Jack considered the request. “Daniel, did you just ask me to move a mountain for you?”
Daniel paused and looked up and around, smiling in the general direction of the sky. “Would you, Jack? How much do you love me?”
“A lot,” Jack said. “But I’m not moving a mountain. Find a way into that thing. If it can be powered up and moved, you can do that. No. Change that. Let Sheppard fly it.”
“He’s probably the only one here who can,” Daniel commented. “I’m betting this thing was rigged for one of you guys, if it was so secret that it needed to be cloaked at the top of a mountain. And speaking of mountains -Jack, did you have anything to do with Tibet?”
“Not a thing,” he said. “I had an hour’s advanced warning of the announcement. That’s all. Sam wants pizza tonight.”
“Works for me,” Daniel said. Jack experimented and found he could bring the image in close enough to see the stitching on Daniel’s cold-weather jacket.
“You’re getting a few grays, Danny,” Jack said. “You’re not even forty, yet.”
He wasn’t sure what Daniel said, but it didn’t sound polite.
“Language, language,” Jack chuckled. “Hey, this thing sees better than my telescope.”
“Leave the neighbors alone, Jack,” he was advised. “John, see if anything reacts when you touch it.”
Sheppard stepped up to the light gray object and started running a hand over it. Their team stood by, guns and zats drawn at the ready. Jack noticed that Daniel had brought Ronnie with him. She stood nearby, watching with the excited interest of a newbie explorer.
“What’s he doing?” she asked, watching Sheppard touching the thing. Daniel hesitated.
“Go ahead,” Jack said. Time for another layer to be revealed; so far, she had accepted everything tossed in her direction. “Gently.”
“A few of the Ancient things are keyed to a genetic type,” Daniel said. “They only work for people with the genetic sequence. Colonel Sheppard is one of those people.”
“Oh. How do we know who has it and who doesn’t?” she asked. Something beeped and a panel slid open. Guns were pointed at it.
“She doesn’t have it,” Jack said quietly. “She’s already been tested.”
“Sometimes we have people touch certain objects that we know are keyed and other times we run a DNA test on them,” Daniel said. “We know what the marker is, so it’s easy enough to spot on a blotter. I don’t have it, so when I come across something like this, I try and have someone like the colonel with me.”
Sheppard and one of the guards managed to force a door part way open. Daniel eagerly went toward it and was held back by Sheppard who waved a gun. Jack approved of his caution. Sheppard carefully shined a light into the hole.
“Looks like a jumper,” he said. “Sorta. Design is a little different, but could be a jumper. Emerged wrong place, wrong time, maybe. Got stuck. Hey, General?” He reached out and plucked the comm from Daniel’s neck where he had strung it with his tags.
“Hey!”
“Looks like this thing acted as a tomb,” John said into the comm, peering inside. “We got mummified remains.”
“Really?” Daniel forgot about his space being invaded.
“Careful,” Jack warned. The mikku couldn’t see inside the ship, but Jack could still hear them through Daniel’s comm. Something beeped. Irritated at the interruption, Jack looked around. The beep came from his wrist.
“Crap,” Jack muttered. “Danny, I need to go. The kids are getting out of school. Call me if you need me.” They certainly didn’t need him back-seat driving.
“I want extra cheese on my pizza,” Daniel said.
“I don’t think so,” Jack responded. “It makes you fart all night long.”
“I want the cheese,” Daniel said. “If I can’t have the extra cheese, you can’t have onions. Hey, Jack; these mummies are wearing the same type of clothing we saw in the recordings of the Ancients. If there’s any DNA left to process, I’m pretty sure they will be Ancient. Maybe we can get a full panel on the Ancients! I’m not sure if we can get this thing flying; a few things are lighting up, but the main power seems to be down. I think we need a tech in here to mess with the wiring.”
“So it is a jumper?” Jack asked.
“I think so,” Daniel said. “Design is a little different. Might be a little older than the ones we know. Writing is in Ancient.”
“Alright, I want you and Ronnie home,” Jack said. “It’s a tech job; we need R&D in there, not you.”
“We’ll be right home,” Daniel said.
“Wait. I think….. I can get the shield completely off,” Jack heard Sheppard say. “General? The ship should be visible to any scans, now.”
Jack looked at his watch again and handed the mikku over to Boggs. “Europa, scan the mountain,” Jack said into his radio. “Sheppard, don’t touch anything else.”
As Jack drove out of town to head back home with the kids, his radio came back on.
“General O’Neill, this is Belarus,” he heard.
“Go ahead, Colonel.”
The children in the back quieted. With the baby-seat, things were a little crowded; Jack was being stubborn in not turning his truck in for a minivan, but it wasn’t too often all the kids were with him.
“Sir, I wouldn’t move that ship, if it were my decision,” Belarus advised. “That entire section of mountain has been shielded for what looks like a very long time. If we were to remove the ship, the entire mountain top will come down. Those villages at the base will be destroyed.”
“Why would the mountain come down?” Jack asked.
“Sir, it almost looks like the mountain grew with the ship inside of it. Or around the ship,” Belarus said. “It’s that old, if our readings are correct. The power shield that surrounded the ship pretty much held up the top of the mountain along with it. That shield needs to be turned back on, sir.”
“Sheppard, get the shield back up,” Jack ordered.
“Working on it, sir.”
“General, this is Carter.” They all heard Sam jumping in on the line, a little formal on the open channel. “I’ve been monitoring transmission and the Europa’s readings. One of my teams is preparing to head up there. They’re all qualified to deal with Ancient technology.”
What Jack heard was that the entire team was made up of people who had the Gene.
“Shield is up, General,” he heard Sheppard say.
“Alright, everyone out of there,” Jack ordered. “Colonel Carter’s team will take over. It’s been up there for all this time, it’ll be fine by itself for a while longer.”
The kids were silent as they listened, knowing not to make noise while there was alien stuff going on.
“Okay, who wants what on their pizza?” Jack asked.
Chapter 49
“General O’Neill,” Ronnie stopped on her way out after dinner. “I just wanted to thank you. All of you. For being accepting of me. And thank you for dinner.”
“We’re not on duty,” Jack said. “You can make it Jack. And I have no problem with people being real.” It was the first time Ronnie had made a reference to her differences, and Jack wondered how hard it was. She was scared, he could feel.
“Hey,” Daniel went up to her and gave her a hug. “Just relax. You have nothing to prove to anyone; if people have an issue, it’s their issue, not yours.”
“Ditto,” Sam said, poking a thumb in Daniel’s direction.
Ronnie wasn’t very good at passing as a woman; she was too masculine even with the estrogen and surgery. People around the SGC and the university quickly learned to keep their opinions to themselves, having had Daniel in their face when one wrong word was said.
“Parents,” Matty called out, getting their attention after Ronnie left. He held up a piece of paper. “Can I play baseball this summer?”
“Swimming,” Stacy said.
“Volunteering at the hospital,” Katie said. Permission slips were signed
by the nearest parent.
They looked at David.
“I just want to play,” he said. Everyone laughed and Davy ducked his head, sticking his tongue out at his siblings.
“You can play,” Jack told him.
After dinner, the kids found a corner and began to devour Daniel’s book. Davy didn’t understand most of the first page, so Daniel picked excerpts and told him stories. After a couple of hours of silence by children who were usually running around after dinner, bedtime was declared. Daniel insisted that Stacy walk her dog once more before putting him into the kennel. She had been a little clingy, sitting near him as she read and watching closely when he got up, so he went on the walk with her. Once the kids were in bed, Jack and Daniel sat on the floor, backs to the couch, as they watched the news. Sam lay on the couch, the baby next to her playing with her tags.
“Here we go,” Jack murmured, watching the numbers on the death toll rise. “Oh, my God.” He covered his face for a moment, Daniel and Sam also choking.
“Almost the entire armed forces and civilian consultants in Seoul,” Jack said. “About one hundred thousand people, mostly ours. Those who didn’t die weren’t at their bases.”
“If that….. hadn’t been killed by his own people, we’d be at war,” Sam said.
“Eleven million in Seoul,” Daniel said, feeling sick to his stomach. “If we include the surrounding areas, tourists, civilian workers, and our own troops, we’re looking at about eleven and a half million dead.” He suddenly jumped to his feet and ran to the bathroom. Jack took Sam’s hand from over his shoulder and laced their fingers together.
“I don’t know what to do, Sam,” Jack confessed.
She pulled his arm back and put her mouth to his knuckles, knowing what it cost him to make that admission. “There’s nothing we can do except to mourn,” she said. “More than likely, we have a few local families who lost someone over there. Americans work through grief by talking about it. Once we identify the families, we get everyone together and we talk about it.”
It didn’t take long for the first families to make themselves known. Just after they went to bed, the phone rang. It was the sheriff.
“Jack, I’m sorry to wake you,” Andy said. “We have four men in lock-up. Army boys. Taking a vacation together, camping out. They came up for air long enough to turn a radio on, get drunk off their asses, and bust up a bar. They were stationed at Camp Red Cloud.”
Jack squeezed his eyes. “Let them dry out for the night, Andy, I’ll come over in the morning. I’d appreciate it if you kept them away from the local population. Give them space. Thanks for calling me first.” He thought for a moment and then dialed the SGC.
“This is O’Neill. Sergeant, find me the home phone for General Morrison at Fort Carson.” Patched through to the general, Jack updated him on the men in the tank. The men weren’t under Jack’s command, so Gen. Morrison would take care of it in the morning.
In the morning, it was easy enough to get the kids ready and off to school. Just as they were heading out, a car from the auto-pool showed up.
“Welcome back,” Jack said, holding his coffee mug as he watched the kids greet Teal’c and Mason before running to the waiting truck with an SF behind the wheel. “You’re looking particularly…. Jaffa-esk.” Mason had lost his BDUs somewhere along the way and donned Jaffa gear.
“Jack, what the hell’s been going on?” his cousin asked, slightly wide-eyed. “Half the Jaffa nation is talking about an explosion on Tau’ri and when we get to the solar system, we hear Korea has been almost completely destroyed. I leave for ten days and the world goes to hell.”
“Are you well, O’Neill?” Teal’c rumbled.
“Fine, T, and you?” They clasped forearms. Mason took a breath and waited.
“Master Bre’tac would welcome a visit from you,” Teal’c said. Jack looked quickly at him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
Teal’c considered his words for a moment. “He is….. most advanced in age,” he said. “Is there anything here my people can assist with?”
Mason sat on a porch chair and lifted Olivia from her round scooter.
“No, there isn’t, T,” Jack said tiredly. “The injured are being taken care of; the land will need to heal by itself.”
“From what I understand, he’s aging quicker without his symbiote,” Mason said. Teal’c had already noticed the same speech patterns between the cousins and was ready for the non sequitur. “He’s old, Jack. He relaxes and lets his students and pretty girls fetch things for him. Even Dor’nar tires him out. Jack, Korea…..”
“You want coffee?” Jack asked. He went in and was back out a minute later with two more cups. “A moment of insanity, Mace,” he said. He leaned back against the porch railing and gave the men a summary of recent events.
Olivia gave a restless wiggle and she was put back in her scooter.
“I had buddies in a couple of the camps,” Mason said after a moment of silence. “Jack, I’d like to go home and see my wife and kids. I don’t know how Mel will like Colorado but I’m now willing to do this.” He stood up and pulled his mesh vest aside, revealing a healing staff wound on his right side. “I understand, now, Jack.”
Jack gave a slow nod as he considered his cousin. He reached out to touch Mason’s side. Mason stepped back, shaking his head.
“I’ve been hearing rumors about you touching people; I want the scar,” he said. “I’m not sure I understand about this Ancient stuff and genetics I’ve been hearing about. I’ve been hearing a lot of surreal things.” He paced to the end of the porch and back as he thought, and grimaced as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Mind if I take a shower before heading home?”
“Master bedroom is the door to the right of the stairs,” Jack said. “Help yourself to clothes. And don’t leave town without stopping to see Mom and Michael.”
While Mason showered off the grime of the universe, Teal’c informed Jack that the Tollan were arguing amongst themselves and Narim had moved in with the Anunnaki. Inanna was making him clean the stables. Teal’c reached into an inner-vest pocket and pulled out one of Inanna’s miniature notepads, an Earth invention she had recreated around crystal technology.
“The council has accepted your nomination of President Hayes as the Tau’ri representative, providing Tau’ri approves the nomination.”
Jack glanced up. “That was fast,” he commented. “I only sent this yesterday. Our council here hasn’t even met on this; I’ll let them know, though.” He signed the notepad and handed it back. “Does this mean Tau’ri is in?”
“It does,” Teal’c said, inclining his head. “Congratulations. The Unified Worlds council will be sending official notice shortly. A few of the members felt that the approval should be provisional, particularly in light of the bombing of Korea. The fact that China has found a new sense of its own humanity has convinced those members to give Earth the benefit of the doubt.”
Jack nodded in relief; he wasn’t sure they would be accepted, not after recent events, hell even he would have refused a world where one country just bombed another from existence. “President Tien seems to be towing the new party line,” he commented. “I have to admit that Japan is dealing with this in an unexpectedly positive manner; they’re doing a remembrance for Nagasaki and Hiroshima, two of their cities that were bombed during a world war many years ago. President Ito sent me a private email this morning, once more pledging peace from Japan and promising assistance in the rebuilding of Korea. It took three months for the Japanese towns to begin rebuilding, and those bombs were not quite as large as the one that dropped on Seoul. I’m estimating five months before Korea clears enough for people to walk around without haz-mat suits. It isn’t the radiation that worries me, T; it’s those millions of dead bodies that weren’t turned into ashes by the blast.”
“Yes, I see,” Teal’c said quietly. “The water and land will be poisoned by the decaying bodies for a longer period than the radiation will
remain harmful. What about destroying the bodies?”
“That’s a big problem, too,” Jack said. “Most Tau’ri bury their dead. Burning seems to be an issue among Earth religions. I’m going to recommend it, though; we can use the ships to raze the ground with lasers. That should take care of human and animal remains. Without a provisional government, I’ll need to convince the UN to allow it to happen. The UN isn’t happy with me.”
“Is anyone happy with you, O’Neill?” Teal’c asked.
Jack thought about it. “Olivia is happy with me.” They looked at the baby who was trying to get close enough to Fang so that she could grab his fur. Her legs weren’t strong enough or long enough to cooperate yet, though, so she pumped her legs and arms in agitation and gave an indignant yell. Fang stayed out of arm’s reach.
The door opened and Mason came out looking neat and tidy in borrowed BDU’s, wiping shaving cream from his jaw with a washcloth and holding a copy of Daniel’s book with the other hand. “I called General Pembroke,” he said. “He’s going to grant my transfer to the SGC.”
Not that he really had a say in this, Jack thought. “I’ll let Landry know he’s getting a new team member. Did Pembroke give you orders until the transfer?”
“He told me to take a couple weeks leave,” Mason said. “I called Melanie to let her know I’m on-world. She’s a little upset with you.”
Jack ignored Teal’c who deliberately didn’t look at him.
“Keep the book,” Jack said, nodding toward the item. “It’ll hit the shelves next month. Consider it homework before you get to the SGC. T, did you get your copy?”
“I did,” he confirmed. “Thank you for sending it.”
A car pulled up to the curb and Jack waved at Mandy and Maria. “Mace, I have something I need to do today; make yourself at home,” Jack said. “Would you do me a favor, though, and take Olivia over to Mom’s? Her bag is on the couch.”
Jack took Teal’c with him to the car at the curb. Mandy was surprised to see Teal’c with Jack and carefully shook Teal’c hand as Jack opened the passenger door and squatted down next to the young lady. She was pale, her skin slightly yellow-tinted, weak from her chemotherapy, her once thick brown hair reduced to a thin layer covering her head.
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