The holograms kept Shawn interested for the better part of an hour, which
was probably a record for a little boy on a road trip. Then he got bored
with them, or maybe just got sensory overload, because he finally shook his
head and stepped back.
"That's pretty cool, Thor." The boy said. "What else can you do?"
He'd lasted longer than Jack, who had been leaning against the wall next to Carter, just watching her read. O'Neill looked up when Shawn spoke, and turned to Thor as well, wondering what the Asgard would come up with next. Thor blinked.
"Maybe you'd like to hear about the people we're going to meet?" Sam asked, once again coming to Thor's rescue. She had a feeling he wasn't up to entertaining little boys. "The Pe'aoli are pretty interesting."
"Oh?" Shawn turned from Thor and walked over to stand next to Jack. Sam was almost certain she heard a relieved sigh come from the small alien in the Command chair.
"Sure." Sam said, moving a little so he could look in the screen she was looking in. "They're farmers, mostly. They grow crops, and animals, and they seem to be just what Thor said they are. Peaceful. They're planet is a lot like Earth is, only the ratio of precipitation and water to land mass is much more pronounced."
Shawn stared. A stare Sam knew so well, since she saw it all the time from O'Neill.
"There's more water on this planet than there is on Earth."
"Oh."
"They also don't have anywhere near as many people as we have on Earth. Which is a good thing, I suppose, since that will mean less for the Asgard to move."
"If you can get them to go." Shawn said.
"Yeah. But we will, I'm sure."
"Me, too, Sam."
Carter smiled down at him, realizing just how strange it had to be for the boy. "Not exactly what you and Jack had planned for the weekend is it?"
"No. We were just going to play Playstation and eat junk food."
"Thor?" Sam turned to the Asgard once more. "You must have simulators of some sort on this ship."
"Of course, Major Carter. Why do you ask?"
"Got anything that'd be simple enough for Shawn to learn? Something he could play with to make the trip go faster for him?"
"Brilliant, Carter," Jack said, smiling.
Thor looked at the boy thoughtfully for a moment, and then stood. "Follow me."
He led them off the bridge and down the corridor towards a small room that wasn't all that far from where Jack and Shawn had eaten their ice cream. The room appeared to be empty, until Thor spoke a word in some language that none of them understood. Then an opening appeared in the floor and a chair rose up out of it. A perfectly sized chair for an Asgard, which meant it was also well proportioned for a youngster like Shawn.
"Sit in the chair," Thor instructed.
Shawn scrambled into it, grinning excitedly.
Thor walked over to the wall and opened a panel they hadn't noticed before, and then pressed a button. Another hologram appeared, in front of Shawn's chair, but this one was similar to a heads-up display in an F-15, Jack noticed.
"This is a simulation that was originally used to train Asgard pilots how to fly the various shuttles and craft that we possess. It hasn't been used in a very long time; since the knowledge is something we have no need to relearn every time we... well, anyways, we never use it. However, it will keep you occupied."
He walked over to the chair again, and placed his long-fingered delicate hand over Shawn's, pressing buttons on the control console on the arms of the chair, but at the same time showing Shawn how to press them as well and showing him what each did. Every time a button was pressed, the heads-up display changed as well. Shawn nodded.
"How do you take off and land?" He asked.
"You do not. Asgard shuttles are docked inside ships such as this one, and are launched from a bay. It is a simple matter of thrust to get them moving in the right direction. You may practice that as much as you wish." He pressed another button, and a landing bay appeared on the heads-up display as well.
"There is nothing you can do in this simulator that can damage the ship, so feel free to do whatever you desire." It was obvious to Carter and O'Neill that Thor was ready to let the boy sit in the simulator the entire trip if that's what it took to keep him occupied. He went back to the panel in the wall, and pressed a few more buttons and lights, and turned back to Shawn, who was pressing buttons of his own, changing the heads-up display, obviously enthralled with this new toy.
"The instructions are as simplistic as I can make them," he said. "If you require more assistance, I'll be on the bridge."
He turned to go, and Carter followed him, leaving Jack to keep Shawn company, although the boy was already reading the instructions that were coming across the display in front of him, pressing whatever button or lighted panel the program told him to press.
"Um, Thor?"
The Asgard looked up at Carter as the two walked back to the bridge.
"Yes?"
"Aren't you worried about letting him learn your technology?" Sam asked. It was very out of character from what she'd seen from the Asgard in the past.
"There is very little he could learn during the short journey we are taking, Major Carter. Our shuttles take far longer to learn to fly than you might think, and he is, after all, only a small child. There is no harm in allowing him to be on the simulator, especially if it will keep him occupied."
Carter nodded, although she wasn't so sure. She changed the subject to the Pe'aoli, then, and started asking him about the Asgard's plans to move them and the new planet they had in mind for them. If she was going to help try and convince them to leave, she should know a little more about where she was going to try and convince them to go.
"That's pretty cool, Thor." The boy said. "What else can you do?"
He'd lasted longer than Jack, who had been leaning against the wall next to Carter, just watching her read. O'Neill looked up when Shawn spoke, and turned to Thor as well, wondering what the Asgard would come up with next. Thor blinked.
"Maybe you'd like to hear about the people we're going to meet?" Sam asked, once again coming to Thor's rescue. She had a feeling he wasn't up to entertaining little boys. "The Pe'aoli are pretty interesting."
"Oh?" Shawn turned from Thor and walked over to stand next to Jack. Sam was almost certain she heard a relieved sigh come from the small alien in the Command chair.
"Sure." Sam said, moving a little so he could look in the screen she was looking in. "They're farmers, mostly. They grow crops, and animals, and they seem to be just what Thor said they are. Peaceful. They're planet is a lot like Earth is, only the ratio of precipitation and water to land mass is much more pronounced."
Shawn stared. A stare Sam knew so well, since she saw it all the time from O'Neill.
"There's more water on this planet than there is on Earth."
"Oh."
"They also don't have anywhere near as many people as we have on Earth. Which is a good thing, I suppose, since that will mean less for the Asgard to move."
"If you can get them to go." Shawn said.
"Yeah. But we will, I'm sure."
"Me, too, Sam."
Carter smiled down at him, realizing just how strange it had to be for the boy. "Not exactly what you and Jack had planned for the weekend is it?"
"No. We were just going to play Playstation and eat junk food."
"Thor?" Sam turned to the Asgard once more. "You must have simulators of some sort on this ship."
"Of course, Major Carter. Why do you ask?"
"Got anything that'd be simple enough for Shawn to learn? Something he could play with to make the trip go faster for him?"
"Brilliant, Carter," Jack said, smiling.
Thor looked at the boy thoughtfully for a moment, and then stood. "Follow me."
He led them off the bridge and down the corridor towards a small room that wasn't all that far from where Jack and Shawn had eaten their ice cream. The room appeared to be empty, until Thor spoke a word in some language that none of them understood. Then an opening appeared in the floor and a chair rose up out of it. A perfectly sized chair for an Asgard, which meant it was also well proportioned for a youngster like Shawn.
"Sit in the chair," Thor instructed.
Shawn scrambled into it, grinning excitedly.
Thor walked over to the wall and opened a panel they hadn't noticed before, and then pressed a button. Another hologram appeared, in front of Shawn's chair, but this one was similar to a heads-up display in an F-15, Jack noticed.
"This is a simulation that was originally used to train Asgard pilots how to fly the various shuttles and craft that we possess. It hasn't been used in a very long time; since the knowledge is something we have no need to relearn every time we... well, anyways, we never use it. However, it will keep you occupied."
He walked over to the chair again, and placed his long-fingered delicate hand over Shawn's, pressing buttons on the control console on the arms of the chair, but at the same time showing Shawn how to press them as well and showing him what each did. Every time a button was pressed, the heads-up display changed as well. Shawn nodded.
"How do you take off and land?" He asked.
"You do not. Asgard shuttles are docked inside ships such as this one, and are launched from a bay. It is a simple matter of thrust to get them moving in the right direction. You may practice that as much as you wish." He pressed another button, and a landing bay appeared on the heads-up display as well.
"There is nothing you can do in this simulator that can damage the ship, so feel free to do whatever you desire." It was obvious to Carter and O'Neill that Thor was ready to let the boy sit in the simulator the entire trip if that's what it took to keep him occupied. He went back to the panel in the wall, and pressed a few more buttons and lights, and turned back to Shawn, who was pressing buttons of his own, changing the heads-up display, obviously enthralled with this new toy.
"The instructions are as simplistic as I can make them," he said. "If you require more assistance, I'll be on the bridge."
He turned to go, and Carter followed him, leaving Jack to keep Shawn company, although the boy was already reading the instructions that were coming across the display in front of him, pressing whatever button or lighted panel the program told him to press.
"Um, Thor?"
The Asgard looked up at Carter as the two walked back to the bridge.
"Yes?"
"Aren't you worried about letting him learn your technology?" Sam asked. It was very out of character from what she'd seen from the Asgard in the past.
"There is very little he could learn during the short journey we are taking, Major Carter. Our shuttles take far longer to learn to fly than you might think, and he is, after all, only a small child. There is no harm in allowing him to be on the simulator, especially if it will keep him occupied."
Carter nodded, although she wasn't so sure. She changed the subject to the Pe'aoli, then, and started asking him about the Asgard's plans to move them and the new planet they had in mind for them. If she was going to help try and convince them to leave, she should know a little more about where she was going to try and convince them to go.
