The rest of the party went by without incident, though everyone was curious about the President's bodyguard who seemed to have turned rogue. The next morning SG-1 met with Hammond before Daniel and Teal'c went to interrogate Harold. It felt weird as the four of them had known Harold for a long time. He was loyal to the President, and this was all very out of character for him. While Daniel and Teal'c interrogated Harold, Sam and Jack chatted with Lya about the incident. It was pretty clear who had helped Sam during the altercation, since there weren't many people at the party who had the ability to make solid objects simply vanish.
"Honestly, Lya, I'm lucky you were there." Sam said, smiling down at the small woman.
"It was not luck, Major Carter. It was necessary I attend the wedding. But now it is time my friends and I take our leave."
Sam and Jack looked at one another in surprise.
"O..Kay. Well thank you again Lya." Jack said dubiously.
"You are very welcome. We shall meet again someday. Farewell." Lya promptly turned around and headed towards the gate room with her associates.
—
George sat in his chair at the briefing table and looked at the people around him. The four members of SG-1 had taken their usual seats closest to him before Thor and - much to everyone's surprise - the president arrived. Thor beamed down in his high councilor chair, and the president took a seat next to Teal'c. Now they were all staring at General Hammond awaiting his orders, which honestly felt extremely strange as the president was - obviously - the superior officer in the room, and Thor was… well, Thor.
George shook his head slightly and cleared his throat before speaking. "Alright. Let's start with Thor shall we? Thor, what can you tell us about this baby?"
"Well I am as yet uncertain of the genetic makeup of the child. Only that Major Carter's wound healing in such manner suggests the infant has at least some of the powers that were possessed by those you call the Ancients."
"And what exactly are those powers?" George asked. If he had hair it would be turning greyer with every passing moment.
"The ancient ones possessed many abilities, such as the ability to heal and telekinesis. However, the latter was only near the end of their evolutionary journey. The ability to heal others and themselves was something they possessed for generations prior to their later abilities."
"So what can we expect from this child, Thor?" George asked. He was beginning to feel impatient, but that wasn't really Thor's fault. This entire week had been quite stressful to all parties involved.
"That is not something I can foresee. I would find it unlikely for more than the ability to heal to manifest, however, until I can get a proper genetic sample from the child, I will be unable to ascertain where it lands in the evolutionary track."
"And why, exactly, does our kid have these abilities?" The Colonel asked, looking perplexed and a touch anxious.
"Well, it was determined by our scientists that you are a descendant from some of the last ancients who lived on this earth. Due to the millennia which have passed since that time, your ancient genes have been diluted, though you are the individual with the strongest of those genes we have come across in all that time."
"Which means?" O'Neill pushed.
"The ancients had the capacity to hold vast amounts of knowledge in their mortal minds. Due to your genes, you too have the ability to hold great amounts of knowledge in your mind, though not great enough to hold the knowledge of the ancients, or, for that matter, an Asgard mind."
"Wait, did you just say Jack could be really smart if he wanted to?" Dr Jackson interrupted.
Major Carter snorted, and Teal'c merely raised an eyebrow. O'Neill pretended to look offended for a second before shrugging in acceptance.
"Daniel Jackson, are you not aware that O'Neill has a great-" teal'c was interrupted by the Colonel, who coughed loudly and waved the man off.
This caused Major Carter to snicker once more as though the two shared an inside joke. Only George knew what that joke was; Jack O'Neill has an intelligence level that would surprise most, he simply chose to play dumb. Major Carter has discovered this when she walked in on him explaining one of her reports to George because he was struggling with the language. George on the other hand, had known all along.
"Okay, but what do I have to do with it?" Major Carter asked. "I mean, do I also have the ancient gene? What is so special about the combination of our DNA?"
"You, Major Carter, are the next step in human evolution without the influence of Ancient DNA." Thor replied. "You have the ability to hold even greater knowledge than Colonel O'Neill, and that is without the assistance of an ancient ancestor. Each of you in your own right is the next step in humanity. Additionally, you have a protein marker from your time as a Tok'ra, which has advanced your genetic makeup even further. The goa'uld and Tok'ra have the ability to hold vast amounts of knowledge so that they can survive the passing of their genetic memory. With this change, it is likely any of your offspring would take an even greater step in evolution than they would have otherwise. For your offspring to share genetics with O'Neill would give them even greater chances of having what we need."
The table grew silent as everyone stared at Major Carter for a moment. After what felt like hours, but turned out to be mere seconds, the president spoke.
"Well I know you were special Major, but if this doesn't take the cake then I don't know what does."
"Maybe you should give her another promotion." O'Neill teased, then added a belated, and embarrassed, "sir."
"Very well. Thank you, Thor." George said, dismissing the colonels comment entirely. "I think you have answered all of our questions."
Thor Bowed his head to George, and said "I will remain in the vicinity should you need me again. You can use this to contact me." Then he set a small stone down on the table, and beamed away in a flash of blue light.
"Okay people. On to our next order of business." George would rather get this done sooner than later. He didn't exactly enjoy being here on Sundays, and the sooner he could leave, the happier he would be. "Dr, Jackson, Teal'c, what did you find out?"
"Well, it appears that Howard was approached a few days ago by someone who knew the Presidents plans." Dr. Jackson said, shuffling the papers sitting in front of him uncomfortably. "He was told to either take Sam to them, or kill her. Whoever they are, they know about the baby and they either want it for themselves, or don't want it to exist at all."
The President looked furious, as did Colonel O'Neill. Major Carter and Dr. Jackson both looked worried, and Teal'c was, as always, unreadable. George felt his own face turning red in anger. This was certainly going to be a problem. He wasn't even certain he should allow Major Carter to leave the base now that there was a hit out on her. However, as yesterday proved, being on base didn't prevent someone from getting to her. No, the way to solve this was to find out who wanted Major Carter's baby, and why, and put an end to them.
"Why did he do it though?" The president asked, now looking distraught. Howard has been on my team for years. Why would he do something like this?"
"Well, we asked him that Mr. President." Daniel said, pushing his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "He said they threatened to kill his sister if he didn't. She is already being escorted here so the two can remain in protective custody for the time being."
George took a deep breath. "Okay people. We need to figure out who is behind this, so that we can put an end to it. In the meantime I will be assigning a security detail to Major Carter." George held up his hand as she opened her mouth to protest. "I am very well aware you can take care of yourself Major, but I must insist we take the extra precaution. We will be working round the clock on this one, people. Dismissed."
A chorus of yessir's filled the room and everyone stood with him. The President stayed behind to have a brief discussion with George before heading back to Washington. As he left, he turned to George and promised he too would have his best people working to find out who was responsible for this attack.