A Matter of Honor Read online

  "What do you think he wants?" Daniel asked after a moment. "Kinsey, I mean. Why's he so interested in the Kinahhi? How does he think they're going to help him get into the White House?"

  "So cynical, Daniel?" Jack jumped off the end of the ramp and glanced impatiently up at the control room.

  "I've been learning from the best."

  O'Neill gave a slight smile and glanced at his watch, tapping it theatrically and holding it up toward the control room for Sam to see. She must have had one eye on her team because she gave Jack a tight nod and rose to her feet, still talking to Crawford. He stood too, and Daniel was irrationally, and rather absurdly, pleased to see that the top of Crawford's sleek black hair came no higher than Sam's nose.

  At his side Jack snorted. "Oh look, Mr. Big."

  Daniel shook his head, determined not to be amused by such juvenile humor, and tried to pretend he hadn't been thinking the exact same thing. Fortunately, Teal'c came to his rescue.

  "According to SG-2, the Kinahhi's security technology is most impressive," he said. "And the Tauri, I have noticed, desire to feel secure - however false that feeling may be. Kinsey surely knows this."

  Daniel sobered and nodded. "The Kinahhi are also a little, um, paranoid. Right? I mean, they wouldn't even let SG-2 outside their Stargate complex." He paused for a moment, considering. "Mind you, we don't let aliens out of the SGC, so I guess you could say-"

  "You don't think they'll share?" Jack cut right across his tangential thoughts.

  "I guess it depends on whether we've got something they want."

  In the control room, Sam was having a few final words with Hammond and the Senator, before ushering Crawford ahead of her toward the stairs. As she left, Hammond must have given the order because the `gate started to spin.

  "At last!" Jack muttered, stepping back and away from the splashzone. He settled his weapon in front of him, and although he was ostensibly watching the Stargate, Daniel knew he also had one eye on the doors. The fifth chevron was already locked by the time they opened and Sam strode into the room, trailing Crawford behind her.

  "Sir," she said as she took her weapon from the waiting airman, "this is Ambassador Bill Crawford. Ambassador, this is Colonel Jack O'Neill."

  Jack turned until his back was to the `gate and nodded slightly. "Crawfish."

  Unrevealing eyes glittered darkly in response. "It's Crawford."

  "Yes," Jack said vaguely, as if the word barely registered, letting his eyes wander up and down the man in a careful scrutiny. He looked like a weekend-warrior in his BDUs and over-sized helmet. Daniel repressed his amusement, but O'Neill didn't bother. "They found something in your size then?"

  "Senator Kinsey has told me a lot about you and your team, Colonel." Crawford's voice was thin and nasal. It suited him. "I look forward to giving him a full report on your methods."

  "You haven't written it already?"

  The ambassador's lips compressed into a humorless smile and the silence stretched taut. Daniel rubbed at a sudden knot in the back of his neck and saw Sam's eyes flitting carefully between the two men. Like him, she smelled trouble.

  Sergeant Davis broke the moment, his voice crackling over the PA system, "Chevron seven, locked."

  Jack didn't move, holding Crawford's gaze. Waiting. Daniel stepped back in anticipation, but Jack was barely in the safe-zone. He always had to push it to the limit. And then, like an undersea volcano, the silver-blue event horizon mushroomed into the `gate room, hitting an invisible wall mere inches from Jack's motionless head. Crawford yelped and stumbled backward in shock, his helmet flying free and clunking heavily onto the concrete floor.

  "Holy crap!" he gasped, struggling for balance and composure as the wormhole sucked back in on itself and eventually came to rest, shimmering brightly inside the Stargate.

  Daniel smiled; that just never got old.

  Turning his back on Crawford's alarmed face, Jack settled his weapon firmly in his hands. "Let's go," he barked, striding up the ramp. "Carter, with me. Daniel, Teal'c - bring the newbie. And Crawfish? Don't forget your hat."

  Sam cast Daniel an amused look as she headed after O'Neill, leaving him with the ruffled, and now dangerously embarrassed, Ambassador Crawford. He was tempted to sigh at Jack's lack of people skills, but actually he knew the man too well. Jack O'Neill never did anything by accident.

  Crawford flashed Daniel a baleful look as Teal'c handed him his errant helmet, and he smoothed down his hair. "I see the Senator wasn't exaggerating."

  Tugging his glasses off his nose, Daniel squinted up the ramp. "He's not so bad once you get to know him." Unless, he added silently, you really piss him off. He smiled and gestured toward the `gate. "Shall we...?"

  Crawford nodded and glanced up at the control room where Kinsey stood watching. The Senator's face was set and grim, much like Crawford's. With nothing more said, he turned and strode toward the event horizon; if he felt any anxiety, he didn't show it. Fearless, Daniel wondered, or afraid of seeming weak?

  Settling his pack one last time, he followed the ambassador. "Gonna be a long week, Teal'c."

  The Jaffa fell in at his side, casting him a look out of the comer of his eye. There was a glitter of humor there, but all he said was, "Indeed."

  CHAPTER TWO

  he nerve-stretching, body-crushing sensation of being ripped apart and reassembled in a fraction of a second left Sam Carter with the usual bone-deep chills as she emerged from the Kinahhi Stargate. She repressed a shiver and glanced around. The colonel was already at the bottom of the three metal steps leading down from the `gate, and he stood eyeing the welcoming party with a studied friendliness. She could tell by the way he was balanced slightly forward onto the balls of his feet that he was far from relaxed.

  It was obvious why.

  The Kinahhi Stargate was housed in a room not dissimilar to the SGC. Tall, white walls rose up on either side, narrowing toward a slim door at the apex of the triangle. The muzzle of a large artillery weapon was pointed directly at the `gate - and hence at them - shielded by huge transparent plates behind which two rows of armed men, uniformed in gray, stood vigilantly waiting. Their weapons weren't raised, but they were just as relaxed as the colonel.

  Cautiously, Sam came to stand at her CO's side. "Friendly," she observed quietly.

  "And here I was expecting a red carpet and balloons."

  She smiled slightly, but said no more.

  O'Neill raised his hand and waved. "Hi! Good to meet you guys. How're you doing?" There was a long hanging silence. "Great. Glad to hear it."

  Behind her a sudden scuffling noise, accompanied by gasping breaths, announced the arrival ofAmbassador Crawford. He retched and Sam winced; it was easy to forget that, despite adjusting the frequency dampeners, the first trip through the Stargate could still be a disorienting experience. She vividly remembered her own stomachchurning arrival on Abydos all those years ago - and the colonel's obvious amusement at her discomfort. She risked a sly glance in his direction; a lot had changed since then. And a lot had stayed the same.

  "I see they've put out the welcome mat," Daniel murmured, his quiet voice breaking into her thoughts. "I wonder if I should-"

  Suddenly the door at the back of the Kinahhi `gate room opened, admitting a woman and two men. The honor guard that followed marked them out as leaders. Tall and slender, they wore pale robes that hung from their narrow shoulders and arms, lending them a willowy grace that made Sam feel gauche and uncomfortable in her one-size-fits-all uniform. She shifted, irritated at herself, and turned her attention to the military escort.

  There was no gold braid or brass buttons, but she recognized the flashes of red and blue as rank insignia on the gray, utilitarian uniforms; these men were obviously Kinahhi top brass. But she was surprised to see that they all bore some kind of sidearm. O'Neill tensed edgily, and she shared his unease.

  The woman who led the delegation was poised and elegant, with dark skin and pale blue eyes that glittered like stars. Her fac
e was thin and narrow beneath a cascade of silver hair, and she dominated the whole room, although Sam wasn't sure she inspired a whole lot of trust. She looked like she'd eat her own grandmother for breakfast if the Cheerios ran out.

  Behind her came the two men, one elderly and the other young. As the ranks of waiting soldiers parted to let them pass, it was the younger man who arrested Sam's attention. She found herself caught and held by his eyes. They were an odd amber color, which wasn't unattractive, but she saw secrets and shadows in their depths that raised the hairs on the back of her neck. Glancing over at O'Neill she wondered if he'd noticed the silent exchange, but his attention was fixed on the Kinahhi leader. She had drawn to a halt before the Stargate and chose that moment to begin speaking.

  "Representatives of the Tauri, I am Councilor Tamar Damaris, leader of the Security Council of Kinahhi. On behalf of the Council I bid you welcome in Peace and Freedom. It is our hope and desire that our talks will benefit both your people and our own in the war against those who would do us harm." She gestured with a long, languid arm at the pair standing behind her. "Councilor Jarel and Councilor Quadesh will oversee your visit."

  Daniel stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Councilor Damaris, thank you for your welcome. Allow me to introduce Ambas sador Bill Crawford, the representative of our government who will speak for the Tauri."

  Anxious, Crawford pushed past the colonel with a deliberate aggression that wasn't lost on Sam. O'Neill bridled but said nothing, his hard eyes following the clearly nauseated Ambassador as he took center stage and began his rehearsed speech. It was a look cold enough to freeze rock, and Sam felt a beat of pity for the man. Only a beat; he was Kinsey's creature after all, and as dangerous as a snake. Of any variety.

  As Crawford's polished words began to flow, Sam's attention wandered back to the face of the amber-eyed Kinahhi. Quadesh, Councilor Damaris had called him. He appeared to be much the same age as herself, olive-skinned and dark haired, and his eyes were now fixed politely on Crawford. Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that the man carried secrets, nor silence the cautionary alarms that were chiming in her head.

  At last the speeches drew to a close, and the colonel muttered an irritable, "About goddam time," as he stepped forward. "Okay, now we've all said hello, how about we get this show on the road? We're busy people - places to go, people to see, bad guys to-"

  Crawford turned, a smile on his lips and daggers in his eyes. "Thank you Colonel, that's enough."

  That's enough? Sam winced. At her side Daniel murmured something that sounded like, "Oh boy." She doubted anyone had spoken to O'Neill like that in years.

  Head cocked to one side, the colonel's voice was deceptively calm. "Excuse me?"

  A whole head shorter than O'Neill, the ambassador bristled with the belligerence of a terrier yapping at a Rottweiler. When he spoke his voice was pitched low, for their ears only. "Let's get this straight from the outset. You may be the muscle, but I'm the brains. This mission is mine, and I won't let you screw it up. Got that?"

  The colonel's fingers tightened their hold on his weapon, outrage evident in the tense, controlled movement. His voice was an angry rasp. "This is my command and you'll do whatever the hell I say."

  "I don't think so."

  Glancing up, the colonel offered the Kinahhi a tight, synthetic smile. "One more word," he hissed around the grimace, "and I'll pitch you back through the `gate right now."

  The ambassador's answering smirk spread like an oil-slick. "Why don't you do that? Senator Kinsey's just looking for a reason to reass you to latrine duty at McMurdo. Disrupting top-level negotiations - negotiations, I might add, that are of vital importance to our national security - would be just the excuse he's looking for." He stepped back, folding his arms smugly across his chest. "Go right ahead, do your worst. Jack."

  Daniel sucked in a breath through his teeth, and Sam took an involuntary step forward. She had no doubt that Crawford's threat was real; Kinsey had been trying to shut them down for years. "Sir?" Her voice sounded brittle in the angry silence.

  O'Neill's attention darted to her and she held it with a look. Don 't do it, sir.

  His jaw clenched. She could see the anger coiled behind his eyes, like a living thing fighting to get out.

  "Is there a problem?" The cool voice, dusted with disdain, belonged to Councilor Damaris.

  It broke the moment, allowing Crawford to turn away and say, "None whatsoever, Councilor. Colonel O'Neill and the rest of our military escort will be pleased to see your city while we begin the negotiations."

  Military escort? The colonel growled, but the looming tirade was halted by a firm hand on his shoulder.

  "O'Neill." Teal'c's voice was so soft that Sam could barely hear him. "It is wise council to keep your enemies within your grasp, not beyond your reach."

  "He's right, sir," Sam added quietly. "You'd just be playing into Kinsey's hands."

  O'Neill pulled the cap from his head and stuffed it angrily into a pocket. "This is bullshit."

  "Yes, sir."

  He gave her an angry look. "Yes sir?"

  She shrugged. "It's bullshit, sir. But what choice do we have?"

  "Ah, look," Daniel interrupted quietly, clearing his throat. "I think I might..." He nodded over the top of his glasses toward where Craw ford was now schmoozing with the councilors, "you know, join in."

  The anger in O'Neill's face began to relax. "Join in?"

  Tugging off his glasses Daniel started polishing them with a studied innocence. "Well, I do have experience in first-contact negotiations. Crawford can't deny that. "

  "No," the colonel agreed. "No he can't." And then he smiled, a short, feral smile. "Go, Daniel. Snoop. Spy. Report."

  Daniel gave a quick grin. "I'll catch up with you guys later." Casting Sam a `here-we-go' look, he returned his glasses to his face and headed determinedly toward Crawford and the Kinahhi representatives.

  O'Neill watched him go and sighed irritably, "So I guess we get to take the ten cent tour."

  "I am Councilor Quadesh," the Kinahhi man said, bowing slightly in a formal greeting. "You are welcome in peace and freedom to the City of Hagarsa."

  They stood in a bright, white plaza outside the Kinahhi Stargate complex, surrounded by squat buildings with flat roofs and shuttered windows that butted together like teeth in an overcrowded mouth. There was no grace or elegance here, just a determined pragmatism that would have made the Kremlin proud. At the center of the plaza was a structure that could once have been a fountain, or the plinth for a statue. Whatever it had once been, it was defunct. There was no water and no civic art. Instead, a tall metal archway stood incongruously at its side, glinting in the sunlight. And, oddly, there were no people. Not a soul. Not a sound. The silence was oppressive, and as Jack turned to take in the whole plaza his boots scraped loudly over stone. He almost winced, the noise sounded so intrusive. Instead he turned his eyes on their tour guide. "Nice to be here," he attempted to enthuse. After all, it wasn't this guy's fault that Crawfish had royally pissed him off.

  At his side, Carter shivered and he realized that he too was cold. Although the sun shone, it was bigger and paler than the one he was used to and gave off far less heat. An old star, he thought. But there were no clouds and the aging sun was bright enough to give Jack good reason to slip his sunglasses over his eyes. He liked the protection they afforded, less from the UV light than from the penetrating stares of strangers. He was here to learn about these people and the less he gave away the better. "So," he said, waving a hand toward the tightly packed buildings, "where do we start?" He couldn't even see an alleyway between them and it made him claustrophobic.

  "I understand that this is a coastal city," Carter chipped in. "In their report, SG-2 mentioned that you've actually built a city on the ocean. So I thought..." She glanced at Jack for a moment, seeking his approval. He gave a shrug, willing to go along with whatever she had in mind, "I thought perhaps we could see the city from here?"

 
Quadesh smiled. "We can indeed see Tsapan from the Hagarsan coast. What is your interest in it, Major Carter?"

  Looking surprised at the question, she shrugged. "Well, it's quite a technological feat. It's something that's been mooted from time to time on our planet, as a way of dealing with over-population. So to see it in practice would be of great interest to us." She glanced over at Jack once more, a glint of resignation in her eyes. "Well, of interest to me, anyway."

  "The technology interests you?" Quadesh pressed, his strange amber eyes sliding over Carter in a way Jack tried to ignore. Carter, he knew, could take care of herself Still...

  "Let's face it, Councilor - a floating city? It's cool." He scanned the plaza for an exit. "Which way?" He saw none, instead finding himself pinned by Quadesh's eyes. For a moment it felt as though the councilor could penetrate the dark shields of his sunglasses and see right into his heart.

  Then Quadesh smiled and pulled what looked like a cell phone from his pocket. Genially he said, "It is not possible to walk to the coast, Colonel O'Neill. There are safer ways of traversing the city in these times."

  Okay, so that set off all the alarms. Carter instantly flung him a concerned look and Teal'c shifted imperceptibly, his hand sliding up his staff weapon and its butt coming to rest solidly on the ground.

  O'Neill cleared his throat. "These times being?"

  Looking up from the device in his hands, Quadesh gave them an ambiguous look. "Times of trouble, Colonel. Times of trouble."

  Crawford walked with a stiff back, as if his ego had taken up residence along his spine like some sort of personal Goa'uld striving for that extra inch in height. Daniel was reminded of his Greek mythology professor at the University of Chicago - small in stature, big in ego. He had no doubt that Crawford was intimidated by his presence, not to mention aggravated. But Daniel hadn't taken no for an answer - six years of working with the military had taught him the value of obstinacy - and even Crawford couldn't deny his experience in the field of alien diplomacy. "Just don't get in the way," the ambassador had warned before he'd turned his silken smile back to Damaris, leaving Daniel to trail along as they headed out of the `gate room. Being at the back suited him, though, dividing his attention between Crawford's unbending gait and the councilor's elegant stride. You could learn a lot just watching.