A Single Man of Courage – part seven
Sam and Daniel were in the dining room eating by the time Jack and Teal'c had washed the sand away and changed their clothes, much to Sam's disappointment … every girl she supposed had a vision of their own special dark prince of the desert …
Daniel was clearly tired. Another morning of questioning and being no nearer to receiving an inkling of what the Mosems wanted was taking its toll on him.
"Hope you two have had a better day than I have so far," he muttered by way of a greeting.
"Hey, I've had to endure a history lesson all morning," complained Jack, sitting down.
Jack's stomach had settled down somewhat, and although he had no appetite, but he knew he'd have to eat something to keep going. Reluctantly he half filled a plate and began to prod and poke at the meal. He managed to eat some of it swallowing it down with large amounts of juice.
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Sam watched the Colonel with the meal. She knew he'd eaten nothing at all for a while and he still wasn't showing any enthusiasm for the food. Eating out of necessity and nothing else, she surmised. That wasn't like him - when the food was good he had a healthy appetite and could eat with the best of them.
"We learned much of the city, Daniel Jackson, but nothing of real use to us," said Teal'c as he ate.
"Real use?" queried Daniel "As to what?"
Jack sighed. Trust Daniel to pick up on that. "Lots of history. Teal'c can fill you in later," he said, purposely choosing to misunderstand Daniel's question.
"Now I'm going to grab some shut-eye before another history walk." With that Jack left the room, leaving most of the food untouched on his plate.
"How's the Colonel been, Teal'c?" Sam asked.
"O'Neill is worried Major Carter," responded Teal'c briefly.
"I think Jack's paranoia is getting out of hand here," said Daniel.
"Daniel, there's something not right here, you know it.".
"What I do know is that Jack didn't want this mission and he's gone out of his way to look for trouble. He'll get us killed if they take offence."
Sam started to speak, but Daniel cut her off angrily.
"And don't go making excuses for him. You military stick together, Sam. The situation he's placing himself and us in is not acceptable. The next thing you know he'll be accusing them of murdering SG-6 or something."
Teal'c's eyebrows rose higher and higher, but he could not speak of what he knew. Instead he rose and excused himself.
"See, you've upset Teal'c now," exclaimed Sam, both hurt and angry that Daniel was being so callous to the Colonel.
"He'll get over it," said Daniel, off-handedly. "He always takes Jack's side."
"We're not taking sides. Since when did you feel like that?"
Daniel looked at her, a slight blush rising in his cheeks, obviously realizing his anger had taken him too far. If he had had anything to say in the past he'd taken it up with Jack - not beaten on his team-mates.
"Sorry Sam, I was out of line then. I'm tired and damned frustrated. God, why can't something be straight forward for once?"
"Hey …" Sam moved over to touch Daniel on the shoulder. "Come on, it'll be okay, you'll see. Let's grab some sleep. We need it. We can talk tonight." She gave him a quick hug.
Daniel nodded sheepishly "Yeah, you're right."
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Teal'c waited until his teammates had left to resume negotiations before knocking softly on Jack's door.
"O'Neill, shall I ask for Samels to guide us?" He entered Jack's room to find him sorting through his pack.
"Hey T, did you rest?"
"I performed kel-no-reem. Did you rest O'Neill?"
"Some," admitted Jack. "Just sorting through what could be of use if we go."
"If?"
"Yeah, it's a mighty big if. Those gates could be a problem, not to mention dragging three wounded men across three days of desert, keeping ahead of an army and avoiding patrols."
"We cannot leave them here."
"You know me better than that. I just don't know how to get us out."
"You will think of something, O'Neill."
"I hope so. I keep thinking about their enemies, the resistance so to speak. If we could make contact, perhaps we could get some help from them."
"Time is against us."
"Yes it is, but to just run blindly will get us killed anyway."
Both men sat in serious thought until Samels came to get them.
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Jack asked to see the kitchens and servants quarters as well as the palace.
Samels gave him a strange look "Why would you bother with the slaves' quarters?"
"We do not hold with cruelty and my people will want assurances that our new allies take care of all their people," replied Jack smoothly, noting Samels had said 'slaves'.
"I see. Then most assuredly you will find this to be so." Samels smiled, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
Jack forced himself to smile back. "I would expect nothing else from what we've seen so far."
Samels led them through the palace to the slaves' quarters which, as to be expected, were sparse, but adequate. After several minutes walk a guard stopped their guide and whilst they were speaking, Jack took the opportunity to speak to Teal'c.
"When we get to the kitchens I need you to keep Samels distracted so I can wander around a bit."
Teal'c nodded "I will do my utmost O'Neill."
Samels soon rejoined them and before long they reached the kitchens. They were huge and hot, the cooking done on open fires in huge cauldrons and crude, but efficient bbq structures.
Teal'c stopped by a man preparing ingredients, and using Samels to translate, he asked about the traditional dishes and recipes. Samels obliged him, but his eyes were following Jack as he wandered off casually.
Jack had recognized one of the girls as one of those who served their food. She gave him a slight bow as she worked. He seemed to wander aimlessly, but he made his way over to where a man was working who had seemed to take more notice of him and Teal'c than the others.
"English?" asked Jack, casually examining the jars of spices and herbs.
The man shook his head at Jack and spoke quietly in his own language. "How may I be of service?"
The words were respectful, but Jack sensed something else with the man. A quick glance at Samels told him Teal'c had him occupied.
"Are you bonded or a free man?" asked Jack in the man's language.
The man seemed surprised at Jack's speech and fluency. "You speak well. I am bonded, my body only though."
"Your soul is free," murmured Jack, ignoring the look the man gave him.
"You and your people came through the desert gate?" The man continued to work as he spoke.
"Yes."
"You should return. There is nothing but danger here for you."
"We cannot go until I can take all of my people."
"The ones you seek - some are no longer."
"They are dead," stated Jack. The man nodded, his eyes straying to Jack's face, obviously weighing him up. Jack continued. "They seek our weapons and our knowledge."
"Yes, and my people will suffer more."
"Your people?"
The man stopped working suddenly, a flash of fear showing in his face as he looked around quickly. "My people are dying out. They destroy our camps. They slaughter our women, our children."
"We are not here to condone that. It goes against everything we believe in."
"Yet you aid them," spat the man.
"No, we were tricked into coming here. We want to leave."
"Then you should go."
"They will take our weapons and use them without our consent if we fail to reach home."
"Then you must not fail."
"I can get my people out of the palace, but across the desert to the gate without being overtaken is the problem."
The man's eyes darted around nervously. "We must speak further, but not here. Would you give knowledge to my people if they should aid you?"
"Yes, some. We can help."
"I will come to you later when food is to be served."
Without acknowledging his words, Jack moved away, casually picking up things and even tasting when invited to do so.
Teal'c seeing O'Neill to be moving around, asked Samels to thank the person they had been speaking to for their time, before joining O'Neill.
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Jack and Teal'c finished their tour and were escorted back to their quarters, where they rested until Sam and Daniel returned.
The Colonel told them to go clean up and then come back for a briefing. Curiosity spurred them on and they were back in no time at all.
Jack started to tell them what had happened the previous night and what he knew, but didn't get very far in his story.
Daniel kept flicking his gaze from Sam to Jack as the other man spoke.
He interrupted. "Are you sure about this, Jack? I mean you didn't just dream it? Why didn't you tell us you were going off on your own?"
Jack gave Daniel a sharp look, but decided to ignore the insult.
"You and Carter had to face them today …"
Daniel frowned angrily. "And you didn't trust us, I suppose."
"It's not a case of trust. You needed to be convincing. I didn't think you could keep up an act like that knowing that half of SG-6 were…"
"Oh yes," interrupted Daniel again, "Acting. You know all about acting, don't you You're so good at going off and telling lies - going off alone!"
Jack flinched as Daniel almost spat the words at him.
"For God's sake, are we back to the Tollan thing again?"
"No we're back to 'I don't trust the team,' but frankly, you wanted this mission like a hole in the head. You tried getting off the hook and it didn't work with Hammond, so you're looking for what's not there!"
"Daniel, for Christ's sake, look let me finish …"
"I don't want to hear it, I am so sick of do as I say, don't do as I do!" Daniel stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
Jack stood, eyes blazing, clearly fighting to control his temper, his fists clenching tightly.
"Sir, should I …" faltered Sam, rising.
"No Major," ground out Jack. "Sit down and we'll finish this briefing without Daniel."
Silently she sat down. She'd never seen the Colonel so angry, at least not against one of his own team.
Jack took a deep breath, still trying to contain his temper. "Right, no interruptions this time."
He proceeded with all the information he had.
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Teal'c looked on calmly, seemingly unaffected. He felt Daniel Jackson had gone very much beyond the line with his Commanding Officer, though wisely he kept quiet.
Sam listened, her horror at hearing of the men tortured to death apparent in her expression
Jack finished up. "So Major we are now waiting to see if these desert people can help us or not."
"Oh God," she sighed "Sir, sorry, what a mess. If they can't or won't help us, what then?"
"We'll just have to give it our best shot," said Jack briefly. His temper had calmed down, leaving him looking tired and utterly weary. He scrubbed a hand through his hair and then at his face.
"O'Neill, I will go and carry on the briefing to Daniel Jackson. He must listen and be ready."
"Yeah, buddy, you do that, I don't think I can talk to Daniel again tonight without hitting him."
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Teal'c left them and went to Daniel's room. He entered at Daniel's brief shout to 'go away' to find the other man and his pack spread out on the bed.
"Oh, Teal'c, it's you," he muttered, sitting up slightly.
"Should it be someone else, Daniel Jackson?"
"Huh? Oh err no. I just thought it was our beloved leader coming to annoy me further."
"It does not seem he is of your beloved at the moment, Daniel Jackson."
'Was that sarcasm from Teal'c?' thought Daniel in surprise, before speaking. "You could say that. God, at times I could …"
"No doubt you could," interrupted the Jaffa, "but you should give your Commanding Officer your attention first."
Daniel looked at the man towering over him. "No doubt you disapprove. Oh, and he's not my Commanding Officer."
Teal'c raised a brow. "Yes, you are not military." Teal'c spoke the word with heavy emphasis, causing Daniel to raise a brow. "However, O'Neill is still your leader as well as a much valued friend and you should heed his words."
"Sorry, and please don't tell me if I was one of your men you wouldn't tolerate it."
"Indeed, Daniel Jackson, if you were to be in the service of Apophis or any Goa'uld you would be terminated. Even amongst the leaders of the other SG units you would not be given such a long leash as O'Neill permits."
Daniel gazed at Teal'c. 'Leash – where did that come from?' "You're serious aren't you?" He thought about his friend for a moment, realizing the truth of what Teal'c was saying. "Jack gives into me too much, doesn't he? I've heard what some of the other units say, just never thought about it really."
"Indeed, but you will now listen to me as you should have listened to O'Neill."
Teal'c sat down and gave Daniel the facts, and as Daniel listened he began to curl up inside. Groaning he slid off the bed to the floor with a thump.
"Me and my big mouth. How the hell am I going to fix this?"
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