by Karen Miller
The colonel rolled his eyes. “Surprise, surprise.”
Colonel Dixon said, “General, what’s the deal if these people, like the transplanted Salish on 887, don’t want us touching any of Adjo’s resources?”
“887 was a unique set of circumstances, Colonel,” said Hammond, easily. “I think it’s highly unlikely we’ll discover that these humans are also under the protection of technologically advanced aliens masquerading as Native American gods.”
“Unlikely but not impossible,” said Dixon. “At least, some kind of variation on the theme is possible. Isn’t it? In which case, sir — ”
“In which case SG-1 will negotiate terms, if any negotiation is necessary. In consultation with myself and the US government, naturally.”
“General, does that include offering them relocation?” said Daniel. “If they want it? And if they don’t, at the very least humanitarian assistance? If Teal’c’s right, these people have been on their own in most likely primitive conditions for a long time. It’s a given they’ll be educationally deprived. Probably medically deprived, too. If we’re going in there to take advantage of Adjo’s natural resources don’t we owe them — ”
“Are you saying you object to the nature of the mission, Doctor?” said Hammond. “Should we not be attempting to secure reliable supplies of trinium, naquadah — ”
“No, sir,” Daniel said quickly. “We need those things and I’m all for acquiring them. I’m just pointing out, respectfully, that this has to be a quid pro quo arrangement. Or, you know…”
“We’re no better than the Goa’uld,” said Hammond. “Yes. I do know that, Doctor. And I have no objections to you presenting a report on the humanitarian aspects of this mission. Obviously if they do want to relocate Earth’s out of the question, but there might be other alternatives available.”
Daniel’s face lit up again. “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
Colonel O’Neill shook his head. “Just don’t get carried away.”
Ignoring the looks exchanged between Daniel and the colonel, Hammond said, “Major Carter, how soon before you’ll be ready to sign off on the pre-mission telemetry?”
She checked her notes. “Ah… soon, sir. Within the next day, I think. There’s still some stuff Teal’c needs to — ”
“General Hammond,” said Teal’c. He so rarely interrupted that everyone stared at him. “I regret to inform you that I am unable to endorse the mission to Adjo.”
“What?” said Hammond blankly, into the silence.
“I know this is not what you wish to hear,” Teal’c continued, his face grave, his voice calm. “And for that I am truly sorry. But I believe it is a serious error to pursue a mission to this planet. I would be negligent not to state my objections for the record.”
Hammond sat back in his chair. “Teal’c, I — quite honestly, I don’t know what to say.”
Hands clasped before him on the table, Teal’c inclined his head solemnly. “I realize I am placing you in a difficult position, General. But to remain silent would be a betrayal.”
“Teal’c…” Hammond shook his head. “Please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not slighting the value of your experience or your instincts, but we need to be realistic. To the best of our knowledge this planet’s been untouched by the Go’auld since Ra and Seth abandoned it. Absolutely nothing in the UAV and MALP footage indicates a Goa’uld presence, and every sample collected has been cleared by the labs. There is simply no empirical evidence supporting the notion that Adjo is in any way dangerous.”
Sam glanced at Daniel, who was frowning at his folded hands. Glanced at the colonel, who stared at the ceiling. If he was uncomfortable ignoring Teal’c’s concerns he wasn’t showing it. She cleared her throat.
“No empirical evidence, that’s true, General,” she said. “But — ”
Now she had Colonel O’Neill’s attention. “What, you’re getting cold feet? Because of a fairy tale? Come on, Carter. You know better than that.”
“Major, I don’t dispute Adjo may have had problems in the past,” said the general, “but thirty centuries have gone by. I think delaying this mission because of a hunch, even when it’s Teal’c’s, is carrying caution just a bridge too far. And I can tell you, unequivocally, the President is not going to accept that rationale.”
She knew that, of course. But saying nothing had felt disloyal. She had one last bullet in her gun… “Then sir, while not wishing in any way to contradict you, I’d like to put in one last call to my father. Obviously we can’t wait indefinitely for the Tok’ra to reply, but if we could make contact with Dad and he can supply us with reliable information perhaps Teal’c’s misgivings could be allayed.”
Hammond thought for a moment, then nodded. “All right. But before we start making any intergalactic phone calls — ” He shifted his cool blue gaze to Teal’c. “If, Teal’c, after all due consideration I give the order for SG-1 to proceed, does your noted objection mean you’ll refuse to accompany them?”
“No,” said Teal’c, after an agonizing moment of silence. “I am sworn to serve you and the SGC, General Hammond. I will never abandon SG-1 no matter how ill-judged I feel a mission might be.”
Ouch. A backhanded compliment and then some.
“So in other words,” said Colonel O’Neill, “you just want to get out ahead on the whole ‘I told you so’ routine.”
Sam felt, rather than heard, Colonel Dixon’s amusement. She shifted her gaze to find that he was looking at her. Despite her unease she felt her lips soften into what was almost a smile. One of his eyebrows lifted, a quizzical, ironical comment on the proceedings. Then he was paying attention again.
“O’Neill, I do not find your flippancy helpful,” Teal’c said. He almost never bit the colonel; everyone round the briefing table sat a little straighter, even General Hammond. “Surely you must know I do not say these things lightly.”
“Yes, Teal’c, of course I know that,” said the colonel. Not teasing now, not poking a sly jab, just deadly serious. “But you have to understand what’s at stake. You know what those vultures in Washington are like. What we’ve achieved already around here isn’t enough for them. It’ll never be enough. We have to keep justifying our existence every day of every week of every month of every year. If that wasn’t the case us saving the damned planet from Apophis and his mother ships would’ve earned us a lifetime pass to keep the lights on — but it didn’t. And that means even if there were Goa’uld hanging Christmas decorations off the Adjo gate I’d be saying ‘let’s go’ because it’s what we do. It’s how we keep the lights on.”
It came as a shock to hear the raw passion vibrating in the colonel’s voice. He so rarely permitted deep emotion to show.
“I understand that, O’Neill,” said Teal’c. “I have said what I must. I will say no more.”
“Then I suggest Major Carter tries one last time to get ahold of her father,” said General Hammond. “So we can move on. Major?”
“Yes, sir,” she said, and pushed to her feet. He waved her through the door and she led him and her team out of the briefing room to the control room.
As a result of the successful mission to Ne’tu, the Tok’ra had granted the SGC more liberal access to their whereabouts and personnel. She dialed the gate to Vorash and opened a communications link through the wormhole, acutely aware of Hammond and the colonel practically breathing down her neck. Aware, too, of Teal’c’s silent, brooding disapproval — which in its own way was more disconcerting than the worst O’Neill sarcasm on record.
“This is Major Samantha Carter of the SGC,” she said, with her fingers metaphorically crossed. Be home, Dad, please be home. “Again. I need to speak with my father, Jacob. Is he available yet?”
A moment’s delay, as the signal traveled light years. Then: “Greetings, Major Carter. I am Rusalla of the Tok’ra. We have yet to meet in person but I know much of you and your Tauri companions from Jacob. Unfortunately, Jacob and Selmak are still unavailable. Perhaps anot
her Tok’ra can be of assistance?”
She glanced at Hammond, who shook his head fractionally. She nodded. “Rusalla, it’s good to meet you. And thanks for the offer but this is kind of… personal. And time sensitive. Is there any way you can patch me through to my father as a matter of urgency?”
A longer delay, that didn’t have so much to do with lightyears. “Major Carter, that might be problematic. However I can register your contact with us and — ”
“Yeah, Rusalla, I’ve already left a couple of messages. It appears they’re not getting through. And it’s very important that I speak with my dad. If there’s any way you could pull a few strings — call in a favor or two — I’d really, really appreciate it.”
Another silence. Sam covered the mike with her hand and looked at Hammond. “Too idiomatic do you think, sir? Although Dad can get pretty colorful. Should I — ”
“Major Carter, I will relay your request to Jacob. If he and Selmak can answer you without compromising their current mission, they will. I’m afraid that is the best I can do.”
Chapter Six
Sam bit back what she really wanted to say and muttered dammit instead. Then she glanced at Hammond. The general nodded and mouthed, That’s acceptable. She nodded back and toggled the mike switch. “Rusalla, thank you very much. We’ll be standing by.”
“But for how long?” said Colonel O’Neill, hands shoved in his pockets, his expression disgruntled. “I mean, they say they’re going to get ahold of Jacob but for all we know they’re just yankin’ our chain.”
“You really think they’d do that?” said Colonel Dixon.
O’Neill looked at him. “I thought you said you’d read my mission reports.”
Dixon’s smile was faint, and brief. “Good point.”
“Jack’s right,” said Daniel. “We can’t wait indefinitely to hear from Jacob. If we are going to Adjo then we should just go.”
“Easy there, tiger,” said the colonel. “You’re letting all that shrine stuff go to your head.”
“No, I’m not,” said Daniel, offended.
“Oh yes you are,” said the colonel, with affectionate scorn. “But I’m telling you, Daniel, I don’t care if you’ve got gold-engraved orders from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, you are not getting yourself mixed up in another religious rite fiasco like you did on — on — ”
“K5T-997,” said Daniel, helpfully. “And it wasn’t a religious rite fiasco. It was a perfectly understandable misunderstanding which would’ve been resolved a lot faster if you hadn’t — ”
Under cover of argument, Dixon looked at the general. “This happen a lot, does it, sir?”
Hammond smiled. “I have some phone calls to make,” he said, ending the dispute between Daniel and Colonel O’Neill. “Major Carter, give it half an hour. If we haven’t heard from your father by then we’ll assume he can’t break radio silence and we’ll revisit the question of asking someone else in the Tok’ra if they can assist us with our enquiries.” His gaze slid to Teal’c and back again. “But I must warn you, the President’s not too keen on that Plan B and neither am I.”
Sam nodded. “Yes, sir.”
The general left the control room. A moment later Teal’c departed too, without a word.
“Don’t worry about him, Carter,” said the colonel, catching her look. “He’ll be fine. He must’ve known Washington wouldn’t pay attention to an ancient Jaffa legend.”
“Not Washington, no,” she said, subdued. “But don’t you think he thought we would?”
“Thought we’d what?” The colonel stared at her, incredulous. “Substitute a fairy tale for science? Carter, are you coming down with something? Maybe Fraiser should check you out.”
Daniel cleared his throat. “She’s got a point, Jack. They may not be scientific, but fairytales are often — ”
“Oh, here we go,” muttered the colonel. “Daniel — ”
“Are often based in fact,” said Daniel stubbornly.
“Yeah, maybe, but in the meantime three thousand years have gone by! Have you heard of Chinese Whispers?”
“Come on, Jack, how many times have we uncovered a kernel of truth buried in the — ”
“You said we shouldn’t equate legend with fact. I heard you say it.”
“That’s right,” said Daniel. “But equally, we shouldn’t dismiss legend because it’s not fact. You know as well as I do, Jack, the two have crossed paths a lot in the last three years. Look at Ra, for God’s sake. If he’s not the living proof — ”
“You’re right, Daniel, he’s not,” said the colonel. “Because he’s dead. We killed him.”
“Jack — ”
Sergeant Harriman and the other person in the control room, Technician Farrell, were only just managing to hide their amusement. Dixon wasn’t even bothering to try.
“You should sell tickets, Major,” he remarked under cover of yet another energetic conversation.
Sam shook her head. “I should buy ear plugs. And don’t for a moment think we’re dismissing Teal’c’s concerns out of hand. He’s not the type to raise a red flag for the hell of it.” She chewed the edge of one fingernail. “I should recheck the telemetry. Maybe I missed something in the MALP or UAV readouts. I could’ve made a mistake in the — ”
“Oh please,” said O’Neill, who was disconcertingly capable of following at least three different conversations at the same time. “How likely is that?”
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate the sentiment. But — ”
“Carter, we’re going to be careful,” said the colonel, losing a little of his goodnatured scorn. “We’re always careful.”
“And yet — how many times have you ended up in the infirmary? Sir?”
“Eleven,” said Dixon. “Not including minor scrapes, bangs and bruises.”
“You counted?” said Daniel, diverted.
“You remembered?” said the colonel. “Dixon — ”
“Sorry,” said Dixon, shrugging. “I read the mission reports, remember? And I’ve got a brain built for trivia.”
“Which you’re giving way too much exercise,” said the colonel. “I’m saying this one more time and then I’m done. We need this mission. We’re going on this mission. We — ”
“Sir?” said Technician Farrell, turning away from his post. “Sorry to interrupt, Colonel, but it looks like we’ve got incoming.”
“Get Hammond,” the colonel said to Dixon, then nodded to Farrell. “Well, what are you waiting for? Pick up the phone. Carter?”
Heart thumping, she pushed out of the chair and joined Farrell at his work station, the deep space communications bank. Just as she reached him the comm unit speakers crackled to life.
“—contacting the SGC over secure channels. Do you read? SGC, this is Jacob Carter. Do you copy?”
Farrell scooted out of the way and handed her a headset. “Yeah, Dad, this is Sam. We copy,” she replied. “The connection’s good. Are you practically next door or is it a case of God bless Tok’ra technology?”
“It’s a case of what the hell’s the emergency? Are Mark and the kids okay? Are you? Has anything — ”
“No, sorry, they’re fine! Dad, they’re fine!” She swallowed another curse. She should’ve realized family would be his first thought. “I’m fine too. This is business. We need to know what you can tell us about a former Goa’uld-controlled planet called Adjo.”
“What? Sam, didn’t Vorash tell you I’m on a tricky assignment here? Didn’t we make it clear that every time you break radio silence to contact us there’s a chance the Goa’uld could pinpoint our location?”
“I’ll answer that one, Major,” said General Hammond, returning to the control room with Dixon behind him.
“Sir,” she said, stinging, and handed him her headset.
“Jacob, it’s George,” said the general. “Sorry to bother you in the middle of a mission but I really need an answer on this. We’ve located what could be an invaluable supply of essential resources, signi
ficant enough to change the course of our fight against the Goa’uld. Unfortunately Teal’c’s raised some concerns about the location that I need to address. Is there anything you or Selmak can tell us?”
“About a planet called Adjo? No. We’ve never heard of it.”
“So maybe for once no news is good news,” said the colonel. “Yee haw.”
The speakers crackled again. “Does Teal’c have any hard intel on the planet’s status?”
“No. He has anecdotal evidence only. Vague warnings, Jaffa legends. That sort of thing.”
“Well, I don’t know, George. I mean, you’ve no reason to doubt him but — it sounds pretty fluffy to me.”
Hammond’s lips twitched. “Fluffy?”
“You know what I mean. George, if you like I can do some digging once I’ve dealt with — what I’m dealing with. Might be a few days, though. In the meantime I recommend you use your best judgment. You guys know what you’re doing, most of the time. Look, I gotta go. Tell Sam I’m sorry I barked at her.”
“Okay, Jacob. Thanks. SGC out.”
“So!” said the colonel, as Hammond passed the headset to Technician Farrell. “Time to see the doctor?”
“Not quite yet,” the general replied. “I’ve a couple of things to do before I hit the green light on this one.”
The colonel nodded. “And Fraiser can’t run our bloodwork more than twenty-four hours before we go.”
“Why’s that?” asked Colonel Dixon.
“Microbes,” said O’Neill, vaguely. “Ask Fraiser. She’s almost as good as Carter at boring your pants off with scientific trivia.”
She pulled a face. “Thank you, sir.”
“You’re welcome.” He looked at Hammond. “Guess I’ll get to finishing that Adjo strategic assessment, General.”
“Yes, you do that,” said the general. “I need it for the Pentagon ASAP.”
“And I’ll be in my lab,” said Daniel, as the general withdrew. “Double-checking what I’ve got on the likely cultural backgrounds of the humans Seth and Ra would’ve taken as seed stock back in the day. Of course there’ll have been some cultural drift between then and now but we’ve seen before that absent technological advances the original cultural imprinting tends to remain — ”