redbyrd_sgfic

This Time Fer Sure

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:48:15 GMT

I've been saying for the last several years, 'I should really do National Novel Writing Month- but not this year, it's too crazy. The first year I'm not unbelievably overscheduled.'

Well. This year, I'm only believably overscheduled (that is, before I signed up for this), and I've run out of excuses. Is anyone else playing this year?

The good news- I'm really hoping this will get me back into the daily writing habit, one I lost during construction insanity three years ago and have struggled with ever since.

Sadly, I will not be writing Stargate fic. On the one hand, it would have been fun- but on the other, I have more long story ideas for original fiction. And the idea of getting through a whole first draft in one whack- and then passing it to my husband for the second draft as a distraction from the long New England winter- was too attractive to pass up.

So. Likely I'll be around even less than usual in November but we'll see. There's nothing like having an urgent need to do something else to make me want to play on the internet!

Hold Until Relieved, Gen, PG, SG-1

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 20:37:37 GMT

princessofg posted some thoughts on Jack O'Neill that got me thinking. Post-series, both the post and the story have spoilers for SGU.

*
Jack O'Neill went to visit George the day he found out. It was convenient to have him there in Arlington.

"You'll never guess what they're doing now," he told his old commanding officer. He didn't wait for an answer. "They're promoting me. Again." They hadn't pinned the third star on his shoulder yet, but he could already feel the weight of it. Head of Homeworld Security had been bad enough- his new job would involve conducting the exploration of two galaxies, diplomatic relations with alien races, coordinating the long-awaited public disclosure of the Stargate, and last and worst; regularly liasing with the IOA. His staff had jokingly dubbed it Starfleet Command.

"It helps that the biggest threats are gone," Jack said. The war with the Ori was down to the mopping up. There hadn't been a serious Goa'uld bid for power since Ba'al. The Replicators weren't a threat in either galaxy. "But it's still quite a can of worms you left me holding, my friend. And what the hell am I still doing here, a thousand miles away from my favorite fishing hole?"

Not that he really needed an answer. The number of officers who had served out there among the stars was growing every day, but there were few with the necessary experience who would soon reach the rarified rank that Jack now occupied. He couldn't possibly let this office go to an officer without that offworld experience, even if the president was willing to let him. Jack looked across the field at the soft glimmer of white stones in the summer evening, each one marking a man or woman who'd served-- and the stars unseen overhead where men and women walked under his command. It was they who made it impossible to turn this down.

Jack took a deep breath. "I know. It wasn't what I wanted or expected or would have asked for. But--" Jack looked down at the marker, remembering the man who'd had his back, whether he stood looking down at the gate or in front of a congressional committee. "We don't leave our people behind." It wasn't a job you could walk away from. Not when your people were sometimes in more danger from decisions made inside the Beltway than they were from alien menaces. George certainly hadn't, or at least not until his health had left him no other choice.

He stared at the bland stone, inscription clear despite the gathering dusk. Lieutenant General George Hammond, devoted husband and father, opta ardua pennis astra sequi. Thanks to three months in a time loop, he could still translate that. "They choose hardship that follow the stars on wings," Jack smiled wryly. "Very appropos, sir."

One star, two, three-- that didn't matter. The fishing would be there for his rare visits. On bad days, he swore it was worse than Iraq, Antarctica and Ba'al's prison combined. But Jack had his people's backs.

SGA fic rec: Bringing Out the Dead, Gen, PG

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:33:55 GMT

So, I just happened across an SGA missing scenes fic for The Last Man. It's by an author I hadn't encountered before pwcorgigirl. It's a trio of drabbles (and the episode is an apocalyptic AU, so be warned). I especially enjoyed the middle one, which is Sam-centric.

Author's summary: The dead you always carry with you.

Bringing Out the Dead

OMG, They Killed Science!

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:04:13 GMT

Just reposting a little commentfic that I wrote for the fabulous abyssinia_4077 and ultranos_fic, in the comments to their Meta for Red Sky: Ragnorak- Where Science Goes To Die. In keeping with my obsession for fixing canon, I concluded after reading their hilarious scientific critique of the episode that the things Sam says in the episode are so outrageous that Sam couldn't possibly have believed them. But if so, why would she say them? (*inserts tongue in cheek*)

Clearly, the real answer was very, very complicated:
------------------------
Bill Lee stared at the white board, then back at Samantha Carter. "Nuh-huh. I'm not going to try to explain this to the General." He glanced around and leaned forward conspiratorially. "Think we can get Felger to do it?"

Carter winced, "The problem is, Bill, the general is going to want *me* to explain it." She sighed. "I really don't like it, but there is a way to get across what we need."

Lee looked confused. "There is? How? Why?"

"I'll tell them something else. Plutonium poisoned the sun."

"That makes no sense."

"There are only about three people in the whole Stargate program who could possibly understand this. That's you, me and Bhutia, and I'm not sure he's coming back."

"He's still at the rehab center, isn't he?" Lee said. "I didn't think his injuries were that bad."

"They're saying nervous breakdown," Carter told him, looking rather sober. "I guess he had kind of a thing about bugs anyway, and after the whole replicator thing..."

Bill shuddered. "I still have nightmares."

"Yeah, well Bhutia still has them when he's awake," she shook her head. "But that doesn't help us with the K'Tau problem."

"Plutonium?" Bill Lee said dubiously. "You don't have to know much about science to know that makes no sense whatsoever."

"You'd be astonished at what people will believe if you tell it with a straight face," Carter assured him cynically. Then her expression turned thoughtful. "You know, if we play this right, I bet we can get them to give us a rocket."

Creatures Great and Small

Mon, 04 May 2009 03:16:56 GMT

There seems be a creature theme going on in books this season...but I started with mysteries.

Five of a Kind by by Rex Stout
The Father Hunt by Rex Stout
If Death Ever Slept by Rex Stout
Death of a Dude by Rex Stout
Classic Nero Wolfe mysteries.

The Big Necessity by Rose George
A fascinating and frequently appalling look at toilets- the good, the bad, and the non-existent. Highly recommended- though not as lunchtime reading.

Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life by Carl Zimmer
You wouldn't think that one could say enough about a single strain of bacteria to fill a popular science book- and you'd be definitely wrong. Bacteria, those 'simple' one-celled creatures, turn out to be unbelievably complex and quite fascinating. The science is not dumbed down, so you might need to look up a few things while reading, but it's worth the trouble. Also, the author does a good job of relating the research to macro-world concerns.

Rereads:
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Summon the Keeper by Tanya Huff
Smoke and Shadows by Tanya Huff
Smoke and Mirrors by Tanya Huff
Smoke and Ashes by Tanya Huff
Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett
Johnny and the Dead by Terry Pratchett
Johnny and the Bomb by Terry Pratchett
The Return of the Shadow by Walter Gibson
The Shadow (movie novelization) by James Luceno

Dry Storeroom No. 1 by Richard Fortey
A long rambling loving memoir of a big rambling institution. Fortey reminisces about his many years at the British Museum of Natural History, the work it does, and the many interesting characters he's known there. Dry Storeroom No. 1 is a fascinating read, a passionate argument for basic research in biology and systematics, and love letter to the organization that has enabled his life's work.

The Shadow: The Murder Master and The Hydra by by Walter Gibson (writing as Maxwell Grant)
A new reprint of the classic pulp novels- great fun for fans of the genre.

Cast a Cold Eye by Marjorie Eccles
British police mystery in the classic mold- not a procedural exactly, nor even completely a fair play mystery, but I had to admire a crucial clue hidden in plain sight before the reader. The characters seemed a bit sketchy, but that may in part be due to me having picked up a middle book in the series. Overall, quite enjoyable.

More Deaths than One by Marjorie Eccles
Much like the previous book by the same author- classic-flavored British police mystery. I didn't find the police characters especially sympathetic, but some of the others were interesting, and once again, she cleverly slid a major clue right by under my nose. For that alone, I had to admire it. Otherwise, I found it readable though not compelling.

Blood Test by Jonathan Kellerman
I've seen these around for ages and finally picked one up at the library. It's very well paced and made for a page-turning read. And yet, the characters didn't really grip me. I'd read another one if I was in the mood for a thriller, but won't be rushing to seek them out.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois
Okay, I don't usually review cookbooks. But this one, I not only checked out of the library but read much of, and tried the basic recipe. And, it's really good. Five minutes is slight hyperbole, but it's a collection of recipes for bread where you refrigerate the dough without kneading, and then can bake a loaf at a time as needed. Very tasty, with a nice chewy crust- a nice contrast to my usual bread machine fare. I will likely buy a copy for myself- clearly just checking it out from the library isn't going to be enough.

Folk Mittens by Marcia Lewandowski
Another sort of book I don't usually review is books of knitting patterns. But again, this is one I read through. The patterns are gorgeous, I'm only sorry I didn't have a chance to try any before it had to go back to the library.

What Einstein Told His Cook 2 by Robert Wolke
A collection of cooking science essays- if you're a fan of Shirley Corriher (whose BakeWise I'm slowing working through at the moment) or Alton Brown, you'll find this very enjoyable and informative.

Knitter's Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Another knitting book of deserved renown- I enjoyed the writing though again, did not have the chance to try any patterns while I had it out.

Alex and Me by Irene Pepperberg
The Alex of the title was an African gray parrot of enormous charm and personality. I would have liked to have heard more about the science of animal intelligence that he helped scientists study- the book only skims over it. But the book, like the bird, was delightful.

PSA

Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:44:25 GMT

~~If you're trying to view my website and are getting an internal server error- it's a network issue. Earthlink says they're working on it.~~

ETA: And it appears to be fixed.

And Let's Hear It for Squee!

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 05:05:24 GMT

Thank you to all the people who nominated in the Stargate Fan Awards. I am thrilled to find these stories nominated:

1969 Prime
Don't Ask
Time Out of Mind
Rearranging Fate

I'm particularly excited about Fate being nominated- it's by far my longest and most complicated fic, and was enormously fun to write.

It should be an excellent year for fic- I see around my flist that many of my favorite writers are also nominated. Good luck to all!

Vidders in the News

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:37:16 GMT

Probably this has been posted everywhere and I just missed it. However- in case you missed it:

Heard this very nice piece on NPR on my way home the other night, about vidding- the article has some links to really fantastic vids. The Star Trek meets Monty Python one should definitely put a smile on your face.

And the self-referential one (titled "Us") is an absolutely fantastic piece of work. Highly recommended.

Books!

Sun, 08 Feb 2009 02:35:43 GMT

So, I haven't posted book reviews in a while, but that doesn't mean I haven't been reading. Therefore:

The Courts of the Crimson Kings by S.M. Stirling
This is the sequel- of sorts- to Stirling's prior book set on Venus- and where Venus had dinosaurs, jungles and scantily clad barbarian priestesses, Mars naturally is the home to the decaying remnants of a vast and advanced alien civilization. The worldbuilding is fantastic, and I adore the way the Martians talk- best line ever: "Maintain an attitude of terrified submission and harmony will be sustained."

The plotting is a bit weak and frankly suffers from the occasional intrusions of arc that purports to link the series together. But the stellar world-building still made this enormous fun and well worth reading.

The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger by Marc Levinson
This is a book that shines a light on the workings of our international transportation system and explains just how and why it came to be that a shirt can be made in China for less than the fabric can be purchased for in the US. It also shows how a fairly simple technology- standardized shipping containers- could remodel the faces of port cities, and change the lives of thousands of workers.

This is comprehensive history of the development of shipping containers- and the consequences both intended and unintended. To me the most interesting parts were in the first half of the book, as it describes how and why containers were invented (much of the cost of shipping pre-container was the time and labor to load and unload the ships). In the second part of the book, the interminable labor disputes regarding the use of containers were described- this part of the story was less linear, and also less interesting, at least to anyone without a keen interest in labor disputes. The earlier part of the book makes it worth reading, however.

Stargate SG-1: Do No Harm by Karen Miller
Not great, not awful. The characterization of Jack seemed a bit off to me. Also, this includes a backstory for Dave Dixon's introduction to the SGC, but I found little here of the dark humor that made the character so memorable on the series.

Temping Fate by Esther Friesner
A slight humorous fantasy. Amusing airplane read, but not exceptional.

Area 7 by Matt Reilly
A fast paced military thriller in the over-the-top mode. Set in the US by an Australian author- Disbelief will need to be hung by the neck until dead, but if you enjoy lots of creative explosions and unambiguous action, this is a fast, fun read.

Ice Station by Matt Reilly
The prequel to Area 7, this is more fast-paced action in the Antarctic.

Deep Secret by Diana Wynne Jones
Urban fantasy meets a British SF convention...do I have to say more?

Hidden Magic by Vivian Vande Velde
A fairy-tale fantasy, where quick wits are often a match for magic. Amusing but slight.

Rereads:
Skeleton Dance by Aaron Elkins
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

Space Tug by Murray Leinster
It's no Brain Stealers, but it's also not good. Some good orbital action, but clunky characterizations and badly dated technology.

Three Men in a Boat (to Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K. Jerome
An amusing period tale of three bumbling young men on a river trip. Best known to genre readers because of Connie Willis' To Say Nothing of the Dog.

People of the Wind by Poul Anderson
Interesting worldbuilding in search of a plot. I was initially quite interested in the society, but by the end of the book, I really didn't care about any of the characters.

The Android's Dream by John Scalzi
If Carl Hiaasen wrote SF, this might very well be the sort of thing that would come out. From the opening pages, where a character causes a diplomatic incident by farting, to the villainous alien thug who digests people for money, this is a very Hiaasenesque comedy. However the various over the top characters and wild coincidences work in the comic medium and the whole is very tightly plotted. Fun, funny, and unexpectedly engrossing.

Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
Where there are airships, there are also sky pirates! This was marketed though not marked as YA, and proved well written and fun. In particular, the unsympathetic characters are not presented as two-dimensional ciphers, but rather more complex, and the main character is appealing and believably youthful.

Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel
The sequel to Airborn, this was less compelling, but still fun and worth reading – more airship action, villainous bad guys, and mysterious technology on an airship ghost vessel. I look forward to the third book (due out in the US in December) with keen anticipation.

Cobweb by Neal Stephenson and J. Frederick George
Another oddly Hiaasenesque tale- the quirky characters and odd plotting are strongly reminiscent of Stephenson's The Big U. This isn't as satisfying as Stephenson's best solo work, but a fairly good read.

The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett
One of the Rincewind series of books by Terry Pratchett. It's Pratchett- need one say more?

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt
I want to never drive again. Really. This was an interesting read, but it's conclusions- that many of our worst driving habits are the result of inherent biases we can't do much about- is seriously worrying.

Silks by Dick and Felix Francis
A more enthralling effort than the first father and son mystery, this is still not the equal of Francis' best work. It suffers from some pacing difficulties in the middle section while the authors fill in time waiting for important plot elements to turn up. It does give a fascinating look at the inside of the British law profession, however, and Francis' always likeable characters are seldom poor companions for a few idle hours.

Contest by Matthew Reilly
An earlier book by Reilly, it has much of his trademark pacing, and improbable technology (which is at least explained as 'aliens' this time). Entertaining, and has a really rather nice plot twist at the end.

Scarecrow by Matthew Reilly
The third book featuring Reilly's military hero Shane Scofield, following Ice Station and Area 7- more fast-paced and improbable action. Enjoyable in the same way as a shoot-'em-up action movie is.

You're Wearing That? Mothers and Daughters in Conversation by Deborah Tannen
Like Tannen's prior books, this follows her format of anecdotal analysis. I felt that it did more to document common types of mother-daughter conflicts than it did to explain them or offer solutions.

Anahem by Neal Stephenson
My husband describes this as a hard SF book where the science is philosophy. And it works astoundingly well. It helps that it's a more linear narrative than many of Stephenson's works- all in first person and fairly direct. It does fall down somewhat on the ending, but with Stephenson it's never the destination but the journey that is so enjoyable. His evocative language and intricately realized history are ornaments to a well-told story. Highly recommended.

Rereads:
Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett
Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
First Channel by Jean Lorrah and Jacqueline Lictenberg
Channel's Destiny by Jean Lorrah and Jacqueline Lictenberg
Ambrov Keon by Jean Lorrah
Unto Zeor, Forever by Jacqueline Lictenberg

Nation by Terry Pratchett
The latest Pratchett is a YA but not a Discworld book- an enjoyable read, though I thought that the SFnal and fantasy plot elements did not play well together.

Love Masque by Caroline Campbell
Don't ask how this one wandered in- probably part of a box of other books. Regency romance, not particularly distinguished. It was refused admittance to our library and will be seeking a new home elsewhere.

Seven Deadly Wonders by Matthew Reilly
Indiana Jones meets a military thriller- with mixed results. The fast pace and large explosions had their usual appeal, along with the strongly visual imagery. However the mashup of archeology was improbable enough to occasionally throw me out of the story.

Dewey: The Small Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron with Bret Witter
A book about a kitten posted through the library drop box slot on a freezing night. About as sweet as you're probably imagining- but also an interesting portrait of a small midwestern town and its library in the depths of the farm crisis.

The World in Six Songs by Daniel Levitin
Like it's predecessory (This is Your Brain on Music), this was an interesting read, however it featured less of the intriguing results of current neurobiological research and more evolutionary speculation, along with a fair amount of outright rambling.

Demons are Forever by Julie Kenner
Latest entry in the urban fantasy series- much like Kenner's prior books.

Temple by Matthew Reilly
The usual mix of fast-paced action and improbable archeology.

On Being Certain by Robert Burton
Some intriguing discussion of the neurology of certainty, however its discussion of other books does not necessarily represent their theories fairly. The science is interesting, the analysis and author's personal experiences less so.

Whose Body?,
Clouds of Witness,
The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club,
Strong Poison,
Five Red Herrings,
Have His Carcase,
Murder Must Advertise,
The Nine Tailors,
Gaudy Night,
Busman's Honeymoon, and
Lord Peter (anthology), by Dorothy Sayers
I'm not going to review these individually- they are deserved classics of the mystery genre- not only for their puzzles but for their literate and entertaining characters. Its notable that the Gaudy Night (and to some extent Busman's Honeymoon) are vastly different in style from the prior efforts- and are more novels than mysteries- and therefore may appeal to different audiences.

The Coffin Trail by Martin Edwards
If you're the kind of person who likes a psychological modern novel set in a beautiful and interesting area, flavored with a dash of mystery, you'll likely enjoy this. I spent most of the book wanting to smack the main characters and tell them to stop dwelling on their personal histories and get on with investigating the crime already. A pity, because the setup, setting and crime were all quite interesting- and there was an effort at giving the reader a chance to figure things out, albeit feeble. I may try another by this author, to see if the main characters become less silly and self-absorbed.

Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue by John McWhorter-
A fascinating look at English grammar, why it's weird, and how it got that way, in a lively and engaging narrative. Highly recommended for those interested in linguistics and history.

Tragedy at Law by Cyril Hare
A mystery set in 30's Britain. The writing was amusing, but I felt it suffered for lack of a definite main character.

Rereads:
Blood Sport by Dick Francis
Summer of the Dragon by Elizabeth Peters
Curses! by Aaron Elkins
Longshot by Dick Francis
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett
Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz
Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz
Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz
Eagle Strike by Anthony Horowitz
Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz

Pale Gray for Guilt by John D. MacDonald
A middle one of the Travis McGee novels. Classic hard-boiled detective/suspense fiction.

Suicide Excepted by Cyril Hare
With a Bare Bodkin by Cyril Hare
Classic murder mysteries with dry British humor and literate style.

Evil Star by Anthony Horowitz (Book 2 of the Gatekeepers)
Nightrise by Anthony Horowitz (Book 3 of the Gatekeepers)
YA horror. It's got an interesting premise but he had to work too hard getting people where he wanted them, and the third book switches mostly to new protagonists which weakens the series considerably. Not in the same class with his Alex Rider series.

San Andreas by Alistair MacLean
It's a common phenomenon with popular authors that later books sometimes read like outlines for the books they wrote at the height of their powers. That's the case with this one. Set on a merchant marine ship in the North Sea in winter, a saboteur stalks the decks. The plot is reasonably good, but the characterization and development of subplots is sketchy at best. I quite often had to remind myself who the various characters were. And the dramatic setting lacks the evocative and visceral descriptions of Ice Station Zebra or The Secret Ways. It's hardly MacLean's worst book and was a reasonably fast read, but it's not up to the standard he set in earlier years.

Six Sacred Stones by Matthew Reilly
The even sillier sequel to Seven Deadly Wonders. To improbable action and goofy archeology we add even goofier astronomy. The action still remains amusing and fast paced, but the plot is so far over the top that it's rather hard to suspend disbelief.

Duainfey by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller
I'm sorry to say that I found this very disappointing. It suffered from several major structural problems. There were two plots which basically do not intersect (it's strongly implied that they will in the sequel). The A-plot starts off in a way that suggests one kind of story, but then turns into quite another- one rather reminiscent of the later Laurell Hamilton, it must be said, something I was not expecting. In both plots the characters take very little action that obviously advances the plot...it read like a fairly extended setup for another story. This is IMO more likely to appeal to Hamilton fans than to those of more traditional fantasy.

Stratification: Book 1: Reap The Wild Wind by Julie Czerneda
Now this is more like it! Hard SF, with Czerneda's trademark excellent biology, this has a nicely paced plot that does a slow reveal of the three native societies and an interesting first contact with alien visitors- humans. It's not a total cliffhanger- but it's definitely first in a series. I'm pleased that I waited for the second one to come out-and a bit sorry I don't have all three in the bag.

Stratification: Book 2: Riders of the Storm by Julie Czerneda
Book 2 continues the slow reveal, exposes more of the various plots, history and more of the planet, and moves the story along somewhat. Not as strong as the first, but then, it's a middle book. I look forward to reading the remaining book or books when they appear.

And Four to Go by Rex Stout
A collection of four short stories in the Nero Wolfe series. As my husband puts it, a lot of the pleasure of reading these is in spending time with Wolfe and Archie. Classic mysteries, neither especially distinguished nor disappointing. Reading them in the 21st century, they strongly evoke the era in which they were written.

Rereads:
With the Lightnings by David Drake
Lt. Leary Commanding by David Drake
The Far Side of the Stars by David Drake
The Way to Glory by David Drake
Some Golden Harbor by David Drake

Stargate SG-1 fic, The Parting Glass, Gen

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:58:58 GMT

This is totally unbeta'd and rough around the edges, but I saw just saw the redial_the_gate post on The First Ones, and couldn't resist the lemminglike urge to post my episode tag, which has languished on my hard drive, lo these many years. Fair warning, I'm quite likely to revise it when I get a round tuit.

* TITLE: The Parting Glass
* AUTHOR: Redbyrd
* RATING: PG
* CATEGORY: drama, missing scene
* SUMMARY: Tag for The First Ones. Daniel is inclined to consider his kidnapping by Chaka rather an adventure-- until he finds out about the others.
* SPOILERS: The First Ones, Divide and Conquer, Crossroads, Small Victories, FIAD, Into the Fire, Show and Tell, A Matter of Time, Thor's Chariot, ITLOD, Serpent's Lair, TBFTGOG, Singularity, First Commandment, Broca Divide, Enemy Within, COTG, movie
* WARNINGS: Canon deaths- lots and lots. Bring your own tissues.
* DISCLAIMER:
The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.
-------------

Daniel watched Chaka turn in the firelight and head for the opposite tunnel. He stopped, "Chaaa-ka!"

"What does that mean?" Jack asked.

"I have no idea." Daniel said. "But I think I've just been invited to come back some day and find out."

Sam led the way out of the cave system, with Jack walking beside Daniel and Teal'c bringing up the rear. Daniel was tired and sore, but his mood was buoyant. Successful first contact with another truly alien species. It wasn't something that happened every day. He was looking forward to telling his teammates all about it. Possibly not until they had time to recover from chasing him over half the planet however. They seemed a little stressed. In the light of day, they looked Daniel over. "You look like crap." Jack informed him helpfully.

Daniel frowned. Jack didn't look so hot himself. He looked- old. Tired. There was a distance in his eyes that Daniel didn't associate with anything good. "What's wrong?"

The other three were silent for a moment. "Guys?"

Sam said, "Daniel, you know how you thought this planet was the primordial homeworld of the Goa'uld?"

"Yeah?" Daniel asked cautiously.

"There are still Goa'uld here, DanielJackson." Teal'c said.

"I know," Daniel said. "The river is full of them." He looked at their surprised expressions. "I know, we were here for weeks and had no idea. But Chaka showed me-" He stopped. "What happened? Did someone on SG-11…"

Jack said bluntly. "Loder is dead. Your friend Chaka killed him. He might have already been Goa'ulded, we aren't sure. The rest of SG-11 were Goa'ulded. We think. We had to shoot Hawkins. SG-2 found Sanchez and Tenney- they were already dead."

Daniel felt a little lightheaded. He was probably turning an unattractive shade of whitish green. "Robert?"

Jack looked sick. "Also dead." He took two swift steps forward to grab Daniel's elbow as he swayed. "Hey."

Daniel didn't ask any more questions. Didn't have any more questions. He didn't have time to think about this right now, he had to walk back to the gate. "I'm okay," he said. He held up his bound wrists. "Can you please-?"

He sat down on a rock while Sam stepped forward with a knife and carefully sliced the twisted cord off his wrists. "Ow." She said sympathetically as she carefully peeled back the cord to reveal raw bloody gouges.

Daniel steeled himself not pull away and gritted his teeth as the pain lanced through his wrists. He started talking to distract himself. "I can't believe we were here for three weeks and no one ever spotted the Goa'ulds in the water. I ran into the river trying to escape from Chaka and if he hadn't- "

"You ran *into* the water-" Jack said, staring at him.

"Yes, and Chaka told me to come out, it wasn't safe-" Daniel said. He hissed as Sam poured disinfectant over his wrists.

Jack said, "Carter, step away from him."

Sam looked up. "Sir?"

"We don't know if Daniel might be- infected."

Sam didn't move. "I don't think he is, sir."

Daniel blinked. "Jack, I haven't been infected. Chaka killed the symbiote that tried to attack me."

"We can't be sure until we get him back to the SGC." O'Neill's tone was grim. "Carter-"

Sam shook her head, and ran a nail over the scrape on Daniel's cheek. It stung. "Ow!" Daniel batted her hand away and wiped a fresh trickle of blood.

"If Daniel were a Goa'uld, sir, this scratch should be nearly healed. His wrists shouldn't be in the shape they are. He's got bruises that are a couple of days old- those should have been gone by now." Carter looked at her CO. "I'm pretty sure he's okay."

O'Neill looked from her to Daniel and back. "Nobody lets him close enough to grab a weapon." He took the gun that Carter had laid aside to administer first aid, and her sidearm as well. "Finish with the bandages, then we'll get moving."

Daniel didn’t think that after the news he had just gotten it was really appropriate to be thinking of food, but he'd had three bites of a powerbar in the last two days and passing out on the way back to the gate would not be helpful. "Anybody got a snack?" he asked. "I can eat it while we walk."

Jack cursed under his breath, and pushed a power bar into his hands. "Everybody take five. Daniel, eat that before we get going."

Sam finished wrapping bandages around his wrists and proffered a canteen as Daniel wolfed down the bar. "Thanks." He drank some water gratefully, and handed it back, climbing painfully onto his feet. Two days in soaked boots after a ten mile forced run wasn't the most fun he'd ever had either. His feet were probably as raw as his wrists inside the boots. There wasn't anything useful to be done about it now. He stepped forward. "I'm ready."

They followed the same route back that he and Chaka had taken. Daniel guessed that they didn't want to risk an alternate route that might take them through a stream or river. He plodded doggedly onward. Beyond the riverbank where Daniel had tried to escape, they met Griff and Pierce. Griff's shoulder was bandaged.

He looked pleased to see Daniel. "You found him!" He looked him over. "You okay, Doc?"

"Fine, Major." Daniel caught the man's dubious look. "A little the worse for wear, but it's all superficial."

"Right."

Jack called a break and Daniel checked to be sure he wasn't within sight of the river before flopping down on the ground. Beyond the clearing, he saw two fresh mounds of earth. Hawkins and Robert? God.

He still remembered that first conversation with Robert after he'd gotten back from Abydos. When he'd heard the relief in Robert's voice was the first time it occurred to him that he should have called- written, something. And when he'd mentioned he was working for the Air Force, Robert had immediately wondered if they were hiring.

"--There would be one downside."

"What's that?" Robert asked.

"The position would probably report to me." Daniel admitted.

Robert snorted. "Right. Daniel, if it reports to you, I'll take a job cleaning floors. Cataloging artifacts. Typing your memos. I'll send you my CV now and you can just tell me when I can resign and move out there." His voice got a bit anxious. "You can get bagels there, right?"

"Sure." Daniel had to clear his throat from the sudden hoarseness. "Any kind you like. I'll definitely let you know if I can get you in here."

And Daniel had done it- submitted Robert's CV, talked him through the security paperwork, and finally- finally seen his friend at the SGC. He'd been offworld and lost track of time, so he wasn't there to say hello when Robert arrived. Instead he'd run into him with a group of other shell-shocked newbies walking down the hall.

He'd almost passed the hesitant-looking group of new personnel when he spotted the familiar dark head. "Hey, Robert!" Daniel stopped dead in the hall, his team halting around him as he greeted his friend. "You made it."

Robert had looked momentarily confused as he glanced from Daniel's BDUs to his sidearm, to his teammates. "D-daniel?!"

"Yeah." Daniel grinned. "Good to see you." He glanced around. "Guys, this is Dr. Robert Rothman, an old friend from grad school. Robert- this is Sam- Captain Samantha Carter, Colonel Jack O'Neill, and Teal'c."

The other newbies were mostly staring warily at Teal'c who ignored them to incline his head gravely to Rothman. "Dr. Rothman."

"Daniel-" Jack said, a trifle impatiently.

"Hey we have to go. I'll see you later." Daniel hustled away with his teammates, but with a decided bounce in his step. He couldn't wait to show Robert what he'd been doing.

#

By the time they reached the gate, it was full dark, and Daniel was beyond exhausted, but he put one food in front of the other, ignoring the pain of blistered feet and raw wrists. Teal'c moved to hand off his staff weapon so he could assist Daniel, but Daniel pointed him at Coburn instead, who was starting to weave on his feet.

When they reached the gate, Daniel moved automatically to the DHD and dialed Earth's address. He reached out of habit for the GDO he wasn't wearing, then looked around to see Sam sending their code. Dispiritedly, they trudged through the gate- five people fewer than they should have been.

Hammond was waiting at the end of the ramp, his tense expression relaxing a fraction when he saw Daniel with the other members of SG-1. "Dr. Jackson. Welcome home. How are you?"

"Fine, thank you sir." Daniel said. "I'd better go get MRI'd just the same though." His teammates could give the General a report. Daniel ignored the gurney and continued walking to the infirmary. He'd made it this far on his own feet, no reason to stop now. He ignored the SFs that followed him on Jack's signal.

"Hey." He managed a feeble wave for Janet as he plopped down on the exam table.

"Daniel." Janet dropped her clipboard and came straight over to him. "You look terrible."

"Nothing serious, so long as I'm not a Goa'uld." Daniel said.

She raised an eyebrow. "Is that a joke?"

"No- you haven't heard?" At her headshake, he continued. "The planet was indeed the Goa'uld homeworld. And it still has a thriving population of primitive Goa'uld infesting the water supply. They got SG-11. And Robert. So would you please do the damned MRI first? I- and other people- would kind of like to be sure I'm me before you waste a lot of effort on me."

Janet gave him an incredulous look, but they did the MRI first. Despite the noise, Daniel fell asleep on the table. He awoke to Janet shaking him gently. "Daniel?" She met his eyes. "You're not a Goa'uld."

"Thanks." Daniel took a deep breath, then let it out. "Shower?"

"Exam." She said firmly.

"Ah, your look-out." Daniel said. He submitted to gentle probing of the lump on his head, and admitted to a slight headache, which he and Janet both knew meant it hurt like hell. She shone a light in his eyes, and looked at his bruises. Told him the scratch on his face didn't need stitches and wouldn't scar, which he knew. She carefully unwrapped the bandages on his wrists, and Daniel persuaded her to leave them off while he showered and came back. They stung like fury, and so did the raw patches on his feet when he gingerly pried his boots off but he felt better clean.

They numbed and cleaned his wrists and then did the same for his feet, when Janet noticed the raw bits. She wanted to keep him overnight.

"I'd sleep better at home," he said. Opening position for the usual negotiation.

"You fell asleep on the MRI table, Daniel. I think you'll sleep fine in the infirmary." Janet riposted.

He got her to let him go to his on-base quarters as a compromise. He knew she would- he wasn't badly enough injured for her to resist the pleading look he wasn't too scrupulous to use when he wanted his own way.

Of course he went first to his office and pulled out Robert's personnel file. He ran his fingers across the cover without opening it. Why had he done it, brought Robert here? Because he'd wanted a friend here. A friend who understood the love of antiquity the way he did, who caressed the spines of old books, who could read the forgotten scripts of half a dozen cultures that were dead on Earth, but had living descendants among the stars.

Daniel had never thought Robert would be happy in a field post, and he hadn't been, preferring to fill in where necessary, and content not to venture through the gate except for major digs on worlds that had previously been declared safe. Like P3X-888.

Safety was an illusion here. And to be Daniel's friend you needed to be armed, dangerous and have eyes in the back of your head. And even then, you might get a snake in it. Even Sam and Jack- with a frisson of shock, Daniel realized that the only close friend he had now that had never been snaked was Teal'c- and Teal'c carried one in his gut. And he had walked through the valley of shadow one more time and come out unscathed while death stalked those around him. He put down the file softly, and limped over toward the door and his quarters. He was getting morbid. He needed sleep.

#

The debrief was long and brutal. Daniel's eyes kept returning to the video of the camp, the dead soldiers. There were no pictures of Robert. When his turn came, he told them briefly of his experiences with Chaka. "I'd like to go back to study the Unas," he added at the end.

Hammond gave him a thoughtful look. "I appreciate your desire to continue Dr. Rothman's work, but I have considerable concerns about the safety of any personnel returning to P3X-888." He shook his head slightly as Daniel opened his mouth to say- something, he wasn't sure what. "I don't propose to discuss it now, Dr. Jackson., but if you can come up with a proposal that won't endanger more lives, we can return to the subject later."

Daniel nodded, fiddling absently with the bandages on his wrists. "On a different subject sir, what about Robert's family?"

"They will be notified through official channels, Daniel," Jack started.

"I know his parents, sir." Daniel looked from General Hammond to Jack. "And they know that Robert was working for me. I think this is really something I should do in person."

"I understand," Hammond said. "But it's too late. They were notified by the Air Force this morning. I sent a letter."

Daniel sighed. "I'll call them then."

"In better news," Hammond told them, "the Enkaran colony is doing very well. They've sent an official invitation to SG-1 to join them for a celebration of their new home.

"Sounds great," Jack said, a bit too heartily.

Daniel rubbed his fingertips lightly over the bandages on his wrists, wondering what he would say to Robert's parents.

#

Daniel stood with the other members of SG-1 at the SGC memorial service. He hadn't said anything about the condolence call, but Jack had made enough of those himself to guess how it had gone. Daniel stood silently between Teal'c and Jack for the service, Carter on Jack's other side. How many funerals had he been to, Jack wondered. After a while they all started to blur together.

They filed slowly out afterward, a sea of dress uniforms with a sprinkling of civilians.

"Colonel," Major Andy Pierce from SG-2 stopped them at the door. "We're getting together at my place."

"I've got a few bottles in the truck," O'Neill said. "We'll follow you?" He hadn't mentioned the plans for the wake to his team, but he hadn't had to. There'd been enough funerals at the SGC that they were routine.

Pierce lived in a modest suburban house, much like O'Neill's own. There was a plastic swing and slide in the backyard, and a grill on the patio. One of Pierce's team was directing people with alcohol to the bar, while another took coats. Pierce's wife and kids were at his in-law's, Jack gathered.

When the glasses were passed around, Daniel poured a stiff slug from the first bottle that that was offered him.

Bourbon wasn't something Daniel usually drank. "Medication?" Jack asked him.

"Didn't take any." Daniel replied, correctly interpreting Jack's concern for mixing painkillers and alcohol.

"You planning to get hammered?" Jack's tone was not judgmental, but there was a flicker of surprise in his eyes.

"Planning?" Daniel said. "No. It could happen." He looked down at the flat white bandages that covered his raw wrists.

The bandages and the scratch on his cheek were the only visible signs of his ordeal on P3X-888. At least as long as he kept his sleeves rolled down. Under his clothing, Jack knew, he was a mess of scrapes and bruises, thanks to having been dragged unconscious through the woods for several hours. Jack looked thoughtfully at Daniel's glass and grabbed another for himself. "Teal'c?" he asked.

"Yes?" Teal'c replied. He was sitting on a couch with Samantha Carter. Sam had a beer, the Jaffa was holding a glass of fruit juice.

"Here." O'Neill tossed his keys to his teammate.

The Jaffa raised an eyebrow. "I was not planning to stay long."

"We can get a taxi." Jack said. "I don't think anyone else is going to be in any shape to drive."

Teal'c nodded. This was a ritual he'd witnessed before, though he'd told his teammates he found it puzzling.

Nearly everyone else in the room had a glass by this time. "Let's drink to SG-11," suggested Coburn.

"To all the dead," Pierce added.

"To all the dead." Daniel repeated softly. "Yes."

Pierce gave the scientist a startled look, but held up his glass as Daniel raised his.

"Major Peter Hawkins." Daniel Jackson said clearly. There was a murmur of voices and glasses around the room were raised. "Dr. Robert Rothman." His voice cracked a bit on his friend's name. He remembered Jack telling him that Robert had run all the way to the gate for help, and then insisted on accompanying the search and rescue team. "Sergeant Curt Loder. Lieutenant Mira Sanchez. Sgt. William Tenney."

"Hear, hear." Ferretti raised his glass and more beer was drunk.

Daniel's voice cut across the clink of glasses. "Captain George Wilson." A member of SG-9's diplomatic corps, he had been killed the week before in a dispute on another planet entirely. "Lieutenant Virginia Astor. Major Jeffrey Graham." Everyone knew the names of the two officers who had been programmed to be Goa'uld assassins, zatarcs, and then suicided. The murmurs were respectful. He looked around for Sam. "Martouf and Lantesh."

Sam looked back with a suspicious shininess in her eyes.

Daniel finished his glass and reached for another. He and Teal'c exchanged a long glance. "Sho'nac of the Red Hills."

Teal'c nodded gravely, and raised his glass of fruit juice. Someone whispered a question in the corner and Ferretti told him who Sho'nac had been.

The next five names were members of other teams, people SG-1 hadn't worked with. O'Neill hadn't even realized that Daniel had known them. Though if he'd thought about it, he should have suspected. Daniel knew everyone.

Daniel continued. "Sergeant Lyle Baker. Sergeant Paul Stevens." Teal'c raised his glass again and O'Neill joined him at the names of the two soldiers who had accompanied them onto the replicator-infested Russian submarine but hadn't returned. There were other names as well, from other SGC teams. One lost to the Goa'uld. Another a casualty of exploration into the unknown.

He continued, "Lieutenant Perry Anderson. Sergeant Will Varney. Sergeant Lewis Charrette. Captain Randal Sozecki-"

O'Neill stiffened and stepped forward to lay a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Daniel."

The archeologist broke off. "Jack." He peered at his friend. "Your glass is empty." Daniel's eyes were shimmering with moisture. There were still a few knots of people talking at the other end of the room but everyone at their end of the room had turned to face Daniel and Jack.

"Maybe you've had enough?" The colonel suggested.

"But I'm not finished." Daniel met his eyes only fleetingly

Ferretti tapped O'Neill's shoulder with a bottle. Jack slowly took the full bottle of beer and sat down.

Daniel politely waited for him to open the beer before continuing with the names of the soldiers who had died rescuing a group of kidnapped Abydonians. "Randal Sozecki, um, Lieutenant David Reynolds. Sha're Jackson." With his wife's name, the tears in Daniel's eyes overflowed and ran down his cheeks. He made no move to wipe them away, simply continued with names, a bit hoarsely. Men who had died rescuing SG-1 from Hathor. Sergeants Chu and Plunkett, killed by the Reetu in the halls of their own base.

O'Neill blinked hard and drank deeply when Daniel clearly recited the names of those lost to the black hole. "Colonel Frank Cromwell. Captain Jon White. Lieutenant Melissa Price, Sergeant Joseph Lawson. Major Henry Boyd." Daniel hadn't even been there for that one. He'd been offworld with another team. There were more hushed whispers of explanation when Daniel said the names of Erich, husband of Gairwyn, his brothers, Per and Oleg, and Kendra of Cimmeria.

Sam looked down at another set of names. "Jolinar of Malkshur. Airman Michael Connelly, Airman John Bailey-" Those were the two guards who died trying to stop the Ashrak from reaching Sam.

They were followed by the two Jaffa who had died on Klorel's ship, trying to help Bra'tac and SG-1 avert the attack on Earth. Daniel added a few words of explanation to their names. It was quite likely that aside from himself and Teal'c there was no one on earth who had even heard those names before. Jack found he couldn't even remember if Bra'tac had introduced them.

The next group needed some explanation as well. "In an alternate universe, the entire staff of the SGC died defending the base from Goa'uld attack. But I'd like to especially honor the memories of the alternate Jack O'Neill, Samantha Carter and Catherine Langford, who died helping me get back here with the intelligence that saved us from the Goa'uld attack on our Earth." Daniel wasn't the only one looking decidedly buzzed, but his explanation was brief and lucid. The people who came after them were SG-7 and the planetary population of Hanka, less Cassandra. Daniel enunciated the names of the SGC personnel clearly and followed them with Sergeant Franks, who had died trying to escape Jonas Hanson's little theocracy. No one commented on the omission of Hanson and Baker, who had become delusional and murdered a number of the natives.

A marine lieutenant who Jack remembered had been on Makepeace's team for the first trip to the Land of Light swiped at his eyes at the name of a teammate who had broken his neck falling two stories to the floor of the gate room under the influence of the Touched virus.

The names were still flowing smoothly, and now Jack remembered them all. "Major Charles Kowalski. Dr. Brian Nimzicki." Victims of the goa'uld who had invaded Kowalski and then tried to escape from the base. "Sergeant William Casey." Died of his wounds following the first mission to Chulak. Three Abydonians and two air force personnel, killed in the attack on Abydos. Sergeant Carol Kettering and three other soldiers dead in the first attack on Earth.

There was a restless murmur as people seemed to expect that was the end, but Daniel stared blindly into the room and followed them with a long string of Abydonians. Casualties of the rebellion against Ra, Jack realized. Finally he and Ferretti raised their glasses again as the last three names of the brutally long list came. Daniel's eyelids were slitted closed, but his voice remained steady. "Sergeant Ronald Freeman. Sergeant Luis Porro. Lieutenant Alexander Brown." He took the last swallow of his drink and set the glass down with exaggerated care on the table next to his chair. The whole room was silent.

O'Neill and Ferretti repeated the names of the first three casualties of Ra on Abydos, "Freeman, Porro and Brown." Everyone drank. Daniel's head dropped back against the chair and his eyes closed.

"I can't believe that he remembered all those." Ferretti said. "If he left anyone out, I certainly didn't notice."

"He cut their names into the stone." Teal'c said.

"What?" Ferretti looked at him.

"On Abydos." Teal'c said. "Daniel Jackson told me that after the rebellion against Ra, the names of the dead were cut into a memorial stone in the center of Nagada, including the casualties among the Tau'ri."

"I didn't even know he knew the first names of the guys who died." O'Neill said. "I'm not sure that I'd have remembered after all this time."

"I didn't." Daniel's voice was hoarse but unslurred. "Dog tags for the last names. I looked up the first names when I got back."

Jack blinked. "Porro and Brown's bodies were in the cell on Ra's ha'tack-"

"Freeman took their tags. I expect he meant to try and bring them back. We found his body after you left. We buried him with the Abydonian casualties."

Jack remembered the brief chilly ceremony on earth, conducted by a chaplain who'd never known the dead, for a small gathering of Air Force personnel, most of whom were there more out of duty than conviction. A stone monument in the center of the city carved with hand tools, honored by the people who credited the Tau'ri for their freedom- that was a more worthy memorial. He hoped he'd get to see it, the next time they were on Abydos.

The room had broken up into smaller conversations. Daniel set down his empty glass and took off his glasses to rub his eyes. "Had enough?" Jack asked.

Daniel gave him a sideways glance. "I can get a taxi on my own, you know."

"I know." Jack said. "But I think I'm ready to leave."

Daniel put his glasses back on. The one night of sleep hadn't entirely erased the dark circles under his eyes. "I'd actually probably fall asleep if I had another drink," he admitted.

Teal'c rose with them, while Carter smiled briefly at the three of them. "I'll find my own way home, sir."

"See you tomorrow," O'Neill told her, as he followed the civilian half of his team out into the brilliant June afternoon.

Stargate Timeline

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:50:02 GMT

So, a few um, weeks, months? ago, aelfgyfu_mead reminded me that I had done a rough timeline of how long various episodes took (and what the weather looks like on Earth), as an aid to myself in figuring out what the date is in Colorado during various Stargate episodes.

So, this is only S1-6, it's pretty rough, and I make no guarantees about accuracy. But I figured I'd throw it out there and see if people wanted to add on to it. (I have not even *tried* to edit this myself since I originally did it- I'd spend hours looking things up and never get around to posting it.)

1928 - Stargate dug up in Giza
1945- Ernest Littlefield goes through the gate.

July 8, 1965- DJ b. (movie novelization, FIAD, consistent with age given in 1969)
Summer, 1973 - DJ's parents die (movie novelization, consistent with info given in Crystal Skull)
1981 - DJ graduates HS, goes to UCLA (movie novelization)
1995-Stargate movie (takes place >1 year before COTG, assume at least 14 mo.- puts date late in '95)
1997
101 COTG starts (~Feb 6-7 Apophis' visit, Feb 9 Daniel's return)
2/10/97 - rescue mission in COTG as mentioned in Politics.
102 Enemy within (1-2 days)
103 Emancipation implies several missions since Enemy Within

March
104 Broca Divide (month is mentioned in Politics)
105 The First Commandment
106 Cold Lazarus late spring/ summer
107 The Nox (it is mentioned that 19 planets have been visited - SGC or SG-1?)
108 Brief Candle- <~1 week, O'Neill needs time after to recover?)
109 Thor's Hammer

July
110 Torment of Tantalus (Catherine says Daniel has been back 6 mo, July is 6 mo from early Feb)
111 Bloodlines
112 Fire and Water- summer 1 week
113 Hathor- several days
114 Singularity implied to be summer/fall
115 Cor-ai (2-3 days)
116 Enigma (2-3 days, poss a week)
117 Solitudes- implied to be summer in Antartica (People can travel there. abyssinia4077 says this means it probably cannot happen earlier than late November.) - approaching winter in CO, O'Neill needs 6-10 weeks recovery- this probably pushes the remaining eps from S1 into early 1998 with O'Neill recovering from broken bones.)
118 Tin Man (2 days)
119 There But For the Grace of God (1 day)
120 Politics (1-3 days)
121 Within the Serpent's Grasp (1 day) Assume takes place Dec/Jan.
201 The Serpent's Lair (1 day)

1998
202 In the Line of Duty (a few days, Sam needs 1-2 weeks recovery)
203 Prisoners (a few days)
204 The Gamekeeper (1 day)
205 Need (~2 weeks on planet, prob 2-3 week recovery for Daniel)
206 Thor's Chariot (a couple of days)
207 Message in a Bottle (2 days)
208 Family (2-3 days)
209 Secrets (2-3 days)
210 Bane - Summer (Ally says she's out of school, which makes it sometime late June-Aug. Couple of days, Teal'c prob needs a week or two recovery. )
211 The Tokra part 1 temperate weather
212 The Tokra part 2
213 Spirits
214 Touchstone temperate weather in Nevada
215 The Fifth Race
216 A Matter of Time temperate weather
217 Holiday weather is still temperate- September?
218 Serpent's Song
219 One False Step
220 Show and Tell
221 1969 (August during episode, probably late fall in present day)
222 Out of Mind

1999
301 Into the Fire (Teal'c is unconscious for 3 weeks before episode,
302Seth- weather is cold in Northwest - prob Feb
303Fair Game
304Legacy
305Learning Curve (temperate weather, school is in session, prob April/May)
306Point of View
307Deadman Switch
308Demons
309Rules of Engagement
310Forever in a Day (temperate weather, probably summer)
311Past and Present
312Jolinar's Memories
313The Devil You Know
314Foothold
315Pretense
316Urgo
317A Hundred Days (3+ months)
318Shades of Grey (1-2 weeks)
319New Ground (1 day)
320Maternal Instinct (1 day)
321Crystal Skull (At least 3 days, more likely 5)
322Nemesis (2 days for episode, 9 days to install new stargate)

2000
401 Small Victories
402 The Other Side
403Upgrades (2-3 days, cold enough everyone's wearing jackets)
404Crossroads
405Divide and Conquer
406Window of Opportunity (3-4 mo actual for people not trapped in time loop, 1 day in timeline)
407Watergate (snowy and cold in Siberia) 1 day
408The First Ones 2 days
409Scorched Earth 2 days
410Beneath the Surface 1 week
411Point of No Return 2-3 days
412Tangent 2-3 days
413The Curse (summery in Chicago) 3-4 days
414Serpent's Venom 1-2 days
415Chain Reaction (~1 week? Temperate weather)
4162010 none
417Absolute Power 1-2 days
418The Light (cold outside- Novemberish?) D on planet 1 week, 2 day episode, 2-3 weeks recovery
419Prodigy 2-3 days?
420Entity 2 days, Sam needs a week recovery?
421Double Jeapardy 2-3 days
422Exodus

2001
501 Enemies
502Ascension (temperate weather)
503The Fifth Man
504Red Sky
505Rite of Passage (temperate weather) Cassie's birthday
506Beast of Burden
507The Tomb
508Between Two Fires
5092001
510Desperate Measures (Temperate weather)
511Wormhole X-treme (Temperate weather)
512Proving Ground (Temperate weather)
51348 Hours (2 days)
514Summit
515Last Stand
516Failsafe (1 week)
517The Warrior
518Menace (2-3 days)
519The Sentinel (The episode takes a day or so, but if Daniel broke a bone in Menace, it's approximately 8 weeks (assuming 6 weeks to heal, 2 weeks PT before he's cleared for offworld travel) from the prior episode.)
520Meridian (3-4 days)
521Revelations (~2 days)

2002
601 Redemption 1 (3 months after Meridian)
602Redemption 2
603Descent
604Frozen (~1 week)
605Nightwalkers (2-3 days) people wear coats on Pacific coast
606Abyss (2-3 days)
607Shadow Play (a few days)
608The Other Guys (a few days)
609Allegience
610The Cure
611Prometheus (temperate weather)
612Unnatural Selection
613Sight Unseen (temperate weather)
614Smoke and Mirrors Jack goes fishing- probably early summer (a week)
615Paradise Lost (a month)
616Metamorphosis (1-2 days)
617Disclosure (1 day)
618Forsaken (1 day)
619The Changeling (1 day)
620Memento (a week)
621Prophecy (a few days-a week)
622Full Circle (1 day)

Feel the Icon Love

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:06:01 GMT

I've thought for some time that the Oma quote was just as applicable to Teal'c as to Daniel, if not more so...and now thanks to nomadicwriter, I have the icon I've been wanting for it for ages. Woot!

Breaking New Ground Epilogue: Bedrosia

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 00:15:01 GMT

This picks up a few days after the end of New Ground, and is in continuity with my fic Breaking New Ground, a Nyan-POV missing scenes piece for SG-1 Season 3 New Ground. In the episode recap comments on redial_the_gate, there was discussion of what happened to Nyan's friends after he came to Earth. As it happens, I Can Explain This! However, this relies heavily on the Bedrosian background I created for the first fic, so if you haven't read it (or haven't read it recently), it won't make a lot of sense. I'm just sayin'. Eventually it is intended to become the prologue to a Nyan fic set later in canon.

------------------------------------------------------

Faille frowned at the elusive script. “Mmph.”

“Still not making any sense?” Brevan looked up from the workbench strewn with crystals and fine manipulation devices.

“Not as such,” Faille said in disgust. “You know, I'll be going back to the Academy tomorrow. I think I'll show it to Nyan.”

“This isn't a language thing then?” Brevan said, applying an input to the golden crystal socketed into the test stand in front of him. A variety of responses flashed across the screen at his elbow.

“I don't think so,” Faille told him. “I know what it says. It's what it means that's eluding me.”

“What does it say?” her husband asked.

Faille wondered fondly whether he was really listening or was just responding on autopilot, but she translated the phrase, “the- uh, something- carried the -something- child? larva? within-”

Brevan gave her a baffled look. “Maybe Nyan can make something of it.”

Faille laughed and got up to go pack, kissing the top of Brevan's head in passing. “Yes, dear.”

#

Faille walked into the research academy thinking it seemed awfully quiet for the middle of the day. A small cluster of students looked in her direction and then moved as a unit and disappeared into a side corridor. Faille turned a mildly puzzled look after them. Sure it was her imagination that they had looked specifically at her.

As she turned into the corridor leading to Callin's office, she vaguely registered the appearance of a man standing outside. She was signaling for entry before she realized what bothered her. He was too old to be a student, and not a member of the staff. Too well dressed to be one of the building service people. Why-- then a voice-- not Callin's-- said, “Enter” and she pushed aside the door.

She froze two steps inside at the sight of a cold-faced woman in the distinctive uniform of the Soldiers of Purity. The senior scientist was seated behind his desk wearing a carefully blank expression, though Faille thought she detected a gleam of warning in his familiar dark eyes when she met his gaze. Another man in plain clothes quietly closed the door behind her. “I'm sorry, sir,” she said to Callin. “I didn't mean to interrupt.”

“Scientist Faille, I believe,” the woman said. “One of the rising stars of the Hidden City project.”

“You're very kind,” Faille said warily. She didn't recognize the Purity rank markings, but this woman exuded a decided air of authority. And how did the Church officer know who she was?

“I believe you are a friend of another of the junior scientists here, one 'Nyan',” the soldier continued.

Faille could see little point in denying it. “We are acquainted, yes.”

“And do you know where he is now?” the woman asked her.

Where he is? Had Nyan disappeared? And yet it could not be just that to bring one of the Church's inquisitors to question Callin. Keenly aware that her surprise and dismay were probably clearly visible on her face, she said, “No.”

“You have no idea?” the woman's voice chilled down.

Faille shrugged helplessly. “At this time of day, he'd probably be in his office if he's at the academy. But he could be in the field looking for prospective dig sites.”

“You were not aware that he had found one?” the soldier prodded.

Faille decided that her best defense would be apparent candor. “Do you mean Fire Valley?” she asked. “I know he wanted to dig there, but the academy did not approve his petition.” She ventured a question of her own. “What's going on?” She felt almost queasy with fear. Naturally there were no public reports, but everyone knew that the Purity made people disappear.

“Your friend is in a great deal of trouble,” the soldier said. She looked from Faille to Callin. “You both are going to have to come with me.”

#

Faille wet parched lips and hated the smug fatuous face of the latest interrogator across the table from her.

“I ask you again-- tell me about Nyan's dealings with Optrican spies,” he said in a bored tone.

“And I tell you again,” she said in a husky voice that sounded unfamiliar to her own ears. “I don't know anything. Nyan never had any dealings with Optricans that I'm aware of. Politics bore him.”

They'd taken her chronometer, so she had no idea how much time had passed. They'd given her nothing to eat or drink. The interrogators had changed several times but Faille had had no such relief. She was exhausted, starving and unbearably thirsty.

“Tell me about Nyan's dig in Fire Valley,” the man said, exactly as the other three had.

Her eyes swam in sudden shameful tears. “I told you. And the man before you and the man before him! Nyan was looking for a primitive village dating from before the Upheaval. That's all I know!” Hot tears spilled down her cheeks and she wiped them angrily away.

A knock came at the door. The interrogator got up to answer it and was handed a message. His eyebrows went up as he read it, and and he turned to Faille and ordered, “Come with me.”

When she stood for the first time in hours, the blood left her head in a rush and she was momentarily so dizzy her vision grayed.

The interrogator must have seen her pale, because he took her elbow ungently. She flinched away from the touch and moved to the door. She was led through the halls of the Church headquarters to a lift and up several levels to a room furnished as a reception area. She was heartened and surprised to see several familiar faces there--Callin looking older than he had the day before, and her friend Tamon, who was flushed and angry with a chain of bruises visible on his face.

Before she could even greet them, someone else was shown in, and Tamon's gaze went past her in dismay, “Malin?”

The two guards more or less holding her up let go and Tamon darted forward to support her as she slowly sank to the floor.

“Oh, Malin,” Faille reached out to touch the younger woman's hair.

Malin seemed barely aware of her. She wrapped her arms around her knees and rocked back and forth silently-- tiny controlled motions that did not conceal her nearly continuous trembling.

Faille turned to Callin, sitting on one of the chairs with an air of utter fatigue. “Are you all right, sir?”

“Just tired, Fai,” he told her. “Just very tired.”

She thought he looked worse than that, but didn't pursue it. “Does anyone know what in the name of Nefertum's holy garden is going on?” she asked.

“They said Nyan disappeared,” Tamon said, sounding puzzled. “They think he was in league with Optrican spies.”

“I gathered that much,” Faille said dryly. She looked at Malin but the girl was lost in her own world.

A man came in flanked by two guards. He waved them off at the door. One was bold enough to protest, “Chancellor--”

“Leave us,” the man ordered.

Faille's eyes widened at the title, but even without that, she thought she would have recognized him. He had something of the shape of Nyan's face and the line of his jaw. “Chancellor Nyaral,” she said cautiously. “To what do we owe the honor?”

“Scientists Faille, Tamon and Malin,” his gaze lingered on the girl trembling on the floor. “And Senior Scientist Callin. You are all friends of my nephew Nyan, I believe.”

Tamon took two belligerent steps forward. “Nyan has done nothing wrong!” he insisted.

The Chancellor frowned.

But Tamon continued stubbornly, “And neither have we. And no matter how much your thugs badger us, we won't say different.”

Faille felt a chill and wondered if that were true--if the Church interrogators were truly trying to make them confess to something as opposed to trying to make them give up information, she wasn't so sure they could have resisted.

“On the contrary,” Nyaral told them rather wearily. “Nyan has at the very least assaulted several provincial soldiers. Though I am inclined to believe whatever tale the Optricans spun him, he was as much a victim as anyone.”

Faille couldn't believe her ears, “Nyan assaulted someone?! I find that hard to believe.”

“I know you do,” Nyaral said. “And I'm also inclined to believe you when you say you've told us everything you know. That's why we're letting you go.”

Faille's mouth fell open.

Tamon expressed his surprise more vocally. "That's it? You arrest us, question us for hours about something we know nothing about and then just let us go?”

The Chancellor's demeanor cooled. “No. You are not to discuss this with anyone, not even one another. If anyone asks you about Nyan, tell them the police are investigating and they should contact them with any information concerning his whereabouts.”

Faille opened her mouth to reply but was distracted by a faint sound from Callin. The senior scientist was ashen and his left hand trembled. He was trying to say something that might have been Faille's name, but the words were slurred and only one half of his face seemed to be working properly.

Tamon and Faille rushed to support him.

“Callin?” Faille asked, feeling for a pulse. To her horror, it was racing. “Oh, Nefertum. He needs a healer.” She turned an imploring gaze on Nyaral.

The older man was watching the man on the chair with an angry expression. When he heard Faille's plea, he turned and walked out. But he must have summoned a medic because a team of emergency responders were there long minutes later.

They put Callin on a litter and told Tamon to lead the still trembling Malin out after them.

When Faille stepped at last into the sunlight, Brevan was waiting anxiously outside the gold glass doors of Purity headquarters, stubbornly ignoring the stares of passersby.

The medical transport was already pulling away from the curb when she was folded into her husband's arms. “Are you all right?” he asked her anxiously.

She clutched him tightly, his heat soaking into her chilled bones. “I'm not sure. But I want to go away from here. Please.”

Brevan shifted his tight grip so they could walk, but didn't let go. They walked slowly away.

Tamon had been staring after the transport carrying Callin and Malin. As they turned down the street, he came forward to walk closely by Faille's other side. 'You are not to discuss this with anyone, not even one another,' rang silently in her ears. What had happened to Nyan? She wondered, shivering. And what was going to happen to them all?

*

W is for Washington, GEN, Jack Alpha-bits Entry

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 14:16:21 GMT

Doh! My entry for the Gen-Fic Jack Alpha-bits ficathon. Late because I'm an idiot and forgot I signed up. Sorry, Fig. The other ficathon entries can be found here
------------------------------------------------

W is for Washington

Jack O'Neill walked through the last Pentagon checkpoint and headed for the Metro station, his steps deliberately purposeful. He'd covered the stars on his shoulders with a light jacket he really didn't need in the cool spring air. He'd expected to feel their weight at the SGC, where lives rode on his decisions every day. Here, without the faces of the people who depended on him, they were frighteningly ephemeral. The idea that he, of all people, could lose touch, become another Pentagon desk jockey- that made his palms itch for his P-90, or even the slight weight of a zat.

He found his metrocard, swiped it through the kiosk and took the down escalator. His truck was still in transit, along with the rest of his belongings- he had a couple of suitcases which had already been delivered to his new apartment. As a colonel, Jack had tended to disparage the kinds of services that generals got- as a general, it was definitely convenient. Especially since his new position carried with it security requirements that would have made it hard to find a suitable place on his own. He grimaced and scanned the station platform. Since the Trust had grabbed Daniel last year- and that idiot Conrad had taken Carter three years before that- they'd all had to be more alert on their downtime. Which in some ways was a blessing, Jack sometimes thought. After seven-plus years of adrenaline-pumping action offworld, it was awfully hard to just turn all those reflexes off. In fact, Jumper had suggested an official bodyguard which Jack had adamantly refused. But no one in the station was taking the least notice of him.

The train swooshed in and Jack boarded. There were only a half dozen others in the car at this hour. He glanced at his watch. Late, but he should make it to the agent's office with a good forty minutes to spare. The girl- whatsername- Sharon, Sherrie, something like that- had said she'd be there until ten.

He found the office without a lot of trouble, rang the night bell.

The woman who answered the door was older than her light soprano had suggested and she smiled at him cheerfully. "Yes?"

"Jack O'Neill," he said. "We spoke earlier?"

"Certainly, General," she smiled. "You have ID?"

He showed her his battered military ID and the shiny new Pentagon passes. "Guess you need to be careful," he said.

She smiled again. "The military expects us to take security seriously, sir. Just let me get your keys."

As she picked up the keys and lease for his new apartment, Jack watched the way she moved- flat heels, light on her feet, something indefinable in her attitude. "You served?"

"Army, six years," she confirmed, pulling the door closed behind her. She glanced at him curiously. "Mind if I ask what your assignment is, sir? They seemed unusually concerned with security, even for a general."

Jack looked out the window. He was definitely out of practice at dealing with uncleared people, he decided. At h- in Colorado, he'd had a comfortable routine where the only people he ever saw were his neighbors, 'Nice day, lawn's looking good,' and the kid who delivered pizza, 'Here, keep the change,' and 'Thanks, mister O'Neill!' and a puzzled glance for the guy who sometimes ordered pizza at eleven in the morning and sometimes was his last customer at one AM. "Tell me about this apartment," he said, after a long pause.

The woman darted a glance sideways, clearly a bit surprised but not distressed. She readily accepted the change of subject. "Two bedrooms, as you wanted, and a balcony. Full security system. The building has keycard entry and guards onsite. Pool and fitness room on the premises. All high ranking military and government people- the building is wholly guaranteed for government use, and only tenants with security clearance are accepted."

Which probably meant a bunch of spooks, Jack knew. And it was practically guaranteed that the Trust had access. That was oddly cheering. "Sounds fine," he said.

Actually it was fine. The building was brick, at least, and a cut above the bland residential office blocks that surrounded it. There were trees and shrubs in the professionally tended garden outside. The apartment was bare and impersonal, but there was a cot in the bedroom for him to use until his furniture came, and a couple of stools by the kitchen counter. His suitcases were sitting in the empty living room. "Laundry rooms on level 2," Carolyn (he'd finally spotted her name on her card in the packet she gave him) said. She fanned out the contents of his packet on the counter, along with keys and security cards. " Your lease is here, and there's a map of the neighborhood- metro station, groceries, pharmacy, convenience store, restaurants, sports bar- "

"Someone has my number," Jack said wryly. He scrawled his signature on the lease, noting in passing that the rent was twice what his mortgage had been back in Colorado. DC, bleh.

She smiled. "The Avalanche was up by two goals when we left my office," she said.

Okay, that was a little too spooky. "Against Anaheim," Jack said. "Won't last."

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" she asked, leaving the maps on the counter.

"Nope, it's all good," Jack told her. "Thank you, you're very efficient."

"All part of the service," she told him.

He'd considered going out to the bar, but found that the efficient Carolyn had left a couple of beers in his fridge. He drank one and then propped the empty in front of the deadbolted door before he went to sleep.

He woke up half-an-hour before he needed to, the time sense that seemed infallible at the SGC and a hundred alien worlds confused by his urban surroundings. Not that the apartment was noisy, rather the reverse. But no amount of soundproofing could blot out the distant sound of cars, truck horns, the press of people in a city. Jack rolled out of bed and into the shower out of habit, wondering if this was it. He'd never expected this, never wanted it. He'd expected to go down in a firefight offworld, like the one that had claimed Janet Fraiser, a gun in his hand, and his team fighting beside him. But he'd woken yet again in a hospital bed, and others hadn't- Janet hadn't- and they all just kept on. And now, here he was, and damnit, he missed saving the world.

He walked to the metro station with Carolyn's map in his pocket, and got some breakfast at 'best coffeeshop in DC' en route. The young lady behind the counter gave him a pleasant smile and a warm danish and he handed her a five. "Keep the change," he said, and he suspected that this was going to be part of his new routine.

Jack walked on past the cafes, munching his cherry danish, and marked a couple of restaurants that were mentioned in his welcome packet, already starting to feel more oriented. He could do this, really he could. But it would be so much easier if a Trust agent would pop out from behind a bush and try to shoot him. Even though after a year of being grounded it felt weird and uncomfortable to walk down this unfamiliar street without Carter on point, Teal'c covering his six, and Daniel explaining something incomprehensible on his left. He spared a sympathetic thought for young Mitchell, left with a SG-1 post devoid of meaning without the people who'd made SG-1 renowned throughout a galaxy. But not too sympathetic- Mitchell didn't know what he didn't have, wouldn't feel the missing-limb sensation of losing a team not to the enemy, but to age and seniority.

The train was crowded at this hour and Jack paid attention to the stations as he learned his new route. He finished his coffee and noted that he was hardly the only one ignoring the metro rules about not bringing food or drink on the train. The train grew fuller as it approached the Pentagon, and Jack got off in such a mob of other personnel as to ensure his anonymity.

The security at the Pentagon was nothing new compared to the SGC, and Jack found his way to his new office, the desk already piled high with reports. He looked at them with disfavor. "George, what did I ever do to you?" he wondered aloud.

There was a knock on the door.

Jack turned and said, "Come in."

A man entered, carrying a folder of papers. "General O'Neill, sir," he said, saluting.

Jack returned the salute, recognizing him. "Wilson, what's a nice guy like you doing in a place like this?"

Wilson grinned. "General Hammond always liked to make sure there were some people who had served in the SGC on staff, sir."

A smart man, Hammond. SGC veterans would understand the issues better than most. "Nice to see a friendly face," Jack said wryly. He eyed the stack of paper in Wilson's hands with some trepidation. "You have something for me, I take it?"

"Yessir," Wilson said. He deposited the stack in Jack's overflowing inbox and picked up the top folder. "I wanted to bring this to your attention, sir."

Jack took it and glanced at the headers. "Training curricula for 302 crews?" He wondered in some dismay what made this urgent.

Wilson looked mildly disgruntled. "Sir, there's a proposal from intelligence to limit the background briefings given to new 302 crews, to reduce the security exposure for SGC and Area 51 operations-"

That made the hair on the back of Jack's neck stand up. "So they won't be able to study raw data on Goa'uld tactics and technology? Or be briefed on the history of our relations with other spacefaring races that they might encounter out there?"

"Exactly," Wilson nodded.

"Whose moronic idea was that?!" Jack demanded.

"I believe Colonel Senders has written the proposal, sir, but with input from--others." Wilson's expression was bland, but there was a glitter of satisfaction in his eyes.

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that," Jack said grimly. Suddenly the pile of paperwork on his desk looked less like unaltered tedium and more like a pit of snakes, littered with mantraps. He turned back to Wilson. "So, you want to give me the rundown on the players here? Starting with the official lines of communication, and then the unofficial."

"You want what I know, sir, or what I suspect?"

"Yes," Jack said.

"Yes, sir!"

Wilson clearly was an ally here. Jack wondered how many more he'd find. And how many enemies. And how much time he was going to spend wishing he could solve problems with his P-90 instead of with a memo. All of it.

"And sir," Wilson said. "I also thought I'd mention there's a little pool going--"

Jack raised his eyebrows. The SGC was a hotbed of goofy wagers, something he'd thought he'd be missing here. Though he still did have a fifty bucks on the chance that something would interfere with Daniel getting to Atlantis again. "A pool on what?" he asked.

"Well," Wilson said. "I've put twenty on Colonel Carter firing at least ten people in her first month at Area 51," he said.

"What odds on her finding at least one Trust agent?" Jack asked.

"Two to one against," Wilson told him.

"I'll put twenty on her finding two," Jack told him.

"In the first month?" Wilson asked.

"Yep," He handed over the cash and looked at Wilson's suddenly worried expression. He might be an SGC vet, but he clearly didn't know Carter all that well. Or the Trust.

"So," Jack said. "You were about to tell me about the folks here in Homeworld security?"

"Right-" before Wilson could start, the phone rang.

"Just a minute," Jack picked it up. "O'Neill"

"Jack, this is Hank Landry--" the familiar voice at the other end of the line said.

Jack felt a brief jolt of adrenaline, "What's up?"

"Well," Landry said, sounding chagrined. "I'm afraid I owe you some money?"

Jack shook his head. Even if he was in Washington, it seemed, some things never changed. "Okay, Hank," he sighed. "So what kind of trouble has Daniel gotten into now?"

*

Don't Ask

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:38:07 GMT

For aurora_novarum who said "I mentioned in chat it would be cool to have a fic from the janitor's point of view."

Gen, rated G, OC
Commentfic, unbeta'd, the SGC isn't mine, yadda.

Post Foothold:

***
Bill made it through the last security check and and punched the elevator button, grumbling under his breath, "How many checks do they need, anyway? Seems like every day they want somethin' new."

The dark-haired civilian guy just arriving, doctor something or other, Bill thought, said, "Tell me about it. I keep expecting to be asked to pee in a cup or something."

Bill laughed. This was one of the guys from the labs with books and old shit, he thought. Roth-something. They almost never blew anything up. That automatically made Bill more friendly to him. "Yeah, it's some weird crap they got here," he said. "Pay's decent, though."

"Yeah, that's what got me, too," the other guy said, smiling. "Now if they can manage not to fill my lab with poison gas for a few days-"

"Was that why the evacuation yesterday?" Bill said. "Geez. If it's not one thing, it's another."

Roth-or-whatever shrugged and said rather cynically, "Well, that's what they said it was."

Bill nodded knowingly. You couldn't work in this place without knowing that there was some seriously strange stuff going on. If you wanted to stay, you signed everything they gave you and kept your trap shut, no matter how weird it got. And Bill did want to stay- for cleaning up weird messes and taking special training for chemicals and biohazards and god-knows-what, you got a salary that was pretty much unheard of for what was basically janitorial work. All you had to do was ignore the occasionally oddly dressed people you saw and never ask questions.

The elevator stopped at three and Bill got off to visit the janitor's closet. Well, 'sanitation office' was stenciled on the door, but when supervisor's scarred desk is surrounded by boxes of supplies, he figured he could call a duck a duck.

He put his lunchbox in his locker, hung up his jacket on one of the worn steel hooks inside, and looked at the several lines above as he signed in to the log- sure enough, they'd sent all the staff home and the second shift crew hadn't been in at all. He swore feelingly. That meant that they'd spend all day trying to catch up and still be behind tomorrow. His supervisor Vince was a great believer in schedules. As he reached for a bucket and mop, the door swung open, and Vince himself came in.

"Hey Bill, glad you could make it," the man said in a rather sour tone.

"I'd a'come if I could," Bill pointed out.

"Yeah, I know you would," Vince gave him a half smile, looking harrassed.

He wasn't usually a sourpuss, but then this wasn't exactly like a regular supervisory job. Bill figured him for a pretty stand-up kind of guy, mostly.

"You won't need that, though," Vince continued. "First I need you to mix a big batch of cement patch."

Bill leaned the mop up against the wall. "Oh, great," he said in disgust. "Don't tell me. Level 28?"

"Level 28," Vince said. "Another explosion."

Bill winced. "Are we talkin' about a few pockmarks under the control room window, like usual, or a complete resurface like after that time we were shut down a few weeks last year?" That had been seriously weird. Bill went to work in the morning. Halfway through the day they were sent home- and the Air Force had said it was really two weeks. He hadn't believed it until he got home and his wife had hugged and kissed him like she hadn't seen him in days.

"Craters in the floor, shrapnel pocks everywhere," Vince said glumly. "Danny and Ted are bringing a couple of ladders down now. It's not as bad as last year though."

"Well, at least there's that," Bill rummaged through his keys and found the one for the closet where the patching materials was kept. "They could blow up one of the labs for a change, though."

"Funny you should mention that," Vince said, with a dry chuckle. He flipped open his notepad. "Once you get through on Level 28? Here's a list of the other places that need patches. And if you find any shrapnel, it's to be saved separately."

Bill took the list and nodded sagely. They probably wanted to analyze it, like on those cop shows he watched. "You got it boss, I'm on it." He headed for the storage area, looking at Vince's scribbled notes

The list was pretty long, he saw- and there was one storage room near the medical wing that was off-limits. That usually meant a major clean up later, but at least it wasn't something to worry about now. You had to admit- a lot of weird stuff, and sometimes he really wanted to know what this place was. But the guys that couldn't keep quiet didn't last long here. And it was kind of interesting-like, never quite knowing what would happen next.

Bill found a bucket and measured patch into it. Teddy, now- he swore this place was something to do with UFOs. But Bill never put much stock in it. That would be just silly. Bill added water to the cement mix and started whistling absently as he stirred.

My Computer is Cooler!

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:44:07 GMT

This is my life for the last few months:

"Daniel slid down the hillside on the seat of his trousers, keeping his head down and scrabbling in the dimness for something, anything he could use as a weapon. Another staff weapon blast scorched closely overhead and Daniel ducked to avoid the hail of rock splinters that flew from the boulder it hit. He hadn't seen Teal'c since they'd come through the gate-"

Wait? Is that the computer fan? Hasn't it been on for a while now? Hmm, better check the underside of the computer- damn, that's awfully hot. I'd better shut down and let it cool off...drat!!

And then I start doing something else and next thing I know it's past time for bed and tomorrow is work and it's yet *another* day I haven't written much of anything. Gah.

Anyway, that's what most of the summer has been like, ever since the hot spell in June when I kept having random incidences of the computer overheating and shutting down. No warning. No option to save anything. Not even a Blue Screen of Death. The whole thing just shuts off and you don't know until you've let it cool down and try switching it on whether it's going to come back at all*. When it does come back, you're so relieved you almost forget that you lost everything you were working on at the time.

Anyway, I wasted several weeks futzing around with fans and putting more clearance under the computer, but nothing really seemed to do the job. Finally when I came back from vacation I ordered a purpose-built laptop cooler. It came yesterday. Aluminum. Barely audible. Blows air directly into the computer intake. The computer stays at room temperature, even after several hours.

I love it! I can read the ficathon fics I've missed! I can write! I'm thinking NaNoWriMo! I'm....probably way too ambitious, since that pesky work thing still expects me to show up and well, work. And I have a huge list of computer-intensive projects not all of which are writing. But at least I can use the computer without worrying about checking for hot spots every five minutes. Whew!

And of course the scariest bit was that heat shortens the life of the chips and by extension the computer. Which I'd really rather not have to replace for a couple more years.

Cat Antics!

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:14:51 GMT

Simon Tofield, creator of Cat Man Do and another hilarious short animated cat video has come out with another...strangely familiar...sequence of amusing cat antics. Run don't walk to view TV Dinner

It's Been How Long?

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:52:49 GMT

Since I posted any book reviews? Eh. In addition to being stinking hot and humid, I've been having troubles with the laptop overheating this summer. Which is playing merry hell with accomplishing *anything* on any of my computer-related projects. I've concluded that I really need one of those laptop coolers with fans...anybody else with this issue? I'd love to hear if you've a particular cooler to recommend.

Okay, book reviews- here goes:

The Shiva Option by David Weber and Steve White

Structurally, this book reminded me of Clancy's Red Storm Rising, in that it had multiple plot lines and characters. It was also similar in that it was focused on military strategy and tactics. Like Red Storm Rising, I found it difficult to keep track of all the characters, and rather indifferent to most of them. The book features vast numbers of exploding spaceships. If that's the kind of thing you enjoy, you'll probably like this one.

What I found grating and even disturbing was the oft-stated (and never questioned) assertion that the alien enemies of the story were so 'inhuman' , so incapable of feeling anything resembling human feelings, that they must be exterminated. We're repeatedly told that the galaxy isn't big enough for both the humans/humanlike aliens and the enemy Bugs. They're designed to be unsympathetic- non anthropomorphic, not only are out to conquer anyone they meet, but also eat them for dinner (they can build vast space fleets, but haven't figured out that eating cows is less trouble?). Granted that what the authors were after was a straight-up shoot'em up with no moral ambiguity, but the very lack of any dissent made me uncomfortable. The book also featured Weber's trademark 'all the people represented to be heroic are good, and perfect and brave' while anyone who disagrees with them is not only Wrong, Wrong, Wrong, but stupid, ignorant and cowardly to boot.

Not recommended.

The Infinite Cage by Keith Laumer

An interesting take on the idea of a superintelligent telepath trying to function among humans. The character's troubles are logically introduced and explored. However the book lacks a strong through-plot and the eventual ending is weak.

Welcome to Your Brain by Sandra Aamodt and Sam Wang

This was a fascinating book on neurobiology- what we currently know about how the brain works. Lively enough to entertain, yet not so dumbed down as to be silly. Highly recommended.

Agent of Change by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee
Carpe Diem by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee
Plan B by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee
I Dare by Steve Miller and Sharon Lee

These are the four 'core' books of Miller and Lee's Liaden universe, which has been recommended to me by several friends. I can see why they like them- they are a great deal of fun. Lively, set in an intriguing universe with a wealth of detail that leaves you feeling you're only glimpsing a fraction of a fully realized world. I suspect if I'd started the series as a teen, I'd have loved them passionately. As a much more mature reader, I thought that they combined a number of popular fannish themes, which, to be fair were probably not so widely utilized when the first books were written. If you like lighthearted epic space adventure, these will be an entertaining and satisfying read.

Planet Run by Keith Laumer and Gordon Dickson

-Once There Was a Giant
-Call Him Lord
On advice from my husband, I did not read the first story in this collection (he said, 'mediocre, don't bother'). The second two were well-written and readable, but not outstanding, tales on themes of responsibility. Either would have worked as well in a fantasy setting.

Rising from the Plains by John McPhee

This is a hard book to describe. It's an exploration of the geology and history of Wyoming, along with the family history of geologist David Love, who grew up in the area. The two stories- eighty years or so of human time and millenia written in landscape- twine around each other, finishing with an exploration of recent human effects on the environment. This makes it sound rather drier than it deserves- McPhee is an evocative writer with a gift for bringing out the magic in the most down-to-earth of sciences.

When the Tide Rises by David Drake

The latest in Drake's Lieutenant Leary series. If you liked the last, this is much of a muchness. If you haven't read it but enjoy lighthearted military SF, start with the first one, With the Lightnings. I'm fond of this series, not for it's fairly standard plotting, but mostly because I like the character of the hero...after encountering numerous angst-ridden characters in genre fiction, it' s delightful to find a young man- talented no doubt- but a lighthearted, basically happy person with an enduring interest in wine, women and song. And yet he's a bit deeper than that, and he's allowed to become more mature as the series goes on (something I particularly noticed in this latest book). The plots move along, the worldbuilding is a lightly drawn sketch of a system based on the historical British navy. Fun light entertainment.

The River at the Center of the World by Simon Winchester

Winchester takes us along for a trip up the Yangtze river before the completion of the Three Gorges Dam project. His initial conceit is to go further back in history as the journey progresses, but this is abandoned about two-thirds of the way through the book, as he passes up into the mountains.

Interesting for its portrayal of the geography and various cultures of China, it ends with more of a whimper than a bang.

One Jump Ahead by Mark L. Van Name

Another entry in the crowded field of military (more or less) SF. An interesting character, a decent plot. As first SF novels go, I've seen worse. I would have liked to have seen some relevance of the character's quite complex back story to the plot at hand, and the pacing was a little uneven in places, but it was readable and had some good twists. I'll be interested to see what he does for an encore.

The Sharing Knife: Passage by Lois McMaster Bujold

This is the third book, and definitely not a good place to start the series. Which I feel is unfortunate, because I was largely uninterested in the drippy romance that was the focal point of the first two volumes. However, Bujold did an excellent job of worldbuilding, and the underlying mystery of the world's history and magic kept me reading in the hope of finding out more.

And in this book, we start to explore the capabilities of Dag's magic, the complex social problems that helped enliven the prior books are attacked (and prove to be *complex*, and not trivial), and we get to see more of Dag and Fawn's world. The 'main' plot's resolution is more or less obvious at the point it is introduced, but the problems of the lively set of secondary characters were more than sufficient to keep me entertained for the journey.

If you were underwhelmed by the first two books, don't stop now. It just got better.

The Widow's War by Sally Gunning

A local author and a historical setting. The protagonist, Lydia Berry, is a widow on Cape Cod, a decade before the American revolution, struggling to eke out a life in a world where all her possessions are legally the property of her closest male relative. The author does a good job of evoking the non-existent legal status of women, the Indian past of the area and the day-to-day life of a Colonial woman. I wasn't entirely convinced of the authenticity of the character, but then writing a realistic period character that a modern audience can relate to is a difficult task. Recommended more as a painless introduction to colonial life than as a story.

Jenna Starborn by Sharon Shinn

Okay, this one I have to put down to having grabbed the book without looking at the blurb on my way out on a trip. The blurb tells it fairly- this is a retelling of Jane Eyre in a futuristic setting. If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, you'll probably like the book. If like me, your reaction is more 'why on Earth would anyone want to do this?', give it a miss.

The Man Who Broke Napoleon's Codes by Mark Urban

While this was an interesting idea, the author doesn't quite manage to make it gell as a reading experience. It is partially a history of the Napoleonic war, partially a biography of the title character, and partially an account of a period in the history of crypography. It's not wholly successful at any of these, but it does present an unusual view of the functioning of the British army in a time when it was far more important to be well-connected than it was to know what you were doing.

The Last Colony by John Scalzi

Another enjoyable read, this is the last book in his trilogy that started with Old Man's War. I've had trouble regarding these as a trilogy, because the first two didn't seem to have a lot of relation to one another, but Scalzi did an unexpectedly good job of picking up threads from the prior books and bringing it to a satisfactory ending.

At the same time, this book is far from flawless- it suffers from being spread out over time, and from a couple of subplots that simply serve to fill up page count before being dropped completely unresolved.

The Drunkard's Walk by Leonard Mlodinow

This book provides a clear and readable excursion through ideas in probability, with yet more examples of how people are frequently very bad at assessing it in real life, and some nice historical anecdotes about how various ideas were discovered. If this is the sort of thing you think you'd like, you're probably right.

Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz

The latest entry in the Alex Rider series, this book tours a bunch of exotic locations and delivers a generous quota of chills and thrills as Alex foils yet another set of villainous evildoers. Really, what's not to like? But do start at the beginning of the series.

Small Favor by Jim Butcher

Another solid piece of entertainment in the Harry Dresden series. Twisty and enjoyable urban fantasy. Again, you want to read this series in order.

Rereads:
Night Watch by Terry Pratchet (My all time favorite of his.)
The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett
First four books in PM Griffin's Star Commandos
Comeback by Dick Francis
The Danger by Dick Francis

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

This book reads like the bastard child of a mainstream novel and a sweeping SF epic. Wilson's use of language is excellent, and the Sfnal ideas of the book are fascinating. However, the main characters have very little to do with the eventual resolution (which would arguably have been just about the same had they done nothing whatsoever), and the viewpoint character in particular is extremely passive, taking little action through the course of the book.

Uneasy Relations by Aaron Elkins

Another entry in the Gideon Oliver series of mysteries. Gibraltar, monkeys, and remains both Neanderthal and rather fresher make this another enjoyable read. If you haven't encountered his work,he's one of the few practitioners of the classic puzzle mystery working in the field today, and he does a lovely job of sketching his cast of characters in a memorable but minimalist way.

Rereads: (I've been in a re-reading mode lately, can you tell?)
Guards, Guards! by Terry Pratchett
Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett
Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett
Fellowship of Fear by Aaron Elkins
The Dark Place by Aaron Elkins
Murder at the Queen's Arms by Aaron Elkins
Old Bones by Aaron Elkins
Icy Clutches by Aaron Elkins

I've Been Illustrated!

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:37:18 GMT

Just found a couple of illos from Anouk for Performance Reviews and Training Exercises.

Check out some of her other work, too. The artwork is so good, it makes me want to read a bunch of the stories (even ones based on the content I probably won't like).

Unfortunately, I didn't see any way to contact her and say thanks without creating a membership on the site. :(

Very cool!

Missing Pieces, Gen, PG, SG-1

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:13:59 GMT

A sequel to Picking Up the Pieces, set during S9, Arthur's Mantle. Reposted commentfic inspired by sg_betty.

Sam and Cam Mitchell find a souvenir of past adventures:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ew!" Mitchell didn't know what it was, but it was in this phase, and it was stuck to his shoe.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, turning back to look.

"It's - goo." Mitchell said. He glanced around the exam room. "There's extradimensional goo in the infirmary."

Sam squatted down to look at the dried out crusty bits and residual slime that he'd stepped in. "Oh," she said. "Surprising it hasn't dried out after all these years."

"What is it?" Mitchell wondered how he was going to scrape the boot, since he couldn't actually touch anything that he could use to do the scraping. Even the floor was a little spongy underfoot, as if he might sink through if he fell down hard enough.

Sam grinned at him mischievously. "You're the scholar of SGC history, Cam, you tell me."

"Interdimensional goo is not ringing a bell, Sam," he said plaintively. "What *is* this crap?"

She stood up. "Reetou guts."

Mitchell took a moment to recall the details of the report. "You killed them with TERs, right?"

"Yes, right here." Sam smiled. "A couple of longsuffering airmen had the job of scraping up the remains, crating them in a six-inch-thick lead box and sending them to Area 51. Looks like they missed a spot." Her smile faded. "Good thing Janet never knew."

Mitchell looked mournfully at his boot. "But how do I get it off?"

Sam shrugged. "Hard to say. I wonder if it will stay here, or come back with us when we transfer back to our own phase?"

Mitchell was mildly gratified that even Sam, who could be a serious pessimist, was talking in terms of 'when' and not 'if'. But still. "I hope it stays here, personally."

Sam shook her head. "Scientifically, it would be a lot more interesting if you can bring a sample back. It never occurred to us to look for traces of the Reetou when we got the Sodan phase shifters."

"Great. They never told me I'd have to be covered in alien bug guts for science," Mitchell joked.

"Just another fun-filled day at Stargate Command," Sam said cheerfully. "Shall we head up to the control room?"

Mitchell abandoned his attempts to clean his boots as he recalled that they were supposed to be looking for Daniel Jackson. "Sure, why not?" As they left the room, he resisted the urge to look back and see if he was leaving a trail of squishy Reetou bits behind him.
*

Kheb: The Ways of Enlightenment (Part 2)

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:32:51 GMT

"They left the river here, and the ground becomes harder to read," Bra'tac said. "We should spread out, looking for any trace of the party's passage."

Teal'c glanced at O'Neill, who nodded.

"Daniel, Carter, far right flank, Teal'c, with me," O'Neill looked at Bra'tac, carefully not attempting to give Bra'tac any order.

"I will scout on this side," Bra'tac said, taking up the far left flank position. They slowed down and spread out through the lightly wooded area, moving forward in the general direction of travel that Apophis' troops had taken for several minutes.

From far off to their right there was crash of breaking brush and a yell from Major Carter, "Whoa!"

O'Neill called from between them. "Carter?"

She called back, sounding sheepish, "It's okay, sir, it's just a bird."

There was a murmur of voices, then she said, "Um, or maybe not. You'd better see this."

Teal'c and O'Neill joined Major Carter, and saw that they had found the remnants of two Jaffa. It was hard to tell from the charred condition of the remains, but Teal'c did not think he recognized him from his days as Apophis' first prime. Then he remembered that these Jaffa would have belonged to Sokar originally- Apophis' followers would have been among those attacked on Chulak. Teal'c looked around, seeing Daniel Jackson's dull green hat moving amongst the trees.

Major Carter prodded one with her foot, then moved to the other and said, "This is really weird. These bodies are burnt to a crisp, and yet nothing around them has even been touched. It's almost as if lightning struck."

Teal'c read O'Neill's expression easily, but he did not recall ever having seen a Goa'uld weapon with this effect.

"Or maybe some kind of…" the colonel began.

Teal'c interrupted him, "I have never before seen a weapon that could do such a thing."

"…weapon," O'Neill finished, looking chagrined.

A call from Bra'tac distracted them, "Over here!"

They jogged to rejoin him. He was kneeling beside a body of a woman, whom he had turned up to expose the wound in her back. Bra'tac pointed out the wound. "She was shot in the back as she fled."

This was a staff weapon blast, clearly.

A few steps behind the others, Daniel Jackson skidded to a stop beside O'Neill. "I count eight bodies," he paused as he saw the dead woman. "Total."

"So what happened here?" O'Neill asked.

Bra'tac replied readily, "The priestess was being escorted back to the Stargate by two of the Jaffa. When they met the others, she realized she was in danger. She attempted to flee. They chased her and shot her. Then someone or something attacked them."

Teal'c looked over the traces. Some extrapolation, perhaps, but Bra'tac was likely right.

Major Carter looked skeptical, "You can't know that for sure."

Bra'tac contradicted her readily, "I am quite certain."

"What about the child?" Daniel Jackson asked him.

"She carried the child," Bra'tac said.

Teal'c shared O'Neill's skepticism for a moment as his team leader objected, "Come on, how can you know that?"

Then Teal'c realized what Bra'tac had seen. "Her hands are not bound."

Bra'tac rolled the body over so the hands flopped, "Yes. And they shot low." He showed them the exit wound in the lower abdomen.

Unlike the two military officers, Daniel Jackson accepted Bra'tac's expertise without question and returned to the subject at hand. "What happened to the boy?" he asked.

Bra'tac shrugged, "That I cannot guess."

They resumed their trek. The faint traces of the trail led them through the trees. Before there there was the faint lightening that suggested a clearing ahead. Bra'tac said quietly, "The priestess died more than two days ago. When his Jaffa did not return the Harsesis, Apophis should have sent more."

Teal'c concurred. "Perhaps many more." He dropped back momentarily to advise O'Neill of their conclusion.

"Party crashers," O'Neill said. "Just peachy. Got any more good news?"

Teal'c easily grasped the idioms, but said only, "I do not." He lengthened his stride to rejoin Bra'tac in the lead.

The two Jaffa reached an area of thinner trees and paused involuntarily at the vista before them. O'Neill came up beside them and looked toward the structure just visible in the distance. "Kheb?" he asked.

In a rather stunned voice, Bra'tac agreed. "Kheb." He started forward again, and after a moment, said reverently to Teal'c, "I can scarcely believe we are here, Teal'c. This place is a legend."

Teal'c replied, "I did not know you felt so deeply on this matter, Tek ma te."

Bra'tac gave him a sidelong glance, and lowered his voice to the point where O'Neill and the others would not hear him. "When I was your age, Teal'c, I thought much as you. But I have considered it more seriously as I became older." He tramped ahead for several minutes in silence.

Teal'c paced at his side, waiting with the patience Bra'tac himself had taught him.

"I am old, Teal'c. I may not have much longer. And--now I have been led here, to this place where my brethren in ancient days came to seek passage to the next world. Perhaps there is meaning in this."

Teal'c had never before heard Bra'tac express a belief in fate. He said, "A wise man taught me that I must rely on my own strength, my own wits, and not put my faith in gods."

Bra'tac smiled a bit sadly. "I also taught you not to hold to a position past the point it became untenable, did I not?"

"Indeed." Teal'c allowed himself to fall a step behind, disturbed at his old teacher's malaise, and yet unsure what--if anything--he should say.

They walked through the peaceful forest. The sun shone brightly, with just enough of a breeze to be comfortable. It was beautifully quiet.

"It's too quiet," O'Neill grumbled under his breath.

"What do you mean, sir?" Major Carter took his quip seriously.

"You mean you aren't expecting some lightning-bolt-wielding alien to jump out at us at any minute, Major?" he asked.

Major Carter looked at him curiously and evidently decided he was joking. "Not until a moment ago, sir."

"Do you sense any presence, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked. This place felt…odd…to him as well.

When O'Neill did not answer he checked his pace to let the Tau'ri come alongside.

"I don't know, Teal'c," O'Neill said seriously. "There's just something about this place...."

"The temple," Bra'tac said, his eyes going eagerly to the gate just visible through the trees.

"Look at the circular arches," Daniel Jackson pointed out. "Don't they remind you of something?"

"Highway culverts?" O'Neill guessed.

"The gate," Major Carter answered him seriously.

Unusually, Daniel Jackson did not respond with a theory about the inhabitants of the temple venerating the Stargate. He fell silent as they approached the gate.

There was no one in evidence as they walked through.

"No welcoming party," Major Carter said, looking around.

O'Neill looked around at the neatly manicured grounds, "Well, someone's been reading Martha Stewart."

Bra'tac seemed to have decided to ignore O'Neill's frequent colloquisms, as Teal'c himself sometimes did. Though at least these days, his familiarity with Tau'ri popular culture was great enough that he could correctly interpret the comment as a reference to the obviously maintained state of the garden.

Daniel Jackson moved out ahead of the group, his expression abstracted. "They're probably inside." He shrugged off his pack.

O'Neill protested, "Daniel?"

"Jack?" He replied, giving O'Neill a confused look.

"Whatcha doing?" O'Neill asked.

Teal'c watched him closely, recognizing the clear signs that Daniel Jackson had perceived something the rest of them had missed, and knowing that O'Neill had seen it too. Daniel Jackson's confused look, he thought, had nothing to do with his understanding of the question, and everything to do with him struggling verbalize the train of thought that had led him far in advance of the others..

Daniel Jackson shrugged and tried to put his intuition into words. "Well, something about this place says we all shouldn't rush in there waving guns around."

Unexpectedly, it was Bra'tac who stepped forward to support him. "He is right. This is sacred ground."

O'Neill considered this for a moment, then sighed. "Oy." He began taking off his own pack, turning to tell the others, "Wait here." He retained his gun, however.

Bra'tac handed off his staff to Teal'c, saying to O'Neill, "I have dreamed of finding this place twice as long as you have been alive. I will accompany you." He passed Teal'c his zat and followed Daniel Jackson and O'Neill into the temple.

Major Carter watched them go. "That was unexpected," she said, glancing at Teal'c. "I'm surprised Bra'tac was so willing to disarm."

"As am I," Teal'c admitted.

"Do you feel as Bra'tac does?" She asked. "That this is holy ground?"

Teal'c frowned. "There is something about this place-" He stopped uneasily. "But I have never been a lover of mysticism, and until today, I would have said the same of Master Bra'tac."

Major Carter looked surprised. "You mean he never told you about Kheb?- well, of course not, or you would have mentioned it after Ammonet- " she broke off, then began again. "You didn't know about this legendary place where Jaffa go to die?"

"No," Teal'c said. "It was not until I met the Tau'ri that I understood legends could have a basis in fact." He looked ironically at Samantha Carter, flesh and blood daughter of a world he had long believed to be a myth.

She smiled, "I know what you mean, Teal'c." She looked around the garden. "I'm going to take a look around. I won't go out of sight."

Teal'c nodded at the indirect--and naturally unnecessary--suggestion that he should keep an eye on her, and looked down uneasily at the water trickling gently over the stones at his feet. There was something about this place, if he could just figure out what it was.

Major Carter wandered back, having thoroughly investigated the temple garden.

"Nothing," she said. "No sign of people, no other doors into the temple, no obvious hiding places. You?"

"I have seen nothing, Major Carter," Teal'c reported. His uneasiness had not abated. The garden was beautiful and very quiet. Teal'c could hear the faint lap of the water against the pool. He frowned. There was no wind. Even as he thought it, the wind returned, but Teal'c thought he saw something in the water. A flash of light? He tensed.

Major Carter turned to him, catching his watchful posture. "Everything okay?"

Teal'c shook his head. "It was nothing." He hesitated, at a loss to explain what he thought he had seen. He settled for, "I do not have a good feeling about this place."

O'Neill emerged alone from the temple and walked slowly down the steps, his posture betraying frustration. He unslung his gun and sat down grumpily on a wall.

"What of the Harsesis child, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked.

"I don't know," O'Neill replied flippantly, shrugging. He shook his head, "There's a monk guy in there; Daniel thinks he might know, so he's gonna play along for a while."

Teal'c and Major Carter exchanged a disturbed look. As Bra'tac had pointed out earlier, the disappearance of Apophis' men would only cause him to send more. Perhaps many more. Their time here was limited.

"Play along?" Major Carter asked.

O'Neill recognized the time pressure, Teal'c knew, but clearly he also thought there was still something to be gained here.

O'Neill's face was irritated and puzzled as he explained further. "Something about…enlightenment?"

Correction. O'Neill thought that Daniel Jackson thought there was something to be gained here. And Daniel Jackson was right far too often for his intuitions to be dismissed out of hand. Even if his team leader didn't understand them. No wonder O'Neill was uncomfortable. Not for the first time, Teal'c wondered what Bra'tac thought of the command style practiced on SG-1.

"Sir…" Major Carter protested.

O'Neill said, "I know. I know." He took off his hat and ran a hand through his short hair, making it stand on end, then put it back on.

"What of Master Bra'tac?" Teal'c asked.

O'Neill shrugged. "He seemed almost as fascinated as Daniel."

"What did the monk say?" Major Carter asked.

O'Neill stood and paced back and forth. "Oh, lots of things. Take off our shoes--not directly, you understand, but in riddle-speak. Daniel and Bra'tac went for that one, not me-"

"Master Bra'tac removed his boots?" Teal'c asked in surprise. Then wondered why- Bra'tac had already disarmed. Clearly he wasn't anticipating trouble.

"Oh, yeah. Then there was a lot of stuff about bulls and grass and snowflakes, and other weird shit that made no sense whatsoever." O'Neill paused to adjust his hat again. "And Daniel said they were speaking in cones, like Buddhists, which surprised me, since I didn't even know they had ice cream in Tibet."

Major Carter was frowning, as well she might, Teal'c thought, since O'Neill had clearly abandoned any real attempt to relate events and was making obscure jokes.

"Cones?" Major Carter puzzled. "And why Buddhists?"

"Perhaps he means 'koans'," Teal'c suggested.

They both turned to him and stared.

He continued, "They are paradoxical statements used by Zen Buddhists in meditation. Daniel Jackson thought I might be interested because of the similarity to Jaffa kel'no'reem."

"So what does it have to do with the child?" O'Neill asked. "And does it tell us how long Bra'tac and Daniel are likely to be in there?"

"I do not know, O'Neill," Teal'c replied.

*

O'Neill was on his fifty-third circuit of the temple garden, by Teal'c's count, when Bra'tac emerged from the temple, carrying his boots. Teal'c rose and picked up Bra'tac's staff from where he had laid it.

Bra'tac sat down and pulled on his boots, looking up at his former student with a lopsided smile. "I am not yet ready to give up."

Teal'c looked at him in surprise and relief.

Bra'tac continued, "I feel alive Teal'c, like a young man-" He stood. "-of eighty." He accepted his weapon and patted Teal'c's shoulder in passing. "We still have false gods to slay."

Involuntarily, Teal'c smiled. This was much more like his friend and teacher. "What of the monk?" he asked.

Bra'tac stopped and turned back to him thoughtfully. "I cannot strive for enlightenment while I carry a symbiote, Teal'c. That is what the monk said."

"If you remove the Goa'uld from within you, you will die," Teal'c pointed out.

"Indeed," Bra'tac said. "And I find I am not yet ready. Though I will return here someday." He looked at the temple almost wistfully.

"If Apophis' troops don't reduce it to rubble," O'Neill said sourly.

As the day wore on, they took it turn and turn about to patrol the vicinity of the temple.

"What the hell is taking so long?" O'Neill said fretfully.

"He seeks understanding," Bra'tac told him.

"He's seeking a kid," O'Neill said. "It's really not that complicated."

"Would you like me to check on Daniel, sir?" Major Carter offered.

Teal'c saw a glimpse of movement in the sky. "O'Neill," he said.

"What is it, Teal'c?" O'Neill seemed almost relieved, welcoming something to do after the long tedious day of waiting.

"I saw motion in the sky, there-" he pointed to the west. "A dark speck against the sky, occluding the stars behind it."

"Bird?" O'Neill asked, not doubtfully, but more as a matter of form, to eliminate any natural explanation.

"No, O'Neill. It fell too slowly for a natural object, and in a straight line, which is not the motion of a bird," Teal'c said.

Major Carter said, "Sir, if Daniel hasn't been able to find out anything in this amount of time-"

"Then the chances of him doing it now are getting pretty slim," O'Neill agreed. He stared out at the sky, and then looked at his watch. "Time's up." He unfolded from his perch on the wall and went into the temple.

He was gone longer than it should have taken to simply tell Daniel Jackson they were leaving. Teal'c met Major Carter's eyes in the dusk and she winced. "Daniel's arguing," she said. "I'd bet on it."

"I would not take such a wager," Teal'c replied calmly, and she laughed.

They tensed as they heard the far off sound of an aerial engine. Teal'c said, "That is an udajeet, not an alkesh."

Bra'tac replied, "Yes, they must have come in a ha'tak."

"There's nowhere to land a glider here," Major Carter pointed out. "And if they're fielding air support, it can only be to back up ground troops."

The sound came closer and they saw a pair of udajeets flying in close formation low over the temple. It seemed unlikely that the newcomers would wait for local daylight before coming to investigate the temple. The sound of the radio cracked in his ear. O'Neill.

He said, "Teal'c, Bra'tac, you want to check that out?"

Teal'c and Bra'tac set off into the woods in search of the ship. Best that they knew the enemy's location and strength. They could rendezvous with the others en route to the gate.

Teal'c listened to O'Neill's conversation with Major Coburn, which supported Teal'c's own belief that Apophis had sent forces by ship alone. With none returning from the prior scouting force, he must have suspected some sort of ambush set at the gate.

As they left the temple, Bra'tac said. "To land a ha'tak, they would need a large clearing, like the one we saw to the west." That was the direction where Teal'c had seen the object falling.

"There was a cliff overlooking that area," Teal'c agreed. "We should be able to get a good view."

Teal'c and Bra'tac ran as quickly uphill as was consistent with staying relatively quiet. If there were already Jaffa in these woods, they might be heard, but then few Jaffa were taught stealth. They quickly arrived at the vantage point they had scouted earlier.

Teal'c dropped down beside Bra'tac, concealed behind a bush, appreciating the light Tau'ri clothing which blended well with the undergrowth. He could feel the warmth in his muscles after the short run and welcomed it after the relative inactivity of the day.

The clearing was brightly lit, and there were already troops in large numbers assembling. They could hear amplified commands directing squads to assemble.

"He has sent a substantial force," observed Bra'tac unnecessarily.

Teal'c swiftly estimated the number of troops. "I count perhaps- eight hundred?"

"There are more unloading now," Bra'tac said quietly. He gestured ranks of torch-bearing troops marching out of the enormous ship. "He will have many more inside. Another eight hundred, perhaps more."

"It appears that they have sent a full complement of ground troops," Teal'c observed.

"Then our opponents number two thousand, give or take a few hundred," Bra'tac replied.

"We must withdraw through the gate, before Apophis' troops cut off our line of retreat," Teal'c said quietly.

"And the Harsesis?" Bra'tac asked.

"We must hope that the troops of Apophis have as little luck in this matter as has had Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. "Let us return to the temple."

"Will not O'Neill have left?" Bra'tac crept quietly back from the brink, careful to allow no gleam from his armor to betray their position.

Teal'c's bad feeling was back. "They cannot have gone far."

They hadn't gone anywhere. As they neared the temple, Teal'c could see the dark shadow of Daniel Jackson's and O'Neill's packs still in the courtyard when they reached it.

There was no one outside. Teal'c led the way to the door. Inside, he found O'Neill and Major Carter talking with Daniel Jackson. He lost no time in giving them his information. "A Goa'uld mother ship has landed. As many as two thousand troops approach."

O'Neill's reaction was instant. "Love to stay and chat," he said to the monk, turning toward the door.

As Bra'tac and Teal'c returned to the door, the others followed. As they approached the gateway into the garden, they could hear the rhythmic stamp of booted Jaffa feet on the trail.

"D'oh," O'Neill said softly. They withdrew softly back into the temple garden.

"We must leave immediately and elude them through the forest," Bra'tac said.

O'Neill looked around, "Where's Daniel?"

Major Carter said, "Wasn't he right behind-"

Teal'c thought back and realized with some alarm that he had not been with them as they approached the gate the first time. "I do not believe he left the temple, O'Neill."

"Oh, for--" O'Neill bit off a curse and led the way back into the temple. "I'll get him." He pushed the door open and disappeared. Teal'c could hear him call, "Daniel? Daniel! We got to go."

He emerged a moment later. "I don't know where he is. He's not in there."

"What do we do?" Major Carter asked.

O'Neill reached for his radio, "Coburn. O'Neill."

Coburn's reply was tinny in the earphones. "Read you, sir."

O'Neill said, "Hightail it back through the Gate. Tell Hammond we're pinned down. Request backup."

Coburn acknowledged and signed off.

O'Neill looked over toward the increasing numbers of Jaffa closing in on the temple and said drily, "Lots of backup."

He turned back to the others. "All right, here they come. Defensive positions. Hold off on the claymores as long as we can. I don't want to get into this unless we absolutely have to. And if we happen to make it out of this in one piece?" he requested sardonically. "Remind me to harm Daniel severely."

Teal'c considered reminding O'Neill that he had acquiesced in the plan to stay longer, but now was not the time. Moreover, from his tone O'Neill was blaming himself no less than any other for their current predicament.

They found places of concealment in the gardens, and the weather cooperated by abruptly covering the bright moon with clouds. Teal'c frowned in the sudden blackness. He had not seen a cloud in the sky at sunset. But then, clouds did sometimes move quickly.

Apophis' troops marched in through the gate, their armor gleaming threateningly in the light of the torches. Teal'c heard the commander giving orders to arm weapons and search the temple. As the leader approached the temple, the monk stepped forward. Teal'c had to control a small jerk of surprise. He had not seen the monk appear- one moment he had not been there, the next he had.

The slight man seemed unaware of the looming threat of the warriors. His hands were folded peaceably at his breast. "You are not welcome here," he said.

The Jaffa leader growled, "In the name of the god Apophis, we've come for a young boy."

Why did not Apophis himself lead this expedition? Teal'c wondered. Possibly he was still consolidating his hold on Sokar's domain? Or—possibly he was afraid. Bra'tac had said the Goa'uld feared and despised Kheb.

The monk ignored this. "You will leave now."

Teal'c had to wonder if he even knew what a weapon was. He showed no awareness that the Jaffa troops could do him harm.

"We will not. Stand aside," the Jaffa ordered.

Thunder and lightning crackled against the sky.

The Jaffa opened fire with the staff weapon, and the monk fell, a smoking hole in his chest.

Behind him, Daniel Jackson yelled, "No!" and ran out of the temple toward the Jaffa.

O'Neill cursed under his breath as he jumped up out of concealment, aiming at the head Jaffa, and yelled, "Drop your weapons! Do it!"

Unimpressed, the Jaffa did not move. "Kree lo'tak," he demanded of Daniel Jackson.

Loosely translated, hands up or I shoot, Teal'c thought. Ironic that he was talking to the one Tau'ri who actually would understand him.

Daniel Jackson obediently put his hands up and walked forward. "Drop your weapons," he repeated urgently.

"You heard him," O'Neill said.

Daniel Jackson came down the steps, empty hands still held high. "I was talking to you, Jack," he said quietly.

He was talking to O'Neill? Teal'c was momentarily baffled.

O'Neill was startled into saying, "Wha…what?"

Daniel Jackson continued to walk toward his friends, "Do it now, all of you."

Teal'c's mind raced. Drop his weapons in the face of the enemy?

"Daniel?" protested O'Neill.

Daniel Jackson replied, still with that quiet urgency. "Jack, I was wrong, I was very wrong. One of those aliens I thought was long gone is still here."

Teal'c wished now that he had gone inside the temple with Daniel Jackson, had met the monk for himself. Daniel Jackson's gift for communication, for making friends, had saved them all before. But he could be wrong. He sometimes trusted too readily. But--it was true that Teal'c had felt they were not alone here….

Major Carter said, "Sir, we put our guns down and we're dead."

The Jaffa evidently agreed with Major Carter. "You are outnumbered and surrounded. You will die if you do not."

"Jack, if you're ever going to trust me on anything, now is the time," Daniel Jackson said tensely. "The alien is the one with all the powers, and she is not someone you want to fool with, if you get my drift."

Teal'c remembered eight Jaffa in the forest, burned to a crisp. A flash of light in the water, clouds suddenly closing in on the moon and lightning burning across the sky. If the aliens Daniel Jackson spoke of were truly here...they had already demonstrated their power.

The only remaining question was whether Daniel Jackson had truly communicated with them. But Daniel Jackson was unlikely to be mistaken in this way. He deactivated his staff and let it point down toward the ground. Beside him, Bra'tac evidently followed his train of thought and followed suit.

Uncharacteristically, O'Neill seemed frozen in indecision.

Bra'tac said, "We must do it."

Slowly, O'Neill lowered his weapon to the pavement. Samantha Carter was the last to disarm.

The head Jaffa didn't hesitate. "Kill them."

Four bolts lanced in quick succession and were intercepted by a streak of white light, feet from the bodies of Teal'c, Bra'tac and the others. Their eyes followed the streak of white as it bled into the sky.

Daniel Jackson had let his hands fall and stood unsurprised, watching the attack. Now he turned back to the Jaffa, raising one hand in casual salutation. "Bye." He stood in the middle of the path watching dispassionately as the lightning came down with crash like the end of the world, only flinching and stepping away at the noise.

Teal'c blinked as the world filled with light and sound, and the lightning arced through the ranks of Jaffa, who screamed for a mercifully short time before convulsing and falling. Barely audible above the din were the screams of gliders as they swooped in toward the temple and exploded in another streak of blinding fire.

The utter thoroughness of the destruction impressed Teal'c nearly as much as did Daniel Jackson's unshakeable confidence in its inevitability. Teal'c had long known Daniel Jackson hated the Goa'uld. That he could--and--would extend that hatred to Apophis' troops with such pitilessness made it even more astonishing that he had forgiven Teal'c.

The night seemed suddenly darker. Bright slashes still burned across Teal'c's vision in the wake of the lightning, and his ears rang with the sudden silence. The woods outside the temple were utterly still, as if afraid to breathe. The air was heavy with the smell of ozone and charred flesh. Steam rose from the corpses in the cool air.

O'Neill broke the spell with typical irreverence, "Well, that was cool." His voice sounded a bit tinny through the ringing in Teal'c's ears. O'Neill was probably still seeing spots himself from the way he peered at the body of the Jaffa that had threatened them. "Wow."

O'Neill was impressed, Teal'c saw, and Major Carter faintly repulsed. Daniel Jackson simply regarded the smoking corpses calmly. Then he turned his back on the dead Jaffa, and looked back toward the temple steps. Teal'c also turned and saw a tendril of light coalescing above the body of the monk, and then the clothes sinking to the floor as the body within transmuted to energy. The transformed being drifted away as from within the temple as a second of the creatures appeared.

This must be the creature who had saved them, one of the mysterious masters of Kheb. Hastily, Teal'c crossed his forearms and bowed in profound respect. At his side, Bra'tac was doing the same.

The light-being became more solid, becoming something vaguely person-sized. Floating about where the arms would have been in a Jaffa was a human baby.

Daniel Jackson took two paces forward, looking intently into the light. "You're leaving?"

He seemed to listen, though Teal'c couldn't hear anything.

"You know that more of them will come as long as they know the boy is here?"

The light being returned an indefinably positive motion.

Daniel Jackson's voice had a husky note that Teal'c could only remember having heard a few times before. When he'd found his wife on Abydos, pregnant and still host to Ammonet. When he'd forgiven Teal'c for killing her. When his heart was drenched in sorrow but he'd made up his mind to go on anyway. "I'll see both of you again someday, right?" he asked.

A glowing strand of light caressed his cheek and illuminated a suspicious shine of moisture in his eyes. The light diffused, somehow thickening around the child, and she rose into the air.

It flitted through the arch of the temple garden, briefly illuminating it as if it were the event horizon of a wormhole, then disappeared into the trees.

"I take it that was the Harsesis child she was holding?" Major Carter asked almost rhetorically.

"Yeah," Daniel Jackson confirmed softly, a world of regret in his tone.

O'Neill started to protest, "I thought we needed that kid? Just gonna let her…."

Even in the dimness, Daniel Jackson's incredulous look was unmistakable. Teal'c wondered how O'Neill thought they could have stopped her.

"….no choice, huh?" O'Neill finished.

The radio crackled. "This is Major Coburn, come in."

"Yeah, go ahead, Major," O'Neill said.

"Reinforcements are on the way, sir," he reported.

Take your time," O'Neill said. "We're secure."

"Good to hear, sir," came back in his earphones, with a hint of curiosity behind it.

Somehow Teal'c didn't doubt that any more than his team leader did. The force they'd seen would have made as short work of any Jaffa standing between them and the gate as it- she?- had of the ones surrounding the temple. He looked around at the charred forms smoking on the pavement and came near to shivering.

The radio crackled again. "Ah, sir, the Stargate just came on. There's a strange bright light headed this way."

O'Neill's voice rang with sudden urgency. "Do not engage; repeat, get out of the way and do not engage. In fact, I'm ordering you all to put down your weapons until that light is gone, do you read?"

Coburn's puzzled but obedient response came back, "Yes, sir."

They waited tensely until Coburn reported in again. "It's gone, sir."

Daniel Jackson turned to the gate, as if he could see through the intervening miles of forest to watch the alien leave.

"You all right?" O'Neill asked Daniel Jackson.

"Yeah," he replied.

Teal'c wasn't sure he believed that, and he didn't think O'Neill did either. Daniel Jackson had a blind look that spoke of force of will clamping down over strong emotion.

"Let's go home," O'Neill said, turning toward the arch that led out of the temple courtyard.

The others turned with him.

"Daniel," O'Neill said.

Teal'c paused and looked back.

"Yeah?" Daniel Jackson replied.

"Shoes," O'Neill said.

Teal'c glanced down and realized that Daniel Jackson was still barefoot. His friend was more distracted than he had realized.

Daniel Jackson turned back to the temple and vanished inside.

The others walked gingerly around the bodies of the dead Jaffa and paused outside the gate. Here and there, the charred claws of corpses clutched blasted staff-weapons or curled around the ashes of torches that had been reduced to dust. There were more bodies spread out through the trees. Though the bodies were still hot enough to steam gently in the moonlight, Teal'c could not see a single charred leaf. He wondered if the ha'tak and the troops there had been destroyed as well.

O'Neill had turned on the light fastened to the barrel of his weapon, and was looking over the corpses clinically. "Doesn't look like she missed any."

Bra'tac said, "They would not have regarded either the monk's or Daniel Jackson's instructions to lay down arms as a credible threat."

"Why did you?" O'Neill asked him bluntly.

Bra'tac gave him a thoughtful look. "The forces that rule Kheb seemed to have no trouble in disposing of the Jaffa that invaded this place earlier. And Dr. Jackson has never seemed to me to be rashly confident. Teal'c has told me much of his skill in communication. Indeed, I saw it myself in his words to Teal'c on his last visit to Chulak."

Teal'c took a moment to place the occasion but had no trouble remembering it when he did. His old friend and his wife had betrayed him. And Daniel Jackson had talked him out of killing the man.

"If I recall, last time we were here, you were pretty upset about your family being outcasts, barely surviving in a camp because of what you did. I mean it seems to me they have a better life now."

Bra'tac had agreed with him at the time, Teal'c remembered. He hadn't realized his friend's advice had made such an impression on Bra'tac. Drey'auc- he should go and see here, he knew. She'd gone reluctantly to the Land of Light and had stayed there only for Ry'ac's sake. He had stayed away more than he ought, out of reluctance to deal with the situation. And because he did not wish to remember how he had failed them, when he abandoned them on Chulak to go with the Tau'ri.

"Ah." O'Neill looked vaguely unsatisfied, but let the matter drop. The clouds had cleared from across the moon, which was glowing brightly enough that they should have no trouble hiking back to the gate. He turned, as Daniel Jackson picked his way between the bodies that littered the courtyard.

"You all set?" O'Neill asked.

"Fine," he replied.

O'Neill led the way back through the trees. Though Teal'c knew his own night vision to be more acute than that of the Tau'ri, O'Neill followed the faint trail easily.

They walked in silence, but it was nearly half an hour before the normal night noises of the woods could again be heard around them. When they arrived in the gate clearing, Coburn's men looked at them curiously.

"Are you all right, Colonel?" Coburn asked O'Neill.

"We're fine," O'Neill said. "Dial it up-"

One of Coburn's men dialed the gate while the others rose from their positions around the clearing. Coburn was still studying them with a puzzled expression. "How did you evade the Jaffa, sir?"

He was expecting them to be disheveled, Teal'c realized. Perhaps showing signs of having been in a fight.

"We didn't," O'Neill said curtly. "The alien you saw?"

Coburn nodded.

O'Neill continued. "She took a dim view of the Jaffa trying to shoot us in her garden. They're all dead."

"All dead, sir?" Coburn was startled.

"As far as we can tell," Major Carter spoke up.

The gate opened, and O'Neill motioned Coburn's team forward. "Move out, folks."

SG-1 and Bra'tac were the last ones through, stepping out onto the ramp back at the SGC.

Hammond was waiting at the foot of the ramp, looking alert and crisply uniformed as ever, though according to Teal'c's SGC-issue wristwatch, it was past 3 am at the base.

His gaze flickered over the party, counting silently, and he relaxed fractionally at seeing them all upright and uninjured. "SG-1, SG-2, debrief will be at 1100 hours. Report to the infirmary. Colonel O'Neill--"

O'Neill stepped aside and started talking in a low tone as the others left the gate room.

Sergeant Harriman appeared at Teal'c's elbow. "Master Teal'c, General Hammond has reserved one of the VIP rooms for Master Bra'tac's use, should he wish it."

He told Teal'c the number, and Teal'c said, "I will see that he is comfortable once we have both been to the infirmary."

The medical check was performed swiftly, somewhat to Teal'c's relief. He had spent far too much time there recovering after having been temporarily blinded a few weeks before on Bedrosia. He picked up his jacket as he rose. Samantha Carter had already disappeared to the lockers, and O'Neill had not yet arrived. The nurses appeared to have finished with Daniel Jackson, but he sat slumped with his hands tucked under his elbows, as he did when he was cold.

"Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c said, and stopped, unusually at a loss for words. Clearly he was not feeling well, though uninjured.

Daniel Jackson focused on him, a bit vaguely. "Hey, Teal'c."

Teal'c rapidly sorted through his knowledge of Tau'ri custom, though he was fairly certain there was no specific instruction on consoling the friend on the loss of his dead wife's child, particularly when you were the one--What would O'Neill do? "Master Bra'tac and I go to kel'no-reem. You are welcome to join us." Teal'c had no idea what Bra'tac would think of that, but the offer of undemanding companionship was the best idea he could come up with.

Daniel Jackson glanced sideways up to him with a trace of surprise and irony animating his features. "Thanks, but I think I've had enough mediation for one day." He glanced around. "They done?"

"They are." Teal'c did not mention that the nurse had told them that several minutes ago.

"I think I'd better get some sleep before the debrief then," Daniel Jackson rose, and turned toward him. "Thanks, Teal'c. You're a good friend."

A good friend? Teal'c remembered--He looked down the staff weapon at the dark-haired woman in Goa'uld finery, who held Daniel Jackson in agony beneath her hand device--Speechlessly, Teal'c inclined his head. He did not often find his friends as baffling now as he had in his early days at the SGC, but the sharp dichotomy between Daniel Jackson's casual wave to the doomed Jaffa and his acceptance of the manner of Sha're's death made Teal'c doubt that he would ever fully understand him.

Daniel Jackson left the infirmary, though Teal'c would be surprised if he actually slept.

Bra'tac was watching them curiously. "He has forgiven you then, for his wife's kidnapping, which led to her death?"

With a start, Teal'c realized that Bra'tac did not know the whole story. He knew of Ammonet's death, of course, but not of his own part in it. "Daniel Jackson has taught me much of forgiveness," Teal'c agreed. He would tell Bra'tac of her death, he thought, but not here, in the infirmary.

The debriefing in the morning was routine. O'Neill did most of the talking, pausing only to let Daniel Jackson relate his communications with the monk and with the light-entity who had taken the boy. Perhaps Daniel Jackson had slept after all; he seemed alert enough. His expression betrayed his chagrin that he had mistaken the alien's powers for his own, but he did not spare his own dignity in relating the incident.

For his part, Teal'c related his own and Bra'tac's reconnaissance of Apophis' forces. Hammond was visibly concerned at the number of Jaffa they had confronted, but clearly O'Neill had given him a rundown of the events the night before, since he was not surprised. The destruction of the Jaffa was described in detail by O'Neill.

Daniel Jackson listened with the same dispassion he had shown at the time, and Teal'c was struck again by his unconcern. There were many who mistook Daniel Jackson's ability to forgive for weakness, even among the Tau'ri. Teal'c had come to think that he was fortunate not to have Daniel Jackson as an enemy. His friend had a rarely-seen streak of ruthlessness, a strength of purpose, that would make him a formidable adversary.

As the briefing concluded, Hammond turned to Bra'tac. "And what are your own plans, Master Bra'tac?"

"I would go to the Land of Light," Bra'tac said. He glanced at Teal'c, "And check on the youngest of my apprentices."

Ry'ac. Teal'c suddenly wondered how many had been lost at Chulak, if his son was one of only a few of Bra'tac's remaining trainees. "General Hammond," he said. "With your permission, I should like to accompany Master Bra'tac."

"Certainly," Hammond agreed graciously. "SG-1, you're on stand-down for forty-eight hours." He rose, and the others rose with him, Bra'tac following their example without hesitation. "Dismissed."

O'Neill paused long enough to say, "Don't worry about the report, T, do it when you get back."

Teal'c was not concerned about the written report that Tau'ri custom required, but recognized it as the formal permission to turn it in late that it was. For all O'Neill's seeming casualness, he was punctilious in matters of military form.

Bra'tac watched without understanding, and Teal'c resisted the urge to explain. He had mastered the minutiae of his new life so thoroughly that it was only when he saw it through the eyes of his old master that he recognized the extent of his knowledge. "We can leave now, if you are prepared," he told Bra'tac.

"I am," Bra'tac replied.

Teal'c glanced at the sergeant at the gate controls and saw Harriman's hands already dialing the sequence for the Land of Light. Teal'c blinked as he realized that Harriman must understand some Goa'uld, as that was the language that he and Bra'tac were speaking. Or perhaps he had read their body language.

"Dialing the Land of Light, sir," Harriman told Teal'c. "Sergeant Collins has your staff weapon and gear ready."

"Thank you," Teal'c told him, and led the way down to the SGC chappa'ai, collecting his weapon at the door to the gate room.

They walked up the ramp together and stepped into the rippling surface, the familiar feeling of falling and speed enveloping them until they stepped out again into the dimness of the gate on the other end. The chappa'ai illuminated the clearing with a pale blue light until it turned off.

"The Tau'ri are efficient," Bra'tac remarked, leading the way along the path toward the day side.

Teal'c caught up in a two long strides. "At first I was disappointed that their technology was so inferior to that of the Goa'uld," he confessed. "But their numbers are great, they learn quickly and they use well what they learn. Already false gods have fallen before them."

"They devote few warriors to the task, if their numbers are so large," Bra'tac observed.

"They assign only their best warriors to this task," Teal'c countered. "And wisely so. The Goa'uld think them small in number, and weak.

"The Goa'uld should have combined against them and crushed the Tau'ri when Apophis first discovered who had killed Ra. Now--now they have allies, they amass weapons and learn their enemies' tools, perhaps even better than the Goa'uld, for they seek to understand what they have stolen." He turned to his old master. "They shall rue the day Apophis failed to defeat the Tau'ri in battle, Master. With far less knowledge than they have now, they drove Ra from their world. The secrets of the Ancients will be discovered and the tools of the false gods shall be turned against them."

"May it be truly prophecy, and not merely desire," Bra'tac said. "Perhaps you will prove a better maker of legends, Teal'c, than a student of them."

"I would seek to be both," Teal'c said, smiling. "As I have belatedly come to appreciate the strategic significance of legend."

"Another lesson the Tau'ri have managed to convey, despite the thickness of your skull?" Bra'tac suggested.

Teal'c thought ruefully of some of his conversations with his teammates. "Some Tau'ri have more sure methods of making one's head hurt than beating it with a stick, Master."

The trees lightened to green as they approached the Light side. Teal'c remembered Samantha Carter trying to explain to him why the planet did not have day-night cycles as other worlds. That had been one of those head-hurting conversations, though he did recall that the world kept one face always to the light, and there was only a narrow band of habitable land where day and night met. Deep in the day side was waterless desert, hotter than the sands of Abydos, while the dark side was sheathed in ice, and the winds whistled chilly over the glaciers where only starlight fell.

"You have not visited here often," Bra'tac remarked in seeming idleness.

Teal'c returned his attention to his old master. "My duties allow little time."

The old Jaffa gave him the sort of look he remembered from when he'd made excuses for poor performance. "I believe Hammond of Texas is not a harsh lord."

"Drey'auc is not happy here," Teal'c admitted soberly. "But I do not have a better refuge. The SGC is no place for a boy. And I think Drey'auc would be even less happy there."

"She has spoken to me of joining one of the rebel Jaffa camps," Bra'tac said. "But I have encouraged her to remain here until Ry'ac is a little older. It is soon yet for him to train so intensively."

Drey'auc must be unhappy indeed, to wish to leave a place of relative safety for one of uncertainty with the open rebels. Teal'c wished there were a better solution for them all.

The landscape had been steadily lightening, and now they broke out of the trees with the city visible in the distance. A section of the field before the city had been scythed, and there were a group of children spread out across it in a pattern Teal'c recognized after a moment from Tau'ri television and occasional off-base excursions.

"What are they doing?" Bra'tac wondered in some puzzlement, as one figure cast aside his cudgel--no, bat--and raced for first base.

"It is a Tau'ri game, called baseball," Teal'c said. "I had not realized it had become so popular here." The Land of Light was a regular destination for new SG-teams to visit on training missions, Teal'c remembered. It seemed O'Neill's gift of a glove to Ry'ac was not the only influence. Several of the other young players had gloves of Tau'ri manufacture, though others were clearly locally made, as were the bat and ball.

As they approached the game, one of the slighter figures caught sight of them and abandoned the game, racing to meet them.

"Father!" Ry'ac said excitedly. "I did not know you would come."

Teal'c embraced him warmly. "The chance came unexpectedly," he said. Teal'c could have sworn Ry'ac had not been this tall the last time he had visited. The boy was growing so fast. Teal'c felt a pang of regret that he was missing so much of his childhood.

Ry'ac had turned to Bra'tac. "Tek ma te, Master Bra'tac," he said politely. Then he glanced slyly up at the Jaffa master. "Does this mean there is to be no lesson today, Master?" he asked.

"Not at all, my son," Teal'c answered him. "It means that today I am to join your lesson." He glanced at Bra'tac. "A warrior is never too old to learn new things."

"Indeed," Bra'tac smiled. "Today, then, we shall speak of Jaffa legends, such as were told to me by my father, and his father before him."

"Jaffa legends?" Ry'ac looked puzzled. "Why do we speak of these things?"

"Sometimes legends have much to teach," Teal'c told him, as they turned aside from the path toward the city to walk outside it's walls. "Be still, Ry'ac, and listen."

Chastened, Ry'ac fell into step with his father, and Bra'tac began to speak.
*

Return to Part 1

Kheb: The Ways of Enlightenment (Part 1)

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 16:22:51 GMT

* TITLE: Kheb: The Ways of Enlightenment
* AUTHOR: Redbyrd
* EMAIL: redbyrd (at) mindspring (dot) com
* RATING: PG
* CATEGORY: drama, action
* SUMMARY: Teal'c was a practical man, and had thought his old master was as well. Kheb showed him a spiritual side of Bra'tac he hadn't expected.
* SPOILERS: Anything through S3 Maternal Instinct
* AUTHOR'S NOTE: Continuing in my trend of trying to look at episodes from alternative points of view. It struck me that Maternal Instinct could well have been a deeply meaningful episode for Teal'c. *Finally* completed and posted in honor of Gen Fic Day, and Teal'c Alphabet Soup And *huge* thanks to my extremely patient betas aelfgyfu_mead and aurora_novarum, who read multiple drafts and or on really short notice, and patiently pointed out not-Teal'c-like bits over and over until I (hopefully!) got it right.
* DISCLAIMER:
The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.
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Read behind the cut or on my website

Teal'c ran down the corridor, deliberately letting his feet pound the floor hard enough to let people know someone was in a hurry. Airmen glanced at him and hurriedly removed themselves from his path. He'd been in a state of light kel'no-reem when the alarms went off, but he'd guessed it was only SG-2 coming back early. They'd reported yesterday that it was raining heavily, and they were not able to observe much except wet foliage. The page calling him to the infirmary was an unwelcome shock. Not SG-1, just Teal'c. He refused to admit the thought to his consciousness, but it prodded the back of his mind with parental paranoia. Not Ry'ac.

Entering the medical area, he caught a glimpse of a younger man on the gurney, lighter skinned than his son. He turned to his old teacher with guilty relief and some concern. Bra'tac looked gray with weariness, and his armor was alarmingly patched with bright red splotches overlaying the rusty brown of drying blood. Teal'c seized his arm. "Tek ma te, Bra'tac. Are you in need of medical assistance?"

The older man shook his head. "The blood is not mine."

"What has transpired?" Teal'c asked. He couldn't recall ever having seen Bra'tac quite this disheveled before.

"Chulak was attacked," Bra'tac told him. "By Apophis."

"By Apophis," Teal'c said blankly. It had been nearly half a Tauri season since they had encountered the Goa'uld in the sulfurous depths of Netu. Apophis had transported to Sokar's ship and it had exploded when the steaming dank world was torn apart by the Tok'ra bomb. "We believed him dead. He was aboard Sokar's vessel when it was destroyed."

"Apparently not," Bra'tac said. "He came with twenty ha'taks, and transported his troops down in force."

"They attacked on the ground?" Teal'c said in surprise. "That makes no sense. Why would he attack Chulak? And if he did, why would he not bombard them from above?" Apophis was an orthodox strategist. He would usually subdue a target from orbit before sending in ground troops.

Bra'tac shook his head. "I do not know, Teal'c. You are correct, his actions are puzzling. Perhaps his time with Sokar has sent him mad."

"Hey," O'Neill came up behind Teal'c. As the older Jaffa turned toward him, he whistled in dismay. "Bra'tac, are you all right?"

"I am uninjured, O'Neill," Bra'tac told him. "The blood is that of my apprentice, Moac."

"Maybe you'd like to get cleaned up?" O'Neill suggested. "General Hammond has asked that we join him upstairs."

Bra'tac looked off in the direction the doctors had wheeled his young apprentice.

Teal'c realized he was reluctant to leave the infirmary.

"He is in good hands, Master Bra'tac," Teal'c assured him.

"Yeah, they'll call us immediately if anything changes," O'Neill told him.

Bra'tac nodded, his exhaustion plainly visible. "We will confer with Hammond of Texas then." Teal'c was doubly shocked. That Bra'tac would allow Teal'c to see it was one thing. That he would not present a face of strength to the Tau'ri-- well, perhaps it was a measure of Bra'tac's growing trust in his friends.

They went to the locker room so Bra'tac could clean himself. Teal'c had to remind Bra'tac of the operation of the controls, though he was certain that Bra'tac had used these facilities on prior visits.

While his old teacher slowly cleaned himself and his armor, Teal'c turned over the events at Netu in his mind. Apophis beaming to Sokar's ship. Aldwin launching the weapon at Netu. Planet, ship, moon. Rings, he realized. Somehow Apophis must have used the rings to escape. A slow simmer of anger rose. The false god had once again evaded his deserved death.

He led the way up to the briefing room and Hammond's office, to find his teammates and the general waiting for him.

Bra'tac bowed to Hammond with the respect of an acknowledged peer. "I thank you for your assistance."

"We're happy to help, Master Bra'tac," Hammond told him sincerely. "Please have a seat."

"I will stand," Bra'tac said. He told them baldly, without preamble, of the attack on Chulak.

"Apophis!" O'Neill's voice crackled with aggravation. "Damnit, we thought we got him on Netu! Son of a bitch!"

Teal'c evenly repeated his earlier conclusion, "Apophis must have transported off of Sokar's ship before it exploded."

O'Neill's eyes narrowed with familiar determination. "Somebody's got to teach that guy how to die."

Teal'c looked approvingly at his team leader. O'Neill understood how to deal with Goa'uld.

Bratac said, "He controls the army of Sokar, a most powerful force."

"I will return with you at once," Teal'c said instantly.

Bra'tac shook his head. "The fight is over, Teal'c. The attack was swift. There was nothing left to do but try to save the life of young Moac, my newest apprentice."

"But attacking Chulak doesn't make sense. I mean, not all the Jaffa were willing to oppose the Goa'uld, were they?" asked Major Carter.

Bra'tac shook his head, "No."

Daniel Jackson spoke for the first time, with that edge of sarcasm he seemed to have picked up from O'Neill. " 'Course, it's quicker and easier to wipe them all out rather than try to weed out the traitors."

That would not be a usual method for Goa'uld to deal with Jaffa, but Teal'c realized that if Apophis now controlled the armies of Sokar, he might well not bother to try and separate the loyal from the rebellious of his former followers. Still, why would he not have attacked from orbit, particularly if he made no effort to identify the rebellious?

The phone rang, and Hammond turned to answer it. "Hammond." He listened for a moment, then said, "I understand," and turned to Bra'tac. "Bra'tac, you'd better get down to the OR right away."

SG-1 accompanied Bra'tac back the infirmary. Bill Warner was stripping off bloodied gloves as they came in. Teal'c looked a question at him, and Warner gave him back a minute shake of the head.

Teal'c inclined his head, remembering his first meeting with the surgeon. Newly come to Earth, he had volunteered to let them test anesthetics on his larval Goa'uld, in preparation for the doomed attempt to save Major Kawalsky. Warner's courtesy then had made an indelible impression on the Jaffa. Not even the initial suspicion of some of the military personnel or the treachery of Maybourne of the NID had given him cause to reverse the impression formed by his interaction with his team and with the SGC medical staff.

A nurse waved them into the operating room, but only Teal'c went in with him to see Moac. Dr. Fraiser was detaching the heart monitors from Moac's chest. That more than anything else told Teal'c how bad the younger warrior's condition must be. The woman who had spent three weeks dragging Teal'c from the brink of the abyss after Hathor's ambush would never give up before the last chance was exhausted.

"We've done everything we can," Janet Fraiser said to Bra'tac.

The sorrow with a hint of fire behind it reminded Teal'c of his own hatred for the Goa'uld. Janet Fraiser fought a far stronger enemy. Pain and death were her sworn foes, and she battled no less stubbornly for the knowledge that she was frequently outmatched.

Teal'c turned his attention to Bra'tac and his apprentice. Bra'tac still did not entirely understand what he saw in these Tau'ri. And yet Teal'c had found himself humbled more than once by their tenacity in the face of impossible odds.

Bra'tac touched Moac gently.

The younger man looked up at him, pain written across his face. "I have failed you," he confessed painfully to his teacher.

Bra'tac denied it. "No. It is I who have failed you. You are the bravest Jaffa I have ever trained."

Teal'c wondered where he had recruited Moac. Moac was so heartbreakingly young, probably less than two decades older than Ry'ac. He felt a pang of guilt at the relief that Ry'ac was still too young for battle, still safe with his mother in the Land of Light.

The boy was stuttering as the final darkness closed in on him. "I'm scared," he said.

"Kra'mel'kara," Bra'tac whispered harshly. You die with honor.

The young Jaffa's eyes slid closed and his face went slack. Teal'c looked at the heart monitor, saw the stutter as it began to fail. Teal'c watched the sorrow overlain by acceptance in his old master's face.

Bra'tac turned toward him. "His body is to be burned," he said.

Teal'c nodded. "I will see to it personally," he promised.

The deepening weariness in Bra'tac's face was as alarming as his next words. "I am an old man, Teal'c. One day I wish to spread Moac's ashes on the grave of Apophis. But I do not know if I have the strength to fight anymore."

Teal'c had the unsettling feeling of ground moving beneath his feet. Bra'tac was immutable. That it would fall to him to encourage Bra'tac was simply wrong. He groped for the words. "Many have died, old friend. But their deaths must not go in vain. Word of this must spread to all Jaffa."

The old Jaffa's head bowed. "Yes. But maybe it is for someone younger and stronger than I to spread that word."

Teal'c wished then that O'Neill or Daniel Jackson were there. Someone more skilled than he in the use of words. "You are the strongest Jaffa I have ever known," he said. It felt completely inadequate.

"In my one hundred thirty-five years I have never seen a Goa'uld turn on those that carry its kind this way," Bra'tac said. "He massacred so many that have worshiped him for so long." There was a kind of mind-blasted shock in his tone. Despite the excesses of the Goa'uld, Bra'tac had not expected this.

With a trace of wonder, it occurred to Teal'c that O'Neill would not be surprised at anything the Goa'uld did. He and many of the Tau'ri saw the Goa'uld as racially psychotic, incapable of the emotions of humans and Jaffa. Bra'tac...despite knowing they were not gods, despite the years he had hated his slavery to them...even Bra'tac could still be affected by the years he had spent in their service.

Teal'c said, "Perhaps he has done this to show the System Lords how truly powerful he has become."

Bra'tac shook his head. "You know well Apophis has weapons that could have been used from space. There had to be some other purpose. His army swept through Chulak as if...." He groped for the words to describe this unprecedented change in tactics.

In a moment of blinding insight, Teal'c remembered Daniel Jackson telling him that Apophis had tried to get information from him about the Harsesis on Netu. "They were searching for something," he suggested.

"Perhaps," Bra'tac admitted. "But searching for what? What could he so greatly desire?"

"Perhaps his child," Teal'c said.

"Klorel?" Bra'tac frowned. "I have heard that Klorel is dead."

"Not unless Zipacna killed him," Teal'c told him. "He was extracted from his host by the Tollan, and sent back to the System Lords in a container." He smiled. "Perhaps they left him there. But I was not speaking of Klorel."

"I had not heard this," Bra'tac admitted. "But if not Klorel--"

"Let us speak with Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. "He can explain this better than I." Teal'c turned to the door. "Come with me." He swiftly led Bra'tac to the elevator and swiped his card.

Bra'tac watched him manipulate the alien device. "The Tau'ri have given you their trust."

Teal'c raised an eyebrow, "Some do, but not all. I do not travel outside this base without escort. Though that is as much concern for keeping the secret of this facility as anything."

"The secret of this facility?" Bra'tac asked. The elevator stopped at the office level and Bra'tac followed him out. There were more scientists at this level. Bra'tac's armor drew a few second glances but no comments.

Teal'c turned right and they walked down the corridor. "The chappa'ai is not known to the majority of Earth's people. It is a closely held military secret. Most of the inhabitants do not even know the Goa'uld exist or that humans live on other worlds."

"Even after Apophis came here with ha'taks?" Bra'tac asked incredulously.

It was unlikely that Bra'tac had forgotten their journey down from orbit in the Space Shuttle, and their subsequent transportation by land and air to the SGC. At the time, Bra'tac had been equally astonished by the primitive level of the technology and its ubiquity. What Teal'c had subsequently realized is that they had seen only the fringes of a couple of Earth's small cities on that trip. Even Denver was far vaster than anything Bra'tac had seen here. Teal'c hoped to someday visit some of the great metropolises. The images he had seen of places like New York City implied an impossibly vast scale. "The level of technology here is not as high as that of the Goa'uld," Teal'c reminded him. "Though they make excellent use of what they have. There is a great fear that revealing the presence of the Goa'uld to the entire population would cause panic and rioting. Earth has a very large population compared to most planets." Teal'c remembered his own astonishment at learning the size of Earth's population. The Goa'uld purposely restricted the spread of technology, and discouraged humans from settling far from the Stargates on the worlds they controlled, keeping populations low. The survival rate of even Jaffa children was low compared to that in the more technologically advanced cultures of Earth.

"I see," Bra'tac said.

Teal'c realized with some surprise that Bra'tac did not truly understand. He could not, without the kind of experiences he, Teal'c, had had on Earth. Another tiny frisson of shock ran through him. For so many years, he had regarded Bra'tac as older and wiser. Even after Bra'tac had given up leading the armies of Apophis to train younger warriors, Teal'c had sought his advice and counsel. Now he understood things that Bra'tac did not. It was unsettling.

Characteristically, Daniel Jackson's office door was open, the glow of the softer lights he favored warming the cold brilliance of the corridor.

His friend was typing, the soft clicking of the keys audible to Teal'c's sharp ears even before he reached the doorway and saw Daniel Jackson hunched over the keyboard, hands moving with a speed Teal'c expected never to achieve.

Teal'c paused and knocked on the door frame.

Daniel Jackson looked up, his hands still clicking as he finished his thought even as he greeted his friend. "Teal'c. Come in." He didn't smile, but the hint of welcome in his voice told Teal'c he didn't mind being interrupted.

"Daniel Jackson," he said formally. "Bra'tac has been telling me of the attack on Chulak, and we have a hypothesis."

Bra'tac was looking curiously around the cluttered room. His eye fell on an open book, pages covered with printing in some unfamiliar language, and then went back to the shelves that lined the room, looking startled.

It was quite likely, Teal'c thought, that Bra'tac had never seen so much writing in one place in his long life. Certain Teal'c had not, before he came to Earth.
u8232 "A hypothesis?" Daniel Jackson asked curiously.

Bra'tac turned to him. "Yes, it seemed that Apophis was looking for something."

"The Harsesis," Daniel Jackson said. He didn't look particularly surprised and Teal'c wondered if he had already thought of this.

Teal'c told Bra'tac, "Apophis fathered a child with Sha're, the host of his mate, Ammonet. He hoped to create a new host for himself."

Bra'tac said, "It is forbidden."

Daniel Jackson nodded matter-of-factly. "Yes. Because the child would contain all the knowledge of the Goa'uld. Ammonet hid the boy to keep him safe."

Bra'tac absorbed that bit of knowledge with only a slight widening of the eyes. "Of course. The boy would be hunted. He could be the undoing of all the Goa'uld."

Daniel Jackson said with a trace of satisfaction, "But Apophis also doesn't know where Ammonet hid him."

"Which is why they were searching Chulak," Teal'c explained.

Bra'tac was looking closely at Daniel Jackson, "Do you know where this child is?"

Daniel Jackson hesitated, then shrugged. "All I know is that it's a place called Kheb."

Bra'tac glanced sharply at Teal'c, recognition in his eyes,

Teal'c said, "You have heard of such a place."

Bra'tac said, "It is an ancient legend. I did not believe it really existed."

Daniel Jackson went still, his interest caught. "It has to."

Bra'tac said, "The Goa'uld fear and despise Kheb. They forbade anyone from speaking of it long ago." Bra'tac turned and paced across the room. "It is something my father once spoke of to me. An old tale about a place discovered long ago by a few Jaffa and kept secret from the Goa'uld."

Teal'c looked at Bra'tac in surprise. This was a story he had never heard. If it came to that, he could not recall Bra'tac ever mentioning his father. Fear and despise? If the Goa'uld feared it, perhaps there was some advantage to be gained there.

Bra'tac continued, "When they could no longer carry a primta, they would make their journey to Kheb. There their calak would learn the path through the darkness into the next life."

"Calak," Daniel Jackson repeated thoughtfully. He glanced at Teal'c. "That means soul, right?"

Teal'c thought a moment. Soul? It was the essence of the person. Soul was perhaps close enough in Tau'ri terms. "Yes," he said.

Bra'tac continued. "When some of the Goa'uld finally found out about Kheb, they made their way there. They did not return. It was forbidden to speak of ever again. My father enjoyed telling me this story. 'If the Goa'uld truly are all-powerful gods', he would say, 'how is it that they fear anything?' "

Clearly Bra'tac enjoyed telling the story as well. Teal'c wondered why Bra'tac had never told it to him.

"Well, sounds like the perfect place to hide someone you don't want the Goa'uld to find," Daniel Jackson said. His tone was casual but with a hint of his true urgency behind it. "I don't suppose you happen to know the Stargate address?"

Daniel Jackson appeared calm, but Teal'c could see he was holding his breath.

"No," Bra'tac said.

Daniel Jackson breathed again and slumped a little in his chair. "Well all I have is some obscure Earth mythology that indicates Osiris once hid there from Seth."

Bra'tac nodded, "That story is told among Jaffa, that Osiris hid on one of the planets of the Lok'na core."

"What's that?" Daniel Jackson asked, with a casualness that belied the keen interest in his eyes.

Teal'c explained. "A group of planets whose resources have been depleted by mining."

Daniel Jackson's gaze flickered between him and Bra'tac. "I don't suppose you happen to know the addresses of any of those planets?"

"Certainly," Bra'tac said. "But none of them is Kheb. I have visited several and have known Jaffa who have been to the others."

Daniel Jackson was already half out of his chair when Teal'c realized what that meant. "But if Kheb is one of the planets in the same area--"

"--then we might be able to narrow it down to a few possibilities," Daniel Jackson finished his sentence. "We need Sam."

He was three strides ahead of them all the way to Samantha Carter's lab, and started talking even before he cleared the door. "Sam, we've got a lead-"

Major Carter was bent over a piece of equipment Teal'c did not recognize, along with Lt. Simmonds and Major Howard. Howard was saying, "--don't understand is the high-frequency spike we're seeing-"

"Oh, sorry--" Daniel Jackson started to say as the three of them looked up. "Sorry to interrupt, but Sam, we think we have a lead on Kheb, and we need your help."

"You do?" Sam straightened up and looked interested. "Give me a minute." She turned back to Howard and Simmonds. Daniel Jackson took a step back and fidgeted.

Bra'tac glanced around the room curiously. "What work is done here?"

"It is a laboratory," Teal'c replied. "Part of Major Carter's duties are to study the technology of the Goa'uld and other alien races we encounter, and adapt it for use in battle."

The older Jaffa appeared rather taken aback. "She is both an...an artificer and a warrior then."

"Indeed she is," Teal'c said. "These Tau'ri do not restrict knowledge as the Goa'uld do. A son of a warrior might become a merchant, the daughter of a servant can become a general."

"Sons do not follow their father's professions at all, then?" Bra'tac asked.

Daniel Jackson had turned to listen to them talk and replied, "Some do- Sam's father was a general, after all. And both of my parents were scholars. But we could have chosen whatever paths suited our abilities and desires. Our political leader, the President, is the son of a farmer."

It was just as well that Major Carter finished issuing instructions to the two other officers then, Teal'c reflected, since it could be quite difficult to stop Daniel Jackson once he fell into what O'Neill called 'lecture mode'. And Bra'tac, while bemused at the strange customs of the Tau'ri, did not seem more than politely interested.

"So try that, guys, and I'll catch up with you later," Major Carter instructed.

The other two men politely excused themselves as Major Carter turned to her teammates and Bra'tac.

Daniel Jackson quickly explained what they were looking for. "So we need to look at planets in the vicinity of the Lok'na core."

Sam Carter nodded. "The control room computers would be best for this."

"Computers?" Bra'tac said to Teal'c quietly, not understanding the Tau'ri word.

"The Tau'ri use a device of their own design to control the chappa'ai," Teal'c reminded him. "As well as store other types of information."

"All sorts of information, really," Major Carter said cheerfully. "But we need to go to the control room because we've restricted access to the dialing database as a security measure. I could access it from here normally, but-" she glanced toward her desk.

Teal'c saw that the casing on her computer was open. The inside was filled with what looked like green plastic cards, not unlike those he'd seen inside other Tau'ri equipment. "It is damaged?" he asked.

Sam looked surprised, "Oh, no, nothing like that. I'm just installing a new motherboard with a faster chip and some extra memory."

Teal'c understood she was making improvements to the machine, but from long experience he knew any more questions would elict a technical explanation, which would be confusing, and considerably longer. Indeed, both she and Daniel Jackson could be quite similar in that regard.

Bra'tac was less well-acquainted with her. "Motherboard?" he asked skeptically.

Before Teal'c could frame a warning in terms that would not offend Major Carter, Daniel Jackson jumped in with the fluency of long practice. "She's upgrading- improving- the machine, Bra'tac. Motherboard is just a name for a part of the machine."

"Ah," Bra'tac intercepted Teal'c's subtle but urgent warning glance and abandoned the subject.

As Daniel Jackson led the way back to the control room, Bra'tac returned to the subject of Kheb. "I do not see how you expect to find Kheb, if we do not have the symbols."

Samantha Carter looked back over her shoulder at them, falling further behind Daniel Jackson. "We have some addresses which you probably do not," she explained. "If you can give us the addresses of other planets in the area, we can check for planets you haven't heard of."

Teal'c nodded. "Perhaps in this way, we can narrow the search to but a handful of worlds."

"It may not be that easy, Teal'c," Major Carter warned. "It will depend on how many worlds are close to the worlds Bra'tac gives us. And we may not have the address of Kheb in the dialing computer at all." Her glance flickered forward to Daniel Jackson's back.

Teal'c realized she was trying to warn their teammate against hoping for too much. "We shall see," he offered.

If Daniel Jackson heard, he didn't acknowledge it. He took the stairs to the control room two at a time and waited a bit impatiently for them at the top.

Sam went straight to the spare terminal in the gate room and signed in. "Okay, Bra'tac," she said. "What are the coordinates of the worlds you know?"

Bra'tac moved closer to look over her shoulder, looking closely at the glowing screen. They still looked exotic to Teal'c's eyes, even though he knew they were a more primitive technology than that used in Goa'uld viewscreens. If Bra'tac was impressed at the number of gate addresses the Tau'ri knew, he didn't show it. But then, Teal'c thought, he would also not have heard Major Carter's explanation of how many different combinations were possible, and therefore just how improbable it was to find a new address by accident. His teammates' inexhaustible thirst for knowledge was admirable, but sometimes quite tiring.

"There," Bra'tac said, pointing. "Those are the planets of the Lok'na core."

Daniel Jackson leaned in to study the screen, and Teal'c realized he was committing the addresses to memory, a habit of his that had often proved useful in the past.

"What's the red one?" Daniel Jackson asked. One of the cluster of gate addresses stood out from the others.

Major Carter answered him, "We basically have two reference maps for Stargate addresses. Yellow represents the cartouche that the Goa'uld left on Abydos, and the addresses from the Ancients' original map of the Stargate is in red." She turned to Bra'tac. "You don't recognize this address here?"

"No," Bra'tac answered. There was a flicker of curiosity in his expression, and Teal'c tried to remember if he'd ever told Bra'tac of their discovery of the Ancient device that nearly killed O'Neill. Perhaps not, it was rare that he saw Bra'tac when they had leisure for conversation.

Daniel Jackson looked at the screen intently. "If the legend is true, the Goa'uld never would have included Kheb on their cartouche."

Excitement crackled through the room as they all realized what that could mean. Major Carter said, "Well this address is the only planet in the system that the Goa'uld didn't include on their map."

Daniel Jackson sounded bemused and almost sleepy. "We found it."

Teal'c looked at his friend's profile and wasn't fooled. He recognized the signs of Daniel Jackson thinking furiously. He glanced at Bra'tac, whose gaze was still fixed on the dialing computer. Teal'c didn't know what to make of his expression--weariness, yes, perhaps respect for the clever Tau'ri? It almost appeared to contain a touch of awe, but Teal'c dismissed the idea as an obvious exaggeration.

"Found what?" O'Neill asked from the doorway.

Teal'c wasn't startled- he'd seen a hint of motion out of the corner of his eye- but Major Carter started slightly. Granted, she had her back to the door, but even Teal'c hadn't heard O'Neill move. He walked astonishingly lightly for a human. He was certain that Daniel Jackson had not seen or heard O'Neill before he spoke, but Daniel Jackson simply turned and said, "Jack, we may have found Kheb."

Major Carter said warningly, "We don't know that, Daniel-"

"I know, Sam," Daniel Jackson told her, his voice calmer than Teal'c had expected. "We don't know for sure that Kheb even has a Stargate. But it's a possibility we have to check out."

"I'll order a UAV survey," O'Neill said. O'Neill accepted the phone that Walter was handing him without surprise. "Lieutenant Curtis? We have another planet for for your list," he waited. "No, not Tuesday. Now would be best, but you can have ten minutes."

"Jack, uh--" Daniel Jackson said.

Teal'c wondered if Daniel Jackson had expected to have to argue to get a mission scheduled expeditiously. He should not have--after Apophis tortured Daniel Jackson on Netu for information about the boy, O'Neill had said that anything a Goa'uld wanted that badly was something they should prevent him from getting.

"Daniel," O'Neill replied. "If this is Kheb, and the kid is there, we want to be sure we beat Apophis to him, right?"

Daniel Jackson nodded, and gave a quick jerk of his head toward the door. "I'll go pack--just in case."

O'Neill exchanged an amused glance with Teal'c and then he and Major Carter followed Daniel Jackson.

Curtis was wheeling in the launcher even as Daniel Jackson left the control room. Teal'c turned to the door, but Bra'tac was watching it curiously. "What is it?"

"It is an unmanned drone," Teal'c told him. "It records visual images of the terrain beyond the gate, and takes readings of the temperature and atmospheric conditions. The Tau'ri use them in mission planning. It ensures they will not enter a gate if conditions will prevent their return."

"Ingenious," Bra'tac said. "But what if the device is lost?"

"A reasonable effort is made to retrieve it," Teal'c said. He remembered several long hikes to retrieve UAVs crashed at long distances from the gate--the planet with the singing plants, for one exceedingly memorable example. "But if a device is lost, the Tau'ri count it better than losing a warrior. The device is easily enough replaced."

Bra'tac shook his head. "A curious notion. A warrior who lost an udajeet would not soon be trusted with another."

Teal'c repeated what Ferretti had once told him when he has asked the same question. "A warrior represents years of training. The technology can be built in a short time. The warrior is the more valuable, and the more valued." A shadow passed over Bra'tac's face, and Teal'c knew he was remembering his apprentice. "I see." After a moment, he said. "It is a very different attitude."

To that held by their former masters, he meant. Teal'c let his voice gentle as he said, "And is that not why we fight them?"

Beside them, Sergeant Harriman said, "Telemetry is green, UAV systems are green. Launch status clear. Standing by to initiate dialing sequence."

Below them, Curtis and three technicians finished fussing around the UAV. Curtis double-checked that the wheels on the rolling platform were locked before they stood back. He looked up at the control room and gestured thumbs up, then turned toward the door.

Harriman touched the button that turned on the loudspeakers in the gate room, and Bra'tac twitched at the sudden noise. "UAV ready to launch, launch minus ten plus dialing sequence. Dialing now." The last couple of technicians exited the gate room, closing the blast doors behind them.

Curtis came into the control room at a brisk pace that suggested he'd run up the stairs. He barely spared a curious glance for Teal'c and Bra'tac as he and another technician took their places at the controls beside Harriman as the gate started to turn.
Teal'c told Bra'tac, "They will monitor the readings from the UAV. All it senses will be recorded."

Harriman was calling off the chevrons as the gate turned while beside him, Curtis and the other technician ran down the UAV checklist.

The two Jaffa watched as the device flamed and rushed through the chappa'ai.

As the images began to arrive, Teal'c moved to watch over Curtis' shoulder. The images coming out of the gate showed a pleasant world, green and mountainous. It reminded Teal'c a bit of Chulak, though it appeared warmer. He turned to Bra'tac, and was surprised to find a shimmer of moisture in the older warrior's eye.

"Kheb," he murmured, with a tone that was nearly reverence. "Can it really be?"

"We will find out," Teal'c said with certainty. "It is the Tau'ri way to seek out secrets and make them known." He glanced back at the screens. "It will take a little time for the information to be analyzed, then there will be a meeting before we depart. When you arrived, I was engaged in kel'no'reem. Would you care to join me?"

Bra'tac gave him a quick glance that suggested his oblique recommendation to rest had not gone unnoticed, but accepted immediately.

*

At the appointed hour, Teal'c and Bra'tac headed upstairs. Bra'tac had seemed more his old self after kel'no'reem, though still rather quieter than was his wont. They arrived at the briefing room at the same time as Hammond and the others.

"Colonel?" Hammond wasted no time in opening the meeting.

O'Neill glanced at Teal'c.

Teal'c spoke unhurriedly. "General Hammond. Master Bra'tac and Daniel Jackson have combined their knowledge and come up with a good candidate for the location of Kheb." He briefly explained the sequence of events, and they viewed the UAV footage.

"We should send through a MALP right before we go," O'Neill said. "We don't want it sitting there for hours if there's any chance Apophis' Jaffa could find it and lay an ambush. If it's all clear, we can go right through."

"How do we know for sure that this is Kheb?" Hammond asked skeptically.

Bra'tac answered, "The story I have heard says Kheb is an untouched wilderness with great mountains and a single temple in a valley distant from the Stargate."

The UAV had only barely caught a glimpse of structure that could be the temple, and it was quite close to the gate in planetary terms, though it would certainly be several hours walk.

Daniel Jackson said, "If the Goa'uld are scared of Kheb, that would explain why they never mined this planet."

Teal'c said, "If Ammonet thought to hide the Harsesis on Kheb, then Apophis will presume so."

"Well, scary stories or not, Apophis is just nuts enough to go," O'Neill said, turning to Hammond. "I'd like some back-up on this one, sir."

The general nodded, "SG-2 will accompany you."

"As will I," Bra'tac said firmly.

Teal'c looked at him in mild surprise. He hadn't expected Bra'tac to take such an interest in Sha're's child. But of course the child was Harsesis and the cause of Moac's death- the older Jaffa would not want to be left out. Or perhaps there was another reason? He remembered the reverent tone with which Bra'tac had referred to the planet. Teal'c was accustomed to incomplete understanding of his Tau'ri friends, but it was unsettling to find himself puzzled by his old teacher.

Daniel Jackson said somberly, "Let's just hope we're first."

*
They stepped out of the gate into a tree-fringed clearing that could have been on any number of worlds. Teal'c glanced around warily, holding his staff weapon at the ready. The gate was always a prime location for an ambush. Teal'c had set many attacks of his own to kill an arriving enemy; he always felt an extra edge of alertness when stepping through, no matter what the machines said awaited them.

He was pleased to see Bra'tac looking less tired since he had rested. The other Jaffa too watched the treeline, as did O'Neill and Major Carter. Daniel Jackson was also looking around, but Teal'c knew he searched for signs of habitation or civilization, not enemies.

The ground was too hard here to easily hold prints, though there was an opening in the trees that might have been an ancient trail leading off in the general direction of the temple. Faint scuff marks in the gravel suggested the possibility of recent activity. They left Major Coburn and SG-2 to hold the gate, and the two Jaffa took point, studying the ground carefully. As the ground became softer, the traces became more distinct.

"They make no attempt to conceal themselves," Teal'c said disapprovingly.

"They do not suspect they are being followed," Bra'tac said. "It makes them careless." He smiled ironically at Teal'c.

Teal'c remembered his own lessons in tracking and concealment. "It is the follower you do not see that poses the most danger."

They stopped by an especially clear set of footprints.

O'Neill joined them, "Whatcha got?"
Teal'c studied the traces, conscious of Bra'tac's gaze on him, counting distinct footmarks. "A group of Jaffa passed through here recently. Six."
"Eight," Bra'tac corrected.
"So…not the first," O'Neill observed.
Teal'c did not bother to acknowledge him- he had long since ceased to comment on rhetorical questions. He studied the prints again, trying to distinguish the features that Bra'tac had used to count their enemies. There- the pattern of wear on the sole of that one's boot was different from the similarly sized one. The eight pair were indistinguishable except in the pattern of movement- one set of prints overlaying another, and perhaps a slight difference in depth were the only indications that they belonged to different warriors. He rose from his crouch, and the party continued.
Teal'c and Bra'tac led the way downriver, following the faint trail overlain with the traces of the Jaffa party. The shadows cast by the trees concealed them--and perhaps something else. There was nothing Teal'c could identify, but he still felt faintly uneasy. He glanced at Bra'tac.

The terrain did not seem to require the close scrutiny that Bra'tac was giving it. "You have been unusually silent, Master Bra'tac," Teal'c asked obliquely.

Bra'tac's tone was uncharacteristically sober. "There is not much time left before I can no longer carry a primta."

Teal'c felt that chilling frisson of time sliding around him. He realized he had half-raised his staff, as if to counter a threat, and let it fall loosely back down. Surely- but Bra'tac was not young, and it was known that warriors could lose the ability to carry a primta well before those who led less stressful lives. He bowed his head. "When that time comes, I will have to decide what to do."

"If this truly is Kheb, that time may be upon us both," Bra'tac said.

Teal'c frowned as Bra'tac knelt to examine the ground. What did Kheb have to do with Bra'tac dying?

O'Neill joined them and asked, "What is it?"

Teal'c read the markings and answered, "Six of the Jaffa stopped here."

Bra'tac added, "Two went on ahead. They returned with another…a woman."

"How do you know that?" O'Neill asked, not skeptically, but more as if he wanted to understand their reasoning.

Teal'c pointed, "Here. The third of the prints are small and light, the shoe an open-toed sandal worn by Jaffa women." The prints were quite distinctive, and very different from the booted warriors.

Bra'tac had widened the area of his inspection. "When they all met up again, there was a struggle and they headed into the forest. Each print is spread wide. They were running."

O'Neill shook his head in admiration, "He's good."

Teal'c nodded, "Extremely." For the first time it occurred to him to wonder who had taught Bra'tac to track. It was not a skill ordinarily taught to Jaffa.

Bra'tac added, "The woman may be the priestess entrusted with the child." He stood and gestured toward the forest, away from the river. "They went this way."

They spread out as they walked through the trees. Once Bra'tac and Teal'c had pulled slightly ahead of the others, Teal'c asked, "Was it your father who taught you to track, Master?"

"My father hunted as a boy," Bra'tac said. "He learned to track animals, and found the skills even more useful when hunting more dangerous prey."

"He was a warrior, was he not?" Teal'c said.

"He died in battle when I was still young," Bra'tac said. "He gained a great victory over Heru-ur. Apophis took me into his service in his place, as a reward for my father's service." He smiled humorlessly. "He did not know how little love my father bore him. His lack of insight told me that all my father had taught me of the Goa'uld was truth."

"And he told you of Kheb?"

"He told me that a Jaffa's body might belong to the Goa'uld, but his calak was his own," Bra'tac said softly. "I think he would have sought Kheb himself, had he lived."

Teal'c hesitated a moment, then asked the question he had been working toward. "What did you mean, that if this is Kheb, the time of your ending may be at hand?"

Bra'tac paused to scan the ground ahead, then moved forward. "You have always been a practical man, Teal'c. You have never had much regard for religion."

Teal'c frowned. "It was you who taught me the folly of worshiping false gods."

The older Jaffa slowed and gave him a reproving look. "You allied with Apophis to seek revenge on Chronus. I did not need to teach you to rebel, Teal'c, you already believed you had the right to rebuke a god."

The thought was a new one and Teal'c considered it gravely. "It had not occurred to me in that light," he confessed. "But it is true I expected more from gods than the Goa'uld could provide."

"Yet even though the Goa'uld are not gods, yet we still have our calaks, do we not?" Bra'tac gave him a strangely penetrating look. "Or do you not believe in the calak, Teal'c?"

Teal'c hesitated, "I do not know, Master." Teal'c had been raised to believe in the godhood of the Goa'uld, and then rejected those beliefs. He had never wasted much consideration on Jaffa legend.

"You know that there are ancient Jaffa beliefs, that go back even before the Goa'uld, do you not?" Bra'tac probed.

"I have heard such," Teal'c shrugged. "I always dismissed them as blasphemies invented by children." In fact, he remembered with some shame having scolded Ry'ac for repeating such tales, heard from the other children. Drey'auc had argued that he was too harsh, but Teal'c, conscious of his own lack of faith, had not wished Ry'ac to draw attention to himself.

"They are not," Bra'tac said firmly. "There were few who dared whisper the old tales when I was young and fewer still to pass them on in each generation. But we remember. For the Jaffa who seeks it, there can be enlightenment." He looked ahead and studied the trail more intently, stopping to examine the ground.

Go to part 2

Picking Up the Pieces, PG, Gen, SG-1

Sat, 24 May 2008 03:35:01 GMT

An episode tag for S2 Show and Tell
(for pepper_field, whose recap questions on redial_the_gate inspired it)

The wormhole thinned into wisps of mist and disappeared.

O'Neill sagged a bit at the departure of the boy, and Captain Carter looked wistfully after her father.

Teal'c exchanged a glance with Daniel Jackson. "Dr. Fraiser requested that you return to the infirmary after seeing the boy leave, O'Neill," he reminded his friend.

O'Neill didn't appear to hear him. "I hope..." he murmured, so softly Teal'c could barely hear him.

"Like you said, Jack, it's his only chance," Daniel offered.

O'Neill shuddered. "They're going to put a snake in his head."

Samantha Carter looked a bit defensive. "I'm sure they'll take good care of him, sir."

O'Neill's expression smoothed out, more because he didn't want to cause his second any distress over her father's condition than because he was convinced, Teal'c thought.

"Fraiser will be waiting," O'Neill said.

The others trailed him to the elevator. O'Neill glanced at them. "You don't have to come with me," he told them.

"I wanted to see how SG-5 was doing," Daniel said blandly. "They came in hot while you were busy getting bandaged up."

"And I was going to check on Airman Long," Captain Carter added without missing a beat.

"Airman Long?" O'Neill frowned.

"The technician who was helping me install the palm scanner," she explained. "He was injured when the Reetou blew the Tok'ra through the window in the gate room."

"We've got to get something better than safety glass in that window," O'Neill said, twitching the shoulder that had once been pierced by an arrow. He looked at Teal'c.

"I plan to ensure that you arrive at the infirmary safely, as Dr. Fraiser requested," Teal'c said.

"Suck-up." O'Neill said.

Teal'c simply inclined his head. "As General Hammond instructed, we have completed two more sweeps of the SGC, O'Neill, and are satisfied that there are no more Reetou present. Thus I am free to ensure that you are well."

"Your team did not encounter any Reetou the first time," O'Neill said, somewhat aggrievedly.

Teal'c had no response. He felt a somewhat guilty relief not to have experienced the disturbing effects of the Reetou presence again and he regretted not having found the aliens in time to help stop them, but only chance had directed his team to a safe area. O'Neill knew this as well as he did.

"Not if by encounter, you mean, 'were shot by'," Daniel said in a helpful tone.

O'Neill turned a baleful glare on his friend. "And you, Daniel, need a refresher on military hand signals."

"If there's a military hand signal for, 'there are non-combatants in that room, so maybe we shouldn't dash in with guns blazing' I'd be happy to learn it!" Daniel retorted.

"Military hand signals are intended to convey basic information, not allow you to argue about your instructions," O'Neill said in a tone of considerable exasperation.

Teal'c relaxed. He knew that O'Neill recognized their transparent attempt to distract him, but clearly he wasn't going to try to dissuade them. Once set off, O'Neill and Daniel Jackson could argue for hours. Which was not something Teal'c usually encouraged, but for every rule, it appeared there indeed was an exception.

They arrived at the infirmary to find the two airmen with TERs playing them over the infirmary.

"What's going on?" O'Neill demanded.

Dr. Fraiser turned to look at him. "Two of those Reetou creatures were blown to bits in my infirmary, Colonel. I requested these airmen clean them up."

"But the Reetou are in a different phase," Carter said. "You can't see or feel them."

"Or smell them," Daniel Jackson added under his breath. Then winced- apparently O'Neill had kicked him.

One of the airmen looked up at Dr. Fraiser with a pleading expression. "I'm not sure there's anything we can do, doctor," he told her. "Nothing we do seems to affect the bits." He stood aside, and his cohort obligingly played the beam of the TER over the bug guts smashed on the floor.

"Ew," O'Neill said, looking away. Captain Carter turned a bit green.

Daniel Jackson moved in closer. "May I have that?" he asked, reaching for the TER.

The airman willingly relinquished it.

Daniel illuminated the remains with the TER, apparently examining the straps and equipment. He reached out to touch one bug-innard-splattered pouch and his hand went through it without resistance. "I wonder if these are some of the cross-phase explosives that Selmak mentioned," he speculated.

At that Captain Carter looked intrigued and squatted down beside him, apparently forgetting her queasiness. "I don't know how we could tell," she said, "given that we can't touch them."

"Why don't they fall through the floor?" Daniel asked her.

"Clearly they interact with solid matter to some extent," Carter said, "Or how could the Reetou even move around? They'd just drift."

"They didn't seem able to go through-," Daniel said, his words coming faster

"-the blast doors-" Carter said nodding.

"-or the iris-"

"But they go through us, so-"

"Is it because we're organic-?"

"-maybe a function of the density-"

The two stopped bothering to finish sentences as they swapped theories faster than the others could follow the conversation.

"That's all very well and good," Dr. Fraiser interrupted. "But am I getting dead Reetou out of my infirmary or not?"

Carter and Daniel stopped and looked toward her.

"There's really no chance of infection or anything like that," Captain Carter said, standing up.

Fraiser gave her a look that clearly communicated volumes.

"But I think maybe if we tried pushing them with something solid enough-" she looked around.

Teal'c picked up a metal chair, and offered it to her.

She and Daniel each took a side and scraped the edge along the floor. It made a metallic noise as it passed through the dead Reetou.

"It moved!" Daniel said. "Just a bit."

"We need something denser," Captain Carter said.

Teal'c was the only one who saw O'Neill sway a bit on his feet. "Colonel O'Neill," he said, reaching out to steady his team leader. "You do not appear well."

"I'm fine-" O'Neill protested, but it was enough to divert Janet Fraiser's attention back to him.

"We'll use the other examination room," she said. "Colonel, this way," she summoned a nurse with a glance as she turned toward a Reetou-less room.

Teal'c observed that the two airmen, who had briefly looked hopeful that they were not going to be called on to do anything more, were receiving instructions from Captain Carter to construct some kind of dense and no doubt heavy device to scrape up Reetou remains.

Daniel Jackson was peering once more at the dead Reetou, attempting to open its equipment pouch with a metal rod.

Teal'c finally allowed himself to become conscious of a distressed fluttering in his abdomen. His symbiote was still agitated from the presence of the Reetou. He should go kel'no'reem, try to calm the creature. He turned to the door of the infirmary. His work here was done.

Woot!

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:38:13 GMT

And so they've just posted the winners for the Stargate Fan Awards!

And I am thrilled to bits to see my flist winning:

abyssinia4077 for Preserve Your Memories
aelfgyfu_mead for My Dinner with Vala
sg_fignewton for The Importance of Past and Future

(There are probably more of you, I only had time to glance down the SG-1 list.)

Whoo-hoo!
I also won for Friendly Fire, Better to Light a Candle, and Performance Reviews/Training Exercises. Wow! Thank you!

Congratulations to the winners and all the nominees, thanks awfully to everyone who voted, and to the awards team for running this thing (according to the notice, "17,000 votes cast by over 3000 people for some 2500 nominations in a total of 276 categories" - holy cow, this thing has gotten big!).

And. Three posts in a week? Did someone say something about an apocalypse?

And Now For Something Completely Different....

Tue, 06 May 2008 01:30:40 GMT

Little do (most of) you know, but some years back I perpetrated fic in other fandoms than the Stargate universe. Most of this was never finished, and eventually went to its (deserved) fate in my woodstove during the winter of '05 (I was unemployed, and had to get creative about things like heat).

However there were a few finished pieces I saved despite not really being involved in the fandoms anymore. And one of these, a Quantum Leap fic, is now finally seeing the light of day in Brotherhood 5, a print zine from Pyramids Press. Fandoms include LOTR, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, Young Riders, Supernatural, Torchwood, Navy NCIS, Starsky & Hutch, Magnificent 7, The Sentinel and Quantum Leap. Over 400 pages of fic, people, in trade paper binding. All original stories, none previously published online.

(Thanks to my betas Aurora and Aelfgyfu for their invaluable feedback during the extensive re-editing process, and to shutthef_up for her very early read-through...and if anyone else beta'd some version of this remind me. I took over a year editing this and I know several people looked at it at different stages.)