Dr. Jillian North-Jackson couldn't remember a time in her life when she had been happier. The last weeks on the Prometheus with Daniel had been peaceful, spent in the intellectual pursuit of a new language, the occasional challenge of puzzles to solve and mostly long hours of having nothing to do but enjoy each other and plan for the future.
Scotty's girlfriend, Annie, had been teaching the Hawaiian language to her and Daniel. The language of 672 was almost identical, except for the additional hand signs that were needed to clarify the words. Daniel had determined that the hand signs had originated as a secret language to be used against the Goa'uld who had brought them to the planet centuries before.
She had watched Daniel master both languages in days, as if words were air and he could simply breathe them in. Once he had harnessed his keen intelligence and sense of purpose to something, he was unstoppable.
And while the trip had been peaceful, Jillian had realized that she was really only at peace when she was with Daniel.
At the moment they were standing in the Observation Room on Deck Two. It was set up as a Rec Room for the crew, a place to gather and relax, watch movies, hang out, play games. There was a large view screen and for twelve hours they had been able to watch the planet Manuahi Mau Loa growing larger and larger. The view had been almost exclusively the night side because of the trajectory of Prometheus' approach.
It was spectacular. The planet was mostly oceans with scattered continents of various size. The night side was dotted with the twinkling lights of civilization and ribboned by the wide dark expanses of water. There were also lights ringing the planet, hanging in space like a series of diamond bracelets. They were the fleet of ships and satellites that guarded the planet. The lights moved with Manuahi Mau Loa, anchored in geosynchronous orbit with the cities they were assigned to protect. Beyond the planet they could see the shining orb of the sun and beyond that was a thick streak of stars blazing all the colors of the rainbow as if a child had poured a long line of glitter across the night.
It was the Milky Way, edge-on, a view they had rarely gotten and never to this degree. Manuahi Mau Loa was so far out on the edge of the galaxy that the distant galactic core and the spiral arms became an unmoving firework display of stars across the black sky.
Sam was enchanted with it. Her team-mate and astronomy whiz-kid, Major Scott Lawrence, was nearly beside himself with joy.
Jillian mostly just liked to stand by the railing in front of the view screen and look at it. She'd grown up watching Star Trek, loving Star Wars and devouring sci-fi books. The fact that she was now living it was sometimes overwhelming.
If she could stand by the railing with Daniel pressed up against her back and his arms holding her loosely, his hands crossed protectively between her hips and her head resting in the hollow of his shoulder just as they were at the moment – then life was just about as perfect as it ever got.
He had walked up behind her just moments ago, touched her cheek with warm fingers before enfolding her in his arms. He felt real and solid and strong, enveloping her in his presence.
"How do you feel?" He asked softly.
"I feel fine," she said, with a touch of wonder in her voice. It was true. Now that it seemed her late afternoon bouts of nausea were going away, Jillian had realized she'd never felt so healthy in her life.
"Tired?" He pressed a little closer, anxiously.
"Not at all," she answered, reaching back to touch the line of his jaw. "I could probably sleep, but I don't really feel like I need to."
"Okay," he acquiesced with relief and nuzzled her hair for a moment even though they weren't exactly alone in the room. "It was worth the trip just for the view, huh?"
"It's incredible," she agreed, "It's hard to believe we had anything a civilization this advanced would ever need."
"The Star Gate," Daniel said simply.
Jillian nodded. Until SG10 had arrived through the Gate, the Mau Lo'ans hadn't known it was anything more than a monument of some sort, a piece of unknown origin, obscurely placed in a garden at their museum of ancient history. If they had been brought through it at some point that information had been lost. Their history recorded an uprising and rebellion against their 'gods' but the name Goa'uld was not known to them.
It had been a tricky negotiation. The Mau Loans had only united as one planet in the last seventy five years. The war ships that ringed their planet were the by-product of ground wars that had gone out into space. They had believed they were capable of defending their planet against anything that might be out there. They had no warp or lightspeed capabilities and the SGC had not been unwilling to put such technology on the table. Allies had a way of becoming enemies and no one wanted to wake up one day with a fleet of Mau Lo'an ships surrounding Earth. Daniel's study of their history had revealed a violent past and their current united planet status seemed too new and too fragile to trust entirely.
Adding the further complications of the language barrier and it seemed miraculous that Earth and the Mau Lo'ans had reached a treaty agreement at all. Jillian couldn't remember being so proud of her father.
"Daniel," she changed the timber of her voice to let him know she was about to change the subject.
"Yes?"
"Are you happy?"
"How can you ask me that?" He sounded genuinely perplexed, "I have everything I ever wanted. I have things I didn't know I wanted and can't imagine being without."
"You're sure?"
"Completely."
It seemed to Daniel that Jillian wanted to pursue the subject but they were interrupted at that moment by people joining them at the railing. Scotty and his girlfriend, SGC scientist Annie Kinimaka, came up to stand beside them. With them were two of the geologists assigned to join the Mau Lo'an volcano research station, Dr. Lemarr Whyte, who was flanked by his wife, Dr. Tanda Palmer-Whyte. The Whytes were from Jamaica originally, with the ebony skin and lilting accents one would expect with such a heritage. Daniel thought that between the Jamaican accents and the intertwining Hawaiian languages, Jillian might think she was getting a true island vacation. He leaned over a little to ask her a question but at that precise instant a hush fell over the room
"What's going on?" Daniel asked.
Scotty started to answer but was prevented from responding by the slightest change in the sound of Prometheus' engines and a gentle shudder in the floor. The ship was changing course.
"We're going to come around the day side of the planet. Mt. Honua should be visible in a few minutes," Scotty explained. He had used the Earth-shortened version to identify the Mountain of Great Fire.
"From space?" Daniel asked, startled.
The answer came from Lamarr. "Honua is four eights the land base surface of Australia," he explained.
"Good god," Scotty said. "The damage that could cause…"
"Fortunately it hasn't done more than rumple in fourteen thousand years. There are small fissures and cracks all along its surface that act as safety valves," Lamarr explained.
"Look," Tanda said, pointing, "Coming up just there, on morning side."
A murmur of mixed emotions went through the gathered crowd – awe, surprise, shock. Some just gaped silently.
"The last time it erupted," Lamarr said with quiet respect, "It blasted out ash and rock that hit one of the moons."
The mountain pushed up arrogantly into the atmosphere. There was a halo of thick white clouds around its peak. The rest of it cascaded in ice blue prominence down to the surrounding sea. Even from this distance, the shadow it cast could be seen darkening the waters for several kilometers.
Daniel whispered into Jillian's ear, "Sam should be here. She'd want to see this."
As if he had conjured her, Sam shouldered her way up to stand beside them a few moments later.
"Holy Hannah," she breathed.
Annie spoke up, reciting the mountain's name with the perfect accent that only Daniel had managed to imitate correctly. "Mauna Po'okela Ahi 'Ai Honua."
"Mountain of great fire," Daniel said.
"One can only imagine," Annie agreed.
The church-like atmosphere continued for a few more hushed seconds and was suddenly broken when Major Scott Lawrence – with his typical irreverent ability to let anything stay quiet for too long – sang out the unmistakable opening lines of Marvin Gaye's classic song….
"Listen, baby…."
There were groans and laughter but he continued, spinning Annie around and pulling her out into the open space that served as a dance floor in the Rec Room.
"Ain't no mountain high
Ain't no valley low
Ain't no river wide enough, baby…. Come on, Jillian, sing with me."
Jillian turned in Daniel's arms and pushed him backwards with her hand in the center of his chest. Laughing, he took her into his arms in an informal dance hold as she sang…..
"If you need me, call me
No matter where you are
No matter how far
Just call my name
I'll be there in a hurry
You don't have to worry….."
"Everyone!" Scotty yelled.
The room erupted in dancing and off key singing….
" 'Cause baby,
There ain't no mountain high enough
Ain't no valley low enough
Ain't no river wide enough
To keep me from getting to you….."
The spontaneous party continued for the next hour, as Prometheus made its approach to the planet. They laughed and sang and food arrived from somewhere. The impromptu karaoke went from ridiculous to sublime. Once word got out, people started arriving from other decks when they got off shift.
It broke up at last when the announcement came over the intercom that Prometheus was making its final approach and everyone should assume duty stations for planet arrival.
"Ready?" Daniel asked Jillian as they made their way back to their assigned quarters to gather the things they would need for a short stay planetside.
"More than ready," she smiled.
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