Diplomacy (13a/27)
Title: Diplomacy ( Table of Contents)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I gain nothing of material value from this.
Pairings: Gen.
Chapter1a-- 1b Chapter2 Chapter3 Chapter4 Chapter5a-- 5b Chapter6 Chapter7 Chapter8 Chapter9 Chapter10 Chapter11a-- 11b Chapter12 Chapter13a-- 13b Chapter14a-- 14b Chapter15a-- 15b Chapter16 Chapter17a-- 17b Chapter18 Chapter19 Chapter20 Chapter21 Chapter22 Chapter23 Chapter24 Chapter25 Chapter26 Epilogue
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Frater, Mater, Pater, Part I
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20 November 1998; SGC, Earth; 1000 hrs
Jack moved toward Carter's office and was about to barge in when he heard her voice through the closed door. He stopped with a hand poised over the handle.
"... do you mean, 'why?' I..." There was a long pause, and then, "Okay. I was just calling to...what? No, I just wanted to... Dad. Look, never mind. Sorry to bother you."
Ack. Awkward.
When it seemed certain that the conversation was over, he knocked sharply and called, "Carter, you in there?"
Immediately, there was the sound of a chair scraping on the floor, and the door was pulled open to reveal the captain's ever-professional expression. "Sir."
"Bra'tac's here," he said bluntly. "Let's go."
"Bra'tac, sir?" she repeated, hurrying out of the office to follow him. "I thought he was in the Land of Light, training Teal'c's son."
"He's been going all over. He was on Chulak just now." He glanced over to see her worried expression. "Apophis is back. He's there. Teal'c's family's old home is burned to ground, and apparently there's a mark over it that means 'traitor.' There's a bounty on Teal'c's head."
Carter winced. "Oh. Well, that's...unfortunate, sir, but not unexpected--"
"And on his son's head." Her eyes widened. "Granted, it's probably just another way to try to get to Teal'c, and they're not gonna find Rya'c, but it's making people jumpy. And Apophis is trying to pick up more Jaffa on Chulak. He's been tearing up the planet, executing rebel sympathizers--pretty much everyone Bra'tac had recruited to our side. By the time Bra'tac got there, the fight had already"--been lost--"ended. He just came to give us the news."
"All that, just to look for Rya'c and Teal'c?" Carter asked, shaking her head. "Besides, Apophis can't be having much success recruiting. Turning back his invasion at Earth, destroying two of his motherships and the armies aboard them--"
"--wasn't as much of as setback as we'd hoped for, Captain," he told her grimly. "A lot of Jaffa have gone back over to him, according to Bra'tac, and then they fought their way through the ones who didn't. In fact, the rebels who survived...they're not so sure about the cause anymore, either, and Bra'tac would probably be killed if he were ever seen there again."
"Oh, God. Is he all right?"
Physically... "No injuries." Jack gave her a look. "He managed to escape his former friends' attempts to bring another shol'va to justice."
She sighed. "They still think Apophis is a god even after he failed to destroy the SGC."
"Yeah," Jack said. "Bra'tac's having a hard time swallowing it himself. Anyway, by now, all the warriors on Chulak are either back to following Apophis or were wiped out." He had never seen Bra'tac looking so...tired. Defeated. Lost. Honestly, it was unsettling.
"But why would Apophis be looking for Teal'c and his family on Chulak," Carter was saying, "when he must know they're not there anymore?" She frowned as he pushed the elevator button. "And why are we going up, sir?"
"Bra'tac and Teal'c think Apophis might have been looking for something else besides just Teal'c. Something he's really wanted to find lately."
It only took a moment for the implication to sink in. "The Harsesis."
Jack nodded. "Yep. That's why we're going to talk to Rothman and Daniel."
"Apophis doesn't know we have the baby, then? Heru-ur has to know the Tau'ri attacked him, and he must be looking for allies against us, now that so much of his forces were wiped out by the Asgard. To be honest, sir, I've been expecting a Goa'uld to come looking for Shifu for quite a while now, but here, not on Chulak."
"Bra'tac thinks he saw some Horus Guards on Chulak, so Apophis obviously doesn't still think Heru-ur's got the baby," he said. "Maybe they did team up, since they've both been knocked around recently, or maybe Apophis recruited some of Heru-ur's Jaffa away from him. But either way, whatever intel he's got is pretty shoddy."
"Unless," she suggested, "Heru-ur did tell him we have the Harsesis. Maybe this attack was to get Teal'c's attention and draw us out, since neither of them is in any condition to attack us directly at home."
"Carter, Apophis is insane. If he's willing to kill his way through Chulak, who knows what else he'll do?"
"Maybe even activate those nanocytes," she speculated. "Might make it harder for us to deal with the Harsesis then."
Great. He hadn't even considered that possibility. "The point is, whatever we're gonna do with the Harsesis, we have to do it soon, or more people will be killed, and we might be next on the list."
When they arrived, Rothman was sitting awkwardly to one side. Daniel was perched on the edge of his desk, holding Shifu. While the finger of one hand was clutched in the baby's fist, however, Daniel's complete attention was fixed on the two Jaffa warriors standing before him.
Bra'tac was staring in something like awed disbelief at the Harsesis, who stared back and grinned toothlessly, his free hand jerking in an approximation of a wave. All of them were talking in quiet, urgent Goa'uld except Rothman, who looked like he was focusing too much on trying to follow the conversation to add to it. Suddenly, Daniel perked up visibly and turned to Teal'c, saying, "Kel 'Lok'na Ko?'"
Teal'c noticed Jack and Sam at the entrance, and his answer came in English in deference to them. "The Lok'na Ko is a group of planets whose resources have been depleted by mining."
Daniel looked up and saw them as well, everything about him radiating a barely suppressed excitement. "Oh, good, you're here," he started. "Sam, we think Apophis has been looking for--"
"I heard," she said. "Daniel, we have to figure out what to do with the baby."
"I know. Guys...Tek'ma'tae Bra'tac has heard of Kheb."
Jack took his hands out of his pockets. "Really."
"Yes--it's an old Jaffa legend. Elderly Jaffa used to go there so their kalach...um...ka. Soul. So their soul could pass through to the next life."
"It is more than a place of passage," Bra'tac picked up. "A Jaffa warrior sees much evil and is darkened by the prim'ta he carries within him. Kheb is a place where the kalach may learn the path through such darkness and to the light. It was guarded as a secret from the Goa'uld."
Jack didn't comment. 'Path to the light' sounded a little...hokey to him. Then again, Bra'tac didn't seem like one for baseless stories, and if anyone needed to get rid of a little darkness, a Harsesis would be a good candidate.
Bra'tac was continuing, "When the Goa'uld learned of Kheb and made their way there, they never returned."
Daniel was looking at them expectantly. Jack had to ask, "How do we know Sha'uri was the one who wanted the Harsesis brought to Kheb? How do we know it wasn't Amaunet and this isn't some elaborate Goa'uld trick?"
Teal'c answered for him. "Both Sha'uri and Amaunet wished to hide the boy from other Goa'uld. A planet such as Kheb would be the perfect place to hide anything from others."
"It is forbidden among the Goa'uld to speak of Kheb," Bra'tac added, "and it is a place that they fear above all else."
If this Kheb place was as forbidden as Bra'tac thought, it was crazy to begin with for any Goa'uld to suggest having anything to do with it. That part sounded pretty good to Jack, except that both Amaunet and Apophis were apparently prone to crazy things, what with the whole Harsesis business to begin with. Who was to say that Apophis wouldn't think of Kheb as a possibility, too? What if he'd heard that Heru-ur had Amaunet but not the Harsesis, and he knew that Kheb had been his queen's backup plan? And the knowledge of Kheb had to have come from Amaunet, even if Sha'uri had been the one to voice it; how could they be sure that Amaunet hadn't told Heru-ur about it, whether by choice or under torture?
"This is all very nice," Jack said, even though it really sort of wasn't. "But what's at Kheb, and is it a place that we should also be fearing?"
"I told you, Jack," Daniel said, "that the Ancients said there was light at Kheb."
"And the Jaffa say it brings souls to the light," Carter said thoughtfully. "That can't be a coincidence, sir."
"Well, that could just be a lexical coincidence," Daniel told her. Then, as if realizing he wasn't making his point any stronger, added, "But that other phrase I told you about, Jack, from the Ancient database...I think it means that it's a 'place of exile' or a 'banishing place.' Maybe they banished Goa'uld from there, or banished Goa'uld to there. Either way, if the Goa'uld don't like it, we should take a look."
"Yeah, but we've sent probes to a lot of the new planets entered into the computer by the Ancient database," Jack said, "and we haven't found any sign of...whatever we'd be looking for."
"Well, maybe that's the problem, sir," Carter countered. "We had no idea what we were looking for, and there are so many addresses that we've barely scratched the surface."
"Sam," Daniel said, "that's not all. The Jaffa have a story that says Osiris hid from Setesh on one of the planets of the Lok'na Ko. It's a group of planets they know of."
Jack raised his eyebrows, wondering if that was supposed to mean anything, because it didn't to him, but Carter had her thinking expression on again. "That's one of the legends you told me about Kheb, right?" she said. "You said it had to do with hiding from Setesh."
Rothman nodded. "The Abydonian version of the myth."
"I don't suppose any of you knows which planet?" Jack asked. "Or the Stargate address?" Daniel and Rothman looked to Bra'tac.
The Jaffa master shook his head. "I do not. The Goa'uld do not allow its location to be known among the Jaffa. However, your chal'ti tells me that you have a...map of many Stargates. I can show you the other planets of the Lok'na Ko."
"And, Jack," Daniel put in, "when you were putting in Stargate addresses from the Ancient database, I thought at first you were identifying Kheb. You never did, of course, but I've suspected that one of those might be the right place, since it certainly wouldn't have been listed among the Abydos cartouches."
Jack looked to Carter, who nodded. "It's worth looking into, sir. If we can pinpoint an address from the Ancient database that's in the same place as other planets of this...Lok'na Ko, that might be the place."
Shifu sighed loudly and sucked his thumb and pretended he wasn't the center of a Goa'uld plot of galactic scale. Daniel looked over him at Jack.
"All right," Jack agreed. "Let's see if we get a match."
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20 November 1998; SGC, Earth; 1100 hrs
They got a match.
General Hammond looked from Jack and Carter on one side of the briefing room table to Daniel, Rothman, and the two Jaffa on the other. "How do we know what we'll find on this Kheb?"
"The story I have heard says that Kheb is an untouched wilderness," Bra'tac said. "It is said that there are great mountains and a single temple in a valley distant from the Stargate."
"We didn't get much from the MALP, other than some plant growth," Carter said, "but what we did see seems to match that description."
"And this is all based on an old legend told among some of the Jaffa," Hammond clarified.
Bra'tac looked indignant. "I have no reason to doubt its truth, Hammond of Texas. It was this story that convinced me, and many other rebel Jaffa, that the Goa'uld are not true gods."
"You misunderstand me, Bra'tac," Hammond assured him. "It's not that I don't believe you. It's just that, whether or not the Jaffa know of this place, if Amaunet and her host were able to tell SG-1 about it, the Goa'uld obviously aren't ignorant of it, however much they might fear it."
"If Amaunet thought to hide the Harsesis on Kheb, then Apophis will eventually come to that conclusion as well," Teal'c summarized.
"And Apophis is just nuts enough to go," Jack said. "Maybe other Goa'uld, too. Hell, Heru-ur was nuts enough to try Cimmeria; Kheb's not a long shot."
"Exactly," Hammond agreed. "Why shouldn't we just let them go to this place and suffer whatever consequences there are?"
"Because that doesn't solve our problem, sir," Carter said. "We know from experience with Heru-ur that the Goa'uld will be looking for the Harsesis. Heru-ur must know the Tau'ri were the ones who attacked him and took the baby, so anyone he's told might try to hit us here, too. Besides, if anything on that planet can tell us more about the Harsesis and what he knows, that has to be a priority for us."
"The Harsesis child could be the undoing of all Goa'uld," Bra'tac said.
"You know," Jack said, "that's the second or third time I've heard something like that, and I still have no clue what it means."
"Master Bra'tac has heard of a child born of two Goa'uld," Teal'c said, "and he believes that such a child would indeed have all the knowledge of the Goa'uld, as we have suspected. Such knowledge could substantially improve our weapons technology and reveal their secrets to us."
Rothman added, "Or he could be a tool that a Goa'uld can use to seize more power for himself."
"General," Carter said, "the point is, we have very little understanding of someone who could be very important in this war. Even if we can't gain the knowledge that the Harsesis carries by going to Kheb, we need to know more about what we're dealing with."
"Also," Daniel put in, "we know the Goa'uld fear the place, the Ancients didn't, and Jaffa disillusioned with their false gods used to journey there. Sir, even putting Shifu aside, that's something we have to explore."
Hammond looked around at all of them again. "You all agree?"
"The recent activity on Chulak made it clear we need to do something," Jack said, "and this could be a step closer to a solution to the Harsesis issue. It's the best we've got to go on, sir."
Hammond nodded. "Then I need to warn you all that this may very well be your last chance to act." Jack looked up in surprise. "As you know, I've been getting pressure from various sources about the boy. Recently, people have been starting to talk about taking some action."
"Oh, for cryin' out loud--"
"There are people worried about human rights, for now, but it may be only a matter of time before more people are swayed by the potential security risk--and the potential benefits to us."
"The President, sir?" Carter asked.
"He's reluctant to take that step, especially if it will alienate Abydos as an ally," Hammond said, but all of them heard the 'for now' he left unsaid. For all that Abydos was useful as a source of naquadah, there would be those more than willing to sacrifice friendship with an unindustrialized village if it could help them beat the Goa'uld.
"They have no right to do anything to him," Daniel spoke up.
"Maybe not, Mr. Jackson, but that doesn't mean someone won't try."
"The NID?"
"Not officially, I would think," Hammond said, though they all knew 'unofficial' was probably more dangerous than 'official' where the NID was concerned. Officially, no one could do anything to the baby without proof of anything; unofficially, someone had found a Stargate in Antarctica and kept it hidden for over a decade.
"Shifu is not under any command here," Daniel said. "There's nothing to stop me from taking him to his grandfather if anyone tries to do something."
"That's true," Hammond allowed, looking troubled, "but if Apophis or Heru-ur really wants the Harsesis, even weakened, they'll tear Nagada apart for him. There's nothing the SGC could do about that. It wouldn't be safe there, for Shifu or for your village."
"It doesn't look like it's going to be very safe here, either, sir," Jack pointed out. More than that, unless someone was hiding nifty tech they didn't know about, there was no way to interrogate a baby, which meant that the only course of action would be to neutralize the potential threat, not use the intelligence. And when the threat was a human baby, it wasn't difficult to neutralize it. "And what, may I ask, is the Pentagon planning to do with the Harsesis?"
Hammond's expression was grim. "Nothing so drastic as you're probably thinking, Colonel. But there have been...some suggestions about a few things that could be tried. For example, trying to manipulate those nanocytes in his brain ourselves so that we can question him effectively when he's physically old enough."
Right. Because that would end out well.
"Uh, sir," Carter said, her eyes wide, "that could be incredibly dangerous. Even if we're able to do it, we have no idea what those nanocytes are programmed to do: whether they'll make him age, or activate something to make him more vulnerable to the Goa'uld. Or, for all we know, they could act as some sort of beacon to help Apophis or other Goa'uld locate him. The point is, we're completely in the dark."
"I understand that, Captain. If it comes to that, I'll fight it, and I'm hopeful that they can be made to see reason."
"Optimistic of you," Jack had to say. Hammond ignored him.
"But ultimately, people are going to start talking." The general gave each of them in turn a serious look. "If we don't figure out a solution sometime soon, whether it's getting our hands on Goa'uld intel or making damn sure that the Harsesis isn't any sort of threat, someone will eventually try to take action. At that point, our only options will be to comply or let him go back to Abydos, and"--Hammond nodded to Daniel--"I'm honestly not sure which would be more dangerous. For any of us."
"Yes, sir," Jack answered for his team. "Then Kheb's our best shot. Request permission for SG-1 to take the Harsesis to P9C-292. I'd like some backup, too, in case it really is Kheb and a Goa'uld decides to join the party."
"Granted, Colonel. SG-2 will accompany you."
Bra'tac spoke up, his eyes burning with some hint of renewed fire. "As will I."
"And me," Daniel said.
"I don't think so," Rothman scoffed.
"Well, think again," Daniel snapped at his mentor. "If it concerns Shifu, I should be there. And this place came from the Ancient database, possibly peopled by beings who speak Ancient--I have the best chance of any sort of meaningful communication."
Rothman's mouth had opened a little in surprise, but, when no one backed him up, he closed it and stayed silent.
Hammond glanced at Jack, who tried not to let his reluctance show as he nodded slightly.
"Very well, SG-1, Mr. Jackson," the general said. "You'll leave at 1300 hours."
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20 November 1998; SGC, Earth; 1245 hrs
When Jack walked into the infirmary, he was just about to tell Daniel to move it and get his gear together, but his civilian consultant (ambassador, Jack supposed; today Daniel was a representative of Abydonian interests in their leader's grandson, who happened to also be the Harsesis) was already dressed, a zat gun fastened at his leg where most people would carry a pistol and his backpack in place. He held what looked like another miniature backpack in his hands, and his expression as he stared at it was dumbfounded. It was one of those sling carrier things you strapped onto your chest, Jack realized, for the baby. The first time he and Sara had bought one like it for Charlie, he remembered getting tangled in the straps.
Daniel's eyes snapped up at his approach, and he mumbled, "Janet gave me... She doesn't like the idea of taking the baby for a trip like this, but she said this would make it easier on both of us. But I'm not sure how..."
"Need help?" Jack asked, gesturing with a hand. Daniel simply nodded and wordlessly held it out. "Ah...let's see...take off your pack and your vest first."
When Jack had strapped the carrier onto him and the pack was shouldered again, Daniel lifted Shifu out of the bed but didn't stick him into the carrier yet.
"Do you have your allergy meds with you?" Jack asked. "The MALP showed a lot of plants. There's probably pollen everywhere."
"Janet gave them to me," he said, opening a pocket on his vest to show the blister pack inside. "I already took some. She said not to take a high dose unless I need it, until I'm used to them. They make me a little...fuzzy."
"More than usual?" Jack said, but it was an automatic response. Everyone involved was humming with muted anticipation, and Daniel didn't roll his eyes or take offense. "All right. Ferretti's men are checking over their supplies. Carter's making a quick phone call--"
"To her father?" Daniel said.
Jack started to say 'no clue,' but remembered the end of the conversation he'd overheard that morning and said instead, "Could be. Why? How do you know?"
"Because...you know."
"No, I don't. Know what?"
"Really?" Daniel frowned and searched his face for a moment, looking indecisive, then shook his head. "Well, I guess... It's not for me to say, then."
Well, that sounded mysterious. Still, there was nothing he could say to that if it was personal, which family business always was, so Jack shrugged and went on, "Teal'c and Bra'tac have been waiting in the embarkation room for a while now."
"I'm not surprised," Daniel said, though his gaze was once again occupied with his baby brother. "Master Bra'tac has been searching for Kheb for over a century. And he had friends on Chulak who died, and...and ideals that died there, you know? I think he's eager to find..."
"What?"
"I don't know. Something. Something to believe in, maybe."
Jack watched Daniel's thumb stroke gently across Shifu's pudgy cheek. "Never really thought of Jaffa as the religious sort."
Daniel gave him a sideways glance. "The Jaffa are indoctrinated to fight in the name of their god, Jack."
"Yeah, but this, with Bra'tac and Kheb..." This felt different. This was a different religion, one that wasn't based on trying to please god who would kill them if they didn't.
Daniel shook his head slowly, but not in contradiction. "The Jaffa of his legends believed in Kheb. Master Bra'tac believes in it. That's all that matters, right? Maybe he just..." He stopped, searching for the words. "Well, what would you do if you were told something your whole life, and...and you discovered they were lying to you, and now you were on the verge of finding something...real? Jack, the SGC fights the Goa'uld because they kill and conquer what they have no right to...but the right to believe in our history, our ancestors, our gods as we choose to--that's what the Goa'uld have taken from us."
"Us?" Jack repeated.
"I meant...'us' in general," Daniel said quickly. "The Jaffa and the people of Abydos. The older generations, obviously. I never lived under the Goa'uld."
"Uh-huh," Jack said, still watching him carefully. "What about you? You believe in this Kheb place, too?"
Shifu squirmed restlessly but remained silent, as if sensing something serious was happening. Daniel pursed his lips and shrugged. When Jack thought he wasn't going to answer, he offered, "I believe in Sha'uri and what she asked me to do for her son."
"Yeah," Jack said, suppressing his lingering doubts and trying to force the change in his mind from 'kid' to 'Jackson,' because brooding on what might be wasn't good for anyone. "All right, stop thinking so hard. In less than fifteen minutes, we're walking through the Stargate. If we're right, this could be a pretty damn important trip, so I need you sharp."
Looking a little apprehensive, Daniel asked, "Why...what do you need me to do?"
"The rest of us are going to be busy making sure no one tries to kill us. We can't watch the surroundings and the baby at the same time. You hold onto your brother, stay safe, and help Bra'tac try to make contact with any friendly beings we meet there. That's your mission this time, understood?"
Daniel looked up at the change in tone and straightened. "Yes, sir."
"Repeat it back to me."
"I keep Shifu safe and communicate with friendlies. Understood."
"Good." Softening his voice again, Jack asked, "Are you ready?"
"Do I have a choice?"
"Thought you were excited about Kheb."
"No, I am. I just...wish I knew what would..." He glanced at Shifu.
"You don't have to come with us on this one, Daniel," Jack said.
"Of course I do."
"Then this is it."
Daniel bit his lip, then nodded. "Then I'm ready."
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20 November 1998; Kheb; 1305 hrs
'Untouched wilderness' was right. The Stargate on P9C-292 was surrounded on all sides by trees and other growth that apparently hadn't seen human--or Goa'uld--interference in a while. This was clearly a place where nature had been allowed to run wild. It confirmed what Bra'tac had said about the planet, and Daniel was now joining the two Jaffa in looking around the lush greenery in a kind of awe, as if not quite able to believe that they might truly have found the right place.
"Naturu," Daniel breathed in wonder. "Nafi iwe."
"Ti'u," Teal'c answered.
Jack wasn't sure what they were saying, but he suspected it was something similar to Carter's observation of, "It's beautiful."
It was, Jack could admit. It was untouched. It was unsullied. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
"Everyone make it through?" he said as the wormhole closed behind them.
"SG-2's all here," Ferretti replied.
"So is everyone else, sir," Carter said.
"Any signs of company?"
"No one has passed this way," Teal'c said calmly, turning away from the scenery to face him.
"No tracks on the ground," Bra'tac confirmed. "No one has been here in a long time."
Something in Jack relaxed a tiny bit at that and dared to hope it meant that no one had come or was coming. The rest of him knew they wouldn't be home free until they were home. "Ferretti, you and your men hold the fort. Check in every thirty minutes."
"Yes, sir. Good luck," Ferretti answered with a smart salute. "SG-2, spread out and guard the 'gate." A few guys on SG-2 nodded to Daniel as well, and Griff added, "Luck, kid," before moving away to take up his position. Daniel gave them a tight smile and nodded back.
As Ferretti had predicted from the start, Daniel had been assigned to SG-2 early on for a number research or negotiation trips, but not yet to SG-1, simply because most planets--or at least a plurality--spoke a dialect Teal'c knew. It was odd to realize Daniel wasn't just SG-1's kid brother anymore, and while Jack thought that he should take it as a good thing--that he didn't have to spend his missions being disturbed that a kid was being deployed under his command--part of him thought he'd prefer having that kid under his command instead of someone else's. Nothing against Ferretti, but...well. Their kid brother and all.
"SG-1, Bra'tac, Daniel," Jack said, "let's go. We're looking for a..."
"A temple," Bra'tac filled in.
"Yeah." He paused for a minute. "Ah...anyone know which way, or are we just gonna have to pick a direction?"
"North," Daniel spoke up. "The legends say Osiris passed through Kheb in the north during his youth and hid there." Teal'c raised an eyebrow, but neither he nor the Jaffa master gave any argument. "So, uh...north according to the sun, I suppose. Many cultures orient themselves by the rising and setting of the sun."
Carter seemed amenable to the suggestion as well, so Jack squinted into the horizon, where this planet's sun was perched. "Is that sun rising or setting?"
"Setting," Bra'tac said without looking.
Jack looked at him sideways. "You're sure? We could wait half a minute and--"
Bra'tac scowled back. "I am sure."
"The difference in the planet's temperature and humidity at sunrise and sunset causes the sun's rays to refract in minutely different ways at the beginning and end of a solar cycle," Carter explained, squinting at the sun, "so theoretically, you should be able to tell, but I usually can't by eye alone, especially on a different planet where I know little or nothing about the atmosphere."
Bra'tac looked as blank as Daniel and much more surprised, but Teal'c, used to explanations that none of them understood, didn't have trouble cutting through to the bottom line and telling her, "You have not traveled to as many planets as Master Bra'tac, Captain Carter. I do not doubt that you will learn swiftly as your experience increases." Carter beamed at him.
"North it is, then," Jack said, cutting off the discussion and starting to take point, only to have Bra'tac step in front, Teal'c beside him and Daniel a step behind. Shrugging, he adjusted his grip on his gun and fell in behind the two Jaffa and Daniel.
The conversation in front of Jack was hushed, as if no one was keen to break the stillness that lay over the land like a blanket. The conversation was also in Goa'uld, so the only word he could pick out was something Teal'c said about Rya'c, which Bra'tac answered, his voice as full of pride as Teal'c's was of wistfulness. Daniel dropped back a few steps, as if uncertain about intruding into that subject, but Teal'c said something to him, and he caught up. Bra'tac glanced between them with a look that said he wasn't sure what to make of the Tau'ri chal'ti.
For the first few months at the SGC, Jack had thought of the Goa'uld language as harsh commands and insults and no more. Oddly, however, the rare times when Teal'c's words betrayed what he was feeling in Jack's hearing were those times when he spoke in his native tongue. Most of those times were in the gym, instructing Daniel, which meant it was mostly just scolding, but sometimes, like now...sometimes Jack thought he had a choice of understanding his Jaffa friend's words or knowing what the man actually thought, and he envied Daniel, just a little, for being able to do both at once.
Then again, there were some understandings that didn't need words.
Teal'c stopped abruptly. Jack instinctively spun around, leaving the two Jaffa to watch his back while he and Carter watched theirs, trapping Daniel and the Harsesis in the middle. Without having to look at them to know their movements, Teal'c said, a moment later, "It is only a bird, O'Neill. We may proceed," and Jack didn't need to double check before turning back to follow them again. It wasn't until he passed under a tree several paces later that he saw a vulture perched in the branches.
There were definitely perks to having Jaffa on the team.
"Vulture," Carter said. "Is that a bad omen or something?"
But Daniel turned and said in a hushed voice, "Depends on the culture. The vulture is the symbol of Nekhbet, a patron goddess of Nekheb and Egypt. She's a deity representing...well, feminine protectiveness. Motherhood. She's said to be the Creatrix of the World, the Mother of Mothers, who has existed from the beginning." He smiled down at Shifu as he said it, a finger lifting to tickle the baby's cheek until Shifu gurgled and grabbed it.
"Not a bad sign, then," Jack said, a little impressed by the optimistic interpretation, but only a little, because in Jack's culture, vultures picked on the dead. Also, there was only so far he was willing to stretch the meaning of a bird sitting in a tree. But Daniel transferred his smile to Jack, and he decided not to say anything else for a while.
Carter laughed softly all of a sudden. "Captain?" Jack asked, his voice low, too, though he wasn't quite sure why. It felt odd to disturb the quiet around them.
"Sorry, sir," she said, shaking her head. "This place is just so peaceful. I'm catching myself thinking...I don't know. Deep thoughts." She laughed again, self-consciously, but this time the sound caught a little in her throat. "It's nothing, sir," she added, shaking off whatever it was.
"Right." Jack spent another few minutes listening to the quiet, incomprehensible murmur of voices from in front of him. Then, because being surrounded by smart people didn't mean he wasn't allowed to think thoughts once in a while, too, he turned to his second-in-command. "Ah...Carter..."
And then he didn't know how to go on, so the pause stretched out until she prompted, "Sir?"
"You, ah..." He lifted off his cap to scratch idly at his head, then replaced it. "Is everything okay? With you."
She gave him an odd look. "Um. Sir?" she said again.
"I...heard you on the phone this morning, and I was just wondering if something's wrong."
The expression on her face flitted from surprised to pained and then settled back on the alertness she reserved for missions, tinged with some annoyance. "Daniel told you?" she asked. Daniel half-turned but didn't slow.
"Now, see, now I'm curious," Jack complained, because Daniel hadn't told him much at all--just the word 'father.' "What is this thing, and why does everyone know but me?"
"It's nothing to worry about, sir." Her grip on her weapon tightened until the knuckles turned white, though, so like hell it was nothing to worry about.
Thinking of the way Jacob I-Know-Better-Than-You Carter had been trying to poke holes into their stories the one time Jack had met the man, and considering the little he'd heard about General Carter from Captain Carter, he asked, "Your old man's not still bugging you about NASA, is he? You got the Air Medal for saving the world, for crying out loud--"
"Colonel--"
"Seriously, Hammond could probably make him drop it if he keeps--"
"He has cancer," Carter interrupted tightly. "Of the blood. They want to stop treatment."
Jack shut up.
In front of them, Daniel started to turn, but Teal'c's hand rose to stop him, showing them that the Jaffa had heard, as well. Carter cleared her throat and determinedly continued striding forward, carefully scanning the trees around them and not looking at anyone in particular.
"That's all," she said.
A moment later, Jack said, "You probably already know, Captain, but I have...problems with my brain-to-mouth filter."
"Yes, it's broken," Daniel said over his shoulder, showing that he was still eavesdropping, but Carter smiled slightly anyway.
"You had good intentions, sir."
The road to hell... Well, Jack hated clichés, anyway. "You need anything?"
She was silent for a while. When she finally answered, "No. I'm fine," she was looking at Daniel, who was not-so-subtly glancing back at them. She turned to Jack, finally, nodding firmly. "But thank you, sir."
A couple of hours later, the sun was just finished setting. Jack was starting to think they were going the wrong direction, and they'd end up going all the way to the other side of the planet and hitting the temple on their way back. In the meantime...
"Hold it. Let's take ten," he ordered. Bra'tac looked surprised at the call for rest, but Teal'c, more accustomed to the rate of travel reasonable for humans who weren't slaves being pushed to their limits, inclined his head and took off his backpack to let each of them dig in for MREs. Jack squinted through the encroaching darkness to look at the one he'd pulled out at random, then at the one in Teal'c's hand. He met the Jaffa's eyes over the bags, then swapped wordlessly.
Continued in Part b...