That day was also the day they finally heard from Earth.
The first thing Daniel noted about the planet designated as a contact point between Earth and the Standers was the smell...definitely a good deal more sulfur in the atmosphere than the standard Earth brew. It was like visiting Yellowstone.
The second thing was the computer interface sheltered in a metallic cabinet next to the GDO. It was as likely a place for a message as any. But there was no welcoming message on its screen when they booted it up. He shrugged at his teammates and then tentatively pecked out, "We're the envoy from Earth to make contact with the Stander Worlds." He hit 'Enter' and jumped back when the Gate began to dial. The others on his team took cover and raised their weapons as the Gate whooshed open, but it closed almost instantly. Apparently the computer activated the Gate to send their message and then shut it down. A nice piece of engineering he thought. Sam would love it.
They hunkered down to wait for an answer. It came less than two hours later. SG-1 took cover and waited with weapons ready when the Gate activated. Daniel felt it hardly made them seem like a peaceable envoy, but he wasn't in command.
He was still undecided about the new SG-1. Two military men had replaced Sam and Jack. They were competent and efficient enough on the field. Colonel Ramsey, the new CO of the group, had neither a sense of humor nor a weakness for eager archeologists who wanted to spend just an extra few minutes checking out the ruins. Major Drakel was a by-the-book type of officer. As the saying goes, he did have a sense of humor; he just didn't exercise it very frequently. Neither man had Sam's quick intelligence, optimism, enthusiasm, or curiosity. He missed the spark of discovery they'd shared going through the Gate to new worlds and the intellectual conversations they'd had along the way. For that matter, he even missed the dumb conversations he'd had with Jack. This new team hadn't gotten him killed and that had to count for something, but he missed the old SG-1.
He realized he was almost hoping it would be his old teammates themselves coming through the Gate to meet with them, but it wasn't. Instead it was a group of three well-armed soldiers. Older than he might have expected. Humanoid. They didn't seem to take offense at the weapons raised in their direction. But then they came through with weapons at the ready as well.
"You are those from Earth?" one of them asked.
"Yes, I'm Daniel Jackson, this is Teal'c, Colonel Ramsey, and Major Drakel."
"We are Standers," the first man said without introducing himself or his companions. "When we did not hear from you, we assumed you were uninterested in an alliance."
"Yes, well, perhaps you can understand, after the Aschen we're a little leery of alliances."
"Yet, you seek one now?"
"Yes."
The Standers obviously didn't believe in beating around the bush. "To offer aid or seek it?" they immediately asked.
"Actually, we've come looking for help," Daniel admitted cautiously.
"There is nothing we can do for you," came the abrupt reply.
"How do you know? You don't even know what we are asking do you? Are you aware of the situation with the Goa'uld?" This was definitely not going the way he'd planned.
"We are aware of the Goa'uld. We understood the Aschen had dealt with them."
"You ran them off before they had time."
"I see," the Stander answered while exchanging concerned looks with his friends. "You are then still vulnerable to their attacks?"
"Yes," he answered, "and they are preparing one even as we speak. We'd appreciate your help."
"I don't believe we can offer any but the Council would have to decide that. Brief me on your predicament, I will take it before the Council immediately upon our return."
Colonel Ramsey quickly explained the situation to the Standers. They seemed visibly upset by what they heard.
"Very well," their spokesman said, "I do not believe there is much we will be able to do to aid you, but I will present your need to the Council."
Daniel blinked at the Stander, "You have an army capable of defeating the Aschen...it is hard to believe you can't stand against the Goa'uld."
The Stander nodded and said, "It is understandable you would think so, but such is not the case. We defeated the Aschen not by military might so much as moral right and...desperation. The alternative was too devastating to contemplate. We won because we had to. And it was a costly all-out offensive using all of our resources and that of our allies. Even if we'd had the resources, we didn't have the manpower to sustain the battle for any length of time...our losses were great."
"We'd still be interested in just how you waged your war...what weapons you found effective against the Aschen. Perhaps they would work against the Goa'uld."
"I am afraid not. The weapon was designed to specifically target the Aschen. It was based on an inherent physiological weakness. It would not be useful against another race."
"Nevertheless?" Daniel prodded hopefully, but the Stander stood fast in his refusal.
"We depart at once," he announced. "We will return in 24 hours...Earth time."
"Earth time," Drakel said. "Are you that familiar with our planet?"
The Stander shrugged and said, "We are a federation of many worlds, each with their own times and seasons, it was necessary to pick a standard time to coordinate them all. Earth time was chosen for simplicity."
He turned away as though his explanation was complete, but it raised more questions than it answered for all the Earthers but Daniel. He could recognize Jack O'Neill in that statement, though how he'd convinced an entire alien army to accept his egocentric arguments was beyond Daniel. Probably by sheer force of character. He could clearly remember one of their earliest missions when Jack had declared, "Let's keep it simple. I really don't care if this planet's day is 2 hours or 30. If my watch says it's 0800, it's 0800--time for breakfast!"
Before the others could question the Stander more, he motioned for his men and moved toward the DHD. "We will leave first so you might be sure we will not read Earth's coordinates from the DHD when you are gone. We--"
"Excuse me," Colonel Ramsey interrupted him, "Are you saying you are familiar with Earth time, but we're to believe you do not know our coordinates?"
"Yes."
"How's that?"
The Stander frowned at him before answering, "We have no need to know your planet's coordinates as you are not part of our Federation."
"Obviously, you do have access to our coordinates. You sent a message to our world during your war. But that's not exactly what I meant," the colonel stated. "You seem to know a good deal about us...who else in the entire galaxy calls the Gate control the Dial Home Device?"
The Standers exchanged puzzled looks. One of them asked the colonel, "That's what DHD stands for?"
"Yes, what did you think it meant?" The Standers shrugged in unison and didn't venture an answer.
"It is irrelevant," their spokesman finally stated beginning to dial the DHD.
"I don't think your knowledge of our world is irrelevant," the colonel answered shortly, and Daniel feared the whole meeting was taking an ominous turn. But, the Standers were more levelheaded than most of the aliens he'd run into through the years. They did not bristle at the colonel's suspicions but simply sighed as though they found them inconvenient.
"Our knowledge of your world and ways is innocent, Colonel Ramsey," the spokesman assured him. "There are those among us from your world. They, of course, know your coordinates, but we do not."
"O'Neill," Major Drakel said with disgust. The Standers did not deny or confirm his guess. They simply ignored it and continued moving up the steps to the Gate.
"We understood you were in a hurry for our answer?" their spokesman said. "We should go."
"You should be aware that O'Neill is a traitor to our planet," Ramsey called after them.
Two of the Standers stepped through the Gate without replying, but one turned and looked directly at Ramsey. "And you should be aware on our worlds O'Neill is a hero." Daniel wouldn't have been surprised if that was the last they heard from the Standers, but they returned right on time the next day.
"We can offer you very little in your fight against the Goa'uld," their spokesman said, ignoring the colonel and speaking directly to Daniel. "However, I am able to offer you these," he said, motioning toward two boxes they'd carried through the Gate with them.
"And these are?" the colonel demanded. The cardboard boxes weren't large and didn't look at all helpful in a battle against the Goa'uld.
"Possible solutions to your problem. There is also a list of available resources we can give in support of your battle...let us know which of them you can use and where you will want them delivered."
"And the price would be?"
"There is no price. We deeply regret our actions have exposed Earth to this threat. We feel responsible at least in part for your present danger. We hope what little we can offer will be accepted as a token of our apologies. If there was more we could do, we would." The meeting was over.
The list of possible resources ran mainly to grains though it also included several raw materials and a limited stockpile of explosives and projectile type weapons. The boxes contained student notebooks...those of students of military strategy. A Goa'uld attack upon Earth had been theorized as a teaching exercise. They held in their hands the results with penciled-in notes on the sides asking for and receiving clarification on certain points and pointing out faults in reasoning in others. The handwriting on the sides was easily recognizable to both Daniel and Teal'c: Carter's careful script and O'Neill's scrawl.
"We should not find it surprising that O'Neill would have joined a group fighting the Aschen...that is after all why he left," Teal'c calmly informed General Hammond back at the base as they looked at the notebooks.
A loose page was stuck into the top notebook...
"Take a look at these if you get a minute and let me know what you think," O'Neill had scribbled on the top.
Underneath, Sam had written, "Quite a group you've got there, my money's on Hatschit. You should make him general. His plan seems the most feasible though some of the others also have merit...I've added notes and sketched out some ideas for technical support."
"Thanks," he'd written, presumably at a later date as he'd changed his blue, fine-tipped pen for a wide, black one. "Hey, don't you know colonel is the highest rank in this man's army? Hatch is good, but not that good!"
"Sure. Whatever. If you're not going to put him to good use, send him my way. I could use him."
"Nope. Hands off."
Hammond shook his head and grinned. SG-1 had often scrawled notes on yellow legal pads and passed them back and forth during long briefings, and he'd always looked the other way. It was good to know they were up to the same old tricks even if the paper they now wrote on was an odd gray with faint green stripes.
Carter had written next, "About the funding?"
"No can do...you've got the max."
"Promise the Itarians a Harvester if we win."
Apparently both grammar and syntax flew out the window at the audacity of her suggestion. "!? you're the one who keeps telling me once we win and they're ours we'll have to be careful with them...no replacement parts if they go down"
"There's no 'once we win' if we don't have the funding either, Sir."
"you're serious! sell a harvester?"
"Yes."
At this point, O'Neill had apparently appealed to someone else, "carter wants to sell a harvester to fund the web"
An unfamiliar hand joined into the conversation, "We don't have a Harvester to sell?"
Carter had responded, "We will once we win. We'll have plenty."
"How would we get one to Itaria?" the third party had replied.
"carter?"
"I'll figure that out when the time comes."
The unknown writer had taken the pad back, "You think they are capable of interstellar travel?"
"The Aschen had to deliver them somehow."
"It's called a cargo bay carter! i can't offer them something we can't deliver!"
"If I can't figure it out, I'll harvest their crops by hand myself! Danara can't fund the entire web alone. The Itarians are gamblers. They'll pay for the chance to have first dibs on one. Otherwise, we're left wasting precious time drumming up trade partners. We'll lose Kaiyontra and Hazeldor at the least and hit too late to spare Earth. Sir, please."
"Ok. I'll bring it up after the break."
"Thanks! I love you." Hammond blinked at that one. He was certain those words had never been scribbled on any of the yellow legal pads around his briefing table.
"Ok, if they won't sell a harvester, I'll give up my bubble gum fund."
"Wow, thanks, Sir. How about your baseball cards?"
"Don't push it too far, Major."
That was the end of the conversation. Hammond tucked the sheet of paper in his pocket. "Right, let's get these to the staff for processing...maybe they've come up with something new."
And they had. The Standers' approach was a fresh way of looking at an old problem. The powers that be decided Carter's assessment of Hatschit's plan was accurate. They put their money and their planet's fate on it with the revisions the two ex-Air Force officers had scribbled in its margins.
The plan was in easily recognizable military terms familiar to any member of the United States Air Force. The occasional unfamiliar term was often as not translated under O'Neill's "What is a grathiilsihnf?????? Speak English!" The theoretical engineering work was not so easy to translate. Apparently, Carter was more willing to work with the Standers in their own language. She hadn't demanded they work in English and had written her ideas and notes for them in terms they'd easily understand. To be successful the engineers had to flesh out and build two of her 'sketched out ideas for technical support' and without a translation the weapon development would have stalled. Fortunately, tucked in the last notebook was a handwritten lexicon along with a few supplemental diagrams and notes. It was easy to see Carter had hastily jotted them down, probably in just the last day. They were almost unreadable and barely recognizable as her usually careful work, but they'd do.
Daniel was disappointed to find she'd added no personal note...no miss everyone or even a good luck. He wondered what life they'd found among the Standers. Was she happy there with Jack? Was she content working and living among strangers? Was it really enough for her to have only sent the notebooks and not have come herself to fight for Earth one more time? Granted, from Janet's calculations her baby was due in the next few weeks and she wasn't exactly in fighting form; but it wasn't like they were asking her to fight on the battlefield. And where was Jack? Sure he'd been declared a traitor, but he could at least offer his services, couldn't he?
Daniel shook off his anger and sighed. At least now they knew she'd survived the Aschen Rebellion and had a clue where they were. It was more than they'd known before and he should probably be happy with it. And thankful. The Stander strategy and weapons proved effective against the Goa'uld. The threat was beaten back at least for the time being.
Interest on Earth turned to the Standers. Twice now they had intervened on Earth's behalf, and perhaps it was time to make peace overtures and learn more of these unknown allies. The list of available resources they had to share was also of considerable interest to many. With plans to expand onto more than a dozen planets within the next decade, Earth could use many of the raw materials and grains the Standers apparently had in excess.
SG-1 returned to the contact point and sent a message asking for a meeting. The Standers who answered their call were not those they had already met. And this time they were graced with an introduction.
"I am Fratith of the Council of Worlds...we hoped you would return and give us news of your victory against the Goa'uld," the oldest said formally in return to Daniel's introductions.
"Yes, well, with your help we were able to drive the Goa'uld away for now. What you gave us was very helpful. Thank you."
"You are most welcome."
"We're interested in the alliance...if it's still an option."
"The offer is ever open to Earth. We know the debt we owe you," Frathith answered, "and our need for your knowledge is still great."
"Debt you owe us?"
"Yes, we had hoped you would avail yourselves of the resources we offered?"
"Many of the items you indicated would be of great use to us. We are interested in perhaps a trade agreement?"
"This is not something I can discuss without the other Council members. I can offer only those supplies already mentioned in good will until a meeting between you and the Council can be arranged."
"That would be fine with us...we are only here to make initial overtures ourselves. We are not authorized to go further than that."
"Well then, when you are prepared please send for us...the Council can be convened at anytime."
The President of the United States had an adventurous streak much to the horror of the Secret Service. He decided it was high time to take a trip through the Gate. The meeting with the Standers seemed like a perfect opportunity for him to get the chance. No one could deny here was a mission with great significance worthy of a high profile government figure. The Standers would have no reason to expect his presence so were unlikely to plan an attack if they were so inclined. The President was insistent and the group which Gated into the contact point was much larger and of a far greater import than with which Daniel had expected to be traveling.
It was made up of the four members of SG-1 along with General Hammond and Dr. Frasier from the SGC; the 6-man Secret Service unit; the President; Senator Kinsey; Senator Darnell; a 3-man news crew; and a Mr. Jonson and a Mr. Catral from the UN. The Standers who answered their call barely blinked at the large number of their contingent. Making introductions yet again, Daniel was fairly confident the Standers had no clue to the significance of the presence of the President of the United States and two highly placed Senators. The Standers waved aside the introduction as unimportant.
"We're just to bring you along to Eonal...hardly worth your time to spout out all those names," the leader of the group told him. "It's for the Council to hear. We're just the escort."
Eonal. Daniel remembered it had figured heavily in the accusations the Standers had sent to Earth, but they had not been given its Gate address for verification. As they stepped onto the once barren world, he knew why. The Aschen may have abandoned the world, but the Standers had reclaimed it. All around the Gate there were various buildings and groups of people moving about. The buildings themselves were similar to the temporary structures they'd erected on various scientific surveys. They were simple and practical as though they were meant to not distract from the barren landscape of dry rock and desert surrounding them.
A dirt path led from the Gate to the buildings. All along it were stone monuments and statues, starting right at the Gate where stone soldiers climbed over the right side of the Gate steps and strung out towards a ridge 30 feet out. They crouched with weapons ready and behind them three soldiers tore packs from their backs as they ran behind the line of their fellow soldiers.
Daniel motioned towards the monument in enquiry.
"These are the Eonal 107," their escort explained. "They survived the Bloodbath at Torantay and came to finish the war here."
"And were successful, obviously," Daniel said impressed that 107 soldiers had been able to defeat the Aschen Confederacy.
The Stander shook his head, "The Asgard arrived before the Aschen could set up their defenses...the battle here was over before it had begun."
"The Asgard? We were unaware the Asgard were involved."
"Oh, they were involved...and a good thing, too, or a good many of us would be dead and the Rebellion would have ended here with the sacrifice of the 107. Come along, please. The Council has already convened."
The Earth group took in all they could of the monuments along the way while trying to keep up with their escort. They all paused long enough to appreciate the most impressive one. A large group of stone men and women rose from a rock base on both sides of the path. On one side they were putting down shovels and pitchforks with one hand and taking up guns and helmets with the other. The base was inscribed simply: Standing together we won the Victory. On the other side the same group lay down their weapons and picked up their farm implements again. It was inscribed: Standing together we build a Future.
Overhead an embossed metal plaque bridged the two. It read: The Standers' Rebellion. 165,000 Stood against the Aschen and drove them from the galaxy. The war claimed the lives of 62,398 Standers. They gave their lives that others might have life. May we Stand worthy of their sacrifice.
"You've turned the whole complex into a memorial for your war?" Daniel asked passing under it.
"The whole complex IS a memorial of our war," the Stander answered proudly. "The monuments along this path tell the story of the Rebellion and the part each battle and party played in it." He nodded back towards four bare rock slabs they'd already passed, "Those show the worlds the Rebellion came too late to save: Eonal, Torantay, Hakter, and Kaiyontra. And this," he said as they passed the first monument they'd seen not carved out of the native gray rock, "Danara." He paused so the group could examine it. Carved out of a shimmering blue stone were two hands, one reaching down and clasping the other. Its plaque read: The Right Hand of Friendship. Danara. They housed our recruits, built our weapons, picked up our fallen from the battlefield, and buried our dead. Without their willingness to Stand behind us, we could not have Stood. "There are many others," their guide said, "but the Council is waiting."
The main building, too, bore a plaque: Look well at the desolation of Eonal. Know what fate we have been spared and know to what fate we must never fall.
Instinctively the entire group gazed at the barren world around them and shuddered. Given enough time, it could have been Earth.
Teal'c nudged Daniel and indicated a hill beyond the compound. At its brow two people stood looking off into the desert. Even from the distance, they were recognizable. Daniel drew in a surprised breath: Sam and Jack. Something in their stillness made him realize they were statues, one more monument to the Standers' Rebellion. He would have loved to run up the ridge and read the inscription, but the others were already filing into the building. Maybe later.
The entrance hall of the building was lined with huge murals showing the Asgard in action. The legend read: Rescuers from another galaxy. The Asgard. They came from a galaxy far, far away to heal the Fallen of Hakter and end the Rebellion at Eonal. Without them, we could not have Stood until the End.
Daniel shook his head and hoped the others in his group were too preoccupied to read the sign closely. A galaxy far, far away...Jack had definitely been here.
"The delegation from Earth is welcomed to the Council of Worlds," a Stander formally told them as they entered the Council Chambers. They were led to one of many long wooden tables filling the room. "Please be seated." There were not enough chairs for their whole party, but the camera crew was quickly ushered to a media room overlooking the chambers, and the Secret Service agents flanked themselves around the table and the council doors. The Standers seemed to find this an acceptable arrangement. Someone crowded in an 11th chair for Teal'c and the group sat down.
"We're honored to be here," Daniel said. "Thank you for meeting with us."
"It is our honor. Will you introduce the members of your group?" This time their introduction was closely attended to and not indifferently waved away.
When he was done, the Stander who had addressed them stood and said, "I am Qritz of Jbtz, the Speaker for today, and these are my colleagues." He began to call each Council Member by name and planet. As their name was called each stood, graciously nodded toward the group, and sat back down. Several of them could have been poster children for the Wounded Veterans Association. Scars, braces, patches, crutches, canes, and prosthetic arms bore witness to the sacrifice they had made to the Rebellion. They'd been told it had been a costly war, and it was easy to believe it here among the Standers.
After the 46 Council Members and the one Representative from Danara had been introduced, Oritz of Jbtz added, "Finally, I believe you are perhaps acquainted with Colonel O'Neill, formerly of your planet." Having failed to notice their exiled ex-compatriot, the group responded with muffled exclamations of surprise. Of course, the last place anyone would have looked for the former Air Force officer was the Council Chambers. Jack O'Neill and politics did not go together. But, there he was. Grayer and thin to the point of gauntness, but very much Jack O'Neill.
Daniel grinned in delight. Teal'c spoke for them both when he said, "Indeed. It is good to see you, my friend."
Jack gave them a casual wave but didn't stand. It was one affront too many for Senator Kinsey whose hatred for Jack had been instinctive and reciprocated from the first moment the two of them had met. He jumped up, sputtering in outrage, "Are you aware, Gentlemen, that this man is a traitor to our world? We will not continue in these proceedings if he must be present."
"Now, Senator," the President began, but the Stander answer overrode his own.
"Then we regret this meeting is over." The Standers began to push back their chairs and rise.
"Whoa, wait a minute. I'm sure we can work this out," Daniel told them.
"There is nothing to work out," the Speaker answered, "We are aware Colonel O'Neill is considered a traitor on your world. However, he is recognized for his value and importance here and these proceedings will not go on without him. If you've read the indictments against the Aschen, you know the Colonel acted only in the best interests of your planet...he is not a traitor."
"I apologize for this," the President told the Council. Turning to Kinsey he said, "Senator, as the man who declared the colonel an Enemy of the State, I have to say, my understandings of his actions have changed as we have learned who and what the Aschen are...seen in this light, I have to agree with the Speaker. Colonel O'Neill is not a traitor. His presence here is not a problem."
Kinsey said spitefully, "He always was a favorite of yours." He plopped himself back in his chair, "Fine. Let's begin."
Through the entire exchange, Jack had sat quietly. Now he began to speak, "Yes, let's. Gentleman and Ladies of the Council, as you are aware it has always been our hope we could bring Earth in to the recovery side of this operation. As you also know, we will in time be the foremost experts on fertility issues, but until then Earth can lead the way and give us a jump on solutions to our problems. We also lack trained engineers to maintain the level of technology now available on many of our worlds. We need training materials, teachers, doctors and engineers to work beside us and train us. Earth can be invaluable to us in these areas. I believe a treaty with Earth could be the single most important and necessary thing in our Stand for the future and ask this Council to make it happen."
It was the longest speech any of the Earthers had ever heard Jack make and those who knew him were duly impressed...particularly because it hadn't included even one joke or inappropriate statement.
Addressing the delegation from Earth, Jack continued, "Mr. President, Senators, General, and the rest of you, the Standers have nothing to offer as far as the fight with the Goa'uld is concerned. Or quite honestly, much of anything else besides a huge amount of grains, the majority of which aren't too bad if you're into oatmeal and granola, and a limited number of raw materials. We're willing to share the precious little we know about the technologies the Aschen left behind. And, if we ever figure out more, we're willing to share that with you, too. That, by the way, would go a whole lot faster if you'd give us the help we're asking for so we can pull Carter out of the medical research labs and engineering classrooms and put her to work where she really belongs."
"Seems you've got precious little to offer, Jack," Kinsey dug in.
A murmur rose up from the Councilors. The Speaker said, "You will address Colonel O'Neill with the respect due him."
"Oh, I am..." Kinsey answered and received a hissed, "Senator!" from the President.
To Daniel's continued amazement, Jack didn't let Kinsey provoke him. "I'm sorry we ask so much and offer so little, but that's where we Stand. We really need your help here. Are you interested in pursuing this matter, Mr. President?" he asked.
The next hours were spent in discussion over the basic principles of the potential treaty. Though Jack had begun the proceedings, the discussion flowed freely from all of the Standers and for the most part he let it go on without him.
"You are not offering an alliance in the sense of military aid?" Teal'c clarified at one point.
"No. We are not. We understand you are at war with the Goa'uld and need strong military allies, but the Standers cannot provide such aid. We are dying...our resources must be directed solely towards survival."
"We'd really like to know how you defeated the Aschen," Colonel Drakel pushed at another.
"We would have to have a much greater knowledge of your people before we felt it wise to disclose such knowledge," he was told.
"Well, isn't that nice. You want us to teach you everything we know about human fertility and share all our technical advances, but you're not willing to share yours..." Kinsey cut in.
"We understand your planet numbers in the billions...collectively we number in the millions. We have entire planets with less than a thousand worldwide. We have no iris on our StarGates, our army is a very limited resource, and we are spread much too thin to defend ourselves should you in any way interfere with the defenses we have in place to keep the Aschen out, or if you should decide to move aggressively against us...it is only prudent we protect what we do have."
Kinsey snorted and tried another jab at O'Neill, "I imagine that's what your 'advisor' from Earth is telling you, but we are-"
"Enough! Mr. President, if we addressed you in such a way surely you would not tolerate it! In the same way, we will not tolerate Senator Kinsey's continued attacks on ou-"
O'Neill held up his hand, "It's all right, Councilman. He's not worth the time or effort." There was a tightness to his voice and face that alarmed his old friends. Daniel, Teal'c, and Janet exchanged troubled glances and around the room their concern was mirrored in the faces of the Councilors.
"I suggest we break for lunch and come back afterwards," Jack said wearily.
"Colonel O'Neill?" an older Stander sitting next to Jack questioned.
"Sorry, George," Jack told him. "These things tend to involve a lot of talk and sitting around when Earth's involved...I am certain the President needs to finish things up today if at all possible. The Council will have to make a long day of it." Neither George nor the other Standers seemed pleased with this announcement, but they nodded their acceptance.
An escort appeared at the Earthers' table. "If you come this way, we'll get you lunch," she said.
"Actually," Daniel said, "I was hoping Teal'c and I might get a chance to talk to Jack."
"Jack?" the Stander asked stiffly.
"Colonel O'Neill?"
"I'm afraid that is impossible at the moment...he is otherwise detained."
Daniel turned to look but couldn't see Jack through the press of those between them. He swallowed down his disappointment and joined the others on their way to lunch.
The food was hot, homemade, and nourishing. Daniel and Teal'c ate theirs quickly and asked their escort if they'd be allowed to see some more of the memorials while the others finished.
"I'll go with you," Janet called and, asking the general's leave, hurried after them. After a quick hike up the hill, they stood catching their breath before the statues of Jack and Sam. The likenesses were surprisingly good; the inscription was even more surprising. It went a long way towards explaining why the Standers used Earth time (Mountain Standard, they'd noted), called the Gate controls a DHD, and let Jack all but run their Council meetings.
It started with a quote:
We looked over the barren land of Eonal, and I swore
it wouldn't happen to another planet...not Earth, not any;
not while I was alive. I ordered Carter to find something,
anything to hit them with. She said, 'Yes, Sir,' like it
was something she could fit in between breakfast and lunch.
Then we went through the Gate to raise an army and drive
the Aschen out of the galaxy.
The quote was ascribed to Colonel O'Neill, Commander of the Stander Army and President of the Council of Worlds.
Daniel whistled when he read it.
Teal'c spoke first, "He didn't join their fight, Daniel Jackson. He started it."
"When he said colonel was the highest rank in their army, he wasn't joking," Janet said, her voice low and stunned.
Daniel shook his head in disbelief. "They said he was a hero, but I didn't realize they meant as in George Washington."
The rest of the inscription finished with these words: Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter from the planet Earth. His leadership, determination, and sacrifice taught us to Stand. As the developer and designer of the CAAD and Defense Web, she gave us the means to do so.
"Heady stuff," Janet commented. Below them they could see people filtering back into the Council Chambers. They hurried to join them.
Hot and sweaty from their quick trip up the hill, they pushed their way through milling Council Members hoping to catch Jack before the session started. Somewhat intimidated by what they'd just discovered, they approached his table almost hesitantly. When he saw them, a wide welcoming smile lessened the pain in his face a minute and relieved their worries. He motioned them over.
"Jack, we were hoping to talk to you at lunch but they said you were busy."
"Always, I'm afraid. But we'll have to work out a way to have a minute to catch up. I'm guessing the President's on a pretty tight schedule, but maybe you can stay the night?"
"Colonel," the old man he'd called George cut in, "tonight might not be the best night for a visit." Jack scowled at him, but he didn't back down. Aha, an aide then.
"Carter will have my hide if I don't at least try," he told him, and George shrugged in reply. Jack turned back to them and said, "See what you can arrange...even if it's just supper. But don't bring Kinsey--even the Danarians can't be expected to put up with him."
They laughed and returned to their seats as the meeting was called to order. The afternoon session dragged on through the rest of the day. The Councilors grew more and more restive as it went on while Jack grew quieter and grayer until George stood up beside him.
"Enough," he said without preamble or introduction, "End it now or come back tomorrow. This has gone on too long. One of you aides, contact Major Carter and let her know we're going to need her," he said and then sat back down.
The Earth contingent looked at each other in surprise. The Standers nodded their heads in agreement. Someone slipped out the back door. Jack looked like he was about to protest, but the Speaker headed him off.
"We do not wish to hurry this matter, but it does seem like we're just going in circles here. Mr. President, I call for the vote." At his words, a low murmur of confused puzzlement rippled across the table occupied by the Earth delegation. The three who had traipsed up to the top of the hill had not had time to inform their companions of what they had learned there.
Jack sighed in response to the call for a vote but said, "Very well. Mr. President, are you prepared to accept the treaty or will you require more time to make a decision?" When he spoke his voice was harsh and so quiet they had to lean forward to hear him.
"I did plan to bring the proposal before the Congress and UN before signing it, but you're not asking anything that should be a matter of contention. The biggest concern will be funding, and you've offered more than a fair exchange in grain for that...I'll sign."
"Thank you," Jack answered him. Then addressing the Council he said, "As President of this Council I am prepared to sign this treaty if that is your recommendation."
The Speaker spoke up, "Because time is short I ask that we forego formality and Stand as one in agreement to the signing of this treaty." The group came to its feet at once. The Speaker looked questioningly to George, "This should go over the Link. Is there time?"
O'Neill growled at him, "We'll take the time to do this right."
The old man frowned, and mouthed "Hurry" to Oritz. The Speaker nodded and motioned to someone in the media room. Turning to the Earthers, he said, "It will only take a moment to establish the Link. Mr. President, if I could ask you to join Colonel O'Neill for the signing."
"The link?" General Hammond asked.
"Yes, this is an important moment for our Worlds. We will open our StarGates and transmit it live."
"You have the means to open all your StarGates simultaneously?" Colonel Ramsey asked.
"Yes."
"We'd be interested in knowing how that works...when you feel you can trust us, of course."
Daniel groaned and wondered if the man would ever say something to the Standers without making it an accusation. But, they took no offense; they understood his mistrust--they'd been just as suckered by the Aschen as Earth.
"The Link is open," someone announced and Jack began to speak:
"This is O'Neill. Beside me is the President of the United States of America who speaks for Earth. We've been able to come together and draw up an alliance between our two peoples...an alliance which I believe will greatly benefit the Hazeldor Research. Councilman Oritz will read that to you and then we'll sign it."
Councilor Oritz stepped in front of the table and began to read the manuscript. It had been handwritten and in several areas entire paragraphs had been scratched out and revised, but it sounded as weighty as any Daniel had ever heard. Not that he was listening very closely. He was more concerned with what was going on behind Oritz's back. While the Speaker read, George pulled Jack's chair away from the table and then with the help of another Stander helped him to stand. It was an obviously painful process. Sweat beaded on his friend's ashen face as he struggled to stay upright. The men worked a pair of crutches under his arms and slowly released their hold on him. He swayed unsteadily between them while George wiped the sweat from his face with a handkerchief.
Daniel hazarded a look at Janet. He could tell it was taking everything she had not to run to Jack and offer whatever help she could. He felt the same way. "What is it?" he whispered to her, but she only shook her head.
The men moved away from Jack's side and when the Speaker finished and retook his seat, Jack was standing on his own. A pen was passed to the President and he signed his name with a flourish while cameras flashed. Balancing carefully on his crutches, Jack scrawled his signature below the President's and reached out a shaking hand to him. The men smiled at one another for the cameras, and it was over.
"The Link is down," someone called. George and his assistant were at Jack's side immediately. The crutches fell out of Jack's shaking hands and he more or less collapsed into George's arms. "It's all right, Sir," he said quietly to the colonel, "We've got you," and then yelled out, "Where's the doctor?"
"If everyone could clear the room," the Speaker asked, and the Council Members came to their feet, blocking Daniel's view. A doctor hurried through the door and moved toward Jack's table, a syringe in his hand. Teal'c began to move through the milling Standers, and Daniel and Janet followed in his wake. They didn't get far. Their escort appeared before them.
"Please," she said, "if you'd come with me?"
"I'm a doctor...I've been his doctor for years, let me help him?" Janet begged, but she was herded with the rest of them out of the room. They stood in a stunned group in the entrance hall of the building along with the majority of the Councilors. The Standers murmured amongst themselves in small, grim groups of their own. One leaned heavily against the door with tears streaming down his face.
Sam arrived, running and looking much too thin, much too fragile. Daniel thought he might not have known her if he hadn't known she was on the way. She took no notice of any of them, neither did she hear him call her name. She paused only a moment at the door to speak to the man leaning on it.
"Samin," she said. "He won't want you out here reliving it with him again. Go home." But, Samin only shook his head. "Then here," she said and reached into a cloth tied over her shoulder. Only when she awkwardly removed a newborn from it did Daniel realize it was a baby sling. She held the infant out toward the Stander, but he pulled back as though it were a bomb.
"You don't want me to hold him, Major," he said, "Not me."
"Samin," she said weakly.
"I'm sorry," he told her.
"You don't have to feel like this, you have nothing to be sorry for...you were acting under orders. You saved his life." Holding the baby out to him once again, she went on, "Take him...please, you know I can't take him in there. Not if he's back on Torantay." With trembling arms, Samin took the baby. Sam opened the door and slipped through it. Someone was screaming behind it. Daniel had heard Jack being tortured before, heard him cry out with the Goa'uld torture device, and he recognized his cry now.
"What is happening?" Janet demanded of the Councilmen around them.
Speaker Oritz moved forward to speak to them, "The colonel occasionally suffers flashbacks to the time of his injury. He is not fully recovered. The meeting went too long. It is difficult for him to be upright for such a long time, and he refuses the pain medication when the Council is in session...he believed the treaty with your world was worth this. I hope he was right," the Councilor ended almost angrily.
After a pause, he continued on in a calmer voice, "Here is your copy of the treaty...there is no need for you to stay."
"We're concerned about Colonel O'Neill," the President said. "We'd like to stay."
The Speaker nodded his head. "The doctors are with him now...he will be fine. But, I understand. You may stay if you wish, though he will probably be too heavily sedated to actually see you again today."
"We understand," the President said. "I'd still like to wait a bit. However, I'm sure several of our group might like to return. Senators, I'd like you to take the treaty and present it to the various committees. And I'm sure the newsmen are eager to get their stories filed and our observers also need to make their reports. Gentlemen, I don't think I need to remind you the story is the treaty...nothing else at this time. Colonel Ramsey and Major Drakel will accompany you through the Gate. The rest of us will be staying awhile." Daniel breathed a sigh of relief to be rid of Kinsey (though finding out just who and what Jack was to the Standers had seemed to effectively silence the man) and admired the President's maneuvering.
The Standers, Daniel presumed, were also free to go about their business, but they stayed. Keeping vigil, he thought. He'd lost track of all the times he'd come to in the infirmary to find Jack dozing or brooding at his bedside. It was fitting they were all there for him now. Not that Jack would appreciate it; he'd hate to have them all seeing him weak and vulnerable and in need of their support.
The doctor came through the door. "It's over," he told the Standers around them. "He's back. I know this is difficult, but he is improving. We were able to avoid sedating him this time...we'll just have to make sure he doesn't pull a stunt like this again."
The Standers somberly nodded in response and began to disperse. Councilor Oritz nodded at the Earthers and said, "If you need anything, just ask anyone. We'll clear out before he knows we were out here...he hates us to hang around." Within a few minutes, virtually all the Standers were gone.
General Hammond approached Samin, "This must be Major Carter's baby."
"Yes," the Stander told him, turning the baby so the general could see him.
"A fine boy," the general said.
"Yes, a fine boy," Samin repeated.
"You were there then, when Colonel O'Neill was wounded?"
The Stander hung his head and his answer was little more than a whisper, "I was."
"I was his commanding officer for years. I still feel responsible for him. Can you tell me what happened?"
Samin shook his head. A tear fell on the baby's forehead and he wrinkled his little face up and wiggled before settling back to sleep. An awkward silence descended on the group and then George opened the door. The old man paused upon seeing them and frowned.
"I said he wouldn't be up for a visit this evening, now didn't I? And no thanks to you and your long-winded ways. Why are you hanging around?" he didn't wait for an answer but turned to Samin. "They're wanting the baby."
Samin held the baby out to him. "You're not wanting to bring him in yourself, then?" George asked him. "Wouldn't hurt you to see him now." Samin shook his head, and George accepted the baby. As he headed back into the Council Chambers, he gave the group from Earth a disgruntled look. "I'll tell the major you are out here..." he said as the door shut behind him.
The next time it opened, it was for a tall, friendly man who smiled warmly at them before saying, "Major Carter asked that I see to you. They're taking the colonel home now...she'd be pleased if you could join them there. If you have to return to Earth, she understands and hopes you will be able to return another day."
"Is it far?" the President asked. "I've a cabinet meeting I really shouldn't miss but had hoped to speak a moment to Colonel...or I guess that's President O'Neill, isn't it?"
"He prefers Colonel, but either title is correct. The O'Neill's are housed on Danara for now...just a trip through the StarGate." The President glanced at the commander of his Secret Service Agents who emphatically shook his head no.
"I'm afraid I'd be pushing my luck too far to talk these fellows into letting me loose on another world...I probably should take my shadows and go home. If you'd just tell the Pres-Colonel I meant what I said in the meeting--he's clear of all charges and welcome home anytime he chooses to return."
"He won't. He's a Stander now, but I'll see he gets the message," the man said and ushered them all to the StarGate. Once again there wasn't time to really see the monuments, but Daniel drank in all he could. Many of them were carved images of various worlds or groups of worlds. Engravings recorded the price each world had paid to be freed from the tyranny of the Aschen.
Atal. Fell without a fight and without bloodshed in the First Wave of the Rebellion. 7,428 Atali recruits were sent to the Training Fields on Danara. 5,092 were lost on the Battlefields.
Earth. The planet that sparked the Rebellion. As far as is known, she fell without bloodshed.
Trytharanith. 3,987 fell to free Trytharanith from the Aschen in the Second Wave of the Rebellion. She gave 17 recruits to the cause, 15 did not return.
Hakter. All the Aschen in the galaxy were driven to the beaches of Hakter where they made their own stand against the Standers' Army. Here the Colonel fell and thousands upon thousands with him. They cut us down like wheat before the sickle, yet we prevailed.
Daniel blinked at that one...they'd been told Jack had been injured on Torantay not Hakter. "Isn't there a monument for Torantay?" he asked their guide.
"No. The wounds of Torantay are too fresh." The man pointed toward an area along the path without any statue or plaque. "When the healing is over it will be set there, but until then..."
"What happened?"
"It was Hakter all over again. But without the Asgard to heal the casualties afterwards. 15,000 went in...107 walked out on the own leaving more dead behind them than the living. That alone was enough to make men weep at the mention of Torantay, but it was only the beginning. When the battle was over...reinforcements arrived but they didn't realize until too late the DHD had been hit and they couldn't bring the wounded back to Danara. Worse, we didn't know...we thought the Asgard--we should have sent help right away, but we didn't know. They were lying there all through the night, waiting on us to come for them." The man fought back tears, and Daniel wished he hadn't asked. The wounds, he thought, might always be too fresh for Torantay.
Janet, though, needing to know what had happened to the colonel pushed on. "Exactly what type of injury did Colonel O'Neill receive there?"
The Stander shook his head. "He wasn't even there for the Battle...he led the reinforcements on to Torantay, but the CAAD had already been set. The Battle was over. The Asgard had patched him back together after Hakter...he should have been fine. But, we...we didn't come. An unexploded bomb...that's what took him out, an unexploded bomb hours after the War was over. It shouldn't have happened. We should have come. He gave up everything to fight the Standers' War, the Major, too, and we left them both lying on Torantay through the Long Night."
"Major Carter was injured on Torantay as well?" Janet broke in.
"Major Carter led the charge after the Colonel fell at Hakter. There was no one else..."
"I see," Janet said faintly. It was too late to be upset about it now. They'd seen Sam only briefly, but obviously she had survived whatever injuries she'd sustained. She'd been too worried about Jack to really look at the baby, but he'd been healthy enough from the looks of it.
Daniel had expected something exotic from the planet with the blue stone monument back on Eonal, but the area around the Gate was far from it.
They'd stepped out into a cross between an army base and a hospital compound. Practical, ugly buildings connected by dirt paths lined with signs pointing off in all directions: Training Grounds, Rehab Building Three, Main Hospital, Research Lab, Requisitions, Prosthetics Lab, Technical Institute, Weapons Development, and on they went. Their guide motioned them down a path following an arrow towards Barracks # 1.
"This is my world," he told them. "The area around our StarGate was a beautiful park which is how we had room to build the Training Facilities for the Army so close to the Gate. When they have moved onto their own worlds, we will tear this all down and reseed the park. Almost, I wish we wouldn't. It will be beautiful with the trees and flowers, but this, this is beautiful, too."
They all looked at him incredulously, and he explained, "Whatever else we do, what we were able to do for the Standers will always be a testimony that once we were a people of which we could be proud, once we looked outside ourselves and did something great."
They reached their destination and he ushered them in. The barracks were as ugly as any on Earth and, in fact, looked remarkably similar. They were ushered to an apartment on the first floor and shown into the small, cramped living room. Through an open door they could see a hospital bed with crumpled blankets at its foot and a wheelchair at its side. Their guide stepped into the room and pulled the door shut behind him. They could hear low murmurs and the occasional word through the thin walls.
The group crowded onto the few pieces of furniture around the living room and leaned against the walls wherever they could find room. A bathroom opened up off to one side and a closet another. There was no kitchen, but a small hot pot and what was possibly a Danarian coffee pot set on a small refrigerator pushed against the wall. A stack of diapers was falling over next to a used coffee cup, a pile of student notebooks, several technical drawings, and a yo-yo on the low table in front of the couch.
Their guide rejoined them. "The major will be out in a minute," he said and left them to their silent appraisal of the O'Neills' quarters. In one corner of the room, a model Air Force jet swung from the roof, a souvenir Jack must have carried away with him. The lone window opened up to face another squat building and nothing else. The only pictures on the wall were close-ups of the baby. Looking at them, Daniel realized they didn't know his name. He couldn't see either Sam or Jack in his red, scrunched up face. He had a head of light brown hair and blue eyes, but then, didn't all newborns have blue eyes?
Out of curiosity he opened the refrigerator and found some bottles of water, a bowl of blue Jell-O and what was apparently left of the stash he and Teal'c had packed for Sam when she'd visited the SGC: three Snickers, two more boxes of Jell-O, and a small can of coffee. He glanced around for the Fruit Loops but didn't spot them. We should have brought more, he thought idly when raised voices from the bedroom caught his attention, and that of everyone else.
"I don't want her in here, Carter! Not like this!" It was the first they'd heard from Jack since the Council Chambers. It appeared he'd regained his strength.
The thin walls let them hear most of the conversation.
"Then it's the hospital...Janet can...take care...in what 10 minutes? ...the doctors at the hospital...won't touch...the OR and we'll spend the night in recovery and they'll be gone before you're released!"
"George can do it!"
"Nope, nope, nope, Colonel," came the old man's voice, "I've done what I can...you had no business wearing those things all day and sitting up like that! What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking of saving a few worlds! That's what!"
"Well, see what you get for thinking," George retorted.
"Oh, just get out...if you're not going to help, go!" Jack snarled in return.
"All right, I will!" The door banged opened and shut. George huffed through the room, and the front door slammed behind him like an angry echo. In its wake, the baby fussed on the other side of the wall.
Jack gave a disgusted growl. A moment later Sam stuck her head around the door.
"Hi, guys. Sorry about that. He'll be back. Janet, is there any way I could ask you to take a look at the colonel?"
"Of course. I don't have any equipment with me..."
"It's ok. George keeps a supply on hand...we have everything you'll need."
The colonel was sitting on edge of the bed facing away from them as they entered the room. A swing bar hung over the bed, a bowl of water and a handful of rags lay on the bed beside him to his left, and the baby squirmed on his belly to his right. She had to squeeze past the wheelchair to reach him, but it wasn't until she crossed to his side of the bed that Janet realized the extent of the damage.
She knew he didn't want her to see him like this. And she didn't want to see him this way either. After all her years of medical training, she still found it hard not to stare. This wasn't just a patient; after four years of working with him he was much more than that. She tore her eyes from his stumps up to his face. He gave her an apologetic grimace. "Doc," he said in greeting.
She cleared her throat, "What seems to be the problem, Colonel?"
"Bone fragment--there," he pointed to a bleeding sore. She carefully cleared away the oozing blood to reveal the white sheen of bone working its way through his skin. "I could have pulled it out myself, but Carter here..." He scowled at Sam but she wouldn't look up to see it.
"I think Sam might have been right, Sir. It looks like it's probably thicker under the skin."
"Always are," he said. "But go for it...yank it out of there. I just got a dose of painkiller, there won't be a better time."
"Is any of this analgesic?" she asked poking around among the unfamiliar tubes and prepared syringes in the kit Sam handed her.
"Oh, for crying out loud, just pull it!" Janet gritted her teeth and carefully worked the fragment out ignoring his occasional hiss of pain. The exit point was larger than she was willing to leave without stitches, though he had several abrasions and cuts on the stump already from the prosthetic. She carefully began stitching him up.
While she worked, Sam sat beside him and nursed the baby. Their previous angry words still hung in the air between the two of them like poison gas. The sight of them sitting like shadows of the officers she'd known back at the SGC made Janet want to cry. They were both too pale, too thin, too obviously worn down. They didn't look like the heroes of 46 worlds.
"I don't suppose either of you want to tell me what happened?" No. "Then tell me about the baby...he looks great. Everything went all right?"
"Just fine," Sam said.
"And?" Janet prompted...maybe she should have been a dentist, getting anything out of these two was like pulling teeth.
Sam brought the baby up to her shoulder and gently burped him. "7 pounds, almost 21 inches, nurses great, and even sleeps a good part of the night..." There was an awkwardness to Sam's handling of the baby that at first she'd attributed to her being a new mother, but the more she watched, the more Janet knew it was something more.
"What's up with the shoulder, Sam?" she asked.
"Broke a few bones...it's mending."
"Is it?" Janet's tone clearly implied she had doubts about the medical care they'd been receiving, but neither of them answered it. "How long have you been fitted for the prosthetics?" she asked Jack.
"A while," he shrugged.
"This should be toughening up better than it is...it looks too raw."
"Well, this is what we've got to work with."
"The other's just as bad?"
"Yeah."
"I'm guessing you lost a good deal of blood?"
"Um."
"It's been what? 11 weeks?" He shrugged in answer. "Your body is still trying to replace the blood loss...you need to get that built up before you're going to see healing like you need to wear the prosthetics easily."
"Yeah, well, seems we're fresh out of compatible blood, but don't worry, Doc...I've been eating my spinach."
She ignored his pathetic excuse for a joke. "This has had to really put a strain on your heart and other organs...I'd like you to come to Earth and let me see what we can do. I'd like both of you to come and let me take a look."
Sam murmured, "I'm fine," and he said, "We're kind of busy here."
"Well, when you go into heart fail-"
"Enough! See why I didn't want her back here?" he growled at Sam. "Come on, finish up. Let's go get something to eat."
Janet carefully washed and wrapped the stump. She looked around for the prosthetics but when he saw her looking Jack said, "Just the chair." She wheeled it close and watched him try to hoist himself in to it. He was weaker than he wanted to admit; both she and Sam had to help move him over. He sat trembling from the effort while Sam calmly worked the soft material of his pants over and around his stumps. He ran a shaky hand through his hair and wheeled himself to the door.
"O'Neill," Teal'c acknowledged painfully.
"Hey, Teal'c," O'Neill met his gaze and then that of the others.
"Jack," Daniel started but couldn't finish.
"It's me, guys, relax," Jack ordered gruffly. "You get used to it after awhile...take your time."
"I'm sorry," Daniel stammered. "I..I..had no idea...I thought you'd just, I don't know--bummed up your knee again or something."
"Oh, I think I did that all right," Jack answered him dryly.
"What happened?"
"War, Daniel...you know, what we were fighting when you were making nice with the enemy."
"Colonel!" Sam reprimanded him.
"Sorry, Daniel. I know we owe you..." Daniel knew with the whole room watching their interchange he wouldn't go into more detail. He'd fought their battle for them on Earth, but Jack couldn't know whether the general was aware of that fact or whether he'd applaud him or court-martial him. He was probably just lucky they hadn't had his name on a plague back on Eonal for all to see.
"No, Jack, you're right. We should have believed you; you shouldn't have been out here fighting without us. Maybe we would have made the difference... maybe..."
Jack shrugged. "There are always 'maybes' but you can't go back and change the way things happened. The Aschen are history, the war's over, Earth still has a future, and today you helped buy us some more time to salvage ours."
"Yours, Colonel?" the general asked. "Does that mean you no longer consider yourself one of us? The President has cleared you--you're free to come home anytime you want."
Jack frowned. "I walked away from Earth to save it. In doing so I made a commitment to these people. I won't go back on it. I'll always consider Earth my home, but I won't be coming back." There was a finality in his words that silenced the room except for the baby hiccoughing in Sam's arms.
"And you, Major Carter?" Hammond asked.
Jack looked at her, his anger fading away like raindrops on a hot sidewalk. She made it too easy for him to take advantage of her, to take her for granted, to just assume she'd always be there. He knew the doctors weren't happy with her recovery even yet. They watched her like a hawk and kept scheduling tests she kept avoiding. Even so, he kept leaning on her. Because he didn't have a leg of his own to stand on. Because he needed her. Because to not was to acknowledge the doctors' fears and his own.
She was a rock he leaned on, and it was rare he felt her give way beneath his weight. But, she'd given way today in the Council Chambers. When he'd fought his way back to Eonal, she'd been there like always. But, not at his side. Across the room, curled in the corner. Panic and pain emanating from her. He'd met her eyes and said, "Kinsey's been here...we'll have to fumigate." She had laughed in spite of herself and they had acted as if nothing had happened. But, it had.
She'd been lecturing everyday all day at the Institute or working in the Research labs and then scrambling to find time and energy for PT in the evenings on top of nursing the baby and caring for the two of them. He'd seen the tears of exhaustion she couldn't hide. She hadn't lied when she said the baby slept a good part of the night...he was the only one though. He wouldn't blame her if she packed it up and went home. But he knew what she would say before she said it.
"I Stand with the colonel," she said without hesitation or apology. Then she grinned at him and said, "We've got a good thing going here." He grinned back. She was the best thing he had going for him. He'd have to find a way to take better care of her.
"I understand," the general said. "You've done yourself proud here. Both of you. But, you can't blame us for trying...you're greatly missed."
"Thank you, Sir. We appreciate that," Sam told him. He stood and gave her a hug.
"Have you heard from my dad, Sir?" she asked hopefully.
He shook his head. "The Tok'ra have made themselves scarce lately. I'm sorry. I'll tell him how to contact you when I do." She bit her lip and nodded her acceptance of his offer. "He'll want to see this grandson of his," the general said, taking the baby from Sam. "What do you call him?"
"CJ," Jack said.
"Chance. Chance Jacob," Sam clarified.
"We would have gone with 'George', but I'd already given it away to someone else," Jack quipped.
"I think we've met him," the general laughed. "I hope you didn't give him my name because he reminded you of me."
"No, Sir," Jack said quickly.
"Come on, Jack, admit it. It was the hair--or lack of it."
Jack changed the subject while the others snickered. "I, for one, am ready for supper..."
The path to the Mess wasn't long, but it took them quite a while to cover the distance. Everyone they met had a respectful nod or salute for Jack. Many paused long enough to let him know they were pleased with the new treaty. Daniel noted that their affection and respect for Jack was mutual. He returned their salutes, thanked them for their support, joked with them, and inquired after problems they were facing.
For a man not known for his patience on Earth, he was extraordinarily patient with the Standers. Daniel, who had been the brunt of Jack's impatience more than his fair share, found it odd to see the contrast between the Jack O'Neill he'd known and the Commander of the Stander Army and President of the Council of Worlds. He'd always known there was more to the man than he usually saw, but he hadn't known how much.
None of the Standers seemed able to pass without putting a gentle hand on the baby's back or fuzzy head. They smiled shyly on him and told Sam how he had grown and what a fine boy he was. Sam took their comments graciously, but she'd never been a public person, and it was readily apparent that she was uncomfortable with the attention. After a time, it became too much, and she thrust the baby into the colonel's lap and took over pushing his chair for him.
He had wondered about their life among the Standers. She'd told Janet she had no regrets, that she was happy in her new life. But that was before the war had left them maimed and trapped in a life where they would always be public property, always have to be larger than life. "We've got a good thing going," she had said and even smiled, but it couldn't be the life they would have chosen given a choice.
They had missed the main supper rush, and the large mess hall was almost empty. They laughed, caught up on hockey scores and base gossip, and discussed ways to implement points of the treaty while they ate.
When they finished, Jack turned to Sam and said, "Another fine meal, Mrs. O'Neill." She threw him a glare in response. Daniel was sure she'd heard it before. He imagined a young Jack had sat at a table and heard his father say the same words...and his mother had probably glared back just like Sam. Quite possibly Chance Jacob would play it out all over again one day with his own wife. Across the table, Jack caught his eye and smirked at him right before throwing his balled up napkin and hitting him squarely in the glasses. Daniel returned fire with his own and wasn't bothered by the fact he missed.
Life went on. Things changed but still stayed the same. None of them could go back to the way things had been before they'd made contact with the Aschen. Earth had lost Jack and Sam; they wouldn't be coming back. The war had changed them, maimed them, worn them down, but they were still Standing.
Heliopolis Main Archive
A Stargate: SG-1 Fanfiction Site
The Standing Series
by OffworlderSite Navigation
Support Heliopolis