“No calls, Abigail,” he quietly requested. It would never have occurred to him that sitting behind a desk could be as hard, if not harder, than being in the action. At least when he was in the field he was doing something. What can he do sitting behind a desk? One million children.
“Yes, sir,” Mrs. Clark responded after a moment.
An unknown time later, the door quietly opened. A tissue touched his face, gently stroking his cheeks and eyes.
“A few times while I was growing up, I resented and hated humans,” Cassie said softly. “I was angry. I didn’t understand why you couldn’t have come just an hour sooner. One hour, that was all I wanted, and maybe I wouldn’t have been alone. If there are gods, I think they wanted me to be here, for whatever purpose. I needed Janet in my life, I needed all of you. I wouldn’t have needed rescuing, if Niriti hadn’t destroyed my world. One life, Jack, just one. It’s a blessing. You can do this, Jack; one person at a time.”
Jack took a shuddering breath and pulled her close, burying his face in her belly.
“I can’t tell you how to fix this, I don’t know,” she said softly, arms around his shoulders. “But I know you, and I know that when the time comes, you will do the right thing.”
He nodded shakily and tugged her blouse back into place.
“Generals aren’t supposed to break down in front of little girls,” he said huskily.
“That’s okay because I love the ones that do,” she informed him. She kissed his head and turned.
“Honey, I need Daniel, Sam, Dr. Lam, Dr. Warner, Dr. Wagner, the Surgeon General, and reps from the NIH and WHO,” he told her. “Our people need to prepare a presentation for the others; I need everyone here for an urgent meeting at 8am local time tomorrow and keep it to themselves.” Cassie nodded and left the room.
Jack decided to close shop and work at home for the rest of the day. His main excuse was that he needed baby time. The world always seemed a better place when it smelled like a baby. He staggered into the house and found her in a swing watching Jerrie clean the living room. Olivia saw Jack enter and squealed, holding out her arms.
“Da!”
Jack picked her up and held her close, breathing in her scent.
“Did you just say that?” he asked her. He experimented with the sounds as she watched his face closely.
“Da!” she decided, and squealed in delight.
“Oh, baby, I needed to hear that,” he told her. He collapsed onto the couch and sat her up on his stomach. She bounced enthusiastically and patted his chest as she babbled.
“You left a couple hours ago, bad day already?” Jerrie asked.
“You have no idea,” he said. The house phone rang and he answered it. “O’Neill. Just write up something from the cultural perspective,” he said. “Everyone from their own specialty. Did Paul send you the quick report he gathered? It’s killing me, Danny, I tossed my breakfast when I read that report. No, I’m fine. Olivia called me Da. I felt a lot better after that.”
Once Daniel and Sam were home, Jack demonstrated his new status as Da! and Sam took Olivia, coaching her with, “ma ma ma ma….”
After attention was given to all and the kids were in bed, Sam and Daniel worked on their reports for the morning meeting.
“Are you as pissed with me as Daniel is?” Jack asked Sam as he watched her type.
“Why is Daniel pissed at you?” she asked, not looking away from the screen. Jack told her. “Oh. A little,” she said. “But my point of view is different; I was raised in a military family and I’m military. Remember that Daniel isn’t military, no matter what he’s been doing over the past ten or so years. He doesn’t think military. As your wife, I would have liked a little discussion before you headed out, my opinion taken into consideration; as an officer, it didn’t occur to me to question it, although I would have liked to have gone with you and gotten my shots in.”
Jack was standing behind her chair and he leaned his head on her shoulder for a moment. “Okay,” he said. “I can’t stop and discuss every move I make, Sam. I have a job to do.”
She paused and turned her chair.
“Jack, you certainly don't need to explain that to me; I get it. But he’s lost the people he’s loved most in his life,” she stressed. “His parents, Sha’re, his grandfather, Kasuf, everyone. I honestly don’t think he’d recover if we lost you. The next time you go gunning for a snake, just try and find a few minutes to talk with him. Give him a little reassurance. He’s strong, except where you’re concerned, and he hides his insecurities very well. You’re his lover, father, brother, best friend; if he loses you, he loses everything. He might stick around for Stacy, but it wouldn’t be with a full heart. I’ll pay more attention, if something like this happens again, and do what I can, but you need to stop and consider others, too. You have a family, now, not a team trained not to question, and unless you want to find yourself with children and lovers who resent you, you need to do a better job at communicating. Use Dad as your example.”
He stretched his back and shoulders, wincing, and nodded. “Okay.”
He went down into the grotto. Daniel’s face was plastered to the computer screen, a pen lodged between his teeth. Jack leaned against the desk and watched him. He reached out and stroked a stray lock of hair.
“You’re getting shaggy again,” he commented. The hairline had gone up a little, but Jack didn’t mention it.
“I like it shaggy,” Daniel murmured. He made a notation on the pad next to him. Jack was amused to see Daniel’s notes were being taken in some sort of Arabic script; probably Egyptian.
“So do I, actually,” Jack said. He touched Daniel’s chin. “Hey.” Daniel paused and looked at him. “Enki told me that my life span has reached that of the Ancient’s themselves.” Daniel sat back, his eyes widening. “I didn’t want anyone to know because I’m kinda creeped out by it. I guess my body is starting to react to the regeneration. I also didn’t want to be confined to a cell while doctors took me apart. Danny, if I do die before you, I am giving you this guarantee here and now –I will Ascend and I will spend as much time with you as I can until you join me. I’ll come back, if I can figure out how. I promise you, I’m here and you’re not getting rid of me. No matter what happens.”
Daniel took a shuddering breath and accepted the arms around him. Jack pressed his mouth to the top of Daniel’s head.
“Get back to work,” he said. “We’ll take time together as soon as someone gets the ball rolling with this mess. Our major informed me that I’m not that person. He’s a little irritating, sometimes.”
Neither Daniel nor Sam got any sleep as they hustled to put together as much information as they could. They already had reams of notes; it was simply a matter of putting them into context for their meeting with the heads of various health organizations. Daniel wrote from a cultural view, how different cultures would probably react and suggestions of ways to counter-act, along with a proposed public statement that was written at an eighth grade level for the Western countries, and a third grade level for the third-world countries. Sam wrote from a physics view, Dr. Lam from a medical view, and Dr. Warner was putting together examples from various imaging techniques along with footage of children and adults working on a level that they had previously been unable to attain. Jack knew some of the footage of brain activity, neurons lighting up, were his own. All identification would be removed from the images.
Jack watched Davy sleeping and felt a heavy heart. Other than growing out of his allergies, Davy had shown no signs of advancement.
In the morning, they rushed to Jack's office. Enki was waiting for them, dressed in his Tau’ri best, which looked odd on him, causing the others to stop and stare. “Are you sure I'm needed for this?” he asked. He tugged at the neck of his shirt, trying to loosen the tie.
“No,” Jack admitted. “But you know more about this than we do, so I need you here.”
Their guests from the World Health Organization, the National Inst
itutes of Health, and the US Surgeon General’s office were all having a hard time with the information they were receiving. They agreed that there was a sudden surge of infanticide worldwide, but they had been putting it down to shock from the knowledge of aliens present in their lives.
Jack’s side of the table was becoming irritated with the titanium wall they were hitting from the other side of the table. The visitors refuted every single piece of evidence Jack’s people came up with. Daniel finally stood so hard and fast that his chair teetered before righting itself as he went to pace the side of the room.
Dr Thorn, from the WHO, held up a hand. “I understand your frustration, I really do,” he said. “Think about it this way: it’s been almost three decades since we began educating Africa about HIV and AIDS. The numbers are still increasing despite the education. Men, women, and children are dying from a preventable disease all because they refuse to accept the education and adjust their culture. How do you propose we stop an entire country in the throws of hysteria? We can’t even get the Middle East to behave, and they’ve been at each other’s throats since the beginning of time.” Enki cocked an eyebrow and gave a silent, reluctant nod. “Give us the magic word, Dr. Jackson, please,” Thorn said.
Daniel looked out the window for a moment and then stormed out of the room. There was silence.
“The problem with the hysteria of those indigenous peoples isn't just their lack of understanding.” The doctors looked at the odd older man. “And you know it, gentlemen. The problem comes in the form of orthodox religions coming in behind you and telling these highly superstitious people that God is punishing them, and will continue to do so unless they obey.”
“We cannot stop countries from allowing spiritual groups inside their borders, if that's what they want,” Warner said. “We have no say in the matter. Health organizations pass out truck loads of condoms, women -girls as young as twelve, mind you- are given birth control. For free. And these groups convince them that it's poison. Africa is littered with unused condoms and birth control pills, sir. What would you like us to do about it? These people understand divine punishment, not science, and if educational groups go in and tell them that the religious groups are wrong, there will be fall-out. And now you want us to convince them that their children are perfectly fine?”
“Actually, that's exactly what you should tell them,” Enki said, pointing his finger in emphasis. “You tell them the truth. Because I can tell you now, gentlemen, and ladies, anyone who doesn't get with the program will be left behind. You have allowed organized religions to run ramshod over this world for thousands of years, and it's time to grow the hell up.”
In shock at the cold words, Wagner gaped. “You are talking about war, Mr Enki! We cannot and will not force anyone to accept science OR religion! Just what are your qualifications for this meeting, anyway? Who are you, sir?”
Enki sat back, gave his beard a stroke. “I could say I'm God, but that might make things worse.”
“Alright,” Jack jumped in. If Wagner's face became any redder, he might gave an aneurism. “Dr Enki is more than qualified to be here, so let's leave it at that. Can we return to this education thing, please?”
Thorn sat back, pursing his lips in thought as he looked at the old man in speculation. Jack decided to not take Thorn for granted; the man was seeing too much that wasn't said. “I’d like to look at the developmental reports that you have shown us,” he said. “I can see something physical in the imaging you have shown us, I don’t deny that, exactly what we are seeing remains to be seen. Test scores have certainly taken a dramatic leap across the board; my own grand-daughters, five and seven, are working on subjects beyond their years. A few of these reports, though, contain instances of what we would term ‘the paranormal.’ How do we justify someone claiming to see inside a body without equipment, or someone reading the thoughts of others? Those things cannot be proven in a scientific manner; they are a matter of belief, not science. If those are the kinds of things that are happening in these countries, I can understand why indigenous peoples are suddenly afraid of their own children.”
“Are you saying you don’t believe the reports?” Sam asked him.
“No, Dr. Carter, I’m saying prove it.”
Jack looked at his note pad which was covered in geometric patterns commonly called scribbles. “Cassandra? Dr. Thorn is sounding a little parched; would you mind?” He gestured toward a water pitcher at the end of the table. He gave her a nod. The pitcher moved on its own accord down the table, poured neatly into the glass before the man, who was now as white as a sheet, and settled back onto the table without a drop being spilled.
Their guests were pale in the silence of the room.
“There are no cameras on, doctors,” Jack said quietly. “And as Daniel would say, denial is more than a river in Egypt. I need a volunteer.” He leaned forward, staring intently at Thorn. “Dr. Thorn, will you trust me?”
Thorn considered him for a moment, and then gave a nod. Jack stood and opened the door. He spoke softly to the SF outside and came back in, shutting the door. He had a pocket knife in his hand.
“May I see your hand?” Jack asked, standing over the man. Thorn looked from the knife to Jack and then held out his hand. Jack sliced the skin in the palm. The other doctors gasped and jumped to their feet.
“Down!” Jack barked. They sat. “Dr. Thorn, please verify that your skin is indeed open and that the red stuff isn’t fake.” Slightly shaky, Dr Thorn examined his hand and then nodded. Jack offered the other doctors the chance to examine the hand. They all confirmed a clean cut, a centimeter deep. Dr. Copeland grabbed a towel and made for Thorn’s hand. Jack snatched the towel away and put his hand directly on top of the bleeding gash. A moment later, he removed his hand. He poured water onto the towel and handed it to Thorn.
“Go ahead,” he said. Dr Thorn carefully cleaned the blood away and stared at his palm. Not a line remained. His colleagues examined him also and then sat to stare in disbelief at Jack. “There are still no cameras working in here,” he reminded them as he cleaned his hand of the sticky blood.
“You are insane, General O’Neill,” Dr. Wagner hoarsely informed him.
“Probably,” he said. “If you will excuse me for a moment.” He walked out of the room.
Jack slammed his office door and went to stand at the window, scowling at the peaceful open field covered in a late snow fall. Daniel was sitting on the window sill next to him, quietly contemplating his coffee cup.
The door quietly opened as Sam came in. Paul came in with Dr Thorn behind her. The doctor went to them and leaned with his back to the wall next to Jack.
He took a deep, thoughtful breath. “General, there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t spend a small amount of it angry at the way this world has been managed,” Thorn said in a low, assuring voice. “I cannot help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. If someone is standing on a ledge with a gun pointed at their own face, I cannot help them without their permission. They have got to WANT it. Look at this another way –you went out to fight bad guys only after the victims asked for help, didn’t you? How many lives would have been saved if you had taken it upon yourself to go out and hunt them down before you were asked for help?” Jack looked at him. “It wasn’t your place to force your personal morals and ethics upon others, was it? You know as well as I do that help has got to be wanted, not forced. If you force it, that makes you the dictator, doesn’t it?”
“Where’s the line?” Jack asked.
Thorn shrugged. “Sometimes we need to stand back, far back, before we can see the line. Once it is visible, then we can work with it. The line isn’t visible, yet, Jack. If you cannot bear witness, turn away until you can find the strength to help pick up the pieces.”
“I believe you, everything you and your people have presented, I really do; my faith lies deeper than the shallow ground. I will present as best I can to the Director-General, and I will advise that educators be sent into the
worst of the affected areas. That’s the best we can do. If the countries, or even a single person, asks for help, we will give help. No questions asked. I give you my promise. But we cannot force them.”
Jack saw deer far out at the timber line and watched them.
Jack knew he’d be receiving a phone call sometime before bed. It came thirty minutes after the doctors left HomeSec. Whatever Enki had said to them in private, they went away thinking instead of ridiculing.
“Henry, I don’t know what Dr. Wagner was talking about, he seemed a little reluctant to do a dammed thing to help with this situation,” Jack told Hayes. “We showed them all the facts we had, that’s it. I don’t know, Dr. Thorn said he’d help. Hell, Henry, what’s more concrete than x-rays and his own granddaughters? Two. What about your grandkids, aren’t they doing weird things? Well, then, see? Whatever happened to seeing is believing?”
Declaring it Happy Hour, they poured into his Jeep and headed home. “Was that really an argument that needed to be started?” he asked as they left HomeSec grounds.
Enki pursed his lips. “This is a battlefield, Jack; choose the battle, don’t let it choose you.”
Jack knew that lesson only too well and it was one he hated. He was only one person, he understood that. How the hell was he supposed to stop entire countries from committing genocide? Jack found himself staring down at the Earth as a whole, seeing only the beautiful blue orb, greens and browns, white clouds; the most beautiful planet he had ever seen, if he wasn’t being too biased. A few spots darkened the ozone, damaging the picture, bringing memories of other worlds he had been to, people who destroyed themselves with pollution and weapons. When push came to shove, nature shoved hard.
The children were happy to see Enki and they kept him occupied until dinner. When the doorbell rang, Sam answered it, surprised to see Dr Thorn on the other side. She invited him in and introduced everyone. Olivia regarded the stranger, decided he was okay, and permitted him to hold her hand.
“Beer?” Jack asked, sipping a beer as he leaned against the kitchen counter.
The Anunnaki Unification, Book 2: A Staraget SG-1 Fan Fiction Story Page 24