SSgt Tanika Jenkins led her squad through the lowest levels of Cheyenne Mountain. With curt movements of her hand, she directed her people to check various storage rooms and labs for the damned alien, Jonas Quinn.
She was angry and embarrassed that the man had managed to escape, even if it was not her fault. She'd been off duty when it had been discovered that the alien was not in his quarters. Like the rest of her squad, she was rousted from bed to assist in the search.
Her unit's reputation had been tarnished by the act of one stupid, soon-to-be-court-martialled corporal who had refused to report for sick call when struck by a virus that had been running rampant on the base for the last few weeks. Instead of informing his superiors of his illness, he had reported for guard duty outside of the alien's quarters. He failed miserably in that duty by spending half of his three-and-a-half-hour shift in the can, suffering from diarrhea.
When the man's shift replacement had found Quinn missing, the initial reaction had been that whoever had been responsible for the earlier poisoning incident had taken the Kelownan. But a review of the security tapes had shown the man simply walking away from his quarters. He had been tracked to this lower semi-abandoned area where the security cameras were fewer.
Jenkins shared her commanding officer's opinion that Quinn had his own agenda, and had simply been biding his time for an opportunity to act. She knew the higher ups seemed to think the alien was an asset to the program, but the simple fact was he was a traitor. If he betrayed his own world, there was no reason to believe he wouldn't betray Earth.
Her people had been scouring the lower levels of the base for several hours now with no luck, and her frustration was rising in step with her desperation. The longer the alien was a free agent, the more time he had to put in effect whatever devious plot he had in mind.
"Sergeant? Any luck?"
Jenkins turned and pulled herself to full attention at Major Carter's approach. "No, Ma'am. We've checked the entire level once, and we're going through it again. Don't worry, Ma'am, we'll find his hiding place."
The major frowned. "Sergeant, Jonas wouldn't hide from you. He's either lost or passed out or something. Your people need to be looking for places he could have fallen, not hiding places."
"Yes, Ma'am," Jenkins responded crisply.
The major could apparently see something in her face because she cocked her head and asked, "You don't believe me?"
"Permission to speak freely, Ma'am?"
"Go ahead, Sergeant, uh, Jenkins." Carter said, her eyes flicking to the nametag.
"Ma'am, the ali… Mr. Quinn chose the only moment he was unguarded to take off. I mean, for the last two weeks, he's never gone anywhere but his office, the commissary or his quarters. Why would he decide to come down here now, unless he was trying to give us the slip?"
The major shook her head worriedly. "I don't know. But I do know he's not intentionally hiding."
"Yes, Ma'am." Jenkins replied neutrally.
The major stared at her for a moment, then with an irritated gesture turned away. "Keep me informed, Sergeant."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Jenkins watched the major start to walk away, then stop, staring speculatively at an escape hatch. The woman's hand came up and lightly traced one of the dogs holding the hatch closed. She glanced back at the staff sergeant and said, "Sergeant, come with me."
Hiding her curiosity behind a professionally blank look, Jenkins followed the major down the corridor. There were several hatches on each level giving access to escape trunks that led to the surface. Jenkins had not seriously considered them because Quinn's security pass gave him access up to within eight floors of the surface. It hadn't seemed reasonable that the man would climb up twenty-nine levels if he didn't have to.
Apparently the major didn't agree, because she stopped at the next escape hatch, doing the same minute inspection of the mechanism. After a minute's examination, the woman shook her head and headed determinedly to the next hatch.
It was five minutes and three hatches later that Carter found what she was looking for. She reached out and touched a dog that even Jenkins could see the scraped paint on. The sergeant looked down and saw a few paint flakes on the concrete floor, a clear indication that the hatch had been recently opened.
Carter saw it too, and said quietly, as if to herself, "Oh, Jonas, what are you doing?"
Carter started undogging the door, and Jenkins reached to help her pull it open. Sticking her head in, Carter looked up the metal ladder, calling out, "Jonas? Are you in here?"
Jenkins listened hard but only heard the wind keening through the tube. She started to climb into the tunnel, but paused when Carter touched her arm. "Sergeant, it's too far to climb." She gestured to the markings on the wall. "This one only opens onto levels 23, 17, 11 and 5. We can take the elevator up, check for signs at the hatches."
Jenkins nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. I'll get my squad."
Carter shook her head impatiently. "We don't need your squad, Sergeant. I've already told you, Jonas is not intentionally hiding."
The sergeant kept her own counsel on the subject, simply nodding and following the major. She surreptitiously checked her sidearm while the major's back was turned. Regardless of the major's belief, Jenkins was going to be prepared for the worst.
Entering the elevator, Carter swiped her security card, then after a hesitation, hit the button for the top floor. At the sergeant's curious look, she pursed her lips and keyed on her radio. "Sir, this is Carter."
Col. O'Neill's voice came through. "Find anything?"
"Yes, sir. Maybe. It looks like he may have gone out through escape trunk 23C. I'm headed up to the surface. Could you have Teal'c check the hatches on 5, 11, 17 and 23?"
"What the hell is he doing?"
"I'm not sure, sir. It might not even be him."
"All right. You head to the surface. Teal'c and I will check the hatches. Keep in touch."
"Yes sir." The major cut the connection. Jenkins hid her frown, wondering why the colonel would take a personal role in the search.
When the elevator arrived on the ground floor of the base, Carter turned away from the corridors that would lead to the outside, instead heading deeper into the maze of hallways and tunnels. Realizing her intent, Jenkins kept pace. After a few minutes, they came to another escape hatch, this one leading upwards above the upper levels of the base, coming out in the forest that covered the western slope of the mountain.
Sighing with resignation, Jenkins helped the major undog the hatch, and with her, started the two hundred-foot climb up the escape trunk. After a long wearying climb, Jenkins had a new respect for Major Carter, who was, after all, only Air Force. The way she had pressed on without wavering, the woman could have been a marine.
At the top, Carter heaved the heavy cover up, and the two women climbed out into the westering sun. They both paused to catch their breath, Major Carter looking downslope in the general direction of the egress of the other escape hatch. Jenkins could have taken more time to recover, but Carter set off down the mountainside at a fast pace.
The sergeant followed behind, wondering how the major knew which way to go. She found the forested slope with its gullies and rises confused her sense of direction, but Carter was making a beeline through the trees.
Jenkins was hard put to keep up the pace that Carter set. "Major, you need to slow down. It won't do us any good if you trip and break a leg."
The blonde officer threw Jenkins a hard look. "Catch up when you can, Sergeant."
Anger flared in Jenkins' mind. There wasn't the jet jockey born that could out hustle a marine. Her lips a thin line to keep back an angry retort, she hurried after the reckless major.
Almost to her surprise, she soon spotted the low concrete box that marked the upper end of an escape trunk. As they got closer, she could see the heavy lid was thrown back. Instinctively she pulled her gun, slowing as she took closer note of her surroundings.
Major Carter showed no such caution. She practically ran down the slope to the three-foot tall structure, moving around it. Jenkins heard her soft call clearly through the crisp mountain air. "Jonas?"
Her eyebrows climbed as Jenkins watched Carter crouch down on the far side of the concrete box. She moved quickly to cover the woman, sliding down to a position where she could see what was happening.
The alien was sitting propped up against the low concrete wall on the downslope side. Jenkins kept her gun trained on the man, listening as Carter tried to rouse him.
"Jonas, can you hear me? Come on, look at me."
The alien seemed to be in a daze, but looked up at the major when she tapped his cheek. "Sam?"
"Yeah. Jonas, what are you doing out here?"
Jenkins could see the confusion in the man's eyes as he looked around as if seeing his surroundings for the first time. "Uh… It's nice here. The sun is… warm."
Major Carter frowned, reaching out to place a hand on his forehead. "You came out here to get warm?"
"What? No… I… is there a zoo here?" Quinn asked hesitatingly.
"Okay, Jonas, we're going to get you down below," Carter said firmly. She glanced around at Jenkins and with a near-snarl barked, "Put the gun away, Jenkins. Even you should be able to see he's sick."
Embarrassed, the sergeant holstered her sidearm. "Sorry, Ma'am."
Shaking her head in disgust, Carter clicked on her radio. "Colonel, I've found him. We're going to need a Med-Evac team on the surface."
"What's his condition?"
"He's disoriented, sir. I'm not sure what's wrong with him, but he's definitely sick."
"Understood. Help's on the way."
"Thank you, sir." The major clicked off her radio, and turned back to the alien, who was staring off into space, an unfocused look to his eyes. "Jonas? Jonas, do you hurt anywhere?"
"Huh? Oh, Sam… uh… I should get back to that… translation." The alien sounded weak to Jenkins, and despite his words, he made no attempt to get up. He sat with his head lolling, hands lying loosely in his lap.
"Jonas, I need you to stay with me here. Do you hurt anywhere?"
The alien widened his eyes as if trying to wake up, but after a moment, the glazed look was back. "I'm hungry."
The feeble comment seemed to hearten the major, who smiled softly. "You're always hungry."
Surprisingly, Quinn seemed to focus on the major, frowning, "No, Sam, I mean I'm really hungry. I.. I just…"
After that brief flare of energy, the alien lost focus again, and sat with the uncomprehending look returning to his face. As she watched the interaction between the two teammates, Jenkins tried to hold on to her suspicions about the alien, but in the face of his obvious incapacitation, she found she couldn't.
