F is for Fine Line (G)

[fignewton]

This ficlet is part of my contribution to our birthday tribute for Don S. Davis: Hammond Alphabet Soup. George considers the fine line he has to walk every day. Vague references to various episodes in S1-5. Rated G. 286 words.

F is for Fine Line

"Colonel, you walk a fine line."

George Hammond remembered telling O'Neill that, in a tone of almost fond exasperation. But Jack O'Neill's regular dance along the line of insubordination was nothing compared to the tightrope that George found himself walking every day.

He had to follow orders. He had to keep his people safe. He had to do his duty to the oaths he took, the uniform he wore, the country he served, the planet he protected.

But he also had to question ethical directives, struggle with the pressure to justify any means, cope with the uncanny and bizarre on a regular basis, and deal with a seething morass of military and civilian and alien, forging it all into a coherent, working whole.

There were days when it seemed that those conflicting demands couldn't possibly coexist.

He teetered on the edge of that line, sometimes. There were occasions when he'd missed a step: the decision to strip-mine trinium behind the Salish's backs, the willingness to bow to pressure from above and sign a treaty with a nation bent on genocide. There were times when he risked being shoved off the line by those with their own agenda: his willing debasement in Kinsey's office, his defiance of orders to personally go after his people, the personal threat to his grandchildren. For the most part, though, George maneuvered his way through the minefield of command with deft precision, juggling the need to pacify the Pentagon and the Oval Office with the even greater necessity of protecting the men and women under his command.

It was a dangerously fine line that demanded a constant weighing of options and choices.

He could only pray that he never slipped and fell.

Comments

[sg-betty.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! I wouldn't have wanted Hammond's job for the world. Weapons fire is much less dangerous! Especially when all his choices were bad ones. He couldn't relax for a moment.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I think you're right - in some ways, his job was a lot more dangerous than anyone on the front lines! Glad you liked it. :)

[delphia2000.livejournal.com]

Poor George...so many enemies and not all of them obvious. Nicely done!

[janedavitt.livejournal.com]

So true; the pressure he was was under... ::shivers:;

[aelfgyfu_mead]

He could only pray that he never slipped and fell.
And he never did. He made mistakes, but he repaired them; he remained a moral and ethical man, and in my mind he's finally enjoying a well-deserved and long overdue retirement.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Heh, yes - his battlefronts may have been offscreen, but they were very real.

Glad you enjoyed. :)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

::nods:: Huge, huge pressure, all the time. And he handled it with such ease that it didn't even show.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Oh, I miss him!

It's amazing that someone can last for so long in such a demanding position and still remain himself, isn't it?

[lokei.livejournal.com]

Gorgeous. I love the way you highlight some of what had to be the most difficult moments in his career, personally and professionally. Beautiful, spare, and very Hammond.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad it hit the right note. :)

[supplyship.livejournal.com]

There are times when I think Hammond's job is waaaaay more dangerous than any of the front-line SG teams. You really capture that thought. What a burden for one man!

Lovely!

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

::nods:: Talk about shades of grey - Hammond had to wrestle with it all the time.

Glad you liked the fic. :)