack of groceries, looking concerned. "Mr. O'Neill, you do know that the boat's only available for this week? There's a lot of food here. I have to dry dock her after your trip. The weather will be too bad."
"Yeah, Tom. Got it. Thanks." He grabbed another bag and put it on the counter.
Tom glanced around mildly, the carts now empty. "Lot of stuff, but I think we've finally gotten the last of it."
Jack looked up quickly, worried that the amount of equipment Carter had brought with might have raised a red flag. He blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "Yeah, well, you know…the little woman and all. Uh… women…they need their …doohickeys and stuff. Keeps them happy."
He was almost sure he'd heard Carter mumble "Oh for gods sakes" from the back of the boat but he wasn't positive. Actually, it was unlikely. She usually used "for crying out loud" like he did. Yeah. Couldn't have been her.
Tom, on the other hand, looked surprised at his comment. "Your wife likes to fish?"
He seemed to back up at Jack's surprise. "I mean there's just a lot of fishing equipment here. I thought maybe your wife likes to use it. "
Jack stuttered, badly. "She's -uh. No. Actually, she doesn't fish. I'm hoping she'll like it after this trip. That's why…" Jack gestured around the room.
Tom grinned. "Ah I got it. Lots of options."
Jack had to agree. "Oh yeah, lots."
They'd had a perfectly soothing conversation after that about fishing the Lake. And he had put away the groceries; surely he had to get some points for that, although he'd left his fishing gear in the middle of the cabin. He'd avoided Carter since. It was safer .. uhh.. better that way. She'd calm down; he was sure of it. And he wasn't sure she'd heard the conversation anyway. And anyway, what else could he have said? This was a covert mission. No need to raise suspicions.
She'd finally made reappearance when he pulled the boat out of the marina, staring at him.
"Are we headed toward Davis Gulch?"
He looked up, smiling. "Nah. I thought we'd wait for Daniel and Teal'c. I just wanted to take her out a few miles into the nearest tributary. Fishing will be better there."
She rubbed her hands over her face "Of course it will. I'm going to go sort equipment."
"Sure." He smiled at her, excited to finally be out on the Lake. Yeah, blue skies, red rocks, water, and silence. All he needed was…
"Hey, Carter, could you grab me a beer? I can't get up while I'm piloting this pup."
Yeah, she just must not have heard him, in the back of the boat.