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Title: A Little Research
For those who fought and for those who protested. "Sir?" Captain Samantha Carter said as she lightly knocked on her CO's open office door. "Hey Carter," Jack said looking up from his computer. "Changed your clothes eh?" Sam couldn't resist smiling. "Yes sir. Patchwork skirts are usually frowned upon in a military facility." "You wore it well Carter," Jack said with a chuckle. "So, why are you still here Captain?" "Couldn't resist doing a little solar flare research sir," Sam said mentally preparing herself for the Colonel's expected outburst. She wasn't disappointed. "Carter! For crying out loud, we've just proven that the damn things can send folks back AND forward in time, don't you think you could give it a bit of a rest?!" "You're probably right sir," Sam said trying unsuccessfully to hold back a yawn. Time travel was tiring. "Why are you still here Sir?" "Would you believe me if I said I was working on a mission report?" Jack asked hopefully. "No Sir, I'm afraid I wouldn't." Sam knew all too well how the Colonel tended to procrastinate on everyday paperwork. "Just doing a little research Captain." Jack said motioning for Sam to have a look. "On whom Sir?" Sam said walking around to where Jack was sitting. "Well first I was curious as to what became of Major Bob. You know, the cranky guy who interviewed us right after we arrived.. well here." "And?" Sam said more than a little curious herself. "Retired as a full Colonel in 1984 and died three years later of lung cancer." "Ouch." "Yep." Jack said nodding. "I would have warned him about the dangers of cigarette smoke, but I didn't want to mess with the space time continuum ya know." He had been watching too many Star Trek reruns with Teal'c. Not that he wished death by lung cancer on most people, but Major Robert Thorton had been a rather stereotypical military badass. "And what's this sir?" Sam said touching a computer image of the Vietnam Memorial." "I found Michael," he replied simply. Sam paled with the realization. Although the death might have happened 29 years ago, to her it seemed like she had last seen Michael only the day before. "Sir, how can you know for certain this Michael is the same Michael we befriended? He never gave us his last name." "I memorized his license plate." Leave it to the Colonel to remember something like that. "Actually it was pretty easy to figure it out from that alone, but it helped that there were pictures." Jack pressed a few keys and brought up a picture of a Vietnam field unit. In the corner of the photo showed a tan blonde man with short-cropped hair and rounded sunglasses. Although it was nothing like the shoulder-length curls SG-1 had seen, there was no mistaking the face; it was Michael. Sam viewed the photograph in silence wondering if she really had made the right call in reminding the Colonel of the importance of not revealing any knowledge from their future. Sam was certain that if the Colonel had been old enough, he too would have fought in that Vietnam conflict and wondered what he would have said to the young man. "I know we couldn't say anything Sam," Jack said after a long moment. "But it just seems so wrong that we couldn't prevent the death of the one guy who really saved our asses back there." "He made his own choice sir." The Colonel could only nod in acquiescence. "It's funny really," Jack remarked as he began powering down his computer. "Michael was so anti-establishment, and yet he still chose to fight and ultimately die for his country. In the end he was just as heroic as all of us." Sam nodded as the pair exited Jack's office. "Sir?" "Yes Captain?" "The next time we save the planet and find ourselves in Washington DC for an award ceremony.." Both looked at each other and smiled slightly at the notion. "Maybe we could visit the Vietnam War Memorial and pay our respects to Michael." Jack gave his 2IC a genuine smile. "I'd like that very much Captain." December 27, 2002 HomeEmail Me
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