'This has to be the biggest screw-up for years.' thought Daniel Jackson, as
he, a shackled Teal'c and a concussed Major Hailey were unceremoniously
jolted around in the back of the dark covered waggon. He could hear the
driver up front cursing the horses to pull harder up the rutted track and
forced himself to think over recent events, as he held on to the Major to
prevent her being knocked about in her unconscious state by the constant
lurching.
*kcabhsalf*
The SGC had called in Professor Jackson from his post at the Cultural Research Domum on Crucis 3A to earn his consultant's retention fee. Daniel read the mysterious note that had been passed hurriedly to an SG team off- world by an anonymous hooded native, who fled the scene before they could stop him or her. 'Aid us, Tau'ri, we beg you.' it began. 'Our sacred icon will soon be delivered to the Goa'uld by devil traders who stole it from our temple on Avor. Without it, our followers will abandon their resistance and you will lose an ally. Send us an emissary with the knowledge of its value and we may yet save ourselves, and be in your debt.' It was signed 'Evenerari'.
It had taken only a few days of gating back and forth between Earth and his workplace to verify that the Avorian sect had indeed been robbed of a most powerful symbol of their faith. If they lost cohesion and direction, their role in spreading the word amongst other timid races that the Tau'ri were a power for good would disappear.
It had taken a further few days to locate Teal'c, whom he had found in semi- retirement in a remote part of Chulak. Daniel was a man no longer easily caught out by surprises, and the sight of the Jaffa peacefully fishing on a quiet lake took him unawares. He approached the water's edge quietly, but Teal'c had lost none of his keen senses.
"It is indeed a pleasure to meet you again, DanielJackson." said Teal'c, without looking round. "Perhaps your arrival will also bring the fish."
"Er, I thought that Jack had.." said Daniel uncertainly.
"For a long while, my first experience with him was most certainly a deterrent." replied Teal'c. "However, in time I began to see that the philosophy of chasing dreams by following an impractical pastime has a certain merit. As he said, it is not the fish, it is *the fishing* that is important."
"Ah, I see. I think." Daniel sat down alongside his friend and reaching behind his own head, slapped his neck as he felt the sting of an insect bite. After a few moments of silence, he continued. "We need to find them again, Teal'c. We need their help." His friend knew exactly who he was talking about. "Eleven years is a long time."
The SGC had insisted that Daniel and Teal'c be accompanied by a military representative on their mission to recover the lost icon. So few of the original members were now left in the SG teams that Daniel was glad that he had been able to persuade them to let Major Hailey join the group. He remembered her as a freckle-faced Lieutenant, prodigious in her scientific abilities and willingness to give opinions, and was therefore a little surprised when an athletic, confident and instantly likeable officer presented herself in the briefing room.
"I'm pleased to be serving with you again, Dr. Jackson." she said. "And with you, Teal'c. I hope that I can earn your confidence and trust."
"Oh, I feel good about that already." came the reply. "And please call me Daniel." He couldn't resist the thought that their age difference was the same as another well-known couple. "May I call you Jennifer?"
"I prefer Jen, please."
Teal'c observed the exchange in knowing silence.
That moment had proved to be the best of the mission for Daniel. Their violent capture and abduction by a group of heavily-armed men one day after arrival on P2T-756, where they knew there was a 'JS Trading' depot, was at the opposite end of his personal spectrum.
*end of kcabhsalf*
After another hour of discomfort, the bright evening sunlight came as a surprise when they were emptied out of the waggon. Hailey was now conscious again and they were quickly herded into a fenced area along with several coarsely-dressed strangers, both men and women. They had not long to wait before a familiar figure appeared before them on a raised dock and ordered silence.
"For those of you who don't know it yet, you now belong to JS Trading." said Sam in a strong voice. "And when I say *belong*, that means that you have the right to a fair wage, food basics and shelter. You do *not* have freedom of movement. Under the laws of this world, you are technically known as 'debentured labour', and can only leave our employment when we say so. Any attempts to leave without that permission will be punishable in law. This is the only warning you will get!"
"That's slavery!" shouted one man at the back. Daniel, already in shock at the sight of someone he would never have believed could behave like this, stood in open-mouthed amazement when Jack appeared alongside Sam and pointed out the man to a guard. The guard ran to the rear and unceremoniously dragged the man away.
"You will be given work clothes, a meal and shown to your quarters." continued Sam, pointing in the direction of a heavily-built stockade a few hundred metres away. "We start work at dawn tomorrow. Now follow the supervisors."
Daniel thought that Sam and Jack must have recognised the three of them in the crowd, but he had no idea what was in store. Above all, he could not take in the change in his friends' demeanour and actions since their time together at the SGC. He raised his arm and started to call out, but they had turned away from the assembled workers. He felt Teal'c's arm restraining his, and saw his curt shake of the head.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"What's that awful smell?" asked Daniel as the first glow of the dawn sky appeared. They were standing in a group by the corral, shivering slightly in the early morning frost and talking quietly. He wrinkled his nose.
"Pigs." replied Jen Hailey. "My folks raised them. Know the smell anywhere."
"I heard the foreman say that our task today is to heard them through the Stargate in batches of 500." added Teal'c.
"Pigs? Through a Stargate? I thought they were supposed to be trading in technologies! And how many are there in total?" asked Daniel, starting to wish he hadn't eaten breakfast.
"Nearly five thousand, I believe." replied Teal'c, smiling wryly at his friend's discomfort.
"Come on, Daniel!" laughed Hailey. "Don't wimp out now! We've just got to play along until they recognise it's us here."
It wasn't quite the longest day of Daniel's life, but it came close. The smell, the dust and the exhausting physical effort brought back his allergies and by the time evening came, he was more than willing for 'Jen' to spoon feed him soup as he lay sniffling and red-eyed on his bed, a headache thumping behind his temples. They had been so busy all day and had only caught sight of Sam and Jack on horseback a few times, herding livestock with the rest. They seemed to be working just as hard as their employees.
Teal'c returned to their communal room in mid-evening and took in the scene before him. Daniel had fallen asleep exhausted, and the Jaffa noted with a smile that Hailey had curled up alongside him and joined him in slumber, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. He had intended to tell Daniel that a plea to the foreman for his re-assignment to a less dusty job would be considered, but he had to report for work with the rest next morning.
Teal'c sat for a while in meditation. The O'Neill's were deliberately not acknowledging their friends and he knew that the reason would become clear in due course. But why they were doing these things, he had absolutely no idea.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
*kcabhsalf*
The SGC had called in Professor Jackson from his post at the Cultural Research Domum on Crucis 3A to earn his consultant's retention fee. Daniel read the mysterious note that had been passed hurriedly to an SG team off- world by an anonymous hooded native, who fled the scene before they could stop him or her. 'Aid us, Tau'ri, we beg you.' it began. 'Our sacred icon will soon be delivered to the Goa'uld by devil traders who stole it from our temple on Avor. Without it, our followers will abandon their resistance and you will lose an ally. Send us an emissary with the knowledge of its value and we may yet save ourselves, and be in your debt.' It was signed 'Evenerari'.
It had taken only a few days of gating back and forth between Earth and his workplace to verify that the Avorian sect had indeed been robbed of a most powerful symbol of their faith. If they lost cohesion and direction, their role in spreading the word amongst other timid races that the Tau'ri were a power for good would disappear.
It had taken a further few days to locate Teal'c, whom he had found in semi- retirement in a remote part of Chulak. Daniel was a man no longer easily caught out by surprises, and the sight of the Jaffa peacefully fishing on a quiet lake took him unawares. He approached the water's edge quietly, but Teal'c had lost none of his keen senses.
"It is indeed a pleasure to meet you again, DanielJackson." said Teal'c, without looking round. "Perhaps your arrival will also bring the fish."
"Er, I thought that Jack had.." said Daniel uncertainly.
"For a long while, my first experience with him was most certainly a deterrent." replied Teal'c. "However, in time I began to see that the philosophy of chasing dreams by following an impractical pastime has a certain merit. As he said, it is not the fish, it is *the fishing* that is important."
"Ah, I see. I think." Daniel sat down alongside his friend and reaching behind his own head, slapped his neck as he felt the sting of an insect bite. After a few moments of silence, he continued. "We need to find them again, Teal'c. We need their help." His friend knew exactly who he was talking about. "Eleven years is a long time."
The SGC had insisted that Daniel and Teal'c be accompanied by a military representative on their mission to recover the lost icon. So few of the original members were now left in the SG teams that Daniel was glad that he had been able to persuade them to let Major Hailey join the group. He remembered her as a freckle-faced Lieutenant, prodigious in her scientific abilities and willingness to give opinions, and was therefore a little surprised when an athletic, confident and instantly likeable officer presented herself in the briefing room.
"I'm pleased to be serving with you again, Dr. Jackson." she said. "And with you, Teal'c. I hope that I can earn your confidence and trust."
"Oh, I feel good about that already." came the reply. "And please call me Daniel." He couldn't resist the thought that their age difference was the same as another well-known couple. "May I call you Jennifer?"
"I prefer Jen, please."
Teal'c observed the exchange in knowing silence.
That moment had proved to be the best of the mission for Daniel. Their violent capture and abduction by a group of heavily-armed men one day after arrival on P2T-756, where they knew there was a 'JS Trading' depot, was at the opposite end of his personal spectrum.
*end of kcabhsalf*
After another hour of discomfort, the bright evening sunlight came as a surprise when they were emptied out of the waggon. Hailey was now conscious again and they were quickly herded into a fenced area along with several coarsely-dressed strangers, both men and women. They had not long to wait before a familiar figure appeared before them on a raised dock and ordered silence.
"For those of you who don't know it yet, you now belong to JS Trading." said Sam in a strong voice. "And when I say *belong*, that means that you have the right to a fair wage, food basics and shelter. You do *not* have freedom of movement. Under the laws of this world, you are technically known as 'debentured labour', and can only leave our employment when we say so. Any attempts to leave without that permission will be punishable in law. This is the only warning you will get!"
"That's slavery!" shouted one man at the back. Daniel, already in shock at the sight of someone he would never have believed could behave like this, stood in open-mouthed amazement when Jack appeared alongside Sam and pointed out the man to a guard. The guard ran to the rear and unceremoniously dragged the man away.
"You will be given work clothes, a meal and shown to your quarters." continued Sam, pointing in the direction of a heavily-built stockade a few hundred metres away. "We start work at dawn tomorrow. Now follow the supervisors."
Daniel thought that Sam and Jack must have recognised the three of them in the crowd, but he had no idea what was in store. Above all, he could not take in the change in his friends' demeanour and actions since their time together at the SGC. He raised his arm and started to call out, but they had turned away from the assembled workers. He felt Teal'c's arm restraining his, and saw his curt shake of the head.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"What's that awful smell?" asked Daniel as the first glow of the dawn sky appeared. They were standing in a group by the corral, shivering slightly in the early morning frost and talking quietly. He wrinkled his nose.
"Pigs." replied Jen Hailey. "My folks raised them. Know the smell anywhere."
"I heard the foreman say that our task today is to heard them through the Stargate in batches of 500." added Teal'c.
"Pigs? Through a Stargate? I thought they were supposed to be trading in technologies! And how many are there in total?" asked Daniel, starting to wish he hadn't eaten breakfast.
"Nearly five thousand, I believe." replied Teal'c, smiling wryly at his friend's discomfort.
"Come on, Daniel!" laughed Hailey. "Don't wimp out now! We've just got to play along until they recognise it's us here."
It wasn't quite the longest day of Daniel's life, but it came close. The smell, the dust and the exhausting physical effort brought back his allergies and by the time evening came, he was more than willing for 'Jen' to spoon feed him soup as he lay sniffling and red-eyed on his bed, a headache thumping behind his temples. They had been so busy all day and had only caught sight of Sam and Jack on horseback a few times, herding livestock with the rest. They seemed to be working just as hard as their employees.
Teal'c returned to their communal room in mid-evening and took in the scene before him. Daniel had fallen asleep exhausted, and the Jaffa noted with a smile that Hailey had curled up alongside him and joined him in slumber, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. He had intended to tell Daniel that a plea to the foreman for his re-assignment to a less dusty job would be considered, but he had to report for work with the rest next morning.
Teal'c sat for a while in meditation. The O'Neill's were deliberately not acknowledging their friends and he knew that the reason would become clear in due course. But why they were doing these things, he had absolutely no idea.
XXXXXXXXXXXX