**We are what history makes of us, and history doesn't care about
personality. Future generations will never know about the donations we may
have made to charity, or the way we always listened when our friends needed
to talk. A million gentle words and kindly acts will be excluded from the
pages of history. History only cares about the acts that change the world,
the choices made in the heat of battle. Those are what make the difference
in whether we are respected, or hated.
-from Doorway to Heaven by General Jack O'Neill**
The five of them were already sitting round the table in the restaurant when the reporter came in. She apologised for being late and placed her maj recorder on in the centre of the table so that it could record the scene. Like most of the devices to come out of the P6Y-813 research centre, the maj had got its name from a bad joke. The official name was Holo Matrix System. Some British scientist had mentioned that ships belonging to the Royal Navy all began with the initials HMS, so the system became known as the royals, and then eventually the majesties, which had later been shortened.
"Now," began the reporter, "I'm not going to talk about the event that made these people famous, as everybody should know about that, and for anyone that doesn't we have a program on it later this evening. I'm instead going to talk about you five: the saviours of our planet. What would you be doing now, if it wasn't for the Stargate Project?"
"I'd probably be a skeleton in a graveyard with a hole in my skull," General O'Neill said simply. This obviously shocked the reporter, so he went on to explain, "My son died just before I joined the project and I was a wreck. The Stargate Project and later the SGC gave my life meaning, a purpose."
"And what about you?" The reporter hurriedly moved on to the next person round the table.
"I'd be flying a transport plane or sitting around a military lab with nothing interesting to do and wondering why I decided to join the Air Force," Colonel Carter said with a grin.
"I would doubtless have been executed as a traitor," Teal'c said, "or I would be continuing to serve Apophis and aiding him kill and enslave innocent humans." That reply was almost as disturbing as O'Neill's. It was one thing to know about Teal'c's past, it was another to have him state it as though it were a perfectly normal thing.
"I'd be working in a hospital healing broken bones and other everyday injuries," Dr Fraiser said, "and probably wishing I could have some of the technology I have now to help me."
General Hammond spoke last, "I'd be enjoying a nice, quiet retirement somewhere, full of golf and fishing. I would have no idea how lucky I was not knowing Jack O'Neill."
"Hey!" O'Neill complained, "You'd be bored out of your mind without me and you know it!"
"True," Hammond admitted with a laugh.
"Of all the people who have worked with the Stargate, who do you admire the most, not including those here now?" the reporter asked next. The five of them all glanced at each other, some unreadable message passing silently between them. Teal'c just looked impassive.
"Kawalsky," O'Neill said, "he was brave, a good soldier, and a loyal friend."
"I don't know," Hammond said, "The SGC has had a lot of good of good men and women working for it. I don't feel that I could select any one of them."
"I would say Bra'tac," Teal'c said, "However I do not know if you would include him, for he is not of this world."
"Neither are you," O'Neill countered, "and you're one of the 'saviours of our planet'." Teal'c nodded in acknowledgement. "It's a difficult question to answer because we've all know so many good people," he continued to the reporter, "and not just the soldiers. We'd never have got anywhere without the doctors putting us back together when things got rough off-world," he gestured towards Dr Fraiser, "and then what about the scientists and historians? The scientists who worked on for the SGC are responsible for most of the technological breakthroughs of the past ten years, and the historians have altered our understanding of our own planet and culture."
"I never thought of you as much of a culture person."
"I'm a big fan of culture." There were snorts of laughter from three of the people round the table. Teal'c just raised his eyebrows.
"Then why have the words 'culture be damned' so frequently passed your lips?" Teal'c inquired.
"OK, so I've not always enthused about culture, but even the most bored participant in a dig picks up something. I've seen first hand on a lot of different planets just how culture affects people, so I'm not as against it as I used to be. I knew some good people at the SGC, who taught me to value things like history." Dr Fraiser and Carter glanced at each other.
"People do need to remember all those who aren't in the limelight," Carter agreed, "I've had a lot of good technicians and fellow scientists who've done a lot of good work when the world's about to be sucked into a black hole or destroyed by an alien artefact. But who's heard of people like Graham Simmons or Jonas Quinn?"
"Not me, I'm afraid," the reporter admitted.
"How is Jonas?" O'Neill asked.
"Fine," Carter replied, "we were worried he was going telepathic at one stage, but it turned out just to be a prank by some of the students who've come to the labs for work experience." That was met by laughter from round the table.
"Would any of you consider writing a book about your experiences with the SGC?"
"I might write a book about the physics of the Stargate," Carter said, "but it wouldn't make very interesting reading except to a theoretic astrophysicist who doesn't mind that it would be mostly theories with very little proof."
"Mine would probably be quite dull after a while," Dr Fraiser said. "'Did a post-mission physical, did a post-mission physical, found out SG-1 had an alien virus, found the cure to the alien virus, did a post-mission physical, did a post-mission physical, found out SG-1 had been turned into robots, did a post-mission physical, cured SG-1 of another alien disease, did a post-mission physical.' Hardly any variety."
"I had thought about writing a book before the SGC started," Hammond admitted, "but I'm not sure everything that's happened would fit in one book."
"I do not believe I know your language well enough to make such a book interesting," Teal'c said simply.
"Mine would be a ticket to a court marshal," O'Neill grinned, "I'd actually be putting down in words all those times I'd broken the regs, or disobeyed a direct order. I'm not sure I could keep track of them all."
"Now we're on to the questions that are supposed to give insights into your minds," the reporter said, "If you pretended to be a god, what would you do?"
"I would never do such a thing," Teal'c said instantly.
"I'd make sure there were no trees near any Stargate on any planet," O'Neill said with feeling. "You get through that Gate and the first thing you see is a load of damn trees! Every single time!" There was laughter around the table. "Oh, I'd also make sure every kid in the universe owned a dog."
"Dr Fraiser?"
"I'd make it illegal to get ill while I'm spending quality time with my daughter."
"I'd make sure every Air Force colonel who couldn't stand the idea of having a woman on his team was forced to serve under a woman commander to learn that women could be just as good as men," Carter said, looking at O'Neill.
"We never did have that arm wrestle, did we?"
"I'd make sure every base in the galaxy had a team as good as SG-1," Hammond said.
"You're make us blush," O'Neill laughed, far from blushing.
"Which person from history do you relate to most?" All five of them thought for a while. Well, four of them looked like they were thinking and it was impossible to tell with Teal'c.
"I'd go for Louis Pasteur," Carter said at last, "he made several great discoveries, but the discovery he's most famous for was more chance than anything else. Discovering how the Stargate worked was done through trial and a lot of error."
"She's Hitler," O'Neill nodded towards Dr Fraiser, "she loves to control everyone and if anyone crosses her they're punished severely." He used to tone of horror to say, "Rectal examinations."
"OK, so I'm Hitler," Dr Fraiser laughed, "Who are you?"
"Julius Caesar." Even Teal'c looked puzzled at that comment. "I go around trying to discover new lands and people. And quite a lot of the time I feel like people are plotting against me." He gestured towards Carter and Teal'c.
"There's a difference between refusing to obey orders and plotting against you," Carter said.
"General Hammond?" the reporter inquired.
"I don't think there's ever been anyone who's had to put up with what I've had to put up with," Hammond said.
"I would choose Cra'anc," Teal'c said, "he was the Jaffa who found Kheb and first learned that the Goa'uld were not gods. However, if I must choose a figure from Earth history I would choose Martin Luther King."
"If you had to go and live on another planet, where would you go?"
"Technically, I already live on another planet," Carter said, "but not counting 813 I would go to Endras, to be with my father."
"I'd go to Abydos," O'Neill said, "they're such great people there."
"I would return to Chulak," Teal'c said, "the world of my birth."
"The genetic labs on Hanka would be fascinating," Dr Fraiser said, "plus it's my daughter's home world."
"Anywhere I could be sure of Jack O'Neill never going." Hammond's answer was met with laughter, especially when O'Neill threw a teaspoon at Hammond.
"Of all the races you have met who do you like the best?"
"I have to say the Tok'ra," Carter said, "because Dad might get to watch this interview."
"The Asgards definitely," O'Neill said, "I mean, they named a ship after me."
"However they did destroy the O'Neill before it was even finished," Teal'c added. This time it was a fork O'Neill threw.
"Since I am in fact a member of another race," Teal'c said, "I feel I should be allowed to say humans."
"I think I agree with Jack," Hammond said, "because the Asgard have done a lot to help Earth."
"And they're the only race to have shared any technology with us," Dr Fraiser added, "I love them for the bone fusion devices. It saves so much time when dealing with broken bones."
"This is a question just for the SG-1 members. What's the worst thing that's happened to you on a mission?"
"Dying," Carter and O'Neill said together.
"Or possible freezing to death in the Antarctic with no idea where we were," Carter added.
"I had a load of alien knowledge downloaded into my brain that meant I stopped being able to speak English or understand people," O'Neill said.
"I was stung by an insect that began to change me into those insects," Teal'c said.
"We all had our memories altered and were turned into slaves at one point," Carter said.
"The list is endless," O'Neill said.
"Well, that's all we've got time for," the reporter said, "I'd like to thank you all." There was chorus of 'your welcome's from round the table and then she turned off her maj recorder and left. Then a waiter came up to them and they ordered their meal so that they could enjoy the rest of the evening now that the business was out of the way. With Teal'c and Sam both off-world most of the time and Jack supposedly enjoying a quiet retirement in Minnesota they hardly ever had time together as friends. When the wine came Jack lifted his glass in a toast.
"To those people who should be here to celebrate this weekend but aren't," he said. As they drank, there wasn't a person round the table who wasn't thinking about Daniel.
***
Author's note: OK, I know Abydos was destroyed at the end of last season, but just assume for a minute it wasn't. It doesn't make a difference in this story really anyway.
The five of them were already sitting round the table in the restaurant when the reporter came in. She apologised for being late and placed her maj recorder on in the centre of the table so that it could record the scene. Like most of the devices to come out of the P6Y-813 research centre, the maj had got its name from a bad joke. The official name was Holo Matrix System. Some British scientist had mentioned that ships belonging to the Royal Navy all began with the initials HMS, so the system became known as the royals, and then eventually the majesties, which had later been shortened.
"Now," began the reporter, "I'm not going to talk about the event that made these people famous, as everybody should know about that, and for anyone that doesn't we have a program on it later this evening. I'm instead going to talk about you five: the saviours of our planet. What would you be doing now, if it wasn't for the Stargate Project?"
"I'd probably be a skeleton in a graveyard with a hole in my skull," General O'Neill said simply. This obviously shocked the reporter, so he went on to explain, "My son died just before I joined the project and I was a wreck. The Stargate Project and later the SGC gave my life meaning, a purpose."
"And what about you?" The reporter hurriedly moved on to the next person round the table.
"I'd be flying a transport plane or sitting around a military lab with nothing interesting to do and wondering why I decided to join the Air Force," Colonel Carter said with a grin.
"I would doubtless have been executed as a traitor," Teal'c said, "or I would be continuing to serve Apophis and aiding him kill and enslave innocent humans." That reply was almost as disturbing as O'Neill's. It was one thing to know about Teal'c's past, it was another to have him state it as though it were a perfectly normal thing.
"I'd be working in a hospital healing broken bones and other everyday injuries," Dr Fraiser said, "and probably wishing I could have some of the technology I have now to help me."
General Hammond spoke last, "I'd be enjoying a nice, quiet retirement somewhere, full of golf and fishing. I would have no idea how lucky I was not knowing Jack O'Neill."
"Hey!" O'Neill complained, "You'd be bored out of your mind without me and you know it!"
"True," Hammond admitted with a laugh.
"Of all the people who have worked with the Stargate, who do you admire the most, not including those here now?" the reporter asked next. The five of them all glanced at each other, some unreadable message passing silently between them. Teal'c just looked impassive.
"Kawalsky," O'Neill said, "he was brave, a good soldier, and a loyal friend."
"I don't know," Hammond said, "The SGC has had a lot of good of good men and women working for it. I don't feel that I could select any one of them."
"I would say Bra'tac," Teal'c said, "However I do not know if you would include him, for he is not of this world."
"Neither are you," O'Neill countered, "and you're one of the 'saviours of our planet'." Teal'c nodded in acknowledgement. "It's a difficult question to answer because we've all know so many good people," he continued to the reporter, "and not just the soldiers. We'd never have got anywhere without the doctors putting us back together when things got rough off-world," he gestured towards Dr Fraiser, "and then what about the scientists and historians? The scientists who worked on for the SGC are responsible for most of the technological breakthroughs of the past ten years, and the historians have altered our understanding of our own planet and culture."
"I never thought of you as much of a culture person."
"I'm a big fan of culture." There were snorts of laughter from three of the people round the table. Teal'c just raised his eyebrows.
"Then why have the words 'culture be damned' so frequently passed your lips?" Teal'c inquired.
"OK, so I've not always enthused about culture, but even the most bored participant in a dig picks up something. I've seen first hand on a lot of different planets just how culture affects people, so I'm not as against it as I used to be. I knew some good people at the SGC, who taught me to value things like history." Dr Fraiser and Carter glanced at each other.
"People do need to remember all those who aren't in the limelight," Carter agreed, "I've had a lot of good technicians and fellow scientists who've done a lot of good work when the world's about to be sucked into a black hole or destroyed by an alien artefact. But who's heard of people like Graham Simmons or Jonas Quinn?"
"Not me, I'm afraid," the reporter admitted.
"How is Jonas?" O'Neill asked.
"Fine," Carter replied, "we were worried he was going telepathic at one stage, but it turned out just to be a prank by some of the students who've come to the labs for work experience." That was met by laughter from round the table.
"Would any of you consider writing a book about your experiences with the SGC?"
"I might write a book about the physics of the Stargate," Carter said, "but it wouldn't make very interesting reading except to a theoretic astrophysicist who doesn't mind that it would be mostly theories with very little proof."
"Mine would probably be quite dull after a while," Dr Fraiser said. "'Did a post-mission physical, did a post-mission physical, found out SG-1 had an alien virus, found the cure to the alien virus, did a post-mission physical, did a post-mission physical, found out SG-1 had been turned into robots, did a post-mission physical, cured SG-1 of another alien disease, did a post-mission physical.' Hardly any variety."
"I had thought about writing a book before the SGC started," Hammond admitted, "but I'm not sure everything that's happened would fit in one book."
"I do not believe I know your language well enough to make such a book interesting," Teal'c said simply.
"Mine would be a ticket to a court marshal," O'Neill grinned, "I'd actually be putting down in words all those times I'd broken the regs, or disobeyed a direct order. I'm not sure I could keep track of them all."
"Now we're on to the questions that are supposed to give insights into your minds," the reporter said, "If you pretended to be a god, what would you do?"
"I would never do such a thing," Teal'c said instantly.
"I'd make sure there were no trees near any Stargate on any planet," O'Neill said with feeling. "You get through that Gate and the first thing you see is a load of damn trees! Every single time!" There was laughter around the table. "Oh, I'd also make sure every kid in the universe owned a dog."
"Dr Fraiser?"
"I'd make it illegal to get ill while I'm spending quality time with my daughter."
"I'd make sure every Air Force colonel who couldn't stand the idea of having a woman on his team was forced to serve under a woman commander to learn that women could be just as good as men," Carter said, looking at O'Neill.
"We never did have that arm wrestle, did we?"
"I'd make sure every base in the galaxy had a team as good as SG-1," Hammond said.
"You're make us blush," O'Neill laughed, far from blushing.
"Which person from history do you relate to most?" All five of them thought for a while. Well, four of them looked like they were thinking and it was impossible to tell with Teal'c.
"I'd go for Louis Pasteur," Carter said at last, "he made several great discoveries, but the discovery he's most famous for was more chance than anything else. Discovering how the Stargate worked was done through trial and a lot of error."
"She's Hitler," O'Neill nodded towards Dr Fraiser, "she loves to control everyone and if anyone crosses her they're punished severely." He used to tone of horror to say, "Rectal examinations."
"OK, so I'm Hitler," Dr Fraiser laughed, "Who are you?"
"Julius Caesar." Even Teal'c looked puzzled at that comment. "I go around trying to discover new lands and people. And quite a lot of the time I feel like people are plotting against me." He gestured towards Carter and Teal'c.
"There's a difference between refusing to obey orders and plotting against you," Carter said.
"General Hammond?" the reporter inquired.
"I don't think there's ever been anyone who's had to put up with what I've had to put up with," Hammond said.
"I would choose Cra'anc," Teal'c said, "he was the Jaffa who found Kheb and first learned that the Goa'uld were not gods. However, if I must choose a figure from Earth history I would choose Martin Luther King."
"If you had to go and live on another planet, where would you go?"
"Technically, I already live on another planet," Carter said, "but not counting 813 I would go to Endras, to be with my father."
"I'd go to Abydos," O'Neill said, "they're such great people there."
"I would return to Chulak," Teal'c said, "the world of my birth."
"The genetic labs on Hanka would be fascinating," Dr Fraiser said, "plus it's my daughter's home world."
"Anywhere I could be sure of Jack O'Neill never going." Hammond's answer was met with laughter, especially when O'Neill threw a teaspoon at Hammond.
"Of all the races you have met who do you like the best?"
"I have to say the Tok'ra," Carter said, "because Dad might get to watch this interview."
"The Asgards definitely," O'Neill said, "I mean, they named a ship after me."
"However they did destroy the O'Neill before it was even finished," Teal'c added. This time it was a fork O'Neill threw.
"Since I am in fact a member of another race," Teal'c said, "I feel I should be allowed to say humans."
"I think I agree with Jack," Hammond said, "because the Asgard have done a lot to help Earth."
"And they're the only race to have shared any technology with us," Dr Fraiser added, "I love them for the bone fusion devices. It saves so much time when dealing with broken bones."
"This is a question just for the SG-1 members. What's the worst thing that's happened to you on a mission?"
"Dying," Carter and O'Neill said together.
"Or possible freezing to death in the Antarctic with no idea where we were," Carter added.
"I had a load of alien knowledge downloaded into my brain that meant I stopped being able to speak English or understand people," O'Neill said.
"I was stung by an insect that began to change me into those insects," Teal'c said.
"We all had our memories altered and were turned into slaves at one point," Carter said.
"The list is endless," O'Neill said.
"Well, that's all we've got time for," the reporter said, "I'd like to thank you all." There was chorus of 'your welcome's from round the table and then she turned off her maj recorder and left. Then a waiter came up to them and they ordered their meal so that they could enjoy the rest of the evening now that the business was out of the way. With Teal'c and Sam both off-world most of the time and Jack supposedly enjoying a quiet retirement in Minnesota they hardly ever had time together as friends. When the wine came Jack lifted his glass in a toast.
"To those people who should be here to celebrate this weekend but aren't," he said. As they drank, there wasn't a person round the table who wasn't thinking about Daniel.
***
Author's note: OK, I know Abydos was destroyed at the end of last season, but just assume for a minute it wasn't. It doesn't make a difference in this story really anyway.