EPILOGUE for The Other Side
The briefing room was subdued as SG-1 took their seats. Hammond glanced briefly at each member of his top team, concerned by the taut, carefully controlled faces before him. O'Neill and Teal'c sat to his right, the colonel fiddling unconsciously with a pen, while the Jaffa sat ramrod straight, staring into the wall across the room. On his left, Major Carter sat, her back straight, her hands carefully folded before her on the conference table. Next to her, Dr. Jackson leaned back into his chair, which was pushed back slightly from the table. His head was bent slightly, but the general could see the furrowing of his brow as well as the unfocused look in the civilian's eyes. It occurred to him that this may well prove to be quite an interesting briefing.
Clearing his throat, Hammond turned to his right. "Report, Colonel."
O'Neill looked up, tentatively glancing across the table toward his team members before raising his eyes to the general.
"The Eurondans were agreeable to the exchange of technology for the heavy water necessary to maintain their defences." His gaze flickered to Jackson, who remained uncharacteristically silent. "But, upon further consideration, I determined that the price of such an agreement would possibly be more than we were willing to pay."
Hammond cocked his head in confusion and leaned forward. "I don't understand, Colonel. From what Major Carter told me, the Eurondan government had only asked for the heavy water."
"Yes, sir. That's true, but," he paused momentarily before taking a deep breath and looking the general in the eye. "Daniel was right, sir. All they wanted from us was the water, but what they intended to do with it would have made us party to a war which we knew nothing about."
When the colonel failed to continue, Hammond turned to the archeologist for an explanation. "Perhaps you would care to elaborate, Dr. Jackson?"
Daniel took a deep breath, pursing his lips and unconsciously pushing his glasses up on his nose. Finally, he nodded slightly and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. "The so called 'enemy' of Alar's people were called 'breeders.' It seems the great indignity these breeders were guilty of is -- and I quote -- reproducing with absolutely no regard for genetic purity." He paused to let the ramifications of the statement sink in. "Apparently, Alar's father had decided that theirs was the only race worthy of life. A 'Master Race' if you will."
"The Eurondan's built their underground facility long before the start of the war, sir." Carter picked up the explanation. "The poison in the atmosphere on the planet surface was pumped purposely into the air in an obvious attempt to eliminate the people Alar's father found to be genetically inferior."
"Not like us." O'Neill's voice was low, but the statement reverberated loudly in the room.
Hammond sat back in his chair, contemplating the situation.
"So, what you're saying is that the Eurondan government was in effect the equivalent of Nazi, Germany?"
"At the risk of using an analogy," Daniel glanced pointedly across the table at O'Neill who winced slightly at the soft statement, "yes."
"Which, if I understand the history of your planet correctly, would make Alar or his father Euronda's Adolph Hitler."
Four surprised faces turned toward the Jaffa as he spoke. Teal'c regarded them cooly, one eyebrow raised as he looked around the table. "I have studied the history of the Tua'ri in the hope of better understanding your ways."
Daniel smiled slightly and glanced at O'Neill who returned the grin with a small shrug.
"What about Alar and his people?" Hammond directed his attention to O'Neill. "Will we have to worry about any type of retaliation?"
"Oh, I don't think so, sir." O'Neill made eye contact with Carter, who quickly found something very interesting on the surface of the table. "They have enough to worry about. The underground facility was pretty much destroyed, and even if they are able to dial out with the Stargate, I doubt they'll be dialing us. I don't think we'll hear from them again."
Hammond's gaze moved around the table once more, taking in the carefully controlled expressions on each of the faces of SG-1. He knew there was much more to what happened than his people were letting on, but he had no doubt the entire story would come out as soon as they were ready to tell it.
"Very well, people." He stood and gathered the few papers before him. "I'll expect your mission reports on my desk by 0800 hours tomorrow. Colonel, you and your team are on stand down for the next 48 hours. Dismissed."
Jack watched as General Hammond left the room, followed quietly by Carter and Teal'c. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, knowing he had more than a few bridges to rebuild with his team. He knew Carter was horrified that another life was lost because of the iris. He had watched her face as the thump which could have only been Alar registered against the barrier. Jack had seen the guilt at the loss of life in her eyes, but could not find it within himself to feel pity for the man. Alar had made his own choices. It was not Jack's place to judge him, but was it their place to save him. Like Daniel had said, at what price?
Daniel.
Oh, boy.
Jack cringed at the memory of the linguist's face as he uttered the sharp order to shut up. He'd apologized, much to Daniel's bewilderment, but he still couldn't help but feel the tension between them. Perhaps it was time to start rebuilding those bridges...
"Um, Daniel," he began quietly. The archeologist remained seated on the other side of the table, but made no move to respond. O-kay. Guess I deserve that. Jack cleared his throat had forged on. "Look, I just wanted to say --"
"No, Jack," Daniel interrupted, his voice sounding strained and tired. "You don't have to --"
"For crying out loud, will you just let me finish?" Jack winced, immediately regretting the harshness of his tone as he saw Daniel flinch and close his eyes. "I'm sorry, Daniel, I didn't mean to..."
Daniel just held up a hand to stop the apology. "It's okay, Jack."
Jack sighed in frustration. "No, Daniel. It's not."
The younger man's head snapped up, his eyes registering his surprise. O'Neill couldn't quite meet those eyes. "What I wanted to say, Daniel, is you were right. You were right to question Alar's motives, you were right to question what we were getting ourselves into. Mission objectives aside, I understand why you had to keep asking questions." Jack looked at his friend apologetically. "I had my orders, Daniel, but I could have heard you out. I should have heard you out. I just sometimes tend to..."
"Tune me out?"
Jack shrugged. "Well, yeah. I guess."
Daniel chewed on his lip for a moment, seeming to collect his thoughts before speaking. "I know you think I never stop talking, Jack, but does it ever occur to you that what I'm saying may in some small way, be important?"
Jack couldn't help but note the hint of frustration in Daniel's strained voice.
"I always think what you're saying is important, Daniel. I may not understand most of it," he shrugged at the admission. "But I do think it's important. It's just that sometimes I forget..." He searched for the right words, finally settling on a truth that had become a comfortable joke. "I tend to forget that you are way smarter than I am." He looked up, surprised to see Daniel staring at him with an altogether too familiar look of contemplation. "But ya gotta know, I'm working on it."
Daniel nodded, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Just do me one favor, Jack."
"What's that?"
"Work faster."
A matching grin touched the colonel's lips and he nodded in agreement. "You got it."
They sat for a few moments in a comfortable silence.
"So," Jack finally queried. "Are we okay here?"
Daniel took a deep breath before turning to look at the man he had come to regard as a friend. "Yeah, Jack. We're good."
Jack felt a bit of the weight shift in his chest, and quietly thanked the powers that be for the exceptionally forgiving nature of Daniel Jackson. "Good," he stated.
One bridge mended.
© July 9, 2000 The characters mentioned in this story are the property of Showtime and Gekko Film Corp. The Stargate, SG-I, the Goa'uld and all other characters who have appeared in the series STARGATE SG-1 together with the names, titles and backstory are the sole copyright property of MGM-UA Worldwide Television, Gekko Film Corp, Glassner/Wright Double Secret Productions and Stargate SG-I Prod. Ltd. Partnership. This fanfic is not intended as an infringement upon those rights and solely meant for entertainment. All other characters, the story idea and the story itself are the sole property of the author.