Chapter 18 - Knowledge
A simple glance from Thor was enough to signal to the other two Asgard that they should continue with the greeting ceremony. How well they carried that off was unknown to Sam and Jack, whose next awareness of reality was the fading of the white light that had engulfed them. The grey familiarity of the deck of an Asgard cruiser had replaced the lush scenery of the planet, and the spectacular view from orbit through the wall-sized portal momentarily took their attention away from their host. Sam felt pleased with the fact that at least this form of transportation was not accompanied by motion sickness.
"You have discovered your Inducton." said Thor in a steady voice. "It is unfortunate that your actions have preceded our plans to advise you on its existence and use."
Jack noticed Sam's clumsy attempts to undo the bandage with her free hand and moved to assist her. "Unfortunate?" he said harshly. "I'll tell you what other *unfortunate* things keep happening. I thought I could trust you.."
"Jack!" Sam interrupted in the wifely voice that she knew would stop him in his tracks. "Shut up and let me explain." The meaningful glare that she gave him took his breath away, and he remained silent. She turned to their alien friend as the bandage fell to the floor, revealing the instrument in her grasp.
"You led Jack to believe that the Ancients' knowledge had been mostly removed from his mind, didn't you?" she continued. "Whereas in reality the majority of the data is still intact."
Thor responded with a nod. "Yes." he stated simply. "We could find no way of preserving his human sanity and identity otherwise. We placed a neuronal block in the synapses that control his subconscious self-awareness so that he could continue to function as a man. This can never be removed."
"Well, I got news for you." said Jack. "It leaks. And at fairly regular intervals, it hurts as well. A lot."
"O'Neill, I am truly sorry for your condition." replied Thor. "We may be able to alleviate the pain a little, but we cannot further alter your brain without severe consequences. It is beyond our capabilities to do so."
"This instrument." stated Sam, raising her hand slightly. "If I let go of it now, Jack will collapse merely from its proximity. Can you stop that?"
"That is easy to do." replied Thor, extending his hand towards hers. Jack involuntarily stepped back as the instrument passed from her hand to his, but was surprised when nothing untoward happened to him. "We will teach you to use it with precision while you are here, Samantha O'Neill."
"Just call me 'Sam'" she smiled. "But I need to know above all - why is something thousands of years old attuned to me at the fingerprint and DNA level, and contoured to fit Jack's skull so closely?"
"I've guessed that one!" said Jack, looking at the alien. "You took our personal details during one of our visits on board an Asgard ship and programmed the doohickey to our profiles. Then you pulled one of your time- travel tricks to send it back in history to The Ancients, right?"
Thor stared at him for a few moments. "An ingenious theory, O'Neill." he said softly. "And unfortunately, quite wrong. The Asgard have never manufactured nor programmed such a device. They were in existence before the beginnings of our recorded history, which as you know is extensive. We cannot explain this, except to speculate along the lines of closed-loop space-time or predestiny."
Sam stared open-mouthed at him, and unconsciously reached for her husband's hand. Jack struggled for a reply appropriate to his situation as the world's most unwittingly knowledgeable man.
"D'oh!" he uttered at last.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Some two and a half hours later in Earth elapsed time, Senator Kinsey was in his element, shaking hands with each SGC member and media presenter as they reappeared through the Stargate on level 28. His politician's synthetic smile never wavered the whole time that the cameras were running, except when Jaffa and the Tok'ra delegations merely bowed in greeting, their solemn faces being suddenly matched by his. TV viewers might have noticed a glimmer of uncertainty in his expression when the two Asgard emerged, but as usual he carried off the occasion.
The wormhole flickered shut, to be replaced almost instantly by a white sparkling light that deposited Thor and the O'Neill's at the top of the ramp. "Wow! Beam me up, Scotty! Was that a great broadcasting moment or what?" cried the CBS correspondent, demonstrating yet again that decorum had never been high on the list of media study subjects.
The Senator tensed as the three approached him, but was surprised and relieved when Jack simply shook his hand and moved on, while Sam briefly showed him her bandaged right hand and similarly walked past. They both seemed to have far-away looks on their faces. He couldn't tell from Thor's impassive face exactly what the alien was thinking, but smiled anyway as the Asgard leader moved on to join the throng in the Gate Room.
As the Senator's speech to the assembly and the world droned on, Sam and Jack unobtrusively worked their way to the exit and disappeared from the Gate Room without being noticed, except by Jacob Carter and the sentry at the door. Jack nodded briefly to him, recognising the Marine sergeant from years past. The faintest of movements of the man's eyelid in response was a sign of respect between the two of them.
The O'Neill's found their way back to Daniel's lab, where the good Doctor was immersed in a strange script on the monitor. He looked up briefly as they entered, his glance going immediately to Sam's still-bandaged hand.
"Mission accomplished." she smiled at him. "It's amazing, the people who do home deliveries these days."
"Good." replied Daniel. "Er, did you find out about the DNA match as well?"
"Yes and no." said Sam. "The fact that the Asgard didn't have a hand in it is spooky, to say the least. We'll let you know as soon as we get more background from actually using it."
"So, do you plan to start as soon as you get home, then?" asked Daniel, his curiosity peaking.
"All in good time, Daniel. All in good time." said Jack quietly. "There are a few things Sam and I need to discuss first."
"But.."
"But nothing, Daniel" Jack insisted, overriding his wife's desire to say something. "I can't consciously access the data without blowing an overload fuse, and I'm going to make damned sure that you don't go the same way, Sam. And don't look at me like that. I know what you're like with bits of new technology."
Jack's favourite expression from 'The Simpsons' rolled through her mind, but Sam couldn't quite bring herself to say it out loud - well, not just yet, anyway.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
She was glad that they'd decided to take a rental car and travel back to Minnesota by road the next day, despite the length of the journey. Another bout of air sickness was the last thing she wanted. They had both fallen asleep like logs in General Hammond's guest room last night despite, or perhaps because of the day's revelations.
Jack had been unusually quiet on the journey back, not participating in her speculations about their new abilities, except to insist that they should carry out their original intentions of disseminating information slowly to the world at large, just as if she were still recording his dreams and taking notes from them. Sam had argued that the world shouldn't be kept waiting, but found that he was implacable on the subject. She couldn't understand why he kept telling her to wait until they got home before discussing it in more detail.
It was nearly midnight when they finally pulled into the drive of their 'new' house, parking behind the truck. Their friend Jimmy opened the door to them when he saw who was getting out of the strange car, but neither made more than a few steps towards the house before two ecstatic dogs launched themselves in greeting. They stooped to make a fuss of the barking and whining animals and eventually made it through the front door.
Jimmy refused the offer of staying in the guest room for another night, so Jack drove him home while Sam unpacked their travel bag and carried on making a fuss of their besotted animals. She had fresh coffee waiting for him when he returned - neither seemed to be affected in their sleeping habits by late-night caffeine consumption.
They finally sat down together in the centre of the large sofa in the lounge, each with a dog beside them already curling up to sleep - after checking that biscuits were not available, of course.
"So?" asked Sam. The familiarity and multiple meanings of that word between the two of them eliminated the need for explanations of the next topic. Jack finished sipping his coffee and put it down on the small table in front of them, taking her cup and placing it alongside his. He leaned back, his left arm reaching round her shoulders and his free hand taking her now- unbandaged right.
"I don't want you to overdo the contact with my head for two reasons." he started. "One, because I wouldn't know what to do if you overdosed on data and suffered as a result, like I did before the Asgard *fixed* me."
"I promise to go carefully." Sam replied. "Nothing's without risk, though. But I will take care. What's the other reason?"
"Well, you know what Thor said about 'nurturing future genetic matter' before your expanded mental state starts to affect your health and behaviour.." Jack continued carefully.
"And I told him that we hadn't even discussed having children yet, even if it proves possible." she responded, nodding her head.
Jack took a deep breath and squeezed her hand. "We've already started, Sam."
"What?"
"You're pregnant."
"What?!"
"Expecting. Heavy with child. In the pudding club. Up the spout. Got a bun in the oven. Eating for two. Up the duff.."
"But I can't be! How do you know anyway?"
"Just a feeling. Plus I noticed the same signs in you that I did when Sara was first expecting Charlie. You've been more easily upset than is normal for you, despite what we've been through these last few days, not to mention the travel sickness."
"That's hardly scientific proof! I'll need to get a test done."
"By all means."
The realisation began to sink in. Sam couldn't help looking down at her stomach, and suddenly the significance of their joined hands struck her. Confusion; concern; fright; hope; joy - all ran through her psyche simultaneously. She looked up to find Jack grinning stupidly at her. She couldn't resist smiling and then grinning back at him, and turned to embrace him. How long they stayed like that, she couldn't remember afterwards. But she did recall spending a long time staring at herself in the mirror before getting into bed, and holding on to Jack long after he had fallen asleep beside her.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Late spring became early summer, and the warmer weather found the world's two most encyclopaedic people strolling along the lakeshore near their cabin. Her waistline was beginning to fill her new, looser clothes, while his hair seemed a little lighter than last year. They talked and laughed and worried and discussed and laughed some more, and worried again. Anyone watching would have noticed how close a couple they were, but would never have realised just how transcendental that closeness was.
Two dogs ran through the trees and the undergrowth, frequently returning to check on their humans. They played and investigated and played some more, confident of the reality that the two people they loved would feed them and love them in return throughout their whole canine lives.
And who was to say which was the more intelligent species? Not me.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
A simple glance from Thor was enough to signal to the other two Asgard that they should continue with the greeting ceremony. How well they carried that off was unknown to Sam and Jack, whose next awareness of reality was the fading of the white light that had engulfed them. The grey familiarity of the deck of an Asgard cruiser had replaced the lush scenery of the planet, and the spectacular view from orbit through the wall-sized portal momentarily took their attention away from their host. Sam felt pleased with the fact that at least this form of transportation was not accompanied by motion sickness.
"You have discovered your Inducton." said Thor in a steady voice. "It is unfortunate that your actions have preceded our plans to advise you on its existence and use."
Jack noticed Sam's clumsy attempts to undo the bandage with her free hand and moved to assist her. "Unfortunate?" he said harshly. "I'll tell you what other *unfortunate* things keep happening. I thought I could trust you.."
"Jack!" Sam interrupted in the wifely voice that she knew would stop him in his tracks. "Shut up and let me explain." The meaningful glare that she gave him took his breath away, and he remained silent. She turned to their alien friend as the bandage fell to the floor, revealing the instrument in her grasp.
"You led Jack to believe that the Ancients' knowledge had been mostly removed from his mind, didn't you?" she continued. "Whereas in reality the majority of the data is still intact."
Thor responded with a nod. "Yes." he stated simply. "We could find no way of preserving his human sanity and identity otherwise. We placed a neuronal block in the synapses that control his subconscious self-awareness so that he could continue to function as a man. This can never be removed."
"Well, I got news for you." said Jack. "It leaks. And at fairly regular intervals, it hurts as well. A lot."
"O'Neill, I am truly sorry for your condition." replied Thor. "We may be able to alleviate the pain a little, but we cannot further alter your brain without severe consequences. It is beyond our capabilities to do so."
"This instrument." stated Sam, raising her hand slightly. "If I let go of it now, Jack will collapse merely from its proximity. Can you stop that?"
"That is easy to do." replied Thor, extending his hand towards hers. Jack involuntarily stepped back as the instrument passed from her hand to his, but was surprised when nothing untoward happened to him. "We will teach you to use it with precision while you are here, Samantha O'Neill."
"Just call me 'Sam'" she smiled. "But I need to know above all - why is something thousands of years old attuned to me at the fingerprint and DNA level, and contoured to fit Jack's skull so closely?"
"I've guessed that one!" said Jack, looking at the alien. "You took our personal details during one of our visits on board an Asgard ship and programmed the doohickey to our profiles. Then you pulled one of your time- travel tricks to send it back in history to The Ancients, right?"
Thor stared at him for a few moments. "An ingenious theory, O'Neill." he said softly. "And unfortunately, quite wrong. The Asgard have never manufactured nor programmed such a device. They were in existence before the beginnings of our recorded history, which as you know is extensive. We cannot explain this, except to speculate along the lines of closed-loop space-time or predestiny."
Sam stared open-mouthed at him, and unconsciously reached for her husband's hand. Jack struggled for a reply appropriate to his situation as the world's most unwittingly knowledgeable man.
"D'oh!" he uttered at last.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Some two and a half hours later in Earth elapsed time, Senator Kinsey was in his element, shaking hands with each SGC member and media presenter as they reappeared through the Stargate on level 28. His politician's synthetic smile never wavered the whole time that the cameras were running, except when Jaffa and the Tok'ra delegations merely bowed in greeting, their solemn faces being suddenly matched by his. TV viewers might have noticed a glimmer of uncertainty in his expression when the two Asgard emerged, but as usual he carried off the occasion.
The wormhole flickered shut, to be replaced almost instantly by a white sparkling light that deposited Thor and the O'Neill's at the top of the ramp. "Wow! Beam me up, Scotty! Was that a great broadcasting moment or what?" cried the CBS correspondent, demonstrating yet again that decorum had never been high on the list of media study subjects.
The Senator tensed as the three approached him, but was surprised and relieved when Jack simply shook his hand and moved on, while Sam briefly showed him her bandaged right hand and similarly walked past. They both seemed to have far-away looks on their faces. He couldn't tell from Thor's impassive face exactly what the alien was thinking, but smiled anyway as the Asgard leader moved on to join the throng in the Gate Room.
As the Senator's speech to the assembly and the world droned on, Sam and Jack unobtrusively worked their way to the exit and disappeared from the Gate Room without being noticed, except by Jacob Carter and the sentry at the door. Jack nodded briefly to him, recognising the Marine sergeant from years past. The faintest of movements of the man's eyelid in response was a sign of respect between the two of them.
The O'Neill's found their way back to Daniel's lab, where the good Doctor was immersed in a strange script on the monitor. He looked up briefly as they entered, his glance going immediately to Sam's still-bandaged hand.
"Mission accomplished." she smiled at him. "It's amazing, the people who do home deliveries these days."
"Good." replied Daniel. "Er, did you find out about the DNA match as well?"
"Yes and no." said Sam. "The fact that the Asgard didn't have a hand in it is spooky, to say the least. We'll let you know as soon as we get more background from actually using it."
"So, do you plan to start as soon as you get home, then?" asked Daniel, his curiosity peaking.
"All in good time, Daniel. All in good time." said Jack quietly. "There are a few things Sam and I need to discuss first."
"But.."
"But nothing, Daniel" Jack insisted, overriding his wife's desire to say something. "I can't consciously access the data without blowing an overload fuse, and I'm going to make damned sure that you don't go the same way, Sam. And don't look at me like that. I know what you're like with bits of new technology."
Jack's favourite expression from 'The Simpsons' rolled through her mind, but Sam couldn't quite bring herself to say it out loud - well, not just yet, anyway.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
She was glad that they'd decided to take a rental car and travel back to Minnesota by road the next day, despite the length of the journey. Another bout of air sickness was the last thing she wanted. They had both fallen asleep like logs in General Hammond's guest room last night despite, or perhaps because of the day's revelations.
Jack had been unusually quiet on the journey back, not participating in her speculations about their new abilities, except to insist that they should carry out their original intentions of disseminating information slowly to the world at large, just as if she were still recording his dreams and taking notes from them. Sam had argued that the world shouldn't be kept waiting, but found that he was implacable on the subject. She couldn't understand why he kept telling her to wait until they got home before discussing it in more detail.
It was nearly midnight when they finally pulled into the drive of their 'new' house, parking behind the truck. Their friend Jimmy opened the door to them when he saw who was getting out of the strange car, but neither made more than a few steps towards the house before two ecstatic dogs launched themselves in greeting. They stooped to make a fuss of the barking and whining animals and eventually made it through the front door.
Jimmy refused the offer of staying in the guest room for another night, so Jack drove him home while Sam unpacked their travel bag and carried on making a fuss of their besotted animals. She had fresh coffee waiting for him when he returned - neither seemed to be affected in their sleeping habits by late-night caffeine consumption.
They finally sat down together in the centre of the large sofa in the lounge, each with a dog beside them already curling up to sleep - after checking that biscuits were not available, of course.
"So?" asked Sam. The familiarity and multiple meanings of that word between the two of them eliminated the need for explanations of the next topic. Jack finished sipping his coffee and put it down on the small table in front of them, taking her cup and placing it alongside his. He leaned back, his left arm reaching round her shoulders and his free hand taking her now- unbandaged right.
"I don't want you to overdo the contact with my head for two reasons." he started. "One, because I wouldn't know what to do if you overdosed on data and suffered as a result, like I did before the Asgard *fixed* me."
"I promise to go carefully." Sam replied. "Nothing's without risk, though. But I will take care. What's the other reason?"
"Well, you know what Thor said about 'nurturing future genetic matter' before your expanded mental state starts to affect your health and behaviour.." Jack continued carefully.
"And I told him that we hadn't even discussed having children yet, even if it proves possible." she responded, nodding her head.
Jack took a deep breath and squeezed her hand. "We've already started, Sam."
"What?"
"You're pregnant."
"What?!"
"Expecting. Heavy with child. In the pudding club. Up the spout. Got a bun in the oven. Eating for two. Up the duff.."
"But I can't be! How do you know anyway?"
"Just a feeling. Plus I noticed the same signs in you that I did when Sara was first expecting Charlie. You've been more easily upset than is normal for you, despite what we've been through these last few days, not to mention the travel sickness."
"That's hardly scientific proof! I'll need to get a test done."
"By all means."
The realisation began to sink in. Sam couldn't help looking down at her stomach, and suddenly the significance of their joined hands struck her. Confusion; concern; fright; hope; joy - all ran through her psyche simultaneously. She looked up to find Jack grinning stupidly at her. She couldn't resist smiling and then grinning back at him, and turned to embrace him. How long they stayed like that, she couldn't remember afterwards. But she did recall spending a long time staring at herself in the mirror before getting into bed, and holding on to Jack long after he had fallen asleep beside her.
XXXXXXXXXXXX
Late spring became early summer, and the warmer weather found the world's two most encyclopaedic people strolling along the lakeshore near their cabin. Her waistline was beginning to fill her new, looser clothes, while his hair seemed a little lighter than last year. They talked and laughed and worried and discussed and laughed some more, and worried again. Anyone watching would have noticed how close a couple they were, but would never have realised just how transcendental that closeness was.
Two dogs ran through the trees and the undergrowth, frequently returning to check on their humans. They played and investigated and played some more, confident of the reality that the two people they loved would feed them and love them in return throughout their whole canine lives.
And who was to say which was the more intelligent species? Not me.
XXXXXXXXXXXX