"I am sorry O'Neill. I do not believe that what I have to add will be construed as helpful." Thor blinked and looked around at the gathered people. "Long range scanners have recently alerted me to the presence of several unknown vessels headed this way. I believe they may be the ones the prophesy referred to. Scanners indicate that they are headed directly to Moval and should arrive within the next 12 hours."
Chapter 21 – The Way of the Ancients
The silence in the living room was deafening. Glances were exchanged, indicating a range of emotions: fear, confusion, expectation, and resignation. This last one belonging to Jack. With a heavy sigh, he stood from his seat. "Well, I guess that takes the decision out of my hands."
Everyone followed suit and stood as well, Sam shifting JJ to her hip as she stood close to Jack. He looked down at her and gave her a small smile, meant to reassure her. He then turned back to Thor. "Any idea who these ships belong to, Thor?"
"I am afraid I do not know, O'Neill. Their construction is unfamiliar to the Asgard, but the weapons they carry appear to be very advanced."
"Great, just great," Jack mumbled. "OK people, it looks as if we're going to take a little trip back to the temple. Malem, I want you to alert the villagers; if there's going to be an attack, they have to congregate at the Stargate; we'll take them back with us."
Malem nodded his agreement. "I will go now, and meet you at the temple with more guards when this task is completed. We will help in any way you deem necessary."
Jack nodded his thanks and watched as the Makesh left to take care of things on their end. "Doc," he said, turning to Janet. "I need you to go to the medical facility and prepare everyone for the possibility of moving to the gate. When I give you the signal, you'll have to hustle over there and dial us out, OK?"
Janet cast a look of trepidation at Daniel before nodding her agreement. "I'll grab my medical supplies and head over there now."
Jack looked at the rest of his team. Even though he was not officially in charge of this mission, old habits died hard, and none of them had any qualms about following his orders; not even his father-in-law. "I guess the rest of us get to go and see what my son is supposed to do." His eyes held a look of regret as he passed his hand over JJ's soft hair. What he wanted more than anything was to take his wife and son home, right this minute. But he knew he couldn't abandon these people, not when there was even the slightest chance that JJ might be their only hope.
"Thor?" Jack asked suddenly, spinning toward the hologram of Thor still present in the room.
"I am still here, O'Neill," the alien replied.
"You said you could get a lock on JJ while we're in that chamber, right?"
"That is correct, O'Neill. I have been able to overcome the interference created by the energy source located within the chamber. I can transport JJ to the safety of the Jonathon Jacob within a few seconds," he assured Jack.
Jack shared a small smile with Sam over the name of Thor's latest ship. When Sam had good-naturedly teased the alien about not naming a ship after her before her son, Thor had surprised them both by informing the couple that the Jonathon Jacob was one of four small, fast ships in a new fleet, known as The Fleet of Samantha Carter. He had duly informed her that he hoped she would provide O'Neill with three more offspring in order to commence naming the remaining ships. Jack had laughed at that comment, while Sam had remained uncharacteristically speechless.
Shaking himself from his reverie, Jack replied, "OK Thor. If I give you the word, I want you to transport both JJ and Sam up, you understand?"
"Jack!" Sam interrupted before Thor could reply. "I should stay here! You might need me to…"
"I will not risk losing either one of you, Sam. If you're going to waste time arguing about it, I'll have Thor take you up right now!" Jack's mood quickly went from light to stern, his countenance uncompromising. He knew she was fully capable and experienced to act in any off-world situation, but he thought he had almost lost them both once before on this mission and he would not risk it again.
The air in the room fairly crackled with tension between the two of them as Sam studied her husband. She was frustrated with his overprotective demeanor, but to some degree could sympathize: if it had been him and JJ who had been initially taken, she would feel much the same way. Sparing a glance at her father, who nodded in agreement with Jack, she sighed. "Fine, but don't expect this to be the last you hear on the matter!"
Jack's face relaxed as he gave her a slightly crooked grin, "I'd be disappointed if it was, dear."
Sam gave him a narrow eyed glare before she turned and left the room with the excuse of getting JJ ready. Those left in the room were fairly certian that she left before she said something she might regret later.
Thor blinked at Jack. "Does this mean I should transport your wife as well, O'Neill?" a hint of apprehension in his voice.
Jack chuckled. "Yes Thor, it does. Don't worry, she won't take it out on you," he assured the small alien.
"I will await your signal, O'Neill, and keep you apprised of the situation," he replied, before his image disappeared from view.
Jack lost his smile as he looked at the three men remaining in the room with him. "I don't need to remind any of you about what you have to do." They nodded their agreement. "I will have JJ with me at all times. Teal'c, I need you to stick close to Sam, OK?"
Teal'c bowed. "She will remain safe O'Neill."
"You two will be in charge once we get to the chamber. I want clear, concise directions on what we need to do once we get there, got it?" Jack stated.
"We'll do our best, Jack," Jacob assured him.
"I want to try sitting in that chair first," Jack continued. "Maybe I can activate whatever else is in there. Hopefully it just requires an Ancient gene. If that doesn't work, I'll hold JJ in my lap. I do not want to put JJ in there on his own if I can help it."
Jacob and Daniel exchanged a look; they had not thought of that particular scenario. "It's worth a shot," Daniel agreed.
In a short amount of time, they were once again standing within the secret chamber. Jack stood in the cold room, holding JJ lightly in his arms as he surveyed the area with a practiced eye. Sam stood next to the chair, quietly conversing with Daniel and her father. Teal'c stood nearby, taking to heart Jack's request that he remain close to Sam at all times. Hearing the shuffle of feet crossing gravel, Jack turned to see Malem enter the room, followed by two Makesh guards.
The transmitter that kept Thor and Jack in contact crackled to life. "O'Neill," came Thor's unwavering voice.
"Go ahead, Thor," Jack replied, holding the transmitter away from him while he tried to keep JJ from grabbing it. He was like his father that way, anything electronic or that made an interesting sound was of supreme interest to the little boy. Seeing his struggles, Sam came over and took JJ from his arms, remaining close so she could hear what Thor had to say.
"My sensors indicate that the alien ships have increased their acceleration. They will reach the outer atmosphere of Moval within two hours time. I must cloak the Jonathon Jacob but will remain in contact with you. You must act now O'Neill."
"Of course we must," Jack replied dryly.
After a few moments spent in quiet thought, he turned to look at Sam standing next to him. He gave her arm a soft squeeze, "Sam, take JJ and stand near the door. I'm going to try and start this thing on my own first," he added with a tone of resignation.
Sam glanced at him with some concern before moving over to the doorway, Teal'c following in her wake. She gave him a curious look but didn't comment on his less that subtle shadowing.
"OK, guys, step back," Jack instructed Daniel and Jacob as he approached the chair. Both men took two steps back and waited patiently for him to continue. "So, I just have a seat right, pretend I'm in my recliner at home watching the Simpsons and drinking a beer?"
"That's what I'd do, Jack," Daniel answered. "Without the Simpsons, of course. Or the beer."
Jack grunted in response, took a deep breath, and sat in the chair. Each person in the room waited with bated breath to see what would happen. To everyone's great disappointment, all remained quiet in the small chamber.
Jacob looked at Jack's tense body. "Maybe you need to relax a bit, Jack and think of something…Ancient," he added with a lift of his eyebrows.
"Thanks Jacob. That's ever so helpful," Jack replied sardonically.
"Lay all the way back, Jack, like you did in Antarctica," Daniel offered. "Think back to that time, when you were trying to save Earth from eminent invasion."
"I don't remember a whole lot from that time, Danny. As you recall, I wasn't exactly myself!" The biting tone belied his impatience with the current situation.
"Jack, just try, please?" came Sam's voice from across the room.
He looked over at her, chewing on her bottom lip as she usually did when either nervous or in deep concentration. JJ was reaching behind her, trying in vain to reach Teal'c and touch the shiny emblem on the large man's forehead.
Sighing once again, Jack leaned back into the chair, closed his eyes, and tried to concentrate on how to save these people. As he relaxed more and more into the chair, the large console in front of him began to flicker. Jack felt something deep within him start to warm and come to life, before it was abruptly gone. He opened his eyes and looked around. "Not enough juice, huh?"
Jacob came forward and placed his hand on Jack's shoulder. "I think we're going to have to try the little guy on this one, Jack. We don't have much time."
Before he could reply, Sam walked over to him with JJ. She tried to give him a reassuring smile. "He'll be OK, Jack. He's tough like his daddy." She leaned forward and placed JJ in Jack's lap, brushing a kiss across the little boy's head before she stepped back. Sam didn't retreat all the way to the door, choosing instead to remain near the chair. Jack shot her a quizzical look but didn't say anything and Sam remained steadfastly where she was.
JJ cooed happily at being back in his father's arms and began to play with his tan cap, pulling determinedly on the bill. "Not now, little man," Jack said softly as he turned the boy around and sat him in his lap. Immediately, JJ's interest was drawn to the console in front of him, which began to light up and emit several interesting noises. As quickly as it began, however, it stopped.
"Daniel?" Jack asked with the still present touch of impatience.
"I think JJ needs to be indirect contact with the chair, Jack," Daniel replied from his position next to them both.
Jack shifted JJ so that he was resting between his legs and placed the little boy's hands on the arm rests. JJ cooed happily, banging his hands up and down on the smooth fabric of the chair.
The console once again began to brighten; this time staying lit. The room darkened, then was lit by several lights that came out from hidden recesses in the walls. Jacob and Daniel moved behind the chair in order to observe all that was happening. Teal'c stood directly behind Sam, who felt his presence but didn't turn to acknowledge him as she was intently watching the console.
A rectangular screen with no middle to it slid up from within the console's depths and flickered with a myriad of colors before finally settling into a subdued blue. As they all watched, an image began to appear on the screen; the image of a young woman, dressed in white with long flowing hair. They could all see that it was holographic image, much like the one Thor used.
"That's definitely not Marge Simpson," Jack muttered under his breath. He gave a sidelong glance at Sam, who rolled her eyes at him. He was pleased to see a small smile on her face, despite the serious situation they found themselves in.
"Be quiet, Jack," Daniel hissed from somewhere behind him, as the image began to speak.
"The child of three has been found and brought forth to fulfill the prophecy and save the people of Moval from those known as the Orinths," the image began speaking quietly but clearly. "My image appears before you to lead you to complete that which has been destined for generations. I will impart to you how you came to be the one we seek."
Daniel, Jacob, Sam and Teal'c crowded closer, while Malem found a place where he could see the screen but not be in the way. The guards held back, uncomfortable with the strange devices located within the chamber.
"We are of the Ancients. Many generations ago, the home of our allies in the Circunis Galaxy was threatened by the Orinths. We moved them here, to a place of safety. Several of our kind stayed with our allies until such a time when they could fend for themselves. Upon their attempted return, they inadvertently traveled centuries into the future and witnessed the destruction of the people of Moval by the same beings who threatened them previously. Due to unforeseen circumstances, they were unable to return to their previous time but did travel to a time where they learned of a group of Tauri renowned throughout the galaxy as saviors and great warriors. Through a special blending, two joined and brought forth a child unique unto himself. This child was chosen to be the one to facilitate the freedom of the Makesh."
The image paused and flickered, causing Jack to straighten in his chair and place JJ's hands more firmly on the arm rest.
"The Ancients were able to return to a time before the relocation of the Makesh, where the temple was built for the express purpose of one day turning the Orinths away from their evil intentions. It is this temple which houses the means to fulfill the prophecy to its completion. The child alone can not save the Makesh, however. It has been deemed that those who brought forth this child must also aid in the deployment of that which can save these people. Three crystals will appear in the wall directly in front of the chair. Should you choose to undertake this task, remove the crystals and place them within the depression in the floor. Further instructions will come forth when the crystals reside within this chamber."
Jack and Sam looked at each other, surprise etched on their faces. Neither had an inkling that they would be so directly involved in this endeavor with JJ. Nor did they fully understand how the Ancients had known about JJ but both realized that time travel in one of the "puddle jumpers" was inherently responsible. Before they could process their thoughts or discuss the issue, the image delivered one more instruction.
"You must take care to ensure that the three crystals be handled by each parent as well as the child. It is only upon completion of this directive that you will be able to move to the next step in saving the people of Moval."
The image of the Ancient woman flickered and died before them. Jack sat in stunned silence as did everyone else in the room; with the exception of JJ, who reached toward the screen where the image had been, babbling as if to invite the lovely lady back.
Before anyone had the chance to voice what was running through their heads, a panel in the wall in front of them slowly slid open, revealing three red crystals glowing brightly, just waiting for Jack, Sam and JJ to take the next step.
I had some trouble with this one...hope it's not too confusing! I wanted to thank everyone who has been reading this fic, as well as my other ones. And especially to thank those of you who nominated It's Great to Be Eight and A Mother's Love for the Stargate Fanfic Awards - what an honor! Please make sure you visit the site and vote for your favorites in the different categories...there are so many great fics out there!