A/N: The episode Fair Game is probably one of the best Jack-centric episodes of Stargate SG-1. Not only did Jack meets the Asgard Thor for the first time but also his diplomacy skills are being put to the test when he becomes the representative of Earth to the Goa'uld. I crack up every time I get to the part where Daniel and Jack discusses the System Lord Yu and at the end Jack simply says: "Thank YU!" Don't mind my blabbering! XD
Oh, it's June 10th once again! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Maddie! Treat me to dinner (if that would ever be possible)! XD
Chapter Spoiler: Fair Game, There But for the Grace of God
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."
– Edmund Burke
Chapter 4 – A Semblance of Order
"Sorry I wasn't able to welcome you guys back," Lt. Col. Louis Ferretti said in way of greeting, ushering the two men into chairs.
The new base commander looked tired, a lot more older and a lot thinner than Jonas remembered him last. There were now harsh lines on his usually jovial face. His hair thinner and the browns were giving way to grays.
When Ferretti smiled, the Kelownan noticed, that the mischievous sparkle in his dark brown eyes seemed to have lessened somewhat. His aura was that of one that experienced too many losses, too many deaths in just a short span of time. But there was also an undeniable look of determination in his eyes, in his stance. It was that of a man who made a solemn vow to himself to never give up, to continue on fighting for the people he cared about.
Not that he had never been serious, it's just that seeing him this grave and this serious was so unFerretti-like it even made Jonas question himself if this really was the same prankster Lou Ferretti he'd heard Sam mention during breaks.
Maj. Brendan Griffith snickered. "Yeah, you're breaking tradition,"–as an afterthought–"Sir."
"The colonel's not used to these kinds of things, Brendan." The scientist, Dr. Jim Grant, teased. "He's not used to spending his working hours sitting behind a huge table, sign papers that he hadn't read past the "Dear Sir," and being all diplomatic to whomever drops by for a visit."
The colonel grunted. "I didn't defy my business-minded old man and joined the Air Force only to get a desk job, Grant. But for this one, I'm willing to make an exception."
Some desk job, Jonas told himself as he surveyed the small space. The office was nothing like the one General Hammond occupied in Cheyenne Mountain. Spartan it might be when compared to this place, which looked very much like a twister or the Tasmanian Devil had gone over. The general's office held an aura of authority. Of power.
Stacks of blue folders reaching as high as four feet were all bunched up against the walls. The colonel's table wasn't as grand as the general's either and looked just like an ordinary office table but still it seemed worthy of a closer inspection.
Aside from the towering stacks of blue, none of which interested the Kelownan the least, there were other things on it fighting for space. A lampshade, a beat-up penholder, yellow Post-its, two phones placed side by side-one of them was a red phone, a direct link to the Oval Office–were present. There was also a shiny black mug of steaming coffee with an emblem of the SGC in gold sitting near the colonel's right elbow half full.
But what piqued Jonas' interest the most were the photographs on one side of the table. That got him thinking they might be of importance, judging by the way they were all bunched up together, having their own space in an already cramped table. Leaning a bit forward, Jonas found out the reason why.
They were photographs of SG-1 with Daniel still "alive." Based from the clothes and the genuine smiles they were wearing, it was one of those happy times they had. Both Teal'c and the scientist wore civilian style clothing while Col. O'Neill and Sam had their, as Earthlings called them, Class A uniforms on. Daniel smiled beside him, pointing out that it was the day Sam was officially promoted to Air Force major.
There were also photos of other military personnel in black & whites and colored. A few on Polaroid. And there was one particular photograph that completely got Jonas' attention.
"That's SG-2," Daniel said helpfully. "Taken just a few days before the incident."
"He's not with them," Jonas said as Daniel leaned closer to inspect the picture. "This man. He was neither of the two that were with Maj. Griffith and Dr. Grant at the Gate room."
Daniel said nothing as he continued looking at it with a critical eye.
"From the inflection in your voice, I could almost detect something…" Grant said carefully. "Bad day at the office, colonel?"
"Please, don't remind me."
"Alright," Grant said coolly. "We're just your former team mates and not your friends. So if it's not work related you have a r–"
"I just got a call from the President."
That effectively shut him up. There was an undeniable drop of joviality in the air as things started getting serious as both the doctor and the major straightened up in their chairs.
"What? Really?" Grant blurted out.
The colonel nodded. "My time's almost up. It was especially nice of the President to give me a heads up on what the Pentagon's up to lately. They want someone else more senior to assume leadership of SGC. The President said he'll try to keep me in this chair for as long as he could."
"How long?"
"Three weeks," the colonel confessed. "A month max."
Griffith swore softly. The room once again fell deathly silent.
"They can't do this to him!" Jonas exclaimed after hearing what the colonel said, indignant at the treatment of the Air Force officer. "After all he's done."
"Any idea who they want to run this joint?" Grant asked.
The colonel simply shook his head, pursing his lips together.
"Ferretti's only a lieutenant colonel, Jonas." Daniel explained. "Not a general. And his track record within the service isn't exactly what you can call exemplary."
"Even so, he is more deserving of this than anyone else. He's a pioneer on Gate travel. He's had first hand experience in battle against the Goa'uld. More than adequate and experienced to lead-"
"Politics, Jonas," Daniel interrupted softly. "As SGC became a force to be reckoned with, suddenly, everyone wanted in. Those who knew of the existence of Stargate Command had long been coveting the position for as long as I could remember. Aside from the President, Ferretti's also not influential among his peers. He's been known to be something of a loose cannon in his younger days. It's leverage that can be used against him, their trump card, and I can see that they're using it well. There had been many attempts in the past to wrestle it away from Gen. Hammond's grasp but with the President's backing and a good many people loyal to him, the task proved to be too difficult."
"And now the people that can help Ferretti are dead," Jonas said dejectedly, looking at the topic of their conversation with a look of sadness.
"Let's not think about that for now," the colonel said. "We still got a lot of things to do around here."
"But, colonel–"
"There's a time and a place, major." When Griffith said nothing, Ferretti continued, sitting a little straighter. "Now, how was the mission?"
"We were able to locate a Tok'Ra cell," Grant answered. "But they can't get hold of Jacob. He's been undercover for some months now. They couldn't reach him without endangering his life."
Ferretti looked none too happy about it. "Did you stress out that this is far more important to Jacob?"
It was Griffith who replied. "They do, colonel and they promised to notify him once he returns."
The colonel swore angrily, running a hand through his hair. "Jacob's the only one who doesn't know what happened. It's been nearly three months…"
"What about Pierce? Were he able to contact…"
The colonel shook his head sadly. "He still can't convince Teal'c to come back. Still in self-exile. I don't think he wants to get out of it anytime soon."
Jonas started at the mention of the Jaffa's name. He whipped his head at Daniel who was intently listening at the men's conversation. Teal'c's alive?
"You know who he'll listen to," the major said.
"Griffith," Ferretti sighed heavily, knowing very well where their conversation was leading up to. "If you haven't noticed, I've got a lot of things to do around here."
"Colonel, he'll listen to you. I know he will!"
"Teal'c's alive?" Jonas cried out in surprise.
"Remorse is what's keeping him from coming back to Earth, Jonas." Daniel said. "He felt like he'd abandoned his friends in their greatest hour of need."
"That's nonsense! He didn't know something like this was going to happen. He should've thought about that."
Daniel smiled at Jonas, bemused.
"I don't know, Brendan." He said morosely, calling the major by his first name. He then reached out for one of the photographs on the table. "You know I'm not good at those kinds of things. And why do you think he'll give a rat's ass to what I have to say to him?"
"Because of Colonel O'Neill," the scientist answered without preamble. "It's the one thing that the two of you have in common."
"Grant's right. The colonel's the one thing that connects you to each other and he'll listen to you because he knows you more than any of us. Suffice it to say, you feel his pain enough to make him come back and help us. Maybe even help keep you where you're at right now."
The base commander's face was inscrutable as he silently stared at the photograph in his hands for a moment before he answered. "Well, news flash. He's not the only one who had to cope with losing the people that he cared about."
"We need him at Stargate Command, sir," Grant said softly. "We all know that."
There was a moment of silence between the three men as Griffith and Grant looked at the colonel who was still staring at the picture frame in his hands. Jonas Quinn inched closer and saw that it was the photo of SG-2 he pointed out to Daniel earlier.
"What's his name?" asked Jonas.
"Aidan Edrald. An Air Force 2nd lieutenant, I believe." Daniel answered beside him, peering at the picture over Ferretti's shoulder. "He was the young man I was telling you about. The one Janet was trying to save when the ceiling collapsed. He's the reason why Ferretti's alive today. He volunteered to run an errand for him down Level 28 when it happened. It would've been him"–the archaeologist nodded his head at Ferretti–"instead of the lieutenant."
Jonas finally pieced everything together. The colonel indeed was the right person to approach Teal'c to make him come back because they had another thing in common besides their close friendship with Col. O'Neill. Guilt.
"You two could've been good friends, you know." Daniel cryptically said, throwing a knowing smile his way. "You and Edrald. Of course, that is… if you existed here."
"All right," the colonel finally said, squaring his jaw as he reached a decision. "Okay. Point taken. I'll do it."
"You have to do it soon, colonel."
"We don't have m–"
"I'm leaving in an hour," Ferretti cuts in. He carefully placed the photo back to its rightful place on the table, stood up to dismiss them and the trio left the room. Their muffled conversation filled the hallway.
Jonas headed for the door, eager to follow Ferretti and see Teal'c for the first time, but the door wouldn't budge. "Daniel," annoyance was seeping through his every word.
Daniel shrugged, unrepentant. "Sorry, we're running a little late so I have to go forward a few months."
"Take me back," Jonas demanded.
"Why?"
"Of course you know why,"
"No. Frankly, I don't. And besides," Daniel stopped a few steps ahead of him, "whatever will be the outcome of Ferretti's endeavor to get the big guy back wouldn't change the inevitable."
Jonas looked utterly confused. No one could blame him.
Daniel pointed up at the ceiling. "Listen,"
Jonas did until he gave up in frustration. "I don't hear anything."
"Exactly!"
Daniel left the room via the door that wouldn't budge a while ago, much to Jonas' irritation, and into the hallway. The two SFs that stood guard outside were gone. The red warning lights that lined one side the wall were all blinking furiously. It meant that SGC was in a state of heightened alarm, although, there were no klaxons of any kind accompanying it.
They encountered no one in the hallway and everywhere Jonas looked, as he closely followed Daniel, nothing seemed to be out of place. No matter how much he strained his ears to catch the barest of sound, aside from the noise the two of them were making, there were none. The creepiness was starting to get into Jonas's nerves. It felt like the place had been abandoned for reasons he would surely know in a few moments. Even the air around them was still and everything looked perfectly calm. Deathly calm.
Jonas realized they were heading towards the Gate room as soon as he recognized its monstrous door which was left wide open and he could clearly see the Stargate without any difficulty. But for some unknown reason, hackles began to rise at the back of his neck as they came closer.
"A lot of things that's not supposed to happen happened after the explosion," Daniel began. "Anubis became unstoppable. The Asgard fleet sent to help Earth suffered heavy losses at his hands, leaving Earth open to attack. Very ripe for the picking."
"So he destroyed Earth?"
"In a manner of speaking. You see, the planet is very much intact and unscathed, Jonas. There's just," Daniel stepped inside the Gate room, "no living thing on it."
The first thing Jonas noticed, as he followed Daniel into the Gate room, was the lack of activity around the area. The second was the lack of people. And the third…
What the–
Jonas ran towards the Gate and halted at just an arm's length away from something standing by the steel ramp's left side.
It towered over them, maybe about ten feet tall, and was clearly made out of naquadah. It was an image of some kind discernible only into two main parts. The image was composed of a squat pedestal of about four feet high and some sort of grotesque metallic mask occupied the topmost part. The mask seemed it was already stretched to its limit until it appeared like a face forever captured in contorted terror. Its eyes were wide open, its mouth gaping wide in a silent scream. On its lower half there extended eight "rays" that connected it to a crescent-shaped support. Just by looking at it sent chills up and down Jonas' spine.
"It's the symbol of ko'rush'naii," Daniel's voice boomed behind him, startling Jonas. "A warning left for any Goa'uld or Jaffa who happens to stumble upon this rock. To turn back."
"Why?"
"Because the planet surface is uninhabitable," Daniel replied. "Well, not for the next thousand years or so. Goa'uld Destroyers bombarded the planet with radioactive materials in the atmosphere thus annihilating all life forms. And that," he gestured at the ko'rush'naii, "is what they always leave behind by the Gate."
Jonas slowly turned his sights upward, at the ko'rush'naii beside him. It felt like the thing was now grinning maniacally at him. Taunting him. Gone was the horrified look on its thin, flat face replaced by something sinister, something evil. Two words kept appearing in his mind as he stared at it with something akin to horror.
Death mask.