Chapter 32: War
March 10
Aboard the Gaia over Helicon
Daniel's office was dimly lit, the sound of virtual crickets in the background soothing his jangled nerves. Overhead, the holographic ceiling flickered with artificial starlight.
He leaned his elbows on the cool surface of his desk as he waited for the active communication link to be established to Dakara. While he had the chance to make a live connection, he thought he should check in with his friends and give them an update. He'd already spoken with Jack on Alpha, and now he needed to catch up with Teal'c.
The last two days had been trying, cooped up as he'd been in Scout's quarters, feeling as if he were constantly under guard. The Furlings had finally gotten all the refugees resettled on the planet, and now Daniel was once more free to roam the ship at will, with his face uncovered. He'd grown to cherish working in his beautiful office, and had missed being there every day. It was time to get back to the daily grind; soon they'd be leaving orbit and heading off to explore another potential Furling colony or world under Zeus's control.
As soon as the link was established with Dakara, the desktop lit up with a view of Teal'c in his gray robes.
Daniel smiled. "Hey, Teal'c."
"Greetings, DanielJackson." The Jaffa wasn't one to waste time on idle chitchat. "You have news?"
Daniel decided he might as well follow suit. "Two days ago, we were attacked by the Ori. Scans of the three ships showed that they'd found a ZPM in the Furling ruins we came here to explore. They escaped with it."
The Jaffa looked grim. "We have heard rumors that the followers of the Ori are building a new Supergate. Perhaps they intend to use the ZPM to power it." He sighed. "We also have received word that the Ori were not eliminated by Merlin's weapon, as we had hoped. The Priors have returned to their mission of conversion with renewed vigor, and if a new Supergate is opened, more troops and ships will no doubt soon appear to fuel their efforts to convert this galaxy."
Daniel was silent for a moment. "That's a war we not only can't win, we also can't fight it," he mused.
Teal'c's gaze slid sideways and down. "Perhaps the survivors of Earth cannot," he agreed. His chin tipped up as he faced the camera again, and the tiniest smile lit his eyes. "But do not forget you now have powerful allies in the Furlings. Even the Jaffa nations have not been unaffected from their kindness and generosity."
That veiled reference reminded Daniel that Hunter, the Grass Clan elder, had gone to Dakara with Teal'c. Daniel grinned. "How is our little friend?"
One eyebrow arched, and Teal'c's humor vanished as a frown tugged the corners of his mouth downward. "He enjoys... fishing," the Jaffa announced with obvious disdain.
Daniel had to chuckle a little at that. No doubt Teal'c had been roped into going fishing with Hunter; knowing how often Teal'c had been coerced into roughing it with Jack at his cabin for R&R, Daniel knew how much the Jaffa hated it. He probably wanted to be rescued.
"You could always come back to Gaia to help me," Daniel suggested helpfully. "The door's still open. More or less."
The big guy inclined his head in gratitude. "I appreciate the offer, DanielJackson, but I now have a permanent place on the High Council. I must see to the future of my people. We have much work to do."
Daniel was filled with a sense of warm pride. "I can't think of anyone better suited to the position, Teal'c. Congratulations."
"Hunter has advised me that he will speak with the Furling elders regarding an alliance against the Ori," Teal'c added. "Since they have taken over many Jaffa worlds, we will be grateful for assistance in combating them."
Daniel nodded. "Maybe fighting the Ori will give them an opportunity to feel they've found justice against the Ancients," he mused.
He glanced away, intending to mention something else, when his gaze landed on a holographic display of an SGC mission report from P3X-367. He remembered Teal'c had been there when Nirrti had been experimenting on his teammates. The machine hadn't been used on Teal'c, but he would still want to know what Daniel and the Furlings had found there on Helicon, in the ruins of their hidden, protected city.
He cleared his throat. "The Furlings were the ones who created the DNA re-sequencer Nirrti used on Sam and Jonas," he said quietly. "They've found another one on this world, Teal'c. They're in the process of installing it here on Gaia so they can study it." He hesitated, trying to read the other man's stoic gaze. "They may have created the virus that destroyed the Ancients. There's also a possibility it was the Nox who killed them. We don't know for sure yet, but we're going to keep looking."
The Jaffa nodded, his expression unreadable. "Then I will await further information from you, DanielJackson," he returned, a slight edge to his voice. "I have nothing further to report."
Daniel nodded. "Same here. See you later, Teal'c."
"Dakara, out."
Daniel watched the image of his friend reach over and sever the virtual connection between his world and the ship. He leaned back in his chair and sighed, the darkness returning to the room, only the glimmer of artificial starlight illuminating the furnishings.
He bowed his head, thinking. They had made so many discoveries so far, yet the truth seemed to always be tantalizingly just out of reach. He brought up the Furling star chart above his desk and studied the layout of the galaxy, with Gaia's location marked by a tiny dot of shifting colors, hitting every hue in the spectrum. Captain and Scout would be waiting to discuss his opinion on their next destination, and he didn't have a clue where to go.
~~**~~
March 22
Twelve Days Later
Gaia Music Room
el-Mikha stopped walking just inside the doorway of the music room and leaned against the wall. Above his head, Nari hovered with the high-pitched hum of tiny wings, eyes forward, watching. In the middle of the spacious, high-ceilinged room Daniel Jackson sat at the piano the People had crafted for him from information obtained from Alpha databanks. Except for Daniel the room was empty, and the two Furlings kept their voices low to avoid disturbing their human friend.
Daniel sat with his hands on his thighs, staring at the black and white keys, but making no move to touch them.
"Why does he not play?" Nari asked in a hushed whisper.
"He is waiting for his mind and heart to be right to channel the music," the elder answered in a soft murmur. He himself had once been renowned for his singing, but had not performed for generations; the music had abandoned him long ago, but he still retained his pleasant, although distant, memories of it. It was good to see someone with talent expressing it. "It is a meditation for him."
Daniel bowed his head and closed his eyes, fingers lightly drifting over the keys like a lover's caress. The alien music was muted, moody, and it was obvious that the human had talent.
"What is this piece?" asked Nari, breathless with wonder.
"It is called Moonlight Sonata, by an Earth composer with a strange name. I believe Daniel told me his name was... Beethoven." el-Mikha smiled a little, remembering. "See how he touches the keys? He feels the subtle vibrations of the notes with his whole body. He is not a casual musician, as he told us, but an artist."
The melody played over and over, each time with different phrasing, colored with a flood of emotions eloquently spoken by the oddly beautiful instrument.
With a nod of his head, Scout directed the tiny female back outside the music room, into the corridor. "Somewhere inside him," the elder continued, "are the memories he has kept hidden from himself, walled up, out of everyone's reach. He will soon discover the doorway inside, Nari. When he does, he may find a way to control the powers that endanger all those around him, friend and enemy alike. He will have answers to questions he is reluctant to ask."
He stepped forward and made eye contact with the Sky Clan female that Daniel called Claire. "He may even have answers to questions we would prefer he not know. We must be prepared for this."
Nari hugged herself and gave a delicate little shiver, her expression drawn and sad. "I like him, Elder."
"As do I." el-Mikha sighed resignedly. "He is still distracted by his hunt for Zeus. He would not be pleased to learn that we already know where to find his enemy." He frowned and examined the toes of his boots. His tiny companion didn't know about the deal with the Goa'uld; no one would outside the council of elders, until it had been carried out. There would be outrage, he was sure, but the decision had been made by the council and would be carried out at the proper time.
She turned in mid-air to face him, her face set, eyes half closed and glittering with anger. "And we have found our enemy, as well. The Ori share the same origins as the Ancients. Sky Clan reports that their Wheel of Galaxies has been completed, and more of their warships arrive daily. Have you other news?"
The elder nodded. "The humans call it a Supergate. We are fully at war with their followers, little one."
Nari cocked her head. "How do we fare in battle, my lord?"
He met her gaze calmly. "Our weaponry is evenly matched. There are victories on both sides. This will not be an easy war to fight, but it will serve its purpose and give the People some small representation of justice. What interests me is the rumors of the Ancient weapon Daniel made and sent back through the first Supergate to destroy the Ori. Reports indicate it was disabled before it was activated, but perhaps, if we were to study its design, we might find ways to create an even more effective weapon... one that could be used in this galaxy." He smiled at her knowingly.
She grinned back and zoomed off in a graceful loop, coming back to buzz excitedly around his head. "And the only place to find that information--"
el-Mikha bent his head to look away from her pleased face into the music room just beyond, to the contemplative visage of Daniel Jackson, still immersed in his music. "--is right over there. All we need do is help him find it."
Nari turned in mid-air and faced the piano again. "He plays well."
The elder shrugged, then nodded in agreement. "He has told me he is out of practice, but each note is played with passion. He has the soul of an artist, that is certain."
el-Mikha closed his eyes and listened, ignoring the faint, high-pitched hum of Sky Clan's wings, soaking in the resonance of the golden notes. "Daniel has spent a lifetime looking outside himself and dreaming. Now he must look inside himself and awaken. It is a hard journey he makes, and there is much pain ahead for him." He sighed. "We will give him what comfort we can, Nari. Perhaps, when the time comes, he will forgive us our betrayal, because we showed him kindness."
Nari flew up close, landed on his shoulder and nestled against his neck beneath his hair. "Must we hurt him, el-Mikha?"
He reached up and gently folded his fingers around her lower legs in an affectionate touch. "Yes, Sky. We must. There is no other choice."
The elder had never felt as old and weary as he did at that moment. Filled with regret and sadness, the emotions spilled out, misting his eyes, blurring the distant image of the human he called his friend. All he could do was delay the inevitable, not prevent the future that was already set into motion.
Time was his gift for Daniel Jackson, delaying the inevitable. That was all he had the power to do for the man he called a friend.
~~**~~
Gaia Infirmary
Carolyn Lam bent over the exam table, applying the last of the seals to her latest patient's wound. Jet had been injured off-world, his inner thigh sliced open by the claws of an alien animal, as he sought to protect his master; the away team had just returned to get him the medical attention he needed.
Only Jet wasn't a 'he.'
The doctor couldn't help stealing a glance at Jet's crotch as he reclined beneath a disposable paper tunic, with another sanitary drape over his lap. Jet was completely devoid of any genitalia whatsoever, inside or out. Even his DNA, which Carolyn had seen on the molecular level, showed no sexual markers. There were only the physical apertures of elimination, which she knew some Furling null genders made use of in sexual congress with others.
For them, the sex act existed only as entertainment, a curiosity; they could enjoy it, but they never quite understood it. She'd studied some of their psychology and resulting behaviors, but simply couldn't grasp what possible biological purpose such beings might have in Furling genetics. In all of nature, there'd only been the one species she'd ever encountered--
Her head came up. She looked Jet in the eyes, her bedside smile vanishing. "Oh, my God," she whispered as intuition dawned. "Excuse me, Jet, but you're fine, and I just have to... go..."
But no, patients came first. She shook her head, tucking away her excitement. "Sorry. I was distracted." She checked the shiny, transparent chemical "bandage" and decided it was set well enough for him to go. "You can get dressed now. I'd like to see you again in two days to check how that's healing. Meanwhile, no strenuous exercise till then, okay?"
He nodded and smiled at her. "Yes, Jehani."
Those big, beautiful eyes could do some damage, she mused privately as she grinned back at him.
After making sure he could get up and no longer needed her aid, she left the examination table and headed for her desk, plopping into her chair. In seconds, she had accessed the Furling database, and set up a search parameter for biological data on the Asgard.
Hours later, she found herself skidding to a stop inside Daniel's office, breathless with excitement and discovery.
Doctor Jackson was asleep at his desk. He must have taken a moment to rest his eyes and drifted off, head resting on his crossed arms, face slack and eyes closed. If he were that tired, he probably should have been in bed in his quarters.
She shook his shoulder, calling his name to waken him.
He sat right up, wiping at his mouth and glancing around, obviously trying to get his bearings. "Carolyn, what are you doing here?" His hands moved on the desk, as though he were shuffling papers, only there was nothing there. He blinked at the holographic files he had open, seeking where he'd left off in his research.
"I just had to talk to somebody," she blurted, taking a seat in the guest chair. "It's something that's been bugging me since I met the Furlings, and I think I may have found an answer. Have you got a few minutes?"
He leaned back in his chair, rubbing his face to help him wake up more fully, and said, "Okay. Shoot."
"It's the Furling null genders," she began, leaning forward. "What's their biological purpose?"
Daniel held up one finger, and his eyebrows lifted. "Um..." His mouth opened and closed as his mind skipped a beat.
"Exactly! There is no purpose. Nowhere in natural history, at least, what we know from Earth, are nulls included in a species population. They're a biological dead-end, incapable of reproduction. The only place we've ever found them is..." She held up both hands and waited for him to get it.
He frowned, his lips pursing slightly. "Well..."
She answered the question for him. "The Asgard! They manipulated their genes to remove all gender markings from their species, depending on cloning for reproduction. What if the Furlings were trying to do the same thing? Or--"
Carolyn stood up and started pacing, her mind racing as she pursued this incredible idea, needing him for a sounding board. "What if they looked ahead and could see the Asgard were going to have problems, and were trying to help them find a way back to becoming a gendered species?"
"But--"
"We know the Asgard had recovered a few cryogenically preserved specimens of their forebears," she continued, arms crossed over her chest, head down as she watched the floor with its velvety green carpeting beneath her shoes. "We know the Furlings had the DNA re-sequencers prior to their exile. We presume they invented those machines to help them adapt to alien environments, which resulted in the development of four distinct races in their own population, but what if they were trying to help the Asgard, too?"
"That might explain why they didn't take part in the war," Daniel agreed. "I'd think they might have taken sides with the Furlings against the Ancients and the Nox, though, if that were the case."
"Maybe." Carolyn stopped pacing and eyed him. "Bring up a DNA reference from the Asgard database, if you wouldn't mind. I want to check something." She hurried back to his desk and came to stand beside him, looking over his shoulder at the display.
His fingers slid through the virtual controls on his desktop, accessing the requested information and displaying it in a hologram hovering at one end of his workspace.
"Can you access infirmary records from here? I want to look at a particular record."
He opened the records window, then rose from his chair and moved aside to let her search for the treatment data on her last patient.
She sat down and browsed through the files, opened the right one, and pulled up the DNA scan, displaying it right beside the Asgard one. She studied the two, side by side. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in surprise. "Oh, my God," she whispered, and covered her mouth with one hand.
"What?" asked Daniel, leaning closer, studying the twin spirals. "I don't know what I'm looking at, here, Carolyn. What do you see?"
Her throat tightened as possibilities shot through her brain at light-speed. "They're related!" she whispered excitedly. "The Furlings and the Asgard. They share some of the same DNA."
She moved the second image so it overlaid the first, making her observation crystal clear.
"Why didn't I see it before?" she whispered, getting up from the chair and pacing again. "The size of their eyes, the shapes of their noses... well, Furlings have prettier noses than the Asgard did, but still..."
"Wait! Wait!" blurted Daniel, sliding into the chair again, his hands busy manipulating the computer interface. "Take a look at the hologram from Helicon."
Carolyn glanced at the desktop, temporarily sidetracked by her cohort's line of thinking. "Yeah, I remember you said it was a Mountain female. They've completely outgrown the need for two genders, reproducing by parthenogenesis, so that image had to be pretty old."
"Partheno..." He scowled at her in confusion.
"Parthenogenesis," she repeated. "Single sex reproduction. They can reproduce spontaneously or in response to sexual stimulation, because they have complete reproductive capabilities built in. They have no need of females any more because they're not exactly males, as human males are. They're something kind of... biologically unique."
She pointed at the data he'd pulled up from his recorded memory of the holograph of the Mountain Clan female, now displaying a tiny view of her enormous figure on the desktop. "Look at her eyes and nose, how almost human her features are."
She stared, studying. "Close enough that a bio-scan would show Denali as related to her," Carolyn agreed, "but different. Daniel, this is an enormous discovery! Somewhere along the way, the Furlings and the Asgard got together and became a new race."
For a moment, they just stared at each other, shock turning grim as more ideas dawned.
"So why didn't the Asgard help them when the Ancients tried to wipe them out?" she whispered.
"Maybe they tried," he murmured back. "Or maybe they didn't know what was happening until it was too late. There's no account of the annihilation in their history, Carolyn. I've looked. My search routine has been running through their database here on Gaia for weeks now, and there isn't a single entry."
She swallowed hard. "That seems kind of... ominous. I'm guessing we should keep this to ourselves until we have more information, right?"
He nodded. "We have to keep looking for information," he told her grimly. "This is amazing, but I have the feeling it's just the tip of the iceberg. Somewhere there's a missing piece of history waiting to be discovered that'll tell us everything; we just have to find it."
"'Look for the Burning Gate,'" she recited, recalling Baal's dying hint. "Any idea where that might be?"
Daniel flashed a weary smile and sighed. "Still looking."
"Well, why don't you knock off for now, and get some sleep?" she suggested. "You look like you need it."
He gave a raspy little chuckle. "Like I could sleep after this adrenaline rush," he shot back. "Maybe after the excitement's worn off a little. I think I'll get back to it for now."
"Yeah, me, too. Let me know if you find something, okay?" She watched him settle back into his research as she left his office, still reeling from the insight she'd just gained. This changed everything, and the ramifications were staggering.
There was still so much left to know, though, and she was just getting started prying the lid off this box of secrets.
She just hoped she hadn't opened the door to a demonic horde that might destroy them all.
~~**~~
March 24
Two Days Later
Daniel's office, aboard the Gaia
The search routine was almost completed, and Daniel watched the main screen change color as the ship's computer scanned the files for his parameters. All around the edges of the holographic window were orderly groups of icons, titled with the general groupings of information, spreading out like tree roots off the sides with sub-folders. There were thousands of them, and he couldn't possibly have explored them all. Only a small spot in the center of the graphic remained black.
Then the dot was gone, with no matching results.
He frowned at the display.
To his knowledge, the Asgard had only mentioned the Furlings once in the many years the humans had been acquainted with the little gray aliens. Could they, like the Nox, have wiped all traces of the Third Race from their databanks, and kept only the name alive?
Daniel just couldn't believe that. The Asgard were too thorough, too intent on detailed record-keeping to intentionally leave such a significant fact from their own history.
Unless...
He closed his eyes and listened, trying to hear the hum of tiny, invisible wings over the ambient noise constantly playing in his office. In the background was the faint, deep thrum of the ship's engines vibrating all through every surface. He just couldn't tell with all that other sound-clutter if he had company or not, and while he had no real privacy, he needed the sense that he might be alone, if only for his own comfort.
The thought had occurred to him that the Furlings might have intentionally excluded the files he wanted to see, or locked him out of them. It was possible, though not something he wanted to believe of the People whom he now called his friends.
Maybe if he tried a different search parameter...
He opened his eyes and stared at the screen, considering what he should try next. Directing the interface to the search queue, he entered his command text in Asgard script instead of English.
Rather than repeat any of the previous query parameters, he tried a few words that Doctor Lam had inspired.
Genetic manipulation. DNA re-sequencer. Asgard hybrids.
This time, he didn't mention the Furlings by name.
He set the search in motion, then started work on a Furling text lesson, copying the pictographic symbols into his journal. Writing in the languages he was learning helped him memorize, and he enjoyed it. Time passed -- he wasn't sure how long, but it couldn't have been more than an hour -- and records began to appear in the background behind the tutorial.
There were lots of them. He entered a secondary filter for those files while the main query continued.
Three. Ancients. Nox. Danger. Annihilation.
Unable to concentrate on the writing lesson while the distillation proceeded, he just watched the holographic screen.
A file appeared, followed by another.
Daniel couldn't wait for the search to finish, so he opened the first one, scanning for the highlighted words that had matched both query strings.
His eyes widened, his mouth suddenly dry. He reached to scroll downward in the document, shaken by what he was seeing, but before he could follow through with that, something happened.
There was a massive pulse wave of sound that seemed to fill every spectrum from sub-bass to inaudibly high, all at the same time, only lasting for an instant. Accompanying that, a tiny shockwave seemed to emerge from his core and radiate outward through the ship, feeling as though a bomb had detonated inside him, but leaving no damage in its wake. He had no idea what was going on, but it was terrifying. Reacting only on instinct, he bolted out of his chair and ran for the nearest door.
Out in the corridor, Furlings were on the run, faces set and grim.
"What's happening?" he called, dancing on the edge of panic.
The pulse echoed again, fainter but just as arousing. He bleated in shocked surprise and instinctively ducked, pushing himself up against the nearest wall. "What the hell was that?" he demanded of no one in particular.
"We are under attack," someone shouted. "We must report to our battle stations."
Daniel dashed for the nearest elevator, his database search temporarily abandoned.
There were more important things on his mind now; ancient history could wait.
End Chapter 32