Found - part 17
I'm so sorry that this took so long to arrive, but here it is. Enjoy! Ooo - things you need to know: Dr Elizabeth Weir is in command of the SGC, and General Hank Landry is in command of Area 51 in the Nevada desert, where the X-307 docks. I know its screwing with the timeline, but I've already done that significantly so why stop now?
"This is getting old." Jack said, levering himself up off the cold stone bench once more to pace restlessly.
"Teal'c said he'd be back before sundown." Sam reminded him. "We just have to be patient."
"I don't do well with waiting." Jack retorted, his irritation and frustration flaring. "I'm not a wait-er. I'm a do-er. I should be out there …"
"'Doing'?" Sam guessed, with an almost teasing smile.
"Teal'c will be able to find this jaffa, won't he?" Jase asked nervously.
Sam nodded to him reassuringly. "If he's alive, Teal'c will find him. Don't worry."
"He'll just take several years doing it!" Jack said snarkily.
"Jack." Sam admonished him. "It's only been three and a half hours. Give him some time."
Jack scowled and returned to his stone seat. The three of them were seated outside Teal'c's home on Chulak, waiting for him to return from searching for the first prime of Gal'Tak, the goa'uld who had tipped Teal'c off to Sam and Jack's location on Amdra. Over a long journey back to the Milky Way, the group had had plenty of time to share intel and figure out where to start in their search for Luke. Jack closed his eyes and went over the finer points of one particular conversation again in his head.
(Aboard the Gemini, en-route to the Milky Way)
"So Teal'c, if the jaffa back in the 'ole Milky Way have been free for fifteen years, how come we got attacked by a good old fashioned Goa'uld and his merry band of jaffa a year ago?" Jack asked Teal'c one day while they were playing chess.
Teal'c looked up from the game. "The jaffa of this galaxy are free, however, apparently the Goa'uld in the Amdrans' galaxy are still at large."
Jack paused. "Don't you think we should do something about that?"
Teal'c looked uncomfortable. "Indeed. However, at the moment, we have bigger fish to fry."
Jack cocked his head. "Was that an idiom? You've been practicing!"
Teal'c smiled, and promptly took Jack's knight. "The Goa'uld are a plague upon this universe, but the Ori are far worse." The jaffa said evenly. Jack looked a little spooked.
"Worse that the Goa'uld? Then why are you helping me and Sam and leaving Earth to fend for itself?"
Once again, Teal'c looked uncomfortable. "Earth has not required my assistance for a while now. The new establishment feels … ill at ease … with a jaffa in a position of authority at the SGC."
"Kinsey." Jack spat.
"He is not the only one. The jaffa high council has similar qualms about my former association with the Tau'ri. I regret to inform you that the jaffa-Tau'ri alliance has been difficult to maintain."
"Not exactly the best of situations if we're trying to fight an enemy worse than the Goa'uld." Jack noted.
"Indeed."
Jack twiddled a chess piece in his hands distractedly. "So what are we going to do? If the galaxy's in a state of disarray and the Goa'uld aren't a power there anymore anyway … what's the point in us going to the Milky Way?"
"The first prime of Gal'Tak." Teal'c answered succinctly.
Jack looked at him for a moment, expecting more. "Gonna need you to elaborate on that a little, buddy."
Teal'c looked mildly surprised. "You were informed, were you not, that we were able to find you thanks to information provided by the first prime of Gal'Tak?"
"Uh, no, that would be news." Jack said, eyebrows raised high. "Wasn't Gal'Tak the name of the Goa'uld who –"
" – raided your world and stole your son one year ago." Teal'c finished. "His first prime has since come to our galaxy. He claimed to have heard rumors of the jaffa uprising in the 'Milky Way', and journeyed from his galaxy to seek the truth. He wishes to secure freedom for the jaffa of his galaxy, and one of the pieces of information he gave us, was your whereabouts."
Jack mouthed at Teal'c like a goldfish for a minute, not sure what question to ask first.
"And you know where this man … I mean jaffa … is?"
Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "I know where to start looking."
Jack took a deep breath. "Teal'c, if he survived … there's a good chance the ship didn't blow up like we were afraid it did. Luke could still be alive as well."
Teal'c bowed his head. "Exactly."
Sam was dozing with her head on Jack's shoulder when Teal'c finally came back. Jase stood as soon as he saw the large jaffa, and Sam shook Jack's arm to rouse him.
"Did you find him?" Jack asked as soon as his eyes locked on Teal'c.
Teal'c pinned him with an intense gaze. "No, but I know where he may have gone. We must depart immediately."
Sam stood quickly and took Jack's arm to help him up – much to the old Colonel's chagrin – and the foursome gathered cloaks and left.
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"This is Daniel Jackson calling Stargate Command. Stargate Command, please respond." Daniel said clearly into the Gemini's comms system. He, Major Haley, Tally and Major Kennedy – the latter in restraints – were standing on the bridge of the X-307, Earth looming on the viewscreen.
"This is Stargate Command, we read you Gemini. You're cleared to dock."
"Thank you." Daniel replied, and nodded to Haley. She brought the Gemini down through the atmosphere easily, and Tally watched awestruck as the planet came closer, the sands of the Nevada desert stretching out before her, with the spider of roads and infrastructure getting larger and larger as they approached.
Then, they dropped beneath the level of the tallest buildings, and all that could be seen was grey as the ship lowered into the dock. Daniel watched Haley until with a soft thump they landed, and she nodded to him.
"Gemini reports a successful landing. Requesting permission to disembark."
"Permission granted Gemini. Welcome home. Your transport to the SGC is waiting on the surface."
"Understood, Gemini out."
Daniel stood up, and fixed an icy gaze on Kennedy. "Haley, I want you to take Major Kennedy to General Landry's office and explain what happened, and make sure proper precautions are taken for his transport back to Cheyenne Mountain."
"You can't give orders round here." Kennedy snarled. "I'm the ranking officer and I'm ordering you to remove these restraints."
"This way, sir." Haley said to him, giving him a tug in the direction of the door for good measure.
Daniel watched them go, then turned to Tally. "You ready?"
Tally smiled apprehensively. "As I'll ever be."
He gave her shoulders a squeeze and smiled reassuringly as they started towards the door. "Don't worry, Dr Weir's a great commander. She'll make sure you're treated properly, and I'll be looking out for you as well."
Tally took a deep breath. "Yeah. I just wish …"
"I know. But your parents and Jase will be fine, and there's lots for you to do here in the meantime."
She nodded. "Ok. I can do this."
Daniel smiled. "Of course you can."
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Ta da! Reviews would be greatly appreciated, especially opinions about what should happen!
Beka ;-D