~Peglea II, 10 days after Jack and Vala's disappearance~
"I've found something!"
The SG teams had been buried in Peglean history books for nearly two hours when Mitchell's exclamation drew everyone's attention.
"What've you got, Cam?" Sam asked.
He lifted the book he was looking through, and turned it so that the others could see the page he'd found. And there they were—the yellow-skinned family they had been searching for. The illustration was simple, the father and mother seated on a couch, the little girl between them, with the boy and a dog on the floor in front of them. The picture took up an entire page, with a caption below.
"Daniel?" Sam asked. "What does it say?"
Mitchell handed over the book to Daniel, who scanned the words and then read them out loud. "'An early example of the Simpson family cartoons. Children's literature from the first decade'—I think that's what that means. 'Popular and beloved stories.'" He scanned the text of the facing page, while the others waited impatiently. "It doesn't say much," Daniel said at last. "Apparently there was a series of children's books by a writer named Thallin, about the Simpson family. They were among the first new books printed on Peglea II."
"Does it say when exactly?" Hailey asked.
Daniel shook his head. "There's no date mentioned..."
He was interrupted when the door opened and Elleree entered, followed by two people they had not seen before. Elleree's eyes went immediately to the book Daniel was holding. "Ah!" She smiled. "I see you have found something."
"Yes," Daniel replied. "This is what we're looking for. But I've only translated a small part of the text."
"This is Marliet," Elleree said, pointing to one of the persons beside her. "She has expertise in the evolution of children's literature. Perhaps she can help."
The woman indicated stepped forward shyly. She was an older woman, as evidenced by the fact that her dark brown fur was liberally touched with gray.
Daniel put out his hands in the open-handed greeting that the Pegleans used. "I'm Daniel Jackson," he introduced himself. "These are my friends. Thank you for coming!"
Marliet dipped her head politely. "What is it you wish?"
Daniel held out the book. "We'd like to know when pictures of these characters first appeared in children's books. It says here the books are by a writer named Thallin."
"Oh, yes." Marliet nodded. "Thallin was a young woman when our ancestors settled on this world. She was at first interested in history and had already started contributing to our historical archives. At some point—we are not certain when—she turned her talent to writing for children. The first of her books was published just a few years after we arrived here on Peglea II. She wrote many, many children's stories."
"You said her first book was just a few years after the arrival? How many years? Ten? Twenty? Fifty?"
"Printing was first begun here about ten years after the people came. But books and stories were written and copied by hand before that. From the very beginning, in fact. Unfortunately, when our ancestors left their first home, they had very little with them. And it was many years before they found this world. It took a few years before manufacturing was established. It was ten years before printing presses could be made. Until then everything was written by hand."
"Your people actually had printing presses that long ago? That's amazing!" Daniel exclaimed. "My home planet has only had printing for about half that long. The very earliest presses were set by hand and..."
"Jackson!" Mitchell interrupted. "What's going on?"
Daniel had gotten absorbed in the sidebar to the conversation, and forgot to translate for the others. "Sorry... I'm sorry, guys." He excused himself to Marliet and explained quickly to his friends.
"So these books were printed about ten years after the Pegleans arrived here," Mitchell summed up.
"That's what it sounds like," Daniel said. "But it could have been a few years earlier. These people wrote a lot! Books were handwritten before the presses were built."
"Okay. See what else you can find out. We need to pin the date down as close as we can."
Daniel nodded and turned back to Marliet.
The others watched as Daniel conversed animatedly with the Peglean scholar. After a short time Elleree and the second newcomer were also drawn into the conversation. There appeared to be some amiable disagreement between the Pegleans, and Daniel asked a number of other questions. At last he appeared to be thanking them profusely, and a few minutes later, they left with Elleree. Daniel came back to the table.
"Well?" Colonel Sharp demanded. "What do we know?"
"Okay," Daniel began. "Marliet and the other scholar—whose name is Tonar—but I don't guess you really care what either one of them was named, do you..."
"Daniel!" Sam exclaimed at the same time Mitchell snapped, "Jackson!"
"Sorry, sorry..." Daniel put up defensive hands. "All right. The best I understand it, the books Thallin wrote were among the first ones published here after the printing machinery was built, which was about ten years after the people arrived."
Sam blinked. That was probably the most concise statement she had ever heard Daniel make. "So we need to aim for ten years after the people came to this planet."
Daniel opened his mouth, and Sam could almost see the words piling up and yearning to pour from his throat. She cocked her head slightly and beside her Teal'c raised an eyebrow. Daniel closed his mouth and nodded. After a moment he merely said, "Yes."
The group exchanged glances. "Then it would seem our course of action is clear," Teal'c commented. "We must return to Earth and make arrangements for a rescue mission."
~x~
Within a short time the group had taken their leave of the planet, after thanking Elleree, and Dennon and all of the others who had helped them with their search.
They arrived at the SGC in a state of anticipation, and assembled in the briefing room with General Landry. He listened as they explained what they had discovered. When they were done, Landry regarded them thoughtfully, focusing on Sam and Daniel. "So what do you propose to do?" he asked.
"I think we should send a message to Atlantis, and ask for the use of the jumper ship with the time travel device," Sam said. "Also we'll need someone with the Ancient gene to operate it. Colonel Sheppard if he is available."
Landry was thoughtful. "I hate to say it, but you realize this will have to be approved by my superiors. Establishing a wormhole to Atlantis will use an enormous amount of energy—which of course will cost a huge amount of money." He raised a hand to stop the arguments he could see coming. "I have to point out these things, folks. That's my job..."
"Jack is head of Homeworld Security!" Daniel exclaimed, half rising and almost interrupting the General. Some of the others around the table seemed ready to jump in also. "Surely a mission to rescue him would be more important than the cost! The... well, you can't possibly put money above his life..."
"Dr. Jackson, please," Landry cut in, raising a hand. "I'm not the bad guy here. I agree with you! But it's not up to me. We have to be careful who we approach about this—and how. Now, everybody just calm down."
Daniel settled slowly back into his seat, and dropped his head. The others also settled down.
"I'm sorry, General," Daniel said, after a moment.
"That's fine, Doctor. I understand that you're all very emotional about this."
"Jack is the one who taught us," Daniel said. "We don't leave people behind!"
Hank Landry nodded. He'd served with O'Neill and had learned the same lesson. "I think we should call General Hammond," he suggested. "Even though he's retired now, he still has influence, and connections. Maybe he can help us."