"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Symbiote Talking"
'Symbiote Thinking'
-(Scene Change)-
A/N: And here we go, chapter 3. Like I said, I'm not sure about pairings, but if I do decide to have them, I have a couple ideas. :) Jacob may seem a bit...different here, I'll try to explain in the story. Thank you to all the reviewers, your words really do encourage me to continue. This chapter ended up a bit shorter than I wanted, but 3500 words or so isn't to bad. Plus, I've found that I work best with smaller chapter sizes.
Chapter 3 : Realizations
-(October 18th 1998 | Location: Colorado Springs : Stargate Command)-
"WHAT!" a loud, angry voice rang out from office of General George Hammond on the 27th floor of the Cheyenne Mountain Complex.
"You're telling me" the bald slightly overweight man said, gravely looking at his subordinate and her father, his friend. "That there is a civilian with knowledge of the stargate and the Goa'uld running about...in this city none the less?" he asked, not believing it.
Sam glanced at her father for a second before answering her superior. "Yes Sir" she said with a nod and in internal grimace. She knew how bad this sounded. It didn't help that she was friends with said person and had been for about a year.
"You are aware how big of a security compromise this is, right captain?" the general said, looking towards Sam intently with slightly narrowed eyes.
"Yes Sir" Sam replied, wincing at the general's use of her rank. Hammond was normally a pretty laid back person, for a general at least. To have him using just rank stressed how bad of a situation they were currently in. "But" she added, carefully choosing her words. "I really don't think that he's a threat to SGC sir." she added with some trepidation. She was walking a fine line here, talking to her superior in such a way, but she just couldn't not say anything either.
"That's not your call captain" Hammond said with a shake of his head, slightly indignant. "We have an unknown factor with knowledge about classified information. Am I correct?" he asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yes sir" Sam replied reluctantly. "It seems that way."
"There is something else" Jacob said, ignoring the glare his daughter was giving him. She had tried to leave this part out, but it seems she wasn't going to get lucky. "It also wouldn't be surprising if he had access to advanced alien technology." He finished, given his daughter a mental apology. This was just something that couldn't go unsaid. For the sake of Earth and the Tok'ra, this information needed to be acted upon.
As this, General Hammond went silent. Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, he chose his next action. "I'm calling the President" he said gruffly as he went to his phone, motioning towards the two that they were dismissed. "Please stay outside the door, I'll need to brief you on the situation and how we will respond."
"What the hell did you do that for dad?" Sam hissed as she closed the door to the general's office behind them. "General Hammond probably wouldn't have done anything if you hadn't said anything about advanced technology." she said, almost spitting in anger. Father or no, they didn't even know if Harry had advance technology in his possession. Who knew what the government would do to him.
"He needed to know Sam," Jacob said dismissively. "I can't believe you were willing to hold back information to a superior officer."
"I told you what the government did to the Tollan!" Sam retorted back in anger. "It was nothing short of a full blown interrogation! This is going to end the same way."
"Then that's to bad for him" Jacob replied uncaring. "The happiness of one being is a small price to pay for possible weapons and knowledge that can be used against the Goa'uld."
"What happened to you?" Sam whispered as she looked at her father, seeing something different that what she had seen for her entire life. "What happen to the man that fought for personal freedom's, and who actually cared about people?" she roared in anger. Luckily for her, nobody was around to hear her, and the General's office was soundproofed.
To Sam, this was a ridiculous situation. Harry was a good person, a law abiding citizen, and just an extremely fair and generous person. She knew how far certain branches of the government were willing to go to get advanced technology. Hell, she wouldn't be surprised if some of them would resort to torture to get what they wanted. Her friend did NOT deserve that for just living his life.
"He realized how trivial our existence is" Jacob replied, bored. "Selmak has showed me how futile we humans are to challenge the Goa'uld with our current level of technology. If the continued survival of Earth depends on making the life of a couple people a bit harder, it's a small sacrifice to pay."
Sam just looked at him with a look of betrayal. "I don't know you anymore" she whispered, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "Just what did that thing do to you?" she asked, spitting out the word "thing" as she thought about the symbiote and what it had turned her father into.
'Maybe it would have been better for you to die.' she thought dully. 'At least then, that damned snake wouldn't defile everything that you once stood for.'
"You two can come back in" the voice of General Hammond said, breaking Sam out of her rather depressing stupor.
"The president has given his orders to the situation." the General said with a slight frown as the two people walked back in front of his desk, standing rather rigidly and giving each other the cold shoulder.
"The Tok'ra will offer any assistance they are able" Jacob cut in eagerly, far too eagerly in his daughters opinion. He tried to ignore the cold look Sam was giving him. Why was she angry anyway, he was doing this for Earth, for the destruction of the Goa'uld. Surely the cushy live on some rich boy wasn't that important to her. "We have several experts well versed in...persuasive techniques" he said.
"Just what the hell do you think is going on Jacob?" Hammond asked with a shocked look on his face. Did his friend truly think that they would interrogate their own citizens who had broken no laws? True, the Tollan situation was a disaster, but Colonel Maybourne had been way out of line. His so called "presidential order" was to welcome the Tollan to Earth and if possible, acquire technology. The order had been twisted about as far as it could have been and the disaster that it led to had thoroughly embarrassed some people in high positions. From what he had heard, the president had almost been ready to kill that day.
"I assume you plan to extract all information and technology he possesses." Jacob stated like it was common sense. "Such information would be invaluable to the Tok'ra...and Earth" he added.
Hammond just stared at his friend in disbelief. That was how they might treat a Goa'uld should they actually catch one alive. But to actually think of treating a law-abiding citizen of the United States in such a way as almost laughable.
"The call was made to decide whether or not to disclose the Stargate program and make Mr Potter sign a non-disclosure agreement." He informed, almost smiling as he saw Captain Carters face show visible relief. He really did care a lot about the people below him, more so than most General's. His subordinates, most notably SG-1 held a big place in his heart. It was one of the reasons they got away with most of the crap they tended to pull.
"If I may ask, what did he say sir?" Sam asked, holding a smile on her face back. She could only imagine the boon to SGC if she were able to tell Harry about the program. Actually being able to show him the stargate would might lead to some truly revolutionary things. She had done all she could to encourage him to focus his mental efforts on wormholes, but he had obviously remained rather dubious.
"We have decided to not disclose the program at this time" the General said with a small frown. "Captain Carter, as you know, you have this week off duty. It is being requested that you spend this time with the young man and gauge his knowledge of the stargate and then we will make a final decision then. Is that acceptable?" he asked, looking at the blond women in front of him. He knew that she normally spent her off time in-between missions working on wormhole theories to better understand the stargate and he just hoped she found the request to be agreeable. There was really nobody else suited for the job and this was information that was fairly critical to future SGC missions.
Sam blinked a couple times at the request. "Um, sure" she replied, recomposing herself. "That's no problem sir." Indeed it wasn't, she was planning to spend most of her vacation time away from the base with her friend anyway. Her father was due to depart SGC later that night and she really didn't have anything better to do. Contrary to what her superior, Jack O'Neill thought, she did leave the base for some personal time.
"Wait a second" Jacob cut in, his eyes glowing for a split second, unnoticed by Sam and Hammond. "He could very well have technology that could be used against the Goa'uld." he said, his voice deepening in anger. "We know his family used some sort of "power" to drive away Ra all those years ago. Not even the Tok'ra know what it was, but Ra never once tried to get back to Earth after that. We need to know what sort of power he has!" he finished, his eyes now fully glowing and his voice now very...Goa'uld like. Which did make a lot of sense if you thought about it.
"Jacob!" Hammond said sharply, leveling a small glare towards the Tok'ra host. "What's gotten into you?" he asked with a small shake of his head.
"We need to know" Jacob repeated, the glowing eyes dimming down but the voice remaining as Goa'uld like as it previously was. "This is in interest to both the Tok'ra and Earth alike, the possibilities for gaining advanced technology is to great to ignore."
"If Captain Carter's report shows he has direct knowledge of the stargate, we will probably disclose this operation. At that time, we may be able to convince him to reveal any advanced technology he has in his possession." Hammond said firmly, leaving no room for debate. "At no time will a law-abiding citizen such as Mr Potter be subject to something as unlawful as interrogation."
"I see" Jacob said, some disgust in his voice. "I must return back to the Tok'ra base then." he said, turning around without a second look towards his friend and daughter.
Both Sam and Hammond watched speechless as Jacob left the room.
"Are you okay Captain?" Hammond asked, obvious concern in his voice. He had to admit, he was more than shaken up with Jacob's behavior. He had seemed fine right after the blending, but now...well, he just didn't know what to think.
"I don't know sir." Sam said with vacant eyes. "Dad spent his entire life fighting for the ideals of this country, of personal freedom. To see him like this, to see him be perfectly willing to violate those ideals. I-I just don't know how to feel."
"I don't understand" Hammond replied, brows creasing. "You didn't show any signs of such a drastic personality shift with a symbiote."
"I think that was different" Sam responded, shaking her head clear. "Jolinar and I didn't preform a blending, she just took over. Even the memories she left me are extremely vague and I don't think it was intended."
"I just don't understand why he's acting this way though." Hammod said, closing his eyes frustrated. "From what I understand, he should still be in there somewhere, just sharing his mind and body with the Tok'ra. Why would he do things like this."
"I-I think it's the symbiote sir" Sam said looking at the general. "If you think about it, each of the Tok'ra have been alive for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Their ultimate goal is the complete destruction of an entire race and civilization. They have to responsible for billions of deaths over the years."
"Are you saying they are more alike to the Goa'uld than we thought?" Hammond asked, raising an eyebrow. He didn't like the way the conversation was going or what it meant for the fate of his friend.
"I don't think it's like that sir" Sam said with a shake of her head. "I think its more like they've grown so accustom to fighting the Goa'uld from afar, that they've grown rather indifferent to the individual that may suffer from it."
As he let the words sink in, Hammond just gave a sigh. "I can't say I like this situation Captain." He said to the women as he rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. "But I think that Jacob deserves the change to sort things out on his own. For as long as I have known him, he's done what is right rather than what is easy." He finished with a firm nod, as if he was informing himself just as much as he was informing said person's daughter.
"Yes sir, by your leave?" Sam replied, recognizing the sign of dismissal by the general.
"By all means Captain" Hammond said with a nod, watching as she turned around and exited the door. "He's going to be okay Samantha" he said softly to her as she left the room. He didn't see the small smile that adorned her face at those words, but somehow he knew it was there.
As she closed the door to the general's office Sam took a deep breath and let the events of the last half hour or so wash over her. She knew deep inside that her father would never be the same man she remembered. The uncaring look in his eye confirmed that for her. Somehow though, it didn't effect her like she thought it would. She was never very close to her dad, her brother even refused to talk to him even to this day. As a general, he was always away and she really had to raise herself after her mother died.
For what seemed like the thousandth time that day, she shook her head and walked towards the elevator that led to the entrance of the base. She had a "job" to do, and somehow, she felt that it was going to be rather fun. At the very least it would help her clear her head.
-(October 23rd 1998 | Location: Colorado Springs : Potter House)-
Sam took a bite of her roast beef sandwich as she listened to Harry's rather...dry joke. While she had to admit she was no comedian by any means, Harry's sense of humor was even worse than hers.
"Say Sam" Harry said after of she had recovered from her coughing fit at hearing the joke. It wasn't that it very funny...rather the lack of humor was enough to be funny in itself. She made a mental note to try to refrain from laughing while eating again. Getting food stuck in the throat wasn't very fun.
"Yes" Sam replied as she took a deep breath. It was ironic that a joke could be so bad it was funny.
"Have you ever heard of a Dr Daniel Jackson?" he asked, tilting his head slightly at her.
Sam gave a small start at the question. She was lucky she didn't have food in her mouth, she didn't fancy choking a second time in as many minutes. She wasn't really sure what to respond with. Most of the things Daniel was "famous" for were considered nothing more than fools dreams by the scientific community so she had never thought about them. "I've heard of him" she admitted carefully, not liking the way she thought the conversation was going to go. "Why?"
"It was a paper of his I read" Harry replied, taking a sip of his lemonade. "He theorized that the pyramids in Egypt were actually built by aliens as some sort of landing pads."
"That sounds kind of far-fetched don't you think?" she asked with an internal wince. She didn't think that Harry would actually find any of Daniels old papers, the government was suppose to hide those as covertly as possible. They obviously didn't do a very good job. His conclusions were hitting quite a bit closer to home than she would like.
"It does" Harry conceded with a nod. "But so many parts of it make sense when I look at some of the ancient stories of my family."
"Oh?" Sam asked, panicking. While she did want to tell her friend about the stargate program, this was not the greatest of ways for him to find out.
"Yeah" Harry replied with a small frown. "The "heavens gate" that's prevalent in my text could be more easily explained through this. If what I think is correct, the gate is some sort of transportation device."
It was now that Sam felt like pounding her face into the table. She knew the guy was smart, but how did he figure so much out? Everything he knew was very vague, to come up with a correct conclusion with such little data was incredible. She had really hoped it wouldn't have come to this. Since he had managed to figure out so many things by himself, she now had to convince him to keep it to himself, not that that would be very hard.
"Plus" she heard Harry add, breaking her out of he wondering's on how to get him to not reveal his knowledge without exposing the program. "It would also explain some of the artifacts my family has gathered over the years."
At this Sam's brain froze. "Artifacts?" she asked, hoping it wasn't what she thought it was. If these artifacts were what she thought she was, well she cringed at the thought of suck a large information "breach."
"Huh, oh yeah" Harry replied, realizations dawning that he had never told his friend. "A bunch of them were taken from Ra apparently, though they are rather gaudy. You want to see them?" he asked.
"S-Sure" Sam said, slightly hesitantly.
As they walked up to the second floor, which Sam had never visited, she hoped she made the right choice. If he truly held Goa'uld technology, he could become SGC's greatest ally. On the other hand however, should word get out, he might have some unwanted attention from some of the rouge elements of some government organizations that were rumored to be moving about.
The first thing Sam noticed was that there was actually a door blocking the staircase to the second floor. Placing his hand on the door, she watched as a stream of green light scanned said hand and then beeped once and unlocked the door.
"Biometrics" Harry said, seeing Sam's question look.
"Biometrics?" Sam asked, shocked. "That was unlike any sort of biometric scan I've ever seen though" she said with a confused looked at the door.
"It should be" Harry replied with pride in his voice. "I created it after all. This area of my home houses the legacy of the Potter family" he said with a small smile. "It represents the blood, swear, and tears of my ancestors, I'll do whatever it takes to protect that history."
Her curiosity about the room overriding her curiosity of the advanced biometrics, Sam peered into the floor and felt here eyes widen in disbelief.
The first thing she recognized were several bookcases full of technology that was undoubtedly Goa'uld in origin in a corner of the "room". Hand devices, healing devices, staff weapons and many other things that she didn't recognize.
The thing that really stood out however was what filled the rest of the floor. Technology that Sam didn't recognize was everywhere. It was obviously advanced, that much she was sure of, but she had never seen anything of the nature before. What finally caught her eye in the end though wasn't a fancy piece of technology, rather "words" that were written all over the walls of the room. She may not be a linguist like Daniel but even she recognized a significant language, especially since she had seen it before.
It was this language among three others that was found in the meeting-place on P3X-972.
It was a language of an ally of the Asgard and as such, a possible enemy of the Goa'uld.
Little did she know, the language belonged to the first and greatest of the four great races.
She had discovered not only the largest stockpile of Alteran technology in the Milky Way Galaxy, but the last of the Alteran people.
That person, like his ancestors before him, would change the fate of the universe.
_(()_
Well...that was interesting eh? What did ya all think about this chapter? Now first off, I never really liked that Jacob didn't change a whole lot in canon. Basically, the Tok'ra are terrorists, as such, I see them as working behind the scenes to undermind the Goa'uld. Because of this, I see them as becoming rather numbed to the feelings of others. There won't be any Tok'ra bashing in this story, its just a difference of opinion between the two sides. I have a feeling some of you might not like the change in Jacob, but we have to remember, he is now sharing a mind with a being thousands of years old who's single goal in life is the killing of billions of sentient beings. Just try to keep that in mind.