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Hailey Russell
Author of 11 Stories |
Evaluations, Justifications and Decisions…oh my
“Why did you not ask the Asgard to accompany you on your quest for an alliance with us?” Zeldona asked. “Do you value their assistance?”
“Yeah. They’ve come through for us on a number of occasions,” Jack said.
“Then why did you not seek their assistance this time? After all, they know more about us than you do. And more about you than we do. They would make excellent witnesses for you.”
“Yes, they would,” Daniel said.
Jack nodded. “I guess we just didn’t think about it.”
“This is no surprise. You have already shown a willingness to walk into a situation you know little about without first seeking the aid of those who know more about the situation.”
Jack rolled his eyes. “Isn’t that horse dead enough already?”
“You’re right,” Daniel said. “We should have asked the Asgard for help.”
“We’ve beaten the Goa’uld plenty of times without their help,” Jack pointed out. “Besides, they’re too busy with something else.”
“This has nothing to do with beating the Goa’uld, Jack.”
“Um, I believe you’re wrong about that, wise young Daniel.”
“Jack?”
“We came here to form an alliance against the Goa’uld. Now, how can this have nothing to do with the Goa’uld?”
“Right. It’s about the alliance.”
“Against the Goa’uld.”
Daniel sighed.
“The young need more assistance than they think they do but are unwilling to seek it.”
“We’re seekin’ it now aren’t we?” Jack asked heatedly.
“Jack, settle down,” Daniel said quietly. ”We’re not going to get anywhere by arguing with them.”
“We’re not going to get anywhere with them no matter what we do.”
“I’d like to request a recess,” Daniel said.
“Of course. We will resume when you are ready.” Zeldona led her minions to wherever they spent their days when they weren’t dealing with petulant, inferior races.
Daniel walked toward the door SG-1 had always used to enter this room.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“I don’t know, Jack. I’m probably not smart enough to figure it out.”
Jack sighed.
“You kinda asked for that, sir.”
Jack started to glare at his 2IC then nodded and headed out after Daniel.
“Why?” Daniel asked pushing away from the wall.
“Because if you weren’t in there,” Jack indicated the village with his thumb.
“No, why were you looking for me?”
“Oh. Well, I just wanted to say that I, uh, did it again.”
“Did what again?”
“Look, you’re obviously way smarter than me, and I guess sometimes I get a little…jealous.” Jack scraped some mud off the wall with his fingernail.
“Jealous?”
“People are always praising you and Carter for making leaps and figuring stuff out. And Teal’c being an alien naturally draws admiration and wonder. Not to mention his fierce loyalty and boundless wisdom.”
“You feel glossed over?”
“I guess.” Jack pulled a bug off the wall and squished it between his thumb and finger.
“Well, you’re renowned for you tactical intelligence.”
“I don’t know that you’d call it intelligence.” Jack shook the bug off his fingers and wiped them on the wall to clean them. “It took years to learn it.”
“Well, it took Sam years to learn astrophysics and engineering and me years to learn languages and archeology.”
Jack found another bug and flicked it.
Daniel bit his bottom lip in an effort not to laugh as Jack widened his eyes when the bug went flipping though the air, pounding its wings to no effect. “My point is, you’re way smarter than me when it comes to tactical stuff.”
“It’s called strategic command.”
“See, I didn’t know that.”
“Anyway, I was annoyed, irritated, wrong. I didn’t mean to say you’re not smart because you’re still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.”
“You were right though. I’m not as wise as they think.”
“You never claimed to be.”
“Not aloud anyway. I mean, I may have briefly entertained the possibility.”
Jack shrugged. “Sure, anybody would. But you didn’t act on it.”
“No.”
“So you think they’ll agree?”
“To an alliance with us?”
“Yeah.”
“I honestly don’t know. And even if they do, it might not be much better than the alliance we have with the Tok’ra. I hate to say it, but we may have just wasted our time here.”
“You think Thor suspects?”
“Thor has more faith in us than anybody. Even Jacob.”
“So, no.”
“I think if Thor could have been here with us, our position would be better.”
“Yeah. Damn replicators.”
“Yeah.”
Daniel watched Jack play with another bug before they decided to go back inside the city. “Hey, about that jealousy thing.”
“I won’t mention it,” Daniel said. “Yet.”
Jack turned to him, and Daniel smiled.
“Yeah, well,” Jack said casually. “Remember after the boat capsized and our clothes got covered in that stuff and we had to leave them at the water?”
Daniel sighed. “I wouldn’t dream of mentioning your brief bout with jealousy.”
“Nice touch.”
“But,” Jack said.
“However, we believe that an alliance between our peoples at this time would not be wise.”
“Why not?” Jack asked.
“You are still too young.”
“Oh, for cryin’ out loud. It’s because we didn’t ask the Asgard for help isn’t it? Or, because we botched the maze.”
“We only did that to help Daniel,” Sam piped up.
“We value people over proving our worth to others,” Teal’c added.
“Or is it because we messed up that battle test?” Jack demanded. “Because that wasn’t completely our fault. You guys didn’t explain everything. Anything really,” he added under his breath.
“You could have asked for clarification or assistance at any time during any of the tests,” Zeldona said with unfaltering patience.
“Well, we didn’t know that!” Jack said defensively. “Did we?” he asked Daniel with a hint of accusation in his tone.
“Well, it makes sense,” Daniel answered. “They showed up right after the battle and knew how we’d opened the door without us telling them. It just never occurred to me to suggest asking for help. I thought the whole point of the tests was to see how we handled things.”
“You are correct,” Zeldona said. “Would not seeking assistance and clarification be an alternative way of handling a situation?”
“Yes, it would,” Daniel conceded.
“Look, whatever mistakes we made, we can learn from them.”
“Right,” Daniel said pointing at Jack. “That’s one of the best ways people learn on our world.”
“It is not very efficient.”
“Well, no,” Daniel said.
“In time you may return and submit your request again. That is all we will offer.”
“Well, it’s not enough.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Look, why can’t you just share some of your technology with us? Let us borrow it, take it home to study. Carter’ll figure it out in no time, and you’ll have it back. You can even send a representative along to make sure we don’t hurt ourselves.”
“That is not a good idea.”
“Why not?” Jack asked frustrated.
“We cannot simply allow you to leave with our technology.”
“We’ll give it back.”
“You are too young,” Zeldona said firmly.
“Well, that’s a lot nicer than calling us ‘primitive’ or ‘inferior’ but so help me if I hear that one more time-”
“Jack.”
“Daniel. I am tired of getting the run around all the time.” He stepped toward Zeldona. ”So we’re not as old as you. But what we lack in age, I’ll bet we’ve made up for in experience.”
“You may be correct.”
“Well, then throw us a bone for cryin’ out loud!”
“We do not possess anything resembling a ‘bone’. To what are you referring?”
Jack threw his hands in the air, turned around and walked toward the back of the room. “Daniel.”
“Um, what Colonel O’Neill means is we would appreciate a little help. Please.”
“You cannot make demands of us.”
“Did’ya hear him say please?” Jack asked as he paced back to Daniel’s side.
“We know we’re in no position to make demands. You’re much more qualified and powerful than us. But we’re also desperate.”
“Do you not have other allies?”
“Yeah. Problem is we get the same bullshit from them.”
Daniel covered his eyes and sighed.
“If your other allies view you as too young, why do you not simply accept your place?”
“Oh come on!”
“Because we have no choice,” Daniel said stepping between Jack and Zeldona and raising his voice to be heard over Jack. “We’re explorers. We’re curious. Sometimes, that leads to our undoing. But not all the time. Great discoveries have been made because somebody was curious. I’m sure there are curious people in your race too.”
“Yeah. How could you develop all this too wonderful to share technology if nobody was curious?” Jack asked.
“Ok. Maybe we should have left the stargate alone when we found it. The point is we didn’t and we’ve handled the consequences. Maybe not as well as you would have. But we’re doing the best we can. And we can do better if we have help.”
“You wish us to help you clean up a mess you made?”
“There’s no talkin’ to these guys,” Jack said to Daniel. “They twist everything we say. And they’ve had it in for us since we trespassed into that weapon room. Probably even from the moment they saw how young we are.”
“We have told you your inadvertent discovery of that room was not a test.”
“Yeah, you say that.”
“You said we should have asked for help,” Daniel interrupted. “We see that we should have, and we’ve learned from that mistake.”
“How?”
“By asking for help now.”
“We will pause to consider your case one last time,” Zeldona said as if she was granting a special privilege. Like a small child being allowed to stay up late and watch a scary movie with the big kids.
“We have the option of appealing our denial of an alliance. We’re too young and hasty. Oh and we have hope.” Jack offered. “When’s the debrief, sir?”
“In the morning, Colonel. After you’ve all rested and had a chance to-“
“Permission to start resting now/?”
“Go ahead,” Hammond said glancing at the rest of SG-1.
Jack nodded at Hammond and strode out of the gate room.
“What happened?” the General asked.
“Well, basically what Jack said.” Daniel stepped off the ramp. “The Zirdins denied our request because they think we haven’t evolved enough or had enough experience. Zeldona said if we try again in a few years we could have a significantly better chance of an alliance. She said it was a guaranteed hope.”
“What does that mean?” Hammond asked.
“I think it means she’d like to see us again and we have a strong hope that next time they’ll help us.” He started to leave but stopped. “Hope may not be a physical weapon, but if we can bring it to those wanting to be free, then the Goa’uld won’t stand a chance.”
“I concur,” Teal’c said.
General Hammond nodded his agreement. “Thor sent another message while you were gone,” he said. “It’s in the control room. We’ll debrief at 0800 tomorrow.”
“Yes, sir,” Sam said.
“Welcome back.” Hammond nodded at them and left the gate room.
“I’m sure the Colonel will come to understand about hope,” Sam said as she headed for the control room with Daniel and Teal’c.
“I believe he already understands,” Teal’c said.
“He’s just not ready to admit it,” Daniel added. “We just have to give him time.”
Startled, Daniel looked up from some notes. “Oh, um, he was checking in. He wanted to know how things were going with the Zirdins. Sam, Teal’c and I filled him in. He promises to put in a good word for us when he gets a chance.”
“Yeah?” Jack smiled and removed a pile of books and papers from a chair.
“Sounds like it could be a while though. Damn replicators?”
“They have no respect.”
Daniel smiled. “And surprisingly they don’t care.”
“Sorry, I disappeared and left you guys with the cleanup.”
“It’s ok. Debriefing’s in the morning. Eight, I think.”
“Yeah, I know. I talked to Hammond.”
“Am I interrupting?” Teal’c asked from the doorway.
“Not at all,” Daniel said. “What’s up?”
Teal’c glanced at Jack.
“Uh, I got some stuff… Dinner at eight? I’ll tell Carter.”
“Sure.”
Teal’c inclined his head in agreement.
“Come to call in your marker?” Daniel asked.
“I have.”
“Just don’t make me go fishing.”
“I would never force such servitude upon you, Daniel Jackson.”
“Good. So, what can I do for you?”
“I require assistance with this.” Teal’c took a folded piece of paper from his breast pocket and handed it to Daniel.
“Wow, Teal’c,” Daniel said reading the paper. “This, this is beautiful. What could you possibly need help with?”
“I have read that there is an old earth legend similar to this.”
“Yeah,” Daniel said scratching his head and rereading some of the words. “Yeah, I remember reading something like…” He got up from his desk and went to a shelf. He pulled out a book and turned to survey the room. “It might take a while to find,” he said with a small laugh. “How soon do you want it?”
“Two and a half months.”
“Oh, I’m sure I can find it by then.”
“I wish to compile a group of similar stories from many cultures and planets to present to Rya’c on his next birthday.”
“I thought Jaffa didn’t give birthday gifts.”
“It will be my first time doing so.”
Daniel smiled. “Well, this is a very special start. I’m sure Rya’c will love it. Oh, you know, there’s a story Nyan told me. And Sha’re told me this story once about an Abydonian princess-“
“I would be grateful for you assistance, Daniel Jackson.”
“Sure. You know, you didn’t have to wait for me to owe you one, Teal’c. I would have been glad to help anyway.”
Teal’c smiled the same way he had in that cell. “I know. However, I wanted to leave you guessing.”
Daniel sighed and laughed. “The only drawback to hanging around Jack O’Neill.”
Teal’c continued to smile.
“Hey, keep an eye on the clock, ok. Jack’s had a rough couple of days. I don’t want him to have to come drag us to dinner. And you know how I get lost sometimes.”
“Indeed,” Teal’c said in a tone reminiscent of every time he’d ‘babysat’ a lost Daniel. Of course, Daniel was already on his way to getting lost and didn’t notice. But that was ok with Teal’c. He wanted this present for Rya’c to be memorable, and he knew he’d come to the right man for help.
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