Confrontations
Part 22 of the Asgard Sequence
Sequel to 'Damage'
By Gumnut
Nov 2003
Daniel was angry. In fact, Daniel was royally pissed. But he had no-one to blame, because it was no-one's fault.
So he just stewed.
The Asgard had tried to get a holographic line to Earth, so that he could speak with the General, but apparently the space around the planet was so full of energy discharges, creating a maelstrom of interference, it was impossible for the time being.
C'mon, Danny, the truth is that you're angry because you are worried sick. And there isn't a single damn thing you can do about any of it.
He and Teal'c were currently stalking down the hallway to Jack's room. They couldn't do anything out here, perhaps they could be useful in there.
The doors opened, and they were confronted by a scene they could hardly have expected.
Jack was bent over in bed, apparently attempting to cough up a lung - both of them, in fact - and Sam was....
Sam was standing motionless in the middle of the room. She looked stunned, like a deer frozen in the headlights of an oncoming car.
The moment she realised they were there, she snapped out of it and, edging past them, literally ran off down the corridor.
What the?
"Jack?" Daniel made his way towards the bed.
The Colonel looked up, still coughing so hard his eyes were watering. Both Teal'c and Daniel hurried over to him, taking a side each, giving him what support they could. Suddenly there was a flash of a transporter, and two Asgard medics appeared. Without a word they moved towards the bed, and with the help of Daniel, placed a gadget on the Colonel's heaving chest.
Jack's coughing fit immediately subsided, leaving him gasping. Daniel tried to help him get comfortable, leaning him back against the pillows, but he protested, struggling against the archaeologist, his voice harsh, almost incoherent. His resistance was abruptly cut off as one of the medics placed another gadget on his forehead. A soft hum and Jack's eyelids immediately began to droop. He uttered one rasping word before drifting off to sleep.
"Carter...."
Daniel looked up at Teal'c. What the hell was going on?
**********
Thor hung on for grim death. The ship spun around him as the gravity generators desperately attempted to keep up. The inertial dampeners were screaming again, their wail, and its accompanying alert siren, battered his ears.
His grip slipped, and he landed hard, but managed to roll, coming to a stop up against the base of the helm. Head aching, he stumbled to his feet, and hand by hand, made it back to his station, desperately attempting to assess the situation. The display on his console flickered, internal and external sensors impeded by a chunk of Goa'uld pyramid.
The helmsman suddenly screamed, and Thor turned just in time to see him collapse, his face a bloody purple ruin. The helm continued to shoot sparks and fizzle.
Thor quickly re-routed helm control to his panel, one hand still gripping the arm of his chair. The ship was dangerously low in the atmosphere. The ship's thruster network was responding sporadically - there was too much mass.
Thor yelled through his intercom, and received an affirmative. They had to lose the Goa'uld vessel - time for some creative transporter work.
External sensors picked up the white flash of the transporter carving chunks of Goa'uld ship off the hull. The beams flickered back and forth across the wreck, transporting whole sections off into space. He made a mental note to himself to commend the technician for his speed should they survive this.
The 'Falkris' was starting to heat up badly by the time enough mass had been removed. Fortunately some thrusters remained functional to halt the ship's spin, and firing the deceleration drive, Thor was able to stop the ship's plummet.
The 'Falkris', however, was badly damaged, and as she crawled back into orbit Thor's readouts informed him that the ship would never see hyperspace again - not without some major structural repairs.
And there was still the problem of that Goa'uld vessel which had breached his lines of defense.
As he re-emerged into space he realised that he needn't have worried.
As O'Neill would have said - that ship was toast.
*********
Daniel Jackson was still angry, but this time his anger had a focus.
And the focus was Sam.
He had left Teal'c with a sleeping Jack, the Colonel was breathing easier and had finally managed to gain a measure of peace, the stress of the last few days draining from the lines on his face. Daniel made himself a note to try and wrangle one of those sleep-inducing gadgets off the Asgard. God, they had some good tools for handling rebellious patients.
He made his way out into the Garden and found Sam sitting alone on a bench. She was unusually still, hands in lap, looking at nothing in particular.
"Sam?"
Her head shot up, and he saw a mixture of fear and anger in her eyes that confused him. She looked away, and his anger cooled somewhat in the presence of her obvious discomfort.
"Sam, what's wrong?" He took a seat beside her.
"Daniel." It was all she said in greeting, her eyes following a distant bird as it flittered between arches in the Garden wall.
"What happened back there?"
She didn't answer him for a while, but then finally turned to look at him. "I don't know what to do." The fear in her eyes was so unlike her, so unlike the confident Air Force Major he was used to.
"Sam?"
"Doesn't it affect you? I can understand Teal'c, but you....he's your best friend."
"Sam, you are not making any sense."
She looked down at her hands in her lap. "Daniel, how many more times do we have to sit back and watch that man in there attempt to sacrifice himself for the greater good?"
He looked at her, and finally realised why she was so upset. Oh, Sam.
She turned to him and almost pleaded with him. "Daniel, what am I going to do?"
"I really don't know, Sam. You can't change Jack, I know, I've tried." That brought a small smile to her face.
"I stood on that ship, powerless to do anything to help him. All I could do was watch..." She balled her hands into fists. "God, the man is so frustrating."
"Yep, that would be Jack."
She looked up at him. "I can't take it anymore, Daniel. I....I can't watch him do it any more. I can't stand by and do nothing. I'm beginning to think I shouldn't be out here."
Daniel grabbed her gently by the shoulders, forcing her to face him. "Sam, look at me." She reluctantly met his eyes. "Jack is Jack. He can be an annoying pain in the ass sometimes, but he knows his job, and he does it well. I may argue with him, but I know that his first priority is always protection. Protection of us, protection of Earth, god, this time even the protection of a couple of galaxies. If that job requires him to sacrifice himself, he will do it, has done it on several occasions. I would do the same, so would Teal'c, and, I know, so would you. It's what we do."
She looked away. "I requested a transfer."
Daniel started. "You did what?"
She stared back up at him again. "Daniel, I thought I could take it, I thought I could be the tough, resilient soldier, and stand up to whatever the fates threw at us. It has always been hard, and there have been times before where I thought, is this me, is this what I want to do? The science is wonderful, the discoveries....but lately it seems that all I've been able to do is stand by and watch my friends get injured, sick, tortured...God, the Colonel even managed to get shot while supposedly safe in hospital. I've seen war before, and I've seen people die before, but the Colonel...God damnit, what am I going to do?"
"You requested a transfer?" His voice was cold, and it made her start, but she didn't back down.
"Yes, I did, Daniel. How can I be effective as either a scientist or a soldier if I spend my life worrying about the next time my CO might jump in front of a gun?"
"Jack is not reckless, Sam."
"I know that, Daniel, but the man is a goddamned serial hero. How the hell am I supposed to live with that? How am I supposed to work with a man I care about knowing that the first sacrifice will always be his? How can I live with the knowledge that one day that sacrifice may be the last, the one where I have to watch him die?" She suddenly stopped talking, the fire in her eyes flashing as she realised she had said too much.
"Major Carter." Daniel's chilling tone cut through the sudden silence, his use of her title more prominent for its usual absence. "Colonel O'Neill has gone through hell in the past few weeks, how could you dare to put your concerns above his right now?"
She stared back at him, shock echoing across her face. "Daniel..."
No, he wasn't going to let her finish. "Sam, how could you? The team is everything to Jack. We are his one constant. And now, when he needs us the most, you pull the rug out from under him."
"I did what I thought was right."
"Well, you thought wrong!" His raised voice startled a bird from its perch as it echoed across the park. Her stunned silence was enough for him, perhaps he was getting somewhere. He sighed, softening his tone. "Sam, Jack will never change, he can't, it is what he is. What you have to decide is whether knowing him, working with him is worth the risk." He stood. "Think about it, Major, and remember, Jack isn't the only one who depends on you."
With that he turned and left, hoping to god it had been enough.
*********
Just as the 'Falkris' reached orbit, twelve gray birds shot out of the atmosphere, their shadows arching across the sun before swooping in attack formation upon their unsuspecting prey.
The Goa'uld, as always, underestimated the Tau'ri - it continued to be a fatal flaw on their part - and in moments the little grey ships were swarming around the golden mothership, their weapons, once primitive, now not so - Thor could see the naquadah enhanced explosions raining down on the enemy's shields - were more or less as effective as the energy weapons Thor was familiar with.
A quick assessment of the status of the battle at large, and Thor found it had ended. Several Furling ships had a couple of damaged Goa'uld vessels as unwilling prisoners, now putting up no resistance as they were herded away from Earth, but apart from that, all that remained of the battle was a field of debris. The remainder of his fleet was doing clean up duty, wreckage disappearing in waves of both white and red transporter activity - a stream of broken Goa'uld bits and pieces were appearing on course toward the sun.
The only remaining defiant Goa'uld vessel was now in the hands of the humans. Several of the Furling vessels were hovering just out of range of the battle, no doubt invisible to the instruments of the craft attacking the golden pyramid, but waiting should they need to intervene.
A stray shot suddenly took out one of the graceful little ships, its destruction barely a puff of smoke, and Thor jumped. He gave the order and the 'Falkris' began to move in slowly to assist. He was halted by a wideband transmission in English.
"Uh, this is Major Josh Kramer of Alpha Squadron, er, of Earth. Thanks for the offer, guys, but with all respect this one's ours."
And it was.
One of those naquadah enhanced missiles made it through those shields and impacted the pyramid, shattering its superstructure. The ship drifted sideways and began to shudder. The Earth vessels scattered as the sky was lit up with an explosion.
All down, none to go.
As the Earth craft maneuvered back into formation and began re-entry, Thor was reminded of the tenacity of a human he knew well.
Oh, the Human race was definitely going to be an interesting addition to the Alliance.
*********
General George Hammond stood amongst a sea of computers and piles of paper. Both the computers and the paper were currently subject to heavy disturbance as every human body in the room was dancing around in excitement.
The good guys had won!
Alpha squadron had reported mission success, jubilant in their triumph. NASA reported the continuing presence of an Asgard vessel. Visuals showed that it was clearly damaged, but its orbit was stable, and Hammond had no doubt about the presence of others. Just because they couldn't see them didn't mean they couldn't see the effects of their presence - the dangerous amount of debris currently in orbit was disappearing piece by piece.
Their picture of events was patchy, several satellites had been early casualties in the crossfire, but they had known it to be a battle, a battle the Goa'uld had obviously lost.
But the General wasn't celebrating.
It was a relief, yes, but experience told him that this was just one battle in what was probably going to be a very long war. His lack of jubilation also had to do with certain members of his team who were currently still missing.
He honestly didn't know whether he would ever see Jack, Sam, Daniel, or Teal'c ever again. And if he did the first thing he would have to do would be to arrest them.
Damn it, Jack, there had to have been another way.
A chime and flash of a transporter, and the room fell suddenly silent. Paper fluttered gently to the floor.
A single small grey figure stood in the middle of the room. Thor.
Oh, thank god.
"General Hammond, may I speak with you?"
"Commander Thor, I would like to express our gratitude...."
"Yes, General, and you are very welcome, but I would like to speak to you." He glanced around at all the stunned faces in the briefing room, before directing his gaze at Hammond once more. "In private, if possible. It concerns SG-1."
"Certainly." He gestured. "My office?"
"Very well." Thor made his way across the paper covered floor, his footsteps quiet in the silence. Eyes followed him, and as Hammond glared around the room, everyone quickly found themselves some busywork.
George followed Thor into his office, and closed the door. He directed the Commander to a chair, only to realise the alien was too small to sit in it comfortably. Thor declined and chose to stand. He made himself a note to order some furniture appropriate for this type of occasion sometime in the near future and sat down. He politely waited for Thor to begin.
He suddenly realised the Commander was bleeding.
Purple.
"Commander, are you all right?"
Thor raised a hand to his head and wiped the purple smear, causing it to streak across his forehead. "I apologise, General. I did not realise I had injured myself."
Hammond grabbed a box of tissues from his drawer and handed them to Thor. "You acquired it defending our planet, sir. I think the apology should come from us. Do you need medical assistance?"
Thor dabbed a handful of tissue to his forehead. "I will be fine. We could do nothing less for a member of the Alliance. Nothing less for those to whom we owe so much."
Hammond blinked. "Alliance?"
Thor looked up from underneath the tissue. "General, Earth has been invited to join the Alliance. Many thousands of years ago when the Goa'uld first became a threat in this galaxy, four of the great races chose to form an Alliance to protect themselves and others from this rapidly spread scourge. Over the years this alliance has changed, some of its members taking a step back, others passing on from this region of space altogether. But the Alliance remains." He paused to take a breath, removing his hand from his head. He stared down at the tissue for a moment as if steadying himself. Hammond opened his mouth to enquire on his health once again, but Thor continued before the words even formed. "I requested Colonel O'Neill's presence at the first Alliance Council meeting for centuries. He needed to speak for your people."
There was a silence for a moment and Hammond swallowed, not sure whether to be worried, angry, or just plain frustrated. "Sir, you are aware that Colonel O'Neill had no authorisation to leave this base, much less any authority to speak for our people."
Thor didn't speak for a moment, he just stood there, looking stunned. "General Hammond, Colonel O'Neill has just saved my planet."
It was Hammond's turned to look stunned. "He did what? How?"
Thor briefly outlined SG-1's experiences, as he knew them, finishing off with O'Neill plunging the shield disruptor into Anubis' belly.
"Colonel O'Neill is currently recovering on Othalla."
Damn it, Jack, you don't do things by halves do you?
"Commander, I don't know what to say. I realise that you and your people consider Jack O'Neill to be a hero, and I agree, the man has a habit of saving the day, but you must see that the Colonel has defied a direct order by leaving this base without authorisation. And this is not the first time. My superiors will not let this pass by the wayside." It was Hammond's turn to take a breath. "Thor, Colonel O'Neill can not speak for our people unless he is nominated to do so, and I seriously doubt after this latest display he will be allowed represent anyone but himself."
Thor seemed to stagger a little. "But O'Neill is the one we have chosen."
"Forgive me, Commander, but if we were to join this Alliance, it would have to be a representative of our choice. Now I agree, Jack O'Neill is one of the best, but it is not up to me."
"General, it is not a case of 'if'. Earth has joined the Alliance, and lives have been lost in its defense. Asgard and Furling lives. I suggest you tell your superiors that."
Furling?
"Thor-"
"General, I am also concerned about the fate of SG-1. What will happen to them should they return?"
"I'm afraid they will be arrested."
Thor was silent for a moment before raising the tissue once again to his brow. "Thank you very much for your time, General, I now know how to act."
Thor opened his mouth as if to say his farewell, but only a soft groan issued from his throat. Hammond barely had the time to open his mouth to call his name before the Asgard collapsed to the floor.
**********
FIN.
Part 22 of the Asgard Sequence
Sequel to 'Damage'
By Gumnut
Nov 2003
Daniel was angry. In fact, Daniel was royally pissed. But he had no-one to blame, because it was no-one's fault.
So he just stewed.
The Asgard had tried to get a holographic line to Earth, so that he could speak with the General, but apparently the space around the planet was so full of energy discharges, creating a maelstrom of interference, it was impossible for the time being.
C'mon, Danny, the truth is that you're angry because you are worried sick. And there isn't a single damn thing you can do about any of it.
He and Teal'c were currently stalking down the hallway to Jack's room. They couldn't do anything out here, perhaps they could be useful in there.
The doors opened, and they were confronted by a scene they could hardly have expected.
Jack was bent over in bed, apparently attempting to cough up a lung - both of them, in fact - and Sam was....
Sam was standing motionless in the middle of the room. She looked stunned, like a deer frozen in the headlights of an oncoming car.
The moment she realised they were there, she snapped out of it and, edging past them, literally ran off down the corridor.
What the?
"Jack?" Daniel made his way towards the bed.
The Colonel looked up, still coughing so hard his eyes were watering. Both Teal'c and Daniel hurried over to him, taking a side each, giving him what support they could. Suddenly there was a flash of a transporter, and two Asgard medics appeared. Without a word they moved towards the bed, and with the help of Daniel, placed a gadget on the Colonel's heaving chest.
Jack's coughing fit immediately subsided, leaving him gasping. Daniel tried to help him get comfortable, leaning him back against the pillows, but he protested, struggling against the archaeologist, his voice harsh, almost incoherent. His resistance was abruptly cut off as one of the medics placed another gadget on his forehead. A soft hum and Jack's eyelids immediately began to droop. He uttered one rasping word before drifting off to sleep.
"Carter...."
Daniel looked up at Teal'c. What the hell was going on?
**********
Thor hung on for grim death. The ship spun around him as the gravity generators desperately attempted to keep up. The inertial dampeners were screaming again, their wail, and its accompanying alert siren, battered his ears.
His grip slipped, and he landed hard, but managed to roll, coming to a stop up against the base of the helm. Head aching, he stumbled to his feet, and hand by hand, made it back to his station, desperately attempting to assess the situation. The display on his console flickered, internal and external sensors impeded by a chunk of Goa'uld pyramid.
The helmsman suddenly screamed, and Thor turned just in time to see him collapse, his face a bloody purple ruin. The helm continued to shoot sparks and fizzle.
Thor quickly re-routed helm control to his panel, one hand still gripping the arm of his chair. The ship was dangerously low in the atmosphere. The ship's thruster network was responding sporadically - there was too much mass.
Thor yelled through his intercom, and received an affirmative. They had to lose the Goa'uld vessel - time for some creative transporter work.
External sensors picked up the white flash of the transporter carving chunks of Goa'uld ship off the hull. The beams flickered back and forth across the wreck, transporting whole sections off into space. He made a mental note to himself to commend the technician for his speed should they survive this.
The 'Falkris' was starting to heat up badly by the time enough mass had been removed. Fortunately some thrusters remained functional to halt the ship's spin, and firing the deceleration drive, Thor was able to stop the ship's plummet.
The 'Falkris', however, was badly damaged, and as she crawled back into orbit Thor's readouts informed him that the ship would never see hyperspace again - not without some major structural repairs.
And there was still the problem of that Goa'uld vessel which had breached his lines of defense.
As he re-emerged into space he realised that he needn't have worried.
As O'Neill would have said - that ship was toast.
*********
Daniel Jackson was still angry, but this time his anger had a focus.
And the focus was Sam.
He had left Teal'c with a sleeping Jack, the Colonel was breathing easier and had finally managed to gain a measure of peace, the stress of the last few days draining from the lines on his face. Daniel made himself a note to try and wrangle one of those sleep-inducing gadgets off the Asgard. God, they had some good tools for handling rebellious patients.
He made his way out into the Garden and found Sam sitting alone on a bench. She was unusually still, hands in lap, looking at nothing in particular.
"Sam?"
Her head shot up, and he saw a mixture of fear and anger in her eyes that confused him. She looked away, and his anger cooled somewhat in the presence of her obvious discomfort.
"Sam, what's wrong?" He took a seat beside her.
"Daniel." It was all she said in greeting, her eyes following a distant bird as it flittered between arches in the Garden wall.
"What happened back there?"
She didn't answer him for a while, but then finally turned to look at him. "I don't know what to do." The fear in her eyes was so unlike her, so unlike the confident Air Force Major he was used to.
"Sam?"
"Doesn't it affect you? I can understand Teal'c, but you....he's your best friend."
"Sam, you are not making any sense."
She looked down at her hands in her lap. "Daniel, how many more times do we have to sit back and watch that man in there attempt to sacrifice himself for the greater good?"
He looked at her, and finally realised why she was so upset. Oh, Sam.
She turned to him and almost pleaded with him. "Daniel, what am I going to do?"
"I really don't know, Sam. You can't change Jack, I know, I've tried." That brought a small smile to her face.
"I stood on that ship, powerless to do anything to help him. All I could do was watch..." She balled her hands into fists. "God, the man is so frustrating."
"Yep, that would be Jack."
She looked up at him. "I can't take it anymore, Daniel. I....I can't watch him do it any more. I can't stand by and do nothing. I'm beginning to think I shouldn't be out here."
Daniel grabbed her gently by the shoulders, forcing her to face him. "Sam, look at me." She reluctantly met his eyes. "Jack is Jack. He can be an annoying pain in the ass sometimes, but he knows his job, and he does it well. I may argue with him, but I know that his first priority is always protection. Protection of us, protection of Earth, god, this time even the protection of a couple of galaxies. If that job requires him to sacrifice himself, he will do it, has done it on several occasions. I would do the same, so would Teal'c, and, I know, so would you. It's what we do."
She looked away. "I requested a transfer."
Daniel started. "You did what?"
She stared back up at him again. "Daniel, I thought I could take it, I thought I could be the tough, resilient soldier, and stand up to whatever the fates threw at us. It has always been hard, and there have been times before where I thought, is this me, is this what I want to do? The science is wonderful, the discoveries....but lately it seems that all I've been able to do is stand by and watch my friends get injured, sick, tortured...God, the Colonel even managed to get shot while supposedly safe in hospital. I've seen war before, and I've seen people die before, but the Colonel...God damnit, what am I going to do?"
"You requested a transfer?" His voice was cold, and it made her start, but she didn't back down.
"Yes, I did, Daniel. How can I be effective as either a scientist or a soldier if I spend my life worrying about the next time my CO might jump in front of a gun?"
"Jack is not reckless, Sam."
"I know that, Daniel, but the man is a goddamned serial hero. How the hell am I supposed to live with that? How am I supposed to work with a man I care about knowing that the first sacrifice will always be his? How can I live with the knowledge that one day that sacrifice may be the last, the one where I have to watch him die?" She suddenly stopped talking, the fire in her eyes flashing as she realised she had said too much.
"Major Carter." Daniel's chilling tone cut through the sudden silence, his use of her title more prominent for its usual absence. "Colonel O'Neill has gone through hell in the past few weeks, how could you dare to put your concerns above his right now?"
She stared back at him, shock echoing across her face. "Daniel..."
No, he wasn't going to let her finish. "Sam, how could you? The team is everything to Jack. We are his one constant. And now, when he needs us the most, you pull the rug out from under him."
"I did what I thought was right."
"Well, you thought wrong!" His raised voice startled a bird from its perch as it echoed across the park. Her stunned silence was enough for him, perhaps he was getting somewhere. He sighed, softening his tone. "Sam, Jack will never change, he can't, it is what he is. What you have to decide is whether knowing him, working with him is worth the risk." He stood. "Think about it, Major, and remember, Jack isn't the only one who depends on you."
With that he turned and left, hoping to god it had been enough.
*********
Just as the 'Falkris' reached orbit, twelve gray birds shot out of the atmosphere, their shadows arching across the sun before swooping in attack formation upon their unsuspecting prey.
The Goa'uld, as always, underestimated the Tau'ri - it continued to be a fatal flaw on their part - and in moments the little grey ships were swarming around the golden mothership, their weapons, once primitive, now not so - Thor could see the naquadah enhanced explosions raining down on the enemy's shields - were more or less as effective as the energy weapons Thor was familiar with.
A quick assessment of the status of the battle at large, and Thor found it had ended. Several Furling ships had a couple of damaged Goa'uld vessels as unwilling prisoners, now putting up no resistance as they were herded away from Earth, but apart from that, all that remained of the battle was a field of debris. The remainder of his fleet was doing clean up duty, wreckage disappearing in waves of both white and red transporter activity - a stream of broken Goa'uld bits and pieces were appearing on course toward the sun.
The only remaining defiant Goa'uld vessel was now in the hands of the humans. Several of the Furling vessels were hovering just out of range of the battle, no doubt invisible to the instruments of the craft attacking the golden pyramid, but waiting should they need to intervene.
A stray shot suddenly took out one of the graceful little ships, its destruction barely a puff of smoke, and Thor jumped. He gave the order and the 'Falkris' began to move in slowly to assist. He was halted by a wideband transmission in English.
"Uh, this is Major Josh Kramer of Alpha Squadron, er, of Earth. Thanks for the offer, guys, but with all respect this one's ours."
And it was.
One of those naquadah enhanced missiles made it through those shields and impacted the pyramid, shattering its superstructure. The ship drifted sideways and began to shudder. The Earth vessels scattered as the sky was lit up with an explosion.
All down, none to go.
As the Earth craft maneuvered back into formation and began re-entry, Thor was reminded of the tenacity of a human he knew well.
Oh, the Human race was definitely going to be an interesting addition to the Alliance.
*********
General George Hammond stood amongst a sea of computers and piles of paper. Both the computers and the paper were currently subject to heavy disturbance as every human body in the room was dancing around in excitement.
The good guys had won!
Alpha squadron had reported mission success, jubilant in their triumph. NASA reported the continuing presence of an Asgard vessel. Visuals showed that it was clearly damaged, but its orbit was stable, and Hammond had no doubt about the presence of others. Just because they couldn't see them didn't mean they couldn't see the effects of their presence - the dangerous amount of debris currently in orbit was disappearing piece by piece.
Their picture of events was patchy, several satellites had been early casualties in the crossfire, but they had known it to be a battle, a battle the Goa'uld had obviously lost.
But the General wasn't celebrating.
It was a relief, yes, but experience told him that this was just one battle in what was probably going to be a very long war. His lack of jubilation also had to do with certain members of his team who were currently still missing.
He honestly didn't know whether he would ever see Jack, Sam, Daniel, or Teal'c ever again. And if he did the first thing he would have to do would be to arrest them.
Damn it, Jack, there had to have been another way.
A chime and flash of a transporter, and the room fell suddenly silent. Paper fluttered gently to the floor.
A single small grey figure stood in the middle of the room. Thor.
Oh, thank god.
"General Hammond, may I speak with you?"
"Commander Thor, I would like to express our gratitude...."
"Yes, General, and you are very welcome, but I would like to speak to you." He glanced around at all the stunned faces in the briefing room, before directing his gaze at Hammond once more. "In private, if possible. It concerns SG-1."
"Certainly." He gestured. "My office?"
"Very well." Thor made his way across the paper covered floor, his footsteps quiet in the silence. Eyes followed him, and as Hammond glared around the room, everyone quickly found themselves some busywork.
George followed Thor into his office, and closed the door. He directed the Commander to a chair, only to realise the alien was too small to sit in it comfortably. Thor declined and chose to stand. He made himself a note to order some furniture appropriate for this type of occasion sometime in the near future and sat down. He politely waited for Thor to begin.
He suddenly realised the Commander was bleeding.
Purple.
"Commander, are you all right?"
Thor raised a hand to his head and wiped the purple smear, causing it to streak across his forehead. "I apologise, General. I did not realise I had injured myself."
Hammond grabbed a box of tissues from his drawer and handed them to Thor. "You acquired it defending our planet, sir. I think the apology should come from us. Do you need medical assistance?"
Thor dabbed a handful of tissue to his forehead. "I will be fine. We could do nothing less for a member of the Alliance. Nothing less for those to whom we owe so much."
Hammond blinked. "Alliance?"
Thor looked up from underneath the tissue. "General, Earth has been invited to join the Alliance. Many thousands of years ago when the Goa'uld first became a threat in this galaxy, four of the great races chose to form an Alliance to protect themselves and others from this rapidly spread scourge. Over the years this alliance has changed, some of its members taking a step back, others passing on from this region of space altogether. But the Alliance remains." He paused to take a breath, removing his hand from his head. He stared down at the tissue for a moment as if steadying himself. Hammond opened his mouth to enquire on his health once again, but Thor continued before the words even formed. "I requested Colonel O'Neill's presence at the first Alliance Council meeting for centuries. He needed to speak for your people."
There was a silence for a moment and Hammond swallowed, not sure whether to be worried, angry, or just plain frustrated. "Sir, you are aware that Colonel O'Neill had no authorisation to leave this base, much less any authority to speak for our people."
Thor didn't speak for a moment, he just stood there, looking stunned. "General Hammond, Colonel O'Neill has just saved my planet."
It was Hammond's turned to look stunned. "He did what? How?"
Thor briefly outlined SG-1's experiences, as he knew them, finishing off with O'Neill plunging the shield disruptor into Anubis' belly.
"Colonel O'Neill is currently recovering on Othalla."
Damn it, Jack, you don't do things by halves do you?
"Commander, I don't know what to say. I realise that you and your people consider Jack O'Neill to be a hero, and I agree, the man has a habit of saving the day, but you must see that the Colonel has defied a direct order by leaving this base without authorisation. And this is not the first time. My superiors will not let this pass by the wayside." It was Hammond's turn to take a breath. "Thor, Colonel O'Neill can not speak for our people unless he is nominated to do so, and I seriously doubt after this latest display he will be allowed represent anyone but himself."
Thor seemed to stagger a little. "But O'Neill is the one we have chosen."
"Forgive me, Commander, but if we were to join this Alliance, it would have to be a representative of our choice. Now I agree, Jack O'Neill is one of the best, but it is not up to me."
"General, it is not a case of 'if'. Earth has joined the Alliance, and lives have been lost in its defense. Asgard and Furling lives. I suggest you tell your superiors that."
Furling?
"Thor-"
"General, I am also concerned about the fate of SG-1. What will happen to them should they return?"
"I'm afraid they will be arrested."
Thor was silent for a moment before raising the tissue once again to his brow. "Thank you very much for your time, General, I now know how to act."
Thor opened his mouth as if to say his farewell, but only a soft groan issued from his throat. Hammond barely had the time to open his mouth to call his name before the Asgard collapsed to the floor.
**********
FIN.