Chapter Two: Sneaks and Creeps
Page One3, July 1999 Saturday 9:45 AM As his eyes roved around the briefing room through the window in his office, George forced himself to relax.
The
lighting fixtures would be replaced after the briefing, they'd find whoever was causing these little acts of sabotage around the base, he'd find a way to save money, and all would be well again.
His call to the President wasn't due until after the briefing and he wasn't looking forward to explaining the unexpected rise in expenditures this month.
SG-13 were already seated around the long table, as was Teal'c.
Though obviously curious about the mission, the main topic going around the table, from what he could hear, was who each person
suspected of tampering with base operations - and, of course, the lighting in the main areas.
He really didn't need this right now.
Just waiting on SG-1, now.
He'd gotten word that
they'd arrived and were just having trouble navigating some of the repair stations on the way down.
This morning's storage room fires and then the missing elevator doors on level twenty seemed
to be just the beginning and he knew morale was going to start dropping rapidly if they didn't catch who was behind it all soon.
Maj. Gorowitz laughed, catching George's attention as the
officer opened the folder on the table in front of him.
He wondered what the man was thinking.
Gorowitz's skill as a leader had been largely untapped before taking emergency command of SG-2
on a rescue mission from hell.
Three people on SG-9 had died, but bodies and all, Gorowitz had managed to get the two teams home…ironically on schedule to boot.
Now, though, as the
commanding officer of SG-13, he was showing unexpected prowess off-world.
SG-13's ability to work with other teams while still keeping a very strong sense of their self as a whole was quite
popular.
He refused to credit the on base speculation that they were somehow jinxed.
Unlike others, he had the luxury of rereading mission reports and their track record overall was quite
impressive.
They'd only had five missions alone, but he supposed it was time to change that.
After this one.
George's thoughts were interrupted with the appearance of not only SG-1, but
Dr. Fraiser entering the briefing room.
They each took a seat, and his earlier excitement with the possibilities of this particular endeavor came back, full throttle, and refused to be
dampened.
With brisk, authoritative steps, he left his office, taking the head chair.
He motioned for everyone to stay seated and opened his own folder, only to be interrupted by the
continuing table chatter. "Did someone install a dimmer switch in here?" George sighed, inwardly, wondering why he hadn't expected that one from Jack.
"No, Colonel. Someone decided they preferred a more…romantic atmosphere for our briefings. When we catch the offender, you can have all the decorating chitchat with him, you'd like."
A snicker from Capt. Mason prompted him to bring their attention to the more important matter at hand before the
conversation escalated. "You can view the MALP footage before you leave, but I wanted to give you a very quick
overview of the mission. Be sure to read SG-3's reports in full before embarking." Glancing around the table as the
rest opened their folders, he spread out the image captures from his own. "This planet was an accidental
find and not on the Abydos Cartouche. When SG-3 fled the Goa'uld ambush on P39-462, they mis-dialed Cimmeria's Stargate address and landed on this world instead. They only took a moment to film
the area and retrieve some nearby artifacts. We sent back the MALP after they safely arrived home, but there were no EM signatures or radio emissions to indicate indigenous life." "Sir, how long was SG-3 on the planet?" George consulted the file to be sure before answering Capt. Frome....continue to page two...
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