Archaeology (19a/30)
Title: Archaeology ( 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 Chapter5 Chapter6 Chapter7a-- 7b Chapter8 Chapter9a-- 9b Chapter10 Chapter11 Chapter12a-- 12b Chapter13a-- 13b Chapter14a-- 14b Chapter15a-- 15b Chapter16a-- 16b Chapter17a-- 17b Chapter18
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Chapter 19: Indirect Orders
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17 April 2001; P31-4X8; 1100 hrs
Daniel ran after Sam through the system of tunnels. So far, it seemed that the Jaffa scouting party they'd met hadn't discovered this place before them. Jack was insisting they were almost there, and any minute they'd come out and see the 'gate.
And then light appeared at the exit. "There," Jack whispered, his voice echoing on the rock. "The 'gate should be just beyond there. Carter, get to the DHD--we'll cover you."
"Stop!" Teal'c hissed from behind. Daniel froze in place, as did the others. "Voices."
He strained his ears in the sudden silence, and, sure enough, he could just barely hear an order being called out in the open land ahead of them. "Someone's waiting for us at the 'gate," Sam whispered.
'Fall back,' Jack signaled, but before they could move, the sound of footsteps came from one of the winding tunnels from which they'd come. "No! Never mind," he whispered. Daniel stopped in his tracks and turned around to face him again. "Keep coming this way--who's got a grenade left? Carter--here... Move out as soon as you hear them go off."
Inching along, pressing himself against the wall, Daniel gripped his zat'nik'tel and hoped they'd get out into the light before they had to try shooting anyone. From ahead, he heard the sound of a pin dropping, and then, "Down!" Sam said, turning to cover him as well as she could with her body.
"Now!" Jack called, running out even as twin explosions sounded.
Daniel emerged into dim light just as the first of the Jaffa began to recover from the blast, and he barely had time to count three, maybe four figures still standing before Teal'c followed him out and turned to fire on the men approaching from behind. Daniel stayed pressed against the wall, raising his gun to shoot as soon as he was sure he wouldn't hit Jack, and saw Sam crouched beside the DHD, raising her head every few seconds to hit another glyph.
One of the Jaffa in the open fell to Daniel's zat, and Jack's gun took the other two. "Go, go!" Jack ordered, turning around to help Teal'c. "Everyone back to the 'gate!"
The Stargate kawhooshed to life. "GDO sent," Sam's voice said through the radio, but then she turned around and ducked back under the DHD as another team of Jaffa emerged from behind the 'gate. "SGC," she continued, "this is SG-1. We're under fire!"
"Colonel O'Neill, this is General Hammond," another voice said as they made their way back to the 'gate, a line of Jaffa approaching from behind them and another from ahead. "Your status?"
Jack dropped to the ground to duck a staff blast. Daniel squeezed his trigger over and over until his zat hit the one who'd shot it as Jack radioed back, "We're pinned down. Carter was able to dial the 'gate. We're trying to get clear to come through."
Sam rose over the top of the DHD and fired at the approaching soldiers. "We have to go now!" she yelled.
Daniel ran out from behind Teal'c, then had to duck back behind a tree on his way there as several staff blasts headed that way. He leaned out around it and returned fire, hoping to cause a mess of energy blasts more than he was expecting to hit anyone. "Jack, Teal'c, come on!" he called back as he saw the other two still crouched near the tunnel entrance, covering their backs.
"Colonel O'Neill, we're taking fire. Report."
"So are we!" Jack yelled as he made a dash toward some cover closer to the 'gate. "Daniel, you're clear--we're right behind you!"
As he said it, he rose over top of Daniel's head and fired. Daniel ran for the 'gate, turning back to shoot as he went and watching as Teal'c followed after him, Sam and Jack each peeling away from their positions--
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17 April 2001; Briefing Room, SGC; 1130 hrs
Daniel reflected, as they sat around the briefing room table, that it wasn't a good mark of their sense of self-preservation to feel so normal when Jack said, "So, essentially, we were ambushed on the way back to the 'gate."
"We almost didn't make it out," Sam added.
"If you'd delayed much longer, you wouldn't have," General Hammond said, looking out the window at where people were cleaning up the embarkation room. "I was about to close the iris."
"Well," Jack said, "considering the SGC was taking fire...kinda glad you waited as long as you did, sir."
"Strictly speaking, if I'd followed procedure, you'd all be dead right now."
There was something odd in his tone. Daniel leaned sideways very slightly, trying to see the general's expression in his reflection on the window. "Well, sir, every time we go through the Stargate it's a calculated risk," Sam said.
The general nodded, still not looking at them. "I realize that, Major. But frankly, I'm getting tired of sending good people out there, never knowing if they're going to come back. I've had enough."
Daniel felt his eyebrows shoot up. "Sir, what are you saying?"
Finally, the general turned around. "I wanted you all to be the first to know," he said heavily. "Effective immediately, I'm stepping down as commander of the SGC."
"What?" Jack said.
"You heard me, Jack," the general said, and somehow, the use of Jack's name instead of his rank--in front of the rest of them, no less, not in private--made the statement feel more real.
"General Hammond," Teal'c said, "I have never served under such a commander as you. You have been essential in the victories we have so far achieved against the Goa'uld."
"Thank you, Teal'c," the general said with a brief smile at the Jaffa. "I've also been essential in the losses we've suffered."
"But--" Daniel started.
"No, I'm sorry," the general interrupted. "I've said all I intend to--I've done more than I ever intended to when I took this position. I'm almost done packing. It's time for an old man like me to step down and let someone fresh take over. Thank you all for your...your outstanding service. It's been an honor."
General Hammond turned away and walked into his office, closing the door behind him.
"But," Daniel said.
"That's a load of crap," Jack said.
"Sir," Sam started.
Jack looked down at her. "You don't believe that, do you? Come on--so we ran into a little trouble out there. We've been in--hell, Daniel's been getting into worse trouble for years."
"Perhaps he has been considering this for some time, O'Neill," Teal'c said. "He spoke of more than simply the danger to us." Jack turned to him this time. "And perhaps," Teal'c said more quietly, "there is another reason for General Hammond's departure."
"Y'think?" Jack said, sitting back down and lowering his voice, too.
"However," Teal'c said, "it is not my place to question his reasons."
"But," Daniel said.
"You're right," Jack said.
"But," Daniel said again.
"Everyone go clean up and get changed," Jack said decisively. "I'll talk to Hammond."
Sam nodded, standing, but she said, "Sir, if General Hammond wants to retire, it's his choice."
"Well, let's just make sure General Hammond really does want to retire," Jack said. "None of you argue with him. I'll talk to him and see what's going on. And if he leaves...still, nothing changes, you understand? We still have the job, and we still have the team."
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18 April 2001; Carter/Martouf/Lantash's Lab, SGC; 0900 hrs
Except they didn't.
Daniel greeted their new commander--General Bauer--with the rest of the somewhat befuddled SG personnel and then followed Sam to her lab, mostly because he wasn't really sure what was going on. They met General Bauer waiting for them there.
"Sir," Sam said, snapping back to attention.
"At ease, Major," Bauer said immediately. Daniel glanced past him to where Martouf was sitting at a bench with a frown, then turned back to the general. "I've been going over your research into naquadah reactors. Very impressive."
"Well, large-scale application is mostly theoretical right now," she said, "but the mineral does show incredible potential as an alternative power source. Martouf and I have been--"
"It also shows some interesting properties when used in conjunction with nuclear ordinance," Bauer interrupted.
"W--" Sam's eyebrows drew low. "It does tend to increase the explosive effect, yes, sir."
"As I have attempted to explain to General Bauer," Martouf said, standing up, "the SGC does not have adequate facilities, equipment, or material for what he is proposing. The Tok'ra do not even have a weapon like the one suggested, simply because there has been no feasible way to--"
"The Tok'ra have dallied for thousands of years," Bauer said. "If we move at their pace, we're going to lose this war long before we get anywhere."
"General," Daniel said, thoroughly unimpressed, "the Tok'ra have spent thousands of years accomplishing things we can't even imagine, and if one of their top people"--he gestured toward Martouf--"believes a proposal isn't feasible--"
"Their top people believed until a few years ago that no human efforts were feasible, Mr. Jackson," Bauer said, not looking away from Sam. "The Pentagon feels that the Stargate project, while exposing Earth to considerable danger, has yet to produce any practical returns. Now--"
"Sir," Daniel said, incredulous, "that's absurd! I can name--"
"Daniel," Sam said sharply. "I apologize, General."
Bauer turned away from her long enough to give Daniel an assessing look, then turned back. "Now," he began again, "we've been working on a device designed specifically to take advantage of this naquadah-enhancing effect. I'd like you to take part in the operation, Major."
Daniel glanced again at Martouf and saw his eyes flash. He almost wished Lantash would come out to yell at Bauer, because 'device' could only mean 'dangerous weapon' when combined with nuclear ordinance, except Lantash rarely did that anymore these days, and it probably wouldn't help their case.
"What about my duties with SG-1?" Sam said.
"You've been reassigned," Bauer said.
"What?" Daniel blurted.
"As have you, Mr. Jackson," Bauer added. "A civilian--a minor--has no place on a frontline unit. From now on, you'll work as a linguistics consultant and as our liaison with Abydos, as you were originally intended to do. I anticipate our relationship with your planet will be very useful over the course of this project."
Daniel shut his mouth.
"General Bauer, with...with all due respect..." Sam started
"The decision has been made, Major," Bauer said. "Now, I suggest you get to work." Bauer turned and walked from the lab.
"I--" Sam started once he was gone, then stopped. "Martouf, what exactly did he say he wants us to do?"
"I do not think he trusts me fully," Martouf said, looking disappointed. "But he left the file for you, and from what little he said to me, I believe he plans to build and test a naquadah-enhanced explosive as a more powerful weapon against the Goa'uld."
"Because attacking the Goa'uld with a huge bomb couldn't possibly hurt the enslaved people in the area," Daniel said, folding his arms.
Sam looked over her shoulder, then picked up the folder to look at what the assignment was. "A naquadah-enhanced nuclear bomb... There's nowhere on Earth we could test something like that and ensure...oh," she said.
"There is no need to use Earth," Martouf reminded her.
"And they need naquadah," Daniel said. "Sam, Sha'uri said my people just found a store of weapons-grade--"
"We have some weapons-grade material right here on base," Sam said. "It's probably enough to finish this project without even having to find more. Don't worry about Abydos."
Teal'c appeared in the doorway. "I have been reassigned," he said.
"For God's sake," Sam said, slapping the folder back down on the bench top. "So have we, both of us. Colonel O'Neill's going to blow his top. What are you now, Teal'c, the on-base Goa'uld strategic consultant?"
"I was transferred to SG-3," Teal'c said. "They lost a man in battle two weeks ago."
"So what do we do?" Daniel said, suddenly lost without General Hammond to lead them and without their team.
"We have our orders," Sam said.
"Sam--" Daniel protested.
"No," she said firmly. "Changes in leadership happen, and if we start picking and choosing who we want to obey, then we're no better than Maybourne's crowd. We follow our orders." Daniel glared at the floor. "Look, I know how you feel. Maybe the colonel will convince General Bauer to put things back the way they were."
Daniel winced. Jack was going to be angry, at the very least, and Bauer didn't seem like the kind of person who'd be as indulgent of Jack's temper as General Hammond had been.
"Something is not right," Teal'c said in a low voice.
"I don't know, Teal'c. But there's nothing we can do about it," Sam said. "Not here and not now. Everyone get back to work."
...x...
Daniel had stopped noticing all the time how quiet the archaeology office was. Now, it seemed more stifling than ever. It wasn't just that Robert was gone, though that was part of it--even now, there were two people in the room, looking for reference books, but there was a sort of distance with them that hadn't existed with Robert.
Mostly, though, it was the prospect of being in here all the time now, with no need or excuse to go anywhere but next door to Nyan's office when he had a question about some artifact, or across the hall to Dr. Reeve's office when he had to hand something in. There had always been an SG-1, and even when Daniel himself hadn't been on it, even when Colonel Makepeace had been briefly in charge, there had been General Hammond. They hadn't been trying to build a weapon then.
"Hey," Jack said.
Grateful for any noise, Daniel looked up to see him standing in the doorway, dressed, oddly, in civilian clothes. "Jack," he said. "You heard? About...us?"
"Yeah," Jack said, then walked in and said nothing more.
"Jack?" Daniel said. "What's going on?"
"I'm going to be on leave for a while," Jack said. He glanced at the lieutenant who was pulling a book from the shelf, then at the captain who was using a spare stool as a table to scribble down some notes. And then Jack turned back to Daniel and held himself so still and his eyes so steady that something was wrong, something he didn't really want to say in front of the others, and Daniel just had to figure out what--
"Do you need something?" Daniel said quietly, knowing that Jack could be overly paranoid at times but that there was often a good reason for it. He starting moving toward the door, an excuse to go somewhere they would be alone--
"Nah," Jack said, and didn't move, though he glanced again at the two translators. And, oddly, he didn't tell them to leave--Jack wasn't normally shy about ordering people around when they were annoying him, which meant something wasn't normal. "Didn't want to bother you guys before I left, but I had to tell you, since you're not going to have a ride home until I'm allowed to come back to work."
"Jack..." Daniel repeated, wondering what exactly the man had said to the general.
"I don't want you wandering around to get to the bus stop at all hours," Jack went on, "so it's best for you to stay on base for now. You need anything from the house?"
"Uh...no," he said. "I guess. But--"
"I'm really sorry about this," Jack said, staring hard at him. The lieutenant, looking awkward, took his book and left the room. The other man in the room didn't seem to notice. "You shouldn't get punished just because I was out of line."
"Jack--"
"You gonna be okay staying here?"
Daniel frowned at him, thoroughly confused now. "Of--of course. But Jack--"
"Daniel," Jack interrupted. "Remember what we said in the briefing room after the last mission?"
"That we still have the job?" Daniel said sardonically. "The team?"
"Before that."
("Perhaps," Teal'c said, "there is another reason for General Hammond's departure.")
"Yeah," Daniel said, suspicious now. He looked at the captain, who was gathering his notes together, and turned back with an exasperated sigh for show. "I know, I know."
Jack gave him a false, bright smile. "So, chin up. Keep an eye on the kids while I'm gone," he said. Daniel forced a short chuckle. "And don't worry about me--I just need to work some things out, and then I'll be back. I'll call and check on you; let me know if you need anything."
"Okay," Daniel said, nodding, concerned but a little relieved, too, now that he knew something was wrong. If something was wrong, and if Jack was working on it, then it could be fixed. "I'll be okay. We'll be good, Jack."
"You'd better be," Jack said. "That's an order--I always rely on you guys to be good so I get to screw around."
...x...
At lunch, Daniel found Sam and Teal'c sitting together, eating in companionable silence. "You heard about Jack?" he said, sitting down with them.
"Yeah," Sam sighed.
"Does it not seem odd?" Teal'c said.
Sam looked up at him. "What do you mean?"
"Jack thinks something's wrong," Daniel said into his coffee mug.
"He talked to you?" she said, looking a little hurt. "I found out from a memo."
"I was the only one he had a really good excuse to talk to, since he's usually my ride home." And Daniel would get it, too, and wouldn't argue. Jack must have known that.
She narrowed her eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"He said he's going to be working on it," Daniel said.
"But what's he going to do?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "I'm not sure he knows. But he needs us to give him time."
"Daniel," she said warningly, almost a whisper, "are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure."
"Are you talking about defying direct orders on a...a hunch?"
"No," he answered. "And I'm passing along Jack's orders, and if I were going to trust anyone's hunches, it would be his. Sam, he's on forced leave just for being annoyed that they took his team apart without consulting him. And we don't have to defy. Directly."
Sam stared at him. "You're always talking about morals. 'Directly' or 'indirectly' shouldn't make a difference."
Daniel bit his lip, then said, "Morally, maybe not. Legally, on the other hand..." He trailed off suggestively. "And there are times when 'moral' and 'illegal' overlap."
"This isn't right," she said, but she was wavering.
"Perhaps it is more right than what is happening now," Teal'c said. She gave him a pained look.
"Look, what about that project you're working on?" Daniel said. "General Hammond leaves, and his replacement suddenly takes us all apart, kicks out the one person who dares to say anything, and wants you to build a nuclear bomb?"
"Well, what do you think we could do short of...something really stupid?" Sam said. "Without Colonel O'Neill, we're just three people. No offense, but we're a scientist and a civilian who've been taken out of the field--a woman and a kid, and regs don't strictly allow people like us into combat positions anyway--and a turned enemy."
"And we're the most well-known names on base," Daniel reminded her. "We're not entirely without clout--we have influence with at least some people in every division of the SGC."
"Your project will already see delays," Teal'c said pointedly, "because the SGC does not have sufficient quantities of weapons-grade naquadah."
She frowned and opened her mouth to correct him, then closed it.
"Is that not correct, Major Carter?"
"Teal'c," she said. "If I do anything, I could be court-martialed."
"And Teal'c and I don't exist on this planet unless they say we do," Daniel said. "How many of our problems have come out of the Pentagon? The first time we dealt with them here, they wanted to take Teal'c and study Junior in a lab."
"Do you understand how much power is in the Pentagon?" she countered quietly.
"Then do nothing, Major Carter," Teal'c added. "All we ask is that you remain on your guard and work carefully."
She took a bite of a sandwich and didn't answer for a few minutes. And then, "If Bauer suspects anything, I'll be taken off the project. And I can't trust the next person will follow Colonel O'Neill's orders over General Bauer's on your word alone, Daniel."
"You don't have to tell anyone," Daniel said, "but you're in charge, right? And if you think someone would help you, tell them. Martouf would help--you saw he's concerned. The scientists trust him. And...and make people run...quadruple checks, whatever takes most time."
"Time for what?"
"I don't know," he repeated. "Something. Wait until Jack calls and we know more. It's a nuclear bomb, Sam. No one would find it suspicious that you want to be careful."
Sam played unhappily with her Jell-O. "The kinds of shortcuts he wants to take on this project..." she said. "It could be really dangerous. The timeline he's set is pretty harsh if we want to do it safely. Martouf and I aren't the only ones worried."
"So stall," Daniel said.
"He's got a full set of plans and loads of data from research done at the Pentagon," she warned. "We're mostly just checking over calculations and providing the naquadah and the hardware. They've already done the bulk of the work--delays will look more suspicious than you realize."
"Then be very cautious in whom you place your trust," Teal'c said. "Listen and watch carefully."
Finally, she nodded. "I'll do what I can. Both of you watch out and keep your heads down." She stood and left. Daniel glanced at Teal'c, then looked down and continued eating in silence.
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Continued in Part b...