Diplomacy (17a/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
Chapter1 Chapter2 Chapter3 Chapter4 Chapter5 Chapter6 Chapter7 Chapter8 Chapter9 Chapter10 Chapter11 Chapter12 Chapter13 Chapter14 Chapter15 Chapter16 Chapter17 Chapter18 Chapter19 Chapter20 Chapter21 Chapter22 Chapter23 Chapter24 Chapter25 Chapter26
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Winter Solstice
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22 December 1998; P8A-462; 1100 hrs
A shadow fell over Daniel's book, and he shifted his flashlight to illuminate his notes better. The shadow cleared its throat, and he squinted upward to see Major Ferretti towering over him where he knelt. "Time's up, and it's getting dark," Ferretti said. "We need to head back."
Daniel checked his watch. "Already? I think I could finish this with another few hours, Major."
"This planet's been abandoned for years. No people to meet, so unless the secret to the universe is on that wall, we're due back home in half an hour."
"The secret to the universe might be on it," Daniel pointed out, "but I won't know it unless I finish translating it."
Ferretti shook his head and held out a hand to help him up. "You tell that to the general, Jackson. See what he says."
Sighing, Daniel slid his notes into his pack and accepted Ferretti's hand to pull himself to his feet.
The Stargate was a little over twenty minutes away from the cave they'd found. "Need help with that?" Ferretti asked, nodding at his pack.
"I can handle it." Teal'c had filled a bag with rocks and made him climb the ladder from the 28th to the 11th sublevel, once, for training. Jack had looked horrified, so after that, Teal'c just made him run with weighted packs instead of climbing up shafts with no safety net. Sam had been sympathetic but pointed out that he'd have to pass the physical aptitude and stamina assessment eventually for fulltime off-world status. Daniel had pointed out in return that Jaffa ideas of stamina weren't the same as SERE's. Teal'c had threatened him with more rocks until he stopped complaining.
Ferretti shrugged, then asked, "Any plans for Christmas? Or do you celebrate?"
"Not really," Daniel said in answer to both. "But Robert's worked through Chanukah for the last two years, so he's taking a vacation to stay with his sister for a week. I was considering staying on base to cover for him while he was gone..."
"Aw, seriously?"
"But he told me I didn't have to." Daniel rolled his eyes. Robert didn't even celebrate most of the holidays he'd grown up with; Daniel didn't know what he was supposed to do on a forced vacation during a holiday that he'd only experienced once before. It wasn't as if he could as easily board an airplane and see his own sister.
The thought stole his breath for a second before he shook it out of his head, stumbling on a twig to hide how his step had faltered. "I suppose I'll see what SG-1 is doing," he finished casually.
"All right," Ferretti said. He glanced sideways at Daniel, started to say something, then seemed to change his mind and added, "You know, if they're on a mission or something then, my wife's family's coming over; an extra guest won't hurt. Or you can ask one of these clowns," he added as they approached the Stargate, where the rest of SG-2 was looking bored as they stood guard. "Base'll be pretty quiet around the holidays."
"Oh, I, uh..." Daniel fumbled, self-conscious, not sure if he was imagining the pity in the words from the man who had been there with him--both times--on Abydos. But he suspected that the base wouldn't be much more quiet during Christmas than it was on a regular night-shift, and it wasn't like he minded having the whole base more or less to himself. "Thank you," he said honestly, even though he knew he wouldn't pursue the offer.
"Well," Warren said, clapping Ferretti on the shoulder as they packed their equipment. "It was good serving with you boys."
"You're leaving?" Daniel asked in surprise.
"They need an extra man on SG-3," Warren told him.
"'Bout time," Ferretti said in mock relief. "Go join the other jarheads; too many majors around here, anyway. Now no one'll think he can argue with me just 'cause he's the same rank."
"I'll still argue with you, sir," Casey reassured him.
"Shut up and start dialing, Captain."
"Yeah, about the rest of you guys," Griff added, nodding at Casey and Ferretti. "SG-10 and -12 need some experience on them. I've heard your names come up a couple of times. Am I crazy, or has anyone else heard about that?"
"I have, just in passing," Daniel said. He'd also heard that another major, Coburn, was to take over as leader of one of the more experienced teams as part of the regular shuffling of personnel that helped to keep skills spread evenly. He'd dismissed it as just another rumor at the time, or as something that didn't affect him, but if Warren said he was leaving, and Ferretti and Casey might be as well, then perhaps there was more truth to it than he'd thought.
"Well, they're not gonna take the whole team apart, not this one," Casey said as he hit the third glyph. When Ferretti didn't answer, he looked back and asked, "Are they, sir?"
Ferretti shrugged and said, "Who knows. People get reassigned all the time. It's just rumor until the general tells us otherwise, Captain. The job doesn't change just 'cause your patch says a different number."
Once the wormhole was established, Daniel waited for one of them to lead the way back, but when no one moved, he asked, "Um, are we waiting for something?"
"Griff?" Ferretti said. "Something wrong with your GDO?"
"I don't know, sir," Griff answered, staring at the device on his wrist. "My IDC's not getting a resp...wait. It's been accepted, but I'm getting an alert code, too."
"Jackson, switch on the MALP transmitter," Ferretti ordered as SG-2 swung their weapons around to grip more firmly. "Take cover until we know what's up."
"It's on," Daniel said when he had complied and moved out of their way.
Ferretti leaned over the camera and called, "Stargate Command, this is SG-2. We're receiving an alert; what's your status?"
"Major Ferretti, this is General Hammond," came the familiar voice. "The Mountain is currently under quarantine. Are you in danger where you are?"
They exchanged worried glances. "No, sir, we're fine. What's going on?"
"SG-3 returned carrying what looks like a contagious virus. The 'gate room is currently being decontaminated. Until we're done, we don't want to dial out, in case the microbes can be sent through an outgoing wormhole, and we don't any personnel coming back, in case the situation here worsens."
"Quarantine," Warren muttered, off to the side. "Jesus. Again?"
"Is anyone seriously ill, sir?" said Ferretti. "And is it curable?"
"Only a few people seem to be affected. It seems to die off on its own, but it takes a few days to run its course once someone is infected. SG-3 says that the same thing happened all the time to inhabitants on the planet they were just on with little to no danger of fatality. The symptoms have been mild, so Dr. Fraiser's not worried, but until we're sure, I don't want it getting out of the Mountain or to risk anyone else getting sick."
"That's good to hear, sir," Ferretti said. "Any idea when we'll be able to go back?"
"Dr. Fraiser thinks it'll be at least another week, but check in with us every day. We'll keep you updated. We're preparing some supplies now that will last you the time you're gone, and once we're done with decontamination, we'll send them through."
"A week," Casey muttered, dropping to sit on the steps that led up to the Stargate. "Damn."
"Is there some way our families can be informed that we'll be stuck at work?" Ferretti asked.
"Of course, Major. Standard protocols for extended mission time are in effect. If you have any messages you'd like to send through the wormhole, I will pass them on personally."
Ferretti grimaced unhappily but said, "Thank you, sir. Is there anything we can do from here?"
"Actually," General Hammond said, "if you could relay the message to the other off-world teams before they try to return as well, it would help."
"Not a problem, sir. Jackson, get this down," Ferretti added to them, and Daniel pulled his notebook back out, digging in his pocket for a pen. "Go ahead, General."
"SG-1 is on leave with Teal'c's family in the Land of Light--do you need the coordinates?"
"No, sir, I know the address," Daniel called in the direction of the MALP transmitter as he scribbled 'SG-1, 797' onto his notepad.
"SG-7 is on P2J-651. The address is: Virgo, Andromeda, Centaurus, Monoceros, Sculptor, Sextans."
"Sculptor...Sextans," Daniel murmured, jotting down the glyphs. "Okay. And SG-6?"
"What about the Abydos mining team, sir?" Ferretti asked the general.
"They had just come back to Earth when this started, so we have them here. We just need to tell SG-1 and -7."
"Got it, sir," Ferretti said to the general. "We'll let them know."
"I appreciate that, Major," General Hammond replied with a sigh. "I'm sorry for this mess, especially at this time of year, but we'll let you know as soon as it's safe to come back. Hammond out."
The wormhole disengaged.
"Well, this sucks," Ferretti said succinctly.
Warren snorted in disgust. "We couldn't even pick an exciting planet to get stuck on for the holidays. Nothing to do, no people to talk to...just us and an empty planet."
"Can I go back to finish with the cave wall, then?" Daniel asked, wincing when a few glares found him. "Since we're stuck here, I mean."
"Yeah, sure, why the hell not," Ferretti sighed. "Not like we've got anything better to do. But first, we need to tell SG-1 and -7 about the quarantine. Jackson, dial up the Land of Light. Everyone else, start setting up camp."
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22 December 1998; P8A-462; 1500 hrs
"You're done? Really?" Ferretti asked when night had fallen over the cave and Daniel started to pack up.
"Yes. I told you I only needed a few more hours."
"I thought you were just trying to get me to let you stay longer. Anything about the meaning of life?"
"No."
"What did I tell you?"
"It could have been," Daniel said with a sigh, even though he'd known all along it was more likely to be simply the end of a long recital about the virtues of the god Thanatos. Well, his name was--or had been--Thanos, according to the writing, but he was supposed to have been 'born of the dark and the night,' so it was likely that he was the same as the Thanatos of Tau'ri myth. Daniel had been looking mostly at Ancient, Goa'uld, and Egyptian texts recently--once they'd established that he was good at making headway on those, those seemed to be almost exclusively the only ones that landed on his desk. It was refreshing to read something related to Greek mythology for once.
"Anything interesting?" Ferretti asked, not sounding interested so much as bored after watching Daniel copy down the writing over the last hours.
"I'm not sure, actually," he said, panning the camera carefully across the wall once more, just in case he'd missed something that they saw later, back on base. "There was a Goa'uld here named Thanos, but he moved all the people to another planet thousands of years ago. Something about going to a planet with more plentiful mineral resources, because this one was insufficient."
"Mineral resources...meaning naquadah."
"They don't call it that, by name, but I think so. It says Thanos tried to change it to make it better. I think he was experimenting with it; apparently, he tested...the changed mineral on another planet, but 'the people of that world failed him.' And that's why he came to this world and possibly went to others as well."
"'The people failed him' translates to 'he screwed up and killed them?'" Ferretti guessed.
Daniel shook his head. "Maybe. The details are vague, and I have no idea what he actually did."
"But it wasn't here, because there's no naquadah here to speak of."
"No, not here, although this account is interesting, since Thanatos, as a god of death, was sometimes linked to other deities associated with the underworld, including Pluto in the Roman pantheon in a few uncommon sources, and he was also a patron of rare metals. Like naquadah, perhaps. It's a stretch, but..." He shrugged.
Ferretti blinked at him. "But not here," he repeated tolerantly.
"No."
"Does it say where?"
"No."
"Is there a reason we're still sitting in this cave, then?"
Daniel looked over the wall once more to make certain that he hadn't missed anything, then packed away the camera and stood up. "I guess not."
On their way back to the rest of the team, Daniel asked, "General Hammond wouldn't really take everyone off SG-2, would he? You're one of the teams that get most of the...more intense missions. Most of time," he amended when Ferretti snorted and threw a pointed look back at the cave that seemed to be the only interesting feature on this planet. "If any team needs experienced personnel, this one does."
"Warren's transfer is already confirmed," Ferretti said. "Me and Casey, I haven't heard anything official. Hell, you're on base all the time; you've probably heard more than I have. Griff'll stay, I'm guessing, even if the rest of us don't."
"He's still just one person--your junior member," Daniel said. "I don't count," he added when Ferretti grinned at him, "and technically, we both had our first mission with you at the same time."
"If that happens, SG-2 might be running support missions instead of first-contact until everyone's got a little experience under his belt." Ferretti waggled his eyebrows playfully. "Why? You gonna miss us?"
Yes, Daniel found himself thinking with a little surprise. He didn't know these men like he did Robert and everyone on SG-1, and it wasn't as if they were leaving the program entirely; still, SG-2 had been his team more than any other thus far. They worked together easily, and the thought of its ending brought an unexpected bit of melancholy.
That wasn't how SG officers were accustomed to answering such questions, though, and anything but bravado would only bring more teasing--and the perception, however joking, that he wasn't ready for responsibility--so Daniel only shrugged. "It's not like I won't see everyone around base. I'm just wondering."
"You're not the only one. Well, nothing's going to happen until they lift this damn quarantine. So much for plans for the holidays."
"Maybe it'll end in time," Daniel offered.
"Nah, with a disease, they're going to want to be sure. We'll be lucky to make it back before New Year's. Least we're not all Neanderthals this time."
"We weren't actually Neanderthals after the P3X-797 mission, either; it was just--"
"Jackson..."
"Yeah, I know--'shut up.'"
There was a pile of supplies waiting for them when they arrived. "From the SGC, sir," Warren said. "Dr. Rothman sent along a present for you, Jackson."
Daniel followed his flashlight to an ancient world history book and a pile of folders.
"Looks like homework to me," Griff said, smirking from where he was setting up a tent.
"I think it is," Daniel replied ruefully, peeling off a note on top with the words 'Happy winter solstice, geek' scrawled hurriedly on it. He sifted through the papers to find that they were a mix of unfinished translations, samples of practice text from ancient Earth languages he was still learning, and copies of articles from an archaeology journal.
Ferretti watched him look through the small pile. "I don't know about you boys, but when I was in high school, I didn't have to learn about...what's that article say? 'Cultural cross-pollination through Naqada I: a review of the evidence.' Jesus," he laughed. "Don't envy you, Daniel. Dr. Rothman's a harsh taskmaster."
"I bet he's bored and just sitting there thinking up things to do, since he's going to be stuck on base now," Daniel explained, picking up the article and squinting at it.
The corresponding author was listed as Jackson, M., and a quick glance at the rest of them revealed the same or Ballard, C.L., several with them both as co-authors. One was even by Ballard, N.S., from Ancient Mesoamerica--something about skulls carved out of crystal, with a note scribbled in the margin that said, 'This one is a little special; some of the sections are more solid than others. Write up a summary, and include your own analysis of the conclusions drawn.'
Maybe it was a Christmas present after all. Well, partly, anyway--the history book was definitely an unsubtle hint to keep studying, and the translations were part of a backlog of work they had all been struggling with lately.
"At least you've got something to do until we can go back," Ferretti said. "There is nothing to do here. This place doesn't even have trees. What kind of planet doesn't even have a goddamn tree? No wonder everyone abandoned it."
"They have shrubs," Griff offered, indicating the height of low bushes with his hand.
"What the hell were you planning to do with trees, Ferretti?" Warren asked.
"No one happened to bring a deck of cards, did they?" Casey added. "Or a football to toss around? Anything?"
"Is that another sport?" Daniel asked.
"You don't know what football is?" Ferretti said, somewhere between incredulous and horrified. "There is no way you live with O'Neill without knowing what football is."
Between Shifu and the...and after Kheb, it had in fact been months since Daniel had stayed at Jack's house for more than a day at a time, and most days, it felt like they were tiptoeing warily around each other. But while SG-2 might be his sometimes-team, they weren't the whatever-Teal'c-or-Sam-were; he wasn't about to talk to Ferretti about...well, that. Whatever that was.
"I might not have been paying attention if he explained it," Daniel admitted. A thought struck him. "But the quarantine is just for travel to and from Earth, right? We can go other places?"
"Maybe," Ferretti said, sounding wary. "Why?"
"When we called the Land of Light just now, didn't Jack say he was trying to teach Teal'c's son to play baseball?"
"We could join them," Casey picked up. "More company, at least."
"I'd go for that," Griff said. "Better'n sitting around here."
Ferretti hesitated, then decided, "Wait until the morning check-in and see what General Hammond says."
Continued in Part b...