Stargate SG1 Fan Fiction ❯ The Secret Life of a Major General ❯ Chapter 18 ( Chapter 18 )

Chapter 18

Streets of Alexandria, VA
May 29, 2005
Late Evening

Jack tapped his fingers on the leather seat of the chauffeured car he was riding in as he cursed Bollings for only having a helipad. What good was an AF base if it did not have a runway? The fact that Bollings was a no flight base was forcing them to add ten minutes to their trip as they headed for Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. Ten minutes that Jack did not want to add to the trip that would end at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Every minute counted in his book.

He had already wasted enough time informing Jumper of the new information, then barking orders to Andrews’s base commander and NTTR’s commander, coordinating his arrival and capture mission of the goa’ulds currently living the high life in Las Vegas, with his real goal being the rescue of his children.

Three teams from SGC were also being flown to meet them in Nellis as the SG teams were the only one with the experience with confronting goa’ulds, although extra tech and scientists from DET 3 would be standing by in case the SG teams ran into any unexpected technology.

Thirteen long minutes later they passed through the rest of Andrew’s security measures and were just starting to depart the car for the jet waiting to transport Jack and his accompanying multitude of civilian agents when Barrett, who had joined them after being informed about the new information, had his cell phone ring.

Whipping out the phone as the agents near jogged to keep pace with the rapidly moving general as Jack headed for the idling airplane Barrett huffed out his greeting, “Agent Barrett speaking.”

“This is Hel. I have more information for O’Neill.”

Astonished Barrett stumbled to a halt. “Excuse me? Hell?”

Even from his lead in front of the group Jack heard the term ‘hell’ and correctly interpreted that Hel had called. Screeching to a halt, and barely avoiding being barrelled into by the two FBI agents, Jack whirled about and strode back to Barrett.

“Give it to me,” Jack ordered.

Without a protest Barrett handed it over wondering why, as did others, how this Hell, who had first called Cruise’s phone was now calling Barrett’s phone. How had this informant gotten the numbers and why did he not call O’Neill’s number directly?

“O’Neill,” Jack said curtly. Quietly he listened to what the alien on the other end had to tell him. The call took no more than a minute before Jack thrust the phone back to Barrett and whipped out his own phone, punching in one of the buttons that would call the direct line to the SGC.

Jack barely gave Landry on the other end time to greet him before crisply barking more orders as he hurried into the jet. “Increase the SG teams for Nellis to four. Also send Dr Lam with a full medical team, Carter may need her. I’ll tell you more when we’re up.”

He snapped his phone shut as the last of the agents bordered the plane and buckled in. As the plane began its run he succinctly told the impatiently waiting agents that his ‘informant’ had also located Carter within the Luxor Hotel and the capture and rescue mission had just grown more complicated.

Once they were air born and cell phone usage permitted, he would call Landry back, then phone Jumper and fill the general in about the new development and get Carter’s exact coordinates from the laptop that he had carried with him from home.

Jack and his nine civilian companions disembarked in Nellis after a four and a half hour flight from Andrews, the pilot having pushed the engines of the passenger jet to cut off half an hour and nineteen minutes of the regular flight time.

That time had not been spent idly, but on the phone to various departments and individuals as Jack used every ounce of his authority to railroad any resource he might possibly need and lock out everyone else that he felt had no part of this op.

He took some grim satisfaction that while back in Virginia he had managed to convince the CIA director that Special Agent Cruise could best serve the department by remaining in his Alexandria home to wait for the goa’uld’s promised package. Jack however had no intention waiting until the goa’uld’s demands were delivered before beginning the mission as Cruise advised.

Ushered by the airmen waiting on the tarmac the group was soon in the room where SG combat teams 3, 5, 12, 13 and the medical team of SG-7 were already waiting having only a two hour flight from Colorado Springs to Las Vegas. Also present were the various liaisons from the local law enforcement, the Las Vegas PD and local FBI branch. This was a military operation, but this mission would still be executed in civilian territory and HWS needed to tell the civilian agencies what to do—or not to do—so there was no confusion.

Exchanging a curt nod with the SG personnel Jack handed his laptop over to Burke to have the far more computer proficient CIA agent hook the device up to the room’s data projector.

Taking the floor Jack began the mission brief, keeping his language in familiar mission jargon and Stargate program code to keep those in the room without clearance in the dark.

“I am Major General O’Neill and will be in command of this op. These two individuals,” Jack pointed to the red dots in a three dimension point projection of the interior of the Luxor Hotel and Casino buildings, “are the main targets. They are not to be approached by anyone but a member of an SG team. Is that clear?” Jack stared down the leader of the LVMPD SWAT teams.

“The five individuals tagged in purple are to be approached with extreme caution and expect them to be armed. The three people tagged with orange in the presence of the purples are the hostages. SG-7 will be on standby in the Pyramid lobby to treat the hostages as soon as they’ve been secured.”

“Teams 3 and 13 with SWAT Blue Team you will be the ones assigned to apprehend the reds—your radio code will be Ophidian. SG-5 with Barrett will be responsible for securing this hostage,” Jack touched a finger to the single orange dot with two purples in close proximity. “Code will be Dorothy.”

“These hostages,” Jack moved his finger to touch the two orange dots that were so close together they were overlapping, “will be secured by SG-12 and the SWAT Red Team. As these hostages are children that are two-years-old the SWAT team will command their rescue. I will accompany this team, but Hadden make sure I am only brought in once they are secured. Our code will be Lamb.”

Major Hadden was not the only one to look puzzled by Jack’s last order.

“The children are mine,” Jack answered the unvoiced question and the SWAT officers and local FBI agents wondered at the barely concealed surprise on the faces of the AF personnel. “If any of the purples with the children use any unusual weaponry, SWAT you are to let Major Hadden take command as his team has the necessary experience.

“Agent Burke and the FBI will remain here at Nellis coordinating information. Burke,” Jack turned to his old friend curtly, “the floor is yours now.”

Burke got up from his seat and took Jack’s place beside the projector screen. “I’m CIA Agent Enrico Burke,” he introduced himself and began to fill everyone in on the information that Jack had not. Primarily the identity of the hostages and what was known about the terrorists. Information supplemented from the hotel registry that identified the renter of the three rooms as R. Kinsey.