SG1-25 Hostile Ground(21)

But O’Neill did not rise to the bait as once he might. He simply said, “Good for her. Now go to sleep.”

A longer time passed, the walls of the tent slowly becoming visible, gray shadows among gray shadows. Teal’c let his eyes close again, hoarding his energy against the day to come.

“Jack?”

O’Neill sighed. “What?”

“You’re being pretty hard on her, you know.”

“Daniel —”

“I’m just saying — you’re being hard on Sam.”

O’Neill did not answer immediately, but Teal’c could sense the way he lay tense and unmoving. “Carter’s an Air Force major, Daniel. She can take it.”

“Yes, but I don’t understand why —”

“Daniel, stop.”

Another silence, this one brittle. “I just wish you’d tell me what’s wrong.”

“What’s wrong,” O’Neill snapped, “is that you’re hurt, we’re stuck in the backend of nowhere with no way to get home, and I need to — We really need to get back. That’s what’s wrong.”

“We both know there’s something else,” Daniel Jackson said, sounding weary and defeated. “But if you don’t want to talk about —”

“What I want,” O’Neill said, “is half an hour’s sleep. So just shut the hell up, will you?”

Daniel Jackson said no more, but Teal’c could hear him moving and shifting in pain. Teal’c did not think all his discomfort was caused by the injury he carried.





CHAPTER SEVEN




The pristine gardens and immaculate walkways that surrounded the Curia building on Tollana did nothing to settle General Hammond’s spirits as he and Dr. Fraiser were led from the Stargate to their summit with the High Council and the Asgard. He knew that the news he brought would not be welcome, but he saw no other way to deal with the situation other than being completely forthright. Deceit was what had gotten them into this situation, and where he came from a man was judged by his honor and his sincerity. His father had always said that a man who couldn’t bear to hear the truth wasn’t a man worth trusting. It didn’t make the task ahead any more appealing, however. He gripped the handle of his briefcase, hoping that his alternative tactic would not be in vain.

He could sense that Janet was just as uneasy as him, but she said nothing as they were led to a large, comfortably furnished lounge area and advised that they would be summoned when the summit was due to begin. As the door closed behind the young Tollan representative, Janet let out a breath and sat down on one of the low couches.

“Thank you for agreeing to accompany me, Dr. Fraiser,” said Hammond. “I know this isn’t the best of off-world excursions.”

Janet shook her head. “I’m glad you felt you could trust me enough to brief me on what’s been happening, General. I just find it hard to believe that we’re in this situation. That some of our own people could be responsible for this. Maybe I’m just being naïve.”

Hammond sat down across from her. “In my experience, there tend to be objectionable elements at all levels of the government and military, no matter how hard we try and weed them out. I suppose I feel more than a little responsible that it happened on my watch.”

“You’re not at fault, sir. I think we all prefer to think the best of our colleagues. And personally, I can’t say I’ve been suspicious of anyone at the SGC. Either the Tollan and Asgard are wrong… or the rogue personnel are very good at their job of blending in.”

“Exactly how good is what Colonel O’Neill was supposed to find out. But now…” Hammond trailed off. But now… but what now? He had nothing else to offer on that point and, by his watch, it was a question he would have to answer in a little over ten minutes.

“You’re not so sure?”

He was about to say no, he wasn’t sure, that it was ridiculous that their allies were resting the fate of the whole planet on their trust of just one man — even if that man were Jack O’Neill. But this was neither the time nor the place. It was down to him and Dr. Fraiser to represent Earth and they had to demonstrate that they were in support of this operation if they were to salvage anything from the alliance with the Tollan and Asgard. His concerns could wait.

The door opened and their Tollan guide stepped through. The young man couldn’t have been more than twenty. “General Hammond, Dr. Fraiser, you may follow me now. The Curia is about to commence.”

“Some hospitality,” muttered Janet, as they were led from the room. “Do they use interns to greet all their interplanetary allies?”