STARGATE SG-1 29 Hall of the Two Truths
Page 30
“No. No it doesn’t. It’s just —” Dr. Jackson slumped back in his chair. “Well, it’d be nice to think something good came out of it, in the end. But I suppose that’s just me.”
No one said anything, and for a few awkward moments the only sound in the room was the ticking of the second hand on the wall clock. Hammond wasn’t sure what had just happened, but he sensed there were deeper ramifications to Dr. Jackson’s comments than he was able to grasp just yet.
Finally Jack cleared his throat and turned toward the head of the table.
“Not that we’re not all enjoying this immensely, sir.” Jack’s tone was just on the edge of sarcasm. Hammond could hear the fatigue behind it. “But I’m not sure there’s anything more we can tell you at the moment.”
There was a silent plea implicit in Jack’s words which Hammond understood. They’d had enough. He was inclined to agree.
“I think we can let you all rest for now,” he replied, pushing his notes back into the folder on the table in front of him. “And I’m sure you’ll each provide me with a thorough and complete written report, when the time comes.”
“Absolutely, General.” Jack’s palms smacked the table. “You know me. Thoroughnicity and completeness are my middle name when it comes to reports. Or is it ‘names?’” His brow furrowed in feigned confusion.
“Thank you, sir.” Major Carter made to stand, but Hammond waved her back to her seat.
“I have a feeling Dr. Fraiser would like you back in the infirmary ASAP, Major.”
“I’m fine, sir. Really.”
“Oh, Carter, you’re about as fine as I am. Fraiser’ll hunt us both down if we don’t go back.” Jack pushed himself to his feet. “Besides. I hear they’ve got Jell-O on the menu today.”
Back in his office, Hammond watched his people as they filed out of the briefing room. Major Carter wasn’t the only one who was going to need a little down time. Teal’c had already expressed a desire to visit his son, and by the way Jack was limping, he wouldn’t be going anywhere soon. Well, they’d more than earned it. He wouldn’t deny it was a relief to have them back again, all in one piece — more or less.
The statuette of NebtHet was still on his desk. Hammond picked it up, studying the worn image. Whether the Djedu had succeeded in ascending or not, he supposed they’d never really know. SG-1 hadn’t exactly been forthcoming on what, precisely, NebtHet and the others had learned from studying them, but personally, he couldn’t think of any finer examples of humanity than the four individuals who’d just left the room.
Hammond watched his people disappear down the stairway at the other end of the conference room, talking amongst themselves. He could never condone what the Djedu had done, of course. But if the unintended consequence was that SG-1 had regained some of the confidence and rapport that had been missing these past few months, then perhaps he owed this NebtHet a begrudging nod for succeeding where he had failed.
If for no other reason than that, Hammond hoped Dr. Jackson was right. Maybe, when all was said and done, they’d all found peace in the end.
At the very least, it was nice to think so.
Acknowledgments
FIRST and foremost, I would like to express my deepest and most heartfelt gratitude to Mara Pheonix for suffering through every chapter of this book as it was conceived and written, and for the many (many!) hours of discussion which helped me so much along the way. I could never have accomplished this without her input, encouragement and enduring friendship.
This book would still be languishing on my hard drive were it not for the efforts of Marian Trupiano, whose persistence made this happen, and Diana Dru Botsford, whose insight and guidance helped make it a better story than it otherwise might have been. Of course none of this would have seen the light of day without the support of Sally Malcolm, who took a chance on a new writer and ever so graciously taught her that less is oftentimes more.
My passion for and understanding of the Stargate universe has also been greatly enhanced by innumerable enjoyable conversations with my Gateworld friends: Melissa McDonald, Jane Rawson, Amy Sharpe and Megyn Stacey. And I would especially like to thank Jennifer Fischer, for always making me dig deeper, Mary Boyle, whose own determination and perseverance continue to inspire me, and runway aficionado, Claudia Henry, for being my technical advisor on all things USAF.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Wilfred and Doras Parker, for believing this day would come, and most especially my family, Jim, Thomas and Claire, for putting up with — and occasionally indulging — my science fiction obsessions.
Ad astra per aspera.
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Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Acknowledgments