Chapter 4. Things start to get serious. Okay, not really. They're starting to start to get serious, then. Sam's point of view is awkward for me, so sorry about that bit... I also lost Jack's voice somewhere between Daniel and Teal'c. I hope I find it soon. But other than that, I am mostly pleased with this chapter...

Chapter 4: ABCs... and Guinan

"Archeology." Captain Picard went to the replicator and said, "Would you like anything?"

"I'm good, thanks," Daniel said, trying to smile. He always felt intimated by these military-types, and Captain Picard certainly seemed one to him. But he couldn't reconcile the love for archeology with the strict hierarchy that existed on the Enterprise, with the captain so obviously at the top.

"Very well," the captain said, and asked for Earl Grey tea. "When I was a boy at the Academy, archaeology couldn't have interested me less. But my archaeology professor, Richard Galen, made it interesting, important. In time, I found very little else more important or interesting. In fact, he offered that I work with him after my academy years as an archeologist."

Daniel smiled at his recollection, though he himself had very different experiences regarding archaeology. "What happened, then?"

"It was a difficult decision to make, but I ultimately turned him down because, no matter how fascinating I found archaeology, I knew that being a starship captain was what I really wanted. What about you? What started you on the path to being an archeologist?"

"My parents," Daniel answered. "They were both archaeologists. Actually, most of my family were."

"Ah. So your love for archeology was cultivated from a young age," Captain Picard surmised, sipping at his tea.

"Actually, no," Daniel said quietly, adjusting his glasses awkwardly. "They, uh, they died when I was eight and my grandfather declined to adopt me. But I guess the smattering of exposure I'd gotten to archeology was enough to put me in that direction anyway. I suppose, it was my own archaeology professor who really pointed me in that direction, as well. Reinforced the notion."

"I see…" Captain Picard said.

Way to go, Daniel, he thought to himself. No better way to kill a perfectly good conversation than to mention his dead parents. "I suppose I probably should have forgotten about it, though," he laughed. "The most important theory of my career in any universe seems to have been that the pyramids were built by aliens as landing pads for their spaceships."

He'd meant it as a joke, but Captain Picard didn't seem to think it was so funny. "It's not so ludicrous if you're right," Captain Picard pointed out.

True, Daniel thought. "The Daniel Jackson in your universe wasn't."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Captain Picard said. "After all, your presence here shows that our universes are, even if in a small way, linked somehow. In a way, I suppose your presence and your experiences validate his theories."

Daniel hadn't thought of it that way… But he still thought of his counterpart in this universe as a total failure. He had been only a hair's breadth away from that in his own universe, anyway. It was fairly remarkable that he hadn't been a failure there. Before Catherine Langford. Before Jack O'Neill. Before Sha're.

And now he was beginning to regret not tendering his resignation when she'd died.

But, then again, if not here, where would he be?

"You and your friends are very much like us, Doctor Jackson," the captain went on, perhaps just to fill the silence.

Daniel laughed. "Oh, I doubt that very much." The mere thought of comparing Jack O'Neill, their fearless, tactless leader to the captain was ridiculous. Teal'c and the Head of Security seemed to have something in common, but Daniel could barely figure Teal'c out, so it was hard to tell. Sam… well, Sam was in a league of her own no matter what universe she was in.

"No, really," Captain Picard insisted. "You and your friends are explorers of the stars. Our methods are different, of course, but our goals, our desires, are very much the same."

"We 'explore the stars,' as you put it, to collect weapons and defense technology," Daniel explained. "I don't always agree with it, but our worlds are very, very different, Captain. My world is in constant danger of attack; it's why I do what I do. We have enemies, some horrible enemies that kill and kidnap for enjoyment. They think they're gods."

"That sounds horrifying, but, I think, our world is not all that far from your own."

Daniel shuddered at the thought. With the comparatively limited technological advances that his people and their enemies had next to the Enterprise, the Goa'uld now seemed manageable. Perhaps even infantile. What kind of evil, Daniel couldn't help but wonder, could this place cook up?

"A bat'leth." Worf held up the shining weapon. Teal'c knew it was a weapon, from the four sharp points protruding from the bow-like handle that Worf held. "It is the traditional weapon of a Klingon warrior." He looked at the bat'leth seriously for a moment before appearing to make a decision and flipping the bat'leth over, handle toward Teal'c.

"It is a formidable weapon, indeed," Teal'c agreed, taking it and weighing it in his hands. It was well-balanced in the hands, and Teal'c could tell easily that swinging it toward any living opponent would cause great damage, while harming the blade very little, if at all. "I would like to see it in action."

"You may!" Worf said, sounding like that was exactly what he would have wanted Teal'c to say as he took the bat'leth back. "It has been a long time since I have met an opponent worthy to face me in battle."

"My Ma'Tok staff would likely give me an unfair advantage over such a weapon," Teal'c admitted. "In addition, I doubt your scientists would be pleased to give it back to me at this moment. But I would be pleased to learn the techniques of the bat'leth," he added. "My people are also great warriors in our universe."

"Come," Worf ordered, and left the training room they had been standing in. Teal'c had earlier demonstrated the use and abilities of the Ma'Tok staff weapon in that room, and Worf had been so impressed that he brought his own array of weapons to show Teal'c afterward. Worf had sneered at the staff at first, but Teal'c had easily changed his mind with the blast of power that had almost seared a hole in the wall over his head.

They walked together in silence until they reached a pair of double doors with a computer panel outside of it. Worf said to it, "Klingon calisthenics program three," in a serious tone.

The computer acknowledged his order with a beep, and, after a few moments, said, "Enter when ready."

They walked through the door and Teal'c found himself in a jungle-like environment with scattered ruins reaching up into the trees. A set of weapons, similar in style to Worf's bat'leth, sat propped against one of the walls. Teal'c immediately noticed one that was similar to his staff weapon, though it obviously had no firing ability. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands.

"And excellent choice," Worf approved. "That is a Gin'tak spear."

"I am most familiar with spear-like weapons. I have trained with them since I was a small boy."

"Likewise," Worf said, and twirled his bat'leth in his hand. "Although my adoptive Human parents did not always approve, I have been practicing nearly since I could walk. Thirty of practice has honed my skill with the blade. Are you prepared for battle?"

"Always." Teal'c allowed himself the smallest of smiles. Thirty years.

Worf spoke out, "Computer, begin battle simulation, difficulty level…" He looked at Teal'c and then back out at the landscape before him. "Five."

"At what difficulty do you practice?" Teal'c asked.

"Eleven," Worf answered, tinged of self-importance.

"Then make it so," Teal'c ordered.

Worf looked at him askance, but didn't argue. "Computer. Difficulty level eleven."

"Simulation ready," the computer agreed.

"Engage."

At that precise moment, a multitude of enemies jumped from behind the ruined walls. Green-shaded skull-headed creatures and feathered monsters screeched and taunted a moment before leaping toward them. Worf let loose a battle-cry before rushing forward with his bat'leth, and Teal'c followed suit.

The combat was not simple, but not incredibly difficult, either. Teal'c, after all, had been practicing with weapons such as these for very nearly one-hundred years. To think of all that time, wasted, in the palm of a false god… And now, all the time he was going to waste here so far from his people and any chance of helping them escape bondage as he had, made Teal'c very angry for a moment. And afraid. He felt unstoppable, invincible, and he almost was.

Thrusting his spear into the fabricated ribcage of one of the creatures, Teal'c turned and hurled the creature into another coming at him. He whipped his spear from enemy to enemy, with no regard for his personal safety. It would all be for naught in a few years' time, he thought. His infant Goa'uld would have to mature sometime, and then what would happen to him?

"Teal'c!" Worf shouted, and Teal'c stopped, and turned to him, sweat beading on his brow.

"What?" Teal'c asked. Then he looked around. It appeared that all the enemies had been slaughtered. They lay scattered over the jungle ruins, dispatched by Teal'c's spear and Worf's bat'leth. He then looked at Worf, who showed his pointy teeth in a smile.

"You," Worf said seriously, "would be a formidable addition to any security team."

"Cosmology, aeronautical engineering, astrophysics, wormhole physics," Sam listed, and then stopped. "Well, I don't have a degree in all of those, but I am well-versed in them, at least in my century."

"An impressive array of knowledge," Data agreed, while a very young "acting ensign" nodded enthusiastically. "Wormhole phsyics is a branch not commonly studied in our universe. To date, all wormholes that have been discovered have no fixed entry and exit point."

"The wormholes I study are artificial in nature," Sam explained, "created by an ancient technology I don't fully understand."

"That is a shame that you do not," Data said. "There are no known stable artificial wormholes at this time, either. However, your knowledge and expertise will likely be of some interest to Starfleet Command, whether your knowledge is complete or not."

"Oh," Sam laughed meekly, "I don't think my knowledge will ever be complete."

The young acting ensign looked at Data and then at Sam. "Do you really travel through wormholes?"

Sam smiled at him and nodded. "Sometimes more than once a week," she answered.

"That is so amazing," he said, looking at Data. "Their technology is so far behind ours, and yet somehow they can do things that most of our scientists have barely even dreamed about."

"That does appear to be so," Data agreed.

"You must be Sam."

Sam spun to look at the person who had spoken, a man in a yellow uniform like the one Data was wearing, with what appeared to be metal glasses strapped over his eyes. "I am," she said. "Sam Carter."

"Of course. You're the only person I don't know in Engineering. I'm Geordi LaForge, Chief Engineer."

"She was just telling us about wormholes," the kid said.

"I'm sure that's very interesting, Wesley, but we have work to do," Geordi told him, flashing a smile at Sam. "I have lots of sensor logs for you to look at, but I'm afraid they're incomplete thanks to the malfunctions that we experienced during the time you would have been incoming in your wormhole." He handed her a hand-held computer of some type, like a notebook, and pointed at various readings on the display.

"It's better than nothing," Sam agreed.

"I can help," Wesley offered.

Geordi smiled, but shook his head. "Thanks, but…"

"No, it's alright," Sam said, tilting the screen a bit so that Wesley could see.

Wesley smiled appreciatively at Sam and promised, "You won't regret it." He moved around to see the screen better than then said, "I could probably clear this up for you a little bit," he said, pointing to a section of the time-graph that showed unreadable static and apparent blank spots. "And that."

"Our wonderboy," Geordi laughed. "I'd love to help, but I've still got to get the warp core back to maximum capacity or we won't be getting anywhere on time. Why don't you show her the science labs, Wes?"

Wesley nodded enthusiastically and led Sam away while they talked about the Enterprise's sensors and all the protocols it had for extrapolating data and cataloguing data. Sam was impressed. Maybe they would get home in time for supper after all…

Jack walked in through the large double-doors of Ten Forward. The place was almost empty, which was a good thing. For some reason today, Jack didn't have the patience to deal with anything alive. He had been cooped up in his room for the past few days, refusing to emerge, but allowing entrance to Daniel, Sam, or Teal'c regularly. None of them had shown up today, though…

He sighed and looked around. Though he hated to admit it, the wall of windows looking straight ahead offered a… um… stellar view. Jack chuckled softly to himself and walked to the lighted bar.

"You must have a strange sense of humor," a soft, gentle voice said from behind the bar.

Jack turned to see a woman who looked human, but he'd learned better than that in his few days here. Her lack of eyebrows was made up for by the pizza-pan affixed to her head with a habit-like-affair that held back her thick, dreadlock-like hair. Very alien, Jack decided. On the other hand, Jack couldn't imagine that anyone in their right mind might wear the hideous fashions he'd seen on this ship.

"I do, as a matter of fact," he answered. "I'm Jack O'Neill."

"I know who you are," the woman said with a knowing smile. "I'm Guinan."

"Guinan," Jack said with a nod. "Tell me, do you serve anything real here?"

"Real?" Guinan laughed. "You mean alcoholic." She winked and glided off, saying, "I'm not impressed with Starfleet's synthehol guidelines, either. I keep a private selection for just such occasions." Jack followed her around the bowed bar and watched, interested, as she looked beneath her expansive counter. "What do you like?" she asked.

Jack had the impulse to say "beer," but then he looked over his shoulder and saw the stars zooming by over his head and under his feet. This called for something different. "I'm sure you've got something exotic around here?" he asked.

Guinan laughed. "Alcohol is a pride of many Earth cultures, but reached its full flower..." She selected a bottle from underneath and pulled it up, revealing a big glass bottle full to the brim of a neon-green liquid. "With Aldebaran whiskey."

Jack squinted at it skeptically. "Sure," he decided, finally. What was the worst it could do? Kill him? "Set me up."

Guinan pulled out two glasses and poured one for Jack and then one for herself.

"Drinking on the job?" Jack questioned, taking a whiff of the sick-looking fluid in his cup. Guinan just laughed and fingered her glass idly. The alcohol assaulted his nostrils and almost made him cough. So it was that good, huh? He put glass to his lips and took a small sip.

It was sweet, tangy, and bitter… the only word that would accurately describe it was "alien." But it was definitely alcoholic. He smiled and offered a toast. "To Aldebaran whiskey, then'

Guinan chuckled and agreed. "I'll drink to that."

They both sipped their drinks and Guinan set her drink down. Jack, however, was less interested in letting go of the first glass of alcohol he'd seen in this universe. Jack took another drink and then said, "Well, aren't you going to ask me a question or something about how I got here? Or something?"

Guinan shook her head. "No."

"Oh," Jack said. At least she was agreeable. "Well, where do you come from? I don't think you're Human."

She smiled and said, "No. I'm El-Aurian. We're a race of listeners. Besides that, my similarity to Humans has helped me in the past, I will live much, much longer than a Human. You're Human, aren't you?"

Jack laughed and raised his eyebrows at her, taking another drink. "Uh, yeah. I'm Human."

"But one of your friends isn't," she went on.

"Nope. He's a Jaffa," Jack answered. She looked interested, so Jack explained, "They're a race kind of created to serve the biggest jerks of the galaxy where we come from. They like to tell everyone they're gods."

"But they aren't?" Guinan asked.

"God, I hope not," Jack laughed, and Guinan chuckled. "We spend most of our time fighting them, figuring out ways to fight them… and when we're not doing that, we're running from them. Because they're shooting at us. Not a bad job, though, on the whole. Too bad I came into work last week, though. Might have saved us all a lot of trouble."

And now… "At least Sam will be happy, I guess. I mean, living on a starship for an undetermined amount of time? Practically heaven to her. And it's not like Daniel never shunned an opportunity to study a new culture or something. And Teal'c… well, Teal'c's Teal'c. He's the kind of guy that could fit in anywhere, you know?"

Guinan smiled knowingly. "I can tell your friends mean a lot to you." Jack frowned at her. Where did she get that? He took another gulp of the whiskey and waited for her to explain herself, but she didn't. "What are you doing to do?"

"Fish," Jack answered, and then raised his glass. "Drink."

"Nothing more?" she asked, shaking her head.

"Don't think so," Jack answered. After all, what was there for him to do? He was useful in his own universe and time, but only because of the time he spent in the Air Force. Sam had her brains, Daniel was a linguist, and Teal'c had been a warrior for about a hundred years or something. Jack was… old. That was what he was good for.

Guinan smiled and poured more whiskey in his glass. "You'll find something," Guinan said. "You know… in this universe, a long time ago, there were three friends. The oldest had a very set view of life, was guided by a faith in humanity that was informed by science. The next friend was the logical one who believed in nothing that he couldn't see. And the third was fun-loving, a leader, who believed in humanity the same way he believed in science." Where in the world is this going? Jack wondered. He was glad he had the whiskey to pass the time. "The first two didn't get along very well and almost never agreed, but the third friend held them together through the toughest time they ever went through. They came through stronger, closer. Different, sure. But they remained friends until the end of their lives."

Jack nodded, pretending that he understood, but he really didn't. "Nice," he said, and put his empty glass on the bar. He looked at the bottle, and then at Guinan. "Hey, what else have you got back there?"

Guinan smiled, put the bottle back beneath the bar, and pulled up another one.