#11 - The 'Kinsey is already a Goa'uld before he was supposedly

implanted by fellow Trust members in the season 8 episode 'Final Alert' Theory

an argument

Well, did anyone actually see Kinsey get implanted? What if he already was? And haven't you ever wondered just why he's so determined to get control of the Stargate? Yeah, yeah - we were told 'so he can control it himself so that he can run the SGC his way.' But doesn't that desire take on a much more insidious urgency if you consider the possibility that he's already a Goa'uld who wants to take over the Stargate for his own nefarious purposes? It could be that after Ra's death-by-bomb, another System Lord realized that the Tau'ri were more technologically advanced than they realized, and then infiltrated Earth and took over Kinsey because he's in the government and because he's stupid - everyone would buy it if he tried to shut down the 'Gate. Too crazy? Don't see the Goa'uld as being stealthy enough to infiltrate a planet's government rather than just enslaving the planet's population? Yeah - you may have a point. But just consider it. Besides, this theory gives a whole new level of meaning to the saying 'Aliens walk among us!'

#12 - 'The Jack/Pete Understanding of Carter' Theory

"Thank you for coming today," Jack forced himself to say when an anonymous airman silently ushered his guest into his office. Jack hadn't looked up while speaking, and that had helped him to say the words that he understood had to be said for professional reasons, but wanted to get stuck in his throat for personal ones.

"It was no problem, really," Pete Shanahan said to the top of General O'Neill's head as he took a seat, his voice just as congenial as Jack's had been. "I don't mind taking off work... when I'm in the middle of an important case... when every single minute counts... just for a follow-up session with the commander of a military base I don't even work for. No problem at all."

The statement had been politely spoken, but was bitingly sarcastic. In reaction, Jack let his head slowly rise from his fake perusal of the paperwork in front of him in order to take in the feigned expression of civility adorning Shanahan's face. He had to forcibly swallow back the retort that naturally leapt to the front of his mind. "As I said, thank you for coming in to see me today. We have an admittedly audacious attitude towards National Security - my apologies if this meeting took you away from something more important." His teeth grated together in his effort to remain polite. "The fact that this is the third time you've postponed this meeting has..."

A huge sigh filled with half aggravation, half guilty regret cut Jack off. "National Security notwithstanding... let's cut to the chase. Why am I here?"

For a silent minute, Jack just studied the man in front of him, his gaze sliding from the carefully benign expression on the slightly pudgy face, to the casual civvies he wore under his navy blue jacket, to the way his knee bounced as he sat in the guest chair across the desk in the General's office. The bouncing, he expected, was a nervous habit, one that he too (unfortunately) had been guilty of making in the past.

Finally, Jack purposely dropped his pen on top of the unsigned forms gracing his desk. "So... 'why are you here?'" he slowly repeated. "Why do you think?"

Pete shrugged his shoulders under his jacket. "I have no idea. I don't work here. I'm not even in the military." A mischievous light momentarily glinted in his eyes. "And I doubt you take the time to interview all the boyfriends and girlfriends and fianc s and spouses of your employees. So." There was the shrug again. "Why am I here?"

With a show of patience, Jack sat back in his leather office chair, making it give an official squeak. "I called you in to follow up on the security clearance you were given last Spring."

At that, Pete gave him a puzzled look. "My security clearance? But, isn't it the same kind of clearance given to a lot of people? What's so important about mine that it needs a follow-up?"

Jack gazed in assessment at the other man: did he really think that his was a typical clearance situation, or was he fishing for information again? The General didn't want himself nor the SGC to become the man's next unofficial background check. To satisfy the streak of curiosity he knew resided under the cop's puzzled exterior, he at last announced, "Actually, your the first civilian to get clearance of any kind for the SGC."

"I'm the first?" Pete's voice held genuine astonishment this time.

Jack's lips curled in a ghostly smile at the man's surprise. If he was faking this emotion too, then he was a much better actor than the higher ups were giving him credit for. "Yes, well... My superiors have ordered me to brief you on the next level of security clearance, so I'm telling you what to expect, and what we expect of you."

An understanding look suddenly blossomed across Pete's face. "I knew there had to be some kind of catch."

Jack gave a tilt of his head. "No catch. Just... information."

Suspicion now blazed out of Pete's eyes. "Information about what?"

A timely klaxon blared on the loudspeakers set into the ceiling before Jack could answer, and Sergeant Harriman's voice instantly drowned out all other conversation. "Off world activation!"

Pete's expression darkened. "I remember that phrase from that time I was in your Infirmary - what does it mean, anyway?" Then his puzzled look morphed into one that was just slightly belligerent. "Or doesn't my clearance level allow me to know?"

Jack's sigh was the only answer. He placed his hands squarely on his desk top and heaved himself up. "No - that's what this new clearance is all about. This way."

He led the bewildered man out of his office and into the Briefing Room, pausing directly in front of a blank beige wall near the black and red Briefing table. His finger poised on a button on that wall as he faced Pete. "Until now, you've known about the Stargate, but haven't been cleared to see it. As of now, that's gonna change." With a flourish, he pushed the button. As the beige wall slid up, Jack never took his eyes from Pete's face.

The amazement Jack expected to see was there, Pete's eyes going wide as the Stargate came into view, its chevrons already glowing. "SG-9's IDC!" Walter's voice bellowed up from the Control Room below. Colonel Reynolds fulfilled his capacity as base 2IC when he ordered the Iris open. The metal slab swirled aside with a clunk of finality, and a heartbeat later the blue event horizon exploded forth.

Jack's diligence was rewarded when Pete took an involuntary jump back, as if in danger of being swallowed by the wormhole erupting into the 'Gate Room. The General couldn't resist the amusement that immediately took hold: the cop's dumbfounded expression at witnessing his first 'Gate activation was so typical that Jack had trouble holding back an eventual urge to laugh. No matter how long he was involved with the Stargate program, and no matter who he was watching at any time, this just never got old. He couldn't help the proprietary feeling the 'Gate gave him. It might not be professional, might not even be logical, but it was definitely there. Jack O'Neill was sincerely proud of this alien wonder, almost as if he were responsible for its existence.

The event horizon settled back into its usual swirl of blue, and a crowd of highly armed SFs trained their weapons in readiness at the 'Gate. Then they all waited. It felt like the entire base was holding its breath until a second later a slurp indicated that a body was coming through the portal. Captain Lance Avery appeared on the ramp leading from the 'Gate into the room, followed by his teammate, Major Crompton. She was instantly followed by the linguist Major Samson, and Colonel Justin Blake appeared at last, walking backwards through the 'Gate, watching the backs of his team until the 'Gate deactivated.

The minute the event horizon disappeared, SG-9 ambled down the ramp, handing their weapons off to waiting SFs as Colonel Reynolds explained O'Neill's absence and told them that their mission debrief was scheduled for an hour later. The four nodded, then vanished in the direction of the Infirmary for their post-mission checks.

Pete gaped like a fish and pointed at the Stargate. "Does... does Sam walk through that thing, too?!" he screeched, unable to keep the horror off his face.

What could he possibly be horrified about? Puzzled now, Jack slowly answered the man's question. "Carter leads SG-1, so of course she goes through the 'Gate." He stepped back, ready to continue the security briefing, but Pete lingered at the window.

"Is it safe?" His tone now held nothing but shock. He clearly didn't think anything so alien could possibly be safe.

It was a question that took Jack by surprise. "Of course it's safe. This is Carter's eighth year going through the 'Gate. It's no big deal."

Pete sent a vague gesture towards the 'Gate. "That... that... she..." He was obviously so boggled that he couldn't even fathom what his girlfriend did for a living. "I thought she did sciency things!" he exclaimed at last. "That she had nothing to do with... with..." His voice trailed off when he couldn't find the words to describe what he was witnessing.

Sciency things. That so didn't describe what Carter did on a daily basis that even O'Neill hadn't dared be so vague in his side comments over the years. It was sure to do nothing but make her mad. "Carter is first and foremost part of the Air Force. She's an airman... a soldier. She leads her team, gives orders, makes the big decisions, explores other worlds, gets Daniel out of the trouble he always gets into, shoots the bad guys, and in her spare time, yes, she does the science thing." The amusement was palpable in his voice. "But don't let her hear you claim she only does 'sciency things,' At least, not if you want to live."

Pete continued to gape at the 'Gate, as if he simply could not grasp what it represented. "You mean she actually carries a gun?"

Jack snorted at that statement. "Of course she carries a gun." His brows waggled. "A big one. And she knows how to use it, too." His brows now furrowed in puzzlement. "What did you think she did all day?"

"I don't know," Pete replied, helpless. "Science things."

Oy. Did the man even know Carter?

Jack then did a double take at that thought. That, obviously, was the whole problem.

Jack regarded Pete. "You don't know this side of her, do you?"

Pete turned his gaping eyes onto Jack. "What side? What do you mean?"

"This." Jack's gestured wave took in the Briefing Room, his office, the 'Gate, the guns still being toted away by the SFs, the SGC as a whole. "Her professional side. Her."

Pete's gape was quickly becoming a permanent fixture. "I know her as... as... She wears skirts. And takes bubble baths. And likes her feet rubbed when she gets home. This." He repeated the General's wave. "I had no idea about all this."

Jack had seen her in a skirt exactly once, in the many years he had known her. He knew she liked the relaxing feel of baths, but didn't know she was into bubble baths. And she likes her feet rubbed? Since when?

At that moment Jack had the uncomfortable epiphany that he might know the professional side of Carter, but the personal side didn't include him at all.

He abruptly felt like he was missing a large slice of Carter's life, and that slice was growing by the minute. "Well," he uncomfortably began, "I suppose she does like the occasional foot rub."

"It's not occasional," Pete informed, his voice soft now as he continued to gaze at the 'Gate. "She says her boots don't fit right."

"She does?" Jack blurted before he could stop himself.

Surprised by Jack's outburst, Pete turned towards him, the look on his face now clearly saying 'Where has this guy been?' "She says they've never fit right."

Jack was the flabbergasted one now. "Never?"

Pete just shook his head.

"She never said one word about it. In seven years!" The uncomfortable feeling accosting Jack that he didn't really know Carter began to grow exponentially. "She never told me."

Pete gestured again at the ceiling, indicating the professional side of her life. "Well, she never told me about this, either."

Jack's response was mumbled. "She can't. You didn't have clearance until today."

Pete's brows rose in a show of disbelieving inquisition. "She couldn't say anything about carrying a gun, even if she couldn't say where she carried it to?" The brows rose even higher. "She couldn't mention that maybe Daniel was a pain in the butt on some days? That she really did do the soldier thing? That she likes exploring, even if she couldn't tell me what she explored?" The brows were now as high as the receding hairline.

Jack blinked rapidly as he considered the revolutionary idea that there were as many sides to Carter as the SGC had look-a-like corridors.

Jack suddenly wanted to get to know all of Carter, not just her professional side. He wanted to know how hot she liked her bath water. Why she thought her boots never fit quite right. Why she wore skirts instead of dresses or jeans.

This personal side of her must admittedly be her smaller side, he figured, given how much time she had chosen to spend at work over the years. That is, until recently. Her personal side was now exploding much like the 'Gate had.

Then Jack had a really uncomfortable thought: was that personal side taking over?

In the next second, Jack decided that he was being a moron. Of course it wasn't taking over! A workaholic like Carter would never be able to completely give sway to her personal side. But then, what was she doing with gawker boy, here?

Jack's eyes widened as another new thought hit him. Was this, perhaps, transitory? As if she was giving her personal side a spin... taking it out for a joy ride... for the first time since he'd met her?

And did that mean that spin, like all spins, would be short lived and soon over? That it will quickly use up its appeal?

Jack did all that he could to keep the suddenly appreciative grin off his face. At last he couldn't help it: the grin finally creased and wrinkled every feature. This was absolutely the best news he'd heard all year!

The End (for now)