A/N We don't own any of the franchises referenced in this story. We are just fans.
Chapter 5
As Douglas Fargo replayed in his mind the events of the tour, he was absolutely thrilled. O'Neill had said that they wanted him to help with the Altair built Astraeus Class ships. He was concerned, however, because as much as they said they wanted Holly Marten on the team, they hadn't asked for her specifically. She might not want to give up her job at Colson Industries.
His fears were somewhat justified. Holly was very hesitant to leave Colson, as she was one of the senior researchers. Fargo almost changed his mind about working at Altair, but Colson saw the hesitation, and decided to give him a bit of an incentive.
Holly and Fargo were sitting in Colson's office. It was strange to be sitting there without Colson in the room, but his secretary had hurriedly shown them in when they arrived for the nine o'clock meeting. It was now a quarter past, and Colson still had not arrived. Holly was concerned. "What if he doesn't like my work? I haven't been here very long. Maybe he's going to fire me. Maybe…."
Fargo was spared from answering when the door to the office opened, and Colson strode in. He sat down and said, "Good morning. Sorry for being late."
"That's ok, Mr. Colson. Whatever the problem is, I'm sure we can fix…" she stopped as he waved her off.
"You're not in trouble, Holly. In fact, your work has been exemplary. So much so, that I'm placing you and Doug on a special project."
"Special project?" Fargo asked. "But sir, I gave my notice. As a matter of fact, you were there when General O'Neill asked me to help out at the Altair site. I won't be here after tomorrow, Sir."
"I realize that, Dr. Fargo," Colson said. "And I know that they want Dr. Marten there as well. Far more than they let on, as a matter of fact. I spoke with General Carter, after she said they would love to have her. She told me that 'love to have her' was an understatement."
"Oh!" was all Holly could say.
"The fact of the matter is that the GD-305 ships will have the Colson Industries name on their engines. That means there needs to be some Colson Industries people there, when they're being built. Now, I've told General Carter that you two will remain on my payroll, but that you will be subject to the chain of command at Global Dynamics. My understanding is that the Earth Stargate will be placed in Section 5 of GD. Therefore, officially this will be a Section 5 project. It will be under Dr. Donovan's purview, but on Altair, General Carter is in charge. Dr. Donovan, himself will be following her orders while on Altair." He looked at Fargo closely for a few moments.
"Doug," he said. "I realize that this puts you considerably down the totem pole at the facility where you used to be in charge. Will you be okay with that?"
"Sir, I'm fine with it," he said quickly. "I'm going to be working on another planet. How many people can say that?"
"Wonderful! Now, what do you say, Dr. Marten?" He asked Holly.
"I don't know what to say, Mr. Colson. Except, thank you! I wanted to go, but I kept thinking that my job was too important to lose. Now, I don't have to lose it!"
Colson smiled, and shook both of their hands. "You are now freed from your current projects, and are to report to Global Dynamics in a week's time. As an added bonus, you will both be receiving substantial pay increases."
It was one of the rare instances where Dr. Holly Marten was speechless.
At Global Dynamics...
It was Samantha Carter's first day, with the new Stargate arrangement. Since she was working incognito, through GD, she had chosen to come into GD in civilian attire, so was wearing a light blue skirt and blazer over a white blouse.
Before she went to Altair, she would be meeting with Henry who, along with Zane, was going to be accompanying her today. Outside, Henry's office, she stopped at the desk of Larry Haberman, Henry's administrative assistant. He had been Douglas Fargo's assistant while he was the CEO of GD, and it had been a smooth transition to simply let him retain the job with Henry.
"Good morning. Can I help you?" Larry said when she arrived.
"I'm waiting to speak to Dr. Deacon," she told him.
"I'm sorry," Larry said, officiously. "Dr. Deacon has scheduled the day out of his office today. I'm afraid he won't be able to meet with you."
"Yes," Sam told him. "I'm going with him. I'm General Samantha Carter." She fingered her name badge at him, and his eyes almost popped out of his head.
Larry seemed torn between running, fainting, screaming, and saluting as he realized he had done the wrong thing. He finally settled on saying, "Yes, Ma'am" in a trembling, high pitched voice.
Again, he didn't seem to know what to do. This guy is too much, Sam thought. I'm surprised Henry keeps him on. To Larry, she said, "You want to let Dr. Deacon know I'm here?"
Suddenly, Larry was a flurry of movement, and he squeaked "Yes… Right… I will, Ma'am."
He disappeared for a moment, then appeared. "He's in his office, Ma'am." He visibly gulped, then squeaked, "You can go right in."
"Thank you," Sam said much more graciously than she felt.
She entered Henry's office, and to her surprise, found her brother sitting there, talking with Henry.
"Wow!" Jack exclaimed when he saw her. "You look great, Sis."
"Thanks, Jack. No offense, but what are you doing here?" she asked him.
"I'm going with you today. Research for disclosure. Jack, Daniel, and I have been talking with the President about it. Since we're likely to be in a war with the Ori within a few years, it might be the perfect time to let the world's population know about the Stargate Program. That would give us access to all of Earth's manpower. I'm researching our capabilities, so I need to talk to you two and Zane regarding the 305s."
She nodded at that and said, "I see." She held his gaze for a bit, and he heard in his mind, And how do you feel about Disclosure, personally, Jack?
The thought came back. No comment.
Her eyebrows went up for a moment, then she took the seat that Henry had offered when she first came into the room.
Henry said to her, "Good morning. I guess under the circumstances, I should call you, Dr. Carter."
"That's liable to get confusing," Jack said, wryly.
"Well," Sam commented. "At least Zoe's not here right now."
"That's true," Henry laughed. "So, how does it feel to be a 'civilian' again, General?"
She laughed. "It's pretty interesting. Of course, I'm not really a civilian, but as far as most people here at GD are concerned, I'm no longer in uniform. Once Zane gets here, I'll go over this again, but I'll fill you in. While we're here, I'll be under you and Zane in the chain of command. Once we get to Altair, I will ultimately be the one responsible, but I plan on turning you and Zane loose, as long as you keep me in the loop. This is going to be one of the most mixed up operations I've ever worked in, because the ships will be under the label of Colson Aerospace. Therefore, once Holly Marten gets here, she will be the head of that division of Global. So while the Altair shipyards are mine, Holly will be in charge of that division at Colson. Right now, the military doesn't have any other labels going on any ships being built at Altair, so Holly and I will work somewhat jointly. If we were to branch out, I would be in charge of the shipyards, and Holly will have the GD / Colson part of it. Eventually, my job, and hers, may very well become more administrative, but for now, I'm hoping to get my hands just as dirty as you do, Henry."
Jack snickered at her statement, and Henry raised his eyebrows. Sam looked at her attire, and started laughing too. "I guess dressed like this, I'd better not get them too dirty, or I'll be single handedly financing the local cleaners."
At that moment, Zane was ushered in by Larry. The three got up and headed for the elevator. Sam explained the chain of command at the Altair site as they descended to level five.
Two days later...
Holly and Fargo finally arrived back at Eureka. They had a choice of taking Fargo's old house, which was adjoining Seth Osbourne's property, or taking rooms in Atlantis. Given that Osbourne still liked playing music at high volume in the middle of the night, they chose to live in Atlantis. However, because of the privatization of Eureka, Fargo still retained ownership of his house.
Their quarters were nice, in the section reserved for city administrators and higher officials. Those in the Stargate team who went offworld regularly, resided there as well. This was not simply because of the convenience and poshness of an 'Atlantis Tower Address', but because it reduced the talk that might be caused by a sudden influx of military faces in Eureka.
They finished unpacking in the afternoon and decided to take a walk. They meandered through the city, which was slowly blossoming with ideas for businesses. There was a general wistfulness about the place. People were talking about the possibilities of Disclosure, and what it might mean for Atlantis. On the west pier, they found a familiar face. Vincent was having lunch with Mr. Woolsey, the mayor.
"Vincent! What are you doing here?" Fargo asked.
"Mr. Woolsey and I have been discussing using Virtual Vincent to bring a touch of class to the Mess Hall. Oh, I hate that term," Vince said, shuddering.
Woolsey nodded, "Yes, we're hoping that Disclosure occurs, and if it does, we'll be able to have a high class dining area here. However, if it doesn't, Virtual Vincent can still make things more upscale."
In GD...
Fargo and Holly stepped into Henry's office at Global Dynamics. He ushered them into plush chairs, across from him, and they sat. Henry looked appraisingly at both of them. After a long moment, he said, "I've been in touch with Alec Colson. It seems that Holly will continue working for the Colson part of Global. For you, Doug, we have another idea, if you find it agreeable."
"What's that," Fargo asked, somewhat taken aback. As far as he knew, he was going to continue working for Colson, and now finding that subject to change, had him a bit on edge.
"It seems that the owners have talked, and they find this solution equitable." He paused for a moment, to phrase this the right way, then went on. "If we were to go with the chain of command intact, here at GD, you would simply be a worker on the Altair project, Doug."
"That's fine," Fargo said. "I don't mind that at all."
"I know you don't," Henry agreed. "And that maturity is one of the reasons the owners are willing to do this. You, Doug, are to be made the deputy director of Global Dynamics." He paused to let his words sink in. "If you are willing, that is."
Suddenly, Fargo's reserve disappeared, and his demeaner went through shock, then settled around pleased surprise. "Really?" he burst out. "Deputy director? That's cool!"
Holly gave him a huge hug. "Dougie! I'm so proud of you!"
Henry was smiling. "I take it that's a yes then?"
Fargo almost gasped, "Of course!"
Henry laughed, then went on. "Global Dynamics did very well under your leadership, Doug. No one's going to deny that." He stood up and held out his hand to Fargo, then to Holly. "Welcome back, both of you."
The Nathan Stark...
Fargo was aboard the Nathan Stark working on the engines. They had launched the ship three days ago, and had done a power up of her engines. That was a disaster. The control systems for the gravity drive worked fine and the drive itself worked, but not effectively enough. An engine that took forty-five minutes to achieve a speed of ten kilometers per hour, just wasn't what they were looking for. Fargo had disassembled the engines and gone through them with a fine toothed comb. Now, the shakedown cruise was supposed to be happening in four days, but if the engine didn't work, well then, what was the point?
Colonel John Sheppard walked into the engine room as Fargo was letting off a string of what sounded like foul language. He appeared to be only a pair of legs sticking out from under a control console. Sheppard stopped and listened. The words sounded remarkably like something Hermiod would say, interspersed with 'Frak' and 'Felgercarb'.
Sheppard chuckled, and knealt down so he could see inside the console, where, presumably, the upper half of Fargo's body was. He waited for the string of 'profanity' to stop, then addressed the scientist. "Dr. Fargo?"
There was a muffled thud, a description of a 'golmonging' wrench, then "What!?"
"Dr. Fargo, it's Colonel Sheppard."
"I'm kinda busy right now. Can you come back later?"
"So I gathered. I was just wanting a status update." He gritted his teeth, waiting for more of the pseudo profanity, but it didn't come. Instead, the legs started trying to get purchase on the floor, and the rest of Fargo became visible.
"It doesn't work yet. There's your status update," Fargo told him through gritted teeth. He then started working his body back into the console.
"Any idea how long?" Sheppard backed up a bit to get out of the reach of the mad scientist he fully expected to erupt from the hole.
Instead of erupting out, all movement in the legs, which were all that was visible again, ceased. Then a muffled, "Are you serious?" came weakly from somewhere under the console.
Sheppard started to stand up. "Maybe I should come back later," he said.
"Hang on a moment," Fargo said as the legs started pulling the rest of the body from the hole again.
This time, he stood up and faced the Colonel. "Sir, I know you're looking forward to taking command of this ship for the shakedown cruise. But you've got to understand. I don't know what is wrong with the drive. It should work, and a lot better than what we've seen. I suspect that there's a flaw in the software, but before I can say that definitely, I want to make absolutely sure that there isn't a physical problem. If these engines don't work flawlessly, two things can happen. One, we don't accelerate as fast as we should. Two…. well... Have you ever heard what happens inside a singularity?"
Sheppard didn't say anything as the doctor got back under the console. He didn't have to. The description was very… descriptive.
Despite Fargo's dire predictions, the drive was ready for testing on schedule. Sheppard was waiting in his command chair, ready to give the order. Finally, Fargo's voice came over the comm. "We're ready down here." Right before the comm went dead, Sheppard heard a very quiet, "I hope," from Fargo.
"Gravity drives on, one eighth power. Bearing, ahead."
Suddenly, there was the sensation of falling, and the ship accelerated forward. "Sorry about that, Bridge," came Fargo's voice. "Just need to tweak the counter force settings. Next time we change bearings, it shouldn't feel like we jumped off a building."
"Good," Sheppard said. It had been all he could do to keep his breakfast down on that initial acceleration. What was worse, the sensation had been that he was strapped in, facing straight down. It was like some demented amusement park ride. "Are you ready for maneuvering down there?" he asked. If Fargo couldn't counter the sensation of gravity, this shakedown cruise was about to put every roller coaster he'd ever ridden on as a child to shame. Every combat maneuver he'd ever made would seem like childs play.
Fargo made a final entry into a data file. Then, he typed, 'sudo service counterfd restart'. Hesitantly, he pressed the enter key, and the sensation of falling disappeared. He gave a huge sigh of relief. "We should be good to go, Colonel," he said through the comm.
Sheppard tightened his straps in the command chair, then ordered. "Right turn, five degrees." The stars on the screen shifted, but he felt nothing. "Left turn, fifteen degrees." The screen shifted the other way, but there was still no sensation. "All Stop. Reverse Course, one quarter speed." The screen showed a dizzying blur of stars as the ship swung around and accelerated, but for all the sensation Sheppard felt, he could have been sitting in Altair's rec room, watching 'Star Wars' with Teal'c.
Next, Sheppard ordered the ship on an eliptical course that would take them, eventually, to Earth. The hyperdrives were kicked in, and the ship shot forward.
At Earth...
Once the Nathan Stark arrived at Earth, Sheppard was called to Zane Donovan's office in Section Five of GD. When he arrived, he found Samantha Carter and Holly Marten waiting for him there.
"How did the cruise go?" Sam asked.
"It was great," Sheppard exclaimed. "Fargo worked out the problems with the gravity drive, and then the ship worked without a hitch. It flies as smooth as glass. Not even any sensation of movement. We blew away several of the Area 51 speed records."
"That sounds great," Sam said. "So how do you forsee the GD-305 ships working out in our arsenal?"
Sheppard thought for a couple of moments. "General. There's really no way of knowing until we get one into combat, but from what I've seen, I think it will be a great asset."
"Well, Colonel. You've just become our senior commander for the GD-305s, so I have another question for you. How would you like to test fly each of the ships? The Nathan Stark is yours, but you are now the expert on how these ships fly."
"So not the shakedown cruise on each, but the test flight? And after each test flight, I'm back in my own ship?" Sheppard wanted to make sure he understood what he was being asked.
"That's right," Sam said.
"On one condition, General" Sheppard said.
Sam was a bit taken aback by this. "And what would that be?" she asked.
"I want Fargo in the engine room each time." Sheppard looked at Holly, then back at Sam. "He's a top notch engineer, with some great instincts."
General Carter slowly nodded her head. "Alright, Colonel. We can do that." She looked at Holly, who was beaming. No one had to tell her how good an engineer her man was. She knew, but it was nice to hear it from other people.
Later, in Eureka...
A couple of weeks after the first of the GD-305s rolled off the line, Jackson and Vala's wedding date arrived. Jack O'Neill stood up for his friend, and Sam for Vala. In an interesting twist, O'Neill and Sam also tied the knot that day. O'Neill had acquired the marriage license, and simply not told anyone, including Sam, that he had bought it. He had had a ring made for her, and that morning, he told Jackson what he intended to do. Once Jackson and Vala got back to the entrance of the church after their ceremony, he would ask Sam to walk up to the minister with him. Eureka's minister, Reverend Harper, was asked to please wait, as there could very well be another ceremony.
She did, and there was.
Vala was absolutely thrilled that she got to stand up for Sam as well.
The only one even slightly upset was Jack Carter, as he had not been present. It was a small ceremony, just Daniel and Vala witnessing. However, if there was someone for his sister, he had to admit that Jack O'Neill was that someone. After the initial surprise, he welcomed his new brother-in-law with open arms.
Over time...
Henry, Zane, Fargo, and McKay had succeeded in building a working hyperdrive, based on the Asgard model, but completely Earth tech. As they were not restricted in their thinking by several millennia of stagnation of imagination, they were able to think outside the box where the Asgard weren't. The second GD-305, the Kim Anderson, was fitted with the prototype GD hyperdrive, and to Samantha O'Neill's surprise, Henry and Grace had been working on a powercore that used the same superheavy fuel as the Nathan Stark but with an entirely Earth tech base. It surpassed the Lantean core's power output by twelve and a half percent.
Zane predicted that the Earth Tech hyperdrive would have a greater speed than the Asgard drive as well. Hermiod, the Asgard who had worked on Daedalus, was working on the Altair computers, and saw Zane's predictions. He assured Zane that the hyperdrive would not achieve the fifteen percent increase in speed that was predicted. However, he said very little when it actually achieved seventeen percent on the shakedown cruise of the Kim Anderson. That seventeen percent allowed the remaining speed records set by the Area 51 ships to be blown out of the water.
Three more GD-305s were finished, each one with a name honoring a Eureka scientist who had paid the ultimate price for science. The Carl Carlson, the Pierre Fargo, and the Jimmy Perkins were all commissioned. They each performed admirably, adding to the legend that was quickly forming around the Global Dynamics built ships. Both Douglas Fargo and Eva Thorne were shocked but thrilled to see their loved ones honored by having a ship named after them. There were some at GD who argued that the Astraeus class ship was a warship and therefore should not be named after scientists, but Henry Deacon pointed out that the whole idea behind Eureka and Global Dynamics was the betterment of mankind. Something dedicated to saving mankind from extinction definitely fit into that category. Those who had argued were silenced by such logic.
In August of that year, the American Vice President had a fatal heart attack, and shortly afterward, the President, a friend of O'Neill, Jackson, and Jack Carter was in a meeting with the three, regarding Disclosure. At the end of the meeting, the President asked Daniel to speak to him privately after the other men left.
The door closed, and Daniel asked, "So what's up, Mark?" Mark Gilmor had been a friend for several years, even though his initial introduction to SG1 had been a less than stellar meeting. He had been a CIA operative who had been ordered to spy on O'Neill to see if he was cut out to be the head of Stargate Command.
Gilmor sat down at his desk, and looked appraisingly at Jackson. "Daniel," he finally said. "I've got a request for you."
Jackson nodded. It occurred to him that the president was being somewhat cagey. "You know, the last request that was made of me ended up getting me married."
"Not to worry, Daniel. I'm not proposing marriage to you. But I am proposing that you come on board as my Vice President."
"What?" Daniel said simply.
"I've got two more years of this term, and I'm able to run again. I really can't think of anyone better qualified in the situation in which we find ourselves. I need someone to complete at least this term with me, and I'd rather it be you."
Daniel was shaking his head. "I'd only be a good choice if you were planning on Disclosure. You haven't made that decision yet. In fact, from what you've said today, you seem to be leaning the other way. So I'm asking, why me?"
Gilmor nodded. "Yes, you'd be a very good choice if I were to decide on Disclosure, however, you are an equally good choice if I decide against it. In that case, the country would still have the same problems with the Ori looming on the horizon. The difference is that we wouldn't be facing those problems publicly. You have the knowledge that would help me lead in that case."
Jackson again shook his head. "No, Mark, I'm not. If you appoint me vice president, you will have to contend with the same people who thought I was a crackpot for my theories regarding ancient Egypt."
"Yes, we will, but think about it, Daniel. We will have to make Disclosure at some point. I'd rather you be on my team when that time comes. You know what is going on with the Stargate much more than I do. It's better for the country to have you as VP rather than some joker who doesn't have a clue."
"And if we don't make Disclosure before this term is up? Then your chances of being re-elected with me on the ticket with you are slim to none."
"That, my friend, depends on how well I do in the remaining two years, doesn't it?
Jackson slowly nodded. Then, he told the President. "Give me till the end of the week to make a decision, ok?"
Gilmor agreed, and Jackson stood and left the Oval Office. Outside, he found his two other friends waiting for him.
"What's up?" O'Neill asked.
"I'll tell you on the way back to Atlantis," Jackson said.
In Atlantis...
"I just don't think I want to be such a public person. Everyone will be watching our every move," Jackson said to Vala that night. They had been living in Atlantis for several months, and were standing on a balcony overlooking Eureka. The town was not visible from the lake itself, but Atlantis stood far enough out of the water that many of the buildings could be seen from it's higher towers. Especially at night, as it soon would be.
"You really think so? How much have you observed the vice president in the past few years, Daniel?"
"Well, I…. uh…. ok. I get your point."
Vala looked her husband in the eye and said. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you, Daniel. You know the president is leaning towards Disclosure. By being so close to him, you could probably convince him."
"It's not just the president, Vala. It's also Sheriff Carter. You know that anything regarding public Disclosure has to go through him as well. He's carefully remained neutral in all of our talks, arguing both sides. I'm not sure what he really thinks about it."
"How does Jack O'Neill feel?"
"He thinks we can't keep the secret much longer."
"Then I think Sheriff Carter will feel the same way."
Jackson eyed Vala, trying to figure out this revelation. "How do you figure?"
"General O'Neill and Sam are married." He nodded, wondering where this was going. "They usually feel the same way on this type of thing, right?" Again, he nodded. "Right now, it's a pretty hot topic among the people of GD and SGC."
"And you think that since they're twins, they'll feel the same way?"
"No, dear. I think that since they are able to communicate telepathically, they'll have 'discussed' such a hot topic."
Jackson's head suddenly snapped from facing the lights of Eureka to looking at his wife. "You know, you probably have something there." He thought for a moment. "But I wouldn't feel right about using my knowledge of their communication like that. When the Sheriff is ready to talk about it, he will."
Vala shook her head. "Daniel, does it really matter what you know about their telepathic communication? You know the secret can't be kept, just like General O'Neill knows it. So the president must be convinced before Disclosure is made accidently. It would be an embarrassment then, and that needs to be avoided. You can help convince him."
Daniel nodded. He agreed with her, but he wasn't sure he was going to like being so well known. However once disclosure came, he knew that he would be vindicated to his former colleagues. That would be gratifying.
They watched as the sun set, and the town moved into shadows, then darkness. It was quite pretty all lit up. When the night started to get cold, they went in.
The next morning, Jackson walked to the gateroom, stopped in to see Mr. Woolsey to tell him of his decision, then O'Neill personally flew Daniel to Washington DC in a jumper.
One week later, on the senate floor, Daniel Jackson was sworn in as Vice President of the United States. Those who had served with him in the Air Force, and at Global Dynamics were watching from the public seats in the balcony. After a long day, and many handshakes, he travelled back to Eureka to move himself and Vala to Washington DC.
It took little time to pack as he and Vala had decided to maintain their residence in Atlantis as well as one in Washington DC. They packed clothes, but aside from a few personal effects, there was little they needed to take with them.
Daniel and Vala climbed into the jumper and O'Neill took off. As they flew, everything was calm over the Earth. The Atlantis deep space sensors were at full power scanning the lower levels of hyperspace where Goa'uld hyperdrives worked. This had the side effect of limiting the effectiveness of the hyperspace sensors in the higher frequencies where Asgard and Alterran hyperdrives functioned, but it was considered to be a reasonable trade-off. This was a mistake that would be responsible for one of the greatest disasters in Earth history.