Chapter 2: Pawns of the Game
It took Jack a moment to close his mouth and find his voice. "Nuclear warheads?! Why?"
"Defensive purposes," Hammond unclasped and clasped his hands on the table a couple times. "We've been developing newer, stronger weapons and the Pentagon thinks we need them in our fight against the Goa'uld. The reason we're doing this off-world is so we don't excite any of the other nations."
"And…then Russia found out and they're not too happy about it."
The general nodded. "Exactly. Though I can't really blame them…Anyway, what the Secretary of Defense is most concerned about right now is how the Russians found out about this operation. Only a handful of people knew about it and security was tighter than it is with the whole Stargate program."
"So this is pretty big, huh?" Jack watched Hammond carefully, trying to tell by his expression how alarmed he was about the situation. Apparently very alarmed.
"That it is. I have to go up to Washington later, in fact, to meet with the President," Hammond said. "I'll leave you in charge here while I'm gone; it'll only be for a couple days."
"Is this whole thing on the low down or can I tell my team?"
"Your discretion. I don't see any reason why they shouldn't know."
"Great." Jack stood up. "Good luck in D.C. , sir, I hope you sort this whole thing out."
Hammond managed a weak smile. "Thank you, Colonel."
"You know what I think?" Daniel said, leaning in farther over his tray so his teammates could hear him over the babble of noise in the commissary. "I think the Tollan were right. Give us any type of advanced weaponry and the first thing we do is try to find the best ways to blow each other up."
Sam frowned into her cup of blue jell-o. "You really think that's it? Maybe they're doing exactly what they claim and are just trying to fight the Goa'uld."
"Don't kid yourself, Carter," Jack grumbled. "You've got too much faith in our government. They could care less about the Goa'uld. All they want is to be able to blast any other country off the face of the Earth the second they oppose us."
They were all silent for a few minutes, each contemplating the situation and steadily losing their appetite in the process. Sam pushed her tray away from her and sat back in her chair with her arms folded over her chest.
"Are the Russians displeased because they are not allowed to place their weapons alongside our own?" Teal'c asked after a while.
"That's probably part of it," Daniel too, pushed his tray back and shifted uncomfortably around in his seat, earning an annoyed glare from Jack. "Also, during the Cold War we signed a treaty with the Russians saying we would never put nuclear weapons in space. I think everyone realized the potentials."
Sam's eyes widened. "So this is about us breaking the treaty? This is bigger than we thought…wouldn't they want to –"
"Carter," Jack interrupted with a wave of his hand. "Russia thinks we can blow their whole, cold country off the map. They're not going to do anything stupid."
"Lets hope not." Daniel mumbled.
Hammond returned a few days later with the grim news that the problem hadn't gotten any better. In fact, things seemed to be getting decidedly worse.
"They're after the Stargate program now," he told Jack the afternoon after his return to the base. "They want us to shut it down and cease off-world operations."
"And we've told them no way in hell, right?"
"Colonel." Hammond gave him an admonishing glare.
Jack winced. "Sorry, sir. But seriously, we're not going to shut the 'gate down just because they don't like what we're doing, are we?"
"Jack," Hammond said with a heavy sigh. "We're breaking a treaty with them. An old one, but it's still an agreement between our countries. Do you understand how serious Koranov is taking this?"
Jack nodded.
"I told the Pentagon this was a bad idea," Hammond murmured, shaking his head. "But they didn't listen."
"That doesn't make any sense."
The general shrugged. "They thought we could slip in under Russia's radar."
Jack rolled his eyes exasperatedly.
The next day Sam was in her lab working on her latest mission report. She was nearly finished when a loud knock interrupted her train of thought. Assuming it was Jack or Daniel come to bother her rather than finish their own report she didn't even look up.
"I'm busy, so if you -"
"Major Samantha Carter?"
Sam slowly turned, fingers still poised over the keyboard to find herself face to face with a prim looking man in a spiffy uniform that had far too many medals on it. "That's me."
"You're needed in the briefing room." He spoke in the monotonous tone of someone who'd spent way too much time in the military.
Sam closed her laptop slowly and stood up, following the man, whoever he was, out of the lab and to the elevators. He said nothing as they headed up to the briefing room, where Hammond was talking with two men who had to be Pentagon officials. They all turned when Sam entered.
"Major," Hammond said, gesturing for her to take a seat. "These are Generals Harrison and Campbell from the Pentagon. They'd like to have a word with you."
"Ok." Sam eyed both the men warily as they sat down across the table from her. To her relief Hammond sat down as well, shooting the other two a look that clearly said he wouldn't be told otherwise.
"Major Carter," Harrison said, flipping through a manila folder in front of him. "You're currently considered the country's, if not the world's, leading expert on wormhole physics, the Stargate and other forms of alien technology. As such, General Ryan and others have decided that you'd be the best candidate to develop some new defensive technologies for us utilizing your knowledge of astrophysics."
"What sort of defensive technologies?"
"Long range ballistic missiles with inter planetary capabilities," Harrison replied. "Currently ICBM's can only be targeted to other planets using the Stargate. We'd like something that's a little more flexible and efficient."
Sam frowned. "I'm sorry, I thought you said defensive technologies."
"These would be used to protect ourselves against the Goa'uld, of course," Campbell said.
Sam looked over at Hammond. The general had a rather stony expression on his face, but showed no hint of response to her unspoken question of whether these two were serious or not. However, it was obvious that he didn't believe the 'defensive' part any more than Sam did.
"With all due respect, sirs," Sam began carefully. "Isn't this even more of a breach of the treaty with Russia?"
Campbell scowled. "Leave the politics to the people in Washington, Major. We don't want to know your moral opinion on this, we're here to tell you you're on this project."
"And…what if I can't design these missiles?"
"We know you can." Campbell narrowed his eyes. "You're one of the smartest people in the world and I'm not saying that to flatter you."
Sam shook her head. "It's just…"
"It's just what, Major?" Campbell gritted his teeth, putting an almost dictatorial emphasis on her rank.
"I'm an astrophysicist." Sam said, meeting his eyes determinedly. "I study alien technology and keep the gate running, I don't design nuclear weapons." She was beginning to surprise even herself. Usually arguing with a superior officer, unless that superior officer happened to be Jack, was something she would never dream of. Unless, of course, said officer seemed to have lost his mind.
"You seem to be missing the point here, Major. You're also in the United States Air Force," Campbell pointed out. "So unless you want to face a court martial for disobeying direct orders, you will do this."
"General Campbell," Hammond broke in, unable to restrain himself. "Major Carter is under my command, I won't have you coming in here and –"
"If you have a problem with this, you can take it up with General Ryan. I'm not the one giving out orders here."
Hammond got to his feet. "Well then I'll do that." He turned to Sam. "Major, you're dismissed."
Sam stood as well, casting a last glance at Harrison and Campbell before leaving the briefing room.
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