Jack wasn’t quite sure when they had crossed that magical line with the Guinness. The buzz of warmth and relaxation replaced stress and anxiety with a mellowed inebriation somewhere beyond the memory of that last mission. It felt good after a tough assignment.
“So, you were both in Desert Storm? You and Sam?”
“And what dark closet of your memory did you pull that outta, Daniel?” Jack felt his hackles rising. ‘Gee, why did the kid feel obligated to dredge up old, not so pleasant memories? Especially when I was just starting to feel good.’
Jack knew that beer wasn’t the Space Monkey’s drink of choice but Daniel tolerated it for Jack’s sake. It certainly hadn’t impaired his uncanny way of interjecting pointless facts about remembering Jack’s four months imprisonment in an Iraqi prison. Could this line of questioning be an evil plot to get attention? After all, he and Sam had been rehashing their latest escapade as though Daniel were in another galaxy.
“Oh, I don’t know.” Daniel shrugged. He took another swig from his bottle and continued, “Did you have a sobriquet?”
“Whaddaya mean, sober? Of course, we had to be sober!” Jack suddenly felt irritated at Daniel’s persistent interruptions. He raised his voice another decibel to prove it, “Damn it, Daniel! You think they’re gonna let you near one of those billion dollar birds, let alone FLY one, drunk? Hell, too much aftershave could ground you!”
“No, Sir, that’s not what he meant!” Sam jumped to Daniel’s defense, waving Jack into silence. The look on her face was priceless. It rivaled the cat that ate the canary.
Obviously, the Irish brew hadn’t deteriorated her mentally. But then, that was Carter, always sharp as tack. Always ready to rise to the occasion.
“Okay, Smarty Pants, translate it for me, would ya? I don’t exactly speak the twenty three languages the archeological wonder boy does!” Jack sassed back.
“A sobriquet is a nickname, for example, a pilot’s callsign,” She flashed one of those hundred watt smiles in his direction, “Like,” She paused as if reaching for the right example, “Greywolf, you know, instead of O’Neill, Sir.” Then she winked.
There was a pregnant pause as he allowed her words to sink into his foggy brain.
“Oh!” He replied still a bit bewildered then tilted his head and squinted at Daniel.
“Oy?” Jack stammered, twisting his head back around to give Sam a stunned look. He squirmed in his chair. He didn’t know whether to be shocked or pleased. Was Carter a good guesser or did she really know that Greywolf was his callsign? Whatever the case, he determined to find out and then up the ante. Two can play this game. This was gonna be fun.
“Well, that’s certainly appropriate.” Daniel mumbled. He was fading fast. The kid just never could handle much alcohol. Hell, he didn’t even like wine coolers. Jack watched as Daniel’s eyes slowly blinked closed and then opened again. He was making a valiant effort to stay in touch with what was happening in the room but was losing the battle.
“Sam?” He managed to get out.
“Yes, Daniel?” She answered but Sam’s sparkling confident gaze never left the Colonel.
“What was yours?” he slurred.
Jack’s eyes were glued to Sam but a quick glance at Daniel on the couch confirmed Danny Boy was down for the count.
“Coffee?” Jack blurted before she could answer.
The victory smile faded from Sam’s face and was replaced with a ‘deer in the headlights’ look. ‘That’s right, Jack, ole boy, keep the major guessing.’
“Sir?”
“I mean, could I fix you some coffee? I wouldn’t want you attempting to navigate the streets of Colorado Springs later without a bit of caffeine to clear that razor sharp brain of yours.” He retorted with a wry chuckle.
“Sure. Guess I’ll have to drive home sometime tonight.” She looked over at Daniel sleeping, and then sighed, “I may have to be someone’s designated driver too.”
“Throw the afghan over him. He can stay there all night if it comes to that. Wouldn’t be the first time.” He rose from his chair and moved in the direction of the kitchen.
He hesitated to watch as Sam pulled the light cover off the back of the couch. Daniel stirred as she maneuvered him into a more comfortable position. He was mumbling something about her and sober. Fortunately, it was mostly unintelligible. She patted him affectionately.
He motioned with his thumb. “I’ll be in the kitchen. You want the usual?”
“Sure,” she called after him.
“Get some rest, Daniel.” Jack heard her tell the snoring lump on his couch as he strolled back to the living room with two steaming mugs.
“Out here.” He motioned with his head. Handing one mug to Sam, he moved ahead to open the door to the deck off his living room.
“Daniel will be fine. We’ll let him sleep it off a bit then we can pour some coffee down him. I kinda thought if we batted around the base gossip out here we wouldn’t disturb him.” Jack looked over to Daniel to make sure he was truly out of it. He was.
“I have a feeling I know what the topic will be.” She smiled up at him.
“Nothing much gets by you, does it, Carter?” He huffed as she passed.
He pulled two of the deck chairs together and motioned her to sit. The sky was clear and dotted with stars.
“No, Sir.” She was looking at him through her lashes as she sipped the hot drink although it appeared she was trying her best not to smile.
“It’s nice out here tonight, don’cha think?” He slouched in his chair and casually crossed his legs, his ankle balanced on the opposite knee.
“So nice it makes me jealous.” He heard her breathe in deeply and release it slowly.
“Jealous?” Disbelief evidenced in his reply. ‘There’s a first. She’s jealous of me.’
“Yeah, if I had a deck like this, I’d be out here all the time.” She stopped to look up at the expanse of the night sky and smiled. “Well, as long as the weather would allow me anyway. It’s so peaceful, quiet, and beautiful.”
He heard her release a soft sigh. Honesty. There was honesty in the tone of her comment and maybe even a bit of nostalgia.
“So, what leads you to believe that Greywolf was my so_bree_kay?” he enunciated each syllable for her benefit.
She snickered. “I wondered how long it would take for you to ask me that.”
“Obviously, not long enough. Just too damn predictable. Gotta work on that.” Jack released a laugh then, regaining his focus, said, “So? Enlighten me, Carter and quit changing the subject!”
“Oh, word got around.” She made no move to look at him and continued to sip the hot liquid.
“Care to elaborate, Major?”
He could tell she was going to make him pull it out of her. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw that self-satisfied look on her face, a look that gave the challenge, ‘make me tell you, Jack’.
“Well, the guys in our squadron got wind of a real daredevil pilot who made some rather unorthodox runs,” she started, quickly glancing at his face.
He maintained his blank stare at her. ‘Never let ‘em see you sweat, Jack.’
“It seems this guy had a reputation for those kinds of maverick stunts. Funny, it appeared to work for him, too. A rebel with a cause … or, possibly, a death wish.”
“Oh really?” he interjected, continuing to force his face into that deadpan expression.
“The crazy part is that he got away with it.” She stifled a laugh. “It wasn’t until later on, listening to the base chatter, I caught his call sign: Greywolf. Quite the predator. Drove his CO prematurely gray. Sound familiar at all?” She was still smiling.
“So, basically what you’re saying is that it was just an educated guess?”
“You could say that, I suppose.” She was still smiling and turned to face him. “All those little snippets of information just sorta fell into place.”
“Aha! Well, Major, there were lots of ‘wolves’ in Iraq,” he said with a lecherous gleam in his eye and a smile. He was determined not to validate her guess. It was just too much fun to watch her squirm. He was still a maverick with an unorthodox style.
They had finished their coffee and sat silently observing the night sky.
“Why don’t we head up to the roof? This weather’s perfect for looking at the stars. Ya know, goin’ to ‘em through the gate has never quite replaced the awe of gazing at them through the telescope.” He stopped to look with boyish wonder at the night’s canopy. “It’s amazing to see them exactly where they ought to be each night. Just confirms my belief in the Creator. No guessing where Orion’s belt will be. A nice sense of order, don’cha think?”
‘Crap! Am I running off at the mouth, or what? Shut up, Jack!’
“Sir, while it’s true they don’t really move, the earth does. So every month you can find a familiar star in a somewhat different part of the night sky depending upon which hemisphere you’re in. And Orion’s belt will be on Orion.” She smiled shyly at him.
“I knew that.” He gave her that scrunched-up, disappointed look that said ‘Duh. You think I was born yesterday, Carter?’ He stood and moved toward the house.
She stepped inside while Jack held the door for her, her clean scent wafting past him. “Let me check on Daniel on the way up. Poor kid, it never takes much to put him under the table, does it?”
“Yeah well, he was never in the military either.” he whispered. “Amazingly, even college didn’t corrupt him. Musta spent all his free time with his nose in a book reading, studying, and cataloging artifacts. Hell, for all I know he was writing his memoirs at the tender age of thirty. Talk about bored outta your skull!” He rolled his eyes in her direction.
“Maybe boring to you, but you have to admit what he knows has been helpful to us.” She made sure he was covered and looked back at Jack.
“He’s fine, Carter. C’mon and leave him alone.” He motioned toward the other side of the house.
“Yes, Sir.” She moved to follow him.
From this deck, there was an unobscured view of the heavens. Jack brought another chair over to set by the telescope. “Have a seat. We should have a good view of Venus tonight.”
She moved confidently toward the extra chair.
“No, you sit here.” He indicated the chair behind the telescope and with a smirk added, “After all, I heard you are the Star Seeker of the team.”
He watched with glee as she whipped her head around, staring at him with wide surprised eyes. He heard her breath catch in her throat and then a barely audible response.
“How…?” The look on her face was priceless.
He shoots. He scores!
Sweet!