"Sha're? Are you sick?"
"Why would I be sick?"
"Um, because you're pregnant?"
Sha're wrinkled her nose in bewilderment. "Why would that make me sick?"
Daniel relaxed a bit when the realization that she was fine sunk in. "Well, many Earth women have morning sickness for several months during the beginning of their pregnancies. I guess it has to do with an increase in hormones."
"Hormones? Husband, I have no idea what you are talking about! On Abydos, women are well until the child is born, and then there is pain, but never any sickness. I am sorry for the Earth women who suffer during a time of joy." Sha're turned sideways, flattened the BDUs and peered in the mirror to see if she was showing at all yet. "Dan-yel? Am I getting fat yet?"
Daniel choked and reddened. There was never a good answer to this question. No matter what a man said, it was wrong. He stepped over behind his wife and covered her exploring hands with his. "Hummm… You feel wonderful to me." He nuzzled her neck with his nose. "Are you sure you want to go to lunch? We could go later." His hand began to slide under her loose BDU shirt.
She giggled and slapped his hands away. "Dan-yel! Once last night and again this morning, and you still want more?"
"There's never enough when it's you." He began nibbling on her ear, his breath warming her skin.
"Oh, Dan-yel… But I promised to meet Sam to break our nightly fasting. And you know the doctor would be very unhappy if either of us missed a meal. Tonight, my love." She turned in his arms to face him and pressed herself against him, chewing on his lower lip.
She slipped out of the bathroom, leaving him clutching the sink and deep breathing to bring down his heart rate. When he could breathe and walk steadily again, he followed her into their bedroom. While he fixed Maggie's harness on her, he spoke to Sha're.
"After breakfast Colonel O'Neill is taking Maggie and me to a vet, then to get some dog food for her. I probably won't be back until it's time for lunch. Will you be okay?"
"Dan-yel! I am not a child to be watched over. I can keep from harming myself for a few hours. Besides, Sam is going to show me how to use a computer and how to shop on the internet."
Daniel groaned. How did she become such an Earth wife after only day?
XXXXXXXXXX
Jack led Daniel and Maggie out of the mountain. He'd been "elected" by Hammond to drive them to a vet Siler had recommended. Maggie staked out her space next to the window. It had been over a year since she'd ridden in a car and she was looking forward to watching the scenery speed past.
As Jack pulled onto the road he broke the comfortable silence. "So, I'm guessing you knew General Hammond before the first Abydos mission. He seemed a little..." Jack waved a hand around, searching for a good word.
"Ticked? Irritated? Angry? Furious? He has every right to feel any or all of those." Daniel scratched Maggie's neck absentmindedly. "He was my foster father."
Jack blinked rapidly, completely taken by surprise. "Wow. I knew you'd had an Air Force officer as a foster father from what Captain Carter said on Abydos, but I never, ever would have guessed it was General Hammond."
He drew his eyebrows down in a frown, deepening the ridge between them. "I don't get it. If you guys were family, why the rude greeting?"
"The last time I had contact with George was when I left New York and headed to UCLA to start my first doctorate."
"Your FIRST doctorate? Hell, Daniel, how many do you have?" Jack was impressed, although he'd never let the younger man know that.
"Two. And about half the work done on a third, but that doesn't matter right now." Daniel rested a hand on Maggie's head, soaking in her warmth. "His wife, Ruby, died of cancer three years ago and he's angry because she wanted to see me and they couldn't located me. It was my fault. I wanted to disappear because I was afraid of disappointing them."
Jack pulled into the parking lot and pointed the truck into a parking spot.
"We talked yesterday. Well, he yelled and I listened and we got some stuff worked out. I think we might be able to get back to a more comfortable relationship. Eventually."
Jack had opened his door and turned to leave when he felt Daniel's hand on his shoulder. "Jack. I need to be on the team that goes searching for Skaara. I promised Sha're."
"That will be impossible on so many different levels. You're blind. You're not military. You're blind. You have no training. You're blind. I'd spend all my time trying to protect you. You're blind."
"I went before."
"That's because you lied. Oh, yeah, you're blind."
"I've never let that stop me from doing anything I've wanted to. I can't let it stop me now. I have to look for Skaara."
"Daniel, Hammond will never go for it."
"He will if you request me on your team."
Jack sighed. "Daniel, I think we need to finish this discussion later." Like next year.
XXXXXXXXXX
Jack got an SF to haul the cases of dog food from his truck into the mountain and down to Daniel's room. He shook his head, amazed at the interesting turn his life had taken. Who'd have ever thought that his job would encompass babysitting a blind man and his wife and dog in the most secure, top secret base in the world?
He thought about Daniel's request and his heart sank. There was absolutely no way he'd ever ask Hammond to put Daniel on a team. He didn't even know if there was going to be a team sent out to searh for the Skaara.
"Daniel, I'm going to take you to your room and then I have a meeting with General Hammond." He held up his hand, as if to stop Daniel from speaking, "And before you go spouting off about how much you need to go, don't."
Daniel frowned, but kept quiet. He remembered enough about Jack to realize that anything he said about the subject from now on would only hurt his cause. He nodded in Jack's direction and waited until he no longer heard the colonel's footsteps echoing in the cement hallway. Then he followed. He was going to be at that meeting.
XXXXXXXXXX
Daniel found his way to the briefing room and listened to the murmur of the officers inside. He could pick out Jack, George, Sam, Kawalsky, and at least three other voices he didn't recognize. He took a deep breath and commanded Maggie to move into the room.
Although he couldn't see it, he could feel all heads swivel around to face him. "Um, I thought I needed to be here to tell you what happened after the first mission to Abydos." He nervously licked his lips as he waited for George to respond.
"General, I don't think…" Jack began but was cut off by the glare of General Hammond's eyes.
"Come in, Doctor. I should have thought to send someone for you."
"Thank you, General." Daniel gratefully followed Maggie to the nearest empty chair and waited for the meeting to resume.
George tapped the conference table with his fingers, "People, what's spoken of in this room is classified as SCI top secret. Colonel, what do we know about these... hostiles... that we didn't yesterday?"
Jack turned his attention from Daniel back to the General. "Not a hell of a whole lot, General. The Abydioan boys who survived the attack on the base camp thought it was Ra."
George's head snapped in Jack's direction. "I thought he was dead. Gentlemen, which is it?"
"Oh, he's dead, he's definitely dead. I mean, the bomb..." Daniel turned in Jack's direction. "I mean, he's got to be dead, right?"
George drew his eyebrows together. "Then who's coming through the Stargate?"
"Gods." Daniel muttered softly under his breath.
Surprised, O'Neill and Carter turned to stare at Daniel.
"What?" George leaned back and folded his hands over his stomach.
"Not as in... 'God' god." Daniel licked his lips and plunged into the familiar subject with enthusiasm. It was good to be back on Earth and discussing subjects he was comfortable with. "Ra played a god, the sun god. He - borrowed the religion and culture of the ancient Egyptians he brought through the Gate, and then he used it to enslave them. You see, he wanted the people of Abydos to believe that he was the only one."
"So you're saying... Ra's not the last of his race after all?" Sam's mind sifted through the little she knew about Egyptian mythology, vaguely aware that they had a multitude of gods they worshiped.
"Maybe he's got a brother Ray." Kawalsky offered and Daniel heard several chuckled from around the table.
"That's just what we need." Jack smirked at his friend and fellow officer.
"Wait a minute. The legend goes..." Daniel pulled the information up quickly from his memory. "Ra's race was dying. He survived by taking over the body of his human host, an Egyptian boy. But who's to say more of his kind couldn't do the same thing? I mean, uh, this - it could happen any time, anywhere there's a Gate, I mean... this could be happening right now."
George turned from Daniel to Jack. "Colonel, you've had the most experience in fighting this hostile. Assuming you'd have to defend yourself in the field, are you up to it?"
"We beat 'em once."
"I'll take that as a 'maybe.'" George turned to the young captain. "Captain Carter, you're confident that the Stargate will take us where we want to go with this new information?"
"Well, they're feeding the revised coordinates into the targeting computer right now. Uh, it'll take time to calculate, but it should spit out two or three destinations a month."
"People, let's not fool ourselves here. This thing is both fast and dangerous, and we are in so far over our heads we can barely see daylight. We would all be much better off if the Stargate had been left in the ground."
Sam took a deep breath and dared to respond. "With respect, sir, we can't bury our - our heads in the sand. I mean, think of how much we could learn. Think of what we could bring back."
"What you could bring back is precisely what I'm afraid of, Captain. However, the President of the United States happens to agree with you." George paused and watched the reactions of the officers at the table. "In the event your theories pan out, he has ordered the formation of nine teams, whose duties will be to perform reconnaissance, determine threats and if possible, to make peaceful contact with the peoples of these worlds. Now, these teams will operate on a covert, top-secret basis. No one will know of their existence except the President and the Joint Chiefs. Colonel O'Neill?"
Jack's head snapped around to face his CO. "Sir?"
"Your team will be designated SG-1. The team will consist of yourself, Captain Carter…"
Daniel dropped his head down, "And me?"
"Dr. Jackson, we need you to work as a consultant with the other SG teams from here. Your expertise in ancient cultures and languages are far too valuable to…"
"No." Daniel lifted his head and turned to the sound of his foster father's voice. "Look, uh... I mean, I know this is your decision, but I just, I - I really have to be on their team. My wife's brother is out there, General, I need to go."
"I'll take that under consideration. Major Kawalsky, you will head SG-2."
"I will?
"Colonel O'Neill keeps telling me it's about time you had a command."
Surprised, Kawalsky turned to stare at O'Neill.
Jack shrugged. "I had a moment of weakness."
Kawalsky grinned triumphantly, giving O'Neill a thumbs-up as a guard handed Major Samuels a note. Samuels unfolded it and read it silently before turning to Hammond.
"Ferretti's conscious, sir."
Without waiting to be excused, O'Neill immediately jumped to his feet and headed for the door.
"Dismissed." Turning to his foster-son, George said, "Daniel, we need to talk."