Unification: The Anunnaki Unification Book 5

by Michele Briere

  “Alright,” he said. “You have protection?”

  “I’m on the pill and he has condoms,” she told him. She turned toward him and sat next to him, putting her head on his shoulder. “Thank you for being a cool father.”

  “Thank your cousin Charlie,” he told her, pecking the top of her head. “My mistakes with him taught me a lot. I’m not going to tell you I’m happy about this, nor will I order you not to do it; I will ask you not to. Ultimately, it’s your body and you’re old enough to make this decision on your own. Come to us if there’s a problem or if you need to talk.”

  They went inside and discovered Olivia laughing and toddling around Davy who lay on the floor. Davy gently pushed her away and the baby screeched. Fang woofed, cocking his head as he watched the human pup fall, pause in amazement, and laugh at herself. Olivia quickly righted herself and once more attacked her big brother, throwing herself onto him and attempting to gnaw on his face. Davy laughed and wiped baby drool from his face with his sleeve. The phone rang and a moment later Jerrie handed it to Jack.

  “O’Neill. What? What the hell do they want? Well, send them away. Alright, I’ll call the sheriff.” He hit the disconnect and looked at Jerrie as he redialed. “Battle stations,” he said. “The troops are marching on the Healer’s home. Take the kids to Paul’s house.” He alerted the sheriff’s office, irritated that his SF didn’t have legal authority on home ground. He then called Sam and Daniel, warning them before they came home and found a madhouse.

  “Hang tight,” Sam told him. “I’ll bring Alvin and pick you up.”

  “No, we’ll deal with it,” he told her. “The cavalry is surrounding the house. We knew this was going to happen, so we deal with it. No one is going to run me out of my home.”

  “Alright,” Sam said reluctantly. “I’ll be home soon.”

  The flood of mail from around the world was bad enough, to say nothing of the server shutting his public email down because of the overload, and now people are about to knock on his door. Jack hoisted a bag of charcoal out and started the grill. He squirted lighter fluid on the coals and found satisfaction at the sudden high flame. The chicken was half cooked by the time the first of the crowd got through the neighborhood watch and the police. Jack glanced at the growing crowd.

  “Sorry,” he said, using the tongs to gesture toward the meat. “I bought only enough for my family.”

  They stopped, not expecting to see him cooking. There was desperation in them, their fear and need almost overpowering him. He had sensed it from afar and now it was in his backyard. Jack took a centering breath and forced himself not to respond as a cornered soldier.

  A woman opened her mouth to speak.

  “No,” Jack said before she could. “I won’t go with you to visit whatever relative is sick. No, I won’t touch a piece of whatever. No, I’m not going to make the dead walk. Go home, people. If you frighten my kids, I won’t be a happy camper.”

  “God is working through you,” a woman said, daring to step up to him. “We need you. So many people need you.”

  “No one is working through me,” Jack told her. “In case you’ve missed the five o’clock news break, the human race is going through something. A lot of people are doing a lot of unusual things. If you have someone who needs help, you should be at their side, not mine.”

  “Please, General,” a man said. “People are in pain and crying out for help. My son. The cancer….”

  “I’m sorry,” Jack said, hardening himself. “Besides the fact that all I can cure is my kids’ cuts and scrapes, cancer is a fact of the human body, according to the science geeks, and certain chemicals can trigger it; maybe you should be getting angry at the people who are causing cancer, and fight to stop it from continuing. This poor-me attitude doesn’t work on me. Get off your asses and quit looking for an outside cause. There is no God, there is no devil. Get over it. When you need an alien rousted, let me know.”

  The crowd wasn’t sure what to make of this unexpected position and uncertainty began to cross a few faces.

  “And if one of your kids had cancer?” the man angrily asked. Jack flipped a chicken breast and tested a potato.

  “I’d be as angry as you are,” he told the man. “And I’d be trusting in the doctors to do all they can. I’ve lost a child, I do know how it feels. Your kid needs you. Your kid is scared and where are you? Holding his hand? Reading him a story? Kissing his owies? No, you’re here interrupting my family time. Go be with your kid, mister. That’s all I’m trying to do.”

  A small arm slid around Jack’s waist and he looked down. The people were startled, not having noticed the boy come through them.

  “David,” Jack began, worried for his safety. He shot a warning look at the crowd.

  “I’m hungry,” Davy said, leaning into Jack’s side. “They’re scared, Daddy.”

  “I know,” Jack said. “I just don’t want them scaring you.”

  “I’m not scared,” Davy told him. He rubbed at his nose and poked a finger toward the potatoes. Jack rapped his hand.

  “Germs,” he said with a frown.

  Davy put the hand behind his back. “Why are you scared?” he asked the man with the sick child. The man found himself staring into Davy’s dark eyes.

  “I…. don’t want my son to die,” the man told him. “He’s very sick.”

  “My mommy died,” Davy unexpectedly told him. “We went to see her at the cemetery yesterday. My sister Olivia was born when mommy died. She’s just a baby. Will someone be born when your son dies?”

  “No one should have to die,” the man told him in a quivering voice. “Not children.”

  Davy tilted his head to consider it. “Uncle Danny says if no one dies, no one can live because there wouldn’t be enough room or food for everyone. Do you want all of us to not be here ever again?”

  “I would die for my son to live,” the man told him.

  “Would that make your son happy?” Davy asked.

  The man choked and held himself from hitting the boy. Jack felt for the bug in his pocket.

  “Uncle Danny says we each have our time,” Davy said. “If we didn’t, nothing could live. I’m sorry about your son. When I’m sick, I like my Daddy to hold me. Maybe if you hold your son, it’ll make him feel better, too.”

  They jumped at the sound of a siren. Richardson and his deputies came in and quickly rounded everyone up.

  “I’m sorry, Jack,” Andy said over the protests. Sam and Daniel came in through the people, both of them holding new bugs. Daniel lifted Davy and settled him on his back, turning to place Davy in the center of their three-point guard.

  “You guys alright?” Sam asked.

  “We’re fine,” Jack assured her.

  “They’re scared, Aunt Sam,” Davy told her.

  “I know they are, sweetie,” she said.

  “We were on a crash site across town, Jack,” Andy told them. “We’ll find out who they are. Do you want to press charges?”

  “No,” Jack shook his head. “They’re desperate. Just send them home. Listen, Andy, this is probably going to happen again. Honestly, I don’t know what to do about it. I don’t want my home turning into a Mecca for these people.”

  Andy took his hat off and scratched at his head. He turned his head to watch his deputies and SF take the people back to their cars.

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” he said. “I know you, Jack. Your neighbors know you. To those people, you’re a hero. You protect them from aliens, your ships come in and save people from bombs, and now you have the band-aid businesses on the run. You’re larger than life, Jack.”

  “So, maybe I should move everyone off-world,” Jack suggested with a frown.

  “No.” They looked at Daniel. “Immersion therapy.”

  “You want us to go swimming?” Jack asked.

  “No,” Daniel said patiently. “Let’s do a little show and tell. If people realize that you’re not the only weird one, maybe they’ll leave us al
one.”

  “I’m not weird,” Jack said, frowning.

  “Yes, you are,” his partners said.

  After dinner, once the kids were in bed, the trio sat in the living room with Hammond, Landry, Paul, and Nick. Gabriel was present via the computer. Hammond and Landry wanted to reroute one of the ships for a convenient upgrade. Also for a quick getaway. Paul and Nick were agreeing.

  “No,” Jack said. “Not yet. Gabriel and Sam –do we have footage of other people with significant advances?”

  The two looked at each other and nodded. Both their teams had been collecting odds and ends tape of people doing things a little more out of the ordinary than most.

  “Anything really spectacular?” Jack asked. “Disappearing acts? Card tricks?”

  Gabriel wasn’t sure if Jack was serious.

  “No,” Sam told him. “No changing students into ferrets.”

  Gabriel’s brow cleared. “I’ve found a few more people who can diagnose by looking at someone,” he said. “Some are rural healers. Local faith-healer stuff. A few teenagers and young adults. While our generation seems to be improving talents we already possess, the next generation seems to be the one coming up with the new, overt talents. Medicine seems to be the main focus. For our groups, anyway.”

  Sam nodded. “We’re finding that, too,” she said. “More than medicine, it seems to be science that’s the main focus.”

  “That would make sense,” Daniel said. “Brains expanding their networks have always brought leaps in the field of science. Those leaps bring the more sociological advances.”

  “So it’s no coincidence that we have more eggheads than military?” Jack asked.

  “Correct,” Sam said and tossed a pillow in his direction. “And quit knocking the eggheads. We keep the gate and ships functioning, you just remember that.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, crooking the side of his mouth up. “Alright, so do we have enough people to put a good clip together?”

  “Well, a lot of the problem we’ve been running into is that there are a many people coming from uneducated areas,” Gabriel said, frowning at the dilemma. “You were right about the problem in South America, Daniel; tribal peoples seem to be handling it well. They’ve been elevating their ‘special’ people to shaman status. There seems to be a revival of some of the old traditions. The cities have a heightened death rate, especially among children.”

  “Please tell me they’re not sacrificing hearts,” Daniel begged.

  “Not that we’ve noticed,” Gabriel said, understanding his concern. “No, not those tribal traditions. They’re combining the more spiritual aspects of their local religions, mostly Catholicism, with the older religions. The new ‘shamans’ are teaching the peaceful aspects in conjunction with their old gods.”

  “Really?” Daniel took a more interested look at him.

  “I’ll pass on the tapes to you,” Gabriel promised.

  “Later, Daniel,” Jack said, knowing that look.

  “They also seem to be localized,” Gabriel told him. “Not all the countries are doing that well south of the border. Mexico is having a hard time of it, but the more south you go, the better it gets. Colombia is pretty bad. Honduras, San Salvador, Venezuela, and Argentina are also bad. The other countries are taking it better. It could be because they’ve kept much of their local traditions in tact, which were always heavy in traditional magic. Any of the tribal areas take magical acts in stride. It’s everyday life for them. If we jump to Asia, Thailand is doing well, as are most of the more inland tribes in other countries of the region. China’s mainland area is bad, the countryside could be better if they weren’t so overrun with corruption. The Arab States are not doing well at all, but surprisingly the tribes, such as the Bedouins, are doing well with it. Gypsies everywhere are dancing and singing their hearts out about it.”

  “How do gypsies being happy with the magic help us?” Landry asked, leaning in to look into the computer screen. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against them, but it isn’t like we can put them to work on diagnostics.”

  “No, of course not,” Gabriel agreed. “What I’m getting at is that because the tribal peoples are more open to it, it’s happening faster in those areas. They think their gods are happy with them, so the children are being blessed. We need to show the cities and orthodox peoples that this is a good thing. And to get to Jack’s request, I believe we have more than enough footage to fascinate the general public.”

  “Good, thank you,” Jack said, waving an irritated hand at him. “Alright, you and Sam get your prize hens together, run it by Paul for content, and we’ll get it distributed. And put an emphasis on healing. Get some of the limelight off me.”

  “I want to help.” They looked at the stairs. Katie stood at the top, her night robe pulled together. She came down, frowning in a familiar, thoughtful O’Neill pose.

  “I don’t think so,” Jack said. “You’re….”

  “I’m a kid, I know,” she said, huffing in agitation. “So you’ve told me often enough, lately. But I was adult enough to help off-world, and adult enough to help with the radiation victims from Korea. Let me be adult enough to show people who I really am. I’m not the only one, Dad; I’ve kept in contact with other ‘kids’ who can do things. We can all help. We’re not kids anymore.”

  “That’s another thing, Jack,” Gabriel said from the screen. “The teenagers seem to be maturing, emotionally, a few years earlier. If I were to use other seventeen-year old talents as an example, Katie’s development is that of a twenty-one-year old. I’ll bet Matthew’s been thinking like an eighteen year old.”

  Jack considered arguing and then thought about it. “Now that you mention it,” he reluctantly said. “And now that I think about it. Is their physical development changing?”

  “No,” Gabriel said, shaking his head, much to Jack’s relief. “Just emotional catching up with physical. Brains, body, and emotional development have been out of kilter for a very long time, and they are now beginning to sync. I’m not trying to tell you what to do with your daughter, just letting you know that her emotional development just might be up for it.”

  “Let me think about it,” Jack said. Katie bid them good-night, knowing that he really would consider it.

  “Oh, my God,” Jack groaned, putting his face into his hands. “Just what we need –mature teenagers. Next thing you know, they’ll want legal rights to marry at thirteen. Couldn’t this go the other way? Hold off on the physical changes until their brains are ready?”

  The others chuckled at him and Daniel patted his thigh. “That part of the brain is too ancient,” Daniel said. “This makes more sense. It’ll mean they don’t have to wait until middle age to be adapt at their careers. They should be about thirty, instead of forty-five or fifty. They’ll work longer and enjoy a youthful life longer. Eventually, school will need to be altered so that they graduate at sixteen instead of eighteen.”

  “So, do we reroute the ships?” Hammond asked, trying to get to the original meeting.

  “Give me a week and I think my team can have another arch ready,” Sam said. “We can put it here in the house. If someone is caught here, they can escape to HomeSec or Area 51. It’s easy enough, the kids can use it without a problem.”

  It took two weeks for the new arch to be ready. Two of them, actually; the fourth was for the SGC. Sam tested them time and again, making sure nothing would go wrong with the traveler. The last thing they wanted was for one of the kids to emerge from the other end inside out. Each arch would be programmed for seven locations. Three blocks at either side of the arch entrance would hold the ID for another arch. The seventh could be operated in an emergency and would take the traveler directly to a central location, yet to be determined. The arch was protected by a security ID which only certain people would know, so that the wrong people couldn’t use it.

  “Sort of a speed dial,” Daniel commented, watching the arch being put together around the front door
. “With a home-owner’s security code.”

  “Exactly,” Sam said, giving him a pat. The front door would be replaced with a door that was arch shaped. All in all, it was a nice, decorative door, if no one knew what else it was.

  “Why can’t it be door shaped?” Jack asked. “We wouldn’t have to replace our door.”

  “The shape is part of its conductive properties,” Sam told him. “It needs to be that shape.”

  Daniel frowned at his coffee cup. “Jerrie, did you clean the coffee pot? Tastes like vinegar.”

  “No, I didn’t,” she said. “You like the sludge so I don’t clean it.” The cup was once more tasted and once more frowned at.

  “Da!” Jack looked down at the baby who was holding her arms out. “Uh….p.”

  “Stinker,” he informed her as he picked her up. Now that Jack was listening for it, Gabriel had been correct in that Olivia would be talking slightly above the previous average for a one-year old. Her six tiny white seedling teeth shone brightly as she grinned at him.

  Once the arch was set and the test signal verified, one of the techs activated it and stepped through, disappearing. The phone rang moments later.

  “He’s safely at the lab,” Sam said, hanging up. “We have a working arch.” The tech was back an instant later. Sam ushered Jerrie and the kids over and went through the routine of making the arch work and what the security code was to activate it, stressing to the kids that no one, absolutely no one, was to know the code. Do not write it down; memorize it. The kids promised.

  “Can we use it to go to school?” Stacey asked.

  “No, Miss Lazy, you can’t,” Sam informed her.

  “You know Henry’s going to want one,” Jack said.

  “There are more in the works,” she said. “I’ve been concentrating on the new ships, or this would have been done sooner. I think we need to discuss who gets them. I can’t see them in every home.”

  “Why not?” Daniel asked. “It would cut down on ambulance time if these were standard features. Make the civilian arches for medical emergency use. People won’t have to wait for EMS, they can go directly to the hospital from their home.”