Chapter 3 - Hot Stuff
"Here he comes now." said Sam, as a stranger's waggon drew up outside their office. "Ready?"
"Yes, but I want to play the hard guy this time!" replied Jack, as he stood up from behind the big desk, donning his jacket. "You did it the last three times. Getting to like it too much!"
"Gone soft again!" Sam smiled back at him. This was a game they had played regularly over the last few years. The truth was, most sellers were easy to deal with and manipulate, and many recognised the game for what it was. So their asking prices started out ridiculously high and ended up only slightly lower than they had hoped for - low enough to know that JS Trading was not to be messed with, but good enough to come back for more in future.
"Is Ari ready with our *audience*?" asked Jack.
Sam looked out of the open window again and raised a thumb to their waiting foreman, who unobtrusively nodded in response, turned and ushered half a dozen of their workers to sit on wooden benches outside an adjacent building to await their next work detail. Daniel, Teal'c and Jen Hailey were amongst them.
The caller dismounted his waggon and one of the JS Trading employees approached to tend the horses. The tall, bearded man slapped the dust off his faded long coat, looking around carefully as he walked towards the office, where Jack and Sam greeted him with a handshake and brief words of welcome. The door closed behind them, but their drifting voices could still be heard outside. Two of the waiting workers continued a quiet conversation between themselves, but the four others could not help but listen inquisitively to the sounds from within.
At first the conversation was hardly discernible, but soon raised voices were coming clearly from the building.
"Don't try to tell me that those pieces will sell on an open market without the cops sniffing round!" they heard Sam proclaim. "You either lifted them yourself or you're pushing them for someone else who did!"
"I didn't come here to be insulted!" replied the seller. "They're genuine goods of the realm, you can see from the receipt."
"Crap! You could have gotten that paper ten minutes ago down the road at the printer's shop." continued Sam.
""Sam! Let's just calm down a minute here!" came Jack's slightly quieter voice. "This inventory list is *interesting*, and Conal here doesn't strike me as a dishonest man."
The conversation died back in volume, with only occasional words reaching the now attentive audience outside. It was Sam's voice that raised the tempo again. "And I say not a centar more, with all the trouble it'll take to move it on!" The stranger suddenly appeared in the doorway, but did not come out, as Jack ushered him back to the desk with some soothing words and gestures. The discussions continued for another five minutes before he reappeared outside with Jack, and they shook hands.
"Good to do business with you, Conal." said Jack. "Er, sorry she gave you such a hard time." he continued in a lower voice.
"Yeah, mine can be like that, too!" replied the visitor with a grin. "Maybe we should let the two of them deal next time while we take ale?"
"Good idea!" smiled Jack conspiratorially, turning round and gesturing to Ari to organise the unloading of the goods in their nearby warehouse. The foreman nominated Teal'c and Daniel to follow the waggon as he got up alongside Conal, and they departed slowly.
Jack watched their retreat and turned back into the office, to be greeted by a huge grin on Sam's face. He couldn't resist breaking into the same expression and they exchanged a 'high five'.
"I still want to be the hard man next time." he said.
"Only if you're quick enough, dearest, only if you're quick!"
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Jen Hailey took the large simmering pan from the stove and poured their soup as soon as she saw Teal'c and Daniel returning that evening. She allowed them only a few mouthfuls before asking the inevitable questions.
"Most of the stuff was crated, but some was just wrapped in sacking. We took a look when we could and it seemed to be a collection of paintings and art works, like small statues and ornaments." explained Daniel.
"Any inscriptions in languages you know?" asked Jen.
"An interesting question." replied Teal'c. "There were indeed Goa'uld hieroglyphs on one object, but I did not observe sufficient of the surface to understand its origin."
"We unloaded them into a locked area of the warehouse." Daniel continued. "It looked like there was a lot more of the same already on the shelves. Ari chained up the door again when we left."
"Any markings on the crates to suggest possible destinations?" enquired Jen, her interest unabated.
"A few." said Teal'c, finishing his soup a little noisily. "It would seem to be a regular trade across several planets."
"Do you think it's all legitimate? I mean, that seller this afternoon didn't look a top-drawer dealer." she persisted.
"No I don't, and that's what worries me." said Daniel. "I could believe that Jack might run close to the wind, but Sam never would. At least, the Sam we used to know wouldn't. I think. But she's changed since we saw her last, if this afternoon's meeting was anything to go by. In fact, they seem to work very close to each other, don't you think?"
"Indeed they do." mused Teal'c, more to himself than his companions.
Later, as he lay awake meditating, long after Jennifer Hailey had once again fallen asleep in Daniel's arms, he heard a faint noise by the door of their dormitory and looked up. Ari was beckoning to him, his hand just visible in the moonlight flooding in through the window. He rose silently and followed the foreman across the yard.
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Daniel didn't know how much more of this he could take. Another three days of menial labour - whether herding livestock or handling dry goods - had seen his personal discomfort rise and fall on a daily basis. They hardly saw the owners of JS Trading except when clients were paying their dues or when either came to instruct Ari on new jobs. And when he asked to see them privately, he was treated by the head man as though he hardly existed.
His attempts to get Teal'c during their evenings together to speculate on why they were being ignored was met with his constant refusal to do just that.
"I trust O'Neill and Samantha." was the Jaffa's regular reply. "It is of no benefit to guess when all will be made clear to us."
"No, I won't accept that we wait around for something to happen!" insisted Daniel. "Maybe they have changed in eleven years. Look how competitive the traders are. There's no love lost when a job is up for bidding, and they certainly seem as hard as nails in fending off rivals and making sure they get paid!"
"I believe there will be a change soon, DanielJackson." said Teal'c. Jen glanced sharply at him, but his expression was as always, immutable.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"Here he comes now." said Sam, as a stranger's waggon drew up outside their office. "Ready?"
"Yes, but I want to play the hard guy this time!" replied Jack, as he stood up from behind the big desk, donning his jacket. "You did it the last three times. Getting to like it too much!"
"Gone soft again!" Sam smiled back at him. This was a game they had played regularly over the last few years. The truth was, most sellers were easy to deal with and manipulate, and many recognised the game for what it was. So their asking prices started out ridiculously high and ended up only slightly lower than they had hoped for - low enough to know that JS Trading was not to be messed with, but good enough to come back for more in future.
"Is Ari ready with our *audience*?" asked Jack.
Sam looked out of the open window again and raised a thumb to their waiting foreman, who unobtrusively nodded in response, turned and ushered half a dozen of their workers to sit on wooden benches outside an adjacent building to await their next work detail. Daniel, Teal'c and Jen Hailey were amongst them.
The caller dismounted his waggon and one of the JS Trading employees approached to tend the horses. The tall, bearded man slapped the dust off his faded long coat, looking around carefully as he walked towards the office, where Jack and Sam greeted him with a handshake and brief words of welcome. The door closed behind them, but their drifting voices could still be heard outside. Two of the waiting workers continued a quiet conversation between themselves, but the four others could not help but listen inquisitively to the sounds from within.
At first the conversation was hardly discernible, but soon raised voices were coming clearly from the building.
"Don't try to tell me that those pieces will sell on an open market without the cops sniffing round!" they heard Sam proclaim. "You either lifted them yourself or you're pushing them for someone else who did!"
"I didn't come here to be insulted!" replied the seller. "They're genuine goods of the realm, you can see from the receipt."
"Crap! You could have gotten that paper ten minutes ago down the road at the printer's shop." continued Sam.
""Sam! Let's just calm down a minute here!" came Jack's slightly quieter voice. "This inventory list is *interesting*, and Conal here doesn't strike me as a dishonest man."
The conversation died back in volume, with only occasional words reaching the now attentive audience outside. It was Sam's voice that raised the tempo again. "And I say not a centar more, with all the trouble it'll take to move it on!" The stranger suddenly appeared in the doorway, but did not come out, as Jack ushered him back to the desk with some soothing words and gestures. The discussions continued for another five minutes before he reappeared outside with Jack, and they shook hands.
"Good to do business with you, Conal." said Jack. "Er, sorry she gave you such a hard time." he continued in a lower voice.
"Yeah, mine can be like that, too!" replied the visitor with a grin. "Maybe we should let the two of them deal next time while we take ale?"
"Good idea!" smiled Jack conspiratorially, turning round and gesturing to Ari to organise the unloading of the goods in their nearby warehouse. The foreman nominated Teal'c and Daniel to follow the waggon as he got up alongside Conal, and they departed slowly.
Jack watched their retreat and turned back into the office, to be greeted by a huge grin on Sam's face. He couldn't resist breaking into the same expression and they exchanged a 'high five'.
"I still want to be the hard man next time." he said.
"Only if you're quick enough, dearest, only if you're quick!"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Jen Hailey took the large simmering pan from the stove and poured their soup as soon as she saw Teal'c and Daniel returning that evening. She allowed them only a few mouthfuls before asking the inevitable questions.
"Most of the stuff was crated, but some was just wrapped in sacking. We took a look when we could and it seemed to be a collection of paintings and art works, like small statues and ornaments." explained Daniel.
"Any inscriptions in languages you know?" asked Jen.
"An interesting question." replied Teal'c. "There were indeed Goa'uld hieroglyphs on one object, but I did not observe sufficient of the surface to understand its origin."
"We unloaded them into a locked area of the warehouse." Daniel continued. "It looked like there was a lot more of the same already on the shelves. Ari chained up the door again when we left."
"Any markings on the crates to suggest possible destinations?" enquired Jen, her interest unabated.
"A few." said Teal'c, finishing his soup a little noisily. "It would seem to be a regular trade across several planets."
"Do you think it's all legitimate? I mean, that seller this afternoon didn't look a top-drawer dealer." she persisted.
"No I don't, and that's what worries me." said Daniel. "I could believe that Jack might run close to the wind, but Sam never would. At least, the Sam we used to know wouldn't. I think. But she's changed since we saw her last, if this afternoon's meeting was anything to go by. In fact, they seem to work very close to each other, don't you think?"
"Indeed they do." mused Teal'c, more to himself than his companions.
Later, as he lay awake meditating, long after Jennifer Hailey had once again fallen asleep in Daniel's arms, he heard a faint noise by the door of their dormitory and looked up. Ari was beckoning to him, his hand just visible in the moonlight flooding in through the window. He rose silently and followed the foreman across the yard.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Daniel didn't know how much more of this he could take. Another three days of menial labour - whether herding livestock or handling dry goods - had seen his personal discomfort rise and fall on a daily basis. They hardly saw the owners of JS Trading except when clients were paying their dues or when either came to instruct Ari on new jobs. And when he asked to see them privately, he was treated by the head man as though he hardly existed.
His attempts to get Teal'c during their evenings together to speculate on why they were being ignored was met with his constant refusal to do just that.
"I trust O'Neill and Samantha." was the Jaffa's regular reply. "It is of no benefit to guess when all will be made clear to us."
"No, I won't accept that we wait around for something to happen!" insisted Daniel. "Maybe they have changed in eleven years. Look how competitive the traders are. There's no love lost when a job is up for bidding, and they certainly seem as hard as nails in fending off rivals and making sure they get paid!"
"I believe there will be a change soon, DanielJackson." said Teal'c. Jen glanced sharply at him, but his expression was as always, immutable.
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