“In case it has escaped China’s notice, the rest of the world is working hard on cleaning up, dealing with an evolutionary leap, and creating peace. Once in a while we put an alien in its place, so I’m not sure what China needs protection against. Seems to me the Chinese citizens need protection against their government, not us.”
“This is outrageous,” the premier said, shaking with anger as he stepped forward. “You are condemning an entire country to death. This is war, General O’Neill, and we will be filing charges with your government and the United Nations.”
“War? The only war we’re fighting is against those creatures,” Jack said, pointing a finger back. “And you’re avoiding the fact that you are killing your own people due to your greed. And complain to whomever you’d like; we have the images of your people and what you are doing to your country. You are far from innocent, gentlemen, and there is no one in the world who doesn’t believe otherwise.”
“General O’Neill!” Fleury, red-faced, almost shouted. “You are out of line!”
Jack took the leash back from Sheppard and the baby back from Sam.
“I don’t play political games, Mr. Fleury,” he said. “My job is to keep this world safe from alien invasion and that’s exactly what I’m doing. I will protect China from any invasion, but I will not give China access to alien technology, not when they are killing their own people, destroying their ecology, and threatening their neighbors with death and destruction. Colonel Davis, when Mr. Xiang is ready to leave, make it so.”
He turned and went back down the hall to the beaming room. Olivia was glaring at the people from over Jack’s shoulder.
When he returned home, he confessed to Daniel what had happened. Daniel shook his head and went back down to his office. It wasn’t long before Hayes called.
“Henry, I don’t wanna hear it,” Jack said. “I read them the riot act to their faces. They are no better than the Goa’uld, sir, and I won’t give them access to our weapons even in the form of a generator.”
“Can I make a suggestion?” Daniel asked when Sam returned. Sheppard was allowed to go home and visit with his family, while Davis returned to his office and made an attempt at placating the Chinese.
“Sure,” Jack said. He poured a cup of Kool-aid for David.
“It may be the twenty-first century and the Chinese may elect their officials, but they are still a feudal society. Why not get another feudal leader over to talk with them?”
Jack and Sam stopped their puttering and looked at him.
“What? You mean like Atis?” Jack asked.
“Sure,” Daniel nodded. “He speaks their language. So to speak.”
“He’d scare the bejeesus out of them,” Jack said.
“And?” Daniel countered. “They practically worship those colorful, feathered dragons.”
“Are you always so brilliant?” Jack asked.
Daniel smiled and nodded. “Yes, I am; you just don’t notice because Sam is prettier.”
“Yes, I am,” Sam agreed.
Jack grabbed Daniel’s face and kissed him. “Go. Take whomever you need.”
Daniel bent Jack backward over the sink and kissed him thoroughly before releasing him.
“Sam may be prettier but I have a better ass,” Daniel informed him before turning to leave. They watched him head off to his office.
“His ass is better,” Sam said. Jack reached around and grabbed both cheeks.
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” he said, pulling her close. “I’d say both have their positives.” She smiled and put her arms around his neck as he bent to kiss her. “Please tell me we’re cleared for launch,” he asked against her mouth.
“All systems ready,” she said. His eyes darkened and he took her hand, pulling her through the living room to their bedroom.
“Jerrie, mind the kids,” he called out. “We’re in a very important conference.”
“Happy conferencing, sir,” Jerrie called back with a chuckle. She began to gather baby things to take everyone to the park for an hour or so. Paul had confided that the best way to deal with the trio in any of their combinations was to find something else to do. Preferably outside of the house. Jerrie had found that Davis was right. The kids had learned to ignore it although wishing that their parents had the decency to be like other old people and not have sex anymore.
Just as Jack got her shirt up, Sam came to a sudden halt.
“What?” Jack asked, slightly breathless, one hand inside her bra. Sam sat up, her head tilted as though listening.
“Ohhhh,” she whispered, her eyes opening in understanding. She jumped out of bed, pulling her shirt into place as she ran for the door.
“What!” Jack yelled from the bed. “Bad breath?”
The door flew open and she ran out. Puzzled, Jack followed a moment later. He looked around. A door upstairs slammed and he went up. He found her in her lab, scribbling notes on her white board. Jack watched her producing numbers and symbols at near light-speed.
“What’s going on?” he asked. She didn’t hear him.
“Oyi,” Jack groaned and shook his head. He turned and left, knowing she’d come up for air sooner or later. He went into the living room and collapsed onto the couch as he watched Jerrie preparing Olivia for her stroll in the park.
“Jerrie, I think I have a streak of masochism in me,” he informed her. “I married the two smartest people on this planet. On several planets. Most planets, I’m pretty sure. Can’t even get in some decent nookie without one of them dividing more brain cells. I’m getting a complex, here.”
She smiled and zipped up the baby’s sweater. “Look at it this way,” she commented. “When they get it out of their system, they’ll be so excited about it they’ll need to jump something.”
Stacy and David came running from their rooms, pulling on their jackets. Stacy put the leash on Fang and announced she was ready.
“Can I at least get kisses from my kids?” Jack whined. The children each took a cheek and followed Jerrie out the door.
Although they had bitched out the school board on the suspension of their kids, the parents had to accept the decision of the principal to follow the rules. The children moaned and groaned about it, and the parents did, too. Neither Katie nor Matthew could believe that David got into a fight. They both confirmed that there were times when they had to defend themselves against other kids who issued challenges regarding parentage, mostly, and religion once in a while. Things rarely got as far as a physical confrontation, though. Katie’s kickboxing instructor recommended a tai chi master, so Jack took Davy to see a session. Davy liked it and Jack signed him up. Stacy had taken to the kel’no’reem, so she often sat in with Daniel. Jack and Sam didn’t kel’no’reem nearly as often as they should. Jack signed Stacy up for the tai chi, anyway. Maybe the classes would help them focus some of their energy.
The phone rang and Jack reluctantly answered it. It was probably another official who wanted to ream him over the entire ‘Chinese’ incident. Okay, so may be could have been a little less of an asshole. He’ll send flowers or something.
“Hey, Andy, how’s it goin’?” He sat up. “Is she alright? I’ll be right there.”
“Daniel!” He stuck his head inside the lion’s den. “Some kid tried to attack Katie. I’m going down to the sheriff’s office. Jerrie’s out with the younger ones.”
“Is she alright?” Daniel asked, sticking his head at the stairs.
“Andy says she is,” Jack nodded. “She’s a little shook up. Sam’s upstairs, would you let her know where I am?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Michael was walking up the front as Jack hurried out the door. His brother followed him and got into the truck.
“Is she alright?” Michael asked when Jack gave him a rushed summary.
“We’ll find out for sure and then I’m going to hunt down the little bastard,” Jack informed him.
When Katie saw them both coming through the door, she flopped back
into her chair.
“I’m fine!” she insisted. “Sheriff Andy didn’t need to call you, nothing happened.”
“Details,” Jack ordered. He and Michael both stood in front of her, arms crossed and waiting. Jack was relieved that there were no marks on her, except for a slightly out of place blouse.
“It was that creep, Esteban,” she confessed. “We went off-campus for lunch, to that sub shop on the corner, and on the way back he tried to corner me. I told him no and he wouldn’t let go, so I kicked him.”
“Actually, she put him in the hospital,” Andy said from the side-lines, the side of his mouth twitching. “The kid’s parents are pressing charges. Katie busted his nose, fractured his jaw, and popped a ball. Pardon, Father; a testicle. The kid’s parents are not happy.”
Jack couldn’t believe it. “Why are they pressing charges?” he demanded. “It was their kid that tried to attack our daughter.”
Andy leaned against his desk and snapped his gum. “Jack, you need to be aware that with your kids learning self-defense, they qualify as weapons. This probably won’t be the first time someone tries to take advantage of that fact.”
Katie groaned. “Grandpa, please don’t let him blow this out of proportion,” she begged Michael as Jack groused over the facts.
“I don’t blow things out of proportion,” Jack protested. “And let’s not turn the focus of this conversation, please. The boy attacked you, Katherine, you could have been hurt!”
Michael raised a hand. “Jack. I think we need to sit down with the parents of this boy and find out the version of the facts that were given to them. Parents usually side with their child, but let’s see if they can be reasoned with. There was obviously a reason Katie beat up their son, and yes, Katie, of course we believe you. Are there any witnesses?”
“Not to the initial contact,” Andy said. “It was Katie’s self-defense that attracted attention. Actually, it was the boy screaming for his mommy, that attracted the attention.”
“What the hell is going on?” Jack asked in frustration as he paced a few steps. “Two of our kids were suspended for fighting a few days ago, and now Katie’s been in a fight. That leaves Matthew. I don’t expect Olivia to get into any arguments anytime soon. Andy, is it just my kids or what?”
The sheriff frowned and scratched his jaw. “A lot of kids seem to be a bit more rambunctious than usual,” he admitted. “And not the usual suspects. Good kids. Thinking about it, all the instances seem to be related to self-defense. Jack, before you do anything rash, let me make some phone calls. I have an idea I’d like to try and flesh out a bit.”
“I don’t do rash things,” Jack said. All three looked at him. “What?”
He pulled Katie up and into his arms, pressing his mouth to the top of her head as she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“I’m fine,” she whispered. “He didn’t hurt me. I liked him, Dad.” Jack wrapped her under his arm and led her out to the truck.
“Don’t worry, honey, you’ll find a nice boy,” he told her. He called his lawyer and told him to warn the family that if their kid came near Katie again, he’d sue for assault. Katie wasn’t happy about it as she curled up in the back seat and began to deal with her heart. There wasn’t much Jack could do; he assumed there would be closed-door female sessions in the near future.
“Mike, did you come over for something in particular?” Jack asked, remembering that his brother had been about to enter the house when they had left.
“Actually, I came over to talk with Daniel,” Michael told him. “He had sent me a few of his private articles about Ascension, and I wanted to discuss them.”
Jack nodded. “Well, I don’t know what his schedule is; I told off the Chinese President and Premier this morning. To their faces. There are a lot of people who are not happy with me today. Daniel and Paul are trying to fix it.”
Michael looked at him. “You know, one of these days someone is going to call your bluff and you’ll have to deal with it yourself.”
“Who says I’m bluffing?” Jack shrugged.
When they walked into the house, Daniel was pacing the living room, talking to the ceiling and gesturing wildly at the air.
“Jack!” Daniel noticed him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. “I got it!”
“It better not be contagious,” Jack said. Daniel kissed him hard and released him.
“I hope it is!” Daniel said. “If you immediately know the candlelight is fire, the meal was cooked a long time ago. I got it! There is nothing new under the sun. If we can say of anything that it is new, it has been already long since.”
“Ecclesiastes?” Michael asked, confused over what a Buddhist koan had to do with a quote from the Bible.
“Sam!” Daniel shouted. A moment later, she stuck her head out of her lab door. “Time does not exist, it is a construct created by humans. Past, present, and future are one and the same!”
“Okay,” Sam said, as confused as Michael.
Daniel fell to a chair in exhaustion, pleased with himself. He noticed Katie. “Are you alright?” he asked.
“Esteban wouldn’t take no for an answer,” she told him.
“Did you beat the crap out of him?” She nodded again. “Good, girl.” She smiled and took over his lap.
“What are you going on about?” Jack asked him. “I thought you were dealing with the Chinese.”
“I was. Am,” Daniel said. “I was looking at something and it clicked. The whole fire and meal thing. It only took me about five years.” Oma, an Ascended who had taken an interest in him, had spoken the koan to him which had him puzzled for years.
“You look like you passed a kidney stone,” Jack said.
“I feel like I gave birth,” Daniel countered. “Hey, Michael.”
“Daniel,” Michael nodded, slightly amused. “I was going to ask you to lunch but it looks like you’re busy. Can you come to the all-faiths meeting tonight?”
Daniel got up and went to find something to drink. “It’s a possibility,” he said. “I am in the middle of something, but I can try and make it. Anything specific?”
“We’ve been trying to get our heads around Ascension.”
“Well, I don’t remember much of it, but I know more than I did before,” Daniel said. “I’ll try. If not tonight, I’ll come to another meeting.”
That worked for Michael.
“Did you see Jack’s new stars?” Daniel asked, chugging a soda.
“What new stars?”
“Can’t tell you the details, but he earned himself new stars recently,” Daniel told him. “He was the very model of a modern Major General; he’s now a Lieutenant General.”
Michael looked at his younger brother who was cleaning up a pee spot made by a happy puppy.
“Three-star General? Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Jack said.
“I don’t suppose the background will be released any time soon,” Michael suggested.
“Maybe in a few years,” Jack said, dubious.
Sam raced down the stairs and out a side door into the garage which housed a motorcycle, bikes, and kid toys. The men heard crashing and banging.
“Sam? Whatcha doin’?” Jack asked from the doorway. She babbled something about ratios and electrons and radical quanta, and the men tuned out. “I suppose she’ll let us know when she’s done playing,” Jack said as they turned back to the living room.
“What is she doing?” Michael asked.
“Have no idea,” Jack said. “Just as I got my hand in her bra this morning, she had a brain storm and jumped out of bed.”
“Well, Jack, I always said you had the magic touch,” Daniel told him, snickering.
“Shut up. I am getting laid today, if it’s the last thing I do,” Jack warned him. Katie took her head out of the refrigerator and went up to her room, one finger in her ear, the other hand around a soda.
“I’m at a standstill until Paul gets back to me, so we could send Michael hom
e,” Daniel suggested with a glint in his eyes.
“You don’t have the equipment I’m in the mood for,” Jack told him.
Michael covered his ears. “Guys, please, delicate ears here.”
“Bull,” Jack and Daniel told him.
The phone rang again and Jack picked it up.
“Yeah. Where? Hang on.” He held the phone out to Daniel. “Talk to Ronnie. She’s speaking your language.” Daniel took the phone and headed off to his office. Jack glanced at his brother and then startled the man by hugging him.
“What’s that for?” Michael asked.
“You needed it,” Jack told him as he went into the kitchen. “Mikey, have you noticed kids being more pugnacious than usual? In general, not just ours.”
Michael followed him and sat at a bar stool. Jack put a beer in front of him.
“I’m not sure,” Michael slowly said. “I’ve had a few parents complaining about their kids getting into fights.”
“Unusual for these particular kids?” Jack asked.
“Yes, and now that I think about it, I have to agree with Andy; a lot of self-defense is going on.”
Jack leaned against the counter. “Morals and ethics underwent a major change in the evolution of the Ancients,” he commented. “The so-called bullies were eventually shut out of the community if they couldn’t conform, and conforming meant tolerance and acceptance of others.”
An eyebrow went up. A door slammed and feet ran down the stairs.
“I’m going to the shop!” Sam called out.
“Sam!” Jack yelled. “What are you doing?!”
“Later, Jack! I need to…..”
“Colonel Carter!”
Sam skid to a halt and presented herself.
“Sorry,” she said breathlessly.
“Summarize it,” the general ordered.
“The arch,” she said. “I think I know how it was made. Unlike the Stargate, this doesn’t need a special type of metal. The activator, the battery, if you will, is a small supply of liquid naquadah, like the staves use. That’s really the only thing in it that can’t be found on this planet. I think I can make one and make it work.”
The Anunnaki Unification, Book 3: A Stargate SG-1 Fan Fiction Story Page 12