Stargate -- Kriegsspiel -- Merrels -- One
One
“Have you seen the front page of the Washington Post yet?” Jack asked as soon as Daniel picked up the phone.
“You know I read the New York Times,” Daniel said, a little groggy like he always was in the mornings. “Better crossword.”
“But I know you get them both.” Daniel grumbled something incomprehensible and Jack could hear the shuffling of newsprint as Daniel closed one paper and freed the other from its bag. A moment of silence as Daniel read, and then there was a crashing sound. “Daniel?”
“He’s shutting us down!” Daniel said, and Jack relaxed just a fraction. Coffee mugs could be replaced. “How can he shut us down? What part of ‘first, last, and only defense’ does this man not understand? What about all the research we could be doing now that we’re not at war!”
“The program’s too controversial right now.” Jack knew it wasn’t going to do a thing to calm Daniel down, but what else could he say? “And it’s just a temporary thing, until the world stops hyperventilating. Maybe this’ll give you time to get some work done on that backlog of yours,” he teased gently.
“Fuck the backlog!” Daniel said, and Jack blinked. It wasn’t like Daniel cursing was rare, or even uncommon, but it was always for a reason. “This…man achieved overnight what Kinsey spent eight years trying to do.”
“Have you been paying attention at all?” Jack asked. “The world’s all but exploded since Area 51 was destroyed and Atlantis landed. Publicly landed, like something out of Star Trek.”
Daniel snorted, likely at the sci-fi reference. “It looks like they were lucky to have escaped,” he said, with that tone that usually accompanied a pout. He’d deny it, of course, and Jack wasn’t in the mood to antagonize him by pointing it out.
“It’s a wise move, politically. Shut down the big scary thing until everyone can sit down and talk about it. You’re all going to be able to keep doing your work, you just can’t go through the ‘gate.”
“That’s where it starts, yeah. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” There was a moment of tense silence, probably as he skimmed the rest of the article. “Jack, did you back this?” he asked, low and dangerous, and a wholly inappropriate thrill went up Jack’s spine.
“He just sprang it on us,” Jack admitted. He probably wouldn’t have confessed that to anyone else, but he’d never been able to lie to Daniel for long when the fate of the world wasn’t at stake. “We had a meeting about it last night, but that was it.”
“Can he do that?” Daniel asked over some strange crunching sounds. Jack assumed he was cleaning up the broken mug. “I would have thought, as head of Homeworld, you’d have to OK it.”
“The President,” Jack reminded him, “went through the IOA, actually. Brought their weight to bear, so there wasn’t much I could do. Even if I had wanted to, which I don’t,” he added quickly. “He made the right call, you’ll see.”
Jack had no trouble imagining the look on Daniel’s face, and winced. He loved the man, but he had no illusions that he was stubborn, sometimes to a fault. There was silence on the other end of the line, but Jack could practically hear Daniel fuming.
“It’s a little too 1984 for my taste, Jack,” he said finally, with a calculated levity that Jack could see right through. “I’m sure I’ll be telling you ‘I told you so’ soon enough.” He sighed. “Are you still coming to Colorado next week?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Jack said lightly. “Though I have the feeling I’ll be sitting in meetings with most of it before then.”
Daniel chuckled, and Jack knew what the other man wasn’t saying was Serves you right.
*
“The IOA has decided that we’re going to continue monthly check-ins with Atlantis, but other than that, the ‘gate won’t be used,” General Landry said. “All research departments will continue their work on whatever devices and artifacts are on base, and the military component will be on standby until more permanent plans can be made. I want to remind everyone that this is a temporary state of affairs. President Taylor and the IOA hope that a show of good faith will reassure the international community of both the SGC’s intentions and its usefulness.”
Daniel sighed and looked around the briefing room. The table was full: Landry at one end, with Mitchell on his right as base second-in-command and representative of the armed forces section along with each of the SG team leaders; Sam was there as head of hard sciences, Teal’c representing the alien liaisons, and Daniel as head of Xenoarcheology and Linguistics, with representatives from most of the other departments as well. It was pretty clear that no one was happy with this turn of events. Even Teal’c was openly frowning.
“Is there any estimate as to how long this is going to last?” Sam asked, beating Daniel to the question.
“Not yet,” Landry said, and he had the decency to look apologetic. “But I’ll keep you updated with anything I hear.”
“What of those who are not Tau’ri?” Teal’c asked. “I am not the only member of the alien staff who has a family offworld.” Vala-Daniel wasn’t quite sure what department she was supposed to be with-looked about to chime in, but Teal’c quelled her with a glance. Now was not the time for her type of theatrics.
“I’m not sure,” Landry said, looking more uncomfortable by the minute. “It’s my intention to clarify that as soon as possible. I don’t believe our guests and contractors should be trapped here just because we’re in an admittedly difficult situation. General O’Neill and I plan to meet with the IOA in the next few weeks.”
To Daniel, Teal’c’s expression clearly said that this wasn’t good enough, but Landry didn’t seem to see it. “I’m sure that we’d all be willing, happy even, to go to Washington and speak to the IOA and the special UN committee,” Daniel said, aiming for diplomacy. This was not the time to start yelling. People around the table were nodding emphatically.
“The IOA believes that the best course of action right now would be for us to keep a low profile,” Landry said. “They’re worried that we’ll only make things worse if we come off too defensive. But,” he said, cutting off protests from Daniel, Sam, and Kovachek from SG-9, the diplomatic unit, “I will certainly keep that in mind, and I will push for that as soon as it looks like it may turn public opinion in our favor. Now, we have new copies of the confidentiality agreements, in case any of you are approached by the press.” The packets circulated around the table. “As always, try as much as you can to defer any members of the press to Homeworld Security and Major Davis, but if that is impossible, this is a list of topics you are allowed to discuss. Please forward it to all members of your staff.”
Daniel flipped through the list, frowning. Nothing about Ernest Littlefield and the first experiments with the ‘gate, but they were allowed to talk about the first trip, with an emphasis on the “destruction of a galactic enemy”. The return to Abydos was also allowed, but only the part about Apophis coming through first, and the SGC following as a defensive measure. The majority of the rest of their missions weren’t on the list, as well as most of the information they’d learned over the years about human history. Nothing about the Ori, or the fact that the thwarted pandemic a few years prior had an extraterrestrial origin. They were allowed to talk about the destruction of the System Lords and about their allies, though not the fact that most of those allies were dead or unreachable. It was laughable, really.
“It’s very important right now for us to provide a united front,” Landry was saying. “The only way we’ll be able to reopen the ‘gate is with the permission of a bunch of very scared men and women, and we must do everything we can to see that that happens.”
Daniel couldn’t help but see that as a threat.
continued in Two
back to Master Post
“Have you seen the front page of the Washington Post yet?” Jack asked as soon as Daniel picked up the phone.
“You know I read the New York Times,” Daniel said, a little groggy like he always was in the mornings. “Better crossword.”
“But I know you get them both.” Daniel grumbled something incomprehensible and Jack could hear the shuffling of newsprint as Daniel closed one paper and freed the other from its bag. A moment of silence as Daniel read, and then there was a crashing sound. “Daniel?”
“He’s shutting us down!” Daniel said, and Jack relaxed just a fraction. Coffee mugs could be replaced. “How can he shut us down? What part of ‘first, last, and only defense’ does this man not understand? What about all the research we could be doing now that we’re not at war!”
“The program’s too controversial right now.” Jack knew it wasn’t going to do a thing to calm Daniel down, but what else could he say? “And it’s just a temporary thing, until the world stops hyperventilating. Maybe this’ll give you time to get some work done on that backlog of yours,” he teased gently.
“Fuck the backlog!” Daniel said, and Jack blinked. It wasn’t like Daniel cursing was rare, or even uncommon, but it was always for a reason. “This…man achieved overnight what Kinsey spent eight years trying to do.”
“Have you been paying attention at all?” Jack asked. “The world’s all but exploded since Area 51 was destroyed and Atlantis landed. Publicly landed, like something out of Star Trek.”
Daniel snorted, likely at the sci-fi reference. “It looks like they were lucky to have escaped,” he said, with that tone that usually accompanied a pout. He’d deny it, of course, and Jack wasn’t in the mood to antagonize him by pointing it out.
“It’s a wise move, politically. Shut down the big scary thing until everyone can sit down and talk about it. You’re all going to be able to keep doing your work, you just can’t go through the ‘gate.”
“That’s where it starts, yeah. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” There was a moment of tense silence, probably as he skimmed the rest of the article. “Jack, did you back this?” he asked, low and dangerous, and a wholly inappropriate thrill went up Jack’s spine.
“He just sprang it on us,” Jack admitted. He probably wouldn’t have confessed that to anyone else, but he’d never been able to lie to Daniel for long when the fate of the world wasn’t at stake. “We had a meeting about it last night, but that was it.”
“Can he do that?” Daniel asked over some strange crunching sounds. Jack assumed he was cleaning up the broken mug. “I would have thought, as head of Homeworld, you’d have to OK it.”
“The President,” Jack reminded him, “went through the IOA, actually. Brought their weight to bear, so there wasn’t much I could do. Even if I had wanted to, which I don’t,” he added quickly. “He made the right call, you’ll see.”
Jack had no trouble imagining the look on Daniel’s face, and winced. He loved the man, but he had no illusions that he was stubborn, sometimes to a fault. There was silence on the other end of the line, but Jack could practically hear Daniel fuming.
“It’s a little too 1984 for my taste, Jack,” he said finally, with a calculated levity that Jack could see right through. “I’m sure I’ll be telling you ‘I told you so’ soon enough.” He sighed. “Are you still coming to Colorado next week?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Jack said lightly. “Though I have the feeling I’ll be sitting in meetings with most of it before then.”
Daniel chuckled, and Jack knew what the other man wasn’t saying was Serves you right.
*
“The IOA has decided that we’re going to continue monthly check-ins with Atlantis, but other than that, the ‘gate won’t be used,” General Landry said. “All research departments will continue their work on whatever devices and artifacts are on base, and the military component will be on standby until more permanent plans can be made. I want to remind everyone that this is a temporary state of affairs. President Taylor and the IOA hope that a show of good faith will reassure the international community of both the SGC’s intentions and its usefulness.”
Daniel sighed and looked around the briefing room. The table was full: Landry at one end, with Mitchell on his right as base second-in-command and representative of the armed forces section along with each of the SG team leaders; Sam was there as head of hard sciences, Teal’c representing the alien liaisons, and Daniel as head of Xenoarcheology and Linguistics, with representatives from most of the other departments as well. It was pretty clear that no one was happy with this turn of events. Even Teal’c was openly frowning.
“Is there any estimate as to how long this is going to last?” Sam asked, beating Daniel to the question.
“Not yet,” Landry said, and he had the decency to look apologetic. “But I’ll keep you updated with anything I hear.”
“What of those who are not Tau’ri?” Teal’c asked. “I am not the only member of the alien staff who has a family offworld.” Vala-Daniel wasn’t quite sure what department she was supposed to be with-looked about to chime in, but Teal’c quelled her with a glance. Now was not the time for her type of theatrics.
“I’m not sure,” Landry said, looking more uncomfortable by the minute. “It’s my intention to clarify that as soon as possible. I don’t believe our guests and contractors should be trapped here just because we’re in an admittedly difficult situation. General O’Neill and I plan to meet with the IOA in the next few weeks.”
To Daniel, Teal’c’s expression clearly said that this wasn’t good enough, but Landry didn’t seem to see it. “I’m sure that we’d all be willing, happy even, to go to Washington and speak to the IOA and the special UN committee,” Daniel said, aiming for diplomacy. This was not the time to start yelling. People around the table were nodding emphatically.
“The IOA believes that the best course of action right now would be for us to keep a low profile,” Landry said. “They’re worried that we’ll only make things worse if we come off too defensive. But,” he said, cutting off protests from Daniel, Sam, and Kovachek from SG-9, the diplomatic unit, “I will certainly keep that in mind, and I will push for that as soon as it looks like it may turn public opinion in our favor. Now, we have new copies of the confidentiality agreements, in case any of you are approached by the press.” The packets circulated around the table. “As always, try as much as you can to defer any members of the press to Homeworld Security and Major Davis, but if that is impossible, this is a list of topics you are allowed to discuss. Please forward it to all members of your staff.”
Daniel flipped through the list, frowning. Nothing about Ernest Littlefield and the first experiments with the ‘gate, but they were allowed to talk about the first trip, with an emphasis on the “destruction of a galactic enemy”. The return to Abydos was also allowed, but only the part about Apophis coming through first, and the SGC following as a defensive measure. The majority of the rest of their missions weren’t on the list, as well as most of the information they’d learned over the years about human history. Nothing about the Ori, or the fact that the thwarted pandemic a few years prior had an extraterrestrial origin. They were allowed to talk about the destruction of the System Lords and about their allies, though not the fact that most of those allies were dead or unreachable. It was laughable, really.
“It’s very important right now for us to provide a united front,” Landry was saying. “The only way we’ll be able to reopen the ‘gate is with the permission of a bunch of very scared men and women, and we must do everything we can to see that that happens.”
Daniel couldn’t help but see that as a threat.
continued in Two
back to Master Post