X-treme Convention 
by John O'Connor
Disclaimer:  Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the
property of Stargate (II) Productions,
Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions,
and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment
purposes only and no money exchanged hands. No
copyright infringement is intended. The original
characters, situations, and story are the property of
the author.

Part 2

After a very filling buffet breakfast in the hotel's
Wayfaring Tree, Janet drove her entourage into
downtown Vancouver.  Not being too familiar with the
area, they drove around for a while then headed back
to Richmond.  After they learned more about the city,
they'd definitely make a return trip.
Back at the hotel, they debated what to do until the
con registration opened.  Finally, since it was a
warm, sunny day, they decided to head to the dike that
encircled the island.
As they walked along the river, Cassie excitedly
pointed out a seaplane as it came in to land on the
North Arm of the Fraser.  "Look!  That is so cool!
Can we fly on one?"
"I dunno.  If they're charters, maybe," Sam replied.
"But that's also the way a lot of people go up the
coast, I think."
A few minutes later, another seaplane came in with a
much larger 747 beyond it making it's landing at
Vancouver International across the river.  "Man, I
wish I had my camera!" Cassie exclaimed.
They came to the point looking out over the water at
the mouth of the Fraser.  They rested for a few
moments on a convenient park bench.
"You know, I could see this being an 'X-Files'
location," Sam observed.  Glancing around, they only
saw an old house to the south, hidden by trees and the
extreme western end of the airport.
"Yeah, looks isolated enough.  You'd never know a town
was so close."
"Look," Cassie said, pointing out towards the water.
Slowly making it's way to the north was a large cargo
container ship.  "What's that?"
Sam explained how commerce moved across the oceans as
they sat in the sun.  The teen, having almost no
experience with oceans or seas, had plenty of
questions.
After watching the freighter move towards Vancouver's
port, they decided to head back to the hotel.  As they
neared the hotel, Sam mused, "Wonder how far we
walked?"
"A couple of miles at least.  Good thing we're in
condition," Janet added.
"I'm beat," Cassandra announced, belying her mother's
statement.
Once in the lobby, Sam noted the registration table
was open.  "I'll get us all registered and meet you up
in the room."
"Okay.  Thanks Sam."
At the table, Sam smiled and said, "I believe you have
three reservations under Carter."
"Okay," a young woman in X-treme fatigues
acknowledged.  "Those VIP or..."
"VIP."
"Sam Carter?"
Sam nodded, "That's me."
"And what are the other names?"
"Fraiser.  Janet and Cassie.  Or maybe I put it under
Cassandra."
"Nope, Cassie.  Here you go.  And here at three kits.
Enjoy yourself."
"We will.  Thanks."
Sam checked the itinerary.  Nothing really that night.
  There was a pre-con party at a Vancouver night spot
but she hadn't signed up for that since Cassie was
only sixteen.  The next thing was tomorrow morning.
Several panels the first day and a cocktail party,
this one for all ages, that evening.  There were
panels the next few days as well as photo and
autograph sessions.
Heading up to the room, Sam was already analyzing the
schedule to optimize Cassie's time.  She wasn't paying
attention and almost ran into Jim Barrents.  He was
with a young lady and a teenaged girl.
"Oh!  I'm so sorry.  I wasn't..."
"No harm, no foul.  Sam, this is my friend Krista and
her daughter Mina.  Mina, Kris, this is Sam Carter.
She's here for the con with her friend Cassandra.
She's your age too."
"Cool," Mina said.  Sam shook her hand in greeting.
"I'm Krista."
"Hi, I'm Sam.  Nice to meet you," Sam shook her hand
as well.  Looking at Jim and Krista, she thought they
seemed to make a nice couple. 'Good thing I'm not the
type to interfere or this could become a cheesy
romance-movie weekend.'
After greetings were exchanged, Jim said, "We're about
to get these two tardies registered."
Sam glanced at the table, "Looks like a good time to
do that.  I'm heading up to the room now to confer
with my 'people'.
"See ya 'round."
Back in the room, Sam mentioned meeting their new
acquaintance.  Janet mentioned his offer of the night
before - she had neglected to mention that part at
breakfast - and Cassie jumped at it.
"Can I?  That would be so cool.  We'd be good.  I
promise!"
"We'll see."
"Cool."  Cassie whispered to Sam, "That means yes."
* * * * * *
After a dinner of burgers and fries at the Turtle,
Cassie went off to see the Barnett girls and see what
mischief they could get into.  Sam and Janet moved
over to the bar for a couple of after-dinner drinks.
"How can you drink beer after that big-ass burger?"
Janet asked.
"Metabolism," Sam replied, sipping from her pint.
"So, this has been fun so far."  Sam nodded, glancing
up at the big screen TV.  "Are you planning on doing
much with the con itself?"
"No.  I'd like to see Martin, see how he's doing but
the show itself?  Nah."
"Cass expects you to be with her at every session,"
Janet said.
"No.  Not since she met the Three Musketeers.  They'll
be fine."
"You think I ought to let her stay with the girls?"
"It's your decision."  Janet looked at Sam closely,
waiting for her to continue.  "But, I think it'd be
good for Cass.  And it's not like we won't see her or
hear from her.  Not so long as we control the
money..."
Janet laughed at the evil look on Sam's face.  "Okay.
Too late tonight but tomorrow night, I think you'll be
in your own bed."
"Okay," Sam said, wondering why she wasn't happier
about that.
* * * * * *
The panels the first day were some guest stars and
some production people.  None of the major stars who
were to attend the show were scheduled.
That didn't mean some didn't show up.
Shortly after lunch, Yolanda Reese came into the hotel
quietly.  She had her hair tied up under a Mariners
baseball cap and wraparound sunglasses.  Surprisingly,
the disguise worked.
As she strolled through the dealer room and sat
towards the back at a couple of panels, she was again
surprised at how popular the show was.   It didn't
make sense to her that a show as goofy as "Wormhole
X-treme" was so popular.  Maybe the goofiness was part
of it.
Lannie had made her feelings known in the production
meetings that occurred after the show was picked up
for a second season.  She wanted more character
development for herself and the other members of her
'team': X-1.  While Colonel Danning was the central
character and Nick was the star, a show couldn't rely
on one character for the entire run.  Even Nick's
earlier show "McReynolds" had a strong supporting
cast.
Her badgering seemed to work, Martin Lloyd promised he
was going to see what he could do to get her a shot at
writing an episode.  She knew the main reason Martin
wanted to help her and it was much more earthy than
altruistic.  And he knew better.  Everyone on the show
knew about her and her life.  Hard to keep secrets
like that in a mini-Hollywood like Vancouver.
After the first writers panel, she quietly left and
headed for the main lobby of the hotel.  She had no
clear idea of what she wanted but it wasn't to be
found in a dark conference room.
Just outside the dealer room, she saw a cute little
brunette talking to a teenager.  The teen obviously
wanted to be somewhere else as she kept looking down
the hallway.  Finally the brunette - her mother? -
nodded and let the girl dash off with a parting, "No
running!"
"Hi!" Lannie said, immediately regretting how lame it
sounded.
"Hello."
"So what do you think of the con?  Enjoying yourself?"
  More insipid small talk but she got a glimpse of the
woman's big brown eyes and seemed to lose track of
herself for a moment.
"My kid is," the other woman replied, gesturing down
the hall where the teen had disappeared.
"Your daughter?"
The brunette nodded, "Yep."
Lannie smiled, "You don't look like someone who could
have a teenaged daughter."
"Thank you," the woman said, her face breaking into a
dazzling smile.  "I'm Janet.  Janet Fraiser.  That was
my adopted daughter, Cassie."
"Ah...adopted.  That explains it.  Hi, I'm Lannie."
The two shook hands and Lannie decided to see if she
could keep this going.  "I was wondering if you'd like
to go get a drink or coffee?"
"You know, that sounds like a great idea.  There's the
Turtle lounge or this place," Janet gestured towards a
dark bar called Bartholomew's they were passing.
"There's also a place across the street, that way,
that is quiet too."
"The corner Irish place?  Sounds good.  Let's go,"
Lannie said.
Once inside the pub, Lannie felt better.  The chances
of someone here knowing her were quite a bit less than
in the middle of a con for her show.
Finding a quiet table, they sat, ordered, and then
started to chat.
"So, Janet, where are you from?"
"All over.  I was an Army brat.  Then, once I got my
medical degree, I joined the Air Force.  Been to
Washington, Atlanta, Florida, Kuwait, back to
Washington, and now Colorado Springs."
"Air Force?  We had an officer on the set from
Colorado for a few weeks early in production."
Janet nodded, "That was Jack O'Neill.  He's a colonel
there.  His second in command is my best friend,
Samantha Carter.  She's somewhere around here."
"Jack's a nice guy.  Bit of a neanderthal at times
but, compared to Nick..."  Lannie clapped her hand
over her mouth, she just realized that she pretty much
told this lovely creature who she was.  Twice.
"It's okay.  I knew who you were.  My daughter loves
the show.  I wasn't going to say anything unless you
brought it up.  And, if you don't want to talk about
it, that's okay."
"Thanks.  I was trying to go incognito today.  It was
sort of an internal bet with myself.  I guess I lost.
So, since you know who I am, I can ditch this cap
and...let my hair down, as cliche as that sounds."
She pulled the old cap off, pulled a couple of bobby
pins out and shook her head.  Her dark hair, longer
than it was in the show's first season, cascaded to
her shoulders.
Janet fought the urge to gasp at the sight.  She
hadn't reacted to a woman this quickly before.  At
least, not since Med School...
Shaking her head, she and Lannie talked about the show
and how popular it had become.  They laughed at
Lannie's tales of bloopers and some of the practical
jokes played on the set.  Janet shared some of her own
stories, heavily edited to avoid any mention of
Stargates, wormholes, or alien cultures.
Before long she told her new friend about her marriage
and how she still regretted it.
"Did you love him?"
"Not really.  I think I hoped I would come to love
him.  And that is definitely no way to go into
something like that."
"Have you been in love?"
Janet blushed slightly, "Yes, twice.  Once in school
and..."  Her voice faded out.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Lannie asked.
Janet shook her head. "I don't think so."
Lannie nodded, "I understand, I think.  I have some
secrets like that myself.  Well, they aren't exactly
secrets anymore."
Janet raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.  If
Lannie wanted to tell her, fine.  If not, that's was
just as good.
"I don't want to shock you or...  First, let me tell
you this.  I'm gay."  When Janet nodded with a small
accepting smile, Lannie went on, "I've accepted it
since I was a teenager.  I never 'came out' then of
course.  I had some friends, very supportive friends,
who knew.  And I think Mom knew but I just never asked
her.
"Anyway, when I was in college I had my first and only
encounter with a man.  I was in denial then and trying
to fit in.  It wasn't the same and at that point I
decided to stop trying to hide who and what I was."
"That had to take guts."
"It did but there was a campus group for gays and
bisexuals.  They made me realize that there was
nothing wrong with me.  If there was anything wrong it
was society and society's attitude.
"I have never denied my lifestyle since.  That's not
to say I go out and proclaim it every chance I get.
I'm no Ellen or kd lang."  Janet smiled and nodded.
"But, I no longer deny it."
"Has it hurt you?  Professionally or personally?"
"Yes to both.  But it has helped too.  I'm stronger
and more independent than I ever imagined myself when
I was a kid.  And the studios are more willing to hire
gays just to look like we're as good as Hollywood.
Not that Hollywood is as open as people up here
believe but..."
"Good thing you don't have my job," Janet laughed.
"Yes, I guess it must be very difficult for you,"
Lannie replied.
"Wha...for me?  No, you're wrong.  I'm not...  Just
because my marriage didn't work out...  Not everyone
who gets a divorce is gay."
"I know.  But I also know what I heard.  You've
mentioned this woman Sam quite a lot.  I gathered you
must be..."
"Very close friends," Janet interrupted quickly.  Too
quickly?  "She and I are best friends."
"Okay.  I'm sorry.  If I offended you or..."
Janet sat quietly for a minute, staring at the table.
In a quiet voice, she muttered, "What's the old saying
about denial?"
"About it not just being a river in Egypt?"  Janet
nodded.  "Sure you don't want to talk about it?"
Janet looked at the woman in the seat next to her.
Looked hard but saw nothing but support and
friendship.  She came to a monumental decision at that
moment.  She finally nodded and cleared her throat.
"I've never told anyone about this before," Janet
began, her eyes watching her fingers twining together.
Lannie covered Janet's hands with her own and squeezed
gently, "You don't have to, you know."
The doctor nodded again and looked up.
"Several years before I had even imagined anything
like my career, I was in Medical School at Johns
Hopkins.  It was demanding and challenging and I loved
every minute of it.
"But I also enjoyed the infrequent breaks and took
every opportunity to get out of Baltimore to the
Atlantic shore or the rare trip to New York.  On one
extended break, my roommate Kim and I headed up there
for a Star Trek convention.  Kim was a die-hard
Trekkie.
"We got a relatively cheap room near the hotel hosting
the con and spent the weekend with people in home-made
Federation uniforms or Klingon battle armor.  We
attended panels or discussions with various stars and
guest stars from the original series and the movies
that had been made - this was before any of the other
series.  We watched special screenings of the original
pilot, "The Cage" and other episodes.  And we spent
several hours each day in one of the bars in the hotel
or nearby.
"The second night of the show, we returned to our room
and I was commenting on how slinky some of the alien
costumes were.  Kim looked at me and floored me when
she said, 'I'd love to see you in that shiny crossover
suit.'
"The costume was a replica of one in an old episode
called 'The Gamers of Tribbles' or something like
that.  It left little to the imagination, a lot of
flesh exposed on the sides and the back of the woman
wearing it.  The girl was fairly busty and most of
her...boobs were showing.
"I just shook my head and said something like, 'No
way.  I could never...  Wait, you'd like to see me in
that?'
"Then Kim dropped a blockbuster when she walked over
to me, nodding.  In a husky whisper, she said, 'I'd
like to see you in it then get you out of it.'
"I guess I let the vodka I'd been drinking earlier do
my thinking for me.  I stared at her and realized how
beautiful she was.  I grabbed Kim and kissed her hard.
  We stood and kissed, then sat and kissed, then lay in
the bed and kissed.  The kisses ranged from deep
sensuous kisses to harsh wet kisses to soft gentle
kisses.
"The next morning, we woke up and stared at each
other.  Both of us were mortified about what the other
would say until I took a chance, reached over and
touched Kim's cheek."
Janet let a soft smile creep across her face, "We
didn't get to the con that day until late afternoon.
And our affair continued for the rest of that term and
into the next.  It ended only when Kim rotated to a
different program and a different school."
She took a deep breath and finished, "She was the
first big love of my life.
"Shortly after that, I made the biggest mistake of my
life and suffered for it for three years.  Until the
Air Force and..."
Shutting off her brain at the image of Sam, she turned
to Lannie and tried to joke, "That's the story of my
sole fling with the wild side."
"Whatever happened to Kim?"
"When it ended, we both cried and promised we'd get
together but our schedules never meshed.  When I
joined the Air Force, any relationship was out of the
question.
"We exchanged Christmas cards up until a year or so
ago.  As far as I know, she's living in Chicago, in a
committed relationship with some woman named Courtney,
a blonde."  Janet grinned, "She has a thing for
blondes, my hair was kinda blond when we were..."
Lannie smiled.
"Do you miss that?"
Janet looked up, confusion in her eyes, "What?  Miss
the love?  Of course.  We were very happy together.
The sex?  Yes, it was wonderful.  Soft and sensuous,
hot and sweaty..."  Janet's face reddened, "I...I
can't believe I just said that."
"Don't worry."  Lannie squeezed Janet's hands again.
"Don't you want that again?"
"The sex?  Or the love?  Well, yes to both.  But..."
"I can't guarantee the love, not like you had with
Kim, but I think you'll be happy with the sex," Lannie
said.
"Wh...  Are you asking me to go to bed with you?"
"If you want to."
"It's been so long...since I was with anyone."
"Then I'd be honored to be the one to reintroduce you
to the joys of sex."
Janet looked into the distance.  She had only a few
lovers in her life, of both sexes and no one at all in
the past several years.  She was excited by Lannie's
offer.  And the woman was extremely attractive.
"Janet?  Is there someone else?  If so, just say the
word and I'll walk away."
"There could be but...  No strings?"
"None. Unless you want them."
"I've never done anything like this before.  You know,
a one night stand.  But...I think I want to."
"Think?"
Janet laughed, "Yes.  I do want to do this."  She took
Lannie's hands this time and squeezed them, her eyes
locked on the actress' eyes.
"Just let me make sure the coast is clear," Janet said
as she pulled out her cell phone.
* * * * * *
Sam's phone vibrated in her pocket.  She fished it out
and answered, "Carter."
"Hey, Sam.  What are you up to?"
"Just roaming the con.  Some of the production people
are up next.  Wanna see if Martin's here and say
hello.  You?"
"I was thinking of...taking a nap."
"Go right ahead.  I'll be down here for a while.
Cassie hasn't left her seat except to use the bathroom
so she won't be a problem.  But I'll mention it to
her.  And maybe hang the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the
door as a reminder to her."
"Thanks Sam.  I'll buzz you in a while."
"Cool.  Sounds like a plan."
* * * * * *
"All systems go," Janet said, slipping her cell into
her pocket.
"You're sure?"
Janet took Lannie's hand and nodded.  "Yes.  Yes, I
am."
"Okay, let's go."
Coming in through one of the outer entrances, they
managed to avoid the lobby and any unwanted
encounters.  Fortunately, the elevator and corridor
were clear too.
Once the elevator doors closed, Lannie took Janet in
her arms and kissed her.  Janet, surprised but
pleased, returned the pressure of Lannie's lips
against hers.
The door pinged open and they pulled apart.  Janet
leaned out then walked into the mini-lobby in front of
the elevators.  Taking Lannie's hand, she led the
actress to her room.
Once in the room, Lannie took Janet's other hand and
they shared another soft kiss.  This one heated up
rapidly and Janet moaned when she felt Lannie's moist
tongue.
"If you ever want to stop, just tell me."
"I don't want to," Janet said as she kissed Lannie,
her tongue sliding into the woman's mouth.
* * * * * *
About two hours later, Sam quietly used her key card
to open the door.  She just wanted to get some gum
from the dresser and didn't want to disturb Janet's
nap.
Practically tiptoeing in, she glanced at the bed.  She
felt herself do a stereotypical double-take when she
saw the occupants.
Janet was laying on her side, her body naked as the
day she was born, and cuddled up spoon-fashion with an
equally naked Yolanda Reese!
What the hell?!?
Sam stood rooted to the spot near the dresser, not
even breathing until she heard Janet mutter something
in her sleep.
Blinking and shaking her head, Sam took a deep breath
and quickly left the room, carefully closing the door
behind her.  When she heard the latch click, she
slumped against the far wall of the hallway, staring
sightlessly at the door to their room.
What the hell was going on?  Janet was gay?  How could
she not tell her?  How could she not see her best
friend was...
Sam staggered back to her feet and headed towards the
lobby.  She needed a drink.
 (c) John O'Conner
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