Disclaimer: Stargate SG:1 remains the property of Richard Dean Anderson, Greenburg et al. No money is being made from this fic. (This story is set way before Daniel's "Ascension"; it is my first attempt at a Stargate story and I'm nowhere near confident with the original quartet of characters as it is, never mind trying to get a handle on Jonas Quinn).
Summary: See Part 1
SARCOPHAGUS
Part 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Sam saved the data to her laptop and shut it down. Small though it might be, the information was another tiny step forward in their understanding. There were dead Jaffa on Uhutac, killed by the defence drones, but not on Nemetae. Most likely, the Earth Goa'uld had escaped through the Antarctic Stargate when Noah's Entity friend caused the Flood, probably with Lamech's daughter Naamah as the host and presumably extended family members as Jaffa.
Somehow Naamah had ended up on Uhutac. Possibly the defence drones had not activated immediately, until Naamah ordered a Jaffa to do something stupid? But how had the Goa'uld escaped? Going back to Earth would just put her in an ice cavern several miles below the Antarctic shelf. On the other hand, the drones were lethal but not that sophisticated. The foliage of that arbour had been very thick. Had Naamah dived in and hidden like a gopher in its hole while the drones slaughtered her First Prime and Jaffa, sneaking out later? Maybe the Uhutacis had left something like a mini-shuttle near enough to the Stargate for her to utilise, or she had been able to dial another world from Uhutac?
However she'd escaped from Uhutac there was no indication that Naamah or any Goa'uld had found Nemetae itself, so she wasn't the Goa'uld who found the sarcophagus technology after all – one more mystery to add to the many. Presumably Naamah had returned to Earth by spaceship after the Flood, and for some reason was forced to relinquish Naamah as the host in favour of Nimrod. Cue Tower of Babel and good old Shem somehow got the Goa'uld and Nimrod. Presumably Nimrod had left a trail in space that other Goa'uld – Ra and Osiris for instance – had followed to reach Earth.
The fact that Ra had the Egyptians build pyramids first off, which was labour intensive and lengthy, indicated that when they first arrived on Earth, the Goa'uld had no access to a Stargate. The frozen Jaffa serpent-guard in Antarctica indicated that Apophis had tried that approach first and given up. Could it be that the Goa'uld couldn't build Stargates of their own but had had to steal one from somewhere else? Ra presumably had purloined the Giza Stargate from somewhere else. Maybe the reason some of the Stargate addresses on the Abdyos Cartouche wouldn't dial in was because System Lords had swiped them in antiquity to use in other places?
Unfortunately the trail was going cold after Nimrod, to Daniel's increasing frustration, due to the ancient Israelites unfortunate habit of recording so much of their history on perishable scrolls not in stone or wood. Lately Daniel had been so tense you could use him as guitar string. His and Jack's confrontation on Euronda earlier this year had upset him more than he let on, and he considered Jack's shooting of the android girl Reese as nothing less than murder. Sam sighed as she prepared to head for the Commissary and a generous helping of naughty cherry pie; the truth was they owed Daniel big time – he'd saved them from making a horrific mistake and enabling Alar's repulsive little gang to wipe out the Eurondans.
The trouble was one of perception or rather mutual misunderstanding. Colonel O'Neill's absolute refusal to refer to the near-miss was embarrassed chagrin, but Daniel had been reading it as obstinate self-justification even before the Reese disaster. Sam believed Daniel and she would have believed Reese if she had been in the Gate Room. For whatever reason he'd had in creating her that way, Reese's 'father' had made her to be a child, and faced with the enormity of what was happening around her, Reese would have obeyed Daniel's wish for the replicators to stop their attack.
But she could also see it from Ja- Colonel O'Neill's point of view. He had no way of knowing what he would find on the other side of the Gate Room door. He had no way of knowing if Reese was stopping the replicators – or more importantly whether she still could. She had been losing control of at least one or two. All Jack had seen was that Reese had deliberately injured Daniel and the replicators were still attacking. So he did what he was trained to do and took instant, decisive action to eliminate the threat. Daniel had seen nothing but yet another example of Colonel O'Neill's unfortunate tendency towards 'There's my way or the wrong way', which was one of the Colonel's few unattractive personality quirks.
It was a pity –
Sam nearly had a heart attack when the base's klaxons suddenly blasted out, the red lights whirling. Sergeant Harriman's voice blared out of the Tannoy, "Security to Dr Jackson's lab! Security to Dr Jackson's lab! Stat!"
Running out of her own lab Sam slotted in behind Teal'c and the Marines who were hurrying along the corridors. Reaching Daniel's on-base lab both Teal'c and Sam drew up short at the sight of Daniel at the far end of the room facing off against Jack at this end of the room; Daniel was gripping a small statue of the Egyptian cat-goddess Bast in one hand, Jack's fists were clenched and he was quivering as if on the verge of flinging himself at the other man. Something heavy had collided with the central table in the room, for books, papers and various knick-knacks had been knocked on to the floor.
Taking in the situation at a glance, General Hammond barked, "Stand down, Colonel! Dr Jackson!"
Colonel O'Neill twitched reflexively. "General –"
"What in God's name is going on here?" Hammond glared from to the other.
"You tell me!" Daniel burst out, not relinquishing his hold on the statue. "I'm working in my lab, next thing he bursts in and attacks -"
"Damn right I did, you coward!" O'Neill erupted. "You make out like I got some sort of sick thrill out of killing Reese? 'Like she was animal'? Saying that I'd happily mass murder Nemetae children? Where the hell do you think you get off, Jackson? You have a problem with me you say it to my face, you don't slander me behind my back!"
"How crazy are you?" Daniel yelled back, "I didn't say that!"
"I was standing right outside. I heard you!"
"Colonel O'Neill," Dr Fraiser cut in sharply. "I was just down the corridor when I saw you charge in here, and nobody came out in the second it took me to run up and sound the alarm. There couldn't have been anyone else in this lab apart from Dr Jackson."
"You see!" Daniel finally tossed aside the statue to throw up his hands angrily. "I was working alone in here. The security cameras will verify that. I didn't say anything!"
"But you were thinking it!" Jack heard himself almost howl the words in fury – and then he stopped dead as the epiphany whacked him upside the head.
"Dr Jackson, I –" began General Hammond.
"That's it!" Jack burst out, cutting his superior off. "You were thinking it."
"Colonel, at this moment you are a hair's breadth away from –" General Hammond's patience and temper were almost on empty.
"No, no!" Jack spun towards Dr Fraiser triumphantly. "That's it. The nightmares I've been having, the sudden mood swings I couldn't explain since we came back from Nemetae. They weren't my feelings, they were Daniel's. I know what he's thinking. I feel what he's feeling!"
"Jack, that is the lamest excuse you have ever come up with, and you've tried a few!" Daniel retorted before Dr Fraiser, looking startled, could speak. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
Jack saw the disbelief on their faces; even Teal'c the poster-boy for expressionless stoicism, exuded doubt in his manner. Okay, he needed to score big. "Oh really? In that case, Danny-boy, how come I know that you would give absolutely anything just to be able to get into a sarcophagus one more time?" He waited in the total silence for one heartbeat, then two, then "…and how ashamed you are of that fact?"
Bingo. Direct ICBM hit dead-centre of Jacksonville. It was like watching water drain out of a suddenly-holed bucket; the colour leached from Daniel's face until he was putty-grey and unconsciously he wrapped his arms around himself in the eternal self-protective gesture.
"Dr Jackson?" General Hammond questioned.
"I-It's impossible." Daniel stumbled, shaking his head. "Isn't it?"
"Dr Fraiser, is it possible?" Realising he would get no help from that quarter at least at this juncture, Hammond turned to his favourite medical advisor.
"Yes, I suppose…" Janet Fraiser shrugged helplessly. "Nemetae is an entirely alien planet littered with extremely advanced technology which, like Colonel O'Neill has pointed out before, is usually crystal powered."
"Meaning what?" General Hammond wasn't in the mood for verbosity, not with his top team in meltdown in front of him.
"Meaning a lot of it is probably on 'standby' rather than 'switched off'. It's possible SG-1 could have triggered something as they passed it." She paused and turned to look at O'Neill. "Colonel, can you tell what Dr Jackson is thinking at this moment?"
"Doc, we can all tell what Daniel's thinking at this moment." Jack shot back.
"Colonel O'Neill, I'm seconds away from either having you arrested or sedated. I suggest you lose the wisecracks and focus on saving your ass from my sling." General Hammond was rarely seriously publicly angry and it was intimidating when he was.
Right now, he was very intimidating. "Yes sir." Jack got a grip, aware that Hammond wasn't in any way being humorous. He deliberately turned to fully face Daniel, having previously been standing sideways so he had a clear view of the doorway and Daniel's position. "No…I got nothing now."
General Hammond, Dr Fraiser and Teal'c were a matching trio of sceptically raised eyebrows and Jack was suddenly and uncomfortably aware of the glaringly obvious bright-red weal across Daniel's cheek. Crap. He'd been so ballistic he hadn't even realised he'd struck Daniel. In about another split-second General Hammond's brain was finally going to process what that visual meant and a second after that he was going to have Jack's ass hauled to the brig for eternity and then some –
It was Carter, as ever, who saved the day. "Wait sir, please." She looked at Jack. "Colonel, where were you when you…heard…Daniel. Exactly where were you?"
Ruthlessly suppressing his defence-mechanism flippancy, Jack pointed, "Right at that corner there where the corridor zig-zags. I was on my way to the Commissary."
"Daniel…you were this end of the room?" She indicated the doorway end of the table, where most of the mess was.
"Yes," Daniel agreed curtly, having now folded his arms across his chest.
"Major Carter?" General Hammond made it a demand.
"Sir, I have an idea." Sam moved so she was more in the middle of the room, between Jack and everyone at the doorway and Daniel's defensive position in front of the back wall. "The distance between the corridor corner and where Daniel was standing is about five and a half feet, but the diameter of this lab is nearly ten feet, so now Daniel and the Colonel are standing ten feet apart." Physically that is; emotionally they're not even in the same solar system. The tension in here's thicker and harder than Aunt Dot's harvest sponge cake. Yikes.
"What does that mean?" Janet Fraiser looked at her friend, seeing faintly where she was going.
"Sir, if I may?" Giving General Hammond a quick nod, Sam turned to Jack and Daniel, who were both standing there with expectant expressions. One day I'm not going to be able to pull the rabbit out of the hat and it'll get us all killed. That was a nightmare for another day. Concentrating on the present crisis, Sam said, "Colonel, would you please take about four steps forward? Daniel, don't move."
Jack did so, walking into the lab from the doorway.
"Colonel?" Sam questioned.
"Major?" Jack responded.
"Anything?"
Jack concentrated. "No, can't hear or feel anything."
"Sir, please walk forward again." She requested.
A few steps at Jack walked further into the room, closer to where Daniel stood still and tense. From ten feet to nine, to eight, to seven, to six feet apart, to –
"Whoa!" Jack halted mid-step as he was suddenly swamped with a sensation of anger, fear, shock, and a desire to cry? At the same time he heard quite clearly Daniel's complaining litany of this is absolutely ridiculous. It's impossible, I've never heard anything so crazy, despite the fact that Daniel wasn't uttering a word and his lips were in fact pressed tightly together.
"Five and a half feet, more or less," Carter estimated. "Daniel?"
"Nothing," Daniel snapped. "I can't hear or feel anything." His thank god, was nevertheless clearly audible.
Teal'c felt this was serious enough to exercise both eyebrows and throw in a quizzical head tilt. "For what purpose would anyone invent a device that gifted an individual with telepathy and empathy only at extremely close range?"
"That's just the question, Teal'c," Hammond agreed. "Do you have any more theories to answer it, Major Carter?"
"Not at this point, sir." Sam shook her head, "I'm baffled. If the telepathy and empathy had operated both ways…"
"I have no idea either, General," Dr Fraiser chimed in, "I can't imagine any point in a device that gives only one person those abilities and only effective in such close proximity? I suppose there might be some use in close-quarters combat…" she trailed off as the significance of the red mark on Daniel's face finally impinged thanks to her final statement.
"On contrary, Dr Fraiser," Teal'c commented, "such an ability would be a serious disadvantage and would almost certainly result in the death of the warrior possessing those abilities."
"How so?" Janet noted with surprise the expressions of discomfort on the faces of the General, Jack O'Neill, Sam Carter and even, yes, Daniel Jackson.
"To survive in battle, a warrior must condition himself to view his foe as nothing other than The Enemy. The warrior must not acknowledge that his enemy has a mother, or a wife, or children, or that he fights with honour and courage. To do so would be fatal."
Janet nodded. "Of course, a – warrior – who could hear the thoughts and feel the emotions of the other combatant would be emotionally crippled, too paralysed to act, unless he was a violent sociopath. In any other circumstance he would hesitate and be far more likely to be killed himself."
"Indeed." Teal'c inclined his head.
"General Hammond." Carter looked earnestly at their commander. "I would swear that we didn't touch anything or activate anything on Nemetae. My instruments never recorded an energy spike of any kind."
"You must have triggered something," General Hammond pointed out.
Dr Fraiser turned to Jack. "Colonel, you said you felt dizzy on Nemetae? Can you remember exactly where you were and what you were doing? Where was the rest of SG-1 in relation to you?"
Jack frowned, focussing his mind on the moment. "We were in the main corridor, heading towards what turned out to be the sarcophagus room. Carter was up ahead, about fifteen feet. Teal'c was…ahead left. Five feet, may be nine or ten, looking the rooms on the left. I paused outside an office doorway on the right…Daniel was inside looking, but there was nothing there, just a really ugly desk lamp. I went dizzy for a second, Daniel came out, we moved on."
"Dr Jackson, did you touch the desk lamp at all?" General Hammond asked.
Daniel considered. "I think so; it was right on the edge of the desk, I didn't want to knock it over. But nothing happened; I barely touched it with my hand and there was no energy output of any kind. There were no switches or knobs to press."
"Then if the object was merely a desk-lamp, how was it to be turned on and off without switch or dial?" Teal'c interposed.
"Sir, it may be nothing, but it's the only lead we've got." Sam said to General Hammond earnestly, "I recommend we go back to the planet and see if we can find anything about this phenomenon in their literature."
"Agreed, Major. I want you on the ramp in two minutes," General Hammond stated. "Oh, and on this mission, Major Carter, you are in command. Is that clear, Colonel?"
"Yes sir," Jack acknowledged with alacrity. Of course he didn't like it, but this was taking 'compromised' to a whole new level. Right now, other than Teal'c, Carter was the most rational member of SG-1.
SG-1 being SG-1 they were actually ready in about seventy seconds of their allotted 120. As they exited the Stargate on Nemetae, Sam Carter privately considered herself to have been given the poisoned chalice. Teal'c, on her left, was the picture of stoicism and, bless him, could be counted upon to be his usual silent, imperturbable rock-solid self. Daniel and the Colonel, however, were a tension convention. Both were as stiff and brittle as sun-dried twigs and upon exiting the Stargate had immediately moved apart to a distance of six feet. Oh joy.
Keeping up a good pace, they were able to just pass the various SGC personnel working amongst the ruins with nothing more than polite nods of acknowledgement. Once in the city proper, Teal'c accompanied Daniel to the main central city 'library' whilst Colonel O'Neill went with Carter until they got to the large building and went inside, heading straight for the room that Daniel had been in.
The 'desk lamp' sat untouched on the desk and using plastic gloves and the container she'd brought, Sam was able to deposit the lamp into it. It was remarkably light, if an ugly-looking silver grey hue. She noted however, that there seemed to be no switches of any kind, nor was there a bulb or anything that looked as if it were supposed to emit light. Some sort of decorative sculpture, perhaps? In which case, assuming it was the culprit, what was the purpose of granting telepathy and empathy abilities, and if Daniel had been touching it, why was Colonel O'Neill the one affected?
They were questions to which Sam had no answers, so she carefully placed the container in the carry-sack and nodded to the Colonel, who was looking decidedly strained in the doorway. Together their way back outside, but Sam made no effort to break the silence. Her grandmother had been full of sayings such as how eavesdroppers never heard anything good of themselves. Replaying that whole scene – no, that showdown – between Col – Jack and Daniel – in the lab, she strongly suspected O'Neill had been well and truly smacked in the face with that truism.
She herself had on many occasions recited a furious and vitriolic silent soliloquy in the privacy of her own head that would have seen her court-martialled or provoking shock and outrage had it been audible. Daniel had merely denied saying anything, not that what O'Neill had claimed wasn't what he really had been thinking. Looking at the Colonel's closed-off face and his full-on 'Here be dragons' body-language, Sam knew that he would have been deeply upset not so much at the sentiments themselves, but at the fact that Daniel genuinely believed them to be true representations of how Jack O'Neill thought, acted and felt.
Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill had an odd and complex relationship that was nevertheless a deep friendship. They were vastly different men in personality and outlook, yet they had strongly intertwined common goals and beliefs that bridged the gap between the cynical-chip-on-both-shoulders O'Neill and the let's-give-people-the-benefit-of-the-doubt Jackson. Along with now-Colonel Ferretti, they were the only survivors of the original Abydos mission, a bond that nothing could shatter.
They interacted on many levels of subtlety but that very subtlety meant much of Daniel and Jack's relationship occurred on a non-verbal level, and there was therefore far more scope for misinterpretation and misunderstanding. As Sam's college Psychology lecturer had often reiterated: Is it a smile, or a grimace? Daniel was angry with his friend because he perceived Jack's actions with the Eurondans as cavalier and with Reese as dishonourable. Jack in turn was angry with Daniel because he was ashamed of being taken in by Alar's rhetoric and because he thought he had been in the right with Reese.
Daniel's problem was that he had never had a home or a family until he married Sha're and was embraced as part of her people by the Abydonians. He'd found that again at the SGC; Sam knew he viewed herself, Jack and Teal'c as the sister and brothers he'd never had, with General Hammond as a sort of paternal figure. But like all kids do with their big brothers, Daniel had expectations of Jack in terms that went beyond physical skills. Daniel expected Jack O'Neill to adhere to virtues and personal excellence a living saint would have found it difficult to live up to.
Her college Psych lecturer – whom Sam was beginning to think was seriously way smarter than she'd appreciated at the time – had stated that the biggest problem in any interpersonal relationship was this 'pedestal tendency'. People expected nothing of those they disliked. But a person they chose as their lover, or their friend, such a person by definition had to be special because the individual had chosen them; therefore the hapless recipient was placed on an emotional pedestal, imbued with qualities and abilities the individual sought and admired.
The problem came when the person fell off. A person expected nothing better of those he disliked, but reacted with an entirely disproportionate anger and punishment towards someone he or she loved when they failed to maintain their footing on the pedestal. The reaction was something almost always experienced by parents at some point. As Sam's lecturer had also pointed out, nobody could maintain their balance on the pedestal forever, and the longer they managed to do so before screwing up, the worse the reaction of their child/sibling/lover/friend was likely to be, since the disappointment was proportionally greater.
Jack O'Neill was a lot brighter than he made out he was; he was skilled and talented; he was courageous and honest; he had integrity and disguised dedication and faith under a self-protective veneer of flippancy. In short, he had managed to balance on the pedestal Daniel had placed him on for a long time, and so his 'fall' as Daniel considered it was of much greater magnitude.
Of course the converse also applied. Jack expected Daniel to be brilliant and intuitive and come up with the answers to solve the Mystery of Murder in B.C., or whatever. He viewed Daniel as brave and reliable, loyal and honourable. He viewed Daniel as the kid brother who needed to be safeguarded and protected. Daniel had called it right when Jack and Teal'c were just going to blow up the AI entity in the MALP room: "'You want to protect, because that's what you do.'" But in a way, it was still a pedestal that, in Jack O'Neill's eyes, Daniel had fallen off by not having faith in that Jack knew what he was doing and more significantly was right.
In short, this situation was completely FUBAR and much as her jaw ached with the blockage of restrained words, Sam had no intention of getting in the middle of it, even had Jack O'Neill being her immediate Commanding Officer not virtually precluded it. In a way, this telepathic thing was just what was needed. Daniel and Jack had both been simmering away for nearly two years now; a good clearing of the air was needed. Sam didn't know how she knew it was vital that Daniel and Jack be back in simpatico again as soon as possible, but she just knew it was more important than anything that the two men mend their relationship.
Wrapped up in this reverie, she almost jumped out of her skin when her radio crackled to life, with Teal'c voice coming out of it. "I'm here, Teal'c."
"Daniel Jackson and myself have left the central library, we are currently at a building that Daniel Jackson believes to be the private house of the inventor of the desk lamp."
"Will that be of more help?" Sam queried.
"Documents at the library indicated this individual had his personal office and laboratories at his private residence. Daniel Jackson believes relevant information may be obtained here," Teal'c explained, providing the address.
"We're on our way," Sam confirmed.
It was about a five minute walk, though interminable in the company of Mr Brooding. Fortuitously as they turned into the rumble-strewn remains of what had been a pleasant residential street, they saw Teal'c standing outside the ruins of a large house and Daniel himself suddenly came out carrying bundles of the Nemetae version of PDAs.
"Some of them are damaged," Daniel told Sam as they met up, his eyes seeming to slide over Jack, "but I think we can repair them sufficiently for what we need."
"Good." Sam ignored the fact that Jack was also pretending that there was nothing but empty space next to Teal'c. "Let's get back to the SGC."
The house was in a part of the city conveniently located near the Stargate and the Central Library, indicating an individual of prominence and affluence, and it took only a few minutes before they were back at the Stargate and dialling Earth. Sam nodded to SG-18 but something in SG-1's manner must have warned the team off for they did not attempt to approach and exchange chit-chat. Sam privately mused that the tension roiling of Jack O'Neill and Daniel Jackson surely had to be visible by now.
General Hammond and Dr Fraiser were both standing at the foot of the exit ramp wearing mutually expectant expressions.
"I think we may have found the answers, sir," Sam said confidently. "I have the desk lamp and Daniel had what he thinks are the inventor's private papers."
"Yes, sir," Daniel concurred. "General, if it's okay, I'd like to get started immediately –"
"By all means, Dr Jackson."
"General Hammond, I will accompany Daniel Jackson to see if I may be of assistance?"
"Of course, Teal'c." As the two left the Gate Room, General Hammond turned and ordered, "Airman, take that container to Major Carter's lab, carefully. Colonel, Major, I'd like a word before you do anything else."
"Yes, sir," They chorused.
Together they followed General Hammond back to his office as Janet Fraiser headed back to the Infirmary.
"At ease," General Hammond said before they had even finished coming to attention as he went behind his desk and sat down.
Jack relaxed, but not by much, unsure whether the General's latitude was strictly for Carter's benefit. When it came to insubordination, he had been pushing the envelope lately.
"How confident are you that you and Dr Jackson have the materials to fix this, Major?"
"Very, sir," Sam responded instantly. "It looks as if Daniel has managed to retrieve a wealth of information and the desk-lamp, assuming it is the culprit, doesn't look that complicated. To be honest, General, though I wouldn't mention this to the Asgard, most crystal-based technology seems to be pretty standardised in design regardless of whether you're dealing with the Ancients or the Goa'uld. Once you've figured out the basics you're usually okay. I should be able to work out how the desk-lamp works and by extension the sarcophagus technology -"
"That won't be your problem, Major."
"Sir?"
General Hammond drew in a breath, "In view of Colonel O'Neill's statements regarding Dr Jackson's need for the sarcophagi, I have decided to transport them all to the Area 51 facility by tonight –"
"GeneralHammondsirI'dreallybegratefulifyouwouldn'tdothat." Jack said the words in one breath.
An ominous frown began to make itself visible on the General's forehead. "Colonel, if Dr Jackson is craving the sarcophagus then how can I just leave temptation lying around the SGC?"
"Sir, Daniel is craving to go back in the sarcophagus, but he always will crave it. That's what addiction is, General. For instance, how long ago did you give up smoking?" Jack asked earnestly; he had to convince the General not to ship out the sarcophagi - that would be disastrous.
Hammond gave him a sharp look, but nodded. "I take your point, Colonel, but still…"
"General, with all due respect, you would never have known how Daniel was feeling if it hadn't been for my sudden telepathic ability," Jack pointed out carefully. "I'm quite sure the security camera footage you viewed while we were gone showed that Daniel was not talking to anyone in his lab, and the only claim you have regarding any cravings comes from me. Considering how irrational I was when I said it, for which I would like to sincerely apologise by the way –"
"Accepted, Colonel." General Hammond cut off the flow of words. "But my only concern is to help Dr Jackson. Wouldn't he be better off with them out of the way?"
"General, Daniel would never have let on how he was feeling, but he would not have given in and gotten in one of those things," Jack stated with unshakeable conviction. "If you suddenly ship the sarcophaaaa-gi to Area 51 Daniel would take it as nothing less than an unforgivable insult to his good character."
"We'd lose him, sir," Sam put in desperately, unable to keep quiet despite her relief that Jack had finally seemed to get a clue regarding how upset Daniel really was. "In Daniel's eyes sending the sarcophagi away would be tantamount to us saying: 'You're untrustworthy', 'You're too weak-willed to face this thing and come through it'; 'You lack the integrity and fortitude to see it through'. He'd never forgive us, sir. He'd be out of the SGC so fast he'd leave scorch marks on the concrete."
"Very well, Major, you've made your point. I'll rescind the order – for now." General Hammond acceded. "You're dismissed, Major."
"Sir," Sam quickly escaped, hurrying towards her lab and deliberately not thinking about the exchange that must be occurring between Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond.
"No excuse, sir." Jack put in pre-emptively as soon as the corridor door was safely closed behind Major Carter.
"For what in particular, Colonel?" riposted Hammond sharply.
Jack inwardly winced. Hammond's temper was smouldering but not yet extinguished. "All of it, sir. I know my attitude and behaviour has been less than stellar."
"That I concur with, Colonel. You have let yourself down as a United States Air Force Officer, an American and as a man."
Jack had been unaware of General Hammond's ability to eviscerate someone with a single sentence - until now.
Hammond saw O'Neill flinch and was inwardly satisfied he'd made his point. To continue to harangue and berate someone endlessly once their mistake had become clear was not just counterproductive, but cruel and the clear mark of a bully. So he said, "However, I do understand that you haven't entirely been in control of your own actions. Nor do I consider Dr Jackson completely free from culpability…which is why you're not currently awaiting court-martial."
"Thank-you, General," Jack responded with genuine gratitude.
"It's clear to me that you and Dr Jackson have issues that need to be resolved. Issues that I consider may have been allowed to fester for some time…" General Hammond added obliquely, showing that he was far more perceptive than he often let on. "Beyond ridding you of the telepathic and empathic link, I also expect you, as SG-1's CO and as the elder man in this situation to take this opportunity to put those issues to rest once and for all. If not, my rumoured patience and latitude will take a permanent vacation. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal, sir."
"Good. Dismissed."
Exiting General Hammond's office with considerable relief, Jack hurried away down the corridor. Unlike General West, who had been far too close to the unlamented NID patsy General Bauer in personality and command style, General Hammond was one of the few men for whom Jack O'Neill had unconditional respect and admiration. He hadn't known George Hammond at all when he'd been recalled after Apophis's swoop on the Gate Room, but had quickly grown to like the man's style of command – and just like the man.
With General West, when Jack had confessed that he'd lied and Daniel Jackson was still alive on Abydos, there would have been a 50-50 risk of the General immediately clapping Jack in irons for court martial and making him watch as he sent a nuke through to Abydos anyway instead of being prepared to listen to a subordinate's greater experience in the matter. The instant Hammond had allowed him to explain why he'd done what he'd done and then take the risk of sending a second mission to Abydos, Jack had known the SGC had struck gold with its new commander.
Which was why General Hammond's disappointment and disapproval upset Jack far more than he would ever let on; Jack's Pop hadn't been that far removed from George Hammond in temperament, and Jack missed the close relationship he'd had with Jonathan O'Neill senior. Dad wouldn't have been very impressed with him right now either –
He turned the corner and just managed to prevent himself bouncing off Teal'c's chest. "Teal'c? I thought you were with Daniel?"
"I determined that I would be unable to assist with the translation of the Nemetae text, as it is unlike any language that I have previously encountered. I have therefore removed myself so as not to distract Daniel Jackson," Teal'c stated. "I am going to Kelnorim."
As expected; Teal'c did not hang around when there was something more productive – in his view - he could be doing. "Maybe I should try it," He said, not entirely in jest.
"For what purpose?"
"Helping me be a little more enlightened for a start," Jack muttered. "I know I haven't exactly been at my best recently."
"I have been most perturbed by your behaviour of late, O'Neill."
Which is Teal'c for 'You've been a complete asshole', "Uh, yeah, I know. I guess me and Daniel have got some issues to work through."
"Perhaps this incident may prove to be more beneficial than detrimental, O'Neill," Teal'c pointed out.
"Ya think?"
"There has been unnecessary tension between yourself and Daniel Jackson for some time," Teal'c commented. "It was most perturbing."
"You never said anything."
"I had hoped that you would resolve the matter if given sufficient opportunity."
Jack snorted derisorily at that notion. "Yeah…but come on Teal'c, you and Bra'tac can't agree on everything. What do you do when you have a problem with each other?"
The infamous eyebrow rose. "I never had a problem. Tec Mahtay Bra'tac is over 137 years old. He is always wise and knows what is appropriate. My personal feelings are irrelevant, as I trust that Bra'tac knows what he is doing."
"Right." Jack heroically fought the urge to roll his eyes. "I think I'm just going to get an early night."
"As am I. Good night, O'Neill."
Jack watched his large friend stride away and decided that his idea might just be a good one after all. In one direction lay Carter and in the other Daniel. Jack didn't want to deal with either of them right now and his only alternative was to pathetically wander the corridors of the SGC like a lost puppy.
Come on kids, he silently willed the pair of them as he headed for his on-base sleeping quarters, do your thing and fix this mess pronto so I can live happily in my own head again!
To be concluded…
© 2005, Catherine D. Stewart