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Life in the Pentagon 1: Introductions
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
When I found out I was being reassigned from records to become aide
to the Pentagon's newest hotshot general, I have to say I
wasn't overly enthusiastic about the prospect. I've never been what
you might call the world's biggest fan of politics or paperwork and
the thought of dealing with both concurrently on a daily basis gives
me a headache. Unfortunately, after catching a stray bullet in the
leg on my first tour of duty, this kind of desk job was the best I
could have hoped for. Working in the records office does have its
advantages. For one thing, it allowed me to take a sneak peek at the
file of one Major General J. O'Neill before I was due to report to
him later that afternoon.
The General's file wasn't what I expected. I know that all generals
here must have been on active duty at some point in the distant past,
in theory anyway, but this file has so many blanks due to classified
missions that this guy must have been elite special forces in his
younger days at the very least. The general's last post is listed as
a classified `deep space radar telemetry' project at the Cheyenne
mountain complex at Colorado springs, where he was promoted to
Brigadier General only a year ago after having served under General
George Hammond as a colonel for several years. I've met Hammond in
the course of my duties several times and I have to say he strikes me
as one of the more scrupulous people around here. Turns out it was
Hammond who recommended O'Neill for his latest promotion, with the
full backing of the president. This guy must be something else -
Colonel to Major General in just over a year is practically unheard
of. Needless to say, my curiosity was piqued before I even met
O'Neill.
I'd been able to make a start on arranging my new office before
O'Neill arrived at the Pentagon and had found myself on the floor
picking up a pile of spilled paperclips when I caught sight of my
reflection in the military-shiny black shoes on the other side of my
desk. In my haste to stand, all thoughts of the desk above my head
left my brain until my skull came into contact with the solid wood.
Cursing under my breath I staggered to my feet and came face to face
with the real live `in the flesh' General Jack O'Neill.
`I catch you at a bad time? Maybe if I were to turn around and come
back in...' I cringed inwardly. /Way to make a first impression Laura!/
Fortunately the General (who, by the way, is waay more attractive in
real life than I would have imagined from his picture) seemed more
amused than irritated. Still, I didn't want to count my chickens...
Snapping to attention, I managed to roll off a noncommittal `Sir'
whilst raising my right arm to salute. That's a handy hint I learned
a long time ago - sometimes when you're not quite sure what the right
answer to a question is, a show of respect can negate the necessity
of actually ever needing to answer the question in the first place.
`At ease Captain.' O'Neill ordered almost at once. `If you're gonna
be working for me, I'm not gonna tolerate your saluting every time I
walk into the room.' /Ok then, not the power-trip type. So what's he
doing in the Pentagon?/ I wondered. I hadn't even been told what his
job title was. Fortunately, he seemed to realise that this was the
case and dumped a large stack of files onto my desk. `Familiarise
yourself with these. I'm going to check out my new office.' With that
he walked past me and into the inner office where he was to be based.
Within five minutes I was engrossed in tales of stargates, travel to
other planets and intergalactic wars with alien races, all of which
was so fantastic it had to be true - nobody would have even tried to
pull off a joke this ridiculous - boy was this going to be
interesting! My reverie was interrupted by the telephone on my desk,
which began to shrill loudly.
`Good Afternoon, General O'Neill's office, Captain Kline speaking,
may I help you?' I reeled off automatically. I was not, however,
quite expecting the answer.
`Good Afternoon, Captain. I have the president on the line for
General O'Neill.'
The president? Of the United States? On the phone now to talk to a
General who'd been in his office less than two hours? I tried to
regain my composure. `Of course, one moment please.' I buzzed through
to O'Neill's office. `Sir, the president is on the line for you.'
Far from being taken aback by this statement, O'Neill seemed to take
it all in his stride. `Sweet. Put him through.'
Of course I did as I was asked, and I know I should have put the
phone down straight away, but I just couldn't resist. You can learn a
lot about people from their phone conversations and this looked like
it might turn out to be one of the more interesting assignments of my
career.
`O'Neill.'
`Hi Jack.' /O'Neill was on first name terms with the President?/
`Mr President. How're ya doin?' /Not the formal greeting I'd expect
of an air force officer.../
`Just calling to make sure you hadn't changed your mind. How's the
new office?' /The president doesn't seem offended by the familiarity
though.../
`Pretty neat. You know I was thinking of maybe getting a plasma
screen TV for the far wall - you could come by and watch the game...
maybe a beer fridge...'
The president chuckled. `You keep thinking Jack. Listen. I want a
meeting with you and George - there are a few people I'd like
you to meet. How's nine tomorrow sound?'
`Sounds great Mr. President. I look forward to it.'
`You're a terrible liar Jack. You know I wouldn't be making you do
this if I didn't need you here. I'll see you in the morning.'
`Goodbye Sir.'
With that the president hung up and I was left contemplating the
enigma that was O'Neill. So, not a politician then, or even very keen
on politics. Definitely a sense of humour there unless the guy was
actually serious about the TV and beer... Something told me it'd be a
long while before I even begun to figure out what made him tick...
If you enjoyed this story, please send feedback to
Becky
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