Caveman

Chapter 2

"Colonel" said General Hammond as he entered the briefing room where SG-1 was sitting. "I just read your report about your time on P3X-984 -that's the number the planet has been assigned- and as I understand, you and Dr Thompson made a quite precise reconnoiter of both the area and the vegetation around the gate. Am I correct?"

"Yes Sir. Thompson made quite an extensive survey of all vegetation around. We had to know what we could eat, or use as medicine. Not that it helped him much..." Jack answered, lowering his eyes.

"And apart from these bugs, you didn't encounter any dangerous life form?" the General continued.

"Well Sir. The bugs aren't really dangerous. I got 2 bites myself, it burns for a few hours, kind of wasp sting feeling..."

"If they aren't dangerous, then why did Thompson die from them?" Daniel interrupted.

"Like wasps Daniel. One or two are OK. But if you trip and lay in the middle of their nest for half a day..."

"Ouch..." Daniel responded.

"So no threatening life forms, and weather conditions comparable to Earth's temperate zones?" Hammond continued.

"Pretty much the same for spring and summer yeah. At least at the gate location. I have no idea how it looks on the other side of the planet" Jack precised.

"I do not expect you to, Colonel. But what concerns us as a first priority is the area close to the gate for the time being. I would like you and your team to go back to the planet and take samples of each plant you identified together with Dr Thompson"

"We've already done that Sir. The samples are still in the cavern, all classed and sorted in six different packs, corresponding to the areas they are from. It would take us less than a couple of hours to go and get them, then I could tell you what I remember about those"

"That sounds very promising Colonel!" Hammond beamed. "SG-8 will accompany you and establish a temporary base on the planet to study these samples. I'd rather not have them back on Earth before we are sure they don't represent a danger"

"May I ask why you are all... might I say... excited about those plants Sir?" Jack wondered.

"As a matter of fact Colonel, it is not only the plants. I want all living forms on that planet listed and identified, and I want that temple studied too" said General Hammond with a broad smile. "If the requirements for security and food supplies are met, we could very well establish an alpha site on the planet!"

"That would be wonderful Sir!" Sam agreed.

"Yeah!" Daniel supplied.

"That's cool" Jack added casually. "As long as a permanent and functioning DHD is on the priority list, I'm in"

"Of course, Colonel, of course. Captain Carter and Sergeant Siler are working on it" Hammond informed. Jack cast a side glance at his 2IC, who smiled at him to confirm.

"Good" he acknowledged with a smirk. He had argued many times with Kinsey for the establishment of an alpha site off-world and if his last six months could help with that, he was delighted!

"Doctor Jackson, you and Dr Tanner from SG-7 will continue to study the data you brought back from that temple. I want to know who built it and why"

"Yes Sir" Daniel answered, looking forward to the exciting challenge.

When SG-1 returned from the cavern with the plant samples, they were surprised to find a full deployment at the gate. A temporary camp was being set up, as two SG-teams and a number of scientists would be working on a two weeks preliminary study of the planet. If the results were satisfactory, which O'Neill didn't doubt, the new alpha site would be a reality in the course of the following months.

Jack was on his way to Sam's lab when he met her down the hall.

"Going somewhere Carter?"

"As a matter of fact, I am, Sir. General Hammond asked me to the briefing room immediately"

"He did, did he?" wondered Jack, turning his heels to follow her. On their way, they met Daniel, who had also been called by Hammond.

"What does he want with you people?"

"No idea Jack. We'll know soon enough" Daniel answered.

As the three of them entered the large room, they found it already occupied by SG-7 and -11 as well as several scientists. Wondering what was happening, the 3 friends sat down in silence, waiting for Hammond to finish the phone call that kept him in his office.

"Colonel O'Neill, I see you are here too. Good" posed Hammond when he came in. "Airman, go and get Teal'c. We might as well have all members of SG-1 present. Captain Mansfield, you have the floor"

"Thank you Sir. SG-7 was on a geological mission on P3X-984 in the area Colonel O'Neill and Dr Thompson explored, Sir" the Captain informed, casting a glance at O'Neill. "We found very interesting rock formations that are very similar to what is found on Earth, which explains why the vegetation is comparable to that of Earth as well" he continued, still observing O'Neill who was obviously already bored. Teal'c entered, bowed silently to the room, and sat down with his team. Captain Mansfield continued, flipping to the next picture of his presentation.

"As you can see, these rocks present clear tracks of fossilized vegetation. These samples have been extracted from layers we dated back to about 7000 years ago" he said, quite excited. The other scientists were clearly interested too but Jack was growing more and more bored and wondered why he had to attend the meeting at all. Rocks were never his field and he never had any interest for them. When Daniel, eyes wide open, loudly interrupted "That's fascinating!", Jack felt that was the last straw! He had been on his way to Carter to avoid his paperwork, but now he felt a sudden longing for the damned paper stack. He was about to ask Hammond to dismiss him, but Mansfield continued.

"Isn't it Dr Jackson?! You can see that these plants are clearly of tropical nature, although we were miles away from the gate and the only tropical forest in the area. Which means the forest was much larger at the time, and I wouldn't be surprised if the whole planet was covered with tropical plants back then!"

"Why would you say that Captain?" asked Hammond.

"Well, General, the layers are so thick that one has to assume that type of vegetation has been dominant for several thousands of years on the planet. The change in vegetation, and thus, in climate, is quite recent"

"Do you have any idea of what could have caused the change?" Daniel asked.

"We don't have enough data for that yet Dr Jackson" the Captain regretfully answered.

"So what you are saying here is that with the climate as it is today, the vegetation cannot be tropical, right? Then how do you explain the tropical forest around the temple?" Jack pointed mischievously. He loved to stress the little detail that could throw scientists' theories down. From the Captain's look, he had succeeded.

"We... we don't exactly know that yet Sir... the nature of the soil and the irrigation are comparable between the tropical and the non tropical areas" But to Jack's disappointment, Sam came to the scientist's rescue.

"Sir, I would like to go back to the planet and make some energy readings around the temple. I suspect there could be a radiation of some sort that would favor this kind of vegetation"

"Good. SG-1 and -11, you have a go. You leave in two hours. SG-7, dismissed. I want your reports on my desk by tomorrow"

As they raised to leave the table, Sam could swear she heard the Colonel mumble "Spoilsport" under his breath...


Jack was tired. They had gone back and forth in the thick forest for hours now, him going first with a machete to open the way for Sam, who followed with her instruments. Teal'c was doing the same for Daniel about 30 yards away. They had gone from the temple and out to the edge, then back to the temple and out to the edge again following another line, and back again, he felt like his arms were about to fall off and he was certain he would be so stiff that he would not be able to use them for 2 days.

"Carter! I'm not going any further. The whole forest is ruined, we've hacked all the branches under 5 feet, I'm sure you have more than enough data by now!" he complained.

"Just one more ray Sir. When we reach the edge at the end of this line, there will be no doubt left" she beamed in her excitement. He could never say no when she had this Christmas look on her face.

"Promise?" he smiled.

"Promise Sir!" she giggled. Giggled!? He was nearly impatient to hear what her conclusion was now, it looked pretty exciting alright! He lifted his arm again, and lowered it on the next creeper. Five minutes later, he crossed the edge of the forest and turned to wait for his 2IC. She was so concentrated on her readings that she was just cute, he thought.

"Bingo!" she jumped happily when she crossed the edge too. 30 yards away, Daniel showed the same reaction. They rushed to each other.

"Did you have a drop too?" Sam yelled at him.

"Yeah! Just at the edge! On every single ray!" Daniel yelled eagerly back.

"What?" Jack wanted to know.

"Sir! This is incredible!" Sam explained, a little out of breath in her excitement. Her eyes were twinkling and her cheeks lightly colored, she was awesome... "We measured every line we took from the temple and out to the edge, it appears that the forest is perfectly circular, with the temple in its center. We have a weak but constant reading of energy in the forest, but it drops to zero at the edge"

"So what does that mean Carter?"

"Well Sir, it looks like the forest is in some sort of energy field. Probably a kind of dome which creates the conditions for the forest to exist"

"Really?" Jack wondered. "That's weird. What would this be for?"

"I have no idea Sir. But the fact is that it is exactly what this is"

"Do you think the energy is coming from the temple Captain Carter?" Teal'c inquired.

"It would be logical Teal'c, but the energy is constant in the forest, I think it would be stronger at the center if it radiated from the temple...?"

"That's true" Daniel supplied. "And we didn't find anything looking like a power source inside"

"OK, let's go back to the temple and you take readings from every stone in that thing. But first, we take a lunch break at the camp. They have mashed potatoes and beef on the menu!" Jack said with enthusiasm. That was the good thing with a temporary outpost: they grilled the meat on a real grill instead of canteen cooking. On the other hand, they didn't have cake, but it was worth it, and he could compensate with a chocolate bar anyway so that was no big deal. They made their way back, noticing the dark clouds the chilly autumn wind had pushed toward them.

"Let's hope it won't rain before we are finished here" Daniel noted.

"You are right Daniel, it could falsify the readings" Sam added innocently. She cast a glance at Jack, and yeah, he was rolling his eyes.

A lunch and three cups of coffee later, SG-1 was back at the temple with powerful lamps to try and find any sign they could have missed the first time. They also tried to touch, press, and Sam was scanning every millimeter of the wall surface in an attempt to find a slight change in the energy readings. Very soon again, Jack felt boredom wash over him. At least he didn't have to cut through the forest, and he could massage his arms, but this was perhaps worse as he didn't have anything to do. He went out and tried to climb the pyramid, but there was nothing to see at the top, except for a little cavity. He felt suddenly dizzy. Missing his grip, he rolled all the way down.

"What was that?" Daniel asked from inside the temple.

"It appears to come from outside of the temple Daniel Jackson" Teal'c contributed.

"Where is the Colonel!?" Sam worried, hurrying outside.

"Aaawwwh... Ahh! Ohhw.. Over here.." Jack whimpered.

"Sir! Are you alright?!" Sam rushed to his side.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just some small bruises I think" he said, feeling his ribs and trying to get on his feet.

"What happened Jack?" Daniel wanted to know.

"I.. I climbed to the top, see if I could find the power source there. There's nothing by the way, looks like a chimney of some sort. But then, I just.. lost my balance" he said, embarrassed.

"Why?" Daniel insisted.

"Why! Why!?" Jack was irritated he would insist on that. But Sam and Teal'c were looking at him, clearly wanting to know more too. "Alright, I got dizzy, that's it. Kind of vertigo if you must know" he snapped.

"But Sir, you never had a problem with heights or dizziness in the past!" Sam questioned.

"No. Never" Jack admitted. At that, Sam started to climb the temple. "Hey! Where you going?"

"I want to know why you got dizzy up there" she said, continuing her ascension. As she reached the top, she looked inside the chimney and felt the vertigo too. As she was prepared, she just griped the side of the chimney and lowered herself so her head was not over it anymore. When her head had cleared up, she reached for her energy reader and placed it over the top. Then she let herself slide down, where Jack and Teal'c waited to catch her.

"So?" Jack wanted to know.

"You were right Sir. There is a chimney, and as I looked inside I got dizzy too. The energy readings up there went off scale. I am certain there is an energy dome over the tropical forest, and it is emitting from there" she said, pointing toward the top of the pyramid.

"Good job Captain!" Jack acknowledged. "Now what?"

"We have to find the energy source and the control panel. I want to know what this dome is for"

"Right" Jack said reluctantly "Let's go back in there"

And back in there they went. And Jack was bored again. He didn't enter the Air Force to make out with old stones, for crying out loud! He placed himself on the center tile and directed his light up the roof.

"You know, these people didn't understand the point with chimneys, did they? There's no opening from here. Santa can't come down!" He glanced at Sam and saw her repress a smile. Good.

"Jack, I know you are bored" came the annoyed voice of Daniel "but could you please concentrate on finding this power source?"

"Oh come on Daniel! We've looked everywhere! There's nothing here!" Before Daniel could answer and start a fight, Sam intervened.

"Sir, the power source HAS to be somewhere here. The readings were very clear. Can you give us one more hour? Sir?" she added with a begging smile.

"Alright alright" Jack complied. "One hour, then we go back!"

"Thank you Sir" Sam smiled again. "I don't understand where this power source could be hidden" she said, resuming her readings.

"Power source, power source, where are you?" Jack said, trying to think like a temple builder.

Suddenly, the inside of the temple irradiated a warm blue light which made SG-1 jump away from the walls.

"What's that?" Daniel wondered.

"O'Neill!?" Teal'c noticed, alarmed. Jack was gone.

Turning to the spot where he had been standing, the three members of SG-1 noticed the central tile moving silently back to place.

"There!" they yelled, rushing to the tile to try and keep it open. But they came too late.

"Jack!"

"Sir!"

"O'Neill!"

They all shouted at the stone floor, then shut up to try and listen for an answer. Very faint, they heard:

"Down there! I'm down there!"

"Where is that?" Daniel shouted back.

"Under the temple!"

"Sir! Can you come back?"

"No!" said the faint but clearly irritated and somehow panicked answer. The radio didn't work between Jack and the others for some reason, so they had to yell to hear each other.

"What did you do? Did you touch something?"

"No!" Jack yelled again.

"Jack! You must have done something!" Daniel insisted.

"I didn't do anything! I was standing still, thinking about that power source!" said Jack, confused.

"The Jaffa tell legends about a people who disappeared long ago. They had very powerful minds and their technology was mind activated" Teal'c informed with his deep, calm voice. "Could O'Neill have activated a mechanism with his mind?"

"That's a good idea Teal'c" Sam approved. "Sir! You have to concentrate on coming up in this room"

"What?" said the faint answer.

"Hum.. Daniel, I think my voice isn't deep enough to reach through the stone. You try"

"Jack! Stand on the same spot and concentrate on coming up here"

"What?"

"Concentrate Jack! Come up here!"

After a few seconds, the tile opened and Jack rose from the floor.

"That's... Wow..." said Daniel astonished.

"Sir! Good to have you back! Where have you been?"

Jack was mesmerized. He was looking around and didn't understand what had just happened.

"I don't know! One minute I was there, the next I am here! What happened?!"

"Sir, Teal'c thinks the technology could be mind activated. When you stood here and concentrated on the power source, you were sent to it. Or at least, I assume you were? What did you see?"

"Yeah you right, I was... It's full of crystals and doohickeys down there, but..."

"I knew it! I knew it!" Daniel jumped in excitement.

"Sir, do you mind?" asked Sam, pushing Jack gently away from the tile and standing there herself. The three men looked at her while she was concentrating, preparing themselves to see her disappear, but nothing happened.

"How did you do it Sir?" she asked, frustrated.

"Why, I don't know! I just thought about finding the power source!"

"Obviously it's not working for me..." Sam stepped out, disappointed. "Teal'c, you try"

The big Jaffa stood on the tile and concentrated. Nothing.

"Try deep concentration, like you do when you kelno'reem!" suggested Daniel. It did not help.

"Perhaps because I am a Jaffa. You should try, Daniel Jackson" Teal'c conceded after a while. The archaeologist stepped eagerly in Teal'c's place and concentrated.

"I don't get it" Daniel dropped irritated. "None of us seems to be able to activate this thing. Jack! Try it again will you?" Jack was not eager to experience that thing again, although he obliged. He stepped on the tile, closed his eyes and concentrated. The light in the room got slightly more intense and he sank into the floor. The three other members of SG-1 just gaped, speechless, then he rose up again..

"How..?! Why...?!" Daniel stammered.

"I dunno! You tell me!" Jack protested. It took a few minutes before they all came back to their spirits.

"It appears O'Neill has an ability we don't possess" Teal'c stressed, always the pragmatic.

"That's disturbing" Daniel noted, earning a murderous glance from Jack.

"I agree, it's strange, but these are the facts. Sir, as you are the only one who can access to the power source, you have to make the observations and records yourself. I would like you to take Daniel's camera down, film all you see, then film the energy reader as you slowly swipe the devices you see. Could you do that Sir?" Sam said with so much confidence in her eyes that Jack didn't even think about refusing her.

"Yeah sure" he said, taking the instruments she handed him. Then he sank through the floor and the others waited anxiously. Ten minutes later, he was back, and they all left to the camp, chatting about Jack's "power" and all the implications that could have regarding the planet's technology and the people who built the temple...

They reported to Major Ferretti who was responsible for the camp, then they walked to the gate. Sam reached for the portable DHD when Jack suddenly stopped her.

"Wait a minute. I want to try something" he said. Then he closed his eyes and appeared to enter a deep state of meditation. The gate began to spin and all the seven chevrons locked at an incredible speed. The three other members of SG-1 were again speechless, their eyes going from their leader to the gate and back. When the usual kawoosh sounded, Jack seemed to wake up. He turned rather pale, clenched his jaws, sent the IDC and, resolutely, climbed the steps to the gate. The others followed without a word, casting concerned looks to each other.

On the other side, General Hammond was waiting for his best team. When he saw Colonel O'Neill emerge from the pool, he was eager to hear what news they had for him.

"Colonel! How was the mission?" he asked, smiling.

O'Neill walked stiffly down the ramp while his companions stepped in and the wormhole collapsed. The three of them walked slowly down. The General's smile faded at the Colonel's strain and hard features. Jack stopped a brief instant in front of his CO, he opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but no sound came out. His hard eyes bored through the General's soul, and he left the gate room.

"What...?" the General uttered, confused. His eyes were switching between the stiff frame of his 2IC disappearing through the door, and the rest of his team still on the ramp, clearly uneasy.

"What the hell has happened?" Hammond demanded, regaining control.

"It's a long story Sir" Sam answered.

"What's it all about Captain?" The General required an explanation at once. While Sam and Daniel were reporting the big lines, Teal'c discretely left the room.

As he reached the locker room, he heard loud sounds from the lockers' metallic doors. He stepped in and stood just inside as the door closed itself shut. He observed O'Neill as he was undressing and throwing his clothes down in a rage, punching the lockers with the flat of his hands now and then. As he sat down to remove his socks, he got a glimpse of Teal'c standing there. Keeping his back to him, he snapped:

"What!?"

"You could not have known O'Neill"

"I had the power to dial that gate all the time and I didn't know it! Six months Teal'c! Six months!"

"There was no way for you to know that you had this power O'Neill"

"Thompson would still be alive if I had found out!"

"You are not responsible O'Neill. This ability was completely unknown to you at the time"

"He would still be alive Teal'c"

Jack jumped to his feet and disappeared in one of the shower cubicles. He heard Teal'c leaving, then he turned the water on and let it fall down on him. Resting his forehead against the cool tiles, he cried.


Daniel had been digging in every book of his office and used countless hours on archaeological websites to try and find references to the people Teal'c had mentioned. He was so frustrated at the total lack of results that he was turning frantic and was definitely sleep deprived. The closest he could come to a mind controlled culture was Atlantis, but there was close to nothing about them when it came to original documents.

Meanwhile, Sam has been analyzing the data Jack had collected in the control room of the temple. She came to the conclusion that most of the many crystals in place were depleted. Creating a simulation program, she had discovered that if the crystals were functional, they would provide energy enough for the temple to emit a dome over half of the planet. The deployment of a satellite in the planet's orbit had confirmed her theory that they would find another temple on the opposite side, as she figured that two of them would be sufficient to shield the planet completely. Her findings were confirming Captain Mansfield's observations and his theory that the planet was once covered with tropical forests. However, the satellite had not shown any other construction on the planet, and did not detect life concentration indicating settlements, other than the temporary camp SGC had established. The planet was definitely uninhabited, which indicated that the people who had built the temples had left or become extinct, and although these results were interesting, they did not explain why these people would have used so much energy to create the domes.

Another person at the SGC was growing frustrated with the mysteries P3X-984 provided. Doctor Fraiser had run all the tests she could think of, and found nothing to explain Colonel O'Neill's unique ability to activate the gate and the temple. There HAD to be something different with him! But scanners, brain activity patterns, genetic readings, blood and marrow samples, etc etc, showed nothing different from random other men. There were of course the usual variations that made individuals unique, but she couldn't make herself to believe that those would be enough to explain Colonel O'Neill's ability. As long as he was the only one able to activate the devices, she would not have the chance to compare and find what factor was required to do so, and she did not believe his ability could come from the six months he had been on the planet, as his physiology was unchanged. The man himself was not helping, he was definitely not enjoying the attention and had been most unpleasant at the beginning of the tests, despite her authority. She had had no choice but to ask for General Hammond's help, who had ordered the Colonel to cooperate. Since then, he had been reluctant but at least, he was not aggressive anymore.

The mood at the SGC was tense as the frustration was growing, and General Hammond ordered both SG-1 and Janet Fraiser to take some down time. Happy to have some time to blame himself without anyone to attempt convincing him that he was wrong to, Jack was sitting on his deck with a 6-pack, turning absent minded his sausages on the grill while he contemplated wild geese calling each other to keep their V-formation on their way to warmer parts of the country, in anticipation of the upcoming winter. As he was washing down his second hot dog with a beer, he heard the gravel screech in his driveway and rolled his eyes. Daniel and a new pep talk! he thought, annoyed. He decided not to answer the door, and remained seated, waiting for Daniel to get the clue and leave.

"Hi Sir!" said Sam's voice in his back. He jumped and turned to face Sam, followed by the rest of his team. "You didn't answer the door" she said, slightly embarrassed to intrude in his back yard. "We brought pizzas and a movie" she added, attempting to sound cheerful.

"I didn't answer the door for a reason, Carter" he snapped, not in the mood for being cheered up. She cringed and he felt bad for it. It was not her fault that he had failed to save Thompson. The two other men walked closer to her as to give her support. Should he keep being his bad ass self to make them leave, or should he give in, enjoy a team evening, and quit focusing on his sorry ass? He sighted and decided for the last one.

"Beer?" he offered. The tension left and trying smiles appeared on every one's face. The self-invited guests found themselves a seat, pizza boxes were opened and Jack went in to get some more beer. Sam followed to get paper napkins and they met in the kitchen.

"I'm sorry Carter" he said.

"For what Sir?"

"For snapping at you out there. My bad humor had nothing to do with you" he explained, lowering his eyes. She didn't answer, but put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a light kiss on the cheek.

"I understand. There's no need for apologies Sir" she smiled. Confused by her unexpected gesture, he kept his eyes on her without a word. She took a couple of steps back, reached for the napkins and was on her way to leave the kitchen when he finally said: "Thanks"

She turned and smiled, waiting for him. He smiled back and followed her out. After the pizzas, they gathered inside to see the Lord of the Ring. The movie was old, an animated classic from 1978, just as Jack liked them, and Teal'c was fascinated by a new fantasy story of the Taur'i. Daniel however, doze in the middle of the show. He had definitely had too little sleep during the week.

"I've seen that movie many times with Charlie" Jack said softly. "He used to love it"

"Yeah?" Sam didn't know how to respond. It was so seldom Jack mentioned his son.

"Yeah. We had even begun to read the book together" Jack added, his eyes leaving the screen to rest on her. He was smiling, it was a good memory, and she smiled back.

"Thanks" he added. She understood, and reached to squeeze his hand. He squeezed hers back, and they returned their attention to the movie.

As the credits were rolling on the screen, Teal'c came out of the trance TV-watching always seemed to put him in. Jack pressed the rewind button on the remote and switched the main light on. Sam stretched her legs, and Daniel came around as the ambiance in the room was changing.

"This movie was fascinating" Teal'c commented. "The Elf queen Galadriel is very similar to the powerful minded people in the Jaffa legend"

"You mean, the people who could have built the temples on P3X-984?" Sam asked with interest.

"Yes Captain Carter. According to the legend, these people lived in deep symbiosis with their natural environment, similarly to the Nox. However they communicated in each other's mind. They also had the ability to move objects by the sole power of their minds, but they did not usually do so to build habitations of stones. It is believed that the stones required too much energy to be formed and lifted by the sole power of the mind, therefore these people used to live in huts of lighter materials. The legends tell of wooden habitations plaited between trees, high above the ground level"

"Like the Ewoks?" Daniel asked in disbelief.

"I am not familiar with these people Daniel Jackson" Teal'c answered with his usual impassibility.

"The Ewoks? Star Wars? You haven't seen Star Wars Teal'c?" Daniel spouted, shocked.

"I have not, Daniel Jackson" Teal'c answered, mildly offended.

"Okaaaaaaaaaay! Oh you really have to see it Teal'c! You'll love it I'm sure!" Daniel offered, eager to share this piece of culture with his alien friend. Teal'c bowed lightly in acceptance.

"More beer?" dropped Jack in an attempt to change the subject. He was not willing to talk about the planet nor the mind freaks that lived on it some thousands years ago, now that he had managed to set his own mind on something else. "I also got ice cream!" he tempted.

He produced a box of cones, each of his friends helping themselves while he kept on with his beer. The conversation had gone from the Ewoks to Luke Skywalker and C3PO, to Han Solo and Chewbacca. The subjects were safe enough and Jack relaxed in the sofa, enjoying Daniel's description of the famous personages and Teal'c's studious concentration. Sam was licking her cone dutifully, listening to the conversation without participating: Daniel managed very well on his own. Jack was looking while she licked delicately at the cream attempting to drip along the side of her cone. With the tip of her tongue, she followed the drop's path back up to the edge, and licked around the ice so she would catch any potential coming drop. In his wicked mind, Jack imagined she was doing the same in a completely different setting, and his throat went dry as his groin reacted forcefully. She closed her lips on the top of the ice and sucked lightly, at which Jack nearly let a groan escape. He closed his eyes to regain control of himself, and as he opened them again, he met Sam's intense gaze on him. He blushed furiously, and while she lowered her eyes in embarrassment, he couldn't help but notice that she was turning bright red too. God! She knew! He could have slapped himself! He jumped on his feet and offered casually to go and make some coffee. Not waiting for any answer, he hasted to the kitchen. Resting his forehead on a cupboard to catch his breath and chase the lust from his mind, he reached for the coffee machine with a shivering hand and started filling the water compartment. Slowly, he found the coffee and filled the filter. He just hoped she would have eaten her ice cream up before he returned. If he would return. He was not sure he could face her again this evening. CO-O'Neill was giving Wicked-O'Neill an earful in his head: "Shame on you! She is you 2IC!" "Yeah, so what? She is beautiful and damn hot!" "What were you thinking about!?" "Oh! You know very well what I was thinking about!" "Yeah! Exactly! You are not allowed to do that!" "I'm not allowed to do it but I was only fantasying. There's no regulations about that is it?" "Well... it should be. But you were an idiot to do it so she could make you out." "Yeah. That was stupid." both O'Neills agreed with themselves. In the living room, 2IC-Carter was doing the same with Wicked-Carter, and they both came to the same conclusion.


SG-7 and -11 had delivered positive mission reports about living forms and geological findings, the planet seemed to be safe and the Pentagon had given the green light to establish a temporary alpha site there. The SGC was frantically engaged in that project, as materials, machines and supplies were lowered to the gate room through Cheyenne mountain's silo, and sent through the gate to the alpha site.

At first, Jack had been considered for the post of new commander of the alpha site, but the Joined Chiefs had decided against it, judging that he was better used as leader of SG-1 for the time being. Major Castleman from SG-3 was appointed instead and took several teams with him, as well as Sgt Siler to help installing the facilities' large computer park. Everyone was very excited by the project, although the remaining SGC personal resumed their usual work, with the usual most improbable incidents. During their last mission on PX3-989, SG-1 had been duplicated and replaced by androids. SG-6 had been attacked by carnivorous plants. SG-10 contracted an alien disease and had to be confined in isolation for 3 weeks.

Between missions, Sam continued to analyze the data collected by Jack in the temple. She hoped they could study and use the technology for other purposes, especially if she could convert the energy from the dome to build shields that would protect the planet against attacks from mother ships. They assumed that the temples' crystals had depleted, and as the domes regressed, the warm and stable climate had been replaced by a harsher one, causing a dramatic change in the vegetation. If the people had, as Teal'c had explained, a symbiotic relationship with their habitat, the loss of the tropical forest would have been their doom. Daniel assumed that the gate had been left by the Ancients, as everywhere else, but the temples didn't fit. Ancients would have left writings on the walls. Teal'c's recalling of Jaffa legends didn't help either, as the people he was telling about did not build with stones. It was annoying to not be able to loose this mystery!

"Sir, are you sure you filmed everywhere in the basement of the temple?" Sam insisted.

"Yes I'm sure Captain!" Jack answered annoyed. She had asked him that question at least 10 times since they had come back from the planet. "You'll have to trust me on that ya know!" he added with a smirk. He knew she didn't like to be unable to go there herself, and for that matter he would gladly have given her his place. Why he was the only one to manage that was beyond everyone's comprehension, which added to the mystery of the temple. It had been suggested that his long exposure to the planet's atmosphere, air, water or nutriments could be responsible for that, but Fraiser had found nothing to sustain the theory. The teams stationed on the alpha site were regularly making attempts to activate the gate with their minds, without success. Sam and Daniel wanted very much to go and see the other temple, but without a ship it was impossible, the planet being far too big to travel there by foot, and they could not send any large vehicle over through the gate.

"Sir, I'd like to try something" Sam proposed. "What if there was a beam or teletransport device from one temple to the other?"

"And what makes you think there could be such a thing as a teletransporter on that planet Carter?" Jack sarcastically asked. Man! He could have done without all the fuss! Why didn't they find someone else to play with?!

"She got a point Jack!" Daniel intervened. "Look! Everything on this planet is mind activated, so if the temples are linked together, it makes sense that those who managed the devices and took care of the domes would want to be able to travel easily from one to the other!"

Jack rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to snap something back but General Hammond was faster.

"That's very possible Doctor Jackson. Colonel, I know you are not keen on this, but I want you and your team to test everything to find out what we can about these temples. Being able to protect a whole planet with a dome is certainly an alien technology we would like to acquire. SG-1, you leave in one hour. Dismissed"

His mouth still opened, the words useless now, Jack saw Hammond raise from his chair to go back to his office, and he didn't miss the smile Sam and Daniel exchanged. Disgusted, he threw himself back in his seat, passing his hands on his face. Why the hell did he have to be the only one to do this thing?