Translations (3/19)
Title: Translations ( Table of Contents)
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Nothing you recognize is mine. I gain nothing of material value from this.
Pairings: Gen.
Chapter1 Chapter2 Chapter3
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Chapter 3: Arrangements
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13 October 1997; SGC, Earth; 1700 hrs
Jack found himself making his way up to the physics lab anyway, shortly after walking Teal'c back to his cell and checking in with Hammond about new personnel. "Carter," he called as he stuck his head in, "there's an Egyptologist called Rothman arriving in two days to..." When no one seemed to be listening, he stepped in more fully and looked around the nearly-empty lab.
A sergeant sat before a computer and spared a second to look away from his work. "She's in the back, sir."
Jack nodded to the man--who was already typing again and probably didn't see anyway--and made his way past the benches to the back area where Carter kept her desk.
"Carter," he started, then noticed Daniel sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. Both of them looked up at him, blinking. "Hey. Didn't know you were still here, Daniel. So...uh, I see Captain Carter didn't give you a chair?" He gave the captain a pointed look.
"No, sir," she protested, "I did, but--"
"I told Sam it's more comfortable like this," Daniel spoke up. Someone had found an unmarked jumpsuit for him, but he had wrapped himself tightly in a BDU jacket, as if still cold. He had a large textbook lying across his legs, and sheets of what looked like recently printed pictures were spread over the surface. "She did offer, Jack."
"Apparently, chairs were only for special occasions on Abydos," Carter told him.
"Ah," Jack said. "Well, if you don't mind, Carter, I'll steal one of your chairs." He pulled a cheap, wooden chair from the corner and dropped into it. "My knees won't thank me if I join you on the floor," he told Daniel.
He'd vaguely noticed that there wasn't much in the way of personal furniture on Abydos. Earth was as alien to the kid as Abydos had been to Jack's team. Modern concrete and metal railings would be new and strange to Daniel, not to mention all the electronic equipment. If sitting on the floor made him more comfortable, it was a small enough comfort for them to provide for now.
"Sorry about that, sir," Carter said, "I didn't know you were stopping in."
Jack shrugged and waved it off. "I just came up here because Hammond wants you, Carter, to show Dr. Rothman around the research areas when he arrives--you're one of the people who know their way around here. So that means our first training exercises are pushed off until after that gets done."
"Dr. Rothman studies Egypt?" Daniel piped up.
"I heard about him, sir," Carter said. "Actually, I was planning on speaking with you and the general about these translations myself."
"Oh?" Jack said.
The delight in her words was unmistakable as she said, "Well, sir, it looks like Daniel's making some headway."
Jack raised an eyebrow and looked at the pictures on the boy's lap, which he realized now were from that wall that Claire Jackson had mentioned, where there might be some kind of secret chamber. "Is he, now."
Daniel smiled in a way that radiated Told you so.
"All right, then," Jack said, crossing his arms. "I'll bite. What's it say?"
The smile faltered. "Well," Daniel hedged, a wrinkle appearing between his brows, "I'm sure I read it right. I was not lying about that."
A preface like that didn't inspire the greatest confidence, but Jack shrugged again. "No one's saying you were. What's it say?"
Daniel chewed on his lip. "Are you sure it's supposed to be about the chaapa'ai? Because I really don't see...I mean, it's very clear..." He stopped, then took a deep breath, bringing the paper closer and squinting a little. "It's only about Ra." The disappointment was audible.
Jack kept his expression blank and said, "What does it say about Ra?"
"It's only...telling his story. It praises him, of course, because they thought he was their god at the time this was written. It's basically a history written by his servants. There is a lot more," he went on, "but nothing that has to do with the chaapa'ai. But I'm right about what it says, I'm certain of it," he finished defiantly. "It's not hard to read or anything."
Carter met Jack's eyes over Daniel's head, grinning. "This wasn't from the same room as the addresses," she told the boy. "I never told you that, so you assumed it was about the Stargate, but your translation actually makes more sense."
Daniel squinted at his papers another minute, then scowled at both of them. "You were testing me," he accused.
"Not on purpose," she assured him. "Actually, I assumed it would be about the Stargate, too, though in retrospect, I probably shouldn't have. I'd be willing to believe your reading of it--it makes sense."
After a few minutes of silence, the accusation had faded to sullenness. "Did I pass?" he asked. Quiet resentment had appeared and simmered under the words.
Carter was looking guilty for some reason, making Jack suspect that she had been trying to test him, just a little. "There's no 'pass' or 'fail' here, Daniel," he said. "This wasn't a job interview."
"So I didn't pass." There was a glint in his eyes that said he knew perfectly well that wasn't what they meant and was arguing for--what? Semantics' sake? To manipulate them into letting him see more?
"That's not what I said, kid, and you know it," Jack said.
Daniel bristled at the word kid, as if he knew Jack had said it on purpose to underline the fact that he wasn't an adult. "And you know I can help you," he pressed insistently. "You need people to do things like this, yes? That's why you came--went to Abydos, to find...someone who could translate for you. I am certain that no one here can read this as easily as I can--this is my native language."
"Look," Carter tried, more gently, "you're fourteen years old by our calendar--"
"Fourteen," Jack echoed to himself with a little surprise, counting back to when they'd finished the first Abydos mission.
"--and at least on Earth, we have laws about people your age doing work like this."
Daniel stood abruptly, making the textbook hit the floor with a clatter, photos and translations sliding after it.
"Well, I did not choose to be here on Earth!" he growled back, clenching his hands into fists. Jack was taken aback at the sudden movement but even more so at the tears now standing in the blue eyes. Daniel reached up a quick hand to dash them away on the BDU sleeve, and when he looked back up, the tears had disappeared into the angry frustration they'd seen earlier.
"Hey," Jack said sternly, "we'll be doing whatever we can to--"
"You'll be doing," Daniel hissed at him. "You. You don't even want to let me help, do you? I'm just going to be put in a room, doing nothing for a year until--"
"Daniel," he tried again, "it's way too dangerous."
"But they killed--!"
The words cut off.
In the following silence, Jack heard a chair scrape along the floor outside and fervently hoped the sergeant out there had decided to remove himself from the scene and wasn't about to come in or anything. Carter looked a bit upset herself, and Daniel had wrapped his fisted arms around himself in a posture Jack was rapidly coming to hate.
Without warning, Daniel closed his eyes, exhaled sharply, and dropped back to the floor to shuffle jerkily through the papers he'd let fall just moments ago.
Jack stood and walked forward until he was in reach of Daniel. "Stop that," he said softly. Daniel's hands stiffened but stopped their furious movements. "Carter and I will straighten that out. You did good with the translation."
"It's not enough," came the prickly reply.
"It's more than we'd expected. More than we'd think of asking for."
"It doesn't... They won't... It's still not enough."
Something heavy settled in Jack's stomach. "Yeah," he managed. "Nothing will ever be enough. There are some things we can't change. I understand."
"Understand," Daniel scoffed. "That's what people say."
Sharply, he answered, "Well, I mean it." He waited until the boy's eyes rose, then said, more gently, "I've lost family, too. I understand. I know how you feel."
"Then let me go with you," Daniel said, almost pleading. "Through the cha...through the Stargate. I can help you, you know that I can."
"I can't do that, Daniel," Jack said.
"Then let me help here! Please."
Jack resisted the urge to smooth down an errant strand of the boy's messy hair, the way he would have done a year ago with a different boy. He left his hand resting on his knee. This was Daniel. Different kid. Not his kid. They were nothing alike--he knew that already.
"How 'bout this," Jack compromised. "I'll ask the general. He's not gonna agree to you going off-world, I can tell you that, but we'll see what the options are." When he saw another protest coming, he said, more firmly, "That's all I can give you right now." Then, more quietly, "Okay?"
Daniel searched his face, as if looking for a trick. Finally, he straightened the pile of photos in his hands. "Here are the pictures and the translations I wrote for them," he said dully, handing a stack of papers to him. "They're not...the order of them is..."
"We'll put them in order," Jack said. The fight had drained from Daniel's expression for the moment, leaving something oddly blank in the wake of the brief flare of anger. "Okay?" he asked again.
Daniel didn't meet his eyes, but rose to his feet and nodded very slightly. "Okay," he agreed, but he shied away with a tiny flinch when Carter made a move to pat him on the shoulder.
XXXXX
14 October 1997; SGC, Earth; 1100 hrs
"I hear our little alien friend wasn't too happy about his physical," Jack commented when their new CMO strode into the briefing room.
"I hear from Dr. Warner that you don't take to them very well yourself, sir, and yours was a lot shorter," she retorted crisply, setting a folder down on the table before taking a chair. "I'm Dr. Janet Frasier," she added, holding a hand out to Jack. "Pleased to meet you, Colonel."
"Doctor," he responded.
"Dr. Frasier requested that you be here for this meeting," Hammond explained.
"Uh-huh. Why is that, again?" he asked.
"Actually," Frasier said, "Daniel's the one who requested that you be here, along with Captain Sam Carter. In fact, we're just waiting for..."
"Sorry about that, sirs, Doctor," Carter's voice sounded from the stairs as she hurried to take a seat as well. "I just showed Daniel to his quarters."
"Well, wouldja look at that," Jack said in a bright tone. "SG-1's having another briefing, and we haven't even gone on a second mission yet."
Carter looked uncomfortable. Hammond looked tired. Frasier looked frosty, so Jack made a note not to get in her way too much when it came close to time for his next physical.
"We need to make some decisions about the Jacksons' son," Hammond said. "He understands we may be discussing sensitive information at this meeting but seemed to think you two would be able to represent his interests and those of his planet."
Jack bit back a comment and caught an uneasy glance from Carter. Sure, he'd told Daniel he'd talk to the general, and he'd trust the two of them more than the brass who'd almost nuked Abydos--twice--but their loyalty had to be to Earth first, not a child they barely knew from a planet they'd only visited once or twice. He tried futilely to brush Claire and Melburn's faces out of his head. Not sure whether to answer in the affirmative, he offered a neutral, "Yes, sir."
Hammond nodded, as if he understood completely. "This is our situation. You had orders to bring Drs. Claire and Melburn Jackson back to the SGC in order to help deal with a poorly understood hostile. In doing so, they were killed in action by that hostile, and you brought their son here instead, leaving him no way of returning to his original planet."
"W...well, it sounds bad when you put it that way, General," Jack said as Carter shifted uneasily, "but it's not like we kidnapped the kid."
"I'm not condemning your actions, Colonel," Hammond assured him, "but the bottom line is that having a fourteen-year-old boy running unsupervised through this base is unacceptable."
"I've taken a little time to speak with Daniel Jackson," Frasier spoke up. "He's very determined to find a way to go back to his home planet or, barring that, he's mentioned that he'd like to join an exploration team and help to look for the two Abydons taken as Goa'uld hosts. I know that's not an option, sir," she added at the general's look.
"What about a temporary foster home, off base?" the general said.
"Maybe, if we find could someone with the right clearance," she said. "He is, essentially, a war refugee whose very existence is classified. I'm told that he'll be leaving in a year, so we'd have to keep close tabs on him, anyway. Adjusting to a new culture, maybe entering a school, making up a fake history... I'm not sure it would be worth it, to him or to us, if he's leaving in a year."
"Probably even less than that," Carter added. "Tobay--one of the Abydons--told us 'one year' and probably meant one of their years. That's actually two hundred-and-six thirty-six hour days, or three hundred-and-nine Earth days."
Hammond nodded. "Thank you for keeping track of that. But Dr. Frasier's point still stands, Captain."
"Doctor," Carter asked, "are you suggesting that he should stay here, on base?"
Frasier hesitated. "Normally, I wouldn't. This isn't a child-friendly environment, clearly, but if it's short-term..." She sighed. "The logistics of any placement would be a nightmare. Even ignoring that, if we force him to leave and enter a normal household, if we could even find one suitable, whatever stability it would give him would only be an illusion, since he's just counting down to the day when he'll go back. And it would be forcing him to leave, because he seems to want to say here."
"He wants to stay here because he wants to work for us, not because he wants 'stability,'" Jack pointed out.
"Yes, Colonel, Captain," Hammond said. "You've mentioned something about translations."
Jack raised his eyebrows at Carter to explain, and she obliged eagerly. "Sir, if he's going to be staying on base..."
"Which we haven't decided yet, Captain," the general reminded her.
"Yes, sir. But he was brought up in what is close to our Ancient Egyptian culture. Abydos seems less advanced than our Ancient Egyptians were in some ways, maybe because Ra halted their progress and learning, but Daniel has had a solid, if spotty, education provided by his parents, as well as exposure to Abydonian ways of life. Of the few places we've been, we've already seen several examples of Goa'uld who are posing as Egyptian gods. That mythology is part of his native culture, and he speaks at least a few Egyptian dialects. He'd be a good resource for linguistic or cultural reasons--he reads and writes hieroglyphs as naturally as our own alphabet."
"A 'resource,' Carter?" Jack repeated incredulously. "We've got Teal'c being locked up and milked for information, and you want to use Daniel for the same thing?"
"Colonel O'Neill," the general warned, "the boy will not be mistreated."
No one commented on Teal'c. Jack scowled. "I'm just saying, sir--we're not starting out with a good reputation as far as alien guests go. Besides, I thought we were shipping that Rothberg character over here for translations."
"Rothman," Carter corrected.
"I don't care," Jack snapped. "We can't treat a fourteen-year-old like a government employee who has to earn his keep. Or as a resource," he added, with a glare at Carter, who flushed.
"No one is suggesting that we should take advantage of him," the general said. "In fact, I seem to remember that you argued yesterday to let him see the footage we brought back from Abydos."
"To keep him out of the way while we figured out what to do with him, sir."
"I realize his staying here would be problematic," Frasier conceded, "but we'd run into problems if we sent him away, too. If you're worried about his personal wellbeing, this place does have a connection to home for him. It might make him feel more at ease."
Jack dropped his pen onto the conference table. "Is anyone... Doc, he's not used to sitting in chairs. Being underground all the time, surrounded by concrete and the most advanced technology Earth has to offer..." He waved a hand, wondering if he was the only one who saw something wrong with this picture.
"Well, he's going to see chairs and computers wherever he goes," Fraiser said. "At least he knows someone here who knew his parents and his homeworld, which he may find comforting."
Jack took a look around the room, then said, "I hope you're not expecting me to take care of a kid, whom, by the way, I only barely know because we escaped from prison together. And if you want someone who knew his parents, Doc, I'm not the man for that job, either. We weren't close friends."
They'd trusted him, though. They'd saved his life, and now, this was their son. Dammit.
And damn him for promising Daniel to plead his case to the General. "I want the best for the kid, too," Jack continued, "and we owe his parents, but I didn't get recalled to active duty for this."
"No, I agree," Hammond told him. "We need you to lead SG-1. I'm not asking you to baby-sit him. But first things first." He turned to Carter. "Captain, are you certain the translations he gave you are correct? Not a word, Colonel," he snapped as Jack opened his mouth again.
Carter gave Jack a nervous glance, then said, "As certain as I can be, sir. A small portion of what I gave him to look at was translated previously by his parents, and it's in one of the notebooks we brought back from Abydos. That section matched, with enough slight variation that I know he didn't just memorize and repeat his parents' work. As for the rest, when Dr. Rothman arrives, I can ask him for confirmation, maybe do more tests."
"If I might add, General," Frasier said, "I need to keep him here for the next several days, at least. We've never dealt with people from off-world, and obviously I don't have any medical records for him, so I'd feel better if we keep him here until we're sure he's completely fine."
Hammond frowned. "Were there problems during his physical?"
"No, sir. A bit of myopia--obviously, he gets along fine without glasses, but it wouldn't hurt for him to get a pair while he's with us. Some signs of childhood illnesses or injuries but no signs of lingering problems. Considering that he comes from a developing society and just...uh, escaped from prison, he's remarkably healthy, though I'll continue to look for potential latent contagions he may have brought back."
"Colonel, didn't you say his mom had bad allergies?" Carter put in.
"I'll keep an eye out," Frasier told them calmly. "There's a genetic factor to allergies, but there's an environmental one, too--Daniel may or may not have a problem. Also, his immune system could be unused to common pathogens we're exposed to on Earth, so whatever we decide, I'll want to keep him here for a short while, anyway, to make a decision on a course of vaccines. In fact, General, it might be a good idea to develop a standard protocol for treating people from off-world, in case a similar situation comes up again."
"I hope this kind of situation will not become the norm," the general commented wryly. "But that raises a good point. We can't discount the possibility that something like this may happen again, and what we're discussing now with regards to Daniel Jackson could, more generally, affect future procedures. I'll leave developing a medical protocol to you, Doctor."
"Yes, sir."
"During the time Daniel Jackson is here, I'll allow him into the laboratories at the discretion of the scientist in charge of the project, if no one minds his presence," Hammond said. "If this becomes a problem over the next few days, I'll reevaluate that decision. It's either that, Colonel," he added when Jack looked disgruntled, "or keep him locked in his room or find some other way to keep him occupied here over the next year."
"Sir," Carter said, "I know there aren't exactly laws that deal with this, but what is his official status as of now?"
"He has been granted the equivalent of temporary protected status here," Hammond said, "specifically in the SGC itself unless other arrangements are made. I suspect that, since he's not a native of our world, even those with the clearance to know about him would be less inclined to insist on the usual procedures for dealing with foreign, orphaned children."
Jack frowned. "So human rights don't apply to people who aren't from Earth."
"They're probably thinking of him as an alien more than as a human, I'll admit. In this case, Colonel, it'll make things easier for us; drawing attention to him is the last thing we need."
"And what's he supposed to do about food and clothing and things like that?"
Frasier offered, "Someone will be in the infirmary around the clock. My staff and I can see to his immediate needs the best we can."
"So he'll eat hospital food for the next year," Jack said. "Sounds...nice."
"We've had guests at this and other facilities before," Hammond said. "At least for the moment, we can arrange some system for the boy to get what he needs from the commissary."
"He's going to be a little more permanent than most of our guests, sir."
"His situation is a little more abnormal than most of our guests', Colonel, given who he is and why we can't send him home."
Right. Still... "With all due respect, sir, it's a fine line between what you're suggesting and outright forced confinement. I know--I know that's not how it's meant, but we can't keep a kid underground for a year."
Frasier suggested, "I don't see why he can't leave the base sometimes, preferably accompanied by one of the staff."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "That's like...occasionally being on parole. With guards."
"For his safety in an unfamiliar world, Colonel O'Neill," Hammond said sharply. "Believe me, I'm open to suggestions. Let's also not forget that, if the wrong people hear about him and his connection to the SGC, or his parents' contributions here, or his birthplace, there will be problems for all of us, including the boy."
Grudgingly, Jack nodded. "Yes, sir."
"General, Colonel," Carter said, "if you don't have any objections, when I don't have any pressing duties, I wouldn't mind letting Daniel stay with me. I'm in the lab a lot, anyway, and he hasn't bothered me or the other scientists so far while we've been working."
"That's good of you to offer, Captain," Hammond said, nodding. "I trust you'll provide laboratory safety training and exercise proper caution when dealing with sensitive technologies or information."
"Yes, sir," she agreed.
"Coordinate this among yourselves, then," Hammond ordered. "I appreciate your help with this issue; I know it's not in your job descriptions. We're all going to be pulling extra duties until we're fully staffed and everything in this program is more settled. Doctor--"
"I'll make arrangements, sir," Frasier said smartly, gathering her folders together. The general nodded to them all again and stood to return to his office.
"Hold up, Doc," Jack said as she was about to leave the room.
"Yes, Colonel?"
"How old is Daniel, exactly?" Jack asked. "Do we know?"
Both Frasier and Carter looked surprised at the question, but the doctor opened one of her manila folders and said, "I have here July 8, 1983, as an approximate birth date."
"We calculated it from some information in the Jacksons' journals," Carter explained. "They referenced his birth in relation to one of the solstice festivals, and with some astronomical data about the length of days and years, I'm fairly certain of the result, plus or minus a month or so at most. It matches his claim that he's almost seventeen in Abydonian years."
"Huh," he said, counting backward. "That's...not a lot of time after we left Abydos. Didn't take them long to...uh, never mind," he amended, stopping before his mind conjured up images he didn't need.
"I noticed that, too," Frasier said, "and I checked the old medical records still on file from before the 1982 mission. Daniel's mother was already pregnant when they went to Abydos with you and the team. Don't worry," she added when he raised his eyebrows in alarm, "I don't know how things were run before, but I would never allow something like that to happen again. I understand they decided at the time that they needed her on the mission in order to get home."
"That's...not actually what I was worried about." Jack hesitated, then asked, "If a woman dies and is brought back to life, and she's pregnant at the time, there aren't any side effects to the kid, are there?"
"That depends on..." She narrowed her eyes. "You're not seriously...that wasn't in the report."
Jack glanced at the door to Hammond's office. "That report wasn't very complete," he said. "There was this box thing that could heal pretty much everything, even bring people back to life. They thought it was how Ra kept himself and his host alive for so many years."
"You're saying Claire Jackson was, ah, revived using this box?"
"Claire and Melburn both, at one point," he clarified. At the two women's looks, he said defensively, "What? The Jacksons had this weird hero complex. Melburn...took a staff blast for me, from one of Ra's servants. Saved my life, but it was definitely fatal."
Frasier considered. "It could have looked that way, but even traditional definitions of clinical death don't mean there's no chance for..."
"I could see through the hole where his heart got blown out," Jack said flatly. "He was dead." Carter winced; Fraiser pursed her lips in thought. "Later, he came back to life, good as new, except for the hole in his shirt. So when his wife got between him and another staff, he took her up to Ra's ship and..." He waved his hand.
"I get the idea," she murmured. "This...goes against almost everything I've ever seen. I'm not doubting you, sir," she assured him when he opened his mouth indignantly. "Apparently a lot of what I know as the limits of science is wrong. So you're concerned that Daniel's health may have been affected somehow by the trauma to his mother. Or by this healing box."
"That must be the sarcophagus mentioned in the Jacksons' journal," Carter said.
"Yeah, I think that's what they called it," Jack said.
"I don't suppose we have one of those available for study?" Frasier asked, sounding wistful. "No, I didn't think so. Well, I appreciate your bringing this to my attention; I'll make a note in his record. As I said, Daniel seems to be in fine health, and apparently has been for over fourteen years. That doesn't mean there aren't effects we can't see, particularly since we don't know how this sarcophagus affects human physiology. If we ever learn that it might have deleterious effects, I'll reexamine it."
"Thanks, Doc," Jack said.
She nodded to them. "Colonel, Captain...I'll be in the infirmary if you need anything."
"Well, that was fun," Jack said once he and Carter left the room together.
"I really wish we had some way of analyzing that sarcophagus--" she started.
"Trust me," he said. "Better the sarcophagus destroyed than Ra still around." She nodded in acknowledgement. "So you're taking Daniel to your lab now?"
"I'll ask if he wants to, yes. Unless you have any objections, sir."
"Nope," Jack said swiftly. "None. I'm not his...I'm not in charge of him."
XXXXX
14 October 1997; SGC, Earth; 1300 hrs
Jack sent Charlie Kawalsky to get checked out in the infirmary--the man had a headache that wouldn't go away--and walked into the men's room after tossing Captain Satterling's file into the growing 'not joining my team' pile. Once there, he found himself staring at Daniel Jackson, who was standing by the sinks.
"Uh," Jack said.
"Jack," the boy said, a little cautiously.
"Daniel," he answered.
When Jack counted to ten and nothing had happened, he tried, "So. What's up?"
Daniel ducked his head. "It's...different." He fluttered a nervous hand around the room. "We didn't have, uh...places with this sort of...plumbing on Abydos. I've only heard about..." He blushed.
Oh. Oh. "You, uh...you need help figuring out...you know..." Jack glanced at a urinal, really hoping he wouldn't have to demonstrate.
"Na nay! N-no. I, uh. I figured that out," he said quickly, blushing even redder. "I just...I was looking at...I didn't know..." He looked at the sinks again. "Those are for washing?"
Jack studied him for a moment before taking pity and stepping toward the sinks, as well. "Yeah. Water use is different in a desert, huh?"
Daniel nodded, looking humiliated at not understanding, so Jack stopped staring at him and held his hand under the faucet. Water trickled out, and Daniel started in surprise. "They're automatic," Jack told him. "We've got top of the line technology for just about everything in this base, even the useless things, so... Anyway, they wouldn't have been around before your parents left Earth."
Daniel's eyes darted toward him for a second, then back, holding both of his hands under the steady stream of water. "It just turns on?"
"There's a sensor," Jack answered, wondering if that was a deliberate change of subject or just a question. "Beyond that, you'll have to ask someone else. Carter probably knows."
Looking enthralled, Daniel only nodded again.
"I think you're pretty clean now," Jack pointed out after a while, and Daniel snatched his hands back, looking guilty.
"I'm not accustomed to having so much water everywhere," he said. "We're inside, and it's still everywhere I look."
Jack nodded in understanding, remembering the occasions when he'd had to stay in a desert with no luxuries for extended periods of time. "Wait 'til you see the showers," he advised, before he remembered that all the refugees from Chulak had been given the chance to wash off during the medical exam. He hesitated, then asked, "Where are you going from here?"
"Sam said she'll take me to the com...uh. Com...missary."
"Ah," Jack said. "Gotta tell you--the SGC commissary? Not what I'd pick for your first taste of Earth food." He could see the 'why?' forming already, so he headed it off with, "But it'll do, I guess. Come on. I'll walk you back. She's still in the lab?"
"Yes. I can find my way, though, so you don't have to..."
"I'm about to take a break anyway," Jack told him, pushing through the door. Daniel trotted forward to catch up to him. "So, what's Carter got you doing now?"
Daniel blinked at him. "There's not a lot left to translate besides the one wall, but Ca--Sam said there might be more after the missions start. She's organizing the cartouche addresses, so she gave me a book I could read until there's more to do."
Jack tried to picture the books that Carter had on her shelf. He found that he couldn't, in fact, since he never actually looked closely at them, but he could imagine what kind of books they were, and he didn't think they were light reading. "A book about what?" he asked suspiciously.
"Stars," Daniel said. "Not just about the constellations and their mythology, but about the actual stars and how they're born and everything. The constellations in her book looked different from the ones back home." He fell quiet for a moment. "Can I ever go outside?"
Jack looked at him. "You want to see our stars?"
He nodded. "And the sun and the moons."
"There's just the one moon here." Being honest, the first time on Abydos, Jack hadn't quite believed they were actually on an alien planet until he'd looked up and seen three moons in the sky.
"Oh. I haven't seen...Sam says we're under the ground, and that's why we can't see outside." He looked up in question, asking for confirmation.
"That's right," Jack told him. "No windows."
"Isn't it hard to tell what time it is?"
Jack pointed up a wall that they were passing. "That's why we have clocks, Daniel."
Daniel glanced up briefly. "Well, I know, but...it's not the same. It never really changes from dark to light." He squinted upward at the clock. "And that only goes up to twelve, and Sam said you have twenty-four hours, so I don't even know which it is--if it's day or night right now."
Jack realized with a start that he'd been up and away from home for long enough that he wasn't quite sure of it, either. This job was going to be like constant jetlag, he could see it already. Or, well, 'gate-lag, he supposed. He surreptitiously peeked at his watch--the digital one that had caught Teal'c's eye on Chulak--and said, "It's afternoon. Thirteen hundred hours. Or one p.m., same thing. You know, Daniel..."
"What?"
"After the Doc's done with your checkups and everything, I'm sure we can find someone to show you around outside the Mountain."
"We're in a mountain?" Daniel said, his eyes widening. "I thought--"
"Well, under a mountain, I guess," Jack explained, and they reached the door to the lab. "Carter! Look what I found."
She was doing something on her computer and stood in surprise. "Sir, I didn't expect to see you. I was starting to get worried--thought Daniel had gotten lost."
Daniel was turning red again, so Jack took pity on him and said, "I told him you could explain how the sink faucets work."
Her eyes widened as she figured out what the delay had been, even as her mouth, apparently on autopilot, began an explanation of the workings of sink faucets and the electronic systems that controlled theirs. Jack let her get to the words 'infrared motion sensor' before cutting her off.
"Ah! Carter--I didn't mean now. I've been told you're going to, uh..." He checked his watch again. "Lunch."
"Right." She bent down to type something, then closed whatever she'd been working on. "Here, I'll show Daniel the way. Unless...would you like to join us, sir?"
"Actually, I was going to bring a tray down to Teal'c and chat with him," he told her. "But you two have fun."
As he turned to leave, Daniel said, "Jack, wait. Can I go with you?"
Uh... "To see Teal'c?" Jack asked carefully. Carter gave him an uncertain look, and he knew what she was thinking. The two of them trusted the Jaffa as much as it was possible to trust a man they barely knew, but Daniel... Would he see the man who'd saved their lives or the one who'd made their lives--and his parents', and Skaara and Sha'uri's--need saving to begin with?
Daniel nodded. Apparently, he misunderstood the expression on their faces, because he said innocently, "He wouldn't hurt us, would he?"
Still, Jack was starting to notice that Daniel was sneaky when he wanted, with his wordplay and that too-innocent look on his face. "Okay, then," he agreed, thinking he could always separate the two of them if any bad feelings reared their head. "We'll make a picnic of it. First stop is still the commissary, though, so..." He gestured, and Carter led the way with Daniel following behind.
"You must be hungry, huh," Jack said as they walked, just for something to say.
Daniel shrugged. "Dr. Frasier--Janet--gave me something to eat earlier."
"Hospital food?"
"A protein bar and an energy drink, sir," Carter told him. "Something with a lot of calories. Daniel hadn't had much to eat in a while."
"Great," Jack said cheerfully. "Well, the rest of the food here shouldn't be as much of a letdown, in that case."
Daniel turned his head to blink at Jack in confusion, as if unsure whether he was joking. Jack had to grab him and turn him back around before he ran into a wall.
Jack and Carter ended up making selections for four once they were in line, since Daniel seemed more than a little confused about the foods available to them. "We don't have any roasted lizards here," he told Daniel. When Carter gave him an odd look, he added, "What? We don't." Fortunately, Daniel was distracted enough by examining the contents of the trays that he didn't notice the curious stares directed their way.
"Who is Rothman? Is he a translator?" Daniel asked as they left, the three of them carting away four meals between their trays. Remembering how clumsy Melburn Jackson could be, Jack noted gladly that Daniel hadn't inherited that trait. Maybe it had to do with growing up on sand dunes, looking up to people like Skaara, who evidently had at least enough physical grace to avoid tripping over his own feet while toting an automatic weapon.
"Rothman's an archaeologist," Jack explained, "but he has some background in classical languages--or...I dunno, something to do with languages. Now, mostly he studies Egypt and does...archaeologist things."
"Out of curiosity, sir, how'd they find him?" Carter asked. "I have no idea how they're recruiting people to work here now, with everything fast-tracked." She left unspoken, 'Because it's awkward to ask someone to work for you to look for alien technology to fight parasitical gods.' "They couldn't have approached him more than a couple of days ago."
"Hammond says they weren't looking for him, specifically." Jack had actually listened to the general during the explanation, because the last time he'd met a couple of archaeologists he knew nothing about, he'd been caught completely off guard. "There's this guy, Rayner, who's supposed to be brilliant, but our man who approached him thought he could be a security risk--really likes publicity, that sort of thing. There was this guy working for him as an assistant--that's Rothman--who seems less likely to kick up a fuss. Apparently, he had a couple of radical theories that make us interested in him, even if his academic friends aren't interested."
"Many academics don't like theories that threaten the foundations of their beliefs," Daniel remarked sagely. Carter raised her eyebrows; Jack was sure that had to have come straight from his parents' mouths. It was how they'd hired the Jacksons to begin with, after all.
"Well, Rothman never actually took the step over the line to try to prove his theories--like your parents did," he added, hoping to draw some reaction, to no avail. "But it's held him back, which is probably why he's still working under a junior researcher like Rayner."
"He probably had to scrap the ideas no one would fund--like ten thousand-year-old pyramids--and start over just to get his degree," Carter said, looking sympathetic.
"Anyway," Jack said, "the point is, he's done good work, and he must be pretty eager to join, because he'll be here tomorrow. "
"I guess we should expect a lot of the scientists to be relatively inexperienced," Carter said. "Or experienced but possibly eccentric and marginalized as a result. Like Daniel says, the academic world can be a little prohibitive sometimes when it comes to these kinds of theories. You can't work without funding, and you can't get funding for things no one believes in."
"Sure, I guess," he agreed amiably. Daniel looked thoughtfully interested but didn't offer an opinion or question for once. "So, kids, here we are. Airman," he said to the man standing in front of Teal'c cell, "my hands are a little full. Mind letting us in?"
The man looked at the three of them, his eyes lingering on Daniel. "Sir, I wasn't aware that--"
Jack rolled his eyes. "Does it say 'Colonel' anywhere on my uniform?"
"No," Daniel said.
Jack looked at him, not sure if it was a joke or a misunderstanding. "Well. It should. Just...just let us in--we're not staging a revolt with sandwiches. Has Teal'c even been brought any food since we got back?" The silence was answer enough for him, and he shook his head. "Open the door before I start complaining about mistreatment of heroic guests, Airman."
The airman obliged and opened to door to let them step through.
"Teal'c, buddy," Jack called brightly, letting the door close behind Daniel and Carter. He took in the man's ramrod-straight posture as he sat on the floor with his back to the door. "What is it with people not liking chairs, these days?" he wondered aloud.
"Oh," Carter uttered. "Are we interrupting something?"
Teal'c turned his head slowly and said flatly, "I am performing kelno'reem."
Jack found himself looking to see if Daniel knew what that meant, since he was almost completely sure that wasn't English, but all three of them were equally mystified. "Is that a 'yes?'" he asked.
There was a drawn-out pause, in which Carter shifted her weight onto one leg and Daniel started to fidget. Finally, Teal'c rose gracefully and stood at something approximating parade rest. "I am not disturbed by your presence."
Since that was probably the closest they'd get to a 'Welcome in,' Jack set his tray on the small table and dragged it closer to the center of the room, where Daniel and Carter put theirs down as well. "So, you ever tried Tau'ri food, big guy?"
"'Tau'ri,' sir?" Carter asked.
"Ah, right, I forgot to tell you. Apparently, the galactic community calls us Earthlings 'Tau'ri.'"
"Bull," Daniel said.
"Language, Daniel!" Jack reprimanded.
"Latin," he explained.
"What?" Jack replied blankly.
Daniel looked thoroughly confused, too, then said, "Taurus the bull? From the Latin. Taurus, tauri." When no affirmation came, he guessed, "No?"
It was Teal'c who answered. "Indeed not. The word Tau'ri is from the language of the Goa'uld. I am unfamiliar with Latin."
"Okay, lesson over," Jack said decisively when he saw Daniel open his mouth to speak. "C'mon, we brought lunch. Let's eat." Defying anyone to argue, he hooked a foot around one of the three chairs in the room and sat. Carter followed suit, though she took a moment to hand a plate to Daniel first. Seeing no other furniture in the room besides a cot, Daniel plopped onto the floor with his plate.
Teal'c hadn't moved from where he was standing, so Jack huffed and handed him a loaded tray. "Here. Food. Sit. Eat."
The Jaffa remained perfectly still for a few moments, then took the tray, inclined his head, and dropped back to the floor opposite Daniel.
Jack met Carter's eyes across the table, then looked between Daniel and Teal'c below them. "I didn't mean..." He sighed. "Fine. If my knees get stiff after this, I'm blaming you," he warned as he slid down to the concrete, not sure exactly which one of them he was talking to. Carter made a half-hearted effort to smother a grin and joined them, pushing the table out of the way. "You know, when I said we'd make a picnic of it..."
"Is this not the custom of your people, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked seriously.
"No, Teal'c, it's not. But what the heck. Not enough chairs, anyway."
Daniel gingerly poked the sandwich Carter had picked for him. "How is this bread made?" he asked, sniffing suspiciously at it. "It's...very soft."
Thankfully, Carter was up to the task of explaining the basics of Wonderbread to him, so Jack leaned back against the wall and watched. Daniel was sitting so that he faced Teal'c, but, while he talked to Carter, it was the Jaffa who seemed surprisingly uncomfortable in his presence. It was, of course, also possible that Daniel was simply too absorbed in his detailed description of Abydonian yafetta plants to feel uncomfortable.
"Teal'c," Jack said quietly partway through the meal. "Something wrong?"
"I do not understand why you wish the boy to see me," Teal'c said, his voice also quiet. Carter's eyes flicked to them, but, seeing that they were speaking, she continued her conversation with Daniel, which had apparently progressed to the delicacy of the roasted lizard.
"His name is Daniel Jackson," Jack told Teal'c, "and don't look at me." Teal'c averted his eyes immediately. "No, I--that's an expression. I mean he wanted to see you; I didn't make him."
Teal'c head tilted to one side. It was still a little unnerving how light reflected off his snake brand at certain angles. "Does he seek revenge for the fate of his kin?"
"No, that's not it," Jack assured him, then hesitated. "I'm pretty sure that's not it."
And more unnerving than the tattoo was the way Teal'c's expression never seemed to change. "I am prepared to grant him retribution should he see fit, O'Neill," he said, without emotion.
"Well, I'm not prepared for anyone to be granting any retribution around here," he snapped, forgetting to keep his voice down.
Daniel stopped talking mid-sentence and looked from Jack to Teal'c. It didn't escape Jack that he stared at Apophis's mark for several seconds, his hands visibly tensing around the forgotten sandwich in his hands. Jack was on the verge of getting up to usher the increasingly nervous-looking Daniel from the cell when Teal'c spoke.
"Daniel Jackson," he said, sounding very formal.
Daniel squinted up at him--maybe he really was nearsighted, like Fraiser said--and suddenly put down his somewhat squashed lunch. The tension seemed to drain out of him, and he leaned forward to ask, "What does 'kelno'reem' mean?"
Jack sat back in half-surprise, half-curiosity.
Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "Why do you wish to know?"
"Oh," Daniel said uncertainly, then rambled, "I was wondering. You said it when we came in. And I was fairly sure 'kel nok' was...a...a question or something, so I thought maybe they were similar because they sound like they have similar roots, but that didn't make sense, since you said we could come in, so...I suppose...not," he finished, looking embarrassed. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to."
Teal'c looked faintly puzzled and turned slightly to Jack, who shrugged. "I was not aware that you spoke the language of the Goa'uld, Daniel Jackson."
"I don't," Daniel said. "Just a few words I heard a lot on Chulak, and without context, I can't really...I mean. Like 'Kel nok.' 'Re.' 'Onak.' 'Kek.' 'Kree.' Oh! What does 'kree' mean? Everyone was saying it all the time."
There was another brief hesitation, in which Teal'c seemed to be trying to decide what was going on. Or maybe it was simply a matter of deciding which question to answer first, because Jack counted at least two in there. "'Kree' can have several meanings," he said finally. "It is a call to attention, or a command to concentrate and to focus."
"So," Jack suggested, "'Yoo-hoo?'"
"I am unfamiliar with that term, O'Neill," Teal'c said at the same time that Daniel asked, "What does that mean?"
Jack held up his hands. "Never mind. Go on. Kree."
Daniel gave an honestly amused smile at that. Teal'c's lips moved, which Jack thought was maybe the Jaffa equivalent of a less intense frown. "Do you wish to learn more of this language, Daniel Jackson?"
"Yes!" There was no hesitation there. "Please," he added belatedly. "Um."
"Then I shall endeavor to teach you," Teal'c said. "However, my time here may be limited. I remain uncertain of how long I will be permitted to stay."
Daniel bit his lip and his smile faded at the reminder of why Teal'c was there and just how they'd all ended up at SGC. "Because you served the Goa'uld," he stated.
"Daniel..." Jack warned.
"That is correct, Daniel Jackson," Teal'c answered, looking stony-faced again--like a man awaiting judgment, Jack thought.
"My people served the Goa'uld, too," Daniel told him. "They worshipped Ra as their god."
"That he was not," Teal'c told him. "Ra was no more a god than Apophis."
"The Jaffa are slaves, too, aren't they," Daniel said seriously to his plate. "They are slaves to the Goa'uld, just like my people were." When Teal'c only inclined his head, Daniel went on to say, "But we fought back. We took back our freedom." He glanced at Jack, then stared at Teal'c, almost as if daring him to disagree, though his defiance didn't quite cover the vague fear that remained visible below the surface.
"It is my hope that the Jaffa will one day see as clearly as your people did and follow their example," Teal'c said, still looking straight at Daniel. Then he glanced at Jack as he added, "I believe the Tau'ri are my people's best hope for freedom. I have pledged my allegiance and any knowledge or ability I possess to helping this world in their fight against the Goa'uld."
"The Tau'ri saved us from Ra," Daniel said, nodding once.
As Jack listened to two aliens talking about Earth, it was even clearer than before that, as far as Daniel was concerned, he wasn't a Tau'ri born on the wrong planet; he was an Abydon currently stuck on the wrong planet. The history of Abydos was his as well.
"The Tau'ri have indeed proven the quality of their spirit," Teal'c agreed, and cocked his head to the side. "I would be honored to come to know yours as well, Daniel Jackson of Abydos."
Daniel seemed taken aback at that, and when he looked questioningly at Jack, his expression was still troubled. "I believe you," he said to Teal'c, but slowly, as if holding back. 'Believe' wasn't the same as 'trust,' but it was a start. It was good to know, too, that there would be no claiming of retribution in the near future. Daniel stole another sidelong glance at Jack, and then the uncertainty left his eyes, leaving only curiosity. "How did you learn English? This language, I mean, this Tau'ri one."
Jack frowned, realizing as he should have before that there wasn't really any way Teal'c should have been able to speak their language.
"A small number of prisoners brought to Chulak have spoken this tongue, including a Tau'ri woman, very recently," Teal'c said. "There have been others in the past, though I know of very few planets that use this language."
"How is that possible?" Carter said. "I thought Ra was the last Goa'uld to leave Earth, and that was before people spoke English, right?"
"Your people have had no further contact with beings from other planets?" Teal'c said, looking surprised.
"Ah...no," Jack said. "Unless you count alien abduction stories. Hey, wait..." He paused, imagining Roswell aliens stepping through a Stargate. "Nah."
"In that case, Captain Carter, I do not know how this language was passed to other planets," Teal'c said, and added practically, "but it is nonetheless so."
Daniel hummed in acknowledgement, looking as though he were trying to come up with a theory on the spot that could explain it. "As long as I remain here," Teal'c told him, "you are welcome to come to learn the Goa'uld language from me, Daniel Jackson."
"I will," Daniel said, then asked, almost playfully, "You will finally teach me what 'kelno'reem' means then?"
"Indeed." Teal'c bowed his head toward Daniel, who solemnly returned the gesture.
Huh, Jack thought, considering the boy with more interest as they finished their lunch.
...x...
"So," Jack said, lingering behind after Carter and Daniel took the trays and left Teal'c's cell. "Some kid, huh?"
"Indeed," Teal'c agreed.
"You say that word a lot, don't you?" He raised a finger. "No, no, don't answer that."
Teal'c raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.
"Look, T, my hands are pretty much tied about the whole...you staying here, in this cell," Jack said apologetically. "Personally, I'd like you watching my back, on my team, but..."
"I understand, O'Neill."
"You shouldn't have to. That's all I'm saying." He opened the door, then asked, "You sure you don't mind Daniel bothering you? He's gonna be bored, so he might come knocking a lot."
"It is no bother for me to share my knowledge with one who opposes the Goa'uld," Teal'c said. "Nevertheless, I believe it would be wise for you to accompany him if he chooses to study with me."
That made Jack stop and turn back. "Why?"
"His eyes sought you for reassurance during our meal," Teal'c said. "I do not wish to cause him further pain."
Jack couldn't really argue against that, because he'd noticed it, too. "It doesn't look like he blames you for what happened to his family."
"Daniel Jackson appears ill at ease in my presence," Teal'c insisted. "I am not fully confident of his trust in me."
Jack crossed his arms, wondering how much of that was Teal'c's own blame of himself. It was hard to get a firm grasp of the Jaffa's state of mind: this was a man who believed so firmly in their ideals that he had broken them out of a prison on the off chance that they'd escape, then stood around not even expecting to escape with them. Jack had no illusions about what Apophis would have done to him if they hadn't taken him with them.
Teal'c continued to stare at him, though, until Jack relented and said, "If he asks for it, someone'll chaperone you two if you decide to hold Goa'uld practice sessions, but he said himself that he knew you wouldn't hurt him. You wouldn't, right?"
"On the contrary; I would protect him if the need arose," Teal'c promised.
"Well, then." Jack tried for another few moments to see what Teal'c was thinking behind the emotionless face he wore before giving up. "Hey. I'll try to be there if anyone comes to question you again."
"That is unnecessary, O'Neill."
"I know. I'll be there," he promised.
From the next chapter ("Translations"):
"You don't have to say both of them. 'Daniel' is the name I was given when I was born," he explained. "'Jackson' is my family's name."
Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "I do not understand. Do you wish not to acknowledge your family?"
That surprised him into silence for a while, and when he found his voice again, he heard himself say, more subdued, "I do. Of course I do. You can call me Daniel Jackson if you want."