“Daniel hears little whispers behind languages he hasn’t learned yet, and the whispers are telling him the rules of the language,” she said. “When he hears someone speak it, he also hears the intent. He says it’s the whispers and the intent that’s teaching him the language. Cassie hears the same thing. She’s up to five languages. And I think she has a little of the empathy thing, too, because she handled a lot of the minor delegation issues when you were gone. Ambassadors have begun asking for her.”
Jack nodded. “I’ve noticed that,” he said. “She also seems to be settling into some kind of contentment mode, and I don’t think it has anything to do with Harper.”
She snuggled in deeper and absently stroked his hard chest, letting the hair slide through her fingers. “I’m still scared,” she said. “Evolution says that there will be people who will be left out. They’ll put up a fight. There may be a witch hunt before this hits a turning point, and the new humans will suffer before they succeed.”
“I know,” he nodded. “I had a talk with Hayes about all this. The only thing we could come up with was reorganizing the public education system and gear it toward the support of the children and their abilities. Start with a few quiet changes and work on it, one at a time. If we can make it seem like the education system is responsible for the heightened awareness of the children, the general public may be more accepting of it.”
“The public school system needs an overhaul, anyway,” she said. “It’s a medieval mess. Have you been working out?” She poked at his chest, noting the smooth skin and more prominent muscles.
“Daniel asked me that, too,” he said. “No, I haven’t. He did make his own close inspection, if you’d like to offer a second opinion.”
“Flip that switch and tell me what I’d like,” she said with a smile as she wiggled sensuously across his lap. Jack gave a small push and she seemed to light up and radiate toward him. His smile faltered as he looked at her, naked and perfect, sensing that she found him to be...
“I’m not beautiful,” he whispered huskily.
“You are,” she told him. “You turn me on, Jack, can’t you feel it? Inside and outside, I can’t get enough of you. You look at me, and I see you standing at the center of the universe, strong and steady, lighting my way to you.”
He bent down and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight to him. She sat up and straddled his lap. Her breasts were wonderful and heavy in his hands, fitting perfectly.
“I married up,” he whispered, stroking the sensitive globes. “So far up, it makes me high just thinking about it.”
She took his face between her hands and stared into his dark eyes.
“Together,” she whispered. “We can do this together.”
Chapter 34
Everyone assumed it would be Daniel who had the first book published. To everyone’s surprise, it was CMSgt. Harriman’s face they saw on display. Jack looked from the book to Walter and back to the book. Stargate.
“I did get prior permission, sir,” Walter assured him. “And the Pentagon examined the script before allowing the publication.”
“I’m sure they did, Sergeant,” Jack said. He had skimmed through it and saw his name over and over again. Daniel, Sam, and Teal’c, too, as well as General Hammond’s. “My, my, Walter, what a cleaver little bee you are. Well, don’t just stand there, son, sign it.” He thrust the book out to the airman. “These, too, for Sam and Daniel. Don’t forget the big guy.”
Walter flushed, pleased, and signed the books.
No one doubted the book would be Number 1, but it went there in a day. The entire English speaking world stopped to read. As soon as it was translated into other languages, they, too, stopped to read. Jack’s office was bombarded with phone calls. Yes, every word was true, Staff Sergeant Harriman had been accurate.
Most of the public hadn’t understood why Jack’s attitude had been put up with by the leadership, but they now understood. Stargate Command had saved Earth’s collective ass more times than they had known, and Jack O’Neill was usually at the head of the game. All the internet information had been sketchy at best, the sergeant filled in the missing pieces. Most of them, anyway. While Daniel did have a book in the works, his was more intellectual; Walter had a gift for breaking down difficult concepts and making them digestible.
The second bomb came out of Sam’s arena; not only was the legendary Area 51 being run by an alien generator that used no carbon fuels and released no pollution, Nellis and Las Vegas and everything within a two hundred mile radius were also connected to the generator. The generators were in short supply due to the materials not being available on Earth, but Area 51 was doing it’s best to recreate them. Since the public had read Walter’s book, they understood about naquadah and its importance, and were starting to piece together the entire bowl of alphabet soup and the potential benefit for the public. The average energy bill dropped from $200-$300 a month to $50, and that was just to help Area 51 with a few of their own bills and the expense of personnel to monitor the generator. Of course, the casinos still had a larger slice of the pie and had the nerve to complain about paying more than the average home owner.
Sam’s name had been quietly thrown into the public on several occasions as the head of the team that created the ships, as well as being on O’Neill’s team and as his wife, but between the generator and Walter’s book, the public jumped into overtime. Sam’s name was attached to almost all the gadgets, including the home-made dialing device for the Stargate itself. Luckily, the reporters couldn’t get to her while she stayed in the bowels of Area 51. The recent interviewers were beside themselves; they had Sam for days and didn’t realize what they had outside someone who helped to create the ships. Sam grumbled that if she had been a man, they would have been all over her for details. Jack had to admit she was right. He made a few phone calls and got permission to release a couple of private films of her teaching pilots the ins and outs of the 303s and the 302s, and an academy film of her teaching cadets the physics, what she knew of them, behind the wormholes. Jack wouldn’t put it past her to figure out how to create the wormholes themselves.
Jack’s phone rang in the middle of his lunch.
“Now, Jack, don’t get upset,” he was immediately warned. Jack paused.
“What happened?” he asked, resigned. Landry’s angst was almost palpable through the phone.
“The locals tried to sacrifice him.”
Daniel had been asked to go on a mission with SG-9. Jack knew it was a bad idea, everyone knew it was a bad idea; he was convinced that unit was jinxed. SG-9 had reported Mayan temples.
“Daniel, didn’t the Mayan’s make blood sacrifices?” Jack asked. “Tear out beating hearts, that kinda thing?” He had been to the Mayan pyramids; while the architecture was incredible, knowing what those high altars were used for made him cringe.
“That was here,” Daniel said, frowning with irritation. “That doesn’t mean these Mayans developed along the same lines. Come on, Jack, how often have we come across people from this side of the world? Almost never. I need to go.”
Jack actually didn’t have much of a say in the matter, he wasn’t Daniel’s supervisor.
He went to the Mountain and found Daniel sleeping off a minor surgery. His chest was bandaged.
“Alright, someone tell me what happened,” he said, sitting next to Daniel’s bed. Captain Wallace stood nearby, not looking forward to the general’s visit.
“Sir, when we arrived the locals were getting ready to sacrifice a woman,” Wallace said. “They were waiting for a sign from the gods telling them to stop the ceremony. When the Stargate opened and Dr. Jackson walked through…..”
“They saw it as a sign,” Jack finished.
“Yes, sir.”
“The cut was superficial,” Dr. Lam told him. “Abrasions on his wrists and ankles from restraints. They got him out in time. Someone dialed in and requested a UAV be sent through. It scared the locals enough to let
him go. A chemical was poured into the wound on his chest; we had to dig it out a bit to get it all. He’ll have a scar.”
Jack gave a stroke to the brown hair, and leaned back for a long wait. “I don’t care about a scar,” he said. “He’ll be alright?”
“Yes, sir,” she nodded.
Jack called Sam and then home to let Jerrie know he would be late. Throughout the day, people stopped by to chat, check in on Daniel, or to bring Jack coffee. Davis stopped in long enough to drop off Jack's laptop, and then returned to his office.
“Sorry, Jack,” Landry said when he came for a visit later in the afternoon.
“Not much anyone can do, when he gets something in his head,” Jack said, looking at Daniel’s sleeping form.
It was several hours later when Daniel began to wake up through pain meds.
“Crap,” he muttered.
“Is that commentary on your physical state or your summary of events?” Jack asked, relieved.
“Summary,” Daniel croaked. Jack got up and found a water cup and straw. “No pain,” Daniel said with a frown. “What happened?”
Jack gave him a rundown of the surgery. Dr. Lam came in, a tech having notified her that Daniel was awake. She checked his vitals and then looked under the bandage on his chest. She frowned, looked at the men, and then pulled the bandage up further.
“Is this your doing?” she asked Jack.
“What?”
She carefully lifted the bandage away. Except for a little bruising, Daniel’s chest was whole.
“Keep it up, General, and you’ll put me out of business,” Lam commented, tossing the bandage aside. She poked gently at Daniel’s chest. He winced slightly, and said he felt fine.
“I want an x-ray, CT, MRI, the works,” she ordered.
Jack was a little stunned himself as he looked down at his hand. He didn't feel any different. He scrubbed at the palm. It felt normal.
“General, I’d like to hook you up to a biofeedback,” she told him.
“I’m not playing guinea pig,” Jack immediately informed her. “Not now, not ever.”
“I could pull medical rank,” she warned.
“Try it,” he dared her. “There are thousands of people on this planet who are evolving, you want to hook them up, too? Whatever is happening, it’s part of who I am, whether I like it or not.” But was it? Nothing like this had ever happened prior to getting a double dose of Ancient downloaded into his head. He wasn't going to tell her that, though.
“All the more reason to get current normals on you,” she said.
“You have current normals as of three months ago,” he told her.
It took several hours to put Daniel through all the equipment. Dr. Lam continued to argue with Jack.
“What are you two going on about?” Daniel asked, coming back from the latest imaging. Jack told him. “Jack, I’d like you to do it.”
“Why?” he frowned stubbornly.
“Because. What if something happens to you that turns out to be related to whatever this is?” Daniel asked. “How will anyone know what’s normal and what isn’t, if you don’t get tests done now? Jack, she isn’t the NID or the Trust, she isn’t trying to exploit you. You healed me, Jack; we need the normals, as many as we can get.”
Jack growled and muttered as he submitted to Dr. Lam’s tests. “You don’t even know what you’re looking for,” he accused her as she stuck electrodes on his hands, chest, and head. She paused and frowned thoughtfully as she looked at his chest. She shook her head and continued.
“Probably not,” she admitted. “But I do know what’s normal, and if something stands out, I’ll know it’s specific to you.”
Did he notice any odd disturbances in his vision when the healing thing happened? Did his hands get warm? Did they get cold? Any odd sensations in his hands? Did he think any specific thoughts? No, no, no.
When all her tests came back normal, Lam looked around. Col. Reynolds was keeping Jack company while the tests were being done. She grabbed his wrist.
“Colonel, thank you for volunteering,” she said to the started man. She looked at Jack. “He has an owie, General, heal him.” Jack saw a small scrape on Reynolds’ cheek. She attached electrodes to Reynolds. “What do you do from here?” she asked Jack.
“Well, I’ve only done it deliberately once,” he confessed. “I just…. touch.” He put his hand over Kevin’s face.
“Just don’t think you can touch my face any ol’ time,” Reynolds informed him.
“But, Kevin, you know I’ve always had a deep, secret thing for you,” Jack told him.
“Well, I sorta guessed that, Jack,” Kevin told him. “But how could I hope to compete with Daniel and Sam? I feel so worthless beside them.”
“You are worthless, Kevin, but that doesn’t make my feelings for you any less….. ow.” Jack rubbed the side of his head where a roll of bandages had been thrown at him.
“Would you like Dr. Lam to get normals for something else?” Daniel asked, leaning forward, an inch from Jack’s face.
“Ooooh, baby, with video?” Jack crooned, touching his nose to Daniel’s. “Is Kevin joining us?” Reynolds jerked his face away.
“Boys,” Lam threatened. She looked at Reynolds’ face and then back at her equipment. “The scrape is gone and nothing special showed up on the readout,” she said. “General, you felt nothing? Not even something minor? A little whisper of anything?”
Jack thought about it. “A little of that tingly feeling,” he said. “You know, that special feeling….”
Dr. Lam kicked them out of her infirmary.
“You’re a menace, do you know that?” Daniel inquired as they strode down the hall.
“I’m cute and she likes me,” Jack told him.
“Uh huh.”
“Besides, I’m not the one who keeps getting hurt when off-world,” Jack said. “So who’s the menace, Dennis?”
“Good night?” Landry said as they walked by his office.
“Thank you for a wonderful, if unproductive, day,” Jack said, taking Landry’s hand.
“Yeah, I got a small pain, Jack, would you mind?” Landry asked, tapping his butt.
“Sorry, my ass is the only male ass he kisses,” Daniel said, dragging Jack out of the office.
“Sorry, General, you can see I’m a kept man,” Jack called out. “Another time! Another place…!”
Once they were in the elevator, Jack turned to Daniel. “Will you please stop letting the natives kill you?” he begged. A couple of Marines leaving for home looked at them.
“They didn’t kill me, they only cut me open a little,” Daniel said peevishly, peering down the front of his shirt. The cold of the outside air began to reach them and they zipped their coats. Daniel crossed his arms tightly over his chest. “Hey, did you really not sense anything during Lam’s experiment?”
“A small whoosh,” Jack said, wiggling his fingers. Something was bothering Daniel, Jack decided; Daniel's eyes were flickering all over the place, a usual sign that he was upset about something. So far, none of Jack's irritating pokes and prods has snapped the younger man out of whatever was eating him. Or tried to eat him.
“A whoosh?”
“Yeah, like an exhale or the sound of the tide, and my attention seemed to be focused completely on the problem for just a brief second. Davy has a scraped knee; I’ll try it again when we get home.” They checked out with the desk and continued their ride to the top.
“I don’t think I was consciously doing anything when you were down,” Jack said. “I was thinking to myself that you had better damned well not get any weird alien infection, but that was about it. I napped for a little while. That’s it.”
“Jack, you have a natural sense of goodwill,” Daniel told him, rubbing at his temple. “You want people to be well. Unless they’re holding a gun to you. But all in all, you reach out to anyone in need. Since we are bonded in other ways, maybe something inside didn’t need permission; it healed me because y
ou wanted me whole and healthy.”
They walked to the cars which were in a nearby lot with a few reserved spaces. Everyone else parked down the hill and either walked up or took the shuttle. One of the perks that Jack liked was that he had a reserved spot right up front.
“Sirs?” one of the Marines called out. The men stopped. “May I ask a question, General?”
“Sure…” Jack looked for the name tag, but it was hidden beneath the coat.
“Corporal Avila, sir,” the marine said.
“Go for it, Corporal,” Jack said.
“Yes, sir. I’ve been hearing about this evolution thing,” Avila said. “Is it true, sir?”
“Yes, it is,” Jack nodded. Daniel nodded silently beside him. “You got kids, Corporal?”
“Yes, sir, I do,” Avila nodded. “Three. And they’re all doing things that should be beyond their age and understanding. My wife is afraid, sir. She’s from South America. A lot of people are afraid, whispers of the children being possessed by the devil. I’ve started hearing rumors of very bad things happening to children, and I have to tell you, sir, I’m scared.”
Jack gave the Corporal his full attention after glancing at Daniel who didn't seem surprised.
“What’s happening is normal,” Daniel quietly stressed. “It’s happening to some adults, too, but it isn’t as noticeable. There are no devils, we killed the worst of them just a short time ago. Let your kids develop as they will and don’t punish them for doing what is coming naturally to them. The changes must happen for the greater good of our species.”
“Tell your wife this,” Daniel continued after a thought. “These things are coming from their brains. God gave them their brains, so God must want this to happen. It comes from God, so don’t be afraid.”
Avila nodded, a little relieved.
“Thank you, sirs,” the Corporal said.
“You’re welcome,” they said. “And I’ll have a talk with the Brazilian ambassador and see what she has to say,” Jack added.
“Corporal, someone should have told you about the Kid Tree,” Daniel said. “It’s not only for the safety of the kids, but also for the parents to talk with each other. Captain Bogner’s wife, Gina, recently took over the calendar and phone list, why don’t you give them a call? I believe the next parent-kid outing is next weekend. This thing with the kids is a hot topic.”
The Anunnaki Unification, Book 2: A Staraget SG-1 Fan Fiction Story Page 22