XA on Tour 4

Part 1 Fragments chapter 64

Part 2 Fragments chapter 69

Part 3 More Fragments chapter 58

SG-1 watched as the bugs and cameras Jack and John had planted, played on the computer in front of them.

"Why are we spying on them?" Daniel asked.

"Because I did some digging and John wasn't completely wrong about them," Jack replied.

"I wasn't?" John asked.

"No, and I trust your instincts because they're mine," Jack said. "The two are on several watch lists as persons of interest."

"What lists?" Sam asked.

"Classified," Jack said, "But two I can share are the NID and MI-6."

"They're British spies?" Daniel asked.

"No, or at least not that I'm aware of," Jack admitted. "There are quite a few groups who seem concerned with watching them, but not interfering. It makes no sense."

"They may be waiting for them to lead them to something or someone," Teal'c guessed.

"That's possible," Jack admitted. "I'm hoping we'll learn more by spying on them."

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"Grab your bags and pick your cabins," Xander said, "two campers to a cabin, so we aren't forced to clean a half dozen cabins. So pick your buddy and cabin."

"I pick... Molly and cabin one," Bender said with a smirk, causing the rest of the campers to laugh.

"Try again," Anya said.

"Fine, I'll take Jock," Bender said. "Same cabin."

"We already have cabin one," Xander replied.

"I"ll take Bender and cabin two," Molly said.

Anya wrote it down on the clipboard. "Ok, you two have cabin two. What about the rest of you?" Jaws dropped as they realized she was serious.

"I'll take the jock and cabin three," Annie decided.

"I have a name," Chuck said, amused, "but I have no problem with that."

"Looks like we got cabin four," Jeremy told the goth girl.

"You really aren't my type," Shelia told him.

"Well, unless you are hiding a penis, you aren't mine either," he replied.

"I thought Thanksgiving dinner was the traditional time to come out of the closet," Anya told Xander.

"I think that's just in movies," Xander told her. "Larry came out in the boys' locker room, because he misinterpreted something I said when I was investigating Oz."

"Didn't he die during graduation?"

"The Mayor killed him," Xander confirmed.

"How strict is your town?!" Jeremy exploded.

"He didn't kill him because he was gay," Xander said. "During graduation, the Mayor tried to slaughter the entire graduating class. Larry sacrificed himself to delay the Mayor. Anyway, long story short: Mayor's dead, we graduated."

"Avoid the Mayor," Bender told Jeremy. "Just in case."

"Everyone grab your bags and put your things away," Anya ordered. "We'll get started on lunch and meet you in the mess hall."

An hour later...

"Why is there a stage?" Annie asked curiously, as Xander passed out mini-pizzas and sodas.

Xander had no illusions about his or Anya's cooking skills, so he'd stocked up on microwaveable foods and soft drinks.

"Probably for plays, announcements, that sort of thing," Jeremy offered. "This place was designed to keep a group of teens busy, so they had to provide a wide variety of activities."

"And the pole?" she asked.

"I'm going to teach the guys stripping," Xander replied.

"I thought that was a joke," Jock said.

"No, I really am going to teach you," Xander assured him. "It's a quick and legal way to make money if you don't have a lot of time to come up with some cash."

"Plus, it's good exercise and can help nail down a girlfriend," Anya added.

"Do we have to take it?" Shelia asked. "I'm not comfortable with baring myself to a bunch of people."

"I can only train the guys," Xander said, "Women strip differently than men do; they have a different audience."

"While the guys strip, I will be teaching you how to tend a bar. Another job that pays well and doesn't require any heavy lifting," Anya explained.

"We get to drink and watch the guys strip?" Molly asked with a wide smile.

"I don't know if I can do that," Bender admitted. "I'm not exactly shy, but that's a bit beyond that."

"That's what the drinks are for," Anya told him. "A couple of drinks and some female encouragement and you'll have no problem taking your pants off."

"This may be the single greatest summer camp in existence," Bender decided.

"And while we eat I will tell you the secrets of cooking with a microwave, and some non-culinary uses I've discovered for it," Xander said.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"Is this even legal?" Sam asked only to find Daniel writing down some of Xander's tips on microwave usage.

"Technically, the land the camp is on is Native American territory, so the drinking age is set to sixteen. The tribe died out some thirty-odd years ago, so all the laws are stuck in the fourties," Jack explained.

"Shouldn't it have reverted to the US then?" Sam asked.

"The tribe set up some agreement where as long as the camp is left open, the local town gets to use the land and claim tax exempt status. Not sure how legal it is, but it's never been challenged in court for some reason," John added.

"Why did the tribe do that?" Sam asked.

"Actually, I happen to know the answer to that," Daniel said with some enthusiasm. "I did some research and found a twenty five page dissertation-"

"Daniel!" Jack interrupted.

"Yes?"

"I doubt we need twenty five pages. Just give us a paragraph," Jack ordered.

Daniel sighed. "The local tribe believed the spirits of the dead did not rest easy here for some reason. So certain rituals were needed to calm the spirit of vengeance that dwelled here."

John burst out laughing, causing everyone to stare at him. Once he'd recovered, he said with a grin, "You will create the sacred macaroni picture of a duck, you will carve a horse out of soap, and you will sing the sacred hymn: 'The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round'."

Even Teal'c found himself smiling briefly in amusement, having become familiar with Summer Camp traditions from Jack showing him a number of movies.

"Actually, that may be closer to the truth than you know," Daniel said. "The actual ritual, from what I managed to uncover, was having the youth of the tribe cleanse themselves in the water, bare of all rainment, commune with the spirits through drink or smoke, and ... celebrate life."

"Skinny dip, get drunk or high, and have sex?" Jack asked in shock.

"All legends and traditions have to start somewhere," Daniel said with a grin. "There were also sacred chants to drive off the evil spirits that would try to stop them, though those were passed down through the oral traditions of the tribe and died with them."

"Watch it turn out to be Kumbyyah," Jack said with a chuckle.

Typing by: Ordieth!