Chapter 3
Earth
Two weeks earlier
"Well done Sg1" General Hammond complimented his first contact team from the head of the table. "Why thank you sir, it was fun, five hours of soil samples, and I have never seen better soil anywhere else in this galaxy" Jack O'Neill replied. The General gave jack a stern look, but Jack knew that inside the general was smiling.
The general looked at Jack and the rest of his team only now seeing how tried they all seemed to look. It was then that he had decided that they were in need of some serious RNR. "Sg1 you are on stand down for two weeks I recommend that you leave the base and have some fun". To this everyone's eyes lit up with excitement, well almost everyone. There was always one person who did not seem to enjoy being told not to work, and that was none other than Dr. Jackson. He looked as if rest was the worst thing in the world.
Jack didn't blame him though, the poor kid had nightmares all the time, and without work to distract him he would get the full blown effect of those nightmares.
At that moment the klaxons blared. "You're dismissed" General Hammond announced as he turned to leave the briefing room to enter the control room, with Sg1 on his tail.
"It's SG11 sir" Walter announced as the general entered the room. "Open the iris" General Hammond replied. Walter placed his palm on the scanner to open the iris to welcome SG 11 home.
"Well, nothing to see, "Jack said as he tried to herd his team out of the control room and on their way to some much needed vacation. He eventually managed to herd them out and on their way to the locker room.
Jack had meant to catch Daniel before he left the shower room, but he just seemed to slip away without a word to anyone. Jack thought nothing of it, and just assumed he went to his office to gather some work to take home with him.
Three hours after his shower jack was finally ready to leave. He still had not seen Daniel, so he assumed that he had already went home to start his vacation. He had decided to stop by General Hammond's office to let him know he was off.
On his way to Hammond's office he ran into Carter. "Sir" "Carter, you leaving, or am I going to have to drag you away." Carter let a small smile slip across her face "No sir, I am going to visit mark and the kids for a while, haven't seen them in forever. And you sir?" "Well Carter I am going to enjoy the great outdoors. You haven't seen Daniel around have you?" "No sir I haven't seen him since the debriefing." Jack looked at her and an awkward moment passed, "well, have fun." "You too sir." and with that the parted ways.
Jack continued up to General Hammonds Office and pause when he heard the general arguing with someone inside. The door was ajar, so he crept up to see what was going on.
"SG 1 has been hard at it and you are in need of some much needed rest." Hammond had stated in a tired tone. "I understand sir, but this writing, don't you see it is the same writing as the ones found on P3X- 233, the same planet with the Quantum mirror. It has baffled me as to why we haven't come across this culture except for this one time, I mean they were obviously advanced and even traveled to other plants, and then they just disappear without a trace. This find is significant in understanding them, and why the Goa 'uld wanted to wipe them out in the first place. Sir you have to let me go with SG 11 to study these ruins"
"I am not sure I have to let you do anything Dr. Jackson, now you have been arguing with me for three hours now, and no means no, now I am going to ban you from Stargate command if you do not leave within the next minute."
"Sir, please" "Dr. Jackson, I am losing what little patience I have left with you" Hammond cut in abruptly. It was then that Jack had decided to knock on the door.
"Awe Colonel" Hammond said in a much relived tone. Jack looked at Hammond and noticed he was very red in the face.
"Now, Dr. Jackson, you are Dismissed" Hammond stated, as if he had had enough of Daniel. Jack then turned to Daniel and saw the defeated look all over his face. His shoulders drooped, hands in his pocket and his gaze on the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world at the moment.
Daniel didn't say a word, he just turned to leave. He didn't even acknowledge Jack, and before he knew it Daniel was out of sight.
Jack then turned back to the General who had sat down in his chair and started to sort through some papers. "And what can I do for you Jack?" Jack really looked at the general, "three hours?" Was all that he could say.
At first the General looked a little confused, then he caught on to what Jack was referring to, and his expression had gone to a rather annoyed one. "a three hour argument with Dr. Jackson, is really too much" Jack was surprised at the General for sitting through a three hour argument with Daniel, he could hardly stand any argument with Daniel, now he was really interested.
"That's got to be a record for Daniel." Jack replied as he took a seat in the chair directly across from the General. "Me as well" the General responded as he leaned back in his chair and let out a deep sigh. "Well what did he want this time?" Jack asked hoping that the general would tell him and not kick him out of his office, because he was still looking rather annoyed. The General looked at Jack, and shuffled the papers still in his hands, and then he finally handed them over the Jack.
"SG 11 came back with these images of these ruins. It seems to be the only sign of civilization on this so far." Jack took the photos and glanced at them briefly, really not all that interested, "and Daniel really wanted to see them" jack filled in. "He wanted to Join SG 11 for his Two week vacation and explore the ruins." Hammond finished. Jack was still confused though something was missing, "but sir a three hour argument to go see some ruins? I mean I know we are talking about Daniel and all, but what is so special about these ruins?" Jack asked looking at the photos again. "The writing" was General Hammond's response. "I see. It makes perfect sense now." Jack said as he leaned back in his chair clasping his fingers behind his head. "What about the writing sir?" General Hammond smiled at the colonel. "Maybe this will help." Hammond said as he pulled another photo from a file. "Dr. Jackson brought this to me right after seeing the writing in the ruins." he said as he slid the photographs across the table. Interested, Jack leaned forward grabbing the photographs of the table to study them. At first glance he wasn't sure what he was looking at, but upon closer inspection how could he not know what this was a photograph of. "P3R-233" Jack said aloud to no one in particular. How could he forget the place? He spent many hours there looking for his missing archeologist, another close call for Daniel.
"Now I understand" Jack replied. Jack stopped examining the photos and looked up at Hammond. "Sir even though I am not too fond of lending out my team, you and I both know that Daniel is not going to rest at all, during these two weeks, so what harm is there if we did send him out on an archeological field trip for two weeks."
General Hammond took a moment and really considered the question. Jack was right, he knew that Daniel would work through his two weeks, and he was very excited about the ruins. Then Hammond finally came to a decision.
"alright Jack you convinced me, Dr. Jackson has my permission to join SG 11 and a team of archeologist to study the ruins of P3X-105, now if you would do me a favor and recollect Dr. Jackson." Jack stood up rather satisfied with himself, and really felt he was doing the right thing in letting Daniel go. "yes sir" Jack replied as he walked out the door to go find Daniel and tell him the good news.
Earth
Present time
Jack sat in the mess hall with his head clasped in his hands. It was his fault Daniel was out there. Hammond had originally said no, until Jack had convinced him otherwise. Now the team was overdue, and they cannot dial P3X-105. Carter was in the gate room running a gate diagnostics and Teal'c had not yet returned from Chu'lak. So that left Jack with his thoughts.
"Sir?" Jack raised his head when he realized that it was Carter addressing him. "Carter, anything?" Carter sat down in the seat across from him and began her explanation he hoped he could understand, "well sir, so far the gate diagnostic is coming up clean, so any problem with the gate while it was in transit happened on the other end. " Jack nodded his head, he had already known something bad had happened on the other end, and he didn't need some diagnostic to tell him that. "it's strange though sir, there were no spike energy readings or anything like that, which means that the gate just stopped working for some reason," Jack simply laid his head back into his hands, and closed his eyes while continuing to listen to Carter babble. "And we can't dial their gate anymore either, the seventh chevron just won't lock. General Hammond is attempting to contact the Tok' Ra as we speak." Jack just let out a groan of disapproval, "great".