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Chapter 6

Jack's homecoming was not exactly what he had expected. In fact he decided not to go home at all.

Sam and the rest of SG-1 had been sent on a mission early that morning...an emergency mission to a Denai base. It seemed the Denai Republic needed someone to mediate between them and a rebel force that was slowly destroying all they had worked to accomplish. So Daniel Jackson had been contacted to help in the peace talks, and Sam was needed to help explain the technologies that Earth would be supplying the Denai people, IF and only if they settled their internal differences.

Lt. Col. Morgan Williams and SG12 had gone with them, and Williams was put in command of both teams. And here was poor Jack, lying in bed in his quarters at the SGC, bemoaning his fate once again, a fate that had him taken off active duty for the third time in six months. If this happens any more often, he thought, I may as well retire.

Janet had been quite firm when she gave him his options; either he hire a private nurse to stay with him in his home, or he stay on base where infirmary personnel could assist him. He decided that living on base was definitely the lesser of two evils, even though he would miss his tv and his big leather easy chair with matching ottoman!

At least he had a television and a DVD player in his quarters. He could spend hours propped up on pillows in his bed watching The Simpsons and MacGyver, so he wouldn't go totally bonkers while Sam was gone. Right? Wrong! After only a few hours of watching reruns of his favorite TV shows, Jack was on his way to a total patience meltdown! He needed to be up and doing something, he complained to his doctor.

After being told by Siler that Jack was wandering around the halls looking for something to do, Janet finally had to threaten him with one of her honking needles. She also told him that if he didn't remain in his room and in bed, she was gonna keep him strapped to a bed in the infirmary for the remainder of the week.

Jack returned to his room...his tail between his legs...er...his head down. 'When I see Siler I'm gonna give him a fist sandwich,' Jack fumed. Lying back against his pillows, Jack closed his eyes in resignation. Napoleon had won at this Waterloo!

Tired from his walk around the base, and slightly buzzed from the Napoleon cocktail that Janet had administered, Jack finally began to relax. The stuff Janet had in her big honkin needle was pretty sweet, he thought, a blissful smile forming on his handsome face. Slowly but surely he began to think about Sam, and soon he was sound asleep. He dreamed that after her mission, Sam would take that time off...like she had promised. And they would go up to his cabin in Minnesota, where they would make love...on the boat dock, in the lake, on the rug in front of the fireplace, in the big bed in the bedroom, on the kitchen counter, on the table in the kitchen, in the...

So while Jack dreamed of Sam, Sam was inside the Denai base on a distant planet designated P2X-348. The base was primitive by Earth standards, but even so, it and its sister posts each housed five to six hundred people in relative comfort.

The rebel forces called themselves The Truthsayers. And just after the representatives from Earth had arrived, a militant faction of The Truthsayers had bombed a base approximately three hundred Earth miles distant, killing over one hundred men, women and children. Casualty reports were still coming in.

Peace talks had broken down immediately between the Denai chief council and the representatives of The Truthsayers, and it looked as though SGs 1 and 12 had made the trip for nothing, when one handsome Denain military officer named Tarin offered to make the dangerous journey to the militant encampment. Tarin said it would be a show of good faith to the members of the rebel faction, that he would risk his life to go there and offer evidence as to why they should put down their weapons and join their brothers in this new beginning as Earth's brothers.

But to explain exactly what advantages an alliance with Earth would offer to all, he really needed a representative from Earth to come with him. And, as Tarin so eloquently pointed out, Captain Samantha Carter seemed to be the perfect person for the task. And while Sam felt she was qualified to explain in detail the technologies and medicines Earth would supply them with, she did not feel trained or experienced in negotiation. She suggested, therefore, that Daniel accompany them.

Lt. Col. Williams was not about to approve of Captain Carter going on this 'suicide mission' as he called it. And since Major Carter was the next highest ranking officer on the mission, and she disagreed strongly, Williams decided to radio Hammond and leave the decision up to him.

It just so happened that when the call came that afternoon, George Hammond was in Jack's quarters playing a game of checkers with the recuperating and very bored Jack O'Neill. Jack had spent a lovely four hours in la-la land, but now he was ready for some action! So when George had stopped by to see how his 2iC was doing, Jack had talked him into a game.

They had both heard the gate activation announcement, and Hammond knew it was most likely something to do with SGs 1 and 12, since they were the only teams currently off-world. He jumped up and phoned the gateroom, and Jack waited impatiently as Hammond listened to whoever was on the other end. After Lt. Colonel Williams explained his dilemma, Hammond told him to sit tight; this was a decision he needed some time to consider. He also wanted to ask for Jack's advice.

"I just don't like it, Sir. Who knows what they could be walking into? How do they even know that this Darrin guy is on the up and up? He could be working with the rebels! Or what if this rebel faction decides they'd make good bargaining chips and won't let them leave? George you gotta tell 'em it's a 'no go' unless SGs 1 and 12 go with them. Under no circumstances should Daniel and Carter go in alone!"

Jack was pacing back and forth now, his military savvy putting him on high alert. For some reason he didn't trust those Denai bastards!

Hammond had to snicker at Jack's confusion over the Denain guy's name; George always wondered if he did it on purpose, or if he really had a bad short-term memory about some things.

"Sit down, Jack, and stop wearing a trench in the floor. I've come to the same conclusion as you. I'll let Williams know my decision," he said, picking up the handset of the beige wall phone. Jack listened as Hammond told Williams of his decision. Then Jack imagined that someone else had asked to speak to Hammond, because his tone seemed to change a little. Jack listened closely, wondering if it was Carter. His question was soon answered.

"Captain, that is my final decision. I'm sorry if you feel I'm being unnecessarily cautious. I would rather err on the side of caution than face having to send in more of my people to get you out of a sticky situation. I appreciate what you are willing to do, but I think I've made myself clear. All right. Report in at 1800 hours. And good luck Sam."

As soon as Hammond hung up, he excused himself to get back to his job of running the base. Jack would just have to find someone else to play with.

"Jack, it's times like this when I think strongly about retirement," he told a relieved Colonel Jack O'Neill.

"I can imagine, Sir. I think about retiring too, just not for the same reasons," he admitted, and George just shook his head and smiled. He knew very well what...who... Colonel O'Neill was thinking about.

"See you later, Colonel. I trust you'll stay in your room and not give Doctor Frasier any cause to strap you to an infirmary bed?"

"I'll do my best, Sir. You know how much I hate upsetting the good doctor!"

Jack sat back on his bed and flicked on the television. 'Now maybe Sam will be home sooner rather than later,' he thought happily as he began another episode of MacGyver. 'God this guy is cool,' he thought as he lost himself in the TV show.

TBC