Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate or any of its characters.
Chapter 2
Teal'c sat at the table with the Sam and Janet, they had been dismissed from their briefing and General Hammond had immediately gone into his office to talk to the President and Bashenne had been set the task of listing his conditions. They had all hung around near the Briefing room for over an hour and a half to try and get some idea what was going on. General Hammond had called the White House and from what little they had been able to figure out he had been authorised to discuss the other conditions with Bashenne.
After the briefing they had all been ordered not to mention this to anyone until they knew more. He, Janet and Sam had decided to come to the commissary as they hadn't eaten since before they had left Myena. Jack and Daniel had wanted to stick around a little longer but had promised to join them soon. The news that the Myenans were going to give them an off world base that they wanted SG1 and Janet to command had been unexpected to say the least. No one had expected to get this much out of their arrangement with the Myenans, the most they had hoped for was to be able to trade knowledge and maybe gain a little advanced technology.
"I don't understand why they want me to help command the base, I'm only a doctor"
"It's probably for the same reason they only wanted to deal with SG1 when they first met us. They don't trust other races and they want people they have come to know and trust in command of the base" Teal'c answered her, he had a feeling that question had been bothering her since the issue had been brought up. "However you are a most capable person and thus have gained the Myenans trust and respect" He added.
"Thanks Teal'c"
"Well it makes sense" Sam said smiling.
"Yeah I guess so"
Jack and Daniel joined them in the Commissary and took seats at the table. "Well after talking to Bashenne about something General Hammond has called the White House again. Bashenne hasn't left the briefing room and I'm guessing he isn't allowed to" Daniel said sitting down.
"No one has said anything to you yet?"
"Not a word"
"I don't think I can eat anything else" Sam said as she pushed the plate in front of her away and Jack started to eat the food instead. Daniel had also begun to eat the food on Janet's plate, under normal circumstances she probably would have stopped him but she probably couldn't eat much either anyway.
"What I don't understand" Daniel said "Is if they had this base all along why didn't they go to it when their planet was destroyed?"
"Well Bashenne said the base wasn't finished and that they had considered relocation but that Myena was their home and they didn't want to leave it" Sam responded.
"But if they had been able to complete the base and the Goau'ld hadn't attacked them, some of their people would have had to leave anyway"
"But it wouldn't necessarily have been permanent, the personnel on the base could have been switched at various times allowing people to return home"
"I think we should all try and get some sleep, something tells me it's going to be a while before we find out anything and we haven't slept in almost 24 hours" Everyone nodded and got up from the table.
Sam was staring at the ceiling, she couldn't seem to make her mind shut off. She turned to look at the clock by the side of the bed and realised she had been laying there for 6 hours. She got up and decided to take walk. She found herself in the infirmary and wasn't surprised to see Janet was there.
"Hey" she said as Janet spotted her "Couldn't sleep either?"
"No" Janet answered "To much going on in my head"
"Same here" Sam said as she sat on one of the beds and Janet sat down opposite her on another bed. They both talked for a while and before they knew it several hours had gone by.
"I can't believe their going to give us an off world base?" Sam said finally getting into the conversation they had both been avoiding.
"I can't believe they want us in command, Do you think the president will go for it?" Janet asked
"I don't know" Sam replied, she wasn't sure how she felt about the situation yet.
"Well Hammonds off the phone" they both looked up as they heard Jack's voice and saw Jack, Daniel and Teal'c walk in. Sam watched as Daniel moved to sit on the bed next to Janet and had to suppress a smile. Jack sat next to her on the bed opposite them and Teal'c stood by the sides of the beds.
"He and Bashenne are in the briefing room now"
"So they're actually considering this"
"Looks that way"
"So what do you guys think about all this?" Sam asked
"I don't think it's really sunk in yet and apparently it hasn't let any of us sleep, besides we don't know that Washington is going to accept the terms, hell we don't even know what the terms are"
"I don't like being kept in the dark, this decision involves us as much as anyone else, more even" Sam had been getting more and more irritated as the hours went by and they were told nothing.
"Excuse me, SG1, Dr Frasier" they all turned to the man who had just walked into the room "General Hammond wants to see you in the briefing room"
Sam felt her muscles go tense and she felt Jack have a similar response, in front of her Daniel and Janet exchanged a glance and Teal'c was now standing much more stiffly. The effect those words had had on all five of them was clearly visible as they all headed up to the briefing room.
Daniel walked into the briefing room to find General Hammond and Bashenne already in their seats. Sg1 all took up the same seats they had been occupying hours ago and looked at General Hammond who gave nothing away.
"Well as I'm sure you're all well aware I've been on the phone with Washington for several hours.
"Yes Sir, we are all very aware" Jack said letting Hammond know he wasn't happy about having been kept out of the loop for this long.
Hammond seemed to ignore the comment "I have discussed the off world base and the conditions attached with both Bashenne and the White House. They have accepted the terms"
Daniel felt his jaw drop and he watched the others have similar reactions as Hammond continued his little speech.
"General O'Neill, you will be given command of the base"
"General?" Jack asked
"Yes and Colonel Carter"
"Colonel?" Sam asked
"Yes Colonel, you will be in command of SG1 and second in command of the base. Dr Frasier you will be Chief Medical Officer on the base"
Everyone just sat there staring at General Hammond as he told them what there new positions were, Daniel was sure Hammond was trying not to laugh.
"You will go with Bashenne to take a look at the base and determine how much work is still left to do. You leave in one hour, dismissed"
General Hammond got up and left the room, Daniel watched as Jack turned to Sam
"Did we just get promoted?"
"Yes Sir I think we did" she answered both their voices clearly showing their shock.
"I'm a General and you're a colonel?"
"Yes Sir"
"I think I need to sit down"
"Jack you are sitting down" Daniel added helpfully
"Oh, then I need to stay sitting down"
"Me too" Janet said from beside Daniel, a sentiment which he was sure the whole team shared.
"So Bashenne, tell us more about this base"
"It is very large and there is much of our old technology there, including some of our computers and planetary defence systems. There are over three hundred living quarters for personnel and their families should anyone wish or be allowed to take them along. Outside the base there is nothing but forests .Me ands a few of my people will be accompanying you to the base where we can show you how to use our advanced technology".
"How much of the work was completed before you stopped construction?"
"Most of it but there is still a lot to do, it will take several months to complete it"
"So if you had this base why didn't you go through the gate and live their after the attack?"
"As I told you before, we did not want to leave Myena"
"But there was nothing left for you on Myena, it was destroyed"
"There is a belief among my people if you are pure of heart and worthy that a home protects its inhabitants, but should you leave that home you lose the protection"
"What about the people who died in the attack, home didn't protect them very much"
"They were not worthy or pure of heart, we believe it was punishment for the sins our people have made over the years and we were spared to give our people a second chance"
"Like Noah's Ark" Daniel said
"What is Noah's ark?" Bashenne asked
"It's a story among our people from long ago, that our God was displeased by the sins of our people. He flooded the earth and killed everyone except one man and his family. God warned him about the flood and instructed him to build a boat and get his family and two of every kind of animal aboard" Daniel summarised, he had learnt over the years to keep his historical references as brief as possible.
"Then yes it is similar"
"Why did you not go and collect the technology that you had left there after everything on your planet was destroyed?" Teal'c asked.
"We came up with many reasons why we shouldn't go and get it, the truth is I think we all always hoped that in some way the base would be used to fight those that destroyed our home. So we left everything there"
"Okay, how about we go and grab something to eat before we gear up?".
TBC
