CHAPTER 53.…..PART 2
Three hours later, and the General extracted, they drove up to their hotel, signed out and went to another one, just in case. Stepping into the room, Sam went to the bathroom to get a bath ready while Ford dropped his coat into a nearby chair and set K-9 on the floor, then removed the box front to let him roll out.
"I am so glad the day is over." she said sitting on the bed next to him.
"No kidding. I haven't drove that hard in some time." he said stretching before sitting on the bed. "Which is probably the reason vehicles aren't found off world. I can understand flying to locations, but the feel of the ground under you as you drive is so much more fun."
"Maybe with motorcycles off world travel could be done."
"You know, all those race car people, all of them from Nascar to those illegal street races would make lots of money if there was race tracks made on another planet."
"Nice idea. I'll willing to bet you'd even have a track made for the General Lee."
"Oh yeah. I've never learned what his top speed might be." he said with a smile.
"Well, it's not likely to happen, but you can dream." she said slapping his leg then getting up. "I'm going to the bath. As much as part of me wants to continue that thought earlier, I just want to sleep."
"Thought? Oh, yeah, please. I just want to get cleaned up and sleep as well."
"Come on. I want one of those wonderful back rubs." she said grabbing his hand.
"I can do it better on the bed."
"I know, but I'm looking for a back scrub too." she said smiling.
"Oh, you want me to join you. I get it now."
The next morning, and still in bed, they laid together barely awake.
"You know, the only thing I don't like about being here, is the run we're missing."
"We could get up and go run anyway." she said not opening her eyes as she stayed laying on his chest.
"Not in this smog."
"Hmm. We could stay in bed for a few more hours. No reason to get up since we lost the truck. Just have to call…"
"Actually, we can find the truck." he said interrupting her and scratching his face. "There's a small tracer on it."
"How?"
"When we rammed it the first time, I managed to get one shot into the metal. Kinda like a dart really. They may or may not notice it."
"Hmm. Work or pleasure, work or pleasure?" she said tilting a hand.
"That depends on what K-9 says. K-9?"
"Master?" he said lifting his head from near the door.
"Link up with the computer on the General and see if you can locate that truck."
"Yes Master. Link established. Searching…..searching……searching…..vehicle found Master."
"Where is it?" she said sitting up.
"The harbor Mistress. Time logs indicate the truck has been in the same place for three hours, 26 minutes…."
"Thanks K-9." Ford muttered.
"Work it is."
After changing and checking out, they walked out of the elevator to the parking garage.
"Oh great. It's raining." he muttered seeing the massive downpour.
It was coming down bad enough that you could barely see across the street, unless a light was on.
"Yes it is. I should have wore different clothes." she said looking at her blue jeans and dark blue blouse and jean jacket.
"You can change in the car as I drive." he suggested.
"Nice idea, but I don't think you could keep your eyes on the road." she said placing her suitcase in the trunk.
"I got more willpower than that." he said offended.
"Doubtful." she said getting ready to close the trunk. "When I drive, you barely look anywhere other than at me."
"Seriously. I can watch the road. The seat will go back far enough I could change clothes." he said placing his suitcase in.
"Alright then. But if I find you looking…"
"I won't. If it helps any, I'd go with that leather outfit you have. And the coat that goes with it."
"The one you says hugs me like a sexy skin?" she asked seductively.
"I'm getting in the car before I can't control my mind, or my eyes." he said walking away quickly. She laughed, got that outfit, then got in.
After placing K-9 in the back seat and getting his glasses on, he tinted the windows. She got in moments later and moved the seat back as he slowly backed up.
"I'm watching you." she warned.
"I'm not." he stated looking at the monitor showing behind him. "Have some faith. Though I think you're the most beautiful woman in existence, and sometimes can't help but just gawk at you, I have the willpower to look away when you tell me too."
"Now you're not being fair. You know what flattery does to me, and with my current situation." she said with a small whine tone as she folded up the coat and setting it aside.
"Sam, despite what you may think, if you were sitting there with nothing on, and you told me not to look, I'd keep my eyes on the road." he said as they left the parking garage and she removed her shoes and unbutton the pants.
"I don't think you could control yourself if I did that. I have an idea. I'm going to tell you want I'm doing."
"Now who's not being fair." he muttered closing his right eye.
"The blouse is now gon….you're driving with your eyes closed?"
"I have good peripheral vision and you said no looking, so my left eye is open. But I am imagining what you look like. Not that I really have to." he said with a seductive tone.
"Now you've went from unfair to cruel."
"You're not the one that has to worry about tight jeans." he muttered making her laugh.
Several moments later, and a block from the harbor.
"I'm not sure whether to feel offended or not. And for some reason my coat feels different." she said placing her folded up clothes in the back seat near K-9. "Wha.."
"You're offended because I didn't look? You told me not to though! So I obeyed. We discussed this!" he complained.
"You obey almost to well." she stated. "On the bright side, I'm more than assured now that you're completely loyal. I wonder something though, if I ordered you to cheat on me…."
"What?!"
"This is all hypothetical…"
"I'm not dumb enough to fall for that one Sam. That's like that loaded question, would you marry again if I died? I seriously doubt I would and if I ever did, it would be several decades later, if at all. And if you want to know the answer, I don't know of anyone I like enough that I could cheat with."
"I thought you told me you liked Janet once?"
"I said she was attractive. I also said that I have seen many women out there that look attractive, but beauty isn't everything. As for Janet, she doesn't have anything else that really makes me think of her in that way. Your the only one I have ever thought about that way."
"Who comes close?"
This time he did turn and look at her finally, while driving.
"K-9, is this really…"
"Yes it is me now watch the road." she said pointing.
"Why…this…what's with these questions? Because this isn't normal from what I've learned."
"There's a bet going on…" she said messing with her hands.
"A bet?! A bet?" he asked surprised at first that quickly turned to curiosity. "Figures. There's always some bet at the SGC. What sort of bet?"
"It's between all the women. The General doesn't even know about this, so we keep it secret. You're not really suppose to know. I'm just suppose to ask certain questions, but I figured why not be blunt."
"I think I know where this is going." he said pushing a few buttons.
The car went silent, the lights went off and he made it slowly creep into the lot and pulled up near a trailer.
"You do?"
"Yeah. K-9, pull it up on the map please."
"Working Master."
Seconds later, a red dot blinked on the screen showing the truck to be inside a building that was near a large tanker for holding cargo.
"Is the trailer still there on the truck K-9?"
"Affirmative Mistress."
"Jam the computer's and camera's here will ya. I'm going to drive behind these buildings."
"Anyone around K-9?"
"Several people are working at the designated building Mistress. Analysis indicate that most of the employees are off for the day due to severe rain fall."
"Well, if we're lucky, they'll never see the General coming."
"Suggestion Master. This building connects with our intended target. Parking out of site next to this building is advised."
"Nice idea." he said pulling in and parking. "I see a door down there."
"I don't."
"The screen Sam." he said pointing at a monitor.
"Oh, infra-red. Nice. Why not park closer?"
"To narrow as it is. We can get out here and walk the rest of the way. K-9 will keep the car back here in the shadows."
"We're going to get drenched." she said seeing the water running off the two roofs. It wasn't all that loud even as it came down on the General. "Talk about sound proofing."
"Yep. We could scream in here and no one would ever know. Anyway, we've got an umbrella. How long it holds out though. K-9, keep a watch on us."
"Always Master."
She went first and held the umbrella. He got out quickly then got under.
"So, about this bet." he asked as they carefully walked along.
"A few of the women asked me who you might take, hypothetically." she said to which he nodded and rolled a hand. "And someone else turned it into a bet. Most if not all the women in the base are in on it. I betted that you would never cheat, to which some of the women said no man was that good. I said otherwise and betted there was no one else you would marry or saw…worthy."
"I like that last part." he said checking the door. "Worthy, nice."
It was unlocked so they entered quietly to see stacks of boxes, a bunch of chains hanging from the ceiling for transferring or taking away large containers, such as trailers. Scaffolding for the large walkway that went completely around the place was up and had two access points. One staircase, on the right, going up near the main loading/unloading door at the front. And the other at the back on the left side. They slowly walked beside the wall, looking around.
"I think the way to the other building is through that door up there." she said pointing.
"Yep. Hopefully the metal doesn't creak much."
"If I had said no. Was there someone else you might have tried marrying." she whispered. When he stopped at the bottom of the stairs with her. "I mean, go out with them and then maybe down the line…"
"I would have kept asking though."
"Hypothetically, you give up and move on…."
"Well…."
"There is someone?" she asked, shocked.
"Well, call it…..ah,…." he said scratching his head. "We have similar interest, to a point."
"What's her name?" she asked with a curious tone. He couldn't hear any jealousy, which made him wonder.
"Um, nobody you know. But I check out her web site every so…"
"You what?!!!!" she almost yelled.
"Relax and keep it down." he hissed waving his hands. "It's a gun information site, not a porno! She runs a gun shop."
"Name." she demanded.
"Rally Vincent. It's actually Irene, but….look. You have nothing to worry about. She's like 20, 21? I'm way to old and she likes bounty hunter work." he said walking up the stairs quickly. "We just have a few things in common, and she's still single and I used to like her a lot. Then I saw you on….TV."
"You haven't met her have you?"
"Actually yes. I met her when Nancy Drew got captured. Blew up that building in Chicago. Met her before that during the time I was stuck with Melissa."
"And?"
"I never expressed any feelings if that's what you're thinking. She just knows me as a friend. And a good customer."
"Bounty hunter? Strange occupation for someone that young."
"She's actually younger or is it actually 20 or 21? I forget. I just know she's lying about her age. And she's about as high as Janet too, so I doubt anything could ever happen if I wanted it." he said as they entered the small hallway going between the buildings. The other door was closed, not surprisingly. "Oh great this door's locked."
"I got it." she said pulling out her picks.
"Guess I blew your bet then?" he asked as she knelt down near him.
"Not really. You said she was once a….possible option. Got it."
"I doubt she'd actually would have married me, except for my money. She's almost always in the hole. Even with me buying things."
"Well, I know one thing. I didn't marry you for your riches. That's just a bonus."
"I know. Besides, I don't think I'm her type. And, she's a virgin with no interest in sex at all." he said pulling out his small mirror and sticking it out. They barely opened the door though.
"How do you know that? That's not knowledge she puts on her web site is it?"
"She was a comic book character in my universe. Well, a Manga comic really."
"Oh. Those things."
"I do have a collection growing, don't I?"
"Yeah. Why don't you have one of those small eye camera's?"
"Had one once, and got attacked from behind. Just about got my leg broke in several places. Guy didn't survive though and I've never used one since."
"Guy?" she lightly ventured.
"Terrorist. Some suicide bomber training camp I was in once. Same one's that are out there right now. Okay, I see several people. But none up here. Looks like….bummer. Can't get down from this side. The stairs are at the other end."
"What are you thinking?"
"Jumping."
"What? This has to be at least a twenty foot drop!"
"I've dropped from thirty feet and rolled away okay, literally. I'll slide out under the bars and drop down. If they hear me, I'll drawn them in and take them out. I won't kill them unless I have to."
"And I'm suppose to do what? Sit and watch?"
"No. I'll signal you when I'm ready then you can slide out and I'll catch you."
"And if you're out there fighting?"
"Make your way down this walkway and use the stairs if it looks safe."
"Nice plan."
"If you have something better. Going out with guns blazing isn't going to work. This wall won't stop bullets and I can't protect you if they shoot from directly below. Not completely."
"All right, your plan it is. But you be careful. I don't want them blowing your head off."
"Keep my head protected like always. Not a problem." he said slipping out carefully.
Slowly crawling to the edge of the walkway by the door, he looked down seeing a trailer below him and concrete beyond that. He started to slip out when he smelled something. There was a man, just below the doorway, taking a smoke break. And from the looks of it, a drink break too. When she waved a hand getting his attention, he made a few hand signals showing what he saw. She signaled back asking what he was going to do. He looked out the main door to see a couple of cars parked near the edge of the dock. One was a Lexus. She watched, completely lost as to what he was doing as he removed a clip and pulled out a bullet. From the looks of it, it wasn't one of the special rounds. He replaced the clip and tossed the bullet in the air a few times. Then he tossed it, hard. But it didn't cause the alarm to go off like he wanted it to. It blew the door off and caught the interior on fire.
"Oops." he said checking the clip he removed.
He had pulled the wrong clip. Sam looked back to where he was, but he wasn't there anymore. But there was a big distraction now. A few of the guys ran out trying to put the fire out while the others went crazy thinking they were being raided. Even with the downpour, the car kept burning like it was covered in grease. The man smoking pulled a .357 revolver and looked out at his friends going nuts.
"I ain't going back….."
"I'll take that." Ford said grabbing the gun. The startled man didn't even get a chance to scream or anything as he was decked to the ground. "Okay Sam, I'm ready."
She slowly slipped out slowly and saw him waiting.
"Come on Sam." he mouthed.
"I don't know."
"What? I thought you trusted me." he said insulted.
"I do, but this…"
"If you want to stay up there." he said casually as he dropped his arms.
"I'm coming." she muttered and slid out.
Even after he caught her, she didn't open her eyes yet.
"You're fine Sam. I don't know what you were worried about."
"I'm not used to jumping from such heights. Much less jumping from anything really." she said as he set her down.
"Here. I feel safer if you have this."
"Where'd you get this? Nice balance." she asked as he jerked a thumb at the guy on the ground.
"From what K-9..."
"Rick, you done smoking yet. Or are you boozing…" some guys was asking as he came around the corner finding them. "Oh s..."
One moment he was standing in front of her, the next she heard a dull thud from the trailer in front of her getting hit and then he was right back again.
"Anyway, K-9 said the truck is this way. Maybe we can steal it back."
"That was quick."
"Use your environment well."
They managed to walk down to the end and found the truck without any problems. That was until they got there.
"Everyone start looking around. We got some intruders somewhere. That car didn't blow up by itself. You three, get that trailer on the boat right now. It leaves in less than twenty! The sooner we get that thing out of here, the sooner we get paid!" some guy yelled.
Ford grabbed the bottom of the trailer as the chains attached at the top started going up.
"Ah hell. This couldn't be easy could it. We've got to get on that ship."
"Easier said than done." she muttered as he dropped off before getting spotted. "Why'd you grab hold anyway? Your strong, but…"
"I tried to hook my feet into the bumper. It started to work." he said rubbing his legs. "Let's get out of here before they spot…."
A doorway out near them opened and some guy with a clipboard walked in. From his outfit, he was most likely part of the crew for the boat.
"Hey Mr. Parks! We…." he started shouting. The other people looked in his direction also seeing the two Air Force people.
"Stop them!"
The guy threw his clipboard in Ford's face and tried to run away. Carter got behind the truck as someone opened fire at them. She fired back as Ford tossed the crewman through the door.
"Come on!"
They ran through the doorway as the other guys came running. For some unknown reason, it had stopped raining but it was still rather dark and cloudy.
"Get K-9 down here please." he said taking the gun from her.
"K-9, we need…..Ford that…"
He aimed as they came running around the truck. All it did was click though.
"It's out of…"
One of the guys with a semi auto pulled his gun up and got a few rounds off before he was hit dead in the face with the .357 Ford threw. The other three guys came running with a wrench and pipes. She ducked the wrench, kicked him in the nuts and then did a upper cut laying him out. Ford grabbed the pipe swung at him, pulled hard socking the man dead in the face and used the pipe to knock the other guys pipe away. The guy circled Ford looking for an opening as Ford tossed his pipe away.
"Come get me if you think…"
The man dropped not noticing her behind him as she hit him in the neck.
"We don't have time…"
"I was distracting him for you. Nice hit, on both accounts."
"Thanks. Here comes K-9." she said as the car pulled up near them.
"K-9, can you hack into the onboard computer?"
"Why?" she asked.
"That trailer will be on that ship in about two minutes. By the time we get on and manage to get to the bridge, the ship will be out of the harbor."
"Maybe I should read the police manual."
"You're smart enough to become one. K-9?"
"Ship's computer has been access Master."
"Good. Make it continue on its course out of the harbor, then shut it all down and make it drop anchor. I want the Coast Guard alerted as well. Tell them who we are and that the ship is carrying stolen government property."
"Yes Master."
"How are we going to get onboard?" she asked seeing the walkway onto the ship being pulled away.
"We're going to have to climb on." he said pointing at the ropes that attached the ship to the dock. "K-9 open the trunk. We're going to have to hurry about it before that guy at the other end gets here."
"What are you…oh." she said taking the gloves.
"Always be prepared." he said putting his gloves on. "K-9, back the car out of view. And button it up."
They started up the ropes as K-9 backed the General up and between two of the buildings. Carter was a little winded when they finally got onto the deck. They both quickly hid behind one of the large stacks of trailers.
"Haven't done that in awhile. Kinda feels like I was carrying a few extra pounds, but all I have is this pistol…."
"Arms and legs cramping?"
"No. I'm fine. Any idea where our trailer is?"
"Um, it's one of the ones on this deck. K-9, can you locate which trailer we need?"
"Negative Master. The ship has moved out of sensor range. I am also detecting interference originating from the other trailers."
"Thanks anyway. Guess we are on our own then."
"Well, all we need to do is look at the white ones really. And since it was recently put on, it won't be any of the bottom ones."
"Yeah. You ready?"
She nodded and stood with him pulling her nine. After passing several rows and not even near the middle of the ship yet.
"There's a couple above us." she said pointing them out as he looked around one of the corners. "Looks like the sun's trying to come out too. So much for the cover of darkness."
"Yeah, and we've got company coming too. From both ways."
She glanced around as he kept looking around the corner.
"We can try hiding between these." she said putting her gun behind her again.
"Tight fit. You go first."
She started to slide between a few stacks of the trailers when someone walked by. They both stopped moving and stayed quiet, but the guy backed up and spotted them.
"Hey! We got intruders onboard!!" he yelled and ran off.
They backed out quickly to find a man come running around the corner with a big wrench. She and Ford took a step back and apart as the guy swung it downward. A quick chop to the back of the neck and he was down. Three more crewmen came from around the corner holding different tools. Ford turned around quickly and broke the lock on the trailer behind him with one of his retractable blades. She was about to ask him what he was doing when someone placed a hand on her shoulder and spun her around. She ducked a punch and gave the guy a elbow to the gut. He staggered back a moment then tried rushing her. A quick kick in the nuts followed by shoving him head first into the side of the trailer insured he wasn't waking any time soon.
Ford had already…sliced, the tools in half of the other three men. Two of them grabbed his arms and held him to allow the third guy to take him on. Ford quickly jumped up, connecting both his feet with the third guys face. The guy on his left tried to sucker punch him with one hand and ended up hitting his crewmate when Ford moved out of the way. The guy on the right let go grabbing his face and yelling as blood flowed from a broken nose. Ford tripped the guy still holding him and slammed his face into the deck. The last guy got clothes-lined as he rushed Ford.
Sam ducked the swing of some pipe after shoving the guy that grabbed her away. Rolling away quickly as the pipe came down at her, she pulled her nine and shot the guy in the arm as he rushed her. He dropped to the deck holding his bleeding arm as another guy came running up from around the far corner. The guy lifted his assault rifle and bust off a few rounds as she rolled out of the way quickly. Ford knocked another guy out, or killed him, he wasn't sure really as he turned hearing gun fire from a gun that wasn't hers.
"You okay?" he asked helping her to her feet.
"Yeah, just fine." she said smiling. "You're more difficult to take down."
They turned hearing several guns get cocked. He grabbed the door and pushed her in, despite protest. She banged on the door and stepped back as she heard several assault rifles fire. Quickly turning around she pulled out a small flashlight to see what she heard move. There was several dozen people, all huddled in the back in fear. Anger raced through her as she realized the people were slaves, mostly woman, probably used as harlots. She pulled her gun quickly as the door opened again. She also realized she didn't hear anymore gun fire, but she wasn't taking any chances.
"Ford?" she whispered in Japanese.
He taught it to her, just in case, for situations similar or close to this.
"Hey, you remembered." he said tiredly as he leaned on the doorway. "I….think, I think it's safe…..to come out. You okay?"
She rushed into his arms then backed off to look at him. His coat was trashed and had blood on it in places.
"Any of it yours?"
"Some. I'm fine though." he said with a wave. "What's that smell?"
She kicked the other door open to let what light there was inside.
"Oh god." he said in shock and revulsion. "K-9, alert to Coast Guard that there are enslaved people on this ship and that they may need medical attention."
"Alerting Master."
"Can any of you understand me?" he asked walking further in.
Some of them nodded.
"Help is coming. We are going to leave the door open. If you want to come out, stay away from the back of the ship. A lot more…violence will probably be taking place really soon."
They nodded.
"We'll wait here mister. It's….safer." a woman whispered.
He nodded and turned back around.
"Let's go to the bridge."
"Why don't we wait? The ship will be stopping pretty soon and then when everyone is in disarray, we can see where they all are," she said then looked behind herself. "And maybe find someone that isn't unconscious, or possibly dead that could tell us the location of our trailer."
"Nice idea Sam. I'm going to go look around that corner again, just in case." he said pointing off to the right.
"I'll look around that one." she said pointing the other direction to where they had came when they boarded the ship.
"Oh, I only killed one of them. It was by accident."
"That's surprising." she said walking over several bodies and taking a look.
"Well, I was trying to be gentle, in my own subtle way." he muttered also looking. The sun was now shining on them.
"Subtle?" she whispered back.
"Yeah." he said shrugging at her. "Everyone here is knocked out. Most will be in some pain, but considering what I saw in there, they deserve much more than the simple beating I gave them."
She could hear the anger, distain and pity in his voice. She was going to say something else when she saw a strange look on his face as he looked at her.
"What?" she said feeling her face and then looking herself over. She didn't see or feel any injuries.
"Not you. Why is Jack here?"
"Jack?" she asked confused as she also looked. It was Jack, but he had on blue jeans, a white shirt and some black jacket. "Why is the General here?"
"I don't know. Unless he came to help." he said from behind her making her jump.
"Don't sneak up on me like that." she hissed.
"Sorry. Damn, where did he go?"
"Let's go find him and ask."
They walked up slowly past several stacks of the trailers and even quietly called out Jack's name.
"Damn, where did he go?" she asked.
"I've got…" he started saying when he stopped and pushed her against the wall of one of the trailers.
"Ford, what are you…"
"Shh!" he said standing next to her against the wall. "I heard a noise."
"Which one?" she asked taking a step forward. "There's a lot of…ow!"
She exclaimed the last part as he pushed her back against the trailer again.
"I heard what sounded like a silencer."
She started to look around, then looked down.
"Hey Ford?"
"Yeah?" he said listening and glancing around.
"We are in public and I know why we are staying against this wall now, so you can remove your hand." she said tapping his hand.
"What?" he said seeing where it was. He removed it quickly. "Sorry. Kinda reminds me of a scene in some movie."
He reached for his gun as he glanced the other direction hearing movement.
"Wha…"
He heard the sound of that silencer again and then more movement.
"I said sorry and that…" he said turning back.
She wasn't next to him anymore though. She was slumped down and unconscious against the wall.
"Sam!" he said kneeling down and finding a dart in her neck.
He removed it quickly and pulled the nine from her belt. The sound of a gun being cocked caught his attention instantly. He quickly brought his arm up as another dart was fired. The gunman had just finishing reloading and started to aim when Ford found him several trailers over. They both fired at the same time. The man died quickly as the scope was taken out, along with his eye. Ford didn't get his arm up in time as the dart caught him in the forehead. He dropped the gun and staggered then dropped down next to her as he fell back into the metal wall. As soon as he pulled the dart out, it was instant lights out.
Sam awoke feeling rather groggy and disorientated. Went she lifted her head and tried to move her arms, she then realized she was tied up, to a chair, again. She tried tugging on the bindings to see how tight they were and found them to be a little to tight. Her hands had that tingling feeling and were starting to ache. Her feet were free and when she tried to stand, she realized the chair was bolted to the floor.
"Wonderful." she muttered looking around.
She looked over finding Ford on her right also tied to a metal chair. He was more slouched in it because of his size though. They had removed his coat too. When she looked around more, she saw they were in a small room, maybe a ten by ten, probably used for food storage because of the coldness. But since the chair was bolted to the floor, she figured it must have been something else then, but what she wasn't sure. One light was handing above them both, swaying as the ship rocked. On her left was a table with his coat, his guns and the their other belongings. She then realized neither of them had their watches on and their rings were also gone.
"That's going to piss him off. Pisses me off. I love that ring. Ford, wake up." she said quietly. "Come on, get up! I'm in trouble."
She noticed he didn't even stir. Just barely managing to lean forward, she saw there was blood on his forehead, like he was shot.
"Okay. Wake up Major, that's an order."
She grunted in frustration and thought of another tactic.
"Ford, they came in here earlier and tried to make me talk. They left to give me time to think. If your not awake by the time they get back, they plan on….raping me…if I don't."
She noticed a twitch, but nothing else happened.
"Dammit! Wake up Major!"
"I see you're finally awake lady." a man said as he opened a door that she didn't see. His voice made her cringe slightly because of the seductive tone. "I guess we hurt your poor husband pretty bad."
He said it with a whine of false sadness then laughed as he continued over and another man came in. When he entered the light, she could see he was some sort of worker for the harbor. And from his smell, he wasn't someone any woman would want to be around, even drunk or desperate. He wasn't fat, just very ugly, unkept hair and beard and very dirty clothes.
"Hey, they talking yet?"
"No. She just woke up and this jerk here." the man said punching Ford across the face. His head rolled but he didn't move. Blood slowly rolled down his lip. "Isn't waking. He must have gotten a big dose of that dart. Whatever the case, she just gave me an idea."
"She did?" the man asked as he slowly walked over.
"Yeah, I was watching the room. The camera." he said smiling. She saw his teeth didn't look all that great in the light.
Oh no. she thought.
"What did she say that's got you happy?"
"She tried to wake her husband by telling him that we was going to rape her cute body if she wouldn't talk. Look, you can see the fear in her eyes." he said laughing.
"Not a bad idea." the man said staying in the darkness as he also laughed. "We were ordered not to kill them. They didn't say anything beyond that."
"What woman wouldn't be afraid? Take these ropes off and I'll show you how much I don't really need him to protect me." she snarled.
"Oh feisty!" he said laughing as he started walking over.
"Wait. Are you sure he isn't dead? I don't see anything moving."
"What? Yeah, he's alive."
"Check him."
"Fine. Whatever you say." he said sarcastically as he felt for a pulse. "Uh oh. I don't have a pulse and he ain't breathing."
"Great work Freddy! Your punch probably killed him!" the other man yelled.
"It isn't my fault! I didn't shoot him in the head!"
"Untie his hands so we can get him down to medical! Maybe we can save him in time and not get killed!"
"Help me out here then Roland! If he doesn't come back, we both will pay!" Freddy exclaimed as he tried untying the knots. As Rolland rushed over and pulled some old rusty knife out, he noticed something.
"Hey, these ropes are loose."
"So? Move out of the way. I don't want to die." he said cutting the ropes.
They grabbed him under each arm started heading for the door. She couldn't see anything, but she heard them dragging him away and her hopes started vanishing when she heard two loud bangs. Kinda like a couple of heads meeting metal, more than once.
"You scared the hell out of me! You were faking the whole time!" she yelled.
"Sorry. Had to make it believable. I heard the camera moving so…"
"Could have done something to let me know you were listening! Now get me loose." she said struggling.
"Don't move your hands then."
She heard his hidden boot knife pop out and then the ropes become slack. She barely managed to stand up when he had already spun her around and was rubbing her hands.
"Annoying feeling isn't it. Just keep rubbing…."
"I know what to do." she said shaking and rubbing them as he backed off to the table. "We need to get out of here, fast."
"Yeah. Before their friends show up. Come here."
He took her hand rather quickly, surprising her and slowly put the ring back on smiling.
"Maybe we should have another wedding again, say ten years. Just so I can do this again."
"We could. But the fact you still remember the day we met, the day we first went out and the most importantly, our wedding anniversary. That shows me I don't need anything else. Ask me again when ten years are up."
"I gotta stop thinking about this morning and the other things we talked about. Here's everything else." he said quickly as he handed her watch and other items from her pockets.
"This morning? Oh that. It amazes me sometimes how easy it is for me to do that to you."
"Yeah. Too easy sometimes. We need to leave before I can't think straight."
"What happened anyway?" she asked as he searched the two bodies. He handed over a nine mill.
"I don't know if it's yours, but it's loaded. As for the other thing, you got shot by a dart in the neck. I got it in the forehead."
"Ouch."
"I didn't really notice it, even after I pulled it out. It's only been a half hour though." he said opening the door.
There was crewman scrambling just about everywhere, shouting about computer malfunctions and the anchor dropping.
"Good work K-9. Wish we could reward him someway." she said as they slowly kneel crawled over and went down some stairs into the ship.
"I can't think of anything unfortunately. Other than praise. The Doctor once gave him…" he said then stopped as a couple guys came around the corner.
They had ropes and other tools weighing them down. The first guy he kicked hard, knocking him back into the wall. He dropped and didn't move. Sam pointed her gun at the other guys face making him shake.
"An award once. Some blue ribbon. Now, you want to live?"
"Ye…ye…ah." he said stuttering.
"Where's the other prisoner?" she asked.
"Ah…..aren't….you…"
"We are two of them."
"I…..may…...maybe in…the lower decks."
"Big boat. Be more specific. Coast Guards is on the way."
"I…don't know. I'm just a hired hand." he said shaking even more. The rope and a few tools dropped.
She lowered her weapon as Ford decked him lightly.
"He'll be out for hours, hopefully."
After fifteen minutes of avoiding people, knocking a few other's out and talking to one guy, they got the location of where the other guy was. They made it to the lower front end of the ship to find a hidden door. Behind the door was lots of barrels. They all looked brand new.
"He could be in any one of these."
"If he's in one." she muttered looking around. "Why would he be here though?"
Ford lightly kicked one and it barely moved. With the use of the multi tool, he got the top off. Inside was a lot of white bags.
"Oh well, well, well. Looky here."
"Is this what I think it is?" she said pushing on one of the bags.
"Let's see." he said using the knife to cut a bag.
He pulled the knife out and shook the contents off and started raising it to his tongue.
"Wait a minute!" she hissed. "If that's actually drugs…."
"I was a cop. Remember. And K-9 isn't here." he said then lightly tasted the blade. He grimaced quickly. "Eww. That's definitely cocaine. And from the taste, probably a high grade batch."
He put the tool away and they started knocking on the barrels nearest to them.
"I see you sampled the product. But since you're not customers, I suggest you stop kicking the merchandise and drop your weapons."
They spun around to find a man in a white suit, with the hat and cane, smoking a cigar. He had a silver plated .45 caliber pistol and his two friends had to sub machine guns.
"You'd risk shooting us to possibly breach the hull. Watered down crack isn't worth much."
"No, it isn't." he said putting his gun away and putting the lid back on the barrel. "But these barrels are all waterproof. And this is a small room with this door being the only way out. Once it's closed, any hull breach in this room is sealed off."
"What about putting a few holes in the barrels? That will damage the product."
"True mister. But I can make more easily. Now do you and your hussy want to come quietly or do you want us to shoot?"
They raised their hands and walked out. One guard went first, then the boss guy followed by them and the other guard. The boss guy had their weapons taken quickly as one of the guards closed the hidden room.
"I see I'm not the only one interested in this caliber of weapon. Very effective." he said admiring one of Ford's gun. "Get over in there."
"They won't work for you if you are thinking of stealing them. DNA chip scanner in the handles and built into the gun itself."
The man's face twisted in anger.
"Move it smartass."
They were lead over to a wire metal cage several dozen feet away from the hidden room. There was a few shelves with what looked to be items of a medical nature. There was even a bed and lighting equipment set up outside the cage.
"What's with all the medical stuff?" she asked.
"A raid we did once. Have to keep our….worker's healthy. When people ask, we just say it's extra stuff for the medical room for the long hauls done over seas. Enough questions, now move."
"You do know the Coast Guard is on it's way and that we called them." Ford said as she was pushed into the small room first.
"Yeah. Who cares. They've searched our ship before and never found a damn thing. We've been doing this for a long time."
"We told them what to look for. A special trailer of computer chips. Government computer chips for long range missiles."
The guy's eyes twitched.
"So you're the two that I had to order my men to keep alive. Must have escaped. Didn't even know who you both were, but I was told to stay away if I wanted to live. Guess my employer was paranoid. Those chips were transferred to several different trailers deep in the ship. We hid it behind motor parts. They'll never find anything."
"Bet your employer didn't tell you those chips are worth billions? The only reason I know is because I was the programmer."
"Billions?" he muttered with a tone that Ford realized meant the man had been had and was barely getting anything for their true worth.
"Yeah. What's more, the computer problems your having, the dropped anchor and such. My fault. That computer will need a whole new rebuild. This ship isn't going anywhere under it's own power anymore." Ford said with a dark chuckle.
The man growled and pulled the trigger on Ford's gun. When nothing happened, he tried to remove the clip, tried to cock it and tried the hammer, but it refused to do anything.
"Told ya. Now who's the ass?"
The man made a gesture and the guard shoved Ford toward the doorway. As Ford started walking in, the man swung his gun really hard catching Ford across the back of the neck. He dropped to the floor and didn't move as the guard slammed the door and locked it, then placed a large bolt action lock on it.
"Your husband is as good as dead when I get back bitch! Better say your farewells." he said laughing as they left.
She knelt down and shook him.
"They're gone Ford. And that idiot tossed your guns onto an empty barrel."
When he still didn't move, she moved the collar down and felt. He was bleeding and had a large bump on the back of his head forming.
"Great. Maybe there's some water or…a saline solution." she said seeing a box of them on the shelf she was checking. "Hmm."
As she opened the box, she heard a groaning noise. She dropped the saline bag and walked back over quickly. But Ford hadn't moved at all. She then heard it again, but it was more like a muffled yell, behind her. She started looking for a weapon of some sort, or at least a scalpel when the muffled noise sounded more familiar. She looked behind the shelf finding a man on the floor. He was tied up really well. Feet, legs and hands. They even covered his mouth with duck tape. A couple strips.
"Sir! Give me a moment to find…" she said looking around between the shelves.
He yelled at her through the tape.
"Right. Sorry sir. Hold on." she said kneeling down and grabbing the tape. "This is going to hurt sir."
He cried out as she ripped it off, taking facial hair with, small though it was.
"What are you doing here sir? Ford and I are taking care of everything. We didn't call for help….wait, did something happen that you had to come personally? Is there something wrong with my father or a problem arise at the SGC?"
"Lady! Stop please!" he said quickly as she looked ready to continue. "I have no idea what you are talking about or even who you are. Can you please just help me get free. I have a Swiss Army knife in my jacket pocket. Get it out and cut me free."
"Sir?" she asked confused.
"The knife please. We can exchange pleasantries later. I'd like to get out of here before they get back."
She searched his coat finding the knife in a hidden pocket. She got to cutting the ropes on his hands quickly.
"Did they hit you on the head sir? We've been working together for years now. Don't you remember me?" she said moving onto his legs.
"I've never seen you before in my life lady. Though I have to admit, I wouldn't mind getting to know you better." he said sitting up and rubbing his wrist as she cut them off his feet.
"You don't know me?" she said confused as she handed the knife back. "But…oh my god. You're MacGyver!"
"Well, it looks like I'm at a disadvantage. You know me but…"
"I'm sorry sir. My name's Samantha Carter. I'm a big fan of your work." she said happily shaking his hand. He gave her a strange look as he got up, with her still holding his hand.
"Can I have my hand back? Not that I mind having a beautiful woman hold my hand, but we need to leave. Maybe later…."
"I'm sorry. I just…never thought I'd meet you." she said sheepishly as she let go.
"How do you know my work?"
"I'm a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force." she said telling him her credentials.
"Wow.
That's a lot of doctorates for someone so young. We should get
out of here while we still can, alive. I know a nice little
restaurant near here…." he said as he walked past her then
noticed the man on the floor. "They got this wonderful….who's
your partner here?"
"That's…Major Ford Carter." she
said as he knelt down feeling for a pulse.
"He's got a strong pulse. I don't see any other injuries. Though there's some dried blood….what, did you said Ford Carter?"
"Yeah."
"That means he's your husband."
"Yeah. He should have gotten up by now." she said helping turn him over.
"Good god he's heavy. What is in his coat?"
"Ah….why are you here and how are we getting out? I don't have my lock picks and it wouldn't matter since they locked it with a combination pad lock."
"I have some ideas." he said getting up. "You could have told me you were married. I just kept flirting and you…"
"I'm sorry. I work with your brother and he never told me you were his and I've been wanting to meet on Ford. Wake up." she said kneeling down and holding his head.
"Any idea what they hit him with?" he asked looking at the objects on the shelves.
"One of those." she said pointing.
"Ouch. Those are some pretty big guns. I hate guns." he muttered then walked back to the shelves. "Why did they leave them here though?"
"Probably because they can't be used by anyone but….."
"You wouldn't happen to have a lighter on you?"
"No. Neither of us some. Though, knowing Ford he probably has…" she said searching his pockets.
"Can't pick the lock. Can't use this stethoscope. Can't break it with this stuff. Can't….hmmm. Might be able to melt it with the right mixture…."
"How about blowing it?" she asked walking up.
"Aren't you worried about him?" he asked pointing at Ford.
"Not really. He'll be fine once he wakes up."
"Probably with one hell of a headache. What do you mean by blow it up? I had the same idea, but there is no lighter's or matches in here."
"No. But there is a small amount of C-4."
"Where?" he asked looking around.
"One moment." she said walking back and messing with Ford's boot heel. "How does he does this again?"
"What are you doing? Trying to break his foot?" he asked kneeling down.
"No. His heel's have hidden compartments. He has C-4 in them along with a small detonator."
"Nice idea, unless you walk wrong and blow your feet off."
"Can't really. He has a thin…metal plate….that's….resistant…to being, blown up. Even this close. It's part of the sole of the boots."
"What?"
"Never mind. Forgot I said anything. It's classified. Ah, there it goes."
"Wow. There is C-4 in there. And a very small detonator." he said removing them. "Wait, C-4 isn't this color."
"You're right. This is…darker."
"You sure it's a explosive?"
"Yeah. It says C dash, so…"
"Looks and feels like the stuff. Let's give it a try." he said walking over and placing it on the door. "There's something missing though."
"The remote." they said together. She started looking through his coat again.
"Must have left it behind or something."
"We may have a different way of blowing it up." he said walking away and pulling something off the back shelf.
"A defibrillator. Nice idea, but…"
"I know. We need some wire or…I don't believe it." he said setting the machine down and walking to the shelf.
"What did you find?"
"A box of paperclips. You can do a lot of things with these things."
"General O'Neill said that once. I still have no idea what he meant."
"A thing I say a lot. Not a real lot. Okay, we just need to take these, bend them out and link them together with a twist, to make sure the electricity goes through.. If we have enough, which looks like it, we can hide behind the shelves." he said doing a few and handing her a hand full.
"A simple idea. Ford said that's how you work and I've heard of some of the things you've done." she said as he stuck one clip into the small claylike substance. From there here kept adding and adding until he linked with Sam's and they got behind the shelves. MacGyver moved a few items around making a sort of barrier for them. She got the machine ready and pulled one of the paddles.
"Okay, there's going to be a loud…"
"I work in the Air Force, remember? I used to play with explosives. Well, not play…"
"I get it. Okay, when this blows, we got to get out of here before they come to see what happened."
"Yeah. I got that already."
"It's charged. Okay, here we go."
"Wait. We're forgetting something." she said holding his hand. "Oh god. I almost forgot Ford."
They both went out and dragged him back to where they were hiding.
"Okay. Three, two, one."
The explosion was very loud. Loud enough Ford suddenly sat and tried reaching for his guns, then was pulled back down just in time as part of the fence like wall came hurtling by. The door handle and lock weren't just blow off though, the whole door and part of the fence went with. The shelf fell over dropping stuff on them as it hit the other shelves and stayed leaning against it.
"That…was a bit bigger than it was suppose to be." MacGyver muttered as he pushed a few things off.
"What the hell is going on?" Ford asked a little loud as he was waiting for the ringing in his ears to stop.
"We are getting out of here. That's what is going on. Now lets go." MacGyver said holding out a hand. "Hopefully before those guys show back up."
"Good idea Jack. But you should have known better than to use all of my C-5." he said standing up. "Unless I'm mistaken, we've breached the hull."
They got out of the supply room quickly, avoiding the damaged fence finding the floor was spraying in a few locations from small cracks.
"A very nice job Colonel! Or was it you Major?! Whoever did it, your attempted escape has resulted in your own deaths! And we can even keep the Coast Guard from finding out our hidden stash. Now that we have a hull breach to contain!" a voice said looking down at them from the top of the stairs and laughing. They heard the door slam shut and lock seconds later.
"This is bad." MacGyver muttered.
"No. We can get out easily. What is bad, is a electrical hum I'm hearing. We must have broke some electrical line." Ford said looking around.
"The defibrillator!" the other two yelled.
"What were you using that thing for?" he asked looking at the water that was spraying everything in the supply room.
The defibrillator was hit with the water as it pooled around it. They backed off quickly as it sparked and electrified the shelves and other objects.
"You left the remote back home or in the car." she said. "We had to use that to make the C-4 explode."
"The heel is the remote. Guess I never showed you how it works." he said getting his guns back as the other two got to the top of the stairs.
MacGyver looked at the door, then at the supply room.
"There might have been something in there I could have made to open this door. What are you doing?"
"Opening this door so the cocaine might get ruined by the water." he said forcing the door to stay open by placing a barrel in the way.
"We may have to hide in there so we don't drown." Mac said as Ford came up the steps.
"We could blow this door off too." Cater suggested.
"What, you got more of that stuff in your other boot heel?"
"Yeah. But we don't need to blow it off Jack. Why are you here anyway?" he asked pushing past him and looking at the door.
"I'm not Jack!"
Ford turned and finally gave the man a good look. The hair was longer and a scar was missing on his face.
"Angus MacGyver? Well, I'm glad to finally meet you!" he said shaking his hand vigorously. "We're both big fans of your work!"
"Yeah. She already said that. When did my brother tell you my first name?" he growled.
"He didn't. I already knew. Sorry. I forgot you hate it."
"An..."
"Don't Sam. Trust me. He really hates it. Now, we are in luck here. The hinges are on the inside. All we have to do is get these bolts out."
"Nice idea, and if we had access to some of the chemicals down there, we might have been able to come up with something to remove them. I already thought about it, but they are pretty rusted in their and all those chemicals are not accessible anymore." Mac said.
"Then we try plan B."
"General O'Neill always liked plan B." she said. "I'm going to guess you want to cut them off."
"With what? I don't see an axe around here!" Mac said looking around. "And my knife isn't that sharp."
"This is."
"What are you, a walking weapon? Bad enough you have those large pistols. Did you have to keep them?" he said eyeing the large blade that was sticking out of his coat arm.
"Yes on both accounts. Especially with my job." he said. "Better stand back."
"You're going to break the blade and hurt..." he said then was surprised as the blade cut deep into the top of the metal hinge.
A couple more swings and the top hinge broke off. A few of the same and the second came off, followed by the third.
"Now, the metal bar that goes across the door should be right here." he said pulling back hard and stabbing the door. "Whoa!"
The other two came up and grabbed the door as it popped off and almost shoved him over the rail. He got out from behind it quickly and they all let it down slowly.
"That was close. What sort of metal is that?" Mac said seeing the blade wasn't even scratched as he retracted it.
"Classified." they both said and then all jumped as the rail gave out making the door fall.
It impacted on the already cracked floor making it bigger. Water gusted up hitting the ceiling, and them as it flooded the floor quickly. They ran out quickly and headed up the stairs to another door. It was thankfully, not locked and they exited quickly. MacGyver locked the door quickly as Ford grabbed the fire axe off the wall.
"What are you doing?" Mac asked.
"Jamming the door." he said successfully do so.
"What for?" Mac asked. "The door will hold."
"One, so the boat doesn't sink, just in case. This was suppose to be a vacation, somewhat. Not retrieving our stolen computer chips. And two, so they can't place us down there again. I'd say in fifteen minutes the water will be up to this door."
"I hear gun fire up top. What weapons do you have on you other than those large cannons?" she asked keeping watch on the two corners.
"Got my revolvers and a few speed loader rounds." he said noticing MacGyver's grimace.
"Still big, but at least I won't break my wrist." she said holding her hand out.
"Can't we get out of this without using guns?" Mac asked as he pulled both of them.
"I don't see any chemicals, duct tape or anything else we can use." Ford said as they walked up to the right corner. "If it helps any, I can shoot people, and only disable them so they can't fire back."
"What, like that cowboy, Will Bill who shot off people's fingers?" he asked as they followed the short hallway to some stairs.
"Yeah."
They got to the top deck, coming out just under the bridge section, not finding anything that MacGyver could use. Most of the crew, that was the 'bad guys' were shooting assault rifles at the Coast Guard crew that had boarded the ship. Currently, the bad guys held the back of the ship and bridge while the Coast Guard were still stuck near the front, using a variety of small arms and assorted rifles.
"They really don't want to be caught. There must be something big on this ship other than the drugs." Ford muttered as they stayed hidden by the door.
"Doubt it's the people. What are these computer chips you are here for, for?" Mac asked.
"Classified." the two said as they all ducked down hearing a bullet bounce near them.
"I work for the Phoenix Foundation, or did. Kinda of more like there some day's helping out. Know of the place?"
"I've heard of it, even thought about taking a job there, before I was transferred to what I do now. They're chips for guidance missiles. That's all we can say." she said.
"Can't be that important though, to risk lives."
"The group that wants these chips pays their employees well." Ford muttered. "Damn. I think…"
"The prisoners have escaped!" a man yelled as he was reloading his gun and spotted them.
He turned from the metal trailer he was hiding behind only to get shot in the back by one of the Coast Guard. It didn't go un-noticed as a few other's, in better guarded positions turned and started firing at them. Ford fired a few rounds off as did Sam before they slammed the door shut.
"We need a better plan." Mac muttered glancing around. "What else do you have on you?"
"Nothing that will help at the moment. You okay Sam?" he said reloading.
"Forgot how big a kick this .44 has. I'm better with smaller arms." she said handing it back. "I'm fine though."
"Might as well put those away….."
The door opened partially as a gun barrel was stuck in. Ford quickly pulled on it hearing the man slam into the door. He dragged the man in quickly and decked him before he could try anything.
"I'm better with this." Carter said picking up the AK.
"What is this? Aren't you Air Force personal?"
"Jack was Black Ops once." Ford said searching the guy. He came up with two extra clips and little else of importance.
"So? You don't need to have guns to solve…."
"Look MacGyver. I know you hate guns and I know why. But I'm thinking about our lives here, and this is how I work. I've been using guns since before I was ten. I'll do the best I can in keeping the body count down, but I'm not getting us captured again because you won't fight back. Sam, how about you two go take the bridge, maybe with K-9's help, if you can contact him, you can get this ship going back to port."
"That idea is better than seeing you shoot people." Mac said.
"Let me know if you need help." Ford said pointing at his watch.
She nodded, told him to be careful and walked off with the gun ready.
He
walked out rolling as several rounds of ammo came bursting at the
door. It took several more rolls to get himself hidden behind a
trailer. He took several hits, thankfully the coat protected him
though left hand didn't do to well and got hit a couple times, making
him let go.
"Damn that hurt." he grunted out
shaking his hand as it healed.
Several more rounds flew by his location and near the ground by him as he peaked out.
"Better off surrendering while you can!" he yelled.
Several explicit remarks came back as their answer along with a spray of ammo.
"Drop the gun!" a couple of Coast Guard yelled now standing a few feet away from where they came around a corner nearby. They were in what could almost be considered S.W.A.T. team out fits.
"Major Carter, United States Air Force." Ford said standing up as he recited his serial number and pulled out his dog tags. "Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter is going for the bridge."
Once they saw his dog tags, up close and his I.D., they lowered their weapons.
"What's your orders sir?" one of them asked.
"Give me a moment to disarm these guys, then you can take them. Is there any of our people inside the ship yet?"
"A couple groups sir. Most of the heavy resistance is up here. I don't know why they haven't just given up."
"Classified computer chips are on board that some dangerous terrorist are willing to paid extremely big amounts of money to get their hands on."
"Do you know where they are?"
"The chips, not really. The terrorist, I wish. Hang on." he said stepping out quickly and firing off all six rounds quickly.
He took a couple hits in the chest and side as he stepped back quickly behind the cover of trailer.
"You alright sir?" the man asked quickly getting ready to check him out.
"Armored coat Lieutenant. I'm fine." he said waving him away. "There's still two guys, hiding three trailer's down from here. Tell your people to move in slowly and only to fire if you have a shot. I'm going to move in and take them by surprise, or if anything, be the distraction."
"Got it sir." the man said as he radioed the rest of the team and started taking off. "Sir, be careful, there are two F.B.I. agents on the ship as well. A man and a woman."
"I'll keep a watch out." he said closing his gun back up after reloading.
He stepped out quickly and grabbing his other gun. The barrel on the left side had taken a hit, making a small hole that was poking into the barrel. If he had tried firing, the gun would have exploded from the small blockage, though that was not possible because the cylinder had taken a couple hits, jamming it from turning and was keeping one bullet from being able from even trying to be fired from the chamber. And the handle was badly cracked, not to mention bloody from where his hand had been shot.
"Damn. Gonna take me days if not weeks to fix this." he muttered giving it a once over before heading off slowly down the line. He put it away as he complained under his breath.
Sam and Mac had no trouble getting up the stairs, through what corridors they needed to and to the door to the bridge. It was closed and they could hear a lot of shouting, some in a different language that almost sounded Arabic and the sound of weapons being readied.
"We've been spotted." she said keeping the AK ready.
"How do you know?"
"The camera." she said pointing at the small camera above the door. "Let's see if they can hear us too. Throw your weapons out the door slowly! It will be a lot easier on you if you surrender!"
There was murmuring and a few shouts. They then heard a broadcast of someone speaking on the ships intercom. Several explosions were heard from what sounded like the ships deck. Sam kept the gun on the door as it opened quickly. When she and Mac saw a man wearing a vest of some bombs of some sort strapped to his chest, she tossed the gun into the mans face, knocking him back into the room as MacGyver pulled her away quickly and ran.
Ford was yelling at the two men hiding on the other side of the trailer when he stopped to hear the ship com come on. Seconds later there was a couple of rather loud explosions that caused the trailer to shift slightly next to him. Then the bridge erupted into a massive fireball showering glass and other debris across the deck and into the water.
"Sam!"
Sam awoke slightly dazed and heard more ringing in her ears than anything else. Something heavy was on top of her, making it a little hard to breathe. She mentally checked herself feeling a little sore, but no other injuries she could tell, other than her head aching. Everything was still moving as usual, fingers, toes, legs. She slowly opened her eyes as she felt the weight move off her chest. Jack was leaning over her, saying something. She couldn't make it out though as she tried to remember what happened. Smoke was in the air making it a little difficult to breathe, despite the fact that she was on the floor.
"Sir? What happened?" she muttered.
He muttered something but she could barely make it out through the ringing.
"I asked if you were alright!"
"Can barely hear at the moment sir." she said sitting up.
"Would you quit calling me sir!"
"Huh?" she said looking around.
He helped her to her feet as someone came running up the stairs.
"You both okay?!"
"I'm fine, other than some ringing of my ears. I think she got the worse of it." Mac said as Ford grabbed her arm gently.
"Sam? Colonel?!" he said after she didn't hear him the first time.
"Ford? The boat. Right, we're not at the SGC." she said coughing as she remembered where they were. "Sorry MacGyver."
"Don't worry about it." he said as they both helped her to her feet. She wobbled slightly and Ford grabbed her arm.
"Hang on. We need to get out of here." he said picking her up and running out.
They got out quickly as medic's came running up toward them. The Coast Guard was using its water hose to try and put out the fire.
"Sirs, ma'am, you are okay?" the medic asked as Ford lowered her onto the stretcher.
She stayed laying down holding her head with one hand.
"Sam?"
"I'm fine. My head just hurts a little."
"What happened?" Ford asked as the medic looked her over anyway.
"When I saw the bombs, I pulled her away quickly. She threw the rifle at the guy, knocking him back into the bridge. It helped lessen the explosion, but not by much. I think she hit her head on the wall when we tried running away. The explosion knocked up both down and I was able to cover her, but thankfully the walls held keeping us from getting hit by any debris." Mac said.
The Coast Guard Captain came up with some men and asked how they were doing, then after hearing they would be okay, asked if MacGyver could help them in searching the trailers.
"She's going to be fine. A little rest and she should be back to normal. Don't let her drive." the medic said closing his box several minutes later. "We can take her back to the ships infirmary until we get back to the mainland if you wish."
"Sam?"
"No infirmaries visits. I'll just go back to the hotel and rest." she said getting help from Ford to sit up.
"You should have someone with you Colonel." the medic said.
"She will. I'm her husband." Ford said.
"Okay sir. If her condition worsens, take her to the hospital."
Ford nodded as the Captain walked up.
"Catch anyone or did they all blow themselves up?"
"We got a few people. Some confessed. We're currently looking at all the trailers. We found the ones with people in them, with MacGyver's help. You'll have to come with us to get back to the mainland. This ship isn't moving for awhile. No bridge, computer system, engine was damaged when a few of the people blew themselves up."
"Did you find a guy in a white suit?"
"Yeah. He died in a fire fight with two of his men. They refused to surrender."
"He left us down behind that door that's sealed off."
"MacGyver informed us about that."
"Thanks Captain. We'll get on the ship in a few moments. Is there anything else?"
"Yeah. There's two Fed's that want to talk to you. What do I tell them?"
"Send them over. Can't think what they want though. Oh and Captain, thanks for all your help."
"Same here." she said.
"Glad we could help. Anything to keep drugs away from the kids out there." he said with a nod then leaving.
"Why would the F.B.I want to see us?" she asked as he helped her off the stretcher.
"Beats me. Can't think of anyone I know in the F.B.I."
"Where's MacGyver?"
"Not sure. Think he's helping with people they found." he said helping her walk as they headed for the gangplank that attached the two boats together. "I wonder what Jack would do if we brought him back to the base."
"Probably freak out first. MacGyver doesn't have clearance."
"We could authorize it. Or at least bring him down a few levels, no place that would….tell what we really do."
"True. Guess we could ask what he's doing."
"Colonel, Major. We would like to talk to you." a man's voice said behind them.
They booth turned, though her a little slower. She gasped as she saw who they were. Ford even breathed in deep.
"I'm agent Mulder and this is agent Scully."
"I'm sorry. But we have orders not to talk to you." Carter said quickly. "We need to go Major."
"Typical military standing. Running from the truth." Mulder said with distain. "Obviously you know who we are and won't even bother to wait for the question."
They turned away and started down the small bridge, still being followed.
"We aren't talking to you Agent Mulder. So you might as well go back on the ship." she said.
"We got here through the use of the Coast Guard, so they are the only one's who can get us back to the mainland Colonel." Scully said with a nice tone as she grabbed Mulder's arm. "Mulder, it's obviously futile. The tip we got was worthless. They aren't going to talk."
"They'll talk. I know where you two work, where you live. And I don't believe that Deep Space Telemetry crap. What do you really do down there, talk to the gray aliens with big black eyes." he said breaking free of Scully's grip and following them pass several people. "The same alien that that Alec Colson, who has been missing since the incident, brought out. You people had him shut up and everything covered up quickly."
"Give it up agent Mulder. We aren't going to talk." she said grumbling. "I really don't feel well, so would you please go away before we call security to get you to leave us alone."
"Then I'll keep asking you until they take me away." he said getting in front of them. "I want the truth and…."
"Sec…" she started saying as Ford covered her mouth. She pulled it away quickly. "Ford don't you…."
"Mr. Mulder….."
"Major." she warned gripping his hand harder.
"He's not stupid. And just like Alec was, he won't give up. But he's also not as dimwitted as Alec is." he said looking around and seeing no one around near a large spool of cable. "Come here."
"Major!"
"Come here, both of you." he said practically dragging Sam along.
"You can't…."
"Fire me later." he said sitting her on the spool, despite the angry look.
"Ford…"
"You want the truth…." he said with a hiss and low voice. "Here it is. Aliens exist and there is quite a few different ones out there. And there is a few other that want to wipe this world out. And even more truthfully, there is some people who have saved the world from alien invasions and destruction. Not many people could live with that news. You see, if the world found out, you know how many people who come out saying that they were abducted? There'd be riots in the streets about them knowing we've talked to them. There'd be world wide anarchy in days, not to mention the possibility that nuclear war breaking out in less than a week, month at most. Alec was complete right and that was a alien. A clone. But his approach on telling the world would have destroyed everything. I know who both of you are. I also know that telling you this information won't be a national security problem since if you try telling anyone what I've told you, you'll most likely be killed. But not by us."
Mulder was speechless.
"Who would want to kill us?" Scully asked quietly.
"To keep you safe, we won't tell you the name. Since you might try looking them up. But they went after Alec and that's the reason he lost everything, and why he's gone. We warned him, and he chose to ignored it. They're alien haters and they want to make sure that aliens stay off and away from this world. So, now you know the truth. Keep it to yourself, and try to keep from getting killed. And for god sake, don't come looking for us. You'll get us in trouble, not to mention get yourselves possibly killed, and us. For the record, Alec is safe and alive and still working for the government."
"But…." Mulder began.
"He's right Mulder. We can't say anything." Scully said quickly.
"Besides, we can deny anything you say." Carter said giving up.
"I'll make you this promise. When it starts to come out, you'll be the first people we'll call to come see the aliens. I know it sounds like a cliché or a empty promise, but I'm serious. I'm leaving now agents. Hopefully you'll stay smart and start doing other F.B.I. work."
"Did we just get told the truth?" Mulder asked as the two walked away.
"I think you're in shock Mulder. Better sit down here." she said helping him to the large spool.
"Was that really someone who told us the truth?" he asked again.
"You know how many rules you just broke?" Carter asked as they got over to small jet boat attached to the rigging.
"Many. But despite the order, trust me, that man would have turned up on our doorstep, asking questions until we put a court order making him go away. He'll keep quiet. He's not like Alec."
"How can you know that? General O'Neill is going to…."
"Why do we have to tell him? Trust me. He'll keep quiet. Mulder is only doing this to find his sister. And more than likely, it's something Loki did. Call Thor, have him look through the research data and maybe give it to Mulder."
"Why are you so…..wait, they're another group…from your universe."
"Got it. I know how they operate. Given enough time, he'd find some way to get into the base."
"I don't like it, but if they or he shows up, I'm not protecting you."
"Fair." he said. "So we keep this to ourselves then?"
"Against my better judgment, because you've always been straight with me and never let me down, I'm going to continue to trust you and hope this doesn't bite us in the ass."
"You can shoot me if things go bad."
Though they never actually looked into it, Mulder and Scully continued to do their X-files work and became less of a hassle to other's than before. It made people wary, caused a investigation in which Mulder said he still believed in aliens, but decided it wasn't worth the effort to push people anymore. He just believed one day the truth would be told and he'd be there when it happened. Scully agreed with him and said she was glad for the change, mostly because they were now out of all that danger he got them into occasionally. And they never spoke to anyone else about it.
They got back to the mainland and to their room without any problems. As Ford was getting a bath ready for her, she passed out on the bed, not even noticing. The next morning she was feeling a little better. An aspirin helped alleviate the pain and the coffee gave her energy to get out of bed.
"Are you okay?" he asked as she stepped out of the bathroom in a robe and a towel she was currently rubbing her head with. He was sitting on the bed, already dressed but without his coat on.
"Much." she said removing the towel. "Wish we were at home. Could use a good home cooked meal."
"I'm hungry. Know we both missed dinner. We could go out and eat. Or I could go get whatever you want from the store…"
"We can go out. Got to pack up and head home anyway."
"It is that time huh? Bummer. It was….some fun."
"Some?" she said sitting on his lap.
"The boat thing, getting captured and such wasn't fun." he said as she nodded. "If it helps any, K-9 is keeping a watch on the internet, F.B.I. files and other government stuff to see if anything happens with those agents. So far, nothing."
"Good to hear." she said with a smile as she ran a finger across his cheek. "So, how hungry are you?"
"Hmm. I can wait."
After a quick breakfast at a IHOP, and then after seeing the Coast Guard at the local base and telling them where to ship the one trailer that was filled, they took off for home heading for the expressway out of town.
"I'm calling the General to let him know what's going on." she said punching the speed dial number on her cell.
"Good idea. Might want to find out if there is anything he needs." he said following a line of cars on the street between some large buildings. They weren't in the heart of San Francisco, but close enough they were slightly stuck in traffic.
"Sir. It's Carter."
"Hello Colonel. Everything okay?"
"Just fine sir. We're on our way back."
"That all? Seems like there has to be something else."
"We got the computer chips back. They are being loaded to be sent to the SGC right now. Or have been by now." she said making a report.
"Good job Colonel. Strangest coincidence they were down there with you."
"We believe the Trust was behind it all. If they had just left us alone, we would have never known they were here sir. Definitely not a coincidence, despite how it seemed."
"Good job nonetheless Colonel. I'll inform the President. When will you be back here?"
"Before the end of the week, supposedly."
"Depends on traffic at this rate." Ford muttered with a sigh.
He reached into his pocket as his phone went off. She gave him a look, wanting to know who was calling. He only shrugged as he opened it up and said it might be the book store, or video game store.
"One moment sir."
"Hello." Ford said.
"Mr. Carter." a man's voice said calmly, but sternly.
"I know who he is. Can I take a message…."
"Spare me the subterfuge Major. You're being watched at this moment."
"Oh really." he said with a chuckle.
"Colonel Carter is looking at you, with her phone on her ear. She is talking to General O'Neill. Tell her to hang up."
"What for?" he asked glancing around with his eyes as he started hitting different buttons.
"If you value her life as much as you say, you will place your hands back on the wheel and do as I say. If not, her life is forfeit."
"Is that so?" he said putting his hands back on the wheel as he stopped the car at a red light, one he made happen.
She started to point at a small screen that was showing a one minute countdown somewhat close to the gear shift that popped out of the dashboard near that location. He waved her away quickly.
"Do you see the red dot on her Major? I suggest you don't alert her, or else."
He glanced with a smile, and she noticed the look in his eyes that there was something wrong. The red dot was on her chest, right where her heart was.
"Hang up Sam, I got something to say that he doesn't need to hear." he said seductively still looking at her chest.
"I'll talk to you later sir." she said faking a smile at him. Her eyes told him she got the message.
"Is everything okay Colonel?"
"Just fine sir. We found a place we want to stop and take a look in."
"Let me guess, science stuff?"
"Exactly sir." she said flashing her eyes suggestively at Ford.
"Geeks. I'm surrounded by geeks. All right, catch you later then Colonel. Call if you need anything."
"Good bye sir." she said hanging up the phone.
"Very good Major. We don't need O'Neill's interference. Now, I want you to turn left and go up the street two blocks. There's a parking garage. You'll go to the send floor and get out. From there, we'll do business dealing with getting those chips back to us."
"Nice offer. Don't know how you got this number, but the product doesn't sound all that great." he said seeing the countdown was at twenty seconds. "Hey Sam, what does a mirror do?"
"What are you doing Major?" the man asked.
"A riddle? Where's those words I want to hear? I don't see what reflection has to do with my chest." she asked.
"Damn red light won't change, been about a minute sitting here now." he said shifting gears as he pointed at a button.
She saw it and realized what his was saying. The button said reflector screens.
"You've broken the rules and law before Major. Take off now."
He nodded lightly as she looked at him and the button. She pushed it as Ford hung up the phone and pulled her over into his lap. Silver screens came up over the windows and the windshield. The vehicles behind them honked as the light turned green and the sun shining off the screens made looking at the car almost blinding. A bullet hit the windshield, and bounced off cracking the silver screen. He hit the pursuit mode button and floored it hard, making the car pop up in its back wheels as it peeled out leaving a trail of rubber for several feet.
"Sam, hit that button again! Quick!" he said as the front hit the pavement again.
"What the hell's going on?!" she asked hitting it. She saw the damaged screen as it went down. "Where'd those come from?"
"I was looking at your chest because there was a red dot on it."
"I saw that. Who was threatening me?" she said as he weaved through traffic at dangerous speeds.
"Someone from the Trust. I know that much. They wanted those chips back."
"Got that much. Why didn't you just tell them off and hang up the phone?"
"Because they must not have known how protected this car is. I needed a advantage and made them think the screens would protect you."
"What the hell are those for anyway?"
"Protection against lasers. Or a couple staff blast. Not a very bendable material or something you want in clothes."
"Ah. Not good body armor then. Why are we speeding through town still?"
"Because a Lexus is following us, three of them actually, at high speed." he said as his phone rang again. He stuck it in the small enclosure built into the dash. "Hello."
"That was very stupid of you Major. Now you'll both be in serious trouble. Give us the information needed to have those chips transferred, or tell us where they are and we'll leave you alone."
"Those chips are not getting back into Trust hands. So give up right now." she said commandingly. "We aren't telling you anything."
"Speaker phone Major. Tsk, tsk. Now we have no choice but to get rid of you both."
"Well, you can try, but you'll ultimately fail. Goodbye." he said hanging up the phone and shutting it off.
She opened her phone to see who it was as it rang.
"I think it's them." she said answering it.
"Colonel. Make this…"
"Fuck you." she said hanging up the phone. "I'm calling General O'Neill."
"Nice language Colonel. I'm sorry that you don't see things they way…" the man's voice said over her phone as she hit the dial button. She hung it up and turned it off.
"Looks like they broke into our service plan. Can't break into this one." he said hitting a few buttons on the ceiling. "You talk to Jack while I drive."
"General O'Neill here." a voice said through the car's speakers.
"Sir, it's us. The Trust are after us." she said.
"Colonel?" he asked worried.
"We're currently driving through town at a very high speed. Can you call the California police and tell them to leave us alone. I've trying to outrun three black Lexus's at the moment. If it wasn't for the traffic…hang on Jack." Ford said taking a tight turn that make her grab his arm.
"You're in a car chase?!"
"Pretty much. I can outrun them, once I have enough open road. But I don't want any innocents hurt."
"I can get the National Guard….."
"Not a good idea sir." she said as Ford shook his head.
"I'm pretty sure they've hired some people that can and will be suicidal." Ford said avoiding several cars making them spin out. He could only hope that there was no serious injuries.
"What?!"
Sam gave a quick relay of what happened on the boat.
"I'll call the authorities down there. And tell the President. Think you can get to someplace safe and out of the way of sight?"
"What for?" Ford asked.
"Why sir?" she asked at the same time.
"The Prometheus could beam…."
"Daniel's gone with the ship to Atlantis Jack."
"Oh, right. I forgot. Um…" he said with worry in his voice.
"We'll be just fine Jack. Just have some satellite keep watch on us. Just in case." he said as they entered a residential area.
Though the Lexus's were a good fifty feet behind them, someone pointed a rifle out the window and fired a few rounds off.
"They're shooting at us." she said.
"You two okay?"
"It would take a staff weapon to get through this car Jack, or a missile. As long as I keep driving, we'll be fine." he said taking a sharp corner again making her lean against him.
"Well, I can say this. Despite the speed you're doing, you're keeping us on the road." she said as he straighten out.
"Make that call Jack. I need my computer back." he said hanging up. "K-9, I'm blind here, get me a map on this screen and some place I can ditch these guys."
"Working Master." he said as bullets bounced off the car.
Some people had came out to see what was going on as they sped through the street, but once gun fire erupted, people got down or ran into their houses. Some left cars in the street.
"This street runs to the freeway Master." K-9 said as a map came up with a red line on the street.
"Nice job K-9." she said.
"There is a problem Mistress."
"Which is?" Ford asked as he rounded a corner to see down the street was a dead end street that had a large area for turning around. "Oh smeg."
"The street is behind the houses Master."
"Um, scan the houses quickly K-9. I need to know if anyone is in them." he said slowing it to 80.
"Ford, we're going to hit those houses in like ten seconds at this speed."
"I know." he grumbled as more bullets hit the car.
"The third house Master. You can drive through the fence on the side Master."
"Thanks K-9." he said flooring it.
"Caution Master. A large body of water detected behind the fence."
"Water?" she said.
"A pool. We can jump it." he said slowing down considerably to allow the cars to catch up. "K-9, find the names of the owners so I can pay for the damages."
"Yes Master."
"What? No insurance I know covers the damage we're about to do." he said seeing her look. By the smile on her face, she thought the idea was good.
"Say when K-9."
"Five seconds Master."
One of the Lexus's rear ended them, only to do damage to their front end. They hit the mail box, tore up the grass as they roared up it and once they broke through the ten foot tall stained fence, the car jumped over the large pool. The car behind them didn't stop and went straight into the pool only to get pushed into the deep end as it was rear ended by the one following. They just barely managed to stop going in when the last car rear ended them sending them in as well. The General soared over the other side of the fence and just barely avoided landing on a suburban that passed under them. Ford spun the wheel as the car landed and tried to go across the street into the other lanes. Traffic halted quickly in both lanes as they spun around quickly and took off.
"That was incredible!"
"Being chased?"
"Hell no! The jump! The fight for control! They way you handle driving this! The exhilaration! The adrenalin rush!"
"You're turned on aren't you?"
"Damn straight. I want to drive."
"I can't pull over." he said looking into the mirror.
"Why not…oh. Wait, it's one car." she said seeing a damaged Lexus coming after them at high speed.
"Must have been the last one. K-9, can you bring up the engine schematics on that car please?"
"Yes Master."
"Looking for a weakness?"
"Yep." he said pulling his gun with his left.
Several burst of ammo came past them hitting the red Dodge Ram in front of them. It's back tired exploded making the driver loose control. Ford dropped his gun, making it slide to the floor as he floored it. A quick push of the hydraulic button and the car was an inch from the pavement. He shoved the front end under the back of the truck as it started to spin out. The driver of the truck managed to hit his brakes as he noticed the truck had straightened out. The Lexus came up as they were helping the truck from flipping out and fired a burst at the passenger side riddling her window with bullets. She jumped at first and then gave them a hard look as they noticed there guns weren't doing anything. As the truck started slowing down enough to not crash, Ford backed off quickly and raised the car back up to being a more than a foot off the ground. The Lexus slammed the side of the car trying to run him off the road into the concrete rails.
"The General don't to kindly to that." Ford said slamming the brakes as they made another attempt.
They past in front of him and just barely bounced off the guard rails. Before they could straighten out, Ford rammed them hard making the car hit the rails and flip. He sped under them quickly and roared off with a blast of the Dixie horn as the Lexus landed on its front end and tumbled a few times before rolling to a stop on its side in the middle of the road.
"Let's hope that's the last of that." he said trying to find his gun.
"I'll get it." she said as the car started to swerve.
"Anything else coming after us K-9?"
"Nothing on scanners Master. Correction, we are being watched."
"Probably by the General and the SGC." she said holding the gun. "Amazing how something so simple is so dangerous."
"Yep." he said with a sadness she didn't understand.
"What…"
"Stargate Command is currently watching us Mistress. We are also being watched by a news helicopter. It has been following us since before we entered the residential area."
"Wonderful. That means the Trust knows exactly where we are. Can you scramble their circuits or something….what's the word I'm looking for." Ford muttered as he made the car go faster.
"Um…jamming, can you jam them K-9?" she asked.
"Attempting to do so Mistress." he said making his ears twitch once again. "Unable to do so Mistress. They are watching and broadcasting from a satellite."
"The news can't do that, can they?" she asked confused.
"Gotta be the Trust. They need to know where we are so they're probably feeding the live feed to the station. K-9, scan the radio channels. I want to find out what they are saying."
Moments later he found a station that was broadcasting.
"…..and are currently watching the vehicle as it speeds down the highway. If the still unknown driver, of the vehicle which has been confirmed to be the same one in the incident on the bridge, continues on the road they are on, they'll end up on the expressway. From there they could go anywhere. We have yet to see any police or other authorities chasing them like before. The information we have states that they two are Air Force personal that have turned traitor, but we don't see any Air Force or any other branches of the military after them currently. They seem to be avoiding hitting anyone and rather recently somehow used their own vehicle to help a large truck, a large Dodge Ram from what I'm being told, from crashing. The driver got out of that vehicle and walked away just fine. Medical crews and local authorities have arrived at the house where the unknown driver crashed through a fence and somehow jumped a pool, with the car. Two of the unknown black cars ended up in the pool while the third went through the fence and continued after the….hold on please. I just was informed that the car's license plate says The General on it. Apparently, the driver must have been a big fan of the Dukes of Hazzard." the woman said with a small laugh. "We'll continue to follow the car until they hopefully give up or stop once they run out of gas. According to the information we've been provided, they are both armed and dangerous. Once again, we are following a bright orange 69 Dodge Charger on highway…"
Ford shut it off and shook his head.
"Good thing they don't know our names."
"Yeah, good thing. So much for the rush." she said with a sigh as she leaned against the window.
"Excitement's all gone now?"
She waved a hand like a plane that took off.
"I never meant for any of this…"
"I know that." she said rubbing his leg. "I wanted to come and I thank god for you being here. I hate to think what would have happened if you weren't here. I could be captured, or worse."
"Your Mustang would have pro…."
"I wouldn't drive this far alone and besides, this car can do things that have saved us. K-9's a great companion, but he can't give me what you can and can't control my car."
"Ah." he said with a knowing smile.
"Like a home cooked meal."
"What? I haven't…oh, very funny." he said as she laughed.
"I don't know what I'd be doing without you." she said grabbing his right hand.
"You'd still be at the SGC Sam, saving the world. Enjoying some new technology…"
"If I had to choose, I'd choose you. I'd give it all up."
He took her hand and kissed it.
"Master."
"Yes K-9?"
"The helicopter is getting closer to try and look inside."
"Well, we don't need that." he said darkening the windows. "Nice try though."
Less than an hour later, the car roared onto the expressway. Not many cars were around and some stopped completely backing up traffic.
"Oh god. Jack's going to kill us. I gotta fix this." he said pushing a few buttons.
"What are you going to do?"
"Hang on. K-9, patch me in please and make my voice a little more…harder, but not distorted."
"Working. Patched in Master."
"Yes. To the….people in the helicopter above us. I don't know where you are getting your information, but we are not traitors. I can't tell you anything because of national security issues, but the part about us being in the Air Force is right. We just recently stopped some terrorists from getting their hands on some vital government property, and no it was no chemical or biological. The point of my call is that we are not dangerous to the public, other than the fast driving. The terrorist just have access to some things and are trying to make us look like the enemy. Doubtful you'll believe this information, but I figured why not try. Good bye."
"That went well. You kept from saying a lot, but still said a lot."
"Master. They are trying to talk to you."
"Don't answer." he said putting his glasses on. "I'm about ready for a nap."
"Same here. Must be the loss of the excitement. I'm going to lay back…"
"Master…"
"I said don't answer K-9. We don't need…" he started saying when he glanced in the mirror.
He quickly reached out placing a hand on her chest startling her as she has finished tilting the seat back. She didn't even have time to ask as she was jerked as the back of the car was hit, hard.
"What the hell?" she said sitting up.
"We're under attack, again." he said seeing the large black suburban behind them. Another popped out behind the other one coming on their left as the one that hit them went on their right. "I'm doing 135 miles an hour."
"Scanning Master." he said as the two vehicles came up and hit both sides of the General jarring them both.
"That popped my neck." Ford muttered. "And not in a good way."
"Scan complete. The vehicles have powerful engines Master. Do you want…."
"What's their possible top speed?"
"160 Master."
"That's fast for a truck." she said holding the seat and seat belt as they took another hit. "So what's next?"
"The could ram us all the way home and still do nothing. So we speed up."
"I don't see many vehicles behind us but there is quite a lot of them starting to turn up around us. There's a good chance that knocking these trucks out could get someone hurt, or killed."
"Good point. Um….." he said holding on as the vehicles rammed into their sides and didn't back away.
"Loosing speed Master."
"Noticed that K-9. Hang on Sam." he said slamming on the brakes.
It was really loud as the sound of metal scrapping was heard as the trucks roared past them and slammed into each other. They both swerved out of control and crashed into each other again making them both stop on impact. Ford maneuvered the General around them and kept going.
"Anything else K-9. Scan for anything around us suspicious."
"Scanning Master. Linking with Stargate Commands satellite."
"Good thinking K-9."
"Thank you Mistress. Scanning…….five vehicles ahead of us fit possible profile Master."
"Why?" she asked as he shifted again and the speed increased.
"They have heavy weapons Mistress. A fifty millimeter anti tank rifle is being set up in the back of a van."
"That's not a problem." Ford said.
"Several armor piercing rockets are detected in another vehicle Master."
"That's a problem. Put them on the screen."
"Less than 5 miles away." she said looking at the screen. "What do we do?"
"I wish we could warn the people around us. But calling the helicopter again would be pointless since the Trust is listening in."
"You said the car is armed with weapons. Let's use those small missiles."
"Not a bad idea."
"Better them than us." she said as he made the keyboard come out.
"I must be rubbing off on you."
"In more ways than one." she said not looking up from the screen. "Besides, they want the SGC for personal gain and would do things that would get the world destroyed, so….."
"When you put it that way. K-9, how much time till we come up on those vehicles?"
"Two minutes Master."
"Want to take over?"
"In the middle of driving?" she asked looking up.
"We're on a straight away. K-9 can keep up going straight while we switch seats, from there I'll tell you how to use the missile system since it has to be fired from the steering wheel."
"Cool."
He pushed his seat back a bit as she pushed hers back. She slid over, on top of him as he went under. After repositioning their seats and strapping back in, she took control.
"Forgot how hard that buckle was." she muttered as she hit a control and the steering wheel opened in the middle with a small screen showing the road passing by.
A small analog like control allowed her to move the camera around that had a target on it.
"Colorful but no." he said un-darkening he windows.
She almost looked, almost, but instead looked out the window as she drove around a yellow van. They could now see the five black vans.
"How did they get here so quick?"
"Probably were on the expressway long before we were and floored it all the way to make sure…." he began saying as the back on one of the vans opened.
He quickly grabbed the wheel pulled the car to the right. They passed behind the yellow van and kept going right as the yellow van became an instant fireball.
"Maybe you should be driving."
"Gotta learn sometime." he said rolling down the window quickly. "Have K-9 drive or fire the missile at them while I try shooting them."
"K-9, which you think you can do better?" she asked quickly pulling to the left hard.
Ford almost dropped his working revolver as the missile exploded several feet behind them on his side. He quickly got back in as the car went into a sudden spin out as the window was hit with the fifty cal anti tank rifle by a different vehicle. He helped grabbed the wheel as K-9 rolled the window up. Most people had stopped a ways back and those still around them came to a complete stop as the General spun to a stop.
"That was close." he muttered.
"We're in trouble." she said putting it into reverse.
The vans had turned around up ahead and were coming at them.
"K-9, take control and keep us backing up. Sam, target the van with the rockets. You take him out and then race past them." he said looking at the screen where he had hacked into the camera that the helicopter was using on them.
"Like this." she said hitting a button on the small steering wheel controls.
The people in the oncoming lane, on the other side of the concrete guard rail came to a stop as they saw the missile fly from the passenger side of the General. It was small, but easy to see. Three of the vans went up in a massive blast knocking the other two around. The one nearest to the guard rail slammed into and flipped over. The other spun around but didn't crash.
"K-9 stop! Sam, floor it!"
They left another long streak of rubber as she peeled the car out and plowed through the fiery mess of metal.
"What now? And who else is coming after us?" she asked quickly.
"Take that off ramp up ahead. I've got an idea to get them off our backs."
"Such as?"
"Well….."
They stopped outside a gas station just a couple of blocks down from the off ramp, but not before going up the street and leaving a trap. Unfortunately the owner of the station freaked when they came in and tried to give them his money. Ford managed to calm him down especially when he flashed a few hundred dollar bills. He grabbed some pop, candy, chips, and walked out. The man was stumped why they didn't get gas and why they stayed on his property, but away from the pumps. The news screen he watched showed them down there and the news woman wondering what the owner or person working there was doing or if they were dead. He stepped out, waved a few times as he watched the screen and then went back in.
"How many vehicles are coming this way K-9?"
"9 Master. Heavily armed. Arrival in 30 minutes."
"Any authorities around?" she asked.
"They are staying three blocks away from us Mistress."
"Jack works pretty fast." Ford said.
"You sure this plan will work?"
"Can't fail. All they have to do is follow us. If the police got the message we left, then the National Guard or whoever they send should be along shortly."
"You have them on radar K-9?"
"Affirmative Mistress. They will arrive in 23 minutes."
"We could stay and help mop up."
"We're heading home. I've had enough excitement for one day, hell for the week." she said waving a hand. "This was suppose to be a week for us."
"Sorry."
"We'll have other chances."
K-9 alerted them when the vehicles started down the off ramp. They took off quickly and headed off down the road, just fast enough too keep them in site.
"The authorities and National Guard are keeping two blocks back as they follow Master."
"Excellent." he said as she took a quick turn and headed up a ramp headed for the expressway again.
The other vehicles followed quickly, not noticing that in a small pile on the grassy hill a stack of red and white wooden barracks. On them said, road work.
"So, how's far is the distance?" she asked.
"I thought you had K-9 find out?"
"I thought you did?" she exclaimed.
"I was moving the signs."
"I was laying…"
"K-9, we need the distance for the gap up ahead. Quickly."
"Calculating Master."
"Better speed up anyway Sam."
"93 feet Master."
"That's all. We'll be fine then." he said un-worried.
"93?! You want to make this car jump a 93 feet gap that has to be a good hundred feet off the ground!"
"They jumped a normal charger during the TV show over a hundred feet many times. We're in a better and safer version, and have less distance. What are you worried about Sam? You've got to start trusting me more. I have faith in your abilities, ideas and projects."
"You're right. You haven't let me down yet, and neither has this car this whole time. As Jack once said, let's make some history."
"I thought that was Daniel." he said activating the passive laser restraint system to maximum.
"May have been. I don't think I can do this." she said as the speed stayed at 80.
"Drop off in 8 seconds Mistress."
She bit her lip, closed her eyes and floored it while shifting gears. K-9 activated the turbo boost system at the last moment. The other vehicles stopped short of the edge and waited as the car sailed through the air. They landed hard, ten feet into the open on ramp that was blocked off ahead of them. Sparks flew as the car bottomed out and spun around a few times coming to a dead stop.
"We made it." Ford said opening his eyes and taking his hand off hers on the gear shift.
"And you told me to have faith!" she said smacking his arm a few times. Since the coat was off, she was able to harm him instead of herself.
"Ouch. I believed! I believed!"
"Yeah right. Let's finished this and go home." she said getting out.
They both waved at the people on the other side that started pointing weapons at them. Ford pulled a wireless CB unit from under the dash. She was on the other side of the car and more protected seeing as the driver side was facing the away from their pursuers.
"Hey guys. It was fun while it lasted." he said as the car amplified his voice. "But it has to end here. We want to go home and there are some people coming for you."
Most of them turned to see the authorities coming up the street from about half a miles away. Some apparently already having the way down blocked.
"Best bet is to surrender. You can't beat us so give it up. Oh, we have one other thing." Ford said pointing at her. She raised her hand and pushed something.
Where the on ramp started climbing into the air off the ground on concrete pillars, exploded taking part of the ramp with, trapping them from being able to leave by vehicle. Several Army helicopters came flying in the distance as did more guardsmen and other authorities in the back ground.
"Give up while you can. Oh, and you better tell the Trust to stay away from us, or else I'll do what I promised I'd do once before. Good bye." he said then got back into the vehicle.
Jack was bored that no one was around, his team anyway to go and bother. Supposedly the Carter's were suppose to be back today, but they had yet to show up at the base. He was about to go call topside as he got up and see if they knew anything yet when they both walked in, in SGC BDU's.
"About time. Why didn't you pick up your cell phones?"
"The Trust were monitoring our cell phone calls sir and….had made it impossible for us to make any calls. We had to get new services."
"Oh." he said sitting on the edge of his desk. "What's in the box?"
"Something else we found at a novelty shop. A grocery type novelty shop. Didn't know they still had the Star Trek movie candy bars out there." Ford said.
"For me huh." he said taking the box.
"I was a little reluctant but…"
"I was able to talk him into it sir."
He opened the box and pulled out a six pack. It was a yellow pack with familiar figures on the sides and some different saying from one bald headed fat man.
(A.U. I don't think this actually exist, but it's fan fiction, so why not.)
"They actually make DUFF beer." he said setting the box aside.
"Apparently sir."
"Seeing as all the bottles are full, I'm guessing you didn't try one Colonel."
"I was driving on and off sir, so no."
"Speaking of driving." he said directing them to the briefing room where a large TV was set up. "You know how much trouble you're both in."
"Can't be that much. I know we were on TV when we captured those Trust guys on the ramp there." Ford said.
"That was a nice job by the way. Unfortunately, only a select few of those guys were Trust members and they aren't talking. The rest were hired mercenaries and thugs. No, that is not what you are in trouble about. This is what you're in trouble over." he said playing a tape.
It showed them being followed by a helicopter, then by several camera's that were on some move set, then them flying off the large ramp all the way to where they got stuck on the bridge helping to prevent the trailer from over turning.
"That was a long jump." Ford muttered with a smile.
"And fun." she said with a smile. Seeing the glare, they both said sir.
"You both drove onto a Hollywood movie set, or a scene location. And screwed it all up. Hollywood found out who you both were, or at least enough to know you were Air Force, and are suing us for your stunt."
"We were in pursuit of the Trust." Ford said as Sam helped tell the situation.
"National security was at stake sir."
Jack listened then made a few phone calls while Ford watched the footage a few times.
"Despite national security concerns, the President was still not happy. He got called by the studio personally and got chewed out."
"How much do they want to keep quiet?"
"30 million in damages."
"30 million?! What the hell for sir?! We didn't hit anything."
"It seems to mostly be physiological. And something to do with your car." he mumbled out. "I don't get it all. But the President isn't happy and neither is the Air Force."
"I'll pay for it." Ford said.
"What?" Jack asked.
"Call the President back and tell him I'll pay for the damages."
"That might help."
"And I'll make an apology if they want it, just not in person or on TV."
"I'll see what I can do." he said heading for his office.
"Can I keep this tape?"
"Yeah, sure whatever."
"Ah sir, they didn't happen to say what movie we, drove through did they. Kinda seems strange that they want so much for so little we did."
Jack smiled lightly and then chuckled.
"It's a Duke's of Hazzard movie."
Sam raised an eyebrow and then laughed lightly as she nodded. Ford walked out and was heard laughing as he entered the elevator.
