DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognisable characters and property of Stargate SG-1 belong to MGM/UA, World Gekko Corp. and Double Secret Productions. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment purposes and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author. Not to be archived without permission of the author(s).
Only years of practice being politically correct, and two young granddaughters, prevented General Hammond from releasing the string of expletives he was thinking. Instead, they all rolled, not-so-nicely, into a single, emphatic "Damn!"
Harris frowned. "Maybe they're having a late lun..." He glanced at his watch. "...dinner. Maybe they're having dinner."
Hammond nodded silently then dialed again, this time asking for the front desk. Another moment of silence, then he spoke into the mouthpiece. "This is General George Hammond in Colorado. ... uh, Yes, I'm fine, thank you."
Harris groaned silently as the unseen hotel clerk exchanged pleasantries with a two-star general.
"I'm trying to reach two of my officers, Co... ... That's right. O'Neill and Carter. Have ... They aren't in their room, ma'am. I've already tried that. ... I've tried paging them. They're not answering. ... Yes," Hammond was obviously counting to ten, in multiple languages, "I would like you to see if anyone has seen them."
"Sir, that's a large hotel. The odds of anyone seeing them..." Harris let his words die off at the expression on Hammond's face. "...are very good. Very good indeed."
Jack relaxed in the back of the limousine, silently enjoying the effect his being unrestrained was having on the two size 4X guards sitting across from him. The 'businessman', on the other hand, was nothing if not relaxed, casually reading a magazine in the center seat. The windows were tinted almost black, allowing no visibility, either in or out and the darkened safety barrier was up between the driver and the passenger compartments. And the acoustics. Most drivers only dreamed of a vehicle like this - no road noise whatsoever. A few bumps every now and then, but the ride was so smooth Jack couldn't tell if they were on a dirt stretch or badly maintained pavement. And they'd already driven so far, it could easily have been either. Not to mention, the stop and go of downtown traffic had ceased quite some time back.
He'd taken note that the limo was facing east when they left, hoping to at least be able to maintain a vague idea of the direction he was going. His hosts, however, had other plans as the driver circled a few blocks, then did a few right-left combination turns to throw off his sense of direction. Fine, he'd play their game, but they'd have to play one of his as well. With a silent sigh of satisfaction, Jack had settled back to stare down the guards.
Sam almost collided with Captain Benjamin as she ran from the vault. Gasping, "I know where it is!" she flew by him toward the sentry post, and its phone.
"Where what is?" Benjamin called after her. "Ma'am? ... OH!" He increased his own speed and caught up with Sam as she slid to a halt beside a very confused lieutenant.
"Haven't you gotten Hammond yet?" Sam blurted out.
"No, ma'am. The airman at the other end says that the general's on the phone and can't be disturbed. I've tried everything I know, but..." Simmons looked as frustrated as Sam felt.
"Let me have it." Sam smoothly took the handset from the lieutenant, and spoke quietly into the mouthpiece. "This is Major Samantha Carter. Put me through to the general, now! ... No, I don't care that ... Airman, if I'm not put through to Hammond's office in the next thirty seconds, I can guarantee your next post will be in Antarctica.
"No answer?"
"No. Less than twelve hours ago, they couldn't move fast enough to get this name and address, and now ... no one's around to take it." The frustrated clerk tossed her pencil onto her desk as she looked at her supervisor. "I don't get it. I left word for Detective Carroll, but you said that the main Mastercard office said to get hold of Colonel O'Neill personally."
"Have you tried that General Howard person?"
"You mean Hammond? Yeah, three times. The man spends more time on the phone than my teen-ager. All I get is this airperson who won't even tell the general I'm on the line."
"Try the general one more time, then call the hotel back."
"Colonel O'Neill's not in his room. All I'll get is the answering machine."
"Leave a message."
"But you said..."
"Never mind what I said, I changed my mind. You've got more important things to do than play phone tag with the military."
"Tell them the name and address?" The woman's voice was skeptical.
"Just tell them we've got a name and address to go with the WWF tickets they called about. If they want the information, let them play phone tag with us."
"Oh, I like it. I really like it."
"I see. Thank you." Hammond hung up and turned to Major Harris. "I finally got sense out of one of the security officers. Colonel O'Neill took a cab and Major Carter and Captain Benjamin took the car."
"No idea where they..." His words trailed off as the phone rang.
"Hammond! ... Major Carter! What in blue blazes is going on? ... Good work, Major! ... Yes, I'll dispatch a team immediately. ... We found the mole. Lieutenant named McIntosh. ... Yes, it is a good thing, Major. ... Major, if you'll just ... Major. ... Major Carter! ... We have the address where Daniel is probably being held."
"Simmons, you stay here with the key. No one goes in that vault until Hammond's people arrive." Sam handed her the key along with a piece of paper with the hieroglyph for earth on it. "They'll show you this. You give them the key. And leave. Clear?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Good work, Lieutenant. Colonel O'Neill will be pleased."
"Yes, Ma'am. Thank you, Ma'am."
Sam started for the elevator, with Benjamin in silent pursuit. She checked her beeper as she went and found it dead. She mentally kicked herself as she realized she'd forgotten to change the battery. And she sure didn't have time now to track down the hard-to-find AAA. Hopefully, no one would need to page her.
"What's up, Major?"
"They found the mole." Sam frowned as she tried to place the name Hammond had given her. McIntosh. She was drawing a blank.
"That's good."
"Hammond's sending a team to secure the vault."
"I heard."
"Oh, yeah. The mole gave us an address where Daniel may be."
"That's very good."
"Hammond's sending another team to meet us there."
"That's good, too."
"I just hope it jives with what I remember."
"It does, Ma'am."
She looked suspiciously at the young man. "Captain, is there something I should know?"
He smiled slightly as he held up a digital phone. "My men will also be joining us there."
"Huh, how?"
"I took a minute while we waited on the car to fax that picture of the house you remembered to my office. They've tracked the address. And as I said, Ma'am, it is the same as the one McIntosh gave General Hammond and Major Harris."
Sam sighed with relief. "That's really good."
"Yes, Ma'am. By the way, the colonel's been taken away in a limo."
"What? But... You're having him followed?"
"Yes, Ma'am."
Sam stared for a moment, then started to laugh. "Captain Benjamin, I'm glad you're on our side."
Daniel sighed with relief as his thirst was finally quenched. Placing the pitcher back on the dresser, he cursed himself for a fool as he heard footsteps approaching the door. 'Should have taken the pitcher with me. Or left it alone.' He thought briefly of pretending to be bound on the bed once more, but just as quickly quashed the thought as he suddenly remembered Parker's statement about cameras. His color rose as he realized they'd probably been watching him the entire time. 'Shit! Stupid, Daniel. Really stupid!'
The heavy wooden door slammed open, causing Daniel to jump in spite of himself. Colonel Parker looked at Daniel. Or, it seemed to the nervous young man, through him. The colonel closed the door with a push of his hand, then took a single step toward Daniel, who stepped backwards without thinking.
Parker matched Daniel step for step, neither closing in or distancing himself from his prey. Rather, he seemed to take an unholy delight in watching Daniel's growing uneasiness. A satisfied smile flitted briefly across the older man's face as Daniel finally connected with the wall. There was nowhere else to go.