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February 2011
Cascade, P.D. Washington state
Cascade Major Crime Department was quiet for once. There seemed to be a reduction in major crime. This allowed the P.D. to catch up on their paperwork. Captain Simon Banks watched his two best men; Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg walk into the bull pen after giving a deposition in court.
After their vision a couple of weeks ago, they two best cops in the department handed in their resignation to Simon claiming of all things that the end of the world was at hand and they had a higher purpose. Simon only had a few more weeks to convince them that they couldn't be right and he'd try to keep them from leaving. However, they agreed to stay on and this made Simon wonder. Why would they stay to do police work that wouldn't mean anything if the world were really going to end? It wasn't hard to figure out. Simon saw that they were doing research on people from out of state that had no bearing on any of the cases they were working on. Obviously, these people had some connection into the so called vision. Simon could have put a stop to them using Police department resources but he thought it better to let them find out that there was nothing to the information that they received from a dream.
But what happened while they were in court may change all their plans. They had literally just sat down when Simon called out. "Ellison, Sandburg in my office!"
"What's up Simon?" Blair asked as they walked in and closed the door.
"What's up? I'll tell you what's up. While the two of you were gone, I got a visit from a military messenger boy. He was looking for you, Jim. He had me sign for this envelope. I don't think I have to tell you what it might contain." Simon said handing Jim the letter."
"Maybe you don't have to tell Jim but could you tell me? After all, I was never in the military." Blair asked as Jim opened the letter.
"Damn! I've been reactivated." Jim announced.
"What? No! Not now! There's no time for this! We have mission to start." Blair said worried.
"Sorry Chief, (Jim's personal nickname for his friend Blair) but the government machine has spoken. I have no choice but to appear."
"What about Simon? We promised him we'd stay long enough to put in these court dates."
"The military trumps the civilian legal system when it wants to. Besides, we don't know why they decided to reactivate me." Jim replied.
"And although it's always better to have an officer show up in court; we do have Jims' signed affidavits." Simon added.
"What about mine? Can't you use my affidavits for the other cases?"
"Don't need to. You weren't part of them. You were mending a broken leg at the time of these cases remember. This court date was your last."
"That's right. Then, you don't need me here, I can go with Jim."
"Whoa, Whoa, slow down there chief. I'm heading for a military base. They don't let friends or families come along."
"Jim, I think we both know what this is about. Incacha told us the governments knew about the 'main event'. Between the both of us, we should be able to come up with something to get them to leave you go. And if there is a way out of this; I would be in place so that we could just take off to where we need to be when it's over. Where are you supposed to report to anyway?"
"Oh, you're going to love this, Cheyenne Mountain complex Colorado."
"NORAD… Jim that's heavy duty, If you go under that mountain, I may never see you again."
"Of course, it would be the mountain chief; we're talking about the end of the world. All the meetings would be held in the most secure facility in the country for secrecy sake."
"You guys are still convinced this is going to happen, Aren't you?" Simon asked disbelieving.
"Of course Simon, don't you see the military reactivating solders with black ops training?" Replied Blair.
"Yes, but does it have to be the end of the world? And why is it the mountain anyway? Isn't that more of an air force base? You were an Army Ranger for Christ sake."
"We're all military and report to wherever we're ordered. And I pointed out that this is a security issue."
"Damn! I really hope you get there and find another explanation. I really don't want to believe this." Simon sighed before continuing. "When do you have to leave?"
"Tomorrow night," Jim replied as he thought over Blair's plan and said. "You better book a flight chief. They're setting me up with my own transportation. You'll be lucky to get on the same flight as me but you can try."
"I'll start dialing now." Blair Replied.
"Well, if you want to finish the day you can, but I'll understand if you want to leave now." Simon said.
"Thank Simon; it's been an honor working with you." Jim said shaking Simon's hand.
"Yeah man. You'll always be the wise leader in our book." Blair said shaking Simon's hand.
"You two keep in touch, Let me know what's going on one way or the other." Simon replied
"Sir, once I make contact with the military they'll want to know who I talk to, what we talked about and when. If I call they'll be monitoring, so we'll have to come up with a code to communicate in. I'll call when I come up with something." Jim replied.
"I hadn't thought of that but alright, you two take care. Don't get into to much trouble."
"Who us, Simon, when do we ever get into trouble?" Blaire said in jest.
"It's been nothing but trouble; since, you came on board Sandburg." Simon joked right back.
"True, but you got to admit that it has been interesting; and we've upped the percentage of bad guys major crimes put in prison."
"I don't have to admit anything." Simon snapped, and then added. "But I wouldn't disagree. You guys are the best."
Just then Simon's phone rang. "Duty calls. goodbye gentlemen." he said.
"Goodbye Simon." Blair replied.
"Same here sir." Jim Added.
/Scene Break/
Cheyenne Mountain complex two days later.
General Jack O'Neill walked into Colonel Samantha Carter's office. He noticed her sitting at a desk, her head was down upon her folded arms. her breathing was slow and deep signaling that she was asleep. He knew she had run herself ragged and needed some down time which she kept putting off. Well it looked like he was going to have to make it an order from now on.
"Sam… Sam." He said trying to awaken her. She opened her eyes and quickly sat bolt upright.
"Sir! I'm sorry, I don't know what happened. I was reading over these reports and the next thing I know you're wakening me up." She explained.
"I know exactly what happened, you passed out. You are exhausted Carter. You should be home asleep." He replied
"With all due respect, sir, who can sleep at a time like this?"
"Obviously, you can. You're walking around here like a zombie on crack. You run from one thing to the other but you look like you can pass out at any moment."
"That's just it sir, I have to many project's every time President Hayes comes back from a brain storm meeting with the world leaders, joint chiefs, or congress he piles on more. This morning, he asked me to save the internet. I can barely keep up."
"I've got news for you Carter, you can't keep up. Sam, you still have a problem with delegation don't you? And if you deny it, I'll take away all your slide rules." Carter raised an eyebrow at him.
"Or the modern day equivalent of whatever it is that float's the boat of the modern day astrophysicist. The point is you can't keep treating every project like it's your pet project. You've got to remember that you aren't just a scientist but also a Colonel in the United States Air Force. The department heads are there for a reason. You don't have to get into it up to your elbows just pat your fingers upon the waters."
Sam jerked her head back wondering where her C.O. picked up his sage like advise.
Noticing her response he sheepishly said. "It's Kung-fu week on the action channel. Listen, I'd send you home right here and now but selfishly I need your help with the reactivated military interviews. The plan was to interview five men. It takes two officers and one Ph.D. behind the glass. I got Danny helping out there but he has to leave on a delegation mission on P-3809 in a couple of hours. So, we only have to do one. The interview should only take an hour, and then we ship them off to processing. So after that, I'm ordering you to go home."
"Sir there's still so much…" she began but was interrupted.
"Carter, do I have to send you home under guard to make sure you get some sleep?"
"No sir," She said with a sigh.
"Good, then be upstairs in fifteen. I'll meet you there."
"Yes sir," She replied.
As O'Neill walked out of her office he thought to himself. "Did she say save the internet?
/Scene Break/
Just inside the Cheyenne Mountain complex in a waiting room at ground level Jim Ellison sat in his dress uniform with other soldiers of similar rank from varying military branches. He kept his ears pealed for any and all conversations happening outside the room. It didn't matter to him what the other solders thought of him at this point. His trust was in Incacha. One of the soldiers from the army walked over to him and introduced himself as Major Riley Finn. He mentioned that he knew of Major Ellison's career remembering it to be big news that he was found alive after his extended stay in Peru. He was surprised that he didn't stay in the military when they promoted him. Jim told him that there was more to the story that didn't reach print and left it at that.
"I couldn't help noticing that you don't look so good." Riley said.
"I'm alright, so far." He replied.
The other solder raised an eyebrow at that. Jim replied in whispers that do to a work related injury to his head two months ago; he's been having trouble concentrating. This was the story he, Blair and Simon came up with.
"The problem is that I haven't had time to go to a doctor because I've been working under cover on a case. I'd hate to be booted out of the military because of it but a neurological problem would only endanger everyone in the field."
"That's rough." Riley replied.
"What's your story? Why did you leave the military?"
"Oh, I'm still active. My wife and I were told to come here for an interview and new orders."
Just then a USAF Colonel walked into the room calling out Finn's name. Finn said goodbye and good luck to Major Ellison.
Jim listened as the Colonel introduced himself as Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell. He was there to interview Riley and his wife today. Jim continued to listen to them talk all the way down the hall until they got on the elevator going down to the interview room. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to listen to on theat level he was on. No one spoke about anything top secret. He knew he wouldn't hear anything classified till he was in the bowels of the beast.
Hopefully, he would be taken to the lower levels for his interview. He was only looking for one peace of information the one that told him that the government knew the world was collapsing. He didn't want to know anything else. He wasn't a spy looking to steal plans for a next generation missile. He just wanted to know the government was to do something to save people when the upcoming disaster hit or were they in denial hiding there heads in the sand and admitting defeat. No… they wouldn't consider defeat, not if they were calling in every branch of the armed forces. They had to know something.
Just then, he heard his name called. He stood at attention as the USAF Colonel approached. She introduced herself as Colonel Samantha Carter. And she would be conducting his interview today. They then left the waiting room and into an elevator at the end of the hall. They went down two levels and exited the elevator car into another hall where he was taken to what looked more like an interrogation room. It was rectangular and made of concrete which was to be expected as the whole facility was made of it. A large one way mirror was on one of the walls. There was a single rectangular table in the center of the room with three chairs, two on one side and one on the other facing the mirror. He was already able to hear two heart beats on the other side of the glass along with some murmuring of the two people he but wasn't paying that much attention to them as he didn't want to show any signs of being able to hear them in front of Colonel Carter.
"Have a seat, I'll be with you in a moment." She said and walked out of the room. Jim knew the technique, he had used it himself many times. Sit a perp in a room alone for a while and let him get stressed thinking about his worst fears. In this case, however, he knew he was being evaluated. They were watching him to see if he'd squirm while they got their thoughts together. They'd get no reaction if he could help it. He'd just sit there and listen.
"So what do we know about this guy Carter?" A male voice asked.
"Major James Ellison was released from active duty from the US Army Ranger just after he was promoted. When he was a Captain, he had spent eighteen months in the Peruvian jungle when his chopper crash landed. The rest of his insurgent team died on impact or shortly there after. Regardless, Major Ellison was able to accomplish his mission to hold a piece of jungle known as the Chopak pass from the local rebels. He organized a Milisha made up of the local tribes. Since then, he became a detective in the police force of Cascade, Washington
"Impressive!" The male voice replied.
"Wow! I'll say." Another male voice began, "He would have been great on a couple of our missions when dealing with the natives."
"Well, he isn't being evaluated for our missions. He's just here for his leadership and survival skills. If everything goes well, he can help us organize the civilians into a work force once their mourning period is over provided that there are enough resources left after the world goes ka-blooy." Male voice number one said.
"That sounds kind of cold Jack." The second male voice replied.
"Daniel, I know how it sounds, but putting people to work as soon as possible will help them put the past where it belongs. It will be up to the people to rebuild society. The military will only help. We won't hold there hands every step of the way. Not to mention 'we' (meaning the military) will be going through our own grief at that time." The man Identified as Jack said.
"Yeah, I suppose I see your point." The voice identified as Daniel replied.
"It's not 'my' point. That's a board of head shrinks has been getting us prepared for the aftermath of the world sinking. You, the other doctors and the lower ranking men and women of the SGC will be headed into those same prep lectures command staff experienced." Jack commented.
"Sounds wonderful," Daniel sarcastically remarked. "But my point was, when we restart the stargate missions we should consider going through the interview transcripts to find candidates for some new teams to go off world and help with diplomatic negotiations."
"We'll figure that out later. We've got enough on our plate as it is. Right now, we need the stargate to tranport people and equipment off world for safe keeping. That's all that's going though my mind; live in the moment Daniel. Don't get too far ahead of yourself. We don't know what will be left in the end… Carter you look like you're half asleep; go down the hall and get yourself a coffee, get me one too."
"I'll go with her." Daniel replied.
"Yeah, yeah, get yourself one too." Jack replied.
What the hell was that? Jim thought. What the hell were they talking about? What do they mean 'off world'?
He knew what it sounded like, but it couldn't be could it? These people had a way to go to other worlds? He thought. And what was a stargate? Maybe, it was the name of a ship. No. They said they had to go "through" it. This made it sound like something from that low budget sci-fi show 'Wormhole Extreme'.
Jim felt all his thoughts freeze in their track at that possibility. What if 'Wormhole Extreme' was real? What if the show was made because of a leak? Or what if it was some form of plausible deniability; damn I'm beginning to sound like Sandburg. But what other explanation could there be… get a grip Ellison there could be another explanation. There has to be. Maybe the whole thing was a pile of code words for something else… I need more Intel. He wondered.
A knock on the door almost had Jim yell 'come in' but he caught himself when he realized it was to the room behind the mirror. Just then the door opened and a new male voice said. "Hello Jack." There was a pause before Jack said "Jonas? Hey buddy, how the hell have you been? What brings you to Earth?"
"Oh, well, Sam put in a call to Kelowna." Jonas began.
"Kelowna? I thought your governments renamed your planet." Jack questioned.
"After you showed them how silly they were being they changed their mind about it and a lot of other things as well." Jonas said smugly.
"All for the good, I hope." Jack replied.
"Oh yes, all for the good! So far," He replied. "Sam told me of the problem you guys were having. It was a long shot but she was hoping with our studies of tectonic plates that we might have some suggestions."
"And?" Jack asked not holding much hope.
"Jack, most of what we know came from your people. The year we had to study it and apply it to our planet was just enough to save it. We have hardly been able to add any of our own knowledge to it to have come anywhere near being able to make any suggestions on a problem of the scale you have here. What about the Asguard?" Jonas asked.
"That's right, you haven't heard; Gees, has it been that long? They destroyed their whole planet because they realized they couldn't fix the problem with their degrading genetically cloned bodies while keeping their technology from the Ori." Jack replied.
"Wow…I'm sorry to hear that; I know you had a strong friendship with Commander Thor."
"That's supreme Commander Thor; At least he was, I think he would have wanted to be remembered that way." Jack said
"Yes sir! Oh, by the way, congratulations on your promotion."
"I've had two since, I've seen you last."
Just then Sam and Daniel came back. "Look everybody, It's Jonas." Jack said dramatically.
"Yes we know Jack; we were at the gate when he arrived." Daniel replied.
"Oh well. Jonas you might want to get yourself some coffee and maybe a bag of popcorn. This show is about to start. I know how you just love the boring and tedious stuff and these interviews are all about the boring and tedious. Come on Sam lets go."
"Yes sir,"
Jim couldn't believe what he was hearing. Nor did he think that they were talking in code. There was one other explanation. They knew about his sentinel abilities and were putting on a show. But he didn't think that was it; if what he heard was right then there was a man from another world just behind the mirror- a man named Jonas. And now, the military was coming in to interview him. But for what, were they going to order him to a different planet to escape the oncoming devastation? This was to wild and to far out of his comfort zone. He decided to stick with the plan he and Sandburg came up with.
The door to the room opened Colonel Carter walked in and the man behind her was Jack. this caught him off guard especially when he realized Jack was a General. Jim quickly got to his feet, stood at attention, and saluted.
"At ease soldier," Jack ordered.
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." Jim replied.
"Major Jim Ellison army Ranger, this is General Jack O'Neill USAF."
"Sir." Jim said crisply.
O'Neill put his hand out and said. "Relax Major, I don't want this interview to be that formal. As a mater of fact, I hate formal. Isn't that right Carter?"
"Yes sir," She replied.
"If I could, I'd conduct these interviews in my civvies. I understand you organized a Milisha in Peru. We're actually looking for people with leadership and survival skills."
"Yes sir, I was actually part of an insurgent team that was supposed to go in and do just that. However, our chopper got fired upon; one of the bullets hit and we started to loose oil. The engine over heated and seized up before the pilot could make it to a clearing. The rest of my men died in the crash. After which, I buried them and took it upon myself to complete the mission.
Now that kind of dedication and commitment is something we don't see every day but it's something we can definitely use.
"Thank you sir, I would like to point out… that… however…"
It was at this point that Jim went into a 'zone out'. This is something very dangerous to a sentinel. Going into a 'zone out' meant that all his awareness was focused on just one of his senses, leaving him vulnerable to attack. In primitive times, had a sentinel zoned out in the field without his guide to watch or bring him out of ita sentinel became a poseable statue and target for any man or hungry beast.
This time, however, Jim walked into the lions den and did it purposely. Jim has been a sentinel for so long, that he is now able to bring himself to the brink of a zone out while still being able to bring himself back. It's his hope that the military wouldn't be able to use him if he had a head injury that would cause him to go into a catatonic state. Since if he were in such a state the people in the outside world would be reacting just as expected.
When Jack and Sam realized that the major wasn't going to finish his thought they looked at each other, then back to him.
"Major Ellison?" Sam's inquired in concern.
"Sam, what's going on?" Jack O'Neill asked.
"I'm not sure sir. It seems Major Ellison is in some kind of trance, maybe drug induced, or maybe, it's some kind of mental defect."
"That wasn't in his report."
"No sir. He wouldn't have been reactivated if there had been any indication of such a problem."
"Well, you better call the doc and see if she can do anything to bring him out of it."
Sam went to a wall phone just outside the interrogation room. It took ten minuets for a medical team to arrive from the bowels of the mountain. Dr. Carolyn Lam did an preliminary examination before saying she'd know more once she got him down below and checked him with scanners. General O'Neill agreed as all the scanning equipment was a level above Star Gate command. They strapped Jim to a gurney and started to wheel him away. It was at that moment Colonel Mitchell opened the door to see what all the excitement was about. Major Riley Finn was still seated at the table. Seeing Ellison he told Mitchell about the conversation he had with him and about the injury to his head. The information finally got to the doctors. They used the scanners to find his head injury and probed him for further tests. They came across a card that read. 'In case of medical emergency call Blair Sandburg immediately.' Dr. Lam took the card and dialed the number. Blair answered in two rings.
"Hello, Blair Sandburg speaking,"
"Mr. Sandburg, this is Dr. Carolyn Lam. I'm a Doctor at Cheyenne Mountain and we have a Major Jim Ellison here. He appears to be in into some sort of catatonic state."
"Oh man! I was afraid of that!"
"Pardon?" She interrupted.
"Jim Ellison was clonked on the head while working undercover. We couldn't take the chance to break cover so Jim just dealt with it by force of will. When he goes catatonic like that I seem to have the most luck in bringing him out of it."
"Well, if you're in Cascade then that really isn't an option."
"Actually, I followed Jim to Colorado Springs to keep him from going catatonic till after he met with you. He was suppose to inform you of his condition. A friend of mine knows a doctor that specializes in neurology, but don't let that stop you from trying, neurologists are expensive."
"I'll tell you what we'll do Mr. Sandburg. We'll run a battery of tests like MRI's, CAT scans, the works. If we can't determine what's wrong with him, at least, he won't have to pay for the tests. Which are very expensive procedures and usually take a week or more to schedule."
"Wow. You guys are the best! Jim will really appreciate that. Heck, I really appreciate it. It's hard breaking in a new partner especially when I just got him trained to keep the donut crumb off my side of the surveillance car. One thing however, since the injury, he has had adverse effects to most if not all drugs."
"In what way?"
"He tosses and turns in his sleep. he Hallucinates color patterns when awake. He also gets off balance and vomits. Believe me, drugging him any good."
"This can be serious; you said you can bring him out of it?"
"Actually, I am the only one he responds to. He hasn't awakened for anyone else in the past. He says that he can hear my voice and somehow finds his way back to the land of the living."
"Alright then, I'll get the scans underway. If Major Ellison isn't awake by the end of them I may need your help. So, I'll send someone to pick you up if that's okay. I just need the name of the hotel you're staying at."
"I'm at the Briggs motel just off the highway."
"Very well, I'll see you soon Mr. Sandburg."
As Blair hung up he looked to the ceiling and said, "Incacha, I hope you realize what you're putting us through."
/Scene Break/
An hour later Blair found himself in the back seat of a government car with what he considered a couple military babysitters on both side of him he was driven through the gates of the Cheyenne Mountain complex. They got him a pass to enter the building outside the mountain. Once inside, he found several important people waiting for him one of them was a general.
"Umm hello, I'm Blair Sandburg"
At that moment, Dr. Lam came in from another room.
"Hello, Mr. Sandburg, I'm Dr. Carolyn Lam we spoke on the telephone. This is General Jack O'Neill, Colonel Samantha Carter and Jonas Quinn." Blair shook everyone's hand. "I'm sorry but there's been no change, but then, I don't think there will be this time. I've gone over Major Ellison's scans and there are some really unusual things happing. I just don't have an explanation for them. I don't believe you will be able to bring him out of his catatonic state."
"What exactly did happen to make him such a mess?" O'Neill asked.
Blair stood there looking shocked; his eyes bulging out of his sockets; but in reality, he was biting his cheek to keep from smiling before starting his tale. A tale based, in fact, because it was an old case of which Simon was taking a big risk by changing the dates. In reality, the case was Jim and Blair's; however, it had happened over six months ago and the injury he was about to explain never happened.
"We were undercover as lumber jacks at a logging company in up state Washington. Jim just cut down a tree when it hit the ground the top of it broke off and flew into the air. It came down hitting Jim and denting his helmet."
"Wouldn't there be some kind of evidence of that happening, a healed over fracture or something." O'Neill asked.
"What! You think I'm making this up?" Blair asked indignantly.
"Actually no, General. Boxers get hit all the time. A padded glove doesn't leave a fracture but the trauma causes the brain to bounce around the inside of the skull. In this case, Major Ellison's helmet protected him the same as a padded glove, but the brain still suffered some trauma."
"Sorry about the way that came out; I hate to lose such a dedicated solder." O'Neill apologized.
"Can I at least try to bring him around?" Blair asked.
"I really don't think there is anything you can do. The scans were all over the place; the pain he must be in could be debilitating." Dr. Lam replied.
"You didn't give him any drugs did you?" Blair asked.
"She'd be negligent if she didn't." Sam replied.
"No," The Doctor said still talking to Blair. "If what you said about Major Ellison's negative reaction to drugs was true; I couldn't risk compounding the problem."
Blair gave a sigh of relief before asking again. "Can I see him?"
"Yes, of course, this way."
Jack and Sam felt that they had stuck their feet in their mouths enough. They decided to take Jonas out to dinner. Blair was led to the room that Dr. Lam came out of. He saw Jim lying on a bed wired to a few monitors tracking his vitals. Blair was just happy there weren't drugs being pumped into his body and that he didn't have a tube down his throat. With the former, he would never be able to wake Jim, with the latter. he would wake up cranky and he hated when his sentinel was cranky. He'd rather be locked in a cage with four rabid pit bulls, at least, they'd be nicer company. He walked over to the side of his bed and grabbed his hand. He started talking to him, calling him, telling him to make his way back. Dr. Lam felt sorry for Blair believing he would never see his friend awake again. Over the course of several minutes of this, Dr. Lam was considering telling the man that he wasn't going to ever get an answer. Just then Jim began groaning and the medical equipment started giving positive readings. Reading that said Major Ellison was fighting his way back from wherever his mind had been. He was awakening. Dr. Lam did what every Doctor did when something like this happened. She placed her stethoscope to her ears and monitored Jim's heart rate. She began taking all his vitals. When Jim opened his eyes, she was the first thing he saw, he looked at her confused. He scanned around the room and then gave a heavy sigh of relief before saying.
"Sorry doc, I thought this might have been a morning after scenario."
"You're awake… and coherent!" She exclaimed in shock.
Blair chuckled before saying. "Whoa there stud, I saw her first; besides she outrank you.
Jim still playing his part knitted his brow before looking surprised. "Oh crap! I was in an interview with a General when this happened wasn't I?" He probably thinks I'm some kind of junky.
Getting a hold of herself, she ignored their come-on's Dr Lam calmly said. "Hey, you're suppose to wait for me to ask what's the last thing you remember? before you blurt out the answers," She smiled at him continuing, "Major Ellison, I need you to get some medical scans done."
"But you told me, you already did that." Blair said.
Now that he is awake we'll need to document the changes between his states. He shouldn't be awake at all from what we'd seen of his MRI, his neurons were firing like a Christmas tree. Are you in any pain now?
"To tell the truth, I don't remember being in pain at all.
"Hmm, probably the brains way of suppressing a negative experience."
"Will you be able to help him?" Asked Blair.
"I don't know, but the more scans we take the better a neurologist will be able to help him if we can't."
Blair was asked many questions. He gave as many answers as he could about the accident that never happened. In the end, he was taken back to the motel to wait for the outcome of the doctor's examination of his friend. The doctor spent the next twenty-four hours going over Jim's medical history, taking detailed scans, taking vials of blood, and just observing him without finding anything conclusive. His scans still weren't normal. Jim saw to that by turning up all his senses at once but not to much but enough to show something wrong. But he wasn't operating at diminished capacity. So Dr. Lam hadn't any grounds to keep him any longer. Later that day, Jim left Cheyenne Mountain with a folder containing his scans and medical work up. He arrived at the motel, where Blare was waiting for him. They stuck with idol chit-chat about how he was feeling for the first few minutes. Then Jim said, he was sick of answering questions about his health. So they talked about what seemed to be an ongoing case of the Cascade PD. The point was that they couldn't be certain that they weren't being monitored by some sort of electronic or long range surveillance device so, they kept their conversation to a minimum.
"You know, Simon should be back by now." Blare began, "You should call him and tell him what you found out about his best friend. I know I'd want to know if it were me. You should let him know if his friend is dirty or not."
"Yeah I guess you're right." He sighed as he pulled out his cell phone and called his captain and friend.
"Cascade PD, Captain Banks speaking." Simon announced answering the phone.
"Simon, it's Jim."
"Jim, how did it go? Please, don't tell me they kicked you out of the army."
"Not entirely. They told me that they'd keep me but not reactivate me until I was cleared by a Doctor.. Even then, they wanted to wait about a year to see what happens."
"Well, I'm sorry that it's keeping you from work. At least, they didn't dump you entirely." Simon told him trying to sound sincere. This whole conversation was a big ruse. They were talking in a code that had been put together before Jim and Blair left.
"Simon there is something I need to tell you about you friend Adam. Before we left we found out that… well there isn't anyway to break it to you gently. Adam is dirty, big time up to his elbows!"
Simon was silent for a moment as this announcement was the part of the code where Jim had just confirmed his worst fears. The world was really going to end and the government knew it! If Jim heard the government talking about it then it wasn't just Jim and Blair's silly vision anymore. How could it be true?
"Are you sure?"
"Positive, Simon, I'm sorry; I know what you must be feeling but it can't be denied any longer not with the proof we dug up. I suggest you play it safe and keep an eye on him."
"Right, I'll do that." He said in a stunned voice. Jim knew that Simon would react badly which is why he choose telling him a friend had gone bad as a signal for the government knowing. "What are your plans now?" Simon asked.
"Blair and I are undecided if we should come back and make plans or just head on to the specialist. We'll let you know."
This was also a ruse. They had their plan and knew exactly what they were going to do to make it sound like a normal phone call.
"Alright, keep me posted and take care of yourselves. I'll umm… I'll talk to you later."
"Alright Simon, we'll talk later." Jim said before hanging up the telephone. He looked over to Blair. "Do you think we should get going?"
"It only makes sense to."
"Well then, grab your stuff and let's get out of here."
They got in their big red rental car and went to the airport. The first thing they did was return the vehicle. They then went to a locker that had their duffel bags. They went to the rest room with their luggage. In the privacy of the stalls, they changed their cloths, getting rid of everything they had since leaving the airport putting on cloths from their duffels. While putting all the previously worn things and their cells into a suit case they shipped to Simon. Where they paranoid? Maybe but the military threw a monkey wrench into their plans. Which they overcame. They rented a smaller silver car more gas efficient for the long journey ahead. They drove away from the airport.
"Let's just hope the people we're supposed to meet really know where the safe spot is." Jim said.
"Hey, I believe in Incacha, he wouldn't steer us wrong. By the way, I got to say, I'm glad you decided to do the road trip thing. It just seems appropriate somehow. Thisbeing the last time we'll get a chance to see it." Blair said with some melancholy in his voice.
"I thought you might like it. I also packed the digital cameras and several memory cards; so feel free to snap away."
"Ah, that is so great man. We have to capture this for the future. You think we can get to our destination via New Orleans." Blair asked mostly kiddingly.
"I don't know about such a big detour chief. I think our mission needs to come first."
"Yeah, you're right. But let's not stay on the highways or I won't be able to get any descent pictures." Blair said looking for the cameras instruction manual.
"I wasn't planning on it Chief."
"Ha, see that? Great minds think alike."
As Blair started to silently read the manual the conversation stopped. Jim thought about everything he had found out today. He wasn't about to tell Blair any time soon. That was too much to think about. He needed to sort through it all and his feeling towards it. It sounded wondrous and scary it made him feel excited and angry… Angry? Why angry? He definitely needed to think on it, on their long drive ahead.
Ooooooooooo
I like reviews.
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