SG1-25 Hostile Ground(9)

“Yes sir,” Carter said. “And if the gate was close to ground zero, which is likely, then the further we get from it the better.”

It made sense, except… He looked over at Daniel and Carter’s gaze followed his.

“We’ve got no choice, sir,” she said quietly. “We have to move him.”

“I know.” But that didn’t make it any easier. God only knew how Daniel would manage the hike; he should be in surgery already.

Jack rubbed a weary hand over his face. Just how much more crap was the universe going to throw at them today? In the pit of his stomach, the anxiety that had been churning since the first Jaffa attack tightened into a fist of fear. They should be home by now. Daniel should be safe in the infirmary, and he should be figuring out how to bring down Maybourne’s nasty little off-world operation before Earth’s allies abandoned them entirely. But instead they were stuck in the ass end of nowhere, with no way home — again — sucking in radioactive dust with every goddamn breath. “Damn it, Carter,” he growled. “Hell of a time to screw up.”

She stared. “I didn’t —” But then she stopped, taking it like the officer she was. “Yes sir. I’ll help Daniel get ready to move out.”

And then she was gone, stalking past the Stargate to where Daniel lay wrapped in the foil blanket and propped up on Jack’s pack.

“We do not know that Major Carter misdialed the gate address,” Teal’c pointed out, disapproval chilling his voice as he crouched to pull up the tent stakes and refold the tent. “Indeed, it is more probable that an error occurred while we were in transit.”

Jack didn’t respond; he knew Teal’c was right.

“It is unlike you,” Teal’c persisted, “to lay blame where it is not due.”

Uncomfortable beneath Teal’c’s scrutiny, he kept his gaze on the tent as he started repacking it. “Perhaps you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

Another silence as Teal’c stood up. “I do not believe that is true, O’Neill. But whatever the cause of your ill humor, Major Carter does not deserve your anger.”

“Yeah? Well maybe you should keep your opinions to yourself.” He made his voice hard, angry, and didn’t look up as Teal’c walked away in silence.

It hurt, deceiving his team like this. It twisted a knot of guilt in his gut. But, from the moment the Asgard and Tollan had laid down their highhanded ultimatum, his choice in the matter had been swept aside. Until Maybourne’s SGC mole was uncovered, Jack was a puppet dancing to their allies’ tune — and that pissed him off monumentally.

From beneath the bill of his cap, he watched Carter kneeling next to Daniel, encouraging him to drink some more water, touching her fingers to his throat and checking his pulse. He hated undermining her, it felt deep down wrong, but this wasn’t the first time the job had demanded he walk a fine moral line.

The problem with Carter was her loyalty. She was the last person to believe him capable of deliberately contravening Air Force regulations and stealing technology from the Tollan. Yet somehow, in just a few days, he had to make her buy it without question. He couldn’t afford to have her raising doubts because, if Maybourne’s mole got a sniff of a set-up, the whole mission would fail. And then the whole planet would be up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

Daniel was less of a problem, of course. They’d locked horns over the Stargate Program’s purpose enough times that Daniel already believed him capable of almost anything. Daniel might not like it, but this wouldn’t be the first time they’d been on opposite sides of the moral line. And it wouldn’t be the first time Jack had disappointed him.

As for Teal’c, while he might not agree with Jack’s actions, he’d understand that the end sometimes justified the means. And he understood frustration. Hell, why else had he turned his back on his own people for the chance to fight back?

But Carter? They were both Air Force and she knew exactly how much that meant to him, because it meant just as much to her. So if he was going to make the story stick then he needed to damage Carter’s faith in him. And the way to do it was by ruthlessly undermining her trust.

Didn’t mean he had to like it, though.

But he’d make it up to her. Once they were home, and the whole Maybourne screw-up had been squared away, he’d get things back on track with his team. Maybe he’d even invite them up to Minnesota, do a little fishing. No harm in that.

He shivered suddenly, a chill breeze picking up the snow and swirling it in harsh eddies. He didn’t like this place. It was time to get moving.