25 - A Different Point of View

~**Mark**~

Soon after Sam and Pete went missing, a general comes to my house. Given his grim expression, I worry about them.

"Hello…Mark Carter?"

"Yes. Have you learned more about Sam?"

"I'm General Jack O'Neill. I have a couple of questions for you." He shows me his ID.

I let him in.

"Did Pete show you any photographs?"

"That's pretty vague."

"This is serious. Anything about her ex-boyfriends?"

"Do you really think he would show me evidence that he was stalking my sister?" I asked incredulously, and I am surprised when he gives a slight smile to that.

"Probably not, but just…anything. Anything that felt off."

"He did send me something, in e-mail, asking about two men. He didn't say anything about them. I thought it was a case he was on." I go to the computer, bringing up the e-mail.

O'Neill looks to the e-mail, then mutters, "Damn."

"Who are they? Her exes?"

"The brunette was. The blonde was… It was a little complicated. Friends though. Definitely friends."

"They are clearly affectionate with each other, so… It honestly never occurred to me that they were her exes." I look over the brunette's photograph, trying to judge if he's good enough for her.

"That's probably why he picked that photograph." He shakes his head.

Though who am I to judge? I set her up with a stalker.

"Alright, unfortunately, he put you and your family in danger."

"What?"

"I'll explain more later." He frowns.

~+~+~.

My kids are a combination of excited and fearful as we are driven to a safe house. The threat doesn't feel real to them. It barely feels real to me.

O'Neill, as it turns out, is really good with kids. He explains that they are moving us as a precaution.

"Nothing is going to happen to you or your parents." He smiles. "Why don't we play a game?"

My son, Tom, nods.

"That sounds like a good idea." My wife says, sounding cheerful. I know she's scared. So am I.

Playing car games makes it even more exciting for Tom and Tina.

~+~+~.

"What can you tell us?" I ask when Betty and I are alone with him. Janet, who I have met before, is distracting the kids.

"We know who took Sam."

Sam. I realize he knows her.

"And as crazy as this sounds, those photographs are why. Pete didn't realize it, but he was getting into dangerous information."

"Over photographs?"

"Those photos are classified. Sam kept them hidden, but Pete stole them."

"This sounds ridiculous."

"I know," he agrees.

I sigh. "Does my dad know she is missing?"

"I don't know."

~+~+~.

O'Neill comes to the house.

Bad news. I can see it on his face.

"Sam?"

"No." He glances down. "Your Dad is missing."

I frown.

"You are going to hear it officially over the phone, but I thought you should hear it in person."

"Thank you. How long has he been missing?"

"I don't know."

"Really?"

"He was on vacation when he went missing."

"We both know that he wasn't on vacation."

O'Neill doesn't insult my intelligence by denying otherwise.

"Look," he says, "Your house is being surveyed. So far, nothing has happened, and we are still questioning a person of interest."

"Does the same guy who has Sam, have Dad?"

"No, and that's honestly all I know."

His irritation tells me that he's telling the truth. So I'm not the only one being kept in the dark.

"Did you know Dad too?"

"Through Sam, yeah."

I glance down. "What can you tell me about the brunette? I don't even know his name."

He considers it. "Malek."

"Oh." I smile. "Pete has mentioned him. Do you know why he and my sister broke up?"

"Let's just say that it suddenly turned into a…very unexpected long distant relationship." He gives a soft chuckle. "I couldn't tell you much more than that. I didn't even realize they were dating."

~+~+~.

He returns again, and I'm surprised to see a civilian with him.

"This is Doctor Jackson."

"We don't need a doctor."

Doctor Jackson smiles. "I'm not that kind of doctor. I'm good friends with Sam." He puts his hand out.

I smile as I shake his hand.

"You can call me Daniel. Anyway, we have an update on your…housing situation."

I frown.

General O'Neill gestures, and I follow him. We go to another room where Betty is watching tv.

"Kids at school?" He asks.

"Yes. Well, the tutoring."

He pulls out a tape from a bag and puts it in the VCR.

I sit down and my eyes widen as I see three men prowling around in my house. My heart stills.

"They really came after us?" Betty asks.

"Yeah."

I watch for a while. The video changes cameras a few times before military officers come in, surrendering them. Then it pauses. I look to Jack who is holding the remote. I wonder why he paused. This tape was clearly recorded for us, so nothing classified would be on it.

"It gets violent after this. Four of our people were captured. The rest were killed. I understand if you don't want to watch."

I look to Betty, and she nods.

"We do," she answers. "It… They were protecting our home. It seems…"

"I understand."

The video continues. A fight breaks out. The intruders are terrifyingly skilled. The Air Force Officers drop one by one as they are killed with knives. I'm so glad that the video is in black and white. Two are left fighting, and they are fighting to save the others. They are grabbed. The video ends.

"They were good men and women," General O'Neill mutters.

I feel cold. My family wouldn't have stood a chance against them. Not even escape.

"The officers taken don't know exactly where you are, but they know enough that this place might be compromised."

"In fact," Daniel adds, "we don't actually trust any of the safe houses under our jurisdiction."

"So where does that leave us?" Betty asks.

He smiles. "You get to see where Sam works."

"You'll be limited," the general adds. "It won't exactly be fun for the kids, but we have everything they need. And it will be temporary. We are working on establishing new safe houses now."

I wonder if this would be allowed if O'Neill didn't personally know Sam. He seems to have made it his personal duty to keep my family safe.

Not that I'm complaining.

We soon pack everything up, and as far as my kids believe, our adventure just got bigger.

I, however, am terrified. Will my family ever me safe? Who is this mystery man that sent soldiers into my home?

Betty hugs me, and I see that she shares the same fears.

~+~+~.

However, in spite of the situation, I feel excited as we enter the mountain.

The general chuckles. "You look like a kid in a candy store."

"I've wondered for years." Then smile a bit. I admit, I thought this O'Neill guy would be like most military officers I have met. Basically a version of my Dad. He's much warmer, especially with the kids. "Will I be seeing her office."

"I think that could be arranged. First, let me give you the tour of where you can go."

Of course, limited access is very limited, but I'm surprised that they are equipped for children. There's even a room that can quickly converts to a school. My kids are happy that they have access to various movies and video games.

Wow. Someone really likes Star Wars.

"This is so cool," Tom says as he looks through the DVDs.

"This place is huge!" Tina exclaims.

I smile. Based on the size of the mountain, I know we have only been shown a tiny portion of the base.

After the tour, Daniel takes me to Sam's office. I immediately see that it was picked through beforehand. Whatever classified thing she was working on has been put away. It's just too clean.

"She spent many hours in here," Daniel says.

I notice that she has pictures of those same two men. The blonde… His expression is so different in each, that he almost looks like two different people.

I almost laugh.

"What is it?" Daniel asks.

"No Pete. They never should have gotten engaged." I looked back to Daniel. "Not that I am excusing his behavior."

Daniel smiles slightly.

"Why does the blonde look angry in this photograph?" I chuckle. "For that matter, why would Sam pick an angry photo?"

"He had safety concerns. As for why, when she printed out that photograph, all she had was images from the security camera. I'm sure you know by now, we all thought he died."

"So she was limited." I nod. "He looks so different here. In the first, he's warm…almost soft. In the second…"

"Yeah."

I suspect that he knows more than he is saying.

~+~+~.

A few days later, in the mess hall, my children begin to pester the only man not in fatigues.

I quickly put a stop to it and apologize.

"They remind me of mine," he says with a bit of a sad smile.

"You have kids?"

"A long time ago."

"I'm sorry."

"I have my grandchildren." He smiles warmly.

"You must have been young when you had them."

"I suppose." He sits back as he looks to me. "You are Jacob's son?"

I don't know what is more surprising, that this man who appears my age would know my father or that he would call him Jacob.

"You know my father?" I find myself sitting across the table. Something about him. No. His clothes.

"Not very well. My name is Gete."

"Gete." The blonde wore the same clothes. Was it a uniform?

"General O'Neill informed me that you were on the base."

"You seemed to recognize me though. From Sam?"

"Your father keeps your picture in his personal quarters."

"Aldwin…" Says General O'Neill.

Damn.

Gete… Aldwin must be his last name. He looks up. "Are we not allowed to talk, or are we pretending he doesn't know that much of this base is classified?"

That amuses me, but… "I didn't mean to cause problems." I don't want to annoy a man who is keeping my family safe.

"This wouldn't be a problem if you simply handed Paul Thorn over to us," Gete says.

"We still have questions for him," O'Neill replies.

"You have one month. That's more than enough time, and we will be quite suspicious if he 'disappears.'"

O'Neill does not look happy, and Gete suddenly seems a lot less friendly. Somehow, I don't think this Paul Thorn fellow is going to enjoy being handed over.

"Very well. One month."

"Good." Gete turns to me. "I enjoyed meeting you. You are a mystery to us, the son of Jacob."

I have no idea what to say to that.

"Malek was curious about you."

"You knew Malek?"

"Yes, he is a friend of mine… Was. I'm not even sure anymore." His expression saddens. "I do know…he loved your sister." He gives a soft smile before leaving.

"Sorry, my kids were bugging him. Then he started talking about his own kids," I excuse.

"I didn't know he had kids." O'Neill glances back. "He opened up faster to you in a few minutes than he has in years with me. Hmm." He leaves.

~**Pete**~

With all three of them gone, I am afraid to leave the room. I keep to myself, thankful that there is enough food and water for days.

After they have been gone for two days, a man walks into my room, and his grin is slimy.

"I am under-"

"They aren't here-" He steps closer. "I'll give you a choice. Cooperate, and I won't be too rough. Fight me if you think you can win."

I look away, then feel gross as I get to my knees.

"Smart choice. Now-"

I jump as someone rushes in and stabs him in the neck. I back away when I recognize the woman. Mangle. The one that killed Khelsea.

"I protected you. Now you owe me."

"What-what do you want?"

"Ask your masters to buy me."

"What?!"

"You owe me. Believe me, he would have killed you after he was done with you." She points to the body.

"You want to be bought?"

"Of course, I do. Every slave here envies your easy life. Your masters protect you, but they still share the workload. They carry in water. They bring in food, gather supplies. They cook. They clean. Your masters don't rape you. They don't beat you. They don't force you to fight."

"You don't like fighting?"

"Why the krish would I enjoy it?!"

"Sorry."

"I know I killed your lover." She sighs. "Did her death teach you nothing? For being defiant. You were told to go to your room. Do you have any idea what my masters would do to me if I behaved like you?"

"…No," I admit.

"I put on a show. It keeps me alive. Some fighters… They do enjoy it, but they aren't cruel people. When you have to kill…again…and again… It would be easier to embrace it, but if I did that… I wouldn't be me anymore."

"Her name was Khelsea." I sigh. "I barely even knew her."

"Khelsea. They never tell me their names."

"And you? What's your real name?"

"Atara." She looked down to the body.

"Will you be punished for killing him?"

"He was a nobody, a slave to all. That's probably why he went after you. Your masters would go after the other masters. He would go unnoticed." She sighs. "I knew him from before. He was kind once, a simple merchant, but this prison… It killed his spirit. He broke under pressure and embraced the cruelty." Atara looks down at the body. "I get his clothes."