The Anunnaki Unification, Book 3: A Stargate SG-1 Fan Fiction Story

by Michele Briere

  “Yeah, Mrs. A keeps making an effort to ignore that one when she cleans,” Daniel said, seeing which of the pictures Jack stopped at. Jack glanced at him. “She’s harmless. I’m happy so she’s happy. It’ll be a another generation or two before the planet gets beyond all the puritanical nonsense. At least she isn’t out to build a pyre with us and she does like you.”

  “I know she does,” Jack said, patting his stomach. “Between her and Abigail, I’m fighting a losing battle.” He leaned over and pecked Daniel on the mouth.

  “You know that alternate timeline of ours where we spent it in Egypt?” Jack asked, sitting on the edge of the desk. “There were four of us and we haven’t found any anomalies from it, have we?”

  “Not that I’ve noticed,” Daniel said. “If there were, I probably wouldn’t recognize it anyway, so I’m not going to stress over it. Between us and the Celts, it might explain that odd blue-eyed Egyptian or Arab that shows up, though. Other than that, I don’t think there’s anything.”

  Jack thought about it and nodded. “And those other us’s that we’ve met. If one of us weren’t alive, the other could have lived their life out here, right?”

  “Yes,” Daniel nodded.

  “So if the Ancients were from another Earth timeline, and they somehow came into this timeline, all those thousands of years ago, we really wouldn’t be able to tell what timeline or even what time in history they came from.”

  “Not if they took their cities with them,” Daniel said, “just like they took Atlantis.” He knew Jack would catch up, given the time he had to contemplate it.

  “And when they came back, they came to stay so they lived as the locals do,” Jack continued.

  “Correct,” Daniel said. “And I think they may have been surprised at the growth of humans, considering that they thought we were going to die out. So they contributed a little, just bits and pieces, enough for the locals to figure it out for themselves, which would explain those sudden leaps throughout early history.”

  “And this was after the Goa’uld left?”

  “We think so,” Daniel said. “None of the Ancient weapons had the Goa’uld in mind. Humans were advanced enough for the Ancients to blend into society by then and there weren’t enough of them left to create a social structure of their own. Not without some serious inbreeding. Jack, this is something you may want to meditate on. There’s no reason the history shouldn’t be in your head, not if everything else Ancient is.”

  Jack nodded thoughtfully again and walked slowly from the room. Daniel was next to him a moment later. “Sam emailed. The latest ship is ready for a name.” They went to the HomeSec gate room, and walked into Area 51.

  The deck was where the ships were built. Most of their section of the desert had a hollowed out underground complex for the large ships, instead of subjecting workers to the temperatures of the desert floor. They found Sam with her head inside a box of wires on the side of a ship. Jack looked into the box from over her shoulder, listening to her mumbling to herself. Sam straightened and jumped when she bumped into him.

  “Jack! Don’t do that!”

  “Whatcha doin’?” he asked, not sure he wanted to know.

  “Trying to find a short in the wires,” she said. “It’s been driving us crazy. Hi, Daniel.” He pecked her cheek. “Want to throw a name into the hat for this ship?”

  “What’s it for?” Daniel asked, taking a step back to look at the thing.

  “Science vessel,” she said. “We also have two of the new classes over there.” She pointed across the three miles of space toward the other ships being built.

  “How about the Hawking?” he suggested. Sam was stunned.

  “Why didn’t I think of that?” she asked. “Shame on me. I’ll invite him over, see if he wants a tour.”

  “Colonel Carter!” someone shouted. Sam looked over at her crew. One of the men pointed to the new 304 skeleton towering over them. “How about Cuchulainn?”

  Jack looked at Daniel. “Champion of the Red Branch,” Daniel said. “Court of Ulster. Cuchulainn was the son of Lugh, the sun god, his grandmother was of the sidech, one of the fairy folk. Cuchulainn’s acts were mostly done during the winter, which makes him a champion of the dark. Or over the dark. His name was actually Setanta. He wrestled a savage dog when he was a child, saving a lot of people gathered for a banquet, and took the dog’s place as the shepherd watcher until a new dog was raised for the job. Cathbad the Druid changed his name to Cu Culann. Culann’s Dog. He’s the Celtic version of Hercules.”

  Jack looked at the ship. “Is this a good thing?” he asked.

  “It’s a very good thing,” Daniel said.

  “Okay,” Jack agreed.

  “Cuchulainn it is!” Sam informed the crew. They gave a cheer and went back to work. Someone quickly scribbled the name on a piece of sheeting and hung it on the ship’s hull.

  “The science vessel is the Hawking,” Sam informed her crew. Another name tag was made and applied.

  “How about the third ship?” Daniel asked, looking out at the second 304 skeleton. “What is it? Exploration?”

  “Yes, it is,” Sam said with a nod.

  “Hmmmmm….. Galileo?” he suggested. Sam thought about it and gave it a thumbs up. Each of the yards named the ships they built, with Sam having the final okay. It was run by Jack, but he usually left it to Sam and her people. Sam knew his guidelines and he didn’t need to do her job.

  Sam called out the new name and the crew was a merry crew. A few of the more superstitious of the lot felt that the ships should have names so that the energy of the name went into the ship while it was being built. Start them off with a good personality and intent, they said. Daniel looked at his watch.

  “Oooh, I need to go,” he said. “I have class in an hour. Seventeen shiny young faces to temp to the Force. I’ll see you tonight.” He kissed them both and ran to security, the new home for the arch.

  “He’s running everywhere,” Jack informed Sam. “This is your fault.”

  Once Jack returned home a few hours later, he drove up just as Jerrie was returning from picking the kids up from school. Katie took his arm and steered him away.

  “Need to talk,” she said.

  “Okay.” Jack took them around back to their new deck overlooking the pond. Katie was a little nervous about something.

  “I might be sleeping with Josh this weekend,” she told him. Jack sat down.

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “I won’t lock you up, but at the same time I’d like to remind you about the MSATs.”

  “I know,” she said, leaning against the railing and looking at the ducks. “I want to do this. I think I love him. If love is this ringing in my ears and this weird feeling in my stomach. And you should know that he won’t be around for long; he signed up with the Marines. He wants to get into the SGC. I know long distance relationships don’t work, so I want this part of him before he leaves.”

  Jack leaned forward, dangling his hands between his knees and looking at the deck as he thought about it. A quick poke told him that Katie was indeed feeling love. A passionate, womanly love. She wasn’t a little girl anymore.

  “Alright,” he said. “You have protection?”

  “I’m on the pill and he has condoms,” she told him. She turned toward him and sat next to him, putting her head on his shoulder. “Thank you for being a cool father.”

  “Thank your cousin Charlie,” he told her, pecking the top of her head. “My mistakes with him taught me a lot. I’m not going to tell you I’m happy about this, nor will I order you not to do it; I will ask you not to. Ultimately, it’s your body and you’re old enough to make this decision on your own. Come to us if there’s a problem or if you need to talk.”

  They went inside and discovered Olivia laughing and toddling around Davy who lay on the floor. Davy gently pushed her away and the baby screeched. Fang woofed, cocking his head as he watched the human pup fall, pause in amazement, and laugh at herself. Olivia quickly
righted herself and once more attacked her big brother, throwing herself onto him and attempting to gnaw on his face. Davy laughed and wiped baby drool from his face with his sleeve. The phone rang and a moment later Jerrie handed it to Jack.

  “O’Neill. What? What the hell do they want? Well, send them away. Alright, I’ll call the sheriff.” He hit the disconnect and looked at Jerrie as he redialed. “Battle stations,” he said. “The troops are marching on the Healer’s home. Take the kids to Paul’s house.” He alerted the sheriff’s office, irritated that his SF didn’t have legal authority on home ground. He then called Sam and Daniel, warning them before they came home and found a madhouse.

  “Hang tight,” Sam told him. “I’ll bring Alvin and pick you up.”

  “No, we’ll deal with it,” he told her. “The cavalry is surrounding the house. We knew this was going to happen, so we deal with it. No one is going to run me out of my home.”

  “Alright,” Sam said reluctantly. “I’ll be home soon.”

  The flood of mail from around the world was bad enough, to say nothing of the server shutting his public email down because of the overload, and now people are about to knock on his door. Jack hoisted a bag of charcoal out and started the grill. He squirted lighter fluid on the coals and found satisfaction at the sudden high flame. The chicken was half cooked by the time the first of the crowd got through the neighborhood watch and the police. Jack glanced at the growing crowd.

  “Sorry,” he said, using the tongs to gesture toward the meat. “I bought only enough for my family.”

  They stopped, not expecting to see him cooking. There was desperation in them, their fear and need almost overpowering him. He had sensed it from afar and now it was in his backyard. Jack took a centering breath and forced himself not to respond as a cornered soldier.

  A woman opened her mouth to speak.

  “No,” Jack said before she could. “I won’t go with you to visit whatever relative is sick. No, I won’t touch a piece of whatever. No, I’m not going to make the dead walk. Go home, people. If you frighten my kids, I won’t be a happy camper.”

  “God is working through you,” a woman said, daring to step up to him. “We need you. So many people need you.”

  “No one is working through me,” Jack told her. “In case you’ve missed the five o’clock news break, the human race is going through something. A lot of people are doing a lot of unusual things. If you have someone who needs help, you should be at their side, not mine.”

  “Please, General,” a man said. “People are in pain and crying out for help. My son. The cancer….”

  “I’m sorry,” Jack said, hardening himself. “Besides the fact that all I can cure is my kids’ cuts and scrapes, cancer is a fact of the human body, according to the science geeks, and certain chemicals can trigger it; maybe you should be getting angry at the people who are causing cancer, and fight to stop it from continuing. This poor-me attitude doesn’t work on me. Get off your asses and quit looking for an outside cause. There is no God, there is no devil. Get over it. When you need an alien rousted, let me know.”

  The crowd wasn’t sure what to make of this unexpected position and uncertainty began to cross a few faces.

  “And if one of your kids had cancer?” the man angrily asked. Jack flipped a chicken breast and tested a potato.

  “I’d be as angry as you are,” he told the man. “And I’d be trusting in the doctors to do all they can. I’ve lost a child, I do know how it feels. Your kid needs you. Your kid is scared and where are you? Holding his hand? Reading him a story? Kissing his owies? No, you’re here interrupting my family time. Go be with your kid, mister. That’s all I’m trying to do.”

  A small arm slid around Jack’s waist and he looked down. The people were startled, not having noticed the boy come through them.

  “David,” Jack began, worried for his safety. He shot a warning look at the crowd.

  “I’m hungry,” Davy said, leaning into Jack’s side. “They’re scared, Daddy.”

  “I know,” Jack said. “I just don’t want them scaring you.”

  “I’m not scared,” Davy told him. He rubbed at his nose and poked a finger toward the potatoes. Jack rapped his hand.

  “Germs,” he said with a frown.

  Davy put the hand behind his back. “Why are you scared?” he asked the man with the sick child. The man found himself staring into Davy’s dark eyes.

  “I…. don’t want my son to die,” the man told him. “He’s very sick.”

  “My mommy died,” Davy unexpectedly told him. “We went to see her at the cemetery yesterday. My sister Olivia was born when mommy died. She’s just a baby. Will someone be born when your son dies?”

  “No one should have to die,” the man told him in a quivering voice. “Not children.”

  Davy tilted his head to consider it. “Uncle Danny says if no one dies, no one can live because there wouldn’t be enough room or food for everyone. Do you want all of us to not be here ever again?”

  “I would die for my son to live,” the man told him.

  “Would that make your son happy?” Davy asked.

  The man choked and held himself from hitting the boy. Jack felt for the bug in his pocket.

  “Uncle Danny says we each have our time,” Davy said. “If we didn’t, nothing could live. I’m sorry about your son. When I’m sick, I like my Daddy to hold me. Maybe if you hold your son, it’ll make him feel better, too.”

  They jumped at the sound of a siren. Richardson and his deputies came in and quickly rounded everyone up.

  “I’m sorry, Jack,” Andy said over the protests. Sam and Daniel came in through the people, both of them holding new bugs. Daniel lifted Davy and settled him on his back, turning to place Davy in the center of their three-point guard.

  “You guys alright?” Sam asked.

  “We’re fine,” Jack assured her.

  “They’re scared, Aunt Sam,” Davy told her.

  “I know they are, sweetie,” she said.

  “We were on a crash site across town, Jack,” Andy told them. “We’ll find out who they are. Do you want to press charges?”

  “No,” Jack shook his head. “They’re desperate. Just send them home. Listen, Andy, this is probably going to happen again. Honestly, I don’t know what to do about it. I don’t want my home turning into a Mecca for these people.”

  Andy took his hat off and scratched at his head. He turned his head to watch his deputies and SF take the people back to their cars.

  “I don’t know what to tell you,” he said. “I know you, Jack. Your neighbors know you. To those people, you’re a hero. You protect them from aliens, your ships come in and save people from bombs, and now you have the band-aid businesses on the run. You’re larger than life, Jack.”

  “So, maybe I should move everyone off-world,” Jack suggested with a frown.

  “No.” They looked at Daniel. “Immersion therapy.”

  “You want us to go swimming?” Jack asked.

  “No,” Daniel said patiently. “Let’s do a little show and tell. If people realize that you’re not the only weird one, maybe they’ll leave us alone.”

  “I’m not weird,” Jack said, frowning.

  “Yes, you are,” his partners said.

  After dinner, once the kids were in bed, the trio sat in the living room with Hammond, Landry, Paul, and Nick. Gabriel was present via the computer. Hammond and Landry wanted to reroute one of the ships for a convenient upgrade. Also for a quick getaway. Paul and Nick were agreeing.

  “No,” Jack said. “Not yet. Gabriel and Sam –do we have footage of other people with significant advances?”

  The two looked at each other and nodded. Both their teams had been collecting odds and ends tape of people doing things a little more out of the ordinary than most.

  “Anything really spectacular?” Jack asked. “Disappearing acts? Card tricks?”

  Gabriel wasn’t sure if Jack was serious.

  “No,”
Sam told him. “No changing students into ferrets.”

  Gabriel’s brow cleared. “I’ve found a few more people who can diagnose by looking at someone,” he said. “Some are rural healers. Local faith-healer stuff. A few teenagers and young adults. While our generation seems to be improving talents we already possess, the next generation seems to be the one coming up with the new, overt talents. Medicine seems to be the main focus. For our groups, anyway.”

  Sam nodded. “We’re finding that, too,” she said. “More than medicine, it seems to be science that’s the main focus.”

  “That would make sense,” Daniel said. “Brains expanding their networks have always brought leaps in the field of science. Those leaps bring the more sociological advances.”

  “So it’s no coincidence that we have more eggheads than military?” Jack asked.

  “Correct,” Sam said and tossed a pillow in his direction. “And quit knocking the eggheads. We keep the gate and ships functioning, you just remember that.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, crooking the side of his mouth up. “Alright, so do we have enough people to put a good clip together?”

  “Well, a lot of the problem we’ve been running into is that there are a many people coming from uneducated areas,” Gabriel said, frowning at the dilemma. “You were right about the problem in South America, Daniel; tribal peoples seem to be handling it well. They’ve been elevating their ‘special’ people to shaman status. There seems to be a revival of some of the old traditions. The cities have a heightened death rate, especially among children.”

  “Please tell me they’re not sacrificing hearts,” Daniel begged.

  “Not that we’ve noticed,” Gabriel said, understanding his concern. “No, not those tribal traditions. They’re combining the more spiritual aspects of their local religions, mostly Catholicism, with the older religions. The new ‘shamans’ are teaching the peaceful aspects in conjunction with their old gods.”