THE END OF BEGINNINGS

TWO

By the time the two men had cups in hand and left the sleepy mess hall, activity in the base was beginning to pick up.  A group of young airmen stopped walking and stood at attention as Jackson and Landry approached.  They snapped a sharp salute at their commanding officer.  He smiled at them, offering a salute in return as he passed the half dozen Air Force personnel.
"Are they old enough to be here," Daniel Jackson asked, glancing back at the young men and women.
"Look a bit young, do they?"
"Yeah.  A bit."
Landry chuckled.  "Because they are.  I guess you could call them interns.  They're part of the program Colonel Carter started at the Academy.  Every year about a dozen or so junior and senior cadets are selected to come work and study at the base."
"Oh.  Nice."
The general shrugged his shoulders.  "The Pentagon is hoping to use the program to groom new special-ops teams for off world operations."
The two men stopped at an elevator that opened as they arrived.  A group of airmen and scientists stepped off between the parting doors, the military personnel quickly saluting the general as they walked past.  A few of the scientists awake enough to notice, greeted the waiting pair.  The others shuffled along into the corridor with barely a blink of their half-closed eyes.  With the elevator empty, General Landry walked into the brightly lit box with Daniel close behind.
"Why does the Pentagon want to send black-ops teams off-world," asked Daniel as the elevator doors closed.
Landry slid a magnetic card through a reader on the control panel in front of him before he pressed a button for the desired level.  "Unfortunately, the galaxy is not as nice a neighborhood as we might like it to be."
"It's certainly better than it was."
"True.  At least in many respects.  But, the Lucian Alliance continues to be a threat.  A growing one, at that.  There's also a certain level of mistrust toward the new Jaffa coalition."
Daniel nodded his head, scrunching his face.  "I guess that's understandable given what happened during the Ori buildup.  But still, does that warrant spying or interfering with their progress?  Plus, I thought that was why Teal'c went to go join the council?"
"And why Woolsey and Vala were sent with him."
"Wait, really?  I thought Vala was supposed to go with Mitchell and Sheppard to the Celestis galaxy?"
"She was."  The elevator bounced to a stop before Landry continued.  "But it turned out the mother of a homicidal, all-powerful Ori overlord was not very welcome amongst the newly freed populations."
"Ahh," Daniel said.  The thick doors slid apart, revealing a corridor similar to the one they had left just moments before.  "Would she really be that much more welcome amongst the Jaffa?"
"No," the general said, unable to keep himself from smirking.  "Which makes it all the more entertaining.  But, Teal'c is finding a use for her."
"Hopefully they're not being too rough on her.  I mean, all things considered, she's still a person...with...some feelings."
The general smirked again as he led them down a corridor away from the elevator.  "I'm sure she's fine.  In the meantime, Dr. Jackson, you have to get ready to go.  The Atlantis supply team leaves in two hours."
Command Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman was standing at the door to the general's office when the two came around the next corner in the long, quiet corridor.  He was standing at attention, though he was unable to salute his commanding officer.  His left arm was holding a stack of thick folders against his chest while his right hand was gripping a wide, heavy-looking thermos.  He nodded as General Landry and Dr. Jackson approached.  The sterile light from the fluorescent fixture above him reflected off his glasses as he moved his head.
"Good morning, Walter," General Landry said pleasantly as he closed the remaining steps between himself and his top aide.  "Oh, good.  Paperwork already, I see."
"Yes...sir.  Good morning, sir," said Walter.  He shifted his eyes, glancing at Daniel Jackson.  "Good morning, Dr. Jackson.  It's good to see you back on base."
"Morning, Walter.  Thanks," Daniel replied politely.  "Are those new stripes?"
Walter looked down toward the shoulder of his uniform shirt.  "Oh, yes, sir.  Command Chief Master Sergeant Walter Harriman, at your service, sir."  Walter snapped his heels together then saluted-or at least tried to salute.  It was a moment of proud silliness that Walter had let himself get caught up in.  It resulted in two thick folders slipping free of his grip and slapping the linoleum floor while the heavy thermos nearly tumbled out of his grip...after he almost hit his own face with it.
General Landry smirked and rolled his eyes.  "Sergeant Harriman was recently made head of command operations here."
"Oh.  Congratulations, Walter."
Sergeant Harriman nodded his head bashfully.  "Thank you, sir," he said as he picked up the dropped folders.  "I'm still getting used to not being able to spend as much time in the control room as I used to."
"Well, promotions will do that sometimes, I guess," said Daniel.
"Yes, sir."
"Walter," asked General Landry, watching the sergeant struggle to keep from dropping the folders and thermos.
"Yes, sir?"
"What's in the thermos?"
"It's for you, sir.  From Dr. Lam.  She said it's a new one for you to try and that you might like this one better but I was still to make sure you finished it."
General Landry rolled his eyes.  "Yeah, yeah," he said with a huff, grabbing the thermos from Walter as he opened the door to his office.  "These damn smoothies.  Apparently I'm not capable of determining what's best for my own body.  I can oversee a base housing an alien artifact with the power to open up the very cosmos itself.  But my daughter believes I'm not a big boy when it comes to eating the right amount of fruits and vegetables."
Daniel Jackson smiled as he walked behind the general into the warm office.  It was a rectangular room of cream colored walls, a dark-stained wood desk and matching book cases, and chairs that squeaked the tiniest sound when any significant pressure was applied to their seats.  It was a familiar place to the worlds famous archeologist.  It belonged to Hank Landry now.  Before him, the dark, leather, rolling chair behind the heavy, executive desk had belonged to Jack O'Neill himself.  Though, as far as Jackson could remember, Jack never enjoyed sitting behind that desk for more than five seconds.  Before O'Neill, the office was in the hands of the esteemed General George S. Hammond.
"Was there anything else, Walter," General Landry asked, his hands on his hips.
"Yes, sir," Sergeant Harriman said hurriedly, finally stepping into the office.  He loosened his hold on the folders he'd been keeping braced against himself.  "These are the new recommendations from the IOA Budget and Operations Committees."
"These should be exciting reads," Landry said, rolling his eyes again.
"Maybe I should let you get to it then, General," Daniel said.
"Not interested in joining in on the fun of committee reports?"
"Ooh, it's tempting for sure.  But, uhh, like you said, General, two hours before the team leaves for Atlantis.  So..."
Sergeant Harriman suddenly looked up at Daniel.  "Oh, Dr. Jackson, Colonel Carter called a little while ago.  She said not to wake you up but to call her before you go back to Atlantis."
"Is everything  alright?  Is it General O'Neill?"
Sergeant Harriman shrugged his shoulders.  "I have no idea, sir.  It didn't sound urgent.  But, I'm not really sure."
"Go ahead, Jackson.  We'll see you in two hours," Landry said, unscrewing the lid on the tall thermos.  He sniffed at the contents inside, balking at the ripe scent of whatever it was his daughter had blended together.  He spotted the sergeant watching him and sighed.