FIC: scifibigbang: Balance of Power - Part One

[alexs_storybook]

Title: Balance of Power
Author name: alexcat
Artist name: alexcat
Beta name: larian and Larry, my hubby.
Word Count: 25, 945
Fandom: Stargate: SG-1
Rating: PG-13
Main Characters and/or pairings: SG-1. SG-18(Atlantis crew), Jonathan O’Neill. Jack O
Neill, Hank Landry.
Genre: Science Fiction
Summary: Is there a new threat to the galaxy after the Ori and Goa’uld are defeated?
Warnings: Some violence but not very graphic.
Disclaimers: I do not own nor do I profit from the use of these characters.
Author's Notes (if any): I started this story with the idea to tie up another loose end and I think I have, in a manner of speaking. We see that our young Jack-clone has grown into a fine young man who doesn’t seem to differ so very much from the original Jack. I would like to have seen the boy show up again in the series, but I gave myself the next best thing.
I tried to stay within canon as much as possible and to that end, I relied on my DVDs, Gateworld and Stargate Wiki. My husband was always there to bounce ideas off of and Larian was there to comment and beta for me too. Between the three of us, I think we did okay.
I have deliberately chose to leave out Stargate Universe canon after they left our solar system. I did not watch the second part of the season so I would not be tempted to bring that plot into this story any more than needed.
I hinted at a Daniel and Vala romance because they are meant to be together though I do think Cameron might tempt her just a little. Perhaps they will all get their own story someday.


~~~~

As always, for Sara.


Thanks:

I’d like to thank Larry for telling me I could do it. He has more confidence in me than I do, larian who betas everything I write and has never once called me an idiot, and luin77 who always tells me how good the stories are (even when I suspect they’re not).

I’d also like to thank the owner and mods at scifbigbang for allowing me to take a trip into the Stargate universe and sharing what I found with everyone else. I’d also like to them, especially yappichick for all the work she does to make this possible for all of us.

~~~



Part One

Prologue

2003

Jack O’Neill watched the young man as he walked up to the giggling girls in the high school yard. He knew that the boy was, for all intents and purposes, an exact copy of himself. But he was different. Just in the short amount of time that he’d spent with the boy, he knew that this boy was not going to make all the mistakes he had.

At least he hoped he didn’t make all of them.

As he drove away, he looked back once as young Jack pulled his sunglasses off and began to talk to the girls.

~~

Chapter One

- SGC Cheyenne Mountain Complex, 2009

Second Lieutenant Jonathan O’Neill reported to his commanding officer at the SGC. He didn’t know the guy; General Hammond had been in charge the last time he was here. He had been saddened when he’d heard that General Hammond had passed away. The man had been like a father to him -- to Jack. He had sneaked into the back of the church for the funeral and slipped out before anyone saw him. He owed Hammond that much.

General Landry cleared his throat. “Jonathan O’Neill?” The general raised an eyebrow. “Any relation?”

“No sir, Sir,” he stammered.

Okay, so he was nervous. Very nervous. Why he had requested this duty was beyond him at the moment. Oh well, he’d make it through like he did everything else. He’d pretend to himself that it simply wasn’t important.

~~

General Hank Landry actually knew exactly who this boy was. He had read about him the first week he’d been at Stargate Command. He had wondered then if and when the young man would show up at their door.

“Well, Lt. O’Neill, I have decided to put you with Mitchell and Jackson on SG-1. They’re the first team and you’d make a good fourth for them.”

“Who is Mitchell? Where’s Carter? Or Teal’c?”

“Carter is commanding the George S. Hammond. Mitchell is the team leader now and Teal’c spends most of his time on Chulak.”

“Who else is on the team?”

“Vala Mal Doran, an alien who joined us several years ago.”

“Yes, sir!”

“You can stop that too. We are a bit more informal here than your average base but I expect that you already know more about this place than I ever will.”

Young O’Neill blinked in surprise.

“Yes, Lt. O’Neill, I am aware of who you are. Just make me proud, boy.”

O’Neill would have laughed except that he could see that Landry actually meant what he said. What an odd fellow this Landry was. The General called for Walter to help the young man find his quarters and settle in. “Chief, make him feel at home,” Landry called as they left the General’s office.

“He a good commander?” O’Neill asked.

Walter nodded. “He’s one of the best, sir.”

O’Neill shared the room with three other junior officers. None were present at the time so he put his stuff on the empty bunk and looked around the room. What was he to do now? He knew more from memory than most of the people here would ever know. Maybe this had been a mistake.

He put his things away and wandered down to the mess hall. There was cake! Some things never changed. He grabbed a piece of cake and some coffee and found a table. Not many people were there in the middle of the morning but the ones who were weren’t familiar to him, except the older fellow who was pushing his broom slowly across the floor. The man had always been a fixture here.

“Ah, there you are!” It was Daniel. “Jack--”

“I go by Jonathan, Dr. Jackson. It seemed the right thing to do.”

Daniel was completely undaunted as he turned to the man behind him. “Jonathan, this is Lt. Col. Cameron Mitchell.”

He started to stand but Mitchell motioned him down. “Good to meet you, Lt. O’Neill.”

“Did you get settled in? General Landry said you’d be living here on base for a while,” Jackson asked.

“Yes, I have roommates. Haven’t met them yet though. I believe they’re all out on missions.”

“We came down to ask if you wanted to go out to dinner tonight with us and Vala, sort of a get to know you thing.”

“But I already know you,” Jonathan countered.

Jackson smiled at him, “But you’ve not met our other team member.” Mitchell grinned too. What was this Vala? Some horrid alien monster woman?

“General Landry didn’t give me any duties yet so why not? I’m all yours.”

He returned to his room and rearranged his stuff a bit then changed into jeans and a t-shirt. Seeing Jackson had been good. He had missed him, Carter and Teal’c too but now it looked as if Jackson was the only one of the old gang left. Maybe it would be easier for them all that way.

They met at six o’clock for dinner and O’Neill almost choked when he saw Vala. She certainly wasn’t what he expected. She was gorgeous with that curvy figure and dark mane of wild hair.

“Hello, um, Jonathan?” She shook his hand and smiled a bit lamely at him. Her voice was as sexy as she was too.

“That’s me,” he finally managed. God, he was acting like a simpering boy!

“They didn’t tell me how much you look like the general,” she breathed at him as Jackson grabbed her elbow and dragged her into the restaurant. He remembered eating here with SG-1 before. It had a pretty good steak, if he was correct. Looked like Jackson had his hands full with Vala. Jonathan smiled. Jackson needed a woman like her to keep him on his toes. He’d always felt bad about Sha’re.

“I, - uh, yeah. I do look like Uncle Jack.”

“I thought you told me--” she turned to Jackson.

“I had to tell her, Ja- Jonathan. She is on the team and it might be important that she know someday,” Jackson explained.

“So who’s buying?” Jonathan was as cheap as Jack, something they all expected. All who knew Jack anyway.

They all decided to go Dutch. The dinner was good as always and Mitchell sprang for the cake they had for dessert, which pleased his youngest teammate.

*

Jonathan’s roommates were back when he got back. They were 2nd Lt. Sims, who was assigned to SG-5, and two brothers, Majors Marcus and Matthew Burke, who were on SG-7. They seemed like regular guys and Jonathan was pleased that they had no idea who he was.

As he lay in his bunk just before drifting off to sleep, he wondered what in the world he had gotten himself into.

~~~


Chapter Two

- Jack O’Neill’s office in the Pentagon, Washington, DC

“WHAT?” Jack nearly screamed into the phone. “How could that happen? Who did it?”

Jack had just talked with Col. Carter, who’d told him that not only had the Icarus base been attacked but that the entire planet had blown to bits. He was trying to get more information but so far, he knew more than the people he talked to.

He knew that the whole project was a bit iffy but to have the whole damn planet blow? Sheesh!

He wondered what Rush had done. He never was sure about any scientist types except for Sam and this Rush was a cagey one. He didn’t trust the other man’s motivations. But his mission had been to find where the wormhole opened with the ninth chevron. He was sure that’s what happened to those eighty people who went through the wormhole in those six minutes that Carter said it was open. Where the hell did they go? Who the hell blew up the planet? Why did he join the Air Force?

“Get me the SGC on the phone. I need to talk to General Landry,” he shouted to his assistant, who sighed and did as he asked. Just like he always did.

*

- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado

Nearly two thirds of the way across the country, Hank Landry answered his phone. He was a little surprised to hear from General O’Neill but then again, nothing could surprise the man who headed the SCG that much anymore.

“What can I do for you, General O’Neill?”

“I need someone to find out who blew up the Icarus base. Someone attacked just a few minutes ago and the whole planet blew up. Carter just managed to jump out on George Hammond before the explosion. She thinks the personnel might have gated out to wherever the ninth chevron goes.”

Landry was not surprised. The Pentagon had been putting pressure on the program to come up with more alien weapons technology and the IOA wanted more of any kind of technology and O’ Neill had come to be central figure in the two groups’ fight for power. They used him as a pushme-pullyou, more or less. Landry was glad that he mostly dealt with the military side of things. There were political games but nothing like those the IOA played with all its member countries, especially the Chinese and Russians.

“I can get SG-1 right on it. They have their new member so they’re back up to four.”

“Does he still look like a mini me?”

“Oh, yeah. Not quite so mini but from the stories I’ve heard, he’s just like you as a kid.” He paused and added, “Sir.”

“See if Rodney can come in to help with the problem of where the damn base personnel went. Oh and put Sheppard and Ronon Dex on this too. Aren’t they with SG-18?”

“Yes sir. You want Rodney there or here?” Landry had his fingers crossed that it would be anywhere but the SGC.

“There until he can link up with Carter. If anyone can figure this out, those two can. I kept telling everyone here that they should send Rodney to work on the Icarus project instead of Rush. Rodney is annoying but Rush is obsessed. They insisted that Rush is the foremost expert and unfortunately, Jackson agreed.”

“Consider it done, sir. I think Rodney is still on Atlantis but I’ll get in touch with him.”

“Tell Walter that my assistant still makes awful coffee.”

Landry smiled. “Will do, sir.” He knew better but the Chief would smile to hear it.

*

- Onboard the Atlantis

Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, Rodney McKay was eating green Jell-O and wondering if there was cake left too. His workload had been light the last few days so he was doing some calculations on making ZPMs to power Earth cities. They weren’t there yet but they would be. Soon.

“Dr. McKay, sir, there’s a call for you from General Landry.” The young enlisted man looked scared to death of him.

“Tell him I’ll call back after lunch.”

“He said you’d say that and he said to bring the phone to you.”

Rodney rolled his eyes.

“He said ‘Now,’ sir, Dr. McKay, sir.”

“Oh, for goodness’ sake.”

The young man handed the cordless phone to McKay.

“You want me to what? But I can’t just-- yes, General Landry. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

The young man held back a grin as Rodney handed him the phone.

“Where is Mr. Woolsey?”

“In his office, sir.”

Rodney didn’t want to leave, especially not to try to figure out what that crazy Nicholas Rush had done. He couldn’t understand why they’d chosen Rush over him to head the Ninth Chevron/Icarus Base project in the first place.

Okay. He could understand it but he didn’t have to like it. Everyone knew the only person in the universe almost as intelligent as he was, was Sam Carter… well, maybe his sister too but that was it. Okay, maybe Zelenka as a third but it would never do to tell him. Rush was way down on the list. Way down.

And now they wanted him to fix the mess?

“Mr. Woolsey? I--”

“General Landry already called me and your jumper leaves in about forty-five minutes. Go pack.”

*

Colonel Samantha Carter was winding her way back to Earth as quickly as possible. This was a disaster! Her ship had taken some damage but they’d not been the focus of the attack. The attack had been directed almost entirely on the small base. She suspected the use of the Stargate to dial the ninth chevron had been what made the unstable naquadah core of the planet blow though, not the hits from the invaders.

She poured herself another cup of coffee and stretched. This day had already seemed a month long. She wondered who did this. Were there enough of the Lucian Alliance left? They’d used Goa’uld ships so that was one vote for the Alliance. No one was even sure who had taken over leadership of the group since they’d finally ended the Ori incursion.

If only they knew where the ninth chevron went. Now they might never know.

~~~


Chapter Three

- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado

Jonathan O’Neill did not get much of a chance to orient himself before he and his team were thrown into the fire. Morning came with the news about the Icarus base being destroyed as well as the planet the base was located on, planet P4X-351.

Jonathan had not had time to catch up on all the mission reports so he knew little of the ninth chevron though he had read some of the Pegasus Galaxy and the Atlantis mission. He was surprised they hadn’t sent Daniel on that one. All that Ancient stuff was right up his alley.

SG-1 was seated around the conference table in the briefing room. General Landry entered the room.

“You already know, no doubt, that the Icarus base on planet P4X-351 was attacked and the entire planet blew when the naquadria core became unstable.”

Mitchell spoke. “I suppose we have no idea who did this.”

“Not yet. They were in Goa’uld ships but that doesn’t mean anything,” Landry answered. “Our first thought is that they could be the Lucian Alliance. After all, our Intel about where to find this planet came from them but I can’t see what they’d profit from blowing it up.”

“Maybe they really meant to gate to the ninth chevron destination,” Daniel added.

“The Lucian Alliance is all about power and profit so if it wouldn’t sell, they probably would have no interest in it.” Vala had been associated with the Alliance before she had hijacked the Prometheus and taken Daniel Jackson prisoner. That made her their resident expert.

Jonathan had read some about Vala and about the Lucian Alliance since he met her last night. Evidently they had sort of moved in when the Goa’uld ceased to be a power in the galaxy. They were a group of thieves and smugglers with no scruples whatsoever. They were a perfect fit for the power vacuum left by the Goa’uld.

Landry cleared his throat and they all quieted. “You and SG-18 will fly to the place where the planet was first, then you will try to contact the Lucian Alliance to see what they wanted or even if it was really them.”

“How will we get there?”

“You’ll be on the Daedalus.”

“Wouldn’t we be less conspicuous in an Al’Kesh?” Mitchell pondered.

“Maybe but we don’t have one at our disposal at this time. The one belonging to the Jaffa is the only one we have access to and it’s not available right now. The Daedalus will have to do for now. Perhaps Ms. Mal Doran can help us figure out how to procure something less ‘conspicuous’.”

“So Sheppard and Dex are coming with us? All of SG-18 or just them?”

“Emmagen and Lorne will be along as well. Wouldn’t want to break up the team.” Landry smiled. “And, no, before you ask. No McKay. He’ll be coming here to work with Col. Carter on figuring where those eighty people are.”

There was a group wide sigh of relief. McKay was brilliant but he was a pain in the butt in a way that no one else could compare.

SG-1 dispersed to get their gear ready. They’d beam up to the Daedalus in two hours and be on their way.

*

“So who is it, Jackson?” Cameron was curious what Daniel thought.

“Not the Lucian Alliance that I knew. They would have figured a way to steal everything first then killed everyone.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m thinking too. But who? New bad guys?”

Daniel sighed. “I hope not. Every time we’ve rid ourselves of one dangerous enemy, another has popped up and I’m getting a little tired of fighting. I must be getting old.”

Mitchell clapped him on the back. “We all are, after these last few missions. We all are.”

*

Jonathan was packing his gear. He didn’t know much about the Lucian Alliance and the Ori but the enemies he had fought were bad enough. Surely none of them were worse than Goa’uld?

He hadn’t had time to reflect any on how odd it was to be back here and to actually not be Jack O’Neill. He had worried that it never would be possible but the new team members seemed to have no trouble treating him as a different person. Daniel was a little different but then he’d never had any respect for O’Neill’s rank in the first place. He’d considered O’Neill a friend and an equal in most ways though he did obey when he needed to. Most of the time.

This could be fun, in a totally strange sort of way.

He wondered if he’d get in trouble for downloading ‘The Simpsons’ when he got back. He smiled as he thought of Homer. Some things never changed at all.

*

Vala actually felt a sense of dread. She hated going against the Lucian Alliance and she hoped with all her heart that this was not their work. They were more dangerous in some ways than the Goa’uld. You knew the Goa’uld were evil and you knew you could never trust one of them at all. But the Alliance… they were humans and looked just like everyone else. They were capable of being your friend one minute and sticking a knife in your back the next.

On an entirely different note, the new boy was a clone! That was even weirder than all of Baal’s clones running around all over the galaxy. He did look like General O’Neill must have looked as a young man but why on earth would he want to come back here to work, when he had the whole earth to choose from?

She sometimes had nightmares about what would happen when SG-1 finally disbanded or when she got too old to be a member any more. Would they put her in a cell at Area 51 as they had some of the Goa’uld prisoners? Would Mitchell and Daniel still be her friends? Maybe she could hang out on Chulak with Muscles…

A knock on her door interrupted her thoughts. “Ready?” It was Cam. She nodded, hefted her pack and followed him.

They were aboard the Daedalus\ in just a few minutes and getting ready to go into hyper drive to make twenty some odd light year trip to the empty space where the Icarus base had been located only a few hours before.

~~~~~


Chapter Four

- An unknown location somewhere in the galaxy

The commander looked at his fleet outside the viewport of his mother ship. He hadn’t wanted to sacrifice those ships and wouldn’t have if he’d known just how unstable that damned planet had been. He meant to drive the humans away, take what he needed and then blow it and run. But it hadn’t worked out that way.

He sighed.

He hadn’t meant to tip his hand quite so quickly either. He needed time to gather as much naquadah as possible, to control so much that he could set the prices himself. Then he’d sell it to the humans and others who would need it to power their ships at as high a price as he could command. And they would be beholden to him. Again.

“Sir? You sent for me?” The officer looked nervous, even scared. He had no doubt heard of the fate of those who failed their commander.

“Yes. What happened? You weren’t supposed to lose your whole fleet.”

“The USS George Hammond, sir. It was sitting in orbit.”

“Damn! SG-1! I might have known!” He slammed his fist against the arm of his chair. “This was your only chance to make a mistake like that. Next time, you will pay for it.”

“Yes sir!”

“Now go through the list of planets with naquadah deposits and find out if any more are as unstable as that one and also find out if any are remote enough to move in a take over quietly.”

“Yes sir.”

The officer bowed and left the room.

The commander smiled and stretched his arms over his head rather like a cat stretching. “So we meet shall again, SG-1. I’ve been waiting for this for quite a while.”

*

- Aboard the Daedalus

The ship was underway. The trip was fairly short but no one knew exactly what they were expected to find. As far as they knew, when the planet had blown, it had obliterated everything around it.

SG-1 was on the bridge with Col. Caldwell. Caldwell always seemed a bit on the grumpy side but he was a good man. They all knew that, having spent a bit of time with him over the years.

“So just what are we looking for?” Caldwell asked Mitchell.

Mitchell shrugged. “Beats me. I guess we’ll know when see it.”

They arrived a few minutes later. The space where the planet had been was not empty. It was filled with… dust. There were small pieces of planet, ships and whatever else had been almost completely incinerated. Very small pieces.

“Holy hell! Look at that.” Mitchell said.

“Think there’s anything to find in that debris field?” Jonathan asked.

“Nothing much bigger than a baseball, I’d say,” Mitchell answered.

“Is there any reason for us to gather up any of this?” Vala asked. “We already know what hit the base and we know the naquadria caused the planet to explode.”

Mitchell shrugged. “She’s right. Not much to find out here, as far as I can see.”

“So where do we go from here?” Jackson asked Mitchell.

“I say we contact General Landry and tell him what we’ve found.”

So they did just that. Landry ordered them back to base, saying he had some ideas he wanted to bounce off of them.

*

- Jack O’Neill’s office in the Pentagon

Jack sat and thought about what had happened. He knew where those eighty people went, and he knew they weren’t coming back any time soon, if ever. And he knew that he had Dr. Rush to thank for that. Dr. Rush and himself.

Not much more than an hour after the attack, Rush had used the communication stones to let O’Neill know what had happened.

O’Neill slammed his fist on his desk. Dammit all to hell! He should have known better than to trust Rush. The man was obsessed and he had nothing to lose either since his wife had died. Jack knew how that felt. That was how he felt when he’d first gone through that Stargate after Charlie had died.

The hell of it was that he couldn’t tell SG-1 what had happened to those people. He might be head of Homeworld Security but there were people he had to answer to also and they did not want anyone at the SGC to know the fate of those eighty people yet. He knew that Carter knew, but he couldn’t tell any of the others yet. Not even General Landry, though Landry was sure to guess the truth anyway.

They would all give him hell when they did find out. His only consolation was that he had refused to let Jackson go with them. He couldn’t have stood losing Jackson. Again.

*

- Aboard the USS George Hammond

Sam Carter knew where those people from Icarus base had gone. She told Jack as much. But she also knew that since it was officially speculation on her part, she would say nothing to anyone else. McKay would figure it out soon enough when he had the facts. She suspected that SG-1 would figure it out too as soon as they knew more about what happened.

She smiled. Not much got by her old teammates.

Or the new one either.

She’d just remembered that this was the week that the Jack O’Neill clone that Loki had made was to join Stargate Command as a brand new Second Lieutenant. She had been a little surprised when he’d gone to the Academy and proud that he’d finished so well when he graduated. She would never tell him but she’d kept up with him through his years in high school and college at the Air Force Academy.

She looked forward to meeting the grown up Jonathan O’Neill, as he called himself now. She hoped he’d still be at the SGC when she got there but Landry had indicated that they’d be heading out on the Daedalus while her ship was in for some repairs from the damage they’d taken in the short fight at Icarus base.

They came out of hyperspace and she let Landry know that she was headed in.

~~~


Chapter Five

- Stargate Command, Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado

The Daedalus and the George Hammond had arrived back in orbit. The George Hammond needed some repairs so Carter had left the ship in the capable hands of her second in command, Major Jane McCoy. She arrived back at the SGC at almost the same time SG-1 beamed in from their assignment aboard theDaedalus.

They all were called in to the conference room. Landry was waiting for them at the head of the table. He nodded when everyone was seated.

“We have had a report of another attack. This was on another planet that had substantial naquadah deposits. Though the planet was habitable, the only people there were the miners and their families. Oddly enough their Stargate was not destroyed. It would appear that all their settlements were destroyed. There were quite a few survivors, who will be gating to a secure off world site as we speak.”

Carter looked angry. There had been nothing she could do to save Icarus base and now this. She took it as an almost personal affront, which was a bit unlike Carter. “Sir, I still have no idea who they were. They kept radio silence so we got no clues from transmissions and evidently there were no ships left to chase. All I know is they were Goa’uld ships.”

“That would point to the Lucian Alliance,” Landry said, “but they took nothing.”

“Certainly not like the Alliance I knew,” Vala stated as she had before.

“I called you all here for another reason. We have contacted Jonas Quinn. Even though the naquadria is mostly gone, that planet still has large deposits of naquadah. They could be in danger. I am sending the Daedalus there.”

“What about the security team, the miners and the Unas on P3X-403?” Daniel Jackson had made friends with the Unas and felt protective of them. They had suffered much abuse as the very first Goa’uld hosts then as slave labor later on more than one planet.

“We have notified the security team,” Jackson asked.

“But what of the Unas?”

Landry sighed. “That is a problem we have not yet solved. There are so many of them and as you know only too well, they will not leave their sacred ground.”

Jackson sat and sighed. He’d think of something. He had to.

Mitchell spoke up. “Sir, can we really protect either planet? From what Carter says, we don’t have the ships to fight them anywhere they strike.”

“Nor can we evacuate a planet as populated as Langara is,” Carter added.

“Then I guess we have to find them and stop them, don’t we?” Vala asked.

“In order to do that, we have to figure who they are,” Daniel said.

Jonathan hadn’t said anything, being the junior member, but he finally spoke up. “No, we don’t. We just have to catch them.”

Landry nodded at Jonathan and continued, “Which brings me back to Langara and P3X-403. If we are watching, maybe we can catch a scout ship before the rest arrive to attack those planets. Maybe then we can find out who they are.”

*

SG-18 actually had not gone on the mission to check out the space around the Icarus planet. They’d still been off world on a mission and were briefed by Landry and SG-1 when they returned.

Sheppard shrugged as if it mattered little but then he always acted that way. “So what exactly are we going to do?”

“Watch the planets we think they may hit,” Mitchell answered.

“That’s it?”

“Until we figure out what else to do, it is.”

“Seems like we ought to be fighting someone… about something.”

Landry laughed. “Colonel Sheppard, you’ve said that on every mission you’ve been sent on since you got here. You have the attention span of a gnat. Fighting the Wraith so often must have spoiled you.”

“So who is going where?” Sheppard asked.

Jackson spoke up. “I’d like to go to the mining planet. I know the Unas leader and the language. I can be of help if we need to move the inhabitants.”

Landry thought a moment. “Carter, ideally I would send you on the George Hammond but I think some repairs are in order before we put out into space with it again. The Odyssey is available as is the Daedalus.”

They talked for some time about who to send where and finally decided to send Jackson with Sheppard’s team to the mining planet while the rest of SG-1 would go to Langara with Carter and possibly McKay joining them later.

*

Landry contacted Jonas Quinn on Langara. Quinn, though somewhat alarmed by the news, said he would be glad to see SG-1 again. He said there had been no reports of any unidentified ships within sensor range of his planet so far though he felt sure they would eventually come, if it was naquadah they were after.

Col. Edwards was likewise concerned by the news. He reported all was well with the Unas but he said he would be more than glad for Jackson to try to explain to them what was happening in the skies above their home.

*

- Jack O’Neill’s office in the Pentagon, Washington, DC

“Sir, General Landry on the line.”

Jack pressed the button on his phone. “O’Neill here.”

“Sir, they are all set to go. We will be going to Langara and P3X-403 to watch for our attackers. We figure those two planets are the most likely targets for anyone wanting to steal or destroy naquadah mines.”

“That would seem reasonable. SG-1 find anything at Icarus base?”

“Dust. They said there was nothing left bigger than a baseball.”

“Damn. I was hoping for a clue.”

“We all were. Any word on the base personnel, sir?”

“Not yet. They went somewhere. We just don’t know where.” It was nearly the truth. As near as he could tell anyway.

“I’ll keep you apprised of what is happening.”

“Thank you.”

*

All the teams had reported to their duty stations and both ships were ready to head out. No one seemed to have a good feeling about any of this, especially Landry. He hated sending his people out to fight an unknown foe. He sure hoped they all returned safely home when this was over.

~~


Chapter Six

- In the office of Jonas Quinn, Langara

Jonas hugged Samantha as soon he saw her. He was a little older but still as eager and positive as he had ever been.

“I’m glad to see you even if the circumstances could be better.” He asked after Jack, Daniel, Teal’c and others he’d met in his year as a member of SG-1. It had taken a lot of time to put Daniel’s death behind him. It was not easy to be responsible for a good man dying, even if the man had come back and was now alive and well.

“We plan on lurking in orbit around your planet for awhile. General Landry thinks whoever the raiders are that they will eventually show up here. Your planet has too many people to evacuate and we’re still concerned about the naquadria deep in the core,” Samantha told him.

“I’ve called a meeting of the Ruling Council. I plan on telling the whole truth. They must know, even if there is little they can do.”

“Well, you can have your planetary defenses ready. Perhaps they will be enough to help. You are rather well armed.”

“I hope so. All those weapons we aimed at one another for so long ought to be good for something. Will you all join me for dinner tonight?”

They all agreed and SG-1 spent a pleasant evening listening to Jonas tell stories about things he had done when he was at the SGC. Cam and Vala had never heard some of them as not everything makes its way into official reports. If Jonas noticed how much the youngest SG-1 member looked like Jack O’Neill, he never said anything at all.


*

- At the mining camp on P3X-403

Daniel and SG-18 met with Col. Edwards, who was as by the book as ever except where the Unas were concerned.

“Jackson, I’ll let you talk to them. Some of the men know a few of their words but for some reason, they consider you a friend.” It still rankled a bit that Jackson had been right about the Unas and it rankled that he’d had to bow to them too but they were still alive and still mined more naquadah than all the other sources combined. The Unas were responsible for this so he had made his peace with them, even respected them somewhat.

Jackson nodded. He wished Chaka was here but he thought he could talk with the Unas leader without him. He just had no idea what he was going to say. How do you tell an intelligent but primitive creature that someone might blow them up from outer space?

*

- Jack O’Neill’s office in the Pentagon


Rodney McKay was still on earth. He was in Washington, as a matter of fact, being briefed by Jack O’Neill about what Dr. Rush had done.

“Is there any way to know where they went?” Jack asked.

“Well, if I can’t figure it out, no one can and I have no idea how to do it without a DHD to check or some way to trace their dialing sequence.”

“We have the address but we don’t have the power to dial it. Can’t you make a bridge or something like you did to Atlantis?”

Jack was prepared to be treated like a fool but it irritated him nonetheless. How anyone stood this man, he didn’t know. Rush was annoying and aggravating but McKay was even worse.

“If we could do that, Dr. Rush wouldn’t have needed to find a giant naquadria planet to get enough power to dial it. It simply takes too much power. Even Langara doesn’t have enough naquadria or naquadah to do the job. Wherever they went, they will stay unless there is a power source there much stronger than what we have.”

Jack frowned. “I was afraid you’d say that. You may go. If you hurry, you can catch up with Carter or with Sheppard. The choice is yours.”

McKay was flown back to Colorado where he gated to P3X-403 to join his Atlantis team.

*

- Planet P3X-403

Daniel Jackson was hiking to the place where he had met with the Unas leader before. He got lost a few times but he finally found his way. He felt their eyes on him too. He knew they were watching but they would still make him wait. He had meal bars in his pockets, as well as a new lighter and a nice shiny knife as gifts for the leader.

He found the place and lit a fire as Chaka had done then he sat to wait as Chaka taught him, ‘for as long as it takes.’ He sat for only an hour before the leader and his personal entourage showed up. Daniel greeted them as friends, offering them his fire to warm by and giving them each food bars as hospitality demanded.

It took a little bit for Jackson to get back into the swing of the language but he did so finally and he began to explain about the ships and what might come.

The Unas had seen ships come and go as the naquadah was often hauled away by freighters. They understood about them but they did not understand why anyone would destroy their world. It was almost beyond their comprehension. Daniel explained as best he could that the space ships were fueled by the rocks they mined for Col. Edwards and that some men who were not their friends wanted to destroy the rocks and would destroy the Unas too.

Iron Shirt, as Jackson had named him, listened to his words and seemed to be pondering his options.

“Jackson help?”

Daniel nodded. “If I can,” he spoke slowly in the Unas tongue.

“How Jackson help?”

“We take Unas to new home through Stargate.”

Iron Shirt sat for a bit, seemingly deep in thought. Finally he spoke again. “We no leave. This our holy ground. We stay. If gods take us, we die with honor.”

Daniel couldn’t argue with that. He’d known that is what they’d say to him. He nodded.

“Very well. Then we will try to make the bad men go away. If they come, we die with honor too.”

He meant the words too. Daniel did not fear death and he would not desert a friend, any friend. He got the rest of his gifts out and gave them to the chieftain and his men. They reciprocated with a new stone knife for Daniel and a bracelet woven from some sort of tree bark with tiny stones braided into it. He put the knife in his belt and the bracelet on his arm. He bid them goodnight and made his way back to the mining camp.

Daniel Jackson was determined to save these people, as determined as he’d ever been to do anything.

~~~