"Lt. Meyers," said General Hammond evenly, surveying the team around the briefing table. "Would you care to tell me what happened?"
Four weeks since Daniel had left, almost without a word to anyone. Four weeks, extensive training and one extremely abrupt mission. SG-1 had been on P7X-934 for a grand total of thirty-six minutes before they were forced, by extremely angry locals, to retreat through the Stargate.
The young lieutenant gulped, his expression decidedly unhappy behind his military demeanor. "We arrived on P7X-934 to find the natives waiting for us. They had apparently been alerted by the activation of the Stargate for the MALP. They appeared to be African, with several of the traditional ornaments, weapons, and customs of the tribes of what is now the northern part of South Africa. I tried to talk with them, and everything seemed to be going well -"
"Until they started shooting at us?" O'Neill asked sarcastically. He'd been in an unusually touchy mood for about a month, and the entire base - with the possible exception of Lt. Meyer - knew why. He was beating himself up over the events of the past year - the events that had led his archaeologist and best friend to leave without even saying goodbye. He grew more and more upset as time went on and the reality of the situation sank in. The only saving grace for the rest of SG-1 lay in Daniel's regular correspondences with Cassie, and thus with Janet. The infirmary had become the favorite hangout for SG-1, and they would wait there almost obsessively for Janet to bring in Daniel's latest letter, hungering for any news of him.
"Um - well - "
"Apparently the leader, Khefi, reacted badly to something we said or did," Sam interrupted. "The tribesmen didn't appear to react negatively to our appearance or weapons."
"I concur," said Teal'c.
"Lieutenant Meyers?" asked Hammond.
The young man's eyes were fixed somewhere above Hammond's head. "Sir. I may have - accidentally - mispronounced a phrase when speaking to Khefi."
"Mispronounced?" demanded Jack, incredulity dripping from the word.
"I think I might have - gravely insulted their people," Meyers continued, the last part coming out in a rush as he flushed miserably.
"Gravely insulted them," murmured Jack in disbelief. "Ya think!" The colonel's main source of irritation at present moment was a strip of skin sliced off his hip from a spear that nearly didn't miss. Long-term irritation was aimed primarily at himself. In addition, his frustration with the current state of affairs at the SGC was reaching a boiling point.
The amount of missions had decreased by nearly a third. The reason for this was that, even though forced to hire a group of archaeologists to make up for Daniel's absence, there was still a massive backlog of work that impacted the efficient running of the SGC. Until he was gone, it was never evident how much work Daniel was constantly doing. Now, MALP telemetry that Daniel would have been instantly able to classify as potential or useless had to pass the entire panel of anthropologists. The group - which could rarely agree, apparently - had to review each and every piece of film from the MALPS sent to each habitable planet, in attempts to decipher the writing there. It could take three days for Hammond to get results that would have taken Daniel Jackson three minutes.
The rest of the SG teams had never really realized how completely Daniel was needed - until they found themselves guessing, sometimes with disastrous results - about the function of devices that had something clearly written on them. Something that, more often than not, turned out to be directions or a "Do Not Touch" sign that they had found themselves trying to figure out.
While more of Teal'c's time was being demanded by the archaeologists who were having problems with the Goa'uld language, all of SG-1 was feeling the latent resentment in the air, aimed mostly at them. Not only had the SGC been born because of Daniel Jackson, in good part it ran because of his efforts as well. The entirety of the SGC was feeling his loss and making it known, in a not-so-subtle way, to the team that had let him go.
It was becoming ever more apparent to SG-1, however, how incomplete their team and lives were. Daniel had - even when they'd only seen him during missions - filled a vital part of each one of them. Without him, they were only half-alive, half-human.
And it was pissing Jack O'Neill off, for one. He felt caught - and had stopped himself midway through his fourth letter to Daniel. What he needed to say had to be said face-to-face, not on paper from a thousand miles away. He knew that Sam had been writing a letter to Daniel almost every day, and Teal'c had also added his own messages to her missives, but Carter hadn't yet gotten the courage to send any of them. Jack felt that the split in the team was his fault, and couldn't be mended by a simple "I'm sorry" written and delivered. He wanted Daniel back, at the SGC and on SG-1, but knew that if he was going to get his best friend back, he'd have to earn his trust. He wouldn't even let himself think about forgiveness. Although Daniel had an amazing capacity to give, Jack knew he couldn't demand more of his friend than Daniel had. And he was almost certain that no one could have it in them to forgive him for everything he had done to Daniel.
Jack's attention veered sharply back to Hammond, as the General sighed. "Lieutenant Meyers, you are dismissed. I'll see you in my office tomorrow at 0830."
The young man nodded, saluted and left. The rest of SG-1 remained sitting, throwing puzzled glances at each other.
"No doubt you're wondering why I requested that you stay after the debriefing," Hammond said, rising and moving to the window looking out into the Gateroom.
"I'd have to say that yea, it did cross our minds," Jack returned, looking around at the members of his team.
Hammond remained with his back to the room. "It has come to my attention that someone attempted to gain access to Dr. Jackson's personal belongings."
"NID?" asked Sam.
The general turned. "I have no proof. All I know is that a man of very average description was denied access to the secure holding area containing Dr. Jackson's notes and mission journals. He tried to pass himself off as a member of Daniel's former team."
"What?" Jack snarled.
"I have no proof," Hammond said, his voice level.
Jack sat back. "But you think that the next step will be to track Daniel down and -"
"I suspect," the General continued with pointed emphasis, "that may be their next move. And Dr. Jackson's regular correspondence with Dr. Frasier will mean that he won't be very difficult to find."
Sam winced. "What can we do about it, sir?"
"As of tomorrow morning, I'm sending the three of you to Ein Gedi in Jerusalem," said Hammond.
"Ein Gedi? Is this the location of Daniel Jackson's excavation?" asked Teal'c.
"You knew where he was the whole time, you knew that I knew, and you still did nothing?" asked Jack. Hammond pinned him to the chair with a single look. "Sir," Jack finished weakly.
"Quite frankly, yes," Hammond replied. "I didn't reveal anything because it was entrusted to me in confidence, and at the time it was safer for Dr. Jackson that his location remain vague. Jerusalem is, after all, a large city."
"But now -"
"Now, I think we can be almost certain that the NID will be tracing all of Dr. Jackson's movements, trying to pin down his exact location. They will of course attempt to recruit him, but I think we all know the response they'll get."
"Daniel hates the NID almost as much as the Goa'uld," Sam agreed.
"In light of that, I want you to go to Ein Gedi, and stay there until you're sure the threat from the NID is neutralized."
The team nodded, and Hammond said simply, "Dismissed." On their way out the door, Jack pulled up as Hammond added, "And if you can find some way to mend the bridges between you and bring our boy home, I would be personally grateful."
Jack nodded, his resolve stiffening as he left the room. Some things could only be said face-to-face, and here was his chance.
- - - - - - - - - - -
Sorry about the delay! I was hijacked on a short family vacation, and while my lovely laptop joined me, my internet access did not. Another short hijacking looks to be looming on the horizon, say Thursday, so I won't be able to vouch for my punctuality then, although I will try.