STARGATE SG-1: Do No Harm Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Have you ever crossed paths with a Colonel David Dixon?”
    He thought for a moment then shook his head. “No, sir. I don’t think so. Why?”
    “Colonel Dixon was Frank Cromwell’s second in command at the time of the black hole incident,” the general said at last. His blue eyes were steady and promised no compromises. “After Cromwell’s death he took over the Pentagon strike team.”
    Frank Cromwell
. A name that could punch a hole right through him, if he let it. A memory he’d buried fathoms deep, and for good.
Frank’s face as the wormhole swallowed him. Fear and disbelief and shocking, endless pain
…
    “No, sir,” he said. “I’ve never met Dixon.”
    And I don’t want to. Cromwell. The black hole. Iraq. Don’t you make me dig it all up again, George. I’m too old for that crap
.
    If Hammond could read his mind this time, as he read it so often, he didn’t show it. “Dixon was on emergency leave when Cromwell and his men were deployed here. There was no need for him, the rest of the team was available, so he wasn’t recalled. Not until Cromwell was killed and he had to assume the strike team’s leadership.”
    Yeah. You said. And this is my problem because…?
    “Jack,” said Hammond, “Doctor Fraiser is adamant it’ll be a minimum of six weeks before Riley, Adams and Keffler are fit to return to full field duty. In the meantime I’ve got to find acting replacements for them and plug the holes in their teams. I’ve got to permanently replace Jake Andrews, Natalie Larke and Manny Dominguez. There’s going to be a lot of robbing Peter to pay Paul around the SGC and the upshot is we lose team numbers overall.”
    “Yes, sir,” he said. He’d eaten too much moo shu pork. His guts were rebelling. “I know. But six weeks isn’t that long.”
    Hammond pulled a face. “Jack, in politics six weeks is a lifetime. The midterms are coming up and the President’s approval ratings are flat. He’s vulnerable to the kind of backroom manouverings that make Washington such a cesspool.”
    “Yeah, but what’s that got to do with us?”
    “More than you realize,” said Hammond. “More than I like. I’ve heard whispers there’s a push for a Stargate oversight committee, designed to monitor the risk and expenditure versus rewards of the program. Our recent losses are not going to look good on a balance sheet. Every person on this base represents a substantial investment of government money… and in the last few weeks we’ve seen a lot of money lost.”
    O’Neill watched his hands clench into fists. “Yeah. Because that’s what’s
really
important, here. The loss of government money. Screw the individuals, screw the fact Jake Andrews just got engaged and Natalie Larke was awarded her doctorate last month, screw — ”
    “
Jack
!”
    He let out a harsh breath. “Sorry, sir. I know. It’s the politicians, not you.”
    “And it’s the politicians I answer to,” Hammond said, his voice still sharp. “Which means sucking up my personal feelings and remembering this is a game for pragmatists. However distasteful we may find it, Colonel, the reality is we need consistently good results from the field in order to justify our expensive existence. And without strong SGC teams out there our quota of good results will be significantly decreased.”
    “Yes, sir. But you said there were only whispers of an oversight committee, so — ”
    “Whispers from a source that mean they’re the same as orders in triplicate,” said Hammond flatly. “It’s happening, Jack. It’s not just the financial angle, although that’s significant. The foothold scenario we experienced earlier this year — ”
    “A scenario we sorted out
on our own
,” he pointed out. “No need for any Pentagon strike teams.”
    “Only because Carter contacted Maybourne,” said Hammond, wryly. “And he was playing his own brand of politics. Trust me, Jack — if she’d called anyone else the strike team would’ve been