From Here to Alternity: Spies Like… Us?
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Gimme gimme
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Downtime Day 14
Late Afternoon
SGC Conference Room
Level 28
The noise of a softly cleared throat broke Malcolm Barrett's reverie. His face snapped up from contemplating his hands to see a portly officer with an unmistakable command presence lift expressive eyebrows into a vast forehead.
"Agent Barrett?" a Texas drawl inquired.
"General Hammond, sir?" Barrett responded as he came to his feet.
"I am," the base CO confirmed, taking Barrett's measure as they met each other's eyes and shook hands. Barrett noted that there was no welcome in the general's manner or speech, although Hammond didn't look precisely displeased. Or perhaps he had to know the man better to suss out his facial cues – Barrett knew first hand the virtue of a calm expression in a commander.
"General, I have a copy of the Presidential order authorizing my inclusion in the search for Major Carter if you'd like to see it." Barrett's gray eyes were level and unchallenging as he stood beside his reluctant host.
A long pause filled the room as the general and the agent each took in all the subconscious clues they were trained or naturally skilled enough to recognize. Malcolm thought the general looked like Santa Claus crossed with a bust of Caesar. The blue uniform held an able, if older, body under a face that looked like it could slip from neutral to stern to kind without ever looking fake. He felt the force of Hammond's charisma – it resembled a bracing backslap over a beer – and saw why Sam trusted her boss' boss implicitly. Hammond seemed to be a man worthy of the confidence that the Major had so firmly insisted that Barrett extend. Not many people as highly connected and powerful as the General could have an officer as intelligent and experienced as Sam Carter declare that if 'you trust me, you trust my team'. The NID's top agent just hoped he measured up as well in Hammond's assessment.
"Have a seat," the general invited briefly. Apparently Barrett had passed inspection, if only provisionally. As they sat, one at the head of the table and one to his right, Hammond continued, "I don't need to see a copy of your authorization, Agent Barrett, but I am… puzzled. Please explain to me why an NID agent should be allowed to help my command investigate the abduction of one of my officers by a member of that organization?" Hammond's tone was politeness itself, but Barrett could sense the menace seething underneath the quiet question.
"Sir, I'm not authorized to speak for the President. I know on the surface it seems an unusual choice, but- " Barrett saw Hammond frown past him to the spiral staircase in the corner of the room. When he followed the older man's gaze, there was no one there. "General?"
"Carry on, Agent Barrett," Hammond continued brusquely as he shifted his laser-like focus back to his guest.
Although Malcolm felt that he had the majority of the older man's attention, there was apparently some significance to the far corner that escaped him. Another brief glance to his right gave him no clue, so he continued. "Actually, sir, my initial request was that the SGC not be involved in the investigation at all." There was a sudden noise from the mysterious corner, but Hammond merely frowned. That calm reaction confirmed for Barrett that Major Davis had already given the general a synopsis of Barrett's conference with the president and Davis himself.
"I think you know why that's not acceptable, Agent Barrett." The calm certainty of the general's voice sent echoes of Sam's running through Barrett's mind. She'd bearded him in his office at the outset of their collaboration and accused him of complicity in the many rogue operations the SGC had thwarted or been dragged into. He had to repair the General's NID-are-scum attitude before he could do anything to help the search. Hammond was perfectly capable of putting Malcolm under house arrest here in the mountain and giving him wild geese to chase for the duration.
"General Hammond, let me state for the record that the abduction of Major Carter was in no way an authorized operation." Barrett's serious gray gaze locked with Hammond's shrewd summer-sky-blue eyes as he tried to put all the sincerity his soul could muster behind that statement. The two men leaning forward in their chairs stared each other down for a long, silent second before Hammond gave a slight, accepting nod. Barrett breathed a sigh of relief he didn't know he'd been holding in and let his face relax back into his usual professional inscrutability. "For what it's worth, I'm just as determined to be a part of this investigation as you are. Major Carter was a great help in taking down the Committee and the legitimate NID knows just how much we owe her. I hope we find her safe and soon."
Hammond leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his belly in a watchful posture. Barrett knew better than to think the officer was convinced, but he was at least willing to listen. The agent knew of the past conflict between the NID and the SGC and had expected to have to do much more to get even neutral cooperation out of Sam's colleagues.
Barrett leaned towards Hammond with his weight balanced on his right forearm as he turned to face the older man. The intensity of the agent's purpose radiated out through his posture. "I have been tasked with identifying and eliminating all traces of corruption within the NID. That includes rogue groups like the one that abducted Major Carter. Two considerations you may not be aware of, and the reasons I didn't want the SGC involved, are the Herculean scope of that task and its delicacy." Barrett smothered a frustrated frown and kept his freckled choirboy face smooth as he faced Sam's CO. Presidential order or not, wary acceptance or not, George Hammond could make co-operation in this investigation a hellishly difficult task if Malcolm didn't convince him of the wisdom of this officially sponsored compromise.
"The unauthorized elements in the NID had and most likely still have spies within every important classified project under government review, including the SGC." Barrett could tell that this wasn't news to George Hammond, not even the confirmation that there were probably rogue NID operatives still inside his mountain. What neither man said, tactfully, was that there were undoubtedly authorized NID agents in these classified projects as well. "The Committee was just the head of the monster. So far we've been able to unbury their acquisitions and accounts to date, but my mandate isn't just to untangle their past crimes. I have to pursue the corruption to its roots. There are still ranks and ranks of contacts within Area 51 and other projects who had been supplying the Committee with classified information. They now need another buyer. We have limited time and leverage before those pipelines open up again. Shutting down the leaks at their source has been my primary objective since the sting operation."
"I grant that you have an important job, Agent Barrett. What I haven't heard is a reason your work should take priority over my command recovering our missing officer." Hammond stared directly at Barrett with a look the agent hadn't seen since Catholic school. In another minute, he was sure, the intense bald man was going to whip out a ruler and whap Malcolm's knuckles.
"Sir, with all due respect, it's a lose-lose situation. If your people went in and found nothing about the rogue group holding Major Carter they'd still be putting the wind up already secretive and experienced conspirators, making it harder for my guys to track them down." Malcolm couldn't prevent his intense sincerity from bleeding through his dispassionate professional mask. No matter how calm and collected the agent tried to appear in most circumstances, he knew his honest emotion would carry more weight with General Hammond than the gravest professional stoicism. "By the same token, any headway they make into actually backtracking the people responsible would just cause those individuals to hide their tracks better. The more leads you'd have to pursue to get to Major Carter's abductors, the harder you'd make it to find her using the people and connections I already have investigating those conspirators. The more noise your people make, successful or not, the worse it is for my investigation into all aspects of corruption. I lose some of my best assets either way and we get no closer to finding Major Carter. If you let the SGC get involved with the concrete part of this investigation before we have good intel, it would be a disaster for us both."
Hammond's jaw firmed as his blue eyes got very cold. "You understand, Agent Barrett, that recovering Major Carter is the top priority of everyone here at the SGC." Although phrased as a question, it was clearly an 'or else' statement he'd best get behind. But the general wasn't finished. "I hope your investigation is successful but, as you say, it's an ongoing task that will take you some time. We don't have that kind of time to spend. Now, my people are experienced and discreet. I find it hard to imagine that their questions would make the rogue groups any more suspicious than they must be already. And in all honesty, keeping us out of the investigation strikes me as a perfect way to hide anything you'd like to keep to yourself. Regardless of the purity of your motives." That steel-voiced politeness did not, and was probably not intended to, hide his suspicion of Barrett's best intentions.
Barrett swallowed his instinctive protest of innocence and recalled his earlier persuasion of the president. "I know you're not happy about this situation. Neither am I. But Major Carter was instrumental to me making even this much progress. I know you can make this harder for me without violating the letter of your orders. Don't throw her contribution away by charging in without me. I can help you. And, frankly, you need me."
George Hammond sat back in his chair and evaluated the man who had convinced the President of the United States to order him into the SGC and the most important operation they had going. Malcolm Barrett wasn't anything like Hammond had expected. Even though Major Carter's report on her time with Barrett had been positive and approving overall, the general still thought of the NID in terms of Colonels Kennedy, Simmons and Maybourne, the most recent representative to cross his path. This stoic-faced man with the intense voice was almost too sincere to be real. Was Barrett really zealous and naïve enough to think that he could clean up an entire government agency?
Hammond sighed. He did have his orders and those orders were ironclad. Whether or not Agent Barrett of the NID wanted SG-1 to stand down, the fact was that Barrett was here on their turf to be a part of the SGC's mission to bring home Major Carter. And there was no way in hell George Hammond was going to look Samantha Carter's father in the eye and explain that their mortal bureaucratic enemy was taking over the rescue effort. So George's remaining concern was how deeply he wanted to let Barrett be involved in the search and how much he trusted the information the NID agent brought to the table. He let Barrett continue in a more professional vein as he contemplated his options.
"I understand why you want your people to be involved in the search and I have no problem with their assistance. But I have a network of 'Untouchables' who are already operating within these rogue groups much like Colonel O'Neill did when Colonel Maybourne was sponsoring the second offworld operation."
The corner gave another odd noise that drew their eyes to it, but there was still nothing visible beyond the metal spiral staircase. Hammond didn't seem too concerned, and Barrett's schematic showed that the Control Room for the Stargate was linked directly to this room via that staircase. Maybe those noises were the normal operating sounds of the 'gate computer and its technicians. Of course, the general's eyes were drawn there as inexorably as Barrett's were, which made the agent's spidey sense tingle just a little. He ignored it to revisit his argument.
"Your officer is being held by a group of mercenaries my organization trained and financed before they went off the reservation. Those operatives took NID property from one of our shadow companies to kidnap Major Carter, and were probably paid with funds skimmed off of our budget. Right now, this cell has gone rogue and it's my job to track them down. You want to find these agents to save Major Carter's life, but you need my help to find them so we can save Major Carter's life. Our goals are the same as far as the search is concerned."
"The most important thing to consider in this investigation beyond the safe recovery of Major Carter is rooting out and removing the men and women who are selling information that the SGC and others have worked so hard to obtain or protect. Somebody told those rogue agents that Major Carter was going on vacation and when and where. Somebody commissioned this kidnapping and paid for it. Somebody literally snatched her off her feet. All those somebodies are people I need to find and bring down. I wanted my team, which was already involved in clandestine surveillance and monitoring, to push for information on the major's location as a part of their ongoing operations."
"That's not acceptable, Agent Barrett. I want Major Carter back in this facility and I want her back now – not in a few months when your people get around to mentioning her! If that's your idea of cooperation…" Hammond's implacable demands hung over the conference table as Barrett shook his head vigorously.
"No, General Hammond, I know that's not what we need to do. In an ideal world, our investigations would never link and we wouldn't have to prioritize two goals that are so important to each of us. Actually, in a perfect world we wouldn't have this situation to investigate." Barrett's grim, ironic lip-twitch of black humor died as he watched the general's immobile expression. He sighed silently and slid into a more appropriately solemn expression. "Even given the circumstances, your goal and mine are identical up to a certain point. I have to find the people who have her before I can find out why they did this and what they'll do next. After that, I don't have the luxury of undivided focus."
Barrett and Hammond locked gazes and neither gave way before the NID agent continued, "The President has ordered me to cooperate and enhance your efforts and that's what I intend to do. I hope you can believe that."
The general leaned forward and braced his forearms on the table as he kept up the staring contest with Barrett. "Since the President has already issued his orders in this matter, I don't suppose it makes much of a difference what I think. But…," and here the blue eyes squinted thoughtfully just over Barrett's shoulder in a gesture which dismissed their ocular game of chicken without conceding. "You're right, I could make this difficult without overstepping my boundaries in the slightest. What you're here for is to give any and all aid you can to our efforts to locate Major Carter. To put her life and her safety first, just as all of us here do. That's my price for following the spirit of my orders. After she's found, we can negotiate."
Barrett let his breath out and tried very hard not to close his eyes in relief. It wasn't much for approval, but he knew that General Hammond had just decided not to make him persona non grata for however long he was imprisoned here in the mountain. More importantly, Hammond would not send armed SGC teams after suspected NID rogues. Everything else Malcolm could work around. "Thank you, General. The President thought that our best course of action was combining our information and sifting through it together so that we could use each other's sources to further the investigation."
Hammond's shrewd gaze passed steadily over Barrett's regulation haircut and solemn expression. "Just remember, Agent Barrett, my people want one thing and one thing only. To find and retrieve Major Carter. Since the President has issued orders to do it this way, I won't risk court martial for me or any of my people by overriding those orders. But I don't – we don't care about your other goals any more than we have to. If it comes down to finding Major Carter two days earlier or setting your investigation back two years, they'll choose the first option. With my total support."
The general seemed to find something in Barrett's curt nod that let him nod in return and take a moment to let his warning sink into the room's tense atmosphere. His sudden, intense look at the staircase corner puzzled the NID agent, but the general continued before Barrett could spare a glance to his right.
"Now, what information do you have that will help us find Major Carter? We have the evidence the FBI collected here and it's undergoing analysis as we speak. We have the security logs from the van's motor pool and the video from the Grand Canyon. Major Carter's father called in some markers and got Homeland Security's downloaded satellite images of the area at the time we think the van left…"
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Downtime Day 14
Concurrent with above
SGC Level 27-28 spiral staircase
Espionage was a younger man's game and he could see why. Colonel Jonathan J. "Jack" O'Neill, fifty years young and leader of the premiere first contact team for Stargate Command, stretched his whole body to the limits of limberness as he cocked his head to the side and tried to lift his ear into the adjoining room. The Control Room was as quiet as it could be, with no unexpected activations of the 'gate or scheduled arrivals, but he could just barely hear his commanding officer meeting with the NID snake-weasel they'd invited under their very own rock. Right about now he'd give both his knees to have one of those Extendable Ears Cassie had told him about during her Harry Potter phase. He tried to hear over his own breathing as the voices got quieter.
Colonel O'Neill had been sedated in the infirmary when plans to accept Agent Barrett into the SGC for the duration of the investigation were made. He had wondered idly in the few hours he'd been conscious and aware of Barrett's impending arrival if that had been a coincidence or not. Yeah, the guy had a presidential letter of authorization alright, but did the SGC really need the help of lying, cheating, kidnapping spooks to find one of their own? Jack thought not. He had ordered the base security force to alert him when the NID agent arrived, which was well within his right as 2IC of the SGC. That cavity search request might have been a little out of line, but it was more likely to get him a phone call than the simple request for information about Barrett's arrival.
Unfortunately, the lieutenant escorting Barrett from the surface was no rookie and knew better than to take O'Neill's order seriously, so that squirrelly sack of jet lag could be concealing any number of surveillance devices on his person even now. It was only right that Jack know what was said in case it ended up on tape in some lair in Washington, right? Of course right. And that was what he planned to say if General Hammond caught him sneaking around on the staircase. Which he hoped wouldn't happen as he pitched upward at an even more precarious angle.
Jonas Quinn was getting better and better at fitting in on this alien planet, despite Major Carter's concerns about his 'weirdness'. He could explain baseball and basketball as well as any non-fanatic native and he even tried to work up some enthusiasm for his team leader's beloved hockey. The Kelownan's semi-legendary culinary explorations had ceased with the disappearance of the one team member willing and able to take him to eat off base, but he was getting a handle on the food, too. However, there were some Earth pursuits that Jonas just couldn't get no matter how much they were explained. Headbanging, for one. Synchronized swimming, for another. And he thought that whatever Colonel O'Neill was doing would have to be added to that list.
Jonas stood quietly in the darkened Control Room watching his CO on the metal stairs. He'd been having some odd moments of disconnectedness since he awoke in the infirmary earlier today. Maybe this was just a worry-induced figment of his imagination. He cocked his head to the side and stared up for several seconds. Then he cocked his head to the other side and stared again. Finally, he crept up just below the colonel's position on the stairs and imitated the other man's posture. After a few puzzled minutes he tapped his CO's shoulder and asked, "What are you doing?"
Colonel O'Neill yelped in shock and spun around to face the stealthy alien who had made him jump. He slapped a hand over Jonas' mouth and glared. The little sneak had almost given it all away! He was willing to sacrifice a little dignity for an advantage, but that only worked if the advantage - secrecy - remained.
"Don't do that!" O'Neill hissed. "Can't you see I'm trying to listen here?"
Jonas' brows came down in puzzlement and the colonel sighed as he removed his hand.
"Hammond's meeting with that scuzzbucket right now and I'm trying to figure out what his nefarious plan is." O'Neill's angry whisper barely carried beyond his companion's ear.
"Wait. General Hammond has a nefarious plan?" Jonas blinked in disbelief. He knew some confusion was wandering around his head, searching for a home, but this defied credulity.
"Yeah, Hammond." O'Neill rolled his eyes and gripped the Kelownan's arm to steady himself on the narrow stair. His normally Daniel-and-Carter-brilliant teammate must have had stupid juice for breakfast. "No, Jonas! What Barrett's plan is!"
"What makes you think he has a nefarious plan?" Jonas whispered back.
"He's NID, Jonas! They always have an ulterior motive." O'Neill rolled his eyes and grudgingly made room for his teammate on the step below the one he'd reclaimed. A nasty cocktail of controlled fear and suppressed guilt made his patented sarcasm sharper and less comradely than usual, even with his least trusted team member. "Hel-lo! They're the bad guys!"
Jonas gave a slightly worried nod and imitated Jack's position on the stairs. Colonel O'Neill chose to believe that the young man was concerned with the NID's agenda rather than his CO's sanity.
They listened avidly for several minutes.
Jack had just managed to mostly stifle his reaction to the agent's mention of his least favorite covert op – during his tenure at the SGC, anyway – when he jumped and spun around in shock again. His only consolation was that Jonas 'eep'ed like a little girl while he managed to keep quiet this time.
"I asked what you were doing, ColonelO'Neill. JonasQuinn?" Teal'c's bass carried farther than Jonas' earlier inquiry, but neither of the men addressed was foolhardy enough to try to physically shut his mouth. The Jaffa's raised brow and arms crossed stoutly across his chest told them he was less than pleased. And if they couldn't have guessed from his use of O'Neill's title alone, then they didn't deserve the title of teammate.
"We're gathering intel on Agent Barrett," Jonas explained in a hiss. "He's meeting with General Hammond and we're trying to figure out what his ulterior motive is."
Teal'c stared at his teammates in displeasure. Surveillance was a necessary tactic in war, but it was never practiced against one's faithful commander. Eavesdropping on GeneralHammond seemed shameful in the extreme. "A warrior should trust his leader to remain true to their purpose. Jaffa do not condone listening at the door of anyone's tent. It is a dishonorable pastime."
"Keep it down, willya? I think they're about done." Jack had quickly put his fright behind him and returned to his listening post. His sudden manic burst of disreputable behavior recalled his obstinate determination to clear Daniel's name while the archeologist was dying of radiation poisoning and his insistence on returning SG-1 to operational status just after Daniel's ascension. O'Neill preferred to ignore the devastating circumstances fueling his emotional turmoil by channeling those 'unsoldierly' emotions into enthusiasm for whatever means were necessary to achieve his goal. Teal'c recognized this coping trait… but had little patience for his battle-brother's continued antics.
Jonas saw Teal'c's nostrils flaring and subtly squeezed his way out from between the angry Jaffa and the oblivious Tau'ri. His teammates had had some strange, subtle tension brewing between them these last few days and he knew better than to offer to straighten it out. The colonel seemed to be riding a wave of jittery determination that crashed ominously against the extra-stoic bulwark of Teal'c's worried displeasure. He looked around for something to distract them. Luckily, he found it.
"General Carter! Did you get that satellite data your friend was pulling for you?" The young Kelownan's overly hearty voice startled O'Neill into his third leap as Teal'c turned slowly around to face the newcomer.
"Yeah, kid, and it looks good for us. I'll tell everybody at once when the meeting starts." Jacob smiled thinly and gestured up towards the crouching colonel. "Do I even want to know?"
"You do not," Teal'c said firmly as he ascended into the briefing room.
"Dammit, T! What if they aren't done yet!" Jack growled as he followed his large friend up the metal stairs.
"Uh, colonel? I think he would've heard them," Jonas offered as he joined the parade into the briefing room.
"No, not them specifically, Selmak," Jacob muttered aloud, hoping Jack caught it. "The Three Stooges are an old Earth comedy team. It's a Tau'ri thing, just go with it."
He silently endured his symbiote's mutters about stupid senses of humor and whistling in the dark. Selmak was still incredibly pissed off about the political wrangling they'd been subjected to by the Tok'ra High Council over the last few days. In particular, Councilor Thoran had deman… strongly requested that they return immediately from the SGC to debrief to the High Council regarding their last mission. The SGC's urgent message requesting his presence several days ago had caught the general and his symbiote just as they came through the 'gate from their last mission and they'd literally turned right back around and 'gated out without talking to any Tok'ra. The councilors were… less than pleased with that choice.
Although Selmak's one hundred and two ways to say 'up yours' without profanity were always fun to experience when they were directed at someone else, Jacob knew neither of them was as calm as they needed to be to benefit the investigation or endure the council's impatience. The longer they waited for news of Sam, the more agitated and afraid both of them became and the more each tried to distract each other. Selmak tended to bring two millennia worth of strategic analysis and political maneuvering to Jacob's attention, even if the two were just sitting at a conference table answering questions. Jacob's contribution tended more towards stubborn refusal to dwell on the worst possibilities… and telling really bad jokes.
He refrained from defending himself against his headmate's rude comments, but pointedly visualized all the things he'd done to move the search along. He'd been able to get some of his Tok'ra colleagues to look at the video of Sam's abduction and had brought it back with possible enhancements. And before he left Earth he'd gotten a chance to call some of his old pals from his General days and ask them to pull the satellite data for the Grand Canyon area for the day Sam was picked up. That should help trace the van and see where she was taken after it left the park.
As they mounted the stairs behind the rest of SG-1, Jacob sent waves of sympathetic calm to his agitated symbiote to prepare them for the upcoming briefing. He circled the hairpin turn and braced himself for the first view of the NID agent who was supposed to provide such an advantage in their got-to-be-successful attempt to find his daughter safe and well. And soon. All the players were here on the board and progress should start… now.
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Author's Notes:
Huge thanks to my sister and editrix and to technetium for her excellent comments. They really do make this much better. Also, I really do appreciate everyone who drops me a line and lets me know what they think. I don't always agree, but you do make me think. Thanks!
I'm currently ripping up the next few chapters and pasting them back together, hopefully in a leaner, sleeker form. I'd love to know what you guys think so far – I need the encouragement while I tear up everything I've been working on! So please REVIEW! I'd love to hear from you all.
Happy New-ish Year!