Chapter 11 – The Semantics of Absolute Necessity
Back at the SGC, Teal'c and Bra'tac stepped through the gate. No one followed. As Carter and Daniel anxiously watched, General Hammond braved the question first. "Where's Colonel O'Neill?"
As Jack would jest, Teal'c had some "splaining" to do.
"We met resistance at the gate, General. After defeating it, Chanah was injured. Jack went back to assist her. He did not have time to make it to the gate before the wormhole disengaged. He will either attempt to return shortly or, if reinforcements were on the way, will have retreated into cover of the woods. He is aware of a good hiding place there."
"Whoa, back up, Teal'c. Who the hell is Chanah?"
"General, there is much to tell. I do not think there is much we can do to help Colonel O'Neill before debriefing."
Hammond kept SG-5 on standby for a search and rescue mission, and then commenced with the debriefing of SG-1.
Teal'c and Bra'tac, neither usually long for words, did indeed have much to tell. They related all they had learned from Chanah. There was something to excite everyone.
Sam and the General were salivating at what they might be able to learn technologically from Chanah's friend. When Sam was shown the miniature probes and screens, she was momentarily at a loss for words. "If this works, the MALP could be obsolete."
"Jack must have done handstands at that prospect," Daniel volleyed. Teal'c nodded to show that he had.
Daniel, on the other hand, was putting together the pieces he'd heard for a lecture on intersecting cultures.
"If Chanah has her history right, her people may be descendants of the thirteenth tribe of Israel which disappeared millennia ago. Her name, Chanah, is Hebrew for grace or mercy. Then she ends up studying under the Jaffa, only to be whisked away into what sounds like a Zen Buddhist colony. That's one helluva combination. The Tinkerer's special name – Maki Tanum – there's something familiar about that too."
"O'Neill thought it sounded like a kind of fish," Teal'c noted wryly.
General Hammond steered them back on course. "All right, SG-1, you and Master Bra'tac prepare to leave for the coordinates obtained from Chanah immediately."
"But the Colonel," protested Sam and Daniel in unison.
The General shook his head as if in apology. "Colonel O'Neill had his orders. Unless I missed something, the mission was accomplished and Jack had ample opportunity to make the gate."
"Yes, General," Teal'c answered honestly.
"General, you know Jack. He wouldn't leave her behind injured. And what about the kids?" Daniel was mystified at the General's hard line.
"Dr. Jackson, we are all familiar with Colonel O'Neill's personal code of honor. But his motives aren't the issue. His orders are. There was no absolute necessity for staying on P3R-014 once Chanah was located and the information sought was obtained."
"But if she was killed, Jack would be abandoning those kids. He could never do that."
"For all I know Dr. Jackson, she could have spread the toxin when injured or dead. In any event, Colonel O'Neill's propensity to contort my orders to fit his personal objectives won't work here. I have a chain of command, too."
"Earth first?" Daniel at last caught on to the thread of the General's response.
"Yes, Dr. Jackson. As much I personally can see why the Colonel chose to stay behind, there will be no return to P3R-014 for the time being, and perhaps not until the seven days Teal'c and Master Bra'tac agreed to expire. SG-1 is committed to following up with this Tinkerer."
"Seven days! Do we need to wait that long?" Carter was dumbfounded.
"That's enough SG-1. This is not a democracy. You have your orders. Let's just hope Colonel O'Neill's survival skills are in top form until then. Major Carter, get the MALP ready immediately. Dismissed."
Teal'c and Daniel lingered outside the briefing room, while Carter went off to prep the MALP. Teal'c tried to comfort his confused colleague.
"It was O'Neill's express order to me that SG-1 proceed to obtain the technology of the Tinkerer as soon as possible. I do not believe you need to be so concerned with his welfare. He has a formidable ally in Chanah."
"What if she's dead?"
"She had a healing patch that seemed to regenerate tissue. It was quite remarkable."
"And if it doesn't work?" Daniel was looking for problems, not reassurances.
"O'Neill will have her devices. He will complete Chanah's mission himself."
"And if they're captured?"
"From what we have learned, Chanah has often been captured. She has survived each time. I believe the Colonel will also survive."
"Teal'c, there's something you're not saying here, isn't there?" asked Daniel.
Teal'c looked uncomfortable. "Colonel O'Neill advised me before we arrived at the gate that he might stay behind, and asked that we go forward without him. He said he'd see us in a few days."
"Even before she was hurt? That doesn't make any sense. Why?" Daniel somehow felt betrayed by Jack's staying behind.
"When Chanah turned this information over to us, she explained how she was ending one path, and was now free to begin another. Colonel O'Neill had concern for her . . . welfare."
"I don't see it," Daniel said.
"It was not only what she said, but how she said it. I believe you may best understand all this by reference to Colonel O'Neill's state of mind on that first mission to Abydos. "
"The suicide mission . . ." Daniel recalled it well.
"That wasn't, because of you, Daniel Jackson," said Teal'c.
"Oh God, you don't think . . ." muttered Daniel seeing it at last.
"Yes. I believe Colonel O'Neill hopes to be her Daniel Jackson."
Daniel didn't much like it, but there was no choice. Jack forced this hand. Any rescue, if Jack needed it, would have to wait. The rest of SG-1 and Master Bra'tac were to visit Chanah's Tinkerer as soon as possible. It was the deal cut for the information.
