Chapter 4

Stargate Command

"OK people, here's the situation" General Hammond just exited his office after what seemed like a prolonged conversation on the red phone.

"Lieutenant Kent from SG-5 was killed this morning in a hit-and-run in Washington DC. Not much else is known yet – not if it was an accident or a murder. The case was taken by NCIS Washington, specifically their Major Case Response Team, lead by Special Agent Gibbs"

Colonel O'Neill heard Carter's gasp before Hammond went on.

"Some of you are probably familiar with him, or at least his file. We were going to enlist his participation last year in the Adrian Conrad investigation. Anyway, he wouldn't give up the case or the body; he wants to be read into the program. We could of course take him off the case, but that would cause some problems"

"What?" O'Neill couldn't help it. "Why would we read him in for a hit-and-run? How does he know about the program anyway?"

"There's the catch, Colonel. Lieutenant Kent was carrying a memory card with copies of your and Major Castleman's reports from the P3X-535 mission. Gibbs and his team read them"

"Crap…" he muttered under his breath. "Well, we could still tell them the terms were codes for something and give them the national security classified speech"

"We could, but these are not your average cops, Jack. They are trained federal agents, the best investigating team NCIS had in years. They won't just buy anything we give them. And it gets worse. One of the members of the team, Ziva David, is a Mossad liaison officer. Her father is the Director of Mossad"

O'Neill's forehead hit the table in front of him. "This is a mess. So what do we do then? We can't read them in! Carter, what do you think?" he noticed his 2IC was suspiciously quiet.

"I… I don't think I should participate in this. I have… kind of a personal connection with one of the parties involved here"

Jack raised his head from the table, noticing her furious blush, Teal'c's raised eyebrows and Daniel's confused frown.

"What are you talking about Carter? Kent?" from her reaction, he could expect anything. He ignored the stab of hurt at the thought she could risk being with someone else at the SGC but not him.

"God no, sir, how can you think… No, it's… Agent Gibbs and I are… friends for a while now"

"Friends, Major?" Hammond wanted things out in the open.

"Close friends, General" she clarified, trying hard not to look at Colonel O'Neill.

"I see. I don't think that will a problem, Major, unless you think so…?" the general waited until she shook her head. "OK then, here is how this will go down. SG-1, you go to Washington to handle the investigation. Read Gibbs in, and Director Vance also, but anything you show them is eyes-only. The President agreed to this, Jack" he added, as the colonel opened his mouth to argue. "His team is another matter. Maybe agents DiNozzo and McGee could get clearance, but it would be difficult and an unnecessary risk. No way Officer David could, though, so Gibbs will have to do this without disclosing much to his team. From what I know, he can handle them. Find out who killed Kent, what was he doing with those reports and if anything else leaked. Questions?"

"No, sir"

"Fine. Good luck and God speed, SG-1"

NCIS, Washington DC

Tony gaped at the four people entering the squad-room like they owned the place. He of course recognized Major Carter and quickly identified Colonel O'Neill from his file, both of them in class A Air Force blues. The large black man with a beanie and the younger one with glasses he didn't know; they weren't in uniform but still had a military bearing, especially 'Beanie'. "O'Neill's team" he thought. So Gibbs was right about someone pulling the plug on their investigation. On second thought, Gibbs was always right, he mussed. Ziva got up from her desk before he or McGee could make a move.

"Major Carter, nice to see you again" she didn't look so pleased though.

"Officer David" Sam's smile was a bit forced in Tony's opinion. "Nice to see you too. Director Vance is expecting us". "No small talk, huh?"

Gibbs appeared at the top of the stairs right on cue. "This way". He waited for them to reach him. "Colonel, Major" he softened the official greeting with a smile in her direction and couldn't help but notice the obvious appraisal O'Neill was giving him. He nodded to the other two men he didn't know. "Come in, the Director is expecting us"

"Director Vance, I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, USAF; I'll soon introduce the rest of my team. We need a secure location". The colonel was not one for small talk either, apparently. He should get along just fine with Gibbs, Vance thought, biting back his grin.

"My office not secure enough?"

"Not for this"

"Fine, MTAC then". They made their way over, at least three heads following them from downstairs.

"Clear the room people" Vance had to admit he was more then intrigued by all of this, SecNav's call earlier only contributing to that.

"Okay, we have the room secured. Now, what is this all about?"

O'Neill passed them the non-disclosure agreements and waited until they were signed before continuing.

"Let me introduce my team first. This is Major Doctor Samantha Carter," his eyes strayed towards Gibbs, who just smiled "this is Teal'c and this is Doctor Daniel Jackson"

Gibbs' smile disappeared. "Doctor Jackson? I thought you…, well, died!"

The younger man shrugged. "Yeah, it's a long story. I kind of did, but…not really"

"What?"

"Not now, Gibbs!" Vance interrupted, before this degenerated in a long explanation. "Colonel?"

"I think Daniel could explain things better. Danny?" then he thought better. "The short version, please."

"Yeah, all right. Well, an alien device was discovered in 1928 on a dig in Giza, Egypt, which we later called a Stargate. Nobody figured out how it really worked until recently, more specifically about six years ago. Since then we have been traveling to other planets, by means of this device, seeking allies and technology to defend Earth"

The following silence was almost oppressing. Gibbs was again the first to snap out of it.

"What the hell are you talking about? What is this crap you're trying to sell?" he threw his arms sideways, more than annoyed.

"No crap, Agent Gibbs. This is what we've been doing for the last six years"

"Defending Earth? Against what?" he still didn't believe a word he heard.

"Well, we did manage to piss some people, uh, persons, beings…off"

Vance got his voice back. "You mean to tell us that the Air Force has been fighting aliens for the past six years?"

"Not only the Air Force, but yes"

Gibbs was glad his team wasn't there. After all, he had a reputation to maintain and right now he was starring at these people, at his lover, for heaven's sake, more shocked and amazed then he's ever been in his life. He took some solace in the fact that Vance didn't look any better himself.

He tried to gather his wits. "So, P3X-535 is…what?"

O'Neill sighted. "That's how we designate planets. God forbid we would use something, I don't know, that makes sense"

Gibbs didn't miss Sam's fond smile before she answered. "Sir, you know the computer generates the designations according to…"

"Yeah, Carter, I know" the colonel interrupted before she could complete the explanation. Gibbs had the feeling this was a recurring topic among them.

"And the other things in the reports? 'SG' teams, 'naquada'…"

Sam took over. "The command is called SGC, which stands for Stargate Command. There are currently 25 teams, usually consisting of four people each, who travel through the Stargate, by means of a wormhole. The teams have different responsibilities, some more then one – research, exploration, scientific, diplomatic, search and rescue. The Marines teams have protection and strategic roles. We are SG-1, and Lieutenant Kent was a member of SG-5, that's one of the Marines teams. Naquada is an element not found on Earth, essential for weapons and power sources development. We were searching for what appeared to be a rather large deposit when we were ambushed. That's what the reports describe"

"I take it the Goa'uld and Jaffa are the enemy?"

"The Goa'uld definitely. The Jaffa are slaves, their physiology modified to make them depend on the Goa'uld to survive. In the recent years, many realized this and rebelled. Teal'c was the first and he inspired many others to follow his example"

"You are a Jaffa?" Gibbs again had trouble accepting things.

The large man who was silent until now bowed his head. "I am indeed" he removed his beanie showing the golden emblem tattooed on his forehead. "Abby would have a field day" Gibbs thought.

"I was First Prime to the Goa'uld Apophis and done many deeds I am not proud of on his behalf, until I have met O'Neill. I have been fighting since then to free my brothers from the false gods. I am forever in his debt for opening my eyes"

"No debt Teal'c buddy" O'Neill clapped his shoulder. "You saved our lives then and many times since"

Vance cut the display short, apparently having recovered a bit. "So, how do you want to do this?"

"We lead the investigation, for obvious reasons. However…" O'Neill turned towards Gibbs who was ready to protest, aliens or no aliens this was still his investigation. "however, we could use your help. Your team can not know any of this, though. You think you can handle that?"

"You wanna keep them in the dark? I trust them with my life, none of them would betray me or this country" Gibbs was getting angry, who do they think they are to just dismiss his people like that?

O'Neill wanted to hate this guy and respond in kind, but found that he understood his position. "Believe me, I do know how you feel. No team leader wants to lie to his people, it's one of the hardest things and not everyone understands the necessity" he threw a glance towards his own team, Sam and Doctor Jackson lowering their eyes. 'So he does know'.

"But you must understand this is not something we can just share freely, especially to a Mossad officer" he stopped Gibbs before he could argue "I know you trust her completely, and I'm sure that's justified, but she also has a duty to her country and agency. Do you really want to put her in that position?"

'He does have a point', Gibbs thought. "So what do we tell them? I can't just shut them out"

"That won't be necessary. We'll explain the terms in the reports are codes, that it involves classified technology and leave it at that"

"Fine" Gibbs realized he didn't have much leverage here. "Let's go see what they have so far"