Chapter 4

The blaring klaxons mercifully shut down with the Stargate as SG-2 walked down off the ramp thumping each other on the backs.

"I take it everything went according to plan?" Hammond asked from the bottom of the ramp, gazing past them to the lone figure standing in brown desert robes.

"Oh yeah" Feretti grinned. "General, this is Aja. Aja, General Hammond."

The figure pushed back her hood to reveal a dusky-skinned young woman with intense dark eyes and dark hair that was bound tightly at the base of her neck. She inclined her head gracefully at the introduction and though Hammond knew her to be Tok'ra, when she spoke it seemed to the General that it was the host speaking. "It is an honour to meet you, General Hammond"

"I'm glad you could make it, Aja" Hammond replied politely. "Do you wish to debrief immediately?"

"I think that would be wise"

Hammond glanced at Feretti who nodded. " Very well, come with me" he turned and left the room, followed by the Tok'ra and the rest of SG-2. Feretti started to follow but paused, feeling eyes on him. Looking up, he found himself meeting the intense stare of a lone figure standing at the window of the briefing room. He smiled tentatively but received no response. Sighing, he hurried after the others.

He arrived at the briefing room in time to see Doctor Jackson turn on his heel and disappear through a door at the far end of the room without acknowledging any of them. SG-2 took their seats slowly, glancing uncertainly at each other. Feretti understood their unease, felt it himself. No one knew what to do with the news that Daniel Jackson was alive a year after having accepted the finality of his death. Worse still, he didn't seem to recognise anyone and while Feretti knew it was completely illogical to resent being rebuffed by a man who didn't even remember his own name, he couldn't help feeling hurt. Only one other person on the base had known Jackson as long as Feretti had and the Major found himself feeling as though the archaeologist somehow owed it to him to remember who he was.

Shaking his head at his own thoughts he glanced at Hammond. "He's still...?" he began softly.

Hammond gave him a grim look and the Major took a seat with a sigh.

Oblivious to the tension or the reason for it, the Tok'ra immediately turned to Hammond. "General, I will be remaining here for as long as the joint mission between the Tau'ri and Tok'ra continues on Shambhala"

"P5-2M7, sir" the Major elaborated at Hammond's questioning look.

The General nodded and returned his attention to the Tok'ra. "That's fine. We can have VIP quarters set up for you. I assume you will want access to the archaeology labs?"

"If that is where the artefacts are located, yes" she agreed.

"Have you heard word yet from SG-1 or the Tok'ra scientists?"

Aja gazed at him then bowed her head. When she looked up again, her eyes flashed. "My name is Iris, General Hammond. No, the Tok'ra have not received word from Selmak or SG-1. Selmak's last broadcast was to inform us they had entered orbit without incident. We have heard nothing since. Unless they find a way to make the Stargate functional, it may yet be some time before we hear anything. "

The General stiffened. "We were told there was no Stargate on P5-2M7, hence the need for a tel'tak."

She sighed. "There is a Stargate. It was used to send the first team to Shambhala. However, they quickly discovered there was no way to establish an outgoing wormhole and were stranded on the planet. Although using a tel'tak took longer to reach the planet, at least it ensures SG-1 are capable of departing again."

"Anything else about this "routine" mission we should know?" Feretti asked sarcastically. He subsided at Hammond's look but only out of respect for the General.

Iris transferred her gaze to the Major. "We did not mention the Stargate because we believed it to be useless. I am aware of nothing else that is being kept from you."

Hammond studied her silently for several moments. Unlike the others, he didn't have the luxury of expressing his disapproval of Tok'ra methodology and attitudes as often as they did, although for the most part, he did share their concerns. He nodded. "We'll stay alert in case any messages come through regarding the mission but if the Tok'ra are right, it should be a routine mission. Captain, take our guest to Sergeant Hilary. She'll show her where her quarters are. The rest of you are dismissed but stay on base" he rose expectantly, and SG-2 rose with him. Feretti watched his second-in-command smile at the Tok'ra and politely offer her the chance to exit the room before him, then follow her out. As they were left alone in the room, Hammond turned a questioning gaze on him.

"Something wrong, Major?"

"Yes sir" Feretti took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. "When have we ever known a mission from the Tok'ra to go as planned..."

"Major..."

"Sir, I can't remember one, and while the Tok'ra claim this is an abandoned planet, the fact is their own science team has gone missing...

"Major."

"Without a Stargate, SG-1 could be stranded if anything goes wrong and it could take us months to find out anything happened, let alone the time it would take to mount a rescue...."

"Major!"

This time Feretti subsided under the command.

"Thank you. The Tok'ra can't afford to lose their own people anymore than we're willing to lose ours. They've shared all the information they have on this planet and it's in the labs being analysed by our own scientists. They've also promised to share any communications they receive from Selmak with us so we can stay updated with SG-1's status. Good enough, Major?"

Chastised, Feretti bowed his head. "Yes sir"

"Is there anything else?"

"No, sir"

"Good. I want SG-2 to stay on base until further notice. If anything does happen, I want your team ready to depart immediately."

Feretti glanced up quickly, but the General's expression was impossible to read. "Dismissed" he finished blandly.

After having ensured his team were fully aware of their "on-call" status, Feretti was the last one to make it out of the showers as he mused over the situation with the Tok'ra. He didn't know nearly enough about what was going on at Shambhala, he decided, but the fact that even the General seemed wary of the mission was enough to worry him. Changing his mind about going to the commissary, he headed to the archaeology labs instead.

Waiting for the elevators he almost gave up when the doors finally opened. "What's the hold up?" he demanded irritably on stepping inside, glaring at the pair of regulation boots sharing the space with him.

On receiving no response, he hit the button and turned, meeting a startled blue gaze. "Ah crap" he said, without thinking about it. "Sorry" he added sheepishly.

He watched as Jackson looked away in obvious discomfort and mentally kicked himself. The elevator jolted into motion and the silence grew heavier as it rose through the levels.

Christ, Louis, it's only Daniel. Say something! he heard his own mind admonish him but the back of his throat felt dry. Although the man sharing the elevator looked like Jackson and sounded like Jackson, Feretti only had to look in his eyes to know it wasn't Jackson. Jackson's eyes had always been alive with emotion, questioning the world around him, ever curious, always fascinated. Even after Sha're had died, the man's zest for life hadn't died with her. His emotions had become noticeably a little sadder, a little more hardened, but they had still existed for all to see. Now those same eyes seemed lost, confused, adrift on currents that no one else could see or understand. They were eyes that didn't seek answers because they didn't know there were questions to ask. They were eyes that were... that were... admit it, Louis, say the damn word... dead.

Numb. His mind shied away from the d-word. He didn't want to associate it with that man beside him anymore, that man who had experienced enough pain and death to last a life-time. Preferably the previous one, he thought sourly. And not for the first time since finding out he was still alive did Feretti wonder about Ascension. What it had been like, why Jackson had returned. What did it mean? Heck, that was the question the entire base wanted the answer to but the only man who had the answers was the only man none of them could ask.

The jolt of the elevator dragged him out of his musings and he looked up sharply. Not his level, he realised. Jackson glanced up hesitantly and didn't make a move to get off either.

"Not your stop?" Feretti found himself asking and was rewarded with a quick shake of the head and a nervous smile.

"Yeah, not mine either" He pressed the buttons again impatiently but it didn't make the door close any faster.

He sighed and gestured impatiently, turning away to find Jackson staring at his hands. "Uh... something wrong?" he asked, a little taken aback by the intensity of that stare.

Catching himself, Jackson shook his head again and transferred his gaze to the doors, watching them close. Not sure what to make of that, Feretti lapsed into silence again.

"You were angry with me"

"What?" Feretti was so startled by the sudden statement that he jumped. Jackson was staring at him again with the same intense gaze.

"In the desert"

"Desert? What desert?" The Major was thoroughly bewildered now.

"You threw my books away"

That stare was becoming unnerving. Feretti felt himself push back against the wall of the elevator he was leaning against to avoid it even though Jackson hadn't moved from his side of the small space.

"Books?"

Jackson nodded slowly, unblinking. "You were angry with me"

Feretti stared at him. "Daniel, I...." he stopped. Books? Desert? Angry with him? Oh god, does he actually mean....? He leaned forward and this time met Jackson's steady gaze with an unwavering stare of his own. "Yes. I was."

Jackson nodded, a tiny hint of satisfaction flaring in his eyes before it vanished and he looked away again. It was such a brief glimpse, but Feretti was surprised to find himself treasuring even that tiny spark of life. "You were angry with me when the doors opened just now"

I was? Oh. Yeah. Feretti surprised them both with a chuckle. "No, just the damn elevator. Me and technology.... well, you know" he trailed off. The Daniel Jackson who remembered his past would know, but this man... he turned back to Jackson quickly. "Daniel. We got off on the wrong foot but that was eight years ago. By the end of the mission you'd proved us all wrong and I was proud to call you a friend. And when you... left... er..." he looked away. Talking to a living, breathing person about his own death was just plain creepy.

"Died?"

"Yeah" Feretti flushed slightly. Jackson looked uncomfortable as well and Feretti wondered what he thought of the situation. The elevator stopped and the door opened. This time it was Feretti's stop. He stared at the corridor and looked at Jackson. "Yeah, anyway. When you... um.. died... you had a lot more friends than anyone realised"

Jackson swallowed slightly. "Thanks"

Feretti stared at him for a moment, not sure what to make of the tone in the other man's voice. Oh crap, he's frightened. Feretti realised in a sudden moment of clarity as he watched Jackson glance absently at the level indicator above the doors then turn to regard the floor. "My stop" the Major started to leave the elevator then paused. "Hey, I'm headed to the labs, you can come along if you like"

Jackson shifted uncomfortably. "I... um..."

Feretti smiled wryly. "I'm just going to be reading some papers, Daniel. Keep me company, save me from boredom" he grinned suddenly. "Unless you've got something better to do"

Jackson hesitated a moment, then smiled shyly and stepped out of the elevator. "No" he agreed softly. "I've got nothing better to do"