The Drift

by Diane Dru Botsford

  He turned back around and yanked Vukovich from the chair. “I said cut it out!”

  The rattling stopped immediately. The image collapsed, the chair turned off. Vukovich ran from the room. A collective gasp raced across the trainees as Jack watched her go, completely confused.

  When no one moved to pull the panel off Shi, he jumped down off the chair platform and helped her out. “You’ll be fine,” he assured her.

  “No, no, no,” the girl mumbled. She yanked up her left sleeve and then her right. She ran her hands up and down her bare arms not once, not twice, but three times. It was as if she was looking for injuries that just weren’t there.

  If the girl was a hypochondriac, she wouldn’t last more than a day.

  “Shake it off, Shi,” Jack barked at her deliberately. If the Chinese were going to send a civilian, he had no other choice but to give her a crash course in hanging tough. “A few bumps and bruises never hurt — ”

  “Take a thirty-minute recess, people,” General Hammond announced to the room. “If you’ll follow me, I believe lunch is available in the break room.”

  Stunned, Jack could only watch Hammond stomp past, frowning. The general shook his head in that don’t-argue-with-me way of his.

  What the hell?

  Shi tugged down her sleeves and followed Hammond out through the archway. The other trainees trailed close behind.

  Jack looked over at Carter and Lee. “What the hell just happened?”

  “We’re on it, sir!” Carter pulled a stool up to the computer and pounded at the keyboards.

  How the hell were these nuggets going to fight the Goa’uld if they couldn’t handle a little technological hiccup? Suddenly, he wasn’t hungry anymore. Not for lunch, that’s for sure.

  He headed off toward main chamber. Maybe there was cake. Which would be a good thing. It would take a helluva big piece to knock down the bitter taste in his mouth.

  There were times George was near convinced God put him on Earth for one reason and one reason alone — to keep Jack O’Neill in line.

  The man had to see the bigger picture. Otherwise, the trainee program was doomed before it had gotten off the ground. While everyone else finished lunch, George followed Jack back toward the chair room. Just as they passed the Ancient stasis unit, he pulled Jack aside.

  And got an earful. The trainees were unfocused. They were too young. Too old. The civilian additions were worthless. All the while, Jack fiddled with the stasis unit’s molding as if he was trying to pry the thing apart. Thankfully, the blue-gray metal and silhouetted rivets wouldn’t budge, but Jack continued to yank at its edges. The activity kept him in one place so George allowed him the outlet.

  The man was no fool. Clearly something else was bothering him. After a few rounds of the man’s whispered frustrations, however, George knew he had to shut Jack down. “You need to take a step back, son. There’s more here than meets the eye.”

  “You could’ve fooled me, General.”

  “Everyone wants the same thing, to protect Earth.”

  “Maybe the military trainees, but civilians, sir? Really?”

  George sighed. “Be patient. They’ll fall into line.”

  “General, I’d follow you to the ends of the Earth. Heck, I’d follow you to the end of any planet, but if the Pentagon picked these people, it makes me wonder what the hell they were thinking when they promoted me.”

  “You know very well that the Pentagon had no say in the selection of these trainees. The IOA did the base genetic testing. Furthermore, none of these volunteers are even aware of the whole program. They don’t know about the Stargate and — ”

  “Everything all right, sirs?” Dr. Lee had poked his head out of the weapons room.

  “Just hunky-dory.” Jack stepped closer to the stasis controls, his back to the scientist.

  Ignoring Jack’s ill temper, George faced Lee. “We’re a bit busy here, Doctor. Is there something you need?”

  “Ah… No, sir.” Lee blinked a few times, like a rabbit caught in the crosshairs. “Colonel Carter’s running one last test on the Mark IIs. I was going to see about getting another shipped down from the SGC for backup. If that’s okay with you, General O’Neill?”

  Jack’s face darkened, but he kept his tone civil. “Yep, sure. Whatever Carter wants.”

  “Right, thanks.”

  When Lee was out of earshot, George returned to dealing with his troubled charge.

  Jack stared into the stasis unit, his hands braced against each side. “I can barely remember getting into this thing.”

  “Can’t or won’t?”

  A shadow passed over Jack’s face and he dropped his hands.

  “Look, I understand your reservations, but the IOA believes including other nations will help Homeworld Security’s cause, not hurt it.”

  Jack spun toward him. “Sir, I request permission to be reassigned.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “I’m thinking the Alpha site.” Jack smirked, a clear tell that he was blowing smoke at himself as much as anyone else. “Heck, I’ll even go babysit one of those science outposts Carter helped set up. Anything’s better than here because if the president keeps letting the IOA tell us what to do, there won’t be a here much longer!”

  George straightened up to his full height. Maybe he wasn’t as tall as Jack, but he sure as hell had the stars to back him up. “General O’Neill, you are not alone in securing Earth’s survival.”

  “I know that, sir.” Jack returned his gaze to the stasis unit. “It just feels that way sometimes.”

  “Imagine how it’ll feel when you’re in a Pentagon office with nothing more than a couple of pens for weapons.”

  Jack whipped his head around so fast that it was a surprise it didn’t fall off.

  “You’re surprised?” George smiled at his protégé. “I still plan on retiring in the not-too-distant future. Someone needs to take over.”

  “Begging your pardon, sir. I respect your job. Your title. Your efforts.”

  “But?” George crossed his arms, waiting for the inevitable.

  “Well, sir. It’s bad enough being on the sidelines — ”

  “Why would I want you in the nosebleed section?”

  “Sir,” Jack lowered his voice, “while I like to say I took the job as head of the SGC because of the pay bump, the truth is… I took it so the other guy wouldn’t.”

  “General Philips, you mean?”

  Jack scowled. “Philips is a moron.”

  “And now? Admit it, you like the position. At least some of the time.”

  “I like it when my people get home safely. That was easier to do when I was out in the field, watching their sixes — ”

  “It’s a fine thing, being a hero who’d die for their country.”

  “I don’t mean it like that, sir.”

  George waved his apology aside. “It’s one thing to die for your country, but right now this planet needs heroes who would much rather live for it.”

  “General O’Neill?” It was the Castellano boy. He rushed up, his long ponytail flopping behind him.

  “Yeah?” Jack said wearily.

  “We’re ready, sir. Just say the word.” The young Italian attempted a salute. It was sloppy, his hand practically flopping outward as he finished. Between the grin and the salute, George liked the young man instantly. His heart was most definitely in the right place.

  Jack frowned. “Just say the word?”

  Castellano brought himself to attention. “We really want to help protect the planet. We just need you to show us how.”

  Jack’s frown softened. “Sounds like a plan, Castellano.”

  Cautiously relieved, George put a hand on the lad’s shoulder. “Why don’t you gather the others and bring them in? General O’Neill will be there shortly.”

  With a grin, Castellano threw another salute and dashed off toward the main chamber toward the awaiting trainees.

  Jack raised a h
and to the back of his neck. “Oh, geez…”

  “Look, I know this isn’t easy.”

  “You can say that again.”

  “You’re a general now. Your job isn’t about tactics anymore. It’s about strategy.” He jerked a thumb at the trainees who had begun to head back into the chair room.

  “And having a strategy that involves drop-kicking them isn’t going to fly,” Jack murmured. “I get it.”

  “Just pretend they’re from another planet,” George advised. “Give them the same respect, the same leeway.”

  “I suppose…”

  “Those men and women want to learn how to defend this planet. And I think they have as much right to as you do.”

  “Yes, General.”

  “So go and train them.”

  Jack flung off a mock salute not much better than Castellano’s.

  George found himself laughing. It felt good, considering the last few hours’ tension. “And Jack?”

  “Sir?”

  “Try to call me George. We’re equal rank now.”

  “Au contraire, mon general! I’m just a measly little brigadier. You’ve got two more stars on those shoulders, sir. I’ve a long way to go ‘till I’ve earned them.”

  “You’re damn right,” George answered with a smile. “Now teach those folks how to do their part.”

  With a nod, Jack headed back into the chamber.

  “General Hammond, is this a good time?”

  George turned toward Daniel Jackson, newly arrived along with Teal’c and the three quarrelsome ambassadors. Hopefully, seeing the weapons platform in use would convince them to back off their demands to dismantle the chair. Removing the chair from Antarctica was too big a risk right now. They didn’t know enough yet about the technology to guarantee it could be reassembled and work as needed.

  George had read the SGC’s most recent casualty reports. The Goa’uld were still out there and still wreaking havoc. Without Earth’s best line of defense, those reports would only get worse.

  Though Jack made an effort to be as courteous as possible, he stuck to his guns and called on Weiyan Shi next. She climbed into the chair and the panels lit up instantly.

  So far, so good.

  Before he could even ask, she called up the display of Earth.

  “Nice work.” Determined to make Hammond happy, Jack smiled broadly.

  The girl silently followed his orders. The further into the session they got, the more Jack began to believe that a civilian — at least this civilian — might not be un-trainable. The girl had definite potential.

  Maybe Hammond was right. If he thought of these nuggets as aliens, cut them some slack, then maybe — just maybe — they could make some honest-to-God headway.

  “Why have you not turned on the sounds?”

  “You want them on?”

  “I do not wish to be treated differently.” Shi kept her focus on the globe floating overhead.

  Huh. Jack could appreciate that. He reached over to the boom box to turn it on.

  “Actually, sir…” Carter joined him by the base of the chair platform. “Before adding battle sounds, it might be worth seeing if she can tap into some of the other displays stored in the platform’s memory banks.”

  “I will try.” Shi settled further back into the chair.

  A small commotion at the room’s entrance caught Jack’s eye. Daniel and Teal’c. With them was some older Chinese woman. One of the ambassadors, most likely. She shoved her way up front past the trainees. All scowls and fists. He raised a hand palm-up at his former teammates, the universal sign for ‘what gives’?

  Daniel shrugged apologetically. Teal’c dipped his head in greeting. Jack decided that either meant negotiations went off without a hitch or things were SNAFU. Knowing the SGC’s luck as of late, his bet was on the latter.

  Carter climbed up on the platform. She peered down at the girl, giving her one of those big grins that could make a Goa’uld think twice. “What’s your name?”

  “Weiyan Shi. Please, call me Weiyan.”

  Carter smiled. “Okay, Weiyan. You’ve seen pictures of the solar system. Can you try and call one up in your mind?”

  Weiyan squeezed her eyes shut. In a heartbeat, the hovering Earth morphed into a three-dimensional image of planets, moons and a bright glowing sun smack dab in the middle. Jupiter came around for a pass, an all too familiar sight. Jack had seen the planet firsthand, thanks to his little expedition with Teal’c when Apophis had rigged their X-302 for a one-way ticket to nowhere.

  He counted the planets off in his head. Nine total. No, wait. A tenth slid by. Then another. “Carter, is that our solar system?”

  Carter stepped off the platform. “It’s possible.”

  “With eleven planets?”

  She leaned in and whispered, “Sir, the Prometheus has found several new planets out beyond the Kuiper asteroid belt. We just haven’t made it public knowledge yet.”

  “Uh, guys?” Daniel joined them by the base of the platform. “Is that what I think it is?”

  “Yep. Didn’t you get the memo?” Jack crossed his arms, going for nonchalance. It wasn’t often he was a heartbeat ahead of Daniel when it came to the science stuff. Might as well enjoy it while he could.

  A quick glance back at a grinning Hammond made his euphoria all the sweeter. Okay, maybe training these nuggets wasn’t so bad. It certainly beat dealing with paperwork back at the base.

  Which anybody could do.

  “Did it work?” Weiyan opened her eyes. She gazed up at the display with the barest glimmer of a smile. Almost as if she’d never done it before — the smiling part, that is.

  As far as the map was concerned, Jack was pretty damn sure that had never happened before, either. Certainly not him or Sheppard for that matter.

  “General O’Neill, you are wasting precious resources.”

  Jack turned toward the voice. It was the pushy Chinese ambassador. He opened his mouth, wanting nothing more than to tell her to take a flying leap, but Hammond shook his head.

  Oh, yeah. Diplomacy. Act like a general. Right.

  He forced a grin he wasn’t feeling. “Seems to me she’s doing an outstanding job, Ma’am.”

  “I am not a ma’am,” she said through gritted teeth. “As the appointed ambassador from China, I order you — ”

  “Tíng zhǐ! Do not interfere!” Half-risen from the chair, Weiyan gripped the arms. If anything, the backlit panels glowed hotter. The color deeper, bluer.

  “Remove her,” the ambassador demanded. “Do it or I will!”

  A hushed gasp ran through the trainees. They backed away from the chair.

  “No. This is where I belong.” Weiyan held onto the chair. “Bie li wo.”

  The two fell into a whiplash of Chinese, but Jack held back, unsure of what to do or what to say. Their voices grew louder, the trainees backed away further.

  The rumbling started up again. Nothing huge, but Jack recognized it from this morning’s aborted session. He hesitated, unsure what Hammond would want him to do with this incipient Chinese civil war.

  The tremor kept up. Jack glanced at Hammond for help. The general put a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Madame Ambassador, would you please come with me?”

  She crossed her arms. “I will not.”

  The arguing between the two women grew louder. The rumbling kept up, too, like a freight train chugging through a station. Behind Weiyan, the chair’s back panel lights pulsed.

  “What the hell’s going on, Jack?” Daniel whispered.

  “You tell me. You’re the linguist!”

  “They’re talking so fast, I can’t.”

  “Weiyan, get out of the chair!” Jack gestured at Teal’c to remove the ambassador.

  Teal’c slid in front of the near-crazed woman, blocking her access to Jack, Carter, Daniel, and more importantly, the chair where Weiyan…

  Sobbed?

  The rumbling intensified. Ice dropped from the ceiling
. A rock-sized piece barely missed Carter. “Dr. Lee! Enable the safety program!”

  “I can’t find the pass key!”

  Carter started off toward the monitors, but stopped short when another chunk of rock fell in front of her.

  “The girl’s a fool,” the woman ranted. “A disgrace — ”

  “No!” Weiyan shot up from the chair. “I am not some little girl.” She pounded a fist on the near gel pack.

  A burst of light, an awful cracking sound of the floor splitting in two, and Jack found himself falling. Carter, Teal’c, Daniel… Their bodies tumbled against him as he spiraled downward.

  A flash of red. Weiyan was falling, too.

  A horrible roar filled Jack’s ears. His arms flailed, seeking purchase, but he kept falling.

  Until he hit bottom. Then, the last sound he heard was his head smacking something hard.

  With a sigh, he sunk into the black.

  CHAPTER SIX

  EARTH

  50 years earlier…

  Huang trekked across the great frozen valley, away from the Chappa’ai, away from his passage home. Though many hours had passed, sunlight was eternal in the frozen land of the Tau’ri. A fact never mentioned by his master Lord Yu, but no matter. The young Dragon Guard headed toward the great plume of smoke in the distance, determined to fulfill his Lord’s bidding. He would find the Tau’ri. He would learn what had become of the land of his ancestors. He would not fail.

  Left, then right. A step forward. Left, then right. Another step followed.

  He used the two weapon staffs retrieved from Apophis’ dead Jaffa as walking poles. Each stride forward was advanced first by a jab into the snow to insure it would hold his weight. He was no fool. As a child, he’d played often in the snow-covered land surrounding Lord Yu’s fortress. What might seem like a dense patch could in truth be barely more than a gossamer of snow blanketing an endless crevasse underneath. The thick snow beneath his feet could be his enemy.

  And yet…

  He paused a moment to gaze out at the barren snowscape, the craggy rocks, the ancient blue-white glacial monuments which spoke to the eternal beauty of nature. The blues were bluer. The quality of light strikingly different from anything he had seen before. The sun above cast a softer, whiter shimmer above snow banks.