Most of the dialogue in this chapter is quoted from Stargate SG-1.

December 16, 1998

Operations Room SGC, Cheyenne Mountain

"Sir, somehow the stargate just got a huge power boost, it's drawing ten times more power than normal," Captain Samantha Carter reported.

"Isn't that impossible?" General Hammond queried.

"Yes, sir, the circuit should have blown."

Hammond walked the short distance to the wall phone, and commanded, "This is General Hammond, I want Sergeant Siler and a maintenance crew to the power room immediately."

Seconds later, a loud grinding noise echoed through the chamber, followed by two beeps, one following a short second after the first.

"Uh, sir," Carter began. "The 'gate is dialing out."

"Where to?" Hammond demanded.

"I have no way of knowing. We've completely lost control, sir."

Armed soldiers stormed into the former missile silo, empty now except for the immense Stargate near the back of the long vertical tunnel, and the ramp leading to it as alarms blared all across the facility, red emergency lamps going wild.

"Chevron five is encoded!"

"The device that Jack built is some sort of energy source, he just… hooked it up in the power vault," Daniel Jackson explained as he walked into the room, accompanied by Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c, former First Prime of the Goa'uld System Lord Apophis.

"I would not have authorized that, Doctor Jackson. How do we stop this?" Hammond asked.

"You could have Siler pull the main breaker," Sam suggested.

"Chevron six is encoded."

"Wait, Jack has been saying that this is a good thing. So far, he has done nothing bad.

"So far," Hammond emphasized.

"Chevron seven… is encoded?" The ring continued to spin.

"And it's not the point of origin."

"What?"

"General, what if all of the anomalies that have been happening to Jack are part of some… big plan?" Daniel asked, capitalizing on his superior officer's confusion.

"What plan!?"

"Well earlier, Jack told me he had to go through the gate, maybe everything up until now has been leading… to this."

"What's it doing?" Carter asked, confused. The topmost chevron of the stargate snapped open one more time, the seven crystalline bars on each side flaring red once more. The device stilled.

"Chevron eight is locked."

With a thunderous roar, the stargate came to life at last.

"The wormhole is tracking… Captain?"

"Sir, the computer indicates that the wormhole is leaving our known network of stargates. It's going outside of our galaxy."

"That explains why the 'gate needed all the extra power," Jackson said in realization.

"Hold on. I thought stargate addresses were six points in space, with the seventh symbol being the point of origin?"

"The extra chevron must add a new distance calculation to the existing points, kind of like… dialing a different area code," Carter suggested.

"Now what?"

As if in answer, Jonathan O'Neill turned and began to walk out of the room.

"Colonel!" Hammond cried out. Two guards stood in Jack's path. "I'm just supposed to let you go?"

He's already gone, General," Jackson said sadly. "I don't think we have much of a choice."

The guards reluctantly stepped aside, and SG-1 followed their leader down to the embarkation room, accompanied by the commanding officer of Stargate Command.

"I will accompany you, O'Neill," Teal'c proclaimed.

"I really think he needs to do this alone, Teal'c," Daniel said, shoulders slumped.

"I really hope this is the right thing to do," Hammond muttered as Lieutenant Colonel Jack O'Neill walked up the ramp to the event horizon of the open stargate.

"Wait!" Carter cried, running into the room. "Without the remote code device, he won't be able to get back."

"Without knowing where he's going and why, that could put us in further jeopardy, I'm sorry, I can't authorize it."

Daniel ran up the ramp. "Jack. You understand that if you do this, if you go, you might not be able to come back?"

O'Neill nodded his head, and stepped through.

Up in the control room, a technician reported on the progress of O'Neill's transit, saying, "Traveller is still en route." The computer beeped and blinked red. "We've… lost the traveler."

-o-

Stargate Room, Othala

O'Neill tumbled out of the stargate, crying out in alarm as he flew through the air before landing on the red steps with a thud.

As he stood, he saw two waist-high grey-skinned aliens, their unblinking eyes fixated upon him. With realization, one of them held up their hand, and a crystal began to extract the information from the man's mind. Upon finishing the process, the being said, "Take the crystal to Thor. This information should be with the rest. I will explain things here."

"Who… who are you?" O'Neill asked groggily, as though awakening from a deep slumber. "Where am I?"

"You are on Othala, homeworld of the Asgard, in the galaxy of Ida."

"How did I get here?"

"You arrived through the stargate."

"Why did I come here?" the human asked cautiously.

"In the distant past, there was an alliance of four great races. The Asgard, the Furlings, the Nox, and the Ancients, the builders of the stargates. The Ancients left behind many devices for their chosen successors, only to be revealed upon passing certain tests. By surviving this long with their knowledge inside your brain's data centers, you have passed one of these tests. However, the knowledge was still slowly killing you, and had I not removed the information from your mind, you would be dead at this moment in time."

"I'd be dead?" O'Neill asked in shock.

"There is none currently living, and indeed never has there been a person who could survive with the entire database in their mind indefinitely. Even the closest to a living Ancient yet known would be unable to accomplish that feat. The repositories were not designed to release all of their contents into a single mind, but rather, to distribute it in chunks. However, over the millennia it has been since they were placed, their energy reserves have fallen dangerously low, overriding normal safety features. Hence, why every known repository was either destroyed or placed under the protection of the last living Alteran."

"Why does that sound familiar?" O'Neill asked himself. "Alright, thanks for helping me out, I really appreciate not, well, dying. Um…" He began to pat down his pockets. "Shit. I didn't bring a GDO."

"I will remotely open your planet's iris for you, if you desire."

"No, I'll just go to one of our allies' planets and call in from there. Don't want to jeopardize Hammond's trust in you guys."

"Very well," the asgard conceded. "What world will you travel to?"

O'Neill pointed at the symbols on the dialing pedestal. The asgard blinked twice before dialing the intergalactic address for Videum, and sent a radio signal through to inform Harry of his impending guest.

-o-

Videum, Ancient Outpost

"You know, Jack," Harry said with amusement as the stargate shut down, "You have the single highest propensity for getting into trouble out of every single person I have ever met."

"Yeah, yeah. Pick on the guy who got his head sucked by the damn… head sucker… thingy."

"Head sucker?" Harry demanded.

"Yeah, it was next to a ring of text that apparently said, 'We are the ancients, this is our legacy,' or some such rot."

"So there was one that avoided detection... " Harry muttered to himself. "Alright. I assume you'd like to borrow my radio, again?"

"Please."

"Alright. I even brought it here this time," was the amused response. "You know how it works."

"Yeah, yeah," O'Neill mock grumbled as he dialed Earth. As soon as the stargate opened, he said, "Hi guys, this is Jack. I got my head fixed up by Thor's people. I should have no side effects of being possessed."

"The iris is open, Colonel. You may step through at your leisure. Don't take too long, though. Dr. Frasier would like to double check your brainwave analysis for herself."

"Alright. O'Neill out."

"Let's hope our next meeting is under better circumstances, yeah?" Harry asked with a grin.

"Yeah. Here's to hoping." He stepped through the stargate.