Carter called the tower at the Air Force Academy and got clearance for them to land. General Hammond had already made arrangements for a car to meet them near the private hangers, which were used to store the non-military jets. These civilian jets were used to shuttle military and civilians attached to the Academy and or Cheyenne Mountain to locations where there was no military airbase nearby or when the matter required secrecy.
The only regret voiced during the trip back to Colorado, was from Teal’c who had been disappointed that they hadn’t been able to give Maybourne a more uncomfortable ride.
Daniel had used the time, they were in the air, going over what Jack had written down while he had the ancient database in his head and the partially burnt scrap of paper that they’d found in the fireplace at Jack’s cabin. Daniel flipped back and forth between the papers Jack had written on and the bits of Ancient knowledge he had been able to accumulate on his own, to see if he could figure out what any of it meant. However it was the intriguing code Jack had used on the burnt scrap of paper that captured the majority of Daniel’s attention. He was fairly certain that the letters were initials and at one point he had called Hammond to forward that information to him. He hoped that the General would be able to get someone to go over Jack’s military records to see if they could find any matches for those initials.
"Buckle up, Daniel, we’re about to land." Carter ordered through the cockpit door, when she saw he was still leaning over the table in front of him.
Sighing, Daniel put the papers away and fastened his seatbelt. When he saw Maybourne eyeing the papers, Daniel made a mental note to get them put into Hammond’s safe as soon as possible. The last thing they needed was Maybourne’s people getting hold of these pages and figuring out how to read the Ancient’s language. He was fairly certain there had to be at least one mole at the SGC. Somehow the NID had learned about Jack having the ancient database stuffed into his head, a fact that hadn’t even been reported to the Pentagon yet. The General was still sanitizing the information to make sure that Kinsey and those who worked with him didn’t learn more than they needed to.
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The MP’s at the base had been alerted to the fact that SG-1 was bringing in a prisoner and that they needed to get to General Hammond’s office as quickly as possible. As soon as they had cleared the main entrance for Cheyenne Mountain, they were met at the bank of elevators by an SF who had the keys to override the elevators normal functions and turn it into an express elevator straight to the floor the General’s office was on.
The Special Forces soldier wisely made no comment about Maybourne’s roughed up appearance nor the fact that he was bound. The soldier fought to conceal a smirk as SG-1 paraded Colonel Maybourne past him into the elevator. It was a well-known fact among those stationed at the SGC that whenever Colonel Maybourne appeared or was known to be in the area, trouble would soon follow on his heels usually aimed right at the SGC and SG-1 in particular. The soldier hoped that this time SG-1, even without Colonel O’Neill, had gotten to him before the trouble could start.
When the elevator doors opened, a pair of guards were there to meet them and escort them to General Hammond’s office.
"Enter," they heard Hammond’s muffled voice bark through the closed door after the senior SF soldier’s knocked on his office door.
"SG-1 is back with their prisoner sir."
"Thank you, Lt. Jennings," Hammond looked up from his desk. "Please escort Colonel Maybourne to the conference room and make sure to put a double guard on him."
"Yes, sir." Jennings and his companion took custody of the prisoner and left SG-1 standing in the open doorway.
"Come in," Hammond ordered, "and close the door behind you."
Once the door was closed, Hammond smiled at them. "You will be pleased to know that Colonel O’Neill turned up at the cabin a couple of hours after you left. It seems that the police tape around the cabin made him suspicious though and he took off before Major Ferretti had a chance to make contact. The Major believes that he will return as soon as he has made contact with Jamison, the man who takes care of his cabin to find out what happened there."
"Was he all right?" Carter asked.
"Major Ferretti reported he appeared to be ok and that he had a companion." Hammond told them.
"Companion, sir?" Carter queried. "Any idea who?"
"Afraid not." Hammond told them. "Major Ferretti thinks his companion was male but he wasn’t one hundred percent certain of that."
"So if Ferretti is right, the police tape really spooked Jack, or possibly his companion. And given he bugged out so fast, it is most likely his companion that Jack is trying to protect." Daniel concluded. "Which may mean must be someone he feels is in danger if they are found or he would’ve gone on in."
"Or possibly his companion is the one that requested they depart." Teal’c put in.
Before Hammond could comment, the phone rang.
Since it wasn’t the red phone, the General barked, "Hammond!" into it.
After listening for a moment, Hammond said, "Give me a moment to put you on speaker Major. SG-1 is here and they should hear this as well."
Hammond punched a couple of buttons on his phone and then set the hand set back in its cradle. "Okay, Major, would you repeat what you just told me."
The three remaining members of SG-1 heard Ferretti say, "I said the Colonel is back sir, along with a friend."
Hammond asked. "Does the Colonel appear to be a prisoner of his companion?"
"No, sir, the Colonel appears to be free and mobile," was Ferretti’s response
O’Neill’s teammates sighed in relief then Daniel asked. "Lou, is he ok?"
"Yeah Dr J. He looks good, tired but good."
"What can you tell us about his companion, Major?" Hammond returned to business now that they were assured of O’Neill’s apparent good health.
"Caucasian male. Early to mid teens. Dark hair possibly black." Ferretti provided a description of the person with O’Neill.
"Is the young man with the Colonel confined or injured in any way?" Hammond inquired, puzzled as to who the youngster might be. O’Neill had no close kin still living.
"No sir, the kid appears to be fine. They appear to be kidding around right now." Ferretti then added, "However the kid appears to be nervous about something… And so is the Colonel."
"Any indications about what they might be nervous about?" Hammond wondered what O’Neill had gotten himself into.
There was a pause before Ferretti said, "No sir, but I don't think the kid trusts the Colonel completely."
"What makes you say that, Major Ferretti?" Teal’c asked.
"From what I can see the kid is on edge and looks ready either to fight the Colonel or run." Came the response.
"All right Major. I want you to watch over the Colonel and his guest." Hammond ordered. "I’m sending SG-1 back to your location so we can try and get a handle on what’s going on. Call me if the situation changes."
"Yes sir," Ferretti hung up.
"SG-1, I want you to return to Colonel O’Neill’s cabin and bring him and his guest back to base." Hammond ordered.
"Bring an unknown civilian onto the base sir?" Carter questioned. "Are you sure that is a good idea?"
"We should be able to keep the young man from finding out things he shouldn’t." Hammond seemed certain. "Right now, the most important thing is to get Colonel O’Neill back here where he will be safe from the people Maybourne works for and I have a feeling that he may not come without this young man. I want Colonel O’Neill back here as soon as possible."
"Yes sir." Carter saluted him while Daniel and Teal’c nodded in understanding.