Peace of mind
by
Corine aka CD57
STATUS: complete
CATEGORY: adventure. Alternate Universe.
SPOILERS: A matter of time. The fifth race. Minor ones for There but for the Grace of God, Into the fire and Fair game.
SEASON / SEQUEL: third. After Into the Fire and before Fair game.
RATING: PG. - K
CONTENT WARNINGS: Some base-8-math. Hope you don't get confused!
SUMMARY: Jack meets Frank Cromwell in an alternate universe. O dear…
PAIRING: none.
DISCLAIMER: This story is written entirely for entertainment and is not intended as an infringement against the copy written material that belongs solely to ShowTime, MGM/UA, Gecko Films, et al. I'm only playing with their characters and will return them as soon as the story is finished. The following story is the property of the author and is not to be copied, or published without the express, written consent of the author.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is just something that was messing with my mind after watching A matter of time too many times. What would there be left to say between Jack and Frank, if they were given the chance?
Thanks to Tanya (my beta) again. She makes my stories better. Thanks to my husband as well, for allowing me the time to write.
Reference: "Life is hard and then you die" is from Dempsey and Makepeace.
(On P4R-548).
Colonel Jack O'Neill, teamleader of SG1, was seated near their camp. He was a little bored. They had gated to this planet two days ago. They had explored a major part of it, but had found nothing so far. Until today.
In the afternoon they had discovered some remnants of what seemed to have been a village. It had not taken Jack long to determine that the place was completely abandoned, leaving nothing much of interest for him. Captain Samantha Carter and Doctor Daniel Jackson, SG1's archaeologist and linguist, had started to investigate the place. Jack had decided they would spent the night and with Teal'c's help, he had set up their camp. Now he noticed Sam was taking some mineral samples and Daniel was digging.
Rocks, rocks and rocks. Or artefacts, as Daniel would like to call them. Right. Scientists…
Teal'c was keeping guard as always. No way a sneaky Goa'uld or group of Jaffa would surprise them with Teal'c on guard. Jack could always count on that.
So that had left him to make himself useful, rather than just doing nothing. Oh, yeah, he had made coffee. Lots of it, Daniel had had six cups at least. He would fix their meals later on. A big decision to make; macaroni with cheese, or macaroni with ham? He had arranged a fireplace, they could light a fire when needed; everything was ready. He had also checked and cleaned his guns; a job you should take time for. And he had plenty of that, that's for sure. No Daniel to have arguments with, no Sam to listen to explanations he wouldn't understand anyway. No, they were busy. Very busy. Very, very excited too; he could tell by the way Daniel was bend over some rock, or whatever, forgetting about the world around him. At least he wouldn't have to be afraid to lose the kid. Daniel was definitely not gonna wander off this time! Sam was excited too, no doubt about that. The way Sam was filling her little bottles with stuff he couldn't possibly find interesting told him all he needed to know. She was shaking them carefully, watching them like she expected them to explode or something. He just didn't know yet whether he wanted her to explain it all over dinner, or not.
So Jack was bored. He had enjoyed the sun, the opportunity to relax and do nothing for a change, but now it was getting on his nerves. He glanced at Teal'c. There was no way of telling how bored the Jaffa was at this moment. His face was, well, how it always was. Stoic. Jack wished he had a waterhose. He would love to start a waterfight with the big Jaffa. He laughed silently at the image in his mind of the surprised raise of brows of Teal'c's face; it would be so funny.
But he had no waterhose. Nor did he want to spoil the afternoon for Sam and Daniel. He was glad for them to have this opportunity. They deserved it. The last few missions had been rough on all of them. Yeah, no matter how bored he was, he would give them all the time they needed. If they wanted, he would spend all day tomorrow on this place too. He could always hike around a little bit; explore the north on his own. That would be nice. Scientists loved to explore surroundings like this; he loved to wander off on his own. He didn't get that chance too often. It seemed like a good idea. Always good for his soul, a hike through nature all by himself.
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Daniel and Sam had explored all the buildings and met in the centre of the village. "Nothing. Completely abandoned. What did you find?" Carter asked him.
"Nothing at all. Whoever lived here sure left no traces. That kind of makes you conclude that they didn't have to leave this place in a hurry. They took their belongings with them."
"You're right. Have you noticed the way they built this place? Everything is round," Sam noted, looking over her shoulder.
"Yeah, that is just so strange. It doesn't fit anything I recall from ancient texts. Come and take a look at this place," Daniel motioned Sam to follow him. He led her to the remains of a huge building on one side of the village.
"What do you think of this place?" he asked her, showing her what he had found. This particular building had no walls left, at least not higher than two ft. There was a huge pit in the middle, about six ft deep, also round. All around the pit were the remains of what could have been benches. On one side of the building the area was divided in two small rooms.
"It looks like the public swimming pool to me… " Sam figured, not really expecting this to be the answer.
"Exactly! Remember the Romans used to have bathing places? I think this is the same thing. The people all bathed together here. Look over here, beneath, see! That's were they got their water from. A connection to a well or something. So these people gathered for their bath. A social aspect of their life. What can we learn from their homes?" Daniel was more talking to himself now. He walked over to one of the homes, with Sam on his heels.
"See… they're not big. I haven't found houses that were divided in more than two rooms, so that means whole families must have shared one room to live and sleep in, the other for storage I guess… Looks to me that most of their lives were spent outside. Now how about their meals? Did every family eat on his own, or was that a social gathering for the whole community as well?" Daniel looked around, not really finding anything to answer his question with.
"Do you have any idea why they have left this place?" Sam asked.
"No, I wouldn't know yet. Do you have theories on that?" Daniel stood still, crossed his arms and looked at her.
"Okay. We figured they didn't leave in a hurry. So they were not forced to leave. That kind of rules out battles and deadly diseases. We have seen plenty of water on this planet, so my first guess would be nutrition. Either nothing left to hunt or the land had lost its fertility. I think I will start taking ground samples to figure that out."
"Great idea. I think I'm going to look around more, see if I can figure out other habits of those people."
With that they each continued their own research.
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Teal'c stood still and looked around. Nothing moved an inch without him noticing it. Teal'c was happy to see his colleagues work with great enthusiasm. They were completely out of it, counting on him to watch their backs. Which of course he did. With the greatest pleasure. He was proud of their trust in him.
Teal'c had scanned the remnants of the village, but nothing was familiar to him. It didn't look Goa'uld to him. Nor were there signs of fights. So it was really up to Daniel, to figure out what kind of people have lived here and why they had abandoned this place. He was of no help there, but he could stand guard. He didn't need the rest, and he figured his CO could use it, after the latest mission. Unfortunately he could already tell that his CO was getting bored of it. O'Neill was a man of action, as was he. Only he had patience, which could not be said about O'Neill.
He had gratefully excepted the canteen of water, O'Neill had brought him. O'Neill had also suggested changing guard, but he had turned the offer down. He would rather walk around a little, watching the area, than fixing dinner. O'Neill was so much better at that. On the last mission, Teal'c had actually burned a meal and was gently told not to take his turn in preparing dinner any time soon, which he didn't think was so bad.
He wished he had something to distract his CO with, to prevent him from becoming too bored. He instinctively knew that O'Neill wouldn't drag Captain Carter and Daniel Jackson away from this location too soon, despite his own discomfort. It would have been nice, if O'Neill could teach him to play chess or something. But that was not an option. That would have to wait until they were back on earth. He sighed. Yes, it was going to be a long afternoon and even a longer day tomorrow, for his CO.
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After having enjoyed lots of sunshine and drinking lots of coffee, Jack decided it was nearly time for some macaroni with cheese. Or rather, his stomach did. Jack got to his feet to light the fire. Having that accomplished, he gathered all the supplies around him and started to fix their dinner.
Jack soon had everything finished. He walked over to the spot where Daniel and Sam were and yelled, "Okay kids, dinner is ready, don't let it get cold!"
He was surprised when they responded so quickly. Jack was expecting to have to call them at least three times. They must be hungry, he figured.
The team gathered around the fire. Daniel still had this look over him, like he couldn't believe his luck.
"Welcome to O'Neill's Italian specialities. Anybody care for some macaroni with cheese tonight?" Jack quipped, getting ready to hand out the meals.
"Thank you, Jack. I am starving…." Daniel answered. He gladly accepted the plate that was being held in front of him.
"Thanks, Sir." Sam also took her plate.
"O'Neill. You are a great cook," Teal'c didn't move a muscle in his face. Jack glared at him. He grinned and handed the Jaffa his plate.
They all enjoyed their meal. When he was almost finished, Jack asked, "Well, Daniel? Having fun around this place? Tell us what you found." He knew the kid was anxious to share his knowledge.
Daniel's face lit up once again. "Yes, Jack. This is all very interesting. You know we found no signs of life on this planet so far? Yet here it is. Ruins of what has to have been some sort of village. Somehow it seems to have been built by a primitive nation, but still…" He took the last bite of his meal, grabbed his coffee and settled back. He absently ran his hand through his hair.
"There are no signs of anything related to Goa'uld, as far as I can tell. It definitely looks too primitive for that. There are also no signs of fights, so I believe the inhabitants left of their own free will. What do you think, Teal'c?" Daniel looked at the big Jaffa, wondering if Teal'c agreed with this.
Teal'c nodded. "I also think the Goa'uld have not visited this place."
Sam agreed too. "That leaves us with some interesting questions. Why have they built their village on this particular spot. Why did they leave this place, and how? Did they have the knowledge to use the Stargate? Where are they?" She helplessly raised her hands in the air.
"Couldn't they have gone up north? We haven't explored a lot in that direction yet?" Jack wondered.
Daniel started again. "Maybe. I really can't explain that yet. I have never seen a village like this with all round buildings. Everything is round. We found a place that we think was a bathing place, just like the Romans had, but then again… round. Why is everything round? I mean, I know a circle has different kinds of meaning. It represents the sun, God, infinity…. "
"Do you have any idea how long this place has been abandoned?" Jack asked.
"Well, according to what is left, I would say at least a thousand years. Maybe two thousand. We have not experienced bad weather on this planet yet, but if it has some, that could explain the damage done to those buildings." Suddenly, something occurred to him. He turned around to look at Sam.
"Sam! Did you notice anything strange about the entries of the buildings?"
Sam thought for a second, trying to remember what she had seen. Not able to guess what Daniel was getting at, she shrugged.
Daniel looked over his shoulder to the village once more, to make sure he got his memories right.
"The direction, Sam. The direction. All the entries are directed…"
"To the north!" Sam suddenly understood. "Now that is strange…" she thought it over for a minute.
"Why do you think that is strange?" Teal'c asked her.
Daniel filled it in. "There are different kinds of cultures on Earth, who believe that their buildings should be placed in one direction. Only those cultures choose east, not north."
"You mean those people from India, who built their homes with natural material, like wood and grass? Isn't that called Vedic architecture, or something?" Jack filled in.
Sam and Daniel looked stunned at him. Jack pulled a face. "Hey, come on. I do read a little. I also learned their method of meditation a long time ago. You know, the Vedic way of Kelno'reem…"
Sam smiled. She wondered how the Colonel would look, meditating. Somehow that didn't seem to fit to his image. She was dying to know why he had learned it and if he still used these skills. She had never seen it, though. She also knew she would never dare to ask.
Daniel seemed to have missed the meaning of Jack's statement. He continued, "Yes, some cultures in the far East like India and Nepal are known for building with doors positioned towards the east. There are some Indian Natives who did the same in South-America. Anyway, the reason why they did that was to honour their God. I mean, a lot of cultures compare their God with light, the light with the sun and the sun happens to rise in the east. For the most part, they would have had low doors, so the people were forced to bow. Bow to the east, the sun and thus for their God. They…" Daniel suddenly grabbed his backpack and started to sound excited again.
"Eh, Sam! Didn't the sun rise in the north on this planet?" He found his compass and quickly opened it.
"Yes! You are right. I should have thought about that! North is West." She moved over him to look at the compass, while Jack was looking rather sheepishly at her.
"For crying out loud, Captain.." he muttered.
"Sir. On Earth, the magnetic lines are from north to south. But here on P4R-548, the magnetic fields are in the west and east. So when our compass tells us where north is, it is actually the west." She looked at him, wondering if he understood what she was trying to tell him.
"Right. I knew that," he stated, which meant he didn't. He was not gonna ask her how she had figured out that north was actually west.
"So the entries of those buildings are directed exactly as on Earth, Captain Carter," Teal'c figured, smiling at her.
"Yes, Teal'c. They are directed to where the sun rises. In the west, which is north on our compasses. So it remains similar to the cultures on Earth."
"Okay, one question answered." Daniel closed his compass again and looked around at his three team-mates. "But that still leaves us with the other questions. Why have they left this place, and how. And, what's up north…"
"You mean west."
"Yeah, west. Like north on the compass, but actually west."
"How sweet. Tell you what. Why don't you try to get some answers to the first questions tomorrow, doing whatever you guys do on places like this. I will find out about the last question, by exploring a little that way." Jack pointed in the right direction, purposely avoiding using the term west or north.
Daniel was more than surprised. He had actually believed that they would have to get back to the Stargate by tomorrow. He had already planned to investigate a little further through the night, because he was not ready to give up yet. Now he realised that was not necessary.
"Jeez, thanks, Jack. I'd really love to spend another day here."
"You're welcome, Danny-boy. Now, who takes the first watch?" Jack switched their attention to the next task at hand. They divided the shifts and everybody except Sam started to get ready to get to their tents. After the usual goodnight wishes, they settled for the night.