Set: Season 4
Spoilers: None I can think of!!
Disclaimer: The Looney Tunes characters are the property of Warner Bros. SG1 & the SGC & sundry personnel belongs to MGM, Gekko and the
actors who so wonderfully portray the characters. I just get to play with them for a short while (cries forlornly into pillow).
The rest of the loonies are solely the fault of yours truly and are not intended to resemble any living person! - Well Duh!
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Chapter 14: Auction Stations!
Jack was waiting in the gate room about 10 seconds after the alarm sounded.
He wasn't quite sure why he was there. It wasn't as if they were expecting any teams back, or any such thing.
He just knew he had to be there.
So, he really wasn't surprised when Aldwin exited the wormhole, a disturbed look on his 'snotty, uppity, I have a terrible pain in my stomach and I think you caused it' face.
"Aldwin! To what do we owe the pleasure?" he asked sarcastically.
Taking the comment at face value as usual, the Tok'ra replied, "I come from the Tok'ra High Council. We have important news for the SGC and for Selmak and Jacob."
"Really? Ya don't say?"
Still trying desperately to get his head around the comment, Aldwin replied; "Yes, I do! May we discuss this in the Meeting room?"
"Yeah, sure, why not! Let's kick this around a bit upstairs before I have to kick the whole kit and caboodle upstairs when General Hammond gets back tomorrow! Lead on, MacDuff!!"
At Aldwin's thoroughly confused expression, Jack smirked and indicated the stairs to the Briefing Room and let the Tok'ra operative lead the way…
Three point four minutes later …
"What!!?**#!"
Sam winced. Although she had been expecting it, given the state Aldwin was in, it was nevertheless a shock to the system when Jack let free his anger.
"Sir, I think we should prepare our own bid, just to be safe."
"Be safe, Carter? Be safe about what? About the fact that Daniel is described as "slightly damaged"? Or how about the fact that he's being sold like a piece of secondhand furniture? Or maybe we should be safe about him being described as a 'recreational resource??!!'"he fumed.
"O'Neill!" Teal'c interjected firmly, "indulging your emotions will not assist us in our endeavours to extract DanielJackson from his present incarceration. Would it not be more prudent to conceive of a effective strategy for his retrieval?"
Jack felt like pulling another large tuft of hair from his head in frustration but, he was pleased to note, he managed to exude calm military behaviour instead! - At least, that's what he was aiming for with the rigid, skeletal-like 'smile' he plastered onto his face!
"Okay! … So, kids," he said with a wave of his hand and grinding of teeth, "strategize! I have to contact the General and pass this up the line before we can resolve anything more. If you manage to come up with a cohesive plan before I'm through, it'll probably be easier to get the brass to swing a rescue!"
With that he stalked off to the General's office, leaving a small group of shaken human and Tok'ra, and one stoic Jaffa behind him.
"What was that expression?" Major Feretti wondered aloud.
"It was scary!" Sam said with a shudder, as she watched the blank and bemused expressions from the others at the table.
"It was indeed, Major Carter" was the only response she got.
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"I sincerely hope you know what it is you are doing, Thoth! If you do not wish Daniel to be obtained by other Goa'uld, why allow this charade of an auction to go ahead?"
"Because, My Sweet, if it all happens too easily, the Tau'ri will be on edge and therefore will be more prone to come in with all guns blazing - sensing a trap. This way, we make it seem as if we do not care who Daniel is purchased by, and then rig the results!"
"But why insist on all interested parties viewing the 'merchandise' before submitting a final closed bid?"
"Curiousity!"
At Seshat's enquiring look, he continued.
"Alright! I will admit that I find myself bored with the mundane psychobabble and therapy of over-indulged pseudo-adolescent parasites! I wish to observe if the System Lords and others who have placed bids will be so bold or determined to obtain Dr. Jackson that they will attend with only a token guard and no obvious weapons! Only those seriously intent on having Daniel are likely to show, and it will allow me to observe a truly fascinating event with a breathtakingly antagonistic ensemble cast!!!"
Seshat gave a short bark of laughter. "You are going to use this as a sort of free-form dramatic puppet show, with you cast as the puppet master!"
"Of course! Who else would I have pulling the strings??"
"And what if the Tau'ri do not go along with your little entertainment? They are not noted for playing by Goa'uld rules!"
"I know for a fact that more than a few of the bidders are only interested in obtaining Dr. Jackson so that they may be the ones to return him to the SGC. Most of these have purely altruistic motives, but a few hope to curry favour with the 'new kids on the block' as the Tau'ri themselves put it!"
"So, no matter if the SGC send representatives or not …"
"Daniel will eventually find his way home to Earth!"
"I will miss him," Seshat admitted. "It has been most enjoyable to argue and debate with him; and his imagination - especially when under the influence of narcotics - is unparalleled!"
"Yes, indeed! Our philosophical discussions were completely enjoyable - one could say almost sublime! I cannot remember the last time I enjoyed such a session, unless it was the time I managed to have a one-on-one discussion with Carl Jung! Ah, he was another such intellect! - So few and far between they are!"
"Not just among the Tau'ri! I cannot recall the last time we actually found a Goa'uld lord, let alone a System Lord who was of a superior intellectual capability! I realize they are but adolescents compared to us, but really they are a most disappointing lot!!" Seshat retorted with a derisive snort.
"I agree, My Sweet! However, I have my eye on the one known as Ba'al. He is still consolidating his position amongst the other Goa'uld, but I believe he shows signs of having more natural wit and ability than the rest of them put together. It may take a few years, but it will be interesting to see what he makes of the Tau'ri and vice versa!"
He paused before continuing, "One day, I hope to do a full psychiatric profile on Daniel - if I can just get him to co-operate! He poses such an astounding opportunity to delve into the 'Nature vs Nurture' conundrum! Is his remarkable facility for lateral thinking a product of his inherited intelligence, or a result of the terrible alienation he suffered through in his formative years? And what, if any, affect did the genetic manipulation several thousand generations in his past have on the outcome?"
"Mayhaps he would consent to a series of in depth hyper-net questionaires?" Seshat added.
"Well, he may find the process somewhat cathartic, should he be inclined to participate! And I could very well seal the 'great debate' on that subject, solely on the basis of his experiences! Add to that his personal observations looking back on that time, and a paper on that topic in the Intergalactic Journal of Developmental Psyche could realistically become the definitive work on the subject!!"
Thoth sighed. "I do wish we could keep him with us. I think that were the Tau'ri not engaged in battle with our species, an overture to him might have been considered seriously! As it stands, I doubt he will feel the slightest inclination to collaborate with us!"
"A plague on the System Lords and their petty squabbles! Life would be so much easier if they just learned to share their planetary systems, instead of fighting to grab them all for themselves!"
"It is all about who has the better collection of stars … who has the largest fleet of Ha'taks … are star systems on the fringe of the Andromeda galaxy more strategically important than those in Centauri?"
"And if you have an entire Sector of the Milky Way, how many taxes or tolls can you charge other sentients for traveling through it!"
"Yes! I absolutely abhor the fact that if you pass through the Santoris system you must pay for the use of the Space Hub! Cronus was not the one to set it up in the first place - he acquired it millennia after the Ancient ones abandoned it. It is unseemly, then, that he incarcerates those unable to pay!!"
"… unless you managed to procure one of the 'Get out of Hadante free' passes Apophis came up with a few years ago!!" added Seshat.
"The ones he charges a Jaffa's arm and leg for!"
"Absolutely!"
"Which is, of course, why the Tau'ri are so important! They sit at a Nexus between sectors. A Prime location! To control Earth and the Tau'ri is to control the flow of traffic and commerce through that sector of the Galaxy!"
"Which is why the Asgard got off their anatomically impossible little butts and made Earth a 'Protected Planet' - Most, if not all of the planets so named are to be found at a nexus!"
"It had nothing to do with protecting the Tau'ri …"
"…And everything to do with allowing them free hyperspatial access lines through that region! It is saving them tonnes of Naquada and Credits in tolls and allowing them to control the free-space terminals!"
Thoth sighed. "It is an old annoyance, this. One not likely to be resolved until millennia after we have finally entered the after-life!"
"Depressing to contemplate!"
"Indeed! Which is why I have decided to do more to make the Auction interesting!"
"More?"
"Just wait and see!", Thoth replied with a decisive smirk. "Just wait and see!"
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