All in all, Jack O'Neill was rather enjoying his first trip through the gate since his promotion to Brigadier General - he was feeling rather reluctant to hurry back. So, when the villagers proposed an impromptu feast in celebration of their victory, Jack quickly agreed to attend and to remain the night on the lovely planet. Besides which, there was something niggling at him. Something that seemed his two resident geniuses either hadn't thought about, or not mentioned.
Jack roused himself the morning after the celebration, feeling slightly woozy. The local version of beer had been interesting, and, he noted, also had a similar aftereffect from over consumption. Daniel and Sam were already up and about. Teal'c was still present in the quarters which SG-1 had shared overnight, doing his kelnorim. Not that Teal'c needed it anymore; now he meditated simply because he enjoyed it. This particular morning, Jack envied Teal'c his abstinence from intoxicating brews.
Not wanting to interrupt, Jack rubbed his head, pulled on the shirt that he had discarded last night, and headed out of the room.
The main room served as a combination living room, dining room, and kitchen. Daniel and Sam were there, sitting at a table laden with local foodstuffs that had no doubt been provided by the grateful populace. Jack sat down heavily, and grabbed something that resembled an apple from the tray.
"Good morning, campers!" he put on a cheery front that was totally for show only, reaching over to Daniel, who was looking the worse for wear, rubbing the back of his neck. Daniel, always slow to recover from these things, groaned. Sam looked at him sideways with a small grin.
"Good morning, sir," she answered softly in deference to Daniel. "How are you this morning?"
"Just peachy, Carter, just peachy!"
Sam hid her smile behind her hand, as Daniel groaned again.
Deciding to give Daniel a break, he turned to Sam. "Anything to report?" he asked, as he closely inspected, then munched into, the fruit.
"No sir, nothing. I don't believe we have any further business this morning, so we can take our leave of the natives here, and fly the time ship back to earth."
Jack glanced from Daniel back to Carter, and set his fruit aside. "We'll be heading back, but we won't be taking the ship."
"What?" both heads came up to stare at Jack as they shouted simultaneously.
"Not that we won't take it," he placated them, holding up his hands. "But there's one more thing it's needed for here."
"Morning, Harry," Jack greeted Maybourne as he approached the throne where "King Arkhan" sat, being fed his breakfast by a scantily clad woman. Harry was obviously enjoying it immensely.
"Morning, Jack," Maybourne returned, barely opening one eye to see his friend, while he continued eating with a smile on his face.
"Excuse me, Harry, but we need to have a little conversation. Privately."
Maybourne opened both eyes, and saw that Jack was serious. He sighed and rose slowly, shooing his servants away, motioning to Jack towards the door. They went out and through the courtyard. When they were out of earshot, Maybourne asked, "So - what's up, Jack?"
"Nothing much, Harry. It's just that we'll be heading back to Earth in an hour or so, and I wanted to let you know we'll be leaving the time ship for a couple days. Of course, we really need to take it to earth - time travel aside, we want to study it for making more ships that can fit through Stargates.
"But, y'know, it occurred to me last night that it was needed here for one little thing... See, Harry, the way I figure it, the writing on those columns must have been carved by someone who was actually here to see the events of the past few weeks, and then must have traveled to the past to make those columns. So there must be an Ancient right here, right now, who needs that ship to go back a few hundred years."
"Is that right?"
"Yeah, Harry. And I think you know who that someone is." Jack stopped, turning to face Harry, with a tilt of his head and a wink.
Harry came to a sudden halt, and stared at Jack, pondered momentarily, then asked, "What gave me away?"
"Harry..." Jack said in an admonishing tone. "Here you are, in paradise, surrounded by beautiful adoring women," he waved his arms dramatically, "and you're doing what? Studying Ancient? Learning a foreign language as a hobby? I don't think so. As a matter of fact, I think you didn't need to learn it. I think you've known it all along. I think it is your - mother tongue - as it were."
Maybourne said nothing, but stared at Jack in amazement.
"It explains a lot of things, too. Y'know, I did my own little BI on you a few years ago, and discovered certain gaps in your past - a lack of information in your personnel file. And then there's how you always seemed to show up in the wrong place at the right time. So, what? Sent into the past, or future, by the Ancients? You've been studying Earth for how many years?"
Maybourne slowly smiled at Jack, but admitted nothing. "Well, Jack, you know, whatever. But I kind of like it here. I think I'll just retire now." He thumped both hands against his chest and looked around slowly. "Yup, nice and quiet, and now that the Goa'uld won't be coming back, peaceful. Wouldn't want to spoil a good thing."
Jack watched Harry with a wry smile on his face. "So, your highness, I'll just leave the ship for a little while. We're going to go home and decide exactly what to do with it, and then we'll come back to fetch it. You just make sure it's here and in as good condition as we left it, and we'll just forget we had this little discussion. As a matter of fact, we'll just forget that King Arkhan had any other identity."
Maybourne looked Jack straight in the eye, considering. "You know, one thing I've learned, observing you, is that you are an honorable man. I think it's safe to hold you to that." He paused and looked around quickly again, then added "Nothing even to SG-1?"
"You have my word."
"Good enough. Well, let's get back, and I'll see you off at the gate. I've got a full day ahead of me. Well, more like a few weeks, but that's the beauty of it, isn't it - one could be back before one left. If one weren't careful."
"Just leave the keys under the mat, Harry. We'll be back."
Maybourne grunted and turned to start back to the village. Jack waited a beat, then followed, shaking his head.