Brotherhood (5/27)
Title: Brotherhood ( Table of Contents)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I gain nothing of material value from this.
Pairings: Gen
Chapter1 Chapter2a-- 2b Chapter3 Chapter4 Chapter5
XXXXX
The Asgard
XXXXX
13 September 1999; Embarkation Room, SGC; 0930 hrs
"Code Nine!" General Hammond shouted, already on the floor and sounding the alarms.
Daniel tore his eyes from where Jack had disappeared and shouldered his way past the crowd of people who'd sprung immediately into action. "Sam!" he called, ducking as someone nearly ran over him. Teal'c guided Secretary Simms away from the Stargate for a few SFs to usher him down the ramp. "Sam!"
Sam ran a quick eye over the podium, then turned at Daniel's voice. "Thor?" he asked, pointing upward.
The general heard and turned to him. "What?"
"Or something similar, if it wasn't Thor himself," Sam agreed, starting down the ramp to where Daniel and the general were standing. "Sir, that looked a lot like the Asgard transportation technology."
"You're certain of that?" the general asked.
"As certain as I can be, sir," she answered as Teal'c joined them. "We saw it in action several times on Cimmeria."
"Major Carter is correct, General Hammond," Teal'c confirmed as Daniel nodded fervently.
"And it can't be an accident that they took the commander of the team that was on Cimmeria twice," Sam added, "especially since the colonel's the only one they've met in person before today, when he 'gated out to the Othalla galaxy."
Pursing his lips, the general said, "So anyone can just be snatched out of here by the Asgard with no warning."
"So far, the Asgard have been only helpful," Daniel offered, unable to help another anxious glance at the podium anyway. "Maybe their etiquette isn't the same as ours, and they don't know that just taking people is considered rude here." Three incredulous sets of eyes fixed on him. "Or something," he added.
"Then where is Colonel O'Neill?"
"He has most likely been transported to a ship," Teal'c said.
Sam nodded. "I agree--there must be some distance limitation for the transportation technology. I can check if satellites around Earth detected anything in our orbit, sir, but to be honest, I doubt it. If anyone had noticed, we would've heard by now. It's more likely that the Asgard have a way to hide their ships from detection."
General Hammond narrowed his eyes. "Then we're just supposed to trust that they're not doing anything to him?"
"--ank you!" Jack's voice yelled.
Daniel whirled around in time to see Jack finish reappearing at the top of the ramp, staring at his hands as if to make sure everything had materialized in its proper place. Friendly as the Asgard had been so far, a relieved sigh found its way out of Daniel's lungs, anyway.
"Colonel O'Neill?" the general said. "What happened?"
Jack patted himself a few more times, and then, apparently satisfied that he was in one piece, made his way down the ramp to where they were standing. "General," he said, "the Goa'uld are scared of us."
Daniel blinked.
"I'm going to need more than that," General Hammond said impatiently. "Where were you?"
"Oh, with Thor," Jack said, pointing upward. "He beamed me onto his ship, Blin...ker." He gave Daniel a sideways look.
"Biliskner," Daniel provided.
"That's the one," Jack said. "Apparently, the President wasn't the only one who's heard about all the snaky butts we've kicked, so the System Lords want to kill us before we kill any more of them."
Apparently realizing this was going to be a long explanation, the general ordered, "Briefing room," and led the way out of the 'gate room.
"When you think about it," Sam said as they walked, "the only Goa'uld we've actually killed are ones the System Lords probably would have wanted to kill themselves. We know Ra most likely banished Hathor at some point before leaving Earth, and Seth was hiding here from them. In fact, it looked almost like Seth might have been preparing to try to regain his position."
"It does not matter," Teal'c told him. "The System Lords would destroy any they perceive to be a threat to their power."
"Cheerful assessment," Jack commented.
They settled into seats in the briefing room, where the general said, "Colonel O'Neill, how this is connected to your disappearing off my base a few minutes ago?"
"Well, sir," Jack said, "the Asgard have become fond of our little planet. They'd prefer not to see us destroyed, so they want to try to stop the attack by negotiating with the System Lords. Something called the Protected Planets Treaty. Thor didn't go into the details."
Daniel leaned forward in his seat in interest as General Hammond asked, "Why would the Goa'uld agree to this negotiation?"
"The Goa'uld fear the Asgard," Teal'c said, which, considering what they'd seen on Cimmeria--where one Asgard ship had trounced Heru-ur and a lot of his Jaffa--seemed a well-founded fear.
"Did Thor say what the System Lords would ask for in return?" Sam asked.
Jack shook his head. "No. But it's all they can offer."
The general glanced at the rest of them again. "You said you thought we could trust the Asgard. How sure are we?"
"The Tok'ra trust them," Sam said.
"And they took the Ancient database's knowledge out of Jack's brain," Daniel said.
There was a pause as they turned to him, as if only then realizing he was there, and it was only then that he realized he'd simply tagged along with the group rather than being explicitly invited. Was he part of the team yet? Should he have waited outside?
It didn't last long, though, before Jack agreed, "Gotta love 'em for that," which seemed to decide the matter, and the general nodded.
White light flashed in front of them, and then Thor was standing in the briefing room. Daniel sat a little straighter and couldn't help staring at the Asgard.
The general's eyes were glued on Thor, but his voice was quiet as he leaned toward Jack.
"I'll vouch for him, sir," Jack said, rising from his seat and bending his knees slightly before standing straight, as if he were actively resisting the urge to crouch condescendingly closer to Thor's eye-level. "Cap--ah, Major Samantha Carter, Teal'c, Daniel Jackson, you all remember Thor? Thor, this is Major General George Hammond. He's the leader of our facility here."
Thor's gaze swept briefly over them all--not quite dismissive, but close to it--then refocused on Jack. "The System Lords have agreed to negotiate," he said. "They will arrive here in four days."
All of them froze in their seats. "Here?" Jack asked.
"It is customary for such negotiations to take place on the planet in question," Thor answered. "Three representatives from the System Lords will arrive by Stargate. You must be prepared to speak on behalf of all the inhabitants of Earth."
Jack looked startled and a little alarmed at that. "Uh, well, not me, personally..."
Thor stared unblinkingly at him. "We have chosen you, O'Neill, to represent your planet at the proceedings."
The little alarm turned into larger alarm, and Daniel would have been lying if he pretended he didn't feel some of it, too. "Now, see," Jack said, "that could be a mistake. You see, we have very skilled negotiators. And"--his gaze landed on Daniel for a brief second before turning back to Thor--"there are people here well-versed in all languages--"
"You have led your people into the galaxy through the Stargate," Thor interrupted calmly. "You are our choice, O'Neill. Further instructions to aid you in your preparation will follow."
Thor beamed back out.
Jack stared at the back wall for a few moments, then turned to face them all and gave a falsely bright smile. "Well. There you go."
General Hammond folded his hands on the table. "We know very little about politics in the galaxy. How do we know that the Asgard have our best interests at heart?"
"I guess we don't, sir," Jack conceded. "But the fact is, if a fleet of Goa'uld motherships wants to attack us, the Asgard are probably our only hope. If the negotiations fail...total annihilation."
Sam leaned forward. "I don't understand why they don't just destroy the attacking vessels. Or, for that matter, why they don't simply destroy all of the Goa'uld right here and now."
"Apparently," Jack said, "most of the Asgard ships are busy with something else at the moment. Thor's the only one available. If they attack the Goa'uld, it could spark a war between the Goa'uld and Asgard, which they can't really afford to fight at the moment."
Daniel thought that over for a minute, then said, "Wait, then why are the Goa'uld scared of them, if the Asgard can't fight back?"
"Perhaps the Goa'uld are unaware of this weakness," Teal'c suggested.
"Wh--hold on a minute," Sam said, eyes wide with alarm. "You mean that...they're bluffing?"
Jack shrugged. "I don't know, Carter. I didn't get a chance to get a clear picture. As you may have noticed, Thor has a habit of popping people in and out without much warning. But even if it's a bluff, it'll stop the Goa'uld from attacking us as long as they believe the bluff."
"What about our other allies, sir?" Sam said. "One of them might be able to help. The Tok'ra...?"
"...weren't willing to take on Sokar when he tried to break our iris," Jack pointed out. "They're not gonna risk their skins in an attack of this scale."
"The Nox have been friendly," she suggested.
"The Nox haven't been unfriendly," the general corrected. "The reports from the original mission to the Nox homeworld stated that they refused to involve themselves in hostilities."
"Didn't the reports say they were able to hide a city?" Daniel asked, wondering if it was possible to hide an entire planet from the Goa'uld.
"The Goa'uld are already aware of this planet and its location," Teal'c said, knowing what he was thinking. "Moreover, once begun, an attack could be stopped only by killing the Goa'uld and their armies. I do not believe the Nox would allow such action to be taken."
"Or that they'd protect us, knowing we'd just go back to fighting the Goa'uld," Jack added. "Not to mention that we have no idea whether or not their 'gate's still unburied. So it looks like we're gonna have to trust the Asgard."
Secretary Simms walked into the room, escorted by an SF. "General Ha--Colonel O'Neill! You're back. I've been trying to find out what's going on."
"Mr. Secretary, ah, that's...a bit complicated," Jack started.
A technician hurried in behind him. "Sir," she said, holding sheets of paper in her hand. "Excuse me, General, Mr. Secretary. We just received an urgent transmission, but it's not in any language we recognize. We've printed the first few pages of it--there's a lot more."
"Those could be Thor's instructions," Sam said. "Is it in the Asgard language?"
"Oh, no," Daniel said as Secretary Simms moved aside for Jack to accept the sheets. "Are they Old Futhark runes?" He hoped he was wrong, because they hadn't yet gotten very far with the Asgard language at all beyond the writing system. In answer, Jack handed the sheets to him, revealing lines upon lines of runes. "Great."
"Thank you, Sergeant," General Hammond dismissed the technician. "Secretary Simms, have a seat, and we'll explain. In the meantime, Mr. Jackson, can you or anyone else read that?"
"Thor probably remembered that you solved the rune puzzle on Cimmeria," Sam said.
"You solved the puzzle on Cimmeria, because they were numbers," Daniel said, pulling the sheet closer to look at more carefully. "And if this is a bunch of numbers, I'm not going to be much...help..." He paused, frowning at the third word, which looked oddly familiar, then pulled out a pen. "Huh."
"They speak English," Jack said irritably as he and the Secretary of Defense both sat down. "They've been studying humans and they're way smarter than we are, for cryin' out loud. Why couldn't they have just given us instructions in our language?"
"Wait, this is English," Daniel said, relieved, as he worked out the first few words. "He's just using the Asgard phonetic script. They've never had to communicate with us in writing before; he had no reason to know that we use the Roman alphabet, which branched off separately on Earth. He must have assumed, since we speak a Germanic language and were familiar with..." He broke off when he caught their impatient looks. "General, it might take a little longer, but I can read this."
"Start skimming," the general said. Daniel bent over the sheets and listened with half an ear as SG-1 explained the situation to Simms while General Hammond went to his office to explain it to the President.
The technician came back with another pile of papers. Daniel accepted them, eyes wide, and asked quietly, "How much...is that almost the end?"
"Don't hold your breath; there's more coming," she told him, then turned back to the control room computers.
Daniel wished their North Germanic expert hadn't left the SGC to go back to academia two months ago and returned with a sigh to the transliteration. At least it looked like he would be spared his psych evaluation for another few days. If the world exploded, he might be able to avoid it altogether.
...x...
13 September 1999; Briefing Room, SGC; 1100 hrs
It was nearly an hour before General Hammond returned to inform them all that he'd convinced the President, the Joint Chiefs, and everyone else to agree to a summit at the SGC. By then, a dozen ideas had been suggested for what the System Lords might want from Earth in return, few of them plausible and none of them pleasant. By then, Daniel had also finished the beginning of Thor's long--very long--message.
"The three System Lords coming here are Yu, Nirrti"--Daniel glanced at Teal'c, then back at his notes--"and Cronus."
"Not ones we've met, then," General Hammond said.
"No, sir. As I understand it, Cronus was among the three who led the defeat of Sokar thousands of years ago." He looked to Teal'c again, partially for confirmation and partially to gauge Teal'c's reaction. None of them was happy with the idea of Goa'uld in their territory, but Teal'c had a more colorful history with Cronus that involved the words 'murder,' 'exile,' and 'revenge.'
"That is correct," Teal'c said. "He is the most influential of the System Lords and is also the mortal enemy of Apophis. It is largely because of Cronus that Apophis did not have the support of all the System Lords when he attempted to destroy Earth--the System Lords band together only reluctantly, and they battle often amongst themselves."
"Cronus was an important figure in Tau'ri Greek mythology, too," Daniel added. "He was the leader of the Titans and the father of many of the Olympian gods, including Zeus, who became the king of the heavens."
"In other words," Jack summed up, "we should really watch our step with him."
"What about the other two?" the general asked.
"As for Yu..." he started, and made the mistake of accidentally glancing at Jack while he said it.
"Me what?" Jack interrupted, looking genuinely confused.
Daniel grimaced, anticipating the endless jokes that would spring from that. "The Goa'uld's name is...uh, it says 'Lord Yu the Great.' I...don't know much about him, sir, but Thor says that Yu is most likely to support us, since this part of the galaxy isn't among his interests."
"Consult with others in the department and see what we can learn about him," the general said. "The third?"
"The third is Nirrti," Daniel said.
"She's the one who killed everyone on P8X-987 except Cassandra," Sam filled, her jaw set angrily. "You were reading up on Nirrti after that incident."
"Yes. Nirrti is a Vedic goddess of destruction and a bringer of disease and other evils. She's said to be deceitful, although I don't know how much that helps us, since all Goa'uld seem to be."
"Well, she brought disease to a whole planet," Sam said. "And don't forget that device she implanted in Cassandra's chest--she's not a stranger to destructive, experimental technology. She tricked us into almost destroying our Stargate using Cassandra without even showing her face, much less attacking us directly."
General Hammond nodded grimly. "We'll keep a close eye on all of them. Is that everything?"
Daniel shook his head. "The rest is about preparations, as well as the treaty itself, but I'll need more time to finish it. However...I got to the start of the rules--most of them seem reasonably intuitive, but one of them says we're not allowed to have weapons anywhere in this facility during negotiations."
"Whoa!" Jack exclaimed. "That doesn't sound wise. Daniel, are you sure that's what it says?"
"It's not ambiguous, Jack--no weapons."
"General?"
The general sighed. "If those are the Asgard's rules, we'll have to follow them. We're trusting them on your word, Colonel, and it looks like we don't have much of a choice. Mr. Jackson, I want copies of those instructions, along with any information we have on the Goa'uld--bring in everyone in the department to help. We'll hold a briefing for all relevant personnel tomorrow morning at 0800. Teal'c, I would like you to act as liaison to the Goa'uld. Major Carter--"
"General Hammond," Teal'c interrupted.
"Is there a problem?"
"I mean no disrespect--I have given my allegiance to you, to the SGC, and to the people of this world freely. I will not, however, see to the petty needs of these Goa'uld."
Daniel thought that that might be a good idea, if only to avoid any more bad blood.
Sam looked around the room and said reluctantly. "I can handle liaising with them, sir."
The general looked between the two of them. "Okay, Major. Teal'c, you will assist Major Castleman with base security. As soon as I have a copy of Thor's instructions, I will give out more detailed individual assignments."
...x...
13 September 1999; Archaeology Office, SGC; 1300 hrs
"This is so bizarre," Sam said, knocking on the door perfunctorily before stepping in.
Daniel looked away from the screen, grimacing when his neck protested the change in position. "Isn't it?"
"Need help?" she asked, looking over his shoulder.
"Uh, well, I'm getting faster at just transliterating it directly without intermediate notes, and other people are helping, too."
"So...no?"
"Some others are looking into mythology, if you're not busy," he suggested.
"Might as well pitch in," she said, sounding resigned. "Did Thor include anything interesting that we need to know about?"
"I've only just finished the part with instructions and advice; the treaty itself is another matter. So unless you consider the preferred living accommodations of System Lords 'interesting,' it's pretty straight-forward." He noticed for the first time that she'd changed back into her BDUs. "Oh, Sam, I forgot--congratulations, Major-Doctor Carter."
Sam let out a short laugh. "Thanks. What a day for it, huh?"
Scrolling to the top of the instructions document to check it over, he said, "Well, you deserved it sooner."
"It doesn't work like that."
"You don't even get an early promotion for saving the world?"
"I got a medal for that," she pointed out. "Even if it did work like that, I spent a few years getting my doctorate instead of getting leadership experience."
Daniel shook his head as he flipped past a page and hunted through his pile for the next one. He thought, personally, that she had regularly performed duties above the rank of Captain for the last two years, but he supposed there was more involved in the promotions process than heroic deeds. "If you say so," he said.
"Hey, uh," Sam said, still standing near his desk. "So apparently, I'm supposed to be the liaison to the System Lords."
"The petty needs of the Goa'uld," Daniel said, nodding. "I remember."
"I don't suppose those instructions say anything about what language this summit--"
"English," he assured her.
"Oh, good," she said in relief. "Not Goa'uld?"
"Uh...well, no. At least...not officially," Daniel said. She placed a hand over the text he was reading to make him stop and look up at her. "Really, Sam, it says all official communications and negotiations and...and all of that will be conducted in English."
She nodded slowly. "But unofficial communications?"
"Well, there can't really be official rules about things that aren't official."
"So they can talk amongst themselves without our knowing what they're saying," she said.
"I can follow you around and translate," Daniel offered.
With a short laugh, she said, "Seriously--"
"I'm serious," Daniel said, pushing his chair away from the desk to look at her. "Jack's going to be in the negotiations, Teal'c's going to be...hopefully in his quarters and not stirring up trouble, and Robert's off-world. I can be your personal assistant for the day and follow you around. Or if you want, I can give you a list of other people who speak Goa'uld, but I'm the most fluent on base aside from Teal'c, and, uh...you don't want--"
"I probably don't want Teal'c around if the Goa'uld insult us behind our backs," Sam said.
"No," Daniel agreed.
She raked a hand through her hair. "You sure?"
"Sure," he said, turning back to his work with an odd sense of relief that he wouldn't be ordered to stay in his quarters or away from it all. "At least now I have an excuse to know what's going on during the summit."
"All right. Thanks." She picked up some of the books on his desk. "Creation Stories of the World...Myths and Legends of China..."
"Yeah, I remember seeing something about Yu in some creation story from that book, so I went digging for references. Lieutenant Hagman marked some of the relevant chapters in there. He says that--if it's the same person--Yu was actually credited for several positive influences, and Thor says we should look to him for more support, so..."
"We'll take what we can get," she said. "Oh, by the way, you were told that the mission we had scheduled for tomorrow got scrubbed, right?"
Daniel gave her a wry smile. "Right. Something about impending global destruction." A sick feeling tried to lodge itself in his stomach even as he tried to make light, but he pushed it aside. There was no point in dwelling now on things that wouldn't help them finish the mission.
Sam nodded absently, her eyes skimming over one of the chapters Hagman had marked about Yu. A minute later, she put the book back down on the desk with a thump. "Can you believe we're actually catering to the whims of the Goa'uld?"
Daniel pressed his lips together and determinedly fixed a typo.
She sighed, sitting down in Robert's chair. "I know, no one likes them any more than I do."
"But it might be preferable to...what did Jack say? 'Total annihilation,'" he said.
"Might?" she repeated with a sickly half-smile, like she wasn't sure whether to find it funny or horrifying. Daniel wasn't sure, either, so he finished what he was doing and printed the document for Sam to read before sending a copy to Jack and the general.
"Um, how do I send this to everyone, again?" he asked. "Or do I just put it on the server?"
In answer, she leaned over him and typed the address that would send Thor's message to a list of all pertinent SGC personnel. "You've gotta remember these things, Daniel. If you can memorize Stargate coordinates, you can remember a few simple e-mail addresses."
"I do remember," he protested; "I'm just never sure what security level everything is. Security clearance is kind of an odd concept to someone whose existence is classified."
"I guess that's fair," she said, then held up the printed first part of the instructions. "All right, you keep working on that treaty; I'll go see if others have found anything useful about Yu."
XXXXX
14 September 1999; Briefing Room, SGC; 0900 hrs
By the time the briefing was held the next morning, they were ready with complete information for all personnel to know what was going on. Daniel and Sam had spent the rest of the day and half the night gathering together relevant information and putting it together between them, so he was more than happy to sit back with a cup of coffee and let Sam do the work of presenting it. Besides, people were by now used to his adding comments from his seat; fewer would be comfortable with his leading a presentation on something that would decide the fate of Earth.
"Did you read the treaty?" Daniel asked Jack when they were done. Sam was seeing that the Goa'uld's temporary living arrangements matched their requested specifications as advised by Thor, Teal'c was helping to remove weapons and check base security, and everyone else was off completing their own duties. No one seemed happy about it.
Now Jack looked at him and held up the bound stack of papers in front of him. "Since I got it a half hour ago? Have you seen this thing?"
"I typed most of it," Daniel said. "Four hundred and three sections, ten thousand, eight hundred and fifteen addenda..."
"Oh, god."
"It's not as bad as it sounds," Daniel promised. "A lot of it seems to be about things we can't influence. And some of the sections are long-winded but actually only say something like..." He flipped it open and read, "...'Neutrality...will be maintained in the Secoriat sectors.'"
"What the hell is that?"
"Uh...I don't know. I think they're...parts of the galaxy?"
Jack dropped his head onto the briefing room table, then jerked up again. "Hey, wait--you must've read it. Why don't you just give me key points?"
Daniel took a seat by him. "I only did part of it. It's a modified version of the agreement the Asgard have had with the Goa'uld for years concerning...uh, twenty-seven planets, including this one. I think most of it has to do with what each of them can or can't do, and only some parts have to do with humans at all. Earth itself is mentioned by name only at the very end."
"But see, you do know what it says, then," Jack said, looking a little desperate.
"Jack, it's just...there's a lot. And the wording in some parts is strange, and I'm not confident I understand...actually, maybe we could ask other people with more experience to read it, too. Um, like Major Kovachek, maybe, and...and, uh, Dr. Frakes, Captain Blasdale..."
"That sounds like a good idea," General Hammond said from behind them. "I'll round up people experienced with law and negotiations and have them read the treaty. In the meantime, Colonel, your one job is to familiarize yourself with that before the Goa'uld arrive. Spend today going over it, and you'll meet with the others tomorrow to go over anything they think important."
"Yes, sir," Jack said. As soon as the general was out of earshot, he turned back to Daniel and hissed, "Help me out here, Daniel. The diplomats are in the same department as you."
"Jack, that's a formality, you know that," Daniel said. All consultants who weren't physical or biological scientists were grouped under the heading of 'Social Sciences,' which all but the newest personnel still inaccurately called 'Archaeo-Linguistics.' It didn't mean their specialties were the same. "Look, Jack, the Asgard trust you."
Jack raised both of his hands, and for a moment, Daniel thought he was in danger of having his head grabbed and shaken. In the end, Jack let his hands drop back to the table and said, "The only thing the Asgard know about me is that I was stupid though to look into that head-sucker. If they knew anything about Earth--"
"Well, they don't, and it's not like there's anything we can do about it," Daniel said reasonably. "Let's just go over the treaty, yeah? I want to read it through, too. I'll take notes, so if we have a question, we can ask someone else."
Jack looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "You're a bossy kid, you know that?"
"If you say so, Colonel," he answered without a pause. "Did you want me to read aloud to you, too, or...?"
Jack snatched the packet out of his hands. "Careful, Jackson. Be careful." Daniel contented himself with pulling his chair closer to be able to read, too.
"Oh, come on," Jack exclaimed almost immediately. "What is the Neskiv...ali--what the hell!"
"The Neskevaliam Arm," Daniel said, quickly rereading the gist of that section.
"How would you know how you even pronounce that?"
"I know approximately how it's pronounced, according to the runes; that's just the best I could do with the spelling. Sam doesn't recognize names like that either, so Tau'ri scientists must map the galaxy differently from the Goa'uld and the Asgard."
"So when it says there's no restriction to mining or...or other practices there..."
"That's what that says? I wasn't sure. The wording..."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure." Jack glared at the paper. "For all we know, Earth is in that section of the galaxy, and this means they can plow through Earth."
Daniel shook his head helplessly. "I doubt it, since it would be kind of counterproductive. But I guess we don't know."
"Nothing we can do about it, then," Jack said, skimming decisively past the first section. He stopped short at the next part and raised his eyebrows.
"Yeah," Daniel said, wincing. "I don't know what that word is, either."
"Are you sure you--"
"Yes, Jack."
"You can't..." Jack looked back at the treaty. "You can't have eight consonants in a row."
"Yes, you can," Daniel insisted stubbornly. "Not all languages use exclusively vowels as syllable nuclei. Or maybe the Asgard language allows for...uh...very complex clusters as syllable onsets. This might be nomenclature even older than the Goa'uld and the Asgard, which would mean it doesn't correspond even to the--"
"Okay!" Jack held his hands up. "Let's just..." He let out a breath. "Stop talking about syllables."
Daniel rubbed his forehead. "All I meant is that it looks like Section Two has to do with something for which we don't have a word in English."
This seemed to encourage rather than dishearten Jack, who said, "Well, good. Guess there's nothing we can do about that, then. All right?"
"Sure, I guess," he said, no longer certain who was reassuring whom of what.
"Well, we're just flying through. Section Three..."
...x...
14 September 1999; Briefing Room, SGC; 1500 hrs
"Colonel O'Neill to Level 23, Corridor C," a voice said through the PA.
Jack stood. "Gotta go," he said, not bothering to hide the relief in his words. "I'll be back."
Daniel took the break to drop his glasses onto the table. They'd made it through the main portion by skimming gratefully over parts that didn't seem to involve Earth directly, and over which they were likely to have little comprehension and less control, but some of it was disturbing.
As far as he could tell, the Protected Planets Treaty kept planets safe from the Goa'uld, but it came at the price of being kept handicapped to such an extent that they were ripe pickings for Goa'uld conquest if the Asgard protection ever failed. In theory, it was, if not completely pleasant, then at least palatable as a defensive strategy. The problem was that no one really wanted to be placed under the control of anyone else, even someone as (apparently) benevolent as the Asgard.
And if the Asgard were as limited in strength as Thor seemed to be implying, then all the treaty would do was provide temporary protection that was doomed to fail sooner or later, and then the Tau'ri would be easily conquered and forced to be slaves or hosts or worse, just the way the Abydons had been.
"You're thinking again, aren't you?" Jack said as he came back.
"Have you tried it lately?" Daniel said without raising his head, earning a snort in return.
"We've obviously been too lenient with you," Jack declared, falling into his seat. "You're getting cheeky."
"Alien treaties are annoying," Daniel announced, squinting at his glasses for a moment before reluctantly putting them back on. "What was happening on Level 23?"
Jack bent a corner of the page they'd been staring at, then unbent it and bent it the other way. "Ah, you know. Teal'c."
Daniel tucked his hands under his armpits to restrain them from reaching out to stop Jack from playing with the treaty until it ripped. Teal'c was dealing with base security, including the weapons ban, so... "He didn't want to give up his staff weapon?" Daniel guessed.
"You know it. He's handed it over now, but he's not happy. Hell, I'm not happy about it."
Giving up on restraint, he pulled the bundle of papers out of Jack's reach. "You should probably try to make sure Teal'c doesn't have to deal directly with Cronus," Daniel said carefully.
Not carefully enough, apparently, because Jack's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why?"
Because they might kill each other, he thought, but the day he'd learned that had been a day of confessions and confidences. He wouldn't want Teal'c to tell anyone about the things he'd babbled about guilt and mercy and death rituals that day, either.
"He's shol'va," Daniel said finally. "I doubt the System Lords will welcome his presence, considering what he represents to their power structure. And, uh, even if he hadn't betrayed Apophis, you heard what he said earlier--the Goa'uld fight all the time among themselves. Teal'c's probably waged war on their Jaffa before."
"Something about Cronus being the mortal enemy of Apophis," Jack said, grabbing the treaty again and accepting the explanation. Daniel relaxed. "I remember. Yeah, we'll try to keep them apart. All right, Addendum three hundred and eighty-four..."
...x...
"Have we heard back from all the off-world teams yet?" Daniel asked when they'd finished mindlessly reading over the entire thing and were taking a break before trying to think about it.
"Two of them came back yesterday," Jack said, stretching his legs. "SG-4 is caught in some kind of killer ice storm that they can't travel through safely--they're hoping to ride it out in some shelter they found and come back by tomorrow. The people manning the Alpha site are staying there, and...SG-11's out of radio range."
Daniel scowled but nodded. "Robert said something about radio interference. And that their dig site was really far from the Stargate." Knowing Robert--who grumbled when they had to march but was actually quite capable of maintaining a hard pace for hours when he had to--that could have meant anything from a walk of five miles to a walk of five days. Since they were out of reach, the latter might actually be closer. "Who did we send to bring them back?"
"5," Jack said, "but we may have to recall them early."
For a moment, Daniel couldn't figure out why, if there were people who might be caught unawares on an alien world while Earth was attacked or stripped of its defenses, but then he realized, "SG-5's probably circling around the 'gate on the other side. If SG-11 is days away on foot or we don't even know which direction they went in, we'd risk having two teams off-world during the summit."
"Trapped off-world forever," Jack pointed out, "if the summit goes badly."
Daniel blinked.
There was a long pause, and then Jack asked, "You thinking about it?"
"Getting trapped on Earth?" he said, because he hadn't been thinking about it before, but he certainly was now.
Jack tapped a pen against the arm of his chair, as if trying to act unconcerned. "Were you planning to leave beforehand, in case they shut down the program or something?"
Daniel grimaced. "You think that's really a possibility?" Jack only raised his eyebrows, and he sighed. "Yeah. The Goa'uld have no reason to let the SGC continue running and every reason to want it shut down. It's the only reason Earth is a threat to them."
"Well, we don't know if that's what they'll ask for," Jack pointed out.
"What else? Hosts?" Daniel said. "Oh--you don't think..."
Jack shook his head. "They don't seem to have a shortage of hosts, not like the Tok'ra. But 'gate travel? Who knows. You thought about going back to Abydos first so you don't get stuck?"
Daniel hesitated, then shook his head. "The Tau'ri and the SGC are still humans' best chance of defeating the Goa'uld, as far as we know. If that's lost, the war as we know it is over. So the best thing to do would be to stay and try to help make sure Earth stays in one piece, right?"
Jack reclaimed his seat. "That's what Teal'c said. I thought you should have the choice, since you have a homeworld where people aren't out to kill you. You have until the summit to decide, you know."
"Let's just concentrate on this," Daniel said, then turned back to the treaty before he was forced to reevaluate the choice. "We need to talk about some of these. Addendum 5197 says that humans from this planet who are captured by Goa'uld on another planet will be granted amnesty-"
"Yeah, right. Like the Goa'uld are going to follow that."
"--but 5268 that says that those humans will subsequently be in the service of the Goa'uld who captured them for the remainder of their...Jack, give me that--"
Jack grabbed Daniel's pen, and Daniel wrestled it back before violent acts were carried out against the treaty. "This is ridiculous," Jack said.
As a distinctly pessimistic feeling began to settle into him, Daniel said, "Hopefully, the Asgard really did mean it when they said 'negotiations.'"
"Yeah, renegotiation--that'll be successful," Jack scoffed. "Ask the Goa'uld pretty-please not to kill us, but make sure we're still allowed to try to kill them at some point later."
Ignoring the sarcasm that was dishearteningly valid, Daniel said, "Then there's Section 326, about technology, and making sure Earth never reaches the point at which we could be a threat to the Goa'uld. It's extremely vague, but maybe that's a good thing--it doesn't say what constitutes 'threat to the Goa'uld,'"
"Earth's already at Goa'uld-threat level," Jack said. Daniel tilted his head and hummed noncommittally. "What? We are. If we weren't a threat, they wouldn't be trying to kill us in the first place."
"But Tau'ri technology is still inferior to Goa'uld," Daniel argued. "The ground we've gained in the last few years was made possible by human ingenuity. They can't claim our technology's a threat to them, because it's not our technology but our ability to adapt that's defeated them in the past."
Jack was giving him a look. "Daniel, somehow I don't think we're gonna be able to tell them that and hope they agree."
"Yes, I know. That's why you have to..." He waved a vague hand. "Negotiate." He imagined Jack negotiating with three System Lords and was unable to suppress a wince.
"I saw that," Jack snapped. "I can do this."
"Yeah," Daniel sighed unhappily and flipped idly through the treaty, resting his head on a palm. "I know."
"That's right."
The flippancy in the answer was nothing unusual, but it felt wrong here and now. Daniel glared at the treaty. "You have to, Jack."
The silence stretched a little too long, and he looked up to see Jack frowning at him. "Something wrong? Aside from the hundred motherships ready to attack us, obviously."
Daniel rolled his eyes. "No, just that." When Jack stared some more, he shut the treaty and said, "It's just...it's Earth. You know?"
Jack nodded slowly. "Ye-eah, I noticed that."
"No, I mean...it's Earth," Daniel explained inarticulately, but, of course, Jack was Tau'ri born and raised; he wouldn't understand. He sighed again. "Never mind. I'm being foolish. Should I go to the meeting tomorrow with the lawyers and everyone?"
"You might as well," Jack said, "unless Carter needs a hand with something. Or unless you're sick of this stuff." He poked halfheartedly at the treaty as if afraid to be tainted by it.
"I'm sick of it already," Daniel admitted.
"Tell me about it."
From the next chapter (" The System Lords"):
"Honestly," he confided, "I think the only thing Jack can do at this point is make sure he doesn't accidentally--"
"Gonach!" Cronus's voice came from the meeting room as he threw the doors open and stormed out. Yu and Nirrti were on his heels, each spitting something along the lines of, "Hasshak!" as they stalked past.
"--insult someone," Daniel finished, exchanging a nervous glance with Sam before hurrying back to the meeting room. "That was fast."