Shelly wrote me something.
So I owe her something.
However, I owe this to Greg first. It's not done yet. It's just a start.
“We’ve got to figure this out. Duncan’s been missing for at least a week and a half and his wife is worried sick. All we’re getting from the government is the sideways shuffle and no-questions-no-answers bull. If we only knew more about his current project…” Peter Thornton rolled his eyes and began to dig around in his top desk drawer.
“I know, Pete. But when the Foundation was hired for that “top secret” program, all of Duncan’s files were classified. Last thing left open was some of his early theoretical work on the radioactive isotope containment systems, and even that was half blacked out.” MacGyver frowned, eyeballing his friend’s movements. “Watch it, Pete. You’re not allowed candy until after your dentist’s appointment.”
“I wasn’t after the candy.”
“Sure Pete.” MacGyver sighed and rubbed his forehead thoughtfully. “Is there any way you could get me to meet with this hush-hush organization?”
“Legitimate methods have got us nowhere, as I said.”
“Illegitimate?”
“A connection of mine was able to get me the names of a couple of the other scientists assigned to the project. One, a Dr. Felger, is currently working in a classified location outside of the states, but the other, a Dr. Carter, is still around.”
“Did you get me his address?”
“Of course I did. Her address and more.” Pete slid a manila folder across the desk. “I got you tickets for a redeye tonight.” MacGyver grabbed the folder and his coat, rising and heading for the door. Pete slipped a hard candy into his mouth when he thought his friend wasn’t looking.
“I saw that.”
“Saw what?”
“I’ll call you when I get in.”
--
Deep beneath a mountain in a conveniently non-descript forest, another meeting was taking place. A woman was speaking and indicating things on a large screen. “So you see, our last meeting showed that Dr. Duncan has made great progress in his backward engineering of the goa’uld’s containment shielding. Unfortunately, he dropped out of contact two weeks ago.”
A man with graying brown hair leaned forward and propped his chin on his hand, appearing supremely bored. “And why weren’t we briefed then?”
Sighing, the woman closed the pointer she had been using and turned the lights back on. “Because, sir, Duncan is somewhat of a hermit. We were informed by the Pheonix Foundation that he has a habit of being in the lab for days on end without speaking to anyone.”
“So we just stuck him in a corner and ignored him? Sounds like a good plan for a lot of our scientists.” The man mumbled.
A younger man wearing glasses leaned forward and looked down the table. “Well, apparently not, Jack. If he hadn’t been ignored, he might not have gone missing.”
A voice similar to distant thunder emerged from another at the table. “I concur. Do we yet have any leads?”
“I’m afraid not, Teal’c. We’ll be sending you all to his lab tomorrow, but for tonight I suggest you all get some rest.” General Hammond rose and sighed. “This man hasn’t been fully briefed on the source of the sample he is working with, so we’ll be going with only home-grown weapons. You will also be going to his temporary residence, so subtlety is key.” He gave a knowing glance to Jack and Teal’c. Jack shrugged innocently. Teal’c did not move.
“Good luck and God speed.”
“Yessir.”
--
Due to a screaming toddler with an ear infection, MacGyver emerged from his flight tousled and exhausted at four thirty AM. By five fifteen, he had comfortably parked himself and his rental a little ways down the street from the address Pete had given him. It was a peaceful neighborhood and he had to fight the urge to relax and nap a bit.
At seven, as his eyes began to seriously droop, Mac snapped to attention. Three men in a large black SUV had rolled to a stop and one in a leather jacket, about his height with short graying hair, hopped out and was walking toward the house. Years of bad experiences with men in black vehicles brought Mac to perfect alertness and he prepared to either start the car and give chase or hop out and try to be useful. He stopped when an attractive blonde woman dressed entirely in black jogged lightly from the front door and nodded at the man before joining him in the SUV. Shrugging, Mac waited for them to pull away before start the car to follow.
Forty-five minutes later, the black SUV parked outside a nondescript and all four team members got out. After a quick powwow, the first man and a large black man with a knit cap made their way into the building. Dr. Carter and the third man, younger than the first and wearing glasses, strode off toward another building, just as nondescript but with fewer windows and larger doors. In an instant, Mac sized up his chances and reluctantly chose to follow Leather and Cap into the apartment building.
Pulling his collar up around his neck and trying to act casual, he hopped out of his car and strolled up the front steps. Inside, the three of them together boarded a shifty-looking elevator. Mac feigned a reach for the buttons but pulled back to allow Leather to press the four. He smiled. “That’s me too,” he assured.
With an unpleasant lurch, the elevator began to grind its way upwards. The large black man, Cap, stared without movement or any sign of interest in the added passenger. Leather, however, did a quick peripheral scan of MacGyver, but said nothing. Running a hand through his shaggy hair, MacGyver shifted weight and eyeballed his company before sniffing aimlessly.
“So,” he began, “you two from around here? Haven’t seen you before.”
“No.” replied the big man. He raised an eyebrow and turned away, indicating a complete disinterest in friendly chitchat.
Leather was quick to step in. “What he means is that we’re just visiting a friend of ours. You live here?”
“Nope. Just visiting, too. Name’s MacGyver.”
“Jack.” Jack took the proffered hand, shaking it heartily. “He’s Murry.”
“Awesome.” The two men, in what seemed a mirrored move, looked each other up and down before facing the door again. In a somewhat more violent lurch, the elevator stopped and, protesting, the doors slid open. Mac nodded and strolled down the hall, thankful that there was a turn in the corridor. “Nice meeting you.” He called, disappearing around it.
“Likewise.” Jack leaned back to peer a little further down the hall before indicating the door to 413. “Open it. With subtlety.”
Murry turned the knob. The door did not budge. He glanced about and then turned the knob and encouraged the door in with a hefty thump from his shoulder. The door budged. The room inside, though Spartan in décor and affects, had been ransacked. “It would seem something unpleasant happened here, O’neill.”
“Either that or the man lives like a frat boy. What’s that smell?” Jack discovered a putrid bowl of cheerios on a counter. Making a face, he fiddled with a couple of papers and poked around in the kitchen area. He then walked about ten paces into the bedroom area. “It seems all this went down a while back.”
“Indeed.”
“Probably when he first disappeared, I bet.”
“Perhaps we should rejoin-”
The sound of a scuffle made the men freeze. Jack pulled out a handgun and crept to the entrance way to check it out, but stopped when MacGyver was shoved into the room. The man stumbled and regained his balance, dusting himself off and turning to face Dr. Carter and the last team member.
“That was unexpected.”
“Sam, Jack-put the guns away. I think we’ve just had a bit of a misunderstanding.”
“Oh-ho-ho, yeah. I’d say it’s been a misunderstanding.” Macgyver ruefully rubbed at his wrist that had been caught and twisted behind his back. “You see, I’m just looking for Duncan. I work with him.” He stared uncertainly down the barrel of Jack’s gun, still pointed at his face. Carter still held hers at the ready, but lowered.
“Who are you?” Jack demanded.
“Macgyver.”
Daniel stepped in and pushed the guns to the ground. “He’s all right, Jack-I remember reading something about him in Duncan’s file. They did some work together a while back. Macgyver is still with the foundation.”
“Even better. A civilian.”
Macgyver and Daniel both straightened at the insult in Jack’s tone. Daniel rolled his eyes in frustration while Macgyver made a face. “Hey-I know what I’m doing, here. You’re the ones blundering around probably destroying any hope we have of finding whoever took him.”
“Hey--You’re the one that caused any blundering going on here. You’re the one who didn’t know the situation and over stepped your boundaries and interrupted an official military investigation!” By now, Jack had holstered his weapon and was leaning in close to his prisoner, pointing directly at his nose. Unexpectedly, Macgyver straightened up and did the same thing.
“It’s your military project that might cost his family their father and husband. I’m not going to let you ruin my chance to get him back. So you back off.”
Teal’c, Sam and Daniel stared curiously at the men, curious to discover they were near mirror-images of each other. The images in questions stared silently until the group was interrupted by a clink as a metal ball rolled into the room. Only Macgyver looked at it curiously, saying, “What is-” before it emitted a painful noise and light, rendering the five unconscious.
However, I owe this to Greg first. It's not done yet. It's just a start.
“We’ve got to figure this out. Duncan’s been missing for at least a week and a half and his wife is worried sick. All we’re getting from the government is the sideways shuffle and no-questions-no-answers bull. If we only knew more about his current project…” Peter Thornton rolled his eyes and began to dig around in his top desk drawer.
“I know, Pete. But when the Foundation was hired for that “top secret” program, all of Duncan’s files were classified. Last thing left open was some of his early theoretical work on the radioactive isotope containment systems, and even that was half blacked out.” MacGyver frowned, eyeballing his friend’s movements. “Watch it, Pete. You’re not allowed candy until after your dentist’s appointment.”
“I wasn’t after the candy.”
“Sure Pete.” MacGyver sighed and rubbed his forehead thoughtfully. “Is there any way you could get me to meet with this hush-hush organization?”
“Legitimate methods have got us nowhere, as I said.”
“Illegitimate?”
“A connection of mine was able to get me the names of a couple of the other scientists assigned to the project. One, a Dr. Felger, is currently working in a classified location outside of the states, but the other, a Dr. Carter, is still around.”
“Did you get me his address?”
“Of course I did. Her address and more.” Pete slid a manila folder across the desk. “I got you tickets for a redeye tonight.” MacGyver grabbed the folder and his coat, rising and heading for the door. Pete slipped a hard candy into his mouth when he thought his friend wasn’t looking.
“I saw that.”
“Saw what?”
“I’ll call you when I get in.”
--
Deep beneath a mountain in a conveniently non-descript forest, another meeting was taking place. A woman was speaking and indicating things on a large screen. “So you see, our last meeting showed that Dr. Duncan has made great progress in his backward engineering of the goa’uld’s containment shielding. Unfortunately, he dropped out of contact two weeks ago.”
A man with graying brown hair leaned forward and propped his chin on his hand, appearing supremely bored. “And why weren’t we briefed then?”
Sighing, the woman closed the pointer she had been using and turned the lights back on. “Because, sir, Duncan is somewhat of a hermit. We were informed by the Pheonix Foundation that he has a habit of being in the lab for days on end without speaking to anyone.”
“So we just stuck him in a corner and ignored him? Sounds like a good plan for a lot of our scientists.” The man mumbled.
A younger man wearing glasses leaned forward and looked down the table. “Well, apparently not, Jack. If he hadn’t been ignored, he might not have gone missing.”
A voice similar to distant thunder emerged from another at the table. “I concur. Do we yet have any leads?”
“I’m afraid not, Teal’c. We’ll be sending you all to his lab tomorrow, but for tonight I suggest you all get some rest.” General Hammond rose and sighed. “This man hasn’t been fully briefed on the source of the sample he is working with, so we’ll be going with only home-grown weapons. You will also be going to his temporary residence, so subtlety is key.” He gave a knowing glance to Jack and Teal’c. Jack shrugged innocently. Teal’c did not move.
“Good luck and God speed.”
“Yessir.”
--
Due to a screaming toddler with an ear infection, MacGyver emerged from his flight tousled and exhausted at four thirty AM. By five fifteen, he had comfortably parked himself and his rental a little ways down the street from the address Pete had given him. It was a peaceful neighborhood and he had to fight the urge to relax and nap a bit.
At seven, as his eyes began to seriously droop, Mac snapped to attention. Three men in a large black SUV had rolled to a stop and one in a leather jacket, about his height with short graying hair, hopped out and was walking toward the house. Years of bad experiences with men in black vehicles brought Mac to perfect alertness and he prepared to either start the car and give chase or hop out and try to be useful. He stopped when an attractive blonde woman dressed entirely in black jogged lightly from the front door and nodded at the man before joining him in the SUV. Shrugging, Mac waited for them to pull away before start the car to follow.
Forty-five minutes later, the black SUV parked outside a nondescript and all four team members got out. After a quick powwow, the first man and a large black man with a knit cap made their way into the building. Dr. Carter and the third man, younger than the first and wearing glasses, strode off toward another building, just as nondescript but with fewer windows and larger doors. In an instant, Mac sized up his chances and reluctantly chose to follow Leather and Cap into the apartment building.
Pulling his collar up around his neck and trying to act casual, he hopped out of his car and strolled up the front steps. Inside, the three of them together boarded a shifty-looking elevator. Mac feigned a reach for the buttons but pulled back to allow Leather to press the four. He smiled. “That’s me too,” he assured.
With an unpleasant lurch, the elevator began to grind its way upwards. The large black man, Cap, stared without movement or any sign of interest in the added passenger. Leather, however, did a quick peripheral scan of MacGyver, but said nothing. Running a hand through his shaggy hair, MacGyver shifted weight and eyeballed his company before sniffing aimlessly.
“So,” he began, “you two from around here? Haven’t seen you before.”
“No.” replied the big man. He raised an eyebrow and turned away, indicating a complete disinterest in friendly chitchat.
Leather was quick to step in. “What he means is that we’re just visiting a friend of ours. You live here?”
“Nope. Just visiting, too. Name’s MacGyver.”
“Jack.” Jack took the proffered hand, shaking it heartily. “He’s Murry.”
“Awesome.” The two men, in what seemed a mirrored move, looked each other up and down before facing the door again. In a somewhat more violent lurch, the elevator stopped and, protesting, the doors slid open. Mac nodded and strolled down the hall, thankful that there was a turn in the corridor. “Nice meeting you.” He called, disappearing around it.
“Likewise.” Jack leaned back to peer a little further down the hall before indicating the door to 413. “Open it. With subtlety.”
Murry turned the knob. The door did not budge. He glanced about and then turned the knob and encouraged the door in with a hefty thump from his shoulder. The door budged. The room inside, though Spartan in décor and affects, had been ransacked. “It would seem something unpleasant happened here, O’neill.”
“Either that or the man lives like a frat boy. What’s that smell?” Jack discovered a putrid bowl of cheerios on a counter. Making a face, he fiddled with a couple of papers and poked around in the kitchen area. He then walked about ten paces into the bedroom area. “It seems all this went down a while back.”
“Indeed.”
“Probably when he first disappeared, I bet.”
“Perhaps we should rejoin-”
The sound of a scuffle made the men freeze. Jack pulled out a handgun and crept to the entrance way to check it out, but stopped when MacGyver was shoved into the room. The man stumbled and regained his balance, dusting himself off and turning to face Dr. Carter and the last team member.
“That was unexpected.”
“Sam, Jack-put the guns away. I think we’ve just had a bit of a misunderstanding.”
“Oh-ho-ho, yeah. I’d say it’s been a misunderstanding.” Macgyver ruefully rubbed at his wrist that had been caught and twisted behind his back. “You see, I’m just looking for Duncan. I work with him.” He stared uncertainly down the barrel of Jack’s gun, still pointed at his face. Carter still held hers at the ready, but lowered.
“Who are you?” Jack demanded.
“Macgyver.”
Daniel stepped in and pushed the guns to the ground. “He’s all right, Jack-I remember reading something about him in Duncan’s file. They did some work together a while back. Macgyver is still with the foundation.”
“Even better. A civilian.”
Macgyver and Daniel both straightened at the insult in Jack’s tone. Daniel rolled his eyes in frustration while Macgyver made a face. “Hey-I know what I’m doing, here. You’re the ones blundering around probably destroying any hope we have of finding whoever took him.”
“Hey--You’re the one that caused any blundering going on here. You’re the one who didn’t know the situation and over stepped your boundaries and interrupted an official military investigation!” By now, Jack had holstered his weapon and was leaning in close to his prisoner, pointing directly at his nose. Unexpectedly, Macgyver straightened up and did the same thing.
“It’s your military project that might cost his family their father and husband. I’m not going to let you ruin my chance to get him back. So you back off.”
Teal’c, Sam and Daniel stared curiously at the men, curious to discover they were near mirror-images of each other. The images in questions stared silently until the group was interrupted by a clink as a metal ball rolled into the room. Only Macgyver looked at it curiously, saying, “What is-” before it emitted a painful noise and light, rendering the five unconscious.