Part 7

Jack stood geared up in the gate room. In his right hand he cradled his P-90, in his left a video camera. He nervously rocked back and forth on the heels of his feet. However, the nervous thoughts were not his own. The rest of SG-1 was geared up and waiting in the Control Room. They had learned long ago to expect the worst and all three of them could be ready to leave at any second, if they were needed.

The large ring that occupied SG-1's time began to spin.

"Chevron 1 Engaged." Sargent Davis called into the microphone by his computer terminal.

Jack looked up at the Control Room to see all of SG-1, General Hammond and Doctor Janet Fraiser watching him intently. He continued to rock back and forth with agitation before looking back to his friends.

"Would you stop worrying!" He shouted to them. Daniel, Sam and Janet blushed slightly. "It's distracting me."

"Chevron 5 Engaged." Walter informed them.

'Must have missed 2 through 4 engaging.' Jack thought as he turned to face the gate. The inner ring turned and another chevron engaged.

"Chevron 6 Engaged."

'Peace.' Jack thought, about the quiet in his head. 'Finally.'

"Chevron 7 Locked." The wormhole opened in the inner part of the ring and settled into place.

General Hammond stepped over to the mic by Sgt. Davis. "Radio checks every five minutes, Colonel. You have a go." Jack nodded in understanding and walked up the ramp and through the gate.

As he stepped out of the wormhole on P4X-838, Jack fingered his radio.

"It all looks clear." Jack said into his radio with a trained look around.

"Roger than, Colonel." Came General Hammond's voice through his walkie-talkie.

The voice changed as someone else spoke. "How are you feeling, sir?" Dr. Fraiser asked.

"Great, Doc!" Jack responded positively into his walkie-talkie. "It's so quiet here. O'Neill out." He released the button and turned the volume down. Dangling from a wire, he saw the earphone that connected to the radio and placed it in his ear.

He took another quick look around, raised his gun and started his walk in the direction of the temple they had seen on the first trip.

After two increasingly boring radio checks, Jack saw the temple. He continued at his steady pace while he neared the large, religious structure.

He pushed the button on his radio and made another radio check. "Stargate Command, this is O'Neill. I'm advancing on the temple. I'll check back in 10 minutes. I feel fine. O'Neill out." He let go of the button and reached into one of his vest pockets. He stopped walking and pulled out an audio recorder Daniel had given him for conversations. He held the recorder in his left hand, having put away the video camera, and his gun in his right. He walked the last few yards to the temple and Avery met him at the door.

"Jack O'Neill?" Jack pushed the 'record' button just as Avery greeted him with a question voice.

"Yes." Jack answered.

"You have returned?" Avery asked.

"Yeah." Jack responded. "Daniel wanted me to get pictures of your temple thing."

"Is Daniel Jackson here with you?"

"Actually…no. The rest of my team stayed home this time." Jack explained. "Would you lead me around your temple?" He questioned, trying his best to be diplomatic.

"It is not my temple, it is the people's temple, but I can show you around." Avery corrected, turning and walking slowly to the entrance.

"Thanks." Jack stated to Avery's retreating back. He followed after the man to the temple. He clicked the button on his radio as he walked. "Command, this is O'Neill. Avery is going to lead me through the temple. Feelin' great. Talk to you in 20 minutes. O'Neill out." Sliding the audio recorder into his pocket and turning it off, he pulled out the video camera and got it ready to film.

"Come in." Avery invited, standing in the doorway. Jack walked past Avery into the large structure. He pushed the button on his radio. "Hey Daniel?" He asked into it.

"Yeah, Jack." Daniel questioned, his voice laced with concern.

"How is this stuff in the temple supposed to be read?" Jack asked his linguist friend.

"From top to bottom, then left to right." Daniel responded.

"Got it. Thanks. O'Neill out." He finished dropping his hold on the radio.

"Do you require assistance, Jack O'Neill?" Avery questions, making himself known. He had moved from the doorway to stand behind Jack, facing the same wall of writing as him.

Jack turned quickly. "No thanks. I'm going to use this…" He started, holding up the video camera. "… to record pictures of the writing on these walls." He gestured to the walls covered in writing.

"Will it cause harm to our temple?" Avery asked, concerned about the unfamiliar piece of technology Jack O'Neill wanted to use.

Jack smiled. "No. It won't hurt the temple." He answered nicely.

"Then go ahead." Avery commanded.

After three hours of filming ruins and radio checks, Jack was done and ready to go home.

"General. I'm finishing and coming home." Jack said into his radio.

"Okay Colonel." Hammond acknowledged. "Tell us when you're at the gate and we'll shut it down for you."

"Yes, sir." Jack responded to his commanding officer. He carefully shut off the video camera and put it in his pack. "Avery." He called to the man, who was talking to a villager not so far away from him.

Avery finished his conversation and turned to Jack. "Yes Jack O'Neill." He said, implying a question.

"I'm all done and I'm going to head home. Thank you for letting me hang around here." Jack stated, thanking the man for his time and patience.

"Indeed Jack O'Neill." Avery started, moving closer to Jack. "You and your team are welcome to visit anytime."

"Thanks." Jack said, pulling on his pack and taking a few steps back from Avery. "I have to get going now." He finished with a smile and headed out the temple door and towards the gate.

Jack's walk to the gate didn't take long and he managed to do the whole thing in silence. As he reached the gate he toggled his radio. "I'm at the gate." He said succinctly into it.

"We read you." He heard from his radio and the gate snapped shut. He reached out and dialed Earth's address on the DHD. The gate spun and opened. Jack pressed his IDC on the GDO and stepped through the wormhole.

"Stand down!" General Hammond called into the microphone and the SF troops in the room lowered their weapons. "Welcome back, Colonel."

"Good to be back, sir." He yelled up to the Control Room as his team rushed into the Gate Room. "The video camera is in my pack, Daniel." Jack informed his teammate and took off his pack. "It's all on there."

"Get checked out and cleaned up. Debriefing in an hour." Hammond said through the microphone.

"Yes, sir." Jack responded. He turned to his team. "See ya in an hour."

"Yes, sir." Sam said with a smile. Daniel gave a small wave, his thoughts on the recording from the planet. Teal'c gave a short head nod to show his acceptance. With that, Jack handed his weapon to an SF and walked to Janet's Lair to be cleared.