General Hammond walked back to his office, shaking his head. Exactly
what was he supposed to do? Did he look like a family counselor? This was
the United States Air Force damn it, not some military version of Jerry
Springer.
He exhaled deeply as he sat down, wondering what recourses he might have. It was abundantly clear that calling the Secretary was not going to work, and calling the President over this seemed completely asinine. Considering that was precisely where the order had originated, there was not much hope in a change of heart. No, he would have to handle it, whatever 'it' was. He had, afterall, been in much worse situations with his people.
Exhaling again as a slight grimace crossed his face... Colonel O'Neill was a very professional man. He had been doing a bang up job of keeping his apparent feelings for Captain Carter at bay. However, and this was a big however, one sight of his son and professionalism had all but been thrown out the window. In fact, if he were forced to quantify things, his assessment was that the younger O'Neill had actually been in more control of himself than the Colonel had been. While he couldn't particularly condone walking out, it probably had been the proper option in the situation, or things would have gone downhill fast.
One thing was for sure, he had felt then that he had no control over the situation, and he certainly did not like that feeling one bit. This would have to be dealt with, sooner than later, and if he had to rein them both in, simply to keep things working, then that was what he was going to do. The first step was getting into control.
* * *
If there was one thing besides the thrill of a good find that got Daniel Jackson excited, it was having someone to talk to about those 'good finds' that could understand what he was talking about. Charlie was perfect for such things. He was sharp, bright, and inquisitive, and currently looking at a picture of some writings on Daniel's computer.
"And I found that our interpretation of how ancient Egyptian was spoken and pronounced, was completely off course. Just imagine how amazing to hear it spoken aloud and to realize that it was what you knew, but not what you knew."
Charlie looked over his shoulder, "It is just a matter of learning the correct pronunciation?"
"Mostly, yes. It all very closely follows. I picked it up on Abydos within a few days."
"Remarkable," he answered, one eye shutting slightly in thought. "We take for granted what we think we know," he added, quietly.
Daniel nodded, walking over to stand by Charlie as he looked at the computer screen.
"This looks familiar to me," he said, pointing to a picture of a black tablet.
"It is Asgaard, an alien language, we found it on a planet called Cimeria- ."
"No, I remember something. Do you remember when we were on site and I found that small fragment with the writing we couldn't really find a reference point to?"
Daniel frowned, "Uh, no."
"You had said that it had some structural similarities to Cuniform, but that the writing was non-sensical when translated using it as reference point. It was at this point that I asked you if it could possibly have been a remnant from aliens, since there was nothing in our culture that could account for it."
"Yes, yes, now I remember. I believe I referenced it in a paper I wrote about the aliens building the pyramids. We never could figure it out though."
Charlie ran his hand through his hair, pursing his lips.
"Strangely enough, I've been thinking about that tablet since I was briefed about this project and from what I remember it looks exactly like this writing that is on this tablet in the computer."
"Really? Do you still have it somewhere?" Daniel asked, crossing his arms.
"Of course, it's at my grandfather's house in my room there. Do you think that this may not be a written language as we think of written language?"
"What do you mean?"
Merlin leaned back in his chair, balancing it on two legs. "Well, we assign sounds to arbitraty representations we call letters. What if the representations aren't arbitrary? What if they are their own reference point?"
"I'm not quite sure that I am following."
"Say that the writing itself tells something about the pitch and morphemes that the language sounds like when it is spoken... The interesting thing is that these letters or whatever you want to call them, is that you would not have to lift up your writing utensil to make any of these letters. What if they are like a map of a spectrum of sounds? Like an ascending line in a letter would be an increase in pitch..."
"Fascinating theory, I've never thought to ask the Asgard about their language."
Charlie stared at it for another moment, his brow furrowed deeply. He pointed his finger at the screen and began tracing the script, muttering different sounds. Slowly he traced all the way down the tablet on the screen, making sounds as he went.
Daniel knelt down next to the chair and stared at the young man's face.
"Oh... my God, say that last bit again."
Charlie turned to him as if he were jolted and raised an eyebrow at him, "What?"
"Say it again."
Skeptically, Charlie obliged.
Daniel jumped up and ran to get something to write with. "Charlie, this is amazing! It sounds like Asgard and that last bit, I'm sure I've heard Thor say that bit before. Though I have no idea what it means."
"It sounds like Asgard... Really?"
"Yes, it does, although, how did you know what sounds to make, other than pitch?"
Charlie frowned again, "I'm not sure, it just sounded right I guess, Daniel."
"Wha-."
The phone in his office interruped them shrilly.
Looked dejected and annoyed, Daniel picked up the phone.
"Dr. Jackson?"
Daniel grimaced, it was General Hammond.
"Yes?"
"Did you manage to locate Captain O'Neill?"
"Yes, sir, I did."
"Good, is he there with you?"
"Yes...would you like me to hand the phone to him?"
"No, that's all right. I'd trust you can escort him back over here, I want to talk to him in my office ASAP?"
"I'll do that."
Daniel put the phone down and put a hand up to his cheek.
Charlie had turned from the computer and was looking at him expectantly.
"General Hammond," Daniel said.
"I gathered that, Daniel."
"He doesn't sound too happy."
Charlie snorted, "I figured. I should have gone back on my own. It isn't exactly protocol to walk out on your CO the first hour after you report, or any hour thereafter really." He smiled slightly.
It distinctly reminded Daniel of Jack.
"I guess I will see you later, barring any charges of insubordination of course."
"I'll help you find your way back."
"That's all right, I've got my bearings for this trip, seeing as we just came from that way."
Daniel wasn't entirely sure what to say, so he said, "Good luck."
* * *
In what seemed completely like dejavu, Merlin knocked on the office door, but this time he wasn't so preoccupied to distinctly hear the word, "Come," loud and clear. He took a deep breath, knowing that he might not be relaxed enough to take a deep breath later. He opened the door and closed it behind him, knowing that this was certainly private.
He saluted the general sharply and then waited.
The man simply looked at him appraisingly for a few moments, before he too stood up.
"Well, Captain, that was embarassing."
"Yes, sir."
"I don't like being in the dark, Captain. Why didn't you mention anything before I took you to meet the Colonel."
"Permission to speak freely, sir."
"So long as I get some answers, fine," he answered ascerbically.
"Well, sir, I'd already insinuated that one person didn't read my file, and I didn't care to make that same mistake again."
General Hammond visibly bristled.
Merlin found himself wishing that he had given the manual, 'no excuses' answer. General Hammond clearly didn't appreciate that kind of familiar sarcasm.
"Make the same mistake?!?" The General moved out from behind his desk.
He would have flinched if he had been that kind of man. Being that it seemed like a rhetorical question, he did not bother an answer.
"Goddammit, son, I TOLD you I hadn't read the file. CLEARLY I didn't have all the pertinent information."
The General was now right in front of him.
"Yes, sir."
"You put me in a difficult situation, Captain. This is the exact reason why the regulation against being under the direct command of a family member was put into place. Not only that, but I was completely uninformed. You walked me into that situation blind."
"I'm sorry, sir."
"You damn well should be, Captain."
Merlin raised an eyebrow slightly, something that General Hammond generally would not have caught, but his exposure to Colonel O'Neill had gotten him very practiced.
"Do you have something to say, Captain?"
"This is not a good situation for any involved, sir. For my part, I apologize for not telling you off the bat that the Colonel was my father. I shouldn't have put you in a situation where the you would put the two of us in the same room cold. No excuses, sir," he said.
"How do you propose I deal with this situation?"
"I will have no problems fulfilling the duties of my assignment, sir, regardless of whose chain of command I am under. Hopefully, the Colonel can do the same."
"That second part sounded rather doubtful, son."
"It is, sir," Merlin answered cocking his head to the side slightly.
"Why is that?"
"Sir, the Colonel hasn't spoken to me in six years. You witnessed the first words today."
General Hammond pursed his lips together. "Dear God," he thought
"Well both of you will have to do better than that."
"Yes, sir."
A/N – I am not so sure how satisfied I am with this chapter, but I've made you wait long enough. If you have any suggestions for how to make it better let me know. I promise more action and confrontation to come... O'Neill and O'Neill Merlin meets the rest of the pilots (hee hee) and has his first run on a simulator for a pre-X302 (evil laughs). What does O'Neill Sr. think? Merlin and Teal'c banter to come at some point in time BTW – reviews like 'not so much' do not help me to make the story better at all, so if you don't like it tell me why you don't like it. eg. "So and so is out of character" blah blah blah or "Dialogue is choppy/doesn't make sense" "Need more description" These things are helpful, because if you don't like the story I am not that concerned because not everyone likes every story. ;-)
Thanks for your supportive reviews guys. I promise, it only gets better w/ plot from here.
He exhaled deeply as he sat down, wondering what recourses he might have. It was abundantly clear that calling the Secretary was not going to work, and calling the President over this seemed completely asinine. Considering that was precisely where the order had originated, there was not much hope in a change of heart. No, he would have to handle it, whatever 'it' was. He had, afterall, been in much worse situations with his people.
Exhaling again as a slight grimace crossed his face... Colonel O'Neill was a very professional man. He had been doing a bang up job of keeping his apparent feelings for Captain Carter at bay. However, and this was a big however, one sight of his son and professionalism had all but been thrown out the window. In fact, if he were forced to quantify things, his assessment was that the younger O'Neill had actually been in more control of himself than the Colonel had been. While he couldn't particularly condone walking out, it probably had been the proper option in the situation, or things would have gone downhill fast.
One thing was for sure, he had felt then that he had no control over the situation, and he certainly did not like that feeling one bit. This would have to be dealt with, sooner than later, and if he had to rein them both in, simply to keep things working, then that was what he was going to do. The first step was getting into control.
* * *
If there was one thing besides the thrill of a good find that got Daniel Jackson excited, it was having someone to talk to about those 'good finds' that could understand what he was talking about. Charlie was perfect for such things. He was sharp, bright, and inquisitive, and currently looking at a picture of some writings on Daniel's computer.
"And I found that our interpretation of how ancient Egyptian was spoken and pronounced, was completely off course. Just imagine how amazing to hear it spoken aloud and to realize that it was what you knew, but not what you knew."
Charlie looked over his shoulder, "It is just a matter of learning the correct pronunciation?"
"Mostly, yes. It all very closely follows. I picked it up on Abydos within a few days."
"Remarkable," he answered, one eye shutting slightly in thought. "We take for granted what we think we know," he added, quietly.
Daniel nodded, walking over to stand by Charlie as he looked at the computer screen.
"This looks familiar to me," he said, pointing to a picture of a black tablet.
"It is Asgaard, an alien language, we found it on a planet called Cimeria- ."
"No, I remember something. Do you remember when we were on site and I found that small fragment with the writing we couldn't really find a reference point to?"
Daniel frowned, "Uh, no."
"You had said that it had some structural similarities to Cuniform, but that the writing was non-sensical when translated using it as reference point. It was at this point that I asked you if it could possibly have been a remnant from aliens, since there was nothing in our culture that could account for it."
"Yes, yes, now I remember. I believe I referenced it in a paper I wrote about the aliens building the pyramids. We never could figure it out though."
Charlie ran his hand through his hair, pursing his lips.
"Strangely enough, I've been thinking about that tablet since I was briefed about this project and from what I remember it looks exactly like this writing that is on this tablet in the computer."
"Really? Do you still have it somewhere?" Daniel asked, crossing his arms.
"Of course, it's at my grandfather's house in my room there. Do you think that this may not be a written language as we think of written language?"
"What do you mean?"
Merlin leaned back in his chair, balancing it on two legs. "Well, we assign sounds to arbitraty representations we call letters. What if the representations aren't arbitrary? What if they are their own reference point?"
"I'm not quite sure that I am following."
"Say that the writing itself tells something about the pitch and morphemes that the language sounds like when it is spoken... The interesting thing is that these letters or whatever you want to call them, is that you would not have to lift up your writing utensil to make any of these letters. What if they are like a map of a spectrum of sounds? Like an ascending line in a letter would be an increase in pitch..."
"Fascinating theory, I've never thought to ask the Asgard about their language."
Charlie stared at it for another moment, his brow furrowed deeply. He pointed his finger at the screen and began tracing the script, muttering different sounds. Slowly he traced all the way down the tablet on the screen, making sounds as he went.
Daniel knelt down next to the chair and stared at the young man's face.
"Oh... my God, say that last bit again."
Charlie turned to him as if he were jolted and raised an eyebrow at him, "What?"
"Say it again."
Skeptically, Charlie obliged.
Daniel jumped up and ran to get something to write with. "Charlie, this is amazing! It sounds like Asgard and that last bit, I'm sure I've heard Thor say that bit before. Though I have no idea what it means."
"It sounds like Asgard... Really?"
"Yes, it does, although, how did you know what sounds to make, other than pitch?"
Charlie frowned again, "I'm not sure, it just sounded right I guess, Daniel."
"Wha-."
The phone in his office interruped them shrilly.
Looked dejected and annoyed, Daniel picked up the phone.
"Dr. Jackson?"
Daniel grimaced, it was General Hammond.
"Yes?"
"Did you manage to locate Captain O'Neill?"
"Yes, sir, I did."
"Good, is he there with you?"
"Yes...would you like me to hand the phone to him?"
"No, that's all right. I'd trust you can escort him back over here, I want to talk to him in my office ASAP?"
"I'll do that."
Daniel put the phone down and put a hand up to his cheek.
Charlie had turned from the computer and was looking at him expectantly.
"General Hammond," Daniel said.
"I gathered that, Daniel."
"He doesn't sound too happy."
Charlie snorted, "I figured. I should have gone back on my own. It isn't exactly protocol to walk out on your CO the first hour after you report, or any hour thereafter really." He smiled slightly.
It distinctly reminded Daniel of Jack.
"I guess I will see you later, barring any charges of insubordination of course."
"I'll help you find your way back."
"That's all right, I've got my bearings for this trip, seeing as we just came from that way."
Daniel wasn't entirely sure what to say, so he said, "Good luck."
* * *
In what seemed completely like dejavu, Merlin knocked on the office door, but this time he wasn't so preoccupied to distinctly hear the word, "Come," loud and clear. He took a deep breath, knowing that he might not be relaxed enough to take a deep breath later. He opened the door and closed it behind him, knowing that this was certainly private.
He saluted the general sharply and then waited.
The man simply looked at him appraisingly for a few moments, before he too stood up.
"Well, Captain, that was embarassing."
"Yes, sir."
"I don't like being in the dark, Captain. Why didn't you mention anything before I took you to meet the Colonel."
"Permission to speak freely, sir."
"So long as I get some answers, fine," he answered ascerbically.
"Well, sir, I'd already insinuated that one person didn't read my file, and I didn't care to make that same mistake again."
General Hammond visibly bristled.
Merlin found himself wishing that he had given the manual, 'no excuses' answer. General Hammond clearly didn't appreciate that kind of familiar sarcasm.
"Make the same mistake?!?" The General moved out from behind his desk.
He would have flinched if he had been that kind of man. Being that it seemed like a rhetorical question, he did not bother an answer.
"Goddammit, son, I TOLD you I hadn't read the file. CLEARLY I didn't have all the pertinent information."
The General was now right in front of him.
"Yes, sir."
"You put me in a difficult situation, Captain. This is the exact reason why the regulation against being under the direct command of a family member was put into place. Not only that, but I was completely uninformed. You walked me into that situation blind."
"I'm sorry, sir."
"You damn well should be, Captain."
Merlin raised an eyebrow slightly, something that General Hammond generally would not have caught, but his exposure to Colonel O'Neill had gotten him very practiced.
"Do you have something to say, Captain?"
"This is not a good situation for any involved, sir. For my part, I apologize for not telling you off the bat that the Colonel was my father. I shouldn't have put you in a situation where the you would put the two of us in the same room cold. No excuses, sir," he said.
"How do you propose I deal with this situation?"
"I will have no problems fulfilling the duties of my assignment, sir, regardless of whose chain of command I am under. Hopefully, the Colonel can do the same."
"That second part sounded rather doubtful, son."
"It is, sir," Merlin answered cocking his head to the side slightly.
"Why is that?"
"Sir, the Colonel hasn't spoken to me in six years. You witnessed the first words today."
General Hammond pursed his lips together. "Dear God," he thought
"Well both of you will have to do better than that."
"Yes, sir."
A/N – I am not so sure how satisfied I am with this chapter, but I've made you wait long enough. If you have any suggestions for how to make it better let me know. I promise more action and confrontation to come... O'Neill and O'Neill Merlin meets the rest of the pilots (hee hee) and has his first run on a simulator for a pre-X302 (evil laughs). What does O'Neill Sr. think? Merlin and Teal'c banter to come at some point in time BTW – reviews like 'not so much' do not help me to make the story better at all, so if you don't like it tell me why you don't like it. eg. "So and so is out of character" blah blah blah or "Dialogue is choppy/doesn't make sense" "Need more description" These things are helpful, because if you don't like the story I am not that concerned because not everyone likes every story. ;-)
Thanks for your supportive reviews guys. I promise, it only gets better w/ plot from here.