Chapter 6 – Trepidations and Travels
Sam glanced in apology to the others seated around the table as they all clearly heard the voice of Ambassador O'Neill from behind the closed doors of the General's office.
"There is no way in Hell I am taking my son off-world, General! I don't care if the President, the Queen of England and King Tut himself agree! The Makesh can just take their feast and shove…"
"Ambassador O'Neill! Sit down!" was the answering roar. Sam winced in reply, glad she wasn't in the room with them, although she had to agree with Jack; taking their son off-world to an unknown planet was not something she was comfortable with, never mind even considered doing.
As the voices beyond the door quieted into angry mumbles, Sam looked around the table. Her father sat to her left, a look of carefully concealed amusement on his face. Teal'c and Daniel sat across the table from her: Teal'c on Jack's request, Daniel due to his own interest in the Makesh. Both gave her looks of quiet support. The High Chancellor was looking toward the doors with a mixed expression; halfway between concern and anger. Beroni was reading the reports Sam had given him last night, while every so often, stealing glances her way. Malem appeared nervous, his glance sliding over the group as a whole and quickly returned to his hands, which were clasped tightly in front of him. JJ, thankfully, was spending the morning with Janet in the infirmary. Sam was glad that he wasn't present to hear his daddy yelling…that always frightened him.
"I must apologize that our request to honor you on Moval has caused your husband such distress, Colonel Carter. We only wish to show our deep honor and gratitude to both of you. I must confess, I do not understand his anger," the High Chancellor stated into the silence.
Sam cleared her throat, "It's not your fault, High Chancellor. It's just that, Jack and I have never even considered the idea of taking JJ through the Stargate. There's just too much out there that could go wrong. You must understand, Jack would rather die himself than let anything happen to his son. Either one of us would."
"As would Daniel Jackson or myself," Teal'c added firmly. "O'Neill has lost one son. He will not lose another."
Malem shot a look at the High Chancellor, hoping the leader of his people would have second thoughts about this scheme of his. Instead, he stated just as firmly, "Please believe me Colonel Carter, I would never ask you to come if I didn't feel it was completely safe. Has not your own physician, Dr. Frasier, stated that she has found no cases where travel through the gate was harmful to a child?"
Sam thought back to all of the children who had traveled through the gate before and nodded reluctantly. "It's not so much the travel, as the…"
"As the opportunity for something to go terribly wrong, which it tends to do all the time," Jack finished as he reentered the room. His face was still a thundercloud of anger as he took his seat next to Sam, his steely gaze never wavering from that of the High Chancellor. "Tell me again, why it's so important for Sam and JJ to come to this little shindig of yours?"
The High Chancellor humbly bowed his head before speaking. "The Sacred Feast of Honor is our way to show tribute to all members of the family for the great feat one has accomplished. Our people feel that, without the support of the family circle, one's undertakings would not be as successful. We place a very high value on the family unit, Ambassador. In addition, as I have mentioned to your General, we greatly wish Colonel Carter to share her knowledge of naquadah with our scientists."
"And if we don't come, you won't trade with us. Is that the gist of this Chancellor?"
The High Chancellor regarded Jack quietly before answering. "If you are unwilling to partake in a sharing of our culture, my people would be less inclined to trust you, Ambassador. And I must bow to the wishes of my people in all things."
"Yeah, right," Jack muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Sam to hear. She placed her hand on his arm in quiet support.
General Landry cleared his throat to speak. "Ambassador O'Neill has agreed to partake in the cultural exchange, including your feast High Chancellor, on several conditions." When the High Chancellor nodded at him to continue, the General did so. "First of all, we will contact Thor so he can assure us that your planet and any systems surrounding it are completely safe. Secondly, Teal'c and Jacob Carter will be allowed to accompany Ambassador O'Neill and Colonel Carter. You have already graciously agreed to allow Dr. Jackson to accompany the group in order to study your ancient ruins, they will attend as a safety measure, of sorts. Finally, if these two conditions are met with his approval, Ambassador O'Neill will bring his wife and son to Moval, but you will provide accommodations separate from the general populace of Moval."
Sam looked to Jack in surprise, wondering at how he came to agree to this without talking to her first. Jack met her gaze, then quickly looked up at the General. "You forgot to mention the part where I need to discuss this with my wife. If Sam doesn't agree, we don't go. Period. And I don't give a rat's…"
"Jack," Sam interrupted warningly, glad she could do so now without the threat of insubordination hanging over her head. Jack closed his mouth put didn't even try to hide the intimidating glare he was directing at the High Chancellor.
The High Chancellor stood up, quickly followed by his associates. "That is agreeable to us, General. When might you have an answer for us?"
"I believe we will hear from Thor in a few hours time. Perhaps you would care to retire to your quarters and rest until we have an answer for you?"
"I think not, General. We will return to Moval and ready for the feast and these special accommodations. If this does not come to pass, we shall celebrate the alliance with the Asgard just the same. You have our address in your systems, do you not Colonel Carter?"
"Yes, we do High Chancellor," Sam answered.
"Then we shall await your reply. I thank all of you for your time." With that, the High Chancellor, Beroni, and Malem made their way to the gate room, where Sergeant Davis set to dialing up their home address.
Teal'c stood up, "Daniel Jackson and I will accompany the High Chancellor to the gate." He looked pointedly at Daniel, who quickly stood up as well.
"Oh, ah yeah. We'll just…do that then. Jacob, want to come along?"
"Definitely," came the answer as he also quickly left the room. All three of them wanted to allow Jack and Sam some privacy to discuss the situation withoutthe added stress of an audience.
"I'll start to draw up the necessary forms, if you should decide to do this, O'Neill," General Landry stated. "I just want to say, I understand your misgivings completely. But I also want you to be aware of the fact that the President is counting on having access to the naquadah mines on Moval. I am hopeful that we can make some sort of compromise." With those words he retired to his office, leaving Jack and Sam alone in the briefing room.
Jack rolled his chair back and stood up, beginning to pace the room in an agitated manner. "God Sam, I would never have taken this position if I thought someone would ever ask us to bring JJ to their planet as part of a trade negotiation. Part of me just wants to say screw this and take him home."
Sam stood and walked over to Jack, laying her hand on his arm to still his erratic movements. "Jack, neither one of us ever even contemplated something like this occurring. And aside from all the yelling earlier and the death glares, you've handled this very well." At Jack's look of disbelief, she continued. "Even though you have obvious qualms about this, you thought of several stipulations that have to be met before we'd even consider going. Talking to Thor is of utmost importance. He has the technology to scan the planet and its surroundings and let us know if it's safe. With Teal'c and my dad there, in addition to us, JJ will always be with at least 2 of us, if not 3. And separate accommodations will allow us to secure the area and keep ourselves separate from the Makesh."
Jack looked at her in surprise. "Are you actually saying that you think this might be a good idea?"
Sam stepped closer and put both hands on his arms. "I don't know if I'd term it a good idea, but if all those conditions are met, I think it will be safe for JJ. We attend the feast, stay one night, that's all, and you leave with JJ at daybreak. We will have shown the Makesh that we are trustworthy and trade talks can mover forward. I'm sure Thor will stay in orbit around the planet if we ask him. That will give us added measure of security."
Jack frowned, "What do you mean I leave with JJ?" He had latched onto that comment and not really heard the rest of her statement. "What will you be doing?"
"One day won't be enough for me to go out to their mines and look things over. Plus I'll need to go over the properties and procedures for safe handling of the naquadah with their scientists."
"Teal'c stays with you then," Jack stated in no uncertain terms.
Sam smiled and stepped into the circle of his arms, which closed around her tightly. "Let's just concentrate on our son for now, OK?" She felt Jack sigh as he rested his chin on the top of her head. "It will be OK, Jack. Nothing is going to happen to JJ with all of us there," she whispered quietly.
Jack hoped to God she was right.
Once they arrived on Moval and the gate disengaged behind them, the High Chancellor turned to Beroni. "Return to the sight of our meeting with the Asgard and contact the ship. Inform them that they are to remain within Earth's galaxy but out oftheir detection fieldsuntil we notify them. I do not want the humans or Asgard to uncover the truth about our technology. It could greatly interfere with our plans, much less the alliance."
Beroni bowed and replied, "Yes, your Eminence," before turning back to the Stargate and dialing it up.
"Come Malem, we must make haste to the village and alert the people. We have much to do in order to get ready for the Sacred Feast of Honor."
Malem looked back quickly as Beroni walked up the steps and through the gate. Sighing quietly, he replied, "Yes, your Grace."
Three hours later, on a sunny Monday afternoon in May, a small crowd gathered in the gateroom, waiting for the dialing sequence to commence. Jack stood decked out as if ready to embark on a mission to an unknown world, minus his P-90. Instead of the gun cradled in his arms, he held his 9 month old son. One arm rested under JJ's bottom, the other pressed securely against his back as the Stargate began to spin.
JJ was decked out in an outfit that, at first glance, was quite similar to his parents. He wore a pair of dark green pants, a gray sweatshirt, a green jacket that Daniel and Janet had given him for his half birthday, and a tiny pair of high-top black tennis shoes. Since JJ wasn't walking yet, he spent most of his days bare foot or in socks, so wearing shoes was a new experience for him. As he waited in his father's arms, he occasionally would swing his feet back and forth, glancing down and wondering who on earth those dark shoes belonged to.
Sam stood close to Jack's side, her own eyes reflecting the trepidation they both were feeling at this mission. Although they had been given assurances from Thor regarding the safety of the planet and its systems, they both held some misgivings at taking their son to an unknown world. Sam held JJ's tiny hand in her own, wanting to keep contact with him as they stepped through the gate.
Teal'c stood to Jack's right, Jacob to Sam's left. Daniel stood slightly ahead of the group. As the elected spokesperson, Daniel would be the first one to greet the people of Moval. Janet stood next to Daniel, ready with several bags of medical supplies. When she had heard that they were indeed going to bring JJ through the gate, she had insisted on coming along. As her presence made everyone going on this mission feel a bit better about the whole thing, the General didn't object.
When the gate was fully engaged and the familiar Ka-woosh of the event horizon poured forth, JJ turned his head toward the sound, his eyes large at the sight before him. He clung a bit tighter to Jack's collar, but otherwise seemed undaunted with this new experience. Jack looked with concern at his son's reaction, then let his face relax into a slight smile when he saw how fascinated JJ looked with the blue pool that shimmered in front of him. He reminded Jack of Sam that first time she went through the gate. He looked over at her and saw she was thinking much the same thing as they shared a smile over the top of JJ's head.
From up above in the control room, they heard the General's familiar send off. "Ambassador O'Neill, Colonel Carter, you have a go."
Jack gave him a nod, then turned to Sam. "Are you sure about this, Sam? It's not too late to back out," he assured her.
She gave him a reassuring smile, "I'm sure Jack. We're all in this together, remember?"
"Indeed, O'Neill. No harm will come to my Godson on this trip. He will not leave my sight, I promise you that," Teal'c clapped a large hand on Jack's shoulder.
Jack gave his friend a measured look. "I'm counting on it, my large friend, I'm counting on it. Let's head out."
The group of six adults and one small child made their way up the ramp and through the event horizon while, up in the control room, General Landry whispered a quiet, and extremely heartfelt, "God speed."