Author's Note: Sorry this one took so long in coming... I'm pretty bogged
down with paperwork, trying to get everything done before my vacation
starts tomorrow. This one is also a more informative chapter than a funny
or interesting one... sorry! But there are more to come, especially once
vacation starts. Thank you all for your reviews (and there's no aspirin
flavored ice cream, I promise.. ick) hehe... make sure you email me if you
have questions or comments you want a response to immediately
~*~
"He did WHAT?"
Sam sighed. She'd known General Hammond wasn't going to like this, but it wasn't her fault. She hated always being the one to bring the bad news to people. They always yelled.
"Thor – we think it was Thor – transported Colonel O'Neill out of the elevator that he and Shawn were riding in. Shawn went nuts, and took off trying to find me, but then as I was trying to get him to tell me exactly what happened so I could bring him here to tell you, he vanished as well."
"Presumably snatched by the Asgard as well?"
"Yes, Sir. I've seen it happen enough that I'm sure it's them."
"But we haven't heard from Colonel O'Neill?"
"No, Sir." She looked at her watch. "It's only been about ten minutes, though. NORAD is already looking for Thor's ship, but – "
"But the Asgard are very good at hiding their ships from us. Damn it!" Hammond slammed his hand down on his desk. He'd had great plans for the weekend, and they didn't include little gray aliens. Not to mention, this time they'd taken a child, too. How to explain that one to the President?
"We're hailing them, Sir. Hopefully they won't ignore us too long."
"They'd better not." Hammond growled. "Not only do I want to know what's going on, I want that boy back! What were they thinking?"
""I don't have a clue, Sir." There was an understatement. Sam was just as worried as Hammond, though. Whenever the Asgard made an appearance, it usually meant something bad was on the horizon.
~*~
"Of course you need our help," Jack said, his arm still around Shawn's shoulder. "Otherwise you wouldn't be here. You never just stop by to hang out."
Thor just looked at him, silently. Jack sighed.
"What do you need our help with?"
"A short time ago, the Asgard explorer ship Vashun discovered a planet of humans in the Nedimian system." Thor moved his fingers on the right arm of his chair, and a holographic image of a solar system Jack had never seen before was suddenly floating in front of the three of them. He heard Shawn gasp, but the sound wasn't a frightened one. Thor heard it as well, and turned his attention to the boy for a moment. "It is a picture, nothing more. It will not harm you."
Shawn nodded, his eyes glued to the image in front of him.
"These humans are not as advanced as your own people, Colonel O'Neill. They are peaceful, however, and we have been studying them for possible future contact." Thor moved his finger again, and one of the smaller planets in the system came into stark relief. The planet was green and blue, similar to Earth, although there was far more blue than even Earth had. Obviously it was a watery world. "However, as we studied the people, we also studied the planet, and found that the core of their world is unstable. They are gradually losing their orbit around their sun, and soon the change in gravity and tides will cause them to be completely flooded. The people on the planet are in grave danger, unless we help them."
"So move them somewhere else," Jack said, wondering what that had to do with him and Earth. "They're not a protected planet, are they? No treaty with the snakes to keep you from helping them?"
"We do not believe the Goa'uld are aware of these humans."
"So move them." Jack repeated. "There must be someplace they can go that's safer. I bet there's a lot of people willing to put them up. If they're peaceful, like you said."
"They are, and we have found them a new home. A planet that has similar properties to the one they live on now. Very much like your own. However..."
"However...?"
"When the Asgard initiated contact with them – their leaders – things did not go very well."
"How so?"
"They became frightened when we contacted them. We tried to calm them, but they ran."
"Understandable." Look at how Shawn had reacted.
"We finally managed to get a few of their leaders to come and speak with us, but when we told them of their danger, they did not believe us. Unfortunately, they feel we are merely trying to deceive them, and take what they have. Or worse."
"So... move them anyways. Just zap 'em up and take them to where you want to put them."
Thor actually looked surprised that O'Neill would even suggest such a thing.
"We can not do that, O'Neill. It is not the Asgard way to force people to do what they do not wish to do. We will help, but not compel."
Jack didn't bother to even mention the amount of times he'd felt compelled to do something hair brained that the Asgard had asked him to do. He was still trying to figure out what any of this had to do with him.
"What do you need me for, Thor?"
"The humans on the planet might listen to another human. The Asgard hope they would not be immediately suspicious of other humans."
"You want me to go talk to them?" Jack asked, incredulously.
"Yes."
"Let me get this straight," Jack said, letting go of Shawn's shoulder for a moment because he needed both hands to gesture. "You found these people. They're in danger, so you want to move them, but they won't let you move them because they don't really trust you because you're... um..."
"Gray?" Shawn said, looking at Thor.
"Gray is good, thank you, Shawn." O'Neill looked back at Thor. "Because you're gray. So you think if I went there and talked to them, they'd believe me because I'm human and they'd go along with it? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
"Nevertheless, we must make an attempt, O'Neill. The people are in imminent danger, and if they do not agree to be transplanted to another world, they will drown."
"Why me?" Jack asked.
"The Asgard know you. You have great power of persuasion, and you are a leader, so you already know how to speak to other leaders. Hopefully, you can do what we cannot."
"Yeah, well... what about Daniel? Daniel's pretty persuasive."
"Doctor Jackson is welcomed to come, but we must leave as soon as possible."
"Well... Daniel's... um... out of town, right now, so he can't come. Not yet."
"We cannot wait for him, then."
"I have to go back to the SGC," Jack said, giving up. He didn't know why he even bothered to argue with Thor; he always ended up doing what he wanted to do anyways. "I need to explain to them what's going on and I need to find someone to watch Shawn-"
There was a flash of light, and General Hammond and Major Carter suddenly appeared on the bridge of the Asgard ship.
"Aaaaaaa!"
~*~
"He did WHAT?"
Sam sighed. She'd known General Hammond wasn't going to like this, but it wasn't her fault. She hated always being the one to bring the bad news to people. They always yelled.
"Thor – we think it was Thor – transported Colonel O'Neill out of the elevator that he and Shawn were riding in. Shawn went nuts, and took off trying to find me, but then as I was trying to get him to tell me exactly what happened so I could bring him here to tell you, he vanished as well."
"Presumably snatched by the Asgard as well?"
"Yes, Sir. I've seen it happen enough that I'm sure it's them."
"But we haven't heard from Colonel O'Neill?"
"No, Sir." She looked at her watch. "It's only been about ten minutes, though. NORAD is already looking for Thor's ship, but – "
"But the Asgard are very good at hiding their ships from us. Damn it!" Hammond slammed his hand down on his desk. He'd had great plans for the weekend, and they didn't include little gray aliens. Not to mention, this time they'd taken a child, too. How to explain that one to the President?
"We're hailing them, Sir. Hopefully they won't ignore us too long."
"They'd better not." Hammond growled. "Not only do I want to know what's going on, I want that boy back! What were they thinking?"
""I don't have a clue, Sir." There was an understatement. Sam was just as worried as Hammond, though. Whenever the Asgard made an appearance, it usually meant something bad was on the horizon.
~*~
"Of course you need our help," Jack said, his arm still around Shawn's shoulder. "Otherwise you wouldn't be here. You never just stop by to hang out."
Thor just looked at him, silently. Jack sighed.
"What do you need our help with?"
"A short time ago, the Asgard explorer ship Vashun discovered a planet of humans in the Nedimian system." Thor moved his fingers on the right arm of his chair, and a holographic image of a solar system Jack had never seen before was suddenly floating in front of the three of them. He heard Shawn gasp, but the sound wasn't a frightened one. Thor heard it as well, and turned his attention to the boy for a moment. "It is a picture, nothing more. It will not harm you."
Shawn nodded, his eyes glued to the image in front of him.
"These humans are not as advanced as your own people, Colonel O'Neill. They are peaceful, however, and we have been studying them for possible future contact." Thor moved his finger again, and one of the smaller planets in the system came into stark relief. The planet was green and blue, similar to Earth, although there was far more blue than even Earth had. Obviously it was a watery world. "However, as we studied the people, we also studied the planet, and found that the core of their world is unstable. They are gradually losing their orbit around their sun, and soon the change in gravity and tides will cause them to be completely flooded. The people on the planet are in grave danger, unless we help them."
"So move them somewhere else," Jack said, wondering what that had to do with him and Earth. "They're not a protected planet, are they? No treaty with the snakes to keep you from helping them?"
"We do not believe the Goa'uld are aware of these humans."
"So move them." Jack repeated. "There must be someplace they can go that's safer. I bet there's a lot of people willing to put them up. If they're peaceful, like you said."
"They are, and we have found them a new home. A planet that has similar properties to the one they live on now. Very much like your own. However..."
"However...?"
"When the Asgard initiated contact with them – their leaders – things did not go very well."
"How so?"
"They became frightened when we contacted them. We tried to calm them, but they ran."
"Understandable." Look at how Shawn had reacted.
"We finally managed to get a few of their leaders to come and speak with us, but when we told them of their danger, they did not believe us. Unfortunately, they feel we are merely trying to deceive them, and take what they have. Or worse."
"So... move them anyways. Just zap 'em up and take them to where you want to put them."
Thor actually looked surprised that O'Neill would even suggest such a thing.
"We can not do that, O'Neill. It is not the Asgard way to force people to do what they do not wish to do. We will help, but not compel."
Jack didn't bother to even mention the amount of times he'd felt compelled to do something hair brained that the Asgard had asked him to do. He was still trying to figure out what any of this had to do with him.
"What do you need me for, Thor?"
"The humans on the planet might listen to another human. The Asgard hope they would not be immediately suspicious of other humans."
"You want me to go talk to them?" Jack asked, incredulously.
"Yes."
"Let me get this straight," Jack said, letting go of Shawn's shoulder for a moment because he needed both hands to gesture. "You found these people. They're in danger, so you want to move them, but they won't let you move them because they don't really trust you because you're... um..."
"Gray?" Shawn said, looking at Thor.
"Gray is good, thank you, Shawn." O'Neill looked back at Thor. "Because you're gray. So you think if I went there and talked to them, they'd believe me because I'm human and they'd go along with it? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
"Nevertheless, we must make an attempt, O'Neill. The people are in imminent danger, and if they do not agree to be transplanted to another world, they will drown."
"Why me?" Jack asked.
"The Asgard know you. You have great power of persuasion, and you are a leader, so you already know how to speak to other leaders. Hopefully, you can do what we cannot."
"Yeah, well... what about Daniel? Daniel's pretty persuasive."
"Doctor Jackson is welcomed to come, but we must leave as soon as possible."
"Well... Daniel's... um... out of town, right now, so he can't come. Not yet."
"We cannot wait for him, then."
"I have to go back to the SGC," Jack said, giving up. He didn't know why he even bothered to argue with Thor; he always ended up doing what he wanted to do anyways. "I need to explain to them what's going on and I need to find someone to watch Shawn-"
There was a flash of light, and General Hammond and Major Carter suddenly appeared on the bridge of the Asgard ship.
"Aaaaaaa!"
