A/N: Hope everyone in the U.S. had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday. I, for one, am totally stuffed with turkey and look forward to getting creative with the left overs. Hmmm..... turkey stew, turkey enchiladas, turkey and dumplings...
Disclaimer: I love playing around with other peoples' characters. Even though they're not mine, sometimes I can pretend.
Warning! Too much turkey in a very short amount of time will result in many more hours needed spent at the gym.
ooooooooooooooooooo
"You don't get it, Jack. If Aisa was not Atropos, what was it? Is the reputation as the 'Bringer of Death,' or 'The Destroyer of Worlds' that of Atropos or that of Aisa?"
Jack's face lit with understanding. "Because if it's the reputation of Aisa and Frigg hid it out in the universe somewhere, it could still exist."
Daniel nodded it. "I think it's what Ba'al is looking for. If it has the power to destroy worlds, it wouldn't have any trouble dialing a Stargate."
"Daniel, if Ba'al finds something capable of destroying worlds, the address he chooses to dial on the Stargate will be the least of our worries."
oooooooooooooooooooo
The Ninth Chevron
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jack watched everyone file into the conference room before he took his seat at the head of the table. Carter sat across the table, her hands folded neatly on top of its polished surface. Her posture didn't give away the pain sitting generated in her rib, but he knew from experience it wasn't the most comfortable position.
Anise had offered to heal her, but Carter refused again. She insisted a broken rib wasn't a big deal, but Jack knew that if a mission resulted from this meeting, she'd have to allow the Tok'ra to heal her before she was cleared to go off-world.
Jack's injury had been nothing more than a simple graze. Should they determine his presence was needed, he'd already been cleared.
Jack felt an elbow nudge him and turned to Landry seated at his left. He stared at Jack and raised his eyebrows with a quick gesture at the people who sat patiently at the table waiting for him to start the meeting.
"Right," Jack said. He'd never really gotten the hang of this part of running the SGC. He wished he could just turn the whole thing over to Landry so he could go out and shoot some bad guys.
"Go ahead, Carter."
She nodded and slid manila folders to the people around the table. Jack opened his to find a photo image of the red crystal he and Carter had retrieved from under the balcony.
"SG-1, accompanied by General O'Neill, was able to gather several artifacts on our mission to the Asgard planet called Fensalir," Carter said. "This is a picture of one of those artifacts."
"What is it?" Colonel Reynolds asked.
"We're not sure," Carter said. Then she tipped her head slightly. "Well, that's not exactly accurate. We know it's a crystal. It's just unlike any we've ever encountered. We have no idea what it does or what kind of device it is designed for."
"So, there's not a lot to report," Jack said.
"No, sir. There's not." Carter unfolded her hands and stretched them out across the table, hands opening upright. "I believe there's a lot to learn. With time, I'm sure I'll be able to determine more about its function, but…"
"But it's time we probably don't have," Landry supplied.
Carter nodded. Her face barely showed her frustration, but Jack picked up on it. "Yes, sir."
Jack swiveled his chair around to face Daniel. "Next."
"That's me," Daniel said and stood. He moved to the view screen at the front of the room and switched it on with the remote. A screenshot capture of the Ancient information pad and its electric green gibberish appeared on the white surface. Daniel pushed another button on the remote and the lights dimmed.
"I've analyzed the information that was retrievable in the first pad I took from Frigg's palace on Fensalir. We've been able to get the second running."
"What was retrievable?" Carter asked.
Daniel shrugged. "About ninety percent of the data was corrupted. I was only able to view a few of the entries." He turned his attention to address everyone at the table. "But what I was able to find is a bit concerning."
"Concerning how?" Landry asked.
"End of the world concerning," Daniel said. He went on to explain the connection between Aisa and Atropos and the "Destroyer of Worlds."
"So, we know there's possibly something out there that may or may not have the power to do something bad, though we don't know what that something may be. And possibly Frigg hid it somewhere in the galaxy after having received it from possible Ancients that may or may not have been Greek goddesses that controlled fate, life, and death," Landry said.
Daniel waited a second and then nodded. "Pretty much."
"So, do we even have a remote idea as to where this Aisa could be hidden?"
"Well," Daniel said. He pushed his glasses up his nose. "No."
"No." Landry folded his arms.
"Not exactly." Daniel circled the table to stand behind Carter. "We know Jacob left Sam a clue. We just don't know what it means as of yet."
Jack nodded. "The page that was wrapped up with the crystal."
"Exactly." Daniel pressed the button on the remote in his hand again and the screen shifted to a picture of the page. "It's a page torn from a Navajo translation of the Catholic Bible."
Carter's eyebrows lifted. "A Bible?"
Daniel nodded. "Navajo."
Colonel Reynolds shook his head. "I don't get it."
"What is Navajo?" Anise asked from beside Carter.
"They're a tribe indigenous to the area," Carter told her.
"Why would Jacob Carter send you a page torn from a text written in this language?" Anise asked. "Do you read it?"
Carter shook her head. "Not a lick." She spun her chair so it faced Daniel. "Any ideas?"
"The Navajo language is very complex. It was used as code in World War II and to this day remains the only code the German and Japanese armies were unable to crack."
"Perhaps Jacob Carter believed it to be too difficult for the Goa'uld to decipher should they find the page," Teal'c said.
"I think that's exactly the reason he chose it."
"That still doesn't explain why he left a page of the Bible for me," Sam said. She turned her chair and met Jack's eyes across the table. He could see the frustration in hers, but he didn't have any more answers than she did. He shrugged and she sighed in return.
Daniel pointed a red laser at portions of the document on the screen. "There are several verses circled on the page. The most obvious is at the top."
"It's the name of the book," Carter supplied. Jack knew her Catholic background meant she was probably pretty familiar with the Bible.
Daniel nodded. "Mark, to be exact."
"As in brother Mark?" Jack asked.
"I can't see dad hiding anything having to do with this program with Mark. He doesn't have security clearance and he's not trained to defend himself." Carter's forehead creased with a frown.
"Unless Mark is unaware he has it," Daniel said.
Carter pursed her lips. Jack noticed the muscles in her shoulders tighten and her jaw clench. The idea that her father would leave something so important with a civilian who was by all rights unable to defend himself seemed to irk her.
Daniel didn't appear to pick up on her sudden change in mood.
"There's more," he said. The screen changed again to focus in on one of the circled portions. Daniel's translation of the text was scrawled beside it in blue ink.
"Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: 'This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!'" Jack read out loud. He turned to Landry, who shrugged. "I don't get it. Mark's Jacob's son. Is it telling us to listen to him?"
"I don't exactly know," Daniel admitted. "It's possible that's exactly what it means."
"It's a bit obvious, don't you think?" Reynolds piped in.
"Selmac would have been more clever," Anise agreed.
"Perhaps he felt the Navajo language was cryptic enough," Teal'c said. "Or perhaps he felt only Colonel Carter would be able to find the crystal with the page and therefore hiding the information to be unnecessary."
"Then why tear it from a Navajo Bible at all?" Reynolds asked. "Why not just write her a note that says, 'go talk to your brother?'"
Jack turned to Carter, who had gone noticeably quiet. Noticeable to him, anyway. No one else seemed to have taken note. Was it his imagination, or did her skin look quite a bit paler?
"Carter?" he asked. His voice was hushed so as not to be heard over the other voices talking across the table.
Her eyes remained fixed on the screen in front of them, as if in a trance.
"Carter," he tried again. This time he reached out with his hand and surreptitiously squeezed her forearm.
She started slightly and dragged her eyes to his. She blinked a couple times to focus on his face. "Sir?"
"You with us?"
Her eyes drifted back to the screen. "I want to see the third," she said.
Jack looked at her a second more before clearing his throat. "Daniel," he called over Anise, who was rambling on about Tok'ra spy strategies or something of the sort.
Daniel put a hand up to silence Anise. "Yeah, Jack?"
Jack twirled his finger in the air. "Let's move on to the next one."
Daniel nodded and the screen changed to the last circled section of the text. "It's further up on the page. 'If I send them home hungry, they will collapse along the way, because some of them have come a long way.'"
"The two do not appear to have any connection," Anise said.
"Actually, they make a lot of sense," Daniel argued. "Mark, the son, and a long journey."
"Where does Mark live again?" Jack asked Carter.
"San Diego," she answered absentmindedly, and then dismissed him with a wave. "What chapter is this verse from?"
"Eight. Why?"
Carter's eyes closed, but she forced them open again almost immediately. The lines around her mouth grew tight. "It's my mother."
"Your mother?" Landry asked.
"It's the day she died." She turned to look at Jack, her eyes reaching for him like he was a life line. He knew this subject was a heavy one for her. She still struggled with the loss. Combined with the still recent death of her father…
"What do you mean, Carter?" he asked.
"The first verse was Mark 9:7. This one is Mark 8:3. She died on September 7, 1983."
Daniel's eyes lit up. "9/7/83."
"Are you telling us the text doesn't even matter?" Reynolds asked
"Not necessarily," Daniel said. "Everything circled on the page points to Mark, but without the date a person still wouldn't really know anything." He turned to Carter. "You've got an idea, right?"
Carter nodded. "Sir, I think he's telling us he's hidden something and I'm pretty sure I know where it is."
OoOoOoOoO
Mark Carter's house was what Jack would have expected to find on a traditional cul de sac on San Diego's Coronado Island. Small yards of green grass, palm trees, short walkway up to a few steps and a small landing at the front door. He could tell by the nervous hesitation in Carter's gait that the scenery was lost on her.
Jack didn't know much about Carter's family. Still, he probably knew more than most people and he wasn't sure if she was really comfortable about that. Carter wasn't the type to advertise that her family had been anything but close since her mother died.
He held back so Carter could approach the door with a little privacy. The thigh-length black cardigan sweater she wore over her white t-shirt and jeans waved in the slight breeze that pushed in off the ocean. They had decided it best not to bother Mark with a lot of SGC personnel. The two of them would be able to find what they needed if Carter was right about where to look. Teal'c and Daniel sat in a small café nearby ready to move in if trouble reared its head.
Jack didn't think Ba'al would sweep in given their location, but this particular Goa'uld was capable of just about anything. He figured it was always better to be safe than sorry.
He'd never met the tall man who answered the door. He was about half a foot taller than Carter and his frame was broad. He was trim and well-built. Unlike the two he knew, though, this Carter had a comfortable stance that spoke of a happy and relatively carefree life.
The two of them talked briefly and then Sam turned and gestured for Jack to step up to the door.
Jack strode up to the pair and held out his hand to Mark. Sam's brother returned his shake with a firm grip.
"Mark, this is my CO, General O'Neill. General, this is my brother, Mark." Jack would have recognized the Carter blue eyes anywhere. They were kind, but held just a little suspicion. Mark appeared to be uncertain as to whether his sister's excuse to be in San Diego was on the level.
Jack didn't have to wonder where the suspicion came from. Jacob and Sam both lived in a world of secrets and Mark didn't have the magic password.
Sam's brother knew enough, though, to eye Jack curiously. His gaze was a bit too perceptive, but Jack wasn't intimidated. He realized Mark would think it was strange for Sam's commanding officer to join her on a family visit.
He was right.
Jack could have sent someone else with her. Should have, really. Daniel or Teal'c would have been glad to come. But he knew that looking through her mother's old things would be hard for her whether she let on or not. He wanted to be here with her. For her. He couldn't allow himself to be with her in any other way. At least he could be a presence. She'd know he was there.
Mark seemed to understand that underneath the discomfort his guests felt, there was also a sense of urgency. "Mom's stuff is up in the attic." His eyes clouded over and his voice was quiet. "What was left of dad's possessions are up there, too."
Jack knew his relationship with Jacob had been rough. He'd barely been able to see his father for the last four years. No explanations.
And what would he have been told? The truth? 'Hey, son, I know you thought I was dying of cancer, but really, I've been healed by a symbiotic snake that now lives in my head while I sneak around the universe trying to overthrow murdering tyrants who would enslave all of us if they could…' As it was, Mark thought the cancer that went into remission four years ago returned suddenly and killed his father.
"Thanks so much for letting us look, Mark. I know it's not easy."
Mark shook his head. "I don't know what you're looking for and honestly, I don't care. I just hope you realize it's pretty soon to be tackling something like this. Dad's hardly been gone three weeks are you're planning to dig through…"
Sam put her hand on her brother's arm and squeezed. "I'll be fine. It's not really something I'm looking forward to, but it's something I have to do."
Mark pursed his lips and led them inside. The home was modest and neat. Kids' toys lay here and there. The carpet was speckled with many colored fibers that would hide stains and muddied traffic. The beige sofa and plush blue recliner were well-worn, as was the large rug that lay under the glass top coffee table. Pictures of smiling Carters of various ages lined the walls. Jack's eyes were drawn to a family photo that was framed beside the fire place. He walked up to it to get a closer look.
A much younger Jacob sat beside a beautiful blond haired woman. Both wore sincere smiles. A young man stood behind the seated pair. Mark's stature spoke of the military school upbringing he was sure to have received. Both he and Jacob wore Air Force blues. Jack focused on the figure perched on the laps of the two adults. A little girl; about six years old… hair pulled back into pigtails with large pink ribbons. Her dress was covered with tiny pink and yellow flowers, the hem riding high up on her leg as she squirmed in her parents' laps. Her skinned knee peeked out from under the skirt.
Jack smiled. She hadn't changed a whole lot since then.
He felt a presence over his shoulder and knew who it was without turning around.
"You would find the single most embarrassing picture in the entire house."
Jack felt his smile widen. "I don't know, Carter. Pigtails, flowers… I think we may have stumbled on a new uniform for the women of the SGC."
"That's incredibly sexist, sir." He could hear the laughter behind the words.
"No it's not. It's innovative." He glanced over his shoulder at her.
Carter stepped back and folded her arms.
"Liberating."
Carter raised her eyebrow.
"Stylish?"
She shook her head.
"Offensive… I meant to say offensive."
Carter hid her smile behind a cough and turned. "Come on, sir, before you find anything else to humiliate me."
"Pashaw, Carter," Jack said with a dismissive wave and followed the two Carters up the stairs. "I find a little daily humiliation to be quite invigorating."
One of the bedrooms on the second floor had a small removable square in the ceiling. Mark pulled a ladder from against the wall and set it underneath. He climbed up the ladder and pushed the square away before he pulled himself up into the dark attic above.
Sam followed him up. Jack waited until she'd disappeared before starting up the ladder. Mark pulled on a small chain hanging next to a bare light bulb just as Jack's head and shoulders cleared the floor of the attic. The dark space was flooded with light. Sam had already moved to the stack of boxes in the far right corner. Jack climbed the rest of the way, taking in the piles of old clothes and magazines. It was a tight space. He and Mark had to dance past each other as they switched places.
"Take your time, Sam," Mark said and stepped through the hole to the first rung of the ladder. "Dinner's at seven."
"Thanks, Mark," Sam said without looking up. She had the lid off one of the boxes and dug inside. Her face was a mask of blank detachment.
"This looks like it could take a while." Jack kept his voice light.
Again, Sam failed to look up. "Yes, sir."
He sighed and lifted a box from the floor beside her to the top of a stack nearby so he wouldn't have to crouch while digging through it. A puff of dust hit him in the face when he pulled the lid off. It was going to be a long afternoon.
OoOoOoOoO
A couple hours later a man bent down to pick up the Sunday paper that lay at the end of the walkway. A pleasant smile on his face, he hummed the catchy song he'd heard on the radio in the car on the way to the quaint little neighborhood nestled near the center of the small island. He straightened, adjusted his expensive tie and brushed at the lapel of his new grey suit. He waved a friendly greeting to the man next door who was taking his black lab for a walk on a fancy looking leash.
He reached into the front pocket of his jacket and fingered the smooth device hidden inside. He slipped a couple of his fingers into the familiar golden nubs and back out again. He withdrew his hand from his pocket and reached out to push the little round button next to the door.
The bell chimed. He heard footsteps approach the door from inside and the rustle of the lock sliding open. He smiled again. His eyes flashed just before the door swung open.
"Mark Carter?" he asked, handing the man his newspaper.
"Yes," the man said. "May I help you?"
"Oh, I think you may be able to help me a great deal." In a flash, his hand struck out and encircled Mark's neck. Blue eyes widened as Mark felt himself lifted from the ground.
Three steps took them inside the house. The heavy door slammed shut behind them.
Ba'al pressed Mark up against the wall beside the door and reached into his pocket with his free hand. It slipped easily into the device. The gold fingertips fit snugly over his own; the round disc nestled firmly in the fold of his palm.
His face settled between a smile and a snarl as he removed his hand from his pocket and raised the device to hover in front of Mark's terrified face. "Tell me," he said, "where can I find your sister?"
oooooooooooooooooooo
Thanks again for the lovely reviews you keep sending. I may sometimes be slow to answer, but I do read them every time. You guys rock!