I
"They look so young."
Sam's wistful voice distracted Daniel from his conversation with Jack and Teal'c and he followed her gaze down to the group celebrating in the Gate room.
"They're the same age we were when all of this began," he pointed out with a small grin.
Sam shrugged. "Maybe. They don't look it."
She had a point, Daniel acknowledged to himself. The four men who comprised the new SG-1 all looked too young to be wearing their uniforms, let alone heading the SGC's flagship team, and there was no denying it. Their friends had cracked open a bottle of champagne and, as Daniel watched, they slowly trailed out of the Gate room.
"They get younger every year," Jack said. "Not that you two looked any older in the beginning."
Daniel caught the sidelong glance and smiled faintly. "I'd already been on Abydos for a year when we set this up."
"They've all had at least five years with the program," Jack countered. "Can't get much more experienced than that. Hell, they've actually had off-world training while we were flying by the seat of our pants for most of the first year."
Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Just the first year?"
Jack snorted.
There was silence for a long moment. Daniel could still remember those first missions, when just stepping through the Gate was a new and thrilling experience and every world was fresh for exploration. It seemed like a lifetime ago. In some ways it was; so many things had happened, not least several deaths, near deaths and resurrections, that it sometimes seemed hard to believe that it had all happened in less than ten years.
"It's not as though we're retiring completely," Daniel said after a while. "I'll still be in my office every day, Sam will be in her lab and Teal'c will be . . ."
"Wherever I am needed," Teal'c said. "There are many battles still to fight."
"And we can still save the world every now and again," Jack said with a wide grin. "We're still the best, even if we are driving desks now."
***
II
The sound had been turned off so that the group in the briefing room could watch the images on the screen in silence. Mourners lined the route as the camera followed a black hearse through the streets of Washington. Every few minutes, footage of President Hayes at rallies or making his first State of the Union speech were played, reminding everyone in the room of just how short his term had been.
Eventually, as the hearse turned into another street filled with people, Jack grunted and broke the silence. "Does anyone believe that this was an accident?"
"It does seem a little convenient, sir," Sam said hesitantly.
"I can't image where you'd get that from," Daniel said dryly. "The accident happened more than a week after Kinsey was re-appointed as Vice-President."
"That's what I thought," Jack said. "Wonder what he had on Hayes, anyway?"
As far as Jack was concerned, that was more worrying than the 'accident' that had sent Hayes tumbling down a flight of stairs in the White House. It had to be really big to get a guy like Hayes, who Jack had come to admire deeply, to re-appoint a smarmy, cowardly creep like Kinsey. Jack spoke to Hayes regularly during his tenure in charge of the SGC and he had learnt a great deal about him; top of the list was that Hayes could not be bought and it was damn near impossible to intimidate the man. Hell, he had gained legendary status around the complex when word got out about his confrontation with Anubis. A politician like Kinsey, even one with Kinsey's high-placed friends, was not going to scare a man like Hayes. Whatever the blackmail was, it had to be nasty.
Most of the senior staff were in the briefing room to watch Hayes's state funeral. Everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before Kinsey made a move against them. It was almost enough to make Jack wish for a disaster, although Kinsey would probably just fire them all anyway and then wonder why the hell the Goa'uld won the next time they attacked.
Jack was surprised, though, when an SF ran up the stairs into the briefing room as the CNN logo was disappearing from the screen.
"Sir, Vice-President Kinsey is on his way," the SF said breathlessly.
"Now?" Jack asked.
The guard nodded. "He got into the second elevator a minute ago. He'll be here-"
"Right now," Kinsey said, appearing from the stairwell with no sign of breathlessness. "I though it best to get this over with quickly."
The military portion of the room stood reluctantly in the presence of the country's new President. Daniel and Teal'c stayed in their seats, eyeing Kinsey defiantly, and Jack cheered inwardly for them even though his expression remained impassive.
"Welcome to the SGC, Mr President," Jack ground out through gritted teeth.
Kinsey smiled. "Cut the crap, Jack. We both know how we feel, so why don't we be adults about it? I can't understand how anyone could make you a general and luckily I don't have to. There's enough evidence from your time in charge of this program to make sure that you never see the outside of a prison cell again. But, on this sad day, I'm being generous. I'm accepting your resignation from the Air Force, effective immediately."
"Can he do that?" Daniel asked.
"No, but that's not going to stop him," Jack replied, locking eyes with Kinsey.
There was cold delight in Kinsey's icy blue eyes.
"I'm glad that you understand the reality of your situation," Kinsey said. "I've appointed a civilian administrator to look after the program until a decision has been made about the fate of the SGC. Before you get your hopes up, I've made sure that your new administrator is nothing like Doctor Weir," he said with malicious enjoyment. "He'll be arriving at Peterson in two hours. For now, all missions have been cancelled and I expect all members of the SGC to be present and accounted for by the time your new commander arrives."
"You're a real piece of work, you know that, right?" Jack said.
Kinsey's grin widened. "Now, Jack, I'd keep that clever mouth of yours shut unless you want to find out just what I can do. My offer of quiet resignation is much more pleasant than any of the other things I could do to you."
Jack could see the frustration in Daniel's face and was unsurprised when the archaeologist spoke angrily. "You can't just close down the SGC! You know the dangers we face - how can you be so blind?"
The amusement left Kinsey's face. "I would advise you, Doctor Jackson, to keep your opinions to yourself and do the work that you will be assigned if you want to have any future involvement with this program. And the rest of you would be wise to do the same."
Teal'c slowly stood and fixed Kinsey with one of his most disdainful glares. "I will not remain on this world to watch your eventual destruction. My people still fight and I will join them."
Kinsey smiled cruelly. "No, you won't. The Stargate is under my command and I say who leaves this world and who doesn't. Hayes and his predecessor both allowed a valuable resource to slip through their fingers and you will not slip through mine."
Three secret service agents were already firing tranquilliser darts at Teal'c before Jack could react and the room descended into chaos as the staff of the SGC fought back. More agents appeared from the stairwell and Jack ducked a flying fist to catch one of them in the stomach with his shoulder. Pain suddenly flared on one side of his head as someone hit him with the butt of their gun and his vision began to fade. Just before he passed out he noticed a flash of gold in Kinsey's eyes but it was too late to cry out.
***
III
"How are we doing, Carter?" Jack asked as he ran down the stairs into the control room.
Sam nodded towards the Gate room where a small group of frightened men and women were filing quickly through the Gate. "That's the last group from the Genesis list going now, sir."
"How long can we keep the Gate open?"
"Another twenty minutes, sir," Sam said. "I can't guarantee that we'll be able to open it again after that."
"I can't guarantee that we'll still have a Gate in twenty minutes to try again," Jack said. "It's time to evacuate the base."
It had been inevitable for two days, but Jack still felt the stillness as everyone in the control room absorbed the news. It did not last long, just a quiet acknowledgement that the time had arrived; then the room was filled with activity again. Jack hurried to a consol, already pulling out the key he needed to set the auto-destruct for the base.
"Carter? I need another officer and you're it," Jack instructed.
Sam nodded and jumped up from her monitor. Together they punched in their codes, turned the necessary keys and set the timer to go off ten seconds after the Gate closed. The monitors began flashing the auto-destruct signal just as Sergeant Davis shouted for Jack.
Davis' voice was calm as he said, "There's a ship approaching the mountain. At its current speed it will be here in ten minutes."
Jack swore under his breath. Base personnel were only just beginning to filter into the Gate room and he had no idea where Daniel or Teal'c were.
"Sir, I'll supervise this - Daniel mentioned something about some files he needed to take," Sam said, already back at her station where she could monitor the ship's approach and the status of the Stargate.
It was a huge breach of protocol, but Jack only took a fraction of a second to make his decision. Courts martial were not going to be a top priority for a long time and he needed to make sure that everyone got out.
"Thanks, Carter," he said. "Do you know where Teal'c is?"
Sam's eyes never left her monitors. "He's helping with the last of the medical supplies."
Jack nodded and ran for the door. The corridors were filled with men and women, many carrying boxes and bags of supplies that had not been sent through earlier, all jogging rapidly to the Gate room. The families of SGC staff had been sent through the Gate when the ships first appeared in orbit around the planet and now they were finally joining them. It was hard work to move against them, but most let Jack pass with barely a glance and he was soon at the elevators. One arrived almost immediately, disgorging Teal'c and a group of heavily laden medics. He nodded to the Jaffa, mouthed the word 'Daniel' as he passed and stepped into the elevator just before the doors closed. It seemed to take forever to reach the floor where Daniel's office was. Jack bounced impatiently on the balls of his feet during the trip and squeezed through the doors before they were fully open.
The corridors up here were much emptier and he ran unimpeded all the way to Daniel's office. Most of the artefacts in the office had been already been transported through the Gate and the shelves looked strangely naked. Daniel was shoving files and books into a small crate. He looked up for a moment as Jack entered before turning away to pick up another book.
"Is that stuff really important?" Jack asked urgently.
"We're losing our entire planet - we can't lose our entire history with it," Daniel said.
"I thought that you'd sent everything two days ago!"
Daniel frowned as he tried to find room for one more book. "I sent what I could. This 'stuff' is important if we're going to create any kind of new world."
"I can appreciate that," Jack said. "Really, I can. But we've got ten minutes before the Gate shuts and this place becomes a large crater."
Daniel took hold of one end of the crate. "So help me with this!"
Jack didn't argue further; he took the other end of the crate and the two men ran from the office. All the elevators were in use when they reached them so Jack led them to a stairwell and they hurtled down as fast as they safely could. Jack could feel the time trickling away as they passed each floor but he did not dare to check his watch in the middle of his headlong flight. They eventually reached floor twenty-eight and ran through the nearly deserted corridors, sending the stragglers ahead of them.
Sam met them at the Gate with Teal'c and the four watched the last few men step through the Gate.
"I never thought things would end this way," Daniel said, his voice filled with regret.
The base shuddered under the first missile strike from the ship and plaster dust rained down on them.
"I always though it would be the Goa'uld who'd chase us out, if anyone did," Jack said thoughtfully.
"As did I," Teal'c said.
Sam shrugged. "Nobody could have predicted it, sir. We had no idea-"
She broke off as the ground shook violently and the Gate seemed to short out for a moment.
"Let's get moving, kids," Jack said.
Jack and Daniel, still carrying the crate of Earth's history, followed Sam and Teal'c through the Gate bare seconds before it finally closed.
***
IV
"Ideas anyone?"
"Our death will be honourable."
Jack groaned. "Sane ideas, Teal'c, not epitaphs."
The only sound in the small room was the low hum of the ship's engines and the dull pounding on the door. It was directly over the engine room and, from the dust everywhere, had not been used for years. Sam thought that at one time it had been an armoury, which explained the thick doors and the difficulty that the Jaffa were having in breaking them down. They couldn't last forever, though, and there was no back door.
"Sir, if we don't detonate soon, the entire mission will have been for nothing," Sam said. "In fifteen minutes it's not going to matter whether we succeed or not; there won't be any life left on Earth."
"I know, Sam," Jack said irritably, "but we've got out of worse situations than this."
"We have not," Teal'c said.
"He's right, Jack," Daniel said.
Jack could barely see Daniel's face in the dark, but his voice was expressive enough.
"There has got to be some way off this ship," Jack said.
"Not this time," Daniel said heavily. "There's only one door and there's an army of Jaffa on the other side."
Jack craned his neck to survey the ceiling and the top of the walls. "There's got to be an air-vent or a hatch. There's always an air-vent."
A quick survey of every inch of the dusty room proved him wrong. Jack slowly sank to the floor with the rest of his team and closed his eyes for a moment.
"So this is it," he said softly.
Sam unclipped her pack and pulled out the tiny device that would destroy the fleet of ships surrounding the Earth, taking SG-1 with them. It looked too small to be the saviour of their planet, but Jack had seen its effectiveness during testing and he had no doubt that it would work. One tiny device would cripple the Goa'uld so that it would be years - maybe even decades - before they threatened the Earth again.
Jack noticed that Sam's fingers were shaking as she snipped the device away from the broken timer.
She flicked the cover of the device's grey casing open to reveal several small, coloured buttons.
"The blue one is the override," she said, sliding the device towards Jack. "Hold it down for five seconds and . . ."
"Boom?" Jack finished.
"Yes, sir."
Jack looked around him team, wishing that the lighting was better so that he could see their faces better. There was a dark streak of blood running from Daniel's hairline, down his cheek and neck and into the neckline of his T-shirt. Jack couldn't remember when it had happened during their running fight through the ship. He wondered whether Daniel had even noticed.
"I should probably say a few words," Jack said after a moment. "I just wish I could think of a few."
"We die well," Teal'c said gravely. "Our deaths will ensure the lives of many others."
"Thanks, T."
Time was running out. Jack thought that he had faced death before, but this was different. This time they really would die and there would be no last minute flash of genius or intervention by a higher power to save them.
"I guess we'd better do it," Jack said, and pressed the blue button.
***
V
Sam smoothed her jacket down nervously again and stared around the room. It was small and shabby with tangles of wires and a panel of switches in the corner manned by a harassed sound technician. She had always thought that backstage would be a little more impressive.
The crowd gathered outside could be heard even through the thick walls. They seemed willing to cheer anything today and President Hayes was playing on that for all he was worth. Sam gulped and tried to shut out the image of a sea of faces, all staring at her.
A couple of feet away General O'Neill and Daniel were straightening each other's ties and the sound technician could not seem to decide whether to smirk or goggle. The general said something under his breath, Daniel rolled his eyes and they moved apart. Sam had always decided that asking questions was not worth it; they would both look confused and then surprised when they realised what they had done. It was just something that they did, like the near-telepathic moments and inane arguments. It was part of what made them such a good team.
Teal'c stood near the door with a look of deep concentration on his face, probably listening to Hayes's speech. The Jaffa had developed an odd sort of admiration for the president, giving him the same respect that he'd always shown for General Hammond and Bra'tac. In return, Hayes seemed to get a kick out of Teal'c's solemn façade and odd sense of humour; he respected the Jaffa's opinions even if he did have to overrule him occasionally.
Maybe that was what had made them successful in the face of so much opposition. Kinsey and his cronies had never learnt the value of considering any opinion other than their own; everyone involved with the Stargate project had learnt - sometimes unwillingly, it had to be admitted - to listen to a variety of ideas and opinions before making a decision.
Or maybe they had just been lucky.
Certainly some had been luckier than others. Janet should have been with them this afternoon; if Hayes wanted to honour people who had saved the world a few times, Janet would have deserved her place. Janet's absence no longer hurt as much as it had, but Sam thought that the dull ache and the sense of something important missing would never leave any of them. Maybe she could get the president to give Janet some kind of posthumous honour so that the world could be told what she had done. Sam resolved to ask General O'Neill about it after the reception.
Thinking about the reception reminded Sam of the reason why she was standing backstage at a huge public rally and her stomach began churning nervously. President Hayes's promise that, in addition to the huge crowd outside, there would be millions of people watching him present SG-1 to the world on TV had not helped her nerves. Sam decided that possibly dying up on the Goa'uld ship she had been trying to bring down less than a week ago might not have been such a terrible fate. It had to be better than facing millions of people. Especially millions of people who thought she was some kind of hero.
"President Hayes will be calling for us shortly," Teal'c said.
Sam jumped, startled, and inwardly cursed Teal'c for his ability to move so stealthily.
"I'm not sure I can do this," Sam confessed. "I got stage fright recording a documentary that no one was ever going to see."
Teal'c kept his eyes on the door that led onto the stage. "I, too, am feeling . . . intimidated."
Sam sighed. "This could be a bad idea."
"President Hayes believes that our stories will give the public a positive image to focus on," Teal'c said.
"I know," Sam said, trying to sound more cheerful about it than she was, "and I agree with the idea . . . I just don't do well with cameras."
"Sam, we're going to be heroes," General O'Neill said, obviously catching part of the conversation.
"We're going to be public property," Sam said. "We're not going to have a minute to ourselves for a long time and every detail of our lives is going to be on the front page of all the newspapers."
"Maybe it won't be that bad," Daniel said uncertainly. "There are new worlds out there that nobody knew existed before today."
"Not to mention a whole bunch of enemies," the general added.
"I doubt anyone will be interested in us when the novelty wears off," Daniel continued.
Sam exchanged a glance with Teal'c. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, but she thought she detected a hint of worry in his eyes.
"We're going to be the public face of the Stargate program," Sam said. "Nobody is going to be allowed to forget about us."
There was a long silence as everyone contemplated that thought.
"You're on in thirty seconds," a flustered technician called.
"Too late to back out now," Jack said.
Sam swallowed and followed him to the door that led onto the stage.
*finis*