To The Victor, The Spoils

by Lex

This was originally printed in the zine Gateways 5

...The initial view of the city shows a combination of highly advanced structures with what are obviously historical features liberally scattered amongst them. It is recommended the preliminary survey team takes sufficient equipment to investigate potential scientific and medical discoveries, as well as archaeological finds...                 
MALP Report, P2X714, Dr. D. Jackson (SG-1)

The smell was terrible. And it was getting worse the closer they got to the gate room. Colonel O'Neill raised a sleeve to his nose, wondering when his team was going to notice the foul odour. Daniel and Carter were deep in conversation, one yabbering about new cultures, the other yabbering about power sources and the potential for something incomprehensible. Hmm, yabbering. To yabber. Hey, maybe he'd invented a word. Have to drop it into conversation with Daniel some time and see whether those sharp linguistic skills picked up on it.

He rounded another corner and the intensity of the smell increased dramatically. O'Neill stopped abruptly, causing Daniel and Carter to barrel into the back of him. Jesus, what the hell was producing that...

"What is that smell?"

...stench.

"Welcome back, Daniel." The archaeologist gave him a look that said 'I didn't go anywhere; what kind of fool are you?' and walked past O'Neill down the last few feet of corridor into the gate room. Carter screwed up her face against the odorous onslaught and followed him. O'Neill looked to Teal'c who gestured for him to lead the way, his features impassive as always.

"Don't you have a sense of smell?" O'Neill groused, reluctantly heading toward the source of his disgust. He joined his team huddling in a corner behind a couple of rather pale SFs, as far away from the smell as they could get and still be in the room.

SG-9 were transporting what looked - and unfortunately smelled - like a year's supply of bad yak's milk back through the Stargate. Major Hargrove spotted SG-1 and wandered over.

"Trying to drive the Goa'uld away by turning their stomachs, Hargrove?" O'Neill asked, one hand held under his nose in a vain attempt to block the stink assailing his senses.

"That's funny, sir," the major said. "Apparently Dr. Rush didn't quite understand the language as well as she thought she did. We were after mining rights and got... this." He gestured resignedly to the dozen vats now lined up against the wall, gaily spreading their vile stench throughout the facility.

"Nice."

"Well, actually that's an easy mistake to make," Daniel spoke up. "Their words for 'mine' and 'milk' have the same root and-"

"Thank you, Daniel," O'Neill interrupted, "I'm sure Dr. Rush has figured that out by now." A thought occurred to him, and he turned back to Hargrove. "Why didn't you just tell them you'd got it wrong?"

"Apparently it's extremely bad form to refuse such a trade."

"Well she's definitely right about that," Daniel said. "The Ranten response would be to have the refusee beheaded immediately. The partrute - the source of the milk - is their sacred animal."

O'Neill saw his own revulsion reflected on Hargrove's face. "I guess yak milk isn't so bad."

Hargrove shrugged, turning back to his straggling team-mate. "You kind of get used to the smell after a few hours," he said, his wrinkled nose belying his words.

O'Neill followed the major's gaze back to the linguist still standing on the ramp. She was beetroot red and apparently at a loss over what to do next. He'd feel sorry for her, if it wasn't for the undeniably awful smell she'd subjected everyone to. Happily, SG-1 would be out of here and breathing fresh air just as soon as they could dial up.

"Please clear the ramp."

The announcement over the loudspeaker had absolutely no effect on the distraught linguist.

"Dr. Rush, please clear the ramp to enable SG-1 to depart." The general's voice came on now, betraying his impatience. Surely he couldn't smell it from up there?

Rush's eyes drifted to the control room, then back to the vats. She didn't move.

"I'll sort it out," Major Hargrove assured them. He strode over to his linguist, took a firm grasp of her elbow and towed her out of the room, muttering something that might have been encouragement. On the other hand, he could well have been threatening to make her drink every last drop if she ever did something quite so stupid again.

To O'Neill's profound gratitude, the Stargate began doing its thing, the chevrons lighting in quick succession. The kawoosh had barely settled when he was heading up the ramp. He gave the general his customary wave without even looking back and plunged into the wormhole.

The first breath he took on the other side was deep and rewarding. Warm, a little dry, with a faint tinge of pine, but blessedly free of the noxious fumes they'd left behind. The soft breeze took the edge off the strong midday sun doing its best to bleach the colours out of the rolling landscape.

"Oh, thank you, thank you," Daniel breathed, closing his eyes in a blissful show of appreciation.

"No kidding." O'Neill smiled as his second-in-command took a swig from her water bottle and spat.

"Sorry," she looked slightly abashed, "but you could literally taste that stuff."

He took another deep breath, letting his lungs fill with the air of a new planet and looked beyond the fields and woodland at the deserted city nestled between two low hills a couple of miles away.

"Let's move out, kids. We'll see if we can find you some cool toys to play with."

...The reactor is still functioning, despite having been running unmaintained for approximately one hundred and fifty years. Readings indicate that the reactor core is 98% naquada, with an as yet unidentified element making up the remaining 2%...       
Preliminary Survey, P2X714, Major S. Carter (SG-1)

Carter checked the readings again, apparently satisfied. "It's definitely this building, sir."

O'Neill tilted his head back, studying the ivy covered walls, the broken windows and the various scorch marks and blast holes marring the structure's surface.

"How can anything still be working in there?" It was a rhetorical question; he had learned long ago not to question his 2IC when it came to working her doohickeys. She glanced back, giving him the benefit of veto, and he waved her on.

Carter walked through the dark doorway, pushing at the foliage encroaching on the space where a door had once been. She flicked on her flashlight; its beam joined the limited sunlight filtering through the door and illuminated the dirt and leaf-covered floor of a spacious entrance hall. Several signs were on the walls, none of which O'Neill could translate. Luckily they came with user-friendly icons; the first one showed an elephant, one of the others was two figures standing in the rain, and that one was... he tilted his head - whoa, surely that would be classified as pornography on any planet that encouraged family values?

"Sir," Carter called from the opposite side of the entranceway, "the generator room is this way."

"And you know that how?" he asked as politely as he could.

She just pointed to the sign above her head. So, not an elephant then. "Of course," he said, in the way of people just noticing something for the first time.

"Shall we?" she asked, in the way of people not fooled for a single second.

The room turned out to be only ten feet down the corridor. In contrast to the entrance area, this door was strong and intact. The control area inside was spotlessly clean, barely a speck of dust in the whole place.

"Great cleaning service. Maybe I could get them to come round to my place." O'Neill could practically hear Carter's jaw creaking at that last remark. It was alright for her. She always had stuff to do on a mission. Either she was busy being the major or she was busy being the doctor, and a lot of the time she managed to be both. Even when the only thing happening was Daniel doing his 'we come in peace' thing, she was inexplicably fascinated.

He wandered slowly around the room, trying not to get in her way and at the same time trying to identify the consoles he could see. Nothing looked even vaguely familiar. He covertly checked his watch to find they'd only been there half an hour. Maybe scientists had some gene that set their boredom threshold way higher than normal humans. Take now as a case in point: Carter was excitedly using her gadgets and widgets to investigate some alien culture's gadgets and widgets, while her intelligent, experienced, witty commanding officer was about ready to break his own rules and start flicking switches at random just so something would happen. A nice explosion, perhaps.

"Colonel?"

O'Neill yanked his hand back from the control panel it had been innocently inching towards.

"Carter?" He smiled sweetly, knowing it would irritate the hell out of her.

"I think it might be a good idea for Teal'c to take a look and see if any of this technology is familiar. I can't really do much more without knowing what some of this apparatus does, and I don't want to risk entering the reactor room without a more thorough understanding."

"Excellent idea. If there's nothing I can do here, I'll go find out what Daniel's up to."

"That would be good, sir." She wasn't bothering to hide her relief. "Could you let him know I'll probably need his help later translating some of the documentation. Of course, I think he'll need to confer with Dr. Fraiser about some of the medical terminology when we get back to base, but I hope we can at least get a good idea of what's in the building."

"I'll tell him. Don't break anything while I'm gone." O'Neill swivelled smartly on his heel and walked out before she could change her mind. He paused in the entranceway to study the signs once more. Dismissing the elephant, the others should make more sense now. The two figures in the rain could indicate a decontamination unit somewhere, but that other one... thinking back to Carter's 'medical terminology' he peered at it more closely. And shuddered. He'd never seen the doc do that to anybody, and he had no wish to. Don't ask, don't tell was a definite bonus at times.

Now provided with a nauseating alternative to outright boredom, O'Neill headed back into the street, trying to fill his mind with nice calm thoughts of naquada reactors and instruction manuals.

...stacked floor to ceiling inside the main library, as well as a variety of other relevant information repositories dotted across the city. One building of note contains what appear to be artefacts from possibly one hundred other cultures, although a much more detailed study is needed before that number can be accurately stated...
Preliminary Survey, P2X714, Dr. D. Jackson (SG-1)

Daniel came to a halt in front of another promising building. The ivy slowly invading the city became less overgrown towards the centre, allowing considerably more of the original features of the structures to peek through. He flicked on his camera and panned down from the roof, capturing a variety of elaborate motifs covering almost every inch of the two-storeys. He zoomed in on the doorway in front of him, decorated with an intricate interweaving of planets and stylised humans. Continuing to film, he reached for his radio with his free hand.

"Guys, I'm investigating another building. I'm-" he lowered the camera and looked around, "-about one hundred yards south of that large monument in the square. The building's façade is covered in planet motifs, and I'll put a marker outside."

Jack's voice came back over the radio. "Acknowledged. We'll break for lunch in an hour, so try to keep an eye on the time, okay?"

"Fine," Daniel responded, his concentration already focussed inside the building as he tied a bright red ribbon around the thick stem of a vine.

He switched on his flashlight and pushed the door open. As had happened in another building, the internal lights flickered on as he walked in, and he stowed the flashlight. Three corridors led off the small, empty lobby. A quick "eenie, meenie, minie, mo...", and he turned right into a long corridor, the echo of his boots reverberating back at him from the unadorned walls. He peered into each of the open entranceways as he passed, seeing nothing of note - just small, vacant rooms lacking in identity. Puzzled, he turned around and checked the last room again. It was possibly ten feet across with the entrance in the middle of that span, the same as all the others, yet the distance between doorways was maybe twenty five feet. It just didn't add up.

He moved into the room, curious as to what he was missing. As he approached the wall, a faint hum slowed his steps. Cautiously he moved closer, encouraged when writing appeared on the previously unblemished surface. His fingers trailed across the letters, taking in the texture of the words now giving off a gentle blue glow.

Time to get to work.

He pulled out his notebook and pencil and copied down the first set of writing. The base was a unique mixture of runes and early Latin, somewhat developed since the time it was transplanted here. Slightly confusing initially, but once he'd established a basic pattern Daniel could at least get a rough translation. But this wasn't making a whole lot of sense: 'CR7 to DL3'.

He chewed the end of his pencil, frowning at the page. Well that was about as clear as mud. Unfazed, he moved to the next set and began to see a trend. 'DL3 to EB2'. It had to be some sort of classification system.

He stepped back a little and scanned the wall; it looked like one smooth surface. He moved in and scrutinised the polished finish intently. There! A very fine crack ran from floor to ceiling. He was absolutely certain now - these walls were hiding something.

A voice intruded on his discovery.

"Daniel Jackson?" The faint call drifted into the room.

"In here, Teal'c," he yelled back. He ran his fingers down the crack, searching for a hinge or some kind of release mechanism. He pressed firmly in various places, with no joy. There had to be some way in.

"I have decided to join you," Teal'c announced from the entranceway.

Daniel glanced over his shoulder. "Oh? Nothing take your-" His eyes lit on a small panel by the door, illuminated by the now familiar subtle blue light. "Of course, why didn't I think of that?" he muttered.

Teal'c moved aside as the archaeologist headed for his latest discovery. The panel was crammed with small buttons, each one identical. Daniel paused for maybe a second before reaching out a finger.

"Is that wise?"

Teal'c's question stayed his hand. He glanced up, only now really taking in the Jaffa's presence. "Well, nothing gives any indication of danger - there was no lock at the front entrance, and none of these rooms have doors so it all seems pretty innocuous. I think these buttons open... something." I hope.

He pushed one.

Immediately there was a screeching swoosh behind him from something badly in need of oiling. Daniel's head shot round to watch, his body following out of necessity. A section of the wall shuddered approximately five feet into the room before stopping in a flurry of burnt dust and abrupt silence. What had been revealed were shelves, neatly stacked with books, artefacts and numerous unfamiliar items. He moved rapidly across to it and checked the front. 'GD1 to ML2'.

"Oh wow," Daniel breathed. He plucked a small earthen jar from the top shelf that "looks Cretan, Teal'c", replaced it and fingered a delicate necklace inset with jade that "doesn't seem right, but then they could easily have different minerals on that planet," then moved on to pick up a thin glass tablet with a stylus clipped to one side. He pulled the stylus free, touched it to the surface of the tablet and was rewarded with a menu of options.

"What have you discovered?" Teal'c asked, visually inspecting a rather squashed bronze coloured sphere.

"My dream office." Daniel grinned at Teal'c's raised eyebrow. He waved at the items, the stylus pausing on various objects of interest as the archaeologist mentally catalogued them. "I think this whole room is like a filing cabinet. These artefacts are all labelled with a reference tag, which I'm hoping I can find somewhere in this, uh..." he held the tablet up for Teal'c's scrutiny, "...I guess it's their version of a report file."

Three of the icons on the tablet were planets with a name beside them. He tapped one of them. The resulting list of entries stunned him. Translating on the fly, he accessed entries covering the location of a planet - apparently where the artefacts originated from - environmental details, information on indigenous civilisations, history, levels of technology, other life (both flora and fauna)... a whole wealth of data including still pictures and video on each topic. Ideas, plans, tasks all flew through his mind at an increasing rate; there was so much here to do, to discover - to lead a project such as this would be infinitely satisfying, and he found himself fiercely coveting the role.

He let out his breath in one big puff, suddenly deflated. "Teal'c, this is overwhelming." He raised his eyes to the Jaffa. "If this room, even this tablet, is any indication, there's enough information in this building to keep the SGC's entire archaeological staff busy for several years." Just not me, he added silently, unexpectedly resentful of his place on a field team.

"If that is so, then you will need to hand over many of your current smaller tasks to others. How else will you have the time to oversee such a project alongside your missions with SG-1?" Teal'c commented.

How did he do that? "Teal'c, one of these days I'm going to get Sam to run some scientific tests on your psychic powers." Daniel shook his head at the innocent look that was his only reply. "Let me just get some film of this, then I want to take a look around and see what else we can find."

Teal'c answered a request from the colonel while Daniel carefully videoed the room, the shelves full of artefacts and the control panel, before pushing the button once more and filming the thankfully quieter rasping of the shelves returning snugly to their home. Satisfied, he dropped the camera into his pack.

"O'Neill wishes me to assist Major Carter," Teal'c said. "He is coming to 'check out' your discoveries."

"And make sure I'm not late for lunch," Daniel added. "Fine, I'll see you in about half an hour."

Together they walked back down the corridor; Daniel inspected a couple of rooms along the way to confirm his theory that each of them were brimming with items he just itched to study. They parted at the lobby, Daniel moving directly ahead to investigate the second corridor. As he suspected there were more rooms identical to those he'd already seen, containing potentially vast amounts of information. The electric buzz of anticipation was setting off uncontrollable vibrations in Daniel's stomach. He hadn't felt this exhilarated since... well, for some considerable time. He fought the temptations that sang to him from within the hidden treasure troves of each bare room and retraced his steps to the lobby once more. He headed down the final corridor, noting the location of a staircase for later investigation, and pushed open the double doors at the end of this much shorter passageway. And stopped dead.

His legs refused to co-operate with his brain. He wanted to move, to see every inch of the vast panorama he had uncovered, to investigate the technology and the artistry behind what he was seeing, but he couldn't. He was riveted in place by the unexpected magnificence of the display.

"You found the local planetarium?" Jack's voice in his left ear almost gave him a heart attack. "Very cool." For once Daniel appreciated the simplicity of the statement that perfectly summed up his own thoughts. Jack pushed past him into the room, wobbling slightly as he managed a full 360 without taking his eyes off the semi-spherical ceiling.

Daniel finally managed to uproot his own feet and walk in. "I think it's a map room, akin to the one on Abydos, but this one is astronomical." He moved across and studied the controls on the panels fixed on a four foot high central pillar. "I'm guessing what you see on the ceiling are the major constellations as seen from this planet. And it looks like if you, uh..." he fiddled with a couple of controls, not bothering to acknowledge the wince he just knew would be on Jack's face, "...do this, it'll illuminate the planets they've visited."

Small green dots appeared on the ceiling in rapid succession, each one accompanied by a blue label. Daniel started wandering slowly around the room, checking each of the labels in turn.

"There are records to accompany all of those dots, some a lot more detailed than others. Basically these people were anthropologists - or should that be xeno-anthropologists?" He shook his head at the unfamiliar term. "Anyway, they were the original 'peaceful explorers'."

"Beat us to it, huh?"

"By several hundred years, I think. Assuming that some of these planets are in the Stargate network, we'll learn an awful lot in one go about the civilisations on those planets."

Jack finally took his attention off the starmap. "Only some of them?"

"From what I've gathered this morning, it seems they didn't use the gate, so they must have travelled to those planets in ships."

"Why not use the Stargate?"

Daniel acknowledged the colonel with a glance, before returning his gaze to the ceiling. "Good question. Maybe it's because the Goa'uld travelled the gate network, and since these were a peaceful people, they didn't want to run into anything nasty. Or possibly they just didn't understand it, or didn't trust it because there was a whole mythology surrounding it. I mean, you wouldn't go out of your way to walk under a ladder, and that's just a superstition. Ow." Daniel rubbed his thigh where he'd just bumped into the corner of a table. He glanced across at Jack, seeing no sympathy in the amused expression.

"I don't walk under ladders because someone might drop something on my head," Jack pointed out.

"Exactly, same principle here. The root of the mythology is likely the Goa'uld themselves - they came through the gate and did bad things."

"Bad things?" Jack mimicked. "Oh yeah, I can see my report now: No, General Hammond, I don't think we should travel through the gate any more in case bad things happen."

Daniel stuck his tongue out. He looked up and checked a couple more labels.

"Ah hah." He unclipped the stylus and double-checked the name of the planet on his glass tablet.

"Ah hah?"

"Ah hah," Daniel agreed, already back at the central console re-checking the controls. He tucked the tablet under one arm, put the stylus between his teeth and scrolled slowly through a list on one of the screens.

"Eww! Take that out - you don't know where it's been!"

Eh? Oh! The archaeologist snatched the stylus from his mouth and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. He looked sheepishly at Jack. "Okay, I think I've got it." He tapped the entry on the console that matched his tablet.

A few disorienting seconds later, a large holographic view of a solar system was floating approximately eighteen inches above their heads. The furthest planet from the sun was pulsing with a pale green light, the continents and oceans clearly outlined as the world turned lazily on its axis.

"I gotta get me one of these." Jack waved a hand through the display, creating ripples in the image that took several seconds to settle.

Daniel whipped out his camcorder once more, carefully documenting what he could see.

"So, Carter needs a hand," Jack said. "There's some pretty nifty stuff in the local power plant that she could do with translating. What say we all head back there after lunch?"

"Sure," Daniel said distractedly. He paused the video long enough to pull a notebook from his pack. "Can you do a quick sketch of this building? The lobby, three corridors with rooms off to each side and this room. I'll annotate it later." When Jack had taken the book, Daniel resumed his filming.

"Uh..."

"Top right pocket of my pack," Daniel said, without looking. The day Jack actually carried a pencil would be the day he retired.

"There was quite a bit of writing on the stuff she found," Jack continued.

"And what do you expect it to say - 'naquada reactor'?" Daniel asked, amused.

"No, she already knows which one that is. She's really after the TV and stereo, figured we could hock 'em when we get home."

Daniel ignored the sarcasm. "I'll check it out later."

"Well she's probably got as many vacation photos as you have by now. Maybe you can take a gander over lunch. Speaking of which..."

Daniel checked his watch automatically. "I just want to check upstairs before we eat," he said, knowing full well it wasn't going to happen.

"Nuh uh, food then play - you know how this works. Whatever's up there will still be there after lunch." Jack tucked the notebook back into Daniel's pack and held it out for him. Sighing, Daniel slipped the strap over one shoulder.

"I just wish we had more time," he admitted.

He caught Jack's final look of longing at the orbiting planets. "I know what you mean. But we'll be back once the initial analysis is done."

"Someone will, anyway," Daniel muttered, not quite as quietly as he had intended. He could feel Jack's gaze on his back as he walked through the double doors and out of the building, leaving the temptations to whisper their song to empty air once more.

...There are some random areas of destruction, including scorch marks that could only have been made by an airborne vehicle, yet there are no signs of looting. It is unclear why the population abandoned the city, but the following theories are put forward at this time, to be revised once more data is collected...
Preliminary Survey, P2X714, Major S. Carter (SG-1)

Daniel was about as enthusiastic as the colonel had ever seen him. This second visit was going to give him three whole days of studying the vanished civilisation and their extensive research. O'Neill watched in amusement as his archaeologist attempted to extricate a tape from the evil grip of shrink wrap, while simultaneously pulling the video camera from his pocket, continuing his exposition about the habits of the indigenous people and still walking at a rapid pace towards the building they all now referred to as the planetarium.

"You could just stop for a second, Daniel. It might make it easier to do that." He held in the laughter threatening to bubble up at the confusion on Daniel's face. Instead he held out a hand for the tape. Daniel's gratitude as he passed over the object of his frustrations was short-lived when O'Neill withdrew his hand, and the tape fell to the ground.

O'Neill focussed on what had grabbed his attention - it had been very quiet, but he'd recognise the sounds anywhere. The rattle of Jaffa armour and the muted thud of metallic boots on moss covered roads drifted on the breeze from somewhere to the south of them. One hand on his P-90, O'Neill grabbed Daniel's sleeve with the other and tugged him towards the protection of a nearby archway. The archaeologist protested until he saw his team leader's face; together they moved rapidly and silently through the arch into the shadows of a leafy atrium.

"Jaffa," O'Neill whispered in answer to Daniel's unvoiced question.

Daniel's face fell, his disappointment glaringly apparent; the much-anticipated visit had just slipped through his fingers. Maybe one day O'Neill would manage to ingrain the 'safety first' mindset, but it was looking more and more unlikely.

He took out his miniature scope and checked the situation, immediately spotting the group moving purposefully up the street in their direction. O'Neill counted six, helmets down, all but one carrying staff weapons. The weaponless one at the front was exhibiting remarkably Carter-like behaviour - checking a doohickey and giving directions.

He pulled back, motioning to Daniel to stay hidden and silent. In response, the archaeologist made urgent motions at his forehead. O'Neill wrote a sign in the air, but from the wrinkled forehead that resulted he hadn't made any sense. He checked the surface at his feet, then pulled Daniel down with him. With one finger he drew in the dirt.

Daniel's eyes went wide. "Osiris?"

The whisper reached him above the sound of the Jaffa marching past their hideaway. O'Neill's fingers shot out to cover Daniel's mouth, the urge to beat some sense of self-preservation into the archaeologist flooding him for, oh, only about the zillionth time.

When the footsteps had faded and O'Neill had confirmed the Jaffa were really gone, he faced Daniel.

"Yes, Osiris. A half dozen garden variety Jaffa and it looked like they were searching for something." He thumbed his radio. "Carter, Teal'c, we've got company. Where are you?"

Carter's clear voice came back. "In the reactor room, sir. No sign of anyone else around."

"Six of Osiris's Jaffa just passed us heading in your direction, and they look like they're hunting out something, most likely the same power source we picked up. Teal'c, any idea what they might be up to?"

"Probably a standard scouting party, O'Neill. From the initial survey results, it seems this is the first time any Goa'uld has visited this planet in many years. Osiris will be attempting to rebuild his forces and territory, in much the same way as Hathor did. I expect the Jaffa to return through the Stargate with any information they gather."

"Right. Hold on." Damn it, they didn't need this. O'Neill looked at Daniel, a dozen things going through his mind. His hand hovered over the radio. "Daniel, that stuff Carter was saying yesterday about the reactor, is that significant? Will the Jaffa be able to figure it out like she did?"

"According to Sam, the amount of power being produced was immediately obvious to her instruments. Generally, Goa'uld technology is more advanced than ours so..."

"So even if these guys don't figure out its importance, someone back home is bound to?"

The reluctant nod was enough to make up O'Neill's mind. He spoke into the radio again. "Teal'c, what'll happen if these guys never make it back?"

O'Neill waved Daniel's uneasy "Jack?" away, waiting through the pause for Teal'c's response.

"It would depend on the Goa'uld," the low tones began. "Possibly a second scouting party would be sent through. However, it is more likely that Osiris would assume the world was hostile and would not waste further resources."

O'Neill closed his eyes to Daniel's tense face. "So if we keep these guys from going home somehow, then this planet's probably safe for a while?"

"Indeed."

"Uh, sir?"

"Carter?"

"Won't we need reinforcements if we're going to take that many prisoners, sir?"

"Maybe not."

"Jack!" the archaeologist hissed, his expression shifting from anxiety to horror.

O'Neill lifted his thumb from the radio and stared directly at his team-mate. "Despite what you're thinking, it's not that bad. I don't intend to shoot them all; I'm not in favour of a massacre any more than you are." He returned to the radio. "Teal'c, Carter, I want you to set up an ambush, zats only if possible. We'll come around behind and box them in."

"I'd prefer it if they didn't reach this building, sir. We don't know how a zat or staff blast will affect the reactor."

O'Neill thought for a second. "Okay, Daniel and I will create a diversion and draw them down the turn-off just north of you. You two stay out of sight until I signal, then come in shooting behind them. The squad'll be with you in about five minutes - I'll radio when we're in position. Out."

He turned to Daniel. "You ready to play bait and shoot?"

"That entirely depends on which part I get to play," Daniel retorted. O'Neill gave him a wide grin and received a sour look in return. The archaeologist gave in with a sigh. "Just make sure you aim at them, not me - I've had enough of being zatted for one lifetime, thanks."

They headed off rapidly, skirting the direct path the Jaffa were likely to take and reached the short linking street a few minutes later. Daniel dumped his pack and started to head off.

"Daniel, don't you think you're going to need your weapon out to shoot at the bad guys?"

"I'm the bait - I need to look non-threatening."

"You can look non-threatening and carry your sidearm - these guys have probably never seen one before."

"I thought we weren't going kill them? And besides, I can't shoot at something I'm running away from. Look, it'll take - what - twenty seconds for me to reach you and I can take it out then. I trust you guys to watch my back."

"Daniel..."

"Okay, fine. I'll have it ready, but I'll keep my hand in my pocket - will that satisfy you?"

With no time to argue about it, O'Neill gave in reluctantly. He watched Daniel move to the corner and wait, obviously listening carefully for the telltale boots, before he hid himself in an alleyway about fifty yards further in.

"Sir?" Carter's urgent whisper came over the radio.

"Carter?"

"Didn't you say there were six Jaffa?"

"Yes. How many do you see?"

"Only four."

Damn it. "Go ahead as planned, just keep an eye out."

Daniel signalled him, and he moved back into the shadows, longing to know where the other two Jaffa had gone. But he was out of time.

First there was a single shout. It was closely followed by boots belting up the street in his direction and 'kree's bouncing off the walls. Daniel hadn't even reached the alley when the firing started. O'Neill spun out from his concealment, zat ready. He took down two of the Jaffa in his first volley.

The archaeologist abruptly changed direction, getting in his line of fire. He pointed behind O'Neill frantically.

"Jack, look out!"

O'Neill lunged to the floor just in time, feeling the heat as the staff weapon blast hit the wall above his head. He rolled and saw the two missing Jaffa racing toward them from the other end of the street. A quick glance showed Daniel desperately trying to pull his sidearm while still sprinting for the alley, weaving and ducking. The ground erupted directly in front of him, and he tumbled to his knees.

Given a choice of targets, O'Neill faltered for a second too long. He turned back to face the closest threat, only to discover two staff weapons aimed directly at him as their owners approached. He lowered his zat in mock defeat. Risking a glance down the street, he saw Daniel start to get up, but the attempt was thwarted by a solid blow to the head from the end of another staff. Zat fire from their slightly tardy backup felled the culprit immediately but not soon enough. The archaeologist crumpled horrifyingly fast.

The two Jaffa heading menacingly towards O'Neill turned and ran at the sight of armed reinforcements. The last remaining Jaffa fired at Carter just as he was caught in the electric dance of a zat. His shot went wild, blasting a stone mantle directly above her and Teal'c's head. They dove for cover, the stone shattering in the street around them.

O'Neill bolted across to where Daniel lay, hissing as his knee clicked and ground in its joint. The archaeologist was unconscious but breathing; blood trickled into his hair from a nasty gash in his temple.

"Teal'c! Carter! You okay?"

"Mostly..."

He dragged his gaze to his usually stoic 2IC. "Mostly?"

"I think I sprained my wrist, sir."

Damn it! This day was turning into a complete disaster.

"Teal'c, secure the Jaffa. Carter, find the medkit and take care of Daniel and yourself. I'm going after the others - I don't want them going through the gate."

He headed off without waiting for a response.

Even at full speed it was still eight minutes before he had his targets in sight. As he burst out of the trees half a mile from the gate, they were only a hundred yards from their destination, slowing noticeably. O'Neill put on a burst of speed, determined to get within firing range.

Four chevrons had been lit by the time he realised this was as good an opportunity as he was going to get. Unconcerned now about killing, he hefted his P-90 and fired off a volley. The bullets bounced off the dirt at the base of the DHD. The Jaffa that had been hiding behind the pedestal returned fire just as the gate exploded into life. O'Neill didn't even flinch, his aim steady despite his heaving chest. He waited - he couldn't afford to hit the DHD. He fired again as they made a break for safety, bringing one of them down. He tracked the final fleeing figure and depressed the trigger. The bullets sped through the gate behind the escapee.

O'Neill lowered his weapon slowly.

"Carter, Teal'c, I'm heading back to your position."

"Acknowledged, O'Neill. Were you successful?"

"I got one. The other... I don't know. For now, we'll just have to be on our guard."

...Although the indigenous population were originally transported to the planet from Earth, it is obvious there has been no Goa'uld presence for almost one thousand years. It is likely the planet was forgotten during fighting amongst two or more Goa'uld, and by default the population was allowed to continue its development unchecked...
Preliminary Survey, P2X714, Teal'c (SG-1)

Daniel stared at the notebook in front of him, absently picking at the dressing covering the doc's latest needlework beside his left eye. He checked the original document once more then flipped through a few pages of his runic reference dictionary before slamming it shut. Was it really that straightforward?

"Daniel, have you got a minute?" Carter's head was peeking around the door.

"Uh, sure, Sam, come on in." He waved her to a seat, his attention not leaving the papers in front of him. The translation was correct, he was certain.

"What should I do with-"

Daniel's raised finger cut Sam off; he had to get this theory down while it was fresh. He scribbled furiously for a couple of minutes, filling almost a whole page with his free-flowing style. When he finally raised his head again, it was to find his team-mate struggling to hold a pile of his books and research in her uninjured hand, obviously looking for a place to put it amongst the clutter scattered throughout his office so that she could sit down.

"Let me..." he took the pile and added it to an already unstable stack to the left of the desk. He directed a fierce look at the precarious collection, willing it not to tumble to the floor. He swivelled back. "Coffee?"

"No thanks, I've had far too much of that today."

"Coffee is ambrosia for the brain," Daniel pronounced, swivelling once more to reach the half-empty pot handily located on the shelf behind him. "There's no such concept as 'too much'." His mug full and steaming, he faced Sam and took a sip. "So, what can I do for you?"

She sat down on the newly vacated chair, leaned across and unrolled an annotated city plan across Daniel's desk. He grabbed a box of pens and weighted down a corner attempting to curl right back up.

"Okay, what I have here is the city on P2X714. Marked in red are all of the areas that look like they were deliberately damaged, showing signs of scorching, detonation, broken windows and the like. I've circled all of the buildings we've found so far housing anything significant, and as you can see the two don't correlate." She leaned back in her chair and let go of the map, allowing her end to roll up towards Daniel. "So what I don't understand is what kind of battle would cause so little damage and yet still leave the population defeated."

She stood and began pacing, her mind obviously unable to use all of the energy it had been fed. Perhaps she was right, Daniel mused, was it actually possible to have too much coffee? He sniffed the enticing aroma rising from his mug. Nope, absolutely not possible.

"I have a few theories," she continued, "but nothing seems to fit precisely. The Goa'uld, or some other race, could have taken the population away, but why leave the technology? Or maybe there was some kind of civil war and the planet is populated, just on another continent. But again, why leave so much behind?" She stopped directly in front of the desk. "So I was wondering if you'd found anything. If not, could you look for some kind of evidence that might give us a better direction?"

"Yes."

She frowned. "Yes, you've found evidence? Or yes, you'll look?"

"I think I know what happened." He pulled the map from the desk and rolled it up, searching the chaotic surface for an elastic band. Unsuccessful, he was about to dump the sheet on the floor when Sam rescued it. His freed hands immediately moved to the document he'd just finished translating.

"I found this on display in the city's library. It's a summary of the last months of the civilisation, apparently written by one of the survivors." Glancing up at Sam's confused face, he hurried on. "I mentioned before these people were explorers who visited other worlds in ships. Well, it looks like one of those expeditions brought back more than information and artefacts. Apparently they brought some kind of plague with them that decimated the population within the space of a few months, reminiscent of the Europeans bringing smallpox to the new world. Scientists were frantically working on a cure, but by the time they found one there were very few people left. So those that were still alive decided they would leave the city as some sort of shrine and relocate to another planet."

"That's horrible." Her face scrunched up at the thought.

"Yeah, not very nice." He blew on his coffee and took a sip, letting the liquid wash slowly down his throat. There hadn't been very many details in the document, but from what he'd read the disease wasn't a particularly pleasant way to go.

"And you didn't mention this earlier because..."

"Oh! It's not dangerous to us - it was an airborne pathogen, but it died within a few days without a host."

The subtle signs of panic melted away. "But that still doesn't explain the scorch marks and the destruction," she argued. "Or where the bodies went. Was the plague a deliberate attack on the part of an enemy?"

Daniel pulled off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I don't have all the answers yet, but my best guess is the dead would have been cremated or disposed of in some other way. I don't think these people had any enemies they were aware of so I can only theorise on the cause of the destruction. But here's a question for you: did you ever live anywhere where a house on your street stood empty for a while?"

"All the time. That's the nature of a military base - the housing is variously vacant and occupied as people are posted to different locations." She sat back down, drawn in by the sudden change in direction.

"Did any of those houses end up with broken windows, graffiti, that kind of thing?"

"It was a military base, Daniel. Everyone knew what all the kids were up to... Oh, I see what you're getting at." She grinned. "So you think we're looking at - what - a bunch of teenaged interplanetary vandals?"

He shrugged. "It fits the facts, doesn't it?"

Her grin widened. "You don't have any idea, do you?"

He answered her with his own smile, "Not a clue," he admitted, "but Jack would have fallen for it."

"You sure about that, Danny?"

Daniel's mug leapt in his hand at the unexpected voice. Damn it. He grabbed a few tissues and began mopping up the spilled coffee before it had a chance to soak into his notes. Glancing up, he caught Jack's look of total innocence as he lounged in the doorway.

"And just how long have you been standing there?"

For once Jack didn't tease him. "Not long enough to know what you kids are up to. Don't worry."

Daniel checked the clock out of habit. "It's not even close to dinnertime, Jack..."

"You know, I do come in here other than to drag your sorry backside to get sustenance," he glared, mock offended. "We have news."

"We?"

"Me and Teal'c. And speak of the devil..." Teal'c moved past Jack into the office, nodding his head in greeting. "Bratac's been in touch. It looks like it's going to take a bit longer to deprogram Osiris's Jaffa than he first thought."

"So, Bratac hasn't managed to get anything out of them?" Daniel asked, as casually as he could manage.

"In fact, Master Bratac believes it may not be possible to convince the Jaffa of the benefits of freedom," Teal'c said. "If that is the case, they will be imprisoned indefinitely."

"Oh." He buried his disappointment in his coffee mug. It was stupid really; it wasn't as if they could run off on some foolhardy mission to rescue Sarah even if they did find out where Osiris was based.

Jack interrupted his musing. "There's more. We have a message from the Tok'ra - Jacob's on his way."

"Dad?" "Why?"

"Yes 'Dad', and I don't know." Jack waved a hand as the alarms sounded an alert. "Right on time. Let's go see what joyous news he brings this time."

Sam dropped the city map back on the desk for the moment and headed out. Daniel grabbed what remained of his coffee and started to follow them. He was halted just outside the door by Jack's hand on his arm.

"Daniel, are you okay with all this Osiris business?"

"I'm fine."

"Because if there's anything you want to talk about..."

"I'm fine, Jack. Really."

Daniel averted his eyes from Jack's concerned gaze, not wanting to get into this discussion now, if ever. He slid his pass through the reader to close up his office and headed to the gate room, leaving Jack hurrying to catch up.

...However, none of the injuries the team sustained are serious. As a result, all members are cleared for one week of light duty with a follow-up check required before being signed back to full duty...
Post Mission Medical Report, P2X714 (2nd visit), Dr. J. Fraiser (CMO)

"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings yet again," Jacob began, his gaze sweeping across the assembled group, "but I thought it best to let you know as soon as possible."

"That's okay, Jacob. Please continue," the general said quickly before O'Neill could voice his smart remark.

"The Tok'ra have received news from Osiris's camp. One of Osiris's scout parties apparently discovered some fairly advanced technology on an abandoned planet, and they suspected it could be used as a weapon. However, following a run-in with an SG team where most of the scouting party were killed, Osiris is convinced it's important and is on his way to the planet to investigate personally."

"Now hang on a second, they were not killed." O'Neill protested. After a quick glance at Daniel, he amended, "Well, not all of them, anyway."

Jacob raised a placatory hand. "I'm just reporting what Osiris was told. But what's important is Osiris is going to reach the planet in six days, so if there's any truth in the report about that weapon, then we need to ensure it's kept out of the reach of the Goa'uld."

Carter spoke up, obviously a little confused herself. "What exactly have you heard about this weapon?"

"Just that it's more powerful than anything Osiris or any other Goa'uld has right now."

Carter shook her head. "The only thing we found which gets close to that description was a naquada reactor; there was no sign of any weapons. From what I've discovered, I don't think the reactor could actually be converted to use as a weapon. In fact, the substance the naquada has been doped with seems to create exactly the opposite result. The bits and pieces Daniel's translated for me so far back that up, saying this could be an extremely safe, previously unknown construction. Apart from the fact the reactor is incredibly powerful for its size, it seems it's impossible to overload it."

O'Neill hoped he was following this. "So even if the Goa'uld wanted it for a weapon, they couldn't use it."

"And neither could we," Hammond pointed out.

"Can you be sure they couldn't convert it somehow, Sam?" Jacob asked.

"No, not yet; it would take a lot more time to confirm my hypothesis."

Selmac's deep, vibrating tones took over. "Then it is important to destroy the technology before Osiris has a chance to take it."

"Wait a minute - you can't do that!" Daniel countered, his eyes flashing in consternation. "The idea of safe, clean energy is a holy grail for environmentalists. If we can get our hands on something like that, then surely it's worth making an effort to retrieve it, weapon or no weapon."

"Would there be enough time to bring the technology safely back to the SGC?" Hammond asked.

There was a pause while the team considered the question. Carter responded first. "Well, sir, if we have six days then that would be time enough to collect the naquada generator. However, the resources on the planet aren't limited simply to the reactor. There were what appeared to be massive medical research databases, equipment and biological samples, as well as further technology stored in various places around the city. If we had the time, there would be a lot we could learn from these people."

Hammond nodded. "Dr. Jackson?"

Daniel put down the pencil he'd been using to furiously scribble notes throughout Carter's speech. He stared at the piece of paper gloomily. "These people were explorers, General. The records they have of the civilisations they've visited could be of enormous help to us in the future. In addition, their own culture has great lessons to teach regarding their pacifist nature. I know I haven't had much time to study what we've brought back, but it looks like all of their technology was developed to help themselves and other cultures advance. They even built only the most basic defensive technology, despite their level of advancement."

"Make love, not war?" O'Neill interjected.

"Exactly. The fact you can't convert their generator technology into a weapon speaks volumes about them as a culture."

"Teal'c?" Hammond passed the floor to the Jaffa.

"Although the Goa'uld have stolen the majority of their technology from other races, it does not mean they do not understand it. Their primary focus is on developing weapons, and they are extremely adept at modifying a wide variety of previously innocuous items to create something capable of destruction. With respect to Major Carter, I believe if it is even remotely possible this reactor may be converted into a weapon, the Goa'uld will find some way to succeed."

"And even if they didn't," O'Neill added, "The reactor could easily be used to boost the Goa'uld shields, making their ships harder to destroy."

"There is one more thing, General," Daniel said. "I'm not sure if the Goa'uld could actually translate the language. And if they couldn't do that, it's possible anything they find would be completely useless to them."

"I'll take that into account, Dr. Jackson, but I don't think we can afford to rely on it." Hammond looked around the table. "It seems we have two options: one, to destroy the city completely, or two, to leave it available to the Goa'uld in the hope they won't be able to use what they find." His forehead wrinkled slightly. "Colonel, I'd like your team to detail the options. This decision must go higher if the first option is to be authorised, and I want all of the facts on the table for this one. Report on my desk in three hours. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir." O'Neill pushed his chair back briskly. "Let's grab an early dinner, and we can outline the pros and cons. Jacob, you want to join us?"

"We'll skip it this time, thanks. But we'll be around for a while yet, so maybe another time?"

"Absolutely."

O'Neill ushered his team out of the briefing room towards food and a late planning session.

...All arguments have been considered in this difficult case, most especially the expectation the Goa'uld may never be able to translate any of the writings, thereby rendering the technology useless to them. However, the decision has been made to follow the first recommendation. All necessary equipment will arrive within the day...
Memo to: Major General G. Hammond (SGC)
From: Major P. Davis (Pentagon)
Re: P2X714

With one look at the general's face, O'Neill knew what choice had been made. But as tempting as it was to just leave the office, there were more details to be worked out. And besides, he had no desire to face Carter and Daniel any sooner than absolutely necessary.

Hammond gestured for him to sit.

"There is good news, Colonel."

"Oh?" O'Neill settled carefully into the stiff-backed chair, mindful of his injured knee, and eyed Hammond's own plush leather seat covetously.

"The effort you put into that proposal paid off. With less than five days now remaining before Osiris reaches P2X714, the pentagon has authorised the use of as many resources as we have available to take part in the evacuation of assets from the city. Including military and civilian staff, I estimate that will give you forty seven individuals and still leave a satisfactory number of staff manning the base and assigned to emergency duties."

Slightly stunned, O'Neill sat up straighter. "I assume Dr. Fraiser will sign my team off for this mission, sir? I don't think they'd be very impressed if they were left out."

"I'll ensure she does," Hammond reassured. "I know you're all a little battered, but I don't think she'll mind postponing SG-1's downtime for a week, as long as you all make the requisite assurances you'll take it easy while you're off world."

"Absolutely, sir."

"All of you, Colonel. That means I don't want to hear of Major Carter still working at oh three hundred."

"No, sir."

"Nor do I want to hear that Dr. Jackson's survived on coffee for three days straight."

"Definitely not, sir."

"And I especially don't want to find out their team leader has forgotten how to delegate in his enthusiasm to overachieve..."

O'Neill had the decency to blush slightly at that one. "Perish the thought."

Hammond paused to let the admonishments sink in.

"Given the tight schedule I'd like your team to complete planning today. Everyone required will be ready to go off world at oh eight hundred tomorrow."

O'Neill checked his watch, feeling the cogs turn. That gave them about twenty hours in total, minus seven hours of decent sleep, plus another hour for Daniel to fiddle around in the morning... so twelve hours to get this thing planned. Ah well, they'd done worse.

"Colonel, how is Dr. Jackson coping with the news Osiris is on his way?"

Can you spell avoidance? "He's okay, sir. I know how he must feel about it, and it's to his credit that he hasn't mentioned Sarah. I expect there'll be some things to discuss when we get back, but he's not making a big deal out of it."

Hammond accepted the unspoken "leave it to me" and moved on.

"One last thing - the Tok'ra have offered to keep a teltac in orbit as an early warning system, just in case."

"Should we be worrying they haven't told us everything?"

"Not at all. But they can't be sure they're the only ones with a spy in Osiris's camp; it's good to be prepared."

"So who's our boy scout?"

Hammond raised his eyebrows at the label. "Jacob has volunteered to keep watch."

"Carter'll be pleased."

"Just make sure you have the weapon set up in good time, Colonel. There can be no mistakes on this one."

"Right. I guess I should, uh, go tell Daniel and Carter the good news. If you've got any suggestions on the approach I could take, General, I'm all ears. I was planning on 'hey guys, you've got three days to collect all the toys you can before we nuke the playground' but it seems kinda-"

"Dismissed, Colonel." The general's mock stern countenance cut him off.

"Of course, sir."

... It is therefore my recommendation to gather as much information as is practicable from the planet, both technological and sociological, in order that it can be stored and studied at a later date. The potential benefits of this effort are enormous, including - but not limited to - the possible achievement of our standing orders...
Recommendation of Evacuation, P2X714, Colonel J. O'Neill (SG-1)

"Holy shit!"

Daniel frowned over his shoulder at the less than couth interruption.

"Something I can do for you, Jack?"

The colonel was gesturing incoherently at Daniel's crowded office. Daniel returned his attention to the whiteboard.

"I really don't have time for this just now. Do you want to come back when you've regained the power of speech?"

He'd filled another four gaps in his matrix before Jack managed to spurt out, "What the hell happened in here?"

Confused, Daniel re-capped his marker and studied the room, trying to identify what was bothering his friend. He could see nothing out of the ordinary, beyond the free-standing whiteboards... Oh.

"You wanted this planned, so I'm planning."

"Three whiteboards?"

"I need the space," the archaeologist said slightly defensively.

"Something wrong with a simple piece of paper?"

"Actually, yes."

Jack sighed. "Look, Daniel, you know in an ideal universe we wouldn't have to resort to these extreme measures, but we're just going to have to take what we can get this time."

"Meaning I should be a good little archaeologist, do my looting and keep quiet?"

Jack met his gaze levelly. "Meaning, sometimes things don't turn out perfectly. It could have been worse - Osiris could have been there the last time we visited. At least this way we have three days to get as much done as we can."

"You're telling me the glass is really half full?"

Jack flashed a smile, "I guess. So, you gonna tell me what all this is?"

"You want me to run you through it?" Daniel asked, suddenly struck by the evil urge to intensify the slightly dazed expression on Jack's face.

"Sure, okay..."

Wow. Jack actually looked scared.

"Right. Well, red stars show technical teams, green are medical and blue are archaeological-stroke-anthropological." He pointed out an example of each on the various boards. "Initials in orange are linguists assigned to each team where I'm confident they can deal quickly with the language; those in yellow are backups. I have one linguist assigned to each team, with some floaters to take up the slack."

Daniel checked his audience; Jack was slowly edging towards the exit.

"Then there are the schedules. This first board is a mix of medical and technical, estimates only since I don't have Sam or Janet's detailed plans as yet. The other two are archaeology and anthropology... Jack, do you have somewhere else to be?"

Jack dragged his eyes from the boards. "Huh?"

Daniel stared pointedly at the open doorway.

"Oh. Sorry."

"What did you need?"

"Nothing. Actually I was just checking to see if you wanted anything, but you seem to have it all under control." He winced. "I think."

Daniel glanced at his scrawls with a slightly more objective eye; he saw multi-coloured writing overlapping borders, some boxes filled with five or six sets of initials, little star-shaped stickers randomly sprinkled across the surfaces and no explanation anywhere. Except, of course, in his own head.

"It's not outside the realm of possibility I'm the only person who understands this right now," he conceded.

"You could sell it. You'd make a mint in the world of modern art," Jack said shrewdly.

"Just call me Pablo Jackson." Daniel leaned across and signed one of the boards dramatically.

"So, do you?" Jack asked.

"Do I what?"

"Want anything?"

"Oh." He checked the clock, feeling suddenly weary. "I could do with a break."

"Ask and ye shall receive. I know this great little place, does food, coffee, the works."

"Sounds good." Daniel paused at the door. "Perhaps I should call security to protect the masterpiece?"

"Perhaps I should call Teal'c to kick the ego back where it belongs?" Jack suggested.

Daniel wrestled with the options.

"Coffee?"

"Excellent idea. After you."

The archaeologist flicked off the lights as he left.

...There are three and a half clear days before the Goa'uld motherships arrive. In order to ensure the safety of all personnel, it has been agreed that the evacuation will last only three and a half days, with the demolition scheduled for the afternoon of day four...
Evacuation Plan, P2X714, Colonel J. O'Neill (SG-1)

O'Neill stepped through the gate into bright early morning sunshine that held the promise of a beautiful day. Carter had said it was almost mid-summer, so the weather was a travel agent's wet dream. Of course, in a few days it would be several thousand degrees warmer - more than enough to give any self-respecting intergalactic tourist a tan.

"O'Neill, the advance party reports all is clear."

Teal'c stood beside him, studying the landscape. The colonel wondered what thoughts were manifesting behind those intense brown eyes.

"Time to get this show on the road."

"Indeed."

Neither man moved.

"Nice day for it."

"I do not see why that is relevant."

O'Neill spared a glance to check for signs of Teal'c's subtle sense of humour, before returning his gaze to the woodlands.

"If you'd ever tried moving house in Minnesota in the middle of winter, you'd understand the importance of good moving weather."

More personnel flooded through the wormhole, the collection of crates, equipment and small motorised transports expanding haphazardly around them.

Teal'c continued to stare at the landscape.

"So, you wanna do your thing? Get these people moving?" O'Neill suggested.

"I am not convinced this is a good course of action."

"Daniel's been dropping massive hints I should be nice to his staff, as if I'm some kind of military ogre or something. I don't know where he gets these ideas from."

"It is a mystery."

"Exactly. Thank you. So I thought they'd appreciate a gentle Jaffa touch on this mission. You got your clipboard?"

Teal'c raised the item in question, holding it distastefully between finger and thumb.

"Just treat it like a military operation; you can't go wrong."

"I believe that would be a bad strategy."

"The Marines shouldn't give you any trouble. They're extremely well trained. Leave the medical staff to Janet, but Carter and Daniel will probably need some help controlling their troops. There are a couple of linguists that could do with a good kick in the pants while you're at it."

"I will have everything under control within the hour."

Ooh yeah, I just bet you will. O'Neill watched in satisfaction as Teal'c headed directly for a group of Marines who were currently milling in a distinctly un-military-like fashion. Call me dictatorial, eh? By the end of the week those whining scientists were gonna be begging him to rescue them.

Wickedly happy, he flicked on his radio to check in with Jacob.

...and as initially postulated, the Map Room has turned up a wealth of information on various cultures from the ninety four different planets that have been visited by the Aardilian exploration teams...
Mission Report, P2X714, Dr. D. Jackson (SG-1)

"Excuse me, Colonel?"

O'Neill looked up from the plans scattered across the table to find the extremely nervous face of Dr. Louise Rush. He waited, knowing exactly what the fidgeting woman was going to tell him.

"Daniel said...uh, Dr. Jackson said he needed another twenty minutes and he'd be here soon." The statement came out in a flurry, words running over each other to be heard. Living up to her name, apparently.

He sighed. "And you told him what I said?"

"Oh yes," she assured. "Word for word."

"And what was his response - word for word?"

The linguist turned a distinctly unflattering shade of crimson. "Well, um, he..."

O'Neill let her off the hook. "Never mind. I think I can figure it out." And I wouldn't treat him like a child who needs his nanny if he actually followed orders for once. Especially since these come direct from the damn general!

"Why don't you grab some dinner yourself. I'll hunt down our errant archaeologist."

She nodded, relief smoothing the nervous creases from her forehead. O'Neill watched her hurry off to the safety of a huddle of linguists and scientists and considered his next move. He capped his ballpoint and snapped his notebook shut decisively. It was time to be the understanding and indulgent team leader.

He diverted to the makeshift kitchen, already bustling with people. He picked up a couple of spoons and shoved them into a pocket, grabbed two bowls of the steaming stew and headed off to find Daniel. The sun set late here, and the shadows were only now beginning to encroach on the road. He reached Daniel's playpen in only a couple of minutes and pushed open the door with a bounce of his hip. His footsteps echoed on the marble floor as he strode towards the map room. Every few steps he crunched something underfoot - a leaf or some dirt dragged in by the many busy people going about their urgent business. The building had been so pristine when they had arrived that this dirt and mess seemed oddly disrespectful.

The door to the map room stood open. O'Neill bustled through, the cheery greeting dying on his lips at the sight that met him. Daniel was leaning against the wall across the room, spinning a pencil round his fingers and watching the light show, a look of pure misery on his face. The instant he became aware of Jack's presence he pushed upright, carefully pulling his features back into a neutral expression, very obviously expecting a rebuke.

O'Neill broke the awkward silence. "I brought dinner, thought you might be hungry."

Daniel's face softened. "I am actually." He seemed surprised. He frowned at his pencil, as if only now realising what he was doing. "Sorry, I guess I'm a little distracted."

No shit. They both moved to the table Daniel had been using as his dumping ground. O'Neill elbowed a few things out of his way and put one of the bowls down. He pulled a spoon from his pocket with a flourish and handed the dinner over.

"Voila."

Daniel peered at the contents and raised a dubious eyebrow. "Voila...?"

"It's stew, Daniel."

"Obviously, but stewed what?"

O'Neill shrugged. He picked up his own bowl and spoon and tasted it. Hmm. "Tastes like-"

"Don't say it," Daniel warned.

"I was going to say 'crap'. But you're right, with your eclectic tastes I should let you make up your own mind."

A small smile crept across Daniel's face, before vanishing into the much bigger grimace as he took his first mouthful. O'Neill set a good example and forced down another spoonful.

"So, whatcha doing?"

Daniel sighed. "I was just thinking of the civilisations on all of the planets these people have visited. If nothing else, we have a duty to protect them from being discovered by the Goa'uld. Assuming they haven't been already." Daniel waved his spoon airily at the solar system hovering two feet above their heads. "This one's apparently an ally of the Aardilians. Could be a candidate for where they went."

"Aardilians? They're the guys that lived here?"

Daniel managed an "mm hmm" around another mouthful of stew. His bowl was half empty already - he really must be hungry.

O'Neill eyed his own dinner with distaste and shuffled his foot across the dirt on the floor.

"That bothers you too, huh?"

He nodded. "This place feels different from other sites we've surveyed."

"I'm glad it's not just me," Daniel said, the palpable relief making O'Neill raise his eyes. He waited, encouraging in his silence.

The archaeologist didn't pause for long. "To be honest, it's never felt quite so sacrilegious. What we're doing here, it's not archaeology. Right now, I think you're right to call it grave-robbing."

"Hey, I was kidding," O'Neill protested. "You know that's a joke."

"I know."

They both returned to their dinner. Daniel's empty bowl landed with a thunk on the table astonishingly quickly.

"Did you inhale that?"

"The faster it goes down, the less chance you have of tasting it. All your years in the military and you haven't figured that out?"

O'Neill threw the archaeologist a vaguely obscene gesture and defiantly forced a loaded spoon between his lips.

Daniel chuckled. "Would you believe we're ahead of schedule?"

"Not possible. What happened to the famous Jackson wandering eye?"

Daniel sobered instantly. "It's this place. The city was left as a shrine to an entire civilisation, and here we are about to destroy it. What right do we have to do that?"

O'Neill struggled to keep the exasperation off his face at the repeat of a discussion they'd already had countless times. Before he could open his mouth, Daniel continued.

"I know, the Goa'uld, the universal threat, yadda, yadda."

"Hey, stealing my lines."

"One of the principle tenets of archaeology is to leave things intact. We study. We don't demolish. The archaeological community would lynch me if they knew I was about to nuke a site, let alone one of such importance."

O'Neill considered his response carefully. "It's not simply a question of looting and running, Daniel. If that was the case, we'd have grabbed all the weapons we could lay our hands on and be back home watching the game by now." He pointed his spoon at the binary suns. "But the people living on all those planets could have a lot to teach us, and yes, maybe they'll have the defences we need to fight the Goa'uld. But maybe they won't, and we'll have things to teach them instead. Surely the point is the Aardilians made the effort to make those discoveries and get to know those people, and by saving that information, in our own way we're following the path they laid down ahead of us. I guess what I'm saying is although this city won't be here, we're taking as much of it - and these people's purpose - with us as we can."

"'I am not there. I do not sleep.'" Daniel muttered.

"What?"

"It's from a poem. Nobody knows who wrote it." Daniel explained. "'Do not stand at my grave and weep; I am not there. I do not sleep.' It's about the spirit living on."

O'Neill stayed quiet while Daniel switched the systems off for the night. The archaeologist finally grabbed a pile of papers and notebooks and turned back, his bearing a touch more peaceful.

"So what's for dessert?"

"You'll be lucky," O'Neill snorted. "You know Marines don't leave anything edible lying around."

"Guess I'll have to raid the emergency supplies, then," Daniel said innocently.

"Emergency supplies?"

"You don't think I'd go off-world without plenty of candy, do you? You never know who you'll run into." He shoved the papers under one arm and pulled a slightly mangled Hershey bar from his top pocket. "Wanna share?"

O'Neill grinned and held a hand out expectantly. Yeah, he could share.

They were heading back to camp when Daniel spoke again.

"You said weapons."

"What weapons?"

"Earlier, you said 'we'd grab the weapons', but there aren't any. These people were peaceful. They deliberately didn't create the kind of weapons we'd be after."

"Really? Well maybe Carter and the other scientists might be able to convert some of the technology."

Daniel's free hand reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling them both to a halt. "You know full well that's not true, Jack."

"But the NID don't. And we had to raise the possibility to get us the time and resources we needed for this mission. Not everyone's got a one track mind, you know."

"You sneaky little..."

"Have to know how to work the system, Daniel." He smiled at his stunned archaeologist before setting off again. "Got any more snacks?"

...The number one priority is the naquada generator technology, along with any research, guidance notes or other information pertaining to that technology. In addition, a rapid geological survey to search for a source of the second element is highly recommended...
Evacuation Plan - Technical Team, P2X714, Major S. Carter (SG-1)

Carter peered discreetly over the top of her laptop, in two minds. Graham Simmons was showing all his usual signs of intense concentration: slight wrinkles as he narrowed his eyes, bottom lip captured between his teeth and the occasional frustrated whuff of air through his nose demonstrating that things weren't going as well as he wanted. He'd come on a lot in the last couple of years; both his technical skills and his self-confidence had rocketed. However, his new habit was not knowing when to ask for help and when to fight through for a solution alone. Carter's dithering was about to topple in favour of outright asking him what the problem was; they didn't have time to waste on this mission.

"Major?" The voice was strong and clear. "Can you spare a minute?"

Then again, perhaps there was yet hope. "Certainly, Lieutenant. What's the problem?"

He waggled a few sheets of paper. "This is the translation Dr. Rush gave me on how to safely take the reactor off-line. But I'm not sure it's accurate."

The phantom smell of yak's milk tickled her nose, and Carter wished it away. Please, don't let the linguist have made another mistake - the colonel would not be happy.

"Uh, actually, I don't think it's the translation that's wrong, but there definitely seems to be something missing. It doesn't look like all the steps are included." He passed the papers over, and she ran an experienced eye through them.

"Specifically?" she prompted, flipping to the second page.

"Well, that's the problem; I can't be specific. I just have a gut feeling there's something missing. It's as if there are steps they didn't put in because they're so obvious nobody in their right mind would forget them. You know, like turning off the power before you rewire your house."

She handed back the papers and studied the reactor again. The instructions looked fairly comprehensive, but she trusted Simmons.

"Okay, I can't spot anything immediately so let's just take it slowly. You read out each step, and I'll follow it, see if we can pick up anything as we go."

With a nod, he took a step back to make space for her to work.

After twenty minutes, they were well into the procedure and in a routine. Carter was lying on a rolling back board underneath the reactor, attempting to reach a particularly tricky switch. As she waited for Simmons to find her a smaller screwdriver, she realised she was getting uncomfortably warm. Even allowing for heat from the extra lamps they'd set up, something wasn't quite right.

"Lieutenant, what's the temperature in this room?"

He looked surprised by the question. "Oh, I thought it was just me - I get hot sometimes when I'm tense." He checked the digital readout. "Temp's risen over six degrees in the last four minutes. We're now at 32.4 centigrade." He tapped a few keys on the console. "Oh that's not good."

She slid out quickly from under her patient and moved to the laptop, her concern building.

"Energy output's increased seventeen percent." Simmons said tightly.

Carter swore impressively under her breath. "It looks like you're right. There has to be something we've missed here." She joined him in front of the console and checked each one of the carefully translated labels again. Nothing. She let out her breath in a puff and looked over at Simmons.

"Any bright ideas would be welcome right now, Lieutenant."

"Sorry, Major, I'm still drawing a blank." He winced as he studied the readout on the console, "Output's peaking at 130%."

"Well, I guess we're about to find out if they built this thing according to specifications."

They both regarded the reactor warily. She briefly considered warning the colonel, but there wouldn't be much point. If her initial assessment of the reactor was wrong, then at least it would save them the effort of blowing the place up themselves. But if the reactor shut down as expected, they would end up with a next to useless piece of equipment. At most they'd be able to salvage the core and run experiments on it, but the fundamental make-up of the materials would be altered, potentially irreversibly. Damn it. The general was going to be disappointed but nowhere near as frustrated as she was. If only they'd had more time to do this, perhaps they could have gotten it right. There was just so much that needed to be done here, even without the long list of items she had wanted but discarded as lower priority.

She gripped the console harder and harder as the reading crept towards its zenith, the solid feel of it beneath her fingers doing nothing to reassure her.

Abruptly the main lights went out; consoles popped into darkness. The ventilation wound down, leaving only the soft hum of the lamps and the whirr of her laptop.

"Nice bit of engineering," Simmons observed nonchalantly.

"Carter, what the hell's going on?" The colonel's irate tones emanating from the radio startled them both.

"Sir, the reactor just-"

She stopped in amazement as the lights flickered back on. The sound of machines restarting was music to her ears.

"Major?"

"Colonel, the reactor just overloaded, but there's no danger. It looks like there's a backup somewhere so we're going to need to find it. It'll take a bit of re-planning, but we'll get what we came for."

"Acknowledged. Try not to break anything else. O'Neill out."

She studied the console carefully - all readouts were at bottom, no power whatsoever. The patient was definitely deceased.

"It looks like we need to start again. Lieutenant, I want you to go over those instructions with a completely open mind. Ask anyone you need to for help, and I mean anyone at all - don't rule out a flash of inspiration from a linguist or a random comment from a Marine. I'm going to look for the second reactor, and when I find it I want to retrieve it in working order."

"Yes, ma'am."

She grabbed her equipment and left him staring slightly dumbfounded at the disaster-that-didn't-happen.

...Due to time constraints, we did not expect to find documentation relating to the unknown element and were instead scanning for mining operations around the city. The discovery in the second reactor building was, therefore, extremely fortuitous...
Mission Report, P2X714, Major S. Carter (SG-1)

Simmons had come through. Carter was preparing her final set of calculations to ensure this second attempt at disconnecting a reactor would be a complete success. She had appropriated Dr. Rush for the remainder of the mission to work alongside her. The vast quantities of records they had discovered in this building suggested it was some kind of research laboratory for the reactor technology, and Carter wanted to make sure she didn't leave anything vital behind.

"Major? I think I've found something."

Carter clicked a button to set her calculations running and moved across to the linguist's side. "What is it?"

"Most of this is research relating to the design of the reactor and so forth, so you'll definitely want to take it back to the SGC." Rush pointed with her free hand at the growing stack of tablets and documents on the table. "But this one talks specifically about the second element in the reactor. It looks like a budget of some kind." She flipped a couple of pages of notes, "The important section is here - they mention the name of the planet the element is found on."

"It's not native to this planet?"

"Apparently not. That's useful though, right? I mean, the aerial reconnaissance hasn't turned up any sign of mines, so maybe we can call that off now and redeploy the resources?" The tentative way she spoke hid the high level of skill Carter now knew the linguist possessed. Rush was obviously in desperate need of self-esteem classes; how Major Hargrove dealt with her on a daily basis was a mystery.

"Good point." Carter said, encouragingly. She picked up the radio from beside her laptop and flicked to the archaeological channel.

"Daniel, it's Carter."

There was a pause, then a rather distracted response. "Hey, Sam. Can you hang on sec?" Almost a full minute later he was back, a little breathless. "Sorry, what can I do for you?"

"I need you to check on a planet for me. It's called..." She looked to Rush for an answer, and was handed a piece of paper with the original name and the translation. "...Eb Raneth?" She raised her eyebrows for confirmation and got a nod.

"Er, do you have a reference number?"

"No, sorry."

"That makes it a lot harder. Is it urgent?"

"It looks like that planet's where we'll find our mystery element," Carter replied.

"That'll be a 'yes' then. Can you have someone bring the original name over, not the English equivalent. We'll take a look and see what we can find. I'll get back to you as soon as I have something."

"I'll bring it round myself - see you in a few. Carter out."

The major fixed the radio back in place on her vest, folded the piece of paper into a pocket and started for the exit. She paused as she reached the doorway. "Good job, Dr. Rush. You may just have saved us about three months of work."

The linguist's face lit up, then twisted in confusion. She hesitated.

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh no. Well... I'm sorry to waste your time, Major, but why three months?"

"Actually that's a minimum. It would take us about that length of time to isolate the element and create a mobile test that teams could take with them on planet surveys. We know a lot of the planets we currently travel to have naquada deposits because that was a priority for the Goa'uld when creating settlements. But assuming the Goa'uld don't know of this element, the likelihood of us finding it in a random search of soil samples isn't very high. So if we can find this planet then that'll be a huge breakthrough." She considered her next words carefully. "Doctor, there's nothing wrong with asking questions. The more you know about a given situation the more help yo