4

He phoned the base and told the General all they had found, he told them to return to the mountain and he would contact the civil authorities for the license plate to be circulated, Jack told Daniel to stay behind in case she returned and he and Teal'c jumped back in his truck and drove off.

By the time they had made it back down to level 27 they were hoping for some news, however there wasn't any. Jack paced around the briefing room, unable to sit still even for a minute, even Teal'c looked agitated… well for him anyway, he kept picking a folder off the table and reading it through and then dropping it again.

The doctor came in and gave her report, nothing she had not already told everyone, as far as she knew Sam was fine, she was just not talking, except for those 2 words Jack had forced out of her.

Sams cellphone rang at 16:00, all three men around the table jumped at it, but Jack got there first, he looked at the caller ID… the cop!

"O'Neill" he answered

"Erm, I was trying to get hold of Sam?" the voice came over the speakers as Jack put it on broadcast "is she there?"

"Major Carter is not on base at the moment" Hammond said "I take it she has not contacted you?"

"No, not since we arranged to meet this weekend, that was… erm… three, no four days ago, she hasn't showed, is she alright?"

"She left against medical advice, and we can't seem to locate her, if she gets in touch with you would you please let us know? You can use this number" there was a pause on the other end

"Medical advice? Why, what happened. Is she injured? How bad is it?" the man could have given Daniel a run for his money on the way questions fell out of his mouth!

"Major Carter collapsed after returning from a mission, the doctor has yet to determine why" Hammond had more patience than HE did that was for sure, he would have told the cop it was nothing to do with him, but then it had been on his advice Shanahan was given clearance to know about the 'gate, Jack sighed as the General continued "She waited until she was not observed and left the base, as far as we know she is still in the area, but we can't prove it"

"Ok, if she contacts me I'll let you know she's OK" Jack noticed the wording, he was not promising to tell them where she was, just that she was OK. He was about to comment on it when he saw his CO shake his head and put his fingers to his lips.

"That'll be fine" he told the man on the other end of the call. They all heard the disconnection and the dialling tone

"Get Walter to get a trace on his phone, if she contacts him I want to know where she is calling from, and what she says!"

Jack headed for the control room, Walter had already thought of it and had contacted the NID over an hour ago to let them know the request was on it's way, Jack smiled at the efficient little man gratefully.

"Do you want to include the Majors brother?" he asked, Jack thought about it,

"Do we have his number?" he asked. Walter nodded

"General Carter calls him from here when he comes to earth" he explained, Jack agreed and left Walter to make the final arrangements for the taps and traces.

Daniel rang at 21:00 to say he was going to sleep in Sams spare room, Cassie rang Jack just after to remind him she was staying at his house, he had totally forgotten! He was dismissed by Hammond and made his way off base, Teal'c promised to contact him as soon as they heard anything, whether Hammond did or not, there was always a chance that the General would be busy arranging for her to get back without him thinking of contacting Jack.

He got home to find Cassie had used her keys and had unpacked her clothes, she asked about Sam, not having tried to contact her thinking she was with Pete. Jack told her everything he knew so far, after all Cassie could be the one she would think of first, as someone who depended on her rather than as someone she should contact for her own good. Cassie mentioned the fact that Sam had a backup phone, specifically for her to use, so that she could get in touch even if Sam was already speaking to someone Jack tried to call it, but it rang out without being answered. Jack phoned it into Walter to add to the list of numbers to be monitored. He ordered pizza and they had a worried half hour watching rubbish on the TV and not actually noticing it at all. He insisted she turn in at 23:00 and he followed his own advice and collapsed on his bed fully dressed.

Saturday dawned clear and warm, Jack made breakfast for them both and they headed around to Sams house, waking Daniel up with the smell of coffee. Cassie went through the drawers and wardrobe, she had some idea of what could be missing, and reported that only a few changes of clothes were gone, Carter could have packed half the house on the back of that bike, so only a few changes meant she was either thinking of coming back soon… or she wasn't thinking at all!

Cassie mentioned that someone was parked in a car down the street, and seemed to be watching the house. How she knew Jack didn't ask, but he left via the back door and surprised the driver in a short time.

"Shanahan! What the hell are you doing?" he asked

"Trying to find Sam" the man said "We have this covered, what happens if she turns up in Denver like she was supposed to and you aren't there?" Was the man totally thick?

"How do I know you don't have her holed up in the base?" he asked. Jack lost patience and slammed the man into his car, he stormed off down the street, back to Carters house, he got Daniel and Cassie and headed back to base, if Shanahan was going to stake her house out there was no point in them doing it.

He once again wished he had not listened to her when she told him that Pete could have dealt with knowing about the 'gate, but if she was happy with the bloody idiot, he would do anything she wanted to help if it meant she would be happy. The only thing he really REALLY couldn't work out was why the hell she fell for that idiot!

They parked Cassie in the commissary where she was happy flirting with the younger airmen that had recently been assigned, he had given them all warning that flirting was as far as it would go, if anyone actually touched her they would be needing artificial arms to replace the ones he would rip off and beat them with. She pulled her tongue out at him as he left her there.

They made their way to the Generals office, picking Teal'c up on the way, Hammond waved them into the small room, he told them the phone that Cassie had given them the number to had been located in San Diego, dumped into a post box. It gave them a lead at least, Mark Carter and his family were over there.

They contacted the NID and asked for a phone dump on Marks cell and home, no sign of Carter.

Jack decided to go direct and called the man, he knew from Jacob and Carter that Mark was anti AF, but he hoped the man would be worried enough about her that he would help them find her.

He was to be disappointed, all he got was a shouting match. Mark refused to listen to their worries and slammed the phone down. Twenty minutes later the switchboard contacted the General to say a "Mrs. Mark Carter" was trying to contact someone in regards to her sister –in-law, The General gave permission for her to be put through and put her on speaker.

"This is General Hammond, Commanding officer of the base Major Carter is stationed at, she has gone AWOL after a hard mission abroad and against medical advice. She isn't in any sort of official trouble as yet, but we are anxious to find her"

"She called Mark this morning" the woman told them "She was looking for her father, but of course Mark doesn't know anything, Sam was always closer to him than Mark"

"Did she say where she was?" Jack asked quickly, they all looked at each other at the mention of her going to Mark for Jacob, she knew as well as anyone that Jacob was with the Tok'ra, it was pointing at something a bit more serious than anything so far had indicated.

"Just that she was somewhere close, I tried calling her back after but the phone was never answered, I have to apologise for my husband, he gets…irrational, when it comes to the Airforce, I have written this number down and will let you know if I hear anything else, I hope Sam is alright"

The General thanked her and told her she could ring any time. As she hung up he was already getting Walter on the phone to contact Jacob and authorise Marks wife… no one had caught her first name… to his contact list, and to Jacks in case she called when Hammond was at home.