SG-1 and company repaired to the SGC briefing room. Samantha Carter sat next to her father, and looked at him, as did everyone else. Except Daniel. He stared at his hands folded in front of him, resting on the table.
"The floor is yours, Jacob," General Hammond said, taking a seat at his accustomed chair.
"Yeah, you said something about...nightmares?", Jack O'Neil prodded.
Daniel's head jerked up, and his gaze fixed on Jacob.
Jacob looked at Daniel thoughtfully, then addressed the rest of the table.
"It seems the secrets of the Ancients won't stay buried, even those that are best left thus," Jacob said.
O'Neil looked over at Daniel, who continued to stare at Jacob. He then tilted his head and turned back to Jacob.
"Buried...secrets?"
"Do you all remember Tanith?"
Teal'c's demeanor became much darker and more menacing.
"Yes, I slew him," he said, his voice unmistakably hard and cold.
Jack wondered about the final encounter between Teal'c and Tanith. He never understood just why Teal'c had taken that chance, that near suicidal standoff with Tanith in that ship, and Teal'c with that heavy staff-weapon. Teal'c had never explained it. But everyone had thought Tanith dead.
"It seems he got better," Jacob said, no sign of mirth in his voice. "And now, he's looking to make the most of a lucky break. He has stumbled across a piece of information that it's said will take him to a piece of technology, a Stargate of a different sort."
"Is it something like this?", Samantha asked, sliding over to her father the technological specifications Daniel had given her. There was a moment's pause, and a flash of light in Jacob's eyes indicated that Sel'mac had taken center stage. Jacob's now altered voice said, "Where did you get this?"
"The travel archive on P3R233," Daniel said, his voice now strong. "What does it mean?"
"I'm not sure," Sel'mac admitted. "But rumor has it, Tanith claims to have been communing with an entity that exists outside this universe. And he supposedly is trying to find a special Gate that will allow access to this universe. And he's looking for the missing piece of information that will allow a gate to take him to the world that has this special gate. Legends call it the Black Gate."
"So the ancients discovered Gate setting that allow extra dimensional travel? I've heard of speculation about that, but that's all it's been," Samantha Carter said, looking at the specs, then back at her father. "But the stresses on local space time, the technological leaps...even if you could get around those, creating a gateway, local twisting of space-time for extra universal travel, the power requirements would be..."
"Astronomical?", Jack O'Neil said, his 'I'm getting a headache face' in evidence.
"You have no idea, sir," Samantha said.
"True, true..." Jack said, nodding, rubbing his forehead.
"Tanith is on the way to P3R233," Daniel said.
"Well, we should plan a trip, too, I suppose," Jack said, looking to General Hammond.
"What kind of time table are we looking at?", General Hammond said?
Jacob Carter was now back in charge, "He doesn't have access to a gate, so he will be relying on FTL travel. We have a bit of time to plan."
"In that case, we all rest, especially you, Daniel," Jack O'Neil said. "Tomorrow, well, we know where we're going..."