Off-World...Planet P3X118
"Why are we here, sir?" Carter looked around the barren landscape having stepped through the Star Gate only minutes before. There had been no briefing session on this mission. None...
"I thought we needed to be in the Antarctic." Daniel was confused, as usual. "Isn't that where we went last time? We don't have a new ZPM, do we?"
"Got a new 'toy, kids." Jack's look was grim. He too, looked about the desolate location they found themselves deposited upon.
"You doing that 'Ancient' thing again, Jack?" Daniel turned wary eyes to the man.
"Comes and goes..." Jack shrugged. He had no control over it. He had....concentrated a lot last night, though. That's why they were here...wherever the hell 'this' was.
"How, sir?" Carter asked. "How do you make it 'come'?"
Jack looked at the woman. He could go sooo many places with that inquiry, but...he didn't. There would be a better time and soon. He was damned determined to make it so... "Like you guys always tell me...I 'focus'." He answered, his mind on other matters, truth told.
"On what?" Daniel wasn't intrigued...he was skeptical. Jack's attention span was on par with JJ's, as far as the younger man was concerned.
"On the 'problem', Daniel." Jack sighed. "I focus on the problem and things just pop into my fron."
Daniel's face took on a look of horror.
"I'm kidding, here." Jack rolled his eyes. "Geesh, Daniel "
"Well, don't " Daniel...resumed breathing.
O'Neill led the way across the barren stretch of parched soil. "It's this way."
"What will this new weapon do, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked, keeping abreast with the human.
"Never know, Big Guy, until I play with it a spell." O'Neill sensed the direction he should go, continuing on, his team following.
"That could be dangerous." Teal'c surmised.
"I'll say." Daniel muttered his belief.
"Oh, ye of little faith...have I ever let you down before, Teal'c?" Jack joked.
"Yes." Teal'c answered readily...a little too readily for Jack's tastes.
"No, I haven't." He insisted, turning his head to look at the Jaffa.
"Yes, O'Neill, you have." The reply rumbled deep in the being's throat and he turned a lazy 'look' back to the human.
"....Haven't." Jack disagreed, halting his steps to face Teal'c.
"Stop." Teal'c suggested....strongly, sensing where this might head, perhaps.
O'Neill looked the being up and down for a goodly while. "...Kay." The man shrugged non-chalantly, moving on.
Daniel's mouth fell agape. "How did you DO that? " He demanded Teal'c share the 'secret'.
The Jaffa merely looked at the man, however.
"God You are sooo deep " Daniel was clearly, amazed.
Teal'c raised a brow then continued his trek.
Carter shook her head, having been privy to the conversation, smiled and caught up with the others.
O'Neill stopped short, halting, a few meters ahead.
He stood....silent....staring out over the miles and miles of...nothing.
All stopped as well, each waiting for Jack's next command. He gave none, simply...stood, his P-90 resting in his arms, his eyes scanning the area absently.
"Col?" Carter had approached, touching the man's arm gently, her gaze a concerned one. The deep brown eyes looked at her but she didn't think the man 'saw' her. He had that vacant, 'Ancient' look about him.
O'Neill looked down, at a spot directly below his booted feet. He....stepped back.
A rumble shook the ground beneath SG-1's feet, a great shaking commencing about the entire area. Daniel and Carter fought for equilibrium and balance, Sam catching Jack's arm with a death grip as she steadied herself against the strength of the man.
Teal'c remained rooted to the spot, an immoveable object to be reckoned with, his powerful body weathering the disturbance unscathed.
Out of the stripped soil...a giant monolith pushed it's way up with a deafening roar, directly beneath Jack O'Neill's feet. The man stepped back almost leisurely, watching it rise, staring at the monstrous stone tablet as the ground settled beneath them, slowly but surely.
Daniel regained his senses...slowly but surely, as well...he blinked, approaching the object with the reverent regard he held for such things, his mouth agape. He pushed his glasses back up his nose, peering at the symbols carved into the ancient stone.
Teal'c walked about the monolith, hands behind back, observing it keenly.
Carter's beautiful face registered amazement. She too, was unable to take her eyes from the tall structure.
"Can you read it?" 'Jack' was back. As if he had never left.
"...Some." Daniel recognized quite a bit of the writing before him, in actuality.
"This is the weapon, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked. "And...if so, how does one operate it? What is it's purpose?"
"This...tells where the weapon is." Daniel had figured that much out..or at least, he thought he had. "Right, Jack?"
Jack looked up, shielding his eyes, even though he sported his sunglasses. He pointed. "There."
"...The moon?" Carter's breath was caught by the beauty of the giant satellite.
"We have to go....there." Jack 'knew'. How he 'knew', was anyone's guess.
"But, why did we come here first?" Teal'c was curious.
"This..." Jack touched a portion of the writing. "This...is important."
Daniel squinted, reading rapidly where Jack had indicated. "What the hell is that word?" He mumbled his irritance with himself, unable to decipher the most important part.
"Take five, guys. Let Daniel do his stuff." O'Neill sought a place to sit. This could take a while. If nothing else, this damned job was teaching him patience.....NOT The man resigned himself to wait a little while, at least.
Teal'c preferred to study the artifact with Daniel Jackson.
Jack watched his friends from a spot on a cluster of rock formations to their right. He motioned Carter over with his head. She smiled, walking over, sitting, pulling out her canteen. She offered the man a drink, which he took, handing it back, swiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "I saw JJ today." The woman grinned for the fact. "The General was taking him on a 'tour' of the facility."
O'Neill's face softened at the mention of the little boy. "He likes the blinking lights...on the computers."
"The General commandeered Sargent Harriman's seat. After he had pulled up the Disney site on the internet for JJ."
O'Neill grinned. "He prefers the Simpsons." Jack scowled. "JJ...not the General."
"I got that, sir." Carter held her own grin.
"...Oh." Jack shrugged mentally, another subject on his mind. "...Hey...about..." How to approach the matter delicately. "When I was in your kitchen....with you...." He fiddled with the strap of his P-90 that lay between his legs...on the ground. "The other day...when we..." His scowl increased. "When...I...eh...."
Carter was silent, touched by the man's ineptitude. She had no intention of helping him out, however. She waited patiently.
Jack could feel her gaze, and it kinda...unsettled him. He hadn't done this in a long time...a real long....time. He checked on Teal'c and Daniel, making sure they were still occupied elsewhere.
He began again. "....I think you made a good decision...about the 'cop guy', I mean." He hastily checked with the woman. "You...you didn't change your mind...right?"
"I didn't change my mind." She gave him that much.
Jack returned to his doldrums, moving the soil beneath his boot slowly back and forth and for once...thought before he spoke. "He's not good enough for you."
"Who would that be, sir?" Carter felt like kissing the man all over his face but managed to refrain...just barely.
"The 'cop guy'." Jack's scowl increased.
"Maybe I'm not good enough for him."
"Yeah." Jack's tone and look said what he thought of that remark. "Whatever." He looked around aimlessly. "I got the kid now..."
"Yes, sir." She wondered where he was headed.
"...I like...kids." He stated quietly. He was 'quiet' for a long moment. "You have your career...I understand about that, Carter." He sought her out. "I do, you know."
"I'm not sure I..."
"I've had my 'career'. I'm ok with...giving it up if I have to. I'm not you. I'm not a national treasure."
"What are you saying, sir?" Her heart beat thunderously in her chest.
"Have you really thought things through? This... 'thing' with...us?"
"Have you, sir?"
The man lowered his head. "Oh, yeah." He sighed lightly. "Been thinking a lot about...it."
"And?" She demanded, getting a little angry...or maybe...more scared shitless than...angry.
The man hesitated and Carter wanted to take his head and wop it into the hard dirt below his feet.
"...I was thinking maybe..." Jack looked out over the horizon. "We could...I don't know...go out? Or...something?"
"...What? " Sam had not expected....that.
"Dinner, maybe...somewhere, nice ,not O'Malleys." He had the ideal place in mind already.
"Col....are you asking me out on a...date?"
Jack grimaced. God, that sounded so....stupid. He grimaced again. "...Yeah."
"Then...yes. I want to go. I do " She let him know and in no uncertain terms.
"Yeah?" He...looked at her. Finally. "Careful with that 'I do' stuff, Carter. I'd have to live with you first. We both have weapons." The man motioned to their P-90s. "One of us could take the other out within a month or so. That 'Jack O'Neill' charm just goes so far some days."
Carter's heart felt as light as a feather. "I know, sir." She smiled a brilliant smile for him.
"No, you don't." He assured her. "You can go home now, get away from me. Wait until you have to come home with me...day in...day out..."
"Is that how you feel about me?" She asked.
"...I think you know how I feel about you, Carter." He held her eyes boldly.
The woman's heart skipped several beats. "...You picked a hell of a time to tell me all this, sir." She glanced at Teal'c and Daniel.
"What did you have in mind, Major? There are some high rocks over there." He showed her.
"How romantic, sir." She grinned.
"I can 'do' that." Jack was fairly certain. "Is that what you like?"
Carter loved how the man 'looked' at her. It made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. "What I 'like', sir...is..."
"Jack " Daniel called excitedly. "Look at this You have to see it "
Jack closed his eyes. "Shit." He whispered his regret, then opened his eyes. Samantha Carter watched him with those incredible eyes. He touched her hand, squeezing meaningfully. "Later." He promised more with his 'look' than the actual word.
Jack trudged to the monolith. "What?" He snapped, his tone harsher than he had meant it to be for the obvious reason. Daniel did not even notice.
"This is the universal symbol for male." Daniel showed the man. "This 'light' hits this guy...see?" He traced the outline needed. "And then he's...gone."
Jack studied the drawings, reluctantly leaving the more pleasurable subject he had been dwelling upon. "...Beam me up, Scotty?" He asked if his assumptions were correct, checking with Daniel.
"This is a transportation device." Daniel was positive.
Jack glanced back at the Star Gate. Daniel nodded. "I know...I know. This is a different type of transportation device. I think...it's how we get..." The man looked. "Up there."
"Why must we go there?" Teal'c wanted to know.
"Because...it's where the weapon is." Jack suddenly 'knew'.
All contemplated what had been said, each deep in thought. Each realizing the gravity of the situation.
"So....lunch?" Jack asked, checking with his team.
Carter smiled. "Sir...shouldn't we pursue this subject a little further?"
"So...no lunch?"
"This thing has the same block things like on the 'time loop' planet. Maybe if we push a..."
"Hey No way." Jack vetoed the notion Daniel had suggested. "You push something wrong and out comes something and grabs your head....been there Done That Twice "
"Daniel Jackson...these symbols at the top of each section." The Jaffa pointed out what he had discovered.
"He's right, Jack...one on each side and they correspond to..." Daniel searched. "Here...the same symbol. What happens if I push it?"
"Something comes out and grabs your head." Jack stepped in front of Carter just in case that happened because he knew Daniel would push the damned thing sooner of later.
"Each side had a corresponding pattern." Teal'c had discovered.
"Well...we can't just stand here and look at it all day."
Jack hated when Daniel came up with something he couldn't argue with. "...I'll do it." He sighed more than heavily. "You guys get back."
"Not this time." Daniel refused. "No way." He reached. He pushed the stone in.
"HEY " Jack's tone was censor in itself.
Teal'c pushed the stone on his side.
"CUT IT OUT " Jack commanded.
Carter exchanged looks with her contemporaries.
"DON'T YOU EVEN THINK ABOU....."
Carter pushed the third stone, lifting subdued eyes to a more than pissed Jack O'Neill.
All....waited.
Jack looked at the last stone. "....I'm still thinking lunch is good." He raised hopeful eyes but...in the end. "Crap." He drew in a shaky breath. "Teal'c...if this thing grabs my head...shoot me."
Teal'c lifted his staff weapon. "Very well, O'Neill."
Daniel lowered the weapon. "He was joking, Teal'c."
"No, I wasn't " Jack snapped his pique. He looked at the device...and...pushed the last stone.
Teal'c glanced around, shaking the unsettling effect of the 'moment' faster than his companions. He checked each's condition. O'Neill was standing, back still turned, as if still facing the stone structure, glancing aimlessly about.
Daniel Jackson had grasped the Jaffa's arm before the 'transportation incident', and even now, steadied himself against the being's strength, but he appeared alright.
"What " Carter breathed a shaky breath. "Was...THAT?"
"...Cool." O'Neill decided, scanning the new surroundings .
"No inscriptions...no writing..." Daniel was orienting himself as well, glancing about. He let go of Teal'c, straightening.
"This appears to be....a metal of some sort." Carter ran her hand over the walls of the 'room.'
"NO TOUCHING " Jack started, seeing the woman's activity. "There's...no touching " He shook a warning finger at everyone gathered.
"Are we on the moon?"
"I don't know, Daniel...look out the window and see." Jack fumed. He really hated rooms like this where something invariably reached out and grabbed your hea....
"Perhaps, O'Neill...if you 'focused.'" Teal'c had an ideal.
"On what, Teal'c?" Jack gestured wildly about himself.
"On not pissing me off."
Jack scowled at the being. "...Was that an attempt at levity?"
"It was not." Teal'c readily informed the man.
Jack's eyes narrowed.
"Jack..you said, before...if you focus..." Daniel stepped in to make peace if he could. "Things come to you. Maybe you could do that now. Maybe something will come."
"What do I focus on? There's nothing here." Jack reminded.
"Ask for something..." Daniel grasped at straws. "Something simple...hey, you said you were hungry. Focus on food."
"What kind of food?"
"It doesn't matter, Jack...anything." Daniel shrugged. "It's just a test."
Jack...settled. He...focused.
Nothing.
"Jack?...what are you focusing on?" Daniel chanced interupt the man.
"Ham and cheese on rye."
"...Perhaps the Ancients wouldn't be familiar with...that. Try...food. Nothing in particular."
Jack shrugged. He...sighed and focused again. A pedestal arose in the middle of the room. On it was a tray...in the tray was...something. Carter approached and examined the objects closer. "Oh, my God, sir...this looks like the stuff Thor offered me on his ship. I think..." She looked up, her eyes bright. "It IS food."
O'Neill crossed, picked an odd shaped blue triangle. He bit into it and spit it out. "Tastes like Play-dough."
"And...you would know this...how, Jack?" Daniel was a little concerned.
Jack tried another shape. "Dog biscuit." He decided.
"Jack...stop." Daniel made a face and refused to allow Jack to try another. "Focus on something else. Something we can not mistake for something else. A replacement crystal." The young archeologist hit upon it.
Jack was game. He did what he had to do. But...Carter was standing too close and he could smell her perfume. They hadn't had time to shower before they left. It was S.O.P. to get any scent off you before you went off-world, but...damn...that smelled really....great. "Carter...stand over there." He insisted.
The woman was baffled, but...obeyed.
The 'crystal' appeared instantly.
"Very cool You did it, Jack " Daniel was delighted. "Awesome "
"My head aches...anyone got aspirin?" Jack asked.
"Be specific this time, Jack...ask for exactly what we need."
"Headache, here, Daniel." Jack reminded peevishly.
"Oh..yeah, sorry, Jack." Daniel nodded. "Take your time." He checked his watch.
"Could I have another dog biscuit?" Maybe that would help, Jack thought.
"I don't think it wise, sir...really." Carter balked at the ideal.
"If you get the weapon, Jack...we can all go to lunch...on me." Daniel smiled ingratiatingly.
Jack perked up. He settled down and really, really....focused.
The...object...appeared on the table.
Daniel walked around the...thing, studying it meticulously.
O'Neill's face was suddenly hard, his eyes cold...emotionless. He knew what the thing was. He knew what it was capable of doing and it made the man sick to his stomach.
A part of him realized things like this existed because things like Anubis existed. He stared at the horrible object, his mind filled with horrible images. He had lost his appetite.
Daniel's curiosity got the better of him, and he reached out involuntarily, the thing oddly compelling...
"NO, DANIEL " Jack halted the other man's intent, his tone sharp. "...Don't." He altered his tone and manner.
Daniel stuck his hands in his pockets that he not inadvertently disobey Jack's warning. "What is it, Jack?"
Jack did not answer. His mind was occupied. It was being taught...instructed, informed by the Ones who had created the oddly shaped apparatus before him. He was not aware the process was taking place. It did not take long. He picked the object up and put it in his jacket.
"Daniel..." Jack's voice held an infinite sadness to it. "We can't tell anyone about this yet. Anyone...ok? I need...time."
"Not even the General, sir?" Carter was shocked.
"I'll...think about it. I need some time." He searched each face that watched him so... he smiled. "I'm fine. We got what we need. Just...I'm asking for a little time, that's all." He forced the military side of himself to emerge. "We'll use the damned thing if we have to, but..." He let it go for the time being.
"Does Anubis know of it's existence, O'Neill?" Was a priority for Teal'c.
"Probably...but, he can't use it."
"Why?" Daniel was convinced but...curious.
"Because it will sense...what he is." Jack told the truth as he understood it.
"Let's get the hell out of here." O'Neill crossed, placing his hand on a small section of the smooth wall. It glowed beneath his palm and then...
"We're baccccck " Daniel had righted himself, for the second time in one day, glancing around his new surrounding.
They were back on P3X118. The moon glowed faintly luminescent in the ever darkening sky. Jack did not stop to enjoy the sights, making his way back to the Star Gate. He wanted off this damned planet. He wanted more, to be rid of this thing inside his jacket. He wished he had never had to see such an object. His strides were purposeful. "If anyone has any qualms about keeping this among ourselves, state them now."
"I do not." Teal'c trusted O'Neill completely.
Daniel cleared his throat and nodded.
O'Neill's estimation of the man rose considerably. He knew Daniel's sense of ethics. He appreciated what it was taking him to agree to what Jack had asked.
"Carter?" He needed most to have the woman's support.
"I will, of course...comply with your orders, sir."
"It isn't an order." He wasn't going to make it easy for her. He stopped, as did the others.
"It's for the best, I'm certain, sir...I am in total agreement with you."
O'Neill held the woman's eyes. "Dial home, Daniel. Let's get the hell out of here."