Good reading !
Translate by jamiemelly88
Chapter 5 :The Search is on.
Bryan had gotten up pretty early due to the nightmares and went headed straight for the place where he was due to rendez vous with the new team. The meeting point was a small bar/ restaurant facing a kindergarten. He had gotten there far too early but it was no big deal. As it was, there was nothing else to do now except wait.
Daniel was late; he wanted to make sure he didn't forget to bring anything. He finally hooked up with the team at the exit to the base, two large bags at his side.
"Don't tell me you brought those tablets with you? We're going for one week!" Mitchell remarked.
A chopper was waiting to take them to the airport to catch the next flight to Paris. What they hadn't been expecting was to see General Jack O'Neill sitting in the pilot's seat.
"We're still waiting for a few people to join your team, I'd like to introduce you before you get to know each other."
After a half hour's flight, the chopper arrived at its destination upon which it touched down and its passengers stepped off.
They made their way over to a room which customs had so kindly put at the team's disposal where there were already people waiting inside.
"I'm glad you answered my calls," Jack said as he shook hands with the as-yet unknown faces. "So here we have Dr Daniel Jackson, archaeologist, Dr Samantha Carter, physicist, Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell, representative of the US Air Force and Teal'c, Dr Jackson's bodyguard. And let me introduce John Smith, British special agent and Jack Croft, a Russian special agent currently on detached service with the FBI. They're going to be helping you in your mission."
"My government warned me that you plan to capture this wo..., this pilot, because it happens that we have already had dealings with her," Jack C. answered.
"Oh yeah? That's strange, and how do you know her and what's your relationship with her?" O'Neill, surprised at this announcement, made a point of looking Daniel's way as Teal'c laughed inside given that he was up to date on the situation, unlike Mitchell who showed no signs of understanding O'Neill's jibe.
"Well, in my case, we were enemies," Jack C. said.
"How do you mean, "enemies"?" O'Neill asked, starting to grow somewhat concerned.
"We were both charged with returning the same person to our respective countries and she double-crossed me."
"Ah, that really is a shame. I mean, of course, it's hard being foxed by a comrade but when that comrade's a woman, well, I can only imagine, that must have been tough."
"I'm sorry, I don't see what that has to do with any of this. Women are just as capable as men, if not more," Sam interrupted.
"You don't understand, it's a question of dignity." Seeing that Sam was getting ready to respond, he didn't want her to get more worked up, which was a shame as he loved seeing her angry, it gave her such a sexy glow. Chasing the thought away, he changed tack. "So, how did you cross paths with her?"
"A joint mission that ended badly, let's just say our points of view didn't exactly agree."
"Oh really, that's all...oh so you weren't friends or anything? Well, that's good, because I want you to put aside any differences you might have with her because we really do need this pilot and not in pieces, be they big or small. Is this really everything you have to say on the matter?" emphasising 'everything' for Daniel's benefit although Mitchell, not understanding why O'Neill was pushing the way he had been, felt a little uncomfortable.
"Jack, stop barraging them with all these questions. Can we talk in private?" Daniel looked insistently at Jack.
"Whatever you have to say, Daniel, I'm sure you can say it in front of everyone...okay, if you insist."
They both left the room.
"So, I take it you also had the misfortune of crossing her path?" John asked.
"It wasn't exactly like that, she was actually a great help to us, but I gather your experiences with her haven't gone off as well as ours," Sam conceded.
"Well, I will admit she's a very active target, which is where I always failed whenever we met," John said while taking a chair and sitting closer to Sam, "so, what help was she to you?" he said, wanting to find out more.
"Uh, quite a big one as a matter of fact, she helped us to ..., she's a very capable scientist in general and an excellent chemist in particular.
At that moment Daniel and Jack stepped back into the room. Teal'c knew they had been discussing Angela and Daniel's relationship with her. Jack clearly wouldn't leave the subject alone and Daniel had no desire for everyone else to find out.
"Okay, now that the introductions are out of the way, all that's left for me to say is that, for Jack and John, this is a test to see whether or not you'll be continuing with the team. I would also remind you that you will be taking your orders from Colonel Carter. Lastly, I'd like to wish you good luck and good hunting," Jack took an amused look at the men and woman of his future team. He hoped he had made the right choice in selecting a mix of good elements and old acquaintances of Angela, even if they were enemies.
The team made for Terminal C from where they would take the next plane headed for Charles De Gaulle Airport and left Jack to his thoughts.
6 hours later, the plane touched down in heavy rainfall. A hirecar stood waiting to take them to their rendez-vous point. According to the file, the meeting was to take place at 10 AM French time. They were late and if that were not enough, they were unable to hasten that tardiness given that the rain was still falling on the runway. This day was not starting well.
Bryan had been waiting for more than an hour: the search team was late, actually very late. He was beginning to lose his patience. "Maybe they changed their minds." He asked for the bill and started for the door when a group of people made their way towards his table, military judging by what they were wearing.
"Hello, are you Bryan?" Daniel asked in French.
"Yes, that's me. Good to meet you. You?"
"I'm Doctor Daniel Jackson and these are Sam, Teal'c, Cameron Mitchell, Jack Croft and John Smith."
"I know Jack and John already; I don't think it would be a good idea to take part in the search."
"And why is that?" Daniel asked.
"Because they're enemies. I've read the mission reports and I'm sure she won't react well to seeing them again. She might even kill the two of you."
"Well, we can defend ourselves," John retorted.
"You're not here for revenge."
"What do you mean by revenge?" Daniel said a little panicked.
"Long story..."
"One that Jack neglected to tell us," Daniel cut him off.
"Well, I hope you all speak the language well enough to help in our search. Daniel, your accent leaves something to be desired put it'll work."
"Yes we all speak it fluently apart from Sam and Teal'c," Daniel answered.
"Okay then, follow me, I'll show you to where we're staking out and then I'll tell you what I've found out."
They left the bar in the pouring rain. The car took them to a fairly nice four-storey apartment block. Now that there was more than just him, Bryan had checked out of his hotel room for this more discrete apartment. Led by Bryan, they made their way to their place on the third floor and Bryan opened the door. It was already furnished and had been set up with computers and other equipment. Even the fridge was stocked and everything looked set for a stay of a few days. Bryan headed towards a chest where all his belongings had been transferred to. He opened it up and proceeded to dig around for the papers he was looking for. He was disorganised but given the circumstances, now was not the time to be organised, time was running out. At last, he found what he was looking for:
"There we go, the address for the university she might be studying at. She wanted to study science and I was told these were the biggest universities. I've already been to three of them but no trace of Angela."
"We should split into three groups so that we can search the other three universities more quickly," Teal'c suggested.
"I don't think it's such a good idea for us to split up. If we ever do find her, it may take all of us to corner her," Bryan said, "She's good, if there are more of us, we stand a better chance she won't escape."
"He's right, it would be best if we were all there to take her by surprise," John said while flicking through the file.
"Yes, but I'd prefer not to frighten her. We should try to start with a simple and direct approach," Daniel said.
"If that's your plan then you won't have any need for John's or my presence there as I think she's more likely to run if we are," said Jack C. as he took a beer from the fridge.
"I think we ought to take her by surprise because it really is going to be difficult to flush her out and I don't want to take the risk she'll escape under our noses," thought Mitchell who had remained silent throughout their journey but his thoughts were lost.
"I'd suggest going for her as directly as possible, not attacking but surprising her so she won't be able to react without her feeling as though she's in danger," Sam decided, whose decision it was to ultimately make as mission commander. There was no margin for error nor was there much time. She knew Angela, thought her to be in a fragile state and had no desire to "take her". She must not disappoint General O'Neill. With a little luck, he might invite her out to dinner and maybe go further but it was best not to get her hopes up. She knew there was something between them, a spark, she loved it when he cracked his jokes, she was the only one laughing inside. She promised herself that once the Ori problem was dealt with, that she would make the first move as she could not spend her whole life waiting for him to do it. Her spirits fluttered, she could already imagine it...
"Okay, so that's the plan, that works for me, as long as we don't have to spend the whole week in this apartment," John complained, "where do we start, boss?"
"Have you been able to gather more information, Bryan?" she asked, slipping out of her daydream just as it was going somewhere..."anything that might indicate what direction to head in?"
"Well, I don't know exactly what subject she planned on studying but I do know she loved sport and the second university on the list has a very good sports complex and equestrian centre. The university itself is located fairly close to an army base on the edge of the Paris area, about one hour's drive from here. And I know that she loved animals and dreamt of seeing the wild horses in Nevada, which is where the equestrian centre comes in. It's not much, but it's something."
"Agreed, why not, and anyway Paris is easily accessible, " Mitchell chimed in, "and the prospectus made that place out to be nice: library, nightclub, sports complex, plenty of shops, anything a young student full of life would want We should go check it out at the students' office and then the students themselves and see if they've seen her face before."
"We should definitely ask the guys, she looks good by anyone's standards," Sam remarked.
"But let's not forget what she's like beneath that face. But Sam's right, men always remember a pretty face and what goes with it," Jack C. admitted.
"Yeah definitely..." Mitchell started.
"Good, well then it's settled, we'll proceed as planned, not wanting to hear the whole discussion and pretending not to have been paying attention, Sam headed to the fridge and thought about what she wanted to eat opting for pizza, "you all have ten minutes to eat and get ready, I won't be waiting for latecomers," she said, looking at Daniel in particular.
Everyone moved to get ready, each heading their own separate way, all reflecting on their own concerns.
Daniel asked himself how he would react to seeing her. He had actually been the one to decide they should split because they were too different which she had understood and that actually had hurt him. He had been afraid of her powers when she had her accident. It was no fault of hers, the medication had caused her to overcharge but she could have killed them because of their desire to exploit her powers. It had tortured him; she had suffered so much while he, instead of comforting her, had split up. To be honest, he had never been the happiest soul around, even before they started going out.
Sam wondered if she would be able to forgive her. Angela had spoken to her of her worries about the medication she was taking. Sam hadn't taken her seriously. Angela had placed her trust in her by confiding in Sam and she had given nothing in return apart from remaining silent.
Mitchell hoped she would remember him and was counting on their prior friendship in the hopes of her cooperating. He wondered what she would look like now she had overcome her injuries and if she had changed much.
Jack wanted to see her again; the last time they had met, she parted ways with him as a thief and left no explanation. He wanted to know why she had betrayed him. John meanwhile wanted to see her reaction given their last mission where he had had the last word. While true that he had been wrong in the way he had double-crossed her, he had broken the rules in doing so and he was proud to take up this challenge by whatever means. He wanted her to understand that he was also a good agent. Besides, he couldn't let her win all the time.
But if they wanted to persuade her to help, they would have to put their issues to one side for the sake of their mission.
The rain still falling, the team went to begin its search hoping for a swift end.
END OF CHAPTER