“Just think about what you want on the line and bring it in,” Ninurta told him. He kept reeling in one fish after another, throwing them back after making happy faces them.
“How about a nice rainbow trout?” Jack asked, eying the fish in the warrior’s hand. Ninurta was making kissy noises at it before tossing it back into the water. “I’m hungry.” His line tugged, taking him by surprise. He reeled it in and stared at the wiggling trout. “That isn’t possible,” he said. “There are no trout here.”
“Don’t tell me about it,” Ninurta shrugged. “Find out from the fish.”
Jack considered it. “Ask the fish why it’s here?”
“Sure. Isn’t that life’s most fundamental question? Just because you and it are two different species doesn’t make it any less important.”
After posing the insane question to the slippery fish, his attention was captured by a ripple on the water. It took him a moment to recognize the close-up face of a man. His father, much younger than he remembered. Tom O’Neill yelled across the lawn and the image turned to see a boy running after a cat and scaring it up a tree. A thumb came into view and disappeared into close range. Jack realized that the boy on the lawn was Michael, about age ten. Jack would have been about three years old. His father was holding him on one arm while turning fish on a grill.
Jack threw the trout back into the pond.
“That wasn’t fair,” he said gruffly.
“It was nice,” Ninurta said gently. “Your father loved you very much. Thank you for sharing it with me. Why don’t you try asking a question and then casting out? Try the shadow under the tree.”
“Make a wish?”
“If you want to put it that way.”
Feeling as silly as asking a fish the meaning of life, which he still didn’t understand, Jack squeezed his eyes shut and then cast his line out. It tugged a moment later. Instead of bringing a fish up, the water rippled into another image. Bodies. One after another carefully, lovingly placed into crematories. Why? Jack sent the thought. What happened? He had seen bodies piled up like that during catastrophes. Instead of the radiation burns and blast wounds, though, such as the Koreans had, these people were pale and gaunt. They looked familiar. A voice began to speak, narrating the scenes.
……..Jack opened his eyes, blinking away the blurriness. It wasn’t a fireplace in front of his eyes, but a whiteness. Was he blind? No. Rafters decoratively placed while being useful. A softness was beneath his head. He was in a bed. A warmth was at his side and he turned his head. Olivia and Davy slept next to him. Jack was confused. This wasn’t his bedroom; he knew he was still on Kalam.
“Daddy, Mommy, Adda’s awake!” he heard Stacey call from just outside the room. She came in and jumped up onto the bed. “Are you better, adda?” she asked.
“I think so,” Jack said slowly. “What are you guys all doing here?”
“Rip Van Winkle awakes,” Daniel said from the door. He and Sam came into the room, concern behind their smiles.
“What do you mean?” Jack asked. He could feel the weakness in his body and the soreness in his back, in his bones, from long-term bed rest.
“You’ve been asleep for fifteen days,” Daniel told him as Sam checked his eyes and his pulse. Dr. Lam came into the room, having insisted on being on hand to keep watch over him despite the fact that the Furlings could do better. Sam moved and Lam began to examine Jack. He discovered that he had IV lines in his arms. And, if the sensation was correct, one of those damned things in his dick. He moved carefully to look over the side of the bed. Yep. Damn….
“Fifteen…. no,” Jack shook his head.
“Oh, yes,” Daniel said. “Ninurta brought you up here and called us. Dr. Lam says you’ve been in a coma, and Ninurta says you’ve been reviewing archives.”
“Coma,” Dr. Lam insisted, taking the stethoscope from Jack’s chest. She expected to hear small rattles in his lungs, considering the length of time he’d been lying there. His lungs were clear.
“Carolyn, you know the scans showed his brain has been incredibly active,” Sam said.
“Do we need to do this now?” Daniel asked the women. They both looked guilty and backed off.
Davy woke up and saw everyone around the bed. He jumped over his baby sister and snuggled into Jack’s chest. Jack winced and wrapped his arms around the boy. At a look from him, Daniel reached down and lifted Davy away.
“Daddy’s not that strong, yet,” Daniel told him. “Why don’t you give him a kiss and then go play? He’ll be alright.” Davy bent down and pecked Jack on the mouth. Daniel set him down and Davy ran from the room to tell the rest of his siblings.
“What the hell happened?” Jack asked. Olivia snuffled and turned her head in her sleep. Jack lowered his voice. “I was fishing. In Minnesota.”
“Minnesota?” The others in the room stood looking at him.
Jack waved. “Never mind. My head feels like it’s ready to split open.”
“No aspirin,” Enki warned from the door. “Consider yourself allergic to it.”
“Why?” Lam quickly jerked her head toward him.
“Because I’m…. changed.” They looked at Jack. He could sense a shift in his perception.
“You’re still you, Jack, we promised,” Enki told him as he came into the room. “The Ancient DNA is now in the forefront of your own, that’s all. Aspirin doesn’t react well with Ancient DNA. Go herbal.”
“Aspirin comes from willow tree bark,” Sam said with a confused frown.
“Willow bark tea is fine,” Enki told her. “So is the bark in powdered form. He can chew it, if he’s really desperate. The processing of the medication is where it becomes bad for him.”
“What happens if he has aspirin?” Dr. Lam asked.
“Fever and convulsions,” Enki told her. “Akin to encephalitis.” Dr. Lam made a note.
“Jack, do you remember anything that happened?” Enki asked, coming to the end of the bed. Jack rubbed his eyes.
“A little,” he admitted. He could sense that his brain was full of information, stuff he felt as though he had always known, and yet it was new. He even understood Sam's scientific explanations. He remembered every word he had ever read, every sight he had ever seen. “It’s mostly like watching a million TVs all at the same time.”
“What did you find out?” Sam asked, sitting on the side of the bed and holding his hand.
“Everything,” he told her. “You guys were right in that the history doesn’t really matter to us. It doesn’t actually have much to do with us at all.”
“Jonathan!” Maggie rushed into the room and swept him into her arms, mindful of the IVs.
“Mom. I’m fine. What are you doing here?”
Jack looked at the others over his mother’s shoulder. “What’s going on?”
They looked at each other and Jack was sure something had happened.
“Five days ago, President Tien was assassinated,” Sam told him. “China is in a state of revolution.”
“It’s terrible, Jack,” Maggie said tearfully. “They are saying they’re bringing back the old ways and that they have the rightful emperor of China. They said the aliens and all these new things happening are evil and will destroy us. They said you brought this to us.”
The looks on everyone’s face told him his mother was right. Jack lay back, giving his face another rub. He was stubbly and he needed a bath. A long, hot bath. He shuddered to think of what was happening with his intestines during the fifteen days. The swearing in his head was in a surprising number of languages. He’d have to try them out on Daniel.
“Paul is at HomeSec,” Sam told him. “General Hammond and General Landry are in constant contact with him, helping him when he needs help. We go back and forth, carefully, when we need to. The US is on high alert, but so far there’s been no attack. General Maynard strongly advised that we get off-world until this is settled. All the kids are here, Mom and Michael, Cassie is here, too, as well as Jerrie. Jonatha
n is on the Heaven’s Bow in orbit around Earth, keeping watch and signing your name to a few minor things to keep up appearances, Prometheus is also in orbit. The Daedalus is on its way home.”
Jack swore under his breath. He picked his head up again at a sudden thought.
“Linea is…..”
“She’s here,” Daniel said, sorrow momentarily highlighting his face. “We drugged her, bound her, and had Prometheus beam her out of security and into the gateroom before she knew what was happening, and we brought her here. Jack, she destroyed Vyus.”
“Everyone?”
Daniel gave him a nod. “There’s a haz-mat team there now, making a detailed report.”
“I'm sorry, Daniel, I know you had hopes for her. Damn. Wasn’t it dangerous to bring her here?” Jack asked pointedly.
“She is…. incapacitated,” Enki said delicately. “Erra is dealing with her. Pity her, Jack, don’t condemn her. Her wires are extremely…. crossed. The amnesia gave her a time of reprieve, but ultimately the wiring turned itself back on.”
“What’s Erra doing with her?” Jack asked.
“Are you sure you want to know?” Enki responded.
“I think I can wait,” Jack said. “What about the Vishnu planet?”
“What planet?” Maggie asked, not comprehending the conversation. Jack motioned for her to move and he tried to swing his legs out of the bed. Dr. Lam wasn’t happy about it, but she took the IVs out of his arms and bandaged him. He assumed the IVs were giving him nutrients until he could eat on his own. He’d been there before. Sam took a robe from the dresser and held it out for a sense of privacy while Daniel helped him to stand. Jack glared at the damned hollow cord sticking out from a place it had no business being, and Carolyn removed it without a blink, gathering the bag of urine from the bottom of the bed along with it. Jack’s legs almost gave out and he sat for a moment while Sam quickly put the robe around him.
“Take it easy,” Daniel told him. “You’re muscles are weak.”
“I need a specimen of the Goa’uld in order to determine its origin,” Enki told him. “The Tok’ra are going to kidnap one of them for me. Don’t give me that look, Jack, our ethics are a little different and mine work for me. And since our UW terms say the Goa’uld are forbidden to play God, we are obeying the letter of the contract.”
Daniel gave him a sharp look. “That’s cutting a fine line,” he commented. Jack tried getting up again and Sam slid a shoulder under his arm to support him.
“Never mind that now,” Jack said, silently ordering his muscles to knock off the crap as his partners walked slowly with him to the main family room. “What’s going on at home?”
It was a timed raid against the government, he was told. From the strength of the group, the plans must have been happening for years, long before the truth of the SGC came out. Individuals from a highly secret group had gained converts from the country peoples, people already hundreds of years behind current times and most susceptible to a new warlord and a new mythology that encompassed beliefs that the people retained after centuries. The Army of Emperor Shih Huang Ti, a descendent of Lord Yu, supposedly, began to declare that it was re-establishing order to the country of Ch’in. All outsiders were immediately given forty-eight hours to leave voluntarily. Anyone caught within Ch’in’s borders after forty-eight hours would be jailed, forcibly tossed out, or shot on sight no questions asked.
Buddhists and any other native spiritualities would be allowed, others were to remove their influence as they had contributed to the downfall of the great nation of Ch’in, especially Christianity. Crosses were forbidden. The fact that Buddha was from India didn’t seem to matter to them. Internet was shut down as were all television and radio programs that were not dedicated to the new regime. Non-Ch’in owned businesses were immediately turned over to Ch’in hands and contracts burned. Once the country was under control and the people settled, contact outside the country would be considered.
Materialism was to blame for the fall of the great nation, and forced borders were to blame for pollution, diseases, and population over-growth. When the people no longer had an emperor to take care of them, they turned to materialism. What did they have to show for it? One disease after another cropping up in their over-crowded, polluted cities. In the countryside, water was so contaminated from the runoff of pesticides that it was, in some ways, worse than the cities. People were abused, their daughters raped, unwanted children killed. The local government officials were to blame, the contamination of their pockets a shameful thing.
The alignment of China with HomeWorld Security was the final straw. The people were now expected to believe that the changes happening were a good thing, instead of the evil that it truly was. Demons had hold of children, and a few adults were also showing signs of possession. Such things didn’t happen until the big-eyed American O’Neill brought his evil back from the stars. And Westerners in general were to blame for chasing away Lord Yu himself from great Ch’in so long ago.
“I need a drink,” Jack announced.
“No alcohol,” Enki told him and handed him a glass of juice.
“What?” Jack asked.
“Ever.”
“Jack, Nick seems to think that the timing of this coup isn’t a coincidence,” Daniel said as Jack gave his juice a suspicious sniff. He stuck a finger in it and then into his mouth. Must be something local, he thought. It wasn’t bad, so he drank it. He wasn’t going to like being completely alcohol-free.
“How so?” Jack asked. “I was kinda enjoying being the downfall of a nation. Did any of the government get out?”
“No,” Sam told him. “All the upper tier were killed. As far as we know. That’s what we were told once the new regime announced themselves.”
“What’s the UN doing about it?” Jack asked.
“Begging and pleading,” she said. “Not much else they can do. Everything has remained within China’s borders and no one from the previous, legal government has asked for help. The surrounding nations have already asked for help, in case China wants to demand the return of old boundaries. Taiwan is a lost cause. Concern is focused mainly on Tibet. His Holiness is refusing to leave, now that he’s in his home. Japan is quickly back-peddling and yelping for protection.”
“What did Nick have to say?” Jack returned to Daniel’s comment.
“He has a theory that this has been in the making since we first made China aware of the Stargate years ago. He said that China had made a few unusual moves over the years and if he adds them together, they come up cherries. His people were expecting something to happen, and the CIA was aware of it, but they didn’t expect anything to happen so soon.”
“Someone was aware I was off-world,” Jack stated. Daniel gave a nod.
“And possibly for an extended period,” Daniel said.
“I wasn’t aware I’d be here so long, so how could anyone else know?” Jack asked. His brain made lightning moves in calculations which left him slightly dizzy. “Someone’s seeing the future.”
Sam opened her mouth to automatically object to the concept and then changed her mind.
“It is possible,” Enki told them thoughtfully. “We have Grant here to prove that a few extremes might crop up. He’s on Heaven’s Bow, by the way, doing a little recon. Precognition isn’t completely unexpected. It’s no more than sensing possibilities based on past and current actions. This is how ‘good guessers’ get their information.”
“No one in China has access to my closed records,” Jack said. “So even if everyone knew I was visiting Kalam, how would they know what I was going to do? I didn’t know until I woke up and made a decision.”
“That med tech who spilled your records about the bullet is still missing,” Sam reminded him. “Jack, you’ve scanned the planet several times; nothing popped out at you?”
“I’m kinda new at all this,” he reminded her in irritation.
“You’re offering a conspiracy theory,” Enki said to Sam. She blew at
her bangs with a puff.
“I know,” she said, not happy about it. “I hate conspiracy theories. With the snowball getting larger than life, though, I don’t know what else to suggest. Nick is calling in all his markers on this one. China is one of the few places he had a problem getting into, so he doesn’t have many contacts there. He’s tracking down someone in our government that he’s suspicious of. He said you know what he’s talking about.”
Jack drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair as he thought. “Yes, I do. We’ve had someone under watch, someone leaking HomeSec information, we just haven’t had any proof. You know, all this over-the-top stuff is bringing up a familiar unpleasant odor.”
Sam and Daniel stood looking at him. “You cannot think a Goa’uld is involved,” Sam stated.
“Sure, I can,” Jack said. He slouched, stretching his legs out in front of him. “Look, we have no idea where the other snakes are, or even who’s still alive. You’ve never toured China, much less been in close proximity to how many billions of people, so you don’t know if a snake is hiding there, we’ve certainly found other snakes coming out of the woodwork over the past year, and I refuse to believe that Yu was the only Goa’uld in China. All those dragons? No, I don’t believe it. And humans developed on a parallel evolution in that area of the planet, so……”
They were looking at him again.
“That was interesting,” Jack said to himself, scratching at his raspy cheek. “It popped itself into my head just like I’ve always known about it.”
“It is a theory that’s slowly gaining popularity, but it’s a pretty recent theory,” Daniel commented.
Jack looked suspiciously at Enki. “Well?” He waited.
“Well what?” Enki asked innocently. “You didn’t think I’d play favorites with just one continent, did you?”
Jack squinted at him. “How did you….?” He stopped, looking inward as though listening. “Oh. Off, dammit, you’re giving me a headache.”
“Who’s giving you a headache?” Dr. Lam asked him. She had been sitting quietly nearby, keeping an eye on him.
Unification: The Anunnaki Unification Book 5 Page 24
