AN: Thanks so much for the reviews, I honestly hadn't expected any so soon. This chapter might be a bit..boring, but I felt the need to get some background information in. I hope I'm not digging myself any holes here though :P. Promise the pace of the story will pick up soon :). I just know I had to mention something else but I can't remember for the life of me what that was.

- To 7 League Boots; I had a bit of a problem wording that. My intention isn't -exactly- altering, because i know Daniel would never do that. He's the moral knight of the group. But had I said it differently I was afraid I would give away too much, although it'll probably be obvious soon, I didn't quite want it to be obvious that soon just yet. Just think of the device more as one that lets the 'enemies' see each other's point of view in an argument where they can't agree. (sort of). I hope I brought it out a bit better in this chapter, and I addressed the moral issue in the last bit, because they don't actually know yet what it does so it actually is an issue.

- To Nikki; I'm not too fond of Pete either; I'll try not to bash him to much though. In the end (on the show) he's still kind of a good guy, aside from some serious paranoia issues and that he doesn't want to realise Sam belongs with our beloved General O'Neill :) However for the story...err...there will be a few...uncomfortable moments, shall we say, with Pete involved. No serious bashing, but none (too) shippy.

Also: The characters and blablabla don't belong to me, but to whoever has the privilege of annoying Sam/Jack fans to no end by writing/producing/owning Stargate and all that jazz. I think everyone knows the drill.

Chapter 2 - Broken Briefings : Jacks POV

I looked around the table to my former team. Daniel glanced at his watch repeatedly and then continued to look pointedly at Sam. Teal'c was...well...Teal'c. Waiting patiently for someone to begin the briefing. Sam was...ignoring Daniel? She was looking expectantly at me to begin the briefing. But she was definitely ignoring Daniel. And she was definitely amused by something. Well, best begin; I'll find out soon enough what's going on, one way or the other.

"Right then, Daniel? Care to start...sometime today? Now would be good."

I swear he was glancing at Sam pointedly again. What the hell was going on with those two?

"Carter? Daniel? Anyone want to start explaining why exactly this device is so important that we have to go now instead of after my weekend off? Anyone? At all? This mille-"

"Uhm yes Sir. Well you see, the translation has not been done...completely. So Daniel really knows more about it at this point then I do."

Now she was looking at him pointedly while trying to hide a grin, unsuccessfully I might add. Definitely something was going on.

"Ok...Daniel..."

"Right, so uhmm, well, you see. The translation can't be done...entirely. All we know of the tablet SG-18 brought back from P4S-277, is that the temple, to which they haven't been to yet, is for a -"

"What? They haven't even been to that temple? Then how do you know there's a device?"

"Well, if you'd let me finish I would get to that. From the tablet we couldn't make out for who the temple exactly was, and the monument only tells of some general history about the people on the planet and the pilgrim route from the stargate to the temple. But the writing on both the tablet and the monument appear to be an old dialect in ancient. On the tablet there are references to the device, and on the monument is a picture of what we believe to be the device. The device is most likely ancient, but we won't be sure until Sam can take a look at it, if we can find it and it's still there. The temple and device are, according to the tablet, the...ahh... part we could translate, for striding opposites to come to an agreement in a peaceful manner."

"How can a device make enemies come to a peaceful agreement?"

"Sir, we can't know that until we get to the device. I do however, from the bit we could translate, think that it would somehow alter, or influence ones state of mind, making someone either less aggressive against the enemy or more open to other solutions. The tablet does say in a peaceful manner, so I doubt it would harm anyone that uses it and its intention is to avoid war."

I had to have been blind to not notice her openly grinning at Daniel when she emphasized the 'bit we could translate'. Starting to get an idea of what was going on, I couldn't exactly pass up this opportunity to have a little fun with Daniel. Again.

"Daniel, what happened with the tablet that you can't translate?"

Hah! He was looking like the kid that got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Did you break it, Space Monkey?"

Score! The shit-eating grin and use of his highly 'loved' nickname were the perfect combination for succes. He rolled his eyes and sighed deeply, rubbing his hand over his eyes as if he was developing a headache. Sam suddenly snorted being unable to hold in her laugh any longer. Even Teal'c looked amused.

"Yes Jack, I dropped the tablet and its broken and unreadable now. Can we please move on?"

"Not so fast Danny boy, you mean to say that you, while always scolding me for breaking one of your precious rocks...-"

"-Artifacts-"

"-...Whatever. You dropped and broke it?"

"I thought we covered that already? Don't you want to hear the rest of what was on the Tablet?"

"You mean what you could decipher before you broke it?"

"Ja-ack, do you want me to go on or not?"

"Not really, but fine. Go ahead."

I made a little wave with my hand to let him know to continue. Ah well. Plenty of occasions to keep reminding him of it in the future. That really made my day though. I looked at Sam; she was still smiling her full blown, make-my-legs-Jello smile. Focus O'Neill. Focus. Right. Briefing. Still a bit annoyed Daniel was working through it twice as fast, without a doubt to prevent me from disrupting him again. I grinned. Like that would work.

"Finally. Ok, so we don't know the exact location of the temple for sure, but SG-18 did say they saw ruins across the valley they found the monument where the tablet was on. It was just too far to reach for them in the time they had for the mission. According to them it would probably take about two days extra to get there, provided there are no obstacles on the way. I think the monument was a pointer for pilgrims that they were in the right direction. Considering both the tablet and the monument speak of pilgrims, I assume that the temple wasn't meant only for enemies of the people who lived there or enemies to the 'god' that controlled it, but also for families or others who were in an argument they couldn't resolve."

"Daniel Jackson. Why do you deem this device so important, is it not immoral to alter ones mind to accept the ideas of its opponent?"

"Well...I don't think it alters someone's mind per sé. If the device does come from the ancients, then I highly doubt that's the case. We all know how they are with interfering in cultures. I don't know how, but I think it provides a way for both enemies to see each others point of view, or to take out the aggression so the dispute can be resolved peacefully."

"Actually Daniel, I thought you said the tablet did say something about altering ones mindset? I have to agree with Teal'c, of course we can't know for sure yet until we see it, but- "

"I thought you wanted to see the device Sam? And I really don't think it would be altering, of course if it really is then that's not good, but why else would they press so hard on it being a peaceful solution? Altering someone's mind isn't very peaceful..."

I could tell we'd be sitting here for a long time having a moral debate if I wouldn't make a quick decision about going now. Something I was not planning on doing. I could see the value of it if we managed to find it, and new technology is always a plus, even if it's not used for what it's meant for to begin with.

"Ok, so we go, and if we find it, we take it home to study. New technology can always come in handy whatever it's meant for. Not to mention that we can always have the it's bad-it's good debate after we see what it actually does. We don't have to use it if we even find itto begin with. We leave at 1700 hours."

I stood up to indicate the briefing was over and nodded at all of them before retreating to my office to prepare myself too. Finally a mission, I hadn't been on one in..well to long for me anyway. Daniel sure looked his old excited self again. Now just convince my replacement to take over for a couple of days longer then a fishing trip. Maybe bribery would work, although I could of course just order him to. I think I prefer bribery...extra day off maybe? Or cake? Cake always goes over well. Who doesn't like cake?